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My Life: Chapter 11 - Stuck Somewhere In Between

by Fitz

“You know what your problem is, Kenshin?” Okita asked me that night as we got ready for bed. I had finally escaped Kaoru and her brush and hair accessories that I so wisely purchased for her, only to have to listen to the two wise asses of the family lecture me.

“Enlighten me,” I grunted, yanking a chopstick out of my hair. After I pulled out the second one, my hair dropped in a mess of waves.

“You’re afraid of commitment,” the man informed me. “You’re afraid to get close to anyone.”

“I have friends,” I glared at him, setting the chopsticks--they were blue with little butterflies on them--on the table with a soft click.

“Friends? Or acquaintances?” Okita challenged. I noticed that Soujiro was awfully quiet, tucking himself into bed. He was obviously the smarter of the two. Of course, Okita had not drunk a small amount of alcohol that night either.

“What are you implying?” I snapped. “You barely know me! I met you yesterday!”

“It’s nothing to get defensive about,” Okita smirked, apparently not at all put out by my display. “A lot of people are like that. Have a rough time making friends when you were a kid?”

“No!” I snatched up my night shirt and changed rapidly. “What the hell business of yours is that anyway?”

“Get dumped by your last girlfriend?” He just didn’t get it!

“Not that it’s your business, but I’ve never had a girlfriend,” I informed him hotly. I kicked off my jeans and yanked on my flannel pants.

“Afraid of rejection?”

“What are you?! A psychiatrist?” I shoved the blankets back roughly, glaring over my shoulder at that drunken asshole. “No, I’m not afraid of rejection! Knock it off!”

“Well, a lack of commitment is usually a result of a fear of rejection or a fear of losing that person you care about,” Okita sat on the air mattress, running his fingers through his hair and yawning. “So... if you’re not afraid of rejection, it must be the second.”

“Son of a--” I whirled to face him.

“So you’ve lost people you care about!” Okita exclaimed triumphantly. “You don’t talk about parents ever, so they must be--”

“Shut up!” my voice lifted almost into a shout. Okita blinked, his gaze momentarily clearing. I hoped he was sober enough to understand me as I jabbed my finger toward him, glaring at him with all the fury I felt. I hated him at that moment. “You don’t know anything, so stop stabbing in the dark. If I have a problem, then it’s my problem. But I don’t have a problem, so you can just keep your nose out of my business. Got it?”

He blinked again and nodded. I sighed with relief and climbed into bed. No way was I going to let that bastard’s words get to me. I kept telling myself that as the lights went off, as the tears came, and... damn it all anyway. I had been a bit of a wimp and a crybaby when I was younger, and I had tried my hardest to grow out of that stage. It made me angry that a man who was nearly a stranger, and drunk to top it off, could upset me to tears with a few words.

I must have made some noise because someone got up and came to my bed. I didn’t wait to find out which of the twins it was.

“Touch me, and I swear to god, I’ll make you regret it,” I hissed, my voice breaking disgracefully. “Just leave me alone.”

“He didn’t mean it,” the man said softly. So it was Soujiro.

“I don’t care,” I growled. “I’m tired. Go away.”

He was really quiet for awhile, and for a moment I thought he’d leave. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, and he spoke again.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt so much if it wasn’t true.”

I flipped the covers back and climbed out of bed, startling Soujiro. He fell back when I pushed past him and out of the room. Screw the both of them. I didn’t need to listen to that.

The Christmas tree was still lit--the artificial one, anyway. The real tree was in the living room, where we had opened all the gifts. They did not keep that one lit. It was a fire hazard, after all. But the one in the family room was still glowing a soft white. I sat on the floor and leaned back against the sofa.

I was not afraid of commitment. Just because I was somewhat introverted meant nothing. I had difficulty making friends sometimes, but that was hardly my fault. If they were too leery of a guy with long hair and a distant personality, then that was their problem.

There was a soft whine beside me, and I felt a cool, damp nose nudge my cheek. I jerked away from the unpleasant contact and halfheartedly rubbed at the dog’s shoulder. Zeus whined again and dropped his impressive frame down next to me, his large head going into my lap. Oh well. Smiling despite myself, I stroked the dog’s soft fur between his ears.

^_^

I woke the next morning feeling sore and disoriented. Ayame and Suzume bounded around the second floor, announcing that they were awake and ready to play with their new toys. The dog had wrapped himself around me during the night, and I had to squirm quite a bit to get free of him.

Later came an uncomfortable moment when Okita walked into the kitchen, holding his head and squinting in the light. Soujiro followed him, looking about warily. He seemed relieved to see me, sitting at the table with the others. Okita, on the other hand, did not seem to recall anything of the previous night’s conversation.

“Who let me drink so much?” he groaned.

“You’re a responsible boy,” Mr. Kamiya retorted. “You can regulate your own intake of alcohol.”

“I must have passed out the instant I walked into the room,” Okita decided. That jerk. Either he was really hung over or a very good actor. It was just as well. Better that he did not recall my anger directed toward him.

“You were pretty drunk, Okita,” Soujiro said with an uneasy glance in my direction once again. I huffed softly and drank my orange juice without comment.

The day proceeded smoothly after that. It was no use being angry with someone who obviously would not understand the reason behind the fury, so I had to let it drop. Soujiro steered clear of me, for whatever reasons, and everything was fine. Just peachy.

^_^

Kaoru’s relatives left that Friday to return to their respective homes. Worried about wearing out my welcome, I decided to call Uncle Hiko to see how things were going. Kaoru pointed to the phone in the kitchen, and I sat on a stool by the counter, idly swinging my leg while I waited for someone to answer.

“‘lo?”

Shit.

“...Is Unc... is Hiko there?” I asked after a moment. Well, that answered the question over whether or not my cousin was still hanging around.

“Who’s asking?” Of all the nerve.

“Is he there?” I growled, clenching my teeth in attempt not to say anything nasty.

“Kenshin? That you?” Enishi laughed. “Hey! How’s my boy doing?”

“Where’s Uncle Hiko?” I asked, getting angrier by the second.

“Oh, he’s around here somewhere,” it sounded like he was moving around, perhaps searching for my uncle. “It’s been awhile. How’ve you been?” his voice dropped suddenly. “I heard you got busted.”

“A lot has happened in the past few years, Enishi,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm and even as possible. “Tell Uncle Hiko I want to talk to him.”

“Sure, sure,” he agreed carelessly. “You never called me, kid. What’s the deal with that?”

“Been awfully busy,” I muttered. “I really need to speak with my uncle, Enishi.”

“Hold on a sec, kid,” Enishi protested. “It’s been forever. And we’ve go a lot left unfinished between us.”

I could feel the blood draining from my face. I growled softly, furious at my own fear and clutched the phone tightly.

“Go get my uncle,” I ordered.

“Who’s on the phone, Enishi?” Uncle Hiko’s voice rang clear over the line, even though he was not holding the phone.

“It’s Kenshin,” Enishi said cheerfully. “We’ve just been catching up. Here you go.”

There was some fumbling with the phone on the other end, and finally Uncle Hiko answered.

“Kenshin.”

Thank god.

“Isn’t he gone yet?” I demanded.

“It hasn’t been that long, idiot,” Uncle Hiko rebuked.

“When is he leaving?” I ignored the insult.

“New Years,” he answered.

“Fine, just keep him away from me,” I said finally.

“You stay away from here,” he replied. “And there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do until New Years?” I groaned. “I’ve already been here for nearly a week. I can’t ask them to put up with me for another week. You know, I’ve already insulted one of her cousins?”

“Was it for good reason?”

“...I don’t know,” I was ready to toss my hands in the air and declare this a useless conversation. “Maybe. He was getting kind of nasty.”

“Hitting on you?”

“NO!” God! Yuck! “Uncle Hiko!”

“Then just insulting you,” he predicted, totally unfazed, as usual. Just insulting me. Like I should have just put up with it. I bristled at the thought.

“Look, the moron was asking for it,” I said, indignant. “He didn’t have to say those things. It wasn’t like I did anything to him that warranted--”

“Kenshin.”

I cut off. He rarely did that to me--call me by name, that is. Well, I was starting to whine and babble.

“Thank you,” he sighed, as if pleased by the sudden quiet. “What did he say?”

That brought me up short. Uncle Hiko? Trying to carry on a meaningful conversation with me? Not a chance in hell. He was going to listen to me, then fling it back into my face and make me feel like I was the idiot for the things I thought.

“Nothing,” I said abruptly. “It’s nothing. I’m going to go talk with Kaoru to see if I can stay a little longer. If not, I’ll go crash in the dorms. I’ll have to eat my supply of ramen and Easy Mac, but it could work.”

“And that man who--”

“He’s gone, Uncle Hiko,” I said quickly. “It’s done. It’s fine. I’ll talk to you later... and would you try to start answering the phone before Enishi? I don’t like talking to him.”

I hung up before he could say anything more. A scuffling in front of me made me look up, and Kaoru frowned at me from the doorway. Whoops... She was not supposed to hear any of that. And she looked worried. Damn it.

“Kenshin, why didn’t you tell me someone was bothering you?” she asked quietly. “I could have talked to them.”

“No one was bothering me, Kaoru,” I said, trying to smile and all the while aware that there was practically a neon sign over my head flashing ‘LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!’ Kaoru certainly did not look like she was buying it. So, when all else fails, change the subject. “But, um... my cousin is still at my uncle’s house--”

“I heard,” she interrupted. “Who was it, Kenshin?”

It seemed she was not going to let this one go.

“It’s okay, Kaoru,” I said, smiling my winning smile. Yeah... right. “You know I’m always too sensitive when it comes to teasing.”

“You usually keep quiet about it, though,” Kaoru pointed out. “You were going off on your uncle--”

“Look, it’s fine!” I said, perhaps a little too sharply. She blinked, startled by my outburst. A tiny voice in my head warned me that it was not the best idea to yell at the hostess if I wanted to stay any longer. I also thought that if this kept up, I may have been better off staying alone at the dorm. I hopped off the stool, put the phone back on the cradle, and walked out of the kitchen.

In the guest room, I checked my bags and circled the room once to make sure nothing of mine was left behind. I stopped beside the bed, staring at the envelope on the night stand. I picked it up.

An airplane ticket. Two of them. What kind of person gives plane tickets to her friend for Christmas?

A rich one.

San Francisco. Even if I used those tickets, I could not afford a place to stay. All of my money went to school and bus fares. No way was I asking Uncle Hiko to pay for anything. It was a waste of money. I was going to have to give those tickets to someone who could use them.

I dropped the envelope and sat down on the bed. My gorilla was thrown carelessly against the wall. The maid had been through. I could tell by the pillow case. The previous day, it had been yellow. That morning, it was light blue. The gorilla was out of place on the designer comforter. I picked it up and held it in my lap. I fiddled with its ears absently while deciding what I was going to do. Surely I could find a bus that went back to the U...

“Kenshin?” Kaoru knocked lightly on the door and poked her head in. “Can I come in?”

I shrugged and looked down at the stuffed animal in my lap. A few seconds later, the bed creaked softly, shifting down to the side as Kaoru sat beside me.

“I’m sorry I pressed you,” she said. “Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad,” I mumbled. Truly, I wasn’t mad. A little frustrated perhaps, but not mad. I was kicking myself at the moment. Nothing I ever did was right. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

Another apology. It seemed like I was always apologizing for my behavior. I was too touchy. Too quick to take offense.

“I know Okita and Soujiro can get a little--”

“Kaoru,” I glanced at her in warning.

“Right,” she made a motion of zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. “Uh... do you have to work today?”

“Not until Sunday.”

“So you’ve got today and Saturday,” she reached in front of me and scratched the top of my stuffed gorilla’s head like it was a living creature. “How about you and me go do something fun?”

“Like what?” I looked at her curiously.

“Have you ever been to the Carousel?”

“You mean... that restaurant?” I blinked. That place was outlandishly expensive. “No.”

“Then let’s go,” she got up, grabbing my hands and pulling me off the bed. She looked me over like I imagined she would some fancy party decorations. “Do you have anything nicer than what you wore at mass?”

“Uh... at Uncle Hiko’s house,” I winced. “But--”

“I know, you don’t want to go there,” she nodded. “Then we’ll go get you a new shirt.”

Oh, for god’s sake.

“I can’t afford a new shirt right now, Kaoru,” I grumbled. I had spent my quota for the month on her present.

“I can pay for it--” I opened my mouth to object, but she wouldn’t let me speak. “Get your nice pants. We’ve got to make sure it goes well together. We’ll start in Marshal Fields in Minneapolis, and if we can’t find anything there, we’ll move to the Mall of America...”

It’s not fair, but once a woman has something set in her mind, no one can stop her. Kaoru was no different, so it seemed. She just smiled blandly through my protests and calmly told me to get my jacket. I stood my ground for awhile. I didn’t want her charity--I didn’t need it. But that girl just knocked me over and started putting my shoes on my feet for me. I grabbed her hands, glaring at her in my offense.

“I really wish you would stop it,” I told her. She blinked at me.

“What do you mean, Kenshin?”

“You didn’t do this before,” I complained. “When we were at college, not around all... this,” I jerked my head in general acknowledgment of the room around us. “You didn’t try to dote on your friends. Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but not all of us have that kind of money, and I don’t like taking money from people.”

“But...” apparently, she did not see anything wrong with being generous with her money. I thought she needed to save it for someone who really needed it.

“We don’t have to spend a lot to have a nice time, Kaoru. I don’t want you buying anything else for me.”

She sighed.

“Does it make you that uncomfortable?”

“Yes!”

We were silent for a few seconds, neither willing to be the first to look away. She blinked. I smirked. She groaned and shook her head.

“Not fair! Guys don’t have to blink as much!” she whined. Then, she smiled again. “I know! Get your warm clothes on, Kenshin!”

“What?” the sudden change surprised me. What was she up to?

“I know you hate the cold, but we’re going to do some walking outside tonight,” she explained.

“Outside?” Dang it. I had to go open my big mouth. And just what was so wrong with a new shirt? The Carousel was supposed to be a really nice restaurant, too. Not that I would ever see for myself.

^_^

We ended up on Summit Avenue by the cathedral. I followed Kaoru along the sidewalk, admiring the huge houses, lit up for the season. They were pretty, I guess. I was just glad I had my scarf and warm sweater on along with my winter jacket.

“Look, Kenshin!” Kaoru pointed suddenly. “The governor’s mansion.”

I looked. And it looked about the same as every other house on the block. With the garlands draped about the place, I was willing to bet it looked better during the day. Kaoru agreed, apparently.

“It’s so boring!” she announced. “They usually do a better job than this!”

“Jesse was probably too busy making a fool of himself in the eyes of the world to spend much time decorating for Christmas,” I offered as an explanation.

“Kenshin!” Kaoru laughed. “And right in front of Governor Ventura’s house!”

“Do you honestly think he’s in there right now?” I asked. The house was awfully dark. There were probably guards lurking around somewhere, but other than that...

“He wasn’t a bad governor,” she argued.

I was not much for politics, so I just shrugged and let her have her way. All I knew was that Governor Ventura had fought to make it so I could not get much in the way of student loans. Fortunately, he had not been overly successful in that attempt. Besides, the Federal government gave more than the State.

“He didn’t even run for reelection,” Kaoru commented as we continued along the sidewalk. “I wonder why not?”

I knew why not.

“His wife didn’t want him to.”

“His wife?” Kaoru grinned at me through the dark.

“That’s about the only reason any guy would willingly give this up,” I gestured back to that house. “It’s always a woman.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kaoru’s grin disappeared to be replaced by a scowl. Dang it. There was no good way out of this. I decided to stand firm.

“You’ve read the history books,” I said slowly. I hoped this did not get me into too much trouble. “Consider it. Hellen of Troy--”

“She was mythical!”

“Okay,” I admitted. “Um...”

“Hah!” she stuck her finger almost against my nose. She had a very smug grin on her face. “You can’t even think of anyone real!”

“It’s not like all women were bad!” I insisted. “There are a lot of memorable women. Eleanor Roosevelt, for one.”

“Emily Dickinson,” Kaoru offered. Ah... I was back in her good graces.

“Rosa Parks,” I was really wracking my brain for these names. As I well knew, history was not my forte. “Marie Antoinette?”

“Didn’t she get beheaded?” Kaoru wondered.

“Uh... yeah, I think so.”

“Who’s that woman?” she thought aloud. “The one who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin?”

“A woman wrote that?” That story sounded familiar, but I could not have said what it was about.

“I think so,” she hugged herself and hopped about suddenly. “Geez! Kenshin, your hand.”

“Wh-what?” I looked at her uncertainly. She held her hand out expectantly.

“Don’t be a baby,” she said, pouting a bit herself. “My hands are cold. Give me your hands so I can warm mine up.”

I was trying not to shudder with cold, and she wanted me to let her put her icy fingers on me? She was crazy! Yet, what did I do? Yes, I pulled my hands out of my pockets. She had a grip on them the instant they left the safety of my jacket.

“Shhhhhhh...” I hissed in unhappy surprise. Her hands were like ice! I did shudder, then quickly adjusted my hands to envelop hers rather than the other way around. It was less painful that way.

“Just as I thought,” she giggled, sounding a bit breathless. I hoped she wasn’t coming down with anything. That would make for a miserable rest of the week. “Every guy I’ve ever met has had warm hands.”

I chuckled and shook my head. Odd girl.

“You should invest in some mittens,” I said.

“I have mittens,” she sighed. “They look stupid.”

“Blue fingers look pretty dumb too,” I pointed out.

“I know, I know,” she pulled one hand out of my grip to shove at my shoulder. “Jerk.”

“A jerk and a hand warmer, apparently,” I said dryly. “Let’s head back. It’s freezing out here.”

She reluctantly agreed, and I turned to go to the car, several blocks down. I felt a tug on my hand when I tried to return it to my pocket.

What--?

Kaoru wouldn’t let go. Her other hand was tucked up in the sleeve of her down jacket, but the one keeping mine from the warmth of my pocket held on like there was no tomorrow. I didn’t understand what she meant by that. Was she still trying to warm up? Or something else?

The thought that she was still using me as her own personal hand warmer was a bit more comfortable, so I strove to keep that one at the front.

“Have you ever done this before, Kenshin?” she asked. Done what? Held a girl’s hand? Damn it! I was not thinking about that! “Walk around just to look at the Christmas lights, I mean.”

Oh.

“Sure,” I looked up as we walked through a small park. The trees around us were lit up with tens of thousands of little white lights. “It’s been awhile, though.”

“How long is awhile?”

“Um...” I lowered my gaze to the ground, suddenly not wanting to look at those lights anymore. “About four years ago. Almost...” What was the date? The twenty-seventh? And we had gone out the day after Christmas. “Almost exactly four years ago.”

“You sound so sad,” Kaoru murmured. I swallowed and nodded once. To my relief, she did not ask. I walked a little faster.

“Let’s go back to the car.”

^_^

She was wearing a white dress with a full skirt that trailed out far behind her. I had to be careful not to step on it as I walked toward her. Her friend was to the side, wearing some green dress with this ugly bow on it. She giggled.

   “Kenny, does this dress make me look too busty?”

   Busty? That bow was hideous. I told her so, avoiding her question entirely. I wasn’t stupid enough to actually answer that. But I was intent on that girl in the wedding dress. Her long black hair was floating around her, messy from changing clothes so many times. She laughed and turned to face me.

   “Kenshin?” she held open her arms, and I smiled and walked to her. She wrapped her arms around me, whispering, “I’m so excited.”

   Her grip tightened, her hands squeezing my arms until it hurt. I tried to pull away.

   “You’re hurting me,” I complained.

   “It’ll be fine... It’ll be fun.” That wasn’t Tomoe. That wasn’t her! I struggled, trying to get away.

   I gasped as my back hit the wall. My vision was blurry, my senses distorted. Too much smoke around me, too little air. I protested the rough treatment with a shout. Why didn’t anyone come? Couldn’t they hear that something bad was happening upstairs?

   “Stop!”

   He shoved me through a door into a room, and I broke away. Terror clouded my mind, and I dove farther into the room instead of trying to get out. I hit a bed, tried to climb over it, but something hit me from behind, and I fell. Someone was screaming. It might have been me. The guy grabbed my hair, yanking me back again, and I reached for anything.

   The light of the lamp flashed in my eyes just before the plug was torn from the wall.

   A woman fell, and I was pinned beneath her, my hair still caught in something.

   The ground was hard and cold, and I couldn’t breathe. Tomoe’s friend was calling my name, but I didn’t want to hear Tomoe’s friend. Where was Tomoe?

   “Kenny, talk to me,” Tomoe’s friend begged. “Are you okay? Are you okay? You’re okay. You’re fine.”

   No... no... Why wasn’t Tomoe talking to me? I tried to get her to talk, but she just laid there, not moving, and I was so cold, but I wished her friend would shut up so I could hear if Tomoe said anything--

My own strangled sob was what ultimately woke me, despite the hands on my arms, shaking me gently. I tried to sit up, even as the other person in the room tried to warn me against it.

“No, wait--”

Pain screamed through my scalp as something snagged in my hair, preventing the movement, and I fell back. I couldn’t stop shaking, and I was panting, my mind still not quite free of that awful dream.

“Tommie!” I gasped, struggling with whoever was holding me down. Something tugged on my hair, and I lashed out at the stranger bending over me. “Let go!” My arms were caught and held immobile in the air over my chest. Whoever was holding me had a hell of a grip, and nothing I did, it seemed, would break it. I couldn’t move with my hair caught, and I growled out another protest. “Stop!”

“Easy,” a fairly deep voice whispered. “Wake up. You’re awake. You’re fine.”

I gasped again, blinking rapidly in the darkness to focus on the person talking to me. A familiar face stared down at me, worry clear in his features.

“Mr. Kamiya?” I asked, my teeth chattering like crazy. I tried to stop it, but it was harder to breathe with my teeth clenched, so I let them clack like that.

“Hold still, Kenshin,” he warned. “Your hair got caught in the headboard.”

That explained a few things. I was cold because I had kicked off all the blankets sometime during the night. And I had heard someone telling me I was fine--Mr. Kamiya.

“There,” he finished fiddling with my hair and sat back with a smile. “That better?”

I was still working on an answer to that while he tugged at the sheets around me, pushing them up so that they covered me once more.

“It’s not really time to get up yet,” he said, still whispering. “I get up pretty early...”

It was rather surreal, that moment with Kaoru’s father sitting on the bed next to me. My shivering slowly abated, chased away by the layers of blankets. I sighed, listening to him talk about how he was planning to go to the dojo at six-thirty that morning. The dream faded. Mr. Kamiya surprised me again when he patted my cheek lightly.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Better,” I answered honestly. “Thanks for, um... for helping with that.”

I rubbed me head. It was still sore from my little game of tug-o-war with the bed.

“I don’t suppose you’ll be going back to sleep anytime soon?” he wondered.

“Probably not,” I sat up slowly, just in case any stray hairs were still trapped. Mr. Kamiya had done a thorough job of freeing me. “Sorry.”

“That was some nightmare, kiddo,” Mr. Kamiya put his hand on my shoulder. “You ever been to a dojo, Kenshin?”

The thought of visiting the Kamiya dojo made me pause. Kaoru had promised to take me, but thus far we had not had the opportunity.

“I’m leaving in about forty minutes,” he stood and walked slowly to the door. “If you want to go, be ready then.”

He left the room. I blinked, wondering what had just happened. I glanced at the clock. Its red numbers read 5:40 A.M. Making a quick decision, I threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. Digging through my bag for some comfortable clothes, I dashed across the hall to the bathroom.

^_^

Mr. Kamiya left a note for Kaoru and Ms. Kamiya on the kitchen table, and we went to the dojo. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Mr. Kamiya showed me around the dojo, explaining that it was modeled after the traditional dojos in Japan. It was different than anything I had ever seen.

He had nine o’clock lessons, so why he wanted to be there two and a half hours early was beyond me. Mr. Kamiya did some warm-up exercises while I looked around. I tried to decipher the name plates hanging on the wall, but they were all in Japanese. I had barely passed my Spanish exam, let alone knowing any other language.

After that, Mr. Kamiya invited me to practice with him. That was fun. Granted, Mr. Kamiya was a master of his style. Aoshi still sparred with me on occasion and insisted that I was getting better. He also admitted that rarely would a still-learning student defeat a master. I didn’t know anything about that, but I did know that I spent more time falling than fighting.

“You’re very good at not getting hurt,” Mr. Kamiya complimented once as I pushed myself back to my feet. “Your falls are perfect.”

Well, that was great. I could fall. Apparently, that meant success in the study of martial arts. I looked at him skeptically.

“Would falling help me in a tournament?” I asked.

He chuckled and shook his head, and we started again.

When nine o’clock rolled around, I was sitting on a bench near the side. I held an ice pack against the side of my head. Mr. Kamiya had gotten in a good punch, although the floor had done more damage than he did. A little Tylenol and a cold compress, and I felt almost human again. Kaoru’s father apologized profusely, but I waved it off. It was a hazard of the game. I knew that. It would be stupid to blame him. Besides, wasn’t I supposed to be the expert at falling?

Kaoru showed up shortly before ten. She laughed when she saw me.

“What happened?” she asked, still giggling as she pulled my hand and the ice pack away from my head.

“Fell,” I replied, a bit embarrassed. She touched my head, and I flinched. “Ow! Don’t touch it!”

“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly. “You have any breakfast?”

“I had some cereal,” I got up and followed her into the next room.

“How about lunch?”

“It’s barely ten,” I shook my head.

“So?” she smirked. “There’s a place downtown I think you’d like. If we start now, we might get there before eleven.”

“We’re walking?” She held out her hand for the ice pack, which I relinquished, and she put it in the freezer.

“Your head up for it?” she reached up as if to tap the side of my head again, and I hopped back warily. We had already established how much it hurt when someone touched the bump. “I guess so. It’s not that cold out. It’s supposed to get to forty today.”

“Let’s pull out our towels and go sunbathe,” I remarked wryly. She swatted at me and rolled her eyes. I picked up my jacket and followed her outside.

I silently declared her a liar the instant I stepped foot out of the dojo. It felt like twenty below. Kaoru caught my arm before I could go back inside.

“Come on!” she laughed. “It’ll be fun.”

“It’s colder than it was last night,” I groaned, but I followed her. “What place is worth walking out in this for an hour?”

“McDonalds.”

“The hell it is,” I turned around.

“Kenshin!”

^_^

It was cold, windy, my hair was still damp, and we were walking around a big pond. I was not pleased.

“This is cruelty,” I complained. It felt like my ponytail had turned into ice. I reached back and tousled it lightly. Sure enough, the middle of my ponytail, which had previously been still wet, had frozen. “Let’s find someplace and go inside.”

“Don’t be silly,” Kaoru laughed. Despite my warnings, she was walking along the edge of the pond--on the ice. It had not been that cold lately, and I didn’t like the idea of her on that ice, even if it was supposed to be safe. “We’re almost there. It’s just around the next bend.”

“You said that at the last turn,” I pointed out. She just shook her head and walked out a little further on the pond, sliding around a bit on the ice. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“Come on, Kenshin,” she glared at me. “I’ve done this since I was a kid. I know what I’m doing.”

I scowled back at her, but she just stuck her tongue out at me before twirling around and letting the slippery ice do the rest. I was uneasy about the whole thing, but if she was going to be juvenile about it, I was not going to play her game. Grumbling under my breath, I kept walking.

On the road beside us, someone honked their horn, and I looked up in surprise. Some guy leaned out the window and whistled loudly. There was no one else walking on the sidewalk, and I doubted they could see Kaoru from where they were on the road.

I glared at the guy. I hated it when people did that. I wondered what the idiot would have said if he knew I was a guy.

“Come on, Kaoru,” I turned to go back to try to convince her to get off the ice again. “Let’s...” she was gone. “Kaoru?”

I saw the dark patch in the ice. It felt like someone had hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer.

“Kaoru?!”

Then, I did something rather stupid. I went onto the ice. The dark water bubbled, and I landed on my stomach by that hole.

Conscious thought never applied. My mind was totally blank. It was one big panic. I kept calling Kaoru’s name, begging her to tell me it was a joke, that she was hiding over a hill somewhere.

The water stabbed at my arm like hundreds of ice picks swinging at me, but it didn’t matter. Was that a limb I felt? Hair? Hair! I grabbed it and pulled up.

Kaoru didn’t complain when I dragged her out of the water by her hair. In fact, she didn’t say anything. I grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the bank. She didn’t move.

“Kaoru?” I shook her roughly. My heart was pounding in my chest painfully, my throat closing. Her face was blue, her lips purple. She wasn’t breathing. “Kaoru!!”

Desperation, I learned, did odd things to a person. I knew CPR. But did I use it? Just barely. A violent shove to the girl’s stomach set her to vomiting more water than I’d ever seen anyone spit up. She opened her eyes briefly, then closed them again.

“No, don’t!” I grabbed her arms and shook her again. “Don’t close your--!”

She didn’t move.

What do I do? What do I do?!

She was too wet. I fumbled with her jacket zipper and yanked it down. She was not overweight by any means, but with all that water, she was very heavy. I managed to get the jacket off her, wrapping her in my jacket instead.

Now what? I stared at her for a second, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do. She wasn’t even shivering!

“Kaoru, come on. Open your eyes,” I pleaded with her. I picked her up. Normally, I should not have been able to carry her any great distance, but I barely felt her weight as I climbed the hill to the sidewalk. I had to get her to a hospital.

Setting Kaoru on a bench, I did the unthinkable. I ran into the road in front of a moving vehicle. Okay, that terrified me. I’d been hit by a car before--indirectly--and I did not seek to repeat the accident. Fortunately, with my arms waving wildly at the person to stop, he did. Barely. I planted my hands on the front fender of the car and skidded back a few steps before he stopped.

The driver’s window opened, and the guy yelled out at me in angry, rapid Spanish.

No, no, NO!

“Fucking hell!” I slammed my hands down on the man’s car hood angrily. Of all the people I could have stopped, I stopped someone who couldn’t speak English! I decided I didn’t care.

Pointing desperately at Kaoru, just a few feet away, still not moving, I yelled at him again.

“A hospital!” I demanded. “I need to go to a hospital!”

The passenger door opened, and a woman got out of the car. She was almost as short as I was, with black hair and a thick, deeply tanned face. She saw Kaoru and started arguing with the man driving. They spoke back and forth far too quickly for me to catch any of what they said. Then, the driver got out of the car.

“El hospital,” the man pointed at Kaoru. I nodded desperately. I was shivering from the cold by that point as well. My arms were soaked, and Kaoru was wearing my jacket. A sweater and corduroy pants simply were not enough in this cold.

Somehow, we ended up in the back seat of the guy’s beat-up Oldsmobile. They turned up the heater as high as it would go, but the little vent near the floor in the middle of the car was not really enough. Kaoru still wasn’t moving, and she was really cold. She was completely limp as I hugged her close to me.

“Don’t die, Kaoru,” I prayed. “Please...” My face was wet, but if that was from tears or Kaoru’s wet hair, I couldn’t tell.

They pulled up to the emergency room, and the man took Kaoru from me. I protested as he pulled the girl out of my arms. My mind was not keeping up with the fast-paced situation.

Where are they going?

I followed, scrambling to get out of the car. The lady caught me before I could get too far. I stared at her incredulously, bewildered by her softly spoken Spanish.

“What?” I blurted. “I don’t understand. Kaoru--”

“No, no,” the woman insisted in her accented speech. That was all I understood. After that, it was more Spanish nonsense. But she was leading me into the building, where the man had taken Kaoru, so I didn’t protest anymore.

After that, I lost track of things. Someone guided me to a bed. They took my wet clothes and made me put on something else. I searched the surrounding area for Kaoru, asking where she was. The nurses just told me to lay down, and they put a bunch of blankets over me.

Well, I wasn’t about to stay put. I had to know if Kaoru was okay. The last time someone took me away from... That wasn’t going to happen.

No one noticed me at first. That lasted as far as the curtain that blocked me off from the rest of the area. The instant I stepped past that, a woman ran over to me and pushed me back.

“Where’s Kaoru?” I insisted, not giving ground as the lady tried to guide me back to the bed. “Where is she?”

“Calm down, son,” the nurse had a good grip on my arms, and I couldn’t get past her. “Honey, sweetie,” she caught my chin, pushing my face up. I hated it when people did that to me. I jerked back, glaring at her, but she wouldn’t let go. “Kid!” she said sharply. “Calm down! Now stop it.”

I blinked, startled at the harsh treatment. Her brown gaze was unrelenting, and it occurred to me that I was being rather reckless. I stopped.

“Where’s Kaoru?” I asked again. She released my face.

“She’ll be fine,” the nurse said finally. “The nurses are working on getting her warm again, and she should wake up in no time.”

“She’s alive?”

“She’s--” the nurse blinked at me. “Yes! She’s alive. Honey, she was barely into the first stages of hypothermia. The water in her lungs was more damaging.”

My legs turned to jelly. The nurse had to catch me as I fell, and she dragged me back to the bed.

“You’re in shock, kid,” she told me, tucking the blankets around me again. “Frankly, you’re in as much danger as your friend. Just calm down, okay? You need to relax.”

“I need to call...” As soon as she told me everything would be all right, I started breathing easily again. The panic faded, and I remembered Kaoru’s family. “Her parents. I should call--”

“It’s taken care of,” the nurse assured me. “Miss Kamiya had some ID in her pocket. You, however, we have no name for.”

“Oh... uh... Kenshin,” I sighed. I was suddenly very tired. “Kenshin Himura.”

“Thanks, Kenshin,” she wrote on something. “Do you have any immediate family members you want called?”

“Someone should call... my uncle,” I winced at that thought. “Hiko.”

“His phone number?”

I told her the number, and she walked away. I sighed again and closed my eyes. What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

^_^

I called in sick to work the next day. My nerves were shot, and I jumped at the slightest nudge. It got really irritating.

“Kenshin?” Ms. Kamiya’s voice made me start, and I looked up to see her holding a Styrofoam cup. I nodded my thanks and looked at it uncertainly. It appeared to be some sort of tea. Ms. Kamiya explained, “It should help you relax.”

A noncommittal grunt was all I offered in response. I sipped the tea cautiously, still focused on Kaoru. She was sleeping, an IV hooked into her arm, heart monitor blipping quietly beside her. She was fine. The doctors said she needed to recover. They gave her a bunch of antibiotics to help prevent pneumonia or anything else.

She had woken already, the previous day. What was I doing at that time? Arguing with my uncle over the phone. He wanted to come pick me up and take me home. Yeah, right. Staying there with him and Enishi was the last thing I needed. I would rather sleep under a bridge somewhere.

Mr. Kamiya had broken in and taken the phone from me. Whatever he said, Uncle Hiko decided to let me do what I felt I needed. Mr. Kamiya told me I was more than welcome to remain at their house, and he led me to Kaoru’s room. Of course, she was sleeping again. It figured.

I dropped my empty cup in the little trash bin beside me and leaned back. That plastic chair was about the most uncomfortable thing I had ever had opportunity to sit in. Even so, I found myself dozing off sometime that early Sunday afternoon.

The sensation of a hand on my head made me open my eyes. Kaoru was still sleeping.

“You need to get some sleep, Kenshin,” Ms. Kamiya said.

“I’d rather stay here,” I replied, looking up at her. “When will they let her go home?”

“Tomorrow, they’re saying,” she smiled. “She’s fine, Kenshin.”

“I should have made her get off that ice,” I looked back at Kaoru. She wasn’t going anywhere. I kept telling myself that.

Normally, I did not appreciate people petting my hair like Ms. Kamiya was doing at that moment. I leaned my face into my hand, resting my elbow on the arm of the plastic chair. Kaoru looked peaceful, a healthy flush to her face. If I could just wipe out the rest of her surroundings...

“Kenshin.”

“I thought she was going to die,” I told Ms. Kamiya. “I thought...”

I leaned into the unexpected--but not unwanted--embrace. Ms. Kamiya knelt next to my chair and hugged me. It was odd, but I was glad for it. I rested my cheek on her shoulder and listened as she tried to comfort me.

After that, she convinced me to go rest in the waiting lounge. I laid on a sofa, not far from Mr. Kamiya, and fell asleep.

^_^