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My Life: Chapter 24 - Decisions

by Fitz

Kaoru was concerned. Sano, too. I kept my mouth shut. The last thing I needed was for one of them to get involved in this. Unfortunately, this meant that my stress level was at a constant high, and it showed. It was the reason my friends were so worried. I couldn’t sleep, had a hard time eating, and paranoia had me glancing over my shoulder wherever I went.

With finals rapidly approaching, I was a wreck. Sano thought it was just the stress of the upcoming tests, and he dragged me down to the cafeteria whenever we happened to be in the dorms at the same time.

“Spaghetti today, Kenshin,” Sano smirked at me as we stood in line for dinner, trays in hand. “Pasta and carbs.” He poked at my side, and I shied away, bringing my tray down to block him. He frowned. “Eat something.”

I was not happy with the weight loss either. Really, I could not afford it. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get myself past the one hundred pound mark. And I did check, although not when anyone was looking, on the scale Kamatari kept in the bathroom. Sure enough, I was short, so I was not in too much danger, but I had enough problems as it was without winding up in the hospital under the accusation of having an eating disorder.

“How do you even keep your pants up?” Sano demanded as we sat at a table near a window. It was cool in the building, so I slipped into the sunny spot and let the heat of the light filtering through glass warm me.

“Belts,” I retorted. I looked down at my spaghetti, thinking the slimy, reddish tinted noodles looked rather unappealing. “And I don’t buy them two sizes too large.”

“No, but they look like they are anyway,” Sano glared at me. “Eat something.”

I sighed and picked up my fork.

“Geez,” Sano complained, shoveling in his own meal like there was no tomorrow. “I’ve never seen anyone get worked up over finals like you. The school year’s almost up, Kenshin. Just a few tests, and you can go home for the summer. You can come visit me!”

True enough. The thought of spending time away from home was appealing.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I muttered, twirling the spaghetti noodles on my fork. I stared at it for a minute, then dropped my fork and picked up a bread roll. Sano was staring at me, I knew, but I could not force myself to eat that. So I picked at the bread roll until it was gone.

“Well I guess that’s something,” Sano grunted, sounding none too pleased. “So...” he tried to lighten the mood. “Talk to Kaoru lately? How’s it going with you two?”

“Fine,” I sighed. Sort of fine. This whole thing with Enishi put stress on me, which I then inadvertently put on Kaoru and everyone else. The last time I saw Kaoru, she had told me I was getting cold. Her words had hurt, actually.

“It’s like I’m talking to the boy I met six months ago! I thought you had grown beyond this coldness, Kenshin.”

“We argued yesterday,” I admitted.

“Nn?” Sano looked at me with a frown. He swallowed his bread. “About what?”

“About the same things you yell at me for,” I grumbled. I lifted my hands to my face, rubbing at my eyes. This whole thing was wearing me down. “I don’t know, Sano. I’m having a hard time trying to bring myself up again. She’s going to dump me if I don’t do it soon.”

He sighed loudly, and I wondered if I should have said anything. I couldn’t explain my reasons, and if he pressed the issue, we would probably get into another fight.

“First off,” Sano reached in front of me, taking my tray. “You need to eat something. Wait here.”

I watched him walk away. He dropped the tray off in the kitchen before disappearing around the corner to the food tables. Awhile later, he came back with another tray. He pushed it in front of me, and I stared at the bowl for a minute. It looked like chicken wild rice soup. Next to that was a sandwich--which turned out to be plain peanut butter. It was workable.

“You got any homework that needs to be done for tomorrow?” Sano demanded as I picked up the spoon. I shook my head. “Good. We’re going to the gym tonight. They’re playing basketball.”

“I can’t play basketball,” I said immediately, looking up.

“Who cares?” he pointed at the food, and I turned my attention back to it. “It’s just a game for fun. People go to wind down. No one really cares if you suck.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Okay.”

^_^

Going out with Sano helped. I really was not that bad when it came to basketball. My only problem was that I had terrible aim, and it did not help if someone taller than I was--that is, any other player--jumped in front of me when I tried to shoot. After awhile I got the hang of things and decided I was better at getting the ball to the basket, then passing it to someone who could actually make the shot.

It was a good workout, and I was physically worn out by the time Sano and I headed back to the dorm. My mood had improved quite a bit as well.

“Not bad, Kenshin,” Sano observed as we walked across the bridge to the west bank. “You’re fast.”

“At least you can actually get the ball into the basket,” I snorted, but I grinned at the compliment. “How often do they have games like that?”

“Well, tomorrow’s soccer, but Wednesday they’ll have basketball again. Thursday, it’s soccer, and they have volleyball on Fridays,” he ticked the days off on his fingers, then looked at me in surprise. “Why?”

“It was fun,” I shrugged, glancing away from his suspicious stare. “Soccer sounds fun too.”

He laughed.

“You never fail to surprise me,” he declared, shoving against my shoulder roughly. I pushed back without thinking, and soon we were in a war, each trying to force the other to give ground. As far as physical strength and size went, Sano had a huge advantage over me, and I was constantly struggling not to get shoved into the outer wall of the enclosure. Sano was laughing, and I yelped as he suddenly pulled back, throwing me completely off balance. He grabbed me before I could fall and shoved me forward again, sending me sprawling. I stumbled several steps to keep from falling on my face, turning to offer him a mock glare.

“Don’t think I’ll let you get away with that,” I warned.

“Think you can catch me?” he smirked and took off running. As if he could beat me in a race. I caught up with him easily, and by unspoken agreement we jogged back to the dorm without further digression.

^_^

After having a good night’s rest for the first time in well over a week, I decided that Sano was right in his methods. I needed distraction. This in mind, I kept myself as busy as possible through the remaining weeks of the school year. I stayed clear of the dorms unless I knew someone would be there, instead taking advantage of any and all offers for study groups and going out. I apologized to Kaoru for my behavior, and we went out on a couple more dates.

“What’s your plan this summer?” she asked as we sat in the middle of the mall*, eating packed lunches. The weather had gotten nice, and although the grass was still a little brown, it was comfortable to sit outside.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, tearing at my sandwich. My appetite was still down, but not to the point where I felt I would be sick if I ate anything. While I wasn’t gaining back the weight, at least I was not losing it anymore. “Get a job. Hang out with Sano. You...” She smiled at that addition. “What about you?”

“I’m going to be a day camp counselor,” she smiled.

Kaoru was getting a job? Wow. I never thought I’d see the day... I cut that thought off quickly, hoping she wouldn’t suspect I had ever considered it. That was a good way to start a fight, and I did not want to insult her.

“That sounds like fun,” I said. “I applied at the local pool.”

“Doing what?” she looked at me blankly.

“Ahh... Lifeguard,” I said slowly. Wasn’t that what first came to mind when someone said he was working at a pool?

“Really?” Kaoru grinned. “I didn’t know you were certified.”

“I’ll have to re-take the test,” I shook my head. “It’s been a couple years.”

“Well that’s good!” Kaoru decided. “You’ll have a steady inflow of money. Maybe you can get your own apartment or something.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I sighed. “Being a lifeguard isn’t exactly a goldmine. And Uncle Hiko doesn’t trust me alone yet.”

“Get a roommate,” she suggested.

“I’ll consider it,” I pulled out my Psychology book and glared at it. “Study time.”

“Yeah,” Kaoru agreed mournfully, pulling out her Sociology homework. “Would you proofread my essay when you have the chance?”

“Sure.”

^_^

*Mall--this is that big grassy expanse that some college campuses possess, not a large shopping center.

^_^

For the first time in years, I passed a semester with all A’s. None of my finals had been comprehensive, which had helped with that. I was ecstatic either way. Not that I did not like B’s, and a C was okay as long as I was passing, but to actually ace all of my classes was a feat. Uncle Hiko thought so too. He bought a book for me while we were out the weekend after I received my grades in the mail. Books were probably the only things we really were able to agree upon--and movies--and I never complained when he decided we would go do some necessity shopping because it usually meant we would stop at Barnes & Noble before heading home.

I got that job at the pool. It was an easy job, actually. For the most part, all I did was lounge around outside and watch people splash around in the water. A few times I had to blow my whistle, and about twice a week we would have to clear the pool while some parents searched for their kid, who usually ended up being in the bathroom. In all, not a bad thing to be doing, though. I actually started to tan that summer, which I tended to avoid because my skin rarely took to it, not to mention I got really sick of the comparisons between my hair and skin when I burned. Needless to say, I was extraordinarily cautious.

Enishi was a thought I kept as far from me as possible. Thus far, he had done nothing. He had not even attempted to contact me, and I sure as hell had not gone out of my way to talk to him. Summer was treating me kindly.

By July, I was preparing to sign up for fall classes again. My declared major was English, so I was starting to take more classes revolving around that. I decided to take the couple math classes to get a minor in that. It was an easier class for me, so it made sense to use it.

As I studied over the online class schedule, I recalled that I had not checked my email in some time. I clicked onto my school account and groaned at the list of unread email. Most of it was junk--notes about school activities, trashy forwards from Chou and Sano, a few from Kaoru which probably was about stuff we had already discussed, and the likes. Scrolling down, I found the one I had really wanted to see. Smiling to myself, I clicked on Kamatari’s name and waited for the message to pop up.

It was fairly typical to start. He asked how I was doing, said he was doing fine, and went into great detail about his front desk job at a local law firm. Apparently, it was all filing, taking messages, and giving directions, but he was happy to be that much closer to the right kind of job.

Beyond that was something that startled me. He was coming to Minnesota just before school started. It was not going to be a long stay--his flight had an overnight layover. He would be spending the night with Chou, who would pick him up from the airport and drop him off the next morning.

“I need to make a phone call!” Uncle Hiko’s voice boomed through the house, and I sighed impatiently. A click of the mouse disconnected the internet, and I reread the message carefully.

Tapping the mouse distractedly, I considered my options. At this point in time, I was planning on staying in the dorm again, as that was easiest. Chou, I thought, was also staying in the dorm, although he had moved to one of the east bank residence halls. I knew Kamatari would want me to visit. He would never have told me about his brief stay if he hadn’t. So maybe I would--

“I’m off the phone!”

Uncle Hiko sometimes felt it necessary to bellow everything when I could hear him perfectly well if he just spoke loudly. His voice carried well enough. It was probably echoing off the city streets from that shout.

“Okay!” I called back, and I hooked back online. I had to log in again, which was a pain, but I got to my account and pulled up a new message. Pulling up Chou’s name, I typed out a quick message and sent it to him. I then responded to Kamatari and shut down the computer before Uncle Hiko got too testy over me tying up the phone line.

^_^

Kaoru and I got together a lot over the summer. My job only interfered with plans for the weekend, and hers made certain we would only get together in the evening if we went out during the week, but it never bothered me. We did the typical dinner-and-a-movie once, but usually we did something that did not require sitting silently beside each other for two hours--or spending fifteen bucks on a film. We still had our Saturday sparring sessions, although we did that at her father’s dojo and it was not always in the morning.

“You’ve improved quite a bit, Kenshin,” Mr. Kamiya complimented as Kaoru and I sat on the floor to rest after nearly an hour of intense exercise. I nodded at him.

“Better than just falling?” I asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Kamiya laughed. He crossed his arms and considered us. Beside me, Kaoru perked up suddenly, and I looked at her curiously. Mr. Kamiya spoke again, drawing my attention back to him. “Have you ever considered sword fighting?”

And that was how I started learning to wield a weapon. I stood patiently as Mr. Kamiya and Kaoru put what they called a bokken in my hands and pushed me around until I was set up correctly. Then, although my arms did not appreciate me at all, I spent another hour swinging that wooden sword around. It did ache the next day, but it was an interesting new venture.

“Swordsmanship?” Uncle Hiko lifted his eyebrows when I told him about it that night. “Is that so?”

“Kaoru’s father wants to teach me,” I nodded, poking at a potato. He had made tater-tot hot dish that night, which was about the only thing he could make that I liked. Granted, I was so hungry from all my exercise that day that I would have settled for just about anything then.

“He does?” Uncle Hiko smirked. “You going to pay for this?”

“He won’t let me,” I frowned, recalling his words.

“You’re like family, Kenshin. I can’t accept payment from family.”

I thought he was offering charity, but I did not press the issue at the time. I intended to discuss it with Kaoru later.

“I think it’s a good idea.”

“What?” I stared at Uncle Hiko incredulously. I thought he would be indifferent about it, like he was with everything else. “You do?”

“You’re a little old to be starting this now,” Uncle Hiko smirked. “And kenjutsu is an intense study.”

“Ken... jutsu?” I echoed weakly. Since when did my uncle know so much about this?

“If I had time, I’d do it myself, but Mr. Kamiya is probably perfectly capable,” Uncle Hiko continued. “Not to mention more patient when dealing with someone like you.”

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” I glared at him.

“I suppose if you learn the basics from him, I could teach you some more advanced techniques,” Uncle Hiko mused, ignoring my complaint entirely. “Of course, I would require the proper request.”

I gaped at him, then shook my head as if that would help clear it of all the confused thoughts.

“So you don’t mind that I’m doing this?” I asked.

“I’ll pay for those lessons,” he stood up then, dropping his crumpled napkin on the table. “Now clean up the kitchen.”

I sighed and nodded, picking up my plate.

“Throw away your own napkin!” I said before he could escape from the room. He grumbled to himself and snatched up the napkin, dropping it in the trash under the sink before slinking out again. At least I could get him to do that. He knew I’d just let the thing sit on the table until he threw it away anyway.

^_^

I took Kaoru to the pool more than once that summer. She liked swimming, and I got free entrance for myself and two other people. A few times Sano came with us, but more often than not it was just me and Kaoru (although I did bring Sano and his younger brother along a couple times. Yahiko loved it). When Sano came, I usually ended up spending most of my time under water as Sano seemed to have a thing for dunking me and hauling me around the pool while I shouted at him to put me down, which he promptly did, and thus the dunking.

It was on one such occasion that Kaoru popped a rather unexpected question on me. She sat on the side of the pool while I rested with my arms on the side, content to let the water cool me on the hot day. My hair dried rapidly in the sun, faster since it was down. I might have been strange for this, but I liked how it felt when my hair was loose around me in the water. It was one of the rare occasions when I left it down completely. Not to mention that while I was shirtless, no one could mistake me for the fairer sex.

“So, have you given any thought to staying in an apartment this year?” Kaoru asked.

“Not really,” I tilted my head back to look at her, and she giggled and pushed the bangs out of my eyes. I needed to trim those sometime. “Why?”

“This might seem a bit odd,” she leaned back on her hands, looking quite nice, I might add, in her black and white bikini. She could have been a model with her shape--granted, for the petite clothing. “But a couple of friends and I have an apartment set up for this fall, not far from the east bank campus, and we’re looking for another roommate.”

She was right. That did sound odd. Not all that bad, but definitely unusual.

“What friends?” I asked cautiously.

“Misao and Omasu,” she said with an innocent smile. That was faked. It had to have been.

“How many rooms?”

“It’s a studio,” she replied.

I winced.

“Well... that’s, ahhh...” I hesitated.

“Will you consider it?” Kaoru pleaded. “We need another person, but we don’t all get along when another girl is thrown into the mix. And we can put up temporary walls.”

“That’s rather...” I stammered, staring at the rounded edge of the pool. “Bathrooms?”

“Two,” she offered. “And an open kitchen and dining space. There’s a lot of room, really.”

I stared at her, not sure how to respond. She needed another roommate, for monetary purposes no doubt, and none of the girls they knew would work. So she asked me? I was reclusive and irritable, and she thought I would get along with Misao and Omasu? Well... Omasu was fine, but Misao was just damned annoying. More irritating since she had started dating Aoshi since that was all she ever seemed to talk about whenever I saw her. ‘Aoshi’s so great’ this, ‘I wish all men were like Aoshi’ that, blah, blah, blah. It was not something a guy liked to hear. I was not overly vain... hell, okay, so I was very vain, and I didn’t like it when some girl held another guy over my head.

“Just look at it, will you?” Kaoru asked, looking cute as could be with her lip poking out and the top of her nose slightly pink with sunburn. I sighed loudly and sank down. Growling under the water, I hauled myself out again, shoving up so I was braced on the side, my eyes nearly level with hers. I frowned at her, ignoring her startled look.

“You want me to live with three women?” I demanded.

“I want you to consider it,” Kaoru said, recovering quickly and smiling. I grimaced.

“One of whom is my girlfriend,” I reminded her. “Uncle Hiko will not like that.”

“You’re a big boy,” Kaoru grinned. “You turned twenty last June.”

“I remember.” Of course I remembered. Kaoru and Sano had taken me to Valley Fair for the day. They had taken me on one of the water rides--Thunder Canyon--which supposedly would not get us very wet. Kaoru had gotten out with hardly a drop on her, while Sano and I had gotten drenched. I then had to walk around with soggy tennis shoes for the rest of the day. Yes, I remembered. “Why do you need a fourth roommate?”

“We’re splitting the pay,” Kaoru explained, and I dropped back to float in the water. Holding my weight on my arms like that got tiring. “And I’m trying to pay my way through with the money I get from my job. It’s manageable with four people. One-fifty a month. Gas, phones, electricity, services, and insurance all covered.”

Really, that was a good deal. I made double that in a week working at the pool. I was looking into a job at the library copy center, which paid well enough if I was hired for the fall. While the money wasn’t a huge issue, there still remained the issue of the other three occupants being female.

“I’ll look at it,” I found myself saying. I was such a pushover.

Kaoru squealed happily and shoved herself off the edge, splashing me as she fell into the pool. I choked and struggled to stay afloat as she hugged me. What kind of lifeguard was I if I couldn’t even do that? Granted, Kaoru was very enthusiastic, and I got to experience first-hand what it was like to get kissed underwater. It was not as nice as the movies made it out to be.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Kaoru was still hugging me as I clung to the side and coughed up water. It took her a moment to figure out I was having difficulty breathing. “Are you okay?”

I looked at her. Sometimes she was really dense.

^_^

Kaoru and Misao were nearly to the point of dropping to their knees and begging me by the time we left the apartment. Actually, Misao did act dramatically, proof that a theatre major could be extraordinarily disturbing. It was rather embarrassing. She flung herself at me, falling to the floor and clutching at my legs, nearly knocking me over in the process.

“What the--!” I protested. Misao’s fingers twisting in my pant leg had me gripping my waistline for fear she would pull the pants down completely.

“Ple-e-e-ease!” She practically had tears in her eyes. “Say you’ll stay with us!”

“Misao!” I staggered, then toppled backward, thrown off balance by the arm around my knees. My butt was sore after that, and I glared at her.

“Get off my boyfriend, you dope!” Kaoru scolded abruptly, her hand swatting at Misao’s head. I was suddenly free, the clinging girl scurrying away quickly. “I don’t throw myself at Aoshi, do I?”

Misao sniffed, swiping a nonexistent tear from her eye.

“You are all so cruel!” she declared. She squinted at me as I climbed to my feet, rubbing my backside gingerly. “So, Kenshin? What do you say?”

“I have to talk with Uncle Hiko,” I started.

“And if he approves?” Kaoru asked knowingly. I glanced at her and shrugged, sighing heavily.

“I guess... it’s a nice place,” I allowed. I scowled, staring at the carpet and absently smoothing out the front of my pants. “As long as I’m not fighting for a bathroom in the morning.”

“We got him,” Misao announced.

“I agree,” Kaoru added.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I frowned at them. Kaoru smiled sweetly.

“We’ve got until August twentieth,” she said. “Our contract starts then. Of course, we’ll have to make certain we get your signature on it.”

She was jumping three steps ahead of me as usual. I did not bother trying to protest. Sighing again, I just nodded in agreement and tried not to duck and cover when two very excited girls cheered and hugged me at once. Kaoru knew full well that I had to convince Uncle Hiko first. Unless I had his approval, I would be returning to the dorms. He did provide me with quite a bit of money, after all.

That reminded me... all this meant I was actually going to have to confront my uncle with this information. Oh hell.

^_^

“What?”

His voice was calm--slightly surprised--and back to that indifferent level with which I was so familiar. It meant he was considering it but not necessarily going to approve. I continued my explanation, keeping my voice and words as mild as possible.

“They need a fourth person,” I said. “The apartment’s pretty big--” I failed to mention it was a studio, “with two bathrooms and stuff.”

“It’s not a University apartment?” Uncle Hiko pressed.

“No, it’s off-campus.”

“Because most college apartments would not allow this, would they?” Uncle Hiko asked. I nodded, thinking he was about to refuse.

To be honest, I would not complain if he did object strongly to the entire thing. I would feel bad for a few seconds, then go call Kaoru and tell her to start a frantic search for a fourth roommate. It would be nice to get out of the dorms, but at the same time, I was still very leery of the whole idea. I was not certain how I would react to the situation, and who knew how the girls would handle my idiosyncrasies.

“Frankly, kid, I’m worried about what could happen,” Uncle Hiko frowned at me. The expression prompted a fairly defensive response from me.

“Whaaaaat?” I complained. “I wouldn’t do anything!”

He smirked, apparently amused by the automatic response.

“I’m not worried about what you would do,” he said. He sighed, rising from his chair to look down at me. He did not have to do that, really. Even when he sat and I stood, I was barely taller than him. I paused to wonder how such a huge man could possibly have been related to my mother. An instant later, I grumbled about the fact because I had to crane my neck to look up at him when he stood over me. He scowled. “However, it would do you good to go without being spoon-fed for awhile.”

I blinked. He was going along with the idea?

“I want to know the address, phone number, and have a spare key,” he lectured. “I expect weekly calls and/or letters--handwritten, not those emails you’re so fond of.”

“S-sure,” I stuttered. It hit me like a brick wall, this sudden agreement. This meant I was actually going to be staying in that apartment. Judging by the smirk on Uncle Hiko’s face, he knew I was of mixed feelings about the whole thing. I wondered if this school year would truly send me over the edge.

^_^

Despite my apprehension over the whole rooming-with-three-girls predicament, things were looking up that fall. I got all the classes I wanted, most at the times I wanted, and to top it off, I got the job I wanted. Ten bucks an hour was better than most work-study jobs would get, and I wasn’t limited to ten hours a week. I had two physicals that summer, no thanks to the drastic weight loss I’d suffered during the spring, and the doctors were no longer hounding me over my diet. Sano still tried to drag me to fast food restaurants and pump me full of fatty, greasy food every time we hung out, but at least he was more subtle about it.

Moving into the apartment was a chore. When I looked at the amount of stuff I packed, I felt I was overdoing it, but when I got to the place, I found that, compared to the girls, I was packing light.

Kaoru and Misao both moved in the day before, unpacking most of their belongings before I got there. Omasu was driving up from Kansas, so she would not arrive until that Saturday. Kaoru offered to drive, so she got the pleasure of helping me carry boxes up two flights of stairs to our new apartment.

It was big. Kaoru had not been lying about that. Since the kitchen and breakfast table were wide open, only a single peninsula counter jutting out into the room, it seemed like there was even more space. The rest was all open space, windows lining one wall. It had been offices at one point--cubicles, probably--before someone had converted the building into apartments. The carpet was that thin, cheap stuff usually reserved for basements and dorm rooms, and judging by how solid it felt, they had laid it over concrete. Even the kitchen floor was carpeted, although that was heavily stained. Fortunately, the carpet was a mottled purple and gray, and the stains did not show up well.

We had to provide our own beds, of course. Uncle Hiko had helped me dismantle mine, which was a bit of a challenge to get to the apartment. More difficult was getting the mattress and box spring there. Kaoru tracked down the building manager, who let us use the freight elevator. My bed went in the corner on the interior walls, not far from where Kaoru explained Omasu’s would go. Strangely enough, Kaoru’s bed was on the wall past the foot of mine, Misao’s beyond that. I felt somewhat trapped with another bed to my side, walls blocking off two other sides, and then two more beds on the fourth side. Certainly, that made for the most efficient use of space, but why was I the one to get boxed in?

“We’re going to put up temporary walls,” Kaoru explained over the electric drill I was borrowing to screw my bed back together. I glanced up briefly, seeing her gesture between the beds. “Probably something simple... like drop cloths or something. If we hang them correctly, we’ll be able to get in and out easily enough.”

“Hn,” I shook my head and went back to my bed. The drill whirred loudly, vibrating in my hand as I pushed the screwdriver against the fastener.

“You don’t like that?” Kaoru asked.

“I’d sooner leave it as it is,” I muttered. I had an extra screw, and I was not sure where it went. Sighing impatiently, I started a methodical search of each joint.

“I thought you wanted the privacy,” Kaoru reminded me.

“Right,” I spotted a dark gap in the metal leg of the bed frame. “Ha!” It was the space for my extra fastener. I quickly put it into its proper place before setting the drill down and looking back to Kaoru. “But even if we just hung sheets between the beds, how much room would that leave us with?”

She glanced at the beds already in place. I knew I was right about this one. If we divided the space evenly, putting walls, sheets, or whatever in a place where they would not be disturbed by the person in bed, there would be little room for movement outside the bed. It would be like going into a tomb every night. I didn’t know about the girls, but that would make me a bit claustrophobic.

“I see what you mean,” she sighed. “What do you want to do?”

“Well...” I considered that, frowning uneasily. “Unless one of you has some sleeping habits I’d rather not see,” Sleeping nude for example. “I guess I can handle having the beds open like this. And we can use the bathrooms to change...” Although I would miss being able to walk around the room in my boxers.

“I’ll see how Omasu feels,” Kaoru decided after a minute. “I don’t mind, and I know Misao won’t. Ready for the mattress?”

“Yep.” I set the drill on the floor over by Kaoru’s bed and went to pick up the box spring. Between the two of us, we hauled the heavy things to the corner of the room and onto the bed frame. I was in the process of putting the sheets on the bed when Misao came in with a pizza balanced on one arm, a two-liter bottle of Pepsi under the other, the hand of that same arm carrying another bottle of pop, and paper bag dangling from her teeth.

“Misao!” Kaoru hopped up to help her immediately. “You should have knocked!”

Misao waited until Kaoru took the bag and pizza before grinning and winking boldly.

“You know me!” she chirped, turning to pull her keys out of the door knob. “Here’s dinner! Hi, Kenshin!”

“Hi,” I greeted, yanking the comforter over my bed before walking over to meet them. “What’d you get?”

“Ummm,” Misao set the Pepsi and the other bottle, which turned out to be Sprite (life was good), on the table. She turned and went to the cupboards to get some glasses. She had provided those, actually. Kaoru got the silverware, and I later learned that it was my duty to cook whenever necessary. “Sausage, pepperoni, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and black olives. Some cheese and sauce in there too, I think.”

Well. That was concise. I tried not to grimace at the odor coming from the pizza. I would be picking out the pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives.

“And there’s breadsticks in the bag,” she added. She put ice in the glasses, the frozen water plinking noisily, before she brought them to the table. “Sprite?”

“Kenshin,” Kaoru said, as I took the bottle from Misao. “I’ll have Pepsi.”

“Caffeine is heavenly,” Misao murmured.

“We’ll need it,” Kaoru nodded. “We’ve still got to set up the computers.”

“Tell Kenshin about those yet?” Misao asked.

“Tell me what?” I wondered. I studied my square of pizza, decided it was unsalvageable, and reached for a breadstick. Kaoru took the pizza when I held it out. Strange girls. I thought they weren’t supposed to like all those heavy toppings.

“It seemed kind of silly to have four computers in the place,” Kaoru started.

“So we thought we’d compromise a bit,” Misao added.

Between the two of them, I learned that we were going to be sharing the computers. We would have one computer hooked up to the internet--which was the only connection we had anyway--and one other for homework and reports. Kaoru had a laptop, and we would keep my computer in storage for emergencies. That way, we would only have two computers taking up space, leaving room for my futon, the television, the stereo system, and, of course, the wardrobes* and dressers. It was not a bad setup, as long as we coordinated our time well. I made a mental note to pick up some blank CDs and floppy disks so I could do my homework while I was on campus.

After dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen while Kaoru and Misao set to work on the computers. It was a job I was accustomed to handling, so it did not bother me. I did inform them that I would not clean up their dirty napkins, though. Something about touching those just made me squeamish.

Afterwards, I set to putting my clothes in the dresser drawers that were deemed ‘Kenshin’s drawers.’ The other half of the dresser belonged to Omasu. I preferred hanging my shirts, since it was not so cluttered feeling, but the wardrobe was for nice clothes only, so I resigned myself to folding my shirts along with the pants and tucking them into the drawers.

I moved to the rest of my stuff--books, personal belongings, etc, etc...  Kaoru and Misao were finished with the computers, so they came to help me. I wasn’t overly pleased by that, but there wasn’t much I could do. Besides, it did go faster, even if I didn’t like them digging through my things.

“That’s got to be Mom and Dad,” Misao said at one point. I jumped at the comment, my stomach twisting unpleasantly, before turning to yank the picture out of her hand. I grabbed the other picture as well and put them both face down on the dresser. “Whoa. Someone’s a little touchy.”

“Misao,” Kaoru rebuked quietly.

“Oh, come on!” Misao whined. “Why does everyone else know about all this? Secrets are mean!”

I bit my lip to keep from saying something really nasty, instead focusing on sorting my CDs alphabetically in the tower mounted inside the stereo case. Between the four of us, there would not be enough space on that thing.

“It’s a sensitive subject, Misao,” Kaoru murmured.

“But...” Misao complained weakly. I sighed and went back to the dresser, picking up the photographs. It was easier, I supposed, if she knew a little about it. At the very least, she would no longer nag at me. Sighing again, I turned and handed them back to Misao. Kaoru was surprised, if her startled blink was any indication, and Misao just looked puzzled. I pointed at the picture of my parents.

“Mom, Dad,” I stated, pointing to each image in turn. “Both deceased.” I pointed to the girl in the second picture. “My sister... also...” That was harder to say. Still, I had a difficult time with it. I swallowed in effort to get rid of the lump in my throat. “Also gone.”

“O-oh,” Misao stammered. “I’m... I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine!” I scowled at how rough my voice sounded and took the pictures back. I shook my head, disgusted with myself. It was going on five years since Tomoe had died. I should not have been getting choked up about it still. Again, I had to hold back a rude comment, but I sure as heck thought it: Aoshi never even questioned the me about the people in the picture. Can’t she act a bit more like her boyfriend? Granted, Misao would never treat me like a foolish idiot as Aoshi sometimes had the tendency to do.

I moved to put the pictures back into the box, suddenly wishing I had never brought them. That would have been a first.

“Kenshin.”

Blinking rapidly, I focused on the hands around mine, pushing them away from the box. Glancing up, I met Kaoru’s gaze uneasily. What was she doing?

“Don’t put them away,” she whispered.

I frowned but let her take the pictures from me. She set them on the dresser, amidst the multitude of frames already there. Smiling brightly, she turned to look at me again.

“See?” she asked. “One big happy family.”

She was trying to make the situation better. I had to give her credit for that, even if I was not all that keen on the idea of having those photographs out in the open like that. Finally, I shrugged and nodded.

“That works,” I muttered.

“Let’s say we call it a night,” Kaoru offered, gesturing to the clock. It was after eleven.

“Sounds good to me,” I stood straight, stretching my arms above my head and wincing at the sound of my spine popping. I glanced at Misao. She still looked a little sullen. I had been pretty harsh with her.

“We can share a bathroom to change and get ready,” Kaoru offered, hooking her arm through Misao’s.

I smirked and nodded my agreement.

“That’s probably for the best,” I tilted my head to meet Misao’s eye. She had that hurt look on her face yet. I turned, brushing some hair out of my eyes. “After all...” I pulled open a drawer and pulled out a pair of pajamas. “I don’t need a jealous boyfriend chasing after me, and I don’t know how I would resist, being so close to Misao.”

Misao gasped, and Kaoru laughed. She knew I was joking, or she might have whacked me for that comment. Glancing back, I saw that Misao was blushing and trying to hide a smile. Satisfied that she was not mad at me, I tucked my PJs under my arm and walked into the nearest bathroom.

^_^

*Wardrobe--referring to the closets, not the clothes.

^_^

I ended up sharing a bathroom with Omasu. One would have thought the quiet young woman would be the least offensive of the three, but I rapidly learned this to be false. In fact, I soon discovered what it meant to be living with three women.

“Geez,” I grumbled, picking my way over discarded clothing to the kitchen. This was what laundry baskets were for--and was that a bra hanging on the bathroom doorknob? “You’re all slobs!”

“And you’re not?” Misao retorted blearily. She was never fully awake before ingesting at least two cups of coffee in the morning. I stared at her, then glanced out into the room. No... none of that stuff was mine.

“He’s got a point, Misao,” Kaoru commented, somehow managing to eat a piece of toast and pull on her socks at the same time. She had to be to work by eight. “Kenshin is meticulously neat. He’s got this obsessive desire for cleanliness.”

“Excuse me for liking a clutter-free environment,” I grumbled, dropping into the chair next to her. I nodded my thanks when Omasu handed me a glass of orange juice. “Besides... how would you like it if I left my underwear strewn about the place? My deodorant?” I glanced to Omasu, who blushed properly. Yes, she knew full well who was to blame for that. “I never knew girls could be so careless with their stuff.”

“I’d say we could discuss this now, but I have to run,” Kaoru snatched up a banana and inhaled that as well. “But maybe we should set up a few ground rules tonight. Sound fair?”

“I’m working until eight,” Omasu reminded us.

“And I’ve got a date--” Misao started.

“Tomorrow,” Kaoru added, scowling at her friend. “Honestly, you two. We wouldn’t be able to afford this place if not for Kenshin, so stop trying to weasel out of this! Just some basic rules, okay?”

“Okay...” Misao groaned. Omasu nodded, and I drank my orange juice.

“Kenshin?” What? She wanted me to answer too?

“Sounds good,” I quipped.

“Good,” Kaoru echoed. “Then I’m off. See you all later.”

I glanced at the other two girls as the door shut behind Kaoru. Misao was oblivious, drinking her coffee and staring at the comic strip she had been reading for the past ten minutes. Omasu avoided my gaze, staring into her own juice nervously. I sighed and stood up.

The bathroom was serviceable. There were four drawers and a cabinet under the sink. Fairly divided, I got two drawers, although I really only needed one. Omasu’s stuff was overflowing from her two claimed drawers, and I suspected it would not be long before I insisted she use a third. The shower was nice--just a stall. Kaoru and Misao’s bathroom had an actual tub in it, not that I cared. There was, of course, a toilet and a mirror.

Setting my clean clothes on the toilet seat, I turned on the shower. I spared a moment to glare at the rag, in a wadded heap on the shower stall floor, before stepping over it and standing under the hot spray of water. God... women!

^_^