Part Three

Disclaimer: Obviously, I am not so brilliant as to think up wonderful characters like those in Rurouni Kenshin. That honor goes to Wasuki Nobuhiro alone. I also have no musical talent, so also obviously, I didn't write the song, "A New Life" That goes entirely to the two brilliant minds that make up the Pet Shop Boys.
   Additional Thanks go to Todd Hill, who is my dear friend. His wonderful Ranma fanfic "Careful Destiny" is a large part of the inspiration for this story.

"You can live your life lonely, heavy as stone
Live your life learning, and working alone
Say this is all you want, but I don't believe that it's true
Because when you least expect it,
Waiting around the corner for you,
Love comes quickly whatever you do"

   The Pet Shop Boys, "Love Comes Quickly"
   This boy...why did he seem so familiar to her? She found herself staring at him over the library table, and had to consciously tell herself to stop. Although she was sure he had noticed, he didn't seem to mind too much. When he caught her, he would just smile sweetly and silently go back to his work.
   It was strange though. He seemed to have a good knowledge of kanji, but had never seen a stroke of kana in his life. His Japanese was very good, if not overly polite. All she really had to teach him was kana, and that shouldn't take too long since he already spoke Japanese so well.
  And now they sat in companionable silence, with only an occasional question asked between them. The time seemed to pass more quickly then normal, and it was time to return. They gathered their things, and made their way back to class. Many of the girls glared at her as she walked in the door. She ignored them, and walked directly back to her seat and sat down, without another look at either Kevin or the girls.
   She tried very hard to pay complete attention to her lessons, but she found herself sneaking glances at him again. She needed to stop that. She didn't need anymore dirty looks shot at her back. None of them would ever get into a physical fight with her- she was the captain of the Kendo club after all. She knew quite well how to use her bokken, and her fists if necessary. Kaori sighed quietly to herself. Sometimes being the best at things wasn't all that great. The best student, the captain of the Kendo club, and was better dressed then most of them. Her family was even older then most. Perhaps they thought she was stuck up? Who knew? It really didn't matter. Kaori forced herself to dive into her lesson and forget about everything else.
   From his seat two rows away, Kevin let his eyes slid her way again. It was her, it had to be. She looked almost exactly the same, except for the red highlights in her hair. And her name was Kaori. That couldn't be a coincidence.
   When he learned that she was the captain of the Kendo club, it only served to reinforce his original hypothesis. It was strange though; when he had walked back into the classroom, he had felt a wave of hatred roll over them. It wasn't directed at him, but all same, it upset him. The longer I'm in this body, the more of myself I seem to get back! He thought. It's almost as though I'm being -integrated-. He'd have to ask Nicky about this later. He almost jumped when the lunch bell rang. Almost. He was about to get out of his seat to talk to Kaori, when a crowd of his female classmates surrounded his desk. His listened politely to introductions, and equally polite, if even somewhat coolly, he declined offers of tea after school, and homework help. As he tried to escape it seemed that they only crowded closer, as if trying to imprison him.
  : Finally in frustration, he stated coldly "Excuse me. I'd like to leave. Will you all move out of the way now, please?" General shock radiated from the crowd, but they moved away.
   "Thank you." He added, as Nicky found him.
   "You! Come with me!" She hissed in his ear. He found himself being carried off, out of the classroom and down the hall. After locating a place that was somewhat empty, the drilling began.
   "You didn't say anything weird to her did you?" Nicky instantly asked.
 :  "No!" Nicky's accusing tone caught him off guard. "No, all she did was give me a bunch of books on modern Japanese, explain them a bit, and then we came back to class. I didn't really get a chance to say anything."
   "Well that's a start. Are you sure it's her?"
   "I'm certain. She looks just like her, and her name is Kaori- too close to be a coincidence."
   "I hope you're right. Makes my job that much easier for a change. I'm sure The Guy Upstairs is gonna throw us a few curve balls along the way, but so far so good. Did you learn anything else about her?"
   "She's the captain of the Kendo Club. I guess she's the first female captain they've ever had."
   "Are you going to join?" she asked pointedly.
   "What?" Join? Join what? What was Nicky talking about?
   "Are you going to join the Kendo Club?" Nicky repeated, irritated.
   "I hadn't thought of that" It would allow him to get closer to Kaori, and learn more about her. He needed to make sure he wasn't trying to find something that wasn't there anymore. "...That might be a really good idea. Would you mind if I asked you a question?"
   "What's that?"
   "When I first woke up this morning, my mom was standing over me. Normally if someone came within a 10 meters of me, I would have woken up. Also I fell out of bed after she left. But when I tripped over you, I landed fine. And when I walked back in the classroom I felt something very near fighting ki from some of the girls. Could you explain this to me?"
   Kevin's body is getting used to having an ex-assassin sharing its space. I think that some of your reflexes will come back, and it seems even your ability to read ki is being incorporated as well. I doubt you'll get ALL of your old abilities back. But I could be wrong. Think of it like a new computer trying to load old software. It's still trying to figure out what to do with it, before it can get anything running properly. Understand?"
   "Ano...Sort of."
   "Ack. I keep forgetting that...oh nevermind. Everything is going as well as can be expected, and that's what matters. Lunch is almost over, let's get back to class."
   The bell rang again, announcing the end of lunch. Kaori had watched the blonde girl, Nicky, drag Kevin unceremoniously out of the room, and away from the crowd of disappointed girls loitering around his desk. And now they came back in, both of them returning quietly to their seats. Well it wouldn't surprise her if Kevin already had a girlfriend. He was gorgeous, she admitted to herself. She normally didn't let herself think that way because of what had happened the last time...
   Kaori shook her head sharply to clear her thoughts. Best not to think of that anymore. She was Kevin's tutor for two weeks tops, and after that, they'd probably never have any reason to talk ever again. She valued her solitude. Class passed quickly enough. She was looking forward to the end of school so that she could hand out the new uniforms and get practice started.
   Finally the bell rang signaling the end of school. She scooped her pens, binder, and schoolbooks quickly into her bag, shouldered it and scooted out the door. Halfway down the hall, a hand fell on her shoulder. She spun quickly around, surprised. Kevin. He smiled that same sweet smile.
  : "Would you mind if I came and watched you practice?" He inquired. He's interested in Kendo? It was probably just the obsession foreigners had with martial arts. Well, it couldn't hurt to let him watch, now could it?
   "Sure. Come on, I have some things to do before practice so we need to hurry." She didn't want too many people to see them together...
   "I was wondering..." Kaori started as they hurried out to the gym.
   "Yes?" Kevin inquired, following a bit behind her.
   "Is Nicky-san your girlfriend?" Kevin stopped in his tracks, and stared after her for a moment. She thinks Nicky-san and I...? How absurd. Well, how could she know? Kevin shook his head in amusement.
   "What's so funny?"
   "Dating Nicky-san would be like...dating my older sister. You don't need to worry."
   "WORRY? Why would I worry?" Kaori snapped back at him.
   Kevin waved his hands placatingly in front of him. "Calm down, I didn't mean it that way! I'm sorry." But I'm glad you took it that way...They must have had this same scene a million times before. If he wasn't sure of her identity before, he was positive now. She had reacted exactly how Kaoru used to when Megumi flirted with him. A secret little smile settled itself inside him, and life seemed so much brighter then it ever had.
 &bnsp; "So, what did you think?" Kaori asked him while she toweled the sweat of her recent workout off her face.
   "I don't think I'm any good at it at all." Kevin looked at the shinai he held helplessly. He wasn't any good. -Anymore- He'd NEVER been good with a shinai, anyway. He had to remind himself that this body hadn't been trained as his other had. And he'd been horrible when he started then too. Hiko had called him his baka deshi for a reason.
   But he had gotten better, he reminded himself. His helpless feelings were a chosen state of mind. What he had to do was look at the potential for growth. Kaori gave him a skeptical look "What do you mean, you're not any good? Everything I showed you, you did perfectly, and on your first try! I think you should join the club."
   "You think so?"
   "Yeah! If you learn everything this fast, you could be competing all over the country in a year! Are you -sure- you've never done this before?"
   "I've never held anything remotely resembling a sword before in my life." The irony of that statement almost made him laugh. He'd never held a sword in -this- life.
   "I can't believe that. Anyway, are you going to join?"
   "Well, if you think I'm good enough..." He let his voice trail off. Better she think she talked him into it.
   "You're good enough. Or you will be soon. You're in. I'll order you a uniform as quickly as I can."
   "Thanks! Um...I was wondering..." He went back over his earlier conversation with Nicky. As they'd headed back to class, she'd given him a few tips on modern dating. 'Kevin' knew most of it, but it was like he had to be -reminded- of it, for the information to be called forth. 'Kevin' had done what he was about to do many times. 'Kevin' had had confidence in his good looks. 'Kenshin' had never cared.
   "What is it?" Kaori smiled at him. He felt two of his important organs go to putty with that smile. One was his heart. He could go without blood for a few minutes. The other was his brain. That on the other hand...
   "Well...I was kinda wondering if...if maybe...well, you know...if you might wanna go get a cup of coffee, or tea, or whatever it is you drink out here, or something. Yeah." He mentally shivered in disgust. Open mouth, insert foot.
   Kaori's face froze. She shook her head, and bowed politely. "I'm sorry, I need to get home now. I have a lot of homework. I'll see you tomorrow at school." She practically ran as she turned the corner, and left his sight It was Kevin's turn to freeze; only his was in shock. He knew it wasn't the most brilliant thing he could have said, but it wasn't that bad! Or was it? Vague stirrings of panic fluttered through him, like dry autumn leaves. A billion what-ifs filled his head.
   "Oi, Hannah-san, your jaw is hanging open."
   A boy his age, only shorter and wirier, stood next to him. Yoichiro. He was a member of the Kendo club, and one of the better ones. Kevin let his jaw snap shut, audibly so.
   "What did you do, Hannah-san?"
   "I didn't do anything. At least I don't think I did anything. If I did, I don't know what it was."
   "You didn't ask Myoujin "Ice Queen" Kaori out did you?"
   " 'Ice Queen' ?"
   "I remember she had a boyfriend her freshman year, and he was the Captain of the Kendo club then. He was a senior. When he graduated, he disappeared to college, and she didn't hear from him for a long time. "Then one day, she took the train to his dorm to visit him, and she 'caught' him with another girl. He tried to apologize, and get her to take him back, even offered to leave college for her, and ditch his scholarships too. She told him what to do with himself, and got a restraining order against him, so he'd leave her alone. After that he kept trying to call her. She's gotten him arrested multiple times for breaking the restraining order. I don't know what he did to her to make her hate him so much. She won't talk about it. But ever since then, she's always turned every guy down. So don't feel bad, man, it happened to everyone else too. No one's got a chance with her. "
   "Ack. What a pathetic thing to do to someone!" Kevin couldn't believe that someone would do that to her. He didn't know who that guy was, didn't -care- who he was. He needed a beating. Dark tendrils of anger flared inside his gut, and swam around amidst his organs, stirring the person he once was, even a lifetime away. One golden eye slowly slid open, glanced around, assessing the situation coldly, and slid shut once more.
   "I agree. Which is why I understand why she turns everyone down. You might wanna just do yourself a favor, Hannah-san, and quit while you're ahead. She seems to think that she's found a great student in you. Be happy with that."
   Yoichiro strode down the hall, in the same direction that Kaori had gone. A second later, he stuck his head back around the corner. "You didn't hear that from me, got it? Last thing I need is a good beating -before- a tournament."
Some Notes: I've gone out of my way to make Kenshin/Kevin and Kaoru/Kaori seem sort of OOC. I have reasons. C&C is always welcome!
PS: I wanna thank Tae-san for her invaluable comments, and fantastic editing! Arigatou gozaimasu! More thanks go to Zaz-chan, for ALWAYS reading my fics (no matter how bad they are) and for her encoragement!
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