Chapter 9: Pool time 2

A fanfiction by Kyo

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"It's been almost thirty minutes! What can they be doing that they don't come down?" Sano whined loudly, already in his swimming trunks, which were completely black except for the scattered white "Aku" Kanji over it, and on the edge of the swimming pool. His feet were already on the water.

Kenshin, who was at his side, lying on his stomach on the hot stone floor heated by the Sun, shook his head in amusement. "They are girls, Sano. You have a girlfriend, you should already know about these things." Kenshin was already waring his swimming trunks, too. His, as Sano's, were custom made. Kaoru had given them to him as a birthday gift. They were blue with prints of his face anime style and chibi with different expressions, one smiling, one crying, one laughing his head off, one glaring and so on. They were really cute, if not a bit childish.

"I know, but still. . . " Sano started. "How about we get in before them? What are we waiting for anyways?" Sano said with his trademark smirk as he stood up from his spot on the stone floor.

"Thought you'd never say it." Kenshin said as he too, stood up and prepared to get in.

Sano did not wait for any other comment. "Incoming!" He shouted as he jumped into the pool with a bomb dive, splashing water all over.

Kenshin smirked and jumped in too, tearing off the leather string that bound his red hair in the process, shouting as he hit the water.

Aoshi looked at them stoically, but in reality he was dying to get inside. He decided to act upon his wishes just this time and stood up from the chair under the roof he was on. He, too, was wearing custom-made swimming trunks. They were midnight blue with prints that read "The strongest" in white and black graffiti-like letters all over.

Unlike his companions, Aoshi's dive was perfect in every single aspect. Not even a splash was heard when he entered the water, and one could have sworn that he was a professional diver, only that he wasn't.

The girls saw the moment the boys entered the water. They were entering the roof beside the pool just when they had decided to get in. They had had some problems with the suits. That's why they had been a little late. It took a while to convince Misao that the suit she was wearing was the perfect one and that in no way she looked like a hooker in it. Misao was a bit delicate when it came to showing her skin.

Her suit was, indeed, a two-piece. It was completely pink, with only a really stylish hippie-ish yellow flower on the center of her top, which looked quite nice on her.

Kaoru's suit was a bit more daring. Completely black except for the cool electric blue highlights on the top and bikini, it captured your attention immediately. It was tinier than Misao's, the bikini being held in place only by a pair of strings.

Megumi's was even more daring than Kaoru's. Hers was completely red, for there was no place to put any other color in it. It was really tiny.

When they entered the pool area the boys did not notice, they were engaged in some sort of water fight. And, apparently, Aoshi was winning.

The girls cleared their throats to get their attention.

And what attention did they get.

When Sano saw his girlfriend in that tiny bikini of hers, his mouth went instantly agape. But then, he seemed to think better of it, and the cocky grin appeared on his face once more, but accompanied by something else which sent shivers running up and down Megumi's spine.

When Aoshi saw Misao, he couldn't do anything more than blink, and blink and blink. Trying to decide if the woman he saw in front of him was indeed the girl he used to baby-sit and that played with dolls with his imouto. The girl he had in front of him was a woman, and not only the best friend of his little sister.

Kenshin saw Kaoru, and his brain literally stopped functioning. Every single coherent thought drained from his brain and Kaoru was the only image he could recall and see. His mouth went agape as he felt his mouth go dry, his heart race, and his palms go sweaty, even underwater.

He was snapped out of his stupid-daze when Sano elbowed him, painfully. "Shut your mouth already, man!" Sano snapped under his breath, so the girls could not hear him. This made Kenshin shut his mouth immediately, not wanting to look like a complete idiot in front of the girl of his dreams.

Bad for him, he did look like a complete idiot.

Good for him, Kaoru did not notice that.

"C'mon, girls, get into the damn pool already!" Sano urged, but the girls paid no heed. They still had to apply the suntan.

When Kenshin saw Kaoru lying there, rubbing the suntan to her skin, he knew there was a nosebleed coming. Good for him, when he passed out, he was not in the pool anymore.

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"Orororororororororororo."

"Really, Kaoru, Kenshin's so shy! We were only starting and he already passed out!" Megumi said, exasperated. The other two boys were not really in better conditions, but at least they had not passed out, like Kenshin.

Kaoru chuckled as she pressed a towel damped with cold water to his forehead. "I know. But we were cruel, too."

Misao giggled, helping Aoshi sit down. "Yes. We were cruel."

An evil smile appeared on Megumi's lips, and Sano could have sworn fox ears appeared on her head. "Cruel, but fun!"

"Oi! Guys!" Suddenly a male voice called from the garden gates. Yahiko, clad in his school uniform, waved at them from a distance. Behind him, Tsubame fidgeted with her schoolbag.

"Yahiko-chan!" Sano called from his spot, laughing when Yahiko turned red from anger and embarrassment. The girls giggled mercilessly as he approached with Tsubame at his heels. She, too, was trying to hide a smile.

When they arrived to the pool area, Kaoru urged them to get to the dressing rooms some distance away from the pool, so they could get changed into their suits. When they asked how Yahiko had gotten his suit and clothes, the kids answered that when Saitoh had picked them up, they had gone to his house to get them.

Once they were all in the pool, Kenshin suggested they played a game. Everybody was for it in an instant. "Yeah, boys on girls on a water volleyball game." Sano suggested immediately.

"We are gonna beat you so badly!" Kaoru taunted, directing her gaze at Kenshin as they took their positions. Kenshin smirked a confident grin and returned the gaze. "Not in a million years."

Yahiko served. It passed the net, but Tsubame was already on it. She passed it to Misao who quickly got it over the net. Sano and Aoshi tried to get it at the same time, and Sano hit Aoshi's head with his own.

"Itaiiiiiiii!!!!!" Both boys screamed in pain. "Point for the girls!" Megumi called, paying no heed to the males in pain. Kaoru was laughing her head off, as Kenshin was, nearly drowning in the process. Yahiko was laughing too, calling the both of them some names, while they rubbed their sore spots. Tsubame murmured "Kowaii" in one corner as she watched both males blaming each other for their stupidity.

On the other and, Misao was worried about Aoshi. She approached him, stifling some giggles that tried to escape her throat as she thought over the incident.

"Aoshi-sama, are you okay?" Misao asked sweetly to a befuddled Aoshi.

This caused Sano to feel indignant. "Oi! Fox! Why you don't come here to see if I'm all right? She's not even his girlfriend and she's more worried than you are!"

"How can you expect me to be worried about that non-existent brain of yours!? There's nothing living inside your head, so there's nothing to worry about!"

This caused Kaoru and Kenshin to laugh even harder. And nobody knew what had happened to Yahiko, he could have really drowned from laughing so hard.

Sano glared at his girlfriend, somewhat hurt about that.

Megumi noticed, and decided that it had been enough humiliation for him already and decided to comfort him.

"Oh, c'mon tori-atama-baby! You know I don't mean it." She said, honey dripping from her every word. When he did not answer, Megumi decided to play a bolder tactic. She kissed him on the lips with all the passion she could muster having him on a pool, and both of them nearly naked. Sano forgave her that very moment.

Kenshin stopped laughing, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the situation. "Er . . .um . . .eeto . . . maybe we should leave it like it is. Kaoru, wanna come in for a drink?" Kenshin asked loudly, getting out of the pool to get a towel for her and another for himself.

"Oh, yeah. That would be nice, thank you Kenshin."

After they had dried somewhat, they decided to go to some part of the house where they would be alone. They decided that somewhere in the garden would be just fine. Kenshin grabbed his sandals and two big towels where they could lie on. Kaoru put on her blue and black open shirt and her sandals and followed Kenshin.

They decided to lie on a spot where they could sunbathe (more like Kaoru decided they would lie there so she could get a tan, Kenshin just agreed).

Kaoru lied on her back over the large beach towel on the grass, closing her eyes and just relaxing. Kenshin, instead of closing his eyes and enjoy the sun, he watched her. He watched her tranquil profile and found peace in doing so.

Just as Kenshin's eyes were starting to show his longing for her, she decided to open her eyes and looked at him. "What?" Kaoru asked with an amused and slightly embarrassed smile to a smirking Kenshin. "Nothing." He said innocently. "What were you looking at?" She asked with arched eyebrow. "Nothing." He repeated, just as innocently.

Eyeing him, Kaoru decided to drop the subject. "Tomorrow are we going to leave early?" She asked, closing her eyes again in relaxation.

"Aa." He responded. He chuckled when Kaoru made a grimace of distaste. She was not a morning person. "We have to leave at five to get there at ten or eleven."

"Five hours in the road? No way!"

"Aa. Five hours, at least. Could be more."

Kaoru sighed. Well, she thought, at least it would be five hours in the road with Kenshin. Certainly she could live with that.

She turned to look at him. He was no longer staring at her. They way he looked at her made her feel strange, in a good way. He always looked at her like she was something utterly beautiful that needed to be protected at all costs. She liked that.

They were actually very close to each other, their towels overlapping. They had started a meter away, but they had come closer as they talked. He had his eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the warm Sun against his skin. She brought her hand to his cheek, and with feather-like fingers, traced his birthmark. After a moment, he realized she was tracing his cheek. Her touch was so light, that at first he thought he had dreamt it. He looked at her over half-closed eyes.

"It's funny." She said after a moment. "I remember having dreamt about you with a cross-scar instead of this birthmark."

He tilted his head to take a better look. "The birthmark is the same shape." He commented.

"Yes. But in my dream, it was rough and sharp. This one is not."

"Oh." Kenshin said, having nothing smarter to say. He found the fact that she had dreamt about him strangely nice.

Kenshin, indeed, had a birthmark in his left cheek in the form of a cross, or an x, depending on the angle you looked at it. It added certain ferocity and masculinity to his profile. Kaoru found it to be one of his most appealing features, along with the long red hair and the sweet violet eyes.

"Turn around." Kaoru said suddenly, startling Kenshin a little. "Oro?" He asked stupidly, arching an eyebrow.

"Roll on your back. To get a better tan you have to turn around every ten minutes." She said matter-of-factly, as if it was something he oughta know.

"Okay." He said slowly as he truned around and she did the same. Not that he needed a tan, but he would go to hell and back to please her. So this was something he could easily do.

"Aoshi, are you sure you are alright? You seem a little spaced-out." Misao asked sweetly to a slightly dizzy Aoshi.

"Huh? Eeto . . . I'm alright, Misao. You don't have to worry about me." Misao's furrowed brow told that she was not at all convinced with that.

"You don't seem okay, Aoshi." She noted, putting a head on his forehead. "That hit in the head must have been harder than we thought."

"No, really. I'm okay." Aoshi said, gently removing her small hand from his forehead. "Okay, then." She relented.

But her cease-fire was only temporary. She observed him from the corner of her eyes, looking worriedly at him. He really seemed spaced out as he drank from his glass in short sips. His eyes were half-closed, and he did not look at all like his usual self. Misao knew something was not right with him.

It was already six, and Misao had to get home to pack and do other things, but she did not want to bother Aoshi into driving her there. Besides, he didn't look too well, and if he drove, it would be worse. She decided that she would take a cab, or maybe walk, to save a few yen.

She had lost track of her friends a good thirty minutes ago. She guessed Megumi and Sano had gone to change, and that Kenshin and Kaoru were still in the garden, sunbathing. Yahiko and Tsubame were probably playing video games or watching a movie.

"I gotta get going home, or otousan and Sou-chan are gonna kill me. Gotta pack anyway." Misao said casually, putting the dirty glass and dish on the sink.

The sound of the glasses hitting the surface of the sink woke Aoshi from his daze. "I'll take you home." He offered, almost mechanically.

Misao smiled at him. "That's not necessary, Aoshi. I'll take a cab, or walk."

"I'm not letting you walk alone, and definitely you are not taking a cab alone, either." Aoshi said a bit authoritatively.

Misao looked at him oddly. "I can defend myself perfectly well, Aoshi. If that's what's bothering you."

"I'm not letting you put yourself under unnecessary danger."

"Aoshi, my house is like two blocks away."

"Three and a half." Aoshi corrected, grabbing his trench coat as he passed the doorway and opened it for Misao.

Misao continued to look at him oddly but followed him outside anyway.

"Okay, then. I'll let you walk me home."

"That's so kind of you." Aoshi joked. He actually joked!

Misao smiled mischievously. "That's the way I am."

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"Hai?" Tsubame asked cheerfully without looking at him as she continued to watch "Fushigi Yuugi" in the TV.

"Ano . . ." When he failed to speak Tsubame looked at him. She titled her head cutely. "Yahiko-chan, are you alright? You look a bit red." At this, Yahiko turned redder.

"I'm okay." He said a little brusquely.

"What is that you wanted to tell me, Yahiko-chan?"

"Don't call me chan!" He said, indignant. Tsubame giggled, already used to the Kenshin-gumi's sudden outburts (mainly Yahiko's and Sano's, Kaoru's occasional and Misao's perpetual genki-ness). She was no longer scared when some of them happened.

"I'm sorry, Yahiko-ch-kun." She corrected herslef in the last moment. "What is that you wanted to tell me?" She asked, her smile never fading.

"I . . . er . . ." He cleared his throat. "It's still a month or more to go, but, er. . . would you like to go with me to the End of the Semester Ball of Hisakata?" He said quickly, with each word he turned a bit redder.

Tsubame turned red, too. "Er, yes, Yahiko-kun. I'd love to!" She said, trying to smile over her shyness.

Yahiko felt in cloud nine.

"Yahiko-chan! Time to go!" Kaoru's voice told from the entrance of the room.

"Er . . . okay, ja na, Tsubame-chan. See you tomorrow." He said cutely. Tsubame just nodded.

"Chan ja ne yo!!!" Was the ast thing Tsubame heard as she nearly scremed, "Kawaii!!!" and ran in search of her sister to tell her everything.

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