Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Azumanga Daioh Fan Fiction ❯ Love Reincarnate ❯ First Meetings ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Love Reincarnate
A Rurouni Kenshin Alternate Universe Fic
By: Serenity-chan

Chapter 1:
First Meetings

Souzou stopped dead in his tracks.

"Whaddyou mean 'not this hall?'" he demanded.

"The bathroom is down the MAIN hall and to the left," Reichi said flatly, waiting for the grip of hands around his neck. "This is a dorm, remember?"

Souzou growled in frustration and stalked back down the hall, grabbing his bag and stomping out of the room. The entire dorm woke up when he slammed the door. Reichi sighed and considered himself lucky. Souzou was in for a rotten day.

Midori was NOT awakened by the crash that echoed five feet from her door. She had been up sketching all night. Pulling a short pink bathrobe on over her shorts and tank top, she headed for the door to investigate the commotion. She pulled the door open only a slight fraction and gasped at what, rather WHOM she saw.

'It's him...' she sighed in her thoughts.

She watched him storming down the hall and made a rash decision.

"You!" she exclaimed, heading out her door.

Souzou stopped at hearing a female voice and groaned inwardly. This just HAD to be a CO-ED dorm, DIDN'T it!? This was turning out to be the worst day of his life... That is until he turned around and saw who had been speaking to him.

All of a sudden, he saw a young woman who looked exactly like the one before him, only she was wearing a powder-blue traditional yukata. She was crying and smiling at the same time as she looked up at his face, reaching out to take him in her arms. Did he know her?

"Me?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"YOU!" cried Midori, rushing towards him.

'Oh great,' Souzou complained to himself. 'The first girl I meet is the school nutcase...'

"What about me?" he asked.

Midori stopped in front of him, suddenly feeling very stupid. She WOULD just do something like that, WOULDN'T she!? Sure, he and her dream guy had a similar appearance - hell, they could pass for twins - but her dream guy was just that, a dream. She had probably just scared THIS guy half to death.

"Um... Nevermind... You just looked like... someone I used to know," she said lamely, hanging her head in shame. "I'll just... go now..."

She turned to leave, but froze when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

"Hang on," said Souzou. "You look sorta familiar too... Have we met?"

"I don't guess so," Midori said quietly, not looking at him. "I'm probably just not awake."

Souzou smiled, quirking one corner of his mouth.

"Midori Saginuma," Midori introduced herself in monotone, figuring she had just made a total fool of herself. "I'm a freshman."

"Nice ta meetcha, Saginuma-san," replied Souzou. "Well, I'll probably be seein' ya around, so I guess I'll let you get back to sleep, huh?"

"I guess so..." Midori said, trying to keep from sounding sad and disappointed.

Souzou removed his hand from her shoulder and turned to leave. Midori turned to watch him go, thinking she had forgotten something. He was only a few door-widths away when it kicked into her.

"Wait!" she exclaimed.

Souzou stopped and turned around, smiling at her again.

"Yes?" he asked, cocking one eyebrow charmingly at her.

Midori blushed and looked down at her pink-slipper-shod feet.

"You never told me your name..." she said shyly.

Souzou smiled fully, a youthful, mischievous expression.

"Sagara. Souzou Sagara," he told her with a wink. "Remember that, cos I think we're gonna wind up being pretty good friends..."

Midori blushed darker as she watched him turn and head down the hall.

"I guess I'll see you later... Sagara-san," she whispered as she turned back into her room and shut the door behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Midori was heading for lunch when her best friend Nanaka Tsukayama cornered her.

"So spill!" she demanded. "Who was that TOTALLY hot guy I saw you with this morning?"

Midori choked on her own spit.

"What!?" she demanded, her voice a little strangled.

"My room is RIGHT next to yours, Ri-chan," Nanaka stated. "I saw the whole thing. So who was he?"

Midori blushed and put her bag down, fishing around for her sketchbook. She pulled out the red leather-covered book and turned to a certain section. Nanaka's eyes widened at the drawings in her friend's sketchbook. The young man she had seen Midori with this morning looked exactly like the one in her drawings!

"I don't know," said Midori. "And I made a total idiot of myself thinking he was the guy I've been drawing for so long..."

"You got his name, didn't you?" demanded Nanaka.

"Souzou Sagara," Midori said softly.

"Damn! Even his NAME's hot!" quipped Nanaka.

Midori blushed rose-red, snatched her sketchbook back and excused herself. As she practically ran down the cement pathway towards the cafeteria, her mind turned on her. Her inner voice berated her mercilessly for her actions. What was she doing acting like a giddy schoolgirl!? Was she turning twelve again or something!? Anyway, there was NO chance that the two men could be the same. She was repeating that in her mind over and over until...

*CRASH*

"Oh! Sorry about that!" exclaimed Midori, scrambling to pick up all her things. "Did I..."

She trailed off as she got a look at who she had run into.

"...hurt you?" she finished lamely.

Souzou smiled and bent to pick something up for her.

"Nah, it's no problem," he said dismissively, looking at the red leatherbound book in his hand. "So what's this?"

Midori took one look at the object in question and immediately turned bright red, totally mortified. Her sketchbook! It had been the first thing she dropped. And it had fallen... open. Souzou looked sort of flustered when his eyes fell on one of her favorite drawings.

"Really..." he choked out. "What IS this!?"

It was that same young man, the one who looked just like him, entwined in a passionate embrace with a woman who looked suspiciously like Midori. He was bare to the waist and she had on a traditional sleeping yukata that was in danger of falling open. Midori stared at the drawing, her mouth open and her face white.

"Just... a drawing..." she squeaked timidly. "I'm an art student..."

Souzou raised an eyebrow at her, then turned his gaze back to the page. This scene seemed oddly familiar to him. Did he know this woman? Why did she look so much like Midori? And why was he not... completely embarrassed? Why did it seem so... right for the two of them to be together?

"It's good," he said quietly, not really knowing what else to say. "Do you mind if I ask about it? Maybe at lunch?"

Midori's violet eyes widened. She had already made a total idiot of herself TWICE today, and here he was, the closest thing to the guy in her dreams, asking her to lunch! Her inner voices were going insane, screaming different options at her.

"Say no!" hollered Good-Girl Image. "You don't know him!"

Fantasy pushed Good-Girl Image out a window.

"This is it, girlfriend!" screamed Fantasy.

"Meep..." squeaked Lovestruck.

"A relationship is going to KILL your schoolwork!" announced Responsibility.

"Don't listen!" Rebelliousness told her. "Go for it! You need to live a little!"

"Sure!" Midori blurted out, a little too shrill and loud. "I mean, if you're sure..."

Souzou smiled and took hold of her hand. Remembering something that he had seen in an old movie his sister had DRAGGED him to, he planted a light kiss on the back of her hand. Midori's eyes widened again and her mouth dropped open. That was RIGHT out of Titanic!

"WHEEEEEEE!" squealed Fantasy and Romance, dancing and throwing flowers around.

"Sorry, always wanted to do that," mumbled Souzou, a faint blush staining his cheeks. "Uh, I guess we better go before the outside benches are taken..."

Midori smiled at him and nodded emphatically, her cheeks still tinted pink, and the two of them walked side by side to the cafeteria.