Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Bet ❯ The Transfer Student ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Rurouni Kenshin, unfortunately.

Note: I AM EXTREMELLY SORRY about not updating sooner, but my life has been really hectic! Anyway, I'm not going to babble on. Here's CHAPTER 14!!!!

MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Review of last chapter:

"Thank you for a wonderful evening and the present," Kaoru stated with a slight blush across her cheeks as she remembered the other present. She was still slightly shocked. After all, it had been her first real kiss.

"Your welcome," Kenshin stated.

"Well, I'll see you later then," Kaoru stated.

Kenshin leaned forward and gave her gentle goodnight kiss on the lips.

"Sayonara," Kenshin said calmly which he had pulled away from her.

"Sayonara," Kaoru replied back.

With that Kenshin turned and walked away and Kaoru entered her house.

:Kenshin POV:

'What was that feeling when I kissed her? I felt accepted and warm,' Kenshin thought to himself as he walked home, 'could it be that I've actually fallen for her? Do I love Kaoru?'

Kenshin thought to himself for a while.

'Yes, I do love her. This feeling is different from when I was going out with other girls. It's deeper. I really do love her, but there is one problem. I have to tell her about the bet. She's already forgiven me many times before and I'm sure that I don't have any chances left. How do I tell her that I really love her? How do I tell her about the bet without completely losing her?'

The Bet ReDone

Chapter 14 The Transfer Student

Kaoru tossed and turned in her sleep. No matter which way she laid, she couldn't seem to get comfortable. Her mind was off in another world, replaying the events that had occurred earlier that evening. Originally the whole dinner thing had been a way to get Misao and Aoshi together and also to let her spend some time with Kenshin. She never expected any of the other events that had arisen. Kaoru turned for the 24th time that night. She looked at her alarm clock and moaned as she saw that it was already 3:30 in the morning. She brought her hands together and placed them over her chest as she curled into a ball.

'I have no idea what to do now. At first I thought he was only doing this for show, but now,' Kaoru's thought before her mind began to wander off and revisit her memories of the evening.

::Flashback::

They walked down the street, Kenshin holding Kaoru close again to give her a little extra warmth.

"You're not too cold are you?" Kenshin asked with concern in his voice.

"No, I'm fine," Kaoru stated.

They kept walking until they reached the middle of the park. A light snowfall barely began to descend and the only thing that lit the park up was the faint moonlight.

"I had a great time," Kaoru stated.

"I'm glad," Kenshin said as he let go of her and reached into his pocket. Then he turned to face her, "here."

Kenshin handed Kaoru a small neatly wrapped box. Kaoru took the box gently from his hands.

"Kenshin what's this?" Kaoru asked slightly confused.

"Merry Christmas," Kenshin stated simply, "open it."

Kaoru obeyed and unwrapped the small gift. Once the wrapping paper was gone she held a small black box. She opened the box and gasped in shock.

"Oh my god," Kaoru whispered.

Inside the box lay a sterling silver necklace with a medium sized diamond in the middle. Kaoru looked from the gift up to Kenshin.

"You really shouldn't have," Kaoru stated.

"But I did," Kenshin said as she softly took the box from Kaoru and pulled the necklace out of it.

Kaoru held her ponytail to the side and bent her head down. Kenshin stepped slightly closer and clasped the necklace around Kaoru's neck. When he finished he stepped back slightly and Kaoru returned to stand straight up. She released her hair from her grip.

"Beautiful," Kenshin stated simply.

Kaoru blushed and looked down at the diamond hanging around her neck.

"I feel bad now. I didn't get you anything," Kaoru stated as she continued to look at her new gift.

"Don't worry this will make up for it," Kenshin stated.

Kaoru looked up at him slightly confused, but before she say anything Kenshin pulled her right up against him and placed his lips gently over hers. Kaoru was in pure shock and embarrassment at first, but slowly she leaned into the kiss, deepening it. Kenshin placed one arm around her waist and the other one around her shoulders, basically crushing her to him. Kaoru lifted her arms around his neck as they continued to kiss. Finally, they pulled away from each other. Kaoru was very flustered and surprisingly Kenshin was slightly flustered as well. Kenshin looked at Kaoru and smiled.

"That was not getting an actual present," he said with a smirk.

Kaoru couldn't help, but giggle slightly. Kenshin placed his arm around her shoulders again and pulled her to his side.

:: End of Flashback::

Kaoru blushed as the memory of the kiss came back. She closed her eyes and attempted to fall asleep. Slowly she drifted into a light sleep.

The next morning Kaoru woke quite late since she hadn't fallen asleep until around 4 in the morning. It was a good thing that she didn't have school today because otherwise she would have been extremely late. She slowly rose out of bed and let out a big yawn as she exited her room. She slowly made her way to the kitchen. Once she had reached her destination, she was surprised to see Megumi sitting at the kitchen table. Megumi looked up and gave Kaoru a cocky smile.

"Good morning sleepy head. Or should I say good afternoon since it's already 1 in the afternoon."

Kaoru looked at her in shock and stated, "It's already 1 o'clock!"

"Yep," Megumi answered simply, "Oh and by the way, Misao called about an hour ago. She seemed to be quite eager to talk to you."

:FLASHBACK:

Ring.Ring

Click

"Mosh i, moshi. Megumi speaking."

"Hey, is Kaoru there? I really need to speak with her," the voice on the other side of the phone said franticly.

"Oh Misao-chan. Nope, I'm afraid she's actually still asleep right now," Megumi stated calmly.

"Wake her up!" Misao practically screamed over the phone, "She still has to explain herself for last night!"

Megumi became slightly curious.

"Why? What happened?" Megumi asked curiously.

There was a dead silence on the other end. Two minutes later, Misao spoke up.

"Okay, well have Kaoru call me when she wakes up. Thanks! Bye!" Misao said quickly before hanging up the phone.

Megumi pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it slightly annoyed before she hung the phone back up.

:END OF FLASHBACK:

"So what did you do last night anyway?" Megumi asked Kaoru curiously.

"It's nothing really," Kaoru stated with a look of dread across her face, since she knew the reason why Misao was so eager to talk to her.

Megumi slowly made her way over to Kaoru and gave her a sinister look as she said, "Oh really. Why don't you elaborate on that."

Kaoru backed up slightly since the look on Megumi's face right now was not a very pleasant one. It was more of one of those looks that says you better tell me right now or be warned.

Kaoru quickly reacted, "Well, I better go call Misao back before she throws a fit."

Kaoru then quickly raced out of the room, in attempts to get away from Megumi. It happened so fast that Megumi didn't even realize what had happened until Kaoru had picked up the phone, in the other room, and had dialed Misao's phone number.

Ring. Ring

Click

"Moshi, Moshi. Misao speaking."

"Ohayo Misao-chan," Kaoru stated.

"Kaoru!" Misao said slightly angry.

"Hai."

"How could you do that to me! I felt like such an idiot. And don't tell me that it was a coincidence because I know it wasn't!" Misao yelled over the phone.

Kaoru had pulled the phone away from her ear because Misao had been so loud, but as soon as Misao was done she gently placed it against her ear again.

"Okay, I admit that it was a coincidence. However, I know that you liked it none the less, right?" Kaoru said.

There was silence on the other end of the line, so Kaoru knew she had been right.

"Okay," Misao started, "I did like it, but don't you ever dare surprise me like that again, got it?"

"Okay, I got it," Kaoru stated with a smile across her face.

"So do you want to get together today?" Misao asked.

"I would like that, but unfortunately I have to work from now until we go back to school. Sorry," Kaoru stated sadly.

"That's okay. Work hard and I'll see you back at school on January 15," Misao stated.

"Okay, see you then," Kaoru said, "Sayonara."

"Sayonara."

Click

Kaoru hung up the phone. She felt bad because technically she had lied to Misao. She had one day off before they went back to school, but she had wanted to spend that day doing something with Kenshin. It was then that she realized that she was late for work.

"Oh no! I was suppose to be at work a half an hour ago!" Kaoru screamed as she raced into her room to get ready.

So began Kaoru's long weeks of work. She worked at a restaurant so she made decent money with her tips. It helped to pay for their bills that had been piling up recently. Finally, January 14th came around. It was the only day off that Kaoru had off until she went back to school, which was in one day.

The day started pretty normally. Kaoru had gotten out of bed relatively early. She had taken a quick shower and eaten breakfast. Then at noon she decided to practice in the dojo a little. She had gotten rusty lately due to her lack of time to practice. So she went to her room and changed into her training clothes and then walked over to the dojo. Upon entering the dojo she grabbed one of the wooden swords that were in the corner of the room. She swung the sword around to get a feel for it again. As the atmosphere became familiar to Kaoru again, she relaxed and prepared to begin. Quickly she did the basic warm-ups. Slowly she moved onto more complicated maneuvers. About an hour later Kaoru had reached the final lesson that her father had taught her before he had pasted away. By this time she had gotten quite hot. Sweat was beginning to drip down her face. Of course she had been practicing nonstop for over an hour. She slowly got into position and closed her eyes as she recalled the time her father had taught her this technique. Quickly her eyes snapped open and she thrust forward, performing the series of attacks and defensive position against her imaginary enemy. As she brought down the final strike to her enemy she was brought back to reality by the small sound of someone clapping. She stood straight up, wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, and then turned around to find the source of the noise. She was surprised to see Kenshin standing in the dojo doorway clapping.

"Kenshin! What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked as Kenshin slowly enter the dojo.

"I came to see you," Kenshin stated as he ceased clapping, "that was a very good performance."

"How long have you been there?" Kaoru asked and she walked over the wall to grab one the towels she had left in the dojo for after practice.

"I came about the time that you started that last move. I stayed quiet since it looked like you were pretty focused," Kenshin stated as Kaoru put the towel down after wiping her face with it.

"Oh, but how'd you get in?" Kaoru asked as she walked over to him.

"Megumi let me in and told me that you were out here in the dojo," Kenshin said simply.

"Oh," Kaoru started.

"Do you want me to teach you a couple of things like I promised after I beat you last time?" Kenshin asked.

Kaoru looked at him slightly confused, but as she remembered that day she understood what he was talking about.

"Are you sure?" Kaoru asked as she looked in straight in the eyes.

"Yes," Kenshin said as he gently took the wooden sword from her, "now watch me and then I'll have you repeat it."

"Okay," Kaoru said.

So for the next two hours Kenshin taught Kaoru a few offensive and defensive moves. She picked them up pretty quick so Kenshin even had time to let her in on a little secret about how to improve her agility. By the time they were done it was already almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon. They put away the wooden swords they had used and walked out of the dojo.

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me?" Kenshin asked Kaoru as they walked back to Kaoru's house, which was only 20 feet away.

"That would be great," Kaoru started, but then quickly finished, "but I have lots of school work I have to finish and I really need to bathe again."

"Okay, well maybe another time then," Kenshin said as he covered up the small sadness in his voice.

Kaoru walked him up to the gateway and then they stopped. Kenshin turned to face her.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye for now," Kenshin said.

"Yep, see you tomorrow Kenshin," Kaoru said as she turned to walk back up to her house, but Kenshin grabbed her arm.

Kenshin turned her back to face him again and pulled her close to him. He then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Once Kaoru realized what was happening, she relaxed and leaned into the kiss as well. Kaoru raised her arms and placed them around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Slowly they pulled their lips away from each other, but they didn't move from the position they were in.

"Kaoru I have something I need to tell you," Kenshin said slightly nervous.

Kaoru looked up into his eyes and asked, "What would that be?"

Kenshin looked back into her eyes and attempted to get the words out, "Kaoru, I. the truth is that I.lo."

"Oh Kaoru's kissing a guy! Wait till I tell Megumi!" a voice shouted before Kenshin got the chance to finish.

Kenshin and Kaoru quickly pulled away from each other and turned to find Kaoru's little brother, Yahiko, standing there with a smirk on his face. Yahiko laughed and then attempted to race to the protection of the house. Kaoru lost it then.

"Get back here you little creep!" Kaoru yelled as she chased her brother around the yard until she had managed to hit him in the head with a tree branch that she had found on the ground. As soon as Yahiko was on the ground, Kaoru dropped that branch and returned to Kenshin.

"Sorry about that. What was it that you were saying?" Kaoru asked curiously.

"Never mind, it was nothing," Kenshin said with a small blush on his face, "I'll see you tomorrow Kaoru."

With that Kenshin gave her a small kiss on the cheek, turned, and then left. Kaoru just stood there slightly confused. Then she turned to go into the house when she saw Yahiko getting up. It was then that she remembered that it was Yahiko who had interrupted them and had stopped Kenshin was telling her that one thing. Her temper flared again and Yahiko saw it. His face turned pale and he quickly got up and tried to run away.

"Yahiko, I've got a bone to pick with you so get your butt back here!" Kaoru yelled as she chased her brother around the yard.

Finally, after two hours, things settled down. Kaoru took another shower to clean off the sweat that come with training most of the day. Then she ate dinner, did the schoolwork she had to do, and then went to bed. The next day came quickly and Kaoru found herself, once again, rushing to get ready. It was a normal day filled with schoolwork. She finally got to talk to Misao and Tae so they spent the whole lunch hour telling each other about their vacations. Kaoru and Misao told Tae about Christmas, but they left out a lot of details. Quickly the day was over. However, the next day would prove to be much more interesting. It started out like any normal school day until first hour.

"Class we have a new transfer student," Seijuurou-sensei announced to the students as a short boy walked into with short brown hair walked into the room.

The boy stood in front of the class. He wore loose blue jeans with a sky blue t-shirt and a jean jacket on top of that.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Soujiro Seta," the boy stated, "I'm a transfer student from Kyoto."

The class began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Quiet!" Seijuurou-sensei yelled to the class, "Kamiya-san I will excuse both of you from today's lesson so that you may give Seta-san a tour of the school."

"Yes, sensei," Kaoru said as she gathered her things and stood up. She walked up to Seijuurou-sensei's desk and he filled a pass out for them. Then her and Soujiro left the room.

"Hi, I'm Kaoru Kamiya," Kaoru said.

"I'm Soujiro Seta. It's nice meeting you," Soujiro stated with a smile.

"Same here. If you don't mind could we stop by my locker so I can drop my books off?" Kaoru asked the boy.

"Sure, no problem," Soujiro answered.

So they walked to Kaoru's locker and she put her books inside and then shut the door to her locker. She then turned to Soujiro.

"So where do you want to start?" Kaoru asked.

"It's doesn't matter to me," Soujiro stated.

"Why don't we start at the office and make our way around from there," Kaoru suggested.

"Okay," Soujiro answered.

As Kaoru showed him around the school they began to converse.

"So what brought you to Tokyo?" Kaoru asked.

"My dad got transferred here for work, so I moved here with him," Soujiro answered.

"Oh, I see," Kaoru stated, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, I'm an only child. What about you? What's your family like?" Soujiro asked as they made their way past the gym.

"My mother and father died when I was young, but I have a little brother. His name is Yahiko," Kaoru answered.

"So you live on your own with your brother?" Soujiro asked with a concerned look on his face.

Kaoru looked at him and laughed slightly, "Oh no. I have a roommate as well. She's studying to be a doctor so she's able to take partial care of us."

"Oh, that's good," Soujiro stated.

They had just finished the tour when the bell rang, dismissing the first hour. Kaoru turned to Soujiro.

"Well, that's it for the tour. It was nice talking with you. We should do it again sometime," Kaoru said.

"Okay, thanks for giving me the tour," Soujiro said.

"No problem. See you later," Kaoru said before she turned and started toward her locker.

"Bye," Soujiro stated before he too turned and headed toward his locker.

The rest of the morning passed by slowly. Kaoru was happy when it was finally lunchtime. She got her lunch and then met her friends at their normal spot.

"So what's that new guy like?" Tae asked Kaoru.

"He's nice," Kaoru answered simply.

Kaoru took a bite of her sandwich and then looked up at her friends, wondering why there was a sudden silence between them. Kaoru swallowed the bite she had taken and was about to ask what was wrong when a voice from behind her startled her.

"Kamiya-san is it alright if I sit here with you girls," the voice said.

Kaoru turned around and was surprised to see Soujiro standing behind her.

"Sure," Kaoru stated simply and Soujiro took a seat right next to her.

It only took Misao and Tae ten seconds before they began to ask Soujiro a load of questions. In fact they spent the whole lunch hour talking to him. As Kaoru was about to get up to throw her trash away, Soujiro stopped her.

"Let me take it for you Kamiya-san," he stated.

"Are you sure? You don't have to," Kaoru said slightly shocked at his preposition.

"Sure, think of it as my way to repay you for your excellent tour," Soujiro said with a smile as he took Kaoru's trash from her and walked to the garbage can.

: Elsewhere :

"Look's like you got a bit of competition," Sano stated sarcastically.

Kenshin, Sano, and Aoshi were sitting at their usual table. Kenshin had been a little nervous about the new transfer kid. Ever since the "tour" Kenshin had been a little skeptical about the relationship between Kaoru and Soujiro. It wasn't that Kenshin didn't trust Kaoru. It was more on the lines that Kenshin wasn't sure exactly how deep Kaoru's and his relationship looked in her eyes.

"Yeah right," Kenshin answered back.

However, it was then that he saw Soujiro take Kaoru's trash for her. Maybe there was a bit of competition after all.

"It doesn't really matter though. In a week, he can have her anyway. Since by that time you're supposed to have dumped her right? Or are you going to chicken out?" Sano joked.

Kenshin thought about it. That posed another problem. The bet. He had yet to tell Kaoru about it. It had crossed his mind earlier that maybe he wouldn't have to tell her. He wouldn't mind paying the $100 he would owe Sano. The problem came when Sano would open his big mouth and basically tell the whole school how he had won the bet. Either way Kenshin looked at it, he would have to tell Kaoru sooner rather than later if he had any hope of keeping her with him. The bell pulled Kenshin out of his thoughts. He watched as Soujiro left with the three girls. He even held the door for them. It was then that Kenshin realized that Soujiro could cause a problem. The rest of the afternoon went by normally. Soon school was over and the students left the building. Kenshin caught Kaoru on her way down the school steps.

"Hey Kaoru!" Kenshin yelled.

Kaoru stopped and turned around to face him.

"Hey," Kaoru responded, "what's up?"

"Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?" Kenshin asked.

"I'm sorry Kenshin, but the girls and me and going to find dresses," Kaoru answered sadly.

"That's okay maybe tomorrow," Kenshin said.

"Okay, maybe," Kaoru said, "bye."

Kenshin gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Then Kaoru turned and walked toward Tae and Misao who were standing at the bottom of the stairs. As they started walking away Kenshin watched as Soujiro walked up to the girls. They talked for a minute and then all four of them walked away together. Kenshin became curious as to what was going on so he followed them. He remain a ways behind them in order not to be caught. He watched as all four of them entered a dress store and the girls tried on dresses. Finally after an hour of dress shopping, the girls all had dresses. They split into two groups. Tae and Misao went in one direction and Kaoru and Soujiro went in another direction. Kenshin quietly followed Kaoru and Soujiro until they stopped in front of Kaoru's house. Kenshin got closer, but not enough so he could hear what they were saying. The two of them talked for a bit and then something happened that Kenshin had not expected. Soujiro leaned up and gave Kaoru a quick kiss. Kenshin stood there in complete shock as he noticed that Kaoru had not tried to pull away. Soujiro said good-bye and then walked away. Kaoru waved good-bye to him and then turned and walked into her house. Kenshin wasn't sure what to think anymore. He had just watched his girlfriend kiss another guy that she had just met.

'So is that how it is,' Kenshin thought to himself, 'well then let the game continue.'

For the next couple of days Kenshin and Kaoru never talked. Kaoru had noticed that Kenshin had been avoiding her. Of course she wasn't sure that she blamed him. After all, Soujiro had been becoming kind of close to her. They had become good friends, but the night that they had gotten dress Soujiro surprised her. He had confessed to her and had even kissed her. She had explained to him that she already had a boyfriend. He had smiled and said something like "looks like someone beat me to you." Kaoru was slightly happy about the confession since had been her first one since Kenshin hadn't done it yet. Although she hoped that he would soon. Soujiro had been understanding and said he would try to keep his distantness so that he wouldn't impose. Kaoru had thanked him. However, ever since that day it seemed as though Kenshin and her's relationship was weakening. The dance was tomorrow so she would find out the reason then.

Little did she know that she would find out more tomorrow than she would ever want to know.

::::::::::::::

Author's Notes:

Okay, I know the ending was a little quick and weird, but I couldn't find a good way to finish it and I had been typing for almost 5 hours! I'm EXTREMELY sorry about the delay, but I've been extremely busy with the holidays and illness and school. This is a long chapter to try and make up for the lack of update. I probably will have to update this later in the month because my birthday is January 8 and then I have midterms January 14, 15, & 16. So I'll be extremely busy studying since my midterms are 20% or more of my overall GPA. So, I hope this update will last a bit and sorry for grammar errors!!! I know Soujiro may be OOC quite a bit and the confession thing came really fast, but oh well. Anyway, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!! THANK YOU!

Translations:

Hai: Yes

Moshi, Moshi: Hello (when they answer the phone)

Sayonara: Good-bye

Ohayo: Hello

Sensei: teacher

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