I've been slaving away on these for awhile. I posted 1-8 here awhile 
ago, if you missed 'em, they can be found at:

http://nabiki.newberry.edy/nichan/fanfiction/anlhp.html

     Please people. I NEED C&C. I love my prereaders to death, and they do 
find some of the errors, but not all of them. If you find them (and I sure 
you will) PLEASE tell me so I can fix them. That includes spelling, grammar 
word usage, what have you. Thanks in advance!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nicky Townsend
battou1028@aol.com
battousai@licensedtokill.com

     Warning!! This chapter contains slight Yaoi overtones. That means boys 
kiss each other. If your not comfortable with that, then you may simply want 
to email me for a chapter summary.

     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. 
 

A New Life, Part 9
 

"I heard a rumour...
It was just a rumour...
I heard a rumour...
What have you done to her?"

 "Arabian Knights"
Siouxie & The Banshees
 
     Kaori ran. It was comforting to feel her muscles ache as they did, 
because it momentarily dulled the pain of 
what she had just seen. It was instinct that guided her home; her sight was 
too badly blurred by tears for it to 
be anything else.

      In a way though, she was glad, she thought, as her speed tore her hair 
back from her face, that she had found out so quickly. It could have been 
worse, so much worse...A new layer of sobs bubbled up from the depths of her 
chest, and she wanted so badly to be at home, locked in her room, away from 
everyone...

     Not too far now....she tried to comfort herself, You're almost there, 
just another block...

     And then she was there, and with sob of relief this time, she slowed as 
she ran through the old dojo's gates. Still though, she hurried inside, and 
past her mother's intruding eyes, and after kicking off her shoes, she 
thundered up the stairs attempting to make no more, but no less, noise then 
she always did. She did not holler her customary "Okaa-san! 
Tadaima!" She was afraid her voice would shake too badly, and betray her 
distress. 

     None to soon, she entered her room, and closed the door behind her, 
making sure she had turned the lock. Nearly 
ripping them in her haste, she removed her school uniform, and dove into bed, 
face first. Her pillow would be her only 
comfort. Her pillow always listened, it was never rude, or late, and it never 
cheated on her...

     How was she going to look at Kevin tomorrow? She'd burst into tears if 
she saw him. All she could do was resolve herself to not look at him, 
especialy not while he smiled (she'd melt instantly, and she knew it) and if 
she had to, she would think of how...comfortable...he looked with that other 
boy. If she replayed that in her mind she could stay mad, and if she stayed 
mad...then she could get through this.

     If she stayed angry she could ignore how incredibly hurt she was, even 
though they had only been dating at week. But the truth was, she wanted to 
believe that what she had seen hadn't been real. She wanted to believe that 
all of yesterday had been a dream and that there was no strangely familiar, 
and extremely hansome foreigner kissing her boyfriend. 

     Former boyfriend, she added to herself almost as an afterthought, as she 
felt her eyes start to drift closed from all the 
effort such an envolved crying spree had taken. 

     And soon after, Kaori fell asleep, tears still trailing down her cheeks.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
     Kevin let his gaze stray worriedly to Kaori's empty desk. To his 
knowledge, she was NEVER absent, and NEVER 
late. It went against her grain. 

     It was almost two hours into class when Kaori finaly showed up. Her face 
was a little puffy, and her eyes were 
blood-shot. Her normaly immaculate apppearance was anything but- her hair 
hadn't been brushed and had been 
pulled into a messy ponytail, when she normaly wore it down. Her school 
uniform was wrinkled, and looked like it 
had been thrown in a crumpled heap into a corner and left there.

     Kevin, for the life of him, couldn't figure out what could be wrong. 
Maybe she'd had a fight with her parents? He fingered her bokken where it 
stuck out of his schoolbag.

      He could do nothing to soothe her at present, he'd have to wait until 
lunch. He eyed her worriedly for the next two hours; that was all he could do.

     The moments ticked by ever so slowly, but even still the second hand on 
the clock moved. When it completed its circle, the minute hand jumped forward 
a pace. Round and round went the second hand, and slowly but surely, the 
minute hand followed, and even slower still, the hour hand. Kevin 
contemplated the irony of his situation to no small degree, and although he 
disliked the idea, he had to admit the old saying was wrong:

     A watched pot DOES boil, but only when it got darned good and ready to 
do so, and this evil clock on the wall of his classroom seemed to have the 
same kind of attitude.

    But surely enough, the time did pass, even if its speed was far too slow 
for Kevin's taste. He shot out of his seat as though out of a cannon the 
instant the lunch bell rang. He folded his arms on the front of Kaori's desk 
and sank into a squat, peering over the edge.

     His first clue that something was really wrong was when she briefly 
looked up at him, and the instantly lowered her head again.

     "Kaori, what's wrong?" He inquired reaching to lift her chin, so he 
could look at her. 

     She swiped at his hand, brushing him away. She didn't say anything for a 
minute, and then said in a low whisper "Can I have my bokken back now, 
please?"

     Kevin felt something akin to dread settle in the pit of his stomach. He 
ignored the possibilty that jumped instantly into his brain. He'd watched her 
leave. And so he tried again, this time his eyebrows puckered together, his 
worry showing not only in his face, but also in his voice. "Kaori....Please. 
Tell me what's wrong."

      Although her eyes were hidden behind the thick curtain that were her 
bangs, Kevin thought he saw a little of the shiny wetness before she could 
manage to swipe it away with a quick brush of her hand. Once again she was 
silent; her breathing was deep and slow, as though she were trying to steady 
herself. 

      "Kevin." Kaori kept her voice low. She knew that this would already 
generate rumours; they were still in the classroom, and while some of the 
students had left, a greater portion of them had stayed. She was sure that 
many, very curious stares were being shot their way. And so she needed to 
stay calm for now. She needed to keep her voice steady for now. 

      "Kevin." Kaori said again, "I saw you with him. I saw everything."

     All his blood abrubtly dropped into his feet, and his body went 
completely numb. He must have turned an alarming shade of white, because now 
the curious looks they had been getting before intensefied tenfold.

     He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his sight. He had a sudden urge 
to burst into tears. He reached for her hand, in hopes that she would allow 
him to take it. She drew away from him, as though pulling into a shell. He 
left his hand laying on her desk, and he picthed his voice as low as possible 
to keep it from shaking as he spoke. "Please let me explain things to you. 
You don't have to forgive me, but let me explain. Please. You don't ever have 
to speak to me again afterwards if that's what you want." No matter how he 
tried, a note of desperation snuck into his voice. 

     At this Kaori raised her head a little, enough for him to see her eyes. 
They were puffy and blood-shot, just as he'd thought earlier, although now, 
her eyes were completely dry. "And what if I don't want to hear it?" she 
asked him quitely, her voice deadly calm. 

     Kevin stood up slowly, one of the joints in his knees protesting with a 
loud pop. He made his way back to his desk, and grabbed his book bag. Once 
again, he walked back to Kaori's desk, and pulled her bokken out of his bag, 
and laid it quietly on the hard wooden writing surface. With that done, he 
turned and walked out of the classroom. 
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
     Kaori hadn't expected Kevin to just pick up and walk out. She watched 
him march machanicaly out of the classroom, his gait stiff, and his face that 
of a stone figure, frozen in time and lost on a faraway island.

     Kaori had seen that look on her own face before and knew very well what 
it meant. She could almost see him sweeping up the remains of his shattered 
heart into a little plastic dustbin. 

     She watched the door as class resumed. Some part of her belived that 
Kevin would come back to class and she could apoligize for being so cruel. He 
hadn't lied to her. He hadn't denied what she had seen. He hadn't even begged 
for forgiveness; all he'd wanted was for her to listen. She wasn't angry with 
him, she realized as she stared at the papers on her desk. Her pride was 
hurt. That's why she had refused his request.

     A small and nearly silent gasp escaped her; how many people had she 
refused out of pride? Some of the girls of the school had tried to talk to 
her before, and she had snubbed them. In fact, she had snubbed almost 
everyone who wasn't part of the Kendo club. But why had she done that? She 
didn't used to be this way.

* Shiro *

      But could she blame everything on him? He may have been part of the 
reason she avoided everyone; the mental anguish he'd caused her had made her 
want to hide in the deepest hole, as far away from anyone else as possible. 
He'd made her feel like trash to be thrown away...

      And perhaps she had avoided deeper contact with everyone, just to avoid 
feeling that way ever again? So perhaps part of it was his fault.

      But it had been her -choice- not to recover from what happened. Her 
choice. Her parents had put her into threapy after the fact, the psychologist 
had always told her that he wanted to help her, if she let him. But she had 
to make a -choice- to recover. She hadn't made that choice. She had managed 
to convice him that she would be able to function in everyday life; and that 
was where the threapy had ended.

      Now, two years later, she understood what the phsychologist had meant. 
She would recover when she was ready, when she decided to stop living what 
had happened to her everyday of her life and wallowing in the remaining pain, 
because that was all she felt she had left. Now she knew different. All she 
had left had walked out of the classroom at lunch. And before him, she'd had 
nothing at all.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
      Later that day, Kaori walked dejected towards the school gates, trying 
to think of some way to patch things up. She passed through the gates, not 
noticing until he was practicaly on top of her, that someone was waiting for 
her. 

      The tall boy from the day before jumped in front of her and gestured 
for her to stop. If possible, today's outfit was even more outrageous then 
the last. His chest was covered in a veil of fishnet, and...and...Kaori 
blinked not quite beleiving what she saw. He was wearing a long and rather 
graceful looking skirt, and over which was a curious belt that had long bits 
of thin chain strung between metal loops, in a decending fashion. His shoes 
rather alarmed her when she noticed them. The had a very shaply pointed toe, 
and sliver buckles going all the way up the side; she counted 12 in all.

      The tall boy let her stare, a grin lighting his features making him 
appear boyish. "If you're done staring at me, I'd like to talk to you."

      The boy's English sounded weird to her, his accent was thick with 
something she'd never heard before. She blinked a couple of times, processing 
what she had heard, and translating in her head. After deciding that her 
translation was accurate, she nodded slowly, not quite sure what else to say. 

       He waved his hand forward, gesturing for her to join him. "I don't 
bite, you know."
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 
      Kaori found herself at a small coffee shop that cattered to foreign 
touists. It had a small inclosed patio away from the street. The tall boy 
bought her a soda, and for himself, a steaming cup of a deathly black looking 
brew. 

     "You know, Kevin never told me your name." The boy stirred his coffee 
while dumping sugar packet after sugar packet into it.

     "Kaori. Myoujin Kaori...." She took a sip of her soda, not sure she 
liked the particular one he's picked. It was pale green and sickly sweet.

     The boy gave her a small salute. "Nice to meet ya, Kaori. I'm Sam. I'm 
sure I'm making all kinds of cultural blunders, but you'll have to forgive 
them. I have a story to tell you."

     Sam paused, as if unsure of how to begin. "About a year ago, I met a boy 
who I fell comepletely in love with. It was very confusing to me because that 
person was male, and I didn't think that I bent that way. But that person 
helped me figure out what was important to me. He helped me do what I wanted 
to do. It's thanks to him that I have my job."

     "Now remember that I loved this boy with all my heart." Sam continued 
"He helped me quit speed, and helped me study for my GED. This boy gave and 
gave, never caring what he got in return. And then...one day his parents told 
him he had to move far away, to the otherside of the world. When he told me, 
he kissed me, gave me his phone number, and said goodbye."

     "I went out to visit him, to discover that he'd already completely 
forgotten about me, and had found a beautiful girlfriend. He and I exchanged 
words, and eventual he gave up, and explained the facts to me. He always had 
a way of making me see. So I accpeted what he said, and asked him if I could 
kiss him goodbye. I knew I'd never see him again, and this boy was my first 
love...I kissed him goodbye, and went back to my hotel room, not planning to 
visit him again. But today, he showed up at my hotel room, in tears and 
shaking. He told me his girlfriend had seen us kiss, and now she wouldn't 
forgive him. He wasn't sure if it was because I was male or just because. 
Tell me what you think of this story."

     Kaori looked at the tall boy in front of her. At first she hadn't 
realized who he was talking about, but now...This was Kevin's ex-boyfriend. 
There was nothing else he could be. After a few moments of silence, she said 
softly, "I don't know what to think."

     Sam looked down at the girl in front of him, her hands wrapped around 
her cup of soda, and huddled down in her chair. She did seem very confused. 
He shook his head. He have to spell everything out. What a trial. The things 
he did for Kevin...

     Sam put a long slim brown cigarette in his mouth, and flicked open his 
silver lighter. The tip caught, and he took a long deep draw off it. What a 
trial indeed. 

     "Kevin loves you." He said bluntly, and Kaori looked up at him sharply. 
"He had no problems telling me goodbye. I know he cared for me a lot. But I 
don't think he loved me. He loves you. You two have been together, what, a 
week at most? Normaly when a boy is dumped after only a week, he just thinks 
to himself 'Ah hell, screw her anyway' and goes on with his life. Kevin was 
practicaly hysterical when I saw him earlier. " 

     "He...was?" Kaori ventured. It was obvious that Sam was very protective 
of Kevin.

     "I hope you didn't decide not to forgive him just because it was a guy 
he kissed?" Sam spoke, his voice becoming low in pitch, beginning to sound 
almost like a growl, "If you're that shallow, then he doesn't need you 
anyway. That's something else Kevin taught me. You can love someone regarless 
of what sex they are. It just doesn't matter. If you limit yourself that way, 
you could be missing the most important person in your life. You should love 
someone for what they are inside, regardless of their gender. Sex is just a 
result of love. Because I still love Kevin, I want him to be happy. And I 
think that he can be happy with you. But you need to forgive him."

     Kaori's felt her eyes go as wide a saucers. All of what Sam had said had 
struck a chord deep inside her, and she took it all to heart. Her vision 
blurred, and she quickly blinked the tears away. She wasn't sure why she had 
almost started crying. Taking Sam's large hand in one of her smaller ones, 
she looked him in the eye, and smiled. "Thank you Sam. I'll go talk to Kevin 
tonight." Sam colored deeply, and said gruffly "You're welcome. I better not 
have to fly out here again next time you guys have a fight."

     "I'm going to go now." Kaori stood up leaving her unfinsihed soda on the 
table top. "Is Kevin at his house?" Sam only nodded; she'd caught him while 
he was dragging off his cigarette. "I'll go over there now then!" Kaori made 
for the small gate that led from the patio back out to the street. 

     "Remember what I said, Miss Kaori! Don't make me come back out here!"
 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     Remember people, if you found mistakes TELL ME so I can fix them! I 
can't fix them if I don't know they are there after all! Of course I wanna 
know if you liked the story too....

Nicky