| The Circle Game; A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic by Kitty Woolfson First draft of The Circle Game, 5/2000. Chapter 1: The Circle’s Beginning This story takes place in the 20th, or 21st, century in a suburb of Tokyo. Since I’m not that knowlegable about the layout of the city of Tokyo a lot of this is guesswork. Names of districts have been made up and any similer or same names are coicedence. The only exception is the well known districts like Asakusa, Shinjuku and the other ones any idiot knows.--------------- It was a beautiful day; to Aoshi. The sky was overcast and the gray clouds hung low. Every once in a while a short drizzle of rain would leak out of the clouds and elict cries from the more squeamish pedestrians. Aoshi walked in silence. He liked it that way. He liked it quiet and alone and peaceful. It let him think and it gave him a center of calm for the rest of the day. If he could just get his few minutes of calm before school started. He paused and leaned against the smooth, cold stone of the gates and stared up at the school building. Across the slightly weedy courtyard a few girls skipped up the steps. A particularly dark bob of hair caught his eye. ‘Her again,’ Aoshi thought. The cute girl he had seen around. She turned back to glance over her shoulder and speak to her friends and he got a clear view of her face.‘Why do I feel like I’ve met her before?’ He wondered as he stood up off the wall and headed toward the building. ‘I feel like her name is right there…’ He wrinkled his forehead for a moment, then shrugged and strode into the building. "Misa-chan! Do you have last night’s homework?" Chiho asked as she piled books into her locker.Misao shook her head and stiffled a yawn. "Uhn-uh," she replied, "I was up until three finishing my paper and reading assignment."Chiho’s hands flew to her face in alarm. "Oh-no! The reading!" Misao made a mock-surprised sound and shook and finger at her friend as she shut her locker. "Misa-chan, please!" Chiho pleaded. When Misao shook her head she clasped her hands under her chin and widened her eyes with fake tears."Chiho-chan," Misao lectured, "if I give you all the answers to the homework assignments, you’ll never get good grades on tests! You’ll end up in a lousy job that…" She gesticulated wildly and dramatically and her hand connected with something hard. It recoiled and gasped in surprise.Misao quickly turned around and bowed, saying, "I’m so sorry!""It’s okay, it’s okay," Aoshi replied, removing his hand from the center of his chest where she had hit him. "No harm done." He stepped around Misao and Chiho and headed down the hall. The girls watched him go in silence."Dreamy!" Chiho gasped as he disappeared "Mine!" Misao snapped back teasingly. "I hit him first, I get him first!" They giggled and walked down the stair way.After a few minutes of walking in silence Chiho turned to Misao and asked, "So, are you going to club tonight?"Misao smacked her forhead with a moan. "Oh shit! I’d completely forgotten!""Misao, if you never go to club, you’ll never get to be any good at dancing and you’ll end up in a lousy job…" Chiho said sternly."Oh shut up." |