I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters.

A/N: Hi guys! This will be a short, three-part story by MissTeak, and I believe it will be a lot different from many other stories out there. It will be focused on the topic of friendship, "girl talk", to be specific, between Kaoru and Megumi. It is strictly not yuri. In fact, I am going to portray love, life and friendship through three conversations between the two ladies at three different stages of life. Namely at twenty two, thirty two and forty two. Pairings will obviously be Kenshin/Kaoru and Sanosuke/Megumi.

The reason for writing this is, well, while not all people find love, I believe every girl out there has a girl friend that has always been there for her no matter what. This story is a celebration of the sisterhood we girls forge with our dearest friends.

Enjoy the first part of the trilogy!

Girl Talk

Twenty

I glanced at my watch. It was already 2.25pm. Leaning forward in my seat, I sucked hard on the oversized purple straw to draw a large gulp of my bubble tea.

Strawberry milk tea with double pearls; my absolute favorite at the bubble tea café.

The baby pink beverage was slightly frothy on the top and creamy at the base, and for some odd reason, I thought it looked cute and romantic in its own way.

It would look cuter, and more romantic if he was here to share the drink with me.

Every other table at the bubble tea café was occupied by at least two people, and I was the only one sitting alone like some socially ostracized victim. Or rather, I had been in that position for the past 25 minutes. The ice in the bubble tea was melting, and the sweet strawberry flavored tea was diluted. I chewed away furiously on the firm and slightly sweet tapioca pearls, wondering where on earth my best friend was.

"Kaoru! There you are!"

There she was, with her trademark coy smile, at the entrance to the small but cozy bubble tea café. Megumi waved, weaving through the gaps between other tables effortlessly. Her long black hair was slightly out of place and she was dressed in a simple white tee shirt with a pair of dark skinny jeans, but Megumi always looked good. Not just good, but beautiful. Looking at her with a mock reproachful smile, I was once again was reminded of why Megumi was so popular among the men in our college.

Megumi was blessed with a tall, slender figure complemented with fair, creamy skin, which formed a perfect contrast with her sleek black hair. Did I mention that she had the most amazing metabolism rate? She never got fat no matter how she ate. I had to work out on the other hand, but then again, I enjoy working out. Kendo was my forte and passion, and it was also through the sport that I met him.

Alright, back to Megumi, before I start hyperventilating right there in the café. I knew I was not too bad myself; I was no stranger to praises on me being 'pretty' and 'sweet'. But Megumi was in a total different league. She was not pretty; she was beautiful. I was the pretty girl, and she was the beautiful lady.

Her sharp, elegant features were enhanced by the intelligence and confidence shining through her eyes, and there was just something about the way Megumi smiled. It was coy, playful and sexy at the same time, and some of the girls at college actually thought it to be an underhanded trick Megumi used to get the men. I used to think so too, until I realized it was not a trick. Perhaps what was so frustrating about Megumi was that her immense charm was natural. She was just so direct and real, funny with an innately evil streak.

And as usual, Megumi got more than her fair share of both quick, sneaky glances and open, appreciative staring from the males in the vicinity as she walked by them.

Not that she enjoyed this sort of negative attention; in fact, she detested it.

Honestly, thank goodness I was straight, or I'd have gone after my best friend. That thought made me chuckle.

"I am so sorry for being late." Megumi smiled, taking a seat at the table. "Strawberry milk tea with double pearls again?"

Trust her to know my favorites. I nodded, asking, "What's the excuse for today?"

Megumi waved her hand absentmindedly. "You wouldn't want to know," And turning to the waiter, she smiled politely. "Can I have a honey jasmine green tea with pearls and mixed jelly?"

The waiter left with the order taken, while I waited for Megumi to answer my earlier question. Knowing Megumi, it was most probably problems to do with the male species again. "So who is it this time?"

"It's Ogawa." Megumi replied, sighing in exasperation. "You know, Ogawa Yoshiya?"

That was a pretty familiar name, and I tried to match the name to a face. "Oh! The Students' Union vice-president?"

Nodding, Megumi sighed in exasperation. "I was ready to leave school, but he demanded to know why I could not accept him. He just couldn't accept a simple 'no'."

"And you're looking so perplexed because you had no choice but to tell him the truth," I voiced out her thoughts, looking at her sympathetically. "The truth that you are no longer single and available. I bet Ogawa demanded to know the identity of the guy you're seeing."

"This is why I always call you an expert. You should teach me some Kendo so I can take care of those pests by myself."

The mental image of ladylike Megumi pulling out a Kendo stick and running after some poor dude was pretty funny. You should try conjuring it in your mind too.

"So you told him you have kind of been seeing Sagara Sanosuke?" That was Megumi's sort of (if that term even made sense) boyfriend, a sports health and physiology major who was also the captain of the varsity basketball team. He was another high-profile, prominent character on campus, but unlike Miss Elite Megumi (I swear I'm not sour!), he was known for almost all the wrong reasons.

Well, they were both really good-looking people, but if you knew Megumi and Sanosuke personally like I do, you'd know why I secretly dub them Hutu and Tutsi. You know, the two ethnic factions of the worst ethnic conflict in Black Africa in the 1990s. I initially wanted to dub them North and South Korea, but I could not decide who deserved the title of potentially-nuclear-weapons-blasting North Korea more. So they became Hutu and Tutsi.

Except that in the case of Megumi and Sanosuke, peace talks and negotiations and even coercion were not able to solve the conflict.

Now you know why my jaw was almost dislocated when Megumi secretly confessed to having gone out with Sanosuke. All I had needed was flashing lightning and booming thunder to complement the incredulous look on my face then.

No one could have imagined. Well, I knew Sanosuke liked to pick on Megumi deliberately to get her attention, but it had never occurred to me that the interest was mutual.

Yet by some amazing careless mistake on Cupid's part, the warring factions saw a merger. I sincerely hope this merger holds before they decide to blast each other into extinction.

Megumi nodded. "Yeah, the abovementioned chicken head chose to appear then. It was…well, to say it reminded me of World War II is not an exaggeration. That stupid Rooster was so close to pecking Ogawa into the ground. It is so frustrating, Kaoru, especially when I've told him countless of times-"

"That you do not wish to make your relationship officially known." I completed her friend's sentence, well-aware of where the conversation was heading.

It was one of Megumi's very few problems which we could not really resolve. I could not understand why she was so unwilling to admit to their relationship, when there was essentially nothing much to hide.

She did not reply, but instead, settled for playing absentmindedly with the pearls and jelly at the bottom of her glass.

"What's holding you back, anyway? Sanosuke, hmm…if one knows him well, one would know he's a big softie underneath that tough cookie exterior."

"I don't know…there are times when I know I really, really like him…but sometimes, I just feel so insecure. He can be so childish at times, you know?" She sighed. I looked at Megumi, knowing it was not too easy for her to talk about her on-off relationship with Sanosuke. "I don't know if I can trust him, especially when I know there are so many girls out there who are interested in him, and Sano is not exactly keeping a distance from them. He knows they like him, but that's not stopping him from hanging out with them, laughing with them, flirting with them…"

"Aww, come on! Sano has been like this since I got to know him in elementary school. But I can tell he's serious about you…"

"Enough about me," Megumi said hastily, and it was obvious she was once again evading the question. "What about you and that handsome redhead?"

My heart skipped a beat.

It was my turn to fidget and lose my speech ability temporarily. I hated it when this happened. "I…well, we…"

"Himura Kenshin, right? Nice name." Megumi mused, before nodding to indicate her thanks as her order was served. "The 'ken' is like the sword, while the 'shin' represents the heart. It's a very good name, with a delicate yin yang balance between the strong and the gentle elements. I presume he has a soft interior behind the tough exterior."

Did I tell you my best friend was totally into Japanese linguistics as well? She loved to analyze the kanji characters in others' names. It was usually annoying since I had no idea what she was going on and on about, but then again, it was Kenshin's name she was analyzing.

Two years my senior, Himura Kenshin was the captain of the Kendo club at our college. We were very close, and he was very nice, polite and friendly to me. He knew my feelings for him, and I could feel that I was more special to him compared to other girls. We were in that stage of uncertainty, whereby there was the unspoken acknowledgement of mutual feelings, but nothing else was done about it. But then again, what could I expect? Nothing would come out of this, not when she was still in the picture.

Kenshin…he looked so…so hot when he was sparring with the other guys from our Kendo club. He looked good with the mask on, but when he sparred recreationally without the mask, he was…well, he was simply divine. The way his eyes narrowed in concentration was too sexy. I think one can have an orgasm simply by looking into his mesmerizing eyes. And his hair…the flaming red ponytail swung like a streak of wild fire behind him when he launched his speedy attacks and manipulated his body coordination expertly…

"Earth to Kaoru!" Megumi snapped her fingers in front of my face, startling me. "You're absolutely obsessed with Himura. Himura Kaoru…that sounds pretty nice!"

"For your information, Sagara Megumi, I believe Himura Kenshin thinks of me as a Kendo team mate, close friend and nothing else. Besides, I recently discovered why he was no longer as open to relationships as he used to be."

"Firstly, I am not Sagara Megumi. I shudder to imagine myself giving birth to a fluffy, yellow chick. Secondly, please don't tell me Himura is gay. That'd be so disappointing, especially when our school is severely lacking cute, eligible bachelors."

"…and so says the girl who's secretly dating the guy who got crowned Mr. Varsity last year."

"Whatever!" Megumi rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her drink. "As if I don't hear Sano brag about it often enough. He won it because there was hardly any competition…no one else was shameless enough to participate in something so brainless. Why would any self-respecting man choose to parade himself on stage clad in nothing but that tiny piece of swimming trunks?"

I laughed out loud; Megumi could get really funny at times. I shall be nice and not remind her that she actually turned up after Sanosuke got into the semi-finals to secretly watch him "parade himself on stage clad in nothing but that tiny piece of swimming trunks".

I was there with her, and to be fair, I had to admit Sanosuke had a darn good body.

"Alright, back to Himura Kenshin. What's holding you back? I've seen him a few times around school, and he is either alone or with a bunch of guys."

I sighed. This was not going to be easy…

(Megumi's POV)

I saw my friend sigh, the usual sunshine muted in her entire being. Somehow the topic was not going to be pretty, but then again, what were best friends for?

"He's interested in women, right?" I asked slowly, trying to prompt an answer out of her. "And he seems to be single."

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, I know he is not seeing anyone now. In fact, we are really close, but…there is another girl who is occupying his heart."

"He has a crush on someone else?" Damn, no wonder Kaoru was upset. It was most upsetting to see the guy you liked like someone else. Now you guys know how I feel when I see Sanosuke winking at his posse of girls while I sit in a corner, pretending not to know him and not to be interested in his affairs in the least.

Kaoru took a sip of her strawberry milk tea, before her pretty eyes met mine. Those enchantingly large eyes were sad, and she looked hesitant in that instant.

"What is it? You don't intend to keep this from me, do you?"

She took a deep breath, and said softly. "The girl he likes is his ex-girlfriend."

Ex-girlfriend? I could feel my brows furrow as I frowned. That did not make sense in the least. I analyzed the situation quickly and logically, and this was my verdict.

"Kaoru, well, as you put it yourself…it is an ex-girlfriend. I don't know how you define it, but 'ex' means it is over. Go for it, girl! They are no longer together anyway…you are not snatching him from someone else, so nothing should be holding you back."

The sunshine did not return to Kaoru's pretty, girlish face. Rather, she looked even gloomier than before.

"Megumi…you don't understand. She's not exactly an ex-girlfriend. The thing is…" Kaoru's sentence trailed off, before she raised her eyes to meet mine. "She's dead. She's a late girlfriend."

Damn. That was bound to complicate matters. Who would have thought? I usually had a response for everything, but even I was dumbfounded.

"I cannot win against a dead girl, especially when I know he loved her so much. You know, Kenshin appears to be alright on the surface, but apparently he is still hurting on the inside. She was a senior at our school too, but she was a year older than he was, so none of us got to know her." Kaoru said softly, her eyes staring blankly at the table top.

"When I first joined Kendo club, I knew he was single, but I did not know anything beyond that. It was only recently when I heard about Kenshin's past from another senior, Rangiku. She showed me a few old Kendo club photos, and…"

"And what?"

"Well, let's just say that even if his late girlfriend was alive and I could compete against her fairly, I wouldn't stand a chance."

I was quick to respond to that. How could Kaoru possibly have so little confidence in herself? "Why is that so? Is she that amazing?"

"She is beautiful." Kaoru said, though it was obvious she did not like to admit that.

"That's rubbish; you're very beautiful too."

That was true; Kaoru was a very attractive girl. On top of being very pretty and sweet-looking, she was sporty, bubbly, individualistic and jovial. She would make the sort of girlfriend whom a guy could go mountain climbing and wakeboarding with. Everyone liked Kaoru, and she had her fair share of secret admirers and suitors. She was like the sunshine; anywhere with Kaoru had an extra burst of energy in the atmosphere. She had the uncanny ability to light up any darkness and instill liveliness into any gloom situation, and she was the right person to talk to if you ever needed to smile.

Did I tell you her smile was amazing? If she smiled at you, there was no way you wouldn't smile back. It was just so heartfelt, so bright and inviting. On top of that, Kaoru's girlish face was matched by a very amazing body. Years of hard Kendo training had resulted in a lithe, athletic body, toned and well-proportioned in every aspect. She had amazing legs, though she was always lamenting she'd like them better if they were longer, and she always looked fabulous in shorts.

Himura Kenshin was a lucky man, indeed.

"I don't see why you think you can't compare to that girl, whoever she is. It is not as if you are ugly." I pointed out matter-of-factly.

"We're just not in the same league," Kaoru gave me a withering look, taking another sip of her drink. "She's the…well, she falls under the same category of beauty as you. The dignified and elegant beauty."

"That's bullshit." I rolled my eyes.

She took a deep breath. "Well, you can see for yourself. Her name is Tomoe. Yukishiro Tomoe."

Pulling a small album out from her sling bag, Kaoru placed it in the middle of the table. Tearing my eyes away from her downcast face, I flipped the album open. Honestly, I was ready to put down the girl in terms of her appearance despite not knowing her, no matter how beautiful she was. Kaoru was captivating and beautiful in her own way, and she deserved to be assured of it…

"Rangiku told me these photos were taken back in their second year, before you and I entered college. Kenshin and Rangiku were in their second year, while Tomoe was the Kendo club manager, and she was in her third year…"

Wow.

Kaoru's words were lost on my ears as I found myself staring at one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. She was the first and the only one to catch my attention upon laying my eyes on the picture, and there were a total of eight others in the picture.

She was the epitome of a traditional Japanese beauty, with a slender, willowy frame and porcelain translucent skin. Her enchanting smile, kept frozen in time by the camera, was a dignified upturn of those dainty cherry blossom-colored lips. Her eyes were large, but instead of being childishly rounded, they were more of long, ending at the sides with a very subtle lift. Even though she was smiling happily, those eyes had an unspoken melancholy swimming in their depths, which I believed, was what sucked countless of men down her vortex of attraction.

I found myself flipping the photo album immediately. The next picture was a candid shot taken of her reading a book in a corner by the side of the training hall. She was one of the rare beauties who could look good even if she was not smiling.

"See what I meant?" My head snapped up at hearing Kaoru's voice. "That's her, Tomoe."

Guilt wracked me for having been caught admiring how beautiful Tomoe was; I was Kaoru's best friend, and I was supposed to reassure her.

"Kaoru, I mean-"

My friend smiled sadly with a wave of her hand. "Nah, Megumi. That was the right reaction for everyone. I mean, we would be doing her a memory injustice if we insisted she was ugly or whatsoever. I heard from Rangiku she was voted online the most beautiful girl on campus and won the Miss Varsity pageant for three years in a row. Not surprising, eh?"

"Three years in a row? What about her fourth year?"

"She died in her fourth year, sometime in late March, when the white plum blossoms were in bloom."

Oh dear. The gods must have been jealous of her extraordinary beauty, to have taken her back to Heaven at such a young age.

"What happened to her?" I found myself feeling incredibly sorry for this beautiful girl whose life was so tragically short, even though she was the reason barring my best friend from the happiness she deserved.

"A hit-and-run accident…" Kaoru said softly, and I knew, she too, felt sad for Tomoe. "It happened so suddenly, no one could accept the news. Apparently she was at Kenshin's that fateful night, and he just casually mentioned that he felt a little hungry. From what I heard, she had told Kenshin to wait at home since he had a long day at training, and she would go to the convenience store nearby to buy something for him. So off she went, and she never came back again."

That was horrible…it must have been a terrible blow for Kenshin and Tomoe's family and friends, to lose someone so dear to them overnight.

"Kenshin still blames himself for it; he believes if he had insisted to go with her, the accident would not have happened. Or perhaps even if the accident still took place, he could and would have died in her place. Tomoe wouldn't have died then."

My heart felt incredibly heavy. I could practically feel the waves of sadness as I stared at Tomoe's smiling visage frozen in the picture. "It's not really his fault; he should know that."

"It was his girlfriend who died…no one would understand how he felt." Kaoru said. "It's already been two years since the accident, but I think the pain is still raw."

I nodded silently. Kaoru was indeed caught in a complicated situation; it made my problems with Sanosuke look petty and childish. I was averse to making our relationship official because I did not want to appear like one of those bimbos draping themselves over Sanosuke like a curtain. He could be childish, shallow at times, and perhaps I was just afraid of how people would view me. I hated to know that I might be classified as 'one of Sano's women' and I found it hard to believe that he was really true to me.

I drew a sip of the slightly sweet honey green tea. While I believe it was definitely possible for Kenshin to fall for Kaoru, she would have to wait by his side and help heal him bit by bit.

"I am not telling you to take advantage of his pain and conveniently fill the void Tomoe left behind, but if you truly care for him, you should stay by his side and allow time to heal those wounds slowly. Help him get over Tomoe's death, but you should know that she would never be forgotten."

Kaoru looked questioningly at me, but as cruel as I knew it would sound, I had to tell her the truth.

"Kaoru," I began, trying to evade her beautifully innocent gaze. "You should know if you took things too quickly, this would end up being a relationship with three parties in it. Tomoe is dead, but she died when they were very much in love. To expect him to forget clean about her is impossible, unless he is a heartless creep, and I don't think he is one."

Biting her lower lip, Kaoru nodded. "I know."

"If he never recovers from this hurt, you might end up being a replacement. We cannot let that happen, so you have to be strong for him and for yourself. Never evade topics involving Tomoe; rather, help him by talking about it. Trying to hide her memory would not help in the least. He has to move on, and I am sure he knows it, but the fact that she died indirectly because of him is holding him back in the emotional dilemma. You are the one who can help him out of it."

That was something that hadn't occurred to Kaoru; she had been clueless about how she should deal with the situation should the topic of Tomoe come into their conversations. Sometimes, it just took someone who was not in the picture to provide the best advice, and she knew she could count on Megumi.

Kaoru nodded again. "Thanks, Megumi. I wouldn't have known what to do if it wasn't for you."

I smiled reassuringly at her and wrapped my fingers around her hand. "You know, I will always be here with the advice if you need it."

"And you too, best friend. Don't reject Sanosuke…it hurts him to know you are unwilling to admit to your relationship."

Sanosuke felt hurt? My eyes widened in shock. It had never occurred to me that Sanosuke actually cared that much about how I felt. I never knew my feelings mattered that much to him. The thought of a sad Sanosuke made my heart feel as if someone was squeezing it.

"He told you that?"

"Well…while he didn't really spell it out, he was saying something like, 'I don't understand why she's deliberately keeping a distance…heck, I feel so stupid hankering for her attention but I can't help it…I really, really like her.'" Kaoru said, before adding with a laugh. "He didn't elaborate further…you know, male pride."

I shook my head and laughed. Sanosuke is a stupid idiot indeed. He had no clue, just how much I liked him too.

To be continued…

A/N: The next chapter would be "Twenty-five" and once again, new problems and issues would come into the lives of these two lovely ladies. I hope you enjoyed chapter one, and found it a refreshing change from the usual styles. Please drop a review!