My Stress Reliever

by Yoshiko Hatake

Ren Maaka is getting hungry for something new and different. Can this new girl be the snack he always wanted? Or could their relationship bud into something more? Romance, Comedy, Drama, Rated T for safety.

Erm…Ren is probably a bit OOC in this…sorry if he gets a bit out of hand…

Disclaimer: I do not own Karin. Only Emi Sakuragi!

Chapter 1: My Fair Maiden

"Ah…what a boring night." Ren muttered, he was walking down an empty street, he hadn't met any beautiful girls yet, and for some reason, he wasn't in the city yet. He was just wandering away from the busy streets, for once.

He sighed, and then smelled it, stress, deep stress. He spun around and saw no one around, he narrowed his eyes in frustration, when he turned back around, he felt someone gently bump his shoulder as they walked by. It was a girl, she was quite small compared to himself, coming up at a short height, about just above his elbow. She was wearing a trench coat, and her hair was long and a dull red color. He raised an eyebrow and started walking after her, but she seemed faster. In the next second she was on the busy streets and had disappeared. For the first time, Ren went after her, that scent never leaving him, he wanted to know just who she was. He finally did reach her, but she was walking into a restaurant, he followed but she was gone. He sighed.

"Um…excuse me…" A young waitress said, walking over, face flushed, and she looked quite embarrassed.

Ren's eyes looked down at her, "Yes?"

"Um, I'll show you to your table." He frowned looking around but nodded, he had to find that girl.

The girl led him to a vacant booth, where he sat down and she gave him a menu.

"One of our waitresses will be here in a moment." She said and walked off quickly, bright red from coming into contact with him.

And soon enough a waitress was there to take his order. She had the same dull red hair color, and she had soft, light red colored eyes. She wore the same uniform as all the other females. Short skirt, frilly apron, lacy and frilly edges, white and pink. He looked her up and down, she had to be no more than 15, with her size and with how her face looked so innocent.

"May I take your order?" She said, breaking him away from his thoughts.

"Hmm…what do you think I should order?" He said, realizing it was that girl, the scent coming strongly from her. So he kicked into his flirtation mode.

"I'm not sure, if you're hungry get food, if you're thirsty get something to drink." She said, as if his flirtation didn't even touch her.

Ren was stumped, "Well…Coffee then please."

"Ah, so you're thirsty." She commented, "Will that be all?"

"Yes." He said, starting to doubt his senses.

"I'll be back with your coffee soon." She turned and walked off.

Some of the girls who worked there were talking to one another and their conversation caught his attention.

"What is with her? I mean, he was flirting with her. Or am I just getting stupid?"

"I dono, she's always been weird. Guys always flirt with her, ask her out, and stuff like that. She just ignores them, like they're brick walls. She's so weird. All she does it work, work, and work."

"Yeah, I know what you mean—wait—Shh, she's coming by." The two girls went back to working on clearing a table, as the girl they were speaking of walked by with a small tray with the cup of coffee perched on it.

She walked over to him and set it down, "Anything else?" she asked. He shook his head, and she walked nodded walking off to another table that was calling her over, all the while his eyes following her.

At the table she was at, there was a group of sleazy guys, they all were ugly, and the 'leader' of the pack, had a glint in his eyes.

"Hey, there pretty lady. We're pretty hungry."

"What would you like to order?" She replied, like a robot.

"You of course." He said.

"I'm sorry but waitresses are not on the menu." She replied.

"Well how about we make you on the menu? Wouldn't you like to make some extra money? You can meet me in the back alley." He said.

"Sorry, but I enjoy the salary I have here now. I'll come back with some water for all of you." She turned to walk off, but the leader had flipped her skirt up, pretty high. She spun around, using her hands to bring the skirt down a bit lower and cover up her backside with her hands.

"Please refrain from doing that sir." She said, blushing, as she skittered off to get the water for them.

Ren raised an eyebrow at the performance. The men at the table merely high fived one another, believing that their pathetic 'leader' was the best because of what he was able to do.

She returned with the water, setting them all down on each other their tables.

Ren asked for the check, which he got, he paid, left a tip, and walked out of the restaurant.

The girl came over, cleaned up the area and pocketed the tip before depositing the money into the register.

Her shift had ended, so she was dismissing herself as she kept her jacket over one arm, with the other she held open the lid of the trash bin. She threw the trash in and closed the lid. She started putting on the trench coat, when she was stopped. The men from before had cornered her.

"Come on, Angel, how about we take you for a trip?" One said.

"It'll be fun." Another replied.

"No, I'm sorry, I have to go see my mom." She tried to walk around them, but the leader just pulled her back, and each of the members grabbed onto her, holding her down to the floor.

The leader positioned himself over her and his hands started to reach down to her to begin what ever he fantasized.

But he was stopped.

"Hey. Real men don't rape woman." Ren had come onto the scene, he had caught the girl's scent again, and when he went after it hoping it wasn't the same person he met earlier, but to his dismay it wasn't, instead of leaving he stayed long enough to see what the men were trying to do.

So he did what any man would do, step in and save the fair maiden.

She looked up at the man, tears in her eyes, begging for help.

"And what if we don't want to?" One of the guys said.

"Then I'll make you." He warned. The guys all stood up, in front of him, about to beat the tar out of the guy. But then they stopped, seeing a glint in his eyes. Instead the men backed down from her. They all gave him dirty looks as each passed by.

She sat up, hugging herself, and hiding her face. He walked over to her and leaned down.

"Are you alright?" He asked, offering her his hand. She took it and stood up.

"How about I walk you home?" He suggested, no longer wanting anything out of her, but generally worried over her well-being.

She nodded, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, as he led her away from the city and down a city. Then she stopped.

"Um…is it alright, if you were to walk me to the hospital? I need to visit my mother." She said, quietly.

"Uh…sure." She started walking, him following closely behind, his hands deep in his own pockets.

Soon enough they were at the hospital, leaving her approximately 15 minutes to see her mother. He waited in the corner of the room. She was by the woman's side talking to her.

"Ne, oka-san." She began, "I met this guy today, he was really nice. He sorta helped me in this small situation I was having today. But everything is fine, today was a normal day, nothing really happened."

What a lie. Ren thought.

"Oka-san, do you think when you get better we can go to the beach again? Like we did when I was younger? It'll be a lot of fun, so I'll keep waiting for you, alright?" She stood up, her back to him, as a silent tear fell down her cheek.

"Ano…Sakuragi-san, may I have a word?" The doctor had stuck his head in, and she quickly wiped at her face, which Ren took note of. She left the room, and Ren watched them from the window that was in the room.

She looked a bit shocked, and backed away from the doctor. He patted her shoulder, with a saddened look on his face, as he walked away. She sat down on the bench. Ren left the room, and sat down next to her.

"Can I ask what is wrong with your mother?" He asked, quietly.

She didn't answer for awhile, and he nearly gave up, "A year ago, she was in a car accident, and she fell into a coma. That's basically it. It costs a lot of money to keep her alive. So, I work to pay off the bills, and some of the money from her account goes to the medical bills as well. But he said it's probably not enough."

"What about your farther? Why won't he do anything to help?"

"He left us when I was 5, he's dead to me."

Ren didn't say anything. "I'll take you home, alright."

She nodded, and they kept walking, him by her side, while she walked ahead of him, by a few inches. They finally arrived at an apartment complex, and he walked with her in front of her door.

"Um…thank you…so much. For helping me then, and protecting me, and everything."

Then it hit, the overwhelming stress she was feeling, and that smell hit him like a brick wall.

She started crying, and he stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her as she cried into his chest.

"Are you okay now?" He asked, after a few minutes, after she had cried. She had let him into her home, and they were sitting on the edge of her bed. She had calmed down, but the stress still came from her.

He started feeling tired, but he needed to finish his business, so he reached out for her face. He cupped her chin and gently brought her face up to his, and leaned down to kiss her.

She was suprised for awhile, but kissed back, they held it for awhile, but as his lips left her's, they went down to her neck, and he readied himself to bite. But then he blacked out.

I believe this chapter was probably really bad, sorry if it was. But I hope you liked the first chapter of My Stress Reliever. I also hope you enjoyed reading it, if not, well okay, if you did then yay! Reviews? They make me smile. Hehe. (You don't need to leave one, if you do then thank you very much.)

-Yoshiko

Some notes:
Oka-san means mom/mother
Ano means um…/erm…
Ne means right?/hey