I do not own Kamichama Karin OR "Lost Butterfly" by RURUTIA! On with the story!

XXXX

Butterfly, I wander around, the subway is a maze

I fly and fly, but I can't find a way out

XXXX

Her pencil made strokes on the paper, delicate but agile.

Notes? Pfft. Don't make me laugh.

Karin was suppose to be writing notes, seeing as she was at school, but knew her strong suit wasn't learning. Or smartness (smartness?). Or paying attention…

Anyways, she could always try to read whatever textbook they were reading later. Right now, she was drawing another scene from a fantasy. Did you know she has a whole notebook full of these fantasy drawings? They're spectacular, breathtaking even. Curiously, her assignments in art class turn out to be rigid, smeared, and tacky.

This drawing was of a castle. It had tall spiraling towers, large domes of blue glass that had the appearance of bubbles, tall windows stained with all sorts of blue glass, and a light gray brick structure that seemed to blink in the correct lighting. However, unlike her other drawings of castles, this one had a more somber background, despite the cheeriness the castle itself demonstrated. The sky was a drab gray, and lusterless snow fell from the deep gray.

Karin drew simply what she thought, what she saw in her head. It was all a part of a greater picture, her inner fantasy. A fantasy she could only escape to in the safe haven of her bedroom.

As for everything else, it held a forbidding danger, a colorless landscape that drained her hope.

She was an orphan; she lived with her abusive Auntie, who didn't care for Karin other than paying tuition for her school and giving her a roof over her head. Punishments were dealt in blows from a fist, kick, or nearby object. Her screams of pain were silenced in the same manner. Nearly each day she retired to her bed with purple stains all over her aching body, sometimes littered carelessly with blood.

She was meek, shy; she only spoke when spoken to or to mutter a question. She didn't have any friends, not even a single acquaintance. Quite the opposite, in fact. She was often the object of scorn and bullying from her classmates, usually the girls. These girls were your stereotypical mean girls: bratty, selfish, and…er…mean. But they also had something else, something Karin couldn't see.

Jealousy. All of the material girls were uber jealous of Karin's beauty, a beauty Karin didn't even think she possessed. The girls knew that if Karin were to suddenly shift gears and become social, she would get any guy she would want.

Yes. That's right. The girls I'm talking about are fan girls. The ones who make groups to admire a certain boy and take out any threats (such as Karin) through the classic torture of bullying.

Back to Karin's appearance, she was quite beautiful for a 14-year old in eighth grade. She usually had her soft honey colored hair in a loose braid; out of her face yet modest. She had large, sparkling green eyes, framed with round glasses. She was thin, but not too skinny. Yet again for modesty's sake, she wore clothes that were a bit too big (Which made her somewhat cuter, like a little girl with sleeves too long).

However, Karin was whoever she wanted to be in her fantasy world. She didn't need glasses—or contacts—she could see perfectly. Her hair was silky and long, radiating like sunshine itself. And—she scolded herself inwardly for this—she had tight clothing; sexy.

This was indeed a world she can easily get lost in. And she had melted into it during class, only getting kicked out when her notebook was swiped away.

Karin awoke from her trance. She took in her surroundings, noting that class had finished and all of the students had already left. All, except for a group of girls.

Karin looked at the girl who'd stolen her notebook: a girl with cocoa colored curls that cascaded like a waterfall, a wicked smile on her face.

"Look at this girls!" She mocked, her posse giggling cruelly behind her "Hey, Karin! Is this your castle?" more obnoxious giggles erupted from the posse.

"Karin the princess!" The cocoa haired girl mock-preached, "The most beautiful, graceful girl in the world!"

Karin tried to ignore them by gathering her stuff to leave. Cocoa-head caught on and decided to push Karin closer to the edge.

"Can't say this is your best work, though," She shrugged casually, grin still glued to her face, "It would look much prettier if—"

RIP

RIP

RIP

Karin's heart felt much like the paper now was; torn up. She was frozen as she watched the paper flutter gracefully in defeat to the floor.

"There! Much better!" the girl said, voice dripping with malice. Her posse had changed their laughter to full-on cackling.

Karin picked up her bag and made a beeline for the door, her back turned to hysterical laughter. She didn't even notice that she left her notebook behind. She didn't really care at the moment, either.

So, she went off, walking as fast as she could before her tears found their way over the brim of her eyes.

Leaving her etched fantasy land in the clutches of evil.

XXXX

She walked carefully through the door of her Auntie's house. She let the door close and waited.

The lack of response meant that her Auntie wasn't home. She was probably out with some other sluts.

At that realization, she let the first sob rack her body.

Tears soon followed, making a delicate trail on her face. She stifled sobs as best as she could, but that only seemed to suffocate her more.

She made her way through her Auntie's luxurious home, to her bedroom, which paled immensely in comparison. After Karin's mom died, her mom's little sister (Karin's Auntie) got most of her sister's money. Karin's mom was a sweet woman, and she knew Karin would appreciate intricate heirlooms and prized possessions over money. Her Auntie, of course, had snatched away the most valuable. Her Auntie used the money to selfishly live in luxury, not letting Karin indulge in such finery.

Her Auntie was much to young to take responsibility of a child. Barely 23 years old she was. She simply paid for Karin's school's tuition because she knew it would take her out of the house sooner.

Karin opened the door to what few would call a safe haven. But to Karin, and those few other lost butterflies, it was what they would call heaven.

It was drab; unpainted and horribly furnished. The carpet was a bitter cream color, mussed and hopelessly tangled. The bed consisted of a creaky old metal frame, and the mattress was about three inches thick. She was given a warm quilt, but the pillow was still rather uncomfortable. Her clothes were piled on the floor.

She took a seat on the bed, pulled out a pencil, and worked on her homework, trying to avoid getting her paper wet with loose tears.

XXXX

She finished her homework at a late time, and she didn't want to leave her room to get diner for fear her Auntie would walk in drunk and ready to strike. Karin would rather take her chances with sneaking out the window with money from her part-time job. But it was too late for that. Auntie would freak if she found Karin out this late, and send police out to look for her.

A loud slam echoed through the house. Speak of the devil. Auntie was finally back, and by the way she slammed the door, she was considerately drunk. The sound of furious steps soon followed, coming towards Karin's room.

Karin scrambled to turn the single light bulb that illuminated her room. The steps were horrifyingly close, and she jumped on her bed, lying down. She didn't have time to pull up the covers, but she was sure a drunk Auntie wouldn't notice anything suspicious.

The door made a loud thud as it connected to the wall upon opening fiercely. She strode over to the bed where Karin lay. She saw Karin was asleep and screeched.

"Karin! You bitch!" and Karin still felt a blow to her shoulder. She muffled a pained squeak through her sleeping act. To her relief, Karin heard her Auntie's feet shuffle away. She tensed back up when Auntie's steps stopped.

Glass shattered close by, an empty wine bottle, Karin thought. The door finally closed with Auntie on the other side. Karin heard her Auntie walk away muttering, "She can slice her stupid feet open when she wakes up. Heh."

Karin could feel the tender skin of her feet split open and having hot blood escape through the lacerations. She could also feel the sting of glass embedding itself all over her body, had she been "awake" to experience the bottle being smashed onto her.

She opened her eyes slightly. Glass shards greeted her back, dainty but treacherous, gleaming in the moonlight next to her bed. She would find a way to manage around them and clean them up. But right now, she needed to sleep.

XXXX

Karin awoke the next morning more tired then she would prefer. But she had school today, so there's no room for argument. Karin swung her feet around to the side of the bed and hopped off.

The second before she made contact with the floor, she remembered the glass.

Crap.

Karin stood, still waiting for her feet to go numb and her ankles to start tingling with the unfeeling.

But nothing. She looked around and, curiously, she found no glass. It was gone.

Even more peculiar though, was the object atop her piled clothes. Karin stared at it, unbelieving. She made her way over, making sure there was still no glass on the floor.

Even as she stood in the close proximity, she still thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. She rubbed her eyes repeatedly. Still there. Still the same object. She hesitantly leaned down to pick it up, to make sure it was real, that she could touch it.

The object was her illustration notebook.

XXXX

Surely it's only when we die

That we discover the meaning of being born

But then it's too late

So we wander

XXXX

Ooh how did that get there? And where'd that glass go? All shall be answered…in the next episode of Lost Butterfly!

XD Hahaha! Anime preview style!

Okay: so first off, Karin is a bit ooc right now. But just like the manga (it is kinda like the manga this way, so it might not be ooc), Karin starts out calm and sad…then gets spazzy later.

Next: Karin's Auntie is WAAAAAAAAAAY younger and actually pretty in this. I just thought it would fit with the "rich-but-abusive" sort of deal for her.

Then: I know the lyrics aren't in order (lol are they ever in order with my fics anyways?), and I just want to put them where I see fit.

This fanfic is named after my favorite RURUTIA song: "Lost Butterfly". It's very amazing and it fits this fic pretty well.

Also, this is kinda inspired by the American movie "Sucker Punch". (It was a good movie! Sad, but still good!) You will find many differences between the movie and this fic though.

Thanks for reading!