Something had made Karin rather upset and since Kyo was now in peace- the first suspect was the man that she loved. He was also questioned as the Hachiyou was sure that he would know something that they didn't.
"How many times do I have to say this? I don't know anything!" Katsuzane declared out again.
"But Karin is upset about something, and since you are the person closest to her…" Akifumi pointed out.
Katsuzane was glad that the young boy could get some spare time, but now he was not so sure.
"Yet she is still very kind by telling me that nothing is wrong." Motomi added.
Everyone will say that to you, Katsuzane muttered inside his head, or you will end up panicking.
"You must have said something wrong as why else would the white chrysanthemum shed tears?" Hisui said.
"I am not going to be lectured by you!" Katsuzane yelled out. "And stop calling her that!"
"What about a spell?" Yasutsugu suggested. "I think I know a suitable one."
"I already said that it wasn't my fault and I don't know anything!"
"But miko-sama told me that if Katsuzane-dono wants to see her then I should tell him that she is not feeling well and wishes to rest." Yukari added. "So I think Katsuzane-dono might have accidentally said something wrong."
"What did you do?" Misano demanded, slipping into his firm belief that his sister was almost always right.
"We should be logical about this." Yukitaka said, although not everyone was paying attention to him. "I think Miko-dono started to be upset after that strange journey we had. No, it was after she spent sometime with the two other priestesses."
"Isn't it obvious?" a new voice declared out, her tone was even a little bit scornful.
"Chitose, what do you mean?" Katsuzane demanded.
"Yukitaka-dono is right." Chitose said simply. "But I think it will be much better if my brother just goes and talk to Karin instead of you seven interrogating him when he really doesn't know anything."
"Five." Yasutsugu corrected her. "Isato and Yoritada are not here as Isato is looking for Yoritada."
At this, a horrible image suddenly appeared in Katsuzane's head because he could easily see a misunderstanding happening. Instead of "Katsuzane seemed to have made Karin a bit upset", Yoritada was likely to some how interpret things as: "Katsuzane did something really bad to Karin."
"Chitose is right, I am going to ask her now." he decided, making his escape.
Finding Karin was easier then he thought due to him following his instinct. He found her sitting in the middle of the ruins- which had been where they first met.
"What has been troubling you?" he asked her bluntly as he took a seat beside her on the steps.
"It is rather silly." Karin muttered. "So I don't want to let anyone know."
"Not even me?"
He was sure that he heard something along the lines of: "All men think alike" before she smiled at him, a bit happy due to his concern.
"I just feel a bit useless after I met Akane-kun and Nozomi-san." She said softly.
"Why? Did someone say something to you? Tell me who it is."
"No one did." Karin said very quickly as his tone made the unspoken part in his sentence rather clear: "Tell me who it is and I will beat them up."
"Katsuzane, what do you think of the other two Seiryuu of earth?"
"Well, Tenma seems a bit like what I used to be- having a much worse temper. But then he is younger then me. Kurou is older and he also seems more of a leader then me. I must admit, even though I did consider being a bushi I don't think I want to be a general like Kurou. But what has this got to do with anything?"
"I feel so useless when I compare myself to Nozomi-san and Akane-kun. Nozomi-san is really strong as she actually goes out and fights with everyone else instead of being like me, who is always protected by you eight."
"The other priestess doesn't fight either." Katsuzane pointed out, realising where this was going to.
"But she still seems much better then me. From our conversations it seems that she became the priestess very quick and is very powerful. Also, no one seems to doubt that she is the priestess."
"We are all sorry about that but that was because Chitose already said that she is the priestess. But Karin, aren't you stronger then? Since you continued to try despite facing difficulty and even hostility from all of us."
"I don't deny that Nozomi is quite strong since she does fight with the rest but fighting is not the only type of strength, right? I think to keep on trying is a form of strength. In a way, I think you are stronger then me since you continued to try while I gave up and only continued fighting for Kyo due to you."
Smiling, Karin nodded. He actually made her feel a bit better although it was mainly due to the fact that he did no see her as useless.
"Karin, I am actually really glad that you aren't like Akane."
Hisui had pointed out that Akane was rather interesting because she was a flower that all her hachiyou wanted to pick. This was soon confirmed to be true after a few days' observation.
Perhaps Katsuzane was a bit unconfident that Karin would still end up being with him if the other seven loved her in a romantic way as well, but it was also because he didn't want his friendships to be altered due to them all being in love with the same woman.
He was certain that the friendship would alter regardless of who wins.
"Katsuzane, I've finally found you!" Isato yelled out as he ran towards them. "Yoritada seems to have misunderstood me as he is really angry with you."
"What did you say to him?" Katsuzane groaned out.
"All I said was: 'Karin seems a bit upset and we think it might be because of Katsuzane'. He then said: 'I will never forgive him for making miko-dono cry like that.'"
"This is really my fault." Karin butted in. "He happened to visited me when I was looking for something in an old chest and got something in my eyes. I ended up," she admitted, "appearing to be crying quite badly."
"Let us go then." Katsuzane said as he took Karin's hand and pulled her to his horse. "I am not in the mood for Yoritada's lectures."
Her smile made him very happy as she was back to her normal self.
Author's Note: I've only played the second game but I have read some of the manga for Haruka one. I really don't like Akane because I feel that she is a typical Mary Sue. I guess this one shot is a response to some criticism of Karin that I saw the other day- how they think she is the worst player character. This one shot basically shows what I think- I think even though Karin doesn't fight like Nozomi, she actually is still really strong because she continued to try and save Kyo despite the hostility that she faced. Unlike Akane, who basically eats from a silver spoon- she is almost immediately seen as the priestess and her hachiyou quickly accepts her.
As mentioned, this oneshot is also inspired by the NDS game, where all three generations ended up meeting on another. I know that Karin addresses Nozomi as Nozomi-san since Nozomi is older, but I am not sure how she will address Akane. It is possible that she might address Akane as "Akane-chan" but then I am not 100% sure, to play it safe, I thought I'll use Kun- which is more formal and can be used for girls too.
In this fic, only Katsuzane loves her romantically, the others are just her friends or hachiyou. Yoritada's reaction is just due to his loyalty.
I've got a much clearer post of my view toward this topic on my blog (listed as my homepage in my profile)