A/N: Not Tomadashi. I know. I'm shocked, too. But I've actually been meaning to try my hand at other ships for a while, Kainora just makes my heart melt. Young love urjflas;daf
Enjoy! ((Apologies for any typos.))
Why teachers still demanded book sources in the age of the Internet was beyond the confounded ninth-grader, who was carelessly rummaging through the shelves.
Stupid, thought Kai, yanking out a random biography and just as quickly shoving it back on the shelves. Just let us use Wikipedia and we can all get this over with.
"Ahem."
Kai ignored the throat-clearing and continued his search.
"Ahem."
"In a sec - "
"Excuse me, but you really can't treat the books that way."
Librarians, Kai groaned inwardly, gripping the book in his hand and turning to face the speaker. A young girl with an auburn bob and crossed arms was regarding him rather coldly, eyebrows furrowed. Didn't differ too much from his expectation of an irritated elderly librarian - she looked to be his age, though, and that gave him freedom to be more relaxed.
"Look, I just need to find one thing and then I can put these all back. No worries." He flashed a (fake) grin and waved the book a little, but the girl wasn't placated.
"Even so, you shouldn't make a mess of the books like that," she said simply, plucking it from him and neatly rearranging the slanted books upright.
"Ah. Right," he mumbled, frowning. What was the big deal? Anyway, he didn't have time for this.
"What was it you needed?" the girl asked, shuffling the last few copies neatly into place.
"Um. I'm doing a history report on Kyoshi."
"That'll be in Earth Kingdom History on the Shi aisle."
"Oh, cool. Th - "
"This way."
She never looked directly at him as she guided him to the other side of the building, but she didn't say a word either, which was fine with him. He kept his hands in his pockets and whistled a tune until they finally stopped and she stared intently at a tidy array of biographies, finger hovering before the spines. She gave a little twitch as she meticulously pulled every other one out, somehow keeping the other books standing.
"Here's the ones I recommend," she said, keeping her eyes glued to the pile of books in her arms. "One of them was actually written by one of her children, so I think that should satisfy your teacher."
"Uh. Right. Thanks." Gingerly Kai accepted the books and tucked them in his backpack. "You, uh, go to Yue Bay...?"
"I go to Republic High," she answered.
"Right. Well, thanks."
"Don't forget you still have to do a check-out if you want to leave with them," she added before turning her attention to a different section.
"Will do, Bookworm."
...
"What do you mean you're going to be an hour late?" Kai snapped into the phone, rapping his knuckles against the desk.
"Look, sorry, man. My dad's car broke down," Skoochy explained from the other line. "I gotta wait for my brother to come home to drop me off."
"You are so gonna chauffeur me if you get your license first."
"Yeah, whatever - the project isn't even due 'til tonight, anyway."
"True."
"Hey, I gotta go, I'll see you in a bit." Bzzzz.
With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and scrolled down the Wi-Fi listings. The library required an ID. Wonderful. He started to rise from his seat to ask someone when he caught a head of auburn hair bouncing beside the shelves.
"Hey," he called. "Republic High! Bookworm!"
Bookworm turned her head in his direction, keeping her face void of emotion. "Yes?"
He gestured for her to come over, which she did (albeit while rolling her eyes).
"What's the Wi-Fi password?"
"It's your library ID," she answered, wrinkling her nose.
"Yeah, uh, I don't have one of those."
"Didn't you check out the books I found for you last week?"
She remembered. "Nah. I just wrote the notes and sources and stuff and left."
"Anyway, you need a card for Internet."
"All that trouble for Wi-Fi?"
"It's really not that hard."
Once again, Republic High Girl ended up helping him in his library endeavors as she led him to the front desk and gave him papers to fill out. Within minutes, he was inputting the code from the card into his phone.
"Great," he noted. "Thanks."
She simply nodded.
"Hey, Republic High. What's your name?"
"Jinora." She smiled and even locked eyes with him this time. "Yours?"
"I'm Kai." He held out a hand, and hesitantly, she shook it. Her hand felt soft.
"It's nice to meet you, Kai."
"Could say the same, Bookworm."
...
He took to crunching the crisp leaves beneath his feet as he slouched in the bench, bored out of his mind. Phone batteries died so quickly, and he wondered if those two were overreacting again. He could just picture it in his mind: Mako suspecting him of getting into some kind of trouble, Bolin crying for Mako to call the cops because what if their poor baby cousin had been kidnapped? (Bonus points for Mako reminding him he was a cop.)
"It's past closing hours," an all-too-familiar voice said. He didn't even need to look up.
"Oh, is that why the building's all dark and empty?" Kai asked, grinning. "Thought a certain nerd drove everyone out with the way they were handling the books."
"Well, maybe this nerd just wants to make her job a little easier," Jinora retorted sarcastically. Kai sensed a humorous edge in her tone, though, and took it she knew banter.
"Job? So you get paid to just stack books?"
"It's more just volunteer hours, and no, I do more than stack books."
"Like... making people get their own gosh-diddly-darned library cards."
She stifled a giggle. "And maybe helping people improve their vocabulary."
"You can thank my cousin and his swear jar." Kai closed his legs and gestured for her to sit beside him, which she promptly did. "So... how long you been working here?"
"Um, a few months now."
"So shouldn't your community service hours or whatever be over?"
"Maybe. But I like working here. It gives me an excuse to come every week and read everything."
"Everything?"
"Mm-hmm. I've always had this goal to, you know... read every book in the library."
"For real? How far did you get with that?"
"I think I've read about half the history section, and most of the YA lit section... I want to start on the horror, I think..."
Kai let out a long whistle. "Dang. All that in a few months?"
"I'm a fast reader."
"And you don't need glasses or anything?"
She laughed. "My dad lectures me about that all the time, actually."
"You're, like... an actual bookworm."
Her cheeks tinged pink. "Well, I mean, it's just... you know, because I volunteer here and - "
"Chill. I think that's actually kind of cool." He waggled a thumbs-up at her.
"You do?"
"Yeah, I mean, clearing out the entire library? That's impressive. You could be in the papers once you get that done."
"If I do, that is. They have new additions every month or so - "
"At the rate you're reading? I think you got this." He flashed another grin, and Jinora's face turned slightly redder.
"So, um... You're waiting for your parents to pick you up, I guess?"
"My cousins, actually. My friend was supposed to take me home, but he never showed up because his dad's car broke down and his bro got in trouble or something - and my phone's dead, so I can't call - "
"You can use my phone, you know." She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a sleek white iPhone.
Kai slapped his forehead. "Oh. Shoot. Yeah. Yeah, I, uh... knew that. This whole time." He plucked the phone from her hands as he started punching the numbers in. "Yeah, was totally... on purpose..."
He absolutely did not envision Jinora laughing at his misery while Mako scolded him over the phone as part of his day.
...
He started showing up at the library more often, having taken quite an interest in improving his grades. This sudden change in behavior made Mako suspicious, of course, given his history of sleeping in class, playing hooky, and summer schooling, but as his grades rose, Mako worried less.
He also for some reason needed to look up quite a few books for his assignments. Jinora looked a bit confused when he claimed he needed to look up some mathematician for geometry homework, but she didn't question it. She didn't question why he kept asking her for help locating the books despite coming every week and sometimes leading her to the aisle he was trying to find.
They'd traded numbers, too - in case Kai needed help with homework, despite going to different schools. (You never know.) Of course, the texts trailed off pretty easily and by the end of their conversations Kai learned something new about her, like the clubs she was in or how many siblings she had or her dream of being a writer (or being a college professor like her father). In turn, she knew about his terrific sense of humor and the mischief he'd gotten in that day. And at some point - he wasn't sure when - she knew about his parents' accident, why he had to live with his cousins. But she never treated him any differently or dump the forced pity on him, and it was nice. She was nice.
...
Kai wasn't exactly sure when it happened, just that one day he happened to note how her skirt brushed just above her knees, how her nose crinkled when she laughed, how she had a habit of tucking her soft brown hair behind her ear as she focused on her books. How nice his name sounded rolling off her tongue. He'd never given much thought to his name before. Kai.
Sometimes he wondered how, as alert as she was, Jinora never heard the pounding in his chest every time.
...
She wasn't there one day.
Forgot to mention she'd joined a new club that took up more time than she'd expected, like the literature club and key clubs and dance committees, and it was probably time to move on from the library, anyway. (But she still had her goal - a friend would borrow her books for her.)
"No library today?" Bolin asked the next weekend, confused.
"Nah. Not today." Kai rolled over in his bed and gazed at the phone screen.
...
Habits, it seemed, were really hard to kill. It didn't take long for Kai to return to the library every weekend; something just felt wrong about empty Saturdays. Even with all that time to sleep in.
"Hey."
The speaker had a husky voice. Not one he recognized. He looked out of the corner of his eye and spotted a young women with blue eyes and dark chin-length hair, hands on her hips.
"Something the matter?"
"You're Jinora's friend, right?"
The name immediately caught his attention. "Um. Yeah. How - "
"I saw her talking to you a lot when she volunteered here, and, well, I'm a part-timer here. Since she and a few other kids left, we're a little short on volunteers..." She shrugged. "Anyway, since you come here every week, would you be interested? You get community service hours."
Kai glanced over at the shelved books which he'd so hastily scrambled up months ago. Well, Bookworm, looks like your lecturing wasn't completely useless.
"Sounds good to me."
The woman flashed a crooked grin and held out a hand to shake. "Great! Name's Korra, by the way. Yours?"
He accepted it. "Kai."
...
Jinora laughed when he'd called to tell her the news, though oddly enough she was surprised he'd kept going back. Or maybe not so oddly. He didn't expect himself to keep returning either, but hey, life was full of surprises. Of course, it wasn't like he heard much from her these days. Schoolwork and activities popping up, and how else did the nerd expect to get into Ivy League?
"So you just know Jinora from volunteer work?" Kai asked Korra one day as they organized the history books. Not that he needed the help; Jinora had ranted quite enough that he wouldn't dare forget the precise order.
"I'm close friends with her family, actually. I just work here part-time while I get my own studies done," she explained. "And... you know her from school?"
"No, er, we met here, actually."
"Huh. I figured..."
"I go to Yue Bay High."
"Ah. Because, you know, she wasn't going to that dance of hers - "
"The Winter Dance?" He frowned. "Wasn't she on the committee or something?" She'd mentioned something like that.
"Oh, she's planning it, she's just not going. Something about homework? I mean, I would know, since I usually take her to these things, and there's this student teacher named Miss Sato or..." She turned away and scratched her head. "Anyway. I just thought one of her friends could get her to catch a break or something, you know?"
The corner of his lips tugged. "That's a thought. Hey, Korra, what were you saying about this Sato lady?"
...
Deep breaths. Look nonchalant, Kai.
Great, he was picking up nerdier words as a result of all the time he spent here. Displeased with himself, he kept pretending to stock and restock the books, keeping the one he needed cradled in his arm. Any minute now.
"Kai?"
There it was, clear and real, free of static from phone speakers. He wanted to beam, but kept his lips suppressed in a small smile.
"Hey, Bookworm. Long time no see, huh?" He clutched the book in his arm tighter.
Jinora snorted. "Who's the bookworm now?"
He pretended to resume shelving. "So what brings you here?" he asked, knowing perfectly well what.
She sighed in exasperation. "Korra's usually the one who borrows the books for me, but for some reason last time she used it it said I had to get it renewed? And then I come here and it works fine. It's the weirdest thing."
"You don't say."
She shrugged. "I'm not too annoyed. It's been a while since I was last here." Little grin. "And it's been a while since I've seen you."
"Right." His cheeks felt warm. "Miss me?"
He was half-joking, but Jinora just smiled. "Honestly... maybe a little? I didn't miss the mess you make, though."
"Hey, now!"
She laughed. "Kidding! You're doing good. Really."
Kai gulped. Oh, jeez. This was so dumb.
"So, uh," he stammered, practically shoving the book he was holding her hands and keeping his eyes steadfastly off her, "I-I thought you might... like this book..." He brought his sweaty palms to the back of his neck. "I mean, I read it myself, and it's... not bad."
"Oh, I've read this!" she gasped. "The Villager and the General's Son!" She raised an eyebrow. "You read this?"
He shrugged, staring at his feet. "I... liked the part where she rode the dragon into battle and burned down the whole country. And jumped into a volcano. A-anyway, uh, wow, looks like someone left a bookmark or... something... in there?"
Jinora frowned and regarded him suspiciously, slowly (much to Kai's anxiousness) pulling the little worm bookmark free from the book. He watched as her light eyes widened.
Winter dance?
This time their eyes did meet, gray to green. A pink blush bloomed across her fair cheeks. Jinora didn't respond for a solid five seconds, and Kai began regretting every moment from the day he was shot out of the womb. Haha, just kidding, I take that back, please don't judge me.
Without warning, she rose on her toes and quickly smashed her lips onto his forehead before hiding her face behind the book. His jaw dropped, and his eyes darted over to Korra, who was in the corner giving him a thumbs-up.
Jinora eventually lowered the book beneath her eyes, then brought it back down to her chest. Her face was still terribly scarlet (his too, probably), but her eyes were filled with utter delight.
"Seven?" she peeped.