Knight and Princess
Chapter 2
Even though we had officially welcomed Karma into our family, we knew nothing about him. He didn't talk very much about himself, but he displayed a great interest in our family. Our first day together with him was on Christmas Day. Because we didn't know - and he wouldn't tell us - when his birthday was, we celebrated his birthday on Christmas.
Two weeks passed by with Karma following me from a distance, always standing off to the side, observing but not interacting with me or those around me. He was like a true professional, I thought. I was afraid that maybe he would stick close to my side and be wary of anyone coming close - but that turned out not to be the case, to my relief. Gradually though, he and I became close; close enough that he was less standoff-ish, we could talk to each other without referring to each other with -san or -sama after each other's names, but not close enough for me to ask about his personal life before guarding me.
Even though he would question me thoroughly.
"Do you have any friends?" he asked, looking out the window of my bedroom.
"No, not really." I answered, for the millionth time I wrote out an answer to the Literature question in front of me, only to erase it and try a different way of answering it.
Japanese Literature homework, how I loathe it.
"You don't get along with any of your classmates?"
"Well, I tend to stay away from everybody.." I say, sharpening my pencil before pressing it against the paper, only for it to break.
"Why's that?"
"We don't like the same things."
"What do you like?"
"Theater, of course." I say, brushing off the broken lead and little bits of eraser dust into the waste bin beside my desk.
"Why do you like theater?"
"Because.. it's what my mother does, and she makes it so lively and heart-warming."
He hummed thoughtfully, walking over and looking at my workbook.
"What are your orders for when I go to school with you?"
That's right, Karma will be going to my school after the winter break. He's going to be in my class: 1-D.
"Well, I'm not sure..." I wasn't used to making the orders as Karma called them. "Maybe it's best that you just act normal."
"Normal?" he tilted his head. "Could you elaborate?"
"Um, well, study, and do...student things."
He sat down on my bed, staring at me expectantly. Not detailed enough, I guess.
"Pay attention during class, take notes, talk with classmates,"
He raised an eyebrow, giving me a look. Ya, I probably shouldn't be the person to tell him to talk with others.
"Um, just try your hardest, and sort of, forget you're my body guard.." I said the last part quickly.
He narrowed his eyes at me, saying carefully, "Manami, I will follow all of your orders, but that last one. I am always going to be your body guard."
I gulped, hearing the sharpness in his voice, and hurried to correct my mistake, "No no, I mean, could you pretend that you aren't guarding me? I think it would bring, um, unwanted attention and could cause some problems."
"What kind of problems?" he asked, leaning forward intently.
"Well," I looked away from him, my thoughts wandering to my female classmates. I had no doubt in my mind that all of the girls would be infatuated with Karma, he was very good looking. If they knew he was taking care of me, they might take it the wrong way and start to hate me. "People might... try to test you, and someone could get hurt."
"Hm, are you sure there's no other reason?" He asks, his voice too close to me.
I turn my head, seeing him behind me. He's staring down at me, a playful smile on his face, his eyes bright. "Um, no," I answer quietly looking away.
He chuckles, patting my head, "You really need to learn how to lie convincingly. Don't worry, I will pretend to just be your new classmate."
I sighed in relief, looking back at my homework. "Thank you Karma."
I thought Karma would be fine in class, that he would get along with everybody.
But unfortunately, I hadn't realized how reckless and mischievous he was.
One day out of nowhere, two of my classmates were teasing me about my poor language skills, and Karma decided then that he would do his job to protect me, and he fought with them outside after class, 'for the heck of it'.
Thus, Karma got a bad reputation at Kunugigaoka.
For two years we kept up our charade of pretending to be just classmates, when after our second year, I was admitted into E class for poor grades.
I thought that Karma would go onto A class, as he had such great grades, but one day, he picked a fight with some guys for attacking an upperclassmen from E Class, and he too joined E, after his suspension would be up.
"Why did you do it?" I asked him. I didn't expect an answer. Not once had I ever been given an answer by Karma before.
"Because," he shrugged. "I guess I just felt like I had to. I really hate to see people picking on those who can't protect themselves."
This was the first time Karma had ever answered a question of mine.
"And besides," he smiled. "I'm supposed to protect you, so I had to get into E Class somehow! You can't get rid of me that easy, Manami. Not for another three years."
But little did either of us know, that we might not have another 3 years on this planet together.
That was the day that the moon blew up, the day that Karma started to slowly open up to me, and the day my heart started to be taken by him.