Disclaimer: I do not own Kamichama Karin
Warning: probably is OOC and will have to be for the story to make sense, also AU.
Chapter Three: The Ugly Duckling
The week went by in a flash. Karin could hardly believe that once again it was a Friday and that it had been a week since the dance. Then again it already seemed like she had known Kazune much longer than a week. He was just so annoying.
Not a day had passed that they hadn't argued. He always seemed to make such sexist comments, and Karin couldn't resist correcting him.
At first the others had been surprised and a bit taken aback by the constant arguments, but by now, they just knew that this was going to be the norm. Micchi couldn't help but notice something was different about Karin that week though. She wasn't as quiet as normal. Well, that wasn't right really; Karin was never one to be quiet. But that week she had been less…distracted, even if she was just yelling at Kazune.
Now that it was Friday though, she did seem a little unfocused once again as the school day came to a close. Another weekend of dodging her Mom was all that Karin had on her mind.
When the last bell of the day finally rang, everyone seemed jumped up and began to rush out the door ready for the weekend. Karin tried to cover up her dread with a smile and false excitement, and most fell for her act.
Micchi as usual didn't, but choose not to say anything about it, knowing that she wouldn't want anyone to feel bad for her, and then Kazune noticed but also chose not to say a word more curious than caring as to what could make Karin act so differently than usual.
To most it seemed the same, but he had noticed the little things, like when she had punched him that morning it wasn't as hard as it had been all the other times that week, and then in class when she normally at least faked studying, she just stared out the window eyes wide as if she had been trying to soak in as much as possible. It didn't make sense to him, even when she smiled it almost looked painful for her. He continued to keep his mouth shut though wondering what was making her act so strangely.
As the group of friends walked out of the school and towards the exit, Karin couldn't help but feel dread wash over her. Her stomach almost began to hurt with anticipation of going home.
"Karin-chan, what do you think of the idea?" Himeka asked not realizing that Karin hadn't really been paying attention.
"Umm… what?" she asked embarrassed that she hadn't been listening to her friends.
Himeka just smiled not minding in the slightest as she repeated her question. "Do you want to sleepover tonight?"
For a moment Karin said nothing as she stared at Himeka in pure bliss before the biggest smile grew on her face and she started hugging Himeka like there was no tomorrow. "Yes yes yes!" she screamed laughing the whole time. Himeka, Miyon, and Ami couldn't help but giggle right along with her, and Micchi and Yuuki smiled and laughed a little at the girl's antics, while Kazune just watched surprised more than anything.
He couldn't help but think that Karin was one of the strangest people he had ever met, one second almost sulking and the next laughing and smiling because of something as simple as a sleepover. The whole thing was just silly, and yet he couldn't help but feel slightly better with her smiling once again.
"But we have to get me an excuse to get over there," Karin said thoughtfully to the girls as they all began to think of suggestions like a class project.
Kazune furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion of the girl's conversation, and debated about asking one of the guys what the hell they were talking about. Excuses to go to a sleepover? But as he looked at his friends he quickly realized that asking them about it wasn't really going to be an option. After all, Sakurai looked as if he didn't have a clue as to what the girls were talking about and didn't really care, deciding that it was too hard to decipher, and Nishikiori had a gleam in his eye that just screamed 'if you ask me about the girls I'm going to read way too much into this.' So for the time being Kazune decided to just keep his mouth shut about the whole thing.
"Look don't worry about it guys, I'll figure out something to tell my Mom," Karin said cheerfully knowing that if she didn't she would be stuck an entire weekend with just her Mom and the many possible future husbands.
--
"No, absolutely not!"
"But Mom," Karin whined annoyed that she hadn't even gotten an excuse out before her Mom had rejected the idea.
"No buts Karin, it's just too… too…" she started not being able to explain.
"Too what?!" Karin yelled frustrated.
"Too dangerous!" Her Mom yelled back equally frustrated with her daughter's lack of concern for her well being.
Kain scoffed, "Too dangerous? Mom, that doesn't even make sense. Where is the danger in this situation?" Her Mom stayed silent trying to signal the end of the conversation, but from Karin's point of view, it was far from over.
"I'll walk out the front door to the limo that will drive me all the way to the Kujyou house, and then I'll walk up to their door and go inside until the limo comes to pick me up tomorrow morning. Tell me where the danger is in that!" Karin shouted beyond perturbed.
Her Mom glared at her crossing her arms and finally played the unbeatable 'Mom Card.' "I said you are not going, and as your Mom, you will listen to me, is that final!" Her voice could have cut though diamond it was so sharp.
Karin knew that was the end, she huffed and turned on her heels to head up to her room to call Himeka and sulk, when an idea hit her. Yeah it was something she swore she would never do but drastic times called for drastic measures. Faking a disappointed voice Karin hung her head trying to play off her Mom's emotions.
"And I was going to get Himeka-chan, Miyon-chan, and Ami-chan's opinions on all the boys we had information on," Karin said still hanging her head not only to give off the feel of disappointment, but to also hide her smile that kept threatening to show on her face. She slowly began to make her way to her room counting down the seconds it would take for her Mom to respond.
"Really?" her Mom asked suddenly interested in the idea of a sleepover hoping that her daughter had finally decided to get into the whole 'find me a husband' thing.
Karin smiled; she had it in the bag. Plus it wasn't like she was really lying. Girls always talked about boys at sleepovers anyway, she was just… stretching the truth.
--
"Thanks!" Karin yelled jumping out of the limo as soon as it pulled up to the Kujyou mansion not even bothering to let the driver open the door for her. It didn't matter who opened the door in her opinion as long as someone did it fast and let her get to her friends. She sprinted up the sidewalk to the front porch, only to give three loud raps on the door and hope from one foot to the other with impatience.
As she waited not being able to stay still, she took a quick peek around her checking out Himeka-chan's front yard and getting jealous as always. It was closer to the street than her own house and you could even see other houses and businesses from where she stood. Karin let her eyes soak in every inch of detail she could, it wasn't too often she got to see anything besides the cement garden that surrounded most of her house.
She called it that because she felt as if there was as much cement as there was garden; it wasn't like the school grounds where the woods were actual woods. No, it was too fake. Even the view from Himeka's house was better although it contained more cement, because the yard was real and then outside the yard may have been mostly cement but it was the city. People walked down the sidewalk outside the Kujyou ground gates. She could have watched them for hours, just imagining what they all did and where they were going.
She could barely see the street from her window in her room, but it wasn't the same because her house was on the outskirts of the city and therefore no one just ever walked by it.
The door squeaked slightly as it began to open and Karin turned around in a flash ready to greet her friend. She was surprised to find someone else there instead. "Kazune-kun," Karin exclaimed confused, "What are you doing here?"
Kazune opened the door thee rest of the way letting Karin come in as he answered, "I live here idiot." Karin couldn't help but frown at Kazune, but no matter, she wasn't going to let him ruin her good mood, and what did he mean by he lived there. That didn't make any sense.
"Karin-chan!" Himeka squealed running downstairs to meet her friend. Karin immediately smiled brightening up. They hugged in greeting as Kazune left the room, retreating as fast as possible.
"How did you convince your Mom to let you out?" Himeka asked curiously.
"I just convinced her that we were going to talk about a suitable husband for me," Karin said showing Himeka the extra bag she held that contained the profiles of all the eligible guys according to her Mom. But before Himeka could ask any more questions, Karin interrupted her with one of her own. "Hey, why was Kazune-kun doing answering the door. What's he doing here in the first place?"
Himeka motioned Karin to follow her up the stairs to her room as she began to explain, "Because he lives here, with us."
Karin scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at learning this fact, "Why doesn't he just live at his own house?"
"Didn't you know?" Himeka asked suddenly gravely serious and stopping walking. Karin only looked at Himeka more confused than ever. Himeka looked away not being able to keep eye contact with Karin as she told her what she knew. "Kazune-chan's parents died a long time ago."
Karin gasped at the news, she never would have expected. "I'm sorry," she whispered embarrassed that she had been so mean to him all week yelling all the time.
"It happened a long time ago Karin-chan," Himeka said smiling slightly trying to lighten the mood a little. "Don't worry about it, Kazune-chan moved in with us because he had nowhere else to go, but my parents didn't mind, they always had wanted a son as well as a daughter. So it's more like Kazune-chan is my big brother than my cousin," she added smiling brightly. "He just refuses to use any of our money."
"But then how does he go to our school?" Karin asked as she finally began to accept the idea that Kazune-kun was an orphan.
They began to walk again, now that the serious part of the conversation had faded. "He's at our school on scholarship," Himeka said matter-o-factly, "It doesn't matter how much my parents are willing to pay for his tuition. He absolutely refuses them. He likes to do things his way."
Karin smiled slightly, she could understand that, but she still had one last question after noticing how much interaction he seemed to have with the other students at school. "Is that why so many of the other students won't talk to Kazune-kun?"
Himeka gave Karin a pained smile before answering, "Yeah, a lot of the other kids think that Kazune-chan is under them because he isn't rich. That's why he doesn't fit in most of the time."
"But what about his fan club?" Karin asked confused how he could be looked down upon as well as looked up to.
"They just think Kazune-chan will eventually succeed in the world and get rich eventually," Himeka explained sadly.
Karin suddenly felt the urge to cry, "That's so sad, no one will just accept him for who he is, no one will just let him do what he wants to do," but as she said those words she wasn't quite sure if she was still talking about Kazune-kun or someone else…
By this point they had arrived at Himeka's door and she opened it for Karin seeing that her hands were full of all her stuff, only to find that Ami seemed to be interrogating Miyon about something.
"Awwww," Ami complained in fake disappointment, "Why won't you tell me."
Whatever it was, it had to have been awkward because Miyon's face was beet red. "It's too embarrassing." She protested shaking her head in refusal.
"Karin-chan!" Ami shouted excited finally noticing her friends in the doorway.
"What are we questioning Miyon-chan about?" Karin asked throwing her things on the floor not caring how they landed.
Ami smiled devilishly, "I was asking Miyon-chan who her crush is, but she won't tell."
"You know what Ami, I will tell you," Miyon said suddenly smiling as if it wasn't embarrassing at all. "But you have to come closer so I can whisper it to you," she said looking down as if uncomfortable.
Ami, Karin, and Himeka immediately went closer, all wanting to hear this for themselves. When their faces were only about a foot from Miyon, she smiled devilishly as she grabbed her pillow and wacked them all across the faces yelling, "Gotcha!"
That began the festivities of the night with the biggest pillow fight ever seen. They ran and screamed all over the house all with pillows in hand trying to hit the others. No one could truly be named the victor because by the time they had finished they were all close to passing out on the living room floor of one of the rooms downstairs. Because of the room's size, large, and the comfortableness of it, it was decided unanimously that they would sleep in there and probably mostly hang out in there as well.
Quickly they transformed the room into their party room by shoving all the furniture to the walls, laying out their sleeping bags in a circle, heads in, and bringing in as much junk food as they wanted.
Winded from their pillow fight and getting their room ready, it was easily decided that a game of something with less movement was needed. "Truth or Dare!" Ami had demanded and knowing better than to argue, everyone else agreed half heartedly.
They all settled on their sleeping bags, Karin on her stomach with her chin resting gently on her hands propping herself up slightly, Miyon with her arms wrapped around her legs, Ami criss cross, and Himeka on her knees.
"Miyon-chan, you first," Ami said determined to get back the girl for brushing around the bush on who her crush was. "Truth," she said very nonchalantly, "Or DARE," she said evilly to intimidate her.
"Truth," Miyon said trying to sound as if she wasn't nervous at all.
Karin, Himeka, and Ami all smiled knowing that Miyon had just fallen into their trap.
"Who do you like?" Ami asked innocently as Karin giggled slightly and Himeka couldn't help but blush slightly.
Miyon's mouth dropped open in surprise, although she supposed that she should have seen that coming a mile away. Her cheeks then began to heat up as she just thought of the person she liked and she quickly whispered it in complete embarrassment. "Yuuki."
All the girls squealed with excitement even if they had all already known. "Are you going to tell him?" Karin asked curiously.
"No way!" Miyon said shaking her hands in front of herself to emphasize the fact. "And you guys aren't either."
"Of course not," Karin said knowing that Miyon would have to tell him herself one day.
"Oh I have an idea," Ami said getting excited again. "Every time someone chooses truth, we should all have to answer the question."
All the girls laughed, anytime they had played this game or others like it, they always ended up changing the rules somehow.
"Okay, so who do you like Himeka-chan?" Miyon asked trying to get the focus of attention off of herself.
Himeka blushed at the idea of telling her crush but then just admitted that at the moment, there was no particular guy who she had a crush on. Everyone was slightly disappointed with that but quickly moved on to the next person.
"So who do you like Ami-chan?" Karin asked now dying to hear it.
Ami hesitated and then confessed, "I'm not really sure at this point if I like him or not."
"Who?" Miyon asked intrigued by the idea that Ami hadn't been at the school for very long and she might already have a crush on a boy.
Ami shook her head, "Not going to say, but as soon as I know if I like him or not, you guys will be the first to know."
The girls sighed in disappointment already knowing that was all they were going to be able to get from Ami. They just hoped that she would be able to decide fast if she actually liked the guy as more than a friend.
"Karin-chan, you're turn," Himeka said as all heads whipped around to face her.
"Yeah Karin-chan, any of those guys starting to look good to you?" Ami said referring to the many notes Karin had on all the possible future husbands.
Karin flipped over on to her back and stared straight up at the ceiling finding it easier to talk when she wasn't staring her friends straight in the eyes. "None of the guys are anything close to what I would like, they are all shallow creeps."
An air of seriousness flit though the room as the other girls stared at Karin. They hadn't really thought it though, but unlike them, Karin couldn't afford to get a crush on anyone. After this year was over, it was pretty likely that she would be getting married. They all shuttered at the thought and Miyon decided to break the silence with an idea that might cheer them up a little.
"Himeka-chan, it's your turn, truth or dare," she asked already knowing what Himeka would pick and what she would then ask.
"Truth," Himeka said with confidence.
"Okay, of all the guys profiles that Karin has, which one would you be the most likely to marry?" Miyon asked slightly nervous about the question.
For a moment silence filled the room, and then they all began to giggle at the idea of choosing husbands for themselves out of these papers. Quickly, Karin ran upstairs, fetched the profiles, and hurried back down tossing them up in the air to spread them out.
Next came the oh so important process of getting rid of the guys that were not acceptable under any circumstances and narrowing it down to just the best of the best. Most were put back in a stack deeming them unsuitable and not even an option in the girls' minds. After that it was time to choose.
"Himeka-chan, you first,"
Himeka went over the pile very slowly, completely embarrassed that she was actually doing this. There was only about ten that they had left, deemed suitable. She finally choose picking a nice looking boy who according to his profile was soft spoken and kind, but almost to the point of annoyance. No one was surprised by that pick. "Miyon-chan, you should go next," Himeka said lightly trying to get someone else to be the center of attention for a while.
"But you guys already know who I like, I don't need to pick someone out of this," Miyon blushed trying to convey what she really meant before giving up and just whispering it. "Wouldn't that be like cheating on Yuuki?"
The other girls all wanted to laugh at Miyon being worried about cheating on someone she wasn't even with, but they managed to stifle it and then proceeded to swear to Miyon that they wouldn't ever tell Yuuki about this and that it was just for fun and didn't really mean anything.
Slowly, Miyon picked a boy. They looked at him and no matter how they looked at him they couldn't understand why she had picked that boy of all the ones left. He wasn't particularly handsome, or the richest, or the most muscular or anything, but then again there wasn't anything particularly negative about him either.
"Well, he looks more like Yuuki than any of the others, so I figured if I couldn't have the real thing, then I would want the closest thing to it," Miyon explained as her face went beet red for the millionth time that night.
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" the girls couldn't help but chant. It was just so adorable of her.
"Your turn Ami-chan," Miyon said sitting down.
Ami didn't even hesitate, she went straight over to the pile of profiles and snatched up one in particular and showed the others before quickly explaining her process of choosing, "He is hot and dumb, I would marry him and divorce him the next day taking half the money," she said joking.
They all rolled on the floor with laughter at Ami's thought process. And just as they were starting to calm down, they looked at the guy's picture on the profile and realized he had a sort of
dazed expression on his face as if he didn't even get was what going on, and that caused an whole other fit of giggles for the girls.
"Your turn Karin-chan!" they all shouted in her ears wound up from their laughter.
She froze though looking at the profiles that were spread out on the ground. Suddenly this game wasn't half the fun it had been before and Karin knew exactly why. For the others, it had been just that, a game, but for her, this was her actual future. It was very likely that this next summer she would be saying "I do" with one of these guys if her parents had their way.
Deciding not to worry her friends about it, she opted to just be indifferent about the whole thing, "I don't know guys, just give me the cutest guy and I'll be happy."
They all laughed including Karin, although it was slightly forced. Didn't her friends realize that she didn't really want to talk about finding the guy she was going to marry? No, they probably didn't. Ugh, this marriage thing was really getting on her nerves and she could swear it was starting to give her a headache. Couldn't they just stop talking about stuff like this?
"Karin-chan, your turn, truth or dare!" Ami shouted ready to go on to the next round.
It didn't take long for Karin to answer; she knew exactly what she would do to get the conversation topic off of boys. "Dare!"
So basically Kazune or Karin (although Kazune more so) can be compared to the ugly duckling because they do not fit in and there are people who think lowly of them. That's basically the connection of the fairy tale.
Sorry for putting the typical truth or dare in here. (I don't like writing truth or dare because it just doesn't seem very original to me) At least I did it a little differently, probably because this is the way me and my friends have always ended up playing the game.
Umm… nothing else to really say. Reviews are awesome! But then again we all know that already.
FFG- Jo
