Sorry for the late update. Hope the extremely long chapter kind of makes up for it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kamichama Karin
Warning: May be a little OOC and is AU. (Sorry if they seem more OOC than usual, I really hope they aren't) (Also the chapter starts with a small timeskip just so that no one gets at all confused. Basically a couple of days have passed.)
Chapter 6: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Karin felt extremely uneasy. Both of her parents seemed completely at ease, but then again the reason she didn't like what was going on was because she didn't really understand it. Why would her parents want to meet Kazune so badly?
The day that she had been attacked, of course they hadn't let her go back to class with excuses of her needing to rest, even though she had tried to tell them that she was perfectly fine. However, the next day when she had gone back to school, her mother had sent an envelope with her to give to Kazune. She had been extremely curious to see what it was, but knew better than to look for herself. She just hoped that Kazune would share with her what it was.
Coming in the class her friends immediately rushed her with questions of concern; after all they hadn't been able to talk to her since the incident. She had gone on to let them know that she was perfectly fine and all thanks to Kazune-kun.
He had actually smiled at her when she had walked in that day, and she couldn't help but smile back, feeling immensely thankful that he was indeed her friend. Micchi couldn't help but see the small exchange between the two, and immediately suspicions began to form as well as hope for Karin. The poor girl really did need some help.
After school Karin had given the envelope to Kazune who looked at it curiously and then began to tuck it into his backpack, only to have Karin beg him to open it right then. Rolling his eyes at her, he had complied with her request to find that it was an invitation to have tea at the Hanazono residence after school that Friday.
Karin remembered how he had looked at her questioningly and she knew exactly what he was asking without him having to say a word. "I have no idea what it's about," she had answered feeling confused as well. "Maybe my parents just want to thank you." But something about that didn't strike her as right. She just had an ebbing suspicion that her parents were up to something.
Now that it was Friday, and she sat at the dining room table with them, she still hadn't managed to figure out what exactly this was about. She only knew that Kazune was due to show up any second, without fail the doorbell rang as if cued.
A moment later, Kazune was led into the dining room by one of the butlers, who he nodded to appreciatively before the man left the room. Karin's parents didn't notice, but the small gesture was seen by Karin, and she couldn't help but feel like Kazune was a much better person than most people seemed to think.
"Why don't you take a seat," Mr. Hanazono said politely smiling at Kazune.
Karin smiled; so Kazune and her were finally going to find out what exactly this was all about. Surprisingly they had acted a little more civilly to each other all week and both had been deeply curious regarding what this all was about.
Kazune took a seat nodding his head at both Mr. and Mrs. Hanazono as to show his regards to them. For a moment nothing was said and an awkward silence filled the room.
Finally Mrs. Hanazono cleared her throat and smiled fakely at Kazune before asking, "So how goes your studies Mr. Kujyou?"
Karin's jaw almost dropped in surprise. 'How goes your studies,' what was her Mom playing at?
"They are excellent, thank you," Kazune said as politely as possible before glancing over at Karin asking an unspoken question. Somehow lately the two of them had managed to understand each other well enough that words weren't needed half the time, not that they weren't used. She shrugged her shoulders in response.
Another awkward silence followed and Karin tried hard not to squirm in her seat with how uncomfortable it was getting in that room. Thankfully, at that moment, one of the maids walked in with the tea interrupting the silence. She was followed in by another who had little foods for them to sample along with their tea.
The ice was broken as small talk began, all without Karin saying a word. Her father hadn't even wanted her to join them for tea, so she had been instructed by him that she wasn't allowed to say a word the entire time if she wanted to come. He said it would be good practice because there were times that the wife was supposed to be quiet and let the husband do all the talking. She had forgotten how much more of a chauvinistic pig her father was than Kazune.
At first, Karin was relieved that all the awkwardness had been erased from the room and could only hope that Kazune didn't notice how quiet she was being. When her eyes caught with his though, he tilted his head to the side as if questioning what exactly was going on. She could only imagine his confusion at why she was staying so silent. She looked down at her lap not knowing how to respond without words and feeling a bit confused herself.
By this point it appeared that her parents were pretty much just questioning Kazune on every aspect of his life.
"Where do you live?" Mr. Hanazono asked.
"The Kujyou residence," Kazune said trying not to sound sarcastic, did these people not think before they talked.
"Do you like it there?" Mrs. Hanazono asked.
Like I'm going to say I don't like it, "Yes, I enjoy my time there very much."
"What grade are you in?"
"I'm a senior."
"How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen but will be eighteen in February."
"Can you drive?"
"Yes, I got my license as soon as I turned sixteen."
"What kind of car do you drive?"
"I don't drive a car." Like I'm going to tell you what I really drive.
"Do you like school?"
"Yes, I enjoy the learning process very much."
Karin was starting to get bored. This "tea time" was pretty much an interrogation, and she already knew all the answers.
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"I study."
"Do you ever go out and just have some fun?"
Kazune was immensely confused. Where were they coming up with this kind of question, and more importantly why? What exactly were these people getting at? "I like to exercise a lot," he said. I'm seriously not going to tell you all of the stuff I like to do for fun.
"Do you have a boat Mr. Kujyou?"
Kazune was startled by the random question. "Ummm… no."
Karin who had been zoning out bored and tired of wondering what this was all about, suddenly snapped back to attention. No they wouldn't be. She suddenly had a small idea of what her parents might have been thinking.
"What's your favorite food to eat?"
More than ever before, Karin wanted to slam her head down on the table. She couldn't help but start to say something wanting to warn Kazune about what her parents were trying to do.
"Quiet Karin," her father said sharply not even taking the time to look at her when he reprimanded her. She squeaked in surprised and clamped her mouth shut, obeying her father.
Kazune couldn't help but scowl a bit. He didn't like the way Karin's father was treating her, as if she was just something he could control. Once again Kazune realized how much Karin's life wasn't like everyone at school made it out to be… perfect.
Automatically, Kazune's fists began to clench under the table. He suddenly felt very protective of Karin and therefore was feeling pretty pissed. Not only at the kids at school that talked like they knew everything about how perfect Karin's life was, but at Karin's Dad as well who obviously could learn a few lessons in how to be a better parent.
Karin on the other hand, was looking down in slight shame that Kazune would have to witness her getting in trouble like that. Followed by her cheeks flaring up in embarrassment of what she had just been trying to warn Kazune about.
They were trying to see how rich he was. So far all of her parents questions had been asked in a roundabout method, but after seeing them pull this stunt with a couple of suitor's parents, Karin knew when her parents were trying to get information out of someone. It was obvious; they wanted to deem if Kazune was a suitable husband for her, and by suitable- mostly just rich.
Her face burned with embarrassment. She hadn't felt this embarrassed… ever. Granted when they had done the same with Micchi, she had felt uncomfortable, but she had known from the start that they wouldn't think he was rich enough for her. Why he wasn't, she didn't understand, after all, he was pretty well off. But her parents were picky and only the best of the best would be deemed good enough for her hand.
Then again, she shouldn't be that embarrassed about Kazune if that was the case, since he wasn't rich at all. He didn't have a chance of being approved by her parents… and yet she felt more mortified by Kazune marrying her than she had with Micchi. She couldn't even bring herself to look up at Kazune.
"Okay that's enough!" Mrs. Kujyou said highly frustrated with the way things were turning out.
Karin's head immediately snapped up, and Kazune impulsively sat up straighter in surprise. "Please do not shout Dear," Karin's Dad said seemingly unaffected. However his wife couldn't help but notice the small glare that came along with it telling her to behave.
She huffed slightly but immediately covered up her frustration with a cheesy smile asking, "We just are curious about your financial status."
Kazune was taken off guard by the upfront question. They want to know how much money I have? He didn't answer for a moment trying to figure out why on earth Karin's parents were trying to figure out something that was not any of their business. Looking up he found both of the Hanazono adults leaning forward in anticipation and Karin more red in the face than he had ever seen before. What the hell was going on here?!
Kazune was extremely tired of these people; they were acting extremely rude in his opinion, and really needed to be put in their place. He was about to make some remark about them needing to learn to mind their own business, but Karin surprisingly interrupted his thoughts.
"They just want to know if you are rich," she said still refusing to look up at him. Karin's Dad immediately glared at her and her Mom "shhhhhed" her before both looked back at Kazune still awaiting an answer.
He realized that any sort of answer that came across rude probably would just get Karin in more trouble, and he could easily see her parents forbidding her from seeing him anymore. That just was the kind of people they were. He had seen often how rich people acted and what they managed to get away with, and these two were clearly some of the worst from what he had seen.
"I'm not rich at all," Kazune admitted before biting his tongue to keep himself from retorting that not that it was any of their business. When neither of the Hanazonos said anything, he continued. "My parents died when I was younger and my uncle and aunt took me in as their own, they have money… I don't." He said it matter of factly and Karin could tell by his tone that he didn't want any sympathy; he just wanted them to know the whole story.
However, Karin's parents didn't seem to get the message and probably wouldn't have cared if they had. Mrs. Hanazono immediately sighed in frustration as she sat back in her chair in obvious disappointment, also not caring if their guest knew it. Mr. Hanazono on the other hand, just looked very thoughtfully at Kazune, rubbing underneath his chin as if he was forming some sort of plan.
"Well, I'm sorry to have wasted your time Mr. Kujyou," Karin's Mom said standing up and obviously making the implication that it was time for Kazune to leave and there was nothing more they needed him for. He stood up understanding what she was trying to get across and not wanting to cause any sort of scene, for Karin's sake.
"Now hold on a moment," Karin's Dad said surprising everyone. "There might be some sort of arrangement we could come to."
The fake smile that had been on Mrs. Hanazono's face slowly began to fade and frustration overtook it. "Why Dear, this is not what we are looking for," she said sharply.
"You overstep your boundaries," He snapped back at her making her flinch as if she was physically hurt. Karin and Kazune's eyes suddenly met as they felt even more uncomfortable with the situation that they were in. They really didn't want to stand around and witness some sort of fight between Karin's parents.
Thankfully, Karin's Mother decided to hold her tongue and opted to just glare slightly at her husband as he continued. "Please sit back down Mr. Kujyou," he said gesturing with his hand towards the seat that Kazune had been sitting in previously.
Kazune followed the man's instructions wearily, wishing that he could already be gone of this stuffy house and feeling extremely bad for Karin who must have had to deal with this on a daily basis. Still, he was curious at what this guy wanted now as well as why he had wanted to know about his financial situation before. He decided that he would have to ask Karin later.
"So Mr. Kujyou," Mr. Hanazono started, "Since you are not extremely endowed in the monetary sense, I would presume that you got into the school on scholarship."
Kazune had to admit to himself that even if Karin's Dad was an ass, at least he wasn't a dumb one. "That's correct," he answered cautiously.
"So I can assume that you are well endowed in the scholarly sense," Karin's Dad added.
"I'm ranked number one in the class," Kazune said stating a fact and not trying to brag, he was proud of his achievements but really didn't want to spread it around, after all, why did it matter if everyone knew that he was smart. He was the only one that really needed to know that.
Mr. Hanazono was nodded his head and said, "good, good," as he smiled at Kazune as if his plan was already completed. Kazune opted to just stay quiet until the man had explained everything.
"You see," Mr. Hanazono began, "My daughter is what you might say- not intelligently inclined."
Karin almost died right then and there. She couldn't believe her own father! Her eyes went wide in shock and when Kazune peered over at her she could tell that he was trying not to laugh. He smirked slightly and Karin immediately put her hands over her face as if trying to hide from him, there was no way she was ever going to live this down.
"What I wanted to ask," Mr. Hanazono said as if this was a completely normal situation, "was if you might tutor my daughter, I would even pay you for your services."
Before Kazune could answer this question though, Karin's Mother interrupted with protests. "Karin does not need a tutor, all she needs is-" but before she could finish she was cut off by her husband as he stood up extremely annoyed.
"We will discuss this later," he said sternly, getting his point across to her instantly. Then a cheerful grin replaced his glare and he cheerfully turned to Kazune and asked "So how about it?" as if nothing had just occurred between him and his wife.
"I would be happy to tutor your daughter," Kazune said smiling at Karin, whose hands dropped from her face stunned that Kazune had actually said yes to this request. "I only have a couple of conditions," he added looking back at Karin's father, looking him straight in the eyes.
"I'm willing to hear these conditions," Mr. Hanazono said visibly relaxing in his seat.
"First off, I don't want to be paid for my tutoring," Kazune said surprisingly.
Karin's father straight away looked confused and was about to ask about this request when Kazune beat him to the chase and told him exactly why. "Teaching someone else the material will make me study harder, so in fact it will be doing me a favor."
Karin's Dad nodded in agreement understanding perfectly why Kazune didn't want to be paid. Kazune continued, "I also would like to suggest that Karin just come home with me after school every day for our secessions seeing as that we could get started right away as well as that my Uncle and Aunt's home is the perfect study environment."
When Mr. Hanazono still looked unsure of the idea, Kazune continued trying to convince the man to see it his way. "It would also be best for Karin if she could study there where I could keep a heavy eye on her at all times and such." Knowing that her Dad probably was worried about safety issues, especially after what had happened so recently, he kept going.
"I would make sure to be with her at all times so that nothing could possibly happen to her," he said looking Mr. Hanazono straight in the eyes.
The look Kazune was giving him was the final convincing point. It was obvious from a few days ago that Kazune was fully capable of protecting Karin if anything was to happen to her, but now it became apparent to Mr. Hanazono that perhaps Kazune wasn't just willing to protect her… but wanted to.
He was slightly afraid that this boy could be falling for his daughter, but at the moment it didn't concern him too much. He knew that Karin, if nothing else, wasn't going to let herself fall for some boy that she knew was impossible for her to be with. She knew better than that, so who cared if the boy broke his heart pinning after his daughter, as long as his little girl was alright, he would be okay.
Karin's Mom however wasn't as okay with the idea as her husband and began to speak out against it. She was cut off once again by Mr. Hanazono, as he said, "Deal," standing up and sticking out his hand to shake Kazune's.
"Would you please escort Mr. Kujyou out, Karin," He added. "I assume that she will go home from school with you starting next Monday," he directed at Kazune.
"Of course Mr. Hanazono," Kazune said bowing his head slightly and then turning to the door as Karin came around the table and up to his side.
As they walked out the doors, both could hear Karin's parents start to bicker again as it was obvious that Mrs. Hanazono was more than displeased with the current situation. Without thought the two picked up their pace wanting to get away from the shouting as soon as possible.
The moment they were outside, Kazune turned to thank Karin for the tea, feeling that if there was one person who deserved to be thanked, it was her. Surprisingly though, he found her with her arms wrapped around his neck squealing in excitement and repeating over and over "thank you thank you thank you." She was almost jumping up and down with her enthusiasm.
"Geez woman you're going to break my neck," Kazune said, yet he couldn't help but smile at the girl's antics.
"Oops sorry," she exclaimed pulling back her arms immediately and hugging them close to her chest instead, unable to keep herself from smiling. "Thank you thank you thank you…"
"Alright," Kazune interrupted laughing; Karin went silent but still couldn't help but bounce up and down slightly in excitement. "Wow, I'm guessing you are just really excited to get out of the house," he guessed shaking his head in amusement.
Karin's grinned even larger, if it was possible, and leaned forward slightly and said, "You have no idea."
Kazune grinned right back at her, "Well, you know I'm not going to go easy on you, your grade average needs a lot more improvement."
Karin's smile slowly drained from her face as she began to realize exactly what having Kazune as a tutor would entail. "Wait a second, how do you know what my average is?!" she demanded.
Kazune just raised an eyebrow at Karin not even bothering to answer her.
She blushed in mortification of what Kazune was wordlessly telling her, "Is it really that common of knowledge that I don't do too well in school?" she asked whispering.
He just rolled his eyes before walking away giving a slight wave, not even taking the time to turn around, as he spoke, "I'll see you on Monday, and be sure to wear comfortable shoes."
With that Karin scrunched her eyebrows confused. What exactly did Kazune mean by saying wear comfortable shoes?
All day Karin had barely been able to contain her excitement about what was going to happen after school. The entire weekend she been thinking about it and on several occasions her Mother had reprimanded her for daydreaming, rather than focusing on all the boys' profiles that she had collected.
Karin looked down at her feet and was unable to keep a smile from spreading on her face as she wiggled her toes around in her shoes. They were tennis shoes, something that she had never owned in her entire life.
Somehow, she had managed to convince Himeka to go out and buy her a pair, so as to oblige Kazune's instructions. Never before had she gotten to wear such shoes.
Before, she had always worn nice dress-like shoes to school such as small heels. She had to admit they were cute, but after walking around all day in a pair of normal shoes, there was no way she was ever going to wear an uncomfortable shoe again. Even if it meant having Himeka bring her tennis shoes to change into everyday. That was if Himeka was okay with the idea, and it was more than likely that she would be.
Karin looked back up at the clock which had seemed to be going in slow motion just as it had been all day. Now that it was the final class, each minute that passed seemed more like hour. She was finding it highly frustrating.
For the millionth time that day she wondered what exactly she was going to do at Himeka and Kazune's house. Sure Kazune was supposed to be tutoring her, but maybe he would let her take the day off or something and they could just all hang out for a while. Then again, knowing Kazune, that wasn't likely to happen. Karin sighed; all she knew was that it couldn't be as bad as home.
Finally, the bell rang.
Karin quickly gathered her belongings and rushed out into the hallway along with her other classmates. She didn't have to look for Kazune though, as he was already leaning up against the wall waiting on her. Curious, she wanted to ask him how he managed to do that, after all, this had been the second time it had happened, but she didn't ask already knowing his response would be something like rolling his eyes at her. Instead she just smiled brightly at him.
Kazune couldn't help but smile back at her. It was strange; it wasn't like he didn't like to smile, but it seemed like every time Karin was around, he just did it a lot more. He tried not to think too much of it as the two of them left the building and went to ground's entrance where Himeka was going to meet up with them.
As they walked, Kazune noticed the way that Karin walked, with a slight bounce in her step, and he chuckled at her.
"What?" she asked hearing his suppressed laughter and feeling inquisitive.
Kazune grinned as they continued to walk side by side as he answered, "You're just so excited about getting tutored."
She frowned slightly back at him. He was always teasing her like this and she couldn't restrain herself from making a snappy comeback. "Isn't it a good thing that I'm excited about studying," she said even though both knew that it wasn't the studying she was so dang happy about.
"Sure…" Kazune said catching Karin off guard. He wasn't ever one to agree with her, so it was no surprise to her when he continued afterwards. "That is if you are a nerd," he said smirking down at her.
Karin stopped and put her hands on her hips. "I am not a nerd," she said slightly glaring at Kazune.
"No, you're not smart enough to be," Kazune said as he continued to walk forward with his hand on his chin as if he was really considering her to be a nerd.
"Kazune-kun!" she exclaimed slightly pink in the cheeks feeling slightly self-conscious about her grades suddenly.
"Don't worry, after I'm done with you, you'll be able to be a nerd," Kazune said smiling confidently over at Karin as they stopped at the school ground's exit.
Karin frowned in slight annoyance and crossed her arms, "Cocky bastard."
Kazune was about to call her some sort of name back ready to fight back, however, that was the exact moment that Himeka decided to show up. "Karin-chan! Kazune-chan!" she yelled running up to the two of them only to almost trip on the way.
The small frown that had been on Karin's face before immediately began to fade away. "Hey Himeka-chan thanks for the shoes again, they are so comfortable," she said as her normal smile adorned her face once again. Kazune was surprised with how fast she managed to change her attitude.
Himeka smiled sweetly, "I'm glad you liked them."
"Okay, let's get going," Kazune said deciding to change the subject before it could get permanent attached at girly things such as nail polish and clothes. He really didn't want to hear about that kind of thing. At hearing the word 'shoes' he had just tuned them out immediately on instinct.
Both Himeka and Karin nodded in agreement before Kazune and Himeka walked through the gate and started down the sidewalk. Karin followed unsure where they were going but knowing well enough to follow them. "Who picks you guys up after school anyway?" Karin asked curious, suddenly realizing that she was always the first to leave among all of her friends and therefore she had never seen who picked them up.
Himeka giggled slightly at her friend's question and Kazune decided it would be best if he just let his cousin answer Karin. "We don't get picked up at all," Himeka admitted cheerful as always.
For a second Karin struggled for words unsure of how exactly to respond to that, "huh?"
"Wow, aren't you the articulate one," Kazune remarked teasingly.
Karin scowled in annoyance, "Shut up Kazune-kun. Himeka-chan will explain it to me."
But now Kazune wanted to be the one to explain. After all, getting her all riled up was his specialty. "We only live about a mile or so away so it would be a waste of gas for someone to come pick us up."
"So…" Karin said, finishing his thought, "you guys walk home from school?"
Himeka nodded and Kazune just smirked to himself as he imagined what could possibly be going though Karin's head at the moment.
For a moment she was silent as what he had just said processed through her brain, and then it was as if it all just clicked. "Kazune-kun!" He hoped she wasn't too mad at him. "I can't believe you didn't tell me that we were walking home!" she said stalking up right to him, and then having to resist the urge to kick him really hard in the shins as they continued to walk.
He just grinned at the way she was getting angry, it always was amusing. "What if I hadn't been able to get comfortable shoes for today?!" she asked exasperated.
"You would have walked to my house in uncomfortable shoes," he said matter-o-fact like. Karin now resisted the urge to slap herself.
"Really?" she asked sarcastically. Kazune only nodded his head in agreement knowing that would rile Karin up more than anything else. This was how most of their fights seemed to be now, one of them annoyed and the other just messing with them. He remembered how when they had first met they both would actually get mad, but at some point they just got to know each other well enough that they knew what buttons to push to get the biggest reaction out of the other.
Karin sighed really getting annoyed with Kazune, didn't he realize how bad this situation could have turned out, and could still turn out. "Just be happy that Himeka was able to bring me a pair of tennis shoes for me to wear," she spit out refusing to look at Kazune any longer.
Bring her shoes? "Wait, you don't own any tennis shoes, aren't you rich?" Kazune asked suddenly confused.
With a small sigh Karin just asked pointing down at her feet, "Do you honestly think my Mom would let me wear something like these in public?"
Kazune had to admit to himself that she had a point. He had met her Mother and that had been enough to convince him that she probably thought anything less than a heel wasn't acceptable in public. Suddenly he felt a little bad, realizing that he could have caused Karin a lot of trouble. However, at the moment she didn't seem that mad anymore since he had kept quiet after her last comment.
Kazune looked over at Karin who had apparently decided that what was done was done and had moved on to looking around as the three of them walked to the Kujyou household. It was then that he began to get the idea of how restricted she really was in life.
While he normally would have zoned out to his surroundings like Himeka currently was, Karin seemed to be enraptured in everything. You would think that she had never been outside before.
In reality, Karin had been outside plenty of times, but only in her own yard and never in the middle of the city. Anytime she had seen any part of the city she had been in her limo only getting out for a minute at most when going up to the school grounds or someone's door. Now her getting to look around and walk around on the sidewalks where she had seen so many walk before, she was slightly dumbfounded.
The way everything smelled (not always pleasantly), the speed of the cars on the street, the way parts of the sidewalk were crumbling from age, and immensity of some of the buildings, were just a few of the things that caught her eye more now that she was no longer in a car and was just walking along the street. She couldn't help but feel amazed at everything.
Kazune just stared as she looked at anything and everything almost in child-like wonder. It surprised him just how interesting she found everything. Her jaw was dropped without her even realizing it and he wanted more than anything for that walk to continue. However, much too soon for both of them, they got to their destination and walked into the Kujyou yard.
Karin stopped right before she had to turn to go up the sidewalk that led to Kazune's house and just started out at everything one last time.
Himeka looked at her friend curiously but then went into the house figuring that Karin was just deep in thought, and wondering what she might be thinking so seriously about.
However, Kazune stopped about half way up the yard's sidewalk and turned back around to watch Karin as she took one last glace around at everything she could. I small smile made its way to her face as she realized that she would get to see all of this tomorrow when she walked home with Kazune and Himeka. Never before had she felt so peaceful. True, the city wasn't the quietest place in the word, nor would it be considered as serene by most, but to her, it was real, something that she didn't get to see much of at home.
It was then that Kazune made a silent vow to himself to help this girl in not only her studies. He didn't completely understand what the deal was with her life, but he did know that there were parts of it that were royally screwed up, and that he didn't like that at all. He absentmindedly wondered why he wanted to help her so much and figured that it was just because he didn't have that many friends, with good reason, and somehow over the last few weeks this girl had found a way into his small circle of comrades.
At that moment, Karin turned toward him and smiled brilliantly, "So are we going to get started or what?"
"Why couldn't I keep my big mouth shut?" Karin wondered out loud running her hands down her face.
For the past three hours her and Kazune had been locked his room together just looking at her math homework. "It really isn't that hard Karin," Kazune said trying to explain the same problem for the third time in a different way so that she might grasp the concept.
"Let's just agree I'm a dunce and forget about all this," she said resting her head against the wood desk that she was sitting at.
"You're giving up too easily," Kazune said as he took the worksheet from where it was on top of the desk and looked at it carefully. "Look here, you had it. You just forgot to subtract the five from both sides," he said pointing out the simple mistake she had made. "So the answer you got is too large, go ahead and try it again."
Karin worked through the problem again, this time making sure to subtract in all the right places. Afterwards, she smiled to herself pleased with the work she had just accomplished sure that she had gotten the correct answer.
Kazune looked over it and smiled but shook his head. She groaned, already knowing that she had messed it up. "What did I do this time?"
"You actually didn't make any real mistakes. You just divided by eight instead of three. My guess is that you wrote down eight in the beginning instead of three, so this time your answer is too small." Kazune said smiling at her pleased that she had gotten it right and it had only been a stupid mistake this time.
Quickly, Karin reworked the problem and handed it back to Kazune for him to look over. She waited wide eyed staring at him as he checked over the entire thing all the while a grin growing on his face. He looked up and their eyes met and he nodded an affirmative.
Karin beamed and said slyly, "And this one's just right."
Kazune looked at her with a slightly perplexed expression on his face.
"Oh come on Kazune," Karin said in disbelief. He just continued to look at her puzzled about what she was talking about.
"First you said it was too large, and then it was too small, and then it was…" Karin tried to explain, but at seeing how he didn't seem to know what the heck she was talking about she just shook her head and said instead, "never mind."
"You're weird," Kazune said shaking his head at her.
"No, you just need to know your fairytales better," Karin said back smirking slightly.
He looked at her curiously before finally saying, "Okay let's do the next problem." Karin groaned in response.
Later when they had moved from Math, as she had a pretty good grasp on the homework, on to History, Kazune showed her what pages to read while he was trying to get some of his own homework done as well. They had moved downstairs, to be more comfortable, and now Karin found herself sitting on the couch with her textbook in her lap and repeatedly getting distracted by the large window that overlooked the Kujyou's backyard.
"Karin!" Kazune snapped effectively waking her from the trance-like state she had gone into unknowingly.
Karin's head instantly whipped up to attention as she said, "huh?"
"You were zoning out," Kazune said looking back down at his own homework and trying to finish a particularly challenging physics problem.
"Kazune-kun?" he heard her ask cautiously, and he looked up to find her staring intently at him.
"Yeah?" he questioned wondering what she was having problems with when she was just supposed to be reading. Then again it didn't look like she had turned a single page of her textbook.
"You beat up that guy who attacked me," she said still staring at him straight in the eyes.
"Yeah," he said curious where she was going with this.
"Could you teach me some self defense stuff too?" and with that Kazune froze in surprise.
He finally took his eyes completely from his homework and turned to face Karin and asked politely, "What did you just ask?"
Karin blushed slightly feeling like an idiot. "Never mind," she whispered looking back down at her book.
However, Kazune wasn't going to let the subject drop quite as fast. Her asking something like that… it didn't seem that typical of her. Why on earth would Karin want to be able to fight? He was interested, and now that he was, he wanted some sort of answer. "Karin," she looked slowly from her book, apparently she already knew what he was going to ask and was probably dreading it. "Why would you want to learn to fight, and even if I said yes, wouldn't your parents disapprove?"
She scowled at his last comment, "My parents are idiots."
"Tell me something I don't know," Kazune said rolling his eyes. "Maybe for instance why that has to do with this, don't try and change the subject," he also added as a warning.
For a moment she stayed quiet unsure of exactly how to answer his question, when she felt him put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped a little and turned her head up at him. His bright blue eyes captured hers and she knew immediately that she could tell him anything, even if it was slightly embarrassing, something about Kazune she just felt like she could completely trust with anything. Not that she was going to tell him about how her parents had thought about having them get married; he didn't need to know about any of this marriage stuff that she had to go through.
She put her book aside on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest so as to let Kazune take a seat on the couch while she talked. "I don't know where to begin," she admitted shamelessly as he plopped down beside her.
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling before prompting her with "Why don't you start at the beginning, why do you want to learn how to fight?"
Karin looked down sheepishly before answering quietly, "I'm tired of being the damsel in distress."
Kazune pulled his head back up at the same time that Karin lifted hers and for a moment their eyes met in complete silence. "Explain," he said, but she could tell it wasn't a demand, more of a request. She didn't have to ask to know that anytime she wanted to stop he would drop the subject completely.
Taking a deep breath she continued, "I just feel like I can't fend for myself. Not just last week when you saved me, thank you again by the way, but my parents are always so worried about me getting hurt that I never have gotten to stand on my own two feet."
He nodded his head in agreement and said, "Makes sense," beginning to understand why she would want to learn to fight.
Karin took this as a good sign and continued her little rant. "They just don't seem to see that one of these days I might not have anyone around to help me, and then what would I do?" she huffed annoyed by how her parents could possibly be so blind.
Kazune full heartedly agreed with her. As much as he wanted to say that someone, like himself, would always be there to protect her, it just wasn't the truth. You never knew what could happen.
"And that's why I need you to teach me some stuff about self defense; otherwise I'll just be the helpless girl who is in constant need of being saved." Karin finished looking up at him with pleading eyes.
Impassively, Kazune stared back at her thinking about his options in this situation. He honestly already knew that Karin was in need of learning some defense techniques, granted the girl had done pretty well in the situation last week even hurting the guy. But she just didn't think quickly enough in a fight to have done any real damage to him. She needed for someone to teach her useful skills as well as drill her at them so that it would be impulse for her to use them.
He had no doubt in his ability to teach her such things, there was just was a few problems with it. First off, her parents wouldn't want her to be learning how to fight, thus anything he taught her would have to be done so in secret, although since she already was going to be spending every afternoon at his house so that wouldn't be too hard to do.
Secondly, if he decided to help train her that would mean less time to work on her grades and that wasn't going to work out well.
And finally, even if they were to train at his house, Himeka and probably his Aunt and Uncle would notice and therefore it would be a lot easier for Karin's parents to find out about it. The less people that knew about it the better.
"Alright I'll do it but we are going to have to work some things out," Kazune finally said knowing that it would be worth it.
Suddenly, Kazune found Karin on top of him as she knocked him back in the biggest hug she could manage. "Thank you thank you thank you," she cheered just as she had done the other day. Kazune's cheeks began to heat up and he suddenly felt the urge to hug her back, though he had enough sense to not act on such instincts.
Karin bounded up from the couch smiling not noticing the slight pink on Kazune's cheeks. "When can we start?" she asked obviously hoping that they would begin lessons right then and there.
"Karin let's be sensible about this," Kazune said sighing slightly at her apparent impatience.
She frowned in response, something that with most girls, Kazune found unbearably annoying, but with Karin, he just wanted to laugh in response. Still, he had the sense not to let her know that and instead just continued with what he was saying.
"See, we can't do these lessons afterschool when I'm supposed to be tutoring you," he admitted hoping that she wouldn't get too riled up over it.
She just glared at him before crossing her arms and bitterly asking, "Why not?"
Never before had Kazune wanted to laugh so badly. Karin just wasn't intimidating especially whenever she was trying to be. He was disappointed that she hadn't figured out the answer for her question herself though. "Because I'll be tutoring you after school," he said pointing out the obvious.
"Oh," Karin said catching his drift as she looked down. "I wouldn't get enough studying done if we did it after school," she said bluntly causing Kazune to feel flustered and unsure of what to say next. After all, he couldn't really argue with it, but that didn't mean he didn't want to.
"So what do you suppose we do, should we just meet here longer after school," she asked suddenly looking back up and straight into his eyes.
It caught Kazune by surprise. She looked so determined… and yet there was a kindness and gentleness in her eyes that fit her so well. It was surprising; Kazune hadn't ever seen anything like it before.
Sure he knew the look of determination well, he had been told by Himeka that he often had it on his own face, which didn't surprise him in the least considering how hard he pushed himself in his studies… and for that matter everything else. But he also knew from his cousin and from personal experience that the look of determination also came with a hardened look that many interpreted as a little scary. It was no wonder that so many people thought he was some sort of jerky nerd. He didn't listen to them naturally, but that didn't mean that he didn't find it bothersome at times.
Jerking his thoughts back to the conversation at hand, Kazune answered Karin's question. "Really, training here would defeat the purposes of having me coach you, there are too many people here that might see and tell someone they shouldn't."
Nodding her head in agreement, Karin let Kazune continue. "I thought that maybe we could meet in the mornings before school in the gym, they have the proper equipment for this kind of thing, plus the chances of someone actually seeing us would be quite small."
Karin groaned in response. Getting up for school was hard enough as it was, and now getting up even earlier… it was going to be near impossible for her.
"What's wrong with it?" Kazune asked not understanding why Karin was groaning.
"I'm just not much of a morning person," she admitted sighing. "But it's okay, I'll be fine," she added quickly, knowing that this really was the best way for her to be taught by Kazune.
"Well now that's cleared up," Kazune said standing up, "Get back to work on that History reading, or else you'll never get done."
Once again, Karin reaction was a groan as she picked back up her text book. But she couldn't help but feel happy in that moment. Sure, studying was terrible, but at least she had someone there helping her through with it. And with Kazune now helping her before school as well, she felt very thankful, and wished that things could just stay the way they were.
Yeah, it's a bit of a stretch for Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but I still had a lot of fun with it. If you didn't get how the fairy tale pertained to the chapter, all I did was pretty much quote it. Not my favorite connection, but still a connection all the same.
I had a lot of fun with this chapter. It was fun doing all the development between Karin and Kazune. Up to this point it has just been their friendship developing, but obviously Kazune's feelings for Karin are starting to show up even if he doesn't recognize them… yet.
Just by the way, I'm a total nerd, so really I didn't mean any offense to anyone in this chapter when I had Karin not want to be a nerd. You know. Hope you all enjoyed. Keep writing!
FFG- Jo