Secrets, Lies, and Betrayal
"Just promise me you'll be more careful if it happens again. The whole time you're there, don't venture about and don't interact with anyone."
Karin thought that seemed like a good plan if she ever found herself back in that place again. She wished it were that simple though. Go and come back unharmed. But she knew like everything else in life, nothing ever is simple. She got the feeling that wouldn't be the last of that place she'd see either.
There's a reason for everything, and there's a reason she was sent there.
Less than half an hour later Micchi had to return to school since his lunch break was ending. Karin and Kazune thanked him for coming by and said their goodbyes. Kazune was now more concerned over Karin's safety. How was he supposed to protect her from something neither of them had no control over? It aggravated him greatly. Karin could tell something was bothering Kazune. She had tried asking him about it, but he refused to, insisting it was nothing worth mentioning. Karin didn't really buy it, but she wasn't going to force him to talk either. It was left at that.
Later that afternoon Kazune went to his room to work on some stuff. Mostly follow up on the information written in Kazuto's diary. Karin stayed in her room in bed. She was bored out of her mind. There was nothing to do and Kazune wouldn't let her leave the room out of fear of her having another episode. She knew Himeka would be home soon and honestly couldn't wait.
When Karin had heard the door open downstairs she felt a rush of relief. She thought she was going to go out of her mind. Karin went downstairs to greet her and saw Jin with her as well. The more the better. She hugged them both. Jin seemed to have enjoyed the hug quite a lot. "Ah, my goddess, are you feeling better? Why aren't you in bed?" Karin rolled her eyes. "I'm tired of being in bed. I need to feel the sun on my skin again."
Himeka smiled sadly. She felt bad over Karin's situation, but didn't know if that was such a good idea. She tried pushing aside her thoughts of worry and figured, how bad could it be if she went out for a bit? She pulled Jin aside and the two formed a plan on how to sneak Karin out without Kazune noticing.
After dinner, Himeka cleared the table. Like she knew he would, Kazune offered to do the dishes. Jin, whom had stayed for dinner to Himeka's request, had offered to help Kazune, but as he expected, he got a glare in return. "Just try'na help." Jin said as he made a face. Kazune growled. "Well, I don't need your help" He stubbornly said.
Karin sighed as they went at it again. Those two argued like children. "Hey, Karin, why don't I walk you to your room? You should get some rest." Himeka said loud enough so Kazune would hear. Karin nodded. "Sure. That would be for the best since I am not feeling too well at the moment." They were hoping he was buying it since he stopped arguing to look at her. "Are you alright? Do you feel yourself going back to that place?" He asked. Karin shook her head. "N-no. I just need some rest." She and Himeka went to her room before Kazune could ask any more questions.
Once they reached her room Karin quickly changed into a green sweater, short black skirt and a dark beanie that complimented her black boots. As she was changing Himeka looked out the window. It was getting dark and cloudy. "Karin, are you sure you want to do this? It looks like it's going to rain." Himeka told her. Karin finished by putting a gray jacket on. "I'm sure. I need some air. Besides, Jin will be with me. He should be outside by now."
The plan was to help Karin sneak out through her window to meet Jin. He'd look after her and walk her back home. Himeka was to arrange the pillows under the sheets to make it look as if Karin were sleeping. A little childish, but so far it was working. Kazune didn't suspect a thing. All they needed now was the signal.
On cue, Jin threw a pebble on Karin's window to give her the OK to go down the window. Karin opened it and smiled. She'd be lying if she said this didn't make her feel like such a rebel. It gave her a certain rush she couldn't quite explain. Himeka passed Karin the rope she would be using to climb down. The rope was part of their emergency supplies. To Karin, getting out of the house was an emergency. She tied it securely to one of the legs of her bedpost and started making her way down.
Himeka looked out to make sure she got down safely. Almost to the ground, Karin's foot slid from the side of the house and she started losing her grip. "Be careful!" Himeka shouted. Though not loud enough to alert Kazune. Karin's grip on the rope got worse and she felt herself falling. Luckily, Jin caught her. Himeka sighed in relief. She pulled the rope back up and untied it from Karin's bed. She made sure to close the window and rearrange the pillows before she left, closing the door behind her. Kazune was there in the hall on his way to his room when he saw her. "Hey, is she sleeping?"
Himeka slightly jumped. She wasn't one to get startled easily, but she wasn't expecting Kazune to be there at that very moment either. She nodded. Though a little too quick. She was nervous.
"What's with the rope?" Kazune curiously asked. He noticed the rope around her arm. "Is that part of the emergency supply?" Of course he would notice, he was the one that put the supply kit together. Himeka nervously laughed. "Yeah. I was just doing some cleaning and found it earlier outside of the kit. I forgot to put it back so I'm doing that now." Please buy the lie, please buy the lie...
Kazune thought it was pretty odd, but didn't question her any further. "Oh, um, alright then" He went to his room and closed the door.
"Phew..." Himeka went to put the rope back in it's place. She felt bad lying to Kazune, she's never done it before, but Karin really needed this and she wanted to help. She just hoped this wouldn't come back to bite her in the bum. Besides, she was with Jin. What could possibly go wrong?
"Master, if I may ask, why do you want us to pose as that girl?"
A young man's darkly chuckle echoed within a room with very little light. Only his silhouette could be seen.
"Because, my dearest Airis, tonight will be our first physical strike. I need to get near her without the interference of the others." He responded. The girl jumped once in delight. "Finally! We're going to see some action. All we've been doing is standing by in the sidelines just observing them. About time!" She cheered.
The other female was not amused. She was standing on the other side of the wall, leaning against it with her arms folded. "Airi, we're not going to see any action. We're just going to make sure Hanazono's friends don't notice she's missing when Master carries out his plan."
Airis pouted. "You're really no fun, Rinnie."
'Rinnie' walked up to their master. "When's our cue?"
Even though she couldn't see his face due to the darkness of the room and the black hood from the cloak he was wearing, she could see his teeth. A Cheshire-like smile he had flashed her before he answered that seemed to glow in the dark.
(A/N: That last line is not to be mistaken w/ glow in the dark teeth or for a Colgate commercial XD The antagonist has remained the same, for those who have read this story before it's still K. (don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read this yet) as for his partners in crime I have changed them. Maaya and Mamori have been scrapped. If anything I rewrote their characters into 1, who is Airis (pronounced Iris) As for Mitsuki she is still in this story but as Rina now. (Which was going to be her name originally until I changed it last minute the first time around. The third partner is someone from the KK Chu series. We all know and love her... ;D
Character Description:
Airis- Assistant to the main antagonist. She has short purple/blue hair (mostly purple but blue around the tips) in an almost boy-ish cut. Short in the back but shoulder-length in the front. She also has hazel eyes. Airis is more of the follower as opposed to her sister when it comes to their master. Being in love with him she'd do anything to please him no matter what.
Rina- Assistant to the main antagonist as well as older sister to Airis. She has long flowing green hair, and hazel eyes like her sister's. Unlike her younger sister, she isn't blind to their master and his plans. She follows orders, but internally questions them and herself.)
After Jin caught her they both fell on the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked Karin. She nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm sorry you had to break my fall." Jin chuckled. "I'd do it any day." They both realized the position they were in, Karin laying on Jin's chest with their legs intertwined. Karin quickly got up with brightest shade of red on her cheeks. Jin got up as well and dusted himself off. "S-so... Ready for that walk?"
She nodded and the both of them decided to take a stroll through the park. At first the walk was pretty quiet, not that Karin minded. Jin was looking up at the sky. It was getting cloudier by the minute. "It looks like it's going to rain soon."
Karin looked up at the sky as well. Himeka had mentioned something about rain earlier. Even though she wasn't ready to go back, she hoped it wouldn't rain while they were still out. Neither of them had an umbrella. Only the hoods on their jackets, and by the looks of those clouds coming together, it looked like it was going to be heavy rain.
They kept walking through the park. Jin felt a little nervous. It's been a while since they were alone like this. That was when he got an idea. "Hey, is it alright if I take you somewhere? It's nearby, I promise." Karin smiled. "Sure." Jin grabbed her hand and led her though the far off part of the park which led into a forest. Karin felt like a giddy school girl when he grabbed her hand. Over her little 'vacation' she had done her research on Jin and fully realized just how famous he was. She really enjoyed his music. She was sure it was just a celebrity rock-star crush she had on him.
As they walked further into the forest Karin started noticing more and more flowers along the way till he took her to the spot he wanted to show her. There was a big fallen tree covering it, but they easily climbed over it. It was a dead end, but the most beautiful dead end Karin had ever seen. Even though it was dark out, in that area was a radiant light shining down from above that reflected on the pond and the flowers, illuminating everything. It looked like a fantasy. Karin walked around looking at all of the flowers. How did Jin know about this place? It was like a piece of heaven on earth. "Jin, however did you find this place?" She asked.
Jin chuckled. "I ran away from home once as a child and ran into the forest. I just kept running till I saw this big tree in my way and I climbed over it, then I saw this. I didn't want to go back after I found this place, but then I heard Wei calling me and figured he had followed me. I didn't want him to see this place so I went out and met up with him and he took me back home. I wanted this to be my secret place."
"Wei?" Karin asked. "He's the one that's taken care of me since the day I was born." That seemed a little unusual to Karin. What about his parents? But then again, what could she say? She had never even met her parents. They had left her with her aunt and that was it, end of story. "Jin, where are your parents?" She was hoping she hadn't had crossed a line by asking.
"My dad, he has his company so he travels a lot and leaves me with Wei. I'm his biggest disappointment, heh. I chose to pursue a music career instead of following in his footsteps." Jin lowered his head. He didn't even know where to begin with his mother. Karin got the hint. She felt so bad for him. Here she thought he lived this amazing life as a musician, but really he was just a lonely guy. Karin took his hand and gave it a reassuring light squeeze.
Jin smiled. He was glad to have Karin by his side. This was the first time he had ever brought someone to this place and he was happy for it to have been Karin. She was happy too.
Their little moment was interrupted when they heard light thunder from afar. That was their cue to leave before the rain started. They made their way over the tree and ran, trying to make it back to the mansion in time. Though luck wasn't on their side and it started pouring as they were running through the forest to get back to the park.
Himeka was in her room looking out the window. She was starting to regret having let Karin go out. The rain was really coming down and they still weren't back. She didn't even remember either of them having an umbrella. She sighed as she heard the thunder. She had a bad feeling about this.
Karin and Jin weren't doing so good. It had gotten really dark since they left. The amount of rain pouring down had made it a little difficult to see. They were trying their best not to run into anything. Karin suddenly felt a little uneasy. She didn't know if it was the setting they were in or what, but all she knew is that she had the feeling they weren't alone. Like something else was in that forest with them.
How was it that they still hadn't reached the park yet? It didn't seem that far when they entered. Maybe they were getting lost. The feeling that they were being watched grew to a feeling that they were now being followed. Karin stopped abruptly. Jin felt the pull and stopped as well. He turned back. "What is it? Karin, we can't stop I have to get you back home."
Before Karin could say anything she saw the look on Jin's face. A look of horror. Karin did not like that look. She turned around slowly to see whatever it was Jin was looking at. Like Jin, her eyes too went wide as she screamed.
Then everything went black.
Before going to bed, Kazune decided to check up on Karin. Make sure her dreams, or nightmares, whatever it was weren't harming her. He slowly opened the door and saw her sleeping form under the covers. Kazune smiled a little and was about to take his leave until he noticed the window open. He figured the strong wind must have opened it. There was a bit of water on the floor near the window. Kazune went over to close it. He noticed the rain had died down a bit. Good thing too, he was afraid the wind might have woken her up.
As Kazune was about to head out to get a mop and clean up the water on the floor, he hit his knee on the bed post. "Argh dammit!" He rubbed his knee and sighed. Not like his little outburst was low. Karin must have heard that and would be waking up any second. He was surprised when she didn't. Kazune approached her to make sure she was alright. He knew she was a heavy sleeper, but he had been pretty loud. Surely she couldn't be THAT much of a heavy sleeper.
But then again... Kazune shook that thought and uncovered what he thought would be the top of Karin's head as he lowered the covers. He was shocked to see a pillow.
Kazune threw the covers off. It was all pillows. Where the hell was Karin? He looked around upstairs and downstairs. Karin was nowhere to be found. Kazune quickly ran up to Himeka's room and knocked, well more like banged on the door. Himeka couldn't sleep, too worried about Karin. She was hoping she had been back by now and was in bed. Though when she saw Kazune at the door looking rather frantic she knew otherwise.
"Karin's missing."
Himeka mentally kicked herself. She knew something must have happened to them. 'Karin, Jin...'
"We have to look for them." She said as she got her jacket. "Them?" Kazune asked. Smooth, Himeka. Very smooth. "I'll call Micchi to help us look." She completely avoided the question. After calling Micchi, they had all decided to meet up at the park and look around.
Finding Karin was their top priority right now. And Jin unbeknownst to Kazune.
END OF CHAPTER 11
Fun Fact: Airis's nickname, Airi I got the idea from a singer named Airi Mitsuki whom also gave me the idea to name my former character, Mitsuki. :) Speaking of Mitsuki (Now Rina) she is based off a character actually named Rina from Mermaid Melody, hence, where I got the name.