The next, most unwanted morning came all too early.
One certain Kurosaki girl didn't even see it coming when her all too excited twin sister started bouncing on top of the bed they had shared the night before at around six o'clock in the morning -the sun wasn't even up yet for crying out loud... You'd think that she would be all done and used to her sister's ways, but nope... Yuzu still managed to catch her off guard every single time without fail... What a feat huh...?
Now, taking into consideration the time that poor Karin went to sleep last night, as well as the restless sleep she got out of it due to this dreadful say, that particular Kurosaki girl wasn't very much pleased for the rude wakeup call she got.
The lone wordless/sleepy groan that managed to escape her lips was all the answer her tired self could come up with...
It seemed however that it wasn't much for making her personal alive alarm clock to turn off, so... she changed her tactics.
Bringing her left arm out of the numerous warm blankets that were keeping her temperature-content to the cruel and chilly winter morning air was faze first of plan B... what followed was unrecognizable mumbles that made it out of her lips and as a bonus, she started waving said arm left and right to prove her unmade point.
Thankfully, her sister honored said unrecognizable mumbles -if only in the attempt to understand her twin's sleepy nonsense- and stopped her jumping in order to give her a curious and weird look-full on with her head slightly titled sideways and her hands keeping her upright from their position on top of her W-bended legs.
After remaining like that for a few precious and most needed –not to mention definitely welcomed, by Karin… 'Finally, she stopped moving…'-, three steady knocks interrupted the little mental happy dance she was making.
'No…' chibi mental Karin thought as she changed positions from happily dancing around her mind's realm to flopping down and whining about her unfortunate self, and how fate was so unfair with her.
It was futile though however much she whined… Yuzu was already out of her reverie…
Turning her head to face the door and getting up from the bed, she allowed whoever was on the other side to come in. Karin on the other hand was cursing that whoever inside her head while outwardly she gave a heavy sigh, giving up on sleep for the day. It didn't seem to work with her anyway, and however stubborn she may be, even she knew when a battle was beyond lost…
Getting up and taking on a sitting position on top of the bed, she turned to face the door as well, as it opened to reveal her sister-in-law, her cousin, her old karate teacher and good friend and her shy best guy friend and personal nurse –her father had took him in when he lost his parents at an airplane-crush when he was just eight years of age, and they took an instant liking to each other from day one… he was just too cute and small to be left alone, so Karin took it upon herself to take care of him… he wanted to take care of her as well however, but since she was a little more than capable to take care of herself, he took the role of patching her up after in order to not worry her family when the situation asked for it, hence the personal nurse tittle…
Getting into fights seemed to be a regular occurrence for Kurosaki Karin however –it appeared to be a Kurosaki thing…- so the patching up took place a little too many time for the worrywart taking care of her, Yamada Hanataro, but it still strengthen their friendship to a very high level, so she was somewhat pleased when she saw his face. He had gone to 'Seminar in Pediatric Infectious Diseases'a few days back, and so he wasn't with her two days ago when she had learned the dreadful news about her marriage. She could finally talk to someone who would understand her situation and not just see the good in everything.
She unconditionally adored her sisters and she always will, but she was in terrible need of someone who worked in her own mind's wavelength… too much cheerfulness was tiring after a while in her opinion.
Getting up and out of the bed, she rushed elated to her friend's side and gave him an uncharacteristic bear hug, forgetting the rest for the moment, crushing his hands between hers and his body, while yelling his name in felicity. His face just took a rosy pink hew on as he tried to untangle himself from her hug… his ribs were sure to be bruised after.
The ones that knew her and her interactions with said young man just smiled and shook their heads, while the strawberry blonde woman that had showed the way to the newcomers, was beyond slightly confused.
"A-Alright Karin-chan… now, please let g-go… The-there's people watching…" the blushing boy stammered while looking around them at the amused glances coming from most of the women present… How embarrassing… Karin just snorted un-lady like before granting his wish and finally letting go of his body from her death grip…
Turning to see around her, she too noticed their small audience. She gave a brief chuckle while rubbing the back of her head self-consciously with her newfound free hand while the blushing man found a very interesting spot near his feet on the soft beige colored carpet that covered the whole room they were in.
When Karin's dark grey eyes came in contact with cold blue bellow raised eyebrows, her hand came down from its position on the back of her head and she sobered up.
"Anyway… what are you all doing here so early anyhow…? …Not that I'm not happy to see you all…"
Smirks passed around the room while Tatsuki's sarcastic voice came as an answer.
"Yeah… we noticed…"
Cue the laughter that was a long way coming… Karin wasn't pleased to be laughed at about being happy to only seeing her best friend… she was allowed to be, wasn't she…?
She huffed and crossed her hands in front of her chest in obvious annoyance -all elatedness from before forgotten-, while her best friend became even more red on the face; as if that was even possible… and Matsumoto had it with being left out of the loop.
She cleared her throat to bring the attention to her person.
"Um… mind someone telling me what's going on here…?"
Seeing that they had one woman on their hands that thought that the bride-to-be of her boss was already cheating on him and had the entire situation confused, they all rushed to explain. Hanataro's eyes had gotten the size of dinner plates as he looked up to the woman, the look of deer caught on the headlights written all over his face in fright. Karin looked horrified at that –she may not want to marry, but a cheater she was not and she didn't need false rumors flying around…
Yuzu was the one who got to her first and shook her by the shoulders before explaining.
"NO… You got it all wrong… They are just very close friends, best friends even. Nothing is going on between them… get it out of your head… he's like a little brother to us…"
Matsumoto's was somewhat dizzy after the shook her person took, and seeing the panic inside all of their eyes and the desperation to be believed, she did just that… They had no reason to lie to her, and besides… if she had a lover, she wouldn't be here and ready to be married, however unwilling… It wasn't like she didn't believe in friendship between the two sexes… It was possible.
At her conclusion, she smiled reassuringly and a collective sigh came from all around her… Yuzu even let go of her, her hands falling seemingly boneless at her sides.
The petit woman with the violet eyes spoke for the first time since coming inside, cheerfulness on the turbo.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, Karin… let's go get you ready for your wedding ceremony… We don't have much time… Hanataro, now that Karin's seen you, go with the guys outside and leave the women take care of things here. Come on… Chop chop…"
Karin's eyes took on a desperate pleading look as she threw them in the direction of her friend who in return looked at her apologetically -there was nothing he could do against the Kuchiki- and turned around following her orders…
"No… Hanataro… don't leave me with them…" the pleas of Karin followed him out.
The smirks that came from the women around her gave her the creeps…
A/N: I'm evil aren't I...? Keeping you from reading the marriage chapter already... Don't worry, next chapter that is coming, finally... I just hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I apologize for the so long wait... See you next time...