[ Cryptic: Thank you very much for the reviews so far, I'm glad to have even a few people supporting me ^-^. All the chapters tend to vary in length, I managed to squeeze in a bit more detail in this chapter, and some more fluffiness. I do not own Kamichama Karin, as you all know. Enjoy]
Kazune Returns [Impatience Strikes]
Karin was in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess she and Himeka had made after making snacks for everyone. It was still the day that Kazune and Micchi (not to mention Jin) arrived, but it had now become the later afternoon. Karin was wiping the kitchen counter clean with a yellow sponge. "Ah all done" she sighed with relief when she had finally finished, Himeka and the others would have helped her, but Karin had volunteered to do it herself so the others could go off and enjoy themselves. The others were all sitting in the dinning area chatting happily, excluding Kazune who had been left out by mistake.
Kazune approached the kitchen, his expression seemed to brighten when he found Karin. Now's my chance! he thought to himself. He had been waiting for the right moment to talk to Karin, he had been interrupted several times already by Micchi and the others. He stepped into the kitchen without hesitation."Hey Karin!" he said getting Karin's attention instantly.
"Kazune!" she chimed happily. She brushed some of her hair away from her face, "what brings you here?" she asked with curious eyes.
"Oh w-well" Kazune said a bit nervously, "I kinda wanted to talk-" suddenly, another interruption appeared.
'KARIN! You've GOT to come to the dinning room, it's important!" Jin said pulling Karin out of the kitchen.
"Waaah!" Karin yelped as she was dragged away like a ragdoll.
"-to you, about something..." Kazune completed his sentence, which was pointless now that Karin had been snatched away again.
"Fine!" Kazune huffed as he stormed out of the kitchen, "I'll go find something better to do" he grumbled to himself.
**********
Meanwhile Karin was being dragged into the dinning room for an apparently "important" reason.
Himeka was sitting at the dinning room table as Micchi sorted through some things he had in a small black shoulder bag. Karin and Jin sat with Himeka as they watched Micchi search through his bag.
"What are you looking for?" Karin asked.
Micchi stopped to look up at Karin, "the souvenirs!" he said pleasantly.
Karin's interest had been caught, "you got us souvenirs from Yokohama?" she asked. Karin enjoyed free gifts, almost as much as she likes sashimi, and Karin REALLY likes her sashimi. "What'd you get us?"
"You'll see, you'll see" Micchi chuckled pulling out the first item. It was a jar with five tiny air holes on the top of the lid. The clear glass jar held a small, green, winged insect and a couple of leaves. The creature made a loud yet annoying chirping sound.
"A robust cicada!" Himeka shrieked with delight as she reached for the jar eagerly.
"Yes, this is for you Himeka-chan" Micchi said handing the captured cicada to the bug obssessed girl. "I'm gonna name you . Okay ?" Himeka said to her new insect pet. Even though she was 16, she still adored bugs.
"Mister...Squiggles?" Jin asked with a confused look. He hadn't been around Himeka long enough to notice her bug obssession.
"Yeah, don't ask" Karin replied, she was clearly used to Himeka.
"And this is for you Jin!" Micchi smiled handing him a white mug with black and red text on it.
" 'I love Yokohama'? " Jin said reading the mug with a disinterested look. "What in the world made you think that I'd like something like THIS?" he demanded.
Micchi put his left hand on his hip and wagged his right index finger, "EVERYONE, likes mugs" he stated, as if it were an actual fact.
"Pssh whatever" is all Jin could say.
Micchi turned his attention to Karin, "here catch" he said throwing her a small package.
She managed to catch it without falling out of her chair. She read the title of the package, " 'Super Sunflower Seeds'...oh wow this is great Micchi, thanks!" she said, delighted with her gift.
Micchi grinned, "I'm just a natural when it comes to giving good gifts" he boasted zipping his black bag shut and tossing it to the side.
"Yeah, SOME natural" Jin said sarcastically as he tossed the white mug between his hands.
"I wonder where Kazune is..." Karin wondered aloud.
**********
Kazune was down in his private study with his many books, reading. He seemed to be bothered by a certain thought that contuned to wander through his mind and occasionally escaped his lips. He attemped to get his mind off it by reading books, but every time he started reading to himself he found that his mind would begin to wander...
" '...and so if the chemical theory then suggests the solution is...' the solution is everyone should just back the hell away from Karin!" Kazune shouted out of the blue. "Damn it" Kazune cursed under his breath. He slammed the giant "Chemical Bounds" book shut and threw it onto the now increasing pile of books to his right. He let his face fall onto the old wooden desk in front of him. "No matter what I do, no matter what I read, I keep thinking about Karin, Karin, Karin! And how everyone keeps taking her away from me", Kazune groaned.
"Well, I can't help it...I care about her so much", Kazune continued to talk to himself, "but everyone else is an idiot, don't they all know by now that she's MINE?". As Kazune progressed his rant, "stupid, stupid, stupid" he said as he lifted yet another book onto the desk. He stared wide-eyed as he noticed the book he had pulled in front of him, it was titled "Photo Album". "Wow, I this is old" Kazune commented flipping open the album. The first couple of pages were mainly of Himeka and Kazune when they were really young, Kazune grunted and skipped to the last and newer pages of the album.
He found the pictures he was looking for, photos of him and Karin, together. He smiled as he flashed back on all the good memories, memories of living in this house...with Karin. She's always been beautiful he thought to himself, "but she's even more gorgeous now, he's more mature now..." he said. Kazune's face became a light scarlet colour as he continued on that thought. "Ahem" Kazune cleared his throat, "I should get back to work" he announced to no one as he opened yet another text book.
**********
"...And those were all the sights we saw in Yokohama" Micchi said as he had finished up an interesting story about his and Kazune's time spent in Yokohama over the past year, "yeah, the sakura trees there are really magnificent" he added with a nod.
"Interesting..." Karin said as she fiddled with the sunflower seed package.
"Cool..." Jin commented, not really showing much interest. Micchi's stories always dragged on, and were mostly filled with too much detail.
"I wonder if is homesick" Himeka frowned, "do you miss your home?" she asked tapping the glass jar in her hands.
Suddenly everyone heard a ringing sound, everyone jumped a bit at the startled sound, it even scared .
"Ah, it's just my phone" Jin said flipping open his cellphone. "Yeah?...mhm...what? fiiine, bye" Jin closed his phone, "I gotta go now, important appointment," he said getting up from his seat. "See ya Himeka and Micchi" he slid his cellphone back into his pocket, "bye bye Karin" he said with a wink.
"Bye Jin! see ya!" everyone said bidding him farewells as he walked out the door.
As soon as the door closed Himeka turned to Karin with an idea, "hey Karin-chan, we should go plant those seeds in the backyard!" she said.
"Hm? Right now?" Karin asked finding Himeka's timing rather random, then again, when wasn't her timing random?
"Yeah yeah!" Himeka said, "it'll probably make feel better" she added.
"Alright, let's go" Karin giggled at Himeka's childish yet kind thinking. Karin turned around to Micchi quickly, "hey Micchi, do you think you could go find Kazune for me? I'm kind of worried..." she said looking concerned.
"Of course, anything for you Hanazono-san" Micchi replied patted Karin's shoulder.
"Thanks Micchi!" Karin beamed, she turned back around and followed Himeka outside.
**********
Micchi stepped out into the hallway and walked forward at a rather quick pace. He hadn't forgotten his way around this house, and he knew exactly where he was headed. He came to a large wooden door with many locks and a metal frame. "Professor Kujyou's study" he whispered under his breath. He first tried to pull on the door handle, but it proved to be locked. "Hmm...how shall I go about getting inside..." he asked himself while rubbing his chin. Micchi dug inside his pants pocket until he found a paper clip, "aha!" he exclaimed. He bent it into a shape that would be able to fit inside a lock.
He inserted the bent paperclip into the very top lock and wriggled it around for a while. Nothing happened. He wriggled it some more. Still, nothing happened. Having failed, he moved onto the next lock, until he failed again. He moved onto the next lock and the next lock and the next lock, till finally...He failed to open every lock on the door. "I KNEW IT!" Micchi exclaimed to himself, "I have NO idea how to pick a lock", he said sounding defeated, "well it was worth the try" he said in a much merrier tone.
Micchi dropped the paperclip and left the door that lead to the study. Moments later he returned, with a large wooden spoon. "This time, I shall succeed!" he said, sounding very sure of himself. He banged the spoon against the locks many times, many many times. Until, he yet again admitted defeat, "hmm, I see, that's how it is". Micchi left again coming back with a large steel crowbar. "Prepare to meet your match DOOR!" he announced as he began to attack the locks on the door. Without admitting defeat Micchi kept coming back with bigger or just plain ridiculous items to beat down the door with. A wooden plank, a toaster, a pan, toast, waffles, a rubber ducky, eggs and each time he simply dropped them on the floor once they failed...It was one sturdy door.
"GAH! You're too strong!" Micchi admitted as he fell to his knees, he was going to settle for his last resort method for opening the door...he was going to BEG. "Please, please, please, PLEASE open! I have a mission I MUST fulfill! Please opeeeeen!"Just then, out of PURE coincidence...Kazune opened the door.
"Nishikiori...WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS??!!" Kazune shouted referring to the mess that not only lay in front of the door but covered it.
"Ah, good question. Well, that's a toaster, that's a duckie, ooh those are waffles, that's as crowbar and that over there is a bent paper clip." Micchi answered cleverly.
"I mean, what the hell is it doing here?!!" Kazune growled. He then turned around to face his beaten up egg-splattered door, "and what have you done to my door?!" he yelled.
Micchi looked dumbfounded as to why Kazune was so angry, I mean, he was ONLY trying to complete a mission for Karin. "Oh, I was trying to open this door".
"Why if I may ask?" Kazune asked tapping his foot impatiently, he was in a foul mood to begin with.
"Well, Hanazono-san asked me to look for you, 'cause she was really worried, and I knew where'd you be so I came here and tried to-"
"Karin was worried about me?" Kazune asked, his mood completely changing, he looked relieved.
"Mmmmhm" Micchi said with a proud grin. "Don't forget that she cares about you a great deal" he said sternly. "And I know that you've been wanting to talk to her" Micchi raised an eyebrow, "right?".
Kazune blushed faintly, "well that isn't, entirely...I mean I know that, and well...everyone keeps interrupting when I try to! It's so annoying!" he admitted crossing his arms.
"It's okay Kazune, I know JUST how to get you two to talk without any further interruptions~" Micchi said with a wink.
**********
Karin and Himeka had finished planting and water the seeds, they were now in the kitchen washing their hands with soap and water in the sink. "That was fun Karin-chan~" Himeka said cheerfully, "I can't wait till they start growing".
"Me too", Karin agreed while drying her hands with a towel and then passing it over to Himeka.
Just then Micchi and Kazune entered the kitchen. "I found Kazune~" Micchi declared while holding up Kazune's wrist as if showing off a prized catch.
"Let go of me, I'm not a child", Kazune complained as he jerked his hand out of Micchi's grasp.
"You found Kazune! I'm so glad" Karin said happily. Kazune smiled and put his hands in his pockets.
"Hey hey Kazune-chaaaan!" Himeka said, directing Kazune's attention.
"Hm? What?" he replied.
"Look what Micchi got me! It's name is !" Himeka chimed shoving the jared bug in Kazune's face.
"Waaaah, get it away from me!" Kazune yelled, falling back onto his behind.
"Wah, sorry Kazune-chan", Himeka replied innocently as she took a step back.
Karin giggled as Micchi burst out laughing, "wow, Kazune never changes" Micchi laughed.
Kazune glared at Micchi, giving him a 'I thought you were going to HELP me' look.
Micchi helped Kazune back onto his feet, "sorry Kazune, heh" he said scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, I was wondering, Himeka, if you wanted to go hunt for some bugs in the front yard." Micchi said, executed his plan. "I thought I saw an elephant beetle out there".
"Elephant beetle?" Himeka asked calmly. Her eyes went all sparkly with delight, "elephant beetles are so cuuuuute" she said.
"Alright let's go then!" Micchi said grabbing Himeka's hand and directing her to the front yard.
Now Karin and Kazune we're finally alone, with the promise of no interference and no interruptions. Kazune was now finally prepared to tell Karin what he's been planning to tell her since the moment he arrived, which felt like a terribly long time ago to him.
"Karin", Kazune said in a soothing voice as he took both of her hands.
Karin's face turned light shade of pink, "K-Kazune-kun" she said with a smile. She looked down at her dress, and noticed that it had gotten a bit dirter form planting the seeds in the backyard. "I should go change, into some more appealing" she said sounding a little embarrassing.
"No Karin", Kazune replied. He quickly pulled her in closely for a kiss. "You're lovely just the way you are".
"Kazune-kun" Karin said all teary-eyed. She wrapped her arms around him for a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I missed you Kazune-kun, I missed you so much".
"I know Karin...I missed you too".
[Cryptic: Thank you for continuing to read this story, no matte what I shall continue writing it. Don't forget to review and please no flames, thank you very much ^-^]