Cuxie: GAH!! I'm sorry! I blanked! I forgot about this story for a while and I know that's inexcusable! GOMEN NASAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kazusa: You...forgot? About us?!
Cuxie: I know! I know! I'm soooooooooooooooooo sorry!
Himeka: Maybe you should just get on with it. We've been waiting long enough.
Cuxie:(sniff)O-Okies. Rolling chappy...sorry.
Karin stirred in her sleep, snuggling down deeper into her covers. Somewhere deep in her subconcious she knew she only had an hour or so left to sleep before her 'personal trainer' came barging in. Pulling the covers over her head, her breathing deepened as she savored the precious minutes.
Knock....Knock....
Something rasped at her door. Her brows furrowed and she burried her face in the soft cotton of her pillow. Zzzzzz.
Knock! Knock!
A louder, more rapid knocking this time. Karin squinted her green eyes open and tried to focus. Geez, Kazune-kun's early. Maybe I should just ignore him... As soon as the thought occurred to her, her eyes closed again and she tried to resume sleeping.
KNOCK!! KNOCK!! KNOCK!!! "Karin-chaaaan!! Are you up? Can I come in? It's important!" A definitely female voice called through the closed door. It was Kazusa. Karin sighed and a few thoughts came to mind. In that order? No. Not really. It can wait until the sun's up. "Karin-chan!"
"ALRIGHT!!" Karin screeched. "I'm up! What is it?" she pleaded desperately, sitting up in her bed. The door swung open with a slight bang, and a cheery blonde entered the room.
"Ohayo, Karin-chan!" she said perkily, marching over to her friend's bedside. Karin simply nodded thinking, You can hardly call it morning. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes. Yes, I did." And I wasn't finished yet. "What brings you here this early, Kazusa-chan?" She asked, rubbing at her eyes.
"Wonderful! So which socks do you think I should wear with this uniform?" She asked holding a short white sock and a knee-length black sock against her uniform dressed. Karin remembered the look on her face when they showed her the uniform yesterday. She was almost as excited as Karin remembered being herself.
"Definitely the black," she answered, smiling slightly. She blinked, taking a good look at Kazusa. "Eto...Kazusa-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you dressed already? School doesn't start for..." Karin glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand. "Another three and a half hours."
"Oh?" Kazusa blinked. Taking a pause from pulling on her socks. "I was just so excited I couldn't wait!" She said laughing nervously.
Karin sweatdropped. Excited? For school? She has lived a sheltered life.
"I'm going to go fix my hair," Kazusa exlcaimed while pointing to her mild case of bedhead. "See you downstairs!" she called, leaving just as quickly as she came.
The brunette didn't move an inch for at least five seconds, looking between the spot where her friend had been standing and the door that was still wide open. Finally, she blinked. Yawned. And fell back against her pillows.
3 hours later:
"Class, I'd like to present our new student....Kazusa Kujyou!" Sensei announced cheerily to the room of mildly interested students. "Please come in Kazusa-san."
Kazusa entered, her head bowed slightly as she walked to the front of the room. She was wearing a uniform like all the other girls and her bunny ears had been removed at Karin's suggestion. Instead, her hair was pulled back the same way, but with a regular blue clip. Not very stylish, but Karin had promised to find her something 'ten times cuter' on their shopping excersion.
She stood shyly next to the teacher and lifted her head to see the class, revealing her rose-colored cheeks. "N-Nice to meet you," she stuttered, bowing formally. This action received several wolf whistles from the boys and a few disapproving looks from jealous girls.
"Kazusa-san, you can have a seat next to..." she scanned the room quickly. "Nakayama-san." She pointed to the curly-haired Kazune-Z member who raised her hand in acknowledgement.
Kazusa nodded and hurried to her desk, taking out the new notebook and pencil case Himeka had thoughtfully bought for her. For some reason Himeka was the only one who seemed to remember that she'd need school supplies. She tried to focus on what Sensei was saying and taking notes, when she noticed the girl next to her was staring intently at her. Like she was something the girl couldn't quite place.
"Ano...Hello?" she said, unsure of what else to do. The girl blinked, seeming to notice she was staring, and blushed lightly.
"Hi...um...did you say your name was Kujyou?"
"That's right."
"You mean, like, Kujyou-kun's relative?" she asked, somewhat hopefully.
Kazusa nodded, "His sister, yes." The brunette girl surpressed and squeal and Kazusa cocked her head in confusion. "You know my brother?"
"Who doesn't?! He's only the coolest boy in school! Not to mention the cutest!" she answered, taking on a fangirl persona. Kazusa sweatdropped. I had no idea Onii-chan was so popular, she thought. "We'll totally have to get together later! Maybe I could come over and--"
"Ahem!" Sensei cleared her throat meaningfully. Sending a glare towards Nakayama, who immediately shut-up, and a doubtful look Kazusa's way.
"...We'll talk later!" she whispered to Kazusa once Sensei turned away. Kazusa nodded nervously, trying to surpress her excitement, and returned to the lesson.
At lunch:
"Really. Five minutes into the class and you're already in trouble," Kazune said disdainfully. Kazusa bowed her head and Karin immediately jumped to her defense.
"She's not in trouble! Give her a break why don't you? It's her first day. She's probably just excited, right Kazusa-chan?" Karin asked smiling at her. She nodded. "It's great she's got friends already."
"You sound like her mother." he said, smirking slightly.
"Then you sound like her father," Karin remarked, sticking her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes.
Miyon tapped Kazusa's arm. "But wasn't that Ine Nakayama-san you were talking to?" After introducing Kazusa to the rest of the gang it was like she'd belonged there all along. Also reminding Karin of herself.
"Yes, I think so." Her and Karin seemed to exchange identical looks that Kazusa couldn't quite read. "Why?"
Miyon ignored her question. "And did this conversation have anything to do with..." she looked meaningfully towards Kazune, who was picking critically at his bento. "The last name thing."
"Well, yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" she pressed, hoping for answers instead of more questions.
Karin gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll explain later. Shopping, remember?"
"Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, remembering what she had to look forward to.
"It'll be awesome! I've been meaning to hit this new boutique in town lately. I'm so excited!" Miyon gushed.
Karin nodded eagerly, "I know! And I heard Cheri's has some new accessories in!"
"I want to look at the hair clips! They always have such cute ones!" Himeka offered, finally joining the conversation. After successfully changing the subject, and launching into a 'uselessly girly conversation' as Kazune would call it, Karin and Miyon exchanged looks again. Kazusa didn't seem to notice.
With the Kazune-Z:
"You're joking!" A dark-haired girl with a boy-cut, Utae Yatashe, shrieked, her voice echoing off the walls of the empty restroom where the Kazune-Z had assembled for an 'Emergency Situation Meeting: Code Blue!'
"No, it's true, Utae-chan! I sit next to her!" Ine Nakayama said. Her voice equal in pitch. "Her name's Kazusa Kujyou."
"I can't believe this," a different girl, Hitomi Ose, interrupted. She was slightly taller than the other two. She had lighter brown hair that was slicked and pinned back so she had no bangs. "We're supposed to be Kujyou-kun experts! How could we not know he had a sister?!"
Atsune, who was apparently president stepped forward. "Hitomi-chan is right. We should've known, but there's nothing we can do about that now. "Ine-chan and I," she said, nodding toward the vice-president. "We'll try to get as close to her as possible. This girl is surely our ticket to getting to Kujyou-kun! If we can manage to befriend her then he's only a step away. Understood?" she asked, sweeping her hair further to one side, she crossed her arms and analyzed the group.
"Hai Atsune-chan!" the other three members saluted.
She nodded, satisfied. "Meeting ajourned."
Cuxie: Oooh! What do ya think?
Karin: They're totally using Kazusa-chan!
Cuxie: I know! Btw, I'm sorry if this story seems to be focusing too much on Kazusa and not enough on Karin. I'll try to change that! And I didn't really plan on giving the Kazune-Z names because it just makes things confusing, but since they've kinda become main characters I needed to. Sorry. Review plz! Next chapter coming soon!