From: kemper01@ix.netcom.com (David Rubino)
Subject: KOR2 : ANOTHER DAY - Episode 7

KOR2 is a fanfiction about Kazuya, Kyosuke's younger cousin, set in
the KOR universe.  Much work has been done to maintain the original
KOR feeling and humor so please enjoy.  Comments can be directed to
kemper01@ix.netcom.com and check out the KOR2 homepage at
http://www.thunder.ocis.temple.edu/~tha/kor/kor2/kor2.html


KOR 2 : ANOTHER DAY

Episode 7 : A Good Day for Kazuya

The alarm softly played my favorite tune.. Jingimi purred wonderingly
at the door.. and Akane sweetly sang out my name..  that is, until I
finally drifted out of sleep and pulled the covers from my face.  Then
the dream stopped.

The alarm screamed out painfully.. Jingimi clawed marks into the wood
as he meowed at the door.. and Akane was yelling for me to come
downstairs.

I lazily rubbed my eyes and stumbled down the stairs without changing
my clothes or fixing my hair.  After all, this was the weekend, it was
my time.

"We're going to be late, Kazuya.  Hurry up and eat your breakfast!"
Akane pushed a bowl into my hands and ran past me up the stairs.  I
noticed that she was fully dressed in work clothes.  I stared down
into my bowl and tried to piece together what it was that I was
supposed to be doing.

I pulled myself into the living room and sat on the couch next to a
sleeping Jingoro.  Jingimi trotted into the room and sat down in front
of me, patiently staring at my bowl of breakfast.  I twirled my spoon
around and silently cursed myself for my forgetfulness.

"Akane,"  I called out to her as she came back down the stairs.  "What
was it that we were going to do?"

"Stupid!  You always forget everything.  We volunteered to help out at
the community center today."

"We did?" I asked.  Akane sighed disgustedly.

"Yes, we did.  Now stop wasting time and finish your breakfast."  She
stepped into the kitchen to finish cleaning up.  

If there was anything I hated most, it was working, especially for
free.  I could do any job with the power twice as good and twice as
fast as anyone else.. I just didn't want to do it.  I began to wonder
how I could get out of it.  

I looked down at my bowl and to my surprise, Jingimi's head was fully
into it and he was making short work of my breakfast.  Shocked, I
yelled out and the bowl fumbled out of my grasp.  It landed sloppily
on Jingimi's head and spread breakfast mush over his furry head.
Jingimi meowed and attempted to run away but without being able to
see, he ended up bumping into every piece of furniture before finally
colliding with the bottom step at the flight of stairs.  His body went
limp and he simply gave up, lying on the rug as if he wanted to be
there in the first place.

Jingoro barely stirred next to me.  He let out a small yawn and
briefly looked at me before settling back to sleep, exactly what I
wanted to be doing right now.

*******************

I trudged behind Akane, depressed and grumpy.  She carried our lunches
and seemed to be in good spirits.  She was always like this, ever
since our parents put her in charge during their trip to the United
States.  She loved being in the parent role, always telling me what to
do and how to do it.  I didn't like it and I didn't like her acting
responsible for me.  After all, I could take care of myself without
her help.

"Are you going to stay in that mood all day?" Akane called back to me.
I snapped out of my daze.

"Huh?  What mood?"  She turned to look at me.

"You know what mood.  Every time I get you to do something, you always
act like it's the end of the world.  Really, you should try and cheer
up."  

I looked back at her and her cheery smile, it just make me feel more
irritated.  I was fed up with her happiness and her good nature.  I
wanted everyone in the whole world to be as grumpy as me.

I cast a huge smile back at Akane which I knew made her nervous.  I
threw my arms out and spun around once.

"Sure, Akane.  Why don't we all just cheer up?  It's a happy day!  Oh,
good morning Mr. Light Pole, how nice to meet you today!"  I used my
power to pull two slender arms from the side. I  stretched out my arm
and the thin figure and I shock hands.  I even made him blink his lamp
twice as if to say hello Kazuya, I'm feeling grumpy today too.  

Still with a huge smile on my face, I looked at Akane and saw the
twinkle in her eyes  before her hand came crashing down on my head.

"Kazuya, are you crazy?!  You can't go around using your powers in
public."

"What's the point in having powers if you can't use them!  What's the
point in having a natural gift, if you can't share it with the people
you love..."  At this point I was so mad that small objects started to
float in the air, as I was slowly losing control of my powers.

"Kazuya we've had this discussion more times then I'm willing to
admit. I know how wild it can be to have powers, and acting recklessly
is almost second nature, but think about how close you are to everyone
here.  Do you really want to jeopardize everything that all of us have
over one stupid incident, by having someone see you doing stuff like
this in public? " 

Closing my eyes I turned my back to her and returned the light pole to
its normal form.  A wave of guilt came over me regarding her words;
because of everything that I have, and all the friends that I've made,
and as close as Miyuki and I have become.

I remembered how sad my cousins were every time they had to move away
and start over again.  Their clear warnings echoed through my mind.
"The power can jeopardize everything and everyone you have." 

"I'm sorry, Akane," I apologized.

With my head down we continued on without upset.

**************

I still wasn't any more anxious to do volunteer work than I was
before.  I lightheartedly talked to Akane but secretly I was looking
for an excuse to get out of it, I needed an opportunity.  Just down
the street, I saw a familiar sign hanging over a glass entrance to a
dojo.  Dojo Hino.  It struck me that Miyuki would likely be working
today since it was a weeHirod.

"Umm, Akane, I remembered that Miyuki was coming too."  Akane
brightened.

"Oh really?  That's good of her.  Let's go get her."  She began
walking in the direction of the dojo.  Quickly, I jumped in front of
her.  I gave out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of my head.

"Oh, no, that's not necessary!  You go on ahead and we'll catch up."
Akane scowled.

"Oh no you don't!  You're not going to get out of it that easy.  I'll
wait here for you."  My plan wasn't working, I had to take the
forceful approach.

"Akane!"  She jumped back, surprised.  "I will be there.  You can
count on me!"  I gave the most serious expression and looked wistfully
into the sky.  It must have worked because she looked impressed and
finally continued on.  Silently, I chuckled to myself.  Sucker.

I skipped down the street towards the dojo.  Now that I was out of
that situation, I may as well spend the day with Miyuki.  I looked in
through the glass window and saw Miyuki demonstrating a defense stance
form for a beginner student.  She motioned and the student took a
position opposite her, preparing for a training match.  Miyuki looked
tremendously cute in uniform, I couldn't help but lean against the
window and stare.

She looked up and noticed me standing there and cheerfully waved.  I
smiled back and motioned for her to come outside.  The student took
that as an opportunity to attack and leapt in the air towards Miyuki.
Almost without noticing, she sidestepped the brazen attack and plowed
her fist into the back of his head, knocking him to the mat and laying
him unconscious.  The whole time she never stopped smiling at me.

"Kazuya!  I'm so happy to see you."  She closed the door the behind
her as she stepped outside.  "Did you finally decide to join the
dojo?"

"Ehh.. no, not yet.  I just wanted to know if you wanted to go watch a
movie, I have the morning free."  I looked inside at the rest of the
class and then noticed Yuusaku standing at the opposite end of the
room, he was instructing a more advanced part of the class.  Every
time I saw him, he looked bigger and stronger.  In my opinion, he was
obsessed with martial arts as if nothing mattered more to him.  I
would never be able to figure out what could make a person like that.

"I can't, Kazuya.  I have to work all day today since the other
assistants are out sick, Yuusaku needs me."  Disappointed, I hung my
head down.  It didn't look like anything was going right for me today.

"Kazuya?"  I looked up at her.  "Do you want to go out after I finish
working?  I get off at six o'clock tonight, so we can watch that movie
then.  OK?"

"Sure, that doesn't sound bad."  At least the whole day wouldn't be
wasted.  "How about..."  I stopped just as I saw Yuusaku look up at me,
he had finally noticed me.  I could see how angry he was as he left
the students where they were and began to tromp across the room
towards the door.  Yuusaku never made it a secret that he didn't like
me, it was the result of one too many pranks.  Flashbacks of the way I
abused Yuusaku flashed through my mind and reminded me that he had
good reason not to like me, especially now that I was seeing his
sister.

"How about what?" Miyuki asked innocently.  I began edging away from
her, my eyes widening as I saw Yuusaku coming closer.  He was turning
red.

"How about meeting me at my house when you get off work?"  I rushed
through my words and was quite obviously about to run away.  "I have
to go now!"

"Goodbye, Kazuya!"  She said as she waved.  "Thanks for coming by!"  I
heard the door open and Yuusaku called his sister back inside.  I
wasn't very good at confrontations.  

His thoughts were just as I expected, he didn't want me dating his
sister.  There was something in his thoughts that made me remind him
of my cousin Kazuya which I felt was ridiculous since I knew that we
were nothing alike.  I don't care what everyone else says.

I ended up walking through the streets alone and depressed that this
day was going to be more boring than I thought.  I decided to head
towards the main part of town and play some video games.  After all,
there was nothing else to do.  That is, until I saw her...

***************

On the other side of the street, walking in the opposite direction,
was Mai.  The sun caused a sparkling effect as she walked beneath the
moving shadows of the trees.  She looked more beautiful than I ever
remembered.  She wore a pair of old jeans and a cutoff shirt with a
logo on it, the latest fashion being demonstrated with the cutest
girl.  I stared so hard my eyes hurt and before I knew it, I was
walking in the same direction looking for a chance to cross the
street.  I called out to her.

"Mai!"  She noticed me waving at her and finally recognized me when I
finished crossing the street.  I was still grinning and waving like an
idiot as I walked up to her, but she didn't wave back.  Instead, she
just let out an angry sigh and kept walking, completely ignoring me.

She must still be mad about yesterday, but that kiss wasn't my fault!
I couldn't let her keep thinking that I did anything on purpose.  I
ran to catch up to her and starting walking with her.  She tried
walking faster but so did I.

"Stop following me," she said irritably.  "I have somewhere to go."

"Really, where?"  I asked, trying to sound supportive.

"I volunteered to help out at the community center so I'll be busy,
and you don't need to follow me."  I noticed that she stayed angrier
much longer than Miyuki did, I felt that I had to get back on Mai's
good side as well.

"That's exactly where I'm going, too!  We can go together."  She
stopped and looked at me suspiciously.  

"You're just saying that."  Actually, just a few minutes ago I was
trying to get out of it, now I found myself looking for an excuse to
go.

"No, really!  In fact, my sister is there right now waiting for me."
She considered that for a moment and then kept walking.

"Fine by me, I couldn't care.  Just don't talk to me."  Ouch, she was
so cold!

I walked silently beside her all the way to the community center,
hoping that at least something in this day would turn out right for
me.

*****************

When we arrived at the community center, there was a large crowd of
volunteers milling around doing all sorts of chores.  There were
scaffolds set up and the brick walls were being painted, the grounds
were being swept, and garbage was being collected.  The community
center was designed for underprivileged kids to have a place to play
and spend constructive time.  I had no idea that the center was in
such bad condition before, I never really came here too much
especially after the other kids chased me away when I was younger.

"Wow!  I had no idea this place needed so much work, Mai.  Did you?"
I turned and where Mai was standing was a little boy with a huge
lollipop in his mouth, he looked about three years old.  There was
dirt all over his cheeks and sticky stuff all over the rest of his
body.  I looked around for Mai but she was nowhere to be found.

The little boy removed the lollipop from his mouth with a loud,
slurping noise and pointed it at me like a weapon.  I jumped back
before he smeared me with it.

"For you!"  he offered proudly.  He grinned widely and exposed candy
stained teeth.  The mere thought of touching anything on this messy
child couldn't have been further from my mind.  I took a step back
from him.

"No, thank you.  I was just looking for a friend who was just here.
Have you seen her?"  The looked at me and nodded.

"Mm.. hmm," the boy grunted.

"Well, where is she?"  The boy took a step towards the community
center and held out a gooey hand for me to hold.  Obviously, I would
have to hold his hand if I wanted his help.  I closed my eyes and
slowly wrapped my fingers around his, I could feel the slimy sensation
already.  The child let out a giggle and ran, pulling me after him.

The boy led me as far as the entrance, and then stopped to look
around.  There was no sign of Mai.

"Where is she?" I asked.  The boy looked lost.

"I don't know," he whispered quietly.  I looked down at my hand, my
now disgusting hand, and became annoyed that it was for nothing.  I
didn't want him around me at all.

I gave a mean look to scare him away but he must have thought I was
just playing.  He giggled playfully and clapped, and then he hugged
me.  That was the last straw, I decided to do something worse,
something that would definitely make him run in fear...

"Kazuya!"  I heard Akane call me, it snapped me out of my
concentration.  She had paint all over her but she looked very happy.

"I'm glad you came!  There's so much work to do."

"Of course I came," I said casually.  "Umm.. have you seen Mai?"
Akane gave me a puzzled look.

"Mai?  Don't you mean Miyuki?"

"Err.. no, Miyuki had to work and Mai... Mai asked me to go along with
her to help out."  I lied about Mai, but Akane wasn't the one with the
power to read minds.

"I saw Mai join a cleaning crew on the third floor.  By the way,
Kazuya.  Who's your new friend?"  I looked down and saw that the
little boy was still attached to me.  I peeled his body off of me.

"I don't know, I can't seem to get rid of him."  The boy gave me a
pouting look and stamped his foot.  He used his lollipop to point
towards himself.

"I'm Hiro!  I'm not bothering anyone, I was just helping."  He scowled
at me the whole time.  Akane cast an accusing look.

"Kazuya, don't be so mean.  He looks like a very nice boy."  I wanted
Akane to know just how nice a sloppy boy could be.  I leaned down to
Hiro and whispered into his ear.

"Hiro, why don't you share your lollipop with Akane?"  Hiro's eyes
brightened and I turned to start walking towards the building.  A few
seconds later, I heard Akane scream as I was sure Hiro was
demonstrating his lollipop weapon.

That took care of Hiro and Akane, now I had the chance to find Mai and
explain everything to her.  I dashed up the flights of stairs until I
reached the third floor and looked around.  

There were only a few people around and they were filling large bags
with garbage and debris.  Apparently, this floor hadn't been occupied
for some time as the walls were cracked and the floor creaked as I
walked over it.  The lack of light had an eerie effect and cast dark
shadows everywhere.  I coughed from the dust in the air and walked on
down a hallway that led to other rooms.

It was in one of these rooms that I finally found Mai.  She was alone
and was filling her bag with debris that used to be part of the
ceiling.  I picked up a large chunk of plaster and walked over to Mai,
placing it into her bag.  She turned her head and angrily sighed at
me, grabbing the bag and walking to another part of the room.

"Mai, I want to talk to you.  I know that you're mad about the kiss."
She slowed down and I knew that she was listening to me, I had to
choose my words carefully.  "The kiss.. it meant nothing to me."

As soon as I finished saying that, I realized that it was a mistake.
I had really meant to say that there was nothing behind the kiss and
that Takashi was really responsible for the whole incident.  Mai began
trembling visibly before me, I had a feeling that she was starting to
become even more angry.

"It meant.. it meant NOTHING to you?!  Is that what you do then, kiss
all the girls?  You thought you could just use me too?!  YOU
PERVERT!!"  She threw the bag over her shoulder and walked out of the
room, her screaming fury caused a small piece of the ceiling to drop
on my head.

This was quickly becoming the worst.  I was trying to make things
better but now she thinks I'm some sort of playboy.  I smiled to
myself, not that I didn't want to be.  I couldn't let her think that
about me.  I ran outside and chased after her as she ran further down
the hallway.

"Mai!  That's not it at all!  Mai, let me explain!"  It got to the
point where she was actually running away from me, I was losing my
breath just trying to catch up.  I couldn't believe that she hated me
this much, it wasn't as if I had really done anything that bad to her.
Mai's reaction, like any girl, left me confused and uncertain.

She was just about to dash into the last room when a very loud and
commanding voice froze her in her tracks.

"STOP!!!"  Mai's foot was inches from the rotten floor when another
worker dashed over and pulled her back.  She suddenly lost her anger
and looked embarrassed that someone was treating her like a child.

"What's the matter?"  she asked.

"Can't you see the sign?"  He pointed to a sign above the door that
read ‘DANGER!  KEEP OUT!'  

"There was a fire in that room years ago and it's unsafe to walk in
there, the floor and ceiling could collapse if you weren't careful.
Normally, there is a barricade here but we took it down since there is
a crew coming here next week to tear it apart and rebuild it.  You
should pay more attention and stop fighting with your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" she questioned out loud.  She looked at me in a very
strange way, it wasn't her previous angry look, it was more like
wonderment.  Her face turned red and she looked down at the ground,
blushing.  The other worker coughed to himself and then moved on as
Mai silently stood there.

"Just be more careful," he said and waved his hand casually as he
walked back to his assignment.

Even though there were sounds from the cleanup, it felt unnaturally
quiet as Mai and I didn't speak a word.  I thought that Mai would have
just gotten angrier when the worker implied that we had that kind of
relationship but instead she reacted this way.  I wondered if this is
why she was acting so harshly to me, not like I was about to
understand anything about girls.

"Mai,"  I said.  I felt my heart pull up into my throat, it was like
the most nervous feeling I've ever had.  Could Mai really like me?
The one from my dreams, the one girl that turned my whole body weak,
the one I really...  Just the thought that Mai liked me was too much for
me to handle.

She finally looked up at me and the look in her face was so gentle and
open, it was as if she was willing to share everything with me.  Her
eyes looked into mine and I stopped breathing, but then something
changed.  It was as if she saw something that I couldn't, like she
just realized something and it snapped her awake.  Her expression
changed completely and she gave me a more hateful look than ever
before.

She turned her back to me and I saw the sparkle of moisture from her
eyes glitter down.  Was she crying?  She spoke to me and her voice was
deep and cutting.

"I don't ever want to see you again."  She walked slowly away from me
and up the hallway.  I took a few steps towards her because I wanted
to follow her again, I had to know what was really going on.  I didn't
want Mai to leave me, ever.  I stopped in the middle of the hallway,
caught in this wave of thoughts.

That must have been why I didn't notice Hiro standing somewhere behind
me.

He giggled once and I turned around to see to my horror, Hiro was
standing twenty feet away from me, right at the edge of the dangerous
room.  He was twirling the lollipop in his mouth and smiling at me.

"I found you, brother!" he called out.

"Hiro!"  I yelled out to him.  There was no telling what kind of harm
would come to Hiro if he went into there.  "Don't move!"

I took a step towards him and he took one back, right into the room.
I called out to him again but he just giggled and clapped his hands
playfully.  I heard the floor creak and dust rose up in the air around
him.  Unfortunately, I didn't see any other workers around that were
closer to him.  I was the only one that could stop him.  Suddenly, Mai
appeared beside me.

"He's going to hurt himself," she said worriedly.  

If I kept going closer to Hiro, he would just step back as if it was a
game.  The only way to stop him would be to use the power.  I would
make him walk towards me, that way even Mai wouldn't be able to figure
out that I had the power.  I concentrated and focused my attention on
Hiro, I would do this without anyone getting hurt.  I felt the power
reach out and... nothing happened.  It was as if my powers hit a wall
and fell down useless.  

"Hiro, come on out!" I yelled.

"You might hurt yourself!" Mai called out to him.  Hiro started to
become excited with the attention he was getting and began hopping up
and down, causing more dust to fume around him.  If I didn't run and
get him soon, something really bad was going to happen.  I put my foot
forward and got ready to sprint, maybe I could catch Hiro by surprise
and grab him.

Just as my foot went forward, Mai acted on the same thought and ran
towards Hiro at full speed.  It would only be a second before she
would reach him.  Unfortunately, that was a half-second too long.
Instead of being caught off guard, Hiro's eyes widened and he screamed
in surprise.  He turned and ran away as fast as his little legs would
take him, all the way into the room.

Just as Mai reached the entrance, the wooden floor beneath him coughed
up a blast of dust and then crumpled.  One second Hiro was there, the
next he was falling through the floor.  I heard him give out another
scream.  Mai dashed into the room after him.

"Mai!!  I yelled and ran to the room.  At this point, other workers
heard the commotion and started making their way to the room.  I knew
that they would be too late.  As Mai approached the spot where Hiro
fell through, more of the floor collapsed and the hole widened.  Her
momentum was carrying her too close to the edge and I knew she
wouldn't be able to stop.  If I could just reach her in time, I could
pull her back.

The day started off bad, and now it was just getting worse.  I saw Mai
throw her hands up as the wood shuddered beneath her, throwing her to
the floor.  She stopped just short of the hole and looked back to me
with fear in her eyes and reached out her hand.  I threw out my arm to
grab her, my fingers were just inches from hers.  Just a little bit
closer...

I felt the wood bend down under my feet and then it cracked, throwing
me forward into Mai.  We both hit the floor at the same time and
crashed through, falling into the darkness beneath.  The whole time I
strained to use the power but it was pointless, nothing was happening.

I hit the floor first and Mai tumbled on top of me, I felt the air go
out of my chest.  My body just wasn't built for this kind of
punishment, not without the power.  Eventually, my eyes adjusted to
the light and I was able to stand.  We were in a section beneath the
room that must have been closed off for a while.

"Kazuya, are you all right?" Mai asked me.

"Yes, I think so."  I looked around and saw Hiro crying on the other
side of the room.  Mai ran over to Hiro and hugged him as he lay on
the ground.

"Are you all right, Hiro?"  Hiro stopped crying as Mai showered loads
of attention on him.  Even in this situation, I wished it was me she
was holding like that.

"I can't move my leg," Hiro sobbed.

"Everything is fine now, we'll take care of you," Mai reassured.

Light from the ceiling surrounded Mai holding the boy and she looked
angelic.  She seemed so gentle, I wanted her to be that way with me.
I wanted...

"Hey!  Are you all right down there!" someone called from above.  I
looked up and waved at a cleanup worker.  The worker went out of view
to call other people to come and help.  It was just as this happened
that the ceiling started to make groaning sounds, as if the entire
thing was going to crash down. 

"Mai!"  I ran over to them and put my body over them as a shield.  I
would not let them get hurt no matter what.  "I'll protect you, Mai."

Mai was still looking down at Hiro but I felt her put her hand into
mine.  She looked up at me and she had that same tender expression as
before.

"I know you will, Kazuya."  And I truly believed it, I would do
anything for Mai.

- End of Episode 7 -