From: kemper01@ix.netcom.com (David Rubino)

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 9 : A Wet Morning

I awoke on Monday morning with Jingimi’s fur meted in my teeth.  I
opened my eyes to the sight of his tail, slapping me in the face
almost every second.  I passively chewed on Jingimi’s fur as I rolled
over to look at the clock.  6:00 AM!  So early!  The thought of how
early it was hit my mind as the realization that a handful of car hair
was lodged in my mouth set in.

"Baka!!"  I shouted to the fat cat that hoarded my pillow.  Jingimi
sprang up with a meow, bumping his head on the ceiling and then
collapsing on the floor, dazed.  

It was too late to go back to sleep, so I used the time to do some
exercises.  Too many things had happened in the past week, I
unwittingly joined the wrestling team and now it looked as if I was
soon to start judo.  What a fine mess I’m in!  Nevertheless, it would
keep me busy.  One moment, I was jumping up and down like mad, then I
was on the floor doing pushups, then I was on my back doing sit-ups.
I, Kazuya Kasuga, champion of fitness.

"What is this racket all of a sudden?!" yelled my sister Akane.  She
opened the door just as I was doing muscle man poses in the mirror.

"Ha ha.. nothing, Akane," I said embarrassingly, with my hand behind
my head.  I knew that she would blow it out of proportion if she knew
that I was exercising.

"Good, it had better not be anything.  I only have a few days left so
I don’t want any trouble around here."  Akane pointed an accusing
finger at me.  "I might as well make breakfast now that I’m awake,
you’d better be ready for it."

Jingimi ran through the doorway just as Akane closed the door.  I fell
back against my bed and stared up at the ceiling.  Things were
scrolling through my mind as to what the day would bring.  Soon I saw
Mai, then Miyuki, then Mai, then Miyuki.  Before I knew it, I was
standing next to the phone.  I sat down on the floor and placed the
phone on my lap, the thought of calling Mai ran through my mind…

The phone began to ring and the shock of it made me jump back, the
receiver fell away from the phone and pointed upwards.  I stared at
the phone in disbelief as I heard a voice come from the speaker.

"Hello?" said a tiny voice from the phone.  I hesitated for a few
moments and then lifted the receiver to my ear.  I heard silence,
maybe it was just my imagination.  I tested this theory and spoke into
the phone.

"Hello?" I said.

"I’m sorry for calling so early, may I speak to Kazuya Kasuga?" said a
pleasant female voice on the other end.

"This is he," I replied.

"Kazuya!  This is Mai.  Did I wake you?"

Mai!  I couldn’t believe it.  At first, I thought that I might have
called her in my daze unintentionally, but that didn’t seem to fit.
"Ki.. Kiyo.. Mai Kiyomoto?"

"I was wondering if you could come over my house before school and
tell me if you like the final results of our project.  This way you
could tell me if you think that it is good enough to hand in."

A million thoughts ran through my mind, I vaguely remembered that we
had an assignment together.  It was only a week ago but that seemed
like forever.  I couldn’t think straight, all I could focus on was
that I was being invited over Mai’s house.. and so early in the
morning.  Maybe she had more on her mind than just the report, maybe
she was alone and waiting for me; poor, helpless Mai just waiting for
strong Kazuya to rescue her from loneliness.  Maybe I could…  

My thoughts turned from virtuous to lecherous in a matter of seconds,
I blame this on the lack of sleep.  I felt confident and yet when I
opened my mouth to speak I was again seized by the Kasuga curse of
uncertainty.  

I managed to blunder a few words out, I believe that I said something
to the effect of ‘O.K.’  At least that’s what I hoped that I said.
She said good-bye and I returned the farewell as I hung up the phone.
I decided that it was time to take a shower.. I wouldn’t want to
offend anyone with my profoundly pungent odor.  The shower was very
warm and relaxing, I started to drift away into thinking of all the
many possibilities that today could hold for me.  It seemed that
nothing could ruin my day now that Mai called me and invited me over.

After hopping out of the shower, I put on a sprinkle of cologne, a
dash of powder, and some lotion to slick my hair back.  I never did
that before, but going over Mai’s house seemed to make me want to
impress her.

I went back to my room and opened up my closet to take a look inside,
but was disappointed to see that nothing seemed nice enough to wear to
her house.  I was about to give up when I noticed that in the rear of
my closet something was tucked away that caught my eye, it wass a suit
that I wore once to my uncle’s wedding.  

I tried on the suit, and I must admit that I looked rather spiffy.  I
stood at the door to my bedroom with my hand on the handle and spoke
out loud.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce the sexiest man
alive, Kazuya Kasuga."  With that, I opened up the door and paraded
myself down with esteem to the kitchen where Akane was finishing up
with breakfast.  She looked up at me in shock.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"No autographs, only pictures," I said, motioning with my hand to keep
one’s distance.

"Kazuya!  You look more like you’re going on a date than to school."
I became irritated at Akane.  Couldn’t she see that I was a changed
man, that now pretty girls were calling me?  I had crossed the line
between young boy to accomplished man, and I was wearing the cologne
to prove it.  

"Please, it is not polite to talk to such a high level."

"You are going to school, right?!"

"Of course, a gentleman must go to school to become educated, but
obviously this fact must have escaped your mind."  I sat down at the
kitchen table as if I was the king of the house.

I noticed a vein begin to protrude from Akane’s forehead, it seemed to
be getting larger these days.  That last remark seemed to send Akane
over the limit, my breakfast came flying at my face almost too fast to
be avoided.  I barely dodged out of the way as my breakfast splattered
against the kitchen wall, Akane was breathing hard and looking pretty
scary.  Now that my breakfast was ruined, all that I had left was a
small glass of orange juice still on the table.

"Come on, Akane.  Aren’t I allowed to look nice every once in a
while?"  I replied nervously.

"Oh, I get it.  This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the
phone call that you got from Mai this morning?"  When she said this, I
was so shocked that I spilled my glass of orange juice and then fell
off of my chair in an attempt to dodge the oncoming liquid.  My cool
and suave demeanor was obviously surrendered at this point, lost to
the eavesdropping ear of my nosy sister.  Akane noticed this and went
for the kill.

"Are you forgetting about something, huh, loverboy?"  I tried to think
what she would say so that I would have time to think of a reply, but
before I could she waved her finger at me... and then she said it.
"Maybe your girlfriend, Miyuki?"

Her name rang out in my head like a gunshot, I totally forgot about
her.  She always waited for me at the top of the stairs before school
started so that we could walk together.  How would she react if I met
her there with Mai by my side?  I got really nervous and then reasoned
that Miyuki wouldn’t be that upset, she would understand.  After all,
it’s all for the sake of homework.

"No, I’m not forgetting about her," I said convincingly.  "I’m just
meeing Mai for a school project, that’s all."

Akane let out a ‘humph’ kind of noise and gave me a ‘I know better
look’ as I got up from the table.  It was getting late and I still had
to go to Mai’s house.  I picked up my books and my lunch from the
fridge and ran to the door.  As I was opening the door, I heard Akane
order me to bring an umbrella because it might rain.  I grabbed one
from the umbrella holder next to the doorway and ran outside.  I
started running a little and then realized that I should just try to
teleport there.  I ducked behind a tree and concentrated on Mai’s
house.

The next thing I knew, I was on top of a different tree, stuck in its
branches.  I wriggled my way out and landed on the ground with a
shout.  Looking up, I realized that I wasn’t too far away from Mai’s
house after all.  I jumped up and ran to her door and stood in front
of the doorbell.

I had never actually rang her doorbell before.  However, I have passed
by it a couple of times, I’ll admit intentionally.  Hurriedly, I
reached out and pushed on the doorbell.  It rang out into the house
and I held my breath.

Promptly, the door cracked open and Mai stuck her head out.  She kept
looking at me, puzzled.  I quickly raced through my mind and wondered
if I perhaps left my pants zipper down or maybe forgot to get dressed
at all.  Then it hit me, I looked like a lunatic.  I was standing in
front of her house with a disheveled suit on from climbing trees, and
my hair was all over the place... and I was sweating profusely.  I
raced my hands all over trying to appease the effect of my appearance
and then stood at attention, trying to make the best of a greeting.

"Good morning, Mai!"

"Hello, Kazuya."  There were a few moments of silence and then she
smiled, giggled and said, "Won’t you come in?"

I stepped inside and saw that her house was beautiful like I expected
it to be, very clean and neat.  I was about to complement her but when
I finally looked at her I realized that she was only in a bath towel.


"Forgive me for my appearance, but you caught me running a little
late.  Come on up, you can take a look at the project."

My palms started to sweat profusely.  What could this mean?  What kind
of girl is this?  I followed her to her room and looked around for a
sign of her parents, there was none.  I walked in like a robot and
stood like a statue facing the window with no clue what to do.  I was
too nervous to look away.  

Behind me I heard her say, "Kazuya, look at these."  Ahh.. I couldn’t
bare it any longer.  If I turned around, I was going to see the body
of a beautiful, naked girl.  This was the big moment of my life that I
was waiting for.  I tried to move my legs, but they weren’t working
very efficiently.  After a lot of coaxing, I finally got my legs to
move and to turn me around with my eyes closed.  Finally, I opened my
eyes and jumped.  

She was holding the pages to our report and she still had the towel
on, I had to admit that I was relieved.  I started laughing nervously
and embarassedly.  "Ha, ha, the report..."

"Yes, it is."  She looked confused and I looked retarded while she
handed me the paper.  She turned around and walked into the bathroom,
closing the door behind her while she got changed.  I collapsed on the
floor.  I scolded myself for being so irrational and promised to make
an effort not to look stupid anymore.

I sat in a chair next to her desk and flipped through the report.  It
was done terrifically, she even drew a cover with a weird type of
calligraphy and a border design that looked as if it were
professionally done around the outside.  I couldn’t believe how much
effort she put into it.  I mean, it was my report and she did most of
the work for it.  Minutes later, she stepped out of the bathroom.

"You’re wearing a suit," she said matter of factly.

"Uh.. I know," I spoke, wondering what in the world possessed me to
wear a suit this morning.

"If you don’t mind, I’m going to wear something a little more casual."

I tried to say something, but wasn’t really sure if she wanted a
response so I ended up stammering something until Mai asked if I liked
the report.

"Yes!" I screamed ecstatically because I finally had something to say.
"I’m sorry that you did most of the work."

"Don’t mention it, think of it as a gift for being so nice to me."  I
couldn’t help but smile, she thought I was nice!

"Alright, then I’ll do that, but don’t forget that I’ll owe you
something back now."

"Oh, don’t worry.  I won’t forget a thing like that," Mai reassured
me.

And then we smiled and laughed, the moment was beautiful.  I could
stand there and watch her eyes smile and her mouth laugh for hours on
end.  There was some power that she held that drew me to her.  I kept
moving closer and closer to her face, almost reaching her lips.  I
literally felt as if I no longer had control over my actions, she was
just too beautiful.

I’m not really sure what I was doing or what force in nature made me
move towards her, but then without warning a large thunder crack
boomed and I jumped back very spastically.  Somehow, I landed on her
bed and then in the same motion I hit my head on the wooden headboard.
It hurt very badly, but I didn’t want it to show so I jolted forward
and tried to pretend it didn’t hurt.  In that motion, I hit my head on
her overhead reading lamp.  Suddenly, everything got blurry and I
passed out.

In my dreamy haze, I imagined that I was drowning in a pool and Mai
was rescuing me by pulling me out and giving me mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation.  She revived me and was laying over me, asking over and
over again if I was alright.  She was so happy to see me alive that
she started to hug and kiss me...

"Kazuya!  Stop it!  What are you doing?!"

I actually then awoke to these yells and then the realization set in
that I was hugging Mai, who was on top of me, with a vice grip and
trying to kiss her.  I let go and jumped back, screaming.

"I’m sorry!  I’m sorry!" I apologized over and over again.  I couldn’t
believe what I had done.  I laid there with my eyes shut, bracing for
a really big slap, but it never came.  Instead, I felt as if Mai was
really close to my face and she whispered to me.

"It’s alright, it’s alright.  You were passed out for a minute, are
you ok?"

"Yes, I think so."  I was relieved that she blamed my actions on my
unconsciousness.

"Good.  Let’s get some ice on that bump or it will get really big."  

She led me downstairs to her kitchen and put some ice in a plastic
bag.  "Nurse Kiyomoto will fix you right up.. there you go.  Is that
better?"

"Yes," I sobbed rather exaggeratingly.  I kind of enjoyed the Nurse
Mai treatment.

"Oh no!  Look at the time, we’re going to be late!" Mai yelled.  She
ran upstairs to get her school supplies and our report.  I stood there
holding the icepack to my head, a bit dazed.  Within seconds, she was
back down again and grabbed me by the hand and pulled me towards the
front door and outside.

I don’t think that she noticed that she was still holding my hand
while running down her street, not that I minded.  I liked being led
around by Mai, it felt comfortable.

On the way, it started to rain.  Mai and I slowed down and I opened up
my umbrella and we both walked to school under it.  It felt so good to
do such a gentleman-like thing to such a beautiful girl.  We neared
the hundred steps and counted out loud and laughed as we walked up; we
held hands so that neither of us would slip and fall.  The rain
started to come down harder.

As we approached the 94th step, I saw the bottom of someone’s feet,
but I didn’t think much about it and looked back down to my feet to
concentrate on where I was stepping so that I wouldn’t fall.  

We reached the top step and shouted, "One hundred!"  I looked up and I
felt as if my world was about to fall apart.

"Miyuki.."

"Kazuya... I waited here for you."  I saw Miyuki standing in the rain,
drenched with water and shivering.  She looked so small and fragile
there, it made me feel horrible.  I ran towards here to shield her
with my umbrella, but she ran towards the school.  I turned around and
saw Mai standing there, getting wet and looking a little hurt.  I
turned around and stood motionless for a while, waiting for a
reaction, not knowing what to do.

"It doesn’t make sense for both of us to be wet."  Her words hit me
like a rock.  She refused my umbrella and pushed past me and headed
for the school.  

I threw the umbrella down and started jumping on it.  I was such an
idiot!  How could I forget about Miyuki?!

By the time I got to school, I was soaking wet.  I dredged through the
empty hallways, trying to decide what Mai was thinking... was she
upset that I forgot about Miyuki, or was she upset that I ran to
Miyuki instead of staying with her.  I wasn’t sure and yet again, my
powers would not be able to get me out of this situation.

I walked into the classroom and a barrage of five pices of chalk,
three erasers, two books, and one shiny red apple came straight at my
head.  "Ahhh!!," I screamed, trying to block it, but to no avail.
Everything hit me and knocked me on the floor.

"Stop disrupting my class!  Hand in your report and then get to your
seat!"

I crawled to the teacher and gave him the report and then crawled to
my desk.  I looked to Mai, but she just looked out the window.  The
teacher spoke for a while before I could pay attention to him, he was
proposing a social groups project that would last for a month.  He was
going to assign each boy a girl that he was supposed to impress.  The
task would be to get the girl to consent to marrying you.  A log would
be kept of all events and a report would be made summarizing the
project.

For some reason, I secretly hoped that my assignment would be Mai.
The chances of it happening were slim, but if I didn’t get it then Mai
would never have a reason to speak to me again.  I would never have a
chance to find out more about her.

The teacher passed around a basket that had the names of each student
written on pieces of folded paper.  When the basket came to me, I said
a silent chant of Mai’s name to myself.  I reached in and took out the
piece of folded paper.  Mai was looking at me as I opened it up.  The
name of the girl was scrawled in red ink.

Kiyomoto!  I quickly looked over at Mai and smiled, blushing.  She
looked back at me showing no emotion, then she grabbed a fistful of
her shirt and wrung out was seemed like a bucket of water to the
floor.  She looked away from me and turned towards the window, staring
out of it to nowhere.  My smile faded.

This may be the first failing grade I have ever received.

- End of Episode 9 -