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 -