8th Man Fan Fiction ❯ Ikitaisha Hope ❯ Hope in a backpack ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Karin leaned up against her door the minute she walked in. She stared down in a trance.
“Was had she imagined all those things? Stuff like that didn’t happen right, boys with pointy ears and men in cloaks..’ She looked to her hands, her nails had gotten a bit longer and pointed slightly. She slowly reached up to her head. ‘And...ears from an animal...what kind of stupid...” Her hands grabbed the ears atop her head. She pinched each ear and flinched. “ I guess...there real” She ran over to a her mirror and looked in. She saw the ears on her head. She touched them again this time they twitched. Karin moved back slightly. ‘ How could this be possible? I must be dreaming’ but she had pinched herself before and it was no dream. She ran over to her dresser and pulled out a box, she rummaged threw it and picked up a small hair pin, in the end was a heart shaped jewel. She reached under the table and pulled out backpack in the shape of a teddy bear, she stuck the hairpin on the teddy bear and smiled. She put the backpack down and laid on her bed. She was happy now, when she woke up tomorrow the ears would be gone and she would see she was just imaging things. She closed her eyes wanting to sleep, it didn’t take long for it to come and she slowly drifted off.
“Nyaaaaa” Karin yawned as she stretched. She scratched the back of her head and sat up on her bed. She looked down to the backpack on the side table and remembered what had happened. She ran over to the mirror with her eyes closed, as she opened them she looked up and saw the fluffy ears. She covered them with her hands and closed her eyes again. She opened them slowly and looked in the mirror her hands still over were the ears were. She slowly lifted her hands and looked at the ears. She was unsure of how long she had been staring in the mirror. She twitched the ears around listening to her father move about downstairs. She moved one to the left then one to the right. She poked them and watched them flick.
“..how did this...happen” she poked them again. She couldn’t understand how this could possible be real. This can’t happen...can it? She had always read fairy tails and fantasy before but that’s all it was fantasy. She stood up and pulled a bandana off her mirrors edge.
Whether it was her imagination or what, the ears didn’t seem to be going away. She wrapped the bandana on her head over the two ears and tied it over were her real ears would be. She clipped her nails to back to there regular length. She packed the teddy bear bag with her school books and lifted it over her shoulder. She wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and pulled her door open. Karin took a deep breath as she walked out to the hallway and down stairs to the kitchen.
“Morning Karin” Karin’s Papa placed a plate of breakfast infront of her. She sat down infront of it and began to eat. She glanced to her Papa eating across from her every now and then. He didn’t seem to suspect anything strange.
“Hey Karin?” Her papa was staring at her when she looked up.
“Y-yes papa?” Karin looked to him.
“Are your eyes yellow?” He asked looking at her.
Karin looked into her spoon and saw the inside of her eyes blue mixed with yellow. She quickly looked up to her papa. “A-ah yes papa they are, That what I went to do last night Ayame got them for me!” she laughed.
“Oh ok” He started eating again. Karin signed in relief and finished her breakfast.
“ Thanks Papa, im off now “ she cleaned her plate off and put it in the sink, she ran to the door.
“ Oh Karin, I noticed something that I wanted to tell you.” Karin froze in her spot. Her papa came up to the hall doorway.
‘Oh no this is it...he knows, oh my god what am I going to tell him NYA!’ Karin glanced back at her papa the horrible thoughts of what she would tell him still running threw her head. “Y-yes Papa?”
“ I like the headband it matches you well” Karin looked at him confused yet surprised and filled with relief. Her papa went back into the kitchen and Karin sighed. She walked out the door and ran down the street to her school.
“Karin!” Ayame called out to her as Karin stopped infront of her. “Karin your early, even before Mari.” Karin looked at her watched and say she was indeed 10 minutes before she usually got to there usual meeting spot.
“ Weird...I left at the time I always do” She had noticed she ran the whole way there but she wasn’t a bit tired. Shrugged it off and the two girls waited for Mari.
Once Mari arrived they all headed on there way to school. The day went on as usual and no one seemed to notice the change in Karin. Except for her eyes but she used the same thing she used on her papa. Karin even forgot herself. Once the lunch bell rang the girls walked down the hall.
“ Oh Karin dear” Cheyri walked up to Karin and her friends.
“Great...” Ayame sighed as Cheyri pulled Karin by the arm forward. Cheyri was the “pretty whore girl” in school. She was beautiful, got decent grades, and when she wanted a man she got it. Cheyri walked holding Karin by the arm.
“ Oh Karin, I heard you had a bit of trouble yesterday, what happened?” Cheyri had always been enemies with Karin since preschool. Fighting over things and wanting to ruin her day anyway she could.
Karin looked back at Ayame and Mari and glared. They only looked back nervously and smiled. “
”Oh it was just a little accident Cheyri , I thought I saw your face “ She pulled her arm out of Cheyri’s grasp. “ It just made me faint is all.” Karin smiled at Cheyri.
“ Yes, my beauty does stun some people, especially those without any.” She turned away form Karin who was now growling. “ I told the nurse about your little problem, don’t worry im sure everyone in school will know about it and keep on alert” Cheyri laughed. She looked to Karin. “And I just wanted to tell you how long its been since we talked. I saw your backpack today “ Cheyri reached to Karin’s backpack and pulled off the hair pin. Karin instantly grabbed her hand. “Karin!” she pulled her hand away from Karin’s.
“ Give it back Cheyri” Karin watched Cheyri twiddle the pin in her hand.
“ No, you ow me a birthday present from so many years of friendship, I think ill take this as a late gift” Cheyri started to walk away, Karin dashed forward and pulled her back grabbing the hand with the pin. Cheiri tried to push her away but Karin had a tight grip on her hand. Suddenly Cheyri yipped and the through the pin. Karin let go of Cheyri’s hand and caught the pin. She sighed in relief and looked to Cheyri. She was shaking her hand as if it was burned.
“How dare you shock me with that thing!” Cheyri got in Karin’s face and yelled. Karin looked to Cheyri’s hand, she didn’t see anything.
“Your hand is fine Cheyri” She leaned her out of her face “ next time don’t take things that aren’t yours.” Karin walked away and left Cheyri glaring at her back.
“Karin what happened, that was a long time” Ayame looked to Karin who had just taken a seat at the table with her lunch.
“ It was nothing, Cheyri was just more annoying then usual” the girls laughed at that. They talked happily as they ate there lunch. Soon the bell rang and they went back to class. Karin barley paid attention to the teacher. She looked out the window. She thought about the boy who had saved her.
‘My eternal savior....’ she was glad there was someone to protect her. She started to think about the pin. It didn’t shock Karin why would it hurt Cheyri? ‘She was probably fakin’
She looked down to the streets and her eyes snapped back to reality. She saw the cloaked man standing infront of the school. Karin looked to the teacher and raised her hand.
“ Excuse me” the teacher looked to Karin “May I be excused please.” The teacher looked at Karin who had an anxious look on her face.
“ Alright, be carful now. Do you need someone to escort you, I heard about your accident yesterday. “ she tried to whisper infront of the class like all teachers do. The class snicked but Karin ignore it.
“ No ma’am.” Karin said as picked up her backpack and ran out the classroom. She was surprised the teacher let her go. Especially that one. Karin took a turn down the stairs. “It must be because they heard about the fainting accident” Karin smiled to herself. ‘For once Cheyri actually helped me’ She quickly ran out the school her backpack slung over her shoulder.