A/N: My first ever time writing for Karin =)
"Can't you do this one thing for me, Ren? Please, oh please?" Karin pleaded to her older brother as he stared down at her with a slight scowl.
Ren knew this behavior, and wondered why years of living with Karin hadn't made him immune to it yet. He had hoped to grab a bite peacefully tonight, but his younger sister always had to ruin his night with her sorrowful brown eyes that he just couldn't say no to.
"You couldn't have asked Anju to do this...chore for you?" he asked back in annoyance as he was forced to look away from Karin. He was unable to take the sight of her large whimpering eyes for long. He noted her pout out of the corner of his eye as she leaned in closer to give him a lethal dose of her best puppy-dog eyes.
"You know I can't do that, Ren!" she exclaimed as she clenched her hands at her sides before continuing, "she's always looking out for me and Usui-kun during the day, so I couldn't possibly ask her to do something else for us at night too!" she proclaimed as she held her palms to her chest worriedly.
Ren merely rolled his golden eyes at her before he sent her a piercing glare, "Fine, I'll do it this once, but don't expect this to become a regular thing," he gave in with a growl. He always gave in to her, and secretly hated that Karin always got what she wanted when it came to her human.
He supposed he could do nothing about the matter, though. He had tried multiple times to exterminate the annoying, weird eyed boy, but he always tended to get interrupted by the others in his family. Anju would speak to him like a child about how they needed Usui to watch over Karin during the day, and his father never wanted his dearest daughter to be sad for even a moment if it could be helped. His mother stayed relatively neutral, but favored his father's side on the situation when asked.
He held in the need to grimace at the predicament his peaceful family had gotten into since Usui had shown up. Before the human's appearance, they had gone about their lives without a hitch, excluding the ever-so-often times they'd stress over Karin's weird vampire "condition."
"Oh thank you, Ren! Make sure you walk Maki all the way home too! After that you can do whatever you want," Karin promised with a smile as she clapped her hands together happily, "I don't always get the chance to stay over with Usui-kun, even if it's only to do homework!" Karin exclaimed in her usual high pitched girlie giggle.
He only lightly grunted in response before pushing himself off the sofa to stand up and make his way to the door. Karin followed him out to give him rather vague directions, but he knew he'd be able to scent out her friend's family if they got lost.
He'd walk Karin's little friend home before taking the time to find a woman to release the tension he always seemed to get after dealing with his sister.
Sometimes he wondered if Karin was adopted, and sometimes he wished she was. Perhaps her similarities to their grandmother were completely coincidental, and her real family were in hiding somewhere far away. Maybe even outside of Japan.
If only, he thought to himself as he exited the large black mansion that stood a top a grassy hill. He paused as he glanced down at the small apartment complex that stood at the edge of their lands, and at the edge of their barrier. It was where Kenta Usui lived, and where Karin was heading to spend the night.
He watched as his little sister hurried down the hill to his house, and to him.
It had been a full year since Karin came out to the family that Usui had asked her out and they had decided to publicly date. The rest of the family had agreed that it solved their problems of having to worry about how she fared during the day, and accepted him without a hitch. He was a completely different story.
While he couldn't deny that he secretly reveled in the fact that his sister had found someone to watch over her instead of having to rely on her family all of the time, he still wasn't entirely welcoming to her human either. He knew that Usui felt the least comfortable around him, and with good reason.
Ren wouldn't deny that he had promised to follow through with a couple of death threats should Usui be unfaithful to his sister whenever he could get the human alone. Or that he had deliberately gotten Usui lost with the use of his bats when he had tried to make "secret" late night visits to Karin's room.
It didn't matter to him that Karin believed she was in love with Usui, Ren knew the truth. He had learned the hard way that humans were only meant to be a food source. Ignoring the pain that filled his chest as an image of a brunette high school girl entered his mind, Ren felt his lips pull down into a slight frown as his form thinned into a black line before he quickly disappeared altogether into the night.
"Where's Karin?" Maki asked to the empty library as she let out a shudder when another set of creaking noises sounded in the halls.
"It's only the building, Maki. Only the building," she soothed herself before glancing back at her math book. She needed to finish her homework tonight, or she'd fall behind and be stuck rushing to catch up like Karin was forced to do while trying to balance a job and a boyfriend.
Maki let out a sigh as her eyelids lowered and she twirled her pencil around her fingers, deep in thought. She wondered how it felt to have someone as faithful as Usui at her side, just like Karin had. It seemed utterly unfair to Maki. Karin had never gotten along with the opposite sex for as long as she had known her.
Sure, Karin was beautiful and busty, but were looks really everything? She gave her petite form a quick glance before she let out a defeated sigh and slouched over her textbook. Karin was really naive and a bit clumsy at times, traits that Maki would've pegged as annoying to guys.
But Usui loves those things about her, she thought solemnly before her eyes widened and she quickly sat up straight in alarm. What was she doing? She couldn't hate Karin for being who she was. They had talked about this before and Maki had admitted that she could never hate her...even though Karin had been completely oblivious to the fact that Maki had been talking about her and Winner's relationship.
"Karin is my best friend, and I need to be happy for her!" Maki insisted in a whisper as she brought her fists up to her chest in determination. She would be there for Karin, no matter what amount of self doubt she was going through.
Suddenly, her phone began to ring and she let out a squeak of surprise before rushing to shut off the ringer and glanced at the caller ID.
"Karin?" she murmured in surprise when she saw the picture of her best friend staring back at her on her phone screen. She flipped the phone open to whisper a greeting to her.
"Maki!" Karin exclaimed excitedly, and Maki flinched at the sheer volume of her voice before she heard her friend continue, "I'm glad I caught you! Usui-kun and I decided to study together tonight, so I sent my older brother Ren to walk you home. Do you mind?" she asked as Maki let out a sigh.
Of course Karin would pull something like this on her. Kenta Usui had been taking up a lot of Karin's time recently...it was almost like he was stealing Karin away from her. No, bad Maki! She thought with a scowl, be happy for her!
"Oh, it's perfectly fine, Karin! You better make sure you actually study though!" Maki teased as she heard Karin let out a scream of embarrassment.
"Maki! Don't say that! Of course we'll stay on task! You're so embarrassing!" she exclaimed before Maki let out a soft laugh, mindful of the quiet library, before telling her best friend a quick goodbye and hanging up the phone.
"I guess I should head outside to wait for her brother," Maki murmured as she began packing her things. She had just placed her biology book inside her purse when she was startled by the sudden appearance of the librarian.
She was a short, stoat woman with long brown hair that had been pulled up into a tight bun. She wore a dark brown business suit that cleanly finished off the very cliché look of a typical librarian. The woman pushed her large rimmed glasses back to rest on the bridge of her nose before she glared at Maki.
"Were you on a cell phone just now?" she questioned sternly as Maki let out a scared whimper before slowly nodding her head.
"Next time it's mine," the woman threatened before hurrying away to finish her other librarian duties. Maki relaxed her shoulders the instant the woman disappeared before pulling her blue purse over her head to rest on her shoulder while the bag rested against the opposite hip. She adjusted it against her chest for a moment before making her way to the exit.
She walked towards the winding staircase that led to the entrance of the library as she hummed lightly to herself. It was about time she got to just go home and actually accomplish something there. Typically, she and Karin would spend all of their time at the library doing homework when Kenta wasn't around.
She had just made it out the door when she realized something. She had never met Karin's brother before, so how would she know who to look for while she waited? She pulled out her cell and was about to call Karin back when she heard the sound of soft footfalls making their way towards her.
She paused as her head came up to look for the source of the sound, but she couldn't see anything at first. She also realized that she had spent a lot more time in the library than she had previously thought.
It was dark out and the only light source for miles came from the library building that she had just exited, which really didn't offer much. A visible shiver shook her as she felt goosebumps run down her arms at the idea of a creeper waiting for her in the bushes.
"Hey," a deep voice greeted suddenly, and Maki nearly jumped out of her skin. When she had calmed down a bit, she adverted her green eyes and squinted in the direction the person's voice had come from. It took her a moment, but slowly her eyes focused on a figure hidden in the shadows of the trees nearby.
"Hello?" she called back cautiously as she took a small step backwards towards the library. If she kept her motions gradual, she could easily run back into the library for protection should the stranger become a threat.
The figure then began to walk towards her, and she sucked in a sharp breath the moment his silver hair was bathed in the moonlight and she got a glimpse of his icy cold golden eyes for the first time. Simply put, he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Excluding Winner, of course.
"I am Karin's older brother, Ren. I'm here to walk you home," he stated nonchalantly as he casually slid his hands into his black jean pockets. Maki had to blink a couple of times before she answered. She wanted to make sure that she simply wasn't imagining him, and that there was an actual person standing there.
How could I not have noticed such a good looking guy before? She asked herself, though blushed when she noted that she was openly staring at him. His lips quirked upward in a smug smirk before he stared intently into her forest green eyes.
"Shall we go? Or would you rather stare at me all night instead?" he teased as his cocky smirk remained in place atop his thin lips. Maki's blush deepened his comment before she gripped her purse strap and approached him confidentially.
"No, let's go," she replied with a smug smirk of her own while hiding her inner fears from his view. He seemed slightly surprised by her answer, but easily fell in step beside her as they walked down the alleyway together.
I wonder why I've never met Karin's brother before, Maki wondered to herself as the two continued in silence. She was about to comment on it when the sound of familiar sirens and frantic cries filled the air.
"Vampire! Vampire!" Winner's melodramatic voice cried out in warning as he appeared before them with the strange silver poles he carried around with him all the time.
"Winner-kun?" Maki blinked, though noted with surprise when Ren stiffened next to her. Why would he be nervous?
"Miss Karin-san's friend!" Winner exclaimed as he turned to her with a smile and a friendly wave, and Maki's head sank in defeat. Would the man ever call her by her real name? She'd even be happy if he called her by her last name. Anything was better than "Miss Karin-san's friend."
"What are you doing out here this late?" he asked in a disapproving voice, "you know it's dangerous for a young woman to be walking around these streets alone! My poor, dearest Karin would be devastated if she knew her friend was doing such a dangerous act on her own!" he exclaimed dramatically as he put his hands against his face worriedly.
"I'm not alone. Karin's older brother, Ren, is walking me home," Maki replied calmly as she glanced over to Ren. The sudden change in his features caused Maki to pause as she noted his dark expression as he glared back at Winner, who remained oblivious to the threat that Ren was presenting.
He set his silver tools on the ground before reaching into his "vampire hunter" trench coat to retrieve a silver pistol. He glanced at the open holster for a moment before beginning to load the gun with what looked like silver bullets.
"Don't you ever give up?" Maki asked as she gazed at her fellow classmate with hooded lids, "there aren't any vampires around," she added in sarcastically for good measure. Winner merely closed the holster on the gun before standing up and glancing at the moon.
"I wouldn't expect ignorant people to know of those evil monsters' existence. But I will not stop until there isn't a blood sucking devil left on this Earth! It is my sole mission as a Vampire Hunter to protect the innocent, such as yourself miss Karin-san's friend, from their evil clutches. Only then will my raging soul be at peace!" Winner exclaimed wholeheartedly with his free hand pressed to his chest.
Maki couldn't help the blush that coated her cheeks at the sheer passion she felt radiate off him. He was so inspiring and charming when he ranted on about his duties as a Vampire Hunter. Even though Maki knew he was delusional, she couldn't help but be swayed by that handsome face and those pretty-boy blue eyes.
Suddenly, his silver tools began to shake and toddle against the concrete of the street as Winner let out a cry of surprise.
"A vampire is close! I must go now miss Karin-san's friend, and slay the horrible beast! Give Karin-san my regards when you see her, Karin-san's older brother!" he yelled as he quickly ran in the direction his tools had pointed to. Maki noted a second later that an odd cluster of bats flew in the direction Winner had ran. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe his words were true, and that there really were vampires running around town.
She snorted at the idea before glancing up at Ren when she swore she heard him mutter something along the lines of: "that'll keep the idiot busy for awhile."
"Did you say something?" she asked curiously, though felt her courage dissipate when her emerald eyes were suddenly trapped in his golden stare.
"No," he answered impassively, "let's keep going," he added as he started walking ahead of her.
"Uh – right!" Maki replied as she jogged to catch up to the taller man. When she reached his side, she couldn't help but look up at him in awe, for he stood a good head or two taller than she did. A rare find in a Japanese man, she thought, but quickly adverted her eyes with a blush when he glanced down at her when he seemed to sense that he was under her scrutinizing gaze.
He was really good looking...but he had a sinister look to him as well. Maki was sure that if she had seen him on the street before then, she would've sprinted in the opposite direction out of fear. Also, red flags eerily kept going off every time she looked at him. Something about him just didn't seem right, but what was it?
"Karin gave me simple directions, so I'm not sure how far you want me to walk you," Ren informed her suddenly, and Maki quickly surveyed the area before she noted that they were fairly close to her house.
"Here's fine. I live close, so I should be alright," Maki replied with a smile, "thanks for walking me," she added, and he merely looked down his nose at her before he shrugged it off and turned to walk towards the livelier part of town.
Maki watched him go before a rush of courage and adrenaline hit her, and she yelled out for him to wait. He paused before turning towards her with a raised brow.
"Are you single, Ren?" she asked and noted with a wide grin how a momentary look of surprise crossed his features before his eyes narrowed slightly.
"For the moment," he replied indifferently.
"Wanna grab a bite with me?"
A/N: Woo exciting stuff! ^^ my first try at RenXMaki so be kind! Also if anyone is curious, there is a short story in the manga of Ren as a young boy going to high school and there's this girl who reaches out to him. I don't think anything happens between them, but I thought it'd be interesting if something did ^^.