Mocking Nest

[keiko]

[[I’m finally getting around to posting – The world isn’t going to end! XD Sorry it took so long, I procrastinate.]]

Keiko walked along in the woods almost aimlessly. Though, she did have an aim, of course. She’d taken extra precautions about what was going to happen today, and wore her hair in a ponytail; it’s green mass bouncing along to the rhythm of her steps. Her eyes were lined with slightly more eyeliner than usual, and her lips were glossed. Which was actually a surprise, because they were always covered in chapstick, not shiny, clear gloss.

And that meant she actually cared how she looked. Which meant she was trying to impress someone. To Keiko, that was low, but she couldn’t help her teenage girl hormones and did it anyways. She was still wearing her normal outfit, and she had her drawing utensils and sketchbook and such.

When she neared the two, the teenage girl hormones kicked in, and an immediate spike of jealousy shot through her veins. Apparently, this girl was trying to draw Keiko’s nest. Keiko’s nest. Even though it wasn’t really Keiko’s nest, she was mad. But only because Ms. Stealer-of-the-Nest was with Katsuo, which to most made her look like an enemy, because when you see a girl with Katsuo whom you didn’t know, it made the jealousy come, and you assumed she was in your way.

Especially when you really liked Katsuo.

But, instead as coming off as a jealous person, Keiko approached and smiled.

“Hey!” She sounded chipper, definitely not like she was plotting something.

[Kira]

Kira abruptly turned around at the sound of another voice and saw a girl. She guessed that this was Katsuo's friend and smiled in a friendly manner. "Hi!" she replied, feeling a bit annoyed at the challenge of drawing the nest she was given.

Laziness took over so she simply tossed the pad at Katsuo and xshe finished half of the nest. "I'm too lazy to finish Kitty-kun" she told him with a childish grin and using the ridiculous nickname she made up for him.

Katsuo caught the pad easily and felt annoyance when he heard Kira cal him 'Kitty-kun'. It wasn't as if it was the first time she called him that, though.

He decided to forget about it and introduce them. "Keiko, this is my friend, Kira. Kira, Keiko." He wasn't sure if he knew Keiko well enough to call her his friend and how she felt about it but he didn't let his uncertainty show in his words.

Kira stood up, "Nice to meet you! How's my little Kitty-kun been acting?" she asked, referring to him as if he were like a little brother who liked to fool around a lot. She grinned as if oblivious when Katsuo glared at her. She was pretty much used to it now.

Katsuo sent a glare in Kira's direction when she acted as if he misbehaved a lot. He was more mature than that and she knew it, even if she liked to annoy him for no reason.

[keiko]

Keiko couldn’t help smirking to herself. ”So she can’t finish the nest, eh?” Even though Keiko couldn’t do it herself, the thought made her somewhat happy. Like she was better than Kira. However, the nickname made her angry. Not that she had any right to be angry.

She fiddled with her hair as she said, “The pleasure’s all mine,”
Except she was totally lying. She really wasn’t interested in this Kira person, and she wasn’t at all pleased to see her. “And he’s been fine,” she added, because he really had been nice, and she was sure he never acted up the way Kira was implying.

Taking out her stuff, she said, “Why, does he misbehave a lot?” with a tone that suggested she was joking, and smirk that proved she was. She sat in front of the nest. She was tempted to look at Kira’s drawing to see if it was any good, but decided that it probably wasn’t.

[Kira]

Kira felt an unwelcoming presence seem to come from Keiko and grinned mentally. "So I’m guessing she doesn’t want me here…a better reason to stick around. And maybe I shouldn't have called him Kitty-kun....I mean I can call him...” she thought to herself and began to trail off at more possible nicknames to make up for Katsuo.

She wasn’t exactly feeling hostile, but she did see a chance to find out more about Keiko, seeing as she was quite protective when it came to Katsuo, because he was her friend and because she wasn’t going to put her trust in a stranger.

“No…Katsuo doesn’t misbehave a lot…he’s just a bit…anti-social at times…” she replied, choosing her words carefully. She started to call him by his actual name which usually meant she was serious about something or unhappy, although she usually didn’t realize it.

Feeling up for the challenge of drawing the nest again, she smirked to herself. She also already knew what would happen after she knew more abut Keiko.

Katsuo noticed a new sort of determination flicker in Kira’s unusual yellow-green eyes and knew she was up for the challenge again. He tossed the notebook to her lightly.

Kira caught the notebook easily and sat down again, with renewed vigor and started drawing once again.

Katsuo noticed a sort of tension in the air coming from the two girls. He already knew that part of the hostile feeling in the air came from Kira, who was always challenging any of her friends’ new friends to make sure they were good enough and not just trying to use anyone. It had good points but it still hurt if you found out someone was just pretending to like you. He appreciated her efforts though. He could also tell from the fact that she used his full name instead of his child-ish nickname.
As for the hostile-like feeling coming from Keiko’s side, he was unsure of the reason, and him being the hard-head he was, didn’t exactly notice any changes that Keiko may have added to her looks and he wasn’t a flirt like Kuri, so he didn’t comment on anything about her looks.

Kira finished the other half of the nest quickly and make a few finishing touches like shading. She smirked once again to herself, slightly impressed that it turned out well, but being a girl who had no reason to try and show off, she closed the notebook and tucked the pencil in the spiral of the skinny, foldable book and folded the book and tucking it into her pocket.

Katsuo raised an eyebrow when he saw that Kira was finished. He took a quick glance at the nest before Kira closed the book and was a bit impressed, but didn’t show it, not that he would ever, although up close, you could see it a bit in his dark colored eyes.

They treated each other as if they were siblings and nothing more, but from the outside others could easily get their relationship confused. All they had was a friendship and they shared secrets with each other, but not all secrets. For a reason unknown to them, others got them confused at times and when they were confronted about it, Kira would simply laugh it off and explain that it was really a friendship, while he found it a bit amusing.

Silently, he walked over to the two girls.

Kira noticed the sound of footsteps and looked back, with a look in her eyes that asked, 'You like Keiko, right? And you wouldn't mind if I find out more about her before I approve, right?'

Katsuo replied back with a look in his eyes that said, 'I think...and don't scare her away...'

Kira smirked in appreciation and nodded slightly. "I think Katsuo and Keiko might end up together..." she thought a bit happily to herself, with the exception that Keiko didn't seem to like her, but she was willing to sacrifice it for her friend's happiness since it had been a while since he made any new friends, but there was a possibility that it could become more than that. .

Once again using her eyes that seemed to create a private chat just between the two of them, she replied, 'Don't worry...'

She already seemed to have an idea of how to get them together if she approved of Keiko and Katsuo was being stubborn and wouldn't ask her out.

She turned to Katsuo and started to stare at what seemed like absent-mindedly at the nest when she was thinking and brainstorming.

Katsuo saw that Kira seemed to be planning something, but he didn't ask about it.

He knew better than to try and interrupt her planning which could also be her just thinking of more nicknames for people. He shrugged off his curiosity and dug his hands deep into the pockets of his pants before stepping a bit closer to the two girls and staring blankly at the tree that held the nest.

((OOC: >.< sorry, I got sorta really carried away in writing.))

[keiko]

[[Wow. Just…Wow. 836 words, two pages on Word. Wow.]]

Keiko grabbed her pencil and nodded to Kira’s response. The thing was, Keiko’s mind was slowly drifting off. She was about to enter her zone, where everything else was a blur, and she merely did what she loved, in this case, drawing. She immediately began, on a new sheet of paper, to sketch the lineart of the nest.

”Maybe a little bit of shading here…No, no…Ah, that looks, no…”
Thoughts like these were what went through her mind. She didn’t glance up at Kira or Katsuo, though her stomach was well aware of him, but instead kept her indigo eyes on the sketch paper.

Occasionally, muttered words like “No,” and “Damn,” would escape her lips, but mostly she was silent, with a clear determined look on her face, coursing through her eyes and out through the even breaths. If one were silent enough, one could hear the almost inaudible scratching sounds of the sharpened tip of her pencil on the paper as she marked the lines of the nest.

At a few points, Keiko would scowl and twirl her pencil between her fingers while glaring at the paper. At these moments, she was thinking of ways to improve what was there. She usually ended up erasing a few lines and shading, or even half of what she drew, and then redrawing the exact thing, only it seemed better to her.

And, of course, she was completely oblivious to Kira and Katsuo’s telepathic conversation. Not only was she not a mind reader, but also because she was so deep into this sketch, she probably wouldn’t have noticed if a small mammal bit her on the butt.

Except she did notice when a hedgehog randomly appeared and bit her on the finger. She gasped, more out of surprise than pain, immediately snapping out of her daze. Pulling her hand from the ground, where it had rested, to her lap, she glared hate-daggers at the hedgehog. Not once did pain cross her mind, because, frankly, the hedgehog’s bite felt like someone had put a paper clip on her finger.

[[Trust me on this one, I’ve been bitten on the finger by a hedgehog, I was six, and I didn’t even notice any pain. XD]]

Keiko shook her hand a bit, but the hedgehog held on. “Ugh!” she mumbled, before grabbing the furry beast and jerking it off her finger. This time, she was successful and she stood, stomped over to a bush, and shoved the little creature in it, like that was where it was supposed to be. With that, she spun back around and said very seriously, “Don’t. Say. Anything.” To the others, like she might’ve had some control over their actions.

She did, however, think that her nest drawing was inexplicably awesome.
Not good. Not great. Awesome. And this made Keiko smile beatifically. After this, she picked up her pencil and finished the drawing in a matter of minutes.

Only after that did she realize she had finished quite a while after Kira, and that she could sense Kira’s cockiness about her drawing, meaning it had to be pretty good.
But she she wasn’t going to show her drawing to them yet.
Keiko closed her sketchbook, and replaced her utensils into her pack, before jumping up and smiling.

“’Kay, so what now?” She was hyper now, and felt happy. She almost didn’t hate Kira. Almost.

[Kira]

Kira noticed a sudden mood change in Keiko and grew a bit curious. "Guess she did well on her drawing..." she thought to herself. She shrugged, unsure of what to do now and looked a Katsuo for any suggestions.

Katsuo noticed Kira and also shrugged. Feeling the need to reply, he said, "Whatever you wanna do, I guess...."

Being him, he had no clue what people liked do or where to hang out, and Kira being herself, usually went to a lot of places.

Kira raised an eyebrow and replied, "Don't ask me..."

Katsuo shrugged and mumbled, "Soo....", waiting to see if Keiko had any suggestions.

[keiko]

Keiko noticed their loss, and decided that she would probably have to pick a place. However, Keiko's mind suddenly went blank.
She racked her brain a few times, failed to think of something, and then repeated the process.

Somehow, she'd managed to mutter, "Well, this sucks,"

After thinking for a few seconds, a few options came up:
1. Stay here.
2. Go eat.
3. Walk around.

Keiko decided that she wasn't hungry, and that walking around might be the best choice. Her giddy mood began to fade, and the jealousy returned, along with a state of dismay.

Keiko was so Bipolar.

"Well, we can go for a walk... I mean, I can't think of anything else," she said. She also found herself wishing Kira would go away, so she could talk with Katsuo alone.

[Kira]

Kira noticed the aura in the air return, that wished for her to go away. 'Well...someone's a little jealous!', she thought mockingly.

Evil thoughts filled her mind with ideas of what she could do just to embarrass Keiko. It was clear to her that Keiko liked Katsuo, but Katsuo was as clueless as a rock.

"Yeah! Let's go for a walk!", she exclaimed, with a false smile. She started walking and purposely passed Keiko so she could mutter under her breath, "Don't worry, Katsuo's not my boyfriend or anything..."

She felt the need to add a 'yet', just to annoy Keiko some more, but figured she shouldn't, because it would sound weird if she said a comment about boyfriends using Katsuo, who was like her brother, as the topic.

Katsuo didn't notice Kira say anything, but followed behind Kira anyways.

Although he was oblivious to Kira's teasing, he wasn't oblivious to the tension in the air. 'Oh well, girls can be girls...I guess...', he thought, with a shrug. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he trudged along and looked back at Keiko with a look that said, 'Come on...'

It felt weird to him, that Kuri wasn't around, because Katsuo usually hung out with Kuri, but hanging out with Kira and Keiko was fine with him too. Sadly, he knew little about how competitive some girls were, and had no clue that there was sort of like a mini competition between Kira and Keiko right now.

[keiko]

Keiko played her poker face as if she hadn't heard Kira's comment. She thought that it was supposed to make her feel better, but the way Kira had said it came off a little mean. She turned and followed them.

Keiko walked right up next to Kira and said, "What an interesting piece of information," so only Kira could hear. Keiko's tone almost had sarcasm, but she didn't want to seem as if she didn't like Katsuo. She thought that if she played her cards right, she could win Katsuo over easily.

With that, she went a few paces ahead of Kira and Katsuo, turned and started walking back wards, and flashed a pretty smile.

"So, how's it going?"

[Kira]

Katsuo shrugged and replied, "We're walking...?" He was oblivious to Keiko's flirting. He wasn't as easy to win over as Keiko thought, because

1. He never dated or showed interest in dating.
2. His concentrated on only training, pretty much.
3. He's oblivious when it comes to emotions.

Other than that, Katsuo took a lot of advice from Kira, so it was mostly up to he, who he could date and could not date. So far, Kira wasn't isn't exactly 'friends' with Keiko, though.

Kira noticed the flirtatious tone in Keiko's voice and smirked. 'Seems like Keiko likes Katsuo...', she thought evilly.

So far, she wasn't sure what she thought of Keiko. She could've been a flirty fool or she could seriously like Katsuo.

Kira knew Katsuo should find at least some luck in the 'love' department, but she didn't want one of her closest friends to wind up hurt. She absolutely would not allow it, if she could prevent it.

As she walked, Kira looked thoughtful as she racked her brain about whether she should think better of Keiko or not.

[keiko]

In truth, Keiko didn't exactly feel like she was getting anywhere. Katsuo was so painfully oblivious to her antics. He probably didn't recognize any of her tricks because he'd never been in a relationship. Neither had she, really, but she at least knew how to spot the signs of interest. Keiko wondered absently why she was doing this, anyway. He was awfully dim and they had, like, nothing in common. Having her doubts, she went silent for a second.

After a second of talking herself back into motivation, Keiko said,
"Well, yeah we're walking. I thought maybe you had something else to say, anything besides 'We're walking'. I'm very sure there is something else hidden in your thoughts. And Kira, if you want to add something, don't hesitate, because someone needs to say something more exciting than 'We're walking',"

After the short rant, Keiko dropped her flirty attitude. Katsuo was failing to comprehend anything, and Keiko felt like Kira was picking it up more. Keiko was not trying to woo Kira, anyway, so it seemed almost pointless to have her there. Keiko could see that Kira played a big part in this, but if Kira didn't approve of her, then screw it.

This was probably a waste of time.

Deciding it would be fun to test them, Keiko said suddenly,
"Me, I met this guy, right? And I've been dropping all kind of hints," She turned away from them, acting all shy and innocent, a slight blush playing on her cheeks.
"But he doesn't seem to get them, see? And I don't really know what to do, because if I can't win him over, then I'm giving up completely. But, I dunno. What do you guys think?"

[Kira]

Katsuo raised an eyebrow at Keiko's little problem, but having no prior experience in that subject, he couldn't offer any tips from any prior expertise.
Instead, he dealt with shrugging slightly, and simply listening to what Kira would say. It seemed like she always had a solution for everything.

Kira sensed a bit of similarity to the current relationship of Katsuo and Keiko right now. She considered how to answer for a moment, before replying, "Well, why not just go all out and admit it too him? After all, if you have enough nerve to fdrop around clues, it probably isn't all that different from just going all out and fully admitting your feelings."

Kira could say that Keiko was close to being approved. If she was willing to subtly ask for advice on the subject, then maybe the girl wasn't THAT bad. Perhaps a few more observations before a full conclusion was wise. Still, it wasn't like after she approved, she'd actually help Keiko get together with Katsuo. That part would just be another challenge Kira would throw at her.

Her approval was only whether or not she believed Katsuo was allowed to go out with Keiko. Despite her young age and immaturity, she had a bit of parental authority when it came to her friends' feelings and relationships they were getting themselves into.

[keiko]

Keiko nodded slowly. She'd thought of doing this first, but decided she didn't want to take it too far. Anything could really set Kira off about Keiko, and even though she didn't seek Kira's approval, it would be better to at least be on good terms with Katsuo's friend.

Keiko pondered a while, walking slowly, admiring the scenery. Not often did Keiko look up to the sky, but she'd been doing it more and more with each passing day. She walked back wards for a second, still thinking. And then she just stopped.

"Actually, Kira, that sounds good. Might as well be blunt," Keiko conceded, crossing her arms.
"So, I guess that means... Hey, Katsuo, wanna go out some time?" Keiko didn't ask guys out like it was nobody's business, but she did an awfully good job masking the embarrassment in asking Katsuo so blatantly. Keiko was sure he would have to think about his answer, so she stood, rooted to her spot, stoic and unchanging.

[Kira]

Kira blinked obliviously for a few seconds, contemplating on the recent event. She had to say, she was starting to like Keiko's personality more and more. She was impressed that the girl had enough guts to just so bluntly ask Katsuo out like that.

Katsuo's mind went blank for a second, not quite sure how to answer. He already knew that he didn't hate Keiko, and he did like her personality. She was pretty, she wasn't overly obsessive, and most of all, she was brave for asking him out.
He had absolutely no clue why Keiko liked him, but he looked at Kira, hoping for some kind of advice.

Kira blinked a few times, unsure why Katsuo was looking at her with a questioning look. She nearly got an anime sweatdrop as she nodded slightly.

Katsuo looked at Keiko, running his fingers through his hair. As it fell back into place, he sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Feeling the slightest blush on his cheeks, he redirected his view to his feet, mumbling, "Sure..."