The Library (A Kainora/ Legend of Korra fanfic)

Ch. 4 - "The Question"

Kai ran his hand through his hair for what seemed like the millionth time. He had been staring at his sad excuse of a reflection for five minutes now. And he was not pleased. His green eyes looked tired and worn out and his brown mop of hair looked like he had a bird’s nest on his head, despite his many attempts to make it look presentable. Usually Kai couldn’t care less about how he looked, but today was different. 

Today he was finally going to ask Jinora out. 

It had been a few days since their little run in at the movie theater. After she caught him on the floor, they exchanged a few brief and painfully awkward words. He wasn’t sure if she knew he heard their conversation, but judging from how red her face was; she probably did. 

So nearly a week later, Kai had finally built up the courage to ask her out. He knew that his friends were going to flip. They would probably think that Kai was ruining the reputation he had somehow acquired in the two months he had been at this school. For all Kai knew, they could be right. 

One thing he did know, however, was that he didn’t care. Kai had never cared much about what people thought of him anyways. Especially people in high school, considering less than two years from now these people wouldn't be a part of his life. 

After on final scan of his reflection, Kai exited the bathroom and headed to the library. When he got there he wasn’t the slightest bit surprised to see only two tables in the whole place were occupied. At one table sat Murry, Drew, and Grant. Jinora sat alone at a different table. 

His eyes flicked back and forth between the two tables, unsure of where he wanted to go. Unfortunately the decision was made for him when Drew shouted his name. 

"Kai!" He raised his voice. "Get over here!" 

"Shhhh!" The librarian hushed him in an irritated tone. 

"Sorry," Drew whispered sheepishly as he waved his arms frantically, beckoning Kai over to the table. Kai rolled his eyes as he headed over to the table. He glanced over at Jinora, who had been staring at him. When they made eye contact she immediately looked down at whatever homework was positioned in front of her, obviously embarrassed, which Kai found extremely adorable.

"I haven't seen you in here all week," Drew observed. "Where you been?"

Kai decided to ignore the illiteracy of Drew's question and answered him. "I just haven't had any time," he shrugged. No way in hell was he telling them the real reason he'd been avoiding this particular part of the school. “But listen, I’ve got to go talk to Jinora about something.”

“She doesn’t let you copy homework, trust me I would know,” Grant said. “So there’s no point in going over there.”

“I’m not trying to copy her homework,” he shook his head.

“Then why are you going over there?” Drew asked.

“I just need to talk to her, okay?” Kai said defensively. He pushed his chair out and stood up.

“About what?” Murry asked, obviously suspicious of Kai’s intentions.

“None of your business,” Kai snapped, flipping his body around and heading towards Jinora’s table. He knew that was a childish thing to say, but it was simply impossible to shake those boys off.

Kai’s walk to Jinora’s table started out extremely confident, he had his head held high and he was ready to ask this beautiful girl on a date. However, the instant she looked up at him, Kai turned into a hobbling ball of insecurities. It was too late to turn back though, she saw him coming. She smiled when she saw him pull a chair out and take a seat, which gave him a small little boost of confidence.