A/N: Edited as of 12/24/14. Yes, a medieval!HitsuKarin AU! I'm hype. There might be a bit of an age gap, which I am unerringly fond of for some reason, but that's cool, because canon wise he's decades older in the first place. And my Coffee Stains readers knoooowwww I love older Hitsugaya. It's just. It's a thing. I love the thing. Now go on and read. The poem - "the 'i like you' poem" - is by Warsan Shire. Please enjoy.

.

.

.

if you gave me
half a moon of a chance
i would
kiss the incisors
out of your mouth, clean
and hold them in my
own, like chippings
from an old mug

.

.

.

He was fourteen when he met the princess for the first time.

It was a sunny, bright kingdom, with more trees than people that smiled too much. The warm weather had him shedding the snow white fur of his thick winter coat and wool travelling cloak long before he'd entered their territory. The Southern Kingdom - Karakura - was a far cry from his own mountainous, snowy home. He and his entourage, a small blizzard among a southern forestry, stuck out more than he'd wished to as they traveled. Toshiro still remained in his carriage for propriety sake, if nothing else. The heat wasn't so forgiving, but the breezes were cool and pleasant, swaying his hair and the leaves and loose rocks on the dirt roads as he and his procession traveled.

The dirt roads shifted into a hard brick, and then finally into a lacquered marble as the gates of the palace came before him in all it's glory. The crown prince was already there, reaching out a hand to clap a rough hand on his shoulder, asking about starting their work immediately after dinner so they could properly duel tomorrow.

There was a grunt of an agreement, shared insults, boisterous laughter, and dribbled small talk on the struggling economies of the western provinces. The whites of his teeth were shining against the sunlight and the orange of his ridiculous hair was as ridiculous as ever. Nothing much had changed.

He'd visited Karakura months before, in the winter, when war was just beginning to brew and for the first time since he'd been coronated, he found himself in need of allies. Toshiro was a young king, gaining the crown through tragedy at the age of seven, and sought out new land to conquer after solidifying his rule. New land, unfortunately, meant new enemies.

So, ambitious as he was, Toshiro went after a legend of men - the crown prince and his kingdom of the southern provinces was incredibly powerful. He held dominion over an army and navel fleet that put fear into the hearts of rival monarchies.

Yet...the Grand Prince was supposed to be a ruthless warrior and skilled swordsman. Not an idiot who thought they were friends.

Either way, it wasn't that bad. He was never addressed by his proper title, and his younger sister with the hazelnut eyes smiled far too much, but they were tolerable. Hitsugaya left his carriage and followed the idiot into his home like he'd done so a thousand times before, boots hitting against the thick marble floors with a quiet echo.

After he and his procession settled into guest rooms and changed, Ichigo led him into the dinning room, where several others were already seated for lunch. It was a grand hall, seemingly miles long as they made their way from one end of the table to the other. The walls were a dark, rich green with gold tapestries hanging from the high ceilings. The three chandeliers hanging from the ceiling sparkled with rare crystals.

The Grand Prince slipped into the head place, with his father to his right and an empty space to his left. Hitsugaya took it graciously.

"Karin's late once a-gain," Ichigo's father drawled in pure misery, making the white haired boy raise a suspicious brow. "My poor, late wife would weep at how clearly this family is falling apart."

Ichigo was rolling his eyes as soon as the name came out. There was still a hint of clear amusement on his face. "Isn't she always?"

"But we have a guest!"

"Like she'd give a shit."

It was Hitsugaya's turn to roll his own eyes. "I grow weary of your vulgar language, Kurosaki," he ground out, raising his glass of wine to his lips and cocking a brow at the orange haired teenager. He took a long drink and let his glass down. Ichigo smirked.

"Oh, I do apologize for making you uncomfortable," Ichigo replied sarcastically. "Would you prefer I speak of your recent knitting endeavors as well?"

Toshiro gave him a shrewd, challenging look.

The conversation shifted once more, the king turning suddenly serious as he spoke to his son about their other daughter - the only one he'd met. Kurosaki Yuzu was apparently still off on her mentorship underneath Lady Kuchiki, the next queen-to-be. He was surprised to find one of Isshin's children to be a well-studied scholar, while his other two were making names for themselves on battlefields in far off lands.

"My sweet daughter was never fond of combat," Isshin had told him, drinking deeply from his goblet. "Though I'm sure she'd be just as skilled if she had her heart in it."

"I shall fear the day someone as delicate as Yuzu finds amusement in battle."

The food was brought out, and with it, more wine. He was working on his second goblet more quickly than he knew he should have. The voices around him turned happily boisterous as everyone began to eat. He didn't notice the sudden silence as the doors opened loudly to the very far end of the dining room.

"Finally!" Ichigo said aloud, interruping his father and raising his glass high in the air as soft footsteps approached to his right. Toshiro turned to see the figure stop in front of him.

"Miss me, brother?" the girl said coyly, raising one dark brow at the prince.

The girl was young, short, looking close to his age. Her hair was thick and black and short, falling just below her ears in an asymmetrical cut that parted to the side, giving her face a sharper look. She had impossibly pale skin, dark eyes with half moons of light reflecting off of them, and pink lips pulling into a half sneer. Her dress was a vibrant green that cinched tightly at the middle and flared at the waist that fell past her ankles in a short train. Her sleeves were long and tight, cinching at her elbow and wrists. Behind her, two hand maidens followed her steps with lowered heads and folded hands.

A thick, gold necklace with a bright red ruby inlaid in the center, fell against her collarbone, matching the young orange-haired man sitting across from him. The mark of a royal.

She was attractive enough, Toshiro decided. She was nothing close to the beauty that her sister was, but she was nothing to scoff at.

"Like a plague," Ichigo replied caustically, mirth twinkling in his eyes.

She scoffed aloud, but her eyes fell on Hitsugaya, a slow up and down gaze as she slid into the seat beside him, leaning into her seat and placing her wrists elegantly at the edge of the table in the picture of perfect manners. Her gaze lingered at the black iron crown and that sat at his head. Her lips decided on a smirk that made her look much older than the girl that had walked before him with a calm, straight face.

He cocked his head at her, staring blankly in return, not privy to speaking first.

"Karin, my darling!" the king cooed happily, waving his hand in a flourish towards Hitsugaya that gave him a strong urge to take another drink of wine. "You remember me speaking of the king from the northern kingdom, Hyorinmaru! Their ruler, Toshiro, has come to greet us with his presence."

The dark haired girl's smirk grew just the slightest as she straightened - Karin, he thought, putting the name to the face Toshiro wondered if her name alluded to the summer forestry that stayed with Karakura throughout the year, or if the king was truly strange enough to name his children after various fruits.

"Ah. Delightful," Karin said in a thick, sarcastic voice. "I suppose a foreign prince blesses us with his presence."

Hitsugaya cocked a brow and bit back a smirk, turning to his plate and picking up his wine glass again. "No prince is here to greet you. A king, however, grows tired of your words," he replied, taking a long drink.

Too much wine, he thinks as he registers his words.

Her smirk turned dangerous. "I do believe a king should look a bit more grand than a prepubescent boy," she replied.

His entire body twitched in anger - prepubescent? "A king should be grand in wealth and land," Toshiro replied smoothly. "And I do believe a princess should be grand in her beauty...though you do not seem to grasp a hold of that. Perhaps your knitting skills, then?"

Fittingly, they glared at each other for the rest of the meal.

.

.

.

He was seventeen when she came to him in a soldier's armor for the first time.

Hitsugaya was being bandaged by a field doctor as his two advisors, Ikkaku and Yumchika, talked to him in rapid voices to give their reports on the battle. The area around him was thick with the scent of his burning flesh and the cleaning solutions that the doctor was using to clean away the blood. His general, Matsumoto, with her thick black armor and glossy strawberry-blonde hair, stood the closest to him. She was by far the most stressed within the room. The broadsword slung onto her hip was clenched in her white-knuckled grip. Her shoulders were held square and rigidly. It almost unnerved him to see the apprehension in her, the outright fear that her shining eyes held.

All the white haired boy could think about was how badly his side burned with the antiseptic that the doctor was putting on his burn wounds, littering all down the left side of his back. He didn't want to think about his general in tears. Not when he could still smell his own skin burning away if he breathed in too deeply.

"Get yourself together, general," the king slurs out.

"Oh shut up," Matsumoto snaps.

They were in an outpost on the outskirts of the Northern Kingdom, small and wooden and cold. His skin was icy from the freezing winds outside, and every muscle in his body positively ached, but focusing on the discomforts and pain kept him sufficiently conscious. His soldiers were still speaking a mile a minute and he could just barely keep up with them.

"Sire, if I may suggest, we should be able to effectively counter attack if we take a small platoon of thirty or so across enemy lines to disable the bombers."

"Yes! And then bombard the front lines with a full fleet."

Hitsugaya nodded vaguely, biting down on his lower lip and considering the idea - which soldiers would go, would they bring along any engineers to help with disabling, and how many bombers would they be able to take out before they were caught? The doctor finished bandaging his chest, bowed low before him, and left him sitting on the examination table to exit the room. He busied himself with putting back on his clothes. The sharp ache at his side was ignored.

"Your highness!" Matsumoto hissed, tossing aside her apprehension for fury. "Are you truly considering this?"

"Of course," he replied simply, not bothering to meet her gaze.

"It's too dangerous," Matusmoto hissed, slapping a hand down on his thigh to bring his attention to her. He flinched, giving her a heavy glare. "Much too dangerous. You think their only explosives were used on your platoon? There has to be dozens at the very least. I won't sacrifice soldiers for a suicide mission for your ego. The fleets will remain together and will throw up a defensive line before retreating."

"My men's pride is not my ego, General."

"Oh please! They're the same thing!"

"I do not retreat. My men do not retreat," Toshiro hissed, ripping away from the doctor as she bandaged him. "You know this."

Her face crumpled, no longer a warrior and looking very close to tears. The look wounded him, taking away his anger and bringing forth guilt. "I know. And I know that if we move forward without knowing what we're up against, then we'll send hundreds of men to deaths. Our soldiers have families to go home to, sire. There is a first time for everything," Matsumoto teased poorly, pleading and desperate. "Please let me order a retreat. I am positively begging."

The king sighed, shaking his head. "It's already an insult that I have to participate in this," he grunted. Toshiro jumped off the examination table and walked towards the small stand that lay a fresh set of armor for him, as well as his black iron crown. "Aizen's army breaches my kingdom's territory and destroys my land? Unprovoked? And you expect me to retreat? You're mad, Matsumoto. I'd rather lay down my life right here and now."

"Sire! It's not about-!"

The knock on the door interrupted him.

"What?" Toshiro called out, annoyed.

"Sire, Princess Karin of Karakura is here to see you."

He blinked, tilting his head sideways and glaring at the door. "For what?"

"Oh, for the love of god!" an angry, feminine voice called out. "Let me through the goddamned door, you incompetent bastards!"

Toshiro sighed, his entire body deflating with frustration and a lack of energy. "Let her in," he said through a groan.

The door was kicked down, and from where he stood, all he saw was a small black boot sticking out from the door way. The foot fell, and Kurosaki Karin entered the room in a Karakura soldier's uniform. Her black hair was tied into a severe knot at the base of her head, and her chest plate was a shiny silver with a large bloodstain marring it. A moment of panic flooded through him - was she injured? - but then left him when he saw no visible wounds on her. Then he got irritated at himself for panicking for even a moment.

The strangest part was that she carried a grown man by the scruff of his neck, who was thoroughly bound and gagged. The man wore armor from Aizen's army, though it was marred by a large bloodstain on his thigh. Most of his face was bruised a fresh purple color, obscuring his pale skin.

The white haired king stared at her, blinking and frowning in confusion for several seconds.

"What in the seven hells, Karin?" Toshiro snapped.

"I come bearing gifts, your excellency," Karin spat, her tone wholly mocking. She tossed the enemy soldier on the floor and crossed her arms over her bloodstained chest plate. "My father decided to send you a gift in light of recent events - three thousand and fifty soldiers under my brother's command. They're out now, awaiting orders."

"Thr-three thousand?" Matsumoto stammered, her mouth falling open.

"And fifty," Karin added. She kicked the squirming enemy shoulder hard in the shoulder, giving a small smirk as he made a muffled sound of pain. "This one is my gift. A platoon leader, out terrorizing a village on the outskirts of the kingdom. I caught him harassing a nice young lady, so I returned the favor a bit. He has information on the bombers and where Aizen's mountain base is set up."

Toshiro stared, comically wide eyed as he took a second to process the teenage girl before him.

He didn't particularly like Kurosaki Karin much - there was something terribly annoying about a person who knew how to push all your buttons with just the simplest words. Not to mention the fact that she could disarm him completely with one of her smiles, which he chalked up to teenage hormones.

Toshiro simply didn't trust aristocratic women any more than he trusted the foreign kings who claimed themselves allies; there were always hidden agendas in every outward appearance. There would always be hidden agendas, especially when power came into play, since he had an abundance of it at such a young age. Every conversation, every visit, every marriage always had a deeper meaning, always had some sort of underlying political end game, and he hated it more than anything. It was the reason why he would lock himself up in the northern palace as long as he could manage.

That was a world he'd been thankfully spared from as a young child. It would be foolish to trust a girl that grew up living and breathing through it. A part of him thought that he would always be wary of her for that.

Yet, the moments when their conversations didn't actually dissolve into petty, insulting arguments, he had always appreciated her straight forwardness. She didn't scheme.

As of now, he decided to appreciate her ruthlessness as well. And...cunning.

I need to be careful of her, Hitsugaya thought to himself. It sounded too pleased inside of head.

The young king began putting on his armor once more, doling out orders sharply. "Matsumoto, get back onto the field. Mobilize the troops, reformulate an attack on the front lines, and leave the bombers to me. Use our numbers against them," Hitsugaya said, pulling his mesh shirt over his chest before struggling into his chest plate. Matsumoto nodded sharply before making her way out of the room speedily. "Ikkaku and Yumchika, ready an interrogation room for me."

"Will you be conducting it personally, Sire?" Ikkaku prompted.

"Obviously," Hitsugaya said. At last, with his armor fully strapped onto his body, he pulled the black crown inlaid with diamonds into his hands. He allowed himself an absent-minded moment to stare at the diamonds that glinted in the dimly lit room. It dizzied him momentarily. Finally, he looked up at Karin with a raised brow. "And you. Get the hell out of my sight."

She seemed startled a bit, blinking twice and staring at him with a question in her eyes. "How often you forget that you are not my king. My father is the only one that orders me around. And even then, I do not listen half of the time, " Karin said aloud, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall beside the door.

"Are you not in my kingdom? My land? That alone subjects you to my rule."

"Yet so is my brother, and he would never bow to you. Neither would you ask it of him."

"Leave, Kurosaki."

"I want to attend the interrogation."

He barked out a laugh, short and mean. "And why would I let you do that?"

"Because- because...that's what friends do," Karin said plainly, no venom in her voice. She unfolded her arms and stared past his shoulder to the wall behind him. "You will let me in for that interrogation, like you will let me fight this battle beside you. That's what friends do. Are we not?"

Hitsugaya was silent for a moment, still holding his crown in his hands with straining fingers. He did not wish to tell her they were not friends. It wouldn't be the truth, and he did not fancy himself a liar. No matter how many times they would fight and insult and promise war upon each other's lands, at the end of the day, she was in his corner, and he was in her's. He was a warrior, born and bred into battle, and one of the first things he'd ever learned was to always stand aside a comrade. Loyalty was in his blood.

The earnest tone of her voice threw him off as well. Kurosaki Karin was a princess of a foreign kingdom, who could very well run off and tell all his kingdom's secrets if he did not keep a close enough eye on her.

But she had long since proved some modicum of trust countless times before, and now her allegiance by going out of her way for a battle that held no relevance to her. His grip on his black crown tightened infinitesimally as thought.

Was it not the time to prove himself?

"If we are able to ascertain specific information from the captive, then I will be leading a small team to find Aizen and end him," Toshiro said, giving her a hard look before putting his crown on top of his head. The weight of it was familiar and steadying to his overworked mind. "I will want you on that team."

Karin blinked, eyes going wide with shock. "Truly?"

"Truly."

"And you do not jest?"

"When do I ever?"

.

.

.

He was twenty when her brother first threatened him.

He was in Karakura, walking the castle grounds alongside her, his hands firmly in his pockets and his eyes firmly on the ground. It hadn't been a good day; he'd been awoken hours before dawn at more information of rampages from Aizen out east, causing havoc among civilians and engaging in general guerilla warfare. Yamamoto was an ancient man, but with a well-groomed army naught to be toyed with, and he'd written to both Toshiro and Isshin that he was handling the situation. Either way, Toshiro's spies kept him updated by messenger hawk every week. There were troops to integrate, movements to track, and so much work to be done.

Matsumoto couldn't sleep, with the information on the horrors Aizen was committing, and so when new information came, she did not hesitate to rouse him. He didn't blame her for it.

They would spend the early morning hours in uneasy, anticipating silence, watching the sun rise together.

There was a reason why he preferred sunsets to sunrises. He was always irritable and tired in the mornings, not completely able to appreciate the morning's calmness. There was something too still and ominous about sunrises. What new terrors would this day brings? How many people would die? How many times would he fail today?

As he contemplated all this, Karin pinched his nose.

"Ouch!" he snapped, batting her hand away. She glared at him, unrepentant.

"Toshiro, I do know that you aren't the most talkative man, but I have been speaking for three minutes straight and I know you haven't heard a word I said," the princess said aloud, the tone in her voice not changing in the slightest. The white haired king blinked at the sound of his name being said.

"What?"

"Exactly."

"Did I-?"

"Yes, again," Karin said drly. He glared at her none too kindly, and she turned to glare back at him. "Don't look at me like that, you tart bastard. I'll draw you up an execution."

She wore a brilliant red gown that day that reflected in the afternoon sunlight. Her hair was up, with thin black wisps trailing over her face. Her nails were dark blue and her teeth were stark white and her skin was awfully warm and her lips were awfully rosy and he liked too much the way her mouth moved. It twisted back in his favorite, rough grins before settling back into that practiced, delicately neutral expression.

"Weakness. I would execute you myself," Hitsugaya threw back easily. She stopped him from walking, a hand against his forearm as she assessed him thoroughly. He groaned. "What is it, Kurosaki?"

"You look quite tired. And somewhat ill."

He sighed loudly. "I would attest to both, if we are being honest."

The dark haired girl clicked her tongue disapprovingly, stepping away from him and turning around to walk the other way, back towards the castle's side entrance from whence they came. "I knew coming to get you was a bad idea. You've been terribly wrapped up by the news from the eas," Karin said, sounding exasperated, but then allowed herself a small shrug. "Not that you shouldn't. It is horrifying. I read my father's letters while he's not in his study to keep Yuzu and myself updated...I never said that, though."

Hitsugaya blinked owlishly in shock, but then rolled his eyes. Should he really be surprised? "It is quite terrible. And the only reason I am left sitting and waiting is for...politics," Toshiro said, spitting the word as if it were a vile, offensive thing (for which it was in his heart). "It is tiresome. I am going to rip my hair from my scalp."

"But necessary. You must let Yamamoto handle it, you know. Especially if he hasn't requested for help. He probably thinks he can handle it all on his own...sounds like someone I know," Karin said, taping his cheek with one of her sharp blue nails. His face scrunched at the appendage, but he said nothing to it. She wasn't lying, unfortunately. "Let a man handle his own land's business, lest you start a war upon an ally."

"The ways of old men amaze and anger me greatly," Toshiro mumbled, quite unnecessarily.

"You are preaching to the choir, good sir."

"I do wish I am not this infuriating when I age."

Karin gave him a look, but he ignored it.

"Say something smart and I'll have you laid out in the grass within seconds," he warned.

The princess smiled widely at that, reaching over to brush her fingertips against his jaw just to tease him. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Karin drawled with a raised brow.

He sneered, but could not help but turn red. For whatever reason, she turned just as red, pulling away from him as if his flesh burned her's. They were silent after that.

Awkward silences became more common between them these days. It seemed as if he lost his good sense whenever he came near her. The bawdiest, most scandalous words left his mouth as supposed teasing, just to see her affected by his words. Thinking about her brother, or gods forbid, her father hearing him speak with her like that sent a shiver of horror down his spine.

He wasn't spared in the least, of course. Most days he knew she'd gave much better than she got. Karin wasn't a shy her, and she proved that through physical touch. He would receive the most sarcastic greeting kisses all over his face and was forced to endure her casual touches while in the midst of important conversations. She would wrap him in uncomfortably familiar embraces, the line of her frame flush against his own, in the most public places. She clearly cared not for the gossip that floated around them, salacious as it was.

They made it to one of the castle's side entrances as he contented himself to his thoughts, the southern sunlight, and her presence. Karin wrenched the enormous doors open with great difficulty, shooing him away when he reached out to help.

They happened upon the kitchens, which were blessedly empty, and he followed her aimlessly as she darted off to the side of the room instead of exiting immediately.

"You are much too weary to be socializing with me, Toshiro. I could bet my father's crown that you've yet to claim a full night's sleep since you've arrived. It's made for such boring company, if I do say so myself," Karin lectured, sounding pointedly annoyed. She gathered a plate and large wine glass, oblivious to his own growing irritation. "Why can't you say these things plainly, my dear foolish king?"

"Kurosaki, you act as if you would have left me be," the white haired man replied irately, referring to her asking for a walk along the castle's grounds that morning with too much enthusiasm.

"This time, I would have. I hesitated greatly, but you were leaving the room before I had the mind to speak again."

"Oh, hold your damn tongue, you venomous snake."

She sneered at him. "If I were a snake, I would pray to be poisonous enough to fell you in a single bite," Karin replied snappishly. She gathered the dishes she wanted, and walked towards the large island in the middle of the kitchens. "Sit, you pompous fool."

Hitsugaya followed her orders with a word of dissent, but still glared as the plate and glass were set before him. He allowed himself a rare hunch in the seat as she began filling his plate with various things from around the kitchens - salad, strange fruits, fillet meat, even setting a small stack of wrapped sweets beside his plate - before finally bringing a second wine glass and a very large jug of wine to the counter. He watched her pour his cup first, and then her's, before sliding into the seat next to him.

"Eat, you damn idiot," Karin snapped, gesturing him towards his full plate. "You need it."

"Quiet, you damn harpy," Hitsugaya bit back - still, he ate.

The dark haired girl brought her wine glass to her lips and watched him, as if pondering something absently, but he knew better. There was nothing absent about the look in her eyes. He gave her his own stare, but she did not relent. Toshiro sighed, and began eating, bringing a piece of tart fruit into his mouth with his fork. Toshiro made a face at the taste of it, but continued eating, though quite lethargically. Karin kept watching him as she leaned into the side of the counter with quickly deteriorating posture.

"I thought you came to visit for leisure instead of politics," Karin said, almost conversationally, but not quite. The edge in her tone grated on him. Disappointment, he thought "You worry over war too much, Toshiro. Your own stress will sooner kill you than an enemy blade."

"I should hope so. Being a king is infinitely more difficult than being a warrior," he replied, stabbing his fork with a slice of meat. She slapped his arm hard, and it stung just the slightest, but he didn't retaliate. His voice did lower significantly. "This is not a war to worry over. This is a war to win."

"You cannot win a damn thing if you are dead."

"I will not die," Hitsugaya said with certainty - looking like a man who could control the world's gravitational pull. And he wanted her to believe him, in his power, in his might. "Not before Aizen. Not before I topple his entire standing."

She drank deeply from her glass of wine, cutting him a vicious glare, and his hope was fizzled out. He expected too much from a girl who questioned the gods themselves. It was in her nature to be shrewd and speculative. "You truly are a difficult boy," Karin retorted sharply. Hitsugaya glared angrily at the words.

"I will be twenty one years this winter. You dare call me a boy?"

"A difficult one, sire."

"You are far more childish than I."

"Yet you obsess like a boy, and you inflate yourself with a boy's ego. You've naught changed since you were fourteen, barely a ruler with too much good fortune sitting in your lap. I can see it all over your face whenever Aizen's mentioned," the dark haired girl drawled, twisting her mouth around as if drinking the flavor of wine in her mouth, or merely looking displeased with him. He could not tell. "And now, for your pride, you search diligently for a madman at the expense of your own health and commonwealth. It's upsetting."

Hitsugaya let his fork fall onto his plate as he laughed deeply, reaching for his own wine glass. This would not be a kind conversation. "You know not a damn thing, Kurosaki. My pride? Aizen has felled my kin, not my ego. And he will pay for his sins in blood," Toshiro said, sounding more condescending and mean than he would have liked.

Karin recoiled instantly. "He has killed your kin? When?"

Toshiro shook his head. Goddamn it. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with her right now. He never wanted to have this conversation, actually. Not even Matsumoto. His past belong to his nightmares, not to the people who resided in his present.

The look in her eyes told him that she wouldn't relent. He could feel the strain in his throat before he even started talking. "The reason why I was coronated so young was because the Queen Dowager was murdered before I was old enough to rightfully take the crown," the white haired king said, taking a sip of his wine. "My grandmother."

Karin was silent for a moment before speaking again in a much softer voice. "What was she like?"

Toshiro blinked, staring at her in surprise. He had been bracing himself for meaningless condolences. When had anyone ever asked about the type of person his grandmother was? He bit down on his lower lip and tilted his head, staring of into the wooden walls of the castle. His memories of his grandmother were well kept, though the pain he felt when he reminisced on them was suffocating.

"She was a kind woman. Soft spoken and...sweet. She always made the time to speak with me. Made sure I was well," the king murmured, breathing deeply. "My parents while I was still an infant, so she was the closest thing I had to a mother in life."

In reality, he still saw Matsumoto as a mother figure, but he knew she'd be displeased by that, then go on about how she was still too young for children. His grandmother had been what he knew what all grandmothers across the world should be: kind, supportive, and good with handling his unending brattiness. She would rule the North with unparalleled power and then end her day with him and Hinamori, asking what they'd gotten up to. And though the days after his adoptive sister had married a Lord in the west provinces weren't as good as they had been, he was still happy.

"The closest thing I ever had to a mother was my father," Karin replied with a small smile. "So I think you got a better bargain out of the two of us."

Her words make him laugh, shockingly loud, making his cheeks go red again. The princess takes another sip of her wine as her eyes glow with pleasure.

"I'm still quite sure you can handle Aizen with a decent night's sleep every now and again," she added slyly.

Toshiro pursed his lips for a moment before shaking his head. "There is a constant flow of information I cannot miss. I might very well have to leave within a moment's notice. To tell you the truth, I can't even afford a mediocre amount of sleep," Toshiro said lowly. "Matsumoto could come bursting through this room, demanding to leave along with the soldiers, and I'd be gone within the hour."

Karin groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead. "You cannot come and go whenever you choose like this. Within a moment's notice! What manners were to taught?" she said lectured, slapping the table's counter between them in a fit of anger. A smirk bloomed on her face, coy and dangerous. She took his hand that held onto his wine glass and held it. "You'll make me quite feel cheap like this, my king."

And there is was.

Hitsugaya smiled in exasperation, rolling his eyes. What a vulgar woman. "That is never my intention, my lady. You are worth all the diamonds my lands have to offer...and you know I always pay you well for your time," he said, half joking and half earnest, because he knew she was worth much more than he could offer. "But when I must leave, I will."

"I know. It still aggravates me deeply."

"You wish me to return, then?"

"You must," Karin commanded, leaning back into her seat and poking his temple with her sharp nail. He pulled her hand away, but did not let go. "You owe me a proper visit, you right bastard. You do realize we haven't even gotten a moment to spar? That's unacceptable. No secret visits with my father and his idiotic council in the middle of the night in preparation for battle. I cannot stand it."

"That's no fair, sister. I am apart of that idiotic council."

The two looked - and Hitsugaya immediately let go of Karin's hand - by the gods, why was he still holding it? - to see Ichigo standing in the kitchen's doorway, leaning upon it and smiling passively. Karin rolled her eyes, but there was mirth in her eyes.

"Your presence is irrelevant to me, brother."

The Grand Prince gave a mock wounded look to his younger sister. "Irrelevant? You deem your future lord and king irrelevant?" Ichigo said, as if repeating horrifying blasphemy about himself. "I'll have you beheaded for that."

Karin chuckled. "You would be much too bored without me. Yuzu is too mature for you to be properly entertained," she said, standing from her seat and clapping Toshiro on the back happily. He choked on his food, giving her a heavy glare. "Well, my fair rulers, I'll leave you be. I must see to Matsumoto today. I have not happened upon her in ages. Try and behave, won't you?"

And with that, after grabbing the wine jug and another glass alongside her own, Karin had left the room. Ichigo had smiled at her as she left the room, and she smiled back, bumping her shoulder to his arm as she passed by him through the door way. The strawberry haired prince was quiet for a moment, walking through the kitchen to side on the other side of the island that Hitsugaya occupied.

"You surprise me sometimes, Toshiro. This is where the servants eat," Ichigo said, looking nonplussed about the fact. Toshiro continued eating, giving the ruler an icy look. "I would not expect you to stay and eat here."

"I am a soldier before I am a king. I sit and eat where I will. It is your kingdom's people who chose to live in classes amongst yourselves," Hitsugaya replied, feeling distinctly insulted. He had ruled over an army of nearly a hundred thousand, having ate and bled alongside them for years. He was a king of men, but he was not above them. They were all human beings.

"You do not think I realize? I plan to eradicate that sort of thinking after my coronation. There is a culture to change," Ichigo said, leaning into the counter and resting his jaw against his palm. Hitsugaya did not say anything to that - he probably knew how difficult that would be. Changing the way people had thought for centuries was a task indeed. He wouldn't need to be reminded, he hoped. "But I had to point it out. I do not think much of you in the first place."

Hitsugaya raised a brow, but kept eating. Well this just got interesting. "And why is that, Kurosaki?"

"Because you are so obviously leading my sister on."

He paused, putting down his fork on his plate before fixing the orange haired man with a sharp glare. "What the fuck are you blabbering about?" Toshiro said quietly, leaving all decorum behind.

Ichigo laughed coldly, sitting up straight and giving his own glare. Toshiro fixed his posture as well. "You know damn well what I'm blabbering about, you right piece of shit. Do you truly believe I don't see the way you look at her? The way you'll speak to her in hushed tones in the middle of a crowded room? The way you are constantly together? I am not my father - I do not trust men blindly with my sister," he said, his voice quickly filling itself with vicious anger. "Least of all you."

"And what of it? Nothing that happens between us is your business. Karin will do as she pleases, like she's always done," Toshiro spat in irritation. "What wrong have I done against her?"

"The both of you are of marrying age. She has been so for more than a year now. There would be no objections to you asking for her hand - hell, father would probably burst into tears. Yet you dawdle like an uncouth youth, because there is only one fucking thing you want from my sister," Ichigo hissed, leaning forward on the table, unconstrained rage in his eyes.

Instantly, Toshiro was turning red. "Do not misconstrue my intentions, idiot! And by the gods, she is far too young to be married!"

"Sixteen is of marrying age."

"Sixteen is a child. She knows not enough of the world to begin a life with someone."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, standing up once again. "Truly, you think me a naive fool, though I am both older and with more experience than you. Your genius must only lay in the battlefield, Toshiro, so I will say this once, and I will say this slowly," he snapped, sounding like a dangerous viper, so at odds with the usually happy going prince that he encountered. Ichigo locked eyes with Toshiro with a steel gaze. "If you hurt my sister, if you dishonor her in anyway, I'll light your funeral pyre myself."

The white haired king was taken aback by the intensity of the older man's anger, and he almost lost the glare on his face, but Ichigo was walking away briskly before he could return with any sort of remark and salvage his pride.

.

.

.

He was twenty one when she kissed him for the first time.

It was his birthday, and Matsumoto would be damned if he got through the night without a loud, painfully ostentatious party. He could see his subjects in monochrome - expensive folds of white and black and shades of grey - amidst the color of guests from foreign lands. The lights were low, bringing his vision into an even blurrier focus, and it was hard to make out anything specifically unless he squinted. He'd drank far too much than he should have, surrounded by those who could be a potential enemy, but it was his birthday, his guards were incredibly attentive, and he'd be damned if he spent the night sober.

Currently, Matsumoto stood beside Kuchiki Byakuya with a large wine glass in hand, no longer a soldier, but a beautiful woman who was sinking her claws into its prey.

It was quite hilarious to him.

"Gods, this is hilarious," Hitsugaya said, though he did not laugh aloud. He gripped a large cup of some sort of burning alcohol in one hand, the other propping his jaw up along his arm. His leg was crossed at the ankle and his posture was purely atrocious. He hoped the nobles of his kingdom were too drunk to notice. "He looks ready to flee."

"Oh, give him more credit, Toshiro," Karin barked from beside him. Their arms were pressed together snugly against his throne. "He's doing...decently."

"He is doing poorly, Karin."

"He is not! He is actually speaking to her. Though, yes, he does look quite uncomfortable."

He tilted his head very far to the left and noticeably squinted. "He looks quite suicidal from this angle."

Karin coughed out a high pitched shriek of laughter, slapping her hands against her face, looking to the two guards that stood not even a foot away from Toshiro on either side of where his throne stood at the far end of the room. Then she shot him a dirty look. The echoes of amusement had yet to leave her countenance. He breathed deeply as something painful twinged in his chest. Who is she fooling? he thought irately.

Toshiro took another long drink from his glass in order to steady himself, wishing the dark haired girl beside him was close enough to whisper properly to. It would have been much easier if he could bring her into his lap, but that would probably get him slapped across the face by several different people.

He had an inkling she wouldn't give a damn. The realization almost gave him enough nerve, but alas, he wasn't that drunk.

Yet, he thought evilly to himself. Who am I fooling?

"You are truly bastard, Toshiro," Karin hissed, reaching over the arm of his throne to pinch his shoulder. He half heartedly slapped her hand away.

"I do not deny it," the king replied. He raised his glass lazily. "The spirits are to blame this night."

Kairn rolled her eyes, leaning against the throne and giving him a sidelong glance. "And for every other night, sire?" she questioned.

"There are plenty of others to blame. Namely you."

"Oh hush," she spat. Then she lit up, eyes bright and staring at him with excitement and something. He decided he didn't like the something else. "I forgot about your present."

Hitsugaya groaned, tilting his head back and forth to work the kinks out of it. It was late, he knew, since the room had become a touch colder. There were no windows in the palace's great ballroom, but he had an inkling about these things. It wouldn't surprise him if it was past midnight. "I told you that it was pointless to get me anything," Toshiro told her honestly. "I own a kingdom rich in wealth and power. I have no wants or needs. Why do you insist upon this every year?"

"When have my gifts ever been pointless?"

That shut him up rather quickly.

Since he was seventeen, Karin had gotten him an array of birthday gifts that laid themselves out on a spectrum of strange to useful. It was a running theme between them. The first was, most memorably, a captain from Aizen's army for interrogation. The second was a personal messenger hawk that could travel through the harsh winter conditions of his kingdom. The third was an odorless and tasteless poison she'd concocted herself should he ever need a silent assassination, and the fourth, for his twentieth the year before, was an old book of code for inscriptions.

All her gifts had proven to be useful to him at some point in time, some more than others. Even the poison - though he refuses to tell her how he'd made use of that particular gift.

"Bring it to me," Toshiro said, waving her away.

"Come and get it," Karin said, reaching up to tug on his bicep. Her fingers were terribly warm through the thick fabric of his tunic. "I am no maidservant of your's."

He sighed, downed his drink, then stood from his throne. He handed off his empty glass to a passing waitress, whom bowed as she passed him. Karin watched him with a raised brow, looking distinctly put off as he walked much more slowly than usual. Toshiro was sure he was not doing it on purpose, though. He was drunk enough to lose his balance, and he'd be damned if he started stumbling about like a slovenly fool with such a crowd near him.

"This will look purely scandalous. Leaving my own party with a princess from Karakura. There will be rumors circulating by morning," Hitsugaya grumbled to himself. Karin shot him a bewildered look, and he shrugged. "It's a good thing you look surly enough to be a man."

She squawked, shoving him aside as they made their way through the door to the far corner of the room, passing a few more servants as they started up the hall. Toshiro managed to remain upright, but she paid him no heed as she began lecturing.

"I spent two hours getting ready for this, all on your account. I was forced against my will by my handmaidens and Yuzu. You are forbidden from calling me ugly," Karin snapped, pointing a stern finger at him. "And what is with you, always commenting on us being scandalous? The court has stopped gossiping about us ages ago. And quite honestly, I have no care for rumors in the first place. Let them talk."

"I have no concern over court gossip, but your kinsmen do."

"My father and brother care not for who I spend my time with," Karin said, defiant and angry.

"You truly think that?"

"Alright, well...they trust me with you. You're Toshiro. Do you not think you've earned it?"

Hitsugaya sighed. It was a rhetorical question, because he battled alongside her far too many times to not have her best interest at heart, be it against an enemy with an army or an impure mind. Regardless of what he wanted, he always kept her best interest at heart.

Not that he was sure of what his interests really were...or if he even wanted to figure them out...her interests were easier to keep up with anyway. Simpler.

They made their way through the halls until they got to the guest room's wing of the palace, Karin squinting around in the half darkness until she made it to her room. He was tempted to introduce her to the stone passageways that ran all through the palace, but he feared for his future if he gave her the ability to sneak into any room she pleased.

Karin opened the door to her room with a quick jerk, holding out a finger for him to pause, and reluctantly, he did. Toshiro allowed himself a heavy sigh as she disappeared, staring up at the ceiling and shoving his hands into his pockets. Karin made more than a bit of noise inside the of room, a loud curse as something heavy fell, piquing his curiosity. Before he could make his way into the room to check on her, she was walking out with something wrapped in a navy velvet in her hands.

"It took a long time to get this just right. And I know you prefer swords to knives, but you might end up losing your sword one day, so...The metal isn't silver. It's an ore from the south that's poisonous to humans. Don't knick your finger against it. You don't need to hit a vital area to make a kill," Karin said, holding the bundle out towards him. It was long and relatively narrow, and when she placed it into his outstretched hands, he could feel the weight of an unfamiliar metal. "Well? Unfold it, idiot."

He did as he was told, making sure to give her a sharp glare as the velvet wrapping fell away to reveal a pure silver knife, wide and thin. It was within a matching silver scabbard, with a leather thigh strap attached to it. The hilt of the knife was inlaid with bright, thick rubies, not unlike the jewels that laid against her throat.

"These are rubies from your kingdom," Toshiro murmured with a raised brow.

"They are," Karin said, sounding smug. She clasped her hands behind her back as she leaned forward. "And whenever someone sees it, they'll know it came from my home."

"You trite, possessive wench," Hitsugaya said, feeling uncomfortably bashful. Karin laughed aloud with a wide smile.

"You're welcome"

Still feeling quite drunk, Toshiro gripped onto the knife as he looked her square in her ink colored eyes. The words were pulling themselves from his lips before he'd even given them permission.

"You look beautiful tonight," he confessed without thought. She blinked, the smile falling from her face. He hoped she was blushing.

"You- you said-!"

"I lie, Karin. On a consistent basis."

She sighed, heavily, not quite sounding displeased, but not sounding at ease either. Vulnerable, he decided. Toshiro gave himself a moment to stare at her fully. The thick waves of her hair, the deep violet of her velvet gown, the bright gold of her royal necklace, the siren red of her lips, all of it apart of a creature who's beauty he now knew no equal.

Princesses were supposed to shimmer, flicker out with glittery light as their beauty did with time, yet Karin glowed with divinity from her very bones, a wild hunting goddess masquerading a human girl with royal blood. She looked demure, faint and delicate, with full sleeves that hid the muscles that rippled underneath her flesh. There was something truly striking about the way Karin looked as a warrior, in the middle of fearsome swordplay, without a stitch of fine clothing or makeup adorning her face, but he was quite fond of the way she looked as a queen.

His queen, his treacherous mind whispered, imagining a black diadem inlaid with diamonds perched atop her midnight hair. The thought pleased him much more than it should have.

"You lie too much. I shall make an honest man of you yet," Karin said, voice full of promise. It intimidated him greatly, how sure she sounded. The dark haired girl stepped forward, her hands finding his shoulders and guiding him to stand closer to her. "Spend the night with me."

Toshiro blinked, staring at her silently for a moment before speaking. "What."

"You heard me."

He'd been hoping he hadn't. All the blood in his body went to his face.

"What."

"Have the spirits taken away your ability to speak properly as well?"

He could not form coherent thought still, and she took advantage of his shock, reaching forward fully to press her lips into his. His eyes shut closed of their own accord as instinct took over. His free hand reached for her hip to pull her body flush to his. His lips moved in sync with her's, letting her dominate each of his cognitive senses. Karin sighed into the kiss, leaving her mouth parted for him. Toshiro swept his tongue across her bottom lip before biting down on it.

She did not pull away until his tongue slipped past her lips, running along her teeth, and giving him a full bodied shiver.

And then, as suddenly as she was reciprocating the kiss, she was pulling away and breathing as panting. Toshiro stared down at her, wide-eyed and lustful, wondering if she knew how badly he wanted her in that second. The room to her door was merely inches away. A warm bed and a night of her body, his to claim.

"You've naught a drink tonight," Toshiro said, feeling aroused and guilty and thoroughly manipulated.

"I've-I haven't a taste for liquor," Karin lied. There was hesitance in her voice that he did not enjoy for a second. "Just a bit of water."

"You are sober," he said, anger seeping into his tone. He extracted himself from her, feeling the loss of her warmth acutely. It angered her further, feeling how desperate he was. "Yet you think it wise to toy and tempt a drunk man."

"You are not a drunk man. You are a drunk Toshiro," Karin said, emphasizing his name as if it meant something.

"You did not forget your gift. You lead me here with purpose, in the dark, while the lot of my guests forget my presence. These schoolyard games are ridiculous and undignified. Do not offer yourself to me for the night if you cannot handle a second of a kiss," the white haired king spat, glad of the darkness around them. He was positively shaking now, out of self restraint, out of rage, out of want, he could not tell. Probably want, he thought to himself irately. "You act as if you are a woman, yet you cower like a girl."

"Who is playing games, bastard? I am just not so fond of you trying to shove your lecherous tongue down my throat," Karin spat back, leaning against the marble walls and crossing her arms. He eyed the length of her, despite himself, and she did the same.

"You call that lecherous, yet you want me in your bed for the night?" Toshiro said, stepping forward and finding the curve of her hip once again with his free hand. Suddenly, they were closer than ever, every single curve of her frame pressed into the hard planes of him. She did not move when he pulled her close, she did not move when his lips found the shell of her ear, and she did not move when he began speaking. "My tongue can become much more lecherous than you can fathom, Karin. Your body has many places that it would rather have my tongue. And I will have you begging long before the sun rises."

Her breathing became as erratic as his, short pants that blew warm breath against his neck. His gut tightened in desire, at the thin sheet of her gown so easily torn away - the thought of taking her in the hall came to him quickly, unbidden and filled with primal lust.

But Toshiro stepped away.

"You will not let me dishonor you this night," Toshiro said, his voice low and regretful. "Do not toy with me, Karin."

"I-I do not toy with you. I want you," Karin said, reaching forward and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. Her sharp nails scraped against his skin in a thoroughly vexing manner. "I want you to spend the night with me."

"You are earnest, but you are young, Karin," Hitsugaya said, almost hissing the word. He pulled her hand away from his shirt and let it fall against her side. She was still breathing hard, but the look on her face warped from absentminded lust into resentment. "I will not take a girl to bed."

"I have killed men twice your size. And I have seen war - blood and gore and horrible, horrible things. I am nothing short of a woman, Toshiro," Karin snapped.

"Yet you fear a kiss so thoroughly plain, it brings me stomach pains," Toshiro replied, shaking his head. Somehow he allowed her to draw them close together again "And I am far from sober. Very, very far from sober. Let me return to my quarters and continue this conversation when I can see more than a few meters in front of me."

Karin breathed harshly, looking down and clenching the edges of her gown with her sharp, dangerous nails. He wanted them raking down his back as he entered her harshly, and he wanted to know what sounds she would make when she climaxed.

"Y-you are- you are very- I...Karin, you are important to me," the king muttered, stumbling on his words and feeling his cheeks bloom with warmth. She looked up for a moment, staring him down for a second, before her eyes returned to the floor. "I do not want to dishonor you."

"It's not a dishonor. I can bring to bed with me whomever I so chose."

"Then just for your father's peace of mind."

Karin looked up, quirking a brow at him. "Not...not my brother, then?"

"Fuck your goddamned brother," Toshiro spat roughly.

"You know, I know what he told you in the kitchen in July," Karin said, almost conversationally, though still not meeting his gaze. "He was wrong. I know when a man wants me for more than companionship. You're more than that."

"Make no mistake - I want you in every plain, every lecherous way, Kurosaki Karin," he said, grabbing her by the chin with his fingers and lifting her head so that she would meet his gaze. "Badly. But this is no way for me to take you."

"Then why don't you-?"

"Because you are young."

"I am not, idiot."

"You are. And quite frankly, if I am to have you, then I'll have you in my bed as my bride."

Karin blinked, looking suddenly very scared, the brutal honesty of his words hitting her, more vulnerable than ever. She reared forward to kiss him again, and he wrapped his arms around her fully as she dominated his mouth. With a hard, deliberate roll of her hips against his own, he was hard within an instant, dangerously close to losing control.

The princess broke away from him once more, and he had to blink at the bright lights of her dark eyes.

"My offer still stands," she whispered breathlessly, taking a deliberate step away from him. "I'll be awake if you change your mind."

Toshiro bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he turned at his heel, trying to gather his drunken wits about him. Quick learner, he thought to himself. He hadn't meant to be that honest, because with honesty came vulnerability. He wasn't sure that he could trust Karin enough to bare himself to her in that manner.

But if marriage kept her at bay - a dirty trick it may be - he would as honest as he could to space between them once more.

.

.

.

He was twenty two when he realized he loved her.

They were in his palace's training room, clashing swords fiercely. He couldn't say he was going easy on her - it had been a long time since he could best her in a fight without trying too hard. Her skill and her strength were viciously honed over the years, with a father and brother who represented their kingdom's swordplay masters.

Karin twisted sideways, contorting her body as he struck forward, and brought her own sword down along his shoulder as he was exposed for a moment. Hitsugaya moved backwards quickly, reaching up and knocking her sword left. Karin balanced herself again, then surging forward for another sideways strike, the sound of metal scraping against metal rung out inside of the spacious room. He could tune out the quiet murmur of other soldiers, the somber presence of the royal guards, the medics speaking rapidly as if in concern, and even his own general trying to placate a very irate Ichigo. But for the life of him, he could not tune out the rough grin that toyed at Karin's lips, not diminishing in the slightest at every blow he sent her way. He could not tune out her hair, pulled into a high knot at the base of her head, long hair flowing like an oil slick in her hair. He could not tune out the happiness that glowed in her face.

Toshiro arced his sword sideways, aiming for her collarbone. She sidestepped the weapon, displaying impressive speed, and rushed forward in her own forwards jab.

Very, very close to his throat.

Toshiro leant backwards, avoiding the metal's contact towards his neck, and reached a palm to the ground to shift his weight onto his upper body. He brought a foot up with the momentum of his dodge, and sharply kicked Karin's wrist.

She squawked, her sword clanging to the floor as he righted himself onto both feet once more. Hitsugaya glared at her, as she sword-slinging warrior goddess turned into a loud, annoyed princess.

"What the fuck?" Karin snapped. She cradled her wrist to her chest, as if it were broken, and suddenly, all the anger poured out of him. "You broke something, idiot! Why couldn't you dodge that normally?"

"Why are you so adamant on trying to slice open my throat?" Hitsugaya tossed back, sheathing his blade quickly and stepping towards her. He tried pulling her wrist into his hands, but she jerked away from his touch. It bothered him more than it should have. "It was instinct."

"Well, it was bloody annoying! And painful!"

"I refuse to apologize when you had your sword to my jugular."

"I wasn't even that close. If you were properly paying attention...," Karin muttered, her words turning into unintelligble mumbles as he grasped her broken wrist within his own hands and assessed the damage. He saw the obvious deformity, her thumb looking out of place and the muscles just under her palm looking strained.

"Bloody fucking hell," an angry, male voice said to his left. "You can't go half an hour without injuring her?"

Toshiro looked up to see Ichigo waving over a healer and looking ready to break a few own his bones. They traded intense glares over Karin's shoulder as a medic came rushing forward with supplies, taking away the girl's attention. "Training accidents happen constantly. Are you thick?" the white haired man snapped defensively.

"You find the most barbaric ways to hurt her!" Ichigo snapped.

"I've gotten worse, Ichigo. Leave it be," Karin huffed, holding out her wrist to the healer that was on stand by. The pale haired young woman took her wrist, did a minimal amount of prodding, before bringing out a stint from one of her pockets. It made Karin smile a bit. "You're mighty prepared."

"I should be. His Excellency always does his training...thoroughly," the medic said, giving said king a secretive smile. Hitsugaya merely rolled his eyes at the comment.

"So this is a regular thing? You brute," Ichigo snapped.

"Stop fucking acting as if your sister is a common daffodil. She's a perfectly trained warrior who had a sword to my neck. I reacted," Hitsugaya hissed back, bringing himself to his full height - which admittedly was not much at all - as he faced the orange haired king.

"You did not react well," Ichigo retorted.

"Ichigo, out," Karin snapped, glaring fiercely as the medic continued to wrap her wrist. "You have lost your viewing privileges for the day. Find someone else to bother. Be a productive king."

The strawberry haired man gave the both of them heavy glares before stalking out of the large training area, passing by several royal guards that gave him weary looks. Hitsugaya scoffed at his anger, the urge to follow the older man and just to get into an argument swelling up in his chest.

The medic finished bandaging Karin's hand, bowed to the both of them, and then scurried away. The dark haired princess waved and smiled at the medic as she left. A servant rushed forward in her place, a bit clumsy and nervous, as he offered the two training monarchs warm, wet towels.

"Thank you very much. Oh, and mind not my brother, Toshiro. He's been right awful since the coronation. I think he's worried about our father travelling and not keeping up with us regularly. I am not quite sure," Karin said, pulling his attention to her as she wiped the sweat from her face and neck. It wasn't particularly distracting, but Toshiro watched anyway. Her pale skin was flushed red with exertion, and the healthy sheen pleased him. "He's rather stressed. Ignore it."

"I cannot."

"Don't be a baby."

Toshiro positively pouted. The whole arrangement was bothersome - it was supposed to be Karin visiting, not her brother. There was no official business that he had with Karakura's king, but he'd decided to come along for some bullshit political reason anyway.

He hadn't seen Karin in more than three months - half the rainy season came and went without her presence. As unwilling as he was to admit it, he'd missed her greatly.

Her presence had become a constant when after spending so much time in Karakura and soldier encampments during the war, but now, in peacetime, he had responsibilities to attend to. Hyorinmaru and its people needed tending to. There was no reason for frequent correspondence with her kingdom.

"That fool is within walking distance of you nearly year round. I request your presence here for a fortnight, and he decides he cannot part away from his dearest sister?" Toshiro said as he picked up her sword for her. He twirled it within his hand and glared at the shiny silver metal. "I know exactly what troubles him."

"Oh, love, did someone miss me?" Karin said, jutting out her lip and looking positively mocking. Toshiro sneered, and she burst into laughter. "Alright, fine, fine! But you are quite troubling yourself. Ichigo has a right to worry."

"I am not a troubling man."

"That is a boldfaced lie and you know it."

Either way, he pushed the sword into her awaiting left hand, her much less adept hand, and she pouted when he gave her a look. If she intended to train, he would train. They were not yet done for the day. An hour had not yet pass. And she was fully capable of left-handed sword play.

"I am terrible at left-handed sword play," Karin muttered, assuming a stance.

Toshiro shrugged, unsheathing his blade from its holster at his hip and brandishing it with his left. "Then I'll handicap myself as well."

"You're ambidextrous!" Karin snarled, stomping her foot as she fell away from her stance. "It makes no difference for you!"

"You use that term incorrectly. I learned left-handed sword play," Toshiro corrected, giving her a smug smirk. "By the day's end, I might be able to beat it into you as well."

That got her angry. She assumed a stance again, as did he, and they were both charging at each other once more. She was slower, and more hesitant, but still managed to give him a good fight. The handicap made her even more vicious, as she aimed for vital areas more frequently in an effort to throw him off But he was not distracted this time - every blow was dodged accordingly.

When he disarmed her for the second time, she growled, slapping her good hand to her forehead and glaring at him. "You mean to make a fool of me!" Karin hissed, kicking at the dirt.

"I do not," Hitsugaya snapped. "I respect you more than anyone."

The words slipped out of his mouth unbidden, as if he were not meant to say them aloud but did anyway. He blinked, the irritation flooding from him at once as she stared at her blank expression. Karin swept sweaty hair away from her face, and gave him a questioning look.

"Boldfaced lie," Karin said, as if repeating herself. There was a cautious look in her eyes. "What about Matsumoto?"

And that was obviously true - his most fearsome general, his right hand woman, his advisor in every part of his life, she was undoubtedly the person he respected the most. They had faced every gruesome terror in life together since he was a child. She was terrifyingly brilliant, respectable, incredibly strong, and could change from a lazy, lecherous woman into the most intimidating warrior that the world had ever seen within a second. They fought battles, conquered new land, and survived together. She was something like a friend and a parent in one.

Rangiku had been there when he'd taken the crown at an unsettlingly young age, and she was still with him now. There were burdens they carried, long and hard, on each other's shoulders. That was the woman he respected the most.

But Karin, the one he...?

Oh, he thought. Damn.

Toshiro sighed, resheathing his sword and waving a hand at her. His face felt incredibly red, just thinking, and making eye contact was not an option right now. "Come. Bathe and return to my quarters for lunch. I have no energy for the dining room's decorum today," he said, feeling strange and annoyed and very, very childish.

Karin (the one he loved the most) huffed, very loudly, but followed none the less.

.

.

.

He was twenty three when he proposed.

It was dark, with moonlight and starlight guiding the way for them, dancing upon the blackened waves of the tide and the white sand. The sound of the tide lulled them into quietness, as they walked along the sandy beach. Karin's sandals and Toshiro's boots lay somewhere back inside of the Kuchiki home, as they'd raced along the shoreline long enough for the house to become a pinprick in the distance. There were no other houses within sight, such as it went with ridiculously extravagant vacationing homes and the private beaches they owned. There was nothing but miles upon miles of sand and ocean before them as they sprinted.

Karin, breathing heavy, with tousled dark locks that fell down her back in a black, hellish waterfall, reached out to punch him in the shoulder. Her dress - silk forest green with gold accents, complimented only by her royal necklace - was hiked up past her thigh and tied up at her hip to reveal long, toned legs.

He grunted at her fist making contact rather brutally, but did not comment upon the gesture.

"I feel better now," she said, giving him a grateful smile - too soft, much too soft for a smirk's haughtiness. "Thank you."

"It's fine. Exercise...is important," Toshiro finished lamely, glaring back upon the Kuchiki's home. "What happened?"

"I-I just- I have not seen my father in many, many weeks. I actually missed the old goat. Can you believe that? A grown woman missing her father like a feeble newborn," Karin said, turning swiftly and beginning to walk. He followed beside her at arm's length, shoving up the sleeves of his satin shirt. The feeling of the wet sand against his calloused feet made his skin tingle in a strange manner. "And he decides to spend dinner with...practically a stranger...talking about men he wants me to marry. As jovially as he dared. There was no anger in me. I could not breathe, Toshiro. I could not breathe."

"The Kuchikis are no strangers to you," Hitsugaya said, giving her a careful look. The entire dinner conversation seemed inappropriate and irritating - seeing as to how Isshin kept his jokes plenty, listening horrifying unsuitable names (in Toshiro's book) for Karin to marry, sending him sidelong glances the whole time. Not once was he mentioned. The former king's ploy only ended with making his daughter feel wretched. It vexed him the entire night. "You grew up with Rukia beside Ichigo. As well as Byakuya in the shadows."

"Yes but...marriage? Such a topic should not be discussed with someone I know only peripherally. Gods, it should not be discussed without my own commentary. It was ridiculous...inappropriate...completely inappropriate...I know him not that well," Karin huffed. She looked at him over her shoulder, giving him a glare. "Thank you for being here."

"Oh please. I would not let you go off gallivanting into the night alone and weaponless," Toshiro said, rolling his eyes.

Karin scoffed. "Obviously. But that is not what I mean. Here," she said, gesturing towards the manor.

He shrugged. "I was invited by Rukia."

She scowled. "Don't play stupid. I demanded it of her and you know it."

Toshiro sighed, running a hand through his hair as a migraine began to form in his left temple. "What will you have me say? I know it," he allowed. He didn't think he was ready for her to call him a good friend right now - not when what he needed to say was so horribly frightening that his lungs would not work properly. "Will you not allow us any understanding? Any secrets? You need not be this plain with me. If you ask it of me, I will comply without hesitation. You know that. Very well, might I add."

"I do. You seem to be the only one...truly, Ichigo loves me, but he will forever treat me as a child. I cannot fault him for it. My father as well. And Yuzu...is too different from me to understand many things. Our heads do not function the same," Karin said, sounding wistful and staring at the moon as if she could find her sister on it - the newly wed still on her honeymoon and very much missed by her sister. It was rare for him to see melancholy emotions on her face, but here they were for him to behold, exposed before the cool night air. "Of them all, you understand me best."

"I have known you for years," Toshiro said, frowning.

"Not my whole life, though," Karin said, stopping herself from walking further and reaching out to stop him as well. She gave him a fierce look, determined and hopeful and scared, all in one, and it shook the breath out of him. "You are...you are not my friend, Toshiro. And I do not wish to be your friend. You know that as well."

He sighed, reaching for her, but she put a hand up for him to stop.

"No - you will let me finish. I will speak as plainly as I goddamn please," the dark haired woman snapped, biting down on her lip and staring for another second before speaking again. "You are unnervingly confident in what am I able when no one else is. You respect me. You treat me with dignity, like no man ever has, in person and on the battlefield. You seek to better me instead of demean me. You are honest like no other. And- and you are kind, so kind, though you loathe admit it. God of gods, you are."

He smirked, crossing his arms and looking into the sky above as his face reddened. "I am quite loathe to admit it."

"But you are - and you are magnificent," she said, finishing and breathing shakily, as if still scared, as if she should even have a doubt upon him. The thought could have upset him. "You have single handedly ruined every other man in this world in my eyes. All others are inferior. I will not have another."

Toshiro met her eyes then, watching the unnaturally still way she held herself. She bit down on her bottom lip dangerously hard, focused every single of herself onto him and his next words, his next decision with this information. It did upset him, in that moment, watching her twitch and tremble with her own anxiety. Doubting him. Doubting what he wanted.

The smirk fell from his expression, and in that moment, he was tired of complicated language. He was tired of veiling the words he meant.

"You won't. There is something unnaturally stubborn about your heart," Toshiro said, voice husky and low. He was very close to coughing himself to death. Was this nervousness? Uncouth youth, Ichigo's voice rang inside of his head. He didn't doubt it now.

The king stepped forward, and Karin stiffened on instinct, not sure of his intentions, but he merely reached around to undo the golden, ruby-incrusted necklace around her neck. He gave her a bored, annoyed look, as if the work were too much for him.

Karin sneered on instinct. "What are you doing?"

"Proposing."

Watching the way her mouth fell open in shock pleased him more than it should have. The smirk returned to his face.

Toshiro undid the clasp of the golden, ruby studded necklace that lay over her breasts, marveling at how heavy it was. He placed the necklace inside of the right pocket of his trousers, then reached inside of the left pocket to extract a black velvet jewelry box.

In all honesty, he hadn't been planned any of this. He hadn't been planning Karin's near panic attack at dinner, he hadn't been planning this abrupt visit to the Kuchiki manor, and he certainly hadn't been planning to be proposing to her now, with gritty bits of sand sticking in between his toes. Yet here he was, feeling foolish and scared and ridiculously vulernable.

Toshiro opened the box and revealed the necklace to her. He placed onto her while forcibly steadying his hands, putting more care into the act than anything he'd ever done before. .

It was a choker, made of the same liquid black metal of his crown. The clasp had a thick silver enclosure, but the large rippling designs of ink metal were inlaid with diamonds of various sizes, peppered together in a beautiful design, like stars dotted into the night sky.

"A betrothal necklace," Karin said aloud, her voice catching on the word betrothal, touching at the choker that laid against her throat. He reached for her hand, and she gave it to him.

"I am about to steal your words, but I might allow you credit," Toshiro said, giving her a strained smile - he could inject no true snark into his tone. His heart beat so fast and so hard, he thought himself ready to drown in his own pulse. But still, he managed to speak. "You have single-handedly ruined every other woman in this world for me. There is no human that I have ever trusted more, in every sense of the word. There is no one I will have in your stead. You were not born a princess. You were born a queen. So let me lay an empire at your feet. Let me remain by your side."

She shook, and she smiled so blearily happy that it looked crooked, as if she were not used to the gesture. "You know I'd never ask you for something so grand," Karin said, her voice cracking.

"I care not. If you ask it of me...whatever you ask, I will comply. Let me make vows upon it," Toshiro murmured. "Marry me."

"Yes," Karin said, choking on a sob and still grinning. "W-why not? You look decent enough."

He laughed, full bellied and loud enough for the night air to echo it. They surged forward, kissing her with a fury he did not think he possessed. She breathed with parted lips and ran his tongue along the roof of her mouth, rolled his hips against her's, swallowing down her soft gasp eagerly. She pushed him away and laughed as her fingers curled into his wild hair. She pressed her body into every single line of him and trembled as he returned the gesture harder, hotter.

Toshiro felt a heavy revelation in his stomach, an epiphany so physical that it brought feeling to ever cell upon his skin, as if freshly born.

They didn't return to the manor for a long time.

.

.

.

He was twenty four when he married her.

Through the thick crowd of the ceremony, all he could see was her walking down the aisle before him. She wore a pure, snow white dress, with full sleeves and a rounded neck, covered in lace. The dress stuck to every curve of her body and flared out in a long train at her feet. Her thick black hair was piled neatly on top of her head, once again in deep curls that sprung around her face where they broke loose. For the life of him, he could not keep his eyes off her mouth - painted a deep, rich blood red of a fresh kill, with lips pulled into a mischievous smile.

She looked like a goddess and she knew it.

Toshiro rolled his eyes but could not keep the smile off his face. Isshin handed her off to him, and if there were ever a doubt the man thought of him a son, it was vanished as soon as that warm smile was set upon him.

They stood in front of each other, smiling like idiots.

"We look like common, love struck fools," Karin whispered lowly to him. "I've been smiling all day."

"Good. You look like a beautiful fool," Toshiro replied. She blushed, ducked her head and pinched one of that hands that was holding her's.

"You idiot."

"Your idiot."

"You may now kiss the bride."

Hitsugaya blinked at the words, elation blooming in his chest, and stared down at her with what Matusmoto would recall as "pure, unadulterated glee". It wasn't so far from the truth; for a man who spent his childhood as a warrior, he did get particularly excited about kissing his wife in front of hundreds of people. He had spent a life time stepping back and giving her space when he wanted her to be close. Everything still felt so fresh and new. If he stared too long, the half moons in her eyes would make him him dizzy. They had waxed and waned for so long, the phases of the moon the phases of the moon too incomplete as they parted and came together again.

He was overwhelmed by it, on some days. He could not breathe around her brilliance. There were so many things he needed to learn and learn again. So many things he had to understand about her. Human life was too short to contain all the time he wanted with her.

And the arrogant part of him - the purely royal, childish, greedy part of him - was willing to demand them the cosmos after death. Let his queen truly become a goddess and rule the universe beside him.

But for now, Toshiro kissed his bride, and she kissed back, and the hall burst into applause.

He knew they had a lifetime together. A lifetime of her presence, her laughter, her lips against his own.

.

.

.

When Karin was sixteen, still breathing harshly from her first (or really, second) head spinning kiss, he said he would only have her in his bed as his bride.

It hit her like a train.

Yet she only felt a moment's fear as she pondered it. It came crashing down on her like a hurricane, filling her entire being with knowing, because love was nothing if not the hot air inside of her chest within his presence. She knew that she would not have another - Toshiro had ruined all other men for her. There would be no other she would ever want, for as long as she lived.

Not after a kiss...a promise like that, her mind whispered to herself bitterly. Half moons spun dizzily in her eyes, crescents waning and waxing until she'd gotten her bearings straight. She watched him stalk away from the guest room's hall, to his own quarters, with his words ringing in her head.

He...wanted her. Badly.

Karin, in an effort to settle the maelstrom of her mind, straightened out the velveteen fabric of her dress, evened her breathing, and entered her room to sleep. A content smirk toyed at her lips.

Hitsugaya Toshiro would have no other woman. Not while she was still breathing, that is.

There was a war that still waged, and a myriad of other issues in her own life to settle. So she would give him time, give him space, and let him ponder his own reasons. It shouldn't take him that long.

He was a genius, right?

.

.

.

(if you gave me
half a moon of a chance
i would
kiss the incisors
out of your mouth, clean
and hold them in my
own, like chippings
from an old mug)

.

.

.

then
pray my tongue into
a bowl of holy water
and ask god to never
leave you thirsty.

.

.

.

A/N: I don't even know what this is, to be honest. I've been working on it since June, and then BOOM, I write eight thousand more words within two days. This was meant to be, honestly. I haven't seen this AU before and my heart was demanding it. Thank you so much for reading! I put my heart into this, haha. Maybe some sweat. Lots of OTP tears, though. Remember to review!