Well, I told you that this won't be long…. :) and this is the end. Let me finish my school work first, I will post the rest of Parallel, It's not far from the end now (I know I suffer them so much, hopefully the ending will worth it), as well as, posting the sequel of Whoops!...

By the way, Toushiro is a little mean in this chapter.

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Toushiro sighed while looking at his closet. Until now he couldn't find his shinigami uniforms, and he didn't even know where to find them. Karin definitely knew a good place to hide things from him. Sighing softly, he looked at the kimono.

"Do I really have to wear this?" Toushiro questioned himself before examining the kimono. Maybe he could wear it first, then used the hell butterfly to tell Matsumoto to look for his new uniforms. Well, this wasn't the best idea, but it seemed fine for someone in this situation.

However, as soon as his hand touched the kimono, it felt itchy. And he knew that it's weird, because this kimono was made of fine silk, he shouldn't feel itchy when he touched it. It didn't take him long to notice that Karin also used the itching powder on the kimono.

"Kurosaki!" Toushiro bellowed. Luckily, he chose to examine it first. But now, what was he supposed to do?

...

Toushiro was definitely angry to the point that he wasn't thinking sensibly. Thinking sensibly would have resulted in a coherent plan of revenge rather than the brilliant act of retaliation that he carried out a week after Karin's prank.

It was the break time late in the afternoon and Toushiro was the captain who was supposed to check on the Shinigami Academy. He was walking when he saw Karin by the pond with some friends. She was talking, laughing, and flipping her raven hair. Well, she was probably bragging about her victory that she could embarrass him.

"How dare she?" Toushiro said to himself angrily, clenching his fists. "I will show her."

And of course, without thinking carefully about it, Toushiro sped down to where Karin was.

"Taicho, wait for me." Matsumoto cried and quickened her pace to follow her captain.

Karin looked surprised when she saw Toushiro walking towards her. She knew it was his turn to check on the Shinigami Academy, that was why she decided to skip her class. However, Toushiro didn't say anything to Karin, instead he pushed her. Karin let out a cry of surprise and fell into the pond, while onlookers looked shocked, not really sure what to do.

"Hitsugaya taicho," Ruka exclaimed. "She cannot swim!"

"Taicho!" You've just drowned her." Matsumoto who followed him closely cried loudly.

"I didn't drown her!" Toushiro replied smirking. "It's a hot day, I just treated her to a refreshing swim."

Matsumoto frowned at this. No matter how grown up her captain was she knew there was a part of him that was still childish. But she didn't know if she should be glad that he showed his childish side at the moment. It was unbelievable that Karin was able to bring out this side of his when she had been trying to do so for many years and had never succeeded.

Toushiro kept staring at the lake and ignored his lieutenant. However, despite his words of confidence, he couldn't help but notice that there was no sign of the raven hair had yet emerged from beneath the surface of the lake. His earlier rage began to make way for sensible thought and a rare feeling of guilt began to settle into his stomach. He had only meant to get his revenge, not drown her. She was his friend. Well, not really, he would never admit that he considered her as a friend. But they knew each other at least. Fortunately, it was then that Karin's head burst into view, gasping for air. For the first time in his life he was relieved to see her. However, he wasn't that happy when he caught sight of her brother and his girlfriend walking towards him.

Surely, Ichigo looked like he was about to explode. His girlfriend, Rukia, who normally tried to be a peace maker between them looked as if she wanted to lay her fists on his face.

"What have you done Toushiro?" Ichigo bellowed. "You've just drowned my sister."

Toushiro was distracted by the approach of Ichigo and Rukia. He hadn't noticed that Karin swim back to the edge of the pond and climbed out of water and he certainly hadn't seen her slowly approaching the spot where he was threatened by her brother.

"Ichigo, get out of my way!"

Ichigo turned to look at Karin. Normally he would have fought to death to win the argument with his sister, but this time, he sensed her tone and for the first time in his life, he obeyed her.

Toushiro turned his head to look where Karin voice had come from. He saw her standing there, looking menacing and her jaw clenched with fury. Her fair was hanging in scraggly. Her clothes were dripping wet too. However, none of these was important, he was more concerned with the fact that Karin was currently staring at him as though she would like nothing better than to burn him on the spot. Luckily, she did no such thing because she didn't know the right kido spell that could do so. But she did advance until she was three feets in front of him.

"Toushiro!" Karin stopped and hissed.

Toushiro was pretty sure that he was trembling. He didn't think he had been so afraid ever, and he had never expected that such a petite girl could make want to run like a squirrel.

For a moment, Karin didn't do anything but stare menacingly at him. Then, without warning, she pounced. She took a flying leap at him and since he wasn't expecting it, she tackled him to the ground.

"How dare you? You almost killed me!" Karin cried.

"You can't die, you are a shinigami." Toushiro protested.

Then, as suddenly as she had pounced, Karin stopped hitting him. She had notice that Toshiro's gaze was focused intently on something. Toushiro, unbeknownst to himself, had unconsciously allowed his eyes to wander form the irate face of Karin Kurosaki to something else. Unfortunately, Karin wasn't at all pleased when she realized the direction of his focus.

"You pervert!" Karin cried again and slapped him across the face.

"You are the one on top of me." Toushiro whispered, realizing his error, and tried to cover it quickly. He was nervous, and didn't know what to do. But instead of making everything better by being himself, he chose to channel his inner Matsumoto.

Immediately, Karin's entire face flushed red and she hastily rolled off him and stood up. She opened and closed her mouth a few times because she couldn't find the right word to reply.

"This is not over, Toushiro" Karin managed to say something finally before Ruka dragged her away.

...

Toushiro's comment was ringing in Karin's ears for days after the pond incident. She should have been offended, but surprisingly she wasn't. She wasn't even plotting revenge. For some inexplicable reason, the comment had gotten her to think about Toushiro. Even though she avoided thinking about him but she was thinking about him nonetheless. After a few days, she realized that she was starting to like Toushiro more than a friend and she just hoped that this wouldn't be so weird.

She thought about Ichigo and Rukia. They had become friends after Rukia accidentally gave him a shinigami power in order to save his life. Ichigo went to the Soul Society to save Rukia from execution. Since then, they had become totally infatuated with each other. Karin figured that her new attraction to Toushiro was the same manner. Well, he saved her from a hollow when he was doing his mission in the human world.

Unbeknownst to Karin; Toushiro was thinking in much the same manner as her. He was glad that she had been trying to break his bones at that time, if she hadn't, he was certain that she would have noticed the eyes that he was giving her. Of course, it was a surprise that he was thinking about her as a girl rather than a tomboy with a beautiful raven hair. And to make everything worse, he had his lieutenant so often pointed out that Karin was undeniably attractive.

So, he was attracted to Karin. That wasn't so bad right? He figured that a lot of guys at the Academy were attracted to her because she seemed to be a kind of girl who could get along with everyone easily. But, on some level, he still found it unbelievable that he actually liked Karin as a girl. He tried to determine how such a strange turn of events had come out. She was well liked by her friends, he conceded that. She was also very loyal to her family, and this is a trait that impressed him the most. After everything that had happened to him and his childhood best friend, Hinomori, he knew the value of loyalty. Furthermore, she was clever and witty; she never failed to deliver a biting comeback. He admired her calculating nature and her talent for vengeance.

Two weeks after the pond incident, Karin was still thinking only of Toushiro and she decided that she needed to do something about this crush that she had developed. She assumed, of course, that Toushiro, would never requited her feelings. After all, he thought she was just a tomboy and someone that needed protection. But, nonetheless, she felt that if she didn't act on her feeling in some way she would probably go insane. At least, saying sorry to everything she had done to him wasn't a bad idea right?

Even after two weeks after, Toushiro was no difference. He was still thinking of Karin. He, of course, assumed that if Karin was thinking about him at all, it was only to plot her revenge. Therefore, he was appropriately terrified when the object of his thought accosted him.

"Toushiro," Karin said loudly that it seemed like she was shouting at him. "I'm sorry."

Toushiro was shocked. He expected her to punch him or something, but her apologizing to him? Honestly, he didn't expect this coming from her.

"I guess, I'm sorry too." Toushiro said finally.

"Okay," Karin smiled and paused. "I guess, I have to go now. I skip class today just to see you."

"Wait."

Karin turned back and found that Toushiro was looking at her in the eyes. He looked as though he was considering something. Toushiro was weighing his option, his lips were pursed in thought. Convincing himself that he didn't care if she was going to murder him after this, he kissed her.

Then, just when Toushiro was sure that he was crazy, Karin kissed him back. His eyes grew wide before he relaxed into a kiss and closed them. Karin slid her arms around his neck as he felt his encircle her waist. Karin returned his kiss with enthusiasm. This was definitely better than vengeance.

After several minutes, both of them reluctantly broke apart.

"By the way, this doesn't mean you win, Toushiro." Karin looked up and spoke with her arms around Toushiro's neck and his around her waist.

"No, we call it a draw." Toushiro laughed gently.

"Alright," Karin pondered for a moment before smiling and agreeing. "It's a draw."

Toushiro smiled as well before leaning down to kiss her again. At the moment, neither Toushiro nor Karin was really thinking about where the relationship would go after this kiss. Neither was considering the reactions of anyone they knew. This was just them.

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I Hope you enjoy the last chapter and don't forget to review. :) Thank you so much Moon Of Jupiter, for your idea.