01

—

Kurosaki Karin had a plan.

A good plan.

A cunning plan.

A devious plan.

However, in a moment of impulse, she had promptly forgotten said plan.

—

Frolicking stark naked in fields of ice and snow: a wonderful dream.

Discovering said stark nakedness and being chained to his bed: a terrible reality.

There was only one explanation for this.

Kurosaki Karin.

—

Matsumoto-taichou threw her head back and laughed.

"Again? Karin-chan, I know you're in some sort of cahoots with him, but you're going to have to let him go at some point. He's got to do my paperwork… or would you prefer to do the honours?"

Karin folded her arms, unimpressed with her taichou's tactics. "Never. Besides, cahoots? Him? Me? It would never work."

And besides, it was pecking order. Hitsugaya Toushirou just so happened to be a lower seat than her. That's all.

"Mm." Rangiku nodded like a mother who knew what was going on. "Not only were you considering it but I see your blush there."

"Tcha. Taichou is as smart as ever. That's the reason why I joined Tenth Division." Droll, Karin snarked the praise, her compliments really meaning nothing at all. "Or should I go on, flattering you to the highest calibre until you cannot listen to any more?"

"Fetch me a bottle of sake, then continue with the overbearing praise." Matsumoto-taichou shut her eyes, leaning back on her chair. "And while you're at it, confess your love to your favourite play toy?"

"Shut up, taichou." Karin scowled, deciding to kick the door down to make her exit much more melodramatic.

Hitsugaya Toushirou could fix the damn door.

—

This whole… 'war', Hitsugaya Toushirou supposed that was the word to describe it started with pie.

Not his. Not Momo's.

But Karin's.

Apparently she was aiming at Momo. And he was in the way… making her entirely blameless. That was how her senseless logic worked.

To this day, he still didn't know the reason why.

Perhaps he should have just taken it and went along. But then she smirked. And then he couldn't resist.

He fought back. Threw something back at her.

… it might have been his shoe. He's not entirely sure on the details before it became sort of a… whole Division Fun Squad Fight.

Ever since then, there was something between them.

Something evil.

Like blatant blackmail and perilous pranks.

All she had to do was something—anything, and it was on.

Because Karin started it.

—

Breaking into his apartment, removing his clothes and finding handcuffs could be called stalking.

Karin preferred to call it revenge. And… a bonus. And fun.

Fun was a general term that circulated around Hitsugaya Toushirou.

It's fun, just getting on his nerves.

Besides, he did have quite a nice body. Which was beside the point; but still the honest truth.

She wondered when 'getting on his nerves' translated into 'manipulating him to get into his bed'.

However, if the end result is ever done, it won't need answering.

—

No matter what the occasion, she still managed to have a smug grin on her face, whenever he saw her.

"Have a nice morning, Toushirou?" It could almost be considered a leer, the expression of her face.

Pity it made her look almost pretty.

"Peachy." He snapped, disgruntled.

The faster he got away from her the better.

Maybe today was just an off day; and gave him strange thoughts.

… it still didn't excuse the indiscernible expression on her face that he caught just before he left.

—

"And what did that experience tell you?" Seconds later, Karin talked to the shadows on the walls.

Luckily, the shadows talked back. And moved. And laughed.

"That he totally wants you, and you should hurry up and initiate the action so it gets through his small head." The shadows then proceeded to clap joyfully, a matchmaker in sight of success. "Now give me my sake."

Smothering a scowl, Karin nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Hai. Stalker-taichou."

—

He's not exactly sure when the hyper-sensitivity occurred. And it only concerned Karin.

But that probably was the problem.

—

She thought about it, her hands behind her head and slouching on the sofa. Thought about possibly spilling the beans and confess an attraction that maybe just might be love. She's not entirely sure about what being in love exactly entailed. Possibly blackmail. Or pranks. Or endless amounts of fun which developed into more intriguing prospects…

And then thought against it.

It was fun 'getting on his nerves'.

It was fun 'just teasing him and provoking him'.

No doubt it will be fun 'tempting him with interesting situations and oddly phrased sentences'.

And it will be fun to 'make him slowly burn'.

Rangiku-taichou-chan most likely had tips for these kinds of situations. Because despite her complaining, Taichou-chan was awesome like that.

After all, why should they stop now that the game had progressed into something… more?

—

Now, what exactly should Hitsugaya Toushirou do about it?

Besides paperwork.

—

Disclaimer: bleach is not mine.