This story happens right after episode 132 of the anime.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Momentum

ONE - Overture

Hitsugaya Toushirou was the Division Ten Captain in Gotei 13, and as a captain, one of basic captain-requirements was the ability to stifle emotions, making sure they never got in the way. However, no matter how quick he'd graduated from the Shinigami Academy, no matter how brilliant or powerful he was, no matter how authoritative he sounded, there was always an opening for anger and annoyance to spark…

And for him, it was one simple thing.

Being called, deemed and/or regarded as a child (or in this case, an elementary student).

And this Kurosaki girl had actually called him that — and worse — patted his head.

Toushirou was usually calm and collected (he tried hard, really, but it was nearly impossible when you were assigned on a mission accompanied by a bunch of people who seemed to master idiocy better than anything else; he'd been having a hard time trying to supervise his subordinates, and his temper was frayed these days) and this one thing, being called a child, was one of those things listed in his "forbidden" dictionary.

"I'm not an elementary student!" Toushirou shouted in exasperation, not being able to hold it any longer. For heaven's sake, wasn't the haori blatant enough? Didn't he look elite enough?

Then, fits of giggle filled the air in contrast to the captain's outburst. Toushirou turned his head to meet Matsumoto's blue eyes. Amusement ran across them. The fukutaichou lifted her hands to cover her mouth, but Toushirou could tell the woman wasn't really trying to suppress her laughter. He could only glare at her, almost hopeless.

Kurosaki Karin couldn't hide the amusement on her face either. When Toushirou diverted his glare towards the black haired girl, she erupted into laughter instantly.

Talk about being outnumbered.

"I'm leaving." He finally said, hoping his voice was loud enough for both of them to hear; the laughter was unbearable now, and he was getting annoyed.

"Ooh, taichou! Why the rush? I thought you wanted to continue playing soccer with them—" Matsumoto glanced sideways, gesturing toward Karin's friends who were now regaining consciousness and rubbing at their eyes. "They're conscious now!" The blonde said enthusiastically, eyes sparkling gleefully.

"If you're saying that simply because you want to see me play soccer, then forget it Matsumoto."

"Aww, but taichou! I missed the big show—"

"I'm not a superstar soccer player. And the only thing you missed was the hollow, and you were late for that due to slacking off," he said flatly, already swiveling on his heel, ready to go, disregarding Matsumoto's pout which signaled her defeat in the argument. But then, Toushirou realized he had left his gigai lying on the ground. He cursed out loud.

This time Karin spoke up. Her voice was kind of funny after a series of continuous laughs. "Oh! Let me assure them that nothing's wrong with Toushirou! And after that the three of us can walk home together. There's a nice place for snacks nearby, and I'm sure both of you are kind of hungry."

Toushirou furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't remember saying we'll walk home toge—" Before he could finish his sentence, Matsumoto's jovial, high-pitched voice cut across his words.

"Oh, Karin-chan, that would be awesome! Food is always awesome. And I'm sure our little taichou here is sort of hungry too." Matsumoto squeezed his shoulder and nodded enthusiastically as he shot his vice-commander a look of serious disapproval.

"Great! Give me a minute then!"

And before Toushirou could say anything, the Kurosaki girl had already turned around and marched towards her friends. From afar he could barely hear what Karin said to her friends — he definitely didn't like the look of her hand gestures and the apprehensive faces those boys made — but when they finally left and disappeared from sight, Karin ran back to them with a wide grin stretched across her face.

Toushirou could only sigh. This was going to be a hell of a long day.

-※-

The sun was slanting slowly towards the horizon, spreading mellow streaks across their figures as they walked slowly on the cobblestone road, leaving long shadows behind them.

Toushirou hadn't exactly agreed to this, but he found himself walking along with them nonetheless. For some reason he didn't really know. Matsumoto, of course, was excited. The silver-haired captain had had to force her to go back to her gigai when she tried to get away. Jaw dropped, Matsumoto uttered a sigh of defeat and went back to her artificial body, grumbling about her taichou being too strict and analytical.

The three of them halted when Matsumoto stopped on her tracks, attention elsewhere; Toushirou and Karin's vision darted in the direction the fukutaichou was looking. Toushirou found himself staring at a building with giant, swirly pink words printed on a sign at the top; kaleidoscopic lights adjacent to each other adorned the window, some pallid female statues clothed in various colors stood proudly on display.

The 10th division captain cringed. He counted to three.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Matsumoto was literally tugging at him, and he tried to break her grip futilely. Matsumoto Rangiku definitely possessed a different energy level when it came to clothes and shopping. Should have seen that coming.

"Can we go there please? Look, they have… interesting clothes for sale!" She pointed at a flowery dress which he thought looked like a sleeveless top plastered with hundreds of pink tissues. Very interesting, indeed.

He gave his vice-commander an 'are you crazy?' look, unfazed by her twisted euphoria. "No."

"Aww, but I really want to take a look at the clothes! They have so much interesting stuff!"

"If I remember correctly, you already bought an ominous pile of clothes some days ago, which you hid under the beds at Inoue's apartment."

"What? Well, they aren't all mine, you know, taichou. I mean, I have friends in the Shinigami Woman's Association as well, and I have to buy them… you know, souvenirs."

Toushirou stared up at the woman stoically, unhindered by her excuses. It was when Karin decided to dip into the conversation; "Go ahead, Rangiku-san, you can look at stuff while we wait at the snack place."

Toushirou jerked his head toward the raven haired girl, staring at her in disbelief. "What—"

"Thank you, Karin-chan!" the blonde woman leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, winking. "Please take care of our sweet taichou while I'm inside, exploring heaven. Do you want me to buy something for you, Hitsugaya-taichou?" Matsumoto glanced over her shoulder, smiling widely.

His response was almost too instant. "No."

"Okay, then! I'll see you guys later!" and with that, before Toushirou could do anything to stop the ecstatic woman, she'd already dashed into the store. He eyed the spot where she had been in silence.

"Hey, why so rigid?" Karin eyed him. "She'll be okay; she won't get lost or something. Come on, we can wait at the snack place I told you about. Besides, you must be kind of hungry, right?" She grabbed him by the arm, and he had no urge to fight back.

"It's not her getting lost that I fear."

"Huh?"

"Our division funds." He said barely above whisper.

-※-

The 'snack place' Karin had been talking about, much to his surprise, was not crowded. He had imagined a place full of people laughing and chattering obnoxiously, but there weren't many people around. Only a few, and they were preoccupied by their own meals and couldn't be bothered to shout and make stupid noises.

With his hands in his pockets, Toushirou glanced around without much interest. After all, it wasn't his idea to go out in the first place. Helping Karin and her teammates had certainly led to unexpected events.

For one, he was curious about this girl; she was Kurosaki Ichigo's sister, but unlike him, Toushirou was surprised to find Karin's reiatsu guarded well. What intrigued him more was the way Karin had shot the ball at the hollow's face earlier. He was sure that the light surrounding the ball had been her reiatsu.

It might be a coincidence, but it never hurt to know.

Toushirou realized Karin was beckoning for him to come closer. Hesitantly, he dragged himself towards her. Tapping the seat next to her, she nodded towards an ice cream stand close by. "Wait here, Toushirou." He wanted to correct her for calling him by his first name, but then decided it was irrelevant. Why bother?

A moment later Karin came scurrying back to him, two cups of ice cream in her hands. She shoved one to his hands before he could even blink at it. Arching an eyebrow, Toushirou glanced to the girl beside him who was now scooping her own ice cream into her mouth. Feeling his stare, she flashed him a grin.

"For helping us back there."

Toushirou stared down at his ice cream then back to Karin. Her eyes gleamed as rays of light illuminated them, her dark hair highlighted the slightest orange from the warm glow. He muttered a quiet "thanks" before helping himself with the ice cream. It was vanilla.

And as he savored his ice cream, he decided it wasn't a really bad day after all.

Pushing the empty cup aside, Karin rested her chin on her steepled hands, gazing at the 10th division captain with interest. Toushirou returned the gaze with nonchalance as he finished his ice cream.

"So how was it?" asked Karin. "The ice cream I mean."

Caught off guard by the weird question, Toushirou blinked before he could respond to that. Atfer a while he finally said it was nice — standard Toushirou's remark — and finished his ice cream. Actually, it wasn't just 'nice'. He thought it was great (especially on a hot day like this), considering he hadn't had lunch due to Matsumoto running around visiting stores, and he'd been stuck with reports and cleanups earlier.

The girl's smile broadened as she clapped her hands together. "Great then! They have many flavors," she gestured at the ice cream stand some meters away from them, to a row of glasses with different tags put in front of them. "Next time we should come here again and try more flavors! I'm sure you'll like mint chochochip… for some reason," she tilted her head. "It reminds me of your ice dragon earlier."

An ice cream flavor reminded her of Hyourinmaru? How could that be possible? It wasn't like his Zanpakutou… tasted like anything.

Toushirou closed his eyes. This was becoming a ritual. A sort of meditation to garner his poise. "So," he started. "You're Kurosaki Ichigo's sister." Karin nodded. He rolled his turquoise orbs. "It surprises me that you aren't leaking your reiatsu everywhere."

"Ugh. You don't have to compare me with my brother like that. I mean, I know he sucks at controlling it. It's like a huge present box losing its wrapper and ribbons, and in the inside is a bomb and it explodes because it doesn't have a container. Boom! It's not like he even tries to cover it with something, though."

Toushirou's lip twitched at the way she expressed that. It was an inarguable fact that Kurosaki Ichigo had immense reiatsu and was incredibly talented, but his lack of control over his spiritual power kind of ruined his image. Now, looking at his sister, Toushirou had to say he wouldn't be really surprised if she had the talent her brother did. She sensed hollows, that much he was sure of, but how this fact could possibly foretell the danger that might wait before her, he was unsure. Toushirou just hoped Karin wasn't as reckless and stupid as her brother. Because it definitely would invite trouble.

"So, uh," Karin broke the silence, snapping him out of his trance. "Toushirou, you said you're a captain, right?"

He nodded, wanted to correct and tell her to call him 'Hitsugaya-taichou', but he let it pass. Again.

"That means… something is really happening here then." Karin said hesitantly. Toushirou could see anxiety creeping up to her eyes, even though she tried to mask it in her voice, attempting to sound as casual. "I've been… having this weird feeling lately. They keep coming. Usually, I try to be ignorant and half hope they'll go away. But seeing that huge one earlier…" She shrugged. "And Ichi-nii is gone too."

"He'll be alright." Toushirou leaned back in his chair, arms folded over his chest. "He's trying to get stronger." His back to the sun, his figure silhouetted by the dwindling rays, he looked out into the distant skies.

Karin just stared at him attentively. His stern, green eyes looked softer now, as if a mask had melted away under the light of the sun, revealing what lay beneath.

"We all are." He finally said, turning his gaze back to her.

"I suppose…"

For a split second, Toushirou thought he saw her fidget with her clothes, but he doubted if he was imagining it because the next moment Karin was on her feet; a wide grin plastered across her face. Too wide, he wondered if it would break away.

"Enough of sappy stuff!" she exclaimed, her voice sounding peculiar and high-pitched, unnatural. "I didn't drag you here for that sort of thing anyway." Turning her attention to the darkening sky, Karin realized it was late. "Oh, crap! I need to go home now — Yuzu must be worried about me. I'm not sure if Otou-san is already home or not; he said the clinic has been pretty crowded lately. So yeah! Is Rangiku-san done?"

Toushirou shook his head quietly. "She could spend hours shopping."

"I see. Will you be alright on your way home then?"

He looked at her incredulously. She knew his title perfectly well — she knew he was a captain in Gotei 13, and she'd asked that?

I should be the one asking that, idiot.

Instead he said; "Of course. Who do you think I am?"

Trying to restrain the smirk edging to her face, Karin bit down on her lips. "But kids don't go home alone after nightfall—"

"I'm not an elementary student!" Toushirou snapped, and Karin laughed, circled the table to avoid him. As her laughter filled the air, he grumbled under his breath, "You're the one who shouldn't go home alone after nightfall. You're still a kid, after all—"

"Oh now, don't give me that!" Karin shot him a glare, expanding, "I can go alone just fine, thanks," Whirling on her heel, she started for the exit, head held high. But only to stop abruptly as she berated herself, "Crap."

Toushirou approached the girl who was suddenly wincing in pain, her hand on her knee. He raised a brow. "Go alone, huh? Sure." He walked past her, turning over his shoulder to beckon, "Come on; I'll escort you home."

She glared at him in defeat.

-※-

The journey home had taken longer than usual. Karin's knee protested every time she moved, and no matter how hard she feigned perfect composure, Toushirou knew the injury was worse than it looked. When the faintest of red was devoured by darkness, shadows began to crawl behind them; light bulbs flickering to life. They turned a corner and Karin claimed that her house was nearby. Before long they were standing in front of a building radiating brightly, a contrast against the cold atmosphere outside.

"Here we are. Would you like to come in Toushirou?"

His gaze flickered back to her as he replied, "No, that's—" then down to her knee. He sighed. "I think I will. Just for a while." At least to make sure she's okay. He mentally nodded. "Matsumoto should be done soon."

Karin's eyes lit up, burning with excitement. She grabbed his arm and ushered him in, calling, "I'm home!" as the door closed behind them.

Toushirou found himself inside the Kurosaki's house. It wasn't really different from any other house/apartment he'd encountered thus far, and even though it wasn't lavishly decorated with extravagant furniture, he could feel amiable aura enveloping him in contentment.

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and seconds later, a head popped up from behind a wall. Kurosaki Yuzu, he thought, wasn't anything like her sister. Yuzu's hair was brown, her eyes wide with concern (which then became surprise), and the dress she wore was pink: absolute evidence that these twins were different.

"Karin-chan! Where have you been?" the brunette asked, her eyes on Toushirou for a while, puzzled, but then fixed on her sister again. "I was beginning to worry, you know! Otou-san called just now, saying he's coming home kinda late at night. He also asked whether you've gotten home or not." It was hard for Yuzu to keep her eyes from straying back to the silver haired boy who stood behind Karin.

"I'm sorry, Yuzu. Things happened back there in the soccer field so I'm late." Perceiving Yuzu's quizzical expression on Toushirou, Karin pulled the boy to stand beside her. "This is Hitsugaya Toushirou; he helped me back there and… walked me home," she explained reluctantly, still disliking the idea of being walked home. Toushirou could only roll his eyes.

Yuzu, still awestruck, tried to regain poise. "I see. Nice to meet you, uh, Hitsugaya-kun. I'm Karin's twin sister, Kurosaki Yuzu."

Toushirou nodded. "Nice to meet you too."

After reassuring her twin that she was perfectly okay, Karin asked them to wait in the living room while she disappeared to look for bandages and band-aids. Ignoring Yuzu's worried look, Karin came back, carrying a white box with a red mark on top of it. She unlocked the lid, pulled out some bottles, bandages, and band-aids. Toushirou then realized that, while he really wanted to just try healing her injury with a kidou spell, he couldn't possibly do so now — not with her sister was around. He mentally cursed to himself for not doing so earlier.

Toushirou watched the two of them. Karin was carefully brushing and cleaning the wound, biting back pain shooting up from her knee. He had offered to help earlier (even though he was more familiar with being healed or healing with kidou during emergencies, he still knew the basics of this kind of human-healing). But Karin had refused, saying she was used to this. Yuzu, meanwhile, watched her sister anxiously, tears pricking her eyes.

Karin tightened the bandage around her knee. "There! Should work. Don't give me that look, Yuzu. I'm okay, really." She put the contents of the box back inside. "Say, why don't you call Otou-san and tell him that I'm safe and sound here? I don't want him to go angsty and all drama-like and go home with a pool of tears ready to deluge this place due to worrying about me."

Yuzu looked unwilling at first, eyeing her sister disapprovingly, not believing she was really alright. But after some coaxing, the brunette finally stood and turned around, saying she'd call their father and leaving them alone.

For a while, Karin and Toushirou just sat in silence; equanimity engulfed them.

Karin's sigh broke the barrier. "I hope she believes me and won't tell Otou-san unnecessary things."

Toushirou stared at her, guessing, "You're worried about her."

Karin let out an empty laugh, sinking into the couch. "Yuzu is always like that. She's very sweet and sensitive. I hate to see her cry, or even worse, make her cry. I don't want to make her worried. No more than she already is, because things are not easy these days. She's already pretty down with Ichi-nii gone." Then, Karin averted her gaze away from Toushirou. "I just wish… I could find him somehow, you know?"

Toushirou looked down.

"I tried to stop him that day, when I caught him changing into Shinigami. He wore the same black hakama as you did." She sighed again, swinging her legs, flexing her injured knee. "If only I could drag him back here. If only I knew the reason why."

And as Kurosaki Karin closed her eyes, her chest moving up and down heavily, Toushirou studied at her.

Here she was, holding her family together, trying to prevent it from breaking apart. She fought hard against tears, against who she was supposed to be; she'd abandoned her childishness, those days of eternal spring and summer, dandelion dreams and wishful stars, dark heavens lit up with promises of eternity. Self sacrificing, she was independent, a silent guardian.

"Kurosaki."

She snapped her eyes open, and only then did he realize diamonds glittering in them, sparks reaching, shimmering in the light of the room. Karin rubbed at her eyes with almost casual nonchalant. "Call me Karin."

"Right, Kurosaki—" Karin glared daggers at him, but he ignored that and continued with his speech instead, "—I need to get going. Matsumoto should be done by now, and I need her to do her job right." Then, Toushirou stood up. "Please excuse me."

Before Karin could respond, Yuzu had come out from the kitchen with a huge box in her hands; it literally blocked her head from sight. "Please take this, Hitsugaya-kun." The boy was befuddled as the box was thrust into his hands. "For helping Karin-chan," She smiled. "And it's too much for us, anyway. Otou-san and I made it this morning, but since Otou-san isn't coming until very late tonight… and Onii-chan isn't home…"

Karin glanced to Toushirou, begging for him to simply accept the 'gift,' and much to her relief, he nodded slowly, muttering a quiet "thank you". Yuzu's face brightened immediately, saying he and his family would at least find it somewhat useful — the way she'd said it made him wonder what kind of things lay inside the box. Hopefully not another disaster.

"Thank you," Karin said later as both of them approached the door.

Toushirou arched an eyebrow, not quite understanding what she meant. "What for?"

"For accepting it."

The captain merely nodded. As realization dawned upon him, he asked, "Where's your mother?" He saw her shoulders tense, but it was so brief he doubted it had really happened.

"Okaa-san isn't here anymore."

He softly muttered, "I'm sorry," regretting to have asked that.

"Nah, it's okay. We get used to it." Karin poked at the box Toushirou was carrying. "I hope Rangiku-san will like it as well! From the size of the box, I think they overdid their usual menu this time."

Toushirou didn't know if that was supposed to be a good or bad thing, but he did hope it wouldn't kill his stomach like Inoue's cooking did to Ichigo and Ishida. He only heard gossips of her cooking, but it sounded like it was horrible beyond comprehension.

"Oh, and Toushirou?"

He halted and turned his head, waiting for her to continue.

"Please come to the field again if you have time. Take care, and good night."

Her smile was the last thing he saw as she disappeared from sight, the door closing. Toushirou glanced at the box he was carrying — ridiculously huge, indeed, but he had accepted it willingly. Whether it was just politeness or concern, he wasn't sure anymore.

He decided he didn't want to know.

Heaving a sigh, Hitsugaya Toushirou continued to walk and soon was embraced by darkness.

-※-

Instead of going straight home, Toushirou turned in the direction of Urahara Shop. He knew Matsumoto was there with the others, but that wouldn't stop him from dragging his vice-commander back to Inoue's apartment.

As the doors slid open, he walked in with the box still in his hands. He could walk blindfolded here; so it wasn't a problem. Ludicrously loud noises were permeating through the walls, loud enough for him to know which direction he should be heading. Madarame, Ayasegawa and Abarai were certainly there too.

He was trudging lazily towards the source of the noise when something solid hindered his progress, catching him off balance. Aghast, profanities slipped from his mouth as he tried to land smoothly — or as smoothly as the shock allowed him to land.

A bald, shiny head appeared from behind one of the doors. "Hitsugaya-taichou? Is that you?"

Toushirou peeked from behind the huge box he'd miraculously managed to save while landing. "Do I look like someone else to you, Madarame?" Annoyance tinted his voice.

"Oh. I thought it was weird… I mean I could feel your reiatsu… and I thought I heard your voice… and decided to come out only to find…" The bald man stopped, looking at the captain, then continued as he elaborated with his hand gestures; "A box with legs in such weird pose."

Ikkaku Madarame had said that with such awe; Toushirou had to wonder if the bald man had feigned it, or if he really was awestruck. If only glares could kill. Getting up, Toushirou mumbled something incoherently under his breath. "That's not how you address a captain, Madarame. And besides, what the hell is this… metallic pole doing here—"

It was when Matsumoto decided to make her grand entrance. Knocking Madarame off balance with her famous-elbow-shove, she greeted her taichou with sheer enthusiasm. "Taichou! Where have you been?" He wanted to ask the same question to her. "And what's inside that box?"

"I want to know what the hell is this metallic pole doing here." Toushirou pointed at the pole at his feet, and realized that several other poles were also placed across the floor.

And then Ayasegawa, too, joined the commotion. "Hitsugaya-taichou!"

The captain of division ten didn't look happy at all, and as the bob haired guy followed Toushirou's loathsome scrutiny across the floor, Ayasegawa Yumichika acknowledged it with half amusement and guilt. "Uh… the poles… we used them for this blind-pig game, to respect the beauty of living in the darkness hoping for a light to shine through—"

A what?

Shoulders shaking, his emotions bubbling up, Toushirou clutched the box he was carrying tightly, half hoping he wouldn't accidentally crush it to pieces. His reiatsu growled, nearly bursting out now.

Were they trying to say that he was a blind pig?

Abarai's head popped out as well, his face clueless. "Hitsugaya-taichou? Why are you... on the floor like that?" a frown. "And what's that big box you're carrying?"

They weren't going to get away with this.

-※-

Hitsugaya Toushirou wondered if negligence had snuck up and ambushed him. He wondered if this horrendous noise which killed the calm night air was his fault. That time Madarame's overjoyed voice reverberated in his ears, drumming in his head like catastrophe.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Toushirou inhaled. He didn't know if he was being too lenient. But he was sure of one thing: babysitting a bunch of idiots was never an easy task.

After inquiring further about the poles' mysterious placement, he had left the huge box with his subordinates (or baby idiots). They had looked sorry and said that they hadn't intended to fool the captain — it was just another game they had been playing. Dropping the matter and paying no attention to the grumble of his stomach, he went to the roof.

Ayasegawa was now exclaiming how beautiful the pudding tasted.

"I could hear you crystal clear from here," he grumbled.

"Taichou!"

Toushirou didn't turn at the call. He could hear footsteps as his fukutaichou approached from behind. The woman bent, looking at him intently. "Hey, what are you doing here? You're missing the big party down there." He rolled his eyes disapprovingly at the words 'big party'. "And aren't you hungry, taichou? Oh don't give me that look! This is why I'm here!" Matsumoto slumped next to him on the roof, thrusting a plate of pudding to his hands. "And you don't have to thank me for that, really."

"The way you said that sounds the other way around."

Matsumoto's wide smile didn't falter. "Was the pudding from Karin-chan?"

Slowly, Toushirou poked the pudding with his spoon. The chocolate thing was surprisingly… slimy. It moved around the plate too much as he tried to land his spoon on it. I could do well with some spoon training, he mused, displeased. "Yeah," he said eventually, helping himself to his pudding. "Her sister made it."

"It is indeed very good, but I think Inoue's cooking… is a lot more special. You should give it a try sometime soon, taichou!" Toushirou nearly spilled out his pudding. Giggling, the fukutaichou stretched her arms behind her. "So. How was it?"

"How was what?"

"You and Karin-chan. I knew you were stalking her! I could see it in your eyes when you watched her from the rooftop that day." Matsumoto's eyes now gleamed, the way they always did whenever she blathered on and on endlessly about the power of love and unexpected encounters and sappy endings. He remembered being lectured about 'romantic sparks igniting from deep inside your soul.'

Oh God.

"What do you mean? She's a human. She's Kurosaki Ichigo's sister. The reason I took an interest in her is she could feel hollows' presences. I was just concerned she might not be able to control her reiatsu and start leaking it everywhere just like his brother always does." He said this coolly, so matter of factly, the-Hitsugaya-taichou-way. He stabbed at his pudding absentmindedly as he resumed reasoning, "You know perfectly well that we can't afford to draw danger to our case. Not if we can avoid it. We need to build up strength instead of wasting it. We don't want to attract unnecessary things."

Matsumoto cocked her head to the side. "Must you always be like that taichou?"

Aggravation crept to his voice. "Like what?"

The woman waved her hand, dismissing further discussion of the topic.

"I'm a captain, Matsumoto."

She didn't respond to that. The night was quiet for a while; the noise down there was subdued, getting less clear. The dark canvas was embellished with countless glittering pearls, lined up in such an exquisite, complicated way, as if making a staircase down to the earth. An invitation too beautiful, too good. But sometimes escape wasn't as easy as it seemed.

He looked down at the pudding; an image of Kurosaki Karin came crossing his mind. Their encounter was truly unexpected. He remembered how she first addressed him as 'Toushirou', inviting him to come to play soccer with them. Their conversation had been casual — pleasant, in fact, considering how comfortable he found himself feeling while talking to her. She was also a tough girl; smiling even though her mother was gone and her brother had disappeared.

Toushirou contemplated, the night breeze caressing his features.

Karin was interesting, indeed. And if she proved to have as much talent as her brother did… it would not be good if she attracted unwanted attention. He needed to talk to her.

But that didn't sound right for some reason.

"How troublesome…"

"Huh? Did you say something, taichou?"

"Nothing," was all he could say as he finished his pudding, staring up at the sky, sighing yet again.

Little did he know that everything that had happened thus far was only the beginning. That meeting Kurosaki Karin would lead to events he'd never imagined.

That it would change everything forever.

Somewhere far away, thunders growled, illuminating the heavens for a while. Seconds later all was blanketed in black as the stars were demolished by endless abyss.

a/n: Finally done! At first I was planning to write a chaptered TouRin taking place some years after the Winter War, but seeing as how the manga hasn't done yet, I decided not to. Instead I came up with this.
For the first chapter, there isn't much happening here... just a follow-up of episode 132 with vague, little hints of what will happen in the future (and even then, they're still too vague *laughs*). Not enough Karin-ness in this chapter, I guess, but that's intentional; you'll see more of her soon. (And more TouRin-ness, I promise.)
As for plot. Timeline and plot are pretty much settled; I've been mapping them for months, so, be ensured that I will see this fict to the end.

And yes. I prefer to call them TouRin instead of HitsuKarin. ;D

Thanks very much for reading. Reviews would be nice.

—Ryfee

*I will rewrite the first two chapters; adding and removing some stuff, but nothing big as to impact upon the whole story/later chapters*
*edited; typos fixed.*