liliputians

disclaimer: bleach is not mine.

It's a friendly visit. A day off. Time to relax.

That's what the trip was meant to be.

A friendly visit, yes, the tenth taichou has friends in the human world.

Yet… the way he's looking at Kurosaki Karin has nothing 'friendly' about it.

He's glaring—even grinding his teeth – that's how enraged he is.

She hasn't noticed, waving goodbye to her friends. She wears the uniform modestly, compared to how Matsumoto used it five years ago. A grin is on her face, while her hands fall to her legs, strong and athletic. Her hair's longer now, it's pulled back into a ponytail, drawing attention to her cheekbones..

… she's pretty than he remembered, but that doesn't change a thing.

Then she notices, blue eyes widening in surprise, her cerise mouth curling into a wicked grin. Runs towards him, yelling:

"Hey, elementary student! Long time no see!"

And then, she has the gall to hug him, swinging his small gigai around the air as she positively cackles in delight.

"I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?" Karin asks, smiling softly.

… why does he feel like a cat being admired?

"I'm fine." His glare hasn't lessened, and is just about growling out the answer in a gruff voice. "Really. I'm fine. Now put me down and don't call me an elementary student."

"Hai, taichou. At once, taichou." Teasing him lightly, she complies with his demand; putting him down and ruffling his hair. "You haven't changed a bit, I see. Still as short as ever."

"… you've grown." Toushirou spits out through clenched teeth.

"I guess." Karin shrugs, as if it's not big deal, infuriating him even more. "Growth spurts do that."

"Of course they do." Nodding curtly, he continues to fume.

She looks at him oddly, before asking slowly:

"You're not… are you jealous?" Half giggling, Karin can't bring herself to believe it.

Hitsugaya Toushirou only scowls.

Five years! Five!

Kurosaki Karin shouldn't have grown so much!

Because he hasn't grown at all.

He was looking forward to the growing competitions that they were going to have—he thought he'd finally found a worthy competitor—before he beat her once and for all, because the rule of thumb states that boys are taller than girls.

And now, he's to discover upon arrival that she's beaten him to the chase! Cheater.

She's taller than him!

Forty five years it's going to take to reach her size, and by then she'll be sixty and she'll be even taller still!

He's doomed by this girl.

… it's unutterably unfair.

"C'mon, I'll treat you to ice cream." Karin shrugs, either oblivious or ignoring his deepened frown and troubled thoughts. "Reckon I can guess your favourite flavour."

Toushirou doesn't know how to respond to this, but he follows her all the same.

Truthfully, the tenth taichou is glad to see her, but he can't let this one thing go.

"You're taller than me."

"Mmhmm. How's your ice cream?"

"Tasty. I like it." Toushirou replies in earnest, then returns to his current slump. "Are you sure you can't shrink? Not even a little bit?"

"Knew you would." Karin grins, loosening her hair so it cascades around her shoulders. Then considers his question. "Nah, I can't do that, sorry."

He hates that smirk on her face so much.

"But if it helps, I'm the shortest in my class." She continues in a gentler tone. It somewhat cheers him up. "I never outgrew Yuzu, and even that damn Ryouhei is taller than me. If anyone should shrink, it's that guy."

At least she asks that question that he's been dreading from the moment he saw her.

"So how come you haven't grown, like, at all?"

"I don't sleep enough." He grumbles. "We also age more slowly in Soul Society. Give me fifty years, I'll be taller than you then."

"You sure?" Playful, she lifts an eyebrow, always ready for a challenge. "I'm still growing. Maybe I'll never story." She laughs at the thought, then murmured her thoughts aloud. "Fifty… so, I'd be sixty odd. Huh. Well, that's great. Just what I need, people to think that I have a loli shota complex."

"You'll be a crone by then." Ignoring the last part, he retorts, feeling happier. "Everyone knows that crones shrink."

"Wanna bet, short stuff?" Her mockery is ruined by the munching of more ice cream. "That means that if I died today, my growth would be stunted, but I'd still be taller than you for years to come?"

"Pretty much." He says between spoonfuls.

"I like the sound of that." Karin grins.

"Don't go dying on me, Kurosaki." He warns, discomforted by the thought.

"Hey, I'm not a death seeker, Toushirou – I don't die easily, I'll have you know. Still. Fact is, I could die today, tomorrow and next week. The possibility is always there, so long as I'm alive."

"I wouldn't let you." As long as he's here, he'll protect her.

"Even in my sleep? That's a tall task even for you." She shrugs; a lopsided apology for a terrible pun. He lets it pass. This time. "Let life run it's natural course, that's all I'm saying."

Well, he can't fight life, but he can fight the dead.

He sighs.

"… so, you're short?" He feels happier when he says this. Unashamedly so.

"As a matter of speaking, yes I am, kid. But I'm still bigger than you." Unable to resist, she teases him.

"That'll change once day." He swears on it.

"Oh yea? Well, I'm looking forward to it already." Karin gives him one final hug, while Toushirou wished he could grow up faster already. "It was nice to see you, Toushirou."

"Yeah, you too, Karin."

"Give Ichi-nii a kick in the shin and tell him to visit soon."

"Fine."

"And sleep more, because you need it."

"Hey, I'm older than you!"

"Yeah, well, I'm taller." She smirks right at him. "Now, if you want, I can lend you a few dolls, so you can tuck it under your pillow. It works, just between you and me."

This is goodbye: she ruffles his hair.

This is goodbye: he storms off blushing.

He wants to grow so that he doesn't feel so small next to her.

Two weeks later, Kurosaki Ichigo tosses a badly wrapped parcel in his direction.

It's from Karin.

… it's a bunny rabbit with really soft fur.

A bunny rabbit that has Chappy.

He wishes that Karin could just die.

Then he'd show her who's taller.

Give or take half a century.

(One week later, he seems to have grown a little.

The bunny rabbit hasn't left his bedside since.)