Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Daddy's little girl wants
to be a rock star. It's not so bad, he is assured by the girl's
twin, who catches the look on his face and mistakes it for alarm.
"She's always loved music," Yuzu tells him.
How did he not know this? Where was the future soccer star he was used to? Why are his girls suddenly sixteen and wearing bras and hey, what's that mark on Yuzu's neck? His eyes narrow and Yuzu, suddenly aware she's deflected attention from her sister only to draw it to herself, says she needs to start dinner slinks off towards the kitchen. Isshin makes a note to himself to pay a visit to a certain redheaded punk living at Urahara's. The one without the tattoos.
He sighs to himself. Of course they wouldn't be little girls forever. He just didn't expect to wake up one morning to Yuzu at the kitchen table drawing little hearts in her notebook around the name "Jinta." And then there is Karin.
Karin has no interest in boys.
Or girls, either, and seemed quite offended when he asked her. After she hit him in the gut, he left her to put the ear buds back in and crank up whatever the hell she was listening to. He could hear it the wailing guitars and the grunts of the lead singer, but could not make out any words. He is careful since then not to ask about her love life but offers to check her hearing every chance he gets.
On their last birthday, Yuzu got a pretty dress and the money needed to accessorize it. Karin got an acoustic guitar. He'd never seen her so thrilled with a present. He still has to thank Rukia for carefully listening and making sure he got the right information to act on. It hadn't occurred to him until recently she might need lessons. Why else would she have wanted one so badly if she didn't want to learn to use it? So today he pulled her aside and asked her if she wanted some guitar instructional CD's. Or maybe even a DVD guide. She smiled at him and said she's been taking lessons for weeks.
"How? From who?" he asked. He hadn't even noticed her absence every Saturday evening.
"The guy who owns the music shop gives lessons," she replied.
It isn't until now that he realizes who owns the music shop. A former classmate of his son's. A good, solid quiet sort of guy. The kind of guy who won't be introducing Karin to any wannabe guitar gods and horny future roadies. Isshin lets himself be relieved that the concerns he has for Yuzu won't spread to Karin.
Meanwhile, in her cutoff jeans and midriff shirt that she hopes like hell gets his attention, Karin arrives breathlessly at the music store, guitar in hand. She intends to knock his socks off with the song she wrote last week. If she's lucky, she thinks to herself, it'll knock more than that off. She has to stop a moment and let herself breathe so she's not blushing when he sees her. She knows he's slow to notice things, but she prefers not to look like some cute, shy girl when she's trying to make a guy—the guy—realize he loves her. She definitely doesn't want to be cute, period. In her mind, Sado Yastora and cute just don't belong in the same sentence.
Sado spots her from the window and smiles a little. She's got Ichigo's fire, Rukia's learned coolness, and a determination that's all her own. He knows he's too old for her and doesn't want to break her heart. But she's a damn good guitarist and he doesn't want to discourage that. If in a few years she still feels the same, he knows he'll have to re-evaluate the situation. Not because she's not rock star hot, but because she's cute. He's always loved cute things. "Let's start," he tells her when she comes in the door, trying hard not to show that he notices the fine legs and the even finer midriff.
Isshin, parked in his chair, smiles as he imagines his little girl on the cover of a platinum CD. It can't be all that bad, he thinks. It's not like he'll lose her to some guy.
A/N: This is my first stab at futurefic. if you're going to kill me for it, please make it painless. Also, I do believe Karin and Chad will make a sweet couple. In a few years, of course.