Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own the quote I use at the start of the chapter.

Announcement: I finally have a beta. :-) Not that many people have complained that I need one, but hopefully this way my stories will have even less mistakes. Thanks so much to KazeNoSakura for beta-ing this part for me; I know how much time goes into it, and really appreciate it. Kaze-chan will be beta-ing all my Winter War series from now on, and this chapter is dedicated to her.

Author's Notes: I think all I really need to say is: Lemon Warning. Pretty much this whole chapter is a lemon; in fact this story was mostly an excuse to write a HitsuKarin lemon. I just had so many requests for it, but it didn't fit into NWM. Oh, and thanks to those who reviewed the first part. (Oh, and as this confused my beta I'm gonna mention it here instead of having a glossary for just this one word. Seiza is the formal Japanese way of sitting on the floor, where you kneel with your legs and feet directly under you.)

Hanabi

By Lady Callista

Chapter 2: Worth Waiting For

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"Uchiagare fuyu hanabi. Omae no ikizama wo misete kure.

Ore-tachi wa itsumademo kagayaite iyou."

-Hitsugaya, Aizen, and Hinamori in "Fuyu no Hanabi" from the Bleach musicals

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"No matter what division you end up with, I was hoping that you would consider my house your home." Toshiro's smile faded, and his cheeks blazed red. "I love you, Karin. And I can't imagine my life without you in it. The more you are with me, the happier and more content…more warm…I am. You are the most amazing person I have ever known, and I would like to spend the rest of my life with you. Kurosaki Karin, will you marry me?"

Karin's breath was caught in her throat, and she knew her face showed all the wonder and joy the question had evoked. "Toshiro…"

"Karin-koishii." He leaned in to whisper in her ear, his lips trailing briefly down her neck before he added, "Marry me."

"Yes." Her response was the barest whisper, and she barely had the breath even to say that. Her arms slid around his shoulders as their lips met in the most tender and innocent kiss they had ever shared.

Yet it couldn't stay innocent for long.

Karin gasped in shock and desire as Toshiro's hands slid slowly up from her waist to hesitantly cup her breasts, his thumbs sliding lightly back and forth over her nipples. She let her head fall back with a sigh as his lips journeyed down over her neck to nip lightly at her collarbone, his hands still playing magic on her breasts.

Him touching her there didn't make her nervous as it once had, it just felt right.

"Karin…" He pulled back enough to meet her eyes, and the desire bubbling in his nearly stopped her from breathing. "I don't want to just dream of this anymore…"

"Me either." Her voice was still a whisper, yet her eyes were filled with the knowledge of what he was asking. And she knew her eyes were reflecting the same darkness that was in his. "I love you. And I want you."

His eyes burned brighter for an instant, and then Karin lost track of her sight, smell, and hearing. Only taste and touch mattered when he kissed her.

He always tasted of wintergreen as if he was addicted to gum or mints, although she never saw him with them. His lips were always soft, a contrast to the calluses and hardness of hands that had trained with the sword for longer than she'd been alive.

How he used those hands was another contrast. Sometimes he kept them light and gentle, stroking her so lightly she could barely feel it. He'd always loved trailing his hands down over her back while he was kissing her, or even just when they were cuddling. Other times, generally if they hadn't seen each other in a while, those hands had held her hard enough that she thought he might bruise her. Yet she knew she'd held him just as strongly, and the feelings coursing through her were always so strong that she knew anything strong enough to bruise would feel good. Not that he'd ever been careless enough to bruise her.

He was being gentle now, although there was a promise of heat in the kiss that had never been there before.

Toshiro kissed Karin lovingly, sliding his hand along her cheek to cup the back of her neck, fingers trailing lightly over the sensitive skin. Carefully sliding his legs out of seiza without breaking the kiss, he stretched them out in front of him, and used his other hand on her back to urge her closer.

Karin blushed slightly as she twined her arms around his neck and slid up onto his lap.

The kiss seemed to spin on and on, their tongues twisting playfully at times, yet the kiss also grew more urgent as it went on. Although he wished it would never end, Toshiro finally drew back, nearly gasping for air.

Their arms still wrapped around each other, they leaned their foreheads together and for a moment did nothing but breathe.

Then Toshiro began to trail kisses down the side of her neck, which was nothing he hadn't done before, but then the kisses turned to nibbling, which was new, and Karin felt a burst of desire flow through her. When he was stopped by the collar of her shihakusho, she thought she would go crazy. "Shiro…please…"

The ache in her voice convinced him more than anything else that she was ready for this, and he returned to her lips as he shifted them both enough that he could stand with her in his arms. He carried her as he moved slowly towards his bedroom. The dazed pleasure in her eyes when he finally pulled back enough to see her let him know it had been the right move.

He set her gently on the side of the already spread futon, forcing himself to leave her lips and body long enough to light some of the candles and lamps that were spread throughout the room. "I want to be able to see you."

Karin's face, so self-assured and lustful, became slightly less sure of itself. "Toshiro…"

"Are you nervous?" He asked gently, returning to the bed to kneel beside her seated form and pull her head gently into his chest, allowing both of their arms to wrap around the other.

"Not nervous exactly, it's…it's just that we've made this such a big deal." Karin whispered quietly as one of his hands traced lightly up and down the back of her neck. The other was making distracting circles between her shoulder blades. "We waited so long."

"It should be a big deal." Toshiro whispered, trying to focus enough for the conversation. "It should be special. We'll never have this moment again. We both get to say that our first times were with someone we loved; with the one and only person we would ever be with. How many can say that?"

"But that makes it seem like we have to make it perfect. Like there's this pressure that..."

Toshiro leaned in to silence her with a kiss, not pulling back until she went pliant in his arms. Keeping his eyes on hers, he loosened the ties on her uniform gi until he could pull it out of her hakama and slide it off her shoulders. His eyes still on her own, Toshiro slid off the bed enough to place both of his hands on her waist and roll her gently onto her stomach. Before she could question what he was doing, he'd knelt over her back and begun to rub her shoulders and upper back soothingly.

"There's no pressure, love." He leaned down briefly to whisper in her ear, letting his chest come into full contact with her back. Then, sliding his hands down her back as he slowly slid off of her, he began to massage her again, fully aware that all he needed to do to see her breasts was to turn her over. But part of him was still stuck in the snail's-pace their relationship had always moved at, and his eyes traveled reverently down the naked skin of her back as he rubbed her muscles slowly, completely content for the instant just to be touching her again. "We don't have to make it perfect. It will be perfect, because it's what we both want."

Karin lay quietly as all the tension drained from her body at the tenderness in his voice and at the magic his hands were working on her body. She'd known from the start that he would let her set the pace, and she'd known it would be slow and gentle, but this was too slow. The passion she'd felt spike in the other room was down to a dim glow, and she wanted it back.

With a deep breath, Karin rolled herself over to bear the upper half of her body to him, cringing only a second later and crossing her arms over her chest to hide each of her breasts. The heat in his eyes had brought the nervousness back.

Toshiro kept his eyes on hers as he leaned in and kissed her lightly. Then he cupped her cheek in his hand for an instant before trailing his fingers down her neck to her sternum, where her wrists were crossed. Taking them carefully in his hand, he slowly pulled her wrists up until her arms arched over her head, her hands pinned lightly to her pillow by his one hand.

He deliberately held her eyes as his other hand trailed up to cup one of her breasts, catching her nipple between his thumb and forefinger as he whispered, "You are beautiful." Then he just as intentionally let his eyes shift down to her exposed chest, making sure to not mask the awe on his face before he leaned down and closed his lips lightly over her.

Karin couldn't stop her back from arching slightly as both his lips and fingers played with her, pushing her desire to heights it had never previously reached. She relaxed her arms under his hand, no longer trying even slightly to fight his hold on her. Instead, her hands clenched into fists as she tried to find something to hold on to. Then his lips closed over hers as his one hand spread to flick both her nipples in rhythm, and she was lost.

Toshiro had to break the kiss a minute later, knowing that if he was gasping for air, Karin was probably even worse off. He stared down on her face as he panted, then closed his eyes and shuddered as her lids slid open lazily, looking at him as if he were the most important man in the world. In that moment, he felt like he was.

Karin tried to reach for him, and as soon as he felt her trying to move, he released his grip on her wrists, allowing her hands to slide up his arms to rest on his chest. She pushed lightly and he retreated from her as she sat up, hands reaching for his uniform ties. Karin untied the white belt slowly, then just as slowly untucked his gi and slid it off his shoulders. Her hands were slightly hesitant at first, for although they sometimes cuddled together with him shirtless, other than that very first night she'd never actually been the one to undress him.

And even when they'd cuddled, she'd always been careful about how she touched him, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. She didn't have to worry about that anymore.

Her hands slid over his chest more quickly than his had over her, and when her fingers brushed his nipples he couldn't stop his hands from tightening on her waist.

Karin slid in to kiss him, and they both gasped as their bare chests came into full contact. Their arms slipped around each other again, warm hands on warm backs, fingers caressing over muscles that shifted as they tried to press even closer together.

Hakama still on, they rolled back onto the bed together, hands and mouths becoming slightly more urgent as their bodies pressed fully together. The only sounds in the room were gasps and moans as hands and lips caressed skin that only yesterday would have been forbidden territory.

Karin lay beneath him, gasping as his mouth returned to her breast again, teasing the nipple to a stiff peak before turning and doing the same to the other. She couldn't stop herself from stiffening slightly as his hand slid into the side of her hakama, but the stiffness melted away with the shudder that swept through her as his thumb lightly skimmed back and forth over the line of her hipbone. And when his mouth trailed lower down her stomach, one hand untying the hakama while the other still ghosted over her hip, her intake of breath came from anticipation, not nervousness.

Toshiro was lost in the taste and sweet scent of her body, and it was growing more difficult for him to continue moving slowly. But at the same time he wanted to cherish every gasp that fell from her lips, every hitch of her breath, every shudder of her body as her pleasure grew and grew. He was already hard, had been even before they entered the bedroom, but the familiar ache for her was different than it had ever been. He didn't want to end this quickly, he wanted to prolong this moment for as long as he could.

He finally slid the hakama down her hips, and let his lips trail to the side of the hip he'd been caressing as he tossed the pants at the foot of the futon. One hand slid under her back as she arched up, and the other began tracing over her other hip, slowly tracing the bone down. Her legs opened unconsciously, her gasps growing louder.

Karin felt like she was going crazy from all the sensations floating through her body. His mouth seemed to burn as his lips trailed back up to her breast, and his hands… Her eyes flew open and she looked down at him as one of his hands slid between her legs and lightly cupped her core. That one light touch seemed to be like tossing gasoline on a fire, and she threw back her head with a gasp as one finger stroked very gently at her opening.

She reached down for him, and Toshiro slid back up her body to kiss her, one finger lightly stroking her core still, amazed by how wet she already was. Cautiously he slipped a finger inside her, and was rewarded with the loudest moan he'd heard yet.

"I…I want…" Karin managed, face flushed from desire.

Toshiro gently slid his finger back and forth, watching her eyes cloud. "What do you want?" He asked with an intimate chuckle.

"I…want to see you. To touch you…" Karin managed as another jolt of fire spread out from her core as he caressed her, flooding her body with the sweetest ache she'd ever felt.

Toshiro slid off of her to lay beside her, turning her into his arms, one hand still caressing her core gently as he kissed her again, whispering, "Then touch me."

"Why was I ever nervous about this?" She whispered as his eyes burned into hers. His other hand had returned to her breast, and she found it difficult to concentrate enough to untie the last barrier remaining between them.

"You weren't the only one who was nervous." Toshiro admitted, fully agreeing with her that the nervousness was in the past tense. He hadn't really felt nervous around her in almost 4 years, yet for some reason the idea of making love to her had always made his stomach jump slightly.

But now it didn't.

As he stared at her, their hearts pumping rapidly and hands trailing lovingly over heated flesh, he found he was no longer nervous. No longer worried. "Let me show you how much I love you."

The quiet, impassioned voice sent a shiver through Karin, as did his hands on her body, as did her own actions as she finished untying his hakama and he drew back from her enough to pull them off. Seeing him nude for the first time, Karin spent a moment doing nothing but staring, her cheeks heating slightly as she saw just how hard he was. Before she realized what she was doing, she'd reached out and run a hand lightly over the length of him, marveling at how soft the skin was.

This time it was Toshiro who gasped, his body going rigid. Karin drew back her hand hurriedly. "I'm sorry, did I hurt…"

Toshiro chuckled, gently pulling her fingers out of the fist they'd made and guiding her hand back to him. "It feels amazing, so amazing…"

Karin softly slid her fingers over him again as he rolled onto his back to allow her better access, and she pillowed her head on his chest as she stroked him cautiously. "I…I don't know what to do." Her voice was barely a whisper. She knew about sex itself, of course, and what it involved, but she'd always been too embarrassed to talk to any of the other women about it.

"Whatever you want." Toshiro said gently, one arm curled around her back. His other hand found her chin and raised her eyes to meet his. "You can touch me however you want."

Karin kissed him, allowing her hand to fully wrap around his length, and swallowing his moan before trailing her lips down the side of his neck, as he had done with her. Then she settled her head back against his chest, turning her lips to lick, then fully kiss, one of his nipples. His chest shuddered under her as she repeated the action, his free hand coming up to play with her own breasts in turn.

Karin cuddled more deeply into his side, sliding one of her legs over his, and shuddering herself as her core brushed against his hip. Her mouth continued its slow exploration of his chest, and her hand still played with him lightly. The fire was coursing through her again, somehow it was almost as enjoyable to touch him as to be touched herself. Slowly, carefully, she leaned up to kiss him as she slid on top of him, their bodies coming into full contact. The feel of him, so hard against her stomach, made the ache in her lower body flare even more. "Touch me again, please. It felt so amazing…"

At her words his hands and lips attacked with renewed vigor, although she still marveled at his tenderness. His gentleness. She'd been training to fight for years now and was not at all used to being treated like she was precious and fragile. Even before she'd become a Shinigami, no one had ever treated her that way, but with Toshiro she found she didn't mind at all.

"Make love to me." She whispered daringly, holding his eyes long enough to see the darkness fully fill them before she leaned in and stole his breath with a heated kiss. "Show me how much you want me."

"More than I've ever wanted anything." He replied before he kissed her again, his arms crushing her against him for a moment before he rolled them over. Her tongue dueled with his, and her hands around his back and into his hair kept him from being able to move away even if he'd wanted to.

He shifted his hips until he was between her legs, then began thrusting his hips slightly, running his length over her, trying to figure out if she was ready enough. Karin's only reaction was to arch up, her legs clamping around his waist as her body tightened like a bow. He froze as her shifting allowed the very tip of him to slide inside her.

Breaking the kiss, whole body trembling from the effort of not moving, Toshiro tried to remember how to breath as he watched her eyes slid open. It felt so amazing and he was barely even inside her. Yet he didn't…

"Shiro?" Karin whispered, unable to keep her hips from arching up slightly, allowing him a little further into her body. It felt a little odd, but not uncomfortable. In fact, the fire was spreading out from her belly again.

"I…I don't want to hurt you." His voice was barely a whisper, and his eyes were still closed.

Karin reached up, love beaming off of her face as she cupped his face in her hand. "It'll only hurt for a moment." She whispered, waiting for his eyes to open and see her face before she finished, "It feels so good right now, I feel so amazing, and I know it can be even better. Please. I love you."

Careful to keep his hips still, Toshiro leaned down and kissed her gently, spinning the kiss out as he began, slowly and gently, to rock his hips. He slid a little further into her each time, muscles tensed with the effort of going slowly, of not just pushing into her. Because it felt so amazing already, just being surrounded by her heat, and the small part of him that just wanted to feel more struggled to overcome the larger part, the part that above all else didn't want to hurt her.

He didn't freeze when he reached that thin barrier, but he did stop pushing forward. And he pulled back enough to watch her face, he needed to see if and how much he was hurting her. "I love you."

Karin reached up and linked her arms around his neck as he allowed his hips to drop until he was all of the way inside of her. Her body tensed instantly, and he saw the pain flash across her eyes. He froze, shuddering at the feeling of being inside her, then leaning down to kiss her gently on first one cheek, than the other. By the time he caught her eyes again, the pain was already gone from them, and there were none of the tears he had dreaded. He knew it was different for every woman, and from her reaction either it hadn't been that bad, or she was hiding it because she didn't want him to see. "Are you alright?"

There was no pain on her face, only wonder, as she whispered, "This feels so right. So perfect." And she flexed her hips slightly, drawing a gasp from him.

They set a slow, gentle rhythm, moving together as if they'd done this a thousand times before. His weight was supported by his hands, and he wished that he could touch her as she was touching him. Her hands traced across the muscles of his chest, and he shook when she started tweaking his nipples. He wasn't going to last long if she kept doing that.

Karin shifted her hips as he continued to slip in and out of her gently. "I won't break." She whispered.

His eyes grew hotter, and he shifted his angle to push into her with more force, increasing his speed slightly as well. And managed to hit just the right spot as he shifted.

Karin moaned loudly at the new sensation, and realized what he had done at the same instant he did, for he fought to keep that angle now, sliding himself over and over that one sweet spot inside her that made the fire pooling in her body spread out rapidly. She felt like she was going to fall off the edge of the world, and panic flared briefly in her eyes. She hadn't known it could get better, hadn't realized that…

"Just let go." Toshiro whispered frantically, for he was close as well. "Let go, I'm here."

His hips thrust once more, harder than ever before, and Karin screamed his name as the fire flared out and the edges of her vision went white.

She'd never looked more beautiful than she did lost in her passion, and just the sight of her unraveling before him pushed him over the edge of orgasm as well, and he emptied himself into her with a groan before collapsing on top of her.

Karin's arms came around him lazily, holding him tight against her as they both trembled, their bodies still joined. Both were gasping for air, and it was minutes before he could move enough to roll off of her. Her arms fell limply, and with a sigh she rolled onto her side, her favorite sleeping position.

"So," Karin finally managed to speak, her tone teasing. "Was I worth the wait?"

Toshiro could only chuckle as he spooned himself along her back. "I'll let you know when I can feel my body again."

His warm laugh was the last thing she heard as she drifted gently off to sleep.

He had been right. It had been perfect.

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"Shoot up like a winter firework. Show your way of life. I hope we always shine."

-Hitsugaya, Aizen, and Hinamori in "Winter Fireworks" from the Bleach musicals

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THE END

AN2: So, questions? Comments? Reviews? Or are you all still little puddles on the floor?

Oh, and one of the reviews from chapter 1 commented on how you should never propose without a ring. Rings were actually not traditionally used in Japan, although they are today, and as Soul Society seems rather stuck in the past in a number of ways, I figured they probably wouldn't use rings, so they won't be in any of my stories centered on the Shinigami.

I hope you all enjoyed this little visit back to HitsuKarin, hopefully now that this story is done rolling around in my head I'll be able to do the IchiHime one I had planned on doing. Oh, and the quote at the end is the translation of the one at the start of this chapter.