It is daybreak in Karakura Town in the early month of April. The sun is rising, the fresh paint of dew on the grass filled the air, the birds are singing, and the small town is beginning to wake up. The adults are rushing their way to get to work, mothers are preparing for their children to get to school, and kids are getting ready for another day of school; although, over at the Kurosaki household, things are going along differently.

"Karin! Ichi-nii! Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming, Yuzu," Karin called out.

Karin made her way down the stairs as she finished putting on her tie. Once it was secured around her neck, she looked up to see Yuzu placing glasses of orange juice on the table and setting the food on the plates. At the sight of this, Karin smiled sadly.

As she continued her way towards the kitchen table, she heard rushed footsteps from the second floor above, followed by her brother's voice.

"I'm coming!"

Once Karin sat down in her seat, Ichigo came bounding down the stairs still holding his tie and socks and his hair untidy as ever. As he settled in his seat, Yuzu brought the breakfast over to them.

"Here we are," she sang. When she placed the plates in front of them, Ichigo started to scarf down his food, which she noticed.

"Ah, Ichi-nii, you're going to get food all over your shirt," Yuzu scolded. "And you're hair is still messy!" She walked over to him and started to put some order to his hair. "It's only the second week of school, too! We don't want the university professors think that you're a delinquent."

"Yuz," Karin called. "It wouldn't matter. No matter what you do to help, the professors will still think that he is one." She then took a drink of her orange juice that had been set out earlier.

"Karin's right, Yuz. Besides," Ichigo said inbetween chewing and swallowing. "I need to hurry down there now. I'm already late for classes." He took one last bite of his meal then chugged down his glass of orange juice.

"I'll see you two later," he called out as he put on his socks and shoes and rushed out the door.

"Bye," Karin mumbled as she finished her breakfast.

"Bye, Ichi-nii!"

Karin looked up to see Yuzu waving at their long gone brother. She smiled sadly to herself as she was reminded of how Yuzu took up the job of a mother. Their mother died when they were young, and Yuzu took it upon herself to take the role of a mother. It was a hard job especially when taking care of the occupants of this household.

"Well, we should be starting to get to school now," Yuzu said. "Otou-san went to the clinic early so he won't be accompanying us today."

"That's fine," Karin replied, which was more than fine. Who knows what their father would do once they get to the school? He might as well stay in their school detention room.

Both girls gathered up their school items and headed towards the door when Karin noticed an object at the doorway.

"Look," Karin sighed. "Ichi-nii left his school bag."

"Oh, no!" Yuzu's eyes widened. "He has a major assignment to turn in! We have to do something," she exclaimed.

Karin huffed. "Then I guess I'll just have to get this to him myself."

"But Karin," Yuzu started, but was cut off.

"It doesn't matter if I get late for class. This is more important. We both want Ichi-nii to graduate, right?" Yuzu nodded furiously. "Good. Then we'll walk half-way together and I'll meet you at school later on," Karin stated.

"Okay," Yuzu hesitantly agreed. "Then let's hurry."

They finished putting on their shoes, and before they left the house, they grabbed their own school bags and closed the door behind them.

:(:):(:):(:):

The big university building was up ahead, and Karin was running towards the main entrance. The assignment Ichigo had to turn was due at nine o' clock and it was already 8:45. She had to hurry before her brother fails yet another huge assignment.

Karin rushed over towards the double doors and was about to pull the doors open when someone pushed them and came running out, causing her to drop Ichigo's bag, which papers came flying out, fall backwards and land unceremoniously on the ground.

"Dammit," she cursed. "Watch where you're going!"

Karin looked over at the papers that had spilled out and growled. She did not want to be the cause of Ichigo being held back from graduating, so she started to gather up the papers, making sure that not a single page had flown out of sight.

As she reached for a page, she saw a hand reaching out for the same one.

"Hey! Give it back!"

However, they just ignored her. Instead, they took the page and read aloud what was written on it.

"My report on the consequences of prejudice: by Kurosaki Ichigo," they read. "What an idiot."

Offended by what they said about her brother, Karin retaliated. "Excuse me? Just who the hell do you think you are?"

They brought the page down that had been hiding their face, revealing a boy that looked to be around her age with crystalline teal colored eyes and shocking white hair.

He scowled at her. "That's none of your concern. Now hurry up before I get late for my class," he said, picking up the remainder of the spilled pages and handing them to her.

As Karin arranged the papers back in order, she scoffed, "It was your fault for knocking into me." Karin then grabbed her brother's bag and placed the assignment in it.

When she started to get up, a hand reached out for her to take, which she ignored and got up herself. At the ignorance of his help, the boy growled.

"Tch, I don't have time for this," and he ran off towards the university library.

Karin glared after the boy, but then realized that she had to hand Ichigo's paper to him before the due time. She checked the time to find that she had five minutes left and ran towards the building he should be currently in. Luckily for her, Ichigo had given her and Yuzu a tour of the school, so it shouldn't be hard to find his class.

:(:):(:):(:):

"Kurosaki, where have you been?"

Karin ignored them, stomping her way towards her desk and collapsing into her chair. Her class was on their lunch break, and she made it back on time before they resumed with class.

After finding Ichigo in his class, she had made it in time to see the professor taking up their assignments. She quickly made her way towards Ichigo, but not before tripping on the leg of a desk, causing her to spill the pages of the assignment again.

A long string of curses came flying out of her mouth as she scrambled to pick up the loose pages.

"What's going on here?"

Karin looked up to see the professor staring down at her. Before she could say any excuse she could think of, her brother came to her rescue.

"Sorry, Kyoraku-san. It's my fault," and he made his way over to help her.

Professor Kyoraku waved his hand, laughing it off. "It's fine Kurosaki-kun. Just as long as you turn in your assignment."

Once all the pages were together again, Karin got up to make her leave, but she tripped once again on a desk leg. She waited for the impact of the ground but was saved when a pair of arms reached out for her.

"Tch, I think you should be the one to watch where you're going."

Recognizing the voice, Karin pushed herself off them and glared at him.

"Whatever," she grumbled, and made her way out the door angrily.

Up until now, Karin couldn't help but still feel embarrassed. She tripped twice in front of a whole room filled with university students and crashed into the same boy twice. Today was just not her day.

"Karin," called out another voice. "What's wrong?"

At the sound of their voice, she lifted her head to see her boyfriend, Shigeo Gitano, standing before her. Behind him were her four soccer friends.

"It's nothing," she grumbled. "I've just been tripping up lately."

"You? Tripping? Since when have you ever tripped," exclaimed Toujoin, and the other three guys chuckled.

Karin glared at them, and then looked over at Toujoin. "Watch your mouth, Toujoin," Karin growled.

This shut the guys up. They looked over at Shigeo for some help, which he gladly took over.

"So, Karin," piped Shigeo, "You missed a quiz earlier. You should go take it now."

She turned her attention at Shigeo and nodded. "Sure, I guess."

Karin got up from her seat and headed towards the sleeping form that was her teacher.

"Thanks for that, Shigeo," said Toujoin.

"Yeah," exclaimed Uehara, "Karin sure is scary when she gets mad."

Shigeo laughed it off. "It's no problem. You guys owe me some food the next time we have a soccer game though."

"Again? You always ask for food," complained Toba. "Don't you have any money for food yourself?"

"Hey, now," Shigeo said, defending himself, "I'm trying to save up."

Toba rolled his eyes. "Whatever, but hey! How about we have a game later on after school? Does that sound good to you guys?"

All of them agreed to it and decided to meet at the soccer field.

"Cool," Toujoin said, "and then Usaka can bring you your food, Shigeo."

"But why do I have to bring him food again," exclaimed Usaka.

"Because your mom makes the best food," Uehara retaliated.

Usaka shook his head. "I bet you anything that Yuzu's cooking is the best!"

The guys grew silent for a while then nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah...," Shigeo said, "But I eat there all the time, so bring on the food!"

Toujoin, Uehara, and Toba laughed at the expense of Uehara. This time, they didn't have to worry about bringing food for Shigeo, but they knew that the next time they had a game, one of them had to.

:(:):(:):(:):

The game was tied 3-3 and each team needed one more point in order to win. It was Karin, Toujoin, and Usaka against Shigeo, Toba, and Uehara with Usaka and Uehara as goalies.

Toujoin dribbled the ball towards the goal while keeping Toba at bay. Once he was within shooting range, he prepared himself to kick the ball, but stumbled when Shigeo stole the ball.

As fast as he can, Shigeo made his way down towards the other end of the field with Toba guarding him, making sure that no one steals it from them. Unbeknownst to them, Karin skidded across the field, taking the ball with her. She then kicked the ball towards Toujoin, who was at a fair distance, and he dribbled his way towards the goal.

With Shigeo and Toba trying to get to him, he kicked the ball with all his strength and watched as it whizzed past Uehara's head and made a goal.

"Yes!"

Toujoin pumped his fist in the air and was soon greeted with pats and happy yells from his teammates.

"That was an awesome shot, Toujoin! Great job," exclaimed Karin.

"Yeah," agreed Usaka, "you did great."

Soon, Shigeo, Toba, and Uehara made their way towards the winning team and greeted them.

"Hoor-rah. You won," Shigeo said with false enthusiasm. Then he looked over at Usaka. "Now can I have my food?"

At the reminder of this, he sighed and led him over towards the bleachers where they kept their things. As the food was being exchanged, Karin felt a sudden twitch in her hand.

"What...?"

"Hey, Kurosaki," Toba called, "how come you're twitching?"

Toujoin and Uehara turned their attention at Karin and noticed that her hand was twitching.

"I don't know," Karin replied. She stared at her hand, thinking that this way it'll stop, but it just continued on shaking.

"You don't think there's something wrong with you, is there?" Uehara asked.

Offended, Karin yelled, "I'm pretty sure that I am fine!"

Scared of the suddenly violent girl, Uehara hid behind Toujoin.

"S-sure. O-oh-okay."

Irritated that something else went wrong today, Karin decided to head on home. She didn't want to stick around and see what else would happen to her.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Karin mumbled, and she began to make her way home.

Not too long after she left, Shigeo and Usaka joined Toba, Toujoin, and Uehara.

"Hey, where did Karin go?" Shigeo asked.

Toba replied, "She went home. Uehara got her mad so she left."

"By herself?"

"We're all here aren't we?" Uehara answered.

"Stupid." Shigeo then hit him upside the head and left to catch up with Karin before anything happens to her.

As he ran along the sidewalk towards the Kurosaki household, he saw a lone figure up ahead carrying nothing but a school bag with them.

"Karin!" Shigeo yelled.

Karin stopped where she was and waited for him to catch up to her. Once he reached her, he scolded her.

"You know you're not supposed to walk alone at night."

She raised an eyebrow at him, both knowing that she wasn't going to listen.

"Hey, not unless you're with me," Shigeo finished with a toothy-grin.

Karin then rolled her eyes at him but she smiled.

"You're such a loser," she said.

"But I'm your loser," he responded.

"Yuck." Karin then laughed at the hurt look that Shigeo was wearing, but he soon laughed along with her, glad that he was able to make her smile.

"So," he started, "Mind if I have dinner with you guys?"

Karin hit him. "Stupid. You always have dinner with us whether or not I say so."

"True, true. Well," He stepped in front of her and squatted. "Then climb on."

She gave him a look that told him that she would never ride on his back, so he sighed and got back up.

"Fine," he said resignedly, "but I get to hold your hand."

Karin laughed at his stupidity, but agreed to it anyways, grabbing hold of his hand as they walked their way towards her house.

Hello there, everyone. Well, I am taking up the challenge on TheMuseBunny where I... I honestly don't feel like explaining, hahah. Just check it out on my profile. I had the link set up. Also, don't worry about ADEaaBB. I've got that covered.

Well, tell me what you think so far.