A/N: Well it's been snowing recently where I live, so I guess this is kind of fitting in a way.

This one shot is written in Toshirou's POV, there is no such thing as soul reapers so Toshirou is just a simple high school student.

Following story contains some angst and some very fluffy moments…with the odd bit of humour thrown in here and there ;)

Rated T for some adult content and mild swearing.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Snow

I made my way down the snow covered street. The pale fluttering flakes of winter danced their way down towards me; a white haired, sombre green eyed teen. The pale flakes each melted simultaneously as they met with the areas of my skin that weren't covered by numerous layers of clothing. My winter boots, slightly worn from use, rhythmically crunched along the snow covered path, the laces loosely tied giving a roguish 'devil may care' impression – or at least, that's what I've been told.

The sound created from my feet meeting the fallen snow beneath my boots made a musical, rather satisfying sound, as I walked down the familiar street. The sound greeted my ears, and mine alone (except for maybe the odd passing stranger rushing out to get last minute grocery shopping) as the street was deserted for most people were cosily enclosed inside their warm houses enjoying hot cocoa whilst sitting in front of the TV.

But not I Toshirou Hitsugaya.

It had started to snow late yesterday afternoon just as everyone had been dismissed from school for winter break. As they had left the school campus there had been a chorus of joyful laughter and shouts as many of the excited students embraced the snow - mainly by chucking snowballs at each other – seeing it as a sign of the winter holidays. Yes, winter had indeed made an impressive entrance as it caressed the world with a thick layer of cool white in less than an hour. The cold, crisp snow now glistened in the fading light as the day began to come to an end.

The fresh smell of newly fallen snow entered my nostrils as I deeply breathed in, closing my eyes for a moment as I did so. The chill from the air travelled right into the centre of my body. It wasn't a particularly unpleasant feeling; I have to admit that I quite like snow, for reasons I'm not really sure of.

Perhaps it reflects my personality I thought to myself as I continued to walk. I guess it could be something do with the fact that hot weather is just too…hot. People get all sticky and sweaty. Sunburn, heatstroke; who needs it? Give me a cold blizzard any day…

Yeah…definitely something to do with my personality I grimly thought to myself as I rounded the street's corner, my expression still pretty mutual, perhaps even cold. Tch, what do I care what I look like?

Rounding the corner of the street I plunged my fisted hands deeper into my coat's pockets and lowered my head as the lazily falling snowflakes swirled around my steady walking body.

Left foot right foot, left foot right foot, left foot right foot…

My eyes thoughtfully watched my feet as they took strides out in front of me, thoughts travelling through my brain like a hurtling train. I'm not even sure what my thoughts were about. There seemed too many to be able to focus on one single subject.

In fact, the reason I was out on that cold, late afternoon was to attempt to get my confusing thoughts into order. I had no idea what was bothering me. Only the fact that something was bothering me and the only time I seemed close to level headed was when I was outside. Especially in this kind of weather. Like I said, there was something about snow I liked. Again, maybe it was something to do with my personality…I shook my head as I attempted to clear my mind. What was wrong with me?

I wondered absentmindedly out onto a grey bricked bridge, the one that goes over the large canal that goes through the town. I turned and looked down the wide channel, calm and silent in the evening hair, picturesque as it was framed by the falling snow. I sighed as I leaned my folded arms onto the grey bricks, my eyes following the cloud of air that escaped from my lungs as it travelled into the atmosphere.

My eyes then wondered down and gazed at the frozen water in the canal, shimmering with crystal elegance as the remaining light of the day began to make its farewell. It all looked beautiful…

And yet I feel so…depressed?

There were a number of reasons to why my emotions seemed out of whack that day...Maybe it was something to do with how I was eternally damaged because my father was a drunk who used to beat my mum and me before we moved to Karakura town and finally got away from him. Or maybe it was the fact that my mum had permanent mental problems because of what that messed up son of a bitch of drunk for a father did to her? Or perhaps it was something entirely different. For example maybe it was because even though I was acing my classes and therefore being named a young genius it resulted in making me feel isolated? Or maybe I felt depressed because I had always been ridiculed and bullied not only for my short height for a seventeen year old boy but also because of my unusual hair colour?

…To be honest, all those reasons were utter bullshit. Sure. My dad beat my mum and I but that was years ago and sure that will leave a scar, perhaps both mental and physical, but it was in the past. I was moving forward from it, in the end he was a bastard not worth worrying over; and in a sick twisted way, he was a great example of the type of man I would strive to never be like.

Sure. My mum was jumpy and had definitely been affected by the way my dad treated her but again she was coping. She had even started dating this guy…a guy who just so happened to be my science teacher, Mr Ukitake…maybe that was why I was depressed; depressed at the prospect of maybe having Mr Ukitake-my-science-teacher as my new 'daddy'…great.

But seriously, my mum was happy and even if she did end up having a serious relationship with my science teacher as long as she was happy I didn't care. The science teacher was certainly a huge upgrade from the drunk.

Acing classes? That's not exactly something to be upset about. Feeling isolated because of it? If I was isolated it would be me who caused it because I sometimes - sometimes a lot - like to be alone so it would be me who was doing the isolating, good grades or not. My mood was in no way anything to do with my good grades.

My height and hair? That was nothing new. It really didn't bother me. I couldn't do much about the height but if I really cared about what people cared about then I would have dyed my hair black a long time ago.

So the truth is…really…I felt miserable simply for the sake of being miserable. There was no reason. No source. It was just an emotion that I couldn't control because sometimes feeling miserable for no apparent reason just happens. And therefore a solution is incredibly hard to come by. I would just have to wait, it would sort it self out…either that or something would sort it out.

However, in saying all of that...all of those reasons for being maybe the cause of my miserable mood did contribute to factors in my life large or small. So it was possible that they had something to do with the current state of mind I was in, perhaps on a subconscious level…

I don't know…it's all too confusing…

I closed my eyes, screwing them up tightly as I brought my hand to my forehead and firmly pressed my fingers to my skin. I heaved an exasperated sigh…

"So, shorty, what's up with you?"

My eyes flew open as a familiar female voice travelled through the falling fluttering snow and into my senses, a soft cool breeze swirling around my face causing my hair to shift slightly with the movement.

A young girl with ebony hair reaching to just above her shoulders stood beside me smirking cheekily.

My heart did some weird double flips…I hate it when it does that…

I blinked, "Karin?" my tongue suddenly felt fuzzy as if it had forgotten how to work. Somewhere in my mind where it was still working properly I vaguely thought about the 'shorty' comment…but the majority of my brain seemed to have turned into a pile of goo…

She raised a neat black eyebrow, her tomboyish exterior coming through in the expression.

"So, do you often just stand out in the snow for no particular reason?"

"Who says I don't have a reason…" I couldn't stop myself from the quick and some what cold retort which would have made most people flinch away or result in them wanting to punch my lights out, however, Karin simply smiled; the same smile she often wore when she was around me.

She would frown slightly, the skin between her eyes folding over giving the immediate impression that you do not want to mess with this girl. Her lips moved upwards at the ends, her sweet, soft looking pink lips…the two together created a rather condescending, (even though Karin is three years my junior) teasing, calculating, adventurous, hard case expression…why did I always feel some what, satisfied? When I saw that expression?

Why was my heart beating so fast? I suddenly felt claustrophobic in my own skin…

She took a step forward closer to me, turning to rest her arms on the bridge beside me as she spoke,

"You never change!"

Her words were light, no malice or anger she was just simply stating a truth. That was one of the things I liked about Karin, she got to the point and to the point quick.

I blinked some more at her before I also turned, so we were both overlooking the frozen canal. Watching in silence as the snow slowly fluttered down to earth like thousands and thousands of dancing white fairies.

We were standing close…so close that my arm would brush hers, and vice versa, if either of us moved…She was wearing a light purple winter coat that reached her mid-thigh, skinny jeans and mid-calf winter boots…a pretty, deep red French beret hat perched comfortably on top of her dark hair, it made her look adorable yet it was still in a gorgeous sexy way…I dragged my eyes away abruptly not wanting her to notice I was staring at her, studying her, watching her…I felt like a dirty pervert enough without her thinking it too…

I mean. Here I was, a seventeen year old guy checking out a fourteen year old girl! I mean…actually, that's not that bad. At least I'm not thirty…that would be wrong. But what makes it worse is not only is she a fourteen year old girl she's also one of my best friends little sister!

I found myself thinking back then, back to five years previous…

I had just turned twelve when my mum and I moved here. After a while I made friends with a boy the same age as me, with bright spiky orange hair. His name was Ichigo Kurosaki. We had become friends shortly after we joined forces against a group of bullies who were picking on us because of our unusual hair colours.

After that, I would go over to Ichigo's house after school on some days and on weekends if the fancy took us. We would play video games, watch TV or go out and play soccer in a nearby park. Basically, we'd hang out.

Although a lot of the time we would get roped into playing with Ichigo's kid sisters…

Karin and her twin sister Yuzu were nine years old at the time. They would often annoy Ichigo and me...

Back then Yuzu would cling to Ichigo wailing, "Big brother! Big brother!" Ichigo would get exasperated and often make a fuss trying to release himself from her clinging fingers. His dad would yell, "ICHIGO! BE THE BROTHER YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO BE AND PLAY WITH YOUR SISTERS!" That man, I swear, I'm surprised none of those kids have busted eardrums…

So we would often have to play with them, most of the time playing tag or some other children's game.

You see when you're twelve, you think you're so grown up, we thought we were way too grown up to admit we were playing with Karin and Yuzu. So our excuse was "we're trying to get away from them!" truth was we liked the games we played.

On the sunny days Ichigo and I played with Karin and Yuzu we would often all go to the nearby park and play tag or sometimes play soccer together. I always remember being extremely surprised at how fast Karin could run or how hard she could kick a soccer ball…once right into the side of my head, so I knew exactly how hard she kicked a soccer ball.

After a while, though, I remember getting annoyed with Karin. Because after a while of me coming over to play video games with Ichigo or playing soccer in the park with the three of them, she started this little thing where she would punch my arm when she ran past and then poke her tongue out at me when I turned and glowered at her. Or other times she would flick the side of my head and then again stick her tongue out when I turned and glared at her. With most nine year olds, I'm sure my glares would have sufficed in making them behave better with me yet with Karin it just seemed to result in encouraging her.

The little nuisance that was called Karin Kurosaki began to escalate as the weeks went by and she started to pull pranks on me. At the start I walked straight into them embarrassing the hell out of me. But as time went on I began to become more aware of them and was able to dodge tedious tricks such as whoopy cushions…this did not impress little miss Karin.

One day, when we were all at the park playing soccer (even Ichigo's dad was there this time) she had done one too many pranks on me and my patience was pretty much almost fried. It was a warm summer's day and even back then I disliked hot weather, probably as much as I do now. Karin had just played another trick on me so I sighed heavily as I wiped my brow with my arm, Ichigo yelling at Karin and Karin yelling right back at Ichgio…it was so obvious they were siblings.

Then something happened that I did not see coming. Yuzu clenched her hands and shouted exasperatedly at her sister, "Karin! All these practical jokes are not nice! If you like Toshirou you should be nicer to him!"

The emphasis on the word 'like' was enough to make a light shade of red embarrassingly spread over my facial features, causing me to duck my head down as if the ground had suddenly become very interesting, so that no one would see.

I heard Ichigo struggle to find words resulting in him making weird gulping noises at the thought of Karin liking me. A flustered and equally embarrassed voice came from Karin, unusually high pitched, "Yuzu! It's…it's not like that!" she stamped her foot, frustrated.

I tilted my face ever so slightly to chance a glance at her…her face was bright red…which caused me to go even redder. Why did I care that a nine year old might like me? I think it made me feel slightly uncomfortable because she was nine and Ichigo's little sister, or at least that's what I assumed.

Suddenly a booming adult voice appeared beside me, a huge hand grabbing my shoulder. Isshin had now joined the awkward conversation, pulling my shoulder with his strong hand, his other hand on Karin's shoulder pulling her towards me…now, two things happened next at the same time which I will never forget…

One of those things was that Isshin yelled, "TOSHIROU MY SON IN LAW! WELCOME TO THE FAMILY MA BOY!"

My foot stepped out to the side as I almost lost my balance (from the abrupt movement Isshin had caused as he steered my body roughly in the direction of his daughter.) causing me to be crouching slightly.

The second thing…my eyes widened in shock, my cheeks burned like fire as I found my nose touching Karin's nose as her father pushed us together. Her cheeks were a burning flame, matching mine exactly, her eyes wide…so wide, I think that might have been the first time I had truly looked at them because it was then that I realised that they were such a deep, dark grey blue that they almost looked black. They seemed to have a majestic deepness to them, as if they never ended, just went on and on and on…they were beautiful.

I gulped and she gasped as we both leapt backwards, our cheeks still burning as we stood panting and staring wide eyed at each other; horrified. Isshin was leaping about in his goofy way until he was simultaneously punched by both Karin and Ichigo, both yelling furious words at him. Isshin lay on the ground twitching, and groaned, "Well done…Ichigo, Karin…." Giving them a shaky thumbs up…that guy…

The soccer ball was by my feet. Karin strutted over. My eyes felt like they were popping out of my head as I stood stiffly, awkward, as she hurriedly bent and picked it up, not looking me in the eyes…she was still blushing…I was too…

In fact, I don't think I stopped blushing for a very long time. I would be calming down and then Ichigo would give me a strange look, or Karin would tackle the ball from me - her cheeks still flushed a faint shade of pink - or Yuzu would give a knowing look, or Isshin would shout when I scored "That's how it's done son in law!" although, he only did that once because as soon as he said it Ichigo immediately kicked him the face shouting "Idiot!"

I remember, that when no one was looking I would grasp my t-shirt in the place that my heart was thumping against my rib cage…as if I was checking that it wasn't breaking out, like a caged bird trying to bust its way out of a small confined cage…

I will never forget that day…

I blinked as the old memory came flooding back to me, realising I was no longer in the sunny summer of my twelve year old days but in the winter with the snow falling all around me standing next to the girl I touched noses with five years ago…and that I had been staring at her the whole time I had been reminiscing.

I turned my head quickly deciding to find that the other side of the bridge was suddenly incredibly interesting…even though there wasn't much to look at.

Just look at anything but her…

I ordered myself.

Yet, following these particular orders was no where near easy…

My eyes wondered back. Without being able to stop myself I discreetly glanced at her again…I had to work extremely hard to stop myself from gasping…

She had her eyes closed, her face tilted up towards the sky; her mitten covered hands clasped together in front of her. Flakes of pure white snow floated down to her face, landing on her cheeks to melt upon her skin within seconds. Her breath came from her lungs in slow, even breaths…even with the coat she wore I could see her neatly curved chest moving up and down, the whole image of that neatly curved chest heaving up and down resulted in some incredible reactions to bubble up inside me…I caught my breath, forcing to look away…before I did something I wouldn't be able to control…

My breathing, compared to hers, was uncontrollably speeding up when I had gazed at her, it was still racing, my heart thumping against my rib cage so loudly and forcibly that I wouldn't be surprised if she turned to me and said "What's that noise?" My face, I could tell, was full of amazement, which was unusual for me because normally I'm a pretty level headed guy. But around Karin…I was always filled with so many emotions that they're hard to keep from showing on my face…

I swallowed; my Adam's apple bobbing up and down as I awkwardly found that my mouth and throat were suddenly very dry.

"So, why are you out here Toshirou?"

Karin asked in her usual voice, always with the very-near-taunting-teasing tone to it she always had…I loved that tone…

I cleared my throat, "I just had to get my thoughts together…"

"And walking in the snow helps?"

She asked, craning her head to look at me, the same grey blue eyes I had looked into for the very first time five years ago were still the same. Still just as deep, if not deeper; Karin seemed to have a definite wisdom about her even though she was only fourteen. It was so specific this wisdom that it made her seem older…she sometimes made me feel younger, which no one else ever did.

I nodded. Words were sometimes just not enough.

She smiled knowingly, "Yeah…you've always liked the snow."

I blinked. My expression I swear must have looked pretty gormless. Again; unusual for me.

A light breeze swept past us, two lone figures standing together on a bridge in the middle of fluttering snow falling from the heavens. The breeze made her short hair move, so slightly, causing a waft of a sweet smell to drift into my nostrils…her perfume, or whatever made her scent. It was so sweet and lovely…yet at the same time it was mixed with a stronger smell, it wasn't unpleasant in fact it didn't smell bad at all, it gave the impression she had been working out or something.

It was then that I noticed for the first time that she had her big P.E bag slung over her left shoulder.

"You were at soccer practice?"

She nodded as she replied, "Yep. That's where I had just come from before I found you being a short white hermit standing on a bridge in the freezing cold surrounded by falling snow."

Ok. I'll just ignore the rest of that sentence.

"You're pretty dedicated." I smirked as I gazed down the frozen canal, as I thought of something I just had to say "Going to soccer practice during winter break…I never knew you had that much commitment. And here's me thinking you're just a wishy-washy schoolgirl."

That hit a nerve as she gritted her teeth, "Shut it." She then smiled smugly, "You know I'm the captain of the soccer team! That means I have to. Besides I love soccer. And we have a really big soccer game with a neighbouring school after the winter break. We have to practise really hard..."

I nodded, still smirking teasingly deciding to play dumb, "Right. You must freakin' freeze though! I mean, playing soccer in this weather…even I don't love snow that much to play soccer out in it."

She playfully pinched my arm gently, her voice soft and quiet, "Stupid. We play indoors when it's like this outside…"

I knew that. I just like messing with her. I think she knows it too.

Suddenly, with the touch of her hand lingering on my arm after she pinched me, I catch my breath. She had moved closer. I looked at her my lips slightly open waiting for words to be said but nothing coming out because nothing seemed to come to mind. She looks straight back at me her eyes saying something that I think I understand but feel like it's forbidden for some crazy reason.

My eyes search her face. Everything from her cheeks, to her nose, to her deep beautiful eyes…to her lovely curving neck barely visible due to her thick winter coat…to her soft, pink lips that are slightly parted just like mine, with unspoken words…to her chest moving up and down with her breathing, at a much faster pace than before…it seemed to match mine now…And then I knew this urge I had, my body tensing in anticipation and yet at the same time relaxing…and just as I thought I might act on this impulse I found myself thinking that I should turn around and stride away, in the opposite direction of Karin. Like, that would be the best thing. Like she was a forbidden object I couldn't allow myself to have.

But then Karin stepped forward, so that if our body's weren't close before they were even closer now. Her cheeks turning a faint pink, as she grasped the front of my jacket, like she was making sure I would stay put. Even though, if I had wanted to go, she knew she wouldn't be able to stop me…she had nothing to worry about, though. Because in that small act, an act that was in fact much bigger than it appeared, I had made up my mind.

I moved my head forward, pausing for a second as my lips hovered above hers, before pressing our lips together to form our first kiss.

The kiss was actually very chaste. Like we were both shy; which, I guess, we were. Our lips explored each others in sweet gentle movements, moving in time with each other perfectly. I could feel her warm breath hitting my cheeks; this seemed to exhilarate me further as I started to become surer of my body's movements.

We stood with the snow surrounding us as our kiss began to grow in vigour. I heard a dull thud as the P.E bag dropped to the ground as Karin brought her arms up and around my neck, one of her mitten covered hands grasping the back of my neck whilst the other tightly wrapped into a fist over my white hair at the back of my head, firmly keeping me in place; in the same motion Karin curved into me, a moan escaped from her. This caused more excitement to build within me as I wrapped my arms around her back pressing her body to mine. Our shyness seemed to melt, just like the snow that was floating onto our heated skin…

Our movements began to become more exaggerated and confident as we pressed our lips together, getting firmer, our body's moulding together into one being. As if we had been waiting, wanting, for years to be molded into one individual. I felt like we would be like this for the rest of eternity; frankly, I wouldn't mind.

I could smell Karin's sweet familiar smell as I breathed in, it was so perfect. With her wonderful natural smell combined with her smooth skin and sexy little body pushing against me, I suddenly found myself groaning, muffled by our lips pressing together, my hands running up and down her back, exploring, as staying still seemed to be proving impossible as my exhilaration grew.

Karin appeared to be finding it hard to stay still now also, as her enthusiasm grew. She began to rub her petite body up and down mine, her moist lips playing with mine…and that just sent my body into complete over drive, while my brain buzzed somewhere along the way behind, to where my instincts kicked in…

My arms crushed her to me, perhaps a little roughly, but that only seemed to encourage Karin more. Our embracing just seemed to escalate as our lips kept exploring each others, getting rougher and more passionate with the second; no longer chaste at all.

The whole experience rocked my mind; rocked my body; rocked everything. A burning flame rampaging in our mouths, her and my body completing into one in the same, a hot sensual flame burning in the centre of my being...and for once, I didn't dislike the heat...

The same intense bodily feeling must have been the same for her too as we suddenly found that our legs wouldn't hold us. Either that or concentrating on standing had become too much when we had other…mind numbing activities to attend to.

We fell to our knees together, still, with our arms wrapped around each other, our lips never leaving the others like they were glued together. The cold snow that had settled on the ground soaked through our jeans within seconds, causing Karin to gasp slightly as the cold met her warm skin. I took this chance to daringly place my tongue forward into her mouth. At first it was a little awkward as our tongues floundered around in each others but it wasn't long until we got the hang of it…or rather Karin did. Her tongue played with mine inside my mouth so vigorously and perfectly that I began to wonder if she had French kissed someone before…I absentmindedly made a mental note to myself to perhaps investigate more about that later on…

I sat back, kneeling on the snow covered bridge, while Karin knelt slightly higher than me as she didn't sit back. She had her hands on my shoulders now as she kept pressing her mouth, and her tongue, onto mine. I didn't argue with her forcefulness, it felt pretty damn good. I found myself amazed at how much of a turn on this girl was as she teasingly bit my bottom lip, causing me to smile into the kiss…I felt really…happy…

With sudden realisation I grasped the fact that, all the miserable feelings I had felt earlier, had completely disappeared at the first sight of Karin.

And it was at that exact moment that I realised that if I always had Karin, with her beside me, moments like before, where our comfortable quiet companionship was perfect enough mixed with moments like now, with our lips pressed passionately together...I would always be content.

I knew that I always wanted her. Forever.

She was my drug. My happy pill. She made me ache and crave just as much as she made me feel content and relaxed. She made me feel elated and…complete.

With a burst of new found energy I rise from my sitting back position, moving up and forwards. Grasping the back of her head with one hand and pressing the other in between her shoulder blades, I curved her into me as our kiss took on a whole knew meaning and drive as I put all that I was feeling into it. She seemed to melt in my arms…

The snow swirled around us as we remained embracing each other. Both a sweet kiss and a passionate kiss. Mixed with the scent of Karin; the thumping of my heart and hers beating in rhythm; and the gentle fluttering of snow. I could feel the snowflakes landing on our faces, some even managing to land on our hot lips, melting; as I moved my lips with hers I could feel the odd splash of cold from a melted piece of heaven…

Time passed and what seemed like decades to me and Karin pressing ourselves together as if we had been deprived of human contact had only really been a few minutes at most.

Our kissing was by no means cooling down however, in actual fact it was more likely it was still rising in heat.

We probably would have stayed like that until the snow had covered us completely but as it so happens, we were interrupted…

Karin and I hadn't noticed that two people had walked onto the bridge…

"KARIN?"

A very familiar voice shouted both filled with horror and fury. I inwardly groaned at the familiarity of it…this was going to be bad…

We abruptly pulled away from one another to look at the person who had caught us, well, making out. I wasn't surprised when I saw who it was, I already reconisged his voice.

That same person yelled again, with even more horror and fury,

"TOSHIROU!" Ichigo yelled outrageously, pointing a shaking finger at us both. We blinked up at them, eyes wide, still sitting the snow. Like I said, awkward…

Renji, who was standing next to Ichigo with his hands casually in his pockets, smirked at us, one of his eyebrows cocked upwards in a taunting manner,

"Well well well, I never knew little Shirou had it in him…even if he is being a bit of a cradle snatcher!"

That nearly earned him a punch in the face from Ichigo, who was twitching madly, his frown becoming more indented into his forehead than usual. He was absolutely livid…

"SHUT UP!" Renji, for once, had the sense not to answer back.

Ichigo's glare was back on me and Karin. We were still kneeling in the snow. I noticed that we were both breathing hard, like we had run a marathon, I guess that extravagant kissing had lasted a long time…I'm surprised we hadn't passed out from lack of oxygen. I noticed that Karin's baret hat was about to slide of her head, her hair was slightly ruffled too. Ichigo's eyes went to where my hands were still rest on Karin's waist and hip…you could almost hear one of his nerves snap as his eyes clouded over…

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. My. SISTER!"

Karin's cheeks blushed a shade of pink as she clumsily tried to get to her feet whilst saying, "Ichigo! You're totally over reacting you big dumb idiot!"

Ichigo shouted in reply, "Overreacting?" as I stood, giving Karin my hand, helping her up. I noticed both of our legs were wet through from kneeling in the snow. As we turned to face Ichigo and Renji my arm automatically wrapped around Karin comfortably, like it was simply just meant to be there, my hand resting on her hip.

Ichigo focused his attention on me now, pointing a shaking finger, his angry aura almost seeming to be visible as he said through clenched teeth, his words coming out in sections, like speaking seemed to be difficult due to how angry he was...

"What…do you think…you were doing…to my sister you bastard!"

I answered straight away,

"Well. What did it honestly look like I was doing?"

Ok. I admit. That might not have been the most tactful thing to have said…

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU! YOU LITTLE PERVERTED PUNK!"

I was then running in the opposite direction from the enraged protective older brother, needless to say, I was running as fast I could taking into account it was snowing and I was still a little breathless from that amazing making out session with the love of my life…I could hear a furious and indignant yell from Karin as I took off running, "ICHIGO! YOU DUMB-ASS! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Ichigo seemed to be on fire, he was that angry, a devil filled blur as he ran after me. My arms and legs floundered as I ran over the slippery snow, ploughing through the odd snow drift. I could hear a booming laugh from Renji who stood on the bridge still, "Run little genius run!" he seemed to find the whole affair very hilarious.

I glanced over my shoulder to see the infuriated orange haired monster galloping after me, with an equally outraged little sister running after him - both shouting insults - and behind her a hysterical with laughter Renji doing a stumbling run (stumbling because he was clutching his stomach from laughing so hard) after the three of us. It was, actually, a pretty funny image. And I realized, with a surprised jolt, that I was smiling.

In fact, I was thrilled. Ecstatic; on a huge high!

Even with Ichigo chasing after me, incredibly angry and protective, I knew he'd calm down…eventually.

With a definite certainty, I knew that Karin and I were going to share countless times together…We were definitely going to experience that kiss again, and so much more…and so many more times…

My heart drummed inside my chest as my legs carried me through the falling snow, no longer a caged bird inside a confined cage…

It had been set free.

The snow fell all around, a gentle, cold, loving kiss to those who only know and appreciate to look…

~The End~

~x~

A/N: So, that was my one shot called Snow…what did you think? Sorry for the possible OC-ness ...I don't think it really matters for this particular story though :)

I hope you enjoyed it! ^_^

Sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes.

Please please please review!

LadyB3ARwolfFang