One of the things that intrigued Toshiro the most about Kurosaki Karin was how subtle she was.

Simply put, her family was exceptional. The Kurosaki name carried with it a peculiar blessing, or as some saw it, a curse. The patriarch was once a formidable shinigami captain in Soul Society. The deceased wife and mother, an adept Quincy. The firstborn, Ichigo, was arguably one of the strongest assets the Soul Society had ever had. And Yuzu, sweet and perfect Yuzu, though her spirit abilities were not as developed as her other family members', she was still the one who made living normal again after their mother passed. She was the magic glue that kept everything and everyone together. Without Yuzu, they would all fall apart.

But then there was Karin. Subtle Karin.

She was the black monolith in the corner, inverting her own power to construct her family, ensuring that everything was running smoothly from the sidelines. With Ichigo gone more than often on shinigami duties, Karin was the defender. Honestly, she had been all along.

Toshiro's eyes flicked to meet Karin's dark grey ones, where she leaned against the wall, bored. Her attention was currently on Rangiku, who was speaking lively with her father. They were talking about old times, when Isshin had still been captain of the 10th division. His division, now.

Strange, how worlds crossed, how strings that were thought to be separate were actually tangled upon further inspection.

Even more strange how he could be so intertwined with the dark-haired Kurosaki before he had even formally met her.

Her eyes flashed to his and held him. She had a peculiar ability in commanding his attention with just a glance; he wasn't able to move until she released him. She was stormy today, a sea of questions and imbalanced. It unnerved him.

But then she was listening again to the banter of her father and Rangiku, her bored expression sliding easily back on her face, like it had never left.

Later, she cornered him, stormy expression replaced by mischief. A soccer ball bag was slung over her shoulder and Toshiro knew exactly what she wanted without a spoken word.

"You don't want to stick around and hear all about your dad's history in Soul Society?" he inquired with a slightly arched eyebrow.

Karin rolled her eyes.

"The only thing that this does is give him more opportunity to talk than usual. And I already have to live with the old goat. So, no, thank you." And she grasped Toshiro's shirt sleeve and pulled him outside.

Good thing I changed into the gigai, Toshiro absently thought as they tread up the sidewalk to the nearby field.

"You don't care about your father's past? And your heritage?"

Karin waved it away.

"None of that stuff matters."

Toshiro glanced at her, watching as Karin trailed her fingertips along the wire fence they were passing. Her grey eyes were as carefree as they could be, flicking upwards to consider the startlingly blue sky.

"Why?"

"Because it's not about where you come from. It's about what you do."

Toshiro almost found her unfair. She was the sixteen year old human/Quincy daughter of his former shinigami captain and the amount of strength and wisdom she possessed was more than he had seen in many shinigami he had known for lifetimes. She was illusory but alluring. Every aspect of her was a trick of the light, a whisper that spoke loudly, a jumble of letters that by happenstance formed words.

The problem-solver in Toshiro wanted to take up the pieces of her puzzle and sort them out, fit them into their proper places, so he could gather the whole picture. But the other part of him, the part that appreciated her lack of straight-laced lines and compartments, wanted her to stay the way she was: half-wild, like a controlled storm.

She was the spark that enlightened his darkness, in the smallest of ways.

Their trip to the Human World was over too soon. But there was paperwork to be done and meetings to attend and Kurosakis to leave alone.

Yuzu seemed highly depressed at their departure; she and Rangiku had gotten along quite well. Isshin, for his part, also appeared to be sad to see them go. He resorted to bribery as a last-ditch effort to pull out a longer visit, mentioning something about alcohol to Matsumoto before Karin kicked him in the shin and effectively silenced him.

Unlike her other family members, Karin wore the same expression she always did, betraying nothing. Toshiro did not see sadness in her eyes; what he saw was merely acceptance. He hadn't really expected anything less or more than that.

In the course of goodbyes, Toshiro found himself facing Isshin. He suddenly felt apprehensive.

Isshin fixed Toshiro with rare, serious eyes.

"I knew you would be my successor, Toshiro."

"How?" Toshiro responded after a pause.

Isshin smiled a little.

"You are hard-working, and that is a quality of a good soul reaper and an even better captain."

"Thank you," Toshiro said softly.

And then Isshin was back to his usual self and picked Toshiro up like a child, exulting how "cute" he was.

The vein in his forehead was pulsing by the time Isshin was ordered to let him down, and Toshiro scowled and walked a little away from the group to wait and sulk.

"Your pride's not too wounded, is it?" she teased.

Toshiro was still disgruntled, so he jerked his head in a noncommittal gesture.

Karin snorted.

"No wonder he treated you like that. You're brooding like a five year old."

Toshiro turned to give her a glare. But Karin wasn't even looking. She was staring at the small assembled group. Her mouth was pursed in a soft smile.

"I wish my mom were here. And Ichigo. And Rukia."

Toshiro stared at her.

She was giving him another thread of herself, single-handedly entangling their strings even further. Toshiro felt that feeling of unfairness sink back in, but it was fueled by appreciation, not bitterness.

"Karin—"

But she ignored him, tousling his hair affectionately before she cuffed him on the shoulder.

"See you," she said, before returning back to the group to say goodbye to Rangiku.

Moments later, he was opening the Senkaimon Gate and the three Kurosakis were waving goodbye.

Toshiro met Isshin's gaze and was encouraged to see the man looking upon him approvingly. Toshiro's eyes flashed to Karin, and he could see the tiniest of hints of a smile in the corner of her mouth.

Subtle, indeed.

Thanks for reading.