"Toushirou," Karin drawled. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked across her room into her bathroom where Hitsugaya was standing in front of her bathroom mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist. It was an early Sunday morning and the two of them took their deserved two days leave to go to the real world to stock up on clothes. It was not of their wishing to do so but necessity called for it. On Thursday, Matsumoto had taken the liberty to wash their over due laundry with a new soap powder she bought on sale at a gypsy store. Their clothes came back to them looking like it had gone through three wars.
"Yeah?" Hitsugaya asked as he took a smaller towel and ruffled his wet hair. Karin lay back down in bed and snuggled under her blanket. She looked to the side to see their uniforms dumped in one corner. She definitely was still livid at Matsumoto for destroying her clothes. However she had to thank the loyal and dependable lieutenant for helping Karin get some time alone with Hitsugaya. Being a Captain, at times, made Hitsugaya forget he had a girlfriend to keep happy.
"I love you," Karin smiled lovingly. Hitsugaya turned around to face her. With a grin on his face, he leaned against her sink counter. With a come-hither finger motion, Karin slipped out from under her blanket. She wore her dark blue silk night shorts and dark pink loose spaghetti top. As she entered the bathroom, Hitsugaya slipped his arms around her waist and slipped his hands under her top and up her back.
"Mmm, that feels nice." Karin leaned against Hitsugaya and closed her eyes as he brought his lips to the crook of her neck. He delivered soft kisses to her skin as he moved upward to her hair. He inhaled her night shampoo and closed his eyes. He knew Karin had wanted to spend some time with him last month but he had a heavy workload to complete. Because of it, they were deprived of their nightly adventures in bed since he stayed up till late to finish. Plus the workload placed both of them in grouchy moods thus dampening any excitement that arose. Fortunately, that period of painful long hours of sitting in the office was close to ending. Not to mention Matsumoto's idiocy in washing clothes gave him a good excuse to stay out of office. He knew that being a Captain does not give him every reason to neglect his personal responsibilities.
"You smell nice too." Karin pulled away and ran her fingers through Hitsugaya's wet hair. Hitsugaya kissed her lips lightly before bringing his hands out from under her shirt.
"Your turn to shower," Hitsugaya smirked. He reached for the hem of her spaghetti top and pulled it up over her head.
"Ah, Karin-chan! Hitsugaya Taicho!" Urahara exclaimed as the two souls stepped through the senkai gate. The couple looked at Urahara lying on a futon in the middle of the living room in just a pair of clogs, shorts and white singlet. His loyal hat was strangely not sitting on his head as usual. Surrounding him were twenty battery powered portable fans.
"Urahara-san," Karin said as the gate closed behind them.
"What brings you two here?" Urahara opened his fan and fanned himself.
"We took our needed leave and decided to do a bit of shopping in the real world." Karin replied. Hitsugaya grunted at the heat that overwhelmed him the moment the gate closed. It was a drastic temperature change from Soul Society.
"Forgive me. It's awfully stuffy in here since the air conditioning broke down. Outside is like a baking oven." Urahara commented on the weather.
"I can feel and I can see that," Karin looked at Urahara's dressing.
"Now I want to go back," Hitsugaya mumbled.
"Weather has been pretty upsetting lately but not to worry, your gigai have been upgraded." Urahara smiled happily.
"Upgraded? What do you mean?" Karin crossed her arms.
"Well I've not done anything to yours Karin-chan. Only for Hitsugaya Taicho's since he hates the heat." Urahara got up and headed to the back of the house, signaling Karin and Hitsugaya to follow him. Karin frowned. Tch just because he's a Captain, big deal… Hitsugaya noticed her scowl and smirked. There were perks being a Captain.
Hitsugaya stepped out of the room with a faint smile on his face. He had to say he was fairly impressed with the upgrade in the gigai. Fueled by his reiatsu without any effort, the body radiated its own temperature and rejected the temperature surrounding it, thus keeping him at the temperature he wished. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, brown shoes and a dark blue t-shirt with a white print behind saying "Ice Baby". He turned as Karin stepped out of the room in a pair of jeans, soft loose pink spaghetti top and a pair of short strap heels.
"I hate the heat. I'm sweating already," Karin complained as she wiped the sweat away from her forehead. She looked at Hitsugaya who looked very comfortable. She frowned as she stood close and could feel an invisible cloud of cool air surrounding him.
"That's not fair," Karin huffed. Hitsugaya grinned and bent down to kiss her cheek.
"Life's not fair, get use to it." He patted her behind and walked off.
Well he's definitely in a better mood in this gigai. Karin thought as they headed out to the living room.
"Thanks Urahara-sama!" Karin waved goodbye as she headed to the front of the store.
"Good luck in the heat!" Urahara proceeded to take off his singlet and turn on two more small fans.
"Ahh…." Urahara sighed. Suddenly, something crashed behind him.
"Kisuke!" Youruichi snapped. Kisuke jerked up in shock as she stepped out of the shadows in a loose shirt and underwear. Her dark purple hair was bundled up and sweat trickled down her face. She stood over Kisuke with livid eyes.
"When are you going to fix the damn air conditioner!?"
"I swore I heard Urahara scream." Karin thought out loud.
"Hn." Hitsugaya tucked his hands in his pocket.
"Oh my god, think he's single?"
Karin rolled her eyes as Hitsugaya adjusted a dark blue tie around his neck as he stood in front of a full-length mirror. He was dressed in a pair of black pants, a white with dark blue vertical thin stripe dress shirt and a black vest. He looked extremely attractive especially with his fully blown white hair and teal eyes. Karin swore if no one were around she would have pushed him back into the dressing room and locked the door with her inside. But because she was civilized, she would reserve that urge till they got back home.
"What do you think?" He turned around to face Karin.
"Very handsome," Karin commented. Hitsugaya smirked and tucked his hands into the pant's pocket.
"I like it." He said as looked down at the pair of shoes that matched the whole outfit.
"That's good," Karin reached into her pocket and pulled out a list.
"Next on the list is underwear shopping. I need to get a whole new set of bras." Karin sighed.
"You might want to walk around while I shop for those." Karin squashed the list back into her pocket.
"I think I will take this set and the other set I tried on earlier." Hitsugaya said and headed back into the changing room.
Karin heard a couple of girls swoon behind her. A minute later, the door opened and Hitsugaya stepped out in just the pair of pants he wore earlier. The girls behind Karin held their breath as they touched his body with their eyes. He may not be very muscular but his muscles and abs were significant enough to make any girl melt like butter on a hot pan. Karin narrowed her eyes at him as he passed her the vest.
"Help me ask the if they have a new piece because this one has a tear behind." Karin took the vest and stood up.
"You're just doing that on purpose right?" Karin smirked.
"Doing what?" He gave her an innocent look. "Whatever are you accusing me of?" He grinned.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. As she turned, she felt a firm slap to her butt. She turned around to see Hitsugaya wink at her before turning back and disappearing into the changing room.
Hitsugaya sat on the bench as he waited for Karin to come out of the underwear store. He grinned as he peaked into his bag. While Karin was trying on a bra size, he bought her a short silk beige nightdress without her knowing. Since Matsumoto destroyed all of them, he made sure getting Karin a new one was one of the top items in his priority list. Now that was done, he could relax. As he waited, a giggly laughter caught his attention. He looked over to his right and noticed a couple walking out of a tall box that had a cloth over the entrance. He raised an eyebrow as another couple got in. Short while later, flashes of light erupted from inside and the couple exited. They took out a strip of paper like material from the dispense section and admired it. Curious, he got up from his seat, bags in hand, walked over to the machine and looked at it. On the machine were instructions of how this contraption worked.
"Hey buddy, are you using it?"
Hitsugaya turned around to see a couple behind him.
"Um, no." Hitsugaya answered. They smiled and entered it. As lights erupted from within, he looked up and noticed that the sign said "Photo Booth".
Photo Booth? It takes pictures? Hitsugaya wondered. He looked down and a strip of glossy paper fell into a holder. The couple exited and picked it up.
"Oh I love this. I want to have this picture!" The girl said excitedly.
"I'll keep this one in my wallet." The guy admired it.
As the couple left, Hitsugaya watched them leave before turning back to the machine. Lovers take pictures in here? Sounds rather foolish. He wondered.
Then he noticed something. He had no photos of her and she had very few of him. Maybe none. A tiny aching feeling tugged the corner of his heart. Soon he found a question posed to himself. What was a couple together without a picture to remember by? Soul Society had no contraptions such as the one before him and he owned no camera since he would not use it so often. Borrowing from Matsumoto would only have her bugging him with endless annoying questions.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" Hitsugaya turned around to see Karin with two added bags. Karin was already holding seven paper bags in hand and Hitsugaya held eight.
"Oh a Photo booth. Haven't seen one in ages!" Karin smiled.
"You know it works?" Hitsugaya asked.
"Me and Yuzu used to take a lot of pictures together when we were younger. Grew out of it eventually." Karin shrugged. Hitsugaya looked back at it, contemplating. He would like to have some pictures of Karin to look at when he was bored or had nothing to do. He would like to see her face when he was alone at night or without her in bed. He only had his memories to see her face.
"Anyway, we should get going." Karin started to turn away.
"Let's take a few photos." Hitsugaya spoke up.
"You? Take photos? I'm shocked." Karin dramatized. Before she could say another word, Hitsugaya grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the booth. In the booth, the two squeezed together with the rest of the bags.
"Are you serious?" Karin looked at him dumbfounded. Hitsugaya reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.
"How much do I have to pay?" He ignored her question and took out his credit card. Karin rolled her eyes and took his card.
"Hey!"
"You don't use credit cards to pay for this." Karin slipped his credit card back into his wallet. She flipped his coin pouch lid open and took out a dollar coin. One thing she got annoyed about Captains was that they had their own instant human world credit card. Of course it was only to be used when necessary.
"You use coins genius." Karin put the coin into the slot.
"Well forgive me this is my first time." Hitsugaya glared. Suddenly the screen in front of them lit up. The couple leaned over it and stared down at it. Happy kittens pranced around the options. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at it. Whoever designed this must have been smoking something…
"What now?" Hitsugaya asked. Karin pressed the screen with her finger and the layout changed with happy animated cartoons dancing on the screen. Hitsugaya jerked back a little.
"Okay, we'll have timed shots instead of burst snapshots." Karin decided.
"What's that?" Hitsugaya asked.
"It means I press the button and it takes one photo at a time." Karin explained. Hitsugaya stared at her.
"Are you ready?" Karin asked. Entirely confused, Hitsugaya looked at her with a scowl on his face.
"No!" How does one smile? He never was good at smiling for smile sake. Maybe this was a mistake. He should just take pictures of himself or herself doing work. That way it would not be so awkward. Before he could stop her, Karin reached for the button.
"Smile!
A burst of light exploded.
"I wasn't ready!" Hitsugaya exclaimed. Hitsugaya rubbed his eyes, recovering from nearly getting blinded by the camera flash. Suddenly, without warning, he felt Karin's hand grabbed the side of his face and yank him over to her. Right smacked against her cheek, the lights went off again.
"Are you trying to make me go blind?!"
Hitsugaya sat in his chair. His feet were sore and tired from all the walking and shopping in the real world. He had to admit he was glad that he finally was able to get back and put his feet on the desk, metaphorically. He and Karin had enough clothes to last them a good year without having to return to the real world for more. Their cabinets were once again filled to the brim and all garments inside were brand new.
"Taicho?" Matsumoto peeked in. She knew she was still threading on thin line with her Captain for destroying his clothes with a cheap washing powder. Karin had already forgiven her but she still was at the mercy of her superior. Hitsugaya turned to Matsumoto who stood at the entrance with a sheepish expression.
"You called for me?" She asked, putting on her best innocent face.
"Finish up what is on my desk. I'm going for lunch. The forms are in the second drawer. Please don't forget them." Hitsugaya got up from his seat and adjusted his haori. He took his sword off the stand and slung it around his shoulder.
"I want them done by the time I get back. That's part of your punishment." Hitsugaya ordered.
"Aww but I said I was sorry." Matsumoto pouted.
"You're just lucky Karin talked me out of setting all your sake bottles on fire." Hitsugaya snorted and walked out of the office. Yep, he was still mad at her. Matsumoto sighed and headed to his desk. What long was he going to punish her? On the bright side, Karin saved her sake.
Matsumoto looked at the desk and noticed a black wallet on the side of the table. "Eh? Taicho forgot his wallet." She reached for the wallet and picked it up. As she held it in her hand, square pieces of paper slipped out. Matsumoto opened his wallet in attempt to put the photos back where they belonged when the visuals of the photos caught her eye.
The first photo had a picture of Karin smiling brightly while Hitsugaya gave her a frown. The second photo had Karin pulling Hitsugaya toward her, her arms around his neck and his face squashed next to hers. Where did he get these? Matsumoto wondered as she looked at each one closely. The third picture was a laughing Karin being tickled by Hitsugaya who had a mischievous look on his face. Matsumoto giggled. The fourth picture was a Karin giving a kissy face while Hitsugaya simply smirked at the camera. The fifth picture was the one that got Matsumoto's heart to melt. There was Karin sitting on Hitsugaya's lap, her back leaning against his chest and their faces side by side. His arms were wrapped around her waist and her hands were above his hands. Instead of looking straight, the two looked at one another lovingly.
That's beautiful…Matsumoto thought. How'd nice if she could keep one to remember them. Just then she felt her Captain's reiatsu approaching. Quickly, she slipped the photos into the side part and closed it. She placed the wallet back where it was and flipped open the file.
"Matsumoto, is my wallet on the table?" Hitsugaya appeared at the door. Matsumoto looked up from the file and looked at his desk. She picked up his wallet and handed it to him.
"Thank you." He said.
"And remember, I want to see those done by the time I get back," He reminded before disappearing off again.
You owe me one Taicho, and you know it. Matsumoto smiled.
Hitsugaya sat down with his bento at the cafeteria. Karin was busy with work so he had to have lunch on his own. As he ate, he thought back of yesterday. He had to admit, he did felt it was a little childish for his maturity but to be at all honesty, it felt just about right as anything with Karin. He flipped open his wallet and looked at the pictures. He favorite was the fifth photo. It was also a rather embarrassing moment as a couple accidentally walked in on them mid way through an intense passionate kiss and make out. Cheeks flushing like teenagers caught making out by parents, the two quickly got up, grabbed the photos and left as fast as they could.
As he took a bite out of his grilled salmon, Hitsugaya looked at the photo lovingly. He made sure no one was around before he allowed a smile to break out onto his face. He would love to go back to that photo booth, though he would never out right admit it. It was something the world of the living offered for him, something so small but so significant.
It offered him a memory in print.
"Honey, I'm going to take a shower first." Karin stepped into Hitsugaya's bedroom. She had just gotten off work and was in dire need of a good cool shower. While she prepared herself for a shower, Hitsugaya, who already had his shower, was preparing a small dinner. Sandwiches. Small and simple, not fuss or mess.
She untied her uniform and slipped the fabric off her shoulder. She rolled it up and brought it with her into the bathroom. She threw it under the sink and was about to remove her undergarments when she noticed something on the mirror. There was a small picture stuck to the side of the mirror. Karin stepped closer to the mirror and immediately; a smile came onto her lips. The picture had Hitsugaya and her hugging one another and smiling at the camera. It was a genuine smile from him and she got to see it on a hard copy. Karin sighed as she gazed at it.
"Karin, do you want tomatoes in your sandwich?" Hitsugaya called from outside.
"Uh, yeah sure!" Karin replied.
And to think she used to believe only foolish couples would take pictures in a photo booth.
This is a request one shot from chiharuSAICHI :}
I hope you love it chiharuSAICHI ! I wanted to post this much earlier but I had problems uploading any word doc file to fanfiction.
For two days it had this problem but thankfully as you can see, it has already been rectified. Or...hmm not sure if there was just a glitch or something. Oh well.
Anyway, I really hope she likes *prays really, really hard*!! And the request-pause thing has been lifted since I have more time now. I hope.
Hope you enjoyed it!
(And by the way, if you guys ever want to request something a little T-rated or maybe M-rated, it's totally fine. Don't be shy haha! Just so you know, I only write the beginning, I let you guys imagine the rest, know what I mean? *wink*)