A/N:
Hi! So...this is my second Bleach fic, more precisely HitsuKarin. I
hope you don't chew me too much for not having a fluent English,
since I'm Portuguese.
Okay, so to the details...yes, this may
resemble Beauty and the Beast slightly, but no, it's not. The title,
Touketsu Jubaku, means Frozen Curse, which is pretty much of a hint
for this story.
I hope you enjoy it! Here are the ages of some
characters in this chapter for you to know.
Karin-
Flashback: 10; Current time:19
Yuzu-Flashback: 10; Current
time:19
Isshin-Flashback:37; Current time: 46
Masaki-Flashback:35;
Current time:44
Soft
feet padded against the snow, the sound of childish giggles in the
air, as two small children ran to a small cottage in the dark
afternoon. One of them opened the door, and the two small kids
stopped for a bit to appreciate the soft smell of food and the warmth
of the fireplace, before they took out their shoes and entered. A
girl with short sandy colored hair grinned and instantly ran further
inside the house, calling happily for her mother, while the black
haired girl closed the door and hung her cloak, sniffing and
scrunching her small nose, looking cross eyed at the small piece of
snow in it, and brushing it of with hand, before she entered further
into their house, embracing the warmth that came from the fireplace
and warmed her skin after a long day playing outside. Expecting her
with a warm blanket was her loving mother, Masaki, her soft wavy hair
tied in a braid and resting on her shoulder. The girl gratefully
allowed the woman to put the cloth over her shoulder, sighing in
content, after she joined her sister in the fireplace. Smiling with
the sound of their giggles, the woman handed them each a cup of hot
chocolate. The black-haired girl sighed, leaning her face
close to the steaming liquid, closing her eyes as she appreciated the
warmth. The soft sound of the door opening alerted her senses, yet
she didn't open her eyes, although her attention was not in gathering
heat anymore. She heard her father's heavy footsteps approaching the
table, and then he stopped. Karin opened her eyes slightly, and
glanced at Yuzu, who had visibly paled, her eyes wide, and eagerly
waiting for her father to speak. "Well?" She heard
Masaki's trembling voice from behind her, and then a long, aggravated
silence filled the room, until Isshin finally spoke the words that
sent her mother and Yuzu in a flow of tears. "...They
didn't find anything." Yuzu began sobbing, hiccuping, nearly
going into hysterics when Masaki hugged her. Masaki extended her arm
towards Karin, and gathered the twins in her arms, one crying
hysterically, and the other with a blank face, her eyes dull as she
refused to look at her mother, instead, they darted to the fireplace,
who seemed to be cackling at their misfortune. She knew her brother
would not come back. She had put it clearly in her head the day he
went to do his job at the castle, and then, just as everyone else in
Karakura that worked under the castle, they never came back. Her
hopes that he would return, grinning like a nutcase and demanding
something to eat, never existed. So, she simply sat there, letting
her family drown her in tears, swearing never to spill those salty
waters again.
"You fight like a girl Jinta!" The young man on the ground suddenly stood up and snorted.
"At least I'm not one!" The 19 year old girl rolled her eyes, walking away as if he wasn't worthy of her time-which in her mind, he wasn't.
"Yeah, yeah! Come back when you know how to throw a punch!" Ignoring the yells and insults her future brother-in-law threw at her, she quickly picked up the basket and kept walking to the Shiba Store, already wincing as she heard feminine yells of anger, crashes, and then two girly, but without a doubt male, yells of pain. Opening the door of the store, the three siblings halted in their actions, making Karin explode in laughter at the visage. Ganju was smashed against the wall, Kuukaku trying to claw his hair out, with one foot on Kaien's head, who was apparently trying to yank the large piece of bread from Ganju's mouth, using his right hand to push Kuukaku away by the waist. In the matter of a second, they both straightened up, Ganju coughing the rest of the bread out, Kaien looking at his brother with a disgusted look, and Kuukaku grinning at Karin, who rolled her eyes and walked into the store, setting down the basket and putting the sewing material on the counter, and then turning to put an apron on. The Shiba's ran the dress store in town, all of them being tailors. Aside from helping her father at the clinic, Karin also helped the Shiba's at the store. But not with the sewing. She couldn't sew for the life of her. She just attended to the costumers, ran errands, and sometimes she travelled to deliver some vestments in nearby towns.
Kuukaku laughed, and threw an arm around Karin's shoulders, grinning.
"Mornin' Karin!" The girl grinned back and greeted her back before checking the day's list of errands she had to run. Kaien chuckled, and walked closer to the counter, Ganju trailing behind.
"Had a nice morning? Beating Jinta's ass again I presume?" She nodded, and then smirked knowingly as she saw the wonder trio gather around her with anxious smiles, and crossed her arms.
"Alright, spill it." Kuukaku laughed, and out of nowhere popped up a bottle of sake, taking a sip, wrapping her arm around the girl once more before talking.
"We need 'ya to go over to Seireitei to deliver this kimono to a gal called Nemu. For a wedding or somethin'. But that's not for me to know and for you to care." Kaien smiled and did his famous trick of puppy eyes.
"C'mon Kurosaki, please?" She smirked.
"Well...maayybeee..." But her good will was instantly blown away as Ganju suddenly appeared beside Kaien's cute façade, trying to formulate the same move, looking more like a pig who just got kicked in the face. And kicked he was, courtesy of Kuukaku and Kaien, who now stood above the whimpering man beating him mercilessly.
"You idiot! You looked like a freaking boar over there! Tryin' to kill the girl?!" Karin chuckled, waving her hand dismissively in the air.
"Nah, no worries. I'll go." Kaien and Kuukaku looked over her and grinned.
"Thanks kid." Kaien said, ruffling her black hair into a messy thing. Karin shrugged, and picked up the box with the kimono.
"I had nothing better to do anyways. I'll be back in a couple days. Ja!" She exclaimed as she left, shaking her head in amusement as she heard the chorus of goodbye's from the brothers. Walking no more than 10 feet, she soon arrived to the cottage where she lived, opening the door to find Yuzu cooking what seemed to be a snack. Her twin turned around, her long hair and her pink dress swaying with her movements, as she smiled warmly at her sister.
"Hi Karin!" Karin smiled at Yuzu, putting the box on top of the table, and peering over Yuzu's shoulder to see what she was going to cook. Yuzu smiled, amused, and mouthed an 'oh' before tilting her head in her sister's direction.
"Oh by the way, Karin-chan, Tou-san asked you to go by new supplies for the clinic in Rukongai." Yuzu seemed to shudder as she spoke the name of the village. Karin sighed, and started to look at the list on the table, with the list of the medicine and enough money for the supplies in it.
"Where's Kaa-san and Oyaji?" She called from the table, trying to make a mental list of what she needed in case she lost the paper.
"They went to Chad-san's house. His uncle hurt himself on the woods yesterday." Karin simply nodded, and then went to her room to get some basic belongings that she would need for the 2 day trip. One day to arrive and do her errands, and another day to return,
Opening the old linen messenger bag given to her years ago for the errands, Karin put on the money, the list of the medicines, a knife for protection and if she needed to hunt, and left some space for her to put on food. She straightened, and started to nibble on her thumb, trying to make a mental picture of what she would need, when Yuzu's voice came from the kitchen.
"It's okay for you to go, Karin-chan?" Muttering a small 'huh?', Karin quickly answered.
"Yeah, I need to give this kimono over in Seireitei, and Rukongai's on the way, so no problem." A small moment of silence came, and then Yuzu spoke again.
"I could come with you if you wanted." Karin halted in what she was doing, and walked over to the kitchen, calling for Yuzu's attention with her expression of disbelief.
"Seriously Yuzu? Seriously? C'mon Yuzu, you hate Rukongai! It gives you the creeps." She exclaimed, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, her black leggings under her blue dress brushing against her skin with the movement. Yuzu blushed, and started to stammer.
"I was just wondering if you wanted some company or something." Karin smiled playfully at Yuzu, wrapping an arm around her neck.
"Nah, I'll be fine! I've done this tons of times. Besides, you have to plan your wedding with Jinta-no-teme, right?" Yuzu giggled, and Karin chuckled in accomplishment, retrieving her arm from her twin, stepping back.
"I'll be fine." She repeated. "Now make me some snacks for the trip." She added playfully, vanishing in her room once again, as Yuzu smiled.
Karin came out a few moments later, having changed from the blue dress to a red one, the one she usually used for cold trips, since it was comfortably warm. As she began to tie her boot's shoelaces, Yuzu started placing the food in her messenger back, her motherly side kicking as she started to inspect if there was something Karin could have forgotten. Concluding that everything was well, she smiled as Karin tied the white cloak around her neck, putting on a pair of old black gloves, to avoid getting a frostbite. Yuzu accompanied Karin outside, observing as her sister prepared the Palomino Horse, fastening the straps of the saddle, then proceeding to tied the box behind the saddle, before she swung her leg over the horse's torso and sat up, taking the reins in her hands, smiling down at Yuzu.
"Don't worry," With a flick of her wrist, the horse started trotting, as Karin yelled over her shoulder.
"See you in two days!" Yuzu sighed, and turned around to enter the house.
Karin smiled in content, letting the cold breeze wash over her face, as she heard the birds chirping. Things went along quite well, in her opinion.
Yet, fate works in many strange ways, so she might have something unexpected waiting for her.