Yo, my new fic. Warning: Serious OOCness, sorry
Right, this is based on Cinderella (as you can see from the title of this thing), aight, it's not actually an adaptation of it, just a spin-off because the characters that I wanted to focus this on didn't fit in with the whole Cinderella thing.
Anywho, please be sure to lemme know what you think on this...The writing style, I mean. That is what I post fanfics for.
Disclaimer: I don own Bleach, if I did I wouldn't be broke as fuck
There was to be a ball. Apparently, the Prince was looking for a wife and every woman in the kingdom was invited.
"Hey, Cinderella, what the hell? Didn't I just request a glass of milk?" Rukia Kurosaki said harshly.
Karin Kurosaki's eye twitched. "It's Karin." She said through gritted teeth.
Rukia scoffed. "Whatever. Just get my milk already."
Karin was about to retort when her brother strode into the room.
"Karin, do what she says." Ichigo said sharply.
Karin ground her teeth even tighter, bowed and left the room to go to the kitchens. It hadn't been long since Rukia had been living in this household. Isshin Kurosaki, Karin and Ichigo's father, had died some months back and this is what had made Ichigo return home and he'd surprised everyone by bringing a wife with him. He was now in charge of this household and he loved his wife dearly and he made sure that she got whatever she wanted, even if that included making the lives of his younger sisters (or more specifically, Karin's life) a living hell. Karin despised Rukia and she made no show of hiding it. That was probably why Rukia picked on her the most and always reported her misbehaviour to her husband.
Karin had always been a bit of a rebel. She didn't go with the flow, had never gone with the flow. Whereas Rukia and her twin sister Yuzu were quite girly, Karin was a bit of a tomboy. She didn't wear makeup, she didn't wear overly long, flowing dresses, and she never tried styling her hair so that it looked shiny or attractive and she liked to indulge in sports, but she seldom got a chance to do so nowadays. Her family practically treated her like a slave and it was all Rukia's fault; she'd turned Karin's siblings against her. Her twin sister, Yuzu, used to be the sweetest thing that ever lived but she'd begun to turn nasty after Rukia turned up. Of course, part of her sudden "nastiness" had something to do with Isshin's death; the father and daughter used to be very close, but Yuzu turned to Rukia (of all people) after their brother came back and she didn't hesitate to back Rukia up whenever Karin defied her.
Karin was about to slink away and forget Rukia's glass of milk when a voice spoke up behind her.
"Karin-chan, you weren't going to disobey Rukia Nee-chan and Ichigo Nii-Sama, were you?"
Karin abruptly straightened up and her expression became carefully blank. "Oh, Hinamori-chan." She turned around and faced the girl with the dark hair. Hinamori Momo lived with them; she'd come here when Rukia and Ichigo had come. She was Rukia's cousin and she hadn't had anywhere to go so Ichigo, out of his need to ascertain that Rukia got whatever she wanted, had invited her to stay in the Kurosaki household for as long as she wanted. Karin disliked Hinamori...she disliked her as much as she disliked Rukia, but she'd never say such a thing. "Of course not." She grit her teeth again and went to get some milk and a glass.
Hinamori smiled and took the glass from her after she'd poured the milk and began to walk away. "I'll take this to Rukia-nee."
"Punk-ass little..." Karin began under her breath.
Hinamori turned to look back at her in the threshold of the kitchen. "What was that, Karin-chan?"
"Nothing." Karin turned away from her and exited through another doorway. She banged the door shut behind her and strode angrily towards the main entrance.
Ever since Isshin's death, her life had been miserable. It was a known fact that Karin wasn't an average girl; if she believed in something, she'd stand up for it, so she always stood up to Rukia but Ichigo always pushed her back down. She was hurting, though she'd never admit it. It hurt her that the two people she'd had left in the world had turned against her because of some haughty noble's sister (apparently, Rukia was from a wealthy family). She hated Rukia. She hated Ichigo for marrying Rukia. She hated Yuzu for siding with Rukia against her. She hated that Rukia requested that her cousin share everything that was rightfully Karin's. She hated that the other four people in this household beside herself treated her cruelly, just because she hated Rukia. SHE HATED THIS PLACE. She pushed the huge front doors open and strode out of the manor. How she hated this place. She was going to run away one day and that day would be soon.
I know, that stupid ball's coming up, how about the time of that? She thought as a bright flicker of hope ignited within her heart. But it died almost straightaway, by her own will. She wasn't going anywhere until she was good and ready, until she was sure that she could hurt her family as much as they'd hurt her. They deserved to die.
She instantly regretted thinking such a thing. It's not their fault that Rukia's such an influential bitch. Rukia deserves to die.
She punched the wall nearest to her, quite hard, to relieve some of the tension she was feeling and was glad when pain invaded every nerve in her knuckles. Some of her skin had been scraped off and blood immediately welled up around the affected areas. She looked at the red liquid seeping out of her and sighed.
If only mom and dad were still here, she thought miserably. She didn't remember much of her mother but she knew that the fair haired Masaki Kurosaki had been a kind and beautiful lady with a soft touch and the best voice. After Masaki died, the family had fallen apart and Isshin had tried to preserve it as only he could, through his stupid theatrics. He hadn't been a very successful father, had even been downright annoying, but he'd tried, which was way more than Ichigo was doing now. Karin had once admired her brother's courage (he'd fought to help her and Yuzu on numerous occasions) but ever since their mother had died, he'd always worn a scowl. She'd always wished he'd stop scowling and start smiling. He had stopped scowling, and it was on account of Rukia, but Karin didn't like her because she felt that the petite haired woman was taking advantage of her brother. How perfectly ironic that she, the one who had wished he'd stop frowning all the time, was now the only thing that made him do so. Stupid Rukia, I'll get you for corrupting Ichi-nii. She thought bitterly, licking the blood off her knuckled and spitting it out.
"Oh, my, Ichigo, you didn't tell me you had sisters. And twin sisters at that!" A delighted Rukia exclaimed as she came in through the door and spotted the younger girls. Ichigo bade a servant to take her bags as she put them down and went to greet the girls. "Good afternoon, how do you do?" Rukia bowed formally to the girls and they did likewise, wondering who this raven-haired young woman was. Rukia then proceeded to give Yuzu and Karin a hug, taking them by surprise. Yuzu hesitantly hugged the older girl back but Karin stood stiffly, not making a move. Another girl came in after Rukia and she also had dark hair and she was about the same height as Rukia. She greeted the twins and they bowed once more, wondering what the hell was going on. "So, who's who?" Rukia asked, overly enthusiastic.
"I'm Yuzu." Yuzu chirped.
"Who the hell're you?" Karin asked rudely.
A dark shadow passed over Rukia's features as she regarded her. But it was only momentary, soon she was smiling again. It was a fake smile, Karin could tell. The woman was only pretending to take an interest for Ichigo's sake. This annoyed her; she didn't like pretension. "Well, Karin, I'm Rukia Kurosaki."
The twins had gone wide-eyed, though Karin tried to keep her emotions to herself, like she often did. Yuzu squealed and grasped the woman's hands and jumped up and down yelling, "Ichi-nii got a wife! Welcome to our home, Rukia-san!" Karin had only stared, neither joyous nor sad. Emotions weren't really her type of thing.
It had all gone downhill from there for Rukia and Karin. Karin had tended to avoid speaking to the older woman but sometimes Rukia would ask her and question and she'd answer rather abruptly. This had annoyed Ichigo several times so he'd snapped at her to be more civil. Karin had been stunned the first time he'd said that; Ichigo had never said anything like "be civil" in his life so where had that come from? This woman had changed him, no doubt about it, and Karin didn't like this change.
"Is there really any point? I said I'd marry when I'm ready!" Toushirou Hitsugaya exploded. In order to establish the rarity of the event of Toushirou losing his cool, the situation is that his mother has been talking incessantly for the last hour about the upcoming ball and his choosing a "nice and well rounded girl".
"But Toushirou, darling, when is that going to be? You're already eighteen." His mother, Chikako Hitsugaya- wife of the King, argued.
"Mother," Hitsugaya began, taking a deep breath, "I respect that you are just looking out for me but really, I can look after myself. I'm not a child anymore." He stood up from the table and made to go but Chikako grasped his arm gently. He looked down at her. Her gaze turned pleading for a second but immediately cleared and she let go of him.
"Your father is ailing and he expects you to have a wife by the time he..." She said softly. She had tried to keep it steady and blank but her voice cracked on the last words and she didn't continue.
Hitsugaya's eyes softened momentarily. It wasn't often that he saw the "soft side" to his mother. She was very strict when it came to emotions. A curtain of long, white hair fell across her face, hiding her features from view. His gaze hardened again. He turned around and strode out of the room. He needed to think.
Karin always went to a deserted field some mile or so away from her house. It was a calm place and she frequently went there. It had a grove of trees at the end of it and sometimes she'd go walking among them. She'd spent some evenings here, not caring that she might create a fuss back home. Well, even if her family did need her, it'd only be for "slave" purposes.
She sighed in relaxation as she walked into her field. The sun was beginning its steady descent into the west. Sunset was a little way away.
She liked watching the sunset; it brought about with it a sense of...finality that all things come to an end, just as the day. Maybe someday we'll be a normal family. She thought. She knew that, unless Rukia left, that was not a possibility. She would have been happy for her brother, because he'd found someone who made him smile, but she didn't like Rukia. Goodness knows, she'd tried to get along with the petite woman but she just could not make herself be companionable towards her. And then there was Rukia's orders and requests, which Ichigo (the lovesick idiot) was always willing to carry out. Karin sometimes wondered how the two of them met and whether it'd be possible for her to go back in time and prevent it from happening (if only, she sighed).
She walked through the grove of trees and leant against one of the thick-trunked ones at the front and looked up at the sky. All the different colours, the reds, the pinks, yellows, oranges, even blues made her smile as she looked on. A piece called The Sunset by the one they call God, a true masterpiece, she thought. It would have sounded sarcastic if she'd said it aloud, as did almost everything she said. She found that cynicism was a good way of making people hate her because they thought she hated them and, at this moment, she hated everybody.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" A cold voice cut through her thoughts.
Karin jumped up, startled, and looked about for the owner of the disembodied voice.
"Up here."
She looked up at the tree she was leaning on. A boy in rags sat on a thick branch, looking at the distant horizon. She frowned and then clambered up the tree herself. "What're you doing up here?" She asked the boy, sitting on a branch opposite his.
"Same as you; thinking." He replied expressionlessly.
Karin gazed at him briefly, trying to discern some features but none were visible. He had on a cap, which hid his hair and eyes from view and some dirt speckled his face and arms and his bare feet. From his build, she could tell he was strong; his shoulders were quite broad and his bare arms pretty muscular, though not too muscular. He was quite tall, easily taller than her. His age was undetectable. "About what?" She asked, turning back to the sunset.
"Stuff." He replied, hugging his knees tighter to his chest.
They sat in silence as they watched.
"What happened to your hand?" The boy asked after a few minutes, though he didn't sound in the least bit interested.
Karin frowned and looked down at the hand in question. She'd forgotten the throbbing angry red mark there. When did he notice that? She hadn't noticed his head turn to look. He's creepy, she thought. "Nothin, just punched somethin." She said vaguely.
"Hmm..." He didn't look at her, just continued watching the horizon.
Karin shot him a wary glance before turning her attention in the same direction. This guy's definitely weird. She noticed a faint purplish scar on his right bicep and wondered what had happened there, but she didn't ask. She tried to ignore him as the sun dipped lower and lower, until it would eventually sink below the scope of their vision.
"Do you come down here often?" He asked after another lengthy silence.
Karin frowned once again. What was with the questions? "I guess so. Do you?"
He shrugged, a slight movement, but didn't speak.
Karin huffed to herself but didn't say anything.
"What's your name?" He asked.
Karin stifled a sigh of irritation and answered snappishly, "Kurosaki."
He seemed a little taken aback at that. He sat up just a little straighter. "Am I offending you...Kurosaki?"
She didn't answer, just sat hugging her knees.
The boy shrugged to himself and climbed off the tree. Karin noticed that he was quite graceful and quick. "Goodbye." He ran off quickly. She noticed that he ran lithely, with practiced precision. What kinda of commoner is that? She thought questioningly. He wore tatty clothes, he looked to be strong, he spoke properly (meaning there was no slang or any colloquialisms in his manner of speech) and he seemed very...self-possessed and...accurate. That's no normal peasant, she speculated, watching the boy's figure as he sped off into the distance. All the friends that she used to have (before her father died and her life became exceptionally hellish), all the boys she'd hung out with had been of the lower class and she'd known their habits inside out and that boy rushing off was not like any of them. She got many of her own habits from hanging about with them, that was why most of the time, she was more like an ill-behaved peasant as opposed to a respectable lord's daughter. It used to annoy her father sometimes that his daughter, who was from a family of such high status, would be seen in the company of boorish peasants. She'd hated that aspect of her father, other than that he'd been a good man.
She didn't spare the boy any more thoughts as she turned back to moping about her family.
When she got home, Ichigo gave her a lecture about wandering off on her own until so late in the evening.
"Save it, Ichi-nii, just cuz you got nobody else to manipulate." Karin retorted. This earned her smack across the face. She stared at him, dumbstruck. He rarely hit her.
"I'd watch that sharp trap of yours." He said dangerously. "Just remember who you're talkin to."
She glared as she pushed past him. He must be really mad today. After she'd gotten up a few stairs, she paused and turned around. Ichigo had just been about to enter the kitchens. "Has she muddled your mind that much, Ichi-nii? Don't your family matter anymore?" She called.
Ichigo turned around, anger in his eyes. "I told you to watch your tongue, brat!"
Karin felt a flare of resentment towards him. "What if I don't? You gonna hit me? Go ahead! Kill me! I got no purpose!"
He snarled but turned back and roughly shoved the door open, entered the room and banged it shut behind him.
Karin's teeth were grit once more as she thundered up the stairs.
"Don't run up the stairs. We can hear you all the way from the dining room." A female voice cut through her thoughts.
Karin suppressed an angry growl as she glanced back at her sister-in-law. "Does it look like I give a shit?" She said, feigning calm.
Rukia narrowed her eyes at her and set her features in a disapproving frown. Karin sighed inwardly; this was all going to be reported to the man of the house later, no doubt.
Karin ignored her and stomped up the rest of the stairs and to her room. She'd even had to move out of the room she used to have, because Hinamori had wanted that one and she'd told Rukia, and Rukia had politely asked her husband if her cousin could have the room that Karin had. Ichigo hadn't even batted an eyelid before he'd agreed. Karin had had a massive argument with him but it'd all mounted to nothing. She ended up moving out and, just to escape the others, she'd moved up to a small, secluded room in the attic. No one had bothered to ask her to choose a room on the same floor as everybody else. They hadn't cared, and they still didn't care.
She banged the door shut after herself and dropped onto the small bed where she slept. She rolled up into a small ball and pulled the covers up to her chins. Just before she fell asleep, her thoughts turned to the boy she'd seen in her field.
Strange girl, Hitsugaya thought as he walked back to the palace. It was under the cover of the night and people would, no doubt, be searching all over for him. He had no problem going about the city in this state. Nobody batted an eyelid when peasants go by.
He'd got some old, normal-looking shirt of his and he'd put it through as much physical strain as he could until he was satisfied that it looked tatty enough so he could pass himself off as being a commoner. He'd repeated the process with a pair of pants and a cap (he'd had to hide his hair and eyes because they were his most definitive features, after all) and smeared some dirt across his skin. He didn't know where to get any poorly made shoes from so he'd left those out of his outfit altogether. The idea of the outfit was so that he could be alone, without having everyone bow to him all the time and all the servants asking if he was well and whether he would like anything. It was quite annoying. Sometimes, he just wanted to be treated normally, like that girl with the dark-hair had treated him today. She had talked to him as if he were her equal, which he believed he was.
His philosophy was that all humans were created equal and deserved to be treated as such. Of course, the disguise was also so that he'd have a better idea of how the people lived. Sometimes, he'd spend a day or two in that outfit, out on the streets, so he could get the experience. His mother worried dreadfully about him on such days. He wanted as much knowledge as he could get on the lives of those who served him so that when he'd have to take the throne, he could work towards giving the people back what they deserved.
His time to rule would come soon; his father, Kaito Hitsugaya – the monarch of this kingdom- was ailing. He'd been suffering from some cancer for months now and the doctors said that he was going to die soon. Hitsugaya didn't know how to deal with that. He didn't want to go to the stupid ball and he didn't want to have to choose a wife but his father had been the one that had requested that his son be married before his time came.
He wanted to sleep now. It was getting quite late; it took a while to get back to the palace from the field where he'd been at.
He ducked into his spare room when he was sure that nobody was about. This room was under lock and key. This was where he kept his private things. The clothes he'd been wearing before were stashed in here. He got changed quickly (he'd wash his dirty feet when he got to his own room), and, listening carefully at the door to make sure that it was deserted, he dashed out, locked the door and went on his way to his bedroom. He'd spend some time in that field tomorrow; it was greatly calming.
OK, I been at this story for about a week and a half now so I decided that it was finally time to put it up. I've been fussing over this endlessly so if anybody sees any major/minor mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know, K?
R&R