I just want to give a shout-out to GrnEydDvl and her fanfic "On the Wrong Foot." She really inspired me to write this fanfic! Thank you!

The LOVE that bleached FIRE and ICE

An arrangement made at birth finds Karin and Toshiro married to one another. But maybe this might possibly be a good thing…and maybe this might possibly be love. AU KKxTH slight MHxSA

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

AU Warning: Characters can and will appear OOC.

Terminology:

Black Ships: Term coined by Japanese to describe the appearance of the American naval officer Commodore Matthew C. Perry's ships in June 1853. Because of the smoke coming from the steamships, they were dubbed "black ships."

Daimyo: A feudal lord of Japan who was a large landowner.

Kushi-dango: Sweet skewered dumplings.

Sokaku: Was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter or Japanese could leave the country on penalty of death. Violated in June 1853 when Perry arrived in the port of Nagasaki with his ships.

Wataboshi: The veil to a wedding kimono. (I actually made Karin's larger; regular wataboshi cover everything except the bride's face.)

My hate of you burns.

The fire of me threatens

to melt your cool soul.

The KICKING GIRL and the GREEN EYED BOY

"What is this?" Karin asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper—a dangerous sign.

"Wh-wha-what do you mean?" Isshin Kurosaki nervously asked. He saw the angry, fiery glint in her eyes. He had every reason to be fearful of his eighteen-year-old daughter right now.

"I mean," Karin's foot suddenly slammed against her father's shin, "what is this?" She pointed to the two visitors, a boy and girl with sewing kits, standing at the clinic's door.

"Karin…chan," Isshin slowly picked himself from off the ground. His hand gingerly covered his leg; he was going to have one large bruise later. "You remember Michiru Ogawa-chan and Mizuiro Kojima-kun. They went to the same school as Ichigo and work at Uryu Ishida-san's shop—"

"No! What are they doing here? Again? What's going on?" Karin knew her father was up to something. For the past week, he had been sneaking around, leaving the clinic at weird points of the day and speaking in hushed voices with certain visitors whenever she was around. It wasn't hard for her to figure out it had something to do with her; she was the only child still living in the house.

And she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Today.

Isshin sighed. There was no use in hiding it anymore. He put his hands on her shoulders, gripping the material of her gourd-patterned yukata. "Karin, when you were born, your mother and I arranged a marriage for—"

"What?"

"It was to the son of a friend of your mother's. We haven't spoken to them in years. I sent a letter to the family about a month and a half ago and received one back last week. The young man, Toshirou Hitsugaya's, parents have long since died, but he has agreed to the arrangement."

Karin threw his hands off. "You're joking, right?" Her dark eyes flashed to the guests before zeroing in on her dad; all three jumped at the look. "Why do I have to have an arranged marriage? Ichi-nii and Yuzu didn't!" Her older brother and younger twin had been married long ago. About a few years back, Ichigo had married Rukia Kuchiki of the Kuchiki Clan and Yuzu to Jinta, the son of her dad's best friend, Kisuke Urahara, last spring.

"Ichigo did have an arranged marriage to another girl, Orihime Inoue, but her brother canceled it when another suitor offered a larger dowry. And your mother and I did not know we were having twins until you and Yuzu were born. We wanted to arrange one for her, but we never did." He put his hands on her shoulders once again and gripped them carefully; Karin shook underneath his touch. "Right now, having you be married would not be such a bad thing."

He was referring to the rumors that had been circulating through Karakura in the last few weeks. According to the papers, black ships had landed in Nagasaki Harbor with men and weapons no one in Japan had seen before. The leader of the men had made it to Kurihama and supposedly had threatened the emperor's life...at least that's what people were saying. Everyone was on edge; no one had ever violated the sakoku before and lived or returned to Japan to tell about it. And the daimyo, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, wasn't saying anything to anybody.

When Karin had first heard about it, she blew it off. Nagasaki was a long way from Karakura and everything going around was hearsay. But now, as she had realized that a bunch of ships were one of the causes to her problems, she was beginning to think about going to Nagasaki herself. She would drive them all away bare-handed.

Even if that was possible, she wasn't sure exactly how to go about it—not when everyone seemed too scared about what was happening.

Luckily, her anger was more potent than her fear. "When?" She looked up at her father, her face in a scowl. Her father noticed an unfamiliar glassy appearance to her eyes and hesitated a little bit.

"Two days. The marriage will take place on his estate in the Seriteri District, the thirteenth junction. Your things will be sent there tomorrow—"

If, Karin realized, she kicked her father in the shin any harder, she'd break her own toe. "You were going to tell me all of this tomorrow, weren't you?" She was beyond angry; a word hadn't been made yet for how angry she felt. If she stayed there any longer, she was going to lose it; the whole place was going to come down in her fury.

As quickly as she could, she ran through the house searching for her pair of sandals and her longtime companion, her ball. She raced out the house to the streets outside, but not before flashing those two tailors the dirtiest look she could muster under such circumstances.

Isshin watched them jump again at her furious glance and sighed. He slowly picked himself up and walked to the large picture of his wife hanging on the wall. Clad in her own wedding kimono, she looked down at him with kind, brown eyes.

"Masaki," he touched the picture somberly and sighed again, "I'm sorry. I didn't…handle that very well."

"Hitsugaya-sama! Hitsugaya-sama!" The voice calling out to him was louder this time. Toshirou's eyes finally focused on the hand waving fiercely inches from his face. His cold, green eyes dragged over to the beautiful face of his assistant, Rangiku Matsumoto.

"What, Matsumoto?" His voice was colder and harsher than he intended it to be. "Have we made it yet?" He looked over the shoulder of the man pulling their carriage on the paved street past shops, teahouses, and street vendors.

"No, not yet. I was trying to ask if you're okay." Matsumoto's icy blue eyes looked over at him with concern.

He looked away, already detaching himself from the conversation. "I guess." At this time, the streets of Karakura were heavy with the onset of people, all shopping and moving about the congested street. The hot sun bore down on him, annoying him ever so slightly.

He was getting married in two days—worse than that, to some girl he didn't even know. About a month ago, he had received a letter from a local doctor, Isshin Kurosaki. His name was a little familiar; Toshirou vaguely remembered his mother talking about a friend who went by the same last name when he was little. The letter had brought his attention to an arranged marriage made at his birth to his eldest daughter, Karin Kurosaki.

Its news was definitely a surprise to him.

An unwelcome one.

It all seemed surreal, but true to word, when he began looking, the papers were found. No one had ever told him about it, but he supposed that in the years after the deaths of his parents and grandmother, it had probably been forgotten by everyone. Even Matsumoto, the Empress of Gossip, couldn't remember hearing anything about it.

Toshirou had brooded for weeks, trying to put his thoughts together, but about a week ago he had come to a decision. A letter had been quickly sent back accepting the proposal with promise to handle the finances for the entire ceremony.

And now her things were arriving tomorrow.

He gritted his teeth. No matter how cavalier he was trying to be, the thought of someone suddenly invading his space bothered him. This Kurosaki girl was a complete stranger and though he could only remember the positive things her mother had said about the family, he wasn't looking forward to being around a bratty, teenaged kid. It didn't matter that the letter said they were the same age; a kid was a kid.

The only reason he could come up for still going through with this was his parents. If nothing else, he would honor their decision.

He squinted against the hard glare of the sun. "What else is left, Matsumoto?"

"Not much. Ishida-san promises your kimono will be done and sent to you tomorrow morning and the chairs and tables will be arriving as well. The cooks are preparing the food and the courtyard is being set up for the ceremony. The priest and the Kurosaki party are arriving the morning of the wedding. And the room you requested is being cleared to make space for her things. Everything is already taken care of!" The happy look on her face dimmed in lieu of his dark one.

Everything's already ready for her?

"Ta-i-cho," It was a nickname and tone Matsumoto only used when she wanted to get on Hitsugaya's good side. "Do you want to take a break? We can be a little late for this next errand. We could get some kushi-dango!"

He shook his head. "No, Matsumoto." He tapped the carrier's shoulder. "Stop here!" The man complied and soon Hitsugaya was getting down. He looked up at Matsumoto's confused face. "I want to take a walk. I'll head back to the estate later. Go get some dumplings if you want—but no sake!" He tapped the man's shoulder again and watched the carriage pull off in its slow start.

"But, Hitsugaya-sama!" Matsumoto called. But Toshirou was already walking away.

Karin kicked her ball, careful not to bump into anything or anyone milling about in the streets. With her fluid movement around the groups of people walking in and out of shops and stores, she was a spark of wildfire through a field of couples, little kids, dogs, and street venders. Sweat fell down her brow in trickles. She veered her course towards the small, wooden bridge.

She still hadn't returned home. This was taking longer than her usual three hours; she was still mad. Right now, being outside with her ball was the only reason why she hadn't gone back home and beaten her father until he couldn't walk anymore. The imaginary face on her ball kept switching from her dad to her mystery fiancé (his was more a crude drawing of a face than a legitimate person) and back again.

How could she be married? How could she be somebody's wife? Marriage was the last thing on her mind. Her friends in the neighborhood were all boys, but she had never even had a crush on any of them. None. She couldn't be like Yuzu: she hated cooking; her sewing was atrocious; and despite the several lessons she had sat through, she was still waiting to be convinced of the importance of flower arrangements and tea ceremonies. Was that what men really looked for in their wives?

Even as she thought that having an arranged marriage meant that she probably didn't have to know those things to be courted, the thought of being trapped with a guy—probably a fat, sleazy, pompous, money-grubbing guy—made her angry all over again.

Her foot connected with the ball too hard and it bounced away from her, under the rail of the bridge and into the creek below. She watched as it fell into the water and began to float away from her.

"No, no, NO!" Karin raced through the crowd to the bridge's rail and watched as her ball went farther and farther away from her. It's too late to get it now. She fell to her knees and leaned on the rail. Her forehead felt warm as she pressed it on her arm. She hadn't cried since she was four, but today was starting to look more and more like a good time to start the habit.

How could today get any worse?

"What's wrong?" She looked up to see a boy not much older than her with spiky, snow-white hair looking down at her. He was holding a cone of green shaved ice in his hand.

She wasn't aware that he had been behind her; it took her aback a bit. "My ball…" she pointed to the object cruising in the water. He glanced at it and her for a second before putting the cone into her hand and running down the bridge and along the creek. He ran in smooth, comfortable strides, his hair being the only thing that helped her track him amongst the men fishing and the clusters of laughing kids playing with their toy boats on the edge.

Toshirou finally reached a clear spot where he could make a clean grab for the ball, lying on the ground with the effort. He was stalling; he was supposed to be making his way back to the estate. But he didn't try to think about it too much; this was as much distraction as he needed from not thinking about his mystery wife.

His fingertips brushed the ball but as he tried to roll it towards him, it slipped from his grasp. It continued going on its course down the creek; there was no way he could get it back now. He stood and made his way back to the girl on the bridge empty-handed.

"I was close…"

"It's okay. Thanks for trying." Karin looked at the boy. He wasn't much taller than her, maybe five-nine, still short for a boy. From the look of him and his impromptu run, she could tell that he spent some of his time outside. He stared back at her with sea-green eyes, watching as she picked herself from off the ground.

"Do you have another at home?" He asked, brushing off his kimono. With its silver-gray color and his white hair, he looked like an icicle in the summer heat.

"No," she handed the stranger back his cone, "that was my only one. And I really needed it today." She trailed off and he fell silent as she mourned its loss.

"Here." He was holding her wrist and pressing something in her palm with cold and wet fingers. In her hand were coins, enough for her to buy a shaved ice cone of her own.

"No, no, I can't accept this. You don't have to give me money."

His voice was now a bit standoffish. "Take it. I don't need it." He gave her one more look before going down the bridge again. "Ja ne." She wanted to run after him, but there was no reason for her to follow. So she just watched him submerge into the crowd.

"Thank you." She doubted if he had heard her. Her lips curved into her first smile of the day before glancing down at the coins before clenching them in her hand. Reality was weighing down on her head again: she had lost her only ball and was getting married in two days. She really didn't have a reason to be on the bridge talking to boys she didn't know anymore.

I might as well go home. She began her sojourn back, coins still in hand.

"Karrrrin," a happy voice pierced through her dreams. Her futon was sunk with the weight of someone else and a hand was gently shaking her awake. Karin's eyes opened to see her twin staring at her, looking very angelic in a lemon-pink kimono and sunflowers in her hair.

Karin uncurled her body from its fetal position. She hadn't really moved from that spot in a day. "Yuzu? What are you doing here?" She allowed her twin to hug her tightly.

"Me and Ichi-nii came here for your wedding! I am soo excited for you!" She pulled back to look at her fraternal twin.

Karin and Yuzu couldn't have been any more different than night and day. At age eighteen, the only thing they still had in common apart from being related was their height, five-seven. Yuzu looks were definitely from their mother: light-brown, shoulder-length hair; glowing skin; wide, brown eyes; and the same pouty lips and round cheeks. Even her chest was bigger.

Karin, on the other hand, took more after her father: she had the same onyx-colored, almond-shaped eyes, and high cheekbones. Her mouth was smaller though, the bottom lip a bit fuller than the top. Her skin was a bit darker from the days she spent outside in the sun. Though always called a pretty girl by her father's patients, she felt the only remotely feminine thing about her was her back-length, jet-black hair.

Her twin grinned excitedly. "You must be so happy!"

She didn't have the heart to break the news to her obviously bubbly, romantically-minded younger sister. Karin looked over at the corner of her room she'd spent yesterday avoiding, the one where her white wedding kimono and wataboshi stood. It had arrived the day before and had been glaring at her menacingly. Karin gave it a dirty look. "Wait—Ichi-nii is here?" Karin rose from her bed and ran out, ignoring the confused look on her twin's face.

Her hurried footsteps took her to the kitchen where she heard voices coming from. The place was packed as she saw her father and Jinta sitting at the table over their breakfast. But her eyes immediately went to her older brother and sister-in-law. He stood at once and enveloped her in a hug.

"Hey, Karin," he stared down at her with his amber-colored eyes. "Did you just wake up? I thought Yuzu went up to get you ready."

She basked in his warmth. "What are you doing here?"

"We couldn't miss your wedding, could we?" Rukia asked, careful not to pin her stomach against Karin as she hugged her. Rukia, Karin's pixie-like sister-in-law, was six months along; in a few months she was going to be a mother. Karin grinned at her, her worries momentarily dissipated.

"I wish you guys weren't coming just because I'm getting married."

"Yeah. We might've had time to play ball. Do you still have it?" She shook her head sadly. "Oh. But hey, since you'll be in Sereiteri now, you'll be closer; we can play at the Kuchiki Manor."

She shrugged. After today when her fate was sealed, she doubted that was going to happen.

"Oi, oi! Time now to get Karin moving; we have a wedding to get to." Jinta said from his seat at the table.

"Yes! With my lovely daughter-in-law Rukia-chan giving birth to my idiot son's first child, and my eldest daughter getting married, I am the happiest—"

Karin hit her dad hard before going back upstairs where Yuzu was definitely waiting for her. "Shut up."

Because her wataboshi was so big and covered her entire face, she never saw the trip to Sereiteri—just felt the carriage continuously going and stopping for the hour and a half as it went through the streets. All she could see was white; it was like being in a prison chamber. The carriage stopped for good this time, and she allowed someone to guide her out.

"Ooh, it's pretty!"

"Impressive."

"Yes it is! My Karin will be taken care of very well here!"

"Oi, Rukia, don't move too fast. You can't move like that any—Oi! Don't hit me!"

Karin lifted her veil and spied out. In front of her was an iron-wrought fence that stretched a quarter-way down the block. Behind that was a large house. She could only see the top floor, but she still stared in awe at the gray roof shingles and sparkling windows gleaming down at her. She looked at the formidable front gate. A large stone dragon stood at its side, coiled and ready to attack; on the other side was a large leaping stone fish. She read the sign at the top of the gate: "10-Ugendo."

"Hello! You're here!" A happy, sing-song voice greeted them all. From the other side, a tall and beautiful woman was bounding towards them and waving. As she opened the gate, Karin noted the lady's expensive sky-blue, lily-patterned kimono. "I am Rangiku Matsumoto. Please call me 'Matsumoto.' I handle all the affairs of the Ugendo Estate." She grinned genteelly at the salutations and Isshin's request for her to look after his eldest daughter.

The dark-eyed bride eyed the lovely Matsumoto's strawberry-blonde hair and her exposed buxom chest. "I'm Karin."

"You're her!" Matsumoto bowed deeply. "Welcome, Karin Kurosaki-san. I'm very excited to meet you. Everyone is already here and waiting for you. If you could please follow me, I'll be happy to guide you to the back." Karin donned the veil again and obligingly waited to be led.

Hitsugaya stood in his wedding hakama, trying to adjust the family crest on his kimono. Things were momentarily delayed and time was running out to do what he really wanted: to talk to this Kurosaki girl. He didn't know what he was going to say, just that every bone in his body wanted him to say something before it was too late. Regardless if she was a spoiled brat or a kid, he needed to talk to her before they were…stuck together.

"Hitsugaya-sama! She's here!" He and the congregation looked up to see Matsumoto leading a procession behind her. A priest stood at the front in his white and red hakama, two attendants flanking each side. Two tall men followed and further back, a girl with light-brown hair and a pink sunflower-patterned kimono did the same. A sparse group of people followed behind her and a large red umbrella loomed overhead.

Toshirou saw the girl holding the hand of another unseen person. That was probably his bride, but he couldn't see past the much taller men.

"Hitsugaya-dono," he looked over to the head priest, "now that the bride is here, we can begin."

He sighed. It couldn't be helped. "Fine. Please feel free to begin."

The wedding was lost to Karin. She wasn't allowed to lift her veil, so everything was just…bleached to her, save a few snatches of words here and there. The groom, whoever he was, stood beside her, stock-still. They weren't supposed to speak until the very end.

In what seemed very far away, she could hear two people crying: the first voice was her sister's, but the second's was lost on her.

Aren't I supposed to be the one crying? In two days, she had lost all of her freedom to a stupid arranged married made before she was born and created because she was born first. And now, her own family was sending her off to her death.

She blinked a couple of times. Nothing.

"Toshirou Hitsugaya-dono," the priest brought her attention back to the end of her life as she knew it, "do you take Karin Kurosaki-sama as your wife?"

There was a pregnant pause. "Yes." He finally answered.

"Karin Kurosaki-sama, do you take Toshirou Hitsugaya-dono as your husband?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"May Kami bless your marriage. I pronounce you man and wife." They bowed.

Toshirou turned to his new wife and lifted her wataboshi revealing the sharp chin, lips, a nose, and two angry, black eyes. He was staring into the face of the girl from two days ago on the bridge. The one with the lost ball. "You? You're her?" She was the last girl he expected to see, let alone be married to. When he had walked away from her that evening, he had written her off as a stranger; it would have been improper to stay with or think about her when he was getting married.

But...

But now…

Karin was seething. It was like the entire world was playing a dirty joke on her. This boy, Toshirou Hitsugaya, had met her and hadn't said anything about being married to her at all. All this time she had imagined he was some lazy, fat drunkard. But now she was seeing him for what he really was—a liar.

All the carefully-shelved anger bubbled up inside her, white-hot and terrible. Red spread across her face like a scorch mark.

"I can't believe you! Asshole!" And to the shocked newlywed husband and wedding guests, Karin's fist went in for a sucker punch.

A/N: This is my second fanfic and my first for Bleach. I really enjoyed writing it; it is hands-down the longest chapter I've ever written. But I loved episode 132 and am really excited to do a THxKK fanfic. I wanted to add a few other characters in passing; Tite Kubo has so many that there's virtually no need to add in some extras. I'm excited to hear what you think so please put me on Story/Author Alert and R&R. And if you haven't read "On the Wrong Foot" please do so. I hope that this is something you all will really enjoy. Thank you and see you in the next chapter.