Still alive! Barely...

So we figured that holidays for us would be super chilled and relaxing... yeah, right. But regardless, here's another one-shot for you guys!

On Deviant Art, Cyndy-chan has already done a fanart for it! PLEASE go look at it! It's really cute! The link is on our profile because we're not sure about Fan Fiction's policies on this.

Title: Bouquet Touche'

Author: MeteorLeopard (SugarFox)

Kurosaki Karin had never particularly liked shopping very much. It wasn't because she didn't like nice things, or new clothes. She loved new things. There was nothing quite like a new pair of soccer cleats or a fluffy new hoodie for the winter. Though the shopping itself was a completely different story.

Frankly, she thought it was a waste of time. What type of person in their right mind would spend an entire summer day of sunshine and clear skies under the roof of a mall trying on pile after pile of clothing only to walk out empty handed?

Karin had no aversion to shopping centres of any sort, but for goodness sake. If you need something then walk in, buy it and walk out again. Simple as that. Half an hour maximum. It was a way of life for her and something she considered a rule of her existence: the less time she spent indoors, the more time she could spend outdoors. Rather simple really.

Unfortunately, on this specific day, Karin was doomed to spend her entire day shopping. She would also do it without complaint. Yuzu's wedding was tomorrow and even if she wanted to punch the groom, she would refrain for her twin's sake. (Karin had never really warmed to the loudmouth Jinta, and she already made that blatantly clear when she took him aside in a headlock and threatened to do unmentionable things to him if he ever treated her sister badly.) Yuzu needed her and Karin would comply even if she thought she was designated to the worst job ever: shopping for a wedding bouquet that would match her sister's wedding dress.

Karin couldn't think of anything worse. How was she supposed to know what would match a pure white dress? However, Yuzu would not adhere to her protests and, giving Karin a basic rundown on colour scheme and a list of all the florists in Karakura, she was sent off. Now Karin found herself wandering around from florist to florist trying to find something that would work. It had been hours and her ankles were sore and her head throbbing. Why were there so many damn people in this place? It was like playing a game of dodge the shopper.

Karin had yet to find anything for Yuzu in all these horribly tacky florist stores. If one more place suggested that she use red roses, she would go crazy with a pair of garden trimmers and chop the tops off every flower in the store! This was a classy wedding, damn it! Classy!

Karin shuffled towards the last remaining store hoping this would be the one to fix her problems. Pushing the door open, she barely paid any attention to the irritating chime of the bell and made her way to the counter. The shop was quiet and empty, save for a couple in the corner that was discussing the pros and cons of carnations. Karin reached the counter and searched for a shop assistant with an anxious expression. When she didn't spot anyone, she reached out a hand and gave the delicate bell on the counter a small tap. The echoing sound brought a young store clerk out from behind the scenes, and Karin noted that she had petals in her dark hair, as though she'd stuck her head into a field of daisies. Flower enthusiast? Probably.

"Can I help you?" She asked Karin, her voice soft and friendly. Karin's eyes fell to the nametag pinned to her light blue top. Hinamori Momo. Karin had never been so glad to find a polite attendant. She had dealt with nothing but indifferent and rude people all day.

"I seriously hope so, Hinamori-san." She told the girl with an exhausted sigh. Karin had lost enthusiasm for her task before it even began.

The girl gave a light laugh, sounding similar to the chime of the counter-top bell. "You can just call me Momo." Karin felt a weak smile pull on her lips. At least this one was nice.

"Karin," she introduced herself easily, "and I am looking for a natural-type wedding bouquet for tomorrow."

"Oh!" Momo gasped, her brown eyes going wide and beginning to glow before she grasped both of Karin's hands in her dainty ones and gushed, "Congratulations!"

Karin recoiled reflexively. "No! I mean, no, I'm single! It's my sister's wedding. I'm just getting the flowers."

Momo flushed bright red and promptly released Karin's hands. Her words were stumbling over one another in her haste to give an apology. "I'm so sorry; I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions but we're such a small store and nobody comes here for wedding bouquets and I got so happy and you're really pretty and-"

"It's fine! It's okay, Momo. Really." Karin was trying really hard not to laugh. But she didn't. That would probably be rude and the poor girl was embarrassed enough. It really was tempting though...

Cheeks still rosy, Momo nodded and bit her lip. "Right. Well, can you tell me what the colour scheme of the wedding is?"

Karin filled Momo in on the details of the wedding that Yuzu had jotted down on a dog-eared envelope for her. Momo nodded carefully with every bit of information she received and then placed a thoughtful finger on her chin when Karin finished. "Sounds very romantic." She sighed wistfully and Karin nodded with a grin, watching this stranger fantasize so happily about another person's happiness.

"It is. It is actually so sickly sweet I practically get hives every time I get within ten feet of all of it." Karin joked with a laugh. When Momo didn't join in with the joke and instead looked a little confused, Karin backtracked, realizing that the girl's mind was not quite in alignment with her own. "But it is what Yuzu wants," Karin added, "and I will do whatever it takes to make her day special." That was at least true. It was actually the reason why Karin was so determined to get the perfect bouquet.

"You are a good sister." Momo nodded with approval and began to flutter around her desk looking for something. "I think that a bouquet of freesias and lilacs would be perfect for her."

Karin nodded again. That sounded as if it could work. "So, do you have any?" Karin asked, and Momo shook her head.

"Unfortunately not right now," She said, as she produced a small phone book with stylized flowers on it. "But, I have a friend who sells flowers at an outdoor market on the other side of town. She should have, let me just check." Momo said, running her finger down a list of contacts.

Momo dialled a number easily and had a quick chat with whoever was on the other end before putting the phone back onto its hook. "Rangiku-chan has put some aside for you." Momo told her happily. "Do you know where the Seireitei Market is?" Karin shook her head slowly. She had heard of it before, but being a girl who didn't shop very much, its exactly location was unknown to her.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. Can you give directions or something?" Karin asked hopefully, and Momo put a thoughtful finger on her chin again.

Karin had pretty much pinned the girl down as a kind, empathetic being but the mischievous sparkle in Momo's brown eyes was now convincing Karin otherwise.

"I can do even better. Wait here!" Momo said before she turned her back on Karin and disappeared for a minute. Karin heard some hushed arguing and a thump. She wondered what was going on behind the scenes. When Momo reappeared, she was accompanied by a handsome guy who was around Karin's age. "Karin-chan, this is my half-brother, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Toushirou-kun, this is Karin-chan." Momo introduced them. He simply nodded in acknowledgement. Karin mentally made a note to ask him if he dyed his hair and wore coloured contacts. These two looked nothing like siblings, half-related or not.

"Toushirou-kun has kindly offered to show you where the market is." Momo announced with a grin.

"I didn't say that," Toushirou muttered under his breath and Momo gave him an elbow to the stomach. He flinched and Karin raised an eyebrow at the spectacle. Toushirou looked dishevelled as if he had just lost a vicious tussle with his sister, and his face was set in a firm frown. He really didn't want to show her the way to the market. His snappy demeanour made Karin scowl at him and she turned defensive.

"Don't bother. I'll rather just take the directions. No need to trouble him," Karin told them and Momo looked scandalized at her suggestion. Toushirou shot her a dirty look.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "She'll be fine."

"Nonsense!" Momo argued with an undisputable tone. "It's no trouble at all," she assured Karin and Toushirou rolled his eyes.

"For you maybe," he commented again in undertones only to receive another jab to the ribs. Karin tried not to giggle at the brother sister politics happening in front of her eyes.

"Toushirou is a gentleman," Momo smiled sweetly, ignoring her brother's glare. "He wouldn't mind taking you there at all, right Toushirou-kun?" Momo was giving off some pretty scary vibes at this point. So much for the perfect innocence from before...

"Off you go." Momo said waving an arbitrary hand at them with her customer grin set firmly in place. Toushirou gave her a final withering look before sighing in defeat and motioning for Karin to lead the way.

Karin grinned and made her way out of the store, Toushirou close on her heels. They reached the door and Toushirou hadn't said a word to her. Karin couldn't really blame him. If Yuzu pushed her to help someone else when she didn't want to, she would be pretty pissed too. Though this pressing silence as they made their way to the mall exit was a little irritating, so she supposed that an attempt at conversation might ease things up a little bit.

"I like your sister," she told him and Toushirou huffed, rolling his eyes again.

"My sister is a force of nature." He stated simply and Karin laughed at his comparison. Momo was rather something to be reckoned with. Her laugh seemed surprise him, and he relaxed his scowl for a second to give her a startled sort of expression. Karin noticed that he really did have very nice eyes, even if they were probably coloured contacts. Wide teal orbs that reminded her of the seaside she and her family used to vacation at long ago.

"You two are rather funny. Kind of like me and my siblings." Karin grinned again and began to make her way across the parking lot. Toushirou decided to ignore that comment and retreated to his frown once more.

"So which car is yours?" he asked her, and Karin rolled her eyes at his question. Just because they were in the parking lot didn't mean they were looking for a car.

"None of them," she told him and he looked confused. Surely, they were going to drive, weren't they?

"So you don't have a car?" He asked her curiously. He had expected most girls who bought flowers to be high society dolls with a convertible of some sort.

"I didn't say that." Karin replied. She was being more than just a little vague.

"So you do have a car?" He tried again, wondering how they were going to get around. If it was a limousine, he would refuse to get in. Karin shook her head and explained.

"I do have a car. It's just at home." She filled him in and he nodded in understanding.

"So how did you get here?" He continued to question her, perhaps looking for a bicycle now.

"They are called legs," She commented. "They do this thing called walking. It's amazing really." She teased him, not without a lot of sarcasm. Toushirou sighed, exasperated.

"So you are saying that we have to walk across town?" He asked her almost incredulously and Karin nodded in agreement. Toushirou couldn't believe it. She walked to places? This was no average girl.

"Come on," She began, "It's a couple of kilometres. I am sure you won't melt and the sun might make you look less like a pale slab of misery." Karin teased him again and he looked offended.

"I am not a... pale slab of misery!" He snapped, becoming quite irritated with this pretty girl and her way of throwing him off his guard. "I just don't like the heat." He muttered and Karin merely shook her head at him.

"Well the faster we get there, the faster you can go back and huddle next to your fan." Karin concluded simply and Toushirou snorted.

"I do not huddle next to a fan." He told her tetchily and then, glancing at her, added, "It's an air conditioner. Completely different."

"Of course." Karin grinned and Toushirou who was so entranced in their conversation had only just noticed that he had been walking alongside Karin the entire time, and subconsciously been leading her in the right direction. Now they were at least a quarter of the way across town already.

They continued to stroll easily exchanging polite conversation when Karin suddenly felt a lurch of hunger in her stomach. Lifting her arm, she gazed at her watch and wasn't really surprised to note that it was well past midday and she wanted some lunch. So she stopped and began to look around for a place to get a bite to eat. She needed her food in order to function, and she was sure Toushirou wouldn't mind too much. If he did, well, she wasn't about to care.

Toushirou had also stopped when he saw her begin to look around. He was a little bit confused as to what she was doing when her face broke into a huge grin. He tried to slow his erratically beating heart at the sight of that grin, but had no time to ponder on it when Karin grabbed his wrist and dragged him across the street. Straight towards a food stand on the corner. Karin didn't release him until they were in front of the stand and she pulled out her purse. She studied the chalkboard menu hungrily and Toushirou looked at her bemused and tried to rid his hand of a completely cliché tingling feeling where Karin had just been holding it. He frowned a bit when it didn't stop and he felt a sort of longing to grab her hand in his. He began to internally scold himself for his ridiculousness.

"You want something?" She asked him, still studying the menu and he snapped out of his little self-scolding session.

"I suppose." He replied nonchalantly, and Karin gave him an approving nod at his answer. She turned towards the man behind the small stand and ordered with a wide grin. Toushirou forgot where he was for a second, which was stupid. What had his sister gotten him into?

"Chicken spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce and a coke." The man nodded at her request and Karin turned to look at Toushirou with a raised eyebrow. "What're you having?" She asked and he merely shrugged, having already glanced at the menu.

"Same." He told her and the man nodded as he prepared their food. Toushirou reached for his wallet, but Karin's hand on his stopped him. He could feel that tingling feeling again and he looked up at her. His eyes met sincere grey ones and she just shook her head at him.

"My treat." She informed him and then retracted her hand to reach for her purse. "Consider it a thank you for showing me the way to Seireitei Market." She told him as she opened her purse to pull out the required amount. "I know you'd rather be sitting in front of that air conditioner than spending time around me. So this is fair." Toushirou would have argued - he'd been raised to be a gentleman, just as Momo said - but resisted.

Soon afterwards, they were strolling down the street once more, conversation a bit easier before than before. They do say that good food brings people together and Karin had to agree.

"So why do you have go to Seireitei Market?" Toushirou asked her when they were almost there, casually throwing his empty can into a bin.

"My sister Yuzu is getting married tomorrow and she needs a bouquet." Karin filled him in - making sure to specify whose wedding it was - and then groaned dramatically. "It's been a freaking nightmare!"

Toushirou tried not to smile at her overdramatic nature. "How hard can it be to find a bouquet?" He asked her, and Karin scowled at him from under her eyes.

"I said the exact same thing when I set out this morning. And besides, if you can't tell from the shorts and tanktop, I am not a girly girl and I hate shopping." She told him firmly and viciously crumpled up her food wrapper for emphasis. "It's a total waste of time and I have no patience for it." She hung her head like an overworked carthorse.

After a couple more minutes, Toushirou pointed out a bustling market in the distance. "That's it." He told her, gesturing towards it with his hand and Karin turned her head away from him to see where he was pointing.

"I see," Karin said, and then stopped again, turning to face Toushirou. "Thanks, you don't have to walk me all the way there." She told him, and Toushirou rolled his eyes at her. This rolling eyes thing seemed to be a habit between the two of them.

"You paid for lunch so the least I can do is walk you all the way there," He told her rather shortly. "Besides, Matsumoto would kill me if she heard I was nearby and didn't drop by to say hello." Karin would never admit it but she was secretly glad that he wasn't leaving just yet. He was a rather enjoyable companion, and the banter between the two of them was simply enthralling. She was so used to guys who did nothing but act like jerks, and only had a vocabulary that extended as far as 'dude' and 'awesome'. Toushirou was a refreshing change from all of that, and his eloquent ability to string together a coherent sentence was strangely nice to be around. Maybe it came from working in a flower shop.

They continued towards the market, and as it came into view, Karin was surprised that it was made entirely of florists under the open skies. If she had known about this place this morning, she wouldn't have had to trudge all the way across town and spent half a day under the confines of the Karakura Mall! Karin was fascinated and Toushirou just gazed at her expressions with an amused look on his face. She was so excited, taking in the entire market with hungry eyes darting left and right.

There were stalls piled to the roof with sprigs of lavender and huge bunches of wild flowers. Mismatched burst of colour and people happily bustling between all the stalls looking for the perfect arrangements for events and loved ones. For a couple of seconds Karin forgot why she was here in the first place, and then suddenly snapped back to reality when she heard Toushirou chuckle at her reaction. Her face reverted to a frown, all looks of wonderment long gone and she crossed her arms over her chest huffily.

"Is something funny?" She half snapped at him and he shook his head.

"No." He said, and then began to delve deeper into the market. Karin fell into step behind him, wondering why he was going through so much effort to help her when he clearly didn't want to in the beginning. Maybe he had a split personality disorder. For all she knew, he could suddenly go crazy and start eating all the flowers in the near vicinity. Though she was skeptic, he did just eat two chicken spring rolls so he couldn't really be hungry. She doubted that flowers were that tasty. However, if he was a nutcase, she supposed he would like the taste… Karin shook her head quickly. Toushirou hadn't shown any symptoms of wanting to eat any sort of plant life. She was putting way too much though into this.

In her ponderings, Karin hadn't realised that she had fallen behind and lost Toushirou for a second. She looked up and began to look around to see if she could spot him. It was barely two seconds when he appeared at her elbow and took her hand, pulling her along. This was the first time that he had voluntarily touched her and she wasn't going say that she didn't like it. Sure, she'd dragged him along earlier and she'd sort of liked holding his hand, but other than that Toushirou had made sure to keep a respectable distance.

"You are impossible." He told her as he led her in the right direction. "What were you thinking about in such a daze?" He asked and Karin shook her head with a sheepish grin.

"Your eating habits." She supplied and Toushirou frowned at her odd answer.

"Huh?" He began, but then shook his head as if he didn't know what to do with her. "Never mind, here we are." He motioned to the stall they had just stopped at. It was very pink. A huge sign declared it the Sixth Sakura flower stall. There was a handsome man behind the table who looked far too regal to be a flower seller, and Karin tried not to laugh at him sitting there and drinking tea like some sort of royal.

"Hello Kuchiki-san," Toushirou greeted politely, and the man looked up with a nod. "Where is Matsumoto?" He asked the stoic man.

"Rangiku has just gone to reprimand the delivery man who brought the wrong type of raffia." He told them. "Feel free to look around the market for a while until she returns." He suggested and then went back to his tea. Karin, realizing that Toushirou still hadn't let go of her hand, tried not to blush. They began to wander, looking at the different types of flowers, hands still entwined as if it was perfectly fine. It was nice.

"I like these flowers." She told him, pointing to a flower with a thin stem and couple of bell shaped flowers in a shade of light pink. "These would have worked for Yuzu's bouquet." She told Toushirou, who looked like he was trying not to laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked him, genuinely confused at his amusement.

"Those are the official funeral flower of Istanbul." He informed her wrily and she pulled a face.

"Seriously?" She asked incredulously, wondering how such a pretty flowers could be destined for nothing but funerals.

"They signify mourning." He explained easily, "You see how they hang as if they are crying?" She nodded and moved closer as he released her hand for a second. He held out the flowers and pointed out the features of the plant with a finger. Karin supposed that made more sense, but even then, what a horrid fate for such a pretty flower. She nodded at his explanation and then realised just how closely they were standing. She tried not to blush as she moved away slightly but Toushirou didn't seem to have any reaction other than to smile at her.

"Fine, perhaps not those." She grinned and tried to smooth away her odd moment, "I don't think Yuzu would appreciate a bouquet of crying flowers on her wedding day."

"No, I don't think so." He agreed, and then replacing the flower back into its bucket proceeded to firmly entwine Karin's hand in his again before they moved along. Karin did not protest.

The two continued to look around the stalls, and Karin decided that she was having quite a lot of fun with Toushirou. Yes, he could be just as sarcastic as she was, and he didn't have very much patience with other people, but he was very nice. Well, to her at least. Karin wondered if she would see him again after today. Probably not, she mused. It was quite a sad thought. Though it just made her more determined to enjoy her afternoon. She decided that there was nothing that could ruin her day now. Nothing.

At least that was what she thought until she spotted a head of cerulean hair. Karin did a double take and then tried not to yelp when she saw Grimmjow strolling along with Nelliel at his side. Karin knew she had to hide. She couldn't handle this right now so she did the one thing she could think of in that situation. She dived for cover.

"Shit!" She yelped, and hid behind Toushirou who looked startled at her sudden antics.

"What? Karin?" He asked her worriedly, and she flinched at him saying her name.

"Don't say my name so loud!" She hissed at him, and then dived under a table, leaving Toushirou standing there looking even more confused than ever.

Karin had to get out of there. She began to crawl along the ground on all fours, hiding behind huge buckets of flowers and signboards. However, she wasn't fast enough and her little freak out session had caught the attention of the very people she was trying to avoid.

"Karin-chan?" Nelliel asked and walked closer to where Karin was cursing at her discovery. "Is that you?"

Karin grabbed a flower out of one of the buckets next to her and jumped up at if she had been electrocuted. "I found it!" She said, waving the flower in her hand, turning to look at Toushirou who still looked very confused, but was cottoning on that something was amiss.

By this time, Grimmjow had come to stand beside Nelliel and Karin was looking at them awkwardly. Toushirou decided to take the initiative. Moving closer to stand next to Karin he spoke up. "Hitsugaya Toushirou." He introduced himself, extending a hand to shake Grimmjow's hand. The tall man sneered at the offered hand for a minute before extending his own. A kind of crackling, silent tension sprung to life between the two men.

"Grimmjow. And this is Nelliel." He replied pointing to Nel at his side. Karin's face looked nothing short of venomous and if he were honest, Toushirou would have to admit he was a little scared.

"How do you know each other?" Toushirou asked in an attempt to get the conversation going or at least break the silence. However, the second after he had raised his question, he caught an expression on Karin's face and wished he hadn't.

"Well, that's a funny story actually." Karin began, not without a little sarcasm. "You see, Nel was one of my friends from high school. Grimmy here and I used to date a little while back." Karin continued as Nelliel and Grimmjow looked as though they would rather be anywhere else. "At least that was until I caught him cheating on me with Nelliel in my car and I broke his left arm." Karin filled Toushirou in, her incinerating gaze barely lifting from a cringing Grimmjow, as if he remembered every detail of his punishment. "Good times." She finished, her tone suggesting that it was anything but.

"Right," Toushirou trailed off. His brain supplied and Karin snorted, clearly anything but amused.

"Tch." Grimmjow added and grumbled under his breath, in hope that it would get them out of there before Karin could break his arm again.

"And you, Hitsugaya-san?" Nel suddenly chipped in with a friendly smile, oblivious to how her boyfriend wanted to escape. "How do you know Karin-chan?" She asked, and Toushirou froze for a second. How was he supposed to tell these two happy individuals that he barely knew Karin and would probably never see her again after today? He didn't like the sound of that. Then turning to give Karin a quick glance, he saw her fingers clinging onto her the ends of her sleeves as if she was trying not to get upset and pound this guy to death yet again. He supposed that it would be rather a slap in the face if your ex-boyfriend was off having a happy life and you were single. At least, he assumed Karin was single. She hadn't mentioned that was single, but a woman who was in a happy relationship wouldn't get upset about relationships of the past. Would they?

And besides, Momo had been wearing a positively devious expression on her face when she'd come to fetch him earlier.

So in that spilt second of deliberation he did something more than a little bit crazy. Reaching for Karin's hand, he entwined their fingers and gave her shocked face a wide, very forced grin. "My sister introduced us a while ago." He told them in all honesty. "We're helping with Karin's sister's wedding arrangements. Yuzu-chan is getting married tomorrow." He continued in a polite fashion. Again, not a lie, he really was helping her with it. Karin nodded in a sort of daze in the backround as if she was still in the process of trying to figure out what it was that was going on. Nel seemed excited at this, and nodded enthusiastically at him.

"So Karin-chan, are you dating Hitsugaya-san?" She asked curiously, her face open and friendly, all previous hostility between the two seemingly forgotten. Toushirou watch Karin's face register the question and go almost pale. Again, Toushirou saved the day by filling in smoothly.

"We will be, just as soon as she agrees to go to dinner with me." Toushirou threw her an unexpectedly flirtatious smirk. This seemed to be the final puzzle piece for Karin and her face broke into a huge grin as she gripped Toushirou closer. She was thanking her lucky stars that she was here with him and that he was so kindly saving her from such a tough predicament.

Nel seemed to bounce back and forth on her heels in excitement and grip Grimmjow's arm tightly. Grimmjow looked bored, and wished that this were over already. "So why haven't you said yes yet?" She asked Karin directly, still bouncing up and down in crazy fashion.

"Who says I haven't?" She said coyly with a wink and then began to pull Toushirou away as if they were about to leave. "It was so nice to see you two!" Karin called over her shoulder, even though they all knew it really wasn't. The two continued to walk in the direction of Sixth Sakura set in their happy little couple pose.

"Thank you." Karin told him under her breath as they retreated, and Toushirou just shrugged.

"No problem." He told her simply. If he was going to be honest with himself that was the most fun he had had in ages. "It looks like Matsumoto is back." He commented and gestured towards the Sixth Sakura stall that had a vivacious strawberry blonde behind it, bounding up and down chattering happily.

"She seems," Karin began and then trailed off trying to think of a good enough word for the crazy looking woman with the biggest breasts she had ever seen. "Effervescent." She concluded just as they reached the table.

Toushirou nodded with a grimace. "You have no idea."

As they approached the stall, Matsumoto froze in the middle of cutting the stems off some white roses and stood staring at Karin and Toushirou in shock. Once the strawberry blonde realised that her eyes were not deceiving her, and that there was indeed a pretty girl on Toushirou's arm, she shrieked. Throwing her secateurs over her shoulder in excitement where they lopped Kuchiki on the head and sent his tea flying, she practically bounded over to them to introduce herself.

"You must be Karin-chan!" She said happily and gave the poor girl a bone-crunching hug.

"Matsumoto!" Toushirou snapped as Karin gasped for breath under the attack of the woman's famous cleavage hug. Toushirou had finally found a girl that he liked, and Matsumoto was about to kill her. "You are suffocating her." He remarked almost crossly, and much to his relief Karin was released. She gasped for a while, and Toushirou hoped that there was no permanent damage.

"You're Toushirou's girlfriend, right?" Matsumoto asked her from behind a hand, throwing a fuming Toushirou sceptic glances. Toushirou was about to protest and give Matsumoto an earful when Karin laughed at her and winked at Toushirou.

"I will be as soon as he says yes and agrees to go out to dinner with me." She tossed his line back at him and he gave her a wry smile as they shared their inside joke. Unfortunately, Matsumoto seemed to take this literally and turned to Toushirou in what one would call pure disbelief.

"A pretty girl proposes that you go out to dinner with her and you haven't said yes yet?" Matsumoto near shrieked at him, "What is wrong with you?" She prodded him with a pointed finger for emphasis. Toushirou flinched and rubbed his chest with his hand, and frowned at the strawberry blonde woman. What was with people today and trying to inflict bruises upon him?

"Who said I hadn't?" He snapped at her irritably, and Matsumoto shrieked in delight before diving to hug Karin again.

"We are going to be best friends!" She told Karin as she near strangled her again, and Toushirou rolled his eyes trying not to feel embarrassed.

"The flowers, Matsumoto." Toushirou reminded the woman shortly and Karin looked a little bit shell shocked as she was released yet again. Matsumoto flittered off to get the flowers she had put aside for her and Karin turned towards Toushirou. She felt she should probably apologize for her words. She had repeated his earlier comment to be flippant, but it appeared that Matsumoto had taken it literally. Now Karin felt like she had forced him into a compromising situation when he had so nicely helped her out earlier.

Karin didn't have much time to ponder when Matsumoto returned and relinquished a simple bouquet to Karin held together by a white ribbon. Karin asked how much she owed her for the flowers but the older woman shrugged it off.

"On the house." She said cheerily and then waved the two of them off so she could attend to her other bewildered customers. Karin replied with a short word of thanks and then turned towards Toushirou who gestured for them to leave. They began to make their way out of the market when Karin suddenly spoke up.

"Listen Toushirou," She began. "About that-" He cut her off before she could finish.

"Yes." He told her simply with a wide grin and Karin looked startled.

"What?" She enquired confused and Toushirou merely shook his head at her slow reaction.

"You said that you would be going out with me the second I said yes." He informed her, "So I said yes." He explained and gave her one of the most charming grins she had ever seen. Karin laughed at him as she shook her head with a grin.

"So I guess that means we have to go out sometime?" She asked him and he gave her a confirmation nod. "Good, because Yuzu's wedding starts at noon tomorrow. Make sure you are there."

Toushirou nodded and then, turning towards a stall near them requested a single flower and reached for his wallet to pay for it. Karin watched him in confusion for a second before he returned to her side and tucked the flower he had just bought behind her ear. She accepted it happily with a playful roll of her eyes. Karin didn't know too much about flowers, but the blue poppy was her mom's favourite and she knew exactly what it meant. Karin had a niggling feeling that flower expert Toushirou knew exactly what it meant too, and she couldn't help but smile at the thought.

Blue poppy: Mystery, attaining the impossible, love at first sight

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