Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the Bleach characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo: the genius behind the captivating manga that started it all. I only own any of my original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.

Little Mishaps

She'd never really been interested in what everyone defined as being "girl clothes." Being seven, Karin Kurosaki was far more interested in running about the park in shorts and a baseball cap, busying herself with digging worms out of the flower bed to use as bait while she fished with her brother. To her chagrin, they never caught anything, as the worms dried out on the dock long before they could figure out how to put them on the hooks. In response to this, Ichigo, being three years older and having a horrid temper, would furrow his brow and stalk on home, dragging the fishing line behind him.

Karin, on the other hand, liked to stay behind and stick her feet in the water, laughing as some of the fish would come and nibble on her toes. It was a common occurrence for her father to come down to the dock to pull her away from her quarry, as she rather enjoyed jumping into the water so as to try and catch "the little buggers."

But today was not one of those days. The rain beat down upon her back, easily soaking her shirt through. She'd neglected to wear a raincoat, as she enjoyed feeling the droplets as they met her skin and gave her chills. Being a child, it was the simple things like this that made everything seem so perfect. On day such as this, Karin could lose herself in a single moment.

Now, Karin was digging through the flowerbed, after having made sure that the gardener had gone home. She didn't need him chewing her out again. Fingers sunk deep into the wet earth, searching for the little creatures that were singing the song of the rising tide. At least, that's what she liked to call it. Nobody had ever told her the real name of the song, so she'd simply made up her own.

"What're you doing?"

Karin turned around, hands covered with mud, scowling at a rather serious-looking boy with white hair. He had bright blue eyes, easily making his skin look darker than it was. Had he not been wearing such a sour expression, Karin might have smiled at him. He knelt down beside her, staring intently at the mess she'd made of the flower bed before looking back to her with a laugh.

"When the gardener comes back, he's gonna know you did this."

She stuck her tongue out at him, clutching a handful of mud. "Yeah?" she retorted, trying to look angrier. "Well, I don't care. He can't do anything to me, anyway. Doesn't even know my name, or where I live. "

The boy nodded thoughtfully. "That's true," he agreed. "The gardener doesn't know where you live... but I do."

Karin's eyes widened in shock and anger. Was he threatening to tell the gardener where she lived? If he did that, then she'd be in trouble for sure. Karin made a face at him before plowing her handful of wet earth into his face, laughing as he began to sputter. He was on the ground now, trying to wipe the mess out of his perfect blue eyes. It was his fault, really. He'd threatened her, and she'd fought back. She'd done exactly as her dad had told her to. Or was she supposed to fight back if someone hit her first?

Upon clearing his mouth of the dirt, the boy, who still hadn't given her his name, climbed to his feet, staring angrily at her.

"Do what you want," he said, throwing a rock into the river. "Just... stay away from me."

As he headed up the hill, Karin smiled, noting that the zipper of his jacket had fallen off in the wet grass. She bent down to pick it up, clutching it tightly in her hand. It wasn't well known, but she'd seen him a lot at school, and had decided that she did have one thing in common with all the other girls in her class.

Quiet as he was, she really liked that Toshiro Hitsugaya.