Author's Note: I got an idea for this when I was in Scotland (B-A-YOOtiful place to visit, by the way) and we were at a bar for lunch. They had a playground there for the little kids and on said playground was a zipline. (You know, the line with a swing that you ride on?) Well, our friend's daughter, Lauren, begged her parents to no end until they allowed her to get on it. After going twice, she convinced us to ride on it. (In which I did, screaming "I FEEL LIKE A DOOORK!!" happily and a very nice Chinese woman that we met saw me and laughed.) I was thinking about the people who read my Hitsugaya story when this was born. (Amazing what ideas you can get from thinking and a playground!) I talked about it with my sister, and she agreed that I should publish it. Then we went on a ten-minute conversation about canon and crack pairings, and which ones we did and didn't like. Heheh, that's about two minutes of your life you'll never get back. Anyways, here's the oneshot. Enjoy! Anonymous reviews are very welcome.
"Hey, Toshiro?" Ichigo asked once the other soul Reapers had given them privacy.
"Yes, Ichigo?" the young captain replied, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
"I wanna ask a favor of you. And it's really important, so you can't tell the others." He bent down to Toshiro's height.
"Oh, very funny, Kurosaki!" Toshiro snapped. "Come down to my height, why don't you?"
"But I'm already at your height! If I got any shorter, I'd have to look up to you!" He grinned as the young captain pursued to beat him to a pulp. Though, he had to admit, the blows did hurt. Maybe size doesn't compare anything to strength. "But seriously, I have a favor to ask you."
Toshiro stopped trying to kill him and nodded, waiting for the orange-haired person in front of him to continue.
"In any case, I might have to leave my family behind and go to Hueco Mundo," Ichigo explained, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and he stood back up to full height. Something about that angered Toshiro.
"What!? Are you insane, Kurosaki!? Are you that desperate to join the Soul Society so quickly!?" he demanded, anger glazing his pale-aqua eyes. "Think about what you're about to do before you think of doing it! And what about your family!? What will happen to them?"
"That's where you come in," Ichigo answered simply, a smile on his face. "I know Karin will be the most worried about me. So, I want you to do all you can to distract her." Toshiro felt a slight heat rise to his face. "She talks about you a lot at home. I figure, if her heart is broken, I know who to blame. And I know where to find him, too." Ichigo's grin turned half-hostile half-grim in a joke. Toshiro almost felt afraid. Almost.
"Why should I?" he retorted, crossing his arms. "What have you ever done for me?"
"Save your arse, that's for sure. Not to mention, I fight Hollows in the real world, helped you all out with the Bounts, and saved Renji from Aizen."
"That last one wasn't hardly worth anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But either way, I'm still helping you. The least you could do is help me out." Ichigo grinned awkwardly and laughed. "Okay? Just a date or two every once in awhile. Keep her spirits up. And maybe you could call her…"
"It sounds more like you're trying to set me up with your sister." Toshiro cocked a brow. Ichigo just grinned and, with a wave, turned and headed back to class, leaving the young captain to wonder what exactly was going through his head.
And that, my friends, is why Toshiro Hitsugaya was sitting in the living room of the Kurosaki residence, his arms and legs crossed, facing off with Isshin. Isshin stared at him as if the old man was about to have a freak aneurism, and the ice-cold captain looked as if he had something better to do, but chose to be here instead. Yuzu was unable to take it, and left the room, saying she was going to fetch their guest a drink.
"So, what's your name?" Isshin asked, rubbing his beard.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya," Toshiro answered coolly, keeping his voice level.
"How old are you?"
"Older than you."
"Haha, I like a kid with sarcasm."
Only, that wasn't sarcasm, Toshiro thought with a sigh.
"Why're you here?" Isshin asked, the fake grin now disappearing from his face.
"Because I'm here to take Karin on a da"—Toshiro realized how lethal those words could be and changed what he was about to say "—a day just to hang out."
"On a date?" Isshin finished the first sentence with a sleazy grin.
"No," Toshiro answered flatly.
"Um, excuse me, would you like some juice?" Yuzu asked, breaking the silence. Toshiro decided, since the poor girl had already poured it for him, he had better take it. Toshiro lifted the glass to his lips and realized that the juice was warm. While the Kurosakis were arguing over etiquette, he channeled his spiritual energy into cooling the drink down. Both looked at him as he gulped down what was left in the glass, politely wiping his lips with the back of his fist.
"Thank you very much, Ms. Kurosaki," he said, handing her the glass back. Yuzu smiled, a light tint coloring her cheeks, and bowed.
"You're welcome!" she said in a very high voice.
"Dad! Did you torture Toshiro too bad?" Karin was now in the room wearing a black long sleeve shirt with the word "Girugamesh" on the front and blue jeans. Covering her feet were red and white tennis shoes and her hair was covered in a red cap, most likely impossible to tame. Toshiro had to admit: she looked better in that than she probably would in a skirt.
"No, I'm fine," Toshiro said, pushing against his knees and standing up. "He didn't do anything too horrible to me."
"Karin, be safe. If he tries to do anything, kick between the—"
"See ya, dad!!" Karin shouted, taking Toshiro's hand in hers and yanking him out the door. Once outside, she released the young captain. "I just saved you from something."
"I don't think I want to know what that something was, but thank you for saving me from it." Toshiro watched as her lips pulled into a grin. "So, what is it you want to do?"
"I dunno." Karin shrugged, her eyes closing. "You asked me out."
"I did not ask you out!" Toshiro said too defensively. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to get out of the house and away from your psycho family."
"Yoooou asked me out." Karin laughed as Toshir bent over in defeat. "So, wanna have some lunch? I'll buy, considering there's no such thing as a Shinigami discount here."
"Heh, I feel like I'm going to owe you at the end of this."
"Damn straight." Karin laughed, patting Toshiro's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go. I'm starving."
As Karin and Toshiro started walking, Karin made Hitsugaya talk to her about Ichigo.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Why did he leave?"
"I do not know."
"Do you know how he's doing!?"
"Karin, what part of 'I don't know' do you not understand?" he asked. "I don't know anything about Ichigo because he's not here, and he didn't say anything to me before he left." Karin's face flashed embarrassed and disappointment and she looked away.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"No, it's alright. I'd be asking the same things if I was in your position."
"But you aren't, so you have every right to yell at me."
"Karin, it's not like you to be depressed. So stop worrying, okay?" Toshiro ran his fingers through his hair. "Wherever Ichigo is, he'll be okay. I promise." Toshiro looked at the dark-haired Kurosaki and smiled warmly.
"…You're right," Karin agreed. "Ichigo can take care of himself. I dunno what I was thinking."
"Yes you do," Toshiro corrected. "You were worried about your brother. Don't worry about it, alright? You're worried, and that's okay. But you need to tone it down. Ichigo will be back, alright?"
"When?"
"Soon." Toshiro wasn't about to make any promises he couldn't keep, but he was sure that Ichigo had better be back soon, otherwise Toshiro was about to kick Ichigo where he didn't want to be kicked. And it wasn't going to be his face.
Toshiro and Karin were walking past a playground when her eyes lit up.
"A zipline!" she cried, racing over to it. Toshiro froze, noticed no one was around, and sheepishly followed her to the toy. It was a cord attached between two poles with a swing that hung down from it.
"A what-line?" Toshiro asked as Karin wrapped her legs around the circular seat.
"A zipline!" Karin grinned at him. "You sit on the seat and jump from here, and you'll go all the way to the end, and come back! But someone needs to pull you the rest of the way when you stop." Karin chuckled at Toshiro's confused look. "It's fun! Trust me, Toshiro! Here, I'll go first."
Karin stepped back as best as she could with a seat pressing up against her butt, then ran and jumped, clinging to the rope for dear life. Toshiro was ready to catch her if the cord broke, but she flew to the end of the rope, was stopped by a small piece of metal on the cord, and swung around, coming back. She about halfway before Toshiro realized she would never make it the entire way. He grabbed her foot and pulled her back to her launching point. Karin giggled like an idiot and backed away again, running and bounding again. Toshiro snorted as she let out a "whoa!" and was swung around violently. Toshiro sauntered over, grabbed her foot, and dragged her back.
"You try it!" Karin said. Toshiro blushed, releasing the girl. She went back down the line and Toshiro had to chase her down again. When he finally got her back to the starting place, she hopped off.
"No," Toshiro said before she asked again.
"Why not!?" she demanded.
"Because if I did, no one would take me seriously."
"But no one's here!"
"…Once." Toshiro climbed up and swung his legs over, getting a good grip on the line. Before he could say or do anything, Karin shoved him off, and he went down to the end, swinging back. Karin laughed at his freaked out expression, and grabbed the back of his shin, pulling him back up to the place where he launched off.
"How was that?"
"Um, I was scared for my life." Karin howled with laughter.
"How about you go again?" she managed through peals of laughter.
"Are you going to push me this time?" he demanded.
"No…" Karin snickered at his questionable face.
"Then I'll go again," Toshiro decided, making sure he wasn't going to fall and hurt himself. He backed away as far as he was willing to go (which was when he was just barely on his toes), gripped the rope for dear life, and took off, hooking his legs together when he was off the ground. He hated to admit it, but…it was fun! He enjoyed the adrenaline rush as he zipped across the line, was swung around harshly, and came to a stop somewhere on the line. Karin grinned and grabbed his leg again, pulling him across the line and back to the start. Toshiro unhooked his legs and allowed Karin to get on. She leaned back and looked at him.
"So, what was it like?" Toshiro disappeared from her vision. When he reappeared, Karin was already halfway down the line. After she stopped, she made sure her heart was still beating. Toshiro smiled devilishly.
"Kind of like that," he answered he sauntered over, grabbed her foot, and dragged her back up to the start.
"…Toshiro?" Karin said in a small voice. Toshiro stopped, looking up at her. "Thanks."
"For what? Pushing you?" Karin laughed weakly.
"Nah, for showing me a good time." Karin looked down and smiled. "I've had fun today. A lot of fun. This kinda reminds me of when Ichigo would take us to the playground when Yuzu and I were four, and he'd always push on the zipline."
"So I remind you of Ichigo?" Toshiro asked. Karin jumped and laughed.
"No way! You're hair's as crazy as his, but it's not orange," she said matter-of-factly. Toshiro blushed and looked at the ahoge hanging in front of his eyes. Karin patted his head. "And you're short!"
"Shut up!" Toshiro blushed and looked away. Karin smiled, leaned in, and placed a kiss on Toshiro's vulnerable cheek. Toshiro jumped back, staring at her with wide eyes, and covered his cheek with his hand.
"Wh-What…?"
"Arigatou, Toshiro," she said with a grin on her face. "Really."
"…No problem," Toshiro answered, relaxing from his Tai-Kwan-Do stance.