A/N: Here is the one-shot I promised to FlyingLikeAButterfly! The pairing is Karin and Toshiro (Obvious by the fact that it says Karin and Toshiro in the characters in the thumbnail thingy) and the prompt is that they are secret agents and is told in different points of view depending on what part it's at. It's rated T for a reason folks- there's swearing… a lot in some places, I never said I was innocent. Without further ado: the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters, I just use and abuse their actions, feelings and thoughts!
Toshiro's POV:
My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, I'm the Captain of the Tenth Division at the Gotei 13, the Japanese government's secret agency. I am twenty-four years old and have been trained by Japan's best and gained the title of captain by the age of fifteen. Today, the unthinkable happened, and it changed my life as I knew it.
Karin's POV:
Things can change in a minute. Anything can happen in that one minute; a person can die, or another brought into the world. I had always been told this by my mom and I believed it whole-heartedly. What I didn't believe is that something like that would happen to me. My name is Karin Kurosaki, I'm twenty-two years old and I work for the Karakura Secret Agency. My brother and our friends work there too, and today something happened that changed my life forever.
The first thing that I was aware of when I woke up was the dull throbbing pain in the back of my head. As I slowly came to, I noticed other things like that fact that I wasn't in my bed but on a stone floor, the room I was in smelled terrible and musty, and the other person in the room with me was breathing raggedly. Wait a second, someone's in here with me? Immediately I sat up and looked around. The room was small, made entirely out of stone blocks. There was water dripping from the ceiling and into a pot of water with questionable cleanliness. The rest of the walls, ceiling and floor were damp and moldy, explaining the smell. I moved my feet and heard a clinking noise. Looking down I saw that my feet were cuffed together with those ankle chains you see on criminals. I have to admit, it's odd being on the other side of these cuffs. I heard a rustling sound and turned to the side to see a red-haired man lying face down on the floor right next to me wearing a white jacket and black pants. I looked closer and saw that his hair wasn't red, but white. I gagged when I realized that his hair was red with blood from a wound on the back of his head. Whatever had hit him, hit him hard. The man stirred and groaned. My instincts from when I worked as a nurse in my father's clinic kicked in, and I kneeled next to the man.
"Move slowly, it'll hurt less that way," I instructed and gently placed my hand on his back. The man stiffened and grabbed my hand, grasping it tightly.
"Who are you? If you're the person who brought me here, I will kill you," The man said, his deep voice raspy.
"Yeah," I snorted, unable to help myself, "You're really in the best of shape to do that. Just sit up slowly," I told him as I helped him roll over then moved behind him to sit him up. Once he was up, I reached over and grabbed the bucket that had water dripping into it. It looked relatively clean, but I wasn't going to risk cleaning out the wound with it. I took off the sweatshirt I was wearing, and realized that the thin tank top and shorts that I had on wouldn't keep me very warm for long in this place. Oh well, I'll live. Besides, although the bleeding had almost stopped, it'll be best to bind the wound, and my sweatshirt is the only thing that I can really spare. I'll use it both to clean the blood out of his hair and as a makeshift bandage for his head. As I was thinking, my body went through the motions that I was used to; ripping the jacket into as long of a strip as I could to make a bandage. The rest I used for a rag and dipped into the bucket to start cleaning his wound.
"Who," The man cleared his throat, "Are you? All I know is that I woke up with your hands on my head after being followed home from, uh, work. Add in the fact of which that you know how to bind wounds with limited resources and it leads me to wondering who you are and what you do." I dabbed at his hair around the wound and he winced when some water got into it.
"My name is Karin Kurosaki, I worked with my dad at his clinic when I was younger, so I've learned a few tricks for cleaning and wrapping up wounds. Actually, I'm not too surprised that this happened. I work for Karakura Agency, a private and secret agency in Karakura, although if asked later on you have no clue what that is. How about you?" I asked as I finished washing his hair. I took the bandage I made and started wrapping it around his head.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya, I work-" He started but I cut him off, pausing my work.
"As a captain for the Gotei Thirteen!" I said in surprise, "But how did they get you?"
"You tell me first," He said. While I was wrapping the makeshift bandage around his head, I noted that he said this with no expression and little fluctuation of his voice, "If you're an agent as well, then there was no reason for you to have been caught."
"That's a low blow!" I hissed and smacked his shoulder, "I was walking home from the training dojo where I had spent four hours training with Tatsuki Arisawa. It was about one in the morning, and I decided to jog home as a cool down to the workout I just had. I was about a block away from home when I saw a man I didn't know lounging in the shadows. He was black and wearing sunglasses. Since I had no idea who he was, and that I was cautious by habit, I took the long way home. Turns out it was a trap. There was another man with wavy brown hair and a goatee as soon as I turned the corner. He grabbed me and covered my mouth then injected me with some sort of drug. Actually I can still feel some after-effects from the drug, I can't really move too well and I'm kind of weak. I woke up here and the rest you know. Now I'll ask you again, how did you end up here?"
"I was out searching an area where Aizen's forces had been rumored to be. When I got there, someone I didn't see was waiting for me and hit me in the back of the head," Toshiro shrugged a little, and I sat on my feet as I finished tying the bandage. I pushed my raven-colored hair out of my grey eyes, confused only about one thing.
"Who's Aizen?" I asked.
"What do you mean 'who's Aizen?' You work with your brother, he knows! Actually him and his friends have been working with us since Aizen's betrayal," Toshiro said, turning around quickly so that I was inches in front of him now and he was sitting down. There wasn't much space between the two of us, and I was given the opportunity to look at his face close up. He had intense turquoise eyes that searched my face to see if I was telling the truth. My eyes flickered to look at the rest of his face against my will, and I noted he had features that would make most girls melt into a puddle. He had a chiseled and defined jawline and cheekbones, and overall handsome face.
"I worked other missions and was kept away from anything to do with the Gotei 13 because my brother doesn't want to put me into danger. I only know if the Gotei Thirteen because Orihime let It slip during a conversation one day, so I blackmailed Urahara into giving all of the information he could to me, but obviously he left out some details like who Aizen is," I told him and moved back a little. I wasn't usually one to back down, but for some reason with those intense eyes, it made me blush. Of course it might have had something to do with the fact of which that Toshiro wasn't horrible looking, actually he was quite handsome.
"Sosuke Aizen betrayed the Gotei Thirteen and had plans to overthrow the Japanese government. He had help from Kaname Tousen and Gin Ichimaru. They have hired some of the best killers in Japan to follow through with their plan, and they call themselves the Arrancar. Aizen's top ten fighters he calls the Espada, and they're similar to our Captains. If any of them come near us, I want you to not say anything. Be quiet and only answer questions in the vaguest way possible," Toshiro commanded and his tone of voice sent shivers through my body. This was his Captain's voice, the one he used to get anyone below him to do what he wanted them to do, however I just pulled a face.
"No! I'm put on just about every mission other than ones where we interact with you. I haven't been told about Aizen until just now for god's sake! I'm not dumb Toshiro, I know how to act as an agent when I meet with the enemy or when I need a fake identity. I also know that Aizen probably brought me here more or less as bait, and to him I'm nothing more than that. If my life is that indispensable to him, then I'm not wasting my time being quiet, I'm fighting them, even if it's just verbally," I said and crossed my arms for emphasis.
"Karin," Toshiro grabbed my shoulders and shook me once. He was still using his Captain's voice, "Snap out of it. You are not an indispensable person, not by a long shot. Do you know that you brother talks about you and Yuzu all of the time? And I mean all of the time, so your brother won't let these guys do anything to hurt you, and I won't let them either," Toshiro shook his head. I felt my heart flutter a little, Does Toshiro like me, like that maybe? If he's heard all of those stories… He continued before I could finish my thought, "If I did, your brother would kill me, even if I was already dead."
"Well then, let's get to know each other," I said moving away a little bit as Toshiro gave me a confused look, "Well If you've heard stories about Yuzu and I, you might as well get to know more about me! Let's see I love soccer and my family, even my Goat Chin of a father. When I was five my mother died in a hit-and-run car accident, and the whole family was forced to mature faster. That first week was terrible, my entire family moving around as if though we were sleepwalking. My brother stopped smiling as much, my sister took over cleaning and cooking, and I vowed to never cry again. If I couldn't help with cooking or cleaning, then I wasn't going to be a burden on my family. After that, life seemed to take on a routine; I would go to school, come home and help in the clinic, eat, then go to bed. When Ichigo turned 18, he started working for Urahara Kisuke and went missing for days or weeks at a time. I finally got him to tell me what he was doing when I turned 18 and ran into Yoruichi Shihoin who told me all about the Karakura Agency. How about you?"
"I have nothing to tell really," Toshiro said. He seemed hesitant to open up and share information with me, "I grew up on the countryside near here with my grandmother and adopted sister Hinamori. We spent most of our summer days eating watermelon and just playing. Hinamori was a five years older than me, and was given the offer to study at the Academy for the Gotei 13 when she was 17 and I was 12. Two years later I was given the same chance, and I graduated from the academy in one year, becoming a Captain almost immediately. After that my life fell into a predictable routine, I got up at five a.m. to train, at the office by seven, yell at my Lieutenant whenever she decides to stumble into the office half-drunk, then stay at the office until eleven p.m. finishing paperwork."
"You're Lieutenant sounds lazy," I said and smiled, "I wish that we could get out of here so I could meet her. Although, I'm not sure if we will get out of here in one piece or in a timely manner," I looked at the ground and felt tears prickling at my eyes. The situation was finally getting to me, I had been kidnapped by a maniac who wanted to take over possibly the world and wouldn't think twice about killing me.
"Be quiet about that," Toshiro said and I felt him move closer to me. He awkwardly placed a hand on my back and continued, "Chin up, if you act like this, Aizen will use it as an advantage. That was on reason he made such a great Captain, he could make almost any situation work out for him. Besides, according to your brother, you're supposed to be the one who doesn't let things get to you. The one who continues on no matter what may stand in your path." Toshiro took another breath to continue but the door opened and a man walked in. Toshiro picked me up and moved me behind him so quickly I didn't even know what had happened.
"Well, well, what have we got here?" The man asked as he stepped into the room. He had silver hair that made him look older than what his actual age was. His eyes looked like they were closed, and he had a large, frightening grin on his face, "The boy genius has a soft spot for a normal girl eh? Who'da think of that? I'm here ta bring you two to see our buddy Aizen, so let's go." The man turned around and made it obvious that he wouldn't offer any help to us. The chains on my ankle cuffs were too close together and I was still weak from the drug, so I when I got up and tried to walk, I fell over. Toshiro caught me, and then put my arm around his neck and his around my waist without speaking. We followed the man, who I guessed to be one of the three traitors, along a maze of corridors until we arrived in a room that had a throne in it. Occupying the throne was one of the most intimidating men I had ever set eyes on. He had brown hair and a white coat on, but the thing that made me shudder was the aura of evil around him. When we saw the man, Toshiro tightened his grip around my waist and pulled me a little closer to him.
"Ah, just the two people I wanted to see," The man said as we approached the throne. This was Sosuke Aizen, the man who wanted to take over the Japanese government, easily distinguishable as so by the fact that he was in the throne and not the others, "I hope your journey here wasn't too uncomfortable. Now, what I want is information. I need to know what you all know about, hm, everything to do with the Gotei Thirteen's plans. I know dear Toshiro here knows all of the plans since he's a captain. Will you two share the information willingly?"
"No," I spit out, unable to stop myself. I took my arm from around Toshiro and stepped forward as far as my cuff would let me, directing my best glare towards the two traitors. Aizen frowned, but I saw Gin shudder slightly, "Giving you any information would make us traitors as well, and we're not traitors!"
"Karin," Toshiro called my name softly. I didn't stop glaring at the two men in front of me, but I did step back beside Toshiro.
"Very well then, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow," Aizen replied with a sadistic smile and snapped, and two more men stepped into the room. One was dark haired with facial tattoos that looked like black tear streaks and the other one had blue hair and a scowl on his face. If they came out in the order Aizen had called for them, the Ulquiorra was the black haired one, and Grimmjow the blunette Ulquiorra grabbed my arms and twisted them behind my back, it hurt like hell and I arched my back to slightly ease the pain, but I was not going to cry. I looked over and saw that Grimmjow had done the same with Toshiro.
"Let her go, she has nothing to do with any of this! She didn't even know who you were until I told her!" Toshiro struggled to get out of the much taller man's grip, but we were dragged unceremoniously over to the wall where my wrists were put into cuffs wrapped around a pipe placed two inches above my normal reach so I had to stand on the tips of my toes to reach it. Toshiro was at a bit more of an advantage, but he still had to rise up on his toes slightly.
"How fucking precious, the little man wants us to release his girl," Grimmjow sneered, "I'm just looking forward to kicking her brother's ass when he tries to save her."
"You know Ichigo?" I asked. There was no way that this… monster could know my brother. There were others filing into the room, and they grouped a little ways behind Aizen.
"Yeah, and I'm going to kick his fucking ass!" Grimmjow said and sauntered away towards the group. I felt the gazes of the assorted group on Toshiro and me, and when I looked out over the group, I saw a very tall black-haired man with a white eye patch and crazy big collar staring at me intensely. When he noticed that I caught him looking, he winked at me and went back to gazing at my body. I closed my eyes and tilted my head forward, sighing.
"Since you two won't talk," Aizen said and I heard him walking over to us, "I'll have to make you." He brought out what looked like a stun gun on steroids from behind his back and turned it on, "This is a modified stun gun. We have tweaked with it so that it hurts more, but it won't knock you out unless I want it to. Toshiro, you're first." Aizen moved closer to Toshiro who stood there wide-eyed. I saw his Adam's apple move as he swallowed then shook his head no.
"I'm not going to answer any of your questions. Unlike you, I know what loyalty is," Toshiro said, now glaring at Aizen who growled slightly. The next thing either of us knew, the stun gun was pressed to Toshiro's shoulder and Toshiro was yelling. After a few seconds Aizen stopped and left Toshiro gasping for breath and hunched over, but still Toshiro shook his head. I felt bile creep up my throat and I almost threw up. It was difficult seeing Toshiro like this; I had only known him for an hour at the most, but already he meant a lot to me. I really liked him from what I knew of him which was nothing, and the fact of which he was handsome was a plus.
"Let's see what happened when Miss Kurosaki gets a taste of our friend then, shall we? Gin says you seem to have a soft spot for her," Aizen asked and moved towards me. I felt myself shake, but I didn't cry or beg. Instead, I thought of those who were depending on my strength.
"Toshiro," He looked up at me, still panting slightly, "No matter what happens to me, do not, I repeat do not tell this bastard anything, promise?" I asked and got a nod in reply. I braced myself for the shock, but the pain still came, more than any pain I'd ever felt before and knocking my breath out in a hiss. I clenched my teeth and forced myself to breath in and out, counting to ten both ways. I don't know how long it lasted, probably only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. When it was finally done, I felt myself go limp, then I felt blackness beckoning to me.
When I woke up, I found myself still hanging up. My arms were aching since they had been in one position for so long, and now I was hung up high enough that I couldn't touch the ground at all. There were no walls near me, so I was hung in the middle of the room. I looked around and spotted Toshiro hung about a few feet away from me, his head down. I couldn't see his face, but I think he was asleep, or unconscious, and I'm betting it was the latter. If I swing my legs, maybe I can get closer to Toshiro and make sure he's okay. I looked up and saw that we were being hung from the same pipe, so if I swung just right I could get a little closer to him. As I tested my theory, I didn't hear the door open then close again and didn't know someone had entered the room until he placed his cold hand on my lower back. I stiffened as I felt his hand start to move up and down my spine.
"Now, now," The man's voice was higher pitched and sleazy sounding, "We made sure to place you an appropriate distance apart so that you can't do anything to help each other. I'll just have to move you back." I felt the man move around me and into my line of sight. It was the one who had been staring at me before with the big collar and eye patch. He placed his hands on my stomach and pushed me back to where I was, "You'll have to make sure you're quiet, we don't want to wake up your boyfriend here, do we? Aizen told us we can do whatever we want to get the two of you to talk, and I was the first to volunteer. This should be fun."
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice, "If you're going to do anything to me, I want to know who to kill when the opportunity comes." The man laughed again and clicked his tongue at me.
"Well that simply won't do. My name in Nnoitra Gilga, Aizen's Fifth Espada. It's only fair you know who I am, since I know all about you Karin Kurosaki. You have two siblings, Ichigo and Yuzu along with your father Isshin. Your mother, Masaki died at when you were a young age, supposedly from an accidental hit and run. Ichigo and you are very close, so you are the primary target for us to go after. Tell me you little bitch, what are the plans against Aizen?" Nnoitra asked and moved his face closer to mine. His breath washed over my face, and I made a disgusted face, his breath smelled like what I imagined death smelling like. I looked anywhere but him, and as I glanced over his shoulder, I noticed Toshiro trying to pick the lock of his handcuffs with a bobby pin. Where the hell did he get a bobby pin? Wait a minute, that's my bobby pin from my hair! I decided I had to distract Nnoitra so Toshiro could get free.
"I told you, I know nothing," I said as I looked back at Nnoitra.
"I'll just have to punish you then," Nnoitra said and he reached up and unlocked my handcuffs. I fell into a heap on the ground and looked up at Nnoitra's leering face. He was tall, especially from this viewpoint and I had to crane my neck up to look at him. He pulled me up and pushed me into the corner and he followed, pressing me further into the corner to get as far away as possible. I gagged and struggled to get free as Nnoitra put his hands on my sides and moved them up my torso to my chest. I finally managed to land a good kick to his stomach and turned us around so that he was in the corner and not me, "You little bitch! I'll make you pay for that!" Surprisingly quick he grabbed my hands and hair and yanked the handcuffs down, putting one on my left wrist then pulling me up while I bit my tongue to keep from crying out. Once I was secure enough for his liking, he grabbed my hips then around my body to my butt and pulled my hips towards him. I felt tears coming again and I knew what was going to happen, whether I liked it or not. But that didn't mean I hang there and let him have his way with me, I kicked and cursed as he continued.
"You pervert! You're like forty and I'm twenty-four," I yelled. I was only able to catch glimpses of Toshiro, but he seemed to be furious, and was trying even harder to get free, "If you think I'm not going to fight you then you're fucking wrong! As soon as I have the chance I'm going to kick your ass and then kick your-"
"Nnoitra," A cold voice interrupted me and Nnoitra's movements stopped. I heard the door open and Nnoitra hissed in anger, "Your time is up. We gave you your ten minutes and now it's mine and Grimmjow's turn."
"Fine," Nnoitra hissed then moved his face next to my ear, "We'll finish this later Karin." Nnoitra stalked past the two who had opened the door and out of the room. I got a look at Toshiro who seemed to be pretending to be unconscious still, although his fists were clenched tightly.
"Let's do this," Grimmjow said as he walked around to my front to face me, "I like your fire kid, and you," He walked over to Toshiro and punched him lightly- or what I assumed was lightly for him- in the stomach, "Stop pretending to be asleep you little fucker." Toshiro looked up once he realized who it was and sighed. Grimmjow unlocked Toshiro's handcuffs and Toshiro gracefully landed on the floor. Grimmjow then moved over to me and unlocked my handcuffs and I prepared to land on my butt, however Toshiro had other plans as he stood under me and caught me bridal style.
"Let's go, Ichigo and the others should be here any minute now. You know how Ichigo gets when he was to wait," Ulquiorra said and Grimmjow, Toshiro and I shook our heads as we remembered, "Nel is waiting for us at the front door. Karin, Toshiro is going to have to carry you so that if anyone sees us they won't think twice about it."
"Wait what? What's going on here, remember, I know nothing!" I said, starting to get annoyed. First Ichigo and everyone else at the Agency now these three aren't making a peep about what's happening! It's so frustrating not getting to know what's going on, and being the only one not knowing.
"Ichigo hasn't told you anything? Shit that idiot is fucking dumber than I thought he was," Grimmjow said as he put his hands into the pockets of his white pants and laughed.
'Let's go, Toshiro will explain on the way," Ulquiorra said and we all started walking and I turned to tuck myself into Toshiro's chest so we could talk while we walked.
"This is going to be fucking great! I hope there'll be plenty of asses to kick!" Grimmjow said in his rough way of speaking. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down and catch up on what had happened in my time here, which I didn't even know how long it was. I had no idea how long I had been passed out before I woke up in that cell with Toshiro, or how long I'd been knocked out after being practically electrocuted.
"I can't explain everything right now, but when we get out of here I'll explain everything personally," I heard Toshiro sigh and felt a pair of lips brush against my forehead, "I'm so sorry you got dragged into this Karin. I don't know what's going to happen, but I promise that I won't let anything happen to you. If we get out of here, there's something I want to talk to you about."
"Hey you two!" A female voice called softly. I turned my head towards the voice, who turned out to be a large-breasted woman with teal hair wearing a very short green shirt that bared her midriff, "Are Ichigo and the others here?"
"Nel!" Grimmjow growled, "Could you be any louder? I think the only person here not to hear you was the deaf guy who works on the computers!"
"Oh come on," Nel said as she sashayed up to us and kissed Grimmjow on the cheek, "Don't be a sourpuss sweetie! I'm Nel by the way, I work with these two. You must be Captain Hitsugaya and Karin Kurosaki, and I must say you two make an adorable couple!'
"We aren't- we're not dating," I stuttered and blushed while Nel and Grimmjow laughed and Ulquiorra even cracked a little bit of a grin- although I may have been imagining that last one. All of a sudden the door flung open to reveal Ichigo in all of his orange-haired glory and others I didn't recognize came rushing in. Grimmjow followed them and I assumed they all went to go and fight their way to Aizen.
"Thank god you're okay!" Ichigo said as he walked over to us and Toshiro gently placed me down the floor. Ichigo hugged me tightly against his chest and hugged him back, "I am so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for keeping her safe Toshiro, can you bring her out to where everyone else is waiting outside? And don't put her in anymore danger Toshiro, we don't know where anyone is right now." Toshiro must have nodded a yes, because he picked me up again and walked towards the door.
"Can I walk Toshiro? I want to walk out of this place on my own two feet," I said and I was put down, but Toshiro stayed to my right side and kept his left arm around my waist. We walked out the door, where we were met with a surprise. There was a woman with black hair laying on the ground, stabbed with a knife in the chest and Aizen standing over her.
"Once again, just the two I was hoping to see," Aizen said as he calmly pulled a pistol out and aimed it at my chest, "Let's walk, shall we?"
"No," Toshiro said and started to move in front of me but stopped when Aizen moved to pull the trigger, "We won't. Karin has nothing to do with this Aizen, let her go."
"If you won't come with me then I'll have to settle this here, won't I?" Aizen said and he aimed the gun at Toshiro. He pulled the trigger and, without thinking, I moved in front of Toshiro and felt the bullet hit me in the shoulder. The bullet dug into the muscle of my shoulder and I saw black dots on the edges of my vision. I shook my head and forced myself to stay awake as Ichigo launched past me screaming at Aizen. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as Toshiro grabbed my shoulder to stop the bleeding.
"Karin, stay awake, we're getting Captain Unohana as we speak. Come on, just don't close your eyes," Toshiro said and grabbed my chin with his other hand so I was looking at him.
"Everything's getting blurry, and I'm sleepy," I protested as I closed my eyes and leaned into Toshiro. To my horror my mouth seemed to disconnect from my brain and I kept speaking, "Did you know I think you pretty? You're also nice, but you don't seem to like talking about yourself, and you don't smile at all. I'm gonna fix that, it's not healthy you know," I said and shook a finger at Toshiro.
"Really?" Through the haze I saw Toshiro looked stunned, then he smirked, "I know how to keep you awake then."
"Does it include coffee? Because I don't like cof-" I was interrupted by a pair of lips, the same ones that had brushed against my forehead earlier, were on mine. Even though I was falling asleep fast, probably from blood loss, I jolted awake and my eyes opened wide as I noticed Toshiro's closing.
"CAAPTAAAAIIIIIIN!" I heard a woman squeal and Toshiro pulled away with a hint of reluctance. A woman was running up and her assets were hanging halfway out of her shirt and bouncing as she ran towards us waving her arms, "Oh, is this Karin? Ichigo was telling us about the time you climbed up a tree when you were six and wouldn't come down for three days and they had to bring you your food… oh my god!" The woman stopped and looked around for help, assuming an air of authority, "You! Go and get Captain Unohana immediately, tell her it's an emergency. Now! Okay Karin, what we need from you is to stay awake, can you do that?" The woman asked as she shrugged off her jacket I hadn't even noticed she had on and pressed it to my shoulder, causing me to clench my teeth in pain.
"It'd be nice to know who you are so I can thank you for helping me, and then slap you for doing that! Haven't you ever heard of warning a person?!" I asked through clenched teeth.
"Oh I forgot to introduce myself again, haven't I?" The woman laughed, a lilting somewhat infectious sound and I chuckled weakly myself, "I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, the Tenth Division Lieutenant and Captain Hitsugaya's my captain."
"Ahem," Toshiro cleared his throat and we both looked at him. He had taken hold of the jacket pressed to my shoulder and was very close to me, which seemed to be a common thing with him around me, "Karin, why don't you do something that will keep you awake like telling a story?"
"Alright, umm well this isn't my first bullet wound," I said as I thought, my mind and vision still blurry. I noted my words were starting to slur a little and vaguely remembered that wasn't a good thing. My want to sleep was growing and I had to fight to keep my eyelids open, "I was once shot when I was on a mission with Uryuu and Orihime. I had gone ahead a little ways and when I came back to see them, Uryuu was helping Orihime up a steep climb when I noticed a sniper positioned a ways ahead. Luckily that time it just grazed my side and Orihime had all of her medical supplies with. She gave a couple of stitches and voila! I was all better. Although," I said, having to pause a moment to gather my thoughts. I frowned at this realization, "It might take me a little longer to recover from this one." Toshiro shook his head, and from what could see through the blur, looked down at me worriedly while Matsumoto chuckled slightly.
"Did you two need help? Oh my, you certainly do!" Another voice joined the conversation as I started to drift off, "Miss Kurosaki, I need you to stay awake a little longer and then you can go to sleep. Can you tell me what your favorite flavor is out of these three: Banana, pear, or strawberry?"
"That's tough," I said, my voice barely above a whisper and closed my eyes, "But I like pear best I think. Toshiro, can I ask you something now?" I felt Toshiro move closer to me so he could hear me, "Will you stay by my side, like, not leave me alone?"
"Of course," I heard whispered into my ear, and felt a pair of lips on my forehead before I felt a mask placed over my mouth and nose and the smell of pear lulled me to sleep.
"So what you're saying is that this perv groped my sister?! I wish I got to get him instead of Zaraki that lucky bastard!" I woke up to Ichigo's voice yelling next to me, and the tell-tale scraping of a chair as I guessed Ichigo stood up.
"Be quiet Kurosaki, otherwise you might wake your sister up, and we all know she could use the sleep right now," A much calmer voice said on my other side and I heard Ichigo sit back down, "Moving on, she's going to be pissed off at you when she wakes up. What the hell made you all think it was best to not tell her about any of this? She was automatically put into danger the moment you entered the battle with Aizen, you should have known that he would try to use her against you."
"I know, I guess I just thought maybe if she kept her innocence about the whole topic, she'd still be my little sister. The one who stubbornly took after me and beat up our dad whenever he acted like an idiot, and played soccer, the one who looked at me like I was the greatest big brother who would always be there for her. The one time I couldn't be there for her, she ends up being captured by our sworn enemy and going missing for two days during which she gets practically electrocuted, groped and hung from a ceiling for almost twelve hours straight. Add in the fact of which that she's been kept asleep by Captain Unohana for a week for perfect recovery from a fucking bullet wound and I feel like the worst big brother in the world. I'd always had something I always said when it came to those two. The big brother's born first, so he can protect the little ones that come after." Ichigo sighed frustrated and I opened my eyes.
"Ichigo? Toshiro?" I asked, my voice scratchy after not being used for, apparently, a week, "Where am I?"
"You're at the Fourth Division at the Gotei 13 headquarters, I'm going to go and get Captain Unohana," Toshiro said as he got up and almost silently moved out the door.
"Karin-" Ichigo started but I interrupted him.
"It's okay, it's not your fault Aizen captured me, and anything that happened there wasn't your fault either. Got that?" I asked and gave the best glare I could while I was still half asleep.
"Alright, if you say so," Ichigo said, chuckling at my glare and ruffling my hair, "I guess it's time to tell you everything that happened, isn't it? It started when I was seventeen, and I saw a member of the Gotei 13 take down a criminal…" Ichigo told me his story, continuing as Captain Unohana came in and gave me a check-over.
"Woah, I wish you would have told me all this before," I said as Ichigo finished his story half an hour later. Toshiro had to go and fill out a report of what had happened while we had been Aizen's prisoners, but he said he'd be back soon.
"I'm sorry, I was just being stupid I guess," Ichigo said and ran his fingers through his hair, "That's how we know Goat Chin's my dad I guess, we've got idiocy in common. I've got to go for now though, Dad's going to be here in a few minutes to pick you up and bring you to his house for now. A few of Aizen's men are still out there, so we want to make sure you're under constant supervision. For now you'll be staying with Dad and Yuzu's coming to stay there for a while too." Ichigo got up and left the room while I slowly got up and, with help from Lieutenant Kotetsu who came rushing into the room as soon as I got up, changed into some clothes that had been dropped off for me by my family.
"KARIN!" A black-haired blob came flying at me and I instinctively put my fist out to knock it, or should I say him, to the ground, "I'm so glad you are alright my darling daughter!" Yup, that was my dad, Isshin Kurosaki. After going over some things with Captain Unohana, I was helped down to the car and we drove off to my dad's clinic/my childhood home. Once there my twin sister- oddly enough we look absolutely nothing alike, she's got the looks with her honey-colored hair and cute innocence about her- met us by the door and pulled me in for a careful hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay Karin! The agent they've assigned to watch you should be here in an hour, I just talked with him on the phone," Yuzu said as she made her way back to the kitchen after making sure I was comfortable on the couch. She hustled around and started supper while my dad eyed me seriously.
"I heard what happened with Nnoitra Karin," He said bluntly and crossed his arms, "Are you alright? He didn't actually do anything like-"
"No," I cut him off while shaking my head, "I didn't let him and Toshiro was almost free the moment that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow barged in." My dad nodded then walked into the kitchen where I heard him revert back to child mode. I ended up falling asleep on the couch, still exhausted after my ordeal and all of the drugs they'd pumped into me, so I didn't hear when the door opened and a man I'd gotten to know quite well over the past few days came into the house. I also didn't notice when said man kissed my forehead.
"I've come to finish our business," I slimy voice whispered in my ear and I shuddered. This has to be a dream, it can't be real, I've just got to open my eyes and he'll be gone. I opened my eyes and shot up, wincing in pain from my shoulder. I looked around and recognized the surroundings as my dad's living room, except now it was dark out and a blanket had been placed over me.
"Karin?" A deep voice I'd recognize from anywhere asked. Toshiro walked into the room then quickly changed his direction for me, "Are you alright? You were asleep when I got here and we didn't want to wake you up."
"I'm fine, but I have a question for you," I told Toshiro. Now I get to find out why on earth he thought that kissing me was the best way to keep me awake. I don't remember much about right before I was given the anesthesia, but I do remember that, "Why did you kiss me before I passed out?"
"Well, you were starting to go unconscious, and I needed some way to keep you awake," Toshiro replied. My heart sunk a little as I realized that he did it just to keep me alive… okay so that was still important, but still, "But you had just called me handsome so maybe my ego had been a little inflated. Besides, am I not allowed to kiss a woman I think is pretty?"
"Huh, I really did say that out loud, didn't I?" I mused to myself and grinned when Toshiro gave me a look. He leaned forward a little and brushed his lips against mine, and then he kissed me again. I wrapped my good arm around his neck, and his hands found my waist. I could definitely live with this.
A/N: The End! I think I kinda like how that turned out! Okay, so random update time: School has recently started and I've been uber busy, so now that 100 one-shot thing I'd been planning is going to be far and few between… but I'll still try! That's all for now folks, and remember to review, otherwise I just might not write! … yeah, even I'm not taking myself seriously on that last one.