Hey! I wrote this for a Hitsukarin Secret Santa this year. The prompt was Light(s). I'm probably pushing it as far a following the prompt, but this was all I could think of. Anyway, hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Lights

It was already starting to get dark when Karin started to home from Granny Haru's house. She had decided to visit the elderly woman after school today, and hadn't realized how late it was until the sun had lowered to the level of the garden wall. Now Karin was walking a little faster than normal, and was hoping that Yuzu hadn't already served dinner by the time she got there.

However, Karin stopped when she heard crying. Under one of the lampposts sat a little girl, sobbing into her hands. She was almost transparent, and had a chain attached to her chest. A normal person wouldn't have been able to see her, but Karin knew exactly what she was. A whole spirit, one of the recently deceased that hadn't passed on yet.

Karin debated what she should do. Sure, she didn't want to be late for dinner, but should she really leave a lonely spirit alone like this? The old Karin would have kept on walking, but she wasn't the old Karin.

It had been about a year now. A year since her brother had lost his powers. A year since Karin had stepped up and took on a bigger role in the spiritual world. A year since she had last seen the white-haired Soul Reaper who had finally given her some answers. A year since Rukia-nee, Toshiro, and all the other Soul Reapers had stopped visiting. Sure, there was still the representative, that guy with the Afro, but that was it.

What would Ichi-nii do?

The answer was obvious.

Karin walked up to the spirit. "Hey there. What happened to you?"

The child looked up. "You... You can see me?" she asked between sobs.

Karin gave a small, sad smile. "Yeah, I'm special like that. There are a few other people who are special like me. How about you come with me and I can introduce you, would you like that?" Hopefully, she could get Urahara or one of his employees to perform a Konso, or even get Zennosuke to do it if she saw him.

The little girl smiled and nodded. "I really want to make more friends. By the way, I'm Keiko. What's your name?"

Karin took the little girl's hand. "I'm Kurosaki Karin. It's nice to meet you, Keiko. I think you'll like my friends, and they'll even be able to take you somewhere special."

The two walked together for a short while. Karin was worried about being late for dinner, but also tried to think of what she would do if Urahara wasn't at his shop. She couldn't exactly have the spirit stay at her house, what with everything going on.

The sky continued to darken and eventually the streetlights turned on. As soon as they did, the little spirit stopped in her tracks. "Look, Karin-chan! Doesn't that guy look handsome, and he's even about your age!"

Karin looked at what the girl was indicating and gasped. There, under one of the streetlights, stood Toshiro Hitsugaya. He was wearing normal clothes, so he probably was in his gigai. Although she couldn't tell if he had grown vertically in the past year, some of his features had changed to make him appear to be almost as mature as he claimed he was. Despite the fact that she usually was above those kind of thoughts, Karin couldn't help but think that he looked really handsome.

"Toshiro!" Karin called out and started running towards him, dragging the little spirit with her.

When Toshiro saw her, he looked like he was about to run away, but stopped. He was starring at Keiko, and ended up letting Karin catch up with him.

"Toshiro! How have you been?" Part of Karin wanted to punch him and demand answers for why he hadn't come to visit, why the Soul Reapers had completely cut off ties with the Kurosaki family. But right now, Karin was too excited to see her old friend again to care about that.

Toshiro looked at Karin. "Karin you've... grown."

Karin crossed her arms. "Well yeah, that's what people do when you don't see them for an entire year, you know."

Toshiro winced. "Sorry about that. We thought it would be better for your brother if we didn't give him any contact with a world he couldn't be a part of anymore, and unfortunately that included interacting with you. But, well, what I meant to say was..." Toshiro fidgeted a little before finally saying, "you look good. I mean, you've clearly matured."

Karin blinked. "Uh, thanks, I guess." Was that supposed to be a compliment? Karin couldn't tell.

Karin took a moment to look - really look - at Toshiro. The light from the lamppost was hitting him directly overhead, illuminating his snow-white hair and making each of the thousands of hues stand out. His eyes and most of his facial features were hidden in shadow, making him look mysterious. The curves of his shoulders were highlighted by the light, and the shadows from where his clothes were ruffled up made his body look even leaner than it already was.

The image of him took Karin's breath away.

Karin cleared her throat. "Well, you're not looking to bad yourself."

Keiko giggled. "Somebody's in love!"

Immediately, both Karin and Toshiro yelled, "WE'RE NOT DATING!"

Toshiro sighed. "Besides, you really shouldn't worry about me and Karin. You need to focus on passing on. I can help you with that."

The little spirit blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by passing on?"

"I mean you need to go to the Soul Society." Toshiro explained.

"It's where Toshiro is from," Karin pointed out. "I understand it's a nice place. You'll be able to make a lot of new friends there, and everyone will be able to see you."

"Really?" Keiko asked. "In that case, can you help me pass on, Karin-chan's boyfriend?"

Karin gritted her teeth. "I told you, we're not.." Karin was interrupted by a pop as Toshiro exited his gigai.

Toshiro's haori was flapping in the light wind, making tiny waves along the entire length of the white cloth. The shadows and lighting highlighted the ripples in the fabric. Light reflected off Hyorinmaru's hilt, and the darkness outlined each decoration on the scabbard.

Karin realized that somehow, this form made him even more amazing than before.

Toshiro touched the hilt of Hyorinmaru to Keiko's forehead. As she faded away, he turned to Karin. "She wasn't in that much danger of becoming a hollow, but you can't be to safe."

Karin shrugged. "Hey, I was planning on taking her to Urahara to do the same thing. I'm glad I ran into you, so I don't have to make an extra trip."

Toshiro smiled. "Good thinking. Well, I better get going. I don't have that long of a vacation time, and I want to visit Granny Haru."

Karin laughed. "Really? That's were I just came from."

Toshiro looked pleased. "That's good. I'm glad I can count on you to keep her company." He reentered his gigai and turned to go.

Karin watched him walk away for a few minutes before he was right under a streetlight again. She looked at his distant form, surrounded by white light. He looked even more like a spiritual being than normal.

"Hey Toshiro!"

He sighed. "What is it now?"

Karin ran up to him. "Are you... Well, do you think I'll see anytime soon? I've still got your name on my soccer team's roster, you know."

Toshiro shrugged and started walking again. "Who knows?"

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