Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 1

"Hey, Kurosaki! You're getting a little sloppy there!"

"You're gon' cost us the game if you don't hurry it up!"

"Yeah, 'Rin! You're running like a girl!"

Karin gritted her teeth and picked up her pace, her legs working overtime, just like the game.

"Yeah, Captain? Good luck keeping up then!" she barked before she made the split decision of intersecting him, the ball now in her possession.

"What the hell was that, Kurosaki?"

Karin stumbled back as the push forced her to.

Her captain only called her by her last name when he was angry and right now, he was pretty damn furious.

"We won, Cap'. What's the big idea?" She knew the look of disinterest she was giving his scold frustrated him and usually, Karin would return a sheepish grin that was Karin's signature apology, but today, her mind was only focussed on the loud tick, tick, tick that was coming from one of her teammate's watch. The sound not unlike a time bomb desperate to go off.

"The big idea, Kurosaki, is that you don't steal the ball from your own teammate! What kind of foul play are you trying here?" A tiny amount of spit escaped from his rather dramatic moral-of-the-story moment and Karin only inched away, like the liquid was acid with the intent of shattering her skin.

After a long pause where the boys awaited the response of the only female player on the team, Karin huffed a sigh, a response she knew would leave Junsuke red to the bone and scorching hot on his blown-up thermometer.

And explosive her captain be as he continued to lecture and she continued to not care.

That is, until he struck a spot that no one had spoken about for the longest time ever.

"Kama knows why but this team has been like a second family to you, since you needed it with your fucking family now chopped in half!"

A pause.

As the words sunk into the pores of her skin and the tissues of her brain.

As the boys backed away from their insane team captain.

As the time bomb went off and Karin shattered.

One boy breathed, "Captain . . ." in shock.

Junsuke took but a moment to register his words and his ears went red with the apology already at the tip of his tongue.

"You're late."

And Karin dropped her duffel bag filled with things that once were her whole life, but now, were segments that refused to connect once more. She raised a brow at the stranger whose hair was stark white and eyes bright, but never leaving his Smartphone. She heard the tune of Tetris fill the air around her ears and she idly wondered if the boy's comment was directed at her.

Because she was late and Karin was ashamed to say so.

She plopped down onto the sand, the water of the river not making a single sound, as she made sure to keep a chunk of distance between the boy she had never seen before and herself.

Karin went to this place a lot, this riverside. There's something about the place that felt so lost, but so open, like a jigsaw puzzle that changed position every few seconds. She stayed for hours usually. Instead of doing homework at home or practicing soccer in the fields, Karin adapted to this strange pile of sand and the smell of cool air and worked and did her usual hobbies here.

And it was just ten minutes later when she heard the boy once again.

"You know, I'm on a tight schedule here. The queues are quite long, or so I heard. My vice usually does the routine, but I guess you're stuck with me this time 'round."

Karin glanced over at the voice's owner who did not return the glance as his eyes were glued to his phone's screen.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I'm talking to you. Kurosaki Karin, right? Your brother is as impossible as ever. Wanting this sort of favor, it's unreal."

Karin looked at the stranger with wide eyes. For three years, no one had ever mentioned her brother so casually, so easily. Karin took in his out-of-the-ordinary attire for his age—black slacks, black jacket, and black tie, all in which looked too large for his tiny body—and his stressed-grown hair that spiked up like towers.

"You knew my brother?"

"Wish I hadn't, or I wouldn't even be here. I had to let my vice fill in for my appointment with the lady that was in that car accident three minutes ago. Uh, Oka? I think that's what her name was," he checked his watch and narrowed his eyes with distrust for who Karin could not tell.

"Tough luck, dude," Karin said, barely registering the words that came out of his mouth, "Had a pretty rough day myself."

"Ah, here it comes. Just spill out those feelings, those emotions. We care," he said in a tone too cheerful to be real before muttering, "How long do these things take anyways?" with a shake of his head.

The Tetris tune playing was on par with the fakery in his concern for her well-being.

Karin felt a twinge in the side of her forehead and snapped, "Why make that comment if you didn't care?"

Unaware of the huddle of fury just a few feet away, the boy answered, "Comes with the job. Have to make you feel welcome and all, you know? Like I had said before, not part of the committee, vice's job." A silent pause and a sideways glance followed, his eyes, calm teal against the dark gray, carefree versus careful, "But you're a special case, Kurosaki Karin."

"Yeah? And what does that make you?" she challenged. Though a bit confused she was, Karin would never admit it.

"Death," he muttered, his eyes now back onto his phone, the game of Tetris coming alive once again.

One hand tucked in the pocket of his slacks and the other used a thumb to swipe the screen of his device, he turned his back towards her and walked onwards, "Or a warning. Whichever one works. With that being said, you have now been warned, Kurosaki Karin."

"Who do you think you—"

And all it took was a blink before he vanished before her.