This story was inspired by possibly the cutest music video that I have ever seen! If anyone is interested in watching said music video after reading this, feel free to message me and I'll send you the link.
Toushirou is unfortunately somewhat out of character. However, it couldn't be helped. You shall understand what I mean at the end. Now, enjoy!
Title: Down the Rabbit Hole
Author: MeteorLeopard (HoneyBadger)
Karin had never been particularly good with children. In fact, they kind of frightened her. Not that she'd ever admit that, of course. Kurosaki Karin didn't admit fear to anyone! Heck, she wasn't even particularly intimidated by Hollows anymore! But children; there she stood quaking in her soccer cleats. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she didn't put much stock in fairy tales.
She knew that little children weren't particularly dangerous. It was just that she had no clue what to do with them. Once she'd seen a little boy who'd tripped and hurt his knee. Deciding to take the initiative, Karin had knelt down by the boy and told him bluntly to toughen up; crying wasn't going to solve anything. All that had achieved was make the boy cry harder. On an occasion a while later, when a little girl had lost her favourite doll, Karin had figured she'd have to be kinder. So she'd handed the girl a pack of tissues. Unfortunately the little girl had only stared at the packet, wondering what on earth she should be doing with it.
After that, Karin had made a firm decision to stay as far away from little children as she could.
It had worked for a while. Until her father had decided that she needed a holiday job. Apparently he was concerned with the amount of Hollows that Karin was fighting and hoping that a job might keep her occupied and allow the resident Shinigami to do his job. She'd had a lot to say about the resident Shinigami's aptitude. Ichigo had agreed with her. Yuzu had told her to stop being so rude.
Eventually, after a lot of nagging from her father, Karin had grudgingly agreed. The money might help her afford those new headphones that she wanted.
Except... her father had picked the worst possible job for her. The worst! And he knew; he knew damn it!
So here she was, standing on the sidewalk, dolled up in a light blue dress with a white apron, wearing a bobble head sporting blonde hair and blue eyes, waving cheerily and handing out yellow heart-shaped balloons. To children.
There was a new theme park opening just down the road in a week's time and they needed people to dress up for publicity. How her father had managed to find this gig Karin would never know. But she had half a mind to strangle him for it.
The only consolation to this utter humiliation was that the oversized bobble head kept her identity well and truly protected. Also, strangely, children didn't seem to mind her while she was wearing this ridiculous outfit. Wasn't the huge, bulbous head a deterrent? She hadn't particularly liked the weird people in costumes when she was younger herself, though she had put that down to her general lack of enthusiasm for anything doll or fairy tale related.
When she had left the house this morning she had threatened both Ichigo and her father that, should either of them even think of daring to come see how she was doing during the day and poke fun of her, she would have absolutely no qualms about decking them right where it hurt, dressed as child-friendly character or not.
Just as she was handing yet another yellow balloon to a little girl with short pigtails, a terribly familiar voice floated to her above the crowd. "Karin-chan?"
She stiffened as though electrocuted. Turning in the direction of the voice warily, eyes wide and the enormous head turning to look with her, she could have not been more surprised to find a tall, busty, strawberry-blonde woman pushing her way through the throng of parents and children, waving an eager hand above her head and hollering for Karin's attention. Within the bobble head, Karin's mouth fell open. It might have been five years ago, but Karin recognized that woman. Matsumoto Rangiku, Toushirou's vice captain.
Oh crap, her mind supplied helpfully. What is she doing here?
"Karin-chan!" the excited woman exclaimed again as she - finally - broke through to stand beside her. Matsumoto looked her up and down critically and then, with pursed lips asked, "Why are you dressed so strangely?"
Helplessly - and desperately wishing that Matsumoto would just leave already - Karin shrugged her shoulders. By contract, she was not allowed to speak while wearing the bobble head. It would destroy the image of the character that she was playing - apparently it was Alice from the Land of Wonders, or something - and besides, her voice would be muffled anyway.
But Matsumoto had already lost interest in her looks and was smiling brightly at her. "You know, I hardly recognized you, Karin-chan! Your reiatsu has grown so much since the last time on that soccer field that I wasn't sure that it was you in this silly costume!" With each word, Karin cringed further. A little child pulled at her blue dress. Karin handed the girl a balloon and gave them a robotic wave. The child seemed to buy it and skipped off.
Matsumoto had been speaking for a while now, nattering on about things that Karin did really not want to know. Her cheeks were still flushed in hot embarrassment. The blood was roaring in her ears.
"... actually, I think taicho should be around here somewhere." A bucket of cold water could not have been as sobering. Head instantly clearing, Karin's head snapped up so quickly that the bobble head threatened to dislodge itself. It probably looked pretty disgusting to watch, the way the bobble head was jostled on her shoulders, but Karin found that she couldn't care less whether or not she'd accidentally scarred a child for life. Her heart was performing a rather realistic impression of a jackhammer tearing away at her chest; it actually hurt. She cursed herself for it.
"What?" the word had slipped from her mouth accidentally. Luckily she'd choked up and it had sounded more like a croak than anything else. Matsumoto, who was standing the closest and was now helping her to distribute yellow balloons, nodded.
"Yep," the women said happily, kneeling down to give a balloon to a particularly eager girl. "He has a meeting with your brother later today and I convinced him to come early and take half a day off to relax! "
Karin was stunned. She might have last seen Toushirou five years ago, but that Toushirou was not the kind to be swayed into taking a break quite so easily. Matsumoto smiled kindly at a little boy and offered a balloon to him, which he took with a toothy grin. His older sister wanted a balloon next. "Actually," the woman said as she stood up and leaned closer to Karin, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "I think the only reason I managed to talk him around was because I mentioned that we might run into you."
It was like her body had just swallowed a pound of steel. For one brief moment she was soaring. Then she yanked herself back to earth and shook herself. Matsumoto was playing with her. She had to be. It was in the woman's personality to be carefree and teasing; this was just a friendly jibe; a reference to her and Toushirou's previous meetings. Nothing special.
Her thoughts turned to Toushirou as his fukutaicho asked a little girl for her name. Had he changed a lot over the past five years? He probably still looked the same; Matsumoto didn't seem to have aged a day.
She secretly smiled to herself at the prospect of being taller than him. She couldn't help it if the only image of Toushirou in her head when she thought of him was of the times when he'd looked at her five years ago. She remembered him as a young boy; a young boy that her young self had developed quite a crush on. Apparently the crush wasn't as long gone as she'd hoped, judging from her body's reaction to hearing his name. But she was a teenager now. Sixteen years old. He probably still looked to be twelve. Unbidden, a wicked - but welcome - thought crossed her mind. Perhaps, if she saw him, she could try to give him a balloon. Oh, he wouldn't like that. Not one bit. Then her brain registered the prospect of 'meeting him' and decided to send her heart into another frenzy. Damn, how she hated emotions! And hormones; damn them too!
Matsumoto was waving at her then, offering a happy goodbye. Through her haze, Karin vaguely registered the woman leaving. Karin handed a pair of balloons to an eager set of twins. Happily, the two children set off with their mother, their new yellow heart-shaped balloons clutched in their diminutive hands. Karin blinked as an image of herself and Yuzu replaced the two smiling twins. A pang went through her chest but she shook it off. Dwelling on dreams long past would not bring her joy. With the loss of her mother had come the death of fairy tales and fantasies. Princes didn't always come and dreams didn't have to come true. She'd resigned herself to reality years ago.
Her break came two hours later.
Sinking down onto the edge of a fountain in a nearby park, she was grateful for the reprieve that her feet were getting after being in those ridiculous nurse-shoes for almost six hours now. All of her balloons had been distributed for the time being. She'd go get some more after her break. As she reached up and removed the bobble-head, she inhaled the fresh air greedily, almost a little lightheaded. It was stuffy and hot inside the bobble head, making her drowsy and tired. By removing the bobble head she was putting herself at risk of being discovered, but she needed a few minutes of normalcy to regain her sanity. Acting like a dangerously curious little girl who'd been stupid enough to fall down a freaking rabbit hole took its toll on Karin's ego.
Cradling the gigantic head on her lap, Karin turned it until she could stare into its permanently-smiling face. Yep, she decided. Definitely creepy. Aside from the smile, the face held next to no emotions.
Something pricked on the edges of her senses. Over the years of fighting Hollows, her intuition had saved her life multiple times. She wasn't going to start doubting it now. A set of footsteps was approaching. Many footsteps were passing by the fountain - people going about their lives - but this set was heading towards her. She knew it. And then they stopped, just three meters away. Karin's eyes fell on a pair of closed black shoes. Her gaze shifted up the legs to the jacket hanging casually over a black shirt. A scarf, trailing loosely, led up to a strong jaw and a scruffy mop of white hair. The eyes - teal and frowning as usual - which were fixed on her, caught her attention last. Her heart tried to commit suicide.
Things clicked together rather quickly; she'd never been labelled as stupid before. Toushirou was back after five years of absence, just standing there in the middle of the freaking park as if he owned the place, hands in his pockets, looking as cool and laid back as ever, ogling her while she was wearing a dress more suited for a milk maid! A freaking milk maid!
Mortification pierced her like a poison arrow and, flushing bright red, she shoved the stupid bobble head back on. Blinking, she realized she couldn't see.
Damn it, it was on backwards!
She crossed her arms with a huff, trying her very best to appear dignified. In the darkness of the reversed head, she could still clearly imagine him standing there. She swallowed thickly as she realised with a start that he was taller. And he looked older. How did that work?
She could hear steps as he approached, slowly. She was sure that she was shaking like a leaf now; equal parts damnable nerves and shame. She prayed that he'd stop and stay away. Or even better; walk by like he hadn't seen her!
But of course that would be too good. He stopped right beside her. "What the hell are you doing, Kurosaki?"
Funny. She'd been asking herself the same question for the past few hours. Karma hated her. Words stuck in her throat and she only resulted in emitting a shallow croak. Why did he have to catch her at such an un-cool time? Why couldn't he show up when she was scoring a winning goal? Or walking home from school with her bag slung over her shoulder? Or helping out at the clinic, looking all professional with a clip board or something? Why now when she was dressed in a freaking bobble head? Why?
Karin was mortified. Flushed red to the tips of her ears and gritting her teeth against the lump in her throat, her eyes stung in painful humiliation. So she got up and, holding onto the reversed bobble head still obscuring her vision, ran blindly for cover.
She fervently hoped that he wouldn't follow. Had Karin been able to look back, she would have found an astonished Toushirou standing dumbfounded by the fountain, his hand partially outstretched as though to call her back.
The remainder of the day was a game of Avoid-the-Captain. Although it took effort, Karin managed to keep her energy signature entirely suppressed. Waving and handing out balloons as the picture of cheerfulness, she was keeping a vigilant eye out for Toushirou. She could sense him in the area. So she moved around a lot, deliberately going out of her way to stay undetected. She'd even made two trips into a subway station to avoid him as he walked down the street. Her employer had been very impressed with her determination to spread publicity for the park and given her a small bonus. Karin wasn't about to contradict him by saying that she'd only been trying to avoid a familiar face.
Half way through the afternoon he'd disappeared. Karin remembered what Matsumoto had said about them needing to meet with Ichigo about something, so she'd written his disappearance off and taken a relieved breath.
So now she was on her way home, dragging her feet as she walked the last stretch. She was out of that stupid costume, free of the bobble head and her hands held no more yellow balloons. Children passed her by as usual. And she'd never have to put that costume on again. It had been a once-off gig. Before entering her home, she scanned the area for any traces of Toushirou's reiatsu signature. She found nothing, though he might have just been suppressing his reiatsu like she had been earlier. So she was still wary as she unlocked the door.
"I'm back," she called tentatively, but loudly, as she entered her home. Yuzu called an answer from the kitchen, from where Karin could smell supper being cooked. That lifted her mood just a little. She peeked into the living area as she passed it and saw no evidence of white hair anywhere. A little more of the tension lifted from her shoulders. She passed by the kitchen to go up to her room. She urgently needed a shower. Perhaps the water would wash off the residual humiliation that still clung to her.
She still shared a room with Yuzu. Ichigo may have gone off to study, but he still needed a room when he came home over the holidays. She didn't mind though. For the most part, sharing a room with Yuzu meant that it was always tidy.
The light flickered on and Karin slumped against the closed door, letting a tired sigh pass her lips. Her cheeks were still a bit red. Never again, she vowed to herself. Never again did she want to go through that situation. She'd never been more embarrassed in her life. She couldn't even begin to fathom what Toushirou thought of her now.
She frowned at that. Who cared what the midget thought of her? Certainly not her. Most certainly not! Never! Not a chance! So he'd seen her dressed a bit strangely. Whatever. That didn't mean anything. Nothing at all.
With a firm nod, Karin pushed herself from the door and drew a fortifying breath. She'd go shower now and when she got out she'll have forgotten all about this. She'll have shoved it into the same mental drawer that she'd put every other memory of Toushirou so far. And when next she saw the midget, she'd pretend that this afternoon's encounter had never happened. In fact, if he even brought it up, she'd get angry at him. Angry like she should have gotten at the fountain.
Come to think of it, why hadn't she gotten angry earlier? With any of her other friends - who still consisted entirely of guys - she would have wasted no time in punching their lights out or at least threatening their personal wellbeing. Then again, she'd never behaved exactly like she was supposed to around the midget. And that irritated her. Immensely.
Snarling angrily, she pulled her bag from her shoulders and flung it onto her bed. Something caught her eye and Karin turned to face her bed again, noticing the lump of white on top of her dark blue duvet cover. Curiously, she picked soft white lump up and turned it over in her hands. It was a white rabbit plush toy. And it was wearing a waistcoat with a golden pocket watch pinned to it.
Confusion crossed her face. Was it Yuzu's? Then what was it doing on Karin's bed?
The door opened then and Ichigo took a step into the room, keeping a hand on the doorknob. His brown eyes zeroed in on her. "Ah, you found it," he said, gesturing to the white rabbit in her hands. Karin nodded, glancing down at the plush toy. "Toushirou left that for you."
Karin's eyes went wide as saucers as she gaped at her brother, who was still standing nonchalantly in her doorway. Ichigo only shrugged and said, "Apparently there's a note inside the pocket watch for you."
Even more bemused, Karin made to open the pocket watch, which until then had been closed. A piece of unimpressive white paper came to light. Unfolding it with unsure hands - because, really, what could Toushirou have possibly written her a note for? Karin almost choked as she read it.
Tomorrow. 14:30. Fountain. Don't be late for a very important date.
She suddenly wished that fairy tales actually held some truth in them; for then the earth might have opened up in the form of a rabbit hole and swallowed her whole.
A very happy un-Birthday to everyone out there! Please leave a review on your way out of the tea party!