For all the Rest of My Days

It was exhilarating to stand before fallen foes, to watch them as they moved about in their daze of defeat. She could never get enough of it, to feel the breeze blow across the field as the last shot rang out, and all grew silent as you KNEW that it was finally over.

Karin's friends moved about her, their shadows long in the evening light as the game ended, cheering out with their final victory of the summer season. She couldn't help but smile a little as they clapped each other on the back and moved off the field toward the locker room, the exuberance of beating the Nermia Wrecking Crew a feather in everyone's cap.

For all her elation, he still had not arrived or been to this game. She had not expected him to, of course, but a small frown still crossed her young face even so as she followed her friends to their victory feast at the local Onimyiaki shoppe. The least he could do was write. She understood why Ichi-nii was gone, only needing to become stronger for what was a fight that he felt needed to be found, but the power that Hitsugaya had displayed, with the control and finesse he had shown, certainly he could take some time to come and see a simple soccer game.

--

Rukia had faced this opponent many times before,and watched her opponent carefully for any signs of uneasiness. Orihime looked back at her, eye large brown eye's seeming distant as Rukia prepared her assault for today.

This had become a daily ritual for them, each trying to out do the other in both style and flair of their chosen art. She had prepared carefully however, and with a flourish produced from under her desk a bento that she hoped would finally decide the winner of this little competition.

"Behold the greatest pickled rice and sashimi bento IN THE WORLD!!" Lightning crashed outside, and through the windows the gleam in her eyes was plain as she put the lunch box in front of todays" judge."

Chad wondered not for the first time how he had been chosen for this particular chore. It wasn't that he minded the food, but he still enjoyed his normal bento, sausage and egg biscuits with gravy over the odd japanese meals he had been presented with as of late.

He put down his fork, and picking up his chopsticks, doled a small portion of food from the proffered bento over to his napkin, and taking a bite, began to masticate. He understood that NOT eating the dish would make Rukia or Orihime unhappy, but he chewed, nonetheless. He paused as he finished, then thought carefully before stating simply "Needs more salt."

"Salt? Is that all you ever want on your food, is salt?" Rukia demanded hotly.

"Yes, salt." Was Chad's simple reply.

"O.K. Rukia has had her turn, now please try mine!" Enthused Orihime as a lump of SOMETHING was pushed into Chad's open mouth. Gaging slightly on the food, it took Chad a moment to realize what he had been eating. Watermelon figured heavily, followed quite soon after that by the pickled persimmons that had been inserted into the rind. His mouth temporarily caught fire as he realized that his tongue was beginning to melt from the juices of the jalapeƱo peppers that had soaked the concoction for several hours.

As part of some emergency brain function, Chad's hand quickly reached for the small jug that had been near him at the beginning of this "competition". Drinking deeply, and sadly realizing too late, the taste of the American beverage named "Red Bull" seared everything but the white hot lance of pain that was his esophagus before he passed out from lack of oxygen and fell over.

"Fifteen seconds" called one of the girls in the group as she put a small timer back into her desk. Orihime continued to wonder what the label of the bottled read even as Chad keeled over. "Mex-i-can Sui-cide Sa-uce" had been scrawled across the bottle, the skull and bones motif and the fact that it had melted her cooking spoon never occurring to her. It had been quite expensive, and the man who had sold it to her had looked furtively about as his fold up stall had been moved away, the sounds of sirens in the distance making him wonder if one of his "clients" had tried the super red spicy tacos he had sold the day before.

"That's a record Orihime, we will have you cooking for Ichigo in no time!" called out Rukia as her phone began to vibrate and her kuro-chan bear ornament began to light up. Quickly flipping the display open, she wondered why Ragiku would be contacting her in the human world.

"Excuse me a moment, I need to speak with someone." She moved down the hallway and began to listen to the lieutenant captain began to explain the current problem, Chad twitching slightly as the school nurse rushed into the room to check on the commotion...

--

Karin had just finished the last of her homework for the evening when a knock came at her door. "It's open!" she said as Rukia came into the bedroom, her face solemn and serious.

"What's wrong Rukia, you look so ser..." her words died as following Rukia was followed by Matsumoto Ranigku, in full shinigami regalia.

"We need to talk, Karin..." Matsumoto stated before closing the door..

--

Hitsugaya moved through his forms, his soul cutter tinging with hard snapping noises as the ice crystals flicked from the tip of his blade to embed themselves into a precise pattern on the training target 15 yards away. As he practiced, he began to slow down his attacks, building the power in each stroke until with a final roar a ball of ice almost 3 meters in diameter engulfed the training target and shattered it to pieces.

"Damnit, why the hell can't I keep focused today?" He muttered to himself as he sheathed his soulcutter and went back to his squad. Matsumoto was missing again, and the paperwork that she was to turn into him this morning, as normal, wasn't done when he arrived back and sat down at the desk. He began to page through a report on recent signs of Aizen's movments when one of the pictures on his desk caught his eye. It had been taken after his promotion ceremony, and showed Hinamori fussing over his new white overcoat while Matsumoto drank from a sake bottle with Renji in the background. Also in the background were the 12 other captains of the Gotai 13. As his eyes scanned the picture his eyes hooded as he noticed for the first time that Aizen was looking directly out at the camera, his glasses glared over by the sun, a smirk on his face. Suddenly and without warning, the pane of glass that had held the photo misted over and shattered, cutting the white haired captains finger in the process. Scoffing slightly, Toshiro threw the picture in the garbage and continued on with the reports, never noticing as the room temperature fell or that his blood froze before it hit the floor...