Karin worked at a busy coffee shop downtown, where the people were aspiring and professional and the tips were decent. Following a particularly busy Monday afternoon, she took her time walking home from work, soaking in the nice weather and stopping around the corner for a frozen yogurt. She'd almost say it was a great day, spring rising her out of her past winter blues.

At least, she would've said that, until she got home.

Her building was short, old, and crumbling, squished onto a loud crowded street between a run down convenience store and an even greasier pub. Her landlord and his daughter ran a small seafood market out of the ground floor onto the sidewalk, leaving just a side door and creaking narrow staircase for the tenants. Karin found at least five faulty steps going up.

Passing by the sounds of crying children and fruitless arguments that occupied the two units on the second floor, Karin continued up to the top floor. Halfway up was where her day turned sour, when the low hum of a very familiar record of the deepest blues began to swell her eardrums, irritating her instantly. She hung her head, a groan escaping her as she continued up the stairs, stomping her feet as she went.

It had been just over a week since she'd met Hitsugaya Toushiro, from their respective balconies following an incredible emotional meltdown on his part, and while she'd expected there to be some sadness and distress following the very apparent split from his fiance, she had not expected to be so terribly aware of it. However, thanks to the pathetic excuse for a wall that separated her apartment from his, she'd played victim to his overwhelmingly depressing record collection for the past eight days straight.

Drawing her keys from her pocket, Karin rolled her eyes at her neighbour's door. She could sympathize with him for the first few days, but at this point she was about ready to barge in and smash his record player with a hammer.

The next day was relatively silent, at least in regards to her despairing neighbour. After blaring his music until about three in the morning, Karin happily assumed he was still asleep.

Mid-afternoon, as she was getting ready to leave for work, an incessant knocking began on Hitsugaya's door, and shortly after the sound of a bottle hitting the floor echoed through the wall, the stumbling shuffles of her neighbour waking up following after. The knocking continued.

"Toushiro!" a woman's voice boomed, startling Karin into a shudder of goosebumps. "I will knock this door off its hinges, I swear!"

Karin felt almost too uncomfortable to leave, now.

"Ignore the hostility, Shiro!" another girl's voice called, much softer and clearly younger. "We're here to help!"

Stepping out into the hallway following a long bout of hesitance, Karin found the two women arguing amongst themselves, exchanging loud whispers over opposing tactics. The older one, tall and beautiful with strawberry-blonde hair that blazed against the grimy walls, let out a huff, ignoring the younger girl in favour of continuing to bang on the door. In turn, the other girl sighed, her shoulders drooping as she cast about a glance, her large brown eyes quickly landing on Karin. She rolled her eyes, wholly unimpressed with her companion, and Karin simply smiled, sliding her key out of her now locked door and heading down the hallway.

She prayed they were there to take him to an institution.

Arriving home late that night, Karin was once more bombarded with the melancholic drone of Hitsugaya's seemingly unending pity party, and finally she'd had enough. Unlocking her apartment solely to toss her bag inside, Karin braced for conflict, placing herself purposely in front of his door and proceeding to bang her fist against it so hard and consistently it began to hurt.

After a few minutes, he actually opened the door. Looking ten times worse than he did when she first saw him, regarding her with a bleary once over and a swaying posture, he scowled.

"The hell are you doing?" he snapped, using his doorknob as a crutch.

Karin glared at him. "What does it look like I'm doing?!"

"Being a pain in my ass," he told her flatly, raising a brow. "Do you know how late it is?"

"Do you?"

He rolled his eyes, pulling back and slamming the door close. Karin just stood there, gawking.

Anger boiling, she began to bang on the door again. "Hitsugaya!" she bellowed, striking the door harder as he turned up the volume. "If you don't turn this godforsaken music off I'm calling the landlord!"

The music persisted, and Karin huffed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Calling him now, then," she told him, her voice raised and even. "Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll evict you on grounds of domestic disturbance. Psychological damage on my part, even. You hardly seem like the most pleasant person to deal with, so I'm sure he'll take my side over yours. Not to mention the other tenants that have to be as annoyed as I am." She stood quite still, stubborn as she held her ground, waiting for a reaction. "Dialing…"

At last, the door opened again, and greeting her once again was Hitsugaya's tired scowl. He looked her up and down, frowning as he realized she lacked a cellphone. "Liar."

"Pest," she shot back, barely giving him time to grunt in response before she pushed past him, entering his apartment of her own volition. The place with cloaked in darkness, and she slapped the lights on instantly, much to the resident's dismay.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Taking these," she said simply, making her way across the room to where his record player and albums lay, switching the music off immediately. Several records lined a large shelf, so she assumed the ones strewn about the table and floor were the culprits to her brewing insanity, and gathered them all up. Hitsugaya watched on confusedly from where he barely stood straight, and she cast him a steely look. "You'll get them back when you become a person again."

"You can't just take my stuff," he argued, his face twisted with dismay. "Let alone barge into my home uninvited."

"You'll thank me later," she told him matter-of-factly, ignoring his glower. She looked around at his apartment, frowning at the mess of empty liquor bottles and take out containers, the sofa he'd clearly been sleeping on left dishevelled with linens and pillows. "You really need to clean this place up. And shower."

"Did my aunt set you up to this?" he asked suspiciously. "Or my sister?"

"Are they the girls banging on your door this afternoon?"

"So you did meet them. I knew it."

Karin shot him a look. "Oh fuck off," she spat. "I'm not 'conspiring' with your family against you. Though it is pretty rude of you to ignore them."

He rolled his eyes, approaching her at a stagger. "Can you just leave, please? And give me back my records."

"No can do," she said, sliding out of his way. He sighed, exhausted by every movement. "Unlike you, I have a stable mind to maintain. And if I hear one more fucking song off any of these albums, I'm going to lose it and probably kill you."

"Sounds good to me."

She scowled. "Look, I'm sorry your fiance turned out to be a lying cheating bitch, but you have got to get over it. And wallowing in your apartment by yourself, drinking your liver to death, isn't gonna help any."

He gave her a rather hollow look, but instead of pity, she felt annoyed. With his confiscated records held to her chest, Karin made to leave.

"Get your shit together, please," she begged in flat, stopping briefly at the door to regard him once more. Her expression turned sly with a smile. "I might like to find you attractive again."

Leaving him slightly surprised, Karin closed the door between them before he could catch the flush of her cheeks.

...

A/N: Sorry guys! I know I said I wasn't gonna be committed to this, but jesus, I should update once in a while at least. But y'know, life has been happening, and when it's not I've been focusing on my (favourite) other story, the darkness comes with you, so I haven't been completely unproductive.

Anyway, hope you liked it, and look forward to your feedback! Laters~