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Walking through the busy streets of downtown Shinjuku, Karin stared blankly into the windows of ever constant restaurants and tinted corporate towers, watching her reflection weave through the slew of pedestrians. She held an excruciatingly hot cup of coffee in her hands, sipping the much needed caffeine gingerly while she listened to her sister's excited ramblings, topics ranging from anything to everything. Yuzu had rivalled her greatly in the spending department that afternoon, having collected over half a dozen colourful shopping bags throughout their travels in the overpopulated department stores and the little shops they passed on the street, whilst Karin merely picked up a new record, clearance underwear, and a bottle of moisturizer.
Their contrasting levels of success and financial stability were palpable, to say the least.
"So, how's work going with you?" Yuzu asked sweetly, having just spoken about the renovations going on at her restaurant. She was the proud owner of a growingly prestigious bistro in the neighbouring ward since she'd won first place in a culinary competition two years prior and won the means to build and run her own establishment, which she'd opened in Ikebukuro. Coupling that with their brother's reputable doctor status left Karin the least accomplished of the Kurosaki children.
"Ehh…" Karin tilted her head to the side, considering her answer. If she were to be completely honest she'd have to admit that her job had become the total bane of her existence and made her so exhausted of herself and life in general that she barely had the motivation or energy to do anything remotely enjoyable, like for example hang out with her siblings on a regular basis. But then, she'd first have to admit it to herself. "It's okay. Y'know, it's work."
"Don't be so modest, Karin!" Yuzu chuckled, bright-eyed and ignorant. "You work at a record label, that's gotta be exciting, right? I bet you meet loads of cool musicians all the time."
"My department doesn't really deal with the artists. Not like, face to face, anyway."
Yuzu frowned. "Oh…"
Karin's stomach churned, a restless lump drying up her throat. She stammered. "Anyway, um, didn't you mention that you met someone? Tell me about him."
"Oh, yeah!" Yuzu chirped, lighting up immediately. The dark-haired twin smiled in relief of the easy topic change. "He's the new line cook at the restaurant. I know I probably shouldn't be crushing on my employees, but he's so friendly and interesting… and he plays guitar!"
"Ooh, a musician and a cook. What a dreamboat." Yuzu's cheeks flushed bright pink, and Karin could barely stifle a laugh at her expense. She didn't even try. "What's his name? I don't suppose I know him."
"Well, you may know of him. His name's Hisagi Shuuhei."
It took less than a second for the name to register in Karin's mind, and by regard make her spit hot coffee everywhere. "What?!"
Her sister cocked her head to side, her brow wrinkled curiously. "Um, Karin?"
"Hisagi Shuuhei? Like the guitarist with the problematic face tattoo from the band BLEACH'D Hisagi Shuuhei, is your new line cook?"
"Yep! It's kinda weird, I know. I mean, you'd think a guy having a the number sixty-nine tattooed on his cheek would turn me off, but then his personality is just so catching. And he can chop and prepare food like no one I've ever seen. He's like a wizard."
Oh the strange things that pulled her sister's heart-strings, Yuzu had gone dreamy eyed.
"You know what they say about guitarists and their hands…" Karin commented dully, her mind reeling from this recent development. Her eyes sparkled with hope as she looked to her sister again. "Do you know if he still talks to the rest of the band?"
The honey blonde gazed upwardly for a moment, her lip jutting thoughtfully. "Hmm, I'm not sure if he's still in touch with all of them, but the drummer guy… Uh, what's his name, Abarai?" Karin merely nodded, eyes bulging. "Yeah, him. He comes into the restaurant sometimes, since Shuuhei started. I think he's a bartender or something."
"Huh…" How low-key of him. It seemed as though the only member that stayed in the spotlight was Kuchiki Rukia, who had quickly moved on from a bass playing back-up vocalist to an international model. "Interesting."
Yuzu peered at her suspiciously. "What are you on about? I know that face."
"Think you can find out for me?" Karin questioned vaguely, disregarding her sister's words. "If he's in touch with the others, I mean."
"I suppose… Why?"
"A somewhat friend of mine at work offered me a spot with him in A&R if I can get Hitsugaya Toushiro to sign on with the label, since apparently he'd been heard playing new music. However, I have no way of getting in touch with the guy, save for when I ran into him last night and literally knocked him on his ass."
"Is that what all that ruckus was on the phone?"
Karin nodded dejectedly. "He no less than ran away from me, spewing some shit about having 'nothing left to give'."
"Well, that's depressing."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Karin muttered, taking a sip of her coffee. It had gotten exceedingly cold, and she grimaced.
"It's worth a try though, right?" Yuzu said encouragingly, nudging her twin's arm with her elbow. "I'll ask Shuuhei tomorrow, he's on lunch shift."
"Thanks." Tossing her coffee cup in a nearby waste bin, Karin graced her sister with a thankful grin and huddled into her scarf, stuffing her hands in her coat pockets. She'd admit she was grasping at straws, but that didn't keep her from feeling hopeful, feeling lighter and aspirational and almost brimming with ambition like she used to.
No, there was definitely no room to overlook the chances.
"Oh, and on the subject of your foreseeable relationship with tattoo face," Karin prodded, her lips twisting up a teasing smirk. "When it comes time to introduce him to dad and Ichigo, please let me be there."
After seeing Yuzu to the train station and promising that they'd get together again soon, Karin's weekend reverted almost seamlessly back to its usual dullness. It was a short walk home from her own train stop, and she did it lazily, relishing in the peace of the night and the low murmur of music from her headphones.
Her apartment building was right around the corner from a slew of bars, their bright lights and loud, welcoming rhythms garnering a considering glance from her as she crossed the street. A group of girls caught her eye, their laughter resonating like a continental drift in her chest, and she found herself lingering on the sidewalk for just a breath.
Once inside, she readily changed from her blouse and jeans to a t-shirt and sweatpants, wasting no time crawling into bed and resigning herself to a night of watching Korean dramas and consuming far too much coca-cola and oreos than could possibly be healthy. She'd felt revitalized for a while, being out and about with her sister, an increasingly rare occurrence since Yuzu had left their old shared apartment and moved to the next ward over, launching the two of them, for the first time in their lives, into lone living. And as she laid now, huddled up in bed with her junk food and her TV remote, Karin couldn't shake the thoughts of the past, of how life was before, how much better life was before, when they were still in university and everything was simpler, funner. On track. When they went out to bars with their friends and sang karaoke and had regular family dinners with their dad and Ichigo, living life like they always did and then some.
She'd never expected it to all end so suddenly, for everything to shift so drastically and become so skewed. Everyone goes their separate ways, that's inevitable, and she'd always known that much, but she'd never imagined that her path would be one of working a job she hates and being perpetually glued to her mattress.
If she didn't sleep such thoughts and reflections away, she'd surely go insane.
"Apparently none of them have spoken to Hitsugaya in two years."
She was still in bed when Yuzu called the following night, a blank and drowsy expression etched into her unkempt post-nap features as she laid on her side, her phone fixed properly on her cheek.
"I guess Kuchiki-san checks in on Abarai-san and Shuuhei when she's in the area," Yuzu continued, her voice decidedly toneless. "But, with the exception of Shuuhei, they pretty much hate Hitsugaya's guts."
Great, Karin internally groaned, rubbing her eyes irritably.
"I guess some stuff went down the last going off. He didn't really tell me much of what happened, but Shuuhei says he doesn't see Kuchiki-san or Abarai-san forgiving any of it anytime soon, much less talking to him at all."
Karin made a near-inaudible sound, eyes fixed on the small ball of fuzz clinging to her white cotton sheet.
"Karin? Are you still there?"
She exhaled densely. "Yeah."
"You okay?"
"Mhm." She squeezed her eyes shut, hard, biting down on her bottom lip. The quiet stillness of her apartment was daunting. "Thanks for your help, Yu."
"It's no problem…" There was a palpable hesitation on the other end. Worry. It made her sick. "But, um, are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, totally. The guy seems like too much of a pain to be worth the effort, anyway." She lied through her teeth. He was a pain, yes, a complete and utter asshole as far as she could tell, but any amount of assholiness was worth this promotion. "I'm just hungry, to be honest. And I gotta do laundry and dishes and all that, so…"
"Right, I have to go anyway. I'm taking the staff out for drinks and karaoke tonight."
A sadness ghosted her smile. "Okay, well have fun."
"I will!" Yuzu chirped, her grin practically audible through the phone. "We'll talk later, okay?"
"Yep."
"Okay~ Love you, bye!"
Karin let her phone slide off her cheek as the line disconnected, her throat dry and aching. She wasn't much of a crier, always opting for silent disposition and the ever so often stray tear, but she felt herself at a breaking point, an emptiness roaring in the pit of her stomach from more than just hunger, and she didn't have the spare energy to swallow it down this time.
It had been eleven days since her run in with Hitsugaya, eight since her sister had called with depressingly unhelpful information, and ever since Karin had been feeling the woes of failure. Brimming with it, even. The bit of confidence she'd restored in herself, the kindred ambition she'd felt in the wake of a promotional opportunity, all of it was fading, breaking off piece by piece.
She entertained the thought of just forgetting about Hitsugaya all together, hugging a stack of folders to her chest as she made her way back from a meeting. She lived in Tokyo after all, so surely there had to be some promising musicians roaming around somewhere, hopeful and unsigned. Surely she'd be able to find at least one, if she were to resurrect even a semblance of the self-assured and driven person she used to be and did a little bar hopping, checked out some of the popular scenes, the unpopular scenes.
It was doable.
Shifting the weight of her folders to one arm, Karin pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and began scrolling through search results of upcoming open mics in the area, turning to the side as she met the double doors of her office floor and nudging herself through them with ease.
A low murmur of whispers surrounded her as she trekked along to her desk, effectively breaking her focus. She glanced around, initially confused by the fact that so many people were still at their desks and not on their way out for lunch, and soon enough she followed the direction of their collective gazes all the way to her own desk.
She nearly tripped over her feet.
"The fuck…" she breathed, her footsteps becoming slow and chagrined. He sat there in plain sight, an air of nonchalance about him as he slumped back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, shaggy white hair sticking out in disarray from beneath a black beanie.
Her heart thudded harshly, telling reality from fiction and giving her a start. She locked her phone then, sliding it back into her pocket as she continued on towards her desk, straining within the scrutiny of her co-workers to act casual. She narrowed her eyes curiously, giving him a once over, or two, absorbing the situation one cautious step at a time.
He looked sick, to be honest, his too pale skin blending with his tattered white shirt in a concerning way. In contrast, his hair was more silver than it was white, and the closer she got to him the darker the bags under his eyes became. She grimaced.
Was this what he really looked like underneath all that high brand fashion and airbrush?
Coming up beside her desk, Karin cleared her throat, the act of it awkward and damn near inaudible. She held her stack of folders to her chest like a crutch.
"What are you doing here?"
Swivelling the chair to face her straight on, Hitsugaya cast her an all encompassing look, a small smile gracing his lips. She was close enough now to see the red that lined the rims of his eyes. "Ah, there you are," he accosted airily. "I was beginning to worry you'd gone home."
"It's the middle of the day," she informed him flatly. She glanced around then, her brows knitting suspiciously. "Um, how'd you know this was my desk?"
"The picture there tipped me off," he said simply, nodding to the photo on her desk. Her father had taken it at her and Yuzu's college graduation, capturing she and her twin standing on either side of their older brother as he hugged them, a proud and lopsided grin decorating his face. She'd fixed the photo in a small frame beside her computer monitor the day she'd been placed, and has owed her miraculously intact sanity to it ever since.
"I did ask around first," Hitsugaya added. "In A&R, specifically, but it appears you're not actually in that department."
"Never said I was," Karin defended easily.
"Never said you were assistant to the assistant, either."
"Shut up," she spat, finally dropping the stack of folders on the edge of her desk. "You still haven't answered my question as to why you're here. I thought you had no business with me or my soul-sucking label."
"Eh, chalk that up to a bad day," he waved off, his eyes glassy and far too cheerful. She scowled. "I've given it some real consideration these past few days, and, well, circumstances have changed."
She raised a brow. "Which means, what? You want to sign with us now?"
"Oh, yeah. Definitely." There was a strange tone to his voice, and she regarded him warily, not quite buying into his demeanor. He was acting nothing like he did the night they met.
"You don't have, like, multiple personality disorder, do you?"
"What?"
She frowned. "Nevermind." Chewing her lip uncertainly, Karin withdrew her phone again, tapping open the message thread between Shinji and herself. "Let me just message my friend in A&R so we can meet. Hopefully he hasn't left on break yet…"
"Ah, don't worry about that just yet," Hitsugaya cut in abruptly, standing up none too gracefully and grabbing his coat off the back of the chair. "Come on."
"Er… Where?"
"Your choice, really," he said flippantly, shrugging on his coat. He met her confused expression with a grin, the very definition of smug. "I'm gonna let you buy me lunch."
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