A/N: Chapter 2! Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo

Chapter 2

Karin POV

No way. No freaking way. How was this happening to her? Really, she was beginning to think that it was just one thing after another.

'I'm sorry Karin-chan,' her landlady - or rather the woman who would have been her landlady - was saying to her as Karin clutched the phone to her ear, 'I know it's short notice but it won't be possible for me to stick to our agreement'

'But-'Karin sputtered as her mind spun in circles.

'I apologize again, Karin-chan and good luck.' With that, the woman shut the phone.

Freaking shit!

Karin thought of all the options she had as she tried to calm her hyperventilating self. Not much came to mind.

She had moved out of her childhood home a few months back. Her main idea behind this was that her place of work would be closer. And a tiny part of her had balked at the thought of being cooped up in the house with her more than slightly crazy father in the absence of Yuzu. She had been irritated enough when she had visited him (at his request) before the start of her first day on the job. Not that she didn't know the fact that her father cared for his family deeply and that he did have a serious side. The problem was that his serious side rarely surfaced and she was sure she'd soon be taking her brother's place in the morning fight routine if she continued to stay there.

She had painstakingly searched for a plain single-bedroom apartment that would be suitable for her. Only to have her plan crumble to dust when the landlady suddenly announced that she had run into financial troubles and would be selling the building. And that too to someone who wouldn't be renting it out. Where the hell was she supposed to stay now?

'You seem bothered, Karin-chan.'

She jumped as Rangiku's voice echoed behind her in the empty washroom she was standing in. She sighed and turned to face her.

'I don't have a place to stay, Rangiku-san.'

She watched the older woman blink rapidly and a disconcertingly sly smile spread across her face as she replied, 'Oh is that it? I know the perfect place for you to stay.'

Something told her that this was not going to end well. 'Um, about that, Rangiku-san, I don't think that it would be- '

'Nonsense!' she said beaming at Karin's uncomfortable face, 'You can stay with me!'

'Wha-'

'Oh, come on! There is a free bedroom that is just lying there! Unused! And the meals come along with it, including laundry and cleaning. I'll even let you pay rent if it makes you happy.'

Well really. Even though her mind cautioned her that there was something fishy about this (it was Matsumoto Rangiku after all), how could she pass on an offer like that?

'O-Okay, Rangiku-san. Thank you very much.' She smiled one of her rare smiles at the strawberry blonde. And felt it fading as she saw the mischievous glint in said blonde's eyes. Oh well.

Toshiro POV

Try as he might, for the life of him Toshiro couldn't figure out why Captain Commander Kyouraku wanted to put him through this sort of thing. Oh, he understood that soul society had been facing just one too many troubles in the last few years and so it made perfect sense to try to nip it in the bud by stationing three powerful shinigami, namely Abarai Renji, his loyal lieutenant, Matsumoto Rangiku and himself in the World of the Living. But why him? The phrase that the world (or just that flamboyantly pink-robed captain) worked in mysterious ways seemed to very much be holding true at this point.

Two sharps knocks on the door yanked him from his reverie as Karin entered the room, her arms overflowing with files. She stacked them on his desk with a short 'thud' and began to tell him the reports without any further ado.

'There has been a significant increase in the profit percentage concerning the . . . 'she continued and Toshiro observed her cold demeanor and completely business-like approach. While he agreed with it, he couldn't help but wonder that this indeed was the same girl whose soccer team he used to be on. To think that she had changed so much but was still the same. Her swift and confident tone of voice hadn't wavered, nor had her serious and no-nonsense attitude. But there used to be something else too . . .

'Ahem'

'No, there was something different.' he mused

'Excuse me, President but your attention seems to be elsewhere.'

And then there was that whole 'President' thing. And he didn't know why that bothered him either. He was quite happy with authority and titles. But for some reason, her toneless voice and blank, inanimate expression as she called out to him was irksome. Not to mention the fact that she was seriously annoying him. All those better-than-thou expressions and the occasional smirks had made him realize that he was never going to be able to make sense of Kurosaki Karin. The fact that he had never been able to anyway was beside the point.

And Abarai had warned him of the coffee. He just hadn't expected it to be that bad. Karin's face as she doubled up with laughter as he had tried to swallow the vile drink without choking was now swimming before his eyes. He just found ways to embarrass himself around her, setting himself up for the teasing. Maybe he shouldn't have gazed so longingly at the bowl of candied beans that had sat on the receptionist's desk.

'Go ahead, ojii-san,' she had whispered quietly, barely controlling her laughter, 'I won't tell anyone.'

He made himself concentrate on the present.

'Not at all.' He lied smoothly in response to what she had said. How she had noticed his lapse in paying attention was beyond him.

She gave him a look before she returned to her presentation and he felt like he was back on that hill, as she kicked that ball towards his head.

Now where the hell did that come from?

'That's it for now.' She concluded and left the room. He knew she had grown up and of course her behavior would differ too, but it muddled his brain as he thought of the confusing mixture of past and present that had just exited his office.

Karin POV

Well, that was awkward. As it had been for the past week. Ever since that embarrassing debacle and subsequent quarrel, things had been a little strained, to say the least. Not that she didn't forgive him. She knew that they were both at fault and that they made an honest mistake. Which is why it was so much fun teasing him. She almost laughed aloud as she remembered the various expressions on his face. First the coffee and then those candied beans.

'I shouldn't have,' She scolded herself, though not feeling guilty in the least, 'but it was so much fun!' she concluded, grinning widely. Toshiro could act as serious as he wanted, but the other side of him hadn't changed one bit. Maybe she would even have fun at her job.

Karin didn't even notice Rangiku staring at her as she waltzed past.

God! Could this get any more annoying? It seemed as if Toshiro had taken it upon himself to act out the term 'Boss from Hel'. The man kept demanding one thing after another and she barely had time to breathe. Granted, most of it was actual work-related stuff, but what about those pathetically useless errands he kept sending her on?

What errands? Oh, let's see. What about 'Get me some green tea. This coffee is a pathetic excuse for a beverage.' And she'd had to walk four blocks for it. Then there was the 'I need some envelopes.' She had explained to him that they would be available half an hour later because they were out of those and he had given her an exasperated look one might give a five year old trying to scream his lungs out before saying 'So go buy more. And get me some handkerchiefs while you're at it.' She had stared at him in shocked disbelief as he had gone on to specify cotton percentage and the like.

She was completely exhausted by the time the day was over.

Toshiro POV

'I probably shouldn't have been that hard on her.' He thought remorsefully. Though even he knew that the kind of remorse he was feeling was still a far cry from what he should have been feeling. And that was because there were still vestiges of that vindictive pleasure remaining.

'Well I wouldn't have been that way if she hadn't teased me so much.'

Karin POV

'THIS is the building?' Karin couldn't help but stare at the building that Rangiku was pointing to.

'Yep. Now grab your bags and let's go!'

'But-but-'

'No buts! You're staying with me! Now come on!'

'O-Okay.' Karin relented weakly.

They were making their way to the penthouse of a well-built twenty-storied structure that looked fit to house celebrities. Karin was itching to ask Rangiku how the hell was she living here but decided not to. Knowing Rangiku, she really didn't want to know. 'Oh, and it's probably not that polite.' She noted in retrospect.

Rangiku soon to her what was where in the lavish three-bedroom apartment complete with lounge and living room.

'So, this one is mine,' Rangiku said, pointing to one of the rooms which was oddly, on the other side of the house as the other two.

'Alright' she replied and started to move towards one of the two rooms which were across the hall from each other.

'WAIT'

She stopped and looked questioningly at Rangiku.

'That, um, is the room where I keep some stuff, you know. And besides, the furniture's better in the other one.'

'Uh huh.'

The look on Rangiku's face clearly said 'Ask no questions and I will tell you no lies.' And Karin was fine with that, because where the 10th squad Lieutenant was concerned, again, she just didn't want to know.

The room was spacious and well furnished with pale blue curtains and white furniture. Shoving the thought of unpacking away, Karin collapsed on the matching comforter and drifted off into welcome and much-needed, blissful sleep. 'Thank God the weekend's here.'

She hummed to herself, cursing the dizzy sort of feeling as she got out of the shower and wrapped the narrow towel around her body, managing to cover everything that needed to be covered. 'Note to self – Switch on the exhaust fan when taking a hot shower.' The hot steam in the closed glass cubicle had ensured that Karin was very lightheaded and that was not a good thing. She looked around for the robe that Rangiku had said she would keep before she left and didn't find it. Oh well.

With her long, black hair tied up in a messy knot at the back of her head, and a few loose, wet strand unintentionally curling along the nape of her neck, Karin walked over to the room that Rangiku had said was used for storage. Strange. Contrary to what Rangiku had said, it was tastefully decorated and the king-sized bed in the center was bigger than the one in her room. Weirder still, the door to one cupboard was open and she moved towards it to for a robe. Okay, now something was definitely wrong. There was shelf after shelf of men's clothing and quite a few well-ironed expensive-looking suits. As far as she knew, Rangiku had never shown an inclination towards shirts or coats. So what gives?

A very male 'Ahem' from behind her whisked away all coherent thought from her mind.

Toshiro POV

Why in God's name was there an extremely insufficiently dressed woman in his room? She had suddenly stood up, her back ramrod straight when he had pointedly cleared his throat. He did not think that she was a thief. Unless she had a weird fetish of making use of other people's showers while relieving them of their possessions. He fervently hoped that this was not the case. There was one pressing question in his mind: who was she?

And then she turned to face him so that he could recognize her for himself.

Something heavy dropped into the pit of his stomach. Kurosaki Karin, childhood friend and General Manager-come-Personal Secretary of his company (not to mention the sister of an exceptionally powerful Substitute Shinigami, who would in all likelihood put a painful end to his life were he ever to catch wind of his current situation) stood before him in all her damp glory.

Her eyes as big as saucers, he watched as she slowly lifted a hand, her lips subconsciously mouthing the word 'illusion', she trailed her fingers across his face and stopped at his lips before suddenly pulling back as though electrocuted.

That is exactly how he felt at the moment. She blinked once, twice and a third time before emitting a loud, squeaky 'Eep!' as she turned away from him.

What was wrong with her? The Karin he knew did not say 'Eep' and blush cherry red at the sight of him. Nor did she turn away from him like a frightened, quivering rabbit. And then he recalled that he was shirtless.

Well.

Controlling his voice so that it sounded sufficiently normal, he asked, 'What are you doing here?'

Karin POV

Her throat choking up so badly that she was hardly able to answer his question, she said, 'I was, um, l-looking for a robe.'

That's it. Too much damn tension in the room. She turned towards the door to make a rapid exit (so that she didn't embarrass herself further), halting for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she felt him drop a soft, silky material around her shoulders before she all but ran out.

Toshiro POV

With more questions than he could count churning in his brain (and most answers pointing towards his sure-to-be-guilty Lieutenant) he couldn't deny one thing; Things were going to get interesting.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: That's Chapter two done : ). And I will try my best to make sure things are interesting (We can't make a liar out of Toshi-kun's thoughts now, can we?). Please review!

Many thanks to Iker18, MomoPeachFlower (thanks again for being my first reviewer too!) and Xingnai for being my first followers! : )