Hello hello people of the world! ;D

First of all, I'd like to thank all those who bothered to read, review, favorite, and story alert my very first fanfic "Busted"! It really made my heart swell up with happiness whenever I see a notification on my story! You all inspired me to continue writing fanfics! As I've promised, I'll be posting the prequel to the story, showing of how the gang managed to keep Ichigo from knowing HitsuKarin's relationship for the next 4 years! I might not be able to update every week, but I'll try my best to update as much as possible! For now, I'll give the intro to my next fanfic: Operation Keep Ichigo Away!

Enjoy! ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All credit goes to the awesome Tite Kubo!

If I owned Bleach, I'd kill Ichigo off and make him end up with Rukia XD

"Rukia?"

"Oh, hey Karin! What's wrong?"

Rukia was just about to make dinner for the Kurosaki family, while Yuzu was still attending her cooking class. She and Karin were the only ones in the Kurosaki household at the moment, and Karin decided that now was the right time to tell Rukia about her secret relationship with a certain midget captain.

The younger brunette stared at her fidgeting feet, a faint tinge of pink sprinkled on her face. The older brunette, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow questioningly at the sight.

"Um… I-I just wanted to tell you personally…. um..."

"Spill it out, Karin. Tell me what you want to say."

"A-ano…" Karin steeled herself and looked Rukia straight on the eye.

"Toshiro and I are together."

Silence occurred for what seemed like hours. Karin started to get nervous, observing her future sister-in-law's shell-shocked expression. The latter then started to open her mouth.

"T-Toshiro? As in, the Hitsugaya Toshiro? As in, the 10th Squad Captain?"

Karin gave a sigh.

"Yes. That Toshiro. We've been together since a year ago, well, sort of. Is there a problem with that?"

Suddenly, Karin felt herself being lifted up in the air, excited squeals filling the whole living room. She looked down shockingly at the joyous midget shinigami who managed to lift her off her feet and twirling her around.

"R-Rukia?"

"Oh my gosh! Karin! I am just so happy for you!" Rukia happily exclaimed as she placed Karin back down and held both her hands, "I can't believe it! Who knew that Hitsugaya-taicho would be the right guy for you?"

Karin gave a relieved sigh, plastering a large grin of her own.

"Thank you, Rukia. Your support means so much to us. Toshiro and me, I mean."

"Of course! Does Yuzu and your father know?"

Karin shook her head.

"You're the first one I've told. Well, officially. Yuzu has been suspecting since I've introduced Toshiro to her three years ago, but I'll confirm it to her later on when she gets home from cooking class. And I guess I'll have to tell Goat-chin tonight as well."

"What about Ichigo?"

A pause filled the air as the female substitute shinigami contemplated on what to do.

"Yuzu and Goat-chin, I can handle. But with Ichigo…. I'm not sure if he'll ever accept Toshiro into the family."

Rukia gave a sigh, shaking her head.

"That idiot would definitely explode to that. It's already bad enough that Ichigo gets in Hitsugaya-taicho's nerves, and vice versa. I don't even want to think about what he'd do to him when he finds out that his little sister's dating one of the most annoying people on his list. It's a good thing that he went abroad the whole week for medical training."

"Yeah…"

Rukia suddenly claps her hands together, giving a sly smile, much to Karin's curiosity.

"Rukia, somehow that creepy smile of yours tells me that you're planning on something suspicious…"

"That's right, Karin." Rukia cracks her knuckles before giving a thumbs-up, "This is where I come in!"

"I don't get you."

"Don't you see, Karin? Ichigo and I are engaged aren't we?"

"Um, yes? You're getting married in a year, right?"

"Hm, I might be able to postpone it just a bit further..."

"What? Rukia, you don't have to do that! I think it's better if we tell Ichigo instead..."

"Nonsense! I'm willing to sacrifice a little more time for you and Hitsugaya-taicho. It's best if Ichigo doesn't get in the way of you and Hitsugaya-taicho's relationship for now. Who knows what crazy tactics he'd desperately do to get you both to break up?"

"I still don't think that's a good idea..."

"Don't be ridiculous! Just leave it to me and the rest of the Gotei 13!" Rukia huffed and placed a balled fist on her chest, "We'll make sure to leave Ichigo out of this as long as possible!"

"... This is gonna be interesting..."

-end... for now-

Watch out for the next chapters of Operation Keep Ichigo Away! ;)