A/N: Soooo, hai. Thanks for the reviews. Thanks so much to Generalmayhem02 for pointing out the thing about his eyes. I thought they looked blue. Haha, oops. I just said they were blue-green, hopefully that will please y'all. Anyhoo, I don't like writing Japanese formality things like -chan and -sama or -taicho.

I know this is super duper OOC for Karin, but I wanted a happyish chapter before Karin's family are informed of her death. :'(

I think that covers everything. Oh, I don't own Bleach. R&R!

One more thing. Thanks for the suggestions about ships, I know I'll be including Ichigo/Rukia. I'm not sure about anything else right now though, I just know that I'll make them have a little moment. :3

Sorry for the long Author's note. R&R!


Rangiku ran off to get back into her gigai, leaving the captain and the dead girl alone.

"Well, she was..." Karin started, struggling to come up with a word that summed up the lieutenant. "...interesting."

"You mean, interesting as in weird interesting, or interesting as in you would genuinely like to know more about her?"

"The first one. I think I would take it a step further than 'weird' though." Toshiro nodded in agreement.

As they waited, Toshiro struck up a conversation. It was unusual for him, usually he liked to be anti-social.

"Do you have any regrets?" he asked her.

"What?" she asked.

"Anything you'd like to have done, say goodbye to? You have to have some, otherwise you wouldn't be here, you would have already passed on." Karin laughed, and sighed.

"My goodness, Captain. I didn't figure you to be a nosy person," she said jokingly.

"I'm just doing my job," he lied.

"Liar." Damn, she sniffed me out, he thought.

"I am no such thing," he lied again.

"Bullshit." The captain groaned and pulled at his white hair in frustration, making it defy gravity even more than it had before, if that was possible.

"How do you manage to be so aggravating?!"

"You're just easy to piss off." He shut his mouth and leaned against a street light pole, acting very much like either a pouty child or a moody teenager. Karin just grinned at him and sat against the wall of a shop.

She looked up at the sky, studying the small square of sky bordered by skyscrapers. It was the one thing about her hometown that she hated. There were only a few select spots one could watch the sunset. Watching the sky, she felt strangely at peace. Her thoughts turned from death and onto the road ahead, no longer lingering. She glanced at Toshiro with a new light, her mood completely changed.

She stood up, brushed the nonexistent dust from her pants, and grabbed a very confused looking Toshiro's hand.

"Kurosaki, wha-"

"Shh," she said, her tone not harsh at all. She led him towards a certain spot overlooking another part of the city, a railing near several sets of stairs and a large hill. They arrived, and she let go of his hand. She did not notice how uneasy the young captain was making physical (or as much as could be) contact.

Karin approached the railing and leaned against it. It was still warm from the day's sun. She could feel that warmth, and it comforted her. It assured her that she wasn't yet completely gone from this world, just unnoticed by almost all of its inhabitants.

Toshiro walked awkwardly up next to her, and also leaned against the railing. Karin sighed, her soul at peace for now. Watching colors streak across the sky made her almost giddy. The sun itself was a large red ball, disappearing slowly over the horizon. As her eyes trailed farther away from the epicenter of color, she ran into first yellow, orange, pink. Purple, lavender. Then, a bluish green exactly the color of his eyes. Then, a dark blue, black. She willed her eyes to travel back to the blue-green, making her tummy do strange flippy-flops.

WHY.

It was not a question. She demanded an explanation.

"What was that, Kurosaki?" She swore to herself, she must have said it out loud.

"Nothing, 'Shiro. Don't worry about it."

"Don't call me 'Shiro," he said threateningly. She ignored him and turned her eyes back to the sunset. His color was gone, instead replaced by the darkness creeping towards the sinking red ball.

"Toshiro. I have a very good metaphor analogy thing, and I want you to compliment me on making it up."

"Way to ask nicely."

"Shut it, pixie."

"PIX-"

"A sunset can relate to death. Even if it doesn't want to sink away, want to leave the light behind for a different place, it has to. Death has to come at some point, even if you don't want your life to end." Toshiro gained a new respect for this girl at that moment. She was wise beyond her years, even if she was infuriating. "But, the sun doesn't leave the light. It takes it with it. As you are only conscious as yourself, you're in your own light. So, you take your personal light with you to the Soul Society, leaving your family members and friends mourning, in the dark, just as the sun leaves us in the dark when it sets. Does that make sense, Toshiro?" Her eyes met his, and he looked at her in wonder.

Karin later said that something super sappy lovey-dovey happened then, and she was absolutely right.

They both looked away at the same time, laughing nervously, faces blushing.

"That was cheesy, wasn't it?" Karin said eventually.

"Yes," the Captain lied. Truthfully, he thought it was amazing. Maybe he was just turning into an old fart that liked poetry. Who knows?

Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto watched this entire charade from her perch on a nearby set of stairs. She imagined herself leaning in intently, chewing popcorn as if she were watching a movie.

The orange-haired soul reaper watched as the Kurosaki girl managed to bring out the relatively sensitive side in her icy captain. She admired her for it. All Rangiku usually managed to do was piss him off. She was happy for Toshiro. It was like an older sister watching her younger brother brush hands with a pretty girl at school.

It took all of her self control not to scream and fangirl over how adorable they were.

"You go girl," she whispered quietly as their eyes locked. Then, they both looked away, laughing nervously. Rangiku stood up, and walked calmly over to them. Karin and the captain both said something, then looked away.

"NO! No, no, no, no, NO! Damn it, 'Shiro! Now you're supposed to kiss her!" Rangiku screeched while stomping over to them, all previous calmness evaporated.

"What?!" Toshiro exclaimed. Both soul reaper and spirit were blushing a color to rival Renji's hair. "Rangiku, how long were you listening?!"

"Long enough to see that you two are in love!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Rangiku?! We've only known each other for a day!"

"You never said you didn't like her though, right?" The captain's mouth opened and closed like a fish's. She enjoyed seeing him speechless.

"Can you believe her?" he said, turning to Karin, who had been silent throughout the whole argument. He was surprised to see Karin walking 20 yards away, giving them both a wonderful view of her middle finger with her back turned. He watched, satisfied as Rangiku's mouth fell open instead of his. He had been expecting Karin to do something like this.

"Now, Lieutenant. Do you really think I could like a girl that is so blunt?" Rangiku took another moment to recover.

"Yes, Captain." she smiled slightly. "Yes, I think that's exactly why you like her."

Toshiro examined the girl from a distance. "Don't be silly, Lieutenant. I would never do something as irresponsible as fall in love with anyone, let alone a Kurosaki."

"Oooh, Captain! I think you're in de-Nile! You better learn how to swim otherwise the crocodiles will get you!" Rangiku crowed. Toshiro rolled his eyes and walked after Karin.

"If you ever say that again, you're fired," he called over his shoulder. Rangiku's mouth dropped one last time, and Karin glanced over her shoulder at the soul reapers.

She smirked and called to Rangiku, "Are you trying to catch flies?" The lieutenant's mouth snapped shut, and Karin threw her head back and cackled. It wasn't a laugh, no. It was a cackle. Like, an evil witch's.

Toshiro added it to the list of why he would not fall in love with her.


He he, notice how he said wouldn't, not couldn't? Tee hee. Anyway, I'm going to change the title, not sure what to.

The next couple chapters will hurt. Just a warning. I'm going to do a chapter about Karin's funeral. I think it's either going to be heart breaking, or hilarious, or both. It depends on whether Ichigo, or Don Kanonji does the eulogy.

Tell me what you think, for her funeral. *cough cough* that means you have to review, *cough cough* Get my hint?

If you didn't get the picture, review. Please, it means the world to me!