Sorry about the last chapter, I know it was kind of boring. But I promise things get a lot more fun from here on out, so I hope I haven't lost your interest already :) Anyway, on with the story.

After that, Hitsugaya spent every day in 77th district, playing soccer with Karin, Kiyone, and Sentaro. Karin somehow managed to postpone the match so that he could practice, despite her concerns that one of them would die before the actual day of the game.

"Don't be so morbid!" Hitsugaya yelled when Karin told him that. She simply shrugged.

"I'm just saying it's a possibility," she replied casually. "Just learn how to play!" As a matter of fact, he was learning how to play. And play well. He improved much faster than he ever expected to in the few months he had been practicing and his stamina increased with impressive speed. He was naturally agile and tough, and he actually found the game to be rather fun.

"Wow," Karin marveled one day as he scored a particularly spectacular goal. "You've really got the hang of this! But can you do this? Sentaro!" Sentaro took his cue and sent a ball flying directly towards her head. Karin waited until the last moment, then jumped high into the air, flipped upside-down, and sent the ball sailing exactly midway between the two rocks they were using as goal posts. Karin landed gracefully and smirked at Hitsugaya, who was staring at her like he had never seen anything like her.

"Aw, close your mouth," she teased. "You look like a dead fish."

"Do not!" Hitsugaya retorted, coming back to his senses immediately.

"Do to!" she insisted. "Oh quiet down!" she yelled at Kiyone and Sentaro who had started to chuckle.

"So," she said, turning back to Hitsugaya. "You want to try my patented signature move?"

"Why not," Hitsugaya said with a casual shrug. "It can't be that hard?" Karin's lip curled.

"You asked for it!" she cried, then kicked the ball straight at his head. Hitsugaya froze for the tiniest second, then gathered up his strength and jumped. He missed the ball entirely and landed on his butt mid-flip.

"Ow!" he whined as Karin burst into laughter. "Shut up!" he barked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it eventually," she said in mock encouragement. "And quit swearing." Hitsugaya stuck out his tongue at her.

ooooooooooooooooo

And so, the day of the infamous match arrived. The foursome tromped over the border to 78th district, although not without some apprehension.

"It's a little scary," Kiyone said nervously, casting furtive glances around her.

"Scaredy cat," Sentaro teased and Kiyone shot him an angry look.

"I am not a scaredy cat!" she asserted.

"Oh, of course you're not!" Sentaro replied haughtily. Kiyone looked like she was about to explode.

"Oh, pipe down both of you!" Karin said in exasperation. "Toush here comes down from 1st district every day and he's not the least bit intimidated." She flashed him a smile and Hitsugaya scowled. While it was true that he had spent every day for the past few months in 77th district, all the hype over venturing further out had made him a bit uneasy. But he shook it off. Hitsugaya Toushiro wasn't scared of anything.

"Besides," Karin continued, patting the sword strung across her back. "I've got our protection right here." Hitsugaya studied the sword. Karin never let it out of her sight, but he never for one second believed that she could use it. He always assumed it was just for decoration, or at least as an attempt to deter would-be attackers.

"Yeah right!" he mocked. "Like you can really use that thing." Karin rounded on him.

"Don't underestimate me spoiled rich kid!" she snapped, a grin spreading across her face. "I've done more damage with this thing than you care to imagine." Kiyone nodded her head fervently.

"It's true," she acknowledged. "She saved my life just a few days before you showed up."

"She was saving my life!" Sentaro retorted. Karin rolled her eyes.

"I saved both your skins that day, and I don't want to have to do it again today. So quit flirting and pay more attention to your surroundings!"

"Yes ma'am!" they said, saluting like soldiers. Karin shook her head in annoyance, but she smiled nonetheless.

"They hero worship me, those two," she whispered to Hitsugaya.

"I've noticed," he replied, watching as Kiyone and Sentaro peeled their eyes and took up the position of lookouts.

Eventually, they reached a large vacant lot that looked relatively similar to the one they had just left in 77th district. The grass was torn up from the pounding of feet and there were stones marking the goals.

"This is it," Karin said, surveying the area. "But where are…"

"Hey, you showed up!" said a voice behind them, and they turned to see four burly guys sauntering towards them. They were at least twice their size. Hitsugaya faltered for only a second, but he quickly puffed himself up and put a proper scowl on his face. He wasn't afraid of them!

"You thought we wouldn't Hiroshi?" Karin asked boldly. "We've been training. We're going to destroy you." The guy named Hiroshi smirked, then noticed Hitsugaya. He leaned over and shoved his oversized face into Hitsugaya's.

"Fresh blood?" he asked curiously. "What happened to that other squirt you were playing with?"

"Dead," Karin said simply. Hiroshi shrugged, and again, Hitsugaya was startled by how easily people around here accepted death as a fact of life.

"Doesn't matter," Hiroshi brushed it off. "We're not going to lose to the likes of you. Bet still on?" he asked, casting Karin a wary eye.

"Of course!" she stated, crossing her arms. "Otherwise our victory wouldn't be nearly as sweet!" Hiroshi laughed.

"Less talking more kicking," he goaded. "You punks ready?" The other trolls on the district 78 team nodded greedily, and the eight took their places on the field.

"Go!" Hiroshi shouted, tossing the ball high into the air. It landed and Karin quickly gained control. She maneuvered easily around Hiroshi and headed towards the goal. She twisted around an opponent, then passed the ball to Sentaro who kicked with all his might and the ball sailed through the goalie's hands and into the net.

"Yes!" Karin cheered as Kiyone squealed her delight from her place in the goal. Hiroshi smirked.

"It's not over yet!" he cried, kicking the ball two thirds of the way down the field to a teammate. He dribbled the ball, heading straight for the goal. Kiyone braced herself. Hitsugaya tried to steal the ball, but was thwarted by a sudden stop on the dribbler's part and he lost his balance and face-planted in the dirt.

"Get up!" Karin ordered, but by the time Hitsugaya was on his feet, the ball had already flown over Kiyone's head and into the goal.

"Sorry," Hitsugaya said grudgingly as Karin went to retrieve the ball.

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again!" she commanded, kicking the ball to Sentaro. Sentaro passed to Hitsugaya, who passed to Karin, who passed back to Hitsugaya, who scored. Karin ran up to him and smacked him on the back.

"Well done Toush!" she beamed at him. Hiroshi took the ball and kicked it to one of his teammates, but Sentaro jumped into the air, stopping the ball's progression with his chest and passed it quickly to Hitsugaya. Karin raced towards the goal to set up for the next play. Once she was in scoring range, Hitsugaya sent the ball speeding towards her, all set up for her signature move. But before it reached her, something that wasn't the ball made contact with Karin's leg; Hiroshi. He regained his balance as Karin collapsed under her own weight, clutching her knee in pain, and the ball landed easily in the goalie's hands. Hitsugaya, Kiyone, and Sentaro rushed to Karin's side.

"Karin, are you alright?" Kiyone asked in concern. Karin couldn't respond. She was too busy trying to apply pressure to her rapidly swelling knee. Nearby, Hiroshi snickered.

"Aw, are you out already?" he asked in a pretend baby voice. "And here your team was doing so well!" Karin shot him a death glare.

"I can still play!" she insisted. She tried to stand, but couldn't support her own weight and fell to the ground again.

"Karin, don't be stupid!" Kiyone pleaded.

"We can do it without you!" Sentaro said fervently. "Just sit out."

"You're injured," Hitsugaya noted with concern. "You shouldn't be doing this anymore."

"This is nothing!" she insisted, trying and failing to stand for the second time. "I can still play!"

"No you can't," Hitsugaya stated firmly. "Sit out Karin. We'll be fine." Karin glared at him. Her knee was now twice its normal size and she knew that she wouldn't be able to stand, let alone play.

"Fine," she accepted grudgingly. "But if we lose, it's on your shoulders Toush!"

"Why me?" he yelled. Karin simply grinned.

"Wow, you really need to learn to take a joke, spoiled rich kid," she teased. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "But I will hold you responsible if we lose."

"Leave it to me!" he promised.

"Oi, are we playing or what?" Hiroshi barked. Hitsugaya whipped around to face him, growl at the ready, but Karin put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't pick a fight," she advised. "Just show him what you can do." Hitsugaya nodded. He and Sentaro carried Karin off the field, then returned to their places with renewed determination.

The loss of their best player however overwhelmed their fighting spirit, and they quickly gave up two more points.

"What are we playing to again?" Hitsugaya asked Sentaro as they ran up the field.

"Four," he replied. "It's 3-2 right now, their lead."

"I know that," Hitsugaya mumbled under his breath. Hiroshi had the ball. He ran towards the goal with a triumphant look on his face. Kiyone took a stance, ready to block the ball as best she could, but Hitsugaya knew that she wasn't going to be able to stop it. He raced as fast as he could to put himself between Hiroshi and the goal. As he was reaching his destination, Hiroshi launched the ball into the air, where it whizzed towards the goal on a trajectory that was high above Hitsugaya's head. He knew Kiyone had no hope. He also knew that he couldn't reach it from his current height. Without thinking, he jumped in the air, flipped upside-down, and kicked the ball with all his might; Karin's signature move! Kiyone stood there with her mouth hanging open and Karin and Sentaro were cheering, but unfortunately, Hitsugaya had sent the ball directly towards Hiroshi, who immediately put it back into play. Karin came to her senses first.

"Toush, look out!" she screamed, but it was too late. Before he could fully regain his balance, Hiroshi had sped around him and sent the ball flying past Kiyone at lightning speed. Sentaro stopped cheering mid whoop, and Kiyone's mouth fell open again. It took a moment for Hitsugaya to register what had happened, but the shouts and cheers from the other team alerted him to the unfortunate truth; they had lost.

Just in case you were confused, "Toush" is Karin's new nickname for Hitsugaya (short for Toushiro), but he doesn't mind it nearly as much as Shiro-chan (which will become evident in the next chapter). She means it as a term of affection and it is not meant to tease him. She still uses "spoiled rich kid" for that.