((Re-edited))
Toushiro stood in the living room in Orihime's place. It was already time to leave to Soul Society, but Matsumoto was still talking to the orange haired girl in the kitchen. After five minutes of trying to be patient, the 10th division captain started to get impatient, so he called out for his lieutenant.
"Matsumoto! We need to get going now!" Toushiro hollered.
"I'm coming, Taicho!" Matsumoto called. "Remember what to do once we leave." she said as she gave Orihime a tight hug.
"Don't worry. I won't forget." Orihime said, returning the hug. "You can count on me."
They pulled away from each other and gave each other a knowing smile.
"MATSUMOTO!"
"Coming!" she hollered back.
She took onelast look at her friend, and with a big smile on her face, Matsumoto went to the living room where the gate to Soul Society was.
Orihime stood at the doorway of the living room, and watched as Toushiro and Matsumoto disappeared behind the doors of the gate. Once the doors disappeared, Orihime took a good look around her living room.
Everything was neat and tidy as if they were never there. The huge screen that was there was left behind, but other then that, there wasn't a trace of them left.
Orihime was about to turn to leave when she saw something caught her eye. On the floor, at the exact spot Toushiro and Matsumoto stood, was the spikeyhaired boy's phone.
"It must have fallen out of his pocket, I don't know how though." Orihime thought as she picked it up. "I don't know what to do with it... I'll just keep it safe."
Remembering what she had to do, she checked if the necklace was still in her pocket. Once she made sure that it was there, she placed the phone in the same pocket the necklace was in and headed out the door.
Upon entering Soul Society, they were greeted by the 12th fukutaicho, Kurotsuchi Nemu. Nemu, which most people thought she was an odd girl, bowed to them.
"Hitsugaya-taicho and Matsumoto-fukutaicho. Welcome back."
Toushiro nodded while Matsumoto greeted her. "It's good to be back, Nemu-chan. How have you been?"
"I've been doing well. Now, will you please follow me." she said, leading the way.
On the was to the Research Institute, Matsumotostarted a conversation with Nemu, which gave Toushiro time to think for awhile.
All he knew was that Aizenis most likely to plan something very big, and he had no clue what it was. With everyone in Soul Society talking about Aizen, Toushiro was sure that word might reach Hinamori.
"...and she'll go hysterical." he thought.
Toushirosighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. After a couple of steps, he noticed that both his pockets were empty.
"Wait... empty?"
He stopped in his tracks and turned his pockets inside out.
When Matsumoto noticed that her captain's steps had ceased, she turned around to find him searching his pockets. Nemu then noticed that the two stopped walking, so she turned around.
"What's wrong, Hitsugaya-taicho?" Nemu asked.
Toushiro rummaged through his pockets more, but sighed in defeat. "I have seemed to have lost my phone."
Nemu nodded understandingly. "That's okay. I'll ask Mayuri-sama to give you another."
"Arigato."
Nemu nodded again and started to walk ahead of them.
Matsumoto looked at her taicho again. "It must have fallen out at Orihime's place before we left."
Once Toushiro reached her, Matsumoto walked along his side. With Nemu far from hearing, she took it as her chance to give him the necklace. "Taicho."
"Nande."
Matsumoto reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace.
"Karin-chan didn't know when we were leaving, so she gave this to me to give it to you. She also wanted me to tell you that she won't forget about how you saved her and to thank you for the help with the soccer game." Matsumoto said. It wasn't the complete truth, but she knew that Karin would say something like that.
Toushiro stopped in his tracks and looked at Matsumoto, who also stopped walking, stretching out her hand with a necklace in her hand. He took the gift from her and held it for a long time, thinking that it was a joke.
He traced the design with his finger, trying to memorize every detail. The accessory was in the shape of a red volcano with ruby rhinestones at the edges of it. It wasn't too big or too small. The silver chain it was on was long enough for him to hide it in his robes if he puts it on.
"Kurosaki... Karin?" Toushiro asked, still not believing a word she told him.
"Hai." Matsumoto replied, knowing that he was finding it hard to believe. She was trying to read his expression which looked perplexed. "Ah- He looks like he's not buying it."
While Matsumoto was thinking to herself, Toushiro had other things on his mind. "She didn't seem like the kind of girl that would do something like this. Well, it is a thank you gift."
Still surprised at the fact that Karin would get something for him, he asked, "Why didn't Karin just give it to me? When did she give it to you?"
With her quick mind, she told him, "Maybe she was nervous. Anyways, she gave it to me while you were busy placing that barrier around that crater. I don't know when she got it, but she had it."
Toushiro looked up from the necklace and stared at Matsumoto long and hard making sure it wasn't just some kind of set up. The kind of smile she had on was a huge, bright smile. To Toushiro, she was smiling about that he had an admirer for all he knew. To Matsumoto, she was smiling about the fact that he was buying the whole thing.
After finally believing her words, he placed the accessory in his pockets without saying a word. Matsumoto watched as he started walking again, inwardly sighing that he accepted the gift.
Once she caught up to him, she was going to ask Toushiro why he didn't put it on, but decided against it. She knew that he was most likely thinking about Karin and the gift. Matsumoto smiled to herself about this.
"I wonder if Orihime gave it to Karin-chan yet." wondered a strawberry haired matchmaker.
It was 5:30 in the evening and the sun was on its way down the horizon. After a good game of soccer, Karin called it a day and headed home.
On her way home, she decided that she was going to annoy the white-haired boy, so with her soccer ball in hand, she walked to the place where she always found him.
When she got there, she was a bit surprised to find the place empty and more surprised to find herself feeling lonely. During the past few days, Karin had found some company talking to Toushiro.
"Maybe he's doing shinigami work." Karin told herself.
Deciding to just keep herself company, she got over the railing and sat down. Karin placed the ball on the ground and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds pass by.
She took in the scene before her with the clouds rolling on by, the sky turning from a light shade of blue to orange, and feeling the soft breeze around her. The scene before Karin made her feel so calm and peaceful that it brought back memories.
"...brought back memories." Karin whispered to herself.
She remembered a few days ago when Toushiro told her that the scene infront of them brought back memories. Now that she finally took the time to see it, Karin understood what he meant.
No later when she arrived, Karin found herself being joined by someone beside her. She had hoped that it was Toushiro, but knew it wasn't since the reiatsu was completely different.
Karin turned her attention from the setting sun to the person beside her. Out of all people she normally hangs out with, Karin was surprised to find Orihime smiling before her.
"Komban wa, Karin-chan." Orihime greeted.
Karin cocked her head to the side with confusion and greeted her back to be kind.
"Komban wa."
Seeing the confused look on Karin's face made Orihime laugh a little.
"You're probably wondering about why I'm here, huh?" she said, scratching the back of her head nervously.
Not trusting her voice because she knew that she was going to say something mean Karin just nodded.
"Well, I've got," Orihime paused to pull out a necklace. "this from Hitsugaya-san. He told me to give this to you and said that he was glad to have met you."
Karin finally found her voice to speak. She had hoped to make it sound normal, but it turned out sounding surprised. "Toushiro?"
Orihime noticed that Karin used his first name which made her smiled. "Hai."
She handed Karin the necklace, who took it quite hesitantly, and watched her as she examined it.
Karin traced details, trying to memorize every detail. The accessory was in the shape of a blue dragon with sapphire rhinestones around the edges of it. The size of the it wasn't too big or too small and the chain it was on was long enough that she could hide it in her clothes.
As she still traced the design, with curiosity evident in her voice she asked, "How do you know Toushiro, and why couldn't he just give it to me himself?"
Orihime, who had planned for whatever question that might be thrown her way, said, "Ever since he was here, he was staying at my place, and he probably couldn't give it to you because of duties."
Hearing that he was staying at her place made her feel all... jealous? She shook her head as she realized what she thought. "I seriously can not be jealous at Orihime just because he was at her house." Then, Karin just realized what Orihime told her.
"Wait... you were using past tense."
Orihime smiled sadly at her. She got over the railing and sat down next to her. Orihime told her everything about why Toushiro had to go back to Soul Society which led to questions about Soul Society and how she knew about it. Orihime happily explained everything with everything she knew which led to her showing Karin her powers.
"Wow." Karin looked at her wide eyes. Then realization hit her. "What about Ichi-nii? What was he been doing there in Soul Society?"
Orihime cocked her head to the side and smiled. She told Karin about how they went there to save Rukia, that Rukia is also shinigami, and that her brother has been protecting the town from the hollows.
With this new found knowledge, Karin sighed happily knowing that her brother was okay and saving innocent people from getting hurt. When she closed her fist, she remembered that she still had the necklace in her hand. With this reminder that Toushiro was long gone, she sighed sadly. Orihime took note of this and looked at her.
"Karin, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see him again."
She looked at her with surprise. She thought she likes him. "No! It's not like I like him or anything. It's just that I... I won't be able to have a good one-on-one game I was planning to have with him."
Orihime smiled at her antics. "Okay then, Karin-chan. Well, I better head on home. Ja ne."
Karin looked over at her direction as she watched her go over the railing. As Orihime got over, a phone fell out of her pocket. With one quick look, she recognized it.
"Why do you have Toushiro's phone?" Karin asked.
Orihime laughed nervously finding a hint of jealousy and anger in her voice.
"Right when he left, his phone somehow fell out of his pocket. I didn't know how to give it back to him, so I thought I'd keep it safe for him."
"Oh."
Orihime noticed the jealousy and anger was gone from her voice when she responded. Just by looking at her, Orihime could tell by her face that she was already missing him even though she was trying to hide it. Then a thought came to her head.
"Karin-chan. Why don't I give you Hitsugaya-san's phone to you. Besides, I might misplace it or something." Orihime said, mentally kicking herself for coming up with a lame excuse.
"Okay... First the necklace and then the phone. Him dropping his phone is understandable, but getting me a necklace? ...Well, it is a thank you gift... I guess..."
After having an afterthought, she accepted it and placed it in her pocket. Orihime grinned brightly. "Okay then. Well, now I really have to go home." she said looking at her watch. "Ja ne, Karin-chan."
"Ja ne." Karin called after her walking form.
Karin then turned her attention back to the sun. She recalled Orihime implying that she liked Toushiro. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if she really does like him. It was just a foreign feeling for her to be feeling.
With a smile playing on her lips, she put on the necklace and looked out at the setting sun. She never noticed Orihime hide behind two tree close by watching her.
"My job here is done."
A/N- Woo! That was a lot of work. I tried to make it longer 'cause I'm off to Houston later today and I won't be able to work on it for 2 or 3 days. Most likely 4, but I'll try. Anywhos what did you guys think about this chap? Was it good or bad? Grammar mistakes? ...I'm pretty sure there was... In case you're wondering about when the trap will happen, the plan will begin in the next chapter or so. Good deal? If you've got any questions, feel free to ask. Anyways please drop in a review.
Japanese Terms
Komban wa- Good evening
Ja ne- Good bye
