Author's Note: Woo, HitsuKarin. My friends wanted me to change it to HitsuMatsu, but I know that the HitsuKarin fans out there would bury me alive and dance on my grave. You think I'm kidding? Well, I kinda am, but you get the point! Anyways, this will be more than 1 chapter, considering I reread it and said "Yuck! I wrote this!? Who the hell let me get away with this!? DAMN YOU, MISSING CRITIQUE PERSON!! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I HAD TO REWRITE IT!?" *wallows in a pool of self-pity*

Karin dribbled the soccer ball down the field, her team and the opposing close in tow. Though she looked like she was concentrating her best on the game, her mind was wondering way off in the opposite direction. It was Thursday afternoon, and Ichigo had been missing since Tuesday. Isshin just laughed and said to wait until the weekend had passed in case Ichigo was throwing a tantrum. Yuzu and she had another idea. Maybe Ichigo had run away, or he had just disappeared. Maybe he was even dead!

"Kurosaki, look out!" By the time Karin had processed the warning in her head, she had already had the ball stolen from her and ran smack into the beam of the opposing team's net. She fell onto her back, her face stinging, and listened to the cheers of their winning team. She sat up and rubbed the red part of her face, fighting back the tears that threatened to squeeze through the corners of her eyes. Her team came over, leaning over her.

"Kurosaki, you alright?" one boy asked. She spat and stood up, brushing her backside off. The boy's couldn't help but stare. Karin's curves had already started to fill out, and two small bumps could be seen just slightly on her chest. Against her will, she'd started wearing bras, but only sports bras. Yuzu tried to convince her to wear lace before, but she'd quickly refused.

"I'm fine," she growled. "My mind's been out of it lately." She felt something wet fall across her upper lip and wiped out it. "Damn, running into the pole gave me a bloody nose."

"Is it your brother?" Karin shot the second boy a glare. He brought his hands up quickly, ready to use them as a shield in case she got violent. Karin simply rolled her eyes, a sign that said they'd better leave her alone and forget trying to get her to talk. She'd get very violent after that.

"Hey, I want my ball back!" Karin demanded, shaking her fist at the other team. She stomped over to the older kids, crossing her arms once in front of them. The group of boys howled with laughter and slapped their knees. "I'm not kidding! Give me the Goddamn ball!"

"You want it?" their captain asked, giggling, and holding her ball out. Karin reached for it, but he snatched it out of her reach. "Come up here and get it!"

"I'll make you a woman if you don't give me my soccer ball back!"

"Oh yeah? And how would you do that?"

"Like this!" Karin took one step with her right foot and swung her left foot in the air, grinning at the pained groan she received that said she had met her target successfully. She bent down and picked up her soccer ball, moving towards her shocked team as their captain bent down to hide his groin. Karin picked up her mesh sports bag and pulled it open, dropping her soccer ball inside. "Hey guys, I'm gonna get going. Dad'll have a seizure if I don't get back soon."

"O-Okay," her team responded, still watching their opponents' captain bent over in pain. Karin slung the bag over her shoulder and started walking home. The sun was already setting and she stopped for a moment to marvel at the yellow-orange sky. She sighed heavily through her nose, wondering if Ichigo was looking at the same sky.

"How cliché am I," she chuckled.

"You are, aren't you?" a voice mused. Karin yelped and whipped around. There he was, standing with his hands in his pocket, a small sucker stick protruding from between his lips. He was wearing a skin-tight, black shirt with white-and-black striped sleeves covering from his lower shoulder down to his middle palm. White hair was spiked up from the top of his head and a single lock of hair covered his left eye. Baggy black pants covered most of his feet and he was only wearing simple white socks, no shoes. A black bag with purple pockets and a creepy mask was slung casually over his shoulders. He lifted a pale hand and slipped the pastel blue candy from his lips, holding it near his slender hips as he shifted his weight. "Oh my, did I scare you, Karin?"

"What?" Karin pulled her soccer ball over her chest. "How the hell do you know my name!?" The boy smirked and licked the sucker, his tongue beginning to color. He looked over and reached into his bag, pulling out a small, human-like doll. He stuck the sucker back into his mouth and held up the doll in front of Karin, closing one eye to examine it and her from one perspective. Karin began backing away slowly, gripping the soccer ball tighter and tighter to herself. The boy's silver brow shot up, and he held his hand out.

"Oh no you don't," he commanded. "You're not getting away." Karin turned to run, falling when something caught on her foot. She turned to jerk it off when she noticed that her foot was covered with a thick layer of ice. She could feel it melting slowly, soaking her red socks as it did. "Now let's see here…" He shook the doll by the head, titling his head this way and that, and tossed it up in the air. Karin looked at him with wide, confused eyes as she kicked harshly at the ice. The boy paid her actions no mind and threw the doll against the ground. Karin winced, almost as if she could feel the doll's pain.

"Kyaaa!" She screamed. She just erupted. She was hoping her team wasn't gone enough to not hear her. She let out another shriek, and the boy gave her an annoyed glare.

"Hey," he said, "that's not necessary. There's no reason to scream…" Though he was talking in a low tone, his voice was crisp and cold. Karin ignored a small voice telling her to shut up and continued to scream for her friends. The boy snatched the doll off the ground and walked over, towering above her. "That's enough. Shut your mouth."

Something in Karin clicked, and her voice disappeared. Her mouth shut instantly. The boy smirked and nodded at his accomplishment, looking back to the doll clutched in his hands. "Throwing it was probably overkill." He shook the doll again, which began flailing relentlessly and struggling to be released from the uncomfortable manhandling. Or, well, dollhandling. The boy flicked it at Karin. She dropped the ball from shock as it hit her growing chest, standing up and shaking itself off. It crawled across her chest and hugged her cheek. Karin groaned against her lips and slapped it away. She jerked her foot around, trying to get it free, as the doll held onto her clothes for dear life. The boy laughed.

"I never knew you'd be this funny," he said. He held his hand out and the ice began to dissipate. "But it's interesting. You and your brother, from what I've heard from Rukia, are both surprisingly obedient."

"My brother!?" Karin gasped. She bolted to her feet, ignoring the slight pull on her hair from the doll hanging from it, and gripped the boy's shirt in her hands, pushing him against the ground so that she was on top of him, glaring down. He simply smiled at her brash movements and cocked a brow. "What do you know about my brother!? Tell me!"

"Give me one good reason," the boy teased. Karin slapped him harshly, his skin like hitting ice. Her wrist hurt from the impact. The sucker flew out of his mouth. She growled.

"Because I'm worried about him! Now tell me!" The boy's smile faded, his eyes becoming cold and dim, and he stared straight through Karin.

"No," he answered casually. "I'll tell you when I feel like it." He didn't so much as utter a grunt when her hand hit him again. Damn, she had good aim. "That hurts. Stop it."

"No!" Karin screamed. She brought her arm back, ready for another strike, when he pushed himself up with one hand, holding her hand down, and grabbed her arm with the other. Her eyes widened at feeling such freezing lips against hers. It was a simple, closed-lip kiss. He pulled away, a satisfied smirk on his face. Karin stared at him, an incredulous expression on her face. The boy released her arm, and she jumped back, covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes still wide.

"You won't be able to blink if you keep that up, Karin," the boy said smugly, touching his lips. "Your eyes will dry out." She snapped out of her daze and scowled at the boy.

"You lecherous bastard!" she cried. "How dare you! That was my first kiss!"

"I know." The boy bent down and picked up her soccer ball. "That's why I did it. Now that the contract is made, I can do whatever I want to you. Of course, since I'm still young, I won't be making those kinds of moves on you. After all, you're still a virgin, correct?" Karin's face flushed. Her virginity was none of his business! And hell yes she was! Isshin would never let her get away with premarital sex, none the less sex itself!

"W-Why do you need to know that!? That's private!"

"I know everything about you. In fact, I know everything you'll do in the future." He turned to leave, his hand slipped casually in his pocket. He averted his gaze over to the lonely sucker that was slapped out of his mouth. The stick was bent in half and dirt stuck to the candy thanks to the saliva coating it. He reached into his bag and pulled out yet another sucker, unwrapping it to show the light blue candy, licking it before popping it into his mouth.

"Hey, my ball…!"

"You'll get this when you come to my shop," the boy said, turning around. "And I know you will."

Next Day

"Karin, you ready for the game this afternoon?"

"Yeah! We're gonna totally cream 'em!"

"Sorry guys, I can't come," Karin explained, unpacking her school bag as the first bell rang. "I have something I have to do tonight. I lost my ball, and someone says they found it," she lied.

"Are you serious!?"

"Yeah, unfortunately." Karin grimaced, thinking about the ice cold lips and the arrogance of the boy from yesterday. She clenched her fists tightly. "Stupid boy… I didn't even know his name!!"

"Whose name, Miss Kurosaki?" her teacher asked. Karin blinked. She realized that class had just started, and that she had jumped out of her seat with her fists raised in the air. A blush crept onto her face and she sat back down.

"N-Nothing, sensei."

"Well, if it really is nothing, please keep it to yourself, Kurosaki. I don't want you yelling out during class and disrupting the lesson for other students who actual care." Karin stuck her tongue out at her sensei and looked down at the book for her studies. Maybe she would be able to get the ball back without having to do whatever it was he wanted her to do. And why did she take that creepy doll home!?