AN: This chapter is a flash back for Karin and the events in it happen a while after he left the office to tell her his feelings; which he didn't actually do.
She blamed alcohol!
She decided that it was the centre of everyone's trouble and without it she would not be in this mess she was in now. If it hadn't have been so perfect she would have been shattered, torn apart and as mad as hell. However because it was so perfect she had this rose tinted glasses thing going on and she was denying herself the feeling that at any moment it would all fade away and that he would be taken out of her grasp like a snowflake on the wind.
She didn't know if it was an accident or not that it happened.
She knew they were drunk and she knew that more than anything she wanted it, but the more she thought it over so did he. It was Momo's birthday she knew it without him saying, all day he was quiet, sullen and more intense than usual. He refused to go to the hospital at the end of the day and so she invited him out to have some drinks saying the reason was the pair of them welcoming in the season. They had been friends for so long now that any reason to drink was seen as a legitimate one. He didn't question it, he just accepted most of the things she said without an argument she thought it had something to do with the first day they actually met in class.
They both went to the bar closest to campus and between them they put away six bottles of sake and two pitchers of beer. Her dad would be so annoyed that she had been drinking again when she was underage but at the same time he would be so proud that she could hold her liquor. It always made her laugh that her dad could be such a hypocrite about things like that. By the time the bar got busy they decided that they should leave and Tōshirō invited over to his for what was supposed to be an innocent cup of tea. She was so happy that he had actually asked her around to his place that she automatically said yes without thinking and they had walked back to his apartment hand in hand each trying to keep the other upright.
He opened the door of an apartment complex on the hill overlooking the valley that their little suburb sat beside and the pair fell through it as if they were marionettes that just had their strings cut. Tōshirō managed to get to his feet first and he pulled Karin up towards him, she looked in to his wide teal eyes and saw all the pain he was trying to hide and it engulfed her, before she could stop herself she leant in and pressed her lips against his as she wrapped her arms around him fervently. He embraced her back as hard and ran his finger down her cheek as if her were trying to make himself believe that she was real.
His fingers were as cold as ice leaving a sharp burn akin to frost bite on every exposed bit of skin he touched. His lips were so hard they bruised her own even as he kissed her with such gentleness, but she didn't care the pain he gave her was so very sweet. He held her close to him and the low body temperature that he possessed permeated her clothes making her skin raise in goose bumps a sensation she found so delicious that she shivered slightly. At the feel of what Tōshirō took to be discomfort he pulled away and momentarily his normally placid eyes were worried.
"Don't stop," she said breathlessly reaching out for his shoulders to pull him back towards her.
"Are you sure?" he murmured his voice slightly husky, a sound which to Karin was an erotic drawl that sent shivers down her spine. She nodded and got a viable hold on him and pulled him in so close that their breath mingled.
"More than sure." she said in a verbal affirmation her voice hoarse as Tōshirō rubbed his thumb over her pulse point in small concise circular motions. Her breath hitched for a second and then she let out a long soft sigh leaning her head so she could trap his hand against her neck the cold skin burning into her warmth like a brand. He pressed his other hand into her waist as he leant in again. He placed his lips over Karin's slowly and with care, but she burned and grabbed at handfuls of white hair pulling him against her roughly. She tipped her head back letting Tōshirō have easy access to her and have free reign of the kiss. She felt his hands clasp her face holding her still as he slowly opened his tightly sealed lips. The heat she found there in his mouth made her burn inside as much as she was burning on the outside. He angled her head stepping forward as she felt the quickest swipe of his tongue against hers.
After the briefest of contact he withdrew walking her backwards towards the bed in the next room. As soon as the back of her legs hit the hardwood she fell back on to the soft mattress dragging Tōshirō with her. His weight above her was reassuring and affirming. This wasn't a dream, it was far, far better. He grabbed the hem of her camisole and dragged it up her body leaving trails of frozen heat as he went. He looked at the flimsy cotton sports bra before him and smiled his teal eyes flashing with heat. Karin watched as he slid his fingers beneath the cup as he threw her camisole on the floor. She knew her breasts were nothing to write home about, but as Tōshirō's thin fingers walked their way over her skin beneath the warm cotton she arched her back to bring herself into him and once again he smiled. The pad of his middle finger found her nipple first and gently rubbed the skin bringing it to life. Karin hissed as she felt herself become taught under his soft and deliberate caress the whole of her body responding instantly. Tōshirō chuckled and brought his lips towards the cotton barrier. He latched on to the raised skin below and sucked until the cotton was hot and damp, Karin kicked her head back her hands trying to find holds on the duvet, but having no luck. He spanned her stomach with his hand and she curled in to the contact feeling the electric burn of his fingers and palm on her heated skin. He cupped her other breast in his hand and caressed that as he kissed a path down to her naval when he reached there he sucked at it lightly and then licked the area surrounding it with care and was impressed when she involuntarily arched her back to keep him there, he obliged her body's command and she let out a soft cry of pleasure.
Not being able to take it anymore Tōshirō slid his hand around Karin's back and unclasped her bra and unwound her arms from the straps; as soon as she was free she sank her hands in to his hair and he threw the scrap of material on top of her camisole, she pulled him towards her and kissed him slowly, purposefully sweeping his tongue with her own tasting him and savouring him. He was perfect all she ever dreamed he would be and then some. There was the heady taste of sake that she could even taste on herself and then there was the heavenly yet inexplicable bitter and sweet tang of watermelon. She pulled herself away from the kiss and tasted his skin making him cry out. He was fresh and as refreshing as driven snow and as she couldn't help herself she bit down on his neck, Tōshirō shuddered and his head kicked back even though she didn't break the skin, but at the groan that rumbled in his throat Karin felt heat flood in to every cell in her body and she moved her legs to wrap them around him. Tōshirō lost control and threw her down on to the mattress making her bounce slightly. She didn't care though as she saw the lust in his eyes and wanted to take whatever he would give her.
He ran his hands up her smooth toned legs right up to the shorts she was wearing holding her thighs tightly in his grip pulling her towards him. He slid a hand over the denim and slipped the all too willing button out of its hole and then took his teeth to the zip pulling it down with care; his breath was warm against her and the heat curled in her stomach. He slid her out of her shorts and threw them on to the pile of her other clothes. He stared down at her and even with the small amount of clothing she had left Karin felt naked and totally at Tōshirō's will.
Tōshirō pulled off his shirt and threw it towards the other clothes but in his fervour he missed and the shirt ended up in the next room splayed by the door. He looked to where it had fallen and sighed, but Karin got up off the mattress and held his face between her hands dragging his gaze towards her. As soon as she saw the fire in his teal eyes she knew he wasn't going to back down and she was thankful for it as she had been waiting for this for the longest time. He leant back on his knees that were straddling Karin and watched intently as she ran her smooth fingers over his body making him twitch.
He was gorgeous, just as she knew he would be, but the sheer perfection of him almost scared her. Each muscle of him was perfectly sculpted and his skin was smooth as silk. She ran her hand slowly over the cool and hard flesh and stopped just below his naval marvelling at the sight before her. She kissed his flat stomach as he tensed the muscles there sighing heavily. He moved an inch and placed his hands under her arms and raised her back up to his mouth his heat searing her and he laid her back on the bed separating her legs with his knee. She heard the distinctive snap of his jeans being opened and felt him writhe on top of her and as he shimmied out of the material it filled her body with the most delicate and delectable tension. She had wanted him for the longest time and she wouldn't deny it her every thought was filled with him.
She found herself some days getting annoyed that she had spent hours just sat thinking about him. From what he would feel like above her to how he had come to be so closed off to everyone, but her. From how his eyes would look when he looked at just her, when he wasn't thinking about Momo to what his apartment looked like on the inside. As he covered every inch of her with every inch of him everything she could have thought about was answered. His teal eyes were alight and they were boring into her as if trying to see in to her not just look at her and he felt perfect above her as if they were two puzzle pieces that were finally being slotted together.
Everything about that night and the weeks after were perfect, she loved Tōshirō so much that when she was around him it felt as if nothing else in the world was important. Each time he held her he pulled her down in to a cavern where the only thing that truly mattered was the fact that he was beside her. She was young and in love and for a while she thought that would be enough, but soon that illusion was shattered and it was the hardest blow that she had to absorb.