Wow!

Those reviews were amazing! Thankyou everyone!

To all those that have reviewed or put my story on alert or favourite's, and to all those that have added me to your author favourite's... THANKYOU! :)

I'm seriously happy!

Right, as thanks, here's a little bit of KarinXToushiro action!

Chapter 4: Karma - defining life since... forever...

"I refuse."

"Excuse me?"

"I said I refuse, dumbass…"

"DON'T CALL ME A DUMBASS YOU BRAT!"

"Why not? It's about time someone told you the truth, pervert."

"How am I a pervert? I came to check on you as a favour to Ichigo and then yo-"

"ENOUGH!" roared an irritated voice.

Karin and Renji's mindless banter came to a halt as Toushiro stood against the wall,seething. He'd had a bad enough day trying to think of an explanation for his arrival on Earth without frightening Karin half to death, then Abarai turned up and ruined it.

"First things first," he dictated, "Abarai Fukutaichou, why are you here?"

Immediately, Renji stood to attention, puffing his chest out proudly as the Taichou spoke his title. Karin let out a poorly concealed snort. He thought so highly of himself that it was impossible not to laugh. Toushiro sent a glare her way but she only let out another snort. Renji cleared his throat and turned to face Hitsugaya.

"Yamamoto Soutaichou sent me," he stated proudly

"Can't blame the dude for wanting to get rid of you…" Karin mumbled snobbishly, "he probably threw a party the minute you were gone…"

"Anyway," Renji continued, voice rising to drown out Karin's mumbles, "he said that I was to bring Kurosaki Ichigo back to Soul Society for training,but carrot top asked me to check on his sister's before we left,"

At the mention of her brother, Karin's eyes narrowed. What could they possible want Ichi-nii for now? Hadn't he already done enough to help them? She couldn't stop the scowl that spread across her face. Something was going on. One Kurosaki sibling was leaving to be trained and another was being forced into Soul Society to train. Something was definitely up.

"So let me get this straight. You want me and my brother to just skip off to Soul Society, leave our family behind here and train to be some shinigami of the future?" Karin all but screeched.

Renji rolled his eyes at her dramatic ways and Toushiro nodded his head, expression as stoic as ever. He could tell she was frustrated, but she'd always spoken of being able to protect her sister and father, this was the perfect opportunity for her!

"You're always saying how you wish you were stronger!" he exclaimed, "I don't see why you won't go, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for,"

"Do you have anyone important to you, Shiro?" Karin asked calmly, eyes locked on his. She let her long hair fall behind her shoulder and ignored Reni's protest at the young Taichou's nickname.

Toushiro was honestly surprised. What was with that random question and how the hell was he meant to answer it? He wanted to answer her honestly, wanted to say to her, "You, Karin. You're important to me!" Instead he settled for holding her gaze and nodding slowly.

"I do," he revealed, "but what has that got to do with anything?" Karin didn't say anything for a few minutes, she tangled the end of her plait in her right hand and walked towards him. Ignoring Renji, she grabbed Toushiro's hand with her free one and started dragging him behind her. When the Fukutaichou made to follow, Toushiro waved his hand, signalling for him to leave. Renji gave a quick nod and flashed stepped away.

Karin led the confused boy behind her all the way down to the kitchen. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and the two stood in silence, observing the scene before them. Yuzu stood with a spatula in her hand, singing away to the radio as she cooked. Her big brown eyes were practically shining with happiness as she twirled her way around the numerous pots and pans. She looked completely at ease, as if she was born to be in the kitchen.

"If I leave, it'll tear the family apart again," Karin whispered, her voice barely audible. Toushiro squeezed her hand encouragingly and she continued, "When Mom died, Yuzu had no clue what to do so she just cleaned and cooked. All this time, I've been her rock, so I'm sorry, but no matter what you people say… I'm not going anywhere. Not right now at least."

Toushiro pulled her body into his arms and rested his chin atop her head. It was amazing how mature she was at her age. He let out a small sigh and pressed his lips to her hair, breathing in her fresh mandarin scent. Toushiro loved her new long hair, the way her raven tresses curled at the ends fascinated him. He felt Karin's neck and cheeks heat up when he left a gentle kiss on her scalp. He couldn't help but pull her closer so that their chests were nearly touching. Toushiro had no idea what had possessed him to do that, but he didn't have any intention of letting her go.

"T-Toushiro?" Karin questioned him meekly.

"Hmm?" he breathed,

"What are you doing?"

"What my heart is telling me to," he replied softly, not wanting to disrupt the tender moment, "Do you want me to let go?"

He waited patiently for her answer, not wanting to pressure her. He'd accepted that although this was new for him, he had been alive for a lot longer than Karin. She was bound to be confused with the way he was acting. After what seemed like hours, she gave her answer.

"I don't want you to let go…" she confirmed quietly, "don't let go… please…"

Karin's hands hesitantly landed on his chest and she leaned further into his gentle embrace. She blushed even more when she felt him place another kiss against her scalp and his arms wound around her waist, pulling her flush against him. She buried her face in his chest to hide her embarrassment.

"If you don't want to train in Soul Society, then that's okay," Toushiro told Karin.

"It's not that I don't want to train, because I do. I really do!" she replied, "Isn't there any way of being trained here in the living world? I could teach you how to fit in with humans in return, or how to cook, I'll do anything…"

Toushiro considered her offer. He supposed that learning to fit in with the humans would be beneficial to future missions… it would certainly make his life easier in the long run. It would also give her brother a squad to train with if he was here in the living world training Karin, seeing as how he was a future candidate to become a captain.

"I'm not making any promises, but I'll speak to Yamamoto about it. I think he might just agree though."

He pushed Karin back gently, still keeping his arms wrapped around her, and saw that she had an huge grin on her face. He felt his heart skip a beat as she looked up at him with such happy eyes.

"Arigatou Toushiro! You really are the best, you know that?"

Toushiro didn't say anything, he only let a small smirk cover his face as he slowly leant towards her. He could feel Karin's breathing hitch as his face neared hers and he saw the flash of confusion and fear cross her eyes. What was he doing? He wasn't going to kiss her was he…? She found her eyelids struggling not to flutter shut as he leant his forehead against her own. She gave in to her inner eyelid struggle and waited for Toushiro's lips to meet her own. She could feel his breath fanning across her face and her heart gave a giant leap when-

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SISTER?"

Yup, karma really was a bitch.

Hehehe!

Wow, Ichigo sure has bad timing, ne?

Tell me what you think please! :)

PolkaDots44 signing out! xx