Alright guys, Chapter 4 is up! Just a quick thank you to EVERYONE who has Favourited and put this story on their Alert List. But most of all, thank you to everyone who took the time to review, I really appreciate them all, even the short one-word ones!
KazeNoSakura, thanks for getting this Beta'd for me!
And now, one last thing: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Title: Secrets, Twists and Chaos; [The Bet is Set]
Author: MeteorLeopard (HoneyBadger)
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
By the time that Toushirou reached the gathering of Vizard, Karin had already grabbed a bowl and started filling it. The other people, Toushirou counted eight in total, had also by now started shoveling food into their mouths. The grey haired man named Kensei was already on his second helping by the looks of things. Toushirou watched as Kurosaki sighed once and also helped himself to a bowl, totally comfortable with this routine whilst Karin flopped down on a nearby rock herself beside the green-haired girl Mashiro.
Suddenly a large overfilled bowl of food was shoved beneath his nose by a grinning Shinji. "Here ya go! Don't starve on us now, ya hear?"
Toushirou took the bowl somewhat taken aback. Why were they feeding him? He looked down at the huge portion and gulped slightly. He noticed that Shinji was still standing in front of him and Toushirou felt just a little uncomfortable by his presence. "W-what?"
Shinji just grinned wider and Toushirou backed up a little. Shinji in turn leant forward.
"Idiot. He's waiting for you to eat." Karin said from between mouthfuls on her rock.
Toushirou took another look at the somewhat intimidating man leering down at him before he convinced himself to pick up the chopsticks provided in the bowl and somewhat hesitantly pop a piece of beef into his mouth and begin chewing. Shinji watched him like a hawk and it was making the soft beef seem rather tough to swallow. Only when he mechanically placed another piece into his mouth did Shinji finally straighten up and give him an approving nod. "Good." And he went to sit down. Toushirou was left feeling somewhat confused.
"Forget him," Ichigo mumbled from his place on the floor. "He's naturally weird."
"I am not!" Shinji huffed indignantly, waving his chopsticks in the air. "I am perfectly normal!"
"Dumbass." Hiyori said from her spot right beside the cooker. "Quit with the lies and eat. Otherwise you'll never get rid of that overbite."
Shinji choked on his rice and Lisa looked up from her magazine. "Overbite has nothing to do with how much he eats. If anything, growing does."
Love nodded whilst refilling his empty bowl. "Yes, a growing body needs plenty of nutrients to become big and strong; Kensei over there being a prime example."
Kensei glared over his fourth helping. "Shut up already. I'm just hungry today."
Ichigo huffed then and gave a grin. "Heh, if there's anybody who eats a shit-load, it's Karin."
Toushirou and everyone else turned their heads to watch Karin polish off her bowl and calmly reach over for another portion before resuming chewing. He noticed a few grains of rice sticking to her cheek.
Karin ignored them all and carried on eating, steadily progressing through her second bowl and moving on to a third one. Shinji blinked and looked Karin up and down. Toushirou felt an odd spark of annoyance inside him at that gesture but he quickly squashed it. Shinji narrowed his eyes and then looked utterly perplexed before muttering, "It doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't?" Rose asked politely.
Shinji kept his eyes trained on Karin. "She's so tiny but she eats so much. Where does she put it all? Why isn't she fat yet?"
Karin's empty bowl hit him squarely in the face. "Fast metabolism," was all she said before using the back of her hand to brush away the rice grains on her cheek.
Toushirou saw her lean back against the rock face behind her, looking a little lazy for a moment. Her eyes had a sleepy look in them that made her seem oddly peaceful for a while.
Ichigo suddenly spoke up. "That's right, if there's anyone who needs to grow, it would be Toushirou."
Toushirou coughed into his food and almost dropped his bowl. "What d'you say, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo gained a slightly crazy grin on his face as he pointed his chopsticks at Toushirou. "That you need to eat more, shorty."
Toushirou was at boiling point but tried to reign his temper in; losing it here was not the best idea.
Shinji reached over and doled out more food into his almost empty bowl. "Ichigo's completely right. You need more nutrients in that scrawny body of yours."
"Oi." Toushirou stared at his once-more overflowing bowl with big eyes. How was he supposed to eat all of this?
"Correct eating habits are always important. And children especially have to remember to eat in good amounts." Hacchi added and Toushirou ground his teeth at the word 'children'.
"That's right," Hiyori agreed. "So listen to Hacchi. You need to eat more, shrimp!"
Toushirou exploded. "Will you all shut up? I am eating, I am growing and I am not short!" He pointed at Hiyori. "And you're shorter than me so you can't talk!"
A silence hung in the air and for a moment Toushirou thought he had overdone it.
"Does Whitey have height issues?" Mashiro asked innocently and the tense moment broke, making Shinji grin.
From her spot over on the rocks, Karin sighed. "Oh get over it Toushirou. You're short, admit it."
He began fuming again and glared at her whilst she grinned back at him, only making his temper flare more violently. What was with her and antagonizing him?
"Humph." Hiyori crossed her arms and looked grumpy. "I am so taller than you."
Karin just rolled her eyes. "Hiyori, you're in denial."
"I am not!"
Shinji was suddenly on his feet. "Well then, let's find out."
Ichigo blinked confused. "Find out?"
Shinji just ignored him though and yelled over his shoulder, "Oi, Hiyori, Karin! Come here!"
A sandal hit his face. "Don't tell me what to do, baldy!" Hiyori retorted but arrived beside him nonetheless whilst he massaged the red mark on his forehead. Karin came over as well, standing with her weight on one leg and her arms crossed.
Without further ado, Shinji yanked Toushirou up by the scruff of his Shinigami robes and got him standing.
"Oi! What the hell was that for?" Toushirou yelled at the gangly blonde man.
"You're a guy so it doesn't matter if I bash you around a little. These other two are delicate ladies."
A moment later he was left with a slap to each of his cheeks and a seething Karin and Hiyori on either side of him. "WE'RE NOT DELICATE!"
Toushirou noted that they didn't refute the fact that they were 'ladies'.
Shinji recovered and rubbed his stinging cheeks one at a time while his other hand took hold of Toushirou's shoulder and maneuvered him over towards Karin. "Just shut up and get back-to-back." He said irritably.
Karin scowled at him once more but didn't make any comments as she turned around and leveled her weight evenly. Toushirou blinked once, surprised, before he was turned around and made to step back against Karin. He realized then what was happening; they were going to measure them to see who was taller! Mentally, he prayed that it would be him. But as Shinji's hand pressed their hair down to get their actual heights, Toushirou found that Karin's warm back against his own was far more distracting than the prospect of potentially being shorter than a girl.
"Five bucks says that Karin's taller." Love whispered.
Rose shrugged. "I shall wager ten that Hitsugaya is the taller one."
Toushirou tried to ignore the betting.
"Ah… what do we have here?" Shinji drawled and Toushirou felt the urge to strangle the man. "Looks like Hitsugaya is actually taller!"
A silent sigh of relief escaped him before Karin stepped away from his back and sent him a grin. With a grumble, Love slapped the ten bucks into Rose's open palm.
Shinji bent down towards Hiyori. "So then, Hiyori! Let's just measure you against Karin!"
With a grumble Hiyori stalked over to Karin before huffily turning her back to her, making Karin step up and press her own back against Hiyori's too. Shinji grinned as his fingers measured a few centimeters difference. "Sorry Hiyori, looks like Karin wins this one."
"What?" Hiyori whirled around and stared in shock at the gap between Shinji's fingers. Shinji patted her on the head. "Aw, don't worry Hiyori. You'll get taller."
Not liking his comment, Hiyori kicked his legs out from under him then and sent him tumbling into the dirt before rounding on a sniggering Toushirou. "And you! Don't even get cocky! It's just your hair that's making you so damn tall!"
Toushirou sobered up immediately as he was harshly ripped down from his euphoria of actually not being the shortest for once. "Excuse me?"
"What's with it anyway? Do you electrocute yourself every morning or something?" she ranted on, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Or do you go through a jar of hair-gel per styling to keep it sticking up like that? It makes you look like a porcupine! I ought to cut you off at the knees to compensate, but it looks like someone beat me to it!"
Toushirou was growing red in the face and Karin was openly grinning at them. Hacchi spoke up then from his corner. "Hiyori, don't you think that it is perhaps you that cannot accept that they are short?"
"I am not short! I am travel size!"
Shinji bent down to whisper in Ichigo's ear. "It comes in quite handy sometimes."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Yuzu bent down to retrieve the casserole dish from her oven, donning her brand new oven mitts that her father had just bought her a few days ago as a surprise since her old ones were wearing thin. These new ones had happy fruits on them, smiling or waving back at her cheerily and Yuzu found them lovely.
"Yuzu-chan!" A cheery female voice called from the table close by. "That smells delicious!"
"Ah! Thank you!" Yuzu hurried to the table and carefully positioned the meal on the coasters that she had set there in advance. From her seat, Matsumoto clapped her hands enthusiastically. Beside her, Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika sniffed the air approvingly, their mouths watering at the thought of eating something other than the repetitive living-world take outs.
Yuzu lifted the lid and all five seated occupants of the table gave an appreciative hum as the short girl began dishing out the steaming food. Renji gave the food a taste and his eyes widened. "Hey, this stuff's good!" He promptly dug in and Yuzu laughed at him.
Beside Renji, Yumichika paused to wipe his mouth with a serviette before saying, "I must say, a most delicious meal."
Yuzu giggled happily at all the praise and her father chose that moment to speak up. "So, you're Ichigo's friends from school, huh?"
"Ah yeah," Renji said. "Thank you very much for inviting us over."
Yuzu smiled. "No problem at all!" She placed a forkful of casserole into her mouth and decided it needed salt. Ichigo had popped over briefly a few hours before asking her to invite them all round to cheer them up with one of her delicious meals. Well, it looked like it was working.
Yuzu glanced at the clock and noted that it was already after eight. Dinner tonight had been delayed due to a bit of an accident with the first casserole after her father had forgotten about it in the oven whilst refilling his medicine cabinet.
The young girl smiled slightly to herself as she watched the Shinigami and her father eat. Perhaps it was a good thing that Karin and Ichi-nii weren't coming home tonight; there was neither space at the table nor food to spare. It was an unspoken rule in the house ever since Karin had started training with the Vizard that if she wasn't back by eight she was spending the night at the warehouse.
Perhaps she'd go over to see her a little later… Yuzu decided against it though. She didn't know how to repress her reiatsu like Karin did and if the Shinigami followed her it might cause problems for the Vizard and she didn't want that. Hacchi was always so nice to her when she went over to give them cookies or a new cake that she'd baked.
Yuzu would just wait until Karin came back on her own. At the very latest she'd be back on Sunday evening because there was school again on Monday. Karin knew better than to miss out on school.
Happy, Yuzu ate another mouthful, merely enjoying the lively company for the moment. Ichi-nii had such strange friends.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"What is this?" Toushirou poked the object like it was carrying some form of disease and Karin couldn't help but glance at him before involuntarily smiling slightly at his skeptic and disgruntled face.
"That, Toushirou, is your bed."
He raised his irritated face to look at her better and wished he'd stayed focused on the bed. Sleeping in the same room was one thing, but did the girl have to wear the shortest shorts and the smallest tank top in existence as pajamas?
Karin caught sight of his face and let out a slight laugh, deciding to tease him a bit. "Oh, don't worry. Most people make it out of here in one piece."
Toushirou knew very well that she was messing with him but her words nonetheless peaked his curiosity. "Most people?"
Karin grinned in the nearly-dark room and busied herself with climbing into her own bed so that he wouldn't see the huge smile playing across her face. Oh yeah, she was gonna enjoy this. "Sorry about the blood stains; Lisa hasn't had a chance to clean the duvet yet."
Toushirou glanced at the 'bed'. When he had first seen it, he hadn't been sure what exactly the odd shapes and patterns of the design were and passed them off as shadows from the creases. But upon stepping closer, he had found the duvet pulled tightly and perfectly smoothly over the mattress, making that theory impossible. What Karin was saying however was making him eye the bed with a lot more wariness than he really felt it deserved. He mentally shook himself. She was just messing with him again. There was nothing wrong with this bed. It was perfectly fine.
Carefully, and taking the duvet gingerly between his forefinger and thumb, he opened the bed and climbed into it, somewhat unwillingly pulling the duvet up again. The room was too chilly to sleep with only the sheet on.
He rolled over to face the wall, missing the amused smile Karin was throwing him in the dark. How had he ended up like this? After the chaotic supper had finally finished, they had gotten into talking about where to put him up for the night. The Vizard, despite living in an old abandoned warehouse with holes in the roof, had quite homey bunkers set up in that training room of theirs. They merely opened a door in the room's far wall that blended with the other rocks and were promptly in a wooden hallway with thick shoji doors and polished floors. According to Karin, Shinji had been the one to suggest beds instead of futons, saying that he wanted to try something 'new'.
There were a few rooms, some with three beds and most with two. Lisa, Hiyori and Mashiro shared a three bed room while the guys divided the other rooms amongst themselves.
Toushirou had no idea why, but Shinji had come up with the idea of putting him in the same room as Karin. And for some reason, Kurosaki had blown up at the blonde, grabbing him by his collar and telling him that there was no way that he was letting Karin share her room with Toushirou.
In the end, Toushirou had simply stood and watched as Karin and Ichigo yelled at one another as their argument steadily digressed from their initial disagreement to things like her age and maturity. Karin had finally won the argument by grabbing Toushirou by the front of his robes and yelling at Kurosaki that Toushirou was sleeping in her room and there was nothing he could do about it before storming off and dragging him behind her.
Toushirou rubbed his temples just remembering it. Why hadn't he protested? He had been used by a human girl to prove her point about her maturity level!
He sighed quietly and stared at the wall. Although, why Kurosaki had been so adamant about Karin not sharing a room with him was a bit of a mystery to Toushirou. Kurosaki had acted very protective of her for some reason and Toushirou was yet to find a reason why.
He decided to put that thought on hold and simply try and get some sleep. So much had happened to him today that he was actually worn out. To think that mere hours before he had been following Karin to find out more about her to report to the soutaicho…
Toushirou's thoughts froze. In the brief time that he had been here amongst these people, he had managed to forget that he was actually supposed to report them. They were indeed a 'secret organization' that he had theorized about just earlier that morning when wondering about Karin and it was his duty as a Shinigami taicho to report this. Then Soul Society could take the appropriate steps and either leave them be or intervene as they saw fit.
His eyes narrowed. There was no way that Soul Society would leave these people be. If… when they found out just who these people were and what powers they had, Toushirou knew that they would either be sent to prison or executed.
He gritted his teeth. Why was that reality so hard to accept?
On the other bed, Karin lay facing the ceiling. She wasn't watching him, but she knew that Toushirou was tensed. And giving it a bit of thought, it was quite obvious what he was so wound up over. There was Soul Society on the one hand; his obligations and duties. And on the other hand… Karin frowned slightly. The Vizard were definitely a shady bunch and they were part hollow, the age-old enemy of the Shinigami. But they were decent people and Karin could have sworn that just a little earlier during their dinner, she had seen Toushirou smile.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
The next morning, Toushirou was groggy and incredibly bleary eyed.
"Dude, what happened to you?" Ichigo's voice was uncomfortably loud to him and Toushirou grimaced.
He had probably gotten the rudest awakening in his entire life barely five minutes prior thanks to a certain black haired girl jumping on him and nearly crushing his ribcage before stuffing his head beneath that duvet, which he had found out actually sported an overly kitsch and sickly sweet pink flower pattern with dashes of cuddly teddy-bear prints.
After laughing her head off at his attempts to free himself from beneath the suffocating thing, she finally rolled off his lungs, jumped out of his reach and before he could do much more than yell at her she had already dashed out the door, laughing at her childish prank.
Toushirou spotted Karin standing beside Kensei and he shot her a venomous glare when she grinned at him.
"Oi people! Breakfast is served!"
Toushirou glanced over to Hiyori who was setting out huge baskets of fresh rolls, jams, hams and juice. His eyes widened as he took in all of the food and the sheer variety and amount of it!
"Shinji robbed the nearby bakery!" Hiyori informed them all happily. Toushirou, not quite knowing whether to believe Hiyori's words, gave her a disbelieving stare. She merely smiled and offered him a roll. "You're welcome."
Staring at it for a moment longer, Toushirou finally shrugged and took it. He couldn't believe that he was actually eating stolen bread but his stomach was demanding nourishment and who was he to deny it? He bit into his roll and merely enjoyed the moment. He'd worry about everything else later.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"You suck, Ichigo!"
Toushirou watched, already bored, as Kurosaki went flying into yet another rock. Hiyori and Ichigo had begun their training almost immediately after breakfast, leaving everyone else to spend their time doing whatever they pleased. Lisa had offered him a few of her magazines but, after catching a glimpse of their covers, he declined rather quickly and opted to go sit with Shinji and Kensei instead. The fight had moved rather close to them by now.
"What's your problem Hiyori? You're beating me up worse than usual today!" Ichigo roared from his position amongst the rubble.
Hiyori pointed her sword at him. "Shut it carrot-top! Someone," she directed her glare at Toushirou, "was rude to me about my height and I'm venting my anger on you so suck it up, idiot!"
Ichigo, upon realizing that he was being used as a punching bag, rounded angrily on Toushirou. "You! It's your fault! Why did you have to be so tall, dammit?"
Toushirou raised an eyebrow. Well, that was a new one.
Hiyori lunged at Ichigo again and viciously swung her sword, giving him minimal time to form his own mask over his face and bringing his sword up to protect his neck. Their swords struggled for a moment – before Hiyori pushed him back and he went tumbling into another pile of rubble. His mask shattered.
Kensei clocked the time. "Eight point four seconds. He improved."
"It's still not good enough," Shinji muttered a few rocks away from where Toushirou sat. As far as Toushirou had gathered, Kurosaki was undergoing some form of training to maintain his hollow mask. And judging by everyone's reactions, it wasn't going well. Toushirou could see where they were coming from. When he had watched Hiyori and Karin fight the previous day, they had both easily maintained their masks for more than a minute each before choosing to remove them. Perhaps they had more experience than he did?
Toushirou turned to Shinji. "Is there something he's doing wrong?"
Shinji's eyes turned towards him briefly before focusing once again on the very much one-sided battle. "That idiot… he's going to need to hurry it up if he's going to be of any use in a fight against an Arrancar, let alone any Espada."
Toushirou listened up. "You know about those?" Even to himself his question sounded more like a statement. Somehow, it had only made sense for them to know.
"Yeah. We know about pretty much everything." Shinji stood up then and stretched. "But don't worry; we hate Aizen just as much as you Shinigami do, so you have nothing to fear about us there."
Toushirou's eyes widened slightly.
"Kensei, let's go see if we can find some leftovers from breakfast." The blonde suggested to his bulkier counterpart.
"Wait a second!" Shinji and Kensei stopped and glanced back at him still sitting on the rock.
"What… is your relationship with Aizen?"
Shinji seemed to consider this for a moment. "If you're asking if we're allies of the Soul Society, then I'm gonna have to disappoint ya." Toushirou tensed for a moment. "But we're certainly not on Aizen's side either; I just told you we hated him." Shinji gave Toushirou a grin. "We're only interested in our own agenda."
Toushirou narrowed his eyes. "Agenda?"
Shinji shrugged and turned his back, stretching again. "Call it a grudge if you must. Let's leave it at that." And the two men walked off, leaving Toushirou to watch their retreating backs.
As Toushirou turned his head back to the fight, his mind whirled. Now what? Why had Shinji just made everything ten times harder than it already was? Was his sharing of this information some sort of hint or was it just a warning that they shouldn't be trusted? Could they even be trusted? Shouldn't the Soul Society be informed of them? But then what would they do? Would the Soul Society imprison them? What if the Vizard's agenda matched the Soul Society's objective: to kill Aizen? Couldn't they work together?
Toushirou stopped his thoughts and gripped his hair for a moment. What was he thinking? Working together? What was he going to do; walk up to the Sou-taicho and proclaim that he had found new allies that had previously been in hiding in the Living World endowed with Hollow powers? Yes, he could see that going so well. The first words from Yamamoto would probably be along the lines of: Kill ze traitors!
He sighed as he lifted his head. What was he going to do?
A light touch on his back made him turn his head as Karin took a seat beside him on the rock. Her hand that had a moment ago briefly touched him was now neatly folded in her lap and he suddenly wished that it was touching his back again. That simple touch had felt more reassuring than he would have believed possible.
"Hey." She greeted.
"Hey." He didn't bother to elaborate as they sat in comfortable silence. Time dragged on and for once Toushirou didn't mind that the minutes were passing by slowly. He enjoyed this moment despite his mental weariness. He found it oddly soothing, like his problems were of less consequence than before.
Karin kept her mouth closed, making herself simply watch the training between Hiyori and her brother instead of looking at Toushirou. She wasn't going to say anything to him. If he had something to say; he'd say it in his own time. There was no point in pressuring him.
Toushirou glanced over at Karin again. Her face was relaxed and somewhat dreamy, like she was lost in thoughts of her own. Her hands were loosely tossed over her lap in her cross-legged position beside him and he remembered how warm her hand had been when she had helped him stand up the previous day and how reassuring that slight pressure from her on his back had felt before she'd sat down.
He bowed his head slightly as his thoughts assaulted him again and he ground his teeth in frustration. Indecision had never been a major factor in his life; everything had always been in black and white. But right now everything was in so many different shades of grey that he was getting dizzy from being overwhelmed. But perhaps this girl, this still and solid person, could give him just a nudge in the right direction.
Toushirou never asked for help. He prided himself on getting a job done on his own efficiently and fast. When he couldn't complete a mission on his own, he sent an order for back-up. He never requested assistance from another person on a personal issue. It was something that he just didn't do. Maybe it was his childish pride talking, insisting that whatever the problem was, he could do it.
But Karin wasn't exactly telling him that he couldn't manage and thereby challenging him to prove her wrong. She was merely sitting there, quietly, giving him some space to tell her something if he wanted to. The concept was somewhat familiar, though not nearly the same. Matsumoto offered in words to listen to him and thereby putting him off the idea almost immediately. Momo would shower him in sympathy and encourage him to tell her, inevitably convincing him that doing so would be a bad idea. So he had never done so before.
"I… don't know what to do."
That one sentence felt like the hardest thing that he had ever had to say in his life. That one simple admission that he wasn't able to solve something alone. But at the same time, simply saying it out loud had already helped to sort his muddled mind. And the fact that only Karin had heard him speak that embarrassing truth was comforting. It left a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth.
Karin kept her eyes turned ahead and Toushirou was grateful. He didn't need her looking at him right now; not after his asking for her help like that. He felt even smaller than before.
"About the Vizard?"
Toushirou nodded once. He couldn't force more words into the open and Karin saw this from the corner of her eye. He seemed distracted, as though trying very hard to disappear to somewhere else. He shifted and looked as though he wanted to fidget uncomfortably but he held his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
Upon first coming over she had been worried of what she would do; she was never really one for comforting others, that had always been Yuzu's department. Yuzu could bend down to a devastated child crying over their favourite and long-awaited ice-cream cone lying spilled on the sidewalk and make them smile again. In comparison to her gentle twin, Karin often thought that if she were in that situation she'd hand the kid some money and tell him to get over it. She wasn't known for her… people skills.
But seeing Toushirou react so similarly to how her brother showed his discomfort and unease, Karin had felt a little reassured. Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all.
"Whatever you want to do," she told him softly.
"It's not that simple." Toushirou ground from between his teeth. She wasn't understanding.
"How come?" Karin knew that she had to tread carefully here. If she said the wrong thing she knew that Toushirou would close down instantly and that would lead her nowhere and leave him to continue worrying his head off.
Toushirou let out a barely audible hiss of breath from between his teeth at her words and felt his blunt nails dig into his palm. Her question was asked innocently but it was irritating him! Irritating, because he didn't have an answer for her since he didn't even have an answer for himself.
Karin saw that he wasn't going to say any more willingly. She was able to wait patiently but he was just sinking now. Perhaps some prodding was in order. "You don't want to report the Vizard, do you?" Toushirou froze at her words. "You know that if you report them, the Soul Society will take steps to hurt us."
Toushirou had to fight for a moment to keep the surprised look off his face. He had almost forgotten that Karin was in fact part of the Vizard. Perhaps not completely, but from the way that the Vizard all acted around her, it was obvious that she was more than at home amongst them. But her use of the word 'us' had reminded him forcefully of another fact that he hadn't considered beforehand: If he reported the Vizard, then he reported Karin too. His very being rejected the idea instantly.
"But you have your captain's duties." Toushirou listened silently as Karin laid all of his inner thoughts out for him. In black and white. "Your duty tells you that you have to report us." Toushirou swallowed. The stark, harsh truth was uncomfortable to hear in the least and Karin's calm voice wasn't making it any easier to bear.
"So now you don't know what to do about it." Toushirou's fists clenched tighter, his lips pressed together. Karin turned her head to look at him for the first time since the beginning of her speech and he felt compelled to do the same. The mercury was burning brightly and he was instantly, and with such force that he hadn't been expecting it, knocked free of all breath. A spell of lightheadedness overcame him for a moment and he felt stunned, as though a large and heavy object had physically hit him over the head. He forced air back into his lungs.
"Am I right?"
Toushirou could only nod once numbly in response to her question. His mind reeled and whirled in utter confusion and turmoil whilst his eyes were, despite his best efforts, still glued to her own. She had done it so easily. Come and taken all of his thoughts and sorted them for him. The fact that she, a near-stranger to him, was able to do this made him wonder if he was easy to read.
No, at least according to Matsumoto and a few others, what he was thinking was mostly kept under wraps, frustrating them to no end, or so he was told. So then what was with Karin? Why… was Karin able to read him? He continued to look right at her whilst she stared right back. Was it perhaps something to do with her Hollow powers? Innerly, Toushirou dismissed that idea. No, that did not sound plausible. And besides… The way that her eyes were boring into him right now alone was making him feel somewhat exposed. Perhaps she was just good at reading people in general. After all, there was no reason for her to be able to tell what he was thinking on account of them having any connection. Heck, he hardly knew the girl!
But then why… Why was he so inexplicably, unreasonably comfortable around her? Aside from the odd stomach clench or urge to swallow around her that was.
He finally turned his head away and narrowed his eyes. "It's irrelevant what I want. My duty as a captain comes first."
Karin's mouth felt dry and her heart beat fast. She didn't want to believe that Toushirou would do it, but she had to make sure. "So you're going to report us?"
Toushirou felt like hitting a wall – no – mutilating a menos! That hated feeling of helplessness in the face of a situation was something that he despised most of all. And right now he was feeling cornered! If he reported them to the Soul Society the Vizard and Karin would all be imprisoned or worse. Karin, Kurosaki and the others would blame him and he knew he'd feel horrible. But then again his personal feelings didn't matter when it came to his position as a captain. As a captain, he had to report them. If he didn't and the Soul Society found out they would blame him! Although… would he really feel horrible? Perhaps not until they announced his sentence.
"I… don't know."
Toushirou couldn't believe that he had been forced to admit to this fact twice within the space of a mere five minutes to this girl. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place here. He knew what he was supposed to do but the problem was that he didn't want to do it! Toushirou closed his eyes as he leaned forward on his knees. Why didn't he want to report the Vizard? It wasn't even as though he had known them for very long. They kidnapped him and held him prisoner, went against the rule of the Soul Society, he knew nothing of their 'agenda', they used Hollow powers and continued to undermine his height.
He frowned. For kidnappers they had been unusually friendly with him. They had all been so… relaxed about having a Shinigami captain amongst them. Things had slipped into such a natural routine and it seemed as though his added presence didn't disrupt their activities or mannerisms at all. For once, people were being themselves around him. And now he was supposed to report them. Toushirou's hands fisted even tighter.
Karin watched him keenly and her eyes lit up for a moment as an idea came to her. She knew that if Toushirou was anything like her brother in the areas of personal pressure, he'd continue to beat himself up over this issue until he had either worked it out himself or until someone beat some sense into him, either mentally or physically. Karin grinned as an idea formed in her mind.
"Well then it's easy."
Toushirou's head snapped up at her less than expected words. Karin leaned over to him and he warily noted the suppressed spark of excitement in her eyes.
"Toushirou, when do you have to give your report?"
"Tonight. Why?" He eyed her skeptically whilst she leaned more forward.
"Then here's the deal: if you agree to not report us you'll be out of here within a few hours just in time to give your report. However, if you don't agree and you still maintain that you'll tell then I guess you're staying trapped in here. It's not like they'll be able to find you or anything behind Hacchi's barrier." Toushirou opened his mouth to protest but Karin cut him off smoothly by saying, "Urahara ran a few tests and was able to come up with zero search results when trying to locate us." Toushirou shut his mouth again. He should have known that Urahara was involved somehow or other.
"Karin, I can't just agree to not telling because you'll let me go."
Karin's smile widened as he confirmed her suspicions. He was looking for personal motivation to not report the Vizard. Well, if he was looking for a reason she'd give him one. "Of course not. But that's not my point."
"Then what is?"
"You and I are going to fight."
Karin's statement hung in the air for a moment and Toushirou could do nothing but stare at the young human girl. "What?"
"Yes, fight. If I win against you Toushirou, then you're forbidden from telling and you go free. It's only fair. And if you win…" she thought for a moment before shrugging. "We'll see about that if you actually win."
Toushirou spluttered and gaped at her. She was so utterly confident that it was bordering on impudence! Just who did she think he was? He was made a captain for a reason! He gathered himself before speaking. "Karin. Do you realize who you're talking to?"
Her grin only grew. "Yes. And since I'm a little human girl, you should have no problem beating me, right?"
Psychology. And she'd just dealt him a stinging blow to his pride. He clenched his jaw at her challenging stare. Her eyes dared him to back down from this, daring and taunting him silently. Her offered hand was doubling the building pressure of her dare.
"Fine." He ground out from between his teeth whilst reaching out stubbornly with his own hand and letting her clasp his fingers first. If he hadn't been so busy glaring daggers at her, Toushirou thought that he might have enjoyed the warm pressure of Karin's hand against his.
And then Shinji popped up and ruined the moment. "Perfect! Now let's just add some conditions to this deal so that you don't even consider breaking it!" Toushirou almost jumped out of his skin at the blonde man's appearance but managed to contain himself. As he was about to pull his hand away from Karin's, Shinji grabbed their joined hands and yelled, "Wait! First we must utter the consequences before you're allowed to let go! Or else the vow won't be valid." Toushirou wanted to once again strangle the man but with only one hand available, that seemed like a somewhat impossible task at the moment. Shinji had a strong grip.
Ichigo arrived then, battered and bruised, after Hiyori. "Oi, is it really necessary for them to hold hands through this?" Toushirou noticed how Ichigo's eyes were fixed on their still-joined hands that Shinji was keeping together. The little captain felt a flare of irritation towards Kurosaki. Just why was the carrot-top being protective over Karin?
Shinji grinned wider and he lifted an admonishing finger whilst his other hand pressed Karin and Toushirou's hands closer together. "Of course it is!" Toushirou was suddenly acutely aware of the shape, feel and texture of Karin's hand against his and found himself agreeing with Kurosaki; was this new form of torture really necessary?
Toushirou noticed that the other Vizard had by now gathered and he forcibly composed himself as many of them glanced at his and Karin's joined hands. Shinji looked around, waving his hand at the others invitingly. "Well, any suggestions?"
Toushirou found it somewhat annoying that not even an explanation was required in this situation; had they been eavesdropping on him and Karin? The chances were very likely.
Hiyori suddenly grew a sadistic edge to her face and pointed directly at Toushirou. "If you dare break this vow baldy, may you forever be stuck in darkness and too damn short to reach the switch!"
Toushirou gagged on air.
"May you never grow, no matter the amount of nutrition supplied to your body." Hacchi supplied and Toushirou grew red in the face.
"If you deter from your word, may you forever be short on reaction time to avoid Karin's revengeful right hooks." Rose smiled serenely and Toushirou felt dread grow inside of him along with irritation.
Shinji's prominent teeth revealed themselves more and Toushirou wished to watch the man suffocate more than ever.
"May you forever be itchy," Shinji said, "and your arms too short to reach where you may need to scratch."
Toushirou wanted to strangle them – the lot of them! "Will you all quit referring to my height?"
Karin laughed and his eyes were drawn back to her then. Her mercury gaze met his again and still that daring light shone in them. Her hand gripped his tighter beneath Shinji's securing hold. "Well Toushirou?"
Toushirou was torn between extreme anger for all of the references to his short stature and amusement for the girl before him, challenging him to disagree with her demands. He returned the pressure. "Agreed."
OMAKE:
"Right, we need to come up with ideas. Fast." Shinji leant forward over the rock-acting-as-their-table towards the others.
"Make him run around the training room until he drops dead." Lisa commented with a straight face.
"Too boring." Shinji waved off her suggestion.
"Feed him to the crocodiles!" Hiyori paused momentarily in beating up Ichigo to deliver her idea.
"Idiot," Shinji said. "We don't have crocodiles."
Shinji contracted a nosebleed courtesy of Hiyori's sandal before she once more leaped into the air to beat Ichigo back into another rock. Hacchi spoke softly, glancing over to Toushirou and Karin sitting beside one another on the far-off rock watching the fight between Hiyori and Ichigo. "Why is it necessary for us to invent these consequences?"
"Because, Hacchi, if Karin is as devious as Hiyori claims she is then it's almost certain that she'll make the little taicho agree to a bet!" Shinji whispered whilst the others nodded. "And we need to appear smooth in this situation."
"Plus," Love added. "It's always good for the hero to have all of the details worked out by the time that he faces his adversary."
"Hitsugaya is hardly our adversary, Love." Rose said.
"No, but having a bunch of cool vow-consequences to throw at the shorty will still look cool."
"Oh!" Shinji suddenly perked up. "They're shaking hands!" And he flashed off in a hurry, leaving the others to follow at a more mellow pace.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
I thought I should mention that on Bleach Wiki Toushirou's height is listed as 133cm, Karin's at 132cm and Hiyori's at 133cm. However, I wrote the chapter before I found out, so let's just pretend that Shinji fixed the results, okay?
One last thing: REVIEW PLEASE! ^_^