I'm, like, seriously late on updating this, but here's the Chapter 4! Hope you enjoy! If any grammatical errors are found please inform me immediately.
.
.
.
He waited patiently. He had been waiting for the past one hour. There were no signs of her coming.
He waited for another hour.
Another. Fucking. Hour.
It was as if she had disappeared from the face of this godforsaken world where raven-head's came a tad bit too late than the appointed time. Now, Toshiro was a dedicated and determined and disciplined man. When he said that he would be at a given place at a particular time, he meant it, and when the Tenth Captain meant something, he positively ended up doing it. All this waiting was killing him.
He had been surprisingly excited to train her—granted that she had threatened to blackmail him, claiming that she apparently had 'proof' of him staring at her whilst she was taking a bath, but still. Perhaps it was the thought of getting to know her better or something…
His sharp ears caught a rustle coming from the bushes behind him (he had been staring at the river and cursing under his breath), and he turned around to look. Karin emerged, sheepishly rubbing the nape of her neck, and giving a hesitant smile, arms and fingers scratched. Unconsciously, she patted her hair down to prevent herself from looking like a she-devil, and, giving Toshiro another sheepish grin.
"I'm sorry I am late. I really am. But, I was being chased."
Toshiro's eyebrow, ritualistically, twitched, and he couldn't help but wonder why he felt that Karin would be, in the very near future, bestowed with more eyebrow twitches, courtesy him. He snorted, almost indignantly, "I'll excuse you this time, Karin."
Toshiro bit his tongue and looked at her to see whether she minded him calling her by her first name. She didn't even seem to notice, so he continued, "But, if you are late again, I'll—"
"KAAAAARRRRIIINN!"
His sentence was cut short almost abruptly by the booming voice as Karin grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to a boulder near the river and roughly dumped him there. Back connecting against the hardness of the rock, Toshiro winced involuntarily. He glared heatedly at her, opening his mouth to speak.
"What the hell—?"
Karin slapped her hand hastily on his lips, and Toshiro had to prevent an uncharacteristic squeak from escaping his currently air-deprived mouth. Karin fell on her knees, eyes sliding into reprimanding slits.
"Shhh." She ushered, a finger on her own lips—a universal sign announcing shut-up-or-else-I'll-mutilate-your-face-beyond-recognition. Granted, there was no hostility in her gaze, but one of the many things Toshiro had the opportunity to learn whilst staying with someone like Matsumoto was: 'Never trust women. They are as unpredictable as hell.' Toshiro had learned this the hard way.
He hated being ordered around, so his first reaction was to glare at her, wringing her fingers off of his face. She complied, nodding at him once, and peaked up over the boulders, eyebrows wrinkling in annoyance, having seen the sight.
"Renji and Ikkaku-san…" she said with slight distaste, "damnit, did they have to follow me, those bastards?"
Toshiro's mouth parted in surprise, and he did the mistake of making it look like as if he was about to gasp. Karin glared at him, slapping her hand on his mouth, mouth turning down, reprimanding. Toshiro glared right back, before forcefully extracting her hand from his face. She did not oblige at first, but later complied, not before sending him a warning look. Toshiro ignored the look, preferring to look over the boulder. He did, and the immediate curse word which came to his mind was:
Shit.
Okay, Toshiro might have been pretty unaware of the tender facts of life, for he was the sort who preferred to not dwell in facts like that,—a complete waste in time, he believed, because he was a workaholic like that—but he was certain that hiding behind a boulder with a girl practically straddling him was likely to send the wrong… vibe. Toshiro could already feel his reputation crumbling like a fucking, tiny, insignificant slab of glass.
He grabbed her hand and shun-poed the hell out of there. Ducking his head (his white hair, standing out in the moonlight like a light bulb wasn't going to, after all, help him blend into the darkness) so that he was as inconspicuous as he could be. He barely heard the familiar voice of one Abara Renji yelling.
"I found her! I FOUND HER! Oi, Ikkaku, what the hell are you licking the ground for?!"
Toshiro ignored Ikkaku's reply, which, unsurprisingly, consisted of a lot of swear words, realizing that Karin was busy struggling against his grasp. His eyebrow twitched—if he was planning an escape, why the hell did he bring her along? The answer eluded him. She almost tripped, but found her momentum immediately, still struggling.
"Leave me—"
So he did.
Karin cursed loudly when her foot came in contact with the ground, dropping harshly from mid-air. As she hissed forlornly about floors and their irrational hardness, Toshiro resisted the urge to feel guilty. It wasn't his fault. Karin had asked to be left—and he helped. Maybe it had been unprecedented, but why the did he care?
Shrugging, he continued with his escapade.
Karin glared at Toshiro's retreating back, muttering under her breath. Quick to overcome her anger, she leaped up, landing on the air, so that she and Toshiro were on the same level. She ran forward, catching upto him with ease.
"Hey," she greeted, making sure to pull up an annoyed face, "what was that for?"
Toshiro turned to look at her, startled. The emotion flickered in his face, barely seen, but it was there. Seeing his surprised look, Karin gave him a questioning gaze. Toshiro shrugged, muttering under his breath, "You're annoying."
Karin gave a sheepish grin, knowing very well that she was being annoying. Though not the clingy or particularly demanding type, she really did want this mysterious-stalker-(possibly) perverted man to train her. She was the independent sort who really hated taking help from other people, but she wasn't the oblivious sort. Toshiro was unnervingly strong, and, despite the one match they had where she was too blinded by anger and frustration to do Toshiro any particular harm, she could tell that this guy meant business.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "Maybe I am being a bit impolite."
He looked surprised at her confession.
"What?" she said, half scowling, "Just because I am blackmailing you to help me out here, doesn't mean that I'm rude. You were the one being rude, by the way, trying to see me naked."
"I wasn't…" he started.
"Hm?"
Toshiro sighed, shaking his head, half amused, "Nothing, never mind."
Karin hummed as a response, their feet moving in synchronization. Toshiro glanced at her. She was smiling. Karin caught his glance and raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"You're smiling."
Karin sounded smug, "Quite observant of me, aren't you, Hitsugaya?"
It took Toshiro a while to understand that Karin was teasing him. He glared half heartedly at her. "Shut up," he said.
Karin laughed, her voice playful and teasing. Toshiro almost smiled, but hid the curve of his lips immediately.
"For a person who spends the time seeing other naked women taking a bath, you are awfully shy, aren't you?" she teased.
Toshiro's voice was soft, abashment obvious in his tone. He had no idea how he said it with a straight face, but he managed, "Because I've never been with a woman before."
When Karin looked at him, her obsidian eyes were wide. Her lips parted, she started, "You've never-?"
"KAAAAARRRIIINNNN!"
"Shit!" Karin cursed loudly, grabbed Toshiro's wrist, and ran, increasing her speed. Toshiro made a strange guttural sound, perhaps a few words on what he thought of Karin roughly dragging him away, but Karin did a good job of ignoring it, weaving her way through the larger buildings, cursing under her breath. After a few seconds of Toshiro struggling, Karin was surprised when Toshiro simply gave up, allowing Karin to half drag him away.
Toshiro found himself relaxing, and he had no idea why. Sure, they were still running, working their legs, but he still couldn't help it. Karin's hold on his wrist was warm, awfully so, and he could feel red dusting his cheeks. Not much, maybe, but he felt undeniably and inanely awkward. He looked at her back, at how her head turned sideways, obsidian eyes determined.
"Why are they chasing us, anyway?" Toshiro asked, clearing his throat and prying Karin's fingers from his wrist.
Karin paused, allowing Toshiro to come beside her so that they were running side by side. She started, a mischievous grin on her face, "I turned them pink. It was my brother's idea actually, but I executed it."
Toshiro raised an eyebrow at her, "Pardon?"
Karin opened her mouth to answer, only to replace it with a loud, "Damn!" Her eyes were fixed in front of her, and she looked positively troubled. Toshiro turned to where she was looking at and frowned.
A cul-de-sac. Considering the current predicament she was in, Toshiro assented that Karin's choice of word was legitimate, if anything else. They came to a stop, Karin's eyes darting around in order to escape without any trouble. Sighing when finding none, Karin turned around, cracking her knuckles.
"Fine." She declared, "If it has come to this, I guess I have no choice." She turned her gaze towards the male beside her, "Let's—" she paused, her eyes narrowing. Waving her hand in front of his eyes in order to get the other's attention, she demanded, "Oi, what's wrong?"
His body had stiffened, muscles clenching. He looked coolly and calmly at Karin, turned around abruptly, muttered "I'll be hiding in the bush over there.", and did exactly what he said he would be doing.
Karin's gaze was that of exasperation, "—hah? The hell, Hitsugaya?"
Toshiro managed to stuff himself in the bush, whilst keeping his head high, feigning comfort and an air of 'there-is-nothing-wrong-with-hiding-in-a-bush'. He was probably overreacting, but he did not want anybody to see him with Karin. Usually he wouldn't care, but Abarai and Madrame were Matsumoto's usual drinking buddies—what if the two mentioned that the Tenth Division Captain was out with a girl in the night? Matsumoto would be responsible for thousands of speculations from different Shinigamis about the Tenth Squad's Captain's love life.
Toshiro did not need that. At all.
So. Here he was. Hiding inside a bush. Oh, how absurdly fast the mighty plummeted. Hilarious.
He heard Karin muttering, "You've got to be kidding me."
Toshiro stopped himself from feeling even an ounce of embarrassment.
He heard two light taps, indicating the arrival of the Sixth Squad's Lieutenant and the Eleventh Squad's Third seat. The next few minutes were wasted on screaming and cries of "I will kill you" and "I don't care if your stupid strawberry of a brother told you to turn us—fucking—pink, I'll still kill you!" and "Go try to murder Ichi-nii, why don't you?! I am not at fault! At all! I just did him a favor!"
And then Karin was grabbing his hand and shun-poing away. A bit startled at the sudden abruptness of the whole situation, Toshiro had to catch his balance before he could shun-poe properly. Karin was muttering darkly under her breath, prompting him to twist his head to look back.
Abarai and Madrame, their skin an unhealthy shade of pink, were lying, knocked out cold, on the ground. Toshiro raised a confused brow, shaking his head.
"You did that?"
Karin paused at the question, looking at the gestured direction, a small grin on her face, "Yeah. A low level kido—they'll wake up in a few hours."
Toshiro looked genuinely impressed, "Abarai is a Lieutenant and Madrame is the Eleventh Squad's Third Seat. For you to even instigate an attack directed towards them is impressive enough."
Karin gave a small laugh, letting go of Toshiro's hand. He hadn't even noticed that it was there in the first place, immediately missing the contact.
"They had it coming," Karin answered, "Besides, they were to pissed off to dodge my attack—they are really hot headed." She gave a wistful smile, "I may be strong, but they are stronger. Definitely. They wouldn't be capable of being where they are if they weren't."
Silence took over next, and Toshiro mulled over her words. He wondered why he felt as if she was a bit under confident—a bit insecure. He shrugged, blaming his own imagination.
"So…" Karin ventured, immediately drawing Toshiro's attention back to her, "What do you suggest we do now? I don't feel like training. Much, at any rate."
"I should leave, then." Toshiro, never the one to uselessly occupy others, suggested.
Karin frowned, "Am I that annoying?"
His eyes widened in surprise, "What-? No, that's not what I meant-"
Karin's frown morphed into a teasing grin, "Don't worry much; I'm just teasing. Man, you get worked up real quick, don't you?"
Toshiro scowled at her, "No I don't." he defended.
"Sure," she replied, her voice holding sarcasm.
"I don't."
"Yeah, and I'm agreeing with you."
Toshiro glared at her, forcing out a bubble of laughter from her mouth. Suddenly, she straightened and looked at him with excitement shining in her eyes.
"Let's race."
"What?"
"A race," she repeated, "You know, where people run to see who is faster? That."
"I know what a race is." He bit back, realizing how stupid uttering 'what?' sounded.
"Let's do it then." She said exuberantly, "It'll be fun."
"I don't want to."
Karin half glared at him, "Why not?"
"It's a waste of time."
Karin's face wasn't bereft of incredulity, "Do you, by any chance, know what 'fun' means, Hitsugaya? Or is it just a fantasy to you?"
"Racing is pointless." he said, snorting, ignoring her question.
Karin gaped at him, obsidian eyes mildly aggravated. She took in a deep breath, as if speaking to him was similar to speaking to an obstinate child, and then looked at him, their eyes connecting. Toshiro gulped involuntarily—her eyes were literally shining with mirth and child like happiness. Without a moment of hesitation, she grabbed the scarf around his shoulders, swiftly prying the material from his shoulders. She gave a grin, a quick flash of white teeth, before shun-poing away.
A mirthful, "Catch me if you can!" left her lips. Toshiro had to blink twice, look at his suddenly scarf deprived shoulders, then at her form, the scarf billowing tauntingly behind her, then back at his shoulders. When things finally clicked into place, he dashed after her.
Karin glanced back, grinning, "Let's race to the training ground," she said happily.
Toshiro did not nod—he simply wanted his scarf back. At least, that was what he had planned initially, but then… well, he enjoyed it. It was exhilarating—the way she ran, so carefree and happy, as if nothing yet everything mattered to her, her eyes shining whenever she craned her neck a bit to look properly at him, jet black hair swaying with the lithe body's movement…
Guh, he was being poetic. The hell?
Toshiro had no idea how long they had been running, and realized that he probably didn't care. It was when she stopped, and he almost bumped into her, that he noticed that his scarf had been, somewhere in between her laughs, teases and running, securely placed over his shoulders. Blinking in surprise, he steadied himself before his frame could collide with hers.
Feeling his presence behind her, she turned to him with a sly look, leaning forward, their faces a few inches apart.
"Really, how long does it take for you to come?"
Resisting the urge to scowl, he took a step back in order to create some space in between them. They were almost of the same height, he noticed, with him being only two inches taller than her. He had grown a lot after the Winter War, but not enough to make him feel particularly proud. Her face so absurdly close to his did weird things to his heart.
Not missing what he had just done, she gave him a sly smirk, "You're a very shy person, aren't you?"
"Am not." He said curtly.
She shrugged, turning around, "Sure you're not."
Toshiro, his pride a bit stung, opened his mouth to retaliate, but she cut him to it, "Come here, Hitsugaya. Isn't it beautiful?"
Frowning at the sudden change in topic, Toshiro stepped forward to stand beside her. They were near the edge of the cliff, he realized. He glanced in front of him and breathed, stunned at the beauty of the scene in front of him. Below him was the place they had agreed to meet, the place where Toshiro had seen her for the second time, the place where this whole mishap and misunderstanding had happened in the first place.
It was beautiful.
The river meandered below them, a clearing followed by dense forests flanking either side of the river. It was a scene imitating blissful lassitude; the river like a silver snake, further disappearing into a cacophony of green trees. Lush green hills seemingly erupted from where the trees ended.
"You're actually fun to hang out with, you know?" Karin asked abruptly.
He glanced at her in surprise, "Pardon?"
She blushed a bit and gave a sheepish grin, "Sorry. That came out wrong. What I meant was, well, um, y'know since you were peaking at me while I was blissfully taking a bath, I expected you to be a bit…arrogant. Er. Yeah, arroganter. But you're actually fun. Surprisingly."
"Less than an hour ago you had supposed that I did not know the meaning of 'fun'."
"You don't." she said as if she were speaking the mere truth. Which she probably was. "But, you are fun."
Toshiro gifted her with a blank look, "You suck at describing."
She gave him a quick glare, "Oi! Here's me trying my hardest not to call you a boring old man and that's all you can say?" her voice held a tinge of well meant humor, "No but, really," she persisted, "You seem like an asshole—no offence—and though I am pretty sure you are one, I can honestly say that you are a good asshole."
"Should I take that as an insult or a compliment?" he asked jokingly.
Karin gave a grin as she sat on the ground, staring at the stars above, "Coming from me, a compliment."
Toshiro smiled almost covertly. He gazed back at her. She was smiling up at the stars.
"I think I should go." He said, knowing that she probably preferred privacy.
Karin's head snapped to him, watching him turn around.
"Hey. Wait."
Toshiro paused, turned and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Stay." She said, patting the ground beside her, "The more the merrier."
Toshiro gave her an apprehensive glance, eyes flickering behind him, then at the spot Karin had just patted and then at her expectant face. Initially a bit hesitant, he shrugged when she looked back up at the stars again as if she knew that he was bound to accept her offer. He obliged to her request and sat beside her, staring forward.
"Peaceful, isn't it?" Karin whispered, smiling softly.
Toshiro's gaze flickered to her face briefly. He smiled, "Yeah."
The remained like that till the first rays of dawn disrupted the dark sky.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Please review!