Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, ya know?
Author Note: Thank you for all the glorious reviews! I was so happy, I almost cried. By the way, this is a split chapter, so if it seems a litle incomplete, that's way. Enjoy!
Day 0
"Alright," Zaraki began and I listened intently. I was more determined then ever to make the team, and some blood thirsty coach wasn't going to stop me.
"Here's how tryouts work. We're going to do an exercise known as Hell Week. And believe me, it will be hell, I can sincerely assure you." Zaraki said with a smirk, and I hesitantly raised my hand.
"Uh, sir?" I asked nervously, though I tried to act confident, and the enormous giant known as coach Zaraki swiveled my way.
"What is it?" He practically snarled, and I flinched in spite of my resolve. Then I caught sight of Toshirou with a smug look on his unfairly gorgeous face, and straightened my spineless back (metamorphically).
"Uh... when do we start?" I spat out as quickly as humanely possible. Coach Zaraki stood stone still for a moment before glancing at his clipboard.
"What's your name?" He asked abruptly, and I gulped. Had I done something wrong?
"Karin Kurosaki." I said strongly, refusing to give Toshirou the satisfaction of seeing my fear. Coach Zaraki's eyes widened and he looked genuinely surprised for the first time.
"You're Ichigo's sister?!" He demanded and I didn't answer as I tried to figure out whether his reply was a compliment or an insult.
"Yeah, she is." Ichigo said before stepping away from his friends to hover protectively near me. I felt a rush of pleasure as I realized how much I missed my brother's presence.
Zaraki studied us for several moments before turning away with a grunt and scribbling a note to himself on the clipboard. I couldn't help but wonder whether that was good or bad, though the fact that Toshirou was glowering at me again made me feel optimistic.
"Look alike, so I guess it makes sense," Zaraki said, half to himself, before continuing. "Anyway, just so you know, Hell Week will officially be starting tomorrow. You could count today as Day 0 if you want, but it doesn't matter. Anything else?"
Zaraki said this last sentence with so much menace that I didn't doubt that if someone had a question, he'd put the poor person on an airplane and have them commit a kame kaze suicide mission.
"Good," He said when no one dared to raise their hands. "Anyway, for those of you who don't know what Hell Week is, I'll explain."
"Hell week is a week used to explore every strength and weakness of the ones trying out to the extreme detail. You'll do different tasks each day, like running one day and ball control the next day. If you slack off for ANY reason-" Here Zaraki began to look slightly demented.
"I will catch you or find out, and I will send you packing home so fast you won't know what hit you. There. Is. No. Way. In. Hell. That you'll ever make my team. Am I making myself clear?"
"Yes sir!" We all chorused at the pause, and Zaraki smirked a creepy smirk.
"Good. Because if there is one thing I won't tolerate, it's slackers. I want to win, plain and simple. And if you have no desire to win, join the kiddie leagues. Varsity soccer is all about competition. Having fun can be an important factor, but you must win. AM I MAKING MYSELF CLEAR?!"
"YES SIR!" We all roared back, and Zaraki smiled and licked his lips, obviously pleased.
"Very well then. You're dismissed."
"So how was everyone's first day at school?!" My father asked in a bubbly, excited tone, and everyone shrugged except for Yuzu.
"It was great," She gushed, looking excited (traitor). "I had lunch with my teacher Ukitake-sama and we talked about cooking. It was wonderful!"
My father looked ecstatic at this proclamation, and I knew that in his insane head he felt that he'd made the right choice in moving away from Kyoto to Karakura.
"What about you Karin, how was your day?" My father started to interrogate me, and I didn't have the heart to puncture his happy bubble. Yet.
"The varsity coach is... interesting." I said neutrally, and both Rukia and Ichigo choked on their food. My father stared at them for several seconds before leaping to his feet, his face a mask of righteous... terror?
"NO! I WILL NOT LOOSE YOU AGAIN, MY DELINQUENT SON!!" The man bawled before throwing himself at Ichigo. The two rolled on the ground for several seconds before Ichigo finally managed to wrestle himself out of his fathers grip.
"Dammit dad, stop trying to rape me at every opportunity!" Ichigo snapped before drop kicking our dad out the room. We all stared for several seconds longer before my brother, with a huge anime tick standing out on his forehead, sat down.
Then we finished eating.
"Hitsugaya-sama!" The irritatingly shrill voices of the mob of girls made me wince and want to cover my ears. I watched in disbelief as the boy was quickly surrounded and girls asked him questions while fluttering eyelashes caked in make-up in his direction.
The pale haired boy seemed ready to get away, and gave his friends a desperate glance. Tatsuki rolled her eyes, looking weary.
"C'mon Chad, we've got work to do." She said with an over exaggerated yawn in Toshirou's direction, and the boy sent her a fierce look with his aquamarine eyes. Chad only nodded as began what I assumed was a daily procedure- saving Toshirou from mobs of fan girls.
"Why isn't he in any of my classes?" I muttered to a nearby Orihime, unable to make myself say Toshirou's name. Orihime gave me a bright smile and proffered a plate of food.
"I'll tell you if you promise to deliver this to Matsumoto, she loves my cooking!" Orihime said in a good natured, bubbly voice, before frowning. "Funny thing is, no one else does..."
"Sure, whatever, I'll deliver 'em." I said quickly, Ichigo had warned me of Orihime's... unusual tastes in cooking, and I didn't want to stick around and have her ask me if I wanted to try some.
"Oh, well, alright, if you're sure. But would you like to try some fir-?"
I was gone with the package of food in my hands before she had a chance to finish her sentence.
Day 1
"I can't believe I got homework on the second day of school!" I exclaimed angrily, the weight of my backpack stuffed with history and English homework slowing me down as I made my way towards the soccer fields with Rukia, Tatsuki, and several other girls trying out for soccer.
"Yamamoto can be tough." Rukia said sympathetically, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye Tatsuki wince. We walked into the locker rooms and quickly started to change into our 'soccer clothes'.
I felt a slight blush of embarrassment at the sight of all the girls, how full their breasts were, how gorgeous they looked...
Karin, I scolded myself. That's not like you. And it wasn't, I almost never worried about things like the curves of my body, except in the changing room, were sometimes I couldn't help but to feel judgmental of myself.
"C'mon Karin, let's get moving!" Rukia said with a big smile, and I smiled back hesitantly. As we made our ways on to the fields I couldn't resist the urge to shiver at the sight of our coach- Zaraki Kenpachi.
While coach Gin Ichimaru was sometimes creepy and often snakelike, he was still a good co-coach, keeping in contact with parents, organizing practices, and helping to reinforce everything into the team Hollow's brain.
Coach Sousuke Aizen, however... was a completely different story. He knew what he was doing, but was also kind, authoritive, and he had a quiet humility that you couldn't help but respect and even love.
And then there's Zaraki. I thought sourly to myself. I could not bring myself to call him coach Zaraki, because nothing could be farther from the truth. The said man watched as the 50-some people made their way onto the field, staring at us all with his bright eyes.
"Right, is everyone ready for their first day of tryouts?!" Zaraki boomed, and several kids shuddered fearfully before a weak 'yes sir' escaped their lips. Zaraki looked mildly affronted at this and gave us all a pointed glare.
"I said- IS EVERYONE READY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF TRYOUTS!" He roared, and we all cried back the standard supply with as much (in some cases, strained) vehemence as possibly. Looking pleased, Zaraki pulled out a huge map of Karakura and showed us a route highlighted in purple.
"See this route?" Zaraki told us as he held it up and jabbed a thick finger at the route (I dimly noted a ring on his ring finger- so he was married. WTF?) "It's exactly five miles long. Your objective is to finish in a half hour."
"What the hell? That's insane!" A girl cried out as she pulled away from were she was trying to corner Toshirou. I recognized her as Mayano Fukiro and inwardly grimaced. Mayano was one of the girls who had only joined to try and get closer to Toshirou and/or the other popular guys. Silence filled the air as Zaraki gave her a hard stare before speaking in a cold, stony voice.
"Get out." He said expressionlessly, and Mayano blinked.
"W-wha-?" She stammered in surprise before Zaraki ruthlessly cut her off.
"I said, get out. I don't want whiners on my team, I don't like complaints. Now get out!" Zaraki finished the last sentence with a sharp retort, and Mayano slowly backed away before turning and fleeing with a fearful expression on her face.
We all watched her for several moments before Zaraki turned and glared at us with his one good eye. His good mood seemed to have evaporated, and I felt another chill of fear flicker through me.
"What are you waiting for?!" He snapped out irritably. "Stop wasting time and GET MOVING!" With that we all scrambled and tripped over ourselves before getting behind the ones who actually knew what they were doing.
I was soon near the front of the line next to a boy with shaggy brown hair and tan features. He ran easily, and I quickly recognized him from the soccer game. The boy then turned and gazed at me with brilliant blue eyes.
"Err, hey, what's up?" I said lamely, and the boy grinned good naturedly.
"Your Ichigo's sister aren't you?" He said, and I couldn't help but wonder if that was what people would ask me for the first few days. "I saw you at the soccer game, awesome job! I'm impressed, you're a good player. Names Ryu Kochiku."
I felt my face warm at the compliment and ducked my head, abashed by Ryu's praise. However, he soon cajoled me with his good nature into talking and pretty soon we were chattering animatedly.
Suddenly I realized that I was several minutes away from the 'finish line', and that Toshirou was slightly in front of me. Ignoring whatever Ryu had just said, I sped up and quickly surpassed Toshirou.
The pale haired boy shot me a startled look that changed to one of annoyance and he picked up the pace until he was past me. We kept increasing our speed until it was a full out sprint as we surged towards were Zaraki (how the hell did he beat us there?) was waiting. I shot past the huge man and jumped in the air, pumping my fists with childish abandon.
"Ye-es!" I yelled, and then blinked and looked around as I tried to spot my defeated opponent. "Where'd Toshirou go?" I said in bemusement, and Zaraki sent me a hard look.
"This was supposed to be a fast jog Kurosaki. What was that at the end?" He questioned, and I felt my face grow warm with embarrassment.
"Yeah Kurosaki, be a bit more careful." Came a familiar, snide voice, and I stiffened at the sight of Toshirou as he jogged calmly next to Ryu. Embarrassment flooded through and I turned away from Toshirou so as not to give him the satisfaction of seeing my flaming red cheeks.
Trying to calm myself and sully my bright red face, I unobtrusively observed our surroundings.
We all seemed to be by the ocean, near the sand dunes that made Karakura partly famous. The sand dunes were also a small tourist attraction, and I could see several dune buggies in the distance if I shaded my eyes against the glaring white sand.
"Well, now that everyone is here, I assume we're ready for our suicide runs up this here dune." Zaraki said with a grin as he pointed at the particularly fine "specimen" nearest us. I felt my knees, already tired from my impromptu race, go weak.
I was absolutely convinced by this point that Zaraki had a death wish.
A dull moan rose from the group, though Zaraki silenced it with another stony glare. He then took out the ever present clipboard and gave it a once over before calling out several names.
"Right, I want both Kurosakis, Hitsugaya, Kockiku, Nonkio and Ayako for the first 'wave'. Got it? Good, let's get started!" Zaraki instructed, and everyone called obediently stepped forward.
"Good luck." Ryu said with a friendly smile in my direction, and I nodded my head in return.
"You're going down Kurosaki." He muttered from my other side, crouched low as he prepared to spring forward and tear up the hill.
"Dream on pretty boy." I retorted, and Toshirou rolled his brilliant teal colored eyes.
"How imaginative," He returned. "I've never heard that one before-"
"Go!" Zaraki yelled, and we both set off automatically as we scrabbled and struggled up the sand hill. Making my way up to the top, I took a split second to wipe away the sweat already dripping down me before rocketing down the hill after Toshirou.
Catching up, we both spun a 360 degree turn in sync before shooting back halfway up the hill, the unsteady sand fighting us the whole way. Finally we finished by going up a quarter of the hill, and to my chagrin Toshirou took the lead at this point and finished in 'first place.'
"Nice try." He said with a smirk, and I sent him a viscous glare as I bent over and gasped. I couldn't help but feel slightly envious of all the guys, who were allowed to take off their shirts.
You may have won this time, I thought darkly to myself as I glowered into the back of the white crowned boys head. But I'll get you back, just you wait and see.
I almost fell asleep in several classes, and I actually did take a small nap during lunch. This was because I'd stayed up half the night doing homework and then plotting several possible ways to exact my revenge on Toshirou- all of which ended in failure.
"You alright?" Matsumoto asked me with a concerned look in her pale grey eyes.
"Fine, fine." I said quickly, while simultaneously stifling a yawn. I didn't want anyone (especially Toshirou) to realize how sore I felt from yesterdays practice.
"Oh, okay. Just making sure because you like you got shagged last night." Matsumoto said in an offhand manner, and both Ichigo and I gagged on our food.
"W-what?!" We both sputtered, and Matsumoto blinked her pale, almost translucent grey eyes in our direction.
"Oh my," She laughed in surprise. "Do you not know what it means to get shagged? I thought you would at least Ichigo, considering-"
"I know what it means!" Ichigo interrupted, his face turning as bright as his hair. He then made several not-so-very-subtle gestures in Yuzu and my direction.
"Oh, I never knew you were a puppeteer as well as a soccer player Ichigo!" Matsumoto exclaimed with an innocent smile, and everyone except Ichigo and Toshirou burst out laughing.
Day 2
"Drop and gimme 50!" Ikkaku yelled mockingly as we raced onto the field, and I felt slightly nervous at this, for Ikkaku seemed to be implying something and it made me nervous.
Everyone got on the field and immediately groaned. For there stood Zaraki, his normal maniacal leer plastered onto his face.
"You heard Madarame my friends," Zaraki said, looking positively cheerful at our morbid expressions. "Do fifty push-ups, then 70 curl-ups, and 100 jumping-jacks. Now get moving!"
As I dropped to the ground and began to carefully pump my arms up and down, I heard a murmur of complaints from the unconditioned high schoolers who were trying out. I blocked them out as best as possible, wrapped in my own little world, until I heard a soft, sly voice.
"Keep on pumping Karin." Ryu told me with a lazy grin, and I started before blushing at the innuendo.
"Shut it. And shouldn't you be doing this too?" I demanded, and Ryu grinned before absently flicking a strand of hair out of his sapphire colored eyes.
"Probably," He admitted cheerfully. "But I saw you here and couldn't resist saying something." We both laughed and Ryu quickly started his push-ups.
By the time we'd finished everything Zaraki had told us to do, my arms, legs and abs were aching, though otherwise I felt good, unlike some people (One poor girl passed out in the middle of her push-ups and had to be taken away).
By this time there was only 20-30 people left, and I began to wonder if Zaraki's grueling training would eliminate the competition entirely so that only the fittest survived Hell Week.
"Good job everyone; now get into the groups that you raced against in suicides and practice juggling." Zaraki decided, and I winced. Juggling had never been my strong point, and I wasn't looking forward to what Toshirou would say when he saw my shitty skills.
"Gather round," Toshirou said imperiously, and I rolled my eyes. "Let's get started. You can start the ball, Kurosaki." Toshirou told me with a malignant look in his beautiful eyes, as though he knew my one weakness.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, imagined it was Toshirou's head, and kicked it a bit harder then I intended. There was an "oof" as the ball slammed into Toshirou's stomach and sent him sprawling, and I stood there, torn between being mortified and bursting out into laughter.
"Oops?" I said weakly.
"Argh, she drives me off the wall!" I heard a voice explode the next day. Looking around the corner, I saw Toshirou and Matsumoto talking. In a fit of anger, the white crowned boy had slammed his fist into his locker.
"She's always glaring at me or saying these stupid smart-aleck comments to me. It's like she thinks she's better." Toshirou spat, and I could tell Matsumoto was struggling hard not to laugh.
"Remind you of anyone?" She asked gently, and Toshirou gave her a blank look.
"Of course not. I doubt there's anyone in the school as irritating and stuck-up as Kurosaki Karin!" Toshirou snapped, and I crept away, silently stewing with anger and hurt.
"You look glum." My brother told me at lunch, and I started before blinking.
"Ichi-nee? Do you think I'm stuck up or irritating?" I asked him, and my brothers bright brown eyes widened in surprise.
"Of course not," Was his immediate response, realizing instinctively (He calls it his 'brotherly instincts') that what I wanted was reassurance and not some sarcastic reply.
Feeling grateful, I opened my mouth to thank him, but then Rukia slid onto his other side and busied him with a kiss, so I contented myself to eating my food.
Day 3
"Get in a group with someone and starting passing. I don't want you standing still, so get moving! No cold feet, you don't stand and wait for a pass, you move for it. Now start!" Zaraki commanded, and everyone immediately congregated. For a moment I looked around wildly, unsure what to do, but then I caught sight of Ryu.
"Will you be my partner?" I asked hopefully, and he sent me a blinding white smile.
"'Course I will." He said genially, and then passed the ball before shooting off. I trapped it and flicked it back before surging into open space. Quickly growing bored with the drill, we began to talk.
"How long have you been on the team?" I asked him, and Ryu yawned.
"Since I became a sophomore." He told me, and I nodded, filing the information away.
"I see. What about... Toshirou? How long has he been on the team?" I asked, and Ryu frowned, looking suddenly irritated.
"Since he became a freshman, which is really rare ya'know. But then again, he's always been really good at sports. I also hear that he takes self defense lessons." Ryu informed me with a frown, and I got the feeling that he didn't like talking about Toshirou much. Then again, neither did I, but now I was curious.
"Self-defense lessons?" I asked, and Ryu pursed his lips as he neatly popped the ball over someone's head, right into my feet.
"Yeah, it makes since, considering the fact that his dads super rich and the guys a 'genius'." Ryu said the last part sarcastically with air quotes, and I laughed even though I felt kind of mean.
But if Toshirou was a genius, then it explained why he wasn't in any of my classes. I had the ludicrous thought of thanking him for this, but held it off by smashing the ball neatly into Ryu's waiting feet.
After that we did several more passing drills, and then finished up with dribbling exercises.
"Alright, that's enough for today," Zaraki said at least, and I resisted the urge to flop onto the ground despite the fact that I was better in shape then most.
Today was almost as bad as day one. I thought to myself with a grimace, before bringing myself to listen to whatever Zaraki had to say.
"Now that we have all the basics out of the way- dribbling, passing, running, conditioning, and all that- we're going to be finishing up the week with offense, defense, and some scrimmages to see how everyone fares. We'll probably practice shooting with offense, for those of you who are curious. Dismissed!" Zaraki called out, and left as quickly as possibly without injuring themselves.
I accidentally bumped into Toshirou, who sent me a fierce glare.
"Watch it." He snapped angrily, and I sent him a furious look, feeling slightly hurt as I remembered what he had said that morning.
"Why don't you just fuck off instead?" I snapped before pushing past the startled boy.
That night as I lay in bed, sore from the day's events, I thought about Toshirou. He felt that I was stuck-up and irritating, but then he was self-centered and obnoxious. The only reason anyone still liked him was because he had a gorgeous body, something I didn't have any qualms admitting.
What confused me, however, was why my brother was obviously friends with him. The Ichigo I knew would never put up with the way that Toshirou acted, so why did he take crap from him and still consider him a "friend".
Toshirou was an enigma that I probably would never understand, nor did I want to. He was rude, mean, and a rich brat of a genius. As far as I was concerned, there was no room for discussion, that was who he was.
Case closed.
Author Note: So was it okay? For those of you who might be wondering, this story sorta-not-really has a definite plot, but it won't get kicked off until much later. Also I'd like to thank ShikallllTema, shrimpnoodlesoup, elvira, hellbutterfly421, christycard, Hikari6007, and Domini-chan for reviewing. Ciao!
-Firefox