A/N: First off, I'm sorry for the late update. I've had piles and piles of homework to do the past few weeks that I only just got a decent sleep last night. It kind of sucks, but at least it's all over... until next week. -sigh- But I did very well in my assignments/presentation/debate, so I guess it was all worth it.
This chapter is a request from NanaGoesBlehh! It was a lot of fun to do, and I feel like I finally got the ending I was satisfied with, so I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and I also don't own the song that will be used in this chapter.
.
.
Chapter Eight: Rock Star
.
.
If you didn't look twice, you would never have noticed the few accessories in Karin's room that were genuinely hers. Sure, there were a few important mementos littering the tops of her desk space and hiding in the corners of her shelves, but nothing that came close enough to call immediate attention to. Her room was sparsely set – and it was for a reason.
First off, well, frankly put at least, the acoustics were absolutely amazing the way they were now. And that meant that no one – even including Yuzu - had the permission to rearrange any of her furniture without written consent.
Secondly, (and probably more seriously) Karin had never really been the type of person to hoard unnecessary things or junk before, so why start now?
Sure, she had agreed with Yuzu at the mall one day, it really had been a nice "duvet" - but she already had a blanket. What did she need another one with a fancier name for?
So, instead of staying behind and being pushed into another fruitless sales pitch, she had just jumped on the edge of the shopping cart and pushed herself away to the electronic section; after all, there were a killer pair of electric-green headphones in the music department she'd had her eyes on for weeks, and those she'd use every day.
Which rounded her back to her final point: Kurosaki Karin had a sparsely decorated room, because it was great for dancing.
Karin trounced around the carpeted floor of her room, swaying and swinging her head up and down with the beat of the music. The headphones she had bought yesterday hadn't only been aesthetically pleasing, but they worked really well, too. The music blared out of them at amazing decibels; it was a sound she was sure would kill her hearing one day, but tonight was a special occasion.
It was Friday night. She was decked out in nothing but her pj shorts and tank top, no one but her was home, the evaluation that had been going on all week would finally be over tomorrow, and she was completely sure she had aced it flying colours. After all, it would have been pretty hard not to considering Toushirou had been breathing down her neck the whole time to get it right.
Karin sighed; life was pretty good right now.
So, so what? I'm still a rock-star!
Karin's heart pounded in synchronization to the beat and chords. She knew this part – the air guitar section. Or, in her case, real guitar section. She grabbed it off the stand in the corner of her room and slung the red sash over her shoulder, gripping both the neck and body and positioning her hands to begin to play.
She teased the frets and plucked the strings in accordance to the rhythm, only half-decently keeping up with the real music. Eventually, long after she had found herself so immersed in the lyrics that she couldn't tell the difference between the most basic C and A cords, Karin had stopped truly playing and instead switched to air-guitar.
"And guess what? I'm having more fun, and now that we're done, I'm gonna SHOW YOU TONIGHT!"
And sure, even with the insane headphones on, she knew she sucked. Her voice cracked and whipped at the air like a gerbil on helium; not a pretty sound or sight. But she belted it out anyway, her head shaking and hips sashaying like she'd never do in public.
So, so what? I'm still a rock-star! I got my rock moves, and I don't-
"-WANT YOU TONIGHT!"
It was fantastic. It felt like she was flying. The music carried her in a high only compared to the adrenaline rush of soccer, continuously building, and building, and building, and build – oh. Oh damn.
Her body froze on point the second she caught a glimpse of the mirror. Her hands were clutched in position to pseudo-smash her guitar, and one of her shoulders was still propped up from an awkward dance move. Her hair was in a frazzled mess in her face and her mind felt fuzzy, disconnected from her body. And yet, she could still hear the music.
No no, no no, I don't want you tonight. You weren't there, I'm gonna show you tonight!
And suddenly all this had become important, because Hitsugaya Toushirou was at her window.
No no, no no, I don't want you tonight.
Karin felt so scared she swore she couldn't feel her toes anymore. Honestly, she had battled hollows what seemed like forever and longer, but this, dancing like a total idiot in front of Hitsugaya, was not okay.
She gulped and readied herself, deciding to fall back to her default setting: violence.
She spun around to her window, fists up and poised to attack, and tried to ignore the flushing feeling that had clawed it's way up the back of her neck to the tips of her ears.
"Toushirou! I swear I'm gonna-!"
But he wasn't there. Karin's hands dropped to her side. The window was closed, the curtains were drawn, and everything was where it was supposed to be – perfectly normal. She furrowed her brows.
"What the…?"
She would've bet her test marks he had been there. At her window. There was no way she had just been seeing it. But than again, he had been on her mind a lot lately, with her examination and all, so maybe she really was imagining it…?
She silently hoped so; her dancing skills weren't one of the things she was proud of.
Karin sighed and reached for her iPod, clicking off the song before its finish. It had been a long night, week, month, maybe she just needed rest. She turned to her flashing nite-light clock at her bedside and saw it read 9:30. Still pretty early, but she figured she might as well turn in now before she started to get even more weird hallucinations of her captain.
She climbed into bed and lied down - she'd hand he papers in bright and early tomorrow, that would get him off her mind.
Karin closed her eyes and prayed that wouldn't sound as unbelievable to others as it did to her.
..
.
"G'morning Toushirou," Karin announced, pulling into the office with her headphones slung around the back of her neck. "What's up?"
Hitsugaya didn't bother looking up from his work. "To the first, good morning, Kurosaki. To the second, work, as always."
Karin nodded and came over to his desk, sliding a stack of paper onto his desk. "That's cool. Hey, I finished these last night. You want them now?"
Hitsugaya looked up from his own work to the impressive pile of forms in front of him. "You finished everything?" he asked, sounding surprised but genuinely sincere. "That fast? I wan't expecting them until tomorrow at the earliest."
"Well, they were due today, weren't they?"
"Yes... but no one here ever hands anything in on time, especially you."
Karin scoffed. "Wow, nice to know how highly you think of me. And I don't slack off all the time... just sometimes."
Hitsugaya still looked unconvinced. He fingered the top few sheets and pulled some aside, quickly giving them the once-over. "Where there any problems? Anything difficult to fill in?"
"Nope. Everything's in tip-top shape."
"Even the financials? The clauses? Or the -"
"-submissions forms and signatures? Yes, Toushirou, everything is done."
"Well… good then." He pulled the mount closer to him and waved her off. "I suppose you can have the rest of the day off."
Karin stood up straighter. "What, seriously?"
"Yes."
Karin made sure to not respond for a few seconds so long as the threat of him joking was still in the air. Then, following a few seconds of being unresponsive and when she was finally sure he was serious, she cheered.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, shooting her arms out and almost tipping over a rickety pile of forms. She cringed when her hands scraped another one of the more substantial piles and sent it falling. "Dammit!" she cursed. "My bad. I swear I'll clean that up later."
Histugaya looked at the documents on the floor and sighed. "Whatever," he said, to tired to care, and grabbed a brown folder from the side of his table to hold it out to her. "Just take this on your way out and drop it off by the Fourth, clear?"
Karin still looked sheepish from the accident, but accepted the paper nevertheless; once again swearing to one day getting around to picking up the paperwork.
After Hitsugaya waved her off a second time, Karin -for the last time- apologized meekly and headed to the door. Aside from the incident, everything had been going perfectly so far; Hitsugaya didn't even seem fazed. That meant the chances that he'd actually been at her window last night went from slim to none. Karin smiled happily and hummed under her breath.
"So, so what? I'm still a rock star, I got my rock moves..."
It wasn't intentional. If he could have prevented it, he would have. But as he was too preoccupied looking through the product of Karin's new work ethic that it just... slipped out.
"...And I don't need you tonight."
A/N: I realize they're in Japan and the chances of Karin rocking out to "So What" are slim, but I feel like it's a bit of a give-and-take relationship. Oh, and to anyone who says they haven't done this in the privacy of their own rooms before, I don't believe you.
