Disclaimer: (whoopsie I've been forgetting these!) I don't own any the the Bleach characters. I only own Aimi Naoko. I wish I owned Karin or Hitsugaya but sadly that hasn't happened as of late. Onwards with the story.
Karin walked to the soccer field. She remembered when she had first met Shota. They had been so young then. Almost a century younger, ah the good old days. She had always been better than him in soccer.
She probably still was. Not that she'd be the least bit surprised.
Now she was neck and neck with Hitsugaya in soccer and she considered him a soccer genius. Well, Hitsugaya was practically a genius in everything.
It sometimes made her jealous how easily fights and things like that came to him but every time she was on the brink of being really jealous he would do something that made her forget all about her jealousy.
She remembered this one time when he had told her how high his score on the graduation exam was. He had surpassed her own score by only a little and he said that the test was so easy when she was so nervous about it.
When he saw her face's expression ever so slightly he smiled and kissed her and said that she had surpassed his skills in kidou. She felt happy at that moment. She sighed content. Hitsugaya was the guy she always dreamed about...literally.
She wished that it would be just like the good old days. Why had Shota gone bad? It was all nerve wrecking. The weeks after Shota had left, Karin had to tend to a sad and miserable Aimi. She remembered the hard times. She laughed a little. She remembered all of it. She wanted to know if she would be able to get Aimi back from the man that tore her heart. Karin, now able to go back into her memories with great detail, thought she had heard Aimi say again.
A large amount of years earlier at the Academy
"Aimi, please stop crying," Karin begged of her best friend.
Aimi sat quietly in the corner of her bedroom with her back against a pillow. She was huddled in the blankets from her bed. Her face was hidden from Karin but Karin could tell how her mind was in chaos. Karin felt hopelessly lost when she saw tears trickle down the cheeks of her face.
"Karin, please leave me alone," Aimi murmured. She was trying hard not to sniffle. She kept sucking in to keep snot from coming out of her nose.
Karin looked around the room for a tissue. It was in turmoil. The dishes weren't washed or dried. The bed was unmade and practically stripped of all of its sheets and blankets. There were remains of pillows that made had obviously been torn by
She couldn't see one so she went into the bathroom. This room wasn't much better either. The whole floor was a mess. The water from the tub was running. Luckily there was a drain right next to the tub and saw how even that was flooding. Karin walked to the toilet, trying to carefully avoid the massive puddles of water. She pulled some of the toilet paper from the toilet dispenser. She grabbed a couple of them and then made her way back to Aimi.
She handed her the toilet paper. Aimi took it gently and then blew her nose, hard. Karin sat down on the floor next to her. She made a little room so she could lean against some of the pillow too. Her room was really cold. Karin didn't want to complain. She just tucked herself under the blanket with Aimi.
"It'll be okay, Aimi," Karin told her encouragingly. "We'll never see him again. He doesn't deserve to see you."
Aimi sniffled, blowing her noise in the second piece of toilet paper. She crinkled it up and threw it in the direction of the overflowing garbage can. She missed but she obviously didn't care. She just put her head on Karin's shoulder and cried. This time the tears weren't little streams but numerous Amazon Rivers coming out of Aimi's eyes.
Karin put her arm around Aimi and hugged her close. Aimi sputtered.
"Y-you don't know that," Aimi said through tears. "H-he might come back!" She started to weep again.
Karin shook Aimi off of her shoulder and turned her head so that Aimi could see Karin's whole looked into her best friend's eyes.
"If he ever comes back and hurts you, I will kill him," Karin promised. "I swear it on my life." She held out her pinky. "I pinky swear."
Aimi gave a sad laugh (it sounded like she was hiccuping) and hugged her best friend. She blubbered for a second and the tears slowly dwindled down and ceased all together.
She whispered so softly that if Karin had been a step away from Aimi she would have never heard it. "I can't believe I loved the wrong guy...again."
Karin looked at Aimi, a bit confused. She decided to dismiss it. Karin had only loved one guy. She was lucky that she found her soul mate so early. She had heard from reading books and stuff that girls normally have lots and lots of boyfriends.
Aimi probably had lots and lots of boyfriends. She was beautiful and energetic. Plus she could be shy and she's a very modest and kind person. She was not the kind of person to lie or even hurt anyone. The fact that she had stood up against Shota made Karin realize that the situation was in dire need of some ass kicking.
Karin stopped her train of thought. She had to work on that. She would have to train her mind to get off of the track of memories that appeared out of nowhere.
She ran her hand through Aimi's hair. Aimi leaned her hand against Karin's shoulder again.
"Are you done thinking, Karin?"
Karin clicked out of her memory train. Karin turned to see Shota. Bonded by kidou, Aimi looked helplessly at Karin. Aimi had cuts on her face. Obviously, Shota had tortured a bit. There was a wound on her shoulder that reached across to her belly. It was torn so much that it revealed part of her side. Karin filled up with rage.
"I'm sorry," Aimi told Karin telepathically. "He told me that he wanted to be able to become good again. I'm so stupid to have believed him."
Karin smiled sympathetically. "I understand," she told her friend. She lifted her head to look at Shota.
"What do you want from us?" Karin asked.
Shota gave an exaggerated sigh. "You still don't get it do you?" he asked. He sat down in the grass. "You know exactly what I want."
Karin thought about it for a moment. "Power?"
"No."
"Uh...control over Seireitei?"
"No!"
"Be accepted back into the Academy?"
"NO!"
"Seeing your sister again?"
A vein popped out on Shota's forehead. "How about I tell you what I want?"
Karin smiled. "Sounds good!" She loved to annoy him, regardless that he was the enemy this time or not.
Shota was getting really annoyed at this point.
"I want you."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"But...why?"
Aimi had been using all of her spirit power in order to break the kidou. At this point she was able to. She darted back to Karin when she was able to break free.
"He loves you, that's why," Aimi pointed out. Karin shook her head.
"That's not possible," Karin responded. "I only knew him for a year! How could he get this worked up over me wanting to be with Hitsugaya?"
"He's unworthy of you!" Shota yelled.
"Oh and you are?" Karin asked Shota.
"I may not be worthy but I would treat you better."
Karin was about to kick him in the balls at this point. "You almost kill my best friend and you think you would treat me better?" she said, her hands turning into fists.
This man was unbelievable.
"This is so romantic!" Aimi said inspite of herself.
"Aimi!" Karin exclaimed. "Just whose side are you on?"
Aimi blushed. "Whoops," she said. "Sorry."
"I guess I have no choice," Shota said and he pulled out his Zanpakutou. "Slice, Devil's Snake."
His sword turned into a long whip with a snake's head on the end. She had only seen this once before, decades ago. It still freaked her out.
She sighed. "I guess I'll have to use mine too. Slash, Inbijiburu." (Inbijiburu means 'invisible')
The air around Karin swished and swooshed. Her hair and short kimono flapped in the wind. She was glad that she was wearing shorts underneath.
That would have been very embarrassing. She didn't need the evil guy to see her underwear. Especially since he was in love with her. No need for sexual tension.
Her sword disappeared to the hilt. The weather was under her command. She knew that. She had never even seen the form of her Zanpakutou. All she had heard was a voice that said its name.
"Lightning Crash Down from the Heavens," Karin commanded.
A large flash of electrical power surged down on Shota. He blocked it easily with his Zanpakutou.
"Oh? Your power is that strong?" he asked mockingly.
Karin cursed at him. It was too vile a curse that I don't think I should put it in this story.
"Now, now," Shota said, "no need for the horrible language."
Karin smiled. "For you, there isn't a possible limit."
Shota frowned and used shunpo to land directly in front of Karin.
"Knew you would do that," Karin whispered and stabbed him with her Zanpakutou, in the gut. Blood dripped onto the floor below them. It fell into quite a neat puddle.
Karin smiled. "You haven't improved at all, Shota," she smirked.
Shota opened his mouth to say something in reply when both he and Karin both felt a strong reiatsu. It was so strong, it was almost ridiculous. Karin and Aimi turned their heads to the where the reiatsu was coming from.
Shota stiffened and quickly pulled the sword out of his gut. He kneeled, blood dripping from his wound.
Karin took this opportunity to stab him in the back. She would deal with the insane reiatsu later. She stabbed him through the heart. He wouldn't survive that. He wouldn't hurt anybody anymore. She wouldn't allow him. As he fell, a hand reached out and grabbed his side.
Karin stared in amazement. She had seen Shota and then nothing. She turned to see a man holding up Shota on his shoulder. He looked like he could be the devil himself. The man looked at Shota then at Aimi. He vanished again and grabbed Aimi by the hair. Aimi screamed in protest.
The man looked at Karin and frowned. "You are of no use to me," he muttered and disappeared again.
Karin still held her Zanpakutou with Shota's blood on it. Aimi had just been kidnapped and all she could have done was stand there with her mouth open like an absolute idiot.
"Damn, they're gone!"
Karin turned to see Hitsugaya looking around the scene. Karin sighed. She wiped the blood off of her Zanpakutou as it returned to her normal katana sword on her sleeve. She quickly sheathed it. She then turned to Hitsugaya.
"A strange man took Aimi," she told him with great sorrow.
Hitsugaya wrapped an arm around her. He knew how much she loved Aimi. When Hitsugaya had seen how strongly bonded the two were, he was jealous of the girl at first.
She had become like a sister to Karin in just a short amount of time. Yet, Hitsugaya knew that if she was that important to Karin, Aimi should be that important to him as well.
Karin started to cry. She had promised herself after the death of her mom that she would be strong and never cry again. She just couldn't help herself. Aimi was her best friend and like a sister. She couldn't believe that the person that she cared about with about the same amount of love as Hitsugaya was taken away from her.
Hitsugaya calmly held her. He was surprised that she was crying in his company but he understood. If Hinamori, Matsumoto, or Granny ever had died, he would cry too. He bet that Karin would be there for him to hold him as well.
He hugged her close as she cried on him. The air grew windy and it even started to rain. He knew that Karin's despair was causing this. She did not have know that she was the one that was changing the weather.
She thought that it was all because of horrible timing. Hitsugaya gently pulled back her hair and lifted her chin to look at her face. He gently kissed away her tears. He noticed how her tears tasted.
They were salty but did not have an unpleasant taste. Sh smiled weakly before more tears streamed slowly down her face. What was she going to do? She knew she needed to find Aimi, but how? She needs her best friend right now to find her best friend.
"Where is the Princess?"
Hitsugaya and Karin turned to see thin but lean man staring at them with his arms crossed across his chest, he had a crown tattooed on his left arm. His hair was a chestnut brown and his eyes were a light green. He was glaring angrily at Hitsugaya and Karin. Hitsugaya pulled out his sword as a natural instinct.
The man looked none too surprise to see this. "I wouldn't do that," he murmured. He appeared next to Karin, holding his sword against her throat. Karin was use to shunpo but this man was much faster than that. Karin didn't even see her coming. He was no ordinary shinigami. Karin pulled the spare knife she kept in her back pocket and stuck it to where his liver is. He lowered his sword slowly while Karin turned around with the knife still in place.
Hitsugaya even looked surprise and shocked but he quickly made his face relax and go blank. He recognized that seal.
The Royal Guard
"What do you mean that Aimi is the heir to the Spirit King's throne?" Karin screamed.
Yamamoto frowned. "What else do I mean, lieutenant?" he answered the question with a question.
Karin was so confused. The excited and klutzy Aimi was a princess. That meant she is the daughter of the current Spirit King. No wonder she kept her head down in a hoodie when she was practicing for exams.
"Why would royalty allow their heir to the throne then why did the king allow her to be in the Academy and become a Shinigami?" Karin demanded to know.
Yamamoto was becoming sick of Karin's questioning behavior. She needed to learn her place. Yamamoto was about to form to cast a binding spell on her when another person bound her in the Six Rods Prison of Light.
Hitsugaya and Karin both turned to see who did it. Karin was going to beat them up. She paused on the thought when she saw it was Byakuya.
"Captain Byakuya!" Karin said and started to struggle against the kidou.
"I wouldn't do that, Lieutenant Kurosaki," Byakuya said frowning. "It could cause all of your bones to break and then you wouldn't be able to save the Princess."
Yamamoto frowned. "What are you talking about, Byakuya?" he asked. "She's not saving anyone."
Byakuya sighed. "On the contrary," he stated. "while you were talking to Hitsugaya and Kurosaki, the Royal Guard informed all the noble houses that they needed people who were close to Aimi to help search for her. They would know her reiatsu the best. Since Lieutenant Kurosaki has been inseparable from Lieutenant Naoko since they were in the Academy. It is only logical that she goes. We expect Hitsugaya to stay here in case he senses her reiatsu here. You never know, they might come back."
Hitsugaya took a step towards where the bounded Karin lay on her knees. "What do you mean I am to stay here?" he asked. "I have to go protect Karin!"
Yamamoto glared at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya closed his both. He crossed his arms across his chest. He was not happy with this plan. Who knew what would happen to Karin when she left for the mission.
He wasn't about to let her go off without him. Byakuya let Karin out of the kidou under the orders of Yamamoto. He looked rather displeased to do this. Hitsugaya smiled. She was the sister of the only man who had beaten Byakuya when he used his Bankai. Hitsugaya hoped that soon Karin would beat him too. On friendly grounds though.
Yamamoto got up from his seat and placed his cane on the floor, making a loud bang. Karin and Hitsugaya looked at the Captain-Commander.
"Lieutenant Kurosaki, you will leave with one of the Royal Guard tomorrow morning. Be prepared."Yamamoto banged his wooden crane again and then headed out of the room. She expected he was going back to his quarters.
Karin and Hitsugaya walked back to Karin's quarters after saying bye to Byakuya. He just frowned at them and left.
"One of these days, I'll make him say something interesting!" Karin thought.
Karin opened the door to her quarters.
"G'night," Hitsugaya said and turned to leave.
Karin grabbed his arm. He turned to see her head lowered. "Please stay here tonight," she asked quietly.
She let go of his arm and walked into the room. Hitsugaya followed. He looked around. It had been a while since he had come in here. Karin walked to the bed and looked at the photo that she had packed on that day of her graduation. She stared at it. That was in the good old times when everyone was happy. Or at least acted happy.
Hitsugaya sat on the bed. He looked at the photo too. Karin sat on the bed as well after her legs grew tired of constantly standing and drew the covers around her. She sat Indian style and wouldn't stop staring at the photo. Hitsugaya turned to look at Karin. He was going to miss her. He wondered how long it would take for her to come back again.
Hitsugaya looked out the window. It was nearing midnight. She should get some sleep before she goes on such a big mission. He turned his gaze on her and started to open his mouth to say something. When he saw her sad gaze on the picture, he closed his mouth again. He knew that tomorrow, she would be a machine in search of Lieutenant Aimi...no. The Princess.
Karin turned to smile at Hitsugaya. She could always tell whenever he was looking at her intently. She kissed him with a little tear falling down her cheek. Before they could start another river she looked at the photo. Boy did it bring back memories.
Three Years Ago
"All of you group together now!" Matsumoto said happily.
Hitsugaya stood against a tree in the woods. He was in his regular black kimono without the haori on. Karin had begged him to leave it at his quarters. The two of them were always being stared at whenever he wore it.
If he didn't wear it they would just be mistaken for two people who were so much in love. They never thought about how weird it was for a captain to be dating a student at the Academy. It was actually thought of as very wrong.
Matsumoto flipped the camera over and over. "How do you take the picture?" she asked.
Shota, being the only one who remembered all about the real world and its technology moved from Aimi's side to look at the camera. He started to explain to Matsumoto how to click a button in order to take a picture.
"Okay, gather round!" Matsumoto ordered. "Captain put your arm around Karin's waist. Don't look so shy about it, you two have already gotten closer than that. If you take our you Zanpakutou, Captain, then you wouldn't be able to take a good picture. Aimi, that is a really cute pose. How about you wink while doing the peace sign? Good, good. Shota, get closer to Aimi. Stop trying to keep such a wide bearing from her. Shota, don't look at Karin and Captain. Yes that's right smile like that. Don't look like you're about to die. Okay, everybody! Cheese!"
Karin let the memories stop. The abruptly did with some effort. She laughed a little. There was the small blur on the right hand corner of the picture where Matsumoto had covered up the picture a little with her finger. The whole group was sad about it when the picture finally got developed. Matsumoto simply sighed and said that it was their fault for putting her in charge of taking the picture.
"I don't take the pictures. I make them...beautiful," Matsumoto said, grinning.
It was really funny later because in Soul Society, they didn't have printers. Matsumoto had no idea what to do with the camera. When Aimi first went on her first mission in the real world, she went to the nearest Kodak (or any other photography development) shop and printed out the picture. By then Shota had left. He never got to see the messed up picture.
Hitsugaya put his hand under her chin, making her lose her train of thought. He gently turned her face to face his. He kissed her and then touched her sapphire necklace. She hadn't stopped wearing it since the day of the graduation. He had told her that day that he liked how it looked on her. She had turned red and wanted to wear it everyday, just for him.
It was now or never while she looked so beautiful and sad. He pushed back one of the incredibly long locks of her hair from her face. She had grown it long just for him. He had told her how she looked more mature when it was longer. Her hair had grown curly, not as curly as Matsumoto's, but in delicate waves. Karin had never changed the way she looked since Hitsugaya had said how nice it looked on her. If he ever said that a certain Shinigami uniform looked on her, she would never take it off. This is why Hitsugaya always stays away from the word 'like' around Karin. (just in case you were wondering! :P)
"Karin?" Hitsugaya asked. He leaned in towards her. She held perfectly still and watched as he slowly closed his eyes. Then he muttered the words that she had been waiting a long time to hear.
When he kissed her, he could feel her head nod up and down in a signified 'yes'. He pushed her against the bed gently. He never had felt happier than to feel the nod of her head.
The words were:
"Kurosaki, would you marry me?"
