"Karin-chan!" Yuzu cried, bursting into Karin's room where she had been sulking for the past 24 hours. "They're beautiful! Who are they from?" Karin turned to her twin and stared at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she groaned. Yuzu grinned.

"The flowers, Karin-chan!" she chanted. "Have you really not seen them?"

"Flowers?" Karin asked confused. Who in their right mind would send Karin flowers? Reluctantly, she extracted herself off her bed and followed Yuzu downstairs. Her jaw dropped. The entire living room was filled, floor to ceiling and wall to wall with a floral explosion. It looked like a regular greenhouse.

"What the heck?" she cursed. "What's going on?"

"There's a note here!" Yuzu called from behind an oversized begonia. Karin sidestepped a sunflower and snatched the letter from her, ripping it open unceremoniously. It read,

"I know you don't like flowers, but I do know you know what they mean. Please don't throw these in my face, they might hurt." It was unsigned.

ooooooooooooooooooo

The flowers were the first in a series of gifts Karin received over the next week. The following day, a box the size of a refrigerator arrived containing a lifetime supply of Reese's. Two days later, a delivery man came to the door holding a package marked, "hand delivery only". Inside was a soccer ball signed by none other than Nakamura Shunsuke and six front row tickets to the next game. But nothing compared to the letter she received in the mail at the end of the week.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Everyone Hitsugaya passed stepped out of the way and bowed their heads in acknowledgement as he made his way down the hall of Seireitei Inc. After arranging for the flowers and Reese's to be shipped and sending a small fortune to Nakamura Shunsuke in exchange for an autographed soccer ball, Hitsugaya had spent almost all of his time in the office with Jyuushiro and Kyouraku doing paperwork and going over old files. So he hadn't yet had the chance to do what he really wanted to do. Finally, he had been given a break and he stole the opportunity to find Yoruichi.

Luckily, she was exactly where Hitsugaya expected her to be; the pilot's lounge, where all the test pilots relaxed and regrouped between flights, swapping stories and tips. At the moment, she was sitting at the table eating from a towering stack of food and reprimanding a man twice her size on his landing form.

"It's all about grace," she instructed, waving a chopstick in his face. "You need to land like an eagle. You land like a chicken."

"But," the man retorted, "chickens don't fly." Yoruichi slurped up a noodle and smiled satisfactorily.

"Exactly. Ah, Hitsugaya bocchan!" she exclaimed, spotting Hitsugaya as he entered the lounge. "Long time no see! It appears you've grown a bit."

"Yoruichi-san," Hitsugaya said, "I need to talk to you about the new test pilot applicants."

"Always right down to business aren't you?" Yoruichi said with a smile, downing her drink and shooing the man away like she was swatting at a slightly pesky fly. He scampered up like a well trained dog and Hitsugaya took his seat.

As Seireitei Inc.'s chief test pilot, every new recruit had to pass Yoruichi's rigorous screening process. Test pilot spots were highly coveted and extremely elite, and were therefore reserved for a very select handful of individuals.

"So," Yoruichi began, leaning on her elbow. "What's this about the new applicants?"

"Have you selected any new recruits for this year yet?" Hitsugaya asked. Yoruichi shook her head.

"I eliminated a bunch who were doffers and a few who were just idiots. One got cut because he showed up drunk one day and another crashed the flight simulator. I mean crashed. Smashed to bits. I didn't even realize that was possible. So he's out. The rest look promising enough, but there's no way I'll take them all. One or two are more than enough and I've still got ten on my list right now. But I'll weed them out soon enough. Just give me another couple of days or so."

"Is Kurosaki Karin still on your list by any chance?" Hitsugaya asked as casually as he could. Yoruichi eyed him curiously.

"You got an interest in that girl bocchan?" she asked slyly. Hitsugaya didn't reply and Yoruichi shot him a knowing smile.

"Alright, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. And yes, she is on my list. She's one of the best in fact. Very focused when she wants to be, but still knows how to have a good laugh. She's got a serious attitude that I can really respect and appreciate, and that's really important when I'm training someone. She's got a fighter's spirit. I think she would make an excellent pilot." Hitsugaya breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe with visit was unnecessary after all.

"But," Yoruichi continued. "I don't think I'm going to be able to take her." Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed and he sat up a little straighter.

"Why?" he asked darkly. Yoruichi noticed the change that came over him, but while it didn't intimidate her, it showed her how serious he was. She sighed.

"She has no connections to Seireitei Inc., and that's usually important for test pilots. She does live in Karakura, but her father's not an employee. Several of the other applicants have parents who are test pilots. They spent their childhood soaring over the countryside in a jet. They learned to fly before they could walk. Your Kurosaki girl, unfortunately, has never sat in a cockpit in her life.

"Yes she has," Hitsugaya mumbled under his breath, but he didn't explain. Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.

"Look," he said with authority. "It may be true that Kurosaki Isshin is not employed by Seireitei Inc., but it is not true that Karin has no connection to this company. She is my friend, and as such, her connection is more valuable than anyone else's. If experience is her only problem, then I personally volunteer to train her until she can pass muster." Yoruichi was impressed to say the least. Although Hitsugaya's face was impassive, there was a fire in his eyes she had never seen before. It was certainly more emotion than she ever expected him to display.

"This is really important to you, isn't it bocchan?" she noted. Hitsugaya looked away. Responding was unnecessary.

"Alright," Yoruichi said. "I'll see what I can do." Hitsugaya thanked her and left the lounge feeling slightly awkward. He shouldn't have done what he just did, but he needed to do something for Karin that was more than sending her her favorite chocolate and a soccer ball. This was a meaningful gift and he hoped more than anything that it helped to get through to her.

ooooooooooooooooooo

"Congratulations!" Kanji cheered, slapping Karin on the back. She was staring at her letter from Yoruichi with a look of complete shock. She hadn't spoken for several minutes.

"This is so exciting!" Kanji cried, jumping around buoyantly. "You're a test pilot! Come on, we've got to go celebrate!"

"It's a mistake," Karin said, and the fury in her voice was apparent.

"What do you mean?" Kanji chided. "It's your name on the paper. You did it! You made the cut!" Karin shook her head.

"No. I didn't do it. Someone did it for me." Kanji rolled his eyes.

"You're really getting paranoid, you know that? Why can't you just accept your victory?" Karin glared at him.

"I'm perfectly capable of admitting when I do something well," she retorted. "And I'm also capable of admitting when I don't. I was not the most qualified candidate. There were at least five other people there who should have been offered the job before me. He did this." And without explaining what she meant, Karin left Kanji behind and ran all the way to the Hitsugaya mansion.

"Who may I presume is calling?" asked the guard at the front gate. Karin didn't have the patience for this.

"I'm Kurosaki Karin, don't you remember me?" she yelled. "Or has it been so long that you've forgotten."

"Oh, Kurosaki-sama!" the guard exclaimed. "Hitsugaya-sama is expecting you."

"I'm sure he is," Karin growled. The guard opened the gate and Karin traced the familiar path to Hitsugaya's room, not even bothering to nod at the butler and startling a maid in a way only Zaraki was able to do as she stormed down the hallway.

"Open up!" she bellowed, pounding on the door. "I know you're in there!" Ok, really, she had no idea where he was, but it hardly mattered at the moment as long as she could yell at something that belonged to him.

The door opened.

"Kar…" Hitsugaya started, but he didn't get a chance to finish.

POW! Karin's punch was powerful enough to force him to stumble backwards. Before he could recover, she sent another one flying into his gut, knocking him over completely.

"You stupid little twerp!" she hollered, towering over him from his spot on the floor. "You still think you can buy me off, don't you?" Hitsugaya glanced up at her, trying to ignore the horrendous pain around his eye and intestines.

"What do you mean, buy you off?" he asked bravely, still in his submissive position at her feet. "When have I ever tried to buy you off?" Karin laughed, but it wasn't her usual joyful laugh. This one was deadly and full of malice.

"Flowers. Reese's. That soccer ball. The game tickets. And this!" she shouted, waving the letter from Yoruichi in his face. "I know you're responsible for all this and I don't appreciate it. Did you ever once think that I loved you for your money or influence?" Hitsugaya was taken aback.

"No!" he replied earnestly. "That's one of the things I loved about you so much…"

"Than what makes you think I'll come back to you if you buy me some expensive gifts and get me a job. I want your time Toushiro. I want you."

"I…" Hitsugaya stuttered. "I just wanted to show you I cared…" Karin laughed derisively.

"Cared?! Oh you cared alright. Cared enough to leave me to do that presentation by myself. Cared enough to kiss me than abandon me for six years without a single word! Cared enough to…"

"Hold on!" Hitsugaya interrupted, jumping to his feet. "What do you mean, 'without a single word?' I wrote to you every week! Every single week I was gone, without fail. Sometimes more. Ask Matsumoto, she delivered my letters for me. Don't tell me you never got them?!" Karin's anger abated somewhat as she looked at the passion on Hitsugaya's face.

"You really wrote to me every week?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course I did!" he insisted angrily. "Did you really think I would just forget about you the second I left town?" For once, Karin was speechless.

"How is it possible that I didn't get a single one?" she asked when she found her voice.

"I don't know," Hitsugaya replied honestly. "But I really hope no one else was getting them. They were rather…personal." Hitsugaya blushed slightly and Karin smiled. Hitsugaya found himself relax slightly. He took a step towards her.

"I'm still mad at you," she reminded him.

"I know," Hitsugaya replied, taking another step towards her.

"And I'm still not happy that you pulled strings to get me the test pilot job," she said, starting to feel nervous and excited.

"I know," Hitsugaya repeated, leaning forward slightly.

"And Reese's aren't my favorite candy anymore," she said, starting to lose control. Hitsugaya's face was so close to hers.

"I'll keep that in mind," he whispered as he closed the gap between them.

Congrats to ShikallllTema, The Dragon Hollow Vaizard, and Kurai-Gaara who guessed that Karin never got her letters. But why she never got her letters is something you'll have to wait to find out (am I too mean? Don't worry, you'll find out really soon, I promise).