Alright, another installment of Breaking the Undesirable Cycle is here. I hope you guys like it. I really excited for what's to come and hope that you would as well.

-sorrowXdarkness

Chapter 14: The Push

oooOOOooo

Knock Knock

"Come in. The door is open."

Toshiro heard the voice that penetrated the wooden doors. His hand tightened around the handle as he took in a deep breath before pulling. When he entered, he was greeted by the man sitting down, calmly drinking his herbal tea. The man smiled at him affectionately as he gestured Toshiro to take a seat across from him and share a drink together. Toshiro nodded in accordance as he took a seat on the mat before pouring himself a cup of the hot liquid. The room was simple yet elegant as behind the man bared the family crest beautifully written by a famous calligraphist. Aside from that, the floors were series of tatami mats that suited the man's tastes. The mist from the cup traveled across the room before disappearing and still, nothing else was said. Once everything was settled, the conversation could begin; and it did.

"Uncle…" Began Toshiro when he placed his cup down. By then, he already had taken a sip of the tea that his adopted father most certainly enjoy before expressing a dissatisfaction on his face. "I'm sure you already received the message." Toshiro stated.

His uncle, or rather adopted father let out a deep sigh before closing his eyes. His heart rate was slightly elevated as he deepened his breathing for the sake of slowing it down. "That I did. This is something that was completely decided for you by your grandmother with the purest of intentions."

Toshiro wasn't convinced as he stood up. "Uncle-"

"Please, call me dad." His adopted father urged. Toshiro didn't pay mind to it as he continued. Despite the number of years, Toshiro could not refer to his adopted father as 'his father'. Jushiro knew the difficulty it was for Toshiro, especially when he was a child when it happened. Still, he was patient along with his wife as the wait for the day when Toshiro would call them 'his parents' continued.

"She and the rest of the elders are hardly in any position to push forward such a movement. She doesn't care about how I feel, all she cares about is the stability and security of this household."

"You mean our household…" His uncle commented before taking a sip more of his tea.

"I'M NOT DOING IT!" Toshiro said, slamming on the table before storming out of the office. His cup miraculously did not spill, only wobbled for returning to its stationary position. Just as he opened the doors, his uncle spoke out.

"Toshiro! When I said your grandmother, I didn't mean my mother."

His uncle's words caused a surprise look on his face before he closed the doors. Jushiro placed his cup down and dropping his head slightly. That conversation could have gone a lot better, he thought. Still, perhaps this was what Toshiro needed; a push.

oooOOOooo

That night, Toshiro pondered to himself about what was to come. He wondered why his grandma would suggest such a thing to the elders. His grandma would never hold any form of expectations of him. Did something change while he was away. Truth to be told, he hadn't been visiting her for a while now. Ever since he was adopted to the Ukitake household, his frequent visits to Osaka turned from weekly to yearly. He couldn't believe it has been 2 years. It was definitely time for a visit.

Maybe then, he would find out the reason behind his grandma's idea. The more he thought about it, the more he remembered of his past involving his grandma.

One of them took place in late autumn, when his parents left him with his grandma to take care of some business. His grandma recently lost her husband and his parents figured that Toshiro's presence may help her.

"Grandma, do you miss grandpa?"

"Of course I do…"

Toshiro was curious since his grandma didn't seem to be too depressed as his parents was making her out to be. So far, she seemed to be the same since his last visit a few months back, when grandpa was still alive. They would usually sit in the back as they watch the scene before them. The house his grandma lived was something that was built when she was a little girl. She was the one that showed Toshiro the wonderful scene that existed behind the old Japanese style home. It was something they shared, while eating a bowl of candied beans.

"Toshiro, would you like to stare at the sky tonight?" His grandma questioned, even though she knew the answer. They always went outside to watch the sky together.

"Yes grandma…did you make the candied beans?" He asked.

She smiled at him before she went to the kitchen. She returned with a bowl of her homemade candied beans. "Are you ready?"

Toshiro laughed while he ran around his grandma as they made their way outside. Both of them were seated on the wooden floor, with their legs dangling on the edge.

"Grandma…"

"Yes Toshiro?"

"I really like this…"

"Me too…" It may have been a coincidence that a shooting star happened to pass by, but then again, it made the scene before them the more memorable.

"I should visit her soon." He decided before falling asleep. The moonlight shined over his bed as the night continued. It made his body lit up by the slight reflection against his figure, as if he was someone mystical.

oooOOOooo

When Yuzu woke up that day, she was massively embarrassed when she noticed she was still wearing Toshiro's sweater. It didn't occur to her until she walked past by a mirror that the red sweater was still covering her body. Her sister was still asleep which made sense as Yuzu would usually be the first to awaken.

She headed to the bathroom though not before taking off the sweater. She told herself that she would take good care of it as she brushed her teeth. From there, she prepared herself for the day before returning to her room. Folding up the sweater, she hid it under her pillow for the time being. If her sister knew she slept the whole night in his sweater, what would she think of her? It is better to keep it a secret, Yuzu thought before leaving. Just as she left the room, a thought occurred to her.

I'm not doing anything wrong…right?

oooOOOooo

That same morning, a girl slid the door of her uncle's candy shop opened. Her parents felt that she needed a change of scenery as she was caught up with fighting with her classmates nonstop. None of the family therapy sessions made any breakthrough as her temper only had gotten worse. With a plea from her mother, her uncle accepted in taking the girl in for a few weeks to see how well she would fare.

Naturally she would make his life a living hell, or at least she tried to. Today would mark the fourth day since she began living with him. In the first day, she started trashing the place which ended up making her uncle's assistant angry. He was a tall and muscular man with a rather imitating expression. What made it worse was his eyeglasses that prevent her from seeing his true eyes. No matter what rebellious action she did, it ended up with her paying the price. It was entirely different as her parents would only make her go to her room or go the day without any television for a few weeks.

She tried to take a different approach by targeting her uncle. She tried to get him angry by messing up his precious shop or even taking his 'beloved hat'. When nothing worked, she went with brute force. Big mistake. None of her punches made their way to his face. Each one was blocked or evaded with ease which only made her more frustrated than she originally began. It wasn't until the end of the third day she had a change in heart.

She asked him to hold a few things on each hands and he did without asking any question. The moment when she felt he was unable to move, she pulled back her arm and left go as she launched her fist. Her uncle smiled as his head moved away from the direction of her punch. No surprise there! What did surprise her was the sudden return of his head toward the trajectory of her fist. It made contact as his body was sent back as he dropped everything on the ground.

It only made her more frustrated as she began cleaning her mess. With a broom and pan, she started sweeping on her own. Her uncle simply smiled as he reached out and helped her. At least he tried to as she gestured him to stop.

She told him no, that it was her punishment. That how the night ended for them both, that and pizza for dinner.

"Hiyore! Be sure to return before dinner!" Shouted her uncle.

"Ok!" She said as she left. She might as well get 'acquainted' with her surroundings, right? Although it was late fall, she wore her sandals as she preferred them over shoes. Still, she made sure to wear both her track shirt and track pants as she walked her pace through the city. She played at the local arcade and checked out the mall before going to the park. Hopefully there was someone playing something fun that she could join in.

oooOOOooo

Rukia invited the girls to go to the mall to buy new swimsuits. Both Rukia and Orihime already have theirs but felt it would be better to go together to pick out something for Tatsuki, Karin and Yuzu. As planned, they all met up by the grand water fountain inside the mall before walking around. Everyone was excited for the day though Karin wasn't sure. She normally wore a shirt over her bikini, but then part of her wanted to show a certain someone, just how great of a body she had. The idea of walking in the beach like that bothered her because she was never all that conscious about her body, until only recently.

It happened when she was playing with Toshiro in the weekend. Soccer was the name of the sport as they began kicking it to each other until Karin decided to mess around with Toshiro a bit. When the ball came back to her, she kicked the ball rather hard as it left the ground. Somehow Toshiro figured she would do that and was already prepared in the air. With a back flip in the air, he kicked the ball back with a force strong enough to make the wind push toward her. The ball was aiming at her face. She could have dodged the ball; then again, it wasn't really her style. Instead, she took the ball head on as she head-butted the ball down to the ground.

Toshiro wasn't expecting that as he quickly made his way to her. She smiled to herself as she successfully stopped the ball, but became surprised when Toshiro leaned forward and push the hair covering her forehead over her head. With a slight touch with his fingers, Karin winced.

"Idiot, you were supposed to dodge that." He was still eyeing over the injury. Karin swatted his hand away from her face.

"Hey, I'm not going to let any ball pass me on purpose. Part of soccer is protecting the goalie from any shots so a blow to the head is nothing." She reasoned as he shook his head.

"I forget who I'm dealing with…you're bleeding a bit." Then he stood up and ran back to the sidelines, though not before telling her to stay put. He didn't give her any time to protest as he left. Karin was confused by his sudden departure until he came with his backpack. Inside, he had a first-aid kit that he took out.

"Toshiro, you don't have to do that." Karin said, knowing what was about to come. Her family literally owned a medical clinic so they have an extensive amount of medical equipment. "I can patch myself up back home." She insisted though failed to steer Toshiro's hand from her forehead.

"Just don't move…" He said as he took out a pad. It was rubbing alcohol as he swabbed the moist pad around her forehead. Karin clenched her teeth, not wanting to let out a cry of pain. Afterward, he placed a bandage cover her forehead which was a soft pad with tape that the kit provided. "You should be more conscious about your body. You don't want a scar like mine right?" Toshiro commented though quickly regretted it when the information was processed in her mind.

"Scar? You have a scar Toshiro? Where?"

Oh no, thought Toshiro as Karin stood up and walked around Toshiro. When he finished putting his kit away, he stood as well. "Let's stop there for today."

"Hey, you still haven't told me where your scar is?" Karin said, slightly annoyed. Maybe it was small, thought Karin as she noticed nothing strange.

"That's not important. Just forget I ever mentioned it." He said while adjusting his shirt. This simple gestured reminded Karin of a day when they were 'chilling' in a pool. Toshiro insisted to wear a shirt in the pool and refused to take it off. Thinking back, she had the perfect chance to look at his bare chest if it wasn't for her brother interrupting them at a bad time. The most she could remember seeing was his bare sides where she had her hands when pulling his shirt off.

As Toshiro was about to leave, Karin took hold of his wrist. "Wait!" Toshiro stopped as Karin tightened her grip.

"We should really get your head check out by your dad." Toshiro insisted without turning around. Karin looked at the grass below his feet.

"Before that, could you please show me your chest Toshiro." As she predicted, she felt a slight shudder from where their limbs connected. It was a sensitive topic for Toshiro but Karin dared not to take back her words.

"Kar-" "So I was right. That's where it is…"

Toshiro finally turned around but when he did, he was pushed back. The force alone was enough to force him to take a step back, but what really surprised him was the embraced she gave as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She was never this close and comforting since they became friends. Her face was literally touching his though she had her eyes closed. Naturally, his heart rate rose almost exponentially until he heard her voice.

"You don't have to show it to me now. I'll wait until you're ready."

It didn't occur to her until after he left, but when she embraced him, she was pressing her body to him. That idea alone made her brain melt as she started to bang her head on the counter after having him patched it up for her. It ended with her father re-patching her up and giving her aspirin for her headache.

It was clear to her that she was more than simply interested with Toshiro. She liked Toshiro which was why she agreed to go with the girls to buy new swimsuits. The only real downside to this was that she had to cancel on Toshiro and her friends. Knowing Rukia and the rest of them, this would take until the rest of the day. After 20 minutes of walking inside the mall, they finally entered a store.

oooOOOooo

Toshiro decided to play without Karin. He knew that she was with the rest of the girls for some shopping. Even so, he needed something to distract him of the recent news as well as the upcoming meeting. Maybe he should re-join the soccer team. He bounced the ball with his head a few times before returning it back to his leg. Despite the amount of time since he left the soccer team, he still had it in him.

"Hey kid!" Someone yelled behind him. When he turned, he spotted someone around the same height as him standing there with a red tracksuit. What was strange was how she presented herself. Her track shirt was unzipped, showing her plain white shirt underneath, along with part of her stomach. Aside from that, all of her sleeves were folded past her ankles and wrists. To top it off, she was wearing sandals in the late fall.

"Yes?" Toshiro asked, disregarding the minor detail concerning her calling him a 'kid'. Her eyes went from the ball to Toshiro. Her expression reminded him of Ichigo who would scowl for no apparent reason. Apparently it was part of his face as declared by the boy himself.

"I'm bored. Let me play with your ball." She stated while staring at his ball resting on his foot. He nearly dropped his soccer ball by simply processing what the girl said to him.

"Huh?" Is she an idiot, he thought. Normally there were better ways to ask someone if they could join in.

"Huh?" She repeated what he said before jabbing her elbow to his chest. They were about the same height, as she spoke. "Are you some kind of idiot? And what's the deal with your height?" Height was a sensitive topic for Toshiro. Usually, people knew well enough to not mention it, but when dealing with newcomers like the girl before him, they tend to be troublesome.

Wishing not to go down to her level of stupidity, he contained himself. She seemed even more agitated than before. "Can't hear? Must be because you're so small. Midget midget midget midget midget midget midget midget midget midget midget midget midget chibi."

That last one was the straw that broke the camel's back. Toshiro burst out in anger as he lifted his head and stared at the young girl who was stupid enough to anger him. His forehead had angry tick marks as his eyes stared at hers.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING MIDGET! WE'RE THE SAME HEIGHT IDIOT!" He shouted back to her as he tugged at her shirt a number of times. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO CALL SOMEONE A MIDGET?!" That shut her up as her eyes became like plates until returning to their usual sizes. She then smiled at Toshiro.

"Oh, you touched me. You think you're slick for touching me. YOU'RE A PERVERT AND A MIDGET!"

This girl was enough to leave Toshiro blushing while taking a step back. The girl then took the opportunity to swipe his ball and began to run with it.

oooOOOooo

"Karin, come out already! It had been 5 minutes…" Rukia said. Karin picked out a few swimsuits that caught her attention and left to change. Everyone was excited as they decided to wait for Karin to come out before entering to a changing stall themselves.

"I already decided so there's no need to come out!" She said as she looked at herself in the provided mirror. She already tried each one and found that the one piece swim dress suited her best. The black and white horizontal stripes and the small skirt was a nice touch. Of course she experimented with the others. She tried a mostly plain black two piece bikini, though it only pointed out how much she was lacking around her chest. All of the other girls had more than she did, even Tatsuki and Yuzu. There was also a royal blue colored swimsuit on the floor.

The blind was pushed to the side by Rukia which caused Karin to cry in embarrassment. Rukia had a look of disappointment when she saw what Karin had one.

"Karin, that's cute but wouldn't you want to try a two piece suit instead?"

"No! I'm fine with this!" She said before pulling the bind back.

Rukia dropped her head before turning to the rest. They already went inside after seeing Karin's appearance, all except Orihime. In the stall used by Yuzu, she was thinking of using a light blue two piece suit with frills. It took her a minute to work up the nerve to put it on before smiling at herself. It looked great from behind and not so bad in the front. She was already planning to grow out her hair so she would look even better than she already was. The thought did occur to her that she was showing too much, but then, she could simply use the sweater she got from Toshiro to cover herself if needed. She was happy with the results, along with Rukia who was peeking in. It took Yuzu a moment to notice Rukia through the reflection of the mirror.

She turned around in surprised as her cheeks flared up in embarrassment. Unknown to Yuzu, this caused the gears in Rukia's mind to turn. Who was Yuzu trying to impress? She hardly hanged out with any of her male classmates and mostly have girls as friends, so who? The only other person Rukia could think of that wasn't Ichigo, was Toshiro. It would make sense, thought Rukia. Yuzu did have Toshiro's number and she remembered that they were fairly close then and now. It would only make sense that Yuzu became interested in a boy at her age, and Toshiro was a great pick. I should know, since I used to date him.

She had a hunch that Toshiro may like Karin, but it was quickly overwritten by Yuzu liking Toshiro. She definitely need to talk to Orihime about this. Overall, she couldn't wait for summer vacation. She only wished it would come sooner.

oooOOOooo

Toshiro returned home, slightly roughed up from the soccer field. That girl Hiyori or whatever her name was, took a lot out of him. By that, he meant mentally despite the fact he was slightly bruised by her playing 'rough'. After she stole his ball, he recovered and went to retrieve his ball back. She was good, but not in his level nor Karin's. He had no trouble recovering his ball, as he played keep away with her. She hardly played fair as she shoved, kicked and even jabbed with her elbow at him.

"Still, she was fun." He said when he arrived to the gate of his family's manor. After a while, they were genuinely playing and she was a lot less rowdy. They even played a game of who could make the most scores. He won, obviously though she did try her best.

"You must be a pro. Why are you playing by yourself in this park?"

He usually played soccer with Karin, but she had to go shopping today. He hardly played soccer after he stopped during his first year.

"I used to play for my high school in my first year."

"W-Wait, are old are you?"

"17."

Hiyori said nothing at first before sighing and patting his shoulder. "Okay, I won't make fun of your height no more. Just tell me your age."

"17." He said again, though slightly frustrated.

Hiyori started to glare again. "Okay midget. If you don't want to tell me and it's fine by -" Before she could finish her sentence, Toshiro brought out his wallet. His picture and age was present in his high school ID card. "Y-You're a 3rd high school student!"

"Yes!" He said angrily before asking her for her information.

She scratched the side of her cheek meekly as she told him that she was still a middle school student in her last year. To think she was so much trouble and only a third year middle school student. By the time she arrived at the high school, he would already be in college.

Toshiro ended the flashback of his encounter with the middle school student when he noticed a letter in his mailbox. He took it out and noticed it was from the Kurosaki's family.

It was an invitation to a Thanksgiving feast. It was clearly written by their idiot of a father, Isshin with how informal it was. It addressed Toshiro as his "second son" and how it was a night to be among friends and his daughters. The man was practically pushing his daughters to him. He wondered if he should tell Karin of the content of the letter before seeing a P.S. toward the bottom.

In bold letters, it read:

P.S. CONTINUED TO LOOK AFTER MY GIRLS…

Toshiro couldn't turn the old man in. It was now clear that their father was making sure his daughters were well watched over. He may have an unorthodox method of doing it, but Toshiro respected him for showing it. As he stepped forward to head inside, something fell from behind the letter. Toshiro picked it up and saw the familiar square shaped wrapper.

He dialed the phone.

"Hello?" Karin's voice was heard through his phone right before he spoke. Isshin may have gone too far. Toshiro wasn't sure he would be present at the dinner party after his daughters are through with him. It was funny, just as Toshiro thought he knew their father to a degree, he came out of nowhere with 'this'.

oooOOOooo

"Yachiru!" A large man with an eye patch and bells tied to his spiky hair said. With a matter of 5 seconds, a girl appeared behind him. She latched herself to his back and moved her way up to his shoulders.

"Kenny!" She chimed with a smile on her face.

"Your mother is home." He said in a rather ominous way. Her eyes shifted in both color and intensity. She smiled before dropping down from his shoulders. "She said she wants to speak to you. You better go before she comes to you."

Kenpachi was known to many as a both a killer and monster. He had no issue in dying, as long as the fight was worth his life. Each cut or bruise he received would add to the intensity of the battle as well as the enjoyment. It shocked the world when said man finally settled down with a woman and started a family of his own. What the world didn't know, was that before he got married, he challenged her to a fight and lost. The only person he deemed more monstrous than him was now his wife. Despite the fact they were married, she never adopted his surname as she kept the name the world knew her as. Retsu Unohana.

-END OF CHAPTER 14

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, that was something, right? I planned to introduce her for some time now and now I did. I'm also going to increase the amount of "moments" for IchiXRuki and KeigoXTatsuki. I might include some others pairing too though I haven't decided yet. Onwards to the next chapter!-sorrowXdarkness