So, nothing happens in this chapter yet, but it gives you the background of the ending. Yup, it's getting closer to the end now. XD

--

Karin and Rukia were eating lunch the same day of the flower display at a little café in the hotel. Over delicious ethnic cuisine, Karin made a small talk with Rukia as her mind kept going over all the possible things that Toushiro's flowers could have meant.

"Hello?" Rukia waved her hand in front of Karin's face trying to gain her attention. "What are you thinking now?"

Karin didn't even have to say anything in order for Rukia to understand where she was coming from. Rukia simply knew her too well, that was why they were so close. But before Karin could say anything back to Rukia, she received a note from the waiter. She looked confusingly at Rukia before decided to open the note.

Karin,

I hope you are not going to throw this away after reading it.

I know that it hasn't been easy between us. Actually I don't think it ever was, with us not liking each other in school and then the whole fiasco that just happened, but I just want to let you know that I'm not trying to buy you out by giving you flowers.

Toushiro Hitsugaya.

Karin had tears in the eyes when she gave the note to Rukia. As soon as Rukia finished reading it, she glanced at Karin and gave an I-told-you-so look. Immediately, Karin knew how wrong she had been about Toushiro, so she got up and excused herself. There was one more thing she needed to do before she could give Toushiro another chance. They really needed to talk and this time she needed to find him.

Karin asked the waiter where Toushiro was and she finally found him on a sailing dock. He was rigging up a boat.

"Hi" Karin said gulping.

Toushiro wheeled around quickly, not sure if his ears were tricking him or not. When he saw that Karin was actually standing there, he nearly smiled because he knew he finally got her attention.

"What do you want? I'm about to go for a boat ride." He spoke first when he realized that all Karin did was just standing there and kept quiet.

"Um, I just come to say that I got the roses that you sent me," She replied awkwardly.

"Thanks," He shrugged looking completely unaffected from her pronouncement, which for her had taken a lot of effort. He knew it's wasn't easy for Karin to be this emotional or to admit that she had been wrong.

"Is that all you are going to say?" She asked slightly annoyed and angry. Just what the hell was wrong with him? She had come to thank him and all he could do was staring at her?

"Is that all you are going to say?" He repeated her question, his arms folded across his chest. "Because if it is, then I think I'm going to get going."

"No, I…" She narrowed her eyes at him. "What? Why are you so angry with me?"

"Because I'm making all the effort," He snapped. "And it's hard for me. And here you are, coming as if it is an effort for you to take my gifts. I put my heart out on the line and got nothing back. I guess I'm done with all this. I have to go."

And with that, Toushiro turned and walked onto the boat, leaving a bewildered Karin standing alone on the dock.

...

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Rukia asked Karin for the third time as she was preparing for the snorkeling trip. The day before, when Karin had gone unsuccessfully after Toushiro, she had met a family of four who had invited her to join them.

"No," I'm fine," Karin replied. "I'm going to stay here."

"Okay," Rukia shrugged and left. She knew Karin didn't like the idea of being in water because of her mother's tragic death. But for some reason, she had to ask. She knew Karin was strong enough to take care of herself, but she was worried about her especially after what had happened the day before with Toushiro.

Karin and Toushiro were more similar than they thought. They were stubborn and they wouldn't admit the fact that they loved each other because they were scared of getting hurt. To be honest, she wasn't surprised. Masaru had apparently never loved Karin. She knew this fact still made Karin angry. Toushiro, on the other hand, probably hadn't had that many successful relationships either. Somehow she wished there was a way to make them see how perfect they were for each other, but she just didn't know how.

"Hi Rukia!"

Rukia smiled at the sight of the family's three year old daughter running up to meet her. Seeing this happy family made her miss her own. She just wished Ichigo was here with her.

"Hi, Ruka." Rukia squatted down on the sand and opened her arms to the little brown haired girl. "How are you doing?"

Before Ruka could answer, her parents and her older brother, Akemi, came afterwards. After his sister moved aside, Akemi also jumped into Rukia's arms

"Hi," Rukia hugged Akeni while looked up at his parents, Juro and Ayumi.

"They wouldn't stop talking about you," Ayumi replied grinning. "I'm glad you can join us today."

"Thanks for inviting me," Rukia replied politely before turning to Akemi and Ruka. "So, are you guys excited to go snorkeling and see pretty fish?"

"Mmhmm." Both Ruka and Akemi nodded eagerly.

Rukia soon followed the family onto the little sailboat that would take them a good distance out to a nice reef where they would the best snorkeling. However, she found herself looking curiously at the blond woman walking towards them. This woman looked somehow familiar even though she was positive that the two of them had never met in their entire lives.

"Hi everyone," The woman walked towards them. "Nice to meet you. I'm going to join you today. I hope we are going to have fun together."

"Hi," Akemi asked curiously. "What is your name?"

"My name is Rangiku Matsumoto," Matsumoto laughed, her eyes brightening with amusement. "What is your name?"

"Akemi," Akemi said sticking out his hand and Matsumoto shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you too."

"That was a nice firm grip you've got there," Matsumoto said approvingly causing Akemi to blush in the way that only a seven year old boy can.

After that Matsumoto went around and introduced herself to the small group that would be going on the boat with her. But she looked curiously at the black haired young woman that was with the family and yet obviously wasn't a part of it. This woman looked very familiar and even though they hadn't met, she was sure that she had seen her somewhere before.

Once they got aboard, Matsumoto made her way to the black haired woman.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?"

"I don't think so," Rukia replied politely. "I'm Rukia Kurosaki."

"So you are Karin's sister-in law?" Matsumoto smiled widely. "I'm Toushiro's step sister, Rangiku Matsumoto."

Rukia looked at Matsumoto warily.

"You know, I'm all for the match," Matsumoto said and shook her head, assuming that Rukia knew everything that was going on between Toushiro and Karin. "I just don't know how to get them together. I don't know Karin very well. But it sounds like she is stubborn."

"You have no idea," Rukia muttered softly and nodded, noticeably relaxing now that she knew Matsumoto wasn't a threat. "Toushiro is stubborn too, at least that is what I heard from Karin."

"He is," Matsumoto smiled. "But he hasn't been like this before. I think it's time to take drastic action."

"For sure," Rukia agreed.

"So," Matsumoto asked holding out her hand. "Are we in this together?"

"Sure," Rukia replied shooking Matsumoto's hand, sealing the deal. "Don't tell anyone, we are going to get killed if they find out."

...

The door slammed behind him as Masaru rolled his eyes, collapsing on the sofa and taking a deep breath. Who did Hinamori think she was, demanding that the two of them break up now that he and Karin were obviously over? Sure, Hinamori was too emotional and needy sometimes, but the last thing he wanted right now was to be pulled away from a relationship, because he really needed it as a nice distraction.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to see Hinamori ever again, but frankly he didn't care. Something was nagging at him and he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Karin didn't care about him. Perhaps it was the fact that he saw her with Toushiro. But he knew he didn't like losing.

Masaru started to regret his actions. He should have listened to everyone about thinking before acting. He shouldn't have challenged Toushiro at first, and now he was the one standing on the ground horrified with the results.

"Shiro-chan!!"

He could hear hoots and cheers from his classmates, or in this case, Toushiro's fan girls, everywhere. All of them were cheering for the white haired boy who was standing at the opposite side of the soccer field. It was amazing that that the challenge caught many people's interest and somehow everyone had to watch them playing soccer against each other. Yeah right, the school captain was playing against the most popular boy in school. How interesting was that?

"You seem confident that you can beat me." Toushiro smirked after knowing that he was the winner."You know what to do after this."

He glared at Toushiro dangerously. He could remember the first day they met at school; everyone in the class, especially the girls, was so excited to see Toushiro Hitsugaya simply because he was rich and good looking. Personally, he found Toushiro annoying and uninteresting, and he really didn't understand why Toushiro received a royal treatment from everyone.

He scowled and closed his eyes. This was bad. He couldn't believe that Toushiro beat him in his own game. He was certain that he could win because he was a captain of the soccer team and had won many games for school. It was predictable that he would win this game. Damn, this was going to be a pain on the neck; he could imagine everyone talking about how Toushiro won this game by the next day and he knew this was going to be something he regretted for the rest of his life.

"Now, you have to keep our promise; you are going to have to do homework for me for the whole month." Toushiro spoke before throwing his textbooks at Masaru. "I hope I will get this back tomorrow."

There was no way he was going to let Toushiro come out on top this time, no matter what he had to do.

--

I'm just making sure you understand this chapter. So basically Toushiro had his own plan but he was really mad at Karin too, Matsumoto and Rukia were planning something together (I can't resist the temptation of making them doing something together, sorry!!), and well, Masaru.. you know he is a bad guy...

And again, please review!