The next morning, Yuzu rushed to get up much before everyone else and by the time I woke up I was the only one left in the floor. I sat up and stretched calling to the already aromatic kitchen, "Where'd everyone go, Yu?"

She giggled, "Good morning, sleepyhead!"

I stood and hopped into the kitchen to examine what she was cooking. I only had to take one look at all of the pots and pans for my stomach to speak up for me with a loud growl. Yuzu laughed, "I made you an omelet earlier but you didn't wake up to eat it."

Then she handed me a plate with an omelet on it and pushed me towards the table. I sat down and began to eat asking her questions along the way, "So where did Ichi-nii and Toushirou go?"

"Upstairs to change clothes about an hour and a half ago but they haven't been down since. I think they really like each other. They were up much past the point that I pretended to go to sleep talking about all kinds of things."

I raised my eyebrows, mouth full, "What kind of things?"

She laughed again, "They talked a lot about medicine and being a doctor because you know Ichigo was going to school to be a doctor, too."

I narrowed my eyes, "Was?"

She looked at me over her shoulder, "No one has said anything yet? Ichi-nii changed his major about two weeks ago to education instead of medicine. He said medicine was way too hard for him and he has always loved young children. He said he just felt like it was the best thing he could do."

I swallowed the entirety of the food in my mouth, "He would make a good teacher but not for teens. What grade does he want to teach?"

She shrugged, "He didn't say specifically but it is probably something close to the beginning."

I nodded and changed the topic, "So what have you been up to?"

She hummed her breath as if she was thinking about everything she had been doing, "Well I quit cheer halfway through the season. I didn't realize how much they didn't like me until you left. I always knew they picked on you which is why I never really made friends with them but after you left their aggression turned to me. That isn't really a big deal though because I found out that the chess club is amazing. I didn't know I liked chess as much as I do. My biggest focus is still the culinary arts though. I know you don't like the idea but I honestly think my calling in life is to be a stay at home mother. Maybe I'll open my own restaurant on the side. I'm not sure yet."

I smiled, "As long as you are happy Yu."

She nodded but it got awkwardly silent after that. She knew that I had always thought that being a stay at home mother didn't give a woman enough freedom and independence. However, she also knew that I thought it was one of the strongest things a woman could do to give up herself for her children. I just had always wanted more for Yuzu. She had been the equivalent of a stay at home mother almost her entire life and I wanted her to be able to explore. I wanted her to be happy. She looked back at me again, "You know, you might think I'm crazy but for almost two months I've had this feeling deep inside that soon I'll be taking care of a baby. I know I am only fourteen and trust me I am not pregnant. I would never do something crazy like that. But everything inside of me is telling me that I will need to be ready by the end of the school year. I'm just really worried you know. You aren't…."
My eyes widened, "Hell no! Yuzu, you know I don't do that stuff."

"I just know it's happening. I don't know who or when exactly but I know."

She locked eyes with me and I saw it too. She wasn't making it up. Everything about her intuition was telling her she was right. She believed it which scared me because she was usually right. I lowered my voice to a whisper, "You don't think that Ichigo and Orihime?"

Her eyes lit up, "Oh I hope it is them! It would be so cute! They got together you know! He asked her! He really asked her!"

I stood up on my good leg and slammed my hands on the table in surprise, "He did? When? So they are dating now?"

She nodded rapidly, "Last month his college had a whole bunch of special events that he wasn't interested in so he came home. He said he need to buy snacks for when he went back to school for his room and he went out. He came back and his whole face was red. He said he had run into her in the grocery store, literally, and knocked each other down. She was there picking out all the stuff she would need for her weird recipes. Ichi-nii saw all her vegetables had fallen out of the bag so he rushed to pick them up and make sure they weren't bruised or dirty and she did the same and they head-butted each other. He said he went to grab his head but she already had her hand on top of his head and was apologizing. Then he said it just happened. He froze and looked into her frantic face and really quietly asked her if he wanted to get ice cream with him. She froze and he thought she was upset or something so he tried to explain without sounding stupid but he couldn't get anything coherent out but he stopped trying because she hugged him and said she would love to get ice cream. Then she ran away saying she had to take her vegetables home. She still showed up at the ice cream place a few minutes later though and they had their first date! He didn't even get snacks!"

I laughed, "Only those two could have that awkward of a situation happen and it be completely okay!"

Then Ichigo came down the stairs with Toushirou behind him, "Yo! What are you guys talking about."

I shrugged and acted like I wasn't extremely happy for him, "Oh nothing. Just your relationship status."

His face turned blood red, "What?"

I waved my hand at him, "How's Orihime doing?"

He looked like he was going to feint, "Yuzu you were supposed to keep that to yourself!"

Yuzu blinked innocently at him, "What? You didn't tell me to."

He closed his hands into fists, "Yes I did! Don't play dumb!"

She held her hands by her face and laughed then she turned back to her cooking. I laughed along with her, "She's coming today isn't she? Did you think that we wouldn't notice? So how many dates have you been on now."

He gulped, "Five…I think. And yes that's exactly what I thought."

I rolled my eyes, "You are so predictable."

"Hey!"

Toushirou interrupted, "What are you two talking about?"

I laughed, "He finally grew a pair and asked out the girl he's loved since he was fifteen."

Toushirou's face turned a light pink at my phrasing but he ignored it, "Oh really? What is she like?"

Ichigo suddenly calmed down and gained a look of absolute peace on his face. I made a gagging face, "Don't get all lovey dovey Ichi-nii! She is really ditsy and nice. She has strawberry blonde hair like Ichigo and um large…assets."

Everyone ignored my description and moved on with their lives. Ichigo walked into the kitchen where Yuzu was and began opening pot lids and inspecting the insides. She smacked his hand away from her station and shooed him away. He shrugged, "Well Toushirou and I are going to the dojo to meet Tatsuki. She wants to teach him to fight. We'll all be here in a little while."

My eyes widened and I looked at Toushirou waiting for his confirmation. He just nodded at me and followed my brother out of the house. I looked at Yuzu in surprise, "What just happened? Didn't Ichi-nii hate him earlier this week?"

Yuzu shrugged, "I told you they really like each other."

"I guess so."

Hours later, they came back with most of everybody else that was coming for dinner. Yuzu clapped, "Good! We have enough time to play games while the food is finishing up! I set up three different decks of cards for what ever you guys want to play there. We also have Twister and several board games. Earlier, Ichi-nii also set up a sparring game outside for a tournament because we all know how much that will be a hit. Ooooh…what else? Ummmm….well I have movies upstairs if anyone wants to watch them! And we have prizes for the overall winner of each game so everybody has to play everything if you want to win a prize! P.S. They are desserts made by me!"

I looked at everybody in the doorway and rushed towards the Twister game as fast as I could without my crutches before Rukia and Tatsuki formed a group that left me out. Oddly enough, even after they got there, no one seemed to want to play like they normally did. Eventually, Tatsuki went and grabbed Toushirou, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway. Yuzu came and sat down in the floor next to the mat, "I'll be caller!"

Toushirou seemed really uncomfortable about the situation as Yuzu read the rules, "As you know, with this many players there will have to be two teams and only two people are allowed on the mat at a time. Choose you team mate."

Toushirou reached for my sleeve but before he got all the way there Rukia was hugging me instead, "I claim Karin!"

His face fell but Tatsuki seemed completely okay with it. Yuzu interjected again, "Who is going first on each team?"
Rukia pointed at me and Tatsuki pointed at Toushirou. Then the game began. It started off simple but as all Twister games are quickly became a tangle of limbs and confusion. By the time I realized we were tangled, My head was touching Toushirou's stomach and he had his arm wrapped around my good leg. It had already been extremely difficult to play because I only had on working leg and everyone had determined that it would be okay if I hopped with my other foot twice to get to my spots. However, every leg call moved my one good leg and I knew with the position we were in if another call was for our legs we would both topple over. Why did I want to play twister again?

Three calls later we both fell laughing the whole way and trying to untangle our limbs. Then Rukia and Tatsuki played with Tatsuki winning by several moves. For a dancer, Rukia wasn't very flexible. So, Tatsuki's team won and she held Toushirou's arm in the air in victory. I decided to go to one of the card games at that point and Toushirou followed behind me, "That was incredibly awkward."

I smiled, "It's Twister what did you expect?"

"I've never played so I didn't know."

I raised my eyebrow, "You've never played Twister?"

He shook his head, "I'm not sure I've ever played any of these games."
I shook my head, "You are just one surprise after another."

"Well I've never really had this many friends so that's hardly my fault."

I ignored the statement and found Renji, Ikkaku, and my brother playing Goldfish as if it was some kind of superior gambling game. "Oh yeah Ichigo? Well I bet you've got a three."

"Dammit!"

I laughed and settled myself down at the table, "So what have you been up to, Renji? Ikkaku?"

Renji smiled at me, "I could ask you the same thing. How is school going?"

I shook my head "I asked first."

He rolled his eyes, "Well you know I've been doing professional kendo since I left high school there really isn't much to add to that."

"You mean to tell me that in the past year you haven't done anything significant that I need to hear about? Wow what a bore."

He scoffed, "As if I could ever be boring! Oh hey!"

He lowered his voice, "What do you think about me proposing to Rukia?"

I blinked honestly not expecting the question, "Renji, you are only 19. You are only a year older than Ichigo! Aren't you a little young to be get married."

He looked as if he had never thought of that, "Well I guess, but Rukia and I have been together since we were twelve. I just thought why wait if we already knew?"

"Have you even told her brother you are dating yet?"

He shook his head.

"Then how in hell do you think you'll get his blessing?"

"I hadn't even thought of that. Look all I'm saying is I have a ring so be prepared for wedding invitations sooner or later."

I rolled my eyes. He never thought anything through and was always overconfident but hey I guess that's why Rukia liked him so much. I turned to Ikkaku, "What about you?"

He blinked, "I've mostly been travelling and trying to keep up with Yumichika. We were in the United States last week. He said he needed to see all the 'beautiful' luxuries and plays of New York. Other than that I guess I have been just working."

Ikkaku was Yumichika's best friend but he acted like he was Yumichika's butler or something. Yumichika loved to pretend that he was a wealthy man and Ikkaku just went along with it, "Speaking of which where is Yumichika?"

He just shrugged, "He said he was too busy 'being beautiful' to come."

I sighed. That sounded exactly like Yumichika. He never came to our parties after the time Ichigo decided he was going to try alcohol for the first time. Long story short- Yumichika left covered in vomit.

I left their Goldfish game and popped into the neighboring poker game being played by my father and a man in a striped hat who was way too jovial to be normal. Dad caught me by the arm, "Karin this is Kisuke Urahara. You go to school with his adopted son Jinta. Say hello."

I smiled at the man and gave a polite wave and then continued on my way to the last card game. Where Orihime seemed to be playing her own invention of a game with Uryu playing picking up cards and saying what they meant and then throwing them really excitedly into the air, "The King of Hearts means Mr. Kurosaki is going to marry a bunny and they are gonna open a carrot factory!"

I pointed to her and looked at Toushirou, "Ichigo's girlfriend."

He looked at her and blinked then nodded. I sat down at the table, "So what's up you two?"

Orihime's face turned bright red, "I wasn't hiding anything what are you talking about?!"

I laughed, "Everyone knows about you and Ichigo, Orihime. It isn't as if we haven't been expecting it for years anyway."

She tilted her head to the side, "He told you?"

I shook my head, "Yuzu did."

"Oh okay. He told me not to say anything, yet. He was embarrassed."

I laughed, "I know. He still is. You are his first girlfriend after all."

She threw a fist into the air, "I'm gonna be the best girlfriend!"
Then her face turned bright red, "I didn't say that. I've got to go and ummmm….help Yuzu with cooking! Yeah that's it!"

Then she ran into the kitchen where Yuzu had returned. I looked at Uryu, "So what have you been doing?"

"Well I'm sure you know that I'm studying to be a lawyer so I assume you mean to ask what is going on that is interesting. Honestly, other than the time I spend with your brother I have nothing interesting going on. Sorry to disappoint."

I sighed, "Typical Uryu. Find yourself a girlfriend maybe she would be able to drag you out of your room more often."

I stood and found myself outside where a man with three scars over his eye was sparring with Tatsuki. They were throwing punches at each other in Tatsuki's borrowed dojo protection gear. She glanced over and saw Toushirou and I and called out to us, "Hey you two get over here!"
She punched the other guy hard enough to knock him over, "Snowball! Get over here and show Karin what you learned this morning! He's a natural Karin! He's probably better than you were as a kid."

Toushirou shed his jacket and shouted at her, "Stop calling me that!"

Tatsuki turned around like she was looking for something, "Dammit!"

I raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

She threw her arms up in the air, "I didn't bring gear his size. I have stuff small enough for you and I and stuff large enough for Ichigo and Renji and them but none Snowball's size."

"Stop it!"

She looked over at him, "How about a match without it. I mean you might end up bruised but I won't hit you hard enough to break something."

His eyes widened, "No way!"

She stuck her tongue out, "What are you scared of me?"

He glared at her, "No."

"Then get over here."

He sighed and replaced the other guy on the opposite side of her, "If I go back to school looking like I was beaten in a back alley I will personally kill you."

She laughed, "I think you should have more confidence than that."

Then she rapidly threw three punches at him which he dodged without any difficulty. It was as if his entire body was programmed to avoid her hits. He dodged her a few more times and then threw a punch at her and landed it. It was incredible. I had never seen anyone best Tatsuki before but Toushirou kept landing hits on her and dodging her attempts. She landed two on him and suddenly she was on the ground. Toushirou blinked as if he hadn't expected to knock her down. She laughed, "See Karin? He said he had never fought before but it is just like an instinctual thing inside him. I couldn't teach him anything but proper moves if I tried. He doesn't even have to think about it."

His face turned red, "Well I don't really think it's that great…."

I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, "Toushirou! No one has ever beat Tatsuki in a match without cheating. She always has them knocked down within the first few hits."

He blinked, "Well yeah but she was going easy on me."

She responded from the ground, "I wasn't."

He blinked again like he didn't know what to think. Right then Yuzu walked out and called to us, "Food is ready!"
We went inside and were greeted by a massive turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, a giant fruit bowl, gravy, casserole, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, chocolate cake, and vanilla ice cream. Yuzu held out her hands to the food. Everybody get a plate and gather at the table. We did as she said and sat down waiting for her permission to dig in. She smiled at us all and sat down with her own plate, "First we have to go around the table and say something we are thankful for, I'll start. I'm thankful that I have this many friends to cook for."

Ichigo: "I'm thankful for my sudden courage."

Renji: "I'm thankful that Rukia puts up with me."
Rukia: "I'm thankful that Karin was on my Twister team earlier."

Orihime: "I'm thankful for all of this good food!"

Dad: "I'm thankful for all of my beautiful children!"

Tatsuki: "I'm thankful that I finally met my match in battle."

Ikkaku: "I am thankful that Yumichika isn't here complaining about the lack of beautifulness."

Kisuke: "I'm thankful I won the poker game!"

Uryu: "I'm thankful school isn't as hard as I thought it would be."

The guy from outside: "I'm thankful Tatsuki invited me."

Me: "I am thankful that we won the soccer championship even if it meant having this cast."

All eyes fell on Toushirou who just blushed and blurted out: "I'm thankful that no one is hell-bound on bothering me."

We all laughed and Yuzu threw up her hands, "Dig in!"

The rest of the night was spent stuffing our faces and then complaining about how much we ate. Eventually, everyone left except for Toushirou and we all headed towards bed. I walked with Toushirou up the stairs, "So was this as great as your Mom said it would be."

He glance at me out of the corner of his eye, "It's a little ridiculous don't you think?"

But I saw the tiny smile that graced his lips as he said it. Suddenly he turned really fast and gave me a brief hug and ran up the stairs and into Ichigo's room. I laughed and went to my room, "He could have just said thank you."

Hellllooooo. Here is your Thanksgiving Day chapter! I hope you guys loved it! I loved writing it There is one more day at the Kurosaki house and then back to the monotony of school they go. What did you guys think about everybody and their lives in the story? I made Renji a year older than Ichigo along with Rukia. In case you didn't know Ichigo is in his first year of college. Also random Kisuke is random. Please review it would mean the world to me!