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"Hey!" A voice of an older adult caught their attention from over by the edge of the river. "Are you two old enough to be drinking?!"

Yuzu glanced down at the beer in her hand, then she held up a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you!"

That had them both laughing as they continued floating down the river. Hinata reached over to clink her beer against Yuzu's. "You are my favorite person today."

"Glad to be of service," Yuzu said, grinning at her friend, before they took a drink of their beers. "Happy birthday Hinata."

A Month Later, May 23rd

Grabbing her water, Karin took a few sips to try and cool down after her spar with Kimi. Plopping down by her bag, she grabbed her phone and checked for any new messages. They were in one of the training spaces in the Somi tower, and it had a similar layout to the one in Urahara's. It was just around four o'clock, as they had been there since they got out of school after sixth period a couple of hours ago.

"Have you noticed something strange about them?" Kimi asked, joining Karin on the ground.

"Noticed about who?" Karin asked, her eyes down on her phone as she texted Toshiro back, who had been asking her when she was getting out of training.

Kimi nudged Karin to get her to look away from her phone, then she pointed over to the stairs. "Them. They've been whispering to each other our whole session."

Focusing in on Akira and Mizuki, Karin studied how they both did seemed to be more distracted, and less open with them. "I don't know. Maybe they have other things going on. We don't know everything about their lives."

"That's the thing," Kimi said, her eyes sliding over to Karin. "I think they are talking about us. I've seen them motioning over to us, or like when they look at us it's like they all of a sudden stop talking. It's weird, and I think it means something."

"Did we do something?" Karin asked, propping her head on her hand. "I mean we did go on our first real official assignment last weekend. They said we did good, but maybe we didn't."

Kimi shrugged, as she let herself relax finally. "I don't think so. I thought we did exactly as we were asked… I think it has to do with something else."

"We can't really know for sure-" Karin broke off when Akira and Mizuki both had looked in their direction, and she and Kimi averted their eyes.

"Um hello?!" Akira called over, motioning to the open training space. "Did we say you two could take an hour-long break?! No!"

"We've got about another a couple more hours before we have to call it a day," Mizuki added, also motioning to the training ground. "Get out there, and make use of it!"

Grumbling under their breaths, Karin and Kimi took one last sip of water, then started back out to the training ground. As soon as they were out of ear shot again, Kimi's eyes met Karin's. "Something's going on."

"Maybe," Karin said, still a little skeptical. "But if they have an issue with us, it's not a big deal. School ends on Friday for the semester, then we are going off to the music program. That'll give them a whole twenty-five days without us to get over whatever issue they have."

"I hope you're right." Kimi added, before she and Karin went their separate ways to prepare to spar again.

Once on her respective side of the training ground, Karin glanced in the direction of Akira and Mizuki again. Kimi might just be overreacting… But maybe there is something they aren't telling us. Maybe it's because they know we don't need extra stress on top of the final exams we'll be taking in a couple of days… Or it could have nothing to do with us at all. I don't-

"Start!" Akira shouted over, interrupting Karin's thoughts.

Sensing Kimi summoning her powers, Karin did the same. Leaving her thoughts behind, she started in Kimi's direction, a katana forming in her hand.

At the Kurosaki house

"Taro stop." Yuzu laughed, trying to focus down on her textbook, where she was trying to get information for her flashcards from.

"I'm not doing anything." Taro replied, his arms having slipped around her, as he had been giving her soft kisses all over every once in a while.

They were up in Yuzu's bedroom, as Isshin wasn't home to say anything against it. They were supposed to be studying for final exams, but only Yuzu had managed to open her textbooks. Taro was a little preoccupied with other things.

They barely lasted another minute, before Yuzu sighed and set her pencil down. "Taro, I have to study. I need to get an 'A' on this test to make sure I get a 'B' in the class. My dad's been on my case about my grades lately."

"I hear you," Taro said, however, his attention remained on giving her soft butterfly kisses down her neck, after pushing her hair out of the way. "I won't bother you, promise."

Smiling at his words, Yuzu's eyes went back to the textbook. The words slowly started to blur together, as her mind went blank. The feel of the shirt she was wearing, being slowly slid out of the way, and Taro's kisses continued down her now revealed shoulder. It was almost becoming intoxicating, as her skin felt like it was on fire at each place he kissed. "I can't focus when you're doing that."

"Maybe you should take a break then," Taro told her, stopping in his kisses, as he rested his head on her shoulder. "It seems like you could use a break. I'm okay with not studying."

"If I keep taking breaks, then I really won't be getting much studying done," Yuzu pointed out, as she sighed. "I need to make sure that I get all my grades up, or else my dad won't let me go to the art program."

"Alright, well I guess I can try to do something else," Taro said, kissing her one last time on her shoulder. "I wouldn't want to distract you that much."

When Taro started moving his arms from around her, Yuzu felt a strong protesting feeling inside of her, and she found herself sighing heavily. Moving her textbook and flashcards over to her bedside table, she turned and settled herself over Taro's lap.

At her new position, Taro's lopsided grin appeared on his face, and his hands returned to her waist. "Hello."

"We can take a short break. But once we do that, we really need to get started studying, okay? At least for a couple of hours, then we can watch a movie or something."

"I can get on board with that plan," Taro said, moving her closer so he could kiss her. When their kiss broke, they remained close to each other. "I have a few ideas on how we can spend this break of ours. My favorite idea goes hand in hand with the fact that we're the only ones in the house right now."

"I figured." Yuzu replied, as they kissed again. After a few minutes, they broke apart again to catch their breath, and she slid her sweater off. A smile on her face, as Taro had nudged her, so she was laying on her back before kissing her again.

A couple of hours later

"Thanks for the ride!" Karin called over to Akira, as she started on the sidewalk to the front door of the house. Kimi and I never did find out if Akira and Mizuki were talking about us. They seemed pretty normal the rest of training, so it was probably just in our imaginations. She slipped her bag back off her shoulders, as she walked in the house. Her eyes going to Yuzu and Taro, who were snuggled up on the couch. "Hey."

"Hey." Taro greeted back, handing Yuzu the remote that she was reaching for.

Once the remote was in her hand, Yuzu paused the TV. "We just started watching a movie. You're welcome to watch it with us if you want to."

"I'm good. I have some studying to do." Karin replied, kicking off her shoes.

Yuzu raised an eyebrow, after checking the time on her phone. "It's already the evening time. Why study now?"

"Okay," Taro said, before Yuzu could say anything. "Remember that just a little while ago, you were the one who was saying we needed to study."

Yuzu smirked in Taro's direction. "Well, we didn't get much studying done did we?"

"Gross," Karin said, rolling her eyes at what Yuzu had implied. "I don't want to have heard that."

"Karin." Yuzu countered with a sigh.

"Anyway, I have planned to study for this evening, because I was busy earlier," Karin said, grabbing her shoes from the floor, and she started towards the stairs. "I want to be prepared for the exams on Thursday and Friday, and that way I won't be overly stressed about them. They are our final exams. They are pretty important."

"My take is to enjoy the evenings so my entire day isn't stress filled." Yuzu said, having to dodge Taro, who had poked her side.

"Um that was my idea," Taro said, his eyes going to Karin. "Credit belongs to me, not to Yuzu."

While that made Yuzu laugh, Karin offered a smirk, as she started up the stairs. "Well, good luck with that strategy."

It took her nearly thirty minutes to go through her usual routine of showering, then grabbing dinner that her dad and Hana had brought home. Now she was on her bed, surrounded by several open textbooks, notes from class, and flashcards. She had managed to stay focused on her notes for the past half hour, but her mind started to wander. As usual, whenever she was in her room for longer periods of time, she would slowly find herself focusing on the book that was in her desk drawer. It almost seemed like it was calling to her, and even though she tried to ignore it, she usually ended up giving in and reading some of it.

Naturally, it was the same this time, as she found herself holding the big book. Turning to the page she had bookmarked, she leaned back against her pillows, and started to read. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, she heard a knocking on her door. "Yeah?"

The door opened to reveal her dad. "Just wanted to say goodnight. You might want to think about going to sleep yourself. You have school in the morning."

"It's only… eleven thirty," Karin said, her eyes widening when she realized nearly three hours had gone by. "Wow, I lost track of time."

"What are you reading?" Isshin asked.

Karin hurriedly closed the book over her hand. "It's just a book for my literature class. I thought I'd just read a chapter or two, but I guess I got sucked into the story."

"It happens to the best of us," Isshin said with a chuckle. "Alright, don't stay up too late. Goodnight."

"Night dad!" Karin called as he was in the process of closing her door back. Opening the book back up to the page she was on, and started reading again. A few pages later, and she found herself at the end. It's a book on a family line of Somi's. This particular line seems to work along shinigami and quincy people a lot. I mean, it was a great read and all, but I just don't see why my subconscious was practically demanding I read this book… Maybe I just need to read it again.

A yawn escaped her mouth, and that's what motivated her to put the book away. Starting the process of putting away all of her study materials, she smiled at the sight of Zorro already curled up at his usual spot on the top of her pillows. As she finished clearing off her bed, she got under the covers, as she got a text from Toshiro.

Toshiro: Hey baby, I finished up some paperwork, and haven't heard from you in a few hours. I just wanted to tell you goodnight.

Smiling at that, Karin was quick to text him back. Sorry, I lost track of time reading and studying. I am about to go to bed actually. Goodnight, I love you.

Toshiro: I love you too.

Feeling a fluttering warm feeling in her chest, Karin's smile widened as she plugged her phone in, and turned off her light. Laying down on her pillows, she reached up to pet Zorro, who had stirred when she moved the pillow he was on. She closed her eyes, and willed sleep to come her way.

The next day, Wednesday

Grabbing her notebooks from her locker, Yuzu put them in her bag, and grunted at the added weight as she put the straps on her shoulders. Her eyes left her locker to meet Hinata, who had walked over. "Is it just me or do you all of a sudden feel super unprepared for all the exams we are going to have the next two days?"

"It's not just you," Hinata said, leaning against the locker next to Yuzu's. "We are going to have to do some major studying, as soon as we get to your house."

"Yuzu," Taro's voice had caught their ears, as Taro had come down the steps. Walking right over to Yuzu, he kissed her. "I was hoping I'd catch you."

"What are you doing here? Don't you usually leave after sixth period. Work-based learning and all that?" Yuzu countered, although she accepted his arm that wrapped around her.

"Well we had to stay for seventh period today, because we had one last meeting with the supervisors who look over the work-based learning students," Taro explained, a growing smile on his face as their eyes met. "Since I'm here, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. I don't have to work."

Hinata cleared her throat before Yuzu could respond, and Yuzu sighed heavily. "Unfortunately I am going to have to pass. I've already committed to having a study group with my friends, because none of us really have studied much. The exams start tomorrow after all."

"That's cool," Taro said, dipping his head down to kiss her again. "It's important you get that studying in. Just make sure you set aside time to facetime me later."

"Will do," Yuzu said, smiling as they kissed again, then Taro walked away. Her eyes went to Hinata, who held a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"You were going to agree to go out with him instead of study-"

"I was not," Yuzu interrupted, then she sighed and smiled. "Maybe I was, but I didn't!"

Hinata laughed at Yuzu's insistence, and her eyes went to Yukio who had walked over. They kissed before the three of them started towards the front doors of the school. "So are we ready to go?"

Yukio nodded, and took Hinata's hand. "We're going over to Yuzu's to study right?"

"Yeah," Yuzu replied before Hinata could. "Shin texted me. He and Suki are waiting outside."

"Great, we'll take my car." Hinata said, happily holding up her car keys.

At the Kurosaki house

Having settled down at the kitchen table with her friends, Yuzu's eyes darted all over the notebooks and textbooks on the table. Unsure of where to begin.

"Okay, just throwing this out there," Hinata started, as she motioned to the growing pile of their stuff. "There is so much stuff we have to go over, and right now it's just looking like a train wreck."

"I know. I'm usually organized… Maybe I should have taken more time this week to prepare," Yuzu said, her attention went towards the front of the steps, as there were several footsteps and voices heard from outside. The front door opened, and in came Karin and her large study group. An idea popped into Yuzu's head, as she turned to meet Hinata's eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think it's our best shot." Hinata replied with a nod.

Getting up from the table, Yuzu walked over to where Karin and her study group was settling in the living room. Her eyes on her sister. "Karin, we were wondering if you'd mind if we joined your study group. We could really use the extra help."

Without hesitation, Karin nodded. "Yeah sure. Guys let's make some more room."

As Karin and a couple of her friends pushed one of the couches a little farther back to make more room on the floor, Yuzu and her friends joined them. Yuzu looking around at how Karin's study group friends seemed to already have an idea of what they were doing.

"Okay," Karin started, as she was the last to sit down. Her eyes sweeping over the others. "Usually we go through our academic classes first, and elective classes are last since we all don't have the same electives. When it gets around time for electives, we usually will split up into smaller groups for those."

"We go through study guides first," Kimi added, as she was pulling the last of her stuff out of her bag. "Then we go more in depth with questions, and if people have honors classes versus regular classes, then we'll go through that material as well. Usually, the material crosses over, but honors classes are more in depth."

Sharing a look with her friends, Yuzu nodded. "Okay, that seems like a good system. Let's do this." With that said, Karin started them off pulling out the history study guide. She watched the others follow suit, and she couldn't help but hold a small smile. I never once thought I'd be going to my sister for help with school, but I'm kind of glad she's so prepared. Maybe I'll pass those exams after all.

A couple hours later

The front door opened, and Isshin and Hana walked in. Isshin raised an eyebrow at the sight of both Karin and Yuzu's friends studying together. "I know we talked about how you two were studying with your friends today, but I certainly didn't expect to see twenty-something teenagers when I came home from work today."

"It's not that many people." Yuzu said, waving it off.

Karin, however, eyed their friends, and she shrugged. "Well, I mean not over twenty."

"Well, I think it's so nice that you all are studying together," Hana said, having taken off her coat. "You all should be really prepared for those exams."

"How about I order us all some pizza and wings for dinner?" Isshin asked, smirking at the overwhelming agreement from the teenagers, he smirked.

As Isshin had walked in the direction of the kitchen to go make the call, Yuzu's eyes were on the front door. "Oh Hana, the front door is still cracked."

"Oh yeah," Hana said, as she looked to Karin. "When we were getting on the porch, we noticed Toshiro's car pulling up. So-"

Karin stood up interrupting Hana, as she motioned to the others. "I'll be right back."

"Take your time," Kimi said, smiling big as she waved off her best friend. "The boyfriend needs your attention."

Karin smirked and rolled her eyes as that made the others laugh. She went to the front door, and just as she stepped out on the front porch, Toshiro was walking up the steps. Her smirk softened to a smile, as she closed the front door. "I didn't know you were coming by."

"Well I thought I could get a few minutes of your time," Toshiro said, smiling and closing the distance between them, and he hugged and kissed her. When they broke apart, he was smirking. "Are you having a party?"

"No, definitely not," Karin replied, laughing at the sound of the voices from inside. "Although I definitely could see why it would seem that way. Yuzu and her friends joined my study group, so there are a lot more people than usual."

"Wow, you and your sister being civil and studying together. I never thought I'd see the day," Toshiro joked, chuckling at how that made Karin roll her eyes. Clearing his throat after a moment, he sighed. "Look, I really came by because I need to tell you something. I have to go and oversee an assignment."

Karin's smile immediately dropped off her face. "How long?"

Noticing her frown, Toshiro reached up and caressed her cheek. "It could be a couple of days… or more."

"I'm leaving Saturday morning for my program-"

"I know," Toshiro interrupted, his hand sliding down her arm to take her hand. "I'm going to try to come back before you leave, but I can't make any promises."

Sighing heavily, Karin finally nodded. The disappointment clearly on her face. "Okay, just call or text me whenever you get back, and we can facetime or something."

Toshiro's frown deepened at the disappointment on her face, and he pulled her close to her hug her. "I'll be sure to do that as soon as I get back."

Karin was quiet as they hugged for a moment. "It just sucks because we probably won't see each other during my music program, and I wasn't really prepared to have to say goodbye to you today."

"I know..." Toshiro trailed off, as they fell into silence as they remained into each others arms.

Nuzzling her face against Toshiro's neck, Karin breathed in his scent. "Be careful on your assignment… I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Toshiro replied, pulling back so they could kiss each other.

Feeling the usual flutter whenever Toshiro called her 'baby', Karin smiled. It started kind of out of the blue recently, but she liked it. The affectionate tone in Toshiro's voice when he said it made her feel happy inside and out. They kissed one more time, and when they broke apart, her smile softened as they let go of each other.

She watched him walk back to his car and drive away, her smile falling after he was out of sight. This was unexpected… But I have to be okay with it, because I need to focus on studying and getting good grades on my exams. Even as she tried to encourage herself, she felt a part of her mind remained focused on Toshiro, as she turned to go back inside.

Later that evening

"That sucks that he has to leave." Kimi said, as she was sitting in the doorway of Karin's closet. Trying to get Zorro to let her pet him without him trying to attack her hand.

"You're telling me," Karin said, standing in the back of her closet, as she was picking out clothes to throw into the suitcase she was bringing with her to the music program. Their study group finished up about half an hour ago, and Kimi was planning on staying the night so they could get another hour or two of studying in before going to sleep. They were currently taking a break so Karin could get a little bit of packing done for the program. "It wouldn't have been so bad if I was expecting it, but it just came out of nowhere. We were supposed to go out to dinner on Friday and maybe see a movie or something. Then he was supposed to go with me to the airport on Saturday morning."

Kimi waved a hand after Karin sighed dramatically. "Changing the subject to something more cheerful now… How are you only using one suitcase? I've already almost filled up two suitcases, and I haven't even packed everything yet."

Karin shrugged, as she put another couple of shirts in the suitcase. "I'll probably end up using two. I'm just not trying to over-pack."

"I'll have you know that everything in my suitcases are essentials," Kimi said, grinning at Karin's raised eyebrow. "Well, almost everything is essential."

"I'm sure." Karin said, smirking at Kimi's laughter. She tossed a hair tie to the other side of the closet to get Zorro to go after it. That was the perfect opportunity for Kimi to pick Zorro up.

There was a knock on her bedroom door, before Hana appeared at the entrance of the closet. "Isshin and I are about to watch a movie, and we're going to make popcorn. I wanted to ask if you girls would like some to have when you're studying… or I guess not really studying now?"

Kimi and Karin both laughed, and Karin motioned to her suitcase. "Well we decided that we would try to get some of my packing done for Saturday, then after our short break, we are going to study."

"Ah," Hana said, her eyes landing on Karin's suitcase. "Well if you need any more suitcases, I have plenty at my apartment that you are welcome to borrow."

"She gets it," Kimi said, laughing as she pointed to Karin. "It's weird that you're only trying to pack one suitcase."

"Well, I mean it's just, you can never be too prepared." Hana said, a twinkle in her eye, as she offered Karin a smile.

"Thank you for offering," Karin said, motioning to the ceiling. "There are more suitcases in the attic if I need them though… As for the popcorn, that would be a nice snack."

"Right, well I'll go make an extra bag for you two." Hana said with a nod, and as she left, Zorro followed her out of the room.

Karin and Kimi got up, and left the closet to go sit on Karin's bed. Kimi's focus was on a book on Karin's desk. "What's that about? There's no title."

Before Kimi could reach for it, Karin hurriedly picked it up. "Oh it's nothing. Just some book I picked up in the library… Oddly enough it's about Somi's."

"Really?" Kimi asked, laying back on Karin's bed, as she pulled out her phone. "You found it in the normal human library? Not the one at the Somi tower?"

"Yeah," Karin said, slipping the book in her desk drawer, before joining Kimi on the bed again. "It was in that big library with the colorful windows. It was so strange that I came across it."

"I mean you're obviously just lucky. Either that or too obsessed with Somi stuff." Kimi added that last part, laughing as that made Karin glare at her.

"Okay, unlike you, my dad didn't tell me about any of this stuff growing up. Not that he knew I was a Somi until I did, but I mean anything spiritual. He didn't tell me until I already figured it out myself. I have tons of questions-"

"I know you do," Kimi interrupted, sighing heavily as she closed her eyes. "I feel like every time we go into the Somi tower, you are interested in everything, and we end up staying there longer than we should."

"I'm going to pretend that you're not hurting my feelings right now." Karin countered over-dramatically, as she feigned sadness.

"Don't worry, I've learned to accept you for who you are." Kimi said, patting Karin's hand, barely able to keep a serious face before they both burst out laughing.

"Okay, we really should start studying." Karin said after their laughter settled. Reaching over to grab their pile of textbooks and notes.

Kimi grabbed her stuff from off of the stack. "Maybe this would be easier after an episode of Grey's Anatomy."

"Maybe you're right," Karin agreed, both girls laughing as Karin went to pull up Netflix. "I have a feeling we're both pretty studied out at this point."

A few days later, Saturday morning, May 27th

"Thanks for dropping us of guys," Yuzu said, as she hurriedly hugged everyone. Her eyes on her dad last. "Did my grades finally upload this morning?"

Isshin nodded. "Yeah, as you said, you brought your grades up to As and Bs. I am proud of you for making that happen."

Yuzu smiled and shrugged, her eyes on Karin. "Yeah, I guess not all of us could manage to get all As."

"I worked hard for those grades this school year," Karin shot back, rolling her eyes at her sister's pointed tone. "If a certain someone didn't slack off all semester, then she could have got all As too."

"Girls." Isshin quickly spoke up at how glares were now being shot back and forth between the two.

Putting her smile back on her face, Yuzu's eyes focused across the room at some of her friends, more specifically focusing on Taro. "Oh, I have to go, see you all in a few weeks!"

"Goodbye!" Isshin called after her, chuckling at her obvious reason for leaving them so quickly. His eyes went to Hana. "Oh how they grow up. It's like the second they get a boyfriend or girlfriend, I don't exist anymore."

Hana smiled, as she wrapped an arm loosely around Isshin's. "Oh she's just a teenager in love, there's not much you can do to change that."

Ichigo scoffed at the sight. "I never acted like that when I was her age."

"You were busy disappearing for months at a time, and crushing on Orihime from a distance like a loser." Karin deadpanned.

Ichigo smirked, but glared back at Karin. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Okay," Isshin said, waving a hand to keep Karin from saying anything back to Ichigo. "We're not going to part ways with you two yelling at each other. That wouldn't be pleasant for anyone."

Karin just sighed, and handed Mina back over to Orihime, after having been holding her since they got out of the car. "Send me pictures of her everyday. If I miss any of her cute moments, then I might die."

Orihime laughed, as she adjusted Mina in her arms. "I'll be sure to do that."

"And I'll be sure to send photos of Zorro, so you also don't miss any cute moments of him." Hana added.

"That's all I ask," Karin said, sighing again, as she adjusted the straps of her carry on bag. "I guess I better get going."

"You don't seem that enthusiastic." Orihime noted, having noticed the obvious difference between Yuzu and Karin's attitudes.

"Are you feeling okay?" Hana asked, out of habit bringing her hand to Karin's forehead.

"I just didn't sleep much last night," Karin said, yawning as she hugged everyone one last time. "Anyway, like I said, I need to get going. It can take forever to get through security sometimes."

"Hopefully it won't be too bad," Isshin said, giving her a wave, before she had turned to go."It is pretty early, so maybe there won't be many others."

"Let's cross our fingers." Karin replied, before she started to walk away.

"Karin!"

The sound of Toshiro's voice hit her ears, and Karin turned to see him jogging over. Meeting him the rest of the way, she threw her arms around him, and she laughed happily. "I thought you weren't going to make it."

"Well, I all but had to race here, but I made it," Toshiro said, his hands slipped up to cradle her face, as they kissed. When their kiss broke, he smiled. "Have fun."

"I will," Karin said, as they hugged one last time. Now that they were so close, she smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too," Toshiro murmured in her ear, before they finally broke their hug. "Try to focus more on music this time since I'm not going to be there to distract you."

"Ha ha." Karin shot back, childishly sticking out her tongue in his direction, before she smirked and started walking.

"Oh wait," Toshiro said, his eyes going to Karin who was almost across the room by that point. "What did you end up getting on your report card?!"

Karin turned and walked backwards, as she smiled at him. "I got all As!"

"I knew you would!" Toshiro countered, smiling as he watched Karin walk away.

After Karin was out of sight, Orihime immediately turned to Toshiro. "You came all the way here just for a minute to say goodbye to her. That is so cute."

Toshiro shook his head, and tried to avoid Orihime's eyes. Fighting with keeping the smirk off his face seemed to be pointless. "Don't start."

Orihime still kept her smile on her face, as she waved a hand. "I'm just saying."

On the plane

After sliding her bag under her seat, Karin sat down in her seat, and couldn't keep the smile off her face. Something that was noticeable to the others.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Yuzu asked, an eyebrow raised at how just before, her sister had what seemed like a permanent frown on her face, and now she seemed to have done had a full attitude shift.

"Toshiro showed up last minute," Karin said, fighting the urge to squeal with how much happiness she had. "He had to practically race across town, but he made it just in time."

"No wonder why you're such in a good mood now," Yuzu said, their eyes going forward as the last of the passengers were seated on the plane. Looking around them at some of the recognizable people from each of their programs. "It's so wild to think we're doing this for the second year in a row."

"I know," Karin agreed, her eyes focusing out the window. Other planes in the distance, and the morning sunrise that seemed to remind her how early it was. "The program changed our lives so much last year. I wonder how it's going to change us this year."

"Hopefully we'll be changing for the better." Yuzu said, turning in her seat to look a few rows back where Taro was seated next to Jax, and she smiled when they made eye contact.

Noticing Yuzu was distracted, Karin's mind floated down to where her carry on bag was. Leaning over, she pulled the bag out, and opened it. Staring at the book in her bag for a long moment, she had to put the bag back when the flight attendant got their attention for the safety video. Despite trying to pay attention, her mind wandered, as her eyes went back to the window. I have a feeling things are going to change this Summer, but like you said Yuzu. Hopefully, it's for the better.

A/N: Karin and this book… I wonder what will come of it. What was your favorite scene this chapter?

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