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"Yes, that's the plan," Karin replied, using her free hand to keep her hair away from her eyes. "Raya's going to be at the house with the family, because we're watching her for Rin and Kei while they go on their honeymoon. Her and her dog that is. My family is going to be keeping an eye on them, so I don't have to worry about that tonight. It'll be nice to go out."

Raising an eyebrow at the tired expression on Karin's face. "If you don't fall asleep first."

"Yeah, I might take a little nap before we go to dinner." Karin said, stifling yet another yawn.

"I think I could agree to that, as long as I can join," Toshiro replied, smiling back at Karin, as he held out a hand. "For now, let's go to a wedding."

A few weeks later, October 24th

Karin scrolled through her Instagram, and liked all of Mai's anniversary photos she was posting. It was their one-year anniversary yesterday, and they had gone on vacation for the past few days to a tropical island. I wish I could be on a tropical island right now… Although, now that I think about it, I am more of a cabin in the woods kind of girl… It must be nice to be able to go on a trip with her husband and have it just be the two of them. My dad's pretty much okay with me sleeping over at Toshiro's occasionally, but I highly doubt he'd be okay with us going on a vacation just the two of us. Her eyes went to the door when she heard it opening to see her brother first.

"Hey Karin." Ichigo greeted, as he set Mina down after letting Bingo off his leash to greet Gus.

Orihime had been holding Emi's hand when they walked in, and she pointed to Emi's shoes. "We've got to take off your shoes Emi."

"Hey guys," Karin said, gravitating right over to Mina first to get her a little kiss on her forehead. "Mina."

"Kk!" Mina replied cheerfully, giving her own little kisses to her aunt, before she was distracted by the dogs.

Emi clapped her hands to get attention from Karin too, and after greeting the toddler, Karin glanced to her brother and sister-in-law. "How's it been watching Emi the past three days?"

"It's been okay." Ichigo replied, setting Mina's diaper bag down on the coffee table.

Orihime nodded in agreement. "Emi's three and a half now, and compared to last year, she is potty trained and it makes it a lot easier to have her and Mina in the house together."

"It's not completely easy, but it is easier," Ichigo added, his eyes focused on his phone briefly. "They are coming home tomorrow."

"Everytime I come over here, I feel like you add new decorations to the house." Orihime said, having to push some of the paper bats and skeletons that were hanging from the ceiling out of the way.

"It's Halloween season," Karin replied, pointing to Zorro dramatically. "And it's our favorite season."

Zorro, meanwhile, hissed and jumped up to the top of the couch after Ichigo stepped closer to sit down on the couch. "Demon cat."

Karin's laughed as her phone buzzed, and she stood up after reading the text. "I wish I could stay, but I'm meeting my friends at The Grill."

"That's okay. Go have fun with your friends," Orihime said, finishing with Emi's shoes and Mina's as well. "We'll be around for a few more hours today."

"Alright, goodbye boys." Karin said, smiling as Gus and Bingo both tried to follow her out the door. Zorro and Lou couldn't be bothered to acknowledge the fact that I was leaving.

At The Grill

"Sorry I'm late," Karin said, joining her friends at a big circle booth in the corner of the bar & grill. "I needed to let Gus out one more time. Then when he came in, Orihime and Ichigo showed up with the kids right when I was about to walk out the door."

"That's fine," Natsuki said, waving it off with a smile. "It's hard to say goodbye to the furbabies in your family, let alone the human babies."

"Very true." Karin agreed, laughing as she sat down and put her car keys in her bag.

"Not to change the subject," Kimi started, motioning to her phone. "But I'm super jealous of all of Mai's vacation pictures on Instagram. I wish I had a husband that took me to a paradise like that."

Karin laughed. "You might want to try to find a boyfriend first before going straight to husband."

"Or," Natsuki said, over-dramatically waving her hands to get their attention. "She could just do that whole arranged marriage thing to a prince or something."

"Exactly." Kimi agreed, laughing along with everyone else."

"I can't believe it is already almost the end of October. It feels like we just started school a week ago," Kura said, then she waved it off. "Not literally a week, but you know what I mean."

"I know, it's wild." Natsuki said, snuggling up to her boyfriend, Kohaku, who was smirking.

"The exams we are having right now are making it pretty clear that it's about mid-semester."

Karin rolled her eyes and smirked. "Kohaku, that's just because you're skipping our our study group. If you would actually attend, it wouldn't be that big of a deal."

Kohaku laughed. "I only skipped one-"

"It was the big one the night before the history exam," Karin interrupted, her eyebrow raised as she grinned. "You know, the one you got a 'C' on."

The others laughed, meanwhile, Natsuki, patted her boyfriend's hand. "Don't worry. We'll make sure you do good on your math exam so it'll balance out your progress report a little."

Kohaku sighed over-dramatically. "If only math weren't my worst subject."

"Same." Karin agreed with a laugh. The conversation switched to something else, and her focus was on her sister who was sitting at the bar. She was talking with some red-head. Her eyes widened when she realized it was Kat, and she raised an eyebrow.

Kimi noticed Karin's focus was elsewhere. "What?"

"Nothing," Karin replied, tearing her eyes away from Yuzu and Kat, and she motioned to Kimi. "How about we talk about Kimi's quest to find a boyfriend?"

"Hmmm," Natsuki hummed, as she tapped her chin. "You could try a little harder, Kimi."

Kimi laughed. "What does that mean?"

"You opt to stay in and watch Netflix instead of coming out with us to a party." Natsuki pointed out.

"So?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Karin added after Kimi spoke.

Sara waved off Karin's words. "You already have a boyfriend so that doesn't help."

"I didn't get my boyfriend by partying though." Karin pointed out, an eyebrow raised and she smirked at how that made Kimi roll her eyes.

"No all of us can get a Toshiro without going out," Kimi said, propping her chin on her hands. "Maybe I should occasionally start stepping out of my house."

"There you go. You're an outside person now." Karin grinned as that had them all laughing.

Over at the bar

Laughing along with Kat, Yuzu had to wipe under her eyes, as she felt she almost came close to tears. Checking the time on her phone had her sighing. "I've got to go. Taro and I are actually going to see a movie tonight."

"Like in actually theaters?" Kat asked, chuckling as she propped her elbows on the bar top. "Do people still do that?"

"Apparently so," Yuzu said, unable to help but smile as that made Kat laugh again. "We usually wait until movies come out, but there's something I really want to see in a big-screen theater type setting so… I guess it'll be worth it."

"Well, have fun being apart of society," Kat said, straightening up as someone else looked as if they were going to approach the bar. "I am going to stick to isolating myself to my bat cave… Now that I've said that, I think I need to clarify that I mean my room, and not other places that people reference as their bat cave."

Throwing her head back as she laughed, Yuzu settled for giggling as Kat had to call back for the head bartender to check the other person's ID. She smiled as Kat's eyes were back on her. "Well, that's something I'm never going to be able to think about the same way ever again, thank you."

"You're very welcome," Kat said, chuckling as she gave Yuzu a wave. "Enjoy the movie."

"Fingers crossed I will," Yuzu said, over-dramatically crossing her fingers, then she turned to leave. Her eyes caught sight of Karin and her friends sitting across the bar & grill, and she walked over to them. "Hey, I must have missed you guys when I came in."

"We actually got here after you did," Natsuki answered first, her eyes flicking up from her phone to Yuzu. "Are you here by yourself?"

Yuzu shook her head and motioned to the door. "Um no, I was waiting for Taro to get off of work, and decided to sit in here for a bit. I was just about to go meet up with him. We're going to see movie, then go to dinner."

"Aw, dinner and a movie? That's so cute; I think I want to die. But from my crippling loneliness more than anything else." Kimi said with a deadpan expression.

That had the others laughing, and Karin's eyes went to Yuzu. "Kimi's on a quest for a boyfriend, and it hasn't been going all that well."

"I'm sure you will find someone," Yuzu said encouragingly, however she hummed. "They might have to come right to the door of your house, but you'll find them."

Again, everyone laughed, but Kimi just smirked. "Wow, it's confirmed. I definitely need to get out more."

"So Yuzu," Kura said to change the subject. "What movie are you and your boyfriend going to see?"

"The live-action Mulan, because we are actually teenage children." Yuzu replied, laughing along with the others on that one.

Kura motioned between herself and her boyfriend. "Shino and I were actually about to go see that too. Do you want to ride with us over to the theater?"

"That would be great actually," Yuzu said, her eyes drifting back to her sister. "I guess I'll see you back at home."

"Have fun." Karin replied halfheartedly, as her attention was on her phone now.

Smirking as she could tell that it was a picture of Lou and Zorro sleeping next to each other that Karin had gotten distracted by, Yuzu started in the direction of the exit. She paused at the door to look back in the direction of the bar. Her eyes lingering on the bright red hair that Kat wore now, before she left.

Once outside, Shino whistled and motioned to the black and dark magenta accented car. "Karin's car is crazy. It belongs on a freaking raceway."

Yuzu chuckled, as they walked past Karin's car to where Shino's car was parked. "She certainly likes how fast it can go. That is for sure. I don't think my dad took that in for account when he bought it for her."

"When are you going to get your license?" Kura asked.

"I still have another month," Yuzu said, sighing heavily as she walked around the car to get in the back seat. "It's killing me. I shouldn't have waited so long to get my permit last year, but it just wasn't something I was interested in."

Once they all got in the car, Kura turned around to look at Yuzu in the backseat. "If it makes you feel any better, my birthday is the last one out of all of my friends. I can't get my license until December."

"As much that sucks, it does make me feel better actually." Yuzu said, laughing along with Kura.

Five minutes later they parked outside the theater, just as Taro was parking beside them. Yuzu smiled at the sight of him. "Look who it is."

"I was wondering who you were getting a ride with." Taro said, getting out of his car.

"I ran into Karin and some of her friends at The Grill," Yuzu said, rolling up her window in the car, before opening the door. "Kura and Shino offered to give me a ride over here."

"Did you eat already?" Taro asked her, before he kissed her once she was fully out of the car.

"I had a little snack, but I was really just trying to pass the time. Don't worry, I'll be ready to eat after the movie," Yuzu said, glancing at Kura and Shino, then back to Taro. "Do you mind if Taro and Shino join us?"

"Sure, I don't mind." Taro said, wrapping his arm around Yuzu's waist.

"Hey," Yuzu said, getting Kura and Shino's attention. "Do you want to watch the movie with us?"

Kura and Shino shared a look, before Kura nodded. "Sure."

Later that night, Rocky's Diner

"At least the movie turned out to be as good as the trailer was making it out to be." Yuzu said, starting on the dessert they ordered after they had finished up dinner.

"I mean, I thought I would have liked it regardless, because I loved the movie when I was a kid." Kura replied, also getting a bite of the dessert.

"Same here. I really thought the live-action aspect was really cool too." Yuzu added, her eyes moving over to Shino and Taro, who were walking back to the booth they were sitting in.

"I think it's pretty cool that you work at the electronics store Taro," Shino said, settling down in the chair next to Kura. "I'm kind of into electronics myself."

"It's something that my dad and I worked on a lot, and it's a pretty interesting job. Although I'd rather be at home playing video games-" Taro broke off at Yuzu's look, and his lopsided grin appeared. "Or spending time with my girlfriend, then play video games. Girlfriend comes first."

That made them all laugh, and Yuzu leaned over to him. "I would happily spend time with you while you play video games."

Taro wrapped an arm around Yuzu's shoulders, and he kissed her cheek. "That's why I love you."

"Shino and I have been watching a lot of Netflix lately," Kura said, taking another bite of dessert. "There is this one show called Imposters."

"Oh lord-"

"Yes!" Yuzu exclaimed, interrupting Taro from saying anything more. "It's so nice knowing that someone else watches that show. Taro doesn't want to watch it with me, and it was absolutely the best two seasons of a TV show that I've ever watched."

Kura laughed and motioned to her boyfriend. "Shino won't watch it with me either. Did you watch it when it was live on TV?"

"Yeah, but I've re-watched it so many times since it got on Netflix.."

Taro and Shino were quick to drown out the conversation between their girlfriends, and taro leaned over to Shino. "I didn't know it was possible to care so much about a TV show.. Although at least it gives us more time for video games if they are distracted, am I right?"

"Absolutely." Shino agreed, smirking and high-fiving Taro.

A few days later

Kneeling down to look behind the TV, Karin frowned. "Zorro's not here either."

"He's not out back. I looked up in the trees and everything." Hana said, coming in from the back porch.

Isshin appeared from the hall with the study and guest bedrooms off of it. "He's not in the study or the guest bedrooms."

"He's not upstairs either." Yuzu said, as she came down the stairs.

Feeling her heart drop to her stomach, Karin felt almost nauseous at the realization. "He's outside then. He has to be…"

"You never know, he might be hiding in a strange spot in the house still," Hana said, trying to keep Karin's hopes up. "And if he did go outside, I'm sure he's around the house. He wouldn't go that far away."

"What if something happens to him though?" Karin asked, feeling more worried every minute. "He's never been outside before."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Isshin added hurriedly, offering his daughter a smile. "He might still be hiding somewhere inside. I'll go double check and make sure he didn't get in the attic."

"We can go look outside." Yuzu suggested, and after Karin nodded, they all got their shoes on to go out.

They happened to be going outside just as Orihime and Ichigo were getting out of their car in the driveway. Orihime turned towards them first. "What's going on?"

Karin walked right by their car without saying anything, then she started down the sidewalk. Yuzu hurriedly started after her sister. "Karin! Don't you think we should check around the house first?"

Hana sighed and stopped by Orihime and Ichigo. "We can't find Zorro. We've looked all over inside."

"Oh no," Orihime said, glancing around the yard. "He's got to be around her somewhere. Karin's got to be so worried about him."

"How about we go put Bingo inside with Gus and help them look?" Ichigo asked, having got Mina out of her car seat, and put Bingo's leash on before letting him out of the car.

"Yeah we can do that," Orihime agreed, accepting Bingo's leash from Ichigo. "Where's Isshin?"

"He's checking the attic," Hana said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's a long shot, but that cat is crafty. I wouldn't put it past him to find a way up there. I was just about to check around the outside of the house."

Ichigo set Mina down on the ground, and took her hand. "Mina and I can help with that."

Meanwhile at Urahara's

"The last couple of assignments have gone smoothly, and I'll just need another couple of days to complete the final notes." Toshiro said, closing the folder and sliding it over to Urahara.

Rukia raised a hand casually. "I can help with the paperwork."

"Or how about we go on a date tonight instead?" Renji suggested.

"We can't always leave the paperwork to Toshiro." Rukia said, smirking as that made Renji sigh dramatically.

"Don't worry about it," Toshiro said, a smirk settling on his face. "Soon enough, if Renji gets promoted to a captain, he'll be responsible for all of his division's paperwork."

Renji frowned, then motioned to Rukia. "Rukia could help me then."

Rukia shrugged. "Yeah, I don't think so."

That made everyone laugh, even Renji joined in, before he leaned over and kissed Rukia's cheek quickly.

"Okay," Urahara said, closing the file in front of him. "That assignment discussion is complete, now Toshiro wanted to talk about somethings."

"Right well-" Toshiro's phone ringing interrupted him, and he grabbed it. Seeing it was Karin, he stood up and walked to the hallway to answer. "Hey baby, I'm in a meeting right now."

"Toshiro, Zorro got out of the house, and I don't know where he is?"

"Are you sure? He's not behind the TV? And you checked in all the cabinets in the kitchen?"

"We've looked everywhere in the house, and we can't find him outside either."

Toshiro's frown deepened, as he could tell Karin was close to tears. "Don't give up. He's going to show up anytime. I'll be there soon to help look."

"Okay, thank you."

Ending the phone call, Toshiro walked back in the main room. "Change of plans, I have to go."

"Why?" Rukia asked.

"Karin can't find her cat, and she thinks he got out of the house. So she's pretty upset." Toshiro replied, slipping on his jacket.

It was quiet for a moment, Renji tilting his head to the side. "You're leaving because of a missing cat."

"Yes," Toshiro said, grabbing his phone, and sliding the folder in front of him over to Rangiku. "If you could, go over what you can with them, and let me know what the verdict is."

"Okay." Rangiku agreed, a smile on her face at how quick Toshiro was going out the door. Karin has certainly changed Toshiro that's for sure. He used to be solely focused on work. It's for the better, I think.

At the Kurosaki house

Toshiro got out of his car to find Orihime, Ichigo, Isshin, and Hana out in the front yard. "Any luck?"

"No, we haven't found him yet." Hana replied, having seen Toshiro approaching first.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting at Urahara's?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah, we got through half of it, when Karin called," Toshiro said, glancing down at his phone. "Rangiku is taking over the rest of it for me."

"So no luck down the street." Yuzu's voice hit their ears, as she and Karin returned from having checked all down the street their house was off of.

Toshiro held his arms out to hug Karin when she came over to him. She held a completely dejected look on her face.

"Zorro's never been out of the house before, and I'm worried that he's going to get lost or get hit by a car or something-"

"I'm sure he's probably just somewhere causing someone else hell for a little while," Toshiro interrupted Karin, before she could get ahead of herself. "You know how he is, he'll show up when he feels like it."

Karin sniffled a little, as she nodded. Her sad expression remaining on her face.

"How about we go put Gus on a leash, and take him with us through the neighborhood? Maybe he can help us find Zorro?" Toshiro suggested.

"Okay." Karin agreed, although the bad feeling she had didn't go away.

Later that day

As the sun was setting, Karin and Toshiro returned back to her house, they stopped in the yard to let Gus smell the mailbox. "Maybe we should go back down the other side of the street again."

"I know you don't want to stop, but you need to take a break and eat something." Toshiro said, although he could tell that was the last thing Karin wanted to do.

"It's getting dark out Toshiro," Karin said, her eyes scanning around them. "He's a black cat, and it'll be impossible to see him in the dark. Something can happen to him."

"I know," Toshiro said, reaching up to push Karin's hair back, before he kissed her. "He's going to turn up."

Karin nodded, scratching Gus behind the ears a bit, before going inside.

"No luck?" Isshin asked from the kitchen, walking out with a couple glasses of water.

"No." Karin replied, taking Gus' leash off, then she hung it on up on the hook by the back door.

"Don't worry Karin," Hana said, trying to be encouraging. "He'll probably show up anytime now."

"Your brother and Orihime picked up some dinner from Rocky's." Isshin added, motioning to the table.

At Karin's lack of movement, Toshiro took her hand. "Hey, we can go out and look again after we eat."

"Okay." Karin finally agreed, still not that enthusiastic about it, as she joined them at the table. As the topic changed to Mina almost being a year and a half years old, and she was picking up some new words too. Her eyes flickered to the window. The sun almost completely down now made her bad feeling increase.

Around a half-hour later

Having finished eating first, Karin had Lou on her lap, and she was petting her to try to ease her anxiety a bit. Not really listening to the others conversation, as all she could think about is Zorro.

"Hey," Toshiro said, leaning over to her. "Do you want to go out and look one more time now?"

"Yeah I guess-" Karin broke off as the sound of scratching hit her ears. Staring down at Lou in her lap for a moment, the scratching was heard again. She got up and set Lou on her chair.

"You've got to be kidding." Orihime said, watching Karin walk to the front door.

Karin took a breath and opened the door. Her eyes widening as Zorro strolled inside, rubbing up against her leg and purring. Without missing a beat, she deadpanned. "You little asshole! What the actual hell? You're going to just walk right in the house after being gone all day, and act like nothing happened?!"

The only reaction from Zorro was to roll onto his back, and flick his tail a few times. A strong purr coming from him.

"Would you look at that?" Isshin chuckled along with the others.

"Karin's cat is as dramatic as she is." Yuzu added with an eye roll, but she smiled.

Karin scooped Zorro up in her arms. "You scared me half to death, don't ever do that again!"

Karin's scolding of Zorro apparently riled of Gus, which in turn got Bingo involved in the barking. Lou hissed when they got to close, and she jumped up to the top of the back of the couch. Her claws out and getting stuck in the couch. At all the chaos Mina started giggling and trying to get off her chair. In the process of trying to keep Mina in her chair, Orihime knocked over her glass of water.

"I'll go get some paper towels." Yuzu said, getting up from the table.

Ichigo deadpanned, as he took over trying to keep Mina at the table. "This chaos is all because of your damn cat, Karin."

"The evil cat." Toshiro added, a smirk on his face.

"He's not evil." Karin insisted, completely oblivious to all the chaos around her, as she hugged Zorro to her.

A few days later, October 31st

"Raya, try to stay still for just another minute." Yuzu said, trying to finish the face paint on the five-year-old.

"But it tickles." Raya said through her giggles.

"Well, you're going to be the prettiest butterfly in town." Rin said, taking a picture of her daughter, and smiling at how beautiful she looked.

Orihime was all admiring the face paint. "Cosmetology is apparently pulling off."

"I guess," Yuzu agreed with a shrug. "Although I sleep in most of the classes."

"Excuse me?" Isshin questioned immediately, an eyebrow raised.

Yuzu's eyes widened, but she quickly laughed it off. "I mean I think about sleeping in class. I don't actually sleep."

While the others laughed, Isshin smirked and fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Uh-huh, right."

"Shit, sorry," Karin apologized at her cursing. She was currently sitting on Toshiro's shoulders, as they were putting some streamers across the front entry way of the house.

"Karin, you've got to come see the dogs!" Mai called over from out on the back porch.

"Hold on a second!" Karin called back, focusing on taping another streamer up.

"Karin," Toshiro said, a smirk on his face. "You're moving too much."

"Well, if we could just get in sync here, then it wouldn't seem like that- ow!" Karin exclaimed at feeling Toshiro pinch her leg, and she laughed and kicked him lightly.

"Ow." Toshiro said, laughing along with her.

All the dogs ran inside at that moment, and Karin got distracted at how cute they were. All dressed in superhero costumes. "Wow, they are so cute."

At Karin's distraction, Toshiro smirked. "Are we done here?"

"Yes," Karin said, getting down from Toshiro's shoulders, and kneeling down to be surrounded by all the dogs. "This was such a good idea."

"I got the masks to stay on for a photo in the backyard, and it's amazing." Mai said, showing the photo to Karin.

"Oh my god, send that to me right now!" Karin said, having to dodge Gus, who was trying to lick her face.

"Oh, let me see!" Orihime exclaimed from where she was taste-testing some of the cookies.

"So dad," Yuzu said, after reading a text message, and switching to working on Raya's hair. "Can I get a confirmation on our curfew being extended tonight? Hinata's asking."

Isshin gave a nod. "Yes to twelve-thirty."

"Great, a whole thirty minutes than last year." Yuzu said, pausing to text Hinata back.

"Well," Isshin said, raising an eyebrow in her direction. "I can just keep it at your standard curfew at ten-thirty if you'd like."

"Yeah, twelve-thirty is great." Yuzu said, quickly changing her tune, with a smile on her face.

"Alright," Ichigo said, walking in the house with Kei and Hikari. "The pumpkins are unloaded from the truck."

Meanwhile, Kei was watching the dogs running around in costumes. "That seems like a little too much."

"But they are so cute in their costumes." Mai insisted, showing some of the pictures she took of the dogs.

"So," Rin started, her eyes on Karin and Toshiro. "What are your plans this year?"

"We're actually planning on staying around for the kids party a little while longer," Karin replied, her eyes going to Toshiro, then back to Rin. "The party won't be starting until eight."

"And what about you, Yuzu?" Rin asked.

"I'll be leaving soon. Hinata is going to pick me up at six thirty so we can get ready early," Yuzu said, pausing to focus on not pulling Raya's hair. "I think we're picking up Kura too."

Karin raised an eyebrow. "Wait, as in my friend Kura?"

Yuzu nodded. "Yeah, after she and her boyfriend gave me a ride to the movies, we saw the movie together and went out for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and we've started hanging out a bit."

"Wow… You know, at first, I was going to say that I didn't see you two being friends, but it kind of makes sense. Plus, I'm sure Taro and Shino get along. They have a lot in common." Karin added.

Yuzu finished up with Raya's hair and she stood up. "Alright little miss, let's go put your costume on, okay?"

"Okay!" Raya cheered, her curious hands going to her hair, as she went with Yuzu to the stairs.

After Raya was gone, Hana's attention went to Karin and Toshiro. "So if you two are leaving later to go to the party, what are you planning to dress up as?"

Karin shared a look with Toshiro, and they both chuckled. "We're keeping it simple this year, and we're going as Pam and Jim from The Office."

"The specific Halloween episode we're pulling from is the Three Hole Punch Jim, and Pam went as a cat. All I need is three cut out holes of paper, and Karin needs cat ears and to draw cat whiskers on her face." Toshiro added.

"We wanted to do it, because it is super easy," Karin said, getting a text from Yuzu to bring the rest of Raya's costume upstairs. She grabbed it from the couch. "I'll be right back."

After Karin went upstairs, Orihime chuckled. "It's so lucky for you that Karin isn't that into partying. When I was her age-"

Ichigo's smirking appeared to have stopped Orihime. "When you were here age what? You don't have to pretend, you know? I know that you and Tatsuki did a lot of crazy things."

Orihime shrugged, then tapped her chin. "I wouldn't call them crazy."

"From what Tatsuki told me, I would." Mai disagreed, laughing along with Ichigo.

"As for the party, if Karin wanted to stay longer, I would stay with her," Toshiro said, having managed to hold back on laughing, as he smirked at Orihime. "She's the one who wants to stay over here with the kids longer this year."

"Okay, Raya's costume is adorable," Karin said, returning back to the living room. She knelt down to Emi and Mina, and smiled at them. "Your costumes are very cute too."

"Thanks KK!" Emi chirped happily, as she and Emi giggled at the attention.

Karin smile widened at the children. Since Mina had been calling her KK instead of Karin, Emi and Raya have picked up on calling her that too. I think it's pretty cute.

A few hours later

"Cheers to us witches," Yuzu said, laughing along with her friends, as they had all ended up being witches this year. She leaned over to Kura. "The glow sticks were such a great idea."

"I thought it'd be easier to find each other, since apparently there are barely any lights this year at the party." Kura said, motioning upwards to the purple and orange string lights that were all over the place. Giving the room they were in a strange purple and orange toned glow.

"There is definitely music though," Yuzu had to raise her voice to be heard over the music. "I can barely hear myself think- Oh Taro."

Taro's arms slipping around her from behind had startled her a little, but he smirked as she turned around to face him. "I really like your costume."

"You just enjoy the view." Yuzu corrected, a smirk on her own face at how his eyes were really focused on her chest.

"That's very true." Taro agreed, tilting his head down to kiss her.

"Yuzu!" Hinata's voice was heard from across the room. "Let's go get a drink!"

Yuzu smiled at Taro. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Taro said, taking her hand to go along with Hinata and Yukio.

Over by Karin

"So," Karin said, her eyes on Naomi and Rose. "How is school going for you two?"

"It's not that great actually," Rose said, a scowl on her face. "Our science lab blew up."

"She's being dramatic," Naomi said, a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. "It was just a little pumpkin explosion, and it's closed until they can fully clean the place up."

Rose laughed. "Guess who blew up the pumpkin?"

As all eyes went to Naomi, she waved it off. "That is what we were supposed to do. People were blowing up pumpkins since it was so close to Halloween."

"Outside," Rose corrected, deadpanning. "We were supposed to do it outside."

That made them all laugh, and Karin especially getting a kick out of it. "That's something I would do."

"Rose is all sciency," Naomi said, before motioning to herself. "I just would like to have fun in high school, and science and math are not going to help me with that."

"Science is definitely not in our nature, right Karin?" Kimi asked, grinning as Karin nodded.

As the conversation switched to more on how school was going for Rose and Naomi, Karin's eyes wandered throughout the crowd of people around them. She searched for a few minutes, before finally settling on the sight of her sister nearby one of the kegs on the back porch. She was just able to see her through the open sliding back door. With a few steps to the side, she could see her sister was talking to Kat.

"What are you looking at?"

Kimi's voice made Karin jump slightly. "Nothing really. Just checking to make sure Yuzu isn't dead."

Kimi chuckled at that and she leaned over to see where Yuzu was. "Oh, that girl she is with. She works as a bartender at The Grill… Oh yeah, you want to know what I heard about them last year-"

"Kimi," Karin interrupted quickly, taking another look at Yuzu and Kat, before focusing back on the others. "Let's talk about something else."

"Okay, I get it," Kimi said, giving up pretty easily. "So your costumes are interesting."

At the mention of her and Toshiro's costumes, Karin smiled. "Well, we figured that putting in the least amount of effort was the way to go this year, and going as season 2 Pam and Jim was the easiest for us. I'd love to have dressed up as Meredith and Derek from Grey's Anatomy, but Toshiro said he'd rather die."

After they all laughed, Kimi couldn't seem to stop giggling. "That's kind of funny because Derek dies on the show."

"I wouldn't know that," Toshiro said, motioning to himself. "I don't watch the show apart from the times that I am forced to against my will."

"That's my doing." Karin said, laughing along with the others. As they changed the subject to something else, her eyes wandered out among the many other people here. Finally her search ended with spotting Yuzu over by one of the kegs talking to someone with bright red hair. Wait a second. That's the Kat that Yuzu hung out with last year. I didn't know they still talked to each other-

"Karin?"

Toshiro's voice caught her attention, and she looked back to him. "So I know it's only been an hour and a half, but I'm kind of ready to leave."

"That is music to my ears." Toshiro said before telling the others they were going to leave.

Karin's eyes drifted back over to Yuzu and Kat, and she raised an eyebrow. Interesting…

Twenty minutes later

"I am not a fan of jump scares, but that was the best haunted house." Yuzu said, as she and her friends walked back into the main house the party was.

"Let's go play some beer pong." Hinata said, motioning for them to go downstairs into the basement with her.

Yuzu paused when Taro grabbed her hand, before she could go downstairs as well. "What's up?"

"I'm going to go find Jax, Shin, and Yukio and see if they want to play on the second table down there. Save it for us?"

"Of course," Yuzu agreed, kissing him once, before they went their separate ways. Once downstairs, she straightened her witch hat. "I'm back, let's play."

Hinata and Yuzu took one side of the table, and Kura and Suki took the other. Yuzu picked up the ball to start aiming towards one of the cups on the opposite side of the table, but a familiar laugh caught her ears right as she threw the ball. Her eyes moving to the side to see Kat was out on the porch talking to some people. Shaking off the distraction, she sighed and smile at Kura and Suki scowling as Yuzu managed to land the ball in one of the cups anyways. "I almost didn't make it in. Let's hope I don't get distracted anymore. Good luck to you two."

"I think we'll need as much luck as we can," Kura said, her eyes moving from Yuzu to Suki. "Yuzu always dominates beer pong."

"Yeah, she's really good. Most of the time undefeated." Suki added, picking up the cup that Yuzu's ball had landed in.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not driving tonight then." Kura said, before picking up her cup to take a drink."

"I would say I would drink to that just out of spirit, but since we have to drink… Cheers!" Suki added, clinking her cup to Kura's, before they both took a drink.

Yuzu and Hinata laughed from their side of the table, and Hinata picked up her cup. "I'll drink that as well."

"Me too," Yuzu agreed, clinking their cups and taking a sip. "Now let's do this!"

At the Kurosaki house

Stretching out her legs after allowing Gus to sit on the floor next to where she was on the couch, Karin settled for pulling her legs up close to her on the couch, then snuggled up next to Toshiro. Her eyebrows raised at Mina who was fighting sleep. "How is she still awake right now?"

"She went to bed at seven like normal," Orihime said, pushing some of Mina's hair out of her face. "But, I think some of the noise from some of the trick-or-treaters that are still out woke her up."

"Poor baby, she looks exhausted." Hana said, having re-joined them after making them some more popcorn in the kitchen for the next movie.

"Have you heard from your sister?" Isshin asked, his eyes moving from his phone to Karin then to Ichigo.

"Why are you asking Ichigo?" Karin countered, a smirk on her face, as she grabbed some popcorn. "If she doesn't talk to me, she definitely wouldn't talk to him."

"I would argue, but she's not wrong," Ichigo replied, a smirk growing on his face. "The only time I text either of them is when someone is dying or food is involved."

Karin laughed. "That's true… But no, the last time I saw her she and her friends were going into a haunted house."

"Did you see some of the pictures of the dogs in their costumes with the kids?" Hana asked, motioning to Bingo then to Gus. "They met some other dogs while out, and they had plenty of exercise."

"Yes, I saved them to my phone, and I can tell they had a lot of exercise," Karin laughed at the sight of Bingo and Gus passed out on the rug in front of the unlit fireplace. Lou jumped up on her lap for some attention. Which Karin gave the cat for nearly thirty seconds, before Zorro jumped up and crammed his body between Karin and Lou. "I think Zorro is a little jealous of Lou."

"I would offer to pet Zorro, but he is very selective about when I get to pet him." Toshiro said, eyeing the black cat that Karin loved so much.

"He's an angel."

"You're the only one who see's that." Toshiro replied to Karin, smirking as the rest of her family laughed, and he just wrapped his arm a little closer around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. A lot has changed in the last year, but the one thing I'm enjoying is experiencing these holidays for the second time with Karin. I feel like things are becoming tradition, and I didn't realize just how much I was missing out in my life before I met her. I've never been happier.

A/N: Second Halloween chapter is down! A lot has changed from last Halloween. What do you think will be going on next Halloween for them? What was your favorite chapter?

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