I give you the second chapter of Flower Among Men!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!
After few hours of training which had included hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting and every kind of fighting one could come up with Byakuya finally let the six adolescents to have a break.
"You must rest for the rest of the day. When the sun sets we'll take off", he said glancing from one panting person to another. Renji and Yumichika were laying on the ground, Ichigo sitting on a bench and Ikkaku, trying to be a tough guy, was standing with a hand on his hip sweeping sweat off his forehead with another. Karin was standing too, leaning on her knees breathing heavily. Toushiro was father away with his back against a trunk of a tree.
"And I mean rest when I say rest. Absolutely no running around. Do you hear me Ichigo, Renji?" Byakuya continued glaring at the young men. Both nodded too out of breath to say anything. Byakuya turned around and walked away from the training field with that.
"You're much tougher than I realized you were, little girl!" Ichigo said once his breathing had calmed down. Karin shot a mean glare at him. The man was only a year older than she was so she didn't want to hear 'little girl' from him. In fact she didn't want to hear that from anyone, except maybe her father.
"Yeah, tough enough to kick your ass!" she told grinning challengingly. Ichigo's eyebrows shot up before his expression was back to his usual scowl. He glared at the raven haired girl in front of him.
"Ya wanna see if I can be beaten that easily?" he said walking closer to Karin. He stopped right in front of her and looked down. Karin scowled looking up to the orange-headed man. Sometimes she wished she was taller. Like now.
"Bring it on big guy!" Karin said lifting her fists in front of her face and taking a step away from Ichigo so that he couldn't land a hit on her easily. The taller man lifted his eyebrow before taking his stance too. The two stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
Suddenly a stern voice boomed around the field from the speakers surrounding it. "Didn't I tell you to rest? Now get out of the field and into your beds!"
Everyone recognized the voice as Byakuya and looked around to try and spot the man. They saw nobody.
"Okay, that was odd. How could he tell we were about to fight?" Karin asked still looking warily around herself. Yumichika and Ikkaku, not interested in a fight against a girl had already left the field and were walking to their home. Most of the guys lived with at least one roommate, though there were exceptions. Like Byakuya for example.
"Are you scared?" Ichigo sneered. Karin hit his jaw with a strong right hook without even looking at his direction, making him fall to the ground. Renji stared at the scene with a smirk slowly forming on his face. Soon he was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down his face. Toushiro turned his head away to hide his amused smile.
Karin turned to look at the man laying on the ground with a fake surprised look.
"How did you get there? Do you have such an awful balance?" she asked sounding extremely worried. Ichigo shot an extremely dirty look at her making her smirk.
The speakers rattled as someone coughed into the mic. Everyone still on the field glanced up and very quickly disappeared towards their houses. With a final wave to the three guys, which only Toushiro and Renji returned, Ichigo trying to recollect his lost pride, Karin started walking to the opposite direction from the guys.
Karin walked slowly through the forest path back to her house. There was no reason to hurry especially when she was already tired. She saw a huge Saint Bernard jogging slowly towards her. She smiled recognizing the village's dog.
"Hi Chad! Where have you been?" she asked kneeling down next to the dog to ruffle the hair around his neck. He barked a low bark and licked Karin's face. She chuckled.
"C'mon Chad, I don't need a bath", she laughed trying to push the dog away. It was pretty hard considering the size of it. He lifted his huge paws to Karin's shoulders, making the girl fall down on her back. She lifted her hands in front of face and tried to escape the dog's tongue.
"Chad! I'm drowning!" Karin exclaimed still laughing. Chad barked lowly and continued to lick her face.
"Karin? What are you doing?" a curious male voice asked. Karin bent her head backwards to look at the white-haired boy with a curious look on his face. She grimaced at him.
"What does it look like? I'm being attacked", she scoffed trying to lean away from the dog pushing him away at the same time. Toushiro rolled his eyes.
"So you can beat many guys in strength and especially intelligence but you lose to a dog? I'm starting to get very afraid about how our mission tonight will turn out to be", he said kneeling down to scratch Chad between his ears. He turned to look at the boy and suddenly jumped towards him.
Now it was Toushiro's turn to lie on the ground and be tongue-bathed by the huge Saint Bernhard. He tried to squirm away from under the dog, but he didn't like it and lay down on top of the white-haired youth. He huffed as the air escaped from his lungs.
"Karin… help… heavy", he breathed. Karin looked at the boy in trouble and tried to stifle her laughter, only to fail. Soon she was sitting on the ground holding her stomach, which had started to hurt from laughing so much.
"Stop laughing… and help me", Toushiro said looking pretty annoyed. Karin stood up and walked to Chad. She put her hand on his back to get the dog's attention.
"Chad, I know you just live little cute things but Toushiro needs to breathe. So if you move just – one – bit", she said trying to push the dog away. It only looked at her panting happily. Karin pushed harder but the dog didn't move an inch.
"Sorry Toushiro, he's too heavy. Wait a sec, I'll go to look for something cuter than you", she said turning around and running towards the centre of the village. Toushiro looked after her not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.
"Something cute, something cute", Karin muttered while running around. She was getting frustrated. "How hard is it to find something cuter than Toushiro!" she sighed.
Karin wasn't really the best person to look for something cute, she was a tomboy after all. Finally, when she was frustrated enough, she drew a deep breath before yelling "SOMEONE BRING ME SOMETHING CUTE!" from the top of her lungs.
Of course everyone who heard her stopped dead in their tracks and turned to stare at her flabbergasted. She blushed a bit realizing how stupid she must have sounded.
"Well… err... I need it for Chad…", she said scratching the back of her head. Everyone nodded understandingly and some "of course"s and "Oh"s were heard. Everyone knew Chad and his obsession with cute things.
Suddenly Karin spotted something tiny and black hopping away from her. A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes and she quickly stalked closer to the small creature grabbing a box of strawberries from a guy walking past her.
"Oh Rukia~", she called the rabbit. It turned to look at her suspiciously. Karin slowly walked closer to the rabbit.
"Would you like to come with me? I have some strawberries! Yeah, strawberries", she said taking one strawberry and waving it in front of the rabbits nose. The small black animal jumped immediately to Karin's arms and she gave the strawberry to it.
"Good little Rukia", Karin cooed and started to run back to the spot she had left Toushiro.
Said teal-eyed man was still laying under the Saint Bernhard and was starting to wonder if Karin was coming back at all. Chad had stopped licking his face and was now snoring on top of the young man.
After five minutes Toushiro was quite sure he was hearing footsteps coming closer. He turned his head to look at the direction of the sound. Soon he saw Karin jogging towards him holding a box of strawberries and a black rabbit in her arms.
"Fear not young man, I'm here to save you", Karin told him as she stopped beside him and the dog. His teal eyes flared at her and she chuckled rolling her eyes.
"C'mon Toushiro, where is your sense of humor? Don't you realize how amusing the situation is?" she asked kneeling down beside him. He just glared at her.
"Hmm? Cat got your tongue?" Karin asked cocking her head to side. Toushiro sighed swallowing his pride and opening his mouth.
"Could you please help me Karin?" he asked looking the raven haired girl deep in her dark blue-grey eyes, not glaring anymore. Karin smiled a genuine smile.
"Sure, now that you ask nicely. Here, have a strawberry", she said stuffing one red fruit into his mouth before he was able to stop her. The cold glare was back but he did swallow the strawberry instead of spitting it out. That would just be wasting a perfectly good fruit.
"Hey Chad~! Look who I brought!" Karin said nudging the dog sleeping on top of Toushiro. He lazily opened his eyes and looked at Karin. She lifted the little black rabbit so that she was facing the Saint Bernhard. Chad immediately stood up and walked to Karin, or rather to Rukia.
Karin put the small creature on the ground in front of him, also leaving the box of strawberries. Chad cuddled the rabbit between his front paws giving her a lick. She looked at him confusedly before turning to the strawberries and starting to munch them.
Toushiro had already stood up and was dusting his clothes. Karin looked at him expectantly. Finally Toushiro lifted his eyes to meet Karin's. He took a deep sigh.
"Thanks for your help. Without you I don't know how long it would have taken for me to get away", he said solemnly looking her in the eyes. She closed them shaking her head smiling a bit.
"Hey, you need to take care of your teammates. Who else can you trust?" she asked looking at Toushiro. He was surprised to hear her say that, but agreed with her completely. Though maybe that was exaggerating it when it was about not getting away from a dog.
"You are right. But I think we both need to go to collect our strength for tonight. See you at nightfall", Toushiro said waving his hand starting to walk to the opposite direction from Karin.
Karin turned to go home too but after few steps she realized something.
"Toushiro, wait a sec!" she yelled after the boy. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder. Karin quickly ran to the boy so she wouldn't have to yell.
"Why were you walking here? I mean you live on the other side of the village", she asked him. She had wondered that the moment she saw him but she had forgotten it while trying to help him.
To her surprise she thought she was able to see a red tinge on his cheeks. He quickly averted his eyes and became very interested in the treetops above their heads.
"I thought I should go for a walk to relax my muscles better. I just like to walk in the woods so I came this way", he said and turned his eyes back to Karin's. She looked really suspicious. The village had forests all over it, the village was practically in the forest. It was built so that it would be harder for enemies to spot.
"Okay, whatever you say. See you later", Karin shrugged after studying Toushiro's expression for a while. She turned around and started to jog towards the cottage she lived in. Toushiro looked after her until she disappeared from his sight before heading towards his home with a deep sigh.
Many people wondered how exactly Toushiro was able to maintain his patience when living with Renji and Ichigo. The three of them shared a two-story cottage right at the edge of the village. Because the shared the apartment they also shared the chores.
Renji was in charge of cooking every time they didn't eat at the canteen and surprisingly his food was edible though a bit spicy. Ichigo always did the laundry, though occasionally he had managed to dye all of their white shirts pink when he accidentally put red boxers or socks to the machine. Toushiro originally owned five similar white t-shirts but now he had two white ones and three pink.
That left Toushiro with cleaning in the house. That was possible the hardest chore do to, considering how messy the two other boys were able to get. So when Toushiro arrived to his house he was welcomed with what looked like a bombsite.
There were something unrecognizable red stuff dripping from the walls (smelled a bit like ketchup), the couch was upside down in the middle of the room, huge amounts of papers were all around the floor and a watering can was hanging from the fan in the roof. Toushiro stared at the room with mouth hanging open before a vein started to pop in his forehead.
"ICHIGO! RENJI! WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled from the top off his lungs. Ichigo's head peeked around the corner from kitchen and Renji scrambled away from under the carpet. They both stared at the angry white-haired boy then at the room and back. They started to back away as they realized why he was angry.
"What has happened here?" Toushiro asked glaring at the duo. They both started to speak at the same time and there was no hope for Toushiro to understand even bits of their explaining.
"You know what, I don't even want to know. Just… clean up!" he sighed annoyed and quickly left the room to go to his room. He walked up the stairs and opened his door. Only to get a bucket full of cold water on him.
The usually surprisingly calm boy was boiling with anger. If someone had walked past they would have sworn the water was evaporating. His face was as red as Renji's hair.
"This is enough. YOU TWO DIE TODAY!" he roared bolting downstairs. The other two men had already disappeared before he even opened his door. He growled angrily, muttering what he would do to the duo. Still he knew better than try to go look for them from the village. Those two knew the best hiding places.
Toushiro sighed deeply and decided to take a calming shower before a nap.
On the other side of the village Karin had decided to take a shower too. On the previous day she had taken a shower in the showers next to training field instead of the one in her house and everyone knew the consequences.
Now she headed to the shower after noticing her father had woken up during her training and probably went to look for someone to fight with him. Karin stripped off her sweaty training outfit and threw it into the laundry basket. She turned the water to a cool temperature and carefully moved under the flow.
She sighed deeply relaxing her shoulders and just enjoying the water falling to her shoulders. After relaxing for a moment she took a shampoo bottle and washed her hair. After she was done she still didn't want to get out from under the water; it was too comfortable.
With a deep sigh she turned the water off and grabbed a towel. She dried herself before wrapping the towel around her body. After taking another towel and wrapping it around her hair she left the bathroom.
The first thing Karin noticed was that her father was back – and for some reason also Yumichika was there.
"Hi Karin. What do you want to eat? Dad couldn't decide by himself", Yumichika said noticing the girl before Kenpachi. The huge black haired man looked over his shoulder noticing his daughter confused at the bathroom door.
"I brought him here to cook. I know you have the mission today so I wanted to make sure you'd get the best food possible", he said grinning. Karin suppressed a chuckle. But what her father said was true. Yumichika was without a doubt the best cook in the village.
"I'd like to have something with fish", Karin said after thinking for a while. Yumichika nodded and turned to the fridge to look for fish. He was the one who had bought everything in the fridge so he knew what there should be.
"Are you excited? Tonight will be your first real mission!" he asked over his shoulder.
"Not that much but it's nice I finally get to go. I would have liked to go earlier", she said glaring at her father. He looked back confused, like he didn't understand what Karin meant. She sighed and shook her head.
"I'll go to my room. Call me when the food is ready", she said before climbing the stairs up to her room. Once she was inside and the door was closed she threw the towel to the back of a chair walking to the closet. She opened it and started to look for something to wear.
She pulled out loose shorts and a big t-shirt (which she had stolen from her father's closet) and decided that they were good enough for her to wear at home. As she pulled the shirt on (it reached her knees) she heard Yumichika yell from downstairs "DO YOU WANT POTATOES OR RICE WITH THE FISH?"
Karin thought about it for a second.
"POTATOES PLEASE!" she yelled after deciding.
Downstairs Kenpachi chuckled shaking his head. "I'm going out for a walk. I'll be back when the food is ready", he said stretching his arms. Yumichika glanced at the man confused.
"How will you know when the food is ready?" he asked. Kenpachi just laughed patting his shoulder before grabbing his sword and walking out of the door. Yumichika just shrugged and turned back to his cooking.
Meanwhile upstairs Karin had finished writing her diary and put the notebook back to where it belonged. She stretched her arms above her head yawning widely.
"I could take a nap. Yumichika will wake me up when the food is ready", she muttered to herself falling down to the bed. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
The next thing Karin knew was that Yumichika was shaking her. Her eyes flew open and her fist made contact with the man's nose. He fell backwards on the floor.
"HEY! What was that for? I was just trying to wake you up", he protested holding his nose. It wasn't broken but it hurt like hell. Karin glared at him.
"Get. Out. Of. My. Room." she growled slowly. Yumichika's eyes widened and he seemed to realize for the first time that he was in her room. In the room no guy had been before. He looked around curiously, but moved his eyes back to Karin as she started growling dangerously.
Yumichika was out of the room before Karin was able to open her mouth again. She glared at the empty spot the man had been before sighing.
"I'm probably overreacting. He just came to wake me up. But he could have yelled. Or knocked", she muttered to herself before she followed him downstairs.
Yumichika was just carrying the plates to the small table as Karin came downstairs. He glanced at her, almost shuddering. Karin didn't smile, but she didn't glare at him either. She just sat down at the table.
"Here you go", Yumichika said putting the plate full of fish and potatoes in front of her. She looked at him sighing again.
"Thanks. Sorry that I hit you so hard", she said noticing how red his nose was. He scowled a bit.
"Yes you shouldn't have done so. I don't like it when people harm my beautiful face", he said and Karin rolled her eyes. Sometimes Yumichika was too concentrated on looking beautiful, especially for a guy. Even Karin wasn't so concerned on her looks even though some people expected her to be. She didn't understand why.
"I smell food!" Kenpachi exclaimed slamming the door open. It was the last time that door was slammed open. With a loud crack it was broken into two pieces.
"Dad c'mon! That's the second door this month! Be a bit more gentle with them!" Karin yelled and stuffed some fish to her mouth. Kenpachi looked at the part of the door he was still holding. Then he shrugged and threw it over his shoulder.
"I'll just get a new one. They don't make durable doors nowadays", he said sitting next to Karin. Yumichika put a plate with three times more food than Karin's plate in front of him.
"Thanks kid, I'm starving!" he said before starting to stuff the food in his mouth. Karin rolled her eyes at her father's behavior, but didn't say anything since her mouth was as full of food as his. Yumichika couldn't help but think how alike the father and daughter were.
"Sit down and eat kid! How else will you have strength to fight? Everyone needs to have strength to fight", Kenpachi said and Yumichika gladly took a plate for him and sat down to eat with the duo.
After everyone was full Yumichika left saying he wanted to take a nap before the mission. Karin thought about it too, but she didn't feel tired at all.
"Hey Dad! How long you think our mission will last? Will we be done tonight or will it be a several days before I come back home?" Karin asked getting too bored of trying to get sleep. Her father, who had been laying on the couch watching fighting from TV turned to look at her over his shoulder.
"I don't know, should be a short mission. Why do you ask? You scared?" he asked grinning madly. Karin rolled her eyes and sat down on the chair next to the couch.
"Nah, or maybe I fear that you'll tear the house apart while I'm gone", she grinned back. Kenpachi let out a booming laughter.
"Karin, you're a great kid! Never could have wished for a better one", he said and Karin smiled a bit proudly. Her father told her that often but she really liked it.
"Why haven't I been allowed to go on real missions before?" Karin asked after a moment of silence. She had never dared to ask it before fearing to hear that her father didn't think she could handle it.
"I didn't realize you wanted to go. You never asked", he simply answered. Karin stared at him mouth hanging open, eyes wide.
"So if I had asked if I could go you would have let me?" she asked to confirm it. Her father nodded before turning back to look at TV. Karin was starting to get angry, but she didn't know whether she was angry at her father or herself.
"I think I'll go for a walk", she muttered standing up and walking towards front door. Her father glanced over his shoulder again.
"Don't be late. You still need to sleep so you won't fall asleep during your mission", he said. Karin snorted as an answer before she walked out.
It had started to rain during the time Karin had slept earlier. She walked slowly to a cliff near the edge of the village. It was a place from where she was able to be alone. She sat down to a rock and gazed down to the green forest. She wasn't able to see the edges of it, only a green ocean.
Only right below the cliff was something else than trees. There was a little lake. It was the other reason Karin loved this cliff. It was not too high so she was able to jump to the water from the cliff without getting hurt.
After sitting in the rain for a moment Karin stood up. She looked down to her wet clothes. The huge t-shirt of her father was clinging to her skin.
"I guess I could jump. I can't get any wetter anyway", she mumbled to herself shrugging. Still she decided to remove the t-shirt so that it would be easier for her to swim. She threw it to the rock she had sat on before. She was now wearing her shorts and bra.
She took few steps away from the edge of the cliff. With a deep breath she sprinted towards the edge. She leaped and let out a scream (not a frightened one) as she felt the air whoosh by her.
She almost missed the surprised yell as she hit the water. She quickly kicked herself to the surface to see who or what had made the noise. She was surprised to see a certain white-haired boy in front of her with an equally surprised expression.
"Toushiro! What are you doing here?" she asked him brushing the wet bangs away from her face.
"I wasn't able to sleep anymore when Renji and Ichigo returned home so I decided to relax by coming to swim a bit. Then you almost killed me by jumping on me", he answered looking at her with a bored expression. His usually gravity-defying hair was now hanging limb along his head and the bang in front of his face kept sliding back in front of his eye no matter how many times he pushed it away.
"Well sorry. I just didn't think anyone would be swimming here in the rain", she said. Toushiro cocked his head.
"You're swimming here, aren't you? So why wouldn't anyone else be?" he asked. Karin thought for a moment but didn't have any intelligent answer.
"I don't know. I didn't know anyone else knew about this place. It's kinda hidden", she scoffed. Toushiro lifted his head to gaze the cliff.
"Yes, it is hidden. You can only spot it if you look down that cliff", he said nodding towards the cliff. Karin didn't bother following his eyes.
"You said you can't get any sleep in your house. Shouldn't Renji and Ichigo be sleeping too?" Karin asked curiously. She knew the duo could be loud and stupid but she thought they at least had the brains to get some sleep before staying up all night ready to ambush a group of soldiers.
"They should. I doubt they will. It's the annoying part in living with them. You rarely get any peace", Toushiro sighed shaking his head. Karin patted it.
"There there. You could come to sleep at my house. We have huge couches and Dad can be quiet. Or at least quieter than Renji and Ichigo", she suggested. Toushiro lifted his head staring at the girl eyes wide.
"Would that be a good idea?" he asked carefully. Karin cocked her head, not understanding what the boy meant. He shook his head.
"I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind. And you do look tired. It would be better if you got some sleep before the mission", Karin said inspecting the boys face. He had dark circles under his eyes.
"I could use some sleep, that's for sure", he admitted. Sometimes he had thought about moving to his own apartment but he liked Renji's cooking too much.
"Well then c'mon!" Karin said starting to swim out if the water. Toushiro followed right after her. They got out of the lake near the little path which led back to the cliff. Karin noticed a black shirt near the beginning of the path.
"This yours?" she asked Toushiro who got out of the lake after her. He nodded and caught the shirt as Karin threw it to him. The girl couldn't help but notice the long scar in his chest before he pulled the shirt on to cover it.
"Where did you get that scar from?" she asked pointing to his chest. He looked down, only seeing his shirt though, before looking back at the girl.
"I think it was the second real mission I had. I didn't notice a guy coming from behind in time and he managed to hit me with his sword. I managed to kill him but passed out from blood loss after that. I woke up in the hospital two days later", he told staring into nothing as he recalled the events.
"It had to be painful", Karin said grimacing a bit. She had been hit by a sword only once before and it was only a slight slice in the arm. The scar from it was barely visible.
"I guess it was. I can't remember it clearly and at the hospital they pumped me full of painkillers", he said shrugging. Karin chuckled a bit.
"Do you have a shirt somewhere or did you walk to here wearing only your bra?" Toushiro asked nodding towards Karin's chest. She looked down and got her rare womanly moment trying to cover herself.
"I have a shirt up there", she said nodding towards the cliff behind her, glaring at the boy. He lifted his hands in front of him, trying to tell he had meant nothing by the question.
"Okay, okay, relax", he said shaking his head in disbelief. Sometimes it was hard to understand a woman. "Let's just go to get it before it gets completely wet".
"It probably is already but it doesn't matter. We'll have to get it either way", Karin answered sounding bored now. She let her arms hang by her sides again.
The two youngsters headed away from the lake with that.
After fetching Karin's shirt they walked in silence to Karin's home. The cottage was silent but there was light coming from the windows indicating Kenpachi was at home. The door was open since Kenpachi had broken it earlier.
"Where is your front door?" Toushiro asked confused as the duo entered the house. Karin pointed towards the parts next to the place the door should have been.
"Thanks, that explains a lot", Toushiro said sarcastically. Karin decided to ignore him.
"DAD! I'M HOME! I BROUGHT TOUSHIRO TO SLEEP HERE SINCE HE CAN'T SLEEP AT HIS HOUSE! CAN HE use the couch", she yelled turning the volume down as Kenpachi entered the room. He looked at his daughter and the white-haired boy curiously with his usual smirk plastered on his face.
"Sure he can. Is he too afraid to sleep at his house and needs to be sleeping closer to you?" he asked and started laughing his usual booming laughter drowning Toushiro's futile attempts to correct him.
"Don't worry kid. Sleep!" Kenpachi laughed going back to his room. Toushiro stared after him really confused.
"Don't worry, he's always like that", Karin said patting Toushiro's shoulder. She covered her yawn with her other hand. "I think I'll go to my room to get some sleep. The couch is over there and there are blankets in that closet", Karin said pointing to the directions.
"Sleep well", Toushiro said as Karin climbed the stairs to her room. He then opened the closet and was immediately hit by a blanket avalanche.
"How many blankets do two people need?" he wondered pushing the pile of blankets off. He grabbed one of them before making his way to the couch.
He woke up hours later just as the sun was about to set. He glanced out of the window and noticed that the rain had stopped and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. The sun had already turned red and was near the horizon.
"Crap! We're gonna be late!" he exclaimed jumping up from the couch. He looked around him not seeing anyone.
"Is Karin still sleeping? I hope she is or then she has just left me to sleep here", he wondered and headed towards the stairs. He walked upstairs and stopped in front of the door. He knocked it. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer.
He slowly opened the door a crack so he could see inside. He saw the small bad and Karin sleeping on it. He opened the door completely and walked to the bed. Karin had an uncharasteric expression for her on her face. She was calm and relaxed, no trays of the usual scowl or smirk.
"Karin, wake up! We're soon gonna be late", he said gently shaking Karin's shoulder. She blinked slowly before her eyes flew open as she stared into his teal eyes. The next thing Toushiro knew was that Karin's foot was on his face.
He flew straight out of the door and down the stairs hitting his head painfully on the wall. He rubbed it gently as Karin appeared in the doorway.
"Didn't you know I have an unspoken rule that no guys are allowed in my room? What do you think you were doing", she asked glaring down at him. His eyes widened. She was angry at him.
"I came to wake you up. Or would you rather be late from your first real mission?" he yelled back angrily. The angry expression on Karin's face changed into a surprised one and she glanced at the clock. Her eyes widened and suddenly she was down the stairs.
"C'mon, we need to go!" she said grabbing Toushiro by the neckline of his shirt and pulling him after her. Soon they were both running towards the training field as fast as they were able.
"Toushiro", Karin called his attention as they ran. Toushiro turned his face to look at her. She was staring at her feet.
"Yes?" he asked curiously. It was rare to see Karin remorseful.
"Sorry that I kicked you. I just don't want anyone to enter my room without my permission", she explained in a quiet voice. Toushiro's eyes widened in surprise. She had actually said sorry to him like she meant it.
"No worries. And I wouldn't have come in if we wouldn't have needed to hurry already", he explained. Karin smiled at him gratefully.
"Yeah, thanks about that. It wouldn't have been fun to wake up and notice I had slept too late", she chuckled as they reached the training field. Byakuya was already there along with the rest of their group. Everyone else was wearing the freedom fighters' kimonos.
"Here are your kimonos. Change quickly", Byakuya said throwing two neatly folded black outfits to Karin and Toushiro. Both caught them and headed for the dressing rooms next to the training field.
It was not the first time for Karin to wear the outfit. She had gone to the food and weapon transition ambushing missions and had also had a change to wear the white haori few times.
Still this felt different. It was her first real mission. Not the kid stuff anymore. She was done in record time and soon their whole group was standing in pairs in front of Byakuya, ready to get the information on their mission.
"We'll move in two smaller groups. I'll be going with Ikkaku and Yumichika and the rest of you are the other group. We'll surround the soldiers from both sides of the road. They should be moving out of the town of Inuzuri in about an hour. We'll be there in half an hour to get everything ready. My group will be on the south side of the road and yours will be on northern side", he told. Everyone nodded simultaneously.
"Right, and no playing hero or anything like that. You will follow my orders", the older man commanded glaring at Renji and Ichigo. Everyone nodded again.
"Now that everything is clear, let's move", he commanded and the small group started to jog towards Inuzuri.
Inuzuri was a small poor village not too far from the freedom fighter's village. Everyone in there hated the Kingdom of Hollowes and Aizen from the bottom of their hearts and often helped the freedom fighters by giving them food and weapons.
Karin had been there once before when they were attacking a weapon-transportation. All of the villagers had treated her well, though they were surprised to see a woman within the fighters.
The group arrived at the village on time and they were able to find the perfect ambushing spot. Karin's excitement about her first real mission had started to die down as they just sat in the bushes on either side of the road waiting for the soldiers to walk past.
"Not quite like you had in mind, eh?" Ichigo asked as Karin yawned for the third time within three minutes. She glared at him.
"No one told me the waiting was this boring. We're just sitting here and nothing is happening", she complained. Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"You'll forget everything about the boringness once the action begins. Now we better shut up, I can sense Byakuya glaring at us", he whispered back at her. Karin glanced over the road to the other bush. She felt the angry glare too.
"That is a good idea", she whispered and they both returned to sitting in silence. It was really uncomfortable because the ground was wet from the rain before. Karin wrapped her arms around herself and tried to warm herself.
"Stop moving, it's annoying", Ichigo whispered to her. She glared at him getting the urge to kick him out of the bush. She knew Byakuya would skin her alive if she did.
"You two SHUT UP!" Toushiro whispered from the tree above them. He and Renji were sitting there, ready attack the soldiers from above. Karin and Ichigo threw almost identical glares at him. Renji was resisting the urge to start howling with laughter. He was shaking and biting his hand.
"They're coming!" Toushiro announced noticing the group of about twenty or thirty soldiers in the end of the road. Everyone turned to serious and concentrated in mere seconds. Karin moved her legs, ready to bounce out of the bush any second now. They were supposed to wait for the mark from Byakuya.
"ATTACK!" the said man yelled when the first soldiers had passed their hiding place. Everyone jumped out of the bushes and attacked the soldiers. They managed to defeat at least ten of them before they realized what was going on.
The soldiers drew their swords ready to fight the freedom fighters. Three soldiers surrounded Karin, all of them smirking widely thinking that they were the lucky ones to go against a girl. Karin answered their smirks with her evil grin and jumped towards the first guy. He fell down faster than his friends were able to realize what happened.
Karin quickly spun around and pierced the next guy's chest. She drew her sword away and turned towards the last guy. She noticed he had turned around and was running away. Also some other soldiers were following him while the rest surrounded Byakuya, Ikkaku and Yumichika. Toushiro and Renji were farther fighting four other soldiers.
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Byakuya yelled to Karin and Ichigo. They nodded and sprinted after the escaping soldiers. Meanwhile Toushiro and Renji managed to beat the soldiers they were fighting against and ran after Karin and Ichigo.
The road curved to right and then to left allowing the soldiers to disappear when they reached the curves before their chasers. This didn't slow the duo down, quite the opposite. The both ran even faster but came to a quick stop noticing what was waiting for them.
A group of about fifty soldiers was standing on the road with their blue-haired commander smirking in the frontline. Karin and Ichigo stared at the man with eyes wide. He had blue tattoos in the corners of his eyes and something what looked like a part of a broken mask on the right side of his face. He was wearing white hakama and an open white jacket which showed the hole in his stomach.
He was one of the captains in Aizen's army: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
"Take a look at this. Seems like we finally have managed to take a few freedom fighters as prisoners. Seize them!" he commanded. The soldiers held their swords pointing towards the chests of Karin and Ichigo slowly walking forward. Neither of the duo wanted to get caught so they turned around and started to run back to the direction they had came from.
"We can't lead them to Byakuya and the others. Let's continue straight!" Karin said as they reached the first curve. Ichigo nodded and they both ran straight to the forest. The soldiers followed right behind them not even looking down the road.
Toushiro and Renji were staring in front of them mouths hanging open. They had just witnessed Karin and Ichigo running straight to the forest like they had an army behind them and in mere seconds the 'army' came to view and followed them to the forest.
"We'd better go save them", Toushiro said and they both exited the road walking to the forest from different place than the soldiers. They weren't stupid; they knew they could never beat so many soldiers without the moment of surprise.
They just followed the sounds of an 'army' running through the forest, which was pretty easy. Even a small 'army' makes a lot of noise.
Meanwhile Byakuya, Ikkaku and Yumichika had beaten the rest of the soldiers. They were now collecting the weapons from the slain men.
"I wonder how long those four will take to beat those guys", Ikkaku said staring down the road longingly. He clearly wanted to fight more. Byakuya glared at him.
"They know we're supposed to meet in Inuzuri if we get separated. So now we'll go to wait for them there", he said turning around and walking away. Ikkaku and Yumichika looked at each other shrugging and hurried after their captain.
Karin and Ichigo had jumped into a bush as soon as they were sure the soldiers didn't see them anymore. Or rather, Karin had pushed Ichigo in the bush and jumped after him. Ichigo was now laying on the ground Karin sitting on top of him.
"You could have said 'hide' instead of pushing me to a bush", Ichigo whispered angrily. Karin slapped a hand to his mouth to prevent him from speaking anymore. Unfortunately she also covered his nose making it impossible for Ichigo to breathe.
He started to squirm under the girl trying to grab her hand to pull it away from his face. Karin noticed this and lifted her hand glaring at him as a warning to stay quiet. Ichigo returned the glare but didn't say anything. They both were tense and ready to run again.
The soldiers had slowed down and were now jogging and examining their surroundings to spot the duo. They weren't used to examining a dark forest and the last soldiers were just passing them when everything went wrong.
Ichigo sneezed.
Immediately the soldiers had surrounded the bush and were pointing their swords at Karin and Ichigo. Karin lifted her arms above her head and glared at Ichigo. He glared back.
"IDIOT! WHO SNEEZES WHEN HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HIDING?" Karin screamed at Ichigo. He sat up making Karin fall to the ground since she was still sitting on top of him.
"WELL YOU DIDN'T NEED TO PUSH ME INTO A RASBERRY BUSH! I'M ALLERGIC TO RASBERRY FLOWERS!" he yelled back, holding his hands above his head to show the soldiers he wasn't about to attack. Karin sat up.
"HOW THE HELL SHOULD I HAVE KNOWN THAT? YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED TO HOLD IT!" Karin screamed back at him. The soldiers pointing their swords at the two of them were staring at them confused and amused. These were the much feared freedom fighters?
"Someone silence them", Grimmjow muttered entering the scene holding hands to cover his ears. Two of the soldiers nodded and hit the duo with the hilts of their swords. Ichigo fainted immediately but Karin turned to stare at the man who hit her.
"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?" she yelled at him holding the back of her head. The man looked at his sword and back at the girl glaring at him. He shrugged and hit harder. This time Karin went unconscious too.
"Ah, peace and quiet", Grimmjow sighed removing his hands from his ears. The two men who knocked Ichigo and Karin out swung them over their shoulders carrying them out of the forest.
"Karin sure has a hard head", Toushiro muttered staring after the soldiers. They had found them just when the yelling had started. Renji shook his head.
"We need to save Ichigo!" he said causing Toushiro to glare at him.
"Oh, and no matter what happens to Karin?" he asked coldly. Renji just shrugged standing up from their hiding place.
"She ain't my best friend. And best friends always rescue each other", he said as Toushiro stood up too. He glared at the taller man so angry that he had to take a step away.
"You're an idiot. We're saving them both", he said starting to follow after the soldiers. Renji looked after him a little scared of the boy but followed him nonetheless.
I had fun writing this. It was easy chapter to write.
To those who also read my other story 'Three Things': I'm going to update it next. I was going to update it before this but my inspiration just gave me ideas for this story.
To those who haven't read it, I recommend it. It's mostly a humor story too but has more HitsuKarin fluff than this one.
Please tell me what you think and review!
Big hug to all of you!