He paced his room. Then he would stop and think, then he'd start pacing again.

"Hitsugaya-san, is Matsumoto-san here?"

Hitsugaya halted in his steps. "Inoue? Uh... I think she went shopping. Again."

"Oh." Inoue Orihime went into the dinky kitchen to prepare dinner. She popped her head out again. "You have a very nice voice, Hitsugaya-san. You should try singing."

"What are you talking about?"

"I just thought the tune you were humming was very sweet." Inoue smiled brightly as she disappeared behind the wall.

He was humming again? Thankfully his lieutenant wasn't around, or else she'd go on and on about it. He headed out the door. "Inoue, save some rice for me. I need to go."

"Is there a hollow?" Inoue called out.

"No, just getting some fresh air." Hitsugaya slung his cobalt blue jacket over his shoulders and stepped into the cool night.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He buried his face in his hands.

I kissed her. I kissed Kurosaki's sister. If Hinamori found out, what would she say? What should I say? Did I like it? Did Karin like it? Why do I care if she liked it? I'm not going to try it again. Am I?

He groaned again. "I can't believe I did that."

"Did what?"

Hitsugaya jumped, just a little. He snapped, "Don't approach me from behind, idiot!"

"Sorry, taichou." Matsumoto sat down, not a hint of apology on her face. "Inoue said you looked a little troubled, so I came up. And you are."

"Are what?"

"Troubled. No one should be able to sneak up on you, taichou, least of all a shinigami." She peered into his eyes. "So, spill."

"... you have to promise a few things first."

"Why?"

"You must not laugh, snicker, giggle or in any way indicate amusement. That's the first thing. Secondly, no one else is to know. No one else, which means only two persons: you and me. Promise me these two things and we can talk."

"Do I have to?" Matsumoto took one look at his face and nodded. "I promise. I swear it."

Hitsugaya fixed his gaze into the far distance. "I'm in deep trouble."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You kissed Kurosaki's sister?"

"You want a loudhailer to help you with that announcement?" Hitsugaya groused. His face was flaming red. "I didn't mean to do it."

"Oh, that makes it so much better," said his lieutenant. She patted his shoulder, which he irritably shook off. "Taichou, you don't usually screw up, but you sure come up with some dozies when you do."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Matsumoto blew a strand of hair off her face. "It's too bad you made me swear not to tell another person... this could've been the gossip of the month. What's she like?"

"Dark-haired. About my height. Very self-assured. A little too boyish. Likes to act tough. Cares a lot about her family." He hesitated for a moment. "And she bugs me."

Matsumoto's eyes grew large as he rattled off the traits. "And you knew her for barely a week?"

Hitsugaya suddenly felt nervous. "Yeah. So?"

Matsumoto exhaled, pitying the inherent stupidity of men in relationships. "I'm sorry, but no one can help you now."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya went to the Kurosaki household the next morning.

Sunday. It was supposed to be a rest day, but clinics stay open on weekends.

He remembered the part where she said her father would misinterpret, and so turned up in shinigami form. Doubtless Ichigo would see him too, but since the orange-head was out training with Renji and Rukia, he had little to worry about on that score.

"What are you doing here?" drawled a bored voice behind him.

"Stop. Doing. That!" Hitsugaya hissed. "Why do you always turn up from behind me?"

"Why is your behind always in front of me then?" questioned Karin. Her brows furrowed. "Wait. That came out wrong."

He stared at her. "You seem to be all right."

"Am I supposed to be all wrong then?" She pushed past him and went into the clinic. When he didn't follow, she asked, "Are you going to, I don't know, flow through the door or something?"

"Oh." He quickly entered. Cool air rushed over him, the hint of medicine coloring the air.

She didn't bother talking to him. Karin got busy filing records, packing up scattered magazines, rearranging cushions on the sofa... he stood in the middle of the clinic, wondering what he was supposed to do.

A middle-aged bearded man bounded out from a wooden door. "Karin-chan! So helpful to daddy today! Are you hoping for a big fatherly hug? You don't have to – ooof." Karin's punch pinned the man – her father, Hitsugaya presumed – against the door. He managed to hold out a thumbs-up. "Myf Farin-chamf faff grownf stronffer!" (Translation: "My Karin-chan has grown stronger!")

"Shut up, dad," she said, releasing her hold. She plopped a stack of folders into his arms. "You can update these medical records, and I'm done for the day. Watching a movie. Bye!"

She winked at Hitsugaya to follow her out.

Neither of them noticed the slightly crestfallen expression on Kurosaki Isshin's face as he watched them exit. He murmured, a little sadly, "My girls are growing up."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Is it a human custom to beat up their fathers?" Hitsugaya had to know.

Karin shrugged. "Nope. just a family tradition. Brother started it, and since Yuzu is too gentle to do so I have to double my efforts."

They strolled down the river bank again. Hitsugaya wanted to broach the subject but didn't know how.

"About yesterday." Karin stopped walking. "I'm sorry."

"Uh..." She took the words out of my mouth. "I apologize too."

"For?" Karin was genuinely surprised. "You did what you had to to calm me down. I don't hold that as a grudge."

I did it impulsively, you moron. "I didn't think before I... acted. It's just, if that had been your – uh, I mean, I was afraid I had taken your first..."

"My first kiss?" Karin grinned. "It was."

Hitsugaya was abashed to find himself blushing. Something was very wrong with the scenario. Shouldn't she be screaming and yelling at him?

"I'm not angry or anything. Not that I'm in love with you," she quickly clarified when his icy blue eyes snapped up to meet her dark ones. "I just think it could've been worse."

"The kiss could've been worse?" Hitsugaya groaned inwardly. His foot just loved living in his mouth, didn't it?

Karin chuckled. "No, it was... it was kinda nice. I meant... you're nice. Pretty good-looking, except for that perpetual frown. A lot more mature than my other guy friends. And you have a nice voice when you hum. You really should sing sometime." She rolled her eyes and got back to her original point. "I could've been kissed by someone worse than you."

"I see." He rubbed his nose reflectively. "That's a very... positive way to look at it."

"You dwell too much on the negative, it's gonna turn your hair white in no time."

Hitsugaya blinked and grinned at the zinger. "Hey!"

"See what it's done to you?" She ruffled his hair mischievously and dashed off.

"Don't touch the hair – hey!" Amused and annoyed, the captain of the tenth division chased after her.

If he had been paying attention to his surroundings, he might have noticed it was the same spot she had stopped at before to look across the river.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I saw you by the river today," Matsumoto announced the moment Hitsugaya stepped into the little apartment.

He sniffed. "I can go wherever I want, Matsumoto."

"Of course you can. And you can go with whoever you want, too."

"Were you strolling by the river with someone, Hitsugaya-san?" Inoue chirped, midway through demolishing a tower of sandwiches. "There's beautiful scenery along the path at this time of year."

"I was alone. But the scenery was nice."

Matsumoto coughed a comment into her hand. Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed dangerously. Before he could rebuke her sunny smile, both their mobiles beeped.

"Hollow or arrancar?"

"Arrancar. Near... near the Kurosakis' place!"

Hitsugaya paused by the door. "Is Ichigo around?"

"No, he, Renji and Rukia hadn't returned home yet from Soul Society." Matsumoto's eyes widened. "They can't possibly make it back in time."

Hitsugaya growled and dashed out of the apartment. His gigai held Inoue back, and Matsumoto's gigai joined in restraining Inoue as well.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin winced as the screech pierced through her eardrums. At least Yuzu and her dad were immune to such hideous noises; she herself felt like throwing up and curling into a fetal ball.

"Yuzu-chan, did you buy fish that were past due? She's clammy and cold!" This was as close to scolding as Isshin ever got to his daughters. He had Karin wrapped in a blanket and was carrying her close to his body, trying to generate heat for her shaking form.

"B-but we all ate the same fish!" Yuzu was nearing tears.

Karin stammered, "It-it's not your fault, Y-yuzu, it's n-not the fish. I just... I just feel ill sud-suddenly." Oh god, will the wailing and screaming and screeching never stop?! It's like a thousand cats scratching on a blackboard with all their claws! Before she could warn her father she threw up all over his favorite shirt.

Isshin grabbed a towel and cleaned Karin up as best as he could. "Yuzu, watch her while I get the car. She needs the hospital."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The arrancar was huge. The eyes glowed with malevolent glee. The screeching it made tore into Hitsugaya's nerves, but he quickly assessed the situation.

The size of the arrancar was reassuring for Hitsugaya. If it were too humanoid, he would have a hard fight on his hands. He drew his sword and got ready to battle, when out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of Isshin Kurosaki carrying a bundled-up Karin to a car. A small light-haired girl scrambled into the backseat as well.

What happened?

"My prey is escaping!" The arrancar howled and slithered after it, trailing slime in its wake. Hitsugaya shudder with revulsion. He hated the slimy ones.

"Stand and fight, maggot breath!" Okay, not the best battle cry, but he was dedicating his mind to the car now racing away. The arrancar reared and hissed at the white-haired shinigami, before emitting a shriek that made Hitsugaya's head spin. A jet of liquid shot out, and Hitsugaya ducked away.

The liquid hissed and sputtered into the asphalt surface of the road, creating a brand new pothole.

Hitsugaya sighed and muttered, "Always the acid. It's always the acid."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin thought she was dreaming when the lean figure squeezed through the window of her ward. "You're here?"

"Yeah." He sat down beside her bed, on the chair conveniently left by her father. Isshin had taken Yuzu back home under Karin's insistent orders, and the director of the hospital had more or less chased the Kurosaki father out of the ward. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I heard a hellish shrieking and wailing, then I started trembling and, to complete the humiliation, threw up over daddy's shirt."

Hitsugaya folded his arms over his chest. "You ever felt this before?"

"Once. There was a possessed cockatrice."

He mulled over his thoughts. She closed her eyes, her usual healthy glow pale and wan under moonlight and shadows. She had long lashes, Hitsugaya realized, then shook his mind back to the original train of thought. Karin has high sensitivity to spirits. She has the same blood as Ichigo, so no surprise there. But why the hugely negative reaction?

"Why am I in hospital?"

"I thought it was because you-"

"No, moron," hissed Karin. She softened her tone when she saw his anger. "I meant, why is it that, just by the presence of... whatever it was, I end up in hospital?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "I don't know." He unfolded his arms and steepled his fingers. "My guess is, your reiatsu is not... developed enough to withstand the clash between yours and the arrancars..."

"Whoa... I have no idea what you just said. Are you going to provide me with a chart and handy diagrams to illustrate your points? Or do I have to guess at their definitions?"

"If you weren't lying in a hospital bed I'd smack you for being rude." He was done being nice.

"If I weren't lying in a hospital bed I'd welcome you to try." She sat up and growled.

They glared at each other. The moonlight softened her features, part of Hitsugaya realized; she looked almost... mysterious. The defiant air was in definite contrast to the humor in her eyes, and her fingers – long, slim fingers – clutched at the blanket over her legs..

"What are you doing?" she whispered. Hitsugaya was taken aback when he saw his right hand caressing Karin's cheek.

He withdrew it abruptly. "I was... I was, um. I should go. You need rest."

"Wait." Large eyes, like pools of night. She got out of the bed. The pyjamas she had on was unexpectedly cute: pictures of sushi ran in neat diagonal rows. Hitsugaya's focus was elsewhere when she pecked him on the cheek.

"Wha-what?" He was seldom at a loss for words. He was now.

Karin's grin was as simple and as upbeat as it was that same afternoon. "I know you were there earlier. Thanks for... doing whatever it is you do with that monster. I thought it would follow us in the car."

"You saw...?"

"In the windshield mirror. I wanted to stop but daddy insisted I needed my stomach pumped, in case I got poisoned or something."

"Oh. Erm."

"You gotta go."

"Yes. Right. You take care now." He put one leg out onto the ledge. "Be careful."

"I will."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Pretending to have waited downstairs all the while, Matsumoto hid a small smile. Now this was something she could share with the gang.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I want you to find out everything about Kurosaki Karin, Matsumoto."

The lieutenant raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

Hitsugaya scowled blackly. "Or you can audit our purchase records from the year A.D 1900 until now."

"I'm on the Kurosaki job." The buxomy strawberry blonde scooted off the couch in record time.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Why are you spying on me?"

Hitsugaya didn't even bother to turn around. "I wasn't spying. I'm right here."

Karin kicked him in the backside. Hitsugaya jumped to his feet.

"You might want to show a little more respect, girl," he warned. "I'm older than you by a lot of years."

"And as an older person you should show me respect!" Karin's baseball cap obscured her eyes. Her hands were planted on her slim hips. "You sent that woman, didn't you? The one who's been asking my idiot daddy about me, all the while flashing her, her boobs at him!"

Hitsugaya groaned. "That bloody idiot..." He raised his hands. "Look, I did ask Matsumoto to find out more about you so I could determine how I can help you deal with the... nausea and the trembling whenever one of the arrancar showed up. I didn't ask her to seduce your father in her investigation."

"Like she could," scoffed Karin.

Hitsugaya nodded at the ladder she planted against the roof. "You carried that by yourself?"

"I got someone to help me."

"I think I found a way to help you." Hitsugaya didn't smile. "It will be difficult and probably painful though."

Karin didn't hesitate. "I'm game. How?"

"You're going to become a shinigami."