Karin observed Tina carefully the next day in school.

She was her usual Queen-of-the-world self, but every now and then she would shake her head as if to clear something from her brain.

Cobwebs from all that empty space, Karin thought cattily, ignoring the snort of laughter from Yuutsubame. She was still irritated with the girl's attempt to blackmail a kiss from Hitsugaya.

Said captain was slouching in his chair, bored out of his mind.

Karin was getting good at reading the white-haired captain; the slight frown was his stock expression, a wry grimace indicates frustrated amusement, a scowl a warning for the idiotic, an almost-smile showing his inner elation or bashfulness, eyes rolling meant 'what am I supposed to do with this moron', an actual smile a reason for a national holiday, and a laughing Hitsugaya was a legend and a myth.

And you claim you don't like him? Yuu said slyly.

Oh grow up. Not everything is about crushes and, and liking boys.

Yuu snickered. But you have a crush. And you do like him.

Karin groaned silently. She just had to manufacture her own enemy, didn't she?

"Hey." Yuzu's voice shook Karin out of her reverie. "What's going on?"

"What's going on what?"

Yuzu pointed a thumb at Tina. "She just walked past both of us without dropping a single comment."

Karin shrugged. "Maybe she's just out of it."

Yuzu frowned prettily. For a second Karin wished Yuzu was an older or a younger sister instead of being the other Kurosaki twin. Even if there was a boy I liked, the chances of them liking Yuzu first is so much higher. Perhaps even him-

"Come on, Karin."

Yuzu looked up to see Hitsugaya with his hand on Karin's table. He nodded to the light-haired girl, then raised an eyebrow at her brunette sister. Sighing outwardly and perhaps just a little tingly inwardly, Karin followed Hitsugaya out of the classroom.

"I thought he was going to ask you out, Tina," said one of her hangers-on.

Tina gave a one-shoulder shrug. "I found someone better. He's older and cuter than the boys in this school."

"Oooh, really?"

"Yeah! Last night, at the pizza parlor, and for some odd reason there was a huge vat of octopus ice-cream that toppled over us both…"

Yuzu shook her head as she listened to the yarn Tina was spinning. It was far too incredible to have happened.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Isshin picked the girls up from school himself that day, which alarmed Karin. "What's wrong, dad?" she asked the moment she saw his bearded face in front of the school.

"Just a little need to see you girls, that's all." He then scratched his jaw. "Actually, I'm going to bring you to a friend's place to stay for a while. I need to go off – emergency call from Kenya – and he's kindly agreed to take you girls in for a week."

Yuzu was doubtful. "Daddy, I can take care of us at home."

"Of course you can, but he's very adamant about making sure you girls don't go hungry or get robbed or anything." Isshin caught sight of Hitsugaya leaving the compound. "Hey, Toushiro-kun!"

"Good afternoon, Kurosaki-san." The captain was exceedingly polite.

"You wanna come along? I can drop you off at a spot convenient to you!"

"It's okay," he said, sharing a quick look with Karin. "I'm meeting with some subor- uh, friends."

Isshin made a downcast face as Hitsugaya walked away. Then he shrugged. "Alright girls, let's go!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Yuzu and Karin had their overnight bags with them. They were prepared to stay the night.

What they weren't prepared for was to see Isshin and the shopkeeper Urahara jabbing each other in the gut, and, to both Kurosaki girls' horror, the groin.

And jabbing with both hands.

To the point where they were trying to incapacitate each other.

"Dad." Karin had lost her patience eons ago. "DAD!! This is embarrassing! Stop it this instant!"

Both men stopped, hands' poised in mid-jab. Karin saw Yoruichi, in her cat form, shaking her head in the shadows.

"Um, Karin-chan…" Yuzu tugged on her sister's shirt. "Do you feel as if someone is staring at you?"

"No." Then Karin looked about and saw what Yuzu was feeling. She stuck her tongue out surreptitiously at Jinta. The redhead (A/N: sorry, I got it wrong the other time) showed Karin a rude gesture but, as Yuzu looked round to see what Karin was doing, he just as quickly whipped his hand behind his back.

Karin sniggered.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya wondered how he should meet up with his student now that Yuzu was staying at Urahara's as well.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto's breasts hit him in the back of his head before her hands strangled him in a choke hold, also known as her embrace. "Taichou, where have you been?"

"In school." Hitsugaya struggled out of his lieutenant's exuberant hug. "Why?"

"I just saw the cutest dress and this gorgeous black coat in the shop and..." now the strawberry blond looked sheepish, "...and I'm kind of broke. So I was wondering if-"

"No." He walked forward quickly, and held up a hand before she could hug him again. He repeated, "No."

"Oh come on taichou" Matsumoto whined. "You never spend any money anyway!"

"And yet." The captain kept walking.

Matsumoto's eyes narrowed. "If you don't lend me money I'm gonna put up a poster of you in front of the division's office building."

"Go ahead-" Hitsugaya's ears caught up with his brain. "Wait – what poster?"

"That's for me to know and for you to guess," chirped Matsumoto brightly. "Moolah, please?"

With a roll of his eyes Hitsugaya tossed his lieutenant a credit card. "Only twenty percent of the charge limit, alright?"

"Yes taichou! Bye!"

"AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT POSTER IS!!" he yelled after her retreating back.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

That there were lots of other people in the house soothed Yuzu. She had been frequenting the store, but usually she interacted mostly with either Ururu or Jinta. At least it wasn't only the weird shopkeeper they were staying with.

Urahara intimidated her. Tessai scared her.

But Karin was oddly familiar with everyone, Yuzu noticed. She didn't say anything about it though; when Karin was ready she'd talk about it herself. Like she had done about her crush on Hitsugaya-san.

So caught up with her thoughts while she was unpacking that she didn't hear the door sliding open.

"Oh. I didn't know someone was... you're the new girl, right? Uh, Karin's sister?"

Yuzu spun around, clutching Bostafu. A tall redhead was there, dressed in a dark brown tee and jeans and holding -

"Yes. Good afternoon." She exchanged bows with the man. Then she saw what he was holding and did a double-take. "Is that a sword?"

He looked at the object in his hand. "Oh, this? No it's just a prop. For a play."

"Wow." Silence draped over the room.

The redhead seemed to feel uncomfortable with no conversation. "Erm... I'm Abarai Renji, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Kurosaki Yuzu." She blushed. "Hi."

Abarai-san was very handsome, she thought quietly. Even though the tattoos gave him an air of fearsomeness and arrogance, Yuzu could see the kindness in his eyes. He reminded her of Ichigo.

The tall man rubbed his ear. "I'll just... get something. I left it in here. I think."

Yuzuz stood aside as he entered. Suddenly the room seemed a lot smaller; Yuzu swallowed, a little concerned that she felt a little giddy.

"Aha!" He held up a silver ring. "Knew I left it here... See you later, Yuzu. Dinner's in an hour, if Tessai is cooking."

Yuzu brightened. "I could help."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Karin cupped the phone between her shoulder and her ear. Right now she wanted to just slam it down, but she also knew Hitsugaya would be more than pissed.

He'd roll his eyes, then scowl, and finally stalk over here to demand to teach me some manners.

Yuutsubame chimed in, It's fun to goad him, isn't it?

"Are you listening?" Hitsugaya asked on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, I am." Karin winced at Yuu's inopportune interjections. "Meet you after dinner at the park, yes?"

"In shinigami form," he reminded her before hanging up.

Karin stared at the receiver, frowning. Why couldn't he say a proper goodbye anyway?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There was plenty of chatting at the dinner table that evening.

Yuzu, already familiar with Ururu and Jinta, had bonded with Tessai over cooking. Karin was cracking jokes at Renji's expense, Sado was unusually participative with small talk and Urahara presided over the table with the genial air of a country gentleman.

"And now, to everyone here, we have two young ladies moving in for a week while my good friend goes gallivanting in Kenya. So please don't swear, don't leave your cleaning up to others, and please do take care of them. Alright?" Urahara slapped his fan shut. "Okay area cleaning, everyone!"

Karin caught Urahara's tiny nod and went off to the backyard. She popped Soul Candy into her mouth, and pulled herself away from her body.

"Hey."

Karin modified tilted her head. "Yeah."

"Watch over Yuzu. Make sure she's safe, alright?"

"Whatever." The modsoul strolled back into the house, only to be accosted by Ururu.

Shaking her head – whyever did Urahara stick her with a modsoul with a laissez-faire attitude was beyond her.

Speaking of the devil...

"Karin-san," he said softly. "Shall we go?"

"You're coming with me?"

Urahara chuckled. "What, was this meant to be a night-time rendezvous?"

"No!"

"Then my joining you shouldn't be a problem now, should it?"

Karin wished her zanpakuto was strong enough to skewer the hat with the head in it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You sure they're safe with him?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "He's your friend too, Isshin. You should trust him."

"Yeah," Isshin scratched his head. "But they're my baby girls."

"They ain't babies no more, Isshin. En garde," Yoruichi said, her seldom-used blade poised for attack.

Isshin drew his own out of his sheath. Then he lowered his hand. "Yoruichi, are you sure you're not needed in Karin's tuition?"

"She has a captain teaching her, doting daddy," Yoruichi drawled, her sword unwavering. "Now hurry up. You're the only Kurosaki shinigami yet to display his full powers."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hitsugaya merely nodded curtly in greeting.

Urahara sat down and motioned for the younger two to join him. "I've been analyzing the hollow appearances the past few weeks."

"Why?"

"Because, Karin-san, your dear friend Tina-"

"-not my friend at all thank you-"

"-has been using an altered spell to raise the dead." Urahara paused, his expression settling into the serious lines of a captain. "The original spell was a voodoo derivative, and called up her father's spirit. No repercussions, save for the fact that the poor man's soul ended up being tied to her family home."

"He ended up a hollow?" Hitsugaya asked, suddenly interested.

Urahara snapped his fan open. "As far as my contact could tell, yes. And not just any hollow: a hollow multiple."

Karin screwed her brows together. "I don't get it."

"Every single time Tina called her father up," Urahara began doodling in the air with his now-folded fan, "his spirit would be thinned, for lack of a better word, into a diluted form of himself. And when he turned hollow, that hollow retained the ability to split itself into multiple copies."

"But both Legion and that... fish-like hollow, uh, hollows had multiple images of itself."

"That's right, Hitsugaya-taichou, acute observation as always," the blond nodded. "My hypothesis is this: either Tina's dad, who became a hollow, taught other hollows how to do so, or it was eaten by a few hollows and its abilities absorbed. I'm leaning towards the latter."

"Oh man..." Karin grimaced. "That's lousy. That mean her dad is..."

"Completely gone. Once a soul – plus or hollow – is ingested, that soul is lost. It also explains why, when Tina tried to call her dad up, hollows respond instead," said Hitsugaya briskly. He bit the knuckle on his thumb. "It doesn't explain her reactions though."

Urahara glanced at Karin. "I'll leave our Kurosaki Karin to explain the workings of a young girl's mind. In any event, I've taken away all her spell paraphernalia – including her father's cremated remains – so there shouldn't be any trouble on that front."

As the shopkeeper scooted off, Karin twirled her fingers. Finally she asked, "Patrol?"

Hitsugaya stood and helped her up. "So, what was Tina thinking about when she saw the hollows and us in shinigami outfits?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I don't see why I have to do this," Mizuiro Kojima complained delicately. "You know I prefer older women."

"Yes," Tessai said as he handed details of the date to the young man, "but you are living on credit from Urahara-san, so please assist him this time."

Mizuiro sighed and stuck the folder in his bag. "The things I do for good skincare products."

"Thank you very much, Kojima-san. I hope you have fun on the date of the Harvest festival."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

By the time they reached the river, Hitsugaya was massaging his temples.

"That's insane," he finally managed to say. "I can't believe girls would use such tactics."

"Girls are the dirtiest fighters," Karin stated, as if it was something to be proud of. "I mean, we fight with tooth and nail and hair. Did you expect us to, y'know, be reasonable?"

Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows. "Got it. But girls are still insane."

They slowed to a leisurely stroll. The town was large, and usually a patrol took two hours. Today Hitsugaya and Karin – their second time patrolling together – spent close to three hours, just chatting.

The moon was rising to its apex.

It felt odd, but good, to just talk.

The topic had started from Tina. Not Karin's favorite theme at any time, so they had moved on to Hitsugaya's childhood in Seireitei, then onto Yuutsubame's over-chattiness ("That's really amazing, how easily you can converse with your zanpakuto. Most shinigami can barely hear a whisper from theirs."), then onto different fighting styles between men and women.

Now Karin stopped, gaze transfixed.

"What's wrong?"

"Here," Karin said, slowly moving down the bank. "This is where my mother died."

Hitsugaya said nothing. What was there to say when someone you were walking with made a statement like this?

"I remember coming here with daddy, seeing Ichi-nii just staring blankly at nothing. Just... just staring. And mom... mom not moving. I remember daddy just screaming for her to wake up, just holding Ichi-nii, just rocking mother... And there was a stench only I could smell... the stench of hollow, now that I come to think about it. If only I or Ichi-nii were shinigami then..."

Karin stood, as still as rock, her memories rushing over her and the captain up on the bank.

"She had the sweetest voice. When she spoke, or sang... it was like nothing would ever go wrong again. I was so young then. We were all so young. And then we all grew up overnight..." her voice drifted into nothingness.

Hitsugaya waited.

"Ah well. That's all in the past," Karin sighed and clambered up the bank again. She forced a smile. "So. Where shall we head next?"

The white-haired shinigami exhaled. Then he stepped up and, a little awkwardly, gave Karin a hug. "She would be so proud of all of you."

Karin felt the sting of emotion welling up. Her hands came up to Hitsugaya's shoulders and tried to push him away, but he held her firmly.

"Stop it," Karin whispered halfheartedly. "Stop being so damn nice to me. It's eerie."

His embrace tightened. "I'm proud of you too, Karin."

Oh god. Karin realized her cheeks were dampening. "Hitsugaya, please. Let go."

He did, but left his hands gripping her shoulders. "You're crying."

"Am not."

"Are too." He dashed a tear from her left cheek. He thought about how to phrase his next query, but decided to be direct. "Did you cry after she died?"

"... no. Not-not even at the funeral... god." Karin shook her head and tried to calm herself. "Stop being so, so, so tender and gentle and, and insightful, Hit-hitsugaya, I just... god. God, I couldn't... I can't. Not now."

Now letting go of her control, Karin buried her face in her hands, feeling the tears of her pain wracking her frame. Hitsugaya tucked her against his shoulder, letting the girl release the storm.

After they heard what Urahara had said about Tina's father, Hitsugaya had seen the dawning realization of her mother's fate in Karin's eyes. That was why he had chosen to engage her in various topics, and that was also why the duo had ended up at the riverbank.

She clung to him, trying to hide her reddened and blotchy face. "She died, and I-I couldn't even... couldn't even tell her how much I love her... How much we all miss her... and daddy tries so hard... to be upbeat everyday, so hard, and it hurts to see him... him so lonely... God, if only... b-but that's not possible, not possible, to have the gigai option. I thought, at first... but she's no longer around, is she? Eaten by a hollow... She's gone, just g-gone forever... really, really gone..."

He held her, closing his eyes in sympathy as she sobbed her grief out on his shoulder. He wanted to tell her it was okay, but he didn't.

Hitsugaya Toushiro hated to lie to people he cared about.