Her Guardian Angel.
Chapter Three.
Karin shimmied out of her work uniform and dragged a pair of black sweatpants on with a plain grey t-shirt. She rubbed her arms and wandered around searching for her favorite sweatshirt; the navy blue one that said Kurosaki Clinic on the back. The one she always wore when she was worried or nervous to a point of madness.
After finding said sweatshirt and pulling it on, messing up her already crazy hair, she walked into the kitchen-ish area of her house in a kind of blank daze. As her hand wrapped around the handle of her tiny refrigerator she paused. The cold plastic on her palm felt rough with the bumps and indents put there to help her grip it better. She rested her forehead against the door of it, feeling the coolness seep into her skin. It was refreshing.
"What the hell did he think he was doing?" she murmured aloud to herself. Her brow furrowed in confusion and her lips twisted in a sort of thoughtful grimace. She tightened her grip on the fridge handle. "He just waltzes up to me and expects me to take him seriously. I should report him for… something."
Something. Anything. The only thing that she knew was that she wanted to get that man put somewhere that she wouldn't have to worry about him. Perhaps she could file for violence against her. She had no clue what to do but she was sure if she called the police they would be more than happy to help their friendly neighborhood-madwoman out.
She sighed and opened up a microwavable cup of instant ramen, sticking it into said kitchen device and setting the timer. She knelt in front of her counter with her chin resting on her folded hands as she watched the little plate on the inside rotate in an almost-hypnotizing way. She frowned as she realized how dirty it was on the inside. When the machine beeped she took it out and set it on the counter to cool while she wandered to the fridge to find a coke.
As she popped the tab on the top of the can and took a sip she looked out the window, half expecting the mysterious man to be standing there watching her. She shivered and walked over to the wide double window. She pulled the heavy black curtains across with two fast, sharp motions. She backed away from the windows and turned her back to them. She shuddered and grabbed her ramen and coke, migrating to her room where she could watch lame late-night comedy shows to take her mind of things.
The bed creaked underneath her as she settled down. She held her ramen in one hand with a hand towel wrapped around it to keep the heat off her hands and a pair of chopsticks in the other. She twirled her meal absently as she glared at the blinking advertisements on the television set. She set her drink down next to a small leather bound journal on her nightstand. She reached for the can and her fingertips brushed the rough texture of the book. Her hand pulled back quickly and her black eyes turned to the offending thing. It stared back innocently.
She set her ramen down next to her hip, resting it against her to keep it from falling over, and picked up the journal, flipping to the last entry, the one that she had done the day that Yuzu died. The one where she was ranting about how Yuzu always got more boys than she did. How even the boys on her soccer team would rather date Yuzu than her. She slammed it shut and threw it across the room. It collided with the wall and flopped to the floor, pages flipping erratically. She shifted in her bed so the footboard would cover her view of it and picked her ramen back up. She turned the volume on the television higher.
Three hours later she fell into a restless sleep that was full of painful memories.
Toushiro knelt on her windowsill in her room, watching her sleep. She had blocked his view of her kitchen when she drew the curtains and he feared that she had seen him at first but she just moved herself to the bedroom where he had kept an eye on her through the slit in the burgundy curtains until she went to sleep. Now he watched her from his precarious perch.
He ran a hand through his pale hair. The white locks fell loose around his face. Matsumoto had stolen his hair-tie. He had no clue what she wanted it for but she had ransacked his stash and fled to the kitchen, no doubt to try some newest cuisine feat. He could only pray that the kitchen wasn't on fire when he got back.
After an hour or so he began to get very brave in the way he moved around Karin's room. He left the windowsill and walked silently over the stained, thin carpet until he reached her creaking bed. He settled on the floor beside it, looking up at her face as she slept. Her eyes flicked beneath her eyelids, the black makeup from the day still on and making dark blurs around her eyes. Her hair fell in her face and he reached out and gently brushed it back from her mouth, tucking it behind one ear. A black stud earring winked at him. He withdrew his hand and placed it in his lap where he twisted his fingers together in a variety of designs.
She shifted positions so that she lay facing the other side. He unconsciously stood and crept over to the other side, sitting beside her silently. His teal eyes trained on her face, never letting her out of his sight, not that she was going anywhere anyway. As he passed the hours with mindless finger weaving patterns he satisfied his mind's desire to have quiet meditation by speaking with Hyorinmaru.
Hyorinmaru? His voice sounded small in his mind.
Yes, master? Have you come to speak to me after so long a time of silence?
Aa. Yes. Sorry I've ignored you. I did not mean to.
As an extension of your spirit, I believe I have a right to understand everything that is happening. Why do you now reside in a human girl's bedroom?
Hitsugaya sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get far with Hyorinmaru while he was complaining about being in the dark. He leaned back against Karin's nightstand, ignoring the brass handles jamming into his spine. He drew his knees up to his chest, took one last glance at Karin, and let his consciousness vanish into his mind-scape.
Very well, Hyorinmaru, what do you wish to know?
What have you been doing while you left me here without any idea of what you are doing?
Hitsugaya stood in the white snow that blanketed the mountains, caves, and crevices that populated his mind. He cast around briefly in search of Hyorinmaru and found the dragon in one of the largest caves. He flash-stepped across the frozen tundra and peeked into the rocky entrance. There, in the back of it, curled in around itself time and time again in a spiral of icy blue scales, ending at the top with the small, savage head endowed with sparkling ruby eyes and a gaping maw lined with piercing teeth, was Hyorinmaru, the spirit of Hitsugaya Toushiro.
The soutaicho sent Matsumoto and myself on a mission to the Living World to watch over Kurosaki's younger sister, Kurosaki Karin.
Yes, I do remember you mentioning on your last visit that she was becoming a danger to her surroundings.
The taicho crept closer to the dragon, raking his thin, pale fingers over the scales. Glittering flakes of ice clung to his hands, making them shimmer in the natural moonlight that floated in through the entrance. Hyorinmaru gave a rumbling purr and lashed out with its tail, catching the slender shinigami, and dragging him to its side.
I saw her, at her work, but she did not recognize me.
Is there a measure of sadness that I detect, young master?
No, dragon. There is not.
Hitsugaya snuggled down closer to the freezing body, somehow gaining warmth from the touch. Hyorinmaru's tail tightened around him protectively and the dragon blew a snort of icy wind that ruffled the taicho's white hair, blowing it into his face to conceal his teal eyes. The near-white skinned hand went out again to stroke the scales, rubbing carefully and easily.
You cannot hide your innermost thoughts from me, although you try. I feel that there is some sadness in you that she did not recognize you as well as some relief. Perhaps you fear a confrontation, she will want to know of her family and you will not be allowed to tell her anything. Do you fear having to refuse her? To withhold information from her though you know it will bring her pain?
No. I do not fear anything about her. A taicho should fear nothing.
Spoken like a true taicho, like a soutaicho in training.
You do not approve?
I do not approve of the soutaicho's mannerisms and what he chooses to teach you. If you are to become soutaicho you must make your own way. A dragon chooses his own path, it is not chosen for him.
Be that as it may –
Speak no more, young master. The lady awakes.
Hitsugaya shoved himself from the coils of his dragon, pushing his body up on his hands as he splayed them evenly over the scales. He almost chuckled when he heard Hyorinmaru give its rumbling purr despite itself. The moment his skin left contact with Hyorinmaru he vanished from his mindscape, slowly returning to consciousness. The first thing that he saw was Karin's fist raised in front of his face. He had no time to duck.
Karin was furious. She woke up and the first thing she saw was the creepy guy from her work sitting on her floor, sleeping! So she did the one thing a logical girl would do, she climbed stealthily out of bed and went to find the nearest heavy object. Unfortunately her bed squeaked obnoxiously loud and gave away that she was awake so she settled for her fist. She waited until his eyes began to open and he was mostly awake so he could feel the full force of it.
Her fist shot out from her body, slamming him in the nose with her knuckles. His head whipped back, cracking against the nightstand. She looked frantically around the room for one of her various self-defense weapons and found a bat, just barely peeking out from under her bed. She seized it just as he was stumbling to his feet, one hand clutching the back of his head, the other on his nose, blood seeping through his fingers.
"Wait, wait!" he protested as she readied her weapon. She cocked it over her shoulder, not really caring. What kind of a freak went into someone else's house at night and watched them while they slept! Not that she had any proof he was watching her, but she assumed that was what he was doing. She didn't wait.
The bat swung down with a sickening crack against his ribs. He doubled over, removing his hand from the back of his head to try to shield the rest of his body with it. She raised it again and slammed it against the back of his knees. His legs folded in on themselves and his back hit the floor. He fell with a grunt of pain. She drew it back again, this time aiming between his legs. He rolled over and held out a hand. She swung anyway but was surprised when it landed straight in the middle of his palm. His fingers closed over it and he jerked it out of her grip roughly. Karin was no weakling but he wasstrong.
"Stop," he said as he struggled to his feet. One hand clutched his side and the other held onto the bat, keeping it out of her reach.
"Why should I stop?" she screeched, reaching the books that were sitting on her nightstand. She caught one and threw it at him. He brought up his arm to block it but there was a definite thud as it met his flesh and bounced off. She felt the cold aluminum of her coke and slung it at him. The half of it that remained after her dinner sloshed over him and the floor, turning parts of his ivory hair brown. As he tried to wipe the liquid out of his eyes she found the chopsticks from her ramen and held on in either hand like daggers, with every intention of gouging out his pretty eyes.
"Kurosaki Karin! Stop this! I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me help you. How can you not recognize me?' The hurt in his voice made her stop and he peeked from behind his shielding arm.
"Why would I recognize you?" she asked, pointing one of the chopsticks at him accusingly. "Who are you?" But she made no further move to take his life so he relaxed slightly, dropping his arm so that both wound around his wounded torso.
"My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro."