Ack! I know! I know! I've been not updating for a long time, but seriously! Give me a break! I finished my classes, and I am now waiting for the fall classes. However, other events happened to pop up without my knowledge and started to make me lose concentration on the stories. I promise that I will be working on my stories for hear on until September. Just don't kill me.

Doesn't anyone felt like summer was getting a bit too hot? I'm feeling that my house is becoming an oven, and the outside isn't getting cooler.

Heat Wave

Karakura was known to be a warm place during the winter and a hot place during the summer. It was perfect for those who are going into retirement and for those who thought of taking a summer vacation somewhere on the beach. Classes have stopped to let everyone take a summer vacation, but it doesn't stop everyone from doing their daily basis.

The same goes for the Shinigami. Their work doesn't stop in any season or taking any breaks in the summer or the winter. They are Soul Reapers to take any souls into a safe haven and keep them safe from Hollows, and they are responsible for the continuation of the life cycle. It was nonstop work for the Soul Reapers and for the Hollows.

"It's… too hot…"

Groaning, the said raven girl sprawled over the cool wooden floor. She was sent to this mission to watch over the town with a few of her comrades, and it was a good thing that she was taking a little break from all that delivering paperwork. It was supposed to be a relaxing day with her friends, but it seems that this day was going to be different.

It was one of those days that nothing was going to happen. Karakura's weather forecast said that today was going to be one of the hottest days they have since last year's one hundred and five degrees. Instead having an increase or decrease of one degree, the sun decided to give out three more degrees. The Shinigami have gone somewhere else to patrol the city, but they don't have anything better to do. Karin guessed that the Hollows weren't coming out into the godforsaken heat where the other place they are in was much cooler.

Lucky bastards…

"Nee-san… use your water to cool us off." The young man whined, not feeling the fan cooling him off. Since their fathers went out to a friend reunion day and their two friends went vacation with their family, the Kazeru twins decided to sleep over in the Kurosaki residence. Heiwa was irritated with the heat in her home, so she dragged her twin brother, Natsu, to their house where it was the only place that had the cool feeling. She was griping about the heat when she arrived, and the Kurosaki twins knew that she never liked the summer when it comes to temperature times. His twin growled.

"The cold water has also boiled in the pipes, so if you want, I could pour it on you if you want to burn up." The young man laughed nervously and told her that he didn't need it anymore. For someone who could be hotheaded and use fire to his advantage, he wasn't taking this oven bake heat too well. The raven-haired girl turned to her fraternal sister who was sitting on the stool just to wait for the homemade popsicles to freeze in the freezer.

"Yuzu… could you call out your Shikai to cool us off?" Her honey-haired twin, Yuzu, sighed.

"I can't, Karin-chan. Tsuki, Hi, and Hoshi won't come out because they complained that they're burning up in the heat." The other twin, Karin, sighed. It seems that her zanpakuto wouldn't come out, and the air conditioner was only used for the patients in the clinic. The only cool areas were the floorboards, and the Kazeru twins were making the boards warm. Karin groaned and flipped over for her face to feel the leftover cold feeling. If it weren't for Uncle Kazeru and her dad leaving to meet up with their old friends, the whole house would have set on fire by their stupidity. It was a good thing, but it also means no air conditioner until her stupid dad would come back home. Just before the air and floor have equal temperatures, the sound of the door open and the grumpy voice of a certain person gave Karin an idea.

"Toshiro! Welcome back! How was the patrol?" The air turned twenty degrees colder, and Karin cheered in her head. She knew when to piss off the Hitsugaya captain, and it was good timing, too. He didn't like summer very much, and with the heat and his subordinates slacking off, the temperature didn't heat up for him.

Oh no. To their relief, it cooled down a lot. Heiwa sighed in relief.

"That feels much better."

"Oy! Toshiro! Where the heck were you? Yuzu is making popsicles for us since it's too hot outside." Natsu yelled out, and Toshiro grunted and sat down on the couch where Karin was still on the floor… under his feet.

"Karin. You are going to catch a cold if you stayed there. Especially with the lack of decency…" Karin cracked open an eye and stuck out her tongue at the chiding Toshiro. It was true. You can't expect people to wear their normal clothes in the high temperatures, so they were only in their shorts and tank tops… just enough decency for them to endure the heat.

"It's hot, and I rather have a cold than a fever in this freakin' heat. Besides, say that to the person who is wearing nothing but short jeans in front of me."

"You lack coordination."

"And you suck on jokes."

"Hm. Touché." To see Toshiro and Karin argue, it was normal for the Kazeru twins and Yuzu. They saw them every time with arguments both good and bad, and it was somewhat their daily entertainment. They all knew that those both were in the "best friend" phase, but it was still unbelievable to see them skirt around each other. Toshiro let out a small chuckle, but his laughter was cut short when Natsu's mouth was opened.

"Hey! Toshiro! Put the cold back! It's hot." Toshiro glared at him, and Natsu was feeling that it was more than twenty degrees colder. He started to shiver.

"Whoa! Hey! Not that cold!" Heiwa rolled her eyes and smirked.

"What's wrong? For someone who complained about the heat, you sure complained about the cold." Natsu grumbled and took a pillow from the couch, covering his face from humiliation. They all chuckled a bit until the heat caught up to their brain, making their laughter cut short. It was a good amount of silence for them to rest from their suffering.

"The popsicles are ready!"

"Sweet!" Natsu tossed the pillow aside and was ready to jump over Toshiro until Heiwa grabbed Natsu by the ankle, making him fall flat on the ground. Yuzu took the popsicles to her friends and told them each flavor.

"These two are melon flavored, the other two are fruit punch flavored, and the last other two are watermelon flavored. Since there are five of us, one of us could take one and the last one could be-"

"I call the melon and watermelon popsicles!" Natsu grabbed the two, and Yuzu sighed.

"Nevermind." Heiwa pinched the bridge of her nose from growing irritated and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Yuzu. Maybe letting Natsu take two would cool his head down."

"How about getting a bucket of water, put a large ice block in it, stir it around until the ice melts and the water is cold, then splash it on Natsu?" Karin pointed it, and Heiwa smirked.

"That might work."

" 'Ey! Nu! Nu! Nu! Nu duffi waffer o re!" Natsu muffled with two popsicles jammed in his mouth. Heiwa gave out an evil chuckle before getting the melon flavored popsicle. Yuzu and Karin grabbed the fruit punch flavored, and Toshiro finally got his favorite watermelon flavored treat. They were content on eating their treat until Toshiro's cell phone began ringing. Sighing regretfully and removing his treat from his mouth, Toshiro answered the phone.

"Toshiro speaking."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU BASTARD?!" Toshiro pulled his cell phone in an arm's length. Everyone knew who was behind that phone, and by seeing the Kurosaki twin's reaction, they knew definitely knew who was yelling bloody murderer. When the voice stopped threatening, Toshiro pulled the phone back to his ear.

"What do you want Kurosaki?"

"What the hell are you doing at MY house?! I came back to check on you guys at the apartment you live in, and I heard Rangiku telling me that you are going over to my home where Karin and Yuzu are. You better not be there at all!" Toshiro sighed, feeling a headache coming up. He guessed that they were somewhat sober enough to tell Ichigo where he was after dropping them off drunk and all. Karin felt sympathy for Toshiro, and she wanted Ichigo to stop being like their dad. He was getting to the point of overdose protectiveness, and they have no privacy whatsoever! She whispered in Heiwa's ear, and Heiwa had that slightly surprised look. Heiwa smirked and whispered for her to go for it.

"Hey! Toshiro!" Toshiro gave Karin a glare, but he was stunned when she was sucking off his watermelon popsicle. He almost dropped the phone and the treat, and the white-haired captain was gaping like an idiot. Oh for Kami-sama's sake, did the heat bake Karin's brain?!

"Toshiro?! Hey! Toshiro! You better not taking advantage on my sister!" Ichigo was left ignored but went silent when Karin made a slurping sound.

"Mmm… Toshiro. It does taste like watermelon." His face went red like he had a sunburn, and Ichigo screamed like a little girl.

"WHAAAAT?!! KARIN!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER YOU BASTARD?!! WHEN I SEE YOU, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT…" All his gory threats were unheard, and Karin and Heiwa laughed. Yuzu scolded her sister for her immaturity, and Natsu was waving his hand in front of the unresponsive captain, laughing while waving.

"Ah… Toshiro broke. Hey, nee-san. Tell Ichigo what happened." Heiwa snatched the phone right out of Toshiro's hands and spoke.

"Kurosaki-tauchou. This is Heiwa Kazeru." More screeches were heard from the phone, and she sighed.

"Hitsugaya- taichou isn't doing anything. Karin was the one who planned to break both you and Hitsugaya-taichou by eating his watermelon popsicle since you called us." There was no longer a screech but a blubbering fool. Heiwa sighed.

"We are eating Yuzu's fruit flavored treats since it's a hot day, so nothing bad has happened." Heiwa sighed some more and ended the conversation.

"Just accept the fact that you were punked by your own sister. Good day, sir." She shut the phone off and handed the phone back on Toshiro's hand. Toshiro snapped awake from his shock and glared at the troublemaking Kurosaki.

"Karin," growled Toshiro. Karin laughed harder and slammed her hand on her armrest.

"Oh… man," Natsu recovered from his laugh attack, "Ichigo is going to give us the heel when he is coming here, isn't he?" Heiwa just shook her head and still smirked.

"No. He's in shock right now when he heard the plan. We're in a safe area." Yuzu sighed and shook her head. Toshiro groaned and leaned back. Seriously. The heat wave was getting into them.