Thank you all for your encouraging reviews! I feel much better about this story, I wasn't sure if people were actually going to like the idea. Oh, and the thing with the army is just kind of a convenient excuse to get Karin to agree to an arranged marriage, since I can't think of another way to do it. There's no war going on or anything.

"Gooooooooood moooooooorrrrrrrnnnnnnning Kaaaaaaaaaarin!" Isshin cried, breaking her door down in this effort to get in her room. But something was wrong and he knew it. He never got through her entire name without getting punched in the face.

"Karin?" he asked curiously, but she wasn't there. Thinking hard, Isshin went to the open window and stuck his head out.

"Found you!" he exclaimed. When Karin was upset or irritated, she often sat on the roof to calm her nerves. And she had been there all night.

"What do you want oyaji?" Karin groaned. If he was here, it meant that she had to come inside and get ready for her wedding. She was not looking forward to the prospect.

"You have visitors!" Isshin said excitedly. Karin raised an eyebrow. Visitors? Who on earth had come to see her? She jumped off the roof, landing on her father's head, and used him as a ramp to climb in the window. Ignoring his whiny protests, she headed into the kitchen and suddenly, all the air was being squeezed out of her lungs.

"EEEEEEE! I'm so excited! Karin-chan's getting married!"

"Let her go Yuzu," Rukia advised. "I think she's turning blue." Yuzu released Karin and beamed at her.

"You're getting married!" she sang. "Oh, I'm so excited for you!"

"That makes one of us," Karin mumbled, sitting down and grabbing an apple. She looked around the room. Her two siblings, Yuzu and Ichigo were there with their spouses. "What are you all doing here?" she muttered.

"Oh, Karin-chan, you didn't think we were going to miss your wedding did you?" Yuzu cooed. Karin groaned.

"Don't remind me. Maybe it'll go away."

"It's better than the army," Jinta pointed out. Karin scoffed.

"Hey Karin," Ichigo said as Karin went to take a bite out of her apple, "aren't you supposed to fast before the wedding?" It was technically the tradition that the bride and groom consumed no food before they took their vows, but Karin demonstrated just how much that meant to her by taking an enormous bite.

"Since when do you care about things like tradition Ichi-nii?" Karin asked as she chewed. Ichigo shrugged.

"I guess since I married this one," he replied, pointing his thumb at Rukia. "Living in the Kuchiki house does that kind of thing to you." Rukia elbowed him the stomach.

"Since when do I make you do stuff like that?" she demanded. Ichigo threw up his hands in defense.

"Hey, I didn't say it was you! But your brother's damn scary! I swear, Byakuya can shoot fire out of his eyes if you look at him the wrong way." He received another elbow in the gut.

"Don't talk about nii-sama like that!" she scolded.

"Oh yeah, I really want to get married now," Karin said sarcastically. Yuzu giggled.

"Anyway, Karin-chan, I brought you my wedding dress for you to wear," she said cheerily. "Why don't you go try it on?"

"Why?" Karin glowered. "The wedding's not for hours."

"Five," Yuzu stated. "And it will take me at least two to do your hair." Karin's head hit the table.

"Can't I just go like this?" she groaned.

"Yes Yuzu!" Isshin bellowed, finally having extracted himself from Karin's window frame and made it into the kitchen. "Make sure you dress her up splendidly! A person's wedding day is something they should remember with joy! Why, I remember when I was…" Karin was too lazy to hit her father, but luckily, Ichigo did it for her.

"It's too early for your ramblings!" he shouted angrily.

"Thanks Ichi-nii," Karin said gratefully before succumbing to her fate and reluctantly allowing Yuzu to drag her out of the kitchen.

ooooooooooooooooo

Hitsugaya was pacing back and forth in the entrance hall, getting more impatient by the second.

"Where are they?" he asked in irritation. "The wedding's supposed to start in half an hour?"

"I'm sure they'll be here Shiro-chan!" Momo said brightly.

"It's Hitsugaya!" he snapped more rudely than he meant to, but Momo simply giggled. Hitsugaya sighed.

"I wanted to have a chance to talk to her before the wedding, but now I don't think there'll be time."

"But Hitsugaya-kun," Momo protested. "The bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other's faces on their wedding day!" Along with the not eating, it was also traditional that both the bride and groom covered their faces for the ceremony. They weren't supposed to meet the morning of the wedding, the implication being that they couldn't actually look at each other until the ceremony was over. It was supposed to make it more special or something, but at times like this it was downright annoying.

"Even if I can't see her face, it still would be nice to talk to her," he said with a sigh. "I know absolutely nothing about her."

"Well you'll have plenty of time to get to know each other after the wedding," Momo said in an attempt to cheer him up. "It's normal for girls to be fashionably late." Hitsugaya scoffed. The thought of marrying a girl who was obsessed with her looks wasn't particularly appealing. He'd much rather be with someone who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty than someone who was "fashionably late." But, he realized, she was probably like most girls. Content to sit around and get pampered all day while worrying about fickle things like clothing and nails. He shook his head. He knew he shouldn't be having such negative thoughts, but they were inevitable.

The front door opened and Matsumoto poked her head in.

"Hitsugaya-sama, I think it's time you headed out to the garden." Hitsugaya took one last look out, searching for the nonexistent carriage, then followed Matsumoto out.

oooooooooooooooo

"Wow!" Yuzu marveled as the carriage pulled into the estate. "Look at this place!" It was enormous. In spite of herself, Karin raised her heavy veil to glance out the window. She saw sprawling acres of well manicured lawns, gardens, and trees. The house itself was actually quite impressive. It seemed welcoming and cheery, unlike many manors Karin had seen. A coat of arms containing a dragon spiraling around a sword was emblazoned above the front door.

"I told you Hitsugaya-kun was rich!" Isshin exclaimed.

"So his name is Hitsugaya?" Karin said blandly. Isshin looked shocked.

"Yes, Hitsugaya Toushiro, didn't I tell you?"

"No," Karin replied coolly. "You didn't tell me anything." She was incredibly bitter at the moment. She let her veil fall back into place and sat back in a huff. They were crammed like sardines in the tiny carriage which wasn't designed to hold so many people. Karin's dress took up a seat all to itself. The lack of air was doing nothing to lighten Karin's mood.

"Cheer up Karin," Jinta said encouragingly. "At least try to make an effort to be happy. You're miserable enough to wake the dead." Karin glared at him, but it was lost through her thick veil.

"Shut up!" she retorted.

"Oi, oi, everyone just calm down…!" Ichigo began, but was cut off because Karin's fist was suddenly occupying his mouth.

"You brat, what was that for?!" he cried.

"I'm perfectly calm, thank you very much!" Karin screamed.

"Ichigo's right Karin!" Isshin declared. "You should be happ…" but he too was forced to stop short as Karin punched him in the chest knocking all the wind out of him.

"Karin, quit it!" Ichigo cried, trying to separate her from Isshin. "There isn't room for this in here!" As if in response, the carriage jerked as it went over a rock, and several people knocked their heads together.

"Ow!" came the collective groan.

"See!" Ichigo jeered. Karin hit him again.

"I told you to quit it!" he cried. But he was suddenly hit by another fist; Rukia's this time.

"Don't yell at her!" she shouted. "Not today!"

"But she keeps hitting me!" he protested.

"Hey, let's all sing a happy song…" Isshin began, but was quickly silenced as everyone but Yuzu hit some area of his body. The battle royal was getting so intense that they didn't even notice that they had been parked for several minutes until the driver pounded on the roof.

"Damn it!" Karin swore. She opened the door and the family spilled out onto the grass. They assessed the damage and determined that it wasn't too bad (except for Isshin who had a cracked tooth, but no one really cared). The front door opened wide and a strawberry blond woman bounded out.

"Ah, the Kurosaki's, how wonderful to meet you!" she sang. Karin was practically blinded by her smile.

"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku, Hitsugaya-sama's chief of staff," she introduced herself. "And you must be Karin-sama," she said brightly to the heap of cloth that Karin was hiding under. Karin nodded.

"His chief of staff is this attractive woman?" she thought to herself, not realizing what Matsumoto had called her in her anger at everything connected to this man. "I bet he's got a fetish. Well, he'll probably be quite disappointed with me." She smirked vindictively.

"If you'll follow me," Matsumoto continued, "we'd like to start the ceremony as soon as possible. All the guests have arrived and are already seated." Matsumoto led the family around the back of the house. It was a good fifteen minute walk to span the periphery, and another ten to reach the garden that had been set up for the wedding.

"I'm never going to learn my way around," Karin thought cynically. "This place is too big for its own good."

They reached the garden and if Karin had been in a better mood, she would have appreciated how spectacular it was. The explosion of color coming from every variety of flower she could imagine was augmented by wrought iron colonnades draped in ivy and small fountains gently spraying water.

"It's so pretty!" Yuzu gushed. Matsumoto beamed at her.

"Hitsugaya-sama takes great pride in this garden!" she bragged. Karin scoffed.

"I'll bet he's got a team of gardeners working around the clock. Poor souls," she thought miserably. "Where's the pride in that?"

Finally, they arrived at the wedding. Karin was impressed at how many guests Hitsugaya had managed to recruit in such a short period of time. She herself had only invited her family. She saw no reason to bring anyone else to this un-festive occasion.

"You're here!" someone squealed, and Karin turned to see a cute girl with black hair who was clutching the arm of a much taller man with brown, wavy locks and a genial smile. The girl and her arm attachment ran up to Karin.

"Hi, I'm Aizen Momo!" she eagerly introduced herself. "I'm Hitsugaya-kun's cousin. This is my husband, Souske."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Aizen said. Karin didn't respond until she felt a sharp elbow in her back.

"Ow…uh, it's a pleasure to meet you," she replied, then turned to glare at her brother. Unfortunately, he couldn't see her face due to her veil. She wished she could take the stupid thing off, but she had to wait until the ceremony was over.

"Hitsugaya-kun," Momo called. "They're here, they're here!" Karin's blood ran cold. Hitsugaya-kun? That was him wasn't it? Her husband-to-be. She turned in spite of herself and a person who she assumed was Hitsugaya emerged from a small group of people who were fussing over him. Karin held her breath. She couldn't see his face since it was hidden, and she couldn't tell how fat he was, owing to the fact that wedding outfits were notorious for being excessively large. He started to approach her, but before he could reach the family, the minister stepped between them and insisted that they get started.

"So much for a conversation before the wedding," Karin thought bitterly.

The ceremony itself didn't take very long. Yuzu sniffled through all of it, and more than once Karin wanted to turn to her and yell, "If anyone should be crying, it should be me!" but she refrained.

The minister was nearing the end and Karin felt her palms get sweaty.

"Only a few more seconds," she thought vainly. "I can still get out of this."

"I now…"

"I can still run."

"…pronounce you…"

"Right there, there's a gate."

"…man…"

"I can hide out in the woods. Maybe the army won't find me."

"…and wife…"

"Damn!"

"You may kiss the bride." Karin took a deep breath. Her fate was sealed. She reached up and pulled her veil off her face as her new husband did the same.

Karin's jaw fell open, as did Hitsugaya's.

"YOU!" they cried in unison, and the audience gasped. Karin found herself swelling with more anger than she had ever felt in her life. This was the worst thing she could have possibly imagined. Yesterday, she felt guilty about crashing into this man, but today? Hah! He deserved every ounce of ice cream he got.

"Um…" the minister bumbled, clearly at a loss. "You…you may kiss the bride?" he said hopefully.

"Oh I'll give him a kiss alright," Karin snarled, and before anyone could move she had wound her hand back and decked him in the face.

How very romantic of her :P