Thank you thank you thank you all a thousand times for your wonderful reviews! They mean so much to me and you were all so thoughtful! I really really appreciate it :)
Needless to say, festivities were thin on the ground at the wedding reception. There was a band playing music and servants darting back and forth, serving food. Rows of candles were brought out, signifying the arrival of twilight. It should have been perfect. But the guests were too busy whispering nervously to enjoy themselves much. And no one was more unhappy than the bride.
"Just go talk to him!" Yuzu pleaded.
"NO!" Karin insisted.
"Karin you sound like a child," Ichigo scolded her. Karin scowled.
"I don't care! I just married the biggest jerk I have ever met!"
"You didn't even give him a chance," Yuzu said desperately. "What did he do to you that was so awful?" Karin didn't reply. She felt foolish admitting the truth.
"That's right!" Isshin exclaimed. "You must have a positive attitude about this…oof," he grunted as Karin slugged him in the stomach.
"I'm not in the mood!" she shouted. With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off. She couldn't bear to listen to her family any more.
Hitsugaya watched her leave the party and sighed.
"What happened between you two Hitsugaya-kun?" Momo asked anxiously. "She seems to really hate you."
"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," he replied sourly, rubbing his bruised cheek. Karin packed a wallop. If he wasn't so upset about it, he would have been impressed with her strength. "I didn't do anything to her that should make her hate me this much. If anything, I should be the one who's mad! I don't know what to do."
"Try talking to her," Momo suggested. "Apologize for whatever it was that you did to upset her. Just, try to be nice. Don't let your temper get the better of you."
"When do I do that?" he shouted and Momo raised an eyebrow. Hitsugaya scoffed.
"Sorry," he apologized. "I'm just not in the best mood at the moment."
"That's ok Hitsugaya-kun!" she said brightly. "Now go get her." Hitsugaya sighed deeply, but inevitably decided to take Momo's advice. He at least, was willing to make an effort to get to know Karin better. Maybe their little "interaction" in town the day before had just been a misunderstanding. Taking a deep breath, he headed off in the direction where Karin had disappeared.
It took him a while to find her. The garden was a small maze and, although he knew his way around perfectly well, it was fairly easy for someone to hide. He heard her before he saw her, swearing up a storm not too far away. He rounded the corner and there she was, throwing rocks furiously into a pond and sending forceful ripples across the surface that crashed into the sides like mini tsunamis. The setting sun was visible in the distance and it cast eerie shadows over everything. Hitsugaya cleared his throat to announce his presence. Karin turned towards him and frowned.
"What do you want?" she spat.
"To talk to you," he replied as patiently as he could. Karin scowled.
"Well I don't want to talk to you!" She turned away from him and launched another rock into the pond. Hitsugaya's patience broke. Forgetting what Momo had said about being nice, he rounded on her and shouted,
"Look you! I'm sorry for yesterday! Ok! It was just a stupid accident and I was rude, but so were you! So can we please just put it behind us and start over?!" Karin looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and Hitsugaya took this as a positive sign.
"Hi," he said, holding his hand out to her. "My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro. Nice to meet you." Karin raised an eyebrow.
"Are you kidding?" she said incredulously.
"What?" Hitsugaya defended. "We haven't really been introduced properly, so why not do it now?" Karin didn't answer, so he decided to switch tactics.
"Would you like a tour of the grounds?" he offered.
"Why would I want that?" Karin shot back.
"Um, well, you are going to live here from now on. I thought that maybe you'd like to get to know the place a little better." Karin scoffed. Hitsugaya suppressed a groan.
"How can I get through to her if she doesn't even want to try?" he wondered in exasperation. They stood in silence for a bit as Hitsugaya thought desperately of something to say.
"I'm tired!" Karin finally declared.
"What a brat," Hitsugaya thought, but he was at least intelligent enough not to say it out loud.
"Well, then go to sleep," he provided as politely as he could.
"Where?" Karin sneered. God, this girl was getting on his nerves.
"Wherever you like," he replied with a wave of his hand. "There're plenty of rooms. Just pick one." Karin cast him a wary look.
"You're not going to make me sleep in your bed?" she sneered. Hitsugaya looked affronted.
"Why would I do that?" he asked confused. Karin laughed harshly.
"Well, we are married now," she said spitefully. "Isn't that what married people do?" Hitsugaya scoffed.
"As if I'd want to sleep with someone who hates me so much. And let's get one thing straight right now!" he said with conviction. "I'm your husband. Not your master. We're equal partners in this relationship. I can't make you do anything. Although, I'm getting the impression that I couldn't make you do something even if I wanted to." He offered her a small smirk, and Karin almost, almost, grinned. Hitsugaya sighed.
"Look," he said a little more gently. "Why don't you take the room next to mine? It's one of the larger guest rooms, and the view's pretty nice. I'll have your stuff brought in there. Ok?" Karin glared at him for a moment, then turned around and marched off. Hitsugaya was going to call after her, but quickly changed his mind and decided to just let her go. He rubbed his temples in exasperation.
"What am I going to do with her?" he wondered.
ooooooooooooooooo
Karin had no desire to return to the wedding party even to say goodbye to her family, so she gave the crowd a wide berth as she left the garden. She really just wanted to be alone. She was pretty sure that Hitsugaya wouldn't follow her, but the problem with that was, even if he had told her to go to the room next to his, she had absolutely no idea where that was. She knew that she should have accepted his offer of a tour, but her pride just wouldn't let her.
"I'll just find a servant to show me where to go," she thought, and with that encouraging decision, she headed off into the house.
It was dark inside so Karin couldn't tell a thing about the decorations or the layout. All she knew was that the house was huge. She stumbled around aimlessly for quite a while, but didn't meet anyone.
"Where is everyone?" she wondered. "Must be working the wedding." She had almost given up hope and was about to just crash in the hallway when she heard a voice call her name.
"Karin-sama!" Karin turned around and glared at the speaker, who, Karin realized, was Matsumoto.
"What did you just call me?" she barked, and Matsumoto checked.
"Well you are Hitsugaya-sama's wife," she explained. "You are the lady of the house and…"
"And I'm a person, just like you, so I don't want any of this sama crap, understand! Whatever he makes you call him is none of my concern!" Matsumoto smiled gently.
"I think you'll find that addressing people formally is a sign of affection in this house," she said, then giggled slightly at the look of bewilderment on Karin's face. "Anyway, I thought I might show you to your room, seeing as you've never been here before." Karin was about to retort, but then she realized that one, she really did need the help, and two, just because she hated Hitsugaya didn't mean she had anything against Matsumoto. There was no harm in being polite to her.
"Thanks," she said, and Matsumoto smiled again. She led her down the hallway and up two flights of stairs before stopping in front of an impressive looking oak door.
"Here you go Karin-sama, the dragon room." Karin groaned.
"It's got a name. Are you kidding me?" Matsumoto giggled.
"We gave it that name when Hitsugaya-sama was ten and thought that he had dragons living his closet," she said reminiscently.
"Wait!" Karin stopped her. "This is his room! But he said…"
"Oh no," Matsumoto corrected her. "I mean well, yes it was his room, but he moved into the master bedroom next door after his parents died."
"Oh," Karin said sheepishly, slightly embarrassed over the misunderstanding. "So, so he thought he had dragons in his closet?" she offered to cover for her moment. Matsumoto chuckled.
"The dragon has long been the symbol of the Hitsugaya household," she explained. "Hitsugaya-sama has always been enamored with them. When he was little, he invented some imaginary dragons to be his friends. Apparently, he had been doing that for years, but we only found out when he offered to let me borrow one for good luck while I was in the army." She sighed. "He almost broke my heart that day."
"Why?" Karin asked curiously in spite of herself.
"Well, Hitsugaya-sama's always been a bit isolated. He's quite reserved and doesn't branch out to people easily, so he didn't really have any friends growing up. Except possibly Momo-san, but she's older than him and she always had lots of friends, so she didn't have as much time for him as he probably would have liked. He grew up alone for the most part. So when I was leaving for the army and discovered that not only had he invented a horde of imaginary friends, but was also willing to part with one for my sake, I realized how lonely he really was, and how much he was going to miss me." She sighed. "I've been with this family since before Hitsugaya-sama was born. I love him like a son. I never realized how much he cared for me until that moment. By the time I returned from the army, his parents had died, Momo-san had gotten married, and he was all alone." Karin felt her heart go out to him unwittingly. But just a little.
"Well he seems to have plenty of friends now," she replied coolly, not willing to show that she was touched by the story. "The number of people that came to that wedding! And with only a day's notice too!" Matsumoto looked at her confused, then broke down laughing.
"Oh, but Karin-sama, those were the servants!"
"Huh?" Karin asked, utterly confused.
"Hitsugaya-sama wanted all the servants to come as guests to the wedding," she explained. "He gave them all the day off and told them to come celebrate with him." Karin raised an eyebrow. This guy wanted his servants at the wedding as guests? She would not have expected that from him.
"But then what about the servers?" she protested. "There were lots of servants running around."
"Outside people hired specifically for the occasion," Matsumoto told her. "Hitsugaya-sama didn't want his own people working at his wedding. He said it was their celebration too." Karin pondered this newfound knowledge. Maybe he wasn't as a bad a guy as she had made him out to be.
Matsumoto put a gentle hand on her shoulder and Karin looked at her.
"Karin-sama," she said affectionately. "Whatever grudge it is that you have against Hitsugaya-sama, I urge you to reconsider. He's not the easiest person in the world to get along with, I'll be the first to admit that. But he's kind and thoughtful and honest. He's cold, no doubt about it, but his shell does crack on occasion, and when it does, you'll find that his heart is incredibly warm. At least give him a chance. He may surprise you."
"I'll think about it," Karin replied offhandedly. "Thanks for showing me my room." Matsumoto smiled at her, then headed off down the hallway.
"My room's right here if you need anything," she called back over her shoulder, indicating another door at the end of the hall. "Don't hesitate to ask ok?"
"Sure sure," Karin replied before entering the "dragon room." Karin heaved an enormous sigh. It had been a long and emotionally draining day. Coupled with the fact that she hadn't slept at all the night before meant that Karin was exhausted. Deciding that she would leave exploration of the room for the following morning, Karin climbed out of her wedding dress, collapsed on the bed, and was asleep within minutes.
I don't think this is quite as exciting as the last chapter, but I've got to soften her up somehow, and I think this is the best way to start. I hope I don't lose you here, because I promise things will lighten up soon.
