Sorry I'm being so slow with posting. It was an utterly chaotic weekend. Things will hopefully be better this week.
When Karin woke up the next morning, it took her a moment to get her bearings.
"Oh yeah, I slept in Toushiro's room," she remembered, feeling her cheeks start to flush. She could feel his warm body still cuddled up against her back and his arm was still draped over her, his hand pressed just a little too closely to her chest. But as she was the one doing the pressing, she could hardly be angry.
Running over all the details of the night before in her mind, Karin couldn't help but blush a little, but a smile crept over her face nonetheless.
"I really told Toushiro I loved him, didn't I?" she asked herself. "And I willingly slept in his bed! I do weird things when I'm tired, don't I?" But, inside, Karin knew that her words to him were true. Somehow, over the last few days they had spent together, she had fallen in love with him. She pulled his arm closer to her at that thought.
"I should probably see how Momo's doing," she realized. She was reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort of her husband's embrace, but she thought it was her responsibility. She tried to move out of his arms carefully so as not to wake him, but apparently, he was either already awake or a lighter sleeper than she thought.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, tightening his hold on her. Trying desperately not to smile as broadly as she knew she was, Karin flipped over to face him.
"I was going to check on Momo," she replied. "Make sure she's alright."
"If something was wrong, someone would have come to get you," Hitsugaya assured her. "I made sure of that before I left. There were servants watching her all night."
"But they wouldn't have known where I was," Karin protested. "No one knows I'm in here do they?"
"I'm sure they would have found you," Hitsugaya said, his face turning red at the thought of someone walking in on them in bed together.
"Aw, what are you so embarrassed about?" Karin teased, noticing the color of his cheeks. She reached up and stroked his messy white hair. "You're going to have to get used to me being in here you know." Hitsugaya smirked.
"I think I'll be ok," he chided. He leaned forward and gave her a gentle morning kiss. At least, that was his intention. But as he broke away, they both found that neither wanted the kiss to end, so they did it again and again, each kiss becoming longer and deeper than the last. The passion of the night before was back, but the nervousness of sleeping in the same bed had abated. This was a new day, with new hope and new promises. Pressed together as they were, it didn't require a lot of pressure for Hitsugaya to roll her until she was on her back with him lying on top. They gazed into each other's eyes, but no words were exchanged. Only an affectionate smile that spoke volumes; one that was much more meaningful and expressed a thousand more emotions than any words possibly could have. Hitsugaya began to nibble lightly on her neck, when he heard the last sound he ever wanted to hear in this situation; a knock on the door.
"Hitsugaya-sama," came Matsumoto's voice. Hitsugaya tried very hard not to groan, and Karin suppressed a snicker at the look on his face.
"What?" he yelled in frustration.
"Momo-san, is awake," Matsumoto replied. "She's asking for you." Hitsugaya and Karin looked at each other.
"Go to her," Karin told him, reluctant as she was to let him leave at this particular moment. ""We can…um…finish later." They both blushed furiously at the implications of that statement, but Hitsugaya, unfortunately, had to agree with her. Regrettably, he climbed off her and got out of bed.
"I've got to go back to my room to change," Karin said as she too stood up. "All my stuff is still in there."
"But Matsumoto's in the hallway," Hitsugaya pointed out. Karin shrugged.
"So? It's not like this is going to stay a secret for long. Besides," she added, taking both his hands, "there's nothing wrong with it." Hitsugaya smirked.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "Now go before we lose track of time."
"Wow, you're kicking me out so quickly!" Karin gasped. "Was I that bad in bed?" Hitsugaya turned beet red. Karin laughed and kissed him again.
"I'll meet you in Momo's room," she said. She smiled at him, then slipped out the door.
"Oh good, Hitsugaya-sama you're…Karin-sama!" Matsumoto gasped. It took all of Karin's willpower not to burst out laughing at the startled look on Matsumoto's face.
"I'm just going to go change," Karin said lightly, opening the door to the dragon room. "But I'll be down to check on Momo in a bit." She shut the door behind her, leaving Matsumoto to process exactly what she had just seen. It took her a minute, but soon she was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Humming happily to herself, she wandered away, deciding that she could tease Hitsugaya all she wanted to later, but that for now, she would do the polite thing and let him have his morning.
oooooooooooooooo
Karin could hear the crying before she even turned the corner towards Momo's room. Wondering what was going on, she sprinted the last few steps and found a man with blond hair curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing.
"Oi oi, what's wrong?" Karin asked with concern, leaning down and placing a hand on the man's shoulder. He raised his head and his tear-filled eyes met Karin's anxious ones.
"Who are you?" he asked. Clearly not one of their servants, Karin thought. They all knew who she was from the wedding.
"Um, I think I should be asking you that," Karin replied, not unkindly. "Are you a friend of Momo's?"
"My name is Kira Izuru," he answered. "I'm the butler in the Aizen household."
"Oh, you're the one who brought Momo here!" Karin exclaimed, remembering what Matsumoto had told them the night before. "We're very grateful to you. My name's Karin. I'm Toushiro's wife." It took Kira a minute to realize who "Toushiro" was, but when he did, he bowed his head humbly.
"Oh no, Karin-sama, it is I who am grateful to you. You saved Momo-sama's life." Karin laughed.
"Oh, please just call me Karin. Really. And if you hadn't brought her here, I couldn't have done anything. And don't worry!" she added cheerily. "Momo will be just fine. She's already awake and everything." Kira nodded.
"I know. I stayed with her all night. Hitsugaya-sama is with her now."
"You didn't have to do that you know," Karin told him. "There are lots of people who would have been more than happy to split the time with you so you could get some sleep. Look at you, you're all pale." Kira seemed stunned that she would even suggest such a thing as color rose into his practically white cheeks.
"I…wanted to stay with her Karin-sama," he said sheepishly. Karin considered him. It seemed that her womanly intuition had grown by leaps and bounds over the past few days. Falling in love apparently did wonders to one's ability to sense other people's emotions. This man loved Momo. It was so painfully obvious. Karin grinned at her discovery.
"I tried to stop him!" Kira said desperately, as if continuing an internal conversation aloud. "I heard the commotion and came running, but by the time I reached them, Momo was already…" he trailed off, not able to put into words the state she had been in. "I…I tried to appeal to Aizen-sama. I begged him to stop. I even tried grabbing his arm, but he just kept hitting her…" He sighed. "Eventually he got fed up and stormed out of the room. Momo-sama was barely conscious. I didn't know what to do. I just knew I should get her out of the house as quickly as possible and this was the first place I could think of…"
"It's alright," Karin said soothingly. "It's not your fault." It seemed like she was saying that a lot lately. "You did everything you could. Heck, I think you saved her life. So stop crying. It's not manly." Ok, so she had said the exact opposite to Hitsugaya the night before, but she felt that the last thing this man needed were more tears.
"Thank you Karin-sama," Kira mumbled.
"It's Karin!" she insisted. "Just because I married a rich man doesn't make me better than you! I'm going to see Momo now. You'll be ok, right?" Kira nodded.
"Thank you Karin-sa…ah, Karin!" he stammered at a stern look from Karin. She smiled.
"There you go!" She could tell that he was feeling a little better. He had at least stopped crying. Karin went over to Momo's door and knocked.
"Come in!" came a friendly voice and Karin opened the door.
Momo had improved drastically from the night before. Some color had returned to her face and, while she wasn't sitting up, she was at least propped against some pillows. Hitsugaya was standing beside her, holding her hand in a comforting manner. Karin approached them.
"How are you feeling today Momo?" she asked brightly. Momo smiled.
"Much better, thanks to you! My stomach still hurts though."
"That's to be expected," Karin affirmed. "Your wound was deep. I can treat it again though. That should help a little. You shouldn't move around for a while until it heals, but you'll be fine." Momo beamed at her.
"You found yourself an amazing woman Shiro-chan," she said happily. Hitsugaya blushed slightly, but he nodded.
"Yeah, I did. And don't call me Shiro-chan!" Momo giggled.
Karin changed Momo's bandages and applied more elder flowers. A maid came in with breakfast and they ate together, chatting amicably the whole time. Karin could see why Hitsugaya cared about his cousin so much. She was bright and strong. Well, at least Karin thought she was. Until…
"Hitsugaya-kun," Momo said softly, staring down at her half-eaten food. "Do you think…do you think he'll ever take me back?" Hitsugaya scowled.
"Does it matter?" he asked icily. "You're never going back to him! It shouldn't even be an option!"
"But he's my husband!" Momo protested. "I love him!"
"How can you love a man who would do this to you?!" Hitsugaya shot, his face lined with rage. "A scumbag like him doesn't deserve you!"
"But it wasn't his fault! Really!" Momo begged.
"It's always the man's fault when he beats his wife," Hitsugaya replied darkly. "There is no excuse for that."
"But…but I made him mad. I knew I was going to make him mad but I still…"
"MOMO!" Hitsugaya screamed. "There is nothing you could have said or done that would warrant this!"
"What happened Momo?" Karin asked. She felt like the girl really wanted to explain. Hitsugaya crossed his arms and waited.
"Well," Momo began, looking down at her hands. "It wasn't like this was a new fight. I knew it would make him upset, but I did it anyway."
"What was it about?" Karin prompted.
"I wanted to have children," Momo admitted. "Ever since we got married, I've been begging and pleading to have children, but Souske-sama refused. He didn't want any. One night a few months ago, when I knew it was my time, I got him drunk and…wound up pregnant." She blushed at her confession.
"I was afraid to tell him," she continued. "I was afraid of what he might say. But it got to the point where I couldn't hide it anymore, so I told him the truth and…" She couldn't finish. By this time, tears were streaming down her cheeks. Now Karin understood. This wasn't just some marital spat gone horribly awry. Aizen had beaten the child out of her. That explained the wound in the stomach. Karin felt nauseous. Hitsugaya seemed to be in a similar state.
"Karin," Momo gasped. "There's no way that maybe…?"
"No," Karin said compassionately. "I'm really really sorry Momo." It wasn't possible for a fetus to survive that stomach wound. Momo's sobs redoubled and she turned towards Hitsugaya and buried her face in his shoulder. Hitsugaya stroked her back soothingly, but his face was stony, as if it had been too much information to take in all at once. He wanted to express his outrage, but he couldn't in front of Momo.
Karin didn't know what to say. How could you comfort someone in Momo's position?
Eventually, Momo's weeping lessened, and she fell silent.
"She's asleep," Hitsugaya croaked, realizing that she had stopped moving as well. He laid her back on her bed and gazed at her. Karin slipped her hand into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"He's a dead man," Hitsugaya growled, and Karin checked at the raw hatred in his voice.
"And just what do you plan to do?" Karin retorted. "He was in the army, you can't touch him." One of the only benefits of joining the army was the fact that they protected their veterans for life. The courts were run by the army itself. There was no justice in them. Right and wrong held very little weight when faced with a dispute between a veteran and an ordinary citizen. The veteran won. Always. And the citizen often suffered horribly for even considering taking issue with something a veteran had done.
"Who said I was going to the authorities?" Hitsugaya barked. "I'm going to kill him with my bare hands."
"Oh please, and that will make Momo feel better how?" Karin spat. "If you lose, you'll end up dead, and even if you win, you'll wind up rotting in a prison cell for the rest of your life for challenging a veteran, and frankly, that's worse than death! I know you know that. You're not a fool."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to just sit here while that lunatic bastard gets away with this?" he seethed. "Karin, what he did is unforgivable!"
"I know," Karin said with understanding. "But please, try to see reason. Momo doesn't want you to avenge her. The last thing she needs right now is more violence." Hitsugaya scowled and looked away from her, but he grudgingly had to admit that she had a point.
"Come on," Karin said encouragingly. "Let's go to the smithy. You need to vent some anger and what better way than hammering your heart out into a piece of metal? Besides, if we keep fighting here, we'll wake Momo." Hitsugaya took one last look at his sleeping cousin before allowing his wife to lead him away.
"I'll get him somehow," he thought to himself. "Karin's right. I can't just blindly attack him. But I'll figure something out. I've got to."
Wow, this chapter starts out so light and just keeps getting darker and darker… Sorry about that. Anyway, the reason Aizen attacked her will be important later, so I didn't just throw it in to disgust you all, although I will admit I felt slightly nauseous while writing it. Anyway, just as last time I wrote a dark chapter, I promise the next one will be much happier :)
