I'm glad you all like the idea of Karin being an illusionist. I don't really know where I got the idea, but it worked really well for the story, so I stuck with it. I re-wrote this chapter a few times, cut things, added things, and even thought about leaving it out, but eventually, I decided it's a really fun chapter that I wanted to have in here. Plus, some important stuff happens here, even if it's not obvious at first glance.
"It's heavy," Karin groaned.
"It should be light as a feather to you," Hitsugaya replied in a bored voice. "Remember, it doesn't actually exist."
"Easy for you to say," Karin grumbled, staring at the dresser she was trying to lift. "I thought illusions couldn't manipulate the outside world."
"You're not manipulating it, you're just using it," Hitsugaya repeated for the tenth time. "The dresser does exist, but you are simply creating a second one that you can lift, while at the same time, hiding the original. It not only gives you the appearance of inhuman strength, but also…"
"Turns my surroundings into a weapon without letting on that it's an illusion, I know, know," Karin finished for him. "But it's easier said than done."
"What are they doing in there?" came Ichigo's voice from the other side of the door. "They've been hulled up all day again."
"Oh, leave the lovebirds alone," Isshin replied. "Let young love foster and grow…"
"Put the dresser down Karin," Hitsugaya warned.
"Oh please, just this once…" she begged, an evil gleam twinkling in her eye as she edged towards the door with the illusioned dresser riding on her shoulder. "I'm going to hit them so hard…"
"I don't think it'll fit out the door," Hitsugaya pointed out. Karin paused. Slowly, an evil grin spread across her face.
"Why not?" she said thoughtfully. "It's just an illusion. I can make it shrink if I want to. Or I can make the door look wider so that it'll fit. There're plenty of ways to get it out of the room."
"Congratulations." Karin was so stunned by the sincerity in his voice that she dropped the dresser, which disappeared before it hit the floor, the illusion broken.
"Huh?" she asked confused. "Congratulations? For what?"
"You're finally starting to think like an illusionist," Hitsugaya replied, smiling ever so slightly.
"Ah! You did it!" Karin exclaimed.
"Did what?"
"You smiled!" she declared triumphantly.
"No I didn't!" Hitsugaya shot defensively. Karin smirked.
"Oh, maybe it was just an illusion then."
"Maybe," Hitsugaya grumbled. "Now less chatting, more training!"
"Oh, they do sound like they're having fun in there," Isshin said through the door.
"I forgot about them," Karin realized. She decided that reality was much more satisfying than illusions anyway, so she opened the door and shoved her foot into her father's mouth.
"GO AWAY!" she screamed as a toothless Isshin scampered off down the hall. Hitsugaya was very glad that Karin's back was to him. He knew he was smiling again. Karin slammed the door shut.
"God, they annoy me," she groaned. "They're so…wait…you're still smiling!"
"I am not!" Hitsugaya retorted. Well, he definitely wasn't now.
"I swear, you smile less than Hoshi," she chided. "But he has an excuse at least. Babies aren't supposed to smile for the first month or two, but you, you're just bitter."
"I am not bitter," he snapped, then realized how bitter that sounded. Karin snickered.
"I wonder when Hoshi will smile for the first time?" she said affectionately, looking at his sleeping form. "It's supposed to be one of the most special moments in a parent's life."
"Do you feel like his mother?" Hitsugaya asked. Karin blushed.
"No…I mean…well, yeah, kind of. I just feel like I've connected to him, you know. Since I've spent so much time with him and done so much for him. I'm really going to miss him when he's gone. I quite like the little bugger."
"Karin, do you think…" He paused. "Never mind."
"Do I think what?" she prompted.
Do you think you'll miss me? The question rang in his head, but he didn't have the courage to ask it. Why did he even care? Instead, he made something up.
"Do you think you could fight to protect him?" It was the first thing he could think of, but he instantly regretted it.
"Wait, sorry," he apologized quickly. "Don't answer that. I…"
"Of course idiot," Karin cut him off. "Why do you think I'm training so hard?" Hitsugaya stared at her in disbelief.
"But…it's not your fight," he protested. "He's technically my charge and my responsibility. You don't have to risk your neck for him." Karin chuckled.
"Then you clearly don't know me very well. I've sat on the sidelines long enough, watching the hollows and feeling like I couldn't do anything. I hated that, you know; feeling helpless. A soccer ball and a killer kick only go so far. But now, I have this real ability that I can actually use to fight. I've got a weapon now. And it's thanks to Hoshi really. Even though he's just an infant, I owe him so much. So, I'll protect him. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Isn't that enough?" Hitsugaya gaped at her. It was easy to forget, since they spent so much time locked in her room creating illusions, how much strength of will she had when it came to reality.
"Yeah," he said with a smirk. "That's enough. But if you want to protect him, you've got to get even stronger. You're not there yet."
"Thanks for the encouragement," Karin said sarcastically. Hitsugaya almost smiled again.
"So what about you?" she asked. "Why do you want to protect him so badly?" She paused. "He's not your kid, is he?" Hitsugaya glared at her.
"No." He looked over at the basket and sighed. Hoshi had just woken up and staring at them with those eyes that so closely resembled his mothers'.
"I owe it to his mother," Hitsugaya replied before he could stop himself. "I…couldn't protect her from Aizen. So instead, I'll protect her son." Karin had never seen that look in his eyes before. They were distant, like he was gazing deeply into his own soul. Like he had some powerful regret that he could never overcome. Suddenly, his eyes changed from lost to fierce.
"I'll get him someday," he growled, as if continuing aloud a conversation he had been having in his head. "I'll take revenge for everything he's done."
"Aizen?" Hitsugaya suddenly seemed to remember that she was in the room.
"Sorry," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed.
"That's ok. He did horrible things. It's right to feel that way." Hitsugaya glanced at Hoshi again.
"You don't know the half of it," he thought.
ooooooooooooooooo
"Yuzu's coming back tomorrow," Karin announced as she handed Hitsugaya a fresh diaper. "And school starts the day after."
"Oh?" Hitsugaya replied nonchalantly. That struck a nerve.
"Oh?!" Karin shot back. "That's all? I thought you'd be more…"
"More what?"
"I don't know, surprised I guess." Hitsugaya didn't reply. Surprised was putting it mildly. He had forgotten about the fact that Karin was just a normal human kid who had to go to school. She seemed so mature, in a twisted sort of way. But the truth was, he had become quite accustomed to her company. He was more upset than he thought he would be at the realization that she wouldn't be around during the day anymore.
"Well, it's not like you're really going anywhere," he said with a shrug, trying his best to seem casual. "Besides, you still have a lot of training to do. Don't think you're getting out of it so easily."
"Are you crazy?" Karin said incredulously. "I'd so much rather train than sit in boring school all day. Being an illusionist is fun."
"It's not about fun," Hitsugaya said seriously. "Illusion is your weapon. It's not a game." Karin rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, like you don't enjoy sword fighting. You wouldn't have gotten to be where you are if you didn't."
"I don't think about it as enjoyment," Hitsugaya replied coolly. "It's training to get stronger."
"You're such a spoil sport," Karin teased. "If you don't have fun sometimes, you'll go dull." Hitsugaya scoffed.
"Karin!" came Ichigo's voice from downstairs. "You've got visitors!"
"I do?" Karin asked curiously. "Who…?" But her question was answered for her as the door burst open and four boys rushed into the room. Hitsugaya recognized them as the boys who Karin had played soccer with.
"Kurosaki!" they cried happily.
"Where have you been all this time?"
"Yeah, we haven't seen you all of winter break."
"Sorry guys," she apologized. "Something came up." She pointed at Hitsugaya.
"Toushiro!" the boys gasped in unison.
"Yeah, he's been staying here with his little brother," Karin explained. Hitsugaya suddenly found himself swarmed with rabid fans.
"How've you been Toushiro?"
"Aw, what a cute baby!"
"Why aren't you at home?"
"Oi, stop asking him so many questions!" Karin reprimanded. "You're making him nervous." She grinned at Hitsugaya, who thanked her with his eyes. "Come on guys, it's snowing out. Let's go have a proper snowball fight!"
"Yeah!" they agreed enthusiastically, stumbling over each other in their hurry to get outside. Karin chuckled.
"Sorry about them," she said. "They're good guys, but a little wild sometimes." She grabbed her coat, boots, scarf, and hat from the closet.
"So," she prompted. "Are you coming?"
"I don't play in the snow," Hitsugaya stated soundly. "It's my weapon. It's not a toy." Karin rolled her eyes.
"What was I just telling you about having fun?" she teased. "Come on, we'll have a good time."
"You go," Hitsugaya replied, turning away from her. "I don't want to leave Hoshi alone." Karin looked at him with pity.
"Ok," she caved. "But you're welcome to join us whenever." Hitsugaya waved her off.
"What's wrong with him?" Karin wondered sadly as she met her friends outside and began to gather ammo. "I just don't get him. Sometimes he's so stiff and stubborn, but I know he has a heart in there somewhere. Heck, just look at the way he looks at Hoshi. Like he's his own kid or something. I wish he'd soften up a little." Karin was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the snowball until it was too late.
"Why are you so distracted!" her friend yelled as she wiped snow out of her ear. "Hey, wait, don't look at me that way!" he panicked before Karin attacked him and shoved snow down his shirt.
"Ha score one for me!" she declared. She decided she would worry about Hitsugaya later. Right now, she was going to take her own advice and have some fun.
ooooooooooooooo
Hitsugaya looked out the window of Karin's room at the furiously raging snowball fight and sighed. What he had said was true; he couldn't imagine ice and snow as something to be played with. And he didn't want to go outside and leave Hoshi alone. But as he watched Karin take on all four of her friends at once, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She would be leaving soon and going back to her old life. Once Yuzu was around, the task of mothering would surely be passed on to her, and Karin would return to the world of school and sports. He knew she would still want to train as an illusionist, but he would lose those precious moments that they had shared while fussing over Hoshi. Whether it was changing his diaper, feeding him, or bathing him, Hitsugaya had come to treasure those times.
"I wonder if that's what parenting is supposed to feel like," he said to himself. But he knew that his enjoyment of those moments wasn't only because of Hoshi. He felt it was Karin who he had truly grown fond of over the past six weeks. He shook his head.
"I shouldn't be having these feelings!" he reprimanded himself. "They are unnecessary! She's a human!" But he couldn't help feeling that she had become much more than just a friend to him. He was going to miss her terribly when he returned to Soul Society.
"What about you?" he asked Hoshi, who was playing with his toes. "Do you think you'll miss her?" Hoshi looked up at Hitsugaya and smiled. Hitsugaya gasped. Karin had been right. It was one of the most incredible things he had ever seen. It almost made his heart melt. Before he could think, he hurried to the window and forced it open.
"Karin!" he called. Karin paused in the middle of throwing three snowballs at once (how she was doing it he wasn't quite sure, but he was almost convinced that it was an illusion) to turn and face him.
"Yeah?" she called back.
"Hoshi did it!" he said, trying not to sound as excited as he was. "He smiled!"
"What?!" she squealed as her face lit up. "I'll be right there! Sorry boys."
"Karin, what's going on?" one of her friends tried to stop her, but she wasn't listening. She dashed into the house, ripped off her snow-covered winter wear and ran up the stairs.
"Let me see!" she demanded. Hitsugaya was holding Hoshi, trying to coax him into smiling again. Karin joined him.
"Come on Hoshi-kun," Karin prompted. "Smile for me. Please." Karin's friends appeared in the doorway and took in the strange sight. Both Hitsugaya and Karin were staring at the baby in Hitsugaya's arms with incredibly tender expressions on their faces.
"They look like new parents don't they?" one of the boys whispered. Karin shot him a death glare.
"Shut up!" she insisted.
"Karin!" Hitsugaya said eagerly and she jerked her head back to Hoshi just in time to see the playful grin on his face.
"Oh my god, he did it!" she said with glee, a very un-Karin expression of joy on her face.
"What's wrong with her?" one of her friends wondered aloud.
"Hey you two," another began. "Are you sure that's not your kid? 'Cause you guys really look like you…ow!" The pillow Karin had thrown at him fell to the floor.
"No more crude suggestions!" she ordered. "This is a special moment." The boys looked at each other warily.
"When did Kurosaki get so soft?" one asked. Karin's eye twitched.
"Oh I'm soft am I?" she said menacingly, curling her hand into a fist, and the three boys ran for their lives before she could unleash her wrath.
I know not a whole lot happens here, but I just really wanted to write these scenes. Plus, they are much more important than they may appear at first glance, so they're not entirely filler. The excitement is going to really pick up next chapter, so look forward to it :)
