Disclaimer: Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?
Chapter 1
.
The night was cold, menacingly cold. She shivered underneath her blanket—blankets to be exact. She already added two extras aside from her usual but it wasn't enough to melt the growing chill of the night. It was winter; she hated winter! It was too cold for any greenery to survive or for any patch of land to stay untouched by the white blanket of snow. Karin stared out the window, looking at the snowflakes that fell from the sky. The stars were hidden behind the thick layers of puffy clouds and she could only make out what seemed to be the moon's light. She scowled at the falling snow. There's no way she'll be able to play soccer tomorrow, or any time soon for the matter. It made her mood drop from dismal to downright miserable. "Stupid snow." She muttered begrudgingly before she covered her head with the first of her many blankets, trying to lull herself to sleep.
She woke from the touch of the sunlight on her skin. She felt the slight warmth amidst the cold weather. It had not been a few minutes after she crawled lazily out of the bed when she heard Yuzu calling her name from the kitchen. Scratching her dark locks and yawning to stretch, she replied with a low "Hai, hai" that no one really heard.
"Karin-chan, hurry up or we'll be late!" Yuzu called again. Her voice was followed by the sound of plates being set on the table. Breakfast, no doubt. After muttering a few more complaints, she dragged her feet to the dining room and ate her breakfast mechanically.
The muted colors of the neighborhood depressed her and she found herself sighing more than usual. She wished she could stay home, beneath the layers of additional clothing and under the protection of the kotatsu. She sighed, "I really don't want to go to school today, Yuzu."
Yuzu, who was a few steps ahead of Karin, turned to the latter with a pout. "But Karin-chan! You shouldn't skip classes just because it's cold."
Karin scowled in defeat and unwillingly dragged her feet towards her sister. Retaliation isn't an option unless she was willing to wait until she hears the end of it from Yuzu. She stopped as a snowflake landed on the tip of her nose. It was while she wiped the melted snowflake that she noticed a boy that stood on the roof of one of the neighboring houses. His back was facing her, but she did her best to make out what she could; white unruly hair, a black kimono beneath a contrastingly white sleeveless haori, and a sword on his back kept in place by a green sash. There was something inherently different about the boy she immediately assessed. He possessed an air of seriousness, authority, and power—despite his size.
"An elementary student?" she mumbled without thinking.
It was as if he heard her words. He turned slowly to her direction. She swallowed nervously, anticipating the features of his face and the color of his eyes.
"Karin-chan?" It was Yuzu. Her attention shifted from the boy to her sister. When she remembered to look back at the boy he was gone. "Yuzu, did you see the boy that stood over there?" she pointed to where the boy stood before. Her sister shook her head and replied, "I didn't see anyone Karin-chan." She frowned and wondered if it was just a figment of her imagination.
"What's wrong?" asked Yuzu, noticing her twin's change in mood.
"Nothing. Let's just go to school."
She sighed for what was probably the tenth time that hour. The day dragged on without anything interesting enough to take her mind off the boy with white hair. She tried to pay attention to the lecture but immediately returned to the former direction of her thoughts as she understood that today's lecture was about shinigamis and other supernatural creatures. She dubbed it as a pointless discussion as she herself refused to believe ghosts and such creatures exist. The fact that she can see them didn't matter. She'll just act as if they weren't there.
She looked at the view from the window. White. Everything was engulfed by a layer of snow. Depression came again with the thought of being unable to play her favorite sport. She shifted her attention from the ground to the sky, eyes stopping at an odd figure sitting on the rooftop's safety rail.
"Sensei!" She raised her hand to excuse herself, giving a rather pathetic excuse such as she needed to take a shit. The class laughed and she turned a beet red by her thoughtlessness. It didn't linger on her mind for long since it got her out of the room, with a lengthy time before anyone would look for her.
Karin ran, weaving her way through the corridors to get to the staircase that led to the rooftop. The halls were empty—silent as the grave during hours like this. She could hear only her footsteps as well as her uneven breathing. Her heart was racing, adrenaline pumped in her system as she hurried to reach the door at the end of the steps. It was probably instinct that told her to hurry. Her lungs felt like they were burning by the time she reached the top. She unceremoniously opened the door and gasped in shock at what she saw.
She knew it was him by the clothes he wore and the distinct spiked hair that jutted out in all directions. But he was still a stranger whose face was unknown to her—until now. His turquoise eyes met hers briefly as he was about to jump when she pulled the door open. She froze on the spot, petrified at the thought that such a boy would commit suicide.
"Don't!" she blurted too late. The boy already leaped off the railings. She ran to the side of the building and looked down below. Nothing. No signs of an impact against the snowy ground. No corpse. She trembled uncontrollably.
"You can see me?" There was a low voice from behind. It was authoritative as well as unfamiliar. She spun around to give whoever it was a piece of her mind but she stopped midway upon a clearer view of the speaker.
"Oh." Was her brilliant reply.
He raised an eyebrow at her, successfully looking impatient despite the stoic expression he wore. Karin felt blood rise to her cheeks at the sight. He was, with no doubt, good looking.
"Oi, are you deaf or something?" he already looked irritated, like she was wasting his time by not answering. Her eyebrows twitched at the insulting question. "Excuse me?! I don't want to be asked that question by an elementary student!" They scowled at each other, eyes sizing up the other in a battle of glares with murderous intents.
They were interrupted however, by an unwelcomed presence farther down south. The boy wearing traditional clothes grunted before he jumped from building to building, towards the source of the presence. Karin watched him disappear into the maze of streets and buildings with slight concern, their earlier clash of words long forgotten.
.
end of chapter
a/n: I know this is probably stupid to mention at the end of the chapter, but this is set a few years before the prologue. I tried to keep them as in-character as I could. I hope I succeeded. Anyway, I think this is a good opportunity to mention that the synopsis "They meet once in a blue moon" means that they meet rarely, just in case someone starts wondering. Also, a blue moon was a synonym for absurdity since it was originally believed as impossible.