Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

"So how is he doing?" Ukitake asked as Unohana emerged from Toushirou's room. Isane was standing close by, awaiting the doctor's answer.

"He'll be fine. If he has problems, give him these." She handed Ukitake a bottle of sleeping pills. "Keep him out of his site," she warned, remembering all too well what happened the last time he had them. (a/n: 1st chapter)

Ukitake nodded, grabbing the bottle and tucking them into his pocket. "I will."

Unohana smiled at him. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Juushirou?"

"Yes," Ukiatke agreed. "At least a while since we've been able to meet without Toushirou being a factor."

Unohana smiled. "That boy certainly knows how to make himself everyone's business."

Ukiatke let out a laugh. "That he does." The laughter died down after a few moments.

"So I hear you have a new girl under your care?" Unohana said, not trying to pry but curious.

"Yes," Ukitake said, shifting uncomfortably. "I found her the other night on the streets."

Unohana sighed, looking at her friend sternly. He looked away sheepishly.

"I couldn't leave her," he protested. "What if she was kidnapped?"

"Juushirou," Unohana said, sighing. "You take her in when you don't even know who she is?"

Ukitake looked at her sadly. "I know all well who she is. And if you met her, you would too."

Unohana raised her eyebrows, and Ukitake motioned for her to follow him. She did, Isane trailing behind. They entered the kitchen, where they could peer into the living room. Karin was still there with Rangiku. When Unohana saw her, her eyes widened.

"That's Isshin's girl," she whispered, drawing in a breath. Yes, it could only be her. Unohana had worked with Isshin for years, and she knew of Karin. Though it had been years since she had last seen her in person, Isshin had brought in pictures of his girls, and those pictures were still on his desk, a thin line of dust over them as no one wanted to clean up and pack away anything.

"Ukiatke," Unohana said, her tone enough to make the man look at her. "What is she doing here?"

"I already told, you I f-"

"I mean," Unohana cut in, "isn't she supposed to be in a foster home?"

Ukitake was quiet. "I can only guess that she ran away," he replied eventually.

"You need to call and tell them you have her," Unohana said. "If you don't want her to leave, then tell them you wish to foster her. But Ukitake, they haven't found the killer yet, and her life could be in danger."

Ukitake looked at Unohana with a questioning look. "I thought that it was just a robbery?"

Unohana shook her head. "That's not even close to the truth, Juushirou."

Toushirou woke up the next day to a loud banging in the kitchen and swearing. He got out of bed and shook his head, feeling drowsy even after all the sleep he got. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was actually late in the day, and he had been asleep for well over twelve hours. He decided that it was time to go out and not only discover what was happening in the kitchen, but make himself some food.

In the hall, he caught a glimpse of his face and looked at it in disgust; there were bags under his eyes, and he looked a lot paler than he usually was, which, in his opinion, was quite hard to do. He turned away from his reflection and continued to the kitchen, where the noise was growing. Toushirou was actually surprised that no one had come to see what was going on yet.

"Shi-crap," a voice growled, and Toushirou almost smiled. He opened the door to the kitchen, revealing Karin going through the different shelves.

"Toushirou leaned up against the doorframe. "What are you doing?" he asked, half amused. He remembered what Unohana told him.

"Get to know her," Unohana told him. "You never know, she might need you as well as you need her."

Karin jumped, looking over to Toushirou. Her eyes changed from shocked to worried to angry in a matter of seconds, making Toushirou's lips twitch up into a smirk.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she ground out.

"Making a mess of the place, that's what." Toushirou regarded the kitchen, all of the pots strewn and the various ingredients spilled on the counter.

"Shut up," Karin said, a light blush gracing her cheeks. She turned away. "Who asked you anyways?"

"Toushirou bit back his remark. "Where is everyone?" he decided to ask instead.

"They all are out. I didn't feel like going anywhere so Ukitake let me stay behind." She shrugged. "They'll be back in a few hours."

Toushirou nodded, falling silent. He took the time to look at the girl in front of him. She had to be about his age, judging by looks alone. She seemed quite athletic, and she had a small inkling of what she was doing in the kitchen; a very small inkling.

Karin turned around to face him. "What? Are you just going to stand there?"

Toushirou pushed off from the wall, walking over to the fridge. "No. I'm going to get some food and then continue watching you make a mess." He pulled out some eggs, milk, and orange juice, setting them down on the counter. Karin stopped what she was doing to watch as Toushirou cracked some eggs into a bowl before whisking them, adding salt, pepper, and milk. He grabbed a pan and placed it on the oven, putting butter in it and waiting for it to heat up to pour the mixture into it.

"What?" he asked her as he finished making his eggs.

Karin looked at him incredulously. "What are you doing?"

"Making scrambled eggs, ever heard of them?" he replied. Karin narrowed her eyes.

"That is not how you make eggs."

"Yes, it is," he retorted, pushing the solidifying eggs around with a spatula. He turned off the burner when the eggs were finished.

Toushirou grabbed two bowls and portioned the eggs into them, handing one to Karin.

She looked at him. "You've got to be kidding me. I can't eat this."

"Then don't." Toushirou poured himself a glass of orange juice and sat on the counter.

Karin waited for him to take a bite first. When he didn't start convulsing, she took a hesitant bite.

Her eyes widened. Not only were they edible, but they tasted good. Toushirou watched her as she started to attack the eggs, a smirk on his face.

"Are they good?"

"Shut up," Karin said, her mouth full. She grabbed a glass and got herself some orange juice as well, drinking about half before setting it down. "How did you learn to cook like that?"

Toushirou looked away. "I had a lot of time to learn." He finished up his eggs and smirked again. "Where do you learn to cook?"

Karin laughed. "I didn't. My…sister was the one who cooked in my family." She became quiet, looking down at the floor.

"Get to know her," Unohana told him. "You never know, she might need you as well as you need her."

Toushirou swallowed the rest of his orange juice and jumped to the ground. "C'mon," he said, throwing the bowls into the sink. "We've got a huge mess to clean up." He looked at Karin, waiting fro her reaction.

Karin stared at the teal-eyed teen for a moment before smiling. "Shut up."

A/N:

Ah ha! How's that for an update! Yesh! And it actually wasn't short and wimpy.

I don't think much happened in this chapter though. Okay, so Ukitake and Unohana talked, and Toushirou and Karin met, but that's it. -_-

Yeah, that's actually how I make eggs. My friends call me strange cuz of it, but they actually are good. And now I really want them. XD Yeah, about the A/N in the story, if anyone forgot, Toushirou tried to overdose on pills before. Oh yeah, that reminds me. I fixed the previous chapters, so now they are all correct.

I totally forgot what a spatula was when writing this, so I took one and went up to my sister asking her what it was. She couldn't answer because she was laughing too much. Yeah, I'm stupid.

Review please? I'll love you all forever, not that I don't already. ^^

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