A/N: OMG! I just streaked my hair PINK! Sorry, just thought I'd toss that out there for the public…Anyhoo, enjoy!
Chapter 7: Finally Found
He held her there for about ten minutes, allowing her to catch her breath, and the wave of nausea to pass. As she slowly began to feel better she allowed herself to relax slightly in his arms, enjoying the soft, comforting, circular patterns he was weaving with his fingers on her back. Even though the touch was barely there, she could still feel the coolness of his fingers penetrate through her hamaka. She turned her head ever so slightly, breathing in the still lingering scent of cinnamon vanilla that was strangely erotic. Pushing the thought quickly from her mind, she allowed her left arm to snake around his waist and her right to rest on his collar bone, her thumb resting lightly on the skin just beyond the reach and cover of his shirt.
This subtle touch sent a small shock through the young captain's body, his eyes closing to suppress a moan. Her hands are so soft for one who wields a sword…they might even be softer than...
As the thought passed through his mind, he was snapped back to reality. "Are you feeling better?" he asked quickly, "Because we should probably get back to your house for lunch. Your father and sister should be home soon. We wouldn't want to miss out."
She let out a small, almost inaudible sigh of disappointment, causing him to tense ever so slightly, anticipating her reaction. "Yeah, I'm better. You're probably right. It is getting close to noon. They should be getting home within the next half hour or so."
After breathing a short sigh of relief, he helped her stand and walked her back to her body, making sure that she made the transition okay. Helping her stand once again, he led the way out of the front door of Urahara's shop after finding him in a storage room repairing his melted zanpakuto.
The walk to her home was mostly silent, until they reached her street. He turned slightly to face her and asked, "When did you first realize that you were a Soul Reaper and begin training?"
She stared off for a minute, collecting her thoughts before answering, "About five years ago. I started having the dreams shortly before that, but the training didn't begin until about five years ago. We started with Kido and combat before moving on to Zanpakuto. I truly discovered my zanpakuto about a year into it, she visited me in a dream, finally making her presence known."
She sighed at the reverie, "But we can talk about all of this later tonight. We need to go inside and get everything ready for lunch."
Toushirou nodded silently and followed her through the front door as she bolted it behind her and they kicked their shoes off once again. He then followed her to the kitchen where she proceeded to open a few cabinets and drawers. She pulled out four plates and glasses, pushing the cabinet closed with her foot after turning to set them on the table. "Would you mind grabbing some napkins while you're over there?" she asked him, pointing with her chin to the roll of paper towels hanging by his head.
As he nodded and ripped of four paper towels, he attempted to start up another conversation, "So, how has your family been these last six years?"
She smiled and continued setting the table up, "We've made it out pretty well. Ichigo graduated in the top 15 of his class three years ago, Yuzu just graduated salutatorian of her class and I graduated with early graduate honors last year in the top 10 of my class. Dad's business is flourishing within the last three years, what with him and Ryuuken becoming work buddies again and all, he works nights at the hospital 'Minute Clinic' on the weekends."
She paused to get four sodas out of the refrigerator and filled the glasses with ice, "Yuzu is finally able to completely see spirit beings and interact with them, but I don't think that she will ever be a Soul Reaper in her lifetime. She's too meek and mild. She and Orihime get along well though. She even met her new boyfriend through Orihime. She introduced them at some party she threw two years ago. His name's Yachi. He's a nice boy, treats her well. Ichigo, as if you didn't know, has been sneaking off to Soul Society to be with Rukia for the last five and a half years. They couldn't take the distance so he swings by every weekend, or tries to rather. I think that they'll end up publicly together soon. I'm just counting the days."
Toushirou thought that all of that news was good but wasn't satisfied, "What about you? How has your life been these last six years?"
She rolled her eyes and walked over to the couch, motioning for him to follow, "Please, you don't wanna know about me. There's nothing interesting to tell."
He cocked his right eyebrow, sitting beside her, folding his left leg under him and hanging his left arm off the back of the couch, "Now what makes you think that I am going to settle for that puny response? Try again."
"Okay, okay…" she said, in mock offence, "let's see…I'm eighteen. I graduated from Karakura High School. I am a Soul Reaper, and a damn good one at that."
At this Toushirou rolled his eyes and interrupted, "A little cocky now, are we?"
She shushed him, drawing a snicker from him, and proceeded, "I have a reputation as a hard-ass and not many guys want a relationship with me. They find it much more amusing to try to get in my pants and end up with their asses beaten to a sodden pulp. I don't have many friends for many reasons, Soul Reaper, college, work…I had to give up soccer when I became a Soul Reaper because there wasn't any time left for it. That knocked out a lot of my friends. I attend Karakura Town University where I am currently majoring in Biology, thinking about becoming a doctor like my dad. Might take over the business when he lets it go. God knows Ichigo will never do it and Yuzu wants to be a chef. I don't really want to be anything but a Soul Reaper. It's sad, I know, but that's what I want to do with my life. It's my passion now, you could say…"
As she lost the end of her sentence, she stared off in thought. Toushirou took the opportunity to study her for a moment. She wasn't at all the young girl that she had been when he had met her six years ago. Time had definitely changed her, but he wasn't sure if it was a good change. She seemed harder, rougher around the edges, like she was keeping something to herself. Much like him, she continually lost herself in thought and when pulled from it, denied up and down that anything was wrong. Has something happened to her? Did she lose someone she cared about? What is the mystery that is Karin Kurosaki?
Suddenly she shook her head and focused back on him. "So, enough about me. What about you? Surely something interesting has happened in your life in the last six years."
Toushirou glanced around the room as he collected his thoughts. This was odd. He wasn't the type of person to just sit down and talk about his day. That was more a part of Rangiku's character, not his. Yet here he was listening and talking to a girl he hadn't seen in half a dozen years as if she were one of his closest friends. "Well," he began, "I'm still Captain of the 10th Division Squad in the Seiretei. I was on the front lines in the war against Aizen. I celebrated my 25th year as Captain last year. I have grown six inches since you last saw me, and I only recently realized that seasons in the World of the Living and the Soul Society are reversed."
She giggled slightly at the last two remarks, "Are they really? You mean it's pretty much winter over there?"
He nodded, "Exactly."
She nodded in reply and shifted her position as the awkward silence settled over the two. Fortunately, the creaking of the front door opening and the voice of Isshin saved them, "Hey everyone, we're home!"
Karin eagerly got up and started grabbing bags from him, setting them on the table to be sorted through. As Toushirou watched, his mind began to wander yet again…
The night was cooler after the sun had set and the breeze had picked up. The moon was starting to appear as the stars began to light up the navy night sky. "Why does the sky here have to be so beautiful…?" Toushirou unintentionally thought out loud.
"I don't know. Why, do you want it to be ugly or something?" the voice of Karin pierced his silence, coming to sit beside him on the guard rail, looking out at the sky from their spot, "I thought you said that you came here to look at the sky. You used to say it was the best place to do it. Why would you come here and not want to see it? That's awfully silly of you."
He laughed silently to himself, realizing the irony of the situation all to easily. He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest, and hooked his legs under the rail to stay upright. He allowed the silence to thicken just a bit before finally shattering it; "I guess I just realize now how sad it makes me…" he trailed off.
Karin frowned and tilted her head to look at him. "Why does the sky make you sad? It's just a regular night sky, nothing really all that special about it." She said as she stood, walking a few paces ahead into the sandy, rocky terrain.
Toushirou sighed and watched her, observing her black shoes becoming covered in dust as she drew circles in the sand. He observed her with her hands on her hips, face towards the sky as she looked out over the bright lights of Karakura Town in the distance. "I love the night. It comforts me somehow, darkness. I don't know why, but I feel at home in the dark of night, the way it encompasses me, leaving me without any control as to where it touches me, forcing me to surrender to it…" Her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes, allowing the breeze to kiss her face softly, leaving a cool trail across her cheek.
She didn't hear him as he softly took steps to stand beside her. He was intrigued by the way that the wind seemed to manifest in a soft pink glow around her cheeks as it caressed her face. Is she doing that? He wondered as he tilted his head slightly to get a better look.
She felt his presence before she heard or saw him, his spirit energy pulsing gently through the air towards her. He reached out, subconsciously and touched her cheek, only realizing his slip as she opened her eyes and met his. Quickly removing his hand, he averted his eyes, muttering, "Sorry, I don't know what came over me…"
She watched as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, to avoid further incident, and focused his eyes on the landscape ahead. She was puzzled at this man. One moment he seemed to enjoy her company and even to go as far as showing minor signs of affection. But the next moment he seemed to pull back into his shell, not meeting her gaze and distancing himself. She couldn't understand it, how someone could live like that. That was when she found her resolve and acted on it immediately.
Toushirou didn't even realize that she had moved before her arms were around his shoulders and her face buried in the right side of his neck. His breath caught in his throat and he almost forgot to hug back, slowly circling his arms around her waist, lightly resting his hands one above the other, flat against her back. Her breath on the side of his neck sent tiny shivers down his spine, goose bumps popping up along their trail. This was a sensory roller coaster. He breathed in that knowing jasmine-vanilla scent and felt a small shudder run through his body.
Karin didn't know what else to do but to embrace the white-haired captain. It just felt so right. His scent was thick and musky this time, the scent of vanilla filled her breath, sending shockwaves through her body. What is this feeling? She didn't know what to think or what move to make from here. She just knew that she needed to feel him against her, his cool body contrasting her own steaming warmth.
Toushirou breathed a soft breath against her ear, feeling her shudder in his arms. These movements made him reflexively pull her tighter to him, letting out another breath, not realizing that it was like an icy wind against the warmth of her neck. She shivered in his arms once again and whispered, "You're so cold, but you feel so good…"
His eyes slowly slid shut at that remark, surrendering himself to the moment. Something felt so sinfully wicked about this, but at the same time, so satisfyingly content. He allowed his left hand to trail slowly and softly up her right arm where it rested by the elbow on his left shoulder, his fingertips barely grazing the baby soft flesh beneath them. His right hand slowly slid up her back and softly grasped the back of her neck, feeling the soft heat radiate onto his hand.
Karin let out a nearly inaudible gasp at the frosty contact with the bottom of her hairline. She allowed her left hand to run it's hot fingers through his downy soft, white hair, burying her hand against his scalp as her nose tickled the bottom of his earlobe. She could feel the hand at the back of her neck working its fingers around the rubber band in her hair.
He grasped the elastic and tugged gently, releasing her hair from its bindings and allowing it to cascade down her back, covering his hand in it's subtle warmth. He slowly ran his fingers through it, starting at the base of the hairline and slowly sliding them through to the center of the strands, balling his fist to encircle his hand in the dark silkiness as he once again breathed in the exotic scent that clung to her temple. He shuddered as her warm nose teased the base of his earlobe, absorbing her soft warmth into it.
She could feel his left arm drop from her shoulder and land on her right hipbone, slowly sliding his thumb barely beneath the seam of her shirt, tickling the hot skin of her stomach as he felt the tiny bumps appearing under his ministrations.
His hand was roughly calloused, but felt so protective and erotic as it massaged her skin gently. Oh God, if he keeps that up… she thought, feeling the blood rushing to the lower half of her body. She breathed a small sigh of relief as his hand stilled, but didn't leave its place on her hip.
He didn't know what was coming over him, but right now he was powerless to stop it. Her scent, her skin, her breath, her heat… It was too much to resist altogether. He couldn't concentrate on any one aspect of the experience.
Karin felt herself falling, and falling fast. Like her Soul Reaper destiny, she was powerless to stop it, having to surrender to the emotions that spilled from her body, feeling his spirit energy mesh with her own.
Unbeknownst to the young couple, there was a soft glow forming around their clinging forms, a soft lavender energy outlining their bodies.
Karin couldn't hold herself back any longer, tilting her head slightly to the left as she brushed her searing lips against his cool cheek, pressing them lightly against the soft plateau of flesh. She could feel his spiritual energy spike and his body tense slightly against her touch, causing her to press his body firmly against her in to prevent him from withdrawing.
At the soft caress of her lips against his cheek, he had jerked slightly and began to pull away, his eyes glistening with emotion, fighting to hold back tears as she firmly pressed her body to his, immobilizing his escape attempt. "Why are you afraid of me…?" he heard her breath against his ear, her cheek caressing his, softly.
At those words, he felt a solitary tear escape his left eye, quickly followed by a wet trail on his right cheek as well. I can't do this…I can't…It's too much… He fought with all of his might to hold back the flood, but in doing so, he only made the tears come faster and harder.
Karin frowned slightly as she felt an unfamiliar wetness against her cheek, lifting her hand lightly to feel…am I crying…? She massaged her finger over his cheek, realizing with a gasp that the tears were his…
His tears flowed faster as he realized that her fingers were bathing themselves in their salty moisture. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut in a vain attempt at stopping the flow. In a last act of desperation, he pulled quickly away from her inviting body, walking a few paces to the side as he buried his face in his right hand, wrapping his left arm around his body as he turned his back to her.
All of a sudden, he felt her warmth against his back, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and her breath warm against the back of his neck. "Talk to me…I'm here for you…" he heard her whisper.
As the words sunk in, he felt his body double over as he hit his knees in the sand, both of his hands covering his face as fresh tears poured into the waiting palms. This is crazy…why am I falling apart like this…and with her…
She let out a shocked gasp as she watched him hit the ground, her hands desperately pressing onto his back to calm him. Oh my God…he's hurting so much…but why…?
He felt her touch and tried to pull away, knowing that it would only make him more emotional. "Please…let me in, 'Shiro."
At that familiar word of affection, he let out a loud, heart-wrenching cry that chilled her to the bone. The temperature descended a good thirty degrees as she watched her breath mist out in front of her. She could see a thin, glowing sheet of ice forming on the sand around him, the air growing so cold that she almost couldn't stand it. So cold…
He slammed his hands onto the ice covering the sand, thicker sheets of ice forming beneath them as his spirit pressure sky-rocketed. He tucked his head to his chest as more tears descended, flowing off of his face onto the ice below, as he sobbed his heart out. He could feel the freezing cold energy pulsating from his body, but was powerless to stop it. "Toushirou, you have to calm down. This isn't safe…" she begged him.
Suddenly she dropped to her knees in front of him and grasped his face in her hands, lifting it to meet his eyes. It broke her heart to look into those weeping emerald eyes as they seeped over with tears. She rubbed her thumbs over his lower eyelids, wiping the current tears from their rivers on his cheeks. "You don't have to hurt like this. Let me carry some pain for you…please…" she begging in desperation.
And as the words left her mouth, she pressed her lips firmly to his, capturing his panting lips in a powerful, searing kiss, her hands firmly on the sides of his face, stroking his cheeks tenderly. His eyes widened slightly on initial contact before fluttering shut in the passing moments. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, screaming inside at the shock of the volumes of compassion erupting from her body. Compassion for him and him alone. He began to feel his tears subsiding as he allowed himself to be lost in the kiss. It was tender and rough, chaste and sensual, selfish and yet giving. It was so many things that he couldn't even bear to move for fear of spoiling the moment.
Finally, he allowed himself to surrender and let the emotions take him wherever they would, moving his hands up her sides to her shoulders, teasing her bottom lip with his cool tongue, beckoning to taste her. As she parted her lips slightly, granting him entry, he dipped his tongue into her hot cavern of a mouth, exploring every contour with gentle care and attention to detail.
As his tongue explored her own, she moaned into his mouth, enjoying the cool, refreshing taste of mint and sugar. As his desperation grew, he grabbed her back and crushed her body to his own, wrapping his arms around her tightly, making no move to leave this time. In response, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, burying both hands deep within his platinum hair, massaging his scalp gently with her fingertips, receiving a moan in reply.
Her hands slowly began to roam his body, dipping under his green cotton shirt to run her palms over his cool abdomen, sliding her fingertips over his taut stomach and barely evident ribs. She groaned with pleasure as her fingers raked over his rippling abs, covered in baby-soft flesh. He is so sexy…this body…Oh my goodness…who would have thought…?
Moaning in satisfaction at the stimulating contact, he managed to regain some semblance of sanity, breaking the kiss and snaking his hands down to her wrists, removing them from under his shirt. She whimpered slightly in disappointment, but was pleasantly surprised when he brought her cupped hands up to his lips and kissed each palm gently, as if they were something extremely precious to him. She smiled softly at the gesture, staring into his blazing green eyes. They were so dark with desire as he kissed her palms that they were almost glowing, penetrating through her own eyes into the very depths of her soul.
"You are so amazing," he whispered to her, "I never want to let you go…"
He released her wrists and moved to cup her face in his hands, placing a chaste kiss on both of her cheeks before he heard her breathe, "Then don't…"
The words filled his heart with so much passion that he felt it would break at any moment. All this time he hadn't even realized it, but he had been falling for this girl, and falling hard. At this point he didn't care about the rules and mandates implemented by Seiretei.
Softly, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip, closing his eyes in thought. I will find some way to be there for this girl if it means that I have to talk to Head Captain Yamamoto myself. Nothing this amazing can be let go. It has to be meant to be…I can't let this go…because I think that I have finally found something still worth fighting for…