Author's Note: Hello to all! We are proud to present Chapter Eight of Midnight Snow. Thanks for reading, folks, and we hope you enjoy! :D

This chapter is dedicated to every person who's taken the time to review this story. Thank you very much. Writing is so much more fun because of you. :)

WARNING: Upcoming warnings of RenRuki and IchiHime. Please feel free to criticize my writing, but not the pairings. Thank you.

Normal = prose, italics = thoughts or inner conversations

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. They belong to Tite Kubo-sensei. I also do not own any of the chapter titles. Cookies for anyone who guesses which poems they're from. :)

Chapter Eight: Freeze, Freeze Thou Bitter Sky

i.

Karin stared morosely at the ceiling and contemplated the darker aspects of love and friendship, those things so necessary to life, to happiness even, yet the very same things that damned her to the hell she was currently stuck in. Just because she was a nice person who cared about her sister, she was reduced to…to…to this.

"Hold still, Karin!" Yuzu circled her forebodingly, like a lion eying its prey. "You're going to ruin the fit!" After making yet another minute adjustment, her twin nodded, apparently satisfied, then turned around and smiled at the two women sitting on the couch behind her. Karin was stuck standing on a stool in Orihime's living room like some kind of glorified mannequin, while Ichigo had taken off as soon as he'd seen the dresses. Karin scowled. Honestly, what kind of brother was he, leaving her to this fate?

"Rukia-nee-chan, I've got to say, these dresses are going to look amazing!" Yuzu continued, heedless of her sister's disgruntlement.

Rukia grinned widely. "Thank you, Yuzu-chan. I'm glad you think so. I think it's more accurate to say that you make the dresses beautiful, though."

Orihime, from her spot next to Rukia, nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Uh-huh! You two are gorgeous! That shade of red really complements both of you. Here, Yuzu-chan, give us another twirl."

Karin took her eyes off the ceiling just in time to see her sister hold her arms out and spin once more, making the skirt of the deep red, calf-length dress flare out. The color did look good on Yuzu, drawing attention to her honey-colored hair and her warm, brown eyes. The white sash at the waist was tied in a bow at the back, accentuating Yuzu's generous curves, and the spaghetti straps showed off her delicate, swan-like neck and slender shoulders. The overall design was simple, but elegant, and fit Yuzu and Orihime to a T, just the sort of thing Rukia would pick for her "honorary sisters" to wear.

Karin spared a glance for Orihime, who was wearing the whole ensemble. A cream-colored lace shawl was draped over her shoulders, and her toes peeked out of white high heels. Karin knew that she and Yuzu had already picked out silver necklaces with moonstones and silver star-shaped studs to wear as jewelry, and that the small bouquets they'd carry would be made out of roses the same shade as the dress, tied with white ribbons to complete the white-and-red theme. Orihime and Yuzu were going to look stunning.

"Ichi-nii and Jinta are going to have to fight admirers off by the dozen come the wedding day," Karin observed.

Yuzu beamed at her. "Save some of the concern for yourself, Karin." Yuzu took in the sight of her sister. The dress looked different on each of them: regal and lovely on Orihime, sweet and girlish on herself, and on Karin…well, it was safe to say "dramatic" was an understatement. The red contrasted beautifully with her pale skin and raven hair, though she probably didn't notice the effect, or much less care even if she did. "Toushirou-kun's going to have a lot of competition once boys see you in that dress. If you ever stand still long enough for me to finish adjusting it, that is."

"I told you, there's nothing like that between me and Toush." Karin rolled her eyes in exasperation. Would they never get tired of that joke? "And seriously, why do you need to fix it anyway? It fits, doesn't it?"

"But it doesn't fit perfectly. And it has to fit perfectly, otherwise you'll make Rukia-nee-chan look bad!"

"Oh, please. Nobody'll even glance at my direction if Rukia's in the room," Karin scoffed as Rukia and Orihime exchanged amused glances. Yuzu merely glared.

"That's not the point!"

"Really? I thought that was the whole point, actually." Karin grinned mischievously. "You know, the bridesmaids ought to look awful so the bride looks awesome?"

"The point is that you have a duty as a bridesmaid to look good so the wedding photos look nice. And, honestly, if you'd just paid attention, you wouldn't have missed the fitting and we wouldn't even have to be doing this!" Yuzu retorted.

Karin frowned. "What fitting?" There'd been a fitting? When? The last clothing-related thing she remembered that involved her was visiting that boutique with Yuzu. Yuzu bought the black dress for her, and Karin let her because she thought she'd be able to wear it to the wedding, before she remembered that they had to have matching ones. Gah. This fashion business was annoying.

Yuzu threw her hands up in the air. "The fitting when we bought the dresses three days ago that you blew off in favor of playing soccer with Toushirou-kun."

"Oh. That fitting."

"Yes, 'that fitting.' The dressmakers were so nice, too, offering us custom fittings on such short notice." Yuzu pouted, sticking her bottom lip out in the maneuver that always got Goat-chin to cave to her every wish.

Karin was made of sterner stuff, however, and merely snorted. "And the blank check from Byakuya-san had nothing to do with their kindness?"

Yuzu switched back to glaring at her until Karin started squirming slightly. Okay, so maybe she felt a little guilty, but come on! It wasn't that bad! Byakuya was richer than Midas! Or was it Minos…whatever, he was richer than some Greek myth guy, and the dressmakers would certainly be compensated for the inconvenience of not having her there to try the freakin' dress. Yuzu's baleful stare disagreed with her, however.

Thankfully, Rukia intervened before her twin could follow up all the eyeballing with yet another lecture. "It's quite alright, Yuzu-chan. I wouldn't want Karin-chan to be inconvenienced. Besides, this gives you a chance to practice your sewing skills. Orihime tells me you're president of the Karakura High crafts club, and you guys won the regional competition, right?"

Yuzu was promptly diverted, and Karin sighed in relief as she launched into a description of her latest projects. Rukia winked at her and Karin smiled gratefully in her direction. A few minutes later, the fitting was finished, Yuzu was still happily talking, and Karin was finally able to step off the stool she'd been standing on and head to the restroom to take the dress off.

A few minutes later, she emerged in her usual attire of jeans and a t-shirt and happily threw the dress at Yuzu.

"Here, take the instrument of torture." She mockingly made a face at Rukia. "You're lucky I love you or I'd be miles away by now, and I'm not even that involved with the wedding plans."

"Oh, Karin, it's not that bad," Yuzu said. "It's mostly done anyway, and we're only in charge of the fun stuff, like throwing Rukia-nee her bridal shower and her bachelorette party, and making sure she relaxes. Orihime already did most of the booking, right?"

"Uh-huh!" Orihime replied with her usual sunny smile, then frowned suddenly. "The restaurant is available for the bridal shower, but the cute little place where I was going to throw the bachelorette party said my reservation was cancelled."

Rukia lifted her brows. "Really? You couldn't get them to change their minds?"

"Nope." Orihime looked forlorn before brightening. "But it's okay! Rangiku-san said she knows just where to hold it—apparently there's a bar with karaoke that has 'Tropical Thursdays,' complete with foreign dancers or something…?"

Karin and Rukia exchanged worried glances, but Yuzu squealed. "Oh, oh! I bet they do the hula and you guys get to learn! I'm so jealous we won't be able to go."

"Uh…was it foreign, or exotic dancers?" Karin ventured.

Orihime slapped her knee. "Exotic! That's it. I'm not entirely certain what they do, but since Rangiku-san suggested it, I'm certain it'll be fun."

Karin grinned at Rukia. "Why, yes, I'm sure it will be."

Rukia only grimaced.

Unfortunately, Yuzu changed the topic before Karin could tease her other "big sister" properly. "Ooh, Hime-nee-chan, did you book the spa for us and the others? We want to make sure everyone gets the proper treatment."

"Yes!" Orihime replied with her usual sunny smile. "I made the appointments weeks ago, as soon as I knew they were arriving. I decided to go for the all-day treatment and booked us for the day before the wedding. We'll have the whole place to ourselves."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "Wait, what? Am I included in this?" She hoped not.

"Of course you are!" Orihime exclaimed. "We wouldn't leave you out! Even Hiyori-san and the other Vaizards are coming for most of the upcoming events. We get better group discounts that way."

"Hold it, hold it, hold it," Karin said, raising a hand. "Are you saying that you signed me up to have people put stuff on my nails and slather gunk or powder or whatever on my face?"

"And your hair," Yuzu provided helpfully. "Oh, and the rest of your body."

"My bod—why in the name of all that's holy would I let you do that?"

"To make you look presentable," Yuzu said, blinking in that innocent way of hers that always indicated she'd successfully trapped you in one of her schemes.

"What the—you just said I looked great five minutes ago, and now you want to mess with that?" Karin stared at her twin in incomprehension.

"You do look great, but you'll look perfect for the wedding." Yuzu had a glint in her eye that was terrifying to behold. "Just like you're supposed to. You'll have your hair trimmed, and your skin exfoliated, and your nails done right, and every inch of you will be stunning."

Karin crossed her arms and set her jaw. "All that work so I can look 'perfect' for just one day? Hell, no! I'm not putting myself through that."

"You don't have a choice," Yuzu growled.

Rukia shook her head. "No, no, Karin-chan's perfectly free not to come."

Karin heaved a sigh of relief.

Yuzu frowned. "But she'll miss all the girl talk!"

Rukia spread her hands. "But remember, I want this wedding to be fun for everyone, and I don't want to force anyone to do things they don't want to—and Karin-chan certainly doesn't want to endure beauty treatments, so she won't have to."

"But you want her there, don't you?" Yuzu asked pointedly.

Rukia hesitated. "That's not the point."

Karin guiltily eyed her expression. She could tell Rukia did want her there. "Oh, fine, I'll go."

Yuzu cheered and Orihime smiled at her, even as Rukia placed her hand on her arm and repeated, "You don't have to."

Karin shrugged. "It's a bridesmaid thing, yeah? I'm not a very involved one, so I should at least do my share of it right. We're in this together. All for one and one for all."

Yuzu grinned at the familiar phrase, taken from the old days when they and Ichigo formed their own band of Three Musketeers. She stood and motioned Rukia and Orihime closer, then placed her hand in the middle of their little group. Karin placed her hand atop Yuzu's, and Orihime and Rukia followed, both smiling.

"All for one and one for all!" they shouted in unison, lifting their hands high and laughing.

ii.

"Karin-chan? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Karin glanced at the woman she considered a second sister. "Hmm? Need something, Hime-nee?"

Toushirou had texted Karin, informing her that he was paying a visit to the old woman he'd befriended here in the Living World. Rukia and Yuzu had gone out to meet Matsumoto, Kiyone, Momo, and some of the others at the mall for some shopping, while Orihime elected to stay inside and work on one of her pieces. Karin, having no desire to go back home to her father without the buffer of at least one other person, decided to stay with her and get some studying done. She'd just cracked open her textbook when Orihime had spoken.

The normally cheerful girl looked unusually grave as she sat down across from Karin, signaling to the latter that something was wrong, or headed that way. She had an awful feeling she knew what, too.

"Karin-chan…have you felt a little, well, off lately? Like something was interfering with your reiatsu, or it just wasn't flowing as smoothly, maybe?"

Karin kept her face cautiously controlled as she smiled and waved a hand dismissively, even as her heart sank. "Off? Nah, not really."

"Are you sure? Because your reiatsu feels strange, almost shaky. It's usually so steady, too, but sometimes I notice an odd kind of pressure about it, like it's building up. It reminds me of when Ichigo first got his powers."

Karin winced internally. Of course it would be Orihime who noticed. Ichigo was not known for his sensitivity to reiatsu in general, much less minute fluctuations of it, and he, along with Ishida, the other discerning member of the group, had been out of town lately. She'd been careful to keep steady control around Urahara, who was known for his…drastic, if well-meant interventions, and her own father had not yet regained full control of his powers, so she was safe there. She kept wanting to mention it to Toushirou, but they'd barely had a moment alone together the past couple of days, and until she told him and got his opinion on her tremulous reiatsu—and the dreams—she had no desire to involve or worry anybody else. She thought she'd succeeded in keeping her problems a secret, too.

Apparently she was wrong, if Orihime's anxious expression was anything to judge by.

She took a deep breath. "I really don't think there's anything to worry about. Yeah, okay, something feels a little different, but I think my powers are just developing a bit more, getting stronger, and my control just hasn't caught up yet. I keep trying to contain it, keep it together, but it's still a bit…wobbly, I guess."

Orihime frowned. "That does sound reasonable. Have you talked to Urahara-san about this, or your father?"

Karin shrugged. "Urahara warned me this might happen, and he's offered to help. I've had training, too." Karin carefully constructed her sentences, making sure she said nothing untrue. Urahara had mentioned this possibility, and he did offer help, but that had been years ago, and so had her training—which had happened at Don Kanonji's hands, not Urahara's.

Karin had mostly developed her powers on her own, and she was happy to keep it that way, without interference from Soul Society or Urahara or anyone else for that matter. She'd seen what getting involved with the World of the Dead cost Ichigo, and she knew that even though nothing so complicated was likely to happen to her, she still didn't want to risk anything like it. Being a substitute shinigami had taken over her brother's life, took focus away from his schoolwork, his family, his friends. Karin had a goal, an important one—to become a cardiologist, to help people with broken hearts, to be like Dr. Takano—and it was going to take a lot of work to make it come true. She couldn't afford to let anything get in the way of that.

So she carefully rolled her eyes, smirked, and said, "Trust me, Hime-nee, everything's going to be fine. I haven't really had time to meditate or do those control exercises lately, what with school and all, but I promise I'll work on it as soon as I get some free time. I'll have it under control in no time, you'll see."

Orihime smiled, obviously relieved. "Oh, good, good. I'm glad it's nothing serious, then." She paused and then took Karin's hand in her own. "But if you do have any problems or troubles, please tell me, okay? I'll be here for you, and so will everyone else."

"I know, Hime-nee," Karin said. "I know."

(She made no promises, however. Her troubles would remain her own, and no one else's, not if she could help it.)

iii.

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day," Karin sang under her breath.

She was walking home, after gently refusing Orihime's offer to drive her back, claiming she'd much rather take a stroll and watch the sunset, which was true.

There were also other reasons behind her choice, of course.

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away…" She looked up towards the distant horizon, noting the way the sky was slowly deepening to a rich purple, and stars were indeed making their presence known.

"How exactly are you supposed to do that, Kurosaki? Stars are made out of gas, you know."

"Toush!" Karin grinned at her best friend. "I knew you'd come and check on me."

He merely raised his brow at her, replying sardonically, "Well, I can't just let you wander around alone. Everyone knows your sense of direction sucks, and, you being you, you'd probably get lost."

She scowled. "Hey! My sense of direction is vastly superior to yours! And I never get lost, thank you very much. I don't need you to babysit me." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mm-hmm. So I'm just supposed to let a foolish young woman walk the streets at night without an escort? What kind of gentleman would that make me?" He fell into step beside her, casually tucking his hands into his pockets as he teased her.

"Oh, please. Don't be so condescending. I can take care of myself. And you are no gentleman at all, at least according to my elder brother, who, of course, has the right to dictate whom I may associate with." She fluttered her lashes at him, mockingly playing the part of a coy maiden, circa 1900.

Now it was his turn to scowl. "Your brother is an idiot."

"Why, sir! How dare you say such a thing? He is only looking out for my best interests. Really, what else is he supposed to say in regards to a…a…" Karin scrunched her nose, searching for the right word. "A suitor! Yes, yes, a suitor who takes such liberties with my person." Another flutter, just to make Toushirou's mouth twitch. If she kept at it long enough, she could get him to smile, and his smiles were always worth working for.

At the moment, however, annoyance was still winning out in his expression. "Liberties? What liberties? Nothing was going on!"

Karin dramatically stuck the back of her hand against her forehead and turned her face away, ostensibly in despair but really so he couldn't see her grinning. "Oh, Toushirou! How could you forget so soon? Do you not remember the rapturous night we spent entwined, only three days ago? It was the loveliest night of my life."

Oh, oh, look, there was a definite quirk to his mouth now! "I'd describe it as one of the worse ones myself, considering we were, ahem, tied up by your madman of a father and my meddling gossip of a fukutaichou."

Karin coughed to cover up her laughter. "Minor details, minor details. Do you not recall that afterwards, you lay beside me and clutched me tightly to you?"

"Um, no. I do recall falling asleep on your couch and you cutting off circulation to my leg, you had it in a grip so tight. I never would have pegged you for a clinger, but you totally are," Toushirou said, smirking at her.

She glowered at him and smacked his shoulder. "Shut up! I am not! Yuzu is the clingy one, not me!" she said, dropping their pretense and the exalted language.

Toushirou's smirk turned into a full-on smile, and Karin had to bite her lip to keep herself from smiling back—Kami, she loved his smile, loved to be the one to make him smile. But if she ever let on, he'd probably stop doing it quite so often around her, so she had to be careful to treat it like it was nothing special, even if it was nothing but.

"Don't worry, Kurosaki," he said. "Your secret's safe with me."

Her eyes widened. Did he know—? Oh, wait, he was referring to her tendency to act like a limpet to anyone who shared the bed with her, not the other one. Of course, he wouldn't know about the other one, he wasn't a mind reader, even though he certainly acted like one sometimes. She shook her head, getting her thoughts back under control.

"I have no secrets," she said haughtily, lifting her chin.

(Oh, but she did, so many secrets bottled up inside her now, just waiting to get out, like winds whirling around, like storms building, like dragons roaring, like death threats hovering—You will die, you will die, the voices whispered.

Shutupshutup, she whispered back.)

His smile only grew more amused. "Yes, you certainly don't, at least not from me, I hope."

She flinched internally, stabbed suddenly with guilt. It was one thing to keep the dreams secret from Orihime, who'd only worry herself to death; and from Urahara, who probably wouldn't be able to do anything anyway; and even from Rukia or anyone else from Soul Society, who might be duty-bound to tell Seireitei and stir up trouble for both her and themselves. It was another thing entirely to keep this a secret from Toushirou. She trusted him to watch her back, and if anyone could help her, he could. He was a taichou, for goodness's sake, and even more importantly, he was her best friend.

She'd actually have told him earlier, but every time she even started to talk, somebody would interrupt, or his cell phone would beep, indicating he had a Hollow to kill, or her cell phone would beep, indicating that Yuzu or Otou-san or one of the guys needed her, or…or…or…

Or something would happen. Really, it was kind of annoying. The Women's Association dragged him off daily, she had school, and any time they spent together was guaranteed to be spent in the company of at least two other people, usually shinigami, but even her friends had a habit of following them around. She never got any time alone with him.

"No, you don't, do you?" Toushirou said wistfully.

"Huh?" Karin said, shocked. Did he just answer her? Oh, no! He did develop mind-reading powers!

"What do you mean, 'huh'? Oh, wait, you were talking to yourself again, weren't you?"

Karin blushed. She really needed to get that habit under control. She cleared her throat. "Uh…yeah. Sorry about that. And I don't mean to complain. It's just…I thought we'd get to hang out, only the two of us, nobody else, like old times. But I guess that's too much to ask when I still have classes and you have to stop Yachiru-chan from setting playground parks on fire."

He rolled his eyes, though his smile still stayed on his face. "Don't remind me. I don't even know where she got that tank of propane from." His eyes softened as he looked at her. "But look—we're alone right now, aren't we? No crazy fukutaichous, no stalker-like friends. And it's sunset, too. Our time of day."

She looked around and saw that he was right. They were alone, no normal humans, or worse, abnormal humans around. Just them. Nobody else. The street was even completely empty. It was the perfect situation to tell him about the dreams; she could spill her guts and no one else would know.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she never got the chance.

A look of alarm replaced Toushirou's smile. "Karin! Look out!"

And a Huge Hollow decided it was the perfect moment to attack.

"Oh, come on, now?" Karin said.

It just wasn't her day, was it?

Endnote: Yeah, we're evil; we know. *smirks*

By the way, the last chapter title is taken from the poem "Dreams in the dusk," written by Carl Sandburg. In other noteworthy news, WE HAVE REACHED OVER 100 REVIEWS FOR THIS STORY. OH MY GOSH YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING THANK YOU SO MUCH. :)

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