Just a Kid

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of or related to BLEACH.

Karin dribbled her soccer ball up the street, toward the guard rail where she always used to find Toushirou playing with his cell phone. Even after a couple years, I still come by here to check it out. A small smile graced her lips as she remembered the white-haired taichou.

She had admired him when she had seen him, but she hadn't paid enough attention to realize that she was attracted to him. Now that she was older and a little more connected to her feminine side, she knew that he was probably the only one that she had liked. When she was young, she had had a small crush on her brother, but she had grown out of that too quickly for it to count.

She stopped by the rail, looking to the sunset. It brought back memories, he said… Her smile widened slightly as she remembered how his eyes had sparkled in the diminishing sunlight. I suppose that he was right. After a few moments, she sat on the guardrail, just like she used to and let herself pretend for a while that he was really there again.

She forgot about her soccer ball and didn't notice that it was rolling down the hill. It was trapped by a foot before it got too far, however. "Why is it," she tensed, "that whenever we meet, I end up saving your ball?"

Her eyes widened and she turned to the white-haired boy with a black polo shirt and a bored expression on his face. "Tou… shirou…" She knew that she had a shocked expression on her face and that her ponytail had hit her in the face because she had turned her head too fast, but she could only stare.

He was taller than she remembered, so she couldn't call him an elementary student anymore, but other than that, he hadn't changed much. His hair still defied gravity and his teal eyes sparkled in the diminishing light.

She smiled when he arched an eyebrow at her shocked expression. "Well are you going to come sit or are you going to stand there all night?"

"Hn." He closed his eyes and walked over, his feet dribbling the ball lightly. He leaned against the rail, facing the opposite way. "What are you doing out here?"

She laughed, causing him to glance over at her curiously, taking in her appearance. "I come here all the time – it's the best place I can find to look at the sky." She knew he was amused at her choice of words – the same words he told her. "So, how's Rangiku-san?"

"Lazy." She laughed quietly and he joined in even more quietly. "Over all, not too bad." He turned to look at the sunset over his shoulder while watching the dark-haired girl. "Aizen has been very quiet, and your brother has been taking care of any Arrancar that show up."

"So you came down here because you're bored?" He could hear the incredulity in her voice and he smirked, swinging around on the rail, the ball balanced on top of his foot.

"I suppose you could say that." He laughed outright at her shock and shook his head. "Come now, Kurosaki, I'm not that uptight, am I?" He raised a hand when she opened her mouth. "Never mind – don't answer that."

Karin laughed. "Well, if you're so bored, how about a game?" She stole the ball from him easily and bounced it on her knee. "It'll keep you occupied and it'll give me an excuse to be home late."

She looked so hopeful that the taichou could only smile slightly and lead the way down to the field they had played on as long before. "Aa. I need an excuse to not eat Orihime-san's food tonight."

She grinned and began racing him to the field. Toushirou watched her for a moment before deciding to humor her and running with her, even though he could have beaten her easily. This is what I missed… I guess Matsumoto was right – I really am just a kid sometimes.

AN: Yay! HitsuKarin! Favorite pairing! Thank you all for reading and please review!