Nympholepsy

A frenzy of emotion, as for something unattainable.

Chapter 4

When Karin awoke the next morning, she was pleased to smell the lovely scent of Yuzu's cooking. Thankfully, her sister was feeling more herself today.

Karin stretched her arms out above her head before pulling her covers off and stepping onto the cold, hardwood floor. Stumbling toward her closet, she grabbed her uniform. After going through the tedious task of dressing herself, Karin went over to her desk. She gathered up her school books and pencils, and then unceremoniously dumped them into her school bag. Tossing her backpack on her bed, she made her way toward the door.

When the dark haired girl arrived at the dinning table, she greeted her sister with an unenthused "Good morning."

Once breakfast had been finished, Karin went to the bathroom. She grabbed her red toothbrush and the toothpaste before going to work on her teeth.

After spitting out the foamed up paste from her mouth, Karin grabbed a red hair-band and went to work, tying her hair up. As always, she left her bangs out to frame her face. Ever since she tried this look in Junior High, she'd grown accustomed to it and just felt weird when she left it down for school.

"Karin, are you coming? We're gonna be late!" Her twin sister called up the stairs.

"Yea, I just finished!" Karin yelled back. Turning the light off behind her, Karin exited the bathroom and ran down the stairs to meet up with her sister at the door. As she sat down to put her red boots on, she realized she had left her bag upstairs. "Ah… you go ahead, Yuzu. I'll catch up in a few." She said.

Yuzu blinked. "Are you sure? I don't mind waiting."

"Yea, go ahead. I don't wanna get you in trouble for being late." Karin nodded.

"Well… okay. I'll see you at school then. Bye!" Yuzu called, leaving the house.

Once her sister had shut the door, Karin stood up and ran back upstairs. Once she grabbed her backpack off her bed, she went running back out into the hallway. As she was about to pass Ichigo's room, however, she slowed to a stop. 'Maybe I should check on him' she thought. Turning the knob slowly and giving a light push on the door, she stepped forward and peeked inside. Everything looked the same…

And that's when she realized something. Her dad had shut the window last night, saying too much cold air wasn't good for him. And yet… the curtains were blowing in the breeze. Gripping her bag tighter, in case she'd need to use it as a weapon, she kicked the door open. No one else seemed to be in the room… looking over to the closet, she noted that it was closed. Moving toward it, she braced herself and quickly slid the door open.

Empty

Karin sighed. Yuzu had probably just come in this morning and opened it. She moved over toward the window and slid it closed. 'I checked back in early this morning, and it seems his family found him and have been taking care of him' The words came back to her, and she realized she had more problems than she thought. And with that, she locked the window.

/

When Karin finally arrived at school, she knew she was late. She sat down in front of her shoe locker and brought her foot up on the bench, beside her. Just as she untied the tight black bow, she heard footsteps come to a stop behind her.

"Nice of you to finally show up." Looking back over her shoulder, she found Matsumoto standing there with her arms crossed and leaning against a wall of lockers.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Karin asked, getting back to work on her shoes.

"Oh, please don't make me go! I hate woooork!" Matsumoto whined.

Karin raised an eyebrow, though the older girl couldn't see. "Well I can't really make you do anything. Besides, you're not my responsibility. I don't care what you do." Karin finished unlacing her boot, and slid her foot out. She then started on the next one. "So did you need something?" She asked. "I know you're not here to help me, or anything."

"Actually, I am!" The red-head cheered, walking around Karin and taking a seat on the bench, so they could see one another.

"You're… what?" Karin couldn't comprehend that they were actually willing to give her what she needs.

"Well… I can't tell you exactly what you want to know. I don't really have that much authority. But I can tell you how to get that information."

Now this peeked Karin's interest. Dropping her second boot to the floor, she looked up at Matsumoto.

The woman smirked and went on. "You remember Captain, right? Short angry kid?" Karin nodded. "Okay, you can get all the info you're looking for from him. But, how do you get him to talk, you might ask. Well, it's simple really. All you have to do is get him to fall in love with you!" She grinned, grabbing Karin's hands.

Karin growled, ripped her hands away, and stood up to grab her school shoes. "No."

"Awe! Come on, Karin! I've never seen him show interest in a girl before… so I need you to win a bet! A couple of the guys think he's gay…"

Karin slammed the locker shut and sat back down. "Okay, I'm thinking he's the kinky type. So maybe you should buy some rope! I'll do that for you! Though I'm not sure you could get him tied up…"

"Hey! I could tie up anybody!" Karin yelled, standing up. She had finished switching shoes. Realizing what she had just said, her cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink.

"Ohhh. So that's the kind of girl you are, Karin!" Matsumoto winked. The pink quickly turned to red, and Karin moved away in the direction of her classroom. "You should stay in that outfit, too! Let him teach the naughty schoolgirl a lesson!" She shouted, as Karin began running away from her.

/

Karin sighed, reflecting on her current position. She was standing out in the hallway, holding a bucket of water. Her teacher wasn't too pleased with her tardiness…

She was just hoping none of those Seireitei kids would happen past. She felt relatively safe, though. What would any of them be doing in a freshman hallway? Looking down the hall at the sound of footsteps, she internally groaned at her bad luck.

"Oh. Karin!" The two girls halted in their advancement.

Karin looked at them awkwardly. "I don't know your names…"

"Oh, my name is Rukia Kuchiki."

"And I'm Isane Kotetsu. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." Karin repeated.

"Were you late?" Isane asked, motioning to the bucket. Karin looked down at the offending object.

"Ah… yea."

"Hey guys, I got the cam-" Hinamori paused, coming to a stop beside her comrades, just now seeing Karin. "Come on guys, Shiro wouldn't want us talking to her." Hinamori continued walking.

Karin smiled when she saw Rukia roll her eyes. Nevertheless, the two older girls followed after Hinamori.

"Bye, Karin! We've got to go take some pictures for the yearbook. It was a pleasure meeting you!" Isane called back.

Karin gave her a nod, before returning to her bucket.

/

Once the last bell had finally rang, Karin sluggishly packed up her homework. She was in no rush. It wasn't until the rest of the class had emptied, that she remembered Seireitei. Hurrying out the room and down the hall, she took a moment to find her sister.

"Hey Karin. What took you so long?" Yuzu asked, upon seeing her twin.

"Ah, sorry Yuzu, but I've gotta stay after for a little bit."

"Oh… well okay. Did you want me to wait for you?"

"No, go ahead. I'm not really sure how late I'll be staying."

"Well alright… But make sure you're home for dinner!"

Karin smiled and waved as her sister turned to leave, jogging lightly to catch up to Jinta.

Now alone, with the exception of a few students lagging behind in the entryway, Karin turned to the right and headed toward the hallway in which the Seireitei classroom resided.

She didn't bother knocking. She just slid the door open and stepped in time. She was surprised to find the room empty, though. Sighing out of annoyance, she turned to leave when she was stopped by an attention grabbing cough. Looking over at the teacher's desk, she saw none other than Toshirou Hitsugaya sitting there.

"I knew you'd come. Though I do recall giving you your last warning, already." His cold eyes bore into her as he sat with his elbows on the desk, fingers entwined.

Karin refused to look away. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. As well, she, for whatever reason, felt the need to prove herself to him. This was rather strange for the girl, considering she'd never cared for the opinion of some guy, before. She thought back to his statement, and realized she didn't know how to answer him. So, she just watched him, waiting for him to continue.

He, seeing Karin's stubborn attitude, sighed and continued on. "The way you fight is good for a beginner. You're strong as well, I can see that. However," He glared. "You're an idiot. You don't think before you leap. You openly picked a fight with both Momo and myself, whilst surrounded by our comrades."

Karin scoffed. "Comrades? They're called friends, Toshirou." His glare quickly intensified.

"Let's get one thing straight; you will address me as either Captain Hitsugaya or Mr. Hitsugaya."

Karin was about to retort, but then let what he had just said sink in. "Does that mean I'll be seeing more of you then, Sir?" she clarified, mocking him with the use of 'sir'.

"Who knows?" He drawled, standing up from the teacher's desk. As he walked around toward Karin, he continued. "At the moment, all I know about you is that I can't trust you. So what reason do I have to even consider clueing you in on the Seireitei?" He stopped, standing before her with his arms crossed. Though he was older, he wasn't more than three inches taller than her.

Karin looked him in the eye. She didn't know what he could be talking about. Unless… No, there's no way he could know she lied about her name. He was simply bluffing! "Look, brat, don't speak to me like you're better than me," As she took a moment to inhale a breath, Toshirou butt in.

"I speak to you as someone you want something from."

Karin glared. "Just stop with the riddles, okay? So what exactly is it that I did that caused your distrust?"

"Why don't you tell me, Ms. Suzuki." He looked at her knowingly, and she understood. She didn't know how he knew, but he knew.

Karin smirked, hiding her anxiety. "So what are you gonna do now?" she asked, rhetorically. However, he still had an answer.

"Well I guess I'm just going to have to follow you to your house. See who you really are."

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