A black and white ball slammed into the face of a black haired man wearing a white coat over rather casual clothing.
"Ack…that hurt." The man fell onto his back while the ball rolled harmlessly to his side.
"What kind of bullcrap are you trying to pull, Goat Chin!?" A young woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail and steely gray eyes snarled at her father. She was in a soccer uniform with a towel over her shoulder, having just finished practice when her dad decided to 'surprise visit' her.
Isshin Kurosaki sat up, rubbing his bleeding nose and putting on a dramatic pouting face.
"But Karin, I just wanted to make sure my lovely daughter would be safe out at night!"
"I'm sixteen, old man! Get over it!" Karin darted over and aimed a punch which Isshin quickly dodged.
He looked back at her, a little more serious this time. Ever since she'd gotten the news from Ichigo four days ago about the white haired Captain she'd been in a right foul mood. Her friends cowered as she passed and her enemies fled on sight. It was almost like she had a permanent fiery aura surrounding her. And all because a certain young prince didn't bother to say goodbye.
"Look I'll be home by nine, okay? Lay off." Karin picked up her soccer ball and walked away from her father to the locker rooms to change.
"Karin." Her father said in a tone his daughter knew meant business. She paused and partway turned back to look at him. "You can't be mad at him forever."
"Damn right I can! Prick doesn't even consider saying bye to a human girl, oh no, because now that he's prince he doesn't have to bother! The minute Toshiro comes back I'll pummel him until he apologizes!"
"Chances are he's not coming back." Isshin sighed.
He noticed the girl freeze for a moment and frowned, worried that he'd said something to upset her.
"Probably not. After all, what would royalty want with some half-breed anyway?" She stomped off without another word.
Her father sighed again and decided to leave her alone. All he wanted was to make sure she was okay, but she had yet to smile again, always angry. He wasn't worried about her safety; even Hollows would be put to the dirt with her temper as frail as it was at the moment. His friend Kisuke even considered her scarier thank Kenpachi at certain points.
"That boy better do something before she brings down Hell just to get to him." The shop keeper had said at one point, that same devious smile on his face as always.
Once she was changed, Karin headed outside, not really caring where she went. There were still several hours left in the day. She thought about maybe going to Kisuke's for more training. She couldn't get a sword yet but with her high amount of Spirit Energy for a human she was at least being taught how to use it. As long as she was home by nine so her father wouldn't attack her the way he did Ichigo still.
Deciding there wasn't anything else to do, Karin started towards the shop. The soccer fields were pretty close by so it wouldn't take her long to get there. She kept her pace slow, taking the time to calm her nerves. Anytime someone brought up Toshiro she felt so frustrated. Prince or not, he should have at least tried to say goodbye.
Ichigo had told her about how the Soul Society got a letter from some fabled Soul King with orders to find the Soul Prince, and how that prince turned out to be Hitsugaya. He also told her he'd left in kind of a rush, not staying long enough for Ichigo to even see him and hardly getting to say goodbye to anyone outside of the Captains and Lieutenants, though when she asked why he was in a rush her brother seemed to hesitate. But still, she felt she at least deserved something, even a message from one of those Hell Butterflies would suffice.
She sighed and moved away from the topic. No point getting frustrated over something that happened several days past now. How long had it been? Right, four days. Four LONG days.
She heard a rather loud meow and turned to look into an alleyway. Oh boy, that wasn't creepy at all. Any person who watched horror movies could see where this was going. Frowning, Karin turned away and decided to keep walking, not wanting to be the poor damsel captured by thugs who used a kitten to lure her in. The meowing got louder but she kept moving.
"Oh honestly, what a cold hearted girl." A voice said right behind her and Karin whipped around.
A small white cat with violet eyes was looking up at her, a rather fancy looking silver headdress with a black gem covering up something on her forehead. The cat waved a light brown paw at her.
"Are…Are you like Yoruichi?" Karin asked the cat.
"Yoruichi?" The cat tilted her head, confused. "Hm, perhaps I've heard that name before. But that's not important."
The cat started heading back, turning into the alley Karin had attempted to walk away from.
"I promise you no creepy monsters or gangsters." She grinned while the human scowled. "Just me. And I promise you, I'm not that scary."
"You are a cat, but if you're like Yoruichi you have a human form, right?"
"Actually, no." The cat trotted into the alley, a clear message that if Karin wanted more information she'd have to follow. With plenty of suspicion, she did so.
"My name is Sofia." The cat introduced, leaping onto a large box with ease and turning to face Karin, now at eye level with her. "I'm here on behalf of a woman named Ruala Nakryin, who happens to be watching over a friend of yours."
"That name sounds foreign." Karin crossed her arms.
"It is." Sofia grinned. "My master Ruala and I are from a celtic region deep in the British Isles."
"You seem to speak perfect Japanese."
"You learn things over the years. Anyway, would you like to hear about Hitsugaya or not?"
The girl visibly perked up and Sofia grinned wider, victorious.
"Before you say anything I must tell you this." Sofia's smile faded and her violet eyes filled with a serious and somewhat sad expression. "Prince Hitsugaya is currently undergoing intense training that puts his body to its limits. As such, his power has increased by three or four times its original strength, meaning he can never enter the human world without heavy restrictions, something we cannot do as of now. His life is also in danger."
"Ichi never said he was in danger, just that he left in a rush." Karin's eyes had gone wide.
"Just as well, my master and I both were concerned with giving out such information. However, certain circumstances with his training have led us to approach you."
"Why me?" Now the girl looked confused.
Sofia sighed heavily; she always hated doing things like this.
"With his life in danger we Royal Guard were forced to take him from what he knew as his home rather suddenly. As such, he's having a hard time adjusting, and he regrets not being able to say what he wanted to those who knew him. There are many people he wants to speak to again, one of them being you. However, with his power having increased so dramatically, he fears putting your life in danger by just being in the same area."
"Oh…so that's why he hasn't come back."
Nodding, Sofia offered the girl a sympathetic smile.
"He does regret not saying goodbye to you, Karin Kurosaki. It's just he can't, not in person at least. So I'm here to do it for him. Hopefully this will allow him to continue his training." Karin nodded but the cat could tell she was slightly worried. "My master and I watch him carefully. We'll make sure he becomes strong enough to fight the threat looming over him. And…if he can progress far enough in his training to control his power, he might be able to visit."
"He could?"
"Only for a moment." Sofia leaped off the box. "I'm sorry I can't offer more. There are no promises I can make that I would feel confident making, so I can only tell you that we will try."
"That's fine, thank you for telling me." Karin bowed her head to the cat and stepped away, going her original path to Kisuke's.
The cat knew that was all she was supposed to do, but curiosity killed the cat, and Sofia was willing to risk it. She followed the girl and caught up to her before trotting quietly beside her.
"What is your relationship with Prince Hitsugaya?" Sofia questioned, watching in amusement as Karin yelped and jumped away in surprise.
"My…what?" Karin blinked, before shaking her head and glaring. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Your relationship." The cat repeated, ignoring the last shout.
Though still upset, Karin kept walking with the cat beside her.
"We're friends, duh." Karin answered. "He sometimes gets stationed here for a week or two with Rangiku to keep an eye on the larger Hollows or he'll come here on his vacation days to play soccer and visit Grandma Haru."
"You seem rather angry with him about his not saying goodbye for just friends."
"Well…I'm a little short tempered. The last time a friend left without saying anything I was pissed for a few days too."
"And now that you have a reason for his absence you're not angry?"
"Of course I am! I mean, just because he can't do it in person doesn't mean he can just ignore his friends altogether. That's rude!"
"He seemed rather concerned about not getting to say goodbye to you."
"Because he knows I'll pummel him."
The feline laughed at that. But despite that, Sofia was starting to get a little annoyed. This girl was even denser than the prince about the relationship between them. A simple friend didn't get so angry about them not saying goodbye, nor were they ever so worried about hurting that friend that they'd actually resist getting the power they needed to protect them.
But both of them were still young, they had a while yet to consider it.
"I'll take my leave now; I need to help my master with Hitsugaya." Sofia stopped on the sidewalk and moved a paw up to the headdress, ripping off the black gem.
"Tell him I said hi." Karin waved. "Better yet, tell him if he doesn't visit at some point or another I'll fight my way to him and beat the crap out of him."
Sofia roared with laughter at that and winked at the girl before placing the gem in her mouth and crushing it under fang. A bright light surrounded her small frame and carried her back to the Soul King's Realm.
Satisfied, Karin continued on her way to Kisuke's.
And here's Karin! Sorry, no meeting yet T^T But Toshiro's not allowed to just yet. Since Ruala is too quiet and shy to talk to anyone she doesn't know, Sofia does it for her since her cat is far more social. So maybe Karin won't pummel him AS bad when he shows up now since she knows the truth...but she'll probably still try. Maybe he can do something to get on her good side so she doesn't pummel him...hm, ideas, ideas...Enjoy!