This chapter has two alternate endings. Instead of choosing one, I decided to post them both. This week you get one, in two weeks you'll get the second. You can let us know which one you like better. As always, we do not own HP or Bleach.

Chapter 17

White Day Woes.

Toshiro Hitsugaya found himself longing for the (relative) simplicity of life with his Division. Being in school again was... insulting in some ways. More so considering the rest of the school (not including his group) were actual children. He was older then the lot of them - even than most of the Professors! And not only that, he was put with the First Years because of his height! (It didn't help that some of those First Years were taller than he was...)

His only consolation on this mission was that he got to spend more time with Karin.

Now don't misunderstand: He did not get googly-eyed at the thought of the rough-and-tumble spirit of the girl.

He did not watch her with a strange sense of pride when she chased off the other girls who had tried to flirt with him.

He did not find her actions cute and her smile adorable.

He did not get flustered when she asked him to walk her to class (even though his own class was on the other side of the castle).

He did not blush to the roots of his hair when she handed him the home-made chocolate truffles (made with the help of Yuzu and Winky and with the knowledge it was one of his few favorite treats learned from Matsumoto) on Valentine's Day.

He did not panic at the thought of finding an appropriate White Day gift to get for her in return.

He was calm... collected... cool.

#

Alright, he was a mess.

As much as he enjoyed hanging out with Karin, he didn't know what she might like as a gift. She loved soccer and had taken an equal joy in Quidditch but she wasn't the sort for earrings or other jewelry that he could tell. And it wasn't like he could ask Ichigo about it either. One did not ask the older brother of the girl you liked about dating tips! Especially when the older brother was a fellow Captain, and so much more powerful than he was. Simply flexing his reiatsu would break any ice prison Toshiro could conjure up.

It was almost White Day when Toshiro hit on an idea: Yuzu! He could ask Yuzu!

The twins were normally together most days, but Toshiro was finally able to get Yuzu alone. He coughed into his hand, struggling to keep his face impassive. Yuzu just smiled at him gently as the silence continued.

"You're having trouble finding a gift for Karin, aren't you?" she asked wisely.

"I… no… um... yes," Toshiro admitted as he looked down the hall in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. Hyorinmaru wasn't helping things as he was chuckling softly in the back of his mind.

Yuzu, instead of laughing, simply shifted her books around to reach out and pat his arm lightly. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her smile gently.

"You know... you might not realize it, but her ears are pierced even if she doesn't wear anything most days," Yuzu said simply, before turning and walking off toward her next class.

Toshiro blinked after her in surprise. He hadn't realized that if he was honest with himself. It was her eyes and her attitude ('Be honest, her legs too. You're always so fascinated with them when watching her play soccer,'Hyorinmaru said with a laugh. 'Shut Up you!') that drew his attention.

Toshiro managed to arrange a visit to Hogsmeade, with an 'adult escort' and started looking over gifts. He managed to come across a small pair of snitch earrings (the snitches were actually very small, roughly half a millimeter in size) with charmed wings that would flutter if you touched them.

They were perfect. He nodded to himself and made his purchase.

When White Day arrived he tried to subtly get Karin's attention. It didn't work. Mind you it wasn't that she was ignoring him, but she kept getting dragged off for one thing or another to help out her friends.

Toshiro did not pout when this happened for no less than the tenth time...

He finally managed to find her when she wasn't busy, only to come to a standstill in shock.

Karin was surrounded by about ten different boys (First, Second and Third year boys!) all with different sized gift boxes. Karin looked both flustered and annoyed as she snapped at them.

"This isn't how White Day works you Bakas!" Karin shouted as she pushed one of the gifts away. "I didn't give anything to any of you! If you're going to try to follow our holidays then get it right!"

Her shouting only dissuaded the two First years. The others kept trying to give her their gifts with the excuse of 'I didn't realize' and 'I already bought it for you!' Toshiro felt a growing sense of anger at the sight.

'Keep calm, don't lose your temper...' Hyorinmaru sighed suddenly, 'Ah well... too late.'

Toshiro realized what he meant by that a moment later as the walls in front of him began to ice over. A glance behind him showed it was spreading in that direction too. Instead of feeling contrite though, Toshiro felt a perverse sense of satisfaction as he approached the group and the other boys froze in fear when they realized ice was crunching under their feet and the temperature of the hall had drastically dropped. Karin had to force her way past their scared forms.

"Toshiro!" Karin said with a satisfied smirk as she stopped in front of him. "Tone it down a bit, huh? It's cold enough in here right now."

He took a slow breath and nodded. The spreading ice halted a few moments later, though what was already frozen over remained so. Toshiro turned to look at the other boys and glared at them, sending most of them running. One brave Third year remained and actually started to approach with the mid-sized gift box in hand. Toshiro had to admit that he admired the boy's courage in the face of Toshiro's magic.

"I-I know now... that I d-didn't understand things right concerning this h-holiday but I s-still wanted to give this to K-Karin. If t-that's okay?" the boy, a Hufflepuff, asked.

Toshiro and Karin shared a glance. After a moment he let out a huffing sigh and rolled his eyes, looking away as Karin gave a small smile to the Hufflepuff and took the gift.

"This doesn't mean anything though; I'll accept it only because you were brave enough to stay while the others fled," she said firmly and the boy nodded rapidly.

She opened the small package and took out a broom-cleaning kit. She looked it over for a long moment then nodded to the Hufflepuff.

"Good choice, I can use this. My own kit was almost out of wood polish," she said to him, "Thank you."

The Hufflepuff stuttered out a 'you're welcome' and then fled, slipping a bit on the ice.

Toshiro took a slow breath and then held out the small gift box to Karin. She took it with a shy smile and opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw the snitch earrings and her fingers brushed over the delicate wings causing them to flutter. Her smile widened as she put them on.

"Thank you Toshiro, I love them," she said.

Her feet shuffled a bit back and forth before she leaned forward to give him a gentle hug and kiss his cheek lightly. He stiffened in surprise at the gesture and twitched back a half step... that half-step, and his shock, was all that was needed to set him off balance on the slick floor and the two went tumbling. He wrapped his arms around her to make sure that she didn't hit the ground and they went sliding back until Toshiro's head hit someone's legs. Luckily they didn't get knocked over.

"Now what are yeh doin' on the floor?" came Hagrid's booming voice from above the two. "An' where'd all this ice come from?"

Both of them blushed and shared an embarrassed look. Karin burst into nervous giggles and Toshiro joined her a few moments later.