A Bleach Sideblog

The end of year club football match draws a larger crowd than even their high school’s official teams. Some of it is the rivalry between the different teams that have been formed, but at least for two of the people in the crowd, it’s all about the co-captains. While the others are focused on the actual gameplay, the two young women find themselves analyzing the nonverbal communication and instinctual understanding between the two. There’s an electric energy between them, brought out more due to the game’s fervor and excitement.

Momo finds herself next to Yuzu, as has become common over their past several years. She’s not even a student at the school anymore, but she still shows up to cheer on Toshiro--and by extension Karin.

“We need to do something about the two of them,” Yuzu declares, her usually soft-spoken tone gaining fire. 

“What do you mean?” Momo tilts her head to the side in curiosity, “They’re so cute.”

“Karin’s going away for university!”

“And Toshiro is too.” 

“Are you content letting them leave for university without confessing?”

Momo purses her lips in thought. “No…” She folds her arms across her chest, eyes following as Toshiro, always so focused, lets his attention flit across the field towards Karin. “But they’ve always been it for each other.”

There's loud cheering from everyone as Karin successfully scores a goal, bringing their team to three points ahead of their opponents’, with only fifteen minutes left in the second half. She’s crushed in a hug by her nearby teammates, but people who know her well enough can see how her eyes search out Toshiro on the defensive side of the field. He nods--as notable as a hearty cheer from someone else--and she flashes him a toothy grin. 

Yeah, they’re sickeningly in love.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Go as a group and then ditch them at the winter festival?” 

“That doesn’t sound like a nice plan.”

“Sorry,” Yuzu amends, “Make them join us at the winter festival and let them get lost in one of the pretty gardens.”

Okay. She can get behind that.

*

The plan goes… well? 

At the very least, it isn’t an absolute failure. Yuzu should take that as a win. 

The festival is illuminated with gorgeous lights and everyone’s dressed up nicely. There’s the faintest dusting of snow from gentle flurries throughout the day. She took the time to convince Karin to actually put some lip gloss on, which actually seemed to get a small smile out of her older sister when checking her reflection. She’s sure that Karin would vehemently deny such a claim. 

So when she pulls Momo away from Karin and Toshiro, claiming wanting to look at a traditional makeup stand that they’d passed about five minutes earlier, she does her best to give her sister a pointed look. 

She hopes it portrays ask your long time crush out already, or at least kiss him well enough.

They’re twins, they’re supposed to have the unspoken communication down since before they were even born.

When it’s been nearly an hour of stopping at every possible festival stall, and picking out some pretty hair pins in lieu of the makeup previously mentioned, they meander their way back to the garden where they’d left their siblings. There’s some quiet conversation and the sound of a ball being kicked around. 

There’s a small giggle from Momo as they follow the sound through the weaving paths of the garden, leading them to the two sport fanatics in question. They’re playing with a temari ball, a rather intense game of don’t-let-it-fall. It’s only as Toshiro spots herself and Momo, instead catching the smaller ball in his hand, that the game finally ends. Karin puffs out her cheeks slightly in disappointment, realizing belatedly that they’ve returned. 

“Were you playing ball games this entire time?” Yuzu asks, slightly disappointed.

“Not the entire time. But for the past half hour or so?” Toshiro glances at his watch, nodding. “How was shopping?” 

Apparently, Karin’s either stubbornly avoiding her emotions or no longer has twin telepathy.

As Karin wraps the teal-colored scarf closer around her neck--a scarf that she wasn’t wearing earlier that evening--Yuzu decides it’s the former.

*

“They’ll be back for winter break!” Momo reminds her friend.

“We’ll be successful this time!” Yuzu’s excitement still has not abated.

Somehow, attempt number twenty-three of trying to get their wonderful, lovely, besotted siblings together was starting to get disheartening. Read: desperate attempt number twenty-three, for our sanity, can they please get together?

The holidays are always a busy time at the Kurosaki household, and given Ichigo’s tendency to befriend everyone he comes across, the house is already overwhelmed by the time Momo arrives two hours early to help with preparing for everyone.

It was a little strange, staying so close to home, when both Toshiro and Karin have moved to Tokyo for schooling. But neither she nor Yuzu had been able to journey out to visit their siblings in the three years they’d been away. 

“Momo, you’re here!” Yuzu pushes her way through the quickly increasing crowd of people. 

They help move dishes from the kitchen while chatting with various friends and acquaintances. She’s somehow friends with Ichigo’s previous co-workers, and the time passes quickly. 

She’s stepped away for a minute to catch her breath from the now-massive number of people moving in and out of the Kurosaki household. It’s the familiar-shaped figures in the distance that catch her eye. 

They’re close together, huddled close beside each other. 

Still, she recognizes that spiky hair anywhere, and the tenderness and care with which he wraps the scarf around the woman’s neck means it can’t be anyone other than Karin. 

She can’t take her eyes off the two of them, waving a hand behind herself for Yuzu as she watches Toshiro place a very tender kiss on Karin’s temple. 

“Oh, they’re going to go absolutely crazy,” Yuzu whispers. 

“Maybe we let them have this to themselves for a little while longer?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

*

After everything’s put away, and everyone’s returned to their proper homes, Yuzu pulls Karin aside in their bedroom. She holds her sister’s arms--firmly, gently--as she meets Karin’s eyes. “Ok, you and Toshiro. How long?”

“Since the winter festival you and Momo dragged us to.”

“Three years?” She doesn't mean for her voice to pitch as high as it does.

“It sort of got to the point where you kept trying to get us together and it was too embarrassing to admit that we already were?”

“So there were twenty-two unneeded attempts?”