Red and White
Smelling Like a Rose

Everything felt wrong. No matter what Toshiro did, he couldn't wash the dry feeling away from his throat, or brush away the emotions in the back of his head. A sweat somehow managed to spread across his body; not only did he rarely sweat, but he also hated the sticky feeling. The young taicho made sure to shower before he headed to the world of the living, but was sure he'd sweated enough to possibly smell.

The thought of smelling bad in front of Karin always bothered him for a reason he couldn't place.

Toshiro also couldn't escape the guilty feeling regarding how he treated Matsumoto and Momo. He swore in the back of his mind that he would make things up to them, his lip pushing together with hopes that things weren't as bad as he thought they might be. In the back of his mind when he woke up, there was the nasty feeling that he'd forgotten something. Rangiku calling him a perverted little kid also still stung despite the amount of time passing.

Getting out of the shower, the young taicho couldn't help but rub his neck as he headed into the office. He didn't notice where on the shelf he put his bath essentials. He found Rangiku thankfully wasn't up, and a sigh escaped his lips. "The last thing I need is her suspecting something."

"Suspecting what?" Toshiro nearly jumped out of his skin, or at least the prickly feeling running down his spine made it feel that way. He continued to rub his neck, turning to look at Rangiku, who eyes him carefully.

"Nothing..."

"Nothing?" Rangiku reached out to touch his wet hair, just as Toshiro turned. His arms dropped to the side just in time to lean forward, her nose sniffing. "Taicho, did you use my shampoo and soap?" The woman pulled back, her arms folding while her mouth twisted into the frown. "Taicho, I know you've been having some issues lately, but this takes the cake."

"I wasn't..." A hot heat spread across his cheeks, suddenly realizing the smell filtering into his nose wasn't the smell of sweat, but the smell of Matsumoto's bath essentials. His hand rubbed the back of his neck.

"You weren't?" The strawberry-blonde folded her arms across her busty chest, her facial features twisted in that look he hated so much.

"I'm sorry! I grabbed the wrong one! I..." Toshiro felt a hot heat spread across his cheeks, the anxiety in his stomach growing. He thought for a bit that maybe telling Rangiku what was going on might help, that she might help him fix the problem, but thought better of it. "I've got to be going."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to be out for the day, so I need you to take care of the office." Toshiro could feel the heat in his cheeks increase, and the feeling of embarrassment spread to the tips of his ears.

"Taicho! You do know what today is, right?"

"It's White Day. Could we perhaps have this conversation later?" The young taicho felt his words speed up, irritated that she was starting to pry. Rangiku's eyes didn't have a trace of anger in them today, but simply worry. She wasn't actively trying to avoid him, which meant he might get sweapt into one of her awkward hugs if he didn't leave now.

Rangiku worried her lip but said something he hadn't expected. "Do you promise we'll talk when you get back?"

"Yeah, yeah. That might be nice." Toshiro spun away, glad that his fukutaicho was leaving this alone.

"You do realize..."

"Don't ruin this moment for me Hyorinmaru."

"Alright."

Toshiro arrived at the Kurosaki household and knocked on the door, his lip pushing together, before gaining the confidence to touch his knuckles to the door. The door sprung open, a sandy-haired female looking him in the eye. Toshiro's bright teal eyes blinked a couple of times, his mouth opening in confusion. The thing spoke, her voice reminding him of Momo's, making his nervousness grow.

"Oh. So you're Karin's date?"

"What..." Toshiro's eyes blinked a couple of times.

Ichigo's voice could be heard from inside the room. "Yuzu, I told you it's not a date."

"How come he smells nice then?" Yuzu turned back into the house just as the young taicho's cheeks heated up, his words coming out as a painful stammer.

Karin darted out of the house, her mouth pressed into a frown. She grabbed Toshiro roughly by the arm, dragging him away from the house. The silver-haired youth felt the heat in his cheeks and ears increase, one of his hands reaching in for the money Yamamoto had given him. "Slow down."

The raven-haired girl stopped at the corner, poking him in the chest. "For this not being a date, you sure went out of your way on the scent didn't you?"

"That..." Toshiro choked, the heat increasing. He felt his head tilt to the side, his bright teal eyes looking at the street. His words came out as a mumble. "I accidently grabbed Matsumoto's bath stuff."

"I didn't hear you."

Karin's foot tapped on the ground, letting him know she wasn't happy with him. Tilting his head back, Toshiro could see her arms crossing her chest, her lips pushed together tightly. He took a deep breath and spoke louder. "I said, I accidently grabbed Matsumoto's bath stuff instead of mine this morning."

Two violet eyes blinked a couple of times, a sigh escaping Karin's mouth. "What?"

"I wasn't paying attention. I'm nervous about this. I know it's not a date, but I've also never, ever done something like this before. "

"Oh." Karin grabbed his arm, this time in a gentle manner. She pulled him after her, heading to the bus stop. "Have you ever been on the bus before?"

"No..."

"Are you claustrophobic?"

"No, sort of. What kind of question is that?" Toshiro felt a calm wash over him, glad Karin didn't rub in the fact he'd made a mistake.

"Just stay with me, okay?" Karin stood there before the large monstrosity pulled up to them. Toshiro's lips pushed together, only to let out a yelp as she tugged him up the steps. She put some kind of coin into the meter, before pulling him over to a seat. His head hung down, the nervous feeling setting in again. Said feeling washed away when he thought he caught someone familiar out of the corner of his eye.

Karin's head darted up. "Something wrong."

"No... nothing..." Toshiro felt her nudge him, and he looked up to see she wasn't pleased.

"I felt some kind of reiatsu."

"I thought for a moment they'd sent someone to babysit me despite the fact I'm a captain."

"Relax. We're going to have fun, even if it kills you."

Toshiro's eyes blinked a couple of times. "That's not really funny."

"Yes, it is Toshiro. You're already dead, but the fun will kill you? It's something that can't happen."

"Oh..." A chuckle escaped his lips. "I actually get it. That is funny."

"Why are we spying on Hitsugaya Taicho?"

Soifon stood nearby the Kurosaki household, attempting to keep out of sight. "None of your business Hisagi."

"How many times do I have to tell you just to call me Shuhei? If you're trying to hide from Hitsugaya Taicho, that is a bad choice." Hisagi folded his arms across his chest, looking at the maroon jumper made out of jean material with the sleeves and leggings cut for summer wear. She also wore a rather old fashioned blouse underneath.

"You're one to talk." Soifon snapped.

"Yeah. You look like a little girl with those braids of yours, while I'm rocking my punk style that actually makes me look like an adult. I don't see the sense..."

The female held up her hand as Toshiro walked down the path while Karin pulled him after her. She couldn't hear what was being said, but the girl seemed quite irritated with the small taicho. "Dump him now, then I don't have to deal with this stupidity."

"Soifon..." Shuhei took a deep breath. "Mind feeling me in one what's going on."

Instead, the female taicho grabbed his arm, pulling him after her. The fukutaicho watched as Toshiro got onto the bus with the girl, and heard a few curse words from Soifon. The second division taicho tried following after, not noticing one needed to pay to get on. Shuhei grabbed her arm, putting in the needed coin, bemoaning the fact he was wasting his hard earned money on what seemed like stupidity.

They quickly moved to the back and passed the young taicho and girl on the way. Toshiro's posture seemed abnormal, and the situation rather odd. He sat at the back. "What's going on?" Soifon simply stared, giving the two preteens a death glare. He sighed, tapping her on the shoulder. "Seriously..."

"I'm against Hitsugaya Taicho dating this girl from the living world. I told the old man as such."

"What..." Hisagi swallowed. "Is that girl..." His eyes snapped shut. "Hey, is that one of Kurosaki Ichigo's sisters? You know, the tomboy one."

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Damn. Yumichika won that bet." Shuhei leaned back, his arms folding across his chest.

"What bet?"

The ninth division fukutaicho took a deep breath. "The guys were wondering who Hitsugaya Taicho liked. Yumichika guessed correctly."

"Oh?" Soifon leaned forward. "Sounds like a stupid bet. Who did you vote for?"

Shuhei swallowed. "It was a joke, a stupid bet. I mean, he's not old enough to be dating. Hinamori..." A groan escaped his lips. "Man, she's wrong."

"Who did you vote for?"

Shuhei swallowed, keeping his voice low. "You..."

Soifon's fist swung out from beside him, hitting him hard in the stomach. "I'm not a perverted moron."

The fukutaicho let out a groan. "I wasn't serious! I picked you because you're least likely!"

"What do you mean I'm less likely? Do you mean I couldn't get a boyfriend if I wanted to?"

"No!" Shuhei's voice rose, only to lower realizing Toshiro might hear him if he became too loud. "The bet was about who Hitsugaya likes. You..." The young man swallowed. "You know, I'm shutting up now."

"You're the one who brought it up."

"Has anyone ever told you how scary you are? And you're right. You won't ever get a boyfriend, as you have no feminine charm!"

This comment brought another punch to the stomach, and a groan from Shuhei as his eyes closed. One eye opened to see a couple of school girls giggling, and wondered what the two could possibly have found to be so funny.

Author's note – Here's what not to do if you want a writer to update.

I'd planned on updating Red and White and a few other stories around February 2016 but got an anonymous review. The reviewer told me they were a major fan of my Toshiro/Karin fanfics, only to follow up by saying they didn't like my other fics. To make matters worse, they listed off five of my older Toshiro/Karin stories which have the pairing clearly marked in the character tags. Said list, however, did not contain...

- Christmas Nightmare, a story which does NOT have the pairing marked in the character tags despite the fact Toshiro/Karin shows up in said story.

- Cancer, a newer story for the pairing that readers can tell from the summary is a darkfic in nature.

- None of the one-shots and short stories I'd written since I'd last updated the five stories.

- Numerous other series which contain the pairing despite not being clearly marked due to the fact the character tags are meant for main characters over pairings.

I found myself asking if this person was really a big fan of my Toshiro/Karin stories like they claimed, or if they only read the stories to get their latest Toshiro/Karin fluff kick.