Red and White (Bleach Fanfic)

Making Chocolate

The Winter War had pretty much ended the previous fall and yet Rukia and some of the other shinigami were allowed to come to the living world despite the fact there was no real reason to do so any more. One of the reasons was that the forty-six had been completely wiped out which helped to allow a new mindset to set in among the shinigami. The other reason dealt with the fact Karakura Town was a spiritual hotspot that still attracted Hollows.

The month of February came around and things were quite normal, or as normal as they could be. Or perhaps a few changes were in the air and life was simply going to continue changing thanks to the events that had unfolded. At the Kurosaki household the normal tradition that occurred every year since Masaki passed away went on seemingly with not changes. Uncle Atsuo came over and was helping the girls make chocolate in place of their mother. This way Isshin couldn't manage to mess things up to the point of embarrassing either girl.

The actual truth to the tradition was that it was usually just Yuzu who participated in the making of chocolates. Karin would sit at the counter and watch the two others make the chocolate. The tomboy always felt that there was no reason to paricipate in what she considered madness on the parts of girls everywhere. She had always simply bought her giri choco for the boys in her class, plus the boy's she played soccer with if they weren't in her class.

Thus Karin's actions that day surprised both Yuzu and Uncle Atsuo when she stepped up with an unusual question. "So... how exactly do you make the chocolate?"

"Eh?" Yuzu's shock quickly melted away and a smile spread across her face, almost as if she was triumphant about something. "You're actually wanting to make chocolate for our classmates too?"

"No..." Karin shook her head and the next thing she said caused Atsuo to raise an eyebrow. "I was more of thinking of making chocolate for a good friend."

"Oh! I know who!" Yuzu's bouncy spirit remained unstoppable. "The four guys you play soccer with!"

"No! The are... friends I guess, but..." There was a pause in what Karin was saying before she choose to continue. "I really don't feel comfortable bringing them home because of... certain things."

"Let me guess, your Oto-san?" Atsuo let out a deep sigh as he thought of Isshin's many antics over the year and how much he couldn't blame the girls for not wanting to bring friends home. "If Masaki were around she would have figured out ways to keep him occupied."

"No... its a completely different reason. I mean, I am a tad nervous about introducing this friend to dad too, but this is the reason why I don't exactly fit in at school." Karin leaned against the counter using both arms and placed her hands into the palms of her hands.

"Because you act like a boy? If you didn't you could invite friends over. Speaking of which," Yuzu said as she pulled different kinds of chocolates out of the bag that Atsuo had brought over. "I wish you could come over more often Uncle Atsuo."

"Unfortunatly, I am a police officer. I don't get much time off and my shifts are tight." The man reached out to pat the light haired girl on the head which caused Yuzu to smile at him.

"No... it's that reason. It's the same reason Ichigo has problems with too." Karin shook her head at Yuzu due to her twin's off hand comment about acting like a boy.

"Oh! Seeing spirits!" Yuzu piped up only to have her other half lunge at her and cover her mouth with a hand.

"I already know about that, so you don't have to worry about keeping it a secret." Atsuo began to move around the kitchen getting out the other items they would need. "I take it he either knows your secret or you know that he can see spirits and aren't afraid of him finding out."