Observations of the Anti-Hollow
Prompt: #14 for 30 kisses community
Short Drabble, Yo.

Karin would always remember the moment he walked into that playground, bleeding and weak, but still strong enough to ask why she was there. She would always remember the way his back felt under her hands as she clung to his shirt, looking around wildly for the next enemy. She would always remember screaming "Over there" to have him dodge a blow, and then saying nothing at all when he awoke his power of shield just to protect her and her alone.

She’d remember the almost-kiss of death that brushed against her neck at that moment, and his strong hand swatting it away…

Looking at the line she had just drawn in the dirt with the toe of her shoe, she frowned and kicked it out. She wasn't here for the nostalgia, she was here for research.

The place the Hollow had died was ten feet to her left, and putting those thought away in their proper box and locking them up with a special key, she pulled out her cassette player and started walking to the site. Karin had a mission, given to her by her very own brother - who barely had any time for her nowadays, with all that was happening right now - and she was going to complete it, damnit.

He punched right through its head…

She shook her head and growled. No time anymore. Maybe later. Pushing the record button, she held the device up to her mouth and began to dictate her observations of the death-site.

“The grass is still wilted from where the body lay as it was killed, point in favor for residue. Also, the air is harder to breathe here, on account of a certain smell that I cannot pinpoint. I am assuming that it is from residue as well, though further investigation will have to be done in order to solidify this point. It might very well be a sewage leak, or something.”

Her eyes scanned the ground in front of her, looking for anything else to report. “The soil looks harder than the rest, so why it is growing grass still I don’t know. Half-point for residue, though I’m not sure about it. Maybe someone just packed it in and then fluffed up the grass afterwards…”

“You’ve grown up, Ichigo’s Little Sister.”

Karin’s back stiffened, and she turned her head a little to see his large chest from the corner of her eye. She hit the stop button on the recorder, and turned to face him fully with a growl. “Of course I’ve grown up, Chad. It’s been a few years since I was a squawking girl telling certain idiots where to run so they didn’t get eaten by hungry Hollows.”

His lips quirked into a half-smile and he shrugged his shoulders. “Should I take that back?”

She rolled her eyes, and glanced at the sight again. Nothing more to get here, apparently. Time to move on to the next place of death. “Don’t bother, Mister. It’s not like I’m staying here to argue.”

She turned and walked away, and cursed her inability to release the tension from her shoulders. There wasn’t a need to be nervous around her brother’s friend, even if she just happened to love the idiot.