FicWad

Getting angry with Chad was a hard thing to do. Well, it wasn't the getting angry part that was difficult, more the staying angry.

Karin normally had no problem staying angry, for however long she needed to release her frustrations. But, with someone who just sat there and never moved, what could she do? She could shout in his ear for five straight minutes. And /nothing/. He didn't even bat an eye. She could punch him in the arm as hard and as many times as she could, and still he didn't move. It was as if he were made of stone.

It might've been hard to stay mad at Chad, but she was trying her damndest.

"Put me down," she said, squeezing her arms around his neck as if it was going to hurt him.

"You're injured," was his only response.

"So?" Karin Kurosaki didn't need to be carried anywhere. She was quite capable of taking care of herself, thankyouverymuch. "I can walk."

Chad shrugged and allowed her to slide down his back, as if challenging her to prove it. And, well, Karin never failed to rise to a challenge. But as soon as her feet hit the pavement, she could feel her legs giving way underneath her.

Luckily - or, perhaps, not so luckily - Chad's arm shot out to stop her from falling. Her face reddened with the knowledge that he was probably laughing at her, at least on the inside.

"Shut up," she said through gritted teeth, despite the fact that he hadn't said a word.

"That Hollow did substanial damage to your leg." Karin looked down for the first time since wrapping it. It was already beginning to bleed through the shirt she'd wrapped it with.

"Shit," she swore. "This Shinigami stuff is harder than it looks."

Chad bent down next to her, offering his back again. She sighed loudly in protest, but climbed up, anyway.

"I didn't need your help, you know."

He was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I know."

Karin leaned foward, smiling to herself (for some reason she couldn't explain) as her face pressed into his hair. "Good, as long as we're clear on that," she said, in a tone that didn't betray the fact that her anger had worn off.

She didn't mind Chad so much. He wasn't half as annoying as Ichigo's other male friends. All of Karin's friends appeared to be terrified of him, though. Which may have had something to do with the fact that he was twice their size.

"Where are we going?" she asked, when he turned in a different direction.

"The clinic." Karin scowled; she'd figured as much. Now she was only minutes away from being bombarded with questions from her idiot of a father.

"Do we have to?"

He stopped walking for a moment, as if considering her question. "Yes." He started walking again. Karin let out a long sigh, wrinkling her nose in displeasure.

"Do you think there's such a thing as 'too tall'?" she blurted, before stopping to think about it. He seemed like the natural one to ask, anyway.

"I think that everyone's as tall as they're supposed to be."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"Well, what kind of question is that?"

Karin flushed. "It's nothing," she muttered defensively, glad that he wasn't able to witness the way her face was reddening. What did "too tall for a girl" mean, anyway? It wasn't her fault that her legs and arms had started growing, and still hadn't stopped, even now. Chad hadn't seemed to notice - for obvious reasons, she supposed.

"My mother was feminine and delicate and all that stuff," she said, swinging her legs a little. "Yuzu looks a lot like her."

He didn't respond, seemingly content to let her ramble. "I guess it might be nice to be like that. It seems--"

"It wouldn't suit you," he interrupted, and Karin was a little taken aback with surprise. It took her a moment to remember herself.

"Um...thanks...I think..."

Stupid Chad. Confusing as ever. Of course, she mused, she might not mind taking a little extra time to figure him out.