"What do we do?"
"So sudden."
"There's no way we can win against middle schoolers."
Faced with the challenge to settle things with a match, Karin's friends wilted.
"Fine, let's do it then!"
Karin agreed casually.
"Eh!!!"
"Kurosaki! Why did you just agree for us!!"
Her friends were shocked.
"So what? Let's just accept."
Karin said dismissively.
"Good! Since you agreed, next Saturday afternoon, we'll settle this here!!"
The middle school leader declared.
"Hehehe... If you lose, your punishment is to eat spaghetti with your noses."
Another middle schooler snickered.
"Eh... that's way too harsh..."
Karin's friends said weakly.
But Karin was firm. "Hmph! And if we win, you give up the field! No backing out!!"
After setting the match date and time, Karin and her friends left.
…
On the way home.
"Kurosaki, what are we going to do? Making a promise like that..."
"If we lose, we have to eat spaghetti with our noses..."
Karin's friends were worried.
"We'll just win."
Karin said dismissively.
"Winning would be great, but..."
"Anyway, let's do our best."
"But will doing our best be enough? Don't be delusional."
"Sigh, we need a plan."
"Right! Let's ask Kurosaki's brother to help!"
One of Karin's friends, an afro-haired kid, suddenly said, "I heard Kurosaki's brother is really athletic. If we ask him, we can definitely win!"
"Yeah! They're middle schoolers, us getting a high schooler isn't a big deal!"
Karin's friends agreed.
"Ah..."
Thinking of Ichigo, who was off doing who-knows-what dangerous, Karin's expression darkened. "Sorry, Ichi-nii suddenly had something to do. He went to the countryside with a friend, he can't come."
"Eh?"
"Is that so?"
Everyone was disappointed.
"I'll try to find someone else who's good at soccer to help."
Karin forced a smile.
"But Kurosaki, do you even know anyone else who plays well?"
Her friends were skeptical. Being Karin's friends, they knew her well. Usually loud and boisterous, she didn't get along with other girls and hung out with them. Aside from them, Karin basically had no other friends.
"Well, I'll try my best to find someone. Probably..."
Even Karin lacked confidence.
"Sigh... Let's just practice eating spaghetti with our noses."
Everyone sighed.
Facing her dispirited friends, even Karin, the big sister, couldn't find a good way to cheer them up. A gloomy silence fell as they walked home.
"Hmm?"
As she walked, Karin suddenly noticed a familiar figure leaning on the railing of a bridge ahead.
'That's… Hitsugaya Toshiro?'
Karin felt a flutter of inexplicable joy. Then, an idea struck her. Remembering the ball-handling skills Toshiro had shown when he picked up her ball earlier, Karin ran towards him.
"Um... Hitsugaya Toshiro? Can I call you Toshiro?"
Karin asked.
Toshiro looked up at Karin, who had appeared suddenly, then looked back down at his flip-phone-like Command Console, typing a report while replying casually, "Sure, call me whatever you want."
"By the way, thanks for picking up my ball earlier, Toshiro."
Karin acted familiar.
"No problem."
Toshiro said without looking up.
"Hey, Toshiro, what school do you go to?"
Karin asked.
"Hah?"
Toshiro finally looked up, but his expression was grim. "I don't go to any school! I graduated decades ago! Stop bothering me! I'm very busy!!"
Toshiro shouted. Although he had been mistaken countless times before, hearing it from Karin made him inexplicably angry.
Karin, unfazed by his attitude, asked again, "Hey, Toshiro, do you know where Ichi-nii really went? I don't think he'd suddenly go to the countryside with a friend without a word like you said."
Remembering that Karin seemed to know about Ichigo being a Shinigami, and that his made-up excuse probably wouldn't fool her, Toshiro said casually, "That's what he told me. Whether it's true or not, I don't really know."
Hearing this, Karin didn't doubt Toshiro. She thought he was just an ordinary elementary schooler, not a Shinigami like Ichigo, so how could he really know where Ichigo went? So she stopped asking about Ichigo.
"Hey, Toshiro, do you know how to play soccer?"
Karin asked suddenly.
"Well, who knows?"
Toshiro was noncommittal. Although he didn't answer directly, he did know how to play.
In his previous life, he loved soccer. Though he rarely got to play himself, he watched many matches and knew the rules perfectly.
In this life, in Soul Society, he often played with others… classmates at the Shin'o Academy, then division members after joining the 10th Division. Whenever he had time, he liked to play soccer to relax.
And, with his physical abilities, he was far better than professional players from his previous life. Even against stars like Ronaldo or Messi, he could guarantee a scoreline more ridiculous than a basketball game.
"I know it, Toshiro. You must be really good at soccer. So, we have a five-on-five match next time. Want to come play?"
Karin invited him.
'Hah? Play soccer with a bunch of kids? I could make Ronaldo and Messi not know which way is up, and you want me to play with little kids?'