Coffee Flavored Angel (Bleach Fanfic)

White Chocolate Latte

 From the counter Karin saw the girl from her school finally make a move, and in the pit of her stomach she didn't like what the girl was doing one bit. The dark haired sixteen year old knew Toshiro not being comfortable with the situation was the only thing bugging her, but the fact she was a little bit jealous. "I don't have the guts to instigate anything with Toshiro. We've been friends for to long and I really don't want to ruin that."

Nanao came back from delivering the girl's coffee. "I don't like that girl. I know she's hitting on Toshiro, but I can't do anything about it unless he indicates he wants my help, or the situation gets serious. I hope your brother gets out of the restroom in time to do something. That kid honestly handles your Ichigo butting in much better then he does me or his mom."

Karin pushed her lips together noticing that what ever conversation the girl was having with the girl went onto a tangent Toshiro didn't like as he was already glancing out the window in an attempt to avoid eye contact. A customer with silver hair suddenly came through the door causing Nanao to curse under her breath. Karin turned her head to look at her boss. "What?"

The older woman whispered so only her young employee could hear. The man was dressed in traditional clothing, and was managing to draw a few stares. "I specifically told him Toshiro wasn't here. Why then is he here of all places?"

Karin turned her head back to see the man was looking right at Toshiro with pale teal eyes. The resemblance between the two caused something to click as she turned her head back to Nanao. "His dad? I don't understand. Why is his dad looking for him?"

"He told me over the phone that since Toshiro is still a minor he gave clear instructions to the college telling them they were to call him if any classes were missed."

"Toshiro's dad's that strict." Karin watched as the woman worried her lip.

"Strict. not the word I would use. Perhaps controlling? I doubt Rangiku agreed to that as she has sole custody of Toshiro."

The sixteen year old opened her mouth to say something about how it didn't make sense how the man could control Toshiro like he did, but flinched as she glanced back in time to see the high school girl grab Toshiro's notebook. Nanao spoke loud enough that the white haired man could hear her. "I told you Toshiro wasn't here."

"Ran told me he was."

"She needs to learn to lie to you."

The man gave her a cold glare just as the cups of coffee tipped over. Karin knew the situation was worsening as the girl began to look at the sketchpad, and another tinge of jealousy came over her. She made for the door to the counter only for the man to hold up his hand. "Don't."

"Are you making Toshiro handle this himself?" Nanao let out a few curses, and it hit Karin that she only ever heard the woman curse when it came to Toshiro's father.

The girl's face twisted up as if something disgusted her, and she said something to the white haired fifteen year old to make him look down at the table. His arms were shaking indicating the situation was getting to the point it was to much for him to handle, and some of the other customers were staring. From all the way over at the counter the sound of paper ripping was heard. Karin took a deep breath as she fought back the urge to leap over the counter to slap the girl.

To her surprise the silver haired man moved across the floor with a speed she didn't expect of someone wearing traditional Japanese sandals. The man moved to backhand the girl, but a quick flash of orange was seen. Nanao breathed a sigh of relief as Ichigo intercepted the backhand. Despite this the aura didn't dissipate and from Toshiro's point of view the girl really did end up smacked in the face. Karin took a deep breath. "You wanted to do that yourself."

"Ichimaru..." Ichigo glanced down at the dripping coffee before letting out a deep breath. "I'd ask why you're here bothering Toshiro, but it seems like you stepped in when you were needed to."

Karin took a deep breath and grabbed some towels to clean up the mess. This allowed her to approach the table in time to see that the white haired fifteen year old was losing it more now that his father had shown up. The corners of her mouth twisted down as she saw that Toshiro's teal eyes were beginning to water meaning he was close to completely losing it. She stepped over to begin cleaning up the mess only for the man to grab the towel from her.

"Wait... that's..."

"Leave."

"But..." Ichigo quickly tugged on her shoulder as he pulled her away from the mess.

"Don't. Ichimaru's not someone you want to get on the bad side of."

"What? Did he hit Rangiku-san and Toshiro? Is that why's he's not around."

"No. He's just... over protective of Toshiro."

"Nanao-san said he was over controlling."

"That to. He doesn't know you Karin so there is no telling what he'll do to you if he thinks you're upsetting Karin. I've found myself on the wrong end of his punch because he didn't know me and thought Toshiro was in danger."

"Isn't he over reacting?"

"He's always like this." Nanao worried her lip. "That child's always acted less of a kid then his father and it is a pain in the ass."

"Do you want me to call Rangiku?" Ichigo glanced back at the table.

"No. She actually was the one who told him Toshiro was here." The older female's mouth twisted slightly to the side as she tried figuring out what to do about the situation.

Karin flinched as the man came back and dropped the wet towel. Toshiro's godmother's frustration quickly grew.

"How much coffee has he had to today?"

"Today? The one he spilled was supposed to be his second, but I think most of it ended up spilled. You aren't going to lecture me about how he's not old enough for coffee again? He's almost sixteen you know." Nanao put the towel in the bin before cleaning up the bits of coffee.

The man looked up at the menu as a frown spread across his face. "That's not on the menu."

"I dropped that from the menu when things ended between you and Ran."

"Unfortunately it's the only coffee I've ever tried here. I need to speak to Shiro-chan about skipping classes today."

"He's a college student."

"Who's also fifteen and under normal circumstances would be a freshman in high school."

The man remained silent until Nanao gave in. "One order of..."

"Two." The silver haired man payed for the drinks and headed over to the table. He picked up the sketchpad and began to look up at it. Karin picked up the drinks her boss finished so the woman wouldn't have to deal with the man. She felt her mouth twist up as the man finally said something to Toshiro about the sketches. "Creepy."