HitsuKarin Forbidden Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Karin watched, awestruck, as the hollow which had towered above her just moments ago shattered, chips of ice raining down around her. But she didn't notice. Her entire focus was on the figure before her, he seemed older than before, as though the change in his appearance had brought out another side of him.

She knew that to anyone else he would have been terrifying, but as he reached his hand down to her, nothing but concern in his eyes, she knew she had no reason to fear him. He was just another boy, it didn't matter that he was a shinigami, or that he could kill her with just one cut of his sword.

Because she knew that he couldn't.

She had gotten to know him; she knew that his heart, his soul, wouldn't let him harm her. He was too good to do something like that. He would never harm an innocent.

She grasped his hand gratefully and he pulled her up gently as she looked over to her friends, who were just starting to wake up. "Don't worry" said Toushiro quietly, his hand still holding hers, "They'll be fine, just a little confused." He smiled down at her, then frowned.

She was shaking, tiny tremors running through her body, he could feel them through the hand still clasping his so tightly. She looked up at him and he could see tears beginning to pool at the corners of her eyes. His ice-blue eyes softened at the sight of her moist violet ones and by the time the first sob had broken he had already pulled her into a tight embrace. He stroked her back as she cried mutely into her shoulder, still shaking like a leaf.

After a couple of minutes she pulled away slowly, her eyes puffy from her silent tears, and looked up at him. He looked back, the question in his eyes silently begging to be answered. "I'm fine," She confirmed, Toushiro let out a visible sigh of relief, "It's just that I'm worried about Ichi-nii. I mean, I know he gets into fights, I've even seen him fight hollows before, but that moment when I thought I was alone fighting that thing..." She shook her head, as though to clear the thought away, "It was one of the most frightening things ever. And Ichigo's probably fighting things which are so much stronger than that, he must be so scared."

She looked into the captain's eyes, looking for reassurance, hoping for him to say she was wrong, that Ichigo just fought the small-fry, that he was safe. But he refused to give her false hope, he didn't want to lie to her. So he told her the truth.

"Karin, your brother fights some of the strongest opponents there are, he will fight anyone who stands against him and on several occasions his actions have changed the fate of soul society." He saw her face begin to drop and caught her hand in his before continuing. "I'm not finished yet. But, because of all of that he is considered one of the strongest shinigami currently alive, almost definitely the strongest non-captain-class and has even defeated several of the captains." He smiled down at her, "Don't worry, he's strong. And even more importantly, he's your brother. You share the same spirit, neither of you will go down without a fight, so if you want him to live, don't stop fighting," He squeezed her hand once more then let go, his fingers trailing along hers, "and whatever you do, don't die." Then he turned and started to walk away.

"Wait, Toushiro!" Karin shouted to him, he turned and looked at her, one eyebrow raised inquisitively, "Will I see you again?" She asked so quietly he could barely hear her. He smiled in response

"We'll meet again, at some point," He gave her one of his rare grins, his face lighting up for just a moment before he turned away and carried on walking. He didn't look back but Karin could've sworn that she heard him say "and I'll look forward to that day, Karin" softly into the wind.

She turned away from his retreating figure to check on her friends, who still lay on the floor only half-conscious, so she missed the second when he turned back for one last glimpse of the girl who had managed to grab his affection in such a short time.

He chuckled quietly, "We'll have to keep an eye on her, Matsumoto, she could become something great." His Lieutenant stepped out of the shadows, where she had been observing her Captains actions.

"Whatever you say, Captain, you just want an excuse to be around her more." She giggled, before slumping slightly, "Now, can we go home please? I'm hungry and I want a bath." She pouted.

"Fine, come on then." Matsumoto set off, her speed making her almost invisible as she ran in the direction of home. Toushiro took in one last look of Karin, making sure to remember it, he didn't know how long it would be before he saw her again, before setting off at his own run, easily catching up to his second-in-command before they headed back together.