Hello! This is my first anime fanfic and it was HitsuKarin.. hehe. Hope you like it and don't forget to review, thank you!

Synopsis: Karin Kurosaki already knew the truth behind the shinigami's battle against the arrancar. So she went to Soul society as a shinigami to train and help his brother. She also discovers what life really means and perhaps falling in love?

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, i'm just an avid fan :D

The Tough Decision

The sun was setting and a raven-haired girl was walking away from the dusty soccer field. Her face was gloomier than usual and she often spaces out most of the time, affecting everyone around her, especially her family. Recently, Yuzu kept on bombarding her questions about her sudden change and her father was strangely quiet and meek when she was around. But, even though she had the urge to tell them the reason, she promised herself to keep it with herself; just by herself. Why? Because it might make things worse than it seems.

She already knew everything. Everything that was happening was already clear to her; all about the Arrancar, Hueco Mundo, Sousuke Aizen and his true intentions was clear to her. It was a long story of how she knew about it, but these things made her life more complicated than ever. She was dead sure that Karakura Town was in danger and so were her friends, Yuzu, her father and…

"Ichi-nii…" she mumbled quietly as she was striding past the evergreen trees near the sea. At first, she felt anger against her own brother for hiding the truth from her. But somehow, he was just protecting them from a mess, a mess way beyond their understanding. But now, she understood everything, and it did scare the living daylights out of her. But this frightened feeling was short lived, and was replaced by an urge to protect her family.

She stopped suddenly. She was standing at the same spot, the spot where she once stood when she saw Toushiro. She couldn't help but remember the times when she was pestering him about helping their soccer team, the look on his face when he saw her injured and his last words for her. He was an interesting person, she thought. Even though he was young, he was very strong and skilled to fight. She wanted to be like him, he looks like they're the same age but he can protect someone without hesitation. The thoughts of him had encouraged her to face a tough decision.

She was thinking of awakening her shinigami powers. She knew full well the risk of it, but there's only one thing in her mind; she must protect her family. There were those sleepless nights, the nights when she lied awake, staring blankly at the ceiling. She wanted to be a shinigami, so she can protect her family and so are her friends. Even though her brother won't permit it, she had already decided. Even though she knew that Yuzu will get sad when she left and so was her father, she thought it was for the greater good. These complicated situations should make her cry, but she remembered her resolution; that she will never cry again. She looked at the ginger sky and she remembered their encouraging remarks for her. You're the strongest and bravest person I knew, I'm lucky to have a sister like you, Karin-chan; you're brave Karin, always stay the same; He's just like you, he will never give up. She smiled unconsciously at the thought and ran towards the horizon.

She ran towards the street, and there she saw a meek looking girl who was sweeping in front of Urahara Shop, she stopped suddenly when she noticed Karin's presence.

"Karin-chan, what are you doing here? Do you want to play soccer with Jinta-kun?" She asked her timidly and resumed on sweeping the floor.

"No, it's not that. Ururu," she called.

"What?"

"I want to see Urahara-san."

"My, my, if it isn't Karin-chan," a blond man with a striped hat and wooden clogs greeted her brightly.

"Good evening, Urahara-san," she said shyly as he offered her to sit down. He smiled gaily at her as he swung his white fan.

"Tessai-san," he called and a muscular man with cornrows and rather peculiar glasses appeared before them, clutching a tray on his left hand. "Can you make us a tea, this could be a quite long discussion."

"What do you prefer, the green tea or the slimming one?"

"Green tea will do," Urahara said uncomfortably and Tessai walked away. Karin looked surprise when she heard him saying about a long discussion. Did he know something?

"I believe you already know it, am I correct?" he asked casually as Tessai placed their tea on the table.

"Yes,"

"Oh, I'm sorry if Ayasegawa-san and Madarame-san were too loud, you must have overheard them. Pretty careless, aren't they?" he said as he took a sip of his tea.

"It's alright, it's nothing. It's better for me to know than be clueless and act like everything's fine," she said bitterly, Urahara bit his lip.

"I see. So, you know about Aizen's plans about Karakura town? And it concerns you that your family and friends are in danger?"

She looked at him. She felt strange around him, as if he can read someone's mind. But who's not gonna be concerned if your family's in great peril, anyway?

"Yeah."

He took a sip of his tea. "Don't worry too much, your brother and his friends are now training hard to--!"

"Urahara-san, train me to become a shinigami!" She said firmly as she knelt down before him. He looked surprised at first but he smiled afterwards. "I want to become a shinigami! I want to protect Yuzu, dad and Ichi-nii! I'm tired of those times when I can't do anything whenever I see a hollow, I'm sick of acting like everything's fine. I know all about it, I always see hollows. And I always see the shinigamis getting beaten up so badly. I can't do anything to protect them." He placed his tea on the table and so was his fan.

"I know you are going to say this, but you're too young to become one and your brother's already there to save your family and so is the whole town." She looked up at him; she was clenching her fist and holding back her tears.

"But who's gonna protect Ichi-nii? What if he's in danger? I want to repay him somehow, for keeping us away from them. I don't care if I'm too young, age isn't a requirement of being a shinigami, is it?" she said, remembering Toushiro. "It doesn't matter, I'm physically well, and I may have a good amount of spirit power. I want to help Ichi-nii and the others, so please, I'm begging you to train me, Urahara-san." He sat up and straightened his posture.

"But you must understand the responsibilities you'll going to handle, Karin-chan. Being a shinigami isn't a game. You should already understand that being one is a big responsibility, its way beyond your understanding. Besides, you're brother won't permit it anyway and your sister and father will worry about you when you disappear."

"I'm dead serious, Urahara-san. I already decided about that matter. I know full well that being a shinigami is a really big responsibility. I already faced too many consequences, and those consequences made me strong." She said bitterly, her mother's sudden death made a great impact in her life. It made her a stronger and braver person. "I will tell them that I'm out for big soccer training outside town and reassure them that I'm perfectly safe and they shouldn't worry and stuff. And I don't care if Ichi-nii will get angry or what, I already made my resolution and I'm not turning back." Kisuke smiled at her, she was a really tough person than he thought she was, she was exactly like his brother.

"You know, you're very similar to your brother. You're very stubborn and persistent, not to mention that you're both brave and strong." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I remembered it like it was yesterday, when he--!"

"Hey old man, are you going to train her or what?" Jinta said as he walked in, carrying his gigantic bat and Ururu followed.

"Jinta-kun…"

"All right then, if that's what your heart wants, then let's get it started." He said light heartedly as he stood up. Karin looked at him as though he had gone mad. She was somewhat astounded by his care-free attitude. It was seconds before she absorbed everything that had happened. She was going to be a shinigami after all.

"Er.. Do you mean now?"

"Of course, Karin-chan. But before that, you should pig out and stuff because it's going to be a sturdy night for you. And maybe I should tell your father that you're going to stay here for the rest of the week. So he will not be angry with you for being late with the 7 o' clock dinner time policy." He reassured her. She gulped at his response.

"You're not going to tell him the shinigami thingy are you?" She asked Urahara nervously. He waved his free hand at her,

"Of course not, silly." He said brightly as he went outside. Karin stood and felt happy and at the same time, nervous; since today, her life will change drastically. She couldn't help but get sad at the thought of missing soccer games with her friends, strolling at the park with Yuzu and so was kicking her father for being a terrible adviser for his kids. She will leave her old typical life and start a new one. Because now, she will fight the hollows or whoever plans on blowing up their town and whoever tries to harm her family; this time, it was business, and she will not hold back.

"Ichi-nii, I'll see you there, I'll be there soon."