A/N: Hi guys! It's Modernart2012, and this is a story that I've been working on for a while. It's a HitsuKarin fic, but there will be appearances by other characters. It's set five years after the Winter War, and it is slightly AU, so bear with me. I haven't read anything past the very beginning of the Xcution arc, but I can and will bend the facts to suit my purposes. Also, I am a fan of the convoluted plot, so if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Flamers are warmly welcomed, as a flamer myself, and as those famous people always say, "If you can't take the heat…" Now on with the show! Rated T for swearing, angst, semi-adult themes, and drinking.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, and I am not Kubo-san. Therefore, I don't own any of the characters, and everything that goes on here is pure fic!
Chapter 1: In which Karin Kurosaki dies and other events happen, or I knew I should have stayed home today
April 25th was a strange day. It was spring, and if it wasn't for the dark clouds blowing quickly across the bright sky, one would be fooled into thinking it was just a normal day. Fact: it was far from an ordinary day as days happen to get. Why? Because on Karin Kurosaki, age 16, was late. And not late as in a few minutes late, but nigh on an hour late. So as she skidded around the corners of the school hallways, she cursed all the Kami (known and unknown) for the sheer idiocity of that girl, Akari Kobamori, to ditch classroom clean up for a date. As captain of the soccer team, she should have already been there to set up before the game, not to mention give Toshiro his cleats that he left at her house after the last game.
Karin smushed one foot into her shoe as she rounded the final corner before the stairs to the outside. She hopped on one leg to get the other one on correctly, completely overlooking the minor problem dead ahead: the edge of the staircase. With a triumphant tug, Karin Kurosaki, in her final moments as a human, finally got on that pesky left shoe, and then promptly fell down the stairs ( courtesy of gravitational forces working in conjunction with her velocity and momentum) and broke her neck.
Hours later, when one confused Toshiro Hitsugaya, shinigami and taicho of the 10th Division, child-prodigy extraordinaire, showed up at the Kurosaki household, he was greeted by an empty house for all of 10 seconds until one inconsolable Isshin Kurosaki burst through the gate. A teary-eyed Yuzu followed, and then one grumpy Karin. Of the ghostly existence.
"Shiro-kun! M beloved eldest daughter is dead! She's dead, Shiro-kun! Dead!" Isshin dissolved into melodramatic tears in front of his late wife's memorial. " Masaki! Our eldest daughter is dead! How can life be so cruel? To rip her from her beloved father – "
A ghostly fist collided with Isshin's head, "Shut up, Goat chin!" Isshin flew into a wall.
"Karin, you shouldn't hit Daddy." Yuzu sniffed.
"He deserved it."
Toshiro took in the scene before him, mildly bemused at his ex-taicho's antics. "Well, it seems that you actually did have a reason for missing the soccer game Karin. I'm sure the team will be pleased to know."
Karin rounded on him, "Is that all you can say? 'Oh, you didn't miss a soccer game for something dumb.' No 'why hello Karin, how the $ %# did you end up dead?'"
Toshiro raised a single eyebrow, "Are you implying that it wasn't a Hollow that killed you?"
Karin looked away sulkily and crossed her arms, then muttered under her breath, "Okay, fine, Itrippeddownthestairsanddied."
Yuzu, who was busy hiding her tears in the kitchen, gave a hiccupy sob before Toshiro could respond, "Karin! How come I never believed you all those years when you said school would be the death of you?" Her sad, forlorn tone and streaming tears could have broken even Mayuri Kurosuchi's heart, but it especially broke Karin's.
" The worst bit is she can't hear or see me. She just knows that there's a ghost here and not much else."
Before Toshiro could say anything, a busty blonde busted through the front door, "TAICHO! WHERE ARE YOU? YOU AND KARIN – "
At this Yuzu burst into fresh tears and fled up the stairs to her and Karin's room, Rangiku looked polaxed, "Was it something I said?"
Toshiro sighed deeply, "Matsumoto, Karin died today."
"Really, Congratulations, Karin! Now I can spend so much time with you! We can go shopping and you can join the SWA and play pranks on Kuchiki taicho and drink sake and nap!" Matsumoto launched herself at the ghost girl, and gave her a trademark bear hug.
Karin's face was buried deep in Matsumoto's chest, "M – Matsumoto-san? Can't breathe…."
"Oh, sorry. But isn't this great, taicho? Karin can come to the Soul Society!"
"Matsumoto, you're being very insensitive. Karin just died. Tragically. And all you're thinking of is HOW YOU HAVE A NEW DRINKING BUDDY!" A vein tick appeared in the taicho's temple. After giving himself a moment to calm down (unconsciously also giving Rangiku time to look sheepish and apologetic), "In any case, I need you to send Soutaicho a hell butterfly telling him about this – development. We need permission to bring Karin directly to the Sereitei. Oh and send Kurosaki taicho a message as well. He'll probably want to know his sister is dead."
Karin interjected. "Why do I need to go to the Sereitei? If you just konso me, wouldn't I go to the Rugonkai, and then I could just enroll in the Academy like any other student."
Matsumoto giggled, "Silly Karin! You can't feel your own reiatsu, so you don't know, but we can. And you're like your brother: really, really, strong! Maybe even stronger than Ichigo! And with all that unrestrained power, you could do a lot of damage to the Rukon districts. Plus you wouldn't remember anyone at all."
Histugaya nodded, "It's safer for everyone if we just take you straight to the Sereitei and the Academy, as quickly as possible."
Karin shrugged in acceptance, "Fine. It's not like I have anything better to do." She flopped onto a seat.
Matsumoto leaned over the back of the couch, "How did it happen anyways? There are no signs of Hollow activity recently…"
Karin blushed furiously, "I fell down the stairs and broke my neck."
"That's rather anticlimactic," Toshiro supplied from a seat on another couch.
Karin grew defensive. "Hey, I was late to the soccer game and I was hurrying to get there, and then I fell down the stairs in front of the school."
He turned a page in a magazine about extreme sports, "Be as that may, I just expected you to go out with a bigger bang. Not something so ordinary like a school staircase. Zaraki and the rest of 11th will be so disappointed in your death." At Karin's irritated expression, "The bright side is that there aren't many deaths caused by school stair cases in the Sereitei."
Karin glared at him, baffled. "Why do you know that?"
"The recent census result." Glancing up and catching her expression," What? We have censuses."
In the 5th Division's offices, Ichigo Kurosaki, taicho and hero of the Sereitei and Soul Society as we know it, was struggling with paperwork. His fukutaicho, Momo Hinamori, was guiding him through a form patiently, while at the same time, surreptitiously making a list of all the forms and what they were for. (Kami know, Kurosaki taicho, unlike most taichos, does his paperwork on time and himself, but sucks at remembering what form was what.)
"Uh, Kurosaki taicho? That form isn't an incident report; it's the division's sake budget request form."
"Oh, really? Huh, that explains a lot. That would have been a disaster. Good catch Momo!" The strawberry smiled at her, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
A hell butterfly floated through the division courtyard and through the open doorway. Ichigo looked up, listened closely as the butterfly relayed its message. After several moments of silence, Ichigo shot to his feet, overturning the low table and everything on it. "Momo, I've got to go." As he grabbed Zangetsu, he called redundantly over his shoulder, "You're in charge while I'm out!" He rushed out the door, leaving a flurry of spilt ink and smeared paperwork.
Momo sighed. Her taicho shouldn't worry; she had been acting taicho for three years before he had come. The division hadn't fallen apart then, and with wouldn't now. But now that he was gone, she didn't have to pretend she was alright. She was broken, mentally and emotionally, and was a card carrying member of the Broken Club (figuratively speaking. None of the members had any identification that they were members – it was too much of a risk. Liable to get them sent to 4th for a visit to the Sereitei's only psychiatrist, Kurosuchi taicho. Why anyone thought he was qualified was still a mystery.) Momo rubbed the jagged scars she had acquired from the Winter War, stretching from shoulder to hip, the spot of ache lodged somewhere behind her breastbone. It looked like she'd had surgery (fact: she'd had none) and try what Unohana taicho might, Momo was going to have that scar for life, a painful reminder that to trust was to be weak, and no matter how broken she was on the inside she would show only strength to the world. She didn't trust people, even other Broken (they could be traitors). And when she was patched up again, she would use that hard learned lesson to be stronger and better than she had ever been. But for now, it just hurt.
Over the 11th division's rooftop, Ikkaku Madarame was drinking sake and watching the rooftops of the Sereitei. Standing behind him was Yumichika Ayasegawa, watching as the Senkaimon opened and an intensely powerful Shinigami passed through.
Ikkaku took another pull from the sake bottle. "There he goes again, eh Yumichika?"
Somewhere behind them, a portion of the Sereitei blew up. Yumichika looked back.
"Damn. Fukutaicho found the explosives again." The unperturbed third seat and fifth seat returned to watching the peaceful Sereitei.
A hell butterfly danced drunkenly through the air above the Sereitei, having been caught in the middle of Yachiru Kusajishi fukutaicho's explosive fun. It staggered and swayed into the 6th division's dojo, and was immediately assaulted by a blow from Zabimaru. Further disoriented, the poor insect landed on Kuchiki taicho's nose. This didn't outwardly appear to startle the captain, but Renji, mid- throw, had to twist Zabimaru to avoid hitting his captain.
Kuchiki taicho sheathed his zanpakto. Abarai fukutaicho, panting, released his shikai and followed suit. "Taicho! What's the message?"
Kuchiki taicho gazed at his fukutaicho cooly, "Kurosaki taicho asked for my help."
Renji, who had been in the process of gulping water, choked, turning as red as his hair. Knowing Ichigo's preference of self-reliance to the point of idiocity, Renji knew that if Ichigo was asking for help, then the end of all dimensions was drawing near. He sputtered, "W-W-WHAT? Did Aizen escape? Are Vasto Lordes attacking?"
"No, as the closest relation to the Kurosawa's, Isshin Kurosaki's original surname, I was put in charge of their holdings after the last of the Kurosawa's died. The current Kurosaki's are the last of the Kurosawa's, and thus the only heirs. Ichigo has never had use of the familial manse, instead staying in the barrack housing provided. He has asked my help in reopening the Kurosawa mansion and ensuring that it is habitable."
"Wait – Strawberry's had a mansion this whole time, and he's been living in the barracks? That's such – "Renji changed his tone and word choice as Byakuya leveled his gaze at him. "Dedication?" He finished feebly.
"I need you to take a message to Kuchiki manor, Renji. Give me a moment to compose it." He turned towards his office.
Renji nodded, "Hai taicho. Is there anything else, taicho?"
"Yes. Go pick out a housewarming gift to give, from the entire 6th Division. Something tasteful – unlike your tattoos."
"So, how quickly can I enroll?" Karin's voice shattered the pervasive silence echoing in the Kurosaki's sitting room.
Rangiku tilted her head, "What on earth are you talking about? Oh, these earrings are to die for!" Her eyes never left her magazine's pages.
Toshiro barely contained his annoyance. "At least five months, and Rangiku, your ears aren't even pierced!"
Rangiku finally looked up, "Well, I'll just go get them pierced then! And five months to enroll what, exactly?"
Toshiro and Karin looked at Rangiku as if she was missing a few brain cells, and then at the same time," The Shino Academy."
"OH! How fun! Then we can train together too!" Rangiku squealed with delight at the prospect. "And then you'll join 10th, and you and taicho will fall madly in love, and I'll be godmother to your children!" She fantasied, "Auntie Ran!"
Just then, before Karin or Toshiro could die from embarrassment, Ichigo burst through the front door, radiating fury and reiatsu, " WHAT THE H$%# IS GOING ON HERE!"
Isshin launched himself at his only son, "Ichigo, my beloved son! Your sister is dead! Ripped cruelly away from her loving father – "
Ichigo and Karin hit Isshin at the same time, "Shut up Goat-chin! " Two fists collided with Isshin's face, and he slunk back to his late wife's memorial poster.
Ichigo turned to face Karin, and then recoiled, "WHAT THE H#&$! What happened? Who –? What –? Why –? How –?" He fumbled for words incoherently.
Karin harrumphed," Well, baka, I think that you can clearly see the 'who' and 'what'."
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT!" The strawberry exclaimed defensively.
Toshiro interjected, "So, Ichigo, what did Soutaicho mandate?"
"What are you talking about? I acme as soon as I got your message."
A vein bulged in the icy captain's forehead, "So you left without waiting to see if we could bring Karin directly to the Sereitei."
"WELL WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU FOUND OUT YOUR SISTER HAD DIED?" Ichigo reiatsu flared violently.
The temperature in the room dropped to well below freezing, "I think we all know the answer to that." *
Without warning, the living room wall blew in, and standing in the space was a swarm of Menos Grande, and at least four Espada.
Karin yelled, "D %# IT STRAWBERRY! You still can't control your spiritual pressure?"
Toshiro concurred with a sigh, "Kurosaki, what kind of brother are you? You led a bunch of Hollow right to easy prey." He popped a piece of soul candy before continuing, "Who happens to be your sister, not to mention that you didn't even secure her continued existence in the Sereitei before going into hero mode. Honestly, as a brother you're a joke."
"SHUT THE H^%* UP, B!&$%#^! OR I'LL SHUT IT FOR YOU!" Ichigo made to whack the white haired captain with Zangetsu.
Hitsugaya ignored him, labeling his cold gaze at his fellow captain instead. "Are you just going to stand there posturing, or are you going to join us in kicking Hollow $$?"
Across town, the ex- Espada jerked their heads up as they felt the presence of Arrancar entering the World of the Living.
Starrk watched the Garganta open from his position reclined against a nest of cushions. "You think they're here for Ichigo?
Tia Haribel closed her eyes, "Possibly. Or they could be here for the other strong spirits in Karakura Town."
Ulquiorra gazed after the Arrancars, tracking them with his bright green eyes, "Or they could be here to end us." He took a sip of his drink. "We are, after all, only in gigai. And they could be faultier than we know. They were supposed to suppress all our spiritual pressure, and we are supposed to be locked into them, but we can still materialize our zanpakto among other things."
Grimmjow sat up from where he was laying in the quickly disappearing sun."Che, Ulqui, who cares? What says Urahara didn't let us have our powers back on purpose? There are too many questions and not enough answers. And I don't really care anyways." He stood and stretched, "Well, are we just going to just lounge around here while there's work to be done?" He demanded, eyes drawn to the menacing figures in white moving across the sky.
Tia stood up next, "Jaggerjacques' got a point. We've got our orders and a chance at redemption. Let's go." One-by-one they shed their respective gigai with ease, and then took off with sonido in different directions, homing in on the reaitsu's of Orihime, Tatsuki, Uryuu, and Chad.
Elsewhere, in the Soul Society, Soutaicho Yamamoto pondered the dilemma before him. What to do? There were only so many options, and he had to act quickly; time was of the essence after all. And if he got this over with and off his plate, he could move on to more important problems.
His fukutaicho waited patiently. "Taicho, what is your decision?"
"Hmm…."Soutaicho pondered a minute longer, stroking his beard pensively. Then decisively, "Oolong."
"Hai, taicho." His fukutaicho left to handle his order.
After all, decisions couldn't be made correctly until mid-afternoon tea had been had.
Orihime Inoue stepped out the shop, followed by her best friend Tatsuki Arisawa. They blinked in the bright sunlight, blinded momentarily. After adjusting to the natural light, they made their way towards Orihime's apartment.
"I can't believe that it's university vacation! I mean, it seems like the last break was so long ago. And Uryuu and Chad are off too! It's just like old times, except Ichigo isn't here. Maybe we can get him to take time off and come with us to the beach!" The cheerful girl babbled on, arms laden with bags.
A wave of power flooded the region, whipping the girls' belongings, hair, and clothes. Clouds rolled in from nowhere, blanketing the sky in grey.
Tatsuki yelled, "Did that feel like –?"
Orihime nodded, "Yeah, Arrancar." Both girls crouched lower to avoid the brunt of the gale force winds. But neither could rip their eyes away from the figures battling in the air over Karakura, or the two figures standing between them and the battle.
Across town, the three Soul Reapers were battling the Hollow infestation, and judging from the seven blocks (and counting) of property the battle had destroyed, they were getting served.
Karin scrambled out of the way of a Gillian cero. 'D ^#$ it, I can't do anything but dodge. And just barely at that,' she thought darkly. Matsumoto crashed into the house ahead of her.
"Matsumoto!"
"Karin? What are you doing? Don't worry abo – Look out! Growl, Hineko!" A storm of wind and dust blew past Karin attacking the Hollow behind her, a battered Rangiku unfurling from the rubble. "Don't just stand there, run!"
"But…."
"We're trained for this, and right now you're a sitting duck. Now go!" Her voice held a sharp note of authority, the hidden quality of fukutaicho she tried hard to hide. Rangiku turned back to the Gillian and dispatched it, before crossing blades with the Arrancar who was her original opponent.
Karin took off down the street again. A familiar scream rent the air behind her. She turned and skidded to a halt, "Yuzu!" Her heart clenched and plummeted to the pit of her stomach. Karin tasted terror in her throat, full of copper and primordial ooze. She sprinted for the Kurosaki clinic, seeing the Menos Grande that had demolished three-quarters of the building.
'D^$#, what can I do? As a ghost, I'm easy pickings, not to mention I don't have anything to fight that thing with.' She was an entire street length away.
'Not exactly,' a dark voice echoed in her head, smoky and feminine.
'Great, and now I'm hearing voices.'
'Again, not exactly," the voice chuckled, throaty and worldly and full, like the laugh of a rich lady on television but not as fake.
'If I'm not going crazy, then what's going on?' Karin thought furiously. 'Jeez, I'm arguing with a voice in my head. Listen, lady, if you can't help me save Yuzu, then shut the h&^$ up!'
'So you don't know who I am? With all the time you spend around Shinigami, I think you would know the signs of meeting your zanpakto spirit by now.'
'What are you talking about? I have no idea what you're talking about. What the h%#$ is a zanpakto?'
The voice sighed heavily. 'Well, this is not the time for a crash course, but I happen to be the spirit who resides in the sword you will wield as a Shinigami. What is called a zanpakto. I am a physical manifestation of your soul, and thusly, of you.'
'Oh, well then, will you shut up? If you're actually part of my soul, then you'll help me protect Yuzu.' Karin thought as fiercely as she could.
The voice turned deadly and uncompromising, 'Karin Kurosaki, I have already given you a great tool in protecting your little sister. So use my gift wisely, for I shall not be so foolish again.' The last bit thundered ominously, and Karin prayed that her zanpak- whatever was able to use lightning. 'It's zanpakto, and no, I do not harness lightning. Now, draw me out.'
'How?' 100 meters and closing fast.
'Sweet Kami, look. In your hand. Now go slay us our first Menos.' Karin glanced down and was startled to find a blade in its sheath clutched tightly in her right hand. Her eyes widened in surprise/
'How?' Then feeling the voice receding, 'Wait! What's your name? And how do I use this?"
'Sweet Kami in Heaven, you know how to use a sword. And you aren't ready for my name.' The voice finally faded as Karin reached the demolished house.
The Gillian who had been attacking Yuzu turned to face her, roaring challenge. Karin steeled herself and then drew her swor – no, zanpakto – from its sheath and launch herself at the Hollow.
A/N: To clear up possible confusion, Karin does know of what Hitsugaya and her brother and his friends do, and the existence of Shinigami, but not the details (Our short cold captain told her over the various chats they've had over the years – I'm assuming they've had an established friendship relationship for some time, so if you hate that sort of thing, oh well.)
*(A/N: This is a HitsuKarin fic, so Toshiro and Momo have a familial relationship. He's had to see his "older sister" lied to, brainwashed, betrayed, stabbed [multiple times], in a coma, and emotionally dead. So really, Ichigo was poking a sleeping dragon with a stick.)
A/N: So what did you think? Good, bad, indifferent, awful? Feel free to review, but you don't have to. If your review is to nitpick, feel free to PM me. Or actually, PM me if you absolutely hated it and want me to burn in the depths of Tartarus and just want me to know beforehand. Other than that, I will try to get around to posting chapter two soon.
