A/N: UURRAAAGGGH! What is this? A Bleach fic in the middle of my Death Note one? And I thought I would write a Fairy Tail oneshot first. Anyhow, this just came to mind as I was telling myself a story -YES I tell myself stories. Got a problem? :D
Alright. Yeah dude, this IS Hitsukarin. I will yell at you if you flame the pairing. However, if you flame my WRITING, then I will totally accept it with open arms. Okie, I hope you enjoy this, it's a little sad in the beginning. Keep in mind this is SEVERELY AU. None of this will make sense at all if you think it's connected to the actual story line.
I repeat. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, IchiHime would have a hope of happening. .
. . .
Sometimes, she misses Toshirou. It's been two years now, and she's twenty. Toshirou has died on account of execution for protecting her. Their story is a lot like Ichigo's, only, Karin belongs in the world of the living, and she spends everyday regretting that the white haired man protected her from something that's meant to be.
Indeed, their story is a lot like Ichigo's, but she had her own powers in the first place, and used them before Ichigo would have if he were put back in the same situation. No soul cutter, no shihakusho. She just spent her time defeating hollows with Jinta and Ururu as time went on, with bats and soccer balls, or whatever else was on hand. Or maybe just her bare hands if they were weak enough. Though with the amount of trouble Ichigo had caused, it was no wonder they had been monitoring her. And monitoring him as well, those few months he had been there.
She recalled Toshirou saying that he didn't think there were any laws against humans with high spiritual pressures dealing with hollows, so he wasn't sure why they were being watched so damn closely. Toshirou didn't give her any powers, only healed her when she got hurt, and more often than not, that was only from soccer matches with him and Jinta.
When he had left, she learned that he was sentenced to death from his lieutenant, Matsumoto Rangiku. She had been stunned, but she didn't cry. She didn't pull a rescue mission immediately like Ichigo did, because her brother wasn't there to help. Chad wasn't there to help. None of his friends were there to help. If she wanted to worm Toshirou out of his execution, she would need the help of her own friends, the Urahara Shop employees. She wasted time, then decided to go to Soul Society.
It was comical at the time when they had walked right into the south gate outside Rukongai, disguised poorly as Shinigami. Very luckily, the less than stupid gate keeper let them by.
Sly as foxes and quiet as mice, they navigated their way through the sewer system with Hanatarou on their side just as he had led her older brother. They did not ask for help of Ganju and Kukakku Shiba. Even though no alarms had been set off, they were sure their presence was known.
But it seemed like the Gotei 13 knew Karin wasn't ready to be like her brother, although she always assured Urahara she would be better.
Long story short, they waltzed right into the execution, got Toshirou down from the Soukyoku, and fought. Long and hard. But it wasn't enough. Jinta and Ururu were badly injured, but Karin took most of the damage for them, jumping in front of them whenever they were about to be hit. And Toshirou just watched, because he could not do anything. His spiritual pressure had been restrained.
Oddly enough, Ukitake jumped right in a unrestrained Hitsugaya's powers without being seen. Toshirou entered the fight against all the captains, ordering his vice captain to take her and the others away. But before Karin was out of sight, he said to her:
"Become the captain of the tenth division in my place, and somehow I'll repay you in my next life."
She had cried. Only once. And she wondered why he would ask something like that before she finally got to the disappointment in herself that she wasn't as powerful as Ichigo.
It took half a year for Karin to recover, and she had extra help after Jinta and Ururu recovered in three. When she was up and ready, she went back to school and studied hard, but not enough to graduate early as she had planned. Either way, every day, she worked hard at school, every afternoon, she would come home and help Yuzu around the house for a while, and just as long as she could, every evening, she would sneak over to Urahara's shop after dinner and train in the basement originally made for Ichigo's training.
Finally, with Urahara's help, she released her power.
Her soul cutter seemed to be a sort of halberd, and she at first was not happy with it, but once it began talking to her, she found that even though they argued, she loved her zanpakuto. Surprisingly, her element… if you will… ended up being wind, when everyone was sure it would be fire. It was difficult to control, but once she got the hang of it, she loved the wind, and could make the wind stronger or weaker if she wanted to. That came in handy on hot days.
All that training time had paid off, and she didn't get help from Ichigo at all. She was proud of herself.
Karin had caused no damage to the Soul Society, not even the Soukyoku, but still she sucked up when presented with the chance to ask for teachings. Urahara had eagerly told her to go for it with his oh so eccentric grin on his face. She knew that look. He had a secret.
But she went to Soul Society anyway and excelled because of all the training she had previously gotten. The position of tenth division captain still had not been filled and she was relieved when she graduated. There was a debate over the eleventh division wanting her, but Yamamoto-sama had simply smiled and said:
"You're too much like your brother to have a position beneath captain."
She had originally taken it as an insult but later that night, smiled at the concept of being accepted like Ichigo finally had been.
"Ichi-nii…" she ached, "Yuzu-chan, it's been so long…"
It had been a year since she'd last seen them, and she was still in school while the captains debated over her position. Matsumoto had been more than happy to accept her after her ceremony. One of the first substitute shinigami to become a captain.
And she vowed that day, in front of all of Soul Society, that she would be a better captain than Hitsugaya was. Some of them cried, most of them just stared at her solemnly until she smiled. The sort of mixed scowl-grin that Ichigo would grin as she yelled, "Cheer up!"
Her classmates had even been there from Soul Academy, and they laughed at her antics, most sad to see her go so soon.
Finally, three months later, she was all settled in. She had put the smack-down with Matsumoto and shouted if she didn't do any paperwork. The tenth division was back in line, and Karin was extra happy the day her fifth seat made a rather unnecessary comment as he pouted:
"Your shouts are like Hitsugaya's glares."
She'd smiled and said, "Get back to work," before going to Yamamoto and requesting a visit to the world of the living. He hesitantly allowed her.
The next day she left to see her family and friends. Her childhood friends awaited her at the soccer field they once practiced at. All four of them were planning to go to college soon, so this would probably be the last time she would see them. Spending that morning playing a soccer game with them was nostalgic, and she was sad when they had shared a group hug and she had gone home to take a shower. The house was quiet. Her brows had furrowed, but she took her shower anyway and was shocked when she got out.
It was the date of their mother's death. Most probably they were at the cemetery having their yearly picnic. She rushed there and leaped into her father's arms despite his silliness and yells of, "My daughter! I knew you'd never leave me!" with a goofy look on his face.
Ichigo and Yuzu showed up then and they too shared a group hug. She and Ichigo briefly discussed the Soul Society and her position until he led her down the large hill, telling the others that they would be home before dinner. She had been skeptical, but Ichigo just smiled and said he had a surprise.
She dared not ask any further, but she was suspicious of what this 'surprise' was. They arrived at Urahara's Shop an hour later, both their feet aching and their breaths heaving from exertion.
"Urahara!" Ichigo had called, and he surprisingly came out immediately with a bundle in his hands.
"What is that?" Karin had asked immediately, and Urahara just kept walking toward her.
Ichigo was grinning at her as a familiar coldness overcame her. It was not a bitter cold, but a loving cold. One she had experienced for only a short time in her past, but one she had so come to love.
He had barely made it to her when he stopped, and she didn't look at what he was holding, trying hard to not get her hopes up. Urahara had a goofy look in his eyes, as if the infant in his arms amused him, but he was staring straight at Karin as he said, "I didn't think it would be so fast."
A huff of amusement and impatience was emitted from Ichigo, and Urahara glanced at him before stepping even closer and handing the infant to Karin very carefully.
He awoke from his sleep and stirred with a whimper as he was held to Karin's bosom, but he looked up at her happily as though he recognized her, too. His eyes were a striking greenish blue and his hair the purest white. His skin was tan despite his time inside. She did not let the slightest smile ruin this beautiful moment, but he scowled as she gently rocked him, reminding her so much of Toshirou's own.
"I was going to try and find his mother, but I couldn't just not let you see him. If you don't want him, I'll search," Ichigo paused, smiling warmly and uncharacteristically at his baby sister, "I figured you at least deserve a happy ending."
Tears of joy ran down her face as she rocked the little boy and he let out a small giggle, which she, too, laughed along with.
"It's the same soul!" she exclaimed, but her smile faded and she paused in her rocking before asking hesitantly, "…Can I keep him in place of his mother? Where did you find him anyway?"
Ichigo had nodded with a small smile before scowling, "I actually found him in a garbage bin."
Karin gawked and grew angered, but looking back down at the child, she found she couldn't be angry or snide toward the woman who had let him go. Because it was probably better this way, anyhow.
She rocked him some more and sat down on the front steps, cooing at the boy and was silenced as he grabbed her pinky finger, grinning a toothless grin at her.
And so, she raised the boy, knowing full and well she had loved the man he was before. She named him Kazuhiko Kurosaki, although a part of her wanted him to turn out exactly like Toshirou had. But Toshirou was a sad man, sometimes, and she wanted Kazuhiko to be happy.
However, she still thought of Toshirou whenever Kazuhiko learned something new. When he learned to walk, when he learned to talk, when he learned to read-everything.
Toshirou had wanted, more than anything, to repay her in his next life.
And he did.
. . .
A/N: Were you expecting something overly happy? That's what I usually write, but I managed some seriousness! Woo! Go me!
Anyhow, I hope you liked it even though it was SERIOUSLY AU. :D Review please, if you want.
-Amaya