A/N Hello everyone! This story is basically a rewrite of my first story that I posted on here. There were so many things I didn't like about the original, and no matter how many times I tried to fix it, I just ended up making it worse, so I decided to just scrap it and start new. So if you read the first 5 chapters of the crappy original, I hope you like this new version as much as I do, and if you haven't read it, then welcome and I hope you enjoy! (:
["Hyorinmaru's voice"]
[Toshiro's thoughts]
Chapter One- Commonality
Sitting at her desk and staring out the window at school seemed to be an everyday occurrence for Karin. The teacher was droning on about something in the background, but Karin was barely hearing her as she watched the colorful autumn leaves dance along the grass in the breeze. She sighed as the teacher called her name and she reluctantly tore her gaze from the calming scene outside. After standing and reading a passage from the class book aloud, she sat back down and continued to watch out the window, ignoring the classroom around her once again.
When Karin first started at Karakura High, she had already been pinned with her brother's reputation. The teachers were hard on her, and the students were wary of her, fearing that she had Ichigo's temper. Not that it ever bothered her. She preferred to be left alone anyway.
But now, Karin was at the top of her senior class and captain of the soccer team. She had proved that academically, she was nothing like her brother, but she still wasn't the social butterfly her sister Yuzu was. Karin only had a few friends with whom she spoke at school, all of them being on her soccer team and being the same guys she'd hung out with since elementary school. Outside of school, Karin only had one person who she considered to be her best friend, but she was lucky if she got to see that white haired soul reaper more than a few times a year.
Karin was pulled from her thoughts with a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Yuzu leaning toward her desk smiling brightly at her. "Rima and Yuuri wanted to go to the mall after school. Do you want to come with us?"
Karin loved her sister. She was closer to her than anyone. With Karin's personality, it was nice to have someone who was her complete opposite, like Yuzu, to balance her. No matter what the situation was, if Karin was having a bad day or feeling depressed, Yuzu always found a way to make her laugh and smile. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. Yuzu was always her rock. She supported her through anything, and always had a smile and a hug to offer.
She gave a small smile back and shook her head, "No, I can't. I have soccer practice."
Karin hated letting Yuzu down, but even if she hadn't had soccer practice, she more than likely would have said no anyway. Karin didn't have any friends that were girls. Other than the fact most of the girls at school were intimidated by her, despite Yuzu's efforts to make her look like a giant teddy bear, Karin didn't act like most girls her age, so she didn't get along with them. She would rather kick a soccer ball around the field or pick up a book and sit and read than go to the mall.
Yuzu clasped her hand together with a pleading look, "You always have soccer practice. Can't you skip it just this once?"
Karin shook her head again. "I'm the captain. I have be there to keep those boys in line. We have Nationals coming up soon. I'm sorry."
Yuzu's face fell slightly, "It's okay. You'll just have to come with us next time!"
She gave Yuzu a reassuring smile, "Yeah. I'd like that."
With that, her sister's face lit back up, but before she could say anything, the school bell rang. Karin gathered her books and slipped them down inside her bag. She made her way from her desk over to the classroom door and turned to wave to her sister. She slowly brought her hand back down when she saw her standing in a close circle, giggle with a group of girls. A wistful smile played on her lips as she stood and watched them for a moment. She shook her head, her smile faltering, and turned away, headed to the locker room to change for practice, glad to be free from that confining room.
Karin walked down the side walk after practice with her schoolbag over her shoulder and her headphones in her ears, drowning out the world around her. She slid her hand down in her pocket as she felt her cellphone vibrate and opened it to see a message from Yuzu. She stopped walking and sighed as she read the text telling her that Yuzu was staying at Rima's for the weekend. Karin turned around and slipped her phone back in her pocket as she headed back to the park.
With Isshin being away for the weekend at a medical conference, and Ichigo no longer in the world of the living, Karin had seen no reason for her to go home just yet, so she headed to the one place she preferred to be when the sun set anyway.
Not long after Ichigo had gotten his powers back and had graduated, he had accepted an offer given to him by the Gotei 13. He was now the captain of Squad 3 and living with Kisuke in the Soul Society who had also accepted the Squad 5 captaincy.
Ever since the Winter war ended eight years ago, hollow activity in Karakura Town wasn't nearly as high as it usually was. Of course Karin still had to pick up the slack of the current soul reaper stationed in town, but less hollow activity meant no need for the Soul Society to send anyone else, much less Ichigo, to the area. Which meant the Kurosakis only got to see Ichigo once or twice a year if they were lucky.
Karin missed her brother. More than she cared to admit to anyone. Sure, he would sometimes disappear for days on end, leaving her and Yuzu worried sick, and he would come home bandaged and bruised, but her siblings meant the world to her.
As Karin reached the hill over looking the park, she pulled out her headphones and stuffed them down into her pocket with her mp3 player. Even with knowing the chance of Toshiro showing up here was slim to none, she still enjoyed to come here occasionally to watch the sunset. Karin set her school bag down next to her as she sat down and leaned back against the guard rail and looked out at the horizon.
She sat in a comfortable silence with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, as the sun inched down in the sky. There was a small autumn breeze sweeping trough the park and she pulled her legs closer to her, feeling dumb for leaving her jacket at school.
However, thoughts of the cool air quickly slipped from her mind, as a small black butterfly fluttered into her line of sight and drew closer to her. Karin's eyes widened for a moment as she recognized exactly what she was seeing and she held out her hand to let the small creature land on the tip of her finger. A genuine smile graced her features as she closed her eyes to listen to the message it had brought.
"I'm being sent on a mission to the world of the living.
I will require a place to stay, if the offer still stands, I should
arrive tonight"
Karin was pleasantly surprised to hear Toshiro's voice come from the butterfly instead of Ichigo's. Ever since he had left for the Soul Society, once a week Ichigo would send his sisters a message, letting them know what he'd been up to, and how he was doing. She had not heard from her brother yet this week, so to receive something from Toshiro was definitely unexpected.
After opening her eyes and laughing at his formal message, she spoke back to the small butterfly. "Of course, Captain Hitsugaya. I look forward to seeing you soon." As the creature flew away, Karin had to admit that the thought of seeing the soul reaper after such a long time actually made her happy. With the exception of her sister, Toshiro was the closest person to Karin. She consistently looked forward to the times that he would come to the human world, just so that she would be able to spend any sort of time with him.
Karin turned her head to the side as she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of crunching leaves on the ground. As a small boy walked up the hill and came to sit beside her. The short chain hanging from his chest made a soft clinking sound as he moved.
"Hey Sora."
"Hey Karin."
This particular little soul had yet to pass on. Much to Karin's surprise, in the little over a month that she had known him, he had avoided being eaten by a hollow or found by the soul reaper stationed in town. The two of them never really talked much, Karin often just sat with him, each to their own thoughts, keeping each other company.
After their short greeting, they did just that. Neither of them said anything as they both sat and watched the sun slip below the horizon. When the street lights lit up to illuminate the park, Karin kept her eyes forward as she spoke. "Your chain is even shorter now."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod, "I know. It gets shorter everyday."
"You know what will happen soon, don't you?"
He sighed, "Yeah. I know."
Karin now turned to look at the boy, "Sora. You need to find Zennosuke. If you don't, you're going to become a hollow soon and I don't want to see that happen to you. Because you know what I will have to do."
Sora turned to look at her with a smile. "I know, Karin. Don't worry."
She sighed and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder, and looked down at him. "Well until next time then, alright?"
He nodded, his eyes back to the moon that was now visible in the sky. "Bye Karin."
She started her walk home, trying not to dwell on her worried thoughts for the young boy. She instead focused on the happier fact that Toshiro was coming to the world of the living, which meant coming to see her, and continued down the sidewalk with a bright smile on her face.
Toshiro set down his paintbrush and rubbed his temples, willing the small start of a headache away. He sighed heavily, tired of trying to ignore the loud conversation that had been taking place in his office for the past half hour, and shifted his gaze to the small group of people lounging on the two couches in the room. He slammed his hands down on the top of his desk and the other three turned their heads to see a seething captain staring at them.
Rangiku was the first to speak. "C-Captain?"
Toshiro stood, walking around his desk to stand in front of it, taking his usual stance of tucking his hands into his sleeves before he spoke. His eyes locked with Renji's. "Lieutenant Abari. I'm sure Captain Kuchiki will be very happy to hear that instead of doing your paperwork, you're in my office, disrupting my work and distracting my lieutenant from doing her duties. I suggest you leave and return to your barracks."
He then turned to Kira. "Lieutenant Izuru. Just because Captain Kurosaki slacks off all of the time, doesn't mean you should do the same. You should be a better example to your squad. You need to return to your barracks as well and make sure you captain is working instead of taking his usual mid-day nap."
Toshiro then turned to glare at Rangiku. Keeping his eyes on her, he extended his arm and pointed to the door. "Both of you get back to work." When neither of them moved, he turned to them, "Now!" Renji and Kira both dropped their heads and mumbled an apology before practically running out of the office.
Rangiku's eyes widened as she stared at her captain. Toshiro then pointed to his desk, gesturing the many piles of papers covering the top. "All of it, plus what you haven't finished yet this week. I want it all done before I return."
"But Captain, there's no way I-.." Rangiku stopped abruptly when she felt the temperature of the room drop. She hung her head, "Yes Captain."
Toshiro grabbed Hyorinmaru off of the sword rack behind his desk and strapped it onto his back before walking out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him. He started down the stone path headed to his personal quarters, when Hyorinmaru decided to chime in. "Why must you frighten them like that?"
Why must they constantly be in my office, disrupting my work!?
"You know they mean well. Not everyone is as cold and stoic as you."
Says the ice dragon...
As Toshiro headed to his personal quarters, trying to ignore the rambling voice of his zanpakuto, he spotted a small black object out of the corner of his eye. He stopped walking and allowed the small hell butterfly to land on his finger. After listening to it's message he immediately turned around and flash stepped to Squad 1. When he arrived, he walked into the meeting room and took his place in line inside the great hall and waited for the other captains.
Captain Yamamoto hit his staff on the ground getting the attention of everyone in the room. "The captain's meeting will now start." He paused for a moment, "Captain Kurotsuchi."
Mayuri took a step forward. "Yes. Squad 12 has gotten reports of strange activity in the precipice world as well as the unauthorized opening of multiple senkaimon in the world of the living."
Captain Unohana spoke softly, " Could you please elaborate?"
Kurotsuchi sighed, "It is exactly as I said, woman. Unidentifiable spiritual pressure has been detected in the precipice world and multiple unauthorized senkaimon have been recorded opening in Karakura Town."
As soon as Karakura Town had been mentioned, Ichigo stepped forward, "Karakura Town? Why didn't you say that in the first place? What's going on? Has anyone been hurt?" His voice gradually rose as he continued to throw questions at Captain Kurotsuchi, who in turn, answered by yelling back at him.
Toshiro closed his eyes and sighed once again, Leave it to Kurosaki to blow something like this out of propor- wait. Karakura Town? He immediately turned his attention to the twelfth division captain.
"Silence!" Yamamoto slammed his cane down on the on the wood floor and the room became silent. He waited a moment before continuing, "There were two distinct unknown captain level spiritual pressures detected. Therefore, I am sending three captains to the world of the living to investigate this issue. Because they are familiar with the area, Captains Kurosaki, Urahara and Hitsugaya will be dispatched immediately."
Toshiro, as well as Ichigo and Kisuke, all stepped forward and nodded to the head captain. "Prepare to leave immediately. I expect you all to arrive in the world of the living by sundown. Meeting dismissed."
Toshiro came to a stop in front of his office door and took a deep breath to prepare himself. He slid open the door and stepped inside, breathing a sigh of relief at the emptiness of the room. Telling Rangiku that he was leaving for the world of the living without her, was not something he wanted to deal with at the moment.
He let out a frustrated sigh and tried to ignore the stacks of unfinished paperwork still lying everywhere as he quickly walked to his desk and slid open the top drawer to retrieve his soul pager. He let a slight smile play at his lips when he saw the small soccer ball charm hanging from it and his thoughts momentarily drifted to Karin.
It was just a simple gift given to him from a close friend, he knew that, but Toshiro was still confused as to why Karin had worn a faint blush on her cheeks when she had given him the small box. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, when he saw the small charm it had made his heart beat quicken and a smile to come to his face.
Sighing, and still wearing a slight smile, Toshiro slipped his soul pager into his robes and summoned a hell butterfly. He whispered a few short words to it, and it flew off his finger and out the window. His eyes watched as it disappeared from sight before he turned back to his desk to leave a letter for his lieutenant.
Toshiro met up with Ichigo and Kisuke just outside the third division barracks, and walked with the two of them toward the senkaimon. Kisuke looked over at Toshiro, "I'm sure Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu won't have a problem with it if you need to stay in one of the spare rooms at my shop while we're in the world of the living Captain Hitsugaya."
Toshiro glanced over at him, "Thank you for the offer, but I have already made arrangements for a place to stay."
Ichigo looked over at him, "Don't think I'm going to let you crash at my place, Toshiro."
Toshiro gave him and annoyed look and sighed, "It's Captain Hitsugaya, Kurosaki. And don't worry, you are the last person I would ask."
Now Ichigo was annoyed as he shot Toshiro a glare, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Now, now. Let's not fight, gentlemen." Kisuke said with a smile.
Ichigo huffed as he looked forward and crossed his arms. Toshiro simply shook his head as they approached the senkaimon. They stood in front of it for a few moments before the doors slowly opened and three black butterflies fluttered out to them.
Kisuke said with another smile, "Well, let's get going."
"Right." Both Ichigo and Toshiro replied with a nod, as the three took off running into the precipice world.
A/N I hope you enjoyed the rewritten first chapter of A Frozen Star. (: I know I'm a lot happier with how this story is going now that I basically started over. I've been working alot on my writing, and I feel that I've gotten alot better, so I would love any critiques you could give me. I hope you guys like it so far, so please leave me a review and let me know if this is good enough to continue!(: I'll hopefully see ya in the next chapter! (:
HikariKarin