Her knees buckled before her and her body came clashing with the dusty earth in the playground. Yet, even though she had already been beaten before she persevered and struck back. This fight was not of her choosing, but she was determined to win it. Her face was bruised along her cheekbone and her lip was split and pulsing blood, overflowing the crusted. She got up and had landed a few blows before looking up at the sky for a split second and seeing an ice shard wink at her. Fortunately her opponent had also seen this wink and was distracted. She spun and threw her leg against his head. He fell over and she picked up her bag with two fingers and hoisted it over her shoulder with little effort. She walked away home.
Thankfully, Isshin was not there, but once Yuzu saw Karin's face she immediately tended to the wounds. As Yuzu chastised Karin about getting into fights, her mind drifted off into her memory of the ice shard. A small smile was brought forward to her knew why the shard was there. "Yuzu... This fight was not my fault and please hurry up. I need to go." Yuzu finished up her lecture and as soon as Karin had gotten off of the stool, Isshin walked in the door. His jaw dropped as he saw Karin's face, but she slid past him. "I won't be back tonight", she caled out to Yuzu as she closed the door to the clinic. She walked a quickened pace over to Urahara's, but a quarters way, she remembered there were two shards. So she rushed back to the family clinic and dragged Ichigo from his room. Just as she was pushing Ichigo through the doorway, she corrected her mistake from earlier and yelled to Yuzu, "We won't be home tonight." Karin stopped dragging Ichigo halfway to Urahara's and the rest of the way, they both ran equal speed.
Tessai greeted them at the door and informed them Urahara had the Senkaimon ready for them. when Ichigo heard this, he asked whether this was legal, Karin replied as they said goodbye to Tessai, that yes it was because they were being called there.
"Ahh... Miss Kurosaki and Ichigo-san, I was expecting you. I had heard from him that you were to come tonight,on such short notice but i was surprised to hear that Ichigo was coming with you this time." Urahara held his fan to block Ichigo out of this part of the conversation. "You usually come alone or if Ichigo is called, you two go separately." Urahara flapped his fan and said, "Oh well.. just remember to get the goods." Karin nodded and entered the senkaimon. Ichigo followed suit and groaned inwardly at the thought of it being Wednesday. But no, they were spared the annoyance and trouble of it being wednesday and the Cleaner sweeping through. They strolled through and Renji was there to escort Ichigo to Squad 1's barracks. Although for Karin, there was Toshiro. Karin and Toshiro waited for Ichigo and Renji to leave until they hugged each other. It was a shy and timid hug, but it represented them becoming better friends. They travelled to Sokyoku Hill. There they met with Soi Fon and Yoruichi. Karin was training with them so that she could get better at fighting. She wanted to protect like she knew her big brother Ichigo did but wouldn't admit. Toshiro was her usual teacher for sword fighting, but sometimes she would have Byakuya, because Toshiro would have to do Matsumoto's paperwork when she is hungover.
Today, Toshiro would leave early to tend to something and Byakuya would fill in for him. Karin admired Byakuya, but also disliked him for the exact things she admired him for, such as how dedicated he is to uphold the law, how he is so in control of himself and won't show anything, how delicate and powerful his movements and actions are. He had once commented how he could see how Karin was Ichigo's sister. She wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult because as much as Byakuya denies it, he also admires Ichigo in a way for his courage and his perseverance. Also for being the only person to survive being attacked by Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
Soi Fon and Yoruichi were her Hakudo and Hoho teachers. Although Karin Kuorsaki was not a shinigami, her case was an extremely unique one. She could perform shunpo, shunko and some kido, but with her kido, she doesn't need any incantations. Unlike her older brother Ichigo, she seems fairly good at everything, but controlling the spirit particles and her reiatsu are what she seems to be better with. Sometimes Karin wonders why Soif Fon would help her with her training, but then she would see Soi Fon fawning over Yoruichi and it suddenly came to her. Another inquiry her mind would come by would be whyeither Byakuya or Toshiro were training her, she would never ask Byakuya, but maybe she would ask Toshiro as he seems the more approachable one. On occasion, she would ponder whether she would ask him during training. Karin's mind is usually filled with questions as to why these people are doing what they're doing.
At this time, she practicing shunko with Yoruichi and after asking Toshiro whether he could do it and whether he would try it, Karin walked back over to Yoruichi and said something along the lines of, "Let's not bother him, I bet he couldn't even do it." Her calm, nonchalant tone when she said it, sent him through the roof. They could see the fire burning in his eyes and his reiatsu as though it was heat waves. So then, he practices alongside Karin to perform shunko. (A/n: For those of you who do not know what shunko is here is a description taken straight from Bleach wikia, ShunkÅ (Flash Cry) is an advanced battle technique which combines the physical techniques of Hakuda with the spell-based techniques of Kido.)
But when the time came for Toshiro to leave, Byakuya shunpoed over to the training ground atop Sokyoku Hill and upon his arrival Yoruichi asked him to show Soi Fon and Karin his shunko. For Byakuya, shunko was easy, as he was a kido master and being trained by Yoruichi when he was younger,he definitely had the capabilities for Hakuda. While using shunko, Byakuya's shihakusho's top half way ripped off and there was wind swirling around his arms, lightning sparking the ground from his fingertips. After he was finished showing off, he picked up his haori off of the ground where he had thrown it earlier and informed Yoruichi that he had found a way to combine his Senbonzakura with shunko. To which Yoruichi replied, "Aww... that's my Byakuya-bo." (A/n: Byakuya-bo means little Byakuya, this was Yoruichi's pet name for Byakuya when he was younger.) He mentioned furthermore, that he was training to master 'Mukyuu Shunko'. When Yoruichi heard this, she slung an arm around Soi Fon and said, "Look, Soi Fon, you can help him, since you have already started and are ahead of him." This gesture made Soi Fon blush crazily and just nod.
SInce Karin was excelling at Hoho and Zanjutsu, Soi Fon and Byakuya decided to give Karin a little test. She would have with her, a wakizashi and nothing else. Byakuya would use Senbonzakura, not Senbonzakura Kageyoshi as Karin is not that highly skilled, while Soi Fon would appear and maybe engage for a few short moments of combat with Karin. This tests Karin's reaction, her skill with a sword, her shunpo and her level of Hakuda.
During this test, karin performed far better than either Byakuya or Soi Fon could have imagined. She fouught off Soi Fon with ease, sometimes with just one hit. Due to her extreme capabilities Byakuya was tempted to use Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, but restrained himself. Karin's motions were as fluid as Byakuya's own. She used the wakizashi as if it was an extension of her own arm. And only once did Soi Fon manage to sneak up on her, but it resulted in Soi Fon flat on her back, winded. That was the last thing that happened in the test before Yoruichi put an end to it. She congratulated Karin on mastering so much in only a few training sessions, she also tried to entice her into sharing a bottle of sake as it was the weekly drink night. To Yoruichi's dismay, Karin said no and shunpoed off to Squad 10's barracks.
Karin ran into Matsumoto, who appeared as though she had started sake night a lttle early and without the others. Or maybe that's her normal personality, thought Karin. Karin didn't actually run into Matsumoto that often even though she hung around Squad 10's barrack's everytime she came here and she too, tried to coax Karin into coming with her to sake night. But before Karin had the chance to decline, Toshiro showed up and chastised Matsumoto for trying to get an underage person to go out and drink with her. In the middle, Matsumoto interrupted Toshiro and escaped. Leaving Toshiro only to shake his head in annoyance and let out a sigh. "Oi. (!) Toshiro... You know I had already said no to the same invite from Yoruichi-san." "Yes, but still Matsumoto should know better." "Huh... So have you finished the paperwork? Or will I have to help you out?" She casually raised her eyebrows, her eyelids drooped as if she enjoyed teasing him with favours. Toshiro let out a frustrated sigh and made his way down the hall to the captain's office, but just as he was about to turn the corner, he looked up the hallway at Karin and with those sharp, too tired or annoyed to care eyes, asked, "Are you coming or not?" In response to this, Karin walked briskly halfway down the corridor, but slowed her pace noticabley, sauntered by Toshiro asking him if he knew he would owe her one. Her fingers gently clasped the door handle and she pulled it open.
Yoruichi-san really has been rubbing off on Karin, thought Toshiro. "Oi Toshiro..." And me... he thought, before taking in that Karin had really matured since he had first met her. Her hair had grown considerably, her eyes were steady and had that very same quality, her older brother Ichigo has. I've known her for about 2 years.
As he studied her, he saw the way she had been dressng for a while and it led his mind to somewhere even he was blushing outside of the idea of it. His little fantasy was Karin dressed in a sweater and shirt with high stockings, tugging on his scarf taunting him with a kiss. Their faces were so close that their breath mingled. His face was red, his eyes widened. Karin, leaning over, her eyes hung open and her lips were closing in.
"Eh... Toshiro, what are you thinking about?"
Now as she was watching him fantasise about her, she felt her chest tighten as she saw his eyes dilate from a rush of adrenaline and her mind began to wander. She was lying on a bed with Toshiro leaning over her, holding her arm while her other arm was holding him at a distance, clutching his shirt. The expression on her face showed fear, but really she didn't know how she felt, but as soon as Toshiro had closed the space between their lips. She knew how she felt, her hand clutching his shirt pulled him towards her, deepening the kiss. His hands found their way to her lower back and he pressed her against him as her back arched up. The band holding her hair had broke...
They both broke out of their fantasies, not making eye contact until later that day. Karin was sitting up in a tree and coincidentally Toshiro was walking along trying to clear his head of his earlier fantasies and that did not happen when Karin jumped down from the tree after spotting him below her. She had managed to clear her head and was after taking a nap. Toshiro didn'tactually know who it was up in the tree, but that was to Karin's advantage. She jumped down behind, as silent as ice and put her hands softly over Toshiro's eyes.
"Just try it...", she whispered in his ear. He couldn't tell who it was, but he enjoyed the cold breath against his ear tip. All of a sudden he felt soft and gentle lips against his own and he pushed, but Karin backed away and left. She was just as good as Byakuya at shunpo, so Toshiro had no chance of catching her. He idn't know this, but as soon as the person was gone, he looked up in the tree to see whether the person was still there and he had no idea which direction the person went so he decided to leave it.
After the encounter with the mystery woman, he decided to see whether Hyourinmaru could tell who she was and so he sat up in the tree where the woman had rested. Something seemed so familiar.
"Are you senseless?" Hyourinmaru's forever emotionless facial features didn't change the slightest as he questioned his master's ability to sense reiatsu. "No." Toshiro's face hardened, he didn't like that he couldn't identify the woman by her reiatsu. "Hyourinmaru, do you know who it was?" "Well, it seems to me that if you, my master, couldn't determine who it was, then obviously I couldn't know." For the first time, Hyourinmaru had his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But let me put forward a suggestion, Master." Toshiro hated how he made that word sound, but just as he was about to say something, Hyourinmaru continued on, " She has been on your mind a lot more than today and I am shocked at your desires towards this girl."
The End