I do not own Bleach.
~World of the living: soccer field~
A young girl, about the age of 14, played by herself on the field. She didn't think anyone else could match her in skill, so she practiced on her own. Unless a certain white haired boy was around, then a fierce game would always take place. Several soccer balls would also lose their lives.
Karin was focusing on strengthening her kick. It was already pretty strong, but she wanted to test how strong she could make it. She focused a bit of her Reiatsu on her foot before she kicked the ball. It almost broke through the net.
"I don't think that's allowed in a game." Karin turned to see her friend walking towards her. He had a grin on his face and his turquoise eyes flashed with excitement. He hadn't been able to visit in a few weeks and he was looking forward to a good match.
Karin smiled at the boy. "Who says anyone will notice? Besides, Urahara-san said I need to get better control over me Reiatsu. How long are you staying for, Tosh?"
Toshiro didn't mind the nickname Karin had given him. He preferred it over Shiro-chan. "About a week, maybe more if nothing bad happens with the squad." He was slightly regretting leaving Matsumoto in charge of the squad. He was pulled out of his worries by a ball heading towards his face. He reacted by kicking it back in the direction it had come from.
Karin smiled at her white haired friend. She went into a handstand and twisted once she was up. She kicked it back towards Toshiro and got back onto her feet, turning to face him again.
Toshiro was shocked by her move. He didn't know she was that flexible. He chest bumped the ball, causing it to go straight up. It then come right back down into his open hands. "Nice kick. When did you learn that?"
Karin flexed her wrist, she hadn't practiced that move in a while. "Yuzu wanted to take up gymnastics a few weeks ago. She tried it for a week, but she found that she didn't really like the thought of potentially landing on her butt onto a hard floor. Right now she wants to try diving, but Ichinii is a little sceptical about it." Karin had quite enjoyed gymnastics, but she didn't like having to wear a leotard.
Toshiro laughed a bit, he couldn't picture Karin as a gymnast. "So I'm guessing you tried it with your sister." He got a nod from raven haired girl in front of him. Toshiro smiled at the girl then booted the soccer ball into the net at the end of the field. "First to 20?"
Karin gave the boy a grin. "You're on!"
They played till the sun set. The score was tied at 19-19. Neither wanted to end the game, but the high school team kicked them off the field so they could practice.
"I could probably take them all down." Karin was pissed that they couldn't finish their game.
Toshiro laughed at her confidence. He was sure she probably could, but probably not with out some help, namely his. "Just wait till you're in high school. Then you can show them just how much better you are than them."
They stopped at their favourite place to watch the sun set, the guardrail near the riverbank. Toshiro leaned on the rail while Karin threw her legs over it to sit down. They both watched in silence.
The silence was broken by the roar of a Hollow.
"Damn it. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with them today." Karin jumped off of the rail and walked in the direction of the sound.
Toshiro grabbed her arm to stop her. "Are you crazy?! You're just a human. Leave it to the shinigami that's stationed here."
Karin pulled her arm out of his grip and continued walking. "I don't know if you guys in Soul Society have noticed yet, but that guy is useless." Karin couldn't even remember the last time the Afro man had done even a single thing. She had been helping her brother's friends take down Hollows for weeks now. She had only seen him once, and he was running away from the Hollows.
Toshiro followed after Karin. "In that case I'll report it to the Soutaichou. That way they post a better one when the transfers go through. How's your brother doing?" Toshiro had heard about the orange haired substitute shinigami losing his powers. He was a little bit worried about how he was doing.
Karin looked at her friend. "He's fine. A bit down, but that's mostly because he feels like he's a normal person now, but it doesn't feel normal to him." Karin had seen what losing his powers had done to Ichigo. He wasn't really himself anymore. "But I think it's better this way. Ichinii has always been fighting and protecting us, because he's the big brother. But now it's our turn to protect him, and I think that will be a nice change. For him to see that he has people who are willing to protect him, like he protected us."
Toshiro smiled at the Kurosaki. "You sound a bit like your brother there." He avoided a slap while walking in front of her and stopping in her path. "Why do all Kurosakis resort to violence?"
Karin was about to make a retort when Toshiro pulled her close to him and jumped back. Something heavy landed where she used to be. "What was that?!" She stared at the dust cloud trying to see what is was. She knew it was a Hollow, but how powerful was it.
Toshiro swallowed a soul candy and split from his Gigai. "Karin stay back!" He drew his zanpakutou and waited for the Hollow to move. He saw no movements from it, so he rushed forwards. He let his Reiatsu loose once he was in the cloud to dispel it.
"Bad move." Toshiro turned to try and see the Hollow, but was met by a fist.
~outside the cloud~
"Toshiro!" Karin had felt the Reiatsu increase and temperature drop, but after that she felt nothing. She saw his Gigai jump into the cloud to help, but she found herself rooted in place. "Toshiro!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." A white haired boy walked out of the cloud. "Thank goodness the mod soul thought to help."
Karin breathed out a heavy sigh. "Don't scare me like that. I thought-" she was cut off by a pair of icy lips. She hadn't expected his lips to be icy, but they were nice and cool, and most welcome with the heat. Karin pulled away from her friend with blush spread across her face. "What was that!" She felt a bit light headed, but shook it away
The boy shrugged. "Thought I would try something. Sorry if I offended you." He began walking away from her.
Karin grabbed his arm. "Wait a minute, Toshiro! I didn't mean I didn't like it...it's just that it was...unexpected. That's all." Karin was blushing even more now. She still had a hard time believing her crush had just kissed her.
Toshiro smiled at her then pulled her close to him. "Let's go somewhere."
Karin blushed a deeper shade of red. "Where?" She was having trouble thinking straight.
"Where do you want to go?" Toshiro whispered into Karin's ear causing her to shiver.
Karin was glad he couldn't see her face at that moment. "How about the amusement park? It always lit up at night, and I've never seen it lit up."
Toshiro pulled away from her and grabbed her hand. "Then let's go." Toshiro gave her a smile as he pulled her with him towards the amusement park.
Karin stared at him with a smile on her face. She almost didn't notice the phone ringing in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the number. It was Urahara Kisuke. She hit the 'Ignore' button, and slid the phone back into her pocket. 'There is no way he is ruining tonight.'
The two laughed and joked while walking to the amusement park. They paid for their ticket and got half off, because it was couple's night.
"So what would you like to do first?" Toshiro smiled at the raven haired girl beside him and put his arm around her shoulder.
Karin blushed while avoiding his arm. "Let's play some of the games." Karin walked towards one of the game booths. This one was a shooting game. "Bet I can beat you."
Toshiro grinned at the girl. "You're going to wish you hadn't."
The two played all of the games. They tied at all of them.
"Well looks like we're evenly matched." Karin sighed while avoiding Toshiro's eyes.
Toshiro managed to slide his hand over Karin's. "Then let's try the rides next." He whispered into her ear while leading her towards a roller coaster.
~walk way from soccer field~
"Where could Karin have gotten to?" An orange haired boy was walking back to his house after failing to locate his little sister. He nearly tripped and fell when he came across a large crater. "What the? When did this get here?" He inspected the hole further. "Looks like a Hollow was here."
"You think?!" A figure sat up from the middle of the crater.
"Wonder if Ishida took care of it? I doubt that idiot Afro guy took care of it." Ichigo scratched the back of his head and continued walking towards his house.
"Sure, just ignore me idiot!" The shinigami climbed out of the crater and yelled at the Kurosaki.
'Master. I believe your girlfriend mentioned that he couldn't see souls or Hollows anymore. So I doubt he even heard you.' A deep voice spoke inside the white haired boy's head.
'You're right, Hyorinmaru.' Toshiro looked towards the Kurosaki. He felt pity for him.
Toshiro looked around him. 'Where did Karin go?' He scanned for her Reiatsu, but couldn't find it.
'Maybe she's at Urahara's shop. He probably blocks Reiatsus from leaking out of his shop.' The ice dragon suggested to his master.
'Alright.' Toshiro wasn't too eager to head to Urahara's shop. He didn't particularly like the man. 'Maybe that's where my Gigai is as well.' He left for the shop as fast as he could, getting there quickly. He walked into the shop to find no one in sight. "Oi! Urahara-san!"
"Hello there, Hitsugaya-Taichou. How can I help you?" Urahara walked into the front of the shop with a smile on his face.
"Is Karin or my Gigai here?" Toshiro glared at the shop keeper.
Kisuke dropped his smile. "I was hoping she was with you. As for your Gigai, you should keep a better eye on it."
Toshiro gave him a harsher glare at his second comment. "Do you know where she is?" Toshiro was starting to get annoyed with the man.
Urahara's voice became serious. "As I said, I was hoping she was with you. She should be emitting a steady, but weak, Reiatsu. However, after a Hollow got closer to her, it vanished." Urahara replayed a video of a red dot getting close to a blue dot, then both dots vanishing. "There used to be two blue dots, but one disappeared earlier." He rewound the video to when there were two dots, then one vanished before the red dot made the other dot vanish with it. "What happened after you two engaged the Hollow?"
Toshiro stared in disbelief as he watched the video. "The Hollow nearly landed on top of Karin. I jumped into the dust cloud to attack the Hollow, but it was waiting for that. It knock me out cold, but I don't understand why it didn't kill me." Toshiro thought of all the possibilities, but none made sense.
"Could be a Hollow that prefers women?" Urahara offered as an answer. "Either way, we need to locate Kurosaki-san, quickly."
Toshiro nodded then left the shop. 'Where am I going to find her? Karakura town is large and it might take all night, and I don't have that long.'
'Dont you have her cell phone number in your phone?' Hyorinmaru asked his worried master.
Toshiro stopped on a roof and pulled out his phone. Sure enough there was Karin's number. He dialled it. It rang twice before getting picked up. "Karin!?"
"Toshiro? Wha...Where are you?" She sounded confused at first, but fear soon filled her voice.
Toshiro grew worried and began moving again, he could begin to pick up traces of her Reiatsu. He heard heavy breathing on Karin's end of the phone. "Karin, where are you?" He kept his voice as calm as he could.
"Amusement park. The one with the large Ferris wheel by the bridge." Toshiro knew exactly where that was. He picked up his pace. Karin sounded out of breath mostly, but there was still a bit of fear in her voice.
"I'll be there shortly. Stay alive." Toshiro hung up and focused on getting to the amusement park as fast as he could.
~amusement park~
Karin was gasping for air, but she didn't stop running. She had been confused when her phone told her Toshiro was calling. After all, he was standing beside her waiting to get on the Ferris wheel with her. Once she heard Toshiro's voice she looked back at the white haired boy beside her and notice something off. His eyes were emerald green, not their regular turquoise. She had taken off with a run after that.
She ran into a haunted house to try and lose the fake Toshiro. Haunted houses didn't scare her, but she had hoped the dark room and her black outfit would help to hide her. She found a dark corner and tried to catch her breath.
"Where do you think you're going?" Karin looked up to find the green eyed Toshiro walking towards her. "But I agree. This place is much better for what I had planned." He gave her a wicked grin.
Karin looked at him in horror. She got up from her spot and ran through the rest of the haunted house. Once she was out she ran towards the crowd of people and tried to blend in. She felt someone grab her elbow and she turned ready to punch the guy.
"Easy there Karin." Ichigo easily caught his sister's punch.
Karin looked at him in surprise. "Ichinii?" She ran into his chest and hugged him. "I'm so glad to see you."
Ichigo was confused by his sister's show of affection. He placed a hand of her forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"
Karin pulled away from her brother. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a little creeped-"
Ichigo blinked a few times. His sister had been right in front of him, but now she was gone. "Karin!" Ichigo looked around for his sister. "This is getting annoying. First I can't find her, then I lose sight of her. This is going to be a long night." Ichigo headed off to find his sister in the large crowd of people.
Karin beat at he arms of the person holding her. "Let go of me! Let go, you fake!"
"Not a chance." The voice of the green eyed Toshiro had changed. It now had a bit of a rasp to it and was a bit higher pitched. "Women souls are delicious, especially when they have a bit of fight in them."
Karin watched behind them as they left the amusement park and shore behind. She saw the bridge go above them. She bit into the arm of the imposter. He instantly dropped her. Karin thought she would fall into the river, but landed hard on one of the support beams. "Ouch!" She could already feel her ankle beginning to swell.
"Hahahahaha! How do you plan to escape now?" Karin watched in horror as the figure that looked so much like her friend approached her. She watched as the once perfectly white hair turn a dark green colour. "It was pretty lucky that your boyfriend's body decided to help out that shinigami. I was surprised you figured out I was a fake so early. I was planning on doing this while in the Ferris wheel. Let you have a perfect moment with him before he devoured your soul with a kiss." His smile stretched his face so that it went from one side of his face to the other.
Karin was horrified but he transformation Toshiro's Gigai was making. "Who are you? What are you?" She tried to move away, but found she couldn't put any weight on her left foot. She knew it was probably broken.
"You mean you don't recognize me? That's terrible. After all, I am the one that killed your boyfriend after he saved you." He ripped the shirt off his body and revealed a hole developing in his chest.
"You're that Hollow!?" Karin got angry at the Hollow. "By the way, you didn't kill Toshiro. Plus he is not my boyfriend!" Karin held her hand in front of her. "Hadou 4: Byakurai!" Karin watched in amazement as the kido hit the Hollow. She had been practising a bit and was getting better.
"Missed." Karin tried blocking the Hollow's attack, but found it didn't make a difference. The force still sent her into another beam about 50 feet away. "That was pathetic. Do you honestly think you can get away?"
The dust cleared and Karin picked herself up. She had a bit of a gash above her right eye and her right arm also dangled at her side. She could tell it was dislocated. She looked back at where she had landed, there was a large indent in the metal.
The Hollow stared at the human in surprise. "Not dead yet. Too bad." Her launched himself towards the girl.
"Reign upon the frozen heavens." The Hollow looked towards the source of the icy voice. It was the shinigami he thought he had killed earlier. "Hyorinmaru!" A dragon made of ice shot at him and rammed him into one of the larger beams.
"Toshiro!" Karin yelled in delight.
Toshiro looked towards Karin and ran to her. "Karin!" He hugged the girl gently, but firmly. He didn't want to cause her pain. "You're alive"
Karin winced a bit in pain, but didn't cry out. "Well I was ordered by a Taichou not to die."
"A Taichou you say? I don't believe you. You were too easy to beat for a Taichou." Both of them looked up to find the Hollow version of Toshiro's Gigai standing above them. "Thanks for the body, Taichou." He spoke in a mocking voice.
Toshiro glared at the Hollow. He knew was going to have to ask for a new Gigai from Urahara.
"What? Nothing to say, Taichou?" The Hollow continued to mock the Taichou. "I doubt you could reach me at your height anyway, shorty."
"You're going to regret that." Toshiro spoke from behind the Hollow.
The Hollow turned to block the shinigami, he succeeded in time.
A dust cloud blocked Karin's view of the fight. "Toshiro!" She saw two objects fly out of the cloud she stared in shock. They both looked the same and had the same weapon. "Toshiro?!"
Both of the Toshiro's looked towards her then back at each other. They both raced to get to Karin first and attacked each other once they were close. Both of them disarmed each other. Karin ducked out of the way of both zanpakutous. Both landed behind her.
"Karin!" She turned and saw both Toshiro's glaring at each other, but neither making a move. They both saw that Karin wasn't making a move, so they started fighting hand to hand. One was definitely stronger than the other.
"Take this!" One Toshiro kicked the other into the support pillar for the bridge. He turned towards the injured girl while breathing heavily. "Are you alright, Karin?" He began walking towards the girl.
Karin nodded towards Toshiro. 'Is that really him? Only one way to find out.' She turned behind her and reached for one of the Hyorinmarus. She pulled out the one that felt colder to the touch. "I'm fine Shiro-chan. Here's your zanpakutou." She waited for his response.
"Thanks, Karin" Toshiro gave her a warm smile. He stopped moving towards her when he felt something pierce through his stomach. He looked at Karin, she was glaring at him.
"Wrong answer, Shiro-chan." She sliced through half of Toshiro's body with the Hyorinmaru in her hands. She watched as it changed back into a Hollow.
The Hollow convulsed in pain on the platform. "How...how did you know?"
"Because," The platform began to form ice on it. "I really don't like that nickname." Toshiro stepped over the Hollow as it became covered in ice. He took Hyorinmaru from Karin and smashed the Hollow to pieces.
'Your girlfriend is quite good at figuring out impostures. She must know you very well, master.' The ice dragon purred at Toshiro.
'She is not my girlfriend, but she does know me pretty well. I guess.' Toshiro looked towards the smiling girl. She looked like she had taken quite a beating. "Let's get you home. Hopefully your father or brother won't beat me up too badly." He replaced Hyorinmaru on his back.
Karin smiled at her friend. "Don't worry about Goat-chin. He hasn't been around much lately, and I don't think Ichinii will be able to see you. Unless you go get a new body from Urahara-san. Besides, if we're stopping there I can just have Tessai heal me."
Toshiro smiled back at Karin. "Alright." He gently picked her up bridal style. "Hold on tight." He shunpoed towards the former Taichou's shop.
When they got to the shop, Urahara was waiting at the open door. "I see you found her. Bring her inside, she doesn't look to be in the best shape." The two rolled their eyes as they walked in after the shopkeeper.
"Looks like little Toshiro found himself a girlfriend." Both shot death glares at the purple haired woman. Yorichi just smiled at the two before going back to her meal.
Toshiro followed Urahara to one of the spared rooms in the back of the shop. He laid Karin down on the futon that had been laid out. "Let's get you a new Gigai while Tessai takes care of Kurosaki-san." Urahara led Toshiro to another room in the back. "She seems to have taken quite a beating. At least she's still alive. I must say Kurosakis seem to have a very strong life force, wouldn't you say?" Urahara spoke as he looked through boxes to find the spare Gigais.
Toshiro looked at his feet while Kisuke found him a new Gigai. He felt responsible for Karin's injuries. 'If I had gotten there sooner, or had been able to defeat that damn Hollow in the first place, none of this would have happened. Then maybe we would have gone on that date.'
'Don't beat yourself up, master. If she sees you beating yourself up, then she'll do it for you.' Hyorinmaru was worried about Toshiro. As any zanpakutou would be, he didn't like seeing him upset.
"Here we are!" Urahara pulled out a Gigai and handed it to Toshiro. "I'll go check on Kurosaki-san." Urahara placed a hand on Toshiro's shoulder as he passed. "It's not your fault. Kurosakis tend to find danger on their own, and survive till help shows up. I'm pretty sure it's a genetic trait." With that the shopkeeper left the short Taichou in the storage room.
Toshiro walked into the living room in his new Gigai. He could smell tea and hear a loud conversation going on from down the hall, but he wasn't expecting what he saw. "Sh-Shiba-Taichou!" Toshiro stared in amazement at his former Taichou. He blinked multiple times to see if the illusion in front of his eyes would disappear, but it didn't.
Isshin looked at the white haired boy looking at him. He smiled at his former subordinate. "How's it going, Shiro?"
Karin looked at her friend, then to her father. "You two know each other?"
Toshiro snapped out of his shocked state. "He was the Taichou of 10th squad before I was, but we all thought you were dead. How are you alive, and why are you hiding in the World of the Living?" Toshiro sat down beside Karin, opposite to his former Taichou.
Karin looked at her dad in amazement. "You were a shinigami?! And a Taichou!? Is that why Ichinii is also a shinigami?" She tried to fit more pieces together. "Is that why Ichinii and I can see souls? But then why can't Yuzu. Plus you said you couldn't either!" Karin pointed at her father.
Isshin waved a hand towards his daughter. "Complicated reasons that you don't need to know." He turned his attention to Toshiro. "So how long have you been dating my beloved daughter?"
Toshiro and Karin both spat out their tea. "Karin's your daughter? I don't believe that for a minute." Toshiro wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"We aren't dating, Goat-chin! We just practise together." Karin folded her arms while glaring at her father. "And don't try to change the subject! Why did you keep your being a shinigami from your own children? Didn't you think that it might be helpful at some point in our lives?"
Isshin sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, to both of you. I didn't know Shiro was here, so I'm afraid you can't remember this conversation, or your date tonight."
"We didn't go on a date!" They both yelled at the man sitting across from them. When they sat back down they both felt a pressure on their neck, then blacked out.
"You sure you want them to forget?" Urahara looked at Isshin from under his hat.
Isshin nodded. "It's better this way. Karin hasn't fully found her powers yet. I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible." He looked towards his former third seat. "It's nice to see that he finally grew a bit. I wonder how Matsumoto is doing." Isshin's mind wandered back to old times while Urahara worked on correcting the memories of the two unconscious people in the room.
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