Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.


April 22, 1792

My name is Karin Kurosaki. I live in the small, or rather tiny, village of Karakura. Karakura is a nice little village that is situated in the center of a massive mountain range. We live in the center of the valley where there are plenty of streams, rivers, and large forests. That's why we never flood in the spring time after the frozen winters: the trees take up all the waters and there are enough caves underneath to store water so we have plenty during the scorching summer. Yeah, so we are a nice village even though we are isolated and don't get many visitors. No visitors could be due to the days of dangerous mountain trails you have to make in order to reach our little village . . . or it could be the dragons that live in those mountains.

Yes, you read that right: dragons. Dragons are a natural hazard to living in this little village. Almost everyone in the village has been affected by the dragons. The dragons raid our live stock, destroy our trees and they've even attacked some of our villagers. Like my mother. My mother was killed by a dragon eight years ago, when I was four years. I don't remember much of her but dad says she was really beautiful and he even had a portrait painted from one of the nobles in the village. Anyway, we've been a pretty different kind of family since mom died.

………

"Ms. Kurosaki, may I ask why are you writing in your little book and NOT doing your study homework?" Ms. Hoshi, my school teacher demanded standing at my bench with her hands on her hips. She's a nice lady: pretty brown hair with green eyes, average height, always wearing the pale green yutaka with a white sash and those brown wooden sandals.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hoshi, but I've finished all my work and I don't have anything else to do." I kindly apologized. I have short black hair with black eyes and red short yutaka with a white sash and black sandals. I'm not too bad looking, for a twelve year old.

"Ms. Kurosaki, I understand that you are very intelligent. However, I cannot allow you to write non-school related material during school hours." Ms. Hoshi stated, so I obediently replaced my book in my shoulder bag at the side of my bench.

"Karin, you really shouldn't do that. It's not very nice and you could get in trouble again." My twin sister whispered in my ear, we share the same bench and school table. She is supposed to be my twin sister but we look nothing alike and we act nothing alike. She is the same height as I am, and the same age (obviously), but she has light brown hair and brown eyes, like our mother, and she is soft and gentle where as I am hard and forceful. I'm not a bully but I'll put any guy in his place if they try to bug me or any of my friends. My sister also took over the house chores and takes care of the rest of us in mom's place.

Speaking of odd siblings, I have an older brother teetering just shy of six feet in height with naturally unnatural spiked bright orange hair. Yes, orange hair bright enough to shame a baby carrot. The joke around the village is that he's the easiest person to find in the forest, just look for the floating carrot top. A few people tease him about his hair and those same few people wind up in the medical cabin on the far side of the village that my family helps to run.

That brings me to my dad. There are no words to describe my dad. He could be eccentric if he didn't attack my brother every morning at dawn. At my house, we don't have roosters to crow at dawn, no we have my dad and brother fighting one another in the early morning while Yuzu fixes breakfast and cleans the house. There's one more thing you must known about my dad, he clings to mom's portrait whenever he feels like it which just happens to be every day. I know that he misses mom but it's a little crazy to cling to the picture and cry to it all the time. I mean I miss her too but you don't see me running up to her picture when I think about her. No, when I need some time to myself and just to chill out - I go to my little hideaway near the forest edge at the end of the village. I can still be seen so it's safe for me to go and be alone. But you see, there's this rule that no person can be near the forest edge let alone by themself near the forest. I have a tendency of stretching that rule to its limit at the expense of my family and best friend.

My best friend, quite possibly the cutest thirteen year old boy in the entire village: Toushiro Hitsugaya. He has snow white hair that defies gravity as it spikes in the air completely natural. He is my height, which is really short for a thirteen year old and he hates for anyone to point it out. He should really come with a warning that reads: DO NOT TEASE HEIGHT. One graduating student made that mistake one time and Toushiro trained with him for one afternoon. That poor student became scared of his shadow after that one training session. To this day, he still won't tell me what he did to the poor boy, but every time he thinks about it he smiles, a kind of evil smile but a smile none the less.

I should explain Toushiro. For starters he's an orphan - his parents were killed by dragons when he was only two years old. Sad I know, but he doesn't live by himself. He lives with a woman named Rangiku Matsumoto and she stepped in to be the mother he never got to know. She's the sweetest - a little crazy, very well endowed, a little loose and sometimes a little drunk but she always takes good care of Toushiro. Rangiku has stepped up and made Toushiro the awesome boy he is today. Of course, being a boy genius helps so he sailed through school and he managed to actually stay in school for a total of six years. He started at four years old and graduated at ten. So for the past three years, he's been helping the village elders in creating defenses against the dragon attacks, he's also killed a few dragons himself. The elders set up a team of protectors from around the village and anyone else they could drag into Karakura to fight. They don't fight with just swords and shield but they use magic spells called Kido.

In order to fight the dragons, the elders passed down their knowledge of kido spells; these spells require chants and a certain amount of magical energy, which seems to be increasing in our village by the day. There are attack spells, defense spells and shield spells. Toushiro is more than proficient with all of these types of spells, not only can he perform these spells without reciting the chant but he's developed more powerful spells that can kill a dragon with a single shot. He has more power and strength than most humans in the entire village. He is stronger than all of the adults, except for the village chief no one is stronger than him: Genryusai Yamamoto. He's a very old man with a massively long beard and looks to be over one hundred fifty years old but he fights with kido like he was in his twenties again.

But I'm getting off track, back to Toushiro. Everyone says he is cold like ice but I have never seen that side of him. He's never even so much as raised his voice to me. He's never gotten angry, he's always been patient, and he's always been so calm. The only time I've ever seen him angry is when I stretched that forest rule just a little too far. It was one year ago, I strayed too close to the forest and actually walked in a few feet. Toushiro spotted me - the way he always spots me - and dragged me back to my house where he told my dad and I was grounded for two months. For two months I was literally trapped in my room, forbidden to leave my house until my grounding was complete. I physically (and literally) could not leave my room because Toushiro used one of those shield kido spells to lock me in so I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. Stupid boy genius, child prodigy, and too short to mount a horse without a stool or boost. So, I missed two months of school but I didn't fall behind – Toushiro tutored me and I actually passed all the subjects for the next two grades. Toushiro came by my house and tutored me for eight hours Monday through Friday. I couldn't complain too much, for eight hours every day it was just me and Toushiro studying alone in the house. Every girl in the village was so jealous of me and I ignored every one of them. But who could blame them - my best friend pays all his attention on me and doesn't give another girl a second glance.

So, now . . .

Oh, Ms. Hoshi is going to her desk to grade our tests and papers. As soon as she looks down, I can pull my book out and start writing again.

Now

………………

Now where was I, oh right dragons. Well we're not on our own. There's a kingdom called Sereitei that is filled with powerful fighters young and old. When the dragon attacks started becoming more frequent Chief Yamamoto sent for help from the nearby kingdom ruled by Yoruichi Shihoin with an army of kido experts. They sent a small army made up of the best and strongest of the body guards to teach us more advanced kido spells and develop a stronger defense. The people they sent are Renji Abarai (red head with tattoos running down his face and arms), Ikkaku Madarame (bald man with little marks at the edge of his eyes), Yumichika Ayasegawa (kind of girly, with short black hair and feathers coming out of his eyebrows), Byakuya Kuchiki (powerful noble with short black hair and white pieces adorning his bangs), Rukia Kuchiki (short little sister to Byakuya), Shunsui Kyoraku (powerful kido expert, genius if he would take things seriously, and a notorious flirt – Rangiku has slapped him many times), Soi Fon (a fast ninja with cold piercing eyes, almost as short as Toushiro and meaner than a snake), and there are many more but too many to name. Anyway, they taught us more kido spells and now we're more prepared to take care of the dragons.

Ichigo was recruited by the trainers and he's gone out to fight the dragons on more than one occasion. He's also brought back a few dragon kills. Everyone's so proud of him, dad especially. His talent also means he goes out on missions more than anyone else, like now. Ichigo's gone off to hunt the dragons and mark their territories. If more of their territories are marked, then maybe we could travel out the village with more safety and not be severely isolated.

Well, that's about it for this D-o-B (that's Diary of Boredom), I only write one of these when I'm supremely bored either at home or in school. Toushiro keeps telling me I should just go ahead and skip the next few grades, since I do have the intelligence – and he's guaranteed to tutor me every day when he can. Just because he sailed through school doesn't mean that I want to. I happen to enjoy smelling the flowers and taking things slow. Oh, the teacher is getting up, school is almost over.

………

"Alright class, you are free to leave for the day. Don't forget to do your homework and be ready for a quiz tomorrow." Ms. Hoshi declared as all the students put their books in their bags and left the one room school cabin.

"Come on, Karin." Yuzu excitedly dragged Karin out of the school cabin.

"Yuzu, what's the hurry?" Karin asked her sister.

"Ichigo is supposed to be coming back today! Aren't you excited?" Yuzu asked beaming toward her sister as they walked down the cobble stone street.

"Why would I be excited?" Karin deadpanned causing Yuzu to stare in shock. "Am I supposed to be excited about no more quiet days in the afternoons or in the mornings?" Karin asked again.

"But, Ichigo is our brother and he's been gone for over a week. Aren't you going to miss him when he leaves again?" Yuzu asked as they continued down the street passing the grocer, general store and Chief Yamamoto's cabin.

"I wouldn't count on Ichigo leaving so soon." Toushiro surprised Yuzu walking up from the corner of the office cabin.

"Toushiro, where did you come from?" Yuzu asked in surprise. Toushiro smirked at her he enjoys surprising everyone by sneaking up. For as long as she's known him, Toushiro has never been able to surprise Karin.

"I just came from a meeting with Chief Yamamoto. I have been assured that Ichigo will not go on any more missions for a long time. He's become more proficient in his Kido skills so Chief Yamamoto is requiring him to help train the new recruits." Toushiro explained as he looked Karin up and down. "Karin, you look bored."

"Well, I just got out of school, what do you expect?"

"I keep telling you, you should just skip ahead and graduate. That way you won't be bored." Toushiro hinted again.

"Toushiro like I keep telling you, I want to stay near my friends and take school slow. You know enjoy being a kid." Karin explained again. Toushiro rolled his eyes.

"You keep saying that, but you become bored every day. All I'm saying is you should just go ahead and get out of school as fast as you can so that you won't be bored."

"You mean so you can spend more time with her." Yuzu teased giggling at the two.

"Yuzu, you know you shouldn't tease him." Karin chastised her sister but that could not erase the wide smile gracing Yuzu's lips.

"It's alright. She's right I do want to spend more time with you." Toushiro admitted making Karin blush very hard.

"So that I can train you more and not have to worry about you breaking the rules around the forest and endangering yourself." Toushiro explained to the pair.

"He's right you do tend to stray too close to the woods, Karin." Yuzu reminded her sister. Toushiro was smirking in triumph making Karin glare at him.

"Well, I'm strong enough to take care of myself. Toushiro, you've said that I'm becoming stronger every day." Karin exclaimed this time Toushiro's smirk disappeared.

"Karin just because you're growing stronger does not mean you're ready to battle dragons." Toushiro firmly stated.

"Well-" Karin started but their attention was diverted from a rider tearing through the village on a black horse.

"He's in a hurry." Yuzu noted to the pair.

"Karin, I want you to go home." Toushiro ordered to Karin. Karin glared at him in defiance.

"No, I want to see what's going on." Karin stated and started running in the direction the rider had taken.

"She never listens!" Toushiro yelled in frustration.

"She'll be alright," Yuzu's words did not comfort his worry.

"Yuzu, please go home. I'll find out what's going on and let you know." Toushiro reassured her and hurriedly left to follow Karin, not pausing to hear Yuzu's reply.

Karin was running down the street following the rider to the medical cabin. The medical cabin is the largest cabin in the whole village and was filled with several doctors. The head doctor is a woman named Retsu Unohana from the kingdom of Sereitei. She's really nice and kind to everyone who enters the cabin. The rider stopped in front of the cabin and yelled for help, Karin followed him and watched Isane run out of the building at his cries. She's the tall nurse to Dr. Unohana. Isane has short silver hair with a small piece of bang wrapped in beads - she typically wears a white nurse top and white skirt.

"We are in need of Dr. Unohana's services immediately." The rider demanded as his sad blue eyes looked from under his limp blonde medium length bangs.

"What happened, Izuru?" Isane questioned.

"We were attacked. There are several injured." Izuru explained, Karin overheard his words as she ran toward the cabin.

"INJURED! Who was injured?" Karin yelled up to Izuru.

"Karin." Izuru gazed at her from the top of his black steed.

"Where are the injured?" Isane asked bringing Izuru's attention back to the nurse.

"They are coming from the forest into the village along the east perimeter." Izuru continued to explain.

"We'll follow you. I'll call Dr. Unohana and take the wagon myself." Isane answered disappearing behind the cabin to the stables. In a few minutes, Karin watched the single horse drawn wagon come from behind the cabin and follow Izuru.

"WAIT! WHO WAS INJURED?" Karin yelled to their retreating forms, running after them.

"KARIN!" Toushiro met Karin at center of the street as she started running after the wagon stopping her in his arms.

"Toushiro let me go! I have to see who was injured!" Karin struggled in his arms but he would not let her leave. She finally got fed up and stomped on Toushiro's foot causing him to let go of Karin. Karin took advantage and tore down the street in the direction that Isane rode down not moments before.

Approaching the forest at the edge of the eastern perimeter, Karin stopped staring in shock at the group appearing from the woods. Rukia Kuchiki was walking with Ichigo leaning heavily on her shoulder. He was bleeding from cuts and gashes all over his body and from where Karin stood, he looked like he had one foot in the grave.

"ICHIGO!" Karin yelled running harder to the forest.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Karin screamed to anyone who would listen.

"KARIN STOP!" Toushiro yelled again, grabbing her from behind not letting her slip out of his hold again.

"Toushiro, I have to know what happened." Karin struggled against her best friend, eventually turning so she was embracing him staring at the ground in total shock.

"You will find out, but now you need to go home and stay out of the way. Dr. Unohana is here with Isane and they know what to do." Toushiro began comforting her stroking her short hair while she remained oddly silent. Toushiro was watching the scene as more kido experts and defenders gathered around the small group. Kuchiki Byakuya walked up helping Rukia to gently place Ichigo on the wagon.

"Rukia, were you attacked by dragons?" Byakuya asked his sister. Rukia shook her head in the negative her short hair bouncing from side to side.

"No, brother. It wasn't a dragon. I don't know what it was." Rukia stated.

"Where is Kaien Shiba? Did he not assist you on the hunt?" Byakuya asked, his normally emotionless face registered surprise when Rukia frowned staring at the ground on the verge of tears.

"He was killed." Rukia nearly whispered making more tears fall from her eyes.

"What killed him?" Byakuya demanded to know from his sister.

"I really don't know. This is the first that I've seen a creature like that. It was black with skin of stone but it could move like water and it had a white mask with red eyes. None of our kido spells were able to kill it. Kaien was only able to kill it when it tried to eat him." Rukia paused sobbing in a hiccup. "The monster grabbed him with his massive claws and placed Kaien in it's mouth where he bravely shot a powerful spell. The monster disintegrated but Kaien was killed in the process. Ichigo was injured and near death when a second monster arrived, we only managed to escape after a tree pinned the monster in the ground." Rukia finished explaining as Ichigo groaned in pain while Dr. Unohana and Isane were working on healing him.

Karin clung to Toushiro even harder after overhearing Rukia's explanation.

A/N: Well, a new story. HitsuKarin obviously since they are becoming my favorite couple in the last few weeks.

So, tell me what you think of this story: love it, hate it (but please no flames, positive criticism is a must).

Please leave a review and tell me what I can change or improve.

A/N2: Okay, what do you call a leader of a tiny village: is it a chief or a mayor? Also, did I name the buildings alright? I mean this is set in the 1700s so I'm not completely sure if they're called cabins or buildings. Please let me know.

A/N3: I probably should have put this at the top but this story was inspired by Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon. I saw that movie and it is beyond awesome! I've got my own story line planned out and it is NOTHING like the movie. Still I might just go ahead and do the disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON - this work belongs to DREAMWORKS.

Okay lawyers, you can leave now *men take suitcases and walk out the door.*

My deepest apologies for any confusion.