Karin entered the living world and walked into a scene that she couldn't have imagined even in her worst nightmares. Hitsugaya, the ice wings of his bankai frozen on his back, was standing opposite an amused looking vasto lorde. While the hollow didn't have a scratch on him, Hitsugaya was bleeding profusely from several wounds and gasping for breath. He held Hyourinmaru bravely in a ready stance, but even at the distance she was at, Karin could see his hands shaking. He charged and was easily deflected. He hurtled through the air and smashed into a tree.

"Haruka!" he said in a strangled voice, before closing his eyes.

"NO!" Karin screamed, but no one seemed to have heard her. The hollow had turned towards Haruka, a deadly gleam in his eye. Haruka's terror had driven her to the edge. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she just stared at the hollow heading straight for her, eyes popping out, face ghostly pale.

Karin didn't think. She didn't need to. Drawing her sword, she raced towards them with all the speed she could muster, desperate to put herself between Haruka and the hollow, ready to sacrifice herself to save the girl.

And then suddenly, everything around her stopped. The hollow halted in his tracks, arms raised ready to strike. Haruka was already immobile, but a tear that had fallen from her eye air hung in midair inches from the ground, with no apparent plans to get any closer to it. The pool of blood around Hitsugaya stopped growing. The river beside them ceased flowing, as if it had frozen over, and a bird that was flying overhead was suspended in the sky mid-flap. Karin felt oddly like she had just walked into a painting. But before she could attempt to understand what had happened, a figure appeared in front of her. It was a black cloak, hovering eerily just above the ground, blowing in a wind that Karin couldn't feel.

"Don't save her!" Kuroishikyo threatened, and Karin checked.

"Why not?!" she growled, her hand tightening on the hilt of her sword.

"Why should you?" Kuroishikyo asked ominously. The question hit Karin like a ton of bricks. Why should she? If Haruka died, Hitsugaya would be all hers again. Belonging to no one, having no one but her…

"Because I'm a shinigami!" she said, more confidently then she felt. "Because a shinigami's job is to protect souls!"

"That's not good enough," Kuroishikyo replied. "Why are you running to her side?" Karin turned her gaze away from the cloak to Hitsugaya bleeding profusely, to the hollow, suspended in his attack, to Haruka, her look of utter terror plastered on her face, and sighed.

"Because she means the world to Toushiro," Karin said sadly. "And because he means the world to me. I would never be able to live with myself if I let someone who is so precious to him die. So, in order to protect Toushiro's happiness, I'm going to save her." There was silence for a moment.

"Is that your resolve?" Kuroishikyo asked seriously. Karin nodded.

"Yes," she replied, gripping her sword even harder.

"Very well," Kuroishikyo said. "But I still cannot allow you to fight."

"What!" Karin cried. "Why not!? Haven't I done what you asked? Haven't I found the reason why I fight?"

"Yes you have," Kuroishikyo responded, and although Karin couldn't see her face, she could hear the grin in her voice. "But you are not strong enough in your current condition. If I let you fight now, it would amount to suicide. So, in order for you to fight properly, I will lend you my full strength." Karin gasped. She knew what Kuroishikyo meant.

"I will tell you now Karin," she continued, "my true name." But Karin didn't need to hear it. Somehow, she found that she already knew.

"Bankai! Mitsukai Kuroishikyo!" Karin bellowed, and as time resumed its normal pace, Karin's bankai appeared.

Six black wings sprouted from her back forming a triangle shaped frame around her body as they decreased in size from top to bottom. The longest, at her shoulder blades, were large enough to wrap completely around her if they needed to, while the medium and smallest ones protected her arms and legs respectively. They were as thin as a spider web but powerful enough to deflect the strongest steel. A thick black cloak appeared. It was exactly like the one Kuroishikyo wore, trailing out behind her and covering her head, casting shadows across her face. Bandages wound themselves around her fingers to protect her hands and long chains decorated her wrists. Her scythe was back, but instead of one blade, there were six, three on each side decreasing in size as they ran down the handle, matching the shape of her wings. Karin could feel the power flowing through it more intensely than she ever had before. Storm clouds gathered overhead. The sound of thunder was louder than a bomb exploding and sent tremors through the water in the river.

In an instant, Karin had placed herself between Haruka and the hollow.

"Karin," Haruka whispered, but all of Karin's energy was focused on the creepy figure in front of her.

"Another shinigami!" he said gleefully. "My meal just got better!"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Karin said with a smirk. "But you're not eating anyone today!" Karin instinctively knew how to use her bankai. Swinging the chains at her wrist like a lasso, she snared the vasto lorde before he could move, pinning his arms to his sides. She held her scythe high in the air and shouted,

"Death by lighting!" Instead of one bolt of lightning like her usual attack, six streaks of blinding white light shot towards her, each gathering around one of the blades in an almost physical manifestation of raw electrical energy.

"It's over you bastard!" Karin said forebodingly. She placed the tip of her blades on the chain, and the electrical current flowed through the metal, incinerating the hollow the instant it made contact with him. He didn't even have time to scream.

"Are you alright?" Karin asked, turning towards Haruka, but she was still too shocked to speak. Karin shook her head and smiled.

"Everything's going to be alright now. The vasto lorde's dead and Toushiro…" then she remembered. Toushiro! He was still bleeding! She ran to his side, dropping her scythe, and examined him. He had numerous wounds on his stomach, arms, and head, but as far as Karin could tell, none of them were life threatening. She rolled up the sleeves of her cloak and enveloped him in blue kido, her face set in a look of determined concentration.

Haruka watched in awe as Hitsugaya's wounds slowly closed. He stopped bleeding, and some color returned to his cheeks. Karin fetched water from the river and washed away the blood. Except for his shredded clothing, he almost looked like he hadn't been injured at all. But as much as Haruka was amazed by Karin's healing skills, she was much more focused on the look on Karin's face and the way she so carefully and respectfully healed each wound and washed the blood off Hitsugaya's face and stomach. Karin's eyes glowed with determination to heal him and pain at seeing him injured, but shining even more prominently was an overwhelming sense of love. And Haruka, little insightful Haruka, could not fail to miss the look of total devotion and adoration that Karin was giving Hitsugaya. Haruka smiled at the thought that the woman her brother had fallen in love with returned his affections so deeply.

Finally, Karin sat back. She wiped her brow and breathed a sigh of relief.

"He'll be alright Haruka," she reassured her with a tired smile. "His wounds weren't deep so I was able to heal them almost completely. He fainted from blood loss, but I restored some of that. He'll be asleep for a bit while he recovers, but he's totally fine now."

"Wow!" Haruka marveled. "You're incredible Karin! No wonder Onii-chan loves you so much!"

"He doesn't love me, he loves…wait," Karin stared at Haruka with a look of utter astonishment. "Onii-chan! Toushiro is your brother?" Haruka looked mildly surprised, then giggled.

"Of course!" she said amused. "What did you think we were?"

"I…" Karin started, but she couldn't finish. The absurdity of what she had actually thought hit her full force and she started laughing her head off. Relief washed over her as she realized that it was all over. Nothing had changed. Hitsugaya was still hers, he wasn't in love with anyone else. Haruka looked at Karin with concern.

"Karin, are you alright?" she asked as Karin rolled on the ground, hood falling off her head, wings practically getting crushed under her.

"Yes, yes I'm fine!" Karin said, regaining her composure. She picked up her scythe and stared at it lovingly.

"Thanks Kuroishikyo," she whispered before sealing her bankai and returning her zanpakto to its normal state. She looked at Haruka and smiled.

"Come on," she said happily. "Let's get Toushiro home."

Note: Karin's bankai, Mitsukai Kuroishikyo, means "Angel of Black Death," which I thought was fitting considering she is both a fighter and a healer.

There are only good things to come, and the next chapter WILL NOT be the last, so stick around for the happy stuff that I've deprived you of for so long.

And just so everyone knows, Karin's bankai (and zanpakto in general) was 95 percent Nefarious Seraph 13's idea.