Alright it's literally been two years since I last updated this and with this chapter I am attempting to end this book. So after 5 years it's actually ending! Better late than never, I bet you all thought I would never finish this book!

Anyway please enjoy this final chapter of Are We Really Best Friends. Enjoy!

This time starting with Karin!

Karin sighed as she waited at home bored. Today was her day off, but there was nobody to spend it with. Jinta had decided to visit family too and Yuzu had been hanging out with him since he arrived in Karakura. Though Karin should've expected that much since the two were engaged and would be married within the year. Karin sat up quickly scratching her head vigorously.

"This is driving me crazy!" she shouted annoyed of the silence in the house. She was about to lay back down when she heard the doorbell ring. Karin looked towards the door, "Who could that be?" Karin pondered before getting up fully and walking towards the door to answer it. When she opened the door she was taken by surprise by who she saw.

"Hikaru?!" She yelled surprise.

"Surprise! He said in a cool tone,

"W-what are you doing here?" Karin stuttered.

"I came to see you of course" he casually said. Karin invited him inside,

"How did you know where I lived?" He paused for a moment thinking of how he should answer before smirking,

"I have my ways, besides I would do anything to bring a smile to your face Karin" he teased her. Karin's face went bright red as she thought about what he said.

"W-well you should have told me you were coming, I would've picked you up at the train station.

"Why would I do that? Then it wouldn't have been a surprise and that was the goal, to keep you guessing," Hikaru spoke softly. Karin playfully pouted, crossing her arms,

"Well you should know, I'm not very fond of surprises."

"Whatever, you say, but I'll give you a fair warning, that there are more surprises to come," Hikaru warned her with a small smirk on his face about the plan that he had made. "Now will you spend the day with me, Karin?" he asked. Karin smile brightened,

"Yes! Just hold on a sec as I go and get my jacket, will you?" she responded, before turning to go deeper into the house.

"Sure, just hurry up, I have a plan you know" he teased. Watching her disappear around the corner. Hikaru looked around the area feeling like he was being watched, before dismissing the feeling as Karin came back out of the house shutting and locking the door behind her.

"Okay, let's go!" Karin said cheerfully grabbing Hikaru's hand as she walked towards the street. "So what's the plan?"

"Well I thought we could visit all your favorite stores for now. That way we can talk as we hang out today" he answered.

"Sure," Karin started to pull him towards the center of town where most of the stores and shops were. As they walked to the busier parts of the small town they talked amongst themselves of various subjects.

"So, how do you like your job? Is it all you expected it to be?" he asked

"It was awesome! Though I always imagined my sister doing nursing and me doing something more you know me, I was partly wrong and partly right. Yuzu told me the other day that she's going to be a stay at home wife and mom when it gets to that point."

"You know Karin you could always be a stay home wife and mom with me too, if that's what you desire" Hikaru teased. Karin looked up at him and turned bright red before looking away.

"That's not funny Hikaru! You know, I could never do that. It's not me! I have to always be moving and I can't just sit still. Gosh! I thought you knew me better" Karin ranted. Hikaru softly chuckled.

"Hey Karin, you know I was just joking. I'm not that type of guy who would keep you at home, if you didn't want to. You can do anything you want. As long as you don't get hurt" he answered in a caring voice.

"Why are you being so gushy today, you weren't like that the last time we talked." she pointed out.

"Well, maybe to me something has changed." They both went silent as they walked past several stores. After several moments had past before Hikaru spoke again,

"Can you show me your favorite spot, did you have a place where you used to spend the most time at?" Karin thought for a moment before blushing and nodding,

"Well I used to spend hours at a railing with one of my friends, we used to watch the sunset from it, but I'm not sure if it's a place where you would like to go," Karin answered slightly embarrassed.

"Well if you like it then I'll like it too," he said in a soft voice. Karin nodded before taking him to the railing. Memories of her and Toshiro sitting on the rail after playing soccer together, she was brought out of her memories by Hikaru calling her name.

"Sorry… did you say something?" Karin asked looking up at him. Hikaru studied her for a moment, becoming serious.

"Yeah, I asked if you were thinking of someone, maybe another guy?" he asked coldly letting his persona slip, to who he really was. Karin froze seeing him act so differently she didn't know how to respond. When Karin didn't say anything Hikaru ruffly grabbed Karins arm.

With Torshiro

Toshiro and Jinta had been following Karin and Hikaru around all day, they were getting bored with it as all they were doing was going into stores, but Toshiro couldn't help but grumble when he noticed the direction that Karin was taking Hikaru.

"Hey isn't this towards the rail?" Jinta asked. Toshiro nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know why she is taking him to our spot!" Toshiro snapped slightly irritated that she was taking another guy to their spot. He hadn't even taken Momo to the rail. He had always considered it his and Karins secret treasures that were kept between them.

"Now you are really feeling the sting of jealousy," Jinta said with a smirk. Toshiro looked away stuffing his hands deeper into his pockets.

"Whatever…" he muttered as he watched Karin and Hikaru, his attention snapped when he saw Hikaur grab Karin. "Jinta!"

"Yeah I see it, but as much as I hate that he's grabbing her, we can't do anything until she says she needs help or something elses happens, plus the police are watching so we can move when they move" Jinta said, grinding his teeth in irritation.

"Hikaru! What's wrong with you! That hurts!" Karin snapped at Hikaru. Hikaru looked behind him to see a black van pull up.

"Sorry Karin, but I'm done with playing this game, it's only lucky for me that your favorite spot was so secluded," Hikaru said wickedly as he began to drag Karin towards the van.

"Let me go!" Karin screamed as she grabbed at his hand trying to get him to let go of her. She couldn't believe it, the man that saved her from being raped before is trying to kidnap her.

"Jinta I can't just stand here and watch this," Toshiro growled as he left his hiding spot.

"To-" Jinta started but it was too late for him to stop Torshiro. Toshiro grabbed Hikaru forearm stopping him from being able to pull Karin any farther.

"She told you to let her go," Toshiro growled. Hikaru and Karin both looked shocked to see Toshiro.

"Toshiro….. Y-you're here…" Karin stuttered seeing his white hair. Hikaru let go of Karins arm and shoved Toshiro's arms away. Toshiro ignored Karin and kept his eyes on Hikaru as the cops silently surrounded the van. Once they had everyone in the control a few officers came over to Hikaru laying one of their hands on his shoulders. Hikaru smacked the police officers hand away.

"Don't touch me, there is nothing you can arrest me for," Hikaru growled.

"On the contrary, at the very least we can take you in for harassment, or assault, after you wouldn't let that young woman go after she told you to let her go and were dragging her towards that van. I imagine that we will have even more evidence after we search that van you were trying to take her to," the officer said before grabbing his right hand and forcing in behind his back to be cuff with the left hand. After the cop had taken Hikaru away, Toshiro finally turned to look at Karin. She looked bewildered that he was standing in front of her, she was speechless. As if something had taken her breath away from her and rendered her without a voice.

"Are you hurt?" Toshiro asked. Karin shook her head, as she gained her courage to speak.

"W-what are you doing here?" Karin asked in a soft voice. Toshiro scratched the back of his head.

"I would like to explain everything, but let's get you home first," Toshiro replied. Before Karin could reply Toshiro had grabbed her hand and began to lead her towards the Kurosaki residents. Jinta joined the two letting the police deal with Hikaru and the people in the van. The walk to the Kurosaki resident was a quiet one, but once they got there the whole family was waiting for them in the living room silently. Ichigo immediately stood up to meet them.

"Karin are you alright?"Ichigo asked. Karin nodded as her brother gave her a onces over.

"I'm fine, Toshiro, Jinta, and the police were there to make sure nothing happened, but now I want answers. H-how did you guys know to be there!" Karin yelled, turning towards Toshiro and Jinta. They exchanged looks before starting their story.

"Momo had planned the attack on you to warn you to stay away from me… I found her plans after I went to clean your old room. She had moved some of her stuff in there," he lied not wanting to let Karin know that Momo had moved in after the incident. He felt like that would only jab her in the heart worse than what he already had. "After talking to Momo about it, and having her arrested, it was uncovered that her plan was still going on with Hikaru, so me and Jinta had stalked him across the city and found out that he was hanging out with other women at clubs, so we could only assume hes apart of the human trafficked ring or just a cheater either way we figure something bad was going to happen, so when he came here we called the cops about our suspicions and followed you around all day. Leading up to what ended up happening.." Toshiro trailed not knowing what elses to say about the situation. The whole family seemed to be in shock as they tried to process it. It wasn't until Isshin broke the silences that everyone began to move again,

"I think now that we have the story, we should all head to bed, it's been a long draining day for all of us, so let's talk more tomorrow. Toshiro you can stay on the couch tonight," Isshin said, making everyone go to bed. Everyone slowly began to make their way to their rooms keeping the silence. Know one knew what they could say. They were angry, confused, and gratefully that nothing had happened. Isshin went and grabbed blankets for Toshiro, as Isshin handed the blankets off he looked at Toshiro,

"Thank you, for stepping in. I'm not sure if anything would have happened or not, but at least you were there to stop it before he had the chance. I always did want you to be my son in law," Isshin voiced before heading to his own room. Toshiro just starred after Isshin shocked at his words. After a few moments he had regained his composure and began to set up his bed on the couch.

Toshiro couldn't fall asleep, he just stared up at the ceiling thinking about how everything went. It was 2 O'clock in the morning when Toshiro heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Psst Toshiro are you awake," a soft voice spoke out from the darkness. Toshiro immediately recognized Karins voice and sat up to look back at her.

"Karin, what are you doing up?" Toshiro asked questionly. Karin walked over to him holding a blanket over her shoulders close to her chest.

"Sorry, if I woke you, but I wanted to talk to you before everyone else's has a chance to dig their nails into you," Karin voiced. Toshiro moved so that he was sitting properly on the couch to allow Karin to sit down next to him.

"It's okay, if anyone has anything to be sorry about it's me. Karin I'm so sorry that all of this happened to you. It's my fault all that stuff happened. If I would have only been more observant of everything, I might have seen it coming, seen Momo's wicked side before she acted on it," Toshiro voiced, his voice had a hint of guilt and sorrow in it. Toshiro didn't have the strength to look at Karin at the moment, so his eyes rested on the ground in front of him. He was taken by surprise when he felt a pair of arms wrapped around him, his forehead touch something soft, and he felt a warm breath on his neck.

"It's not your fault, but thank you, for coming and saving me for the unknown. You had a choice to notice or not and you noticed this time, so I forgive you for now, but you still owe me!" Karin told Toshiro before pulling away and making herself comfy in the spot next to Toshiro. Toshiro was relieved that Karin and his relationship was like nothing had even happened.

"Sure, what do I have to do to make it up to you?" Toshiro asked curiously. Karin thought before shrugging,

"I don't know I guess you got to figure that out by yourself," Karin answered before yawning. She laid her head on his shoulder resting her eyes. Toshiro tensed up feeling her head rest on his shoulder, but didn't say anything as they sat in the silence.

Isshin was the first person up that morning and when he walked into the living room he wasn't surprised to see Karin and Toshiro sleeping together. Isshin smiled as he figured that at some point in the night Karin would come down to talk to Toshiro and they would fall asleep together just like when they were teens when Ichigo had friends spend the night. He used to always wake up to find them next to each other. The first few times he would sit on the stairs to listen to them and make sure there were no shenanigans going on. Isshin was glad that despite everything that had happened Karin's and Toshiro's relationship hadn't really changed. He knew despite Toshiro saying he liked Momo, he held a love for Karin. He was also aware that even though Karin felt betrayed by Toshiro, she still loved him regardless of her trying to move on with Hikaru. He was glad that Toshiro had come to his senses and searched deeper into Karin's accident. With pushing these thoughts away he went to make breakfast for the family, after all he was sure that Yuzu would want to talk to Jinta about why he didn't tell her what he and Toshiro were up too, but he understood Jinta's reasons. Why alarm Yuzu that her sister might be a target if there was no proof of it.

Isshin made sure to wake Karin and Toshiro before everyone else could wake up, to save them from the embarrassment and the yelling of Ichigo. Karin quickly went upstairs to get dressed and left Toshiro with her dad. Isshin gave Toshiro a goofy grin before heading back to the kitchen to finish breakfast. Toshiro stood up stretching out his limbs before folding the blankets up and putting them away. After he had put the blankets away he went into the kitchen,

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, but I better get going. I've caused your family so many problems," Toshiro said before heading to the door. Isshin followed Toshiro leaning against the wall.

"I wouldn't say you caused the problem. It's not your fault that Momo felt possessive over you and wanted to send a warning, we don't choose who is obsessed with us," Isshin inputted his thoughts.

"Thanks for saying that, you and Karin are too forgiving sometimes you know," Toshiro said with a soft smile as he finished putting on his shoes.

"Take care Toshiro, and don't be a stranger," Isshin said as Toshiro opened the door.

"Alright," he muttered softly before leaving. Isshin watched the door until it shut. He couldn't help, but to sigh in annoyance at the younger male.

"Dad," a soft voice said behind him said. Isshin turned around to see Karin in her scrubs ready to go to work. "Where did Toshiro go?" she asked. Isshin smiled at his grown daughter plotting.

"He said he would be leaving before everyone else's woke up," Isshin answered. Karin's eyes widened.

"Without saying goodbye, that idiot. He still thinks I'm mad at him!" Karin said frustrated before she ran upstairs grabbing her bag and then going to the front door. "Dad I'm leaving early," Karin yelled before running out of the house. Isshin couldn't help but smile as he turned to go back to cooking.

Karin ran down the street in the direction of the railing, it was the only place she could think that Toshiro would have gone. To her knowledge there were no trains leaving yet, so she didn't think he went to the train station. As the railing came into view she could see the form of someone sitting on it watching the sunrises. Karin slowed her run down to a walk as she walked behind him.

"This is a change, watching a sunrise instead of the sun set," Toshiro looked back to Karin surprised to see her there.

"You do realize you can't watch the sunrises from her, since the sun rises in the east, so the other side of the hill," Toshiro said with a amuses smirk. Karin shook her head before joining him on the railing,

"Why did you leave so early? You didn't even have breakfast?" Karin asked. Toshiro looked at the sky.

"I thought Ichigo might kill me if he saw me there in the morning after all that happened," Toshiro said only the partial truth, the other half was he still felt guilty that everything that happened to Karin was his fault.

"Well he would have gone through me, since I don't blame you for anything and as soon as you realize what was going on you rushed in to save me, I really mean that Toshiro, I'm thankful that you were there when I didn't even know I needed you," Karin said softly before looking at her watch and sighing. "Well I got to go, my shift starts in 45 minutes," she said before standing up and stretching.

"So you really did get a job as a nurse at the hospital, is it all you dreamed of?" Toshiro asked. Karin thought for a moment before smiling.

"It's even better than I imagined," Karin answered. Toshiro thought for a moment, before boldly speaking up,

"Do you mind if I walk you to work and you can tell me all about it and how about anything else's that's new," Karin eagerly nodded and waited for Toshiro to stand up and join her. The two conversed the whole way to the hospital and when they finally reached where they had to part. They both felt a little sad that their conversation had to end. They stood awkwardly as people past, other nurses would pass and saying things along the lines of,

"Karin is that your boyfriend?!" or "Lucky." Karin blushed brightly hearing them and Toshiro could only rub the back of his head.

"I guess I'll see you sometime," Toshiro said as he was about to leave,

"Toshiro are you heading back home?" she asked, referring to his condo. Toshiro stopped and thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I think I am. I have a lot of work waiting for me when I get back, but I am glad I got to spend some time with you before I left and straighten out everything," he said with a warm smile.

"Me too, and maybe next time I visit I can stay over at yours like old times," Karin said with a smile.

"Until next time Karin," Toshiro said gently.

"Until next time Toshiro," Karin replied before watching him walk away. When Toshiro had disappeared from sight, Karin had turned to go to work and got teased about Toshiro for several weeks.

Thank you all for reading and as always comment, vote, favorite, and like! As always until next time

~Foxflame~