Author's Note:

Hey there! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter, and I'm excited to bring you chapter 2! I had fun writing this one, because I love the dynamic between these two. This is another shorter chapter, but I promise that they'll will get longer as the story progresses.

I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All credit goes to Tite Kubo.


Karin sprang out of bed the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had in a long time. She couldn't wait to get to school, so she could get the day over with, and head over to her first day of training.

After washing up quickly, she put on her favorite pair of denim skinny jeans, and her red spaghetti strap fitted tank top; quickly brushing out her hair, and putting it up into its typical messy high bun. Finding her black ankle boots with the 2" heal she liked, she put them on her feet, grabbed her backpack, books, and black leather jacket, and headed downstairs. She checked the watch on her wrist: 7:15. 'Perfect' she thought. 'Class doesn't start till 9, so I've got a half an hour to grab some breakfast before I go.'

Making her way into the kitchen, Karin cut a piece of the quiche Yuzu had made the previous night, and sat down at the table. 'Mmmmmm. Awesome, as always, Yu. Actually, speaking of Yuzu...' she thought as she finished her piece of quiche, got up from the table, and put her plate in the sink. "Hey, Yu! You coming?! I'm about ready to head out!" she hollered from the kitchen.

Upstairs, she heard her sister holler back a quick "Coming!" from her room. Karin wasn't worried about waking anyone else up; everyone would be getting their day started by now, anyway.

Finding the bagels, she toasted one for her twin, and put some cream cheese on it. Yuzu never ate much in the morning, and they needed to get going if they wanted to make it to class on time.

Karin heard Yuzu come down the stairs a moment later as she grabbed her bag from off the kitchen table, and made her way into the living room, bagel in hand.

She handed the food to her twin, and Yuzu thanked her for getting her some something to eat. Karin smiled at her sister in return, before they both hollered "Goodbye!" to their family upstairs. Karin grabbed the keys to her car, and the girls proceeded out the door to head to school.

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Pulling into the parking lot at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Karin and Yuzu told each other to have a good day, and parted ways to get to their respective classes.

Karin made it to her room not a minute too soon; class was about to begin. They'd hit some traffic on their way here, and Karin had gotten worried that they'd be late again. Thankfully, though, the cars weren't at a standstill for very long, and they'd made it just in time.

Taking a seat, she hung her leather jacket on the back of her seat, got her books out, and her notepad ready. She couldn't wait to start clinicals, and be out of the classroom, at least for a little while. 'Just one more semester after this' she thought to herself, as the teacher came in and prepared for the class. 'Yuzu's so lucky she graduates next May.'

Mr. Takama stood in front of the whiteboard as all of the students fell quiet. Satisfied that he had their full attention, he gave the standard opening for class, and took attendance. After he finished, however, he paused for a moment before speaking again. "Class, we have a new transfer student joining us today. Please make him feel welcome."

The entire class watched the door with curious eyes as a tall, slender, handsome young man walked into the classroom, and Karin almost dropped her pencil. Snow-white hair, turquoise eyes, and that same disinterested frown on his face. She didn't bother trying to stop herself. "Toshiro?!" she hollered in disbelief from the back row of the classroom.

Toshiro Hitsugaya, in the flesh (So to speak), was standing at the front of her class. He looked so much different than when she saw him last. His physical appearance was now around her own age; his body tall and lanky, but clearly well-built. His hair looked softer, shorter, and not nearly as spiky as it used to. His facial features were more defined, and he no longer bore any resemblance to his childlike form from the past. By all physical accounts, he was a grown man now. He had ditched the polo shirt and slacks he used to wear; now adorning a plain white V-neck t-shirt under a dark grey zip-up hoodie. He paired the shirt and hoodie with stonewashed denim jeans, and black and white sneakers. The only real color in his outfit came from the turquoise scarf around his neck, which matched his eyes perfectly. 'Damn, what the hell happened to him...and what is he doing here?!' she thought to herself, as he looked up at her; deep teal meeting stormy dark grey.

Seeming only momentarily surprised, he shot her an almost imperceptible smirk. "Karin, is that you? Good to see you again; It's been a while."

Karin had so many questions floating around in her head at the moment, but not any she could ask in their current company. So, she opted for her usual fallback: sarcasm. Crossing her arms over her chest, and smirking back at him, she replied. "Yeah, Toshiro, it has. Nice of you to drop by, and say hi after twelve years. I gotta ask: what happened to you? I never thought I'd see the day when you were taller than me."

Toshiro felt his eyebrow twitch in minor irritation. 'Yup, same old Karin...' he thought. He was happy to see her again, though. He'd enjoyed the little time they'd spent together all those years ago, and he'd wondered how she was doing. With the rebuilding of Soul Society, he hadn't been able to take any time off for many years after the war; so, he hadn't been able to visit.

When Head Captain Kyoraku had approached him, and asked him to be Karin's Shinigami instructor, the news, and request, had taken him by surprise. He'd known that she had spiritual powers similar to Ichigo's, before the Kurosaki had acquired his Shinigami powers, but he never imagined she'd become a Shinigami herself. At first, he'd questioned the Head Captain on why he'd been picked for the assignment instead of Rukia Kuchiki. To him, Rukia was the most logical candidate, as she had a strong relationship, and connection, with the Kurosakis.

Kyoraku agreed that she would indeed be the most logical choice, but told him he thought her connection to Karin would actually be more of a hindrance than a help in this situation. He knew that Rukia looked at Karin as a younger sister, and he wasn't convinced that the young Kuchiki would push Karin hard enough. He was confident, however, that Hitsugaya would. They shared some similar traits – mainly stubbornness – but their personalities were different enough that Kyoraku believed they would mesh well together in training.

Karin was a bit of a hot-head, like her brother, and needed to learn how to remain calm, collected, and analytical in battle; all abilities that Hitsugaya had in spades. He also knew that Rukia was still working on mastering her Bankai, and Karin would need a teacher who had already accomplished that. Hitsugaya was one of the most powerful captains in the Gotei 13, and he had just recently spent an exceptional amount of time training and refining his own Bankai to reach its full potential. The young captain was the perfect choice to pass on that newly acquired knowledge to Ms. Kurosaki.

Hitsugaya was good at handling difficult personalities, like Karin's, and Kyoraku knew that someone patient would need to train her. Shunsui had also heard from Matsumoto that the young Kurosaki girl and Captain Hitsugaya had met a couple of times during their stay in the world of the living twelve years ago, so she also knew him.

All in all, Shunsui had decided that Toshiro would be the best pick for this assignment, and Toshiro had accepted the offer without hesitation. While he did have reservations about entrusting his division to his lazy Lieutenant for an unspecified amount of time, he couldn't deny that he'd been pretty excited about this. He'd wanted to come back and see Karin and his old captain for quite a few years now, and this would give him the perfect opportunity...Though, that wasn't all there was to it. Isshin Shiba had taken him under his wing when he was the 3rd seat of the 10th division way back in the day, and, now, he wanted to return the favor by training his old captain's daughter. He wanted to help the man he'd regarded as a father figure when he was a young boy, and here was his opportunity.

As Toshiro had entered the class, and heard his name yelled out from the back of the room, he was amazed that Karin even remembered him. She sounded the same, but when he looked up, he couldn't believe his eyes. The tomboy he remembered who wore her hair cropped at her shoulders, with legs covered in grass stains, who wore exercise clothes constantly, and always carried around a soccer ball under her arm, no longer existed. Instead, what he saw was a mature young woman with a curvy figure, a large bust (though nothing compared to Matsumoto, thank heaven), large dark eyes, long eyelashes, soft facial features, and long, silky, raven hair pulled up into a messy bun; with sections of her hair falling to the sides of her face, framing it nicely. Gone were the exercise clothes; in their place were skinny jeans, and a form-fitting tank top accentuating her figure in all the right ways. He could tell she'd kept herself in peak physical condition; the muscles in her arms and legs obvious, even with the jeans on, and only adding to her overall physique. She'd changed so much in the past twelve years; he almost didn't recognize her.

All in all, he couldn't deny that she'd turned into a beautiful and striking young woman during his time away. She was all grown up now...man, he felt old.

He wondered what else about her had changed over the years, but was happy to see that at least her quick wit was still a part of her personality; it would make training fun. Probably annoying at times, too, but you gotta take the good with the bad.

Coughing into his hand in a rather conspicuous manner, Mr. Tanaka attempted to reclaim control of the conversation. "All right, that's enough now, Ms. Kurosaki. Toshiro, would you please introduce yourself to the class? Afterwards, you may take a seat wherever you please."

Nodding to the professor, Toshiro faced the classroom. "Hello, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya. It's a pleasure to meet you all." he said; bowing to the class, before grabbing his backpack, and making his way to the back of the room.

Karin watched as her old childhood friend (of sorts) walked up the isle straight toward her, and took the seat next to her on her right.

Looking around, she could see the other female students giving her various looks, though most of them contained one common emotion: jealousy. 'Oh, great...just one more thing I need to deal with.' she thought to herself; frustration already setting in.

Ignoring the death glares, and looking down at her notebook as Mr. Tanaka started the lecture, Karin saw Toshiro hand her a piece of paper. Taking it from him, she looked at him quickly in confusion before opening up the slip in her hands. On it, it read: "I'll explain everything after school. We're in all the same classes, too, by the way."

Giving him an incredulous look, Karin nodded once before focusing her attention back to the lecture. However much she may be distracted right now, English was her worst subject; she needed to pay attention, or she'd be in hot water on the upcoming exam.

Sensing that Karin had nothing further to add to their silent conversation for the present, Toshiro got out his note pad and pencil, and decided to focus on the lecture. While he could speak some English, this was actually one of the few subjects he was not well versed in; so, he'd see if he could gain some extra knowledge while he was here.

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The day had dragged on for Karin, with so many questions swirling around in her head that focusing on her studies had proved difficult. She had been so happy once the final class was over, and she and Toshiro were on their way to her car.

Loading their bags into the vehicle, Karin leaned against the side of the driver's side front door, and waited; her eyes filled with unasked questions.

Toshiro, knowing that she'd been bottling up her interrogation of him all day, figured he should let her talk now. Standing in front of her, he said. "Alright, Karin. Go ahead."

Hearing the OK from him, Karin let it all out. "What the hell are you doing here, Toshiro? Is something happening in Soul Society again that's threatening the World of the Living? And WHY are you at my school?! Also, what happened to the elementary school kid I remember who was shorter than me? You're, like, a grown-ass man now. It's kinda freaky, to be honest. Do you have any idea how much flak I'm gonna get from my female classmates because of you hanging around me all the time, and looking…like that?" she said, gesturing to him from head to toe.

Raising a curious eyebrow, but smirking in amusement at her torrent of questions and rather frantic expression, Toshiro decided to respond by tackling each question one at a time. "One: Don't freak out, nothing life-threatening or earth-ending is happening. I'm here because I've been assigned as your Shinigami instructor for the duration of your training. Two: I'm at your school to act as protection, so to speak, for you and your classmates. As we progress in your training, you'll get significantly more powerful, Karin...that is, if you're anything like the rest of your family. While you're learning to gain better control over your reiatsu, you'll be a magnet for hollows. I'll be here so you don't need to deal with them, and subsequently miss any of your classes. As for that last one; sorry, Karin, but that's something you're just gonna have to deal with. I aged, just like you have. It happens."

Karin crossed her arms, straightened her back, and adopted a confused scowl. She was trying to take on a more imposing posture, but it was more difficult now, with him being taller than her. "I thought Shinigami aged really slowly. Shouldn't you still look like a teenager?" she asked.

Toshiro had to concede that she had a point there, but she wasn't in full possession of all the facts. Sighing, he nodded in reply. "Yes, that's true; Shinigami do age far slower than humans due to our long lifespans. There were two main reasons for my accelerated age. The first was that I went through extensive training before the war with the Wandenreich to complete my Bankai. My Bankai could only reach full maturity when my body was aged to that of an adult. At first, I was able to artificially age myself for the amount of time I could use my Bankai, then I would revert back to my younger appearance. Over time, though, the effects of artificially aging my body became permanent. The second reason was that when I was zombified during the war, Captain Kurotsuchi was able to treat me, and revert me back to my normal self. The treatment shortened my lifespan, though, which aided the age acceleration."

Karin did a double-take at that. Eyes widening, she inspected him from head to toe. "Wait...what did you just say? What do you mean zombified?! Were you dead, or something?! And what do you mean by 'shortened my lifespan'? You're not...dying, are you?" she asked; concern on her face.

A little caught off guard at first by her lack of knowledge on what had happened, Toshiro realized that Ichigo must not have told her anything about the war. 'Probably a good idea on his part.' He thought to himself. 'The less they know about everything the better. War is never a pleasant topic to discuss.'

Giving her a small smirk to reassure her, he replied. "No, I'm fine, and I don't plan on dying anytime soon. I'll tell you the whole story later; maybe after training, if you're not too wiped out."

Karin relaxed, and nodded, before seeing her sister approaching them in the distance. Waving to her, Karin called her over. "Hey, Yu! Look who's come to visit!"

As Yuzu made her way toward the car, she instantly recognized the snow-white hair of Toshiro. She still remembered him from all those years ago when Karin had brought him to the house. She had teased them about being a couple at the time, and to be honest, she still thought they looked good together now; seeing them side by side. They almost reminded her of Yin and Yang. 'Though, that may just be because of the colors of their hair' she thought amusedly as she started running towards the car; waving in their direction. "Toshiro! It's good to see you again!".

Toshiro offered a small smile and nod in Yuzu's direction as she came to a stop beside them. "It's good to see you again as well, Yuzu." He replied, comparing his memory of her as a girl of 11 to the young woman who stood before him now. Unlike Karin, Toshiro didn't notice a great change in Yuzu's appearance. She was clearly older; all semblance of a childlike face gone. Her hair was now shoulder-length, and she was taller, too. Aside from those observations, though, he didn't see much difference between the Yuzu he'd met over a decade ago to the Yuzu who stood before him now.

The brunette smiled back at him. "So, what brings you to the world of the living, Toshiro? Are you here on business, or just for pleasure?" she asked.

Toshiro looked quickly over at Karin before refocusing his attention back on Yuzu. "Both, actually. I was sent by the head captain to be Karin's teacher, but I've also been wanting to come for a visit for a while to see how things have been here. So, this mission came at the perfect time. Karin and I are actually starting our first training session today, after dinner."

Yuzu's face lit up, and she started jumping up and down with excitement. "That's awesome! I'm sure you'll be a great teacher, Toshiro! Oh, Karin, you'll have to tell me all about training when you get home!" she said as she grabbed her twin's hands, and continued jumping.

Karin chuckled at her sister's enthusiasm as she let go of the brunette's hands to grab her shoulders, and calm her down. "Don't worry, Yu, I'll give you a full report later. Sound good?" she asked; a smile on her face.

Yuzu nodded her head enthusiastically in agreement, while Karin turned around and opened her car door. "Alright everyone, get in. Let's head home...unless you'd prefer to shunpo back, whitey?" she said; her trademark smirk on her face, and a hint of mischief in her stormy grey eyes.

Toshiro returned her smirk with one of his own; amusement reflecting in his own cerulean pools. "Well, as your teacher, I do expect you to show me proper respect, and offering to chauffeur me back home is a good start. We'll have to work on the nickname, though."

Karin smiled, and rolled her eyes in response; gesturing for him to climb in the back.

As Toshiro opened the driver's side rear door, he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face, or the strange excitement that was growing inside of him. 'I think this may end up being more fun than I originally thought'


And thus is the end of chapter 2! I'm not naturally the wittiest person in the world, so I hope I did a decent job of portraying Karin and Toshiro's teasing personalities toward each other. At any rate, it was fun to write :-D

Shunpo = Flash step

Look alive for chapter 3; I'll be posting it soon!

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