Chapter 1
Early morning, a young girl with dark hair, dressed in a standard school uniform walked alongside another girl of about the same age. She wore the same attire as the first girl, but in contrast, her hair was light blonde, and had a red hair clip on the left side of her head.
The two girls arrive at a T-junction.
"Well, this is where we part ways." The dark haired girl casually motions to leave. "Wait! Where are you going?" The blonde girl suddenly grabs her arm, holding gently. The dark haired girl lightly exhales. "C'mon, I'll explain to you on the way." Freeing her arm, she holds hands with the blonde girl, taking her along.
After a few minutes of walking.
"It's been a week since Ichigo lost his powers." She broke the silence. "He fought so long and so hard protect us; to protect everyone." She collects her. "Because of that, I've decided to pick up the slack, I'm going to awaken my own Shinigami powers and take Ichigo's place." She blushes a little, avoiding eye contact with the blonde girl.
"I admit our big brother's been down since losing he's powers." The blonde girl's eyes darken. "But what about the others, Sado-san, Orihime-chan and Ishida-san, aren't they handling things in our big brother's pla—"
"That's no excuse!" the dark haired girl stomps her foot, startling the blonde girl, who lets go of her hand.
Noticing tears form in her sister's eyes. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to lash out like that." She clenches her fists. "I'm just tired of being so useless…Dad provides for us, Ichigo protected us, and even you help around the house. What about me? I just want to do my part too, is that a bad thing?"
The blonde girl embraces her sister, whispering in her ear.
"No. No it's not a bad thing at all." Tears roll down her cheeks. "I completely understand." Her voice uneven.
She pulls back from the dark haired girl, arms on her shoulders. "So I take it you're going to Urahara-san's?" she smiles. The dark haired girl nods.
"Okay then…" the blonde girl wipes away her tears. "All the best. I'll have a big and tasty meal waiting for you when you get home today." She strikes a cute pose.
"Thank you, Yuzu." The two hug once more, and go their separate paths.
Once out of her sister's sight, Yuzu furrows her brow.
The dark haired girl reaches her destination in a matter of minutes.
Sweeping outside the shop is a tall, muscular, lightly tan-skinned man. His hair is cornrowed and he has a large handlebar mustache, connecting to his sideburns. He wore a pair of rectangular-shaped glasses, and his attire consisted of a white muscle shirt with regular pants and a blue apron.
"Greetings young Ms. Kurosaki, what brings you here?" he does a bow. She waves in response. "Good Morning Tessai-san. I came to see Urahara-san, is he around?" Tsukabishi nodded. "Yes, he's in—"
"Oi, oi, oi Tessai-kun…I told you not to tell anyone that I'm here…" a tall, lean man now stood by the entrance. He wore a striped green bucket hat, which shadowed his eyes, and carried a fan with him, hiding his face even more. He wore a black haori, sporting a white diamond pattern along its bottom half. Beneath that, he donned a green samue, and on his feet were Japanese wooden sandals.
"Apologies Urahara-sama." The muscular man prostrated himself.
Even behind the fan you could sense his cunning smile. "Seeing as though I've been discovered, how may I help you Karin-chan?"
BAM!
Karin connects a powerful kick to Kisuke's face. "Baka! Don't give me that crap and act cool after trying to slack off!" the shopkeeper was sent flying into the shop.
A young boy with red hair sprang out of the shop. "Hey! What'd you do that for!?" the dark haired girl doesn't acknowledge him, tidying her uniform. "Are you ignoring me!?"
"Hello Karin-chan." A young-looking girl with long black purple tinted hair and a perpetual blush on her cheeks peeks out from the store.
Karin's face lights up. "Oh hi Ururu." She waves. A tick forms on Jinta's head, gritting his teeth. "Why you—"
"You and Kurosaki-kun are a lot alike." Urahara got up, holding his bleeding nose, demeanor unchanged. "It's because of that likeness that I assume you've come to get stronger now that your brother is indisposed, am I right?"
The young girl nods. "Guess you're smarter than you look." She crosses her arms.
Chuckling. "Oh you flatter me Karin-chan…Please come inside, I'm sure we've got a lot to discuss."
He gestures for her to enter. She does so, sliding the door shut behind her.
Later that day, Yuzu is in the kitchen preparing dinner.
She hears the front door open. "I'm home." A tall young man with spiky orange hair wearing a grey school uniform gets into the house. "Welcome back." The blonde girl greets him with a hug. "How was your day?" she stares up at the man towering above her.
"It was good, thanks for asking." He smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
Noticing this, Yuzu thinks fast. "Um…guess what? Dinner's almost ready and it's going to be a big and delicious meal." She beams up at him. "That's great…" the young man pauses. "But I'm not hungry, could you please put it in the fridge for me, I'll have it tomorrow." He pats her head, making his way up the stairs. In that brief moment, the girl witnesses his faux smile fade away, leaving her crestfallen.
"I'm home." Karin enters the house. "Welcome back…" her sister murmurs.
"Is everything okay?" The dark haired girl reaches out to her. "Everything is fine." Yuzu evades her grasp. "Just need to finish making dinner." She ducks to the kitchen, wiping away any tears threatening to travel down her face. Karin frowns at the sight, before heading up the stairs.
The family eats dinner in silence, joined by a muscular man with spiky black hair and thin facial hair around his mouth and on his cheeks. "The food tastes great Yuzu!" he gives an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"Thank you…" she mumbles, barely touching her food. Karin on the other hand is stuffing her face. "You worked up an appetite at soccer today?" He pokes at her. "Table manners Dad." The man cries dramatically. "Why are you both being so cold to me tonight." He feigns distraught, still getting no one's attention.
"I think I'm going to call it a night." Yuzu excuses herself. "I'll clean the dishes tomorrow."
She proceeds to her bedroom without another word. The man glances at the dark haired girl, who's still shoving food into her mouth, paying him no mind.
He groans.
Later that night, the blonde girl stares at the ceiling.
She gets out of bed, and shuffles to the bathroom. On her way back to her room, she sees her brother's light still on from underneath the door. Tiptoeing, she cautiously opens the door, taking a stealthy look inside. The orange haired boy stares out the window longingly, only the light of the moon illuminating his face. Yuzu watches him for a few minutes, before taking her leave.
Returning to her room, she takes a quick look at her sister. She curls up on her bed, clenching her fists right before drifting to sleep.
Early the next morning, the two girls arrived at the T-junction.
"See ya." Karin did a little wave advancing towards Urahara's shop. Having taken a few steps, she glances back, seeing her sister right on her heels. "Why're you following me?" she interrogates. Yuzu exhales. "Since yesterday morning I've been thinking about everything you said. I care about Ichigo too…" The dark haired girl's eyes widen hearing this. "I've decided to get strong too, and do even more to help our big brother, is that a bad thing?" Taken aback at first, Karin began to giggle, making the blonde girl blush.
"No. No it's not a bad thing at all." The dark haired girl threw an arm over her sister's shoulder, and the two went on their merry way.
"I've got you warn you though, it's not gonna be eas—"
"I don't care how hard it is as long as it's for our big brother." Yuzu struck a pose. Her sister eye rolled, smirking. "Is that like your new thing now?" the blonde girl covered her mouth shyly. "Maybe…"
"Then you're hopeless."
The two shared a laugh, and before they knew it, they were standing in front of Urahara's shop. "Wow, we're already here?' Karin exclaimed. "Guess time flies when you're having fun right." Her sister nudged her. "I guess you're right." The dark haired girl smiled, then her expression turned serious. "You ready?" Yuzu bobbed her head.
"Alright then." The two set foot into the shop holding hands.
Inside, Kisuke was lounging by the counter while his employees were tidying up the shop.
"Good Morning everyone…except Jinta." Karin motioned to bow, her sister following suit, hands still intertwined. "Good Morning everyone." Jinta was too stunned from Yuzu's presence to offer the dark haired girl a comeback, while his co-workers bow in response, turning their attention back to their work. The shopkeeper peeps from beneath his hat. "Good Morning Karin-chan, I see you've brought Yuzu-chan with you today, does that mean what I think it mea—"
"Yes Urahara-san." The blonde girl's eyes were rife with intensity. "Please help my sister and I become stronger, help us gain the power our brother once had…the power to protect." She presses her lips together in anticipation. Karin was simply awestruck.
Urahara props himself up. "Just as I told your sister yesterday, your brother has helped us out a lot, so I'd be more than happy to assist." Fanning himself delicately. "Besides, who could say no to such cute twins." Yuzu was all smiles, while her sister cringed, biting her tongue this one time. "Now, shall we head down to the training grounds…"
"The what now?" Karin raises an eyebrow. "Please just follow me…". He leads them to the back of the store, and below.
A few moments later, the three of them now stood together in a large room with a ceiling and walls painted to resemble a cloudy sky over a floor of desolate, brown, craggy land dotted with trees.
"Whoa!!" Yuzu's eyes sparkled. "I didn't know there was such a huge place beneath the shop!!" Karin deadpanned. "You don't need to shout, stuff like this shouldn't even be a surprise anymore."
"But it is…" the blonde girl's eyes lit up even more.
"Thank you for the enthusiasm Yuzu-chan, but in the spirit of saving time. Yesterday I informed your sister that before you can attempt to acquire your Shinigami powers, you first need to learn the fundamentals of sensing Reiatsu, which is the physical force or pressure that a person's Reiryoku, or Spiritual Energy creates when released. Most spiritual beings can manipulate this release." The blonde girl nods. "Okay." A focused* look in her eyes. The shopkeeper quirks an eyebrow. "No questions?" The young girl shook her head. "Whatever we have to do, I'll do it…" she looks briefly at her twin, who gives her a light nod. "We're completely in your hands Urahara-san."
The man titters. "My, my, you Kurosaki kids may look and act different, but deep down you're all the same."
In that moment, the atmosphere became heavy. "Now then…Let us begin." The shopkeeper smiled smugly.
For the next few weeks, the girls visited Kisuke's everyday, eventually finding a balance between training and school, Karin even resumed playing soccer again.
Urahara sat on the ground cross-legged. "It's good to work hard, but rest is also important, that includes spending time with friends or even doing the activities you like."
"Yes Sensei." The twins also sat the same way as their master. Their eyes closed in concentration. The man examined the dark haired girl, nodding. Moving on to Yuzu, his eyes widen and his mouth curls into a mischievous smile.
A month passes. The sisters went to the shop as usual.
"Good news you two…" the man clapped his hands together. "You're ready to awaken your powers." The man wore a goofy expression. Karin growled. "Can we just get on with it?" Kisuke cleared his throat. "Of course…Karin you'll be coming with me, and Yuzu you'll be going with Ishida-san." Puzzled, but obedient as always, the girl looked behind her. A middle-aged man with narrow blue eyes and white hair stood there. He wore thin, frameless glasses and a plain grey suit with a light blue shirt and tie adorned with cross-like symbols. "Greetings young Ms. Kurosaki." He adjusted his glasses. "My name is Ryūken Ishida, an Echt Quincy, and Uryū Ishida's father it's a pleasure meet you." The blonde girl bowed in silence, body trembling.
The girl's sister glares at the shopkeeper. "Why does she have to go with him?" She points an accusing finger at the white haired man.
"I understand how you must feel Karin-chan, but I promise that it will all make sense very soon." Urahara's expression was filled with compassion. After a little while, the dark haired girl sighed, approaching her sister, and latching onto her shoulder. "Hey…" Yuzu turned her attention to Karin. "I'm sure it's gonna be okay, he may be a weird pervert, but Urahara has never lead us astray. If he says it's okay, I'm sure it's safe." The blonde girl exhales. "Yeah, you're right."
The dark haired girl simpers. "And don't forget, we promised to get stronger for Ichigo."
"Yeah!" Yuzu's eyes twinkle before doing a pose, and marching over to Ryūken. "I'm in your hands Ishida-sama." The man adjusts his glasses. "Then let us be off." He guides her out of the underground chamber. Yuzu glances at her sister one last time. "When we meet again I promise I'll be stronger!" her sister cups her hands together. "Me too!"
The two part bid each other adieu, travelling their respective paths in order to obtain, The Power To Protect.