Author's Note:

Hi everybody! I am SOOOOO excited to bring you my first HitsuKarin story! This fanfic will be 17 chapters in total, and I'm looking forward to finally having a complete story to my name :-D Toshiro and Karin are my absolute favorite couple; I just love their chemistry, personalities, and all the potential their relationship has. It still makes me incredibly sad that their meeting was never in the manga...Sigh. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you think I've pegged everyone's characters pretty well, or if someone seems a little OOC. Granted, they're all older, so they've all matured and changed a bit, but I'm gonna try my best to stay relatively within their original characters.

P.S. for those of you who are also waiting on a new installment of Run, Baby, Run and SBT – The Final Chapter, I will be refocusing my writing and proof-reading efforts on them now that this project is complete, and will have new content for you as soon as possible!

I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: All credit goes to Tite Kubo. I do not own Bleach. If I did, HitsuKarin would have so totally been a thing. Sigh...a girl can dream, can't she?

FYIs:

'This style represents a character's thoughts'


"Miss Kurosaki!"

Karin's head spun from the window she had been staring out of to the professor at the head of the class. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized she'd just missed the last 15 minutes of the lecture. 'Crap...' she thought. This professor already didn't like her; now she'd really gone and done it. Looking swiftly back at the woman, she answered. "I'm sorry. Yes, Ma'am?"

Mrs. Nakamura gave her a stern look before replying. "Unless you have something more pressing, will you please come to the front of the class; You're first up to present your report on the nervous system."

"Yes, Ma'am." Karin muttered as she collected her things, and made her way to the front of class. She paid no attention to her snickering classmates, as her mind was wandering back to that strange sensation she'd felt from just outside the campus grounds. 'That Reiatsu...it felt so familiar. Definitely not Ichi, Rukia, or Renji, though. Must've been another Shinigami I met a long time ago. Ichigo used to have a few over at the house from time to time back in the day, so maybe it was one of them? Well, whoever it was, they took care of that hollow real quick...'

Making her way to the front of the class, she got her papers in order, and prepared herself to begin. Glancing quickly at her professor, she could see the deep scowl on the woman's face. Sighing inwardly, Karin braced herself for the worst.'Great...this is gonna go well...'

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Ichigo walked through the door of the Kurosaki clinic, glad to finally be home. "Orihime, I'm back! Has goat-chin come home yet?"

Popping her head into the living room from the kitchen, Orihime saw her husband taking off his shoes; smiling at him in greeting. "No, Isshin hasn't come back yet, but he did call me to let me know he's on his way. I just got a text from Karin and Yuzu telling me they're on their way back, too. They'll all be home in time for dinner, which will be nice. Karin's been having to pull so many late-nighters at school lately, that we haven't been able to sit down for dinner as a family in a while. So, how'd it go today? Did you get all the details ironed out with the head captain?"

Ichigo nodded, and let out a relieved sigh upon hearing that his whole family would be home. He was hoping to have everyone at dinner tonight so they could all hear the news together, and he was pretty excited about it…but also slightly terrified. Looking over at his wife, he gave her a smile in return. "Yeah, dad and I spoke with Shunsui for a few hours, and he gave his permission. He also said he'd get in touch with Urahara about using the underground training area."

Orihime let out a little squeal of excitement; jumping around for a minute before making her way back to the kitchen to attend to a pot that was boiling over. "They'll both be so excited! I can't wait to see their faces!" she hollered from the kitchen.

Ichigo smirked at his wife's enthusiasm; she always had been extremely expressive. "I hope so, Hime, but you're forgetting that one of them doesn't even know that we know about anything. It might be more of a shock than a pleasant surprise."

Popping her head out from the kitchen once more, the beautiful young Mrs. Kurosaki smiled at her husband. "I'm sure everything will be fine, dear."

Ichigo smiled back at her, hoping that she was right. Their peaceful moment was sadly ended when the door swung open, and slammed into him; knocking him off his feet, and into the side of the wall. Isshin came bounding in, full of excitement, and completely oblivious to the fact that he'd just sent his son body-slamming into the plaster. "I can't believe this day has finally come! Oh, Masaki would be so prou-!"

Before Isshin could finish, Ichigo's fist connected with his father's jaw; sending Isshin flying across the living room. "Watch it when ya open the door, old man! That hurt!"

Setting the table, Orihime smiled to herself as she heard the usual sounds of yet another father-son brawl breaking out in the living room. 'Yes, I'm sure this will turn out well for everyone.' She thought.

A few minutes later, just as she was putting the food on the table, she heard Karin and Yuzu open the door; Karin proceeding to break up Ichigo and Isshin, and Yuzu scolding them both for behaving so childishly.

"Dinner's ready, everyone!" Orihime called from the kitchen, hearing her son Kazui come thumping down the stairs to join everyone else at the dinner table.

Everybody filed into the kitchen, and took their seats; enjoying small talk for a little while as everyone talked about their day. Once dinner was over, Orihime placed a cake on the table with a candle that said '6' on it. All at once, everyone shouted "Happy 6th birthday, Kazui!"; smiling as Kazui let out a giggle. An enormous smile appeared on his face, and he eyed the cake hungrily; making the adults laugh. While Orihime cut and dished out the dessert, Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin gave Kazui his gifts. From Karin and Yuzu, he received a new bike and skateboard; and from Isshin, he received a new bike helmet, and knee and elbow pads for the skateboard.

Already excited about his new things, Kazui looked to his parents, who were smiling excitedly at him. Seeing nothing in their hands, or around them, he gave them a confused look.

Ichigo and Orihime looked at each other happily, before looking back at their son as Ichigo spoke. "Kazui, our gift to you this year isn't something we could wrap, and put in a box. Your mother and I have been talking, and we have a question for you: do you want to become an official substitute Shinigami like me?"

Kazui's face lit up as excitement and joy overflowed from his small body. He started bouncing up and down in his chair, while shouting "YES, YES, YES!"

Ichigo smiled at his son; he saw a lot of himself in Kazui, to an extent, and that made him really happy. It was awesome to see such enthusiasm coming from the boy in front of him, and he was happy that Kazui would be able to train and learn for more pleasant reasons than saving the earth and Soul Society from certain demise...yeah, he didn't miss those days at all.

Putting a hand on his son's head, and ruffling his hair, he said "Alright, then. That's your birthday present from your mom and me. I'll be training you, along with Mr. Urahara, at his shop; and your grandpa will be there, too. We can start tomorrow after school, if you want. Kisuke will have everything ready by then."

Kazui let out a yell of excitement; springing out of his chair, and giving his parents a big hug. "Thank you, Daddy; thank you, Mommy!"

Karin watched the heartwarming scene in front of her; happy for her nephew, but also slightly jealous. She'd been keeping her own Shinigami powers a secret from her family for a little over a year now. The Kurosaki stubbornness in her wanted to impress everyone by figuring things out for herself, and another part of her knew that Ichigo would chew her out for putting herself in harm's way. She knew he'd try to babysit her every time she went off to face a hollow, as he'd always been too protective of her and Yuzu anyway, and she really didn't want to deal with his paranoia. Not only that, she knew that Ichigo was the only substitute Shinigami that the Gotei 13 had allowed after Ginjo. She was worried about what they'd say or do if they found out about her. Only her twin sister knew about her powers, and that was how she thought she would keep it. Lately, though, she was starting to realize that there was only so much she could learn on her own; she needed someone to train with her, someone to instruct her...she just reeeeally didn't want that someone to be her obnoxious father or coddling brother. She didn't want to ask Kisuke, cause she didn't trust him to train her without potentially killing her (she'd heard a few horror stories from Ichigo's training with him back in the day), and Rukia was back in Soul Society. So, her options were pretty much nil at the moment.

As if reading her mind, Ichigo turned to her after breaking free from the family hug; a knowing smile on is face. Locking eyes with her older brother, she couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth next. "Don't worry, Karin. I know how jealous you must be feeling right now, so you'll be joining us, too."

Karin gaped at her brother, unable to come up with a witty comeback. Looking around the table, she could see several pairs of knowing eyes watching her. 'They all know?!' she thought as she looked around the table; finally finding her words. "How the hell do you all know?! I haven't told anyone except Yuzu! Yu, did you squeal on me?!"

Yuzu rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "No, Karin, I didn't tell them. They figured it out on their own, and I just confirmed the information."

Ichigo smirked at his raven-haired sister; enjoying her reaction. "Did you really think we wouldn't notice, Karin? Orihime found your gikongan months ago while she was cleaning the house. Let me guess...Kisuke?"

Karin just nodded dumbfoundedly; watching her brother intently. He didn't seem concerned at all, which was a good sign to her.

"Figured. When I mentioned you coming for training too, he just gave me this pompous, knowing smirk. Thought he might've known, that bastard." Ichigo said, raising a hand to his face to cradle his chin, looking contemplative.

As Ichigo was thinking back on his conversation with Urahara, something dawned on Karin. "Wait a minute, is that why goat-chin is coming tomorrow? To train me?"

Isshin shook his head in reply. "No, Karin; I won't be teaching you. I'm solely there to oversee Kazui's training with Ichigo, and make sure Urahara doesn't kill my grandson in the process. You'll have a different teacher."

Karin looked back at her father with a puzzled look on her face. "Then...who's gonna train me? Are Rukia or Renji coming back? And how did you get the Gotei 13 to agree to this, anyway? Don't they have strict rules about this kind of stuff?"

Isshin smirked in reply. "I'm not yet sure who will be sent from Soul Society to train you. Head Captain Kyoraku just said that he would be in touch with the name of whomever he chose to send. All I know is that it will be a Captain; he was quite specific about that. Ichigo and I talked with him for quite a while today, explaining about both you and Kazui's situations. Fortunately, Shunsui is more open-minded about change than Yamamoto was. He personally feels that it could be a good thing to have some competent substitute Shinigami on earth to assist the Gotei 13, if and when needed. Besides, many Shinigami were killed during the war; this is a resourceful way of helping to fill that gap until the ranks of the Shinigami are completely replenished. He's looking forward to hearing of your progress, by the way."

Karin took a moment to absorb the information, filtering through all of it slowly. "Okay, that makes sense, since Ichigo was the one who saved their butts twelve years ago; but why was the Head Captain so specific about a captain being my teacher?"

This time, Ichigo was the one who responded. "Bankai training, mostly. Only a few Lieutenants have even attained their Bankai, let alone mastered it; but, that's a requirement in order to make the rank of Captain. Plus, it'll be good for you to get your butt handed to you a few times by someone way more powerful than you. That's how I learned." he finished with a smirk.

Karin glared at him for a minute before sighing, and smirking back. "Well, since you were the one who got me on the Shinigami A-list, I'll let that one go. Besides, a good challenge is just what I need."

Ichigo's smirk morphed into a smile as he stared at his sister. He wouldn't tell her, but he was actually really proud of her. Yes, he was worried about her being put in harm's way, but he knew that she was going to do what she wanted anyway, training or no training; and she'd have a much better chance of staying alive if she was properly trained. She wasn't a little kid anymore; she was an ambitious young woman who knew what she wanted, and would beat down anyone who tried to get in her way. She was a Kurosaki, through and through; complete with unmatched stubbornness, a big heart that cared deeply for people, and a strong sense of justice. Ichigo just pitied the poor soul that would get stuck training her. 'They're gonna have a run for their money with her.' he thought amusedly.

Kazui, whom everyone had forgotten was still in the kitchen, startled everybody by piping up from behind Ichigo. "Alright! We're gonna crush it tomorrow! Right, Auntie Karin?!"

Everyone laughed at the little boy's outburst; big smiles appearing on their faces as Karin gave him a thumbs up. "You got that right, kiddo! Let's show them how it's done, shall we?" she said as she held her hand up for a high five from her nephew.

Kazui ran over to her excitedly, and the two high-fived on it. Karin already couldn't wait for tomorrow's classes to be over, and for training to start...and to meet her teacher.

"So," Karin said, "who do you think will get the unfortunate assignment of teaching me?" she asked, sarcasm evident in her voice, and a smirk on her face.

Ichigo smirked back. "My money's on Rukia. She's the most logical choice, since you know her, and work well together with her. She's also a good teacher, so I think she'd do a good job with it."

Isshin hummed in reply to that. "I don't know, Ichigo. While Rukia does make the most sense in terms of connection to, and knowledge of, this family, that may prove to be more of a hindrance than a help. Rukia cares for Karin like a sister; so, would that make her more or less likely to push Karin to her absolute limit? She may not have it in her to put Karin in as much danger as will be needed to get the most out of her training. She was harsh with you because she had to be...and because you annoyed her enough for her not to care about hurting you. Karin is a different story. Plus, Rukia is the newest captain of the Gotei 13. I can't imagine they'll let her take such a long absence from her division only a couple of years after her promotion. If I had to guess, I'd say it will be Shinji Hirako."

Ichigo reeled back at hearing that name; a grimace on his face. "What?! No way am I letting that creep near my little sister! Why would you guess him, anyway?"

Isshin looked over at his son, enjoying the comical reaction. "Well, he has a snarky attitude, and good humor, like Karin. However, when in battle, he stays level-headed and analytical. Those are traits that Karin will need to learn, and their personalities would be similar enough so they'd be able to work well together."

Ichigo begrudgingly admitted that his father had a fair point, but re-asserted that he would not be letting a creep like Shinji near his sister. If it did end up being him, Ichigo said he'd go straight to Soul Society, and personally negotiate a replacement with Shunsui, which made everyone laugh.

After dinner, they all went into the living room to enjoy some family time before heading to bed.

All throughout the night, Karin kept wondering who would be assigned to teach her. 'I hope it's someone with a sense of humor; otherwise, this'll be a loooooong training program.' She thought to herself as she tried to think back to Ichigo's old Shinigami friends that she'd met all those years ago. She remembered a busty strawberry blonde who'd seemed like a lot of fun. Was her name Rangiku, or something like that? She also remembered Rukia and Renji, of course. They were like family, especially now. The bald-headed guy had seemed like fun, but a little unstable; and his friend with the weird sense of style was a bit flamboyant for her taste. There was one other Shinigami she still remembered as clearly as if she'd seen him yesterday...Toshiro Hitsugaya.

She'd never be able to forget the Shinigami captain who'd saved her life, and the lives of her friends, that day they were attacked by a hollow. Very short, snow-white hair, deep turquoise eyes, and a stick up his ass the length of California. First, he'd helped her and her team win their soccer match against the older kids, thus securing their right to practice on the field; then, he'd saved them all from being crushed by a creature her friends couldn't even see. She still clearly remembered grabbing his shoulders, and begging him for information on where her brother had gone. She remembered the sadness and hope she'd felt when he'd told her he didn't know where her brother was, but that he knew wherever Ichigo was, he was making himself stronger in order to protect everyone. She remembered running into him later on in the year, when the winter weather was closing in. He'd come to earth for a 'leave of absence', as he'd called it, and played some soccer with her and her team. She remembered the visits to Haru's house, Yousuke's hollowfication, and Toshiro once again stepping in to protect her. She remembered the last time she said goodbye to him. She'd told him to stop by again when he got the chance, and that she'd leave his name on her team's roster.

It was still crazy to her that it'd been twelve years since she'd seen him last. She still sometimes wondered how he was; if he'd even survived the Thousand-Year Blood War, as the Shinigami had called it later on. She'd been strangely drawn to him back then; He was the first person who's company she enjoyed for any extended length of time. Yeah, she liked hanging out with her soccer team, cause they were her friends, but she could never talk to them about stuff relating to her sensitivity to, and ability to see, spirits, or anything like that. Toshiro was the first person whom she was able to ask questions to, and who really understood her on that level. They were so different, yet so similar. She felt like they complimented each other well, so she'd been disappointed when she hadn't seen him come around again.

'Well, once we entered an era of peace, I guess there really wasn't any reason for him to come back; makes sense why I haven't seen him for so long. Who knows, maybe I'll get to go to Soul Society one day after my training is over, to see the place. I could always try to find him, and see if he even remembers me. He probably won't, but you never know.' she thought as she finally began to feel her eyelids struggle to remain open.

With thoughts of endless possibilities for the future running through her head, Karin finally closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep; excited for morning to come.


SO?! What did you guys think?! I hope it lived up to your expectations, and that you all feel like I was able to keep everyone true to their original character, for the most part.

Even though Kazui's age is never specified, and he sometimes goes from looking young to looking a little older, I believe he is around 6 years old at this point; if you follow the timeline of events from the end of the manga, through the books, and to the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc. This is just my assumption based on observation, though, so I may be completely wrong.

Just an FYI, but down here is where you'll be able to find translations for Japanese names, and links to inspirational pictures for various outfits and hairstyles I describe later on in the story as well.

Hope to see you all back here for chapter 2!

Yours truly,

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