Author's Note:

Alrighty-roo! Here we go with chapter 11! I couldn't wait, so I decided to give you guys three chapters this week :D I hope everyone's ready for the Bankai reveal, cause here it is!

Be sure to look at the bottom of this chapter for links to informational websites I looked up while trying to decide on what zanpakuto spirit and element I wanted to give Karin, so her spirit would be linked to Toshiro's in some way!

Enjoy!

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

Karin stood in the center of a large crater created by the tornado from her Bankai release; a cocky smile on her face. "Haikai Suru Daichi no Arashi." she said; enjoying her boyfriend's reaction.

Looking her up and down, Toshiro felt no shame in admitting that he liked this new form of hers. 'Okay, that's pretty damn hot' he thought; discreetly checking her out.

Upon releasing her Bankai, Karin's appearance changed drastically. She sported tall black boots with a slight heel, opaque light grey stockings under black shorts lined with greyish-white fur on both legs; a fur belt around her waist; and a form-fitting, sleeveless stormy-grey shirt adorned with tiger stripes in blue gradients. The collar and armholes of the shirt boasted the same fur lining, and she sported greyish-white fur wrist bands. Blue tiger markings covered her face and arms; and her black hair, which she'd put up into a ponytail, acquired a much spikier, wilder look. If she took her hair out of its holder, Toshiro was sure it would probably resemble a lion's mane. In her hand was a whip made of diamond-shaped metal scales. Said scales were tilted out slightly on the bottoms; allowing for wind currents to travel all the way down it in spirals, before feeding back into the weapon where the metal joined the leather handle in her hand.

Standing next to her was a large, fierce-looking tiger with piercing white eyes. 'That must be her zanpakuto spirit' he thought. The surface of the tiger reminded him of a storm: swirling dark clouds, with peaks of blue shining through as the clouds traveled across the animal's body. It was beautiful, but Toshiro suspected it was quite dangerous as well; if Yoruichi's reports of Karin's training were anything to go by. 'Beautiful, powerful, and deadly; just like Karin herself. It fits her well.' he thought to himself as he observed his pupil's drastic change; a proud smile on his face. 'The dragon and the tiger; the heavens and the earth…yin and yang. Now it all makes sense.'

Smirking at her entranced boyfriend, Karin began sauntering towards him; Todoroku Kaze following close behind her. "So, what do you think, Toshiro?"

The young captain smirked back at her; giving her another once-over. "Definitely not what I was expecting, but it makes things a lot clearer." he replied; locking his gaze with hers.

Karin nodded slightly in response; understanding what he was trying to say. Once Yoruichi had seen her zanpakuto spirit, the former Shihoin clan head had understood immediately why Karin and Toshiro appeared to be mysteriously and uniquely linked. She explained to Karin the significance of the relationship between the tiger and the dragon in both Chinese and Japanese mythology, and the raven-haired Kurosaki couldn't believe she hadn't put it together herself. Their dreams and inner worlds were connected, because their zanpakuto spirits have been connected and linked to each other for millennia.

"Well, what do you say we give this a go?" she asked; excitement in her eyes as she came to a stop a good fifty feet from him.

Nodding his head in agreement, Toshiro got himself ready; adopting a defensive stance. "Let's see what you can do." he said; focusing himself, and summoning forth another ice dragon.

Todoroku Kaze let out a deep growl, followed by a ferocious roar that matched the ice dragon's; both entities watching each other carefully.

Suddenly, the ice dragon charged at them; with three others appearing to surround Karin at every angle.

Thinking fast, Karin swung her whip in a circular motion above her head; producing a large wind dome.

Toshiro watched as the dragons made contact with the swirling currents; freezing them solid. 'Tetsu no dōmu again. Come on, Karin, show me some versatility.' he thought as the dome shattered; sending ice particles reigning down throughout the arena.

Finding his pupil's gaze, he placed the tip of his sword on the ground; resting his hand on the hilt. "Don't rely solely on one ability for defense, Karin; utilize your entire arsenal. I want you to start thinking of counter-attacks instead of falling back on Tetsu no dōmu, okay? Turn a good offense into an effective defense. Your abilities are very versatile; exploit that."

Karin nodded slightly in understanding; watching as his eyes narrowed slightly, and his hand began moving from his zanpakuto. Immediately, she shunpo'd out of the way, and when she looked back at the spot she had just been standing in some one hundred feet away, she was shocked to see the entire area covered in ice. The trail stretched all the way down to the end of the training room, and up the wall; stopping just barely below where the wall met the roof.

Toshiro looked slightly surprised that she'd managed to dodge the attack, and could see the curiosity, along with the slight fear, in her eyes. Turning his body towards her, he gestured to the icy trail. "Now that my Bankai is complete, I have access to its greatest ability: I can flash-freeze any objects in front of me. Anything caught in that flash-freeze will have all of its functions and abilities negated." he said; watching as Karin's face took on a thoughtful look. 'Good; start strategizing, Karin.'

Karin couldn't pretend that she didn't find this new and extremely dangerous ability unsettling, but she had a few new tricks of her own up her sleeve that she could utilize against it. 'If that's the true power of his Bankai, then it stands to reason that physically touching him or his sword probably isn't a good idea, either. Since direct contact isn't an option, and he can negate any direct attack almost instantly with his flash-freezing, it's time to try a more…round-about approach.' she thought; adopting a slight smirk.

Seeing a smirk appear on his pupil's face both encouraged Toshiro, and put him on alert. 'What's she planning?' he thought; watching as his girlfriend flung her whip up into the air. The long metal weapon emitted a loud crack, and a large wind current shot out of it; twisting and swirling around Karin until it split into twelve sections, and formed what appeared to be some type of wind clones of Todoroku Kaze.

Toshiro eyed the animals carefully. They looked exactly like the zanpakuto spirit; so much so, that he couldn't tell which was the actual spirit, and which ones were the clones. 'She's created her own personal army.' he thought; rather impressed, and curious to see what she could do with the creatures.

Finding her teacher's gaze as her tigers surrounded her, Karin put a hand on her hip, and smiled self-assuredly up at the white-haired captain. "Rōmingu sutōmu āmī" she said as all the tigers roared in unison. With another crack of her whip, the animals charged; heading straight for Toshiro.

The young captain summoned forth more ice dragons, and sent them after the approaching cats; freezing the ones they made contact with while the other wind creatures pressed on; new ones generating from Karin's weapon as soon as previous ones were dispatched.

The cats kept advancing through his barrage of ice dragons, and were getting too close to him for comfort. Swinging his sword in a linear direction, he created overflowing ice from his blade. "Hyōryū Senbi!". The line of tigers advancing on him froze solid, and shattered as he repeated the action. "Hyōryū Senbi: Zekkū!" he yelled as a stream of ice shot through the army of rapidly multiplying animals, and headed straight for Karin.

He watched carefully as several tiger clones retreated, and dissipated; creating a transparent wind barrier in front of their master.

Seeing an opening from her momentary distraction, Toshiro acted. "Guncho Tsurara!" he said; freezing the water around him, swinging his zanpakuto in an arc, and launching ice daggers toward his pupil.

The attack from her teacher was perfectly timed. Seeing the blast of ice headed her way, Karin recalled a half a dozen of her tiger clones to form a protective barrier in front of her, but that still left her open from behind; and, therefore, exposed. The blast of ice met her barrier; freezing it solid, and shattering it…but not before she heard Todoroku Kaze roar with pain as half of her cloned tigers suddenly dissolved. With her attention taken up by the blast of ice, she'd failed to notice the ice daggers that had flown past her frozen barrier, stopped in mid-air, and changed trajectory to impale her from the back. Todoroku Kaze had seen it, though, and taken the hit that was meant for her; thus injuring, and weakening, the spirit.

The young captain observed this development carefully. 'That's her zanpakuto's weakness. Because Todoroku Kaze takes on a physical manifestation, it can be injured. So, if the spirit is injured, her abilities are interrupted.' he thought; preparing to launch another attack.

Before he could, however, Toshiro gritted his teeth in pain when one of the tiger clones snuck past his ice dragons, and made contact with him; biting deep into his already injured shoulder, and clawing his side.

Just as soon as the tiger made contact with him, though, it froze solid; which allowed Toshiro to break away from it immediately. 'Damn, that hurts.' he thought as he assessed the damage he'd taken. 'Deep puncture wounds, but I've sustained worse. I can't let them pile on me, though; they'd tear me apart. She may not be able to touch me in this form, but those animals can. They're made of wind, so it doesn't matter if they freeze on contact. Plus, she can generate more, so it doesn't matter how many she has to throw at me; they can keep coming indefinitely until they wear their enemy down.' he thought; contemplating possible counter-attacks.

With her zanpakuto spirit already recovering from the injury it had taken, Karin's powers were back at full strength. Cracking her whip, she generated dozens more wind clones of Todoroku Kaze, and sent them after her instructor. He'd told her to think along the lines of counter-attacks; so, she was obliging. The beauty of this ability was that she could keep up the onslaught indefinitely; thus, putting him on the defensive, and with no time to enact a counter.

Karin kept sending tiger clones his way, before swinging her whip in a diagonal motion from above her left shoulder, down to her right knee. "Kemono no uzu!" she hollered; releasing four rapidly spiraling currents of air from her weapon. The four currents spiraled around each other, until they formed a skinny but powerful vortex; tearing apart the ground beneath it, and drilling through the army of clones as it barreled straight for Toshiro.

Being surrounded by the clones, and distracted from fighting them all off, Toshiro didn't see the attack until it was too late. He was thrown off his feet, and went soaring through the air as the vortex barreled into him; slamming into the ground several hundred feet away, and creating a large crater from the force of the impact. Getting up slowly, he could feel a stinging pain across his entire chest; looking down to see the top of his shihakusho completely gone, along with his captain's haori, and a large red gash that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip. The wound was bleeding at a steady rate, and Toshiro knew that if he didn't finish this fight soon, he would pass out from blood loss. 'That was a lot more powerful than her Saikuronsōdo, and it was the bottom of the funnel cloud that hit me this time instead of the top. Definitely way more damage, and much faster. This needs to end, or it's going to get ugly soon.' he thought as his girlfriend shunpo'd over to where he'd landed.

Karin smirked at him; Todoroku Kaze at her side, and her army of tigers following closely behind. Toshiro counted them quickly; trying to get an accurate idea of just how many there were, so he knew exactly how to manage his strategy. 'Alright, just over one hundred and fifty…not bad, Karin.' he thought as he watched his girlfriend give the signal for her tigers to advance.

Toshiro shunpo'd to the far corner of the room; waiting for all of the tiger clones to get within range. Once they were all headed straight for him, he slashed his sword. "Shikai hyōketsu!" he said; watching as every single clone, along with the rest of the training room in front of him, froze solid. The clones shattered, and a moment later, he was next to Karin.

Karin couldn't believe what she'd just seen, and had just barely been able to sense Toshiro in enough time to block his sword. The sound of steel meeting steel rang through the air as Karin held her whip up with both hands in a defensive position; catching Toshiro's blade, with the whip beginning to ice over at the point of contact.

Karin threw him off, and put some distance between herself and her teacher before thinking fast, and swinging her weapon around in a counter-clockwise position; the scales turning sideways, and the whip locking to form a multi-edged, sword-type weapon that reminded Toshiro of an Ōdachi in terms of length. He guessed the blade was around eight feet long, at the least.

Toshiro came at her again, and she met him blow for blow; ice covering more of her weapon with every clash of metal, and numerous cuts littering her body. She knew she needed to find a way of ending this, or she'd end up frozen solid. Fortunately, she had another new technique that just might do the trick. Throwing him off yet again, Karin stabbed her sword into the ground. "Rifuto bakuhatsu!" she cried, as the ground cracked, and separated beneath them; a powerful blast of air erupting from the fissure directly beneath Hitsugaya, and catching him off-guard.

Toshiro was blown up into the air, and Karin immediately rose up off the ground; slashing her sword at him. "Category 3: Eakattā!"

This blast was much larger, faster, and more powerful than that of her Shikai version, and he didn't have time to react. The attack hit him dead on; shattering the protective ice wings that surrounded him, sending him careening into the wall, and falling to the ground. Slowly, he got up on shaky legs; dripping blood, and breathing heavily as he readied himself to strike back.

Suddenly, he was pinned up against the wall by a blade to his throat. Locking eyes with his pupil, he gave her a small smile; dropping Hyorinmaru. "Okay, I surrender. You win this one."

A look of utter surprise came over Karin's face. This was the first time she'd won against her teacher, and she couldn't believe he actually gave up.

Toshiro smirked at her slightly, before his eyes started clouding over, and he felt himself getting light-headed. Noticing this, Karin immediately sheathed Todoroku Kaze, and grabbed her now passed out boyfriend; returning them both to normal, and soaking her with his blood. Worry settled into her gut as she noticed just how deep his numerous gashes were, and she called Urahara over to help her carry him out of the chamber.

Everyone from the observation room joined her and Kisuke a few moments later, and her father and brother offered to carry the captain back to the house for Orihime to heal him. Karin thanked them, as well as Kisuke, and handed her boyfriend over to the two men while she and Kazui followed close behind them; Kazui raving about her Bankai, and Karin listening politely while trying not to let her worry show on her face.

Once they got back to the house, Orihime went right to work healing Toshiro; and Karin didn't leave his side. Even after the new Kurosaki matriarch finished the healing session, told Karin that he would be just fine, and to go get some rest in her own bed, Karin had refused; saying she would stay in his room on a chair until he woke up.

It took several hours, but, finally, at three in the morning, Toshiro's eyes finally opened. He groaned at the dull ache throughout his body, and brought his right hand up to rub his eyes. Feeling another hand holding his own, he slowly turned his head to his left; seeing his girlfriend next to him.

Karin had pulled up a chair, and had her head resting on the edge of the bed; her fingers laced through his. He could tell she wasn't fully asleep, but she was clearly resting her eyes, and very quickly drifting off. Smiling warmly at her, he extracted his hand from hers, and gently brushed her hair out of her face. The sudden contact jolted her from her half-asleep state, and her head shot up from the bed; looking at him with big eyes. "Toshiro?" she said; seeing his turquoise eyes looking back at her.

Toshiro smirked slightly as he slowly sat up; assessing his body, and the now-healed injuries. "Don't look so worried, Karin. Compared to what I went through in the war, this isn't bad. I'm tougher than I look."

Karin let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and climbed onto the bed; throwing her arms around his neck, and hugging him tightly. "Oh my god, Toshiro; I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I'd injured you as badly as I did. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

Seeing his girlfriend so worried about him made him both happy that she cared so much, and sad that she'd been worrying herself about something that wasn't as serious as she'd thought. He brought his arms around her, and held her close; gently rubbing her back. "It's alright. I've taken much more serious damage than this in the past, so don't worry. I'm okay, I promise."

Karin breathed a sigh of relief; releasing him, and pulling back slightly so she could see his face. "Of course I worry, idiot; I've been worried since you passed out in the training room. Orihime said I did a lot of damage, but that there were no critical injuries, which kinda helped a little. You lost a lot of blood, and – mmmgh!" Karin was cut off when Toshiro leaned in suddenly, and kissed her; pulling away just a few moments later, and finding her stormy grey eyes. "Karin, it's okay. I'm okay. You did great, and I'm really proud of you." he said; smiling affectionately at her before adopting a smirk. "Besides, it's the first time you've won against me, so enjoy it. For all you know, it may be your last."

Karin scoffed; giving him a light punch in the arm, and smirking back at him. "I just kicked your ass, so don't be cocky." she replied, before seeing his smirk widen ever so slightly. All of a sudden, her triumphant smile vanished, and was replaced by an inquisitive frown. "You were going easy on me, weren't you?"

Toshiro stared back at her; holding her gaze, and keeping the smirk on his face. "Maybe." was his simple reply, which elicited a squawk of annoyance from his girlfriend. "What?! Come on, Toshiro, really?! That's such a load of BS! Show me some respect, and fight me seriously, you jackass!" she hollered at him while he broke out in laughter.

Karin grabbed his spare pillow, and whacked him with it, which just made Toshiro laugh even harder.

Fighting to calm himself down, he grabbed the pillow mid-swing, and pulled it away from her. Karin pounced to grab it back, but Toshiro was quicker. He threw the pillow over her shoulder onto the floor, and let Karin fall forward towards his lap. He then slid his legs out from under her, and managed to pin her down while she struggled to break free.

Smirking down at her, Toshiro's face hovered just a few inches above hers. "Will you let me explain, or are we going to keep playing this game?" he asked; amusement evident on his face.

Karin huffed in response; flushing slightly from their current position, and feeling his breath ghost over her face. "Fine, what is it?" she replied obstinately; relaxing herself, and ceasing to try and break out of his grasp.

Toshiro nodded slightly, and released his gentle but firm grip on her wrists; propping himself up on his elbows instead. "Since the purpose is to train you, there aren't many of my Bankai abilities that I can use which wouldn't result in your death. Most of my abilities kill my opponent, not injure them; so, I need to be careful with what I use. Since I didn't know the extent of your new abilities, I only used attacks that I knew I could make non-lethal. That way, I could see what you could do. Now that I have a better idea of your capabilities, I can alter my own to push you as hard as possible without inflicting fatal injuries." he said; his face adopting a soft, affectionate look. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you a proper fight this time, Karin; but I couldn't take the chance. What would I do if something happened to you?"

Karin's frown disappeared, and a soft smile replaced it; happy that she now understood the reasons behind his actions. Bringing her arms up around his neck, she pulled him down so his forehead was resting against hers. "It's alright, Toshiro; I understand. Thank you." she replied; moving one of her hands to the side of his face, and gently brushing his cheek with her thumb.

The young captain closed his eyes, and enjoyed the physical contact; opening them a few moments later, and finding his girlfriend's gaze once more. "There is one thing I'd like to do, though. Since your abilities are so versatile, I'd like to bring Ichigo in as a second combatant. I think having two opponents would be a good way to improve your situational awareness, while pushing the abilities of your Bankai a bit. Would you mind if I talk to him about it tomorrow?"

Karin gave him an approving smile in response. "I think that's a good idea, and I don't mind you talking to Ichi about it. I'm sure he'll say yes, anyway. Now, you still owe me for throwing the fight today." she replied; her eyes reflecting playfulness.

Toshiro smirked back at her, and looked at her with half-lidded eyes. Closing the remaining distance between them, he captured her lips with his as their eyes fell shut; Karin running her fingers through his hair, and Toshiro fisting his hands into the sheets to keep them from going anywhere he knew was off-limits.

Several minutes ticked by before their make-out session was abruptly ended when they heard a knock on the door; their heads snapping over to the entrance. "Karin, are you still in there? Is Toshiro awake yet?" came Orihime's soft voice from the other side of the wood. Toshiro shot off of Karin while she sprang from the bed; Toshiro landing so close to the edge of the bed that he fell off, and onto the floor in an unceremonious heap.

Seeing her boyfriend fighting with the bedsheets that slid down on top of him when he fell made Karin burst into laughter just as Orihime opened the door. "S-So much f-for mature and dignified! You're really losing your image, Toshiro!" Karin sputtered and laughed as the white-haired Shinigami extricated himself from his bedding; glaring at her unamusedly.

Orihime giggled in the doorway; drawing their attention to her as she smiled at them. "It's good to see you awake, Captain Hitsugaya. How are you feeling?"

Toshiro nodded to the young mother, before getting up off the ground. "I feel just fine. Thank you for healing me, Orihime." he replied as he gathered up his sheets, and plopped them back onto his bed.

Orihime gave him a big smile in response. "I'm glad you're doing well; it was my pleasure." she said, before looking over at her sister-in-law. "Karin, you've barely slept; you should get some rest. I'm going to head back to bed, so can I ask you to make sure she goes to bed, Toshiro?"

The young captain gave a puzzled look to Karin, before turning back to Orihime, and nodding his head. "I'll make sure she goes to bed. Goodnight, Orihime."

The young woman nodded back; a grateful expression on her face. "Thank you, Toshiro. Goodnight." she said, before closing the door; leaving the two of them alone once more.

The white-haired man looked at his girlfriend expectantly; an unreadable expression on his face.

Meeting his gaze, Karin shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say; I was worried. Now that I know you're okay, I can sleep. I'm fine, honest."

Observing her carefully, Toshiro walked over to her; his blank face startling Karin. He'd never looked at her like that before, and it unnerved her. Slowly, she started backing up one step at a time around her room as he advanced. "Come on, Toshiro; what's with the face? It was only six hours." she said in an uneasy tone as he got closer and closer to her.

Finally, when she had nowhere else to go, having backed herself into the corner of her room, Toshiro closed in on her; trapping her with his body, grabbing her waist with his calloused hands, and kissing her hard.

The uncharacteristic behavior made Karin gasp in surprise, which he exploited; pulling a moan from her as her hands came up, and latched onto the hair at the nape of his neck. Pushing her head back slightly, Toshiro deepened the kiss for a few moments, before pulling away completely to start making his way down her neck; his thumb sliding under the hem of her shirt, and ghosting over her hip bone.

Karin tilted her head slightly to give him better access; thoroughly enjoying this uncontrolled side of him that she almost never saw. She closed her eyes; relishing the feel of his lips on her neck while her heart rate rapidly increased; something she was sure he could feel. Once he got to the junction of her shoulder and neck, however, he stopped; taking a few deep breaths before raising his head, and bringing his gaze back to hers. His eyes reflected many things: love, desire, passion, commitment, admiration, and need. She could tell the need wasn't just physical, though; it was the need to have her with him, and never leave him. It was a need fueled by love, not lust. He needed her in every way, just like she needed him.

Toshiro brought a hand up to gently stroke her cheek; resting his forehead on hers as he held her gaze. "You needed sleep, but you chose to stay up with me instead." he said; looking at her as if he could see into her soul. "You have no idea how much I love you…or how much I want you." he said; his face flushing slightly at the confession. He wasn't usually this honest and forthcoming, so the concept of being vulnerable was still strange to him. Judging by his girlfriend's reaction, she wasn't used to it either; as her cheeks also adopted a red hue.

Karin played with his silky white hair to distract herself from her own embarrassment. After all, if he could find it in him to be this open, then so could she. Holding his beautiful cerulean gaze with her own, she used one of her hands to brush aside his white fringe as she gave him a playful smirk. "Mmmm, I think I do, actually." she replied; her eyes asking a question she already knew his answer to. 'Will you show me?'

Sighing lightly, Toshiro shook his head in reply. "We've talked about this so many times already, Karin. The answer is still no…even if I want to." he said; staring back at her with the same amount of emotion she was showing him.

Karin glanced at the ground for a moment before bringing her gaze back to his. "Toshiro," she began, only to be cut off by her boyfriend. "I already told you, Karin; I won't take you while you have a whole life to live. Your future husband deserves that privilege; not me." he said; watching as his girlfriend's eyes narrowed slightly at him. "And I've told you many times already that I'm not marrying anyone else. You're the only one I want, Toshiro." she replied; a challenging look in her gaze.

The young captain sighed before letting go of her completely. "You're not changing my mind, Karin. Something like that is too important to give to a man who won't even be here for much longer."

Karin's facial expression went from determined and irritated, to somber and worried as she observed him. "Have you heard from Soul Society?" she asked; hoping for the answer that would keep him here for at least a little while longer.

Toshiro shook his head in reply; walking over to the bed, sitting down on the edge, and motioning for her to come closer. Karin nodded, and walked over to him; taking a seat in his lap as his hands came up to rest on her waist; her arms draped around his neck. Looking into her eyes, he held her gaze. "No, not yet. My mission isn't quite done, but I don't have too much longer to spend here. Once you have a good handle on your Bankai abilities, I'll be recalled back."

Karin nodded in understanding before bringing one hand over to cup his cheek. "If that's the case, let's make the most of the time we have left, okay? Dates whenever possible; more time alone, if we can manage it…and more of this, too." she said as she leaned in; capturing his lips with hers as she held his face in her hands; both their eyes falling shut.

When they separated a few moments later, Toshiro gave her a soft smile. "That sounds like a good plan to me." he said before kissing her once more, and sliding himself further onto the bed.

Karin smiled, and pulled away from him; giving him a humorous but skeptical look. "You're just trying to get me into bed so I'll get some sleep, aren't you?" she asked; watching as he smirked, before falling backwards, and taking her with him. Karin chuckled as Toshiro gathered his discombobulated sheets, and draped the heap of fabric over the both of them.

Snuggling into his chest, Karin allowed herself to finally relax now that she knew he was fine; giving him a peck on the cheek. "Goodnight, Toshiro. It's good to have you back. Love you." she said; inching herself as close to him as possible, before closing her eyes, and quickly drifting off to sleep.

Toshiro smiled at her affectionately; combing through her hair with the fingers of his free hand as his other moved under her pillow; encircling her, and pulling her flush to him. "Goodnight, Karin. I love you too." he said, before closing his own eyes, and quickly joining her in sleep.

And there it is, folks! How'd you like the chapter? I thought I should give Karin at least one win against Hitsugaya…she deserves that much, doesn't she? ;-)

I'd love to hear you guys's reaction to her Bankai appearance, so make sure to drop a review, and let me know your thoughts! I had fun drawing/photoshopping the cover, and it only took me a few days! I snagged Toshiro's upper body from the manga page, as well as Hyorinmaru, and photoshopped the shihakusho and belt in. Toshiro's haori is actually his wandenreich jacket from when his Bankai reaches full maturity; i just altered it quite a bit in photoshop to make it look like his captain's haori instead. I printed out a basic tiger body template for Todoroku Kaze, and hand sketched over it. So, the linework is by my own fair hand, but I had to use a study. I can draw well, but not that well, hahaha. I did the same thing with Karin: I printed out a basic body structure for her (legs, arms, chest, and eyes), and then added all my own personal touches when I sketched her.

The story's gonna get a little depressing for the next couple of chapters, but I promise it'll end well :-P

Translations:

Haikai Suru Daichi no Arashi = Storm of the prowling earth

Rōmingu Sutōmu Āmī = Roaring Storm Army

Rifuto Bakuhatsu = Rift Explosion

Kemono no Uzu = Vortex of the Beast

Shikai Hyōketsu = Four World Freeze

Guncho Tsurara = Icicle Flock

Hyōryū Senbi = Ice Dragon Swirling Tail

Todoroku Kaze = Roaring Wind

Eakattā = Air Cutter

Links:

- programs/teachers-and-students/teaching-the-arts/artwork-in-focus/japanese-tiger-and-dragon

- .