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Chapter I
Awakening
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"Damn, I had to wake up late TODAY of all days!" Karin, now 18 years old, cursed as she ran down the stairs while putting her left sock, and shoe hanging in her mouth.
She grabbed her backpack and locked the door.
"That damned man! If he didn't extend yesterday's training till 2 am I would be in school already!" Karin took a small candy container and popped a single candy into her mouth. She looked around. The street was empty. "How strange, usually there are some people walking by…well if there isn't anyone here I guess no one will be able to see me."
She smirked and vanished into thin air. Shunpo has become one of her favorite techniques Yoruichi taught her, well, truth be told, she liked most of the stuff the flash-step goddess taught her, and Karin quickly began to admire the woman's energy and strength.
And soon enough she was at the school gates, bell-ringing. She rushed through the hallways until she reached her class, 2-A.
"Karin! You came, sorry I didn't wake you up, I thought you wanted to skip school today."
"Hah! No problem Yuzu! I woke up just in time" she said with a reassuring grin at her twin sister with a thumbs-up as a bonus. The teacher soon enough entered the room, and everybody sat down.
Karin saw a little note sliding on top of her desk, she opened it. Happy 18th sister! ＼（○＾ω＾○）／ was written on the paper along with some cutesy scribbles, she looked up to Yuzu who mouthed a happy b-day, Karin whispered "you too" smiling warmly.
The class went by slowly and was boring, Karin wasn't paying attention, instead, she was looking out of the window, there wasn't much going on in class anyway. It was her final year of high school, and everyone seemed to be already on their minds on graduating. Karin's mind was slightly elsewhere, however.
Five years ago, Ichigo left saying he was going to college. "Yeah right…" She knew quite well that things have been turbulent in the spirit world but still, Ichigo pretended he didn't know Karin was aware of shinigami, and Karin let him think that there was no need to worry him about how much she knew and how much she had seen. Her father was pretty busy with the clinic and everything was tediously peaceful, in their ignorance of what Karin had been doing all this time. And for the first time in five years, Karin felt she had stagnated again.
The bell rang. Lunch Break.
Everyone in the classroom started to chat and take out their bento boxes while some went out to get their own snacks. Karin sat back and stretched as two boys walked over to her. One had brown spiky hair and average height, the other one was taller, more athletic with tanned skin and bleached hair.
"Hey, you two! happy birthday" The first boy spoke to Karin and Yuzu with a friendly grin.
Karin barely acknowledged him as she was quickly distracted by a message on her phone. Hey fake red; let's beat up some birthday hollows after your soccer practice today!
She chuckled. That didn't go unnoticed by the three.
"Who was that Karin?" Yuzu asked curiously.
"I bet it was her boooyyyfrienddd" the taller boy said teasingly.
"Knock it off Kyohei." She answered.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me…captain, I found this letter in my locker today, a note said to give it to you." The first boy said again as he handled her a pink envelope.
"Hoho, getting another love confession Karin-chan." The one called Kyohei teased.
"Shut up Kyohei! Or I'm gonna beat up that smile out of your face myself! " Karin threatened him once and that was enough to make him pout for a second.
"You know what Kurosaki, you should be considering those confessions, after all, the boys may get fed up with your attitude and won't care about you anymore…" He said putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah, I bet Kyohei-kun would be so pleased." The other one said smirking, Yuzu giggled and Kyohei turned bright red, due to anger or embarrassment quickly releasing his arm from Karin as if it burned him, and Karin wasn't paying much attention and started eating her lunch quietly.
"SHUT THE HELL UP KENTARO! How could I ever like someone as manly as her!" Kyohei protested but Karin still wasn't listening…
"Well, it's not like she is a flat tomboy, she has more volume in here than most girls in our age," Kentaro said gesturing his hand in a circular movement in his chest.
"COUGH COUGH COUGH!" Karin choked. Yuzu's eyes widened and Kyohei blushed.
"YOU TWO ARE SO DEAD IN PRACTICE TODAY!"
"Hey! I didn't say anything!" Kyohei objected.
"And I only spoke the truth!" After that Kentaro received a proper bonk on the head with the thickest book Karin had on her table.
"Poor Kentaro-kun." Yuzu said shaking her head pitifully.
"I really don't understand how you can get so many love confessions being like that." Kyohei mused while looking at Kentaro weeping and whining while rubbing his head.
Almost every single boy in school, and some girls, had noticed the Karakura High Soccer team captain had developed some parts of her body that took away her tomboy appearance. She would often receive cards, small gifts, and letters expressing admiration and affection for the captain. Today was no different, in fact, it was even worse due to her birthday.
During soccer practice, she nearly killed her team with exhausting training.
"Captaaaiin why are you so mean to us! We already got in the regionals!" They whined while splattered like rag dolls on the field.
"That's because the coach is sick, and he put me in charge to make you people ready for the tournament... consider this your birthday present to me," Karin said smirking.
"So you do enjoy our suffering!" Kyohei said.
"The team is just a bonus, the one I want to suffer is you and Kentaro, Kyohei!"
"Oh, that clarifies everything … and yet I don't feel better." He protested again.
Karin ignored her companion's moping and looked around. Jinta was watching the training. He had grown a lot, now he had a small and low ponytail in his fiery red hair swept back, and was about Ichigo's height, he was no longer a skinny boy, but was still as annoying as ever.
When he saw her he waved grinning like a mad man.
"Okay guys, we'll call it a day see ya all tomorrow here!" She said grabbing her stuff and running uphill to meet Jinta.
"Heeey! Ready to smash some b-day hollows?" He asked grinning.
"You bet I am!" Karin responded in equal excitement.
As they were walking and looking around for any trouble-making spirits, Ururu, who still had the same soft eyes and gentle mannerisms came running up to them.
"Ah! Karin-chan, Jinta-kun! There you are! Urahara-san asked me to get you. He said he has a surprise for you."
"Oh? Well, I suppose our plans can wait, Jinta." Karin said so, but Jinta sighed and rolled his eyes. Although he couldn't stay grumpy for too long when Ururu was involved.
They went to the shop and found Urahara, Tessai, and Yoruichi waiting by the door.
"Welcome Kurosaki-chan! I hope you are having a nice birthday… 'Cause today I've got a surprise for you." Urahara smirked from under his striped hat, as coy and mysterious as he ever was.
"Yeah, Ururu-chan told me you had. I wonder what…probably more training if I know…"
"Well let us say you are partially right…" Karin tensed up a bit at that, trying to figure out what he meant.
"But first… A CAKE!" Urahara said suddenly, as Tessai pulled out a big pink cake seemingly out of nowhere. Karin was too stunned to complain about the color.
It was a proper birthday party indeed! These last few years these people have become her good friends, they kept her company and offered their support, and in her situation that was more than welcome. Ichigo's absence, Isshin's unreliable humor and Yuzu's unawareness isolated Karin with a painful burden, and heartbreaking loneliness. And as they ate and drank and played around, Karin felt truly thankful for them.
"But now Kurosaki-chan, I did say I had something for you, a proper birthday gift." Urahara interrupted the revelry and brought in a long-wrapped package. He threw the object at Karin. She caught the package, it was pretty heavy…
"What's that? A sword? What is this all about old man?" She unwrapped it and looked absolutely confused.
"Now you are a grown-up, I can be more at ease with my conscience instead of giving dangerous weapons to underage kids." He said that as if he cared, but everyone in the room seemed unmoved by his sudden display of humanity.
"Or you just didn't want Isshin-san to come banging on your door if his daughter showed up with a sword as a kid." Jinta added nonchalantly and Tessai nodded knowingly.
"Eee Jinta-kun that was hurtful. I am a very responsible adult you know~" Urahara said amidst giggles. It was like he didn't even try to make his act convincing really.
"My point is, this is not just a sword, Kurosaki-chan." Urahara corrected promptly before Yoruichi added:
"It's an Asauchi."
"You mean…?" Karin's eyes widened and Jinta's jaw dropped.
"B-but..SHE is not even a Shinigami! How can she have an Asauchi!" Jinta was a little jealous that is true, but his point was actually valid and Karin was honestly as confused as he was.
"It's true dad and Ichi-nii are shinigami…but…Jinta is right, I'm just a human!"
Yoruichi smiled almost pitying Karin's ignorance. "Kiddo… you really have no idea do you?"
Urahara chuckled. "Huhuhu That's where you are wrong Kurosaki-chan. You see you are human, but you have shinigami blood and quincy blood from your parents. You, like your brother, are a hybrid."
Karin held onto the wrapped sword in shock. A hybrid? Why did that sound so negative…so…unnatural?
"With your brother everything was done in a hurry…and he had that hollow contamination on top of it all. But you had time, we had time. I did tell you all those years ago, I would make whatever preparations were necessary for you didn't I?" The former captain continued, lips curled in a snake-like smile. At times like this Karin thought he was a bit scary, how he always was in fact in control of what was going on, and everyone else had no choice but to play along.
"What he means to say kiddo.." Yoruichi interrupted, noticing Karin's uneasiness. "Your family is very special, not just your brother. And you all have inherited the power of your parents, even without being traditional shinigami soul, you have it in you, it's part of who you are."
Karin looked down at the package and Urahara continued.
"We have trained you so you could develop your own skills in your own way. Isn't that what you wanted? To walk your own path?" He tilted his head to the side. "That's why you've been taking the reishi-candy." He nudged the candy container she carried with her.
"I told you what they would do, slowly increase your exposure and density of reishi, to awaken your dormant abilities. Truth is Kurosaki-chan…I don't think you are a shinigami at all, So this gift is in many ways an experiment. I don't know if you will be able to imprint your soul into this Asauchi like a regular shinigami, I don't know if it's even possible for you to develop a Zanpakuto while being a human. But it is your choice to try. There is nothing else on the table, no hollowfication, no impending doom to force you on any path. It's just you."
Karin listened to him with lowered eyes as she slowly began to unwrap the sword. It was a regular katana if not for the intricate hand guard design. She ran her fingers down the curled shape, she thought it resembled those old traditional paintings with curly clouds..or was this a flame shape? It was very ornamental, The red shape curled around the blade and stretched upwards in a wavy fashion, pointing in the same direction as the dull back of the sword.
The dark-haired Kurosaki looked up and finally broke her stoic expression into a determined grin.
"Then I will take it."
Urahara smiled in return.
"Good."
Yoruichi on the other hand remained rather solemn, deep in her own thoughts about how much would change now Karin was choosing to go down this path.
Urahara lead them all to the basement training grounds, although Tessai stayed upstairs to clean the dishes, Ururu and Jinta joined and also followed to watch what would happen next, Jinta was especially curious.
"Well Kurosaki-chan, since we already taught you swordsmanship, we can go to the actual difficult part."
Karin tensed up in response. "And what would that be?"
"Imprint your soul into the Asauchi. Every shinigami no matter how low ranked carries their nameless asauchi wherever they go until their soul can manifest in the zanpakuto. However, things might be different with you. Perhaps you might manifest a zanpakuto spirit just the same as a regular shinigami regardless of your humanity, or we might not even be able to call it a zanpakuto, and its manifestation might be entirely different from the expected." Urahara explained calmly as he walked over to a large boulder to sit down.
"A zanpakuto spirit is nothing more than the materialization of a part of your soul, your fighting spirit. That is something we all have, although some people might not have it developed at all. Which I doubt is your case Karin-chan." Urahara smiled knowingly.
"The process might be long but you will have to become mindful of this spirit that resides in your inner world. It is not a tool and it has a will of its own, you must learn to listen to it." Yoruichi added. "You will come to understand the zanpakuto spirit is a living thing, it has feelings and whims. And they might not agree with you at all. It's an individual inside of yourself." She explained with a serious expression.
Urahara directed Karin to sit down and place the sword on her lap and Karin obediently followed his instructions.
"That is called Jinzen, sword meditation. Now Kurosaki-chan, this is your first exercise to imprint and connect with your fighting spirit…"
Yoruichi, however, interrupted.
"Kisuke. I will take it from here. Take Jinta and Ururu back."
Urahara looked at the flash goddess a bit surprised but soon enough his expression curled into a coy smile.
"I see. Well then, I will let the girls handle this~" He chuckled melodically as he stood up.
"You heard Yoruichi-san shoo shoo" He waved his hands at Ururu and Jinta.
"Oh, cmon! I want to watch it!" Jinta protested.
"No no, this is very personal you know. Maybe next time if you ask Kurosaki-kun." Urahara insisted and removed the other two teenagers from the room.
Yoruichi sat down in front of Karin once they all left.
"Kisuke is right about that. It is very personal. You will need to look deep inside you, it feels at the very least exposing. But I will guide you through it." Yoruichi grinned in reassurance.
Karin nodded with a confident smile.
"I trust you, Yoruichi-san."
"Good. Now, close your eyes."
Karin obeyed and Yoruichi continued the guided mediation session. She knew that if she pointed Karin the way once, she would find it on her own next time.
"What are you thinking about?"
"My family…Yuzu, Goat-face… my friends…and… Ichi-nii…"
"How do you feel about them?"
"I feel…I want to protect….protect everyone…"
"Do you feel the same thing with all of them?"
"Ye-…no…Ichi-nii…is different …I want to be like him…as strong…as brave…no…I want…more…I want to be more than him…"
"Tell me what you are feeling now."
"Happiness…frustration…anger…hope and …warm…"
"Good…now dig deeper, mix those feelings and let your mind drown in them…don't hold anything back…"
Her reiatsu started to stir up, slowly coming out of her like smoke, the amount was growing but it still was controlled.
"Feel it all in your very bloodstream…rushing through your veins, pumping in your heart…" As she breathed slowly the red glow around her would go lightly up and down, following her heartbeats.
"Now, empty your mind from everything. And listen…"
Yoruichi's voice faded from Karin's head. In fact, Karin could feel her body fading… her lungs…her muscles…her heart… and she couldn't hear anything at all. It was like sitting in a vast dark empty room.
But then, within her soundless interior, she heard a faint sound…lower than a whisper…like the voice of the deep ocean…calling…
"…Karin…"
She looked around…nothing…only darkness…surrounding everything, but on the tips of her fingers she felt a texture of sand and foam.
TuDum
"Karin…"
Like a faint flame beating like a heart…waking up…
Tudum
"Karin.."
She concentrated on the voice…suddenly a pair of red flaming eyes cut through the darkness, a glare so furious her heart skipped a beat and she opened her eyes in a scare.
"Damn I was almost reaching…" Karin spoke up disappointed once she calmed herself down.
"Don't worry kiddo you did well today… you must be tired so why don't you go home and enjoy your birthday! We can always continue this tomorrow." Yoruichi said placing a hand over Karin's shoulder in a comforting way.
Frustrated Karin got up, and both of them went upstairs. Urahara didn't ask anything and instead, the adults simply shooed the kids back, after all it was getting pretty late. Karin seemed to be in her usual quiet self, Jinta was bored and Ururu tagged along.
"See you later Jinta-kun, Ururu-chan, Kurosaki-chan~" Urahara cheerfully bid them all goodbye waving his fan up and down. "Send my regards to your sister Kurosaki-chan!"
Once they all had left and only the former captain was in the room, Yoruichi frowned.
"Did you feel all that reiatsu pumping…I guess we should keep Ururu and Jinta away from this part of her training" Yoruichi said. "That rei-candy you've been giving her all these years seemed to have actually worked according to plan."
"She's almost there…It will be scary when she learns its name…" Urahara chuckled "Those Kurosakis never stop to surprise me".
"Will she notice the stone?"
"If she doesn't then she is not ready yet…"
Karin and Jinta were walking down the streets in comfortable silence, although it was clear how disappointed in herself she was.
"Hey, you got a pretty nice sword there!"
"Yeah, Its heavier than the other I trained with…"
"Really it seems really light…" Karin raised and eyebrow at Jinta's comment and mischievously put the sword on Jinta's back. The weight change was so suddfen he lost his balance almost falling on his back.
"Wooow! What was that for?! You got me unprepared!" Jinta protested obnoxiously.
"Never let your guard down when you're near me. I thought you already learned this lesson…fake red!" She said smirking.
"Oh yeah! You're the fake one! You..you…you FAKE!" Karin laughed seeing how bashful he has become after he started dating Yuzu.
"I wonder if Yuzu is back home…some girls wanted to go out with her today…" Karin spoke out loud while turning her face forward.
"Talking about going out Karin…what's up with that Kyohei dude?" Jinta asked abruptly.
"What?"
"Well Yuzu said that looks like he's totally into you…but you're a little dense for that kind of thing…"
"Oh please…Kyohei hates me to his guts cause I took the captain title from him…He could never like me at all…he just wants to piss me off…" Karin said throwing her arms behind her head.
"Well…he really stared a lot at you during practices…erm…I don't know…it looked different from a glare…Yuzu asked me to tell you this cause she said you would listen to me…"
"Haha! Me listening to you?"
"That's what I told her." Jinta shrugged and grinned.
They laughed soon enough they reached Karin's house.
"Bye Jinta…take care!"
"Yeah, you too!" They parted. Karin found in the kitchen a small package from a bakery from Yuzu.
"She must be sleeping already…" She smiled opening the box and taking a bite from the cake inside.
She went to her room and took a shower. It was quite a day but the hot water always helped her relax. After she got changed she placed the sword in her bed and unsheathed it. The blade looked pretty normal except for something red and gold shining from the blade near the handle. She noticed it was attached and removable. Making little effort she managed to take the tone from the blade. It was a necklace. The chain was golden and had as a pendant a bright red stone in the shape of a capsule. Karin stared at the rock, it seemed something was moving in there, she couldn't describe the sensation, was like holding the universe constricted into that tiny space, almost suffocating.
"Curious…I wonder what that is…"
She took the chain and put it around her neck taking another look at it. She found it pretty cool despite not being a fan of jewelry. A tired sigh and she flopped back on her bed, turning her head towards her table watch. 11 pm. She was born at 11:11 and Yuzu at 11:13, she noted mentally. She fell asleep as she rested her head on her pillow.
11:05
TuDum
"Karin…"
11:07
TuDum TuDum
"Karin…"
"Karin…"
Something was stirring up inside her, like the surface of a lake being disturbed from the first drops of a storm.
11:10
TuDum TuDum
"Karin…"
It started to get more agitated…
11:11
"LISTEN TO ME!" The same pair of eyes from before suddenly appeared again, burning relentlessly.
Karin woke up scared feeling as if a wave had brutally hit her. She tried to calm her breathing down. It was just a dream, she told herself repeatedly.
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Toshirou opened up his eyes as if he had heard a scream…better yet a roar.
His heart was beating accelerated and he gasped for breath.
"What the hell was that…Did you feel that Hyorinmaru?"
"Yes master… I finally felt it…"
"What are you talking about? You know what that was?"
The dragon did not reply. So the captain decided to shrug it off…it probably didn't matter…
The whole day of work, he couldn't help but feel strange…something within him was different, "maybe Hyorinmaru had something to do with it…"
"What did you say, captain?" Matsumoto asked, popping her head from the hallway into his office.
"Nothing…Where is your paperwork from last week Matsumoto?" He heard his Lieutenant whine about something, he stared out at the window.
"It has begun…" he heard Hyorinmaru say.
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Karin woke up, got changed, and went downstairs as if nothing had happened last night. It was a sunny Saturday. She looked up at the sky shielding her eyes from the glare of the daylight, and heard Yuzu calling.
"Karin! Wait up!"
"C'mon Yuzu, the zoo will be crowded with people if you keep dilly-dallying!"
"Don't worry I asked Jinta-kun to buy the tickets early" She stared at Karin for a while. "Why didn't you put on that blue dress! The weather is perfect for dresses and you go so well with blue!"
"First off…I hate dresses, they can be really messy for running, second, why would I want to look pretty for YOUR date?"
"It's not my date, I have a surprise for you!"
"Fine… let's go." Karin sighed rolling her eyes.
When the twins reached the zoo Karin saw Jinta alright…but she also saw something "blondly" familiar.
Yuzu giggled as she saw Karin's reaction. Which was less than amused.
"OH no, you didn't." She squinted her eyes at her twin who tried to look as innocent as possible.
"I guess I did Karin. Jinta-kun! Kyohei-kun, over here!" She said waving at the two boys.
Oh yeah…she should have suspected that conversation about the tanned soccer player with Jinta, they set her up for a double date! Her! Kurosaki Karin! Captain of the most feared soccer team in the region! On a DATE with nonetheless her ex-captain Takeda KYOHEI! HER WORST ENEMY!
"This will be hell…"