Yuzu wasn't prepared to leave Karin's side, in case anyone dared to try and take her again. Now she was heavily concerned for her health and well-being. Karin hasn't been sick in years. Even flus were short lived with her. She ate well, exercised and always monitored her health. A simple asthma attack wouldn't have worried her but an epileptic attack was very worrisome. Last time she had one was three years ago and it was because some idiot decided to spike her drink with a molly at the cultural festival in middle school.

So now she was worried about what may have caused it. Possibly stress...

Or tiredness. Kyōgetsu chimed in. She was very tired when she faced us. I can only imagine how restless she is.

Yuzu sighed as she took her sister's hands in hers. Yuzu always told Karin she had beautiful hands. They were slim and dainty and she had long fingernails. Yuzu's was small and pudgy around the fingers. Her nails weren't too bad, they were long enough and decent but she always marveled at Karin. Everything about her twin sister was desirable. She was beautiful and yet, she never wanted to hear it.

She placed her forehead against their clasped hands, as if to pray. She wondered if she should say a prayer. Maybe Kami-sama was listening. She heard the door open behind her. "Yuzu nee-chan, we're getting hungry. You want to go back to baa-chan's house together?" Haruki asked and Yuzu almost laughed at how sweet and innocent she sounded. That girl had a sharp tongue. She was a mixture of Ichigo and Karin; her outbursts were like Ichigo's in that she would say whatever she wanted whenever but how she spoke was like Karin, it was venomous and sharp.

"I'll join you guys later." She said and she heard shuffling here the door closed behind her.

Yuzu stayed in that position, wishing for nothing more but her sister waking up and looking at her with that lazy smile of hers and tell her she was over exaggerating. The thought of how much she missed her made her start to cry. "May I enter?" Yuzu turned around and scoffed.

"What do you want?" Yuzu asked as Hitsugaya entered.

"... I came to check in on her." He said

"Isn't it a little too late for that?" She scoffed

"I'd hate for that to be true." He said.

"Hitsugaya-san, what are you even doing here?" She asked. "You guys have done your worst, alright?"

"I didn't want any of this to happen." He explained. "I tried my hardest—"

"Obviously you didn't try hard enough." She sneered at him.

Hitsugaya sighed. "You are completely right."

Yuzu turned around. "Go away. You don't deserve to be near her."

"Kurosaki, I can't do that." He shook his head. "I made a mistake of not going my due dili—"

"She doesn't need you in her life." She claimed

"I know she doesn't. But I would want to be there for her and that is for her to decide." Hitsugaya insisted

"You made that decision for the both of you, remember?" She asked and Hitsugaya was confused.

"I... don't quite understand what you mean." Hitsugaya said

"Don't tell me you forgot." Yuzu said

"Forgot?" Hitsugaya mused cluelessly. "Kurosaki, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You completely shattered her when you broke up with her." Yuzu said. "For you to know how she felt and trample over it and—"

"Where... where are you getting this?" Hitsugaya asked

"Hitsugaya, you... six months ago." Yuzu released Karin and stood up. "Apparently you mentioned some girl named Momo—"

"Hinamori!" He gagged in disgust

"Oh so you do know a Hinamori..."

"That's my sister." Now Yuzu was confused. "Kurosaki... I was nowhere near the world of the living six months ago. I've been kept here on lockdown for over a year as a punishment for abusing my power and going to the world of the living. That's why I couldn't follow you to the land of the living when you had to search for Karin's journals. I do apologise if I was rude about that."

"Hitsugaya-san... you couldn't have been here." Yuzu said

"I physically can't leave." Hitsugaya showed her the anklet on his leg "It goes off anytime I go near a senkaimon. It's been like that for a year since last year on Christmas eve." He looked confused. "I even asked Hinamori to pass my message to Karin in January." Hitsugaya noticed Yuzu's eyes widened in fear. "... Kurosaki?"

"Hitsugaya... who was my sister meeting with for half a year?" She asked him.

Ichigo was not expecting to see his face for a second time that day. He opened the front door, expecting it to be just Yuzu. "Where've you been?" He asked his baby sister.

"Keeping Karin company." She said and Ichigo nodded.

"Mayaka has been looking for someone to fix her dolls and Haruki is very close to making Orihime cry." Ichigo said

"Wait... Orihime is here? Did I miss something? And why is she letting Haruki bully her?" Yuzu questioned and Ichigo sucked his teeth.

"Get inside and find out." Yuzu pouted at him before crossing the threshold. Ichigo stayed at the door and looked at Tōshirō. "Did you bring her here?"

"I was at the fourth and we had a little chat." Tōshirō sighed. "I think we have a problem on our hands."

"What?" Ichigo closed the door and stood outside with him.

"Karin told Yuzu that last she met me was six months ago." Hitsugaya said

"And?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm being monitored." Hitsugaya showed him the bracelet stuck on his ankle. "A year ago, I was forbidden from going to the world of the living. The sōtaichō claimed I was abusing my power as a captain by going to the world of the living when I saw fit."

Ichigo sighed. "Is that why he is sending Byakuya to the world of the living instead of you?" Tōshirō nodded. "Wait... so you couldn't tell Karin afterwards?"

"The expectation was that I stopped communicating with her immediately." Hitsugaya sighed. "I asked Hinamori to give her a message I had for her but I fear it got intercepted."

"She never told you she never sent it?" Ichigo asked.

"If it got intercepted, it was by the sōtaichō's direct orders so she could have been ordered to stay silent. No one else knows that I'm not allowed to leave." Hitsugaya explained. "The anklet was made by Kurotsuchi but even he doesn't know it was assigned to me."

"... So, my sister was completely open and vulnerable to anyone who wanted to take advantage of that?" Tōshirō hesitated but nodded.

"One of the oddities of Karin's case is how quick her zanpakutō got corrupted because it has no history of corruption." He pointed out.

"So... someone took advantage of the fact that you weren't going to be there." Hitsugaya nodded. "Someone was observing, knew that Karin was wide open and expecting you to pay another visit at some point." Ichigo stated and Hitsugaya nodded. "Shit! Any idea who it could be?"

"It could be one of the men we caught... or someone else outside of Aizen is involved." Hitsugaya said. "There are still too many holes. And Karin mentioned three men."

"Three men?" Ichigo repeated. "She was having a mental breakdown though and only three men were there."

"There were four men who were involved in the attack... but only two were taking revenge off of a execution charge they survived and they were both present." Hitsugaya explained. "In this context, Karin mentioned three. The third one must be the mastermind outside of Aizen."

"I dunno..." Ichigo said. "Karin's memory is pretty hazy from what Isane was telling me. She may have assumed all of them."

"I wouldn't put it off completely." He said. "She was around these men long enough to know their stories... she may be more aware of what she remembers than she realises."

"Okay, okay. Let's say there is a third person... shouldn't Aizen be the mastermind?" Ichigo asked

"Definitely... but he needed someone on the outside to play the game perfectly for him to be released." Tōshirō said. "Considering this hypothetical third person didn't fight, he must've have been important. If the others for caught then it wouldn't matter. Either way, that one person is a lead to more people involved and eventually, Aizen. I doubt he would have given himself up that easily in a plan that had just as much a chance at failure."

Ichigo stroked his chin. "You have a point." He looked at the younger man and cleared his throat before dropping his hand. He folded his arms over his chest. "... Tōshirō, I need you to be honest with me. I'm not going to get angry and this is really important. Karin being around someone that wasn't you wouldn't be much of an issue if you were just friends... correct?"

Tōshirō flaked before focusing on something else. "I've been drawing up a plan—"

"Tōshirō, am I right or wrong?"

"... you're right." He admitted, looking at the ground

"The two of you were just friends, yes or no?"

"No."

"Both of you were celibate... yes or no?"

"No, we weren't." Ichigo let out the breath he was holding in and dropped his head in his hands. He didn't know why he was even surprised when he knew. He didn't even need to be told. "It was very irresponsible of us and—"

"Damn right it was!" Ichigo stopped himself, realising he was getting angry. The loudness of his voice even caused Tatsuki to open the door and poke her head out.

"Are you guys good out here?" She asked

"Yeah... everything is fine." Ichigo exhaled defeatedly. "You remember Tōshirō, right?"

"The chibi kid?" Tōshirō got annoyed.

"I was not and am not a kid." He hissed at her.

"... that is none of my business." Tatsuki shrugged. "The food is ready. Hurry or it will get cold. You're free to join us, Chibi-san." She teased before leaving and Tōshirō only got angrier but noticing the infuriated look on his face only told him that there were bigger fish to fry.

"What's done is done. There's no point in me getting angry." Ichigo finally admitted.

"Kurosaki—"

"You didn't know. No one could have predicted it. I sometimes forget that you're just a kid... the both of you actually and kids make dumb mistakes all the time." Ichigo sighed. "Aizen and everyone involved, is getting what's comes to them. Let's make sure of that."

Hitsugaya nodded before bowing. "Excuse me."

"Tōshirō, you can stay for dinner, y'know." Ichigo scratched the back of his head.

"No." Tōshirō shook his head. "I better get going." He flashstepped off the porch and Ichigo sighed.

"He's lucky I didn't beat the shit out of him." Ichigo said to himself before going into the house. Orihime was crying as Haruki pulled her pigtails and Mayaka and Tatsuki watched, Mayaka sitting on her lap. "Uh..."

"We're not getting involved." Tatsuki said and Mayaka nodded in agreement.

"Wah! Haru-chan!" Orihime cried

"Shut up!" Haruki said.

"... This family is so violent." Ichigo sighed before moving to pull her off. He knew that the day he was the only sensible person in a room was a sad one. "Hey... where's Yuzu?"

"Kitchen." Tatsuki said. "We should be going to eat." Tatsuki stood up and Mayaka looked up at her. "Hai, hai." She said, picking up Mayaka.

"Since when do you like kids?" Ichigo asked after successfully pulling Haruki off of her.

"I like this one." Tatsuki said and Mayaka closed her eyes and smiled widely. Ichigo shook his head in disbelief.

"I'll go get Yuzu. Who cooked?" Ichigo asked.

"Me and Chad." Tatsuki said. "The least we could do for your aunt in exchange for staying over. That's actually why Haruki was fighting Orihime."

"I just thought we needed a little red bean paste!" Orihime cried

"We're eating gyoza, you idiot!" Haruki yelled at her and she cried.

Ichigo decided to pick now to retreat and go look for Yuzu. He knocked on the door to the room she was sharing with their cousins. Ichigo poked his head in after opening the door a crack. "Yuzu?"

She was in her futon. "What if I was changing?"

"Does it matter?" Ichigo asked after entering.

"Onii-chan is a pervert." She said but it barely had that regular high pitch he was used to.

"Okay, what's wrong now?" Ichigo asked. "Karin is safe. Gramps and those morons won't do shit."

"... I don't think she'll be fine though." Yuzu sat up and hugged her knees. "What are we going to do? What am I going to tell her?" Ichigo assumed it was about Tōshirō being placed under surveillance in Soul Society. It was a rather extreme decision... but Tōshirō was the golden boy and his former captain was their father who left Soul Society for somewhat of the same reason. They obviously had plans for him as he got older but on top of that, it would have been embarrassing to lose a well respected Captain in the same manner and on top of that, to the same family.

But more importantly, he was more concerned about who his sister was with and what they could have done to her. It's clear that the corruption must have started with them. Even then, they had access to intimacy. Ichigo was still itching to beat Tōshirō to a pulp for engaging with his sister in that manner... but he was understanding to the fact that she was a teenager with hormones. What happened between them was not the cause of this madness... they would have always found a way to take her if they willed it.

"I'm working on finding—"

"Onii-chan... Aizen or whoever has done their worst." Yuzu said. "I'm tired of focusing on them. What about Karin?"

That question hurt and for the first time in a while, Ichigo realised that he couldn't protect his sisters and that he had failed. He couldn't have a big stick or a big sword to fend the people who were going after them... he didn't know how to deal with the trauma Karin must've been going through.

"I don't know Yuzu..." Ichigo sighed. "I wish I did."

Karin groaned as she woke up, feeling her body ache. It felt like she was hit by a bus off of the side of a freeway then rolled onto train tracks. "You finally wake up!"

"Shit! Yoruichi!" Karin jolted in a fright as the cat walked in through her window. "Don't sneak up on me like that. Jesus! Ow!" She winced as she held her head.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like the bottom of a toilet bowl." She winced and Yoruichi laughed.

"Yep, it's you alright." The cat laughed.

"How long have I been asleep for?" Karin asked

"Only a couple of hours." Yoruichi licked her paw

"Now I'm going to have a hard time walking. I had the weirdest dream." Karin said

"What was it about?" Yoruichi asked.

"Well, for starters, I was blacking out and attacking people for some odd reason. I even attacked Yuzu, twice. Then I was brought to Soul Society and they diagnosed me with a corrupt zanpakutō, then I met Tōshirō for some odd reason, then I was taken by some man in a creepy mask. Then I blacked out again but this time, I could actually see what was happening as someone controlled my body and did weird shit with it like cut through a whole bunch of old men and escape some place. Then I fought Rukia and Renji and a bunch of other people, then I fought Yuzu but Yuzu beat me. Then I met some woman with green hair who said she would show me hell... that was the weirdest part of it." Karin winced. "It felt so real that the place she touched between my boobs feels sore for some odd..." She looked into her shirt and frowned before looking up. "Yoruichi... did that weird woman put a tattoo between my boobs?"

"And the back of your shoulder too." Karin rushed out of bed to check her shoulder in the mirror, pulling the side of her gown and seeing the same seal on her shoulder. "She's weirder. Her hair is normally green."

"So... it wasn't a dream?" Karin asked and Yoruichi shook her head. "So that means the trial was real?" Yoruichi nodded. "Then... how did I end up here?"

"You were acquitted due to health reasons and a key witness lying on the case." Yoruichi said. "You had a seizure from stress and overstimulation." Now it made sense why everything after that was pretty colours and why her tongue hurt like a bitch too. "Mashiro, the woman, managed to lock your zanpakutō away for a while... so you're safe." Yoruichi said

That would explain why the demon is in a cage. Karin thought.

Clueless little wench. A voice in Karin's head said and in her mind, Karin saw them. Angetsu. She flipped them the bird because... why not?

"A while?"

"Only you'll get the chance to unlock him... but you have to be ready to tame him before you do that." She explained. "So, you can rest easy. You won't black out ever again without your own knowledge or consent."

"Wait... then that would mean... where's everyone? Yuzu, Renji, Rukia... and this Mashiro?"

"Yuzu and everyone else is fine. Yuzu couldn't feel her arms or legs for some hours but she's fine now. The others you fought are fine." Yoruichi said. "Mashiro woke up from a coma earlier today. I can take you to her later for more information on this training but she's probably still weak and sleeping it off."

"Why? Did I hurt her?" Karin asked

"No... no you didn't do anything wrong." Yoruichi said. "If only they'd listened to her earlier than she wouldn't have had to store the poison in her body to power up her body. She has a case like yours but she possesses the power to tame it. Only someone who has that power can pass it on. Angetsu was using your body for a such long period of time that your body and their spirit were almost bonded in place of your soul so she needed more power to unbond it."

"What does that have to do with the poison?" Karin asked.

"Like I said, Mashiro, like you, has a corrupt zanpakutō. Every wielder of a zanpakutō spirit has to undergo some bodily changes to accommodate it's function. Take Hitsugaya for example. He hates warm weather because his body has had to adapt to cold extremes. If his body didn't adapt, then he would risk killing himself from hypothermia or lose limbs from frost bite. Even Yuzu is going through it now I suppose. Like Hitsugaya, Mashiro had to adapt as well. Her body now has vessels for blood and for poison because she has a poison-based zanpakutō. The problem is that, she freed her zanpakutō before she could complete her training to tame it out of desperation. So it evolved slightly afterwards but if she uses too much power, the poison roams free and leaks into her organs and through her blood stream. Since it is in her body, small amounts can't kill her because her body has adapted to it but a rupture and long term poisoning can lead to death. Her hair acts as an indicator of where the poison is. If it's dormant in her vessels, her hair is green but if it is ready to be used... it goes back to brown."

"So... she'll be okay?"

"She'll be fine." Yoruichi reassured her. "Besides, she put the seal so she has to teach you how to use it."

"So... is she a shinigami?" Her teacher nodded. "Why wouldn't they listen to her?"

"She's a vizard." Yoruichi explained. "Shinigami who have undergone a form of hollowfication and have hollow powers."

"Like Ichigo?" The cat nodded.

"Aizen used them for his experiment against their will but was never caught. They were supposed to be executed for experimenting with hollow powers along with Urahara who was framed but I traded their sentence for my noble status and we were all placed on exile." She explained

Why does Soul Society seem so trigger happy? Karin thought. Do they invesigate anything?"So they didn't listen to her because she isn't a shinigami anymore?" Karin asked

"It's more complicated than that." Yoruichi said. "But anyways, would you like to go see her?"

"... I think I'd like to rest for a bit..." Karin said before going back into the sheets, wishing that this nightmare would just be over.