Hey! It's me again. When I posted the last chapter, my computer was being strange and i hadn't been able to proofread and edit in the doc manager how I like to, and that chapter came out with a few problems. I've fixed it now, and hopefully it won't happen again, but in case you where wondering why it had issues...

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

It had been several days since Karin had been attacked by that Hollow. She had talked with Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nii about what had happened, but they weren't very surprised or worried. They both had sensed her power the first day they met, and had planned on teaching her to control it when she became more aware of what she could do. They both had high spirit energy, as well as most of their family. Their own o-nii-san, Kaien, had been a fukutaicho in the 13 court guard squads.

However, when it came to her joining the Soul Reapers, they all avoided the subject. Karin had asked Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko why that was, and they had explained the circumstances of Kaien-nii's death. Turns out, he had been doing his duty as a Soul Reaper when a Hollow possessed his body and forced one of his subordinates to kill him. When she heard the story she started to understand why they would be unwilling to consider her leaving them to join the 13 court guard squads. She was helping them fill the void left by Kaien-nii's death, they certainly didn't want to loose her as they did him.

As of right now, Karin was content to just stay as Shiba Karin, Kukaku and Ganju's imoto-san. She was learning how to control her spirit energy from Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nii, and the Soul Reapers seemed to be doing just fine without her. Besides, if they were all like those guys she had met, she wasn't sure she would want to work with them.

There was one bad thing that came from the Hollow attack: Kukaku and Ganju had become even more protective of her. On the days she wasn't training at the house, Ganju would still take her into town, but he wouldn't leave her alone to hang out with his friends. She usually had to ride one of his stupid boars with him instead of hanging out with the other kids her age and possibly play a game of soccer. She was starting to prefer staying at home and training. She was getting annoyed with her brother.

But today, a miracle had happened. Kukaku-nee needed a special substance for her fireworks, and it was only sold in the districts close to the Seireitei. She had sent Ganju-nii and Karin to district 1 since it was cheapest there. When they got to the shop, Ganju had told her that it would take a while, and since the area was extremely safe it would be ok if she wandered around on her own for a while.

Now, Karin was walking down the streets of district 1 determined to enjoy her day away from an overprotective nii-chan. It was different from the lower districts she was used to. District 1 had a much higher standard of living, and the Soul Reapers had a much greater presence. That was probably the reason Ganju had felt it was safe to leave her alone, so she wasn't complaining. The houses where slightly more apart, and everyone looked healthier and more well-fed. Since she didn't know anybody there, she decided to try making friends.

"Hey!" She called out to a guy close to her age walking down the street. "Are you from around here?"

The boy turned when he realized she was talking to him, but just scowled and continued walking away.

Karin blinked in surprise. Guess another difference was that the people here where really rude. She tried saying "hi" to several other teens her age, but had the same response.

Finally, she tried being friendly to the adults. Though they weren't as obvious as the kids, they also where much less pleasant to her than they were to everyone else. They returned her greetings, but didn't converse with her more than what was socially necessary. Even the shopkeepers treated her with less respect than the average paying customer when she stopped by a sweet shop for a snack.

"Is it cause I'm not from around here?" She wondered aloud while snaking on her candy. "I mean, nobody had any problems with me in the other districts we visited."

"I'm afraid that isn't it, young lady." Karin was startled by a voice behind her. She turned around and found the person who had spoken. It was a small old lady, not apparently richer or poorer than the average of the district. She appeared to be alone.

"What do you think it is, ba-san?" Karin asked.

"It's your spiritual pressure. They unconsciously know it's high and are afraid of you. The way people around here deal with things that scare them is to make it feel unwelcome." The old woman smiled at Karin. "They used to do the same things to my grandson."

"What happened to him?" Karin asked. She was a little worried, if this was how they had treated somebody who lived in the area, then if they did something bad to him she should get out soon.

"Oh, he went on to become a Taicho in the 13 court guard squads. I'm quite proud of my Shiro-chan. How about you help this old lady home and I'll tell you more about him?"

Karin nodded and took the old woman's arm, protecting her from the bumps in the road that would otherwise have tripped her. Although most of the story would most likely be just an old lady reminiscing on the past and bragging about her grandson, Karin really wanted to hear about one of the Soul Reaper Taichos. They continued walking until they got to a slightly run down house the old woman indicated was hers.

After Karin had helped the old woman in her house, she was invited to stay and have some tea. Karin graciously accepted, since she had nowhere else she had to be. Once they finished getting the tea ready, the two of them just sat in the den and talked. Well, the old woman talked and Karin listened.

She talked a lot about her Grandson. There was another granddaughter she mentioned a few times, but primarily she talked about her Grandson. Apparently, he wasn't really her Grandson by blood, but Karin had heard of several other cases in the Rukon District where people made families with people they weren't related to. Her Grandson had been a sweet kid, even if he could be a brat at times. Part of it might have had to do how the others in their district had treated him worse than Karin, but the fact still remained that the only people he had opened up to or shown any affection towards was the old woman and her granddaughter. It had been very difficult for him when the granddaughter had left for the Shin'o academy, though he had tried to hide it.

Shortly afterwards, the old Woman had started to fall ill. The poor boy didn't have a clue, but he had been unconsciously leaking his icy spirit energy when he slept and it had been affecting the old woman. It wasn't until a young lady Soul Reaper had found him in the middle of the night that he found out what he was doing. He then decided that he needed to learn how to control his spirit energy and asked the old woman for her blessing to become a Soul Reaper. Now he was a Captain in the 13 court guard squads, but still came to visit whenever he could.

When Karin heard the story, she felt a little sorry for the boy. Not only had he been treated badly by the other people in town, but his own power had inadvertently hurt the person closest to him. For this particular situation, becoming a Soul Reaper had been a good thing.

The old woman continued telling Karin all about her grandson, and both of them lost track of time. It wasn't until she heard a Ganju-nii calling her in the distance that Karin realized how late it is.

"I'm afraid i'm going to have to leave soon. That's my o-nii-san calling me." Karin stood up and bowed to the old woman. "Thank You for the tea and company, Ba-san."

"Oh, you don't need to be so formal with me, Karin-chan. Just call me Ba-chan."

Karin smiled. "All right, ba-chan."

"Oh and please come by and visit again. I like having young people in this house."

"All right." Karin turned to go, but caught sight of a futon on the floor that ba-chan had said she kept for when her grandson visited. When she saw it and was reminded of his story, Karin realized that she had unconsciously made a decision. "I'll tell you what, the next time I visit, i'll be a Soul Reaper. Then you can tell me which squad your grandson is in so I can drag him with me."

Ba-chan laughed at that.

Karin followed the sound of Ganju-nii's voice. When she finally caught up, Ganju was glad to see her.

"Did you have a nice time, Karin-chan?" He asked.

"Yep." Karin replied. "And don't let me forget, there's something I need to talk with you and o-nee-sama about."

Karin was kneeling in the Shibas' living room, bowing to Kukaku-nee-sama and Ganju-nii. She had just announced her intentions to become a Soul Reaper, and was waiting for their... approval? Blessing? Scorn? Karin didn't even know what to expect from them. But Karin did know that she had made her decision and was going to follow through, no matter what they said.

"So... you plan on becoming a Soul Reaper." Kukaku stated.

"Uh, yes Kukaku-nee-sama."

"Would you quit being so formal with me? I'm your nee-san. I may not be happy about it, but this is your decision and I can tell that you've made up your mind." Kukaku sighed. "If you're looking for my blessing or whatever, you've got it."

"Nee-san..." Ganju looked sad, but didn't object. He probably had hoped that Kukaku would stop Karin, but since that didn't happen he would just stay quiet.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If there's one thing i've learned about you, Karin, it's that you are not the kind of person that does well being cooped up in this house." Kukaku-nee went on. "You want to do things, change what's going on, protect people. You will be a great Soul Reaper."

Karin smiled, relieved that her nee-san understood. "Thank You, Kukaku-nee."

"If you want, I can help you study for the entrance exam. It will primarily be testing your amount of Spiritual Pressure and how much control you already have over it, but studying is still a good idea."

"I would appreciate that." Karin then turned to Ganju to judge his reaction.

Ganju-nii seemed to be dealing with an internal struggle. When he realized Karin was looking at him, expecting a response, he sighed and appeared to submit. "I guess it's all right, now that I know not all Soul Reapers are major Jerks. I know of a couple of guys I can get to look out for you."

"You don't have to do that, Ganju-nii, but I appreciate the sentiment." Karin smiled and bowed to her siblings again. "I am really grateful for your support."

Kukaku smiled. "Just try not to make us look like fools or get killed, ok Karin-chan?"

"I will."

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