*wanders in guiltily* Hey guys! sorry... really sorry. I haven't updated this in a while. I thought that I would be able to finish this chapter before my workload in college started up again, but it didn't happen... But I'm done now! No more Thermodynamics for me! (Seriously though, if any of you plan on majoring in Mechnaical Engineering, do not, I repeat, DO NOT take Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at the same time. They are two of the hardest classes you will have to take, expecially when you add in your labs, and you will die from the workload.) And I even have some new knowledge from my Creative Writing class! (Maybe I can apply it and my writing will look halfway decent.)

Another factor in this chapter's delay is the fact that at one point I went back and re-read the manga (or looked on the wiki, whichever...) and I realized that it is very likely that Izuru, who I had initially intended to be Karin's Haiku teacher, was dead. They didn't make a big deal about it so maybe Izuru is just injured, but that possibility threw my plans for this chapter and how it applies to certain other characters off. After my consideration, I realized that Izuru being dead would actually make one of my OC's back-stories stronger and make them more sympathetic (write now I'm writing her as a very flat character, which I'm only able to get away with because I don't plan on making her important for that many more chapters.) So, I decided to change her teacher to Hisagi so I could leave the possibility of Izuru being dead as a character builder that may be introduced later while still keeping the important part of this chapter (the last conversation.)

Also, I realize that this is kinda short. Don't worry, next chapter (which hopefully will be out soon if I can continue my momentum) will be very important and most likely on the longer side.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A couple of months after she got back from summer break, Karin found herself looking at a whole new schedule for the next semester. She had done fairly well with her classes her first semester. Although Hakuda was only a B, she had gotten at least an A in the rest of her classes. In fact, she had managed to pull off an A+ in Hoho. It meant the pre-stealth force students hated her even more now, but it wasn't her fault she was the only one in the class who had managed to do a flash step.

Her friends had done pretty well too. Gyou had gotten all A's, which put him with Karin at the top of their class. Junji made mostly A's, with a couple of B's in History of the Soul Society 101 and Intro to Kido. Suzaku never talked about his grades, but Karin knew he had been asked to be a teacher's aid for another class, so he must have done well. Keiko had also gotten mostly A's, but she refused to acknowledge it as an accomplishment and focused on everywhere she messed up.

Nevertheless, all of Karin's lunch group passed their first semester with flying colors, and were now about to start their second semester. A lot of their classes were just continuing their core courses (Hoho, Hakuda, Kido, and Zanjutsu) but she also noticed the new electives, specifically Haiku and Jinzen. She was a little nervous about taking Jinzen with a bunch of 6th years, but she did know that Gyou, Junji and Suzaku were all in that class with her, so at least she wouldn't be alone.

Since most of her worries went into Jinzen class, she didn't pay attention to her other elective until the first day. In fact, she didn't even wonder who the teacher was until she was sitting in class waiting for him to arrive.

Karin turned around in her seat to face Gyou. "Hey, what do you know about..." Karin checked her schedule for the instructor's name, "Hisagi Shuhe?"

Gyou thought for for a minute. "Well, he's the fukutaichou of squad 9, but that's about all I know. We might have met in passing, but I don't know him very well."

Karin nodded and turned back around. Not as much information as she would have liked, but it was something.

Just before class was supposed to start, Hisagi-fukutaichou entered the room and made his way to the front of the class. Karin first noticed his strange tattoos, one of which looked like a 6 and a 9. After getting over the initial shock of his appearance, Karin tried to read his spiritual pressure. It wasn't near as strong as Hitsugaya-taichou's had been, but it was much stronger than most other people Karin had met.

"Hello class," Hisagi-fukutaichou began. "I am Hisagi Shuhe, fukutaichou of the 9th division of the 13 court guard squads. I will be your Haiku teacher. I'm about to pass around the syllabus, please take one and look it over."

The rest of the class period was mostly uneventful, since it was mostly dedicated to learning what to expect this semester. Karin didn't really notice how much time had gone by until Hisagi-sensei told them they were dismissed.

"Shiba Karin-san, can you stay after class for a few minutes?" Hisagi-sensei asked.

Karin blinked in surprise. "Uh, sure sensei." Karin turned to Junji and Gyou. "You guys go ahead to our next class, I'll catch up."

Her two friends nodded and soon Karin was alone wit the fukutaichou.

Hisagi-sensei sized up Karin. "So, you're the new prodigy everyone has been taking about."

"Uh..." Karin looked at him, confused. "I wouldn't say that I'm a prodigy, sir. Sure, I do well in class, but that's only because I study really hard."

Hisagi-sensei's eyes narrowed. "You set fire to your dorm with your spirit energy alone, right?"

Karin's face fell. "Yeah, that was me. It was an accident though, and I'm working on controlling my spirit energy so it doesn't do that again!" Karin explained.

"Yes, but the fact that you were able to do that, even unconsciously, and at such an early point in your training shows how much power you have. The Soul Society really needs someone with that kind of power, especially right now."

"Er, what do you mean by 'right now?''

Hisagi-sensei sighed. "Shiba-san, I'm going to be honest, since this affects what a lot of people will expect from you. Between the war against Aizen and the Quincy invasion, we lost a lot of good people. Casualties are to be expected, since we are warriors and were at war, but this time around we lost a lot of the senior officers. We still haven't filled all of the vacancies left from death in the ranks yet. The most troubling one is the fukutaichou position in squad 8. Unfortunately, although there have been a lot of recent promotions, there aren't any potential candidates for fukutaichou in squad 8, and everyone with the appropriate ability in other squads isn't willing to transfer."

Hisagi-sensei started to gather up his supplies. "As a result, a lot of people have been hoping for a new student to appear at the Academy, one who could rise up the ranks quickly and fill the empty fukutaichou slot. Some of the Taichous have their eyes on different people, but the most popular belief is that you will be that student."

Karin's eyes widened. "People think I could be a fukutaichou?" Karin felt Hisagi-fukutaichou's spiritual pressure again and compared it to hers. She wasn't even close.

Hisagi-sensei shrugged. "Hitsugaya-taichou seemed to have high hopes for you. I don't think I can judge your ability yet, but you do seem to be promising." He must have noticed how worried she looked, and added, "I wouldn't say that you're the only option though. There was a student in this class last year - I believe he would be a second year student now - who looked promising as well. So if you don't think you're up for it, it's all right."

Karin sighed in relief. "I see. Thank you for telling me this, Hisagi-sensei. If you're done, I really need to go to my next class."

Hisagi-sensei waved her off. "I understand. You're dismissed."

Karin grabbed her bag and bolted to her new Kido class, unsure how she would explain these new developments to her friends.

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