Hinamori's Apprentice

Chapter Seven

"Okay, now you just stay there until we figure out the details. Don't leave, don't let anyone in, and don't do anything to make people realize you're here. Understood?"

"Understood," Karin replied.

They were in Momo's quarters. Karin sat on Momo's couch while Izuru and Momo stood in front of her, impressing upon her the importance of not alerting others to her presence while they were gone. When they were satisfied that Karin understood the importance of the matter, they left, again reminding her to be careful.

Momo sighed heavily when they were outside.

"This is going to be a mess," she said, "What were we thinking when we took her here? We're going to get in big trouble for this!"

"Hey, you were the one who said we should take her back with us," Izuru reminded her.

"Yeah, but you agreed with me!" Momo said, "It…it was an error in judgment. We're never going to be able to locate her brother on our own! We'll need help, and we can't just tell everyone that we took some kid to Seireitei without authorization! We barely got her past the gate guards, and now we have to keep everybody from noticing until we figure out what to do with her! This is going to end up a huge mess!"

"Calm down, we'll think of something," Izuru said, "Didn't she say that she knew Captain Hitsugaya? We could take her to him."

"I…I'd prefer not to do that…" Momo said, thinking of her strained relationship with Toushiro.

"It might be the only way," Izuru said, "Besides, we just have to convince him to come see her. If what she says is true, it will clear everything up." Momo gulped.

"Very well then," she said. The matter decided, she and Izuru used shunpo to go off to the Tenth Division.

---

Karin leaned back against the couch, glancing around the room. It was plain with no distinctive features. There were several stacks of books lying around. Karin shifted out of anxiety. She was just going to have to wait and see what happened now. She wondered when she would see Ichigo again. Those Shinigami had seemed rather nervous when they were taking her to Seireitei. They had taken turns carrying her on their backs and using their 'shunpo' technique. It was quite amazing, but the closer they came to Seireitei the more anxious the two appeared. Several times they seemed like they might just drop her off somewhere before even reaching Seireitei. Finally, they reached the wall that surrounded Seireitei. Almost as soon as the walled city was in sight, the female Shinigami did something strange to her. One minute she had been normal, and the next she was nearly invisible. She had been told to be quiet before being taken through a gate guarded by a giant. They went through quite briskly, and hurried to Momo's quarters before turning her visible again. They hadn't bothered to explain things to her, instead just telling her to remain where she was, promptly leaving afterwards.

She felt a little annoyed at them for not explaining more and for leaving her on her own, but was more anxious than anything. Was there going to be any trouble? They had mentioned the existence of laws preventing Shinigami from taking people from Rukongai to Seireitei. The penalties for this were unknown to Karin, and she didn't know if she or the Shinigami who helped her would get in trouble for it. She quickly shook those thoughts away. Things would work out in the end. She was sure of it. As soon as they found out that her brother was Ichigo…

Karin suddenly sat bolt upright. Ichigo! She had forgotten to tell them that her brother was Ichigo! She smacked herself in the head for her stupidity. She should have given the Shinigami that information as soon as she met them.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" she growled to herself. She stood up and walked towards the door. There was still a chance that they would still be there. When she reached for the door knob however, her hand immediately recoiled as she felt something akin to a static shock. Reaching again, the same thing happened. When her fingers were a few inches away, they were given a powerful shock. Looking more closely, she saw that there was a faint, nearly transparent blue wall covering the door knob. She wondered where it had come from, before realizing that it must have been the Shinigami's way of keeping her in.

She growled. She had promised that she would stay put, but when she had such vital information to give them…

She took a deep breath and steadily moved her hand forward. Once again, she was given a shock, but did not recoil, instead continuing to move her hand forward through the barrier. The static still shocked her hand, and it was soon numb, but she was soon able to grasp the door knob.

As soon as she did however, she was immediately thrown back. She crashed onto the ground, getting up painfully and glaring at the door. They had clearly rigged it so that she wouldn't be able to get out.

Grumbling, she got back onto the couch. They would come back eventually, she'd just have to tell them then…

---

Ichigo took a deep breath. He had to do this. He knew now that it wasn't an option. That didn't make it any easier though.

Bracing himself, he opened the door and walked into his father's room. The walls were covered in posters of his mother, Masaki. Isshin himself sat upon his bed, staring at a new poster of Karin that he had put up recently.

"Hello Ichigo," he said calmly, "I thought you might come to see me."

"We…need to talk," Ichigo said slowly.

"About what?"

"I don't know…" Ichigo admitted.

"I expected that you'd say that too." Isshin lacked his usual goofy attitude, for which Ichigo was quite grateful.

"Well…what am I supposed to say?" Ichigo said awkwardly. He was feeling rather stupid. He had been so concentrated on working up the nerve to actually talk about Karin's death that he had completely neglected to think of what he would be saying.

"Are you blaming yourself?" Isshin said calmly.

"What?" Ichigo said, caught off guard.

"I asked if you were blaming yourself, like you did with your mother."

"I…I don't really…yeah, I guess so…" Ichigo admitted.

"How do you consider yourself responsible?" Isshin asked.

"I…I was…" Ichigo stuttered. He couldn't exactly tell him that he had been off in Soul Society, and Isshin didn't even know that it was a hollow that killed Karin. He hurriedly thought of something to say. "I, uh, I've been spending a lot of time with some friends…from out of town. I've practically been abandoning Karakura lately. If I had been more involved with things around here, then maybe I would have been able to do something."

"Like what? Would you have been there in time to prevent the accident?" Isshin asked, "I think that it's not just Karin, you're confused about what role these other 'friends' of yours play in your life."

"Perhaps," Ichigo said, "I just…now that she's gone, I find myself wishing that I had been around here more. I've forgotten to appreciate the thing in my life. Today at school, there were things that I've never given a second glance to that somehow struck me in a very strange way. It's all just very odd and unsettling…"

"Yes," said Isshin, "These types of tragedies really do make you view things differently. It seems to me that you're struggling to decide where you belong, with these 'friends from out of town' or with your family and friends in Karakura. Now I'm not trying to turn you away from these other friends of yours, and I'm admittedly biased towards, oh, let's call it 'team Karakura', but you're going to have to make a choice eventually. Dividing yourself between two different places will make for a very difficult life. Take my word for it…"

Ichigo marveled at what his father had said. It was as if he was able to know exactly what it was that was bothering him. He tried to hide this amazement when he spoke again.

"What about Karin? I thought we were supposed to talk about her?" Ichigo said. Isshin smiled wisely.

"Was that really what you wanted to talk about? It may be what triggered this sadness and grief, but it's not the root of the problem. Trust me when I say that your old man knows more than you think. Now you really must excuse me, I have to go out for something. By the way, perhaps you should spend some time with Yuzu. She's the one who really needs support right now." With that, Isshin walked off, leaving Ichigo to ponder his father's words.

---

Izuru knocked on the door to the Tenth Division's main office. Momo was fidgeting nervously, worried about facing Toushiro. Though they weren't antagonistic or angry towards eachother, it was still awkward to see her old friend after their friendship had become so strained. She also worried about the possibility of getting in trouble for taking Karin to Seireitei. The more she thought of it, the more she felt that it had been a bad idea. It was a result of that same weakness that had caused her so much difficulty in the past: she allowed her emotions get the better of her. She had felt bad for Karin, and had taken her to Seireitei despite the laws against it. She was an empathetic and caring girl, but she still had to perform the duties of a Shinigami Vice-captain, and by breaking the law she had once again failed her duties.

Izuru was nervous as well. They had a fairly good reason to take her from her old home: protecting her and her family from hollow attacks and helping her find her older brother; but they should have done so more carefully, perhaps by taking her to District One and leaving her their until they could make the proper arrangements. Though he still felt that they'd had no choice, he was increasingly nervous. He only hoped that Captain Hitsugaya would be of help to them.

The door opened, and Rangiku Matsumoto walked out, a jug of sake in her hand.

"Oh, hey guys!" she said brightly, "What brings you here?"

"Um, hi Rangiku," Momo said, eyeing the sake in her hand, "Is, um, is Toushi- I mean, is Captain Hitsugaya here?"

"Nope," Matsumoto said, "He's off on a mission to investigate something in the world of the living."

"Darn it," Izuru muttered. Momo looked a little relieved, but quickly got nervous again as this meant that Toushiro wouldn't be able to help them with this matter.

"Now what?" Momo asked, "What are we going to do now?"

"Do about what? What's wrong with you guys?" Matsumoto asked. Izuru sighed.

"Don't tell anyone, but we sort of took this kid from Rukongai to Seireitei without authorization," he admitted.

"Why'd you do that?" Matsumoto asked. Momo, who was by now very anxious, spoke in a rapid-fire manner without pause.

"ShesaidthatherbrotherwasaShinigami and shehadanunusuallyhighlevelofreiatsu and hollows weretargetingher and wefeltbadforher and shesaidsheknewToushiro and wewantedtodosomething so wetookherhere and nowshe'shidinginmyapartment and we'regoingto getintroubleifwe'recaught so wecametoseeToushiro but he'snothere and she'sstillatmyapartment and we'llgetinsomuchtroubleifwe'recaught and webrokethelaw and-" Momo babbled on incoherently without stopping.

"Momo! Calm down!" Matsumoto said, putting her hands on her shoulders, "Breathe Momo, breathe!" Momo stopped talking and breathed quickly putting a hand to her chest in an attempt to calm herself.

"I'm sorry Rangiku, I just…I have no idea what to do! We're going to be in a lot of trouble if we're caught, and we barely got her in to Seireitei, we won't be able to get her out!" Momo said, "Oh, we should never have taken her here in the first place!"

"Don't say that, you took her in out of kindness, you don't need to feel ashamed of that," Matsumoto said, "Let me see her, I'll try to figure something out. If nothing else, I'll let her stay with me so you won't get in trouble for it."

"You'd…you'd do that for me?" Momo said, tears in her eyes.

"Of course! We're friends, aren't we? Besides, if what you said is true, my Captain should be able to figure something out as soon as he gets back," Matsumoto said.

"Well in that case we'd better get going," Izuru said, "The sooner we sort this out the better."

They all ran outside and began shunpoing towards Momo's apartment.

"So what's this girl like?" Matsumoto asked as they shunpoed through the streets of Seireitei.

"We haven't spent much time with her, so we can't really be certain yet," Momo said, "She seems nice enough th- Oh no…" They stopped in their tracks just outside of Momo's personal quarters. Numerous masked men from the Special Forces were standing guard outside the building. Several of them quickly surrounded Momo, Izuru, and Matsumoto, herding them towards the door. They were forced inside, where Captain Soi Fon, flanked by two of her men, stood in front of, Karin, who had her wrists bound together with special restraints.

"C-Captain Soi Fon…" Momo whispered in fear, "Wh-wha…what are you…"

"What am I doing here?" Soi Fon answered coldly, "I am here because I received a report of two Vice-captains smuggling a soul from Rukongai into Seireitei! Surely you must know what a serious offense this is?"

"Captain Soi Fon, you have to listen," Izuru said hastily, "There were unique circumstances! We felt that this was the best-"

"I will hear no excuses," Soi Fon said, "Vice-captain Hinamori, Vice-captain Kira; you are both under arrest for-"

"Karin!!!" the previously silent Matsumtoto suddenly squealed. She ran forward and hugged Karin, smothering her in her chest. "I can't believe it! It's really you! It's you, it's you, it's you! This is fantastic! We have to send word to Ichigo! Oh man, I never would have thought it was you! Amazing! Simply amazing!"

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you talking about?" Soi Fon asked irritably. Matsumoto turned with a big grin.

"Captain Soi Fon, I think that no arrests will be necessary," she laughed, "I'd like you all to meet Karin Kurosaki, the younger sister of Shinigami Representative Ichigo Kurosaki."

---

Ichigo was lying on his bed silently, thinking of what his father had said, when a shape suddenly leapt up into his window. He looked up and saw to his surprise that it was Rukia.

"Rukia! What are you-?"

"Hello Ichigo," Rukia interrupted with a smile, "I think I have some news that will make you very happy…"

Thanks for reading! Thank you to blackwitchkarma, war90, Thunder Claw03, Photophopic, Yemi Hikari, .fire333, Hinata-cutie, The Great Pineapple MEKI, Psyco101, and Chillis for reviewing! Please review; you all know how much I love hearing from my readers!