Chapter 7

The Raging Inferno

A young woman of long black hair and slender build parried a blow aimed toward her chest with a small flick of her wrist and without losing any momentum she responded to the attack with a stab of her own that was meant for her opponents' lower stomach.

Her short blade managed to rip the delicate cloth of his shirt, but before it could go further and draw blood, the man retreated with a surprised whistle. Taking a different route, the girl let go of the hilt, the long ribbon that was tied at the end of it caressed her palm seconds before her fingers closed. The dark haired beauty started spinning the short zanpakuto.

With a cocky smirk, she disappeared so fast that she left an afterimage of herself behind. Her opponent sharpened his senses, knowing that she would attack before long. He waited for the attack, but it never came. A feminine wail called his attention, making him turn towards where he knew his ally was. The sight that greeted him was that of blood coloring the dusty ground beneath their feet as a large cut appeared on her sword arm.

The snarl that seemed to be permanent on her face deepened when she couldn't catch sight of their enemy. She swung her head, hoping to catch sight of her even if she didn't have much hope for it, her blond ponytails waving in the air.

A giggle echoed behind him and with precision that surprised him, he cut the copy of the dark haired female in half. Sick with her stalling games, the blonde female called out the name of her sword.

"Sing, Benihime." The man echoed without another word. He could feel change in the atmosphere when his ally had finally stated that she was getting serious. He knew that she would release her own sword, which meant that he had little time in the fight.

As he had foreseen, the fogbank that he had come to dread were released, with them came the beautiful voice that belonged to the siren. Her song echoed across the underground training basement, but he could still feel his control solidly. The grey eyes narrowed in suspicion as he came to the realization that his opponent was not using the mist to control him, but as a cover for her movements.

This power made her a terrifying opponent. He couldn't see anything and her movements were fast enough to be hard to trace without the impairment. Keeping his eyes wide open, he threw a blood shield and waited for the brunette to make her move.

Before long, he heard the murmur of words seconds before a razor-thin horizontal line of water shattered his shield. The blood shield was not enough to stop the attack and Urahara Kisuke knew this fact well as he jumped out of the way.

Taking flight over fight, the proud ex-Captain of the twelfth ran. The fogbank was her territory, he knew he was at a disadvantage in their current position. Out of the corner of his eye, Urahara saw the small blade come his way. The blonde stopped and bracing himself, he allowed the blade to pierce his side and as it did, the mists surrounding him melted away.

The dark eyes that were set in a beautiful face widened in surprise as Benihime cut her from shoulder to hip. The teen grimaced in pain before kicking the man in the chin with her toes. "Bastard." Kurosaki Karin mumbled as she walked away from their battlefield and the fallen forms of her teachers.

Karin turned to glare at the blonde man once before sitting down before an older looking Hachi. The small shell that hung from a tiny braid amongst her black locks tinkled against nothing, the materialization of her Bankai showing the anger of the siren that inhibited the blade that was now sheathed against her back by an aqua colored obi.

Hiyori, in her seventeen year old appearance, sat next to her. Apparently she had tired of kicking Urahara's ass for not backing her up during the fight. The pool of blood the shop owner was laying on continued to expand even as Yoruichi and Mashiro came down from their afternoon nap.

The purple haired woman watched the scene dispassionately. "I'm assuming you got cocky again." She hummed as she saw the petulant expression on the younger of the girls. The narrowing of the hour and a half battle in one sentence angered Karin, but she kept her mouth shut and nodded.

It was still clear that she was upset with herself for relaying so much on her illusion even when it was clear that her abilities exceeded the need of them. Yoruichi sighed. "From now on I want you to focus on you other attacks, do not use the mist for anything other than escape or if there are too many opponents for you to handle." She lectured her apprentice and unofficial heir.

Karin sighed wanting to lash out and say she already knew that, but she bit her tongue and nodded once more. The older woman smiled mischievously as she broke the reproaching mood with just one sentence. "Now, let's go celebrate our last night in this prison." She yelled and made her way back upstairs, but not without jumping over the prone form of her lover on her way.

Urahara chose that moment to raise his head, pouting at the nobles' back before he stopped pretending to be hurt. Apparently his play-dead needed some polishing. Karin just rolled her eyes at the goofy shinigami before making her way upstairs.

Cold brown eyes watched the tall lance that was tied down in the deserted hill which overlooked the home of the Shinigami. Light glinted off his square glasses as he turned to greet his accomplice when he felt his presence near.

Ichimaru Gin was staring at the weird implements that he had been asked to retrieve. The long cables were saturated with multiple reiatsus' that told their history. That fact did not bother him as much as the tiny detail that he had just stolen them from the Shihonin Family, the noble family that was deeply immersed in the arts of assassination.

It had him sweating cold and glancing over his shoulder, even if he knew he had left nothing to incriminate him. Aizen smiled his true smile, the cold, manipulative one that he had hidden from all but the mirror and those he had murdered. The silver haired male suppressed a shiver as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

"Thank you, Gin." The brunette with a sever god-complex said simply without true sentiment as he made to grab the items. Gin passed it over with no words of complaint.

"We are going to unseal it. It has just come to my attention that I had miscalculated the power of this particular weapon. With the power of his zanpakuto, even the Hougyoku could be eradicated." He informed the silver haired fox.

Gin's head tilted to the side in confused agreement before his toothless and humorless grin took over his features. It was none of his business what Aizen intended to do, all he cared about was following his orders. How could he kill him if he questioned his every move after all?

As the cords wrapped around the lance, Aizen put the last nail on his own coffin without even realizing it was his he was building.

Meanwhile at the simple shop that just happened to be behind a time barrier, Yoruichi was smirking drunkenly in triumph at the fact that she had managed to get everyone wasted without too much effort. Even Urahara who had a paranoid tendency to never let his guard down, and the fact that she had succeeded in letting him loosen a little spoke of the great trust that he had for everyone in the room.

The three younger girls were gossiping in the corner about their crushes and it warmed the purple haired females' heart to see how close they had all become over the course of three years. If she thought back to three years ago, their personalities had changed as much as their outer shells and it gave her a great amount of satisfaction to know that she had influenced Karin the most.

To be fair they had all changed from the constant companionship, all the girls had changed little by little without realizing it. Mashiro, who despite being powerful, did not take into account all the variables in a fight and her exuberant behavior in all moments, had been toned down by Karin's perpetual seriousness, all sarcasm and temper tantrums aside.

Said brunette had also changed because of the green haired female. Her serious and ungirly behavior had adapted itself to Mashiro's, giving her the necessary instructing a young teen needed through puberty. She was more self-aware now, in a feminine way.

Hiyori's rampaging temper and foul mood had cooled down, giving her a more mellow personality. Sadly, whenever someone mentioned that she was likening Shinji her temper exploded and no matter who had mentioned the likeness, Urahara always ended up bloody.

The thoughts running through her mind made her pay closer attention to the conversation that was taking place between said teens.

"…No way! That grumpy midget!" Yelled the inebriated blonde in shocked surprise while Karin grumbled into her drink something along the lines that she could yell a little louder because the dead hadn't heard her. Her half lidded eyes were glaring at the blonde without remorse.

Mashiro decided that that was her queue with a small giggle. "We have something in common!" She exclaimed happily, taking note of their confused expressions she elaborated with a wide smile on her lips. "I like a grumpy, silver haired captain too!"

"Kensei?" Burst out the blonde vizard. "No way…"She repeated softly, as if in shock at the revelation.

Mashiro pouted cutely. "That's not fair, Shinji is far worse. He is lazy, perverted and crazy." She said in a soft, resented murmur.

"And he's kinna creepy." Karin added in a spaced out tone. Mashiro nodded, glad that she had a supporter.

Hiyori blushed a violent red before dramatically shushing both girls, effectively ending the conversation. Hachi watched the whole scene in exasperation while Yoruichi smiled at the blackmail material she had gathered. Urahara sat next to her staring into empty space.

Karin appeared to be zoned out, which usually meant she was having another argument with her inner hollow when her reiatsu lost control. Her eyelids fluttered wildly as her spiritual pressure became scorching hot. She gasped once before her eyes widened in pain, her grip on the glass long lost.

In a flash, her eyes flashed golden and the pressure became too great for the female vizards to handle. The second they flashed towards the other side of the room, the table caught fire along with the walls behind her.

With haste that bellied his great abilities, Hachi placed several barriers around the teen. The inferno within the kido licked the barrier, dissolving it faster than the eye could catch. Making a great effort, he placed more barriers. Urahara watched this with wide eyes, the power she was excluding made no sense to him.

Her usual presence was cool and calm, subtle and sensual, not this burning fire that seemed to warm his skin even if he was almost 20 yards away from her. The amount of it also had him puzzling over the sudden change, but before he could continue thinking he realized that he might as well help before he had no brain to think with.

Yoruichi, seeing his behavior, elbowed his in the side. Their eyes connected ad they both understood what each other meant. Her fire zanpakuto was manifesting. Hiyori escaped from Mashiro's grasp and slammed her hands against the barrier in panic.

"Karin!" She yelled in a vulnerable tone. She could not lose her closest friend, the dark haired brat she had grown to think of as her sister. The flames chose that exact moment to dissolve the barriers that both men were racing to place. Hiyori screamed in agony as she took a step backwards, the smell of burning flesh filled the room making Yoruichi's stomach lurch violently.

Mashiro grabbed the blonde and pulled her back as Hachi casted another barrier, a small apology over the wound he couldn't prevent fresh in his eyes. Urahara followed Hachi's lead and continued casting the spiritual walls, a bead of sweat rolling down his neck. The pink haired man spared a second to cast him a grateful glance, but they had no time for words.

All the people in the room waited in silence for the girl to emerge from the raging inferno.

Karin could feel the warmth surrounding her, like a blanket of fire if there was ever such a thing. It was choking her with the intensity, but before long her body became accustomed to it. She opened her eyes, already knowing what they would find.

As if confirming the fact, the beautiful inferno that she had longed to unlock for three years danced before her passionately. Even from her place amongst the flames, the happy melody that saw sung by the siren reached her ears.

She noticed with a start that the black feathers she had often dreamed of touching were caressing her body as they fell from the nonexistent sky like dark snow. She smiled happily before spinning around the flames, but she came to realize that as she moved, she did not dance amongst them; she danced with them in a show of pure beauty.

She was laughing gleefully when she felt the presence beside her and when she stopped it was to see the figure of a man that seemed familiar even if she was certain she had never seen the man before. The man had golden eyes that danced as merrily as she had seconds ago and hair as dark as the feathers falling to the ground, as dark as hers. He had an abstract beauty that only seemed to be amplified by the large red wings that expanded from his back.

Seeing him, she felt an unexplainable joy, almost as if she had found a part of herself that had been missing without her knowing about it. With a start, she realized that she had reunited with a missing part of her soul.

Before thinking about it she lunged at the spirit and hugged the tall male without shame. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she heard him laugh in relief at finally being free from Soul Societies cage.

Separating, Karin smiled at the man with warmth that was uncharacteristic. "I represent your raw power, your ability to feel emotions and your passion in all you do. May your fire never burn out." He said as he ripped a large feather from his wings. "My name is Kikoo, use me well."He finished with a gentle smile before tying the feather beside the silver shell on the braid that settled over her left shoulder.

As he finished his action, he burst into flame becoming a giant phoenix that was made entirely out of fire. Karin caressed the feather with a smile, she knew what it meant. He had just given her Bankai.

The second time she opened her eyes after learning the name of her sword all she could see was ash. She watched in horror as everything around her was falling into pieces, including the ash itself which mimicked the feathers from her world as they bowed to gravity.

The blackened floorboards creak and called her attention as Yoruichi threw precaution to the wind and ran towards the raven haired teen. When the purple haired female embraced her, Karin could feel the older woman's heart racing. Karin placed the slightly longer sword on the ground and hugged the woman.

"You are so stupid." Yelled Hiyori as she slammed her foot on the weakened ground before kneeling down and inspecting the sword.

Being the exact opposite of the wakashi, the sheath was pitch black with a red ribbon spiraling over the blade that attached to the guard. The hilt was a beautiful golden color with orange stripes crisscrossing it. The blade emitted warmth as it rested on her palms and it made her grateful that Hachi had healed her between slamming down barriers.

The pink haired male was sitting down, his chest rising erratically because of his exerted panting. Urahara merely looked unsettled by the large amount of energy that they had spent to contain the blaze, but in reality he felt his years heavily and his eyes showed it to any that looked.

Through all the commotion Karin continued to smile warmly, she was finally complete.

BOOM! New chapter =), sorry for taking so long, I'm a lazy ass. With her getting the second zanpakuto, she will be very 'loving' and caring, but not always obviously. It was just something to make the romance flow a little easier. (cuz I'm a lazy ass).

Thanks for all the reviews and all the support even if I'm a terrible person for not updating when I say I am! So things will start to move faster now, much faster, but I have no idea how to do the execution scene so if you have any suggestions it would be great, otherwise it might end up sucking, so I guess that's a warning lol.