This is officially the longest story I write so far. I hope you find this chapter more interesting because this is where the story really starts, after this you probably know why I name it 'Parallel'

--

Toushiro was sitting on the roof as usual; filling inside him was a sense of dread and anticipation. He had a strong feeling that something would happen and it had something to do with Aizen and the war.

"Toushiro," Karin asked, breaking the silence. "Why are you still up?"

"I can't sleep; I think that something is going to happen." He admitted.

She didn't need to ask what he meant by 'something', when she knew very well about the war. So she smiled consolingly as she sat down next to him.

"Well, do you want to try to sleep?" She asked him slowly.

He shook his head.

"Neither do I," She said and smiled mischievously. "Maybe we can find something to do, I think I have an idea how we can spend time."

The sound of her voice sent butterflies into his stomach, and it didn't help when she started placing feather light kisses along his lips. He completely forget what worried him earlier, and soon returned her kisses.

"That's...stop it!! Don't you have any regards to the feeling of other?" Ichigo yelled at them when he just got back from patrolling with Rukia. His face turned crimson as he watched them kissing. To him, what they were doing was not appropriate for the roof.

"No!" Karin replied and chuckled, obviously enjoyed the look on her brother's face.

Toushiro smirked when he heard Ichigo mumbled something about bad sister as he stormed away, pulling Rukia with him. However, before they left the roof, the cry of Toushiro's phone rang loudly. All of them knew what it meant; apparently it was time for shinigamis to fight again as five arrancars appeared in Karakura town.

"Taicho!" Matsumoto suddenly appeared on the roof. She looked worriedly at her captain.

"We need to go now, and you need to stay here Karin." Toushiro said, and with that all of shinigamis jumped of the roof and disappeared, leaving Karin alone on the roof.

...

Karin didn't hear anything from them for five months. It was an odd mix of fury and fear for her, no matter how many times she told herself not to worry, she couldn' t help it. Everything else went normal for her, of course, but it was too strange to live without her brother, without her boyfriend, and without her friends. She grew depressed as the days passed; she missed them and hated not knowing if they were alright. Staying in the house didn't make anything better for her too, Yuzu didn't know anything, and she felt worse for having to lie to her sister.

Trying to take her mind of the worry and the pain that filled her, she had been spending time with her friends at school and her teammates more than usual. Kenji had become one of her close friends. It wasn't like she wasn't close to him, but they grew closer. He made her laugh and she found herself spending more and more time with him; they were in the same class and the same soccer team. It was a easier to be with someone who didn't know anything about shinigamis or arrancars. For once, she was glad that she could have a normal life.

"There you are," Kenji said when he found Karin sitting on the bench by herself. "Why are you here by yourself? You should hear Mitsuko's jokes at school today. I swear, that one was the funn-"

He trailed off when he walked closer and noticed that she was crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing" She replied, wiping her eyes.

"Oi, You know that it's not true. You are not a crier, obviously there is something wrong," He said. "Come on, I will show you something, it will definitely cheer you up."

She smiled at his word, let him help pull her up, and took her hand.

Meanwhile, Toushiro arrived in the real world through the senkei gate. He hid his reiatsu to make sure that no one could follow him. It was inappropriate if someone found him here. His relationship with Karin was still illegal, though many people knew about it; he still thought it was safer this way. Plus, it was harder for him to come to the real world, right after fighting with arrancars five monthes ago, he was called back to the Soul Society along with Ichigo, Matsumoto, and Rukia, because the Gotei 13 had to prepare for the battle, and as a captain, he had the responsibility to make sure that his squad was ready. However he had to come; he wanted to see her more than anything. Five monthes wasn't long for shinigamis but he knew it was long enough to make her miserable, since she was left alone, not knowing anything about her brother and friends. He still remembered how she felt that last time Ichigo disappeared.

Karin didn't know Toushiro was there when she was talking to Kenji but he had seen them. He was on his way to Kurosaki residence, when he saw Kenji talking to Karin. He stopped and narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene. A surge of jealousy shot through him when he saw that she smiled back at Kenji as Kenji helped pull her up. But he was too far from them to notice that her cheeks were still wet with tears or to hear their conversation. When Kenji took Karin's hand, he was too shocked that he just stood there as if frozen. For a minute, his brain refused to function. He swore he didn't even know how to shunpo because he felt as if his feet were glued to the ground. And slowly he began to trail behind the couple as they walked to the soccer field.

"This is one of your favorite places right?" Kenji asked when they reached the soccer field.

"Yeah." Karin replied and nodded.

But Kenji was wrong, it didn't make her feel better. Being here, reminded her of Toushiro. This place was where everything began for them. And to be honest, she still felt like he was there, watching her.

"Oi, Why you still look sad? Normally you will cheer up when you play soccer."

"What's wrong, Karin? You want to talk about it? Kenji asked as he looked worriedly at her.

"No, I don't want to talk about it." She replied simply, still looking at the field.

"Don't tell me it's because of a guy." He said again.

Karin chose to stay quiet. Well, there was Toushiro but he wasn't the only person she was worried about. She was worried about her brother and her friends too.

"Okay, it's alright, you dont' have to tell me. But do tell me if someone hurts you, so I can get to play the hero and kill them." He said jokingly.

Karin looked at him and chuckled; she would love to see Kenji fight Toushiro and she was trying to force herself into a good mood. She knew Kenji was a good friend. He was always there when she needed someone. Deep down, she knew his feeling towards her, and she felt bad that she couldn' return it. She just hoped that friendship was enough.

"Thanks, for not making me talk about it. You are a good frie-" She tried to reply, but couldn't finish the sentence as her voice started to crack.

"Don't cry okay?" Kenji said as he pulled her closer.

Behind them, Toushiro felt like he couldn't breathe. How could she do that to him? Weren't they supposed to be together? His heart was just broken into a thousand pieces when he saw that Kenji pull her into a hug and she nestled her head against him. He saw everything; them talking, them smiling, and them hugging, but what he didn't see was her face when they hugged. For a moment, he considered using his gigai to stormover to them and demand an explanation, but his pride got the better of him. And with one last look, he turned on his heel and refused to look back.

--

This is why I introduce Kenji in the last chapter, like I said, he's gonna have a big role later on. I'm sorry for this chapter... Don't kill me, I have to do it. And I don't plan to make Karin a cheater, if that is what you are thinking...What is a love story without trouble? :P

I'm making everything complicated for them, and it's gonna get more complicated next chapter...+Evil laugh+

And again, plese review! I'm not so sure I did good with this chapter :-S