Wow. This story has over 100 reviews already! I never expected anything like that to happen, especially on a story that I don't like as much as some of my old ones. Thank you guys so so much! You have no idea how much this means to me (tears of joy). So this chapter is longer than it was going to be to thank you :) Enjoy!

One night, just over a week into his stay, Hitsugaya woke up to the smell of green.

"Damn it," he cursed. "This can't be happening."

Hitsugaya opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. The world was spinning around him like a top, making him horribly nauseous. But he did his best to suppress the strange sensations. He had only one thought: Hoshi. Carefully, and ensuring that both of his feet were actually hitting the ground, he got out of bed and groped his way across the room, which was becoming longer with every step he took.

"He's so young," Hitsugaya thought as his steps became heavier. It felt like his whole body was made of lead. "But I suppose with parents like his, it's not entirely surprising. Still…" His train of thought was cut off as the ceiling above him began to wriggle like a bed of snakes and orange colored water rained down on him.

"Just breathe," he ordered himself, flaring his reiatsu to protect himself as best he could from the onslaught. Ordinarily, he would have been able to resist this, at least partially, but the kido barrier he had placed around himself to hide his presence wasn't helping his reiatsu control.

Finally, soaked to the skin and very close to vomiting, Hitsugaya reached Hoshi's basket. The baby was sleeping soundly, despite the unusual circumstances in the room.

"Hoshi," Hitsugaya called, lifting him into his arms. "Hoshi, wake up. Please." Hoshi squirmed at the movement and opened his eyes.

"Thank god…" Hitsugaya began, but as he stared into Hoshi's deep brown eyes, he realized something; the room hadn't stopped spinning.

"But…he's awake…" At that point, Hoshi started to cry and Hitsugaya heard something move in the direction of Karin's bed. Suddenly, everything stopped. The room returned to normal, the ceiling ceased its movement, the orange rain receded, and the excess weight in Hitsugaya's body was lifted.

"It's my turn, isn't it?" she grumbled. She sat up, rubbing her face, and looked over at Hitsugaya who was gaping at her like he had never seen her before.

"Toushiro?" she said groggily, still not fully awake. "Why are you looking at me like that? And why are you soaking wet?"

"Karin," Hitsugaya gasped, still in awe himself. "You're an illusionist."

"I'm a what?" she asked. "Am I still dreaming?"

"No, and I'm very grateful you're not." She glared at him.

"Are you going to tell me what an illusionist is, or do I have to guess? Because, as far as I'm aware, I can't do magic tricks to save my life. And how the hell did you get so soaked? And…wait…is your hair orange? What's going on?"

"Calm down!" Hitsugaya insisted. "Let me dry off and I'll explain everything. I think you're about to be very happy."

ooooooooooooooo

Ten minutes later, Karin and Hitsugaya, who had washed all the orange off and changed into something dry, sat on Karin's bed for a talk.

"An illusionist is a shinigami who is able to use a special kind of kido," Hitsugaya explained. "Normally, kido is used for destruction, binding, or barrier creation. Every shinigami can do those things. But every now and then, a rare kido master appears who is able to create illusions. And I don't just mean standard illusions that make something false look real. These illusions have actual consequences. If an illusionist creates fire, it burns. Illusionist's swords are actually sharp, their water is wet, their poison is deadly. In other words…"

"It can be used to kill people," Karin said gravely.

"Yes." Karin sighed. She had craved for power ever since she had started seeing hollows, but she had always pictured it to be something like Ichigo's, or maybe Chad's. She had never imagined this. She wasn't exactly sure what it meant.

"Illusionists perform their illusions by confusing the five senses," Hitsugaya continued. "They can make you experience things that are otherwise impossible; smelling colors for example. That's why I got wet but the room didn't. The rain didn't actually exist, but my brain was so convinced it did, that water was attracted to me. If you had been dreaming about a fire instead of a rainstorm, my skin would have spontaneously combusted." Karin shuttered.

"So where did this power come from?" she asked, slightly afraid of the fact that she had this latent ability that she already couldn't control. "And why did I get it now?"

"You can't train to become an illusionist," Hitsugaya replied. "It's something you're born with. I've never heard of a human becoming one, but I guess your family isn't exactly normal. As for why these powers chose this time to appear, I think that has to do with Hoshi."

"Hoshi?"

"His mother is an illusionist," Hitsugaya told her. "One of the best." Hitsugaya had never told that to anyone. It was technically a secret between him and Hinamori. She had discovered the ability during her third year as a shinigami, and had come to him, then just an Academy student, begging for help. It had been a rather scary time for them as they figured out how to bring the power under control. Hinamori was petrified of the ability, and she used it as little as possible. What he didn't say aloud was that Aizen, although not an actual illusionist, also had the ability to create illusions due to his zanpakto. Hitsugaya already knew that Hoshi would be an incredibly strong kido master when he grew up, if not an illusionist himself. His reiatsu was guided that way. But, it was no wonder that Hoshi, with a reiatsu that screamed illusionist, had activated Karin's latent powers.

"I'm almost positive that Hoshi is an illusionist, based on his reiatsu," Hitsugaya added. "When I first felt the effects of the illusion, I was convinced that it was him creating them, despite his age. I assume that your recent contact with him caused a spark in your reiatsu that has been hidden until now. It wasn't awakened due to contact with your brother because he has no kido ability to speak of, so his reiatsu doesn't resonate well with yours. Hoshi, on the other hand, has abilities similar to you, so he was able to force your powers to surface." Karin pondered all this newfound information. She was still scared, but as she thought about it, she was growing more and more excited.

"Does this mean I'll be able to fight in the war?" she asked hopefully.

"It's possible," Hitsugaya replied. "But before that, you need to learn how to control it. Tonight, you created an illusion without meaning to. Luckily, I just ended up wet, but next time, it could be a lot worse."

"But where am I going to learn how to do that?" she cried. "Who around here knows anything about illusions?"

"I sometimes think you forget who I am," Hitsugaya said in irritation. "I'm a taicho, remember? I don't just know what an illusionist is, I also know how to train one. It'll be hard, but I think you can handle it. Are you prepared?"

"Of course," Karin replied with determination.

They didn't go back to sleep. Karin was afraid to dream again, and Hitsugaya didn't blame her.

"The first thing you need to do is learn how to create an illusion at will," Hitsugaya told her. "That will reign in your powers so that you have more control over them. Until you can do that, the illusions will have a mind of their own and you'll create them when you least expect it. Tonight you manifested parts of your dream into an actual illusion. But dreams are unpredictable, so it's vitally important that you learn to repress your powers when you don't want them, and activate them only when you want to. Otherwise, you can put everyone around you in danger."

"What do I do if that happens?" Karin asked, trying not to show her fear. What if she did something horrible to her family by accident?

"Don't worry," Hitsugaya assured her. "I know how to suppress illusions. If worse comes to worse, I can release my kido barrier and stop you. Although, I'd rather it didn't get to that point."

"Then that just means I have to master this quickly." Hitsugaya nodded.

"Alright," she said excitedly. "Let's do this! How do I create an illusion?" Hitsugaya smirked. He was glad she was so enthusiastic about this.

"Let's start with something simple," he suggested. He looked around the room and spotted a scented candle sitting on one of Yuzu's shelves. "Try lighting that candle." Karin closed her eyes and concentrated. She pictured the candle and, in her mind's eye, saw it lit. She tried to imagine all the sensations that would create, the light, the warmth, the smell of burning wax. She opened her eyes to check her progress. Nothing. She scoffed.

"Is something wrong?" Hitsugaya asked causally. She glared at him.

"Yeah," she spat. "You haven't told me how to make a stupid illusion."

"So what are you doing?" She told him about picturing the candle.

"Who exactly are you trying to illude?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Remember," Hitsugaya explained. "You are creating an illusion. You aren't actually creating fire. Even if it rages out of control, nothing will get burned except the people who are around to experience it." Something clicked inside Karin's brain.

"I'm not illuding the candle," she realized. "I'm illuding you."

"Exactly!" Hitsugaya said with pride. It took Hinamori much longer to figure that out. "In order to create an illusion, you can't just simply imagine what it is you would like to have happen. You obviously need to focus on the outcome, but at the same time, direct your reiatsu at whoever it is you are trying to illude. Right now, that is just me, but you can illude hundreds of people at the same time once you gain more experience." Karin closed her eyes again, but this time, in addition to thinking about the candle, she also thought about Hitsugaya. She had never really practiced reiatsu manipulation before, and she found it to be incredibly difficult. Sweat began to pour down her face and her breathing rate increased. Hitsugaya waited patiently. This first step was the most important. Once she learned how to do something small, everything else would come. He didn't expect her to get it right away, but if they spent the next few days practicing, then maybe…

"I did it!" Hitsugaya was ripped out of his revere and looked up at Karin's triumphant face. She was pointing eagerly at the candle.

"Look, look! I did it!" Hitsugaya glanced at the candle, and indeed, there was a steady flame burning there. He approached it and waved his hand over the top. It was hot.

"Incredible," he marveled. "We've only been at it for an hour." It took Hinamori a week of diligent practicing to do that.

"Karin really may master this," he thought to himself. "What raw talent the Kurosakis have."

He heard a crash behind him and the candle blew out. He whipped around in a panic, and saw that Karin had crumpled to the floor.

"Karin!" he gasped with concern, rushing to her side. "Are you alr…" He stopped as he saw her face.

"She just fell asleep," he said with relief. "I guess it's natural that she's exhausted. Creating illusions takes a lot of reiatsu." He lifted her into his arms and carried her to her bed, where he laid her down and tucked the sheets around her.

"She's kind of cute when she sleeps," he thought, then suddenly realized what he was thinking and mentally slapped himself.

"Dang, I'm getting soft," he reprimanded. "Is this what a few days without paperwork does to me?" He turned off the light and climbed into bed, hoping to get a little sleep before Hoshi woke up again.

"Still, I can't believe Karin is an illusionist," he thought as he drifted off to sleep. "She's one heck of a girl."

ooooooooooooooooo

The next morning after breakfast, Karin and Hitsugaya locked themselves in Karin's room, but instead of pulling out the shogi board, Hitsugaya placed a kido barrier around the room.

"What's that for?" Karin asked curiously.

"Just in case," he replied. "With your family around, it can't hurt to be too careful." Karin nodded.

"So tell me more about illusions," she asked eagerly. All her fear from the night before had evaporated to be replaced by sheer exhilaration. She was gaining a power and she was going to be able to fight. She wouldn't have to rely on her brother or the other shinigami anymore. This time, she was going to stand beside them.

"Illusions can take many forms," Hitsugaya began. "You can change the surroundings to anything you want, make something appear or disappear, alter a person's perception of reality, or simply debilitate someone by making them get lost in their own head. You can create weapons yourself, or team up with a partner and use the illusions to enhance their abilities. Illusions can get incredibly complicated, and the more creative you are with them, the better. But you need to build up to things. The more complex the illusion, the more reiatsu it takes and the more difficult it becomes to control. Also, the strength of the illusion varies based on who you are trying to illude. Fighting hollows with illusion doesn't take much effort, but to illude someone like me, who has taicho level reiatsu, you're going to have to work a lot harder."

"Sounds interesting," Karin said greedily, rubbing her hands together. "Let's do this."

And so, her rigorous training began. Karin was diligent and determined and stubborn and she focused all her efforts into learning how to properly create and control her illusions. Hitsugaya turned out to be a masterful teacher. He helped her grade her illusions so that they became progressively more intricate, but he didn't hold her hand the whole way through. He still left plenty of room for self discovery.

"He's so awesome," Karin thought one day a few weeks later as she watched him try to escape from a prison cell she had created around him.

"Ok, joke's over!" he growled, pounding on the bars. "Let me out!" Karin laughed.

"I thought you said you could negate illusions," she taunted. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"I thought I could too. Yours are too strong." He wasn't lying. In the few weeks they had been training, Karin's ability had grown exponentially. Her illusions were much more powerful than Hinamori's had been when he had trained her. With his kido barrier in place, he didn't have a hope of negating anything.

"I'll make you a deal," Karin teased. "I'll let you out if you take double shifts with Hoshi tonight."

"Hey!" Hitsugaya protested. "You wouldn't have been able to trap me in here at all if I hadn't trained you. Don't you think you at least owe me something?" Karin pondered that.

"Nope!" she exclaimed. Hitsugaya scowled.

"Well, what if I just stopped training you," he threatened.

"Oh, you would never do that," Karin assured him. "You love me too much." Hitsugaya felt his face turn red. Karin laughed.

"Oh relax, it was just a joke Toushiro," she chuckled, finally lifting the illusion and releasing him from his cage. But Karin knew in her heart that it wasn't a joke. And so did Hitsugaya. He knew that his affection for Karin had magnified, despite his best efforts. But what he didn't know, was that she had started to have similar feelings towards him. Somehow, the bonding created through training and caring for Hoshi had drawn them together, although neither of them was willing to actually admit it. There was awkward silence for a moment, and Karin felt horribly guilty that she had brought up the subject at all.

"He's a shinigami," she thought to herself. "Even if he does like me, he's not going to do anything about it."

"So what's next?" she asked aloud, hoping lighten the uncomfortable atmosphere she had created. "I know, let's try that scenery change thing again."

"Ok," Hitsugaya agreed, but he wasn't really listening. He was still trying to bring his heart rate back to normal.

"I'm a shinigami," he thought. "I shouldn't feel this way about her." He took a deep breath and pushed his emotions to the back of his mind to brace himself for the trip to Mars that Karin was about to send him on.

I usually try to avoid giving Karin powers, unless she's dead and is a shinigami, but I felt like she needed them in this story. But here, she's not a shinigami. She doesn't have a zanpakto or anything, she can just use this rare illusionist ability. I hope I explained it well enough, but if you still have questions about how it works, please ask, since you probably won't be the only one who's confused.