"Are you absolutely sure it was the black bottle of medicine and not the blue or purple ones?"

"Yourichi-san said she needed scissors and the medicine you had in the little black bottles."

Urahara sighed and climbed up another step on the ladder. He kept that particular medicine on the highest shelf in his shop, tucked behind the case of explosive antiseptic cream and the jar of cherry sake in the back corner so that neither Ururu or Jinta would ever grab them by mistake. None of his assistants ever got things from that part of this shelf which he privately thought of as the "Things That Annoy Yourichi" shelf. Still, the thick liquid in the bottles was an instantaneous anesthetic, even if he was not able to use it as the weapon enhancer he had invented it to be because of objections from Yourichi and Benihime that it made both of them sneeze. "She normally can't stand this one," he muttered and began to hand down other random bottles from the shelf to where Karin was standing below, filling her arms until she could barely move until he finally was able to get a hold of what he had been looking for tightly in his left hand and still grab a hold of the ladder. He would need his right hand free if he wanted her to listen.

"And," he began, continuing his previous conversation with Karin as if he had never interrupted it, "we have been at war with him since that happened. So, Kurosaki Karin, there is your explanation." He balanced carefully and reaching with his right hand, pulled his cane from where he had it belted to his waist and pointed it at her, pushing just enough energy through that she could see the image of Benihime underneath. "Now that you know that, if you go to run out of my shop again until after the battle outside has ended, I will beat you. Do you understand me?"

Karin swallowed and nodded.

Urahara smiled and put his cane back at his belt. "Good. I would hate to have Kurosaki-kun trying to kill me for hitting his younger sister." He walked down the ladder a few more steps, taking the bottles, jars, and odd snake shaped flasks back from her to put back with the rest of the merchandise.

The door opened and Ichigo walked in, breathless but, for today at least, unwounded leaning against the wall as Tessai shut the door behind him.

"Oy, Hat'n Clogs! Anyone else shown up yet?"

Urahara turned as much as he could on the ladder. "Ah, Kurosaki-kun. Rukia is in the back room helping Yourichi, but there is someone else here who was looking for you."

Ichigo walked over, grabbing the bundle of items that Urahara pushed into his arms just as he saw the equally bottle laden figure on the other side of the ladder.

"Karin, how- what - why are you here?"

"Ichi-nii! I came here looking for you."

"You could have been killed! What was so important for you to find me right now?"

Karin looked him directly in the eye, her dark eyes solemn as Urahara took the last of the bottles from both of them and placed them back on the shelf.

"It's Masumi-san and she's hurt really badly this time. It's worse than last time. Ichigo, she's worse than the boy in the parakeet. Only she was fine this morning, so I don't know how, but they need to die for doing this to her."

Ichigo looked at his little sister, completely stunned by what she had just said and blinked. "Masumi-sensei? But, no, she promised she would never -- Karin, do you know where Masumi is?"

Urahara grabbed Ichigo's hand and closed the fingers over the surgical scissors and medicine before Karin could answer. "She's in the back room."

Ichigo did not stop to answer or say a single word. He simply ran to the back, leaving Urahara and Karin standing near the ladder. Karin moved to follow her brother and Urahara put his hand on hr shoulder.

"Just a minute. Let us see what happens first."

Karin looked up at him, eyes glittering at the suggestion. He looked back down at her, eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat.

"Wait." He straightened up slowly. "Let Ichigo take this up with his teacher."

"She isn't his teacher. Not at school, anyway. She only helps with the English and drama classes for work study."

"Then why did Ichigo call her sensei?"

Karin continued to stare at Urahara, the angry glare that she had fixed at him still unwavering, still unflinching. "Masumi-san is the one who first taught Ichigo and me how to tell the difference between the living and the dead."