Disclaimer: Kubo is god. Kubo is king. Tite Kubo owns everything. Except the quotes used at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

AN: See all author's notes in part one. So I've tried to be original with Karin's powers. To my knowledge, no one else has done her this way. Please let me know what you think of her, as I've put a great deal of time and thought into what her powers could be. I'm also trying really hard to not have her cross into Mary-Sue-ism.

There is a poll on my profile page. Please go and vote for which story in the series you want written next.


No Warm Memories

By Lady Callista

Chapter 6: Giving In

OoOoOoOoOoO

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer...

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

OoOoOoOoOoO

"So can I do something today other than try to hit you with a soccer ball?" Karin asked as she sat down next to Urahara and began stretching. She knew she was in good shape, yet Urahara has decided that some physical training should come first. He'd said that until she showed a specific power she should just get better at what she did.

She'd probably kicked her soccer ball at him about five thousand times in the past week. And finally, yesterday, she'd managed to hit him. Although her celebration had been short lived, as he'd merely said she'd done well, then said he was going to use something called shunpo. She'd barely been able to see him move after that, let alone hit him.

"Well, I could try to teach you to transfer some of your reiatsu to the ball. You do it occasionally by accident, but you should learn to do it on purpose. Because although it's true that all you need to do to kill a Hollow is smash it's mask, for stronger Hollows just the impact of the ball won't be enough. You'll need your reiatsu behind it."

Karin nodded as she continued to warm-up. "Do you train humans often, Urahara-san?"

He chuckled. "Not often, no. There are very few humans with enough power to warrant training."

"Why is that?" Karin asked.

"Well, no one really knows why humans sometimes manifest more power than is normal for them." Urahara said slowly. "Although in your case, I can be 99% certain that it's because of your brother. Because of Kurosaki-san's inability to control his strong reiatsu, many of the humans close to him have come into powers. But the shape of those powers, and the choice of if and how to use them, differs for each person."

"You're talking about Chad and Orihime-chan, aren't you?"

Urahara nodded. "Sado-san, who is physically strong, has a power that reflects his strength. His attacks are basically just brute force."

Karin nodded. "The first time I saw it, he was saving me from a Hollow. He couldn't see it, so I was hanging onto his back and telling him where it was. Then his arm just…changed…and he could see it. Then this burst of…reiatsu, you call it, right?…well, it just shot out of his arm."

Urahara sighed. "Exactly. What he knew was fighting with his fists, so his arms became his power. And then there's Inoue-san. She dislikes hurting people or seeing them hurt, so she manifested a power to heal and shield. She does have offensive capabilities, and is capable of killing Hollows, but she almost never does. Her friends are so much stronger offensively that it's better for her to use her powers to heal. Better for both the group as a whole and for her own peace of mind."

"And I'm like her in that I'm sure the others are stronger than me. But I don't care if I'm not the strongest." Karin said, still stretching out muscles that were sore from a week of Urahara's training. "I just don't want Ichigo to have to worry about me all the time. And I want to be able to defend myself and Yuzu when Ichigo and his friends aren't around."

"You don't plan on fighting alongside them?" Urahara asked in surprise. "Not that I think you should, especially without knowing what your powers entail, but…"

"Well, that's kinda why I asked about humans and powers." Karin interrupted him. "I might know what mine is, but I have no idea what to do with it. I'm not even sure it's a power really, maybe lots of Shinigami can do it, but…"

Urahara cocked his head in curiosity as she trailed off.

"I…sometimes I can hear what people think." Karin said quickly. "It's why I asked you last week out of the blue if you had trained Ichigo. I heard you thinking about it."

Urahara was silent for nearly two minutes, and Karin wondered if he was replaying their conversation in his head. Her assumption was confirmed when he asked a moment later, his voice fill with surprise, "Do you remember exactly what you heard?"

"Not word for word." Karin admitted. "But it was something about how I wasn't as strong as my brother, but that maybe with training…"

"Can you control this ability?" Urahara interrupted her.

"I've never tried." Karin replied. "It just happens, usually when the person I'm with has stopped talking to me. Like when they're thinking really hard about what they're going to say next."

"This happens with everyone?"

"No, mostly with Ichigo." Karin replied as she thought about it. "Orihime-chan once. You, both when I asked about you training Ichigo, and a few days ago when we were down here training. And the day I asked you to train me, I thought I heard a female voice from the trapdoor, that's how I found it."

"But never Sado-san? Or Yuzu-chan or Jinta?"

"No." Karin replied, wondering why it mattered. Although realizing he was thinking of something made her want to be completely honest. "Oh, and I heard…another Shinigami once, but it was different. It was like the voice was speaking to me."

"That should not be possible." Urahara stated flatly. "Who was it?"

"Um…Toshi…I mean…Hitsugaya-taicho." Karin blushed. "But wait, you said it shouldn't be possible, does that mean you have an idea of what I'm doing?"

"I have a theory, although it should not be possible." Urahara replied cryptically. "And if you really think Hitsugaya-taicho's voice was speaking to you, well, that really should be impossible."

"What is it?"

Urahara ignored her question. "I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes, and think of me. Try to picture me in your mind. Think of how my reiatsu feels. And listen."

Karin looked at him suspiciously, but closed her eyes and concentrated on the strange shopkeeper.

'Benihime, can you speak to this girl?' Urahara asked in the silence of his mind.

I will speak to no one but you.

'But could you speak only for her ears? Would she hear you? Does she hear you now?'

I believe so. She is somehow aware of me.

Karin's gasp brought Urahara out of his mental conversation, and he glanced over to her. "What did you hear?"

"I heard 'no one but you,' then a pause, then, 'I believe so. She is somehow aware of me.'"

Urahara sighed. "It's as I thought. You're not hearing my thoughts, you're hearing the voice of my zanpakuto. Those last two sentences you heard were her reply to me asking if she could speak to you the same way she can speak to me."

"So why could I hear her?"

"I have no idea. Our zanpakuto are reflections of our souls. They've chosen to be part of us, to join with us. No one else should ever hear them. They're personal, private." Urahara replied. "Do you hear anything else I should know about?"

"Not really." Karin blushed at the reprimand in his voice. "But Hollows give me a headache. It's like this piercing pain going through the back of my skull."

"That's likely connected." Urahara sighed. "You're probably hearing the soul of the Hollow, either crying out in pain or in it's lust for other souls."

"Well, that's cheery." Karin deadpanned.

"I'll have to look more into your ability; I've never heard of anything like this. Although the same was true of Sado-san and Inoue-san when I first met them. For now though, let's continue with your training. I'm going to teach you how to focus your reiatsu…"

OoOo Meanwhile, in Seireitei oOoO

"She's awake?" Toshiro asked Unohana-taicho in shock as she stopped him outside Momo's door. A week had passed since he'd told his childhood friend he was in love with Karin, yet it was only a day since he'd last seen her. "What happened?"

"Ah…one of her friends dropped by this morning." Unohana said tactfully. "When I went in to tell him it was time to leave, I found Hinamori crying in his arms. They were in there for hours, and when he left she looked at me and asked me if she could have some lunch."

"That's wonderful." Toshiro said, emotion showing in his voice. "Do you think it's alright for me to visit, or should I leave her be for now?"

"Well, that depends on how she reacts to you." Unohana replied. "I trust you'll be able to tell if your presence is helpful or harmful."

Toshiro nodded, then slowly opened the door to the room and stepped inside. "Hinamori?"

"Shiro-chan." He was greeted with a giggle. "You call me Momo when you aren't sure that I can hear you, but now we're back to Hinomori."

"Bed-wetter Momo." Toshiro replied, a grin almost coming to his face. "Is that better?"

Momo sighed. "How are you doing?"

"That's supposed to be my question." Toshiro replied as he moved to the window to stand beside her. She was still staring out the window, as she'd been every time he'd come to visit her, only this time he could tell her eyes were actually seeing what was out there.

"Have you seen Kurosaki-chan again?" Momo still didn't look at him.

Toshiro could almost regret that he'd told her about Karin. "No. There's no future there. It will be easier on her if I just never see her again."

"You think so?" Momo said, a curious look coming to her face. "I've just learned that someone besides you loves me. Not as a sister or a best friend, but loves me loves me. It's the only thing I can think of that would have made me care about the world again."

"But it's another Shinigami." Toshiro replied, for the moment not even caring who it was. Both Unohana and Momo had been careful not to say, and Toshiro respected that. "It's someone you can be with. Karin and I can never be together. Not unless I stop being a Shinigami, or unless she dies."

"Forget about all the rules for a moment, Toshiro." Momo replied, her gaze finally meeting his. "A week ago, you said you thought you were falling in love with her. Don't think about the rules, or the reasons it can't work. Just think about her. Do you want to be with her?"

Toshiro was silent for almost a minute, then whispered, "Yes."

"Then go see her. Make it happen. Even if it ends up not working out, at least you'll have tried. At least she'll know how you feel about her." Momo said gently.

Toshiro shook his head. "No one but you could convince me this is a good idea."

Momo laughed. Although it was brief, it was her real laugh, and Toshiro treasured hearing it again.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here, isn't it?" Momo asked, the laughter still in her voice.

Toshiro nodded. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I missed you."

"I missed you to, Shiro-chan."

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho."

OoOo Late that night, in the real world oOoO

"Who are you?" Karin asked as she faced the cloaked figure. It and her were the only living things she saw as she looked across the huge expanse of desert that surrounded them.

"I am you." The figure replied. Although it didn't seem to have moved, Karin could swear it was closer to her than it had been a moment ago.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've never wanted to hear my voice. You've always denied me. Yet now you wish to use me. Why?"

"You're my power!" Karin whispered in awe. "The voice I hear in others. The voice of the soul. You're mine!"

The cloaked figure nodded. "You're finally listening to me. You've heard and used me subconsciously all your life, but you've refused to hear me consciously. You've denied me and your power."

"I have?" Karin asked as she tried unsuccessfully to peer under the figure's hood.

"You wished to not have people worry about you. To never cause problems. To take care of yourself." The voice was gentle. "To do that, you had to understand people. To know the mood they were in, so you would know what you could say that would neither upset or worry them. You had to know their personality, so that you'd know the best way to approach them. You've always known exactly what to say to everyone, and when and how to say it, haven't you?"

"I suppose so." Karin thought about it. "I just assumed everyone could do it."

"Not at all." The cloaked figure replied. "Learn my name, and know your true power. Work with me, and you can achieve all that you seek."

Karin listened with bated breath.

"I am Kyokon. Written with the kanji for mirror and soul. You already use Tamashii no Mado, and as you were taught today, only need to concentrate on the person to make it work. You will learn of our other powers in time, but for now Tamashii no Mado is all you need. Wake, child. And listen."

Karin startled awake, and although she rarely remembered her dreams, she remembered every second of this one. And knew that it was more than a dream.

"Kyokon." She whispered into the night. Then froze as she sensed a presence other than Yuzu in the room with her.

She looked to the window, and found Toshiro in Shinigami form inside the room, leaning against the window frame and looking directly at her. "Toshiro?"

"Karin." Toshiro's voice betrayed nothing. "Will you take a walk with me?"

TBC…

For the story of how Hinomori Momo stopped being a zombie, stayed tuned for the first one-shot in the After the Winter War series, "In Times That She Cried," which should be posted later this week.

Omake - Radio Kon

Kon: So, thank you all for joining us tonight. Tonight's guest is Kurosaki Ichigo, the most…wait, um…the second....no, actually, the third most popular Bleach character.

Ichigo: WHAT? I'm not the most popular? When did that happen?

Kon: Um, somewhat recently. So anyways…

Ichigo: No, wait. Who's the most popular then?

Kon: Um, well, it seems to be, umm, Hitsugaya-taicho.

Ichigo: NO WAY! That short little….first he steals my ranking….then he wants to steal my sister…then….AHHHHHH! BAN-KAI!

Kon: And that's all the time we have tonight. Stay tuned for our next broadcast, when our guest will be Ichigo's sister Kurosaki Kari…ahhh…Ichigo…NO…AIIIIII!

Glossary:

Benihime: Urahara's zanpakuto. The translation is "Crimson Princess"

Kyokon: Written using the kanji for mirror (kagami / 鏡 ) and soul (tamashii / 魂 ). This is the name of Karin's power, and was created by me for this story.

Tamashii no Mado: Literally "Soul's Window" or "Window of the Soul," Karin's ability that allows her to hear the souls of others.