AN: OKAY! Next chapter, sorry this took awhile, I'm trying to have at least another chapter before I post the next one, for organization and what not (also, I'm a hardcore procrastinator.) Thanks for all the reviews, they were much appreciated.
Now, I'll answer a question, to Aurora Marija, sorry I didn't mention it before, but I'm basing this in the manga kinda, and, sadly, Toshiro and Karin have yet to meet each other (trust me, I was depressed when I found that out. I wanna hug Tite Kubo and pout at him at the same time -sigh-.) Oh, and I thought I put a line, but I'll fix it, thanks for telling me.
Also, thanks to Forbidden-Hanyou, who reviewed all my chapters, you're awesome!
Okay, author babbling over now, hope you like this chapter, R&R, and hug a tree.
Disclaimer: Me: Yeah, I own Ble- ow, stop kicking soccer balls at me! Oh, all right...sigh, I don't own anything.
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"You will stay in the Shihoin compound, of course." Those words resonated through the young shinigami's mind as she stared in awe. Before Karin was a large house, quietly elegant, with a large courtyard in front of it. A tall, stone wall surrounded it, never seeming to end as the land went on and on. The place was huge, truly an estate. Karin couldn't wait.
The shifting of weight brought the young woman back to reality. Clutching her soccer ball to her petite chest, Karin hefted her bag on her shoulder, walking forward, through the stone courtyard. Only extremely keen ears could catch the sound of lightly pattering feet following. After the long walk of silence, Karin stopped at the front of the massive building, a wooden porch under her. She quickly glanced at her escorts, biting her lip with nerves.
One of the men in black seemed to take pity on her. "This compound has been empty for several years, Shihoin Yoruichi-sama is the last blood relation of the noble family alive. Her father passed in the last war and her mother quickly followed." His speech was monotone. "We did use it as a training ground before, as well."
"Thanks," the shorter of the three murmured, eyes swiveling around as she walked to the doors. They slid open with ease, unlocked.
Sticking her head into the building, Karin's body followed. The place was almost as big as the outside. The main room was giant, with a high ceiling. Servants had obviously cleaned the place recently, every surface was spotless, not dusty as expected.
But, the whole estate seemed oddly empty. To the Kurosaki, it was odd to step into a home and not be assaulted by a blubbering father, or any noise at all. It sent a shiver through her body. No doubt it had been much more livelier in her teacher's youth, but now it seemed dead.
"Kurosaki-sama?" a voice asked.
Jumping, the young girl remembered she wasn't alone. With a sheepish grin, she turned to her two escorts. "Sorry, yeah?" It really annoyed her that all they showed were their eyes, she couldn't tell what they were thinking.
Probably that you're a bumbling oaf, that annoying double voice spoke.
Shut up, Hi no Shinzo, the shinigami shot back. Heart of the Fire, perfect name for the zanpakuto, considering she liked to trash talk all the other zanpakuto. Urahara said that his own sword had been scarred for ever after he fought Karin, refusing to let his 'baby' near Hi no Shinzo again.
"Is everything to your liking?" the man's voice interrupted a thought pattern again. "Servants will be in and out for cleaning and caring for the grounds, a cook will provide breakfast and dinner as well." The two men patiently waited for a response.
"Everything's cool," Karin spoke finally. "But," she added, a devilish grin on her face. "I have a request, if that's okay?"
Cloth covered faces turned to each other, a shrug was exchanged. Sui Feng had said to accommodate the child, since she'd be getting the crap beaten out of her every day. "Go on," the quieter of the two muttered.
"Start using this place for training again." The request was simple, but the two Stealth Force members looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Hey, it's gonna get lonely here and I know Yoruichi would want it this way. If she knew you guys were wasting an awesome training ground like this, she'd be pissed and kick you into next week. So use it, that's all." And without another word, the teen walked away, dribbling the strange ball ahead of her.
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First days. Yep, they suck. Everyone stares at you, whispers, points, oh, and the after school teachers make you run twenty laps then fight them. Oh, wait, that's just Karin. She was really not looking forward to science class either. Crazy guy who likes to do experiments on people plus an anomaly girl equals nothing good. Yay for math, the one class she didn't have.
Right then, the middle Kurosaki was dragging herself to the tenth division. The day hadn't gone so well. It started easy enough, though.
First thing, Karin went to the academy and took a few shinigami classes on ideology and history. Then she was sent to the first division to be told her schedule for the rest of the day. First period was second division with the Stealth Force training her in, well, stealth and endurance. Sui Feng was a brutal task master.
Second period was fourth division for healing and kido lessons, those weren't going well on the healing front. Unohana had promised they'd start making things go boom soon, though, so Karin was satisfied.
Third period, ninth division, where she was taught about arts and culture for a little while, going over a few reports for future reference as well. And, lastly, was introduced to the wall, which they patrolled.
Fourth period, tenth division, which she was heading to now. Lastly was the eleventh. In between her lessons, Karin had been instructed to visit with each captain, giving them reports about her previous lesson as a practice for future reports. All in all, a pretty tiring day.
So, tenth division, get ready.
A few minutes of trudging down paths, past staring people, and Karin arrived at the barracks. Passing through the unlocked doors, she made a beeline for the place where the most reiatsu was emanating. Arriving at a wooden door, the tired girl heard an aggravated growl through the wood. Without another thought, she pushed it open, entering the office.
Blinking, the young teen took in the scene before her. The boy with white hair from her trial stood behind a desk, glaring at the blond who was his lieutenant. The woman cowered behind a sofa, it's cushions over pouring with papers. As the door swung shut, the two turned to Karin quickly.
A grin spread across the woman's face. "Witnesses!" she declared happily. "You can't kill me with witnesses around, taichou." The boy just scowled, plopping back into his seat, filling out more papers. Karin watched calmly as the young man zipped through a small stack of reports. Great, he'd probably have her doing busy work.
"Hi there," a perky voice greeted. Karin turned back to the lieutenant who had bounded over to her. "I'm Matsumoto Rangiku, tenth division lieutenant." Well, Rangiku had never heard of personal space apparently, was the immediate thought, as she leaned in close to the guest.
"Kurosaki Karin," the girl responded, offering a hand. Rangiku ignored it, instead going in for the kill. The poor kid was immersed in Boob Mountain without warning. "Can't breath," she gasped out, airways cut off.
"You are so adorable," Matsumoto exclaimed.
"Let go of the child, Rangiku," a cool voice spoke up. "We can't hide the body, and Kurosaki will kill us all." Thank Kami for merciful taichous.
Matsumoto pouted, letting Karin go. "Aw, taichou, you never let me have any fun. I was just hugging the girl. She's so cute," the woman squealed. " I can't wait to go shopping. I know some outfits that would be absolutely adorable on you." Grey eyes widened in horror at the words.
"You used up your budget for this month," the captain reminded calmly, not looking up. "We need to get to her lesson anyway. I'll need you to do some paper work while I'm with her, Matsumoto. If you do it, I'll raise your shopping budget." Karin blinked in surprise as the woman appeared at the captain's desk, sitting in the boy's now vacated seat. A pen was poised in her hand, face scrunched up in concentration.
Without a word, the boy plucked his zanpakuto up and walked over to his newest pupil. "Hitsugaya Toshiro," he introduced himself seriously, staring down at Karin.
A grin spread across the new shinigami's face. "Hey, shorty," she answered.
Vein throbbing in his head, the white haired kid corrected quietly, "Hitsugaya-taichou, Kurosaki." The last word was spit out coldly.
Karin bristled. "It's Karin, not Kurosaki." A giggle came from the desk. "Now, let's get this over with before I actually die." Yeah, bad joke, she knew. "What're we doing anyways?"
Toshiro took a breath before continuing coolly. "I have been instructed to help you with your shikia and bankai," he murmured stoically. "Now-"
"I already achieved shikai," Karin cut her teacher off smoothly. "Although my second form is shaky, my first is awesome." A pleased grin formed on the child's face at the thought of her accomplishment. Yoruichi had said it was one of the most potent shikai, taking out an enemy with ease. Too bad it destroyed too much, as well.
The white haired captain blinked in surprise. Covering the unbidden emotion quickly, he displayed a cool manner of slight interest. "Then you won't mind showing it to me."
A nervous look spread across Karin's face. "Ah, well, about that, you see, my shikia is very uh…destructive, like, it destroys anything within a hundred foot radius and then spreads." Letting out a nervous chuckle, she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, ponytail bobbing.
"Then we'll go to the drier area, away from the Seretei," was the simple response. "Can you shunpo?" The younger teen blinked before nodding, a pleased grin spreading. "Good, follow me." Toshiro was off, Karin hot on his heels. Oh, she just couldn't wait to let Hi no Shinzo out.
Oh yeah, let's destroy some stuff! a gleeful voice echoed in Karin's mind.
AN: Okay, sorry, one last thing to sayo-chan64, on Karin's kido.
So, ignore the fact that her healing kido isn't good, please, she will be way better than Ichigo in that area, but more with fighting type kido and restraining (like Rukia). I want to save healing kido for Yuzu, you know? Like one twin is kicking ass while the other fixes all the messes she made of her opponents, cause their awesome like that. But yeah, hope you liked the chapter.