YO. I'm baaaaaaack!! Didja miss me?
Okay, so, this chapter was way boring. I wanted to skip over the training and get straight to the battle, which may be why this sounds rushed.
And of course the characters are going to be ooc. All fanfics are ooc. So there.
Please, these characters aren't mine. I just like to mess with them.
Karin woke up the next morning stiff and sore all over. It was the price she had to pay for being an idiot and running who knew how many laps around the track. But at least she burned off a ton of weight, something she knew that the girls in her class would be envious of. Of course, they would never run so many laps, only be jealous of their results.
Slowly, she climbed out of bed and dressed herself. Karin didn't put on her uniform, because she knew that Toushirou was going to train her nonstop, so it was useless to put on such nice clothes. Carefully she headed down the stairs, slowly the whole way so as to not aggravate her poor muscles. "Toushirou?" she whispered, heading into the kitchen.
"In here," he replied, "with your brother." He waited for her to slide into a seat to start talking again. "As I was saying, Kurosaki, that's the situation. You're not allowed to interfere in any way whatsoever, and yes, telling Orihime is not allowed by Aizen."
"Who says he'll find out? Listen, we need Inoue's healing abilities for your fight. She can bring back the recently dead, she told me. Soul Society shouldn't lose you, and there is no way I'm going to lose another family member." He firmly crossed his arms and angrily glared at Toushirou.
"Ichi-nii, I don't know much about this Aizen guy, but he'll probably know if you tell Orihime-nee or even Rukia-nee. We'll deal without them. Besides, didn't he say that we could only tell you to help train me?"
"Yeah, well, he didn't listen when I told him his purpose was for training only," Toushirou said.
"How can I be for training only?" Ichigo demanded. "Karin will die in this fight. She's barely been a shinigami for a month! And for a week of that, she's been sick. Three weeks isn't enough time."
"You're the one who ran to the Soul Society with friends that hadn't had their powers for longer than two weeks," Karin retorted. "And look, they survived and are stronger for it. Besides, if I die, I'll just go to the Soul Society and become a real shinigami through the Academy so I know what the heck I'm doing."
"Plus, the surroundings will be to our advantage," Toushirou said calmly. "We'll be training in the area we're to fight in."
"We'll be fine, Ichi-nii, I promise," Karin told him. "It's okay, really."
"Fine," Ichigo grumbled after a moment of silence. "I won't do anything besides train with you. But what will I tell Yuzu if you die? And all your friends?"
"That I was killed in a homicide?" Karin offered. She stood up roughly, wincing at the movement. "But let's not think about that now, all right? We have a lot to do."
Toushirou nodded in agreement and followed her. "But first," he said, "let's do something about your muscles. I'm not going to get you sick so soon after your recovery."
She groaned, but sat at the stairs. "I suppose you've undergone basic medical training or something?" she asked, waiting for him to begin whatever he was going to do.
"All students are required to undergo a course." He muttered something and his hands glowed a slight yellow. Ichigo and Karin watched with interest as he slid his hands half an inch over her body. "Just as I thought. Hold on a moment." Again he muttered, and this time his hands' glow turned a lavender color. As he scanned over her body, Karin noticed that her muscles were no longer screaming for rest; instead, they were crying for movement.
"What'd you do?" she asked when he finished.
"I'm not exactly sure, but the purpose was to make a person's muscles stop being sore and instead ready for movement."
"You weren't paying attention to it?" Karin asked, surprised.
"I had an important meeting that day, and as it turns out, it was the meeting that told me I would become a shinigami even though I was so young." He shrugged. "At least it worked."
Ichigo cleared his throat, and the two looked at him. "Here," he said awkwardly, handing Karin his badge. "Use this and not those soul candies. We can leave your body in your room."
Surprised, Karin took it and returned a few minutes later dressed in her clothes. "Thank you," she said, handing the badge back to him.
"No problem."
"Right, let's go," Toushirou said, heading out the door.
Ichigo and Karin looked at one another. "Why didn't he change?" Ichigo asked.
"Ichi-nii, the reason why we need you is because he's lost his powers and he can't train me with shikai or bankai."
Toushirou twitched at the admittance to his weakness but said nothing. Ichigo stared at him, and then looked at Karin. "So, sucking too much power runs in the family, eh?" He ruffled her hair.
She smiled wryly. "I guess. At least his are returning."
"You'll need them." The seriousness was back.
She nodded, falling silent. The group walked through the town, heading for… where? "Hey, where are we going?" Karin asked.
"Urahara's shop, I'm assuming," Ichigo said, looking at Toushirou.
"We are. I don't like him, but he's the only one in the area with the biggest place for us to train in without being noticed." The three stopped in front of a building smaller than the ones around it.
"This is a candy store," Karin said, staring at the other two.
"It's also a secret shinigami hideout," Ichigo said, chuckling slightly. She followed them inside, still thinking they were crazy.
"Hey, Urahara!" Toushirou called. "We have something to discuss."
Rustling noises were heard, and Kisuke appeared, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, hello my young captain, Ichigo-san. What may I do for you today?"
"We need a place to train in secret," Ichigo said.
"And so you have come to me. I see." The group waited with bated breath as they watched him fan his face. At last, he snapped it shut and smiled. "All right, you can use the basement."
Toushirou blinked in surprise, as did Karin, but Ichigo smiled. "Thanks Urahara!" He led the other two down to the training area. "I used to train down here a lot, so I'm comfortable."
Karin then stared at Toushirou. "Seriously?!" she mouthed. He shrugged in response.
Ichigo stopped suddenly, whipping his sword out and attacking his sister. She instinctively protected herself with hers. Karin opened her mouth to shout at him, but Ichigo stopped her. "Good, looks like you know how to defend yourself," he said, grinning. He pulled back and swung again.
This time Karin expected it. She counteracted with force and then tried to hit him in the ribs. A fierce spar ensued, Toushirou looking on. The siblings fought each other with such ferocity that it was as if they were not battling in a spar but instead were battling for their lives.
Several times Toushirou thought to call out and stop them, but he held back. They were having fun, he realized. So this is where she gets her tomboyish behavior, he thought, amused. Her brother is her example.
After hours of instruction, practice, and more sparring between both Ichigo and Toushirou (who had borrowed a wooden sword), they sat down to rest. Ichigo went up the ladder into the shop to get food while the other two rested against a large boulder. Karin waited a few moments before speaking. "Toushirou? What do you think it'll feel like when this is over?"
He turned to her, confused. "What do you mean?"
She shrugged. "I mean, will you feel relieved or something? Because I know I will. I know that the amount of danger my brother will be in will be a lot less. I mean, obviously, he'll still have to do his job and a lot of Hollows will be attracted to his power, but at least he won't have to have Espada following his tail."
He nodded in understanding. "I think I'll feel confused." He saw her look and explained. "I mean, right now I know I have something to do. I have to kill Aizen, for a few reasons. But when he's dead, what will I do then? I don't think I'll be able to go back to my life."
"No one will." She said it with a strange emotion that he had to turn his head to see her face. It held a sort of sadness in it, with peacefulness mixed in.
"Of course," he said. "War gives lasting effects, and nothing is the same. I'm surprised that this one lasted these years. We thought it'd be over a lot sooner."
"Four years isn't that bad," Karin said. "Haven't you ever heard of the English and the French's One Hundred Year War? And it was actually a hundred and ten years!"
He smirked. "Of course I knew that, I studied too."
"Yeah, well, you act like four years is eternity." She smiled, looking relaxed again.
Ichigo returned, and the three of them sat to eat. The food disappeared quickly and almost as quickly Karin and her brother fell back into the training. While they were fighting, Toushirou moved to a more private location, far enough so that he wouldn't somehow get caught in the spar.
Fighting Aizen would be… difficult. Difficult wasn't a good way to put it, but it'd do. He fought for the Soul Society's sake, for Momo's sake, for his betrayed trust, for Matsumoto's pain, and… maybe also for the sake of Karakura. Karin he wasn't worried about. If she died, she'd go on to the Soul Society, unless Aizen had a Hollow eat her soul or something. If she lived, then she'd die years later. Instead, he was worried she'd try to do all the fighting or if Aizen tried picking on her during the fight.
Toushirou tried calming his nerves by concentrating on observing the spar match that took place over the next few weeks. Karin was doing well against her brother, dodging most of his attacks and making a few good moves on her own. Yet what he noticed after some time was that she was best at dodging and running, but her swinging abilities were second rate at best. Maybe her strong point is not to attack… but to distract? Fire can go either way; it appears that her fire is to distract and defend.
With that thought, he jumped down from his boulder he always observed from and calmly walked towards them. "Stop!" he commanded. The two stopped and stared at him.
"Yeah? What is it? We're barely half-way through warm-ups," Ichigo stated.
"Karin's strong point is not to attack." Karin glared at him, but before she could demand why, he said, "Ichigo, what element would you describe your sister as?"
"Fire, obviously," Ichigo answered.
"Exactly. And with fire, it can be offensive or defensive like most everything else. For Karin, I think it's defensive."
"Why would it be defensive?" Karin demanded. "I can fight just as well as everyone else!" She seemed hurt that she wasn't an offensive type.
"Because you're a whole lot better at running, dodging, and defending than you are at attacking," Toushirou said coldly. "At least with a sword. With your feet, I'm sure they're just as equally offensive as they are defensive."
"Then I'll just kick Aizen to death," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms.
"No. You'll be watching my back while I attack him," he told her. "And if I'm hurt, you'll be able to defend me."
"That's all I'm good for? Defending you? Listen, he's the one threatening to destroy my town, and therefore I ought to have a little more say in the battle plan!" she argued heatedly.
Ichigo looked like he wanted to say something, but was stopped by Toushirou's cold retort. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one with more battle experience than the two of you put together! So when I say what battle type you are, and what you'll be doing, you're going to listen to me!"
"Do you have authority troubles or something?" Karin shouted, clenching her fists.
"No, I just have a problem with you! You never listen to what I tell you!"
Shock wiped her anger off her face. She stared, jaw-dropped, attempting to say something, and then bolted.
"You call that training?" Ichigo demanded, finally saying something. He grabbed Toushirou by the collar. "Look what you did to my sister! If you make her cry, I'll break both your arms!" Ichigo threw him to the ground and stalked off in the direction his sister had run.
Toushirou groaned. "How come everything I say goes wrong?" he asked. Then he felt icy cold all over.
"Yes, well, women get hurt easily by men like us."
"Hyourinmaru!" Toushirou exclaimed, surprised and relieved.
"Yes, me. Now, let her calm down. Her other half will take care of her if need be. But I think that she won't."
"If you're here… then that means…" Toushirou pulled out a soul candy and popped it in his mouth. Immediately he jumped out of his gigai in full uniform. A careful smile appeared on his face. He slowly unsheathed his zanpaku-to and began to do practice movements.
After the time without it, he was rusty. Some of his steps weren't as graceful as he wanted them to be, neither were his thrusts as smooth as they used to be. But after nearly an hour of continuous practice, he felt once more at ease with it.
Her eyes were dry and not red. She hadn't cried. Instead she had run and sat against a boulder, thinking. Karin was well aware that to Toushirou she was somewhat annoying in her stubbornness. But she was not happy with the fact that he told her that she wasn't the offensive type. And what was wrong with the idea of just kicking Aizen to death? That might be the easiest thing to do instead of stabbing him with a sword.
After taking her time calming down, she stood up and trotted back to where Toushirou was. In amazement, she watched him fight an invisible enemy with ease—and with his zanpaku-to! How had it come back? "Toushirou!" she called, racing over.
He looked up and straightened himself. "You're back."
"Yeah."
"Where's your brother?"
"I think he's that way. But look at you! You have your sword back."
"Yes. And now… I can train you properly." He grinned, excited.
"Uh-oh," she said. She barely had enough time to pull out her own zanpaku-to. He was attacking her with such ferocity that she couldn't do anything besides defend herself. Help me… help me, anyone! she cried desperately.
Call upon me; I'll help you! the dragon answered.
But I don't know your name!
Yes you do! You know my name, now say it!
"Run…" Karin said softly.
"Excuse me?" Toushirou said, having heard her.
"Run through flames, Honaga!" Karin cried. Her zanpaku-to burst into flame and melted to form a dark orange sword with a fading red ribbon attached. Immediately she pushed him away and tore a line through the dirt. A wall of fire shot up between the two of them.
"Excellent Karin, and just in time. Could you put the wall down?"
"Yeah, sure." How do I do that?
Say 'Die out and leave ashes' and the flames will disappear.
Thanks. "Die out and leave ashes." As Honaga said, the flames disappeared, leaving ash and soot.
Toushirou walked over to her and smiled. "Good job Karin." He kissed her cheek quickly and gave her a hug.
"Thanks for teaching me," she said, grinning back. "Let's go find Ichigo and eat!" She headed towards the direction she had seen Ichigo last. "Oh, and while we're at it, can I go to school tomorrow?"
"I suppose. What's so great about school anyway?"
"I can show off to all my classmates how awesome you are."
"No really. What's so great about school? It's really boring."
"I like it because…" she shrugged. "I have no idea. Come on, I'm really hungry!" She grabbed his hand and together they ran to find Ichigo.
Well, I did it! I finished this chapter yesterday. XD So unlike my wishes, the fanfic isn't done... yet. It's nearing its end though, as you should have noticed.
Happy Easter everyone! :D