Let's Turn the Pendulum, and go back about twenty years, when Karin was 4 yrs old and Toshiro was 8, and let's see how their friendship blossomed and wilted to what their friendship is today…

Karin POV

I was playing in my house's front yard with my soccer ball. Ichi-nii had gone to the Dojo and Daddy had gone to the grocery store to buy food for dinner. I was juggling the ball between my legs so fast that I accidently kicked it down the street. I started to run after it but I was too far. I couldn't catch up…It was gone. I fell down on my butt pulled my knees to my chest and began to cry.

"My ball…"I continued to cry, not noticing the footsteps and the shadow that was cast over me.

"Is this your ball?"

I looked up to see a boy with snow white hair. I wiped my eyes and reached for the ball, which he gave to me. "T-T-Thanks." I said as I sniffled.

"You're welcome." He said as he started to turn around and walk down the street.

"Hey!" I yelled, as I stood up and walked up to his stilled figure. "Are you new in town?"

"Yea, my parents just moved here. Since my dad is in the military." He said as he looked at me with an angry face.

"What's wrong with moving here?" I asked curiously.

"I hate this town." He said as he stared at me.

"The town hates you!" I said trying to defend the place I grew up in.

"Well that's ok because I don't care." He said as he started walking away.

"Fine!" I said angrily as I started walking up the hill towards my house.

Hitsugaya POV

I walked ignoring the things the girl with the short black hair had yelled at me, until I had arrived in front of my house, seeing that the movers' truck had left.

"Where the HELL were you YOU LITTLE BRAT!" My father yelled as I stepped on the front porch grabbing me by my hair and pulling me inside my house.

"I wa-"

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME! I SAID WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!" My dad said as he went ahead and stricked my right side of my face making me cry.

"I was up the hill…" I said in a whisper, which made him grab me by my shirt collar and pull me to face him.

"WHAT?!" He said as he screamed.

"I was up the hill." I said in a louder tone than I would have liked, which caused him to get angrier at me and give me a blow to the other side of my face. He soon threw me against the couch and started to take off my pants. I knew what was going to happen it was always the same with my dad…He started to touch me…I started crying and tried to pull him away but that made him angrier, which made him slap me in the face. I cried and tried to call out for my mom, but when I looked to the right of our TV I saw that mom was knocked out and bleeding from her nose on the floor.

The Next Day

Karin POV

I walked down the street towards the white haired boy's house…but there was no one there. It was almost as if he had disappeared.

"What are you doing here?" I heard someone say from behind my back.

"A-" I almost screamed but he covered my mouth with his right hand grabbing me with his left arm and dragging me to his backyard.

"What happened to you?" I asked as I touched his face, which was black and blue all over, when I touched his right cheek he moved away from it.

"It hurts." He said looking at me seriously. "You have to go, I can't play today…" He said as he tried to grab me in order to get me out.

"I'm not going anywhere! Not until you tell me!" I screamed angry at the fact that he wasn't answering my questions.

"I fell…" He said to me.

"I can take you to my house…my daddy's a Dr." I said as I grabbed his hand and started to walk out of his backyard, up the hill, and towards my house.

"No!" He yelled as he pulled his hand out of my grasp, midway up the hill. "I can't he might ask…" He said as he looked at the floor.

"Well you did fall, it's ok." I said as I looked at him and smiled.

"No, no, I'm fine. I have bandages at home…but thanks anyway." He said as he smiled at me.

"Ok, well...bye." I said as I went up to him and hugged him, but he never hugged me back…I pulled out of it and stared at him. "What's wrong don't you know how to hug?" I asked questioningly, he just stared at me and then smiled giving me a kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks." He said as he smiled, turned around, and started walking downhill towards his house.

"Hey! What's your name?" I yelled as the boy continued to walk.

"Toshiro!" He yelled back before he stopped, turned his head and smiled at me…

Eight Years Later…

Karin POV

I was late to school…stupid goatchin! He didn't wake me up on time. I continued to run until I turned the corner and ran through the school gates, that read "Karakura Middle School." I ran through the main hallway and pushed the door of my class to the side, revealing a silent class reading and my teacher on her desk.

"You're late again Kurosaki…" The teacher said as she looked at me through the top rim of her glasses, since she was reading a book, and didn't feel like raising her head. She hated me…I just knew it…

"Yea I know, Sorry, Akira-sensei." I said as I bowed, receiving a sigh from her.

"Just sit down and pull out your book." He said as she waved me off with her left hand.

Ring…

I never knew that the day would last so long…I was so happy to be out of school. I quickly ran to Karakura High, in order to catch up with Toshiro. As I made it to the front gate I saw that he was leaning against it, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and his head bowed, his chin resting on his chest.

"You're dad was at it again?" I asked when I poked him softly, once I had reached him, he startled a bit and looked at me nodding.

"I couldn't sleep at all…he decided it was 'beat up mom' night. Tonight's my turn." He said as he picked up his backpack, and started walking towards my house.

"Do you need me to come and pick you up again? Saying that we have a 'last minute project'." I said as I put my hands up to motion out the quotation marks. He looked at the ground and nodded in a 'no'.

"My dad got really mad the last time you did that, and beat me up twice as hard the next night." He said as he looked at me apologetically. "But thanks anyways, I know I can always count on you Karin…" He said as he grabbed my right hand, brought it up his mouth, and kissed it making me blush.

"No problem, I mean what are friends for? We tell each other everything, right?" I said as I looked at him with a smile on my face, I noticed that he hesitated a bit and then nodded in one of his 'happy' smiles.

"Well here we are…" I said as I stopped in front of my house and turned to face him. "Remember if-"

"If you need someone to save you call me, I know, I know." He said as he imitated my voice, which annoyed me and made me give him a right hook on his right arm.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry! I forgot that your dad hit you there last time." I said as I rolled up his sleeve and saw that the almost gone bruise was started to darken once more. Great…I'm such a great friend…

"Don't worry about it…I should've known that you were going to react like that towards my imitation of you." He said as he smiled at me and pulled me into a hug. "I would rather something happen to me; before it happened to you…I would kill myself if anything were to happen to you…" He said as he pulled me out of the sudden hug and kissed me on my forehead… He was starting to get taller than me…He pulled his sleeve down, turned around, and started walking downhill towards his house. "See ya tomorrow Karin!" He said as he waved backwards at me.

"Remember!" I yelled at him.

"I will!" He yelled back as he continued to walk downhill and turned right.

Later that night…

"Karin, wake-up honey…" I heard a voice say to me, but I refused to get up I wanted to sleep longer. "Karin, wake-up..." I opened my eyes, to find my father looking at me with a worried look in his eyes. I looked past him towards the clock and saw that it read 3:30am.

"What's with the early wake-up-call goatchin?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

"Something has happened in Hitsugaya's house…" He said before stopping once he saw my reaction. I don't know how fast I ran, and I didn't care that I was only wearing a black tank top and blue boxers, all I know is that within seconds my adrenaline was pumping, and I was in front of Toshiro's house where a swarm of police men were holding people from the neighborhood off. I pushed them aside and walked towards the house until one of the policemen grabbed me by my left arm.

"We can't let you in little girl." He said sternly.

"I need to get in my best friend is in there!" I said frantically as I pulled out of the policeman's grip and started to run up towards Toshiro's door ignoring the policeman's orders and yells of returning. I opened the doors of his house to find Toshiro bleeding on the floor in front of the staircase, and a slam of a door up stairs.

"Shiro…" I said as I shook him lightly,

"Mmm..." He said as he opened his eyes, and looked at me through through black and blue teal orbs.

"Crap…" I said as I grabbed him lifted him up, putting his left arm over my shoulders. Before I opened the door, I heard a scream and a gun-shot. I stopped dead in my tracks, and noticed that there was dead silence. I soon heard a door open and footsteps down the stairs, I turned around to see Hitsugaya's dad clad in black boxers, a black tank top and a blood that was splattered all over his body.

"My son, you're next…" He said as he reached the middle of the staircase and stopped to look at me in a shocked face. "Well I see that he wants you want to join in on the celebration too." said as he smiled at me, and passed his bloodied right hand over his brown hair. I quickly shuffled towards the door and opened it carrying Toshiro and running towards the police. I heard shots being fired but I didn't notice anything until I reached a policeman and handed Toshiro to him. I couldn't help but notice that the policeman man was looking at me with shock. It wasn't until I looked down that I noticed a large blood stain in my abdomen…I've been shot… all the pain started to reach me as the whole world turned black…

The white lights were blinding me; I opened my eyes and closed them again from the fluorescent lighting. But I figured I had to keep them open in order to let them adjust, so I opened my eyes slowly a bit more each time until they were finally open. I looked around and saw white spikes next to my right foot; I didn't know what it was so I shook, moving the spike which turned out to be Toshiro's head. He sat up correctly and wiped his eyes, looking at me and then widening his eyes as if he'd seen a ghost. He then wiped his eyes again and looked at me smiling.

"You're awake." He said as he stood up and walked towards my head. "I'm not dreaming…" He said as he touched my face, smiling as he saw me smile.

Toshiro POV

I fell asleep hoping that she'd wake-up even though the Dr's said that wouldn't be waking up from the induced come for another two weeks. But I was dreaming…In my dream I replaying that night all over again. When my dad had had too much to drink and had decided to rape my mom in front of me, and beat her up. As she had to watch helplessly as he molested and beat me in front of her. But she wasn't ready to give up. My mom crawled towards my dad's leg and bit it hard making him stop his rampaging fist from hitting my face for the tenth time. He then grabbed her by the hair and pulled me and her towards the staircase. Dropping me in front of it and dragging her through long snow white hair towards the top, I heard a door open the minute dad closed hid bedroom door. I just kept my eyes closed hoping I would die, there was no use in surviving, and I was already losing consciousness. But it was then that I felt a light push on my shoulders. "Shiro…" I knew that voice it was Karin. I had to get her out of here. I tried to tell her to run but all that came out from my mouth when I opened my eyes to look at her worried face was "Mmm…" I heard her say "Crap." and felt that I was being lifted…I lost closed my eyes and all I heard was a gunshot and a scream. I opened my eyes but all I saw was a blur and heard a low and husky voice say, "My son, you're next…" My mind was telling Karin to run but my eyes were closing with more force. "Well I see that he wants you want to join in on the celebration too." My eyes shot open but I couldn't say anything and before long I realized that she was running and I was in the policeman's arms. It wasn't until I saw her that I realized that she had been shot by my father after all. I tried to say something but suddenly there was an earthquake and I saw as the Earth opened up and swallowed her frail body…" I startled as I woke up realizing that the sudden shake must've come from Karin's legs. I wiped my eyes to get rid of the grogginess and looked towards my left to find that Karin had finally woken up, I wiped my eyes again to make sure that I wasn't just day dreaming and realized that she really was awake.

"You're awake." I said as I stood up and walked towards her resting head. "I'm not dreaming…" I said as I touched her soft and pale face, smiling as I saw her smile.

"I guess I am..." I said as she looked at me as if questioning me and my reaction. "What happened? All I remember is-" She stopped before she shifted her gaze from me to her abdomen taking off the covers from her body, opening her dress a bit and viewing her now healed scar that was only three inches long.

"They put you in a sedated coma so that you wouldn't force yourself. That shot missed your liver by a hair's width…" I said as I looked at her scar, and stopped her from covering herself, placing my hand on her stomach and tracing the fine scar. "I'm sorry…" I said as I knelt down on the floor and rested my head on her stomach.

"It's not your fault…don't worry…" She said as she began to brush my hair with her fingers. "It was mine, I ignored the police and wanted to save you so-" I interrupted her sentence with my lips as I began to kiss her deeply, it was after that night that I realized that I loved her…and that I never wanted to be apart from her. I ended our kiss with a small peck on the lips and kissed her on her forehead.

"I thank the Gods everyday that I met you…" I said as I pulled her head towards my chest. "You're my light in this world covered in darkness…I never wanted anything to happen to you…I wanted to-"

"Don't say another word…"She said as she began to cry, pulling me closer to her. After our short moment, I sat down on the chair and held her left hand while looking at her.

"So how long had I been in a coma?" She asked curiously.

"For about two and a half weeks." I said answering her question and receiving shock. She regained her composure by swallowing hard and looked at me smiling shyly.

"That long huh?..." She said before she looked directly at the window, at the sun that was starting to set…

A Few Months Later…

Karin POV

"Court is in session." The guard said as everyone took their seats.

"How do we find the suspect?" The judge said.

"Guilty your honor." Said one of the men that stood up from the crowd on the right.

"Alright, on the count of first degree murder, domestic abuse, rape and molestation, this court finds Sosuke Aizen Hitsugaya guilty, and will serve life in prison." The judge said as he hit the table with his hammer. Toshiro felt like killing the man that made him suffer all his life in the moment that his father passed by handcuffed with two guards on each of his sides, it took all of my strength to hold him down as the said man just smiled at him.

"Calm down Shiro…" I said as I managed to get him to sit down on his seat, standing up before him.

"I just can't believe that they didn't give that man the death penalty…" He said as he put his arms on his knees and head on his hands.

"Don't worry Shiro; he won't hurt you again…" I said as I sat down next to him, and began to rub his back. "I just can't believe that you were also molested on top of being beaten…why didn't you tell me Shiro?" I asked as I looked at his head, which began to sniffle. I saw drops of water fall on the floor and I knew that he was crying.

"I just couldn't tell you…I didn't want you to think that I'm weak or-"

"Shiro you're the toughest guy I know…" I said as I grabbed his face and turned it to face me in order for him to look me in the eyes. "For you to put up with that for so many years…You don't know how brave and strong you are…" I said as soon as I felt I was being pulled into a hug by him.

Eight years later…

Karin POV

"Happy birthday dear Karin-chan, happy birthday to you! Whoo!" Everyone in the Kuchiki household said as they clapped and cheered. Rukia came and gave me a hug while, Ichigo slobbered me with kisses.

"Make a wish and blow out your candles." Uncle Byakuya said as he placed his hand on my right shoulder and grabbed it lovingly.

'I wish that I'll be very successful and happy with my job as a plastic surgeon in the future…' I thought before I blew out the candles that were shaped like a '20'.

"Yay!" Everyone said as they clapped and started to cut the cake before me.

"Karin you've got a call." One of the maids said as she handed me the phone.

"Hello?"

"Happy Birthday nee-chan!" Yuzu said happily from the other end.

"Back at cha sis! I really miss you!" I said as I smiled happening to hear her voice, realizing that I missed her physical presence more than anything, after she went abroad and has been in England for two years being in Cambridge University.

"Aww me too! How's everything other there?"

"Well Goatchin is as stupid as ever, Ichigo and Rukia are finally together after years of being SUPER close friends, and I'm finally nearing the end of my medical training with Uncle Byakuya." I said happily.

"Wow, that much huh." She said as she laughed. "Though somethings never change." She said signaling my comment towards dad. "I'm proud and happy for everyone over there."

"Aren't you going to celebrate?"

"I can't I have a HUGE midterm tomorrow that I have to study for badly. I just called to wish you the best."

"Aww, thanks sis. And don't worry you're going to pass that midterm."

"I hope so. Well till Christmas then, I love ya! Take care!"

"Love ya too!" I said as I hung up, and walked towards the dining room table which had plates everywhere with pieces of cake and ice cream on it. I walked towards the table and began to eat, and after a while I began to wait for that person to come by…and wait…and wait…

"Bye Karin!" Shunsui said, being the last one there, and left.

"Bye Shunsui, thanks for stopping by." I said as I walked behind him and closed the door. I decided to go ahead and start cleaning the table. As I walked towards the kitchen I saw that it was 11:00pm, and that jerk still hadn't stopped by. I had completely cleaned the whole table and was about to sit down until I heard a knock on the front door. I walked towards the door and opened it seeing a HUGE gift wrapped in sparkling red wrapping paper and a HUGE purple ribbon on top, the gift was my height, which was pretty impressive since I'm 5'7''.

"Umm." I walked on to the porch and saw Toshiro pop out from behind it.

"Surprise!" He said as he smiled at me and walked towards me with his arms open wide. "Ouch!" He said as I punched him in the gut.

"You're late you idiot." I said aggravated at the fact that most probably he had forgotten and decided to stop by figuring it was never too late to wish your best friend a happy birthday.

"But it's never too late to wish your best friend a Happy Birthday." He said as he stood up still gripping his gut with a frown on his face.

"Fine…" I said as I rolled my eyes, gaining a HUGE grin from his face and a suffocating hug. Toshiro was now 6'2'' and very toned. He was wearing a black tight shirt and dark washed jeans with converse. But his height wasn't the only thing that changed, everything changed…after the trial that put his father in jail he had moved in with my family, and after two years decided to moved alone. In the years that followed he decided to date someone else…which crushed my heart because I always thought that he loved me…after the relationship with his first girlfriend Momo Hinamori, he changed. She had cheated on him, and he found out by walking in on her and a guy named Kira having sex in their apartment, in their bed…that was the straw that broke that broke the camel's back. After that relationship he started to sleep with women every single night, after a while he was getting a reputation as being a womanizer…and since I was only 14 at the time that news hit home…he was nothing like the Shiro I knew and loved…at 18 years old he was a jerk that looked at women as an objects of pleasure, and at 24 he was still the same. I remember that I once asked him why he couldn't stay with one girl, and his response was 'I'm having fun'…I guess that the hole left by his mother's death, his father's abuse and lastly his first girlfriend's unfaithfulness led him in this quest for 'fun'.

"Ouch!" He said as he bent over in pain again at my second punch in the gut. "What was that for?!" He asked as he looked up at me.

"You were suffocating me." I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at him. "Were you sleeping with someone until now?" I asked glaring at him suspiciously.

"What's it to ya?" He asked as he stood up smirking while holding his gut. I continued to glare at him. "Alright fine, if you must know, yea I-OUCH!" He yelled after I interrupted his answer with another punch to the gut on the same spot as the other two. He hardly cared about his past anymore. I can't believe he would prefer women over my birthday…I thought as I turned around walked up to the door and slammed it in his face. Why was I still friends with this Toshiro anyways?

Knock…Knock…Knock..

"What?!" I yelled into the door angrily.

"Karin, I'm sorry!" He pleaded from the other side of the door.

"I am too…" I whispered to myself, realizing that I really needed the old Toshiro…"WELL TOO BAD!" I yelled as I started to walk away from the door.

"Karin!...Please!" I heard him say as he knocked two more times.

"What do you want? Don't you wanna go sleep with your random woman?" I said angrily at the door.

"No…I wanted to wish you a Happy 20th Birthday, and I came to bring you a gift." He said apologetically. I hated when he used that tone…It always made me weak…

"Hmm, let me see... You came LATE to the celebration, due to the fact that you were SLEEPING with a woman, and now you come to bring me a GIFT, APOLOGIZE and WISH me a HAPPY BIRTHDAY?!" I said angrily. "I DON'T THINK SO TOSHIRO! YOU KNEW TODAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY BUT YOU CHOOSE TO SLEEP WITH WOMEN RATHER THAN TO SPEND WITH YOUR QUOTE UNQUOTE BEST FRIEND! SINCE IM THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU I WOULD RATHER YOU JUST LEAVE!" I yelled at the door after having vented my frustrations at him.

"Alright I will, but will you please check out the present…I know you'll like it…and if it helps I thought about you when I picked it out." He said through the door after a couple of minutes I heard a car start and drive off. I opened the door, and pushed the present into the house, locking the door behind me. I pushed it towards the living room where I started to unwrap it, being left with a brown cardboard box. I opened the lid, and pulled out all of the decorative tissue paper onto the floor, I grabbed the box and flipped it over revealing a small black box and purple post card that read 'Happy Birthday!' in festive colours. I grabbed the card and opened it, it was one of the musical cards and it played the song 'A Moment Like This'.

Hey Karin,

Most probably if you're reading this you must've forced me to leave. So if I haven't apologized before, I would like to say I'm sorry for not being to your party on time, and for ruining everything all because I wanted to have an hour of sex. I wanted to let you know that you that you are my light in my hours of darkness, my savior, my hero, and most importantly my friend…And I love you with all my heart. And yes, to answer your question, I have a heart.

Love, Toshiro

I closed the card after reading and held it close to my chest, and started to laugh at how well he knew me…after all the changes he still happened to know me well…I looked down at the box and picked it up with my right hand, while placing the card on my lap with my left. I quickly brought my left hand up to the box and opened it.

"Oh my gosh!" I was in complete shock; I was looking at the most beautiful present ever. The necklace had a pendent that looked like a dragon fly, the wings were diamond encrusted, and the body was encrusted with my birthstone. The necklace itself was silver and delicate…it was gorgeous…I couldn't believe he had actually bought this for me…He wasn't as awful and thoughtless as I thought. I held the box and card close to my chest and walked out of the living room into the hallway towards the stairs, and eventually into the bedroom I was sleeping in until I finished med school. I got into bed with card and box in hand, removed the sheets, and tucked myself in as I drifted into sleep with a smile on my face…

This is the end of Turning back the Pendulum....Or is it?

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