Here's another chapter with some Karin focus. I hope you enjoy.

Karin was out on a day patrol with Shino. As it was a weekend the daily activities that usually punctuate the environment were quiet today.

They were standing on a rooftop after conducting a konso on a recently deceased man. This was Karin's first time doing it herself. Previously Shino had done it while walking her through the process.

"You did well for your first time," the taller woman was perched on the very apex of the roof while Karin sat.

"Thanks," Karin smirked slightly, though something bothered her. "Hey, does your zanpakuto deal with you?"

Shino chuckled. "I can't get it to shut up, damn thing keeps ripping on me over dumb shit, yells my damn ear off while they're at it too," Shino's statement told Karin that they were at similar stages. So that meant she might be getting everything formalized soon, but it didn't help her.

"At least yours is telling you something. Mine just toys with me like a kid," Karin reclined slightly, allowing herself to relax.

"You are only fourteen," Shino was still shocked that Ichigo was only one year older when he had attained bankai and he had only had as much experience as Karin did now. Speaks to the effectiveness of Urahara's training.

"She could at least give me a hint," Shino raised an eyebrow at that. It felt like she was missing something.

"A hint for what?" She remembered her older brother giving her some tips, but most of those were faded memories as she had in part ignored him.

"Why she doesn't want to give me her name," at that moment something seems to have clicked.

"Maybe their childish behavior is the hint?" Shino didn't know much about this process. At best, she could guess based on context, but that was a shot in the dark.

"I guess I'll talk to my father about it." Karin stood up before they then moved on with their patrol. The afternoon sun slowly descended towards the horizon.

Yoruichi didn't like what she was going to do today. She had to get Byakuya's approval to read the Kuchiki copies of both the Tsunayashiro census report and the list of confirmed dead from the massacre. And Byakuya was a staunch believer in the right of a clan to not have their internal affairs meddled with.

Yoruichi used to agree with that opinion herself once, and it makes sense. The Central 46 only serves to settle inter-clan disputes, and the Gotei serves as a non-affiliated force independent of any house specifically to ensure that even if a major house was to be non-compliant, they could be brought to heel. However, that meant that when it came to matters within a clan, they had, by their own case law, no jurisdiction. A key concession to get their ancestors to agree to cead them power at the time.

The other problem was that they had also ruled, justifiably, that it was illegal for one clan to interfere in the internal matters of another non-subordinate clan. This created a very dangerous combination that meant that any interference like that was a major offense, and against a major house was dire.

And between two major houses?

The five houses had erupted into civil war over less in the past.

Yoruichi sighed as she waited to be summoned into Byakuya's study. She didn't like not having the power here. One hundred years ago she could have sent a formal request to the head of the library as head of the Onmitsukido and she would have had copies on her desk the next day, but now she was as close to a civilian as she could get. Her still being a titled Shiohin once again actually made her life harder.

"Lord Kuchiki will see you now," Yoruichi nodded before getting up and thanking the servant. The servant then led her down a pastel hallway until they stopped and opened a door for her.

Yoruichi walked in and sat down. Not waiting to be invited to sit down. She frankly wanted this over with.

"I read your formal request," Byakuya looked up from his paperwork, an icy glare the likes of which clearly stated his thoughts on the matter.

"The fact you invited me here to justify it to you instead of outright denying it means you know there's a damn good reason," Yoruichi was unphased. She had stared down men far scarier than him before and didn't so much as flinch.

"I know you are aware of the rules surrounding this, I want to know if I should deny your request, or outright bar you from the library altogether," Yoruichi sighed, casting a barrier to silence their conversation, causing Byakuya to raise an eyebrow.

"I have reason to believe that the Tsunayashiro knew about Xcution long before we fought them, and used the Visuals Department to not only conceal that information but also hunt them for reasons to be determined," Byakuya's eyes widened. It was known that the Tsunayashiro had used their responsibility over the living world to enrich themselves. This was only tolerated as this had created infrastructure to help conceal their presence from those who do not need to know and extended that infrastructure to be usable by Soul Society at large. However, Yoruichi was making an accusation that they abused their power for their own gain in a way that led to them acting against the interests of Soul Society and their assigned duties.

"I will need more than that," Such an accusation needed something to back it up, something to establish probable cause for…

"The head captain had Captain Sui-Feng conduct a raid in the loving world on a resurgent Xcution that had been hidden from us, and had discovered that they had some form of outside support," Yoruichi didn't bother with the irrelevant details. This should be enough to convince Byakuya. "I need to know why they did this, and to do that I need to know who I can talk to about this."

Byakuya sighed. It was clear that they had abused their power, and thus did not enjoy the projections against interference they would otherwise have. Not only that, this looked like an 'unofficial' investigation into this abuse, which meant there were deeper implications, ones that Yoruichi was not being forthcoming with.

"Pending confirmation from the head captain, you are allowed access. I will notify you when he responds," Yoruichi sighed. This was likely to be the best it could have gone.

Rukia was back in the thirteenth again after yesterday's situation with Pesche and Dondachakka.

The refurbishment of the barracks had been going well, but it would still be years at best until they weren't using tents for communal sleeping quarters. Given this was summer, however, that came with complications.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki!" Rukia immediately spun around to see Zenosuke running up. Fortunately, he was able to stop in front of her.

"What is it?" Rukia had to crane her neck up to look at the taller shinigami.

"The air conditioner for tent 5 just died," Rukia swore internally. They had been burning through those units all summer. She wasn't quite sure why, she had neither the knowledge or expertise to really tell, but right now they didn't have any spares. With tonight's forecast, it was also going to take too long to properly requisition one.

"I'll take care of it," Fortunately she had a plan B.

Zenosuke did a slight bow and returned to whatever he was doing. He had been promoted to a seated officer shortly before the blood war, and in its wake had become one of the major members of that part of the division. However, they were bound by the rules and their responsibilities, and she needed someone who didn't care about either. If Rukia's suspicions were correct, one should be pretty easy to find. She knocked on the door of a nearby supply closet, the particular way she did so being important.

"What is it?" The voice was groggy and clearly annoyed at the interruption of their nap.

"I will ignore you napping on duty if you tell your friends that anyone who can get me an air conditioner to my office by curfew, and doesn't get caught, can have a 4-day leave," Rukia didn't wait for a response before turning to leave. Conveniently ignoring the unseated officer that just bolted out of the supply closet. Now all she had to do was write out the passes and wait.

As Rukia entered her office, however, she was greeted by Sentaro.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki," Sentaro's tone was more informal, primarily due to their long-spanning acquaintance and the fact that her tenure as lieutenant could be counted on one hand.

"What is it?"

"There's something on the sensors. It seems to be a hollow,"

"I'll be right there," Rukia turned to leave but stopped herself. "Stay here, if some unseated show up with an air conditioner, give them leave passes,"

Sentaro just stood there in confusion as his commanding officer sprinted to the command center.

Rukia was thankful that the command center wasn't far away from her office as while she ran as fast as she could, you could only run so fast when you were short. As she stopped at the entrance she could hear it was abuz. That meant one thing. There was a significant increase in hollow activity.

Karin was starting to get ready to go home as her patrol drew to a close. Soon she wouldn't be able to do as many patrols as she would have to get ready for preseason camp for soccer. It'd be her last season before she'd play at the varsity level, and as the team's star striker, she really couldn't take as much time away from her normal life to live this new second life of hers.

Before she could leave, however, Shino put an arm in front of her.

"Do you feel that?" Shino's voice spoke with a hint of trepidation. As if she didn't want to be correct.

As Karin extended her senses she could feel it. A sense of dread washed over her. As if she were being stalked by something as if she were prey.

The problem was, she couldn't pinpoint what it was that made her feel like that, not where it was.

Unbenounced to them, within the shadows lurked a dangerous foe.

There was something very wrong here. Hollows normally would announce themselves. Their roar would often intimidate prey, causing souls to deal shelter and hide. Often that lead to their doom.

However, this was different. It was as if whatever was here wasn't interested in the pluses, but them.

Karin's hand hovered around her zanpakuto. With her and Shino back to back it would be hard for whatever it was to get the drop on them.

"Behind you," a gruff voice spoke. Before Karin could notice anything she was sent flying.

When Karin could collect herself, she noticed she was a good one to two hundred feet away from where she was, and she was on the street. This was bad. Whatever this hollow could do, it allowed them to hide themselves and attack them without them being able to react.

"Hm. You smell so tasty," the voice sounded as though it was coming from all directions. "Shinigami are much better morsels than other souls. And you, I don't know why, but you smell so much tastier than your friend over there," the hollow then started laughing.

Karin pushed to draw her zanpakuto, but before she could it sent her flying again. This time the blow was targeted, dislocating the shoulder of her sword arm and embedding her into a wall. Whatever this thing was, it was strong as hell, and fast.

"Can't let you do that. Too risky," the hollow tisked. However, this time it stood in front of her. Its form was shimmering in the dusk light, and the black form with white splotches was reminiscent of an orca. However the hell it was hiding itself, it would make it difficult to deal with. Suddenly it looked behind it. "Let's see how your friend reacts," it then vanished as it chuckled.

"Karin, are you okay?"

"Damnit Shino, behind you!" Before she could react, Shino had been picked up by an invisible force that very quickly revealed itself to be the hollow that was hunting them.

"And this is why I toy with my prey. Often they bring friends, and it's a shame to break those up, wouldn't you agree?" The hollow started laughing darkly as it slammed Shino into the ground.

Karin had to think of something. Her hinote was too weak, and any of the larger kido spells were still beyond her grasp. Then she remembered something, a technique Tessai had taught her to help her focus her reiatsu into a spell.

She stuck her good arm out, aiming her palm at the now fully visible hollow. She imagined that she were pouring her reiyoku not into her wrist, but a large dark hole. She could feel the pressure build beyond anything she thought was safe, but this wasn't a time to care about that. It was do or die, and she'd rather do than die.

"Hinote!" Suddenly a conflagration of blue flame shot out of her hand and engulfed the hollow. But she couldn't see what happened next as the pain caused by the burns across her arms made her pass out.

Karin woke up in her inner world, once again before a blue-flamed campfire.

"Didn't expect you back so soon kid," The bird-masked figure of her zanpakuto was opposite her once again. This time however with a much more serious expression in her eyes.

"Didn't expect to be here," Karin all but coughed out. She was leaned against a rock with two bad arms. One burned, one dislocated.

"At least you gave the bastard hell, not like you can do much now other than wait," Her zanpakuto poked at the fire with a stick. Blue embers flew from it as a piece of wood was moved.

"What the hell is your problem with me anyway?" Karin was unamused with the unnamed creature. Its dismissive look encapsulated everything that gave her grief about it.

"You're not worth my time yet," The zanpakuto answered frankly, it's gaze looking back at the small fire in front of them.

"What do you mean 'not worth your time?' If that gamble didn't pay off I'd be dead!"

"And your sword arm was dislocated, you would have been unable to use me properly," The yellow-eyed spirit stared deeply into her eyes. As if she were vivisecting Karin just by looking at her. "You may know what you are, but right now you're only focussing on one part of yourself. We'll talk again when that changes," The zanpakuto spirit then snapped her fingers.

"Damnit Karin, wake up!" Karin slowly came to, and as she did, she not only heard Shino's voice, but she also smelled something akin to the morning frost in winter.

"What'd I miss?" Karin half-joked. Her body was alight with pain, though it seems her shoulder had been relocated. Most of the pain seemed to be coming from her left arm, which upon a quick glance was covered in an off-color substance, probably meant to prevent bleeding.

"I was able to finish off the hollow," a very familiar voice spoke, a deep alto that one would not expect to come from such a small frame.

"Thanks for the save,"

"No, thank you. Your actions saved the life of one of my subordinates," Rukia looked back at Karin. The black-haired girl was someone who she was beginning to see as a younger sister of sorts. To see her in such a poor state was frankly quite alarming, but the risk she took saved Shion's life.

"Lieutenant," Shino turned to look at her commanding officer

"Yes?" Rukia listened to her subordinate.

"Uh, just don't tell my brother I used the ointment he gave me…" Shino was scratching the back of her head in slight embarrassment. If Ikkaku were to find out there would be no world in which he didn't say he told her so.

"Sure," Rukia smiled as she turned to look out into the night sky, thankful that she had shown up just in time.

as always, comments and feedback are welcome.