Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ A Continuing Threat ❯ Chapter 1
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: halfdemonfan81 
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.18.2011 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 210 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.18.2011 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 210 | Status: Work In Progress
So this story has been rolling around my head for a few weeks and it is refusing to go away so I just have to write it. :)
My apologizes for not updating on my other story Re-learning but I am also writing a new chapter for it as well. I ask for your patience.
I hope you enjoy the story and please let me know what you think about it.
I do not own Bleach, that please is Tite Kubo's.
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The young woman hurried to cross the street before the light changed again. Hopefully the small group of men that had been behind her would get stuck on the side of the road giving her a chance to get away. She was used to getting looked at and even sometimes hearing the men call out to her but now.....after everything she had been through, she was worried they would try to do some of the things they said.
She rushed into the grocery store she had been originally headed for and paued to look out the window. They weren't there anymore. Good. People would probably never guess she could actually defend herself, she knew she could. Her best friend Tatsuki-chan made sure she was well trained, but she didn't think she'd be able to hold off a group of big men.
She released the breath she had been holding and slowly stood up straight. Her bright auburn hair sliding back over her shoulders as her large grey eyes lost the tension surrounding them.
"Oh, good morning Orihime-chan!" the aging clerk called to her.
"Good morning, Minoru-san. How is your business today?"
The clerk watched her move away from the window. He worried about Inoue Orihime. She was such a loving person and always looked for the good in everybody. He knew, from experience, that some people had no good to be found.
Orihime was also too beautiful for her own good. The funny thing he had noticed over the years was that she didn't seem to realize how beautiful she truly was. He had known her ever since she and her late brother Sora moved into the neighborhood. He had watched her transform from a cute little girl into the amazingly beautiful woman that stood before him.
He knew her beauty was the cause of her worry when she had ran into the shop.
The gentle girl gasped loudly and waved her arms around in her excitement, "Oh goodness! I didn't know you were going to have a sale on red-bean paste, Minoru-san! This must be my lucky day!"
"I knew you would be excited about that Orihime-chan." he laughed gently as she began filling her basket with her favorite treat.
Regardless of the horrible things she had went through in life she seemed to keep that smile on her face. Everyone around her was affected by that smile. He had seen some of the most cruel men that came into his store speak to her politely after she turned that smile on them. It didn't stop everyone though. Minoru knew she got more than her share of stares and cat calls from the scum that walked the streets.
She ran up to the counter and deposited her items to be purchased.
"Thank you so much, Minoru-san. Have a wonderful day!" she called as she walked out of the store with her bags in hand.
He waved back to the girl giving her a smile in return. "You too Orihime-chan. Be careful!"
He watched as she went back across the street and headed towards her apartment. He worried about her; how could he not? She had no one else to rely on. No family left to help support her. She was a strong girl but she shouldn't have to go through life alone.
He greeted the next customer as they came in but his mind was still on Orihime. He wished she had someone to watch over her.
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Kurosaki Karin hefted her bookbag a little higher on her shoulder as she made her way to Inoue Orihime's apartment. Her friendship with the beauty was still somewhat strange to her.
She could still remember too vivdly everything that had happened a year and a half ago.
She had watched as her sister, Yuzu, had collapsed to the ground when a horrible presence arrived in Karakura town. A tremendous pressure had come down upon her causing her to fall to the floor and it took every bit of her strength just to keep breathing. Even if she could have moved she would not have. Every cell in her body locked up in fear at the presence surrounding her.
After what had seemed like an eternity passed, the pressure was removed. She stood up and took several deep breaths. Yuzu was still asleep so she moved her sister to their room and stayed beside her. She didn't want to leave the house just yet. Besides, she had a bad feeling about everything that had just happened. She knew somehow that Ichi-nii would be involved.
The sound of the front door opening drew her attention a couple of hours later. She slowly opened the door of their bedroom and peaked out; not wanting to draw attention to herself in case it wasn't her father or brother.
She waited silently as the footsteps came closer up the stairs. Soon enough, her father came into view carrying an unconcious Ichigo. He walked into his sons room and closed the door. She would have ran out to them demanding answers but what she had seen had stopped her.
Dad? Dad is a shinigami too?
She had frozen in place, unable to even close her door. Her father had been cloaked in the same black shinigami outfit she had seen Ichigo and Hitsugaya Toshiro wear.
She finally gathered her wits about her and shut the door silently. She made her way back to the spot she had taken to watch over Yuzu and sat down once again. Although she wanted to go check on her brother she just couldn't face them right now.
Her brother had never actually told her about being a shinigami, she had simply confronted him about it. Her father....kami, she just still couldn't process it.
Lowering her head into her hands she began to weep as quietly as she could. What was up with their family? Was her mother one too before she died? Was this the reason she could see ghosts and those monsters that had attacked her before? Why couldn't Yuzu see those things? Too many questions raced across her mind and the stress had been too much for her. She layed her head on Yuzu's bed and fell asleep.
Karin woke up the next morning in her bed. She assumed her father placed her there. The smell of breakfast greeted her and Yuzu's bed was empty. A sigh passed her lips. At least she was okay.
The sight in the dining room that morning stunned her. Yuzu was nowhere to been seen but at the table her father was seated talking to her brothers' friends, Ishida Uryu, Sado Yasutora, and Inoue Orihime.
"Ah, good morning Karin." her father beamed. His usual goofy face in place.
Karin was skeptical about that look. His face had been rather serious when he had been talking to the small group at the table but the moment he turned to her that changed. "Where's Yuzu?"
Kurosaki Isshin held his smile, "Your sister has already left for school. You seemed so worn out that I felt it would be okay for you to miss today my daughter. Would you like daddy to fix you breakfast?" he had started to get up but she had put up her hand, palm out, and he paused.
He was going to treat her like a child just like Ichigo did? They just continued to put themselves in harms way and expected her to go about her daily routine. Her quick temper flashed to the surface and at the moment she really couldn't care less who was in the room with them. Besides, if he had been speaking to Ichigo's friends so seriously they obviously knew what was going on.
"Save it dad. What you can do is explain to me why you carried Ichi-nii in last night unconcious. Oh, and also how about explaining what that was yesterday that made Yuzu pass out and made me struggle for every breath I took." Her father's eyes had gotten impossibly large the moment she started talking. "You can finish up by telling me why you never told me you were a shinigami."
If Karin had not been so frustrated with her father she might have been worried he was going to pass out. He had not moved an inch since she finished her demands. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. No one in the room spoke while Isshin desperately tried to regain his composure.
He ran a hand over his face and in the same voice he had been using to speak with Ichigo's friends he finally addressed her. "Karin, what happened yesterday......" he paused, seemingly trying to find the right words before he sighed and continued. "It doesn't matter. It's over now. I'm sorry you went through that. I never imagined you'd be awake during it. I figured you would have fallen asleep with Yuzu." he turned his apologetic gaze on her.
She opened her mouth to speak but he interupted her. "I don't think right now is the best time to discuss your other questions."
She held her father's gaze. His eyes told her everything she needed to know at that moment. He wasn't going to tell her anything for a long time. She clenched her fists in anger. How dare her father and brother continue to shut her out! They acted as if she didn't deserve to know anything!
"Fine, I get it!" she spat at her father and strode out of the house. The moment she had cleared the door she started running as fast as she could. She ran until she had poured all the anger and frustration she felt towards her father out in adrenaline. She ran until she collapsed in her favorite park.
She layed there, never moving, simply watching as the clouds rolled past. Her mind was in such chaos that she couldn't find one specific thing to mull over. All she knew was right then she didn't want to see any of her family.
She heard footsteps coming up behind her but didn't bother to turn around and figure out who it was. The person came to lay beside her but she still didn't turn her head. For several minutes the pair lay there next to each other in silence. Finally her curosity got the better of her and she glanced over to find Inoue Orihime laying next to her.
"Your father and brother are something else aren't they?" the auburn haired beauty asked without looking away from the sky.
Karin decided not to answer her. She really didn't know why Orihime had come. She had never had a real conversation with the older girl. Karin knew she was best friends with Tatsuki and lately she had been hanging around her brother more. She could guess why now. Before she had been confused about it because she didn't believe her repressed brother could ever get with someone as beautiful and kind as the girl next to her.
Orihime began speaking again, interupting her thoughts. "They try to take everything on themselves. They don't want to bother anyone else with the problems and dangers they face."
"I'm their family. I deserve to know what's going on." Karin finally mumbled.
Orihime turned her head to look in Karin's eyes. "That's true. You do deserve to know what's going on. I can only imagine how confused you must be. Your father didn't know you were able to see so much."
"Ichi-nii did. I told him months ago I knew he was a shinigami."
Orihime's face showed the shock she felt from that statement. An understanding smile took it's place. "Let's talk then shall we?"
The pair lay on the hill for hours talking. Karin asked many questions and Orihime answered them honestly. Orihime decided to hold nothing back from Karin. By the things she was asking Karin had been able to see and understand much more than anyone would have ever suspected. She felt the girl deserved to know what had been going on.
By the end of that day Karin had found a new friend in Orihime. When they walked back to the Kurosaki household, she was no longer upset at her father. He had met them at the door with that serious look still on his face.
"Karin...."
She only glanced at her father and spoke as she walked past him. "Wipe that look off your face goat-chin. It only makes you look more stupid."
She didn't look back to see his reaction but Orihime saw the smile that graced his features. As she went inside to gather her things up Isshin caught her in a hug.
"Thank you Orihime-chan." he had whispered to her.
From that day onward, Karin had spent more time with Orihime. Ichigo had lost his powers in the battle with Aizen and he had quit spending so much time with the healer. Karin was more upset with her brother than Orihime ever could be, not that she was. Whenever Karin said something about it to her she would only ever reply with, "It's okay Karin-chan. He wants to enjoy this normalcy he's finally found. It's not like he ignores me. We still talk in school. But now he has time to spend with his friends and do everything normal high school students do. I would never take that away from him."
She might have been chipper when she said it but Karin could see the pain her eyes held when she spoke about Ichigo. Months after their first talk Karin got Orihime to open up about her time in Hueco Mundo. She had been noticing the dark circles under her older friend's eyes and asked her about it. Orihime had been suffering from nightmares ever since she returned. They didn't happen every night, but when they did she could never go back to sleep and she suffered for it.
No one had ever asked her why she went or what she had been through when she was there; besides Tatsuki. When Aizen was defeated and Ichigo lost his powers Soul Society stopped coming around. In fact, the only shinigami Karin ever saw was the occassional lower rank fighter who stopped the hollows that cropped up. Even those were few and far between. Ishida, Sado, and Orihime had taken over fighting the hollows in Ichigo's place.
Ichigo knew that Ishida had been fighting the hollows but he never knew Orihime was doing so as well. Karin kicked a rock out of her way as her temper began creeping up. What did her stupid brother think was gonna happen? The hollows would just quit coming around? Her father and her still had higher reiatsu than normal so it drew them to her house. Many times she had seen Orihime's fighter Tsubaki (she still wanted to call them fairies even though they informed her they weren't) streak through the sky and destroy a hollow as it had made the way to her house.
Orihime had gotten much better at fighting over the past year. She was very proud of herself for that fact as well. She had always been hesitant about fighting. She was just not the kind of person who could handle hurting others. They had been at Orihime's apartment one afternoon talking about it when Karin asked her, "Didn't you say that when you kill the hollows it's cleansing their souls so they can return to Soul Society?"
Once she had made that statement Orihime's face lit up with excitement and she began trying harder and harder to become a better fighter. Now that she knew she was actually helping a lost soul she had no qualms about exterminating the hollow.
Karin pushed the hair out of her face as the wind picked up. She was almost at Orihime's apartment. The older woman was very important to Karin now. She had learned that even though she acted ditsy, she was actually very smart. She was the third in the school in grades. So when Karin began having problems with math and her English class she asked Orhime if she could help her. She happily agreed and that was the start of their new arrangement.
They got together twice a week for Orihime to tutor her. Thanks to Orihime, Karin was now one of the top students in class. Her English was so improved that she could hold a simple conversation fluently; but the lesson's didn't stop there.
Orihime taught her about being a woman as well. Yuzu had began coming along when she noticed the changes in her sister. She was wearing skirts more often. She was letting her hair grow out and she wasn't throwing punches everytime someone upset her. The girls had lost their mother when they were very young and they had not had a woman to look to or to ask questions to about their maturing bodies. That's where Orihime stepped in.
She also knew how it was not to have someone to explain the changes in her body. Thankfully between Tatsuki's mother and the knowledge she had learned from books and magazines, Orihime had figured it out. It was not something she wanted the Kurosaki sisters to have to do. She was sure their father would answer anything they asked of him but it wasn't the same as asking a woman who had gone through it.
Saturday nights became girls night. They would get together, sometimes Tatsuki would come as well, and they would watch sappy movies, do each others nails, and Orihime and Tatsuki would explain the changes that went along with puberty. It was a new experience for all of them. Karin and Tatsuki were not very girly to begin with and were slow to open up during their times together, Yuzu loved all of it and was very enthusiastic, Orihime had never had many friends, only Tatsuki, so gathering in a group like they did to just hang out was a new concept for her as well.
It took a few times meeting like they did for everyone to feel comfortable but once they did it became a time none of them wanted to give up. Tatsuki couldn't make it all the time because of her karate matches but Orihime made sure the next time she came she made up for all she had missed.
Karin smiled thinking about this Saturday night. They had made plans to attened the festival in town. She might not have shown it well but she was very excited. She couldn't wait for the week to pass. The wind picked up again and she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the figure that had moved up behind her until he spoke.
"That's a pretty strong reiatsu you have for a human, girl."
Karin spun around quickly and tried to keep the fear from her face. This was not an ordinary hollow. He still had a white mask like the others she had seen but it only covered part of his face. The mask covered his left eye, nose, and the side of his mouth. His right, bright green eye was left uncovered and narrowed as it studied her. His long black hair was unkempt and his clothes, that she could tell were once white, were dirty and ragged.
She took a step back as his hand moved towards the sword strapped to his side.
"What do you want?" she asked as she kept backing up slowly.
"I was waiting for my prey to show up when I detected your reiatsu coming this way." He took a step towards her. "I think I'll have a little fun with you while I wait."
He moved too quick for her to see and suddenly he was in front of her landing a strong kick to her chest, throwing her backwards into the road.
She groaned aloud as she tired to get up. Her body was on fire. One kick from that guy and she was pretty sure he had broken her ribs. She looked around for her bookbag. Her cell phone was inside it and if she could just reach it she could call her dad since Orihime did not own one. Unfortunately, it was several feet away from her. It must have flown off when he kicked her.
"Okay, so maybe you won't be as fun as I though. You're nearly done and I haven't even started." he drew his sword and stopped in front of her. "Pathetic human. You shouldn't even be breathing the same air as me."
He raised his sword and Karin could do nothing but close her eyes and wait for him to strike her. She couldn't even roll out of the way. Everytime she tried to breath her chest tightened in pain. She could feel the blood pooling in her mouth. This is it. She kept her eyes closed and waited for the blow.
She heard his sword swinging through the air but no pain came. She heard a dull thud and opened her eyes to find herself behind a glowing gold shield.
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A few minutes prior............
Orihime shifted her bags to her other hand as she continued on her way home. Karin-chan would be at her apartment soon for their tutoring session. She was so glad she had been able to become such good friends with both of the Kurosaki girls.
Yuzu was the sweet soul of the Kurosaki family. She reminded her a lot of herself actually. She enjoyed cooking, even though she didn't share Orihime's tastes but no one did really, and she was by nature a very sweet person.
Karin put up a very tough exterior but inside Orihime had known there was a lonely little girl. The death of Kurosaki Masaki dealt a very heavy blow to the entire family. All of them dealt with their grief in their own way, and Karin and put up walls around herself so as not to worry anyone.
Through their new friendship, Orihime was beginning to see the kind of person Karin could have always been had her mother been alive. Even though she still kept up her tough exterior Karin was enjoying the make-up lessons and girl talk they all shared once a week.
Even after getting together for over a year, Kurosaki-kun didn't seem to notice the girls friendship with Orihime. She gave a sad sigh at the thought of her love. She rarely saw Kurosaki-kun outside of school anymore. They were still much closer than they had ever been but after he lost his powers he threw himself into what was now his "normal" life. He was able to do the things he never was before and though she missed him greatly she would never wish anything different for him.
As long as he was happy then she would be too. Even though he never spoke about it she knew he missed his friends from Soul Society. They had all gotten so close over such a short amount of time. Especially him and Rukia. Orihime couldn't stop herself from being jealous at the relationship that they shared, even though she wasn't sure how close they were; still, she hated to see him sad over anything. It wasn't like she could help him with that either.....after Aizen's defeat, she never saw any one of her Soul Society friends either.
For the first couple of months she thought nothing about it. Soul Society had taken some very hard hits during Aizen's attacks and she knew they were all healing and trying to get everything fixed once again within the 13 Court squads. So when she didn't hear from any of them she didn't worry.
After 6 months, she realized they weren't going to check up with her. She had been on pins and needles for the longest time, awaiting an interrogation about when she went to Hueco Mundo. Even when they were still around during the month Kurosaki-kun was unconcious they didn't ask her anything about it. Once he woke up she had expected the questions to come.
They never did.
After he lost his powers and they left, no one came back to speak to her. She had even asked Sado-kun and Ishida-kun if they had seen anyone besides the shinigami sent to protect the town. Neither of them had.
She would often speak to whoever was protecting the town from hollows. They were always a lower ranking shinigami who she didn't know but she still tried to make friends with them. She had helped many of them from hollow attacks as well. She knew they were always alone so when they needed back-up or healing she was there to help them; but whenever she tried to ask about someone in Soul Society they wouldn't answer her questions.
It hurt. She missed Kuchiki-san and Rangiku-san, and Toshiro-kun, and everyone else but apparently they didn't miss her. Even Rangiku-san, who she had opened up to greatly and had gotten so close to had never tried to contact her. Now that there wasn't a substitute shinigami amongst them, the other shinigami had closed themselves off in Soul Society and abandoned the humans they had befriended during the winter war.
She didn't even see Ishida-kun and Sado-kun as much as she used to. Everything was back to the way it was before she knew anything about hollows or shinigami.....and she hated it. She hated not being with the friends she had made through combat. She hated that once again the only person she ever saw outside of school was Tatsuki-chan. She hated that she didn't get to see Kurosaki-kun everyday and never at night anymore.
Before she had gotten close to him she simply had a crush on the orange haired teen. After fighting along side him, worrying for him, being saved by him, her crush had developed into a love that filled her entire being. She knew she would never feel the same way about anyone ever again.
Not that he would ever know about her love for him. They were seniors this year. Soon they would be graduating and moving on with life and just the thought of not seeing him anymore brought such pain to her chest that her breathing would get difficult.
She would grit her teeth and deal with alone though. He had gotten his wish for a normal life and from what she could tell through her brief interactions with him and from what his sisters said he was happy. That, more than anything, was her wish for him.
But now more than ever before, she was lonely.
Orihime shook her head to get rid of her depressing thoughts before she met up with Karin-chan. His little sister was a smart girl and Orihime had a strong suspicion she already knew she had feelings for Kurosaki-kun. She never wanted Karin-chan or Yuzu-chan to think she was spending time with them to see their brother. She truly loved those girls. They were kind, funny people and she was glad she had gotten to know them so well.Her mood was greatly improved by them time she rounded the corner of the block her apartment was on.
That was until she saw the Arrancar swinging his sword down on an obviously wounded Karin-chan.
She instinctively called her Santen Kesshun to shield Karin-chan. Her bags were long forgotten as she ran towards them.
Conve rting /tmp/phpCp9WWx to /dev/stdout
My apologizes for not updating on my other story Re-learning but I am also writing a new chapter for it as well. I ask for your patience.
I hope you enjoy the story and please let me know what you think about it.
I do not own Bleach, that please is Tite Kubo's.
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The young woman hurried to cross the street before the light changed again. Hopefully the small group of men that had been behind her would get stuck on the side of the road giving her a chance to get away. She was used to getting looked at and even sometimes hearing the men call out to her but now.....after everything she had been through, she was worried they would try to do some of the things they said.
She rushed into the grocery store she had been originally headed for and paued to look out the window. They weren't there anymore. Good. People would probably never guess she could actually defend herself, she knew she could. Her best friend Tatsuki-chan made sure she was well trained, but she didn't think she'd be able to hold off a group of big men.
She released the breath she had been holding and slowly stood up straight. Her bright auburn hair sliding back over her shoulders as her large grey eyes lost the tension surrounding them.
"Oh, good morning Orihime-chan!" the aging clerk called to her.
"Good morning, Minoru-san. How is your business today?"
The clerk watched her move away from the window. He worried about Inoue Orihime. She was such a loving person and always looked for the good in everybody. He knew, from experience, that some people had no good to be found.
Orihime was also too beautiful for her own good. The funny thing he had noticed over the years was that she didn't seem to realize how beautiful she truly was. He had known her ever since she and her late brother Sora moved into the neighborhood. He had watched her transform from a cute little girl into the amazingly beautiful woman that stood before him.
He knew her beauty was the cause of her worry when she had ran into the shop.
The gentle girl gasped loudly and waved her arms around in her excitement, "Oh goodness! I didn't know you were going to have a sale on red-bean paste, Minoru-san! This must be my lucky day!"
"I knew you would be excited about that Orihime-chan." he laughed gently as she began filling her basket with her favorite treat.
Regardless of the horrible things she had went through in life she seemed to keep that smile on her face. Everyone around her was affected by that smile. He had seen some of the most cruel men that came into his store speak to her politely after she turned that smile on them. It didn't stop everyone though. Minoru knew she got more than her share of stares and cat calls from the scum that walked the streets.
She ran up to the counter and deposited her items to be purchased.
"Thank you so much, Minoru-san. Have a wonderful day!" she called as she walked out of the store with her bags in hand.
He waved back to the girl giving her a smile in return. "You too Orihime-chan. Be careful!"
He watched as she went back across the street and headed towards her apartment. He worried about her; how could he not? She had no one else to rely on. No family left to help support her. She was a strong girl but she shouldn't have to go through life alone.
He greeted the next customer as they came in but his mind was still on Orihime. He wished she had someone to watch over her.
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Kurosaki Karin hefted her bookbag a little higher on her shoulder as she made her way to Inoue Orihime's apartment. Her friendship with the beauty was still somewhat strange to her.
She could still remember too vivdly everything that had happened a year and a half ago.
She had watched as her sister, Yuzu, had collapsed to the ground when a horrible presence arrived in Karakura town. A tremendous pressure had come down upon her causing her to fall to the floor and it took every bit of her strength just to keep breathing. Even if she could have moved she would not have. Every cell in her body locked up in fear at the presence surrounding her.
After what had seemed like an eternity passed, the pressure was removed. She stood up and took several deep breaths. Yuzu was still asleep so she moved her sister to their room and stayed beside her. She didn't want to leave the house just yet. Besides, she had a bad feeling about everything that had just happened. She knew somehow that Ichi-nii would be involved.
The sound of the front door opening drew her attention a couple of hours later. She slowly opened the door of their bedroom and peaked out; not wanting to draw attention to herself in case it wasn't her father or brother.
She waited silently as the footsteps came closer up the stairs. Soon enough, her father came into view carrying an unconcious Ichigo. He walked into his sons room and closed the door. She would have ran out to them demanding answers but what she had seen had stopped her.
Dad? Dad is a shinigami too?
She had frozen in place, unable to even close her door. Her father had been cloaked in the same black shinigami outfit she had seen Ichigo and Hitsugaya Toshiro wear.
She finally gathered her wits about her and shut the door silently. She made her way back to the spot she had taken to watch over Yuzu and sat down once again. Although she wanted to go check on her brother she just couldn't face them right now.
Her brother had never actually told her about being a shinigami, she had simply confronted him about it. Her father....kami, she just still couldn't process it.
Lowering her head into her hands she began to weep as quietly as she could. What was up with their family? Was her mother one too before she died? Was this the reason she could see ghosts and those monsters that had attacked her before? Why couldn't Yuzu see those things? Too many questions raced across her mind and the stress had been too much for her. She layed her head on Yuzu's bed and fell asleep.
Karin woke up the next morning in her bed. She assumed her father placed her there. The smell of breakfast greeted her and Yuzu's bed was empty. A sigh passed her lips. At least she was okay.
The sight in the dining room that morning stunned her. Yuzu was nowhere to been seen but at the table her father was seated talking to her brothers' friends, Ishida Uryu, Sado Yasutora, and Inoue Orihime.
"Ah, good morning Karin." her father beamed. His usual goofy face in place.
Karin was skeptical about that look. His face had been rather serious when he had been talking to the small group at the table but the moment he turned to her that changed. "Where's Yuzu?"
Kurosaki Isshin held his smile, "Your sister has already left for school. You seemed so worn out that I felt it would be okay for you to miss today my daughter. Would you like daddy to fix you breakfast?" he had started to get up but she had put up her hand, palm out, and he paused.
He was going to treat her like a child just like Ichigo did? They just continued to put themselves in harms way and expected her to go about her daily routine. Her quick temper flashed to the surface and at the moment she really couldn't care less who was in the room with them. Besides, if he had been speaking to Ichigo's friends so seriously they obviously knew what was going on.
"Save it dad. What you can do is explain to me why you carried Ichi-nii in last night unconcious. Oh, and also how about explaining what that was yesterday that made Yuzu pass out and made me struggle for every breath I took." Her father's eyes had gotten impossibly large the moment she started talking. "You can finish up by telling me why you never told me you were a shinigami."
If Karin had not been so frustrated with her father she might have been worried he was going to pass out. He had not moved an inch since she finished her demands. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. No one in the room spoke while Isshin desperately tried to regain his composure.
He ran a hand over his face and in the same voice he had been using to speak with Ichigo's friends he finally addressed her. "Karin, what happened yesterday......" he paused, seemingly trying to find the right words before he sighed and continued. "It doesn't matter. It's over now. I'm sorry you went through that. I never imagined you'd be awake during it. I figured you would have fallen asleep with Yuzu." he turned his apologetic gaze on her.
She opened her mouth to speak but he interupted her. "I don't think right now is the best time to discuss your other questions."
She held her father's gaze. His eyes told her everything she needed to know at that moment. He wasn't going to tell her anything for a long time. She clenched her fists in anger. How dare her father and brother continue to shut her out! They acted as if she didn't deserve to know anything!
"Fine, I get it!" she spat at her father and strode out of the house. The moment she had cleared the door she started running as fast as she could. She ran until she had poured all the anger and frustration she felt towards her father out in adrenaline. She ran until she collapsed in her favorite park.
She layed there, never moving, simply watching as the clouds rolled past. Her mind was in such chaos that she couldn't find one specific thing to mull over. All she knew was right then she didn't want to see any of her family.
She heard footsteps coming up behind her but didn't bother to turn around and figure out who it was. The person came to lay beside her but she still didn't turn her head. For several minutes the pair lay there next to each other in silence. Finally her curosity got the better of her and she glanced over to find Inoue Orihime laying next to her.
"Your father and brother are something else aren't they?" the auburn haired beauty asked without looking away from the sky.
Karin decided not to answer her. She really didn't know why Orihime had come. She had never had a real conversation with the older girl. Karin knew she was best friends with Tatsuki and lately she had been hanging around her brother more. She could guess why now. Before she had been confused about it because she didn't believe her repressed brother could ever get with someone as beautiful and kind as the girl next to her.
Orihime began speaking again, interupting her thoughts. "They try to take everything on themselves. They don't want to bother anyone else with the problems and dangers they face."
"I'm their family. I deserve to know what's going on." Karin finally mumbled.
Orihime turned her head to look in Karin's eyes. "That's true. You do deserve to know what's going on. I can only imagine how confused you must be. Your father didn't know you were able to see so much."
"Ichi-nii did. I told him months ago I knew he was a shinigami."
Orihime's face showed the shock she felt from that statement. An understanding smile took it's place. "Let's talk then shall we?"
The pair lay on the hill for hours talking. Karin asked many questions and Orihime answered them honestly. Orihime decided to hold nothing back from Karin. By the things she was asking Karin had been able to see and understand much more than anyone would have ever suspected. She felt the girl deserved to know what had been going on.
By the end of that day Karin had found a new friend in Orihime. When they walked back to the Kurosaki household, she was no longer upset at her father. He had met them at the door with that serious look still on his face.
"Karin...."
She only glanced at her father and spoke as she walked past him. "Wipe that look off your face goat-chin. It only makes you look more stupid."
She didn't look back to see his reaction but Orihime saw the smile that graced his features. As she went inside to gather her things up Isshin caught her in a hug.
"Thank you Orihime-chan." he had whispered to her.
From that day onward, Karin had spent more time with Orihime. Ichigo had lost his powers in the battle with Aizen and he had quit spending so much time with the healer. Karin was more upset with her brother than Orihime ever could be, not that she was. Whenever Karin said something about it to her she would only ever reply with, "It's okay Karin-chan. He wants to enjoy this normalcy he's finally found. It's not like he ignores me. We still talk in school. But now he has time to spend with his friends and do everything normal high school students do. I would never take that away from him."
She might have been chipper when she said it but Karin could see the pain her eyes held when she spoke about Ichigo. Months after their first talk Karin got Orihime to open up about her time in Hueco Mundo. She had been noticing the dark circles under her older friend's eyes and asked her about it. Orihime had been suffering from nightmares ever since she returned. They didn't happen every night, but when they did she could never go back to sleep and she suffered for it.
No one had ever asked her why she went or what she had been through when she was there; besides Tatsuki. When Aizen was defeated and Ichigo lost his powers Soul Society stopped coming around. In fact, the only shinigami Karin ever saw was the occassional lower rank fighter who stopped the hollows that cropped up. Even those were few and far between. Ishida, Sado, and Orihime had taken over fighting the hollows in Ichigo's place.
Ichigo knew that Ishida had been fighting the hollows but he never knew Orihime was doing so as well. Karin kicked a rock out of her way as her temper began creeping up. What did her stupid brother think was gonna happen? The hollows would just quit coming around? Her father and her still had higher reiatsu than normal so it drew them to her house. Many times she had seen Orihime's fighter Tsubaki (she still wanted to call them fairies even though they informed her they weren't) streak through the sky and destroy a hollow as it had made the way to her house.
Orihime had gotten much better at fighting over the past year. She was very proud of herself for that fact as well. She had always been hesitant about fighting. She was just not the kind of person who could handle hurting others. They had been at Orihime's apartment one afternoon talking about it when Karin asked her, "Didn't you say that when you kill the hollows it's cleansing their souls so they can return to Soul Society?"
Once she had made that statement Orihime's face lit up with excitement and she began trying harder and harder to become a better fighter. Now that she knew she was actually helping a lost soul she had no qualms about exterminating the hollow.
Karin pushed the hair out of her face as the wind picked up. She was almost at Orihime's apartment. The older woman was very important to Karin now. She had learned that even though she acted ditsy, she was actually very smart. She was the third in the school in grades. So when Karin began having problems with math and her English class she asked Orhime if she could help her. She happily agreed and that was the start of their new arrangement.
They got together twice a week for Orihime to tutor her. Thanks to Orihime, Karin was now one of the top students in class. Her English was so improved that she could hold a simple conversation fluently; but the lesson's didn't stop there.
Orihime taught her about being a woman as well. Yuzu had began coming along when she noticed the changes in her sister. She was wearing skirts more often. She was letting her hair grow out and she wasn't throwing punches everytime someone upset her. The girls had lost their mother when they were very young and they had not had a woman to look to or to ask questions to about their maturing bodies. That's where Orihime stepped in.
She also knew how it was not to have someone to explain the changes in her body. Thankfully between Tatsuki's mother and the knowledge she had learned from books and magazines, Orihime had figured it out. It was not something she wanted the Kurosaki sisters to have to do. She was sure their father would answer anything they asked of him but it wasn't the same as asking a woman who had gone through it.
Saturday nights became girls night. They would get together, sometimes Tatsuki would come as well, and they would watch sappy movies, do each others nails, and Orihime and Tatsuki would explain the changes that went along with puberty. It was a new experience for all of them. Karin and Tatsuki were not very girly to begin with and were slow to open up during their times together, Yuzu loved all of it and was very enthusiastic, Orihime had never had many friends, only Tatsuki, so gathering in a group like they did to just hang out was a new concept for her as well.
It took a few times meeting like they did for everyone to feel comfortable but once they did it became a time none of them wanted to give up. Tatsuki couldn't make it all the time because of her karate matches but Orihime made sure the next time she came she made up for all she had missed.
Karin smiled thinking about this Saturday night. They had made plans to attened the festival in town. She might not have shown it well but she was very excited. She couldn't wait for the week to pass. The wind picked up again and she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the figure that had moved up behind her until he spoke.
"That's a pretty strong reiatsu you have for a human, girl."
Karin spun around quickly and tried to keep the fear from her face. This was not an ordinary hollow. He still had a white mask like the others she had seen but it only covered part of his face. The mask covered his left eye, nose, and the side of his mouth. His right, bright green eye was left uncovered and narrowed as it studied her. His long black hair was unkempt and his clothes, that she could tell were once white, were dirty and ragged.
She took a step back as his hand moved towards the sword strapped to his side.
"What do you want?" she asked as she kept backing up slowly.
"I was waiting for my prey to show up when I detected your reiatsu coming this way." He took a step towards her. "I think I'll have a little fun with you while I wait."
He moved too quick for her to see and suddenly he was in front of her landing a strong kick to her chest, throwing her backwards into the road.
She groaned aloud as she tired to get up. Her body was on fire. One kick from that guy and she was pretty sure he had broken her ribs. She looked around for her bookbag. Her cell phone was inside it and if she could just reach it she could call her dad since Orihime did not own one. Unfortunately, it was several feet away from her. It must have flown off when he kicked her.
"Okay, so maybe you won't be as fun as I though. You're nearly done and I haven't even started." he drew his sword and stopped in front of her. "Pathetic human. You shouldn't even be breathing the same air as me."
He raised his sword and Karin could do nothing but close her eyes and wait for him to strike her. She couldn't even roll out of the way. Everytime she tried to breath her chest tightened in pain. She could feel the blood pooling in her mouth. This is it. She kept her eyes closed and waited for the blow.
She heard his sword swinging through the air but no pain came. She heard a dull thud and opened her eyes to find herself behind a glowing gold shield.
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A few minutes prior............
Orihime shifted her bags to her other hand as she continued on her way home. Karin-chan would be at her apartment soon for their tutoring session. She was so glad she had been able to become such good friends with both of the Kurosaki girls.
Yuzu was the sweet soul of the Kurosaki family. She reminded her a lot of herself actually. She enjoyed cooking, even though she didn't share Orihime's tastes but no one did really, and she was by nature a very sweet person.
Karin put up a very tough exterior but inside Orihime had known there was a lonely little girl. The death of Kurosaki Masaki dealt a very heavy blow to the entire family. All of them dealt with their grief in their own way, and Karin and put up walls around herself so as not to worry anyone.
Through their new friendship, Orihime was beginning to see the kind of person Karin could have always been had her mother been alive. Even though she still kept up her tough exterior Karin was enjoying the make-up lessons and girl talk they all shared once a week.
Even after getting together for over a year, Kurosaki-kun didn't seem to notice the girls friendship with Orihime. She gave a sad sigh at the thought of her love. She rarely saw Kurosaki-kun outside of school anymore. They were still much closer than they had ever been but after he lost his powers he threw himself into what was now his "normal" life. He was able to do the things he never was before and though she missed him greatly she would never wish anything different for him.
As long as he was happy then she would be too. Even though he never spoke about it she knew he missed his friends from Soul Society. They had all gotten so close over such a short amount of time. Especially him and Rukia. Orihime couldn't stop herself from being jealous at the relationship that they shared, even though she wasn't sure how close they were; still, she hated to see him sad over anything. It wasn't like she could help him with that either.....after Aizen's defeat, she never saw any one of her Soul Society friends either.
For the first couple of months she thought nothing about it. Soul Society had taken some very hard hits during Aizen's attacks and she knew they were all healing and trying to get everything fixed once again within the 13 Court squads. So when she didn't hear from any of them she didn't worry.
After 6 months, she realized they weren't going to check up with her. She had been on pins and needles for the longest time, awaiting an interrogation about when she went to Hueco Mundo. Even when they were still around during the month Kurosaki-kun was unconcious they didn't ask her anything about it. Once he woke up she had expected the questions to come.
They never did.
After he lost his powers and they left, no one came back to speak to her. She had even asked Sado-kun and Ishida-kun if they had seen anyone besides the shinigami sent to protect the town. Neither of them had.
She would often speak to whoever was protecting the town from hollows. They were always a lower ranking shinigami who she didn't know but she still tried to make friends with them. She had helped many of them from hollow attacks as well. She knew they were always alone so when they needed back-up or healing she was there to help them; but whenever she tried to ask about someone in Soul Society they wouldn't answer her questions.
It hurt. She missed Kuchiki-san and Rangiku-san, and Toshiro-kun, and everyone else but apparently they didn't miss her. Even Rangiku-san, who she had opened up to greatly and had gotten so close to had never tried to contact her. Now that there wasn't a substitute shinigami amongst them, the other shinigami had closed themselves off in Soul Society and abandoned the humans they had befriended during the winter war.
She didn't even see Ishida-kun and Sado-kun as much as she used to. Everything was back to the way it was before she knew anything about hollows or shinigami.....and she hated it. She hated not being with the friends she had made through combat. She hated that once again the only person she ever saw outside of school was Tatsuki-chan. She hated that she didn't get to see Kurosaki-kun everyday and never at night anymore.
Before she had gotten close to him she simply had a crush on the orange haired teen. After fighting along side him, worrying for him, being saved by him, her crush had developed into a love that filled her entire being. She knew she would never feel the same way about anyone ever again.
Not that he would ever know about her love for him. They were seniors this year. Soon they would be graduating and moving on with life and just the thought of not seeing him anymore brought such pain to her chest that her breathing would get difficult.
She would grit her teeth and deal with alone though. He had gotten his wish for a normal life and from what she could tell through her brief interactions with him and from what his sisters said he was happy. That, more than anything, was her wish for him.
But now more than ever before, she was lonely.
Orihime shook her head to get rid of her depressing thoughts before she met up with Karin-chan. His little sister was a smart girl and Orihime had a strong suspicion she already knew she had feelings for Kurosaki-kun. She never wanted Karin-chan or Yuzu-chan to think she was spending time with them to see their brother. She truly loved those girls. They were kind, funny people and she was glad she had gotten to know them so well.Her mood was greatly improved by them time she rounded the corner of the block her apartment was on.
That was until she saw the Arrancar swinging his sword down on an obviously wounded Karin-chan.
She instinctively called her Santen Kesshun to shield Karin-chan. Her bags were long forgotten as she ran towards them.
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