HitsuKarin: Heaven Forbid chp5

The next morning was like a three wave attack on Karin's system.

As she opened her crusty eyes, her head was pounding like Omaeda had just started dancing on it. Thoughts were reduced down to single words like, 'aspirin' and 'water' before 'shit, soul society' upon realising that there wasn't a convenient medical cupboard in the communal bathroom. As she stood, rather unsteadily, to make her way to the kitchen for her other object of desire her stomach turned against her.

Somehow she forced her unwilling legs to run, making it to a toilet just in time for her body to throw up every little thing she'd consumed in the last 24 hours. Eventually, when she thought the worse was over, the memories hit her like a bullet.

"Except I got you Toushiro, you'll be there for me, ne? Be back like when I was a kid and you helped win that soccer game against the middle schoolers."

Her stomach chose that moment to revolt again. With her head resting on the toilet seat, she berated herself, embarrassed for both herself and the tenth squad taicho. She could remember him being nice to her, out of pity probably, and then falling asleep on him. She guessed he must have taken her back to her room, though it must have been an effort to find it, as she doubted the others would have thought she'd do anything than just head back. She'd have to apologise to him at some point, preferably after she felt like a living being again. Oh, and her stomach was under control again.

Karin felt a light tap on her shoulder surprised to see a blonde woman behind her, holding a glass of water out to her.
"You were pretty noisy when you got up, figured you might want this."
Karin thanked the woman and drank, "You're Ginko-san?" she asked remembering the other name or her door. She had yet to talk to her room mate, the only time she'd seem her was as she scurried out of the room earlier. "Sorry I woke you."
"No worries, anyway, seeing as you're not passed out in your own vomit or something equal concerning I'm going to go back to sleep for a bit. Try and be a bit quiet when you come back in, yeah?" she said, not unkindly, "and hope the water helps."
"Thanks again," Karin croaked, wondering how many more people she would make a fool out of herself in front of. Taking a few more little sips, she felt her stomach resentfully settle down and her mouth start to taste a little less repulsive again. Deciding it she would still play it safe rather than sorry, Karin started trying to think out how to clear up this mess with Toushiro whilst sitting by the toilet.

Well, actually before that she had to kill her slightly murderous instincts towards Renji. "Look after me my arse," she mumbled. Okay, so maybe it wasn't his fault she'd drunk too much but she still blamed him for being a bad influence. However she needed to get back to the problem at hand.

Obviously she'd have to find Toushiro at some point that day, probably after dealing with whatever duties she was going to be landed with. No point being in a bad mood and trying to work at the same time. Then there was the issue of what she was going to say, sorry you found me sulking and intoxicated then had to deal with me being needy and passing out on you? Well, it was pretty much the message she wanted to get across but maybe in a more tactful manor. Something her brain was still struggling to come up with at that moment. Oh lord, what she would have given for some aspirin. In her pain, sleep seemed like the next best option and when she had deemed her stomach trustworthy enough to move, she made her slow way back to the room, taking meticulous care to be as quiet as possible, partially because of her earlier encounter with her Ginko but more so because loud noises were simply too painful to deal with. Flopping back onto her bed, Karin closed her eyes and stopped forcing her brain to work, dropping straight into a light slumber.

The actual start of her morning wasn't as horrific as she had predicted. The extra hour or two of sleep had allowed the pounding to reside to a muted throb, only noticeable in the silence or alternatively in the extremely loud commotion of the centre courtyard as everyone assembled there. There was no need for it really, just a good habit she guessed. It was a chance for Kuchiki-taicho to announce anything important and give orders, but most squad members knew what they were doing. Karin and the two other new people were to stay behind after the others had been dismissed, and their day would be spent with the taicho and fukutaicho learning about the workings of the squads in general, then more specifically their squad. After that they would be assigned to a particular team in the squad, and there was a rota of duties the teams took turn in doing. On a standard day, they would be expected to carry out the duties until early afternoon. With regards to breaks, you took one if you had the time to, but the task at hand took priority. They would then be fed, either in the group mess hall or should they want to they could cook for themselves in one of the private kitchens located around the barracks. The rest of the afternoon and early evening would then be dedicated to training of sorts, be it at an individual, team or squad level. Often the taicho and fukutaicho would mentor a group at a time to help them excel further. For ease and convenience, the new students would be put into the same teams as their room mates.

By this point it had come to food time, and after collecting Kami alone knew what, Karin took a seat on an empty table, not wanting to socialise with strangers in her slightly feral mood. Unfortunately someone she was still trying to blame for that mood didn't sense her malicious aura and sat down opposite her. Her only consolations were the dark circles under his eyes and that he appeared to be suffering worse than her.
"And you put yourself through this every week?"
"Give it a month or two and you'll realise Friday's are the best nights of the week."
"Then Saturday mornings are?"
"Endurable."
Karin rolled her eyes as they continued to eat in silence, a few other officers coming over to both greet her and their fukutaicho, two even daring to sit with them but had the sense enough to avoid saying anything more than a sentence or two.

After the tense meal and depositing of plates, those dealing with them doing so as a punishment for a minor offense against the squad's rules, all officers trekked out to the outdoor training arena. The location of the afternoon often moved to help keep life interesting and prevent the feeling of security during combat. Today was to be one of the tougher sessions, where shinigami were paired at random against one another, the levels of strength sometimes varying drastically, and would fight with their zanpakutos until one dealt a mock fatal blow or the taicho deemed them finished. The aim of this was that it would increase the range of fighting styles each shinigami was able to face and it allowed their superiors, or even just those who spotted faults, to see how they could improve or further develop their tactics and notify the officer as such. They wouldn't all get the time to spar each session like this but just watching let them see flaws and check for them in their own fighting.

Kuchiki-taicho and Abarai-fukutaicho came into the centre of the area whilst the surrounding seats filled. Karin couldn't help but compare it to a roman amphitheatre, maybe not as grand as the Coliseum but the sights it contained equally as brutal as the gladiator fights that had raged back then. At least these fights had a stronger purpose than business and entertainment. Looking around Karin found her room mate had sat about a foot away from her with a group of five or so others. She gave the girl a meek smile, "Feeling any better?"
"Yes, thank you." And with that assurance Ginko turned back to her closer companions.

Their captain took a step forward, indicating he was ready to take and am immediate silence fell. His tone rang with authority but to some sounded cold and uncaring. After spending the time with him before her shinigami education began, Karin knew he was exceedingly caring and could even be warm with people close to him. He'd just experienced too much pain from the death of his wife and there was too much pressure from his family for him to be a model soldier, and hence the mask. It didn't take much once you thought about it to realise it was a façade. After all, the only other person believed to share the lack of compassion was Hitsugaya-taicho and his zapakuto, his soul, was ice. Kuchiki-taicho's was simple beautiful. Deadly yes, but still beautiful.

Karin fought back a groan of self loathing as she again relived the conversation with Toushiro in her mind. Later, she thought. She would deal with it then.

Apparently the new members were to be fighting today, as a way of seeing how skilled they were and whether this was truly the right squad for them. Rearrangements were easier done if done so before the officer had time to settle in and get into a routine. Not only that, but everyone felt some degree of pride in their squad and to have it recommended to you that you may be better suited elsewhere was both upsetting and offensive to many shinigami. The only time there seemed to be an absolute exception was when a promotion was involved. Karin was depressingly unsurprised that power could be so influential in helping the shinigami too to abandon their morals. They were still human, she speculated, albeit dead ones.

The order the new officers would be fighting in was drawn. First was the other member from Karin's advanced class, a man appearing to be slightly older than Byakuya, then was to be from the regular class of the year above, another man, this one younger, as a human her would have been in his early twenties she guessed. That left her to fight last. The opponents were then drawn at random from the entire squad. The fifth seat was drawn, then an unseated officer. Karin held her breath as the last name was called.

Abari Renji.

The two combatants' faces couldn't have been more different. Renji had a feral grin on his face, in all truth he'd been hoping since she'd joined the sixth squad that he'd get to fight Karin. Her reiatsu was growing each day and easily matched that of the higher seated officers, maybe a third or fourth seat, and if what he'd heard was true her fighting with an unreleased zanpakuto wasn't far below Ichigo's with his meat cleaver of a shikai. He was dreaming of the challenge. The part of him that had drawn him to the 11th squad was revelling in what a battle it would be.

Karin could only think that she didn't have a hope in hell of proving herself worth of the speculation about her. He was a fukutaicho and further more had a reiatsu parallel to a captain's. He had so much battle experience she couldn't believe she'd be able to create a move he wouldn't be able to see through like glass, and with Zabimaru released she wondered whether she'd even be able to get close enough to launch an attack. However with that thought a vague strategy started to emerge. The first fight began.

The main benefits of Renji's release were that it extended his reach exponentially and that in close combat the spikes on the blade could be used to trap and block the opposing zanpakuto. Either way, she had more of a hope in close combat so whatever he did, she should try to block it rather than dodge and potentially open a gap between them and potentially try stabbing motions rather than the slashing blows the curved blades of katana were made for. The fifth seat had his blade, unreleased, against the student's throat. The next pair stepped into their places as Karin watched blankly.

She racked her mind for further ideas based on what her brother had said. She highly doubted Renji would need his bankai against her, not that it would even be efficient in such an enclosed space. Closing her eyes she thought of all the other ways she knew how to fight. There way kendo and sword as she was already planning. Kido was an option but that would require a free hand for the gesture and the ability to focus on that alone for a moment. That would be her option of she moved out of her reach, as the further away she was the longer it would take Zabimaru to reach her and those fractions of a second may just give her enough time. The only other remaining fighting style was that which Tomoko favoured; physical. No, using it would be unlikely as she would need all her weight on her feet for grounding her sword attacks and to only use one hand on her katana would reduce the power of her blows too far.

Kuchiki-taicho called the finish of the second match as the two seemed to be locked together. The officer had a gash to his cheek and the student had a multitude of minor scratches. It was clear who would have won but it would have taken too long an too much damage would have been inflicted to the shinigami. With a determined mind set, Karin descended the stairs to the dusty floor, all eyes were on her and the silence was stifling. She stopped, a couple of paces away from Renji as they both raised their zanpakuto, ready. Their taicho nodded and backed away, showing they were free to commence at will. Time flowed for a moment but the two combatants stood as if it were frozen.

Literally unseen by the audience they were together, swords locked, before springing apart and back together at new angles. Again and again this happen, neither gaining of losing ground and the air around them started to feel charged with their combined reiatsus. A frown began forming on Renji's face as he realised in this state they were in deadlock. He could have upped his game with the unreleased zanpakuto but it would have drained him probably sooner than it had any effect on her. He needed to release his shikai. But to do that he needed a few seconds to run has hand along the blade and call out to Zabimaru. Time Karin wasn't giving him.

A dull ache had already started to seep through her shoulders. Her relentless attack on Renji was working, but the amount she had to compensate for not moving under the strength of his blows was taking its toll. Suddenly she sensed an increase in his reiatsu and found herself thrown back at his next move.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

For a moment her heart dropped at those words, before pounding stronger than before. A growl escaped her lips as she threw herself back at her opponent, the time for with their blades collided shorter now, as she pulled her zanpakuto back after every failed strike to avoid Zabimaru's teeth. Without realising, her attacks became more forceful, and the some of the weaker officers began to feel weak at the sheer strength of the reiatsu emanating from her, and the mirror if it from their fukutaicho.

After what was in reality all but a few seconds, Renji saw her plan. With his next blow, he kept the force behind it even after her block, meaning that if she were to remove her zanpakuto as before his blad would come crashing down onto her. By taking away the gap between them, Karin had condemned herself to this move, for if she were further apart she might, possibly, have had the speed to dodge the blow but with the zanpakutos millimetres from her face, it would hit her the second she went for her next attack. Taking a deep breath and a huge risk, Karin suddenly changed the direction of the force behind her zanpakuto, pushing up. Normally, such a move was idiocy but the jagged parts of Zabimaru which caused so much difficulty worked against its master, as Karin caught one and used the opportunity to push Renji off balance. Instinct made her jump back, only for her mind to then curse what she'd done. Quickly, as Renji threw his arm back to send his blade flying forward, Karin held a hand out in front of her, "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

Renji changed the direction of Zabmaru to proterct himself against the kido rather than striking his opponent, giving her the chance the run forward again, though not reaching her destination before Renji relauched his attack. It was like slow motion as she saw the Zabimaru shoot past her, for a moment thinking Renji had missed before the horror hit her, realising as she turn, the blade had curved behind her and was shooting back towards her, ready to slice her in half.

A beam of light hit Zabimaru, tackling the sword to the ground and simultaneously jerking Renji's shoulder nearly out of place. Kuchiki-taicho began applauding, the tittering noise mounting into a storm of applause as the rest of the shinigami watching joined in. The two combatants bowed to each other out of respect and Karin passed Byakuya on the way back to her seat, he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Turning and meeting his eyes she could have sworn she almost saw happiness dancing in them. "Well done," he said, his voice low, before walking back to the centre of the area to announce the next match, as if nothing had happened.

Upon sitting back down, Karin was bombarded by compliments and comments about her power and reiatsu. Everyone settled down as the afternoon continued and a warm feeling spread throughout Karin and brought a smile to her face. Yes, she'd made the right decision to bring her life to Soul Soceity.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the days activities and dinner, Karin had made her way over to the 10th squad's quarters, and now stood outside the captain's office' door. It was late, he was unlikely to be there and probably should be home by now. Taking a deep breath regardless she knocked at the door, jumping slightly when she was bid welcome after an irate sigh. Without looking up from the paperwork he was doing, Toushiro growled at her, "And where have you been all day?"

He looked up at her with murder in his eyes, before his jaw slacked and the same eyes widened in surprise. "Karin?" he stammered, "Sorry. I assumed you were Matsumoto. Guess that was being a bit hopeful for her to turn up this early."

"It's okay," Karin brushed it off with a smile, moving out of the door and shutting it behind her. Her smile faltered a little as she tried to phrase what she wanted to say, embarrassment and the slight chagrin of actually having to apologise for something stopping her. Toushiro hardly seemed to notice.

"How's you first day been?" he asked her, putting his pen down and leaning back in his chair and letting a small smile touch his lips. He was genuinely curious and listened carefully as she recited in rushed detail, asking for some more of the specifics surrounding her afternoon's training before he too, congratulated her. "I give it a decade or two before we have a second Kurosaki-taicho. Oh god, just don't become as troublesome as your brother. Yamamoto's already nearly burned down the meetings hall out of frustration."

Karin laughed it off, saying it would take a while if she were even to become a taicho before taking a deep breath and just getting to the point. "Toushiro, I'm sorry I was a burden to you last night, and that I was an embarrassment to myself. Thank you for going out of your way to take me back to my room." She'd rushed it out and now bowed, letting her now loose hair fall forward to help hide the embarrassment on her face. There was an awkward silence before she let curiosity get the better of her, standing up to see Toushiro's reaction.

He was scowling slightly. "Why do you say you embarrassed yourself?"

She rolled her eyes, it was just like him to be that bit troublesome, "I was drunk and acted like an idiot."

"I think I'm used to that behaviour, what with Matsumoto being my fukutaicho."

"But I'm not Matsumoto."

"You still don't need to apologise."

"But I regret acting like that."

Toushiro rolled his eyes and again smiled, though reluctantly. "So another troublesome Kurosaki it is then." Karin grunted.

"Next time I won't bother."

"But if you regret it so much there won't be a next time?" Toushiro mocked her a little. He'd obviously grown a sense of humour with the growth spurt. Karin glared at him, arm crossed and one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"So now who's being troublesome?"

Another moment of silence before Karin too cracked and a happier expression took her face. "But regardless, I'm still grateful to you for looking after me."

She wanted to ask him what he'd meant when he'd agreed to her drunken plea of neediness but figured like he said, he was used to Matsumoto and drunken women, he'd probably known what he needed to say to keep her happy.

"It was no problem Karin, besides, I wouldn't put it past Ichigo to conveniently lose a load of this stuff," he waved a sheet in the air, "if he found out I'd left you drunk and alone on a roof."

Or if he found out I kissed you, Toushiro thought to himself before shivering mentally. No, he'd do much worse.

"Well, I'll see you around Toushiro," Karin said, unnoticeable reluctance in her voice.

"Yeah, see you."

The Kurosaki girl let her face fall a little as she closed the door. She liked talking to Toushiro and she was starting to realise that maybe she liked it a little more than she should. Giving a deep sigh, she left, wondering as to the origins of the loud bang she'd just heard come from the office.

If she'd given into her more curious side and gone back in, she'd have seem the tenth squad taicho with his head on the desk, after slamming it there with considerable force. He'd hoped she would bring up the moment he said he'd stay by her side. He wanted to tell her it again. And then like the socially inept dunce he was he just let her leave thinking he didn't give a toss. Great. With a moan he sat back up, rubbing his forehead before continuing with the paperwork.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Matsumoto danced though the door with a sing song "Taicho~" before freezing, literally. He skin felt ice cold at the glare he was giving her and her hairs stood up on end. The next thing she knew she was running. Maybe two weeks of no paperwork and not turning up that day had pushed him a little too far.