Bleach 1. Chapter 1

Her Guardian Angel.  
Chapter One.

Karin snuggled down deep into her blankets, drawing the comforter up to her chin with only her small, cold hands poking out to hold the thick, dark bound tome in her hands. The leather was worn to near non-existence along the spine, thin cracks marred the front and back of it, breaking up the words scrawled in messy gold ink on it. She shivered against the cold of her old, broken down apartment. The heating had broken long ago and she didn't have enough money to pay to fix it, since the landlord paid no attention to anything that happened in the building anyway. The screaming of the couple down the hall filled her ears but she dismissed it as she usually did; it was commonplace now.

She leafed through the pictures in the book. They were all of her and her family. There were pictures of her mother, her father, her sister, and her brother. There were pictures of them when they were young and when they were older. She bit her lip as she got into the later pictures, none of which held the scowling face of her brother. He was already gone by then. She ran a finger over her brother's picture of him graduating high school. Her dad stood proudly behind him with goofy grin on his face. Next to those pictures were the ones of Karin and Yuzu graduating together. Their brother was nowhere to be found.

Ichigo vanished just a few weeks after he graduated high school. He left no note, no message, no sign that he had even been planning on leaving, and nobody knew where he had gone. Yuzu had sobbed every night and Karin kept having dreams of her brother being killed in car crashes, plane crashes, wild fires, drowning, and tornadoes among other things. Each one put more fear into her heart than the last but no matter how hard they tried, they could never find him.

Her teeth dug deeper into her lower lip as she got to where the pictures of her father ended. The last one was of him, her, and Yuzu all standing together at Yuzu's graduation from University. He was smiling cheerfully and holding up bunny ears behind his daughter's heads when he thought they weren't paying attention. But he was gone too. Kurosaki Isshin was killed in a brutal car crash just two days after his daughters' graduation. They were barely able to identify his body when they found him. The drunk driver who hit him survived.

But the hardest part was when she reached the back of the book where the pictures ended completely. The last one was of her and Yuzu standing back-to-back looking at the camera with their arms intertwined beside them. Karin was smiling in the picture. It had been taken at their twenty-fourth birthday party. The next day, Yuzu was shot twice in the head and once in the stomach by an ex-boyfriend who was jealous of her newest lover.

The young Kurosaki slammed the book shut and threw it to the floor, careful not to hurt it but still wanting to burn it in the dying fire in the hearth. She angrily wiped a tear away from her face. She was the last remaining Kurosaki. Her mother died when she was young, Ichigo left when she was in middle school, her father died when she was eighteen, and her sister died when she was twenty-four. She shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around her.

The most independent part of her mind, the strongest, told her that she should just pick up the pieces of her life and move on. It had been three years since Yuzu died and left her all alone. She hadn't gone to see her family's graves. It was always too painful. It was only now that she realized how much it must have hurt to loose a family member, she had lost four. Her old friends from high school called every once in a while to see how she was doing, they always tried to avoid talking about her family.

She worked as a waitress now at a local café, a far cry from the soccer star she had wanted to be when she was younger. She used to teach soccer to small children on the side but she had stopped a year previously when she took on a little girl who looked almost exactly like Yuzu had when they were young. It hurt too much to see that smiling face every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Speaking of working, she had to be at the café in fifteen minutes. It took half an hour to get there. She stumbled up from her couch and pulled a windbreaker on over her rumpled t-shirt and halfheartedly dusted off her black pants. She pulled her black trainers when she reached the door and grabbed her messenger bag purse from its spot on the coat hanger before walking out the door, combing her hair with her fingers as she went.

The snow swirled around her in a maddening dance of snowflakes and stinging hail. She pulled her hood up around her face and tried to ignore it. She was usually good at ignoring the weather, it wasn't like it was going to kill her, and if it did then she was gladly accept it. A few people driving by on their way to work looked at her like she was crazy; it wasn't like she had a car to ride in anyway.

When she reached the café she pushed it open, ignoring the closed sign on the door. They hadn't opened yet, which means they were probably waiting for her to finally get there to start working on the tea. She sighed and slumped past Aiko, who stood completely still at the table near the door that she had been wiping down. Aiko was afraid of her, well, everyone on staff was afraid of her but Aiko was more so. Who wouldn't be afraid of a woman who had threatened you with a slow and very detailed death if she got in her way or asked about her personal life?

On Aiko's first day, a few months ago, she had asked Karin about her family in an attempt to get to know the gloomy employee. Karin had rounded on her with eyes blazing and told her in a very monotone and venomous voice that if she ever asked about her family again she would personally cut out her heart, grind it up in a blender, and make her drink it down with her last breath. The seventeen-year-old never spoke another word to Karin past, 'could you pass me that' or 'do you know where this or that is'.

Karin didn't even bother mumbling a good morning to her and instead stumped into the kitchen and pulled on her ugly pink apron, checking herself into work with a blank expression. Maura, the only person who would talk to her conversational gave her a slightly cheerful 'ohayo' but Karin ignored her and plodded into the kitchen where she shoved a teakettle onto the stove and turned the oven on. She jerked her stringy black hair back into a loose ponytail and set about her work efficiently and monotonously.

"Karin-chan?" Maura asked, peeking her head into the kitchen. A few other members of staff watched warily. Karin's mood in the morning generally dictated who would have kitchen duty with her. The younger, newer staff members were always kept away from her if she was feeling murderous.

"What?" the Kurosaki snapped impatiently as she dragged down a bag of tea leaves from one of the high shelves above the double sink.

"Ano… are you feeling okay?" Karin slammed her fists onto the countertop and fought to keep herself from shaking. She knew that Maura was only trying to help her but there were times when she just wanted to shake the girl for being so damned friendly.

"Do I look okay to you?" she screeched, whirling around. Her dark hair sprayed out behind her and whipped her face, making her look all the more insane. The dark circles under her black eyes didn't do much to help things either.

"Alright, Karin-chan, I'll leave you alone then," Maura murmured as she shrank quickly out of sight, closing the kitchen door behind her. The only one who had any control of Karin when she was angry was their boss, Harumi-san, and that was only because she had the power to fire the half-insane woman because she needed the money from her job. Everyone knew that Harumi-san only kept Karin on staff because she felt sorry for the young woman.

The day dragged on and Karin was kept in the kitchen all day, as she normally was on the days when she was acting even more schizophrenic, or when there were small children present in the café. If there was one thing Karin could do, it was cook. She might not have the culinary genius that her sister had but she wasn't too shabby. Unfortunately, she was liable to murder any child that crossed her path for so much as glancing at her. It hadn't been that way when she was first hired two years ago but when she stopped teaching soccer she was completely against any and all children, and most everybody else.

The normal shift for the café workers was six hours, Karin worked thirteen. She had nothing better to do with her life and she claimed that working kept her mind off other things, not the she ever specified what exactly she was getting her mind off of. She worked from the time that the café opened to the time it closed, even if she never got there on time or left when she was supposed to, everything depended on her unpredictable mood swings.

As Karin wiped down the last table and wandered through the darkened café, pulling her belongs out of the various places they had been moved to during the day. She stiffened when she heard the door to the café open again. She could have sworn she locked it. If there was one thing that made her really nervous, it was being alone in a room with a stranger. She peeked out into the main room and saw a young man standing there.

He was tall, probably closer to six feet than five, with ivory hair tied back in a small pony tail at the base of his neck and wisps of it falling around his face, jagged on the ends. His skin was pale but from where she stood she could see the faint tracing of scars on his hands and wrists. He wore a three piece black suit and a teal tie and she couldn't see any trace of a heavy jacket. His back was to her at the moment but he half turned and she got a good look at his profile.

His nose was small and the bridge of it was slender, his lips were thin but not unattractively so and were set in a frozen line of displeasure, his chin was tapered but not feminine, his eyebrows were as pale as his hair and thin, snapped down over his eyes. His eyes; they caught her attention the most. They were an unnatural blue-green color and though they seemed angry, or bored, they were beautiful and framed by thin, defining pale lashes. Everything about him spoke of the cold, his stance, his face, his appearance. Her heartbeat quickened but she didn't move.

"I know you are back there," he said quietly. His voice was deep and commanding and she felt like she was going to die. She stepped back away from the doorframe and leaned against the wall inside the kitchen. "I am not going to harm you, Kurosaki Karin," he called to her.

"How do you know my name?" she asked nervously.

"I have known your name for a long time, Kurosaki-san." Somehow, that didn't make her feel any better.

_Oh shit, I have a stalker_, she thought to herself. She reached into her purse and pulled out her mace. She held it neatly in her thin hands and took a deep breath. She could hear his footsteps as he walked over to where she was, but the near-silent sound stopped before she could figure out where he was precisely.

"You really should not assume that everyone is going to hurt you, Kurosaki-san." Her head snapped around so fast she felt it vertebrae crack. There, standing in front of her with one freezing, long fingered hand wrapped around her wrist, was the man. There was no expression on his face but the lack thereof still didn't make her any more comfortable.

Her eyes narrowed and all her self-defense classes from when she was a kid came flooding back. She twisted her hand in his grip until she held the inside of his wrist, jerked him forward, and slammed her knee into his groin all in the same motion. He winced and released her instantly, falling unceremoniously to the ground. She jumped away and ran.

The icy wind snapped around her faster than it had previously, when she had gone to work. She hoped her boss wouldn't get mad at her but she wasn't about to go back and lock up. She was almost sure Harumi-san wouldn't fire her. She pulled out her cell phone to call the police but the crappy device showed that she had no battery power. She cursed and dropped it back into her purse as she ran.

White puffs of breath formed on the air as she panted. It had been a while since she had run any long distance, her boss really didn't require her to get to work in a timely manner so she always walked to work. She pulled her jacket on as she sprinted. A few people watched her from shop windows as they closed as she darted past but she paid them no mind, it wasn't like she was going to ever see them again.

Distant, closed off memories knocked discretely at her conscious mind. There was a flash of white in her memory, a soccer game, someone saving her. She shook her mind. Perhaps these were significant things when she was young by why would she care to look back on the past now?

"That was a low blow, Kurosaki-san," a voice said from beside her. She skidded to a stop and whirled around, a punch already loaded and ready to fire at the stupid man. Her fist shot out and he caught it in his hand, twisting her arm slightly to get her off balance and sweeping her legs out from underneath in with ease. She fell to the icy sidewalk with a low grunt of surprise.

"What do you want from me?" she screamed at him. He glanced around for a moment and she realized that the people in the store that they were in front of were watching with shocked expressions on their faces, one had a cell phone loosely in their grasp. He reached down and snatched her up, whisking her away down a dark side street that held nothing more than garbage and emancipated cats.

"I want you to gain control of yourself, Kurosaki-san."


	2. Chapter 2

Her Guardian Angel.  
Chapter Two.

She glared up at him, cursing the six or seven inch difference between their heights. One of his hands was still wrapped tightly around her wrist, keeping her from slamming her right fist into his face while the other was shoved into his pocket. There was such nonchalance around him it made her sick. She wished she hadn't dropped her mace back in the café. He kept his gaze steady with hers, never once glancing away. Although she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that she was interested in what he had said, she just had to know. Maybe if she humored him he would leave her alone.

"What do you mean I need control?" she snapped. His hand gripped her just a little tighter and she fought back a small whimper of pain. His fingers were very cold, and his grasp was like iron. She felt hard calluses on the inside of his palm, like those that Ichi-nii had when he was still around.

"Your emotions are raging, you have no control over your mind. You make no attempt to reign in your subconscious," he replied monotonously. She raised an eyebrow. Yeah, that made complete sense, Mr. Freaky-Stranger. As if he understood her slight confusion he released her and backed away a step before saying anything else.

"At first we believed that perhaps you were just having a bad month, or couple months because we understood at the time that you had just lost your sister. Unfortunately, after several months passed, leading on into several years, without you becoming any more controlled, we have decided that we need to do something about it."

Karin backed away slowly. So now she had an entire group of stalkers who wanted to do something about her? Were they going to kill her? _Not that it would be too bad_, she thought wryly. She balled her hands into fists at her sides, clutching the material of her dark pants.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, "Who is this _'we'_?" He chuckled darkly and backed away from her. As he walked farther and farther backwards from her she got more and more nervous. What was he doing? Was he really going to just leave her alone and leave?

"What are you doing?" she asked. He stopped at the beginning of the alleyway. The pale halo of light from the streetlamps swirled around him and she felt her heart beating faster in her chest. The light orange light mixed with the white strands of his hair, casting just the faintest light on his face.

"I can see that you shall not trust me at this point in time. Rest assured that I shall return again, but for now, my talents are needed elsewhere. In the meantime, control your emotions and attempt to reign in your passions." She watched as he just seemed to vanish. There was a faint streak of color and then the alleyway was empty.

She rested her back against the wall and slid down it until she was seated on the dirty, damp ground. She pulled her knees up against her chest and settled her head on them, clasping her hands firmly against her pants. Her whole body shook as the shock of the encounter set in.

"Why did he waste so much time trying to catch me?" she whispered. A tear from delayed fear rolled down her cheek, smearing her already smudged eyeliner and mascara. She wiped it away quickly and sniffed.

_Nothing this weird happens to people like me_.

"Taicho!" Matsumoto Rangiku sang as she poked her head out of the kitchen in the small house the shinigami were staying in. Her taicho slumped down on the couch in the living and leaned back, flinging his arms over the back of it. Matsumoto watched him from afar, deciding against asking him what was wrong. The Winter War had taken a lot from him and from the rest of Soul Society. But that was almost fifteen years ago. Most of the shinigami involved had moved on. And everyone thought that the emotionless Hitsugaya Toushiro was one of them.

Matsumoto could see that he had change. Where at one time he would have been annoyed with her or gotten angry with her for not doing her paperwork or skipping out on important meetings to go drink, he now just gave her a blank look and ignored her. Abarai Renji had been promoted to fifth division captain and Hinamori Momo had been suspended and was in exile on the edge of Rukongai.

Kira Izuru was killed in the Winter War as was the new third division taicho Amagai Shuusuke. Hisagi Shuhei took over his division and was making a great taicho. Komamura Sajin of the seventh division was killed by Tousen and killed the traitor as well. His fukutaicho, Iba, refused to take up the mantle of taicho when it was offered to him. Kyouraku Shunsui was nearly killed and was in a coma for four years, in which time his fukutaicho Nanoa took control of the division with the help of Ukitake-taicho.

Kuchiki Rukia was given the title of fukutaicho of the thirteenth division after her battle prowess was drastically increased before the War and was shown dramatically during it. Inoue Orihime was killed during the war but her soul was saved and she was taken on in the tenth division as the fourth seat after she finished the Academy. When the Kurosakis died they were welcomed into the divisions.

Kurosaki Isshin was taken into the fourth division after his exile was lifted by the soutaicho and, although he was not a seated officer, he was very close to Unohana-taicho and together they made a perfect team for healing. Koutestu Isane began learning many healing tricks and kido that Isshin had created himself and in turn taught them to the other members of the division.

Kurosaki Ichigo came of his own accord, following Rukia to Soul Society and abandoning his body. He was given the captaincy of the seventh division and got along fabulously with Iba. He finished the Academy in four years, having already achieved bankai and shikai.

Kurosaki Yuzu was a shock to both her father and brother. She wandered in Rukongai for two years before she was discovered. At first she had no reiatsu but when she entered the Academy at the urging of her father and brother her reiatsu skyrocketed and she completed the Academy in three years. She was given the title of fukutaicho of the ninth division under Hisagi-taicho.

But what came as the most shock to the shinigami of Soul Society was when Yamamoto-soutaicho announced, just before the last battle of the War, that in the event of his death, Hitsugaya Toushiro-taicho would be his successor as soutaicho. Although Hitsugaya insisted that he didn't want to discuss it with anyone after it was announced, Matsumoto was proud to talk about it to her friends and everyone in Rukongai knew that the child prodigy would be handed the title of soutaicho after Yamamoto-soutaicho died or retired.

After the announcement, Hitsugaya spent a lot of time with the soutaicho, learning from him and being trained by him. The jubantai taicho's power increased exponentially just before and after the war. Everyone could see the power difference in him but only Matsumoto saw the personality difference in him.

He was colder, less concerned with everything that went on around him. All the years that she had spent trying to get him loosen up seemed to be sapped away in a few short months. He ignored her mostly and when he did have to talk to her it was only in short words before he moved on. The shinigami in his division were still utterly loyal to him and loved him but they were effected by his personality change as well.

If a division member so much as stepped a toe out of line they were met with his cold anger, his disappointment in them seemed to chastise them more then his shouting ever had in the past. But where he actually cared about his division before, now it was just an expendable fighting machine. No one knew if this was because of his time with the soutaicho or if it was from the war.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya called quietly from the living room, "Are there any orders from Soul Society?"

"No, none so far other than the ones we were given when we left," she answered. Her expression softened all the more when she saw how drained he looked. There were bags under his eyes and he moved as if his body was too heavy for him to carry. She walked out of the kitchen and up to him. She pressed a hand to his forehead. He flinched away from her a little and tensed but made no move to push her away.

"You feel warm," she announced. Warm for Hitsugaya was around sixty-five degrees. Nobody knew how he survived with an average body temperature of roughly sixty degrees Fahrenheit. "You should rest. If any more orders come I'll wake you up."

He nodded and pushed himself up, plodding into his bedroom and shutting the door after himself. She slinked up to the door and placed and ear against it. She heard the bed creak for a few moments before the room was silent again. Confident that he was sleeping, she wandered back to the kitchen where she glared at the paper where she had written the newest orders from Soul Society.

_You are not to let Kurosaki Karin know anything about her family's position in Soul Society._

"Kurosaki-fukutaicho!" Kurosaki Yuzu turned around at the sound of the third seat's voice. She enjoyed spinning in her swivel chair. It made her feel very important. She put her brush down on the desk next to the unfinished division paperwork. She ended up doing all of Hisagi-taicho's paperwork for him. It seemed that he really didn't enjoy it. Secretly, she hoped that no other fukutaicho had to do the same drudgery as she did. Not tat she grudged her taicho for it. He was a good man and she would do anything for him. Anyways, back to the third seat.

"Yes? How can I help you?" the younger of the Kurosaki twins asked. She had a small smile on her childish face. Although she could pass as a woman of twenty-four she still retained some of her baby features. It made her look cute, or so her boyfriends had told her.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho wishes to speak with you urgently," the third seat said breathlessly. Yuzu was curious. Why didn't the soutaicho just send a hell butterfly? She shrugged and nodded to the shinigami, immediately darted away. As she stood up she stretched and patted down the wrinkles in her uniform. She adjusted the fukutaicho badge swinging from her belt unconsciously.

She shunpo'ed out of her office and out of her division on her way to the first division headquarters. As she sped past the seventh division she waved to a few of the shinigami who were watching their taicho train with a few newbies. Ichigo would have waved to her but he had his hands full with a wildly attacking recruit. She was well known around her brother's division. She often wandered in carrying backed goods for him and Iba. But as she passed Ichigo finished with his little fight and left the recruit in the dust, catching up to his sister.

"Ichi-nii, where are you going?" she asked as he kept pace with her.

"First division," he answered shortly. She could see the worry in his face and she wondered if he knew something that she did not. It wouldn't be completely unusual.

"Me too!" she said with false glee. The anxiety in his face was making her nervous. Ichigo looked over at her with a credulous expression for a moment before looking back straight ahead. "Ichi-nii… do you know what this is about?" she asked quietly.

"I hope that I don't," he whispered.

When they reached the first division they were shown to Yamamoto-soutaicho's office. Their father was already there, looking more serious than usual. The soutaicho said nothing but kept his hands settled in his lap, he seemed to be watching the large communication screen on the wall.

"Kurosaki-taicho, Kurosaki-fukutaicho, and Kurosaki-san," he began, "I called you were because I wanted you to be present for this report." At that exact moment the screen flickered on and the Kurosakis were presented with the image of the tenth division's taicho and fukutaicho. Hitsugaya looked rather angry and Matsumoto appeared to be splattered with a rather large amount of flour and batter. The soutaicho chose to ignore the bubbly woman's appearance.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, did you receive the latest orders?" the soutaicho asked, not bothering to explain why the Kurosakis were in the room or why they had to listen to Hitsugaya-taicho's report.

"Latest… orders, sir?" Hitsugaya asked. His voice sounded a little easy but you could never tell his emotions from his face. Yuzu perked up a little bit at the sound of his voice.

"I sent you orders pertaining to your mission yesterday, they should have arrived today. The hell butterfly made it back with Matsumoto's response." Hitsugaya turned to his fukutaicho and held out a hand. The buxom woman blushed a little and pulled a sheet of folded paper from between her… assets… and handed it to him. He opened it and scanned the contents briefly before looking back at the screen.

"Why?" he asked flatly. The soutaicho raised an eyebrow.

"Because if she knew then she would want to come here and she must remain on earth. There is no other way."

"I could detain her here," Hitsugaya half-argued. The Kurosakis felt very confused by the conversation but Ichigo's eyes were narrowed as if he could guess what was going on.

"It would not help. Report," the soutaicho ordered as an end to the discussion. Matsumoto sighed quietly from beside her taicho. Hitsugaya remained silent for a few seconds.

"Matsumoto and I arrived in the Living World at precisely noon today. We received our gigais from Urahara Kisuke as promised and were set up in our current residence near the neighborhood of Kurosaki Karin," the Kurosakis present all tensed as they realized where this was going. "I approached her at eleven pm as she was leaving work. She reacted violently and fled."

"How violently?' Ichigo asked. The soutaicho said nothing but Hitsugaya glared at him. The icy taicho did not answer but Matsumoto answered the question with an evil twinkle in her eye.

"She tried to mace him and kneed him in the groin," she said promptly. Hitsugaya growled slightly in the background. Yuzu almost thought she could see a faint blush on his pale cheeks. Was it just her or did he look more pale than usual?

"_As I was saying_," Hitsugaya broke in as his fukutaicho started giggling, "she reacted violently and fled. I followed here and relayed your message, soutaicho, and left as she seemed unnerved by my presence."

"Did she recognize you at all?" the soutaicho asked. All the Kurosakis looked at him in shock. Recognize Hitsugaya-taicho? Had they met before?

"No. Not that I could tell."

"Soutaicho, what's going on here?" Isshin asked. The soutaicho seemed to look at him for a brief moment before speaking.

"Kurosaki Karin's reiatsu has been causing massive damage to her world. She is wearing away at the protective barrier we placed around the town after the Winter War and is causing many people around her to become Spiritually Aware. It seems that everyone that she works with can at least see the blurry forms of hollows and shinigami. So far no one has shown over the top power like hers. In addition to this, her melancholy and depressed emotions are influencing her reiatsu and it is reacting like a buffer for her suffering and taking her most negative emotions and expending them without her realizing it. Unfortunately, these expenditures are causing more damage to the barrier and soon the town will be overrun with hollows. To stop this from happening I sent Hitsugaya-taicho and Matsumoto-fukutaicho to warn her to reign in her emotions and gain control and also to train her as a shinigami, similar to Kurosaki-taicho's training while he was still human." The soutaicho turned back to the screen. "By the by, Hitsugaya-taicho, why is your fukutaicho covered in cooking ingredients."

Matsumoto burst out laughing and Hitsugaya twitched.

"She tried to bake muffins."


	3. Chapter 3

Her Guardian Angel.  
Chapter Three.

Karin shimmied out of her work uniform and dragged a pair of black sweatpants on with a plain grey t-shirt. She rubbed her arms and wandered around searching for her favorite sweatshirt; the navy blue one that said _Kurosaki Clinic _on the back. The one she always wore when she was worried or nervous to a point of madness.

After finding said sweatshirt and pulling it on, messing up her already crazy hair, she walked into the kitchen-ish area of her house in a kind of blank daze. As her hand wrapped around the handle of her tiny refrigerator she paused. The cold plastic on her palm felt rough with the bumps and indents put there to help her grip it better. She rested her forehead against the door of it, feeling the coolness seep into her skin. It was refreshing.

"What the hell did he think he was doing?" she murmured aloud to herself. Her brow furrowed in confusion and her lips twisted in a sort of thoughtful grimace. She tightened her grip on the fridge handle. "He just waltzes up to me and expects me to take him seriously. I should report him for… something."

Something. Anything. The only thing that she knew was that she wanted to get that man put somewhere that she wouldn't have to worry about him. Perhaps she could file for violence against her. She had no clue what to do but she was sure if she called the police they would be more than happy to help their friendly neighborhood-madwoman out.

She sighed and opened up a microwavable cup of instant ramen, sticking it into said kitchen device and setting the timer. She knelt in front of her counter with her chin resting on her folded hands as she watched the little plate on the inside rotate in an almost-hypnotizing way. She frowned as she realized how dirty it was on the inside. When the machine beeped she took it out and set it on the counter to cool while she wandered to the fridge to find a coke.

As she popped the tab on the top of the can and took a sip she looked out the window, half expecting the mysterious man to be standing there watching her. She shivered and walked over to the wide double window. She pulled the heavy black curtains across with two fast, sharp motions. She backed away from the windows and turned her back to them. She shuddered and grabbed her ramen and coke, migrating to her room where she could watch lame late-night comedy shows to take her mind of things.

The bed creaked underneath her as she settled down. She held her ramen in one hand with a hand towel wrapped around it to keep the heat off her hands and a pair of chopsticks in the other. She twirled her meal absently as she glared at the blinking advertisements on the television set. She set her drink down next to a small leather bound journal on her nightstand. She reached for the can and her fingertips brushed the rough texture of the book. Her hand pulled back quickly and her black eyes turned to the offending thing. It stared back innocently.

She set her ramen down next to her hip, resting it against her to keep it from falling over, and picked up the journal, flipping to the last entry, the one that she had done the day that Yuzu died. The one where she was ranting about how Yuzu always got more boys than she did. How even the boys on her soccer team would rather date Yuzu than her. She slammed it shut and threw it across the room. It collided with the wall and flopped to the floor, pages flipping erratically. She shifted in her bed so the footboard would cover her view of it and picked her ramen back up. She turned the volume on the television higher.

Three hours later she fell into a restless sleep that was full of painful memories.

Toushiro knelt on her windowsill in her room, watching her sleep. She had blocked his view of her kitchen when she drew the curtains and he feared that she had seen him at first but she just moved herself to the bedroom where he had kept an eye on her through the slit in the burgundy curtains until she went to sleep. Now he watched her from his precarious perch.

He ran a hand through his pale hair. The white locks fell loose around his face. Matsumoto had stolen his hair-tie. He had no clue what she wanted it for but she had ransacked his stash and fled to the kitchen, no doubt to try some newest cuisine feat. He could only pray that the kitchen wasn't on fire when he got back.

After an hour or so he began to get very brave in the way he moved around Karin's room. He left the windowsill and walked silently over the stained, thin carpet until he reached her creaking bed. He settled on the floor beside it, looking up at her face as she slept. Her eyes flicked beneath her eyelids, the black makeup from the day still on and making dark blurs around her eyes. Her hair fell in her face and he reached out and gently brushed it back from her mouth, tucking it behind one ear. A black stud earring winked at him. He withdrew his hand and placed it in his lap where he twisted his fingers together in a variety of designs.

She shifted positions so that she lay facing the other side. He unconsciously stood and crept over to the other side, sitting beside her silently. His teal eyes trained on her face, never letting her out of his sight, not that she was going anywhere anyway. As he passed the hours with mindless finger weaving patterns he satisfied his mind's desire to have quiet meditation by speaking with Hyorinmaru.

_Hyorinmaru? _His voice sounded small in his mind.

_**Yes, master? Have you come to speak to me after so long a time of silence?**_

_Aa. Yes. Sorry I've ignored you. I did not mean to._

_**As an extension of your spirit, I believe I have a right to understand everything that is happening. Why do you now reside in a human girl's bedroom?**_

Hitsugaya sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get far with Hyorinmaru while he was complaining about being in the dark. He leaned back against Karin's nightstand, ignoring the brass handles jamming into his spine. He drew his knees up to his chest, took one last glance at Karin, and let his consciousness vanish into his mind-scape.

_Very well, Hyorinmaru, what do you wish to know?_

_**What have you been doing while you left me here without any idea of what you are doing?**_

Hitsugaya stood in the white snow that blanketed the mountains, caves, and crevices that populated his mind. He cast around briefly in search of Hyorinmaru and found the dragon in one of the largest caves. He flash-stepped across the frozen tundra and peeked into the rocky entrance. There, in the back of it, curled in around itself time and time again in a spiral of icy blue scales, ending at the top with the small, savage head endowed with sparkling ruby eyes and a gaping maw lined with piercing teeth, was Hyorinmaru, the spirit of Hitsugaya Toushiro.

_The soutaicho sent Matsumoto and myself on a mission to the Living World to watch over Kurosaki's younger sister, Kurosaki Karin._

_**Yes, I do remember you mentioning on your last visit that she was becoming a danger to her surroundings.**_

The taicho crept closer to the dragon, raking his thin, pale fingers over the scales. Glittering flakes of ice clung to his hands, making them shimmer in the natural moonlight that floated in through the entrance. Hyorinmaru gave a rumbling purr and lashed out with its tail, catching the slender shinigami, and dragging him to its side.

_I saw her, at her work, but she did not recognize me._

_**Is there a measure of sadness that I detect, young master?**_

_No, dragon. There is not._

Hitsugaya snuggled down closer to the freezing body, somehow gaining warmth from the touch. Hyorinmaru's tail tightened around him protectively and the dragon blew a snort of icy wind that ruffled the taicho's white hair, blowing it into his face to conceal his teal eyes. The near-white skinned hand went out again to stroke the scales, rubbing carefully and easily.

_**You cannot hide your innermost thoughts from me, although you try. I feel that there is some sadness in you that she did not recognize you as well as some relief. Perhaps you fear a confrontation, she will want to know of her family and you will not be allowed to tell her anything. Do you fear having to refuse her? To withhold information from her though you know it will bring her pain?**_

_No. I do not fear anything about her. A taicho should fear nothing._

_**Spoken like a true taicho, like a soutaicho in training.**_

_You do not approve?_

_**I do not approve of the soutaicho's mannerisms and what he chooses to teach you. If you are to become soutaicho you must make your own way. A dragon chooses his own path, it is not chosen for him.**_

_Be that as it may –_

_**Speak no more, young master. The lady awakes.**_

Hitsugaya shoved himself from the coils of his dragon, pushing his body up on his hands as he splayed them evenly over the scales. He almost chuckled when he heard Hyorinmaru give its rumbling purr despite itself. The moment his skin left contact with Hyorinmaru he vanished from his mindscape, slowly returning to consciousness. The first thing that he saw was Karin's fist raised in front of his face. He had no time to duck.

Karin was furious. She woke up and the first thing she saw was the creepy guy from her work sitting on her floor, sleeping! So she did the one thing a logical girl would do, she climbed stealthily out of bed and went to find the nearest heavy object. Unfortunately her bed squeaked obnoxiously loud and gave away that she was awake so she settled for her fist. She waited until his eyes began to open and he was mostly awake so he could feel the full force of it.

Her fist shot out from her body, slamming him in the nose with her knuckles. His head whipped back, cracking against the nightstand. She looked frantically around the room for one of her various self-defense weapons and found a bat, just barely peeking out from under her bed. She seized it just as he was stumbling to his feet, one hand clutching the back of his head, the other on his nose, blood seeping through his fingers.

"Wait, wait!" he protested as she readied her weapon. She cocked it over her shoulder, not really caring. What kind of a freak went into someone else's house at night and watched them while they slept! Not that she had any proof he was watching her, but she assumed that was what he was doing. She didn't wait.

The bat swung down with a sickening crack against his ribs. He doubled over, removing his hand from the back of his head to try to shield the rest of his body with it. She raised it again and slammed it against the back of his knees. His legs folded in on themselves and his back hit the floor. He fell with a grunt of pain. She drew it back again, this time aiming between his legs. He rolled over and held out a hand. She swung anyway but was surprised when it landed straight in the middle of his palm. His fingers closed over it and he jerked it out of her grip roughly. Karin was no weakling but he was_strong_.

"Stop," he said as he struggled to his feet. One hand clutched his side and the other held onto the bat, keeping it out of her reach.

"Why should I stop?" she screeched, reaching the books that were sitting on her nightstand. She caught one and threw it at him. He brought up his arm to block it but there was a definite thud as it met his flesh and bounced off. She felt the cold aluminum of her coke and slung it at him. The half of it that remained after her dinner sloshed over him and the floor, turning parts of his ivory hair brown. As he tried to wipe the liquid out of his eyes she found the chopsticks from her ramen and held on in either hand like daggers, with every intention of gouging out his pretty eyes.

"Kurosaki Karin! Stop this! I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me help you. How can you not recognize me?' The hurt in his voice made her stop and he peeked from behind his shielding arm.

"Why would I recognize you?" she asked, pointing one of the chopsticks at him accusingly. "Who are you?" But she made no further move to take his life so he relaxed slightly, dropping his arm so that both wound around his wounded torso.

"My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro."


	4. Chapter 4

Her Guardian Angel.  
Chapter Four.

Karin gaped at him, hands falling loosely to her sides. His eyes followed her warily as she moved to sit on her bed. It creaked in protest at the weight. He stood carefully with on arm still tight around his ribs. Moving didn't seem hurt him at all, or maybe he was just good at hiding pain. From what she could recall of him, from those happy years when she was still a child, it was most likely the second options. Her chopsticks clattered to the thin carpet.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" She asked breathlessly, running a hand through her raven hair. He looked a little confused, but obliged.

"My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro."

In a flash, she bounded off the bed and grabbed his white haori in her fists. She dragged him close to her and pulled him down so she could see him eye to eye. He flinched at the sudden contact when her knuckles collided roughly with his collarbone. He froze in her grasp when she gave him a frenzied glare.

"If you're here then you must know where my brother is!" He winced. He had been hoping this conversation would come later, like after he had come up with a convincing lie. Her hands trembled as she shook him with as much force as she could muster. "Where is Ichi-nii?" she demanded.

"I don't know," he muttered lamely as he tried to pry her hands from his clothing. She shook her head so hard he wondered if it would fly from her shoulders. Gruesome thought. Her hair tossed wildly about her skull, tiny strands striking his face.

"That's not a good enough answer," she growled. "You know where he is! You just won't tell me. Don't lie to me, Toushiro!" Her voice rose to almost a scream at the end. His eyes widened fractionally as she drew her fist back again, ready to punch him a second time. When he did not answer, she lashed out.

He caught her hand and twisted quickly. As the pain lanced through her arm she let go of his haori and he took advantage of her moment of surprise to place his other hand flat on her shoulder blade to keep her from turning into him. He wrenched her arm up just high enough on her back to let her know he didn't appreciate being attacked, but not enough to pull her arm out of socket.

"When I tell you that I don't know where he is, I mean exactly what I say, Kurosaki. Do not attack me again." She gave such a pitiful whimper of pain he almost let go of her, but he held her tightly until she managed a muted 'yes'. She stumbled away from him when he let her go and tried to level him with a first-class glare. He rolled his eyes at her and crossed to the windowsill. She would never sleep if he remained in her house.

"I only came here to see how you were doing," he deadpanned. "Expect another visit soon. You are getting very out of control." She matched his cold stare and shrugged.

"What control?" she asked rhetorically. "Nobody is in control of me. I do as I please, when I please, and where I please. Nobody tells me what to do." He raised an eyebrow at her confident tone. It didn't match her blank expression.

"There are people who would like to," he muttered cryptically. His brow furrowed but he vanished into the night air before she could ask what he meant. She resisted the urge to race to the open window and try to catch a last glimpse of him. No, that would be too cliché, and it wasn't like she wouldn't see him soon enough. Too soon. . .

**:.:**

"Taiiiiicho!" Matsumoto called when she heard the door open. She frowned when he didn't answer. She set her pan of neon pink cupcake-creations on the flour and batter covered counter. Maybe she should clean up the mess before ventured into the kitchen and saw it. She dismissed the thought when he heard the shower running. So . . . he wanted to be along after visiting Karin? Like she ever gave him his space when he wanted it.

After creeping up the stairs and into the bedroom that Hitsugaya used, the one that the shower was attached to, she pushed open the bathroom door and tried to sneak in as silently as possible. Needless to say, she was unsuccessful.

"Get out, Matsumoto," he growled. She could barely see his silhouette through the semi-transparent shower curtain. Completely ignoring the order, she plopped down on the toilet seat and grabbed one of her beauty magazines she picked up on her first day in the Material World.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked absently as she scanned an article on the latest shoe trends. Hmm . . . those were pretty cute.

"Not past what is necessary," he said sharply. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She listened to the beat of water on the shower floor and her captain quietly pick up one of her many shampoos from the cluttered shelves. She flipped another page.

"You know you want to tell me about it. If you don't, I'll just pay her a visit. I'm sure she'd be happy to tell me _all _about it," she said smugly. He gave a condescending snort.

"I doubt it."

"Of course she will," Matsumoto said, working to subtly break down his defense. "Girls are always ready to talk to other girls about stuff that happens, especially boy problems." She tapped her lips thoughtfully.

"Boy problems?" he half-sneered. She sighed; he would never get a girl with the way he acted.

"Yes taicho, you count as a boy. I'm sure she hasn't had a crush on anyone in a while. Seeing you must have startled her," she reasoned. He laughed dryly.

"Yes, that's why she broke two of my ribs with a metal bat."

She was speechless for a moment, processing what he said. Then a sly smile sneaked on her face. She could use this to her advantage.

"I'm sure she's just one of those girls who shows affection through violence." He snorted again. Matsumoto grinned. "She _likes _you!" she crowed.

The water shut off abruptly. He shoved the curtain back halfway and glared at her. His ivory hair was plastered down his shoulders, well past his collarbone.

"She does not like me, Matsumoto Rangiku. In fact, I believe she probably hates my guts." He held out a hand and she gave him a towel, which he wrapped around his hips. She grinned viciously at him as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What are you smiling at?" he grumbled.

"Oh, nothing," she giggled. "Broken noses don't do much for your face, taicho," she teased. He growled slightly and she wondered if it was his dragon that made him do that. She had noticed that none of the other taichos did. But of course, she didn't piss off the others like she did Hitsugaya.

"Don't lie to me," he said. He stepped out of the shower and gathered his clothes from their place on the edge of the sink. Matsumoto grabbed another towel and carefully wiped the water from his back and shoulders, just lightly brushing over the wide sword scars as if they were as tender as the days he received them.

"I'm not lying to you," she said cheerfully. He hummed a noncommittal response as he examined his nose in the foggy mirror. "I'm telling the truth!" she insisted. He didn't answer, letting her keep her secret plotting. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him, rubbing the dampness off his arms and chest before handing him his shirt. She threw the towel over his head and rubbed vigorously at his hair to cover her wince at seeing the long, wicked scar that stretched from his left shoulder to right hip. He dressed when she released him.

"Taicho, maybe you should get a girlfriend," she said as she snatched his hand and dragged him out to the living room. She sat cross-legged on the couch and pushed him to the floor with his back to her. "I mean, you're always so far removed from everyone. You'd seem more human if you –"

"Do I really need to remind you that I'm _not _human?" he asked blandly. She frowned and pulled her brush through his hair. She loved brushing his hair.

"No. It's just that –"

"We've had this conversation before. I do not need to be more human, I do not need to become more approachable or friendly, and most of all, I do **not **need a girlfriend."

**:.:**

Yuzu paced around the office she shared with Hisagi-taicho. He was out training with some new members of the division. It was well known that the only captain that enjoyed beating down newbies more than Hisagi-taicho was Hitsugaya-taicho (and no one really actually knew if he enjoyed beating them or if he just enjoyed inflicting pain).

She bit her lip as she thought about Hitsugaya-taicho. He seemed to be slowly deteriorating over time. He retreated farther inside of himself as his power grew. Although he hid his emotions well, Orihime told her that he spent most of his nights restlessly wandering the division halls, never speaking a word, Hyourinmaru unsheathed and resting on his shoulder. Yuzu wasn't sure whether to be afraid or to pity him.

Her shoeless feet made no sound as she padded out of the office and down the streets towards her brother's division. They hadn't spoken since Hitsugaya-taicho's report. His evaluation of Karin's depression was short and harsh and the Kurosakis couldn't help but feel responsible. After the meeting they were informed that they were not, under any circumstances other than the soutaicho's direct orders, to go to the Material World. They went their separate ways to deal with the news.

She found her brother in the tenth division, Hitsugaya-taicho's, office actually. When he wasn't in his own division she followed his reiatsu across Soul Society. He was rifling through the papers in the Tenth division captain's desk, the books on his shelves, and the cabinets under Matsumoto's desk.

"What are you doing, Ichi-nii?" she asked innocently. He came up sharply from under Matsumoto's desk and hit his head on the edge of it with a dull thud. She walked over to him, looking curiously around the clean room. She frowned at the faint traces of water damage on the walls. Everyone knew the horror stories of Hitsugaya-taicho's rage. The door had been replaced many times after being blown apart or speared by explosions of ice.

"I'm trying to find Yamamoto's orders for the mission Toushiro is on. Why would he send his prized soutaicho-in-training to train _our _sister?" he muttered the question more to himself than to her. She frowned again and place a hand on his shoulder.

"He has his reasons for everything," she said quietly. He rose to his feet, towering over her. He sighed and ran a hand through his flaming orange hair.

"You're too trusting, Yuzu," he murmured, ruffling her hair. "I guess Toushiro has the orders with him." He took one last glance around the room and glared angrily. "He's so damn neat and I still can't find anything!"

"He's a careful person," Yuzu pointed out. "If Yamamoto-soutaicho gave him any confidential information, I'm sure he would have hidden it or destroyed it. I would think that this mission qualifies as confidential."

"Yeah, that's probably why Yamamoto chose him to be the next soutaicho: the old geezers have to be good at keeping a ridiculous amount of secrets."

Yuzu shook her head. "I'm sure there's more to it than just that." Ichigo looked hardly convinced but let it go.

"I really want to go see Karin," he complained as he made his way towards the door. Yuzu noticed many tiny holes in the rice paper wall, like bullets had passed through.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho said –"

"_I know!_"

**:.:**

Karin cursed like a sailor all the way to work the next morning. Granted, she wasn't as moody and depressed as usual but she sure wasn't happy-sunshine-and-butterflies. She slammed open the front door, the welcome bell jingling wildly. She was early but the entire staff was there . . . and Karin's boss. Oh _shnap_. She froze.

"Good morning, Karin-chan," Harumi said sweetly. "Care to explain to me how this happened?" she pointed a manicured finger to the far right of the café. Karin turned slowly.

Violently bright graffiti covered the wall, splashing profanities in yellows, blues, and greens over the formerly dark red wall. Karin flinched at the sight, silently pleading, with whatever deities that were out there that she wouldn't have to pay for the damages. Even worse would be having to repaint the walls or scrape the graffiti off.

"Well . . . um . . . I can tell you why I didn't lock up last night," she said in a tiny voice. Harumi raised her eyebrows curiously so Karin launched into a half-true story about stalkers, being chased down streets, followed into her own house, and being unable to return to lock up because it was too dangerous to be out that early in the morning. When she was done someone let out a low whistle. Most of the employees looked thunderstruck, Harumi looked like she was going to blow someone's head to pieces, most likely Karin's.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you right now, Kurosaki-san," she demanded in a strained voice. Karin seemed to visibly shrink.

"I make the best tea you've ever tasted?" she suggested half-heartedly. Harumi glared at her with her hands on her hips.

"Harumi-san, I'm sure Karin will fix it," Maura broke in swiftly, pushing her way to the front of the mass of employees. "Wont you, Karin?" she gave the dark-haired woman a pleading look. Harumi frowned when Karin nodded weakly.

"Really, Kurosaki? Or are you going to just expect me to forget about it like the time you broke the window, or when she threw a knife in the counter and got it stuck there, or the time you threatened a patron family with food poisoning if they didn't start feeding their overweight children healthy food, or the time you kept the closed sign up all day to see who'd still come in, or the time you told a newly-wedded couple that you hoped they would die soon, or the time you tried to take the blender apart to get the blades inside, or the time you mixed blood in a woman's tea –"

"Hey! She was a bitch," Karin defended.

"Or the time you blew up the oven, or the time you stuck a fork on a string in the ceiling and tied a dead rat to it to see who'd notice it first, or the time you broke a table in two pieces, or the time you refused a customer service because she 'was a slut'-"

"I'm sure she was," a deep, brooding voice stated. Karin jumped and spun around. There, by the door stood Hitsugaya Toushiro, in grey slacks, white shirt, and navy blue sweater-vest, and a busty woman with bright orange hair, a tight white and blue striped polo, black mini-skirt, and navy blue tights. Karin cast about her name in her mind. Was it Matusmoto?

And who might you be?" Harumi asked much more coldly than she normally would have with a potential customer.

"Hitsugaya Toushiro," he deadpanned, "and this is Matusoto Rangiku." They matched so well, him just a couple inches taller than her, their clothes fitting together perfectly, her standing just close enough to him for their shoulders to be barely touching," there were beautiful together.

"We're here to pick up Karin-chan," Matsumoto said happily. "I guess she didn't remember she was going out with us today." Every other person in the room stared. Karin actually had friends? "We figured she was here when she didn't show up on time." Karin? On time?

Hitsugaya glanced at the wall and pulled out his wallet from his pocket. He scribbled something on a check and held it out the Haromi. She took it curiously and her eyes widened at the sum written.

"For the damages," he explained quietly. "Karin won't be working for you anymore. She's now on staff at my business. Thank you for your time." He reached out and grabbed Karin's wrist with freezing cold fingers. As they walked out of the café and down the street, Karin rounded on Shinigami.

"What's going on here!"


End file.
