Ichihime Bleach

Part 5 & 6

Ichigo rubbed a hand through his spikey hair, sighing in utter defeat. Staring at his younger sister, he smiled. "When did this happen?" he asked, his voice calmer and much more relaxed.

Karin grinned, her tomboy-ish clothes fitting loosely around her thin frame. Her medium length hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. "Well Ichi-Nii, it happened about six months ago," her voice got misty. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. Is she daydreaming? he thought, shocked that the tomboy could be so girly.

Toshiro wrapped an arm around Karin's side, his stunning turquiose eyes softening. "Kurosaki Ichigo," he murmured, not bothering to look up at the twenty-two year-old. "I understand your protectiveness towards your younger sister. However," he paused, his voice becoming serious. "I honestly have no idea why you are so worried about us being together. Do you really think I would try to do anything to her?"

Ichigo stammered. "Well - no, I guess not." He felt his face flush a little bit. *I am such a friggen pervert,* he sighed, scolding himself for thinking that Hitsugaya would harm his little sister. The young captain did have a sense of dignity and respect about him...

Karin smiled, leaning into Hitsugaya's shoulder. "Would you like to hear the story?" she asked, her eyes bright and eager to tell the story.

Ichigo nodded. "Go ahead, Karin."

Karin looked over at Toshiro; the captain was just taller than her. Toshiro returned her long gaze before he began the story. "Well, I had been sent to The World of the Living on a special assignment." Holding a hand up to stop Ichigo's question, he continued. "I had to examine some strange reiatsu that Urahara Kisuke had found. It turned out to be a lost Arrancar. I handled him with ease though."

Karin lifted a finger to make a point. "And that's when I found Toshiro. He seemed okay, but I took him to that Urahara's place just to make sure he was alright."

Toshiro jumped in again. "I was fine, Karin-chan!"

Karin turned to face her silver-haired boyfriend. "Shiro, you know I couldn't just ignore that you fought someone who seemed really powerful!" She leaned closer to his face, her lips just inches away from his.

"AH! Not in front of me, Karin!" Ichigo cried, waving his hands frantically.

"I can see you haven't changed that much, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya retorted. "Anyways, it turned out that my reiatsu had been weakened greatly, so I had to stay in the World of the Living for a while to be able to return to Soul Society. So, I ended up staying in your room for a while as I waited for my reiatsu to come back."

Karin nodded. "That's right, Ichi-Nii. That's all really."

Ichigo sighed; he realized that his sister was glowing with delight. "Wanna come in for dinner? Hime made plenty," he offered, opening the door to welcome the captain of Squad 10 and Karin into his home.

"Sure!" Karin laughed, her eyes happy as she sighed with relief.

Karin squeezed Toshiro's hand as she walked through the door of her older brother's house. Toshiro squeezed her hand back in return and took a deep breath. "Is your brother always that paranoid?" he muttered, his turquoise eyes glowing from the artificial light coming from the living room.

"Well, Ichi-Nii can be a little protective," Karin sighed, pulling out her messy ponytail, her ebony hair settling on her shoulders and brushing her back. Putting the ponytail on her wrist, she walked into the living room.

* * *

"I can see you two have finally stopped fighting."

"Shut up, Rukia," Ichigo retorted quietly, trying not to let Maiko hear what he was saying; He didn't want her to repeat anything bad he said any time in the near future. Feeling Maiko tug at his Shinigami robes, he looked down at his cute daughter gently. "Pick me up?" she whispered, her voice innocent like Orihime's.