This update was later than I expected but hey, atleast I finished it!

Review response

Guest: I hope there is more Hitsukarin in the next part, I just love how you write them

Yes there is definitely more HistuKarin in this part.

Really? Why thank you :) but most of the time they're not even in character (-_-')

Now enjoy!

Karin was livid, how could Ichigo treat their dear cousin so horribly. First he goes off and disappears from the house since they were 10. Then he shrugs her off when she spotted him in a black kimono. Now he has the nerve to threaten Shuu-chan? 'Who does he think he is, Shuu-chan has been there for all us' she was determined to believe what she remembers but some part of her seemed to scream "LIE!"

"Karin-chan?" Yuzu asked for the upteenth time, her lips forming a frown. "I know what Oni-chan did was wrong but for now let's focus on the party for Shuu-chan, ok?"

Not being one to disobey her sister, Karin nodded. Right now Ichigo's friends were helping them set up a welcoming party for Tsukishima but Ichigo was nowhere in sight. He wasn't the only one acting odd; her father who treated Tsukishima as if he was his own son hasn't been around since Tsukishima arrived either. 'Something's wrong' she frowned but then again she may just be over thinking things.

Grabbing the cutleries Karin began setting up the table but the next thing she knew, the mansion started shaking and she suddenly blacked out. Outside, Ichigo was seen fighting a one sided duel with Ginjo.

When Karin was aroused from her unconscious the first thing she noticed was the amount of reiatsu in the area. She rubbed her head to ease the headache and focused on her brother's reiatsu. 'Did it grow?' Last time she checked, his reiryoku was very low and barely there but ever since he started coming back late again it has gradually grown stronger but not to this extent.

Analysing her surroundings she was horrified and apprehensive at the sight of unmoving bodies littering the floor. Hastily jumping onto her feet she cursed when her foot slipped but managed to balance herself. The pounding in her head didn't help at all. Running over to Yuzu's body, Karin felt her pulse and was relieved when she felt the pulse pumping against her fingers. She repeated this with the rest of the occupants in the room and was satisfied with the result. 'They're all just unconscious.'

An explosion went off turning her attention to the group of reiatsu, which consist of her brother and five- no six other shinigami/s. There were more reiryoku users bit they're not the reiryoku users she was used to. One of them felt especially familiar, it was white-blue in colour and emits a cool aura. Pinpointing the group's reiatsu, Karin started running through the trees, ignoring the scratches appearing on her skin. Something was wrong and if the spikes in her brothers reiatsu was not enough then the clash between reiatsus can make up for it.

She was lead to a clearing composed of six shinigami/s and four other occupants. Karin crouched behind a tree and quickly did a once over of everyone in the clearing. There was an intimidating man wearing an eye patch and a psychotic grin, on his shoulders sat his polar opposite, a small cheerful girl wearing a cross bone ornament in her pink hair.

Nearby was a bold man wielding a spear, his opponent was a boy who's hair was styled into a mohawk. They both seemed idiotic and loud with the way they're yelling their lungs out and idly throwing any attack that comes to mind.

On the other side of the clearing was a man with bright red long hair and intricate tattoos peaking out from under his kimono. His arms were supporting a tall woman with dark skin.

On their left was a girl with bunny ears that screamed 'Cute!' Her opponent was, 'Rukia-nee? What is she doing here? Is she back?' she pondered feeling happy that she was back, 'well looks like Ichi-nii won't be depressed anymore.'

Shifting her gaze from Rukia she turned to the blond boy wearing all black and she had troubles containing her snicker that threaten to escape her mouth. The boy was encased in ice from neck to toe and only his head was free of ice. Standing next to the boy was his captor, she couldn't see him because his back was facing her but she can identify notable features. Like the striking white hair she swore she's seem somewhere before, the green scarf that caused her to suddenly feel light headed and the white haori with the kanji ten on his back.

Karin's gaze lingered on his back before moving on to the next person. She spotted two men that could pull off as twins; both had black hair that reached their chin and sharp iron-grey eyes. The shinigami looked like he came from a noble family with the way he carried himself and the other was, 'Shuu-chan?'

All logic was thrown out of the window and she narrowed her sights onto her cousin's battle. 'He's losing' she deducted, 'looks like all those years of playing action games didn't completely go to waste.'

Turning her attention back to the battle at hand she stared in amazement as both sides trade blows after blows. It didn't take long for Tsukishima to fall on his back, at this Karin's heart speed up. She stared at Tsukishima's opponent who has raised his sword preparing to initiate the final blow. She felt the adrenaline pumped through her veins as she decided to reveal her presence, "Stop!"

Taking their moment of distraction to her advantage she immediately placed herself between the man and 'Shuu-chan'.

The man standing in front of her already had a terrifying reiatsu enough to put her on her knees but now that she was standing in front of him, she felt like a trembling chihuahua. But Karin was determined to protect 'Shuu-chan', her physical form may be shaking and sweating waterfalls but the fire in her eyes refuses to extinguish.

"Girl, move out of the way." The man in front of her spoke with authority in his voice and she almost obeyed. Keyword, "almost"

"No." Was her simple reply.

"Kuchiki," a voice spoke up, gaining the interest of three raven heads. Karin blinked and took a once over at the boy's front.

'Hey, he's that bo-'

"I'll deal Kurosaki's sister." The white haired boy stated as if he could remove her without lifting a finger. The monotonous voice insinuated that she wasn't even a challenge and Karin silently fumed knowing that he's treating her like a child. 'There's no way I'll let him-' before she could finish the thought, the ground suddenly disappeared from beneath her. Her mind was slow on the uptake as it took five minute into their journey did it digest the information. She must've looked hilarious with her bewildered face; eyes wide staring into space and mouth slightly agape.

Once she realised what happened she immediately started kicking and punching the boy holding her captive and she was irritated when he showed no signs of pain. She utterly refuses to play the damsel in distress role.

"Let me go snowball! Let me go! I have to go back and protect Shuu-chan!" Maybe annoying him would help and annoy him she did as she felt him run faster. The scene of her unconscious sister suddenly invaded her thoughts, how could she forget about Yuzu? "Not only that I have to go back to Yuzu! And check up on Ichi-nii as well! Wait, you didn't do anything to Ichi-nii did you? Who are you anyways?" The boy did call her "Kurosaki's sister" and judging by the usage of Ichigo's last name they must not get along, right? Who was he anyways? She remembered meeting him as a 14 year old boy who was obsess with his phone not as a shinigami with a broad reiryoku.

Seeing as he was not replying to any of her questions she continued, believing the more annoyed he got, the more likely he was going to let her go but that didn't seem to be the case.

"I can't leave Shuu-chan back there, not when I just found out he was that mask guy- Woah!" Her captor suddenly skidded to a stop causing her to bump her nose against his back, hard. Looking back at her captor she wondered why he suddenly stopped only to meet his icy glare.

"Keep your mouth shut." He ordered with an equally cold voice. And shut up she did, she's seen what he had done to his opponent and as much as she was proud her innate bravery, she doesn't want to turn into an ice Popsicle thank you very much.

For the whole trip, Karin kept her mouth shut and with nothing to do she found herself daydreaming about her past life. She figured it out a few years back now. She assumed the dreams she were receiving was linked to her past life and it's not impossible if you have Ichigo as a brother. But there was a hole in her theory, if those dreams were memories from her past life, how does Tsukishima fit in?

She didn't have time to think of an answer as she felt her feet touch something solid. Looking around at her new environment Karin's mind suddenly short circuited at the site. 'T-this place.'

"This was where I gave you my name." The shinigami captain beside her spoke and she noticed a hint of nostalgia in his voice.

Karin connected her eyes with his, the word "confusion" written in bold letters stamped on her forehead. "H-how do y-you know this p-place?" She asked not wanting to doubt her memories, "O-only Sh-shuu-chan should kn-know thi-"

"I'm sure you remember," he interrupted "or did all the times I smacked you on the head with a stick finally starting to take effect?" She frozed at his answer, it was very explicit that she begins doubting her memories but a part of her clung onto the fake memories. "But I wouldn't have hit you if you didn't lunge at me in the first place." Now she was utterly lost, there's no way two people could people share the same memory of one person.

Karin buried her hands into her hair having the urge to rip them out in order to relieve the stress her mind was receiving. "H-how, h-h-how do y-you- No, only Shuu-chan knows-" that's right, Shuu-chan has always been there for her, it would make sense if the mask wearer ended up being him.

But the boy was persistent as he interrupted her once again, "Have you forgotten about me already? I was the one who guide you out the forest," he stated before taking a step towards her and Karin made no move to avoid him. She was too lost in thoughts.

.

A scene of her as a 6 year old appears in her mind but she wasn't alone. She was holding onto a stick and another person older than her was holding the other end of the stick. Karin stared at the back of the person's head he had black wavy hair and covering his facial features was a purple mask. But when the person turned to look back at her, the black hair suddenly faded into white spiky tresses. The once purple mask disappeared only to be replaced by a blue mask, a mask resembling an ice dragon, a mask she remembered holding close to her heart.

.

"I was the one who taught you to play soccer," the shinigami continued as he took another step forward.

.

A memory of her sitting cross legged on the meadow watching a man in his twenties juggling a ball skilfully on his feet. The man kicked the ball up high and as the ball started falling the man raised a leg ready to kick it. Once he made contact with the ball the purple mask wearer faded into the background and was replaced by a 14-year-old looking boy with a blue mask.

.

Toushirou took another step closer, "I was the one who you visited every summer,"

.

She was standing in front of a Torri gate this time. It was their rendezvous, she remembers. "Were you waiting long?" Asked a silky soft voice. A man with wavy black hair and donning a purple demon-like mask greeted her as she turned around. Her face visibly brightened and she opened her mouth to call his name, the name she called out however, was not 'Shuu-chan'. It was like her body had a mind of its own, "Toushi-kun!"

As if on queue, the figure in front of her blurred into blobs of white, blue and black. Once the colours were aligned in their correct position the blurry effect stabilised revealing a short boy with spiky white hair and an equally spiky dragon mask.

.

Taking one final step, Karin found the shinigami towering over her with his hands gripping her shoulders. "I was the one who you loved, not 'Shuu-chan'"

The sentence seemed to trigger something in her as her mind felt like a movie, winding back and forth. She gripped her hair and pulled on it to ease the pain but it was in vain. She found herself burying her head into the chest of the white haired boy in front of her and felt comfortable in his arms.

.

She was having another flashback, this time she was staring at the man with wavy black hair and grey eyes. He was glowing green. Turning towards her the man opened his arms and smiled, "Rin, I can finally touch you now."

Instead of running into his arms however, Karin stood still on her spot. 'Something's wrong, something's not right, something's missing' but she couldn't pinpoint it. She stared at the green fireflies wondering where she saw them before. She stared at the green scarf wrapped around his neck looking out of place -to her anyways-. She stared at the mask in her hand pondering what was wrong with it.

She continued burning the mask with her gaze and swore it turned blue a minute before blinking away. 'Blue? Blue, blue, blue,' she chanted hoping to unlock something. Looking up she resumed staring at the man in front of her, 'who was he to her? I don't remember him. It's kind of hard when you've been dreaming about your past life all this time... Toushirou, Toushirou! How could I forget about him?' Karin scolded herself for her forgetfulness, how could she forget a person with natural white hair?

As she broke away from Tsukishima's spell the figure in front of her also dispersed leaving behind the albino haired boy with sharp teal eyes that she knew and loved. His arms were still opened, waiting for her to come to him. And she did, just like her past self Karin lunged at Toushirou and tackled him into an embrace. Warm arms immediately wrapped around her waist and kept her there. With closed eyes she cherished the moment, already knowing the conclusion of this scene.

.

Still believing she was in her daydream, Karin pulled away from Toushirou and lifted up her hands revealing a mask with spiky features. She put the mask on his face and stared at it for nostalgic sake, he still looks the same. Aside from the fact that he hits his growth spurt and his hair is now flatter than before. Realisation struck her as she identified the difference between dream and reality. 'Wait, he's not glowing' she realised. 'Is this my second chance?' Upon realisation Karin punched Toushirou's stomach before stepping away from him. Her mind was still in hysterics and hasn't calm down yet.

"Wait! Why are you letting me touch you? If I touch you you'll disappear!" Her mouth moved without permission and she blushed remembering the feeling of his toned muscles against her petit body. 'Well he's not bad looking.'

Toushirou let out a smooth sensual chuckle that aroused goose bumps to decorate her skin. He pulled off his mask and she found herself staring into familiar sharp teal eyes. He then proceeded to stretch his arms towards her, "It's alright. I'm not going to disappear anymore." He smiled softly.

Still a bit skeptical Karin hesitantly reached a hand out to him. She felt herself falter when the memory of him decomposing into green particles passed through her mind but Toushirou grasped her hand in his and pulled her into his arms. He boldly placed a chaste kiss against her forehead and Karin snuggled against the crook of his neck when she felt her face heat up. 'Damn him, why am I the only one acting all flustered?' Karin screamed in her mind. She can still feel his lips lingering on her forehead.

They stood there in peace for a while before Toushirou spoke up, "I never thought I'd hold you like this again."

Karin blushed once again at his sweet line and she couldn't stop the small smile that spread across her lip. It didn't take long for the smile to disappear and replaced by a frown. 'Don't tell me I was acting like one of those useless, sentimental girls in Yuzu's soap operas?' She felt a blush crawled up her neck as she recalled her earlier actions. Oh how her reputation has crumbled.

Once again Karin connected her fist to Toushirou's torso causing his arms to go limp for a second. Using that second of distraction, Karin pulled on the collar of his haori attempting to look intimidating. "Well what took you so long to find me? I finally see you again on the guardrail that day and you didn't do anything to help me remember?"

She puffed her cheeks out in frustration when he had the audacity to chuckle at her. 'Right, he's a shinigami captain.' That would explain what's why her punches didn't have any affect on him. As if to taunt her even further he bent down to her height. "Sorry there was an emergency that day but I still got you right?"

If it weren't for the fact she was distracted by his close proximity, she would've punched him for claiming her. As if they weren't close enough, Toushirou connected his forehead with hers causing her breath to hitch. The feeling of his nose nudging her own and his breath brushing against her lips made her speechless and unable to think. Sure all of her friends are males but she never got this close to one before.

Karin's eyes locked with his and she sees him moving closer. She refuses to break eye contact as it is a sign of submission but that didn't stop her face from growing redder every time he leaned closer. Actually part of her didn't mind the space -or lack of- in between them and her heart can vouch for her through its beat. His lips were just centimetres away.

Closer

A centimetre away

Closer

A breath away

And clo-

A rustle from the bush snapped Karin out of her daze as realisation dawned her. 'Was I about to kiss Toushirou?' She felt her face exploded for the umpteenth time when she recalled anticipating the kiss. She was actually willing to give her first kiss to him. Not being able to comprehend her mortifying actions, she hid her face in Toushirou's chest. But she had to admit she felt rather disappointed that they were interrupted. 'Oh yeah, who interrupted us anyways?'

Her question was answered when her ears rang from a loud voice, "Oi Toushirou! What do you think you're doing with Karin!"

'Ichi-nii?'

"No, what are you doing here!" Was Toushirou's response and Karin couldn't find it in herself to disagree. No matter how much denial she was in she still wanted that kiss.

I know in Toushirou's sequel Tsukishima was said to be wearing a dragon mask but lets put that aside :)