For the entirety of this fic, I will not, Nor will I ever own, Bleach. Give me a moment to come to terms with the horror of that realization. As I said, this is the start of the rewrite, and really, I only added about eight hundred words to the story, giving it a more full experience for the reader, as well as smoothing out the sentence flow.

Recommended Song For Chapter: My World of Sin by Sparzanza

Karin Kurosaki, the younger sister of the by now well known, at least to other worldly beings, Ichigo Kurosaki, was wondering through the streets of Karakura Town aimlessly. She wasn't sure where she was going; just that she had to move towards this as of yet unknown goal. The normally level headed girl found this to be extraordinarily irritating, as she always knew what she wanted to do, and didn't like being unsure of her next actions. Turning the corner, she realized where she was when she saw Toshiro leaning against a guardrail, looking out over the city as the sun set, soul-phone in his hand as the always majestic event played out, the sky splashed with a collage of vivid and beautiful colors.

Upon seeing Toshiro, the tomboy realized that she had been looking for him, and sighed to herself as she went and leaned against the guardrail at his side, watching him as well as taking in the natural beauty that occurred every day in the skies above Karakura. Looking at Toshiro, she felt the strange urge to talk to him, and she had always been one to follow her heart. "Hey-" she started, only to be constrained by an unexpected and unaccustomed shyness. Not to be deterred, she started again. "Um, about yesterday, I just wanted to thank you again." Said the adolescent tomboy.

Hitsugaya looked at her, his expression curiously blank, yet at the same time piercing. "It was no problem." The youngest captain of the Gotei 13 reassured her, "besides, it was more in my own self-interest than in any need to help you. It's the duty of Shinigami to dispose of Hollow in the world of the living." he said, turning his attention back to the soul-phone in his hand.

"That wasn't what I was talking about. I know that killing those things is your job. I was talking about helping with the soccer match. You really didn't have to, so," Karin said, leaning in and kissing Hitsugaya on his cheek. Shocked, the Captain of the Tenth Squad looked at the furiously blushing girl, who was already backing away "thanks!" Then she turned and ran, leaving a stunned Toshiro to look at her retreating form. He lifted his hand and held his cheek, still warm from her kiss.

5 years later….

With Aizan's defeat and the end of the Winter War, everyone in Karakura town who had been involved in the war began to settle back into what had passed for normal before the chaos, before any of them had ever heard of Shinigami, the Seireitei, or the Gotei 13.. Little did they know that soon a great shock was going to rock them all to their very core.

Ichigo was sitting on the river shore with Chad, looking at his long-time friend. Chad, Ichigo thought, hadn't quite been the same since that dark day just a little over a year after the end of the winter conflict, when the realization that they had all nearly died had faded, and they had begun to truly move on with their lives, when fate had reminded them all that she was one hell of an ornery bitch, and had kicked their legs out from under them with a seemingly sadistic glee.

Flashback…..

"KARIN!" Yuzu, the younger of Ichigo's fraternal twin sisters, shouted from the kitchen. Slowly walking down the stairs, and keeping a wary eye out for his old man, Ichigo idly wondered how such a small girl could make so much noise as he spied both his little sisters in the kitchen, though Karin appeared to be very annoyed.

"What do you want Yuzu?" asked Karin, tapping her foot in irritation, as she had been planning on going out to play soccer, and maybe write a letter to Toshiro later, the two having kept in correspondence after the end of the Winter War, building on their unlikely friendship, using Rukia as their glorified package courier.

"I need you to run to the grocery and get me a few things." Yuzu said, holding out a long list of items and some money, as well as using her puppy dog eyes to great effect, knowing that there was nobody in the family who could resist her when she did that. Her skills in it had only improved since Rukia had moved in with them.

"Fine." Karin groaned, "Just stop looking at me like that." she gripped as she snatched the list and money from her sister and walking out the door, grumbling under her breath about stupid errands and sisters that were too damn adorable for their own good. Looking at the list and taking in juts how many items were on it she wondered how the hell she was going to get it all home. She was so immersed in these thoughts that she neglected to watch where she was going and ended up walking straight into something giant, and hard as a rock. Stumbling back, she looked up at the towering height of Chad Yasatora, a member of Ichigo's close-knit circle of friends an idea popped into her head..

"Are you all right?" Chad asked in his soft voice, reaching out to steady her with a near gargantuan hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Karin reassured him, waving away his hand. "Listen, could you do me a favor?" she asked, hoping he would say yes. Seeing Chad nod his affirmative, she continued, "Could you help me get all these things home?" She asked, holding up the list of items to Chad. Chad, as was typical of his near-silent giant persona, again just nodded and began walking in the direction of the grocery, Karin almost having to jog to keep up with the seven foot tall man.

Getting to the store, the two quickly found all of the items on the list. Waiting in line with Chad next to her and two other men standing in line, she noticed one item they hadn't gotten. "Hey Chad, could you go grab some wasabi?" she asked. With a nod, the giant teenager headed to the back of the store, where he had seen the spicy condiment earlier. He had just grabbed the wasabi when he heard the muffled sound of somebody screaming, as well as the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Unsure what they were, but instantly on the alert, Chad moved cautiously in the direction of the checkout, where the sounds had originated from, only to drop everything in shock when he saw a horrible sight. There, in a steadily growing pool of blood, was Karin Kurosaki, both hands pressed to her throat as every second or so a crimson mist would spray from between her fingers. Running towards the downed girl, Chad glimpsed the unmoving body of the cashier, and noticed that the cash drawer had been pulled out of the register. Reaching Karin's side, he quickly took in her unnaturally pale skin, and then his eyes met hers, and he saw the abject fear and confusion in the thirteen year olds gaze, wondering why this had happened to her, as well as the bleak acknowledgement that she was going to die.

This was something he hadn't expected, and with Orihime in America on an exchange program, there was no quick way to fix this. Picking up the girls rapidly weakening body, he ran as fast as he could towards the Kurosaki Clinic He was still half a block away when he felt Karin go limp in his arms, her hands falling away from her neck to reveal the jagged, tearing wound that had ended the young girls life .

Running inside, he looked around wildly, calling desperately for Isshin to come help him hoping for a miracle. Running out of an adjoining room, Isshin Kurosaki stopped dead upon seeing his daughters limp form in Chad's arms. Running over, he took his daughter and laid her on the nearest bed, but stopped when he saw her throat. He knew then that there was nothing he could do to save. Gathering his fiery little girl's body into his arms, he sank to his knees, letting out a howl of pure agony and pain. His screams brought Yuzu, Ichigo, and Rukia, who had been visiting, running in. Rukia and the rest of the Kurosaki family stopped dead on seeing Isshin and Karin, as well as Chad's blood covered clothing, and then Yuzu started screaming as well. Ichigo stood still, unable to comprehend what he saw. It was almost as if he were completely detached. Standing next to him, Rukia noted with a great deal of worry that Ichigo's face had gone completely blank, a sign of pending mental breakdown.

Everything he had done had been for the sake of protecting those he cared about, and he had failed horribly. Backing out of the room, Ichigo went to his room and sat on his bed, staring blankly at the wall. Shortly afterward, Rukia came in as well and sat next to him. Wrapping her arms around him, she began to rock him back and forth, and soon the dam holding back the tide broke, and Ichigo's body began to shake with powerful sobs. Twisting, he pulled the startled Rukia into a hug, holding her to him as if afraid she would disappear. At first surprised, Rukia let a few of her own tears slip from her eyes as she cradled Ichigo's head to her, admittedly small, chest. "Shhh, Ichigo. I'm here for you, and I'm never going away as long as you need me." she whispered soothingly, rubbing her hand up and down his back as he began to sob even harder, tightening his hug as he did, as if she was the only thing keeping him from going completely adrift on a sea of despair and pain.

The Kurosaki family cried late into the night, with more and more friends coming to help them start moving through the pain.

End flashback…

Ichigo lay back, staring into the sky. His father still hadn't recovered, and was becoming increasingly unstable, and not in the happy way he had been before, but in a more somber way. It was a terrible thing for a parent to have to outlive their own child, and it showed in Isshin. Most of what he did was stare at a poster of Karin that had been set up next to the poster of his mom. Yuzu had somehow managed to move on, but Ichigo knew she still cried herself to sleep at night. Ichigo himself had found that Rukia had been what helped him come to terms with Karin's death, helping him to move on as well. He was even thinking about taking old man Yamamoto up on his offer to let him have one of the still empty captain's seats. Looking up at the sky, and knowing she was somewhere in Soul Society, Ichigo whispered quietly to himself "We'll find you, Karin."