Chapter 39: Alternate Epilogue and Deleted Scenes

Disclaimer: Not mine. Kubo Tite's.

A/N: An alternate ending, like I promised, though the beginning is about the same, Karin shows a completely different reaction at Toushirou's appearance.
Afterwards, there are deleted scenes I wrote for this story that didn't quite make it in, because they didn't fit the story flow, or because I changed the details, or they were too… well, explicit…

But if you like reading spicy scenes, I would recommend reading at least Chapter 30's deleted scene. :P

…

Alternate Epilogue

The Finale (B)

…

The shinigami had taken an unconscious Toushirou back to Soul Society. Rukia had assured Karin that she would keep her updated.

As the Senkaimon closed behind the shinigami, Karin felt her heart break. She would probably never see Toushirou again. If he had lost his shinigami powers, he would never be allowed to come to the human world again.

Karin had initially thought that she would have a lot of explaining to do, but nobody asked her anything. It almost unnerved her, but she was grateful for it, as she had time to mourn for Kyo, uninterrupted by any questions, demands, or explanations.

And so life returned to normal in Karakura town; no more 'serial murders,' no more 'mysterious maulings.'

The Kurosaki family also returned to normal. Karin and Yuzu returned to their normal routine; school, part-time nursing jobs, and their respective club activities; soccer for Karin, home-economics for Yuzu. Ichigo went to University again, with a rather grim look on his face whenever he came back; he had missed many classes following Karin's hollowfication, after all.

On the following Monday, Karin went to soccer practice, bracing herself for a scalding tirade. She wasn't disappointed; sure enough, the coach gave her a piece of his mind.
…

A week passed, but Karin never heard from Rukia. She suspected her brother still kept in touch, but was withholding information from her for some reason.

Though Karin ached for news of Toushirou, she told herself that no news was good news and didn't press Ichigo with questions. If anything important had happened, Ichigo would surely have told her, right?

Still, she resented the situation, Rukia, her brother, and most of all, Toushirou. If he had woken up, shouldn't he at least contact her? Then a thought occurred to her, one that made her feel like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over her. Had Toushirou forgotten about her? Had he gone back to Soul Society and decided that he didn't lo – like her anymore?

Then she realized how ridiculously cliché girly-hopelessly-in-love thoughts she was thinking. She mentally bashed herself over the head and shoved all thoughts of Toushirou from her mind. He could go boil his own head, for all she cared.
…

Come the second week, Karakura High's soccer team breezed through the district semi finals.
…

The third week, Karin found herself celebrating with her team Karakura High's first win in the district finals and their first entrance into the High School Soccer Nationals. After the exuberant celebration, Karin walked back alone; so naturally, her thoughts automatically turned to Toushirou.

"I should just forget about him." Karin murmured to herself.

"That 'him' better not be referring to me."

Karin froze. That voice…

However, she didn't turn around.

"What, you're not going to greet me?" The voice sounded put out. "Well, if you're going to be like that, then I'll just have to go over to you."

She felt arms wrap around her shoulders, and a chin rest on her shoulder. She closed her eyes as the familiar scent of mint and grass washed over her.

"Toushirou…"

Karin quickly recovered from her half-hypnotized state. Prying his arms off of her shoulders, she whirled around and demanded, "Why are you here? How are you here? I mean – "

The silver-haired boy looked rather hurt at the less-than-welcoming reception. He frowned. "I thought you would be happy to see me. But I see I was mistaken." He crossed his arms, glowering at her.

This gross misunderstanding shocked Karin. She protested loudly, "Of course I'm glad to see you!"

"Well, you sure don't look like it!" Toushirou yelled back.

That did it. Karin was not going to put up with this. Not after all that emotional turmoil she had gone through because of him. Her temper broke like a floodgate.

"I'm worried for you, you idiot!" Karin shouted. "If you were okay, you could have at least contacted me, for heaven's sake! But no, you didn't have time for me, did you? Do you have any idea how worried I've been for the past three weeks? I never thought I'd feel this way for anybody! To love someone so much that it hurts…" She clenched at the area her heart was.

Toushirou gaped at this sudden confession, making Karin all the angrier. "You!" She hissed, stabbing a finger into his chest. "Who do you think you are, anyways! You suddenly barge into my life, brutally inform me what love means, then trample all over my heart, and you think you can just shove your way back in again? I don't think so!"

She snapped around and knowing full well that he couldn't keep up with her, flash-stepped away.

Toushirou tried to stop her, but she had already vanished. He lowered his hand, a pained look on his face.

Flashback

He had awoken a week after he'd been taken to Soul Society. As expected, he had lost all his spiritual powers.

He also lost something – someone – much more important than his spiritual powers could ever be. The grandmother who had taken both Toushirou and Momo in had passed away. Toushirou had fought to swallow the lump in his throat when he saw what his granny had left him: a batch of amanatto that she had made herself, despite her weak state. She had known that she was running out of time.

After the village burial, Rangiku put a hand on her captain's shoulder. Knowing that she was comforting him, Toushirou said quietly, "She lived a good, long life." The hand on his shoulder gave a gentle squeeze.

Though Rangiku's comfort was appreciated, he only wanted to see one person.

To hold, be held.

Afterwards, he had gone back to Seireitei to officially resign. The Commander had shaken his head, saddened, as Toushirou handed in his captain's haori. In the ordinary resignation process, Toushirou would have had to hand in his zanpakutou as well, except he no longer had one; Hyourinmaru had disappeared completely after his battle with Aizen.

"Sou-taichou, may I ask one favor?" Toushirou had asked.

"Anything, Hitsugaya-Tai… no. Hitsugaya Toushirou, former captain of the Tenth Division. You have rendered the whole of Soul Society a great service." The Commander had said.

When the Commander heard Toushirou's wish, he looked grave, but allowed it nonetheless.

"Your presence in Seireitei will be greatly missed."

Toushirou privately thought that they would have no use for a boy with no spiritual powers left.

They had then contacted Urahara to prepare a gigai. Toushirou had requested Rukia not to tell Karin anything; he wanted to surprise her.

All the shinigami, his fellow comrades, and his former division, had gone ahead of him to the entrance of the Senkaimon to bid him farewell. Rangiku had embraced him tightly, and for once, Toushirou didn't resist.

Toushirou had never been one much for words, but he left them with this: "I'll come back sometime or another."

Then he had left through the gate, to the human world.

Flashback End

Toushirou had come all this way and found Karin, but he hadn't been able to voice what he truly wanted to say.

Sighing heavily, Toushirou headed towards the one place that he could take solace in.

…

Karin leaned back against the base of the tree, depressed.

"Why… why did I get angry at him like that…?" She berated herself. She had been so happy to see him, but it had come out all wrong. How on earth had the conversation – nay, no use denying that it had escalated into an outright shouting match – turned in that direction?

She sat there for what seemed like ages. When the sun had begun to set, she heard a rustling sound.

Though she felt nothing, she immediately knew whom it was. This forest was his and her sacred place, after all. The place where they had first met.

Toushirou sat right beside her, his arm barely brushing against hers, but she was acutely aware of his proximity.

"Karin."

Too ashamed of her earlier outburst, Karin didn't answer.

"Karin." He said more firmly. "Look at me."

When she didn't, she felt him take her chin and gently turn her head to look at him. Earnest sea-green eyes looked into hers.

"Karin. Did you really mean it when you said you loved me?" Toushirou asked.

Had she let that slip? She had, hadn't she.

But she had meant it.

Looking away from Toushirou's eyes, Karin nodded. Letting go of her chin and taking her hands in his, Toushirou said once again, "Karin, look at me. Please."

Briefly looking down at her hands, Karin thought that they seemed small compared to his; then she raised her gaze.

"Are you that clueless? Don't you know what you mean to me yet?" Toushirou said softly. "I came to the human world for you. I have nothing left in Soul Society. You're all that I have."

His eyes, beautiful as they were, were filled with sorrow, and at the same time, hope.

"Won't you take me back? Into your life."

Unable to bear looking into eyes filled with such sadness, Karin buried her face into his chest.

"Stupid… How can I say no if you ask me like that…"

…

Later, the Kurosaki family plus one Hitsugaya Toushirou sat at the dinner table (the family hadn't asked any questions. They'd just wordlessly given him the guestroom). That day happened to be the monthly meat-grilling session, which always entailed an intense battle for half the Kurosaki family. As of late, Ichigo had also been participating in the meat-battle, on account of retaining his muscle.

Who said 'the more the merrier?' Karin thought, annoyed. Battling with her father had been hard enough without her brother joining in.

Toushirou was confused as to why the three-quarters of the Kurosaki family were so tense, gripping their chopsticks like they were at their last meal. Also, he wondered why the pile of raw meat at the edge of the table was so large. Did they really need that much meat?

Then, Yuzu switched on the grill, signaling the beginning of the battle. Immediately the three more aggressive Kurosaki family members' chopsticks lunged for the raw meat, and put as many as they could on the grill. Though Yuzu was used to this and chomped away on other side dishes, Toushirou eyes widened at the sight. He turned to Yuzu and asked, "What's going on?"

Yuzu popped an an umeboshi into her mouth, saying simply, "It's meat day." as if that explained everything.

"Hey! That's the meat I put on the grill!"
"That doesn't make it yours! All unclaimed meat is fair game!"

As Isshin and Ichigo squabbled over whom the meat belonged to, Karin stealthily stole the meat out of Isshin's bowl and ate it herself. Talk about sneaky.

Toushirou looked on, amused by the sheer intensity with which the Kurosakis' were fighting over the meat. They were practically dueling with chopsticks; teaming ups(two on one), backstabbing(stealing the meat while the other two battled away), and using one chopstick to block the others and the other to spear the meat for him/herself.

Noticing that Toushirou wasn't eating much, Karin grabbed another piece of cooked meat and placed it on top of his rice. Catching his quizzical look, Karin shrugged and said, "I figured you wouldn't get a chance at the meat otherwise."

From then on, half of the proceeds she was able to snatch from the grill piled up onto his plate. Toushirou looked at the growing number of meat slices in front of him, puzzled. Finally, he asked, "What are you doing?"

Placing another chunk of meat on his rice, Karin replied, "Isn't it obvious? I'm giving you meat!"

"Why? If I were hungry, I'd get it myself."

Grabbing a piece of meat from the grill, Ichigo put his two cents in. "You aren't eating. A boy your age needs to eat to grow."

Toushirou gave him a deadpan look. "I am eating."

Karin said incredulously, "You call that eating? You've barely picked at your food! Normally you'd have gobbled it all down with time to spare!"

After a moment, Toushirou set his chopsticks down. "…I've been like this since I woke up."

…In other words, ever since Toushirou had lost his spiritual powers. Everybody paused in the middle of the meat battle and the atmosphere became substantially more subdued. Toushirou quietly excused himself.

Karin started to rise to go after him, but Isshin motioned for her to stay in her seat. "I'll go have a talk with him." Frowning, Karin opened her mouth to say something, but Isshin said firmly, "It's a talk, man to man."

He left the table, leaving Karin staring after them both.

Isshin found Toushirou looking outside the living-room window at the inky sky.

"Looking at the stars?" Isshin asked, and though Toushirou was able to suppress a jump, he couldn't deny the fact that his heartrate had increased, just a little.

Seemingly not noticing Toushirou's surprise, Isshin walked up to the window and stood beside him. Conversationally, he remarked, "Back when I sealed the Spirit King's zanpakutou, I used my second bankai. 'Course, I lost my powers afterwards."

Pretending not to see Toushirou's stunned look, Isshin peered up at the night sky and continued, "It was tough at first, you know, like losing a sense, suddenly becoming blind, or deaf. But I got used to it."

His tone was casual, as if he wasn't aware that Toushirou had lost his shinigami powers. Toushirou knew that Isshin was only feigning ignorance about that; that was just Isshin's way of being considerate of Toushirou's pride, but Toushirou was nonetheless grateful for it.

"Well, now I know you can't see any stars out of this window. You'd probably have to go to the roof for that." He clapped Toushirou on the shoulder. "I'm still hungry, so I'm going back to finish my dinner. But maybe Karin's done eating." Isshin grinned at Toushirou before leaving.

…

Isshin had returned casually to the dinner table, and when he found a pile of cooked meat on his plate, he tucked into it voraciously. Without looking at Karin, he said, "He'll be fine. He's a man, let him deal with his own problems." Karin didn't find that very helpful. But she resolved that she would treat Toushirou like she normally did, without trying to be 'considerate' of his feelings. So what if he had lost his spiritual powers? That didn't make him any less of a man in her mind. It didn't make her love him any less.

As if he knew what his daughter was thinking, Isshin said with his mouth full, "I told him he could see the stars better on the roof."

Ichigo and Yuzu winced as bits of rice and meat flew out of his mouth, but Karin didn't see as she had immediately excused herself.

"Thanks for the meal." She hurriedly put her dishes away and went outside. Sure enough, she could see a tuft of white hair on the roof.

Like Isshin had suggested, Toushirou had gone to the roof. Absently searching for Cassiopeia among the stars, he commented to himself, "At most, it'll be a few centuries." As soon as the sentence had left his lips, a century suddenly seemed like an infinitely long time, though he knew that people in Soul Society - like the sou-taichou - lived for millennia.

"Well, isn't this something. You're not moping." Came an amused voice.

Irritated, Toushirou turned to Karin and said snappishly, "I don't mope."

"Hey, I'm generously letting you back into my life, so shouldn't you be rejoicing?" Karin teased, sitting beside him, pinching his nose and shaking it slightly.

Toushirou wrinkled his nose, and removing her hand from his face, he asked in mock annoyance, "Aren't you the one who said you loved me?"

Karin raised an eyebrow and leaned away from him. "Oh? So you're saying you don't?"

Toushirou chuckled, and pulled her close again by the small of her back. "You know the answer to that, Kurosaki."

Feigning sternness, Karin returned, "Tell me, just to be sure."

"Alright… Since you're too clueless to even know the answer to such an obvious question, I'll just spell it out for you."

Expectantly, Karin raised her eyes to Toushirou's and he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I love you, Kurosaki Karin."

She smiled and turned her head for a kiss.

…

…

A/N: I know that this is the more complex ending (that might have fit better for an unnecessarily complex story like mine…) but I preferred the shorter one, because this one is more angsty. What with his granny dying and all.

…

And now, I present to you...

The Deleted Scenes!

The format I'll be using:

Chapter # – brief description of setting
Actual scene: (if applicable)
Deleted Scene:
Reason for the cut:

Chapter 4 – When a still-hollowfying Karin is bathing in the lake.

Actual scene:
The white-haired shinigami dashed out from the trees. Spotting Karin, he scowled. "Taking a swim, huh? I spent half the morning looking for you."

She had a right to be clean as well. Annoyed, Karin parried, "You said you'd keep watch until I was awake. You're the one who left first." Never mind she hadn't even noticed his absence. Karin knew she was being uncharacteristically childish, but she did not want to lose an argument to this secretive, rude boy whose name she didn't even know.

Without further ado, said rude boy ordered, "Get out."

Karin backed out deeper into the lake at this. She yowled, "Why?"

"You don't plan on swimming the whole day, do you?" He raised an eyebrow.

She could feel her cheeks getting red with anger. "What's it to you?"

"I can't stay here and play bodyguard the whole time, now can I?" He said sarcastically. "So I'm going to teach you survival basics."

Karin's eye twitched. If she got any angrier, she felt the water might boil around her. "I can survive in the wild just fine!"

The boy's patience seemed to be wearing thin as well. Tapping his foot, he responded, "Not for the wild. For hollows."

So that's what he meant. Cooling down a bit, she told him, "Turn around then."

That caught him off guard. "What?"

Glowering at him, Karin repeated, "Turn. Around. Or do you want a show while I get dressed?"

Deleted scene:
Crouching at the edge of the lake, Karin tried not to look at her reflection. Cupping her hands to ladle up some water, Karin awkwardly drank. The mask was covering more of her mouth than before. Though she felt less panicky than the day before, she found this slightly depressing. Just a bit.

Sitting back, Karin began to organize the situation in her mind. Half of her face was encased in a mask, and every once in a while, it expanded. This, according to the boy, was "hollowfying." She couldn't think any further because her thoughts were interrupted by her sheer filthiness. Karin stared intently at the lake before her, considering whether the freezing water would be worth feeling minimally cleaner. Finally deciding that it would be, she stripped off her clothes and dove into the lake.

It was an odd sensation to have the lake immediately swallow most of her body, but still have a good portion of her face unexposed to the water.

Once Karin ran out of air, she burst to the surface. After her body felt halfway clean, Karin waded to where her clothes were, her teeth chattering. The water was cold.

But not as cold as that boy.

Karin still shuddered whenever she remembered the cold turquoise eyes of the shinigami from before.

Toushirou had returned to the tree that Karin had been sleeping under only to find her gone. His mouth twisted in annoyance. 'Where did she go?'

He had no choice but to look for her. Following her spiritual energy, he found himself at the mouth of a lake. 'So she had gone swimming?' He thought, incredulous. Then he saw a flash of beige and gray, and he turned that direction, and was greeted by the sight of Karin. With no clothes on. It would have been any other boy's dream to see a slender girl naked among the trees, as if she were a forest nymph. But this was Hitsugaya Toushirou and Kurosaki Ichigo's younger sister.

They both froze when they saw each other and stared at each other in horror, like deer caught in headlights. Regaining their senses, Toushirou turned around, and Karin dove inside the water, their faces blushing a furious red.

Reason for the cut: I left this out because I thought the regular 'bathing scenario' was too cliché. Though I still included it indirectly? Haha…

Chapter 10 – Choosing reinforcements in Seireitei

Actual scene:
The aforementioned Commander announced in his gravelly voice, "All of you present must have heard of the current situation in Karakura town." He paused to look sternly around with his slitted eyes at all of the captains, save for the absent Toushirou and the as of yet to be replaced 5th Division Captain. "I called you all here because Hitsugaya-taichou has requested for reinforcements. He originally requested for Abarai taichou and Hisagi taichou and 11th Division's 3rd seat Ikkaku…"

Thinking of Rukia and Ichigo, Renji said immediately agreed to volunteer himself. "I am free."

Yamamoto sou-taichou nodded his head once in approval. His eyes flickered to Shuuhei, the 9th Division captain, next. Shuuhei bowed. "I will do as you command."

Scanning the rows of captains to his right and left, he asked, "Anyone else?"

Deleted Scene:
Renji stepped forward to volunteer himself.

"Abarai-taichou." The Sou-taichou nodded in approval. "In fact, I assign you to be in charge of putting together a team to go to the human world." He nodded, and dismissed the captains present. That was one less decision for him to make.

As each of the captains filed out one by one, Renji was stopped by Byakuya.

"I shall accompany you to the human world."

"K-Kuchiki-taichou…" Renji was a loss for words.

Reading the expression on his former lieutenant's face, Byakuya said, "It is only because Rukia is there."

Renji nodded at this; it was probably as close to an explanation as he would get.

Reason for cut: …I just didn't want to have to deal with Byakuya + Ichigo interaction. I had a feeling that it would be very strenuous to write, and I would focus on Byakuya so much that I thought I might end up making it a ByakuKarin if I put him in there x_X a REAL crack pairing, even more so than HitsuKarin.

Chapter 24 - When Karin wakes up with no memories

Deleted Scene:
Karin was thoroughly confused. Where was she? What was she doing here? When Karin looked around the small room, she saw a boy who looked her age, wearing torn jeans and a black shirt, asleep on the floor. Well, the proper phrase for it would be 'lying unconscious,' she supposed.

Curious, she went over to him. Looking down at his face, she thought he looked vaguely familiar. While she wondered whom he resembled, his eyes flashed open, and she saw they were black, like hers. He stared at her. Embarrassed at being caught looking so closely at him while he had been asleep, Karin backed up, only to have the boy jump on her, hugging her with surprising strength.

Karin was so confused that it was starting to irritate her. Shoving the boy off of her, she exclaimed, "Who are you? Do I know you?"

The boy stumbled back, looking hurt. "You don't remember me?"

Impatiently, she said, "If I did, would I even ask?"

Taking hold of her shoulders and shaking her, he said desperately, "I'm your brother! Kyo! Kurosaki Kyo!"

She considered saying that she didn't remember anything, but would he take advantage of her complete lack of memories? Still staring at her, he opened his mouth as if about to say something, when they heard a melodic tenor voice say, "Oh, you're both awake."

Karin whirled her head around, to the source of the voice. A figure clad all in white had entered the room. The person continued, "You shouldn't pressure her too much. It seems like she doesn't remember anything."

Turning angrily towards the person in white, the boy said roughly, "Who are you, anyways?"

Reason for cut: I decided to plant Kyo in Las Noches first, and not make him a "citizen" of Karakura.

Chapter 29 – Midoriko approaching the amnesiac Karin at school

Actual version:
A girl approached them. Yuzu hurriedly wrote 'Midoriko' on her paper and showed Karin in the pretense of passing her a textbook. Karin had to applaud Yuzu for her suaveness despite her demure appearance. If only she had half of that skill…

"What is it, Midoriko?" Karin asked. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was almost eight o'clock. "Hurry up and spit it out, class is about to start." The latter sentence just seemed to roll off her tongue. Had she always been this blunt?

Midori smiled and hugged Karin around the shoulders, "I just wanted to say I'm happy to see you back safe, Karin-chan."

Karin smiled back at her and nodded, shooing her off as the bell rang and the teacher came in, calling for the students' attention.

Deleted Scene:
Midori smiled at Karin. "I just wanted to say I'm happy to see you back safe, Karin-chan."

She then turned to Toushirou, who seemed to be the real motive that she had come over. "And you've come back to school as well, Hitsugaya-kun."

Toushirou's brow twitched at this mode of address. If not Hitsugaya-taichou, it was Hitsugaya, without any 'kun' attached like a pathetic tail to the end. Besides, only Momo had called him that. He paused in that line of thought. He was surprised he could think of Momo with such nonchalance. Without any pain.

It took him a moment to realize that Midori was talking to him again.

"Say, can I call you Toushirou-kun?" Midori asked in a sweet voice.

Veins popped out on the back of both Toushirou and Karin's heads.

Toushirou disliked it because if he didn't like anybody calling him 'Hitsugaya-kun' he sure as hell wouldn't like anybody calling him 'Toushirou-kun.' He only tolerated Yuzu calling him that because he had no choice.

Tempted as he was to just be rude and say 'no,' he forced a smile that looked like he was getting his teeth pulled out without any anesthesia and agreed. "You can."

"Alright! Toushirou-kun it is, then!" Midori chirped. The bell rang a second time, and the teacher walked in and clapped her hands. "Oops, class has started! See you later."

Karin felt a twinge of annoyance. Okay, maybe more than a twinge. What did it matter to her, anyways? Nevertheless, she sent a scathing glare Toushirou's way.

Toushirou felt a stabbing glare from his right. But when he looked to his right, Karin was looking away from him, to the teacher.

Reason for the Cut: Karin would then be angry with Toushirou for too many things. And for some reason, I didn't think it quite fit the mood of the story.

Chapter 31 – Right after Karin gets her body back from her hollow.

Actual scene:
Karin didn't answer, instead staring at him with hard eyes. Toushirou turned away and muttered, "Gee. And here I was, thinking that I had finally gotten you to see me as a man…"

Though he said that quietly, Karin nevertheless heard and reddened, though whether from anger or from embarrassment, Toushirou had no idea.

About to storm out of the room, Karin snatched the dagger from Toushirou's hands, and cursed loudly as the dagger cut her hand in the process. Toushirou was on his feet and beside her in a flash. Picking up her injured hand, he examined the cut on the muscle of her thumb and put blue-glowing fingers to it. At his cool touch, the wound healed.

"I should teach you some healing kidou." he murmured, keeping his hand on hers. "All the times you hurt yourself… you'll need it."

This made Karin look up into his turquoise eyes, earnestly looking down at her. For a brief moment, it seemed like they were going to kiss again. But the moment was broken as Karin jerked her hand out of his.

Deleted scene V1:
Karin looked up, her eyes smoldering, not with desire like a moment before, but with anger.

Snatching up the dagger, she left the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Toushirou gazed at the door, feeling empty. He collapsed onto the bed spread-eagle. What had he been thinking? Just because they had shared one kiss – the other three didn't count, as Karin hadn't been her normal self, what with losing her memory and being taken over by her hollow – it had been ridiculous to think it meant anything. A single kiss, no matter how wonderful, meant nothing.

He closed his eyes, swallowing painful thoughts.

…

Sulkily, Karin sat down to do her homework. It struck her as somewhat ridiculous that she could just sit down to homework right after she had reconquered her hollow and awoken to something unforgivable, but she needed to do something.

"Karin-ch- " Yuzu stopped abruptly. Karin turned to the doorway, annoyed.

"What?" Karin demanded snappily. She was upset not just with Toushirou, but with her whole family for not realizing that there had been a switcheroo between her and her hollow.

"You… clothing…" Yuzu stammered.

Karin looked down and only just realizing how scantily she was clad, flushed a deep red.

"!#%!"

Dressed now in extremely loose sweatpants and an even larger t-shirt normal, Karin sat down in a huff, intending to face her pre-calculus homework.

There was a knock on her window. Karin froze. She looked outside; it was already dark. She could only see his silhouette, but the presence was unmistakable.

"Kyo…"

Reason for cut: I figured that I should have Karin know about the whole truth about Kyo before she met him again, not just about the fact that he's a puppet programmed to show affection to her.

Deleted scene V2 – Kyo going to the Kurosaki household, but "visiting" Toushirou first
Toushirou's eyes opened immediately and he turned towards the window. He really did not want to deal with this right now.

Kyo crouched there, glaring venomously at him.

"What have you been doing with Karin?"

'I thought you said you were going to keep a tight watch over him, Urahara…' Toushirou thought irritably. Out loud, "It's none of your business." Toushirou said shortly. "How did you find this place?"

"I followed you from that school. Now. I'll ask again. What have you been doing…" Kyo swallowed, "with my sister?"

Toushirou looked at him coolly. "You know what you just said is false." he stated.

Kyo froze. He growled softly, "Which part…"

Looking at Kyo through half lidded eyes, Toushirou elucidated, "The 'sister' part."

Reason for cut: I thought that Kyo should meet Karin first.

Chapter 34 – One of the battles in the Spirit King's Palace

Deleted scene:
Ichigo stepped in. "I have a score to settle with this guy."

Karin protested, "My grudge comes first!" She had met Caballero before Ichigo, so she had dibs.

The two siblings engaged in a glaring match, as Kyo was forced to fight off Caballero by himself.

Caballero laughed. "You're so sure you'll beat me, aren't you?"

The both turned to him and yelled simultaneously, "YES!"

"Forget it, let's attack him together!" Karin said.

Reason for the cut: I changed who faced who. Simple as that.

Chapter 35 – Where Kyo takes a critical hit from Aizen

Deleted scene:
As Aizen calmly walked forward towards Titiritero, the first Espada grabbed Kyo by the shoulder to move him just in time.

To use him as a shield.

Kyo slowly looked down at Aizen's hand, thrust into his chest. He coughed out blood, and Aizen looked distastefully at him.

"Very clever of you, Titiritero, to use him to block my strike just in time. But you're too late." Then Aizen pulled out his hand and blood spurted out from where it had plunged into Kyo's chest. At the same time, Titiritero fell to his knees from a chest wound that Aizen had incurred in him even before he had injured Kyo.

"Though I believe in follow through, I don't think that you'll be able to rise again." Aizen cast an eye upon Kyo. "Nor will your puppet."

Reason for the cut: I realized that Kyo wasn't dying to protect Karin here. =_= Stupid me.

Chapter 37 – The scene of Karin realizing that she was once part of the Spirit King

Actual scene:
A woman appeared, and Karin immediately knew that she was the Spirit King.

'Yes. Now that you've realized, it is time for you to leave.'

Karin slowly stood, and saw the Spirit King was tall for a woman; about as tall as Karin would be when she was fully grown.

Resigned, she felt herself ebb away from that world of nothingness, back into the dimension of her nightmares.

Deleted scene:
Memories flashed through Karin's mind.

Flashback:

How did things become like this? First she'd gotten into an argument with her own zanpakutou for something she didn't even remember, next moment she'd been eaten by her own zanpakutou.

Then she'd woken up among black flames. The dark flames had licked at her, but she was immune to fire. Yet the fire wasn't hot; they gave her a horrible cold feeling, and she realized that they were licking at her spiritual energy, draining it, ever so slowly, but surely.

After several centuries, she'd devised a plan that would have even the slightest chance of getting her out of this place. Inside her zanpakutou. She felt even more spiritual energy get sucked out of her. She didn't have much time left. At this rate, she wouldn't last even twenty years. A slight chance was better than none.

Arranging herself into lotus position, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, pulling from deep within her at something. Someone. A light emerged from her chest, and she opened her eyes. Looking at the light sadly, she said,

"I'll be parting with you forever, myself. You're the most I can send out of this place, and my only chance. I can only pray that you'll succeed. If not, at least you can live on."

She blew the ball of light out, and it disappeared, into the human world.

Flashback End

Karin opened her eyes. The memory belonged to her; but at the same time, it wasn't hers. It was the Spirit King's.

Reason for cut: No reason…? Too many flashbacks? Maybe I wanted to keep the readers guessing?

A/N: Okay, here comes the explicit scene. *shoos minor-age readers away* I saved this deleted scene 2nd to last because this borders on M-rated content. If you've gotten this far, hardcore-HitsuKarin-interaction fans… you shall be justly rewarded(?)

Chapter 30 – The Hollow Karin… and her seduction?

Actual Scene:

Swallowing, Toushirou tried to subtly scoot away from Karin. "D-don't you have homework to do?" He tried not to look down at her cleavage. There was only so much a boy could take…

"There are things more important than homework." Karin had closed the distance and was practically on his lap.

"We… shouldn't be doing this… People might – "

"Might see?" Karin finished coyly for him. When he nodded frantically, Karin stretched out a leg and kicked the door, which snapped shut. "There. Problem solved." She brought her leg back slowly, giving Toushirou a good long look at it.

Seeing Karin's slender legs, Toushirou grit his teeth. 'Get a grip on yourself, Hitsugaya Toushirou… Keep a tight leash on your self-control.' But the 'leash' was already taut to the point of breaking.

Leaning her face closer to his, Karin dark red eyes burned with desire and she bit her lip seductively. That was the last straw. Whatever threads of Toushirou's remaining self-restraint snapped, and he brought down Karin's mouth to his in a bruising kiss.

Grinning against his lips, the hollow Karin slipped a hand into her pocket, and pulled out the dagger.

Then the real Karin opened her eyes.

She took inventory of what she was doing. Toushirou had a hand on the back of her neck and was kissing her fiercely. They were in a very compromising position. And worst of all, she held a dagger in her hand.
Horrified, Karin pulled back.

Next thing she did was drop the dagger and slap Toushirou.

…

Deleted… [borderline if not completely M-rated] scene: - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED -

Toushirou was sweating. "D-don't you have homework to do?"

He tried not to look down at her cleavage. There was only so much a boy could take. He forced his eyes to stay on her face, but that didn't help one bit; her face was, if possible, even more bewitching.

"There are things more important than homework." Karin was practically on his lap.

Scrambling back to the back of his bed to put some distance between them, Toushirou stammered, "We… shouldn't be doing this… People might – "

"Might see?" Karin finished coyly for him. When he nodded frantically, Karin stretched out a leg and silently swung the door shut, giving Toushirou a good look at her long, slender leg. Toushirou found his eyes automatically drawn to Karin's leg, like magnets.

"There. Problem solved." Karin purred. She drew her leg back, bringing his gaze to both her legs. They looked so graceful, so smooth, and he wondered how it would feelt to have his hands run over them…

Alarmed at his own line of thought, Toushirou shook his head, trying to shake it out. What was wrong with him? Maybe this gigai was malfunctioning; excreting an excess of hormones. Yes. That had to be it. It was his gigai's fault.

His thoughts were interrupted by Karin's silky whispers.

"Yuzu never comes to this area except on cleaning days. The old man is at the clinic. And Ichi-nii won't be back for a while… " Karin was smiling slyly at him, crimson eyes glittering as she slinked over to him on all fours. He saw her tank top slip slightly, revealing a pale shoulder.

Pressing his back up into the headboard, Toushirou clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly, trying in vain to shove all impure thoughts from his mind.

'Think of all of Hyourinmaru's attacks, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Let's see… Thousand years Ice pri…son… ' He could feel her approaching. 'Uhh… Dragon Hail… Flower?' He couldn't even remember his bankai attacks properly… what was Karin doing to him?…! His eyes were still firmly glued shut, but he could tell she was inching closer. 'I, Icicle Flock…' Still she crept closer; he could feel the mattress sink very slightly every time she stretched out a limb towards him… He could just envision her, crawling towards him, catlike, irresistibly…

Obviously, focusing on Hyourinmaru's attacks wasn't working; he would have to switch to something else. 'H, hadou attacks, hadou…' He started sweating as he felt her approaching closer and closer. 'Bya…kurai… the incantation is…' He couldn't remember the incantation. She came ever closer… 'okay, baku…dou attacks…' He couldn't remember any of those either. He could swear her breath was on his face… His eyes shot open when he felt hands slide under his shirt, brushing his torso. Her face was dangerously close to his. He gulped. His self-control was rapidly stretching to its maximum.

"That means we're in a room…" She drawled, her fingers lightly drawing patterns upon his abdomen. "With a closed door…" Her whispers had his skin tingling. Ever so slowly, she straddled Toushirou, giving him yet another good long look at her creamy legs. Karin's every prolonged movement looked so alluring…

"All. Alone."

Desperately clinging to whatever self-restraint he had left, Toushirou slid down the headboard in a last-ditch attempt to escape from Karin's advances.

That turned out to be a huge mistake; Karin was now on top of him, her hands on his chest. Her hair, which fell like a curtain around them, smelled of enticing cinnamon. And he could feel her warm breath on his neck. Karin lowered her face to his with a feline smile, her chest just barely brushing his. Her dark-red eyes glowed with desire, and she bit her her lower lip seductively.

That was the last straw. Whatever threads of Toushirou's remaining self-control snapped and he brought down Karin's mouth to his in a bruising kiss. Kurosaki Ichigo was going to kill him for this, Toushirou vaguely thought. But she tasted, felt too good, for him to stop now.

She was all lean muscle, yet she felt so soft, so warm… burning, even… That clashed with his natural element and brought out his aggressive side. Rolling over so that he was on top of her, Toushirou trapped Karin beneath him and kissed her with a ferocity he hadn't known he possessed. She kissed him ferociously back, nipping sharply at his lower lip, her tongue battling to dominate his. He fought back; no way was he going to lose in that battle.

When Karin arched her back and ground her hips against his, Toushirou groaned and kissed her with even more fervor.

Then he removed his mouth from hers to nuzzle her in the crook of her neck. Karin made a vague sound of protest, which turned into a moan as he sucked on her neck. When he buried his face into her hair as if he could devour the sweet cinnamon, she returned the favor by lightly running her tongue over his collarbone, teasing him. He shuddered; it was as if an electric shock had run through him. He had his revenge by gently biting her neck, the tip of his tongue just barely touching her skin, mouth curling up into a grin as he felt Karin squirm beneath him.

Pausing in his ministrations, Toushirou looked into Karin's dark-red eyes and said huskily, "You're a temptress, you know that?"

She replied with a whisper laced with breathlessness, "Only with you."

Toushirou crashed his lips against hers, and they were grappling once again. Their bodies entangled, and Toushirou became unbearably hot. His shirt felt extremely tight, restricting, and he wished it would just disappear.

As if Karin had read his mind and was thinking the same thing, she began to fumble with the buttons of his already open collar, pulling at his shirt as if she wanted to tear it off. Toushirou heard a rip of a seam - probably from his shirt - but he didn't care. The back of Toushirou's mind whispered to him that what they were doing was very, very wrong, but he ignored it. He had already long since succumbed to his temptations.

Once his shirt was off with minimal damage, there was very little cloth keeping them apart.

Wrapping her bare legs around Toushirou's waist, Karin tugged at his hair, pulling his head towards her supple chest, only a thin layer of cloth keeping his mouth from her bare skin. As it was, her tank top had ridden up her torso and her smooth stomach contacted directly with his toned chest.

Karin raked one hand through his silver hair and the other hand down his back, making Toushirou wince, but he became all the more aroused at that. Past the pain, Toushirou grinned; she was feisty, and liked her that way.

They were now chest to chest, bodies pressed tightly together, and Toushirou felt Karin's body respond accordingly to his. All inhibitions long gone -

A/N: Uhhhm…
I stopped there. I flaked out when it came to the actual deed. I just wasn't comfortable writing this scene (as much as I guiltily enjoyed it). And I would have had to rate the whole effin story M for just a single scene. =_=;; plus, I didn't consider it a very good revenge. More like rewarding him. A proper revenge against Karin, maybe.

A/N: Phew. The next deleted scenes from the epilogue are just fluffy/humorous. Thank the Lord.

Epilogue – in a scenario that Toushirou had stayed at the Kurosaki Clinic while he was unconscious.

Another alt ending, that was deemed unfit:
As she trudged back home, she pondered if it was high time to tell her family what had taken place between her and the two Spirit Kings. What should she say to the others? She recalled the Spirit King saying, 'If you're like me, you will tend to speak the truth.'

Rolling her eyes to the heavens, Karin wondered, would they believe her if she said she was part of the Spirit King, sent down to the human world to be reborn… to defeat the Spirit King's – her – own zanpakutou?
Jamming her hands into her pockets, Karin snorted.

"Sounds ridiculous even to me." She muttered.

"You're talking to yourself again, Kurosaki…"

She whirled around at the familiar voice and nearly jumped out of her skin when she found herself nose to nose with a certain silver haired boy.

Clutching her heart, Karin gasped, "Jeez, don't surprise me like that, Toushirou! I didn't even sense - " She stopped abruptly, recalling that he had lost all his spiritual powers. He couldn't give off any spiritual pressure, even if he wanted to.

Hastily switching subjects, Karin demanded, "When did you wake up? Are you even supposed to be walking around? And since when did you call me by my last name!"

Toushirou inserted a finger in his ear as Karin yelled.

"Alright, alright, Karin, sheesh." He walked at her side, and said, "And I woke up a while back. Right after you left, I'm told." He glared at her. "Couldn't wait for me to wake up, eh? Soccer's more important to you."

Karin reddened. "Of course not, you idiot! You're way more…" But she bit her lip. She couldn't finish the sentence.

Reason for the cut: Halfway through this scenario, I realized that the more normal procedure would be to take Toushirou back to Soul Society.

…

Deleted scene 1 – Scene deleted from the alt. ending.

The night found them on the roof, gazing at the stars. Toushirou sat behind Karin, her back against his chest and his arms around her waist.

"I have a story I want to tell you."

Karin was curious. "Is it about God and the Tree again?"

She felt Toushirou shake his head against her head. "…It's about my… childhood friend." He sounded apprehensive. Like he expected Karin to get angry. And Karin didn't like that.

"And I have something I want to tell you." Karin responded, turning around to face him. "I don't care about any past loves, girlfriends, or crushes you had. I don't care even if you were Soul Society's biggest playboy," Toushirou's face twisted a bit at this, "because you're mine now."

Karin found the surprised look he gave her at the last statement absolutely endearing.

So she kissed him, and after a moment, he smiled against her lips and began to kiss back.

…

Deleted scene 2 - (This cut-out is right after the alt. epilogue, but it takes place in the living room, as Toushirou didn't have a chance to get on the roof in this scenario. So this could have actually happened, had Toushirou not chosen to stargaze ¬_¬)

"Alright… Since you're too clueless to even know the answer to such an obvious question, I'll just spell it out for you."

Expectantly, Karin raised her eyes to Toushirou's and he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I love you, Kurosaki Karin."

She smiled and was about to turn her head for a kiss, when they heard a voice, "…Get a room."

Ichigo was looking at them as if he'd seen something he'd rather have not.

"On second thought, I take that back. Toushirou. Kissing is as far as the line goes. Don't cross it. Until Karin is... thirty." Ichigo said, his eyes promising trouble should Toushirou choose to ignore his warning.

Karin snorted. "Thirty? What, you want me to be an old maid?" She crossed her arms. "And what I do with anyone isn't any of your business, Ichi-nii."

"What? I'm your older brother!"

"So? Who died and made you king of my life?"

Toushirou tried not to smile at Karin's contrariness, but got a strong feeling he failed when he saw Ichigo glare at him. But when Ichigo looked back at Karin, her body language the epitome of stubbornness, he held up two hands in surrender.

"Hey, who am I to interrupt you two?" That was very different from his previous statement claiming to have a right over her private life as he was her older brother. Ichigo went up the stairs to his own room, giving Toushirou one last warning look.

…

Deleted Scene 3 – Also a scene deleted from the alt. ending, companion to the one above. (So again, could have actually happened. ¬_¬)

Toushirou wrapped his arms around Karin's waist and pulled her close, surprising her.

"What's this? Have you suddenly changed your mind?" She sounded irritated.

Toushirou smirked into her hair. "You wish, Kurosaki."

Leaning into him and tilting her head back to look at him, Karin said, annoyed, "Look here, Mr. almighty Hitsugaya-former-taichou, it wasn't like I asked you to start and suddenly lose your nerve halfway through, just because of my brother." She started to stand, but he grabbed her around the waist and she went tumbling back onto him.

"What was that for?" Karin huffed.

Toushirou had a sly smile on his face.

"Should I take that as permission to continue?"

…

…

A/N: I bow to you all for getting this far! It's been a damned long, twisted, and gnarly path, but if you're reading this, you've stuck with me till the very end! I take off my hat to you for your tenacity!

Signing off for good…

- Haeyin