I do not own Bleach … :) and I do not earn any kind of money from this snippet.

This chapter has been betaed by Szayels Angel. The cover belongs to KureaRinyu37furansu

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To break is all I know

Chapter 31: The invasion begins

"I think I've stood in front of this desk countless times before and every single time I had the same dilemma. What if something goes wrong on the battlefield? It was a fair question and one I could never find an answer to. Well I did find answers or at least I've tried to minimize the possibility of something wrong happening and maximize the possibility of success.

But this time i have no question, no dilemma, no hesitation like last time. This time I will win and nothing will stand in the way of my success.

Not even her ... "

Aizen Sosuke's diary

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In the small Kurosaki rezidence, Yuzu Kurosaki was preparing the dinner table. The plates were arranged around the table for the whole family and a spare few were kept just in case one or two of Ichigo's buddies wanted to join them. It was rare however for more than one to come and it was usually because Rukia and Renji had tagged along.

A white, bright cross dangled from a golden chain out of her shirt as she mixed the ingredients together in a steamy pot. Her father had handed her the object without much of an explanation, just telling her it was Masaki's favourite necklace and that is had magical properties. Knowing Isshin it probably had some Urahara essence thing inside it to keep the hallows away. She didn't mind as long as it shined as brightly and beautifully as it did and it complemented her features.

Her mind then drifted to more unpleasant issues.

Even with the conflict going on around Karin and herself, she had kept in a recipient Karin's share for whenever she decided to spare them with her presence. Yuzu really didn't desire to be sarcastic but her sister's behaviour was aggravating to say in the least. And if it was not enough she was being all secretive about how she occupied her time again. She wouldn't have been surprised if, at some point, she had found out Karin had been, in fact, in contact with Aizen all this time.

Maybe she was being a little overdramatic, but there was no other way for Yuzu to release her inner tumultuous emotions. She knew she was acting like a drama queen by still ignoring Karin, though she had been the one to steal her possible lover making her reactions seem a little bit more plausible. Still … she was quite annoyed, and had been annoyed by Karin's lack of cooperation. She had expected, albeit in vain, to see Karin apologise for what she had done, but no apologize not even a word of peace had come from the tomboy twin. In fact she had acted like … they, the family, had been at fault for what had happened.

It was not her or Ichigo's fault at all. Well about Ichigo it was highly debatable since even she had found his recent behaviour annoying as hell. He had been moody; he had been snapping at Rukia on different occasions, which earned him a kick in the nuts every single time, and had been a major asshole to anyone who tried to help him.

Yuzu released a pained sigh and fell in a chair, watching out through the window. That was a rare sight indeed. A beautiful day of September, enriched by a bright sun with no clouds whatsoever. Birds chirping happily on the thick branches and children rolling down the street on their mini bicycles.

What could ever go wrong on such a perfect day?

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The 5th Squad lieutenant, Hinamori Momo, who had just finished hers, and her captain's paperwork (because apparently he had found his first love and needed some time off to swoon her; judging by how many loves he had, this was definitely not the first … or the last), was walking around Seireitei searching for something to occupy her time. She had plenty of things to do, but she was not inclined to move even a muscle to work on them. Plus it was her day off and she meant to spend it with her perfect little brother.

"Shiro-channn" she exclaimed sweetly, popping her head through the cracked door of the 10th Division office "What are you doing there?"
"Doing my job. As you can see" he stated coolly, his hand flying on the parchment in front of him, signing off important Seireitei business.

Hinamori made a cute pout and came running, disturbing a pile of paperwork in the process, then feel in the chair beside him, where Matsumoto had previously been restrained. Of course she ran away at the first "I need to go the bathroom Matsumoto" of Toshiro's.

"You want me to help you?" she asked watching over his shoulder at the lines "You seem to be beaten down by these papers Shiro-chan"

"I am not beaten down by anything Momo." excused himself the little boy, putting the pen down and watching her sister from the corner of his eye "Why did you come here?"

While Toshiro had expected a why do i need a reason to visit my little Shiro-chan, Hinamori's answer was far from what he had expected to hear from the volcanic, albeit quite innocent girl.

"I wanted to discuss something with you …" she stared at Toshiro and though, he seemed reticent he nodded once "it's about your human friend. About Kurosaki Karin"

These words made Toshiro stiffen up and his back became rigid in a matter of seconds.

"What? About Karin? What it is to be said about Karin"

"I think … i think you are judging her and I also believe she doesn't need … she doesn't deserve to be judged by you, me … us"

The little captain's frown deepened, but his lips continued to remain shut; maybe he was afraid of what he will say if he opens the mouth and the wave of vulgarities that will be released afterwards; or maybe he was not able to explain his feelings regarding the subject.

"Please Shiro-chan just say something. I do not understand why you act so resentful about her. You've never acted like that after the Aizen incident which happen to me or after I woke up from my coma and … said all those things i was not supposed to say to you about Aizen." Her words didn't seem to reach Toshiro, who took the pen and began to sign the papers "Explain to me. Please!" he remained unhearing "Damn it Shiro! what did she do worse than me?"

"She slept with him!" exclaimed Toshiro hitting the table with his fist in a fit of rage. All the papers deposited in organised piles flew around the room and the bottle of ink spread all over the table's surface

Hinamori stared at him wide eyed, while he took some napkins and proceeded to clean up the mess he had made.

"I love the fact that you believe I and Aizen had never slept together." she said plainly watching him halt his movements and stare at her in total disbelief.

"What?" he asked thinking his ears were playing a sadistic game on him.

Momo scratched the back of her neck, mumbling a nearly intelligible "Doesn't matter" under her breath. She had clearly spoken without thinking yet again; her awkwardness serve only as proof for that.

"Of course it does!" he grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face him "Explain what you've just said! There is no way I am letting this subject drop …"

The shrill noise of an alarm echoed all over the white city of Seireitei. Voices could be heard from outside coming from scared Shinigami running all around the city. Momo grabbed Toshiro by the arm and dragged him outside. Seeing all the panic which was spreading all around them, made Momo's heart pulse with doubled intensity. Something was very wrong. And even though she had no idea what, she could only guess it was important and vital, or the alarm wouldn't have gone off on such short notice.

"Is Aizen attacking?" asked the girl trying to understand why people were running like that.

She seized a Shinigami's arm, but he just continued on his way, yanking his arm back. She was about to ask Toshiro of his divisions' high degree of impoliteness when a butterfly landed on her brother's finger.

With all the Captain vibe he could muster, the boy listened to the message while Hinamori was trying to calm everyone down. She looked at his face, trying to deduce the gravity of the situation based on his expression, yet what he saw on his face … was pure fear and helplessness. If before she thought something was very wrong, now, seeing Toshiro freeze like that in the middle of the road made her realise how bad it really was.

"Shiro-chan! What is going on" screamed Momo at him trying to attract his attention back to her. She couldn't move him even an inch and his eyes continued to stare into nothing. She understood why, moments later when someone whose voice she didn't know came through Soaring Net of the Heavens

"All entries to the Human world had been sealed. Soul Society had been cut off from the Human World. The 12th squad is working to find a solution to this problem along with the exiled ex-captain Urahara Kisuke. We hope to find a solution as soon as possible. Until then prepare for battle. We are not sure who had caused this problem, but we have a suspicion it's the ex-Captain, traitor and killer, Aizen Sousuke."

Toshiro grabbed Momo's arm waking her up from the daze.

"Momo listen to me! I need you to go to your Squad and prepare them for battle. I need to go to the Captain's meeting right now." she nodded absently and then left him in the middle of the street to do his job.

He stared after her running form and thought with a clenched heart 'I hope Karin and Yuzu will stay out of this. I pray they will.'

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Karin barely had time to jump out through the window, just as the Cero struck the school and blew it off entirely. From the ground, rolled in a ball, Karin watched as ashes and smoke rose to the sky only to be thrown back on the ground by a strong wind. The sky became black and the fire began to spread to the nearby buildings.

Everything looked like the beginning of the end of the World. She heard sirens in a distance, almost like she was into a cave and everything was happening outside while she was safe in her little shell. With a little bit of effort, Karin was able to raise from the ground and get away from the fire's kernel just as a gas conduct exploded under the place she had previously landed on. If she hadn't moved from that sport, there was no way that explosion would have left her a living human being.

The explosion's wave pushed her forward onto the pavement and Karin found herself with her eardrums banging painfully into her head. All that she could think was that someone up there must have really loved her at that moment much more than it had loved her before or was just finding her struggles to stay alive quite entertaining.

"Miss are you ok?" asked an ambulance doctor who had magically appeared at her side and was checking her pulse.

When he had appeared was something Karin was not sure because her head weighed around a tone and it took some time to analyse and understand the question. Maybe she had a commotion or something had split her head in two for her brain to process the information at such a slow speed.

"That's the stupidest question I have ever heard, doc" said the girl, grabbing onto the man's arm and using him as support "Of course I am not fine. Who can be fine after getting away from death two times and lives to tell the tale."

He tried to stop her advancement, but she pushed his hand away.

"I need to get home right now. My family might be in danger"

"You are not going anywhere. You are hurt and I think your arm is broken, but until we perform an X Ray we cannot be sure. We will get you to the hospital right away"

"Shhh" said Karin "Shut up for a moment"

The ambulance man began to apostrophize her and talk and talk and talk some more, yet she was not listening to even a word of it.

Her eyes raised to the shy, seeking for something her gut was telling her was or will be there. And it came fast enough. The air became harder, filled with a metallic odor and the sky cracked in two. Karin's eyes winded, her apprehension growing exponentially. While she had seen plenty of Shinigami come and go from Soul Society, the arrivals were done with the help of those Japanese traditional, and very fancy, gates, but somehow the crack that was opening slowly but surely wasn't resembling them in the least. It was more of a dark mouth opening to swallow the world; and to make it worse a black substance smeared its corner.

Apart from begin an image cropped out of a horror movie, a big slimy creature stepped out through the gate and licked its gummy lips. If it was a hollow or another creature created in the dark pits of Hueco Mundo it was of no importance. What mattered was that its mere presence made Karin's insides swarm with fear and repulsion.

"Holy God …" said Karin stepping back.

When the words left her mouth, the creature's attention focused on her and she cursed the day god hadn't rendered her speechless. A slimy smile spread on the creature's lips and without further notice it descended upon her rapidly. Karin barely had time to dodge it as it crashed into the earth.

While she had been lucky enough to get out of the creature's way, the doctor and the ambulance driver hadn't been, proving to be its first human victims. She cringed watching the car being squashed entirely under the impressive weight. The creature didn't seem to mind the metal piercing its skin its attention being solely focused on the black haired Kurosaki.

Karin looked around for any kind of weapon, then she remembered her training with Yoruichi and her voice guiding her 'When you have no weapon on yourself don't forget you have fists harder than any stone and sharper than any sword. Your body and your mind are the most frightening weapons ever created, because unlike a sword they will stay with you forever. Don't lose them Karin; when you lose them you lose your life.'

Nice words coming from the demon cat, but unfortunately it only told her to stay alive while fighting with the only thing she had on her … herself.

The only notice she got was a static sound and the creature disappeared. Yoruichi had told her this was the Hollow Shunpo and it was called a Sonido and that, if you listened well enough you could just here a small, subtle noise just from the spot the creature would appear. She knew it was dangerous, and that she could just run away in a super powered up Shunpo, but it was not her style to flee from a scene where there was a small chance she could win.

While the creature seemed to be quite a challenge, it was also big and heavy. It probably moved at an impressive speed for its weight, but it couldn't rival her own speed. And she was right. In a moment the creature appeared behind her but before it could strike Karin was already aiming a punch in it's big belly throwing it back into the buildings.

It released a growl of pain and disappeared in a puff of light.

"That was fairly easy" she stated out loud "So who wants a piece of me ha!" she screamed at the sky daring him to unleash its mightiest attack. The answer didn't cease to appear as Karin was slammed onto her back, painfully realising her head had taken the worst blow.

A strong pressure held her down, almost like an invisible hand was pressing onto her lungs. She grabbed her neck. She could not breathe; smoke from the previous explosions filled her lungs, but she could not move in order to get far away from the irrespirable air. In that moment she felt like a fish out of the water.

With all her might, she managed to raise from the ground, even though her whole body was screaming in agonising pain, and squirm away from the school's ashes. When the pressure disappeared, Karin collapsed against a wall, taking huge gulps of air, like a hungry child who had just found his mother's milk.

"It feels so good to breathe", she concluded as her breath evened out and her vision became clearer and clearer.

She was far from ok, with a throbbing pain in her arm, scratches all over body and smoke filled lungs. Karin was in no doubt her lungs probably looked like those of a vicious smoker's right then, but dying of cancer was the least of her worries; her only hope was to live to see the next day's sunrise.

A Shinigami sandal appealed in her vision and she had to crook her neck in order to see the foot's possessor. What she saw was indeed the last thing she has expected to see.

"Hello li'l Kurosaki." the always smiling face of Gin Ichimaru greeted her "Yo' seem to be in a big pinch"

He slowly gathered her limp body in his arms, cradling her against his chest.

"What is going on?" she asked in a hoarse voice. With all the commotion going around she was in no mood to snap at the man who she found responsible for ruining her reputation in front of the whole Soul Society and her family, but then again thinking more about it made her realise he had only done his job. He was not supposed to keep it a secret.

Her frowning eyes came back on his face waiting for his answer.

"Aizen is attacking." he stated calmly, his smile not faltering. How he could do that was beyond her logic.

"So the pressure I've felt just now …" realisation hit her.

"It's his immense spiritua' energy." completed Gin, stopping his flesh step in front of a pharmacy and letting her down slowly. She had not expected a creepy Shinigami like him to be so gentle, but then again there were many things he didn't know about the Shinigami world and what happened there on a daily basis. In her short life she had learned few things about her brother's job as a Substitute Shinigami, and ever fewer about the people residing in Soul Society.

"Go tend to your wounds" stated Gin, pointing at a stand with different medicinal tampons, bandages, alcohol and many other substances Karin had never heard off.

As she was getting all the necessary medicinal ingredients Gin prepared to flee. Karin, guessing his intention came behind him and grabbed his uniform.

"I want to help"

"You are hurt" he stated.

"I am a Kurosaki"

"One more reason not to let you join the battle."

"Please" begged Karin, though her eyes betrayed how hard it was for her to recognise her weaknesses.

The ex-traitor stared at her face, the omnipresent smile slowly fading from his features.

Maybe at first he had not been able to understand Aizen's reasoning for making Ichigo's little sister his lover. It had been a question many had tried to answer, yet in vain not being able to find an answer mainly because Aizen's personality was too complex for anyone to comprehend. He was known for making strange choices which were supposed to have a hidden meaning and Kurosaki Karin was a good opportunity to both have a strong pawn on the table and satisfy his vendetta against Ichigo. Still Gin could not shake away the feeling that maybe this time the always prepared sociopath had stumbled in his own trap and had been smitten with the young Kurosaki.

There was no doubt the girl was strong willed, albeit a little too bashful, but she was as interesting as they come. While some Shinigami had commented she was quite plain, he failed to see anything but that in her. If anything she was shining like a sun in his eyes, especially in that moment of hardships, staring him dead in the eye. She was, from his perspective, what a queen would look like.

Gin released a sigh and nodded "Very well." then he proceeded to remind her the situation she was planning to go into "Probably Aizen had come here with some of his strongest Arrancars, probably Espada, if there are any alive. I presume yo' kno' what Espada are" after she gave a curt nod, he continued "Fortunately I was able to put a barrier around this place, but that means every human being inside this barrier has been squashed under his power."

"How many people are we talking about"

He stared at her features wondering weather to tell her a pretty lie or the truth. Her eyes reassured him she was more than cable of handling the cruel truth.

"Around 1000."

She hissed in pain. 1000 deaths was too much. Even one was too much, and it reminded her of the mysterious deaths which surveyed before the Winter War just after she had enquired her brother of his extracurricular Shinigami activities. When her ex-lover had been at fault as well.

"My … god …" she managed to say, closing her eyes.

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On the other part of town Yuzu grabbed on the door frame for support, as the explosion's wave hit the house.

"What is going on!" she screamed trying to rebalance herself.

With Ichigo and Isshin gone in Soul Society and Karin wandering god knows where, Yuzu was all alone in the big house. The roof began to shake and pieces from the ceiling continued to detach and distort different furniture pieces as Yuzu was forced to hide and avoid them. Then, when the house seem to lose its stability, she ran to the door and managed to get out just as the south part of the house crumbled.

The big Kurosaki Clinic panel fell and was on the verge of squashing the blonde twin just when a hand grabbed her ankle and got her out in time.

"Jinta!" screamed Yuzu with tears decorating her eyelashes "Jinta!" she threw her arms around the boy's neck and hugged him liker her life depended on it. Then soft sobs echoed from her mouth.

"Shhh it's ok Yuzu. I'm here." said Jinta hugging her closer to his heart "I will not let anything hurt you. Absolutely nothing."

Then the pressure came and Yuzu's vision became black.

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All the Captains were gathered in the small conference room of the 1-st squad. While Soi Fon and Zaraki Kenpachi were asking many questions, everybody else was dead silent; an abnormal silence in times of war.

"What is going on? Freak Show explain to us right now what the fuck is happening!" and by freak show the ninja captain meant the 12th Squad Captain."

"My name is not Freak Show, so please address me by my proper name, the one of Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri" corrected the scientist, trying to look as hurt as possible. He was known for putting a strange emphasis on always being called by his whole name.

"Fuck that!" growled Soi Fon.

The Captain Commander watched the gathering trough half linden eyes. If one didn't know him enough he might have said he was bored out of his mind, but that was clearly not the case. Anger was tingling at the surface of his wrinkled skin and maybe for the first time in years his old age was obvious; worry made him look like a human and the missing arm made him rethink his decision of not letting Orihime heal it with the God-like powers she possesed.

"As it was said earlier that Aizen had sealed all entries in the human world from every world." stated the Supreme Leader looking room for confirmation.

"That is actually incorrect." said Mayuri smugly, but a harsh stare from Unohana melted the smugness away "He has sealed all entries from and to Soul Society. Which means we cannot open the Senkaimon to the Human World or a Garganta to Hueco Mundo, but there can be opened a Garganta from Hueco Mundo to the Human World."

"That is even worse!" exclaimed Toshiro.

"I don't understand Aizen's reasoning" said Byakuya calmly "Why do it? There is nothing in the Human World that could possibly tempt him. Karakura is not a match for the King's key. The two Kurosakis and Urahara are stationed here."

"Who is in the Human World right now? Capable of fighting." asked Toshiro impatiently.

"Very few. There is the Shinigami stationed there. I forgot his name. There is your lieutenant , Matsumoto Rangiku, Hisagi Shuuhei and Ichimaru Gin." Mayuri gave the report cooly "We can also count the Quincy Ishida Uryuu, Sado Yasutora and Orihime Inoue."

"That is all! All of our fighters! What about Kurosaki?" interjected Toshiro, the well hidden panic beginning to resurface slowly but surely.

"Unfortunately Ichigo and his father had both come here with Urahara to take supplies for his shop. Supplies for fighting against Aizen."

"So apart from that unpleasant traitor and two lieutenants, please tell me there is someone else capable of fighting in the Human World." continued to inquire the young captain.

A long undisturbed silence followed and nobody answered.

The Commander closed his eyes. He just hoped Aizen won't dare come in person in the middle of Karakura. A Shinigami from the 12th Division appeared.

"I am sorry to disturb you Captains, but we have data from the Human World."

Everyone turned their heads towards the source of the new information.

"Hurry up you fool! Tell us!" snapped Captain Kurotsuchi.

"Ex-Captain Ichimaru Gin had created a barrier inside Karakura when he felt Aizen's energy attack the town. Unfortunately around 700 lives had been lost" Silence enveloped the room. The worst thing that could happen, happened. Aizen had come in person in Karakura.

"Any human survivors?" asked Toshiro, his voice trembling with anger and rage. If it wasn't for the scrutinising glare of the Commander he would have gone right through that door and bang his head against every wall standing between Soul Society and the Human World.

"Yes sir." they clearly didn't expect a positive answer "Apart from the 4 Shinigami stationed in Karakura there are 11 more survivors: Jinta Hanakari, Ururu Tsumugiya, Tatsuki Arisawa, Asano Keigo, Mizuiro Kojima, Kurosaki Yuzu, Kurosaki Karin, Don Kanonji, Ishida Uryuu, Sado Yasutora and Orihime Inoue"

"I did not expect that many" confessed Soi Fon "Ichigo's friends and his twin sisters."

"Report the survivors' status" commanded Genryusai with his usual stoic tone.

"Urahara's subalterns are with Kurosaki Yuzu, Ichigo's gang members are as well together and they approach Aizen's position, the others are scattered around Karakura. I doubt they will join the battle. And Kurosaki Karin is apparently with Ichimaru Gin and they … are planning to join the battle as well"

"Karin. She might be a decent fighter, but she is not capable of handling Aizen or his Espada. Tell Ichimaru to knock her out or something." mumbled Toshiro angrily.

"It's too late to do anything" confessed Unohana looking at each of them "Right now we can only help the scientists to solve this problem and … hope the living humans in Karakura will survive this. There had already been too many human deaths."

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AN: Aizen sleeping with Hinamori is one of those things which seem too canon to be explained. I do not particularly like the AiHina couple (I cannot say I hate it either), but i cannot deny that there is some chemistry between them.

I had postponed this chapter because .. well .. I hate to write battle scenes; and I had only scratched the surface. Well next chapter will be more dynamic as we see Karin fight on a professional level for the first time.