"Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, Captain Hirako, Captain Muguruma, Captain Zaraki," the old man rifled off, his unmistakable tone a leathery slap to the ears. "You have been called here to discuss an important coming event in Soul Society...the adoption of a second Deputy Shinigami."

His words hung in the air between the six of them until they were drowned in the ensuing tension. Nobody would say anything, and damn if Shinji was going to be the first to do it. He'd only accepted his former position five years ago, after the war, and it still felt...tenuous.

"So what exactly are we discussing here, Yama-jii," Kyoraku chimed in, as tension-shatteringly casual as ever. "Seems to me like you've already made a decision."

"That is the precisely the opposite of the truth," came Yamamoto. Jeez, couldn't the geezer just say Nope or something like a normal person? His way of talking really rubbed Shinji wrong. "I have called you five here to convince me whether or not to accept this new Shinigami."

Whoa. Quite a responsibility there. Shinji had never felt so trusted by the old man, or more afraid of him. His temper was something else – if Shinji said the wrong thing...

Shinji took what he feared could have been his last breath. "Excuse me, but why us five, then?" he chanced. Then waited...

"Most of you share a personal connection to our most recently-appointed Deputy, Ichigo Kurosaki. Given what you know of his accomplishments in the position, you may prove useful in judging whether or not this new appointment will be equally successful," he explained. And Shinji kept right on breathing. Wow.

"Does this mean you think there's a chance something could go wrong?" Kensei piped up from beside Shinji, where he sat unceremoniously, leaned back with one leg bent up and the other tucked beneath it. He acted like he was simply lazing about and chatting with an old friend...and Shinji felt jealous from his position of back-achingly straight posture and leg-numbing formality.

"Nothing is ever certain. There is always the possibility of things going awry," Yamamoto pointed out sternly.

"You're referring to Kugo Ginjo," Kyoraku said with a knowing smirk. Yamamoto took a moment to nod solemnly. "Well, who's the new guy, then? Does he resemble Kugo, or Ichigo-kun?"

"I suppose you might say they resemble Ichigo Kurosaki," Yamamoto said contemplatively. "It's his younger sister."

Whoa, wait, Ichigo had one of those?

Shinji was relieved to see that everyone else seemed as bewildered as he felt.

"How did this happen?" asked Ukitake, breaking the stunned silence. "How did she become a Shinigami?"

"Using the same method as did Ichigo, I understand," Yamamoto answered, sounding slightly miffed. "I've been told it was a special circumstance." He didn't seem to believe that part.

"What? But that's—"

"Beyond our jurisdiction," Yamamoto cut in. Shinji was wholly surprised that the old man thought anything was outside his jurisdiction. "The one who performed the act was Kisuke Urahara, who is already in exile. Unfortunately," Yamamoto continued a tad bitterly, "I do not have the resources to waste bringing him here to be tried for his actions. As a former Captain and compatriot of two others, it would take no less than that to bring him here, if successful at all. The Central 46 is still in the process of reorganizing since their decimation by Aizen years ago, and we too are still fortifying our defences to assure no such thing happens again."

Yamamoto's fists were clenched as he inhaled, preparing to continue. It looked like he had struggled with this issue already by himself.

"Therefore," he went on, seeming to have reclaimed some calmness, "we shall instead focus on determining the merit of this new potential addition to our ranks."

"And if we decide against letting her in?" Kensei asked seriously.

"Then her Saketsu and Hakusui shall be pierced immediately, and she will be rendered powerless," said the old man simply.

"And what's stopping us from doing that now?" Kensei pressed. Shinji wondered why he seemed so anxious about the prospect of a new Deputy, but his train of thought was derailed when Yamamoto went on.

"Captain Korotsuchi has informed me that there is a strong possibility that she will turn out prodigious like her brother, and therefore prove quite useful as another war potential, should the need ever arise," the old man said.

"A reserve soldier?" came Kyoraku.

"Precisely," Yamamoto agreed. "It would be no exaggeration to say that Ichigo Kurosaki was the sole reason the war was ended. Captain Kurotsuchi has taken that into account, and suggested considering the girl for training, in hopes that she might prove to be a match for her brother."

"So Kurotsuchi's already on-board with this?" Shinji asked in disbelief. "That's a shocker."

Yamamoto fixed Shinji with what could have been a glare. Though through the old man's eyes, maybe every look seemed like that. "He finds the girl...interesting..."

Ah, now that sounded like Kurotsuchi.

"So this chick's gonna be as good a fighter as Ichigo?" Zaraki hissed in excitement. He was already tickling the hilt of his long-ass sword. He broke out in a murderous grin, which made Shinji long for another glare from the old man instead. "Count me in," he growled.

Jeez, what a simple guy.

"I agree," Ukitake piped up, to Zaraki's astonishment, it seemed. Shinji's too. "Ichigo Kurosaki is already a fine addition to our ranks, I can only see good things coming from having his sister join us," he said with a cheerful smile. "I'll have the Twelfth produce another badge right away if need be."

"That goes for me too, Yama-jii," Kyoraku said with a grin as he slapped Ukitake on the back in a comradely way. "No way any relative of Ichigo-kun's is gonna turn sour like Kugo, so count me in too."

But Kensei broke the cycle. He seemed deep in thought as he gazed in defocus at the tatami mats beneath them. Finally, he spoke, sounding really unlike himself.

"I trained with Ichigo myself," he said without taking his eyes from the floor. "It's true he did really well, but that's because he was unpredictable – And the same goes for when he beat Aizen..." said the pensive Kensei. "He won with pure bullheadedness all the way; he only stayed alive 'cause he was too stupid to know when he was dead...Is someone like that...okay to put our trust in again?" he asked.

"That is your decision, Captain Muguruma. It is why you were called here," said the old man.

Then came the last thing Shinji expected: Kensei grinned. "What the hell," he said, tilting his head up to lock eyes with Zaraki, "can't be any worse than you, right?" Rather than be insulted, Zaraki seemed to perk up at those words, and grinned freakishly some more.

Man, what a creepy—

Oh...

Shinji realized that everyone was staring at him. Of course, he hadn't answered yet himself.

"Captain Hirako?" the old man's voice invaded.

Shinji let himself get away with a single chuckle, mostly to calm himself. "As if I'm gonna be the one guy not to join the fun," he said. "I'm in."

"Then you've convinced me. With Captain Kurotsuchi's own vote, the count is seven, bringing us into the majority. It's decided: Karin Kurosaki shall receive our support," the old man said with finality. His own opinion seemed neither here nor there, which was odd for him. But then again, this whole meeting had been odd. "Next," he went on, surprising Shinji, "I am told it's been decided that she will learn shunpo, in addition to her continuing lessons in swordsmanship, which Urahara has already introduced her to."

"Swordsmanship and shunpo," came Kyoraku with a devious grin. "Seems like we already know the prime candidate to be her sensei..."

"You don't mean—" Kensei began, but Kyoraku cut him off.

"Who else can?" he asked. "You and Shinji-kun are still shuffling things around after retaking control of your Divisions, so it's not like you have the time; Ukitake doesn't have the energy needed to take on a student like that; and you can rule out him" – he jutted a thumb in Zaraki's direction – "and Mayuri-san, because they'd both end up slicing her up sooner or later."

"And yourself?"

At that, Kyoraku smirked. "I'm busy," was all he gave.

"Hold on," interjected Ukitake, suddenly lost. "Why does Urahara not simply continue her training in the Living World?"

Oh yeah. That was a good question.

"It would seem there was an accident..."

Karin hadn't seen Urahara-san since that day, when—

She felt dumb now, having worried so much about her...development. She should have been focusing more that day.

But seriously, how big were they going to get? She had to be nearly a C-cup already, and that meant she was still ahead of Yuzu. Worst of all, Yuzu actually seemed jealous of them. Well, if she wanted them, she could haven them; they weren't anything but trouble to Karin, and she bet Jinta would appreciate them on her sister.

Sports bras did great until you realized that you didn't decide what clothing your soul popped out wearing. She'd never bothered to check before, because it had only recently become an issue, but it felt like wraps around her chest. Like bandages, maybe. Whatever it was, it didn't feel like enough.

She had already begun to feel uneasy around Urahara-san because of it by the time he finally unsheathed Benihime. Her own sword had suddenly appeared when she exited her body maybe a week prior, which signalled to Urahara-san that it was the right time to step up their training. Karin agreed – she'd been waiting for a real swordfight for forever, and now she was going to prove—

Prove that she really was hopeless. Come at me as if you intend to kill me. That's what he'd said. But Karin couldn't do that, and when she hesitated – either because of the uncontrolled movements of her body, or because he was her friend – she paid the price: Benihime drew across her stomach in a cold rush, but the gash burned only a second later. Urahara-san had withdrawn enough to ensure the slice was shallower than it could have been, but that didn't stop the bile rising in her throat as the fever reached her temples. She'd clapped her hands over her mouth for as long as she could and tried to get some distance between them...

But he just kept following her. She could tell he said her name each time he caught up to her, but only barely, because to her it sounded like he was talking into a pillow. She wanted desperately to push him away, but letting go of her face wasn't an option, and she was very dizzy. Finally, she'd had to release.

She didn't remember anything after that – she'd passed out. Tessai-san had apparently used some kind of kido magic to fix her stomach, and at some point someone had called her dad, because he was hovering over her when she woke up. But she didn't care about any of that – she'd thrown up in front of him. She felt sick even though her stomach had knitted back together, and as feverish as ever, though this time with embarrassment. She wanted to go home. She wanted it to be over.

And her dad had yelled at Urahara-san. She'd never seen him like he was that day, and Urahara-san just stood there and took it. Karin felt awful for him, but when her dad picked her up to carry her home, she didn't struggle. She was so embarrassed!

So she decided that it could be over.

But just because her training had come to an end didn't mean she planned to give up on fighting to protect her family. Armed with her very own zanpakuto, she took her first trip out on patrol three days later, making Yuzu use on her the glove with the flaming skull on it that Urahara-san had given her.

It wasn't long before she found one, and it seemed like a small-fry, but in the end, she couldn't handle even it. Stopping her training short had cost her, and the Hollow batted her away more than once as if she were a fly. It was only thanks to Yoruichi-san that she wasn't beaten to a pulp. That's when she suggested it: If you don't have the strength, then you have to become faster, she'd said. It made sense; Yoruichi-san was very fast, and used no sword at all. But her dad had already forbade her from training at the Shoten or accepting help from its residence...

So now she was here, sitting on a park bench in the middle of the night, Yoruichi-san standing behind, waiting for...whatever was supposed to happen. A meeting or something?

"If this is going to work, you've gotta keep your surname to yourself," Yoruichi-san warned. Karin didn't question her and nodded.

Twin sliding paper doors suddenly appeared a little while later, and through them came a tall, very handsome guy with black hair and a really nice white coat. At his hip was a sword whose hilt guard looked like an addition sign inside of a square, or maybe a window.

"Good to see you, Little Byakuya," Yoruichi-san seemed to tease the man.

The guy barely acknowledged her and let his cold gaze fall straight down on Karin. "I assume this is her," he said. He looked severely unimpressed.

"Yes, Karin. She lives around here," Yoruichi-san explained.

The man didn't care. "She's younger than I expected," he said. Then, he half-turned back to the still-opened doors to nowhere. "I refuse," he said simply.

"I thought Yamamoto already informed you of the situation. You wouldn't disobey a direct order from the Commander, right?" Yoruichi-san asked, sounding sly.

"And I did not," the man came back at her. "I was merely ordered to meet with you and see her, but it is still my prerogative to decline training her. I will not babysit a child," he said curtly.

"She's not a child, she's sixteen," Yoruichi-san defended.

"Nevertheless, it would be unbecoming of one such as myself to train an illegal," he said, spitting the last word like venom.

"Oh, so you're just going to ignore her because she's not on your level?" Yoruichi-san asked the man, but mischievously and without anger. "You're going to let your nobility stop you from even bothering with a common girl?"

The man's dark eyes found Yoruchi-san's, and he stared at her frighteningly. "I know what you're trying to do, and it will not work," he said dangerously.

"Then it must be that you're scared that you can't do as well as me," she said pompously.

"What are you talking about?" asked the man, maybe the least bit intrigued.

"Well, I could train her, but of course, I'm the Shunshin. I don't doubt that I could have her running circles around you in one month's time," she boasted, though Karin only followed some of it. "Perhaps you've realized that, and you're backing out because you're afraid you'd just mess it up."

"I already gave you my reason," the man replied.

"Care to prove it?" Yoruichi-san baited him. "Do you think you can have her catch me after one month?"

"Catch you?" the man repeated. "Are you suggesting a game of tag?" His monotone actually seemed to tilt slightly to the side of amusement.

"Just like back then, except this time, you can prove how great you are by making something of this girl here," Yoruichi-san told him, clasping Karin's shoulders in her hands.

The man seemed to consider whatever it was they were talking about before he spoke. "Unfortunately, I am quite busy, and I don't have a month to spare on her..."

And then it seemed lost, until...

"But I will do it in two weeks."