Chapter 1

"I'm sorry Ichigo. I shouldn't have done it without noticing you first."

"I said to open the Senkaimon Kisuke!" Ichigo Kurosaki said roughly. He walked determinedly to the entrance to the Senkaimon and stood in front of it. His posture ridged with anger and stiff with worry.

"Okay, okay, just don't do anything rash Ichigo! Don't go rushing and accusing people." Kisuke said imploringly. Ichigo just stared straight ahead as if he hadn't head Kisuke speak. Kisuke was about to repeat what he had said but Ichigo stiffly nodded his head. Satisfied that Ichigo wouldn't do anything too stupid Kisuke opened the portal to the Soul Society. He glanced at the spot behind Ichigo frowning and then his eyes widened a little and then he smiled slightly. Kurosaki's, they were always up to trouble.

Ichigo stepped in and ran as fast as he could until he saw a light at the end of the dark tunnel. He heard a little patter of footsteps behind him; he turned around quickly but saw nothing. He turned back and started running and he heard it again. A loud noise like the sound of a train would make billowed out of the darkness of the tunnel. The sweeper. Ichigo increased his speed and jumped into the light. Looking down he could see the Soul Society from above.

He pushed down his robe that had shifted up in the free fall. Ichigo's black robe was a sharp contrast to the white bandages that covered his sword attached to his back. His substitute Soul Reaper badge knocked against his hip bone lightly as he landed on his feet in the barracks of squad eleven.

Captain of squad eleven, Kenpachi Zaraki was already waiting for him although they hadn't been expecting him. With Yachiru on his shoulder as always, he was closely followed be Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa. Kenpachi had felt Ichigo's spiritual power and had come running with glee hoping for a good hard fight but knowing he probably wasn't going to be so lucky.

"Ichigo, what brings you here?" Kenpachi said in his deep gravelly voice, his spiky hair that had bells attached to the spikes were tinkling in the wind. As Ichigo turned to face Kenpachi his hope for a fight sparked again because Ichigo's face said he was ready for one.

"I need an audience with the Head captain and squad captains immediately." Ichigo said surprisingly formal. His hard tone was almost scary as it shook with anger and frustration.

"What about?" Ikkaku said curiously knowing that he wasn't a captain so he couldn't attend the meeting. Something really bad must have happened for him to come here, but what? Ikkaku's curiosity was killing him.

"I don't want to waste time explaining a second time just all of you come to the meeting." Ichigo said impatiently. Yumichika's eyes widened a little.

"We are going to a captains meeting?" He asked rhetorically.

"Go to the other captains first and alert them. They probably have already felt his spiritual pressure so just alert them of the meeting." Kenpachi said to his subordinates.

"Okay Kenny!" Said Yumichika cheerfully, jumping off his back and quickly disappearing with Ikkaku and Yumichika in toe.

Kenpachi and Ichigo set off towards the head captains barracks. A light appeared in the sky suddenly and they stopped. Chad, Orihime and Ishda fell from light that was shaped like a door and landed meters in front of Ichigo and Kenpachi.

"We just heard." Said Chad.

"About?" Ichigo asked.

"Both things. I swear I didn't know Ichigo." Ishda said quietly. Ichigo nodded,

"Let's go. We are meeting with the captains." Ichigo said. His friends nodded and they started to run. No time could be wasted.

"Both things?" Asked Kenpachi.

"You'll find out in a minute." Ichigo promised. As they entered the head captains barracks his lieutenant was already waiting at the door.

"They are assembled as per your request sir." Squad one's lieutenant said politely. Ichigo nodded crisply and continued to walk up the steps that let into the main hall where all the captain meetings were held. Ichigo had been here a few times so he knew where to go. The two double doors were made of steal and strong bamboo. They creaked as they were opened. Inside was a reasonable size hall about twice the size of a class room. It was bare and the only object in the room was a chair like throne that the Head captain sat on. Captain Yamamoto's expressionless wise old face was staring eerily straight ahead; his eyes looked like they were almost shut. The other twelve captains were lined up in two lines of six. Ikkaku and the others were in the corner talking quietly but hushed when they walked into Ichigo walked into the room.

Kenpachi took his place in line next to Toshiro Hitsugaya and Byakuya Kuchiki. Next to Byakuya was Soi Fon then Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Opposite them were Ukitake Jyuushiro, Shunsui Kyōraku, Retsu Unohana and Sajin Komamura then next to them was the new captains; Kensei Muguruma and Hirako Shinji. They were all either expressionless or had worried or curious expressions on their faces.

"Why have you called us here Ichigo Kurosaki?" Asked Head Captain Yamamoto.

"It's my sisters." Said Ichigo almost accusatory.

"Your sisters? Yuzu and Karin, correct?" Said Yamamoto.

"Yes." Chad said.

"Karin?" Toshiro exclaimed, as he stepped forward slightly. Ichigo remembered that they had bonded the last time that Toshiro had entered the Material World. Yuzu had teased them about being girlfriend and boyfriend. The only reason Ichigo hadn't grilled Toshiro about dating his sister was the gut feeling Ichigo had had that their relationship wasn't like that and although it could blossom into a romantic relationship, Ichigo had decided to wait and see what happened, he wouldn't interfere for now. Karin had only turned fifteen anyway; surly it was too early for her to be dating…right? Ichigo shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"The more pressing matter is Yuzu. She's missing." Orihime said urgently. Her voice was laced with deep worry and fear for Ichigo's sister.

"How long has she been missing?" Asked Ukitake a frown on his face, his neatly brushed white hair fell over his shoulder as he leaned in slightly. Ichigo remembered that Ukitake liked kids. When their Zanpakuto's had had a physical apparition, his Zanpakuto had been two little kids.

"Three days now. We have looked in our world and found nothing. She was walking home from school and didn't make it home. The police think someone kidnapped her" Ichigo said.

"No ransom has been made and her residue spiritual pressure just stopped as if she just suddenly...disappeared from the face of the earth." Ishda said quietly.

"Then we got a hold of the police interrogation tapes. On the film was everyone they interview was on there. There was one witness to her abduction they say that doors opened in the middle of the sidewalk and someone in a black robe and a sword grabbed her and pulled her through the doors. The door vanished and she was gone. The police thought he was crazy and have no other leads." Ichigo hissed, this time there was no mistaking his accusatory tone.

"Are you sure?" Snapped Kurotsuchi, his rusty voice more once wasn't laced with sarcastic amusement, it was deadly serious. That got Ichigo's attention.

"Yes, that is what he said." Ichigo said.

"Byakuya, Toshiro and Ukitake; you will deal with this matter with Ichigo. Find out who took her and why and where she is, then report back." Captain Yamamoto said commandingly.

"Thank you." Ichigo said grateful for the help,

"You have helped us in the past it was time that we helped you." Yamamoto said with a small bow of his head.

"You said that there were two problems?" Kenpachi said as the captains started to move off. The captains stopped turning around and settled back into their original positions.

"It's Karin, she's-" Ichigo near groan was cut off by the doors suddenly swinging open as though by themselves. In the doorway stood a slim girl with black hair that was tied up in a ponytail with her fringe framing her face and dark grey eyes looking at straight at Ichigo. Swords were crisscrossed on her back; the black handles glinted in the sunlight. Unlike Ichigo's white bandages that covered his sword, hers was pitch black. Her swords were long, the tip of her sword showing just above her knees. She had a billowing black robe on and the sun was shining from directly behind her casted her into an ethereal light. Everyone in the room squinted at the contrast.

"Who's that?" Whispered Ukitake to his best friend Shunsui who shrugged his big shoulders that was covered in his pink flowery robe over the top of his captain's robe and black soul reaper robes. He was holding a fan in his hand and he snapped it open to fan himself. The snapping sound broke everyone out of their stunned revelry.

"Karin." Ichigo growled as the doors closed and the features of her face was revealed. Her expression was annoyed and angry at the same time

"Brother, did you just call me a problem?" She snapped. Before Ichigo could respond she continued,

"Ichigo I am no one's PROBLEM!"

"You know I didn't mean it like that Karin. How the hell did you get here?" Ichigo asked softening his voice, knowing how his sister reaction to the statement that she was a burden.

Compared to her soft-spoken twin sister, Yuzu, Karin is the more authoritative of the two. Karin's tough exterior resulted from their mother's death; because she could not be useful around the house like Yuzu; she resolved never to cry so that she would not burden the family with her personal troubles. As a result, Karin appears to be the most hardened and least emotional out of the two resulting in her not being affected by most events that would more or less bring tears to Yuzu's eyes. In appearance they are very different too. Yuzu's appearance is in stark contrast to her sister's. Yuzu has short light brown hair, similar in colour to their mother, with short bangs hanging over the right side of her forehead.

Karin walked out of the sunlight, the double doors slamming shut. Her expression shifted into one of boredom, only Ichigo knew that it was only a mask to keep people at a distance. It made him sad that his sister had to do that.

"I followed you." She said calmly. Ichigo noticed that she didn't say HOW she followed him. There had been no one in the tunnel except him. The tunnel was straight, there had been, nowhere to hide in there. He remembered that he had thought that he had heard footsteps behind him. What was going on? Could his sister turn invisible? That was the only thing that he could come up with. But there was a reason why she hadn't said that she could turn invisible. He would talk to her later about it in private.

"Do you know how dangerous that was?" Ichigo said roughly reprimanding. Karin was unpredictable at best when she set her mind on something and Ichigo had a feeling what she wanted. He already knew his answer.

"I want to help find Yuzu." She said it as a statement but Ichigo answered,

"No absolutely not. Too dangerous. Whoever took Yuzu might take you."

"But-"

"She's a soul reaper?" Asked Captain Yamamoto.

"Kisuke turned her, without my knowledge. I just found out this morning." Ichigo said his anger at Kisuke evident in his voice.

"No I asked him to." Corrected Karin. Ichigo sucked in his breath.

"Why? Why Karin?" Ichigo asked. Karin burst out,

"Because I was sick of seeing spirits that no one else could see. Sick of spirits crying out to me to help them and knowing that I was powerless. The headaches from listening to them scream without being able to make them go away or help them was driving me insane. Hearing and seeing the Hollows attack people and…I am tired of being not being able to fight back. I couldn't-can't do it anymore Ichigo." Her voice cracked showing just how much emotion she was feeling. She quickly regained her composure. However the crack in her composure showed him just how much she meant her words.

"Karin?" Toshiro said hesitantly.

"Toshiro!" She gasped turning to face him her expression breaking into one of surprise. She smiled at him a little sadly.

"Long time no see."

"Sorry about that. I have had a lot going on." Toshiro said sounding genuinely sorry.

"Kurosaki!" Karin and Ichigo turned to Head Captain Yamamoto who had spoken.

"She is soul reaper, one of us now. Unlike you she didn't get her powers originally from another soul reaper. She's isn't a substitute soul reaper. In saying that we can't just have a young soul reaper running around untrained. It's too dangerous." Yamamoto said,

"She's too young for the academy and I have a feeling that she is also advanced about her age group on power and abilities."

"I have a black belt in mixed martial arts like Ichigo. I am also an advanced student in Kendo. I have also been training with Kisuke for a couple of months after school and weekends." Karin inputted. Captain Yamamoto grunted satisfied.

"That just enforces my decision that in your special case you be taught theory at the academy and personally by four captains for the practical part of your training."

"Really!" Karin said delighted. Ichigo was impressed.

"Four?"

"A teacher for sword fighting and a teacher for Kido. We will start will four to get an idea on what style she is then cut it down to two for each. That way the captain can still have time to go about his or her other duties as well. Being a mentor is a full time job. It will also be a good learning experience for the captains"

"Cool." Said Karin.

"I have one condition."

"Here we go." Muttered Karin her exited smile dropping slightly.

"You don't go back to the material until you finish the training. You may visit but not without an escort." The Head Captain said opening his wider and studying Karin intently.

"Okay." Karin said after a moment. Ichigo was also satisfied with the terms.

"It's settled then. Captains Byakuya and Toshiro will teach Kido. Kenpachi and Ukitake will take care of fighting. If Ukitake is sick or one of the others is unavailable for some reason Shunsui will take over their job mean while." Captain Yamamoto said commandingly,

"Ikkaku take Miss Kurosaki to the academy's dorms and get her settled. She will be assessed in the morning then put in the appropriate class effective immediately." There was a collective nod from the people that the Head captain had addressed. Kenpachi had a mixture of trepidation and excitement on his face; like someone had promised him a surprise treat he wasn't sure he would like. Toshiro looked happy to be able to spend more time with Karin. Byakuya was expressionless. Ukitake loosed delighted and intrigued. Shunsui looked curious.

"Dismissed." Said The Head Captain.

"What about Yuzu?" Asked Karin.

"Leave that to us Karin." Orihime said soothingly.

"I promise we'll get her back, sis. Don't worry." Ichigo said. Karin was hesitant before nodded acceptingly.

Chapter 2

"Here's your room." Ikkaku said pointing to a green door that said number 122 dorms 4. He had his sword like pole around his neck and his hands were holding onto it on each end hanging his arms relaxedly as he talked. Ichigo, Chad and Orihime would be staying at Kenpachi's house for there stay.

"You'll be bunking with someone. Clothes are in the wardrobes already. Academy students have a uniform for sleeping and a day uniform that changes with what year you're in and what subject you're doing at the time. But you'll find out about that later when you are assessed. Your assessment will start at nine, I will come get you from your dorm, be ready. Your alarm is already set. The phone beside the bed is programed to call Ichigo in you press triple one. Other numbers are in a directory beside the phone, questions?" Ikkaku said in a rush and Karin struggled to take in all the information.

"No I'm good, thanks." Karin said. Ikkaku paused for a moment hesitated then said,

"You don't really look like Ichigo." Karin laughed.

"I know. I look more like my dad and Yuzu is more like our mother and Ichigo got stuck in the middle."

"Your brother talks about you sometimes." Ikkaku said.

"All good, I hope." Karin said and Ikkaku smiled teasingly,

"Some of it."

Karin laughed then said goodnight. Karin opened the door to her room not sure what to expect but all she cared about was finding a bed. She was so tired she thought she might drop. She had been waiting for Ichigo to leave, staying up most of the night. Then when he had finally left she had activated her Bankai that she and Kisuke had been working on. It allowed her to turn invisible but only when holding her swords. Karin found that she could change just how invisible she was by increasing or decreasing her power levels. In her Bankai state she didn't have to turn invisible but it was very useful in a fight as she had found out while training with Kisuke.

Karin had lowered her power level so Kisuke could see that she was going as well and keep the portal open for her too. Kisuke had told Karin a bit about the soul society. About its history and his history with the soul society. About the squads and captains and how the command chain worked. The thing that he hadn't told her about was these assessments. Karin had no idea what to expect.

"I hope there isn't math." Muttered Karin under her breath as she walked past the thresh hold. The room was large with two beds on either side with white covers and blankets. The walls were a dark green and there were two bedside tables beside each bed attached to the wall. A was phone on top of it and under it in an open draw was a book that said 'directory' and under that was two draws. At the end of each bed was a tall closet that was dark brown with golden handles.

The main light was off but there was a small bedside lamp on. Someone was reading under the light. Their face was obscured was the book. As the door shut they put the book down. A small pixie like face looked back at her. She had Brown eyes and soft features; she reminded Karin of a deer in some ways especially her eyes. A small frown creased her brow.

"Who are you?" She asked politely.

"I guess I'm your new roommate. My name is Karin Kurosaki." Karin held her hand out equally politely.

"A late enrolment, huh?"

"Something like that." Replied Karin.

"Tabitha Alexis" She said shaking Karin's hand.

"Nice to meet you." Karin yawned and Tabitha laughed.

"How about we leave the pleasantries for later and get some sleep, we can talk in the morning."

Karin smiled gratefully. She sat on her bed then pulled out of her shirt the necklace that Kisuke had given her to hide her spiritual pressure. It let out enough to let an experienced Soul Reaper know that she had a lot but didn't allow them to feel the full extent of it. When she had turned into a soul reaper her spiritual pressure had gone through the roof and until she learnt to control it Kisuke had warned her to keep it on at all times. The necklace's chain was spiralling silver and gold with a long diamond crystal pendant that was pure white but when held up to the sunlight it turned rainbow. Karin took off her swords and put them beside her bed. Karin pulled back the covers and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

…

"I like your sister, she's nice" Ikkaku said as he sat down at the dinner table with Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Yumichika, Kenpachi and Yachiru.

"She is, but stubborn as a bull. Once she really gets an idea in her head it's nearly impossible to get it out." Said Ichigo sighing.

"She's not that bad" Orihime said defensively.

"Orihime my sister is a girl who for most of her life denied the existence of spirits even though they were literally standing right in front of her staring her straight in the face day in and day out. That is how stubborn she is." Ichigo said. Then his voice got rougher, sadder and his eyes glazed as if he were remembering something. Ichigo was half aware of speaking aloud not meaning to share one of his saddest memories.

"I will never forget the night that she crept into my room. She was about seven years old. She shook me awake and the first thing that I saw and will remember for the rest of my life was her haunted eyes. At the time a ghost was refused to leave her alone. She curled up next to me and I remember putting my blanket over her half asleep. I was just settling in when she whispered to me, 'am I going insane Ichigo?' Her little voice was so scared and serious it broke my heart to hear it." Ichigo's voice trailed off and after a few moments he snapped out of it and cleared his throat.

Pushing the painful memory away he looked up to see Orihime's teary eyes. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her t-shirt.

"I think we should start trying to find out who took your sister." Said Chad breaking the silence.

"We don't really have much to go on." Said Ikkaku.

"There is a man that I know he is the best tracker in all of the thirteen squads." Said Kenpachi,

"His name is Wulf. He will be very useful."

"Then can you ask-"

"Already on his way. He will be here in the morning." Kenpachi interrupted Ichigo.

"Yuzu had her mobile on her when she was taken right?" Chad asked Ichigo suddenly.

"Yeah and…?" Ichigo said confused.

"Couldn't we trace the signal?" Chad asked.

"Mayuri is a science and technology freak he probably could." Said Kenpachi.

"I'll see about that then." Ichigo said getting up.

"Don't bother until morning. He is probably in bed and he is notorious for killing whoever wakes him up. Then he will never trace the signal." Kenpachi scoffed. Ichigo sat down with a thunk.

"So what do we do?"

"Wait until morning. Get a good night sleep, clear our heads and start fresh on this in the morning." Kenpachi said

…

Yuzu woke up in a dark room on a hard floor. Her head was dizzy and she felt sick. The last thing she remembered was walking home from school then suddenly hands had grabbing her from behind then only darkness. Yuzu's hands were shaking as she tried to stand up but found that her hands were tied behind her back. Yuzu let out a frightened sob. She heard echoing footsteps and snapped her head up.

"Hello? Ichigo? Karin?" She choked. The footsteps got closer and closer then stopped. Yuzu heard beeps like when you press buttons on a telephone. Then a grating sound then a hissing sound. The hissing sound accompanied by the sight of steel curtains being pulled back. Light pierced the darkness and Yuzu squinted.

When Yuzu could see again she found herself in a small glass box. She put her hand on the cold glass wall and pushed in desperation. Then she looked beyond the glass and what she saw made her scream.

...

Karin came bolting awake, a loud piercing sound that Karin faintly recognised as the alarm was an undercurrent to the ear piercing scream that Karin recognised as Yuzu. Karin heart was pounding and she was sweating. Garbled thoughts whizzed in Karin's mind. Where is Yuzu? Is she Okay? Why did they take her? Why aren't I looking for her? Will I ever see her again? Why did I let Ichigo talk me out of looking for her myself? What is she's dead? What if-

"Karin? Are you okay?" Asked Tabitha worriedly from her side of the room. Karin swallowed and took a few deep breaths in before slipping into a calm expression.

"I'm fine. Just a nightmare." Karin said evenly, but inside she was still hearing her sisters scream echoing in her head. Karin decided then that she would do these easements then go look for Yuzu herself tonight. She would have to sneak out, Karin didn't want Ichigo to worry so she would try and do it without anyone noticing. With her being able to turn invisible it shouldn't be too hard. It was lucky that she didn't have to go into her Bankai state to turn invisible or she would have had the problem of people detecting her heightened spiritual pressure. Her plan set Karin actually felt some of the calm that her expression showed.

"I hate nightmares. Um Karin…Are you going to shut that off?" Asked Tabitha hesitantly. Karin realised that the alarm was still blaring. Karin lifted her hand and pressed the off button. It was 9.00am. Karin got up and went to the closet remembering what Ikkaku had said about there being a uniform in there. Only one uniform hung in the closet the other was a night gown. Karin figured she would get the rest of the uniforms when she was put into a class. Karin put on the white uniform with black sleeves then found a bag with a hair brush, pins, toothbrush and toothpaste and other necessities. Karin brushed her hair into her normal style then followed Tabitha to the food hall. Tabitha explained being a soul reaper means that you don't have to eat in this dimension so most don't or don't eat three meals a day maybe just one depending on the person.

"Well I am starving so I'm going to eat." Karin said walking up to wear the breakfast food was and putting a bowl of cornflakes on her tray and an apple. Tabitha grabbed a juice and banana and they sat and eat there breakfast together. Tabitha was wearing a similar uniform to Karin but her sleaves were red not black. Karin finished her breakfast neither of the girls talking. Tabitha looked like she hadn't fully waken up and her movements were sluggish.

"I gotta go; Ikkaku is picking me up from our dorm to take me to my assessment wherever that is." Karin said.

"You're getting assessed?" Said Tabitha impressed.

"Yeah, why?" Asked Karin confused.

"Only people with high potential get assessed. "

"How do you get into the academy then?"

"Your spiritual pressure is rated. You have to have a certain amount of spiritual pressure to get in. Without much spiritual pressure there is no point of becoming a soul reaper because you don't have enough spiritual pressure to conjure a Zanpakuto. And a soul reaper without a sword is useless against fighting Hollows and since that is the main part of the job description…as I said it would be pointless to train them." Concluded Tabitha.

"So how do they asses me?" Asked Karin grateful that she had someone to get information out of.

"No one knows the specifics, but no one has gotten finished the assessment without an injury. Sometimes the person that is getting assessed doesn't come back for days or turns up in the hospital in a couple of hours after leaving." Tabitha said excitedly.

"Well that's…comforting." Karin said swallowing.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean to scare you. It's probably just gossip and they will give you a few tests, you'll be fine." Tabitha said reassuringly. Karin false agreement then turned on her heals to walk back to the dormitory. Under her breath she muttered,

"God I hope so, but I'm just not that lucky."

She got to her dorm and was walking down the hallway when she saw Ikkaku about to knock on the door when he saw her.

"I was just coming to get you. Follow me." He said.

"I just have to grab my swords and I'll be with you." Karin had forgotten to take them to breakfast. One of Kisuke's first rules was to always carry your swords wherever you go. But she hadn't got used to it yet. She hurried in to get them and trapping them on her back she then headed out the door.

…

"I'm here to see Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi." Said Ichigo to the soul reaper standing outside the door of the Research and Development Institute where the captain of the twelfth division or squad spends most of his time in his lab. The soul reaper nodded silently then held up a finger in a gesture that said plainly 'wait'. Then opened the black door to his right he was gone for a few minutes before a woman came out. She had long black hair tied up and a black soul reaper robes on. She had a neutral expression on her face.

"Follow me. He will see you." Her voice was as neutral as her expression. Ichigo followed her down a long wide corridor with hundreds of doors all with different numbers on them. She got to door number 300 and opened it standing aside for Ichigo to enter first.

Inside was the biggest TV screen Ichigo had seen outside the theatres. It had numbers and letters scrolling down the massive screen that was attached to an equally massive key board as long as the computer screen and almost half it size coloured blue. Captain Mayuri was standing at his desk a few meters away. Mayuri turned around to face Ichigo.

Mayuri's appearance had a very skeletal look to it. His face was painted entirely white with the inner portion of his face painted black with the exception of his nose. His eyes were a golden colour and Ichigo remembered one thing about Mayuri, he was constantly bares his teeth giving the appearance of him constantly smiling. Both his ears were seemingly replaced with stubbed golden cones. His fingernails are blue and, with the exception of the fingernail on his right middle finger, are all short. The one long fingernail is as long as the finger itself. He also was wearing his usual garb, a white hat with two ends that point to his right and a large purple scarf around his neck.

Ichigo had always thought the brilliant scientist was mad, but if he could help find his sister Ichigo didn't care.

"What brings you into by lab Ichigo? I take it this isn't a social call." Mayuri drawled.

"I was hoping you could trace my sister's cell phone." Ichigo said getting straight to the point.

"I could but why would I do that?" Said Mayuri acting innocent.

"What gain will I get from it?"

"You get to keep your head." Ichigo said bluntly. Mayuri laughed as if Ichigo had told the funniest joke he had ever heard.

"How about we just say you owe me one and call it at that? I wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself. Nemu!"

The woman that had shown Ichigo in appeared in from of Mayuri.

"Locate Ichigo's sister's phone, now! I have to get going."

"Why?"

"I have to attend your other sister's assessment. Does the annoying gene run in all of your family?" Mayuri said walking to the door.

"Can I-"

"Captains only." Mayuri interrupted knowing what Ichigo was going to ask. Grabbing his cane from a hook he walked out the door ignoring Ichigo.

Chapter 3

Karin followed Ikkaku into the forest and down a trail for a few minutes until they came to tunnel in a huge mountain.

"Good luck." Ikkaku said then abruptly turned on his heel and left. Karin swallowed then closed her eyes took a deep breath in for courage and moved confidently into the tunnel. She slowed when the tunnel got pitch black. She trusted in her instincts not to bash into anything but she still had her hands up slightly in an unconscious protective gesture. The tunnel got slowly lighter until a few minutes later. Karin started to walk a little faster confident in her steps. For a while now she had had the feeling she was going further and further underground. A few more minutes went by and she came to an arch door. Two lights hung from either side. Karin hesitatingly reached out for the old golden handle and pushed the doors open. The swung open easily to reveal a huge cave. It was so big it was the size of three soccer field's easily. The roof was just as high. The walls were made out of smooth rock that was the colour of grey to red.

The cave was shaped in a rough rectangle and on the either side of the shortest side were six throne like chair made out of steel attached to the rock on a rock shelf high up. The twelve captains sat on them. The head captain sat on an even bigger throne that was gold coloured on one of the longest sides of the cave overlooking all. The rest of the cave was pretty much flat besides a few boulders. Everyone was quiet as Karin entered the cave. There were at least a hundred people dressed in black on lower platforms. Their faces were shrouded in darkness.

Karin followed the path down into the lower section of the cave and stood looking up at the head captain not sure what to do.

"Karin Kurosaki!" Said the head captain in his booming voice that echoed around the cave.

"You are here to be assessed by the thirteen court guard Captains. You will be assessed on many things some being your skills as a sword fighter, hand to hand combat, strategic combat and your level of spiritual pressure. This assessment is to assert what class to put you in and judge your skill level for further training. The way this works is that some of the captains have decided on a subject they will test you in. Then depending on how well you do you will be marked out of ten by each captain for every subject. There will be two stages to their tests, if you pass the first stage you are marked out of twenty. The second stage will be twice as hard. Your scores will be added up then your final score will dictate which class you will be put in. However I get the final say. Understand?"

"Yes sir." Karin said politely.

"Kenpachi, you're up first. State your subject and explain stage one of your test. You may only state the send part if she completely the first." Said the head captain.

Kenpachi stood up and walked a few steps forward to address Karin and the people in attending.

"I wish to test her skills as a warrior. I want to see how she goes against my third seat. If she wins by either beating him or when the hour time limit is up and they are at a stalemate, she passed the first stage. Ikkaku get out here." Kenpachi said arrogantly. Karin's' eyes widened as Ikkaku stepped out behind Kenpachi's chair. He skilfully without hesitation ran and jumped down next to Karin. Kenpachi also jumped down.

"It's kind of poetic that I should be the one to fight you. I was the first one to engage your brother in a fight when he first came to the soul society to save Rukia."

"Did you beat him?"

"No, but it was a good fight." Ikkaku said his voice changing turning excited. Kenpachi's squad was legendary for their ruthlessness in a fight, blood thirsty too. Karin forced herself not to see Ikkaku Ichigo's friend but as her enemy. She slipped into the cool tranquillity of her mind. She let her age old instincts take over. Kisuke had taught her many things and one of them was the ability to let emotion go and think logically.

Ikkaku shivered a little. Her eyes had gone…cold. Gone was the sweetly stubborn little girl. A young warrior stood before him and Ikkaku wasn't so stupid as to underestimate her. Kenpachi was in the middle of both of them. Ikkaku and Karin were facing each other.

"Draw your weapons and prepare to fight!" Commanded Kenpachi. Ikkaku drew his pole like sword with a blade at the end.

Karin held up both her hands and drew her two long swords slowly, a slow high pitched hiss echoed in the silent cave as her blades were unsheathed. The bandages fell away to reveal pitch black swords. The hilts were black with silver engraved spirals giving her an excellent grip. A guard spiked out wards which functioned as a small blade, useful for close combat. The long blades were slightly curved, and dangerously jagged. The very edges of the swords had a silver outlining on the sharp end of the wicked blades. They looked dangerous and deadly.

Ikkaku raised his eyebrows, impressed by her weapons. Karin went into her fighting stance and positioned her swords at the ready. Her swords were light in her hand, a comforting weight. The cold handle was warming slowly due to her body temperature. Karin cleared her head of all other thoughts and focused on the fight at hand. The thing was she had never fought anyone but Kisuke and she wasn't sure how drastically their fighting styles differed. Well she was just going to have to find out. Ikkaku stepped into his fighting stance and seeing that they were both ready Kenpachi said,

"I'm starting the timer now. Fight!"

Karin and Ichigo circled each other cautiously waiting for the other to attack. Kenpachi jumped up to his platform and sat down lazily to watch with rye amusement and anticipation. The air was tense with expectancy.

Karin was wholly focused on Ikkaku. Every breath he drew every subtle movement and shift of weight she tracked. Ikkaku was equally focused as they assessed each other.

Ikkaku suddenly lunged at her with the blade end of his pole. Karin dodged pulling in her stomach and arching her back, he missed by inches. As Ikkaku drew his sword back Karin used one of her own swords to knock Ikkaku's sword away and swipe at his open body. She aimed for the throat but Ikkaku leaned back at just the right second and the sword slashed his upper chest, drawing first blood.

Realising her attack failed Karin kicked her leg up and used a bit of power to put extra strength in her legs as she kicked Ikkaku in the lower abdomen winding him. He fell back breathing hard. Karin lunged again for his heart with her sword, Ikkaku raised his head and something about the way his eyes glinted made her weary. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a the blade end of Ikkaku's sword break away still attached to the main pole by a silver chain and swing in on itself straight at the height of her neck. Karin had stepped into an attack.

Karin moved without thinking. Instead of ducking to avoid the attack as Ikkaku probably expected she moved forward with a quick burst of speed at Ikkaku then jumped slightly and landed on his knees. Using his knees as a platform she jumped again causing Ikkaku to fall back unbalanced and Karin back flipped. Karin saw everything in slow motion as she flipped. First the ground was all she could see then the blade went whizzing past her head missing her nose by centimetres. She landed on her feet with a small thud and everything turned back to normal.

Karin heard whispers around her from the people in black but blocked them out. Ikkaku was looking at her with deadly intent. Then seeming to come to a decision he took a hold of his sword like pole around the middle and the pole dissolved into a sword and sheath. Karin realised that his pole like sword was his Shikai. The sword that he held now was just a normal sword. Karin had yet to learn how to do that. Ikkaku changed his fighting stance to match his weapon.

Ikkaku had a feeling using his sword would be a better way to fight off her type of attacks. Even though he hadn't meant to underestimate her he still had. She was a lot more skilful than he had first thought. They circled each other again for a moment and this time it was Karin who attacked.

She slashed at his midriff but he blocked with his scabbard. Karin's eyes widened at the unexpected gesture. She had never seen anyone do that. Nevertheless Karin continued with her plan of attack slash with her other sword at his throat. He instinctively bent backward and Karin used a burst of speed and power to slide along his scabbard and thrust the handle of her sword up into his head. He was caught by surprise and was knocked unconscious instantly and he fell to the ground limply on his back. Karin put her swords crisscrossed at his throat then looked up and raised an eye brow at Kenpachi as if to say, 'is this enough?'. Kenpachi nodded and she backed up breathing hard.

"Impressive." Murmured Kenpachi,

"I had hoped she got to the second stage."

The head captain's eye narrowed in interest. This might be more interesting than he had thought.

"She is remarkably skilful for her age." Said Ukitake to himself. Even Mayuri was starting to take interest and wondered how she was going to go in his test.

"I expected nothing less from Ichigo sister." Hirako said. He was one of the new captains and his friend Kensei was next to him who was also a new captain. Kensei grunted in agreement. Kenpachi stood up and said loud and clear,

"The first stage has been cleared. I am impressed you took out my third seat in under twenty minutes. But can you survive the second stage? I think not since you for the second stage you have to fight me. Same rules apply twice the time limit."

There were a few sounds of in taking breath but not from Karin. She was silent and accepting. She would do her best even though she didn't think she could win a fight against a captain

"She may be skilled but she is still a child. Kenpachi in ruthless." Ukitake hissed

This child has too much great potential, if it gets too bad he would stop the fight himself, thought the Head Captain. This child could be…the one. At first he had thought Ichigo was the one. But no he was certain this girl was.