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The next couple of days were a blur to Karin. Toshiro was snowed under fixing Rangiku's attempt at doing his papers and re-educating her should it be necessary for her to do them again. It wasn't like she hadn't tried, just decades of not having done any left her forgetful to the procedures. Because that wasn't torture enough for her, the younger Kurosaki was getting constantly battered by congratulations, questions and even a few snide comments about the wedding coming up. The last lot were mostly from a certain male squad member she had to decided to refer to only as 'it', causing a few laughs around her new lunch crowd consisting of Harumi

Toushiro smiled as he felt her reiatsu flare, before it came hurtling towards him at a surprising rate. He'd managed for the first time in year to actually get Matsumoto to not only do her own paperwork that day but his left overs too. She was a good friend deep down and he reckoned part of her wanted him to actually have a social life. Very deep down. Under the part of her that whined for ages when she had said she wanted to go out, and until he had launched into a very stern tired about every single night he'd spent in the office without even the option to go out, the detail of what it was like to be stuck inside night over night horrifying

For the hundredth time that night Karin gave a frustrated moan and turned onto her other side, the abused bed creaking loudly as she threw her weight around. It was also the hundredth time that night she'd thanked all things holy that her roommate had the apparent ability to sleep like the dead. She checked herself with that thought. Ginko was a regular shinigami. She was dead. Then came sigh one hundred and one, as she realised the ridiculous train of thought she was following. Stupid Toushiro. Stupid brain that refuses to sleep and keeps thinking about Toushiro. Sigh one hundred and two. She didn't know why she kept thinking about him,

Upon returning to her room, Karin saw Ginko had changed into a more casual yukata and lay stomach down on her bed painting so immersed in her work she didn't notice Karin enter. It was only after the student had collapsed down on her bed that she jumped, whipping round to face Karin in shock. "Either you've learnt to flash step like Yoruichi or I zoned out completely. As talented as you are I'm going to go with the second one." Karin couldn't help a small chuckle. "Obviously. What are you painting?" "Oh, nothing much," Was the quiet reply as the older woman ducked her head down, a light pink spreading across her face. "Well you're no fun,

The next morning was like a three wave attack on Karin's system. As she opened her crusty eyes, her head was pounding like Omaeda had just started dancing on it. Thoughts were reduced down to single words like, 'aspirin' and 'water' before 'shit, soul society' upon realising that there wasn't a convenient medical cupboard in the communal bathroom. As she stood, rather unsteadily, to make her way to the kitchen for her other object of desire her stomach turned against her. Somehow she forced her unwilling legs to run, making it to a toilet just in time for her body to throw up every little thing she'd consumed in the last 24 hours. Eventuall

It reminded her back of options day school. There were desks set around with the fuku-taichos, mostly, from each squad. The eleventh was the only exception with Ikkaku and Yumichika there. On arrival back to the academy, they had found lists on the wall of who was to go where. One group would be remaining in the academy, not deemed ready for squad life, the next were all regarded as potential fourth squad and asked to remain in lessons for the next couple of days to learn some more advanced kido. The longest list was to go to another hall, where they were to be inspected by the fukutaichos of the two or three squads the teachers had deemed th

Karin couldn't help but feel breathless looking at the woman. She was beautiful, from her full lips, high cheekbones to her wide, knowing eyes. This couldn't be her zanpakuto spirit could it? Could something like this really be part of her? They sat together in silence, until the spirit looked over to Karin, her eyes were like trapped sunlight, the perfect match to her hair like women gold, "You have nothing to say to me, Karin?" Karin thought to herself trying to pick words out of the many buzzing around her head, "I- I want to know your name, but I know I won't understand it yet but until then," she met the soul's eyes "will you give me y

Kage rolled onto his back, giving a soft sigh as he stared up at the stars. It expressed the anxiousness all the students shared. The next day was to be the day that they materialized their zanpakuto. There was a special cave in soul society, far from sereiti and rukongai, that was made up of unstable spirit particles, and exposure to them would cause the spirit particles of their bodies to fluctuate similarly. For those strong enough, and all were presumed to be so by now, this would lead their spirits to start to break down into two entities. One, themselves, would remain and the second, smaller, would be their zanpakuto. They'd never been