HitsuKarin Week Day - Nightmare
The Hollow towered over them. Threateningly. Deadly. Merciless.
Karin didn't know where she was. Around her stretched a strange world of white sand, and the sky above was black instead of blue. Whatever this place was, it gave her the chills.
And she was alone, except for the Hollow and a certain white-haired Shinigami in front of her.
"Karin", Toshiro wheezed. "Get out of here. This Hollow is too strong."
Only then did Karin see the red that drenched the back of his white haori.
"You're injured!", she cried out and reached for him.
"Run, you idiot!", he yelled back at her.
"No way!" Karin's temper flared. "I won't leave you behind!"
"You want us both to die?!"
And then it was too late. The Hollow took advantage of the distraction and struck. Toshiro had no chance of dodging. Instead, the Hollow's single claw pierced him right through the chest. Red, red blood splashed.
"TOSHIRO!"
The word came out as a shriek. Karin hadn't known she could even produce such a sound. She didn't care. She wasn't capable of rational thought anymore. The Hollow swiped his claw through the air and Toshiro slid off it. He crashed into the sand and lied there. Motionless.
Dead.
Before Karin could move, however, the Hollow charged at her.
Karin screamed.
The scream still echoed in her head when her eyes flew open. For a moment, she lay there, with a pounding heart and trying to orient herself. Only slowly did her own room peel itself out of the darkness around her.
"Karin? You alright?"
A hand gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, and she could now see two eyes looking at her.
"Toshiro…"
Still shivering, Karin pressed her forehead against his chest.
"Whoa, you must have had a terrible dream", Toshiro remarked and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "First you wake me with a scream and now this. You're shivering."
"It was a terrible dream", the black-haired Japanese admitted. "I saw… I saw you die, Shiro."
"How awful." Toshiro planted a gentle kiss onto her forehead. "That cannot have been too pleasant. But now it's okay. I'm here and still very much alive."
"Shiro…"
Karin snuggled against him. Sucked in the reassuring feeling of his presence. It didn't even bother her that he felt oddly cool and not as warm as so many others. She knew that his heart was of gold, and that was important.
It's okay. He's fine. He's alive. He's here.
To reassure herself of this, she cuddled even closer against him. Karin had a very good idea where this nightmare had come from. Toshiro was a Shinigami, a Captain at that. He was and would always be at the front of battle. While she knew how strong he was, she couldn't help but also worry for him at times. He had already faced terribly strong foes in the past, had even come close to death two or three times. And he was going to face strong foes in he future, too.
"Never leave me", she whispered on a sudden urge.
"I won't." Toshiro kissed her gently onto her forehead. "Now, get back to sleep. I'll keep watch over your dreams."
"Thank you, Shiro…"
Eventually, Karin fell asleep again. And indeed, the nightmare did not return.