Disclaimer: I don't own any character in these.
Edited by: Moon Of Jupiter. Big thanks ^.^
'It was the same dream every night. Bright red eyes follow her every move. Cold shivers of fear run down her spine freezing her in her movement and stopping her from struggling to protect herself. Her lips moved to scream but her throat protests in silence and all she could do was watch, terrified, while the person with those red eyes was slowly and painfully prying her sister's life away with the body of her father lying lifeless not far from this demon. She wouldn't be as terrified if it weren't for the fact that the person who would destroy the whole meaning of her life, was someone so familiar that her heart shattered even more…'
Midnight eyes snapped open. Sweat heavy. The owner tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths as her body shook uncontrollably. Not from the cold but from the aftershock and fear that seemed to be coursing through her body. She had seen it so many times, that for now she should've been used to it.
Too bad fear doesn't rid itself easily. Instead it crouches in a hidden corner waiting to consume you once and once again. Not until you beat it to a pulp.
She ran her hand over her face, trying to rid of the image in her mind. Fumbling for the switch, she reached a hand out to turn on the lamp near her bedside. Relieved of the sound of the click she lay there for a moment longer, breath evening, before standing up slightly shaky and glancing at the time.
It wasn't even midnight.
Muttering something under her breath, she moved away from the uncomfortable hotel bed where she had occupied and made her way to the bathroom making a grab of her phone on the way.
Turning on the tap, she splashed cold water on her face to calm herself more. It always worked. Maybe it was the fact that she hated the cold. The feeling where you shiver uncontrollably and it was so damn hard to stop, it had always been the warmth that made her feel content. That was why she had started to fill the bath with hot water, watching as the steam starting to fog up the glass.
Snapping her phone open, she dialed a number she knew off by heart as the low sound of rumbling water bounced off the wall.
It took only few signals until the person picked up.
'Hello?' A voice in which had always calmed her down, trailed through the phone.
"Hey Yuzu. I'm at the place." She said, leaning back on the wall.
'Karin-chan! I'm so glad, I waited for your call for hours now!'
"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I was tired." She answered feeling slightly guilty for worrying her beloved sister. She had been driving for five hours straight and all she could think of, after booking this hotel room, was to get some sleep.
'You had this dream again, didn't you?' Yuzu, said knowing her sister's every detail.
Karin could hear the worry in her sister's tone. She smiled weakly. No one knew her like her twin did.
"Yeah, it's OK. I'm starting to get used to it anyway." Attempting to calm Yuzu down. It was true. Well, sort of. After a year, she should be getting used to it.
Should…
'Alright then… But you know you can call me every hour if something is wrong, right, Karin-chan?' Came the other end, obviously unconvinced and always such a worry wart.
"Of course Yuzu." She tried to answer cheerfully. She lunged over to stop the running water. "Listen, I have to go. Tell goat-chin that I'm fine. I'll call you soon, Ok?"
'Ok. Watch yourself and don't get into trouble!" Karin grimaced, feeling much better already.
"Yeah, I won't. See you." She closed her phone and sighed tiredly. She really wanted to be home with her twin right now; to feel safe and not worry about anything. Specifically that darsted dream that had been haunting for the last how-long.
But the life of Kurosaki Karin was nowhere near safe or far from worries. Right now, she was in some small village where the clues of her brother's whereabouts had bought her; and where some nasty ghost was doing crazy things.
She was one of the very few people that were called 'Shinigami'. They were 'Special'.
Well, at least her father described them like that. For her, it was more like they were cursed. There was nothing special about being a Shinigami. Well, maybe except for the fact that they were 'chosen' to do some nasty job, or to be more specific, to exorcise every ghost which could not crossover to the other side and which were causing havoc in the places they were haunting.
Shinigami's were the only people which had the special powers to do it. Well, they weren't exactly their powers. To be more exact, they were borrowed from a demon which had made a contract with the person to summon its power. Why there were demons who wanted help people? She didn't know. And why one of them chose her was even bigger mystery to her.
Maybe it was just in her blood since two of her family members were just like her. Or maybe she just ran out of luck the second she was born.
Whatever it was, she just had to deal with it.
Sliding off her clothes, she stepped inside the bath tub. As soon as her body sank into hot water, she felt relaxed and closed her eyes all of her bad thoughts seemed to melt from her mind.
~-K.K.T.H.-~
Acting out as a journalist seemed to work most efficiently for the matters she was to attend to. She needed information and people in small towns liked to talk, especially when they thought that they could participate in some sort of magazine or to promote their town in some newspaper in which could be read around the country.
Sometimes Karin felt bad about lying to them and getting their hopes up. But if it meant she could save many lives… well, she thought, they'll deal with it. After wether they know it or not, their life depended on it, literally. Even if the citizens didn't know what she was doing for them.
"No one would ever imagine something like that." An older lady behind the counter in small café said to her, cleaning some cups. "I mean, Ami-chan and Kazuya-kun were always so close, running around and playing together. He was the perfect older brother and suddenly something like that happened." The woman sighed heavily, shaking her head regretfully.
Karin nodded her head, writing it down in her notes.
Her sensei had always said to her, 'If you are acting as someone else, make sure to do it to the very last detail. A little missing detail? And it could cause suspicion and cost you a life, Kurosaki-chan—'
"So, what exactly happened there?" Karin asked, giving the woman a curios look, interest sparking from her shiny midnight eyes.
"He ripped her apart!" The woman exclaimed, flinging her arms outwards in exaggerated motion almost making Karin jump at her sudden high tone. "I mean. I didn't see it of course. A friend of a friend of mine who has friend who was a policeman said that the room looked like it was from some horror movie. There was blood everywhere. And the body was cut in several pieces."
Karin nodded her head again, many thoughts running through her head. Although she knew that woman was exaggerating she couldn't let her guard down nonetheless. These things she was dealing with, were not to be taken lightly of.
According to the police report Urahara was able to get hold of - How, Karin didn't want to know – There had been various cuts on the body, but blood was only around the bed. But seeing as how many mouths the story went through to get to her ears, it was nothing strange.
"Thanks for that." She said, holding up her notes and fixing them before putting it in her folder. Keeping the lady satisfied that she was listening to what she had said and taken down her words seriously.
"No problem, my dear, if you have more questions, I'll be glad to help." The woman gave her a big smile as if she accomplished something big, and had not just talked about a morbid murder that had happened in her town. "More coffee?" She offered enthusiastically.
Karin shook her head and smiled politely declining her offer. She made an excuse to leave, bid her goodbye and went on her way.
Seeming to catch something out of the corner of her eye, she stopped. Looked around, but saw nothing suspicious. Although she saw nothing an uneasy feeling seemed to linger and the way in which her hair on her neck stood, she knew that someone or something was watching her.
She took one last survey of her surroundings but she could only spot a few people walking past minding their own business. She shrugged and moved on deciding on walking to the house where the murder happened. She knew that no one was there, since the family had decided to move away for a few days until the grief had lessened. But she knew, it was not that easy to move on for living.
-K.K.T.H-
A man sat in his shiny black car observing a girl seemingly worried. He watched as she hesitantly stopped once and looked around at her surroundings before shrugging and heading off again. Lowering his gaze he took a look at the photo he had in his hand. Black ebony hair, sparkling almost granite like eyes, the girl in the picture had a big grin on her face; eyes crinkled in joy.
It had seemed that he finally found her. After three months of searching one place to another, on person to another, he was getting impatient and snappy. After all, it was stopping him from his work and he hated it when things become problematic and he can't control it. He had always been a person that did everything impeccably; and this had been terrible for his psyche.
But he had made a promise to a person who had helped him many times - Even if he didn't like to admit it - and he was going to fulfill it.
Many things could be said about himself good or bad.
But Hitsugaya Toushirou would never break a given promise. Especially if it was by him.
