A/N: I do not own Bleach or anything related to it. I do not own any elements of other anime that I may or may not use.
Chapter 1: Adjustments
Heuco Mundo
Time seemed never ending. The countless screams and wails filled the daily routines of life. All that was known is now forgotten and all that is forgotten is unknown, yet a lingering essence hangs by a thread. A hint of pre-existence and what once was. Only a blurry face of who she once was
That's all she knew. And that her named started with a K. This bit of information reminded her that she wasn't just a rampaging monster with an insatiable hunger. That somewhere in this darkness filled forest was some sort of salvation no matter how small. She watched beings of her own kind tear each other apart and cannibalize immediately after... Though even the victors weren't safe, they fell prey to the predator that waited in the darkness to strike. She's seen this many times, in this unforgiving place there was only one survivor and one outcome. Or you die. It's instinct, kill or be killed in order to grow stronger and rise above the weak. The more she ate, the more she became self aware. The smarter she became. The stronger she got.
She was a small hollow. Very small, the size of a dog. Easy prey for every hollow twice her size. She had a mask of a Fox, the face of one, with long ears that acted as horns on her hollow mask. Her body was grey on all fours with a bony Fox-like tail
"Roarrrr!" She bellowed after consuming a larger hollow
There was no taste behind the process. The only satisfaction that was gained from consumption was the increase in power
A group of hollows surrounded The female fox hollow with murderous intent. She was small but not weak by any means—instead she was more stronger than the normal Menos hollow that would be twice or thrice her size.
She looked all around her and became angry, they had interrupted her feasting on an unfortunate hollow that failed to best the smaller one. The group of hollows had surrounded her on all sides, there was no where to run or hide to. Growling to herself she felt power rise up inside of her in necessity to survive. The sand below had been pushed away by the aura the fox exuded which bursted into a brilliant blue flame. The power she felt made her feel invincible—instinctively she compressed it then shrieked as loud as she possibly could as she expelled a ring of flames to the hollows surrounding her
Some hollows wailed while some shouted and rolled around while others tried to push the ones on fire away. Blue flames grew on their person larger than than it initially was—a burning ember that was in process of scorching them. Taking advantage of this opportunity she dashed as fast as possible to the nearest hollow and dug her claws into the hollows mask mercilessly. She took a bite of the mask and moved to the next which was right next to her. She swiftly rotated in a full spin while her tail slashed at the hollows feet. It began to fall to the ground, meanwhile the small hollow had clawed brutally at its left arm which came right off as a result
"Ah! Fuckin' little" it swore as it screeched in pain but didn't have time to finish as its head was smashed in by the strength of the small hollows leg
Looking around her she saw all the hollows down for the count. She took it upon herself to consume each and every one of them which made her grow slightly. After finishing her meal she was hungry once more. Hungry for the power that each consumption of hollow that she ate. As she grew stronger with each time she snapped her jaws on another hollows mask, she saw visions, or rather memories... Blurry memories of humanoid figures that held orange, brown, or black on the top of their figure. She tried to ignore these visions as much as possible—shaking her head to relieve her of the things she would see
Looking in every direction she couldn't find anything that was still breathing nor could she smell anything else. Looking down into the sand she closed her eyes—instinctively if she could see or smell them she could-
Her eyes snapped open. She felt the presence of more hollows just south of her position. Turning in the direction she took off running
They were about to engage until a ringing filled their senses, a synergy of sound compelled them all. They all turned around and followed the noise, the only one it didn't affect was her. She didn't understand what was going on but this was the perfect opportunity to feast for her, so she pounced on the drone like hollows and ate their masks as fast as she could.
The remaining hollows went to a large garganta that that showed the human world. It was a familiar place to her and she felt drawn to it, not by compulsion, but of curiosity. She ceased her feasting on the compelled hollows and walked a long side them to the human world and felt almost nostolgic but she didn't know why. She couldn't have guessed what would cause her to feel such a way for somewhere she has never been. Karin only knew feast, hide, prey, and grow from Heuco Mundo in a very dark place. She immediately smelled a variety of things—she smelt souls unlike the ones in Heuco Mundo... They smelt... Tasty to her
She could smell some other potent souls that were in the place she was but two were extremely close by. Not wanting to jump into the frey she hid among the hollows that paid her no mind at all. What she saw however, was interesting yet frightening. A blue arrow of energy had blasted a hollow out of existence next to her without warning and that made her jump. What ever made that hollow disappear was unknown to the smaller hollow, that alone frightened the her. Another had been blasted out of thin air then a small humanoid creature yelled a battle cry before slicing another hollow in half
"Will you watch where you're aiming those things ya' could of hit me jackass!" This man was dressed in black with a huge weapon that was the size of his body and his hair was completely orange
The fox's eyes widened behind the mask, she couldn't place her paw on it but she felt that this human was familiar to her. She felt drawn to the human who was slaying her fellow hollows. He smelt powerful, almost intoxicating, but there was another—she turned her head toward them and immediately recognized them as human or one of them to be exact. The other one she instinctively knew was a Soul Reaper. For some reason she knew that they exterminate her kind but she also smelt the soul, it smelt powerful and addicting—she could almost taste it and it tasted wonderful
"Well watch where you're stepping, idiot, or the next time it's you who'll get hit with my arrows!" This other man with black hair wearing white and grey didn't seem familiar like the orange haired human but he smelt just as good as the other one
The orange haired one grunted and slice another hollow in half then had to jump out of the way of a blue ethereal arrow "bastard! You're doing this on purpose! Not only do you lure them here as some stupid game but you're aiming for me too!" He shouted incredulously while killing another hollow
"Shut up Ichigo, I just saved your damn life!" The other shouted back
'I-chi-go?' The fox hollow thought, then a series of images flashes through her mind with the orange haired human in it. Smiles and laughter, and her... 'Was... I... Hu... Human?'
The fox needed to know more, this revaluation was calling to her, she desperately needed it lest she go crazy. The orange haired one sliced through a large spider hollow. "There's no end to these things is there?" He asked himself rhetorically
The small fox stepped in front of him curiously "huh, you're a rather small hollow" he said nonchalantly before raising his sword
"I-chi-go" the fox hollow struggled to say
The orange haired human clad in black stopped in his swing with widened eyes 'that voice... No it can't be!?'
"Ichi-go" She said again more successfully
Hollows surrounded the orange haired man and shrieked but he paid them no attention. His eyes were focused on the small hollow in front of him with his mouth hanging in shock from what he had just heard
"Ka-k-Karin? Is that you?" He asked mortified of the answer he might receive
The fox turned its head sideways indicating confusion "Karin, my name?" She asked in curiosity
He almost dropped his sword as he couldn't believe his ears and eyes. 'That voice... It sounds just like Karin's!' He exclaimed in thought, his eyes watered slightly and tried to speak but a hollow shrieked behind him and went to impale him with its hands. It was immediately vaporized by a blue arrow
"What the hell are you doing, get your head in the game Ichigo!" The other human shouted alarmingly
Another hollow came forward attempting to bite Ichigo, he still hadn't moved from his stupor. 'Just what the hell is he thinking, is he trying to get himself killed?' The man with the bow thought as he fired another arrow at the charging hollow but it missed and hit another effectively killing it. His eyes widened considerably 'oh no!' He thought in horror
"Move Ichigo! Move!" He shouted helplessly as he watched the hollow approach him in haste
A gleam appeared in the eyes of the fox and she immediately pounced on the ox-like hollow trying to harm the orange-haired human that she knew as Ichigo. She ripped its mask off and devoured it immediately "protect... Brother" she said as she leapt onto another hollow to consume its essence
Ichigo snapped out of it "Whatever you do, don't attack the little hollow!" He shouted toward the man in glasses
"What?! Why?!" He shouted back, then he saw the small hollow killing and consuming the other ones but not attacking Ichigo and immediately understood why 'he plans to use that hollow to thin out the numbers of the other hollows... Quite ingenious... Though I'd never tell him that!'
"Just don't damn it!" He shouted again and resumed killing the other hollows
This kind of thing came naturally to Karin, fighting and eating the hollows was an everyday cycle. She tore through another hollow easily, it shrieked loudly as it died. She glanced toward Ichigo and felt this overwhelming desire to protect him. She somehow knew that was her brother and she will be damned if she let one of the hollows touch him
Somewhere Nearby
'Oh? This is an interesting development. What kind of strange hollow is that? Instead of fighting the boys, it's helping them kill the other hollows' Kisuke opened his fan and pushed his hat down 'I wonder what'll happen next' he asked himself in intrigue as he watched all three of them fight hollows
Soul Society
A man with black hair and glasses with a white coat over black clothing stared into a monitor within a dark room and chuckled
'So that's where your sister went to huh. Interesting. Not only does she possess the blood of a Soul Reaper and Quincy, but she is also a hollow. In other words, similar to her brother. She didn't go to the Soul Society... Instead she went to Heuco Mundo' Aizen thought with a shit-eating grin
Karakura Town
Each few dozen hollows that Karin consumed had made her grow bigger. As her and Ichigo and Uryū fought the never ending hollows, it was almost a feeding frenzy for her because they didn't pay attention to her at all. Until she hit them then they turned the crosshairs toward her but she was too fast for them to even scratch. She stood on all fours at four foot and seven inches. The more she ate she not only grew but she became stronger too, it was almost addicting to her as she became faster and tore through the hollows like butter
Ichigo meanwhile was in a battle within a battle in himself 'if that's really Karin how could I face her after what had happened... She died because of me' he thought while slicing through hollows
Thud
Every hollow including Karin had fell to their knees immediately, some fell or died immediately. Ichigo and Uryū struggled to stand "thi-this spiritual pressure, it's... its huge!" Uryū struggled to say as he grew frantic
Roaaaaaar
A bellowed horrifying hollow screech resounded throughout the whole place and even shook the ground. They all looked up to see a hole in the sky and through it was a white mask with a pointy nose
Roaaaaaar
"What the hell is that thing!" Ichigo exclaimed as he finally stood up with the help of his sword
Fingers wrapped around the hole in the sky and pulled it apart. The hole grew larger and larger till it revealed a colossal hollow that had a black robe-like body with a massive hole in the middle of its being that clearly showed it was a hollow. It's feet and hands were as white as it's mask
Gun shots were heard as a hollow was killed. Karin, Ichigo and Uryū looked at a small girl with a rocket launcher type of weapon on her shoulder and another kid with a metal club for a weapon. Kisuke tugged his hat up with a grin "how's about you let us handle this here while you three take care of that big guy over there" he eyed the fox hollow analytically, looking for any amount of intelligence it might have or if it would attack
"Right!" Ichigo shouted and ran to the direction "Come on Uryū, Karin!"
The hollow ran beside Ichigo into the direction "wait up! You named the hollow Karin?!" The Quincy shouted from behind
"Remember how I said my sister was killed by a hollow" he said in haste while the fox hollow ran beside him
"Yeah!" He shouted from behind him confused
"That's her, she has her voice!" He exclaimed as they arrived where the Menos Grande was
'It has her voice? Does he really think that thing is her sister? The mere thought of it sounds impossible!' Uryū stared at the hollow that looked at the Menos Grande ready to attack
A voice from a distance shouted "Ichigo you can't fight a Menos grande it will-" the voice of the female was immediately shut down as she fell to her knees as a result of a touch from Kisuke
"Just watch Rukia. This has to happen" he said with a smirk as he watched in interest
Uryū shot arrows into the mask of the Gillian but it did nothing to it but leave a small mark. He grunted "we need to come up with a plan" Uryū said Urgently
Ichigo didn't listen and charged in to attack its foot only to be kicked away like a rag doll. This angered Karin greatly when she saw blood fall from his forehead
"You idiot! What did you hope to accomplish by yourself" the black haired human with an ethereal bow asked incredulously
Ichigo sighed "I thought if I could cut it down to size like a tree I'll eventually be able to get it's head and kill it" he said like if it was the most obvious thing in the world
Karin snickered "brother...is dumb" she said plainly. Uryū felt spiritual pressure building up from the Gillian and immediately looked up
Shhhhwwww
The Menos Grande was charging up a Cero in front of its mask, deep red in color aimed at Ichigo. He ran toward it without a second thought with his sword
"Ichigo wait!" Uryū shouted but fell on deaf ears as Ichigo continued his charge.
Karin didn't know what to do. She never has fought a hollow so big so she couldn't begin to figure out how to defeat it. She stared at her brothers back as he fearlessly charged in and she growled then charged in too. The Gillian released the Cero and it hit Ichigo while he used his sword to block it but it pushed him down to his knee. He grunted under the pressure as he struggled to get up. His spiritual energy was slowly building up releasing a decent amount that began empowering him. Karin came from behind him and placed her front paw on her brothers back and instinctively pushed her own spiritual power into him.
"Rah!" He shouted as he overcame the Cero and immediately counter-attacked by slashing the Menos upward. The attack went up its entire body as the Gillian cried out in a shriek. It started to retreat back into the hole it came from but Karin jumped up its body and rushed to its face
"Wait Karin!" Ichigo exclaimed worriedly
Karin continued till she reached its face and took a chunk out of it with its teeth and began devouring its mask
"Kar-!"
The hole behind them shut closed as they arrived back in Heuco Mundo but in a different place similar to where Karin was before. The only difference was instead of the normal hollows she faced and saw before, were many other Gillian's aimlessly walking and bumping into each other, some eating one another. She finished eating its mask and felt her body pulse with power. It pulsed again then she grew large, larger than ever before, slightly reaching the height of the other Gillian
She had evolved into a Menos Grande. Her body was the same as the others except her mask was different. Instead of the pointy nose mask all the other Gillian's had she had a snout resembling a fox and two horn-like ears on both sides of her mask with three red markings on both sides of the mask. She bellowed loudly but all the Menos ignored her and continued standing or walking aimlessly
'I grew... how?' She asked herself in thought. She looked at a nearby Gillian and opened her mouth and bit its face off. And then the cycle repeated. Somehow she had forgotten about what had happened moments ago, it was extremely hard to process any thought except for consuming the other Gillian's within her vicinity so she did just that.
Karakura Town
"That hollow was Karin! I just know it was!" Ichigo shouted desperately "we have to save her! We have to-
A man opposite of him looked on in pity. Kisuke had thought the hollow to be an interesting unique one that didn't want to consume any other souls except hollow souls but that wasn't the case. The hollow that grew bigger was simply just his little sister turned hollow. "Ichigo there's nothing you can do... Once a soul has turned into a full hollow... There's no turning back. It's irreversible" he continued gravely
The teenage orange-haired boy looked horrified "no... NO! Karin... I'm so sorry Karin!... This is my fault"
The girl who had given the boy his soul reaper powers had flinched, and her heart had ached. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault that his little sister was eaten by that hollow, she could've done something but she let herself be distracted
Flashback
"Ichigo help me!" Karin shouted as a hollow grabbed her small form from inside the house
The hollow smelt her "mmm, yes... Yes that's good! You have a lot of spiritual energy bottled up in you girl, you'll be a nice appetizer!"
Meanwhile Ichigo struggled against the Bakudō that Rukia had used to bind him in the first place, he stood up with pure defiance "wait! If you try to force your way out you will only cause damage to your soul!"
'I don't care! Karin needs me!' Struggling against the spell he materialized the very spell binding sequence itself and grunted as he put more strength into it "URAAGH!" he shouted in triumph as the spell broke entirely and his hands free
The soul reaper girl looked on in shock as she watched the human boy break her Kidō almost easily 'just what is he! How can a human be able to break out of my spell like that!'
Immediately he grabbed a chair and ran as fast as he could with it to make any difference in saving his sister. As he approached he jumped up and tried to hit the monster on its arm but was easily punched away but looked in horror as he watched the hollow bite the head off of his little sister "NOOO!"
End flashback
Rukia's eyes began to water as she was reminded that she failed to do her duty as a soul reaper to protect Ichigo and his family against a hollow. But when he had killed the hollow mercilessly he had almost taken all of her power away from her. She sighed as she remembered how her now friend wailed in anger and grief after he had split the hollow into two. He hadn't blamed her at all... In fact he blames himself and hunting hollows is his only escape to live with the fact that one of his little sister's is gone. He couldn't even tell his family what truly happened, all they know is that a truck had slammed into the house and killing Karin in the proces.
Lone tears dropped from her face as she went over to try to comfort her friend "Ichigo..." she said hoarsely while wrapping her arms around him. He wept on her chest for his sister who was damned to a hollow's existence because she wasn't fast enough to save her.
'Poor Ichigo. I'm sorry Isshin, Masaki. But there's nothing I could do for your daughter... Maybe the Hōgyoku? No... The Hōgyoku wouldn't be able to revert a soul back to a regular soul much less a human being from being a hollow. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we hear from her though. Ichigo could kill her to purify her soul and let her move onto the soul society but mentioning that would only destroy him right now' the shop owner thought regrettably. A shade has shadowed his face, he had brought his hat down as he turned away and closed the door to the room they both were in to give them privacy. He felt for the kid, having to see your family get ripped apart was not something one could easily overcome—it'll haunt him for a long time.
"Huh? Urgh!" Ichigo voiced out in a mix of confusion and pain. His Zanpakutō flared up in heat as if it were warping. He cried out in pain as his spiritual energy kept increasing, a mix of blue and black swirled around him as a result
Heuco Mundo, several days later
A unique Gillian had chomped on the face of another wandering Gillian, immediately absorbing what ever spiritual energy it might have into the unique one. The fox-like Gillian had been at this for an unknown amount of time, consumed by aimless hunger—all it could do was eat. Though the more she ate the fog in her mind had cleared when she first turned into a bigger being than the smaller hollow she once was. She knew she transformed, and that she saw her brother in the human world prior to that. Usually it took a long time for hollows to first transform into Gillian but with the amount of consuming she did, it wasn't long at all.
Usually hollows either form groups that either prey on souls of the human world or other hollow souls because they are too weak to do so on their own. Being on her lonesome had done wonders to her growth, not to mention her smaller appearance had made many hollows try to prey on her because of it. Not that she minded much because the food practically came to her, but this cycle was becoming tedious.
She grew tired of it. Being a massive construct of a hollow. She was the only Gillian who would eat the others—and for some reason they didn't even attack each other but they would attack other hollows who would provoke them. It was a mindless existence but it wasn't like she was complaining. She had overheard a conversation with some of the lesser hollows talking about evolutions, apparently Gillian hollows mindlessly walk or stand for an endless amount of time passes until they just evolve into an adjucha. That made her consume her own kind even more, not wanting to be one of those mindless towers had became a goal of hers. What bothered her most was that she was incapable of any kind of speech in that form. The only option was to evolve.
Karakura Town
Yuzu had been home alone crying her eyes out again for what seemed like the thousandth time. Not only had she lost her mother but she also lost her twin sister, and the more she thought about it... The more it became clearer in her mind that the day it happened it wasn't because of a truck. She vaguely remembered the house wall shattering and Karin being taken away and her first response was to run to her brother Ichigo to save her. She remembered seeing a shimmer of a large creature, a see-through kind of monster that had taken her sister before she ran off.
'I was so weak. I couldn't have done anything to help her... All I could do was run to Ichigo... Yet I was right there... It's all my fault' Yuzu berated herself as she almost began to fall apart another time but instead went into her father's room
She stared at the picture of her mother on the wall above their dresser. Tears flew out of her eyes 'only if I had the strength... Maybe she would still be here today!' More tears poured from her eyes until a small shine appeared within her peripheral vision
Looking to the source of the shine she spotted some sort of bracelet or necklace that had a weird cross pendant on it. It hung below her mother's picture but she couldn't help but feel drawn to it. It almost seemed like it called out to her. She reached out her hand to touch it then a blue light filled the room brightly.
"Yuzu! Yuzu what happ-" Isshin had just arrived home and saw the bright light and felt a presence that he hadn't felt in a long time that came from his room. He ran up stairs as fast as he could and saw his daughter holding a small blue ethereal bow, a Quincy bow
Isshin couldn't believe his eyes "Yu-Yuzu.."
He couldn't believe his eyes, he never thought he'd seen the bow that his late wife Masaki used to wield. It was small yet extremely effective and powerful. And before him his daughter holds that very same bow, with the cross that her mother owned
"Dad! Wha-what is this?!" Yuzu asked scared
Karakura Town
"Stay down Ichigo! Don't you dare move! There's no need for the killing blow brother. Soon he will die here all the same... Take me to the Soul Society"
Ichigo was stunned. Never had he seen Rukia act the way she was acting right now and he couldn't understand it. He lied in his own pool of blood from the strikes of her supposed brother that he never saw coming. He felt cold, and he couldn't move, but that didn't stop him from looking on incredulously. He couldn't hear anything any more as they left, and at the last moment she looked back in tears. He had enough strength to ball his fists in anger
'I'm losing everyone... She protected me before and now again. And now I lose her too...' he thought to himself in peril. He looked up to see the weird man that wore green with the silly hat and cane standing above him, then he was forced to close his eyes.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest and regain your strength at my place?" Kisuke asked repeating the offer to the Quincy who was now standing
Uryū picked up his glasses with his middle finger "no... I-I'll be fine. Just please, take care of Ichi-" he started saying then his eyes widened considerably as he felt a type of spiritual pressure he only felt in Quincies, but it sure as hell wasnt his father—no, he felt it in the direction of Ichigo's house!
"Th-this feeling... It-it's another Quincy... How can that be?!" He asked himself out loud incredulously
Kisuke had immediately connected the dots and brought his hat down, it overshadowed his face "don't worry about it for now. Just rest, I'll handle it"
The boy turned around fast "b-but what if it's-"
Urahara put up his hand "leave it. You need to worry more about yourself right now"
The Quincy reluctantly nodded his head. It's possible that he was just sensing things that weren't there because of his injures. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding and started walking away to his house. He had a lot to think about with all the recent developments
Meanwhile the shop owner watched his retreating form 'there's no mistaking it. It must be Isshin's other daughter. Had losing her sister trigger her latent abilities as a Quincy?' He sighed then looked behind him
"Grab Ichigo and lets head back for now and treat him before he dies" Urahara said gravely
"Yes boss"
Hueco Mundo
"Hey you" a voice called out from below
Karin stopped her feasting on another poor Gillian to look around searching for the voice that called out
"Down here" the voice called again
The enormous hollow once-human spotted the owner of the voice. It was a person, almost human if it weren't for the... Black hollow mask? It was a woman who had a black fragment of a hollow mask that covered half the right side of her forehead. The mask looked to be the shape of a dragon's. The rest of the person looked to be human—pale skin, white hair and light yellow eyes. Curvy body which wore a revealing Shihakushō with a katana that had a white hineri-maki, hexagon tsuba, and a white scabbard. Covering the left half of her body was a white cloak and on the bottom it had diamonds adorned across it. The woman looked to be in her twenties and stood on the side of the clearing beside the space where all the Menos Grande walked aimlessly, closest to Karin
Karin had tilted her giant head in confusion to the side, this woman did not smell like a human, she looked like a Soul Reaper but didn't smell like one either and yet didn't smell like a hollow either.
"I've seen some unique Menos Grande before but you are the most... Interesting. You've consumed so many and yet you haven't evolved yet, I wonder why is that" the woman said amused while having her arms crossed under her chest
'If it were my choice I would've been an adjuchas by now' Karin thought annoyed. She had lost count after the few hundred she had consumed when she was finally able to think clearly. She did her best to shrug as a response to the woman's question to try to indicate that she didn't know either
"Well I like you, you've got spirit. I'd like to also meet you properly so I'll help you out" before Karin could gesture anything, the woman had suddenly appeared on her shoulder as if she teleported in a sonic boom!
The woman placed her hand on the kid hollow then infused her spiritual pressure into Karin in large quantities. Black and white Reiatsu covered their forms then the large hollow began to shrink till she reached the height of 5'4 on all fours, once again becoming a quadrupedal hollow but this time she had the white body of a hollow-like fox adjuchas. Karin had bone-like blades sticking out of her back, they were small but noticeable—the spike went across-what would be her spine all the way to the end of all her tails. At the end of each tail was a sharp piece of bone shaped like a blade. And instead of paws she had hands with five fingers. The once human now had four slim tails that were at least two foot long. But the most distinguishable feature about her was the black markings that were all around her body in a tribal-like manner
Memories came rushing into Karin's head. She dropped her head low as she dropped to the ground and clutched her head with her hands that had sharp black claws. Her entire life as a human flashed before her eyes, all the way till her death—and the encounter with her brother as a hollow.
"I-I remember... I remember who I am..." she said incredulously as she slowly got up on all fours looking at her new hands "I'm an adjuchas now too" Karin looked at the woman who had helped her evolve, looking as appreciative as a fox hollow could possibly be "thank you! I almost thought I was going to be like that forever!"
The woman chuckled "you're quite welcome. The existence of a Menos Grande is not a pretty one. I could imagine the loneliness an intelligent one like yourself felt" she said empathetically
Karin nodded with a sigh "it was so frustrating! Ever since I became a hollow I had forgotten who I was and all I've done was eat, eat, and eat without any type of communication from anyone... Except-"
She was cut off by a hand extending to her "I get it, don't worry about it! I'm Hikaru Yamamoto"
The once human took her hand in her own "I'm Karin. Karin Kurosaki"
"I'm confused" the fox hollow spoke curiously "you don't seem like a hollow, nor a human, nor a soul reaper, so what exactly are you?"
The now known Hikaru chuckled "I would be more than happy to tell you but-" the woman looked at all the Menos surrounding them and they had been staring at them menacingly "we should do it elsewhere" Karin had no time to react before Hikaru put a hand on her shoulder and instantly appeared in another place leaving behind the sound of a sonic boom
"Wha-what the hell was that!" The fox hollow asked alarmed looking in every direction. They weren't in a dark pit or cave any more, they were next to a cave surrounded by an endless sea of sand below a beautiful night sky that held a large shining moon overhead
"That—was Sonido. A high speed movement technique unique to only high level hollows. And to answer your question—technically I am two of those things. A hollow and a soul reaper. It's a long story but before you can understand what I am you should understand what makes a hollow. Hollows are souls either born from the spiritual energy that leaks from every single hollow in Heuco Mundo, or a soul who has died and become a hollow or a soul who was eaten by a hollow and that same hollow is purified by a soul reaper"
"However, there is another way—a terribly unethical way. One could create a hollow by using several Soul Reaper's. These special hollows are called Whites because of their black bodies but white masks with reason to believe they are all Vasto Lorde class. Whites have an ability to imbue their soul into another being and thus cause hollowfication. It's a process that turns a soul into a hollow. I fought a White when I was a soul reaper, and I was much more powerful than it was so I obliterated it. But not before it had bit me causing me to Hollowify. Once I turned, the whole soul society was gunning for me so I asked to Heuco Mundo and several years later here I am"
"But any who, there is an evolution beyond that of a Vasto Lorde, a final evolution of all hollows. It's called an Arrancar. Most beings in Heuco Mundo or the Soul Society have no idea what that is but it's when a Vasto Lorde hollow removes a large part of their mask and in turn—gains the powers of a Soul Reaper"
"I had became a Vasto Lorde hollow and as I escaped, in a fit of rage I tore my mask off and became what I am now. I'm what I like to call a Arrancar Diabolus. Or rather Arrancar Devil. I'm the first of my kind so I had the pleasure of naming what I am" the woman finished her lecture
Karin couldn't help but relate "so you had to become a hollow... Forced to leave everything behind over something you couldn't control" she couldn't help but feel like her and Hikaru were kindred spirits in that regard
The white haired Arrancar nodded "yeah. I have been watching you ever since you went to the human world, took an interest in you. You're not exactly a normal hollow either, though I wouldn't begin to know why" she shrugged with her eyes closed but then smiled "would you like to accompany me in this lonely existence Karin?" She extended her hand similarly to how she did before
Karin thought about it for a second but took her hand and nodded "Okay, we can have each other's backs in this... Never ending war-torn backwards world"
Hikaru giggled "yes I know what you mean. But it's not like hollows have a choice" she said distantly
"What do you mean?"
The black-masked Arrancar looked at her "if hollows don't eat, they cease to exist" her tone was grave as she said those words
"Wh-What?" Karin looked baffled she had not realized that-that was a possibility for every hollow including her
Hikaru leaned against the wall of the cave and stared into the sky "I have seen pacifist hollows, even weak hollows cease to exist because they don't eat or refuse to eat. Hollows are constantly losing their spiritual energy at a slow rate, the lesser hollows more than the higher ones but the same altogether. And once it's gone—" She didn't finish, implying what would happen to them afterward
"Bu-but that's horrible! Is that why we are so crazy with eating each other?"
The hollow-soul reaper nodded "it's not that you hunger for no reason. A soul doesn't require food to survive like normal humans, but they do in order to replenish their spiritual energy. In a hollow's case it's both to replenish and increase the spiritual energy from within so we could evolve, it becomes addicting. But as an Arrancar we don't lose spiritual energy at all. In fact as an Arrancar you can replenish it over time or by eating normal food. It's as close to human as a hollow is ever going to get after all"
Karin was silent, listening and absorbing the information "so I just have to become an Arrancar?"
The older woman nodded "yes. But the only way I know how is to remove your mask at a Vasto Lorde Level. Right now you are an Adjuchas. While I accelerated your evolution as a Gillian, I could only do that because you were painfully close to it"
The former human clenched her fists then sighed "I'm just going to have to get stronger then. And become a Vasto Lorde too, will you help me?" She asked hopefully
Hikaru smiled "of course I will"