As always: I don't own it, Kubo does.
2. What has been gained.
Karin found herself standing on a metal catwalk, starring at an expanse of walkways made of slim struts and metal mesh, with kidney-high railing. The thing was, there wasn't anything supporting the catwalk; no cables from above or pillars from below.
Speaking of below, it looked to be water. No, that wasn't water; there weren't any ripples or reflections. But it was blue! And white. It had little fluffy puffs of… Oh god, it's the sky!
Karin felt a lurch in her stomach, her head began to get fuzzy, making it hard to focus her eyes, and a roar began to fill her ears. Karin found herself sitting limply on the catwalk. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Fufufufu. If looking down did that to you, I would advise against looking up." A smooth, male voice said behind her.
Karin, whirling around to see who had spoken to her, found herself staring at a grinning cat. It stood at about eighteen inches at the shoulder, its fur was a silky black, its eyes were the color of blood, and it was actually grinning at her. As in creepy wide, Cheshire meats the Joker, grin.
"What?" Karin asked. She wasn't entirely put off by the possibility that this cat could speak as it wasn't the first she had seen.
"Pay attention, little girl. I said: 'Don't look up.'"
As any psychologist could tell have told her, this made it virtually impossible for Karin not to look. She immediately wished she hadn't. She was staring at a green and brown patchwork that could only be… the ground.
Yelping, Karin grabbed the edge of the catwalk like she expected to fall right then and there. She couldn't believe this! Up was down, and down was up. Plus the freaky cat. Okay, now where are the obsessive-compulsive rabbit and the mercury-exposed hatter?
"Kahahahoho. Heee… Enough of that." Cackled the crazy cat. "You've got far more important things to do. You have about a week to find me, or it will be too late."
"What do you mean find you? You're right there!"
"Fufufu… You're not too bright, are you, little girl?"
"Whatever. Just fucking tell me what you mean." She said.
"Heee… Among all of the 124,643 platforms that are in this sky is one with a Daito Katana (traditional samurai sword) on display." The creature said, in an over-patient voice. "Find that sword, and take it from the case within one week and I can answer some of your questions."
"Umm… Okay? Just one more thing, what's your name?"
"Kahahahahaha… You're getting ahead of yourself, little girl. I said find the sword, and I'll answer questions. You'll have to wait for my name."
######
Karin had been searching from platform to platform for six full days, and was now on her seventh. The platforms had the most random things sitting in their center. Sometimes it was a realistic model of some place that had been important in her past, or a favorite toy. One had had her mom's old car, and another had actually had Ichigo sitting on a park bench, in full Shihakushou, Zangetsu on his back. But he hadn't responded to anything she said, it wasn't really him.
More thought consuming then the things on the platform was the fact that things weren't looking too good. The sky below her was tented red, even though it was around nine-thirty in the morning, and looking up she could see what looked like a haze of smoke and faint, orange and yellow light. The ground was on fire. Even the catwalks weren't looking too good; they were covered with rust and creaking as she walked on them.
And she didn't feel any closer to finding that damn sword.
"You might want to hurry, little girl." It was the voice of the cat. She hadn't seen him sense that very first day. Turning around, she was surprised that she wasn't looking at a cat at all, but a full-grown man, squatting on the catwalk railing.
The man was dressed in what looked like the getup of a ninja; accept it was all red, save for the black scarf covering his face. Pulling the scarf down, he gave her a grin. A huge, Cheshire/Joker grin, blood red eyes twinkling.
"It's your last day, and things are going to start falling apart if you don't find it soon." The man said with that same, too-smooth voice.
"You… are you…?"
"Fufu. Of course I am."
"Listen, Cheshire, could you at least give me a hint?" She asked him, trying to keep the pleading out of her voice.
"Ho~ I'll do better then that. I'll give you two." He grinned, flipping her off with both hands. "Lesson the first:" He said, waiving his right hand at her, still giving her the birdie. "The sword is a thing of spirit." Switching to his left, he continued. "Lesson the second: follow the red ribbon." Still grinning, he leaned in and touched her on the tip of her nose. "Thus endeth the lesson." And he vanished in a puff of red smoke.
Coughing and waiving the smoke from her face, Karin blinked tears from her eyes. "Damn useless creep." She said to herself. "The sward is a thing of spirit? What the hell does that mean?" She continued, annoyed. Unless…
Closing her eyes, Karin started feeling for Reiatsu. There were several points that shone out to her like lanterns. Which is it? She pushed harder, needing to know more, and suddenly the points of power seemed to reach for her. Streaks of light snaking from them and moving toward her looking like… Ribbons! And one of them is red!
Opening her eyes, Karin reached out and grabbed the red ribbon and began to run in its direction, legs pumping hard in her excitement.
After a few hours, she couldn't run anymore, she was too tired. Why the heck am I hungry? I've gone a week without being hungry at all, and suddenly I'm starving. The only thing she could think of was that it just took her longer to get hungry while outside of her body.
The real problem was that she was breathing in smoke rising from the ground above her; the sky was the color of dried blood, even though it was around noon, and there were holes rusted through parts of the catwalk. Things were getting really bad.
She left a platform that had a table set with a grill and a plate of raw meat, ready to be cooked and eaten. She wanted to stop so bad. The hunger was driving her crazy; but she had to keep going.
When she got close enough to the next platform to see what was on it, her hart suddenly sped up. Sitting on a marble pedestal was a large glass box with what was clearly a daito on display inside.
Forgetting about how tired and hungry she was Karin ran down the catwalk towards the prize. As she got within twenty yards, her excitement was interrupted by a loud crashing noise. Turning around, Karin was horrified to see peaces of the catwalks and platforms falling up, towards the ground. It was falling in a chain reaction, quickly making it's way towards her like a wave of destruction, and she didn't have time!
Turning back towards the platform, Karin dashed as hard as she could. Just as she was almost to the end, there was a screeching sound and the catwalk began to rise, falling towards the ground above her. Reaching the end, she grabbed the edge, flipped herself to the bottom, and jumped down, towards the sky, and reached for the platforms railing.
######
Urahara stared down the shattered shaft at the small girl down there. It had been just over seventy hours since he had cut her chain of fate and she still hadn't come out of Jinzen. Did I miscalculate?
He had done hers a little different then her brother. Ichigo was the type that was hopeless unless he was in a hopeless situation. Without that he didn't put in enough effort to succeed in much of anything. He had the skill; he just needed a push to pull it out. For that reason he had rubbed his face in the danger of Shattered Shaft.
He had believed Karin was different, and because of that he had used Tanma Otoshi and driven her into Jinzen. Shattered shaft would help her find her powers, but it would also risk Hollowfication as a side effect.
Suddenly Karin's body tensed as all the links of her chain of fate suddenly turned on each other. Damn it all. Not again!
The final encroachment had begun.
Just as the last link fell away, leaving a hole in Karin's chest, she suddenly let out an explosive blast of Reiatsu. A few seconds later she was standing in front of him, wearing a Shihakushou with a black Zanpakutou, with a red tassel hanging from it's pommel, thrust through her obi. The weapon was a bit hard to identify; it could be called a rather long Wakazashi, or a rather short Daitou.
"Welcome back, Kurosaki-chan~" He said, smiling and covering his face with his fan. She didn't form a mask. Does that mean she won't be a Visored, or that it will come slower then Ichigo's did?
"I did it!" She said, grinning.
Urahara blinked. He was pretty sure that was the first time he'd ever seen the girl smile. She really aught to do it more often, she was actually a rather cute girl.
"Yoruichi-san~" He called. "Your student is ready!"
Three Years Later
Hitsugaya stood on an invisible platform of his own Reiryoku, surround on all sides, in all three dimensions, by a swirling wall of pink blades, looking like nothing more then a sakura blizzard. Goukei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, it was called, and in a few moments it would compress to shred him into hash. Fuck! Byakuya is really going all out. He usually doesn't go this far.
Focusing, Hitsugaya reached out, and froze all of the millions of blades together in a hollow sphere of ice, himself in its heart. Tensou Jurin, subjugation of the heavens. With a wave of his hand, Hitsugaya shattered the sphere into chunks; the only way Byakuya would be able to use those blades now would be to shave the ice into snow with the blades he undoubtedly had held back from the attack.
Hitsugaya's tightened his hold on his Zanpakutou as he looked down at the Taichou of the 6th Division, who was standing on the ground, looking up at Hitsugaya without emotion. It was like the noble was bored. Let's change that.
With a quick – very quick – Shunpo, Hitsugaya struck at the noble with a basic, downward stroke, one that would cleave his opponent's skull in two. His blade was interrupted by a wave of Sakura blades, blocking him soundly. The instant his blade made contact he froze them, the force of his swing shattering the wall of ice, and Shunpoed behind his adversary.
Just as he was attacking, Byakuya Shunpoed away, attacking Hitsugaya from the left with a Daitou the same color as his Senbonzakura petals. Senkai? Damn, this isn't like him.
Hitsugaya Shunpoed into the attack, allowing it to cleave into his left wing, grabbed Byakuya's sword arm and froze it to the shoulder, sticking it to his hand to keep him from getting away. At the same time he cut through the pectoral muscle, bicep's tendons, and a few other important connective tissues, in a quick stroke. Stomping on Byakuya's foot Hitsugaya froze it to the ground and put his own Zanpakutou to Byakuya's throat.
"I would advise against moving so much as one freaking petal, unless you want me to freeze your entire body." Hitsugaya said, coolly. He was now a little taller then Byakuya, as he had hit a growth spurt shortly after he perfected his Bankai. He wasn't much taller, just enough that if he looked straight ahead he would be looking at the man's eyebrows.
"Impressive victory, Hitsugaya-Taichou. You have managed to beat me two out of three times for the last three months. You have improved greatly." Byakuya said, as if it were no concern to him that he was virtually helpless with a Bankai at his throat.
Snorting, Hitsugaya unfroze Byakuya and Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, released his Bankai, and activated the Kido to begin undoing the damage he had done to Byakuya's arm. "You seem rather intense today. I've rarely seen you pull out Senkai, and never seen you use Goukei at all. At least not in a sparing match."
"No reason." He said, and then paused in thought. "I have been on edge. I'm not entirely sure what to think about Urahara's plan for…" Byakuya said, slowly.
"It's a waist of time." Hitsugaya said, without hesitation. "He has created a monster, no more. He will do nothing but make that monster more dangerous. They should kill the thing, now."
"I agree. Accept, there is that thought: 'What if it works?'"
"Why do think I haven't been more vocal in my objections?"
######
Liontári Psária, an Adjucha of Hueco Mundo, squatted on one of the lower branches of a tree in the Menos Forest. Before him stood three giants in black shrouds, there faces covered in identical, long nosed masks. In fact every detail about them was identical, from the holes in their middles, to their long arms and the ring of spikes circling it's shoulders.
Gillian, they were called, the lowest class of the Menos Grande. They were the servants of his kind, the Adjuchas. The Adjuchas ruled the Menos Forest and the Vasto Lordes, the highest class of Menos, ruled Hueco Mundo itself. Or, rather, that was how it was supposed to be.
Damn, fucking, shit-grubbing Shinigami! Liontári was entirely disgusted that the Vasto Lorde had given the entire world of Hueco Mundo to Aizen, even if he was a former-Shinigami. That didn't matter. He was Shinigami.
Worse, the Vasto Lorde had been corrupted, taking up Zanpakutou like the blasted Shinigami. Blasphemy! And now, after the death of Aizen, they still had Shinigami running around Los Noches. Damn that Zanpakutou wielding sea-bitch. She's a freaking traitor to her species and her world.
Standing, the Adjucha looked at the Gillians. "You will wait for me, here." Turning, they wouldn't be able to respond, as they were only a little smarter then beasts, Liontári Psária opened up Garganta and stepped into Karakura town. I'm going to get these stinking Shinigami out of my world.
######
Karin jumped, driving Reiryoku through her legs to increase the speed of her jump beyond what her tremendous strength could accomplish, which was saying something. Using the momentum of her jump, she slammed her right foot into the hollows face, breaking both mask and bone.
Jumping off of its face before it disintegrated, she lunged toward the other one and drove her knee into its mask. Rinse and repeat.
Landing on the pavement, she walked toward the ghost. He was tall, with dark hair, a toned and muscular body, and a gorgeous face. As she approached, he shook his head, as if coming out of a daze.
"Hello, there. I must thank you for saving me like that. Perhaps I should show my appreciation." He said, putting a curled finger under her chin and leaning down to kiss her.
She leaned forward and… slammed her forehead into the bridge of his nose, breaking it. "Oh, sorry. I must have slipped." She said, dryly, and drew her Zanpakutou, slamming its pommel into his head, hard enough to crack his skull. With a flash of blue light, the annoying ghost was gone, guided by a Hell-Butterfly
It's partially may own fault… She thought, looking down at her Shihakushou. She was wearing the traditional uniform of the Onmitsukidou, which, admittedly, showed off a lot of skin.
She wore it both because it was extremely convenient for someone her preferred Hakuda, like herself, but also to honor the two women she admired most: Yoruichi-sensei and Soi-Fon-Taichou. Both women had helped train her, though Soi-Fon only did it when she came to visit her former Taichou.
Sighing, Karin sheathed her short Zanpakutou into is scabbard at the small of her back. Really, the scabbard was only there when she needed it, as it dissolved into smoke the moment she drew her weapon.
Karin jumped up, onto a nearby roof, and began to Shunpo her way back home. When she got there, she Slipped through the open window, sunk into her body, and headed down the stairs, just as Yuzu yelled: "Dinner's ready!"
Karin sat down at the table, accepting the bowl of miso-soup, and began to eat. The meal was a nice one: miso-soup followed by curry and rice. It was one of Karin's personal favorites.
"Nice spread." She commented to her younger twin. Karin and the girl were complete opposites. Yuzu just barely made it past five foot; was curvy with a large bust; long brown hair; soft, dark brown eyes; and was about as girlish as any girl could get.
Karin wasn't exactly tall, at 5'4", but she was slim and lithe. Her curves were more subdued, as was her bust. She had toned muscles that were quite visible, though that was as much due to her low body-fat percentage as it was her muscle size. To keep it from getting in her way, she had cut her hair into a short, spiky due, kind of like what Tatsuki had early in high school. And her eyes weren't soft, but a hard, dark grey that often looked entirely black.
"Thanks." Yuzu said, giving Karin a frosty look. Their father, Isshin, was away on a business trip today, so it was just them. Karin actually missed him. He had made these meals bearable, because he distracted Yuzu. Her twin was completely pissed off that Karin had gone and gotten into the very thing that had killed their brother.
Did it matter that Karin wanted to protect her family, her friends, and her town? No. All that mattered was that Yuzu get to live her little delusion that staying out of it would keep them safe.
Yeah, right.
"So, how was your day?" Karin asked, hoping to distract her sister. "It was good. I think I did well on the test and on the pop-quiz. I was confessed to twice, though. I really don't get why they keep coming. I mean, it's flattering, but I've been with Jinta for three years now." She said, as she got herself a bowl of curry.
Because high grades were required by Yoruichi-sensei, Karin had managed to skip a year and graduate early, while Yuzu was still in school.
"Speaking of Jinta, look what he got me today." Yuzu said, showing off her earrings. They were silver dangles with little pearls at the end of them. Just the sort of thing Yuzu would love, and Karin would shove into the back of her panty drawer.
"Looks good on you." Karin said, honestly. Her sister could actually pull it off.
"Thanks." Yuzu said focusing on her meal again.
"So, I'm done now. I'm going to get some sleep, see you tomorrow."
"Kay, See you."
Karin went upstairs and took a quick shower, put on a pair of cozy underwear and an overlarge T-shirt, and then crawled into bed and passed out.
A/N: Man, I was hopping to have this out sooner, but I realized I didn't have enough of an idea of what happened next. So, I had to do some plotting. Then I had to pack for moving.
This wasn't where the chapter was supposed to end. I decided to go through an introductory "bad-guy" mini-arc, so that we could get to know Karin and her style before getting into things. I had planned to put it into this chapter; but then the part where Karin got her Shinigami powers took FAR longer then I expected, and I found myself at 3,000+ words without even really starting Karin's part in it.
So, Liontári Psária will have to be dealt with next time.
