Hey! So I know that it has been too long since I last updated, and I apologize. The next one will hopefully be sooner. Anyways, this chapter needs no extra explanation. Hopefully, the wait was worth this chapter... Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Bleach is in no way mine.
"Taichou!" Matsumoto's voice rang out, loud and steady.
Hitsugaya's eyes flew open. He must have fallen asleep while lying on the grass for quiet some time because when he looked up, the moon was a lot higher in the sky from when he saw it before his nap. But that wasn't what worried Hitsugaya. The air around him felt different, almost as if it was denser that normal air which could only mean one thing: the Visored was active.
"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya called out with authority. "Have you discovered the source yet?"
The vice captain shook her head firmly. "It's weird, Taichou. We tried using some of Urahara's tracking equipment to find a location, but it couldn't even pick up a rough estimate of where the Vaizard is. Urahara said this had never happened before and it was unusual, but that it was probably just a technical fault. Yet I couldn't help but get the feeling it was something more."
Hitsugaya nodded; he was glad that his lieutenant was so open with him. "Shall we go look for it ourselves then?"
Matsumoto agreed, but just as they were setting off the reiatsu began spiking uncontrollably, making it harder to trace. This seemed serious. Exchanging urgent glances, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto pushed forwards, desperately trying to find the creature. However, shortly into the pursuit, the reiatsu began growing weaker and fainter. With one final enormous spike of pure human reiatsu, the forest was still again.
Hitsugaya halted and turned to look at his vice captain. "We should head back to Urahara's and see how he advises continuing. Hopefully, he will have some sort of lead or an improved tracking device."
Matsumoto nodded, so resuming the silence, Hitsugaya started shunpoing back to the shop. Upon arriving, Ikkaku slid open the door, a huge smile lurking on his face.
"What?" Hitsugaya snapped at him. "What are you smiling?"
"Isn't it obvious? That's one tough bastard were going up against."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, whoever it is managed to surpass the hollow even after it had almost gained complete control. That takes a powerful mindset and some serious guts which is just the qualities that I would want in an opponent."
"Ikkaku, this isn't the time to be saying that. We need to assess the situation and act based on our conclusions. You can't want the fight all for your own; we need to use the best strategy for defeating it." Hitsugaya scolded, although Ikkaku did have a point. This Visored could be very dangerous. He just hoped it wouldn't have to come down to a one on one fight, despite what Ikkaku desired. Just as he was thinking this, Urahara stepped into view, looking down at a small box, a deep frown on his lips.
"Is something wrong, Urahara?" Hitsugaya asked.
"Yes and no. This box can be used to find the source of reiatsu after it is fed a small sample. I gave it some of the Visoreds but for some reason, it didn't work. This could easily be explained through technical error, but I think its something different. When the human was gaining control over the hollow, then its reiatsu was more human, and vice versa. Given this information, it will be almost impossible to track it because its reiatsu will be changing dramatically."
"That will indeed be a problem."
"There's something more though. I think that a human may have died tonight."
"What makes you say that?" Hitsugaya asked as his stomach clenched. Although it was only one human, it was still one innocent life that was gone on his watch.
"I only say that because of the particular way the reiatsu spiked. There was a second, weaker spike which was hidden in those of the powerful Visored. I recorded it in case you wanted to see for yourself?"
"No, it's fine. Should we report this to Soul Society?"
"I suppose you should. Tell them to look for newly arrived soul with fairly high spirit particle concentration. The one that died today had high but undeveloped reiatsu."
Hitsugaya nodded but his insides recoiled: undeveloped reiatsu meant that it was a kid that died tonight. ""I'll be back in a moment." Ducking out, he left Ikkaku and Urahara standing alone in the entrance.
"So," Ikkaku said.
Urahara looked up at him. "Yes?"
"Who is it?"
"Who is who?"
"Who is the Visored? I know you know who it is."
"Why would you come to such interesting conclusions?"
"Just the way you act and talk."
"You must be mistaken."
"Fine, don't tell me. Just remember that one person died tonight. If you hold your silence then you never know how many more might go the same way."
Urahara grimaced. "Don't say it like that."
Scoffing, Ikkaku walked out of the shop calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to look for Yamachica. If Hitsugaya-taichou asks just tell him that."
Urahara nodded, and although Ikkaku couldn't see him he just kept walking. Hitsugaya announced himself with a loud sigh as he reentered the room, replacing Ikkaku.
"Well Yamato-taichou has put Mayori on the case of finding the killed human. He said that he will contact us if they find anything out."
"That's good," Urahara said.
"I suppose."
"It's not your fault you know."
"Yes it is. I was on duty; it was my responsibility to protect everyone in this town."
"That doesn't mean–"
"Yes it does," Hitsugaya cut him off. "I appreciate you trying to make my feel better, but I know the truth. It was my fault. Don't try and argue it; it will only make my feel worse."
Hitsugaya forced a tight smile and stalked out of the room. Urahara looked down at the failed box sadly. It was mostly his fault, and now the young captain was blaming himself for a wrongful death. His thoughts were cut off when Hitsugaya called out to him.
"I'm just going to go tell Ichigo what happened and then I'll come back. Alert me if there was a breakthrough, OK?"
"OK," Urahara replied.
Hitsugaya began pacing to Ichigo's house. It was weird to think that only six hours earlier he had been eating dinner there without the slightest care in the world. Cautiously, he slid Ichigo's window open and darted through.
"Toshiro!" Ichigo's voice sounded startled hinted with confusion.
"Sorry that it's so late, but I have news that I think you want to hear." Quickly, he filled him in and once he finished, Ichigo's face was dark and his eyes had an intense look in them.
"We'll find that bastard," He assured Hitsugaya.
"I hope. Well, I have to go now; I want to patrol the town to see if anything unusual pops up."
Ichigo nodded. "I'll stop by Urahara's tomorrow."
"OK, see you then," Hitsugaya said, already bolting out of the room. Right now all he wanted was to be alone.
After several hours of searching with still no luck, Hitsugaya admitted defeat. Finding a springy part of grass, he gently sat down. As he closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep, he was fervently hoping that he would have peaceful dreams and not be plagued with nightmare. But as he had discovered earlier that night, luck was not on his side.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Darkness filled the air, surrounding Toshiro, creating a blanket that covered everything, making illusions of what is real and what is not. In darkness so black, it was futile to trust your eyes because more often that not, they would be lying.
Suddenly, a bright white light pierced through the blackness and illuminated Toshiro's face and his startled eyes. He peered into the unknown, searching for what was lighting up the world. A light laugh filled his ears and echoed around the space, repeating over and over, each time growing a little softer until it finally faded. It sounded so familiar and with a heart sinking like it was filled with lead, Toshiro spoke one word, a name.
"Karin."
She laughed again and gradually the darkness lifted, taking away a small fear Toshiro didn't even know existed with it. He surveyed his surroundings and realized it was the same setting as where he had once watched the stars with her. Taking a deep breath, he glanced back at her, knowing that when he did the air in his lungs would have vanished.
Her eyes were lively and focused on taking Toshiro's appearance in, darting around his face and absorbing his features. A smile flitted onto his lips but it was fleeting and brief because as happy as Karin's face appeared to be it seemed as if there was sadness hidden behind it. Reaching out, he went to grab her hand but she pulled away and started to walk in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" He called after her, but she had no reply, instead continuing her flight in silence.
Toshiro's brow furrowed, his face became closed and troubled. 'Why was she leaving and keeping her secrets away from him instead of telling him what was wrong?' He thought. He had remembered her as a tough, defiant tomboy who stood up for what she believed in, and this didn't seem like her at all. His mouth narrowed into a thin line, angry with himself. 'Then again, how can I claim that I know what she is like if I left her to return to my duties in Soul Society and haven't seen her in several years?'
Despite his pessimistic thoughts, he hurried after her through the grass field, slowly catching up to her. Reaching out, he snatched her hand and held on tightly as she went to draw away. Her eyes narrowed, but Toshiro saw only a facade of anger that was covering up her true emotions.
"What are you doing?" Her voice didn't have its usual proud ring to it.
"I could ask the same of you."
"You need to stay away from me; you need to go home and never come back."
"What do you mean? Why would I go back? Karin, I - " The words spilling out of his mouth finally stopped as his mind caught up to what his body was saying. Yet, he still finished the thought that he had begun. "I love you."
Her face darkened. "Stop lying to me, Toshiro."
"I'm not lying, I promise!"
"If you truly loved me, then you would have noticed. You would have seen that I was different from before; you would have seen how now I'm broken, falling apart and rotting inside, barely able to stay alive."
He fiercely brought his eyes to meet hers and with panic, he saw they were empty, dead. A part of her soul was gone, and he hadn't even its absence until now. His eyes had been covered, seeing only what he wanted to see and not the truth lying so plainly before them. His stomach sick, he reached out and pulled her close to him, hugging her tightly as if this would make up for his blindness.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered into her raven black hair.
Tightening his arms, they suddenly collapsed in upon themselves as there was no Karin to embrace, simply air. They thudded to his sides, his heart clenched painfully. Drawing back to watch in panic, he stared at her, only it wasn't her. The girl he had been hugging moments before was now just a fuzzy outline of features, fading like smoke. Desperately, he grabbed at her, trying to hold onto her, to keep her safe and next to him. But his fingers went right through the illusion, distorting the image and destroying any last of hope of feeling her warmth again. Shimmering slightly, Karin vanished fully, leaving Toshiro standing in an empty field and feeling even emptier inside.
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