Here it is: the 7th chapter! Much stuff is revealed, and is [hopefully] exciting. Well, read on and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach all; if I did then Karin and Toshiro would be dating 3
A muffled sound whispered through the night, so quiet that Toshiro had to strain just to hear its soft murmurs. Curious, he walked towards the source briskly, pausing after a few moments to listen carefully to it again. Yet the sound had neither gotten louder nor softer.
Confused, he began to walk faster and faster until he wasn't walking anymore but running, yet even that was not fast enough. No matter how fast he forced his legs to move it wasn't fast enough to get him to the source. Annoyed, he stopped running and slowed to a walk, and then stopped moving altogether. He sat down on the cold asphalt, just listening to the sound. But as hard as he tried, he still couldn't distinguish it.
He lay on his back and stared up at the dark, starless sky, his eyes flickering from one end of the horizon to the other, not knowing where the sky ended and the ground began. Not knowing something that should be so definite was unnerving, so he tried to think of things that he would always be able to rely on. He listed them off in his head: being a captain, having Hyourinmaru, Momo and his grandmother loving them. With a pang, he remembered his grandmother's illness and realized that she might not love him for much longer because she might not be here for much longer. If she did pass away, Momo might not love him anymore because she might blame him for not visiting enough. At that, all the certainties in his life seemed to fall apart: he could turn against Soul Society and destroy his captaincy or he could lose his shinigami powers and with that Hyourinmaru. A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him and despite being the strong, in-control captain, he couldn't stop his body from trembling as tears welled up in eyes. One escaped from beneath his eyelid and soon the others were following suit, chasing each other one after another down his face.
Suddenly, he knew what the mysterious sound that he heard earlier was: muffled sobs. His stomach clenching with hopelessness of how to help the crying stranger, he thought of the words that he wanted somebody to tell him right now. Quietly he called them into the darkness. "Shhh, it's okay. Everything is going to be okay… Don't worry… Shhh.."
The sound paused for a moment, before the person responded. "You don't know what it's like. It hurts: feeling empty inside and acting happy on the outside, crying silently everyday and having no one notice. People tell you that they love you, but they don't see how you're hurt inside."
Toshio stood up and began walking towards the voice. "Well I'm here for you now; I heard the cries that you thought were so silent. I could feel your emptiness and brokenness if only you would let me."
The voice responded louder this time, the distance between it and Toshiro was shrinking rapidly. "I tried. I tried to show you, and I tried to show the world. Yet you put up walls between yourself and the real me. The real me is ugly, it's in agony, so you put a mask on it and pretend that it's pretty and pain-free."
Toshiro grimaced at the bitterness cutting him with every sharp word she spoke. "Will you give me one more chance? Let me try to see you one more time, the real you."
"Okay," the girl spoke, her voice quiet and delicate. She stepped out of the shadows and he saw a cute, familiar face framed by short raven black hair. Coal colored eyes regarded him wearily and a slight frown wrinkled the perfectly shaped lips.
"Karin?" He asked.
"I'm not the Karin that you know," she whispered. "I'm not pretty, not happy, and surely not carefree. I'm lonely, helpless, and hurt. Try to see the inner me; try to see what I see when I look in the mirror. Please, Shiro-chan. I said that I was giving you one more chance."
He looked at her, imagining her face contorted in agony, tears on loneliness streaming down her cheeks, her body quivering with fear of the unknown. And slowly the face that he saw began to change. Her eyes lost their sparkle to become cold, dull, and lifeless. Her hair lost its luster and instead hung limply in stringy bunches. Her ivory skin became blotchy and unattractive. But most noticeable and scary of all was the human qualities of her face contorted; no longer did she look like a young girl, but a sick and twisted demonic creature. Emotions spilled across her face, each changing a feature to make her increasing uglier. Now anger, hate, bitterness, pain, loneliness, helplessness, and fear all had their own place on her wicked façade.
Toshiro could do nothing but stare at the incredible transformation, mesmerized by the emotions she had been hiding for so long finally put on display. It was horribly disgusting, yet he couldn't bear to wrench his eyes away from the atrocious sight.
"Can't you see now?" She murmured. "I'm a monster."
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A pair of turquoise eyes flew open in the dark to stare at the ceiling of one of the back rooms in Urahara's shop.
"Dammit," Hitsugaya swore in between rapid gasps of breath. Inhaling deeply, he attempted to calm his heart rate and forget the tremor and adrenaline running through his veins. Shaking his head in annoyance, he tried to convince himself that these dreams were weird and irrational, so he should just forget about them.
"I am going to catch that bastard Visored so I can return to Soul Society. Everything can go back to how it should be then; Karin will become only that cute girl from the World of the Living once more," he muttered bitterly.
He tried to settle back into his warm bed, but after finding falling asleep to be a fruitless task he stood up and slipped silently out of his room and though Urahara's store until the chilly night air greeted his face. The cold wind whipped through his white hair, tousling it, but he didn't care. He was used to the cold; he liked the cold. Sighing in content as his muscles relaxed in the chill, his nightmare seemed like a far away memory soon to be forgotten. Lifting his face to the sky, he observed that there was not a single could in the sky obscuring the light of the moon or stars reaching down to Earth.
Suddenly, his senses alerted and all signs of the newfound tranquility vanished. Adrenaline began to flow once more, fast and furious giving his a false sense of energy and awareness. He could sense reiatsu, neither human nor shinigami, just the smallest flare along the outskirts of Karakura Town. Tonight would be the night the Visored went down.
Pushing off from the ground hard, Hitsugaya began sprinting towards the reiatsu still lingering in the air. He 'shunpo'ed as fast as he could, the buildings flashing by as just a mere blur in his speed. The intensity of the reiatsu appeared to build as he drew nearer, and with a grimace, he increased his speed one final time before he stood in front of the soccer field.
Pausing a moment, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed in determination before he hurried across the space separating him from a monster.
The Visored was clearly illuminated in the moonlight and starlight, its frame so small that it had to belong to a child. The human form was covered by a translucent, bubbling red reiatsu that spewed from the trademark Hollow hole in the middle of its chest. The reiatsu seemed to give the human a different form, presumably the shape that the Hollow would take on if released. Tipping its head back, the Visored let out a piercing, blood curdling scream that chilled Hitsugaya to the bones. As the cry trailed off, the creature coughed and a fountain of the blood colored reaitsu flew out of its mouth. Suddenly, it collapsed, falling to it hands and knees, trembling with sheer pressure.
Hitsugaya paused, unsure if and how to intervene as the human struggled to overcome the Hollow's powers.
One of the Visored's arms collapsed, so it was now balanced with its full forearm on the ground, still shaking. It let out another cry, a scream so human yet so full of pain and suffering that it seemed impossible for one person to contain so much agony in one body. As it let out this terrible cry, the reiatsu surrounding the Visored seemed to be retracting from around the human body to fill the hole in its chest. The figure glowed for a moment, but as it managed to repress the power of the Hollow, the glow disappeared with all traces of the reiatsu.
It was only then that Hitsugaya could see the human form of the Visored.
"No…" he whispered, falling to his knees in disbelief and shock. "No…"
The figure continues to tremble despite its efforts of containing the Hollow had ended. Coughing, a splash of blood fell to the ground, a red stain underneath the its mouth.
"No…" Hitsugaya moaned.
Finally acknowledging him, the Visored turned its head and met his mournful gaze. Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes stared directly into a coal black pair.
"So, you've finally found me, eh Shiro-chan?" Karin voice wasn't mocking, but instead soft and unbearably sweet. She forced a smile that looked so horrible out of place of her blood stained face that Hitsugaya turned his head away from her.
He numbly stood up and walked over to Karin to tower over her kneeling body. She struggled to stand, so weak that she swayed on her feet, unsteady and unbalanced. Yet that didn't stop her from directly meeting Hitsugaya's stare. Limply holding out her wrists, she surrendered herself to being arrested and taken back to Soul Society to face her punishments.
When Hitsugaya made no move to retrain her in kido, she spoke to him as encouragingly as possible. "You know that if you don't do this, then someone else will and they may not be as gentle as I am sure you will be." Trying to smile again proved to be too much for Karin as he moved towards her outstretched wrists, so instead she closed her eyes.
A light tap and her arms were fully bound in a pale blue kido. A small pull and she was stumbling along behind Hitsugaya as he led her across the soccer field, retracing back the steps that he had so urgently run just minutes before.
"We will use the Senkai Gate in Urahara's shop to return to Soul Society, but I will allow you to rest tonight." His voice was quiet and emotionless, the triumph he had imagined would be in it was now gone.
After several moments of walking in silence, Matsumoto appeared before him.
"Taichou?" She asked questioningly. He knew that in this one word, she was asking if Karin was the Visored and if everything was going to be okay. Keeping his face ever blank, he responded to her two questions in one word.
"Yes." He said it with as much conviction as was possible for someone who didn't truly believe the words that he was speaking.
She nodded, her face clouded with emotions that she tried desperately to conceal. He knew how found she had grown to the girl, after all it had been Karin that Matsumoto had dragged along on all of her shopping trips.
"Did you want me to bring her to Urahara's shop?" She finally asked after a long pause.
"No, I will. However, go to the Kurosaki house and bring Ichigo back. I think that he will need to talk to Karin, Urahara, and myself before we leave tomorrow."
"Hai." She responded tersely before vanishing back into the night.
"Ichi-nii is coming?" Karin whispered.
"Yes… I assumed that you and he would like to talk one final time before you come with me…"
"Arigato, Shrio-chan," she said, her voice trailing off before she collapsed, exhausted from all the effort she had exerted. Hitsugaya caught her falling body easily in his slender yet strong arms. She felt too light for someone her height; it seem as though she wasn't truly there. Cradling her body close to his own, he felt her warmth flow through his arms and chest, warming him from the outside in. Without saying a word, he kept walking to Urahara's shop, letting his mind wander around the same four words: Karin was the Visored.
As Hitsugaya slid open the door to Urahara's shop, Ichigo leapt to his feet, his brown eyes darting from Hitsugaya to Karin to the bonds on her wrists in panic.
"Matsumoto said that she saw– and now you're hear but– Karin could never have–," Ichigo's words blended together, phrases and sentences jumbled together trying to find a cure for his worry.
Hitsugaya looked up into Ichigo's face and felt his stomach drop. Seeing someone as strong and confident as Ichigo act so lost and confused made the truth seem all the more real and devastating. Unable to speak, he walked over to a small pile of cushions and gently laid Karin down upon them.
Ichigo opened his mouth to speak once more, but Urahara stopped him with a firm "Ichigo. Sit down again and I will explain everything."
"You? But you were here the whole time, weren't you? I just – "
"Sit down, Ichigo. You too, Hitsugaya-san. This will make a lot more sense if you let me talk without interruptions."
After waiting patiently for Ichigo and Hitsugaya to be seated at the table with Matsumoto, Ikakku, and Yamachicka, Urahara began to talk once more.
"It's my fault that this whole situation got so out of hand. I knew that Karin was the Visored for quite some time now. Please, no interruptions," he said, watching everyone open their mouths to speak. "She came to me the day after the Hollow attack, looking very beaten up and shaking. I took her in and naturally found out what had happened. Her memory wasn't too clear, all she remembered was being in the soccer field when a Hollow appeared and started attacking her. I inferred the rest. When I explained the situation to her, she panicked and of course wanted to tell you, especially after I told her that you had a Hollow inside you as well.
However, I convinced her that the best thing she could do now was to give it some time. I know Soul Society, and I knew what they would do her. Although I didn't know Karin personally at that point, I couldn't let an innocent life go through that hell. I thought that I could develop some technology that could help because I had primitive knowledge of Visoreds.
Karin visited me several times over the next week, describing to me all of her struggles with exact details. It was incredibly helpful for researching purposes, and although I made several small technologies, I couldn't help her as much as I had thought I would be able to. In a few instances, she lost control for a couple minutes and would have to fight to suppress the Hollow. That's when Soul Society became aware of the situation. Not long after that, Hitsugaya and his team came to solve this 'problem'. Karin panicked she heard, and was even more determined to tell Ichigo. Again, I told her let things play out.
Of course, I didn't do anything to hinder the mission; in fact I made several tools that could be used to help. I just couldn't force myself to bluntly tell who the Visored was because I had put too much effort into trying to protect her. I almost did tell when I found out that Karin had killed a girl. Now she wasn't just endangering herself, but others around her. I convinced myself not to because I knew that her punishment would be terrible now. In the end though, I couldn't protect her.
If I had just complied and gone with what Karin had wanted to do in the first place, we would have never had this issue. So for that, I apologize to all of you." Urahara bent his neck and looked down, his hat casting a shadow on his face that covered his expression.
No one spoke for several moments after Urahara stopped speaking, until suddenly Ichigo rose abruptly and angrily.
"This is complete shit!" He cried, slamming his fist down upon the table. "Karin's my little sister; she's barely old enough to understand how Soul Society even works! And now you're saying that what? She's going to have to go in there and be punished for something that was completely out of her control?" Furious he turned to Urahara. "What's her punishment going to be?"
"That depends on how severe they think her crime was. At worst, she will be put to death." He replied quietly.
"Death? Death? Is Soul Society really so fucked up that they will put a little girl to death? That is so disgustingly wrong! And you," he turned to Urahara once more. "Why didn't you stop this shit? You're supposed to be in control, to always have your fucking plans! So what's your plan? How are you going to get Karin out of this goddamn hole that you dug for her?"
Urahara remained silent, taking every verbal blow that Ichigo struck him with.
"And you," he spat at Hitsugaya, "why the fuck aren't you doing anything about this? I thought that you cared about Karin; I thought that you cared about doing the right thing! Well tell me Toshiro, what's the right fucking thing to do now? Because I don't think that killing an innocent little girl is the right thing to do and I doubt that you do either! So why don't you drop all your fucking captain's pride and do the goddamn right thing!"
Blood rushed through Hitsugaya's veins, anger boiled in his chest. Yet he couldn't scream back at Ichigo; he couldn't defend what he was doing. All the rage that Ichigo had, all the words that he yelled, were justified. How could he argue for bringing Karin to Soul Society to face her death if he didn't believe in it himself?
Ichigo strode over to the table at which everyone was seated and kicked it, sending the tea cups flying into the wall, crashing loudly into a thousand pieces. "What are all you fucking bastards going to do to save my sister?"
When no one said anything, he turned towards the door and exited, slamming it so hard that the whole shop seemed to vibrate in response. No one spoke for several minutes, simply staring at the mess that Ichigo had created, all the broken pieces of glass lying shattered on the floor.
Finally a soft voice called out, "Ichi-nii?"
Urahara turned to Karin. "Your brother just left, but he will be back before you leave for Soul Society, don't worry. The best thing that you can do now is to get some rest because you have a long journey tomorrow," he reassured her softly.
She murmured something inaudible before falling back into unconsciousness. She tried to turn over in her sleep, but found her bonds restricting her. Silently, Hitsugaya walked over and released her from the kido that bound her. He watched her sleep for a moment before looking out the window into the starry night.
Turning away from her, he spoke to the room, "I am going to find Ichigo now and try to talk to him. Please, don't come looking for us." He walked steadily across the floor and just as he slid open the door to slip into the night, Urahara responded.
"Remember, Hitsugaya-san, that Ichigo isn't acting like himself now. You know how important his family is to him, and after knowing how it feels to lose one family member he will fight against losing a second. Be careful of what you say to him."
"Hai," Hitsugaya replied his attention still focused on the quiet night in front of him. With one last look back at Karin, he slipped outside for the second time that night. However, this time he was going to right a wrong.
So what did you think? Leave a comment or message me. There are probably going to be about 3 more chapters before this series ends, so yeah. Get pumped! (:
