I'm just gonna start by saying, it's not my fault!
"What's not Narrator-chan's fault?" Karri asked, looking over at the Narrator from her death grip on Hunny.
I'm not sure anymore…Hey! Play nice with Hunny, my poor bunny can't take much more abuse!
The pink haired girl looked at her friend strangely. "Narrator-chan does realize it's a stuffed animal, right?"
…Maybe…
Renji groaned lightly, not exactly ready to wake up, but knowing that he had to. Sunlight beat down on his sensitive eyes. For a moment he thought he saw Karri attempting to feed her lap her breakfast. He blinked twice to clear his vision.
Yep, she was definitely pouring spoonfuls of cereal into her lap.
"Karri?" The red head called, sitting up properly on the couch and watching her tiredly. "Karri, I don't think your lap's very hungry."
Karri suddenly seemed to snap out of her daze. "Oh! S-sorry, MonMon-chan, Karri-Karri was just thinking about something…"
Walking over to her he kissed her forehead lightly before taking the cereal and shoveling a large spoonful into his mouth. "Don't think too hard."
"Karri-Karri will try…" After another moment of silence she seemed to realize that something was missing. "Hey! MonMon-chan stole Karri-Karri's breakfast!"
"Eat what you have first." He snickered, watching her face go bright red as she noticed the cereal in her lap.
Their peaceful morning, however, was cut short as a specific orange haired shinigami substitute walked through the front door. Unlike most mornings when he'd walk in with a small smile or an annoyed scowl, today his expression held nothing but seriousness. "Berry-chan, what's wrong?" Karri asked, immediately forgetting her own cereal troubles.
"We're going to the bounts hide out." Ichigo stated, looking away from the both of them. "We need to leave now."
Karri grinned uncomfortably, trying to lighten the mood just a bit. "Okay, Berry-chan! Just let Karri-Karri get changed into something else real quick." She then darted up the stairs, taking the three by three, and running to her room.
It wasn't something she wanted to let everyone else know, but her heart was beating harder than it ever had. She was completely terrified of what was going to come, scared of the battles her friends would face, scared of her own battles too, but mostly scared that she would have to kill more people.
Quickly converting her expression back to a happy one, she pulled out two random items of clothing and tossed them on. Karri then ran back downstairs, doing a flip off of the second to last step and landing in front of her neighbor. "Okay, Berry-chan, Karri-Karri's ready!" She smiled brightly, pushing down her own nervousness to at least try to reassure her friends.
Ichigo nodded at her, turning to Renji as he popped in a piece of soul candy. "Let's go."
Six figures slowly made their ways through the darkness, each and every one of them alert and aware. Karri looked around nervously; why hadn't anything happened yet? They had gotten the right cave…right?
Suddenly, she noticed something shifting through the shadows. Karri could feel her heart beat increase, but she simply repressed that fear and followed the unknown thing she had seen.
She seemed to wander for what felt like hours, but was in no way even close to that, before finding a bright light ahead. Looking back into the darkness, she finally realized that her friends were not with her. "Oh no…" She thought, staring fearfully into the darkness. "Karri-Karri is…alone…"
In a split second she found a sword to her throat and a hand restraining hers. "Looks like Ugaki missed one." A man stated, looking down at the small girl. He flash stepped into the large room that was inhabited with many other bounts Karri hadn't seen before. "Kariya-sama, what would you like me to do with this woman?"
"He must be the one in charge." Karri thought, watching silently as the white haired man came over to inspect her. A dangerous aura seemed to surround him. Though her heartbeat was racing, she still held a firm, determined expression.
One of the bounts to the side scoffed and looked at her disdainfully. "Kill her; we don't need a worthless human around here."
The taller one looked down at the woman. "Now, Yoshi, don't you remember that she was the one to kill Hō and Ban?"
"That doesn't mean anything." The old man grumbled. "Those two children were completely worthless."
Kariya merely glanced at the other bounts to silence them. "This girl will prove more useful alive. Ichinose, hold her there, and be careful to make sure she does not speak; that could be a problem if she is able to use her powers. Although if she proves to be more troublesome you may kill her."
"Yes, Kariya-sama." Ichinose nodded, pulling Karri over to the gate with him and placing his blade to her throat. "Utter so much as one syllable and I will slit your throat, do you understand?"
Nodding slightly, the pink haired girl watched the entrance to the room carefully waiting to see Renji and Ichigo and everyone else. They had to show up sometime, right?
A bright smile covered Karri's face as she watched a familiar mop of orange hair run into the room. "Be—" She quickly stopped what she was about to say as she felt the blade press closer against her neck.
"Karri!!" Ichigo shouted, watching his friend in her current predicament. He pulled out his large blade and pointed it at Ichinose. "Let her go!"
Ignoring the demands of the teenager, Kariya turned to the other bounts. "Begin the preparations."
Koga nodded and began reciting a strange chant. Kariya then disappeared for a moment, reappearing in front of the substitute shinigami and kicking him into the wall. Karri shifted against her captor, forgetting the threat that was being pressed even closer to her neck. "Berry-chan!!" She called, watching as Kariya stopped Ichigo's sword with his bare hand.
It seemed hopeless. Everything Ichigo did was useless against Kariya's sheer power.
Ichigo lay on the floor next to his zanpakutō, not having the strength to reach for it. Kariya was busy explaining the history of the bounts, but Karri didn't care about that. She could only stare in horror as her close friend lay helpless and injured on the floor. Was this really it? No, it couldn't be. Ichigo was stronger than that. Karri shouldn't have been worrying about him; she should have been cheering for him and believing in his strength.
And that's what she would do. "Berry-chan can do it!" She shouted, ignoring the blood that was now dripping from her neck. "Karri-Karri believes in Berry-chan!!"
"Shut up!" Ichinose shouted, placing his hand over her mouth.
Ichigo grabbed his sword, powering up for a moment before releasing a large blast directly at Kariya. Much to his dismay, Kariya blocks it single handedly.
"Berry-chan…!" Karri thought watching again as Kariya began beating the orange haired shinigami senseless. She closed her eyes, not willing to watch this battle any longer.
"The fool is going to lose. He doesn't have the power to take on Kariya-sama." Ichinose mumbled, watching the battle intently. "Just give up all hope of him wining."
Looking up at him angrily, Karri freed her mouth from his grip. "Berry-chan won't give up because he knows he's stronger! He's going to show you all!"
It seemed almost like magic; at that moment a powerful reiatsu filled the room, a reiatsu that belonged to none other than Ichigo. Karri and Ichinose both turned their attentions back to the battle, more excitedly watching the two resume their fight. She knew it, Ichigo was stronger than that! As the battle continued, Ichigo actually landed some blows.
Suddenly, a shot was fired between the two of them. Stopping the battle, they both looked at the one who had fired the shot. "Ishida-san!" Karri shouted, watching as he and everyone else appeared.
"Karri-chan!" Orihime called, noticing her friend being held captive.
Uryū powered up his arrow and aimed it at the head bount. "I can't be the only burden forever." He said, glancing at Ichigo for a moment.
"Finish the preparations." Kariya said, looking back at the other bounts for a moment before turning to the Quincy. "I'll handle this."
Ichinose nodded, dragging Karri with him as he moved to do as his master had ordered. Karri watched as Koga finished opening the gate. Everyone then turned their attentions to Uryū. He held the arrow, pointing it Kariya still, but releasing it at the gate at the last minute.
"Disappear!!" Karri shouted, aiming for the arrow, but the arrow hit the gate before it could be destroyed. "Dammit…" She hissed, feeling Ichinose's hand clamp over her mouth.
The gate lit up as all the bounts watched it happily. "Thank you, Ishida. We couldn't have done this without you." Kariya grinned evilly, turning to the gate and stepping through it.
Karri began struggling, not wanting to go through the gate with the bounts. "D-disappear!!" She shouted, focusing on the sword at her throat.
The blade began glowing a bright gold colour. But before it could implode Ichinose had already thrown the small teenager to the side and disappeared through the gate. "Karri!" Ichigo called, catching her before she hit the ground.
"Th-thanks, Berry-chan." She smiled weakly, staring up at her neighbor.
He smiled softly at her as he set her on her feet. "Yeah…"
Orihime ran over to her friends, panicking slightly at the blood that was still dripping from Karri's neck. "Karri-chan, just hold still for a moment." Calling out Ayame and Shun'ō, she healed the wound on her friend.
Karri smiled brightly at the two small faeries. "Thank you, Ayame-chan, Shun'ō-chan!" She then turned to her long time friend and pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you, too, Hime-chan!"
The bustier teen smiled softly at her. "You're welcome, Karri-chan."
Their moment was quickly cut short when Renji entered the room. "MonMon-chan!!!" Karri yelled, running over to him as fast as she could and tackling him to the ground. "Karri-Karri missed MonMon-chan so much! Is MonMon-chan alright? MonMon-chan is hurt!!"
"Don't worry; I'm alright, Karri-chan." He reassured her by kissing her lightly on her lips.
The sound of someone clearing their throat broke apart Renji and Karri's moment. The small teen looked up and stared at the beautiful man standing next to the two of them. "I believe we should be going after them now." He mentioned.
"Waaah…so pretty!" Karri mumbled to herself. A bright smile covered her features as she stared at Yumichika. "Okay, Pretty-chan! We can go."
He stopped for a moment before picking up the small girl and hugging her tightly. "Oh, aren't you adorable! Truly someone who knows beautiful things when she sees them! And quite a beauty yourself at that!"
"Hey, Ayasegawa, give her back!" Renji said, a bit jealous that he was holding her so close.
"No! She's far too beautiful to be left in your hands." Yumichika retorted, only holding her closer.
"She's my girlfriend!"
"A beauty like her deserves better!"
"Karri—"
They were both cut off as Ichigo tugged her out of Yumichika's hands and tossed her over his shoulder. "Let's go."
"Okay, Berry-chan!" Karri smiled happily, swinging her legs lightly as they walked through the gate to a new world.
Okay, that's all for now!
"Hehehe, Pretty-chan is nice, and MonMon-chan finally came! Karri-Karri's happy now." Karri smiled at the Narrator.
And just wait until the next chapter. The real fun begins in Seireitei!
