Hello!
How did you all like the last chapter? I received a review stating it was too long…sorry about that! I wanted to get the battle all in one chapter…I have learned and will do my best not to do that a second time!
Also, I heard that Karin was a little Out of Character last chapter…I'm working to justify that here. And I promise I will stay as In Character as possible in the future!
So anyway, on to the chapter! I'm going to be UBER busy this next week, but I'm going to find time to write the next three chapters, which I'm VERY excited to write because….ROMANCE! woot woot! But I won't say with whom or what yet…lets just say these next couple of chapters will be fun. But I'll leave the "whom" for you to guess!
I don't own Bleach, but I'd like to meet Tite Kubo, and give him a cupcake..
Enjoy the story! And THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND READING!!!
Sincerely,
Romania Black
Chapter Nine
Transitions are part of the change
It was an awkward sight. The remnants of humans and Soul Reapers were gathered in Urahara's Shoten, Rukia sitting near Kisuke and Tessai, adjusting her Vice-Captain's badge Kisuke was inquiring her about. Apparently, she'd just been appointed, though she didn't seem fond of her division. Renji was standing, arms crossed against the door behind the three, his mouth curving downward forming a scowl as Jinta teased him about being a freeloader 'again.' Karin guessed this wasn't Vice-Captain Renji's first time there. Ururu was sitting at Renji's feet, looking sad as usual, her hand folded delicately on top of one another.
Karin was sitting on the edge of a windowsill, her thin pale legs swinging to and fro, navy eyes focused on the white-haired Soul Reaper across from her, whose eyes were shifted in a concerned expression across the floor. Toshiro had seemed upset ever since Momo was dragged away by Captain Byakuya and the others; Karin only wished she knew what to do to help. She had no clue what to tell him to comfort him. Plus, she mused, her eyes still fixed upon the Captain's face, he doesn't look like someone that wants to be comforted in the first place…
"Alright," Kisuke flapped the white fan immediately in front of his face, "I can have Tessai set up some beds for the three of you if you'd like in the back. You're more than welcome to stay here for as long as your mission entails."
"Thank you, Kisuke," Rukia smiled warmly.
"Would you all like something to eat?" Tessai bowed curtly, an arm across his chest, "It's still early afternoon, but I can fix you something if you'd like."
"What?!" Karin's eyes suddenly widened. Oh Damn, I forgot about Ichigo and Yuzu! They're probably getting ready without me!
Karin suddenly realized everyone in the shop was looking at her. She tried to scratch the back of her head innocently enough, but innocent was never a great emotion for her to convey well.
"Is something wrong Karin?" Rukia eyed her suspiciously.
"Um, no, not really," Karin gave up on trying to appear innocent and huffed out a sigh, "I had forgotten about my brother's going away party he was having," She sighed, "I need to go back I guess…before my family starts worrying about me."
"Going away party?" Rukia's face formed a deep frown, "Where's he going?"
"Oh! Um," Karin paused. What do I say? If Ichigo had wanted her to know about Hollow World, I guess he would have already told her… "College." Karin said, a little later than she should have, because Rukia did not look convinced. "I was trying to think which one," Karin covered, "But I can't remember it."
Rukia's face showed she still wasn't convinced in the slightest. Renji, on the other hand, had already walked past Jinta and Ururu and to Rukia's side, his face full of interest.
"Going away party? Tonight?"
Karin glanced at him, "Yeah, I have to go help get it ready."
"How about we go too?" Renji's question made both Toshiro and Rukia's eyes dart towards him. Renji gave them both a raised eyebrow, "What? It's not like we have anything else to do around here! Besides, those brats are going to annoy the hell out of me if we stay." He shot Jinta a sharp glance, to which Jinta placed a finger under his eye to make a face at him.
Rukia hesitated, but then her face broke into a determined grin, "We might as well bug Ichigo a little before he heads off. Can we, Karin?"
Karin didn't think saying 'no' to the three in front of her was a good idea in any case. That and her father would probably die on the spot if he saw Rukia again. It was a risk she was willing to take. "Sure," She shrugged, "I'm sure my dad won't care either."
Kisuke flapped the fan in front of his face serenely, "Excellent. While you're gone, Tessai can get your room ready!" He turned to Jinta and Ururu, "And you can go with them, right?"
"Huh?" Renji glared at Urahara, "I just got done saying we were leaving to go to Ichigo's so we could get away from these brats!"
"Renji," Rukia tried to cut in, her face scowling.
"I understand, Mr. Abarai," Kisuke's mysterious gray eyes lingered, from inside the blackness of his bucket hat, "But Jinta and Ururu still have business to attend to at Mr. Kurosaki's residence, and I'd like for them to finish it tonight."
"Don't argue, Renji," Rukia cautioned, her hand on his chest, "There'll probably be plenty of people there to distance yourself between them." Her blue eyes focused on his, and Karin could feel the pounding pressure of Renji's spiritual energy start to subside. Kisuke smiled widely,
"Alright then!" His singsong voice much cheerier than Karin could remember it being lately, "Let's find you some Gigai and you can get on your way!"
And so, the odd caravan was off. The blistering sun was high above their heads, but already starting its slow and creeping descent into the Western sky. Karin wiped the sweat casually from her forehead as she led the way, regretting the dusty black T-shirt she had decided to wear today. Ururu trailed behind Karin, her hands tucked in front of her, looking complacent if anything. To the side of Ururu was Rukia, who wore a bright teal dress with a white shrug over it, clothes she'd left behind at Kisuke in case such missions to the Real World were needed. In fact, Rukia told Karin that they'd all left clothes at Kisuke's, a notion that made Karin wonder if that was the reason Ichigo had wanted his clothes left there as well.
Renji was behind Rukia, dressed in a white shirt that read "The Red Pineapple" on it in large block letters, and ripped blue jeans. Karin wondered if the shirt was a reference to his thick crimson locks that tied in a ponytail, jutted out like the spikes of a Pineapple. Renji was fending off Jinta, who kept pestering him with questions about his hair and if he was going to 'be a freeloader' again or not. Toshiro trailed last, still looking distant, but dressed in his typical Real World attire: A black polo and light gray skinny jeans. Karin almost did a double take; he looked exactly the same as when she first met him two years ago. It seems like only yesterday, really…
"Karin," Rukia's voice snapped Karin back to reality.
"Hmm?" She turned to Rukia, who had walked faster and was now side by side with her, her black hair moving in sync with the summer breeze.
"I was meaning to ask you earlier, since you've been here before us," Rukia's voice was quieter, obviously meaning the conversation to be between the two of them, "but have you noticed…Kisuke's appearance?" She hesitated on the last few words, her eyes sparingly shifting to Ururu for a split moment.
"You noticed too, eh?" Karin shrugged, "I don't know…until you said something, no one else seemed to take much interest in the fact that he looked so bad, you know?"
"I see," Rukia glanced at the ground as if pondering, then looked behind her shoulder, "Miss Ururu," Karin's eyes flew up to Rukia, who was now looking at Ururu. "Would you come up here?"
"What's this?" Renji scowled, pushing Jinta annoyingly behind him, "Are you ladies having a pow-wow or something?"
The girls ignored him, "Yes, Miss Kuchiki?" Ururu asked gently.
Rukia paused, apparently choosing her words carefully. It was an aspect Karin appreciated about her, especially since it was usually the opposite of what her brother would have done. "Has…Has your boss, Mr. Urahara been acting odd lately?" Ururu's face fell slightly. Rukia shook her hands at her chest to try and look easy-going, "What I mean is," her face became slightly more serious, "He's looked a little better in the past, hasn't he?"
Ururu sighed sadly, "He's not been eating lately…or sleeping."
Both Karin and Rukia took a small gasp of air, relieved someone in the Shoten was noticing their master's condition. Ururu continued, unnoticing.
"I'm a little worried about him, he seems on edge," Her eyes scanned Karin and Rukia's concerned faces, then her mouth formed into a thin smile, "But Tessai says he'll be okay soon, and I believe him." She glanced at the ground, her eyes though sad showing a glimmer of hope behind them, "Tessai's known Kisuke longer than anyone, so if he's not worried, we shouldn't be either."
Karin stared at Ururu; she'd never heard her sound so resolved, so sure of anything. It was a bizarre feeling.
Rukia managed to form a smile on her face, her hand placed on Ururu's shoulder, "Thank you, Ururu. I think we can believe Tessai too."
"What the Hell are you three talking about?" Renji's forehead had an enlarged vein; his hand smashed against Jinta's head to keep him at arm's length as the boy kept rushing towards him. Toshiro glanced at the women, his teal eyes looking wary,
"How close is your house, Karin?"
Karin literally froze, he'd never called her by her first name before. She gave the white-haired captain a long stare, to which he huffed frustrated, "Well?" He shouted from behind the group.
"We're almost here," Karin managed to answer, her face forming into a stern gaze, "Just a little bit further."
A little bit further proved to be another half a block, which was filled with Renji's yells about Jinta's harassment, Jinta's denial (and further harassment), followed by Rukia scolding the two for being annoying and attracting attention onto themselves. Ururu did her best to try and calm Jinta, but all this ended up doing was provoking Jinta to grab Ururu by her cockroach-like bangs and yank her head up and down. Renji and Rukia both were now getting onto Jinta; Renji rubbing Jinta's head with his fist, while Rukia tried to pry a very saddened Ururu from his grip.
All the while, Toshiro had casually strolled past them and caught up in step with Karin, who hadn't noticed at first. Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw the white-haired Captain step closer to her, his teal gaze piercing her navy eyes.
"Is that your house up there?" Toshiro pointed to a yellow-paneled house with a large blue and white sign on the front. From this angle, you could only make out the word "Clinic," as it was too angled from them to read the "Kurosaki" part.
Karin nodded, her face feeling a little warmer than usual. She wasn't used to Toshiro being this close, and it had been so long, she felt awkward. What the hell? Why am I getting warmer? The guy's practically an ice cube… This was no lie, the captain's skin was icy, and so cold that it was emitting that sensation onto her own skin. Karin shivered.
Why am I being like this? Her mind drifted to the battle at the Urahara Shoten. I acted like such an idiot, screaming and frightened like a rat, her hands balled into pale fists, her dark navy eyes frustrated, Why did I act so weak? Why didn't I--
"Are you okay?" Toshiro broke through her thoughts, giving her a concerned glance, his teal eyes darkening for half a second. Karin nodded, trying to pass off her frustration growing inside her. She knew that look, the look like Toshiro was babying or pitying her. It was the least of her favorite emotions people exhibited around her.
"Fine," Karin said with slight coldness as she turned to the front of the Kurosaki Clinic. By this time, Rukia was smugly walking with Ururu in front of Jinta and Renji, who both bore red marks on their cheeks as if they'd been slapped. Neither of them looked pleased with one another or Rukia and Ururu.
"Okay," Karin breathed her hands clammy as she grasped the cool metal handle of the door. She turned to Toshiro and the others, "The party should be outside in the back, so if we sneak here through the clinic, we should be fine. Just be quiet and don't make sudden noises," She glanced sternly at Renji and Jinta, who both scowled back, offended she had singled them out. "Hopefully, we can make a nice, casual entrance…"
Karin slowly slid the handle back towards her and opened the door. Immediately light flooded in their faces, several joyous screams rang out across the night sky, rainbow confetti flew in Karin's face like a blizzard, and a giant donkey-shaped Piñata flew past Karin's head and smacked Toshiro right between the eyes.
Sorry to cut the chapter short, but I didn't want to make this too long! Next Chapter, Toshiro and Renji find themselves in Real World "Hell" so to speak, and Rukia has some questions for a certain Deputy Soul Reaper…oh, and Karin deals with a "less-than-parental" parent.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you feel like showing your support, send me a comment or a suggestion you have! I love receiving any feedback possible!
Cheers,
Romania Black
