I don't own BLEACH! (big surprise)
Chapter 10—War Plans or when Orihime and friends play Karin Barbie Dress Up
The meeting was set up in the sitting room. Karin and Byakuya sat with each other, and were soon joined by Ichigo, Orihime, and Isshin on Karin's side. Ginrei sat on the other side of his grandson.
They quietly made conversation until a loud bang was heard upstairs, and a loud ruckus filled the house. It was almost like an earthquake with all the shaking.
Byakuya closed his eyes and sighed in what looked like very tired patience.
Kyoraku stood up, and said to everyone gathered, "It seems the rest of our reinforcements have come."
As he said this statement, the door slid open to reveal the four remaining shinigami from squad 11.
Kenpachi stood in the doorway, eying the room around him, while Yachiru's eyes looked around the room quickly. She was bouncing on her feet. They zeroed in on Byakuya, who barely had time to brace himself when she threw herself into his arms.
"BYAKUSHI!" Karin sat next to him, trying not to smile at the outlandish display of affection that the smaller girl made towards Byakuya. She had to have the biggest crush on him.
"Candy?" She asked, while sitting in Byakuya's lap, twisting her hand out, palm up while asking him for the treat. He just looked at her and shook his head silently, attempting to pry her off of his body.
"Hey," Karin said, poking the little girl in the ribs.
She had decided to take pity on poor Byakuya. Plus, if she could help it, nobody was going to be throwing him or herself in his lap.
"Ask Uruhara-san or Hitsugaya-kun for candy. I bet they have some."
Yachiru turned to look at Karin, and to Karin's surprise, she smiled at her. She nodded her head, and said, "Okay. Thank you Ichi-sissy."
Yachiru then took off in her hunt to find some candy from one of the men that Karin mentioned. Byakuya looked at Karin inquisitively.
"Ichi-sissy?" He asked, with a slight smirk gracing his handsome features.
"Better than Byakushi." Karin retorted casually, with a flick of her hand.
Byakuya had to admit that she had a point.
At this moment, Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake stood in the middle of the room.
Ukitake started the meeting. "Welcome, friends and comrades. We're lucky to have so many of us here. There are a few items of business that we'll get to."
The older captain looked around the room with a small smile on his face.
"Before we start with our briefing for the battle in two days time, we'd like to hear from a few people. Captains Zaraki, Hirako, Soi Fon, Hitsugaya, Kuchiki and Kyoraku will speak to us about what they have been up to the last seven years."
Captain Ukitake continued, "I think, in order for us to fully combat the Quincy forces, we need to piece together some things that happened since we were forced to retreat or were imprisoned."
Ukitake then said, "Captain Zaraki, if you please."
Zaraki, who was standing up against a wall already, with his arms folded, stayed where he was.
"Pretty simple. We fought, and fought, and fought. I don't think we realized they were pushing us out of Seireitei until it was too late. We found our way to the rougher districts. The Quincy could care less about any districts over the 20s. We just did what we always do: pick fights and win. We didn't keep it a secret who we were. Just living the life." He ended his statement with a creepy grin.
"Uh, thank you, Captain Zaraki," Ukitake said. He then gestured to Shinji. "Your turn Shinji."
"Same as Zaraki, but we've done more training than just fighting. We contacted the other vizards in the world of the living and we kept in contact with each other. The morale in the districts is even lower than it was before the Quincy took over, which is saying something. I think most of the people are content to let the Shinigami just die out though, cause it's not like we helped them all that much anyway." He ended his statement with a nonchalant shrug.
Other captains nodded their heads, contemplating the statement that Shinji made. It was true. Why would the souls risk their second lives in Soul Society if they had no reason to?
"Captain Soi-fon?" Ukitake asked, turning toward her.
"I was not allowed to retreat, but I was imprisoned until about a year and a half ago. I was rescued, along with a few others by Karin Kurosaki. I recovered my bankai and I've been training ever since."
Shunsui Kyoraku nodded his head at her statement. "That is, more or less the same thing that happened to Nanao, Shuhei, Jushiro and myself."
Byakuya wondered why he wasn't included in that statement, but shrugged it off.
Ukitake looked at Toshiro next, "Hitsugaya-kun?"
Toshiro sighed slightly at the informal use of his name, but shrugged it off. Old habits were hard to break, apparently.
"I took who I could find and retreated to the world of the living. While there, I recovered my bankai, and trained hard with the shinigami. We had allies in the living world who helped tremendously. Karin Kurosaki showed interest in becoming a shinigami and helping with our cause. Since we were low in numbers, we looked into ways to help her become a soul reaper. With permission from her father, the former tenth captain, Isshin Shiba, and the expertise of Uruhara and Yoruichi, we pulled her soul from her body and she was able to manifest in a soul reaper form at the age of 17. She has been an asset to us since."
He finished his statement by staring at Karin and nodding at her. Karin blushed. It felt weird to hear them talking to her like that, like she was some kind of hero.
She felt eyes turning in her direction. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, picking at the sleeve of her kimono, trying not to look anyone straight in the eye. From the corner of his own eyes, Byakuya saw how shy she was. Usually she was quite confident, but her bashfulness was endearing.
Ukitake looked at Byakuya next. He looked sad, like he didn't want to have to ask him the question. Byakuya put his hand up. He stood up gracefully and looked around the room. With his head held high, and his arms folded, he recounted his experience.
"I fought the Sternritter named As Nodt in the onslaught. I'm afraid he stole my bankai and turned it against me. I remember a tremendous amount of pain, and I believe that I was dying."
"When I awoke, unfortunately, I wasn't passed from this world. I had been healed, and I was in a prison cell. For seven years, I was interrogated. The Quincy showed no mercy toward me because of my status. Two days before my scheduled public execution, I was rescued by Karin Kurosaki. Since then, I was in the world of the living for four months, and I have been here for another four."
"I can tell you that the conditions are quite bad in the districts. I have no idea what they were before though, so I can't compare. The morale was extremely low, sufficient provisions are needed, and unless we have a way to rally enough Rukongai souls to our cause, I'm afraid we may have already lost."
Byakuya then sat down next to Karin.
Karin was shocked at his statement, especially about the execution part. Why hadn't he told her that before?
Jushiro looked at Byakuya, nodding at him. "Thorough, as always, Byakuya-san."
Karin leaned over, and whispered to Byakuya, "You never told me you were going to be executed."
He looked at her and shrugged. "I had given up all hope until you came for me. The execution would have been a welcome relief."
Karin looked at him with worried eyes and sighed. Byakuya seemed to have moved past most of the damage that was done to him, at least physically, but it was obvious that he was still suffering emotionally and psychologically.
She pried her eyes off of him, and instead, looked toward Shunsui Kyoraku, who was beginning to debrief everyone else.
"Alright, listen up. I want everyone on board with this plan. If you don't think you can follow through, then don't. Come up to me after. We can have you doing some thing else."
He looked around and, then pulled down from the ceiling what looked like an old fashioned movie screen. And in front of it, on the table, was a type of projector. Karin didn't even notice until now, but she remembered seeing one in Uruhara's shop before.
"Here are the things that we know." On the screen appeared the picture of a young woman with dark hair that was braided together down her front.
"Captain Unohana and the rest of squad 4 are holed up in their same squadron. They are protected by many guards. A sternritter is always on duty. As most of you know, Retsu and her squad were kept alive because they are highly skilled healers and kido users. They are used by the Vandenreich to heal their soldiers. They are also allowed, twice a month to go into the districts closest to Seireitei to help with healing. Her appearance in these districts is used to maintain some order amongst the more rebellious citizens and as an incentive for Retsu to behave herself."
Kyoraku looked around and then continued with the next statement, surprising half of the crowd in the sitting room. "Captain Unohana is a great asset. Not only is she our best healer, but she is also one of our greatest fighters. Not many are aware of this, but Retsu Unohaha was the first person to hold the title of Kenpachi."
Looks of surprise were on the faces of a few members of the room. Karin was surprised. She didn't look as near as scary as Zaraki. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Zaraki and saw that he didn't look surprised at all, merely bored.
"Juha Bach is well aware of this information. Instead of having her killed though, with the captain-commander, he had her zanpakto taken from her and has threatened her subordinates if she puts a toe out of line."
He then cleared his throat. "The first part of this plan, will require getting Captain Unohana back on our side, somehow. She and her squad have the most intelligence on Seireitei, the Vandenreich and the most numbers. They are healers, so they will be quite useful to have on our side in a fight."
"The second point of this plan that I would like to discuss: Rumors from district leaders have come to the ears of Kukaku Shiba, her brother and gatekeepers. The morale in the districts is low, but rumors have been running wild about a pair of shinigami that have helped. Just small things, for the most part: Staying with the kids in some districts, providing them with large meals; buying goods from a variety of vendors, including large amounts of food for only two people; and just in general the appearance of two young people, wandering."
Kyoraku paused, like he was thinking about how to say his next statement, "Another couple of rumors, have been a bit more serious: Several witnesses claimed to have seen a young man and woman help a young woman survive giving birth and witnessed the woman using kido. The two shinigami then told the crowd that they were going to retake Soul Society. The woman then encouraged them to overthrow the Quincy themselves; and, second, an eyewitness account of the same young man and woman entering a large weapons warehouse here in district one, and after only 15 minutes, this eyewitness saw an explosion and the same young man and woman who had entered the building before, escaping from the blast ." He turned to look at Byakuya and Karin, who were trying to look nonchalant, like they didn't know what he was talking about.
However, Karin and Byakuya weren't the best actors.
"You didn't include any of that in your briefing, Kuchiki-sama." Ukitake said, almost with a sly grin on his face. Byakuya just raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.
"It was of no consequence."
"Are you serious?" Shinji interrupted. He then looked around, "I mean. I knew about the explosion, you told me that already. But, helping a woman give birth? Using kido in front of a crowd? Inciting them to rebel?" He looked in astonishment at Byakuya.
Byakuya, who noticed that everyone was looking at him, decided to tell the truth.
He pointed to Karin, "That," he drawled, "was all her."
Karin turned around and stared fully at Byakuya, with an outraged look on her face.
"Way to throw me under the bus!"
"What does that mean?" He asked quietly, curious about the phrase, even though she was upset with him. It was obviously from the world of the living.
"It means," Isshin said, leaning around Karin to look at Byakuya, amused, "that you left her to get in trouble all by herself."
"Yeah, you were right there with me!" Karin said, glaring at Byakuya.
"You were the one who insisted on stopping to help. I would have been fine with continuing on."
"Well, I'm not the one that slipped them some cash and a little food when we were leaving."
"Maybe not, but at least I didn't use kido in front of a large crowd."
"No, but you backed me up when I told them that I was a soul reaper."
Byakuya scoffed at her answer, and then noticed that the rest of the room was watching their argument. He felt his cheeks redden a little at the attention their argument was getting.
Yoruichi had a smirk on her face, Uruhara had a fan over his face hiding amusement, and Kyoraku and Ukitake had knowing looks on their faces.
It was then that Orihime interrupted in her sweet voice, "Uh. Why is it a big deal if Karin-chan helped a woman give birth?"
Silence filled the room.
It was then that Yoruichi answered the question. "Because no woman or child, usually, outside of district 10 will survive the process. A pregnancy is rare here. Only the nobility and shinigami have enough reiatsu to conceive and bear children. And it is highly dangerous, even for nobles. The fact that a young woman, along with her child, were able to survive a birth in Hanging Dog, of all places, makes an impression on people."
"That's right. Karin-chan made it seem like the shinigami can save lives. That it was their duty to help the people in the districts. We've always been there to protect Rukongai, but, we've lost sight of what it means to protect. We also need to help. Karin made them see that." Kyoraku said.
He then looked Karin full in the eye.
"They're curious about you. Your name has gotten out. They call you their leader, their savior."
Karin shook her head slowly. "I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to help."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of Karin. You are an unselfish woman who wants to help others. You're exactly the person that the districts need right now."
Karin looked over at her father almost unconsciously for help. Isshin put up his hand. He was protective of his daughters still, even though she was a grown woman and a soul reaper.
"What are you trying to say, Shunsui?"
Kyoraku looked between Isshin and Karin.
"The second thing that we need, besides getting Retsu Unohana out of the custody of the Quincy, is for Karin to meet with some district leaders. There are too many to get them all there, but we have thirty so far that want to meet with her."
Karin's mind was racing. She was no super hero. Seriously, she made so many mistakes. She didn't know what she could say to those leaders that could make them want to join their cause. She would probably mess up horribly.
Kyoraku asked Karin directly, "You don't have to do anything that you're uncomfortable with, Karin, but if you could just meet with them..."
Karin looked up. She had asked to help. And apparently, this is what they needed her help with. She hadn't really expected anything like this though.
She nodded her head at Kyoraku and said, "I'll do it." He nodded in reply.
"Our last order of business today," he said, changing the subject, "is about the devices that the Sternritter have that steal bankai. Uruhara-san, has come up with a countermeasure that will work to protect your bankai, and render them useless. If you could, explain, please."
Uruhara almost danced his way until the central part of the room. Bouncing on his toes, he then explained that the Quincy bankai stealing device worked by finding the concentrated surge of spiritual pressure that comes from the release of the bankai. It was magnet to the energy and pulled it in. This could be countered, by those that can release their bankai, by wearing what looked like watches. Of course, this was said in a lot more complicated words, asides and gestures.
As Uruhara passed one to Byakuya, who looked at it curiously, Karin looked over his shoulder. Noticing this, he lifted it up to show it to her. It was gray and dark, with a small round circle on it, just like a clock, but missing the the actual clock face. The circumference of the circle was glowing red.
"Well," Karin said, looking at it with a look of disgust on her face, "I'm glad that I don't have bankai so I don't have to wear that ugly thing."
"Karin-chan, you hurt me!" Uruhara whined with a hand on his heart.
Karin rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Kyoraku. He looked around the room and clapped his hands together.
"Alright! Meet back here tomorrow afternoon. We'll go over the rest of our plans. Karin will go into District 3 tomorrow morning to meet with the district leaders. Keep a hold on your reiatsu. You're dismissed."
Loud talking began again, as people stood up and shuffled out of the room to do whatever they wanted. Kyoraku was reminding Zaraki and the rest of his group to not go picking any fights. Yachiru was licking a lollipop while sitting on her captain's shoulder.
Isshin turned to Karin, and put his arm around her shoulder. He pulled her close to him, and used his knuckles to give her a noogie. She proceeded to throw him across the room. He stood up, started laughing, waved, and left.
Besides the interruption from her father, Karin really hadn't shown any signs of moving. She was in her own little world. She was thinking about the meeting.
Getting Retsu Unohana out of the Quincy custody was important, more important, she felt than her meeting with district leaders.
And why did these leaders want to meet her? Wouldn't they have preferred to meet with Kyoraku the acting captain-commander or Toshiro, the boy genius, or even Byakuya, who was a well-known noble figure?
Then again, if they saw Byakuya, they would be tempted by the large sum on his head to turn him in.
Maybe it did make sense for her to meet with them, but only as a liaison. She wasn't anyone special. She only did things to help. Why was that so weird?
She didn't have amazing powers, she couldn't even train for bankai.
She had been injured more times than she wanted just in the past four months of living in Soul Society.
She wasn't special.
She felt her confidence deflating.
And then one last, random and irrational thought criticized her.
"You're not pretty enough or charismatic enough to lead them."
Even if she didn't have the powers and abilities that she may have wanted by this point, she should at least be charismatic enough to get them to fight.
She had to persuade them; to convince them.
And then, being an emotional woman, her thoughts turned to Byakuya with the thought of her not being pretty enough.
It was a stupid thought, of course, completely irrational. But, sometimes a woman needed a little bit of reassurance from someone she wasn't related to. She was now 90% sure she was in love with the man still sitting by her, but he had never given any indication that he returned her feelings.
Or at least, she didn't think that he did. Maybe she was just as obtuse as her brother.
Did he think she was attractive? She had never really cared before, but with him, it was different. She wanted him to find her pretty, even beautiful.
She sighed, twirling the hair of her ponytail unconsciously. It was a horrible habit that she wasn't aware of most of the time, but always came out when her confidence waned.
She felt eyes on her. She turned to see Byakuya staring at her with an intense gaze. She immediately felt her face heating up.
Why was he looking at her like that?
Was there something in her teeth?
Or on her face?
Was there something wrong with her hair?
She felt the little self-confidence that she had left disappear, and she ducked her head down, not sure of what to say or do next.
"What are you thinking about?" Byakuya asked quietly.
Karin just shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant.
The best defense in the situation was denial, obviously.
"Hm.." Byakuya answered thoughtfully. He had noticed, watching her that she had the look on her face. He eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, her eyes looking forward, looking at something that nobody else could see. There was a pout on her soft lips, and he noticed that she started twirling her hair as well. A habit, that although he knew she hated, he found, of all things, cute. It was obvious that she was thinking long and hard about something. And, he felt, probably over-thinking things as well.
"You're the right person to do it." He said forwardly. She looked up at him curiously.
"To do what?"
"To talk to the district leaders."
Karin shook her head. "I don't know what to say. I don't have that kind of experience. I don't have anything to offer them. I'm not even fully trained yet."
"You do not see yourself as others do." He answered simply, never breaking his gaze.
She finally looked back at him boldly. It seemed like they were staring at each other for a long time, neither of them saying anything. He was a man of little words but for the first time, it was as if he was saying what she needed to know with those eyes of his.
They were their usual gray, with a soft and gentle look in them. A tender, loving gaze, was what she thought it looked like.
It was too much, really. She was reading too much into things again. She finally broke the heated gaze.
Byakuya cleared his throat, and said, "Would you like for me to accompany you tomorrow?"
Karin's eyes narrowed. As much as she wanted him to come with her, she couldn't risk him being taken prisoner. Who knows what they would do to him again.
She shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea..." He frowned slightly at her reply. She saw his frown and quickly tried to rectify her mistake. She put her hands up awkwardly in front of him.
"No! It's not that I don't want you to come, but with the reward on your head and desperate people in the districts..."
"Ah. I see. I will accompany you. I'll keep myself hidden." He insisted confidently. He then stood up, and held his hand out to her, like he usually did. She took it and allowed him to pull her up. They walked out of the room, never touching after that, but always close together.
Actually unknown this time to Byakuya and Karin, there were several shinigami who were in a hidden room that was adjacent to the sitting room where the previous meeting had taken place.
A silence fell over the medium-sized crowd gathered there as they watched the pair of comrades leave the room.
"Friends my ass," Ichigo whispered to the group.
Renji whispered, "Is it me or was the captain about to kiss her?"
Yoruichi sighed and nodded in agreement at Renji's statement. "I'm afraid that Karin has no idea what she is doing. I almost feel bad for Byakuya."
"My poor Karin." Isshin said, with fake tears in his eyes, "She is being seduced by that man!"
"Shut up, old man!" Ichigo replied, hitting him on the head with his fist. "Like hell I'll let Byakuya seduce her."
At this comment, Rukia, in turned kicked Ichigo in the groin. Ichigo fell to the ground in a heap, whining.
"FOOL! You leave them be. Can't you tell how happy brother is when he's around her? And Karin seems more at peace than I've ever seen."
"How can you tell anything from that impassive face of his?" Renji asked, curiously.
"My little girl is growing up," Isshin said, pretending to cry once again in happiness. "Soon, she'll be married and I'll have lots of grand babies."
There was an awkward silence at that statement.
"They both have to survive the battle first," Ichigo said, gingerly trying to get to his feet and glaring at Rukia.
A somber silence fell over the crowd. Finding romance and young love in a time of war was a sign of hope, but the truth of the matter was that love may not live long enough to flourish.
With sighs, and the shaking of many heads, they all exited the room, and went about their day.
The next day dawned bright and early. Karin awoke early, and without thinking, began walking around the house.
What in the world was she going to do about Byakuya?
Should she tell him her feelings?
Or should she just wait until after the war?
Would it be fair to him if she died after she already confessed that she loved him?
Or, should she let the old-fashioned nobleman take charge? She wasn't sure about that one... it might take forever.
She didn't realize where she was when she ran right into the man she had been musing about. His hair, which was slightly longer than his ears now, looked disheveled and wet. He had a small towel over his shoulder, and looked surprised to see her.
It looked as though he had come from bathing, with his kimono slightly unkempt, with it open, and showing his chest a little more than usual. He had a slight amount of his facial hair dotting his chin.
Silence filled the hall. Karin was trying to avoid openly staring at the state that Byakuya was in, but she really couldn't help it. He was sexy as hell. Her eyes went to his toned chest, and then up to his face. He had a slight blush to his cheeks as he noticed her staring
It was quite improper for her to see him this way, only half dressed and bathed. Even when they had traveled together, they both retained strict rules of propriety.
He had shown her his scar before, but that seemed like a long time ago, when they were only training together. Although he recognized that he was attracted to her back then, things had changed wholly altogether since. It was like another lifetime.
He felt a surge of pride, however, when he noticed her eyes lingering on him. It appeared that she was just attracted to him as he was to her. Or at least she was at the moment. Her eyes snapped up to his when he coughed.
"I...I discovered a bath, but I was, ah, interrupted." The door that he had come through, was slightly open. Staring at the two of them was a completely naked Yoruichi, with a big smile on her face.
Yoruichi waved happily to the two of them.
"Come join me, Karin-chan!" She yelled, "Unless you're planning on going somewhere or doing something with Byakuya first." She emphasized the verb "doing" and smirked at the two of them.
Karin nodded toward Yoruichi, trying to ignore the innuendo.
She looked up at Byakuya, who she noticed was staring at her.
"I'll, um... see you at breakfast?" She said awkwardly, shuffling her feet.
He nodded, "Come to my room, and I'll go up with you."
Karin smiled in agreement, and then he stepped aside, letting her pass. She entered the small room with the hot spring, and then looked back over her shoulder.
He was staring openly at her. She closed the door behind the heated gaze. She then turned her back against the door and slid to the floor. She put her head in her hands.
"Oh. My. God." Karin said, breathing deeply, trying to regain control of her breathing. The intensity of that small encounter, that had really only lasted a couple of minutes at the most, left her with a longing that she had never experienced before.
"The sexual tension between the two of you is completely palpable." Yorucihi said conversationally from the hot spring.
"I...Oh my goodness. I bet he was completely offended! I just openly stared at him like he was a piece of meat." Karin said, horrified that she wasn't able to control her emotions and her stare.
Yoruichi shook her head. "I bet if anything, Byakuya was glad to see that you found him attractive. After all the cock-blocking you seem to be doing to the poor guy."
"What do you mean? I haven't been doing that, have I?" Karin asked, slowly getting up from her spot on the floor. She began undressing when she decided that a hot soak would do her some good.
"Well, he almost kissed you yesterday in the sitting room, but you killed the moment."
Karin slid into the water, with her mouth gaping open.
"What? How did you? No he wasn't!" Karin said, spluttering at what Yoruichi said.
Yoruichi only laughed and shook her head. "Even Renji thought he was about to kiss you, Karin. And we know how oblivious that one can be."
Karin still stared in shock at Yoruichi. They were going to have to watch themselves, it seemed like there were several people who enjoyed spying on the two of them.
She shook her head. "But, I want him to kiss me." Karin said, "I thought I've been obvious."
It was Yoruichi's turn to sigh in exasperation.
"It's alright Karin. You're inexperienced. Byakuya will help you with that though."
Karin felt her face turn bright red at the thought of Byakuya "helping" her get some "experience". She sunk into the hot water further, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Yoruichi roared in laughter. "You Kurosakis are all so innocent!"
Karin looked at Yoruichi worriedly as she remembered something else. "That's right. He was married. He's been with a woman before. He might have...expectations."
"Stop right there Karin. Byakuya was married before, but it's been over 60 years since she died. And he's a prude. I know he hasn't been intimate physically or emotionally since her death. I'm sure of that."
Karin still looked awkwardly at Yoruichi. "I don't know what to do," she sighed, as she looked at her mentor.
"To be honest, there isn't much to do right now, with this battle looming over us. I have a feeling that's why both of you haven't made your intentions known openly yet. But then again, it might do the both of you some good to let out some of that tension before the battle. Maybe you should seduce him."
Karin looked horrified at the suggestion. Yoruichi, once again began laughing at Karin's expense.
"Let me tell you some of the ways that you can seduce him, Karin. That way, when you decide the time is right, you'll know what to do. He won't be able to resist."
Yoruichi then began telling her stories of her "conquests", that Karin, frankly didn't even want to know about.
An awkward twenty minutes later, she left the hot spring room, with her face red from embarrassment and the heat.
She went to her room, and dressed in another kimono, and instead of putting her hair up in a bun or ponytail like usual, she decided to leave it down. She justified it by saying she wasn't only trying to impress Byakuya, but was trying to make a good impression on the district leaders as well.
She figured that Shunsui would have a nicer kimono and obi for the meeting later in the morning. She wandered over to Byakuya's room, and after a deep sigh, knocked. The door slid open to show Byakuya, well put together and clean-shaven like usual.
He looked questioningly at her hair, reaching his fingers to gingerly touch a strand that was falling across her face. She was trying to blow it out of the way. He tucked it behind her ear.
She absentmindedly fingered another strand in the front. "It dries easier this way," she croaked as her answer.
He nodded in reply, stepped out of his room, and led the way up to the kitchen and breakfast.
The remainder of the morning, Rukia, Orihime and Rangiku whisked Karin away from the rest of the company to get her ready for her meeting with the district leaders. They wanted her to make an impression.
According to the older women, in this old-fashioned society, in order to get the men to really listen to her, she would need to hold some appeal: Sex appeal.
And since almost everyone agreed that Karin's sex appeal was non-existent to everyone except Byakuya, they needed to "doll" her up.
Orihime had brought her makeup and some hair supplies from the living world. They worked on her hair first, deciding that leaving it down was more innocent looking. If they put it all the way up, she might look to intimidating, so they decided to leave it half up and half down.
At this point Karin was ready to pull out all her damn hair in the first place.
The makeup went on next, with the women all arguing about what colors to brush on her eyes.
She told them, "It had better not be too obvious. A natural look, please. No pink or anything bright, got it?" The rest of the women looked at each other and nodded in agreement at her statement.
Next, Kukaku Shiba brought in a light blue, silk kimono with bright pink flowers dotted on the fabric. With it was a green obi that matched the slightest green dotted on the kimono.
Karin, who had never seen anything quite so feminine and delicate, asked, "Why do I have to wear that?"
"It is technically a formal meeting with the leaders. You want to look your best so not to offend them by dressing or acting too casually." Rukia explained to her.
"Besides," Kukaku said, "This belonged to Hana Shiba. The coloring will look good on you."
Karin just appeared disgruntled. They took off her other clothes, which made her upset. She didn't need any help getting dressed.
"Stop! You guys... I know how to put clothes on myself, thank you."
Rukia and Rangiku exchanged glances, before Rangiku said, "Well, you'll have to get used to people helping you get dressed sometime."
Karin looked over at her curiously, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Giggles erupted from Orihime, Rangiku, and Rukia. Kukaku gave a grudging smile.
"All nobility need help getting ready for formal events, at least, that's what they say." Kukaku said, with a shrug. "I don't see the big deal either, but others might insist."
More giggles were heard.
"You're all delusional. It's not like I'm really considered nobility." She said to them with a frown on her face, and lifted her arms to let them put her kimono on.
"Not yet you aren't," Rangiku whispered quietly to Rukia.
Rangiku then stepped forward. She looked was looking at Karin's chest.
She pointed to Karin's chest, which was bound like usual. "Are those usually that tight?"
Karin self-consciously moved her arms over her breasts.
"Maybe.." she muttered.
"Well, let's take them off."
Karin completely put her foot down at that statement.
"No!"
They argued until Rukia suggested that they leave the bindings on about three-quarters the way up her breasts, just enough for the tops of her breasts to be pushed up against the kimono.
Orihime then promised to bring Karin a couple of bras from the world of the living, so that way she didn't have to bind herself all the time.
They put the kimono on her, and then tightened the obi.
Then the women all looked around at each other, giving themselves pleased looks.
By this time, Karin felt like she was about to kill someone, since she was not used to being so dolled up all the time.
They led her to the front entryway, right inside the house. Byakuya was waiting for her, and she was surprised to see him wearing all black.
It was a shihakusho, the uniform of shinigami. He was certainly making a statement wearing it.
He looked over at Karin as she was ushered into the room, and gave a stony glare to the women that followed behind her. Rukia saw the glare, and managed to push Rangiku and Orihime back out of the room, leaving the two of them in silence.
Byakuya trained his eyes to only look at her face. He opened the door and motioned for her to go out first. Outside was an old-fashioned carriage.
"I didn't realize we were hitching a ride to District 3." Karin stated, and then felt stupid.
Of course they wouldn't let her shunpo all the way to the district, looking the way that she did now.
"It is too long for us to walk, and we'd stick out too badly." He walked her to the carriage, and gave her his hand as he helped her up into the carriage. She sat on one side and he sat across from her. As he sat across from her, he allowed himself to openly look at her for the first time.
He had noticed already that her hair was curled slightly now at the ends, which he figured was because of how long it was getting. Her eyelashes were dark and luminous as usual. Her cheeks were highlighted and her gray eyes shined brighter than normal.
As for the rest of her, he really had a hard time processing what he was seeing. The tops of Karin's breasts teasingly strained against her kimono. And the obi highlighted her small waist to the flare of her wider hips. It was the first time he had seen her in a full-length kimono, and it made her look even more alluring than he had believed she could look.
Karin noticed Byakuya gazing at her.
She raised her eyebrows back at him when he noticed her staring right back at him.
He sighed, and then asked, "Why are you dressed like that?"
Karin was surprised. She was hoping for some reaction from him, but not that exactly.
Did he disapprove of how she looked?
"Your sister, my sister-in-law, Rangiku and Kukaku told me that I needed to look this way to make an impression on the leaders I was meeting. Kukaku told me that this kimono belonged to my grandmother Hana."
Byakuya nodded, with his eyes closed, hoping for enough silence so he could meditate to keep himself focused.
He heard a rustle of fabric, and felt the seat underneath him give way slightly. He then felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Karin sitting close to him. She looked concerned.
"What's wrong?" He locked his gaze with hers and just shrugged noncommittally.
Did she not realize that she would definitely be making an impression on the men she met with? It was a good thing she wasn't going to be alone.
She was still looking at him with a frown. She concluded that he didn't approve of what she was wearing. Was this too informal?
"It's what I'm wearing, isn't it?" She asked, fingering the fabric of the kimono.
"It's not good enough. I can't believe I already messed up before I even got there..."
Byakuya was trying his very best to suppress the smile that was trying to creep up on his features. She was so very innocent sometimes.
"It's a little too good." Byakuya said quietly, shifting his eyes to focus on the landscape outside.
Karin felt herself blushing. "Oh."
She tried thinking about different things as the carriage made it's way through the woods.
"Do you know what you're going to say?" Byakuya asked curiously, wanting to change the subject from her attractive costume, interrupting her silence.
Karin looked up at him and shook her head. "No. Not really. Any advice?"
"Follow your instincts."
Karin nodded in understanding at what he was saying. She looked at Byakuya, who was still not making eye contact with her since he announced her outfit was too good.
She didn't know what prompted her to do it, but she scooted a little bit closer to him, and put her head on his shoulder.
She felt his muscles tense, and then, slowly relax underneath her head.
She felt him reach for her hand and squeeze it gently, giving her confidence, and then released it.
And for the rest of the trip, they sat in silence, with their hands only centimeters from each other.
The carriage stopped and Karin reluctantly sat up as Byakuya's door opened to reveal Ganju, of all people. He winked at them. Byakuya pulled a hood over his hair and head, and exited first. He then held his hand out for Karin, who took it, and was helped out of the carriage.
District three wasn't in too bad of condition. Karin looked around, and noticed that there was a large crowd in one section, only about 20 yards away. She sincerely hoped that it wasn't for her. Ganju led them to a building to the left.
Karin breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see that they were heading far away from the large crowd of people. She entered the building and was led to a large room. Inside the room were wooden benches lined with many people. These men were nicely dressed, and, you could tell from their appearances were more well off than the average Rukongai citizen.
Karin swore that there were a lot more than thirty people there. Byakuya stood inside the doorway. He had told her already his main priority was to ensure her safety, and so, he just watched them from the door.
Ganju and Karin went to the front of the room.
There was absolute silence as the men in the room took in the sight of Karin in her formal kimono. Ganju sat down on one of the wooden benches. He nodded at Karin.
Karin swallowed some air and breathed in deeply. She faced the room.
Nobody had coached her, or told her what to do. So, once again, she just followed her instincts.
To the surprise of everyone else in the room, Karin knelt on the ground in her lovely silk kimono and gave them a very formal bow.
Voices broke out of the gesture of her bowing to all of the leaders gathered, conversing with each other, wondering exactly who this young woman was, to bow to them, of all people.
She stood up, and looked at the crowd.
"My name is Karin Kurosaki Shiba. I was asked to come here to speak with you. How may I help?"
"I think you have it wrong, Miss. We just wanted to meet you." One of the leaders said, shaking his head.
"You owe us nothing." Another man said.
"But, is there any way that I can help you?" She asked, confused.
Laughter rang out across the room.
"Did you really help that young woman survive child birth?"
"Um..yes, but it was no big deal, I promise." Karin said, putting her hands up in defense. It was really no big deal.
"You were killed by Juha Bach, personally, weren't you? And then you came here to help save us?" Another question rang out.
"What about all those prisoners, former shinigami that you saved? You didn't have to do any of that!"
"And that building that exploded just a week or so ago. Those weapons are all gone now! The Quincy don't have much left to threaten us with!"
Loud voices were talking excitedly. These men hadn't come to get help from Karin, she realized. They had come to see if she really existed or not.
Byakuya watched the scene impassively, waiting for Karin to respond. He looked over at Karin who looked confused and a little bit lost at the situation. She saw him looking. He nodded his head at her and gave her a small smile.
She breathed in deeply.
"Those things did happen," Karin said. She stood in the front of the room. "All I wanted to do is help. You make it seem like I'm a hero, but I make mistakes like everyone else. The thing is, even with all the mistakes that I make, I keep going. Just like so many people. I'm just like you. I'm no better or no worse."
"I promise you, that if you help us overthrow the Quincy, we'll do all we can to help you. The old Soul Society ignored you, only used you as an excuse for their strong armed power and defenses. It will not be the same Seireitei and Shinigami. Have hope and faith that we can change that, together."
She looked around the room at all the open, admiring looks she was getting from the men.
"If you can help us, please contact Kukaku Shiba. Thank you for your time." She then turned to leave. As she left the room, she heard movement from across the room. In front of her, all the district leaders present, knelt on the ground, bowing to her formally.
"Thank you, Karin-dono." They answered as one. Blinking back tears, she went to the door, and with Byakuya, left.
They left the large building, stepping out into the bright streets of District 3 outside. They made their way toward the carriage, when a large explosion was heard.
Byakuya tensed, moving to protect Karin as much as possible. His hand went to the side of his waist where Sebonzakura usually was, when he remembered that he didn't bring it.
Captain Kyoraku had suggested that Byakuya keep his zanpakto at the Shiba clan home in order to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, just in case something happened to Byakuya.
Rukongai citizens lay on the ground, injured from the explosion.
A couple of quincy soldiers nearby the wreckage of the area laughed. The leader stood by, staring scornfully at a group of bystanders, who stood silently and sadly looking at the citizens.
He told the Rukongai citizens, while staring at these quiet observers, "That's what you guys get, trying to side with the extinct Shinigami. We're the only law around here now!"
Byakuya followed Karin's gaze to the crowd when he noticed the stature, appearance and demeanor of someone that he hadn't seen for a long time.
It only took him an instant to decide what to do.
He practically grabbed Karin by the elbow, and shunpoed with her toward the carriage as quickly as possible.
"What are you-?" Karin's protest was cut off as he threw her into the carriage, quite roughly, and said to Ganju, who sat atop to drive, "Take her back. Go the way of the explosion, I'll cause a distraction."
Ganju was about to protest, but saw the serious expression on Byakuya's face. He nodded once in understanding, and took off slowly and discreetly as possible down the road toward all the noise.
Byakuya shunpoed as quickly as he could over to all the ruckus. Up close, Byakuya recognized the group of silent observers as former members of Squad 4. They were beginning to go among the injured and dead, trying to tend to some injuries.
Although Byakuya didn't have his zanpakto, he had other abilities, including kido and hakuda. He raised his hands in a sweeping motion, and without any incantation, blasted one of the Quincy soldiers into a nearby building.
The rest of the Quincy looked up from their critical observation of the squad 4 healers and the wreckage they had laid on the district.
Byakuya looked over at them with his head held high, and an arrogant tilt to his head.
He said, with the most disdainful voice that he could muster, "You say that you're the only law around here. I'd like to challenge that statement."
The Quincy soldiers looked flabbergasted, completely taken aback at the appearance of a shinigami among them. The leader nodded his head at a small contingent of six soldiers and they took off, attacking Byakuya. He parried their moves and landed more blows than they landed on him. He was quicker too, disabling many of them with his Senka.
Within only a few seconds, the six Quincy that had attacked him lay on the ground. At this moment, all eyes were on Byakuya.
He sneered at the Quincy leader, saying, "Amateurs."
The Quincy leader looked flabbergasted for a few seconds and then said, "I know who you are. You're Kuchiki, aren't you? Byakuya Kuchiki. The former Shinigami captain, noble and prisoner of war with quite a large sum on your head." The Quincy leader looked around at the citizens of Rukongai who were staring at the scene.
"I will personally make sure that you will all get a portion of the reward money if you help me bring this man into custody."
And with that, chaos erupted. Nobles weren't liked too much in Rukongai as it was, and the fact that most citizens were poor and starving, even in a district that was more well off than most, the reward money was still too tempting.
Nobody noticed, as the citizens attacked over and over again, and with the help of several Quincy soldiers, subdued Byakuya, that a young woman with dark hair slipped into a parked carriage that took off almost immediately.
Byakuya surprised Karin when he threw her so forcefully in the carriage. She had blacked out for a few minutes, and then when she awoke was quite dizzy. She peeked out the carriage window to see Byakuya taking on what looked like all of District 3.
An intense desire to leave the carriage overtook her. She would show them, trying to take him on like that. And, it looked to her as though Byakuya was going easy on the citizens. He didn't hold himself back against the Quincy, but with the citizens he was softer than usual.
She went to open the carriage door, when she noticed that it was locked. And it was locked from the outside. She moved quickly to the other side, when all of a sudden, the door opened quickly and she was face to face with Retsu Unohana.
Captain Unohana sat down gently and then, looking sadly out the window, knocked on the ceiling of the carriage. Karin followed her gaze out the window and cried out as she saw Byakuya finally get knocked out by a Quincy. The carriage moved quickly down the road, returning to the Shiba clan home.
"No! Ganju! Turn back!" Karin yelled, "You can't do this!" She began pounding on the ceiling, doing her best to get him to turn around and go back.
"I'm sorry." Captain Unohana told Karin. Karin looked at Uhonaha with a wary look.
She connected the dots quickly, the carriage ride to district 3, Byakuya boldly dressed as a shinigami, Squad 4 in the same district on their day out of Seireitei, and the way that Byakuya caused a distraction...
"This was all a plan. That Byakuya would get taken, so that we could get you back."
"It looks like it. I was not aware of anything. It seems though that Captain Kyoraku has some good intelligence, if he knew where and when I was going be in District 3."
"He agreed to do it then?"
"Captain Kuchiki?" Captain Unohana asked, then said, "He was probably the only Shinigami that would have caught their attention easily. He's the most famous one, and he is a fugitive with a large reward."
Karin looked sadly out the window in silence for the rest of the trip. She didn't understand why it felt like this-why she felt as though a part of her was missing. And she kept thinking back to the morning and the trip in the carriage, that now seemed so long ago.
It was perfect timing then: Why didn't she tell him how she felt?
"They're going to execute him." Karin stated to nobody in particular.
"I doubt Captain Kuchiki would willing let himself be captured again unless he didn't know more of this plan. I'm sure that Captain Kyoraku and the others have something in mind." Captain Unohana responded, while looking at the young woman with something akin to pity.
Karin leaned back in her seat, and waited for the carriage to stop. Ganju opened the door for her, and gave her a hand to help her out. Karin couldn't help but think that only an hour ago, it was Byakuya that was helping her out of the carriage.
Karin walked into the Shiba clan home, followed by Captain Unohana and Ganju.
They were led to the room that they had met in earlier. Ganju slid the door open, and Karin and Captain Unohana entered first.
Kyoraku looked at Captain Unohana, and nodded. Everyone else was in awe as they looked at Captain Unohana as Karin just glared at Shunsui Kyoraku.
He returned her stare with a grim expression, when a feminine voice asked, "Where's brother?"
Rukia looked at Karin, but Karin was having a hard time not shedding her own tears. She didn't think she could look at Rukia, who appreciated Byakuya as much as Karin did. Hopefully Ginrei-sama wouldn't ask. She knew she couldn't be the bearer of bad news with him.
It was Isshin, who stood up, and led Karin from the middle of the room and led her to a cushion to sit on. He put an arm around her shoulder to give a quick squeeze and then sat to the side.
Karin, although feeling slightly numb from losing Byakuya, looked at Captain Kyoraku and met his stare.
"I met with some district leaders; we have Captain Unohana. What's the rest of the plan?
Captain Kyoraku nodded, at Karin's response, noticing that the young woman was not very happy with him. He then pointed to the small screen that was set up in the room.
"We're glad to see you, Captain Unohana," Captain Kyoraku said with a nod to the woman.
"Unfortunately, as many of you can see, Captain Kuchiki is no longer with us."
"Byakuya's dead?" Ichigo asked, surprised.
"No. Captured." Captain Ukitake responded. "They wouldn't just kill Byakuya in a street fight. They want a public execution for him. And that execution, will be tomorrow."
Exclamations filled the room as the Shinigami took in the news. Karin was thinking that she needed to do some prison break work tonight.
"We set this up." Kyoraku told a now silent group of rebels, "The only time that all the Sternritter and Juha Bach are present at the same place are public executions, especially executions of high nobles and Shinigami. We also have some intelligence that not only Byakuya will be executed tomorrow, but a couple of our allies as well."
He paused and then moved forward with his statement, "Sado Yasutora and Uryu Ishida were both captured shortly after they arrived in the Rukongai. We intend to release all three of them and anymore allies we may have. We plan on causing some chaos and ending this, for better or for worse tomorrow."
Karin thought about it as she sat looking at the diagrams of the execution area, the different divisions in Seireitei, and the plan in general. And she felt conflicted. It was a good plan, but right then and there, she decided that getting Byakuya safely out of Quincy custody was her first priority.
To be continued...
Dun Dun Dun
Sorry that I haven't updated sooner. Life happens. Mainly finding out that I'm pregnant with baby #3 while my other two children are running wild happens. I have no idea how much longer this sucker is going to be, and this chapter was by far the hardest one to write! Ah! I wrote the first 7000 words just fine and then I hit a wall. Ugh... Hopefully next one is easier. We're coming on the final battle in the next chapter or two and one or two part epilogue after (so about 2-4 more chapters...depends on how many loose ends I want to wrap up).