Through It All
Soul Society
3 days. That's all the time we have left until we go to Hueco Mundo. Che …not yet. I'm not there yet. I need to get stronger. I don't have much time left.
"Wuah!!" Karin screamed as she stumbled on the grass. Breathing heavily as she stood to face Byakuya.
Byakuya's face remained calm as Karin sprinted towards him landing a blow to his shoulder. Byakuya winced for the pain that seared through his shoulder.
She's getting faster.
Karin went to strike him once again but then a sharp pain went through her head. She dropped her Zanpakuto and clutched her head allowing Byakuya to strike at her. However, noticing the sudden pain going through Karin's head he sheaths his Zanpakuto back and landed before her. There Byakuya stood, staring at her, clutching her head, and grunting.
Byakuya put a hand to her shoulder but she swatted his hand and stared at him muttering curses at him. He listened to her. He couldn't make out what she was saying until she stood up and brought her hands to his chest and started screaming at him.
"You will die! Beneath the moon of a grand tower, you will meet the night of your demise! You will steal a life and pay the consequence! Sword in hand, pierce through your soul and darkness befalls on you until you fall to the depths of hell! Die –
Karin's eyes turned to a blood red with those words spilling from her lips. Byakuya smacked her neck with the back of his hand and Karin lost consciousness. Lifting her up into his arms bridal style, he carried her to the fourth division's headquarters and had her check up.
Tenth Division
"Are you positive that's what happened?" asked a very worried Ichigo. Byakuya nodded as Ichigo frowned.
"I couldn't decipher the rest of what she said. However, I was able to see that her eyes became red as she raised her voice. I'm not sure what she meant by her words." Byakuya stated.
Hitsugaya rose from his seat and asked him if he could repeat what she said. Byakuya nodded and said,
"You will die. Beneath the moon of a grand tower, you will meet the night of your demise. You will steal a life and pay the consequence. Sword in hand, pierce through your soul and darkness befalls on you until you fall to the depths of hell. Die…"
"I didn't let her finish because she would have attacked me. That's all I heard her say."
There was silence in the room and nobody said anything until Byakuya got up. "I don't know what is wrong with her; however, I advise you to keep a close eye on her. There's only three days left until Aizen makes his move." He rose and left the room.
"I don't understand, Karin wasn't like that before. Well she did have dreams but that was pretty much it." Ichigo said. After a while Ishida spoke.
"Ichigo, you said she had dreams. Right?"
"Yeah … but what does that have to do, wait are you suggesting that she might have dreamt something that would make her act like that?"
"Yes but not quite. Karin might have seen something but it may not have been just any dream. This might be something that is reoccurring. Kind of like a premonition. I could be wrong but if you think about the words she said, they weren't in past tense. Which means it hasn't happened yet," Ishida said, underlining keywords to the message that Karin had said.
"Eh?! You actually wrote it down?" Ichigo said.
"Wait, Ishida, let me see that." Hitsugaya jumped in. Ishida handed him the paper and he reread it repeatedly.
Fourth Division Hospital
"She only has minor injuries that can be healed within two days, but other than that, she's fine." Unohana said. Hitsugaya nodded. Unohana began to leave until Ichigo stopped her.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"While you were checking up on her, was she … talking or saying anything out of the ordinary?" Ichigo asked.
Unohana stared Ichigo for a few seconds and just shook her head. "No, she hasn't said anything. Is there a problem?"
For the next few minutes, Hitsugaya told her what they knew and she just nodded. "I'll keep her here for another day. I'll keep an eye on her if anything happens." Unohana began to leave the room.
"Maybe I'm worrying about her too much." Ichigo said.
"Are you going to go and train?" Hitsugaya asked. Ichigo nodded and told him to keep an eye on her. He stood up, brushed a piece of hair from Karin's face, and exited the room.
Hitsugaya remained by Karin's side and watched her sleep. For the next few hours, Hitsugaya didn't budge from his seat. He read the message over and over again, but nothing came up in his thoughts.
What does she mean by beneath the moon of a grand tower, you will meet the night of your demise. You will steal a life and pay the consequence. Sword in hand, pierce through your soul and darkness befalls on you until you fall to the depths of hell? Is someone supposed to die?
Hitsugaya was brought back to reality when Karin began to toss and turn. He looked at her and saw that she was sweating and went rigid. For a quick second she stopped moving and Hitsugaya became worried. Then, she began tossing again. Her eyes opening slightly and she sat up to face Hitsugaya.
"Where am I?" Karin asked with a raspy voice.
"You're in a hospital." Before he could continue, Karin shot up at him and her hands went directly to Hitsugaya's throat. Her eyes turned crimson as Hitsugaya began to be lifted up in the air.
"3 days til you fall. 3 days to make up your mind. 3 days to beg for forgiveness. 3 days til you meet death." Karin's left eye turned back to its natural gray color. Her head felt like it was going to burst. She tightened and loosened her grip on Hitsugaya's throat every now and then. Karin manages to remove her left hand from his neck and began clutching her head.
"Stop! Go away! Let go of him!" Yelled Karin to herself.
Karin let go of Hitsugaya but she then started to beat herself up. She jumped from the bed and bashed her head into the wall. "Argh! Go away!" she threw herself one last time into the wall and created a hole through the wall. Karin's right eye turned back to its normal gray color. She tilted backwards and started to fall. Hitsugaya jumped up to his feet and ran to catch Karin. Hitsugaya looked at Karin and noticed that her head was bleeding. He ripped a piece of his haori and dabbed it on her forehead.
Slowly Karin opened her eyes. Hitsugaya was staring at her and holding her. He had a sad expression written on his face.
What the hell? Ow! My head hurts.
Karin began to sit up but Hitsugaya lifted her and carried her to her bed.
"Toshiro, what happened? Why does my head hurt so much?" she reached for her forehead and when she brought her hand down, she saw blood on her hand.
Her eyes widen and she looked at him questioningly.
"You don't remember anything do you?" he asked her. She shook her head but then something came at her.
"Wait, I remember being with Kuchiki-Taichou, but that's all I remember." Suddenly, Hitsugaya grab hold of Karin's shoulders and asked, "Are you sure you don't remember anything? Do you remember what you just did a few seconds ago?" he stared at her waiting for her to say something. Karin looked away from his eyes and then she saw that there were finger prints on his neck as if someone was strangling him.
Karin had a flash back when she saw his neck. She shoved Hitsugaya's hands away from her.
"I … I did that to you?" Hitsugaya saw Karin touch his neck and he winced. Karin saw that and removed her hands from him.
"Leave." She said. Hitsugaya protested but Karin yelled back.
"If you stay here any longer I might hurt you more!"
"NO! You know something Kurosaki and I want to know what it is."
"Go away Toshiro."
"Not until you tell me what's going on." Hitsugaya pulled up a chair beside her and sat down facing her waiting for her to tell him. Karin finally gave in and told him about her dreams.
An Hour Later
"Since then all I could ever dream about was that. I don't know why I keep dreaming it. I just see myself holding him. More like strangling him but that's just it. I usually don't remember what happens after that. I do know that, this has been occurring constantly. It's only now that I remember what just happened."
Hitsugaya and Karin remained silent until he showed her a piece of paper with the message she told Byakuya. Karin looked at the paper and read it.
"Does it sound familiar to you?" Hitsugaya asked.
"I'm sorry but it doesn't."
"I see. Well Kurosaki, get some sleep there's only two days left as of now. You're going to need some energy for this war." He got up when Karin grabbed his hand. Hitsugaya turned around and Karin put her head down. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Karin broke the silence.
"I'm sorry that I … did that to you." Karin didn't look up but Hitsugaya put his other hand on her head.
"It's not your fault."
The Day of the Winter War
The sky in Soul Society, the real world, and Hueco Mundo was turning an ominous gray with strong winds blowing around the air. Today was not an ordinary day. No. Today is the day where the fate of all three worlds is decided. Only one will fall. Nobody knew which side would win but no one was backing down now.
"Today is the day where we destroy Soul Society and the real world! Follow me and help me conquer all three worlds. They are finally here. You know what to do!" Yelled Aizen.
Aizen got up, walked out of the double doors of the main room, and headed to meet Ichigo. The rest of the people all headed different directions to go and meet with all the other shinigami and people that would try to stop Aizen.
Ulquiorra and Inoue walked in a corridor. Inoue was chained and Ulquiorra was pulling her with the chain. These past few days were difficult for the both of them. Neither of them said a word to each other since that day he stayed up to hold her hand.
Slowly they walked in silence until Inoue stopped walking. Ulquiorra looked up and saw that she was staring at a group of people. On the other side of the corridor. Standing before them were Chad, Karin, Hitsugaya, Rukia, Ishida, and Ichigo.
Ulquiorra stared at all of them full of hate however; the most hate that poured out of him was directed to Ichigo. It didn't take a while for him to notice that Inoue wasn't staring at Ichigo, but at Ishida. At first, Ulquiorra was confused at why she was more concerned with the Quincy rather than Ichigo, but then he realized she was never really crying about Ichigo. This whole time he thought that it was Ichigo she was desperately waiting for to rescue her. He was wrong. It might have been Ichigo she waited for at first, but somehow she suddenly cared more about the Quincy.
Ulquiorra turned his gaze to Ishida and glared at him. "Inoue!" Ichigo yelled. Inoue saw that all her friends were there. She felt relieved to see them again. She took one glance at Ishida and saw how serious and angry his face was. She didn't think that she would ever see him again. She didn't understand why he suddenly disappeared but she didn't care about that. She was just glad that he was there to save her.
Inoue took a step towards them but Ulquiorra pulled the chain and it forced her backward and into him.
"Inoue-san!" Ishida said as he took a step forward. "I won't let you through here unless you defeat me." Ulquiorra said.
Each of the shinigami were about to go ahead and attack Ulquiorra but Ishida beat them to him. Ishida reappeared in front of Ulquiorra and released his arrow. Ulquiorra dodges it and it almost hits Inoue.
"Ishida!" yelled Ichigo. After a few more minutes, Ishida was engaged in a heated battle with Ulquiorra. Ishida manages to distract Ulquiorra and signaled for the rest of them to keep going in Aizen's palace. Ichigo was about to protest but Rukia stopped him.
"C'mon Ichigo! Ishida can handle this on his own let's go!" Rukia yelled grabbing onto Ichigo and pulling him with her.
As soon as all of them were out of sight, the fight with Ulquiorra and Ishida continued.
"You don't need to worry about them. I'm your opponent." Ishida said as he prepared to shoot another arrow at him.
Real World
As the sky became darker, the sky began to rip and a dozen of hollows and menos grande were coming from the sky. As soon as one of them landed, they were purified.
"There are so many of them!" Yoruichi exclaimed. Urahara attacked another that landed. "Well this will be entertaining." He said.
"Hey don't leave me out!" Isshin yelled running up to them. Somewhere near them Renji came running to help them but Urahara told him to go to Hueco Mundo and follow Karin and the others. Renji nodded and left to go to Hueco Mundo.
Ururu, Jinta, and Tessai came out of nowhere and began attacking the hollows. Ururu went on annihilation mode and destroyed many hollows. Isshin commented on how powerful she is to Jinta. This made Jinta upset and went all out on the hollows.
"That's the spirit!" Urahara and Isshin said. They almost got hit when a menos flew by their head as Yoruichi scolded them for just sitting there being lazy.
Soul Society
Everywhere in Soul Society, many shinigamis were evacuating people to a safe place while hollows and Menos Grande somehow were able to go there.
From the 12th Division Headquarters many of the shinigamis there were running around trying to put barriers up and figure out how the hollows and menoses were able to get it Soul Society.
"Argh! I don't understand! How the hell were they able to get in here?!" One of the technician growled in frustration.
Mayuri became cynical once again and rather fearing for his life, he was laughing evilly. Of course, he probably wanted to experiment them now that hey were able to get in, something that was forbidden but happened anyways.
In the 4th Division Hospital, many people were being brought inside to be healed.
"Hanataro! Quickly! Help that man over there!" Unohana yelled across the room. "Hai!" Hanataro ran to the man that just recently came in with a broken rib and arm. All the 4th division shinigami had their hands full as more and more patients came in. Unohana looked around the room and frowned.
There won't be enough room left if this keeps up.
She got up and ran to the next victim trying to heal them as efficiently and quickly as she can. She began to grow tired when Hanataro placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't stop yet Taichou, you can do it. You are Taichou after all." Hanataro smiled and went to another injured person.
Somewhere not too far from there, there was an explosion. Unohana and Hanataro looked up and saw through the window that a building collapsed and people screaming and jumping out the window to save themselves.
Hueco Mundo
"Everyone I think we should turn this way!" Karin yelled to her comrades. They all turned the direction that Karin pointed to only to be stopped by two Arrancars, Noitora and Aaroniero.
Noitora was tall and had long hair. His face had a wide grin showing his upper teeth. Aaroniero was slightly normal looking but has a capsule for a head with two floating heads swimming inside it.
Karin and Ichigo were about to attack them but Noitora and Aaroniero dodged them and attacked Chad and Rukia. Soon the four of them were engaged in battle.
"Ichigo, Karin, Hitsugaya-Taichou! Go on! Chad and I can handle this!" Rukia swiftly pulled her Zanpakuto and charged towards Aaroniero. Chad gave them a reassuring look and continued to fight Noitora.
"Don't worry little shinigami, we'll make sure that they won't stay alive." Noitora laughed using his Zanpakuto on Chad.
"GO!" Chad yelled.
Ichigo, Karin, and Hitsugaya looked at their two companions and left. Hitsugaya now running in front of the two Kurosakis blast through a door and saw a tall figure walking up to them. His hair was light blue and he had the most sadistic smile anyone could ever see. He slowly approached them and then in a blink of an eye he was in front of Ichigo, strangling him.
"Glad to see you back." He smiled.
Ichigo was released and he gasped for air. "Che… Grimmjow." Grimmjow smirked. "Oh you remember me? I'm flattered. But prepare to die." In a flash Grimmjow attacked Ichigo once again and Ichigo flew backwards through a wall.
"Ichi-nii!" Karin yelled as she tried to attack Grimmjow but he whammed her against a wall. Grimmjow smirked and reappeared in front of Karin and prepared to hit her when Ichigo appeared in front of Grimmjow. "Lay one finger on her and I'll kill you."
Grimmjow smirked. "Oh? You kill me? Don't make me laugh."
Ichigo glared at him, "Toshiro, take Karin and get as far away from us as you can. Go now!" Hitsugaya nodded and picked up Karin, hoisted her over his shoulder, and ran.
It didn't take that long for Karin to wake up. She opened her eyes found herself on someone's shoulder.
Toshiro?
"Put me down. I can walk." She said. Hitsugaya stopped and put her down and his eyes changed when he saw blood running down her shoulder. He traced his fingers along the blood leading up to her shoulder. She winced when he softly touched where the wound was. His eyes went from scared to anger.
I almost couldn't protect her. I won't let that happen again.
He looked up and noticed that she was talking to him. "I said we should get going. We didn't come here for nothing. We have to stop Aizen." Karin walked again while Hitsugaya followed her.
They walked on for about ten minutes until they found Aizen and Gin. Hitsugaya stopped causing Karin to bump into him. "Toshiro what's wrong?" she looked up and saw the person they were looking for.
Hitsugaya tried not to attack him recklessly, "Aizen." He spat.
Karin's eyes widen. "A…Aizen."
This guy here is Aizen?
She looked at Hitsugaya and Aizen she noticed that Aizen smirked.
"Very nice to see you again Hitsugaya Toshiro." His deep voice echoing through the room.