Chapter 14

Chappy

"Hitsugaya!" a familiar voice shouted in his ear.

"Matsumoto-taichō," Hitsugaya greeted. "What is it?"

"Always the enthusiastic one, eh?" his captain chirped. "Lighten up a little!"

"What are you calling about?" Hitsugaya asked again, ignoring his captains giggling.

"Straight to business, as always," Matsumoto pouted. "Well, then. Hitsugaya, you time is up."

Hitsugaya froze. "What?"

"You heard me," she said seriously. "You've been in the World of the Living for two months now. And considering your reports, there's not much more you can do."

Hitsugaya listened shocked to what his captain said, unable to say anything himself. She continued. "There was an incidence when you first arrived Karakura, and one last month as well. From what you have told us, it looks like something is going on in Hueco Mundo, and that Karakura is the place where those two worlds connect."

Matsumoto paused. Hitsugaya tried to get a hold of himself. He knew this was bound to happen at some point, but he couldn't help it. He was shocked. Time had passed without him noticing, and suddenly, it was gone.

Hitsugaya cleared his throat. "So, what is going to happen next?"

"Well, first of all, your mission is complete, and you are to return to Soul Society. A team from the Department of Research and Development will be sent to Karakura to continue the investigation."

Hitsugaya took a deep breath. This was bad. He hadn't realised that he had so little time left. What was he going to do about Karin?

During the past month, his powers had restored themselves and were almost at a 100 percent. He didn't doubt that he would be able to return to his Shinigami form if he had wanted to, but for some reason he had chosen not to.

"I see," Hitsugaya said monotone. On the inside, there was an emotional chaos, but he kept his mask on. "How much time do I have?"

"Well, the Squad 12 team will arrive in Karakura during next week—don't know the exact day—so only a couple of days," she said. There was curiosity in her voice. "Why? Have you finally opened you eyes for the beauty of the Human World?" she asked teasingly.

"Che. I was simply just wondering," he lied. "Well, then. Was there anything else?"

"Not really. But are you sure you can't bring me anything from the Human World?" she asked.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "The answer haven't changed since last time you asked, Matsumoto-taichō."

"Ah, well. It was worth a try!" his captain said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "See you in a couple of days!"

Hitsugaya sighed and hung up. Then he remembered Karin.

What was he going to do? Of course, he would just have to return to Soul Society, but what was he going to do about Karin? What was he going to tell her?

He would eventually have to tell her. He still had a few days, but he would eventually have to tell her. And what was he going to do about her powers? Gotei 13 would at some point find out. What was going to happen to her then?

Hitsugaya had expected her powers to disappear as he recovered his own. He had only borrowed her his Shinigami powers, and didn't expect them to last. However, after two month, her powers didn't show any sign of disappearing.

It would have been easier of they had just disappeared. He could have left Karakura without needing to worry about her, and she could have gone back to her old life. He knew he had been selfish when he had dragged her into this mess. Maybe it was for the best that he left.

But still.

She possessed Shinigami powers, and there was little he could do about it. She had an extraordinary high Reiatsu, and would at some point be found out.

Hitsugaya cursed himself. This shouldn't have had to happen. He shouldn't have done what he did. He shouldn't have given her Shinigami powers; he should have found another way.

Hitsugaya realised that he was wandering restless around in his relatively small apartment. He stopped and smashed his hand down on the table in frustration. What was he going to do?

Damn it all! What was he going to do?

"Hey, Tōshirō!"

The white-haired boy turned around and her grey eyes met his turquoise. "Yes?"

Two months had passed since "the crack" appeared. Things had gone back to normal since then. Yes, in the start it had been slightly awkward whenever she met Jinta at school, or Ururu when she visited Yuzu. All of them had avoided the subject and just pretended that it never happened, so things had slowly returned to how they used to be.

In the days after the attack, Karin had stayed home. She had told her father and sister that she was sick so she could get some time to recover. Tōshirō hadn't been at school either, but that was mostly because she hadn't been there, thus he had no reason to be there either.

It didn't take long, though, before she was back at 100 percent. These Shinigami powers also speeded up her healing process, which she was grateful for. She really hated to have to sit still all day, not being able to do anything.

"You are going in the wrong direction, you know," she said when she caught up to him.

"What?"

"You are going in the wrong direction," she repeated slowly. "Math is the other way."

Tōshirō stared at her for a second. Even though he was standing right in front of her, it still seemed like he was far away.

"Right," he said after a while and started walking in the other direction.

What was up with him? He had been so distant the entire day. It was like he wasn't even there. He only talked when she asked him something, and she usually had to ask the question twice before he heard it.

Tōshirō hadn't been a very talkative person to begin with, but this was different. Karin walked next to him, but he took no notice of her. This was very unlike him.

Tōshirō remained distant for the rest of the day. He didn't say anything. His expression varied between emotionless and pensive. Because of his unusual behaviour, Karin was very surprised when Tōshirō suddenly decided to talked to her again. He stopped her after their last class finished.

"Karin," he started. "Before we go home, there's something we need to do."

"What is it?" Karin asked, a bit surprised. He had been so quiet all day that she hadn't expected him to say anything.

Karin followed him. They went the opposite direction of their homes and she wondered where they were headed. After a ten minutes walk she found out, and she didn't like it.

"Why are we outside Urahara Shōten?" she asked. To her annoyance, he didn't answer. She followed him inside.

"Urahara-san," Tōshirō greeted the man in green.

"Hitsugaya-san, Karin-san," Urahara said. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I would like to buy a Gikongan," Tōshirō answered. Karin wondered what that was, but she decided not to ask. If he had dragged her with him all the way out here, he probably intended to tell her anyway.

"Do you have any preferences?" Urahara asked.

"Just take one."

"Okay. Ururu? Would you go and get one?" Urahara asked the black-haired girl who nodded and disappeared to another room.

She came back holding a little package at the size of Karin's hand which she handed to Tōshirō. "Thank you," he said and grabbed it.

He paid for the item and the two of them left the store. When they came outside, he handed the package over to Karin. She looked questioningly at him and he nodded.

Karin opened the package and something fell out. She looked at it. It was a cylinder with a bunny-head on top of it. On the cylinder was the words "soul candy" written with colourful letters.

"Soul candy?" she repeated questioningly.

"Yeah," Tōshirō said with a hint of annoyance to his voice. "Its original name is "Gikongan", but some female Shinigami didn't thought it sounded "cute" enough. So they changed it into Soul Candy."

"But what is it?" she asked, still unaware of what this "Soul Candy" actually was.

"Oh, right, I forgot. A Gikon is an artificial soul, and a Gikongan is an artificial soul pill. It is an easier method to separate your soul from your body, compare to me punching it out. You put it into your Gigai—or your body, in your case—and the Gikon take care of the body until you comes back," he explained.

He hesitated for a moment before he added: "And you will be able to get out of your body if I should not be present."

Karin frowned when she heard the last part. There was something in his voice that made her believe that there were more to it than only what he told her. But she knew he wouldn't tell her even if she asked. She could tell just by looking at him.

Karin looked at the Soul Candy with scepticism.

"Try it," Tōshirō said.

She hesitated for a moment before she swallowed a pill. She felt the familiar feeling of her soul being pulled out of her body, but this time, her body didn't hit the ground. It remain standing, and was grinning at her.

Karin looked at her body with wide eyes. Being dragged out of her body was strange enough, but to have it stand beside you, and grin at you was just weird. There were no other ways to describe it. It was just weird.

"Hi!" her body shouted and Karin flinched. "My name is Chappy!"

Her body jumped over her. "What the—" Karin exclaimed as "Chappy" gave her a big hug and giggled. Her body was acting as un-Karin as you could get it. Its eyes were wide and it was grinning all over its face. Her face.

"Tōshirō, what the heck?!" Karin shouted as she lost her balance. Karin tried to fight her body, desperately trying to get it off of her. "What—is—this—thing?!" she asked while struggling to push "Chappy" away.

"It's Chappy. It's the most popular Soul Candy among female Shinigami," he said serious. Chappy looked up at him.

"Yay, Whitey!" she shouted and jumped at him. "My name is Chappy!"

The white-haired boy didn't move at all as Chappy hugged him.

"How do I get this thing out?!" Karin said slightly panicked. What if somebody saw her like this? They would believe she was insane!

"Well, you just step into you body again, as you usually do," he explained with Chappy all over him.

Karin grabbed her body and 'stepped into it', as Tōshirō had referred to it as. The pill came out of her mouth and she caught it. She scowled at it as she put it back into to cylinder.

She scowled at Tōshirō. "Don't expect me to say thank you," she said irritated.

Tōshirō shrugged. "Just keep it with you. Just in case."

They walked home together. Karin thought about the Soul Candy in her pocket. No way that she was ever going to put that thing into her body again.