Hell Butterfly

Crouching Dragon, Hidden Shadows

~36~

o)0(o

Karin laughed innocently when he caught up to her. "Haha, I just got bored! Was ickle Shiro-chwan scared of the big mean dwagon?"

His face twitched at that, as she effortlessly pushed every single rage button he had. Teeth grinding together, biting back a whole lungful of insults that were far too rude for her age to be exposed to; he tried not to explode.

"I mean you didn't actually need me for anything right? You were just showing off your dragon. He's really super cool! I mean, way too cool, I was freezing." Big, grey, naïve eyes. They hid a mastermind of evil taunting.

"What did you think you were there for? I was introducing you to Hyourinmaru! You should be honoured, no one else has met him directly," grumbled the boy.

She concentrated on kicking stray pebbles as far as she could, white sandals scuffing along the pavement. "Well I don't know what's normal or special round here, do I? Oh, you two stood there chatting in front of everyone about what happened to me and whether Ichi-nii is a psycho and if I have a, a zanpakuto as if it can come back whenever it feels like it. I'm not interested in that stuff. I never even liked seeing ghosts." A stone went skittering away up the street, hit a wall and rebounded round the corner. She took up a small victory pose. A family containing an absent mother, a lunatic medic father, a mysterious idiot brother and a mini-chef sister all had curdled to make the last Kurosaki weirdly tenacious. Hitsugaya just couldn't fathom how.

"But then," she continued, still light and breezy; "then you said it wasn't a zanpakuto or a Hollow, and it came from me! Like I-"

She couldn't even spit the words out. As if I killed my brother myself? She coped by ignoring the entire issue, because surely it was her choice what mood she should be in. But they kept bringing it up, the old guy and then Toushiro and probably all of them suspicious of her behind her back…

How was she meant to keep calm if they wouldn't let her forget it ever happened? Outwardly she shrugged. "I wasn't interested in your conversation anymore so I left."

The taicho pulled a strange face, was she angry? Then why not just say so? Though for someone who appeared to be so unaffected by her trials, this was a little bit odd. "There's a war brewing, Karin, we can't walk on eggshells round your feelings. I'm sorry but there's no age limit on who bad things can happen to, and what was done to you is a major issue for everyone. We have to discuss it and be prepared for if it happens again!"

He had cut straight to the chase. Damn him for being an observant genius! Her smile was cracking, so she looked in the opposite direction and continued walking two steps ahead of him. "Sure, good for you, but do I have to listen to it?" muttered the prisoner obstinately. "In fact maybe I'm a spy and you should keep me far, far away from all your prep-whatever."

"Funnily enough, Aizen used to be one of our captains and already knows all our procedures; he probably helped write some of them. All he has left to discover is how much we don't know about arrancars. We only know that Espada Zero had swords and called them Naraku." Toushiro sighed. "Although Inoue saw everything that happened to you, she didn't know what it all meant. Don't make assumptions about our guesswork." He tilted his head. "We'd have better luck asking you what you remember about it all."

"It's over. It doesn't matter anymore."

He laughed, a short sarcastic bark. "Ha! I'm afraid it does. If Aizen manages to harness a dangerous power like Naraku's, to cut through anything without resistance…"

"Like what?" she asked blankly, turning round.

"It uses an interdimensional rift to-"

"I don't care about that, I couldn't hear you."

"Eh…Naraku?" She saw his lips moving, but all that emerged was static. She couldn't even figure out how he produced a weird noise like that. Putting on her 'Isshin-is-being-an-idiot-again' expression, the girl stood arms akimbo and raised her eyebrows.

"Hey. If you want to scare me, it's a stupid joke. Speak properly."

Karin had begun to shake from the moment he said the word, and Toushiro finally realised it was not from anger but from fear. He leaned forward and shouted the name in her ear; she winced and batted him away. "Words, Toushiro! Use your words! Not sound effects! Jeez, did my dad corrupt you when he lived here or something?"

The taicho huffed, crouching down and scribbling the kanji into the dusty ground.

"That means hell," mumbled Karin, folding her arms in annoyance. "That's really nice of you, Toushiro. Wow. I thought you said you were grown up."

He groaned, pressing his head into his hands. "Don't blame me for your complications. I think Hyourinmaru may have been wrong. He's going to be pissed."

"Oh, an angry dragon. I feel so safe."

Privately Hitsugaya noted that Karin had been much, much scarier than Hyourinmaru ever was when he'd met her in kill-mode. "The bottom line is, until this war is over, we're not going to see you as anything other than a ticking time-bomb. Management apologises for the inconvenience." This was said with a wry twist of his mouth.

Karin almost smirked in reply, but backed away instead. "Nuh-uh. A Hollow, one that is now dead, because of you, was a time-bomb. I'm just the crazy ryoka's little sister, and the crazy ex-captain's daughter, I am not some kind of super-warrior like my brother. Anyway he has issues. I don't. I refuse to have issues. It makes Yuzu upset. So what you're on about is impossible."

"Exactly – it's impossible, but the problem is, everything about your family is impossible. And if it is a zanpakuto then it's maybe not what you think, it's entirely possible Naraku – uh," She could only hear a fizzing sound, so he settled for a similar word; "it's possible Jigoku was only acting for your protection."

"That's what you call protection?"

"Well-"

"He was in ribbons, Toushiro!"

"But you weren't."

"If that's what protection is I don't want anyone to guard me! I hate it when people get hurt!"

The white-haired boy fell still. He glanced down at his white haori. He avoided her terror-white face. Even a powerless child didn't want him as a guardian. His mouth pressed into a thin line for an instant.

"I think we're done here then."

"Finally. I didn't even want to talk about this, why d'you think I left?" She flung her arms in the air, oblivious to his discomfort. "By the way, do you know when Ichigo is coming here next?"

"Later today," he said distantly, already thinking about who or what else to use as bait for Hyourinmaru.

"Oh, great," cheered Karin, suddenly full of sunshine. "It's stupid but I miss him more now that I'm the one in Soul Society and he's the one at home." The word home was said with complete and utter longing.

Sometimes he thought she was relying on nothing but bravado.

o)0(o

"I guess it makes sense," Tatsuki hummed, poking Baigon with a curious fingertip. For some reason Orihime would always let the fairies loose when visiting the Arisawas, and would feed them tidbits and sweets like so many dolls at a tea party. Actually, from the way they guzzled it down, the Shun Shun Rikka probably couldn't stomach their owner's cooking either. The karate champion wondered whether they had to be fed everyday like pets.

"Karakura hasn't been particularly kind to you has it?" Tatsuki began to count the misfortunes off on her fingers, loving friend that she was. "Let's see, got picked on and cut all your hair off, Sora's death, kidnap, getting dragged into a war between the factions of the undead because you have a crush on a guy who is now a zombie, so far as I can tell; you've been to the afterlife, been in fights, been in prison, had to impersonate a grim reaper, had to kill monsters, done some kind of Frankenstein necromancy, and now your unrequited strawberry is going schizo and attacking you. Did I miss much?"

"No, Tatsuki-chan!" gasped Inoue, sparkling with awe. "Your memory is amazing! Do you train it every day with a hundred imaginary kicks and punches? Per side of the brain?"

"Of course," replied Tatsuki, sniggering into her cup of green tea. "That's exactly what I do. And twenty imaginary suplexes."

"Ahh, I thought so! In fact I've been getting better at karate too. Actually, Isshin-san is like this amazing alarm clock, he attacks everyone every morning when we're asleep and it's really great for the reflexes." She pumped her fist in the air. "And he shouts 'GOOD MORRRRNING!' so it's like English practice too. He's very clever." She blew on her hot drink happily. "I really love living there. It's nice to see people in the morning and share a room with Yuzu. She's been teaching me to cook."

Cough- "Um, really?" Tatsuki sweatdropped. "How's that going?"

Orihime pouted. "I tried to make a western pudding called trifle and it turned into fruit soup. It was meant to be really easy too. I still ate it though, fruit soup is nice."

"I'm sure it is," muttered her friend darkly.

"Anyway I've phoned my uncle and I think I'll be going to see him tomorrow." The smile fell from her face. "I told him it was a short term visit, just to try my options." She glanced at Tatsuki with damp eyes. "You will come see me sometimes, right?"

"Of course! Hey, don't start crying on me, you know I don't like it. You've been telling me all day this is the only thing to do." She shuffled round the low table and hugged her best friend tightly.

"I know," hiccupped Orihime, scrubbing at her eyes. "But really, Karakura let me know Sora was safe and let me meet you and I love it here even if it's crawling with Hollows – and – and…" She buried her face in Tatsuki's shoulder, a high-pitched keen escaping her throat. "I don't want to leave…"

The dark-haired girl slumped in defeat. "Just now you were saying Ichigo would kill you if you stayed. Make your mind up." It made her head spin to try and figure out Ichigo and his alter-ego or whatever Orihime-chan had been babbling about. Suffice to say Ichigo was definitely no longer the kid she had known so well.

"I set him off somehow," explained Inoue after a long snivel into a tissue, sitting up straight and rearranging her long auburn hair with her hands. "The Hollow only seems to break out when I'm around. It thinks I'm someone it used to know. If I go, he'll probably calm down and be alright. I don't like putting him in that situation when he's done so much for me – it's not fair on him, he's terrified."

"Well if I ever meet it I'll kick its face in. Though Ichigo being terrified of anything sounds kinda weird. He's not exactly a cry-baby anymore."

She ate a donut miserably. "He's paranoid, Tatsuki-chan. He barely even looks at me. If you ever meet it, you have to run away as fast as you can. Swear."

"I swear, I swear!"

"On your soul!"

"I said I swear already!"

"Good," nodded Inoue, her work here was done. "Or else Charlie the Unicorn will be angry at you."

Tatsuki facepalmed. "I should never have introduced you to the internet."

o)0(o

Karin snuck up to Hitsugaya's office and listened in from behind the doorframe. There was notice up about being in a private meeting; she pretended she hadn't seen it. She wanted to ask him why her brother was taking so long to arrive, and maybe steal his soul phone to make the guy hurry up a bit. It turned out she needn't bother.

"Oyaji told me to tell you, if you don't look after her to your very last breath he'll spread embarrassing pictures of you all over Karakura and Rukongai and Seireitei. Oi, don't glare at me; I'm only passing the message on because I think he's stupid enough to do it. …Maa, I don't know where he got them from, he was your captain. What have you done that's so embarrassing anyway?"

She could almost hear Ichigo roll his eyes. Toushiro spluttered and changed the subject. Now she felt a burning curiosity to see those photos.

"She doesn't seem very keen on being looked after by anyone," replied the albino, rather more snarky than necessary.

Ichigo sounded like he had a wicked grin plastered across his face. "That's why you completely ignore all of the rescuee's opinions. Works for me."

"You haven't explained why you're leaving without seeing Karin; she's been waiting for you all day." Hitsugaya contrived to sound like this was merely inconvenient for him and not that he actually cared. In the corridor, Karin tried to restrain herself from marching straight in and kicking Ichi-nii in the shins.

Toushiro watched the former ryoka dither and try to avoid the question, scratching his orange head in distraction. "It's…uhhh…"

"Your reiatsu is more unstable than usual," said the captain pointedly. "Care to explain that too?"

"Everything is more unstable," muttered Ichigo unhappily. "The Hollow is trying to get out."

Hitsugaya fidgeted with a writing brush on his desk, remembering Hyourinmaru's words. "That or it's just you going insane." The Kurosaki shot him a withering glare.

"Don't pretend you know anything about it, Toushiro," he snapped, temper fraying. "The vaizards were kicked out the moment they existed – as if a shinigami would understand! I didn't understand it when it happened to me!"

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho," corrected the boy, for lack of a better argument. And again Hyourinmaru seems to be wrong. Why was he so adamant?

Getting Ichigo to admit what was wrong with him was like pulling teeth. "I'll bring her here now shall I?" suggested Toushiro, sounding like a teacher calling his student's bluff. The teenager winced.

"That would be…a bad idea. The Hollow has attacked Inoue twice already, and if they target family first it'll definitely go after Karin. It's got to have a grudge against her." He looked more than a little haunted by his own words.

"What?" yelled the taicho. "You already lost control of it? Why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"I thought Rukia had," hedged the vaizard. Clearly not.

Hitsugaya stood up, drawing his sword. And this was probably why she hadn't. He would just have to hope that either Hyourinmaru would return to his aid or Ichigo would take the hint. "I'm detaining you immediately."

A pregnant silence filled the room. The younger of the two seemed terribly old and jaded when he spoke next.

"If I even thought you could, Toushiro, I would let you."

"Then I hereby place you under arrest, Substitute Kurosaki Ichigo."

The shinigami closed his eyes, and when they opened they were speckled with gold, bloodshot black. "But you can't."

The thin wall exploded, Karin hit the ground in a shower of splinters. It knocked the wind out of her, more than the impact, there was an unbearable pressure in the air as though gravity had been turned up six notches. Ichigo leapt out over her head, and caught sight of her curled up on the floor. He paused, took one step towards her, his hand rising and looking oddly sharp.

His eyes reminded her of Hueco Mundo. She shrank back. The vaizard stopped once more; turned away with great difficulty - she could see his muscles straining - and fled down the hallway in the direction of the senkai gates.

"Ichi-nii!" she shouted after him, breath hitching in her throat. "Ichi-nii…? Don't leave me here on my own!"

o)0(o

Hitsugaya dragged the girl out to meet Hyourinmaru once again, a tight grip on her wrist to prevent a second escape. "No," he chided her when she squirmed and dug her heels into the ground. "You're both going to stop acting stupid and do as I say. Hyourinmaru!"

At its master's voice, the dragon once more descended from the churning skies; though this time more like a snowflake than a thoughtlessly tossed iceberg. Again? The zanpakuto sighed, creating a chilly wind. Was she not both beyond her usefulness and too fragile to survive our aid?

"Don't be so childish," snapped Toushiro, and the dragon balked a little in surprise. "If you weren't being so immature about the fact I was going through a hard time and didn't know what to do, then you would have been there when the Hollow broke out and I could have stopped him! He's the biggest wildcard Seireitei has ever seen, and now he's running loose in Karakura!"

Hyourinmaru couldn't decide whether this scolding was amusing or shaming. The both of them were tiny children, ants beside his great stature, and yet here the boy was, daring to tell a proud heavenly being it was behaving like an idiot. The icy maw cracked open, the dragon bared its fangs, bringing its head down to their level. He was delighted.

This was why he had chosen Hitsugaya as a partner in the beginning. The man had so much fire compressed behind his stern exterior; capable of completely forgetting his size and station in the face of overwhelming anger. He never humbled himself to anyone, in any lifetime.

My apologies, growled Hyourinmaru, hiding his glee. Did you even attempt to call me?

"That's irrelevant now, the damage is done. This," he pushed Karin forward, who tried to scramble back when a gleaming red eye filled her vision; "is your tribute."

"I'm what now? Oi! Don't just decide these things on your own!" She glared fiercely at the colossal beast. "Don't you dare try and eat me."

I do not require food, it snorted. But do not meddle in my affairs, for you are small and crunchy and might taste good with ketchup.

She blinked, and tried not to laugh.

"Don't fight," Hitsugaya warned them. "Karin, you probably heard about this when you were reading my papers without permission. Since becoming a shinigami I have slowly lost everyone important to me, and when Matsumoto died in Hueco Mundo it was the last straw. But this dragon here is known as the Heavenly Guardian: he's a legendary zanpakuto that returns to Soul Society every few hundred years. He is the most powerful of the ice-type swords and can control the entire sky at will. But if there's nothing for the Guardian to protect, he's nothing more than a dragon without treasure. We can't fight to the fullest."

The Kurosaki girl digested this flood of information. "You mean…like Ichi-nii?"

"Huh?" What did Ichigo have to do with this? Did she have a brother complex?

"The 'go' in his name stands for guardian." She glanced between the boy and the drake. "So you're saying your zanpakuto feels the way Ichi-nii would if all his friends and family were taken away and he had no one to fight for."

Toushiro stiffened. His green eyes slid away, staring at something from the past. "Um…yes…that's…that's how we feel." It sounded unbearable put like that, so blunt.

"That's so sad!" wailed Karin without warning; "You poor thing!" She hugged him so fast he nearly fell over. "Aw-aww, don't worry about it, I'll be your new best friend. You didn't have to make this so stuffy, you should've just said! It's not like I have anyone here either…"

"It's really not necessary, please get off me," stammered the soul reaper, pushing her off feebly. "This was all for Hyourinmaru's sake, you don't even need to agree with it, it's a confirmation between my zanpakuto and I only-"

"Shut up," ordered Karin cheerily. She turned to the dragon, hesitated, and settled for patting its muzzle. "Hi, Hyourinmaru. Nice to meet you. Sorry I ran off before."

I haven't agreed to this yet, the zanpakuto reminded her, wrinkling its nose. I don't believe you would survive a rescue from me without reiatsu to shield you.

"Then maybe you shouldn't throw any reiatsu at me? I mean you're a guardian right, or are you only guarding the sky because you can't accidentally break it?"

"Enough!" choked Toushiro, slapping a hand over her mouth and pulling her away from the living weapon. "Hyourinmaru, please consider it. She was Aizen's strongest soldier and he clearly doesn't believe she's worthless yet; he sent his Primera Espada to retrieve her. Her brother helped us when the Gotei 13 was against us before, with Sojiro. Kurosaki-taicho asked us to take care of his daughter for him, and…

"And although Matsumoto may have died with Ichimaru, the last thing she did in this world was lead Karin out of Hueco Mundo."

They stared deep into each other's eyes, the boy and the dragon, latter curling a vast white tail around its companion in sympathy. "Make that your hoard of gold," whispered Toushiro in his mind so that only Hyourinmaru would hear. "Do it for Rangiku's memory. This girl isn't going to have a nervous breakdown like Momo, she's too young to fall in love with the enemy and has no power to betray us, and she's already returned from the Espada unscathed because of your intervention. She's Isshin and Masaki's kid. She may later be used to attack us from within, we don't know what Aizen is capable of. That's more than enough investment."

The glacial serpent remained silent.

"Please fight by my side again Hyourinmaru," he said aloud. "We are the Heavenly Guardian. I need you."

The dragon roared, bellowed with cold laughter, with the sound of cracking ice sheets. I never left you, witless one. I only needed you to believe I was there. I only needed you to have a strong enough reason to seek me out with all your heart.

Toushiro couldn't hold back, he grinned, almost running forward to embrace the wall of ice that was his zanpakuto. If Karin wasn't there, he would have.

And so, let us devise a new test for her. The hypothermia I gave you might kill her.

Hitsugaya looked tetchy, though his eyes were smiling. "Yes, hypothermia was an unfair retaliation when I only made you a little upset."

Hyourinmaru leant down and bit the back of Toushiro's white robe as delicately as possible. "What are you doing?" spluttered the taicho as he was lifted into the air. Come, this shall be entertaining; we have never done it before. I certainly will not waste so much energy by materialising in your realm again, so enjoy it whilst you can.

Karin, busy laughing at them, was completely unprepared to dodge the dragon's teeth when it picked her up too. When she was placed upon its back, she shrieked, clinging to her new 'best friend'. Of course Hitsugaya was only slightly warmer and not much help. "This is freezing! Let me off, what are you doing?"

"I think we're going flying," mumbled Toushiro, a little horrified to learn Hyourinmaru had an inner child too.

It is rescue practice, corrected the zanpakuto aloofly. If she panics and falls off, or freezes to death now, we cannot be expected to protect her in the midst of battle. Also, if you make a mistake and this guardee dies, then you are out of options. Therefore it is only logical to train and be prepared.

"I'm convinced you only want to play," hissed Hitsugaya under his breath.

And then they were springing off the ground and launching into the air, a curious mixture of normal flight and weightless ascension, so different to the way using reiatsu to stay aloft felt. He could feel Hyourinmaru reacting to the curves of the wind and using gravity's pull to accelerate. Karin was screaming in his ear as if it was the best rollercoaster in the world, and he had to hold her down when she flung her arms in the air.

"You're meant to not fall off!" he shouted against the gusting wind.

She was laughing despite turning slightly blue from cold. "WOOOHOOO! I want a zanpakuto like this!"

"Trust me, that's taboo. You don't want this one. Besides, you already-"

"Don't wanna hear it~!" she whooped, as they rushed down another steep descent. "You don't know what it felt like, so forget it!"

The dragon levelled out, vast wings pounding the sky to slow down, and eventually the roaring gale faded. Now they could hear each other speak, she caught him saying something she wasn't meant to hear.

"I imagine it's like freezing to death,"

Twisting round to face him, Karin saw that in spite of his unhappy words he was exhilarated by the flight and this new side to Hyourinmaru. He was staring out at the sprawling city below them with wide eyes, fascinated. Always, the shinigamis only used their powers to get ahead in battle, never taking in the scenery like this. She didn't quite dare look down herself.

"Um," said the Kurosaki, breaking his reverie. "Freezing to death?"

"Wha-" He blinked, thrown. "Oh, it's how I died. Back in the real world. It's pretty much all I remember of my life before. But it happened for a reason."

"How could it?" she asked, shivering as it reminded her she was sitting on a giant flying ice cube in a thin atmosphere.

"This is something that happens to all shinigami, but they're not always aware of it." Hitsugaya fell into teacher-mode without second thought. It was part of being a captain: constantly explaining basic truths of zanpakutos to his troops, because only a dozen other people had attained such close bonds with theirs. "Hyourinmaru requires that his wielder knows what it feels like to be frozen to the core. Anyone who fights with him is guaranteed to have frozen to death when they were alive. Usually it's less obvious, like your brother. I heard that his Zangetsu doesn't allow him to retreat, which explains why he's so reckless, I suppose."

"What happened to you then?"

He seemed confused at the question. "Why do you ask? I lived in a mountain pass village; I don't think it was in your era. It was winter, but spring had come earlier than usual and the snowdrops were blooming, so I assumed it was safe to travel to the next village. Then the weather turned without warning and I froze to death in the blizzard. It's not that interesting. Let's just say I don't like snowdrops anymore," he finished with a bleak laugh.

I am worth any torment, interjected Hyourinmaru. It has been three decades since, do not complain.

"I'm not complaining."

The dragon shivered in reply, forcing them to cling on for dear afterlife.

"S-so…" mumbled Karin, teeth chattering from cold. "What did it feel like?"

"Numb and hopeless and lonely," answered the boy abruptly, shrugging it off. His snow-white hair ruffled in the wind, and his green eyes were sharp, warning her not to push the issue further. She glanced down.

"Yeah, actually. Being Tenebra did feel like that…afterwards, when I woke up. At the time there was just nothing, I don't remember being aware of it."

He was surprised, this was the first time she'd admitted to being Tenebra Shirojos. Sadly she was still looking down; soon her eyes were spinning and she lurched sideways. "I feel dizzyyyyy…"

"Hey –hey!" He snatched her back from the void, grabbing the black belt of her Espada uniform. "Don't get vertigo now!"

"Eurghhh…"

"And don't you dare throw up on my zanpakuto!"

Don't throw up on my captain, either!

o)0(o

Shinigami Cup: Golden!

o)0(o

Toushiro wasn't really watching Karin as he spoke, which is why he nearly fainted from sheer stupidity when he turned round.

"Hyourinmaru is the Heavenly Guardian, the most badass ice zanpakuto in the world; he could sink the Titanic, and – DID YOU LICK THE DRAGON?"

Karin panicked and tried to hide the fact that her tongue was fused to Hyourinmaru's nose with a casually placed hand. "…O? I yidn't? …elp?"

o)0(o

"I SWEAR CAPTAIN, THE ICEBERG WAS NOT THERE BEFORE!"
Hyourinmaru looked round vacantly, wondering what in the vast empty ocean could have poked him in the tail so viciously.
"ABANDON SHIIIIIP!"
Toushiro groaned. "Hyou, you really can't guard for shit."

o)0(o

Alliriyan~*