Hello everyone, here's your precious Dakan69.
Here the second chapter as promised. As soon as I started writing this chapter, it became too long for only one, which is the reason I'm sperating it. Hope you enjoy it nevertheless. Also please leave a critical comment of how you all view my story so far, since I wouldn't mind hearing other's opinions.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the soundtracks. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo while the soundtracks and anything else copyrighted belongs each to their originator.
Vaizado no Ashido
Chapter 19: the sister's enlightment part 2
(OPENING: Aimer – US feat. TK from Ling Tosite Sigure)
OUTSIDE OF THE MASHIBA MIDDLE SCHOOL - KARAKURA TOWN - NOON
"Did you see that? Karin became quite scary." Uehara stated about their friend's behavior while they all walked on the sidewalk.
"isn't she mostly scary ?" Heita wondered, somewhat dumbfounded that his other friends forget how Karin can be.
"no, no, " Uehara spoke again, "this time, she was scarier, after all that other girl asked about her brother." he reminded them all about the other girl who suddenly appeared.
"so did Karin's older brother do something to her? What was his name again ?" Kazuya Usaka, the third one, wondered?
"well, her older brother's name is Ichigo, and now that I remember about him, he actually looks like a delinquent," Heita stated while remembering Karin's older brother before being immediately interrupted by a scared Uehara holding his forefinger in front of his mouth.
"psst." Uehara stated while looking towards Heita's eyes worryingly, "you mustn't talk about her brother like that. You remember how angry she became." he reminded him again about a particular incident from months ago.
" But even she admitted that Ichigo often gets into trouble with other delinquents because of his hair color, maybe this time it was with someone familiar to that blond girl, she also kind of behaved like one of the 'tough' ones after all. " Heita said calmly, still not afraid to talk about that matter.
"well, that actually makes sense." Usaka now agreed to Heita's explanation.
"maybe ... " the fourth one, Ryoutei Toba, said, "except that you missed one detail," he added to his friends.
"and what might that be, Toba ?" Heita questioned his fellow friend.
"that blond girl," Toba reminded them, "she looked beautiful, didn't she ?" he stated while also questioning his friends if they think likewise.
"now that I think about it ... " Uehara said while thinking again about the blond girl that just appeared and agreed that she does indeed look kinda not bad for her age.
The two other boys recalled what the blond girl looked like and agreed about her.
"Sorry, but what's your point exactly? I don't get why her appearance matter right now? " Usaka questioned in confusion.
"think logically," Toba stated rather confidently, "if she's already beautifull, then maybe she has an older sister who's possibly more beautiful than her?" Toba added curiously.
"a more beautifull sister ?" Usaka wondered curiously.
At this point, all the boys imagined the 'older sister' as an adult version of that blond girl they saw. In their imagination, the 'older sister' wasn't just taller but also wore pretty sports clothes. And, of course, her cup size was also much more extensive.
"yes," Toba stated, "a more beautiful sister who's been hit on by Karin's older brother, which of course bothered her, which in turn is the reason her little sister is now issuing a warning on her behalf."
At this point, the other three boys then made each of their right hands into fists before putting it on each of their stretched left hand's palms.
" " " that makes total sense " " " all four said in agreement.
GROUND FLOOR - MASHIBA MIDDLE SCHOOL - MIDDAY
As both young girls went through the floor's corridor, Karin then looked towards the blond girl,
"Since you know my name, may I ask for your name as well? " Karin questioned to her before the girl looked back,
"Hiyori, Hiyori Sarugaki. " Hiyori finally introduced herself to Karin as well.
Usually, she wouldn't tell any stranger her name, not even if Ashido-Aniki or even Seireitou-Oyabun would order her.
But with Karin, it was different. Not only that she go along immediately, but Karin also seemed to have a 'good grip' on her male friends, whom Hiyori was glad she made them instantly disappear. In that regard, Karin was the same as Matsuri.
"Nice to meet you," Karin stated before Hiyori stopped walking, noticed by Karin, who looked slightly confused,
"Ashido-Aniki didn't mention any particular room. Only that's on the ground floor, which is why we'll wait here." So Hiyori explained to Karin, who also felt slightly dumbfounded that this acquaintance of Ashido didn't receive any detailed information.
It was already half a minute they both were waiting. As for Karin, the fact that she knows Ashido but is still alive made her quite curious about how she knows him. There was only one explanation to that,
"you can see them too, right ?"
" 'them' ?"
"spirits." Karin stated towards Hiyori, "and 'Hollows' as those 'evil spirits' are called."
"so you're street-smart too ?"
"only by what this red-haired boy from this strange candy shop once said."
" so you know that stupid ginger brat as well, I see." Hiyori said surprisingly, "To answer your first question: YES, of course, I can see 'them'. And not only that, but I can also fight and kill any hollow that crosses my way." Hiyori added, this time with a slightly arrogant and proud manner.
On the other hand, Karin was surprised by Hiyori's statement, since she claims that she can 'fight and kill', does that mean ...
"Are you also a Shinigami, like my brother? " Karin asked curiously.
But Hiyori, on the other hand, suddenly stared angrily towards Karin for that Question, which made the latter suddenly become frightened.
Hiyori, who remembered by Ashido to remain as calm as possible while being with Karin, brought herself again under control,
"Please, don't use that ugly word in front of me ever again, alright ?"
"ugly word ?" Karin asked in confusion. Why is that word an insult to Hiyori? But then Karin realized something. According to that red-haired boy from the cany-shop, Jinta Hana-something, all Shinigami wear black Kimonos. But when she met Ashido and the other girl, she noticed that while the blond girl's Kimono was black, Ashido's was red on the other hand. And what's more, she saw that instead of the usual term 'Sempai', Hiyori was referring to Ashido as 'Aniki', a term associated with the Japanese Yakuza. And now the fact that Hiyori doesn't seem to like Shinigamis does that mean that ...
"I'll explain that" both girls heard a familiar near them.
When they've turned around, both Karin and Hiyori saw Ashido, who stood in front of them while a nearby classroom door was also open. As for Hiyori, she was surprised to see that Ashido has left his gigai, proven by the red Kimono he's usually wearing, but without his fake-hollow mask, as both girls noticed.
"I've brought her, as ordered. Something else I have to do ?" Hiyori asked, somewhat bothered.
"You may keep guard around the area while I talk to Karin," Ashido ordered her, to which she nodded.
"See ya," she said towards Karin before going out immediately of the school building.
After Hiyori left, Ashido's gaze then turned towards Karin,
"sorry for the delay. I just had to prepare everything for today, so please follow me." Ashido stated towards Karin before going to the open classroom, to which Karin followed him immediately.
As Karin entered this particular classroom, she noticed that one chair was located near the chalkboard beside the usual chairs and desks. As expected, Ashido went towards there.
"I've prepared that chair there for you, so you may sit," Ashido stated, making Karin sit while Ashido took the teacher's chair.
"where is the other girl? Matsuri was her name, I believe ?" Karin asked curiously, only for Ashido to look towards her surprise that she even remembers her name,
"Matsuri? She's already on her way home, along with the other two who were here along with me. " Ashido answered calmly.
"I see," Karin just said.
"You said that you wanted answers about your brother, right ?" Ashido asked her.
"yeah," Karin said, "you promised that you'll answer them."
"About that." Ashido stated, "I need to know if you want the 'short' or the 'long' answer."
"well, since my father is gone for today, and my sister is home, I think I can hear the 'long' one," Karin answered, making Ashido nod in agreement.
"Before I can talk about your brother, I propose to explain first about the Shinigamis and Hollows in general, since this is crucial to understand your brother's situation if it's no issue," Ashido told her to which she thought for a while.
At first, she wanted to refuse since she only wanted to ask about her brother, but the fact that she has already been threatened by the hollows a few times convinced her to accept Ashido's proposal by nodding towards him.
"Alright, then I'll start by explaining about the Shinigamis first." was Ashido's first sentence before the more significant explanation.
Ashido explained that Shinigamis are, like the folklore about them, spirits who are on the one hand responsible for sending the spirits of the deceased, also referred to as 'plus', into the afterlife, on the other hand also to fight and kill the hollows, which threaten to 'eat' the 'pluses' if they find them. Ashido then added that the 'afterlife' is referred to as the soul society, which Ashido also described as a 'spirit world'. It's also where the Shinigami's are born and come from.
Karin, meanwhile, saw how Ashido was drawing something on the chalkboard. While drawing, Ashido also started telling about his own history as well, like that he, like most Shinigamis, has been born in the soul society and that Shinigamis age much slower than mortal humans, adding that Ashido himself is exactly 525 Years old, making Karin fall from her chair after hearing that number.
When she stood up again, she saw a very beautifully drawn picture of a city from an upper view, to which Ashido explained that this is the soul society as he remembered it.
Ashido then explained the Shinigami Academy he visited and their armed forces called 'Gotei 13', consisting of 13 'Division' all led by very strong Shinigamis. Ashido himself was the Lieutenant, the second-in-command, of the 11th Division. Like most of his comrades, Ashido also frequently visited the Mortal world to fight against the hollows.
"You said that you WERE the second-in-command. Does that mean you're no longer that?" Karin questioned curiously.
"since my explanation of the Shinigami is over, I'll now start with the hollows, which will also answer that question," Ashido stated towards Karin before continuing.
Ashido then started explaining about the hollows, to which he stated that hollows are born when spirits of deceased mortal beings remain too long in the human world. This can have many reasons, as Ashido stated. The first ones to fulfill certain goals, such as looking after a loved one, protecting a particular location, or pursuing a grudge from beyond the grave, making them in turn much more challenging to convince them to 'move on' to the afterlife. And as time goes by, those souls start to lose their 'self', proven first by the dark hole in their body and then the white mask which appears right after. When this 'hollowfication' process is over, they become the dangerous, rampage-going monsters we all know them to be.
After becoming Hollows, they're driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls, living or dead, to fill the void caused by its descent. While their former obsession often becomes their first target, most Hollows will eventually become mindless creatures concerned only with finding the most potent souls to devour. In addition, stronger and more evil Hollows can retain some of their intelligence and memories in Hollow form, making them more dangerous than the average Hollow.
"So that's the first part of the Hollow's evolution," as Ashido explained to Karin.
Then Karin saw how Ashido started further drawing on the chalkboard. This time it was two images: first one of a desert and the other of a dark forest.
"May I ask if you could understand everything or if there's something I explained too fast ?" Ashido questioned towards Karin.
"No, I think you explained it well. Better than most teachers could. And with those beautiful pictures, I believe you could become an art teacher, to be honest." Karin praised Ashido, who reacted somewhat surprisingly, thinking his pictures weren't THAT magnificent.
Then, Ashiodo continued, explaining that the place they see now is called Hueco Mundo, which in turn is the home of the hollows, to which they can create portals to either come here in the human world or go back to their world.
Ashido now continued explaining about the Hollows in detail, like that, when 'normal Hollows' start to consume other hollows instead of 'pluses', they can evolve into another, much stronger and more dangerous, kind of hollow beings, which in turn are referred to as 'Menos' hollows.
The Menos, in turn, can be divided into three 'sub-species.'
Ashido then drew an image of what the first kind of Menos looked like, known as 'Menos Grande' or 'Gillan' as Ashido called them, which looked like a tall, pitch-black skinned scarecrow with white masks and white spikes coming out of their necks. As Karin saw the finished image, she became very frightened by it.
Ashido first explained that they're the tallest known kind of Hollow and that their height can vary between 8 - 48 m/ 14 -84 feet. What's more, even for usual Shinigamis, they can pose an enormous threat since only a Shinigami on a Lieutenant level can defeat one successfully.
"Maybe you once saw one of them. From what I've found out, one of them also appeared here in Karakura on the incident from months ago." So Ashido explained to Karin, who realized what Ashido was talking about when Ichigo's school friend Sado, or 'Chad', saved her from one of the hollows.
"Even though I would've definitely remembered if I ever saw a frightening giant like that, I do remember that I felt something 'unusual', compared to most times when I see those hollow." Karin started in disbelief that such a giant hollow had once appeared here before remembering how the sky has been literally 'fragmented' by something after calling help from her father to help Chad, who somehow disappeared after they've arrived where he was supposed to be lying wounded.
"so you could feel it, I see," Ashido stated surprisingly, before continuing,
"Anyway, even though they look rather 'frightening', they are quite slow and have only beast-like intellect, making them considered to be only 'foot soldiers' compared to the next two categories." Ashido explained further to Karin, who couldn't believe that those Giants are considered 'foot soldiers', before drawing the image of the next category called 'Adjucas' as Ashido referred. Not only they're obviously stronger than Gillians, but even to a 'Division-Captain' Shinigami, they can be dangerous.
The following image looked like an image of a Hybrid between a Human with a Gazelle head, its head covered with a white mask identical to a Gazelle. Now that Karin thought about it, the mask on the image looked similar to the mask Ashido carried along the last time.
The additional three images of, as Karin noticed, were presumably that of a Lion, a deer, and a snake, each with a unique-looking hollow mask, especially the lion one, which has the shape of a sunflower.
As if that wasn't strange enough, Karin noticed that compared to the first image, the other three images of the Adjucas had been drawn much more beautiful than the first one.
Ashido then continued explaining that when Gillians start to devour other Gillians before turning into those Adjucas, the second Menos-class hollows. Ashido then stated that compared to Gillians, the Adjucas not only have a much higher intellect, comparable to those of mortal humans, but they're also much stronger than the gillians.
Ashido then stated that their appearance could also vary from 'animal-like' to 'human hybrid', but they're still quite large and not as large as Gillians can be.
At this point, Ashido explained that there's also a difference in an Adjuca's behavior by their gender/sex.
While the males act more like 'predators', the females are 'much calmer, at least those which Ashido has encountered.
"those three are females, right ?" Karin asked while looking towards the second Adjuca image, "Is that why you've drawn them more beautifully."
"Yeah, they were the first Adjucas, no, the first hollows who proved to me that not all hollows are evil beings," Ashido explained while smiling slightly, which also surprised Karin.
Ashido then explained the third and 'final' evolution a hollow can reach, called a 'Vasto Lorde'.
Ashido stated that all Vasto Lorde is as tall as mortal Humans, with slight distinct and unique differences and features like the shapes of their hollow masks or tails and the like.
As being the final evolution, they're also the strongest kind of hollows. Ashido then stated that there only exists a handful to dozens of them in the whole of Hueco Mundo. Suppose an average Shinigami Captain would face them. In that case, it's more likely that the Vasto Lorde would win the battle, which means that only the most exceptional Shinigamis are capable of defeating and killing one.
Ashido then started drawing only one image of a Vasto Lorde he encountered. After finishing it, Karin looked towards the image, realizing by the chest that it was a woman with blond hair, whose mouth was hidden by her mask, somehow reminding her of a shark as well.
Ashido then stated that he also fought a few Vasto Lorde, even killing one.
"Was it her ?" Karin questioned curiously if she was one of them.
"fighting yes, but not killing, which would turn out to be the much better decision, but back to the main topic," Ashido explained while telling Karin that his explanation was not quite over.
Ashido then stated that Vasto Lorde usually leads a pack of other Menos hollows. He then showed towards the other female adjucas, revealing that they're the female Vasto Lorde's subordinates.
From what the female Vasto Lorde named 'Harribel' and her subordinates once told him, Only a few Adjucas can become Vasto Lorde.
"That's it about the 'Menos' hollows. But there's only one more kind of Hollow I need to explain much further, I'm afraid. But this time, I'll make it rather short." Ashido stated.
"no problem," Karin stated rather calmly after hearing all the explanations. Usually, she would've called for a break, but since Ashido surprisingly explained it as understandable as possible, she didn't mind him continuing.
Ashido then started explaining about the 'Arrancar'. Those are hollows created when a Meno's Hollow, no matter which stage, breaks their masks, resulting in them taking human-like shapes, like having Human faces, adding that the higher the Menos-stage was, the more likely it is that the Arrancar will have a Human appearance they had when they were still alive.
"Alright, that's about the hollows and how they can evolve." But, Ashido stated, "however, what I've explained to you now is only the 'ideal' condition."
"ideal condition ?" Karin questioned what he was now talking about.
"Yes. After all, I believe that even you should understand that nothing is ever truly 'ideal', which is also the case with Shinigamis and Hollows. The best proof for that is your brother, whom I will also explain soon, and myself." Ashido explained, much to Karin's surprise, that she would finally hear about her brother soon.
Ashido now started explaining that around 150 Years ago, when he was still the second-in-command of the 11th Division, a horde of hollows attacked the soul society. After defeating most of them, Ashido and his previous comrades went through a portal of them, resulting in them arriving at the 'Forrest of menos', showing at the image of the dark Forrest.
As the gate closed, he and his comrades were more or less trapped in Hueco Mundo. Not only that, but as time went by, Ashido was the only one who remained alive while all his other comrades died against the Menos hollows in the Forrest, stating that he was trapped there for around a century. This caused Karin to look down for a moment, realizing that Ashido must have seen his own friends dying.
Ashido thought that he would remain forever trapped there until he remembered how he saw someone in the Forrest who wasn't a hollow, at least that's what he thought.
At this point, Ashido himself confirmed that this memory is somehow blurry when he tries to remember it. The only thing he remembered about that certain someone was that someone else would arrive here, allowing Ashido to escape this 'god-forsaken place' as he referred to the forest of menos, which would turn to be the truth.
He remembered how not only he had been saved by a Shinigami. But this particular Shinigami was also someone he knew about back then when he was still active in the soul society, making him somewhat relieved.
"But this relief should turn into more despair as I would find out," Ashido explained to Karin,
"Because the one who presumably saved me was actually a traitor, who defected from the Shinigami army," Ashido explained.
"a Shinigami-traitor ?" Karin asked in disbelief.
"Yes. As I already told you, nothing is ideal, which means that if 'good hollows' exist, then that also means that 'evil Shinigamis' exists as well, which was the case with me when I've been 'saved'. " Ashido explained, "it turned out that this traitorous Shinigami, whom's name I musn't say to you, was doing experiments on other Shinigamis, making me also becoming part of their collection of Guinea-pigs," Ashido explained while Karin realized that he became slightly angry, possibly by the memory of it.
"This 'bad' Shinigami, who was also a known and renowned scientist in the whole soul society, claimed that the other captured Shingamis and I were part of his plan to 'reach the unreachable' " Ashido explained.
"reach the unreachable ?" Karin wondered what that meant.
"I've already explained that like the hollows reach their highest limit of powers after becoming Vasto Lorde or Arrancar. With the Shinigamis, it's also similar. Both can't become eternally stronger." Ashido explained while also lifting his left hand,
"but 'this one man' wanted to change that, and he also succeeded in doing that." Ashido added before from his left hand, and he summoned his hollow mask.
"the other Shinigamis and I who have been captured and experimented on became capable of doing this," Ashido stated before he turned his hollow mask while looking towards it himself,
"Right now, we're neither Hollows nor Shinigamis, but at the same time, we're both. So my leader gave us, who escaped from that 'evil Shinigami' a new Identity. " Ashido explained before now looking again towards Karin,
"Since then, we call ourselves 'Visoreds'. " Ashido stated calmly towards Karin.
"Visoreds ?" Karin Questioned at first but soon realized that this must be the term used to refer to the likes of Ashido.
This made Karin turn back towards the door before looking again towards Ashido,
"is Hiyori also the same as you ?" Karin questioned.
"that's correct. Even though she became a Visored at a later time." Ashido confirmed.
"Hiyori said that she didn't like being called a Shinigamis. Is there a reason for that?"
"There is. And it's quite ironic. While the Shinigamis referred to us as 'hollows' , the hollows still refer to us as 'Shinigamis'. But, of course, none of us, me and Hiyori included, wanted to become like this in the first place. As I've already explained, we were kind of forced to. But I, Hiyori, and all the other Visoreds learned to deal with that." Finally, Ashido stated calmy before going further,
"Anyway, Like the Visoreds, there once existed another 'sub-species' of Shinigamis, which can be created under certain circumstances, namely the 'Substitute-Shinigami'. "
"Substitute-Shinigami ?" Karin now wondered what that now means,
"the first Substitute-Shinigamis were created around 200 Years ago, this time however under the direct approval of the soul society. "
"you mean they were created legally ?" Karin questioned curiously,
"that's right." Ashido confirmed, "the idea was to create Shinigamis out of humans so that they could do the 'dirty jobs' in the Human World for the Shinigamis since at that time there was a great demand for 'foot souldiers'. But around 170 Years later, thus 30 years ago, the Substitute-Shinigamis rebelled, thus making them a large threat for the true Shinigami, which resulted in them wiping out the Substitute-Shinigamis. Because of that, the creation of a Substitute-Shinigami has been prohibited by the soul society. Thus there hasn't existed any Substitute-Shinigami ..." Ashido explained,
" ... Until 2 Months ago." Ashido then added,
"Until two months ago? " Karin questioned, only to realize that Ashido remained silent for some reason.
It was at this moment that Karin's eyes went wide after finally realizing what Ashido meant by the last words,
"Ichi-nii ... " Karin loudly said in realization,
"correct." Ashido now spoke again, "and now I want to ask you something, Karin ?" Ashido now asked curiously.
"and what ?" Karin questioned.
"starting from 2 months ago, did you notice something else that has changed about your brother ?" he questioned.
"what do you mean? I noticed that he became somehow different. I mean, you confirmed to me that became a 'Substitute-Shinigami', didn't you ?"
"I'm not talking about your brother in particular," Ashido explained, "I mean, if you remember someone else, like that someone new was around your brother, like a new friend or new classmate ?"
Now Karin tried to think. Then she remembered something odd.
"During our visit in the graveyard, I remember how a girl with a beach hat and small backpack was waving towards Ichigo, who in turn became flustered, to which I assumed she was his secret girlfriend," Karin explained to Ashido.
Ashido then took out something from his clothes, which turned out to be a few pictures of certain girls, putting them on the teacher's desk.
"can you remember her face? If yes, then tell me if you see her in one of those pictures? " Ashido asked, making Karin take the said picture, looking towards each one for more seconds.
She noticed that those pictures showed some young black-haired girls. The first five pictures weren't any familiar, as Karin saw. Even the sixth one didn't ring a bell.
But then, the seventh one, the image of a black-haired girl with a strand of her hair between her eyes. At this moment, she remembered the moment how this girl in the picture waved towards Ichigo with her beach hat.
"that's her," Karin answered in disbelief.
"you hit the mark. Congratulations." Ashido stated surprisingly and somehow praising, which Karin thought to be quite odd before she again looked towards the image of that girl,
"that girl on the image you once saw is Rukia Kuchiki." Ashido now started explaining, "she was the Shinigami who borrowed your brother her powers when a hollow attacked your home." Ashido explained, making Karin's eyes now go wide while continuing to stare at the picture,
"and for two months, she aided your brother while he fought the hollows on her behalf because, for a reason still unknown to me, she couldn't retrieve her Shinigami powers back," Ashido said.
"She couldn't? " Karin wondered shockingly.
"No. As if that wasn't bad enough, she also had to hide inside a 'Gigai' in the hope her powers could return somehow after a time."
"a 'Gigai' " Karin wondered what that now means.
"artificial bodies." Ashido explained, "Hiyori also used one when meeting you." Ashido explained, much to Karin's surprise, what the Shinigamis are capable of.
"Anyway, it didn't take long until the soul society noticed that Rukia was somehow not available, resulting in them sending a scouter searching for her. After discovering that Rukia had created a Substitute-Shinigami, the soul society immediately sent two powerful Shinigamis to arrest her. And as I told you already, by creating a Substitute-Shinigami, she violated a strict law of the soul society, which, by its violation, is punished with the death penalty." Ashido explained, much to Karin's shock.
After finally hearing how her brother became a shinigami and how that girl is now about to die, she then looked towards the ground.
"so," Karin spoke, but now angrier than usual, "you want to tell me that because she basically saved our lives by giving Ichi-nii shinigami powers, she must now die," Karin stated angrily and upset, realizing how unfair that was for Rukia.
"I'm afraid so," Ashido confirmed Karin's statement before starting to smile slightly, " But from what I've heard, your brother was also angry by that situation, which was the reason he's right now in the soul society by himself, along with three other friends of his, to save her while telling his family that he's on a summer vacation," he explained further with a slight smile, making Karin look up again towards Ashido.
Karin then also slightly smiled, thinking of her brother,
"He better save her from that stupid punishment," Karin stated while also slightly smiling,
"By the way, you said that three friends are accompanying him. Who are they ?"
"if I remember their names correctly, they're Uryu Ishida, Yasutora Sado, and Orihime Inoue," Ashido recalled their names.
As for Karin, her eyes now went wide. Then, of course, she remembered Ichigo's muscular friend, who saved her from one of those hollows. But hearing Orihime's name was also a big surprise to her. The first name was the same last name as of the director of the Karakura Hospital, but other than that, she didn't know about this Uryu Ishida.
She now wanted to ask more, like how Orihime and Sado are connected to all that, but then she heard a loud and annoying voice to her,
"KAAAAAAAAAARIN-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN !" a very familiar and annoyning voice shouted for her.
It was at this moment that the source of that annoying voice entered the classroom Karin was sitting, which turned out to be her father,
"OH, THERE YOU ARE, MY DEAR KARIN-CHAN, I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE ALRIGHT !" Karin's father Isshin said while crying in relief that his daughter is alright, only for Karin to punch him on his head annoyingly,
"Why shouldn't I be alright? I told you already that I'll go soccer with my friends as usual." Karin stated rather annoyingly.
"y-yes, but it was your friends who told me that you might be in danger in the first place," Karin's father stated while a Question mark appeared over Karin's head,
"it's true. Your friend Toba, I believe, said to me that another girl has come up to you all and asked about Ichigo." Karin's father explained while Karin now started to get angrier,
"yes, he and the other three told me that this other girl appeared to be rather angry and that she possibly wanted to beat you up because Ichigo presumably flirted with her older sister, who in turn felt uncomfortable. That's why her younger sister came to you for redemption," her father stated. While Karin became much more angrier of what kind of nonsense Toba and the other three told her father before he started to cry again,
"WHY, ICHIGO, I KNOW YOU'RE AT THAT AGE TO BE INTERESTED IN PRETTY GIRLS, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU SHALL MAKE THEM UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN SHOWING INTEREST, HOW COULD YOU. NOW TELL ME KARIN, WHERE DID SHE ... " her father shouted loudly, only to be kicked on his face by Karin's foot out of annoyance,
"What nonsense are you talking about. She didn't hurt me if that's what you're thinking." Karin stated while going out of the classroom. She knew that her father couldn't see ghosts, so there was no chance for him to see Ashido.
"She didn't? What did she want then. " her father asked her.
"I'll tell you on the way home. So let's go." Karin stated while pointing with their forefinger towards the school building's exit.
"a-alright." Karin's father calmly stated, curious about what his daughter was about to tell about the blond girl while leaving the classroom before his daughter.
But before Karin left the school, she looked again towards Ashido, only to see with fear how he looked somewhat speechless, proved by his wide gaping mouth and wide eyes, an expression Karin never expected to see from Ashido.
At first, she wondered why he suddenly made such an expression, only to look again towards her father, before becoming annoyed again,
'Yeah, I guess everyone else would feel the same,' Karin concluded, realizing that Ashido was most likely 'surprised' by what kind of Father she has.
She waved Ashido goodbye before following her father.
As for Ashido, he was indeed shocked, as Karin suggested.
Bun unbeknown to her, the reason was completely different,
'it can't be,' Ashido thought while recalling his voice and his appearance,
'that man just now, was that ... ' Ashido thought again before he realized that he needed to confirm it for himself.
Ashido didn't hesitate to run out of the classroom, intending to reach Karin and especially her father.
But then Ashido was stopped by someone.
When turning around, he saw that it was none other than Seireiotu himself, with his usual white Kimono, who suddenly stood in front of him,
"Oyabun? " Ashido questioned surprisingly.
"Hello Ashido," Seireitou spoke warmly with a slight smile, only for Ashido to remember what he just had to do, making him run again towards the exit, only to be stopped again by Seireitou.
"Oyabun," Ashido spoke again, his gaze still fixed on the exit, "that man ... " he wanted to explain.
"I know." Seireitou interrupted him, making Ashido look towards him again.
"And before you ask, yes." Seireitou stated, "that man you just saw was none other than Isshin Shiba himself." he added, making Ashido's mouth gaping wide even more.
KUROSAKI CLINIC - KARAKURA TOWN - HUMAN WORLD - LATER AFTERNOON
After Karin and her father arrived at their home, she noticed that Yuzu had already prepared dinner, but that for some reason, she was nowhere to be seen at first, only for Karin to notice that she was inside the bathroom.
"good evening, Yuzu. Thank you for the food, but please don't forget that even I and goathead need to take showers as well."
"y-yes," Karin heard her sister saying.
BATHROOM - KUROSAKI CLINIC -KARAKURA TOWN - HUMAN WORLD - LATER AFTERNOON
However, unbeknownst to Karin, Yuzu wasn't just showering but actually also silently crying while sitting on the bathtub's floor.
The reason for that was because of what she was now holding in her left hand.
When she opened her left hand again, it revealed a silver-colored cross, like Naibu had said it to her.
As if that wasn't enough, she now had that same feeling again that she had when she held Fujimaru's pendant, which means that this cross is indeed real, which means that her mother ... she couldn't even pronounce it.
"Oka-san ... just who were you really ?" Yuzu asked silently in tears why their mother was keeping that secret
(ENDING: The Anix – Fight the Future)