One beautiful morning , where the sun was shining brightly and the birds chirping happily on the trees, a lot of people were actively talking and studying in the college's cafeteria. However, a lone girl sat on a table, neither studying nor talking to anyone, surrounded by complete silence while she was deep in her thoughts, until a voice cut through the heavy silence "Well well, look whom we've got here, if it isn't Karin, the collage's no.1 creep" snickered Rebecca Maruma, a colleague in the same department of medicine as Karin, who hated Karin since the very first time she saw her. Whenever Rebecca saw Karin, she would always try to make fun of her and humiliate her, all because she falsely thinks that Karin stole away her boyfriend, not that Karin actually did it, in fact all Karin's relationship with that boyfriend was the fact that she bet the crap out of him when he harassed her sister.
Karin didn't pay attention to her. "What's got you all spacing out? Could you be thinking about whose boyfriend to steal this time?" Rebecca said mockingly, but still there was no reply, usually by now Karin would be fuming with rage and throwing all kinds of threats her way. "Yohoo, earth calling the whore!". Only then did Karin realise that there had been someone talking to her "sorry, what did you say?" replied Karin in a daze, but then she regretted ever asking what was said when she realized who was standing in front of her." Wow, to think you'd zone out like that, that's a first. So, what's eating you up?" asked Rebecca curiously. "Like you'd ever care!, just stay away from me ; because I don't think I can hold myself from killing you this time." And with that she left the cafeteria without saying anything else, leaving Rebecca dying from curiosity, while she was thinking of what was happening lately, thinking about her dreams.
In a dark world, with no light, where only doors exist and endless stairs going in all directions with no end in sight, Karin kept walking up and down the stairs, opening doors that led to other stairs, like a maze with no purpose, the only thing that keeps her walking is the frequent voice that whispers from time to time:" He must survive, he is our salvation", "When the time comes, he shall rise from the depth of despair", "He can't fight alone, he'd lose". She kept going on and on, not knowing what she is supposed to do, until she saw a door, different from the other doors, a door made of glass. So she ran towards it, jumping in this world of no natural laws of physics, going from stairs to another, going from right to left, from down to up, spinning with the stairs in their eccentric route, until she reached the glass door, but what she saw was disturbing. When she looked to her reflection on the door, she didn't see herself but she saw a cloaked figure, a man with black her and a very familiar tattoo that can be seen on his chest. Suddenly, an echo of laughter broke the silence of this world and the reflected man started moving his hand towards his neck. At that moment, Karin realized that her hand was moving along with the cloaked man's hand, and that she couldn't control her hand. She wanted to wake up, she was scared, Kurosaki Karin doesn't get scared easily, but she was scared now. She is in the middle of nowhere, with no one around, she can't move her body, she can't utter a word, her hand is moving towards her neck, and a creepy cloaked man is smiling in a creepy way, with the sound of mad laughter in the background, rocking this world of madness into crumbles. She was suffocating , her hand was strangling her, she was suffering while the cloaked man kept laughing, unaffected by the fact that he is supposedly strangling himself as well. She was dying, she can feel herself fainting soon, and that's when the Kurosaki stubbornness she was known of kicked in, She was not going to die by her own hand, she decided to open the glass door, hoping it would release her from that mad man's control. She kept flailing her hand trying to grab the handle of the door. That's when the cloaked man said:" You won't be able to escape from me, from your fate, from your end." . But instead of showing weakness, Karin looked at him challengingly:" Watch me.", and she opened the door with all her might, finally breathing again, but before she could rejoice the return of air into her lungs, she screamed her lungs out, both in the dream and the real world.
Karin was crying while on the phone. She had been trying to reach her father on the phone for the last hour with no luck. She was determined to reach him, to hear his stupid laughter and his annoying whining, she had to make sure he was ok, that he was alive. Every time she closes her eyes she sees it, the sight of her father beheaded. And him not replying was driving her mad. That's when she decided to change her approach, she decided to call uncle Ryuu. Ever since her reaitsu started to develop, she and her sister became close to Ishida Ryuuken. At first it was just so he would teach them how to improve their control on their reaitsu, but with time he became their uncle Ryuu. She knew that if there is anyone who knew where her father were, it would be uncle Ryuu. At first he didn't reply, but after a few more tries, he finally responded:" Why are you bombarding me with all these calls! This is a hospital if you hadn't noticed.". "Forget about that now, where the hell is that god-damn stupid father of mine? I've been trying to reach him but I couldn't. Do you know where he is?" asked Karin hurriedly. It took Ryuuken a few moments to reply, which made her feel more anxious, then he said:" Your father was helping me with something, he'll talk to you in a minute. But more importantly, have you been crying?". Before she could reply she heard her father's voice asking who is crying. At that moment, she felt relief washing through her and she let a breathe she didn't know she was holding. Never in her life has she thought that she would feel such relief from just hearing her father's voice. She cried a lot that her father got worried from hearing her crying like that. He knows that his children are strong, so hearing his baby cry like that was painful, he asked her in a serious yet gentle voice:" What is troubling you dear?", he wasn't expecting to hear her next words. "I wanted to hear your voice and see you. I miss you dad.". She could feel his gentile smile somehow, reassuring her even before hearing him " I am always with you, watching over you and your sister, never leaving your side, so whenever you need me I'd be there. What is scaring you love? I'd chase it away for you". She hesitated, she didn't know how to tell him something like that. She knew her father wouldn't laugh at her if she told him that she had a nightmare, especially when he is being serious, but how can she tell him that she saw him dying, but she had to get it out. She made up her mind and told him:" I saw you die". At first there was no reply, then after a few moments all he said was:" tell me what you saw". She told him, she told him everything. She told him about the frequent dreams, about the cloaked man, about what she heard in those dreams, about his death, and he listened. He was only listening. He didn't say anything, and when he did, it was:" since when have you started having those dreams?". Scared was an understatement, she was terrified. The way her father was talking and acting made her feel that something bad is happening , something really bad and evil. But before she could ask her father to explain himself, the phone call ended.
Few days later, Karin was waiting in front of the train station while Yuzu was busy in her college preparing for an event held there every year. She received a call from her brother Ichigo, telling her that he is going to bring his son and a friend of his to stay with her and her sister during the kids holiday. So there she was, waiting for her brother and the kids to arrive, wondering who could be that friend of Kazui, Ichigo's son, that was coming along. However, she didn't need to guess much longer once she say a tuft of red hair appearing between the legs of the crowds. Kazui came along with Ichika, and Ichigo is no where to be found. Kazui was wearing his usual green hoodie while Ichika came in a cute orange floral dress, probably chosen by Inoue, Kazui' mother. The second Kazui spotted Karin, he rushed to her and jumped on her overstretched arms in a strong loving hug. "How is my little troublemaker? I hope you didn't cause troubles back home and came here as an escapee!" joked Karin. Kazui laughed and said:" Do I have to cause trouble to come and see my dear aunties!". "Yes" was Karin's reply, which made him laugh even more. After a few more seconds of bickering with Kazui , Karin paid attention to Ichika, who had been quiet all this time. "How are you doing Ichika? And how are your parents and uncle?". "Mommy and uncle are fine, but I don't know about daddy" replied Ichika, with saddness in her voice. And that's when everything fell into place. Something is happening with the little Abarai, so Rukia asked Ichigo for advice and he suggested that Ichika comes to her, that would also explain why the kids are here on their own and all of a sudden. Without further waiting, Karin carried both kids to her apartment so they could talk all they want.
It didn't take long for Ichika to spill everything in her heart the second they settled down, poor kid had bottled up a lot of things in her heart and didn't know to whom she could confide to. She told Karin about how Yuuda always bothers her, about what her father would always tell her, about how she told her father that she hated him, about how they didn't talk for a week, and how he left on a mission without saying goodbye." I couldn't talk to neither mommy or uncle, since I made a promise to daddy to not tell them!" cried Ichika" Mommy said that if I couldn't talk to her then maybe I could talk to you, saying that she heard from auntie Inoue that whenever Kazui has a problem you'd always help him solve it". And that was true, ever since Kazui had been born, he had two fathers and two mothers. Both Inoue and Yuzu would act as his mother, be it looking after his health or showering him with love and care. While Ichigo and Karin acted as the father, Ichigo would teach Kazui and raise him and play with him, while Karin would be his confide, the one he would seek whenever he was in trouble or needed help. When Ichigo asked this of Karin she was surprised and wanted to refuse, but then he said:" I asked you this because I believe that out of all of us, you're the most understanding, You'd be able to understand Kazui and help him when he needs to, I trust you in this more than I trust myself". She couldn't refuse the trust her brother put in her, and ever since then she had always been there for Kazui, and now she needs to be there for Ichika as well. So the first thing she did was putting the kids to sleep, they had been tired from riding the train and Ichika needed to rest after crying her eyes out.
Karin slept with both Kazui and Ichika, so they would feel that she is with them, supporting them, especially Ichika. At that night, Karin didn't dream, but she was woken up in the middle of the night by Yuzu's scream. Both kids woke up as well and the three of them rushed to the source of the scream, the bathroom. There, they found Yuzu lying on the floor unconscious, with her right pointing finger covered in red. Karin rushed to her sister's side , examining her for any injury that could have caused her to scream and lose consciousness, when she didn't find anything she asked the kids to help her carry Yuzu to her room, but they didn't reply. Before she could ask them why they are rooted to their place, she noticed that they were looking fearfully at something on the wall behind her. When she looked behind , she saw writings on the mirror , probably written by Yuzu, words that Yuzu shouldn't know about, words that made her heart sink in fear, words that hints of an upcoming crisis, words that her father said in a dead serious voice, words that shall echo in her head for the rest of her life, the last words she heard from her father before their phone call had ended,:" Believe in what you see, feel and know. You'll find your way."
In the meanwhile, three men were in the darkness. One was watching what was happening with the young Kurosaki and hoping that she would understand his warnings. The other was being engulfed in the darkness and losing himself along with everything he had ever loved. While the last one was waiting in the dark for his light to reach him and release him from his chains, chains of lies that he made, all in hope of survival.