Hey! sorry if you thought you where getting another chapter, but I'm just updating this chapter since my computer was being wierd when I published it the first time and I wasn't able to proofread it or add Author's Notes. I am working on the next chapter, but since I was buisy most of this weekend it's still not finished.
Also, big THANK YOU to the guest reviewer who pointed out my incorrect use of honorifics. I have, quite frankly, never taken a formal class in Japanese, and only know what I do from Google and watching a lot of Anime. if you see any problems, don't be afraid to tell me. I think I fixed it, and will make an effort to not make the same mistake again. This is still kind of a learning process for me.
Disclaimer: If you don't think I own it, I probably don't
"Karin! Pass the ball already!"
Karin was dragged out of her inner musings by her friend's cry. It had been nearly a month since she had been officially adopted into the Shiba clan, and her life was pretty good. She had an amazing nee-sama and a really cool nii-san, and she had also made several friends in the district. Right now, they were playing a ball game called soccer while Ganju fooled around with his idiot friends on their wild boars. Karin found that she really enjoyed soccer. For some reason, she found it relaxing and almost familiar.
"Ok, ok, I'm kicking it." She brought back her leg sent the ball flying with a hard kick in the perfect spot. None of her friends could kick it as far as she could, though she had tried to show them that if you make it contact with the center of the foot it had more control and power. She didn't know how she knew this, she just knew.
"Hey Karin, you seem really distracted today. What's up?" One of the guys she was with ran up to her, worried.
"It's nothing. Just some kind of bad feeling. And I think I'm getting a headache." Karin didn't want other people to worry about her, but ever since they had come to this empty clearing to play she had felt this ominous aura, like something bad was coming. She just couldn't shake it.
The other teenager shrugged and got back in the game. Everyone who met Karin learned to deal with her occasional weirdness. It was just a part of her.
A couple of minutes later, Karin's headache had grown painful enough to force her to take a break and sit on the sidelines. The ominous feeling just kept getting worse. It was starting to seriously bother Karin. That is, until the relative peace of the game shattered.
Karin heard the monster before she saw it. It had a roar that seemed to swallow up all other sounds, leaving only its own echo in the surrounding air. When it came in through the trees, she could barely comprehend its monstrous form. The limbs and body bore a closer resemblance to an ape than to a human being, though it was about 10 times larger than any ape Karin had ever seen. Its face was covered in a bone white mask that bore a little resemblance to a human face.
Everybody screamed. "It's a hollow! It's a hollow! Somebody get a Soul Reaper!"
So this was what a hollow looked like. Karin had heard many of her friends talk about how scared they were of the monsters. They ate souls and terrorized the people in the Rukon district, and the only people who could fight them were the Soul Reapers. Not that Karin had ever seen a Soul Reaper, but that was probably cause she didn't know where to look or have a reason to search. The only personal connection she was aware she had was that Kaien-nii had been a high ranking officer before her was killed as a result of a Hollow attack.
Karin quickly got up off the ground and started to run away from the Hollow like the rest of her playmates, but she heard one of her friends shriek louder than the rest, and much closer to the Hollow. She glanced behind her and saw one of the guys get snatched up by the Hollow's massive fist. The boy cried for help as he was brought ever closer to the Hollow's razor sharp teeth...
Karin couldn't just sit by. She turned and ran up to where the soccer ball had been abandoned. "Hey, pasty-face!" She goaded the monster.
When it heard her, the Hollow turned away from the boy and looked at her.
"Eat this!" Karin kicked the ball as hard as she could. It did hit the Hollow's mask, but it just bounced right off.
Brilliant. Now it's angry.
The good news: the Hollow dropped the boy and stopped trying to eat him. The bad news: it was now interested in Karin. With her only weapon already launched, she realized that her only defense would be to run. She took off in a different direction from where everyone else had gone and tried to lead the monster away. At least, if she did get eaten, she could at least save her friends.
Unfortunately, she had greatly underestimated the Hollow's speed. She didn't even reach the edge of the clearing when the Hollow was already on top of her. It pinned her down, putting its full weight on her back, practically crushing her. It open its mouth and licked her with an incredibly large, unbelievably wet tongue.
Disgusting!
"You taste good," the Hollow whispered. "I think i'll take you back to my den and savor you, with all your hidden spirit energy..."
Karin wiggled, trying desperately to get out from the Hollow's grip. She was determined not to be dinner. At least, not without giving it a piece of her mind. Unfortunately, she didn't see a way out of the situation on her own.
"Help! Help me, somebody! Anybody!" She shrieked.
The Hollow chuckled. "Nobody can hear you little girl. And even if they could, none of them have enough power to make a difference. Except you, of course."
Me, powerful? Right now, Karin felt the opposite of powerful.
"None of the Soul Reapers are close enough to help you. Except, wait, NO!" The Hollow suddenly picked her up in his immovable grip and started running. Was it taking her somewhere else to eat in peace, or was it actually scared of something?
"Help! Hey, help me!"
"Shut up, you little bitch!" The Hollow slammed her into a tree, probably causing a concussion. Good, so he was scared of something and didn't want her to be heard.
"Help! It's a Hollow!"
"Extend, Hozukimaru!" A voice Karin didn't recognize cut through the air, and it was followed by a long staff cutting into the Hollow's arm. This caused the Hollow to drop her, but she was saved from landing harshly by someone catching her and whisking her away to a safe distance.
Karin looked at her saviors. There where two of them, one that was attacking the Hollow and the one who had carried her out of danger. The one that was fighting had a was wielding a long staff with a blade at one end and a decorative knot on the other. His head was shaved, and Karin could even see it shine when the sun hit his skull. He was smiling as he slashed and stabbed, purely enjoying the fight.
The one that had caught her looked like he continuously put effort into his appearance. He had a full head of pitch black hair as well as two different colored feathers somehow stuck to his head. He had a sheathed Kantana on his hip.
Both men wore black Kimonos tied with a white cord. Karin didn't think she had seen that kind of a Kimono before, but for some reason... she felt that it was comforting. When she closed her eyes she could see the back of a similar kimono and felt... protected.
"Well, Yumichika and I were worried we wouldn't have any fun today. You may be a small fry, but I'll see if you can still give me a pretty good fight, if only for a little while." The bald guy laughed as his fight against the Hollow continued.
Karin watched the battle from her place on the sidelines. After a while she found that there was something bothering her. She turned to the man beside her. "Uh, hey, I just realized I don't know your name. I'm Shiba Karin. Thanks for saving me."
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." The man waved her off, paying more attention to the fight. "I'm Yumichika, and that's Ikkaku. We're the fifth and third seats of squad eleven in the 13 court guard squads. It's our job to fight Hollows, and our squad specializes in combat. Honestly, we were relieved to finally have something to do. It has been a very slow day."
"So, you're soul Reapers?"
"Yes. I thought I just said that?"
"Uh... maybe?" Karin was starting to think, despite the fact that they saved her life, that she wasn't a big fan of these particular Soul Reapers.
Finally, after the battle had dragged on for far longer than Karin thought was necessarily, the bald Soul Reaper called Ikkaku slashed the Hollow's mask. It disintegrated into nothing and Ikaku somehow turned his rod into a Katana. He put his sword in his sheath and put both sword and sheath in his belt.
"That guy was weak. It wasn't any fun at all." He walked up to Karin. "Hey, little girl, you really ought to work on reining in your spiritual pressure. That is unless you want to get attacked by Hollows all the time."
"Spiritual... Pressure?" Karin remembered hearing that term from Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nee a few times. "Rein it in?"
"Wow, you really don't have a clue, do you?" The one called Yumichika looked at her with a hint of scorn. "You have a ton of spiritual pressure, and that attracts Hollows. You can learn to suppress it with practice, and if you do that you'll be less of a danger to those around you."
"But... who could teach me?"
"Well, if you go to the academy and train to become a Soul Reaper like Yumichika and I, they will teach you that as well as how to fight." Ikkaku explained. "You know, despite your wimpy attitude and general lack of know-how, you wouldn't make a bad soul Reaper."
"WHAT KIND OF ATTITUDE?"
Both of them ignored her. "What are you talking about, Ikkaku?" Yumichika asked.
"Well, you remember what the kids who told us a Hollow had taken their friend said. She had tried to fight it off in order to save her friend. Really stupid move, but she gets points for guts."
"HEY! I'M RIGHT HERE! QUIT TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE THAT! "
"Karin!"
Karin turned towards the sound of her name. She had never been more relieved to see Ganju-nii in her life. Even if he did look like an idiot riding his pet boar Bonnie.
"Karin! Are you all right? I came as soon as I heard." He ran up and started hugging her. "I was really worried. I thought..." he then noticed the two Soul Reapers. "You!"
Yumichika pointed to himself. "Me?"
"Yeah, you! Don't you remember me?"
"Sorry, but I tend to block out memories of ugly things."
"Why you..." Karin couldn't tell whether or not Ganju was actually mad. "I'm Shiba Ganju, the self-proclaimed..."
"Nobody wants to know how awesome you are in your own mind, Ganju-nii." Karin bluntly stated.
"But Karin-chan..."
Yumichika snapped his fingers. "Now I remember you! You were that other Rioka boy from that incident with Kuchiki-fukutaicho and Ichigo. The one that could do something with sand."
"You know, Yumichika, we need to work on being more polite. He isn't just Ichigo-san anymore, he is Kurosaki-taicho." Ikkaku chastised his friend.
"I know, but when you see Ichigo, do you think 'I need to be all formal with this guy?'" Yumichika countered.
"Wait, Ichigo became a Taicho?" Ganju asked. Although Karin had never heard the name Kurosaki Ichigo before in her life, she could tell he must be someone important that Ganju-nii knew.
"Yeah. Squad 8." Ikkaku sighed and put his sword over his shoulder. "Well, I guess our job is done. Hey, little girl?"
"I have a name you know. It's Shiba Karin!"
"Yeah, whatever. Think about what i said about the academy. Even if you don't plan on joining the 13 Court Guard Squads, you need to learn how to control your spirit energy."
"And don't forget!" Yumichika called as both Soul Reapers walked away, "If you do decide to join up, squad eleven is the best in fighting!"
"In other words, the one I would least want to join" Karin muttered under her breath.
Ganju-nii frowned. "What were they referring to?"
"Oh, apparently I have high amounts of spiritual pressure, and they told me I should learn how to suppress it, and suggested that I become a Soul Reaper."
"Hm." Ganju grunted. "Well, I guess there is some truth to that. But becoming a Soul Reaper is a big decision, and O-nee-san and I can teach you at least the basics anyway. I wouldn't make any rash decisions."
Karin nodded. "Let's go home, Ganju-nii."
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