Hinamori's Apprentice
Chapter Six
Karin stared in shock and awe as the Shinigami sheathed her zanpakuto. Her companion, having just slain the other hollow, walked over to her.
"Was it just those three?" she asked him.
"The initial report said four, but the fourth one is nowhere to be seen. I just checked and there have been no further sightings of any additional hollows. It's possible that the initial report was mistaken and there were only three to begin with," the male Shinigami answered.
"Maybe…but I think we should stick around for a while, just to be sure," the female Shinigami said.
"H-hey!" Karin said, still lying on the ground. The female Shinigami turned around.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I almost forgot you were there!" she said, "Izuru, this girl is wounded, could you patch her up? I'd do it myself, but you're better at healing."
"Sure thing Momo," the Shinigami named Izuru said. He walked over to where Kira was and placed his hands on her back. The wounds were serious, but not life threatening. The flesh had been slashed to the bone, and there was a lot of blood. A glow surrounded his hands as he began to heal her. A warm feeling came over the wounds on her back, and slowly they began to heal, the slashes beginning to close up.
"Excuse me, I need to talk to you about something," Karin said.
"Not now, wait for me to finish healing you," Izuru said.
"Will she be okay?" Rubi asked worriedly.
"She'll be good as new soon," Izuru said.
"I really need to talk to you guys," Karin said again. This was the perfect opportunity. She had to convince the two Shinigami to take her to Seireitei so she could find her brother.
"Heads up Izuru, it looks like we've got some trouble," the Shinigami named Momo said. Karin looked over and saw that the members of the local militia were gathering around them, many of them scowling and looking quite belligerent.
"Can we help you?" Momo asked. This statement caused several of the men to growl.
"Yeah, we want you to get out of here!" one of them said, "Shinigami are not welcome here!"
"If I'm not mistaken we just saved you," Momo said coolly, "The polite thing to do would be to thank us."
"Like hell we'd ever thank a Shinigami! I'll grant that you helped us just now, but you Shinigami have also always abandoned us and left us to fend for ourselves! You Shinigami have proved time after time that you do not care at all about citizens of Rukongai! You look down on us from your comfortable homes in Seireitei all the time. You're nothing but a bunch of snobs who do what feels convenient and bully us in Rukongai for fun!"
"Hey, I was originally from Rukongai!" Momo said indignantly, "And Shinigami are in charge of maintaining balance in both this world and the world of the living, it can't be helped that it's difficult to properly provide for a lot of the districts!"
"Yet you seem perfectly capable of providing for yourselves! You live in luxury while you leave Rukongai to suffer. We will not put up with you Shinigami here, not with that attitude you always seem to have!" Izuru, having just finished healing Karin, stood up in hopes of defusing the situation.
"That's enough, there's no point in fighting amongst-"
"Well we're staying here whether you like it or not," Momo said angrily to the man, ignoring Izuru, "It's our job to extinguish the hollows that appeared here and we're not leaving until we're certain that we've found them all. I can sympathize with you for the wrongs you feel Shinigami have committed against you, but I will not allow you to interfere with our jobs! I recommend you go back to your village now to avoid any unnecessary conflict.
"Why you…" one of the men said, shaking in rage, "How dare you treat us so dismissively!" He charged at her, fist drawn back, but Momo did nothing but calmly point her finger at the man.
"Bakudo 1: Sai!" she said. The man's arms were suddenly pinned behind his back as if trapped by an invisible force. He fell to his knees, struggling with futility to free himself. The man's companions immediately raised their weapons . At this point, Izuru ran forward and put himself between Momo and the angry men.
"That is enough," he said, "Your feelings are noted, but we must complete our duties here, and will not tolerate any interference. However, neither do we wish to unnecessarily antagonize you. Momo, undo the spell."
"Very well then," Momo said. She snapped her fingers and the man's arms were freed from the Kido spell.
"We apologize for any inconveniences and ask that you leave us now to do our jobs," Izuru said, "We have no desire to quarrel with you." Several of the men continued to glower and scowl at them, but nevertheless they began retreating, heading back to their village. Izuru breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad that's over," he said, "Be more careful next time. It's best not to antagonize these sorts of people."
"Right, sorry about that," Momo said, "Well then, what shall we do next?"
"I was thinking that we scout out the area to see if that other hollow is really here or if it was just a mistake in the report. Personally, I'd like to think that it was just an error, but one can never be too safe."
"Wait!" Karin said. They both turned around.
"Are you injured anywhere else?" Momo said, "Izuru, you'd better check to make sure you've healed all of her injuries."
"No, no, it's not that!" Karin said quickly, "I need to talk to you guys!"
"About what?"
"I…I need you to take me to Seireitei," Karin said. Momo and Izuru exchanged a glance with eachother.
"We're sorry, but only specially authorized people are allowed to enter Seireitei," Momo said, "We can't just allow entry to Seireitei to anyone who wants it."
"You don't understand, my brother is a Shinigami!" Karin said, "I need to see him!"
"Look kid, we don't have time for this. We have an important job to do and can't afford to waste time," Momo said. Despite the importance of the situation and her need to stay focused, Karin could not help but feel put off by Momo's calling her 'kid'. She didn't look more than a few years older than her after all. Karin pushed those thoughts aside though.
"Waste your time? How is this a waste of time? My brother is a Shinigami and I have to see him as soon as I can!" Karin said insistently.
"Look, it's nothing personal, but we've heard every excuse in the book," Izuru said, "People are always trying to get into Seireitei, and the 'my family member is a Shinigami' claim is a particularly popular method."
"Wait, you think I'm lying?" Karin said in shock, beginning to feel angry.
"Don't take it personally, I'm sure you're a great kid, but we know how tempting it is to try and get into Seireitei," Momo said, "I myself was from Rukongai, and I remember one time where a friend and I tried to get into Seireitei by telling a passing Shinigami that our father was with the Shinigami. He got mad and beat us. So the lesson is that lying is bad. Do you understand? Now do yourself a favor and go home."
"Why you…!" Karin said angrily, "Those other guys were right! You Shinigami are a bunch of arrogant jerks!"
"Hey, there's no need for that kind of talk," Momo said, "We're just basing our decision on our past experience. We can't just believe you when so many others have told the same fib."
"And I think it's also important to mention that even if you're telling the truth, we can't take you to Seireitei," Izuru said, "The laws are strict. Even if you're the family of a Shinigami, you can't enter Seireitei on that basis alone. If you allow me to make a suggestion, please just go home. We have jobs to do and can't spend our time worrying about this."
"But can't you at least help me arrange a meeting with him?" Karin asked desperately, "I really need to see him! I swear that I'm telling the truth! If you take me to see Toushiro Hitsugaya, he can vouch for me! He'll confirm that I'm telling the truth!"
"Wait, what did you just say?" Momo asked, suddenly very tense. She and Izuru were glancing at eachother meaningfully.
"Toushiro Hitsugaya!" Karin repeated, "He's a Captain in your military! I've met him, he'll tell you that I'm telling the truth!"
"Uh, Izuru, I think we need to talk this over…" Momo said nervously. She and Izuru walked a short distance away, out of earshot from Karin.
They stood quietly for a moment, unsure what exactly to say. This new development was…surprising, to say the least.
"So what do you make of it?" Izuru asked.
"I honestly don't know," Momo said, "For her to know of Toush… I mean Captain Hitsugaya, isn't what one would expect from a girl her age."
"I'd like to know where she heard about him myself," Izuru said.
"Do you think she might actually be telling the truth?" Momo asked.
"It's doubtful. I can't think of any circumstances where a girl like her would meet a Captain. She must have heard about it from someone else, it's the only explanation. What do you think?"
"I don't know…" Momo said uncertainly, "I mean, yes she's probably lying, but still…I don't know what to think. It's strange to think that knowledge of the Captains extends this far into Rukongai. This…is very unusual. Perhaps we should take her back with us, at least to look into her claims."
"No, that's a bad idea," Izuru said, "If she is telling the truth, she still wouldn't be allowed to go to Seireitei. It's the law. And if it turns out she's lying, she'll get punished. She's just a kid. Kids make claims like this all the time. It may be hard, but we can't rely solely on her word."
"I guess you're right, but still I wish we could do something about her," Momo said, "She knows about Toushiro…Captain Hitsugaya, so there must be something going on here. I'm starting to think that taking her with us might be justified."
"I know what you're saying, but we can't. Aside from being against the law, we still have a job to finish out here, remember? We can't worry about this right now."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right."
They turned to Karin and walked over.
"We're sorry, but we can't allow you to accompany us," Izuru said.
"Please! I have to go, he's my family! I need to see him!" Karin said, "This may be my only chance to see him again! Don't take away my family!"
"Well what about her?" Momo asked, pointing at Rubi. Karin saw that Rubi was crying.
"You don't want to be with us anymore?" Rubi asked tearfully.
"No, no, no! It's not that! Of course I want to be with you! It's just…my brother...I…"
"Let me give you this bit of advice," Momo said, "The family you make in Rukongai is precious. Value them and never allow yourself to forget how important they are. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go."
Momo and Izuru turned and walked away, leaving Karin and Rubi behind.
---
Ichigo took a deep breath as he stood at the doorways of his school. This would be his first day back since his sister had been killed. In truth he didn't feel ready at all, but knew that the longer he stayed away, the more difficult it would be to go back. Taking a deep breath, he opened the doors and walked in. It was early, much earlier than the time that most students arrived. He walked through the halls and to his class. When he arrived at the classroom door however, he found it locked. Evidently, even the teacher had not arrived yet.
Sighing, he sat down against the wall. Today was going to be a bad day, he could already feel it. He wondered how everyone else would treat him. Probably extra sensitively, or perhaps ignoring him entirely. He wasn't sure he would like that. On one hand, it meant that he wouldn't have to talk much, but on the other, it meant everybody would be pitying him. He didn't want pity. He didn't begrudge them for it, but he didn't like it either.
He was rather uncomfortable with the prospect of facing his friends. What was he supposed to say to them? What would they say to him? He couldn't help but wonder if he deserved any sympathy given to him. He had essentially abandoned this world after all. He felt like his life on earth had been taken from him by the circumstances. Despite the friends he had in Soul Society, he still felt a sense of belonging here on earth, at least for the time being. Yet despite this, he had grown further and further from his attachments to the living world. This was quite possibly responsible for Karin's death. He should have been there to save her.
He pushed that sort of thought away. He had already obsessed enough over it. He couldn't spend his life in angst like this, he had to focus on what was to come.
He had been sitting down for several minutes when he heard voices approaching.
"But why didn't you try to hook me up with one?"
"How would I do that?"
"How should I know? You're the one who's able to casually seduce older women!"
Ichigo recognized the voices as being of his friends Keigo and Mizuiro, with Keigo obviously having another one of his fits.
"It's not fair though!" he whined, "Why do you get all the girls?"
"I don't know," Mizuiro said.
"Well could you at least not flaunt it around in front of me? That is just so cruel!" Keigo said, "Oh, Ichigo!" he said as he walked into the room. Ichigo was sure that the conversation would change now, but Keigo kept talking. "You'll never believe what happened last night! Mizuiro came over to my house with two hot women!"
"Well good for him then I guess," Ichigo said. He wasn't sure what was going on. They both knew what had happened with his sister, so why were they acting like everything was normal?
"No Ichigo!" Keigo said, "It's not good! He kept going off to the bathroom to have sex with them! My bathroom! He takes two women into my house and uses my bathroom as his rutting grounds!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mizuiro said with an innocent smile, "I was just helping them put on some make-up."
"Liar! Liar! Liar!" Keigo yelled, "You were off having a threesome with two drop-dead gorgeous women! Unbelievable!"
"Well, not that unbelievable." Ichigo, Keigo, and Mizuiro realized that Sado was standing behind them, listening quietly to their conversation.
"What do you mean? Are you taking his side?!" Keigo asked.
"I'm just saying that it's not that crazy to imagine Mizuiro doing what you said he did. Remember that time that he satisfied twelve women at once?"
"Wha-wha-wha-whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!" Keigo yelled, "When did this happen? How did this happen? How is that even possible? How did you even convince that many women?"
As they spoke, Mahana Natsui, Chizuru Honsho, Ryo Kunieda, and Michiru Ogawa walked in. Keigo immediately sat up.
"Ah! You guys! You're girls, right?" he said quickly.
"Last time I checked," Ryo said rather coldly.
"Well then tell me: why do girls like Mizuiro so much? He's not buff or handsome or manly, I've never seen him act suave or seductive, and he just generally doesn't seem to be that type of guy! What's going on?"
"Well I guess the first thing to point out is that he looks innocent and non-threatening," Michiru said, "Women are more likely to trust him than say, Ichigo or Uryu."
"And he's not entirely bad to look at you know," Mahana said, "He's a lot cuter than you are Keigo." Keigo nearly burst into tears.
"But he never even seems to try! Women just flock to him!" Keigo cried.
"Well that's just what you see," Chizuru pointed out, "I've watched him. He's a master of subtly attracting and seducing women. I wish I had his charms sometimes…"
"You all give me too much credit," Mizuiro said with a nervous laugh, "I just happen to get lucky a lot."
"Yeah, you certainly do 'get lucky'," Keigo said.
This continued as the class filled with people. The conversation was soon drifting into even more ludicrous topics, and Ichigo watched as his friends (mainly Keigo) argued over them. He couldn't figure out what was going on. They all knew that Karin had died, why weren't they acting any differently than usual around him? He had been gone in Soul Society for several months, but it was hard to imagine that his friends would all stop caring about Ichigo in that time, and in any case it wasn't like they were doing anything to intentionally antagonize him. In fact, he very nearly smiled several times as he listened to them babble about this or that. Suddenly a voice called out to him.
"Ichigo!"
Ichigo looked up and saw Orihime running towards him. He turned a little red. He knew that Orihime cared a lot about him, and surely would be trying to comfort him as best she could. While he appreciated the sentiment, he didn't like the idea of being pities or shown special sensitivity. As Orihime drew closer however, she was delayed as Chizuru began running towards her.
"Hime! My one true-" she was stopped in her tracks as Tatsuki's fist collided with her face.
"Stop trying to corrupt Orihime," Tatsuki said.
"Awwww, why do you keep trying to keep us apart?" Chizuru whined, "Orihime and I are meant to be together!"
"Yeah, in your insane fantasies," Tatsuki muttered.
Orihime looked uncertain for a moment, but eventually made her way over to Ichigo.
"Ichigo, hi!" she said. Ichigo noticed that she was carrying a basket, and wasn't sure what to think.
"Hello Orihime, it's good to see you," he said.
"So Ichigo, I have a big surprise for you!" she said.
"Oh really? What is it?" Ichigo asked with feigned interest, wondering why even Orihime was acting this way.
"I've been making cookies to give to the sewing club later, and wanted you to test them out for me!" she said happily. Ichigo nearly turned green. He knew perfectly well what Orihime's cooking was like.
"Well…It's almost class, so maybe we should wait until-"
"Nonsense! I insist!" Orihime said, reaching into her basket, "First, there's my 'fruitcake cookies'. All the goodness of fruitcake in cookie form!" She pulled out a hideous looking cookie with bits of candied fruit sticking out. She looked at Ichigo eagerly, and he was left with no choice but to take a bite. He shuddered, tears coming to his eyes. It was every bit as bad as regular fruitcake, with Orihime's 'special touches' no doubt making it worse. She put on a fake smile.
"It's…great…" he said slowly.
"Oh good! Then here's another one! I call it my 'reverse molasses cookie!"
"Why is it called that?" Ichigo asked apprehensively..
"Because normally a molasses cookie has four or five times as much flour and sugar as molasses, but mine have ten times as much molasses as all the other ingredients combined!" She took out a cookie that looked like a solidified, burnt glob of molasses. Again, Ichigo was forced to take a bite, wincing as he nearly broke a tooth on the hard thing.
"Just one more!" Orihime said. She pulled out a brown cookie and handed it to Ichigo. Wanting to get this over as soon as possible, Ichigo hurriedly shoved the cookie in his mouth. To his great surprise though, it was absolutely delicious.
"Mmmm, Orihime, what did you make this with?" he asked. He almost immediately regretted asking.
"Well, after mixing up the flour and sugar, I added some fresh goat blood and ground up scorpions," she said cheerfully. Ichigo went pale.
"Scorpions?"
"Yep! Dried and ground up! Then I put in a little bit of potting soil to give it a nice texture, and a bunch of spices I found in this abandoned tool shed behind my house! So would you like another?"
Ichigo looked like he might faint at this point, but luckily he was rescued by Tatsuki.
"Okay Orihime, I think you can stop tormenting him now," she said putting a hand on Orihime's shoulder and leading her away, but not before shooting a meaningful glance at Ichigo.
The entire morning went just like a normal one. Everyone behaved the same as always, and his friends were acting like their normal spells. Ichigo was a bit glad that there was no special treatment of him or extra sensitivity around him, but he was still puzzled.
At lunch, he, Sado, Keigo, and Mizuiro sat on the rooftop, eating their lunch. Keigo was again babbling crazily.
"But what if you hooked me up with one? Come on man, you can get women to do whatever you want, why don't you suggest that sexy stud of a friend you have?" he said pleadingly.
"Because women don't view you that way Mr. Asano," Mizuiro said.
"Waaaaah! You're saying it again! Call me by my regular name you womanizing meanie!" Keigo was standing up and dancing around, crying and babbling, when he was pushed aside.
"Move over punk!" yelled Reiichi Oshima, a bully who frequently tried to pick fights with Ichigo.
"Oh, it's you again," Ichigo said, "Hello loser."
"You'd better watch that mouth or I'll break it!" Oshima growled, "I believe I've told you to change your hair color before! You're taking my style! Now change your fucking hair before I force you to!" Ichigo and Sado stood up, ready for a fight, but to their surprise, Mizuiro stood between them.
"Now, now, calm down. Reiichi, you really shouldn't be using language like that. I might just have to tell your mother," he said mildly.
"If you don't stand aside, you'll be crying and screaming in your mother's arms!" Oshima said.
"Funny you should word it like that, because just last night your mother was screaming in my arms." Mizuiro said, his voice never losing its polite tone.
"You'd better shut your fucking mouth," Oshima said angrily.
"Your mom never did that last night, I had her moaning and yelling all night long," Mizuiro said.
"That's it, you'd better stop saying that bullshit before I break your face in. Now stop making stupid trash talk!"
"Trash talk? Oh no, you misunderstand. I really did sleep with your mom last night. Her name is Rina, correct? Long dark hair, brown eyes, great legs…"
"Why you! I'll fucking kill you!" he ran screaming at Mizuiro, but in his anger slipped on a sandwich left on the ground, lost his footing, and tumbled over the edge of the roof. Everyone looked over and saw that Oshima had fallen into a bush below."
"Well that was really something," Mizuiro said simply, as if nothing had happened, "So Sado, have you seen that new reality show where they make the contestants eat bees?"
"I think that was just one episode. In the episode I saw they were eating fire ants."
"Oh right, of course! I forgot about that!"
"Okay, what's going on?" Ichigo suddenly said, "What's going on? You guys know what happened, don't you?"
"Of course we do," Keigo said.
"Yeah, we were some of the first to hear about it," Sado said.
"It was all over the papers," Mizuiro added.
"So…if you knew about it, why are you acting so…normal around me?"
"Do you want us to treat you differently because of it?" Sado asked, "Were you hoping we'd stay quiet and try not to talk to you? Did you want us to all treat you more gently?"
"No! I mean…I don't know, but why are you acting like this? It seems like your first instinct would be to try and say something to me or to attempt to treat me with extra kindness! It's just…weird to see you acting like this under these sorts of circumstances.
"Ichigo, we're your friends," Keigo said, "We know you wouldn't want to be treated differently or for us to constantly remind you of what happened by treading carefully around you. We've known you too long to think that would help you at all."
"We decided that it was best to just act normally until you were ready to discuss it," Mizuiro said.
"And whenever that time comes, know that we're here for you, and that we'll listen to anything you have to say," Sado said.
Ichigo was overwhelmed with gratefulness towards his friends.
"Oh darn, I think there's some dust in my eyes," he said with an uncharacteristic laugh, wiping at his eye, "Thanks guys, you really are true friends."
---
Karin sat in the corner of the house, hugging her knees and struggling with her resolve not to cry. She had come so close. Those Shinigami could have easily taken her to Ichigo, but they didn't believe her. She supposed that she couldn't really blame them given the circumstances, but it was still…disheartening, to say the least.
She had just begun to accept that this was her new life from now on, and no sooner had she begun to accept that fact, the prospect of joining up with her old life was dangled in front of her, only to be taken away just as quickly. Karin wanted to see her brother again. What good it would do she wasn't sure, but she had to see him, as he was her true family. She cared for her new 'family' in Rukongai surprisingly strongly for people she had only recently met, but it just wasn't the same as a true family. They had attempted to explain that over time, the old bonds would fade and the family she made in Rukongai would become her true family.
She wasn't sure she wanted that. She didn't want to forget about Yuzu, Ichigo, and even her idiot father. She wanted to see them again, even if it was just one more time, but now that hope seemed more impossible than ever.
"Karin?" Rubi said, walking over to her, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Karin said quickly, "I'm just a little…never mind, I'm fine!"
"Do you really want to leave us?" Rubi asked.
"Oh no, that's not what I meant earlier!" Karin said quickly, "I was just…I don't know. It's not that I don't like you guys, I just don't feel I belong here."
"Where do you belong?" Rubi asked.
"I honestly don't know," Karin admitted.
They were silent for several minutes, staring blankly at the floor. Karin didn't know what to do next. She supposed that she could do anything she wanted. She had her entire afterlife after all, it wasn't like she'd be short on time. But still, she longed for a goal, a destination, a purpose. Spending her entire afterlife merely existing seemed very empty. Part of why she had wanted to see Ichigo was because she hoped he might offer her guidance or help her find her place in Soul Society. She sighed. It all seemed hopeless now. She knew she would have to accept the fact that she probably wouldn't see her brother or anyone else in her family again.
"Hey Karin, what's that?" Rubi asked.
"What's wha-" she realized mid-sentence what Rubi was talking about. There was a distant rumbling, and the ground was moving beneath their feet. Several others ran out, confused over what was happening.
"An earthquake?" someone asked.
"I don't know," the old man caring for them said, "I've never seen an earthquake in Soul Society before, but I think it best we go outside in case something in the house collapses."
As the rumbling grew, they all looked at eachother nervously. Suddenly, it stopped. There was silence for a moment, and then the ground split apart and a massive worm-like hollow came out. Her siblings screamed in terror, and the old man tried to get them back into the house. The hollow swayed its head back and forth, seemingly trying to get a sense of where its prey was. It finally settled on the direction of the house, and began moving forward.
Looking over at her newfound family and home that the hollow was advancing on, Karin ran around to the other side of the hollow.
"Hey! Hey! Hey ugly, over here!" she yelled. The hollow paused for a moment, seemingly unsure what to do. Karin picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the hollow. Though the rock could not possibly have caused the hollow any real pain given its size, this was enough to divert its attention to Karin.
"Karin!" Rubi yelled. Several of the others were yelling as well.
"You guys get back!" Karin called back, "Get away from here as fast as you can!" She backed away as the worm-like hollow advanced, soon breaking into a run, trying to lead it away from her family. The hollow moved towards her at a rather sluggish pace considering its size, but still more than fast enough to soon overtake Karin. She soon found herself in its shadow as it loomed over her. It moved its head back a little before lunging at Karin. She closed her eyes, waiting for the hollow to eat her. After several moments however, she realized that nothing was happening. She opened her eyes a crack, and was surprised at what she saw.
The Shinigami, Momo and Izuru, stood before her, their swords drawn. The hollow was now lying on the ground in three pieces, the pieces writhing and twisting around eachother.
"Looks like this guy doesn't want to go down," Izuru noted.
"Indeed," Momo said, raising her hand, "Hado 54: Abolishing flames!" A blast of purple energy was released, hitting the nearest piece of the dismembered hollow. It was completely engulfed in flames and within seconds had completely disintegrated. Momo repeated the process with the other two, and soon the hollow was completely incinerated.
"Y-you guys…" Karin said, not expecting to see them again.
"Yes, it seems we were foolish to have left you before," Izuru said.
"We should have noticed when we first saw you," Momo added, "We followed you after we realized it, and this hollow attack seems to confirm it."
"Confirm what?" Karin asked, "What are you talking about."
"Tell me, are you feeling hungry?" Momo asked.
"Yeah, I guess I'm a bit hungry, but I can eat later, so answer my question!" Karin said insistently. Momo and Izuru glanced at eachother.
"It would appear," Izuru said slowly, "That you are gifted with some degree of spiritual power."
"Me? Really?" Karin said in shock. She knew she had the ability to see ghosts back when she was alive, but she hadn't thought that she had any actual powers, or that she would retain any unique abilities upon coming to Soul Society.
"Given the circumstances, we've reconsidered our earlier position," Momo said.
"Really? So I can go to Seireitei and see my brother?" Karin asked.
"Well…not exactly," Izuru said, "We still don't know for sure what's going on, and taking you to Seireitei is illegal and a big risk for us. But it now seems that leaving you here would be a bigger risk."
"It was probably your power that attracted that hollow and the ones earlier to this area," Momo said, "By being here, you're putting those around you in danger." Karin looked over at the family she had made, all of whom were listening in on what was being said.
"What's going to happen with me?" Karin said.
"Ideally, we'll be able to get you in contact with your brother. They won't be happy with us for bringing you to Seireitei, but it's the best option right now. After you see him, we'll figure out what to do next. You probably won't be able to live in Seireitei, but I might be able to arrange for you to be transferred to Junrinan, where I grew up. It's much safer there, and you'll be able to visit your brother from time to time. With your spiritual power, you may even be able to enroll in the Shinigami academy in a few years," Momo explained.
"So…you're taking me there?" Karin asked, this turn of events seeming too good to be true.
"That's the plan," Izuru said.
"Now?" Karin asked.
"Yes, as soon as we can," Momo said. Karin nearly jumped in joy, and was about to run back to the house to retrieve what few possessions she had when she realized something else. She turned to the two Shinigami.
"What about my family?" she asked, pointing at the people who served as her new family in Rukongai.
"I'm afraid they can't come with us," Izuru said, "I know it seems difficult, but leaving is best right now. If you stay, you may end up putting them in danger again." Karin hesitated uncertainly for a minute.
"Do you still want us to take you to Seireitei?" Momo asked. Karin looked over to the people who had served as her family for this short time. All were nodding their approval, with several yelling out words of encouragement. Karin finally turned back to the Shinigami.
"Yes, I'll go," she said.
Thanks for reading! Thank you to Photophopic, .fire333, Hinata-cutie, Thunder Claw03, War90, The Great Pineapple MEKI, Yemi Hikari, and Psyco101 for reviewing! Please review! Also, note that I've decided to start allowing anonymous reviews.