Hinamori's Apprentice
Chapter 20
"This is amazing! Karin, I'm so proud of you!" Rangiku squealed, "I can't believe you attained Shikai so soon! This is simply amazing!"
"Well, I did have a pretty great teacher," Karin said, smiling at Momo.
"Don't thank me. This was your accomplishment, not mine," Momo said.
"No, you deserve just as much credit as me," Karin said, "If you hadn't pushed me as hard as you did, I doubt I would have gotten nearly as far as I have. I really do owe you my thanks for this." At a loss for words, Momo could only smile at this statement.
"So, what do you want to do to celebrate?" Rangiku asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what do you want to do to celebrate getting Shikai? You have to do something special for such a spectacular event!" Rangiku said.
"I don't want anything special," Karin said, "However, if I could go see Ichigo to tell him, I'd really appreciate it."
"Sure, that's a fair request. Just give me a bit of time, and I'll take you over in a little bit," Rangiku said.
"Actually, I was hoping I might be able to go over there myself and deliver the news on my own," Karin said.
"Why? Wouldn't it be easier if I shunpoed you over there?" Rangiku said.
"Yeah, probably. I'd just like to try going there myself," Karin said. Rangiku glanced at Momo, who shrugged.
"She's built up her stamina, and she knows where the Fifth Division offices are, so she should be fine going by herself," she said.
"Okay, if you say so," Rangiku said, "Just remember to be careful. If anything happens to you, it's my head that Ichigo will be after!"
"Thanks Rangiku!" Karin said, almost immediately turning and leaving, eager to tell Ichigo of her accomplishment.
When she was gone, Momo and Rangiku were left in silence.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Momo said quietly, "She achieved Shikai so quickly. It took me several years to reach Shikai. Even Toushiro took longer than her. She's only been training for a short while, and already she's gone so far."
"She's a special girl," Rangiku commented, "Plus, your training was definitely a boost for her." Momo seemed to ignore this, lost in her own thoughts.
"I wonder if she's another prodigy…" she said quietly.
"Momo, don't-"
"I'm not!" Momo interrupted, knowing what Rangiku was going to say, "I'm not jealous! It's just...I don't know! I've worked hard for so many years, but first Toushiro, then Ichigo, and, now it seems, Karin show up and easily master the things that I spent so long working hard on. It's just rather disheartening."
"Don't think like that Momo. If you spend your time comparing yourself to others, of course you'll feel bad. Focus on what you've accomplished, not the accomplishments of others. You've proven yourself to be a great Shinigami. You're a Vice-captain and one of the greatest Kido masters in Soul Society! Think about that, not what others have done."
"You're right Rangiku, I know, but it's hard," Momo said, "After…well, you know, I feel like I'm more aware of my shortcomings than before. That's why I try to improve myself."
"Things will end up okay Momo," Rangiku assured her, "Now, let's get to work on the party!"
"Party?"
"Karin's surprise party! We only have a short time to organize it!" Rangiku said cheerfully.
---
Karin walked briskly down the streets of Seireitei towards the Fifth Division offices. The few Shinigami who saw her left her alone, probably assuming she was a noble. Karin could not wait to tell Ichigo that she reached Shikai. She was quite proud of herself, and a little amazed. From what she had been told, it usually took a long time to reach Shikai, but she had done it only about a month after beginning her training. She was quite eager to continue advancing beyond this. She wanted to be strong and independent enough to determine her own destiny, and hopefully to make Ichigo proud of her and make him understand that she didn't need to be protected constantly.
As she walked towards the Fifth Division however, she was surprised to see a pink and black blur rapidly approaching her. She stopped as it got closer, going on the ground and occasionally jumping on to buildings. Only when it was a short distance away did she realize that it was a young, pink-haired girl. As soon as she realized this, the girl had jumped over her head and landed on her back.
"Ya-hoo!" she said cheerfully, "I gotcha!"
"Wh-who are you?" Karin asked in surprise.
"I'm Vice-captain Yachiru Kusajishi of the Eleventh Division!" she said
"Vice-captain?!"
"Yup! Who are you?" Yachiru asked.
"I'm, uh, Karin Kurosaki," Karin said.
"Ooh! You're Ichii's sister, aren't you! Ichii's always fun to play with, are you fun Karii?"
"Karii?" Karin repeated.
"Yup! Hey, do you have any candy Karii?" Yachiru said loudly.
"Um, no…"
"Well then that's all I have to say!" Yachiru said, jumping off of Karin's back, "See you later Karii!" With that, the girl ran off at extremely high speed.
"Weird girl," Karin muttered. She was about to walk off when another person came running up, this one a rather well-groomed male Shinigami with dark hair and two decorative feathers. He ran up to her panting.
"Did an annoying pink haired girl come by here just now?" he asked.
"Yeah, she went that way," Karin said, pointing in the direction Yachiru went.
"Thanks. The little brat dumped all of her paperwork on me!" he growled, running off. Karin stared after him a moment and shrugged. Apparently there were more than a few weird individuals in Seireitei.
---
Ichigo growled to himself as he looked over his records. Eighteen of the Shinigami in Fifth Division had not properly fulfilled guard duties. The messengers had missed a total of twelve official messages that were supposed to have been sent, and neither of the two Shinigami he had assigned to clean the barracks had done so. It seemed that there was very little respect towards him among the members of the division, though as Rukia was always happy to point out, this was largely his own fault.
"Acting-Captain Kurosaki, a visitor has come to see you!" a Shinigami at the door of the office said. Ichigo groaned.
"Can it wait?" he asked.
"I don't think-"
"Ichi-nii!" Karin called, interrupting the Shinigami.
"Karin? Why didn't you say it was you before? Come in!" Ichigo said. The door slid open and Karin walked in, her face full of excitement.
"Did something happen Karin? Why are you here?" Ichigo asked.
"I have really exciting news," Karin said, "Earlier today, I achieved Shikai!"
"What?!" Ichigo said in shock, "Karin, that's…amazing! I honestly can't believe it!"
"It's true, I reached my Shikai! Do you want to see it?"
"Not here Karin," Ichigo said, "I knew you could do it, but…wow, I never imagined you'd do it so soon! How on earth did you manage it?"
"I owe my thanks to Momo for that. Her training really helped me. I don't think I could have done it without her," Karin said. Ichigo's smile began to falter as he recalled how he had achieved Shikai.
"And, um, just what type of training did she give you?" Ichigo asked.
"Oh…this and that…" Karin said, reluctant to reveal what Momo did to pressure Karin into achieving Shikai.
"Karin, tell me what she did," Ichigo said sternly.
"She… It was all to make me stronger, so don't get mad," Karin said, "She fought against me to make me achieve Shikai." Ichigo growled.
"I should have known. Urahara did that same thing to me. I should have known that she'd try something dangerous to speed up the training."
"It wasn't dangerous! She even set up a healing zone so that I would heal whenever I was injured," Karin said.
"What?! She actually struck and injured you? That's it, I'm stopping this nonsense right now!" Ichigo said angrily.
"What? Why?" Karin said in shock.
"I'm not going to let you train with her if she's going to attack you with a deadly weapon," Ichigo said.
"But I'm fine, and because she did that I got stronger!" Karin said, "Please Ichigo, don't make me stop when I've just begun to really improve."
"Sorry, but I have no choice. I didn't want you to do this in the first place, and now that this has happened, I can't let it continue. It's for your own protection."
"Don't give me that!" Karin said angrily, "I've been working hard to get stronger, and Vice-captain Hinamori has been working just as hard to help me! Don't look down on me and think you need to protect me from everything."
"I'm not looking down on you, I just want to protect you," Ichigo said.
"And did you ever consider that maybe I don't want you to constantly be overprotective? I want to get stronger so that I can protect myself! I thought you'd be proud of me for reaching Shikai, but it's clear that you want to keep me weak and dependent on you!"
"That's not true! Karin, please believe me when I say that I'm doing what's best for you! Do you realize how much I've sacrificed to be here looking after you?" Ichigo said, "I left all of my friends, not to mention Dad and Yuzu, back on earth for a job that I don't even want! But it's worth it, because doing so ensures your safety."
"Oh, that's real nice. I'm sorry that you're so miserable being kept around here to look after me when you could be back on earth instead. Sorry, being dead and all, I guess I forgot that you can go back to earth whenever you feel like it. Sorry to cramp your style and keep you away from your friends!"
"That's not what I meant Karin!" Ichigo said.
"Just shut up! I'm going back to Rangiku's house. You just stay here, and you'd better not do anything that will keep Momo from training me! If you do, I'll never forgive you!" Karin stomped angrily out of the room.
Exiting the building, she began walking back to the house. It was already getting dark, so she walked quickly. As angry as she was, she felt guilty for yelling at Ichigo. He was the only family she had here in Soul Society; she shouldn't have been so harsh on him. It was frustrating though. He still thought that she was some fragile thing that needed to constantly be protected. While she certainly had a long way to go, she wasn't a weakling, and didn't want her destiny to be determined by others.
As she walked down the dark streets, she turned a corner and bumped into someone.
"Oof!" she grunted, "Are you alright?"
"Fine, just fine," a grumpy voice answered. Karin only then realized who she had bumped into.
"Toushiro! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"That's Captain Hitsugaya, and I'm going off for a walk," Toushiro said.
"Why?"
"Matsumoto's stressing me out right now," he said.
"Oh, sorry to hear that. I can relate, Ichigo's being a pain too," Karin said.
"What's he doing?" Toushiro asked.
"He thinks that I need to constantly be protected. He won't give me the chance to prove myself and get stronger! I just feel like he looks down on me…"
"He cares about you, of course he wants to protect you," Toushiro said.
"But he's too protective! He's making me feel useless in comparison! He doesn't realize how much it's hurting me when he does it," Karin said. Toushiro was quiet for a moment before turning away.
"I have to be going now," he said.
"Oh, okay," Karin said, "Oh, and by the way, I was wondering what it was that Rangiku was doing to stress you out."
"You'll see," Toushiro said, walking away into the darkness.
---
Karin did indeed soon see what it was that Rangiku had done to annoy Toushiro. A huge party had been thrown at the house, and numerous Shinigami were loudly partying and drinking alcohol. Karin rushed through the crowd, trying to find Rangiku. She ended up finding her at a table with a large bottle of sake.
"Rangiku, what's going on?!" she yelled over the noise of the party.
"It's your surprise party!" Rangiku said, "I threw it to celebrate you getting Shikai! Join in, we've got plenty of booze."
"But I'm too young to drink!" Karin protested.
"Oh don't be such a killjoy! Lighten up and relax!" Rangiku said drunkenly, laughing loudly. Karin groaned and went off to look for Momo, hoping that at least she wouldn't be drunk. She soon found her sitting on the couch.
"Momo!" she said, "Hey, do you think I could go over to your place for the night? I'm probably not going to get any sleep here!" Momo didn't say anything, she just stared blankly at Karin.
"Momo? Hey, you're not-"
"Sorry…" Momo said slowly, her voice somewhat slurred, "I tried to stop it, but…"
"But what?" Karin asked.
"Rangiku had rum in coconuts," Momo said, holding up a half-coconut filled with liquid and a straw poking out, "I couldn't resist. I only had a couple…" Karin sighed.
"Great, so you're a drinker too…" she rolled her eyes.
"No, no, I don't drink too much at all, only on special occasions! I'm not even that drunk!"
"I hope not. Remember that we have training tomorrow," Karin said.
"Yeah, I'll remember it fine…" Momo said with a drunken wave of my hand, "I'm just relaxing a little bit. Join me, we can have a nice chat about…stuff, or something. Oh, have I ever shown you my tattoo?"
---
Momo and Karin stood at the training ground, Momo rubbing her temples.
"Ow, ow, ow…my head…" she groaned, "I hate hangovers."
"Hey, you're the one who decided to drink last night," Karin pointed out.
"Don't remind me," Momo said wearily, "I guess I should begin training some more. This time, I won't actually strike you, we'll just spar and a tap of the sword will count as a hit, alright?"
"Yeah, that's fine, but can you do this in your condition?" Karin asked. Momo smirked a little.
"Just watch me," she said, drawing her sword. Karin hurriedly drew her's as well, just in time to block a strike.
"Good reflexes! You're learning quick!" Momo said, making a jab at her left side. Karin blocked this strike, but the next cut at her left shoulder came too quickly. Momo gave her a tap on the shoulder to indicate a hit.
"Only two strikes blocked. That's okay though, it's early, and you'll get warmed up soon enough," Momo said.
Karin returned to her stance, after which Momo approached her. As she had been taught, Karin moved back, keeping the distance between her and Momo constant. Momo circled around, Karin doing the same, and then raised her sword and brought it down. Karin blocked the strike, forcing it back and returning it to original position just in time to deflect another one. She was able to repeat this nine more times for a total of eleven blocked strikes before Momo was finally able to catch her off-guard, tapping her with the flat side of the sword.
They continued practicing, with Karin blocking between six and fifteen blows each round. It wasn't great, and in real combat she'd probably have been killed, but she was still proud that she was able to stand that long against Momo, given how recently she had been completely overwhelmed by this type of thing. Slowly but surely, she was getting better.
"That's good, you're learning quickly," Momo said, "Now, if you would, I'd like you to use your Shikai."
"Very well," Karin said, "Repel, Denryu!" Her sword changed from a katana to a rapier, about the same length but thinner and straight. The hilt was only big enough for her to grasp with one hand, so she put her left hand on the pommel for her stance. Almost as soon as she was ready, Momo came at her. She swung her sword in a wide sweep at Karin, who brought her shikai up to block it. The lightness of the sword and the weak grip she had on it as a result of only one hand grasping it, however, caused the sword to be easily pushed to the side, and Karin was unable to bring it up again before Momo tapped her on the side of the neck with her sword.
"Just one partial block this time, we'll need to work on this," she commented. Karin nodded slowly, returning to a neutral stance.
Momo swung her sword down, but again Karin was unable to sufficiently block it, and Momo was able to reach her before she could give another strike. In the next round, she was able to block two of the blows, but was unable to stop a third. This pattern continued. Karin was usually only able to successfully block a single blow per round, and sometimes not even that. She was only able to block two or three of Momo's strikes in a few select rounds.
"Darn it!" Karin exclaimed, getting up off the ground after being knocked over by a particularly strong strike.
"Don't become frustrated, it's only natural that you'd have trouble at times," Momo said.
"But isn't Shikai supposed to be stronger? I'm doing worse now than when I was before!" Karin said.
"You only just learned your zanpakuto's name, it will take a while before you can adequately use its powers," Momo said, "Learn to communicate with your zanpakuto, and in time it will become not only a potent weapon, but your partner in battle."
"But it's not just the lack of power, it's the form itself. I can't use it like a katana, there's not enough room on the hilt for two hands. Not to mention the fact that the blade is so thin that it could probably be knocked away with a cardboard tube!" she said in frustration.
"You will learn how to use your Shikai properly one day. A Shinigami's fighting style is influenced by their own strengths and weaknesses. Take Toushiro for example –I mean Captain Hitsugaya. He is of short stature, but he makes up for it with a longer blade and an acrobatic fighting style that allows him to fight on equal terms with larger fighters. Or myself; I don't have a ton of stamina or upper body strength, so in combat I have to be careful to not attack frivolously while using my zanpakuto unreleased. When I'm in Shikai, I'm able to overcome that weakness by using long-range attacks. Each Shinigami has their own fighting style. You'll develop yours some day."
"Yeah, I suppose," Karin said tiredly, "I guess we should practice some more, huh?"
Before they could begin however, they were interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
"Hi guys!"
"Rangiku? What are you doing here?" Karin said in surprise.
"Well it's a funny thing," she said, "We lost contact with some sentries in the world of the living, and some strange things have been happening, so Captain Hitsugaya and I have been asked to accompany Captain Soi Fon and a squad from the Special Ops to check out this military base in the living world."
"Military base?"
"Yeah, a high security American outpost," Rangiku said, "There's supposedly not a lot of people there, just a small contingent of soldiers and some scientists. We don't really know what they're up to, but that's not really our concern. We're just checking things out to make sure things are okay. Now, the reason I came was because I wanted to let you know that I'll be gone for a day or two, so I'm leaving Karin to you Momo. She can stay at your place, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Momo said.
"Thanks… I'd better get going, we're supposed to leave soon," Rangiku said.
"Um, Rangiku?" Karin said nervously, "Be careful, alright?" Rangiku laughed.
"Don't worry about me Karin, I'll be with two Captains and an elite squad from the Special Ops, and I'm not exactly helpless myself. Besides, it's just a check-up on the area. There won't be anything there that we can't handle."
---
"Got any threes?"
"Go fish."
Several men in off-duty military clothing sat around a table playing cards.
"Do you have any eights, Ray?" one of them asked.
"Go fish," Ray said.
"Hey guys, I hear that they've got some beer in the 'fridge, any of you interested in nabbing some?" another man said.
"I don't know, Joe, whoever put it there might get mad if we just take it," Ray said.
"We shouldn't do it anyways. That refrigerator has a bad aura around it. I get the feeling that if you take anything that's not yours from there, you'll be punished," a younger man said.
"Oh don't even start Johnny!" Joe said, "You and your ghost fantasies…"
"Hey guys, take it easy."
"Whatever Lewis…"
"So Dustin, did you hear about Clyde in the research department?" Ray asked, trying to change the tone of conversation, "They say that he tried to sneak into the pantry by digging through the bathroom wall but got stuck!"
"Yeah, they say he was just lying there with his hindquarters sticking out of the bathroom wall for an hour!" Dustin chuckled.
Suddenly the lights went out. Everyone present immediately stood up. Moments after the lights going out, the emergency lights came on.
"What the hell was that?" Joe asked.
"I don't know, do you think we should check it out?" Lewis suggested.
"Maybe…" Dustin said.
They all cautiously walked out of the room and into the halls. The area was dimly lit by the eerie glow of the bluish tinted emergency lighting. Everyone was tense and silent. The base was occupied by only a small number of people, so they didn't encounter anyone for a while. After checking several rooms and going through several halls, Joe suddenly ran forward.
"What is it?" Ray asked. Joe pointed to the ground, where two bloodied guards lay. The others gasped and immediately went to their aid.
"Don't bother," Joe said as Lewis tried to prop up one of the guards, "They're already dead. Take out your weapons."
He didn't need to tell them, they had already drawn their sidearms. Being off-duty, they lacked heavy guns, but they still had their small personal sidearms.
"What the hell did this?" Dustin asked, looking at the wounds on the bodies.
"I don't know, but stay alert. We have to raise the alarm," Joe said, leaning down and taking the sub-machine gun from one of the fallen guards, "Follow me."
Suddenly they heard a loud clunk down the hall. Everyone raised their weapons and cautiously went forward. Despite the noise, they saw nothing. All present were tense and sweating. Without warning, Johnny raised his gun and fired several shots down the hall. The others immediately raised their guns, with Lewis and Dustin firing off a few shots as well in reaction.
"What is it?!" Joe yelled, "What do you see?!"
"There's something there!" Johnny yelled, "I can't see it clearly, but it's there!"
"Goddamn it Johnny, now is not the time for your delusions!" Joe roared.
"It's not a delusion, it's real! It's…it's gone…" Johnny said, looking down the hall with wide eyes.
Everything was still for a moments. Suddenly, Ray let out a scream and fell to the ground, the right side of his body split open as if cut by an invisible force. Lewis was yanked to the ground and suddenly flew down the hall, crashing into a wall hard enough to collapse it. The remaining men began to fire wildly in panic. Joe sprayed gunfire wildly all over the place, desperately hoping to hit the invisible menace. Unfortunately, one of the bullets hit Dustin, who fell to the ground. Mere moments later, Joe's torso was ripped open in a shower of blood.
Now alone, Johnny ran down the hall, shooting at the blurry, nearly invisible thing pursuing him. As he ran, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg, and he looked down to see that it had been nearly completely severed. He collapsed to the ground, dropping his pistol as he did so. Breathing heavily and barely conscious, he shakily reached for his gun. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was his weapon being crushed under a taloned skeletal foot.
Thanks for reading. Thank you to blackwitchkarma, nexuswarrior, war90, The Great Pineapple MEKI, MegaTank, The Catch, ThePurplePencil, Photophopic, chiharuSAICHI, Chillis, DigiPal, Thunder Claw03, Nightraze, and Psyco101 for reviewing! I'd like to make a small comment about the ending of the chapter. In all honesty, I was VERY hesitant about putting this chapter up in light of recent events. Nevertheless, this is an important part in the story and I couldn't afford to take the section out. I just wanted to apologize in advance to anyone who felt that this was a bit too soon or anything. Thanks for reading, and please review!