The start of the fic is when Ichigo goes to SS, as this is a FANfiction I've made some changes which you will probably notice, my apologies for not being super accurate about it, but I do try my best :).
Warnings: Language, morbid humor [slightly] and MAYBE lemon, I'm still thinking about that. (This goes for the whole fic).
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any sense…not even the dvds.
Chapter Two
Three people sat at the round table that was often used for meetings of supernatural subjects in a deceptively small candy shop. Two of said people where Urahara Kisuke, the ex-captain of the 12th squad and the mastermind behind the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, the other was Shihonin Yoruichi, the ex-captain of the 2nd division and leader of the Omnitsukido. The last person of the group was Kurosaki Karin; a normal human 12 year-old girl, except for the fact that she's dead, has a shinigami brother and is about to become one herself that is.
The warm tea that had been served by a man that was apparently called Tessai had already cooled down to lukewarm and Karin's patience was being stretched to the limit as the owner of the shop kept the silence going.
Sensing the impending temper explosion from the girl before him, Urahara spoke up. "Now, the method that we are going to try is the same that Ichigo undertook. It is aptly called The Shattered Shaft, and it is a creation of mine."
Taking a deep breath and leaving space for interruptions, he was glad when the silence prevailed. "It is basically a three day trial, during which you will be at the bottom of a vertical hole with your hands tied behind your back, product of a kido spell."
"Why is it called the Shattered Shaft and what is kido?" Questioned the young girl.
Yoruichi smiled slightly and decided to answer her question. "The name derives from the fact that inside the hole, the corruption of the Chain is increased. When the chain is completely destroyed a hole will be left behind, which then becomes the hole that all hollows posses. Kido is one of the four abilities that being a shinigami gives, they are spells that are powered by your own Reiatsu." She explained.
Karin frowned at the explanation. "So that means that I will turn into a hollow at the end of this… 'training'." She had reasoned that Reiatsu, spirit energy, was what she had always thought of as her aura.
Urahara carried on explaining. "That is what will happen," he said with a glint in his grey eyes, "if you do not manage to unlock your shinigami powers before the time runs out." He waited for her response to his words.
The raven haired child stared at the blonde with a cold calculating light in her eyes. "I'm willing to bet there is something more to it than that." She challenged the man as the yellow eyes of the noble watched the man she loved.
Urahara smiled in triumph and a touch of pride. "Yes, there is a catch." He answered before adding. "You will not come out as a true shinigami."
The raven eyebrows rose in an unvoiced question. At receiving no response she asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"That means that you will leave that hole with your shinigami powers, but with the addition of hollow powers. They come with an inner hollow." He stated in a deadpan, waiting for her reaction to the words. Opposite to what they had expected, she kept silent. Her eyes darkened in thought once more as she digested his words.
"Ichigo doesn't know about this, does he?" Was the first thing out of her mouth. The guilty light inside his eyes was all the response she needed out of him as she continued. "Not that I blame you. Ichigo is rather close minded… He thinks the world is black and white, with no shades of gray. My bet is that he would attempt to crush this hollow without taking into account that it would be a part of himself."
At her words, Urahara stared. It was a very deep and well-thought idea; it made him have a glimpse of what kind of person she would be. "Glad to know it wasn't only me who thought that way." He responded. "But if I may ask, what will you do with your own hollow if you decide to proceed." He asked in curiosity.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said with a knowing tone. "Let's just say that it's a good thing I am not my brother." She said with a smirk on her lips, hiding her fear of hollows that always seemed to overwhelm her.
"You are going to make a great test subject." Urahara said with a shit eating grin on his face. The next thing he saw was a fist slamming into his face.
"Who are you calling a test subject?" She yelled shaking her fist in righteous anger.
"Are you sure you are the younger sibling? You are smarter AND apparently hit harder than Ichigo." Yoruichi intervened with a smirk, unable to resist making a jab at Ichigo.
Karin smiled at the praise. "Intelligence has nothing to do with age." She said with a fake pompous tone. "Besides it's not my fault my brother is practically brain dead. I shudder to think what getting cut up will do to his brain cells." She added, her eyes dancing with amusement.
Urahara smirked once more. "Then you better become one hell of a shinigami." He said, wishing he had his fan to make his trademark move.
"Don't you doubt it!" She yelled as she smiled in confidence. Yoruichi echoed her smile, and for her own sake, she wished Karin luck.
Tessai watched from his place beside Urahara as he brought the child to the training grounds, the tinkling of her Chain of Fate filling the silence. The sadness in his gaze was hidden by the glasses he wore, but it was still felt.
He walked slowly towards the man who he gave everything for. "Tencho," He grumbled, "the hole that was dug for Ichigo is still in a good state, should we place her there or have Ururu dig up a second one?"
The blonde man nodded towards the first Shattered Shaft. "Place her in the existing one and then go up to make sure the kids are still in bed and not lurking around. They were afraid enough the first time without making them watch someone their age go through with this." He added for clarification.
The big man nodded once before using the high level bakudou. "Bakudou #99: Kin!"
As the words left his mouth a long strip of dark cloth covered Karin's arms and where stapled into place by large metal pieces. Her surprised yelp was swallowed as she started falling once more. As her body hit the floor he heard the shop owner above her start talking.
"Three days you will be down there, the speed of the corruption sped up indefinitely. No human comes out of the Shattered Shaft, when you come out you will either be a shinigami, more specifically a vizard, or you will come out as a hollow." He said in a deadly tone as his eyes landed on her even through the darkness.
"Either way you will come out as an adult, the battlefield is no place for children. Expect to be treated as such." He added as she cursed and attempted to stand and face him. "Do not disappoint me." He finished with a mysterious smile before turning his back to her.
"I'll try not to!" She yelled at his back with her classic smirk.
Tessai, having watched the whole conversation turned his stare to the blonde man. "I like her." He said.
"So do I, old friend, so do I."Urahara sighed as his eyes drifted towards the fake sky.
Without another word, both men left the barren underground training basement; it was a long time before supervision over her was needed after all.
Urahara was the first to arrive at the ground level and with only the soft clacks of his wooden sandals; he made his way towards the tea room that was always being used as a meeting room. The sight that greeted him was that of the noblewoman drinking tea, her form fitted with her usual garb and her long hair tied up in a ponytail.
The man smiled to himself at the sight of the reckless woman drinking tea in a refined manner that spoke of her noble up bring. She might despise her heritage, but you can never take away the fact that blue blood runs though her veins.
As he took a seat near her, Tessai entered the room and took a seat. Seconds spent in silence as The Goddess of Flash finished her tea were broken as she slammed her tea cup into the low wooden table, the sound breaking the silence with the subtlety of a drunk man.
"Dibs on her training!" She yelled without delay. Urahara chuckled as her image from before was ruined, but he had already known she would say that.
"It seems appropriate seeing her skill in stealth, she fooled even you. I am willing to bet that she will finish your training in good time, which is good as you have to go to Soul Society and make sure Ichigo doesn't die before Karin can get there." Tessai rumbled in amusement to her words. "I suggest that Urahara be the second one to train her."
"Why? With her skills in Reiatsu control it would seem like a good road to take, she would master it quickly." Yoruichi intervened with confusion in her face.
"Because, we need to strengthen her weakness, and at the moment her Zanjutsu is an unknown, but we already know where her strength lies. We cannot send her to Soul Society without at least mediocre skills with the sword, not when it is the most common way of fighting." Said Urahara, cutting Tessai's response short.
Yoruichi hummed in agreement to their forethought, but before she could say anything else the scientist interrupted once more. "But if all goes according to plan, this training schedule will not have to be followed to the letter."
"What do you mean?" Tessai asked as his glasses flashed, an idea of what he had meant already taking seed within his mind.
"I mean that time is of the essence and if I can do something to prolong it I will." Answered the blond man in a cryptic voice.
"I assume you are speaking about that…" Tessai retorted in mild discomfort. "This is your way of asking for my aid, is it not?"
Urahara smiled. "I could never hide anything from you, old friend."
The large man hummed in amusement before nodding. "I understand your point, but surely you know that it is a taboo."
"Only in Soul Society." Smirked the shop owner.
Tessai nodded and smiled. "True… I will prepare then. Do you think you can handle her on your own?" He asked as he stood from his seat. Urahara nodded and watched him leave the room.
The yellow eyes that had searched his all night finally captured his attention. "What are you playing at, Kisuke?" She asked in a soft voice as her hand travelled to his.
The man sighed and let his shoulders drop. "Just adding another chip to my board." He responded to her silent plead. "But even I could not send a child to Aizen. I plan to contact the Vizards, for the upcoming training their hand will be needed."
The black cat nodded before standing on her knees and placing herself behind her lover, her hand running smooth circles across his tense shoulders. "Do you have them ready? The communication devices."
"Ah, yes." Urahara said as he searched his pockets for the reason he had delayed the noble. Throwing both pieces on the table, he tinkered with them for a couple of seconds before passing her the smaller one. "It will now function perfectly and will follow your transformation into cat form."
Yoruichi smiled at him and placed it inside her ear. "Now that that is settled, when am I going to go play guardian angel?"
The blonde man sighed and responded in a soft voice, "Soon, Tessai is placing a time slowing kido over the shop at the moment. He already took the children away and we will be the only ones left inside once Karin leaves the Shattered Shaft."
Her yellow eyes snapped open in surprise. "But that causes the soul to age as a human! That is why it is forbidden." She exclaimed in surprise. "How long are we going to be under it?"
The grey eyes that belonged to the shop owner suddenly looked ancient and sad. "Long enough for her to learn everything she can from us."
"So we better do our best?" She asked in a voice just as soft as his.
"So we better do our best, indeed." He answered as he turned and kissed her softly in the lips.
While the conversation that decided her immediate future was taking place, Kurosaki Karin lay in the dusty ground attempting to find a comfortable position and finding it nearly impossible. After changing position for the nth time, her patience ran out. "The least you could do after expecting me to lay here for three day is to bind my hands over my front!" She yelled out, not caring about the fact that no one was there to hear her frustration.
Having lost count of the time long ago, she settled to watch her chain eat itself slowly. "Damn this is boring. How the hell did Ichigo manage to survive this?" She mused out loud.
"He panicked." Said a young voice which did not belong to the people she had became accustomed to hearing inside this place.
"What?" She asked in suspicion of the voice, not even remembering her past question.
"You asked how Ichigo survived this and that was because he panicked. He paid little attention to the time he had left in his attempt to climb out." The voice answered seconds before a head of red hair peered over the edge.
Karin snickered at the mental image the boy had provided. "That sounds like him alright." She murmured in amusement.
The next several moments were spent in silence as she was stared at by the boy. "Why are you going through with this?" Asked the small voice. "You are only my age and you are risking you soul."
Karin stared back at the boy before sighing. "Because he is my brother, and someone has to pound some sense into him."
A smirk bloomed across both faces as the boy continued the conversation. "My name is Jinta, what is yours?"
"I'm Kurosaki Karin." She answered.
"Well Karin, I hope you survive this. I have to go now, I'm not even supposed to be inside the shop, but Tessai was doing something odd so he didn't pay attention to us." He said before standing up and leaving her to her thoughts.
"I hope I survive too…" She echoed after his departure, the seed of insecurity that had taken place inside of her mind blooming into a flower of despair.
All will be explained in due time =). Hope you enjoyed and leave a review!