Death and What Came Next Chapter 2: Prologue, A Cruel Dimension, a bleach fanfic

Death and What Came Next
A Karin Toshiro Fanfic
From the Two Lots of Six Series
XxMookinexX

I do not own Bleach or any of its characters, I only wish I did. Any and all unrecognizable characters and situations belong solely to me and are not to be touched without permission. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the soul purpose to entertain.

This story takes place when Karin is 20 and takes account of everything up to chapter 353 of the manga. Written in 3rd Person, mostly Karin centric.

Heya, this is my first Bleach fic so... read on!

– Prologue –

A Cruel Dimension

Dying had not been in the plan for Kurosaki Karin. Of course, she had idly wondered many times what her life would be like if she could be like Ichi-nii. If she could see soul society, but she had never imagined she would find her way there the normal way so soon. Twenty was too soon. She'd barely even started her medical degree.

Now she lay very still in a pool of her own blood, trying not to exacerbate the wounds although she knew it was useless. She was a med student, after all. Had worked in her father's clinic since she was ten years old. She knew a lost cause when she saw one. She wanted to deny it. Wanted to believe that maybe, if she focused on breathing, she would be okay. The realistic part of her, however, told her this was unlikely. The crippling pain could be ignored, but her blood loss was ridiculous. Too much spilled in too short a time.

It was just so stupid! She could hardly believe her luck. The one time she decided to buy food from that convenience store and it had to be held up at gunpoint. She could hardly believe it.

Probably the kid holding the gun was just nervous. Probably her entry into the shop had scared him even more than he already was and he'd tightened his grip on the trigger without even meaning to. Probably it was just an unfortunate turn of events, but that didn't stop it hurting.

The kid had long since hightailed it out of there, but the storekeeper was sobbing down the phone, trying to get her an ambulance.

She wondered what Ichi-nii would do. The hand she wasn't using to force pressure on her stomach scrabbled around on the floor in search of her bag. She'd dropped it, but inside would be her mobile. She could call him. She just had to hold on until he arrived. She had to, because what would Yuzu do without her? Oh God… all the stupid things she was leaving behind. Her stupid father with his stupid baby face and idiotic voice… all the silly things that she used to berate him for. Why? Why could she never appreciate anything till it was over? But surely her life wasn't over.

Please, God, if you have mercy, let me live.

His name was Reiji Tetsuna.

It had been a normal day… and then somehow, everything had gone wrong in a matter of minutes.

He'd owned this store for almost twenty-five years. Never once imagining that something like this could actually happen to him. He'd inherited this store from his father, had worked in it as a boy. Now he was forty-three, with a wife and a baby girl, and more than anything, could not understand how the situation had gotten so out of hand.

The boy had looked suspicious when he'd walked in, sweating even though it was so cold outside he'd had to turn up the heating just this morning. So Reiji had been watching him very carefully, his hand straying to the panic button under the counter. There weren't very many people in the store, an elderly woman and a woman who looked to be her carer, then a gentleman who could not have been much younger than Reiji himself. He had hoped that the boy would wait till they were clear of the mayhem that could ensue. It seemed like he might, lingering as he was at the back of the store. They watched the other patrons leave after paying for their goods, then he appeared before Reiji, hands shaking as he held up the gun.

It was odd, because more than feeling a particularly overpowering sense of fear (of course, he was a little scared), mostly Reiji felt disappointed. This boy couldn't be more than fifteen years old, and was obviously terrified, shaking as he was. Reiji found himself wondering just how hard this boy's life must have been for him to be pulling a stunt like this. Yet he nodded and emptied the counter into the bag held out to him. He wasn't stupid. He valued his life over his wealth. Of course, it would be difficult to support his family for the next few months, but his baby girl had barely started crawling yet and he would rather watch her grow through monetary strife than not at all. Only… then the door opened and that raven-haired woman had casually strolled into his life.

He watched her eyes widen, saw her bag fall to the ground, then heard her scream as the boy's hand swung round towards her, the finger tightening on the trigger. Heard the gunshot. Saw her fly backwards into the door which had splintered behind her and then she was lying on the ground, bleeding, hands clutching at her stomach as she writhed in pain. The kid, that stupid little kid, was grabbing the bag and running for his life… and he couldn't believe what had happened, even as he reached for the phone to dial for an ambulance.

It was so stupid. He'd been so sure everyone would be fine, he'd tried to be sure of that. The woman was gasping and flailing about on the floor, her blood leaking everywhere, the smell of it overpowering his senses, crying in pain, and he didn't know what to do. Her eyes watered in pain as one hand grappled for her bag, reaching for something inside and Reiji felt the tears on his cheeks watching her. She was just a stranger. Someone he'd never met before today, but she was going to die. It wasn't his fault, simply circumstance, but that made them close somehow. He didn't even know her name, but he prayed for her soul, because with the amount of blood on the floor he could not see what else he could do. The ambulance wouldn't make it on time. He knew even as he spoke to the operator.

Please, God, if you have mercy, ease her pain. Let her pass quickly to the next world.

The storekeeper must have thought she'd turned delusional, talking to people that weren't there. Well, that's what he thought. How was he to know that her brother was actually a shinigami and she could see him as clearly as the ghosts she saw everyday.

"Karin…" he whispered, tears streaming down his face. "How…?" He was obviously at a loss. Clad as he was in his substitute shinigami guise she could tell he was ready to fight anything, must have used shunpo the whole way here, only to be confronted with the God-awful truth. There was no enemy to be fought. Nothing to be done. He could protect her from all the supernatural hollows in the universe, no matter how strong, no matter the cost, but he could not save her from a fifteen-year-old boy carrying a gun.

"I'm sorry Ichi-nii," she forced out, reaching out to hold a hand that the storekeeper could not see. "I'm scared. What's it like… do you suppose?"

"I'll find you Karin. I swear to you. I'll find you."

"Soul society must be a big place…" Her eyes flickered shut. She was so tired. It was a struggle to even keep her speech coherent. "Must be… Won't be easy… To find me…"

"But I will. I promise. I'll search for as long as it takes… So please remember who you are… Please. Promise me you'll remember."

"I don't know, Ichi-nii…" She smiled slightly, hearing the urgency in his voice. The wound didn't ache so much anymore. She felt strangely light-headed. Probably the loss of blood was causing the dizziness, she could remember learning about that in med-school. Her brain must be shutting down. Also she hadn't moved for the past half-hour, so the blood diverted to her muscles had been returned to her gut. The adrenaline had worn off by now. No wonder she was tired. It was bad, she knew. She knew she mustn't fall asleep, but even cracking one eye open was hard. His face... he looked so panic-stricken. "You shouldn't look like that, you know… It doesn't suit you."

"Remember, Karin. It's very important that you remember who and what you are and that you look after yourself until I find you. Because like you said, soul society is a big place, and it might take some time, so try to find a way to hold on until I get to you, alright. Promise me."

Her eyes slid closed for good. The dizziness overwhelmed her. She wanted to promise him. Wanted to ask if he thought she would find mum there. Wanted to say she loved him. Wanted to have a hug. But all she could get out of her lips was half sentences, scraps of words that didn't mean anything, even as she tried again and again to get the words out.

"Try," she finally managed.

Then Kurosaki Karin passed away, leaving a brokenhearted Kurosaki Ichigo and a remorseful, clueless shopkeeper behind her.

So, what do you think?

I thought I'd really try my best to force the cruel irony of the situation, hence the chapter title.

This may be upsetting from time to time, but all in all I expect it to be an upbeat fic.

As usual, updates occur as and when I get inspiration.

Luv ya

XxMookinexX