Hands Held High
Mourning echoed through Seireitei after the return of their friends from a harsh battle, that no clemency was ever shown in a distant future. It was so sudden that no one expected the strongest soul reaper to fall to the ground immediately after she stepped on the grounds of her own time. Many of the people thought she redressed the timeline to save her brother from death and praised for destroying the devils who continually absconded from their punishments; others thought that she selfishly distorted time by taking all the glory for herself. Those who said it with iniquity or whispered behind the remaining members' backs earned them bruises and pain. The cryptic poison had already shown symptoms in Karin's body, and the leader was immediately carried to the hospital without any interruptions.
Yuzu, the member of the Kurosaki family, stood beside her captain as she cried for the loss of her sister. Her comrades felt sympathy toward the young girl, but her friends felt contrition for not aiding Karin in time. The tenth captain mourned for the loss of his precious love after she died, holding onto the young child's hand who is the last shard of her sister's image. Heiwa had a bandage around her head from a cut on her forehead, and she already suffered a concussion on her head. She managed to avoid critical slashes and prevented more causality by defending the weaker spots, but her heart was broken when her friend lost the fight against an incurable disease. Heiwa's brother, Natsu, managed to gain victory through a bleeding torso and a broken arm for using one arm for fighting. He wasn't the perspicacious like his sister, but his will was stronger and more forward. Their captains only suffered minor cuts, and Heiwa's leader had his right arm amputated during their previous battles. However, they paid their respects to their leader and friend who rested peacefully on her bed.
Yuzu remembered that Karin said that no one should reprehended for their slow response, but she felt that she failed to save her sister from a conundrum, thinking that she took imputation to quicken the poison. Yuzu glanced up under her hair bangs to stare at the sleeping woman, and her throat constricted from sobbing. Karin was lying on her deathbed and smiled like she vindicated her mistakes by performing the final act. Her scars and recent wounds were adduced to prove that she faced many hardships in her battles. Her peaceful expression broke her patent mask, which hid her true identity and construed her fake emotions. As the remainder Kurosaki family member stared at her sister, Yuzu began wonder about why she was confounded when Karin's smile was still there before she died.