Disclaimer: I don't own bleach.
The dumb chapter title edit thing doesn't let me type in "-", "...", or "!!" so on the drop down menu, the title got screwed up. Ignore that please :D
Chapter 5: He's my...!!
"Wait, you're joking right?" Everyone looked at Karin. "Over half the human population died?"
"Yes Karin-san. The accumulation of spirits unable to control their new powers resulted in a runaway chain of deaths. This didn't occur instantaneously though. People don't unlock their powers the moment the Ability of Thieves manifests itself. In the past, the ones who gained the Ability of Thieves, and we generally refer to people as 'dorobou', became corrupt, and travelled around spreading the knowledge of how to unlock those powers. By doing so, the dorobou could determine who had what power. Once the dorobou figured out which ability it wanted to steal, it would take an item given as a gift by the person who held the ability it wanted. A hollow has never, in the history of Soul Society, been the one to bring the Ability of Thieves into the world. This may prove useful because hollow cannot easily communicate with humans, and spirits are too afraid to listen to what a hollow has to say. Hopefully, catastrophes can be avoided this time…"
Everyone was silent in thought. Then Ishida spoke up.
"But how does this Ability of Thieves work? And how do people unlock their powers?"
"There are many methods of unlocking these abilities. There are also a few select people who do slowly gain their powers over time. In fact, Ishida-san, your heightened ability to sense and distinguish reiatsu may be the result of the manifestation of the Ability of Thieves. If that's the case, then your ability is one of the more peaceful ones."
At that moment, Ururu walked in holding a floating orb of reiatsu.
"Um… Kisuke-san, the analysis is complete." She passed the orb to Urahara who examined it closely. After five minutes, he looked up, satisfied.
"Well then everyone, I believe it's time we get our facts straight. Upon the analysis of this hollow's reiatsu that I've obtained from our fight, I've determined that it holds a great power. It is able to create new dimensions… that is its inborn power. As the dorobou, it also gained new abilities. When the dorobou steals an item, that item contains the ability and reiatsu of the person who gave it as a gift. The dorobou can utilize those powers imbued in the item at its free will. And while it's true that this menos still cannot mask its reiatsu, the Ability of Thieves has given it the ability to intermingle the reiatsu of others with its own, which explains why the reiatsu we've been feeling lately has been so strange. Those short bursts of energy we've been feeling over the past few days result either from the hollow testing the reiatsu of the item it's stolen or the hollow taking on a new ability. I believe that since the hollow has not been able to communicate with people, it's been taking jabs at items hoping for an ability it finds satisfactory."
"And now, it's found one…" Matsumoto finished. "It seems to like the crystal it stole from Hitsugaya-taichou. So this means that now it can use Hinamori's powers?"
"It seems so."
"But then… what happened to Toushiro?" Karin asked. "Just because the hollow stole his crystal, it doesn't mean he'd disappear…"
"Matsumoto-san, you said Hitsugaya-taichou disappeared after investigating the energy several hours ago right? Doesn't he seem like the type of captain who will follow a hollow for as long as he can, wherever he can?"
Matsumoto put a finger up to her lip. "Well… taichou is a workaholic…"
"Exactly. I think he somehow made it into the hollow's newly created dimension. Naturally, communications with him would be jammed because he's in a dimension we've never been to. For the same reason, you wouldn't be able to sense his reiatsu, correct?"
"But he might need help!" Karin cried. "Is there a way for us to get there and help him?"
"Yeah Urahara-san, there as to be a way for us to get in there. Karin, you are not going anywhere that involves a hollow. Remember what I said before we left home."
"But Ichi-nii! I have reiatsu too! I can see hollows! I even fought a few with that Don Kanonji guy."
"No, Karin. I can't ask you to go with us and put yourself in danger. You have no part in this."
"And what about you Ichi-nii? You didn't have any part in this either! You're not even a real shinigami. You're just the substitute, and this is Soul Society's problem. If you can get involved, why can't I? Toushiro could be in a lot of trouble!"
"Did you hit your head on something when the wall exploded? You saw what happened! You almost died. If Tessai-san had not protected you, you could have been seriously hurt by all the falling debris. Toushiro is a captain. You want to put your life at risk to protect someone who is so much stronger than you? He's not going to die!"
"This stupid hollow has the ability to kill ¾ of the human population! I know Toushiro is strong! But he can't shoulder this all alone!"
"Karin, you can't make much of a difference."
"I'll train!"
"And get strong enough to protect Toushiro? You haven't known him for so long. Why is he so important?"
"He's…!!"
"WHAT? What is he?" Ichigo crossed his arms and glared at his little sister.
"HE'S MY BOYFRIEND!"
Author's Notes: *shot'd* The ending... XD;; I don't know if that was a good end to a chapter or a bad one... It doesn't really sound like something Karin would shout, huh...? And also, I feel like Urahara's explanations are reeeeeeeally long... So sorry about that XD