Chapter 5

Who the Hell Are You

Toshiro raced outside with his zanpakutō ready. He darted his eyes around the surrounding area but was only greeted with the sight of three injured soul reapers. He cautiously moved towards Renji and offered his hand, keeping his grip on his zanpakutō with his other hand.

"What happened? Where are the hollows?" He eyed the bruised redhead.

"They just disappeared," Renji answered through gritted teeth as he grabbed the young Captain's hand. He allowed the Captain to pull him up. "Ikkaku? Yumichika?" He glanced over to see Yumichika helping Ikkaku.

"Yea, we're fine," Ikkaku called over his shoulder.

"What do you mean they 'disappeared,' Toshiro began to look around again, "did you defeat them?" He glanced back at Urahara's unharmed shop. "Where is Kisuke?"

"We told him to take the two brats and run," Renji responded, rubbing the back of his head. He walked to Yumichika and helped him pull Ikkaku to his feet.

Toshiro squinted up at the sky. "This doesn't make any sense… Why would they just disappear?" He looked over his shoulder to see Ikkaku being supported by his two friends. "Are you alright?" He spun around and walked to the three boys. He let his eyes fall on Ikkaku's slumped head. "Ikkaku?"

"I'm…fine…" Ikkaku mumbled, slightly lifting his head to meet the captain's eyes.

Toshiro took one last glance around the area before suggesting that they go to the underground arena to talk.

"What do you mean you couldn't hurt them?" Toshiro stood, leaning against a boulder with his arms crossed.

"No matter how many times we attacked, no damage was done." Yumichika kept peeking over at his injured friend, brows furrowed in concern. "It was as if our zanpakutō had no effect on them." He sighed.

"That's impossible," Toshiro mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He shifted his eyes to Karin.

Karin sat with her arms wrapped tightly around her-an attempt to protect her body from that eerie stranger that appeared in her mind. She couldn't shake that creepy figure from her thoughts- the way their voice slipped into her small ears like an unwanted spider crawling to her mind, and the way their gloved hand touched her skin like snake slowly sliding up her cheek.

The young girl shuddered and drew her knees to her chest. She rested her head on top of her knees, covering her ears with trembling hands.

"Karin?" Toshiro stepped away from the boulder and moved to sit beside the young girl. He carefully placed his hand on her back, only to lift it as she flinched. "It's okay," he assured her as he began to softly rub her trembling back.

"What happened?" Renji nodded towards Karin.

"Someone intruded in her mind while she was meditating…" Toshiro met eyes with Renji.

"Do you think it could be a zanpakutō calling to her like Hyōrinmaru called to you?" Rangiku chimed in, trying to sound upbeat to comfort Karin.

Karin looked up at Rangiku. "I'm not sure what that means, but I don't think that's what it was." She stopped and looked down. "When I asked them who they were, they said that's not important." She brushed her bangs back and tried to ignore the frightening memories tugging at her mind. "The last thing he said to me was," she paused, remembering those words, "he said, 'Until we meet again, my sweet Karin.'" She laid her head in her cupped hands and let out a light sob.

"Karin…" Rangiku looked at the distraught girl then to her captain. "What should we do, Captain?"

Toshiro kept his eyes on the crying girl. "I wonder," he stopped to watch Karin's shaking shoulders, "would she be safer in the Soul Society?" He let his mind wander back to his conversation with Ichigo. "I promise to not let anything happen to Karin." He sighed and started pondering his options. "Taking her to the Soul Society would be the safest option, but getting that passed Ichigo is going to prove to be quite a problem…"

"Captain?" Rangiku brought her face close to her unfocused captain.

"What?" He looked up at his lieutenant, twitching at how close her breasts were to his face.

"You were spacing out." She smiled and pat his head.

"I was thinking," he said as he knocked her hand away. "Well, Karin. What do you want to do?" He peered over at the silent girl.

"I…I don't know… I'm a human..." She rubbed her eyes and looked up at Toshiro. "Plus, I don't think Ichigo would easily agree to that." She stood up and began walking towards the ladder that led back to the top of Urahara's shop. "Should we ask Urahara about it?" She looked over her shoulder at the other soul reapers.

"I suppose." Toshiro stood up and lent his hand to Rangiku. "We can ask Tessai to heal your wounds as well." He pulled Rangiku up then began making his way to the ladder with three injured soul reapers in tow.

"That's strange…" Urahara scratched his chin and peered up at the young captain. "Whoever appeared in her mind was not a zanpakutō." He nodded and continued. "I find it very suspicious that those hollows appeared around the same time this unknown person appeared in Karin's mind." He removed his hat and ran his fingers through his tangled hair. "I think there is a connection." He shook his head at the gasps that followed his announcement. "I'm not entirely sure," he laughed, waving his hand in front of his face. "However, it is not something we can ignore," he said, his serious tone returning.

"Well of course not," Toshiro stated as he stood up. "I'm going to go speak with Ichigo." He moved to the door and pulled it open, stumbling back from the person standing before him. "Ichigo!?"

"Hey," the tall boy smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, "I was just in the neighborhood, so I thought I would stop by to see how…" His words trailed off at the sight of his sister's red eyes. "Toshiro…" He let his voice drop to an intense whisper. "What happened?" He kept his eyes locked on Karin's.

"You should probably explain the situation to the angered big brother, Captain Hitsugaya!"

Ichigo and Toshiro raced outside to a cloaked figure standing a few yards away.

"Who the hell are you!?" Ichigo stopped and started rummaging through his pockets for a soul candy but jumped back as Toshiro charged ahead with his zanpakutō raised high above his head, preparing to swing.

There's chapter 5! Sorry it's so short and that it took kinda long! I'm still trying to decide how I want to pace this fic. Sorry in advance for any grammar errors I might have missed. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!

Bleach-Tite Kubo