Chapter 13: A Helping Hand From A Not so Stranger Stranger
"Well, Isshin-san?" questioned Urahara as he sat alone with Yuruichi, in her cat form, in the dark room of his shop, in front of the big screen that the Hell Butterfly was able to make.
Shiba Isshin put down the red and gold cloth on his nightstand and turned towards the screen in his room to face Urahara and Yuruichi, his eyes sad.
"Do you think it's possible?" Urahara continued.
"Sho-kun confirmed that Hime is his actual mother. Meaning she is still alive… somewhere, correct, Urahara?" Isshin asked.
"Hai," Urahara replied in his serious tone of voice.
Isshin looked down at the cloth once again, his browns frowning. "Then who," he whispered as he remembered back to that day, "is 'Karin'?"
Flashback
"Please Isshin-san. Protect her. Raise her as your own and keep her safe. Please, take care of Karin-hime-sama for me," the white haired man begged in front of the Kurosaki cline, his white Kimono soaked in red and wet from the pouring rain as he held up the tiny bundle up to the sock Isshin.
Isshin and Masaki had just come from the hospital after Masaki got released. Yuzu was now asleep in her cab with Ichigo watching over her when a knock came from the door and Isshin had gone to open it only to fine a bleeding white haired man outside in the pouring rain, holding a red and gold bundle in his arms. The man's green eyes showed pain, sadness, grief and misery as he held up the tine bundle in his arms to Isshin, his strength soon to run out.
The white haired man soon collapsed to the ground and Isshin quickly ran to help him, but he'd only shoved the royal bundle into Isshin's arms.
"Please..." he whispered out in a rasped voice one last time. "Keep Hime safe."
Isshin looked down into the bundle to fine a tiny baby opening her eyes from her slumber and looked up at him with her mysterious deep blue eyes. She stared right into Isshin's eyes as if conciliating him before she reached up and giggled. At that moment, Isshin found himself falling in love with the child even more.
Isshin looked up from his playing with the child once he remembered the bleeding man and looked back down to him only to fine the man gone and the rain washing away his blood stains.
"Please protect my little Karin," a male voice whispered in the blowing wind.
End Flashback
"Gin…" Isshin whispered out once again. "Who is the little girl you gave to me on that night to take care of? Who is she?"
The shinigamis of Soul Society were walking home as the sunsets right behind them as day turned into night. All of them were thinking back to the conversation they had with the head captain and the others. It seems that Karin had been right about the souls being called back without wanting to. Yamamoto had just told them that souls were disappearing in the Rukongai district areas and no one could stop them. They just dissolve into air and vanished out of sight.
Karin had told her part of the story. She said that the souls were being resurrected unwillingly somehow. Those who were unwilling ended up like those zombies. An incomplete being. A failed experiment. They were the toys for the completed ones and the ones who'd resurrected them. They were made to do things they had no intensions of doing. And the only way to free them is to kill them with a zanpakuto or something scared, otherwise they'd reform and come back to life. Also, those zombies also kill souls in order to life. They would absorb the souls into their bodies, but because it's not them and not enough, they have to continue searching for new souls. As long as they are in the world of the living, the ones who'd move on, their souls would be tormented and burn in invisible flames for all eternity. That's why some of them would rather fine a shinigami or someone to help them put them out of their misery. But the completed ones who controls them, on the other hand, aren't like that though…
"Hah this is such a screwed up life!" Renji shouted out.
Karin turned towards him. "Why'd you say that, Renji?" she asked.
Renji turned towards her. "Because!" he shouted. "Just think about it! It's messed up! How can souls who'd have already moved on come back?"
Karin shrugged. "Hay, at lest is not a shinigami or some other dead being," she said and smirked. "Just think of how much harder that'll be."
Everyone stopped walking and turned their heads towards the smirking Karin, shocked.
Karin stopped walking once she realized that the others had stopped their walks and turned towards them only to fine that all of them looked shocked and out of it. Pale as a ghost.
"What?" she questioned.
"You can't be serious," Ichigo whispered out as he held Rukia in his arms. "Can they do that?!"
"Please tell me they can't. Please!" Rangiku shouted. "I don't want to look like a zombie! It's gross!" she freaked.
Toshiro calmly dogged Rangiku's swings and glared at her. "That's all you're worried about, Matsumoto?" he questioned in disbelieve.
"But Taicho~!" she whined.
Toshiro bushed her off and took one step forwards when suddenly, the red cycles appeared once again as zombies came out of it. Toshiro stopped mid steps as his eyes widened at the familiar aura, his face in a frown showing an unhappy shock.
"… Shit," he quietly cursed as he looked towards Karin, only to fine that a man in black was holding her captive.
Karin cursed and tried to fight that man as best she could, but he just smirked down at her.
"Damn you," she whispered, her eyes glowing fire. "Let me go!" she kicked at him and straggled out of his arms.
"Karin!" Ichigo shouted as he tried to get to her, only to fine himself blocked by a wall of zombies. "Damn." He took out a green pile from inside his jean pocket and looked up with fire burning in his eyes. "Fine! If that's how you want to play!" he put the green pile into his mouth and stepped out as a shinigami. Ichigo drew his sword. "Bring it!" and attacked.
Toshiro sighed from his place frozen still, watching as the idiot brother attacked the zombies only to fine them fighting back while the other shinigamis got out of their bodies and help him out. Some, they where able to kill without much fight, but others, especially the ones who'd formed a wall to keep them from reaching Karin, put up quite the fight.
Toshiro looked down at Sho by his side. "Sho," he commanded. Sho looked up at him. "Go fine him."
Sho nodded and disappeared from sight in order to fine the person and release his father from the shadow spell.
Karin looked back to the man in black once the walls where in tacked.
"Oh, you're going to regret this," she told him.
The man smirked down at her once again and began to say something insulting back to Karin when Karin swiftly side kicked him by surprise and jumped away like a trained ninja once his hold on her loosened up a bit.
Karin landed a few feet away from him and got up as she drew her sword.
The man also steadied himself from her painful kick.
"Hah," he laughed. "Master told me to be careful with you. But when I saw you as a kid, I didn't listen. My mistake," he leaped for Karin with a dagger in his hand, "I won't go easy on you anymore!"
Karin readied herself to defend and fight back when a hand emerged from the shadows and took her from behind. Covering her mouth from screaming out, it pulled her with it…
Sho appeared up at the roof of the building to fine another man in black. A ninja, doing a jutsu as his hands was held up in a style for manipulating shadows. Sho narrowed his eyes and the man. The one who'd trapped his father.
Sho took out his zanpakuto and held it in his hands. A small, sky blue light grew from it and it soon turned into six small, white, kunins with a blue paper seal on it. Sho took three into each hand and held his arms in a cross position over his chest, his eyes narrowing in on the target, before lunching his attacks on the man in black.
"Matsumoto, look out!" Toshiro shouted from his place still stock in the shadow possession jutsu as he watched Rangiku coming close to the mouth of the zombie behind her.
Rangiku turned around and her face paled over as her body stiffened and refused to move once she became paralyzed by the zombie who was ready to devourer her up.
And out of harms way as the man in black come into contact with a person's pale hands, causing it to bleed where the daggers had gone in on it and was soon faced with a force that caused him to be thrown backwards when the owner of those pale hands became mad and had thrown him back with just a swish of his injured arm.
Karin got over her shock and looked up to fine a black haired man in his mid 30s standing there, his eyes flashing red in anger, his form under the gaze of the staring, darkness sky that now shines down upon them.
"Lucy," Karin whispered out from under him.
The man looked down at her once he'd heard her voice that'd snapped him out of his anger, his blood red eyes on longer glowing, but instead was now brown ones that looked at her with gentleness and care.
"Hello Karin," he said with a smile. "Long time no see, dear baby cousin."
The man in black leaped away from the kunins once he realized that they where heading his way. He smirked at his accomplishment, but his smile soon dropped once he found a white blade pressed closely to his neck.
His glazed turned towards the person holding the blade only to star into flashing, cold blue eyes. The man stiffened in terror.
"Good bye," the cold voice whispered into his eyes, causing the man to become even more frightened. "Zentai-san."
The man sweet some more as his eyes trilled away. "M-Monster!" he yelled out under the darkness sky of the new moon before the white blade cute his throat out and his body dropped to the ground, dead.
Sho scrolled down at the lifeless body at his feet, his white zanpakuto dripping with blood in his hand. "Oh that's just rude!" he pouted up towards the dark sky. "Thanks a lot Uncle, Otou-san! Now you guys made me into a monster too!"
Just as Rangiku was about to be eaten by the zombie, a white figured fell down from the sky and stopped it as Rangiku fell to the floor, shocked.
Toshiro finally got his freedom to move back and drew Hyourinmaru into shikai, freezing all the zombies in their places as a swift wind blew in and cute them all up. Another figure joined the party, but this man was dressed in a black cloak and had a large, black scythe on his shoulder. The blond smirked at Toshiro as his blue eyes looked at him.
"Hi ya brats," said the tall blond.
Toshiro's mouth twitched in irritation as he duly stared at Zen with his arms crossed over his cheat, losing his shikai.
The man with Karin clinched as he d Sho's screams. "I hope Sho realizes that he has more than one uncle in his large Family," he said with a frown on his pale, handsome face.
Karin chuckled.
"Come on, let's get out of here." The man and Karin drew their sword and made for the wall that separated them from the others, only to have it frozen up and destroyed in minutes later.
Karin dropped her shoulders, her mouth hanging opened in disbelieve while the other man turned away from her, expecting this to be bad.
"Oh no," she stomped on the ground like a spoiled brat, pissed. "They did not just do that! My fun!"
The black haired man let out a tiny laugh before walking to catch up with Karin and his other team/Family members.
"Gin," Rangiku whispered as peaces of ice fell down on her while she looked up to the white figure.
In front of her stood Ichimaru Gin in his white kimono with his sword drown and a large, white fox by his side.
Gin turned towards her, his face the same as ever. "Hello, Ran-chan," he greeted her.
Tears streamed down Rangiku's face as she pushed herself up off the ground and lunched herself at Gin, taking him by surprised as she hugged him.
"Is it really you, Gin?" Rangiku asked in a sobbed whisper into Gin's eyes.
Gin closed his eyes as he got over the shock and hugged Rangiku back, his smile warm and tender.
"Hai, Ran-chan," he answered, "I'm back. And I'm sorry."
Rangiku continued to cry into Gin's arms.
"Alright you two, break it up!" Zen shouted as he came over to them.
"Ah, but Taicho," Gin whined. "Don't be like the God of Winter. Have a heart."
Zen snorted. "God of Winter," Zen said. "Right, like I'm more closely related to him than you are, Gin."
"Karin!" Ichigo shouted as he ran towards Karin and took her away from Lucy.
Sho appeared by Toshiro's side than as Ichigo went to get Karin and check her over, fussing like an over protective mother would her dear child.
"I'm fine Ichi-nii, really," Karin kept on insisting Ichigo as she tried to push him away.
"Who are you?" Renji asked Lucy.
Lucy smiled at him and Tatsuki and was about to introduce himself when Zen spoke up.
"Well, well, well," Zen smirked. "Finally decided to get your ass off that seat and out of Hell's realm to come here I see, Prince Lucien."
Lucien glared at Zen before smiling again. "I see you've recovered, General Ichimaru Gin-san," he greeted Gin.
"Yes, 12th Shikage-sama," Gin bowed.
"Hey! Don't ignore me Bart!" Zen shouted to the younger boy before bending over in pain as a shoe hit him in the groan.
Lucien, Toshiro and Sho tried to hold in their laughter, but Sho and Lucien let one slipped before covering their mouths with their hands and Sho turned away since he was not as good at covering up as his uncle and father and just didn't want to do it just yet. Since he was forced to act as a child despite his vase knowledge, he might as well enjoy it.
Renji and Tatsuki had out right laughed at that while Rukia seemed embarrassed by it and Rangiku was still crying a bit, but she and Gin did fine that entertaining.
"Taicho," Gin said to his pour higher up.
"Way a go mom," Sho quietly whispered from behind Toshiro's back as he held out a hand in victory. Toshiro smiled at his son's words before looking to Lucien and the two exchanged a small, quite and unseen bow of respect between the two Shikages.
"Opps," Karin said innocently. "Sorry, must've slipped."
Zen glared at her as he covered his painful spot and heeled over in pain from the little girl's shoe attack.
"You couldn't have backed off on the strength a little more, geez Karin," Zen whispered so as to not let the other's hear.
"As lest now you can't be so much of a perverted play boy going around and ruining a small child's innocent eyes with what you do and read, you Perveted Bishop," Lucien commented.
Zen glared at him. "You have to bring that incident you?!" he quietly asked as he glared up at Lucien before looking to Karin with guilt in his eyes at the memory of what he did.
Toshiro glared down at Zen when that was mentioned, still not fully forgiving for what happened that night even though everyone knew that it was an incident. Sho tried to be oblivious to it all and keep his innocence, less he wanted to die.
"Well," Gin spoke up, "since we're all here, might as well go and get something to eat together and talk this over dinner?"
"Yeah," Renji agreed right away. "Can't work with an empty stomach! Let's go people!"
"Wait," Rukia called over. "Are we eating out again or going home to cook?"
Everyone looked at each other and came to an agreement.
"Eating out," they all said as they headed for the same restaurant once again.
Lucien sighed before walking up behind everyone. "Might as well get this over with," Lucien whispered as he looked down with his eyes closed. "Been avoiding it long enough anyways." He looked up towards the group.
Toshiro smirked from his place beside Lucien. "It can't be as bad as when he tried to drowned me and the other members of the family went for my head over what happened to Karin," Toshiro said.
Lucien turned towards him and Sho and was about to argued but than considered it for a moment. "Yeah," he nodded in agreement. "The blood explosions slather was worse. That was just really gross what he did to the one that got in between the two of you…"
All three winched at that memory. Poor guy didn't know what was coming when he shoved Toshiro aside out of anger and got in between his and the 8th Shikage, the blue water dragon's, fights over Karin's well being…
"Yeah, but it's not the worse one to ever happen in history," Sho pointed out as he watch Karin trying to get away from Ichigo by kicking him in the chin in order to get back to them and join the group while Zen leaped behind everyone since he was still hurting.
"Um, guys," Zen whimpered out as he held on to his hurting spot. "A little help here would be nice." he reached out for the walking ground in front of him and leaving him behind. "Guys!"
Now that you've read the chapter, it's time... for-
~*~Story Questions!:
1. Who is 'Karin'? (Anyone changing opinions or any theory?)
2. What incident do you think Zen was talking about when children's innocent eyes and Karin, causing even Toshiro to be mad at the older man?
3. Who is Lucien and where's he been all this time?
~*~Review! For more chapters to come...