Chapter 3
Karin hyperventilates as she watches her chain consume itself.
"When a Chain Of Fate devours itself." The shopkeeper stands at the edge of the pit. "We call that encroachment."
The young girl runs around in a frenzy, shaking her body violently. "Stop it! Stop it!"
"Don't…" Kisuke's eyes are obscured by his hat. "…get too close to their teeth."
In all the chaos, the chain gets caught in the young girl's dark hair. "AHHH!!" she feels the ravenous teeth chew her hair. Instantly she head bangs, freeing herself from the voracious entity.
"Or they'll eat you instead of the chain." The shopkeeper glares from underneath his hat.
Karin grunts, falling to her knees as blood rolls down her face.
"Ordinarily, it might take months or years for a broken chain to get in this condition. But in the Shattered Shaft, there's a gas that stimulates the encroachment." Kisuke begins to pace. "In the Shattered Shaft, encroachment will be complete in only…seventy-two hours!" the man does not even flinch at his utterance. "Three days to be precise!"
The young girl fixes her gaze up at the man. One eye now blinded by blood.
"In that time, you'll become a Soul Reaper and crawl out of there…" the shopkeeper casually continues. "Or you'll become a Hollow and…we'll have to dispose of you…" The man appears more ominous than he ever had before.
Karin grits her teeth. "I swear Urahara, if this is another one of your stupid tricks, I'm kicking you right in the baby makers as soon as I get out of here."
Despite the tone he had set beforehand, the man slightly cringes. "You have two choices now…succeed or did."
Through all this, Tsukabishi sits silently, fingers still intricately woven together.
"Huff…huff…huff…huff. Huff." Yuzu stands back against the wall, hair disheveled, clothes in tatters, and body wound ridden. "Huff. Huff. Huff." Tears flow down her cheeks as she peers in front of her. An arrow made out of some kind of energy soars directly at her. BOOM! She just barely manages to leap out of its path, but is caught in the blast that it causes, sending her flying, while also raining debris all over her. Realizing there's no time to rest, she forces herself to her feet, and recommences fleeing. Deprived of sight by her tears, she misplaces her step, and finds herself falling from one of the many training ground levels she had climbed to escape. The young girl wipes away her tears, catching sight of the ground coming towards her. "Oh no!" She covers her eyes, bracing herself for impact, but is cushioned by a debris explosion, flinging her to the side, and reducing her impact velocity.
Ryūken takes a step towards her. "So far your performance has been pitiful." The dust starts to settle. "In your current state, how do you intend to protect your brother?"
"You can say anything you want about me…but leave my brother ALONE!" the Quincy raises his bow, gathering energy. He fires a barrage of arrows, resulting in another immense dust cloud. "Is that really all you can do, dodge!? He watches the cloud for any signs of movement. "You're weak, and you've clearly reached your limit." Yuzu bursts out of the cloud, jumping down a small ledge, the white-haired man not relenting his attacks as more arrows fly at her. Despite the short distance, the young girl stumbles upon landing, but manages to stay upright as she proceeds with running away. Another bombardment of arrows comes down on Yuzu, this time meeting it's mark. The young girl lies on her back, eyes drooping. Her pursuer draws his bow at point blank range, manifesting an arrow rippling with energy. "I'm sorry." His expression hard and unreadable. "It's over."
Everything goes black for Yuzu.
Karin does not take her eyes off of her chain as another chain link gets swallowed up into thin air . She groans, inspecting the ditch wall for any openings she can use to escape. If only I could use my arms. She uses her one good eye to peek at Tsukabishi, and without missing a beat, she puts her best foot forward, aiming directly for a kick to the face, which is deflected by some sort of invisible barrier. The man just shakes head, not even bothering to make eye contact with the young girl's grey eyes. "Tsk." She moves away from the man.
"That girl's crazy." Jinta lies on the edge of trench opening, scrutinizing Karin's actions. "She actually tried to knockout Tsukabishi-san."
"Hmm…wow." Urahara covers his mouth with his fan. Ururu chimes in, without enthusiasm. "You can do this Karin-chan."
The young Kurosaki rests her back against the shaft wall, catching a breather. She sighs, exhausted and somewhat in pain.
"You hungry?" Jinta catches her attention from above.
"Are you mocking me!?" she fumes. "How can souls get—" Grrrrrrrr! Her stomach growls, forcing her to cast her eyes down in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess I am a little hungry." She murmurs. "That's not good." The muscular man sitting on terra firma speaks up. "If you're hungry, it's a bad sign." His face portraying no emotion. "It means you're about to become into a hollow." Karin's eyes expand.
"It must be getting dark by now…"Kisuke fans himself. "You can't tell time in this room, darn."
The young Kurosaki furrows her brow, gazing up at the shaft's opening, where a head suddenly appears at the top. The figure races down the wall, seemingly carrying something on their back.
"Hey!" Jinta jogs up to Karin, bowl of fruit in hand. "I brought you some fruit." A wicked grin plastered on his face. "You must be getting hungry by now."
"Who do you think you're talking to pipsqueak, I'm not hungry in the slightes—"
"She is…" the two kids directed their eyes towards Tsukabishi. "Her stomach growled a little while ago, it's begun." Silence enveloped the room. Jinta's expression faltered. "Anyway, I'll put the food here." He placed the basin next to the young girl. "You can't tell what time it is in here. Let me tell you something. It's already been 70 hours since you've came in the "Hole Of Despair"." His appearance solemn. "If it goes well, someone should be a hollow by now. And one more thing. The next encroachment…" he simpers, though it does not quite reach his eyes. "…Will be worse than all the others put together!!" as if on cue, small mouths manifest all over the chain, ravaging the little that remains. "Stop!!" Karin screams. "Stop that ! No!!" the plug on her chest is devoured, exposing a dark hole where part of her upper body should be. The young girl gapes down at the dark circle.
"Ah…" a white substances leaks out of her eyes. "Ahhh…" she foams from the mouth, causing her to emit gurgled screams. A white skull-like mask rapidly forming over her face. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Tessai snaps out of his trance, watching the young Kurosaki's transformation take place.
"Check it out! She's turning into a hollow." Jinta glances below as he climbs out of the shaft. Ururu just looks down, nothing but concern written on her features. "I'm using preemptive measures." She grabs her left arm, fist at the ready. A hand rests on her shoulder. "Wait." She stares up at her employer. "Haven't you learnt anything from the last time with Kurosaki-san? Look at her…closely. Ordinarily when a whole becomes a Hollow the spiritual body bursts into pieces and rearranges itself. But she's not following the usual pattern. The mask is coalescing while her body is still whole. That's a sign of her resistance."
The man sighs. "I hate to say it, but near death experiences are the most efficient method of unlocking one's spiritual powers, and what's more fitting than this for the Kurosaki's, a family that struggles against the chains of fate itself. Thus, I'm not astonished at how similar this process has been to Kurosaki-san's. The only difference is; will she be able to become a Shinigami in time." The shadow of his hat covering his eyes. "Let's wait a bit longer…until her…" beads of sweat rolled down Jinta's face. "…transformation is complete. Just…" the shopkeeper's voice monotone. "…a bit longer."
The mask continues to take shape over Karin's, her screams now silenced by the overwhelming amount of mask substance pouring out of her mouth. "Can you hear me, Karin?"
The young girl opens her eyes, finding herself sitting in the center of what seems to be an empty soccer stadium. She scans the area. "Over here." She turns to one of the goalposts, and leaning against it is a busty woman wearing her hair in a messy bun atop her head. She is wearing a short shihakushō that only goes a little below her waist with a white band around her midriff, as well as fingerless white tekkō which extend above her elbows, and knee high white socks under her sandals. "Who…" the young girl's pupils dilate. "…are you?"
"You know who I am." The woman grins. "There's noone else who knows me better than you do." She shifts her weight off of the post. "I'm guessing this is a part of awakening my Shinigami powers." Karin's face wrinkles. "But I'm not sure where I am, who you are, and what you have to do with that." She points an accusatory finger at the woman, who chuckles in response. Karin's eyes go wide.
"Hey! How did you…" she finds herself sitting at the goal post, the woman now standing at the field's center. "You might want to stand up." The woman winks. "H-How did you do that?" the young girl's jaw drops. "I've been hidden in your soul since birth." The woman smirks. "And now…you need to find me." The stadium begins to crumble. "You're the one who came looking for me…" numerous silver spheres about the size of soccer balls manifest all around the woman, orbiting her. "…catch me if you can." Rapidly, the woman kicks the balls in Karin's direction, faster and more powerful than a professional player. "Your powers are in one of these balls, all you've got to do is get your hands on right one." The young girl's eyes dart from left to right, trying to keep track of all the oncoming projectiles, while also taking note of the withering grass. "If you don't catch the correct ball…You'll turn into a Hollow." Karin tenses up, her body starting to sink into the ground. Her grey eyes losing their light.
"…and remember it's just a game. Take a step back, close your eyes, deep breath, open, and—"
The young girl bursts out of the ground, letting the spheres past her, except for one, which she reels her foot back, and boots. BOOM! The ball rockets towards the woman, a red trail behind it like a comet. The woman grips it with maximum effort, smoke emanating from her hands as it spins to a halt in her palms. "My world, my rules." Karin smiles smugly at her adversary. The woman titters, making her way towards the young guy, and taking a knee before her. She presents the orb in her hands, rotating it to reveal… "A sword's…" protruding from the sphere is a weapon handle with maroon red wrappings and a short light-blue ribbon attached to the base of the weapon. Hanging on the ribbon's end is what appears to resemble a solid gold medal, with the kanji for 'Power' on one side. "…hilt." Karin exhales the word.
The woman raises her head. "Guess you got me." The pair lock eyes, the woman's crimson stare piercing right through the young girl. "I hope…" she breaks Karin from her trance. "Next time…you'll know who the hell I am." She is all smiles. "Are you…?" the young girl raises her eyebrows. "Could you be…?" The corners of her lips curl upwards. The stadium surrounding them is almost gone. "Remember your coach's words…" Karin takes hold of the handgrip, heaving with all her might. "Take a step back, close your eyes, deep breath, open, and…"
Fissures form on the young girl's mask. Tessai smiles, creating some distance between the young Kurosaki and himself.
Kisuke and company notice this, the man smirks, tipping his hat. "Let's take cover everyone." He strolls away, Jinta and Ururu hot on his heels as a mass of red Reiatsu explodes out from the hole, and forms a massive pillar of energy. "Tsk, guess she did it." The redhead pockets his hands, a faint smile on his face. Something shoots out of the energy column, crashing into the artificial sky. Urahara adjusts his hat. "They always have to be so flash—"
"Sorry about that." Everyone threw their heads back, including the shopkeeper. "When did she…?" Jinta questions, dumbfounded. Having just touched down behind them, Karin dusts herself off, now dressed in the same attire as the woman from earlier, only difference being a blade about half the size of a regular katana now hung in a black sheath on the left side of waistline. The tsuba took on the shape of an equilateral triangle, with one point aligning with the blades sharp end.
The young girl beams.
"Thank you everyone, I now have The Power To Protect."