Bleach: Home Of The Hidden Ancients - Chapter 3 (Fan Fiction)

Bleach: Home of the Hidden Ancients - Chapter 3 (Fan Fiction)

Chapter 3: To Teach Or Not To Teach…

Karin went through her mental checklist for the fifth and final time standing just around the corner from Mr Urahara’s shop:

-Kick goat face- check

-Tell Yuzu that she’s off to play soccer- check

-Run through arguments for becoming a soul reaper- triple check

-Run through arguments that might be had with Ichigo after becoming a soul reaper- afraid to consider

 She took a deep breath. That’s usually what you’re supposed to do when you’re nervous, right? Karin found out that the more “deep” breaths she took the more awkward and annoyed she got with herself. So scrapping that idea, she turned the corner and strode up to the shop. Surprisingly the courtyard was quiet. Ururu stood obediently sweeping the courtyard but Jinta was nowhere to be seen. Well at least she didn’t have to worry about that bonehead screaming in her ear. He was probably off playing actual baseball somewhere.

“Hey Ururu!” Karin called out. Ururu flinched then glanced at her

“Oh… hello Ms Kurosaki…” She mumbled nervously.

Karin sighed. It was always “Ms Kurosaki” with her.

“You know it’s fine to call me Karin?” she said walking into the shade of the shop’s eves.

Ururu gave a small smile in return and answered, “I know that… So what can we do for you Ms Karin?”

Okay, she thought. This is it.

“I need to speak to Mr Urahara,” she commanded.

“Um… I’ll just go around to see if he’s awake…” Ururu muttered as she quickly whisked away to the back of the store.

“He better be,” Karin quietly threatened.

Eventually the curtains opened again to reveal the hat and clogs man, himself.

“Good morning Ms Kurosaki. What can I do for you today?” He asked lazily. A polite smirk framed his face and his hid eyes under the shade of the hat. He waltzed over to a chair in a cramped corner and kicked back in it.

Karin stepped forward with a sense of purpose. Her composure was firm and unrelenting: shoulders back, feet hip width apart and furrowed eyebrows. She may only have looked like a scrawny middle school girl but her aura (if you would call it that) sent out the message of “I know what I want and I want it now”.

 “You know what I’m here for Urahara. I need to become a-“

“We talked about this already and the answer’s still no. I’m sorry but there won’t be any further discussion on the topic,” he interrupted bluntly, hoping to drain her confidence. But Karin was only fuelled more by his rude interruption.

“No discussion. Just decisions. And I have decided I want to become a soul reaper. Teach me and make it quick or I’ll find out how on my own,” she supplied.

Urahara just sighed tiredly. He didn’t exactly want to commute with anyone or anything until at least 11 o’clock in the morning. Anytime before that he was classified as ‘unfit to work’.

“Look, you’re just too young and inexperienced to become a soul reaper. Anyway there are probably heaps of rules and regulations against informal soul reaper training in the Soul Society…” he gave as his decent sounding answer.

 “Since when do you follow rules? Ichigo was only about two years older than me when he became a soul reaper! And besides, I already fend off hollows with my school bag. If I had training I could actually take care of all of it and cleanse them instead of just giving them a bad hair day. Wouldn’t that help the Soul Society?” She fired back. Urahara was slightly impressed despite himself. She had thought this out well.

“Ichigo was a special case and he was in dire circumstances so you can’t compare your scenario to his,” He countered.

 Karin huffed knowing that some of the stuff he said was true.

“I am in dire circumstances. Just yesterday Yuzu and I were attacked. We were lucky enough to get away with just a graze. But you of all people should know the damage that can be done.”

“That’s why Ichigo became a soul reaper in the first place; to protect the two of you. You can’t just throw his dedication to you guys away like that,” Urahara said. He knew he had almost won when he saw Karin’s face. She stared at her feet with guilt. Hopefully that was enough to knock her out of the argument. But as she looked back up, her eyes had hardened. They were bitter.

 “Ichigo is barely ever here. Sure we all understand why and we still love him but that doesn’t stop us from being hollow bait. His circle of protection has increased. But I need to protect Yuzu and myself. That’s how I’ll protect him… from himself. If we were hurt while he was away you know who he’d blame,” Karin looked at Mr Urahara sternly. “That’s not going to happen. Not if I can do something about it. I want to use my spiritual powers, I want to protect others and I won’t let my family be broken any more than it has been.”

 Mr Urahara stayed silent absorbing everything he had heard. Then he muttered something almost inaudible.

“Is this what you want or what Ichigo wants?”

Karin replied clearly, “I want it.”

Finally he sighed then laughed.

“Oh damn, if Ichigo ever finds out about this I’m going to get cut up into little pieces…”

Karin relaxed her shoulders then replied, “well let’s hope he’ll never have to find out.”

Bleach: Home of the Hidden Ancients - Chapter 1 (Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1: Hollows and School Bags

“Why do we always end up being hollow bait!” the dark haired girl yelled across at the masked creature on the sidewalk. The creature screeched back in return and charged at the two scrawny middle schoolers. A strawberry blonde girl with pigtails laid sprawled on the ground with grazed knees. The hollow seemed to smile and swerved its charge in her direction. But to its surprise the other girl did exactly the same thing and sprinted at itself with the expression you’d find if a rhino had eyebrows.

 “STOP MESSING WITH US OR YOU’LL GET HURT!” She screamed as she continued to whack it over the head with a (suspiciously heavy) school bag. The hollow began to whine and swat at the girl like she was an agile, oversized fly. It’s slow and swings too widely; the dark haired girl mused whilst thwacking its hind legs. It’s small though and tries to swing me away from the painted circle on its face.

“Found it,” she muttered.

 Left dodge, right feint, defend up and…

“GOAL!” she shouted victoriously as she leapt up and kicked the hollow’s mask into three shards. It flinched. Then it fell backward with a satisfying thud on the concrete. Basic gaming knowledge, she reminded herself with a smirk.

 Karin Kurosaki puffed out the adrenaline buzzing through her. She didn’t even remember there was someone behind her.

“Karin… what was… that,” came a small voice from the street curb.

Karin whirled around to see her. She had gravel on her face and her blue eyes were bright and worried, staring up at her. Karin walked over to her sister and put on the most comforting smile she could muster.

“It’s okay Yuzu,” she assured then held out a tablet. “Have one of these. It’ll help with the headache.”

Yuzu lifted a delicate hand to pick up the medicine. She gave it a dazed glare then look backed to Karin. She nodded in reply. Yuzu tilted back her head and swallowed.

“1, 2, 3…” Karin begun.

Yuzu shook her head. “why are you-“

She fell abruptly back into Karin’s arms limp and dopey.

“…7, 8, 9…” she continued.

Yuzu jolted upright clinging onto Karin’s shirt.

“Whoa!” she cried. Karin steadied her and chuckled nervously.

“You had a bit of a fall there Yuzu! Had me pretty worried.”

Yuzu looked down at her grazed knee in confusion.

“Yeah… I must’ve,” she mumbled to herself.

Karin wrapped an arm around her back and let Yuzu lean on her.

“Well we better get going or else Dad’s probably gonna set fire to the house or something worse.”

“Good idea.”

The sisters walked back home leaving a car-sized creature lying on the street for a figure clad in black to find. I’m doing your job for you now Ichigo; substitute for the substitute, Karin thought bitterly. But she couldn’t keep the longing to see her older brother again, out of her head for very long. If it weren’t for Mister Urahara and his supplies or Tatsuki and her training… Karin inwardly cringed at the thought.

 Soon there was going to come a time when she needed more than a decent kick and a memory pill. When that day came she knew she needed to be ready. Mister Urahara had protested against the idea she suggested and if Ichigo found out that she had even thought about it he would’ve thrown one of his “it’s dangerous” tantrums. But as Karin looked at her sister’s grazed knees she realised just how lucky they had been with the hollows.

 It was only grazes this time but what about the next time? Head traumas and loss of limb were definitely on the cards and heck, even death. Karin didn’t think that their already broken family would hold together much longer if anything happened to Yuzu or admittedly even Goat-Face. She needed that power to protect. She needed to become a soul reaper.

Found at on a toilet door at a fish and chips restaurant. Something makes me think that L may have frequented this establishment...

My star wars OC Jedi youngling, Keya Shaen with the original (now non-canon) blind bun Jedi, Rahm Kota from the Force Unleashed. 

Allura trying to blend in with human culture and introduced to ice-cream. 

Another Keya Shaen line art (Star Wars OC).Will colour in when I get the chance:)