Purgatory [Bleach Fanfiction]

5. Attacked

"Ne, Natsumi-chan," the eerie invader uttered in a mocking tone, his dark eyes narrowing into a creepy crescent-moon shape. It was as if he took sadistic pleasure in their misery, casting a blatant mockery that sent shivers down their spines. "You can't possibly think either of you have what it takes to escape my grasp, right?"

Ignoring his words, Natsumi unsheathed her Zanpakuto in the blink of an eye, slashing diagonally at the shadows that housed the invader's body.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of blades cutting through the air filled their surroundings. One moment, Karin was staring, her mind a bit slow to catch up with what was happening, and the next, her body moved on its own. She pushed Natsumi in the nick of time to avoid a fatal attack. Though she couldn't see the enemy's strikes clearly, she sensed them, and this was how she'd managed to block it.

Now, Karin knelt on all fours above Natsumi's tiny frame, a large gash on her back. Natsumi looked bewildered.

Did this human just shield her with her body? Did she have any idea what she had just done? One attack from their assailants could be tremendously fatal to her as a human. So...

"Why?" Natsumi demanded, incomprehension quivering in her tone.

"Idiot. Even if you're a shinigami, how can I stand by and—" Coughs interrupted Karin's words. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her lips, but she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand. "How can I stand by or, worse, run away, leaving you, a little kid, to face this monster alone?"

A chuckle from the shadows erupted near them, but this time, Karin couldn't pinpoint its exact location, nor could she identify what it was. It wasn't a hollow for sure, and its reiatsu felt foreign. It couldn't have been a shinigami.

"What do you want?" Karin spat fiercely, her eyes glaring into her surroundings cautiously, trying to figure out the invader's exact location. Not that she had what it took to take him down, but she could at least stall for time for Natsumi to escape, right?

"Tell me, human, what is your name?"

"How is that any of your business?"

"You're quite a fierce one, aren't you?" His voice echoed everywhere and nowhere simultaneously, making Karin's head spin as if she were dizzy.

"But you're an interesting one, I should say. You have a tremendous amount of energy for a mere human."

"So I've heard," Karin muttered conversationally, looking down at Natsumi, who seemed to have calmed down a little bit.

Swoosh!

Another attack accompanied by the slicing of air alerted Karin, and again, making use of her good reflexes, she grasped onto Natsumi's little frame and rolled over to see a blade sheathed on the ground in the exact spot they had been earlier.

"I must say, you've got good reflexes, human."

"Kurosaki Karin."

"Hmm?" It sounded more like a question.

"The name's Karin Kurosaki."

"I see," mumbled the eerie figure, a silhouette finally appearing from the shadows. "Are you perhaps related to substitute soul reaper Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"A-and what if I am?" She demanded, shifting her body in a half-kneeling and half-standing position. Thankfully, Natsumi was back on her feet again.

"Oh???" A hint of amusement resonated through his tone. Since Karin couldn't see his facial expression, she deduced by his intonation alone that he was the type to toy with his victims for his own sadistic pleasure before killing them. "And who might Isshin Shiba be to you?"

The question momentarily took Karin off guard. "W-what? Who? Speak this instant. What do you mean Ishhin Shiba? My dad's name is—"

She halted herself midway. Why was she wasting her time reasoning with her attacker? She should've been planning their escape. Just why? There was an eerie feeling that had settled in the pit of her stomach. One that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"It would seem you have no knowledge of your own lineage."

"What the heck—"

"Hear that, Natsumi? She doesn't even know." Another malicious snigger could be heard. When Karin turned to Natsumi, her gaze seemingly prodding for answers, she noticed the bewildered and utterly flabbergasted look on Natsumi's face.

What in the world was going on here? It frustrated her to no end for not knowing, but now was not the time.

"Natsumi-Chan," Karin called in a whisper. "I'll find a way. At my signal, please escape first. You hear."

"No, Karin, what are you—"

Just then, as if bored by their banter, the attacker decided to shift into a full attack and launched a full assault, diving out from the shadows and heading straight for Natsumi.

Luckily, the little girl managed to block the attack, but being disadvantaged in height and stature, the power of the strike sent her crashing into a tree trunk.

Karin exclaimed in urgent concern, "Natsumi-Chan!" and tried to hurry to the little girl's location. After the impact, Natsumi looked momentarily out of it, conscious but clearly in pain.

Unfortunately for Karin, her assailant grasped onto her ponytail roughly, yanking her head upward and earning a wince from Karin.

Only then did she notice the features of her attacker—an individual with dark-colored irises, eerie eyes shaped like a crescent moon, a large grin stretching nearly as far as his ears, and teeth as sharp as a shark's.

He looked anything but human, shinigami, or hollow, with a slightly greyish undertone to his skin.

A shudder ran down Karin's spine as she fought the words out of her dry throat. "W-what are you?"

For the first time in her life, Karin Kurosaki could ascertain with certainty that she was scared. Scared of something that seemed closer to the things that haunted her worst nightmares.

"Let her go!" exclaimed Natsumi as she jumped into another attack, slashing forward.

The creepy figure effortlessly grasped onto the blade before flicking it away and sending Natsumi crashing into the ground. It seemed like a lost battle even before they had tried anything. How could they fight this?

Coughs. Coughs. "Okay," said Natsumi after hacking some blood. This momentarily caught Karin's attention, yanking her out of her fright. "Let her go, and I'll follow you willingly."

"Hahahaha... See, now you know there's no resisting, right? Natsumi?"

Fearing the worst, this time not for herself but for Natsumi, Karin's hand snaked to her assailant's, attempting to scratch it as hard as she could while screaming, "Leave Natsumi alone."

Her actions only served to further infuriate the beast, now grown tired of the futile resistance of these small bugs. In retaliation, his free hand moved, delivering a hard slap across Karin's face. The impact was enough to momentarily shake her out of her wits as she collapsed to the ground.

As her assailant stood up and directed his steps toward Natsumi, Karin, though half-conscious, clenched onto his ankle with all the strength she could muster.

"N-no," she wheezed the words with much difficulty. "Leave Natsumi-Chan alone. Natsumi-Chan, please... please get out of here while I'm holding him...ack." The rest of her phrase died down in groans of sheer agony as the man stomped onto Karin's hand as hard as he could, his malicious grin still firmly in place.

"Say? Should I start with you then? Take my sweet time..." He licked his eerie lips with a tongue that looked too long to be considered normal size. "To enjoy this treat?"