Tinted Ice

Chapter 8: My Heart

Cling! Clash! Their souls were hypnotized. Yumichika even got into Hyorinmaru's hard head. Now it was Toshiro and Hyorinmaru vs. Karin and Setsumi. Will all make it out alive? There is always a victor, but who shall it be?

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"Wake up!" Karin repeatedly shouted at her love.

Toshiro made no sound as he continued to strike. His heart was shielded from any feelings. Karin was overwhelmed. Her tears blurred her vision, which made it difficult to fight. She knew she had to take down Toshiro, not physically, but mentally. Somehow, Karin had to get her companion out of his trance. Somehow.

Karin knows a Zanpakuto can heal. Her goal was to split Hyorinmaru in half. Maybe Toshiro will awaken seeing his comrade fall before his eyes. Setsumi had agreed to the plan, therefore Hyorinmaru's fate was sealed. Nothing will stop a determined Karin. Nothing will stop her, she has to make sacrifices to save others. She has to endure the pain to stop the pain of others. Kurosaki Karin was the opposite of selfish, she was selfless.

A timer had already broken. Toshiro's Bankai was not going to last forever. After the second star of ice brakes, he is back to using his Shikai. Karin's limit was much longer. Now as Karin's eyes froze on her new target, she played offense. She swung Setsumi again and again trying to crack Hyorinmaru. To make that happen, both had to wield a large force of spiritual power. They had that, but they needed to control it in one strike. One chance was all they had. Their focus was extremely needed to make the one-shot plan work.

Karin's aura grew quickly. She was preparing to use her attack. Time was needed, and that she did not have. She forced her body to produce the immense power, but that came with a price. Karin now risked her life to bring Toshiro back. The battle was not about just her role, but the life and bond she had with Toshiro.

Toshiro seemed to not be aware of Karin's plan. He kept striking violently. His attacks had no end. Karin was getting something she was not expecting. Toshiro held Hyorinmaru straight out in front of him. He swiped the air rapidly and stopped. A long trail of ice was forming and quickly. Then the face of a creature with bright yellow eyes appeared. Toshiro was using one of his strongest ice-manipulation moves. His dragon of ice went to strike at Karin.

This was the element of surprise. It came swiftly at her while she had her eyes closed concentrating. Little did Toshiro know she was building up her spiritual power. Karin lifted her hand straight out in front of her. She held out her pointer finger and her eye lids separated. Her dark eyes stared at Toshiro's bright ones. She awaited the dragon confidently with one finger.

The large dragon coming finally made contact with Karin's finger. Wind blew every direction as the dragon collapsed. A crack trailed down the dragon until it reached its origin, Hyorinmaru. When the quick sound of cracking touched the sword, it also broke. Instead of in half like Karin expected, Hyorinmaru shattered. Toshiro's last ice timer broke as well. Now he had no way of defense or offense. Toshiro was left vulnerable and he could do nothing about it.

Karin stood with bags under her eyes. That risk came with a large price. Her movements slowed and she fell to her knees. She could no longer support he Bankai. Setsumi reverted back into one sword and fell to the ground. Karin could only look up to see if her plan had worked.

Toshiro regained the sparkle in his eyes. He was back and saw an extremely harmed Karin. Her wounds reopened and blood gushed. Setsumi could not heal her due to her condition. Toshiro ran to Karin but also fell. He tripped on a pebble on the blood-stained battlefield.

"Ha loser. Even now you ~cough cough~ mess up Toshiro." Karin said laughing at him while she continued to loose blood.

"You are one to talk, look at your condition." He said now running towards her.

Karin was about to fall to her side when Toshiro caught her in his arms. She mumbled many things. He heard it all.

"All I wanted was to protect you. That's what I did, even if I had to lose my life." She whispered and coughed. "You are my life, so live~"

That was her last sentence before her eyes closed. Kurosaki Karin was no longer awake, but sleeping in the arms of her man. Toshiro saw that Setsumi recovered, and quickly. She began to heal Karin's resting body.

Toshiro then was reminded of the ongoing battle he was in. Yamamoto and Yumichika were nowhere to be seen. His eyes wandered around in search for them. Still, no sight of them.

Swish! Someone appeared behind Toshiro. His eyes widened sensing the man who could kill him in a second. He did not dare turn around while feeling the tip of a blade touching his robe. Yamamoto was back and threatened Toshiro without any words. His glare burned Toshiro's back.

"I am only going to say this once boy." Yamamoto started. "Where is the girl?"

Toshiro smirked and said something unexpected. He was not going to give out Karin's whereabouts because he hid her while she healed. He turned around facing the sharp blade while still smirking.

"Kurosaki Karin is..." He trailed off.
"She is in My Heart."

A/N: What's going to happen next? I'm going to tell you.... When I publish the next chapter! 😀