Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I wish I did but I don't … so oh well. ^_^
Bear with me. I know the story of bleach and I know that some backgrounds will change, but I will try my best to work it in somehow.
We will wait alone in the darkness for someone brave enough to come along to save us from ourselves.
Our story starts, with two friends and a car.
"Oh common Akemi, one ride! We'll pick up Umeko and just drive around, maybe get some dinner. Please." Natsumi pleaded with her friend. "I don't know Sumi. I mean you just got
your license, I don't think if you should be driving without an adult yet." She said skeptically. "Oh you're no fun. I took the test…We'll be fine. I promise." Natsumi's pink eyes sparkled
in the dim of her room, and she gave her friend her famous 'puppy dog look', Akemi never said no to that look and she knew it. " *sigh* Fine. But you better swear that nothing will
happen to us." Natsumi jumped up from her spot on the couch with an exciting shout. "Yea! Oh thank you Kemi-chan, thank you!"One day I'm really going to regret being a push over.
None the less she smiled at her friend's silliness and remained blissfully unaware.
Coming back from Umeko's friends house it was dark and music was blasting through the speakers. "So do you guys want McDonalds® or something?" Natsumi yelled over the blaring
music. "Yeah Yeah Yeah!!!"The little three years old yelled from her car seat in the back. The younger and the older sister looked freakishly similar. They both had unusual pink hair and
matching pink eyes, while Akemi had blood red hair and brown eyes. "Ok, I could go for some McDonalds®." She answered her friend while lowering the music to a tolerable level.
"Aww. Kemi-chan why did you turn the music down?" Her friend whined. "Because I prefer to enjoy the music, rather than having it blaring and not understanding a word that passes
by." Natsumi scoffed at her while Umeko giggled quietly in the background. We should be getting back. It's getting late. "~Welcome to McDonalds®. May I take your order?~" The voice
on the speaker crackled. "Yeah can I have two number fours, with Diet Pepsi's®, and a happy meal® with a chocolate milk please." "Is that all ma'am?" "Yeah" "Your total is $14.38,
please drive around to the first window." Natsumi put the car back in drive and they drove around to the first window. They had a system going, and because Natsumi had paid for the
movie the week prior, it was Akemi's turn to pay. So handing her friend the money they waited for their food to be ready.
"Hey Kemi-chan?" Turning her head towards the pink eyed girl in the driver's seat her eyes got a questioning look in them. "Yeah Sumi." "Thank you." The red head cocked her head to
the side in confusion. "For what?" her voice was soft and you could easily pick out the confusion laced through it. "You know….for letting me drive, just for being there. I mean this is our
last summer together. I go to Karakura in a few weeks, you start your sophomore year soon. I'm really gonna miss my best friend." Natsumi was looking down at her lap when a
delicate hand came into view and rested on hers. She looked up to see her best friend looking at her with a soft smile. "I'm going to miss you too Sumi. But, we'll still see each other
and we can write letters, and anyway we still have two weeks." Natsumi smiled back at her friend. "Here's your food miss." A rough voice came from the window. Natsumi reached out
and grabbed the bag from the man who looked to be in his late 20's and was undoubtedly one of the people who had dropped out of High School. Hagi wasn't a large town in Japan
but it was still a bustling little city, full of working class people, essentials, and a cute little mall. There were three high schools and only one collage, but not many people wanted to
stay in the city once they graduated. They wanted to go to a big city or a small little village, depending on the person. But whatever the case hardly anyone who started in Hagi
finished in it.
The girls drove around for a little, making their way to their favorite look out over the ocean. The sky was filled with stars, twinkling like fireflies across the sky. Unbuckling herself she
opened the car door and got out. Standing under the stars just looking up was one of her favorite things to do; it was something her brother and her used to do all the time. How can
something so amazing make you feel so insignificant? She could hear her friend get out of the divers side and open the back door to get out her sister. I miss you Onii-san. Akemi thought
to herself. Watching Natsumi and Umeko together made her happy and sad at the same time. She loved to watch how much they loved and took care of each other, but it reminded her
of how her brother and she were before his death. They always used to play around and compete with each other; he was always there for her and he always stood up for her. When
he died she tried to hide her pain, and did pretty well with that, but as much as she thought she didn't change others could see the pain held in her eyes, and how her demeanor
towards life had changed.
"Kemi-chan, are you ok?" Natsumi put a reassuring had on her friends arm and looked into her eyes. Akemi smiled, "Yeah Sumi I'm fine. Let's eat, I'm starving." As if right on cue a
gurgling sound came from her stomach, making the two friends laugh. Natsumi knew that Akemi was thinking about her brother again, but said nothing knowing that it was still a sore
subject for her friend despite what she told people. Umeko was sitting on the hood of the car, munching on French fries contently and observing the plastic complementary toy. Getting
comfortable next to the younger girl, Natsumi reached into the paper bag containing the food and distributed it between Akemi and herself. For about an hour the three girls laughed,
talked and reminisced on the past. When they were finally ready to go Akemi got off the hood of the car and threw out the trash, while Natsumi secured Umeko in her car seat. "Onee-
san where's Pinku Kitii?" Umeko looked from side to side for her pink kitty plushy, and in response Natsumi opened the glove-compartment and pulled out the toy. The little girl held out
her hands to grasp the toy and cuddled it like there was no tomorrow, it was quite cute actually.
Once all three girls were in the car and buckled in Natsumi started up the car and they were on their way to Akemi's house. The car ride was once again filled with music and laughing,
though Akemi was still a little uneasy about her friend driving, but it was growing on her. Arriving at her small apartment building Akemi hugged her friend and the little pink haired girl
in the back. "I'll call you tomorrow."Natsumi added as Akemi stepped out of the car. "Ok. Talk to you later." With a smile Akemi closed the door and entered her building. She walked up
the dim lit staircase to the second floor and walked down the hallway to the second door. There were four floors in the building with two apartments on each floor, except for the top
floor which was a penthouse. Putting her key in the keyhole she opened the door. Her apartment was not big, but it was not small either. There was a living room that led into a
kitchen, and were separated by a half wall with a window like hole cut out of it about half way up from the bottom. There was a closet near the front door, and one door in the living
room lead to the bedroom, in which was another door leading to the one bathroom in the apartment. The living room had a wall which was a window, which slid open and led out onto
a very small balcony that could fit only a small table and two chairs. The window was opposite the door and covered by blinds that slid across it horizontal style instead of traditional
vertical. It was mildly furnished with a white pull out sofa-bed under the window to the kitchen, a chair, and a mahogany coffee table. A tan area rug rested in the middle of the room
stretching out, leaving only about a foot of polished wood floor coming from the wall. Flipping on the light switch Akemi left her shoes near the door and walked over to the couch and
picked up the remote, turning on the wall mounted television across from her. Sighing she leaned back and began channel surfing, and finding nothing interesting on she settled on the
news.
There wasn't really anything crucial going on tonight, and Akemi couldn't help but having a nagging feeling that something really bad was going to happen. But knowing that she must
just be paranoid, she pushed the thought aside. Bored with the lack of entertainment on TV, Akemi got up and headed out towards her balcony. She sat on one of the chairs and just
gazed at the stars wondering if anyone else was doing the same thing at the same moment. She wondered if wherever her brother was if he was watching the stars, if he were
watching her. She sighed again and pulled her knees up to her chest, before looking down. "You left me Onii-san. You left me all alone." Akemi couldn't deny how the death of her
brother affected her, but she refused to cry because she knew that he would not want her crying over him. She stayed outside for about an hour, before deciding to get some sleep. So
heading back inside she locked her balcony door and turned off the living room light before heading into her bedroom. After brushing her teeth and such she lay in bed and looked at
the picture of her brother on her night stand. "*sigh* Goodnight Onii-san." Then she turned out the light.
~The Next Day~
Akemi was at the first of her two part time jobs at the library, the other was at a local music store. She was stocking books when she heard an interesting conversation on the other
side of the bookshelves. "Did you hear about that car crash last night?" One girl asked the other, "Yeah! Both those girls were killed! It was so sad…" The other responded. The
conversation had captured her interest. "They were sisters, ya know." The first girl said. A wave of panic flowed through Akemi and she dropped the book that was in her hands.
Snapping out of it, she bent down muttering to herself, "It couldn't be them…It couldn't be them…" It was only then that she realized Natsumi had yet to call her today, which odd is
considering she probably would have called at about 6:00 am and it was now 11:30. Putting the book back on her cart she returned to the front desk. "Mr. Kunoi I'm going to take my
break now." The elderly man looked up and nodded before returning to whatever he was doing. Walking outside the library Akemi pulled out her cell phone and dialed Natsumi's
number. "~I'm sorry the number you have dialed has been disconnected. ~" Another wave of panic came over Akemi, and she dialed Natsumi's home number. "Ring, ring, ring…..Hello?"
That was the voice of Natsumi's and Umeko's mother. "Hello, Mrs. Kegami. It's Akemi, is Natsumi there?" All of a sudden an anguished sob comes from the other end of the line. "A…
Akemi…..You don't know?" "Know what?" "Nat….Natsumi a….and…Umeko were….they were….in a car accident. They….d….died on sight. A drunk….driver ran a…red light." Mrs. Kegami
managed to get out between sobs. Akemi's eyes got wide and she nearly dropped her phone. Not again! Not again! That was the only coherent thought going through her head.
"Akemi? Sweetheart are you alright?" She could vaguely hear Mrs. Kegami on the other end of the phone, and in a mechanical motion she responded, "I'm fine. Thank you for telling me.
Goodbye." "Wait…Akemi you ha…." Akemi hung up the phone in the middle of Mrs. Kegami's sentence. Her face was now blank, void of all emotion, like stone. A single tear ran down her
face though.
Two weeks later the funeral was held for both girls. Family, friends, and classmates all attended the beautiful service and many a tear was shed for the pair. Akemi though was stoic;
up until she read her eulogy, then she let her emotions show. Tears poured out of her eyes, with no end in sight. After it was over she wandered off into the graveyard in search of
three other tombstones. She walked up a hill and down dirt path lined by sakura trees about six feet, until she turns to her right and passes by many a tombstone till she comes to the
three she is looking for. Getting down on her knees and bowing she straightens up back into a kneeling position looking at the graves of her parents and older brother. "Ohayo Otou-
san, Onii-san, Okaa-san. I realize that it has been a while since I came here last, but I've been busy. So I'll catch you up a little, ok? Well let's see…I was on the honor roll this year
again, which is cool. Umm…I have…well I had two jobs at the library and at Hisoka's Music store. Sumi got a job as an intern in Karakura, at a local clinic called Kurosaki clinic. Umm…
unfortunately she isn't going to start that job though. T…two weeks ago…..Natsumi and Umeko….they were killed in a car wreck. So…I know that you shouldn't ask anything of the
dead, but…could you please watch over them please….please." A few tears leak from her eyes as she continues to speak to the tombstones. "And, there is one more thing…I'm moving
to Karakura. Maybe take over Sumi's internship, go to a new high school. I just need to start over, there are just too many memories here, and it's just no longer giving me anything
but pain. I'll come back and visit, but I just wanted to tell you. Goodbye." She bowed again, turned and left the gravesite.
Two days later her apartment was emptied and Akemi was on a plane to Karakura, where a Mr. Isshin Kurosaki would be picking her up.