CHAPTER ONE
The girl was only fourteen, but she was doomed to live a cursed life. One of pain and death, filled with misery and despair.
Her long black hair was tied up into a ponytail, her bright white bangs hanging and framing her delicate yet tough-looking face. Her eyes shined with determination, one silver and one onyx. Her lips were pressed into a thin line.
She was decorated with many jewels and fine fabrics. Her short cotton tube top covered nothing but her overly large breasts, revealing a thin line of white skin that twisted and turned over her flat stomach to form an ugly-looking scar, one that she was sometimes reluctant to show. A white silk button-up shirt was on her arms, buttoned only once. She wore a small black silk skirt that was striped red, her favorite color. Her legs were covered by mid-thigh length leather boots. They were covered with white lace and pure silver chains.
Wrapped around her neck was a white and black striped choker, and dangling from it was opaque onyx stone. It was of sentimental value to her, non-replaceable. As was the white gold bracelet that was wrapped around her left wrist. It was dotted with rubies and sapphires and diamonds, twinkling in the light. There was a black sword on her right hip, sheathed in a white scabbard. At the end of the dark hilt was one precious gem, a purple cat's eye stone.
Beside her, her pet, a strangely colored cat walked by her feet. Its light blue fur rippled slightly with every step it took. A golden bell was tied around its neck with a deep, blood red-colored ribbon. The silk strap was tied neatly into an extravagant looking bow.
Both were walking along a path that they had never been down before. There was no reason why they moved in the direction they did, it was as if they were going on instinct. The girl had been looking out the window of her hotel room when she had suddenly gotten the urge to leave and head towards nowhere. Her cat had followed her out. She had passed three different towns so far, and had not stopped once. Her luggage, which had been completely forgotten, had probably been disposed of already; it had been almost a week since she left.
It was a mysterious event though. Neither had not gotten hungry. Neither had no urge to drink. Neither even had the need to go to the bathroom. They had just walked, walked on until they reached their unknown destination.
She looked up at the immense cliff, and though she felt she had to climb up, she did not want to. But, swallowing her problems, like she had done in the past, and putting the abnormally small cat on her head so that he wouldn't fall, she gripped onto the first rock that jutted outwards and began her ascent. It took her a while, but when she finally reached the top, she was awed by the view she was greeted with.
A large, gothic style tower rose up off the ground, windows everywhere, dotting the old-styled building. A luscious green forest surrounded the tower, however, the trees were fewer and fewer the farther from the stone structure they got. It melted slowly into long grass.
She pulled herself up onto the level ground and pulled the cat out off of her head. Looking around, she wondered vaguely, and for the first time since she left:
Where the hell am I?
She knew that she was obviously somewhere up high, but that answered naught. She slowly walked forward, unsure of her surroundings; of what to do next. The cat was nestled softly into the crook of her arm, purring as she unconsciously scratched behind his ears.
A few feet away, something rustled in the bushes. "Who's there?" she demanded, her hand swiftly and automatically moving to her sword. It was silent for a moment, before something, or someone, jumped out at her and attacked.
She pulled her sword out and parried the attack instantly, getting a look at who she had encountered. It was a male, his lengthy hair tied into a style similar to her own. His midnight blue eyes glared at her, his lips set in a firm scowl of disapproval.
He wore a floor-length robe, a silver cross on his left shoulder. It was a beautiful shape, much more complicated that a cross, really. He, too, had a sword, one of pure black. It's sheath was of a more modern-looking design, and she envied him. Hers was only a simple white scabbard with a black metal point.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the man demanded. He looked at her curiously though; she still had the cat in her arm. It moved, its little golden bell emitting a sound of only the purest origins.
The man opposite her, however, heard the sound and collapsed instantly to the ground. Worried, the girl rushed over to him and checked his pulse. It was there, but only barely. She glared at her cat, saying, "Gilly, you ought to know better than that. You know how sensitive males are to your bell!" The kitten, though, just looked up at her innocently with big golden eyes and meowed quietly.
"Dammit! And I forgot the antidote at the hotel! Crap! I sure hope that these people here have the ingredients, or this man will die . . ." She paused for a second, then said, "Gilly, please go and alert the people in the building of this. He needs immediate attention!"
Gilly ran smoothly off into the shadows, obediently following his master's orders. The girl knelt beside the mysterious man and picked him up, wrapping his arms around her neck, and started dragging him off towards the superstructure. About halfway through the forest, she heard other sounds.
"Not again . . . Who's there?" she sighed. The noises halted when she stopped. She glanced around warily, knowing better than to let her guard down to silence. Just because they made no noise did not mean that they weren't there. Just to prove her point, a few seconds later, another man stepped out.
He was short, though, and the first thing that came to mind was a word of her native language, 'moyashi.' His white hair barely reached the bottom of his chin. His eyes were grey. There was an ugly red scar running up his left cheek, ending in a solid crimson star on his forehead. He wore a coat similar to the one she carried, with the same cross upon his left shoulder. There were white gloves on his hands, and somehow, the first thing she thought was, He's hiding something.
They stared at each other for a moment before the boy noticed the man she carried. "Kanda?" he shouted, rushing over. He pulled him off of her and laid him on the ground, checking his pulse as she had. When noticing it was only slightly there, he raised a heated glare at the girl. "What the hell did you do to him?" he demanded.
She scratched the back of her head awkwardly, mumbling, though steadily getting louder, "That, that was kind of . . . my . . . um, cat's fault. He has a special bell around his neck and when it rings, it knocks most males out. Then it slowly deconstructs them from the inside out unless I give them the antidote. Which just happens to be in my suitcase, which I forgot at my hotel a week ago. And I'm the only one who knows the recipe. He'll die in about five hours if I don't get the proper ingredients to cure him. I was gonna bring him to the big place over there, but then you stopped me. By the way, my name is Ichigo."
The boy just stared at her as she rambled on. Then what she said finally sunk in and he looked back at the man named Kanda, noticing that his breathing was, indeed, starting to get heavy. He looked paler than usual, and that worried the boy. He glanced back up at Ichigo, debating whether or not to trust her. Only now did he notice her eyes were different. The solid black one pierced through him, almost glaring into his soul. The silver one looked genuinely worried.
"Alright. I'll lead you in and to the science department and you can make the cure there. I'll carry Kanda. By the way, My name is Allen," he said. He picked Kanda up the same way Ichigo had and began to walk, Ichigo following closely behind. He asked, "Is it okay to run? If so, do you think you can keep up?"
She nodded, and they were off in a flash of light. They reached the door almost instantly and, seemingly to no one, Allen spoke. "Kumoi! Let us in. Kanda's accidentally been poisoned and is dying!" the gate opened swiftly and they were off again. Allen, as promised, led her directly to the science department. Everyone eyed them suspiciously as they passed. The burst through a door and suddenly all attention was on them. One man stood up and rushed over.
"Allen! Why are you carrying Kanda? What's wrong?" he asked. Allen repeated everything Ichigo had told him, and the man gasped. Looking toward Ichigo, he said, "Girl, please, come with me. I will lead to where we get all are supplies." She followed after him willingly, and ushered Allen to follow as well. He did so.
As soon as they went inside the supply room, the scent of thousands of chemicals and herbs reached Ichigo's nose. It smelled almost heavenly to her. Nevertheless, she ignored that and told Allen to set Kanda down. Once done, she asked the scientist, "How are your things sorted?"
"From A to Z. A is over at that end," he replied, trying not to look worried. Ichigo was gone in an instant, running around the room trying to find everything. Once everything had been gathered, she started the process and mixed everything. She spoke up near the end. "I very much hate to ask this of you, but one of you must provide a strand of hair. That is the final ingredient."
Allen, without even hesitating, plucked one from his scalp and dropped it in the bowl. The mixture glowed for a moment, before fading. The result was a clear substance, equal in consistency to mud. "This must be rubbed onto his chest and inserted in his ears. I do so hope he is not modest," Ichigo said.
She unbuttoned the top of his robe and slid it off to the side. A strange tattoo caught her attention, but now was not the time to study it. She took a handful of the compound and rubbed it on his bare skin, not at all new to it. Once she was done with that, she dipped her two index fingers in the transparent muck. Ichigo pulled them out and stuck them in Kanda's ears, grimacing, as she never liked this part.
Nearly as soon as the fingers were in his ears, his eyes were open and he was shooting upwards. Only to be stopped by something soft and squishy. Allen and Reever were trying not to laugh, as he had woken up and shot directly into the girl's chest. Ichigo was bright red, but this had happened before.
Stuttering, she spoke, "K-kanda-san? C-can you p-please lay b-back down?" Kanda, realizing their position, complied, also turning a deep red. Her fingers were still in his ears, and remained so until Kanda asked, "What are you doing?"
"Saving your life. Why the hell else would I stick my fingers in someone else's ears?" she replied sourly. After a few more moments, she retracted her fingers and said, "It is done, Allen. His life is no longer in danger." At that moment though, a soft ringing resounded through the room. Gilly strutted forward in front of all four of them, bell ringing softly as he walked. Kanda sent a death glare at the cat, to which the cat jumped and bounded off toward Ichigo. Allen collapsed.
"Not him, too!"
After treating Allen as well, the four of them made their way through the halls to, as the other three said, Kumoi's office. "He will no doubt be worried about Kanda, after what I told him at the gate." Allen had told her. They walked in quiet, Gilly meowing every so often in pleasure; Ichigo was scratching behind his ears again.
Kanda was the first to break the silence. "Why are you here anyway?" The question made Ichigo freeze in her tracks. She hadn't thought about it before, but she had no reason to be here. Now that Kanda and Allen had been cured, she was free to leave. But why did she remain, even after knowing this?
"I honestly do not know. I just, kind of, came here. On an urge," she responded. Kanda, obviously not satisfied with the answer, just made a 'che' sound and turned away. Gilly sensed his unhappiness and jumped from Ichigo and landed on Kanda's shoulder, nuzzling the man's cheek. Kanda blushed slightly, but petted him nonetheless. Gilly purred and Kanda almost smiled. Almost.
"Aww! How cute!" Allen's voice awoke him from his trance, and Kanda immediately pulled Gilly off of him and handed him back to Ichigo.
"Shut up, moyashi!" Kanda said defensively. Ichigo snickered, finding the boy's nickname funny. Kanda turned toward her and asked, "What?"
"Nothing, just that that's the exact same thing I thought of when I first saw Allen!" Ichigo could hold herself no longer. Letting it out, she laughed fully. It was a light sound, and it filled the halls. Many people looked around corners to find out if something was wrong.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I could not control myself," Ichigo apologized. They walked on in silence until they reached Kumoi's office, then they told her to wait outside. They all went in, and soon, she could hear shouts coming through the door. She couldn't tell what they were saying, only how loud they were saying it. After a few minutes, Reever opened the door, looking exhausted, and said she could come in.
Allen and Kanda were sitting on the couch, but were as far from each other as possible. Both looked annoyed, apparently at each other. A man sat behind a desk that was covered in parchment, and only now did she notice that the floor was also littered with paper. The man had purple shoulder-length hair and square glasses. He was dressed in a white uniform that was trimmed with a light gold fabric.
"So, Ichigo, I hear that your cat almost killed one of our Exorcists. How is this so? The only thing that could affect them that strongly is Innocence," he said. Ichigo was nervous beyond all belief, she really did not want to be in this situation. She sat down between Allen and Kanda, who looked at her for a moment, but returned to ignoring each other soon after.
"I' don't know what exorcists are, nor innocence. Would you mind explaining?" Ichigo asked uncertainly.
"Innocence is a special stone said to be created by God; there are many pieces of it spread out all over the world. The ones who are compatible with it, who can use it without harming themselves, are called Exorcists. Allen and Kanda are Exorcists. Allen, do you mind showing her?" Kumoi explained. Allen nodded.
At first, nothing strange happened. Then Allen's left arm suddenly got bigger, turning into a large, silver-looking claw. A green cross burned in the center of the hand part of the claw, and a green flame-like substance glowed at his shoulder, separating his arm from his chest.
"Thank you, Allen, for demonstrating," Kumoi thanked him. He then turned his attention back to Ichigo, and went on. "Allen is a parasitic type Innocence, which means that he possesses Innocence as part of his body. There is also the equipment type, which Kanda has. The sword at his hip is his Innocence.
"Do you mind if we test your cat for Innocence? It won't take long, and you'll be done and out of here if it comes out negative," the purple-haired man asked. Ichigo nodded, signaling that it was okay with her. The men all stood up and filed out, Kumoi waving at her to follow them. She did so, looking curiously at the halls as they walked down them.
They reached a platform at the center of the building, and it looked as if it were hanging out over nothing. They stepped on and almost immediately the surface raced out to empty space. It was, indeed, floating on empty air. They descended, and Ichigo held onto the railing for dear life, afraid of what would happen should she let go anytime soon. The ground stopped, and all of a sudden there was a monstrous white-skinned woman-looking thing in front of them.
"Good evening, Kumoi-san. I sense quite the unusual amount of Innocence today. Is something the matter?" it said. The men looked toward Gilly and Kumoi spoke.
"Actually, we would like you to test an animal for Innocence, Hevlaska. It is quite weird. It nearly killed Kanda today," he explained. Hevlaska, as it was called, reached around with little white tentacle-like hands to grab Gilly. Once getting a hold, it examined him, and a surprised expression displayed itself upon Hevlaska's face.
"This is no animal, Kumoi-san. Gilly-kun, please show us your true form, will you?"
"No! Gilly will not be doing that today! He only transforms in emergencies!" Ichigo shouted. Everyone's attention was suddenly on her, and Gilly was jumping down into her arms as they turned to face her. He licked her cheek, and mewed softly. Ichigo showed a look of uncertainty, then gave in. "Are you sure, Gilly?"
"As sure as sure can be," the cat spoke. All around them, the looks of surprise made themselves prominent on each face. These only increased in degree when the cat slowly grew, falling out of Ichigo's arms and into the space before her. Pretty soon, instead of a cat, a full-grown man stood before them all.
His disheveled light blue hair was his most noticeable feature. His eyes were of pure gold. His nose was pointed slightly, but it gave it a handsome character. His lips were plump, moist as if he had just licked them.
He wore nothing but a fine black silk button-up shirt and a pair of skin-fitted black jeans. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, revealing arms that were laced with tattoos, making him look menacing beyond all imagination. The silk shirt was not buttoned up, but instead hanging loosely from his shoulders. On his stomach was one large rose cross like the one on the others' outfits. Around his neck was the small bell, still attached with the same red ribbon.
First chapter of the new series that I came up with on the spot. Please tell me if this is worth continuing! I really want feedback. R&R, please! It's just down there!
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