Hi all.
Before I continue with the post-note crap, note that this is a re-started version of KUROUSAGI.
Yeah, I deleted that story. I haven't updated it in months (bloody Microsoft!), and after I re-read it to continue, I just couldn't do it.
For one, the plot's not lined out well. Thus I got stuck in the middle (or, the beginning?) of the story. I suppose the next problem is that my writing style and thoughts changed. A hell lot. And it's gonna be real painful for me to continue in that previous writing style.
Oh and did I mention that I found the title lame?
So here we are. Back to the beginning.
I sincerely apologize to my favourite-rs, alert-ers and reviewers, all your contributions have gone to waste! So sorry so sorry so sorry so sorry and make that ten thousand times, it still wouldn't be enough.
I should say, I've tweaked the main character. Now she's Sato Aki. Not Hayakawa Ito. Ever since I found out that 'Ito' is a surname orz. But hey, we've still got Maki! ^^ (though it's a surname too. But nevermind.) And blah blah blah, almost everything's changed.
The theory remains intact though.
Oh and before I end this awfully long post-note, here's some newsflash for you:
THIS STORY INCLUDES SOME SHOUNEN-AI (BL/BoysLove if you don't get it)
Hack cough, CLAMP is possessing my mind now, with all the soulmate thing…
"Oh shut up already Blackrocker, you're worse than my mum."
Goodbye Paradox
(and I have no idea how this came about either)
Genre: I'll just take this as Humor and Romance. Any objections? No?
Pairings: OC x Hitsugaya / Ichigo x Rukia and the list goes on as the story continues.
Disclaimer: Most obviously, I don't own Bleach. Or this fic wouldn't even be called a 'fanfic'. Rated T for language (cussing, people!), violence, blah.
ACT 0: You collect $200 at the 'Go!' square. ~prelude~
"Goddamit Shinobu! I thought you said you could hack through his password block in a few minutes? That's the four hundred and thirteenth lie you've made to me throughout my whole life!"
The auburn-haired teen clucked his tongue disapprovingly before continuing his unbeatable speed of typing, crimson eyes concentrating on the screen before them through the Adidas goggles. That's right – Facebook's Typing Maniac record holder for three consecutive weeks.
"No sweat Ki. This is just the shit-ass ones which probably wouldn't work anyway," Shinobu replied as he attempted the next pass. "Shut up and look out for the nosy parkers."
Aki scowled as she released her vicer-grip on the armchair and paced around the dark stuffy room, illuminated only by the blue glow from the screen of the laptop they were attempting to hack. Sure it was risky and silly for fifteen-year-old high school students to hack into their biology-slash-homeroom teacher's laptop, but who wouldn't dream of doing so after being threatened with an examination paper produced out of pure evil? That certainly was way more spiteful than being threatened at knifepoint by a crazed madman.
Though, considering their intellect and skills, Shinobu and Aki could easily score at least a 'B' grade. But playing safe is still the best alternative.
"Osu! The software-king pwns all!" Shinobu smirked haughtily at the screen which now displays 'Welcome, Kondo Hideyoshi'.
"About freaking time," Aki rolled her eyes apprehensively, glancing down at the computer screen. "What was his password?"
"iloveteletubbies74562," Shinobu replied.
"What the deuce…"
"I know," Shinobu sighed. "Bad taste. The poor guy. No wonder he got dumped recently."
Aki took control of the abandoned mouse and scanned the screen. "Think he'll place the answer spread sheet in that folder?" She hovered over the yellow file marked 'exam ans'.
"Yeah. Guy probably doesn't think anyone could pass through that password of his. Did you see his Teletubby pencil case last Tuesday? It was epic, I tell ya."
Aki snorted and double-clicked the folder, scanned through the countless number of spreadsheets and landed her focus on the file named 'end-year exam ans (3rdgrade)'.
"Found it," She announced. "Hand over that thumb drive."
Shinobu dug into his pocket, flicked it onto Aki's palm and she stuck it in the USB drive, taping her fingers impatiently on the desk while waiting for the file to fully transfer.
Shinobu's eyes wandered off to the next folder marked 'transfer student docs'.
"I didn't know we're having new flesh in our class," he commented.
"Who cares," Aki stated bluntly. "Might be a load of vampire-wannabe douchebags for all we know."
Shinobu opened the folder anyway and was greeted by a list of files, all marked with each transfer student's name.
"Woah, that's a hell lot at one go. That Hitsugaya one has weird hair. Definitely not vampire-wannabe. Think he bleached it?"
"No, I think that it went white knowing that you're staring at it."
"Aw, you broke my heart. You should take a leaf outta that Matsumoto girl's book. You sure need some boobs. She doesn't look fifteen, does she have an age crisis?"
Aki pulled out the thumb drive when transfer was completed. "Shut up, Shinobu, stop staring at the chick already. You've had your supply of Playboy, isn't that enough? We're leaving."
Shinobu rolled his eyes and unplugged the power switch from the laptop. "You owe me for helping you hack into that thing."
"What, another Final Fantasy instalment?"
"Preferably."
"Huh, the one with the emo kid? What's his name, Sky?"
"Cloud," Shinobu corrected.
Aki sighed and ruffled her already messed-up hair. "Fine, I'll get it. Unless you buy me a week's long supply of chocolate ice cream. I'm suffering from post-examination depression."
"Deal!" Shinobu smirked.
Boy, Aki just couldn't wait to see the face of Kondo-sensei when they get back their test results with big, bright, shining A's.
"Amazing, Hitsugaya-taichou! You've grown a lot!" Unohana smiled as she made a tiny note on her clipboard.
165 centimetres. Freaking 165 centimetres. It was really a miracle, growing that much in a week. The afternoon naps must have all paid off.
Hitsugaya had that smirk all day long as he sat in his office doing all the crap paperwork, and heck, even work doesn't seem half as bad now. At least he doesn't have to sit through the taunts and rants his lieutenant made after on his pathetic – no scratch that, once pathetic – height.
For some apparent reason, the soutaichou felt the sudden need to have health checks after a rather nasty incident involving a Chihuahua and high blood pressures, thus, the 4th Division had a sudden tsunami of workload. At least some people here's not slacking off anymore.
Unohana still had that motherly glow around her, though. Nothing ever seems to tick her off. Maybe besides trying to run away from the hospital before you're fully healed.
"Amazing, Hitsugaya-taichou! You've grown a lot!"
A hundred and twenty-seven times. That was the number someone ever said that goddamned sentence already. Hitsugaya swore, if someone ever said that one more time, that guy's gonna lose his balls in a second flat.
Matsumoto was still ranting on about how milk helped him with his growth. No, Matsumoto. Too naïve. It was the afternoon naps, not the milk!
"Oh, and when you were gone for the health check-up, a hell butterfly came and delivered an order for a meeting to be issued at three," Matsumoto grinned.
"Ah, okay." Hitsugaya replied disgruntledly. Great. Meetings. Way to go, soutaichou, dampening his moods even further.
It was ten minutes to three, and Hitsugaya had already found himself at the entrance of the 1st Division. Doesn't hurt to be early though, unless you like the atmosphere of being in the same room alone together with that old man. Not nice. Not nice at all.
Hitsugaya opened the door anyway, and was greeted by the sight of – gasp – an empty 1st Division room. A first, Hitsugaya planted a note in his mind.
Perhaps he got caught up with another Chihuahua.
"Amazing, Hitsugaya-taichou. You've grown a lot."
The vein that was threatening to burst finally released its load and did.
Hitsugaya swung around, and roared. "STOP SAYING THAT ALREA –"
Oh.
It took quite a moment for both Yamamoto-soutaichou and Hitsugaya to regain their composures.
"Ah…soutaichou…s-sorry…I just got…carried away…" Hitsugaya trailed off, looking down guiltily, fearing what the soutaichou might do to him the very next millisecond.
"Hitsugaya-taichou…that's a dock in your paycheck." Yamamoto-soutaichou growled.
Well, at least there's something to be depressed over during the weekend. Momo will have to wait for her birthday present this year then.
"Oh, and Hitsugaya-taichou?"
Hitsugaya looked up hopefully. "Yes?"
"I've decided to appoint you to lead a group of shinigamis to Karakura Town in the human world to protect it from the Arrancar."
Hitsugaya could just die this very second.
"Amazing, Hitsugaya-taichou! You've grown a lot!"
Hitsugaya merely scowled and passed it off as a gust of wind. It was getting tiring. Urahara's shop was the first stop they made when they reached the human world, which didn't turn out to be pleasant news. At least for Hitsugaya, that is.
"I didn't think that you would grow so much, so the gigai I designed is…currently outdated," Urahara smiled like nothing big happened.
"The hell do you mean outdated? Expired?" Hitsugaya growled, twitching eye and all.
"No, I meant the height. You'll still fit, though! No worries!" Urahara laughed it off.
"YOU ASSHOLE! You did that on purpose!"
"Aw, taichou, don't be so upset! Look! At least it was got cute clothes on!" Matsumoto made a feeble attempt to cease Hitsugaya's fury. It didn't work at all.
"Goddamit!" Hitsugaya hissed. "I'm leaving for a walk, do not follow me or risk having yourself frozen!"
He felt short again. Which, technically, he is.
The walk didn't feel so bad after all. He could get rid of some unsuspecting hollows too if he were lucky anyway. Great for stress relief.
It was dark, and Hitsugaya could barely see his way through. Why can't Urahara invent something useful for once, like cat-like eyes?
Hitsugaya felt a sudden strain in his leg. Must be the freaking 'outdated' gigai's fault, Hitsugaya thought sarcastically, as he sat on a nearby swing. Not that he was being childish, it was the only object which could be sat on. Yeah, that's right!
"Hey, you!"
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes and turned to the direction where the voice was coming from. Paedophile? However much his gigai is faulty, he could still kick the pervert in the face, no?
Instead of the sick old man (that was implied) he expected, a teenage girl greeted his eyes. She was, ah, short. Not really, but still shorter than was he is supposed to be. He couldn't really make out her appearances, though. There weren't any cat eyes available to aid him.
"What's a kid like you doing here in the middle of the night? It dangerous, go home already!" The girl scowled.
"What do you know," Hitsugaya muttered. Hell, he's even safer than her, doesn't she know that young teenage girls like her are the main targets of rape?
She blinked at him. "Oh…did you have a fight with your family? I didn't mean to…uh…"
Oh dear. Totally off-topic. Now she's going to rant on and on about how families are important and all, which is way worse than being pestered to go 'home'.
The girl stood on the swing next to his and swung around. Who's the kid here now, huh?
"Y'know, you've really got the guts, running away from home like that. I kind of applaud you. Sometimes, I'd really want to do something like that too, cos' my brother's soooo naggy about everything," She rolled her eyes. "But in the end, he just gives off that sad puppy look and all my anger faded away just that that." She tugged the handles roughly as she emphasized that last word.
Hitsugaya didn't even bother to listen to what she had to say. What did it matter to him anyway. The only thing that interested him was the amount of reiatsu leaking off her. That amount was definitely not normal at all.
Well, you get such humans in Karakura anyway. Look at strawberry boy and his look-alike sister. A perfect example.
Hitsugaya kept silent all this while, and while he was about to get up, he felt something heavy thrown onto his lap.
"Take that. You don't really look too good. I suggest you go home and reconcile with your family or whatever," She swung around even more vigorously. "This place could really be dangerous, you know."
Hitsugaya took a closer look at the heavy object. It was a full slab of chocolate. Why would a girl carry slabs of chocolate around her anyway?
The girl finally got off the abused swing. "I'm going home. You'd better too. Oh, and my name's Aki," She smirked. "You'd better repay me that chocolate the next time we meet."
She walked off, Hitsugaya staring after her. That girl was too…weird. The chocolate could be poisoned, for all he knows.
And right behind her, was a stalker…a plus stalker.
Hitsugaya sighed and rolled his eyes. Another soul burial. Since when were captains given such shitty jobs.
And when he gets back to Urahara's shop, the gigai had better be ready, or someone's going to turn the heater on to its maximum.
"I'm back!" Aki called out.
"Aki!" Hiroki cried, pulling her into a suffocating embrace. "It's so late already! Where have you been? I-was-so-worrieeeed!"
"B-Brother…" Aki attempted to pulled out of the hug, with no success rate. "I…had a study session with Shinobu. Nothing big, really."
The secret of the both of them hacking and stealing answer spreadsheets from the biology teacher's laptop must never ever be found out, God knows what would her brother do if he ever did find out one way or another. Jump off Tokyo railway station? Probably.
Hiroki frowned. "Shinobu again? You should go out with girls more often, Aki."
"Girls are really painful to hang out with, brother," Aki rolled her eyes. "At least while Shinobu molests his PSP and DS, he leaves me in peace as I eat chocolate parfaits. He doesn't rant on about weight-gain."
Hiroki still had that pout on him, and Aki sighed.
"Okay okay, I'll go out with some girls," She said dismissively, and Hiroki cheered happily.
"Dinner's in the microwave, so eat them while it's still hot," Hiroki smiled. "Sorry I couldn't eat with you, I have to study for the entrance exams."
"Oh, good luck on it then." Aki said.
As Aki took out the dish from the microwave oven, her thoughts drifted off to the mysterious young boy she met at the playground. She couldn't really make out his features, though. It was too dark.
I hope he's okay, She thought.
And as she was having her dinner, a hollow had already made her the next target in his killing frenzy.
Goodbye Paradox act zero ~end~
Osu: means "Victory" in Japanese.
Deuce: the meaning here means "devil; dickens" (used as a mild oath)
Author's Notes:
I know, this is a really half-assed work. Forgive me, my good people orz! I need some feedback, since I'm pretty new to the third-party system, should I continue with it? Some feedback on this would really be appreciated!
More on Aki and Shinobu's history will be revealed in the following chapters ~
I know the ending is really douched. I just had no other way to end it, since the big event is the next chapter. This chapter is more like a prologue, like a place to introduce Aki's character a little more.
By the way, this story takes place in the Arrancar arc (Grimmjow and Ulquiorra are just too irresistible!). And pardon me, I know I've ranted on this for a long time already, but I hope that Aki is not Mary-Sueish, or that the original Bleach characters are not too OOC. Those are a real pain in the neck to maintain
Newflash, is there anyone who is willing to beta-read my work? I sure do need some help! (I'm too lazy to sift out Beta-Readers orz…) Please PM me if you're interested! Ha-ha, thank you so much.
Please review! This adds more fuel to my feeble writing fire power, booyeah!
BLACKROCKER is love.
10.11.09