Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to the one and only Tite Kubo, the man possessing all the talents that I am lacking in.
Seika Town, Kyoto. Five years ago.
"What… is this?"
Yuuno Hikari.
"A-an overturned vase of flowers…"
"Who were those flowers for?"
Thirteen years old. Junior high schooler.
"The boy who died here recently."
"Correct. And what did you do to it?"
"We… kicked it over…"
She can see ghosts.
Hikari pointed her free hand towards the ghost boy, which to the bullies was just empty space. "Apologize." She demanded.
The two burly teenage boys looked at each other incredulously. If it wasn't for the fact that this young, long-haired girl with dark brown eyes was sitting on top of their boss at the moment, holding one of his arms to his back in a deadly arm lock, they would have laughed out loud.
A few moments ago, Hikari was alone on the street, talking to the ghost child and setting down his vase of flowers which she had bought for him when the bullies interrupted.
"Hey, little girl." One of them was saying. "Talking to yourself again?"
There were three of them, big, burly boys only two years older than her. Two of them were behind the third person who just spoke. Apparently he was their leader. They snickered at Hikari.
The leader, seeming to have become really daring due to his lackeys behind him, went up to the vase of flowers and kicked it over. "There are no such things as ghosts!" He announced, stepping on one of the freshly-plucked flowers and rubbing it against the concrete floor with his shoe. The boys behind him roared in laughter and joined in, stepping on whatever flowers they could find.
Seeing the gang's actions, Hikari immediately kicked the leader's shin, causing him to fall face first onto the ground. Before the two other boys could do anything, she was right on top of their leader, locking one arm behind him and pressing her weight down such that he was unable to use his other arm which was trapped under his body.
"Ichiya-dono!" His underlings had called out, but they could do nothing as they watched their leader gasp in pain when Hikari tightened her grip around his arm, bending it at an unnatural angle.
The boys had backup though. Two other gang members who were tailing their leader had rushed out to Hikari from the back upon seeing their leader in danger. Hikari could only realize too late as they lunged towards her.
Right before they reached her, a leg appeared, kicking one of the boys from the side. He stumbled sideways, landing on top of the other boy in a messy heap.
"Hana!" Hikari's best friend of seven years appeared from the corner, where she happened to be passing by. The girl with dark amethyst eyes and tied-up shoulder length black hair wearing a Junior High school uniform then went on to angrily kick the two big boys who had snuck up on Hikari earlier. She then turned towards Hikari, one foot on the pile of beat-up boys, and planting her hands on her hips, looked at her, eyes blazing with anger.
"How can I go about watching your back for you if you always wander off?" She said loudly, her voice full of concern. Hikari grinned, muttering an apology, before starting her interrogation with the two frightened-looking teenage boys in front of her.
Hikari never liked raising her voice. But when it seemed that the two boys were unwilling to apologize to what they deem as empty space, she had to do it. Still pointing towards the ghost boy with her free hand, she shouted: "NOW!"
Intimidated by the small girl and not wanting their leader to come to any further harm, the two boys fell prostrate towards the direction of the ghost boy.
"We are sorry!" They squeaked, bowing down, their foreheads touching the floor. Behind her, Hikari could hear Hana giggle.
Satisfied that she had gotten an apology out of the bullies, she stood up, letting the leader go. He was helped up by the two boys whom she had forced the apology out of. Disgruntled, the leader put his arm over one of the boy's shoulder for support, and gave an eye signal to the more burly-looking boy. He nodded, before charging towards an unsuspecting Hikari, his right fist raised for a punch.
"Hikari!" Hana called out. She was too far away to come to her aid.
Hikari turned just in time to see the boy headed towards her. Before he landed a hit on her, she dodged to the side, grabbed his offensive arm and pulled it towards the direction it was heading, before sticking out her foot. The gangster tumbled clumsily forward before falling flat onto the ground with a loud "Oof!"
The leader's eyes widened upon seeing one of his stronger lackeys fall, and called for a retreat in a hoarse voice. He then limped away quickly, supported by one of his lackeys. The other bullies crawled off after him with their tail between their legs.
Once sure that the bullies had left, Hikari crouched down to pick up the vase and any unharmed flowers she could find. She set the vase upright again, placing the flowers into it.
"Thank you." The little ghost boy said to Hikari between sobs. As Hana was not spiritually aware, she just waited patiently for her friend to complete her business.
Hikari smiled towards the boy and wiped his tears before ruffling his hair. "It's no problem." She replied. "Leave any regrets behind and move on soon, okay?"
The boy nodded, rubbing his eyes before giving her a wide grin. "I will, big sister!" He promised.
Hana and Hikari walked back towards the orphanage. The sun was setting, and the weather got colder. Winter was coming.
Hikari didn't look forward to getting back to the hellhole. Because she was able to see spirits since young, she was often treated with distrust, if not bullied for it. If not for Hana, she would probably have fled from the place long ago.
She took a moment to observe her surroundings. It was too quiet for her liking and Hikari had a bad feeling about it. Even though Seika town was a quaint little town that was always quiet, the silence she experienced today was unnatural.
Hikari looked around. There were less wandering ghosts now that those huge monsters with white masks and a hole where their heart is were increasing in numbers. She couldn't help but feel that those monsters were responsible for the increasing disappearances of those spirits, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could only live on with that knowledge and a nagging conscience of not being able to provide any help.
Hikari continued walking alongside Hana, so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear the roar of one of those monsters behind her until it flung a humongous ape-like arm towards the both of them.
Hikari was flung towards a wall, where she landed on top of an already unconscious Hana.
"Hana!" she screamed, shaking her shoulders in an attempt to wake her friend up.
The monster roared again, an unearthly sound she had never heard before. It was a grievious sound that resonated through her body. As much as she wanted to run away, she found that her body was frozen on the spot by terror, and she turned to face the monster, the fear evident in her eyes.
The monster was almost as tall as a building, and had a humanoid shape. Its entire face was obscured by a white human skull-like mask, and there was a huge gaping hole at where its heart used to be. It swung its large arm towards where Hana and Hikari were. Hikari moved closer to Hana and wrapped her arms around her, shielding Hana's unmoving form with her body. All she wanted at that moment was for Hana's safety.
A flash of black. That was all Hikari could see before the monster howled in pain, its severed arm falling a few metres away from the two girls. The monster's blood spurted out in all directions, and through the blood, Hikari could vaguely see a tall, thin male figure, his back facing her, in front of the monster. His silver hair and bloodstained katana stood out in the shower of blood, now falling like the rain. The monster roared another time, flinging its other arm towards the figure. The arm connected to nothing but thin air. It was as though the figure Hikari just saw was an illusion.
In the next instant, the same person had appeared in front of the monster, right where it's mask was. With a swing of the blade, the monster's mask was cut cleanly into two, and with a final blood-chilling roar, it disappeared in a shower of black dust.
It was nighttime now, and stars littered the night sky. The mysterious boy turned to look towards Hikari, making sure that she was alright. The lamplight he was standing below illuminated his face and features. His face was stained with blood, but on it was a crooked grin. Hikari was unable to see his eyes behind those slits. He was garbed in a black shihakusho and a white haori numbered "3" which was damp from the monster's blood. His short katana shone under the lamplight, and he kept it away before turning and strolling towards the opposite direction from where Hikari was.
"My my, this town sure is polluted~" He said in a sing-song voice as he walked away. Hikari stood up and ran after him. Snowflakes were already falling, covering the ground with a thin layer of white.
"Hey!" She called.
The boy stopped walking, standing below a flickering lamppost. He turned, his grin widening as he studied her through slitted eyes. Hikari guessed that he was only about 18 years old.
"You… can see me?" He asked.
Hikari was taken aback by the question. Of course she could see him.
"Strange." He mused to himself, a thumb on his chin, as though deep in thought. "Normal people wouldn't be able to see me. Who are ya?"
"Yuuno Hikari, nice to meet you. What's your name?" Hikari asked. What the boy had said had confirmed her suspicions that he was a ghost, albeit different from the ones she usually saw.
"Ichimaru Gin." He replied casually, the smile still pasted on his face. Hikari was unable to read his emotions as he continued staring at her. She could detect the amusement in his voice though.
"Thank you for saving us just now, Ichi-" But before Hikari could continue, the boy had vanished in a flicker of the light.
A/N: The timeline here is before Gin was labeled as a traitor by soul society, so he's still a shinigami captain, if any of you are wondering. Also, the next update will come two weeks later as I will be overseas, so stay tuned!