A Cousin's Plea
This isn't ordinary, I know, but like a certain few out there, I can see ghosts. I've been seeing and helping them since I was about seven. And now that I'm a freshman in high school, I've helped and comforted countless of the dead. They thank me by offering advice in situation I have in my life. Bullies harass me because of my eyes. Not because I see ghosts, but because of their unusual color compared to the rest. Unlike most with blue or brown eyes, mine are red. It's just in my blood. And these days they beat the tar out of people that stand out.
Anyway, I'm supposed to find my cousin Ichigo's place. I was invited to live there for now on. Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Yoru Kyuuseishu Kurosaki. I like my full name for introductions, including the middle name. But for short, people call me Yoru. And ever since I met him, he's more of a brother than a cousin. Because, back when I was only a seventh grader and he was a freshman, he helped me when a gang tried mugging me. He got cut pretty bad, but yet he kept fighting, just to protect me. They were armed and all he had was his arms and legs to rely on, but he didn't give up until he totally saved my ass. That's when I decided what I was going to do with my life…Protect the ones I care about until the death. But, problem is, I hate fighting people because I get scared. I'm weak, unlike my cousin, and wouldn't be any good in fights. All I can do is take the beating and try not to cry.
But enough of that. If the directions are correct, this is Ichigo's place. They own a small medical clinic. It's not the best, but it's better than most other places. I knock on the door and his dad opens. "Ah, welcome! You're earlier than we expected. Come on in to your new home!"
"Thank you for inviting me." I said in response, lugging my suitcases from where I put them down before knocking. I walk into an empty room. Apparently Ichigo is still at school, and his two sisters may be as well. I still don't remember they're names. But I got a lot more things on my mind, so the names of them don't matter much yet.
"You're room is upstairs, next to Ichigo's. You'll need to grab some sheets and a blanket from his closet. You can unpack you're stuff into the closet and drawers under your bed."
"Thanks."
"It's the third one on the left."
"Got it."
"Ichigo should be home any minute now."
"Alright." I go upstairs to unpack and get my bed made. I got to the doorway of his room when I saw someone at the windowsill, but it wasn't Ichigo, in fact, it was a girl. I started to yell, but someone gripped my mouth shut. Ichigo, no doubt. And my mind was flowing with questions as I was getting dragged into his room and the door was shut.
"You're early." Ichigo said, uncovering my mouth.
"I got an earlier flight than I expected." I lived pretty far away. The only reason we saw each other before was because of a week long family reunion two years ago. We don't have them often. "But more importantly," I rose my voice. "What the hell is she doing here!?"
Ichigo shushed me. "Keep your voice down and I'll explain, alright?" I shut up and sat on his bed. "Now, Yoru, this is Rukia, a"-
"-soul reaper." Rukia interrupted him. Ichigo turned around and glared at her. "What? You said he should know."
I bust out laughing, hearing that last comment. Soul reapers? Honestly? I believe that as much as flying pigs and the tooth fairy. This was a riot!
"What's so funny?" Rukia asked.
"What? It was just a joke….right?" I replied. Her stone-cold look almost scared me. That's when I realized that she had purple eyes. Another odd-colored set of eyes like mine.
"Recently, I got orders from the Soul Society, a place where soul reapers live along with the people who has passed on, as the people of this world call it. But you don't pass on right after death. You actually stay here in spirit form."
"I knew that already." I replied. "I can see ghosts, you know."
"All the more reason that you should listen to what I tell you." She pulled out a notebook and opened it to a drawing. "Wholes a re the spirits that you have been seeing, which we soul reapers perform a soul burial to guide them to the Soul Society. Hollows are the ones that have been consumed by evil and have no heart and eat the souls of the deceased that have not been sent to the Soul Society."
"So what do we do with them?"
"We fight them."
"Well that's simple."
"Now that you get the basics, we can go over the rest later." Ichigo interrupted the two of them. "It's time to eat." Ichigo leaves the room.
"Are you coming?" I ask Rukia.
"Your family does not know and cannot know about me living here."
"Then where do you sleep?"
"In there." She points to the closet
"Okay…well, see you after dinner. Want me to bring some up?"
"Don't worry, Ichigo already is."
"Huh?" Ichigo comes in with three box lunches.
"We got lucky. One of my sisters isn't here, so she misses out on dinner tonight. Her loss." Ichigo hands a box to me and then to Rukia.
"Then I guess we can go on." Rukia continued. "Soul reapers all have unique weapons when they get there powers. These weapons are called Zanpakutō. They are all special and have unique abilities along with a name only it has."
"But, how do you know what its name is?"
"You ask it, how else?"
"Uh…"
"It's confusing, but let's not worry about that right now."
"Good idea."
"I think we can talk about the rest later. Right now, we have stuff to do. C'mon Yoru, I'll show you around town." He threw his lunch away, as did I, since we eat rather quickly. I grab my shoes and a sports jacket with all kinds of designs on it and set out with my half-brother as he gave me a tour.
*~*~*~*~*
"Over there's the library, but we'll set you up with a card and sign you up to be able to use the computers there tomorrow." Ichigo explained. "That building there? A local restaurant. A good spot for meeting people and they have good food too. Over there's the local park. And that large hill leads up to the cemetery."
"Hey Ichigo!" A man shouted from the trees. Brown hair, brown eyes, dark skin. Taller than Ichigo. He almost scared me how muscular he looked. "Who's that friend of yours?"
"Oh, Yoru, meet Chad. Chad, this is my younger cousin Yoru."
"Yoru Kyuuseishu Kurosaki." I interrupted.
"Night Savior? An interesting name." Chad held out his hand. I shook it gladly. "Not from around here?"
"Nope. Just moved in with Ichigo."
"Is that so? What's your schedule?"
"Oh crap, I forgot!" Ichigo slapped his forehead. "I need to show you where the school is!"
"Don't worry about that, I'll walk with you anyway, wouldn't I?"
"True. Anyway, do you have your schedule?"
"Yup. But why are all the classes in the same room?" I handed him a slip of paper.
"The school system claims it's easier to keep track of students. Plus, it's less of a hassle in the halls." He looked at my schedule. "That's good; we have the same lunch period. And you're room is right next to mine. Even better."
"Locker?" Chad asked.
"Four twenty-three."
"That's downstairs, close to the gym."
"We'll show you where these things are before school starts in the morning. Lunch we usually hang out on the campus outside close to a tree."
"Okay. Sounds good."
"Well, we better get home, it's getting late and we got school in the morning. See you tomorrow."
"Later." Chad walked away, and me and Ichigo went home.