Is now a good time to start yet another new story? xD No. I already started the new chapters for Santa Cuervos, Feeding the Locus, and Inherit the Sky. I need to finish the others before starting a new story ;w;. Anyway, most of the first chapter stories I publish are just to get them out there so my readers know what I'm planning.

Sorry for any errors ;3;. Barely skimmed through it, and-… I think I'm trying to hard not to repeat words too often. Help me? xD

You know, my 4 favorite female characters in Bleach all have pigtails. Is that hinting that if I were a lesbian, I'd like girls with pigtails? .A. I think so xD. Can you guess who they are~? I'll give you a hint: one of them is an Arrancar, another is part of a group who's an enemy to the Arrancar, the other was once a part of the Soul Society, and the last is a new character ;D. Guess in a review~!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BLEACH.
CLAIMER: I OWN SAKAMAE, AND THIS PLOT/STORY, THANKS!

Rain engulfed the town of Karakura, leaving no part of it untouched; every corner being slick and wet. The sky wasn't its normal beautiful blue, instead being filled with black, dull gray clouds complementing. Nobody dared to roam the streets, save for one; she was a frail thing, only having a plaid shirt and jeans cling tightly to her due to moisture. Lucky white wasn't her attire, or there would be citizens crazy enough to crowd around in the hopes for a free show. No, she wasn't like that at all; the opposite, actually.

Head – strong and stubborn made up who she was born to be, but recent events made her question this. As of now, head – strong and stubborn didn't even reflect in her red eyes; it was a coat of sorrow and guilt replacing.

The young woman was walking down the street slowly and solemnly; there was nowhere for her to rush. Her lavender locks were suctioned to her face, bangs covering the line of her sight. She didn't bother moving the strands, nor did she care if her clothing seemed to attempt suffocating her. Compared to what happened only days before, nothing was bothering her in the least (or even could bother her). Even if a monster were to appear, she wouldn't bother to stop it from devouring her very being.

But then that half – hearted wish of hers came true. A loud, ear – piercing roar echoed throughout the night, and she lied to herself: bolting out of the alleyway she was hiding in. She rounded a corner and barely avoided a bicycle some kid decided to abandon, still continuing her flee. If only her sword was still fastened to her hip, there would probably be a chance of her standing to fight. No, even if her sword was with her, she'd still be running.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

She knew how to deal with these monsters; Hollows. She had been dealing with them for over fifty years, or was it a hundred? Yes, this was how old the young lady was, over one hundred and ten years. Young. Did she look like the human equivalent of a hundred – year – old lady? The answer was no, as she wasn't human in the first place. She was a Shinigami, or a Soul Reaper. These reapers were taught to execute these hollows, and neither was seen by the human eye, unless said human had an outstanding ability tosee them. But everyone could see her this time, due to the gigai she was in. They could see her running away from something, but practically none knew what was chasing her.

The Hollow continued pursuing, though she couldn't see it. She didn't look behind her; there was a lingering feeling this particular Hollow was more terrifying than the others executed. Just then she tripped, landing hard onto the cold concrete. Hitting her head, dizziness was the first thing she felt, before realizing it was her feet that had caused her to fall. Thanks to her retarded clumsiness, her right ankle was now sprained after being twisted. Wheezing as if she was having an asthma attack, the girl began sitting up, gritting her teeth together.

Why is this going on?

When she went to turn around, something caused her to freeze. Something sticky – slimy – was trailing up her side, and quickly the air became hot. Her eyes widened when she saw a pink appendage. It was a tongue; the monster had obviously caught up with her, and now tasted his soon – to – be meal. "You taste… So delightful."

She didn't dare to even blink. The way this monster spoke was completely bone – chilling, she'd never heard such a voice before. Now its leg – hoof – was in view, fingers digging into the street by her knee. Eyes shutting tightly, she refused to look up as the Hollow loomed over her like an umbrella shielding her from the rain. It was closing in on her, and she could feel it dip its face down slowly, inhaling her fear. It was going to toy with its food before swallowing, this much she knew.

"I know who you are," it rasped, "Lord Aizen spoke about you."

She opened her eyes a crack, finding herself actually listening to the horrid thing. Not that there wasn't anything else she could do; she was dead the moment the ground met her cheek.

"You're Ichimaru's girl, ain't you, Yuuhi Sakamae?"

The way this monster spoke her Captain's name made anger boil up inside her, eating her from the inside out. She wasn't in the mood for anyone to bring him up, nor was she mentally ready to hear it be said. Still, what the monster said was only half true. Yes, her name was Yuuhi Sakamae, but she was never Gin's 'girl'. He had only guessed for her affection of him, and would taunt and tease her from time to time, but there was nothing serious about any of the gestures. The only relationship they shared was between a Captain and his squad member, nothing more. It was a cruel reality, that no matter how many times he spoke to her or held her, love wasn't ever meant behind the actions. The memories of his 'kind' nature flashed between her eyes, and she could feel tears retreating to the surface yet again.

"You were the first thing that came out of his mouth, you know. Said something about leavin' you alone, but here I am. It's too bad, really, that this is what it came to."

Its face was about four feet above her, yet she could still feel the moisture of its disgusting breath lingering around her body. The foul odor was enough to make her gag. "Say one more word," she hissed, "and I'll break your mask with my fist."

This could've been avoided.

Finally she titled her head up, red eyes seeming to glow beneath her faded purple hair. What she thought earlier, about it being more horrid than the rest, was now confirmed to be true. The thing had enormous eye sockets, with a black, empty void replacing were the eyeballs would be. Curled horns could be seen stretching from the side of its head; even skidding against it would get a limb sliced clean. Now, it's the mouth that was the most chilling: sharp, irregular shaped teeth stood in rows filling its mouth, which was stretched into a demonic grin. The beast symbolized something that was satanic; a baphomet is what they were called. A goat's head atop a human body, save for the legs, them being the bottom half of a goat. To complete the mutation, a horizontal line invaded the center of its sockets, serving for a pupil of an eye, if the Hollow had one. They peered into her very soul, and it scared her to death. Regret of looking into it's eyes engulfed her immediately; she'd never felt this scared in all her life as a Shinigami.

Because Baphomets symbolized that of the Devil.

"That's no way for a whore to talk."

That's all it took for her fear to be ripped away. Sakamae thrust her fist upward, smashing it into the underside of the beast's jaw. It howled and was forced into the air, mask cracking from the force.

"I don't need a sword to execute you! I'll drive you back into the gates of Hell!"

She used a flash step to get above it, before bringing her arm back and delivering a pain – staking blow to the middle of it's face, thereby cracking it's mask in half. Another howl erupted, though it was greatly distorted by the first punch. Static reigned around the two, though neither took notice as it rippled off of them. Then something unexpected followed after: a ball of red light radiated around her hand, which was still lodged in the mask. It seemed to flicker for a moment, before it exploded and expanded. Gusts of wind forced her hair back, revealing a pair of swollen, dead eyes that were wide in amazement. A loud rip of energy forced itself into Sakamae's ears, and she yelped, the sound still echoing even though it happened for a brief second. The blast engulfed the beast, swallowing it whole as if it wasn't a threat at all. There was a flash, and the blinding light forced her to shut her eyes.

Then it was all over.

Everything was gone: the Hollow, the red blast, and the surge of power aflame inside her. Sakamae was still airborne when everything vanished without a trace, though right after she opened her eyes, she gently landed back on solid ground. The street was destroyed under the stress of the power, split right down the middle with the sidewalk cracked. Squinting her eyes, a thin, transparent blob of steam was seen floating from the tarnished cement, though the rain was quickly cooling it.

"What was that?" She asked herself, eyes wide at what had just happened mere minutes ago. No kido spell was casted from her lips, and it was obvious the attack came from her and her alone; there wasn't anyone at her aide nor was there anyone even coming to help her from the Soul Society. So, what had she done? The Hollow wasn't capable of attacking her, as it's mask was already cracked, therefore rendering it almost powerless. A thought popped into her mind, though it was highly unlikely to match her attack with what she was thinking about.

"Cero?"

A Hollow was the only thing capable of committing such an attack. Even if it was, she probably wouldn't know it, since the feeling was foreign to her. She had felt a large amount of energy building up inside her gut, and she did act upon it; releasing it the moment her fist came in contact with the monster's skull. Anger was the only emotion she had felt when all that was going on, nothing else, so she didn't know if her attack had been a cero or not. The destructive power between her blast and a cero matched, that much was certain. But how she did it, and how she was able to, did not. Sakamae grit her teeth and took a step back, only for her knee to buckle and send her toppling to the ground.

"Shit!"

Her ankle was still sprained from her fall earlier, and it was throbbing in pain; she'd forgotten about it until now. Now this wasn't what she wanted at the moment. If someone were to come check out what all that noise was about, they'd suspect her automatically since there wasn't anyone else present. How'd she be able to explain the sudden crack in the street was unbeknownst to her, and she decided not to think about it anymore than she already had. So she tried to stand, keeping weight on her good foot. A step back again, made her realize she wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a while.

I'm stronger than this.

She'd have to stay where she was if wanting to rid the pain was her first priority, but unfortunately it wasn't at the moment. Getting out of this area was, and maybe seating herself atop a rood or something; anywhere but here would be best.

"My, my, what's this?"

Gin? Sakamae froze where she stood. That smooth, velvety voice arose from nowhere, is it even possible for the vocals to belong to him? She slowly turned her head, so she'd look over her shoulder at the sudden presence behind her. Her vision was blurry, and suddenly she felt exhausted. All her mental exhaustion, strength use, fatigue, and the emotional detachment occurring earlier, hit her like a train. The events leading up to this moment was slamming into her all at once; it felt as if it her insides were leaking out of her; she felt hollow. Maybe she was over exaggerating, since it could've been that attack she has accidently made, or the fact there was another Shinigami – or 'gifted' human– that would help her, so she felt as if they'd take care of her if she'd collapse from exhaustion. Exhaustion that could've been avoided entirely, if she hadn't gotten so attached to a certain someone.

What looked to be a teenager stood about ten or fifteen feet from her, wearing a simple white shirt with a tie and pants? Eye color couldn't be identified, but this man had short blond hair, stopping to just about his chin. No, it wasn't who she thought – wanted – him to be. A sword drawn was the evidence she needed to know she'd be alright with fainting with him around; it was a zanpakutō. Why he was there, she didn't know or care. Actually, she didn't know a lot of things that were going on, which was why she felt as if she was going to cry again.

She turned to face him, but once her body weight was set upon her injured ankle, she could feel herself floating forward, and the ground made contact once more. Nothingness filled her vision, a sign alerting her brain that she indeed had blacked out.

If it went a little fast, it wasn't on purpose for it to be that way D:. I tried dragging it out a bit.

I'm actually absolutely terrified of baphomets. That's why I will never watch 300again, because I freaked and wouldn't come out from the corner of the couch until that scene was over. One of my friends at school had a T-Shirt that has a freaking baphomet on it, and I almost screamed when I first saw it. Yeah, she hasn't worn that shirt since. Ha, watch, Monday she'll wear it because I said that xD

Review? :D

Started: 2.14.11

Finished: 3.19.11