Fujimi no Densetsu
Chapter 1: Nights of Sleepless Skies
Based on...
Episodes 1-2
I turned my head to the sky as a high-pitched howl pierced the skies. ~So... Tonight's going to howl, too...?~ I thought to myself. I winced as the howl came to an end. ~Such violent screams...~ I continued my walk home, slipping an earbud into my ear. This was the third day in a row. Dusk was setting in. Ichigo and I had parted moments earlier, with his words being "I have something I gotta do." That was normal for him. He was apparently a very busy person. The howl pierced the skies again. My face winced again, and I slipped the other earbud in. I chose the loudest song I had, and then shook my head as I continued my walk home. The howling probably continued, but my music blocked it out.
Stepping through the door to my tiny apartment, I dropped my bag on the floor and flicked it open, pulling out all the work I had to do at home. I made some quick ramen, and sat down to eat and work at the same time. As I finished both simultaneously, my ears and head drooped with a sigh. "Man my life is super ordinary." I looked up at the clock. It was barely 6:30. Well, since life WAS so impossibly ordinary, I thought to myself, I should probably go meander about outside until night really sets in. I stood up, put my shoes back on, and pushed through the door. As I took to the sidewalk, my mind pondered a few things.
~Life's been so unnaturally boring lately. I've really been hoping something would happen soon.~
"Ah, hello, Enigma!" A voice called. My ears perked up, and I turned around. "I can see you're still doing well." A translucent torso floated behind me. Attached to the torso was a head bearing a gentle face and warm smile. Large glasses and wrinkles adorned the elderly spirit's face. Her hand was waving slightly.
"Oh, hello, Ms. Jan." I responded happily. This elderly spirit, one of the many I had developed relationships with, was the one I spoke to the most. She lived, or a lack thereof, just outside of my apartment. "You seem to be doing well, yourself." She nodded.
"But of course. If you don't mind my asking, where are you headed? And did you finish your homework first?" She asked paternally. I sighed. She had taken such a liking to me, in fact, that I had become like a grandson to her.
"Yes, ma'am. And I'm just going out. Nowhere in particular."
"That's good. And just a regular evening stroll? That sounds fun! I'd ask to accompany you, but..." The silence set in quickly. I decided to break it.
"It's the howling... Isn't it?" I asked. She looked up at me, and nodded slightly.
"So... you've been able to hear it, too."
"Unfortunately. Anyway, Ms. Jan, I'm gonna go ahead and go. I'll make sure to say hi again when I come back, alright? Sorry to just cut and go like this." I said, attempting to leave. It's not that I didn't like talking to her, I just wanted to go.
"Ah, it's fine. I didn't want to keep you anyway. Be careful, Enigma. Whatever's making those noises doesn't sound very nice."
"You be careful, too. Take care!" I gave her a small wave before turning and leaving. ~I wonder if she somehow has anything to do with the howling…~ I thought to myself. ~I don't know what to think about it.~ As I continued my walk, an exceptionally loud howl coursed through the air, stopping me dead in my tracks. My breath slowed, and my mind raced. ~That was close... That was really, really close.~ I HAD left with the intention of something interesting happening, but.. I didn't know if this was the kind of interesting I want to face. My body shook slightly as I made the decision to dash towards the source of the howl.
As I approached the source, hesitation began to set in. And just as I decided to stop chasing sound, the same howl called again. From immediately behind me. My breath caught in my throat, my body going rigid. A thud. Another thud. In one very quick, very forced motion, I turned my head to witness a massive creature, a large, evil-looking white mask, and a hole straight through its body, walking towards me. One word rang throughout my head. "RUN." I attempted to move my legs. Nothing happened. I was entirely frozen. The thing kept walking, getting closer and closer. It howled again, but the how was cut off... quite literally, as a black blur shot past its mask, slicing it in half. Blood spewed from the wound before the creature dissolved into nothing. Where it once was, there now stood a small girl with black hair. She wore a pitch black kimono, and attached to her side was a scabbard, which she was sliding a blade into. My legs moved, finally. I fully turned my body around to face her. I took a few steps toward her, giving a small call over to her. "Hey... I don't know who you are, but you saved me... Thanks." As if she didn't even hear me, she dashed away, in the same black blur that slashed the creature previously. I blinked a few times, shaking my head. "What the hell... did I imagine that...?" A shaky glance at my cell phone dictated the time passed as only about fifteen minutes. I decided that that was more than enough excitement that I had bargained for, and returned home
Ms. Jan wasn't outside when I returned. I suppose she thought I wouldn't have been back so soon. I couldn't blame her. I walked right inside, stripped down to my undershirt and boxers, and went straight to bed. I was just gonna sleep that off like a really bad nightmare.
The next day was decidedly ordinary. I made a point to myself to be as ordinary as possible, so that people wouldn't notice that I was still physically shaken by the events of last night. As it turns out, I'm not good at forcefully being ordinary. The big guy, Yasutora Sado, picked up on my minute shaking and spacey demeanor, and questioned me. "Hey, Enigma. You don't look so good. Are you sick or something?" His sudden question noticeably jolted me out of my stupor.
"Wha- I, uh... No, no I'm.. I'm fine." Even though his hair covered his eyes, you could FEEL his eyebrow raising.
"Sure. Do you need me to escort you to the nurse?" He asked. I forced a fake laugh.
"Oh please, Chad, you should know by now that I'm a really bad day-dreamer." I said. He apparently believed this lie.
"Oh. Right. Well, if you do feel sick, let me know." He said soothingly. As per the norm.
"I will do that, big guy." I said, turning my attention to the front of the room as Ms. Ochi walked in, greeting the class as she normally does; cheerily, excitedly, and oh-so very ordinarily.
On the way home, Ichigo once again mentioned the had something to do, pulling out a couple of flowers from his bag. I decided today was the day I would learn everything about his to-do list. "Y'know, I've been meaning to ask. Who are those flowers always for, anyway?" I asked. Startled by the question, he awkwardly looked at me from the corner of his eye.
"Uh... a friend." He muttered.
"A giirrlfriend?" I asked, swooning. "Ichigo's got a girlfriend~" His fist met my face and I flopped over, twitching. "Oh come on, I'm not even Keigo..." I said, in pain.
"It's not a girlfriend. It's just a friend." He growled. I hopped up.
"Well, can I at least come with you to meet this friend of yours? The curiosity is burning a hole straight through my skull." He again looked at me awkwardly.
"You're not curious, you just want to call her my girlfriend."
"HAH so you ADMIT IT." I said triumphantly.
"...What?" He groaned. "If it'll prove to you that it's not a girlfriend, you can come."
"It'll prove to me that it is a girlfriend." I said, crossing my arms and nodding affirmatively. He grumbled as he began his walk down the 'I have something to do' path, as I named it.
"You're almost as bad as Keigo sometimes." He said.
"I know." I said cheerfully. After a few minutes' walk, we arrived at a cross in the path.
"Hey. Are you here? I brought you some more flowers." Ichigo said, seemingly to no one as he knelt down, placing them in a vase that was already there. As soon as they were firmly in place, a high-pitched shriek tore through the air, followed by a loud explosion. Ichigo's head snapped up. "That sounded like her!" In an instant, he was up off of his knee and dashing towards the source of the shriek. And then, I heard it again.
A single, piercing howl.
I froze again. Oh no, not again. As I contemplated running, a thought crossed my mind. What if Ichigo runs into it? My head snapped up and I dashed after him. "ICHIGO, WAIT! DON'T GO THAT WAY!" I yelled. When I caught up to him, he was knelt down, holding a small, translucent girl, staring down the road silently. People clamored and backed away as smoke funneled out of a hole in a building nearby. "Ichigo? What happened?" He shook his head.
"I-I dunno.." He shook his head, standing up and bringing the girl with him. "C'mon... let's get you back."
Back at the pole with the vase, Ichigo stopped with the small girl. "Oh! You brought more flowers!" She said happily. Ichigo nodded and smiled.
"I told I would, didn't I?" She looked up at him and nodded with an enthusiastic 'mhmm!'
"Hey, can that other guy see me?" She asked, looking at me and tilting her head. I nodded.
"Yep, I can see you." Ichigo looked at me quickly.
"W-Wait, you can?" He leaned back and rubbed the back of his head. "Man, I didn't want to bring you 'cause I thought you'd call me crazy when I told you I was giving flowers to a ghost." I shook my head.
"I can see them, just like you. Have you two been friends for long?" I asked. The girl smiled brightly.
"Yep! Mr. Ichigo's been coming to visit me for a few weeks now! He's super nice." Ichigo blushed slightly.
"Augh, c'mon, don't go saying that stuff around my friends."
I took a deep breath as I turned away from Ms. Jan after saying goodbye, and promised myself that tonight would be just like the rest of everything; ordinary. My target was the shopping district. As I neared the Kurosaki Clinic, another howl echoed through the skies. At this point, it stopped startling me. I simply scoffed at it and kept going. Another howl. Then another. They kept getting louder. Until eventually, a few thuds and a howl signified it was... well, right in front of me. It crossed my path, stopped, and turned its head, taking notice of me. This one stopped me dead in my tracks as well. The howls may have been fine... but the actual thing? I couldn't handle it. I stared up at it as it drew closer, my body half expecting the strange girl from last night to appear and attack it again. It drew closer. And closer. And closer. And its arm is drawing back. My body was voluntarily flung out of the way with a kick at the ground as it swiped by me, smashing through the stone fences that surrounded the path. It howled as I scrambled back to my feet, turned, and ran. Through my footsteps and panting, I could hear it thudding quickly behind me, keeping up with me. I turned down the street that Ichigo's clinic was on, and kept on running. The thuds turned the corner with me, but stopped, which was punctuated with a howl. I didn't stop to figure out why it stopped. Nights were now permanently unordinary, I thought. And I will never leave my house again past 5.
The next day was ordinary. I walked to school, went to class, and approached the crowd gathering around Ichigo's desk. "-o, didja clean it up yet?" Mizuiro asked.
"Of course not. I can't just clean it up like that." Ichigo responded.
"Need any help?" Chad asked helpfully. Ichigo turned and looked up at the towering student.
"Thaat's okay." He said awkwardly.
"Yeah, Chad. You'd probably end up bringing the whole house down." Keigo said up to him.
"Wait, what happened?" I asked.
"Oh, you didn't know? A truck crashed into Ichigo's clinic last night. It caused a crap-ton of damage." Keigo announced.
"...A truck? How, exactly?" I asked.
"...They drove the truck, okay." Ichigo said, pantomiming driving. "Into the side of my, and keep up with me here, into the side of my clinic." I glared at him. He grinned.
"You ass." I muttered.
"Uh, hello! You're Ichigo, aren't you?" A female voice asked. Everybody's head turned to the source. "I'll be sitting next to you from now on. My name is Rukia." Ichigo and I both gasped and jumped back, and loudly proclaimed her presence.
"WAUGH! I-IT'S YOU!" Ichigo yelled.
"HEY, IT'S THAT GIRL!" I yelled.
"What the... what's wrong with you two?" Keigo asked.
"I- She's the girl that- but how-" Each time I started a sentence I cut myself off. "HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?!" I asked finally, pointing at Ichigo wildly.
"I DON'T KNOW, HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?!" He screamed back.
"Guys, seriously, calm down. She's just the new transfer student. Maybe she looks like someone you know." Mizuiro said.
"That must be the case, because I've never met either of you before." She said calmly, opening her hand to Ichigo for a handshake. Written in the palm of her hand were the words "Make a scene and you're so dead." Ichigo frowned widely, backing up slightly with a scared grunt. I grunted as well, but out of sheer confusion.
After class, Ichigo grabbed Rukia and dragged her away. With my own questions to ask, I quickly followed him. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found them. "Oh, there you guys are. Hey!" I called out to them, running up to Ichigo.
"...I see." Rukia muttered, putting on a red glove and dashing towards Ichigo. She swung her gloved hand in a wide arc, catching my arm in the process of slamming her fist into Ichigo's chin, pushing... a different him, dressed in the same kimono as Rukia was two days ago, out of his body. A gigantic sword was on his back. His normal body flopped forward. My eyes grew wide as I watched the scene unfold. Ichigo's eyes did the same as he saw me standing there, and Rukia simply looked up at me in amazement. My right arm was entirely limp... but my right arm was also perfectly fine. I looked down, and to the right. Curved up was my arm, fully functional, with the arm of a black, silk robe covering the arm of a black kimono. Dangling limply... was my arm, covered only down to the elbow by a short sleeved white shirt. The silence was immensely thick. I looked up to Rukia, whose look of amazement had gone from minor, to a sense of immeasurable astonishment. Her gloved hand slowly lifted, and she stepped forward. "...Are you..." She muttered quietly, as her hand slipped through my chest... pushing a different me out of my body.
Author's Note: Here it is, the first chapter of Fujimi no Densetsu. I hope you all enjoy it. Reviews are welcome, and helpful criticism is accepted.