Forbidden Fruit – Chapter 1
(A/N: This is my first attempt as a Bleach fanfic. Wow, I've been a fan of the anime for so long but I could never think of a good fanfic to write for it. Anyway, Chad is my favorite character and there's barely any good Chad/OC stories, so I decided to write my own. Enjoy!)
I had no idea today would be anything but ordinary. I wake up early enough to get ready for school, prepare lunch for myself and then I head off to school. Nothing abnormal at all.
It wasn't until after I had parted with my friends and went on my way home was when my life would change.
I felt the presence of a hollow not too far from where I was walking. Not that hollows appearing in the world of the living is an everyday thing, but it's not surprising when I find one roaming around.
The hollow was down an alley in a secluded enough area that I doubt anyone will notice me. The hollow wasn't that big and it didn't seem that powerful, so a single hit from El Directo should do the job.
The hollow growled at me, but it didn't faze me that much because I've done this many times before. This is such a normal thing for my friends and I. I bet Ichigo can sense the hollow now and is probably on his way now.
I readied my stance for attack and let Brazo Derecho el Gigante cover my right arm. I built up my spiritual energy and right before as I was about to attack, I heard a voice.
"Hey!"
I was completely off guard, thinking it was a regular civilian. I turned my head slightly over my shoulder and saw it was a girl, no, a woman. She stood at the end of the alley with a concerned look on her face. She was cute. Her hair was long and black. Her skin, tan and glowing, at least it looked as if it was glowing, like she was an angel.
"Yo, look out!" she shouted. I had forgot about the hollow and before I could react, I felt it hit me. I flew against the brick wall and hit my head against it.
Before I blacked out, I felt that woman's spiritual pressure.
When I had woke up, my head was hurting slightly. I opened my eyes and I saw I was in a room. I didn't recognize it at all. It had a feminine touch to it. I noticed the bed was like a regular mattress but it was low to the ground. It wasn't very big, either. My feet were practically hanging off the end. Now that I observed the room more, it almost resembled my room, but I knew it wasn't. Was I in that woman's house?
This reminded me about what had happened to me. Who was that woman? Was she a soul reaper? I felt her spirit energy but she didn't have the usual soul reaper attire. Was she a substitute like Ichigo?
I heard footsteps coming. I was on full alert because I had no idea where I was nor who else was here with me. I sat up, but my side was killing me. I noticed my school uniform, except for my pants, where removed and my abdomen was wrapped in bandages and so was around the top of my head.
The door opened and it was that same woman I saw in the alley. She held a tray with a teapot and a cup.
"Hey, you shouldn't be moving that much!" She walked over to me. I sat, staring at her. I got a better look at her. Her eyes were a light brown and she had an adorable beauty mark on her chin. Her hair was braided to the side now but she also had loose hairs that hung down to her face.
"Well, the good thing is that you're awake." She said, kneeling down beside me. She placed the tray of, what smelled like, tea to the side. "With how hard you hit your head, I wasn't sure how bad the damage was."
I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.
"So, do you have a name?" she asked.
"Yasutora Sado."
"Oh, that's an interesting name." She responded with a soft smile. I felt a strange feeling in my chest that I couldn't describe. She was cute. I had a usual reaction to cute things, but not like this…
"My friends call me Chad, though." I said, calmly.
"Why? I like Sado better." She giggled. I felt my muscles tense when she did.
I didn't answer her question. I instead asked her, "What about yours?"
"Well, I'm Yomei Koji, but you can call me Mei." She smiled again.
I didn't say anything. I looked down so my hair covered my eyes. I wanted to ask her about that spiritual pressure I felt, but
"Well now that we've been properly introduced, I can give you this." She poured some tea into the cup and handed it to me. "It's tea mixed with medicine. It'll speed up the healing process."
I was hesitant to take something from a complete stranger, but I didn't sense anything bad from her. She did bring me all the way to her home and save me from possibly dying. I see no reason not to trust her. I took the cup and sipped it. It didn't taste too bad.
"I know it won't taste the best because the medicine by itself tastes awful," she explained. "But with the tea it takes some of that gross taste off."
"I see," is all I said.
Then it was silent. I didn't mind it because of my quiet nature, but I could tell she was uncomfortable by the way she played with her hair.
She finally spoke up and said, "You're injuries aren't too life threatening, but it'll be painful too painful to move for a few days."
I didn't say anything again.
"You have a really bad bruise on your side and there's a lump on your head where you hit it." She continued.
"How long?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know your body that well, but it all depends on how fast your body heals to the point where you can tolerate the pain to move."
It's only the middle of the week. If I don't show up to school for the rest of the week, my friends will worry.
"I would recommend you stay here and heal." Yomei said.
I looked at her, "Where will you sleep?"
"Don't worry about me," she smiled. "I'm not the injured one here."
I began to become suspicious. "Why are you doing this?"
She laughed. "Because I couldn't leave an unconscious body in the middle of an alley." She playfully poked my cheek.
Something wasn't right.
Yomei got up, "Well, I'm going to make some dinner." She walked halfway out the door and said, "This is the first time I've ever made dinner for two."
I couldn't let this slide. There was something strange about her.
"Yomei," I said before she closed the door.
"Yes?"
I hesitated. "Are you a soul reaper?"
It was quiet. She didn't really give a response, but then she furrowed her eyebrows, tilted her head and asked, "What's that?