One day, around late afternoon, an unusual young woman entered Kurakaratowne . "Well, now that I'm here, I'm not sure exactly what to do," she mused as she wandered about. "I suppose I should try to find someone who can help me make heads or tails of this place. They told me it would be strange…I guess they were right when they said this isn't something one can prepare for."
Rukia, as well as a few others noticed her arrival. It was difficult not to, since her raietsu was so different from anything they'd felt before, let alone the ambient spiritual pressure of the city itself. The energy didn't feel particularly menacing, like that of a hollow, so they were at Urahara's shop when she finally decided to check her phone to see if she could figure out what it was.
When she did, the shopkeeper chuckled. "Does it say anything?" he asked knowingly.
She frowned deeply. "No. Doesn't even see it."
"I didn't think it would. It's not designed for that," he informed.
"What do you mean? It's supposed to be able to at least pick up a trace of something with that much raietsu." She smacked it a couple of times to no avail.
"You wanna go check it out?" Ichigo proposed offhandedly as he finished his cup of tea.
"If you're that worried, it might be worth the time to check it out," Ishida added.
Orihime frowned a little at that. "I don't think it's anything to worry about."
Her comment made the shopkeeper smile because he knew she was right. However, he also knew that some of her friends couldn't leave well enough alone.
A little while later, while his young guests were still debating whether to go check out the strange energy, Yuroichi stopped by. When she heard what they were talking about, she decided to chime in. "I was going to go greet her. It's been a long time since I've meet someone like her. Maybe I can bring her back?" she offered.
"She?" Rukia gave a look of disbelief. She wasn't even sure what kind of creature it was and this woman knew that and its gender.
"Well, I caught a glimpse of her when she arrived but she was so caught up in what she was doing that I thought I'd leave her to it."
"What is she?" Rukia asked. "My phone doesn't even see her," she complained.
Yuroichi appeared pensive for a moment, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell the young soul reaper. "Have you ever heard the stories about Rainbow Warriors?" she asked carefully.
"Yeah, used to hear'em all the time when we were kids," Renji chimed it. "But they're just stories. Rainbow Warriors aren't real."
Orihime was especially intrigued by this title and immediately asked for more. "What's a Rainbow Warrior?"
"I took a folk-studies class at the academy," Rukia informed as she tried to remember what she'd learned all those years ago. "They live in nomadic tribes that roam the less developed regions of soul society. They don't believe in fighting hollows, even keep them as pets sometimes," she slowly recalled.
Yuroichi laughed. "It's good to know the old stories are still going around."
"Are you trying to say she's one of those Rainbow Warriors?" Renji asked incredulously.
"Not like you've heard of them, but yes," the dark woman confidently nodded.
"It's why she doesn't show up on your radar," her old friend added.
"If she's a warrior, perhaps we should go check it out," Ichigo proposed. He was tired of talk and wanted some action.
"I'm gunna go talk to her. Kisuke, would you mind if she wanted to come back here?" she asked again.
"Sure. I rather like her ilk. They've always fascinated me."
"Thanks. I doubt she has arrangements." She turned to leave but turned back to add, "Perhaps you could tell a few stories while I'm gone."
"So, what's the deal?" Ichigo anxiously pressed.
"Yeah!" Renji added emphatically.
Kisuke rolled his eyes beneath the brim of his hat. "Let's see. Rukia-chan's assessment is accurate, if lacking in substance so I guess I'll go from there. Rainbow Warriors are semi-nomadic and their practices are what one might consider shamanic, druidic, or bardic in nature, depending upon the individual or the tribe."
Renji laughed as he remembered the stories he'd heard as a kid. "Tell'em about the part where they were thrown out of the soul society." That had been one of his youthful favorites.
Kisuke's brow furrowed, another gesture that went unnoticed under the brim of his bucket hat. "They shun the soul society because of their attitudes toward hollows. It is my understanding that if at all possible, they do not harm hollows. As far as keeping them as pets, that is an over-simplified and dumb-down version of what they practice. They consider Heuco Mundo and the creatures from it to be just as natural and deserving of respect as anything from either of the other two words."
"I've never met a hollow who deserved respect," Ichigo nearly spat.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Renji agreed and Rukia was quick to nod in agreement.
Ishida even agreed, with a sigh of resignation. "They don't even deserve to be cleansed, but that's another issue entirely."
"I knew you'd say that, but you three are Soul Reapers and you're a Quincy. From what little literature there is on them, I think it's safe to say that you don't have the instinct for mutual respect that the rainbow warriors are said to have. According to them, hollows are reactive, not proactive and with that in mind, they are said to be able to 'handle' hollows to a certain extent."
"Who would want to handle a hollow? That's just insane," Renji scoffed.
The shopkeeper knew that if anyone would remain unswayed by his favorable painting of the supposedly mythical people, it would be the suborn redhead. "They aren't insane. They're pacifists. They don't believe in fighting the hollows."
"Then what do they do with them? I mean, I don't think I've ever seen anyone reason with a hollow, even the arancar are too crazy to talk to," Ichigo pointed out.
"That's part of the mystery, one of their best kept secrets."
"HA!" Renji laughed. "That's 'cause they're not real. From what I heard, even if people like that did exist, they were driven out of Soul Society because they tried to convince people to not fight hollows."
"Well, perhaps after our guest gets comfortable, we can ask her about it. Maybe she can clear a few things up for us?" Kisuke offered, unwilling to continue his explanation if he was going to keep getting interrupted by someone who already had their mind made up.
Yuroichi returned sometime later with the woman in question. They stopped just outside the door for her to gather her bearings. "Before we go in. I wanted to thank you. I was told before my coming to this world that it is customary to seek out others from the soul realm for help getting along in the living realm. I was also told that it would probably be difficult to find someone willing to give me pointers, so I can't say how happy I am that you wanted to see me." She gave a small bow of appreciation.
"Well, as I said, the pleasure is really all mine. I was just telling Kisuke that I haven't met anyone like you in a very long time. I'm sure we have just as many questions as you do."
The woman gave a small, sheepish smile. "I'm surprised you've met one of us before. At least, and know about it." She paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself while getting a feel for who was inside. "Full house tonight, huh?" she gave a nervous laugh.
"They're good people, even if some of they aren't the best at first impressions. Now come on. Let's not keep'em waiting. There's a couple of people in there who don't think you can exist."
They didn't knock. Yuroichi never knocked and because of this, the woman would have difficulty with when it was and wasn't appropriate to knock.
"Okay," Yuroichi began when she appeared with the woman in the doorway to the tea room. "The cutie in the hat is Kisuke, then we have Orihime, Ichigo, Chad, Ishida, Rukia, and Renji," she pointed as she went around the table. "And it looks like they forgot to set places for us so you have a seat and I'll be right back." She disappeared in the direction of the kitchen to get settings for them.
"Here, have a seat," Kisuke motioned, reluctantly moving closer to Renji so that she could sit between him and the kind young girl to his right.
As she did, they got a good look at her. She had black hair that was tied up in messy pigtails piled on her head; it appeared to be rather long, but it was difficult to tell with the way it was done up. She wore a nervous smile that was reflected in her rusty eyes as much as the curve of her lips. There were a couple of little markings on her face, arms, and hands, the meaning of which could not be deciphered by the common eye, with the exception of one. On her right forearm there were seven parallel horizontal lines, each a different color of the rainbow. Her clothes were a simple t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sturdy boots and she couldn't have stood more than five and half feet tall. "Thank you for having me."
"It's my pleasure," Kisuke gave possibly the most respectful nod that any of them had ever seen.
"I don't know if you're aware but I was actually looking for people like yourselves."
"Why's that?" Renji gruffly inquired.
She seemed unfazed by his gruffness. "Because this world changes so quickly compared to my own that we have trouble keeping track of it. I need some pointers for how to get on," she replied.
That struck a particular chord with Renji and Rukia because they went through a similar transition period and weren't really warned about certain nuances that would have been nice to know about before hand, like coffee and juice boxes for instance. This sudden feeling took them a little aback.
With that Yuroichi was back and after giving their guest her setting, squeezed in between Kisuke and Renji.
"So, do you have a name?" Ichigo suddenly asked.
She blushed a little, "Well…I…" she stammered.
"What? Are you not supposed to tell us or something?" Renji rudely surmised.
She appeared extremely offended by that comment but managed to brush it aside. "I haven't chosen a name for myself yet," she admitted.
"You don't have a name?" Rukia blinked a little stunned.
"I suppose I do have a name…I just haven't found it yet," she replied optimistically.
"Then what are we supposed to call you?" Renji all but demanded.
She shrugged. "I dunno." Then she had a thought. "You knew I was coming here. Did you talk about me? What did you call me?" she asked hopefully.
They thought for a moment before Ishida replied, "We simply referred to you as the Rainbow Warrior because that's what Yuroichi called you."
She frowned a little at that but it didn't last because the woman who brought her here apologized.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to give them an idea of who you were."
She gave a nod of understanding. "I guess it's good that those stories are still being told but my people are not warriors." She almost laughed at the notion. "That's just what the reapers call us because they don't know any better."
"What would you like to be called?" Renji asked rudely.
"We're more like Rainbow Spirits, it carries much less baggage than that warrior business," she dismissed. When she saw that the two soul reapers actually from the Soul Society still appeared displeased, she added. "But we do recognize that the title of warrior means quite a lot to your people and so feel a certain amount of honor in that regard."
"Honor?" Renji repeated incredulously.
"Watch your tongue Abari," Yuroichi elbowed him hard enough to knock the wind out of him. "So what brings you to this world?" Yuroichi eagerly pressed.
"I brought myself," she replied proudly.
They laughed a little at her misunderstanding while Kisuke amended, "That's a figure of speech. She wants to know why you came here."
"Oh, yes of course. I was told the idioms would be one of the hardest thing to get a handle on. It's customary for my people to become restless from time to time and set out to live a different life for a while before returning to their people. It can be a most enjoyable or even enlightening experience…from what I've heard."
"That sounds wonderful," Orihime marveled. She had often thought about what that would be like.
"I hope it is," she gave the young girl a smile that spoke volumes of her hope.
"How did you get here?" Rukia couldn't help asking.
"Easy, I just pulled back the curtain," She shrugged.
"Curtain?" she repeated.
"Yeah. Hollows tear the fabric of space, Reapers sneak through tunnels and open doors, Humans simply stumble from one realm to another and Rainbow Spirits pull back the curtain."
"I though you people were all secretive. Should you even be telling us this?" Renji asked suspiciously.
She shrugged again, a habit that was getting on the redhead's nerves. "I don't think it matters. I don't exist remember?" she gave a cheeky wink.
"Maybe you shouldn't exist," he proposed. He wasn't sure why, but her presence grated on him.
"You mean that all the spirits should have been purged as they are in the tales? You do realize you're talking about genocide, right?" she defended.
"That's not the same," he tried to counter but will little effect.
"Abarai," Kisuke said in a warning voice.
"This is too heavy of conversation for a first meeting. My people have a saying, 'Friend or foe, no matter, should be met on good terms'," she roughly translated.
"That doesn't make any sense," Ichigo dismissed and only receive an impish grin in response.
"Do you have a place to stay the night?" Kisuke asked.
"Not really," she admitted.
"It just happens that I have an extra room."
"Oh, I couldn't impose like that. Simply getting your advice is more than I could ask for."
"I insist." He continued to press.
"He has a saying," Yuroichi began, "Never let a pretty girl leave without a place to go," she teased.
"Okay, then," she agreed.
They talked for a while longer before Renji finally got up and left, Followed quickly by Rukia, who wanted to make sure to scold him for being so rude.
"You didn't have to talk to her like that," she started in on him.
"She was just as rude. You heard the way she said Reapers, like it was bitter on her tongue."
"Your tone toward her wasn't any better."
"There's just something weird about people who don't think hollows are the enemy."
Rukia shrugged. "Yeah. I got that feeling too but you can't judge a person on one fact."
The others that remained were more curious about her than offended but when they realized that it was getting a little too late even for their curiosity, the remaining high schoolers also took their leave.
"Well, that was interesting," Ichigo said as they walked away from the shop.
"To say the least," Ishida agreed.
"I never imagined there would be people who thought about hollows like that," the orange-haired young man added.
"It takes all kinds, I guess, " Chad conceded.
"She seemed nice enough to me," Orihime managed to add.
"I'm very sorry for Abarai's rudeness," Yuroichi said after the others had left.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I was warned before I came here that spirits like mine were banished because our ideas were dangerous to their way of life. His reaction was perfectly natural. Besides, I'm not here to change minds."
The older pair liked her answer and showed her to her room.
~Chap fin