My feet shifted as I waited for the bus to stop. After a few moments the doors slid open and I made my way to the front of the bus. Luckily there wasn't many people here today. I stepped out into the open, but freezing air.
I was sent on a mission from the Soul Society to eradicate hollows in the small town called Karakura. The previous shinigami was taking a vacation break. Looking at this small and peaceful town made me realize that he might as well have been on "vacation" all the time. I'm sure nothing interesting happens here.
The bus drove off leaving a trail of smoke behind it. Ah, that's right. I grabbed my bag and dug through it, looking for the small scrap of paper. ...There! It was crumpled up, despite it's importance. I unfolded it and looked at the address.
"That's not too far from here, right?" I mumbled under my breath. Tugging on my scarf, I starting walking in the direction I hoped would be my destination.
I stopped in my tracks and glanced down at the note in my hand. I guess this is it. I slowly examined the building in front of me. It looked like an old, run down shop. The sign said Urahara Shoten. So, I'm assuming Urahara owns this place. I walked up to the door and knocked.
It wasn't long before I heard noise behind the door. I could make out talking but couldn't quite tell who it was. Then there was a loud bang and some shuffling. I stood there for a moment, considering my options. Maybe I should just go in. But wait... What if it's being robbed?! Certainly no one would be dumb enough to rob a dump like this, right?
The door flew open and much to my surprise I was met with a pair of small, dark eyes.
"And just who are you?!" the voice grumbled. I instinctively jumped back, putting some distance from the scary person, or whatever this was. Light filtered in the doorway, revealing the intimidating presence to be a small child with red hair.
He looked me up and down with a suspicious look, but when he caught my eye, his face turned as red as his hair.
"Uh, um... You're Mystery, right? He's, uh, he's been waiting for you. C'mon in," he stammered, hiding his face from my view. I straightened myself and carefully walked in.
A young girl was standing inside and she greeted me with a small "Welcome". I glanced around the shop, studying my surroundings. Shelves of candy and odd knick-knacks lined the walls. Just what kind of shop is this?
"Ah, you finally made it!" I heard a voice from the back of the shop. A man in a black yukata, a green and white striped hat, and clogs waved at me. A big grin was stretched over his face, the rest of it was concealed by the shadow of his hat.
"Are you Urahara?" I asked.
He walked towards me, the sound of his clogs echoed around the room. He stopped in front of me and took his hat off and bowed. "The one and only."
He quickly put his hat back on before I had the chance to see his face.
"Urahara, I've come here as the new shinigami watching over this area. A friend of mine said I could get all my supplies here." I handed him the note.
He looked it over and his mouth turned up slightly. "Ah, yes. I've heard of you. You're the talk of the Soul Society aren't you?"
"Huh?" I felt my face redden. "I-I'm nothing special, really."
"Nonsense!" Urahara took out a fan and pointed it at me. "You're more than special! It's unheard of for a human to be accepted into the academy!"
"Well, I'm not a normal human..." I trailed off.
"Let's get you ready then, shall we?" he hummed, walking to the back of the shop. He walked through a door in the back.
"R-right." I followed him.
"And this is a Soul Pager. It will tell you when a hollow is near." Urahara said, handing a small flip phone to me. I opened it up, the screen flickering to life. It showed the time and date. It looked like a normal phone to me. But Matsumoto said to trust him, and that he knows what he's doing. I dropped the "soul pager" into my bag. It fell on top of the other things he'd given me like the Soul Candy dispenser (which looked like a Pez dispenser, if I'm being honest) and a red glove with a unique design on it; just one glove. Where the other one is, I'll never know. The list could go on, but I wasn't really sure what half of this was. He tried explaining it, but I didn't get any of it. I just nodded.
"Well, that should be it, since you aren't in need of a gigai."
"Oh!" I exclaimed. I had heard that term used before. I still wasn't quite sure what it was.
Urahara seemed to notice that I was lost in thought, trying to recall what a gigai was used for. He cleared his throat and spoke, "You see, you're a human. People are able to see you because you have a physical body. Shinigami don't have physical bodies, hence why they use gigai. A gigai is the shinigami's way of interacting with this world. They're able to use it to converse and interact with the living here without having to worry about being detected as a spirit. However, most shinigami have to do a bit of research on the ways of life here, since it's very different from the lifestyle in the seritei." He smiled, "You shouldn't have any problem blending in, huh?"
I nodded. Even though my memories of my past were gone, my habits are still there. I remember several shinigami remarking about my way of speech. Apparently I'm still more human than I thought.
"But there's just one problem," I looked down at the ground. "I don't have anywhere to stay. I could travel back and forth from the Soul Society to the human world but it's really stressful and exhausting." My mind flew back to the long run here. A long tunnel connecting the two worlds. It seemed to take me forever to reach the other end, and on top of that it ended up dropping me off 30 feet in the air! Luckily, I have inhuman reflexes, though that may be thanks to all my training in the academy.
"You don't need to do that. I've already planned ahead. You have a place to stay." He handed me a note as well as an envelope with a name I couldn't read written on it.
"Go to the address listed. I'm sure you'd like staying there better than you would here." Urahara chuckled. I could hear a loud sigh behind the door. "Besides, Jinta and Ururu are enough of a handful as is." The sound of scrambling feet could be heard by whom I assumed to be Jinta and Ururu, the two kids that greeted me earlier. And I say greeted lightly.
"Well, thank you for all your help Urahara." I smiled, standing up from the table.
Urahara stood up as well. "Stop by anytime!" he said, waving his fan in front of his face.
The air had become colder since the sun was setting. I wrapped my scarf around me, covering my mouth. I looked at the paper Urahara had given me. The only thing written here is the address. I don't even know where I'm going. I'll have to ask someone where this is. I sighed. I hated asking for directions. I seem to forget them so easily.
I stopped at a gas station and asked the clerk if he knew where the address was.
"Ah, the clinic. Go up about two streets, take a left, and..." the clerk rambled on. I had already drowned him out by my own thoughts. A clinic? I was staying at a clinic? I'm not sick!
I mean sure, I was glad Urahara had found a place for me to stay, but this is a little overboard. The clerk stopped and said, "Maybe this will be easier." He gave me a map of the town and drew two circles on it.
"This is where you are right now, and this is the clinic." he explained, pointing to one circle then the other. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks!" I picked up the map.
The clerk nodded with a smile. "I'm glad I could help."
I carefully examined the map. It seemed like a little ways away. A long walk. I doubt I'd make it before dark. Hmm... There's a place on the map that I could probably cut some time off if I just went in a straight line. Sure, I wouldn't be following the roads, that'd probably be safer, but it'd be safer to get to my destination before dark. I expected the hollows would become more active then. I wanted to make sure I was well prepared.
I tucked the map in my coat pocket and pulled my bag over my head, making it easier to run. I started off in the direction of the clinic, jogging until I knew I was out of sight of any people. I started sprinting through the area of trees. Not only could I land from high areas without getting hurt, but I could run at blinding speeds as well. I believe the shinigami called this "flash step".
My reflexes allowed me to dodge the trees with ease, however the stray branches caught at my hair, pulling it and breaking off into my curls. I winced, coming to a stop. I pulled my hair back and tucked it into my coat and pulled up the hood. I should've done this in the first place.
I starting running again, this time not holding back. I was nearing the road again, but I barely slowed. Even if someone saw me they wouldn't be able to see my face. I finally saw a clearing in the trees. I leapt through-
BAM! I had collided with something. I hit the ground hard. What? I didn't see any trees, it was clear! I shouldn't have hit anything!I lifted myself up into a sitting position and looked for what I had hit.
I couple of feet away a man was rubbing his head, his bright orange hair almost matching the sunset. He grumbled, grabbing his bag that had fallen on the ground next to him. Upon closer inspection, he looked to be a high school student. He was still wearing his uniform, and I guessed the bag was his book bag.
"What the hell was that?" he said. His eyes followed the distance between us until they locked with mine. His stare was a bit intense and I found myself blushing.
"Huh? Oh! Are you okay?" He quickly jumped up and ran over to me. He put his hand out to help me up.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled, wondering how he could even stand up right now. I reached out and grabbed his hand. Without much effort, he pulled me up. Although he had looked tall I was able to tell exactly how tall he was now, standing next to him. Even though I'm about average for my height, I felt a little short in comparison to him. I had to crane my neck a little to see his face. I'd say the top of my head probably reached his nose.
"Ah, that's good. You must've been in some hurry to be running that fast. Is everything okay?" he questioned. Despite his demeanor, his voice was quite friendly. He actually seemed a little worried about me.
"Yeah, I was just trying to get home before dark." I said rubbing the back of my head.
"Oh, so you live close by?" I nodded. "Would you want me to walk you home?"
I froze. "Uh, um, no. I'll be okay, don't worry about it. Thanks for the offer, though!" I quickly walked off, leaving him standing there. I could hear his feet shuffle on the ground in which I assumed was him turning around. I thought I heard him say something, but I kept walking.
I didn't bother to look back as I rounded a corner of a building. I leaned up against it, breathing heavily. I wasn't used to talking to so many strangers in one day. Except for the first day I could remember, but then it wasn't possible for me to know anyone, was it?
The whole encounter seemed odd to me. But why? It was simply a high school student heading home after school. But why was he out this late? Maybe he had some extracurricular activities? Or maybe detention? I shook my head. Why does it matter? I need to get to the clinic.
I realized that I had forgotten the direction I was headed in. I reached into my pocket... It's not there! I must've dropped it when I ran into that guy!
"Crap," I whispered. I peered around the corner. The orange haired guy wasn't there. I dashed out to where we had collided, scanning the ground around me. Nothing.
Of course, it was just a piece of paper, it could've blown away in the wind, right? I looked around me. Nothing but the trees and the river. Wait... I ran over to the edge of the river and looked. I didn't see it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't already washed downstream or disintegrated!
I felt my heart drop. I guess I'll have to ask someone else. It was already dark now so the stores would be closing soon. I hurried down the road.
Shivering, I stepped up to the door of the clinic. I tried knocking on the other door, but there wasn't an answer. I guess the clinic was closed now. I had found another door off to the side. It made me think that this wasn't just a clinic. The people that own it must live here.
After all the trouble it took to get here, including trying to ask a foreigner for directions, I wasn't going to back down now. I placed my fist to the door and knocked. Unlike Urahara's shop, I couldn't hear anything behind the door.
I waited for a while, watching my breath hit the cold air. I couldn't feel my nose anymore. I was just about to turn to walk away when the door opened. A middle aged man was standing there, his eyes wide. I noticed he had an apron on.
"Um, excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you," I sifted through my bag and pulled out the envelope Urahara had given me. "Urahara sent me here."
I handed him the note. He tore it open and pulled out the letter inside. As he was reading over it I could almost detect a hint of shock on his face.
"Ah, I see. Well, welcome to the Kurosaki home!" he greeted me with a warm, goofy smile. He motioned for me to come in. I walked in, taking in my surroundings. A small kitchen was connected to a living room, the TV going on about the weather. A little girl with blond hair was busy cooking and another little girl was sitting at the table eating a bowl of rice. The smell of curry and rice made my mouth water.
"Oh, who's this? Ichigo's girlfriend?" the girl at the table mused.
The other girl gasped and quickly turned around. "I didn't know he had a girlfriend!"
"Sorry, I'm not dating, um, whoever this Ichigo person is." I said, slightly embarrassed. "My name's Mystery and I'll be staying with you a while, if that's okay?" I turned to the man who opened the door. He nodded.
"We should introduce ourselves properly!" he said, rushing over to the two girls.
They seemed to get in some kind of strange formation, except the girl eating dinner. She just kept eating.
"I'm Yuzu!" the blond hair girl chimed. She pointed over to the other girl at the table.
She sighed and said, "I'm Kairin."
The man who greeted me grinned and yelled, "And I'm Isshin!"
"And we're the Kurosaki family!" Yuzu and Isshin bellowed. Kairin took another bite of rice.
"There's actually one more person, but he's in his room right now. It's our older brother Ichigo." Yuzu said, setting down two plates at the table.
"That's right," Isshin seemed to come to the realization of the missing family member. "ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he roared, causing me to flinch. This is one lively family.
"WHAT?" I heard a voice yell from upstairs.
"Get down here and greet our guest!" Isshin ordered.
I heard footsteps walking around, then heard them coming down the stairs.
"What are you talking-" the source of the voice stopped on the bottom step. A familiar flash of orange invaded my senses. "I-it's you!" he stammered.
"You two know each other?" Isshin asked.
"So she is his girlfriend." Kairin blatantly said, setting her finished bowl of rice down and walked out of the room.