Obsession CH. 1 Encounter
The day was warm, not so unseasonably for the sleepy residents of the quiet street. It seemed nice here, the man reflected. Observing with some detachment the early morning routines of the people as if from a spyglass. Indeed his perspective was much different than that of an ordinary human. While a cheerful heavy-set landlady swept the front walk of the apartment complex, a small little boy was asking her in the manner of children if she would play with him.
The lady whom seemed a kindly sort and not apt to usually ignore the specimen of unkemptness that the child in rags presented; made no sign of hearing or anything of even seeing the boy. As all ordinary humans do, she moved on, finished with the task and went inside, paying the child nor he at his approach any concern.
"Hey..."
The boy was looking after the direction where the landlady had disappeared.
Not at all bothered by the lack of attention the spirit was showing, he dropped to a crouch, his mouth in a perpetual frown softened just the slightest when the child looked back at him. "I'll play with you."
(*~*)
Rukia couldn't believe she was late. The first day of the new semester and...she stopped dead in her tracks. She had forgotten her promise to that little boy...dammit. Tightening her fist around the black strap of the messenger bag she briefly considered running back to retrieve the plastic model airplane that had been her brother's. I promised..
A quick glance to the slim pink watch her friend Orihime had given her last month, showed the hands at 7:35. A few minutes. Swiftly she wheeled around and beat a hasty path to the narrow two-story apartment house much like any other that could be found in Karakura's residential side.
Within minutes, the petite dark-haired girl in a light gray uniform had reached the sidewalk again, the item she had gone back to retrieve tucked beneath her arm. She then went two half-blocks down and stopped, becoming stock-still at the scene before her.
The little boy-the spirit, Rukia knew and to whom she had promised the old toy to, was...clutching the larger hand of a tall man. Her gaze arrested at once by the stranger's crown of bright carroty hair then fell to his face and the gentle attention he was showing to the spirit's talkativeness.
He..can..see him?
This shook her to the core. Not once in her sixteen years had she ever encountered another, someone who could see and converse with ghosts as if they were any other material being. I'm not crazy. There's another-her mind fervently repeated what her eyes saw. But as relief washed over, relief regarding the knowledge that no matter what her brother had said nor the doctors he had made her see...something else.
Something strange, foreign. Contrary to what she felt moments before, boiled up.
Anger-Fear-Repulsion.
Almost physically she recoiled, flattening her slender frame against the wall when the little boy had started to turn toward the corner where she had been observing them.
No-No-don't see me-
Her fists balled against the brick exterior of the building. In the dim recesses of her consciousness she was very aware of how ridiculous the reaction had been to the stranger's eyes. They hadn't met, hers and his. She had merely seen the turn and motion of his body pivoting slowly to where the ghost had looked.
-let me go-
"Please." The word slipped from her numb lips. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her taut fists loosened. The ghost's quiet, tinny child's murmur reached her ears.
"I just saw her, the girl who plays with me sometimes! She's.."
The gray sidewalk and early sunshine slanting through the buildings onto the street faded.
-coming-he's coming-don't let...
Her body moved of its accord. She tore away from her hiding place, running until her lungs felt like they wanted to explode, her trembling legs refused to stop shaking. She had never felt such overwhelming fear, such irrational terror and danger from a mere stranger before.
That man...
At the gates to Karakura high, Orihime's cheerful greeting roused her.
Rukia glanced over her shoulder.
.who was he?
(*~*)
Someone was watching them. His senses tingled, his gaze turned down to the small child made it seem as though he wasn't aware of it. There...from the corner of his eye, he discerned movement. At the corner in the shadow of the building someone hid. Was it a Hollow? He quickly dismissed that thought. Any Hollow would've charged forward, eager to devour the earth-bound spirit whether or not a guardian Shinigami was present. One of Aizen's Espadas? It was likely one of the ten had been sent to report on the remaining Kuchiki clan forces and whether or not it was the right time to crush the survivors.
His countenance darkened. Ishida had gone missing after the last reincarnation, Matsumoto was in Tokyo searching for anyone who might've survived the massacre. It was unlikely..in his mind's eye the face of another floated before his consciousness. Bitterness raged behind his slightly scowling face.
The spirit tugged on his hand.
His reverie broken, he emerged from his memories hiding his anger behind a mask of geniality. "Hmm? What is it?"
"I just saw her, the girl who plays with me sometimes! She's over there!" The little boy said excitedly, pointing to the corner where he had glimpsed the slight figure.
A human who can see spirits? In the deepest part of his soul, something stirred like a silent calling. "Well, she must be shy then! Since she hasn't come out!" The ghost grinned and began to pull them toward the sidewalk. "She is! But she's also really nice! I think you'll like her, Ichi-nii!"
"I probably will." he smiled faintly at the ghost's eagerness. His eyes snapping up to catch the dart of the person's shadow. Running. His vision swam and the sunlight became darkness. Trees. A house in the forest. And running. Always running. In the background he heard the disappointment in the ghost child's voice.
"She's not here."
His eye was drawn to an item-a child's toy. Rather battered and beaten, the red airplane lay on its side on the pavement as if cast-off, or dropped. Sliding free his hand from the boy's, he knelt down, reaching for it.
Fear lanced through him like a knife. His fingertips recoiled from the battered wing tip. The emotion pulsed in his head, swelling until his lungs were constricted. Run-Run away-Far-faraway. His amber eyes shot open. "..faraway where he'll never find me." His lips formed the words, the feeling fading.
"I-I have to go." he rose steadily, composure hiding the turmoil within.
"Okay.. "
He took a step forward, insensible to the ghost's sad look.
"I'll see you again, won't I?" the ghost's tone brightened.
Barely hearing it, he replied off-handedly, "yeah, sure."
You cannot escape me-
-Kuchiki-sama-
-this time...you will be mine.
~To be continued~
Disclaimer: don't own Bleach
AN: *.* thanks for reading.
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Reviews appreciated! ^^