Calligraphy upon your Heart
Hello strangers :) In case you didn't know I am not Tite Kubo and I am not your mom either (for all you smart alecs out there). If I was either I would not be on here.
I wrote this story out of pure desperation to save my summer from being lame, because I don't have Phineas or Ferb for a brother and plus my friend said she enjoyed my writing and suggested we should- wait why am I telling you guys? ;) You came here for this story or maybe you're a creeper, but anyways you're here so read it!
Sayonara tomodachi. Sorry if I came across harsh, but I'm tired of trollers and they can kick rocks for all I care. Please rate and whatever. Oh! And tell me something funny you might have heard or read somewhere. I enjoy laughing a lot and I grow bored easily. TTYL...
OTONEI's Point of View
Dropping to one knee, I wrapped my arms around my stomach and leaned heavily against the thin room door. A soft whimper escaped through my throat, but I quickly choked it back and attempted to drag myself across the floor.
Let me help you Otonei, my zanpaktou whispered in my head. A shimmer went through the air and suddenly I was being lifted by a strong pair of arms.
"Thanks Kote-" I covered my mouth with my hands as I coughed, afraid to let Kotesku see the blood that trickled through my fingers and stained my fingernails crimson. "Thank you." I managed to croak.
"How badly are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." I buried my face into his clothes. "I'm tired; can you put me on my mat?" Maybe if I distracted him from the blood he wouldn't notice anything. He covered the distance to the low mat with 3 long strides and folded his legs under him.
"You're a really crappy liar Otonei. Always have and always will be." He snorted humorlessly. I curled my fingers around the fabric of his clothes, but he pried them off without taking a second glance at their red hue.
"Don't." I almost sobbed.
"I have to Nei," Kotesku gingerly pulled my blood soaked uniform to the side, revealing a deep gash running from the base of my ribs and then disappearing into the shadows of my uniform. I felt his body tense and his breath came out in angry hisses. "Otonei, why didn't you tell me?" All the words I had planned to say leaked out of my mind and I was left with the raging thought of my zanpaktou deserting me just like my parents did. As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, he folded the sticky mess back into place and closed his stormy gray eyes.
"I," My voice faltered at the thought of disappointing the person I loved the most. "Don't be mad, I just wanted you to relax and-" I coughed violently into my elbow before continuing. "Not to worry about me anymore. I feel like I'm always dropping the world on your shoulders and I finally decided… decided that I would take responsibility of myself and carry my own burdens."
"Nice speech but I don't think this is your choice." Kotesku cracked a wan smile as he brushed the blood streaked hair behind my ear. Rising in one fluid motion, he cradled me to his chest like a mother would a child and stepped out into the dark night.
"Hey you!" A sharp voice cut the peaceful air and I turned in time to see Renji flash-stepping our way. "Otonei? Who is this and why are you out so late? Didn't you hear that there have been menos sightings in the seiretei?"
"I was just on my way to squad 4, but I don't think it's necessary for me-" I broke off into a coughing fit and the thick blood trickled through my fingers. I tilted my head to get a good look at Kotesku's ashen face as he mastered the emotions flitting across his features. Renji's face went white then he motioned for us to follow him.
"Like she said, she's on her way to squad 4 to get some medical attention; I don't have time to waste."
"Follow me, Isane was sent to heal other injuries but it looks like you might want Unohana." Renji flashed down the hall, waiting to see if we would follow.
"I hope for his sake and yours that she is truly there," My zanpaktou growled before stepping lightly after the flickering form of the Lieutenant.
"Who's that?" My mind struggled to swim into a conscious state, but I just couldn't manage to open my eyes farther than a squint. Hushed whispers floated on wings of doubt through the unfamiliar squad 4 recovery room. In an attempt to raise my head, small hands pressed my shoulders back and a little girl's head appeared in my line of vision.
"Don't get up, you're not well." Her voice jarred something in my memory and I searched my mind for something that would help me remember this unusual child.
"Um, Miss. Otonei?" Hanataro's voice snapped me out of my reverie and I turned to see his concerned gaze watching me.
"Hello Hanataro," His eyes flicked nervously from the little girl who was swinging her tiny legs over the side of the raised bed. The back of my neck prickled with the weight of the hostile gazes being bored into my head.
"How are you feeling?" He returned his gaze back to me as he checked my pulse and gently prodded my stomach. "That was a pretty nasty cut you had there earlier, good thing Captain Unohana wasn't too busy." He smiled warmly and I realized the room was dead quiet. Running my hand where the used to be daggers of brought a timid smile to my face. There was nothing there to tell of the ambush that had taken place the day before.
"What time is it?" I glanced around the room at the fearful and hostile looks shot my way.
"About 9. Why?" Hanataro asked to an empty bed. I lost the rest of his question as I flashed out of the room. Standing in the hallway, I held my breath and looked back to see if the child was still fallowing me. Her glossy brown hair framed her face, making it hard to guess her true age.
"Otonei?" A chill ran down my spine and I turned slowly to look into the unyielding eyes of my captain: Byakuya Kuchiki. His gray/purple gaze flicked momentarily to the girl before they settled back on my anxious face.
"Captain Kuchiki," I made a short bow and skirted around him.
"Otonei," I froze in my tracks, scared he might tell me that it was forbidden to leave without the permission of Unohana who would never grant it. "Learn to control your zanpaktou."
"Yes Captain Kuchiki." My heart rate slowed and I let out a relieved sigh. Once outside the grounds, I turned to the child.
"Don't bother asking who I am," She said before I could ask her. "You will know soon." Her large brown eyes held a sense of full knowledge and assurance.
"Are you at least my zanpaktou?" My voice quivered.
"That is for you to decide." Suddenly without premonition, she disappeared and I was left alone with just as many questions as I had started with. I shook my head and took a final look at the recovery facility. There was a slow trickle of injured shinigami entering and a few exiting.
"So long." I zipped through the streets of the seiretei until I found myself at the squad 6 training grounds. Stepping onto the well used field, I crossed the deserted place over to a secluded spot where I set up a kido wall.
"Destroy and defend: Kotesku." A low rumble went the air around me crackling with electricity and a wicked blade sprang out from the black hilt of my katana. The tip buzzed faintly with the thunder power surging inside the steel. The hilt formed a humming cage over my hand, protecting them from a blow to the wrist.
Stepping into an invisible ring set up by Captain Kurotsuchi, a score of simulated hollows surrounded me, each of them given a particularly nasty power. I dispatched the first one with a quick flick of the wrist, cutting a perfect vertical line from the hideous mask to its deformed feet. With their comrade killed, the other hollows rushed in on both sides of me. My senses were swamped with the various powers and modifications that had been installed.
"What the hell?" Suddenly the sword I had been gripping a second before turned into the crouching form of Kotesku. He whirled angrily on me, slashing the hollows that threw themselves at us and sending them back to their computerized origin. I couldn't tear my gaze from his furious eyes. In a matter of minutes he had single handedly taken out the horde of beasts and it was just him and I standing alone in the ring.
"What were you thinking?" His once clear eyes were turning a cloudy gray-blue. I faced him with fury of my own.
"I was just training! What's so wrong about that?" I threw back viciously.
"This is what started the whole thing, you getting hurt and almost dying! How could you be so selfish?"
"Maybe if I had more practice it would never had happened." Crossing my arms defiantly, I turned my back to him. The mere thought of fighting with my beloved zanpaktou caused my heart to constrict. Hearing no answer, I swiveled around to see Kotesku staring at something in the distance.
I tried to keep my voice as genial as I possibly could, unwilling to be the catalyst for a new argument. "What is it?"
"Nothing…" He continued to stare at the spot where Rukia was nearly sacrificed.
"I'm not a child you know!" I seethed. Forget the niceties!
"I never said you were Otonei." He turned back to me looking older than before. I took a step forward to hug him, but a little voice whispered in my ear: If you cave in, the he will always treat you like this. Choose wisely.
"No, you didn't have to." I backed up two steps and felt the kido wall humming underneath my finger tips. His eyes narrowed and something dangerous clicked under his darkening gaze.
"I think you need a lesson to show you how defenseless you really are." Something didn't feel right and his face cleared for a moment before wavering back into a snarl.
"Be my guest," My heart raced in fear and anticipation.
Help. I conjured up an image of the child. Pleading- no willing her into existence once more.
Shikari, she murmured as she appeared beside me.
"Who is this?" Kotesku's feral glance went from me the Shikari's glowing form.
"We are your opponent," She said, speaking for both of us. A low growl slithered from Kotesku and to my surprise Shikari answered with a ferocious one of her own.
"Very well." Snapping his wrist out, a black katana materialized in his pale fingers. I had never seen it before and it chilled me down to the bone. "Prepare yourselves."