Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I do however own all of the OC's in the story, unless stated otherwise.
AN: Hello fellow readers and writers, and welcome to A Walk with your Heart. This is my first fanfiction. Tips on how I can improve my writing would be very helpful and appreciative. I hope you all enjoy! R&R!
Chapter 1: Meeting the Ladies
Sometimes when you wake up, you just know it's going to be a bad day. You know, you get that feeling that everything is going to go wrong. That the world is against you. As soon as I opened my eyes, and saw Lieutenant Kusajishi, I knew it was going to be one of those days.
"What the hell?" I opened my eyes slowly. "Lieutenant, what are you doing up so early. Just go back to bed," I murmured, rolling over to get some more well deserved sleep. I had another spar with Yumichika yesterday afternoon, and I wound up in the 4th division for about 7 hours.
Feeling her staring into my back, I slowly turned over to look at her, when she jumped on me.
"Happy birthday Oto! Here, have some of my candy!" The moment she said that, I shot up out of bed and was placing my hand against her forehead. She wanted me to take her candy?! She has to be sick.
"What's wrong Oto?" She smiled at me. Ok, there is definitely something wrong with her. Why is she giving me candy? What did she destroy of mine? Who did she kill? Wait... Did she say... happy birthday? She kept on smiling as it dawned on me. I looked over at my calender. May 8th. Crap, it's my birthday.
I was running for my life. Hollows, no problem. An ex-girlfriend, slightly more difficult, but still relatively easy. Hell even Captain Zaraki wasn't so bad... most of the time. However, nothing compared to having the SWA chasing you down the street. Not that I mind the Shinigami Women's Association, in fact, I seem to be the only male who can stand them. Considering that I have a honorary position among them, it must not be that bad. I don't think I have done anything to deserve a punishment.
Slowing my run to a simple jog, then stopping completely, I allowed the girls to catch up with me. Yachiru immediately jumped on my back and ruffled my hair. The rest of the girls came to a stop before me. Nano was the first one to talk.
"Hiroto, can I ask you a few questions for the SWA magazine? It is your birthday, and we and some others want to know a little more about you. You always decline our requests, but since none of us know much, we were hoping that you would shed some light on the subject." Nanao Ise straightened her glasses and coughed lightly as she finished, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. Knowing full well about her crush on you, and about how you always refuse answering questions for them, you think what the hell, let's have some fun.
You slowly walk up to her, through the other members who are now just staring. She is visibly shaking at this point, which you find adorable. You rest a hand on her cheek and lean in to whisper in her ear, but loud enough so everyone else can hear.
"Do you want this to be... off the records?" You hear audible gasps and see a few mouths hang lower than they should. Nanao just inhales sharply, then promptly passes out in your arms. You look up at Yachiru. "You know this never gets old," you smirk. She just laughs and nods. You sigh, "Fine, you have your interview."
Many of the girls couldn't believe it. They were about to interview the third hottest guy in the soul society, after second place, Toshiro Hitsugaya, and first place, Byakuya Kuchki. It was a dream come true. However for Hiroto Arinori, it was a nightmare. He sat waiting in their headquarters, which was Yachiru's room. Finally someone came to ask him a bunch of questions. It was Nanao who would be doing this... interrogation.
She entered the room slowly, staring at you the whole way to her seat. You give her a light smile, which she immediately blushes at.
"Hiroto, let me know when you are ready to answer our questions." You then nod at her, showing that you are ready. She clears her throat. "How old will you be today?" The other members in the room lean forward, seemingly very interested about your age.
"I turned 168 today." At that, many of the girls' jaws dropped. Like they couldn't believe that I was this young.
"Then when was it that you joined the 13 Court Guard Squads?"
"At age 134."
"So you have been a Soul Reaper for 54 years?"
"Yes."
"And you have already learned and mastered Bankai?"
"Yes."
"That is quite the feat, I must say."
"Thank you." You inwardly sigh, wondering when the questions will come to an end. That's when things took a much darker turn.
"What can you tell me of your life before you became a Soul Reaper?"
You immediately tense up and everyone else can feel the pressure in the room increase slightly. "Nothing good," you murmur, barely loud enough for the girls to hear. "I will tell you if you really want to know, but you will first have to swear on pain of death that nothing I say leaves this room. I will not hesitate on slitting anyone's throat if this gets out."
Obviously shocked, scared, and maybe even disturbed all of the girls eventually swore on pain of death, mostly because their curiosity got the better of them.
You sigh audibly and look them each individually in the eyes. You then call out to the room. "Shi no Dansu, please materialize." The girls are all looking at each other with confusion. Materialize? Isn't Shi no Dansu his zanpakuto? What is going on? Finally their gazes rest on the figure slowly forming in the middle of the room. It was... a little girl?
She looked no older than ten. Her vibrant purple eyes and her long black hair made her seem a lot older though. The girls were getting curious about who this little girl was when she spoke in a cute childlike voice.
"Hi! My name is Shi no Dansu, zanpakuto for Hiroto Arinori. Nice to meet you!" There was silence for a second, then...
"Awww! She is so adorable!" The collective gasps of the SWA members were enough to startle you a bit. Some of the members were pinching her cheeks trying to find out her favorite color or her favorite bedtime story when you clear you throat.
"This is Shi no Dansu, my zanpakuto. As you have already surmised, she can materialize without my release command. This is where my story begins." The others quiet down and gather like it was story time, waiting for me to continue.
"I grew up in the Rukongai's north 57 to be precise. It was never too bad there, but we could always do better. I only had one friend, Yuyu Fujimoto . We did everything together. We laughed, we cried, we even slept over at each others houses." You pause and turn your head to the side, letting out a small sigh. "We even planned on getting married. A giant wedding with all of our family. A huge cake with green icing. She always said that white was just too normal... but nothing good lasts forever."
"One day, a hollow showed up. It killed my family, and Yuyu 's as well. With them gone, she went crazy. She stopped eating. She stopped sleeping. She even forgot my name. One day she just disappeared... I don't know where she went, but for five days no one could find her. Not a single Soul Reaper could do their job and protect an innocent soul..."
"She was eventually found... dead... near the outskirts of the Seireitei. Her wrists were slit and she had a knife in her hand. She just wanted help? Why would no one help her? From the moment I had recieved the news, I swore I would become a soul reaper. I would never turn away from those beneath me. I would help everyone I could. For Yuyu's sake."
"I dove into a deep spiral of despair. I pushed myself physically and mentally until my body bled and my spirit broke. In my rage filled fit of confusion and desperation, I found my inner self. My missing piece. My zanpakuto spirit."
With that you look over to Shi no Dansu. She looks at you, smiling. "She is able to manifest due to the way I trained to find her in my own soul. She has been my rock throughout my existance since that day... the day my life and my love were taken away from me."
At this point most of the girls are in tears and can barely form coherent words. You feel bad about making them cry, but they wanted to know. You couldn't lie about this just to spare their feelings.
"The hollow that killed our families... I found it only two years after becoming a soul reaper. I lashed out in fury and was injured very badly. It nearly cut me in half with his claws."
Some of the girls looked even more depressed after that fact, but Rangiku Matsumoto seemed curious.
"Where did it cut you?" She was hesitant in her asking, but she did really want to know.
"Diagonally down my chest."
"Could we see it?" Some of the other girls' eyes went wide open, not believing that Rangiku had basically asked me to strip. I rolled my eyes sightly, and huffed a sigh as I started to undo the top portion of my hamaka. Several pairs of eyes wandered my upper body before finally resting on my scar. It was ugly. It stood out, pale compared to my skin, and was jagged. Rangiku even went as far as touching it, causing her to shudder.
Many dissaproving of her touching me were sent her way. I pulled away and pulled my hamaka back on, before any fights could break out.
Once everyone had calmed down, Nanao turned toward me. "I have just one more question." I nodded, letting her know to proceed. "Do you have a girlfriend? If you do who is she? If not, are you currently interested in anyone or are you even open to the idea of dating?"
With that you are completely dumfounded. You don't know how to answer. Of course you are interested in dating, I mean you are a guy after all. No, you don't have a girlfriend, but that doesn't mean you are inexperienced. To put it plainly, you don't have time to have the luxury of dating.
Is there anyone you are interested in? Well sure, of course there is, but I don't think that telling them and having it put in a magazine is the most appropriate way for someone else to find out your feelings about them.
You decide on a simple answer. "No, I do not have a girlfriend. Yes I am interested in dating, but because of my duties I have neither the time nor luxury to do so. As for romantic interests... there are a few girls, but not one I can say for certain that I am serious about. I highly doubt they notice me anyways. Who would want to date a cold-blooded brute from the 11th Division?"
"I'm sure that someone likes you enough to go out with you, you just have to find her." Nanao tries to comfort you without sounding too hurt about the, 'there are a few' comment. You just smile lightly. After another minute in silence, you bid the girls a farewell, and head towards your division to resume your duties for the day.
On your way there, and old friend stumbles across your path.
"Hey Hiroto, what's up!" Yoruichi Shihoin, trying her best not to look too excited trots up in front of you, effectively cutting off your path to the 11th Division.
Still suspicious of her, you casually try to make conversation. "Hey Yoruichi? How's it going?"
She frowns slightly at your obvious and blatant mistrust of her. "Hey, what's up with you? You need to chill out. It's not like I was planning anything. Relax. Go get laid or something."
Your eyes widens and you start sputtering. "W-what!" She smirks slightly and pokes you in the chest.
"You. Need. To. Get. Laid." She emphasized each word with another poke, smiling wider each time. You can't even respond at that point. She wiggles her hips seductively. "I can help if you want." She leans up and whispers in in your ear.
You start to turn an unhealthy shade of red, and she just starts laughing. "Hahaha! I was just joking Hiroto. Anyways, I'm off to the world of the living. I'll stop by your place when I get back. We can catch up." You nod and try to return to your normal color. She smiles, gives you a wave, and then flash steps away. You of course didn't see the shadow disappear after Yoruichi.
What did she mean by that? You are back in your room, unable to finish your duties until you clear this up. You keep pondering what she could have meant. So what you haven't gone on a date in 60 years... ok that sounded really depressing when you put it like that. But so what? Just because you were a little out of the game doesn't mean that you couldn't score a goal... ok a lot out of the game. Now that you think about it, you would probably be lucky just to get a shot at the goal, forget about making one.
You flop backwards onto your bed with a great sigh.
Damn, you are a loser.
You suck.
You have no game.
Realizing you are pretty inept at things that involve any sort of romance, you decide to ask someone for advice on how you can "up your game," but who?
There was always Captain Za... no never mind. You won't ever ask him for romantic advice. He would probably tell you to fight them for your first date. You're sure that would end up perfectly.
You would probably ask Captain Ukitake or Captain Unohana, but they were too busy with their own duties to deal with such trivial matters.
You could talk to Rangiku, but that might start a never ending cycle of questions from the SWA. You shudder just thinking about it.
Next there was Ichigo Kurosaki. He was a substitute soul reaper, but he was pretty chill about most things. However, you think he might even have less experience than you. Maybe it's the orange hair?
So who does that leave... Who else can you talk to...
It suddenly hits you. Your eyes grow wide with fear. You groan outwardly, realizing you have no choice. "Time to go talk to the crazy cat lady."