Summary: This is a story of the afterlife of a boy who had died in the most embarrassing way at a tender age of 14. After owing Ichigo a huge favour, he moved on and started a new life in Soul Society where his presence had slowly begun to change the events around him. Male OC.
My first fic of Bleach. I know I really shouldn't start another fiction, knowing my bad habit of updating but I just can't help it! My fingers itched to start writing after the Bleach anime marathon that I had. So… yeah.
Anyway, this is a story of an OC. Ichigo and his crew will not appear until later chapter but I swear they will be the main characters as well. This is not going to be a fic where the OC is the strongest of the strongest straight off (because that is just unrealistic) and wins glorious fights after glorious fights and falls madly in love with one of the Taichou and…
So, basically no Mary-Sue or Gary-Stu. Also, I'll have a vocabulary list at the bottom of the page for any infrequently used Japanese words that I had used in italic. Hope you will enjoy this first chapter.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
Chapter one – So… I am Dead
'Wow, who would've thought,' the newly-dead soul pondered, standing above himself, 'that afterlife is really this boring.' Scratching the back of his head, he squatted down beside his body, the chain on his chest clanged softly. 'And this... this gotta be the most embarrassing way to go.'
It really wasn't his best side, half naked and all that. He had died during his nightly after-shower/bath-ritual, which consisted of drinking cold milk in the standard position with only a towel around his waist. On this particular night, he had tilted his head back too far and the milk came out of the bottle and into his nose. With a yell, he accidently snorted the liquid up into his inner system and, still dizzy from the hot bath, he tripped. Banging his head against the wall, he was immediately knocked out and fell head-first into the tub-full of warm water.
'And I drowned, still clutching on to the milk bottle with half of my arse visible.' He sighed. 'Why did I decide to treat myself to a long bath when I should've just stuck to my ten minutes shower...'
Drifting through the wall just because he could, he wondered what he should do. 'I seem to remember that there's a guy at school who looked as if he could see something. Maybe I should visit him tomorrow. Yeah, I'll do that...'
The next day
Standing outside the school gate by the letters 'Mashiba Junior High School', he waited for the guy to come. It would be easy to spot him; after all, that guy's features were really prominent. He had been waiting ever since six in the morning as he wasn't sure if the teen was a sporty type of person and might be early for training.
Apparently he wasn't.
It had been boring so he had to look for things to do. And it was interesting the first couple of times when people would just walk right through him, but then it quickly got dull again when this just made him feel alone. 'But this is no different to my usual day... I had always been ignored anyway.'
"Morning! Ichigo!"
"Ah, morning."
Quickly stopped himself from making faces at the teacher, he stepped up to the guy he had been looking for. Raising a hand to greet, he was knocked off his feet before he could get a syllable out. "How's that possible..." he cried, sliding to a halt on the ground where a girl planted her foot through his face. 'Pink with yellow flowers...'
"Oi! Dude, I'm sorry. Are you all right?" the orange-haired teen hurried forward, missing the part where the girl's foot speared the boy's head. "That looked painful!"
"Ichigo, who're you talking to?" Kojima asked, looking concerned.
Ichigo pointed down. "This guy, I bumped into him, didn't you see?" At his friend's shook of head, he realised. "Damn... not another one!" Standing up quickly, he grabbed hold of the spirit's shirt and dragged him off. "Tell sensei I'll only be slightly late," he yelled over his shoulder, not caring about the complaints from the floundering spirit behind him.
Arriving at his destination, behind the school building, he roughly plopped the boy down. "So, what is it that you want?" he asked, tapping his foot. "Sorry to rush but I still got to go to class."
The spirit floated up, dusted his pants and bowed slightly. "My name is Kuromori Yuki, please to meet you," he introduced.
Ichigo bowed as well, more out of habit then politeness. "Kurosaki Ichigo. You're from this school right?" he asked, noting the uniform on Kuromori. "And your name is really contradicting." Somehow this sentence had prompted a memory to surface. "Wait… are you that guy who got transferred into my class couple of months ago?" (1)
Yuki nodded. "You probably will recognise me if I do this…" he said, patting and splitting his hairline right down the middle so it would look like a shiny brown helmet on his head and slipped on a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Lastly, he did up the hook clasps on his uniform all the way to the top and adjusted his glasses with his middle finger the geeky style.
"Whoa! Do you have double personalities or what!?" Ichigo exclaimed as now standing in front of him was the Kuromori Yuki that he recognised. Indeed the change was drastic. The boy that had came to look for him looked cheerful with naturally curly, hair flopping everywhere and soft brown eyes. Now he had become so gloomy and geeky-like that if it had started raining encyclopaedias, he would not be surprised. "How come you look so different?"
"Well… your class…" Yuki started and continued when Ichigo said he didn't care, "The thing was, I was stalked by a guy at my last school and it got pretty bad. Err… I won't go into too much details but I changed school and my looks in an attempt for him not to find me."
Feeling goose bumps rising on his arms, the orange-haired teen shivered. "Eww… But isn't that all too extreme? Won't that make your life harder here in the new school? You were always alone! I won't have remembered your name if it wasn't because it was weird," he said truthfully.
Sweat-dropping at the other's bluntness, Yuki shrugged. "Beats being stalked, besides, it was kind of fun in a way."
"So… What is it that you want with me?" Ichigo asked again, this time with little more patience.
"Oh right, umm… I died last night and I was wondering if you can call the police before my body rots," the spirit said, still feeling a bit weird talking about his body as if it was not part of him. 'It is no longer part of me!' he suddenly realised but the shock quickly worn off.
Ichigo cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Why ask me? Don't you have your family around?"
"I've living alone by myself ever since I moved to this town. My parents died when I was younger," Yuki explained. "I had been living with my relatives up until the stalking incident drove them crazy, enough to kick me out. Ever since then, I've been living off my parents' money."
"Wow! Well… err… sorry for your loss, in many ways," Ichigo said awkwardly. "So, I'll call the police after school today or tomorrow, make it look like I was worried because you haven't been to school or something like that."
"About that…"
"What is it? Just spit it out."
Taking a huge breathe before plunging in, Yuki blurted out, "I died in a very embarrassing position so I was wondering if you could come to my apartment and put a towel around me or something like that so no one will laugh at me when they've found me."
"Eh?"
Later that day, after school
Yuki had shown Ichigo where the spare key to his apartment door was and the boy let himself in, mindful of not being seen by any of the neighbours. "You know… this is kind of disgusting," he muttered, tying his handkerchief around his face.
"Sorry, I know I had been dead for almost a day," Yuki apologised and pointed towards a stack of clean towels by the washing machine. "If you can…"
"I know, I know. I'll just drape it over your body right?" Ichigo disdainfully picked one up and took a deep breath. Quickly opening the bathroom door, he rushed in and out with impressive speed, slamming the door shut behind him with a 'bang'. "That's done," he sighed, sinking down. "I'm so glad I didn't see anything. Seeing a dead body is a lot different than seeing a ghost…"
"I would offer you something to drink but in this state," Yuki pointed at his transparent body, "I can't even boil water!" He glanced at the Ichigo's pale face and added, "I don't think you'll want to stay any longer than necessary anyway."
"What kind of adults will leave their fourteen-year-old nephew live by himself anyway!" Ichigo mutter angrily. "That's just so irresponsible! I hope they'll get into trouble for this!"
Yuki gave a nervous laugh. "If you put it that way… Anyway, thank you, Kurosaki-kun, for all the troubles you've gone through today," he said with a deep bow. "I owe you a huge favour."
"Just call me Ichigo, and I don't think you'll be able to repay it anyway," Ichigo said jokingly and stood up. "Hurry up and go to heaven! You've got nothing left to do right?" He waved a goodbye and left through the front door.
"I'll keep that in mind!" Yuki called after him and smiled softly. Looking around his tiny apartment for one last time, he had also left his home. He knew that Ichigo would take care of the rest so he had no intention of coming back again. After all, it was impossible for him to take anything with him, so what was the point for him to linger?
Wondering around the town until late, he sat down on the swing in a nearby park. 'What to do now?' he wondered, the chain on his chest hung heavily. 'Do I have to wait for forty-nine days before I could move on? Does that mean I'll have to be judged once a week?' He swung on the swing for a bit, scaring the crap out of the nearby kissing couple. "So boring!" (2)
Suddenly, something screeched from behind, causing him to fall face forward into the soft sand. 'Déjà vu… this was how I died,' he thought, turning around to see what had made that sound. He 'eep-ed!' and turned pale. "You- You are…seriously deformed!" he yelled, backing away quickly.
In front of him was a monster beyond his imagination. With a head shaped like a diamond and shining red eyes, axes for arms, a huge gaping hole in the middle of its chest, and it was…drooling! 'It looked exactly like the offspring of a praying mantis and a rock. Am I… its food!?' When the monster's weapons glinted, he took it as a signal to start running.
"Why does these kind of things always happen to me!" he screamed, using his one hundred meter dash skill, which was not fast at all. He was determined not to get eaten if it was the last thing he did! But he was already dead, so did this still count as the last thing? 'Now is not the time to think this kind of thoughts!'
"Someone… SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"
"Don't worry," something stepped past him said; it was a female's voice. "You're in safe hands now."
Turning around in alarm, he was shocked to see a girl in black kimono and hakama walking towards the monster. "Watch out!" he yelled, forgetting about his own safety. Everything slowed down from his point of view. He watched as the girl pulled out the pure white katana that hung by her waist and brought it down upon the monster's head.
With a flash and one final scream, the thing simply split in half and dissolved into nothingness. Sitting down softly, he slowly picked his jaw back up to its original place. "What is this…" he whispered, stunned to the core.
"Are you all right?" the girl asked, reaching down with a hand to help him up.
"Ah… yes, thanks to you," Yuki said sincerely, taking the small hand. "What was that? And who are you?"
The girl was about a head shorter than him with smooth, dark hair that sat neatly on her head despite the fact she was fighting a monster just moments before. Her features were sharp and her eyes were serious when she looked at him, but they were not unkind. "That was a Hollow, and I am a shinigami."
"Shinigami, really!? Does that mean you're here to send me away?" Yuki asked, not at all afraid. "I'm Kuromori Yuki, please to meet you." He bowed.
"Kuchiki Rukia, same here," the shinigami introduced and lifted up her sword. "I'll give you the Konsou now, so if you will stand still."
"Thank you very much for saving my life," the boy said, feeling the base of the hilt stamping his forehead. "I hope I will be able to see you again."
Watching the plus fading away, Rukia allowed the butterfly to land on her finger. "That was rare… not many drifting pluses are that willing to move on," she muttered then disappeared, waiting for her next order.
He was expecting, actually, he wasn't sure what he was expecting but he thought there would at least be light, bright light. But there was only darkness, one that he could not see his fingers even if he shoved them into his eyes. 'My goodness, even my afterlife is boring,' he thought, wondering what was going to happen.
"Oi… Brat, if you don't get up now that you won't be able to get into today's line," a voice said, shoving him.
Opening his eyes, he came face to face with a person clad in what he now recognised as the shinigami uniform. "Where am I?" he asked, slightly disoriented.
"You're getting sorted into what district of Rukongai you will be living in from now on," the shinigami told him. "Quickly go and line up with your ticket, it's the last call."
Realizing he was clutching on to a piece of paper, he finally understood what was going on. 'It's like at the bank where you get tickets to line up too.' He quickly scrambled up to get to the end of the line, nearly tripped over by the slightly restricting white nagajuban he was now wearing. "This is so confusing…"
Waiting for what seemed like hours, he was finally up at the reception desk. He had tried to chat to the man in front of him to pass time but was ignored; apparently the guy was still bitter over his death and had been muttering constantly. Since he was the last one in line, he had no one else to talk to. "Hello," he greeted the shinigami, glad to finally hear his own voice after so long.
"Ticket please," the woman said, all business-like with a strict hair bun to complete the image. Hastily giving the said paper to her, he tried a smile but shrank back when all he got was silence. "West Rukongai, first district. Here's a change of clothes for you and two urns of water. Welcome to Soul Society," she said crisply, a door appearing behind her, allowing a beam of light to stream in.
"Than-Thank you," Yuki said, taking the items from the lady, awkwardly juggling the two pots. "Umm… Please have a nice day… if it is still day out there," he finished lamely.
The lady surprised him with a small smile. "You're the first one to say that to me in ages," she whispered softly. "You're lucky that you've been sorted into first district as it is the safest out of all the others. I wish you good luck, boy."
Encouraged by this, he gave a bow and stepped through the door into light. Squinting, he was able to see after a while when his eyes got used to the brightness. "Wow…" He stared. It was as if he was taken back in time where everything was… still inconvenient. Wondering what he should do now, he started to wander aimlessly. He had immediately noticed that he was no longer wearing the white kimono but a plain one with a pattern of small crosses on it. 'How many sets of clothes have I changed since I died?' he thought, chuckling lightly.
"You're a newcomer, right?" a soft voice asked.
Yuki turned around to find an elderly lady watching him. She was a short lady, shorter than his a meter sixty height and was slightly on the chubby side. "Wow, how did you know?" he asked, really surprised.
She pointed at the urns in his arms. "Although this is the safest district, no one would walk around with something as precious as water so casually," she explained. "If I were you, I would be more cautious."
"Thank you, obaa-san, I really have no idea about this place at all," he said apologetically. His instincts told him that this lady was genuinely trying to help and not attempting to fool him. Although he had been wrong with his instincts before but, he shrugged, he was already dead so it couldn't be worst, could it? "Obaa-san, can you tell me about this place?"
Nodding her head slowly, the old lady started walking. "Let's talk at my house, it'll be more comfortable there," she invited and Yuki quickly followed.
The old lady had explained to him about Soul Society until late that night while drinking tea. Yuki had wondered about having dinner but apparently spirits, or pluses, did not get hungry at all, which was something he could understand. He also had a better understanding about shinigami now, knowing that he must had something called 'reiatsu' before he could even think of become one.
"Thank you for having me," he said, standing up to leave as he felt he had overstayed his welcome. "It was great to get to know about the place I will be living in so soon."
The lady, Obaa-san he now called her, stalled him with a hand on his sleeve. "Yuki-kun, why don't you stay with me?" she offered. "I've been living by myself for some time now and dearly wish for some companies."
"Really!? You won't think that I'm a bother?" Yuki asked, really happy with this idea but was making sure. At Obaa-san's gentle nod, he cheered and danced around the small house.
Obaa-san laughed. "There hasn't been so much life in this house for ages," she said happily. "I'm glad I have met you today."
Months had gone by since that day and Yuki had lived everyday to its fullest. Although they hadn't been together long, but the two pluses had gotten quite close together. It was perhaps one was quite old and the other too young. For him, it was like having a grandmother again. The only down side was that he had to relearn many things, even for the simplest chores. There were no such things as washing machines or stoves so everything had to be done by hands, including cooking.
He had been having some trouble not to burn the food he had secretly stashed away as, for some reason, he did get hungry. It had started with a gnawing sensation at the pit of his stomach, but he hadn't been hungry for so long that he had completely forgotten what it was. It wasn't until he fainted and fell into a nearby stream did he realised what was happening.
He was glad that he had reiatsu as that had meant he could become a shinigami. He had wanted to become one, trying to follow Kuchiki-san's, his saviour's footsteps. But he realised that he was needed by Obaa-san and he was very much in the little lady's debt. He also knew about the two occupants that lived with her before he came along and how they had left to become the taichou and fukutaichou of other shinigami. Although Obaa-san had told him that she was very happy about their rapid rising status in Seiretei, he could tell that she had been very lonely living by herself. Knowing that, there was no way he could leave her now.
But that did not stop him from dreaming that, perhaps in a couple of hundreds of years, he could become just like them. The two shinigami were pretty much his idols now. Even though he had no idea what they looked like but Obaa-san had described to him their general features and personalities. He had somewhat hope that one day he would be able to meet them personally even though he knew it was not possible.
Anyway, because of his 'special condition', he had finally become good in finding and cooking food in secret, after eating burnt food for so long.
Eating his lunch now behind the house, he heard footsteps coming. Quickly shoving the pot of rice under some bushes, he stood up and feigned sleepiness. "Yuki, where are you?" the little lady came around the corner. "Here you are! What were you doing?" she asked.
"It was nothing, just a bit of a nap," Yuki said, laughing the matter off. "Are you going out, Obaa-san?"
She nodded. "I'll only be out for a bit. Will you look after the house?"
"Of course!" He waved goodbye and hurried into the house after retrieving his lunch. He was beginning to get sick of hiding his meals but he could not take any chances. If the neighbours saw him constantly eating, they would certainly come to one conclusion, then the gossips would start to fly. Not wanting that, he had to always be careful when he ate. But he was tired.
"Obaa-chan!" a voice rang out from the other side of the closed door before the said door slid open.
He was so surprised by this sudden intrusion that he did nothing for a couple of seconds, the chopsticks in his hand still half way towards his mouth. The rice grains fell softly into his laps as the two stared at each other, one in confusion and the other in shock.
"Hinamori, what are waiting for? Stop blocking the doorway," another voice, this time male, said and the door slid to open wider. A new pair of eyes looked in and frowned. "Who are you? Where's Obaa-san?"
Yuki slowly closed his opened mouth with a hand before he started to stutter, "Hi-Hi-Hitsugaya-tai-!" A hand silenced his words from behind and he blinked to find the boy with gravity-defying hair that was by the door now was behind him.
"Shut it!" the boy hissed. "There's a good reason why we're not in shinigami uniforms so don't go around yelling our titles out!"
Noticing for the first time that the two shinigami were indeed wearing plain kimonos, Yuki nodded his head in silent apology. But still, he could not believe it! The two shinigami he admired so much was now in front of him, in flesh! He pinched his butt, hard, and yelped when he all did was giving himself a new bruise. "You're real…" he muttered stupidly, his face blushing madly.
Hitsugaya stepped back and rejoined Hinamori. "Who are you?" he repeated. "What have you done to Obaa-san?"
Not answering the question, Yuki jumped up and started to blabbered excitedly, "Hitsugaya-tai-, no, Hitsugaya-san, Hinamori-san, what a surprise! Please come in!" He appeared behind the two and prompted them with a soft push. Not giving the two the time to react to his speed, he was back at the hearth, poking the ashes to flame to boil water and make tea. "Obaa-san will be back soon. She's just been out to get something. Please use these!" He laid the two thin cushions on the tatami but left the fatter one alone in the corner.
Still not trusting the stranger that was in their old home, especially since the little lady was not here to verify the story, both shinigami were still standing. "Who are you?" Hinamori challenged, beginning to wish that she had her zanpakutou with her.
Alarmed by his rudeness, Yuki quickly stood up and bowed deeply in respect. "So-Sorry about this! My name is Kuromori Yuki! I've been living with Obaa-san since the day I arrived in Soul Society. It is my honour to meet you!" he said, hoping that he hadn't offended his idols. 'Damn! Just the perfect way to ruin their first impression of me!'
Hitsugaya narrowed his teal eyes. "Do you really expect us to believe your-"
"Ara, ara… What's happening here?"
"Obaa-chan!" Hinamori cried out. "You're alright!"
The little lady cocked her head slightly to one side. "Why won't I be?" she wondered and gestured a little with her free hand. "Sit down, sit down. It has been a while since you last visit me."
"Obaa-san, who is this guy?" the white-haired boy asked, helping his grandma to step on to the tatami. "What is he doing here?"
"Yuki?" She turned to face the fidgeting boy who busied himself in fluffing up the fatter cushion and laying it down in its place. "Didn't you introduce yourself?" she asked, sinking slowly down on to the cushion that he got for her. "I was hoping their visit would be a pleasant surprise for you."
Yuki was quick to reassure her. "No, no! They were a fabulous surprise! It was just that…" he trailed off, unsure whether he should comment on the fact that the duo thought was some kind of robber or things like that.
Obaa-san looked startled for a second before she softly hit herself on her forehead. "I forgot to tell them before they arrived," she said with an embarrass smile. "It's almost impossible to get words pass the Seireimon so… well, it must have slipped my mind." She laughed softly which increased in volume when the others joined her awkwardly.
With the confusion out of the way, introductions were once again passed around. "Kuromori-kun, please, there's no need to address us so formally," Hinamori said, slightly exasperate, when Yuki had timidly called her "Hinamori-san," for the fifth time. "After all, we are sort of like family now."
Yuki grinned. "Only if you call me Yuki," he returned, shedding his shyness and revealing his true personality.
"In that case, you must call me Momo, too!" Hinamori, replied, feeling childishly happy despite her age. "Yuki-kun," she tried.
"Momo-san," Yuki said and turned to look at the silent boy on his other side. "Tou-Toushi- I mean, Hitsugaya-san," he quickly changed when his attempts were rewarded with a steady cold look.
"Shiro-chan! Don't be mean to the guy," Hinamori admonished, wishing she could hit him on the head but could not because of the distance between them. "He's family now!"
Hitsugaya turned his face away from the new boy. "He's not family, we've only known him for a few hours. And don't call me Shiro-chan!"
Obaa-san reached over and patted the boy on the head and, despite himself, Hitsugaya leaned into the touch. "Now, now… Everyone, let's calm down on this hot summer day," she said kindly. She pulled the bag that she had when she got back closer to her and revealed the content. "Since I knew you would be back today so I went and got this."
"Watermelon, my favourite!" Yuki said happily and excitedly went to get a knife and chopping board.
"I'll do it," Hitsugaya muttered, grabbing the items from the other boy's grasp. He was feeling uncomfortably annoyed for reasons he did not want to admit. After all, there was no reason for him to be jealous of that boy. No, of course not. Not at all. Not even when he was calling Hinamori by her first name, nor when Obaa-san seemed to be depending on him, nor when they share mutual love for the melon. And definitely not because he was taller than him!
Cutting into the hard-shelled fruit with more force than necessary, he was still able to split the watermelon cleanly into four portions. Surprising everyone in the room, he offered Yuki first, but his eyes were sharp.
"Thank you," Yuki said uneasily and picked the smallest slice there was. The chopping board did not move to offer others. Shifting awkwardly, he did not need to look up to know that the white-haired boy's gaze was still on him
Hitsugaya stared for a little while longer before he brought the board in front of Obaa-san. "… You can call me Toushirou," he muttered gruffly and refused to explain his sudden change of heart even when Hinamori put him into a headlock.
He would never say that he accepted Yuki because he was willing to pick the smallest slice of watermelon with no hesitation despite it being his favourite. One could say it was a trivial thing but not to Hitsugaya. Besides, there were other signs that Yuki always put Obaa-san ahead of himself and for that, he was grateful. He was ashamed to acknowledge it but he had been neglecting the kind lady for a bit lately, even though he knew she was lonely.
But he was still annoyed by that silly grin on Yuki's face. "Would you stop that!" he snapped but it did not faze the other boy.
"Sorry…" Yuki apologised but he could wipe the smile off his face. "Umm… well, who's up for some more tea?" he asked, quickly standing up to move to the hearth so he would not infuriate the white-haired boy anymore with his facial expression.
"Ah, there's no more water left," Obaa-san said, remembering that she had used the last of the water in the big pot.
"If that's the case," Yuki picked up two of the smaller urns in the room, "I'll go to the river and get some more."
"I'll come with you!" Hinamori offered, standing up.
Yuki shook his head, slipping his zouri on. "Please, I know you want to spend more time with Obaa-san and you only have today," he said. "I'll be back soon!"
Obaa-san allowed the chat of little things to last for a while before she started, "I was wondering…"
"What is it, Obaa-chan?" Hinamori asked when she paused.
"I was wondering if you can take Yuki with you when you go back to Seiretei," she finally said, knowing she was asking her grandchildren something big.
Hitsugaya was confused. "Why? Does he have… reiatsu?" he asked. To tell the truth, he didn't think the boy had the potential because he had not felt anything when he was around. Especially since Yuki had came in contact with the reiatsu of a taichou and fukutaichou.
The little lady nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I believe he does." She looked about her for a bit and lowered her voice; both shinigami leaned in to listen, "He eats in secret, everyday!"
Hinamori shared a look with Hitsugaya before she said softly, "Obaa-chan… maybe he just likes food. It may mean nothing." She looked slightly awkward. "Perhaps you've… um… mistaken?"
Obaa-san huffed. "I know what I've seen."
"But, Obaa-chan, he's-"
"I wonder what's taking Yuki so long?" the little lady quickly changed the subject, and the two younger spirits sweat-dropped at the rare show of immatureness.
"Tadaima."
Walking in at that precise moment, Yuki looked about himself in surprise when everyone turned to stare at him. "Umm… is something wrong?" he asked, setting the pots down gently.
Obaa-san's eyes soften when she set her gaze on the boy. "Okaeri, Yuki… I know about it," she said gently and suddenly. "There's no reason to hide your meals anymore."
Yuki laughed, his smile did not falter. "Obaa-san, I don't understand," he said. "I don't need to eat. You know that!"
"Excuse me."
This was all the warning the boy get before a hand appeared in front of his eyes and, using his face, it pushed him down on to the tatami floor. "Toushirou-san!" he yelled, his voice muffled. 'That had hurt…'
"You're good," Hitsugaya said, sitting down on the stomach of the boy below him, trapping his arms with his legs, "good enough to fool Obaa-san and Hinamori with your little act." He leaned in and Yuki was able to see his face through his fingers. "But, I saw the stiffening of your shoulders and that fake smile of yours, so," he smiled eerily, "we are going have to do this the rough way."
The Captain of the 10th Division in the Gotei 13 released his reiatsu, pinpointing it directly on to Yuki. Realising what was happening with no difficulty; the boy squirmed and tried to throw the smaller figure off. 'How the hell can a midget weigh so heavy!' he mentally screamed, all politeness fled him during this pressing moment.
Normal people or pluses without reiatsu had the danger of being mentally squashed by being in the presence of strong reiatsu, unless they had the strong will to fight back. People that did have reiatsu would not be squashed; instead they would just be rendered into a sobbing heap on the ground unless their reiatsu were stronger.
Survival instinct kicking in, Yuki's reiatsu, without the consent of its master, released itself to reflect the challenging one from Hitsugaya. With a burst of energy, he was finally able to heave the boy off him. 'Crap…' he thought with a sinking feeling, 'this is so not happening…'
"Although it was a bit rough, it was a good idea," Hinamori said, helping Hitsugaya up. "Yuki-kun, you do have the quality of a shinigami."
"But I…" he shifted his gaze on to Obaa-san. "I can't."
Obaa-san looked down at her hands, feeling a slight sense of déjà vu washing over her. "Yuki, are you staying because of me?" she asked, looking at the boy.
Yuki could not meet her gaze, quietly berating himself for not establishing a pretend dislike for shinigami from the very beginning. Now he was making Obaa-san feeling the guilt that she didn't need to. "Obaa-san… it's not-"
"Thank you, Yuki, for staying with an old lady like myself for so long. I've had a great time for the last couple of months. So, don't worry about me." She smiled when Yuki peeked at her. "Yuki, make me proud."
"Yes, thank you, Obaa-san," Yuki choked, bowing low.
'My goodness… this is just like a replay of what happened with me years ago,' Hitsugaya thought, feeling his annoyance rose again. 'I demand copyright!'
Hinamori scratched the base of her neck. 'Man… I never really thought that Obaa-chan might feel lonely,' she thought, embarrassed. 'I'm really too self-centred! Have to change that from now on, especially since the boys were more caring than me! The girl!'
Later that day, instead of two, three people had left the small house. Waving goodbye slightly tearfully, Yuki called out that he would come back whenever he could. The two shinigami remained silent, each deep in their own thoughts. Obaa-san did not cry until the heavy gate had shut behind her three grandchildren, her tears tracked uneasily down her wrinkled face.
(1) Kuromori black forest, Yuki snow; one is black and the other white
(2) I'm not entirely sure I've got this right but in Japan, the deceased's body will have to wait for forty-nine days, or seven weeks, before it can be cremated. The soul of the deceased will be judged once a week by the King of Hell, Enma Dai-Ou, and during this period of mourning, people do not go to weddings, festivals or celebrate New Year.
Vocabulary
Konsou – Soul Burial
Nagajuban – the white under-garment that one wears underneath kimono.
Zouri – cloth, leather or grass woven sandals.
Seireimon – the gate of Seiretei.
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