The Sound of Death
Description: the sound of death creeps close and this time you wont see it coming, someone in the soul society learned this a long time ago and good will depend on that person to lead a solution for this nightmare
Rukia shot up from her sleep in the small closet bed. She breathed heavily as sweat fell down her temples. It was the third night in a row she had woken up like this, the reason, she wasn't sure. Once she caught her breath, Rukia slid open the closet door of Ichigo's room as gently as she could so not to wake him. She dangled her feet from the closet shelf where her bedding was for a few seconds, staring at the carrot top in the bed across from her. She hadn't told him of her waking up in a sweat, he would only worry. Carefully, Rukia hopped off the bed and her feet softly hit the floor.
She slipped on the house shoes that were waiting for her by the closet door and left the room just as quietly. Rukia wasn't sure where her feet were taking her but she didn't care as she rubbed her tired eyes. She ended up in the kitchen and yawned with her eyes now closed. "Rukia?" she heard someone call her name and she tensed up some as she opened her eyes in surprise. Standing in front of her was Yuzu, who looked to be making something involving food.
"Yuzu," Rukia started tiredly with another yawn, "what are you doing awake?" Yuzu blinked as she got a good look at Rukia; she was wearing one of Ichigo's long shirts that were enough to cover her underwear with four inches to spare. She wasn't filled out like the other girls who would be her age; she was petit and had a small chest. Yuzu focused on Rukia's face though, she was slightly pale and her eyes were fighting to stay open. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to make a late night snack, I can see you haven't slept well either," her eyes shown concern for the soul reaper. Rukia knew she must have looked awful, she felt awful.
Either way, Rukia forced a smile at the young girl, "Just a nightmare I guess." She knew it wasn't a nightmare that had caused her to wake up. In fact, Rukia had a gut wrenching feeling it was something much worse. "Would you like a sandwich?" Yuzu asked more cheerfully. Rukia wasn't sure how someone who couldn't sleep could be so cheerful, but Yuzu had always seemed to be a kind and giving person. "No thank you," Rukia replied as she sat down on one of the barstools surrounding the counter in the middle of the kitchen. The Kurosaki family had done some remolding to the kitchen; it was a lot nicer in Rukia's opinion.
Ichigo's father and sisters knew Rukia was staying in Ichigo's room and Isshin had offered to make Rukia an extra room, but Rukia declined. If there was a hollow in the middle of the night it would be easier for Rukia to leave if she was in Ichigo's room. It was funny when Rukia thought about the first time they had told Ichigo's family she was living there, Isshin freaked out at first. Ichigo finally calmed him down after he explained nothing was going on, Rukia had blushed fiercely when she heard Isshin exclaim as he pouted, "But I wanted grandchildren!"
Rukia smirked and shook her head at the memory, now focusing back on what Yuzu was doing. She had cooked some eggs and fixed toast. At first Rukia thought she was making breakfast but then she took the mayonnaise jar from the refrigerator. "What are you making?" Rukia asked. Yuzu replied with a smile, "Egg salad sandwich, they're really yummy." Rukia's stomach churned, the smell of eggs so early was starting to get to her. "I see," Rukia forced a smile so not to look too disgusted, but Yuzu caught on anyway. "Is something wrong?" she asked. Rukia shook her head and lied, "No, I think I'll just try to sleep again," she got up from the stool and left the room to go back upstairs. Yuzu blinked as she watched her leave, but shrugged it off for the moment and began eating her sandwich.
Rukia took a deep breath as she ascended the stairs. Now not only was her mind scattered, but her stomach felt sick too. It almost felt as if someone was messing with her.
The next morning Ichigo banged on the closet door with a groan, "Get up sleepyhead, I don't want to be late for school." If only he knew the night Rukia had, surely he would have been a little nicer. Rukia moaned as she rolled over onto her other side, facing away from the door. She had stayed up in bed for at least 2 hours before she had fallen asleep so really she only got about an hour of sleep afterwards. She was unable to shake the nervous feeling she had and her stomach felt sicker by the minute, she had almost felt like throwing up at one point.
"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted, banging on her door again. The door slid open to reveal a scary Rukia. Her hair was all messed up and she sat there glaring daggers at Ichigo. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Damn, what's your problem?" Rukia didn't speak; she just got out of bed and shoved Ichigo aside to get ready for school. Ichigo didn't like the response he got, "Hey! I'm talking to you." Rukia grabbed her uniform and underwear and left the room to take a shower. Ichigo sighed and grabbed his school bag, leaving his room behind her, "I'll wait for you downstairs!" he called out. Rukia took a shower and put on her clothes, she felt like a zombie this morning.
Rukia stared in the bathroom mirror, 'What's wrong with me?' she asked herself, 'I don't look any different?' She guessed she would have to figure that out later, school would be starting soon. She quietly left the bathroom and went downstairs to join Ichigo.
In the Soul Society, things seemed hectic. A soul reaper entered Captain Yamamoto's office with an anxious look on his face and bowed vaguely to the head captain. "Captain Yamamoto sir, we have received word that humans are ending up dead after an encounter with a strong spiritual pressure." Captain Yamamoto's brow creased, it was something he did when he received ominous news.
"Hollows?" was his reply. "No sir," the soul reaper answered, "a few soul reapers were in the areas where the spiritual pressure was detected and no hollows could be seen, in fact there was nothing seen." Captain Yamamoto looked down worriedly. It was troublesome enough when hollows were at play, but something that isn't even seen by soul reapers could be much worse. After Captain Yamamoto came to a decision he lifted his head and looked directly at the soul reaper in front of him, "Get me Soifon." The soul reaper nodded and left the room quickly.