I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters. I own only Rose, Hiko, and her parents
(Rewritten 4/17/14 - Changed Rose's clothes a bit and corrected some errors)
Chapter 2
Rose was awakened by the sound of Isshin's morning ambush on Ichigo failing badly. She rubbed her sightless eyes slightly confused before last night's memories came pouring back. She sat up abruptly, Hiko who had been sleeping by her head squeaked in surprise at the sudden movement.
'Was that real? Did it actually happen?' Rose wondered, getting out of bed slowly. There was a knock at her door.
"Come in." Rose said.
It was Yuzu. "Rose, guess what! A truck plowed right into our kitchen!" The younger girl burst out.
"W-what?" Rose choked out after a moment.
xxx
"It's a miracle! A truck plows right into our house and none of us get a single scratch!" Isshin stated cheerfully as he and his family looked at the damage. Rose fingered the broken wood on the ground and the edges of the hole.
"What's more miraculous is that none of us woke up when it happened." Karin interjected.
Rose quietly walked up to her brother after finishing her inspection and tugged on his sleeve.
"It really did happen… didn't it Ichigo?" She asked quietly, the spot where the hole was wreaked of the hollow so she knew the truth but felt the need to hear Ichigo say it.
"Yeah, it did." Ichigo said lowly.
Yuzu called out for them to eat their breakfast and the two went inside the house absentminded, both occupied with thoughts of the Soul Reaper.
Both of the teens were late for school and quickly circled by their friends when they arrived.
"Hey I heard a truck crashed into your house Ichigo." Keigo Asano said. He was a goofy and dramatic but good nature teenager always attempting to "woo" girls or cheer up Ichigo when he's down and usually failing.
"Pretty much." Ichigo said. Rose sat on the desk of the seat next to Ichigo humming softly, Hiko munching on an apple slice Chad had given him.
"Are you done cleaning it up yet?" Mizuiro Kojima asked. He was a calm, resourceful person and despite his appearance had a reputation for being sly with girls. At least that was what Ichigo had told Rose.
"Are you kidding? It's gonna take forever!" Ichigo complained.
"Need any help?" Sado Yasutora, better known as Chad, asked.
"That's okay." Ichigo said quickly. Chad was very kind but a huge and incredibly strong person.
Rose blinked as she sensed someone walking to them. Someone she recognized.
"Its… you!" Rose gasped out quietly. Hiko looked at Rukia lazily, perched on his owner's shoulder.
"Hello." Rukia said "Nice to see you!"
She was talking like a cheerful goody two shoes… which did not fit her at all.
"Why are you talking like that?" Rose asked, amazed that Ichigo had yet to notice the Soul Reaper.
"I'll explain later." Rukia said in a low voice, before Rose felt her walk up behind Ichigo.
"Hello… you're Ichigo aren't you?" Rukia asked "I'll be sitting next to you from now on. My name's Rukia."
Rose heard her brother jump up from his seat clearly caught off guard.
"It's- it's you!" Ichigo shouted.
"Hey Ichigo what's wrong with you?" Keigo asked.
"Do you two know each other?" Chad inquired.
"Of course not we've never met before isn't that right Ichigo?" Rukia said.
"Rukia's a brand new transfer student." Mizurio said.
"Nice to meet you!" Keigo said.
"It's a pleasure." Rukia said.
Rose didn't know what Rukia did but felt her brother's emotions spike up with fear. Whatever it was it did its job and Ichigo kept himself from making a scene.
'Well… this is going to be interesting…' Rose thought.
xxx
"Alright you freaky little nut job what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo demanded.
It was a free period and Ichigo had immediately grabbed Rukia to talk in private with Rose not too far behind. There was no way the redhead was going to miss this, besides she was involved in it too.
"How scary you big brute. Jeepers I hope you aren't gonna hurt me!" Rukia said, still 'in character' and obviously mocking Ichigo.
'Who says Jeepers anymore?' Rose wondered.
"First of all you can knock it off with that Goody Two Shoes act!" Ichigo snapped.
"Well I think it's pretty good considering I learned it overnight." Rukia countered her voice normal to Rose's ears now.
"Alright just forget and tell us what you're still doing here!" The orange haired boy said "Weren't you supposed to be heading back to your Soul Society or whatever it was!?"
"I can't, only Soul Reapers can return to the Soul Society and I haven't the power to return anymore." Rukia sighed. Her emotions slightly depressed.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. Rose answered before Rukia could.
"It's because Brother took most of your powers isn't it Rukia? I felt your powers nearly disappear altogether last night while Ichigo's energy signature changed and became more like yours… more like a Soul Reaper's." Rose said gently.
"… That's correct; you're very sensitive to the Spiritual World." Rukia said impressed and confused.
'Perhaps it's because if her blindness, Captain Tosen also has a unique sensitivity to the Spiritual World. But the Human World has far less reishi than Soul Society so how can she 'see' so clearly?' Rukia thought but knew she should be focusing more on the current predicament. She promised herself however that she would think about it when she had the time.
"I became blind when I was… six? I'm not exactly sure. Anyway my parents died the day I became blind so I was on my own for a couple of years. Hollows would chase me so I became very skilled in hiding my energy signature. I had too. Ichigo's family took me in a while after I ended up in Karakura Town and after that I haven't been chased by a hollow… until last night that is." Rose explained. Hiko had now moved from her shoulder into her arms and the girl was stroking his fur in a familiar matter.
Putting this piece of information away for later Rukia said "Interesting, I'd like to talk to you more about that later. Anyway thanks to Ichigo I'm stuck in this ridiculous Gigai form."
"Is that why the others could see you? I felt something strange about you when we were in the classroom. It was if you were inside something… your energy felt constricted." Rose said as Ichigo looked at Rukia curiously.
"What's a Gigai?" Ichigo asked.
"A Gigai is a temporary body that serves as a vessel in an emergency. If a Soul Reaper is drastically weakened they reside inside a Gigai until their powers come back. And yes, that is why the others could see me." Rukia said.
"I see." Ichigo said, much calmer now.
"Yes and so… Until all of my powers come back it's up to you Ichigo to perform the duties of a Soul Reaper!" Rukia proclaim, apparently unaware she had just given the news in a way akin to dropping a bomb on poor Ichigo.
Feeling his emotions going haywire Rose giggled nervously as Hiko slept in her arms, mercifully oblivious to the drama.
'This will not go over well.' She thought.
Rukia, still oblivious to Ichigo's reaction was continuing her speech only to be cut off by Ichigo's refusal.
"What!?" Rukia demanded.
"My monster fighting days are over. That was a one-time thing!" Ichigo insisted.
"Don't be ridiculous you did just fine yesterday." Rukia said.
"That was only because my family was in danger." The orange haired teen said flatly.
Rose frowned and said quietly "But Ichigo if you don't who will? Rukia can't she doesn't have the power anymore. And it's not like she's saying it's going to be permanent."
There was a pause as her words sunk in.
"Exactly! Why can't you be more like your sister? You have a responsibility –" Rukia started to say.
"It's that Soul Society place's problem. It's not like I'm ready to fight for complete strangers or anything. Sorry to disappoint you." Ichigo said stubbornly but not unkindly. He walked away.
"I see. I guess there's no other choice then." Rukia said.
The next moment Rose gasped as she felt Ichigo being forced out of his body. As her brother started to freak out she ran to his still body that was lying face first on the floor.
Rose placed a hand on the limp body's shoulder and shuddered. While she could feel that the body was still 'alive' it lacked her brother's energy which was currently ranting a few feet away. The body was like an empty shell…
… which was more than a little creepy.
"Rose, look after Ichigo's body while we're gone. Okay?" Rukia said calmly.
Still in shock the thirteen year old nodded as her brother's soul was dragged away by the weakened Soul Reaper. Hiko who was awakened by all the noise leaped onto Ichigo's still body and started sniffing.
"He's alright Hiko." Rose said as she attempted to put her hand on Ichigo's forehead before realizing he was face down. She grabbed his shoulder and rolled him over, Hiko being forced to move away as she did so, and put his head in her lap. Her little monkey immediately settled on the unmoving body's chest making himself comfortable.
It wasn't too long after they came back; Rose sensed them and smiled in their direction.
"So?" She asked as Ichigo slipped back into his body.
"Your brother is stubborn." Rukia said simply.
"You say that like it's an insult." Ichigo said as he stood up and stretched, trying to get the feel of being back in his body.
"Did you feel anything happen Rose?" Rukia suddenly asked, ignoring Ichigo.
"I felt a hollow appear and I felt you and Ichigo go there and after a bit he killed it. Then Brother helped a spirit that was being chased by the hollow to pass on." Rose answered readily.
Rukia frowned, and Ichigo watched as she asked Rose another question.
"Ichigo said you've helped spirits pass on. Is that true?"
"Yes, I'm not sure how but I can. However I can only do it if the spirit wants to go. If they don't want to pass on then there's nothing I can do but leave them be." Rose said thinking of Chi-chi. The little ghost child had wanted to stay and look after her family so it was impossible for Rose to help her cross over.
'How can this be? Rose does possess a very high level of spiritual power but she's not a Soul Reaper. How on Earth can she preform a Soul Burial?' Rukia thought more confused than ever and if she were to be honest with herself, a bit unnerved.
"Is there something wrong with that?" Rose asked standing up, Hiko was on her shoulder again and amusing himself by playing with a loose strand of her red hair.
Rukia hesitated for a moment before replying "It's just not normal… it's one thing for you to have strong spirit energy but for you, a human, being able to perform a Soul Burial is just unheard of. It's supposed to be impossible."
Rose thought back to last night and how Ichigo had done many supposedly impossible things. She smiled brightly.
"Well I suggest you get used to it, because if last night was any indication you'll be seeing a lot of impossible things." Rose said.
"You do have a point." Rukia admitted thinking about last night also.
"Guys we need to get back to class." Ichigo reminded them.
"Very well." Rukia said grudgingly. She was more interested in Rose's abilities but appearances needed to be kept up.
So that was that and they went back inside the school.
xxx
The next day saw the three of them walking through town. Rukia was studying out loud which only succeeded in annoying Ichigo. Rose was munching on an apple listening to the argument calmly. Hiko was perched on her head and staring at his mistress' brother and the Soul Reaper as they had what was now becoming their daily spat.
Rose stiffened as she felt a hollow appear however it was very brief and as it disappeared the squealing of tires could be heard along with the thump of someone landing on the ground. The car started again and tore away.
"Orihime!" Ichigo called out.
Rose realized that the person who had fallen was Orihime Inoue a friend of Tatsuki Arisawa who was good friends with Ichigo. She knew the girl better than Ichigo though not by much and was still a bit unfamiliar with the girl's energy signature.
Worried she hurried to the fallen girl along with Ichigo and Rukia. Hiko squeaked at the sudden movement and grabbed her hair to keep from falling, when she came to a stop the monkey quickly navigated his way to her shoulder.
"Hey Orihime!" Ichigo called out.
"Huh, oh! Ichigo?" Orihime asked as Rose squatted down next to her.
"Did you just get hit by that car?" Ichigo demanded.
"Maybe…" Orihime said slowly.
"Are you hurt?" Rose asked touching her shoulder.
"No not really." The teen said.
"Where's the car that hit you?" Ichigo asked.
"It drove away." Orihime said, not sounding bothered by that at all.
'That driver was lucky Tatsuki wasn't here.' Rose thought.
"Orihime!" Ichigo said angrily as Rose sat up and offered her hand which Orihime took and pulled herself up.
"Oh, sorry…" Orihime said sounding guilty.
"Well… alright I mean as long as you're alright and everything." Ichigo said awkwardly.
"Huh… Rukia?" Orihime asked, noticing the Soul Reaper for the first time.
"That's right and just who are you?" Rukia said sounding like herself.
Rose sighed as Ichigo angrily reminded the girl that Orihime was in their class.
"Oh of course! Orihime how are you?" Rukia asked her voice cheerful.
"Oh I'm great thank you!" Orihime responded.
"So it appears that you've been shopping." Rukia said.
"Oh that's right, dinner!" Orihime cried out and rushed to her groceries.
"My leeks, butter and bean jam seem to have made it too!" She said happily.
'What the hell is she planning to make with that?' Rose thought, feeling nauseous just thinking about it. Hiko seemed to share her thoughts. He made a disgusted whined and Rose felt him bury his face in her hair.
"How did you get that bruise on your leg?" Rukia suddenly asked. Surprised Rose focused on Orihime and sensed the hollow's from earlier energy. It was very very faint but there.
"What bruise? Oh I guess it happened just now when that car ran into me." Orihime said.
"Geez, does it hurt?" Ichigo asked.
"A little bit but I'm okay." Orihime assured cheerfully.
Rose said nothing since she couldn't even see the bruise. She felt Rukia go closer to where she could feel the hollow's energy on Orihime.
"You sure?" Ichigo asked doubtfully.
"Huh… what's the matter Rukia? Is anything wrong?" Orihime asked, noticing Rukia looking at the bruise.
"Oh huh… right. Well you take care!" Rukia said hurriedly.
"Thanks!" Orihime said. After declining Ichigo's offer to walk her home and assuring them she was okay she left.
"Hey Rukia?" Rose asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?" Rukia said distantly.
"You didn't feel a hollow earlier did you?"
"No, why?" Rukia asked sharply, giving Rose her undivided attention.
"I… I thought I felt a hollow for a moment. It was gone quickly… but I felt it a moment before I heard the car stop." Rose explained.
"How come Rose felt it and we didn't?" Ichigo asked.
"She is much more sensitive than us…" Rukia allowed "The hollow probably left so quickly neither of us had the time to register its presence."
"Was it after Orihime or us?" Ichigo asked.
Rose shrugged slightly, mindful of Hiko on her shoulder "I don't know. It left so quickly I couldn't tell."
"Hmm…" Rukia muttered, deep in thought.
The Soul Reaper was silent for a while as they walked to Ichigo and Rose's home. Then she suddenly asked how well they knew Orihime.
"Rose knows her better than me." Ichigo said.
"Yeah, but I'm not that close to her I don't know her too well." Rose said.
Ichigo explained that Orihime's brother Sora had died at the family clinic about three years ago, not even a week after Rose had come into the family.
Rukia left after getting the information, not telling them where she was going.
xxx
Later that night Rose hid her smile as she realized that Rukia was 'staying' in Ichigo's room... or more specifically his closet.
'I wonder when he'll find out?' She thought, giggling as she brushed Hiko's fur. She was in her own room. It was quite furbished which surprised people. It had pictures of her adoptive family and friends from school on the walls. A dark wooden desk was in front of the window. Her special braille textbooks were stacked on it alongside a photograph of her and Hiko. The last thing on the desk was a potted plant. A rose colored a dark frosty blue; it was Rose's most prized possession.
Unsurprisingly Rose had been oblivious to the fact she was being photographed and had been sitting on a railing with her face tilted to the setting sun, her eyes half open. Hiko was on the railing beside her, his little furry hands on her lap and was looking up at her. She had been dressed in her usual causal outfit, it consisted of a black skirt that ended halfway to her knees, and a white off the shoulder shirt. Since the shirt went around her shoulders you could see the black straps of the undershirt she wore underneath. The sleeves of the shirt went halfway past her elbows. The girl also had on white laced up boots with a small heel. She wore black socks under the boots, both of which came a few inches short of Rose's knee. She also wore bracelets of amber beads on her left wrist and a black choker tied around her neck with a small bow to the left side. Lastly she had amber colored teardrop shaped earrings.
Of course when Isshin had revealed he had photographed her she had been embarrassed but let it go, provided he honestly told her how she looked in the picture. After he had told her she requested for a copy for herself. It was mostly because Hiko was in there too and even though she couldn't see it she felt that it captured their friendship based on what Isshin had described of it.
There was a dresser by her door, it had random things scattered across its surface. Her bed was simple, the covers were amber and it was pushed into left corner of the room. An amber rug was in the center of the floor.
Rose liked feeling how 'full' her room was. The photographs on the walls, the rug, and the little odds and ends…. It made the room feel homier.
The teen herself was still dressed in her causal outfit as she had been for the day since the time for sleeping was still a little ways off. She absentmindedly tugged at her hair tied loosely over her right shoulder with one hand while using the other hand to cradle the sleeping and fully brushed Hiko close to her heart.
Ever since Rukia had come Rose had been trying to deal with a strange sense of déjà vu, the power of a Soul Reaper that Ichigo and to a lesser extent Rukia, emitted felt… familiar.
The girl growled in frustration, burying her head in her pillow, minding the little monkey cradled in her hands. After she had been attacked and blinded her memories had been hard to recall. They weren't forgotten… but it was hard to recall many things and even harder to bring up the precious few memories of sight she had. Rose could recall her parents' appearances quite well however since she sometimes spent hours going over what they had looked like in an effort to prevent their faces fading from her memory. She could picture a man with red hair and brown eyes, her father… and a woman with gold hair and golden eyes… her mother.
Rose was thankful she had learned her colors before losing her sight. Though with how fuzzy some of her memories were it was hard to connect the colors to their respective names. Time had also made her somewhat uncertain if she was correct in the colors of parents' eyes and hair.
Her trips to that jungle with the Monkey would have helped a bit but since it was so dark she couldn't make out any actual colors - she was pretty as blind as she was in the real world - except that, when in the Monkey's world she didn't 'see' with her eyes. Hiko suddenly awoke and began pulling at her shirt, when she stroked him she felt his fur was bristled.
"What is it Hiko?" Rose asked.
Then she tensed as she felt a hollow appearing….
In Ichigo's bedroom.
The girl jumped from her bed and ran into her brother's room just in time to hear Rukia jump out of Ichigo's closet.
"Hey! What the heck!? Is that my sister's PJs you've got on!?" Ichigo cried out. To say he was shocked was an understatement.
"I'll explain later we've got orders!" Rukia said.
"Ichigo! Rukia! Behind you!" Rose shouted as she felt Ichigo's soul being forced out of its body.
They both leaped out of the way as the Hollow's hand emerged and grasped empty air.
'She felt the Hollow right before it emerged!' Rukia thought as the Hollow's hand smashed Ichigo's bed.
"Why are you just standing there? Do something!" Rukia shouted at Ichigo. The Hollow's head emerged and roared loudly making Rose shudder despite herself.
"You have to aim for its head!" Rukia shouted. Rose felt Ichigo leap upward with the Hollow doing the same. She cringed when she heard the ripping of concrete as Ichigo's zanpakuto sliced the ceiling in an effort to hit the hollow.
It ducked striking Ichigo with its tail.
"Ichigo!" Rukia and Rose shouted.
"You need to focus don't just swing your sword around!" Rukia berated.
"Shut up! Who cares as long as I kill it?" Ichigo snapped before attacking again. He managed to wound its arm before embedding his blade in its mask.
"Too shallow." Rukia muttered.
But then a piece of the mask cracked revealing a portion of a face. The Hollow cried out in pain again but this time its cry sounded more like a human…
Ichigo felt blood drain from his face as he looked at the human beneath the mask.
Rose gasped as she heard the scream and felt faint spirit energy coming from the gap in the mask.
"No way…" She breathed recognizing the spirit energy.
Still screaming in pain the Hollow retreated.
"It's getting away, let's go!" Rukia shouted.
But Ichigo stood where he was, breathing heavily.
"What's wrong?" Rukia asked noticing that Rose looked shaken as well.
"Something's not right. I got a look at that thing's face… and it was Orihime's dead brother!" Ichigo said.
"Are you certain?" Rukia asked, not really sounding surprised.
"Sora…" Rose whispered sadly. He had refused to cross over when she had offered her help and she had sometimes sensed his presence after his death, usually around Orihime but at a distance.
Rukia explained the origins of hollows, generally the same thing the Monkey had told her.
Rose bit her lip, she knew Ichigo well… he would have a hard time slaying the Hollow knowing that Sora somewhere inside it.
I hope everyone enjoyed, am getting to work on Tiger's Sun next chapter so to its readers - no worrying!
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Snowlily246
