Disclaimer: and once again, let's say it all together, I don't own Bleach. KT does. (BTW KT: Ukitake created the shinigami badge? Does he even know how to do that?)
Shiranai
By
Marie Darkholme
CHAPTER TWO: Stranger in a tree
The girl was nearly the personification of a living clock. At least where it was concerning to her morning training.
At 6 a.m. sharp every morning she could be seen in her sport shorts and shirt, her MP3 player neatly placed in an armband, the small headphones already on her ears. The circuit would change every day, but it was always more or less an hour of steady fast running. In the final 10 minutes she would accelerate and end with a small sequence of stretches before heading back to the dorms. Half an hour later, at 7h30 a.m. she was out once more. Her hair was always wet and falling in locks over her eyes. With a black bag swung over her shoulder and her headphones back in her ears, she always walked fast on her way to the University.
Classes began at 8 a.m. and Arisawa Tatsuki was always five minutes early, at least. She was friendly with everyone that approached her, smiling more often than not and by what he could see, she appeared to be quite popular between her classmates. But the truth was he could feel a certain detachment as she grinned and laughed of her companions' jokes.
She was usually occupied with her classes until lunch time. By then, she would separate herself from the rest of the classmates, even though he could tell she was always invited to go along with them. Instead she ate alone; sometimes in the University's cafeteria, other times somewhere in the Campus where she could sit and eat her home-made cooking.
He tried to keep himself out of sight as she approached the very tree he had decided to occupy for that day. It felt odd to have to hide himself. He was not accustomed neither to being seen by humans nor following them. That said following a human that could see him was quite a challenge. But he was rather enjoying it.
When she reached the tree, the girl sat down on the grass and he was not surprised to see her reach into her black bag and retrieve a small quadrangular bento box. It was a nice day. The temperature was just warm enough for the soft breeze that made her black hair sway gently to feel good. All in all, it was an excellent day to enjoy while eating outside.
As she opened the box, picked her chopsticks and started eating, the shinigami relaxed and slowly resumed back to his thoughts about said black haired girl.
Her afternoons were a bit more erratic. Sometimes she had classes that stretched into the night or group works that kept her in the university until late hours. Other times he had found her studying or researching big and thick old looking books in the library. That reminded him of his time at the Spiritual Arts Academy, not so many decades before. By night was the time she appeared to be more reactive. It was by then that her martial art training took place, everyday for two hours.
"You can come down from there." A voice stated, forcibly removing him from his inner thoughts.
What the hell? was the first thing that crossed his mind. As he looked below him to the obvious source of the voice he noticed the girl wasn't looking up and was simply putting away her bento box. However, there was no one else around and assuming she wasn't one of those crazy people that talked to themselves, the comment had been directed at him. He contemplated his options. Had she heard him? Or seen him? He had been so careful not to be spotted. How had she known he was there?
"C'mon! I'm getting a bit tired of being watched while I eat." She spoke again, this time turning her head in his direction.
Kazuma Usui agilely climbed down the tree, flash-stepping to stand just before the girl with a quizzical expression on his face. At the same time, he felt slightly ashamed of getting caught like that.
The girl watched him casually while taking a bite of an apple she had just retrieved from her bag. She patted the grass beside her with her free hand, motioning for him to sit down. When he didn't she just continued to chew the piece of apple in her mouth, completely unfazed by his actions, or lack of it thereof.
"How did you know I was up there?" he asked more than a bit shaken by her attitude. He had expected to get some sort of reaction from her when he didn't comply in sitting down. She looked like the kind of person who would at least roll her eyes at him. But if his actions hadn't managed to stir her up, his words however had her looking up at him with a surprised expression. Her eyes narrowed him, her hand suspended halfway to her mouth.
"Are you stupid?" it wasn't a rhetorical insult. Instead, she gave the question a completely serious inquiring tone. She really was asking herself more than asking him if he was somewhat retarded. Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Hello!" she waved her free hand in front of her eyes. "Spiritually aware human here. I've been feeling you following me around for most of the day in the past week."
The shinigami opened his mouth and then closed it again. She had felt him? That's...that's, well, not impossible but still very, very, very, very hard, considering I've been suppressing my reiatsu. He thought. For a human at least, it should be near impossible. Even if it is a spiritually aware human. What kind of spirit power does she have to track me down like that?
"Hey, shinigami!" the girl pulled his shihakusho to get his attention. "Don't just stand there gapping. It's weird and it's fucking getting on my nerves."
Once again, Kazuma found himself being brought back to reality by the girl's voice. Her apple was halfway to be completely eaten. He saw as she glanced to her watch, clearly checking how much time she had until some unknown commitment, before she looked back up at him. "By the way, thanks for haunting those monsters that have been showing up lately. I haven't had a week this relaxed since...humph, I can't even remember."
Her smile, a true bright thank you smile had him completely surprised. He had seen nothing like that in the entire week he had been following her. And she certainly didn't look like she gave out smiles like that often. But judging by the amount of hollows he had taken on lately just around her, it was easy to imagine the sort of disturbance they would cause in her daily life. Deciding that it might be worth getting to know the human girl a little better instead of following her around, the shinigami finally sat down by her side, resting his zanpakutou on the green grass besides him.
"That's more like it." she commented as he sat. "I was starting to get a neck ache from looking up."
Kazuma waited as the girl took another bite on the apple. There were questions he wanted to make, but he wasn't sure what the best approach would be. Would she rather be asked directly or was she the beat around the bush type? Damn, talking to women is too complicated.
"Tatsuki, right?" he started, still unsure of how to begin the conversation. Adding to the fact he was not the most eloquent shinigami, he really had no idea how to casually talk with women. On top of that, this was a human woman. He was sure that was bound to complicate things further.
Her reply was immediate. "You stalk that many human girls to not be sure what my name is?" she laughed. Kazuma was embarrassed to notice she had caught on his shyness to start the conversation and that had just been her way of playing along. "Yeah, Arisawa Tatsuki."
"Is that supposed to mean you remember my name?" he inquired with a smirk.
"Hell yeah, Kazuma Usui." She replied nonchalantly while taking another bite of the apple.
So she likes to act like a smartass. He thought to himself as he glanced towards the girl sitting at his side. "Well, Arisawa Tatsuki, for how long have you been spiritually aware?"
"Straight to the point, huh? I like that." Her face assumed a thoughtful expression. "It started when I was around fifteen, so, it's been around...four year, more or less." She replied, shifting her gaze back to him. "My turn." She continued, a hint of excitement in her voice. "How old are you?"
The shinigami's face showed his surprise for brief seconds. It was an interesting question. The truth was he didn't know exactly how old he was. Having lived a great part of his life alone in the Rukongai before entering the Shinou Academy had him a bit lost to his actual age.
"I'm actually not entirely sure," he replied truthfully. "but I would say about a hundred and twenty or so."
"You are indeed very well preserved for such an old man." She smirked, so completely unaffected by the information that Kazuma momentarily forgot she was actually a human and not a shinigami like him. He hit her playfully on the shoulder as he too laughed. For a second though, he thought he had seen her flinch. But that was unlikely as he had seen her taking much harder punishments without so much as a wince, so he quickly discarded the reaction as his own imagination.
"Four years, huh?" he started, keen on playing her game if it meant she would answer his questions. "So, until four years ago, you had no idea whatsoever about the Spirit World?"
Her laugh was filled with something other than amusement. He couldn't quite place what it was it sounded like. No, it wasn't that is sounded, it just felt different. As if there was actually sadness in it, with just a bit of anger in the mix. He wasn't sure. Her answer took a little more than usual to cross her lips.
"Yeah, sort of. Until four years ago, I was a normal human." She replied absently while playing with the core of the apple in her hands. "A normal human with normal friends." the apple slipped from her fingers and just like that her expression change. "Well, not totally normal, though. I always enjoyed kicking ass."
Were all women such mood swingers or was Arisawa Tatsuki especially good at it? The shinigami was starting to doubt his interrogation techniques. Wasn't he supposed to satisfy his curiosity with his questions? Because all he had managed so far was to formulate even more questions.
"So, third Seat of the Ninth Division," she smiled. "How long ago have you finished the Shinigami Academy? Or are you fresh out of it?"
"Actually, I was a quick graduate. But I've only been a third Seat for a year or so." the shinigami said as he leaned his back against the tree. "I was first assigned to the Eleventh Division when I finished the Academy and was there for a long time." He continued all the while watching her expression carefully. Again she was able to surprise him with how well she took in the information, not a hint of confusion showing. Instead, the recognition was obvious in her untroubled face; as if she knew exactly what he was talking about.
"You actually know a lot more about shinigami matters than you're letting me on, right?" he inquired with a smile.
The girl at his side smirked mischievously as she stood up. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't." She said as she picked up her school bag. "My afternoon classes start in a few minutes. Law throughout history. Are you interested?"
The shinigami stood after her. He felt odd at how unbothered and natural she acted around him, even thought she was most probably the only person in the Campus that could see him. It felt as if she was used to hanging around with spirit beings. Even if she had met shinigami before, and Quincy and Fullbringers, it didn't quite explain her interaction with him. Shinigami didn't hang around humans. Actually, now that I think about it, there is a group of shinigami that hang a lot around humans, Fullbringers I was told, but humans nonetheless.
"I think I'll leave it for another time." He waved his hands dismissively and the girl shrunk her shoulders in a clear you don't know what're you missing mockery and walked away waving him goodbye with her free hand. His next question was a whim of the moment. A shot in the dark that he hadn't even totally considered.
"Are you by any chance from Karakura?"
Even with her back turned to him, the change was so abrupt that it was actually disturbing. Her hands dropped by her sides, her shoulders tensed up and her back stiffened visibly. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. When she turned around to face him, it was only her eyes that betrayed her. More than the repressed anger he was expecting to see, they showed a sorrow that she miserably failed to hide.
"You already asked your question. Next time it's my turn." She made an attempt of a smile before turning back around and mingling with a group of girls he had seen in her class before.
As she walked away, Kazuma found himself staring after her. Arisawa Tatsuki truly was a mysterious human woman. Next time it's her turn, she says. His thoughts were interrupted by the beeping sound of his denreishinki. Nice timing for a hollow. I really need to let out this anxiety and relax. And with a flash-step he was gone from the Campus.
Konbawa minna, I guess I'm going to continue this fiction. It really doesn't feel like a one shot. I'm still not sure about the outcome so I'll just go with the flow. If anyone out there is asking if this will be a IchiTatsu (since I'm head over heels for it), I still don't know that either.
I hope you like my OC Kazuma Usui. He's an alright fellow once you get to know him ^_^
Thanks a lot to the two reviewers:
winter winds: you're very kind. I think the only reason you feel that is because I kind of like to imagine those fights and try to pass than on the readers. I'm glad you liked it.
dragonlayer: cool sounds good to me ^_^ (the part about the more please sounded as if you were asking for seconds on a dish you had just devoured, hihi).
Bye bye
