Chapter 1: Moving Again
*Thank you Scatter Brain-95 for reviewing. Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, just a couple of OCs.*
Another school day had come to a close at Karakura High and the students were filing out of the building and walking to their respective homes or staying outside to mingle with friends. A young woman, dressed not in the school's uniform but instead a white shirt paired with a knee-length black jacket and black and white plaid skirt stood by the entrance engrossed in the novel in her hands.
In her defense, she had her nose buried deep in her book and her complete attention captured by said book; otherwise Naoko would have seen the guy who was about to run into her and moved out of the way. But her awareness of her surroundings was taken up by the story in her hands and thus a young looking man ran into her.
"Hey, be careful there," she chided. Luckily she kept her finger in the book to keep her place or she would have been even more cross at the uncoordinated individual.
"Sorry about that," he apologized.
The young man was slightly taller than her and lean too with blonde hair sharply cut at his chin. The teeth she could see peeking through his parted lips were unusually straight and even, almost like piano keys. She noticed his brown eyes were studying her as though trying to place her face in his memory.
After a few seconds Naoko said, "What?"
He blinked as though he had not realized he had been staring and shrugged. "Sorry, you look kinda familiar, that's all."
With that, he walked away and Naoko quizzically watched him go. His hair and teeth were not the only strange things about him, but his reiatsu was certainly off. He felt like a Soul Reaper, but there was a layer of darkness mingled in there too. It felt… Hollow.
No… that can't be right. I…I must be imagining things. The Quincy teen reassured herself and stuck her nose back into her book.
"Are you always going to be waiting for me after school?"
Not two seconds later Naoko looked up from her book; she had just reached the part where the dwarf character was being sent to the country's capital to reign in his impulsive sister and her vicious son, the new king. Her brother stood, gripping his book bag and looking at her with a pensive slightly annoyed look.
"Why not? Does it embarrass you to have someone waiting for you after school?" She teased with a wry smile.
Uryu's cheeks colored slightly and he adjusted his glasses, "Hardly." He started walking and Naoko followed beside him. "It's just something I'm not comfortable with."
If he was being honest, it was more because he was not used to having someone waiting for him. For nearly all of Uryu's life he only had himself and now he had a sister, intent on making herself a part of his life and he of hers, and a doting grandmother. Going from being alone to having people in his life was not something Uryu could adjust to in the short span of two weeks.
"Would you rather I wait in my dog form?" Naoko joked, though with her Uryu could picture her doing just that. "So how was your day?"
Inquires about his daily life was another thing to grow used to. Such questioning was annoying, but also touching to have someone care about his activities enough to ask.
"Not much different than yesterday, though we had a new student join our class. He's certainly… different, his reiatsu felt off even though he was keeping suppressed," Uryu said.
Naoko looked at him with interest, "Off how?"
"It felt like that of a Soul Reaper, but there was Hollow mixed in." Uryu the shook his head, "Maybe my senses are off kilter because my powers are gone."
"I don't know. I bumped into a guy whose reiatsu felt just like that. Maybe things are stirring up again here in town, eh?" The younger Quincy said wryly.
The elder sighed, "I hope not. It's been less than a month since the Bount incident ended. I was hoping for a longer period of peace." And that we would have found a way to restore my powers.
Shinji Hirako discreetly peered over the top of his magazine and watched the two teens walk away. He had stopped at an undersized newsstand when a magazine on music, advertising a jazz article had caught his eye. It was the article and not the busty, curvy woman on the cover holding a saxophone, not at all.
His eyes returned to the page, but his mind remained on the retreating teens. Encountering one Quincy was unusual, but two in the same day were highly unexpected. Their reiatsu was amiss though it had been decades since he last encountered a Quincy he could still tell something was wrong. The boy's felt like it was a shadow of what it once was and the girl's felt... warped.
He sighed and paid for the magazine before going on his way. He had enough to deal with, such as convincing a stubborn orange haired teenager that he needed Shinji's help in taming his Hollow, to concern himself with a pair of Quincy teenagers.
In many cultures and societies, it is considered polite to knock before entering. Such polite dictations seemed to have been lost on Isshin Kurosaki much to the annoyance of the person he was barging in on which happened to be Ryuken Ishida.
The Quincy doctor sent a frigid glare at the former Soul Reaper, but such a look either truly did not faze Kurosaki or he chose to solider through it with an infuriating grin. Ryuken slid the letter he had been reading under a few papers on his desk, even though Kurosaki could not see what it was Ryuken would rather not take the chance.
Unfortunately the tactic did not work.
"What are you reading there?" Kurosaki asked.
"What are you doing in my office, Kurosaki?" Ryuken growled.
The other doctor casually crossed his arms over his chest and continued grinning, "You didn't answer my question which means it must be something you definitely don't want me to know about. So what is it?"
Ryuken narrowed his eyes, "It is none of your concern and you did not answer my question on why you are here."
Isshin shrugged, "If I tell you will you tell me what you're hiding?"
The Quincy rolled his eyes; the man could be so persistent about the most inconsequential of things. "Fine. It's a letter from my mother asking for some… assistance on a private family matter."
Isshin nodded, "I take it has something to do with restoring Uryu's lost powers?"
Seeing a look of absolute surprise on Ryuken's face was about as rare as Yoruichi going a day without walking around buck naked. It was rare and Isshin was reveling in the fact that such a look was plain on his face and that he was the cause of said look.
But the look vanished quicker than Isshin would have liked and was replaced with a guarded, boarding on hostile, glare. "How do you know about that?"
"A mutual black cat friend of ours may have stopped at the clinic looking for a saucer of milk and a chat."
Figures. If she didn't figure out something was wrong with Uryu than Mother would certainly have told her. Yoruichi Shihoin and the insufferable Kisuke Urahara had been friends of Ryuken's family for longer than he would like to admit. "Why did she tell you?"
The other doctor slid his hands into the pockets of his white coat, "She might've been worried that you might not help even if your ma asked real nice."
The Quincy scoffed at the claim that Yoruichi cared that much about his son. Then again, he is the grandson and son of two of her friends and may feel some compulsion to help the boy.
"It's not just that Ryuken," Isshin's tone sobered and turned serious. "Things are stirring in Hueco Mundo and it's making Soul Society tense and anxious. A war of some kind is going to eventually break out and everyone is going to fight, including Uryu powers or not."
Even though he did not let it show a thin chill slithered through his being. Uryu, like his mother, was the type to step in and help those in need even if it put his own life at risk.
"I'm sure my mother would find a way to keep him safe," he said.
"If she had, do you think she'd be asking for your help in restoring his powers?" Isshin pointed out.
The insufferable man had a point much to Ryuken's chagrin and Ryuken did know that his mother would not be asking for his help if she knew a way to restore Uryu's powers herself.
"So are you going to help him?"
"If I do, it'll be on my terms," he growled.
Isshin gave him a crooked self-sure grin, "I knew you'd do it. Underneath that hard, icy exterior you still care about your kid. You know, it's actually touching to see even a cold-hearted guy like you can care about others."
"I said if I do it, not that I would," Ryuken argued. With every second he spent with the ex-Soul Reaper his irritation went up a notch. His fingers itched to summon his bow and fire an arrow at him. All Ryuken would need was one clear shot…
The other doctor waved away his comment, "Sure, sure, but I know you and deep down you do care. I mean its way deep in—"
He abruptly stopped and Ryuken looked at him with slight curiosity since there were very few things that could make Isshin Kurosaki stop talking.
After a moment he said, "Ryuken, do you feel that?"
The Quincy focused and he felt a flicker of a recognizable reiatsu he had not felt in years. A light rapping emitted from his door, it opened and a familiar face popped into view.
Isshin's mouth stretched into a face splitting grin at the sight of the newcomer. He gleefully crowed, "Mihana, is that you?"
Mihana Kuroki stepped into the office with a soft smile on her visage. The years and her time in the United States had been very kind to her. She looked nearly the same the last time either man saw her which was just months after Masaki died. Her skin was tinted with a fading tan. Her ink black hair was pulled into a neat chignon save for the frayed bang that always seemed to insist on hanging between her wide violet eyes. She wore a purple blouse, black slacks, flats, and a thin dove gray sweater.
Isshin engulfed her in a bear hug, which was not difficult to do given her petite, slight frame. The female doctor's short stature was always a source of amusement for everyone much to her annoyance.
"It's… nice to see… you too Isshin," she gasped out from the lovingly crushing embrace. "I… can't breathe!"
Isshin let her go immediately, "Oh, sorry about that."
She lightly coughed and he set his hand gently on her back. Mihana straightened up and waved him off, "I'm fine now. It's nice to see you too, Ryuken."
The Quincy blinked at her in surprise, still unable to realize that she was here in his office. Finally words found their way off his tongue, "It's nice to see you as well Mihana. What are you doing here?"
She shrugged and even through her sweater he could see how thin her shoulders were. Mihana had always been the sickly type and had been hospitalized countless times growing up. It was partly why she became a doctor, because she knew exactly what it was like to be sick in a hospital and the kind of aid a well trained doctor can do. She wanted to be the one to take care of people in return for always being taken care of.
"The grand ol' United States of America lose its appeal?" Isshin asked with a joking grin.
"It's not that it's just… I've been feeling homesick. The United States is great; I've visited and lived in several different cities. But none of them had the same appeal as Karakura. So I had the brilliant idea of moving back here."
Both men wore a look of surprise.
Isshin raised his eyebrows and asked, "Really? I thought you liked traveling. You always seemed to have a wanderer's spirit."
Mihana nodded and fiddled with her sleeve, "I know, but lately I've felt like settling down. I think I got all that traveling out of my system and I'm ready to make a permanent home."
"If you are serious about settling down here in Karakura again, I'm sure I could find a position for you here at the hospital if you'd like," Ryuken offered.
"Favoritism, Ishida? I thought you were above that," the ex-Soul Reaper smirked.
Ryuken's mouth tightened in irritation, "It is not favoritism to find a place for a highly skilled doctor such as Mihana. Any facility would be fortunate to have her."
Isshin threw his arm around Mihana's slim shoulders, "Well if that's the case then you should come work at my clinic, Mihana. I'm sure Karin and Yuzu would love to have you around. Why we could even—"
He froze and looked out the large window behind Ryuken and then looked at the Quincy, who had his head tilted toward the window with his eyes narrowed.
"Ryuken do you—?"
"I felt it," the Quincy said briskly, he grabbed his coat and quickly headed for the door. "Mihana it was a pleasure to see you again, but I'm afraid Kurosaki and I must be going."
"But wait I—" She tried to protest as Isshin guided her out the door.
"He's right Mihana, something's come up and I know leaving you like this, is rude and you can yell at us later, but we need to go."
Both men politely ushered her out the office before leaving her. Isshin called over his shoulder, "See ya' Mihana! Hey, stop by for dinner some time, so we can catch up!"
Slightly stunned at the abrupt departure Mihana weakly waved them goodbye, not that either man noticed. She dropped her hand with a sigh, "But I felt it too."
She was not blind nor ignorant of where they were going or what they were doing anymore. There were two Hollows she could feel out there and their reiatsu felt crushing, vicious, and hungry.
*The story is now rolling and we're getting right into the action. Mihana Kuroki will make appearances here and there and is a semi-important character.
Please review and I'll post again on April 14th.*
