Bleached Slayer

Chapter 2

The sun's position in the sky declared that it was early noon in Soul Society. The streets of the Court of Pure Souls brimmed with activity as countless shinigamis ran around performing different tasks, some of them motivated, some of them bored out of their skull, and some who apparently wanted to get their tasks done like their lives depended on it. ..which probably was the case given the nature of some of their officers.

Needless to say, the place was busy and it was the sounds of this hustle and bustle that encouraged a certain bedridden patient in the 4th division headquarters to open her eyes for the first time in a week. (Give or take a few millennia if you'd want to be picky about it.)

Beep.

Said patient laid there blinking for several moments before she was able to focus, noticing that she was looking at an unknown roof.

Obviously not satisfied with the view she decided to look around from her position, moving as few muscles as possible.

Beep.

"… Where's this?" was the logical thing to say, her voice sounding weak and hoarse.

The room she was in looked like some sort of hospital room, a private one she noted, but though she could recognise it's overall purpose, the structure and material the room was composed of, not to mention some of the scarier-looking devices like that annoying beeping thing were completely foreign to her.

Beep.

Though her instincts and experience demanded that she got up to assess her situation, her body wanted nothing more than to simply return to the bliss of sleep.

Beep.

Yes, sleep. A simple plan. Just close her eyes and let her aching body and mind recuperate for as long as it would demand.

Beep.

Screw it. That thing had to die.

Bee-CRASH!!

Sorceress-extraordinaire Lina Inverse, now fully awake and on her feet, slowly picked her fist up from where she had smashed it through the infernal device.

"Che. Finally!" She snorted, content with putting the thing out of her misery.

Lifting her head, her eyes were drawn to the open window, the curtains waving lightly in the breeze as she was drawn towards the sounds that had originally stirred her awake.

What she ended up seeing certainly wasn't anywhere close to Atlas City, hell, she doubted she was even close to the continent it was on.

The architecture of the buildings was made in what she recognised as an eastern style, somehow looking both older and newer than those she had witnessed before. Even if she hadn't been familiar with such from her travels, the myriads of people running back and forth in black robes, "hakamas" and "kimonos" she noted, should've been enough to tip her off.

'Sheesh, what a dull dress code though. Would it kill them to wear something just a little bit more colourful', she thought, picking at the white robes she found herself wearing.

There was something about the air too. Something… unworldly.

"Ara. You're awake I see."

Whirling around, Lina fixed her gaze on the woman who'd just spoke. She was a serene-looking woman with a thick braid coming down in the front. She also wore a white jacket on top of what seemed to be the common uniform around here, clearly setting her apart from those she'd seen outside. Lina's main focus though was how had this woman managed to enter the room without her noticing. That fact alone, more than any other was enough to put her on guard.

"Who are you? And for that matter, where am I?" Lina asked, her body assuming a ready-position.

"Calm down dear." The woman replied, gesturing with her hands as she noticed Lina tensing up. "If I were an enemy I could've attacked you while you were still asleep, don't you think so, miss Inwards?"

"Ok, point." Lina admitted as she relaxed her stance. Then something else sunk in. "Inverse!!" she suddenly shouted angrily.

"I beg your pardon?" Unohana said confused.

"My name! It's Inverse!! Not Inwards!!" she growled, for some reason crossing her arms over her breasts as if to cover them.

"Ah, I see." Unohana said calmly, pulling out a clipboard and began writing. "I will have to make changes to the forms then."

"As for your questions," she continued, tucking away her clipboard. "I am Unohana Retsu, commander and head medic of Gotei 13's 4th division. As for where you are, you are in my headquarters which is the medical centre of the Court of Pure Souls."

"Gotei 13? Court of Pure Souls? What's that supposed to mean?" Lina quirked an eyebrow.

"The 13 Division Imperial Guards. We, the shinigami of Soul Society are divided up into 13 divisions that…"

"Hold up! Hold up! Shinigami? Death Gods? Are you telling me that you are a Grim Reaper??" Lina asked, thoroughly confused. She had suspected the woman wasn't human, but a death god?

"Well I wouldn't exactly call myself grim, but yes." Unohana replied, walking closer. "Please sit down dear. I need to run a diagnostic." Lina being too put out for the moment sat down on the bed without a word.

"Th-then, are you saying everyone out there are shinigami as well?? This isn't the living world??"

"That's indeed how it is." Unohana replied as she ran her glowing hands over Lina's body, running her diagnosis Lina figured as she sat still as a stone.

"Everyone here exists to guide lost souls either here to Soul Society or to hell. You… seem to be quite put out by all this. Are you really unfamiliar with Soul Society as a whole?" Unohana said, sitting down next to Lina as she finished her scan.

"This is the first I hear of any of it. This is the after-life huh? Wait. Why am I here? Are you saying I'm dead?" Lina squeaked.

"I'm afraid that is the case. Um, listen. I realize this may be a bit of a shock to you, but…" Unohana began in a comforting tone as Lina had started to shake, only to be surprised as the girl shot to her feet.

"This means this place is heaven, right?!" She half-shouted, whirling around energetically to grin into the other woman's face to which Unohana could only nod dumbly. "Why yes, there are mortals who refer to Soul society as…"

"YOSHA!! Hahahaa! They always said I'd end up in hell, the "Abominable Lina Inverse" my ass!! IN YOUR FACE, ALL OF YOU!!!" Lina kept laughing towards the ceiling with Unohana being quite nonplussed from this unexpected reaction. Lina suddenly went quiet and fell to her knees, alarming Unohana. "Miss Inverse…?"

"… I really am dead aren't I?" Lina let out in a weak voice, her back facing Unohana. "I can sorta remember it happen but… Wait!! The Dark Lords!! The human world, is it still…?!!" she shot to her feet, stopping as the taller woman grabbed her shoulders gently.

"I may not know the exact circumstances of your death, but I can assure you that the human world still exists. By that fact alone, it appears you won." she smiled gently.

Using a few moments to absorb the information, Lina's look of disbelief slowly changed into a smile before she once again sank to her knees, muttering: "Thank Goodness. Thank Goodness…"

"You must've carried such a heavy burden." Unohana began, smiling warmly down at the "younger" girl. "But thanks to you, the human-world is alive and well. Maybe a little different, but…" she trailed off as Lina wiped her eyes and the room was filled with a comfortable silence.

It ended abruptly though as a ferocious growl sounded and the girl on her knees flattened out completely, face down.

"M-miss Inverse?" Unohana sweatdropped as the smaller girl's stomach let out another inhuman-sounding growl. It sounded quite like an hollow really.

"This is heaven, right? PLEASE tell me that means I can find some food around here!" Lina whined, slinking back to her feet while holding her stomach.

Unohana blinked before giggling.

"But of course. There's a dining hall for our patients down the hall and to the left. Would you like to wash up first before we… go…?" she trailed off as she realized she was talking to thin air.

Finding the door now slightly ajar, Unohana blinked once again.

"That's odd." she remarked. "I didn't think she would be able to use shunpo in her condition."

"So you were a sorceress?" Unohana asked as they sat at a table in the dining hall. By the time she had made it there Lina was already on her 5th helping and she was showing no sign of stopping any time soon, still stacking empty bowls atop of eachother as she moved on.

"Mwell, yeah." Lina mumbled inbetween bites. "The best one around too. There were hardly anyone who could hold a candle towards me." she smirked, nose in the air, before grabbing another helping, finished with the prefilled bowls. She had apparently managed to secure the entire metal kettle used to supply the rations and kept it on her table for easy access. Unohana quirked an eyebrow at that as Lina continued to wolf down the food at an impressive pace.

"What kind of life did you live then? Did you operate in a guild serving your goverment perhaps?"

"Heck no, I'm an adventurer! I traveled the lands far and wide in search of exitement and treasure. And good food of course." Lina gestured, buttering her bread and pouring herself another helping in her bowl.

"I imagine it must've been quite interesting, journeying across the land like that." From what Lina had described, her world must've resembled the feudal age. A time where danger lurked around any corner, especially for a young girl travelling alone.

Lina paused with a thoughtful look as she poured yet another bowl. "Well it was a lot of fun, but there were a few things every now and then. Like bandit-attacks and evil sorcerers and mazoku and such."

"Mazoku?"

"Demons." Lina clarified. "I always kept getting pulled into some screwy situation where I had to fight off those things." she stated as if she was describing an everyday occurance. To her that wasn't far from the truth.

"Oh my." Unohana remarked, a little put off by the ease the petite girl related this. Demons weren't something a shingami ran into often as they rarely interacted with anything outside of hell. Unohana had barely caught a glimpse of the things as she'd witnessed souls of sinners get pulled into hell. To think they were once running rampant on the living world was a scary image. And this girl had fought with them and won while she was a living human? She'd wanted to inquire more about Lina's era when her musings were cut short as a trio of burly shinigami, obviously from the 11th division, approached their table.

The one who seemed to be the leader, a man with a half-shaved head and a ugly mustache slammed his palm down on the table, gathering the attention of the rest of the room (the few who weren't already gawking at Lina's rapid eating pace).

"Hey brat!" he bellowed, his apparent ire focused on Lina. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

The trio had earlier been at the supply-table, arguing with (read: harasssing) the 4th division-member who was in charge of pouring the food-rations when they suddenly had been barreled over by a redheaded blur. The unexpected impact had sent them flying a good 20+ feet where they crashed harsly into the wall. The 4th division-member could only stare blankly as Lina had started to excitedly pour up bowl after bowl onto her trays until she eventually decided to run off with the entire kettle as well.

"You have a lot of nerve knocking us over like that." the 2nd 11th division goon, a guy with a mohawk, growled.

"Don't think we'll forgive you just cuz you're a girl." the third man, this one completely bald, sneered.

It seemed that they were so focused on Lina that in their tunnel vision they didn't even notice that the 4th division captain was sitting at the same table.

"What division are you from?" the first man continued. "We from Zaraki's division won't tolerate anyone trying to - Bitch, listen to us!!!" they all yelled at the end as Lina hadn't looked up at them once in favor of drinking the leftover sauce from her current bowl.

"What's your problem, you're noisy." Lina said uninterested. "Can't you see that I'm eating here? Now buzz off. Shoo." She waved them off disinterested like they were some annoying bug before grabbing the container to pour herself another portion.

Red-faced, the men shook in rage at the small girl's attitude and just as Unohana was about to voice her presence, the first man snapped and lashed out. "You little bitch!!!" he yelled, hitting the kettle Lina was currently holding.

As if in slow motion, Lina watched shocked as the metal container flew out of her grip and onto the floor, splashing out all it's (remaining) content. The rest of the world was an empty void as she watched the meat, vegetable and sauce splatter across the wodden floor, dirtied, soiled, ruined.

A shadow spread over Lina's face as she sat there unmoving, the brute already in motion to deliver another hit, this one aimed at her face.

The sudden spike of reiatsu that was felt and the vicious uppercut he recieved stopped that short as he flied past his two buddies and landed in a heap on the floor.

He and everyone else in the room watched as the redhaired girl got to her feet with a furious aura ablaze around her, walking towards the man while not even acknowledging the two other goons.

"Disturbing a maiden's meal is a crime in itself," she began as she closed in on the man, her voice eerily calm and her eyes overshadowed by her hair. "But ruining food, mine in particular, is an offence that even the heavens cannot forgive!" she declared, her voice rising towards the end. Ironically, she had forgotten she was at that very place right now. Looking up, her eyes were furious with small tears at the end of them. "You're Dead Meat!"

"Get her!" the man's companions shouted as they charged at Lina from behind.

As the first one of the two threw a full swing, Lina instinctly ducked and then delivered an elbow into his stomach without even turning around to face the man. It was worth noting that because of the size-difference she could hardly have reached higher if she'd tried. None the less, the guy collapsed forward as Lina was already in motion, grabbing the man by his collar and sash and then used his momentum to send him flying upside down.

As the guy on the floor barely dodged his incoming friend, Lina dogded the strike from the third goon and delivered a roundhouse kick to his chest. As he started to stumble backwards, Lina went into a crouch and swung his feet out from under him with her leg, sending him crashing harshly on his back.

As Lina was still in a crouch, a shadow fell over her from behind as the very first guy she punched was back on his feet and sent a punch in a downwards arc that dented the floor as it hit. He barely had time to register that he'd missed and looked up towards the ceiling just in time to see Lina, her robes rustling as she descended and delivered a rigid stomp on his face with both feet.

He was once again thrown onto his back on the floor as Lina used his face as a spring to jump back and land safely, standing in front of the table she was seated earlier.

Unohana and everyone else in the room blinked as they had just witnessed a girl trash 3 men that were at the very least twice her size.

Something like that wasn't exactly unheard of in Soul Society as plenty of the higher ranking shinigami were petite-looking little women, but this was the 4th division headquarters where most of the people there got harassed by the 11th division members every now and then. That's why it was quite a sight for those present to see the little redhead who was obviously a patient given her white robes toss around the bigger men as if she had done nothing else her whole life.

Skills and reflexes like that came with being a "bandit-killer" after all.

"Damn it, we'll remember this you flat little bitch!!" the man yelled as he was pulled along by his two pals, running away for their dear life.

"What did you call me?!!" Lina snarled and tossed one arm forward, hand open. "Eat this! Fireball!"

Nothing happened.

Lina stood there, arm outstretched as the men disappeared down the corridor. Blinking, she slowly pulled her arm back and looked at her hand. That was odd. Why hadn't her magic worked?

Before she could contemplate that further though, an icy chill went down her spine as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Now listen here Lina," Unohana started with an eerie tone. "Know that I won't hold anything against you for roughhousing those men seeing that the 11th division often cause a general disturbance here. However," she said, her grip on Lina's shoulder tightening at the final word, making her flinch. "Did you just try to use a fire-related spell inside a hospital filled with patients?"

The face was friendly and the words weren't unkind, but the air the woman gave off was quite ominous. Jittering franticly as she looked at her over her shoulder, Lina felt like she wanted to run away and hide. However, since the woman had a firm grip on her, she did the next best thing.

She panicked.

"KYAAAAAA!!! I'MSORRY-I''MSORRY-I'MSORRY-I'MSORRY-I'MSORRY-I'MSORRYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Letting the water cascade down her body as she stood in the shower, Lina rubbed the sore lump on her head.

"Owowowow..." she let out weakly.

She realized she may had been going overboard with using a fireball inside a hospital, but after hearing her least favorite insult as her first meal in eons was ruined she pretty much lost all view of rationality.

Still, it worried her. Usually she could toss around fireballs like it was the most normal thing in the world for her, but this time she hadn't felt any sign of the telltale magic energy being gathered. Not even a sliver.

Was it because she was dead? Did souls lose such abilities after they'd crossed over, or could it perhaps mean that the magic she was familiar with simply didn't exist any longer.

It was a possibility. In her semi-conscious state she'd been able to tell that an ungodly amount of time had passed as she had been sealed inside that crystal.

Letting her forehead rest against the wall as she leaned forward, Lina decided she would have to ask Unohana about this after she got out of the showers.

She would just remember to never do anything that might upset the woman ever again.

Cause that impassive anger she could radiate was way creepy!

LUNA-creepy!

Preview:

Kyouraku: So, what is your impression of our new face, Unohana-chan?

Unohana: I'm intriguingly amused. She seems to be quite an interesting person.

Ukitake: Do you think she would contribute to our forces?

Unohana: Indeed I do if her potential is as big as we suspect and she continues to recover at this rate. I'm slightly worried though.

Kyouraku: She did seem a little feisty, didn't she.

Ukitake: You don't think she might become a potential enemy, do you?

Unohana: No, it's not that. I'm just concerned if we'll have enough food to go around now that Lina's here.

Kyouraku & Ukitake: Huh??

Lina: Erm, a girl's gotta eat you know. Never mind that though! Hurry up and do the preview for the next chapter!

Byakuya: You're out of time again.

Lina: Who the hell ARE you anyway?!!

Shinigami's Cup. Golden!

"Nee, nee, who do you think that girl is?" a girl asked excitedly as the 4th division-members gathered.

"I don't know. I've never seen her before." another member replied. The redhaired girl had a more european look than most shinigami he'd seen so he probably would have remembered it if he did.

"Maybe she's new?" another one offered.

"Cool! Do you think she'd might join the 4th division? Cause that just now was awsome!"

"Yeah! It'd be nice to have someone that could keep those 11th division punks in cheek." a freckled girl grinned.

"Yeah, yeah!" they agreed.

"You forget the fact that she might try to never come here willingly again." One of the senior members noted as he pushed up his glasses.

The group sighed and looked across the room where Unohana stood, still with that eerily serene smile on her face as she was busy pulling at the redhaired girls' cheeks. Said redhead was flailing her arms wildly, not daring to try and oppose the woman.

Disclaimer: Still don't own this stuff. Pity.