Chapter 2
Soifon looked concerned as she listened to the news Captain Yamamoto had for her. She had a strange feeling of déjà vu and stared at the floor in deep thought. "Soifon...Soifon!" Soifon snapped out of her daze and looked back up at the head captain, "Sorry sir," she bowed apologetically. Captain Yamamoto studied the face of the captain in front of him; she looked troubled and had gone somewhat pale, "I need you to take the task force to the world of the living and scout around for anything suspicious." "Yes sir," and with that Soifon started to leave. "And Soifon..." Captain Yamamoto added, causing her to stop and look back at him, "This is a very serious matter and we will be counting on you." It was as if he was giving her a warning not to space off again and take this mission more critically. "I understand sir," Soifon replied before leaving.
"I'm so bored," Rangiku complained letting her breasts flop down on Toshiro's desk as she leaned over to see what he was up to, "There's nothing to do." Toshiro frowned as he tried to do his paperwork, "What about all the paperwork you let pile up?" "Yeah but that's boring," the lieutenant whined as she turned from the desk and leaned against it with the palms of her hands on the desk. Toshiro shook his head, not in the mood for her slacking off today. Then a hell butterfly flew in from the window and danced in the air around the captain and lieutenant. Rangiku watched it curiously, "I wonder what this is all about." To answer her curiosity a voice came from the butterfly.
"Nemu you idiot," Mayuri sneered as he typed away frantically on his computer, "you've been organizing my data again." After a few more seconds of typing he stood up and grabbed her arms and began shaking her, "What have you done with the information on my latest research you stupid girl?" Nemu looked up at her captain with an emotionless look; no fear could be detected in her unblinking eyes. Before she could answer something caught her eye and she turned her head to see a black butterfly fluttering towards them and she pointed to it, "A hell butterfly captain." "Hm?" Mayuri uttered as he looked over at it, still keeping his grip on Nemu. The butterfly danced closer to them and a soul reaper's voice could be heard from it, giving them the same message the others were receiving.
"Attention to all captains and lieutenants. You will now be on guard of any high spiritual pressure not involving hollows. If such pressure is detected you are hereby ordered from Head Captain Yamamoto to report it immediately, please be aware that this is a serious matter that won't be taken lightly."
Shunsui, who was lying on the rooftop he usually lounged around on, lifted his hat from his face once the urgent message ended. "They could at least tell us why it's such a serious matter," he said as he watched the butterfly fly farther away. Nanao sighed while gripping her clipboard, "Would it have mattered?" "Probably not," Shunsui replied then covered his face again with the hat. Nanao let out an exasperated breath as her captain fell asleep again.
Rukia laid in her bed that night, staring at the ceiling of the closet in deep thought. She was thinking about all that happened that day, how she still couldn't shake the feeling she had. School had seemed extra long that day. It may have seemed longer because Rukia kept nodding off in class, which she never did. "Why have I been so tired lately and not being able to sleep at night, not to mention this feeling I have…," she thought out loud as she rolled over on her side and curled into a ball, "…what does it all mean?" Rukia closed her eyes, hoping she could just sleep it away, but the more she tried the more she knew she wasn't going to be sleeping.
The next morning had started like the last, from Ichigo banging on the door demanding that she get up to her glaring at him and storming away to take a shower. One thing was different this morning though. As Rukia showered she kept getting hungrier and hungrier, the stomach of her gigai form kept growling furiously. It was even enough to drown out the fact she was exhausted. She decided she needed to eat before going to school so she ended the shower earlier than she did the last time and left the bathroom after getting dried off and dressed. Luckily for her when she got downstairs she saw Ichigo and Karin sitting at the table waiting for breakfast. She smiled a little and sat down with them.
"It took you long enough," Ichigo spoke as he looked over at the soul reaper sitting next to him, "what's with you this morning?" Rukia wasn't sure how to answer that, she wasn't sure what was going on with her and she didn't want to worry him either. She forced her best smile and looked at him, "I'm fine really," she lied once again. Ichigo didn't look very convinced, but he decided to let it slide for now.
"Man I'm hungry," Karin complained, "how long does it take to make pancakes dad?" she stood from her chair and slammed her hands on the table. She sat back down a few seconds later and crossed her arms, "I wish Yuzu hadn't gotten sick, now we'll probably be late because dad's so slow." Rukia looked over at Karin; she seemed extra grumpy this morning. Isshin hurried out and quickly gave everyone a stack of pancakes and went to Karin's side, fanning her, "I'm sorry I'm such a terrible father, oh what would mother think of me, you're right Karin I should be severally punished for my lack of timing so my kids can get to school when they need to and..." Karin kicked him in the mouth, shutting him up as he fell to the floor with a moan.
Ichigo groaned and started eating. Rukia blinked at the father and daughter then looked down at her pancakes and started eating hungrily. Before Ichigo could yell at Isshin and Karin for making so much noise so early in the morning, Ichigo felt a punch to his face and he flew across the air and landed sprawled out on the floor. Ichigo growled and picked himself up to glare at his father who had punched him, "Can't I even eat breakfast in peace!" Isshin grinned, "Can't risk my son getting rusty," it was the same line he always used.
Rukia wasn't paying much attention; she was too busy stuffing her face with the round cakes in front of her in a similar way a starving dog would eat. As Ichigo and Isshin quarreled, Ichigo heard the sound of a chair sliding back from the table and both looked over at Rukia to see her standing with an empty plate. "Would you like me to wash this before I head off to school?" she asked. Isshin's mouth gaped and Ichigo blinked in surprise. "You ate all those pancakes? You're going to get fat eating like that you know," Ichigo said, letting go of Isshin's shirt.
Rukia stared at him like she couldn't believe what he just said then pulled out a handkerchief from thin air. She closed her eyes and patted underneath her eyes with it as if wiping away tears, "That was a mean thing to say Ichigo." Ichigo looked beyond confused, was she really faking feeling insulted? "Now look what you've done you've hurt her feelings," Isshin spoke and started lecturing his son. Rukia turned her head still keeping her eyes closed and the handkerchief on her cheek and Ichigo knew she was faking it then. By this time Karin had already left for school muttering how her family was weird. Isshin kept grilling Ichigo, leaving him no time to see Rukia sneak away to the other room.
There was something she wanted to get before going to school. She opened the door to Isshin's medical office where he kept all his books. She walked over to the shelves and started scanning the titles. "Aha!" Rukia exclaimed as she took one of the books from the shelf and slipped it into her school bag then quietly left the room and back to the dining area where Ichigo was still arguing with his dad, this time about being late for school. Rukia rolled her eyes and dragged Ichigo out by the collar of his shirt out the front door, "Come on we're going to be really late now!"
The whole time at school she knew Ichigo was giving her strange looks, she knew he was suspicious. Rukia just kept giving him the same excuses and forced smiles up until lunch where the guys and girls would split off from each other and she got time to herself. Once she had settled herself on a strong tree branch, Rukia took out the book she had taken from the house and looked at the cover titled 'Medical Guide: Symptoms and Solutions.' Something was going on so she thought she mine as well start with human sicknesses.
She opened the book and started following the symptoms she was having with her finger across the pages. "Fatigue..." she read out loud and followed the line under the word until she came to another familiar symptom, "Increase in appetite." Rukia kept following the line until it gave her questions, "Are you eating properly?" she decided that was a yes so she abandoned that line and went with the next question, "Are you feeling any dizziness or weakness?"
She kept her finger on the question thinking about it. She hadn't felt dizzy, but she had been in a daze and to her that was considered weakness in a way so she followed that line with her finger. She stopped on the next question and blinked, alarmed at what it asked, 'Could you be pregnant?' "Rukia!" she heard Orihime call so loudly that the book fell from her hands to the ground below as she jumped, almost falling herself. Orihime stopped as she saw the book fall and looked up to see Rukia in the tree, "Oh there you are," she smiled, "what are you doing up there by yourself?" Rukia jumped down from the tree and landed in front of Orihime then picked up the book, "Nothing, I was just thinking," she smiled back casually.
"Are you sure you're alright Rukia, you look a little pale," Orihime asked with a concerned expression. They both heard the bell ringing for lunchtime to be over and Rukia grabbed Orihime's arm and ran with her towards the building, "We don't want to be late for class." Rukia sighed heavily, 'Saved by the bell,' she thought. 'Although..' she added to her thoughts as she looked down, letting her feet guide her, 'I have even more questions now.'
Meanwhile Soifon was leading some of the strongest members of the task force with her in the world of the living. They were in a clearing, close to the park and Soifon kept glancing over at the swing set. She was getting a bad feeling about this place. "Captain," one of her squad members called to her and she looked around to see her squad had stopped and formed somewhat of a protective circle around her, that's when she felt it. Her body froze as an overwhelming sensation took over her. She looked around confused, 'Such a high spiritual pressure and close by too, but where is it coming from?'
The two soul reapers in front of her started to shake in fear. "What's that terrible noise?" one of them asked quickly looking around and gripping his sword tighter. Soifon frowned even more confused, she didn't hear anything and by the looks of the rest of them, they didn't either. Before Soifon could even give an order, the two guys who had heard the noise were cut in the middle as if by a blade and blood emanated from their sudden wounds.
Soifon's eyes widened and scanned the area quickly, nothing; she saw nothing that could have made those cuts. She watched horrified as the two men of her squad fell to the ground in agony. Before she had time to really think, the rest of her squad members had ended up the same way, all massively bleeding on the ground. There was nothing she could do, they would surely be dead in mere minutes and now she was alone.
Soifon backed away, despite the spiritual pressure that was weighing heavily on here and looked around cautiously with her hand on the hilt of her sword. She would be unable to use her sword if there was nothing to even cut. Then, as if someone invisible had punched her in the jaw, Soifon flew back and connected hard with the ground. She lifted her head and snarled angrily, getting tired and annoyed. Soon her eyes started to quiver and teeth clenched as she had suddenly felt another sensation of heavy spiritual pressure, crushing her where she was.
She tried going for her sword, even though she doubted it would work, but she was powerless. Her eyes fought to stay open as the spiritual pressure suddenly vanished. Her body relaxed and she could make out a person with a green stripped hat and what resembled a black cat before her eyes closed and she fell into darkness.