Hey everyone! I was disappointed that I didn't get any reviews, but that was only the first chapter. I won't be greedy, but you guys should know that we writers have very low self esteem. Even so, I saw that people all over the world at least clicked on my story. That in itself is amazing!
Sorry to be so whiny, I'm sorry! You guys want to read now, don't you? Well, be prepared, because I'm introducing a ton of OCs that you don't need to care about as they will play minor roles. Rin is a bit different, though! :D
Oh, I almost forgot! Disclaimer time!
Disclaimer: No matter how many times I ask for it for my birthday (which happens to be this Sunday, the 11th), I don't own Bleach. I just own my OCs, of which there are too many.
Shuhei twisted the new ring on his hand nervously. It was bright silver with the flaming skull insignia etched into it, giving it the power to remove a shinigami from its gigai. The head captain had given it to him in case he needed to force his target out of the gigai she was using.
He crouched on the roof of a tall, highly decorated building in the middle of Las Vegas. Even in the late afternoon when the neon lights had yet to be turned on, the city still looked gaudy to him. The casinos were all wildly different, each vying for the attention of gamblers and tourists, who crowded the sidewalks and stopped every few feet, snapping pictures and increasing the traffic jam even more.
All kinds of cars puttered along through the traffic, station wagons next to limos, sports cars behind trucks. The noise was even more obnoxious.
Satisfied with his review of the city, Shuhei reached out with his reiatsu, checking simultaneously for hollows and any sign of the rogue shinigami. Somehow, he managed to sense them both.
The shinigami's spiritual pressure was so faint that he almost missed it. Well, he thought to himself, I guess my hollow duties take priority. He couldn't trace the girl's reiatsu, anyway. The hollow was far away, but Shuhei could sense it better.
The lieutenant leapt off the building, landing on the roof of the closest hotel. Using his shunpo, he quickly traversed the streets, closing the gap between himself and the enemy.
Rin regained consciousness slowly, her head pounding and a strange babble faint in the background. As her vision and hearing focused, she found eleven concerned faces anxiously focused on her. She noticed that she had been moved from the bathroom and was now sprawled on her futon.
Felicia squealed. "Ohmigosh! I thought you would never wake up!" Rin's roommate flourished her hand dramatically.
A dark skinned young woman in her late twenties sighed and pulled the peppy girl away from Rin. "Now, 'Licia," said Leah calmly, "I think you should give Rin-chan some room." She glared at the others, who were still hovering around the recovering girl. "That goes for the rest of you idiots, too."
A girl in her early twenties with dark brown hair streaked with neon purple giggled. "Aw, come on, Leah-chan," said Alison, her dark brown eyes sparkling. "Rin doesn't give a damn anymore about how we react."
Nick, a young man in his mid twenties with chocolate brown hair and heavy lidded hazel eyes, spoke up. "Yeah, Alison's right. Didn't this happen last week, Rin?" he gazed down in worry at his friend.
Rin groaned in exasperation and clutched her head. "Ask Mai and Nadya," she grumbled.
All eyes turned to two of the girls, one Asian with her dark hair in braids and the other vaguely Russian with blond hair and green eyes. Mai twisted one of her braids and laughed awkwardly. "She collapsed on her way home from the salon last Wednesday."
Delaney, a thin brunette who was holding hands with Nick, chuckled in amusement. "Wow, Rin-chan. Are you sure you're taking your magical meds?"
Delaney's short redhead roommate, a girl named Phoebe, punched her best friend in the arm. "Are you suggesting that we aren't getting Rin-chan what she needs?"
Dante, a Latino boy with dark eyes, sent Phoebe a cool look. "Well, maybe if some people actually managed to pay the Rin tax on time…"
Phoebe's older brother, Michael, gave Dante a playful shove. "I'll pay double next week, okay?" he compromised, laughing good-naturedly.
Felicia had recovered from Leah's calming effect, bouncing back over to her best friend. Y'know, I don't think I paid mine either!" she announced.
Leah looked over at Gerard, the quiet boy who completed the household. "As the head of house," she proclaimed, "I am issuing a decree that states whomever doesn't pay the Rin tax a week after it is due gets their ass kicked by Gerard."
Nick shot her a look of fear, his eyes flicking over to the painfully shy, rail thin boy.
Phoebe and Felicia both immediately began sorting through their respective purses, frantically searching for cash.
Leah left the room momentarily and came back with a black suitcase. She opened it and counted up the money. She took the bills Phoebe and Felicia had handed her, plus a few from the suitcase. She then closed the suitcase and tossed it to Dante. She handed the money to Felicia. "Take Rin out so you guys can get another prescription. I don't trust that guy with the stripey hat, but that little pigtailed girl seems harmless enough. Besides, what if something bad happened to our dear little immortal something-or-other and she used her awesome power to destroy the world?"
The group grew quiet, at least until Felicia enthusiastically grabbed Rin's ankles and proceeded to drag her out of the bedroom. Alison rolled her eyes and picked Rin up, who then leaned heavily on her petite roommate, who was protesting shrilly as her tall friend squashed her.
Rin finally got a hold of her and straightened up a bit. Felicia grinned up at her. "That's better! Now, let's go find your drug dealer people!" She marched out the door, supporting Rin, who groaned in response. "He may be weird, but his meds work!"
The two stumbled down the stairs and finally reached the front door. Felicia carefully opened it and helped her best friend outside, locking it behind her.
Rin looked around the sidewalk, hoping nobody would question their situation. Then again, this was Vegas. Her headache struck again and her hand flew up to her head. But she forgot about it completely as she watched a strange scene unfold before her eyes...
A woman in a glitzy vaudeville costume was walking out of a theatre, a white skeleton-like mask strapped to her face.
All of a sudden, a strange young man appeared, moving so fast that Rin barely registered his arrival. From the angle and the vibrations, Rin guessed he had somehow jumped from a roof.
There was something different about him, and not just the clothing, which was pretty interesting itself. He was wearing a black sleeveless kimono and black hakama, a black choker around his neck and a matching armband on one bicep. On the other was some sort of badge with kanji on it, but Rin couldn't read it from a distance. His spiky hair was black, and it looked like he had some tattoos on his face. The strangest thing was the fact that he was holding a katana in his hands.
Rin froze in alarm as she saw the young man run towards the vaudeville dancer. She sensed a suffocating power emanating from him that almost forced her to her knees, but she resisted with sheer willpower.
The young man reached the woman and, to Rin's horror, he lifted his sword and swung it down on the dancer's head. The blade passed through cleanly, without a sound.
Wait a second…
The sword had gone right through her, as if it was just an illusion! The man looked just as confused as Rin did, but the dancer hadn't noticed a thing! It was as if she couldn't see him at all!
This was not true for Felicia, however. She could see the young man perfectly, and proceeded to scream her head off.
Shuhei located what he presumed was the hollow. It was surprisingly small and humanoid, and it seemed to be storing its spiritual pressure away from its highly decorated body.
The lieutenant hit the ground solidly, the ground shuddering around him. The hollow didn't take notice of his presence. He attacked immediately, bringing Kazeshini down quickly on the hollow's head.
Then the oddest thing happened.
His zanpaku-tō had gone right through the hollow, as if it was just a human or something!
He paused, then began hacking away at the hollow comically, but to no avail.
Then he heard the screaming.
Shuhei whipped his head to the left, where there were two young women standing on the other side of the street in front of a surprisingly nondescript building. Well, one was standing. The other was leaning on her heavily. The lieutenant sensed she was about to collapse.
The standing one was a petite girl with auburn hair and pink lip gloss. She was the screaming one.
That human can see me? Shuhei thought. She must be one of those special humans like Kurosaki's friends, he decided.
He looked over at the other girl, wondering if she could see him too. From the combination of shock and horror on her face, he guessed she could.
He was about to look away when he sensed something familiar about her. The lieutenant did a double take and took in the young woman's appearance, trying to place how he knew her.
She looked tall, but not quite as tall as he was. Her hair was jet black and on the long side, clinging to her head as if she had washed it recently and it hadn't dried out yet. Her wide, shocked eyes were a gray that looked almost silver, as unusual as that seemed. She had multiple piercings peppering her ears, as well as one on her right eyebrow. She was wearing cherry red jeans and a black tank with the anarchy symbol printed on it in red.
There was no way he had seen her before. He would have remembered someone so... striking. He almost gave up, but then he had an idea.
He reached out to her with his reiatsu, and his suspicions were confirmed. It was weak, but Shuhei could tell who she was now. She didn't look much like the portrait from back in her academy days, but there was no denying it.
That girl was definitely Rei Kaneko, the rogue shinigami he was looking for.
A/N: Once again, I leave my readers with a cliffhanger! I'm so mean~
Well, I'm sorry that I write such short chapters, but trust me, they seem a lot longer when you actually have to write them. I wrote this at 1 AM on Thursday night/Friday morning. It's when I feel the most creative!
I really hope y'all are enjoying my fic, and I understand if you don't like OCs. Normally, I don't like them much either, but I started writing original stuff recently! I need to write chapter 5 of my novel by Sunday. I don't feel like that's fair, coz that's my BIRTHDAY!
Virtual cookies for anyone who realized what day my birthday fell on. Then again, it's a USA thing, and my viewers are in all different countries. I know, it's kinda suckish, but I have no right to complain.
Anyway, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'm proud of myself for forging on with this story despite any reviews, but it won't always be that way.
So review, even if it's just one word!
~Paradox