A/N: Hi! Well, this is chapter two! Sorry chapter one was so short, I just thought I found a good spot to end. Again, Mao is probably a Mary Sue.
There are also going to be more than one Oc, including Mao's zanpakto. Enjoy!
Opening my eyes, I saw white. That annoying, heavenly white that you wish you could turn off because it got in your eyes. Obviously, it was now morning, and I found myself in a hospital bed. There were bandages around my neck, trailing all the way to my stomach, and down my arms. I thought it was a little overboard, but not even I knew the extent of the damage.
Looking at my heads, I knew that I wasn't dreaming. They weren't my hands, they were Hotaru's.
The room was very simple; white wall, floors, sheets, clothes, and even the door. There was a mirror hanging on the wall, so I got up slowly and tested my strength. I was dizzy, and my head and neck were sore, but I managed to huddle over to the mirror. I nearly fainted again.
I was in Hotaru. I was Hotaru. My hair was pitch black, and I was about three inches taller than I was before. Not only that, but my arms and legs felt... lighter, stronger, and faster. Different. I had never felt so in shape. I looked my new body in the eyes and- Wait! My eyes weren't gold like before. Well, my left eye was. My right eye was the same pale green as my old body's. It was odd, having two different eyes, but they complimented each other.
Suddenly the door creaked open, revealing the head of Isshin Kurosaki, who for once seemed serious. He knocked on the door and I turned towards him, still inspecting my bandages. He made his way to the bed and sat down, patting the spot next to him, motioning for me to sit there. I didn't move. I only looked him in the eye.
In my old world, I wouldn't talk to a single adult: not even aunt Emiko. I never did simple things they ask, just to be stubborn. Just to make a point; that I was not on their side. I guess old habits never die fast. Isshin gave up the patting, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"Well," he began, "whatever happened, I think I should tell you the damage." He stood up to make the moment more serious. "Your esophagus was severed, along with your voice box. I managed to close the wound, but there will still be scarring tissue. Normally, that kind of risky procedure would have to wait until we got you to a hospital, but you would've died by then. You should recover, for the most part, but..." He gave me an empathic look. "There is too much scarring. You may never be able to speak again."
Was that it? Honestly, I had just lost my parents, my old life, and came back alive as another person entirely. I really stopped caring about myself, which is saddening. Something hit me. I made a rectangle in midair, and then pretended to write with a pen. Isshin seemed to understand, and slipped a pen out of his coat pocket. He dug in his pants for a few moments, and pulled out a scrape piece of paper.
There was a document on one side, so I flipped it over and began to write.
"I don't have any money." He nodded.
"I didn't expect a child to. Here," he plucked a cell phone from his pocket. "What's your parent's number? I'm sure they are worried sick-" He stopped when he saw me scribble something new.
"I don't have any parents." He dropped his cell phone back, and his eyes softened.
"That's okay. Do you have anywhere to stay?" I hesitated. I didn't want any charity, I didn't want any help, but this would hurt more than just my pride. I shook my head, no. He crossed his arms, his demeanor suddenly changing. "Well, then. Since I didn't deliver you to a hospital and since this action caused you to permanently lose the use of your vocal chords, you have a good case to sue me." I looked up at him, dumbstruck. Was he serious? "In that case," he proposed, "The surgery was unauthorized, and free of charge. I will let you stay in this room until you are able to find a suitable living space." I blinked, what he said not fully hitting me.
I was going to live with the Kurosaki's? Well, in their clinic. But still, I thought I was going to jump up and down, and maybe even hug him. For a moment, I forgot about my parents. I forgot that I was nowhere near my home, and that I could never turn back.
"Oh," Isshin remembered, "What's your name?" I grabbed the paper, and instinctively wrote "Mao". I nearly screamed at myself, how stupid would he think I was if I changed it? He would probably think I'm lying to him. Thinking quickly, I wrote my last name: My new one.
"Mao Shirishi. I like that," he said reading. I realized that that was my name; I was neither Mao Kurokawa, nor Hotaru Shirishi. I was someone new, and I hadn't messed up when I wrote Mao down.
So far, I was liking my second life a whole lot more than my old one.
Since I was still extremely weak, I spent the next three days in bed. Every mealtime, Yuzu would bring me her homemade food (which was delicious, by the way. Ichigo, you lucky Bastard.) And one day Karin brought me the Karakura school uniform, saying that I would be going there next week.
"Dad already entered you, so you have to go," she said in a bored tone, "sorry." She was about to leave me to examine my uniform, when she stopped. "Oh, and you can just use sign language, if you know it. They teach it almost everywhere around here." I smiled softly (I seem to be doing that a lot, lately).
"Thank you," I signed, to which she replied with a much bigger smile.
"don't worry about it."
The Kurosaki's had, apparently, come up with a master plan to tell everyone, explaining why I was living with them all of a sudden. According to Yuzu, who visited me every day, I was a foreign exchange student, from a different Japanese island, who would be staying until graduation. I think they thought I was sensitive on the whole experience of having no parents. They were right.
"You're also in Ichigo's class, so if he bothers you, just tell me, okay? I'll set him straight." She threatened, carving me a slice of the apple we were sharing. Ichigo still hadn't visited me once, but I didn't mind. Yuzu told me all about him. I giggled, or at least, I tried, since I couldn't make a peep. Yuzu didn't seem at all put off by my oddness, though she did point out that my scar, on the neck, could be distracting, and could cause questions. Speaking of questions, I wondered why she hadn't asked me what happened the night I stumbled upon them.
Yuzu had given me a black ribbon to tie around my neck, so that I could hide my wound. I rather liked it, and thought it made me look like an anime girl. Which, I guess, I now was. I signed my thanks, and, afterwards, she left.
My first day of school was also the first time I was Ichigo again. I had stopped staying in bed all of the time days ago, but whenever I would wander about the house, he would be gone, probably at school. On the weekends, he just stayed in his room. I missed the few times he went out (which was not to eat supper with his family, mind you), much to my disappointment.
But he couldn't avoid me now, because he had to lead me to the high school.
We walked in silence, not surprisingly. I mean, it's not like I'm much of a talker, if you get my pitch, and neither was Ichigo. It wasn't really a bad thing, the silence. It was enjoyable, and I kept myself busy by memorizing the way.
When we finally stood outside of the classroom, Ichigo finally spoke.
"I'll go get our teacher, you stay here," he mumbled, disappearing. We were the last ones here, and the bell rang before Ichigo came back.
"Alright kids," a woman commanded as she opened the door, revealing the classroom. I was pretty sure no one could see me yet. "We have a new student, so behave extra good today," she announced in a motherly tone as she lead me to the black board. "If you could write your name on the board," she said, handing me a piece of chalk, "that would be great." She then sat down as I turned around and wrote: "Mao Shirishi."
I faced the class, smiled shyly (and hoping I looked like a cute anime girl), then moved my hands.
"My name is Mao Shirishi. I'm a foreign exchange student from another part of Japan. It's nice to meet you all." There were a lot of surprised looks.
"Is she Deaf?" I heard one girl murmur.
"I don't think so, she heard the teacher. She just can't talk," replied her friends. I looked at Ichigo, who looked indifferent, then at Orihime, who was smiling. And looking adorable. I always liked Orihime. I was pretty sure I sweat dropped when I saw Keigo. He had hearts in his eyes, like with Rukia.
I took a seat in the back, and then zoned out for the rest. I never really cared much for school, and Hotaru seemed like she didn't either.
When the bell rand for lunch, I pulled out the bento box Yuzu had made for me. I hadn't even picked up my chop sticks when I heard a hideous noise.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MAO-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" I looked up to see Keigo running full speed at me; arms spread open, about to embrace me. Then he was arm hanging in the neck by Ichigo. My hero. I had jumped up, ready to do some kung-fu action. I relaxed when Keigo was on the ground, crying anime tears.
"Do I know him?" I singed Ichigo, who sweat dropped.
"Sorry about him. You'll get use to him."
"Hey, Ichigo," Tatsuki greeted. "Hey, Shirishi-san." I smiled my best cutesy smile.
"Mao is fine. You are?" She pointed to Orihime, who was behind her.
"This Inoue Orihime, and I'm Arisawa Tatsuki. Just call me Tatsuki, too, okay?" I smiled ever wider, then nodded.
"And call me Orihime," Orihime said, sweetly. I nodded again. "The scary one on the ground is Asano Keigo, by the way." She then hooked her arm around mine, like we were old pals. "Would you like to sit with us?"
And that was pretty much the whole month.
One day, on the weekend, while Ichigo was in his room, and the others were busy in the clinic, I wandered around town. I still had so many questions for that faceless man; I had forgotten most of them. Today was probably the first day I was completely alone since I woke up in Hotaru's body. I decided to find somewhere that I could go in case I wanted to be alone again, and ended up discovering an abandoned house.
I was just lying there, in a pile of debris, when I heard it. The unmistakable wail of a Hallow. I jumped to my feet, alarmed. It sounded extremely close, like it was in the room with me. I thought my ears were going to bleed.
And strangely enough, there was blood, dripping on the floor next to me. I froze, and turned around.
And then I screamed.
The Hallow lashed out at me, sending me flying. I hit a wall, which was all the way across the room a second ago. There was a rattling sound when I hit the ground, but my vision was so blurry I couldn't make it out. The Hallow made booming footsteps until it was meters away from me, blood dripping from its mouth. There was still a human arm stuck in its teeth. It had a long, tentacle-like limb sprouting from its head, and I recognized it instantly.
"Grand Fisher," I mouthed, my vision coming back. The rattling sound began again as I attempted to stand up. It was then that I realized I had the Chain of Fate protruding from my chest. My body was laying about a foot away from me, unmoving.
'Well,' I thought. 'I'm totally screwed.'
"Not quite yet," came a familiar voice, seemingly from nowhere. It was the man, the one who gave me a new life. I looked around for him, but when he spoke again, I realized it was in my head. "I probably should've done this earlier, but try to stand up."
I did so, but not with ease. "Good, now close your eyes, and imagine a sink." I did, not saying, or thinking, anything. "Now turn it on," he commanded, and I obeyed.
Something warm flooded over me, and then I felt a strong gust of wind. When I opened my eyes, I froze, completely amazed. I was wearing a Soul Reaper robe. But mine was white, with black trimming. I looked like Hichigo. Then, looking at what I held in my hands, I totally began to freak (On the inside, of course.)
I held two zanpakto. They were both in their sealed form, which were ordinary Katanas, but they were different from one another. The one in my right hand had a black hilt, and a white blade, but the sharp side was tinted red. The one in my left hand had a white hilt, black blade, and a red side.
Me? I freaked out. Especially when I heard two voice in my head; one male, one female.
"Alright!" They shouted in unison. I realized that the male zanpakto, the one in my right hand, was the faceless man. I had no idea who the female was.
"Let's kick some giant Hallow butt!"