This fanfiction has be rated M because of violent nature, language, and few suggestive themes. Also, this was rated M just to be on the safe side.
Edited, via Quotev, on 3/25/2017; Errors Were Fixed and Sentences/Descriptions Were Added
Warnings: Errors in Grammar, Spelling, Etc. Out-Of-Character Moments. This Fanfiction Series Contains Original Characters. This Fanfiction Series Follows The English Dub Anime (Like All of My Fanfictions Do). This Fanfiction Series Contains Original Ideas, Some Meant to be Explained in the Far Future. Don't Like That, Don't Complain About It and Just Dimply Don't Read It. :) It's As Simple As That. Please, Do Enjoy! You Have Been Warned. Oh and Some Scenes Have Been Left Out Along With Some Dialogue, and Some Dialogue From the Anime Has Been Reworded Along With Some Scenes Have Been Changed by the Slightest.
Two Soul Reapers stood on a house, blending into the night. One of them, who had short raven-black hair that framed her face with a small bang hanging between her dark-purple eyes, looked out into the night. The other, who stood just behind her, waited for her friend to say something. Anything. When all she heard was complete silence, she spoke first instead. "Rukia, I don't feel any spiritual pressure from a Hollow as of right now." That was their reason for being there in Karakura Town, to get rid of any Hollows they came across. They had recently sensed one, but it had vanished without a trace and they've been searching for it for hours.
Rukia turned her head, looking back towards her younger friend. "Neither do I, but it has to be here. We sensed it earlier." The two quickly grew quiet as the night continued on, the two of them remaining in the same exact place. Rukia tried focusing as she looked away from her friend, maybe she wasn't concentrating hard enough to find it. But still, nothing turned up. The Hollow didn't even seem to be in Karakura Town anymore, like it had gotten bored and left but of course, it didn't do that at all; it was likely to return from hiding soon enough for a meal and the two Soul Reapers needed to be ready when it did.
"Great," the unnamed Soul Reaper remarked. She sighed and played around with her long light sandy-blonde hair with one hand. She looked bored and she didn't like the fact that her older friend was taking forever to figure out what to do next while they waited for the Hollow. "And we have to do this for a month," she whispered, growing a tad impatient. She didn't mind waiting usually, but she did mind being bored and standing around doing nothing while waiting was very boring.
"What was that?" Rukia asked, her attention going back towards her friend. She hadn't heard her clearly, catching only a few words: we, this, and a. Her mind had been more centered on finding the Hollow than listening to her friend mumble under her breath.
"Nothing!" the unnamed Soul Reaper exclaimed too quickly.
Rukia raised an eyebrow at her blonde haired friend, wondering about what exactly the female had said that she didn't want to repeat. "I see." She decided to dismiss what had happened and she looked back into the night. "Let's go, Sayuri," she commanded. Without a moment's notice, the two headed off and disappeared into the night...
It was the next day and the sun was beginning to set. A small group of best-friends stood in the street, trouble brewing all around them. Standing before the three of them were two guys, the third guy was laying on the ground beside his skateboard. The three best-friends had turned the corner and stumbled upon the three skater jerks as they had laughed at the fact that they had knocked over a vase of beautiful white flowers, a vase of white flowers in which had been set out for a kid that passed away.
"What the hell." Ichigo Kurosaki, a fifteen-year-old peach-skinned male, stood tall near the guy he just took down. He had his right hand in his orange spiky hair, his hazel-brown eyes staring lazily at the two guys in front of him that were still standing up. Having left school not too long ago, he wore the boy's uniform for Karakura High (a gray blazer over a collared white shirt, gray pants, and dark-gray shoes) and he was currently very displeased with the sight that he was seeing before him and his best-friends.
"You assholes shouldn't have knocked that vase over," a fifteen-year-old Hanako Shizuka Mae, Hana for short, remarked, her arms crossed and her light-hazel eyes locked on the three punks ahead of her and her best-friends. Her fire-red hair was much longer than it had been when she was younger, passing her mid-back and it was placed in some sort of low ponytail that didn't really help keep her hair in place, but it kept her hair from blowing all around whenever the wind would pick up. She was wearing a school uniform for females (gray skirt, white collared shirt with red bow tie, and gray blazer along with white stockings and brown loafers, though the stockings and type of shoes were optional); it was an uniform for Karakura High, indicating that she was in the same school as Ichigo.
"You guys are so mean…" a sixteen-year-old Yuki Araya Hirai mumbled. She ran her left hand through her short snow-white hair nervously and she, too, had on a female school uniform for Karakura High that was almost completely identical to Hana's except she was wearing black flats. "Hana… Ichi… Are you sure you two wanna do this...?" She disliked violence and somehow was best-friends with two people that tended to fight a lot with other people. Her chocolate brown eyes, much darker in color than they once had been, were looking down at her feet. She closed them for a moment, revealing more of a scar that started above her left eye to below it that she had gotten from some bullies a few years beforehand. She reopened them, only the ends of her scar being shown. She honestly didn't mind having a scar because the day she had gotten it, her friendship with Hana had grown stronger and she had even met Ichigo; if getting a scar was the price to pay to make new friendships and stronger connections, she was fine with it.
Hana took her eyes off of the dudes and turned her head to look at Yuki whom stood to her left. The two of them were standing right behind Ichigo on either side of him, their view of the situation perfect. "I'm not going to do anything to these guys, Yuki. Ichigo can handle them all on his own just fine." Their best-friend was tough, strong; he could easily knock the three punks into next week if he wanted to.
One of the punks moved until he was right in front of Ichigo. His fists were up and he looked very pissed off. His name was unimportant to the three best-friends but he was called Toshi by his own friends. He was an average sized adult, his hair black along with his mustache and his pupils dark. He had several items of jewelry on his person that included bracelets, a gold nose ring, and a necklace, and he was wearing some ugly-ass commando-like trousers, a mostly white t-shirt with a light orange leaf icon on the center of it, and an ugly gray beanie hat with a little butterfly icon on the left side. "You got a death wish, pal? Nobody jumps one of my boys for no reason and lives to tell about it," Toshi angrily commented. Ichigo merely chuckled, his hand still in his hair. "That's all you've gotta say?"
Hana rolled her eyes as she looked back at the punks, mainly Toshi. "Speaking involves saying words, dumbass. He didn't say anything at all. He merely chuckled." How can someone confuse a chuckle with actual speaking? A complete dumbass whom only wants to cause more trouble.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'll make sure he doesn't say anything again!" Toshi took a swing at Ichigo with his right fist. Ichigo didn't bother dodging it, countering it instead with a swift kick to Toshi's face. The punk fell to the ground with a small thud, a closed wound on his left cheek. Ichigo proceeded to stomp on Toshi's back several times without a care in the world.
"Man, he's down!" the last standing punk, Mit, exclaimed. "We gotta help him!" Despite what he was witnessing, he still wanted to help his friend; he wanted to kick Ichigo's ass, he was only just one guy. Mit had a black goatee, some rings on his nose and left eyebrow, and he was wearing a black t-shirt, light-colored trousers, and a light-green beanie with two yellow stripes that was just as ugly as Toshi's beanie.
"Are you crazy? No way I'm taking on that psycho," Yama stated fearfully, sitting up off the ground and crawling backwards to his standing friend, moving far away from Ichigo. He didn't want to fight him after what just happened; he didn't want to get beaten up any further. Yama was wearing a green beanie hat, a brightly colored t-shirt, and dark trousers. He appeared to be younger than his two friends, possibly the youngest of the three.
Hana laughed a little bit, amused. "Good choice~ He'd just kick your ass again if you tried anything~" She loved watching Ichigo frighten assholes. She liked watching him fight in general. He was as tough as she was, maybe tougher.
"Hana, please don't make them angry like the guy on the ground," Yuki remarked, looking at Toshi whom Ichigo was still stepping on. She watched as Ichigo suddenly kicked Toshi's head into the ground, literally. "Ouch…" She couldn't help but think that perhaps Ichigo was going a little overboard with the violence...
Ichigo looked at Mit and Yama. "Now, listen up! Do you see that?!" He pointed towards the vase of white flowers that the punks had knocked over, his eyes still on the two punks. "First question. What do you think that is?" He pointed at Mit. "You! Answer!"
Mit gasped and looked at Yama before looking back at Ichigo and pointing to himself. "Wha-? You talkin' to me?" He gulped and answered Ichigo's question, speaking as fearful and nervous as he felt. "Uh, I guess somebody left those flowers for some kid who got killed here."
Hana nodded shortly as Ichigo quickly went at the two standing punks and kicked Mit in the face, sending him flying back while yelling, "Correct!" He was getting more pissed off by the second about what the punks had did. Any normal human being would find his actions to not only be overboard (like Yuki thought) but also a bit odd since he didn't know the kid during their time on Earth. Those normal folks would have no clue that Ichigo was able to see spirits like his two best-friends, one of the reasons why he had become so close to the females in the first place.
"Wait!" Yama exclaimed, not wanting to get hit again. "Just-!" He was growing more terrified by the minute.
Ichigo stood in front of Yama now, looking at him a bit darkly. "Now, the next question. What is it doing on the ground, knocked over on its side?"
"I-I guess one of us knocked it over…" Yama told Ichigo fearfully, gulping like his friend had before he had been kicked. "We didn't-!"
Ichigo kicked Yama, sending him flying onto Mit. "You guys catch on real fast. Now, apologize and get moving! If I ever see your sorry asses here again, I'll pummel them and the flowers will end up being for you next time!"
Mit and Yama screamed like females, grabbing their skateboards and taking off running in the other direction without Toshi as they repeatedly yelled their apology while they ran away. Just seconds after the two vanished out of sight, Toshi finally got his head out of the ground and he, too, ended up screaming like a female. "We're sorry! We're sorry!" he yelled as he got up quickly with his skateboard in hand. He took off running the opposite direction of the three best-friends, too, as he desperately tried to catch up with his friends that left him behind.
Yuki started giggling uncontrollably. "For mean guys, they have very girly screams." Hana moved closer to Yuki, placing her left hand on Yuki's head as she gently messed with her hair, smiling at her adorable friend whom stood the same height (five foot three) as her. Yuki smiled back sheepishly. For someone her age, she wasn't exactly very mature; she had a mind close to that of a child, an innocent mind-set, but she did have her moments of teenager wisdom that helped her appear less naive.
"Great job, Ichigo. You probably made them piss themselves," Hana remarked, looking towards Ichigo.
He smirked a tad as he turned around to face the two females, strolling back over to where they both stood. The females hadn't been exactly right behind him during the violence-filled situation, the two females standing near where the fallen vase of white flowers were located. Standing in front of them, it was far more noticeable that he was taller than them by, at least, five inches, the height of the females ending by his chin. "Yeah, well, someone had to make sure they didn't show their ugly faces around here again," Ichigo told her.
Hana pushed him lightly the moment he was close enough to her. "Hey, I could have easily taken them on, but I felt that you needed to let out some anger." That was half of a lie; yes, she could've taken those guys out herself but she had wanted to watch Ichigo. She looked towards a pole near where they stood, looking beside where the fallen vase of white flowers was. Ichigo and Yuki looked in that general direction as well. "We're really sorry about what just occurred," Hana apologized.
A young female child appeared beside the pole and fallen vase. Her light-brown hair was up in high bunches that were held in place with cherry hair-bobbles, a long side fringe hanging over the left side of her face. She was wearing a red and white striped v-necked sleeveless shirt with cream-colored shorts. A broken gray chain was connected to her chest, something all spirits had unless they were a Soul Reaper. She smiled up at the three of them. "Thank you so much. I think I may be able to rest in peace now."
"I didn't really do anything except watch…" Yuki thought, biting her lip. She knew how to fight, she learned fist fighting from Hana and sword fighting techniques from Urahara, but she did not wish to harm anyone in any type of way. She only learnt for her own defense, happily willing to fight to keep herself alive in a dire situation but moments ago was nothing she needed to get involved in.
"Can she really move on without the help of a Soul Reaper?" Hana thought curiously. Ichigo was completely unaware of what Yuki and herself were; she didn't feel like it was something he really needed to know. She was tempted to come back to that location in her Soul Reaper, or Soul, form later but she didn't have any soul candy and she wasn't going to pay her adoptive father for something that she could get for free whenever he was generous enough.
"It was no problem," Ichigo told the little ghost girl.
"You deserve to move on peacefully," Hana stated, speaking gently to the girl. "Quite a lot of people don't get that chance." What she meant was that some people tended to die in horrible ways and weren't able to move on in peace so easily and quickly; it took time for them. But there were also people who never needed to move on in the first place, already where they were meant to be after death.
"Thank you!" The ghost girl continued to smile brightly at the three best-friends before she disappeared from their view.
Yuki sighed lowly and frowned sadly. "She is so adorable… I wish people didn't die sooner than they are meant to… It's so horrible..." Additionally, it was deeply saddening to her. She always hated it when someone died, ever since her mother and sister passed away in such a horrible manner. Sometimes, she wished that no one would die but that was something that could never change, so all that she could hope for was that most people could pass on peacefully.
"That is the unfortunate thing about life, I guess," Ichigo said, sighing shortly afterwards.
Hana rubbed the back of her head. "But all the good people of this world tend to end up in a better place once death takes them so don't be too sad about it, Yuki." She looked up at the sky, her parents coming to mind. They weren't at the Soul Society. They were somewhere else; Heaven perhaps, but not the Soul Society. She missed them very much.
Ichigo looked up at the sky. "Maybe this is wishful thinking but I hope there is something up there for her sake," he commented.
Yuki looked at Hana and Ichigo, both whom were looking up towards the sky. She smiled a little to herself before she looked up towards the sky, too. "Well... If there is such a place, hopefully it's wonderful and beautiful." She heard amazing things about the Soul Society from Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin, a female friend of Urahara's whom became somewhat of an adoptive mother to Hana and Yuki. She heard of the Soul Society's beauty and longed to see it someday, just hopefully not after she died.
"One can hope," Ichigo muttered while still looking towards the sky. After a small moment of silence between him and the females, a sigh escaped him as he turned back to look at his close friends. "I better get home."
"Oh, I should, too! I'll see you both tomorrow! Bye!" Yuki started walking off, waving goodbye as she went. Although Urahara had took her in and raised her as if she were his own child along with Hana, she had ended up moving in with her friend, Orihime Inoue, two years before so that she (Orihime) wouldn't be alone in her home anymore. Hana, on the other hand, was still living with Urahara.
"Bye, Yuki," Ichigo said as he waved goodbye.
"So, Ichi. May I stay over at your place again?" Hana asked, looking at him after she waved goodbye to Yuki. She liked staying at his place. Surprisingly, she found Ichigo's father to be far less annoying than Urahara and that was just one reason why she wished to stay over again. Her second, and main, reason was that she really wanted to spend more time with Ichigo; he was one of her best-friends after all.
"Hmm?" Ichigo looked towards Hana and stared at her, confused. He was always confused whenever she asked that question. He didn't see what was so special about being at his place. "Uh, sure?"
Hana rolled her eyes at him and grinned. "I love your home and your family, Ichi. And stop lookin' so confused all the time when I ask to spend the night. Thought you'd be use to me asking by now." She had been staying with him several days each week for the past three weeks. She wasn't sure what made her want to stay the night in the first place when it first occurred. She supposed it was boredom or that she just didn't want to go deal with Urahara's weirdness that day. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the stay regardless of what occurred and she had been going there more often than not since then.
"I guess it's okay. Just have to deal with Dad again," Ichigo commented. "And I am use to you asking. I just don't see what's so special about my place that would make you want to come over so much."
Hana shrugged. "It's not really your place that I like so much. I just tend to enjoy spending more time with ma bestie is all." She started heading in the direction of Ichigo's home, Ichigo following close behind her. "So, we gotta deal with the usual once again, huh? Your father 'attacks' you as soon as you walk in, you both yell at each other, and then, after he realizes I'm with you, he will either ask us if we are dating or when we're getting married." Annoyance quickly appeared on her face as she finished the last part of her sentence. "That kind of usual, right? Can't wait for that to happen," she added with a hint of sarcasm at the end.
"Yeah, that kind of usual. Honestly, you're just a friend anyway so it doesn't really matter," Ichigo clarified, walking alongside her now.
"When in the hell did I get downgraded from best-friend to just a friend?" she asked him, pouting as they walked.
"What?" he questioned before he instantly realized what he had said seconds ago. "Shit! I didn't mean it like that! Of course you're my best friend, Hana!" he yelled, trying to correct his mistake as he looked at her with slight panic on his face. If it had been someone else, he wouldn't had bothered correcting himself but strangely, he found himself doing so for Hana.
Hana smiled brightly and gave Ichigo an one-armed hug without looking at him. "And we always will be, Ichi." Ichigo returned the one-armed hug shortly afterwards. The two of them arrived at Ichigo's home two minutes later, the both of them pulling out of the long one-armed hug. The very moment when Ichigo opened the door and stepped a foot inside, he was meet with a foot to the face. He landed ass first on the floor. "And here we go…" Hana mumbled, standing by the fallen Ichigo as she side-stepped into the house.
"You let your guard down. You should've been paying attention. Always stay alert when you enter a room. Expect the unexpected, son," Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki, stated as he spoke loudly. He was a tall, muscular man with spiky jet-black hair and brown eyes. He had some thin facial hair around his mouth and upon his cheeks. "And you're late for dinner!" he added. He had yet noticed Hana, his attention fully on Ichigo.
"What the hell, old man?!" Ichigo yelled, standing up and getting in his father's face. "Is that any way to welcome your own son after he just risked his life to help a spirit find some peace?!"
"Risked his life?" Hana thought in question. "They were just some punks. It would be risking his life if he was trying to save that spirit girl from a Hollow, though. Hell, depending on what type of Hollow it is, Soul Reapers risk their lives to get rid of them."
"Silence!" Isshin's face was up against Ichigo's. They were both staring angrily at each other. "Oh, so it's the ghost's fault now, is it? I suppose it was ghosts who left your room a mess." The two of them began to throw punches at each other, doing their normal father and son routine. Hana let out a long sigh and walked by them without being noticed, strolling over to the dining area where Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki were. The two young girls were sitting at the food covered table.
"Hey, Karin. Hey, Yuzu," Hana greeted them, standing at the side of the table. She cared about the young girls and tended to speak to them whenever she was over.
Karin looked at Hana, swallowing the food that was in her mouth. Her eyes were dark ebony-gray and her hair was jet-black, straight and cropped to hang around her face just above her shoulders. She had quite a tomboy-ish appearance, wearing a multicolored t-shirt that was similar to a soccer shirt along with black shorts and white shoes. Additionally, she had the personality of a tomboy. "Hey," she greeted, sounding bored.
Yuzu gave Hana a closed-eyed grin. "Hi, Hana. Are you staying over again?" she greeted and asked, sounding cheerful. She had short light-brown hair with short bangs hanging over the right side of her forehead. She was wearing a white apron over a yellow hoodie, dark blue shorts, and dark-colored shoes. She had a more girlish appearance than her fraternal twin and a more innocent personality.
"Mhm," Hana answered. She placed her left hand on Yuzu's head, lighting patting it. "How many times does this make it?" She wasn't certain how many days she stayed over but she knew that she stayed over several days a week for three weeks so far. She guessed that she stayed, at least, more than seven times all together.
"This will be about the eighth time you've ever stayed the night," Karin stated. Behind them, Ichigo and Isshin were still fussing. "You use to just visit from time to time. What changed?" She was a tad curious about Hana's reason for the sudden stays. Not like she really cared or anything, she was merely a little curious about it.
Yuzu opened her soft dark-brown colored eyes, staring at Hana innocently. "Yeah, what made you want to stay over all of a sudden, Hana? Like Karin said, you usually would just visit us every now and then."
Hana crossed her arms. "Well, I don't really know why I started wanting to stay over. I don't know if it was out of boredom or to stay away from my weird adoptive father." The Kurosaki family knew of Hana's parents being deceased, though the children (Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu) didn't know right away when they had met Hana which was understandable since they were all very young at the time. Three years prior to that current moment in time, while the Kurosaki children were told that Hana's parents had been killed in a house fire a year before they met her, Isshin had long knew the truth since he had ran into little Hana and Urahara occasionally before the children met each other; Isshin was not clueless to what Soul Reapers were since he had once been one before he lost his powers and he had met Urahara around when he (Isshin) became more human, making them friends in a way. "I know, however, that my reasons currently are me most definitely wanting to stay away from my adoptive father and me just wanting to spend some extra time with Ichigo. Plus, I guess you could say that you all became more like family to me."
"I guess that makes sense," Karin remarked before she put more food into her mouth, finishing her rice.
Yuzu looked at Ichigo and Isshin; they were still fighting one another. "Hey. Stop the fighting, you two! Come over here and eat your dinner." She acted almost motherly with how she spoke to her fighting brother and father.
"Let them fight," Karin said. "More rice for me." She held her bowl up to Yuzu.
Yuzu glanced at her. "That's not very nice, Karin."
Karin sighed. "This is so stupid." She placed the bowl back down on the table and stood up, walking over to where Ichigo and Isshin were fighting. She kicked her father in the side, making him stop attacking Ichigo as he held his side in pain, before she headed to sit in front of the television. The father and son 'bonding' was finally over with, for the time being.
"Thanks, Karin," Ichigo commented. He rubbed his face where Isshin had punched him several times.
Isshin rubbed his side, groaning a bit, and he looked towards the dining table. He immediately spotted Hana standing by Yuzu. However, he wasn't really paying attention to the fact that it was Hana because he was more focused on the fact that a teenage girl was there in his home. "What?! Ichigo brought a girl home again?!" He looked at Ichigo. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Shut up! You've meet her before! It's Hana!" Ichigo yelled.
"Oh!" Isshin turned back towards Hana and Yuzu. "Well, hello, Hanako! Welcome back!"
Hana waved. "Hiya. Nice to see you again."
"You two spend a lot of time together. Are you sure you aren't dating? Or are you two secretly trying to elope?" Isshin asked, looking between Hana and Ichigo multiple times with a look of suspicion on his face. Although it was part of his personality to ask or say something like that, it was most likely that he wanted his son to date Hana.
"Hmph." With a straight face, Hana walked over to Isshin. Out of nowhere, she kicked him into the nearby wall. "We're not dating, damn it! And we certainly aren't trying to elope!" She was getting tired of hearing that come out of his mouth. It was really getting annoying and it was clear that it was beginning to piss her off. In the beginning, she had thought it was funny but now, she clearly no longer thought it was.
Isshin hit the wall with a loud thud. "Ugh..." he groaned as he fell to the floor, causing Ichigo to burst into laughter. "So similar to my son..." Isshin groaned. "...Perfect for one another..." Even after that assault, he was still mumbling on about Hana and Ichigo getting together.
Hana crossed her arms and let out an angry breath. "I wish you'd get that fact through your damn skull already. We're only really close best-friends, nothing more and nothing less."
Isshin slowly got up and opened his mouth to say something more to Hana but got immediately shut down by Karin. "You may not want to speak, Dad," she warned, annoyed slightly by her father's behavior. More often than not, she was able to handle the way her father was but there were times like that very day where she'd just get quite annoyed with the man.
"Karin! Are you on their side?!" Isshin yelled towards his daughter. "How could you do this to me?! My own flesh and blood!"
"I don't want anything to do with this," Karin remarked before going back to watching the television. She simply had just tried to stop the mess from progressing further and simply failed in doing so, her father having attempted to drag her into the mess.
"I'm heading to your room, Ichigo. I don't want to end up doing anything that I'll regret later." Hana walked out of the living room, heading towards the location of Ichigo's bedroom. She hadn't physically attacked Isshin before, usually only yelling at him whenever he said something. This time, she had gone as far as to kick him into the nearest wall. She didn't know why it pissed her off so much nowadays. She was sincerely confused by her actions.
"Wait, Hanako!" Ichigo followed Hana up to his room shortly afterwards. He found her sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed with her eyes closed. Damn, she had moved fast. "Sorry about that," he apologized to her. Despite that those arguments and fights always occurred within his house, he always felt like he needed to apologize to Hana for the behavior almost every single time.
"Eh, don't worry about it," she replied, dismissing his apology. She usually did that whenever he apologized for, well, anything. Although Ichigo's father was quite annoying, she found his family to be amazing and she cared about all of them. Even though she didn't really show much love towards his dad, thanks to him being irritating.
"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked.
Hana nodded, opening her eyes and looking up at him. "Yeah, I'm sure. I don't know why I suddenly just...snapped. But I did enjoy kicking him into that wall. He sort of deserved it, in a way." She crossed her arms. She only slightly regretted doing that to Isshin, but mostly enjoyed it.
"Yeah." Ichigo walked over to the bed and sat on it, his legs hanging off the bed to Hana's left. "I get that my dad can be annoying most of the time but don't mind him. Just try to ignore him."
"That's really hard to do considering he has such a loud fucking mouth." Hana shook her head, sighing. Ichigo chuckled, agreeing with her without saying so. Isshin was always starting up some kind of shit each time Ichigo entered the house, still doing so even with Hana visiting or staying over. They both didn't think that the man would ever get more mature. The two of them grew silent for a bit, sitting in the dark bedroom with only the brightness of the moon to light up the darkness since it was currently night and neither of them had bothered to turn on a light.
Ichigo broke the silence after about two minutes. "Out of curiosity, do you hate the idea of dating someone?"
Hana turned her head to look at him as he remained sitting on the bed and it took her a few seconds to reply with an answer. "No. I don't hate the idea of dating. It's just annoying for your dad to keep askin' if we are dating, or eloping, when we aren't. I don't care if that is just how he is; it's fucking annoying as shit." She huffed.
Ichigo half-smiled. "Yeah, it is," he agreed. "I've gotten use to it, though. It's just a normal everyday thing to me."
"Oh, I'm sure," Hana stated. She sighed shortly. "Honestly, I don't plan to date until I'm outta school," she revealed to him. Or until she found someone she was attracted to. She got off the floor and went over to Ichigo's closet that was directly across from the bed, opening it up and pulling out a pillow along with a blanket.
"I prefer to do that, too." Ichigo laid down on his bed. "Can't do much if you don't have the grades."
"Mmm hmm," Hana agreed. She let out a long yawn as she sat the pillow on the floor near the closet. She closed the closet door and laid down on the floor, laying her head on the pillow and covering up with the blanket.
"Guess we better head to bed," Ichigo stated, eyeing Hana.
"If you would shut up talking to me, the conversation would die down and we could sleep," Hana informed him. Ichigo rolled his eyes but grinned at her. "Goodnight," Hana whispered. She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side, her back facing towards Ichigo.
"Night," Ichigo replied, laying down with his back on the bed and he closed his eyes, too...
Ichigo set some new flowers, yellow ones, in a vase of water by the pole for the little spirit girl from the day before. Hana was standing behind him, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "There we go," Ichigo remarked, grinning a tad because of his good deed. He turned towards Hana and the grin on his face vanished. Hana looked exhausted, like she barely even slept. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Just tired and sleepy," she answered honestly. She threw her arms up towards the sky as she stretched. "Wow, I really am tired. Tired and sleepy mean the same fucking thing. I'm a dumbass when I haven't slept..."
"Still?" Ichigo questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Hana glared at him a bit. "I had a nightmare, jackass."
Ichigo nodded shortly in understanding. He had nightmares from time to time, too. "Oh. Sorry. What was it about?"
"It doesn't matter. It was just a nightmare." Hana started walking away from him, heading to school. "A nightmare that I keep having... About my parents..."
Ichigo shrugged and followed her. "Okay." He had one hand holding his bag and the other was in his school pants pocket. He stared at the back of Hana's head as he walked behind her, thinking about what kind of nightmare Hana could have that would prevent her from getting much sleep. He was a bit worried considering that she was his best-friend, but everyone had nightmares every now and then. So, he hoped she wouldn't dwell on it. It was only a bad dream, but he didn't know it was a dream of her past. As the two of them continued to head in the direction of their school and were in the middle of the town, a sudden loud roar erupted from a direction near them. "What was that?!" Ichigo exclaimed, no longer walking and looking in the direction the roar had came from. The people around them were listening around as well, having heard rumbling.
Hana had froze in place the moment she heard the roar, no longer moving. "Shit… A Hollow. Why did it have to come now, out of all the times it could appear? I can't do anything!"
Out of nowhere, a large creature that looked like a bug, and had a white mask, crashed through a building nearby. People in the area started running the opposite direction, terrified because of not being sure about what exactly was happening; they didn't know if it was a terrible car wreck or an earthquake. The Hollow let out another roar while Ichigo gawked at it, no one else being able to see it other than himself and Hana. "What the hell is that?!" he exclaimed. Hana silently turned in the direction of the Hollow as well, staring at it with false and real fear; she wasn't scared of Hollows but she was scared of not being able to protect anyone because she was unable to do anything while her soul remained in her body and she had nothing available to her that would allow her soul to temporarily remove from her body. She really was beginning to regret losing all those Soul Candies she once had; maybe that was why Urahara wouldn't give her more, she'd always misplace it and ask for another and now, she was shit out of luck.
The ghost girl from the day before appeared out of the dust that filled the air, dust that was caused by the Hollow collapsing the building somewhat. She was running away from the Hollow, scared. "Help!" She ran past Hana and Ichigo.
"Run! Hurry!" Ichigo yelled, running after the girl.
Hana didn't hesitate to run after them because she had no choice but to do so. "I can't do shit without a damn soul candy," she thought. "I hope the Soul Reaper that is suppose to get rid of these things fucking gets here soon."
"What is that thing?!" the ghost girl asked Hana and Ichigo loudly.
"I don't know!" Ichigo exclaimed as they ran away.
"Shut up and run!" Hana yelled, rudely. She didn't mean to be rude but she deemed it necessary. All they could do was run; they couldn't do shit to the Hollow. The ghost girl tripped and landed on the ground. "Are you fucking serious? Why the fuck does this always happen? Someone always has to fucking trip in the face of danger!" Hana and Ichigo both skid to a stop. Ichigo ran back to the girl and helped her up, but the Hollow was already very close to them. "Look out!" Hana yelled, although her doing so wasn't going to magically get the ghost girl and Ichigo out of harm's way. The Hollow was going to attack when a Soul Reaper, Rukia, jumped into their line of sight, followed by her fellow Soul Reaper companion, Sayuri Hirai.
With ease, Rukia sliced the Hollow's mask and it, the Hollow, disappeared out of sight for good. "That seemed rather easy," she commented shortly after the Hollow was gone. Sayuri nodded, standing to her right.
"Huh?" Ichigo stared at the two of them, confused and shocked by what just happened.
"Two Soul Reapers? Two? There's normally just one that comes here every so often… Why are there two this time?" Hana thought in confusion. "Perhaps one of them is a newbie and in training, maybe?" This was new to her. And odd. Never had there ever been two Soul Reapers in Karakura Town looking for Hollows.
"Let's go." Rukia was suddenly gone, having flash stepped away from the area. Hana walked over to where Ichigo and the ghost girl stood, staring at Sayuri whom remained.
Sayuri did not leave just yet. She turned to look at Hana and Ichigo. She sent a smile their way. "So, you can see us," she remarked before flashing away to follow Rukia.
Ichigo blinked, confused. "Uh? What the hell?" The ghost girl that was with them suddenly vanished without saying a word to Hana and Ichigo. The two didn't seem to really notice her disappearance, however.
"Hmm? She noticed that Ichigo and I can see them. That's unusual," Hana thought. She stared at the spot where Sayuri had been standing. "How interesting..." She didn't except that to happen but she was a little glad that it did. Normally, the Soul Reapers that would come to Karakura Town would pay no mind to anyone around them, their minds focused on dealing with the Hollow and then leaving. This was the first time one noticed that someone was watching them.
"What just happened?!" Ichigo exclaimed, looking towards Hana. When she didn't respond, he placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her. "Hana?!" He was worried that she had gone into some sort of shock from witnessing that. "Hey, Hana! Snap out of it!"
She blinked and stared at him, noticing that he was standing right in front of her and was facing her, too. His hands were still on her shoulders. "Huh? What?" She blinked again as she recalled the question he had asked out loud. "Uh, how the hell would I know what just happened? I'm as clueless as you." She continued to stare at him. "But perhaps more calm about it."
"I-I didn't expect you to know. I was just wondering out loud." Ichigo moved his hands from her shoulders. "Sorry. You okay? You weren't hurt, were you?"
"It's fine and I'm fine," Hana answered. "So, off to school now, yeah?" she asked him.
"How can you be so calm about this?!" Ichigo yelled in question.
"Because…" She hesitated. What the hell should she say? "...Maybe this was an one time thing. Those two people seem to know how to get rid of those things so if there are more, they'll just get rid of those, too. It's not something we should worry about."
"I-I guess you're right," Ichigo stuttered. She had a point. If there were more, those two beings would just get rid of them.
"Let's just go to school and try to forget that this ever happened," Hana suggested. She started walking again, heading in the direction of the school. She really wanted that conversation to be over with...
Ichigo slowly nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, let's go." He started to follow her, silence between them as they walked...
Ichigo entered his home, having returned from school. "I'm home," he announced. Hana had walked there with him, but she did not go inside like he did; at least, not through the front door since she wished to avoid something happening like the day before. And it wouldn't be the first time she snuck into Ichigo's house undetected.
"My boy! Welcome!" Isshin exclaimed. Surprisingly, he did not try to punch, kick, or elbow Ichigo anywhere. It was truly a miracle. And a surprise.
"Hi," Ichigo greeted flatly. He immediately started heading to his bedroom, his mind on something else.
"Ichigo, your dinner is ready," Yuzu informed him.
Ichigo paused his movement and made no move to turn around or to move towards the kitchen table. "I'm not really hungry. I'm just going to head up to my room." He didn't want to be around anyone. He couldn't stop thinking about what happened earlier that day. "What was that thing...?"
"But it's curry," Yuzu protested. "You should eat some at least."
"I'll have some later. Thanks, Yuzu." Ichigo headed to his bedroom. He opened the bedroom door and went inside, closing the door behind him. Sitting on his bed, by the open window, was Hana.
"Yo," Hana greeted. She huffed out a breath shortly afterwards. She did not seem to be in a good mood but in an annoyed, bored one. She had her legs hanging off the edge of the bed, kicking them around. She had her mind on all sorts of things, namely the thing that occurred that day. She never expected something like that to happen. She knew that Hollows went after the spirits of the departed, but she thought that they'd catch them quicker because of how fast they could be. Why did it run after the girl so slowly? Pushing that thought aside, she tried thinking of something that would take away the boredom she was feeling. God, it annoyed her so much when she was bored.
"You look annoyed," Ichigo stated, placing his bag on the floor. "What's the matter?" He could tell she had something on her mind.
Hana half-smiled. "I am indeed annoyed. I am annoyed because I am extremely bored." She let out a long sigh as she laid down on the bed. "Ugh, today has been such a long day, huh?" That very day had been very different than what usually occurred every day.
"Yeah," Ichigo agreed. "Can I have my bed back now?"
Hana stuck her tongue out at him. "Never. My bed." She grabbed his pillow and hugged it. "And my pillow." She gripped the blanket that laid underneath her. "And my blanket. All mine." She was obviously joking around, trying to get her mind off her boredom and of what occurred that day.
"Get your ass off my bed before I drag you off," Ichigo threatened before smiling a bit. He was joking, of course. He never had truly been mad at Hana before; it was hard for him to be mad at her ever. He definitely wouldn't get mad at her over the fact that she took over his bed. It was just a damn bed. Nothing to fuss over. He didn't care about the blanket and pillow either.
Hana couldn't help but laugh, though she did so quietly to avoid alerting Isshin and the twins, and she sat up, getting off the bed. She gestured towards it. "Your bed, Good Sir," she said, acting as if she were a maid or fancy butler. Ichigo chuckled and sat down, shaking his head at her. She definitely had her moments where she was amusing. Hana moved over to the closet and sat in front of it, leaning against its door. The two of them were silent for several minutes, staring at either each other or around the room.
Ichigo broke the silence as he laid down on his bed, looking at the ceiling. "...I can't stop thinking about what happened earlier." He sighed after he finished speaking of what was on his mind. How could he forget it? A monster had chased them. He wanted to know what the hell the thing was but he also didn't want to know. He wished he could forget it all.
Hana sighed as well. "Yeah, I figured as much. Something like that is very hard to ignore." She wasn't bothered by it since she was use to seeing Hollows and Soul Reapers. Ichigo, however, was bothered a bit by it because he never had seen such beings before.
A small shimmer of movement caught the eye of the two friends. Passing through the wall, the two Soul Reapers appeared. Rukia lept from the night stand and onto the floor with Sayuri following behind her. "It's here," Rukia announced, quietly, oblivious to the two humans now staring at her. Sayuri simply nodded to her friend before looking between the two best-friends with a small smile. Ichigo couldn't help but gawk; two unknown figures just entered his room with no problem and that didn't sit well with him.
Unlike Ichigo, Hana wasn't bothered by the sudden appearance of Rukia and Sayuri. However, she couldn't help but wonder why they were there. "I don't understand why they are in here... Don't they have Hollows to locate? Why would they need to come here?" She bit her lip as she glanced around the room. "Perhaps they sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure and are confusing it with a Hollow's spiritual pressure. It has gotten a lot stronger recently for some reason. Mmm... And it can't be my own cause I'm hiding it."
Rukia timidly walked forward, trying to be careful where she stepped. "I feel-" Without a moment's notice, she was suddenly on the ground with her back burning a bit. She had been kicked to the floor by Ichigo, landing in front of where Hana sat on the floor. She had been completely caught off guard and she knew for certain that it wasn't Sakae who did it.
Ichigo was standing behind her, having gotten off his bed and he was pointing in her direction. "What the hell are you doing in my room?!" he yelled. His yell, however, wasn't loud enough to alert his family.
Rukia immediately stood up and turned around to look at him. "You can see me?" she asked, quite a bit confused and surprised. She was beginning to wish that it had been Sakae.
Hana corrected Rukia as she stood up behind her. "Actually, both of us can see you. Both of you, not just one of you, to be exact. And you might want to answer his question before he gets any angrier." She glanced towards Sakae, eyeing her momentarily before looking at the back of Rukia's head again.
Sayuri walked over to Rukia, stepping over the clutter that was a blanket and pillow. Hana had already gotten them out of the closet but she had thrown them on the floor at a random location before she had quickly sat on Ichigo's bed earlier. "See," Sakae started. "I was trying to warn you earlier but no." She made some movements with her hands. "Someone wouldn't listen." Hana watched her again, surprisingly highly amused by her; she liked this Soul Reaper's personality. Ichigo, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of amused, fuming as he stared back and forth between the two Soul Reapers.
"I didn't believe it to be true," Rukia recanted in her defense. It had seemed impossible but now, she was witnessing what was true. She could be seen by them both. She knew of the low possibility of them stumbling upon humans who could see them but she hadn't expected it to actually occur because of said low possibility.
"You didn't answer my question!" Ichigo exclaimed, gaining the attention of all three females. Rukia ignored Ichigo's statement and began to examine him, gripping his face and shaking him all around as she turned him. From head to toe, she looked him over almost as if trying to search for something. "What the hell are you doing?!" Ichigo asked angrily and loudly.
"Maybe you're a defective human." Rukia looked away from Ichigo for moment, deep in thought. Maybe that was the reason why they could be seen. Had to be. She was tempted to examine Hana next to see if she could spot anything good but decided against it. Sayuri smiled at her friend and shook her head.
Hana blinked before laughing at what Rukia had said. "Neither one of us are defective. Trust me. We're as normal as normal can get." Minus a few things that made them not so normal.
"How could you possibly see us then?" Rukia asked. Never has a human seen her. She heard rumors, and facts, about there being few humans who could see them but she hadn't believed them, not all of them. She knew of Captain Aizen finding love with a human female and that was how Sayuri came to be; that was how she knew there was a low possibility of them stumbling across a human with the ability to see Soul Reapers. She hadn't thought a day would come where she herself would encounter a human with such sight. She was curious as to how it was possible for her and Sakae to be seen. Was there something special about them? Or was it just a fluke?
Ichigo pointed to his eyes. "With these, maybe. I'm not blind! What the hell are you anyway?"
"Shall we explain, then?" Sayuri asked Rukia.
With a small sigh, Rukia agreed. "If we must." Rukia and Sayuri began a small explanation about what they were, where they were from, and what they were doing in Karakura Town. They even revealed other things such as how they guide spirits to the Soul Society by preforming Konso and that they call the good spirits Wholes while they call the bad spirits Hollows. Hana and Ichigo silently listened until the very end. Hana already knew everything they said, she just didn't want to reveal herself as a half Soul Reaper just yet. In time, she was going to have to reveal herself anyways because keeping secrets from her best-friend was hard.
"Alright. So, you are both something called a Soul Reaper?" Ichigo questioned for clarification. Rukia and Sayuri nodded. "And you're telling me that you were both sent here on a mission by something called the Soul Society that happens to be where you live?" Rukia and Sayuri nodded again. "To get rid of demons like the one that was on the street earlier today?" Rukia and Sayuri nodded for the last time. "Well, that's all believable to me..." Ichigo suddenly flipped his shit, confusing and somewhat surprising everyone in the room. "Along with flying pigs and the tooth fairy!"
"But it's true," Rukia announced in a calm manner, slightly annoyed at the human not believing her.
"Like hell it is!" Ichigo yelled. He still was not yelling loud enough to alert his family. Somehow.
Sayuri, trying to maybe lighten the mood, cut in. "Hell is a real place also," she remarked. "Not a nice place from what I've heard, though." Ichigo glared at her.
"Well, I believe them," Hana commented, surprising Ichigo greatly.
Ichigo looked towards her and stared in disbelief. "You...! You can't be serious! You actually believe this baloney?!" It was complete nonsense. The two females that entered his room were nothing more than just delirious crazies to him. There was no way that what they were saying was true. Just couldn't be possible.
"I believe it because of the fact that we both see spirits. We believe in spirits because we can see them. Now, we see two Soul Reapers so I believe the information they told us," Hana explained. "Ichigo will always be an idiot…" She held back a smile. "But that's another reason why I enjoy hanging out with him. Never a dull moment with an idiot." She figured he was just in denial. She would be, too, if she weren't born as half of two species.
"It-It's just too out there," Ichigo admitted.
Sayuri stood (she had sat down on the floor during the little speech of her and Rukia's), grabbing the attention of everybody. "You saw the monster from today, correct?" she asked. Ichigo answered with a small nod. "Then, what's so hard to believe that there is something more out there? Everything you witnessed up to this point is evidence enough." She had a very good point that he couldn't argue with.
"Fine." Ichigo pouted slightly.
"You sure can be such a pain in the ass, Ichigo," Hana commented. "It's kind of annoying but-"
"As can you!" Ichigo shot back, interrupting her.
Hana frowned. "I'm a pain in the ass...? Well, sorry then…" She was going to tell him that while he could be a pain in the ass annoyingly sometimes, other times she found it amusing since he was usually a pain in the ass for someone else. He hadn't let her finish, though. Now, she was stuck with trying to figure out what she does that makes her a pain in the ass. Was she too violent sometimes? Too rude? Too quiet? She wasn't really any of those things, not exactly. Sure, she could be rude sometimes, quiet when she wants to be, and violent when she had to be, but was that really a good reason for her to be called a pain in the ass? Ichigo was basically that way, too, minus the quiet part.
"Enough!" Rukia exclaimed. Sayuri sighed slightly, becoming bored with the entire situation.
"We're talking here, midget," Ichigo said.
Rukia felt a vein pop. "M-Midget?" She gave a wicked smile. "Bakudo Number One, Sai!"
Ichigo began to make weird movements until his hands locked behind his back and he was face first on the floor. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed.
Hana looked at Rukia and Sayuri, ignoring that Ichigo was unable to move much. "What was that?" she asked, curious.
"A Kido," Sayuri stated. "It's a high-level incantation that only we Soul Reapers can cast." Hana nodded. She learnt about it from Urahara but wasn't sure if that was one or not since she never actually saw someone preforming a Kido.
"It's useless to struggle against," Rukia informed Ichigo as he squirmed, trying to get free. She still appeared to be very angry with him. "I may appear young to you but I have lived nearly ten of your lifetimes."
"Say, don't you two have a Hollow to deal with?" Hana asked Rukia and Sayuri. She had been sensing a Hollow nearby for many seconds and was confused as to why the two Soul Reapers weren't leaving to go deal with it. They had to have felt it, too, right?
"Hollow?" Rukia looked confused until she felt it. There was a loud roar from outside of the window, not too far from the house. Suddenly, there was a crashing sound coming from down the stairs. "H-How?!" Sayuri was already running out of the room with Rukia about to follow. She stopped for a moment, turning to Ichigo. "You stay here," she commanded.
"Like hell I am!" Ichigo began to show struggle as he fought the forces that were binding him. Slowly, he began to stand up and scream until he eventually broke the Kido entirely. "I have to protect my family!" he yelled before running out of his room without a second thought. He heard Rukia call out to him but ignored it.
"ICHIGO! WHAT THE FUCK?! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Hana screamed, running after him. Rukia followed behind her. The three of them got down to the second floor to find Sayuri moving Karin and Yuzu from the rubble to a safer location. Isshin was nowhere in sight so he had to be located in some other part of the household or underneath debris.
"Yuzu! Karin!" Ichigo yelled before running over to his sisters.
"Oh no…" Rukia examined the scene. "Dammit!"
"I can't believe this is happening…" Hana thought. She clenched her fists. She should've known that it could occur in such a manner again; she should've known that a Hollow would come destroying things.
Ichigo turned to where the hollow stood. "You bastard!" He ran out to the street to catch the attention of the monster before him. "Come at me!"
"You idiot!" Rukia yelled.
The Hollow screamed and ran at Ichigo. "No!" Hana yelled. She ran to where Ichigo stood in the street and pushed him out of the way, the Hollow injuring her right arm as it went by. Ichigo blinked in surprise as Hana got off of him from their position on the ground and she held her wounded arm. "Shit, that hurts…" she winced. Ichigo sat up beside Hana and stared at her, more hatred for the Hollow slowly filling his very being. Hana had gotten hurt trying to protect him. And he really did not like that at all.
The Hollow turned to make another attack at the two but it was momentarily stopped by Rukia. "Shit!" she cursed when she realized the Hollow had bitten into her shoulder as her Zanpakutō impaled its mouth. Sayuri shouted towards Rukia but was sent flying towards a wall and was easily knocked out. Rukia pulled her Zanpakutō from the Hollow and collapsed on the ground. The Hollow didn't proceed to kill her, instead backing away and suddenly leaving, disappearing out of sight. Rukia winced as she lifted herself up a tad and moved over to lean against a wall. "I'm too injured to fight. Do you want to save your family?" The Hollow would be back after it regenerated and they didn't have much time before that happened.
"Of course I do!" Ichigo yelled as he looked towards Rukia. Hana watched Ichigo, still sitting beside him. She continued to watch him as he stood up and strode over to the wounded Rukia. She wasn't exactly sure what was occurring. Sure, she knew things about Soul Reapers but not all things.
"This will only be temporary but you must become a Soul Reaper." Rukia lifted her Zanpakutō and pointed it towards Ichigo, her eyes on his standing form. "You must take my Zanpakutō and run it through to the center of your being so that I may pour my powers into you." It was their last resort or they were all dead.
Hana's eyes widened. "Ichigo becoming a temporary Soul Reaper...? If only I had a damned soul candy, I could get rid of the thing myself... Son of a bitch... Now, he has to deal with all this shit... At least it is only for some time. I don't want him to end up getting himself killed..."
"If this doesn't work, it won't matter if this kills you or not because we'll all be dead," Rukia informed him.
Ichigo gripped the Zanpakutō blade. "Let's hope this works, then, Soul Reaper."
"It's not Soul Reaper," Rukia said. "Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki," she introduced.
"And I'm... Ichigo Kurosaki!" Ichigo told her.
Rukia plunged the sword into Ichigo with his help as the Hollow returned and it began heading their way. There was a rather large, bright flash of blue as the Hollow grew closer and suddenly, the Hollow's left arm was missing off of its body as the light vanished. Now standing behind the Hollow, Ichigo stood glaring at the Hollow with much hatred. He was attired in a black kimono (Shihakushō) with a white undergarment underneath it, a thick brown belt strapped across his chest which held his Zanpakutō sheath, and grasped in his right hand was a huge Zanpakutō. Hana stared at him in amazement, glad that it worked and also surprised that, well, it worked.
Sayuri awoken from where she laid and she sat up, spotting Ichigo quickly and she became confused as to why she was seeing him in an attire quite like her own. She, then, looked at Rukia and gasped when she saw that Rukia was now in just a white kimono that was slightly stained in her blood. "What the-? Did he take all-?!" Sayuri was confused and surprised at what she was seeing. What the hell did she miss?
"Come here, you bastard!" Ichigo ran at the Hollow as it turned towards him fully and he easily sliced its mask, causing it to disappear completely.
Rukia was surprised herself. "Well... At least it worked," she commented, mainly to herself. Though, she was still very surprised that he took most of her powers. She only meant to give him half. He had stronger spirit energy than what she had originally thought.
Hana still had her left hand over her injured right arm as she remained on the ground, her eyes on Ichigo. "So… He is a Soul Reaper now?" she asked Rukia and Sayuri, wanting to confirm what happened. She knew that things were going to be different from then on if he was going to remain as such for a while. "Well, not exactly a Soul Reaper but something like a, um, substitute for a Soul Reaper."
Sayuri nodded, answering the question as she got up from the ground finally. She walked over to Rukia, helping her up as gently as she could. "Yes… He is technically a Soul Reaper now," she replied before looking towards Hana. She let out a loud gasp as she saw that she was wounded as well. "Oh my, your wound! Are you okay?!" She was showing great concern for her., especially since Hana's wound appeared to be kind of deep.
Rukia looked at Hana. "Are you okay?" She appeared to be a little concerned herself, but not as concerned since she hardly knew the female. With some of Sayuri's help, she and Sayuri walked over to where Hana sat.
Ichigo ran over to Hana, quickly remembering her injury. He dropped his Zanpakutō to the ground as he crouched down in front of her. "Hana! Why did you save me?!" He analyzed her wound, feeling a bit guilty about being the cause of why she had gotten hurt in the first place.
"I'm fine. It just hurts like hell." Hana winced slightly as she moved her injured arm slightly. She continued to stare at Ichigo. "And I saved your ass because you are a damn idiot for running out here in the first place. Also, you are my best friend. Besides, it's nothing to worry about. As I said, I'm fine. It just hurts like hell."
"How can I not worry?! Look how bad it is!" Ichigo exclaimed, pointing to the wound as he stared at it. She wouldn't had gotten hurt if he had stayed out of the way.
Hana sighed rather long before deciding that she had to show him something, one of the things she had kept hidden from him all this time. To prove that it was nothing to worry about, she looked at her wound. Her left hand was still over it, blood dripping down her arm and through her fingers. She started to focus on just her hand and the wound, her mind ignoring everything else. Her hand began to glow a bright fire-red and, before any of the three watching her could say anything, the glow was gone and her wound was no more. "See? As I said, nothing to worry about." She did, however, lose quite a bit of blood but not enough to make her pass out or anything. However, some of the blood she lost returned to her body when she healed herself.
Rukia and Sayru stared in surprise at what just occurred, but they were not as surprised as Ichigo. "What the hell?" he questioned, staring in awe at Hana's healed right arm. "Your wound. It's gone." He didn't seem able to grasp the fact that she healed herself just yet. He was just so surprised to learn this new fact about her.
"I'm sorry for not telling you..." Hana started slowly, still looking at Ichigo. "But, um, surprise. I can heal any wounds that are inflicted on me... I am unsure why or how I have this ability but it comes in handy most of the time..." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Are...you mad?" She didn't think he'd like that she kept a secret from him. She had a few more secrets but those were going to remain secrets for a little while longer.
"No. Just...very surprised," Ichigo admitted. "And relieved." He was glad that she was alright now. He could feel his worry fade along with his surprise.
Hana smiled gently at him. "Yeah... Of course... You know, even if I didn't have this ability, I would have saved you." Ichigo didn't say anything as he wrapped his arms around her, giving her a slightly tight hug.
"How in the world did you do that?" Rukia asked Hana. Hana simply looked at her as she returned Ichigo's hug and said nothing; she couldn't answer that question because she wasn't sure herself since she didn't know how or why she had that power, like she told Ichigo aloud.
"Rukia. If you dare say that she is defective, there is going to be a problem," Sayuri commented to her friend. "And it will be one long night." Rukia sighed and silently watched as Hana and Ichigo continued to hug one another. Things were certainly going to be different than what any of them were use to...
None of the chapters will be short. None of them. 5,000 words over, tops.
Word Count: 11,847