Hey everyone! I know there's readers out there because this story has gotten over 60 hits. That's awesome.
Still, it kind of annoys me that of all those people, none of you will take the time to review. I'm going to try to not complain about it, but I really enjoy the feedback. I don't mind if all you say is you didn't like it. Just let me know why, and I'll try to improve in that area. I just feel kind of like a singer at a performance and no one is clapping. And then I just stand there awkwardly and have no idea if the audience liked it or if they just want me to shut up and leave them alone.
See how bitter I get when I'm lonely? You guys want me to keep writing, right? RIGHT?
I'm losing self esteem by the second. Naturally, since I'm a writer, I had low self confidence to start with, but I can deal.
Please R & R... It will make me feel better about myself...
Enough of this depressing stuff! Damn, almost forgot the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but if I did, Grimmjow would be back by now.
Rin stared in shock at the black-clad young man, who for some reason was looking right at her in equal disbelief. Why would he do that? At first she thought he might have been staring at Felicia, who by now had stopped screaming but was frozen in place.
Then she made eye contact with him.
The pain hit her quickly. Rin knew she recognized the guy, but she forgot that feeling of familiarity in the storm of pain in her head. This was worse than any of the headaches she had experienced before, but she wasn't fainting. This feeling was much worse.
Images of sword-wielding people dressed in black barraged her mind. Monstrous creatures with white faces and huge holes in their chests overtook her brain, filling her with terror.
Consumed by the pain and strange visions, Rin fell to her knees, already weak from her last blackout. The pain. It was all she could process any more. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
Rin realized she had muttered the last part aloud, chanting, "it hurts" as she pulled herself into fetal position and wrapped her arms around her legs.
People all around them, including the woman who had been attacked by the man with the sword, stared at the two of them. The vaudeville dancer was completely unaware of what could have happened to her, and no one besides Rin and Felicia could see the guy in the black kimono.
A pair of girls about Felicia's age, dressed like they had just walked out of a ritzy casino, walked around the Rin with disgust. "Fucking schizos" one of them said, her voice filled with contempt. Felicia glared at the girl, but Rin was no longer coherent.
Felicia grabbed the girl's arm, trying to get over what she had just seen. "Don't be such a bitch to people you don't even know," she said lowly, her eyes narrow.
The rich girl's expression was one of shock and revulsion. "D-don't touch me! You're both psychos!"
Felicia let go, but held the girl's gaze menacingly as she reached to help her best friend up. "Rin," she said calmly, which was unusual for her, "I know that it hurts. You have the world's worst migraine and it sucks, but you need to get a hold of yourself. We're in public."
Somehow, Felicia's words found their way to Rin's brain. She would have to beat it. Focusing all her willpower on overcoming the pain in her head, Rin pushed back the terrifying and confusing images, clearing her mind. The excruciating pain was now just a throbbing headache. Slowly, she uncurled her body and began to stand up.
The other casino girl, the one who hadn't spoken yet, backed away quickly, like Rin was a leper or something. She had almost a look of fear in her eyes as she watched Rin relax and massage her temples. Rin opened her eyes and looked right at her, smiling awkwardly. "Sorry about that," she said, "I just get horrible headaches."
Felicia could tell the smile was fake. Rin was probably still in a hell of a lot of pain. Even so, she tried to help Rin diffuse the tension. "We were just off to the… nearest pharmacy to get her the medicine she takes for her migraine," she said apologetically.
The first girl smoothed her dress and gazed coolly at them. "Well, it was just an unfortunate misunderstanding, I guess." She grabbed her friend's arm and turned, walking away casually.
Felicia was about to turn her attention back to Rin when she caught the words of the girls as they left. "I guess the one with the black hair's a druggie," murmured one. "Yeah, and I think she has a hangover too," said the other. "Damn alcoholics."
A boiling rage filled Felicia as she heard the horrible words about her closest friend. She tried to stop herself, but the anger was too much.
"Hadō Number One," whispered Felicia fiercely, pointing at one of them. "Shō!"
The kidō spell sent a small wave of force towards one of the girls. As she watched, however, both of the girls were shoved forward by the spell, toppling comically.
Felicia glanced to the side and saw that Rin had fired the kidō at the same time, at the other girl. The tall girl grinned and started cracking up. Her best friend quickly joined in.
The rogue shinigami and her associate seemed to have forgotten him. That was good, because Shuhei realized that he had just tried to exorcise a human instead of a hollow. Now, that's awkward. He'd have to make sure that none of the other shinigami found out, or he'd be the laughing stock of the Soul Society.
Even so, those two still knew he did it. He'd have to wipe their memories of the incident so that the soul reaper wouldn't blab when Shuhei returned with her.
Shuhei could sense the hollow get stronger. The shinigami swore under his breath. If he didn't get rid of it soon, innocent people could get hurt.
He pulled out the kikanshinki and crept on the two girls. As they laughed and turned, Shuhei activated the memory replacer, a little bird head popping out the top and a puff of smoke filling their faces and knocking them unconscious.
Grumbling, Shuhei placed the rogue and her friend in an alley and used kidō to put up a one-way barrier, preventing any human from seeing the two or going near them. He left without another word, flash stepping away in pursuit of the hollow.
When Rin woke up, she found herself on the floor of an alley, Felicia next to her. It was now late at night, the alley light up by a nearby streetlight.
She tried to remember what happened, but all that came to mind was the blurry, faraway face of a young man with scars running down the right side. Strange, but whatever.
Rin turned to Felicia, who was still knocked out. All of a sudden, the petite woman shot up and looked at Rin, wide awake. "Wow!" she exclaimed, "I think we really drank too much! You're usually so good at holding your liquor, Rin! What the hell did you drink?"
Rin stared at her friend. "Are you sure we were at the bar?" she asked uncertainly.
Felicia gave her a confused look, but replied perkily. "Of course! That's what I remember, anyway!"
"Well, I can't remember much of anything."
"Really? I don't remember that much, but I think we used kidō on a pair of bitches."
That sounded familiar. But there was something bothering Rin. "Hey, Felicia?"
"Yeah?" the girl replied, her voice chipper.
"If we got drunk and passed out, then why don't we have hangovers?"
Felicia frowned. She was obviously way too cheerful to have a hangover. "Erm… well… I hadn't thought of that. Pretty weird, no?"
Rin took her phone out of the pocket of her red jeans and check the time. "Dammit!" she swore. "It's after midnight! I'm late for my shift!" Rin stood up and ran out of the alley, looking for a taxi to hail.
Felicia caught up to her and scanned the streets. "I'm coming too," the small brunette decided. "Someone has to keep an eye on you."
The taller girl chuckled and hailed a cab. The two climbed into the bright yellow car and named their destination at the same time.
"Kakū no Kōun Casino and Resort," they recited. Rin dialed a number on her phone and waited for the owner of the casino's bar to pick up.
"Hey, Derek? I'm gonna be a bit late… Yeah, something came up. Oh, and I'm bringing Felicia with me."
Rin hear her boss groan and a grin flicked across her face as she said goodbye and hung up. Those two always managed to get in a fight about something. Broken glass and spilled alcohol was sure to follow.
Rin's smile faded as she rethought that last bit. She'd get stuck with cleaning it up.
"Dammit."
A/N: It is complete! Virtual cookies for me, because I finished the whole chapter ten minutes before my self-imposed deadline! Yippee!
I'm sorry if it was short or lame, but I didn't have time to proofread. Complain all you want, I just want to know that SOMEONE is reading this and it's not just my friend being a jerk and clicking on my story a bunch of times just to get my hopes up. I'm going to murder him in his sleep someday, but I still haven't been able to get a ticket to Morocco to bring his body there.
That probably made absolutely no sense to any of you, but I'm trying to amuse myself. I should stop.
Well, time to review! All you have to type is a little phrase, like "good chapter" or "freaking bad" or "what the hell?"
Or even "just give me the cookies." Yes, virtual cookies for all reviewers. I know you're out there.
~Paradox