I don't own Bleach :[
New Beginnings…
Gin stood, momentarily surprised, and stared thoughtfully at the spot where the girl had disappeared. Sure, he'd breezily tossed out the lie that he'd visit to almost every nervous soul he met, but he never meant it. But none of them had ever known that. They'd all closed their eyes in reassurance and fluttered happily to Soul Society. But he kept seeing her resentful eyes in the back of his mind.
"Liar," she'd said.
He grinned and ran a hand through his hair. No one other than Aizen could tell when he was lying but this girl, this Tsukiko, had seen through him in less that ten minutes.
"Are you all finished, Ichimaru-taicho?" a voice asked from behind him.
"Mm, 'et's git goin' Kira," Gin said, turning to the blonde.
"Yessir," Kira said with a smile.
Those dark eyes flashed once more in his mind before Gin forced them out and moved onto other thoughts. Aizen would be waiting for him, he thought lazily.
Hesitantly she opened her eyes. Sky blue was met with harsh dust and she coughed. Wooden houses and shops lined the dirt street around her and faces were turned in her direction. When she met people's eyes they gave her sad smiles.
"Where am I?" she thought aloud.
"Rukongai," said a cheerful voice.
"Eh?" she turned and looked around but found no one.
"Onee-san," the voice called. She looked down.
"Ah!" she looked down at the boy grinning up at her.
"What's your name, onee-san?" the boy asked.
"Matsuyaki Tsukiko," she said and looking down at his small frame, "what's your name?"
"Kouhei," he said.
"Nice to meet you," she said softly.
"Nice to meet you too, Tsukiko-san," he said and grabbed her hand, shaking it wildly.
She blinked in surprise and smiled weakly. He was cute and had a boy's yukata and a piece of tape on his cheek.
"Tsukiko-san, since you're new, you can stay with me," he said and proceeded to drag her without waiting for a response.
"O-oi, wait a sec," she cried and stumbled on the uneven path.
He glanced at her over his shoulder, his big blue eyes questioning, but he didn't stop walking.
In a final attempt she dug her heels in the dirt and pulled him to a stop. She crouched down beside him and pushed her hand down on the crown of his blonde head forcefully, causing him to wince slightly. "What do ya think you're doing?" she cried. "You can't just drag people wherever you want," she added and ruffled his hair, "man, kid, you don't have manners?"
A blush crept onto his tan cheeks. "Sorry, Tsukiko-san," he mumbled.
She sighed. "Call me Tsukiko-chan," she muttered, "Kouhei-kun."
His eyes lit up when he got permission to use her name in such a friendly manner.
"O-ok!" he said excitedly.
She stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. She was looking around when she felt hands on her waist. She looked down to see Kouhei gently fiddling with her clothes.
"K-Kouhei-kun, what're you doing?" she stuttered.
"Your obi," he murmured, tightening the sash around her waist.
"My…wait…huh?" she looked down and shrieked.
Kouhei's hands froze and he looked up at her surprised. "What's wrong, Tsukiko-chan?"
"W-w-what happened to my clothes?" she whispered, tugging at the sleeves of the yukata.
Kouhei looked confused. "What about it?" he asked.
"I wasn't wearing this before I came here," she rambled and examined herself the best she could.
"Oh, that happens. You don't need your old clothes so you get these ones," he said grinning and tugged at her obi again.
"O-oh," she murmured and looked at the ground sullenly. She didn't know why she was sad, it wasn't like she remembered anything from before she died anyways.
"Are you hungry?" Kouhei asked suddenly.
"Er, ah, no..why?" she asked.
He frowned, looking disappointed.
"Why, what's wrong?" she asked, leaning forward to look in his eyes.
"N-nothing, don't worry about it!" he said and forced a smile on his face.
She smiled gently and rubbed his head affectionately.
"So, I take it you don't see any Shinigami 'round here?" she mumbled and glanced around at the humble buildings.
"Shinigami? No, there's a few low-class one that might've lived here and come back once in a while. But no one special really. Why, do you know one?" he asked curiously.
She shook her head and her long hair spilled over her shoulders. "No one other than the one who saved me," she said.
"Saved you?" Kouhei asked.
"Yeah, from this creepy monster with a mask and-"
"A hollow?" he asked bluntly.
"A hollow?" She repeated slowly.
"Yeah, was it black and had a white mask with patterns on it?" Kouhei asked.
She nodded numbly.
"Yeah, then it was a hollow," he said confidently.
"Oooh, that's what it's-" she caught herself when she felt a bad feeling curling up in her stomach. Didn't the voice in her head, the nameless one, say she was a hollow? Her fingers wove into her hair and a panicked look crossed her features. "EHHHHHHHHHH?!"
"W-what?" Kouhei asked nervously.
"That THING is INSIDE me?!" her mind screamed.
I take offense to that, the Hollow murmured in the back of her mind.
"S-shut up. What the HELL? Since when was there a giant monster IN me?"
I ain't no giant, the hollow mumbled.
"Tsukiko-chan?" Kouhei asked gently.
She snapped out of her thoughts and plasters a grin on her lips. "A-ah, nothing, nothing," she laughed nervously. One of Kouhei's eyebrows raised slightly in suspicion but he shrugged.
"Well, do you wanna stay at my house, seeing as you don't got one?" he asked.
"S-sure," she said gratefully.
"C'mon then!" he grinned again and grabbed her hand. She could only laugh at his eagerness as she allowed herself to be dragged down the street.
