Here's the next installment! Hope you all like! And just to clarify this because I know that the Japanese write last names first. I have their names written with their first names first and last names last.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach! I only own the three girls and any other characters you may not recognize!
Chiki Nakayama
I sat there horribly confused. What does Rukia mean by spiritual powers? What's a soul reaper? And were those things attacking Kabei and me hollows? What exactly were they? It was all so confusing.
"You can start by telling us what those monsters were, and why Ichigo looks the way he does," Kabei said. She wanted answers more than I did. I would be happy just to wake up and find it was all a dream.
"Those monsters are called hollows. They are the souls of humans who never made it to the Soul Society. If a soul doesn't go to the Soul Society, it eventually becomes empty, which is where the name hollow comes from. They also eat the good souls, and sometimes, the souls of humans with high reiatsu," Kisuke explained as Rukia held up these drawings of a white bunny and a black bunny. They sucked, really bad.
"Why do your drawings suck so bad?" Kabei asked. She had her bored look on her face. Ichigo snickered.
"That's besides the point! Are you two at least following this so far?' Rukia said taking offense to Kabei's comment. We both nodded.
"Ichigo looks the way he does because he is a substitute soul reaper. Rukia gave him her powers so that he could protect his family from a hollow. Now a soul reaper is a spiritual guardian that regulates the number of souls in the World of the Living, where we are now, and the Soul Society," Kisuke continued.
"So these soul reapers, do they have this rei...whatever? And are there a lot of them?" I asked as I raised my hand.
"Yes. Soul reapers have tons of reiatsu. And yes again. There are many soul reapers," Kisuke answered as he patted my head. I was so confused. Kabei seemed to be absorbing this better than I was.
"So what exactly is this 'Soul Society' you keep mentioning?" Kabei asked.
"The Soul Society is where departed souls go after the body dies," Kabei and me both looked taken aback as Kisuke said this, "the soul reapers reside in the heart of the Soul Society in the Seireitei."
"What about all of the religions in this world?" I asked. It was Rukia who spoke up this time.
"Humans fear what cannot be seen and respect that which cannot be explained. Humans want an explanation for what happens when you die, so when one gets an idea a religion is created."
I fell quiet when she said this. She had a point about humans wanting explanations, that's why we were here after all.
"Let me get this straight, Chiki and I have developed some sort of spiritual powers from hanging around Ichigo, who has an enormous amount of this reiatsu stuff. Am I correct?" Kabei said. She always was a lot smarter than she lead on.
"You are dead correct. And I have a hunch you two are not the only ones either, but enough of this for now. It's getting late, and I bet all of you are missed at your respective homes right now," Kisuke said as he got up to show us to the door.
As I walked out I could have swore I heard him say that things were finally starting to get interesting.
Kabei Misuteri
I can't believe everything that's happened today. I was walking along the river after Chiki left me. I didn't have anyone at home to worry about me because my kinda sorta big brother Itsuki works until 3 a.m. tonight.
When I left my house this morning, I never thought I would end up skipping school, fighting hollows, and get drawn into this whole afterlife, good soul, bad soul thing. I stopped and sat on a bench staring out at the water. This is my favorite way to relax and unwind, especially after today.
About two hours passed, I decided it was time to head home. I had just turned down my street. I'm not sure what possessed me to look back, but I did. Rukia was running towards me, but I didn't think she knew I was there, so I jumped behind someone's bushes.
"I have gotten too soft. I don't need these useless emotions," she muttered as she ran by. When she was gone, I got out and began walking towards my house. I looked up to look at the moon, when I saw a red haired guy wearing the same thing Ichigo was wearing, sitting on a pole. He looked right at me, but I didn't think he knew that I could see him.
'he must be a soul reaper," I thought to myself. And as soon as he appeared he vanished. I'm not sure why, but I began to worry about Rukia, so I took off in the direction she went.
When I finally caught up to her, she was being attacked by that red haired soul reaper. He must have had someone else with him. There was another soul reaper, but this one had a much more refined aura about him, and he had a white cloak on over his back.
I kept myself hidden to see what would happen. I looked away and saw Uryuu Ishida walking towards the battle.
'Crap. He's going to walk right into it!' He walked right up to Rukia and the soul reapers. He must have been able to see them too. After some inaudible conversation, Uryuu made a bow and arrow using what I assume was his reiatsu. Unfortunately for him, the red haired guy defeated him easily with two strokes of his blade. He made it look like child's play.
I'm not sure what I was thinking. I came out of hiding and walked up to Rukia.
"Hey Rukia. Are these friends of yours?" I asked, trying to sound innocent as I looked up at the soul reapers.
"Kabei! You have to get out of here now!" Rukia yelled at me, but I just stood there and stared at the two 'real" soul reapers before me. Up close, I could feel how much stronger they were than Ichigo.
"What's this? She can see us!" the red haired one was astonished by the fact that I could see them.
"Yes I can. If I didn't I wouldn't be talking to you right now, would I?" I asked with a smart aleck tone of voice. That got him mad. He came at me and Rukia with his sword. Apparently he had no guilt attacking women.
I started frantically flapping my arm trying to get that shield from earlier to appear, but it wouldn't.
"Dang it! It worked earlier today!" I screamed. I just covered my head and waited for the impact, but it never came. Instead, I heard the sound of two swords clashing. I looked up to see bright orange hair.
"ICHIGO!" Rukia and I both said at the same time. I must say Ichigo looked pissed. He pushed me and Rukia back and began to fight the red haired soul reaper.
Hoshiko Hikari
I was on my way to the World of the Living. Head Captain Yamamoto was having me bring back Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and Lieutenant Renji Abarai. They were sent to bring Rukia back about a week ago, but they still haven't returned to the Seireitei. I was also specifically told to make sure they didn't do anything to any humans. I know how those two can get sometimes.
I always hated going through the Dangai Precipice World. It was dark, and I am petrified of the dark. To make it even worse, there were bones all over the place. It really creeps me out.
"Yes! LIGHT!" I screamed as I ran towards the end of the tunnel. I came out in the middle of a completely deserted street. Granted, it seemed that it was really late. I opened my soul pager to see if I could find Captain Kuchiki and Renji.
"Bingo! I gotcha now." and I took off to meet up with them.
I arrived at the scene to find Renji fighting this orange haired kid. I stayed in the bushes to scope out the situation. I think Captain Kuchiki could tell I was somewhere nearby though. From where, I was standing I could see three other people. One was Rukia. I was almost certain of that. The other two were human. One was a girl with purple hair and the other a boy. He seemed like he had taken a beating.
'I wonder if those humans can see us?' I already knew the answer to that, but I thought it anyway. I looked back over to Renji. Strawberry head was gaining an advantage on him, but I knew it wouldn't last long. Not with Byakuya there anyways.
Just as I thought that, Captain Kuchiki made his move. He used flash step and sliced strawberry head straight through his shoulder. The purple haired girl ran over to him, and then I saw Rukia get up and go over to Byakuya.
Captain Kuchiki was getting ready to cut through both the girl and strawberry head and deal the final blow.
CLINK! I barely got there in time to stop Captain Kuchiki's blade.
"Lieutenant Hikari, what is the meaning of this?" he asked me in his cold deadpan tone. He backed off, and I stood up.
"The Head Captain sent me to bring you back to the Seireitei. He thinks that you've been gone to long, but I see you've found Rukia just in time," I said as I looked at him.
"I see. Now stand aside, I must finish these ignorant brats off."
"I'm sorry Captain Kuchiki, but I'm under strict orders from the Head Captain to keep the two of you from interfering with the humans, so I must ask you to please stand down," I said and then looked back at the two behind me, "Besides, the kid will be dead in an hour anyways."
He looked down at me as I looked up at him; his gaze unwavering.
"Fine. If it's the Head Captain's orders, then it cannot be helped," he said as he put his Zanpakuto back in its sheath.
"Are you ready?" I turned my head towards Renji, who had the Senkaimon open and ready. Captain Kuchiki, Renji, and Rukia walked through. I looked back, and I could have sworn I saw someone else with a green striped hat standing there. I chuckled to myself. If its who I thought it was, then we haven't seen the last of those three humans. I walked through the Senkaimon back to the Seireitei.
When I got back to the Squad Ten barracks, I went to the office to check in with To-chan.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU JUST RUN OFF AND NOT TELL ME!" he yelled. I had just walked in the door, and I was already in trouble.
Chiki Nakayama
I woke up the next morning to a horrible pain in my hand. The burned skin and muscle was charred and it hurt. Bad. I looked at the clock. 6:00 a.m., I finally got a full night of sleep.
I got up and checked my phone. I had three texts from Kabei.
"A bunch of soul reapers just came and took Rukia away, and Ichigo is hurt really bad!" is how the first one read. The next two were reassuring me everything was okay.
'Talk about bipolar,' I thought as I closed my phone. I have to admit I was surprised, but I wasn't at the same time. I walked as quietly as I could to the bathroom to get ready. I didn't want to attract my brother's attention. If he saw my hand, he would die.
About an hour later, I met up with Kabei on my way to school. She had a really depressed look on her face.
"So, Rukia is really gone?" I asked to try and find out what went down last night.
"Yeah. A couple soul reapers came and took her back to the soul society last night, and stripped Ichigo of his powers. They almost killed us," she had a slight waver in her voice. It scared her. Whatever she saw last night scared her.
"Is Ichigo ok?"
"He's fine now. That Urahara guy showed up right after the soul reapers left."
She sounded awful. I decided that I shouldn't press the matter any further. We walked in silence the rest of the way.
At school, Ichigo pulled us over into a corner.
"Have you two noticed that everyone has forgotten Rukia, and that she even existed?" he asked. My eyes widened. He was right. Usually, Keigo was pounding everyone with questions when Rukia wasn't at school.
"Are you saying that those soul reapers wiped everyone's memories of Rukia?" Kabei asked.
Ichigo nodded. Just then, Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu walked up to us.
"Do you guys know where Rukia is?" Orihime asked innocently.
"You still remember Rukia?" I asked. All three of them nodded.
We all looked at each other for a few minutes. I had a feeling what Ichigo was going to say next.
"I think all of us need to go to Urahara's shop after school," he said. My eyes brightened.
"YAY! I GET TO SEE CONSCIENCE!" I screamed. The whole class turned and looked at me. I silently put my arms down and turned bright red.
After school, I found Ichigo and Kabei in front of the building. Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu were close behind.
When we got to the shop, I immediately made a break for the door. Kisuke was just coming out. I launched myself at him.
"CONSCIENCE!" I screamed, clinging to him.
"Well hello there Chiki. I see you're in a good mood," He said prying me off, "now won't you all come inside."
Kabei Misuteri
We all walked into Urahara's shop. As soon as we all sat down, his face became very serious.
"Now I'm sure you all know why you are here. Rukia was taken back to the Soul Society last night," he looked at me and Ichigo, "some of you saw it happen first hand. The rest of you have just now heard about this earlier today."
I remember last night so clearly. Those soul reapers were powerful. I was scared witless when the one with black hair came at me and Ichigo. Then that little blonde one, she saved us and then just leaves Ichigo there to die. I guess I just don't get it. What have I gotten myself into?
"Is something wrong Kabei?"
I looked up. Everyone was looking at me. I just realized I was shaking. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at Ichigo. He had a fire in his eyes like I had never seen before.
"How many of you want to save Rukia?" The question came out of Kisuke's mouth like a ton of bricks. Everyone tensed up. It was Orihime that raised her hand first, then Chiki's, Chad's, and Uryuu's. I didn't know Rukia very well, but I wasn't going to abandon her like this. I raised my hand.
After I raised mine, Ichigo's arm came off of my shoulder and raised into the air. A strange little smirk spread across Kisuke's face.
"None of you know exactly what rescuing Rukia entails, yet you all still want to go to the Soul Society anyways. I'm shocked."
That must have offended Chiki in a way. She jumped out of her seat and glared at Urahara.
"If you think any one of us would abandon Rukia after everything she has done for us, then you are sadly mistaken! I may have only known her for a month, but that doesn't change anything! People who abandon their friends are worse than trash!" she yelled. Orihime stood up next to her.
"That's right! We would never leave Rukia!" Orihime said. Kisuke still had a smirk on his face. It was bothering me. He was concocting something. I could tell.
"Very well. All of you with have to train. You are all far to weak to go to the Soul Society in your current states," Kisuke said. He was looking directly at Ichigo when he said this.
"What do you mean train?" I asked him. I had a feeling I knew what the answer was, but I wanted to hear it come out of his mouth, but it wasn't Kisuke who answered me.
"the answer to that is simple. If the six of you don't have control over your powers, you will die like dogs in the Soul Society." I looked around to see who said that. To my surprise and everyone else's, it was a cat.
Hoshiko Hikari
It had only been about a day since I had went to the World of the Living and came back. There really hasn't been much excitement. I was currently waiting for To-chan to get back from the captains' meeting. It was so boring around the division when he wasn't around to bother.
I couldn't find Rangiku anywhere either. She was probably out drinking. I grabbed the comic that I found in the 'Hoshiko DO NOT TOUCH' box and sat down on the couch to read it. The title was Ouran High School Host Club. It looked really girly, definitely something I wouldn't expect him to read. I opened it and read through the first couple chapters.
"This is freakin' hilarious!" I burst out laughing. Unfortunately for me, I didn't hear the door open behind me.
"What's hilarious, Hoshiko?" I heard a highly unamused voice ask behind me.
"Uh…w…w..well..nothing at all To-chan!" I lied, badly. I jumped up and hid the book behind my back. "Really? Then what is behind your back?"
"NOTHING!" I stuck the book in my sash and held up my hands, "See?"
"You might as well quit while you're ahead," he said. He started to walk over to his desk. I slowly began to take the book out of my sash. I turned around and was heading for the door, when I felt someone grab me from behind.
"AAAAAAAHH!"
"Give that book back right now!" my angry little captain demanded. I, however, was not about to loose this little game.
Instead of squirming to get away like he expected, I made my best shy face, leaned back into his chest, and stuck my head in the crook of his neck.
"Toshiro, you're hurting me," I whimpered while averting my gaze away from his.
"I-I-I..uh…I'm so sorry!" he stuttered. He immediately turned bright red and let go. I made a mad dash out the door. I used flash step, shunpo, to get a large lead on him since I knew it wouldn't be long before he started chasing me.
It wasn't long before he was chasing me like a bat outta hell through the Seireitei. He was getting stranger looks than me because he kept screaming something about wanting to finish the book. Knowing this, I kept taunting him. I finally skidded to a stop, and he crashed into me from behind.
The reason I stopped? I saw Captain Kurotsuchi up ahead. He scared me. A LOT.
I decided that I had tortured him enough for one day and gave him his book back. He wouldn't talk to me, or look at me for that matter, the whole way back to the Tenth Division. When we got back, I finally asked him what the meeting was about.
If it was possible, his face got even more serious.
"Rukia Kuchiki is going to be executed thirty days from now," he said very solemnly. For once in my life, I was speechless
So what did you all think? Please review!