Hey there! Just so you know, I looked at chapter 3 after I posted it to see that, for some reason, a whole section had been italicized. I don't know what that was about, but I didn't do it. The only thing I italized was the note to self part. I don't know why the rest was italicized. Oh, and another thing, I switched from using the term 'spiritual pressure' to 'reiastu' because it is shorter and I like the term better.
Ok, now that that's over with, it's time for chapter 4!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way. I do, however, own my OC, whose name is currently unknown.
Chapter 4
Everyone in the room tenses up. There is no mistaking the face on the sketchbook page.
It is definitely Aizen. There is just one question that everyone has...
"How the hell do you know what he looks like? I thought you didn't know who he is?" asks Ichigo.
He is very confused. How the hell does a person know the appearance of someone they never met?
"I don't."
This throws everyone off. She actually doesn't know him?
Shinji doesn't know what to make of this. She doesn't know who he is, yet knows what he looks like. There better be an explanation for that.
"Then how..." She holds up her finger, motioning for Ichigo to stop.
Ichigo complies yet again.
She takes a breath, and then she speaks.
"Let me explain. About a month ago, I was just walking home minding my own business when this guy" she motions to the sketch "suddenly showed up. I knew right off the bat that he wasn't human, but he wasn't a hollow so I didn't know what to make of him at first. He came up to me and offered me a deal. He said that he could provide me training so that I could better control my powers."
This catches Ichigo's attention.
"What powers is he talking about?"
She looks at Ichigo, then sighs.
"For as long as I can remember, I have been able to see spirits. I am even able to speak with them. I would sometimes try to comfort some of them until they pass on. I was also able to see the shinigami that helped them passed on. Although I had never let on that I was able to see them, so I doubt that they notice my awareness of them. Later, I started seeing hollows."
"Wait. How do you know about shinigami and hollows?" It's Shinji who asks this time. He is curious as to how a human, who has no affiliation with the Soul Society whatsoever, knows so much about shinigami.
The girl turns her attention to him and looks him in the eye. She seems unsure if she should continue, but she does anyway.
"I sometimes listened to the conversations the shinigami have. They never noticed that I was able to hear them, so I managed to hear quite a bit about hollows just by pretending to be like the other humans around them."
She takes a breath before continuing.
"After seeing how the hollows behaved around certain spirits and listening in more on the shinigami, I realized that the hollows crave those with high reiastu. I knew mine was pretty high as it was, but I didn't think much of it until hollows started tracking me. I managed to outrun them long enough for the shinigami to take care of them, but I knew I couldn't always count on their help. So, with a bit of practice, I manage to start hiding my reiastu. Since I was able to hide from the hollows, I just continued my life as usual. Until about a month ago..."
She stops speaking as her eyes look out into space, as though seeing something the others can't see.
She still remembers that day clearly. She had been on her way home when a man wearing white clothing suddenly appeared in front of her.
She is walking down the street to her apartment. She is looking down at the ground in deep thought. She wants to help the souls that she sees get eaten by the hollows, but…
"I can help you."
She jumps. She looks up to see a man in white clothing. He has soft, brown hair and kind, gentle eyes. He is wearing a warm smile.
She automatically feels better in his presence. But what does he mean by help?
"I have seen you before. You have potential if you are able to use your powers."
She tenses up. How does he know that about her? The shock is followed by helplessness. Use her powers? How can she when…
"I see. You are afraid of your powers. You don't want to hurt anyone because of your lack of control."
She looks at him with wide eyes. He is able to read her that easily? Who is he? She then looks down at the ground. He is right. She is afraid. She can't do anything without hurting others. She wishes that she is able to help them, though…
The man holds out his hand to her.
"Come with me. I can teach you how to use your powers."
She snaps her head back up, unable to believe what she is hearing. Teach her how to use her powers? Can he? This is too good to be true. There has to be a catch to this, right?
As though sensing her thoughts, he speaks up again.
"You don't have to worry about having to pay me back for any of the lessons, but there is something that I need you to do. That only you can do."
She can't believe this is actually happening.
She snaps out of her reverie as she remembers the nine people that are waiting for her to answer.
"This guy showed up and offered me a deal, as I had said. He said he would provide me training if I did a job for him after the training."
Shinji wonders what this job is, but he doubts that Aizen would have told her without her accepting the terms first. From the look on her face, Shinji thinks that she is only telling him the gist of what happened.
But, he decides not to press that matter and decides to go ahead and ask her about the job anyway.
"Did he tell you what the job is?"
She looks to Shinji. She has no idea why she has said as much as she did. She didn't want to tell them anything at all because she doesn't know if they work for him or if they are people who have nothing to do with the issue at all.
But, something about the blond guy makes her change her mind and tell everything. She knows that she never met him before, but something about him makes her think that she can trust him.
She just hopes that she isn't wrong about that.
"No, he didn't say anything else about the job, just that he said that I would be protected from the hollows if I accepted. I said no to the deal."
"Why did you say no?" asks Shinji.
He's glad that she refused Aizen, but he is curious as to why because Aizen managed to trick everyone so far and can come across as a nice and kind man if the illusion calls for it. Hell, he had the Gotei 13 under his control at one point, so why did she say no? Did Aizen actually slip up somewhere?
She looks down at her lap, where she sees the drawing staring up at her. She thinks back to that moment when she felt something wrong.
She can't believe her ears. All she has to do is one little thing and she can have control over her powers. She wouldn't have to worry about hurting others…
That is when she felt it. Something is amiss. Something about that guy isn't right.
Yes, he looks kind and gentle and seems genuine about this deal, in fact, that is the very aura that he is giving off.
But still, something is leaking through that. Something sinister. She doesn't want that to be true, but she can't ignore the feeling that there is something wrong with this picture.
It's too strong for her to ignore it. Her instincts haven't failed her so far, so why not trust them now?
She doesn't want to do this. This is something that she has been looking for. But she must. She can feel it.
"Sorry, I'll have to decline."
Surprise is apparent on his face, but she caught the flicker of annoyance in his eyes when he heard it.
"Why? Don't you want control?"
"Yes, but I feel that this is something I need to do myself. Thanks for the offer though."
She still catches the flicker of annoyance and…anger? They flash through his eyes before saying, "I see. Sorry to have bothered you then."
"That's ok. Good-bye."
She walks away and senses him going in the opposite direction. She feels relieved, despite the opportunity she just gave up. She didn't realize that he was releasing such an oppressive amount of reiastu on her.
Her head is still in the past when she feels someone grab her hand.
She looks up to see the orange-haired shinigami. He wants her to continue. She closes her eyes and sighs. She decides to comply.
"I don't really know. Something seemed...off about the guy. It was as though something in my mind told me that he couldn't be trusted. I said no acting upon instinct. As it turned out, my instincts seemed to have been right."
The last statement catches Ichigo's attention.
"Why do you say that?" asks Ichigo.
"Because the next day, my town was overflowing with hollows. And they were all looking for me."
"How did you know that?"
"Because they overlooked the souls they normally go after and started chasing me the moment they saw me."
Her hands tighten into fists around the drawing as she thinks back.
"I was forced to run out of town. I managed to outrun the hollows and had since then learn to hide my reiastu completely. I had been on the run since. I am not a fool. I know that guy was the one who sent them. I just don't know what he wants with me."
Silence follows. Everyone is wondering what to do with her. Since Aizen plans to use her, they can't just let her go off on her own.
Shinji knows that the human shouldn't be any of the vizards' business, but he can't let Aizen's plans go the way he wants them to. Plus, there is something bugging him about the girl. He wants to find out what it is.
"What's your name?" asks Ichigo.
The question snaps everyone out of their train of thought as they realize they didn't ask her that question before.
She looks up as she snaps out of her reverie. She looks at Ichigo as though regarding him before saying, "My name is Shizuko."
"Well Shizuko, seeing that Aizen is after you, we can't just let you go off on your own. You were nearly caught this time, so it's best that you stay here where we can protect you."
This takes Shizuko by surprise. They actually want to protect her, a complete stranger?
She knows he has a point about her nearly being caught, but she doesn't know if she really can trust them, though.
When the hollow attacked her, she knew that there were others behind the barrier surrounding the warehouse and that they didn't move to help her.
She thinks that she can trust the shinigami, but she doesn't know about the others.
They seem to know quite a bit about Aizen, and they seem able to help her.
But, she still remembers the façade that Aizen had put up to use on her to get her to trust him.
She looks over at Shinji. Something about him seems familiar, but she knows that is absurd. She never met him before.
But, she isn't sensing the same thing she sensed from Aizen. He actually seems trustworthy. He may actually help her.
No, no, no. She mustn't involve others in this. Aizen wants something from her, and she is pretty sure he won't hesitate to kill anyone that gets in the way.
She doesn't want to get them killed because of her.
"Thanks for the offer, but I can't stay here. I need to get going."
She starts to get up from the couch, wincing in pain as she remembers that she is injured.
"What are you talking about? You were nearly caught!" says Ichigo.
"I know. But that was the first time in weeks that they had found me. I need to leave now to make my trail cold before Aizen sends more out after me."
"You do realize that we can't help you if you decide to leave town on us, right?" says Shinji.
"I know. I can take care of myself just fine."
Shizuko starts limping towards the door. Nobody is convinced that she will be fine if she leaves in her condition. Ichigo knows that he needs to stop her.
Shinji is considering just knocking her out to keep her from leaving when Ichigo suddenly speaks up.
"I know a guy who would be able to watch you. His name is Urahara."
Shizuko stops in her tracks. She turns to look at Ichigo.
Now that he has her attention, he continues to speak.
"If you don't want to impose on these guys, then you don't have to, but you need someone to watch you. Urahara will be able to put you up and protect you from the arrancars. You have my word on that."
She stares at Ichigo. She never ran into someone so intent on helping her. This is a bit foreign to her. However, she can't help but feel a bit…happy? It has been so long since she felt happy.
She knows that look in his eyes, too. He isn't going to give up on the argument.
She has to admit that she'll be in trouble if she runs into another arrancar soon, given her injuries.
She decides to trust the shinigami.
"Fine, I'll stay there until this whole thing blows over."
Ichigo breathes a sigh of relief, seeing as she isn't going to argue about this anymore.
"Good, because you are going to need our help if Aizen is after you."
Shizuko just simply nods and starts heading for the door again when someone grabs her arm. She looks over to see Ichigo putting her arm over his shoulders.
He intends to help her over there.
It takes her a minute for her to realize that she never asked him for his name.
"What's your name?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Well then, thanks Ichigo."
"No problem."
The two go on their way towards the shop leaving the vizards behind.
Shinji still wants to know what it is about her that's bugging him, but since she is going to be at Urahara's, he can stop by anytime to figure it out.
"What the hell would Aizen want with a human?" asks Hiyori.
"It probably has to do with her reiastu. Didn't you feel it when she attacked the hollows? She has to be as powerful as Ichigo at least," says Lisa.
Shinji agrees with Lisa. She has such a huge amount of reiastu. It would be bad if Aizen gets his hands on her.
Shinji suddenly senses something outside. He heads outside, ignoring the questions from the others.
Once outside, he looks around to see nothing. Then, he looks up just in time to see two figures suddenly disappear from his sight.
"Tch."
If they are who he thinks they are, Ichigo and Shizuko are in for a rough time if they don't make it to Urahara's in time.