Psychic Chick
Part One: Becoming a Shinigami
Chapter Four: Snooping For Secrets
Main POV
While on the floor in my room, I faintly heard a gasp from behind me. Rushed footsteps made their way over to me and Rangiku dropped down at my side. She held me gently in my arms as I sobbed into her lap. And I was getting on at Renji for being dramatic.
"Tina-chan, what's wrong?" She asked, stroking my hair.
I shook my head and choked on my tears. My heart was racing and I could barely breath. I could feel something trickling down from my nose. It smelled like rust. I was bleeding. I was sobbing too hard. I barely knew him, this wasn't about losing my other half, this was about a dumb kid dying. Renji couldn't die. He couldn't. I sat up a little and stared out the hotel room window. Through blurred vision I saw a red and black blur swing at the monster with some ridiculous extendo sword.
'He had to rush off so quickly but he had time for a wardrobe change?!' I cried out in my head.
My anger flared. He was going to get himself killed and I was going to suffer. I heard a clatter next door and the door slammed open. Seems like Hitsugaya could also see the thing and was being smart and making a run for it. Unless he was just as stupid as Renji.
'Maybe this was what the stupid cosplay was for...' I thought.
Our door which Rangiku has haphazardly left open suddenly hosted a now in casual clothes Hitsugaya.
"Rangiku what was that flare of..." He paused. "What happened here?" He looked at me confused and almost concerned.
"I don't know Toshiro-kun, I found her like this on the floor," Rangku replied.
'So that's what Hitsugaya's first name was.'
He rushed over as she was talking.
"It's Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, how many times must I tell you?" He knelt beside me.
"Really? You're focusing on that now?" Rangiku asked, I wanted to laugh. I felt really weak now, I wondered if it was all the stress and crying.
"Shut up Matsumoto," Hitsugaya replied. He placed his hands gently on the sides of my face. Even through my blurred vision I could see he was worried. "She's bleeding. It it your head, Tina?"
I couldn't tell about that thing outside, even though Renji was facing it. They'd never believe me. I started to shake, my head was suddenly burning and I could hear screaming. Whether it was the monster outside or me, I'd never know for sure. I could feel a burst of energy shooting out from me and everything was glowing white.
"Tina!" I heard someone screaming my name but I couldn't work out who it was. Not right now. I was too exhausted. The white energy and the burning died down and I just felt so heavy. Exhausted. I felt really weightless now though, heavy but at the same time weightless. I could feel someone's arms around me and I knew I was being carried. Opening my eyes I looked up to see Hitsugaya's face, concern written all over his features.
"How are you carrying me?" I croaked. "Your arms are twigs."
"I'm stronger than I look," he replied softly, a faint smile on his face. I nodded.
"I believe you." I closed my eyes again, the light painful to look at. "What happened?" I asked, slowly drifting into a sleep.
"Rest now, worry about that later. You're safe," he replied. I nodded, resting did seem like a good idea. I didn't have the energy to protest anyway. "Is Renji?"
"He's fine," he replied and I didn't hear anything else.
"What happened?" Ikkaku asked gruffly, sounding contemplative as he slouched in the chair closest to Rangiku and I's beds.
"It would seem Abarai's suspicious were correct," Hitsugaya replied, hand on his chin as he rubbed it thoughtfully.
"You mean that this is our fault? Like it's us making her sick?" Ikkaku replied walking over.
"Well it's not unheard of. It doesn't happen often but we know it can and does." Hitsugaya perched away from me at the end of my bed. I wonder if any of them knew I was awake. I wondered if I should tell them. I was curious though, so maybe I'd listen for a little longer.
"And look at what happened to Kurosaki Ichigo's friends, and that with just one of him," Yumichika added.
"Mind you he does have the strength of ten," Rangiku commented.
"I wouldn't go that far, Matsumoto. Maybe like five," Ikkaku argued.
"Kurosaki Ichigo's strength aside, it could very well be us causing this to happen," Hitsugaya brought the conversation back to order, running a hand through his spikey, white hair.
"But how, this never happened to Inoue-chan or Sado-kun?" Matsumoto asked, falling back onto her bed.
"I have been wondering about this myself. I could just be down to the individual though. Everyone's body reacts differently," Hitsugaya admitted. "I thought originally she had no spiritual energy at all but this morning she saw me. I'm not sure if she's always been able to or if that's our fault. If it's our fault then it could go away when we find the energy we're looking for but if not, then maybe she already had some spiritual energy that no one knew about."
"Which is all the more reason to find this person, the sooner we get out of here, the safer Tina will be," Yumichika bowed his head, dropping his hands from his sides.
"That's gonna cut Renji up," Ikkaku commented. "He's really fallen for Tina."
"I know, poor Renji-kun. He fell so quickly," Rangiku agreed, holding her cheeks.
"That is exactly why we have to remain objective on missions like this. You cannot get close to humans," Hitsugaya responded coldly.
'Humans?' I thought.
"Captain, how could you be so cold?" Rangiku replied. "Is this about Karin-san?"
"No, Rangiku, stop bringing her up."
Oh it was so about Karin-san. This was probably the point I should stop pretending to be asleep though, it was unfair of me to keep listening if this was getting really personal. I rolled over a bit and groaned.
"Tina-chan!" Rangiku called, getting up from her bed and coming over to mine. It seemed Hitsugaya had gone to the trouble of tucking me in when he carried me over here earlier, which was sweet.
"Party at our place, huh?" I commented, looking around at everyone.
"How are you feeling now?" Hitsugaya asked, softer than he had previously been speaking.
"Heavy, but okay. A bit sluggish. Where's Renji?" I asked, noting he was the only one absent.
"He's outside, sulking," Yumichika supplied.
"He thinks this is his fault," I sighed, holding my head in my hand. I moved my hand to my nose, trying to whip away the dried in blood.
"What do you mean Kurodo?" Hitsugaya, moved closer to me, handing me a wet wash cloth. I wondered why my head felt sticky. I was wet.
Don't think I didn't notice the name shift. He still sounded concerned but that concern was no longer for me.
"We were talking early this afternoon, he was asking what we were. He seemed really worried. He said that this was his fault, I wanted to ask him what he meant, but then.." I trailed off, I couldn't tell them about what we saw. Even if maybe they already knew. They didn't know I knew and I didn't know what they would do if they did.
"Then what?" Hitsugaya prodded.
"Nothing," I sighed, looking into my lap.
"Tina!" He yelled. I shook my head, I wasn't going to say anything. I pushed myself out from under the blankets and walked out of the room. I didn't want to deal with this, I was just supposed to be babysitting transfer students for the week.
Halfway down the hallway, by the ice machine, I found Renji slumped against the wall. He was deep in thought and hadn't noticed me coming towards him. I slid down the wall and sat beside him, hooking my arm around his own. I cuddled into him and rested my head on his shoulder, attempting to both give and receive comfort. He shifted the arm I'd claimed as my own and wrapped it around me. I leaned on his chest, rather than his shoulder. He placed a kiss on the back of my exposed shoulder, taking his other hard and resting it on my knee.
"This isn't your fault, Renji," I breathed.
"You can't know that Tina. I care for you but every moment we spend together is a risk," he replied, looking down at his lap.
"These headaches, my weak spells are not your fault. This I know as a fact," I yelled. "Renji, I know there are things you haven't told me, things you can't tell me. But there are also things I have not told you." I sighed, was now the time to come clean? I'd never told this to anyone.
"What could you possibly..." Renji started, sounding annoyed.
"Shut up!" I yelled. "I've never told anyone before, this is hard for me," I said a little quieter.
"What?" He replied, looking at me perplexed.
"Yeah Tina-chan, what?" Rangiku commented, hear head sticking out from the other side of the ice machine.
"MATSUMOTO!" I screamed angrily. "WHY YOU!" I leapt up and chased her around the 6th floor corridor for as long as I could before I felt tired. At this point Ikkaku, Yumichika and Hitsugaya had come out to see what all the commotion was about.
"Matsumoto what have you done now?" Hitsugaya asked, leaning against the doorframe to our room with his arms folded.
"I didn't do anything!" She shrieked, running from me.
"She was spying on me again!" I panted, leaning on my knees, reaching out for the wall to support myself. Ikkaku, who was the closest let me lean on him to stay upright.
"She was about to tell Renji a secret!" Rangiku explained. "A secret she's never told anyone before."
"For good reason," I spat. "You just can't trust people." I walked back into our shared room and slammed the door shut behind me. I was tired anyway. For the second night in a row, I found myself angrily changing into some pyjamas and stomping my way to bed.
I sat up covered in sweat. It was dark outside and all the lights were off. I glanced to the side of me and I could see Rangiku's figure asleep in her bed. My head didn't feel as bad as it did and I had a lot more energy, unfortunately adrenalin was now pumping through my veins and I was disorientated. I knew this was a dream, it had to be. I slowed my breathing down, I was to stressed out right now. As soon as I calmed down I'd be fine. My visions happened when I was awake, not when I was asleep. This want precognition. I pushed the sheets down and climbed out of bed. It was silly to be so clingy towards someone I'd known for only two days now, but I felt safe with him.
I padded across the carpet, slowly and carefully. I'm not sure what I was worried about, the dream wasn't real but I was still uneasy. It was probably because I was the only one awake right now. I was alone in the dark, that makes everything scarier when you've already started to worry. It was nothing, it was stupid to be worried, yet I was still standing outside Renji and Hitsugaya's room door, knocking softly.
A tried Hitsugaya opened the door, rubbing his eyes. I gave him a soft, half hearted smile and he moved out of the way to let me pass. He was either too tired to care why I was here or he could see that I was really bothered by something. I walked past the lamp that had been turned on and climbed into bed beside Renji who was stirring softly. Hitsugaya closed the door gently and climbed back inside his own bed.
Renji looked at me confused. He looked around in the darkness and sat up a little. He scooted closer to me, wrapping a supportive arm around me and placed a kiss on my cheek.
"What's wrong? It's the middle on the night.." He started stroking my hair.
"I woke up from this dream, it was awful. I'm not sure exactly what was going on..." I shook my head. "I know it was just a dream, but it really got to me."
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. I shook my head again in response.
"No. I just needed to see a friendly face, to remind me it wasn't real," I replied.
I laid down cuddling into him and Hitsugaya, who I'd forgotten about until this moment, turned off the lamp. Renji held me close, tucking me under the covers and I rested my head on his chest. The dreams of war and mass murderers behind me, I fell into a much more peaceful sleep. Renji. There was no way I could let him go, he meant too much to me. I'd only ever dated one other guy my parents approved of and he was a self centered jerk. Renji was always trying to put me first, even though it was sometimes frustrating.
"Hitsugaya-san!"
Rangiku was banging on the door, making me jerk awake. Some Sunday morning wakeup call this was. Renji sat up rubbing his head, confused and annoyed. I could hear Hitsugaya grumbling from the next bed over, stumbling out of the blankets and muttering something about the women in his life always interrupting his sleep. Seems all three of us were pissed.
"WHat do YOu WAnT MATSUMOTO!?" Hitsugaya yelled, yanking the door open.
"I can't find Tina-chan, she's not in our room anymore." Rangiku pouted, putting her hand up to her face and chewing on her finger.
"She's here, Matsumoto. Now go away," he replied closing the door in her face.
"Captain!" She wailed, Hitsugaya ignoring her and climbing back into bed.
"It's like you all want me to stay short forever," he growled, throwing the covers over his head.
"What?" I asked Renji quietly, holding in a laugh.
"He's under the impression if he rests enough he'll grow taller," Renji explained, draping an arm over me and squishing his face into his pillow. I chuckled and snuggled into him, going back to sleep.
