Chapter 4

A/N: As you can see, chapter 3 was much, much longer then chapters 1 and 2, but that took a lot longer to write, so the updates may be every other day or something like that instead of everyday.

P.S: Bold Italics are flashbacks, just so you're not confused by that. :D

Chapter 4: Memories of the tattooed pineapple head

Selena's POV:

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, I headed to Saru's locker to wait for her, when Shikaku came up to me.

"Hey, Selena… Have you seen Saru….?" Shikaku asked.

"No... Not since lunch… …. I came to her locker to wait for her so we could walk home, but I don't see any sign of her, but aren't you in her 6th period…?" I replied as Orihime walked by with Ichigo.

"Well, yeah, but she left the classroom so quickly I didn't get a chance to talk to her."

"Are you guys looking for Saru…?" Orihime asked, joining in the conversation.

I raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yeeess…. Why? Have you seen her…?"

Orihime nodded. "Yeah… we saw her leaving the school about 5 minutes ago…. She's probably home by now…"

"Yeah, I doubt she actually walked home…. She probably used her power…." Ichigo interjected. Shiko came up and joined the group.

"Hey, Selena, Ichigo, Orihime, Shikaku, Sa- Wait, where's Saru?" Shiko asked scratching his head.

"She left already….." Orihime interjected. "And she seemed kind of embarrassed…." Shikaku glared at Ichigo and Shiko.

"You bastards! Look what you made me do! I didn't want to embarrass her like that. She probably hates me now." Shikaku yelled, pointing at Shiko and Ichigo.

"Oo, picking up Saru's profane language are we…?" I taunted with a light smirk on my face.

I saw Shikaku's eyebrow twitched and I started laughing.

"I really don't think she would ever hate you though….. And you're the one who told her you though she was cute." I said smiling victoriously.

"Well, I- She- You…..You guys suck." He seethed, then turning and walking away. I thought for a moment as I watched him walk down the hall way. Maybe we had been a bit harsh. We all knew they liked each other… maybe even loved each other.

The four of us that remained walked out the front entrance of the school, Shiko, Ichigo, and Orihime talking, and me, completely absorbed in my thoughts, mainly focus on one person, the person walking beside me: Shiko Inaku. My mind began to wander back to Shiko's fiery orange hair, deep blue eyes, and laid back, class clown personality… not to mention he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met… along with his brother, Shikaku…

"Hey, Selena….." Shiko was poking me on the shoulder.

"Hm?"

"You just passed your house………"

My eyes widened as I began to blush. 'Smooth Selena, real smooth…' I scolded myself. "Well, I'll catch you guys later then…" I turned around, and headed back toward the house, my thoughts still completely focused on Shiko. I made my way up the stairs to Saru and mine's room to find Saru sitting on her bed and staring off into space with her earphones in. A small smirk came upon my face as an idea popped into my head. 'Heh heh, tackle time,' I though. I quietly crept over to where Saru was sitting, then jumped toward her, knocking her over on her side and me rolling over her, causing the both of us to fall off the bed, me on top of her, one earphones in and one out. From the earphones, I could hear 'By Myself' By Linkin Park. Personally, I think most of the music she listens to is trash, but I like Linkin Park.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR SELENA?!" Saru screamed from underneath me. I just smirked.

"That's what you get for spacing out, Space Case." I said with a sly smirk.

"I was thinking, goddamn it! Am I not allowed to think?!"

"Saru, watch your language! I can hear you from downstairs!" My mom called from downstairs.

"Gomen, Kyoko." Saru called down to my mother. "But Selena knocked me off the bed when I wasn't paying attention again!"

"Selena, quit doing that"

"Fine mom." I yelled.

Saru started laughing at me, which I hit her for.

"What the hell Selena!"

"Saru…" My mother warned, now standing in our doorway.

"Ah, Gomen. My bad." Saru said with a nervous smile. I smirked inwardly. I thought it was hilarious when she got caught cursing.

"Anyway, I came up to tell you two dinner is will be ready in about an hour and a half and your father won't be coming to dinner..."

"Okay mom… Wait, dad's not going to be at dinner again? Why?" I whined. Dad wasn't at dinner very much lately. It was that stupid job of his.

"You know very well why. He's working late again." Saru chimed in.

"Well anyway, I'll call you guys down when dinner's ready." My mom said, walking out the door.

"So, Saru, how was that kiss with Shikaku at lunch…." I asked. At that point I saw Saru's face turn bright red.

"I- Uh- Um- It was all right….."

"You loved it and you know it." I said grinning.

"N-No, I didn't…. It was okay….." Saru retorted. I can't believe she thought I wouldn't notice her constant staring. He's definitely a nice guy, but I've fallen for his brother, Shiko.

"You loved it and know it, so admit it!!" I yelled.

"Damn, fine. I did okay… I loved it, I love him!" Saru said, then suddenly froze as I grinned.

"Kuso!!" She swore. "Damn you Selena." Saru crossed her arms.

I started laughing. "Ha ha, got you…"

"Well, what about you and Shiko?" Saru asked with a smug smile.

"W-what about him?" I asked eyes wide. 'Damn…. I didn't think it was so obvious…."

"You like him, don't you? You stare at him sometimes, and you smile a lot when you're around him." Saru said smirking.

"W-well what about you? I bet most of your thoughts involve Shikaku. You blush when he talks to you or even smiles at you for that matter. You're shy around him… You can barely talk to him in complete sentences." I retorted with a sly smirk.

Saru was silent and I smiled triumphantly. 'Hah, got her this time.' Everyone in our little group knew that had feelings for each other, that is, except the both of them, of course. I think Shikaku would catch on to her liking him pretty quickly, but Saru wouldn't catch on for quite a while.

"Selena, Saru, dinner!" I heard my mom yell from the kitchen.

"Coming." We replied in unison.

Saru's POV:

After a terribly long dinner with Selena shooting me smug looks from across the table and her mom giving us weird looks when I'd shoot glares back to her, Selena and I headed back up to our room to do any homework we had, which was only math. I thought that was cruel for it being the first day of school.

"Man, I really hate that new math teacher." I said out loud, not really talking to anyone in general.

"Yeah, I would if I were you, too. That was pretty harsh pointing that out to the whole class like that." Selena agreed.

"I could sense something kind of dark about her, though… Like she knows what I am and doesn't like me for it…" I said sighing softly, fingering the locket around my neck.

I looked to see Selena's eyes widen slightly. "She couldn't possibly know that… "

"Actually it is….. Remember how I found out who I truly was…." I said as my voice trailed off.

As I walked home from an after school detention with my earphones in, I felt a strange presence coming up behind me. I quickly turned around, pausing the iPod and immediately getting into a defensive stance, only to find no one walking behind me. I shrugged, and resumed my regular walking pace, humming softly to the music as I walked along. As I neared home, I felt the same ominous presence behind me, and decided to lure it into the woods, in case it was required to fight. As I took of running for the direction, I was stopped by a Soul Reaper with crimson red hair that was tied up into a high, messy ponytail, and tribal tattoos all over his face and neck.

"Where do you think you're going, demon?" The red headed shinigami snarled.

"Who are you calling demon, pineapple?" I shot back, crossing my arms. No one calls me demon and gets away with it unscathed. "And I'm no demon."

"Shut up, demon. I don't take any lip from a little girl like you."

"I'm not a goddamn demon and I'm not little. I'm 14, for your information."

"Yeah, a little girl." A low growl escaped my lips as I felt my eyes begin to turn red.

"What do you want, Soul Reaper? You're wasting my time. My guardian is going to kill me if I'm late for dinner." I seethed, closing my eyes, attempting to calm down.

"Well, I'm here to take care of a hollow problem, but I suppose I could take care of a demon as well." He growled as he unsheathed his zanpakto. My eyes widened as the blade caught a glint of the sunlight.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about! I'm not a demon!"

"Don't play dumb with me! I know what you are." The red haired shinigami spat.
"You're Soul ribbon is black. You're a demon and you know it."

"What the hell is a soul ribbon, and I'm not a damn demon. I'm a human who can see spirit beings."

In a flash, the Shinigami had the tip of his zanpakto at my neck.

"I suppose I should double check that you are a demon before killing you. I would be in deep shit with my Captain if I killed a human for no reason." The Shinigami said smugly, while momentarily closing his eyes. At that moment, any of my life that I could remember flashed before my eyes. Tears welled in my eyes as I though about Selena and Shikaku. 'I'm so sorry Selena… I'm sorry I won't be around long enough to go high school together … go to prom, to get into trouble like we had so elaborately planned…'A single tear slid down my right cheek . ' And Shikaku…I'm sorry I never got to tell you I Lo-'

"WHAT?! T-that can't b-be right……" The shinigami stammered, gawking at me. "That hasn't happened for centuries… and black and white spirit ribbon can only

mean one thing, but it can't be possible.." He muttered to himself while still gawking at me.

"What are you gawking at, you tattooed freak?!"I asked angrily.

"Y-you're a half blood….. "

End Flashback

"Yo, Saru…. Earth to Saru……." Selena said waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh, yeah… What were we talking about?" I asked, somewhat dazed.

"You were remembering, weren't you?" Selena asked. I heard traces of actual concern in her voice.

"Yeah, and I saw the same pineapple-headed Soul Reaper take a hollow out during 1st period."

"Saru, that happened about 6 months ago… You think he'll try something else..?"

I shook my head. "Nah…. I don't think so…." I glanced at the clock to see it was already 10:30. "Oh wow, it's 10:30…"

"Oh crap, it is…. We should probably go to bed……"

"Good idea, Selena…" I climbed into bed, "Night Selena.."

"Night Saru……"

Not long after we said out goodnights, I fell into a deep sleep, Shikaku being the last thin on my mind.