(A/N: Here's chapter four of 'Dark Passions'. Kira fights her first Hollow. Enjoy! Not beta'd yet…)
Hollows
Ichigo watched as Kira left the room, leaving an angry Tatsuki and dejected Orihime in her wake. Even he was a little ticked off by the girl's attitude.
"That girl is one cold chick!" Keigo exclaimed, fearfully. "Only the first day and she's already picked a fight with Tatsuki!"
The hysterical brown haired boy gripped onto Ichigo's shirt shaking up relentlessly.
"I mean, she's seemed really pretty with gorgeous boobs, not at the level of Orihime's though, but did you see that, Ichigo?! She's freaking scary!"
The orangette growled as he shoved his friend's face away. "Shut up, Keigo!" He grabbed his lunch and headed up towards the roof.
When he made it to the rooftop, Ichigo paused. His eyes searched the area.
"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Mizuiro asked, curiously.
"Oh, it's nothing." The orange haired boy replied, as he took his seat on the ground. He could've sworn he saw someone… Must've been his imagination.
After that little skirmish earlier, Kira took to the roof to enjoy her lunch in peace. Lunchtime would probably be the only thing she'll look forward to while being at this stupid school.
When she made it to the roof, she couldn't believe the view. She could see people going on with their lives out in the distance. Moms riding their toddlers in strollers as they shop for groceries, cars racing through the streets, and young couples going on dates.
Kira opened the two bento she brought for lunch because one wasn't going to cut it. One was filled with rice and steamed carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower , and the other has fried fish, chicken karaage, fried noodles, and curry bread.
Her mouth began to water when the scent started to waft through her nose. Oh god, she was starving! As soon she was about to take bite of her karaage, she heard the door to the roof swing open.
Oh, great… Just when she thought she'd be able to enjoy some peace and quiet.
The dark haired girl grabbed her bento boxes, and with a stretched of her muscle, she leaped towards the nearest tree. She settled herself on a sturdy branch, making sure the leaves would keep her hidden from view.
Once settled, she turned to see who was occupying the roof now. It was that orange haired guy and his friends. When they took their spot on the roof, the browned haired boy started talking. She wasn't that far away from her previous spot, and with her advanced hearing, she could easily hear their conversation. They were talking about her and the little incident that happened awhile ago.
Kira sighed in annoyance. She really needed some sake to deal with this stress. Ah, whatever… She'll just enjoy her meal.
Ichigo sat, eating his lunch, while listening in mild irritation at Keigo's ramblings about what happened between Kira and Tatsuki. Can't the guy shut up for once. It wasn't that big a deal.
If he was honest with himself though, the orangette was a little pissed off at the new girl for hurting Orihime's feelings. So he could understand why Tatsuki got aggressive towards Kira.
He tried to get a feel of the girl's spiritual pressure, the same strong presence he sensed that night is completely gone. He often wondered at first if it was the same girl. But there's no doubt about it though, it was the same dark haired girl from that fateful night. Although, why can't he sense her spiritual pressure? She must be really good at concealing it.
"Gah!" Ichigo let out startled yelp when the alarm of his Combat Pass set off, shocking him out of his thoughts.
"Is something wrong, Ichigo?" Mizuiro asked, curiously staring at his friend.
Glancing away from the badge to his friend, the orange haired substitue Soul Reaper tried to act as natural as possible. "It's nothing for you to worry about, Mizuiro," Ichigo replied. He stood, leaving his food aside. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom."
"Then I'll go too!" Keigo enthusiastically volunteered.
"No, I can go by myself, Keigo!" Ichigo said, annoyed.
"Ah! But why?" the brown haired boy whined.
The orangette simply ignored him and took off to deal with the new Hollow threat, not before signaling to Chad, who nodded in return.
Kira perked up when she sensed malicious spiritual energy approaching. She packed up her finished lunch and stood up from her spot, getting ready to confront it.
"It must be a Hollow," she muttered to herself.
In all honesty, she has never seen a Hollow. Urahara told her before that was nearly attacked by one, although she was unconscious at the time and was saved by a Soul Reaper named Ichigo Kurosaki.
And any other times she felt the dark presence of these Hollow beings, Urahara always stopped her from going because her injuries still needed time to tell. As much as she wanted to protest, she also knew he was right. With an injured ankle, she couldn't really do much, if Hollows are really as dangerous as he describes them.
Now that she was all healed, Kira was ready for some action!
Just as she was about to leap out of the treetop, when her blue eyes caught the sight of a familiar orange head running towards the direction of the Hollow. Isn't that one of her classmates? However, instead of his usual school uniform, he was wearing a black shihakusho, must be the standard uniform for Soul Reapers. There was also a giant cleaver-like sword wrapped in bandages strapped to his back.
Kira decided to follow him. Besides, she could kill two birds with one stone. She could witness first hand what Hollows and Soul Reapers are all about. She kept her distance as she tailed the orangette.
It turns out the direction of the Hollow lead to a local park. A giant, black lizard with six legs, a long arrow-like tail, and the most distinguishable feature was the hole in its lower belly and the white mask it sprouted. She remembered Urahara telling her once that a white mask and the hole in its body instantly identifies a Hollow.
The orangette roared as he charged at the Hollow. With his sword raised high, he got ready to attack, only for the Hollow swing its tail, knocking him aside.
"Tch, what an amatuer," Kira thought, as she watched this embarrassing spectacle.
The Soul Reaper blocked incoming swipe with his sword. "Damn Hollow," he growled out. He swung his zanpakuto, cutting off the Hollow's leg.
The Hollow screamed in agony, and retaliated by trying penetrate the Soul Reaper with its tail.
As the dark haired girl watched, she couldn't help but to think that fighting these Hollow demons or whatever wasn't as hard as she'd thought it'll be. If an amautuer like that can fight them, then it should be a piece of cake for her. They seemed no stronger than the danger beasts she used fight back in her younger days.
Just then, she sensed the presence of a few more Hollows. Itching to get a little action herself, the dark haired girl decided to chase after the new Hollow.
The Hollow wasn't that far from the first one. Kira found herself beside a river. If there wasn't a threat of one of those demons approaching, she wouldn't have just sat here and enjoyed the view. The river was clean and was flowing gently down stream overlooking the town in the horizon.
The dark haired girl tilted her head to the left, apparently dodging a strike intended to lop off her head. The next second, a giant, severed arm laid on the ground.
"You know, just because someone's back is turned, doesn't mean their guard is down," she spoke calmly, turning around to face the Hollow, Extase held at her side.
The creature was giant boar standing on its hind legs. The white mask was a definite factor that what she was dealing with a Hollow. Its right arm was missing though.
"You damn witch," the Hollow growled out, viciously. "I'll kill you!"
It tried to grab at her with its remaining arm, but she easily blocked it with her giant scissors.
Kira tilted her head. "I didn't know you demons could talk. I guess, you're not mindlessly monsters, after all."
"Shut up! Just who the hell are you? And what is that? A zanpakuto?" the demon asked, demandingly.
A black eyebrow raised in confusion. "A zanpakuto? I don't know what that is."
"If that's not a zanpakuto, then what is it?!" the Hollow yelled, furiously.
"This giant pair of scissors I'm wielding is called 'The Cutter of all Creations: Extase'. It's one of the few Imperial Arms left in my world," she answered. Not a second later, Kira sliced off the Hollow's head before it could blink.
Unsatisfied, she watched the Hollow disintegrate into nothing. "Hmph, that wasn't even a workout."
The sound of clapping reached her ears. "It's about time you showed up, Urahara."
"Oh? So you knew I was here, did you?" the shopkeeper asked, coming out from his hiding spot from under the bridge. "How long have known I've been watching you?"
"Since I've gotten here," Kira answered, turning around to face the exiled Soul Reaper. "Don't you know it's rude to spy on a girl?"
"Hey now, Kira, I was just doing some errands when I happened to come across you," Urahara replied, feigning hurt.
The dark haired girl scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right… You really just came to see how I'll handle a Hollow."
The shopkeeper simply grinned, knowingly.
"To be perfectly frank, I didn't even break a sweat." After the sheathed Extase shrunk in size, she pocketed it in her skirt. "In fact, if this is the strength of a Hollow, I could fight a hundred of them without feeling tired."
"Oh, overconfident, are we?"
"It's not overconfidence. I'm merely stating a fact," Kira said, simply.
A familiar spiritual pressure was approaching them. It was that orange haired Soul Reaper from earlier.
"Well, I've gotta go." The darked haired girl turned on her heel. Concentrating chakra into the soles of her feet, she disappeared into the distance.
Urahara simply smirked as he watched her retreating form.
When Kira returned to school, she figured lunch was over, so she headed back to class.
"You're late, Kira," Ms. Ochi reprimanded her as soon as she entered the room.
"Sorry, I got lost," Kira replied.
The teacher stared at her hard, waiting for a following up response. When she received none, she sighed. "Just take your seat."
The dark haired girl nodded and walked towards her desk.
"And next time you feel lost, Kira, don't be afraid to ask one of classmates for directions," Ms Ochi said, sweetly.
"I'll consider that, Ms. Ochi," the girl replied as she took her seat.
She glanced at the empty seat diagonally across from her. That orange haired Soul Reaper's seat. She watched his fight. He didn't really seem all that impressive. She wondered if all Soul Reapers were like that. She also wondered what if he was this 'Ichigo Kurosaki' guy she was looking for.
Just as she was lost in her thoughts, the orange haired boy entered the classroom.
Speak of the devil…
"You're late, Ichigo!" Ms. Ochi announced, angrily glaring at the back.
The orangette scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry…"
The teacher just sighed, tiredly. "Just take your seat," she said, as she returned to writing the assignment on the chalkboard.
When the teacher said the orange boy's name, Kira perked up. That's Ichigo? That's Ichigo Kurosaki?
Her face scrunched up in irritation. Oh, great…! This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
She let out of breath of annoyance, as she turned her head to stare out the window.
(A/N: That's it! The end of chapter four! I hoped you enjoyed it! This originally was going to be just more school life stuff, but then decided to have Kira have her first encounter with a Hollow. I know it wasn't much of a fight, but Hollows aren't really much of a threat at this point. Well, not to people with spiritual powers. Arrancars are the real threats. Kira also finds out the identity of the guy who she owes her life to, and she's not very pleased. I wonder how this would unfold? Anyway, leave any comments, suggestions, and questions you have in a review, and thanks for reading!)
