~This is my favorite chapter so far…it's pretty good, I think~
~feel free to review if you're interested :) ~
CHAPTER FOUR-
Containing:
Reinforcements
A decision by Gin
Some Ice cream
Yachiru . . . And Root Beer Floats
And a Bit of Sneaking from the Soul Society
The backup team of Shinigami was assembled at the court where the senkaimon to the World of the Living was to be opened. As soon as General Yamamoto got the news from Captain Hitsuguya about Grimmjow and Gin Ichimaru, he ordered a squad to serve as reinforcements, in case Aizen had anything planned. Kira Izuru and several members of divisions three, two, and eleven, along with Captain Kenpachi Zaraki and his lieutenant Yachiru (firmly attached to his shoulder, as usual), prepared to travel to the human world.
Yachiru smiled, looking at her captain, who had a fierce grin on his face. They were going to see Ichigo, the man Kenpachi fought. A re-match, according to Kenpachi, was inevitable.
Ken-chan's gonna have fun, Yachiru thought gleefully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~And In Hueco Mundo…~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…Grimmjow was in trouble. Again.
This time for going to the World of the living without consent. He looked nonchalant, his hands in his jacket's pockets, getting sort-of-yelled-at by Tosen while Aizen looked on, slightly amused.
Gin was nowhere to be found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~…Which was because…~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was in the Human World again. Observing 'Miss Lightning-chan', as he liked to call her. She had snuck away from Urahara's Shop after a while with her human friend while the Shinigami who brought her there were arguing (quite the feat- it looks's if she learned ta hide her spiritual pressure, Gin noted). Gin watched as she and the human escaped, briefly visiting a shop where they got some kind of food, and then separated. It was getting dark, and becoming cloudy. Miss Lightning-chan went home, locking the door behind her.
Gin wondered if he should try to talk to her. She might come over to the Arrancar's side… but then again, he didn't know enough about her to risk that yet. He knew that she had the possibility to become very dangerous. At the moment, though, the very most she could handle was a Gillian-class menos, though she managed to survive an Adjuchas long enough to get the help of a captain, which apparently was enough to attract the attention of Soul Society.
Which was enough to make Gin sigh. They were going to make this difficult, those Shinigami. He was pretty sure they didn't know of her full potential, but still. It would be a problem if they got the 12th division to analyze her spiritual pressure. Not to mention that they would tell her not to go near him, so he couldn't convince her otherwise. She could be a powerful asset, with her strange flexible spiritual pressure… and she looked pretty interesting, too. Things were rather boring in Las Noches.
Well, it was too bad the Shinigami were interfering. He didn't want to do it, but it was time to tell Aizen about her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~…And it's Sal again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toshiro, Rangiku, and Renji took me to this sort of sleazy-looking shop that sold candy. It was run by a perky blonde guy wearing a bucket hat; he looked slightly crazy, but nice nonetheless. Anna was also there, brought by some angry bald guy and a man (I think it was a man, at least) with feathers attached to his eyebrows. Anna looked pretty confused, and to be honest, I probably did too. I explained to the Shinigami how I come to see spirits and battle hollows, about my lightning chakra, Mr. Fox-face, and a little about Anna. Her only comment was to say 'hi' when I introduced her, and decline the tea that was offered by the shopkeeper's assistants.
Apparently this sleazy candy shop was used as a base by the Shinigami. How odd.
It was getting late, so as soon as they were distracted, Anna and I slipped out. Not wanting the day to go completely to waste, we went to Dairy Queen and got some ice cream before I headed home, Anna leaving to go shopping briefly (she never did get that Cinnibun). I was reluctant to let her go alone, but she convinced me she would be fine – she got her cell phone back, so she could always call me again, anyway.
For some reason, I felt self-conscious again while walking to my house – I looked over my shoulder a few times to make sure no one was following me. I never saw anyone, but I still locked the door as soon as I got back. My mom wouldn't be home until tomorrow afternoon, visiting my grandma in Maine; my stepfather was currently on a business trip. It wasn't the first time I was home alone – Anna's parents were right next door if anything ever happened. Still…
Outside, it looked as if it might rain. The clouds were athering, making it darker than it already was.
I put a pot on the stove. I felt like having some macaroni.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to Urahara's Shop! *whewf* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't long before the disappearance of Sasalia and Anna was discovered, but it was at that time that Kira and the members of the third, second, and eleventh squads arrived at the shop.
"Lieutenant Yachiru made Captain Kenpachi take her to buy some candy," Kira explained. "Knowing their skills of direction, they might be lost, but we can look for then later. We came on ahead because we felt traces of Gin's spiritual pressure soon after we separated."
Kira took the original team of Shinigami to the place. It was cold, and the wind was starting to blow.
"This is it," he said. "It's defiantly Ichimaru's spiritual pressure," Toshiro said. "Let's follow it. Call in some of the backup, just in case."
"Shouldn't we send someone to check on that human girl, to make sure no more Arrancar or anything finds her?" Kira asked. "Right… Renji," Toshiro said. "Huh? Why me?" "Because if anyone is there, you can hold then off for a bit, while we come in. Take some backup with you, too." "Alright, Taicho. See you." He jumped off… in the wrong direction, Rangiku noticed. She stared after him. "Wait, does he know where her house is?" she asked. "He'll find it. Let's follow the trail already," Ikkaku said, impatient. Yumichika was about to say something, but he was interrupted by a familiar spiritual presence…
Kenpachi jumped in, in his usual Kenpachi-like style; large, obvious, and destructive.
"Oh, Captain Kenpachi, we were just-" Kenpachi interrupted Kira, saying,
"Have any of you seen Yachiru?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~And it's back, again, to Sal~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This time, I actually got to eat my macaroni. I washed the pot and put my bowl in the dishwasher, not sure what to do now. It was a long day – a nice, relaxing hot bath would be nice. It was getting dark, anyway. I headed up to my room and looked out the window, facing the street. It was really dark now. I bet it IS going to rain, I thought. The streetlights came on just as I was looking at them – I wondered if that was an omen for something. Probably just a coincidence. I didn't believe in omens, anyway.
I was about to get up and go start the bath water when I noticed a flash of pink going down the street. I looked closer – it was a child. I wondered for a moment where her parents were, then noticed what she was wearing …
One of those Shinigami kimono things! Oh, are you KIDDING me? I thought. The day was long enough!
Unfortunately for me, the sky chose that moment to open up and rain, and what was I gonna do? Just let her stand there and get rained on? Ahhhggh… I ran downstairs.
"Hey, kid," I called out of the front door. "Are you lost?"
"Hiiii!," She called back, waving her and high in the air. Okay… not really an answer, but… "Umm, have you ever had a root beer float?" I yelled, thinking randomly. "A what?" she hollered. "Just … come in here! You'll get wet!" I yelled. She ran over.
"Hey," I said again. "What's your name?" "Yachiru Kusajishi," She said. "Nice ta meet cha!" "I'm Sasalia," I said. "Sasalia, that's a weird name," she giggled. "I'll call you… Saucy!" I raised my eyebrows. "Um, how about Sal?" "…I'll call you… Purple Eyes!" she decided. I wasn't sure if I was grimacing or grinning. This kid…
"Okay, and I'll call you Chiru-chan," I complied, not wanting this to go on all night. "So, how about that root beer float?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here we go to…. Kenpachi! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"…What do you mean, have we seen Yachiru?" Yumichika asked. Was she lost? Ikkaku couldn't help but grin a little.
"Well, it looks like she left the candy store," Kenpachi said, "and I can't find her." He didn't look too worried, Kira noted, but it was best that they find her soon. She was a lieutenant, so she could take care of your average hollow easy enough, but in this situation….
"As if we didn't have enough going on," Toshiro grumbled. "Someone, go look for Yachiru. And we'd better have someone follow Renji, too – he's probably lost, after all."
Rain started to fall in slight droplets.
At that moment, Ichigo appeared, Rukia following close behind. "Sorry we're late," he said. "What's up?" Ikkaku took a deep breath and said,
"Reinforcements have arrived from soul society, we're here because we found traces of the spiritual pressure of Gin Ichimaru, who has apparently been following that girl Urahara should have told you about, you know, the one from the bakery incident who battles hollows, and we just sent Renji to check on her, but we think he's lost, so we were going to send someone to follow him … and now apparently Yachiru's lost too, so we have to do something about that."
"Yachiru? Um, the small one, with the pink hair?" Ichigo asked. "Yup," Kenpachi said, grinning. "And as soon as we find her, you and I are gonna have a rematch!" His hand drifted, and found his sword.
"Hey, now," Toshiro said. "We don't have time for this. We'll split into five parties; one to report back to Urahara and the reinforcements, one to follow Gin's spiritual pressure, one to find Yachiru, one to find Renji, and one to check that Sasalia's alright."
"Sasalia's the human girl from the bakery?" Rukia asked. "So, she's like Orihime and Chad, a human who has odd powers?" "Yes, but for some reason, Gin Ichimaru has been following her," Toshiro said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be too worried."
The rain was falling harder now. Yumichika hovered his head with his hands and tsk-ed.
"So, who's searching for Yachiru?" Rangiku asked, oblivious to the drizzle. "I am," Kenpachi said. "I just wanted to see if you guys saw her anywhere. Later." With one last, menacing grin at Ichigo, he flash stepped away.
"All right, I'll track Gin's spiritual pressure," Toshiro said. "Kira, follow Kenpachi; Ikkaku, find Renji; Rangiku, find Sasalia; Yumichika, report back to Urahara."
"What should we do?" Ichigo asked, referring to himself and Rukia.
"Go with Yumichika to Urahara's – he'll fill you in on the whole situation. Now, let's go."
The group split up, each going a different direction, into what was soon becoming a rainy night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, in Soul Society~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A small figure slipped outside, following the shadows quietly. Pulling out her sword, she opened a senkaimon in the night air. It was raining in the World of the Living, she saw. Casting a last look behind her, she stepped through the portal. She knew she would be in big trouble for this later…
Momo Hinamori disappeared into the human world.