Fruitcakes and Basket-cases

Chapter Four

"We…we came here by accident," he began, his body tensing as he relived the moments before their arrival, "w-we were fighting…"

"We were fighting a monster," Orihime continued, "but we weren't careful and our friend, Nova," her voice fell at the thought of him, "he can teleport and he'd been doing that the whole battle, so he must have been really tired when he tried to get both me and Ichigo out of harms way…" she wavered, "our friends are still there…fighting…" Silence filled the room, as everyone looked at them, trying to determine the truth of their words.

"Teleportation could explain why you landed out of nowhere on our table," Shigure mused.

"Don't tell me that you actually believe them, Shigure," Yuki said in astonishment.

"I am a writer after all; having an open mind's part of the job description," the man replied confidently, "Tell me…how were you intending to fight a monster," he appraised the two teens, "you don't look equipped to do so,"

"Um, that is…" the girl uttered, searching for the right words.

"We don't know if we can show you," the boy stepped in, "I'm not really a buff on this topic, but…"

"Are you trying to say that different worlds have different rules?" Shigure offered.

"I guess…" Ichigo mused, "but we could give it a try and see what happens," he pulled out his badge, "You see, assuming that you believe us, where we come from there are spiritual beings called Soul Reapers," he paused to appraise everyone, 'Doesn't seem like they're gonna call the men in white,' then continued, "they fight the monsters, which are evil spirits to release them and guide the good spirits to the other side, this badge," he held it up, "activates my power as a Soul Reaper; don't ask how I became one, that's a long story, but basically my spirit just leaves my body and that makes it look like I've passed out,"

"Since you're a spirit, that means we can't see you," Kyo spoke up, his expression evidently displaying his opinion, "how can you prove that you've done what you say you can?" Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he was about to say something in retaliation, when he saw a shadow around the other but it had gone when he blinked to focus his eyes, 'What was that?'

"S-spirit…as in g-ghost?" Tohru stammered.

"Miss. Honda, I'm sure he doesn't mean the scary kind," Yuki soothed, placing a hand on her arm as he smiled, "right?" he cast a look towards the boy.

"Definitely," Ichigo said, understanding the defensive expression, "besides, I can't even see any around here, can you Inoue?" As she was about to agree, Tohru's panic escalated.

"Y-you mean you can see them?!" she exclaimed fearfully.

"Y-yeah, I mean no!" the boy stammered, "I mean in our world we can, but there's nothing here…" Tohru turned to Orihime and she voiced her agreement, which seemed to relax her a little, "…which is why I don't think our powers might work…"

"'Our'?" Shigure echoed, "Up until now you kept referring to yourself as being a…'Soul Reaper'," he turned to the young girl, "do you have powers too?"

"Yes…I do," she replied, "but like Ichigo, I don't know if they're going to work…" she turned to him, "why don't you give yours a go and then I'll try?" He looked at her for a moment and then nodded. Gripping the badge, he took in a deep breath and braced himself as he slammed it into his chest. Silence filled the room as everyone waited, 'That looked like it hurt,' was the collective thought, "I-Ichigo, are you alright?" Orihime asked, knowing that he hadn't left his body.

"Guess…it didn't work," he replied, straining to keep the pain out of his voice, 'That may leave a mark…' He looked at her, "Give yours a go," she nodded in response and, with what looked to be little effort, her hairpins glowed and disappeared, reforming into six miniature winged beings floating before her. There was a collective sound of surprise from the occupants of the room, and even Ichigo couldn't believe his eyes, 'Her power worked?!'