Me: Today the others are off playing around and getting some R&R. I'm doing the disclaimer alone today. Summer's almost here and I'm ready to go to the beach! Remember please tell me your opinions and ask questions and don't forget to review. I'm writing all my chapters by hand so I can keep up with the episodes on TV. I now own all the Bleach games except Bleach: The Forth Flame. I absolutely love The 3rd Phantom, it's totally my kind of game and I know the secret to beating Ulquiora and Yammy in Karakura town! That level took me days to figure out. Thank you again Sam Leonhart for yet another helpful review. Your profile is totally awesome. I absolutely love randomness. You'll find that out later on in the story as I get more acquainted in Karakura Town. I know my typing stinks so to everyone so sorry for spelling errors, and to Sam Leonhart; that is so freaking cool that your hollow form would be a huge dragon too. Hopefully I will get a picture on here somehow but I need someone who can draw really well. So if anyone can draw please tell me so I can give you a description. Now that you've all been good and listened to all of my blathering (yay for all of you, you all survived!) Let's get on with the program. I own nothing annnd…action!
Chapter 4: Substitute Soul Reaper
Dominique's POV
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! SLAP!
"Stupid alarm clock". I said with a groan as I sat up in my new bed, and stretched. I thought about what was going to happened today and giggled. This was going to be very strange, and sure to be entertaining as well. I would see Ichigo in class, and then my stomach felt like it was full of butterflies.
'Okay so not normal'. Maybe I was just hungry...yeah, that was it. I'd already told Emma and the others about what happened last night. They all were curious about Ichigo and Rukia. They wanted to see these two for themselves.
Ichigo's POV
"Ow...Ichigo...".
"Ichigo it hurts...". I turned around as I heard my dad's and Yuzu's voices behind me. When I turned, I saw that they were covered in blood and were pale as corpses. I took a step back in shock.
"I thought that when you became a soul reaper you'd save us"! My dad looked at me accusingly. Yuzu was crying at his side. I turned around and saw that soul reaper; Rukia, from before. She had a bored look on her face and for some odd reason sharp teeth. She saluted at me.
"I'm sorry. You were too late". She said lightly, as if it didn't matter.
"Too late"?! I yelled out in shocked rage. That was when I noticed that the other girl, Dominique was standing off to the side with a calm look on her face. She looked just as she did before, but in a soul reaper outfit like Rukia's. Then she smiled at me, her teeth at least appeared to be normal.
"Wake up you idiot". She said with a grin. That was when another voice blared in my ears.
"Gooooood moooorniiiiing Ichiiiiiiiigoooooooo"! Came my dad's voice again, but this time, much louder. Then came the pain in my head. I shut my eyes and opened them again to my dad's feet in my face. I reacted on instinct and flipped him over by his face and onto the floor.
"What kind of sick freak attacks his own son in his sleep"?! I yelled at him as I shoved his head into the floor.
"Umph! Not bad son! I have nothing left to teach you"! He said around my hand. That was when I noticed something strange. His wounds that he'd gotten from that hollow last night were completely gone. I could have sworn I'd seen a large gash on his back when I went to protect Yuzu.
"Hey, where are your wounds"? I said out loud.
"Wounds? Did I get hurt or something"? He looked up at me questioningly.
"What the hell"? I whispered in shock. Before I could say anything else though Yuzu's voice sounded from downstairs.
"DAD"! I heard Yuzu call from downstairs, fear in her voice. Both him and I ran down the stairs to see Yuzu in the kitchen, where there was a huge hole in the wall. That proved that it hadn't just been a dream. I looked at Yuzu and saw that she was alright as well. Somehow their wounds that the hollow gave them disappeared.
Dad began boarding up the wall as Yuzu made breakfast. Karin of course was mad about whoever made the hole in the wall, left us with the repair bills. They didn't remember what had happened, so I couldn't tell them that a huge monster had caused the hole in the wall.
I didn't know what happened to that Rukia girl, but I suspect that she went back to that Soul Society place she told me about. Dominique though...I would see her today in school. I would ask her about what happened.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
When I got to class, I heard Tatsuki and Mizuiro talking about me. They were talking about how a hole had been blown into my wall at home. Tatsuki was asking if I was dead.
"Alive. Sorry to disappoint you, we all survived". I said as I knocked her head lightly with my book bag. I'd just gotten to class in time for first period to start since Dad said he would call a repair man while we were at school. I looked over and saw Dominique sitting in her desk, staring at the ceiling. She seemed to feel my gaze on her and she looked up at me.
Her eyes were the deepest shade of blue I'd ever seen. Her long hair hung back over her shoulders while locks of hair acting as bangs rested on her face. Her expression was one of calm observation, but other than that, I couldn't read it. She was a transfer student from America, and a soul reaper from what I'd just found out last night, so she definitely wasn't the normal student. There was something about her, and I didn't know what it was, but it felt familiar.
I heard Miss Ochi walking down the hallway and quickly sat down in the seat beside her. I planned to ask her about last night during lunch.
Dominique's POV
Finally when I got to class, I sat down, and stared at the ceiling, waiting for class to start. Ichigo walked in and he looked at me. He seemed curious, or at least that's what his eyes looked like; simply curious. He sat down beside me and then Miss Ochi walked in. Then five minutes later, I saw a short raven-haired girl walk through the door.
'Why am I not surprised'? I thought sarcastically to myself as I sweat dropped. Rukia Kuchiki walked in with an innocent look on her face that I immediately didn't trust.
She introduced herself to the class, using a sickeningly sweet voice that made me want to gag, and then she walked to the seat beside me. Since class hadn't officially started yet, she was surrounded by other kids. Ichigo stood up and walked right in front of her as she sat at her desk. This wasn't going to be pleasant that's for sure. She put her hand out as if to shake hands, then she flipped it over, and I saw a note on it.
'Make a scene and you're so dead'!
I coughed to try to hide my laugh, didn't fool Ichigo though. He looked at me and he narrowed his eyes. I laughed out loud this time. This was more fun than I'd thought it be.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
During lunch I went up to the roof to relax. The others most likely went off campus to eat at a fast food place. The morning had been tense with Ichigo giving evil glares to Rukia and myself, but it was so damn funny at the same time. I leaned over one of the rails to look out over the school as the wind played with my hair, enjoying the peaceful moment. I then heard loud voices coming from below, so I looked down to the ground to see what was going on.
I saw Ichigo and Rukia standing in one of the courtyards, and by the way they were standing, they were arguing. Rukia pulled something out of her pocket and she put it on her hand. It was a red, fingerless glove, with a blue skull on it.
I smirked. I knew what that thing was and what she was planning to do. She jumped up and she rammed the palm of her hand under his jaw. His soul came right out with ease.
'Hmmm, seems the soul reapers have made a more efficient model now'. Shiva commented.
I giggled to myself as I watched the scene below me. Rukia then prompted to drag him off to the East and off campus. He was struggling to try to right himself. I laughed aloud, leaning over the railing, and both Ichigo and Rukia looked up at me. That just made me laugh even harder.
'Soul reapers can be so freak'n funny sometimes'. I mentally howled in laughter.
After they were out of sight, and I regained control over myself, I jumped out of my body. I leaped from the roof top to retrieve Ichigo's body from the ground. Rukia should know better than to leave his body just lying around.
That was one of the first things that was taught to us at the Academy, plus it was just common sense. I mean, if you leave your body lying around and it isn't breathing, what are the human's going to think? I hefted his body over my shoulder by his school shirt and shunpoed back up to the roof.
I sat him down against the side wall and re-entered my own body. I closed my eyes and searched for Ichigo and Rukia. I felt Ichigo's reiatsu with ease, but just barely registered Rukia's dim energy signature.
I noticed that I could track his reiatsu already, easily actually. This was a bit weird, cause it took me at least a few days to get used to someone's particular energy, at least when it didn't matter in a battle that is. His was seemingly easy to track though. I didn't know why, but I think it's because he has a higher than normal reiatsu. Soon both Rukia and Ichigo returned. I called them up to the roof with a smirk on my lips.
They joined me within a few seconds, and Ichigo got back into his body. As I went to go back to class, Rukia stopped me. I sighed before turning back to look back at her.
"Dominique, since you say that you don't come from the Soul Society, I want to know how you became a soul reaper". I sighed again and turned around with a small smirk on my face. I couldn't tell them everything, but I could tell them a little of my story. This would be fun. Time for a bit of word twisting.
I sat down on the ledge of the side of the building, unworried that I would fall or not. Even if I were to fall, I could just leap from my body and catch it while in my spirit form. I crossed my legs as if I was sitting at some fancy meeting or something, my long legs reminding me of a spider's for an instant, making me mentally giggle before I flew into the explination.
"When I was little, I could see spirits. They were just as real to me as the living were. I was mature for my age as my family says, so I began trying to help out the spirits. One day when I was helping out the spirit of a little boy, a hollow showed up. I ran and the hollow of course came after the more powerful food source, a.k.a. me. I ran and ran, I knew though in my head that I would never be able to out run it. Just as it was about to kill me, something strange happened and I somehow turned into a soul reaper and I took out the hollow. I don't know how it all started, but I've been like this ever since". I said with my most convincing smile.
I'd left out the majority of my powers; bankai, hollification, and of course Shirozangetsu, Shiva, and Squad 0. It wasn't a lie actually. Shirozangetsu was the hollow and he did tell me that I had dormant powers before I met him so technically I didn't lie. I just altered the storyline so that they wouldn't be suspicious of my powers. Although I'll still have to be careful and not let them see my hollow side.
It was better that they don't know the full truth unless they absolutely have to or that they were ready and willing to accept the darker side of me and my friends. That and I didn't like outsiders knowing about Squad 0. We already had enough of a rep among soul reapers. Thank goodness that most of them didn't know that the Royal Guard was mostly made up of human kids who had acquired soul reaper and hollow powers at an early age.
'We already hear enough bad talk from that dumbass Old Man Yama who Rose talks about'. Shirozangetsu commented. I agreed with him completely as I remembered her dart board with the old man's face that was filled with so many darts that I couldn't even tell what the guy looked like anymore.
After we went back to class and when school ended, I let Emma and the others head on home without me again. Emma gave me a questioning look and I smirked. She shrugged and went with the others to go out to the mall that was close by. Rukia, Ichigo, and I were walking in the direction of the neighborhood that we lived in. I was giving Ichigo some tips on how to fight hollows, knowing that he would definitely need to learn quickly to stay alive.
I then glanced down at Rukia and I realized I didn't know where she was staying, but then again it didn't really matter to me. But on another note it would be better to know where she stayed so I would be able to keep tabs on her and any sort of activity the Soul Society my start up.
I was brought out of my musings when I saw a girl lying in the street with a car zooming off in the distance. Ichigo ran up to her and helped her up. I noticed her as being one of the other students in my class. She had orange hair a few shades lighter than Ichigo's and also large breast that I wasn't sure if they were real or not.
"Orihime, are you alright"!? Ichigo asked worriedly. She started to get up and her eyes went wide at the sight of Ichigo. I noticed that there were groceries were strewn about her. I picked up the stuff and was confused about all the things that she had. There were leeks, butter, bananas, and some sort of bean jam.
'What in the world is this girl going to make with all this weird stuff'? I thought to myself with a mental gag. I then noticed a large bruise around her leg, and the dark energy of a hollow swirling around said bruise. I noticed that Rukia was looking at it too with a concerned look to her face. Ichigo then saw it.
"Orihime, how did you get that bruise"? She deadpanned and then she looked down.
"Oh! That must have happened when that car almost hit me". She looked down in surprise.
"Do you want me to walk you home Orihime"? Ichigo asked like a gentleman. She blushed heavily and started rambling.
"Oh! No, no thank you, it's not that far a walk, haha". She said as she began walking down the street.
"Okay! See ya tomorrow then"! He called back to her as she got to the end of the road.
"Kay! See you tomorrow"! She called back with a deep blush on her face. She gathered up her things more securely and she walked across the street and she headed home. I could see her shoulders slump, as if in disappointment.
'She likes him'. Shiva commented. I giggled. From the look of things, he didn't even notice that she liked him, even though it was obvious as all get out. Either he was dense as hell, or wasn't interested in her. I mentally shrugged; it wasn't my business, nor did I care who liked who. Rukia then looked at us.
"Did you both see that? That was no ordinary bruise". She said with her fingers resting on her chin in thought. I nodded. She had to have had a hollow grab her leg. For what reason though; well, there were too many possibilities to be sure.
"It had to have been a hollow. At least that's what I sensed". I said as I looked away. Rukia asked Ichigo something about if Orihime had any relatives. Ichigo then started talking about Orihime, and he told us that her brother named Sora had died three years ago. I felt so sad for her and I felt like I should do something nice for her. I mean, I know what it's like to lose someone close to me, but she has it even worse since she lost pretty much her only family.
Not to mention the fact that her brother might have been the hollow that gave her that bruise. I hoped I was wrong though.
I felt really handicapped right now because I couldn't use all of my abilities without raising questions. That meant that Shirozangetsu and Shiva couldn't come out and help me patrol the area. Maybe it would just be better if I told them. Sigh. I really wanted to keep an eye on her, plus I wanted to be able to contact my friends at a moment's notice. I decided that I would tell them sometime soon...just not now though. They weren't ready yet to know. And I wasn't ready to tell them.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Later on that night, I was sitting on my bed reading the new book that Jessy bought me. She had gotten me a new book that I was engrossed in called The Immortal Rules. I also had a new bracelet from Claire. I was still wearing the necklace that my grandmother gave to me before she died; it was a black stone pendant, and I was lazily fiddling with it as I read.
I'd just gotten to chapter 19 when I noticed something strange and stood up, the book fell back onto the bed still open on the page I'd been reading. Emma did the same thing as she felt the energy. I looked at her seriously.
"Get the others. We're going, now". She nodded. I jumped out of my body and Emma ran out the bedroom door. I flew off into the sky at the fastest pace possible. I followed the reiatsu to Ichigo's house. I jumped down to the window and opened it just in time to see a hollow slither through a garganta. I cursed under my breath.
I saw Ichigo standing in his room with Rukia standing beside his bed in front of me. Ichigo looked like he had just witnessed something horrible. I jumped through the window and let myself in.
"What happened"? I asked seriously. I saw the damage to the bed and to the floor. They looked at me in shock for a moment, but soon they got serious again. Ichigo told me that a hollow entered his room and he found out that it was Orihime's dead brother; Sora. Shock flew across my face; I had really been hoping that it wouldn't have been him.
Then came the cluelessness as I saw Rukia in pajamas.
"Umm...why is Rukia here,...and in pajamas"? I asked with a sweat drop.
"She is apparently living in my closet. At least that's where I found her a few minutes ago". He said through clenched teeth. He looked so embarrassed it was funny. Then I felt that same hollow's reiatsu spike. This was no time to crack jokes unfortunately. I'd mess with them some more later.
"Well? Come on we have to go after that hollow". I said as I stepped back onto the windowsill. Ichigo looked indecisive. It was obvious he didn't want to take down Orihime's brother, but we didn't have much of a choice. I sighed and jumped out the window.
After a few seconds I looked behind me and saw Ichigo with Rukia on his back, jumping from roof to roof. He obviously didn't know how to do shunpo very well yet, if at all.
They would catch up sooner or later, so I put the pedal to the metal, and zoomed to the source of the energy. I jumped through the window and saw Orihime lying on the ground in two places, as well as another one of my classmates, Tatsuki against the wall with a bloody shoulder.
I noticed that Orihime's Chain of Fate was at least still connected to her body so she was still alive at least. I let out a sigh of relief at that.
The hollow was slithering towards her, I grabbed my zanpakuto, and blocked him with my blade held in my right hand while keeping Orihime back with the other. Ichigo came in a second later. Rukia must've been outside, cause she wasn't with him.
"Do you two seriously think you can stop me"? The hollow said with a growl. I smirked at him.
"Well that is our job you know". I said while rolling my eyes. Ichigo was silent at my side with his own zanpakuto unsheathed. He wasn't attacking just yet, he was trying to think a way through this. That was when Ichigo looked back at Orihime. When Orihime saw Ichigo's face, her own lit up in happy surprise.
"I knew it. It is you Ichigo! And Dominique too"! She said happily. I rolled my eyes, but kept them on her brother-turned-hollow.
"How can you see me"? Ichigo turned to look at her in shock. The hollow moved a little bit closer and I raised my blade as a warning. I bit back my normal hiss in my throat. No need to scare those two with my own hollow-like personality.
"Isn't it obvious? She's a spirit. She's already dead"! He said as he charged forward at Ichigo. I blocked his strike as he lashed his scale covered tail. Though the scales kept my blade from cutting into his flesh, it did stop him.
Ichigo stood there in shock as I calmly blocked the hollow's attack from hitting him.
"Dominique"? Ichigo said questioningly.
"You really need to keep your guard up. If I hadn't of blocked that strike, you would have been knocked into that wall, or even through it. Orihime's not dead, her Chain of Fate is still attached, so she's alright. Now attack him if you want to save her from really being killed". I said as I pushed back on the the hollow's tail. Ichigo then charged forward and began to attack.
Ichigo ended up getting knocked into the wall and as Orihime went to go to Ichigo, the hollow stopped her with his clawed hand. He didn't seem to hurt her though. I wasn't sure whether or not to chop off the arm that was holding her or to simply kill him. He had a claw on her Chain of Fate. One wrong move would sever it, and she would be dead for real.
"Let me go"! Orihime said as she bit into his hand.
"Have you really forgotten me"? The hollow said sadly.
"What"?
"It's me". He said as he lifted up part of his hair, showing where Ichigo has slashed off part of his mask earlier, showing a part of his face.
"Sora!? Is it really you Sora"? She said as he put her down back on the floor, I crouched to attack, but he spoke to her again in the same non-threatening tone so I just stayed at the ready.
"You haven't forgotten me then". He said solemnly as he looked at her.
"Why did you hurt my friends Sora"? She asked him sadly.
"Because they were trying to tear us apart"! He growled angrily.
"What"?
"After I died, you prayed for me every day. I was dead, but it made me happy, and eased my suffering. A year passed, and then you became friends with that girl. You prayed less often. Then when you entered high school, you stopped praying all together! All you would talk about was Kurosaki! I felt myself fade a little more from your heart each day"! Orihime looked up at him in shock.
"No Sora! That's not-"! He cut her off.
"I was so lonely. Now I'm this monster! And it's all because of you! I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU"! He said as he went to attack Orihime as his sanity slipped. I could see that the human Sora, was fighting the hollow inside of him. He would not win though. His body had already turned. Ichigo, who'd paused to hear what he was saying now charged and attacked again.
I was mostly covering for Ichigo; he did most of the attacking. He was sloppy, he hesitated several times and eventually I got impatient, and kicked the hollow, he went through the wall and landed in the street below. I was just a little too destructive...well I had taken out of half of the wall of the building so maybe little is the wrong word.
Emma and the others had caught up and surrounded the hollow at that moment.
"Don't attack. Surround it and don't let it escape". I ordered. They backed up and surrounded it. Emma and Shuan had their blades at the ready, Claire and Brandon were in their wolf forms, and Jessy was in her tiger form. The hollow looked around and tried to find an opening, failing of course as Emma and Shaun held their blades up at him, and Jessy, Brandon, and Claire gnashed their teeth threateningly.
"If Orihime won't live for me, then she'll die for me"! He roared in rage and anguish as he jumped back into the apartment.
Ichigo charged forward and tried to attack the hollow alone. The others didn't try to stop him since they were following my orders. His zanpakuto ended up being knocked out of his hands. Just as the hollow went to attack Ichigo, Orihime jumped in front of him, and she took the hit for him.
She hugged the hollow's face, and then somehow, Sora took back over. He worried over Orihime as she apologized to him about making him feel lonely. Then he and Orihime said a few words of farewell. Then Sora grabbed Ichigo's zanpakuto, and he stabbed himself in the forehead, breaking his mask after Rukia explained to Ichigo about the whole purification thing with hollows. Sora smiled sweetly at Orihime and he disappeared. His remains scattered into the wind and his spirit went onto the Soul Society.
Rukia healed Ichigo, I healed Tatsuki, and Emma healed Orihime. After that, Emma and the rest of my gang left ahead of me to go home. Now that the danger was gone, they had no interest in staying here. I would have left with them, but I was curious as to what Rukia and Ichigo were going to do. Just before we left; Rukia used something on Orihime and Tatsuki. She told me that it was a Koikuchikan; a memory changer. It was like the memory kido; Shokyoki; mind erase, the one I used on Ichigo's family the other night.
Tomorrow we would see what the memories they would come up with, because it depended on the person's imagination to what the new memory would be. It was sure to be a funny memory for sure.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
We found out the next day and trust and believe me, that girl Orihime had one heck of an imagination. She was going on about it all day long; about how a yakuza gunman broke into her house and destroyed her wall. That is, until lunch, that's when Emma and I went to the roof to eat lunch while the others played sports in one of the courtyards during the lunch break. Turns out that Ichigo and Rukia were up here too.
I leaned against the railing and opened my soda while Emma sat down and started eating her bento. Rukia was having problems opening her juice box. I took it from her and put the straw through the hole, then I gave it back to her. She took a sip and smiled at the taste. I mentally sweat dropped at the fact that she didn't know these things. I mean after all, the Soul Society should be teaching soul reapers to act human while they were posted here.
Two more students; Mizurio and Keigo came up and joined us too. They started pestering Ichigo about him being surrounded by girls. Keigo began flirting with me, but one sharp glare from me made him stop. Then he stared flirting with Rukia, but she wasn't paying him much attention.
Then this guy with blond hair and multiple piercings appeared up on the roof with another wimpier looking kid. He started talking shit to Ichigo and then he looked at me. A lecherous look grew on his face as he began flirting with me. I rolled my eyes at the sight as I stood up walked right up to him. I saw the pair of brass knuckles on his hands. I grinned evilly.
"You really think that you can handle me"? I said while crossing my arms over my chest. The boy laughed and went to put his hand on my shoulder. I caught his arm in my right hand and pulled him down to my level so I could look him in the eyes. I then kicked him in between his legs, and he screamed in a high pitched voice. He probably wouldn't be able to have children now, but then again, filth like this didn't deserve to reproduce. I was doing humanity a favor.
"Damn it, you bitch". He gritted out as he grabbed for his now useless genitals. A tic mark appeared on my forehead.
"You wanna call me a bitch huh"? I twisted around and shot my left leg out at him. I kicked him in the gut, hard, he went flying across the roof, and landed on his friend. I pointed at the both of them and said, "Unless you want the same treatment he got, I suggest that you get the hell away from us, you got that"? I said loudly. He nodded scared and ran with the idiot across his shoulders down the stairs. The others looked at me like I was crazy, except for Emma who was still eating her bento.
"Nice job Dominique. I think ya over killed it though". She said after she took a sip of her soda. I laughed as I went to sit back down. Ichigo was looking at me with respect in his eyes, while Keigo looked at me in fear, and Mizurio had a blank look on his face. I smiled sweetly.
That was when someone else came up on the roof. It was a large man who looked Mexican in origin. The strange thing was that he was covered in bandages, and that he was carrying a bird in a cage. Ichigo looked at him in shock.
"What happened to you Chad"? He answered in a quiet, but deep voice.
"A steel beam fell on my head yesterday, and a motorcycle crashed into me this morning. The driver got banged up pretty bad, so I helped him to the hospital". Everyone stood still in shock, even Emma stopped eating. He put the bird down and he sat down with us. The bird looked at me and it spoke like a person. It told me its name was Yuichi Shibata and it asked me what my name was.
I saw Rukia out of the corner of my eye, staring at it like something was strange about it, as well as Ichigo. I noticed it too; that bird was no normal bird. There was a soul attached to the bird's spirit inside of the body. It wasn't completely unusual for this to happen. Sometimes when people, especially kids, die, they tend to attach themselves to either a parent, or a pet since it's familiar and they feel safer with them.
Then Mizurio cut off my thinking and he told us about the curse of that bird. Turns out, anyone who owns that bird has a horrible accident and dies.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The next day when I went to school, I'd heard that there'd been an accident yesterday near Ichigo's house. I felt that Chad might be a part of it and it worried me. I also didn't see Ichigo nor Rukia in class, though it hadn't officially started yet, so they were good for a few more minutes. I sighed as I stared out the window into the sky.
The door slammed open to show Ichigo looking like he'd just run a marathon. Mizuiro and Keigo looked up at him in surprise.
"What's up Ichigo". Mizuiro asked. Ichigo ran up to him.
"Have you guys seen Chad"? He asked loudly.
"No. What-". Keigo said just as Ichigo ran back out the room. I sighed and walked out after him casually, right past Ms. Ochi.
"Where are you going Miss Kudo? And where's Ichigo running off to"? She asked as I walked down the hallway. I quickly made up a decent lie.
"Ichigo said something about talking to the head, and I'm heading to the restroom". I said loudly as I turned the corner. Then I began running after Ichigo to catch up with him. I began following Ichigo's reiatsu and soon Rukia's own reiatsu joined his.
When I caught up to them I saw that both of them had worried looks on their faces.
"What's going on guys"? I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. Ichigo was the one to speak up.
"There was a car accident by my house last night".
"Yeah, I heard about that". I nodded as he continued his explanation. I'd seen it on the news that the teachers were watching while going over some paperwork.
"Chad got hurt and when he was brought into the clinic, he had a large burn on his back that looked like a hand print, but it was monstrous. We managed to get him patched up and into one of the beds. But he'd ran off during the night and the thing is, we think there's a hollow after him". Ichigo explained.
"We need to find him quickly then". I said as I got down on one knee. I rested my palm against the ground and opened my presquisa to find the hollow. I couln't feel the presence of the hollow and I cursed under my breath. It was hiding within a garganta to stay undetectable from us.
"That's it"! Ichigo said loudly.
"What"?
"We could track the kid's soul in the parakeet"! I realized he was right.
"Nice Ichigo. How are-"? I was cut off by the familiar sensation of the Reiraku being summoned. I sifted through them and found the parakeet's spirit ribbon floating by Rukia. Ichigo grabbed it.
"Gottcha"! He said as he began following the trail west.
'Wow. He's only had his powers for what, a week? And already he can sense the Reiraku. This kid is something else. Much better than just some soul reaper'. I thought to myself as I followed closely behind him. It took a few minutes but soon we managed to find Chad running down a street with the bird cage held in his arms.
"Look! Hey Chad"! Ichigo called out to the huge guy. He paused for only an instant before running away.
'What a way to treat your friend'. I thought with a sweat drop.
"Geez Chad, stop running! We're here to help"! Ichigo called as we tried to catch up.
"Ichigo". A weak voice called. We all stopped and saw one of Ichigo's sisters leaning against a pole. She was pale and looked like she was about ready to pass out.
"Karin! What's the matter? You look awful...". He said just before Karin pass out on the ground. Ichigo quickly ran forward and caught her.
"Ichigo, you better get her home". Rukia said as Ichigo tried to get Karin to come to. He looked up at Rukia and I in confusion.
"I can't just leave you two"! He tried to argue. I turned to look at him seriously.
"Go Ichigo. If you leave her here and try to fight, you'll be too worried about her to keep focused, and be a risk to us all. Don't worry, if anything happens, I got this. Just go and keep your sister safe. After all, that's what big brothers are for. I have two little brothers at home and know where you're coming from so just listen and do as we say". I told him. He looked at me seriously for a half a second before running in the direction of his house.
'Well, that wasn't too difficult. I thought he would argue more'. I thought to myself randomly. I turned back to Rukia. She was looking at me with a thoughtful look in her purple eyes.
"Let's go". I said as I took off running towards Chad, who'd gotten quite the head start. Rukia was running just a bit behind me, obviously not used to the gigai that she was borrowing. I was wondering to myself about how long it had been since this soul reaper had been in a human body, or if she was a noble and had never had human flesh sheltering her soul. I paused a moment, seeing as we weren't catching up with Chad. Rukia stopped and looked at me in confusion.
"Why'd you stop? We need to catch up with him". She said as she looked at Chad who kept running ahead. I nodded.
"Yeah, I know. I'm going to go get my friends and they'll be able to help us round him up. He's too fast for the two of us on foot and I can't leave my body lying around with a hollow on the loose like it is". I explained. Even though I had Shiva and Shirozangetsu, it was best if I didn't rely on those two when in the presence of this soul reaper.
"What do you suggest I do then"? She asked with a scowl on her face that was almost as good as Ichigo's.
"Keep running after Chad, but try to keep him going westward, I'll have the guys block him in and then we'll trap him in and take down the hollow if it shows up. Now go". I said quickly as I took off towards the school. I quickly got my cell phone out and texted Emma to get the others assembled. In the mean time while they rushed over I got to the house and jumped into my room to leave Shiva with my body, giving her orders to remain hidden if the teachers decided to check the rooms.
Then I headed back to where Rukia was. As I was flying there I felt the hollow appear where she was at and the signs of struggle. I also saw theses small hollow like creatures that were around Chad and the little bird from yesterday, but I felt Rukia's reiatsu on the move, with the hollow's right behind her. I jumped on a building near Chad before changing into my half hollow form to let out a loud roar, signaling the others to get their asses over here and help. I was answered with three wolf howls and a tiger's roar.
I quickly shifted back to normal just as I saw Ichigo come running towards me on the ground, still in his human body. I nearly panicked, thinking that he'd seen me. But when he came up to me he looked at me no differently than from before. I let out a mental sigh of relief that he hadn't seen me in my hollowfied form.
"What was that roar? Was that the hollow"? He called out seriously. I was about to shake my head before nodding it quickly.
"Yeah, it's heading that way, and Rukia's that way too. Don't worry about Chad and the parakeet. The others will be here in just a moment. Let's hurry and help Rukia before she gets eaten". I said as I took off on the rooftops. Ichigo followed quickly on the ground, he knew the terrain and had no trouble making his way through the winding roads and alleys.
When I found Rukia she was running from the hollow, who was throwing those little creatures at her. When they would burst, little squirming things that looked like leeches exploded from their guts. From the smell of blood and smoke in the air, I guessed that they might be explosives of some sort. I'd seen similar weapons before, so this wasn't a new thing for me.
Ichigo was coming up behind the hollow quickly, so I charged down and snached Rukia out of the alleyway and further ahead of the hollow so he wouldn't be able to attack her.
"Perfect timing guys". Rukia said. I smirked.
"Huh? Now there's two of you. You smell even better than she does, I should have gone after you instead of her when you split up". The hollow said with a sneer, just as Ichigo's foot came down on the hollows head, smashing his masked face to the ground. I snickered as Ichigo stood on top of the hollow with a smirk on his own face. He scolded Rukia for getting all hurt and bloody before the hollow tried to toss him off of his head.
Ichigo leaped off and stood with his back to the hollow before turning his head just enough to look back at the hollow.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, age 15, substitute soul reaper. If you really wanna play some serious tag, then I'm it". Ichigo said with a cocky smirk. I smirked right along with him as I glared down the hollow.
Ichigo's POV
"Crap, I really skrewed up. When the three of you split up I should have gone after you". The hollow said as these little blue things started spurting what looked like leeches at us. Dominique was quick to grab the glove from Rukia and slammed her hand onto my chest to force my soul from my body. After that, she took Rukia and my body off to the sidelines and I leaped up into the air as the leeches began to explode.
I quickly drew my sword and slashed at the hollow's arm. He leaped away from me and landed on the ground.
"Heh. You're too slow. But I can tell that your soul's gonna be tasty". He said as more of those little blue frog hollows moved to his side. "Say hello to my little friends". He said. I heard Dominique snicker somewhere behind me.
"I know he did not just use that old as dirt line. Hehe". I heard her giggle. But I realized something.
"Now I get it. You use these leech bombs to tie up Chad earlier and to attack a defenseless girl. You coward. Now it's time to pay"! I sneered.
"The only price I'm going to pay is idegestion when I finish eating three more soul reapers". The hollow said as it's eyes slitted even more, as if it were smiling. He then charged at me. I took off and charged back. He sent more of his frog things at me and to keep them from getting their leeches on me, I cut them appart and send the pieces away so they couldn't latch on. The hollow paused for a moment.
"Heh, pretty good moves, for a substitute. But aren't you forgetting something? The leeches spilling from their guts are still live ammo"! He said as he flicked his tongue out and began to vibrate it. The leeches around me all began to explode. I managed to hear his laugh over the sound of the explosions, "Ha! Take that you rookie reaper"! As he said that I leaped into the air and brought the blade of my sword down on his shoulder. I held back at the last second though.
"Tell me, before I cut you up into little pieces. You killed the mother of that boy stuck inside the parakeet didn't you? You might as well admit it, cause either way, you're going down". I said calmly, pressing the blade of my sword just a little harder than a second ago to get my point across. I heard Yuichi tell them about how he just wanted to see his mother again and that he didn't mean to hurt anybody.
"He believed it because he wanted to believe it".
"You bastard"! Just how could anyone be so damn sick as to do that to a little kid.
"Yes. I killed the brat's mother back when I was still alive. You might have heard about me. I was everywhere, the news, the radio, I was a famous serial killer. They never would have caught me either. I was too smart. I would have been out there, still hunting to this day, but as it turned out, this kid's mother was my last score". He continued to talk, saying how he stabbed her and she still tried to protect Yuichi, even though she was fatally wounded. With each word, my anger grew and grew.
He bragged how he tormented Yuichi's mother, and then how when Yuichi made him trip and fall to his death he sucked out Yuichi's soul and attached it to the parakeet. Then he'd told Yuichi that if he could keep running from him for three months that he'd bring the kid's mom back to life. The thought of bringing someone back from the dead surprised me.
"How could you do that". I said, more to the point on how could he torment the kid that way, unfortunately he took it the wrong way.
"I couldn't do that you moron. Nobody, could bring her back after what I did to her. I just said it to get the brat to play along. And it worked like a charm too. He runs from me and I get the thrill of the chase. Not only that, there's the added bonus of slaughtering everyone who tries to help him"! He said with glee. He contineud talking about how Yuichi would beg him not to hurt anybody else. The anger in me kept rising, and rising. I ground my teeth. But just as I was about to say something, a black blur moved into my field of vision.
The black blur charged at the hollow and sent it flying away from me and into a wall. The hollow groaned in pain and the blur stopped moving to reveal a very pissed off Dominique. Her eyes were no longer blue, but were a stormy grey color.
"How dare you". She growled, literally growled, like she was some sort of beast or something, "How dare you torture an innocent child like that. I'm going to make you pay for your crimes". Dominique growled each word out. She lowered herself into a crouch, and had one of her hands out at her side, her fingers curled into claws. And for an instant, I felt a cold chill run down my spine. This wasn't the same Dominique as before. This was something darker, something that felt almost evil.
"Dammit. Didn't even see you move. You're pretty fast for a soul reaper". The hollow said. I saw Dominique flinch, but I didn't know why. She turned back to me, and I felt that same chill run down my back, but I ignored it.
"Ichigo. Let's finish this bastard. He's got a special seat in Hell waiting for him". She said with hate in her voice. I nodded as I stepped forward.
"I don't care if all three of you fight. You weak soul reapers will never beat me". He said as he threw two more bombs at us. Dominique leaped up into the air, but I caught the one that had been heading for my face. It exploded in my hand and left three leeches attached to my hand.
'He detonated them with his tongue right? So why don't I make him feel helpless and take away his wepons'. I thought to myself as I charged forward.
"Ha! You're defense is weak, and you're slower than a snail"! The hollow laughed, just as I lunged foward and punched through the teeth of his mask, shoving my fist into his mouth. I smirked.
"Here. Take your bombs back, cause I sure don't want them"! I sneered at him. He looked at me with fear in his dark eyes, "What's wrong? Aren't you gonna detonate them now? Go on ahead. Just do that thing you did with your tongue". I said. I looked up briefly and saw Dominique smirking at me, her arms crossed over her chest. She nodded at me, taking a step back, and letting me finish this fight.
"Now if you aren't gonna use it. Then that tongue's mine"! I yelled as I ripped the longue muscle from his mouth.
"ARGH! MY TONGTH! YOU STHON OF A-"! He yelled as I leaped into the air and swung my sword. It stuck in his leg. I wanted to make him pay for what he did.
"Sucks doesn't it. No bombs, no mobility. You're helpless. Just like what you did to your victims". I said to him. He looked down at me for a second, before using his own claws to swipe off his leg and leap up into the air.
"Yeah! Fear does that to people. Makes you wanna chop off your own leg to escape it". He said as he flew up int the air. I also leaped up, higher than I ever tried to before. I raised my blade.
"Take that fear and drive it into your brain, you worthless piece of crap"! I yelled as I slashed downward and split his mask in half.
Dominique's POV
Ichigo rushed at the serial rapist/murderer turned hollow and he cut it in half. I stood still and waited for what I knew what was coming next. This would be another lesson to Ichigo. The hollow rematerialized, but stayed frozen in place and a huge door rose from the ground. Ichigo landed back on the ground. He looked scared as he took a step back.
"What in the world is that"?
"The gates to Hell. Don't worry though, it has only come for him. The bastard will finally get what he deserves". I heard a triumphant howl somewhere close by. Emma and the others must have kept Chad safe from the decoy hollows bombs. The chains that were around the gate came off, grabbing the hollow, and the doors opened. A sword appeared, piercing the hollow, and then dragged it in. A deep laugh filled the air as the gate disappeared in a crumbling fashion.
Emma and the others walked up to us with un-shocked faces at the familiar sight. I performed a konso on the boy who was trapped in the bird. Just before he left, Rukia told him that he would see his mother again in the Soul Society soon. I smiled at Ichigo encouragingly and walked back home with my friends.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Two days later I was sitting in class, bored as could be. Ichigo and Rukia hadn't showed up for school today. When lunch was over I was sitting on Ichigo's usual desk by the window to pass the time. Then I saw Ichigo jump up on the windowsill. He had a huge smile on his face. Something was not right at all, this wasn't Ichigo cause the reiatstu was different from his, not to mention he was smiling without his normal scowl.
And then there was the fact that the room was three stories up off the ground. This wouldn't be wierd if Ichigo had been in his soul reaper form, but it was because this was his body doing it.
I didn't have time to really think it through when he jumped into the classroom, grabbed my hand, and he pulled me towards him so he could kiss my cheek. My face turned twenty shades of red in an instant. He released my hand and then he went after the other girls. He kissed Orihime on the cheek and Tatsuki flipped out.
She had a desk held over her head when the real Ichigo came through the window. Pretty much Ichigo's body was fighting him. To the others it probably looked like he was crazy. To them it would have looked like he was kicking nothing but air. I ran at Ichigo's body and kicked it out of the window.
Ichigo looked at me in complete shock. I just shrugged my shoulders. Whatever the damage was, I could heal it.
It landed on the ground as if it was nothing, and then it started running.
'Definitely a mod soul'. I thought knowingly to myself. I saw Rukia by the door and she threw something at me. It was her memory changer thing. I ran to the door just before using it on the people in the class.
I ran to the roof and jumped out of my body to help Ichigo with tracking the on the loose mod soul. I noticed that there was a hollow's presence in the area so Ichigo would be dealing with that, so I went after his runaway body. This whole mess had Rukia's name all over it. Just as I was closing in on the mod soul, another hollow showed up and began attacking Ichigo's body. I jumped in and slashed the mask in half. Then whoever was in Ichigo's body did a back flip and kicked the hollow just before it disappeared.
Then he was falling, (did I mention we were on a roof … no…oh well) Ichigo thankfully appeared and caught him before dropping him on the roof. Rukia told me that the thing that was inside of Ichigo's body was a mod soul, confirming what I already knew. Then the mod soul told us about how he was created and then immediately sentenced to die.
'That's the Soul Society for you'. Shiva commented.
'A bunch of stuck up assholes'. Shirozangetsu agreed.
Then suddenly, a cane with a blue skull on it went through Ichigo's head and the little green pill landed on the ground, the mod soul. The mod soul landed on the ground and rolled for a moment. I saw a man bend down to pick it up. He was wearing a green and white stripped hat and a green coat with wooden clogs.
There was a large heavily built man behind him that had glasses and cornrows. As well as two kids, one a raven-haired girl, and a red headed boy. They went to leave, but Rukia went up to him and grabbed the mod soul from him, saying that she paid for it and that she was happy with her purchase. They argued for a few moments, but in the end Rukia won the fight. He looked at her questioningly, but he didn't say anything else. He and the rest of them left.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"I'm gonna kick your butt, you hear me?!" I was walking beside Ichigo trying not to laugh. Shirozangetsu and Shiva did not succeed though; they were cracking up in the back of my head. Rukia told Ichigo that it looked extremely weird for him to be yelling at a pill. He winced every now and again cause during the mod soul's joy ride, he banged up Ichigo's body pretty badly.
Apparently, he wanted a way to talk to the mod soul. I knew just how for him to do that. First, I healed his shoulder, then I looked around, and I saw a stuffed animal lying on a bag of trash.
'Perfect'. I thought coyly.
I picked up the stuffed toy lion and I grabbed the pill from Ichigo. I stuffed the pill into the plushie's mouth and we waited. At first it didn't move and then Ichigo got impatient.
Ichigo grabbed it from me and then started shaking the toy. The toy moved, then it jumped from Ichigo's hands, and landed on the ground saying that it wanted to challenge Ichigo to a battle. Then it realized it was small and plush. I couldn't help but smirk. That's when Ichigo grinned evilly and then started stomping it into the ground. After Ichigo cooled off, we all went home.
Me: Chapter four is finally done. I'm writing chapter five now so stay tuned. I will update ASAP! I'm behind on the Bleach episodes so I'm writing new stuff every week. Please review and ask questions about my story cause it lets me know that people are actually reading it. Hope everyone likes this chapter too. Thank you all who review.
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