Late update; yes. Scale from 1-10 on how much I care; 2. *Sigh* I'm almost getting bored with this. Odd, though, because this is my favorite chapter 'cause it introduces the arrancars. The point leading up to Reed's and Aizen's confrontation starts here, but that's at a later point. P.S. I think I'll have Reed kill Yammy 'cause 1. I don't like him, 2. It's my character and my fan-fic and I can do whatever the hell I want with it and, 3. I feel like killing someone.
Reed huffed. He walked one way, then the other. Inhaling deeply, and then exhaling. Over and over. He'd been trying to piece together in his mind what had happened. He hadn't spoken to Masato since the day of their practice fight, fearing he might be seriously injured, judging by his absence over the past week. He could've sworn he was wearing a rut in the floor of his room.
Looking through the window, peering down at the Soul Reapers, all in their black uniforms, all with their zanpaku-tôs sheathed, some smiling, some not, none talking, began to make him sick. Wasn't there any diversity in this damned place? As he answered the knock on his door just then, he pondered leaving the Seireitei to work in the real world. Bing! Idea.
"Hasa-…you okay?" A red-haired lieutenant stared at him oddly.
A grin spread across his face, he answered. "Fine. You?"
"U-uh…" then, as if suddenly remembering why he was there, he jerked to attention. "General Yamamoto has orders for you."
"Really?" Reed said, his smile faltering just the tiniest bit. "Not my captain?"
Abarai shook his head. "It's important…It's about the ryoka."
Just then Reed's grin faded to a subtle frown, but soon did it reappear as an ear-to-ear smirk. "Sure."
SEBUN : HAKKYOU
Clangs and chatters filled the air around him. He breathed in the smell of sweat from a nearby gym class; they looked about Reed's age, and lazily walked through the winding roads, glad to finally be wearing something other than a boring shihakushō. His figure stretched in the sun's heat, gigai* keeping his spiritual powers to a minimum. He approached the school.
"Hmmm…where am I, even?" he wondered aloud to himself. Then he looked at a license plate on someone's car. "Karakura town, eh? Seems fine ta me." Reed hadn't noticed he'd started talking like he did back in West Rukongai, until one of the students on the track stopped and yelled to him,
"Hey!" she waved her arms, as if expecting Reed couldn't see her. "You new?"
"Huh?" Reed answered stupidly, then remembered why he was even in the real world in the first place. "Oh, oh yeah. Sure, I'm new." He approached her from where he stood on the sidewalk and immediately noticed a height difference. 'Damn it,' Reed cursed inside his head. 'She's taller 'n me.'
"You should check in inside." She said, though it was obvious. "What's your name?"
"Why you needa know?" Reed wanted to ask, but refrained himself. "Uhh…Reed."
She tilted her shaggy black head to the side. "Reed?"
"Yeah, like Riido?" he said, pronouncing it in Japanese. A light bulb went off above her head, as she smiled and introduced herself as, "Tatsuki."
"Nice to meet ya too, Shaggy." Reed muttered to himself as he approached the entrance. Instead of "checking in" like Tatsuki had told him, he quickly strutted down the halls, looking for a worthy candidate. "You look like a fine young man!" he said as he eagerly shoved the kid into a janitor's closet. 'Easy enough.' Reed thought. 'Just strip the kid, knock 'em out, steal 'is uniform and I'm on my way.'
"Kurosaki…" a deep voice rumbled from behind an orange head. He turned around slightly, mumbling, "What, Chad?" Chad looked the way he wanted Kurosaki to look. "I recognize him…"
"From where?" his friend asked, a bit skeptically.
Chad took a moment to think. "The Soul Society. I saw him when I was fighting that captain…Kyōraku?" he said, vaguely remembering a short, stocky Soul Reaper passing by him during his battle. It hadn't yet occurred to him who exactly he was, just that he knew him from somewhere.
His friend studied the figure; kind of short, definitely stocky, with peach-fuzz blonde hair. He lazily scratched his stomach, as Kurosaki wondered how the teacher could have missed this new student. As if sensing he was being observed, his eyes twitched in the direction of Kurosaki, who merely turned his head to the front of the room quickly. By lunch, he ignored the supposed Soul Reaper quickly gathered his friends; Chad, Uryu, and Orihime.
"Chad…" he prompted, as his massive friend began,
"I first noticed him when I was fighting Kyōraku. I didn't really notice him then, except…why would a Soul Reaper be here, now? I can't sense any spiritual pressure, and neither can Ichigo," he looked at his friend, who nodded. "but he's definitely got some power."
"Actually…" Ichigo said before Uryu or Orihime could input. "I fought him. in the Seireitei."
Orihime's voice squeaked out, "And?"
Ichigo looked down, as if ashamed. "He nearly blew Renji to bits." He looked up, into his friends' eyes. "He's strong. And if he's here, than means the Soul Society probably isn't done with me quite yet."
"Ichigo, won't that mean they're after you?" Uryu pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. "If they are, why wouldn't they have attacked yet?"
"I don't know… Orihime. Chad. Uryu. Keep an eye out for him. And also, on that new kid, Shinji."
"He kind of gives me the creeps. "Chad said deeply, but his comment went unnoticed. Ichigo's-Uryu's and Inoue's as well- eyes were focused on the suspected Soul Reaper, wandering the track by himself.
"HOLLOW! HOLLOW! HOLLOW!"
"Jesus freaking Christ!!" Ichigo jumped; his heart ready to burst into confetti. He panted. His friends, startled by it as well, tried to regain their breath.
"A hollow?" Chad muttered.
"Guess so…" Ichigo looked around for it, not believing that the said deputy pass captain Ukitake gave him actually worked. He bobbed his head left and right, only able to determine the hollow's location by the piercing shriek that came from behind him. He spun around, seeing only the remnants of what used to be a hollow. "Someone's already…" his eyes widened at the sight.
"Looks like I'm not the only Soul Reaper here…" Reed said ominously as he gazed back in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo's eyes flinched, but only for a second. And in that second, Reed appeared right next to him, the thin side of his left palm digging into his abdomen. He coughed, before being sent crashing into the school wall; hard enough to crack the brick, but controlled enough to not break through the wall entirely. Reed grinned at his own strength, despite being held back significantly by his gigai.*
Uryu stepped up to the Shinigami, as Chad and Inoue rushed to their injured friend.
"Who sent you?" Uryu demanded, figuring what Ichigo had told them moments ago was true. Reed shrugged vaguely.
"The Soul Society." He cocked a brow at the injured boy; fierce with anger. "To watch your friend here."
"Ichigo?" Inoue and Uryu said at the same time. Reed smiled. "Yup."
"Didn't even tell what I'm s'pposed to watch for, only that I'm s'pposed to keep an eye on the guy." He watched as Ichigo regained his balance, a murderous look in his eyes. "Guess I'm pretty much done 'ere, though. I'll be on my way an' you can get back ta doin' whatever you do 'ere."
"Wait!" Ichigo scowled, stopping Reed in his tracks. "You're that Soul Reaper from before, aren't you? The one that nearly blew a hole through Renji!"
Reed had wanted to avoid coming into verbal contact with him, but he realized he was in a position where he couldn't back down. He fired back, "My intention was to hit you, ryoka! In case ya hadn't noticed, Abarai just jumped in front of ya. Wasn't my fault he got hurt."
"It was your attack wasn't it?"
Reed snorted. "Stupid. Of course it was mine. And I couldn't stop it. 'Sides, you shouldn't be so worked up about some lieutenant you'll probably never see again." He stepped carefully around Ichigo's near-fuming self. "If I was you, I'd watch out fer more important stuff; like that shifty guy…what's 'is name…Shinji?"
"Shinji?" Chad and Ichigo said. "What would he have to do with this?"
"Dunno, Carrot-top." Reed turned and walked away, stepping into the sky, the only thing holding him up being the small amount of reishi surrounding him. "But I'd watch my back if I was you!"
"What was…?" Uryu dropped his arms, unknowingly clenching his weapon.
"I can't say…" Ichigo said lamely, as he watched the Soul Reaper stun spectators below as he casually strutted off into the sky. By the time they went back in, Ichigo could still see a small speck of the school's uniform, indicating Reed had no intention of leaving any time soon.
"Got a bullet with a name on it, bullet with a name…" Reed uttered to himself. He was beginning to get attached to this new song. "Workin' harder 'n a hundred black mules…comin' from the hotter than hell, no dinner bell…" he hesitated, sensing something far off in the distance, his voice growing lower. "The cars, money, fame, attention…games attention…Masato?" he almost wished it were his friend. The real world was lonely without someone to joke around with.
Instead of the familiar "Wha's up?" his friend would have given him, a crippling shudder creased his spine. He could sense the spiritual pressure of something coming. It hadn't quite arrived yet, but he could tell when it did, it'd be strong. Very strong.
Reed wondered if the ryoka kid would be alright. He thought he'd heard 'Ichigo'. "Strawberry? Wait, what do I care?" he quickly shook off his anxiety; he was just a human, and kept walking on his way when he sensed a hollow. Ducking below an awning, he spied a medium-leveled hollow, spines sticking skyward out of its bony back, tongue tasting the air. It sniffed for a while, ever so slowly approaching Reed's hiding place, where he already had a Shakkahō forming in the palm of his hand. And just as the hollow shrieked at finding its prey, he let loose, not having time to recite the incantation before the hadō had exploded in a fiery red light, engulfing the hollow. When he opened his clenched eyes, it was gone.
"Wha..?" he stared at his palm. "How could I have…without the incantation..?" he looked up again, all around the area, as if to confirm he'd gotten rid of the hollow. Reed knew his gigai wasn't normal; his assignment was to enter the world of the living and to keep an eye on Ichigo, but first thing once arriving, he went to Kisuke Urahara, former captain of twelfth division and former third seat of second division.
"Ah, Hasami-san!" Urahara had exclaimed once Reed entered his shop. Reed paused abruptly. How did this man know his name?
"This some sort o' conspiracy or somethin'?" he inquired suspiciously. Urahara smiled and shrugged vaguely.
"Seems to me you're quite popular in the Soul Society?" he said, leaning back, hat and hair blocking his eyes. This only made him more suspicious to Reed, who sat across from him, a cup of tea before him on the table.
"Not as much as I'd like to think." He answered. "You Kisuke?"
"Hm? Why the first-name basis, Hasami?"
Reed twitched. "Urahara…"
"That would be me!" he said cheerily. It irked Reed how queer he was.
Reed unnecessarily cleared his throat. "I need a favor."
"What's that?" Urahara's eyes remained emotionless.
"Gigai. I wasn't given one when I came, so I need one."
"Why's that?' he asked. "You were sent here to do something for the Soul Society, correct?" Again, Reed nodded mostly to himself. "Then you should be fine. If you're tracking someone…then you won't need a gigai, will you?"
"How'd you know I was tracking someone?"
"Oh, the look on your face." He replied vaguely, waving his hand in dismissal. He stood, irking Reed. "Anyway, I'm actually out of gigais."
"Out?!" Reed stood as well, maintaining himself, despite being seven inches shorter than the man. "How can you be out?"
"Eh," he shrugged. "happens. Though I suppose I could check the back…" he said before disappearing. Reed grumbled and sat down. He recalled General Yamamoto making it clear to him to stay as far as possible from the ryoka. He couldn't help but be curious, and what harm could he do in being able to see him in a way that the ryoka could see him too? None, Reed concluded. Nothing at all could be done about his decision.
"A-ha!" Urahara appeared again with what appeared to be a gigai. "I found this beneath some old junk from way back." He brushed the dirt off and presented it to Reed, as though an expensive gift.
"You sure that thing is safe?" Reed's brows knitted together, his face reading, "The fuck are you smoking?" Urahara dipped his chin, his one visible eye gleaming. "Why don't you find out?"
Well, he'd finally figured out why it was in the back, hidden among Urahara's other inventions. "So…" he said, standing and feeling his gigai as if trying it out for the first time. "This is it? A gigai that doesn't limit a Soul Reapers powers. Of course…" he grumbled, groping for his zanpaku-tô. "It's still limited in some ways."
Curiosity growing inside his mind, he tested his shunpo. "Eh? Even shunpo? This thing's…" then another idea popped into his head. Why not fight someone? There had to be another Soul Reaper here. "Somewhere…" he breathed in deep. He was never good at sensing spiritual pressure; he was lucky to have found those two hollows. Trying in vain to find anything, he headed off in some direction. North or West, he really didn't care. Not until night did he finally stop to rest in a park. He'd searched everywhere and still couldn't find a single Shinigami. What was with this place? Sighing disappointment, Reed slumped against the base of a tree, letting sleep take over his lids. Huh. Even with this new gigai he still got tired.
"What to do, what to do…?" Reed's attention span was lacking the next day; one minute he was ready to clobber a hoard of fifth graders, the next he was looking for hollows, and currently he was just looking for something exciting to do. "Hey…how 'bout that, huh?" Reed spied between the trees and bushes…two men, one looking pale and emotionless, the other towering over him, about the same height as Sajin Komamura. Then he recognized it; the spiritual pressure that had nearly broken his spine the day before.
"Ha! I've been here a few times in a mask. The world of the living is such a bore."
"Stop complaining." The shorter, pale one replied to the large one. "I told you I could do this alone. You were the one who wanted to come along, Yammy."
'Yammy?' Reed snorted. 'What kind of name is that?' then, he noticed the human group approaching. They stared at the crater that Yammy had created, unaware their souls were about to be devoured by the brute. But wait… 'Isn't she…Tatsuki?!' Reed recognized the girl from the other day; the one who'd told him to "check in". Had she actually survived? Was her soul that strong? Reed wondered as Yammy approached her.
"Ulquiorra!" he called to his permanently straight-faced partner, "This the one?!"
He answered mercilessly, "Take a good look, idiot. Her soul's being crushed just by being close to you. She's garbage."
Despite feeling some sort of sympathy for the girl, Reed's heart couldn't help but speed up as Yammy lifted his leg to kick the girl's brains out. 'What am I feeling?' he shook himself mentally. 'I should be worried about her, but…' he looked up again. Yammy's attack had been blocked by Ichigo's friend, Chad. Reed recognized him, gritting his teeth at the ryoka. 'The hell?' he watched the events unfold; Chad's unusual right arm being shredded by Yammy's strength, Inoue's impressive shield, her Koten Zanshun*, Ichigo himself appearing to protect her, his strength, then Urahara and a female companion, Ulquiorra's and Yammy's departure…and through all of it, he couldn't help but grit his teeth when any of the ryoka survived a hit from one of them. Why was he suddenly feeling like this? Normally, he'd have been on at least Urahara's side, hoping the two arrancar* to be defeated. Lately he'd been feeling odd. Maybe this was just a side-effect from Urahara's elaborate gigai.
Reed hoped this was true, as he slowly closed his eyes, knowing that by what Ulquiorra had said meant that he could come into contact with Aizen again. That is, if he could meet with another arrancar first.
Sebbun : Hakkyou- Seven :Insanity/Madness
Gigai- artificial body that Shinigami use to remain in the world of the living for an extended period of time
Koten Zanshun- Orihime's attack ability; Lone God Slicing Shield
Arrancar- a hollow that has removed its mask and gained Shinigami-like powers
Holy shit. A lot of errors when I first uploaded this... Mfmh...I suppose I could say Reed's personality reflects my own. I personally favor the arrancars- not so much Aizen, actually- and just about anything else that goes against "the good guys." I kind of like the vizards but they ain't my favorite. Also: Review-Puppy is still hungry. He's very famished. Feed him, damn it.
