Hey guys! Just a heads up the first half of this chapter is going to be in third person because that was the easiest way to write what happens. But then it switches to first person. Sorry for any confusion. Also the rating of this story ahs changed because I realized I wanted to take this story to another level and in a different direction. Hope all enjoy!
It was a normal sunny day in Karakura town. Renji and Rukia were on patrol while Ichigo was at school. It had been a few years since they had all started working together to keep the World of the Living safe from Aizen. While most of the Shinigami that were on patrol were to keep their eyes peeled for any hollows or Arrancars, Renji always kept his eyes looking for her.
It had been five years since she had left the Soul Society. Whatever the reason she had fled the safety of the palace, Renji still didn't understand. She knew that she would have been safer had she stayed. Her running away, both from her duties and from him, left him feeling lost sometimes. He hoped that one day he would get a chance to ask her why. But for now he had to settle for simply doing his job.
Suddenly the Hollow Scanner that Rukia carried went off alerting them to the presence of a hollow in the vicinity. Renji waited patiently while Rukia figured out which direction they needed to go. If there was one thing he had learned in the last five years searching for her, it was patience.
"It's coming from the direction of Ichigo's school," Rukia told him. With that they headed off.
Due to some of Ichigo's most recent injuries he wasn't at school that day, so they were in charge of making sure that nothing too crazy happened. Within a few minutes they arrived at the soccer fields near Ichigo's school. That was when they noticed a small thin figure dressed in all black fighting the hollow. From their position they couldn't see the person's face but could tell that they were wearing a mask that hid most of the face, leaving only the eye area visible.
They watched as the unknown figure battled the hollow. The movements were fluid as if they had been doing this for a long time. Just by watching both Rukia and Renji could tell that this person had had training. The unique thing about the person fighting was the fact that they carried four different swords. Two were crossed on the back like a giant X. A third was held at the small of the persons back, the sheath empty. The fourth and final sword was also sheathed on the persons back going down straight through the X. Neither Rukia nor Renji could recognize who the person was.
Suddenly the figure jumped back away from the hollow. The person had already been using the one sword when they had shown up, but in the blink of an eye everything changed.
"Whirl, Flying Spirit" the figure yelled. There was a blinding light and the small sword, or wakizashi, that the figure had been holding was suddenly almost half a foot longer seemingly emanating a white light from within. The figure lifted the sword above their head and brought it down onto the head of the hollow effectively killing it.
Rukia and Renji watched from a distance as this all transpired. When Renji heard the name of the sword, his heart started pounding loudly in his chest. In his mind he felt that he was seeing a ghost. As the figure sheathed the now normal short sword, he jumped down near the person, standing in front of them, causing them to put a hand on the sword hilt that was behind their head. The height of the person was the same as he remembered from the last time he had seen her, if only an inch or two taller. The shape of the body was different. This person had a well-defined muscle tone, easily seen with the black outfit they were wearing.
Renji was in shock. He couldn't believe what was standing right in front of him. He had to know it was her. He had to see her face, hear her voice to know if what he was seeing was real. At that moment Rukia joined him, hand on her own blade. "Renji, who is this person," she asked.
Renji couldn't answer her. His entire being was focused on the reaction the masked figure in front of him had shown with her eyes. While at first they had been wary and suspicious, they now held a look of fear and recognition as they slowly backed away.
"Arina, is that you," he whispered.
The figure didn't answer, simply turning and running away quickly vanishing from sight. Renji paused but just for a moment before chasing after them, Rukia not far behind. Rukia was lost as to why Renji had suddenly chased after this unknown person.
The figure thought they could get away from their pursuer, but their legs were much shorter than Renji's and had to use small amounts of their spiritual pressure to try and increase their speed. Renji did the same, using his longer legs to get closer to the masked figure. Just as he was about to grab the arm of the person, they jumped up into the air, only to be met with the face of Rukia. The figure tried moving to the left but Renji appeared suddenly blocking that path. The masked person allowed their spiritual pressure drop which let them fall back to the ground and start running again.
"Damn, it," Renji yelled quickly hurrying after the unknown person. He knew it was Arina. She was the only person he knew that carried Flying Spirit.
Renji and Rukia fell back, masking their spiritual pressure, allowing the unknown figure to think that they had escaped pursuit. They followed behind at a safe enough distance that the figure couldn't see them, but still close enough that they wouldn't lose sight of their prey. Their plan worked. Within a half an hour the masked figure had stopped in an alley to catch their breath. That was when Rukia and Renji agreed to make their move. Orders or not, this figure had Shinigami training and carried at least one zanpaku-to for sure.
Renji was about to charge in and attack again when Rukia stopped him. "Renji, who is this person? You freaked out when they used that zanpaku-to," she said.
Renji sighed. "If it's who I think it is, her name is Princess Arina, heir to the throne of the Soul Society. If it really is her, at least three of those blades are fully-fledged zanpaku-to. There's Flying Spirit a wakizashi. Then there's Ayame and Hiroshi, the wolf twins of life and death, carried in the form of nodachi."
"How do you know all this," Rukia asked in shock. No one had seen the princess in five years.
"I can tell you all about that later Rukia. For now, just help me catch her," Renji answered.
Rukia nodded. By now their 'prey' had sat down on the ground in the alley, the mask on the face only removed from their nose. Looking closely, Rukia could see that the person was shaking, whether from extreme loss of spiritual pressure or from fear she couldn't tell.
Rukia went down into the alley first. Her job was to get the masked person to run in the direction of Renji who was supposed to be ready with a trap. The stronger the person's spiritual pressure, the stronger the trap works. It was a new toy that Urahara had built. Once Rukia was in the alley she slowly started to release her spiritual pressure. Instantly the masked figure stood up while fixing he mask. The figure kept an eye on her while carefully scanning the rest of the alley, trying to figure out a way to escape. In the blink of an eye the masked figure started to run down to the other end of the alley way. Suddenly, Renji dropped down in her path unleashing all of his spiritual pressure to try and slow down the figure. Instead the figure, jumped up into the air trying to use that as an escape route. Renji, while surprised, reacted instantly and grabbed the persons ankle, trying to pull them back down. The masked figure released a small burst of spiritual pressure from their ankle causing Renji to let go.
The masked figure was almost out of the alley way when they ran into the trap that Renji had set up. It shocked the figure and caused them to fall back to ground. The person recovered quickly rolling away from Renji and putting their back to one of the walls of the alley. They rolled into a kneeling position, one hand staying on the ground to keep balance, the other going to the sword hilt behind their head.
Renji was first to arrive near the unknown person. Rukia showed up next. Neither had their swords drawn but Rukia was ready should the need arise.
"Look we don't want to hurt you," Renji stated. "We just want to know who you are."
The masked figure looked from Renji to Rukia and then back to Renji. Slowly, the person moved her hand away from the sword hilt and stood up. Rukia moved her hand away as well but stayed alert, not knowing what the person in front of her was going to do.
"Please," Renji continued. "Just remove your mask. If we don't know who you are, we'll let you go."
That was when the masked figure spoke. "And if you know who I am, Renji Abarai," the female voice asked.
Rukia and the unknown female both noticed that Renji's eyes went wide. Rukia could tell just by the Renji's reaction to the voice that he knew who it was.
"We can work something out," Rukia said, helping to bring Renji back down to earth.
The masked female sighed but her stance didn't change in the slightest. "I'm just going to remove my mask, so please don't attack." The girl then reached up and pulled her mask off.
(Now I'm switching back to first person.)
Renji cried out quietly, but still loud enough for both Rukia, and myself to hear him. I stood there holding the mask in my left hand, leaning against the wall of the alley, and hanging my head. I could tell that the last five years had caused Renji so much pain, and I couldn't bear to look at him. Not with the cry of despair that I had just heard come from him.
For a while, nothing happened. I slid down so that I was sitting on the ground of the alley again. Renji still hadn't said anything to me, nor had the girl with him. She looked familiar, but after five years of being away from the Soul Society, I couldn't place where I had met her before. I still couldn't look at Renji. I was afraid to. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice Renji walk up to me and lift me up against the wall by the collar on my stealth outfit, using both hands. Still, I did not look at him.
"Look at me," he said quietly.
Still, I couldn't look at him. I was afraid to. I was scared to see the look on his face. He let go of the collar on my shirt with his left hand and used it to pull my face toward his by grabbing gently onto my chin. "Look at me," he said again, a bit softer this time.
I did. The first thing I noticed was that he had grown slightly taller. His cut widow's peak was more defined. There were scars on him that hadn't been there the last time I saw him. There were also tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over. I'd never seen him cry before.
"Is it really you," he whispered still holding onto my chin. His grip on my shirt tightened, as if I might vanish right in front of him.
I nodded and in an instant I was pulled into a bone crushing hug. For a moment, I was afraid that I had made the wrong choice by revealing who I was to the two Shinigami that had found me. But then, all the old memories I had of spending time at Renji's home came rushing back to me. I slowly brought my arms up around Renji's neck and hugged him back. I could feel his warm tears making their way down the back of my shirt. Soon enough I started crying too. All the frustrations we had both been through over the last five years suddenly came crashing down on us. I had left the man I loved behind in the Soul Society with no indication if I would ever come home. He had had to deal with the fallout, finding out I was missing while in the hospital.
"I'm sorry," I whispered into his ear. He only hugged me tighter.
For a few moments, neither of us moved, allowing everything we had felt over the last five years to be shared with the other person in that single bone crushing hug. I knew it wouldn't fix what I had done, but I hoped it would be a start in the right direction.
Then we heard clapping coming from above us on one of the rooftops. Renji let me out of the hug but didn't let go of my arm. He was afraid I would disappear on him again. I couldn't blame him, not with what I had done. The three of us in the alley looked up and watched as a man in a dark colored coat with a white diamond pattern along the bottom. It looked like an inverted version of the captain haori robes. I hadn't seen a captain from the Gotei 13 in five years, who was I to know if the uniforms had changed. The rest of his outfit consisted of a dark green shirt with pants. The man was wearing wooden sandals called geta and white and green striped hat. I could feel Renji relax as he recognized the person that had just arrived. I on the other hand started to try and wriggle my way out of Renji's hold on my arm. If this was a captain of the Gotei 13 I had to get away. I wasn't ready to go back to the Soul Society yet. I still had unfinished business.
"What do you have there, Renji," the man asked snapping out a fan, and using it to fan himself.
"Urahara. What are you doing here," Renji asked avoiding the question. He could feel me trying to pry his hand off of my arm and only held on tighter.
"I asked first Renji," he replied, turning to the female companion that had chased after me with Renji. "Who is she Rukia?"
I stilled. I knew who she was now. She was one of Renji's best friends growing up that had been adopted by the Kuchiki family not long after starting to attend the academy.
Rukia looked at renji before turning back to the new comer. "Her name is Arina, princess of the Soul Society," she answered.
The man froze. "Impossible," he stated walking closer towards Renji and I.
I started struggling harder against Renji. "Let me go Renji," I said. I started pulling against his hold trying to get away.
"Relax, Arina. He won't hurt you. Calm down," Renji replied trying to pull me to him.
"He's right, little spirit. I'm a friend here, not an enemy," the man named Urahara stated. I
I stilled. I hadn't heard that nickname since I was 5 years old. I took a closer look at the man as he stopped a few inches away from where Renji and I were standing. I thought back to a time when I first started showing signs of being given larger than normal amounts of spiritual pressure. A representative from the newly formed Shinigami Research and Development Institute. The representative had been a man named Kisuke, with a somewhat nervous disposition. The more I recalled from the day they did the tests on me, the more I recognized the man in front of me. To my six year old self, the tests were scary and Kisuke had been there the whole time making sure I wasn't alone. I finally got Renji to let go of my arm. I bowed to the man in an apology.
"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you right away," I said still staying close to Renji, ready to run if necessary. I still didn't know if this man was a captain from the Gotei 13 or not and I wasn't about to risk being taken back against my will.
"It's fine little spirit. It's been fourteen years since I last saw you," he replied taking a small step forward and closing his fan.
To Urahara there was only one way to make sure that the girl standing in front of him was truly the girl whose power he had helped to seal away all those years ago. A small freckle on her forehead held the key to that answer. He just had to press it for a second to see the intricate pattern that would cover her body. She had no recollection of that day at the Institute. Per her father's request of course. But getting her to trust him after being on the run for five years was going to take time. Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Are you going to let me leave or do I need to fight my way out of here," I asked my body still tense.
Urahara laughed. "I'm not going to do anything other than offer you a place to rest, little spirit. Your friends here might have different order. I don't belong to the Soul Society anymore."
I turned to Renji, a questioning look on my face. I didn't want to fight him. There was too great a chance that I would hurt him if I did, and I wasn't in the mood for fighting either.
"Your safest bet is to go with Urahara," he said.
"But, Renji…," Rukia said.
Renji turned to her, a stern look on his face. "No Rukia. She has explaining to do. I can't get the answers I need if we take her back to the Soul Society."
Rukia bit her lip not liking the answer that Renji had given. She followed the rules most of the time. And when it came to the princess, she felt that no risks should be taken. However, it was Urahara's words that seemed to make the most sense to her.
"Renji is right Rukia. With everything going on with Aizen right now, taking her back to the Soul Society would only alert him that she's been found. It could cause a full on frontal assault that we just aren't ready for yet."
Rukia nodded, accepting this explanation. She still had questions but was willing to wait to have them answered.
"So now what," I asked falling to the ground. I had been up for almost two days straight. I was exhausted. While I still had lots of spiritual pressure in reserves, I was still a Shinigami that needed to rest.
Renji crouched down next to me looking me over for scratches and cuts. He could feel her exhaustion both physical and emotional emanating from her. "We'll take you back to Urahara's shop. You'll be safe there. After you've rested you and I have a lot of talking to do."
I nodded, knowing that there was no way I was going to get out of that one.
"Looks like some things never change," Urahara spoke up. "I remember the first time I heard that the two of you had gotten into a fight about a small scratch she had received at the academy. If memory serves correct, Renji almost attacked your teacher for that one."
Renji chuckled and I smiled. That had happened about the third week after I started going to the Academy. My family had been okay with what had happened, they knew and understood the risks of going to the academy. But Renji had lost his mind.
Renji held out a hand to me to help pull me to my feet. "Let's get you some tea and rest," he said.
I nodded, grateful for a chance to finally relax, knowing that Renji would never let harm come to me.
"There's just one small thing I need to do before we head back," Urahara said coming to stand in front of me.
"What's that," Renji asked.
"Oh nothing much. Just a small…poke,"Urahara answered reaching out to my face.
On instinct I pulled away. But Urahara was faster than I was. He quickly used his other hand to reach behind my head and hold me still, while instantly poking at my forehead.
There was a bright light. I heard Renji yell at Urahara. Then everything went black.
