Chapter 8: Coalescing Droplets
*Please review. Seriously guys don't sit there like apathetic lumps. Let me know how I'm doing. I'm entering my story The Flaming Fox to a Fanfiction story contest on a site called Inkitt. You'll need to have an account to vote though... Just search for the story title and you should find it. You have until Oct. 21st. Wish me luck!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, just a few OCs.*
"What do you mean she's your sister? ! What the hell Uryu? !" Ichigo snapped.
"Shut up, Kurosaki! It's not like I've known!" Uryu hissed.
"What do you mean?" Orihime asked.
Naoko answered tersely, "He means that he didn't know about me or that we were related and the same goes for me. Of course, just because we didn't know doesn't mean anyone else didn't."
She looked pointedly at Urahara who was trying to nonchalantly hide behind his fan. Before he could defend himself a black shoe was kicked harshly into his face causing him to collapse.
Renji snickered, "Nice."
Tessai handed Naoko her shoe back, almost meekly, and then helped Urahara up. He was rubbing an impressive welt the small piece of footwear left.
"Touché Naoko. But I think that's enough excitement for now. We should be going though, Uryu needs to rest."
He and Tessai ushered them out the room. Once they were gone Uryu fell back onto the bed. He sighed and closed his eyes. Well... that went well. I wonder how Naoko will get along with the others.
Once out in the hall Ichigo studied Naoko with plain suspicion in his eyes. He doesn't trust me, Naoko observed. But I can't say I really trust him either.
"So who are you and what are you?" He asked.
"I'm Naoko Ishida."
"If you're really related to Uryu doesn't that make you a Quincy too?" Orihime asked.
Are you stupid or what? Of course it does! Naoko grit out, "Technically, yes."
"Technically?" Rukia murmured.
"So that means we have to protect you too. Great," Ichigo ran his hand through his hair in annoyance.
"No one's making you protect me. Besides, what makes you think I need your protection? Because judging by how well you protected my brother, I might be better off without your protection," Naoko argued.
The carrot-haired teen's eye twitched "Why you little..."
Rukia quickly intervened, "Do you think we could go somewhere to talk?"
"By talk do actually mean interrogate?"Naoko asked dryly.
Rukia smiled in a soft, friendly way, "Don't worry, I'm not going interrogate you like this idiot."
"Hey! I wasn't interrogating her!"
The younger girl looked at the shorter woman and seemed to be weighing her options. Finally, she said, "Alright."
"Tessai and I will be heading back to the shop; I take it the rest of you will be staying here?" Urahara asked.
The group went their separate ways with Rukia taking Naoko by the hand and leading her in the opposite direction down the hall. Naoko glanced out a large window they passed and noted the dark gray clouds in the distance. I hope it doesn't rain. I may be able to turn into a dog, but even I don't like the smell of wet dog. Once far enough away they sat down on a pair of hard plastic chairs.
"Thanks for stepping in like that. I think I would've ended up hitting him," Naoko said while running her hand through her hair.
Rukia smiled, "It's alright, and sometimes he does need to be hit or kicked once in a while. I know he can come off as brash and antagonizing, but he means well. Ichigo is just trying to protect his friends and as much as he and Uryu bicker, I know Ichigo sees him as a friend."
Naoko perked up, "My brother fights with him too?"
The other girl nodded, "Yeah, like cats and dogs sometimes. So you two really just met?"
She sighed, "Yeah, we did. Apparently, after our mom died, we were separated. We've been apart for almost fourteen years and now we've suddenly been reunited. It's really weird to say the least."
"I kind of know how you feel." Naoko looked at her and Rukia's smile turned into one that was sad and bitter. "Recently I found out I had a sister and that my adoptive brother is actually my brother-in-law. He adopted me because it was her dying wish. We were separated too, and she spent the rest of her life looking for me but died before she could find me. The ironic thing is I was found a year after she died. So we never got to meet."
"I'm sorry. That's... that's just horribly unfair," Naoko said quietly.
Rukia nodded, "It is but it's not all bad. I do have a brother and lately he's been talking to me more and taking more of an interest in me, which is great."
I wonder if my brother will be interested in me too. "You know once I got past the whole 'having been lied to my whole life' thing I think I'm actually kind of excited having a brother. It's always been me and my grandparents until my grandfather died, then it was me and grandma. Sometimes I dreamed what it would be like if my parents were alive and if I had any siblings. Now I have my chance to have that.
"I don't suppose there's anything you could tell me about my brother?"
Rukia shook her head, "Not really, I know he's really good at sewing and I think he's a strong Quincy, though I haven't met any until him so I can't be sure. You might want to talk to Ichigo or Orihime or Chad. They know him better than I do."
Naoko grimaced, "I was afraid you'd say that."
"Or better yet you can ask him yourself. He can be a nice guy, just start by asking questions and you'll get to know him."
The Quincy girl nodded. She hoped it would be as easy as Rukia was making it out to be.
"There's something I wanted to ask you Naoko. You said you were technically a Quincy. What did you mean by that?" Rukia asked.
The teen cringed, "I am a Quincy, it's just… my powers aren't exactly… normal. They're… deformed and stunted. I can feel them. I just have a really hard time using them. I struggle a lot to do even the basic stuff like forming my bow. I can see spirits, Soul Reapers, and Hollows. I can sense them too, but unfortunately that's as much as I can do."
She let out a humorless chuckle, "I guess you could say I'm the runt of the litter. A Quincy runt."
Rukia could somewhat relate to that. She was a good Soul Reaper and of average strength, but it was the fact that she was just average that made her feel inadequate especially when compared to her brother. She could tell that Uryu has strength as a Quincy and for Naoko to be compared to him…
"I don't think you're a runt Naoko. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I'm sure there's something you're good at that Uryu wouldn't be," Rukia reassured her.
Naoko thought about it and slowly nodded, "You might be right. I can turn into an animal, pretty sure my brother can't do that."
"How are you able to do that?"
"No idea. Urahara is still trying to puzzle that one out."
Two boys shrouded in darkness watched and waited.
"So that's them? They look just like that woman."
"They do indeed. I wonder if they'll try and fight like she did."
"Only one way to find out and even if they do try and fight I highly doubt they'll succeed."
"Unlike us."
"Yes, we know what failure will mean."
"Pity Mabashi didn't."
"You're right."
Drip…
Drip…
Drip…
Naoko winced at every drip that echoed through the small room. She quietly sat on the floor at the foot of her brother's bed while Ichigo and Rukia sat on either side of him. She felt calm, but, waiting for the Bounts to attack again was making her apprehensive. But that damn dripping was slowly breaking that calm and really starting to piss her off. And she wasn't the only one.
"I can't take it anymore!" Rukia shouted as she stamped her foot.
Ichigo and Naoko watched her get up and stomp over to the leaky faucet. She tried turning the handle one way, then the other to try and stop it from leaking. Ichigo rolled his eyes and got up to.
"Here, let me do it."
"I can do it myself!"
"You're terrible when it comes to stuff like this just let me do it!"
Naoko looked at them with a dry, deadpan look. They're fighting like an old married couple. They keep this up they're going to wake up my brother.
Too late Uryu stirred. He propped himself up on his arm and slipped his glasses on. "What the hell are you two fighting about?"
"Nice going Rukia."
"Me? ! It was your shouting that woke him up!"
Naoko stood up and looked at Uryu, "Are they always like this?"
"To the best of my knowledge."
The younger Quincy looked back at the bickering Soul Reapers, "Knock it off you two. You might break it."
"We will not we're just trying to— Oh!" Rukia yelped.
The water from the faucet went from dripping to steadily streaming and now it was quickly filling up the sink.
"Quick, find something to catch the water!" Ichigo ordered.
"Like what? !" Rukia snapped.
"I don't a cup or a bucket or just something!"
Naoko was about to move to grab something when someone beat her to it. Renji had grabbed a bucket and placed it under the sink just as the water started to overflow.
"Renji, where did you come from?" Ichigo asked once he noticed the redhead.
"We could hear you two fighting all the way down the hall," the Soul Reaper said.
"I found a bigger one," Orihime chirped as she held up a larger bucket.
"Wow, thanks Orihime," said Ichigo.
The auburn haired girl blushed at the compliment and Naoko rolled her eyes. But really, what's causing this? Did a pipe burst or something?
Naoko's ears caught the sound of quiet gurgling coming from the small bathroom. Orihime caught it took. She looked at where the sound was coming from.
"Hey… do you guys hear that?"
The teen slowly reached for the door handle and pulled the door aside. A large wave of water sloshed out into the room and flooded the place with a good inch of water.
Naoko jumped onto the bed like a cat trying to avoid water, "What the hell is going on here? !"
The water seemed to flow faster out of the sink faucet and shower head. Suddenly the water reared up and coalesced into some kind of snakelike body.
"What the hell is that?" Ichigo gasped.
The water creature then dove for Uryu and encased him in water. Naoko quickly leapt off the bed, "Brother!"
How the hell do you fight something made of water? ! She thought, panicking. He's going to drown!
"He's going to drown," Orihime cried out.
Chad tried to reach in and pull Uryu out but a thick tendril of water shot out and threw him against the wall.
"Damn it," Ichigo growled. He pulled out his badge and pressed it to his chest. His spirit form leapt from his body. He pulled out the huge sword that hung on his back, the layers of bandages unraveling as he did so.
Is that really his zanpakutou? It looks a little… weird. Is it supposed to be that big or his compensating for something? Naoko thought.
"Hold on Uryu," Ichigo slashed at the water cocoon and was able to break it apart though the sword came a little too close for Uryu's comfort.
The little puddles of water twitched and squirmed on the floor. The way they moved made them seem alive or sentient even.
"Do you think this is the Bounts doing?" Renji asked.
"I'm not sure. But I really think we should get out of this room before we find out," said Rukia.
They filed out quickly with Uryu on Chad's back and Naoko brings up the rear.
"Quickly close the door," Rukia ordered.
But before Naoko could a tendril of water shot out and seized her ankle. The Quincy fell to the ground and the creature started to pull her back in. Renji grabbed Naoko's arms and pulled her while the creature pulled back, creating a twisted game of tug-of-war.
"Let go," Renji growled as pulled Naoko harder.
When he did Naoko felt something (and she swore she heard it too) snap in her ankle. She let out a yelp of pain.
"Damn it," Rukia swore and threw a quick Kido spell at it.
The water evaporated causing both Renji and Naoko to fall backwards. Rukia slammed the door shut and Renji scooped up Naoko. The group quickly ran down the hall. But when they ran they didn't notice the water seeping out from under the door.
"You okay?" Renji asked.
"I'm pretty sure my ankle is broken, so no I'm not," Naoko replied.
They ran to the end of the corridor only to stop and face two young looking twin boys. One boy with hair framing his face wore a white cap while the other had shorter hair and a red cap.
"Hello there," the boys said in unison.
"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo growled.
"That's quite rude."
"At least he gets right to the point."
Uryu stiffened and narrowed his eyes. Naoko tightened her hold on Renji. These boys weren't normal, that much she could tell. It felt disconcerting that these kids might be Bounts.
"That's true, but still. Shall we kill two birds with one stone by teaching them some manners and capturing our targets?"
A pool of water began to form underneath their feet. Naoko no longer held any suspicion, these kids really were Bounts.
"Indeed, we shall. What a brilliant idea," the short haired boy said. He unscrewed the cap of his bottle of water and dropped it into the water on the floor. "Ghoul."
The other boy did the same, "Günter."
The same strange water creatures rose up from the puddles
"Now go say hello to our new friends," the boys said in unison.
*Still good? You guys still liking it? Please review. I'll post again Oct. 23rd.*