I felt it again. The Eternal Darkness swirling around me, smothering me...
"Help me... Please, someone!" I called.
That hand was over my own once again, and warmth flooded my body. Beautiful aqua eyes stared into my hazel ones, and I gaped.
"Who are you? You were here last time, too!" I said.
I woke up in a futon, in a tatami room. I sat up, holding the blanket close. Wherever I was, it was winter. I saw Miranda in the futon next to me, and Alphonse a little further away.
A boy wearing the black kimono came in, carrying a tray of medicine. He had short black hair, a few inches above his shoulders, and his blue eyes were shy, introverted. He walked tentatively, and kept his head low. "O-Oh! You're up! Hell-OOH!" He said, tripping over nothing in particular.
"Um... hello!" I said, smiling.
"M-my name is Yamada Hanatarou. If you need anything, just call me, okay? I'll be right here!" He said happily.
"Thanks alot, Hanatarou-kun. Do you know a boy named Hitsugaya Toushiro?" I asked, remembering my first visit to the Soul Society.
"Th-the tenth division captain?! Yes, I know him, but... how do you?" He stuttered.
"I've been here before... tell him Hayley needs to see him." I said.
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Hanatarou said, running towards the Tenth Division Barracks.
Destiny curled up on my lap and shut her eyes, going to sleep. I closed my eyes as well, but for concentration. Who was that... holding my hand? And why do I only see him on the way to Soul Society...? I was confused. I looked over at Miranda and Alphonse. Was I the only one who saw the beautiful eyes, who felt the warmth of the hand on mine?
Destiny shifted positions, snapping my out of my thoughts. I reached down and petted her soft fur, comforting her.
"U-uh, M-Miss Elric...?" Hanatarou stuttered.
"Oh, please, call me Haydn." I said. "We're friends."
"Y-yes ma'am."
"Drop the Ma'am."
"Yes M- I mean, okay." He finally said. "The captain will be with you momentarily."
"Thanks, Hana!" I said.
"You're ... welcome?" He said, confused.
"...what?" I asked.
"Are you sane?" He asked me.
"Yes, I am PERFECTLY... why?" I asked.
"No one's really that nice to me, 'cept Ichigo and Ganju. The Captains are nice, but that's another story." He said.
Now that I noticed, a nice, round, fist-shaped bruise was forming over his eye.
"Is that why you took so long?" I asked.
"I-I'm sorry!" He exclaimed.
"It's nothing to apologize about, it's not your fault." I said, a little surprised. "Why are you apologizing? You don't need to."
"But it IS my fault!" He said.
"How is that?" I asked.
"Because... because I'm me." He said sadly.
"They pick on you... for being you?" I said, utterly shocked.
"For EVERYTHING!" He exclaimed. "I'm clumsy, I'm stupid, I'm slow, and I'm in the way!"
"They... they're not the kinda people I'd be hanging around." I said. "If that's what they do in their spare time, then they need a hobby. Really."
"Picking on me is their hobby." Hana said, sighing.
"If they're doing stuff like this..." I said, running my fingers over the bruise over his eye. "... then it's a lot more than just picking on you. Why don't you stand up for yourself?"
"...I'm weak. I'm seventh seat, in the fourth division. I heal people, I can't do any damage. If I even try, they'd break my arms." He said.
"...Hana..." I began, standing up. "These people... they're lower ranked than you?"
"Well, most of them are, Ikkaku and Yumichika-"
"Then stand up for yourself! Fight back! There's nothing to be afraid of! You're higher rank, you have authority over them. If they start picking on you, tell them to stop! If they don't, report them to their captain, I'm SURE the CAPTAIN will punish them!" I exclaimed. "Stop standing around, stand up for yourself, Hana! For yourself, for others like you, and... for me... I HATE seeing my friends get hurt... so please do it. For me." I finished.
"B-but... I can't..."
His answer enraged me, and I lifted my hand to strike him myself. But I saw how he cowered, how he hid behind his hands and hunched over to protect himself, and instead hugged him.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"...Should I leave you two alone?" came a voice from the doorway.
"Captain Hitsugaya!" Hanatarou and I exclaimed in unison.
"'Bout time, Toshiro." I said.
"Don't call me that!" He snapped.
"Can I call ya' Shiro?" I asked.
"HELL NO!" He yelled.
I chuckled. "Shiro it is, then."
He muttered something incoherently under his breath and sat on the futon next to me. "What are you doing back in the Seireitei?"
"Blame the Mayoke." I said, pointing to the amulet on my neck.
"Ah." He said. "Been a year already, and you still have absolutely no control over it, huh?" He said.
"Well..." I began. "In the last world we were in... I boy I met had been mortally wounded... then this weird, pure light surrounded us, and a white wolf appeared and healed him. When he woke up, we were in the real world again." I said. "Does... does that have anything to do with the Mayoke?"
Hitsugaya stared at me in shock. "You... awakened the spirit inside the Mayoke." He exclaimed. "Only high-level Soul Reapers can do that!"
Miranda shifted in her sleep. "Soul...rapers..." She muttered.
I laughed. "REAPERS, Miranda, not rapers." I muttered to myself.
"She's strange." Hitsugaya said.
"You have NO idea. " I said.
"I can imagine." Hitsugaya mumbled. "That's not the point here. I'm..." He paused, a guilty look on his face. "I'm sending you to the Twelfth Division for analysis. Either you're another Kurosaki, or... something else..." He said. "I'll contact Captain Kurotsuchi immediately."
"Oh!" Hanatarou interjected. "Captain, please, allow me!"
"...Alright. Be careful passing the Eleventh Division." Hitsugaya said.
"...You heard all that?" Hanatarou asked, a look of slight shame on his face.
"Yes. You should have reported to your Captain as soon as it started." Hitsugaya said sternly.
"I would have, but... I don't want to be a burden. Really, it's okay." Hanatarou said, walking out the sliding door entrance. "Be back soon."
Hitsugaya hung his head. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" I asked.
"Kurotsuchi... isn't a very RESPONSIBLE scientist. He's known to do some pretty cruel things to his test subjects." Hitsugaya said. "Let me know if he does anything out of line. I'll whoop his ass in a minute flat."
I laughed. "Thanks, Captain."
"What happened to Shiro?" He asked.
"You WANT me to call you Shiro?" I asked deviously.
"...No thanks." He said.
A girl with long, black, braided hair walked in, her Shihakusho forming a short skirt instead of the usual hakama pants.
"Miss Elric?" she asked, looking at me.
"Haydn, please. May I know your name?" I asked.
"Kurotsuchi Nemu, vice-captain of the Twelfth Division. My captain has sent me to fetch you." She said, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry."
"Vice-Captain." Hitsugaya said. "Tell your captain that if he does anything cruel, unusual or out of line to Haydn, then he'll have to answer to me." He growled. "And he will NOT like it."
"I'll deliver your message, Captain Hitsugaya." She said. Then, she turned to me. "Please come with me."
Hitsugaya looked at me. "Be careful." He mouthed as I walked out of the building.
"So... Miss Nemu, is it?" I asked. "When this is over, you wanna be friends?" I asked.
She stopped walking and looked at me in pure shock. Then, a genuine smile spread across her face. "Sure." She said.
"AAHH! Ikkaku, stop, please!" I heard Hanatarou cry.
"If you'll excuse me for JUST a moment, I'll be right back..." I said, running in the direction of the scream. I saw a bald man gripping Hanatarou by his hair, and swinging him around. I began to run, then leaped into the air and delivered a flying kick to the side of the bald man's head, effectively knocking him about ten feet away from Hanatarou.
"Son of a... WHO DID THAT?!" He howled.
Laughter came from behind me, and I turned to see a handsome man with black hair, in a bowl cut, with feathers attached to his eyelashed. "She GOT you, Ikkaku! She's not even a Soul Re-" The man stopped laughing. "...you're not a Soul Reaper... who are you, and why are you in the Seireitei?"
"Long story. I'd appreciate it if you'd back off my friend." I said, glaring at the two.
"Why should we do that?" Ikkaku said, lifting me by the back of my shirt. "Little Brat."
I clenched my fists. "You just made two big mistakes, Baldy." I said.
"Wha?!"
"First... you beat up my friend... and second..." I swung my foot around and kicked Ikkaku in the side of the face, knocking him away from me and into a wall. His friend dove for me and I jumped, stomping on his head and pushing his face into the ground. "You SERIOUSLY underestimated me." I said, getting off the black-haired man to help Hanatarou up.
"Haydn!" He cheered. "That was AMAZING!"
"My brothers taught me self-defense." I said. "You'd better be heading back to your division."
"I have a feeling we'll be seeing those two later..." He muttered, walking back to the Fourth Division.
Nemu walked up. "Wow, Miss Elric, that was really something."
"I told ya', call me Haydn." I said. "We'd better get going."
"Yes." Nemu said. "The Captain isn't patient, and has a bad temper on him. It could be a deadly mistake to get him angry."
I shuddered and followed Nemu to the Twelfth Division.
The next two weeks were a living hell.
Scalpels, knifes, pills and needles poked and prodded, with only pain killers to ease the pain. No anesthetics, no, they needed me awake during surgeries. I was terrified. Nemu would help to comfort me, and she only helped with the surgeries once, and she was very gentle. Finally, it was over.
"Nemu, report our findings to the Tenth Captain immediately." Captain Kurotsuchi ordered. "Make haste!" He turned to me. "How do you feel?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" I asked.
He cackled maniacally and walked away. Hitsugaya rushed in.
"You're... a Soul Reaper?!" He exclaimed. "How... why didn't you tell me?!"
"Hell, I didn't know I was a Soul Reaper!" I exclaimed. "According to Captain Kurotsuchi, I was sent on a mission to the world of the living, but was given a defective gigai. It drained my reiatsu, and I was trapped in the mortal body. Then I fell, hit my head and lost all my memories." I said.
"Were you a seated officer?" Hitsugaya asked.
"I don't know!" I said. "You think I know any of this?!" I said. "I know the sword's name. That's it."
"What is it? And do you know it's abilities? Do you know Shikai?" He demanded.
"...do I know what?" I asked, confused.
"Well, that answers THAT question." Hitsugaya mumbled.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, I'm here to pick up my test re-" A feminine voice rang out. The girl stopped speaking, and I turned to look at her.
There, in the doorway, stood Miranda's sister, Kirby.