A/N: A special thanks goes to BethxAngel and mankey for becoming a follower to this story. Another special thanks goes to AnimeFrkGrl for the wonderful review. It is greatly appreciated. I look forward to what you all think moving forward. Onto number two.
Chapter 2:
What Once Was Hidden
"Are you alright?" The man asked, slightly turning his head to look at me. His hair fell into his dark Grey eyes. He had three scars running down his right eye down to his cheek. It had obviously been a battle scar.
"Ye…Yes…" I answered softly, trying not to let the fear linger in my voice.
He narrowed his eyes and pushed back swiftly with his blade, creating separation between himself and the hollow in front of him. Somehow I felt like this one was different than the one Ichigo had defeated earlier on. "Shūhei!" Ichigo shouted from the ground.
They briefly made eyes contact before the man that stood between me and the hollow charged into action. The sounds of clashing weapons was deafening. I didn't understand what exactly I was seeing. Were such warriors a reality that no one knew about? He was defending me without ever knowing who I was. He was a complete stranger to me.
Forcing myself to take steps back, I found myself behind Ichigo once more. He turned to look at the fear that was clearly on my face. "Don't worry, he's a good guy." Ichigo stated, trying to give me some comfort knowing that I was scared as hell.
"How is any of this good?" I whispered, unable to tear my eyes away from the scene above us.
No one said a word. We all stood and watched and Shūhei slice through the hollow in one swing of his sword. A sense of relief washed over me until the sky was ripped open once again, only this time there were dozens of hollows appearing through the open void.
Ichigo's eyes widened in horror. He took steps back and placed the same device to his chest. His body collapsed behind a tree with Orihime guarding. He instantly leapt into the sky and stood at Shūhei's back.
"What is going on?" Ichigo asked.
"They want the girl. It's the reason I was sent to the World of the Living in the first place."
So they were after me? What could they possibly want with me? I just a normal school girl, or at least I was up until three years ago. My fifteenth birthday couldn't have gone more wrong. It was the day the world around me changed and I could see things that no one else could. I was bullied and labeled crazy. My family tried to ignore all the changes they saw within me; but they couldn't when I come home crying almost everyday because I got beat up again for telling people what I was seeing.
Burning tears stung the corners of my eyes with all the memories flooding back all at once. There was no way I was going to let these people get killed because of me. Anger surged through my entire body, creating a fiery aura around me.
"Taya…" Orihime called.
Ignoring her call, I appeared next to Ichigo and the newcomer. The hollows all begun to salivate at the sight of me. "Taya, get back. They will not be getting your soul." Ichigo stated, placing a hand in front of me.
"There is no reason for you both to die for my sake. They are after me! Save yourselves and let me go!" I shouted.
"Don't be stupid. This is a Soul Reaper's job. We protect souls from the hollows and help the move forward in life." Shūhei explained.
He fully turned to look at me. There was a blue stripe tattoo across his nose and the number '69' tattooed to his left cheek. The wind whipped through his hair, allowing me to see the genuine nature of his words. Without blinking an eye, he pushed me and I started to fall to the ground just as the hollows dove to attack.
"NO!" I screamed, releasing all the anger I had been building up all at once.
The flames scattered and engulfed the hollows whole. I forced myself to stop falling and stand up straight, narrowing my eyes at the enemy at hand. There was no way for me to explain the flames that had been brought about by me. I had no answer to that; but once the smoke cleared, I could see that Ichigo and Shūhei were the only two standing. The hollows were now gone and that made me happy.
My eyes started to roll back to my head. I felt weak and unable to keep my stance. My body was falling. "Taya!" Ichigo shouted.
In a flash, I was caught in the arms of Shūhei. His eyes connected with mine for a fleeting moment until I fully went unconscious.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Shūhei
"Might want to tell me just what the hell is going on and why all those damn hollows want Taya so badly." Ichigo demanded, dropping back down to the ground.
I gently laid the unconscious girl in my arms against the tree that Ichigo's body was leaning against. Turning my head to look at the substitute soul reaper in the eye, I could see his frustration about the entire situation radiating in his eyes. Hell, I would be frustrated if I was in his shoes. "The Department of Research and Development discovered a human with immense spiritual energy. It's something pretty rare from what I understand. It was believed that he or she would a beacon for hollows everywhere he or she went. It seems like that was accurate."
"I didn't even notice anything different about her today…"
"We all know you aren't exactly great at detecting these kinds of things." Uryū commented, sliding his glasses back up the bridge of his nose with a single finger.
"How is it that she's a soul? I was under the impression that she was a human." I asked, oblivious to the commotion behind me until Chad pointed to the large crowd.
"I failed to safe her when a hollow attacked after school." Ichigo answered solemnly. He obviously blamed himself for her death.
From what I was told by Captian Hitsugaya, the Squad Leader of the tenth division in the Soul Society, the human in question resided in Naruki City. It was part of the tenth's division jurisdiction and Karakura was the thirteenth division jurisdiction it was their job to watch over the events that happened there; however, this time was different. Both squads were busy with other assignments, so my Captain asked me to handle the situation. I had no problems with doing the job; but now that she was a soul, I had no idea what to do next.
"Unfortunately, we can not protect every person from hollows no matter how much we want to. I need to contact to the Soul Society to see what the next step should be."
Starting to walk deeper into the park, away from Ichigo's group, I pulled out a small communication device. Pushing the small black button in the center, someone immediately responded to the call. "Yes, Lieutenant Hisagi…what do you need?" The male voice asked.
"The human in question has been killed. She is now a soul with a broken soul chain. How should I proceed with the mission?"
There was muffled voices. They were probably explaining the situation to people more suited to answer my question. I started pacing along the sidewalk until someone started talking once more. "Perform a konsō on the soul. The soul will be sent to the Soul Society after that we will do our best to locate the soul after that."
"Understood."
The next step was clear; but the step after wasn't so much. Sending her to the Soul Society was probably the best option; but I didn't know what they had in mind for her once she got there. Even in death, she had immense spiritual energy. That was a dangerous weapon no matter how you look at it. It needed to be controlled. Perhaps, they were going to send her to the Soul Reaper Academy.
Walking back to where Ichigo and the others were standing, I looked down to see the girl start to stir. She slowly started to open her vibrant blue eyes. The Sakura pink color of her hair was the perfect contrast to her eyes. It was beautiful, just like she was.
"Oh good, your awake." Orihime said with a smile.
"I was hoping this was all some kind of bad dream; but seeing that I still have this chain in my chest, it's not a dream."
Kneeling down in front of her, I unsheathed my sword. Her eyes quivered. She was confused and rightfully so. No one had been able to give her answers that she longed for. "Are you here to take me to where I'm going, since I'm dead and all…"
"Something like that. I'm sending you to the Soul Society, after that I'm not so sure. You have a great power that needs to be controlled and the Seireitei has the best means to do just that."
She looked at Ichigo, searching for answer as to what she should do. He smiled and nodded his head. Her lips curved into her own smile. I lifted my sword and touched the hilt to her forehead. Her soul body started to disappear and transform into a butterfly. "See you on the other side…" I whispered, standing up from the ground.
"Hey, Shūhei." Ichigo called.
"Yeah…"
"Take care of her and if you need help at all, you know where I am."
"Don't worry, she will be taken care of."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Taya
I felt like I had fallen asleep again. The warm energy that embraced me after the bottom of Shūhei's sword touched me swallowed me whole. I closed my eyes and allowed whatever was going to happen, happen. When I opened my eyes, my surroundings were completely different. It looked as though I had been transported back in time to the feudal part of Japan.
"Are you alright, young one?" A voice called.
I turned to see an older woman with white hair and a wooden cane in hand. My school uniform had been replaced by a lavender dress with a dark blue sash around my mid-section and light brown sandals on my feet. "I think so." I answered softly, wondering just where the hell I was. Then I remembered Shūhei telling me that he was sending me to the Soul Society. This must be that place. Now I didn't know what to do, I was alone and afraid of what was going to come next. Would the hollows find me here to? Would these people get hurt because of me?
"You must be new. Come, I'll get you a place to sleep for tonight."
The woman was kind and kindness was exactly what I needed at the moment. There was just so much going through my head that it was almost spinning. Who knows if I was ever going to see Shūhei again. I never got a chance to thank him for saving me from the hollows, so if I ever get the chance to see him again…I will be thanking him for not allowing me to get devoured.