It was that awkward moment again, the one that happens at least once in every teenager's school life- well, any teenager with the attention span of a goldfish like me. That moment when you are so far away in your own little world and are so rudely brought back to reality by a teacher.
Inconsiderate fool, I scorned bitterly, gifting my teacher with my signature icy glare as my heart made its desperate attempt to pound out of my chest.
This was happening a lot to me lately due to recent circumstances that had been distracting me and I was getting a bit of a rebel reputation for it. Not like that bothered me or anything. I couldn't care less what people might think of me or say behind my back.
I had been sitting next to the window about halfway along the classroom, (yes that's right, the middle not the back as people generally expected of troublemakers. The back made it way too obvious that I was up to no good), with my pencil dangling from my mouth absentmindedly, my chin resting on my fist, my unblinking gaze fixed on the icy lake across the academy grounds. I was completely oblivious to the world around me. That is until a heavy book slammed down on my desk and almost made me fall off my chair in fright.
"Murasaki! Will you please pay attention!? I'm sick of having to repeat myself for your benefit!" my history teacher bellowed down at me, her face turning red from the effort.
My heart still pounding violently against my ribs, I glared up at her, then paused for a moment to glance at the dozens of eyes fixated on me. I played it safe and dramatically pretended to faint, bumping my head down on the desk, lolling my tongue out to the side and tapping my chest in an imitation of my racing heartbeat. Of course, the rest of the class found this highly amusing as usual. I often did stupid things to lighten the mood when the situation got tense, but the teacher wasn't the least bit impressed.
"And you think trying to scare the living daylights out of me is gonna help?" I retaliated after meeting her eyes.
"Maybe it will scare some sense into you!"
I sighed deeply and rolled my eyes, knowing this argument could last for the rest of the period, but really I couldn't be bothered today. "Yeah all right all right. Can you just repeat the question… please?" I added thoughtfully realizing how disrespectful I was coming across. Honestly, I wasn't a rude person but idiots brought out the worst in me. I had been enrolled at the academy for more than six months now and this woman still treated us like brainless toddlers.
The teacher raised an eyebrow at my sudden change of attitude but evidently thought better than to question it.
"What is the most powerful fire-type Zanpakuto known to the Soul Society to this day?"
"What the-" I began incredulously, expecting a challenging question. The teacher winced, as though being stabbed by the words and cursing the return of my insolence.
"Why are you asking such obvious questions... a five-year-old would know-" But I bit my tongue, deciding to just answer and get the teacher off my back. "Nevermind. The answer is Ryujin Jakka, owned by Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the founder of the Shino Academy and Head Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." I recited as if straight from a textbook. Actually, it was from the textbook and I had read it enough times to memorize it word for word.
"Good. That wasn't difficult, was it?" The teacher asked sarcastically, walking away back to the front of the class while reading aloud from her own textbook.
I sighed again and took to doodling in the margins of my textbook for the rest of the lesson until the bell rang for lunchtime.
I caught a few sideways glances and giggles from some of my classmates and did what I always did in retaliation, use my alarmingly cold eyes to my advantage with my signature glare. I couldn't imagine why some people might find me scary or unapproachable. Nope. It baffled me, really.
Once the bell rang I was one of the first people to leave the room, practically leaping over tables in my bid for freedom. A short way down the corridor one of my 'friends'- yes I use that term loosely because he was more like an arch-nemesis rival, and due to recent circumstances I had been avoiding him- caught up with me.
A tall boy with tanned skin from years of sun exposure, a well-built frame that was benefiting from long hours in the gym, dark tribal tattoos replacing his eyebrowsbeneath a scraggy white bandana and scarlet hair pulled up into a high, spiky ponytail was jogging to catch up with me.
"Heeyy!" he called and I slowed down a bit, not turning to look at him. I knew what was coming, I could read him like a book. There was some kind of jab or insult coming my way in 3… 2…
"How the hell do you manage it? How do you always cause more trouble than everyone else, huh?" he snickered slapping a hand on my shoulder with light force.
"Shut it Renji, I don't do it intentionally you know, it just-"
"Just happens?" he finished my sentence. And here I thought only twins were supposed to finish each other's sentences?
"Maaaann that's talent at its finest right there, you should offer private tutoring on how best to disrupt classes. You'd make a fortune!" he laughed.
"Har Har, very funny," I replied rolling my eyes again as we walked, still not looking at him.
Firstly, he dwarfed me by at least two feet and I did not enjoy craning my neck to look at him, which was the source of many of our 'fights', and anyway… I just wasn't in the mood for it today. I hadn't been in the mood for anything since SHE ditched us and screwed over my future in the process. But Renji and the others preferred to act as if it had never happened, which infuriated me. That's why I was avoiding them because I loved them all too much to fight with them outside of the dojo. There was a call from behind us as some of Renji's guy friends from his dorm called for him to join them for lunch and I finally turned to look at him.
"Uh, right, be right there guys. What you gonna do for lunch?" he asked me and I shrugged.
"I guess I'll go chill under my tree until next period again, not really hungry."
Me? Not hungry? Until recently that statement would be enough for my friends to rush me to the medical wing, I was always hungry and always the first person to remind our group how long was left until lunchtime and start a debate on how much cheese to put on whatever todays meal was. But nowadays I couldn't muster an appetite. No wonder Renji gave me such a concerned look. But he didn't say anything this time. Maybe he finally knew not to bring up the sore subject that had pulled our little dream team apart.
Instead, I got a: "So you own the tree now?"
I groaned. "Shut it. Don't even go there, you know what I mean" I said dryly.
"All right, all right chill!" he turned to walk away from me and stopped to pull a thinking face for a second. It looked like hard work. "Wanna spar in Hakuda next period?"
I gave a half-hearted smile against my will and shook my head in disbelief. He would offer one of the few things I enjoyed the most when I was trying to not have connect with my ex-friends, wouldn't he? "I can't say no to that, can I? See ya next period."
He gave me one of his rare goofy grins. "Catcha later then!"
As Renji walked away Kira and Momo exited the classroom with arms full of books. Kira waved at me but Momo avoided my eyes. I waved back with a longing heartache stabbing in my chest. If only things could be the way they used to.
I soon came to rest under the shade of a large pink and purple blossom tree in the grounds of the academy,overlooking the icy lake. My favourite spot for various reasons. The main reason being that it reminded me of my home and memories of better times.
I set my bag down beside me and lay down with my arms behind my head, staring at the sky and allowing my mind to drift into another daydream.
This time, I thought not of my wildest dreams, fantasies, and the usual weird stuff my imagination regularly conjured, but of the past and my most reliable remaining memories.
*The pendulum ticks back to 47 years into the past, where this all began.*
It was a cool spring night in the Seireitei where Yamamoto Genryuusei sat in this office, a mountainous pile of paperwork perched on the desk in front of him, tottering treacherously from side to side as though the faintest breeze would send it toppling across the room.
Yamamoto did not like nor dislike reading through the reports of his thirteen squad captains, but when his dearest Lieutenant Sasakibe wandered into his office carrying another pile of agonizing boredom, such as this monstrosity, his heart sank.
These papers are an extremely high priority, the sooner I read them the better, the old man urged himself. He leaned forward in his chair ever so slightly and slowly reached a wrinkled hand towards the top few papers. "No... sudden... movements..." he mumbled as if the vibration of his words in the air may send the pile flying.
As if karma was out to spite him, the towering wooden doors to his office came crashing open and a young man with short and messy mousey blonde hair wearing a Captain's Haori came skidding into a kneeling position in front of Yamamoto's desk, completely oblivious to the rain of paper falling from the ceiling.
Yamamoto held his face in his palm, despairing.
Why did I hire this buffoon? His stupidity never ceases to amaze me. It will take forever and a day to reassemble these papers in the correct order he thought, again regretting hiring the man all those years ago due to his consistent clumsiness.
"Captain Commander-" the man began to pant, out of breath and red in the face from running. Yamamoto cut him off before he could continue.
"Were you born in a barn, Captain Urahara?" he asked sarcastically.
"N-no, Sir... I was-"
"Then learn to knock before entering and close the door behind you" He snapped. "And collect these documents off my floor this instant"
"My apologies Captain, but I've come to report that the Department for Research and Development have detected a massive amount of Spiritual Pressure approaching the World of the Living, It's like that of a hollow's but multiplied one-hundredfold!"
This caught Yamamoto's attention and he stood up, momentarily ignoring the sea of paper. "You are sure of this, Urahara?"
"One-hundred per cent Sir, the spiritual pressure readings are off the charts!"
"And the location?"
"Karakura Town, in the West of Tokyo, Japan."
Yamamoto lifted one fluffy eyebrow in surprise. A small black butterfly with pink markings appeared from thin air and floated down to rest on Yamamoto's index finger and he leaned into spoke to it.
Every Soul Reaper in the Seireitei did as instructed and stopped their current action to listen to the wizened voice emitting from the air around them, as though through a giant invisible megaphone.
"Attention all officers: An immense spiritual pressure is approaching the World of the Living. Squads Two, Five and Nine are to be dispatched to Karakura Town to assess and handle the situation. All other squads, with no exceptions, are to remain on standby and patrol the Seireitei. Any suspicious activity must be reported and dealt with immediately. I will not allow these attacks and disappearances to continue."
Once finished, the Hell Butterfly fluttered off his finger and out of the nearest window. Usually, the Head Captain would call for a conference between the thirteen Captains to discuss details and action plans, but time was of the essence here.
"Captain Urahara, go back to the Squad Twelve labs, assess the situation and keep us updated, any changes must be reported immediately."
"Sir, I would like to join Captain Yoruichi of Squad Two, they are lacking squad members due to the recent attacks, they need back up... I will have my Lieutenant and seated officers taking care of Squad Twelve's duties back at the labs, they are fully capable of the task"
Yamamoto paused to think for a moment. "...Very well. Any negligence or mistakes made will be on your head, Urahara. I'm counting on you,"
The young man blushed a violent shade of lobster, bowed and scrambled from the room.
Yamamoto strolled across his office to stare out across the Seireitei. It was halfway through the night and for miles, hundreds of tiny lights could be seen igniting, voices could be heard in the rooms and streets below.
What on earth could be happening now? As if the attacks on residents of the Rukongai weren't enough, now the World of the Living too?
But Yamamoto would not let his guard down. An attack in the middle of the night was surely done to throw them off guard unless this anomaly was a coincidence.
No, it can't be a coincidence, the timing is too perfect, he thought. Even if this had nothing to do with the Soul Society's recent troubles he wasn't going to take any chances.
He took a deep breath and resumed his seat behind his desk, staring at the waves of paperwork as if to make them clean up and reorganize themselves.
*A while later*
A group had congregated at the main Senkaimon gate of the Seireitei, waiting to be dispatched to the World of the Living. Captain Urahara rushed towards the impatient, groggy looking bunch. "Sorry I'm so late, had to layout firm instructions to my squad" he explained, waving a hand apologetically.
"What is this about, Urahara?" A man with a pointed face and long straight blonde hair, also wearing a white Captain's haori cloak, asked sounding annoyed and yawning boredly. "You disturbed my beauty sleep."
"You know as much as I do, Captain Hirako. Let's head out and maybe we can answer your question," he said, gesturing towards the large gate as it opened to reveal a shining white light.
They entered the light without hesitation. The small group of ten people, four Captains and three Lieutenants and three Third Seat officers rushed through the Precipice World. The walls which usually moved and undulated like the stomach of an enormous beast stayed still as they passed, nonetheless, they remained in a closely-knit group with their guard up.
Once the light at the end of the tunnel appeared they jumped out of it, the ghostly wooden doors sliding shut behind them. They appeared to be looking down on the outskirts of a town. A wide river ran below them, with pedestrian paths and grass verges leading up to a football pitch on one side of the river. On the opposite side of the river was the edge of either a very large town or small city, with residential areas close to them and larger buildings in the distance.
The group of Soul Reapers stood and observed the scene for a moment. Another man with short white hair wearing a captain's haori spoke first, evidently annoyed. "Well, Urahara? I don't sense any strange spiritual pressures. So, were you wrong or were you pulling some stupid prank on us?"
"On the contrary, Captain Muguruma" Urahara's face was completely blank of expression as he pointed to the sky. A dark cloud was forming far above the town, like a monstrous storm. The Soul Reapers turned to the direction he was pointing and looked on in horror, their hands flying to their sword hilts at their waists instinctively.
"What is that thing?" A girl with short midnight blue hair asked her captain in fear.
The sky suddenly began to quake, a rip appeared with began to open like a mouth being unzipped. "A Garganta, Sui Feng," Yoruichi answered, stepping forward in front of her student. "The exit, or entrance, from Hueco Mundo into the World of the Living."
The lieutenants took a step back as their superiors clutched their Zanpakuto's and prepared to fight. Out of the Garganta stepped a monstrously tall black figure with a white, pointed, mask-like face, followed by what seemed like millions of small creatures.
Out of the entire group, only one person wasn't bothered by these monsters. A young man with short curly brown hair stood behind Captain Hirako, the corner of his mouth twitching into what could have been the beginnings of a smile for a split second.
"I'll take care of these guys," Captain Mugurama shouted, taking out his sword. "Blow it away, Tachikaze!" he chanted and currents of air began spiralling around him as the sword as it transformed into a small knife.
"Wait, Kensei-" Hirako took a step forward but Captain Muguruma shot off in the direction of the hollows. "What a fool, he can't take this many hollows and a Menos alone" he sighed unsheathing his own Zanpakuto and following after Kensei, "Let's go Sosuke." The brown-haired man nodded and followed Hirako.
Urahara and the other Captains and Lieutenants watched as more and more hollows escaped from the Garganta.
"We must stop this, we cannot allow these hollows to escape into the city. Yoruichi, Sui Feng, can you two help me catch those hollows that slip past us?" Urahara asked. The two nodded. "Good, then I want the rest of you to help Captain Hirako and Captain Muguruma destroy the hollows at the Garganta and close it, understood?" he said, turning to the remaining Soul Reapers who all agreed without question, regardless of the fact that no one had formally been named leader of this mission, and shot off to help.
Kensei was already up at the Garganta, slashing through the Menos with ease, Hirako helping him and catching a few of the hollows that tried to pass them too. The Menos drew back and opened its mouth, forming a sphere of red energy. "Kensei! Look out!" a girl with green hair and a pink scarf shouted. Knowing he wouldn't move in time she dived down with both her legs straight. "Mashiroooo DROPKICK!" and hit him square in the back sending him flying.
Kensei spluttered and regained his balance just as a beam of red light ripped past them, leaving a sort of sonic boom in its wake. He rubbed his back, for once he was thankful for Mashiro's amazing athletic ability. "Thanks a lot, that kick hurt but I'd rather have back pain than be dead." She giggled and backflipped out of the way of a bat-like hollow, uppercutting it in the chin with her foot.
The streams of hollows leaving the Garganta seemed endless, and the Soul Reapers were getting tired, fast. "Third seats! Do not let the hollows pass by! Do not allow them into the city! Kensei, At this rate, we'll be needing back up," Hirako said, moving back to back with Kensei to catch his breath after slicing a menos in half.
"You're right... there's too many... of them..." he panted too.
*Elsewhere*
In a dark alleyway in the suburbs of West Karakura, a spirit girl hid behind a row of trash cans sobbing but trying not to make any noise.
What's going on? What the hell are those things? She thought frantically. She felt that unexplainable feeling that forcefully washed over her when one of those creatures were near and shrank as far into the shadow as she could, though her new pearly white body didn't help the situation in the slightest, she felt more noticeable like this.
It came down the alleyway, in the form of a monstrous Komodo Dragon lizard with a skull-like white mask. Its snake-like forked tongue rattled as it sniffed along the alleyway, trying to find its target. The spirit girl sucked in her gut and held her none existant breath, hoping foolishly that it would help her be less noticeable, but the hollow stopped dead right next to her. It gave off a putrid stench and a howling cry then turned its head to her.
She rolled sideways, not giving it another chance to try to eat her and ran as fast her legs would carry her down the alley, the little chain attached to her chest clanging from side to side. The monster scurried after her, roaring again and swiping at her.
She took a sharp left turn down another alley trying to confuse it but instead it just ploughed through a wall and around the corner as if it had been made of jelly.
She gasped in shock and carried on running, transparent tears torrenting down her face more than ever.
This is the end, I can't keep this up for much longer! She turned her head to the right and saw the main road in front of the Karasu River. She didn't stop but carried on running down the road, hoping against hope that she would find someone who could help her.
Suddenly the hollow that had been chasing her launched over her head and landed in front of her as though it had fallen from the sky. She ground to a halt and spun around to run the other way, but another hollow in the form of an eagle landed in front of her that side too.
She was surrounded. It really was the end. I'm sorry... I never got the chance to say sorry to you... forgive me... she thought. She crumpled to her knees, holding her head in her hands waiting to be devoured.
*Overhead*
Urahara, Yoruichi and Sui Feng were running across the rooftops, searching for stray hollows and defeating any they came into contact with. Sui Feng took the back of the group, she slashed through a hollow that had landed behind her mercilessly and spotted two more on the road below. "Captain, down there!" She yelled, making Urahara and Yoruichi stop and change direction, pointing over to the two hollows cornering a spirit. They shot down to the floor with lightning speed flash steps and came to stop before the hollows.
Urahara held his Zanpakuto above his head and forcefully stopped the clawed hand that had swooped down to the spirit girl, Sui Feng did the same with the other hollow but completely sliced off its talon. It gave a huge painful screech and the spirit girl looked up. "I'm... I'm alive!" she cheered.
"Well, not exactly-" Urahara began to chuckle.
"Kisuke!" Sui Feng scolded him, "Now is not the time for that!"
"Right you are. Yoruichi!" he called. The girl stared around at them, completely confused by what was now happening. Yoruichi appeared next to the girl startling her even more. She smiled reassuringly and held a hand out to the spirit, helping her up and moving her away from the fray.
"What are those things?" she asked as she and Yoruichi stopped at the corner of a building a few blocks away. She looked around to see the girl and man who had saved her following close behind with more of those... things.
"There's no time to explain, but let's say you'd be in trouble if we didn't find you when we did." Yoruichi smiled. Urahara dived around the corner to stand next to them as Sui Feng distracted the approaching hollows.
"Now, little girl-" he began but was cut off.
"I'm not little, I'll have you know I'm sixteen years old!"
"Yeah yeah, okay. Now kid, sorry to spring this on you, but it's dangerous here and you need to move on-" Urahara said poising the butt of his sword hilt above her forehead. The end of it glowed bright blue.
"Whoaa, don't come near me with that thing!" she squeaked leaning sideways to avoid it.
"For crying out loud Kisuke-" Sui Feng cursed, her tone harsh, getting impatient as she continued to fend off more hollows.
"I know, I know, Look I'm going to help you move on to the next life by giving you a Soul Burial, you can rest in peace"
Her eyes widened in horror "No! Please! I'm not ready to go yet! I need to say sorry-" she stopped with a gasp as a huge beam of red light ripped across the sky above them, causing an explosion in the distance.
"We don't have time for this, it's too dangerous here right now. If it was any other time I would help, but I can't. Good luck kid, you'll be needing it." And without waiting for her to answer he planted the hilt of his Zanpakuto on her forehead and watched her vaporize into tiny wisps of blue smoke and butterflies.
He sighed and sheathed his Zanpakuto once she had disappeared.
"Good grief, I'd have to strangle that kid if I knew her, so annoying." Sui Feng complained. A hollow that had been charging towards them suddenly stopped dead and turned in the opposite direction. She frowned, not understanding why it had suddenly changed course, but she still didn't sheath her Zanpakuto "That's... odd. Its almost as if something called them away..."
"I don't know Sui Feng, if I knew her I think I'd like her, I liked her attitude. That girl had guts." Yoruichi contradicted, ignoring the retreating hollows.
"Y-yes ma'am but-" she began to stutter, giving in to her master as always but Urahara interrupted.
"The hollows seem to be attracted to these spirits, so if we want to get rid of the stray hollows all we have to do is find spirits and the hollows will come to us. We've got a lot of work to do so let's get moving." The women nodded their agreement and they flash stepped away from their spot.
One by one, they found lost spirits. For a while they would walk around with the spirit, using them as bait to attract all the hollows in their current area in large groups, helping to defeat large amounts of hollows at once. Once they stopped pursuing the spirit they performed Soul Burial's on them and helped them move on to the Soul Society. The city was so vast that it took quite a while with this method, but it was effective in the long run.
Eventually, less and less hollows came out of the Garganta making it easy for Kensei's team to eradicate them before they made it to the city, leaving it to Urahara's team to get rid of the ones skulking around Karakura.
It took a huge effort to force the Garganta to close. All ten of them scoured the city for stray spirits and hollows, just to clean up after themselves and then gathered at a spot near where they had entered by the river.
"That's a job well done, I'd say," Hirako smirked wiping a scratch that was dripping with blood on his cheek. "Put your face straight Sosuke, you did well. Stop being such a grouch," he added, noticing the expression on his Lieutenant's face beside him.
"Yes, Captain," he replied simply. "Lack of sleep, Sir."
"Okay, time to go back home. I'll report to the Commander, though I'm not sure if he wants us to stay on alert or go back to bed," Urahara laughed at Sui Feng and Mashiro's tired expressions. He opened up a Senkaimon and entered, yawning as the others followed suit with the wooden doors sliding shut and vanishing behind them.