She landed on her knees in the street. Getting up, she looked around her. It was night time. The air smelt delicious. Her wired senses revelled in the fresh air, when she suddenly heard the announcement blaring all around her. "RYOKA DESU. RYOKA DESU."

She panicked and backed off, only to be surrounded by 10 shinigami holding their swords to her. She stumbled over her words, trying to convey that she posed no harm, when she suddenly felt the monstrous energy gripping at her chest, forcing her to fall over trying to breathe. It was all she could do to look up at Zaraki taichou, Captain of squad 11, frowning at her and baring his teeth in a ferocious grin. "And who's here? Who are you onna? Are you Ichigo's nakama too?" She passed out just as she caught sight of Zaraki taichou's pink haired lieutenant peer down at her from behind his shoulder.

….

When she came to, she was in some sort of a hospital bed, and there was a lot of shouting going on outside.

"Then who could she be? Ichigo, you guys were the only ryoka who managed to invade Soul Society and Sereitei! She must be your friend!"

"Are you stupid? I already told you. I know who my friends are! And she is not one of them! I have never seen her in my life!"

"Did you just call me baka? I shall kill you now, you bastard!"

"You badly want to lose to me again, do you?!"

"Kurosaki! Madarame San! This is not the time to fight. It would be best for us to ask her who she is. She appears unarmed."

"Shut up Ishida!"

"Yes, we already thought of that!"

R sighed in bed. Maybe this was not the adventure she wanted to have. Suddenly, she sat up. A potentially dangerous energy was approaching. Potentially dangerous was the best phrase she could use, to describe this strength, and some sharpness, in that energy. She could almost tell who it would be.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. Madarame San Sekki. I am aware that the new ryoka has you both confused and worried. However, please do not fail to remember which squad grounds you're standing upon. Our 4th squad grounds are for healing and recovery. I would advise you to keep your volume down." On her bed, R could not suppress a soundless giggle at hearing what was most probably Unohana taichou's calmly threatening voice. She was surprised at how similar her voice was to the animation.

Ichigo and his friends walked in. R, having seen them all in animation, had not had the capacity to imagine what they would be like in human form. It was weird, but fascinating. Ichigo's natural orange hair was blindingly vibrant. Sado was huge. Orihime was incredibly beautiful with her red hair and grey eyes. Ishida too, was an attractive boy with a nerdy intellectual look. Madarame Ikkaku had a legit crazy look in his eyes, and Ayasegawa Yumichika, silent till that moment, was a very, very good looking pretty boy with violet eyes. They surrounded her bed and stared at her.

R decided she should clear things up immediately. "Sumimasen," she started. "I don't exactly know how I ended up here. I walked through my mirror—" Orihime gasped at this. "I was compelled to— I mean I was watching. And the anime…" They looked confused. "I mean, all I want to say is, I mean no harm. I didn't even know you guys were real. I'm from the real world. I live in Tokyo."

"What the hell do you mean you didn't know we are real? Do I not look real to you, onna?!" Ikkaku turned on his energy, and Yumichika put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, Ikkaku. I doubt she is lying, she does look lost. But what an ugly thing to say— my beauty is surreal, but we all live and breathe, onna."

R took a deep breath. "I apologise. But where I come from, you guys are all part of the manga drawn by a comic artist. And then you guys were made into animation and given voices. I don't mean to be rude, but this is the truth. And I fell into the mirror, which was reflecting Sereitei when I was watching this animation. "

"Excuse me, what is your name?" Orihime's voice softly rang out amongst the guys, who were staring at her with their mouths wide open.

"I'm R," R replied her and smiled. Orihime returned the smile with her own.

"R San, I- I don't understand how you could say we aren't real. And if you are in Tokyo, aren't you in the same world we live in? We all exist, to say otherwise… it's quite—"

"Forget it Inoue," Ichigo interrupted her. "We don't know her. Our job in Sereitei is done. We should go back to the real world, and let the Gotei 13 handle her." He turned to leave with his giant sword hanging behind his shoulders.

R panicked for a moment. "Wait, Ichigo! I- I don't know what might happen to me here. And I need someone to talk to the sou-taichou and tell him I'm basically harmless. He seems like the kind to usually kill people and then ask their dead body what happened." Yumichika snorted at this. "Please help me. I am as lost as you are."

"It can't be helped I guess," Ichigo grumpily agreed, rubbing the back of his head. "R, after we speak to the captains, we need to get out of here. It's not good for Sado and Inoue to be in Soul Society too long." R readily agreed.

AN:

Ryoka-literal translation-travelling evil
onna - woman/ girl
baka - stupid
sumimasen - sorry (informal)