Chapter 5:
Disclaimer: Same as always.
Author's Note: This chapter is pretty much fluff. Just some exposition, primarily for the purpose of explaining Bleach for readers who don't know it. Slight spoilers up to episode 15/volume 7, but nothing after that (I'm really good at brushing things off). Anyway, it's interaction between Hisoka and Mikan, and getting things cleared up that the other party needs to know about.
Author's Note 2: If you were wondering where the story title came from, it's a song from Nickel Creek. The synopsis also has lyrics from the song. The choruses gave me the idea to use it as a title, and read as follows:
It's foreign on this side
And I'll not leave my home again
There's no place to hide
And I'm nothing but scared
It's foreign on this side
And the truth is a bitter friend
Reasons few have I
To come back again
It's foreign on this side
But it feels like I'm home againThere's no place to hide
But I don't think I'm scared
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The hotel room that Tatsumi had reserved them was nice, and, from what Mikan got from Tsuzuki and Hisoka, quite a step up from what they usually got. There was a TV, couch, and bed in the main room, and a smaller, separate room, with another bed. Tatsumi had been thoughtful enough to make sure that Mikan didn't have to sleep in the same room as the boys.
When they reached the room, it was late, and Tsuzuki was openly yawning. Hisoka wasn't, but he seemed quite tired, too. Mikan grinned.
"Why don't the two of you get some rest. With the hollows' presence dampened by those rings, it'll be harder to feel them if we're all asleep. I'll wake someone if I get tired."
The boys agreed, although Tsuzuki pushed Hisoka into the separate bedroom first, so that he couldn't see the look that he gave Mikan, which clearly said that Hisoka wasn't to be woken up.
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Mikan yawned slightly. She was starting to get tired, but not enough that she'd awaken one of the others. She frowned. They'd found one hollow, and one of the rings, but… how many were there? She stared out the window, and concentrated on trying to find the hollows, but there was nothing. She pounded her fist on the windowsill.
A sound behind her made her spin around. Hisoka had opened the door to the smaller room, and was coming out, wiping sleep from his eyes.
"Daijoubu?" she asked him, remembering the look she'd gotten from Tsuzuki. Hisoka nodded, although, it appeared to her that he had a slight headache. "I didn't wake you up, did I? I mean, I know I was frustrated, but I didn't think that I hit the sill that hard."
Hisoka had been getting an asprin and cup of water, but now he just stared at her. "No one told you, did they?"
Now it was Mikan's turn to frown. "Tell me what?"
Hisoka sighed. "I guess we're so used to working with people who know, that no one thought to tell you. I'm an empath."
"An empath…" Mikan broke off, realizing what that statement meant. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I…" She took a deep breath. She understood now, why he had reacted like he did to the ring. She tried to clamp down on her emotions, and then spoke again. "For a lot of shinigami… well, my kind of shinigami… our power is linked to our emotions. The stronger you feel about something, the stronger your power is. I never even realized that it might have an adverse effect on someone else."
"It's okay," Hisoka said, the pain dulling as she started to control herself. "I'm kinda glad, though… I wanted to talk to you." Mikan looked at him, questioningly.
"Both you, and Urahara-san… when you heard my name, and when you speak it… I feel… I don't know what it is, but it's strange. Almost, a mix between confusion and surprise. Why is that?"
Mikan looked away, sighing. "I could tell from watching you that you had caught that, and now, I figure you caught more than I thought… It has nothing to do with you, at least, I don't think it does, but it has to do with us… I guess I should explain…"
"I don't know how long ago any of this happened, or, really, how much of this is even true," Mikan continued. "I'm sure you know how truth gets twisted into legends… Anyway, from what I understand, this is what happened:
"A shinigami, like myself, was sent to Earth to stop a hollow. Well… the hollow was after a boy, younger than you, I think, who had an insanely high spiritual power. His power was so great, that he could see both the hollow and the shinigami. Well, this surprised the shinigami, and the hollow was able to catch her off guard. The boy wanted to do something to help, so the shinigami offered to give him a small portion of her power, temporarily, so that he could defeat the hollow. He accepted, and defeated the hollow. However…
"He hadn't taken a small portion of her power, he'd taken all of it. And they couldn't figure out how to give it back to her. So he did her job for her, for a while. But… it's illegal for a shinigami to give their power to a human, even under the most dire of circumstances. So they came to arrest her, and kill him. He survived (thanks in part, I believe, to Urahara-san), and he and a group of other humans went to rescue her.
"That much, I'm fairly certain, is truth. At least, that much I've heard from Urahara-san, and it doesn't seem to contradict what I've heard in Soul Society. Many of the things I have heard, though… they're too insane to be true. But that much, I think, is true."
"What does this have to do with me?" Hisoka asked.
"The boy's name… was Kurosaki Ichigo." Hisoka raised his eyebrows, understanding. "Urahara-san… everyone in Soul Society who knew him… all call him 'Kurosaki-kun.' That's why I've been using 'san,' instead of 'kun…' It's just too strange to think that I'm talking to a 'Kurosaki-kun.'"
"I wouldn't mind if you called me 'Hisoka.'"
Mikan looked at him in surprise. "But… I don't know you well! It wouldn't be proper."
Hisoka had to laugh, a quiet laugh that made you wonder if you'd really heard him. "I don't think Tsuzuki has EVER called me by my family name. Watari-san doesn't, although he doesn't call me 'Hisoka' either. Tatsumi-san does, but that's just Tatsumi. It's not like I particularly WANT to be related to my family anyway…"
Mikan looked at him quietly. Whatever had caused him to become a shinigami after death, must have to do with his family. How else could anyone not wish to be known as a part of their family? "Fine, Hisoka-kun… but on one condition." He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "That you call me 'Mikan.' It's only fair, I'd say." Hisoka nodded. "Now, if we could only get Tsuzuki-san to learn that my name is 'Mikan,' and not 'Mika'…"
"Not gonna happen," Hisoka replied.
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I promise the next chapter will be less fluffy and more story.