Hey, I got an important announcement at the end, so y'all should read it if you don't want to get surprised very suddenly a few months down the line. Other than that, please enjoy!
Part I
Rukia shoved open the door to class 1-3, chest heaving, and muscles aching. Immediately her homeroom teacher's eyes were on her, ready to give her a stern talking-to.
Briiiiiing!
The teacher's mouth shut, and Rukia hurried over to her desk. Saved by the bell…literally.
"Everyone take your seats," the woman sighed out. She didn't spare Rukia a glance after that which, thank god, the girl doubted she could have explained herself, there.
The Substitute's hands went to her morning materials automatically, barely even noticing it when she grabbed a pen instead of a mechanical pencil. She didn't really have the capacity to care right then. Her eyes burned, her temples were screaming at her, and she wanted nothing more than to get this day over with already.
She haphazardly arranged the items on her desk, not paying much attention to what the teacher was going on about. She instead glanced to the sides of her noticing Renji's raised eyebrow as well as Keigo oblivious smile. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Ishida, head in a book about as thick as her hand was wide.
Now, Rukia was worried about Ishida. She couldn't even imagine what he was going through. Her powers were a pretty new addition to her life, but to Ishida, they were his identity. He took pride in what he did.
If only she knew what to do for him. Or at the very least had her own problems solved so she had enough time to think it over.
"…with that, I'd like to introduce our newest student."
That had Rukia's attention snapping to the front in an instant. Maybe she should have been listening after all… Transfer students were rare this time of year, and the last time they'd had an odd transfer student he ended up being a Shinigami.
No, she mentally stressed. Not every transfer student was going to be from another dimension. She wasn't thinking straight, probably due to how tired she was.
The new student walked through the door, and with a flinch, Rukia concluded that they were a little odd.
In front of the class stood a young girl about Rukia's height. She had coarse blonde hair pulled into pigtails and a rather sour expression on her freckled face. There was a decent chance she was mixed.
Which is hardly weird! Renji was mixed, and he wasn't that weird…right?
This line of thinking was getting her nowhere.
The girl scrawled her name on the chalkboard before turning and announcing, "I'm Hiyori Sarugaki." Then, with a half-hearted bow and a smile that looked almost painful she added, "I hope we have a pleasant year."
Their teacher directed her to an empty desk near the window in the back, and with that the lecture began. Rukia paid attention the best she could, jotting down notes and quickly resigning herself to the page being filled with errors. It was when the second teacher of the day came in that Rukia noticed a balled-up scrap of paper rolling by her foot. She glanced up to see Keigo staring at her, head jerking down to it.
Rukia looked up at the teacher, and the moment his back was turned she picked it up, unfolding it beneath her desk.
"NEW GIRL'S STARING AT YOU.
IT'S KINDA FREAKING ME OUT!"
With a gulp Rukia balled up the paper again. When the new teacher started speaking, she chanced a glance behind her.
At the back of the class Sarugaki was staring right at Rukia, not even breaking it when their eyes met. Her fingers tapped against her still cleared desk as she leaned back in her chair. She flashed Rukia a grin.
Rukia's eyes went back to the front of the room, her whole frame stiffening. Maybe it wasn't just paranoia after all…
Taking a deep breath Rukia closed her eyes. She'd find out herself in just a minute. She extended her senses.
Around her she could feel each little flicker that made up the class, Renji's unusually dark presence, Ishida's unusually bright one, and right there in the back corner something that she was sure she'd never felt before in her life.
She opened her eyes, pulse spiking. Whatever that girl was, it wasn't human. This feeling of unease had her on edge for the entirety of class, all the way until the lunch bell rang and the mysterious girl walked out silently.
"What the…" Renji trailed off, eyes following her out. "What the hell is her problem?"
"No idea," Rukia said, honestly, "and I'm not sure if I want to know."
"Well, when you find out," he said, fishing out his lunchbox, "make sure to tell me. I'd like a heads up before you end up in a fight with some angry middle-schooler."
"Aww, you do care," she snarked, grabbing her wallet. She turned to the back again, seeing their resident Quincy with his nose still stuck in that same book. Looking closer, the cover wasn't even in Japanese.
"Ishida," she called.
"Hm?" he sounded. He didn't even look up.
"Lunch!" Renji called more aggressively. "We're going to the tree."
Ishida turned another page, before suddenly squinting his eyes. He jotted something down in the notebook next to him.
"Busy," he simply said. "Go on without me."
Rukia frowned. Had he really been doing this all through class? (Or even longer, perhaps? Those glasses didn't hide dark circles as much as Ishida thought they did.) One glance at Renji told her he was thinking the same thing.
With hesitation she said, "If you change your mind… We'll still be there."
He nodded, writing down another note. The two left him feeling somewhat defeated. Even the sunny skies outside didn't change that. The silence between them grew uncomfortable, and before they had quite reached the tree Renji tried to fill it.
"So…" he drawled, "what had you all out of breath this morning? Did something happen?"
"Oh, something happened, alright," she groaned. "Two somethings, actually."
Renji stopped in his tracks. "Wait, two?" he asked incredulously. "Two Hollows. Damn, I surprised you showed up at all."
"They weren't much," she excused.
"Still," he insisted, "what's with these things. We just took care of three yesterday."
"Yeah, and when you consider the transfer student… Something's definitely going on."
"Then there is something weird about her!"
"Definitely something weird," Rukia agreed. "I just wish I knew what."
Well, there was one thing she knew. Whatever was going on, Aizen just had to be behind it somehow.
"Hey," Renji said, suddenly. She looked up at him. "Whatever's up, we'll take care of it, together."
It reminded her a lot of what she'd said to Sode no Shirayuki.
"Whatever happens, we can handle it together."
Rukia nodded, gripping her lunch bag tighter. The bread in there was her absolute favorite, but for some reason, she wasn't hungry anymore.
Part II
More than halfway through lunch Uryuu realized that he had just read the same sentence three times. He supposed four hours of sleep wasn't enough, after all.
Bringing an ancient Quincy text to school was not something Uryuu would normally do. (His grandfather had outright forbidden it.) Normally he would have said yes to Orikasa's friendly lunch invitation. Normally he wouldn't have attempted to power through a day on energy drinks alone.
Today was not a normal day, however. In fact, today would not be a normal week, not with him having about twenty-five books to sort through, nearly half of them being over four hundred pages long, and all for the sake of getting his powers back, preferably before this entire war started and ended without him.
He read that sentence for the fourth time before finally putting down the book. He took off his glasses and allowed himself a moment to rub at his aching eyes.
What was he kidding? Uryuu hated this. One day into the search and it was already starting to wear at him. The worst part was, the work wasn't what bothered him. It was being stuck in a classroom alone on a nice day while his friends enjoyed lunch together. It was the loneliness that got to him.
Taking in a deep breath he steeled himself. If all went well that problem would go away. He'd get his powers back and be able to face them again. He'd be himself again.
Oh, he knew very well that his friends would consider such a thing silly. Abarai and Orikasa were overwhelmingly kind and patient with him back in the Soul Society. In a way that made him feel worse. He wasn't normally someone that needed to be protected or pitied.
(He wondered if he'd act the same with them in that situation. Then he quickly tried to forget about it. That wasn't a rabbit hole he wanted to go down right now.)
So, yeah, he felt desperate.
Slipping his glasses back on Uryuu got back to reading. He never stopped for lunch, in the end.
Part III
Rukia had been hoping that no Hollows would interrupt her and Renji's peaceful walk home. (In retrospect, she didn't know what she was thinking.)
She leapt onto the next tree, narrowly avoiding a strike from the powerful tongue of today's problem. She leapt again, watching as Renji tried to engage it from the ground.
"Why won't you just stay still!" her friend growled. He kicked upwards, aiming for its mask, letting out another growl when it dodged away with a distorted laugh. It took that time to wrap its tongue around the trunk of the tree, uprooting it entirely.
She barely had a moment to jump down from it, and by the time she had it was swinging its makeshift bat right into Renji, knocking him aside.
"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!" her Combat Pass suddenly cried.
"You've got to be kidding me!" she yelled. The Hollow swung the trunk once again, her jumping over it with a grimace. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Renji rolling onto his feet. He sent the creature a nasty glare.
Wiping the blood from a scrape on his cheek, he said, "You better go take care of that. I can handle this little bastard."
She tried to answer but was cut off by another swing of the tree, forcing her up onto another branch. "Don't die!" she decided on. She dashed towards the next presence.
Before she even reached her destination, she was able to get a decent idea as to what was in store for her, because as she drew near, she could feel the ground tremble below her. Out of the corner of her eye she even noticed some people fleeing a warehouse.
Running just a little ahead she saw the Hollow lumbering on all fours in a mostly empty lot, nothing but a rebar structure behind it, hitting the ground roughly with its large heavy arms. The second her foot crossed the property line its eyes were on her.
"A Shinigami, huh?" it asked with a grin. "I thought I'd run into one of you here. This should be fun."
She quipped, "You took the words right out of my mouth." It was oddly satisfying. No wonder Tatsuki liked doing it so much.
With a hiss, it attacked, lunging at her, arm extending unnaturally as if it were made of rubber. Rukia dodged back, barely avoiding it. The Hollow was fast for how big it was, and with that reach it just might be a problem.
She ran forward, weaving around it for a better shot, but its other fist followed her, clipping off her shoulder, and sending her tumbling into the rebar. She bit back a hiss at the sensation of it digging into her back, jumping up right before the Hollow's fist impacted against metal. She landed in a crouch within the structure.
Damn, it looked like approaching this thing wouldn't be so easy. If she wanted to get anywhere, she needed to stay out of its reach. That'd be a simple thing to accomplish with Shikai, but…
Her mind snapped back to her dream. No, she needed a better handle on that thing before she went pulling out her Shikai again. Before she could think of any alternatives the Hollow was tearing through the structure.
"No use hiding from me, Shinigami!" it yelled as it threw aside every beam it could get its hands on. With a grimace Rukia weaved through, booking it to the other side, she was stopped when a large bar was thrown in front of her. The pause cost her dearly.
The Hollow's hand was wrapped around her in an instant, her sword arm pinned to her side.
"I finally got you," it cheered. Letting out a chuckle it shook her like a child with a toy. Then, with a flick of its wrist, it threw her down.
The air rushed from her in an instant, making it impossible to even cry out. Then, like a vice its hand came down, pressing her into the dirt. All she could manage was a panicked wheeze.
This thing was really trying to crush her, she thought. She scrambled for its fingers with her free arm, trying to channel anything through that she could, all while a more alarmed part of her brain was busy thinking–
I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't–
"I'm going to enjoy this." It pressed harder.
Black dots were starting to appear in her vision, as she scrambled ineffectively, hanging on until the very last moment. It was through this distorted vision that she saw a dark figure darting through the sky.
"Suikawari!"
As Rukia's eyes struggled to stay open she saw that figure impact with the mask of the Hollow, their Zanpakuto carving it neatly in half. The hand holding her went limp and Rukia gasped in as much air as she could, coughing as her ribs protested. She got a good grip on Sode no Shirayuki before levering herself onto her feet, stumbling on the way.
"Than–" she coughed out. She was about to try again when she turned to see none other that Hiyori Sarugaki, sheathing a Zanpakuto and looking entirely pissed off. She approached Rukia slowly.
"What the hell was that?" the girl asked in a low voice.
"Uh…"
Sarugaki took another step forward. "How the hell did you get taken down by that weakling?!"
"I, uh…" Rukia took a few steps back, alarmed. Sarugaki followed her, getting so close Rukia could feel her breath.
"Are you really that much of a dumbass, or are you just not who you say you are?"
"Who…" Rukia stuttered, "I… I don't even know you!"
Sarugaki scoffed, "Yeah, whatever." Then under her breath she added, "I knew I was the wrong one for the fuckin' job."
Rukia definitely heard that. "Excuse me?"
The transfer student let out a monumental sigh. "For some weird reason, my compatriots are interested in you. So, I need you to come with me."
This had Rukia pausing. Her stuttering stopped, and suddenly things started to come together. The confusing Reiatsu, the increase in Hollows, it all made sense. She gripped her Zanpakuto tighter.
"No," Rukia bit out. "No way in hell I'm going with you, and you can tell Aizen that yourself."
Sarugaki blinked, astonishment on her face. This was followed quickly by rage.
"WHAT?! Oh, you little–!"
Sarugaki brought a hand up to her face, and in an instant, she was pulling down a bone white mask with wicked teeth and a sharp horn coming out from the forehead. Rukia's heart stopped for a moment, and suddenly she thought she may have misinterpreted a few things, here.
"Wait!" she tried to rush out, but the girl was already attacking.
She came at Rukia with impossible speed, barely giving the Substitute enough time to block. Rukia quickly lost track of where her opponent even was. Sometimes she'd come from the left, and in the next instant she'd be behind her swinging at her back with amazing strength. It practically left Rukia's head spinning.
That was probably why, when she landed a blow on Rukia's forehead with the back of her blade, Rukia wasn't terribly surprised.
The substitute went down, dazed, vision swimming. She heard Sarugaki grumbling to herself, words distorted as if Rukia were at the bottom of a swimming pool. Her mask dissolved revealing a harsh scowl that disappeared from view when she was hefted over the blonde's shoulder.
By the time Rukia fully came back to herself, they were far away from that lot and in a part of town that Rukia had never been to before. It then struck Rukia that she could just tell the girl to put her down and promise to cooperate, but she was a little worried that Sarugaki would knock her out entirely if she uttered so much as a word.
So, Rukia stayed as still as possible as she was dragged to a nondescript warehouse just out of town, and for a moment Rukia was confused. Sarugaki was standing right outside the edge of the lot, tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for something.
Then, with a suddenness that had Rukia gasping seven huge presences appeared where they weren't before, incredibly similar to the one carrying her right now.
(Most likely similar to her own, if this is what she thought it was.)
Sarugaki stalked over to the large front door, kicking it open without a word. At her back, Rukia craned her neck, just to try and get a view of where she was. As it turned out, there wasn't much to see. The warehouse was dark, musty, and seemed like it hadn't been occupied in years.
"You're back already?" a voice asked.
"That was fast," another commented.
The others started muttering to each other at that, tones ranging from apprehensive to cheerful to downright bored. Suddenly, one cleared their throat, and the rest went quiet.
"Hiyori," he said stiffly, "why is our new recruit passed out on your shoulder?"
"I'm pretty sure she's been awake for the last few blocks," Sarugaki clarified, jostling Rukia slightly.
"About that… Can you let me go now?" Rukia asked sheepishly.
The voices immediately started again, echoing off the walls of the warehouse all at once.
"Of all the–!"
"Really, Hiyori…"
"Did you seriously–?"
"Oh, my!"
Amidst all that, Rukia started wiggling out of Sarugaki's grip only to fall roughly when the girl dropped her all at once. Letting out an indignant squeak she stood up, dusting herself off, awkwardly facing the seven strangers. She paused when she got a good look at them. They were… What was the word?
Weird. They were Weird.
Eccentric looking might have been a nicer way to put it. They looked strange, even by Shinigami standards. They had loud hair, loud clothing, yet all carried themselves in a way that suggested power.
The one closest to her was currently rubbing his temples in frustration. His particular outfit included a bright orange button-up shirt with a black tie. He was particularly lanky and had a perfectly straight blonde bowl-cut.
"Hey!" Sarugaki yelled angrily. "Why'd you assume I beat her up?" She turned to Rukia as if asking for defense, but the girl simply averted her eyes. There was no way she was getting dragged in the middle of this.
"Because we know you," the blonde man said, hand on his hip. With a growl Sarugaki socked him right in the stomach. He hunched over in a wheeze. Sarugaki let out a growl.
"Whatever. I did my stupid job." Then, she turned to Rukia, about three different kinds of threats in her eyes. "So, leave me alone, got it?" She shoved past Rukia. The sound of a door slamming came barely a second later.
The blonde man straightened, a frown on his face, a hand rubbing idly at his stomach. "Don't take it too personal," he said. "She's just grumpy about having to get you."
Well, it was a little hard to not take it personally when he put it like that.
"Shinji was originally going to get you," a green haired girl said with a playful grin, "but when he and Hiyori went to the school, the principal thought he was her dad!" A few snickers sounded through the room.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he grumbled. "The important thing is, we got results." With his eyes on Rukia, he added with an unnaturally wide grin, "And boy do I love results."
A beat of silence passed, and Rukia shifted uncomfortably. Did he want her to say something? Well, there was really only one thing on her mind right now…
"I'm sorry," she said, "but who are you?"
His grin instantly fell. "She didn't even explain that?"
Rukia shook her head.
Eye twitching, he put back on his "best" smile. He straightened his tie and with a grand sweeping gesture proclaimed, "We are the Visoreds!"
Rukia averted her eyes. Was that supposed to mean something to her? She coughed into her fist awkwardly, and suddenly the man seemed much more nervous. This probably wasn't how he wanted this to go.
He persisted, though. "I-I'm Shinji Hirako," he tried. He then glanced in the direction of the others, silently prompting them. Unlucky for him they weren't paying much attention.
Three were reading manga on a worn-out couch. One was sharpening a hunting knife on the window ledge. Really, the only ones that were paying any attention at all were a rather portly man in a suit and the green haired girl, and that may have only been because they had nothing better to do.
Finally, the green haired girl got a clue, pointing to herself with a raised eyebrow. Hirako nodded his head furiously.
"Oh! I'm Mashiro Kuna!"
The man next to her lowered his head politely. "Hachigen Ushōda."
When the others didn't follow, Kuna smacked the leg of the one closest to her harshly.
"Lisa Yadōmaru," the woman in the sailor uniform said with a momentary glare. She immediately went back to reading her… Oh my god, is that hentai?
"And I'm Love Aikawa," the man next to her introduced. He had easily the weirdest hair Rukia had ever seen save maybe Kenpachi, an afro groomed perfectly into the shape of a star. He took a moment to pull of the headphones of the person sitting next to him, a man with long wavy blonde hair and an outfit that made him look ready for an orchestral performance.
"Rōjūrō Ōtorobashi," he said quickly, before grabbing back the headphones. Aikawa let out chuckle.
"You can call him Rose," he assured.
All that left was the man intimidatingly sharpening a hunting knife by the window. "I'm Kensei Muguruma," he said. He had silver hair, a piercing in his eyebrow and several more in his ear. He reminded her a lot of the punks she'd used to get into fights with. The difference here seemed to be that he wasn't faking his toughness at all.
"And you've already met Hiyori," Hirako finished. His confidence had seemed to make a comeback.
"It's nice to meet you all," she said politely. "I'm Rukia Orikasa."
Judging by Hirako's smile, he liked this response. "It's good to meet you, too, Rukia. From what we understand, you're a lot like us, a Visored."
"We're a rather private bunch," Ushōda said with a gentle smile, "but we're always open to recruits. We'd be happy if you could join us."
"If you want," Kuna added.
"So… what do you say?" asked Hirako.
Rukia swallowed thickly.
"This all seems…nice, but," she let out a sigh, steeling herself. "One of you just attacked me, and I don't even know who the rest of you are."
Hirako's smile faltered.
"She's got a point, there," Aikawa commented.
"You're not helping," Hirako mumbled.
"But!" Rukia interrupted, not meeting anyone's eyes. "I'd be pretty stupid if I let this opportunity pass me by. I didn't even know there were other 'Visoreds' around and…" She shifted in place, unsure.
"And…?" echoed Kuna.
Fists clenched, Rukia prepared herself for what she was going to say next in front of complete strangers. She took in a deep breath before finally saying, "I think something's wrong with my Zanpakuto.
"I'm not sure what, just that it's that…" Hollow? Monster? "…thing's fault. I need help controlling it, because if I can't I'd be letting her down. If I need to join you guys to do that, so be it, but I'll only do it if you promise me, you'll help her."
She looked up out of the corner of her eye, noticing some of the looks the Visoreds were giving her. Some looked sad, others looked at her in sympathy. Somehow, that made her feel better already, the idea that there were people that knew what she was going through.
"Well, you heard her!" Hirako cried with a clap of his hands. "It looks like we've got a new recruit!"
Kuna let out a loud "Whoop!" of excitement. Many of the others simply smiled (of those that visibly reacted at all). It wasn't the warmest of welcomes, but for now, it would work.
"For the next few weeks," Hirako announced, "fixing her Zanpakuto will be our top priority!"
Rukia let out a deep sigh of relief at that, one that ended with a jolt of pain going through her ribs. She breathed through it, hiding a grimace.
"Maybe we should start tomorrow," she suggested. Exhaustion was starting to kick in, and Renji was no doubt wondering where the heck she was by now.
Shrugging his shoulders Hirako said, "I don't have a problem with that."
"Okay," she said with a resolute nod. "I'll be here then, right after school." She couldn't stop the smile that crept on her face. Rukia would finally be getting the answers she needed, and something about that had her excited.
This is where the fun begins, my dudes. The Visored Arc is one of my favorites because it introduces some of the best characters in Bleach. I'm proud to present the first batch of them, today!
But, before I can get into it… ANNOUNCEMENT TIME.
For a while I've been debating in between doing the whole Manga including the Fullbringers and Final Arc or stopping at the end of Aizen's Saga with the Winter War. Just because of how much time it takes to write each arc (I mean, I have other fics I want to write, here) as well as how the last two are kinda known for being the worst I'm going for the latter. I'm wrapping everything up with the Winter War. I'll still be referencing lore from both as they do offer good context for both Quincy and Fullbringers, but assume that Xcution doesn't exist and Yhwach is staying asleep for another one-hundred years or so.
I'm sorry if that disappoints some of you. Feel free to yell at me in the comments, or just hit me up if you want to chat. Your comments give me life, after all.
