Chapter Two: First Impressions
"you can fucking see me?!" The woman yelled at Yoshiro.
Yoshiro instinctively took a step back "This could end poorly for me. Just what the hell am I supposed to go about dealing with this?"
Suddenly the woman disappeared in the moment faster than he could see, and she was suddenly on the roof top only about 15 feet in front of him. Looking at him with suspicious and a mildly threatening glare.
'OK Yoshiro play it cool. Don't do anything to accidently set off the weird deer lady.' He thought to himself and spoke the first thing that came to his mind, in a sheepish tone. "Ummmm…. Hi?" Truly, he was a master of languages.
The woman didn't even react to what he said and merely responded. "how can you see me?" she said in a demanding tone.
"Not sure I catch your drift?"
"Don't play dumb with me jackass!" suddenly in another show of inhuman ability she was right in front of him. Faster than he could react and grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the ground with one hand.
"I'll ask again. How the fuck can you see me?"
She looked at him with a glare that was probably meant to be intimidating. Though it came out more like an adorable pout if anything Yoshiro noted. Not that he would say it aloud. He may have been known to be quippy and sarcastic but even knew when to draw the line on such things. When he cared to anyways and this situation was certainly one such time.
"Look I don't know how I can see you. I've always been able to see things others normally can't. Been able to since I was a kid." He said in the most honest tone he could muster.
Emilou gave the man she had in her grasp an inquisitive look and thought. 'Maybe he is telling the truth? I can't sense any soul reaper like reiatsu coming off him. Granted he could just be disguising himself? I'll ask and see what reaction I get.' "Are you some sort of soul reaper trying to lure me into a trap?"
This time the guy looked at her with his inquisitive and confused look, with a raised eyebrow. "What the literal fuck is a soul reaper?" he said in an honest and wondering tone.
Emilou raised her own eyebrow in response. Suddenly her expression softened a bit and she gently let the guy back onto the ground and let go. "Alright, your no soul reaper but I still can't understand how you can see me."
"Like I said I don't know how I can see things either, I just sort of do. Anyways though maybe we should have some proper introductions first. Name's Yoshiro Abe, I'm from here in Karakura, Japan and my birthday is April 13th."
Emilou stared at the young man with an incredulous look on her face. 'Odd for him to be so forward and polite all things considered. Though I suppose I should reply in kind. Don't want to come across as too much of a jerk.' She thought. If Emilou had learned anything in her time serving lady Halibel. It was always try to be polite to those who do the same to you. "Name's Emilou Apacci, I'm from a place called Hueco Mundo and my birthday is May 17th."
"I know our initial meeting was kind of rough, but I'll just chalk that up to a misunderstanding. So, no hard feelings and it's nice to meet you Apacci." Yoshiro spoke in a kind voice, with a warm smile.
Emilou was taken back by this person's politeness, considering what had just happened. If this was hueco mundo they would already be trying kill one of another by this point. She could tell he was being genuine with his actions. Emilou just wasn't sure how to quite handle such polite kindness. Such things were practically unheard of in a brutal place like hueco mundo. Then there was the smile he gave her. She couldn't understand why but for some reason his smile gave her a warm feeling in her chest. 'whatever.' She quickly thought and pushed the feeling aside.
"you know I can't figure if your being dumb, brave, crazy or just that completely honest with me right now" Emilou said with a bit of mirth.
"probably a mix of all the above in truthfulness." Yoshiro responded. "I'm all sorts of weirded out by the turn of events here I'm just keeping a straight face."
Emilou couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle. "Can't really blame you for that I suppose. Well, I suppose I'm sorry for how acted earlier. I was taken by surprise by you being able to see me."
"like I said, no hard feelings. I imagine you're not used to being seen by folks like me?" Yoshiro said. "By the way what brings you here out here anyway? This isn't exactly the kind of place most beings frequent."
"I could say the same to you." She responded.
"hmmm…. point taken."
"I'll tell you what." Emilou spoke. "you answer what I want to the best of your ability and I'll answer what you want to the best of my ability. Sound good to you?"
"Yeah sure, why the hell not? I don't mind at all. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have quite a few questions. Plus, it's not like I have a lot to hide." Yoshiro said in a somewhat cheeky tone.
Emilou smirked a bit in response. "well alright then." She wasn't sure why she was entertaining this guy, Yoshiro he called himself so much. Probably, because she didn't feel like going back to hueco mundo yet. Not to mention the guy had honestly perked her interest. Plus, the fact that genuinely polite conversation with someone who wasn't lady Halibel, pretty much didn't happen generally. Guess she was just that desperate for something new and different, not that she would ever openly admit that.
They sat on the edge of the roof with their legs hanging over the edge. Yoshiro had his guitar plugged in and draped over his legs. Emilou sat next to him leaning back a bit using her arms for support.
"So" said Yoshiro. "I'll start, not to be too forward and no offense but what exactly are you?"
"None taken and to answer your question. I'm what you would call a hollow."
"A what now?" Yoshiro asked with confusion.
"I'm a type of spirit, we are born when a normal soul lingers for too long in the living world. Ones you will find mostly here in the living world are just low level mooks. However, you can find hollows from the weakest to the strongest variety in hueco mundo. It's the realm of hollows and where the majority live. Hollows are defined by two distinct characteristics. One, we have some sort of mask or covering on our face and/or head." She used her hands to move her hair up from the front of her face. Revealing a plate of sorts that ran across the top her head, that her horn and antlers were attached too. Made of the same bone like material that covered her chest. "Plus, our hollow hole, placement varies from hollow to hollow and it represents are emptiness that we aim to fill. Also, as you may have noticed we are far stronger and faster than humans, along with all sorts of other neat powers and abilities." She said dropping her hands back down to where they had been. Her hair going back to hiding the bone plate.
"You said that your people have an inherit emptiness that you aim to fill. How do you go about that exactly?" Yoshiro asked intently with wonder, looking at Apacci. Fully engrossed with everything the woman was telling him. What many people probably wouldn't guess about him, but he always had a thirst for gaining knowledge about interesting things. Obviously, this talk fell clearly into that area.
Emilou stiffened up a bit at his question. She suddenly became mildly nervous but kept the feeling hidden. 'should I tell him the truth?' She thought to herself. 'He could very well freak out and run. Though he hasn't bothered to take off for hills yet after what has already happened. He does seem like a pretty understanding type of person. Ehhh…. Fuck it, I'll just tell him and see what happens.' She ultimately decided to herself.
"Well you see." She said a bit somberly. "The emptiness acts like a hunger for us. That we aim to satisfy by consuming…" she paused a little before saying. "the souls of dead people and even other hollows."
Yoshiro's eyes widen a little and then narrowed a bit as he then looked away from Apacci. He simply sat there in deep thought for a few moments as an awkward silence started to take hold. Then he looked back up at the hollow woman beside him and calmly spoke.
"have you ever eaten any human souls by chance?"
"No" she replied honestly. "when I became a hollow there weren't any kind of other spirits around me, so I just took off to hueco mundo almost immediately and began hunting there."
"I see, while I have to admit it's certainly a surprise to hear that and even a little unnerving understandably." Emilou instinctively fidgeted a little. "However, I am not going to hold it against you. Simply because it's just your nature for what you are. It's your inner most instinct, no different from the nature and instincts all beings have. I don't see how you can be blamed for just having too follow your very instincts and survive as needed."
Emilou sat there looking at Yoshiro completely dumb struck, like she had been suddenly bitched slapped by the blunt side of lady Halibels sword. She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Most people, humans, soul reaper, etc. Would see her as probably nothing but a monster after such a revelation. Not him though, not only he did he not see her as a monster. He also seemingly understood the base nature of a hollow. If someone had told her before now, that she could find a human which such understanding. She would have laughed in their face and called them a fucking moron.
"Are you ok?" Yoshiro spoke as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. Emilou flinched a little at the touch but didn't pull away. She just looked at him with a somber expression and gently said. "Thank you. Most people in the world aren't so understanding. Hearing you say that means more than you think for someone like me."
"no problem." He responded gently. "I always try to keep a very open-minded and understanding view of the things. I've found such an approach tends to make things in the world a lot easier to deal with and handle." He said with a smile.
'funny' Emilou thought to herself with a smile of her own on her face. 'this guy is just full of surprises it seems.'
"So, is there anything else related to the consuming thing to know?" Yoshiro asked as he moved his hand from Emilou back to where it was before.
"yes actually." She spoke much more calmly and assure of herself. "you see, consuming other souls and hollows is how we for the most part grow our power and eventually evolve to our next stage of existence."
"Kind of like a Pokémon?" Yoshiro asked.
Emilou wasn't sure what a Pokémon was but made a mental note to ask later about it. "Yeah sure, anyways hollows have four main states. There's our base for when we first are born, the Gillian state where we take on this giant lumbering form. Then there's the adjucah state where we shrink down in size and take on a more animal like appearance. Finally, there's the vasto lord state, this is the most powerful form of hollow. Which is what I am, and few hollows ever achieve such a state. We have a much more human appearance but still retain certain characteristics from our adjucah state."
"Wow, that's all pretty damn amazing I'm not going to lie." Yoshiro spoke with awe. "I have just one more question before you can start hitting me with yours."
"Alright, shoot."
"what exactly are soul reapers and why do you have such an issue with them?" He asked innocently.
Emilou's expression suddenly went serious and she stared off into the distance with her eyes narrowing. "Soul reapers." She said with a noticeable hint of venom. "Soul reapers are other soul like beings who exist to ferry the souls of dead humans from the living world to their world. Also, there job is to kill people like me."
Yoshiro's eyes went and his jaw hung agape at the statement. "Holy shit." Was all he could say.
"They hunt us down whenever they can find us, believing us to be to be impure beings. Viewing us nothing more than monsters to be destroyed, no matter how well adjusted and understanding some of us can be. They also have their own set of abilities and powers. Including a sword that allows them to do all sorts of crazy shit, though the powers differ from person to person. They call what they do to us 'purification' but for us it feels like nothing short of being murdered for simply existing."
Emilou turned to Yoshiro and looked at him directly into his eyes. "you want to know the real messed up thing about this? The only reason souls become hollows to begin with is because the soul reapers fail to find and ferry us to their other world in proper time."
Yoshiro's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the statement, looked directly back at Emilou with a serious and upset expression. "That's utter bullshit. You come into existence because they fail to do their jobs and then they have the nerve to demonize you because of their own failures. That really pisses me off."
His expression then changed to something akin to care and concern. "Apacci" he calmly said. "If you find yourself in trouble with these soul reapers while here, feel free to come to me and I'll help you how ever I can, ok?"
Once again, Emilou was dumbstruck by this guy. He barely knew her and here he was saying how he would help protect her from soul reapers if she ever needed it. She was honestly at a total loss for words.
Then he reached out a placed a hand on top of her own. She didn't flinch this time from his touch, she simply let it happen. He looked at her at spoke.
"I know we haven't known each other very long at all but I don't see a monster, when I look at you. I see a person, a person who was dealt a bit a rough hand by the world. Someone who has had struggle in ways I honestly couldn't even begin to imagine. Suffering hardships for no other reason than simply existing and the fact there's others who would try to kill you for that reason is wrong. You shouldn't have to suffer for things out of your control. If anyone comes around and says otherwise, well they can just go ahead and fuck off."
Emilou could her face blushing from his words, she had to fight back from letting some tears form and fall down her face. She simply moved her hand around in order to grip his lightly and simply uttered almost in a whisper. "Thank you." It was all she could say, she couldn't think of anything else to say in the moment. She was moved by the boy's conviction and genuine honesty of what he said. The fact he barely knew her and yet was so willing to help and protect her. She couldn't help but mentally note how incredibly similar his attitude toward such a situation was to that of lady Halibels.
They kept like this for a few moments in silence until Yoshiro pulled his hand back to over his guitar and said "well that's enough questions from me, I think? What do you want to ask me?"
Emilou looked at him not sure what to say then a question came to her. "Ok Yoshiro, what are doing out here in a place like this for something like music practice?"
Yoshiro smirked a bit and replied. "Simple really, this spot is secluded enough for me to practice without disruption. Well mostly anyways." He threw a bit of playful smirk at Apacci. She merely gave a bit of an incredulous look in response.
"Also, enough of light around here provides sight for me to see what I'm doing and the view of the Karakura at night from up here is quite nice."
Emilou took a glance of the of the place from their position on the roof and she had to agree. "I can see it. It's an oddly enjoyable view."
"Being all the way here at this time of night is kind of odd. Won't your parents be worried about you being out so late?"
Yoshiro's expression turned somber and sad the moment the moment the words left her mouth, Emilou noticed. Before she could say anything else, he spoke up.
"My parents are dead. My father died when I was seven in a car accident and my mom, well…." He paused for a few, moments before saying. "My mom died giving birth to me."
"Oh shit." she spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that, for whatever its worth. I didn't mean to drag up any painful memories."
"it's fine." He responded. "it's not like you could have known beforehand. Besides, you kind of bled your heart to me earlier anyway. Only fair I do the same in return."
"I see" wanting to quickly change the tone of the conversation. "well anyways here's my next question for you. Your really good at your guitar and singing. You seem almost a little obsessed with it all. Why is that?" she said with mirth.
Yoshiro laughed a bit before warmly responding. "Well you see I picked up guitar and singing when I was six. After my father passed and I was left all alone with no one. I started throwing myself into guitar playing and singing as means of coping with my sadness and depression about everything. Since, I started doing I haven't really ever let up on it since."
"You play any kind of shows for people?"
"not really, well not unless you count the times, I go to the graveyards around town sometimes and play for the spirits there."
Emilou perked up a bit in surprise at that statement. "Really? Why?" she asked completely curious.
"well it's like you said earlier. Most people can't see spirits and the spirits feel kind lonely because of that in a sense. Having grown up an orphan for most of my life. I kind of get the feeling of that, so I like to play some tunes for them every now and again. It always perks them up quite a bit. That in turn perks me up as well." He spoke with a smile.
"well I have to admit I think that's a pretty cool thing." She responded with a smile of her own. "Alright next question."
"I have to admit your appearance the most exotic I have ever seen on a human. Care to explain?"
"Easy" Yoshiro replied. "I get almost all my looks from my mother, she had wild blond hair, and mocha skin as well. She was the daughter of a native Hawaiian woman and a blond-haired guy from California. Though her eyes were a teal color. Mine are blue the same as my grandfather from my mother's side. Atleast that what I was told by my father when I was young before, he died. I only have a few pictures of my mom back at home. To confirm it all"
"you must turn quite a few heads walking around town?" Emilou replied somewhat playfully.
"I certainly do, in both the good and bad sort of ways."
Emilou raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean by that?"
"Let's just say that some people find my natural appearance rather unbecoming for someone of Japanese birth and origin. I've seen people pull their children close to them and glare at me as I walk by. Others have tried to gang up on me and try to beat me up because of it too. All because I was simply born different looking from them."
Now it was Emilou's turn to get pissed. She clenched her fists a bit and growled a little as she said in an angry tone. "That's some of the most ridiculous fucking bullshit I've heard." She spate out with contempt. "Those fuckers have no right to judge you in such a manner."
Emilou was truly angry by what she had heard. Even if she had only known Yoshiro for a short time. She could already clearly tell how much of a genuine good person he was. So, the idea for people to dislike him for simply his natural appearance. Without ever even actually knowing him just made the people in question a bunch of shitheads who needed a good cero blast up the ass in her opinion.
"They even try to gang up and beat you up at times?"
"Oh yes." He said. "A few times in fact actually. One time I was walking through a park late at night and I was suddenly jump by about eight different street punks. Who wanted to kick my ass just for my looks."
"how'd that go for you?"
"It was no issue for me, they didn't even so much as scratch me. Meanwhile, I wound up sending all of them to the ER. Atleast I think I did, I didn't bother waiting to see the cops or ambulance come by to pick them up. Though I know for a fact mangled them up pretty good. You see while music is my main passion, I do have a few other hobbies too. Two of those being martial arts and kendo."
She stared at him in surprise for a few moments, then spoke with a slight tone of awe. "You know, I'm not surprised you know how to fight. You have the physique of someone who seems to do a fair amount of training. What surprises me is your apparent viciousness in a fight."
Yoshiro couldn't help but laugh and then gave a smirk as he looked at Emilou. Speaking in a bit of a mischievous tone. "Hey, I'm all for solving things through diplomacy and other peaceful solutions. Though I'm aware not everyone and everything can be dealt with in such ways. Sometimes, things need a smacking around in order to solve. When I come across such problem's I won't hesitate to put a foot in said problem's ass."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Emilou couldn't help but burst out in laughter from his statement. "Believe me, I know exactly how you feel." She said. "putting foots in asses tends to be the norm on how things are handled in hueco mundo."
Yoshiro looked out towards town and noticed the time on one of the massive electronic advertisement billboards. "Oh man it's 2:20 AM. Damn, I need to get home."
"Wow, its that late? Time really flew by didn't it? Oh well, guess it is the point?" she said with an understanding tone, with a slight hint of disappointment.
"Hey" Yoshiro spoke up. "seeing as how my music brought us here together to begin with. How about a song for the road?"
Emilou looked at the blond-haired teen with a smile of approval and nodded her head in agreement.
Yoshiro thought to himself just what to play as a good send off song. Then it hit him. "I have just the song in mind!" he spoke with some excitement. He stood up, took a few steps back from the edge of the roof and began performing 'Living After Midnight by Judas Priest.'
As the young man began playing the rift to the song and singing the lyrics. Emilou closed her eyes and let the sound of it all take control of her. She happily bobbed her head a bit and swayed her body back and forth as she listened to the beat of it all with closed eyes.
He watched as the hollow woman took the sound of it all in and was enjoying herself a good deal to the music. He couldn't help but smile warmly and happily at the sight of it in between singing. Eventually though it had to end.
After packing up all his stuff, he proceeded to let out a huge yawn to signify just how tired he really was. "Fuck, I live all the way on the side of town too getting home is going to suck." He said dryly.
"I can help with that." Emilou piped up.
"How so?"
"Strong enough hollows can use an ability called 'sonido'. Its basically a trick that allows us travel very fast in rapid burst. I can carry you on my back and just tell me where to go. I 'll have you home in no time."
"Sounds like a plan to me. Thanks, Apacci."
With that they both got ready to go. One thing both neglected to think about however when they agreed to this however was the sheer height difference between the two of them. Emilou was only about maybe 5'2", Yoshiro was a good foot taller than her. While she was plenty strong enough to carry him with out hassle even with all his stuff. If anyone saw them with her carrying him piggyback style, they would probably laugh their asses off at the sight. A fact both decided to ignore.
"you good to go?" She asked.
"let's do this" He replied.
With that Emilou activated 'sonido' and took off like a bat out of hell.
Yoshiro was caught so off guard but how fast they were going he almost forgot to give directions. Thankfully he didn't and they found themselves outside his place about five minutes later.
"Holy Shit, you weren't kidding that was fast!" he said after he got off Emilou's back.
"Told ya, 'sonido' is pretty kick ass." She said with a proud smirk on her face. She looked at Yoshiro's house. 'Pretty decent place from the outside by the looks of it.' She thought to herself.
"So, you wanna meet up again sometime?" He suddenly asked.
Emilou thought about it for a moment, it wasn't a hard a decision to make. "I'd like that a lot actually Yoshiro."
"Great." The young blond replied happily. Just so you know I'm still in school at the moment. So, I'm busy Monday until Friday afternoons, with most of my free time being on Friday afternoons, Saturdays and most of Sunday. once school gets out for summer break in early June. I'll have all sorts of free time for a few months until school starts again."
"Hmmmm….." Emilou mumbled as she took this info in and started thinking things out. She knew she would have to plan her visits carefully as to not raise too much suspicion from the others back in hueco mundo. She could probably get away with a once a week visit at least. Granted, she would probably have to tell the others about Yoshiro eventually, but she wanted to keep it all secret for now. She needed time to figure out some details first.
"I can come visit on Saturdays." She said.
"Works for me, my Saturdays are almost always free." He replied. "Tonight, turned out to be a pretty good night, thanks." He spoke kindly and held out his hand with a smile on his face.
"Tonight, turned out to be something needed more than I realized. Thanks too you as well Yoshiro." She said warmly and shook his hand with a smile of her own. "Oh, and Yoshiro."
"Yes?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just call me Emilou, seeing as how you let me call you by your first name."
"Wil do, Emilou."
With that she gave a slight wave of her hand goodbye opened a garganta and strode into it heading back to her home in hueco mundo.
Yoshiro watched with some surprise as she opened a portal to her home but got over it quickly. He couldn't help but have a smile on his face as he watched her strut into the portal back to her home until it closed. He couldn't help but muse to himself.
"you know I am really glad I made friends with her, but I also can't shake the feeling I just step into world well beyond my comprehension. Oh well, I'll just take things a day at a time, like i always do."
With that he turned on his heel and strode into his home ready for a long night sleep.
What he nor Emilou hadn't noticed however was a black cat that had been standing across the street from Yoshiro's house watching everything that had happened in front of it.