Okay, everyone! This is the first official chapter of Fate and Destiny! Let me know how you find it! Oh, and have a nice summer too!

Chapter 1

Infiltration

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"What is it?" Toshiro was quick to rush into the room Ren was in, thinking the worst was happening.

"There's a body on my sofa!" Ren yelled, pointing at a yellow sofa. Sure enough, there was a body lying across it. Why there was a sofa in Ren's study, he did not know, but all he was focused on at the moment was the body with white hair, a black shirt and white trousers. Toshiro knew it was his Gigai right away, but he knew that, with Ren, it was going to take a lot of explaining. He was lucky that her parents weren't home yet; the explanation was going to take a long time.

"I can explain..." Toshiro started calmly. "You see, that's-"

"I know what it is!" Ren yelled, interrupting him. "What I want to know is why there's a body in my house! Wait a sec..." Ren looked from the Gigai to Toshiro, then back again, and then back at Toshiro. "It looks like you."

"Yes, as I was trying to say, it is my Gigai."

"Gigai?" Ren repeated. "What's that?"

"A Gigai is what Soul Reapers like myself use when sent to the World of the Living. It allows us to interact with other humans and the world when we are, how should I put this, off duty."

"Oh, that makes sense." Ren nodded.

"But, I should warn you. As soon as I put this Gigai on..." Toshiro pulled his Gigai up by the arm so that it was sitting on the sofa. "I will be unable to exit due to my lack of powers. In other words, we are completely vulnerable if the enemy attacks."

"Hey, I'm tougher than I look." Ren grinned.

"Whatever." Toshiro held the Gigai with both hands, and there was a light blue glow as his spirit body merged with the Gigai, and all Ren could do was watch. When the glowing disappeared, Toshiro looked at his hands and flexed his fingers, checking to see if the transition was a success. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, especially considering the fact that he was no longer a Soul Reaper.

"Alright, now I'm just like you." Toshiro looked at Ren's expression, which seemed to be a mixture of shock and surprise. "Yes, naturally it's rare for humans like you to see something like this." Toshiro said, standing up off the sofa.

"That's..." Ren started. "That's so cool!" She exclaimed, dropping her bag and bringing her fists up, beaming. Toshiro was speechless. He processed the words spoken, but each time, they echoed through his head.

"Huh?" He said flatly.

"There was a glow and everything! That's so awesome! Where can I get one?"

"That's a, um...a new reaction." Toshiro muttered.

"Anyway, there are some things I want to ask you, other than that Gigai, or whatever you call it. Like, what Soul Reapers are."

I have to know. Is he a monster hunter or what? Ren thought to herself. If he is, then I could definitely use his help.

"It's a long story." Toshiro said dismissively. Ren responded by falling back on her sofa, sitting cross legged on the cushions.

"Well then, explain away!" She almost exclaimed, outstretching her arms. "I've got nothing better to do!"

Sometime later

"Okay, let's get this straight." Ren started slowly. "You are a captain of a division of Soul Reapers in this place called the Soul Society?" Toshiro nodded. "You come to earth so you can fight these monsters called Hollows and send lost souls to the Soul Society?" Toshiro nodded again. "And this mission you were sent on is so you can investigate some monsters who are like Hollows but are not Hollows, but you lost your powers almost as soon as you arrived because Soul Reapers don't exist here, and now I'm the only one who can see you, so you need my help?" Toshiro nodded for the final time.

"..." Ren was silent, processing what Toshiro said, while the latter was bracing himself for whatever reaction may come. She could go all out and throw a glass at him, or maybe even laugh. Or, even worse, do a Kurosaki and flip a table over while yelling how absurd it was.

"Okay." Toshiro was brought back to earth after what Ren said.

"Excuse me?"

"Okay." Ren repeated. Pause. "I believe you."

Just like that? Toshiro thought, dumbfounded.

"Do you have any idea how gullible that made you?" Toshiro almost yelled.

"Yeah, I guess I am a little gullible."

"And you're okay with it?"

"Nobody's perfect." Ren shrugged. "Anyway, I'm the only one who can see you; I knew that before I knew what you were. What I want to know is what you're going to do now."

"I need to infiltrate the school you attend."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I was going to use this." Toshiro pulled out from his trouser pocket a blue stick-like object with a small switch on top of it. Ren narrowed her eyes at it, inspecting the device closely.

"A pez dispenser?" She said suddenly. "So you're gonna bribe 'em with candy?"

"No!" Toshiro yelled. "This is called a kioku chikan."

"Kioku chikan..." Ren repeated slowly. "Ki-o-ku chi-ka-n...Ah!" Ren snapped her fingers. "Kioku means memory, right? So does that thing alter their memories or something?"

She's figured it out without me telling her? Toshiro thought, unable to hide his shock. She certainly thinks fast!

"So does it change their memories or what?" Ren asked.

"Yes...Yes, it does." Toshiro answered with some unintended hesitation.

Yes! Ren thought triumphantly. Now I'm not useless! But, I'd better keep the monsters thing a secret for a while. After all, if he's lost his powers then he can't fight the Hollows, if that's what they are.

"Wait a minute."

"What's wrong?" Toshiro asked.

"If Soul Reapers don't exist, and your cell phone is broken, then..." Ren pointed at the device. "Wouldn't that be useless, too?"

She's right! Toshiro thought. I didn't even begin to think about that possibility!

"Damn." Toshiro hissed. "But, what if it does work?"

"I know!" Ren stood up in front of Toshiro. "Try it on me!"

"What?"

"Try it on me!" Ren urged. "Just flick the thingy, and make me forget about meeting you, or whatever."

"Are you sure?" Toshiro asked. "If it works, you'll forget all about Soul Reapers and me."

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever! Just do it!"

"Okay..." Toshiro raised the memory replacer up to Ren's head height. But, just before he could flick the switch, he stopped himself.

Why am I hesitating? Toshiro thought. It probably won't work on her, and I've done this several times before, but why am I hesitating now? What is this?

"Hey, are you gonna do it or what?" Ren asked, somewhat impatient. She knew that intelligence wasn't going to be enough to win over Toshiro, so she decided to show that she would be willing to do anything if it meant helping somebody she knew. Sometimes, her selflessness got her into trouble, but that part of her is what her friends liked about her. And, she hoped that Toshiro would like that about her, too.

"Fine. Here goes." Toshiro, shaking off his hesitation, flicked the switch on the device. There was a puff of smoke, and Ren fell back on her sofa with a yelp.

"What hit me, a truck?" Ren exclaimed. She stared up at Toshiro, who was still holding the chikan in his hand, but now had a spring with a plastic head of a dog on the top springing left and right.

"Well?" Toshiro asked.

"I still recognise you. Wait, lemme check...Your name is Toshiro, right?" Toshiro nodded. Silence. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Looks like it." Toshiro sighed, stuffing the useless chikan back in his pocket.

"Actually, there is another way you can get into my school." Ren said.

"Ren, I'm home!"

"Yah beh!" Ren flinched.

Amazing...Toshiro thought, sweat dropping. She can even swear in Japanese.

"Crap! Mom's home!" Ren stood up, looking left and right. "Sorry, but you've gotta hide." Without warning, Ren began to push Toshiro towards another door. With one hand, she kept a hold of his collar, and she opened the door with the other hand.

"W-Wait! What're you doing?"

"Sorry, but can you hide in here for a bit?" Ren shoved Toshiro through the door, which he noticed looked like a garage, though it smelled of dust and bricks.

"Hold on!" Toshiro started, before the door was closed, and Toshiro was left alone to the sound of the refrigerator humming. "She apologises too much." Toshiro grumbled. After his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness, Toshiro noticed that there were several cardboard boxes littering the garage, along with a fridge, a workbench and a long floor to ceiling cupboard in the middle of it all. And yet, there wasn't a single car in sight.

"That's not the only thing that's strange." Toshiro said to himself. What was strange was this girl. What was her name again? Ren. Her appearance may have caught Toshiro off guard a little, but underneath all that, she was impossible to figure out. She's so honest, that it is almost a fault. She is intelligent, yet she is also naive and dense. On top of all that, she is completely oblivious and unaware of her surroundings, and she seemed rather boisterous for a girl. But, Toshiro couldn't help but feel that Ren was rather dependable, and the type of person who was loyal to her friends. In short, Ren was a complex girl. A complex girl that Toshiro had to trust in order to complete his mission.

"Where's the light switch?" Toshiro wondered, shrugging off his thoughts of Ren, and feeling the wall with his hand for any sign of a switch.

...

"Have you got any homework?" Ren's mother asked, while Ren was staring up at her, looking as though there was nothing suspicious going on. Her mother was several heads taller than her, and had short brown hair, as well as the same blue eyes as Ren.

"Yes." Ren answered in a bored tone.

"Are you doing it?"

"Yes." She said again.

"It certainly didn't look like it."

"Well, I just wanted to check we had enough Coke in the fridge. Anything wrong with that?"

"No. Nothing at all. I just-"

"AAAAAH!"

CRASH!

"What was that just now?" Ren's mother asked, looking towards the garage door. "Ren, did you hear that?" She then turned to look at her daughter, who was looking very nervous.

"No." Ren answered slowly, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"I could have sworn I heard something..." Her mother started.

"Ah, I'm sure it was nothing, Mom." Ren said quickly, grinning. "Tell you what, why don't you get upstairs and get dressed, then I can make you a cup of tea. How's that?"

"But-"

"Go, Mom." Ren almost ordered, and her confused mother left the room to her bedroom. When she was certain that her mother was upstairs, Ren immediately went to the garage, and turned on the light switch. There, she saw a huge pile of cardboard boxes, and a lone twitching hand poking out of the top. "Um...are you alive?"

"GAH!" Toshiro yelled, bursting out of the boxes. "It's a miracle I am! And why did you push me in here?" Toshiro yelled.

"I can't have Mom finding out about you yet." Ren said simply.

"You could have warned me, though!"

"You've got a sock on your head."

"Grrr." Toshiro growled out of frustration, grabbed a dirty sock from the top of his white hair, and angrily threw it on the ground. He took a deep breath before he regained his composure. This girl was seriously aggravating! "Anyway, what were you saying before?"

"About my school?"

"Yes. You say there is another way. I want to hear it."

"Well..."

The next day, Friday, 3.45pm

"This is your big plan?" Toshiro grumbled angrily, his eyebrow twitching. Before the two of them was a green oak door with a metal plate saying "Headmaster" on it. Toshiro had come, albeit grudgingly, in the same outfit as before, and Ren was in her school uniform again.

"What's wrong with sweet-talking the head?" Ren asked innocently. "He'll probably accept you as a transfer student if I explain things to him."

"This has an eighty per cent chance of failing."

"If you have any better ideas, I'd like to hear them, Captain Hitsugaya." Ren said in defence, hands on her hips. Toshiro flinched. Somehow, he was annoyed that she was right. But, at least she referred to him by his title, unlike another human he knew.

"Fine." Toshiro muttered grudgingly.

"Hee hee!" Ren grinned triumphantly. She turned her attention back to the door and knocked three times.

"Enter." A deep voice said from inside the office.

"Alright, play it cool, and only speak when you're spoken too." Ren whispered, before opening the door, while Toshiro was secretly seething about a human giving him orders. "Good afternoon, sir." Ren said politely, stepping into the middle of the office.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, sir. I have someone wishing to enter school this term. I thought it might be alright, seeing as we just started a new one at all, but I apologise if I have caused any inconvenience." Ren gave a small bow at her apology, while Toshiro noted, peering around the door frame, how Ren had even developed Japanese mannerisms. "I hope you'll be able to accept him. He'll be an asset to this school, I promise you."

"I'll be the judge of that. Is he here?"

"Yep. Just as promised." Ren looked over her shoulder at Toshiro, wearing her usual cheerful smile. "Come on in!" She said happily. Toshiro, taking that as his cue, walked into the office, carrying his air of confidence and authority that he had with him as a captain. Immediately, he was face to face with the headmaster. He had dark brown hair with a slight grey tint to it, and piercing grey eyes. He sat behind a dark oak desk, and his eyes seemed to gaze straight through Toshiro, already judging him.

"Are you the boy Miss Conner speaks so highly of?" The headmaster asked in a deep yet gruff voice.

"Y...Yes." Toshiro answered, not expecting the nervous stutter at the start. "My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Oh? That name sounds foreign. Miss Conner, is he from this country?"

"Um, no. But, he is a British citizen." Ren answered, not losing her focused stare.

"But how are you acquainted with this boy."

"Relative." Ren lied.

"Pfft." Toshiro stifled a laugh at Ren's terrible lie, but quickly pretended to cough as soon as he felt the cold, grey eyes fall on him.

"I see no resemblance. And there is nobody with the last name of "Hitsugaya" in your family records."

"Like I said, he is from another country. He was adopted into my father's brother's family, and his name was changed, but he still wants to be known as Hitsugaya, if that isn't a problem, sir."

"No, no problem at all."

She's such a terrible liar! Toshiro thought, staring at Ren. And this old man is buying it!

"What I do have a problem with is his white hair. It has to go; it is against the rules to bleach hair." A vein throbbed on Toshiro's head in anger.

"I-Mhmf" Ren quickly covered his mouth with her hand before Toshiro could yell anything in response.

"It's his natural colour, sir." Ren said with a nervous smile. "It's weird, but it's just the way it is." Ren removed her hand from Toshiro's mouth. "Right?" She stared at Toshiro, expecting him to answer.

"It's...ahem...It's my natural hair colour, Mr..." Toshiro searched the man's desk for a nameplate, and eventually found one sitting just in the middle of the desk. "...Watson." Hell, he could handle this old man. If Ren can, then he certainly can, too. Besides, Yamamoto made this guy look like the little boy next door.

"I'm still not convinced." Mr Watson showed a sheet of paper, which had the family tree of Ren's family on it. "His name is nowhere in sight. And as far as I know, your father's brother does not have any children."

"Oh, but there is a simple explanation behind this."

"Tch." Toshiro turned away, knowing that the plan had failed.

"You see, he's..." Before Toshiro could hear the rest of the sentence, a high pitched noise went through the room, and white vibrations seemed to be travelling out of Ren's head. Even though her lips were moving, Toshiro could only hear the high ringing.

What's that sound? Toshiro thought. And what is she saying?

"Uh..." Toshiro moaned, placing a hand on his head, and he would have collapsed on the ground had he not placed his foot behind him to keep his balance.

I feel...dizzy. Why aren't they dizzy too? Somewhat weakly, Toshiro looked up at Ren, who was still talking. Is it her?

"And that's the story behind it." Ren finished. The noise stopped almost as quickly as it came, and Toshiro found himself able to stand properly, although he still felt dizzy.

"Very well." The headmaster said calmly. "He is hereby accepted into the school. You two are to come to school as normal on Monday, where Toshiro shall receive his student ID card. However, you must buy the uniform today. I believe the shop is open. Get there before it closes." As he spoke, Toshiro couldn't help but notice two things. First; the headmaster's eyes were now a much lighter colour than they were before. Second; the family tree looked different. Upon closer inspection, Toshiro realised that, on Ren's father's side of the tree, near the bottom, his own name was added to the branch, and listed as "adopted". How his name got there, he didn't know. "Here is his record. Take care of it; he'll need it tomorrow." The headmaster slid a sheet of paper towards Ren, who picked it up and read through the details. "On there is his form group and timetable. Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir!" Ren said happily. "Come on, let's go!" She grabbed Toshiro's hand and led him out of the office, being sure to close the door behind her. "Isn't that great? You can stay!"

"Huh?" Toshiro said, not paying proper attention.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Ren peered closely at Toshiro. "You don't look so hot."

"I'm fine." Toshiro said dismissively. "More importantly, how did you convince the old man to let me stay?" Ren opened her mouth to answer, but as soon as she blinked, her expression was filled with confusion.

"Yeah, what did I say?" Ren straightened up, scratching her head in thought.

"That's what I want to know!" Toshiro said, exasperated.

"Aha!" Ren laughed nervously. "Sorry, I don't know."

It was her making that noise. Toshiro thought. It must be. It's the only explanation. But, the fact that she has forgotten makes it harder to prove. Although, she could just be dense.

"Say, you got any money on you?" Ren asked.

"Eh?" Toshiro blinked.

"Do you have any money?" Ren repeated, annoyed.

"Yeah. The currency I use still works here." Toshiro responded, not paying any attention to Ren, as he was still concerned with what happened in the office. Why didn't they notice? More importantly, how did his name get on the family tree?

"Good. Because I'm not paying for your uniform."

"Alright." Toshiro nodded. Silence. "Wait, what?"

...

"Hmmm...Say, do you prefer long or short sleeves?" Ren asked, holding up two packets of three white shirts.

"Short." Toshiro answered almost automatically.

"Alrighty, short sleeved it is." Ren placed both packets back on the shelf and began shuffling through them. The school shop they were inside was very small and cramped, with small shelves in the middle of the room, along with racks and other shelves lining the walls of the room, along with three changing rooms and a cash desk, which had hair pieces and stationary on display, and almost all of it had the school crest on it. Currently, Toshiro and Ren were the only ones in the shop, which provided some form of comfort to Toshiro. What he was about to ask Ren was something that no other human should know.

"Hey-"

"Is it alright if you're in year 9?" Ren asked, interrupting Toshiro.

"Year 9?" Toshiro repeated, secretly annoyed that Ren had interrupted him.

"Yeah. I guess the headmaster thought you were fourteen. You know, because you're..." Ren trailed off when Toshiro shot her a glare before she could even begin to utter the word 'short'. "Well, what year do you want to be in?"

"Your year, of course." Toshiro answered snappily.

"Huh?" Ren exclaimed. "That's the top year!"

"Top...year?" Toshiro said slowly, stunned. "That means...you're..."

"Yeah. I'm eighteen. My birthday was not that long ago."

She's an adult! Toshiro exclaimed in his thoughts. She's a legal adult! But she's...she's so childish! And small!

"Ah-tchoo!" Ren sneezed. "Heh, somebody must be talking about me. So, should I tell him you're not a year 9, then? 'Cause he gave me this form, and he says you're a year 9. Shall I change it?"

"Do...Do whatever you want." Toshiro answered, recovering from the shock, but was still rather surprised.

"Okay, you're in year thirteen, now." Ren proceeded to pick up a black tie and placed it in a deep burgundy bag, which had other items for Toshiro. "Now, back to the shirts." Ren carried on looking through the packets for the correct shirts.

"Listen, there's something that has been bothering me."

"Eh?" Ren blinked. "What is it?" Ren picked up a packet of shirts and glanced at Toshiro. "Nah, too big." She placed the packet back on the shelf and carried on searching.

"In that office, you were telling terrible lies that nobody could fall for. Not even Kurosaki would believe them."

"Okay, so I'm not a good liar, so what?" Ren said quickly, not looking at Toshiro. "Wait, who's Kurosaki?"

"A person I know, but that's not important. Lies aside, somehow that old man believed everything you were saying. On top of that, my name is on your family tree."

"Really? That's cool." Ren said dismissively. "Aha!" Ren triumphantly held up a pack of three shirts. "Here it is!"

"This isn't a laughing matter!" Toshiro almost snapped, impatient. "I heard something in that room. And vibrations were coming out of your head. In other words, you did something to that man so that I could come here, and I want to know what!"

"!" Ren gasped. She did something to the headmaster? Like hypnosis? Impossible! But, if what Toshiro was saying was true, then it would explain a lot to Ren. For starters, it could be an explanation as to why she could sense the monsters. But, she couldn't have Toshiro know about that. Not yet, at least.

"You can ask all you want about it, but you'll get no answers." Ren said forcefully, her voice losing the bubbly tone it usually carried. Instead, it seemed rather fierce. Toshiro noticed this, and he became rather nervous. "I can't remember anything."

"Look, I'm just trying to get some answers." Toshiro reasoned.

"I'm as clueless as you are." Ren continued, dropping the shirts into the plastic bag. "Talking to me is a waste of your breath.

What is this feeling? Toshiro thought. For some reason, she seems...different.

"This discussion is over." Ren picked up the bag and made her way to the counter.

"Ah! Wait!" Toshiro gasped, reaching out and touching her back.

"Kya!" Ren yelped, dropping the bag and spinning around to face Toshiro with a both surprised and scared look on her face.

"Uh..." Toshiro started, dumbfounded.

"Don't touch my back." Ren said nervously. "I hate it when people do that."

"S...Sorry." Toshiro apologised.

She...She actually said 'Kya!'. But... Toshiro turned away, making sure that the small blush on his face was hidden. It was kinda cute.

"It's alright." Ren smiled at Toshiro. "I get a little surprised when somebody touches me when I'm not expecting it. It's complicated, though."

"There's no need to explain. At least you're back to normal now." Toshiro said without thinking.

"Back to normal?" Ren cocked her head to the side, confused. "What're you talking about?"

"Never mind." Toshiro sighed. He made a mental note never to make Ren angry. He had a feeling that she was not to messed with when provoked.

"Right. Let's get your uniform sorted, and then we should get the bus-" Ren stopped mid-sentence with a gasp. Her wide-eyed stare immediately went to the fire exit.

"Hn? What's wrong?"

That feeling again. Ren thought. It's a monster. And it's right here on the school grounds. It's by the netball courts. I was there yesterday! They're after me! I know it! First I can sense them, then this Soul Reaper shows up out of nowhere looking for me, and now something weird happened to Mr Watson that I can't even remember. I'm connected to it all! But why? More importantly, there are still students here. Students that can't see the monster. They're in danger!

"Hello?" Toshiro said. Without warning, Ren pushed the fire exit door open and ran outside. "Hey!" Toshiro ran outside, and found that Ren was already running around the corner. "Wait!" Toshiro proceeded to chase Ren through the school grounds. What was up with that girl? Why would she take off like that? Straight away, Toshiro concluded that Ren knew more than she was letting on.

"Oof!" Toshiro grunted after running into Ren's back after she suddenly stopped short of the netball courts. "Why did you run away like that?" Toshiro demanded, staring up at Ren's face. His eyes widened. Ren's face was not smiling like usual, but instead had a look that he had not seen her wear yet. It was a look of absolute fear. "What is it?" Ren said nothing in speechless fear, and pointed a shaking finger ahead of her at the netting surrounding the netball courts. "Over there, huh?"

Is it a Hollow? Toshiro thought automatically, even though he knew Hollows won't exist here. He sharply looked towards where Ren was pointing...and soon found himself frozen on the spot, his eyes wide out of pure terror.

"Wh...What the hell is that thing?"

So...what the hell is that thing? Check in next time, and you'll find out exactly what the hell that thing was! (Man, that sounded so cool in my head, but on paper it looks stupid! Ah well, it's done now.)