Summer Snowflake
By x.Nanako-chan.x
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Update: Okay, I changed the title - no oneshot since no one gave me any title ideas :/
Thank yous and cookies to Deadly Desire. NHx3, Kaylyn0706, Mimmy700, Sora Tsubasa, TheFirstHokage, DarkSmile, and NotaPunk
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:::Chapter 2: Soul Society:::
A bright light flashed as soon as we passed trough the screen door. Soon, the light faded away and I rubbed my eyes trying to rid them of the hurt that had relished into them.
I felt empty in the pit of my stomach as I took in my surroundings. It was like a maze in here. Ivory-white walls surrounded us, and I felt like they were closing in on me though, in fact, it was quite spacious. The walls loomed over us and I felt like I was suffocating under their shadows.
Nanako looked at me, clearly seeing that I was intimidated by the tall white walls, "You know, we can run of the roof, it you want?"
(Haha, I never understood why Ichigo and company didn't do this when they were looking for Rukia…)
"H-hai… arigato," I said as I nodded eagerly, with a grateful smile plastered on my face.
We jumped on top of the roofs and started running at a steady pace towards the center of this maze.
The winded whipped against my face and cooled my heated visage.
Out of curiosity, I activated my Byakugan and looked around me. Everything in this place was red, though I could still differentiate between people and all the buildings – the people had stronger signatures than the buildings.
I came to the conclusion that everything here was made of this 'spiritual energy' Nanako talked about.
I looked around the place and realized the place barely had anyone guarding it though this place seemed to be very important.
"Nanako-san?"
I couldn't tell is she heard me or not. Even I had to admit to myself that my voice had been barely audible.
I turned back to her and realized her right eyebrow was twitching.
"Ano…."
"Drop the san," she stated firmly.
"P-pardon?"
"Drop the san. It makes me feel old – well, I am old but still, don't do that."
"H-hai.. ano, Nanako..chan?"
"Hmm?" she asked, her eyes still trailed in front of our destination.
"How come not many people are here?" I questioned.
"The Shinigami graduation ceremony is being held today so most of our troops are attending as a form of respect to our fellow comrades."
"Why a-aren't you attending?"
"I was chosen by my captain to scout out the new dimension," she let out a wistful sigh. I guessed that she wanted to see the new recruits.
I took a breath trying to process the information I had just been given. Questions formed in my head and in awhile I finally had the courage to speak out.
"Shinigami?" I was curious, I still didn't know a thing about this place except it's made out of this 'reishi.'
"A Shinigami," she began, "is a soul reaper, or a death god in your words. We protect lost souls from hollows - like what I did with you."
"Demo…. Why am I special in this case? Why didn't y-you just bring me to where the other s-souls go?"
We suddenly stopped running, a tall white building with rusted yellow shingles stood over us.
"We in Soul Society don't have much information about your dimension," she started. She turned to me, "You have an ability – an ability to see through objects, see their reishi so freely. People of our world don't have that type of sense. Seeing as you're both from this new world you have loads of information we'll need. You seem to be a skilled fighter so you'll be a precious asset to our forces," she said, her mouth lifting up into a smile.
"M-my dimension?" I repeated absentmindedly.
Nanako simply nodded.
"We just discovered your world over a week ago; a new gate had been formed in the outskirts of Seiretei. We didn't know how it formed, or if it was safe to go explore so I was sent alone by my captain to gather information about this place," she continued, "and when I saw you, I realized your home was a lot like the Human world.
Souls could be lost and turned into hollows. Since there weren't any Shinigami in this world, I have a theory that most of the strongest hollows come from your home. Your people are smart, educated, and strong. These assets may have been brought from life to their after life. There are no guides in your homeland - all the lost souls must have been feasted upon by other hollows, or turned into hollows themselves."
"So," I began, "there are more than one type of d-dimension in total?"
She gave an absentminded nod, "There are five planes of existence in the universe that we had discovered so far. One," she lifted up her index finger, "of which is Soul Society - where we are located as of now.
Two," she lifted another finger, "is the human world, where mortals different from yourself reside.
Three, "she lifted up her ring finger, "is the bridge between these two worlds and yours. It's called Hueco Mundo - where the hallows hide in fear of us Shinigami.
Number four is Hell," her voice became distant and grave, "An awful place. It's where souls too evil and impure go when they are slain by a Shinigami's zanpukto.
And five," she lifted her thumb, "is your world. The new world of which we have just discovered.
We need your help Hinata-chan. You have knowledge of this world which we need to ensure the better safety of Soul Society, the Human World, and yours as well," she said in a serious tone.
I nodded understanding how important it was for her to keep her home safe. The worry and concern in her voice clearly showed how much she loved the place – I knew Nanako would protect it accordingly.
"Now," she said – her voice turning into a more cheery tone, "I'm going to introduce you to my captain – we'll need a lot of information from you!"
She grabbed my hand and rushed into the building. The place was pretty much empty except there were about three or four Shinigamis clad in a black uniform.
Nanako tugged me along a long corridor and stopped at the end of the hall. An emerald green door contrasted heavily with the white walls that stood by us.
Nanako started knocking, "Taichou? Toushiro taicho?"
We heard a humming coming from behind the door. Soon, a womanly voice answered, "Come in!"
Nanako opened the door and stepped inside she turned to me and mouthed a silent, "Wait here," to me.
I pushed my ear against the wall in an attempt to listen to the conversation.
"Ah! Nako-chan! How was your mission? Any problems?"
I activated my Byakugan trying to figure out what was happening from the other side of the door.
Nanako stood her back facing me and a woman with a rather large…ahem…bust faced her.
"Iie," she shook her head, "there weren't any problems. I did, in fact, encounter a hallow there but everything went well. I'm afraid I wasn't able to gather much information about this place but I brought back something that should be of use to use!" she added in a cheery voice.
"Eh? What is it?" the other woman asked.
"Just a sec!" she turned to the door and I deactivated my Byakugan, "Hina-chan! You can come in now!"
I nodded to myself and shyly walked into the room. The floor was carpeted in a soft green color with leafy plants in the corner of the room. A burnt-honey colored desk sat in the opposite side of the door, its back turned against to the large window that was situated behind it.
"Aw!" she woman screamed, "It's cute! Eh…. What is it?"
I felt the heat rush up to my face. It. She called me an it! I quickly ducked my head down so that they couldn't see my perplexed features.
"Matsumoto-san, this is Hyuuga Hinata. She's from the terrain I was scouting these past few days."
"Ah! That's great," she exclaimed, "she'll be a valuable source of information demo…"
"Demo?" Nanako repeated.
"She's dead. She shouldn't remember anything before her death, ne?"
They both turned to me, her eyes filled with concern tough Nanako had an eyebrow arched in confusion.
"A-actually…" I started in a quiet voice, "I remember everything that happened before I died," I looked up, "I remember my life, the abilities which I-I hold, my hometown and h-how I d-died," I lowered my head back down again.
"You," Nanako asked, "remember how you died?"
I nodded. I didn't see what the big deal was, "My sister and I were having a sparring match… I didn't want to hurt her so I lost… Otou-sama was angry at me for being weak so, he grabbed my hair then he shattered my jaw."
My eyes became cold and distant – somehow reliving these memories made me feel better. It was… nice… to get them out.
"A-ano… H-he ordered my sister to k-kill me then."
I saw their eyes widen – I guess they had never heard of a father to do such a horrid thing.
"My s-sister, H-Hanabi, she seemed rather r-reluctant to do it," I said in her defence, "b-but she would never d-displease otou-sama…."
The two woman in the room stared at me, waiting for me to go on with my story.
"S-she said she was sorry…" I said, but I knew they held no sympathy for my sister, "so t-then she shut off all my vital organs by hitting them with her Jyuuken. I remember… the color red…. How cold it was…. Then I passed out. When I woke up, I had a chain jutting out of my chest."
I looked back down and place a hand where it had been. I didn't realize it had been removed when we passed through the gates.
"I wandered around for awhile, and then I saw t-the H-hallow."
They looked at me, their eyes passive; I guessed that they expected more from me.
"I met Nanako-chan after that…. Then we left."
Matsumoto gave an absent minded nod and let out a deep breathe.
"Well," she started, "I guess we'll need to put you in the Shinigami academy for awhile."
"A-ano… why?" I asked.
"We'll need a lot of information. I doubt it would be okay with you if you sat around in a room all day never knowing what we need of you. The academy will be good for you, you'll be a valuable asset to Seiretei. You reishi signature is quite strong actually."
I smiled to myself – a valuable asset. Most people in Konoha thought of me as a burden – I was always the shy, weak girl in the Konoha 11.
My smile grew wider. It's my second chance – my second shot as living.
A new life – a new life as a Shinigami
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:::The Academy:::
"I am Professor. Just Professor," he stated. "I want to congratulate all of you for making it into the Shinigami Academy. You all must that you are the beginners in this Academy and that all of you may graduate in six years, but," he added, "if you believe you are up for a challenge, you may enter the advance class if, of course, I see fit. Whether or not you take the advanced class helps define when you will graduate."
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Weee!! New chapter :D Hurrah!
Well, I need ideas for Hinatas zanpakuto… And sorry for not updating sooner. My computer been screwy for the past couple of days. Anyways I'll try to update ASAP.
Reviews are nice too :)
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