A/N: ATTENTION! IF YOU HADN'T REREAD CHAPTER ONE, DO SO! I EDITED SOMETHING THAT *BLACK SUN UPON AN ICY SKY WAS KIND ENOUGH TO POINT OUT. Alright, now for chapter two. This one is hopefully a bit more organized than my last chapter. There's quite a bit of interaction between some OC's this chapter, but it's important. I hope you find them somewhat interesting. Thanks for the reviews, faves, and alerts. Anywho, enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it. The fanfiction would be the canon.
Format Key:
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
*Flashback*
'Hichigo talking/ Zangetsu talking'
Time Stands Still
by: Noelani Aiko
Don't Fear the Reaper
Ichigo stared blankly up at the top of his cell room.
"Oi, Hollow. You there?"
'No.' Ichigo could hear his other half give a faint snicker to accompany the lie.
"Any ideas how to get us out of here? Zangetsu disappeared after I got hit by Aizen's kido, so I can't just force my way out. Did you know there are 106 stones on the ceiling?" The hungry soul reaper babbled.
'Wow King. At the rate your mind is goin', I'll be able ta' take over easy. As for gettin' out of here, you have a visitor. Later King' remarked Hichigo. The hollow was very amused, but he also really wanted to get out of jail. 'One prison is enough.'
Letting the insult slide, Ichigo sat up. 'Visitor? Who'd visit me here?'
Two sets of footsteps echoed in the hallway. As the guard on duty turned the corner to Ichigo's cell, a white haori over black shihakusho also appeared.
Sato Noburu had been having a pleasant day. The breeze was lightly ruffling his purple-black hair and he didn't have anywhere to be. Deciding it was the perfect day for a walk, Noburu donned his captain's haori, left the office and headed toward the Rukongai's gate.
'Where to go, where to go. Oooh...maybe I'll visit Micha-chan's shop in district 71. She makes the best tea in the whole Soul Society!'
With a small smile plastered on his boyish face, Noburu flash-stepped away.
Ten minutes later, Sato was sipping away at a delicious jasmine mango tea when he overheard two off duty guards discussing the newest prisoner of the local jail.
The bigger of the two guards had a short beard and was speaking in a gravelly voice.
"Yeah, kid's a weird one alright. He had bright orange hair and was wearing that yukata Old Man Fuji reported when I caught him stealing. You'll never guess what I was thinking at first though Saki. I was getting ready to grab him and I thought I felt a spark or something leap at my hand, like the kid's a soul reaper or something."
"If you think he might be a soul reaper, why'd you arrest him Towa?" the lithe guard asked.
"If he were a soul reaper, he wouldn't need to be stealing bread in the Rukongai, now would he? You know, sometimes I think you're pretty dim."
Saki pushed his chair back violently and started to yell "Oh yeah!? Well I think you're always dumb!" The guard poured his hot tea on his partner, and proceeded to get a black eye.
Out of the corner of his eye, Noburu noticed a short woman making her way over to the brawling pair. Hands on her hips, Yajiru Micha stared for a second before grabbing the guards by their hair and throwing them out the window.
Brushing her hands together, the brunette yelled "AND IF YOU COME BACK AGAIN, I'LL HAVE YOUR HIDES FOR TEA STRAINERS!"
The blue eyed captain couldn't resist a chuckle. Micha was a scary woman, but her business was very popular. Besides, the kid the guards were talking about sounded like he might have some spirit power.
Hearing familiar laughter, Micha turned and, to her delight, saw one of her favorite customers. "Sato-kun! Oh dear, how are you feeling? You haven't been battling too many piles of paperwork have you? Oh my...I'm just full of questions. Would you like some fruit? Emi, get me some fruit will you please!"
Laughing again, Sato gestured to the chair. "Please join me, Micha-chan. And how many times must I remind you to call me Noburu?"
"Sorry, No-bu-ru-kun, but I get so flustered that I forget." Micha leaned back in her chair.
"I'm fine by the by, there isn't too much paperwork that I can't handle. My lieutenant is very efficient when it comes to helping in the office. How's business?"
One of the waitresses brought over a platter of fresh peaches and strawberries. Taking a strawberry, Micha waved her hand and replied "Oh business is fine, it's fine. So what brings you to the Rukongai today? I noticed that what those guards were saying has caught your attention."
"I see you haven't lost any of your skills from being in the thirteen court guard squads, Micha. Yes, I am quite interested in whoever it is that's been arrested. Do you happen to know anything?" Noburu cocked his left eyebrow.
Looking around, the ex-soul reaper leaned in to whisper "I don't know much, but my spies tell me that he looked starved and had a few recent injuries that look to be from a battle. He's tall, lithely muscled, has bright orange spiky hair, and brown eyes. Besides that, no-one knows anything else about him. He just showed up and was caught stealing. 71 is a pretty close district, so we know newbies when we see 'em. I'm telling you, that kid didn't look like he came from anywhere in the Rukongai."
"Well it was great seeing you again Micha-chan, but I think it's high time I left. I'll be back sometime soon, promise." Standing up, Sato turned to the door.
"You better come back and see me, or I'll have to track you down. Try not to cause any trouble either." Micha gave a little wave and went back to the kitchen of her store.
'Let's see...the local jail is three blocks west of here. At least I hope it is.' the captain put his arms behind his head and headed west out of the tea shop.
Ichigo looked into an unfamiliar face. The person was smiling at him in a way that reminded him of old hat and clogs, like he knew everything about him just by looking.
"Hello, my name is Sato Noburu and I am the Captain of the fifth division in the thirteen court guard squads. What's your name, friend?"
'Wait...FIFTH SQUAD CAPTAIN!? THERE SHOULDN'T BE A FIFTH SQUAD CAPTAIN! Okay Kurosaki, don't panic. You'll figure this out.' Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're a friend?" he asked cautiously.
"Um...you don't." the other man laughed. "But I'm really not here to hurt you. In fact, I have an offer to make you. So, what's your name kid?"
Ichigo's mind went into panic mode again. 'To lie or not to lie.'
"Ichigo. My name is Ichigo."
"Nice meeting you Ichigo-kun. I'm here to invite you to join the Soul Reaper Academy. I can see that you've got some spiritual power, and the academy would be a better place to be than this jail cell, eh?"
Ichigo stood up and shook out his yukata. "Alright, I'm in."
A/N: I was going to have more, but after staring at it for a few days, I only had writer's block. I'm going to put up a poll of possible pairings on my profile, so go vote! XD Thanks for reading.
