Hey hey everyone! I tried to be a bit quicker with this update but I mildly failed SORRY

But I think I'm getting better :P all of your reviews are GREAT inspiration! Plus it reminds me that I should be writing, not playing freecell…

Anyways! I am trying to learn to keep my author notes short because of my annoying tendency to ramble…. :)

SO please enjoy this light hearted not-horrifying chapter :) AND REVIEW!

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Chapter 6: Shopaholic X2

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The next day at school was a long and weird day. Between dodging questions regarding Hikari's disappearance and getting over the fact that in the eyes of everyone at my school, Hitsugaya was the new kid at school… again.

"I don't know how you can handle coming here everyday." Muttered an annoyed Hitsugaya. He walked along side me to the roof where Hikari and I always ate lunch. It felt strange eating with someone that is not Hikari. I can't wait until she wakes up. In order to make Hikari's parents not have a freak out when their daughter mysteriously vanished, Hitsugaya modified their memory. They believe that Hikari is on a month exchange program in America.

"You don't have to stay with me you know." I snapped. He was doing nothing but complaining since school started. I guess since he had to protect me or something from the scary monster things, he was being forced to stick around.

"Actually, yes I do. If we are going to be working together on this case we will have to get along on some level." He grumbled.

"Well, you making it seem like it's the biggest pain in the ass ever is not going to make that happen any faster!"

"Well this is the biggest pain in the ass ever. This place makes me miss Karakura town."

"Where?"

"This annoying place where annoying things happen because of annoying people." He explained.

"I see." He was obviously not planning on telling me about his missions and such outside of this one, so what's the point in prodding for answers I wasn't going to get?

Awkward silence followed us for most of the lunch period. Well, awkward for me at least. Hitsugaya didn't seem to mind the silence.

I suddenly blushed when I realized this was the first time I have ate lunch with a boy. I quickly tried to get rid of the redness before he realized. He hardly counts as a "boy"… after all he might not even be human; probably some strange breed of dwarf.

"So what are you doing after school?" He asked suddenly.

"Uhh... Uhh…" I stammered.

"Well cancel it, because we have somewhere we need to be." He snapped his phone shut.

"What?"

"Matsumoto just messaged me saying to meet her on the 3:20 train going east. She said it's important."

"Oh…" I started to laugh.

I just stared at me like I lost my mind.

"What's so funny?" he finally asked.

"Oh nothing… nothing at all…"

* * *

Hitsugaya and I boarded the train on time. Matsumoto sat in one of the back seats.

"Captain! Saki-chan!" She called gleefully. "I saved you guys' seats!"

Anyone but Matsumoto probably would get killed for trying to save a seat on such a busy train. We pushed through the crowd and managed to get to Matsumoto and the empty seats without being trampled.

"What is it, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya whispered seriously.

"You will have to see it to believe it." Matsumoto replied forebodingly.

The rest of the ride was rather tense. I nearly started laughing halfway through.

When we reached our destination, we got off the train at Harajuku station and headed through an underground passage way the took us straight to Omotesando Hills, a huge shopping center.

She dragged us both at top speed to a huge sign outside one of the shop windows.

"CAN YOU BELIEVE IT CAPTIANN!!!!!!! ADORE IS HAVING A BUY ONE GET ONE TWENTY PRECENT OFF SALE!! THEY NEVER HAVE SALES!!!" She started spinning in circles and clapping happily, entirely not caring if everyone were looking at us like we were crazy.

Hitsugaya looked too shocked to do anything. I think he blew a fuse.

"Saki-chan! Isn't this great?!" Matsumoto shrieked.

She was right, ADORE never had sales… but I really don't need any new clothes…

I really don't.

But look how soft that dress looks…

Wow… I always loved the color red… Oh look how sparkly those shoes are… oh my god…

Just a little peak won't hurt… I can try things on… and not … buy them…

While I was in my little trance Matsumoto already dragged me into the store, leaving a stunned Hitsugaya to pull himself together outside.

Inside was packed, of course. My "Try but not Buy" strategy died the moment I got my hands on a beautiful silky scarf and matching hair piece, after that it was "well one more thing cant hurt… times twenty". Both of us got carried away, of course, and ended up buying like two thousand dollars worth of things we didn't need. My cast was rather annoying when I was attempting to try some things on, but I managed. Two hours or so later we left the store, with me nearly toppling over with the weight of my bags. Matsumoto had to help me with some of mine because of my arm.

It was then I realized something.

"Wait a second, why are we not dead?" I asked looking around.

"Oh right… hehe… where did he go? I completely forgot I dragged him along…"

"Why did you drag him along?" I asked laughing.

"Well for multiple reasons. First, I didn't know your cell phone-you have to give it to me by the way- and I wanted to go shopping with you –oh and you are a simply fabulous shopper! We must do it again some time!- and so… I made him bring you here under the pretense there was a case or something. Secondly… I liked to mess with him, did you see his face?!" She laughed loudly as we entered the train station.

"You know that he is going to kill you right?"

"Oh he would never! I am sure I have done worse then this…" She trails off.

"What is it?"

"Can I stay at your place tonight?"

* * *

"Hello Miss Saki-chan's aunt! It's very nice to meet you! My name is Matsumoto Rangiku!" Chirped and overly excited Matsumoto to my not-so excited aunt. None the less Aunt Kiko welcomed her inside politely, giving me a "you didn't" look upon seeing the bags in my hand.

"So… how exactly did you two become friends…" asked my aunt, probably wondering about the age gap.

"Oh… Well, Matsumoto-san is the older sister of a classmate. I was at his house working on a project today and well… Matsumoto-san and I found a common interest!" I said smiling, gesturing towards our bags.

"…Evidently." Sighed Aunt Kiko.

"And I asked if I could stay over because my younger brother would murder me if he saw these bags…" Matsumoto started pleading.

"Well just be sure not to make to much noise. Some people have work early in the morning. Plus you need to be at school tomorrow Honoka…"

"Yes yes, I promise we won't be up late!" I begged.

"Then it's fine." She said simply. She then returned to her office to continue with her work stuff. I was happy I was not a full time employee at JNBCI.

"I am happy we went to the mall today." I said. "I haven't really gone since my shopping buddy stopped hanging out with me." I was referring to Hikari of course.

"Well, you have me now! We can do this everyday if you want!" She suggested excitedly. I had to remind her to keep her voice down.

"Well, not everyday. I don't think my ridiculous salary would cover that." I laughed. I really was… loaded I guess you can say. I get paid ridiculous amounts for my work, plus the bonuses I get when I finish a case. Plus there has been talk about getting someone to write me a biography. I found that completely stupid but my aunt seemed to like the idea. Of course it would be jammed packed with bullshit, but I guess that could be fun.

"Well… every week then." She said, slightly disappointed.

"So, why is it you can't stay at your house? You don't live in the apartment with Histugaya-san do you?"

"Nope! Hitsugaya insisted we had different places during this mission because he feels my presence is "distracting". But he also knows where I live, so he is probably waiting to ambush me when I get home… With his Bankai and loads of paperwork…" She shivered.

I didn't bother asking what a "Bankai" was, probably some weird ghost fighting term. Maybe she was referring to his sword thing.

"Ok! Lets take all this stuff upstairs!" I exclaimed. " You have got to see my closet! It's almost as big as my entire room, it's so exciting…" I rambled on about all the stuff in my closet until we reached my bedroom door.

"I really should keep it more organized though, I sometimes find stuff in there I didn't even know I…" I opened the door and nearly pissed my pants.

Sitting on my couch, was a very pissed off Hitsugaya. He was dressed up in his costume and had his sword lying beside him. Oh shit, is he really planning on attacking Matsumoto with that thing?!

I started to get scared. In the mean time Matsumoto seemed to be tied between running away or pretend everything was O.K and see what happened. She seemed to have gone with the latter.

"Oh what are you doing here Captain! What a pleasant surprise! Saki-chan was about to show me her closet! There are apparently some really amazing things in there…. You should come check it out with us!" She chirped happily.

"Matsumoto…." He seemed to be radiating death and despair from every pore on his body.

"Or even better! I can go back to my house, and do my paperwork! Does that sound like a good idea Captain!" She said sweetly.

"A fantastic … Idea… Go now." He ordered. Matsumoto left right away.

"Aww Hitsugaya-san you are such a party pooper. I was just getting excited about our sleepover and you have to come and ruin it. What the hell are you doing in my house anyways!" I complained.

"…Why do I have to work with such useless people?"

"I am not useless!"

"Yes, you are." He said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I guess I am not going to give you the thing I bought you then!" I huffed.

"… What?"

"I said, I guess I am not going to give you the thing I bought you then." I repeated as if he didn't hear me.

"I am not interested in dresses." He said pointedly.

"It's not a dress! For heavens sake!" I dug through my bags; this took a few minutes, and found a tiny bag within the bigger bag.

"Here! See? They were selling them at the counter… and since you use a cell phone all the time I thought…"

He pulled out the little snowman cell phone strap.

"I thought it looked a bit like you… Matsumoto said I would die if I gave it to you… but I thought you might find it funny as well… I guess maybe not?" I asked nervously.

"Oh yes, so funny." He said in a monotone.

Well it didn't look like he was to mad, so I added in "I better see it on you phone tomorrow at school!"

"Yeah… Not a chance." He said, as he started twirling it around his fingers. "This is so stupid; don't waste your money on crap like this."

"Well I am sorry then!" I snapped, feeling really hurt. I was surprised by how much his words stung. I didn't want him to see how much he upset me so I pretended to be just really mad –which I was, so it wasn't that hard- and started going through my shopping bags.

"…don't get all upset about it… Thanks for the stupid snowman thing…" He grumbled.

I felt a little bit better after that, but not by much.

"I have a question." I said a few moments afterwards. "You seem to know so much about me and my abilities, but I know nothing about yours. I know you seem to work for some sort of… group or something, who knows things about the events that have been happening recently. But I don't know what are you… or where you come from… or why you need me and my seeing abilities…"

He seemed to be thinking for a moment what he should say.

"I can't really be of much help if you keep leaving me in the dark…"

"Ok then… You are so annoying… well, for your first question. Matsumoto and I are shinigami."

"What?" I remember him saying something about a shinigami hit squad or something earlier on, but I didn't think he meant it… literally.

"Shinigami have two main jobs, one is to purify spirits and send them to the soul society, and the second is to kill hollows, which are evil spirits that eat other spirits."

"Ok…" I said, indicating I was following along, which I wasn't.

"But every so often we get weird cases like this."

"So these things are not hollows?"

"No, hollows are distinctive because they wear masks and have a hole through their chest."

"So… you are dead?"

"Well depends on how you define "dead". Have I passed on from the human realm into the afterlife, yes. But I am still considered alive in the soul society, because that's where human souls are reborn. Get it?" He asked impatiently.

"Yeah… I think so. So you were a human but then you died and were reborn as a shinigami in the soul society?"

"No, I was not born a shinigami, just like soldiers here are not born soldiers."

"That is so freaky."

"Hardly."

"Do you have any of your human memories?" I asked, wouldn't that be cool if he did? That would be like a walking, living (sort of), history text book!

"Some souls keep bits of their memory. If I did, I have long since forgotten them."

"So how old are you?" I asked, this is a piece of information I have been dying to know (pun not intended, ha-ha)

"In human years, really old. In soul society years, not so old."

"You are not going to give me an exact number are you?"

"I don't really know."

"How can you not know?!"

"None of your business." He ended the private life conversation there.

"Well, you said you were not born a shinigami. How do souls become shinigami then?"

"…Well, like I said earlier, some people have higher spiritual levels then others. It is the same with spirits. The ones with strong spiritual energy become shinigami."

"And you are a high level shinigami? I am guessing by the white cloak and the fact Matsumoto always calls you "captain"."

"Yeah you can say that. Shinigami are sorted into divisions, thirteen in all, and each division has a captain who commands them."

"So you are one of these captains?"

"Yeah, tenth division captain."

"And how do I fit into all this?"

"Well, you are a bit of a freak." He said bluntly.

"Well thanks." I replied sarcastically.

"You obviously have spirit energy of some sort. That is shown through your strange ability to see the past of people and objects, and the fact you can see the Desperi. However, you cannot see regular spirits or hollows, which is really strange."

"But I can see you."

"Yes, but that's because I allow you to see me."

"Hu? How can you do that?"

"They have technology now in the soul society that allows you to grant certain humans the ability to see shinigami."

"Why would you want me to see you?" I was getting confused.

"Because you knew about us anyways because of your annoying seeing ability, and because you are somehow connected to the Desperi incident, but we are unsure of how."

"You think that I am… responsible for these attacks?" I asked, horrified.

"Not sure if you are responsible per say, but they are defiantly targeting you for some reason. All the attacks seem to be centered around you. If you look at where all the victims lived, you will find that none of them extend beyond the western half of Tokyo, the half closest to you."

I looked a few months back, back to when I was investigating the suicide cases. Hitsugaya was right, there did seem to be the most occurrences in the areas closest to my house.

"I don't understand…"

"Neither do I, that's why we have to make sure that you are protected, or make sure you are not the one orchestrating the attacks."

"Oh, so am I being protected or under surveillance?"

"A bit of both actually."

"Even after that incident with Hikari on the roof?"

"Even after that, you would be surprised at the kinds of horrible things evil people will do to both themselves, and the people who think of them as friends…" he trailed off as if revisiting a bad memory.

"Oh… You just told me the craziest shit ever, you know that right?"

"To you it might be crazy, just as crazy as spending thousands of dollars on clothes is to me."

I laughed at that. I felt so much more relived now that I had more of an idea of what was going on. Even if it was… insane.

"I got to go now; I have lots of paperwork to do. I highly doubt Matsumoto will do much of any of it."

"And will have to agree with you there. I have so much homework to do I could die. Oh wait… do you find death jokes offensive?"

He smirked, "Just get you homework done, Saki-san." And with that he jumped out the window and disappeared into the night.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up way to early. I had another two hours until I had leave, but I couldn't fall back asleep. I got up, and had the longest shower of life, and came back to my room feeling refreshed. I threw my towel on the couch before jumping into my school uniform. I went back to grab the towel to put it in the laundry basket else my aunt would crucify me.

I grabbed it off the couch, remembering that last night Hitsugaya sat here and told me that he was an undercover shinigami who fights evil spirits and commands an army –or at least part of one- in the place called the soul society, where people go after they die.

It was too much to take in all at once. But I guess its easier then him giving me information slowly bit by bit each day.

I flushed red when I realized I was alone in my room… with a guy. Oh god what would Aunt Kiko say? She would most defiantly disapprove.

"Just who does he think he is anyways?" I mumbled to my self, "Just breaking into my house like that, how rude."

My cell phone started ringing. I had to dump the contents of my purse out in order to find it. I got my hands on it and realized it was a text message. It was Hitsugaya, it said;

Matsumoto and I will be gone for a few days. They have two new captain candidates, and they are about to start testing them; we have to be there for that. Try not to get killed.

Well thanks for the advice, bud. How dare he take off after dumping that shit load on me yesterday! I will make sure to have a very long and very annoying list of new questions to ask him... the first of which will defiantly involve Ghostbusters...

* * *

Well that's the end of chapter SIX! I hope you all enjoyed it and smiled at least once while reading it ;P

Oh ! and you can all know that I wrote this chapter WITHOUT a T button on my keyboard. I was being stupid earlier on and ripped it out and broke it, so It wont go back in. whoopsies

I think I did better with that whole "not having everyone dying" bit, for those who want a more light hearted story. But the darkness and despair will come again because that's the sort of writer I am –no I am not emo! I just like the intensity that horror brings to a story-

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER

- Am I the only cool person here who plays Farmville on facebook?

REVIEW! … NOW! (please)