The room was dark and humid when Mina woke up, with a vague putrid smell filling the air. Faintly she heard some kind of high pitched screaming and, startled, sat up on the bed listening intently. It dragged on for a while and out of morbid curiosity, decided to wander outside the bedroom to get a better idea of where it was coming from and if she could be put in danger herself.
She opened the door and the screaming was immediately closer and more vivid and she jumped a foot back into the room before tiptoeing quickly toward the door, peaking her head out around the corner for a flash of a second before doing a much slower double take.
Suddenly it ceased. She felt a cool sweat wash over her as she peaked around the corner. A man with long black hair and a purple kimono had removed a tea kettle from the hot stove, Mina only saw a glimpse of his profile before he turned around and set the kettle on a cloth on the wood table, setting out to prepare tea.
Mina crept over to the kitchen on the tip of her toes, and he flicked his head around and looked her up and down, seemingly offended by what they saw.
"Ugh! A private bath and you look like that? Don't come out here until you've cleaned yourself up." He then turned his head away from her. Mina glanced at the bathroom with anxiety.
"I don't think I feel safe bathing here."
He sighed.
"Come here." He commanded without looking at her. Mina went over to the table.
"Have a seat," He said, flatly. Mina kneeled to her knees positioned diagonally from the woman. Seeing the man from this angle, he had sharp features, eyes the color of wisteria blossoms, and straight eyebrows sloping downward toward the bridge of his nose in slight annoyance, but not enough to make a crease.
He faced her direction briefly to place a tea cup in front of her. The smell and the steam from the tea drowned out any other senses just for a moment. She closed her eyes and embraced the warmth for just a second before the door burst open letting in the whirlwind of an enthusiastic bald man with a katana on his shoulder.
"It's my lucky day, Yumichika! These assholes don't know how to quit!" He leaned the katana against the wall by the door and rummaged through some cupboards before taking out a saké jug and some flat cups and putting them haphazardly down onto the table before plunking himself down across from Yumichika. He poured himself a glass, downed the whole thing and, looking displeased with the saké cups decided to take big gulps from the jug.
"Having fun?" Yumichika sipped at his tea.
"Oh, hell yeah. I haven't had this much fun in months."
"How many have you taken on today?"
"Four. And they're tough as hell, too." A satisfied grin shown across his face before taking another swig from the jug.
Mina just stared into her teacup. She felt stiff with awkwardness. Who were these people? How were they making themselves at home so easily in such a dangerous place? Were they protecting her? Why would they be? The silence was thick and there were murmurs of sounds suggesting there was some kind of unspoken communication between Yumichika and the bald man. The tension kept her frozen, head down with her chin almost touching her neck.
"Ikkaku!" a sharp whisper sliced through the quiet. She looked up with her eyes for only a second to see Yumichika nodding impatiently in the direction of the bald man, Ikkaku. Ikkaku cleared his throat.
"You okay, kid?" She didn't lift her head but her eyes wandered up to meet his. He didn't seem too concerned, but his eyes pierced and made her feel terribly in the spotlight.
"Um, uh, well. No. I'd like to go home but I don't want to uh... die." She clenched her jaw and moved her eyes to the stretch of table ahead of her. She shifted her weight and started twitching her foot a little bit. He scratched his head and looked in the opposite direction of her and then sighed.
"Maybe... we can help you out with that. We're used to wandering around districts, it wouldn't make that much of a difference." She felt Yumichika's face immediately twist into a sour expression directed toward a passive Ikkaku and her stomach dropped. She felt like she was at a stale mate. Staying here or being escorted back to West Rukongai, the prospect of her being murdered seemed higher than that of anything else. She felt like she was trapped in a tiny little box that she'd never escape. Suddenly there was a pressure on her chest and she felt her entire energy being dragged down, like she was standing under a black waterfall. She gasped for air but struggled to take any in.
She started to see things through a strange green haze. She saw Ikkaku smile a horrific excited grin at her while grasping for his sword and a cold blaze of panic set through her body, and suddenly...
Nothing. She couldn't feel her emotions or her body, but she could still see everything going on around her. She saw Ikkaku draw his sword out in a flash. He went to stand up completely but she saw herself draw close to him in a second. He threw his sword up in front of him in defense, holding it up horizontal in front of his chest. Her hands were pushing against his sword, and she could see he was gritting his teeth hard using all his strength to keep his blade from being turned on him.
She let up eventually, pushing away from him and looking at all the blood on her hands. The wounds weren't clearing and suddenly she felt an immense rage take over her. Her sight was completely overtaken by green and she couldn't see anymore. She was gone.
The girl looked down at her hands bloodied by his own sword. Then, as quick as lightening, she reached out and scratched his cheek. He made out to lash her own cheek with his blade but she ducked and, like an animal, ran at him on all fours and head butt him straight in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He slid down the wall, regained his breath and before she could do anything else, he pushed himself off the wall and hit her in the side with the hilt of his sword, knocking her on all fours.
When she was fighting the men before she looked so strong, but it seemed that fighting someone with a reiatsu was something she hadn't been up against before. She started to get up, shooting a wide-eyed look of fear and defensiveness toward Ikkaku and disappeared out the door before Ikkaku could act or even see her make her way toward the door. Both Ikkaku and Yumichika, who was now leaning in the farthest corner of the kitchen, stared at the door in bewilderment for a few moments before Ikkaku's head lolled back and he let out a growl of frustration. How disappointing. This is what he got for getting his hopes up.
Author note: Criticism welcome!
This story is taking a bit of a different turn than I had originally intended. The description may not end up matching the story itself.