Hinata was dreaming again. She stood alone in that beautiful, sparkling land of snow and ice, with trees sprinkled across the landscape and flowers particularly jumped out of the ground even as she sat and watched. She was sitting at the edge of the lake that had once looked like a large puddle and as she gazed into the watery depths she found she couldn't see the bottom.
She blinked and with a gasp she noticed pictures forming on the surface. They were faint and faded and barely visible, but they were there. She saw a small guy with white hair and guessed it was Toshiro (how many under-sized shinigami have white hair?) and he was standing next to a pretty brunette taller then himself. She handed him a cup which he took without hesitation and drank the fluid inside...then crashed to the floor and his eyes glazed over. The woman smiled.
Hinata's stomach twisted in horror but already the picture was changing. She saw an extremely beautiful woman with the most exaggerated breasts she'd ever seen running towards the Academy. Her icy blue eyes were narrowed with concentration and sweat sparkled on her brow. A tall guy with a head of wild, blood-red hair and a smaller guy with straight blond hair were running either side of her and looked just as desperate to reach their destination.
Then the scene changed again. Hinata saw a small cat with sleek black fur and startling golden eyes sneaking silently down a modern-day street and it's tail was twitching. A blond man clad in green and clogs and a hat that hid his eyes was following her.
Hinata titled her head to one side. What in the world? She reached out and touched the silvery surface and suddenly her stomach lurched. The pool vanished and she saw fire devouring buildings and heard the shrill shriek of a raven and she saw that man...that man!...walking towards the ring of fire that encased her. His forever-there smile appeared smug and arrogant as he approached the flames and Hinata wondered if he really thought they wouldn't burn his skin. Hinata saw his chocolate eyes sizzle in the fire light and suddenly a small round ball in his chest appeared and glowed as brightly as seven suns. Hinata's eyes began to water. She looked away and lifted an arm to cover her eyes-
She felt someone's hand snatch her raised arm and she let out in involuntary gasp of fear. She slowly looked up and saw the man standing over her, gripping her arm in the strongest grip Hinata had ever felt, with his classic grin plastered to his lips.
"Wait for me." Was his request.
Hinata's eyes grew wide. For some reason that simple request terrified her. She tried to rip her arm away but his fingers seemed to be made of iron for no matter how hard she pushed they would not budge. Hinata was panicking now. She kicked his shin but only ended up hurting her foot.
The light coming from his chest was overwhelming and Hinata couldn't bare to look anymore. She jammed her eyes shut and opened her mouth and screamed-
0-0-0
"L-LET ME GO!"
Hinata felt herself hit solid ground and realized the unknown man had released her. She wasn't sure why she'd fallen over but that didn't matter. She quickly scrambled to her feet and opened her eyes as she took a fighting stance only to realize she wasn't facing the chocolate-eyed man or his frightening black bird. No, she was facing Hitsugaya Toshiro with his white, gravity-defying hair and icy turquoise eyes. And no, there was no fire here, unless you counted the colour of the sky. The sun was setting and both river and sky had been set aflame, stained red like blood.
Toshiro was standing by the tree Hinata and he had spoken under and Hinata saw, with a quick glance over her shoulder, she was standing inches away from the river. Another step backwards and she would've fallen in. Toshiro looked concerned and slightly bewildered by his friend's actions and Hinata guessed it was him she'd pushed away, not that freaky, smiling, chocolate-eyed, raven-loving pedo from her dream (what kind of person walks up to a frightened girl, grabs her arm and says 'Wait for me'? You can't blame Hinata for her reasoning).
"S-sorry!" Hinata exclaimed and she bowed and her cheeks were already beginning to redden from embarrassment. They reddened further when she noticed she was wearing her school uniform and drying parts of it had plastered themselves to her body. While Toshiro's eyes narrowed in curiosity she hurriedly picked at those spots and hoped he hadn't seen much.
"Were you having a nightmare?" He asked.
Hinata nodded.
"I see. Are you alright?"
"H-hai (yes)." Then Hinata looked at the sky again and for a moment she simply stared. Then it hit her and she gasped. "I-I f-fell a-asleep!"
Toshiro nodded. "Yeah. A while ago. You looked pretty tired and I saw no reason to move you."
Hinata remembered resting her head on his shoulder and her heart pounded excitedly against her rip cage. "W-where w-was I...?"
"My shoulder."
Hinata's face burned crimson and her head immediately dropped and she shut her eyes. "I-I am so, so s-s-sorry!"
"For what?" He asked. When Hinata risked a puzzled glance at him and he continued. "I left you there, after all. I easily could've moved you. And plus, you've probably had an exhausting week. You have every right to feel tired."
Hinata let out a sigh of relief and straightened. Then something occurred to her. What was she doing down here with Toshiro in the first place? It was pretty late according to the sky, so why wasn't she in snuggled up in bed and wondering about how she would spend her first weekend-
Bunko.
Miyuki.
Evil.
Attack.
Blood.
Dead.
It all rushed back to Hinata like a tidal wave and all the colour drained from her face. She'd forgotten Bunko and Miyuki and their attempt to kill her. She'd forgotten about Bunko's supposed knowledge about the Hyuuga Clan. And she'd forgotten about losing herself momentarily into the dream-world and snapping back to find she'd beaten poor Bunko and Miyuki to death.
But I healed them, Hinata reminded herself. And me. Or at least I think I'm the one who healed them...Who else could've done it?
"Hyuuga, what's wrong? You're face is very pale..." Hinata blinked in surprise when she heard Toshiro's voice and looked up to find he'd moved closer and was watching her with worry. She forced a small smile.
"N-nothing!" She lied.
Toshiro was smart enough to know she was lying but he didn't press the subject. Well, not really. At least he thought he'd abandoned the subject. "Did you hear?" He asked.
Hinata titled her head to the side. "H-hear what?"
"The messenger that came by. He talked about two girls in your class...Maaka Bunko and Kagurashi Miyuki."
Hinata swallowed. "M-maybe." She mumbled. "I-I don't know..."
"You were falling to sleep when he came. You probably don't remember." Toshiro reasoned and Hinata had to admit he was right. She couldn't remember any messenger paying them a visit. "Maaka and Kagurashi were attacked, or so they think. Their blood was all over the crime scene but they were utterly unscratched..." Toshiro's face hardened into a scowl and Hinata realized he must've been pondering over her crime while she'd been sleeping, wondering how the hell someone could lose to much blood but appear perfectly fine. "There was reiatsu found there but it wasn't like anything Unohana-the Yonbantai (Fourth Division) taichou-had encountered before. It was dark and sickly. It wasn't hollow reiatsu or shinigami reiatsu...it was something entirely different..."
Hinata's heart jumped into her throat. Something entirely different? It was the evil presence he was talking about, she was sure of it. She hadn't actually thought about what it was and wasn't sure whether to be happy or not upon discovering it wasn't a hollow trying to force it's way into her head. She went for depressed rather then joyful. If not a hollow...then what?
"Guards will be posted around the Academy, now. The So-taichou decided that much on his own, but he's holding a captains' meeting tomorrow so we can discuss it further." He continued. "Maaka and Kagurashi are being treated at the Yonbantai Relief Station, so they should be perfectly fine."
Hinata nodded and let out a sigh of genuine relief. Hinata was too caring for her own good and her old, living friend Kiba had continuously told her that. This was another example of Hinata's caring nature because despite everything they'd done, Hinata couldn't help but feel glad Bunko and Miyuki would be alright. But she was even more pleased about something else. They hadn't discovered the attacker was her!
The evil's reiatsu had masked her own and it was apparently too thick and strong for Unohana-taichou to tell the difference. Hinata thought briefly about them sending a sample of the reiatsu to Kurotsuchi-taichou for him to examine but Hinata found that highly unlikely...and, besides, was it even possible to take a 'sample of reiatsu'?...Hinata had no idea.
With that taken care of, Toshiro glanced at the sky and frowned. "Come on, Hyuuga, you had best be getting back to the Dorms. The sensei may think you've been attacked as well if we delay much longer."
Hinata saw the logic in that and it killed her inside. She was the attacker, after all, and because of her the entire shinigami world had jump-started into battle readiness. She bit her top lip and nodded in agreement.
As the two started their walk towards the Academy, Hinata narrowed her eyes in thought. Would they remember their brutal beating? They'd suffered pretty bad head injuries...but those had been healed. It was possible they'd remember everything and jab the finger of blame at Hinata, and rightfully so. Well, maybe. Technically, Hinata hadn't been in control of her body at the time. Something darker and more sinister had been pulling the strings, like some twisted puppeteer, with Hinata as the puppet. So perhaps blaming her for their near-demise wasn't completely right after all...or maybe Hinata was just trying to find an excuse.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. When the two had to separate (Hinata for the Academy, Toshiro for his division) Hinata suddenly wished the walk could've been longer. The thought of entering the Academy again after that did not agree with her stomach. Especially alone. Without Toshiro.
As she neared the gates, Hinata spotted the guards Toshiro had spoken of. They were strong looking men with muscular arms and thick necks and the weirdest hair styles Hinata had ever seen. One guy with red dots at the end of his eyes had no hair at all, and he looked extremely irritable, complaining about how there was nothing to fight to a guy with a bowl cut and pink and yellow feathers sticking out of his face.
Hinata watched them for a moment. The deed had been committed no less then a two hours ago and already so many shinigami had been pulled from their day-to-day duties and posted at the Academy gates. One gave Hinata a irritated look and ordered her to move on before she caused trouble.
Hinata walked silently into the buildings. She saw the other students all crowding together in their own little groups as they gossiped about the Miyuki-Bunko drama and no-one appeared to notice her. The sensei drifted around, seen but not heard, and kept a close eye on all the students. The shinigami patrolled the grounds and kept a hand hovering by the hilt of the katana at all times.
Hinata eventually reached her dorm room. She slammed the door, kicked off her shoes and then collapsed onto her bed. She stared at the ceiling for what seemed like a life time. She remembered the days when she'd just trained with Toshiro and lived with Kimi and Ahiko. She remembered all the fun they'd had and how she'd smile so much that her cheeks ached. Toshiro smiled quite a bit, too. Kimi and Ahiko had become her family and she missed them dearly...
Hinata decided she'd visit them on the weekend. But she wouldn't tell them about Bunko or Miyuki.
0-0-0
"Hinata-chan!"
Kimi threw her arms around Hinata's neck and kissed her forehead. Hinata hugged back and giggled along with the red head, thankful for some friendliness.
"Welcome back, youngster." And Ahiko ruffled Hinata's dark blue hair. An image of Ahiko pinned under the knife of a gangster sent a jolt of fear through Hinata and she quickly looked up to examine the elderly woman's face. But she looked fine. Truly and completely fine. Her face was aglow and her smile was pure. Kimi looked good, too, with her cheeks rosy and her mouth constantly curved in a cheeky grin. Her emerald eyes shone with happiness.
The three headed inside and as Kimi filled Hinata in about how boring life was now that they weren't being attacked everyday, Ahiko disappeared into the kitchen to make some lunch and instantly declined Hinata's offer to assist. She didn't do it politely, either, but being lady-like just wasn't Ahiko's style.
"Absolutely not!" She snapped. "Now you sit and if you even so much as think about helping me, you'll be scrubbing the toilets for months!"
Hinata thought at that moment that Ahiko would make a good teacher at the Academy. Her punishments were certainly the same as theirs.
Ahiko served onigiri and the three sat in temporary silence as they devoured their meal. Once finished, Ahiko again refused Hinata's help and forced the lavender eyed teen to sit while she and Kimi cleared the table. Hinata itched to help but forced herself to stay still.
Kimi started interrogating her upon returning.
"So? So? How's the Academy? Are ya having fun? Do you like anyone? How's Hitsugaya-taichou? Are you still seeing each other? Are you going out? I swear he liked you!"
The questions/statements stumbled out of her mouth so quickly it took Hinata's overloaded brain a moment to process them. When she recognized the last few her face when from pale to blood-red in a heart beat.
"N-No! H-H-H-Hitsugaya-t-t-t-taichou a-a-and I a-a-are j-j-just f-f-friends!" She stammered. Kimi smirked slyly and Hinata knew she thought she was lying. Or at least, partly lying.
"You like him, don't you?" Kimi prompted and Hinata shook her viciously.
"N-no!" Hinata thought she would die from embarrassment if Kimi pressured her any further. The said red-head seemed to realize this and laughed out loud. Hinata's blush deepened and she looked away. She didn't like Hitsugaya-taichou, and he didn't like her! They were just friends! Completely friends! Just friends...
"Kimi! Stop teasing Hinata, or I'll come hit over the head with a frying pan!" Came Ahiko's voice from the kitchen. Kimi fell silent.
The two blushed and giggled the morning away and before Hinata knew it was two thirty. She thought she'd spent more then enough time inside so she gathered herself up and went outside, Kimi in tow. The air was refreshing on her face. Behind her, Kimi spun around in a circle and collapsed onto the grass. Joy radiated from her features.
And then Hinata felt it.
She hadn't felt the sickening reiatsu of a hollow in some time. Not since the day she died. But it was exactly how she remembered, heavy and horrible, and come as suddenly as last time. It pressed down on her shoulders like bricks and made her want to sag to her knees but she was able to resist the affects. Kimi and Ahiko, however, were not and Ahiko fell to the kitchen floor, panting hard, while Kimi lay plastered to the grassy ground, her eyes wide with terror.
Suddenly the monster lumbered into view and its tail flicked the leafy trees away like they were as weightless as a feather. It was a gigantic hollow, larger then any hollow Hinata had ever seen and she guessed it was a Huge Hollow. The hollow that had killed her seemed tiny in comparison. Its bloody eyes were large, too, and took up all the space on the skull that should've been reserved for the forehead. It's skin was wash-white and its under belly was a greasy purple.
It was starving. Hinata could tell by the look in its eyes.
The hollow spotted her and roared. It swung its tail around viciously but Hinata jumped and sailed over it, high into the sky. She hit the ground lightly but was forced to retreat backwards almost immediately after when the hollow's webbed paw came crashing down on the area of earth she'd been standing on seconds before. It roared in fury and lashed out with its claws. Hinata's skilled feet pushed her out of slashing range but the moment she was in the air the claws extended, faster then her eyes could see, and one buried itself in Hinata's shoulder.
She let out a cry of pain as she and the claw sped across the clearing only to come to a bone-crushing stop as it embedded itself in a near by tree. Hinata was pinned against the bark by the claw and blood was gushing from her shoulder, squeezing through the gap between claw and flesh. Hinata winced and let her head fall and suddenly she was gripped by a coughing fit. Blood leaked between her teeth and splattered against the grass.
The hollow moved steadily closer. Hinata tried desperately to pull the claw away but, predictably, it was unmoveable. So she settled for a more violent approach and raised her hand, palm facing the hollow's bloody eyes.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march to the south! Hakudo san juu ichi: Shakkoho!"
A ball of red-hot fire exploded from Hinata's out stretched palm and hit the hollow right in the face. It let out a blood-curdling scream and threw it's head up into the air, it's mouth agape. Unfortunately, in the process the clumsy hollow flicked the paw the wrong way and failed to wrench the troublesome claw from Hinata's shoulder as she hoped it would have; no, instead it ripped through her arm and Hinata quickly swung her body to the side, allowing the deadly claw to pull free without tearing her arm in half.
The pain was immense. Hinata had never been in such agony before...not even when Bunko and Miyuki had attacked her. Her legs crumbled beneath her and she fell clutching her arm for dear life. Blood pounded out of the wound. It pooled around her. The scent of blood filled her nostrils and the salty tang of it washed over her tongue and slipped out onto the grass. She coughed and her entire body reacted, flinching with pain.
The hollow recovered quickly. There was no marks on its face, Hinata saw, once the smoke cleared and it stopped its horrible howling. It had lurched back out of fear and pain but had escaped without damage, and Hinata doubted she'd been able to frighten it again even with her skills in the Kido field. It was like and reminded her off ninja jutsu.
The hollow lumped forward and its shadow devoured her small and bloody figure. A long, slimy tongue wriggled between its hard stone lips and ran across them hungrily. It had found its next meal.
It leaned forward. It got closer. And closer. And closer. So, so quickly. Hinata's vision was beginning to fade and white streaks fluttered across it. The hollow had started to look more like a huge white-purple blurred blob then the menacing, man-eating monster that it was. Hinata knew there was no use in trying to fight so she simply closed her eyes and waited with a strange sense of calm for those jaws to clamp down on her and drain the life from her, like the blood draining from her wound.
"Hime!"
Ookami-san's voice came from no where and yet everywhere and it echoed around Hinata's skull. She slowly, wearily, opened her eyes and saw the hollow's teeth inches away from her hair and its tongue was just about to brush against her head. But it wasn't moving. Neither was her blood, she realized numbly. The pain seemed distant but still stung, like a itch on her back where she couldn't reach. Not agonizingly painful but still painful in its own right.
She lifted her head. Her neck muscles protested hotly but she ignored them. All around her things had frozen. She saw Kimi had struggled to her knees and her mouth was open as though she was screaming. Ahiko had long ago passed out but still clutching the frying pan like a life line. She blinked. What was going on?
"Hime! Call out!"
What? Hinata thought distantly. The neck pain was increasing and she wanted desperately to go to sleep but she sensed that if she did it would all end. She needed to stay awake and listen to the she-wolf's instructions, if she could manage it.
"Call out, Hime! Stop that monster! You can't hear my name yet-it's the only way!"
But...but how? I tried to fight it and...
"Your reiatsu isn't regular, Hime! Wish for it, like the healing of those girls! Hime!"
Hinata blinked and let her head drop. She felt far, far away, lost on a desert island with nothing but a strange and demanding voice to keep her company. She had healed Bunko and Miyuki, brought them back from the dead. She hadn't meant to, though...
Hinata forced her reiatsu to flare and instantly the illusion of a world set in stone shattered and everything was once again alive and moving. The hollow's tongue brushed the top of her head and as Hinata recoiled the thing suddenly stopped and jerked away. She heard it scream again and start to thrash around, fighting some unseen enemy. It's scream rose to a shriek and the hollow turned its head and something like a bright red laser flashed from its mouth and across the sky but hit nothing.
Hinata's strength suddenly faded. She felt exhausted and could no longer keep her reiatsu burning and sucked it back inside. The hollow struggled blindly for a few more moments before realizing the 'danger' had passed, or at least retreated. It's gigantic red eyes searched the area for the invisible foe and were happy to find nothing. It then swung around and marched back to its prey, Hinata, who was just about to sink into unconsciousness due to blood loss.
"HIAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The hollow didn't see the blade until it was too late. The metal dug into its shoulder and was abruptly pulled back and took with it skin and muscle. The monster screamed in pain and lashed out with its tail. The shinigami dodged with evident ease before propelling himself into the air and bringing his spear's end slicing through the hollow's skull. The former monster vanished and was replaced by a middle-aged man wearing a business suit and thick, black sunglasses. He stood still for a moment before fainting.
"Pfft! What a weak hollow. Hardly worth my time..." The shinigami huffed as he turned round and saw Hinata for the first time. She recognized him from somewhere. He was bald and thick necked and strong looking, with thin eyes with red dots painted near them.
Hinata felt someone press a hand to her bleeding shoulder and she screamed despite herself. The pain was just too much and she was glad the hand instantly retreated.
"Ikkaku, she's badly hurt. She used most of her reiatsu, she'll die if we don't act soon!" Hinata's eyes rolled in their sockets and she saw another familiar face. Dark blue hair in bowl cut fashion, purple eyes and yellow and pink feathers sticking out of his face...
"I can see that! Can yer pick her up, Yumichika, without hurting her to much?"
"I don't think so. She's about to pass out, anyway, so it doesn't matter. But I still shall do it beautifully."
"Pfft. Whatever. Just pick her up and go. There's some kid over there screaming her freaking head off..."
Kimi-chan...Ahiko-san...Hinata thought numbly, before she felt herself being lifted gently from the ground. She took a moment to process the joy of being saved before she lapsed into unconsciousness.
!I own neither Bleach nor Naruto!!
Hello everybody~! Long time no see :D I hope you enjoyed the chapter...it's alot slower then Six and makes a bit more sense ^^ Speaking of chap. 6, I've read over it again and I'm starting not to like it -_- I think I might rewrite it so it all makes a more sense and it paced a little slower...maybe.
But anyway...the Internet is slow! Seriously slow, now that we've used up our usage -_- I do apologize if I'm not on more but I can do hardly anything. Please bare with me.
Thanks for reading AND reviewing! Happy New Year!