"Eeehhh?"
"I know, right!" Jun squealed. "It's awesome!"
Hinata wouldn't call going to the Real World 'awesome'. More like 'terrifying'. While Sora, Junichi and Jun looked ready to hop through the portal that second (Ritsuka didn't care and Natsuko wasn't in the Advanced Class), Hinata was glued to her seat and trembling in her boots. Less then two weeks ago, she'd been an impressive First Year who soared past the other first and second year students; now she was a newly made Third Year and was no where near ready for the Real World.
Hinata had fought two hollows. Well, she'd only fought one, but she'd darn well faced two. That was more then the entire Third Year had put together. She knew how horrible, how menacing, how plain scary the malevolent spirits could be; and where there was human souls, there were hollows. And though Hinata knew it was shameful, the idea of facing yet another one of those beasts made her want to cry.
"When do we go, Jun?" Sora demanded and her face was glowing like a Christmas Tree. Her eagerness to go was obvious.
"I think it's tomorrow!" The midget replied. "First thing in the morning, after breakfast. All the Advanced Classes are going. It's gonna be awesome!" He repeated and he sounded over the moon with joy. In fact, he jumped out of his seat and did a little dance right there, in the middle of the cafeteria, and completely ignored the freaked out stares directed at him.
"Oh, I can't wait!" Sora chirped.
Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "Be quiet and eat, for pete's sake. What good will you be if you collapse due to null nutrition?"
"Okay, okay, Mr. Grumble Bum." Sora giggled and Ritsuka went back to reading his book. He'd barely touched his food; plain rice and dull-looking sushi rolls. Hinata, on the other hand, had some colourful mentaiko egg rolls and some fish. It looked very appetizing; Ritsuka's meal was about as appetizing as dirt.
"Ne, Hinata-san, are you looking forward to it?" Junichi asked and Hinata jumped in fright. She couldn't say she'd rather move countries. It was too embarrassing. So Hinata started shoving food inside her mouth and pretended not to have heard the sky-scraper sized student.
Eventually the bell rang to signal the end of another lunch and Hinata was guilty to find she was relived. She loved her new friends, she really did. They were her world, now, and though she wasn't studying as much as she used to, she was still at the top of her classes and keeping ahead of schedule. But...she just didn't share their, ah, 'zest' for life. They were all fast paced, even the insanely timid Natsuko, while Hinata liked to take things slow and think situations through.
As Hinata waved goodbye to Junichi, Jun and Sora, who all shared combat class together, her mind wandered to the things she hadn't stayed a head of. Like Hitsugaya Toshiro.
Hinata didn't know why, but whenever she thought about talking to the silver haired prodigy her stomach twisted in fear and her throat went tight. She wanted to see him, but didn't want to see him. That annoying image him of Hinamori hugging him, her arms wrapped loving around his neck...it drove her insane with jealousy. And Hinata didn't have a damn clue as to why.
With a sigh she stumbled into her kido class. She fell into her seat beside Ritsuka and only partly listened to the teacher rant about kido. She was such a coward. Even with her home work and immense training exercises, Hinata still had plenty of free time because she finished all the theory work in the blink of an eye. Numerous chances for her to contact the captain had flown past her.
Her face grew dark. Maybe he'd been waiting for her to write or something. He was a captain, after all, and already had enough on his plate without putting time aside to contact an academy student. Though Hinata imagined he was stressing over it as much as she was. Their relationship had been so close...they'd even kissed-
By accident! She reminded herself sternly. Toshiro had tripped on a root and their lips pressed together. Nothing was done on purpose. And yet her cheeks grew pink and her heart fluttered when she remembered how soft his lips had been. Surprisingly soft, for someone with the ability to act so cold-
Ahh! I need to do something! I can't go on ignoring him. I'm no coward!
About time, Ookami-san remarked dryly.
0-0-0
YOU. ARE. A . COWARD!
No, I'm not. Toshiro pushed his finished papers into a pile. Even after three months, the amount of paper work he needed to finish hadn't lessened at all. I promised to talk to Hyuuga 'eventually'. Not right this second.
It's been THREE MONTHS! His zunpaku-to roared. Three flipping months! You are a coward! Not so cowardly as to not admit your feelings to yourself, but cowardly enough to not tell the woman you're dating you don't love her, and avoid talking to the woman you love at all costs!
Toshiro twitched. Alright, he was acting cowardly. True, he still hadn't brought himself to break up with Hinamori, and yes, he had been putting off writing and/or visiting Hinata, the woman he loved. He'd admitted that to himself during the three months they'd stopped talking. He loved every inch of her and longed to see her, painfully so; but he was scared. Hinata had seen Hinamori hugging him...and she'd ran. Really ran. Disappeared around the corner and fallen into the arms of the seventh seat.
Master, I swear, if you don't grow a set and talk to the damned girl, I'm gonna make your life a living hell!
You already are!
Oh, no, I'm not. You don't know the half of what I can do, buddy.
"Taichou? Is something wrong?" Toshiro looked up and saw his vice-captain watching him with a concerned gaze. Then he realized he was digging his pen into his desk and immediately eased the pressure.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Matsumoto. Just having a conversation with Hyourinmaru."
She grinned. "Oh? Is the bad old dragon messing with your head again, taichou?"
"Go do some work, Matsumoto."
She just laughed and walked out and slapped the door shut behind her, making it very clear all the work she intended to do was deplete the local bar's stock of sake. Toshiro sighed and leaned back in his chair. Hyourinmaru was right. Three months was more then enough; in fact, it was down right silly. He and her both were being idiots. They needed to resolve this problem; why she ran, who Hinamori was. And Toshiro had to break up with Hinamori. Soon. It didn't matter that she was still on pills and a little shaky on her feet. She'd need to deal with that herself.
I'll talk to her either tonight or tomorrow morning. Toshiro told both his zunpaku-to and himself firmly. Definitely.
Hyourinmaru smiled. Good master.
0-0-0
Where am I?
Hinata could barely see the hand she held up to her face, the snow in the air was so thick. When they smashed into her it was like getting shot over and over again, only each bullet was freezing cold and left a painful red mark on her body. The winds tossed her around like a rag told and wiped at her exposed skin, making her wince. She was knee-deep in snow but the depth was steadily rising. And no matter where she looked, Hinata saw white; miles and miles of violent and chaotic white, churning like river rapids. She had never seen such a ferocious blizzard.
Where am I? "Ookami-san!" Hinata yelled. Her voice was lost amongst the eerie howls of the wind.
And suddenly something appeared. A gigantic wolf-demon broke through the blizzard and barred its huge white fangs. It's fur was silver through and through, and rippled like water. Zig zag tattoos burned blue on its sides. It's five tails whipped through the air, battering away snow and ice alike. It's eyes were safire and shone with determination.
Hinata gasped in terror. That wasn't a monster; no, it was none other than Ookami-san, despite the differences in size and appearance. Take away the five tails and shrink it, it was obviously the kind, motherly she-wolf that had guided Hinata up to this point. And the fact that she looked like that terrified the teenager.
"O-Ookami-san! Wh-what are you-" Hinata began but was cut off when Ookami-san abruptly threw her head back and roared. Hinata screeched in fear as the air's strength suddenly doubled and she was thrown back a few paces and collapsed onto her knees. She gripped the icy ground and squinted, trying to get a clear picture of the beast that was Ookami-san. Ice shards cut through her clothing, through her skin. Blood seeped from the wounds.
"ARE YOU WILLING TO BE MY MASTER?" Came a scream that carried across the landscape like wind itself. It was a deafening sound and Hinata's hands automatically shielded her ears. "HERE MY NAME! I AM..."
"I can't hear you!" Hinata shrieked. Torrents of snow were hurtling past her. She could feel herself being pushed back, inch by inch. She was overcome by fear and screamed.
"MY NAME IS-"
0-0-0
"Hyuuuuuu-chaaaaan~!"
Hinata's eyes popped open and Jun's face filled her vision. She squeaked in surprise and Jun pulled back laughing and as Hinata stood up, she saw her door was wide open and that Jun had laid her school uniform over her legs like a blanket. She opened her mouth to question him but abruptly fell silent when she saw he was dancing.
"Come, Hyu-chan! We're gonna be late!" He urged before spinning in a circle with his arms out like the blades of a helicopter.
"L-late for wh-what?" Hinata rasped. She was still shaken by the dream.
He froze mid-spin and his mouth fell open like a jaw bridge. "For what-! For the trip, Hyu-chan! To the Real World! Remember! Come on, come on, you've gotta get up!" He snatched Hinata hands and roughly pulled her out of bed and bushed her towards the uniform. He skipped merrily out the door and slammed it shut behind him but Hinata knew he hadn't gone, for she could hear him humming beyond the wood.
With a shaky sigh, Hinata quickly wriggled out of her sleeping kimono and slipped into her school uniform. She hopped over to the door, still tying up one of her shoes, and tapped on it to say she was done. Instantly the door flew open and she was being dragged down the hallway and into the cafeteria, where they quickly ordered breakfast and joined the others.
"Got your cards?" Sora asked and everyone nodded. Hinata pulled out the card her teacher had given her about two days ago; it was the picture of a chibi cat with big eyes and a cute smile and blush. Hinata had had no idea what it was for but the rest of the class had been thrilled upon receiving them. She now knew why.
"Hey!" Sora exclaimed and she ducked down beside Hinata, grinning ecstatically. "We're in the same group, Hinata-chan!"
"Huh?" Hinata examined Sora's card and promptly a smile of her own swept across her face. Sora was telling no lie. The cat on her card was identical to the one on Hinata's; they were in the same group. Hinata was relieved. At least this way she'd have someone familiar to train with instead of a complete stranger.
They wolfed down breakfast and then ran to the hall, where already more then half of the Third Grade Advanced Class members were already crowding. On the stage a gate to the Real World had already been set up and Hinata thought it resembled a traditional Japanese sliding door. In front of it, three Sixth Grade students stood with swords hanging from their belts and hell butterflies fluttering around their heads. And flanking them were shinigami escorts and Hinata's mouth ran dry. The only reason they would be there was to protect them from hollows.
Several spare senior students wandered around the Thirds handing out asauchi, nameless katana in which their zunpaku-to spirits would reside. When one reached Hinata he frowned and rummaged through the bundle of swords till he found what was no doubt the shortest one there and handed it too her. Then he spotted Jun and switched it for another.
Hell Butterflies were sent to each student. Hinata's circled her head and landed on her finger when she held it out. She took a moment to admire it's elegant black and purple wings before looking to Sora.
"D-do you know w-who our team mate is?" She asked.
"Nope." Sora replied and she held up her card. "Does anyone have a cat picture? A cat!"
"I do!" A scrawny looking boy with big blue eyes and curly black hair ran over. He was a head or so taller then Hinata but shorter then Sora and he looked just as excited about the trip as everyone else. Hinata excluded. He lifted up his card to show he was telling the truth. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kamizuki Shouta."
"Takahashi Sora," Sora beamed back. "That's Hyuuga Hinata. Be nice to her."
Shouta laughed. "Will do!"
"Alright, has everyone got a hell butterfly?" The middle student standing in front of the gate asked and everyone gave confirmation. "Good. Everyone got a asauchi?" Again, a murmur of confirmation. "Good. Let's go, then."
An ecstatic buzz zapped through the crowd as they moved towards the door. At first glance, Hinata hadn't believed it to be anything special. It actually looked kind of lame. But the moment the doors opened bright white light washed out and Hinata couldn't help but stare in awe, marvelling in its beauty.
Then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She twisted to the side...and gasped.
There, standing across the room, was Toshiro and he was gripping the side of the door, panting. He caught her gaze and smiled. Hinata smiled back and it wasn't forced at all. She'd been afraid of seeing him, of possible fighting with him over that vice-captain girl, but all that vanished the moment her eyes found his figure; bubbling happiness overtook the painful anxiety.
Good luck, he mouthed.
Thanks, Hinata mouthed back and she waved. Toshiro waved back, much to her surprise, and then he straightened and crossed his hands over his chest. He hilted his head to the side, urging her onwards. And Hinata was suddenly full of strength. Grinning, she ran past Sora, who flinched in surprise, and leapt into the heavenly light of the Senkaimon.
0-0-0
Toshiro watched Hinata disappear into the light with a smile. He'd come in the hopes of chatting with her but hadn't realized the Third Years were travelling to the Real World that day. It was kind of funny, that they happened to be leaving first thing in the morning on the very day he'd summoned up the courage to face her. Hyourinmaru, however, wasn't amused.
Urg. What horrid timing, the disappointed spirit huffed.
What're you so upset about? She'll come back. And when she does, I'll talk to her.
I know. But still!
"Hitsugaya-taichou? Is there something you need?" A shinigami body guard had noticed the young captain by the door and had come to check on him. Toshiro was about to wave him away but paused mid-motion.
"...Protect those students, no matter what." And that was exactly what he needed.
The shinigami bowed deeply. "Of course, sir."
0-0-0
White. An endless stretch of white.
Hinata's footsteps echoed eerily in the empty whiteness of the Senkaimon and the fact she was one of the first in only made them eerier. She stared off into the distance but could see no way out of the landscape. She swallowed hard and decided to trust her hell butterfly, which was hovering patiently beside her ear. She took a few tentative steps forward and suddenly the small creature took off.
As more and more students began to file in Hinata was already deep into the whiteness and was catching up with one of the quicker sempai (older class mates) and the shinigami accompanying him. Hinata blinked and then gaped. A door had appeared no less then three metres away and it opened silently as the two men neared it; they strolled inside and disappeared into the whiteness.
Hinata followed suit.
Hinata had never been to the Real real World before but she was positive it would look nothing like the ninja nations she'd grown up in. She expected something akin to Rukongai, perhaps with taller buildings or larger cities, but what met her when she finally surfaced from the light was something entirely different.
What she saw was complete and utter destruction. Buildings lay in ruins; fires burned in the distance; columns of smoke rose eerily from the ground; people of all shapes and sizes were running amuck, either running from the devastation or running towards it to dig something up. Hinata saw a little girl, no older then six, crying rivers and beside her lay the body of a woman, her back bathed in blood. A sob caught in Hinata's thought. How terrible!"
Once everyone was through, the 'ring leader' sempai, a tall guy with stringy red hair and narrow green eyes, addressed the group to explain the situation.
"Listen up! We've chosen a spot that was recently hit by an earth quake so there should be plenty of souls around for you to Konsou. Spread out, but don't wonder off! Stay within hearing range of the shinigami."
"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Sora appeared by Hinata's side with her hands on her hips and Shouta in tow. "Why'd you run off? Wait-oh, gosh, were you looking at Hitsugaya-taichou-"
"Um, can we start please?" Shouta inquired and Sora shot him a sour look but didn't argue. The trio set off to find some souls and quickly found a middle aged man standing beside some rubble. As they drew closer, Hinata recognized it as a hand attached to a brief case.
"Hello!" Sora chirped happily and the man flinched.
"H-hello." He whispered. His were wide with fear and his meaty hands shook. Hinata's eyes filled with pity. The poor man. He must've been so confused.
"We're here to-er..." Sora trailed off. "What're we supposed to say again?"
"We're here to send you to heaven, so stand still." Shouta instructed and he marched forward, unsheathing his asauchi as he went. The konpaku took one look at the razor sharp blade and ran for the hills.
"Ah-matte (wait!) !" Hinata called but the man refused to stop. He raced around the corner and disappeared down the street.
"Hey! Get back here!" Shouta voice was thick with fury as he charged after the poor dead man. Sora yelled "Shouta!" and dashed after him, leaving Hinata by the fallen sky scraper. She hesitated before following; if they followed the spirit, they'd be out of sight-range from the shinigami and would have willing broken the rules their sempai had laid down for them. But what could she have done? Wait there until they were finished? As if.
When Hinata caught up she was slightly winded from the long run, hindered by her short legs. Sora and Shouta had already cornered the frightened man and were trying to convince him that everything was going to be alright, though Shouta spoke only in threatening tones that only scared the man even more.
In the end, Sora just grabbed him by the cuff and forced him to stand till so Shouta could konsou him. The spirit disappeared in a flash of sparkly blue light.
"There, done." Shouta said and he sounded satisfied.
But then Sora cracked him over the head. "You BAKA! (idiot)" She seethed. "Don't just run away like that, or I'll skin you alive!"
"Sorry, sorry-"
And suddenly the air grew dense enough to cut with a knife. All three of them froze like statures and their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Hinata's hand unconsciously snaked to the hilt of her asauchi as the sickening reiatsu tugged her shoulders down. It was the reiatsu of a hollow and Hinata knew very well that if they didn't get back to the shinigami that second, there was a good chance they would all be eaten.
Suddenly Sora screamed. The hollow sauntered into the view, the very embodiment of horror and fear, a gigantic lizard-creature with a back of amour plating and a tongue longer then all three students put together. It's beady red eyes rolled around in its head, rolling, rolling, rolling; stop. It's hungry gaze squared in on the tasty looking children and in a snap it was crawling towards them at a horrifying pace.
Hinata acted first. The other two were froze in place. She lifted her palm and calmly recited the Shakkoho charm under her breath. "Hakudo san juu ichi: Shakkoho!"
A ball of fiery red light exploded from her palm and bowled into the hollow's shoulder. The creature let out an unearthly scream and staggered across, striking things with its tail and lashing out with its hooked paws. Shouta and Sora were snapped back into reality by the racket the monster caused and instantly they turned on heel and bolted, with Hinata close behind them. But the monster recovered and a second later it was right on their tail in hot pursuit.
"We won't get back in time!" Sora cried. And she was right. They had wandered too far away; it would take them at least ten minutes to get back to where the shinigami could hear their cries for help but even that was too long; the beast was gaining ground quickly. Hinata tried to piece together a plan; perhaps if they suddenly swerved, the hollow would stumble and that would buy them some time-
"There's no point in running! Let's fight!" And Shouta spun round and sprinted straight towards the hollow.
"Shouta-kun! NO!" Hinata yowled and she ran after him, despite her better judgement. Shouta would surely die if he faced the demon alone! And she wasn't going to let him die through sheer arrogance alone!
The hollow skidded to a halt and lashed out with its claws but Shouta jumped back, missed by a hair's length. He darted to the side and drove his asauchi into its leg; it wailed in pain and tossed its head around and stomped its feet. Shouta tried to dislodge his sword from the skin but it was too leathery and the blade refused to budge. The hollow swiped Shouta away and he hit a near by wall with a deafening thud. It shattered on impact and his body tumbled to the ground, where it lay motionless.
"Shouta-kun!"
The hollow dived down and attacked. Hinata ducked to dodge its tail then jumped high into the air as its claws aimed to sever her in two. It let out a roar of outrage and lunged forward with its teeth barred. Hinata pulled out her asauchi and in one swift motion brought it down on the creature's nose; blood spurted from the wound and Hinata's sword passed through cleanly. She hit the ground lightly as it hollered in agony.
Sora touched a hand to Shouta's neck and let the breath she'd been holding go. Shouta was still alive. With trembling hands she cradled Shouta in her arms and started towards the Senkaimon and silently prayed Hinata was following her.
And Hinata was. She ran as fast as her short legs could carry her and left the hollow to roll around in the dirt, clutching its bleeding nose, and followed her team mates around the bend. She could feel the shinigami's presence; it was faint and far, but there. They were getting closer-
"AHHH!" The ground beneath her suddenly lurched and Hinata was flung into the air by the tremendous force. She slammed against the ground and the wind was knocked out of her. As she lay there gasping for air a second, cat-like hollow crawled out of the dirt and shook itself free of stones and rubble. Its eyes gleamed with hatred as it slithered towards the winded girl and raised its jagged claws.
In one, grim motion, the hollow brought it down on Hinata's head-
"NOOOOO!"
And blood splattered against the concrete.
!I own neither Bleach nor Naruto!
Cliff hangers suck, huh? I hate them, but I love writing them :P Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I like writing with Hyourinmaru; he's funny.
The Hollow (hollows now) VS Hina-Sora-Shouta will continue next chapter. And Hanatarou should make his newest appearance! So will Toshiro! ^^ And so will Ichigo and Rukia and Renji (yay!) X3
Also, I've decided I'm gonna write two chapters before updating, so instead of one...two...three it'll go one-two...three-four...five-six...Like that ^^
Thanks for reading! Please review!