Welcome back! Time for chapter 4! I do not own Bleach. Oh, by the way, it's a short chapter.
Fun fact- You burn more calories sleeping than watching TV
"Wow. You guys look really pretty tonight." Izuke said as he tried to hide his blush. He was really talking to Haruko, but for the sake of Akemi, he complimented her also. The graduation party had started about twenty minutes ago, and so far, only Akemi, Haruko, and Izuke were there, from Kori's group of friends anyway.
"Well thank you Izuke." Akemi gushed happily. "You don't look half bad yourself." Akemi was wearing a silver dress with spaghetti straps that showed off her ample chest. Her hair was curled and crimped, and her makeup made her look like a model. Most of the boys at the dance had already came over drooling, trying to dance with her.
Haruko giggled "Thank you, Izuke-Kun. You look very handsome also." Izuke turned bright pink as he smiled and tried to get rid of his blush. The only thing that changed about him was that he was in a tux and black bow as opposed to his soul reapers uniform. Haruko, on the other hand, was dressed very formally. She had on a halter top dress that was dark purple with a beaded bodice. The loose dress hem fell right below the girl's knees. Her hair, which was usually kept in a braid, fell to her waist gracefully. Her bangs cut straight across the top of her indigo eyes, which were complemented by a dark blue jewel around her neck.
"Now I wonder where Tsukiyo and Kori are." Akemi wondered aloud as she scanned the crowd, looking for her friends. Haruko and Izuke also looked around, and spotted Tsukiyo.
"Here comes Hitsugaya-Kun." Haruko said just as he joined their little circle. He was sporting black dress pants, white dress shirt, open black jacket, and a red tie. He had his usual brooding face on, clearly not enjoying anything about the celebration.
"Hey guys." He grunted as he continued to look around at the decor with disapproving eyes.
"Hey Tsukiyo." Izuke greeted.
"Greetings, Hitsugaya-Kun." Haruko smiled.
""Ello Tsuki. Could you look like you had a stick shoved any higher up your butt?" Akemi asked. Tsukiyo turned as red as his tie, but before he could respond, the navy haired girl started a flow of words as she looked towards the door. "Whoa! Now way! Is that Kori over there?"
Haruko, Izuke, and Tsukiyo looked to follow Akemi's gaze, and their reactions all mirrored some sort of shock. Haruko covered her mouth with both hands and her eyes widened in shock. Izuke, bit his bottom lip in attempt to stop his blush. Tsukiyo's mouth was hanging down and his eyes took in every bit of the girl he saw walking towards their group.
She was wearing a beautiful white dress with black accents around the waist and hem. It looked like a dusting of snow had been dumped on her, sparkles in her hair and on her dress. Her white and strawberry hair was placed on top of her head in a loose updo, with her bangs sweeping over the top of her right eye. Tsukiyo could have sworn he was watching in slow motion as Hokori giggled, blinked an eye dabbed with strawberry eyeshadow, and then met eyes with him. He hadn't even realized Kori was feet from him, already in their circle of friends.
"Kori! You look so pretty! Not that you usual don't, but you just look so... lady like!" Akemi gushed as she fawned over the other girl.
"Oh, yeah. Yumichika did it really. You can probably tell." Kori said as she played with the black feather earrings she had on.
"Wow Hokori-Chan! You look like a princess." Haruko complimented.
"Thanks Haruko! You look so pretty in that dress!" Kori complimented back.
"Hey Kori, you look nice!" Izuke somehow managed to say without blushing.
"Awe thanks Izuke! You look pretty handsome yourself." Akemi, Haruko, and Izuke all looked towards their male white haired friend. The three of them had always had the sense it was possible for him to like Kori. Kori, on the other hand, was a bit dense to this, so she just looked towards to Tsukiyo too since everyone else was.
All eyes fell on Tsukiyo, who had his arms crossed and was pretending to watch other fresh-out-of-the-academy soul reapers dancing. When he glanced to see if his friends were watching him, his eyes got caught by theres. He just coughed and focused on Kori. "Hokori, could I need to talk to you outside." He declared as he turned around and started walking towards the back door.
"Ooh. Kori, Hitsugaya wants to see you alone." Akemi snickered. Kori just rolled her eyes and followed her friend out the door. It lead onto a small walkway around the building, and this particular area overlooked a small koi pond and a lovely garden. Tsukiyo was leaning against the wooden railway around the walkway, looking at the moon with soft eyes. The light poured down on him and made his eyes and hair only glow. He then noticed the girl's presence. For a moment he didn't seem to know what to say, but then, in a hurry, he said "You look nice tonight."
"You look handsome as well-" Before Kori could finish her sentance, the white haired boy was holding a little black rectangle and trying to pass it to her. It took the girl a minute before she realized she was supposed to take it. An air of awkward silence hung over them as Kori pondered what to do, she decided to open the box. She gasped when she saw it's contents.
A red crescent pendent hung from a silver chain. It was scarlet, and it glittered under the light of the moon. Kori could just make out some black little figure in the center. Suddenly, she flung herself at Tsukiyo and hugged him. He was in shock at first, and didn't really realize what was happening, but soon enough, he patted her back. "Tsukiyo! It's gorgeous!"
"Hey hey hey! Don't get all mushy on me! Yumichika told me I had to give it to you." Kori drew back when she heard this. The boy who was accompiniaing her looked at her, not understanding that the hurt look on her face was because of what he said. But somehow, the teenage boy, fixed his mistake. "Well, technically, Yumichika just told me to get you something red. When I went to the market, I just sorta saw this and I thought you would like it. ...Do you want me to help you put it on?"
Kori's head snapped up and her eyes glittered as she handed Tsukiyo the necklace and nodded. The frosty eyed boy walked behind her and drapped the necklace around her neck. Hokori could feel his breath lightly as he fought with the tiny clasp on the necklace. Eventually, he got it on her and turned her so he could see. His own eyes widened at the beauty of the pairing between Kori and the necklace. Tsukiyo's hand, which had been on Kori's neck, had moved upwards a bit, so his thumb now traced circle around her rosie cheeks.
Out of nowhere, a huge 'bang' erupted from the woods, causing the two teens to jump away from each other and look towards the wooded area. Frosty and amber eyes alike, widened in horror at the strange sight of blackness crawling upwards from the trees.
"Is that black fire?" Kori leaned forward, trying to make out what the strange substance was. Soul reapers flooded the area, gasping and preparing their zanpakuto.
"Guys are you okay!" Akemi yelled as she ran up to Tsukiyo and Kori. Her grey eyes then fell upon the black wisp crawling into the sky. "What is that?"
"We don't know," Tsukiyo was saying, he then spotted his father in the crowd. "but I'm about to find out." With that, the younger Hitsugaya went to speak with his father. All the graduates from the dance looked at the darkness that seemed to be pulsating.
Kori's amber eyes scanned over the tree line, and her eyes fell on another pair. An emerald pair of green eyes watching her from the darkness. When she finally focused on them, they vanished. She questioned her sight for a moment, but then assured herself she saw a pair of green eyes in the shadow of the brush. But they weren't there now.
"Harri, do you think it's cero?" Katsue asked her friend. Both women stood in the crowd of soul reapers who had gathered to see what happened in the back woods of the academy. It was like nothing ever seen before. But, it felt similar to cero, or spirit energy.
"That's how it seems." Harribel said. But while she glared at the dark wave reaching towards the sky, she continued. "But it's more than that."
Katsue's white eyes looked towards the moon. It's light wasn't even able to break through the opaque blackness of the strange fire. The feeling of this spreading fire, it struck a cord of familirity[1] with Katsue.
"Aizen."
[1] Familirity- Is that even a word? Sorry if it's not. I think you get the general point of what she means though.
"Emerald green eyes" hint hint. Catch ya' next time!