"Gah! Son of a mother fucking bitch!"
"Watch your language, Syketon!"
CLANG!
"Don't tell me what to do, you crazy fucking midget!"
This seemed to be becoming a typical day for the powerless shinigami and the short tempered human. The two of them would wake up, prepare for the day, go to school, and inadvertently fight the hollows that appeared. Once they started fighting, Rukia would start shouting information that she deemed useful at Syketon, who in turn, attempted to ignore her while trying not to get killed. She was definitely getting better at fighting, considering she had no knowledge on how to use a sword to begin with but there were still times that she found herself almost overwhelmed.
FWOOSH!
Like today.
"Since when the hell can hollows breath fire? What the fuck?"
The duo had come across a hollow tearing through one of the neighborhood parks.
They had immediately taken action and, once again, Syketon had to wonder if The-Crazy-Midget-Who-Slept-In-Her-Closet might have lost more than just her powers that night two weeks ago.
Syketon shuddered, remembering just how she had discovered the petite girl was living in her closet at home and the trouble they had gone through to hide it from the rest of her family – especially Tegan. She had the bad habit of borrowing some of Syketon's clothes without asking.
Giving one final swing with her sword, Syke cut the hollow's mask in half before landing in a crouch. She paused, smelling the air. Was something burning?
"Shit!" Syke yelled out as she realized that one of her sleeves of her shinigami robes had caught fire. Stop, drop, and roll, Syke. Stop, drop, and roll.
Kyvain watched carefully from atop a building as Syke and Rukia fought the fire-breathing hollow together. She was getting better, he realized and he smiled at the revelation before his face twisted into a scowl. He could not understand why he had to watch her. He knew she had potential. He had known that the moment that Tegan had introduced the two of them so long ago. It wasn't right to spy on her like this. Or maybe… He gained a thoughtful expression as his attention turned towards Rukia. Maybe he wasn't supposed to really be watching how Syke was taking to being a shinigami at all. Maybe it had more to do with Kuchiki.
Kyvain knew all about the Kuchiki clan. It was one of the things that his master had insisted he learn about – the noble clans of the Seireitei. Miss Kuchiki had been adopted into the clan by the clan's head years ago. Her being in the human world and losing to some standard class hollow just didn't add up to the Kuchiki clan's image. Something was very wrong and it looked like it was about to drag his friends into the fray.
Match and Pyro walked silently together down the road. Pyro was older by two years. He had brown hair in an almost buzz like cut, pale skin, and his brown eyes were protected by square-rimmed glasses. Match had the darker complexion of their Mexican mother. Her long black hair reached mid-back and curled at the ends while her brown eyes were quick and sharp.
Their names weren't actually Match and Pyro – those had been nicknames that Tegan had given them years ago, telling them that they were pyromaniacs and should just learn to accept the fact. They only went by their real names in school and at home when their father was there and that was the way they liked it.
The two of them had noticed their new shinigami classmate. Or rather, Syketon's classmate. They had also noticed that Syketon's spiritual ribbon was no longer the white of a humans but rather a deep, blood red. It concerned the two of them that their friend may be getting even further involved in such affairs – especially considering what they had done to keep them separated from the… darker aspects of the spiritual world.
Which was why they were currently hunting down their mutual friend – Kyvain. They had known that he was a shinigami for a long time now. When they had confronted him all those years ago, he had convinced them not only to keep his status a secret but also to train with him in order to get stronger. They had agreed but only on the condition that they do their best to keep the rest of their friends from discovering that the spirit world was not confined to ghosts that could not move on.
They had agreed, upon their pride as Quincy.
A few days later….
The moment that Kita woke up, she knew that it was going to be one of those days. It probably had something to do with waking up to find Tegan's face mere inches from her own. Shrieking in surprise, the startled girl threw her friend from the bed all the while letting loose profanities that would make a sailor blush.
Tegan landed in a heap on the floor, moaning slightly in pain as Kita placed a hand on her frantic heart before she turned to Tegan in anger.
"Ya ass!" she shouted, waving her arms angrily, "What the hell were you thinking? Screw that! How the hell did you get in here and without the dogs going off?"
One of said dogs lumbered into the room, knowing that his master had been successfully woken up by their adopted pack mate.
Tegan smiled and grabbed the dog's fur in her fists, hugging the beast to her. She smiled over the Husky as a Pit Bull and a Great Pyrenees joined her on the floor.
"I know where you keep the key and they love me far too much to keep me out." She stated, cooing at the dogs around her.
Kita glared at them from her bed, huffing as she said "So much for aggressive guard dogs. Useless, I swear."
Tegan laughed at her friend even as the pit bull licked the side of her face, leaving a trail of slobber behind.
"So why are you here anyway?" Kita asked as she stepped out of her bathroom, towel drying her hair. Tegan barely glanced over at her, already having half her body engulfed by Kita's closet.
"We're meeting up with the others in less than an hour. You weren't answering your phone so I figured I'd stop by and tell you face ta face."
"Uh huh." Kita intoned, before gliding over the closet and pulling her friend out, "Stay out of my closet. It's a death trap at the moment and I'd rather your sister not come after me in misguided anger."
Tegan pouted but her sulking did not last long as something outside the window had caught her attention.
"Wow! Look at the butterfly!"
Kita sighed in exasperation and shook her head. "The attention of a gold fish, I swear."
Tegan turned to her friend, smirking. "Yeah but I'm schizophrenic. What's your excuse?"
With years of practice, she was able to gracefully dodge the shoe that was aimed for her head.
"Well that meeting didn't go well." Tegan muttered in a huff. She and Kita were both leaving the restaurant that their group had agreed upon after a rather tense assembly.
"No shit Sherlock." Kita exhaled angrily. "I swear things haven't been that awkward since you and Kyvain broke up."
Tegan's eyebrow twitched. "Thanks Kita."
Kita snickered at her friend. "No problem, sissy."
Sighing in exasperation, Tegan waved good-bye to Kita as the two parted ways for the day. Kita intended to go home, do chores, homework, and forget about that evening. Tegan didn't really want to go home at the moment. In all honesty, she didn't want to really deal with anyone either. A walk around the town seemed like the best idea to her, maybe it would help her clear her mind and relax.
Not really paying attention to where she was going, Tegan allowed her feet to wander as she stared absentmindedly at the ground. Whatever everyone's problem was, she hoped that they got over it soon. She wasn't sure how much more tension she could stand.
The sound of shouting was what brought her out of her thoughts as she rounded a corner. Stopping in her tracks, she stared at the scene before her in slight bafflement. There was a young boy yelling at a girl and pulling on her hair. The girl wasn't fighting back and only protested at the boy meekly, who scowled and started shouting at her even louder.
Tegan grit her teeth, she couldn't stand bullies. With determination, she walked over the two, calling out loudly. "Hey!"
The two children stopped immediately and stared back at her with no small amount of surprise as the short, bad tempered girl made her way towards them.