Harpygirl91- Don't worry. I'm just reposting this because I noticed some errors with the dates. Nothing was changed.
Chapter 5: Death
(December 5, 2003)
Hotaru and Sayu were sitting in front of the living room television. Hotaru was helping Sayu with her homework, a role usually taken by Raito. However, today Hotaru had offered to aid Sayu so that Raito would have some time to study by himself. The two of them were watching the news because Sayu had to write an essay over an important news story.
"We have just received word that the mass murderer, Kira, has struck again." The news reporter stated emotionlessly," His most recent victims are Michael Lupo and Soichi Tomoe."
The pen in Hotaru's hand dropped to the ground as she stared at the television in horror. "Nee-chan, isn't that?" Sayu asked, as dread was apparent on her face. Sayu dashed to the kitchen and grabbed a trashcan from under the sink. As soon as Sayu placed the trashcan in front of Hotaru the older girl regurgitated her lunch.
Instead of running to get Raito, Sayu returned to Hotaru's side and held back her long hair…
(In Seireitei)
A girl that looked no older than thirteen stared up at the sky as she wrapped her arms around her knees. Her brown hair was accented by blood red highlights as her brown eyes struggled to stay open.
"So what's your all important mission, Meghan-chan?" Renji asked as he ruffled the girl's hair.
"I'm going to the human world to protect some girl named Hotaru Tomoe." Meghan explained," Apparently Ichimaru contacted her and she has really amazing powers. Plus I'm supposed to look for any information on who this Kira guy is."
"Kira's the guy causing the rise in hallows right?" Renji asked.
"Duh. Baka." Meghan frowned," It's a pain in the arse. Because of one person hollows have nearly tripled and the number of innocent souls being eaten has almost quadrupled."
"How do you know all of that?" Renji wondered out loud.
"Yamato-taicho told me. He said that searching for Kira has to take a backseat to guarding this Hotaru person, but I need to keep and ear out for any information on him." Meghan explained," Besides. I need to go get ready to leave or Byakuya-taicho will give me that glare of his again."
"Haha." Renji laughed before Meghan hit him on top of his head," HEY! I'll get you for that!"
"Good luck!" Meghan taunted as she dashed off," you may be my fukutaicho, but I don't have to listen to you!"
(The Yagami Household)
"Are you okay, nee-chan?" Sayu asked as Hotaru pulled away from the trashcan.
"I should be." Hotaru replied as she stood up on shaky legs," I'll just go lay down for a bit."
"Do you want me to get nii-chan?" Sayu asked as Hotaru stood at the end of the stairs.
"It's okay." Hotaru smiled weakly," I'll tell him I'm not feeling well."
"Be careful!" Sayu warned, "You know nii-chan doesn't like to be disturbed while he's concentrating on his studies."
"Thank you for the advice, Sayu-chan." Hotaru replied as she climbed up the stairs.
After Hotaru disappeared from sight, Sayu stared down at the trashcan," Ugh. Gross…"
Hotaru paused as she passed by Raito's room. Because he usually watched the news as he studied, there was a slight noise of voices; however, she noticed that the noise suddenly stopped. Then a low chuckle could be heard as Hotaru opened the door carefully.
"Raito?" Hotaru said cautiously as she peered into the room," Are you okay?"
"I thought I locked my door," Raito said as he nearly fell out of his chair at Hotaru's sudden appearance. He had been thinking about L's broadcast, when suddenly Hotaru entered his room with out knocking.
"S-sorry, Raito." Hotaru apologized," I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to lie down."
"What's wrong?" Raito demanded as he jumped out of his chair and marched over to Hotaru. Hotaru blushed slightly as he placed his hand against her forehead. "You're burning up and you're pale." Raito observed," What happened?"
"I-I'm just not feeling well." Hotaru quickly replied.
"Something else is wrong." Raito glared," What is it?"
Hotaru began to shake before she wrapped her arms around Raito," My father's dead."
Raito froze as he felt Hotaru's tears soak his shirt. She should be happy. I killed the man that murdered her mother. I thought she would be ecstatic. "It'll be okay." Raito whispered as he stroked her back gently," It'll be alright."
"Raito, why did he have to die today?" Hotaru wondered as tears continued to roll down her face," Only two days before the anniversary of kaa-san's death."
Raito froze at Hotaru's words. W-what? Kuso. I forgot. Why didn't I think Soichi's death through? "I know what will make you feel better." Raito smiled.
"Huh?" Hotaru replied as she stared up at him.
"Get your shoes on and brush your teeth then I'll take you to that café you like so much." Raito grinned.
"Thank you." Hotaru whispered as she hugged Raito," But I'm just going to study for a while to get my mind off of his death."
"Okay." Raito replied and kissed Hotaru lightly on the top her head," I'll make sure Sayu doesn't bother you."
Hotaru gave Raito a thankful smile before she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Raito watched as Hotaru entered her room before he shut the door to his room.
"Ke ke ke." Ryuk laughed as Raito smiled widely.
"She kissed me." Raito whispered as he touched his cheek lightly.
(December 18, 2003)
It had been thirteen days since Soichi's passing, and Hotaru had finally gotten over the shock of his death. Now, Hotaru intently studied along side Raito for the upcoming college entrance exams. However, Hotaru had decided that today she was going to spend part of the day shopping with Sayu.
"Raito, you're up early." Hotaru observed cheerfully as Raito came down the stairs.
"I'm going to go to Space Land with Yuri-san." Raito explained as Sachiko set a plate of breakfast in front of him.
"Really?" Hotaru asked as she sat down beside Raito," Could Yuri-chan tell her thank you for me?"
"For what?" Raito asked.
"N-nothing you should know about." Hotaru replied as she blushed deeply.
"Is it another romance manga?" Raito teased as Hotaru looked down at the table.
"Y-yes." Hotaru admitted quietly.
"Haha." Raito laughed," You really enjoy manga and novels that are romantic don't you?"
"Yeah." Hotaru smiled.
"Now I know what to get you for your birthday." Raito grinned.
"You know you don't have to get me anything!" Hotaru exclaimed.
"I know, but I still enjoy getting you presents." Raito explained," Well. I better get ready for my date before I'm late."
"Have fun." Hotaru yelled after him as he went upstairs to his bedroom and changed.
(Later that morning)
"Oh! Look at that café Nee-chan! It's so cute!" Sayu squealed as she spotted a small café called Heart of Juno.
"I've been there before with Nene-kun. It's really good." Hotaru responded before Sayu dragged her into the small café.
"Who's Nene-kun?" Sayu asked teasingly.
"He was a boy that Yuri-chan and Mayu-chan set me up on a date with." Hotaru explained as they sat at a small booth facing outside.
"What was he like?" Sayu inquired.
"He turned out to be really rude and didn't get off his cell phone the entire time." Hotaru described.
"Was he cute?" Sayu asked.
"Yes. Demo, he was a jerk." Hotaru pointed out.
"That stinks." A person in the booth behind Hotaru stated as she turned around to look at them. She was wearing a black jacket with a bright red scarf around her neck.
"Who are you?" Sayu demanded.
"Jocelyn Meghan." The girl introduced," Sorry for eavesdropping. I'm just naturally curious."
"If you're so interested in our conversation, why don't you sit with us?" Hotaru offered.
"Sure!" Meghan replied enthusiastically and grabbed her cup of coffee before joining Sayu and Hotaru.
"How old are you?" Sayu asked Meghan.
"I'm fourteen." Meghan replied," How about you two?"
"I'm about to turn seventeen, and Sayu is fifteen." Hotaru explained," I'm Hotaru and this is Sayu."
"So you're both older than me." Meghan complained as she laid her head on the table," That happens everywhere I go."
"Haha." Hotaru and Sayu laughed as Meghan gave them a droll stare.
"Sorry." Hotaru replied," Don't worry. It's usually the same situation with me."
"At least you aren't babied by everyone you live with." Meghan whined," I live in an old dorm that lets anyone that can pay the rent live there. Ever since my folks died, I've been living there, and everyone treats me like a baby. Especially the owner and his assistant."
"They probably care about you a lot." Hotaru comforted.
"Are there any cute boys that live there?" Sayu demanded.
"Depends on what you like guys to look like. The owner, Byakuya-nii, is pretty handsome, but he's a prick. His assistant looks like a punk." Meghan shrugged," There are other dorms with pretty cute boys though."
"What are they like?" Hotaru asked.
"Ikkaku-sempai is cute, but Byakuya-nii would die if he found out that I like Ikkaku-sempai." Meghan stated as she straightened up," But Toshiro-kun is really cute, he just needs to watch his temper or he'll wind up getting his butt kicked by yours truly." Hotaru and Sayu laughed as Meghan blushed lightly as she slammed her fist down on the table.
"Ohh! Look at that guy!" Sayu exclaimed as someone new entered the café. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt that was seen through an opening in his jacket. He had messy black hair that was a little longer than normal and dark black eyes that were surrounded by black bags from lack of sleep.
"Sayu-chan!" Hotaru scolded as the unknown male paused to stare at them before sitting at a table far away from them.
"He is cute." Meghan observed," But he's really creepy. He looks like a panda on crack."
Hotaru covered her mouth to stop her laughter from escaping. Suddenly, Meghan's cell phone rang and the girl stood up quickly as she answered it.
"Moshi Moshi?" Meghan frowned,"……Yeah yeah. I'll be back in a sec."
"Who was it?" Sayu asked.
"One of my dorm mates. Apparently, there's someone new moving in and they want my help." Meghan explained as she wrote her number down on a slip of paper," Here, this is my cell number if you two want to ever talk about guys again."
"I'll call you if you send me a picture of this Toshiro-kun." Sayu winked.
"Sure." Meghan agreed," See you around, Hotaru-sempai."
"Ja ne!" Sayu and Hotaru replied.
Meghan smiled at them and that smile remained on her face until she was outside," So that's her. She really is nice. It's a shame that Gin-teme is trying to get to her."
Meghan turned to look into the café before walking off. There's something not right about that guy. He was watching Hotaru too intently. It was like he was watching her as if she was a suspect in a murder case.
"What?" Meghan snapped at her cell phone as it rang again.
"Have you made contact with Tomoe Hotaru?" Renji asked as Meghan answered the phone.
"Yeah. That was who I was talking to earlier when you called me to tell me about the perverted stuffed animal." Meghan growled," I would be able to get more work done if a certain fukutaicho would stop bugging me!"
"HEY! That's no way to talk to me!" Renji shouted.
"Whatever." Meghan replied in a bored tone," Tell Byakuya-taicho to stop text messaging me every two seconds? It's driving me insane. He's so worried about me making a mistake that he's keeping me from completing my assignment."
"You were the one who taught him how to text message." Renji pointed out.
"So what?" Meghan frowned as a familiar tingle went down her back," Hey, call back later. I have a hollow to deal with."
(End Chapter 5)
Harpygirl91- So finally Meghan is introduced. Remember to vote on her pairing!
Meghan- I sound girly when I'm talking to Hotaru and Sayu.
Harpygirl91- How else were you going to introduce yourself 'Hi. My name's Meghan. I'm a Shinigami assigned to protect you.'?
Meghan-Ugh. Shove it.