Disclaimer: Who am I, a lowly fan, to go against the creator, Tite Kubo, and claim this manga/anime as mine?
Chapter 2
Hitsugaya Toushiro stood on one of the long electrical poles located on a residential area in Kamakura Town. It was sometime in December, when snow descends from the sky and the cold rules over the heat. He surveyed the area, taking note of the houses and the commercial establishments that could serve as landmarks, mapping it in his head just in case the need to utilize the knowledge arises. It was a change of scenery again, having been used to staying inside the Seireitei since the commotion caused by Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends. He sighed at the recollection. It was the start of all this ruckus that eventually got him back to the real world.
His head snapped up at the sudden strong reiatsu he sensed, eyes already searching for the source. "A hollow?" the question immediately rang in his head. It was still night time, around 10 most probably. "No, it's something… different." It was something all right, but it was neither a hollow nor was it any shinigami he can recognize.
He followed the reiatsu, his hand on his sword, ready to unsheathe it at any time. Still he pondered at what or who could emit such a strong force, but with every guess it all ended up at the same answer, it's not that. He clenched his teeth in frustration.
The young captain stopped, landing in front of what seemed to be a clinic. 'Kurosaki Clinic?' The captain smirked. But of course the strong reiatsu came from this place, Kurosaki Ichigo's home. Curiously he entered the two-story establishment through one of the windows on the upper floor. His eyes were greeted by a dimmed room with two beds. Twins, he thought, entering the room without a sound. He scratched the back of his head for the lack of a better action and sighed. "What the hell am I doing here?" The reiatsu he felt earlier spiked again just as he motioned to leave. Toushiro spun around to see who between the twins possessed such a force. Curious, he silently approached the bed and watched the sleeping figure hiding beneath the many layers of blankets.
A hand that was poking out of the blankets twitched. It was soon followed by a series of restless movement and groans of discomfort. The blanket covering the figure's head lowered slightly, revealing only the dark hair of bed's occupant. "Ichi…-nii..." came the muffled murmurs. The figure was still twisting and turning in bed. A bad dream, he thought. "Masked… monsters…" the murmurs continued.
'This person can see hollows?' It was starting to become a curious mystery to him.
.
"WATCH OUT!!"
Karin bolted upright, her hand stretched forward, reaching out into the air before her. She sighed in partial relief, another nightmare. She brought her knees closer to her chest and leaned on it. Right now her brother was most likely out there, fighting the masked monsters that have frequently been coming in and out of Karakura. With clenched fists she looked out the window to calm herself. The moon was bright, slightly blue in color with thin cirrus clouds partially covering a fraction of the round satellite. Somehow it calmed her and it was then that she recalled having the feeling that she was being watched while she slept.
"Maybe I was just imagining things."
.
"Captain! Welcome back~!" He nodded once before sitting on the spot where he would sleep for the night. Rangiku watched the small captain with a knowing smile, waiting for the moment where she would deliver her line.
"How was your stalk-ee?"
"Matsumoto!!"
Rangiku laughed at the reaction she got. "But captain took so long to patrol so I thought~"
"Well you thought wrong." He interrupted before his lieutenant spoke more nonsense.
"Oh, is that so?"
Toushiro knew that she was teasing him again. He turned away from her, not needing to see the ridiculous expressions on his lieutenant's face while being forced to hear more from her. They continued on with their banter until it was finally her turn to patrol.
Silence. There was a hidden beauty in such situations. It was too bad some people, like Matsumoto, don't understand the wonders brought about by silence.
.
It was another sunny day in Karakura. And in this town, it just so happened that a girl had energetically kicked the soccer ball she carried. It also just so happened that the said ball was saved from harm's way by a rather small boy. Kurosaki Karin eyed him, from the foot that kept the ball still to the white hair that spiked wildly in every direction. He looked vaguely familiar but she doesn't know when or where she had met this boy. Her eyes were locked on his the moment his turquoise orbs met hers. It felt like an eternity to Karin before the mysterious boy broke the silence.
"Is this yours?" She nodded weakly, not trusting her voice enough to answer with words.
"Be more careful next time." He kicked the ball to her, her hands catching it without difficulty before it made contact with her chest. She was about to give her thanks but when she looked up he was gone.
Karin sighed, 'I don't even know his name.'
xx end of chapter xx
a/n: I'm sorry if I purposely delayed this chapter's release. I was feeling very insecure about the third chapter even if it's 90% done so I was stalling. Anyway, this is one of the better written chapters so I do warn you that the next ones is not that good (in my opinion) in terms of how I approached the scenes. In case someone might wonder, I used the "." just before the "WATCH OUT!" to indicate a change in the character I'm focusing on. I don't know if it could be classified into the Alternating Person View or not, but, changes in character focus will be evident in the next chapter/s.
Oh and thank you petrified078 for beta-ing this chapter for me. As usual, I still have those errors that I really can't detect.