Kurosaki Future Chapter 12: Stranger Danger
Hello good people of ! I'm feeling much more cheerful now, though I still miss Nolan... Haha, I hope you had a good time while I didn't update, which was for a long time.. Er, yeah, so here's Stranger Danger!
Kira sighed as he, Momo, and Rangiku walked through the streets of Inuzuri Rukongai. Most of the people ran into their homes, locking their doors and shouting obscenities at the trio. So many in the Rukon had problems with Shinigami. Any trouble that happened there was blamed on the Death Gods, the poor souls saying that they were unprotected or that the Gotei 13 was just leaving them to die. They also hated the Shinigami because they had large homes and fancy things, meals every day, new clothes any time they liked, and everything the Rukon people didn't. And sometimes, drunk Shinigami would rampage all through the different districts. Even the Shinigami who grew up in the Rukongai were not excepted there, except maybe by the people who had considered them family.
"It's so sad that the people hate us," Momo said, "I'd really like to come to the Rukongai and be greeted with happiness and welcome, not all this anger." Rangiku and Kira nodded, silently agreeing with Momo.
"Have you guys seen anyone you thought were Ichigo's sisters?" Rangiku asked, swinging her sake bottle around her. Kira glanced at Rangiku, then at her sake and furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why she had brought alcohol along with her. He looked back in front of him, staring at the little stones and ruts in the trail they walked on.
"I..." Kira began, breathing in slowly, "I have not seen anyone, but I have a feeling we are in the right place." He looked around at all the small houses and the dark faces that stared out of the windows.
"Maybe we should check houses, see if they know anything or if there's a new person that resembles one of the Kurosaki family members," Momo suggested quietly, looking around with Kira. "I think some people will let us in if they know we are searching for important people."
"Yeah, maybe. We should try. Come on," Rangiku stepped up to the door of the house nearest to her. She slipped her sake into her shihakusho and reached up to rap the door. She got no response and rapped again. There was a loud shuffling inside the house and the door flew open.
"What do you want?" a rugged man with stubble on his face and dirt on his clothes asked, narrowing his eyes. A small group of people, another man, a woman, a little girl, and a little boy, stood behind him.
"Um, excuse us," Kira spoke, moving closer to the man, who inched back and narrowed his eyes even more, "We would like to ask you a few questions about some missing persons and perhaps look through your home for a moment." The man snorted.
"How about no?" he began to close the door but Rangiku pushed the door back open.
"Please, we are looking for important people," she said.
"Curse you and whoever you're looking for!" the man exclaimed. Then he opened the door wide and the other man rushed out. He held a blade, not exactly a sword, in his hand.
"You Shinigami always bother us! Die!" He ran at Momo and she dodged, but ended up bumping into someone else. All the Shinigami looked around and noticed that a group of people had surrounded them. They murmured about what was happening.
"Oh, no, it's more violent Shinigami." "What's all the commotion? A Fight?" "Those Shinigami are picked a fight again." "Disgusting Shinigami!" "How dangerous, those poor people have such a big commotion at their home all because of the Shinigami." The people crowded in, trying to get a better look at the little house. Some people had gotten their own household items to use a weapons. Many people shouted and attacked.
"Everything is in an uproar," Momo gasped. She went over to Kira and Rangiku, looking out to the crowd, "Please, calm down, we were only looking for two little girls!" No one stopped trying to hit them even though Momo kept pleading.
"I don't want to kill anyone right now," Rangiku growled, "We should leave."
"Yes," Kira responded, and the trio of Death Gods shunpoed away, headed back to the Seireitei to tell Ichigo that their search had gone wrong.
Karin had woken up and begun to search for something to eat because Dena and her sister were still resting and she didn't know where Rayo was. She looked through the cabinets in the kitchen and ran around the house wondering where exactly everything was. She didn't find a single thing so she collapsed an old, wobbly chair, sighing in anger. She heard a quick breath come from behind her and turned right around. Rayo leaned on the door frame with a bored look on his face but a mocking glint in his eyes. "What are you looking at like that?" Karin growled.
"You. Are you looking for food?" his expression became softer and he smiled a bit, "You're hopeless." He sauntered over to a random cabinet with a quick smirk, "Did you look in here?" He grabbed the cabinet, pulled it and the one beside it open, then dropped into a chair by the table. Karin almost drooled all over the table, but she controlled herself and stood up.
"Thank you, Rayo," she ground out. It was hard for her, she never thought she'd have to thank Rayo for something.
He gave another warm smile, "No problem." Karin shuddered, wondering why Rayo was being so nice. She grabbed a few ingredients from the cabinets and set up some dishes to cook. Karin grabbed a large pot and stared at it for a while before speaking, "I... I'm not good at cooking. What am I doing? I wish Yuzu was awake..." She scowled at the pot and her stomach growled. Then steps sounded behind her and she titled her head to see.
"I will do it," Rayo said, taking the pot from her hands. "I can make a decent meal, surely better than you," he smiled at her before lighting a fire to heat the food. Karin blew out loudly before flopping into the wobbly chair again. She stared at Rayo for a while until his voice broke her concentration on his back.
"Karin... There is something I want to speak to you about." Karin faced him fully with her whole self, interested in what he had to say to sound so serious.
"What do you wanna talk about?" She leaned forward slightly, hands on her knees.
"Your friend, Saraiju." Rayo said, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"What? Why? What's up?" Karin asked. Rayo turned and looked straight at Karin.
"There's something very unusual about him."
"Yeah, so? Saraiju's a weird guy, he's fun."
"That's not what I mean. You know how I am a cat and he is a dog?"
"Uh, yeah," Karin remembered the stupid men going on about their hatred for each other as canines and felines.
"Saraiju does not have a Zanpakuto, but he has some sort of dog spirit within him. I don't know what it is that could give him that sort of spirit, but it seems dark, evil and is probably very dangerous."
"Where are you going with this?" Karin was confused and slightly nervous.
"I think you should distance yourself from him," Rayo said, in all seriousness. Karin blinked in surprise and gaped at Rayo.
"What?"
"Stop being around Saraiju, he's strange and dangerous. You have to keep away from him."
"Um, how about no?"
"That won't be accepted. Saraiju is an unknown, a stranger. You're going to stay away from him from now on."
"I will not."
"Just be quiet. It's for the best, you will," Rayo frowned at her and spoke in a serious, demanding tone. Karin shook her head violently and jumped from her chair.
"What's wrong with you? How can you let your stupid animal rivalry get in my life? Who are you to tell me to keep away from my friends? Who are you to just decide I should be kept up in a little shelter from the people I like?" Karin questioned him angrily, glaring daggers. She put her hands on her hips, "You know what? You're a creep, you're probably just jealous!"
It was Rayo's turn to be surprised and he bumped into the counter, eyes wide, "W-What?" Karin smiled wryly.
"Yeah, that reaction tells me you're just jealous. You perverted freak. Stay out of my business, creep!" Karin whirled around and stormed away, cursing Rayo and telling him he should stay away from her instead of her staying away from Saraiju. Rayo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held his breath a moment and then let it out in a loud sigh. He leaned on the counter and pinched the bridge of his nose,
"That girl... she's made of anger..." Rayo looked up at the door where Karin had just been, "She really should heed my warnings..."
Karin had made her way to the Shinigami Academy after cursing out Rayo and deciding she would just go to school. She noticed there were other students there but not all that there normally was. She thought about the missing students for a little while, but lost interest quickly and just went to class.
"This class is with Saraiju," she thought, looking at the door. She opened it up and gazed all around the room, noticing many students were absent from the class.
"Most of the students that are gone are training and learning new attacks for the Hollow fighting thing that's coming up," a loud, happy voice came from beside Karin.
"Ah! Saraiju," she said, smacking the excited boy on his arm, "Don't scream in my ear!"
"Ow," he said, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry." Karin studied him for a moment. "How could such a weak, nice, and happy person as Saraiju be dangerous at all?"
Her Zanpakuto spoke,"I concur, I concur. He doesn't seem dangerous in the least."
Karin thought, "He doesn't seem like he has the guts or power to harm anyone..." "You look really thoughtful and... kind of scary," Saraiju said, giving Karin a concerned look, "What's up?"
"Eh?" Karin popped out of her thoughts and gave her attention to Saraiju. He stood there with an expectant smile on his face. Karin rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Um... Rayo was talking to me earlier about you... about something weird. He told me I should stay away from you, that you had a dangerous, unknown power that was not from a Zanpakuto..." Saraiju's smile faltered and Karin noticed, "Eh, not that I think he's telling the truth! I think he's just jealous that I hang out with you so much, I think he's a creep." Saraiju wasn't paying attention anymore. He stared at the ground, then spoke quietly.
"What else did Rayo say...?" he asked softly, eyes still facing down. Karin shifted her weight from one foot to the other, blinking slowly.
"Uh... nothing much... He told me you had a dark dog power that was not from a Zanpakuto and that, since he had know idea what kind of evil thing it was, I should keep my distance from you because you were a stranger." Karin kept shifting her weight, waiting for Saraiju to respond. He finally did, but it wasn't the kind of nice, laid back response Karin expected. Saraiju turned around and, in a flash, crashed through the wall and left the building.
Ichigo sat in his office chair, elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He sighed, depressed. Rangiku, Momo, and Kira had come back to him only to tell him that their search that day had ended in ruin.
"We probably shouldn't return for a few days, maybe weeks," Momo said, "They might expect up to be there and try to attack us and make us steer away forever. We have obviously made everyone in Inuzuri and perhaps all of Rukongai more angry with the Shinigami than before." Ichigo traced the lines in his wooden table, eyes closed tight.
He sighed again and Kira talked, "Should we stop for now? Should we stop searching and let the people of Rukongai calm down before going out again?"
"That could take many weeks. Everyone in the Rukongai has been excited for a while now already, even without you guys strolling around looking for Karin and Yuzu," Rukia said, crossing her arms. She tapped one arm with her fingers, thinking about what to do. "We have to be careful. Quite a few people in the Rukon are strong but have not decided to enter the Academy. They probably hate us, too, and they will fight us. Searching for Karin and Yuzu really is a challenge..."
"I still want to find my sisters," Ichigo spoke up, "They were alone enough in the human world, they don't need to be alone and clueless here, too. Who knows what might happen to them seeing as they're my family members? Someone might find them and fight them, they could die again and I wouldn't have known or been there to protect them. I want them here with me now." He clenched his fists and closed his eyes again, "I wish I was better at sensing reiatsu... I wish they were just right here beside me..." He swore and slammed his fists down on his table, "What am I supposed to do? We haven't found them and the people in Rukongai don't want us to find them! What do I do? I can't think straight!"
Rukia stepped over to Ichigo and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Ichigo, calm down," she said soothingly, "I'm sure we will find them, but you have to calm down and think of some way to do that first. Rangiku, Kira, and Momo have already searched a few of the Rukon districts, there's not much left so we are much closer to finding Karin and Yuzu than we first started. You have to think positively." Ichigo stared into Rukia's eyes and found his determination to find his sisters again.
"Alright... I'll think positively." Ichigo turned to his little search party, "How about you guys take a break and get ready fro the time when everything is cool again?" Rangiku pulled out two sake bottles, Kira and Momo nodded with little smiles on their faces, and they all left the office. Ichigo went back to his table, "Ok, I'll just finish up this paperwork here and I'll go rest myself. How about you, Rukia?"
"I'll go ahead and leave. I love you," Rukia told him, walking to the door.
"Love you, too," he responded and Rukia closed the door behind her. Ichigo stared at the small stack of paperwork he had left and started working.
The students and teacher that were left in the classroom stared at the gaping hole in the wall. Karin stood still for a minute, still trying to register the fact that Saraiju had burst right out of the wall in her mind. She finally got over the wall and shunpoed after Saraiju. She ran around from place to place, but she didn't find him.
"Hello? Saraiju?" Karin called. She got closer to the forest behind the Academy and noticed a couple of fallen trees. "What the?" she stepped over the trees and walked into the forest. She began to hear pounding and crackling a short time after she entered the forest. She looked around a moment and saw Saraiju punching a tree repeatedly.
"Dark, huh?" he spoke in a dejected tone, "Dark, dark, deadly!" He scowled and punched the tree again. The bark fell and the trunk split, the tree began to fall. As the tree crashed down, Karin got closer to her friend.
"Saraiju," she spoke softly, but loud enough for him to hear her at the distance he was. His eyes widened at the sound of her voice and he eyed her cautiously.
"What do you want?" he asked, and Karin was surprised at the rough sound of his voice, "Are you going to tell me I'm an evil stranger?"
"No way," Karin said, "You're not evil and you're no stranger to me."
"You're wrong. I am, just like Rayo said."
"No, you're not." Karin said, stepping a bit closer to him.
"Shut up!" he shouted. He took a quick breath, "You don't know me."
"That's because you don't tell me anything about yourself," Karin snapped. Saraiju looked down, at Karin, then down again.
"I guess you're right..."
"Yeah," Karin nodded, hands on her hips, "Now what was up with you running out and breaking the wall back there?"
Saraiju glared at her, "Well, I'm obviously in a bad mood!"
"Hey," Karin said, returning the glare, "What's wrong?"
"I don't like what Rayo said about me. I feel like he's right and I hate it," Saraiju's hair fell over his eyes and he bit his lip.
"Well, I don't think what Rayo said about you is true. You're a pretty awesome guy, not evil, you should be happy like normal," Karin told him with a confident grin.
"Yeah..sure... I'll try," Saraiju mumbled. He moved his hair out of his face and smiled a small smile at Karin, "Sorry I freaked out." Karin smacked him on the back.
"No problem, you're just weird like that," she said with a laugh, "It's all ok." Saraiju smiled a larger smile and turned to the school.
"I'm gonna go back to the Academy right now. Expect me to be happier later. See ya," he waved and shunpoed away. Karin grinned and waved at him, too. But everything was not ok. She was worried about Saraiju. She wondered why something like what Rayo had said had made Saraiju so angry. "He isn't really dark, is he? No way. But he had a huge reaction... I really wonder why..." Karin breathed deeply and walked out of the forest and back to her house.