Third chapter! Sorry, it was kind of a slow going, 'specially since I'm back in school again.
But I'm getting there! And that's an accomplishment for me in and of itself, so I hope you enjoy.
When Konan finally arrived in Karakura town, it was the dead of night. Dark clouds covered the moon and stars, leaving the city as the only source of light.
She landed softly on the nearest rooftop, but before she could even survey her surroundings, her communicator chimed. As she pulled it out, wondering if she had left something back in Soul Society, but it was her GPS making the alarm.
She blinked, counting the dots on her screen one more time. Each dot represented a hollow and according to her device, there were currently eight hollows nearby. She counted one more time and wondered if her GPS was malfunctioning. But there was no mistaking it, and that's when she realized the town wasn't as quiet as the night suggested.
She looked around and saw wondering souls everywhere. Dozens of pluses were roaming the streets, make the town look as busy as if it was midday. Most were men, still trying to make sense of their deaths, but all had the same chain of fate hanging down their chests. However, to her alarm she noticed that many souls wondering around were dangerously close to becoming hollows.
Before she could act, a roar echoed through the air. She looked and quickly spotted two hollows nearby, teamed up against a shinigami.
She instinctively rushed in to help, eating a soul candy and quickly moving behind the nearest hollow. Her blade cut through the hollow before he could react, leaving the other two stunned as the hollow dissolved into nothing. That brief moment of stillness allowed her to get a better look at the shinigami and in that moment she instantly recognized him.
The other hollow lunged, catching her with her guard down, but the other shinigami reacted just a quickly, intercepting the blow with his zanpakuto.
Now with only one, he dispatched the hollow with ease. As the second hollow faded away, the shinigami lowered his unusually large zanpakuto and turned his head of orange hair towards her.
"You're the substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki," she said, meeting the famous ryoka for the first time.
Ichigo raised his eyebrow and was about to say something, when another roar was heard not far from where they were.
"Why don't we talk after?" He nodded and joined her against the rest of the hollows.
As they fought, she couldn't help but notice how worn out the shinigami looked. Dark circles were etched under his eyes and his movements were sluggish. Half-healed bruises peaked out of his uniform, and when the last of the hollows were killed, he leaned slightly against his sword for support. She almost felt bad reminding him about the souls that needed burials, and he brooded in silence during the rest of the cleanup, just itching, she imagined, to get back home to his bed.
However, what really worried her was how bad the situation must be in the human world. Even with his life as a human, for the shinigami who was able to hold his own against two captains to be this exhausted, things must be worse than she had imagined.
When all was said and done, they both sat heavily in Ichigo's room, back in their own respective vessels: Kurosaki on his bed and Konan on his chair by his desk.
"So…" Kurosaki seemed to want to get his over with as soon as possible, and she didn't blame him.
"My name is Konan Masuku," she explained. "I've been dispatched by the Seireitei to find whoever is causing this."
"What took you guys so long?" He yawned and stretched out on his bed.
"Well, I didn't think it was this bad…" she said, but it was useless; it only took a few seconds for him to fall completely asleep. She looked at his clock and knew he only had a few hours to sleep before the next day began.
"Sorry we're late," she muttered, realizing that she has to move far quicker than she had anticipated.
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