Touch the Horizon
Chapter Six: Unexpected
By: Light of the Firefly
OOOOO
Nanao ducked her head, narrowly dodging the heavy bowl full of rice that sailed over her. A few gains sprinkled over her with the movement, and she turned her head to see where it would land.
The thing smacked into the wall behind her captain, as his reflexes with flying rice bowls seemed to be as good as hers.
"BAKA!" He roared, shooting to his feet, and pointing his finger at the man who had thrown the dish. Several tea cups spilled over as the movements rocked the table covered with their dinner. "YOU WERE AIMING FOR MY HEAD! THAT THING IS HEAVY!"
"YOU SHOULD SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" Ichigo roared back, also shooting to his feet.
"ARE YOU NUTS! YOU COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY INJURED ME!"
"YOUR TOO THICKHEADED TO GET HURT BY THAT!"
"ARE YOU CALLING ME THICKHEADED?"
"YES!"
They collided, shoving and shouting at one another heatedly. They slammed into the wall, cursing one another.
When a framed picture fell from the wall and broke, Nanao lifted her eyes to Rukia, who sat politely at the table still, across from her. The other girl had actually never stopped eating at all the commotion.
"Um…" Nanao didn't know what to say, really.
The other girl waved an unconcerned hand in the direction of the struggling men.
"This happens all the time." She offered. "I should have warned you."
"It would have been nice to have a heads up." Letting out a sigh, Nanao stood and began clearing the spilled dishes from the table.
"They will settle down in a few." Rukia chuckled. "I'm glad you came, Ise-san. It's nice to have new company around. Especially level headed ones."
Nanao nodded at her statement, carrying her handful to the kitchen. She didn't know Rukia well, other than seeing her around Captain Ukitake's division, which was like an extension to her own. He spoke highly of her, always. They didn't socialize, but Nanao knew of her. She had heard all the same tales as everyone else. It was hard not to have known anything about Rukia and Ichigo, when they played such a big part in Soul Society over the years. The girl was young, but regal in her own rite.
Nanao knew her captain and Rukia were close friends from childhood, as well as being close knit with Ichigo. The comradeship in the room among the other three was heavily noticeable.
Nanao didn't miss the steady, silent gazes that Rukia and Ichigo held with one another throughout their dinner. It surprised her, really. It was obvious they shared a deep love when you witnessed the way they moved around each other. Nanao had smiled to herself a little. It was the stuff of romance novels, really. A doomed, impossible love. She wondered if that made it all the more special to them.
Nanao was clearing the plates off, when she heard something else break in the other room, followed by a yelp of pain and cringed. Hard to say what that was broken now.
Having followed her agreement to come back to the Real World, her, Rukia, and Renji had arrived early this morning.
Today had been interesting, Nanao mused, she had felt the excitement from her last trip all over again. They had performed a little light hollow fighting, and a few soul burials, but otherwise had spent the day just hanging out. She had gotten to walk around and explore the new place a little more today, and was itching to do more of it. She glanced to the window, noticing it was probably about an hour till sundown.
Nanao had fretted off and on all week long in anticipation of the weekend trip, but had in the end swallowed her nervousness and done what she said she would. She had come here with her shoulders squared, ready for anything.
But the trip has been so far mostly quiet, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened. She was thankful, too, but still a little on edge.
Rukia walked into the kitchen then, also carrying an armload of dishes. Nanao quickly took several from her. From the sounds in the other room, the two men hadn't settled down just yet.
"I'll get the futon ready for you to sleep on tonight." Rukia said, as she started filling the sink with hot water. "Renji usually sleeps there, but he can sleep on the floor tonight."
Nanao raised an eyebrow at the amused look on the other girl's face, but didn't comment. The three seemed to share an unusual type of friendship, constantly trying to make one another irate in some way. She was surprised they didn't hate each other, from the things she had heard and seen them do throughout the day.
"I actually was wanting to head out for just a few hours yet. I passed a library earlier I'd like to go back to." Nanao said, glancing at the clock. She wouldn't be able to go to bed this early, not with the routine she's been so used to over the last several years. She needed a book to read until her eyes were tired, anyhow.
"Oh, yes, the University. It's close, just two blocks down from here. The Library is open to the public."
Nanao didn't know what a University was, but she nodded in agreement anyhow. "That's the place."
"Would you like me to go with you?" Rukia offered, sounding just as uncomfortable as Nanao at the request. The two were basically strangers, after all. Plus she was sure the girl wanted to spend her time here with Ichigo, she doubted they got much time together as it was.
"No, no. You have better things to be doing than going to a stuffy library." Nanao encouraged, noticing the other girl's relieved smile.
"I'm not a big reader. Except for mangas." Rukia said, looking a little embarrassed. Nanao didn't know what those were either, but nodded at her with a smile.
"It's fine. That's not a place to go if you don't enjoy reading. I'll be back in a few hours." Nanao slipped the strange, white confining shoes back on that she had been wearing today. Rukia had called them 'tennis shoes' and said they were a comfortable type for long periods of movement or sports. Nanao hadn't thought to ask about the restrictive nature of the clothing here, as the humans seemed to prefer fashion over practical. She just couldn't get used to the jeans.
"Are you sure you want to go by yourself? I don't want you to get lost…"
"I'll be fine." She assured the girl. She was a lieutenant, for god's sake, she thought to herself. What could possible happen that she couldn't handle? And finding her way back to them would be cake, with Ichigo leaking his pressure so much.
Without another word, and another loud crash from the other room, Nanao slipped out the door to head off by herself.
OOOOO
She flipped another page, and smiled to herself.
This was heaven, she thought, this Library was huge and filled with books and authors she had never heard of.
Nanao was truly at home surrounded by shelf after shelf of books waiting for her touch.
There were a number of students milling about, but the hush in the large room remained undisturbed as everyone respected the quiet reading atmosphere.
She had claimed a large square table in a corner to herself, and several tomes lay half open all around her, another small stack waited on the floor next to her chair.
She had been wanting some alone time in the Real World since she got here. When she had spotted the Library earlier, she knew it was the first place she wanted to go by herself.
"Excuse me, Miss?" The elderly man standing by her startled Nanao from her reading, and she jerked her head up to meet his eyes.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but we will be closing in about fifteen minutes. Would you like me to check these out for you?" He gestured to the pile around her. She blushed a little at his humored expression.
"Ah, not all, no." She shuffled to her feet and began stacking them all. She separated three from the pile. "Just these for now, please."
"Of course. I'll meet you over by the main desk." He collected the books she had chosen to take and walked off.
Nanao spent the remaining fifteen minutes putting the rest back meticulously, she would sooner be locked inside than leave books out of order and in disarray. She held libraries in the highest esteem.
When she finished, she made her way to the desk, where the man waited patiently with a smile.
"Sorry if I'm holding you up." She said, glancing at the clock, surprised. It was almost 10 pm already. She felt like she had only been here for an hour, apparently she had been here for about four. She had read up on the modern era, learning as much as she could squeeze into the short time spent here. A fast learner by nature, that added up to be a lot of information.
"Not at all. We stay open late, several of the students have evening classes you see. Plus, I could tell you were immensely enjoying yourself. I didn't wish to bother you." He winked. "Your name and address, Miss?"
"Ise Nanao." She tried to think of the address, but doubted she ever knew it anyhow. "Err, I just moved here. I'm not familiar with my new address yet, I'm afraid."
The elderly man rang her through quickly, not blinking an eye when she couldn't produce identification, either.
"I trust you'll be back, so I'll let it slide." He grinned, handing her the sack with the books inside. She took it with a thankful smile towards him. She would have to ask Urahara about this identification this man needed, because she would certainly be back here many times. "They will be due back in a week."
"Thank you." She bowed, and walked towards the door. When she opened it, she got her second shock. A steady, unforgiving downpour of rain awaited her. People were running down the sidewalks, with newspapers over their heads, cars sloshed through huge puddles in the road. She could barley see to the other side of the street.
"Oh." The man's voice exclaimed behind her.
"I don't have far to go." She muttered. She'd be soaked to the bone after two blocks, no matter how fast she ran.
"Well, be careful, then." The man chuckled, patting her on the shoulder and turning back into the library.
Nanao let out a sigh. She tucked the sack into her coat to protect the books, and dashed into the downpour.
She focused on the blaze that was Ichigo, off to the east. She followed it, knowing she would be there soon. She wasn't far at all.
But something else lit up across her awareness then.
She didn't get a whole block covered, when she froze. People dashed past her, but she never noticed. The rain was cold, drenching her completely, her hair falling from it's clip in heavy, wet tendrils, her shoes were soaked already.
She reached a trembling hand to her face, removing her glasses. They were useless in this weather, the lenses obscured by the water anyhow.
She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
It was there again.
That feeling, it was him.
Ichigo's pulsing energy forgotten, Nanao turned deftly on her heel, facing a new direction.
Her toes on the ledge of the sidewalk, she stood stock still, facing the road ahead of her.
She blinked at the rain in her eyes, squinting into the hazy dark surrounding her. A few cars rolled by, but her focus was on the other side of the road, where people moved about.
It was there, moving with the rest.
So close.
The street lamps on the other side illuminated little circles of the opposite sidewalk. She could make out pedestrians, but couldn't tell features well without her glasses and the added weather.
Nanao took a shuddering breath.
Could it really be him? She wondered, searching frantically the small crowds across the street.
She focused hard on the weak energy, pinpointing it, and narrowing it from the other people on the sidewalk.
There!
A figure moved among the others. She squinted harder, straining to see.
The man moved at an unhurried pace around the other's who ran past, seeking shelter. Her foot took an involuntary strep off the sidewalk onto the road as she spotted him.
Same easy gait, same large build. He wore a long dark coat, it swayed behind him with his steps. His back was to her, and he carried an umbrella which obscured his head from her already poor sight.
She watched, with muted fascination. It was him. She had no doubts. Even from her spot across the street, she would know his movements.
He stopped. She wondered if he had felt her eyes on him.
She took another involuntary step in his direction.
Turning slightly, the umbrella lifted and he peered out, right at her.
Nanao felt a lump rise in her throat.
She stared, stunned, at a face she thought she would never see again.
The man, who was most definitely Captain Kyouraku, stared straight back at her levelly. His expression unreadable, as his gaze bored into her own. He was frozen to the spot across the street from her, seemingly held by her eyes on his.
It was dark, it was pouring rain, and her glasses were off. But she would know this man blindfolded and drugged.
She griped the books to her tighter, for fear of dropping them when she fell off the earth. She felt the ground sucked out from under her, as the blood roared in her ears.
His eyes flickered to her side, and widened in what she thought seemed like fear.
Nanao snapped out of her state of pure, unrelenting shock by a blaring noise. A horn of some sort.
She jerked her head to the left, instantly shielding her eyes as she was blinded by the brightness of the headlights of one of the cars on the road. The tires screeched loudly, and it fishtailed on the pavement as it tried to stop.
It was going to hit her, she realized.
That thought floated through her mind only seconds before it made a painful contact with her body.
Or so it felt like the car, slamming into her with such force, she was swept clear off her feet and thrown back off the road. She grabbed on to whatever had hit her out of reflex, shocked to feel a solid warm source under her hands.
She tumbled backwards, another body covering her own, as she landed hard against the ground, the car screeching by only a moment later.
The wind was knocked from her lungs, the back of her head cracked against the sidewalk when she hit, bursting her vision into a swimming sea of stars. She felt her motor skills slowing at the hit on the head.
She blinked furiously, trying to regain her composure.
That was nothing, she argued with her murky thoughts. She has taken hits worse than that a million times.
But the gigai she was in worked as a human body substitute, reacting as a human would to such trauma. She could feel the warm blood at the back of her head, as the pain of the cut there made itself known.
She heard voices, some shouting. She heard a siren of some sort.
Laying on her back, the rain was being shielded by whoever hovered over her, Nanao opened her eyes sluggishly. The wet, gray expanse of sidewalk met her vision. There were people standing around her, she couldn't make out anything that was being said, though.
One voice stood out from the others. It beckoned her, calling to her. It was like deep, rich honey to her senses.
Even if she couldn't make out the words, the voice alone could probably get her attention anywhere.
It was his voice.
And laying close to her head, was an umbrella that looked like it had seen better days.
Not to mention, it was pink.
At that realization, Nanao slipped into a dark void.
OOOOO
"What do you mean, she left?" Renji yelled, angry with his friend for not telling him before his lieutenant disappeared off into a strange world.
Rukia looked up from the sink full of dishes, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Just what I said, moron."
"How could you let her leave?"
"She's a grown woman, not a child." Rukia reminded, surprised at how the redhead seemed truly angry with her. "She wouldn't get lost, the Library is right down the road. She seemed like she wanted to go alone anyways, I did offer to go."
"You should have told me!" He snapped, furious. He grabbed up his coat, pushing past Ichigo as the man walked into the kitchen.
"What's the yelling about?" He asked, looking between the two shinigami.
"Renji is having one of his mood swings." Rukia supplied, helpfully, turning back to the dishes.
"I am NOT!" He snapped at her back. She shrugged a dainty shoulder in reply. "SHE let Ise go out alone, HOURS ago, apparently!"
"So?" Ichigo asked, failing to see the problem with it either.
"SO!" Renji could strangle someone. "I'm going to go find her! Look what time it is!"
"She's not a kid." Ichigo pointed out, and Rukia snickered.
"You two were meant for each other." He accused, jerking his shoes on.
"Wait!" Rukia whirled around, hands dripping suds. "You…!"
"What?" He snapped at her, impatiently.
"You…LIKE her, don't you?" Rukia stared at him with a look of astonishment at her discovery.
"What! No!" Renji was quick to deny, turning away from her. But Rukia knew him better than anyone, and wasn't fooled.
She didn't say anything more, as the man left and slammed the door behind him.
OOOOO
Ok, so I know this is a cliffhanger, and I hate when I read them myself, but it was a good stopping point. I have a lot of development to throw together in the next chapter, and didn't want to stop it in the middle.
So, apologies for the short chapter, and the ending.
Thanks again to the reviewers, its always appreciated! :)