6: Extending Acquaintances

"Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it We must continually suspend the work of the imagination in filling the void within ourselves."

-Gravity and Grace

There was an eternal sigh that would never reach the ears of any of those around the leader of the noble house of Kuchiki as he heard the piercing yell from the landing above. Glad she seemed to live alone he flashed into her room, his quickened steps gave way to a surprised pause when he came into the bedroom of his unwitting savior of the night previous.

Kagome had an arrow aimed at a smaller hollow that looked somewhat like a demented praying mantis, bulbous eyes stuck an inch from the surface of it's white mask and it was regenerating one of it's back legs as it scrambled on the floor, a deceptively gentle sapphire glow curling around her new arrow even as sparks of the same color faded from the last shot.

She narrowed her eyes as the monster jumped toward her, front claw like appendages pointed at her though they never managed to reach the target. She let her second arrow fly and it took off an edge of the hollow's mask…she hadn't practiced in ages and it was showing for certain. The blast of holy energy did knock the creature away from her but she was digging for another arrow as it closed back in, hissing vengefully.

"Crap…" She muttered as she started to move away and then had to do a second take as the creature fell apart in front of her. She hadn't seen anything happen, there was never a chance for her to notice Byakuya when he was at work.

It was a split second when he dashed in and finished the creature with a simple incantation that was nothing but a momentary hum to her ears. She hadn't yet noticed he was still standing in her bedroom door, letting her bow lower a little as she continued to gape at where the creature had disintegrated into nothing.

"You are a Quincy then?" Byakuya's voice made her jump and grab her desk, leaning forward a little after the initial panic of something else jumping out at her.

"What's a Quincy?" She canted her head curiously at the taller man when she stood back up.

He contemplated the girl before him. "She has no honest idea yet she was able to wield such spiritual power? This girl has a lot more to her than her mortal form would imply…"

"It's complicated." He didn't feel like being the one to go into a detailed explanation, he'd never cared to learn intimate details of the almost extinct human hollow-hunters. "My zanpaktou?"

"Oh." She nodded a little at that, moving to her closet and opening the door to pull out the simple looking katana. "Here."

He picked it up, glad to have her back he looked her over before nodding once and settling her back in the place at his belt. (Her being his zanpaktou.) "You should be careful. With spiritual energy such as yours likely more hollows will be attracted to you."

"Hollows…that's what you call those monsters?" She glanced to where the creature had fallen apart. "And what do you mean? What is happening here?"

Kagome was doing her best not to sound frantic but after the closing of the well she'd grown more accustomed to her safe and boring little world. The attacks would have set anyone on edge but she was starting to wonder if she hadn't just finally jumped off the edge of sanity and turned into a complete nutter.

He sensed the edge in her voice and while he wanted to pursue an escape from the mortal realm he couldn't just leave her. "I will do what I can to explain if we can sit someplace more appropriate."

"Oh, yeah." She nodded a bit, blushing at having him in her room. She'd replaced her uniform with some simple black pants and a long sleeved blue sweater that she favored from time to time. He raised a brow when she went so far as to push him from her room and then drag him down the steps.

"Sorry about that, I just…with the attack…yeah….um…well the living room is okay…my family will be home soon and then they can tell me they see you and I'm not totally crazy." She rambled on. "But yeah, this should work fine…do you want something? To eat or drink I mean…or some old clothes again…those have to be pretty cold being all wet and such. I could dry them again…or not…I'm just…saying…"

She broke off as he began to stare at her through her tirade, she was nervous and she tended to amble on in situations like this one; it'd gotten her into a fair amount of trouble in the past and she wasn't honestly aware of who he was past a name or what he could really do other than move fast.

After she was silent for a moment he spoke up. "Some clothing would be acceptable if you wish to attend to my kimono again, and a meal does sound superb."

She offered him a brilliant smile at that and dashed off to get him clothing.

"She reminds me a little of Ruzia…so eager to please…but she smiles so much easier. Almost more sure of herself in a way." Byakuya thought to himself before returning to his deliberations of just how he was going to escape the mortal world.

It did bother him that he was stuck in the mortal realm slaying an occasional pesky hollow as opposed to helping the effort in the war but without any sort of contact and his own powers not allowing him re-entry even into soul society. It wasn't a shock that in such a time all passage would be barred but it didn't make him any less irritated by the circumstances he was left with.

"Here." Kagome pulled him from the thoughts and was holding out the same clothing he'd borrowed before. "You can use Souta's room again. I'm going to start making something to eat."

He only nodded lightly to the woman and wandered off, falling right back into attempting to decipher a solution to the labyrinth he was currently trapped in.

"I could sink to the level of contacting the degenerates that live with and work for Urahara…" He pondered distastefully as he dressed in the lesser clothing the mortal had given him. "It isn't a likable resolution but if I am needed in the war then it is a responsibility."

He continued his internal monologue as below him Kagome was digging through drawers and cabinets in the kitchen to get all the needed tools and food to make some Tempura for herself, her family, and the strange guest.

Her new experience was still bothering her a little, it was real on a new level. Not that the battle with Naraku was something she failed to remember as anything but genuine but now the monsters and battles weren't a rarity on her world…two of them had attacked in a day already and she was starting to feel strange auras around the city as the days went on. Some of them malicious and others pillars of strength, though it was all as if she were viewing it through a disorienting mist.

All except Kuchiki-kun upstairs, there was a barely discernable strength to him like she'd never witnessed before, something that made her wary of looking it over in more detail…

"You seem busy." Her mother drew her from her thoughts and made her smile uneasily.

"Hey mom…ah…I thought I'd make dinner and invite the guy I helped last night." Kagome said with as cheery a tone as she could manage. "He came back for his sword and was soaked so I let him borrow some of dad's clothes and invited him to stay."

"Kagome needs to have boyfriends more often." Souta commented as he looked at the selection of Tempura. "That looks great."

"Souta." Their mom already warned. "Let me and your sister talk."

"I never get to do anything fun." The boy muttered with a frown as he exited the kitchen again.

"I'm sorry mom." Kagome immediately apologized after her brother left. "I just…"

"It's okay." She had to smile at her daughter. If a kind heart was the worst thing she ever had then the woman could hardly complain. "Let me finish dinner, why don't you keep your guest company?"

"Thanks mom." the high school girl grinned at her mom and headed back out of the kitchen.

Souta shook his head at Kagome as she exited the kitchen and he passed her. "This guy is weird Kagome. I liked Inuyasha better." The boy was carrying the bulges of the wet kimono toward the laundry room.

"Thanks for the help Souta." She had to smile at her brother, he could be a pain in the butt but he was really a good brother too.

She let him get to that and moved back to the living room where Byakuya was settled on the couch exactly where he'd sat the last time.

"Hey I'm back." She smiled as she moved to sit down. "Can I hear about what's happening now?"

He nodded to her silently, he'd already agreed to speak to her about it so regardless of a new plan to escape the mortal realm he wouldn't back down on his word. Starting to speak to her a moment after formulating how to explain the basics of things as best as possible.

He went over the essentials of hollows, what they were, and how to best defeat them in combat. Then he added a rudimentary explanation of soul reapers and their job, aided with a small series of sketches that made Kagome blink in surprise a few times. He was apparently as poor at drawing as his sister. Though they got the message across along with his words that Kagome would gain a better understanding of what she had gotten herself into.

He was about to answer a question as to what she would be considered in the whole stream of things now but was interrupted by a frantic knock on the door. "Um…hold on." She held a finger up and then moved over to the door to open it. "Can I help you?"

The blue haired boy outside her door was wearing some sort of strange robe and she wasn't sure what to make of him with everything that had been happening. Though he wasn't looking at here, his sapphire eyes staring instead at the simply dressed Byakuya settled on the couch. It was a while before he managed to offer Kagome a response. "I um…I need to speak with Captain Kuchiki."

"Oh." She opened the door a little further, glancing between the men curiously as they stared at each other.

"Rukia will be glad you are all right." He started awkwardly, he wasn't suppose to be friendly with soul reapers but he'd agreed to seek out Kuchiki already. He noted the spiritual energy around Kagome immediately but assumed she was some sort of retainer to his noble house when he was in the mortal world. "She was informed that you died in the battle when they couldn't find your body anywhere. They are preparing your funeral."

That got him some slightly wider eyes and Byakuya stood up from his place on the couch. "I need to get going then. Are you aware of a way to return to the field?" Ishida nodded once. "I think so, the gateway should still be open though I'm not certain how long it will remain that way."

"Wait, what's going on?" Kagome was starting to get lost, though the idea of some sort of spiritual war did explain all the befuddled sensations she kept picking up from all over.

"This woman is a possible casualty." Byakuya explained. "If you would take watch over the city for the hollow's leaking in I will return to the battle."

Ishida was a little irked by being more or less ordered around but nodded once, he couldn't argue that the captain would be far more useful than himself, and it would make Rukia feel definitely better. "The gateway is under the Urahara shop if you know where that is."

He nodded, that had been his plan anyway though it was easier to leave when he had someone to pass the responsibility of the cities defense to. "Then I should be on my…"

The sentence broke off mid-way as a tempest of pressurized spiritual energy erupted around the trio.

End Chapter

I can't promise when I will write again. Life is hectic and this site usually irritates me more than offers inspiration…I'm more posting for those that are honestly interested than anything else. I'm still on semi-permanent hiatus unless some flare hits me.

-Aura

P.S. I do greatly thank those that have taken the time even to send me a few words in review. In reply to some of the comments I received after the last chapter I didn't plan to have Kagome not defend herself at all but it's been a while sense she's done any battle and she didn't expect to see some weird praying mantis monster evil spirit thing attacking her.