The third chapter is UP and I'm very excited about this, because this is where things start to get fun! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with the Anime/Manga. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump Magazine. Please support the official release.
-Telekinesis-
"A shooting star? That's what we were looking for?"
Rukia's bedroom was much bigger than Ichigo's. Though that wasn't really saying too much since his room wasn't exactly like an apartment. Rukia's room on the other hand...it was a living room with a bed. Her walls were an eggshell white, her queen size bed adorned with snowy white sheets and blanket and set off to the side of the room, giving enough space for her desk that was littered with drawings of bunnies and her laptop.
After the scene in the woods: Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji practically ran back to her house to hide in her room; as if what had just happened couldn't reach them in here. Rukia sat in her swiveling desk chair, looking slightly shaken and pensive, Renji sat on the floor, a hard frown on his face, and Ichigo was on the bed, looking at Rukia expectantly.
"Yes," Rukia said finally, looking up at Ichigo for a split second before returning her gaze at the wall. "I remembered it after...the branch fell. It just clicked and suddenly I remembered almost everything."
"Almost is a very ambiguous term," Renji said. "What exactly do you remember other than the star?" He pressed.
Rukia shook her head. "We went looking for the star after it crashed in the woods. When we found it we climbed down into the hole and saw something weird...but I can't remember what we saw and what happened next." She frowned, trying to force more memories to appear in her mind. "It's like...we saw a light and went towards it. Then Renji said, 'What is that?' and then the memory fizzles and then goes black."
"Okay..." Ichigo said, crossing his arms over his chest. "We've gotten farther...but we still don't know what happened to us. And it doesn't explain what the fuck happened out in the woods a few minutes ago."
Silence filled the room after that, Ichigo's words hanging in the air as Rukia shied slightly away. Renji gave Ichigo a deep frown, to which Ichigo returned.
"Can you...do it again?"
Rukia's head snapped up at Renji's question. She flushed slightly, shaking her head softly. "I don't know...I'm not even sure what I did."
"You levitated that branch," Renji said. "We all saw it. You put your hands up and the branch just...stopped falling."
Rukia gave a frown, glancing at Ichigo to see his reaction. He nodded, agreeing with Renji. "Yeah, you did." He said. "You said you felt funny when it happened. How so?"
Rukia shrugged. "It's hard to explain. It was like there was a sudden pressure in my head and my whole body felt light, like I was about to float away."
"What was going through your mind?" Renji asked.
"I was thinking the branch was going to kill me," She replied.
Ichigo sighed. "So...you wouldn't know how to do that again?"
Rukia shook her head. "Not a clue," She said.
"Try concentrating," Renji suggested. "Think really hard about lifting something. Something light...like your pillow." He said, standing and picking up one of the many pillows on Rukia's bed. He held it up for her to see. "Concentrate on lifting it from my hands and to you."
Rukia gave Renji an odd look. "Renji, I don't think this will work."
"Just do it," Renji urged. "Concentrate."
Rukia looked to Ichigo for support, but he just stared back, eager to see if she could actually do it. She sighed, locking her eyes onto the pillow and narrowing her eyes in concentration. A few seconds passed with nothing happening, all three silent as they watched the pillow in Renji's hands.
Suddenly, the edge of the pillow was tugged on. Ichigo and Renji's eyes widened as the pillow gave a jerk, and Renji let it go, but it didn't fall. It rose up slightly, suspended by an invisible force, and then began to drift through the air towards Rukia, who held that look of concentration on her face. She lifted her hands and plucked the pillow from the air, laying it on her lap and looking down at it as she let loose a breath.
"Oh my God..." Rukia said, looking up at the two of them with wide eyes. "I did it..."
"You did it!" Renji clapped, which made Rukia blush slightly.
"How?" Ichigo asked, still in awe. "How did you do that?"
Rukia looked at him, frowning as she glanced at the pillow. "I just thought about the pillow rising and coming to me. It took a hell of a lot of concentrating, but it worked." She said.
Ichigo hummed in thought, looking at the pillow. "That's it?" He inquired.
Rukia nodded. "Yeah, why?"
Ichigo didn't answer. He stared at the pillow, focusing solely on it as he pictured it rising and coming towards him, just like Rukia said. For a few seconds nothing happened, and he started feeling embarrassed because they both were staring at him oddly. He was about to give up, but suddenly he felt a pressure building in the center of his skull and spreading out. It was slightly uncomfortable, but he ignored it the best he could and stared at the pillow.
The pressure began to build, and Ichigo sucked in a tight breath as the pillow twitched and slowly lifted from Rukia's lap. She gasped, watching it rise into the air in front of her face.
"Rukia? Are you doing that?" Renji asked, his eyes wide as he switched his gaze between the pillow and Ichigo.
"No, I'm not." She said. "Ichigo?"
Ichigo commanded the pillow to come closer, and it did. It began to float slowly towards him, as it had Rukia. He let a slight grin form on his lips as he then imagined the pillow hitting Renji in the face. The pillow spun in the air and flew at Renji, who gasped and put his hand out to stop the pillow.
Suddenly the pillow stopped. Ichigo frowned. He hadn't told it to stop. The pressure dissipated from his head and he was left feeling slightly out of breath. With his focus gone, he thought the pillow would fall, but it didn't. It remained suspended in the air, inches from Renji's open hand.
"Holy..." Renji's eyes widened as he looked at the pillow. He dropped his hand, and the pillow limped and fell to the floor.
"We can all do it?" Rukia said, blinking. "This is...so weird."
"Are you kidding?" Renji grinned. "This is awesome! We've all got like superpowers!" He said.
"What the hell happened to us last night?" Ichigo rubbed his forehead. "What causes you to suddenly get powers?"
"That star must have been radioactive or something." Renji said, shrugging. "Maybe the reason we don't remember anything is because we got so juiced up we blacked out."
"That's so stupid it might be true," Rukia said. "What else could it be?"
Ichigo locked his fingers together over his knees and sighed. "I don't know. That really does seem like the best option."
"What else can we do?" Rukia wondered. "Can all we do is lift things?"
"Let's go see," Renji said eagerly.
–
Rukia's back yard had a continuation of the garden from the front and a large tree that had to be hundreds of years old. The yard was fenced in by a tall wooden fence, giving them the privacy they desired as the three of them ventured outside.
Ichigo breathed in a large puff of air as he tensed up in preparation. "Okay, I'm ready." He said.
Renji stood a few feet from him, Rukia behind him a bit to watch, a baseball held tightly in his right hand. "Alright, here it comes!" He said, rearing back with the baseball and chucking it directly at Ichigo's face.
Ichigo gathered all of his concentration and glared at the ball, trying to stop it from hitting him in the face. The ball slowed slightly, and he grinned in victory, but that lapse in focus caused his hold over the ball to disperse and the baseball smacked Ichigo right in the eye.
Ichigo fell back on his ass, groaning as he held his face in his hands as his eye throbbed. It was definitely going to bruise.
Renji and Rukia broke out in laughter as Ichigo held his injured eye. He growled. "Fuck you guys!" He yelled.
"You should have caught it!" Renji snickered. "Can't blame us for finding that funny."
Ichigo scowled. "Fine, you do it then." He said, pushing himself up and snatching up the baseball. "Get ready, asshole." He said, rearing up.
Renji spread his legs out a little, shaking out his arms in preparation. Rukia stepped away from Renji, steering clear of the ball's path.
Ichigo gave a slight grin as he reared back. He tossed the ball, but instead of it going forward he made it fly in a hook to his right. Renji was so shocked by the move that he didn't have enough time to focus before the ball curved, guided by Ichigo's mind, and hit him in the temple. He tumbled to the ground, yelping in pain as he held his bruised temple.
"Bastard! You did that on purpose!" Renji barked as Ichigo and Rukia both laughed.
"Not so funny when it's happening to you huh?" Ichigo teased, grinning slyly.
"He's got you there," Rukia said, giggling.
Renji scowled at Rukia. "Why don't you give it a go, huh?" He said, standing up. "Go over there and I'll throw it." He said, jerking his chin in Ichigo's direction.
"Fine, I'll show you guys how it's done." Rukia said smugly, jogging over to where Ichigo stood. He stepped back, giving her room. She shook out her hands and waited as Renji picked up the ball and grinned at her.
"Here it comes!" He called, throwing the ball at her.
Ichigo felt his heart quicken. It was one thing to hit Ichigo in the face, or to hit Renji, but Rukia? She was just a girl- one they both liked. What was Renji thinking throwing the ball so damn hard?
Despite Ichigo's worry, Rukia's face hardened and the ball slowed to a stop inches from her face. It hung there in mid-air, still spinning from the force of Renji's throw for a few seconds before it came to a complete halt and just sat there motionless.
"Holy crap! You did it!" Renji cheered.
"Good job Rukia!" Ichigo laughed, stepping to her side to look at the ball as it floated there.
"It's just...sitting there." Rukia said in awe, staring at the ball. "I'm holding it with my mind!"
"That's so freaking cool!" Renji said, running over to look closer at the ball. He poked it softly, and Rukia let out a large breath and the ball fell to the ground.
"I can't even believe it!" Rukia said, amazed. "This is amazing!"
"Hell yeah it is!" Renji said, grinning from ear to ear.
All three laughed, cheering in excitement at their new ability.
–
Later that day the three of them sat at Rukia's kitchen table eating fast food that Ichigo had driven to buy for everyone. The headaches and grogginess that they all had that morning was completely gone, replaced by excitement and cheeriness as they all joked around and played with the baseball in the back yard, tossing it back and forth with their new ability until the sky started growing dark and they were all hungry.
Rukia was typing furiously away on her laptop as Ichigo and Renji chewed on their burger and fries, frowning slightly as she read over the contents of her computer screen.
"Okay," She said finally after about ten minutes of web searching. "'Telekinesis: the ability to move, lift, vibrate, spin, bend, break, or impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other none-physical means.' Sound familiar?"
"Very familiar," Ichigo nodded.
"What else does it say?" Renji asked, taking a large bite out of his burger.
Rukia shook her head, scrolling down the page with a slight frown. "Mostly just crap about how to test if you have the ability and a bunch of crap on the terminology."
"Well obviously we've already tested it out," Ichigo said. "I'm more curious as to what exactly that thing was that fell from the sky and gave it to us."
Renji gave him a frown. "It was a shooting star, remember?"
Ichigo shook his head. "It couldn't be. Stars are pretty much just bundles of gas in space. They wouldn't fall to earth like that. It had to be something else."
"A meteor maybe?" Rukia offered.
"Possibly," Ichigo said. "Check the news. If a meteor landed in Karakura it'd be all over the news."
Rukia nodded, typing away on her laptop as she searched through the news. She plucked a fry from her bag and munched on it as her brows furrowed. "There's nothing at all about anything coming down in the woods."
"That's strange," Renji said, frowning. "You'd think people would be all over this."
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. Plus there would be news vans out by the woods hoping to get a glimpse of it. And the only vans are those black ones."
"You think maybe they're covering it up?" Rukia raised a brow. "It must be something completely different if the police wanted no one to know something came from the sky."
"Well whatever it is it's what gave us these powers." Ichigo said, leaning back in his chair. "It's all so weird...do we just now have these powers or is something happening to us? We could die tomorrow from brain aneurisms."
Renji suddenly looked slightly frightened. "Whoa, that could happen?"
"I doubt it," Rukia said, still playing on her computer. "I don't know about you two, but I feel pretty well."
"You don't feel a heart attack until it happens." Ichigo pointed out.
"Would ya shut up man?" Renji snorted. "You shouldn't worry too much. This is really cool, and we should enjoy it, not be scared of it." He said.
Ichigo scowled, about to retort when Rukia cut him off, "He's right Ichigo. Maybe this isn't as bad as we think." She said.
"I don't know," Ichigo said. "This isn't normal. How many people suddenly develop telekinesis?"
"A lot of people through history have reported having it," Rukia said, pointing at her computer screen.
"And how many have been proven to be true?" Ichigo inquired, raising a skeptical brow.
"Dude, just chill." Renji said. "You'll give yourself wrinkles if you keep worrying so much. Could something this cool be dangerous?" He placed his half eaten burger on the table and furrowed his brow. The burger lifted from the table, rising into the air and to Renji's mouth. He opened his mouth and took a bite from it, letting it hang in his mouth as he grinned widely.
"Yes, it could be dangerous." Ichigo scowled.
"Like Renji said, just relax Ichigo." Rukia said, giving him a look. Ichigo met her eyes and sighed, shaking his head.
"Fine," He relented. "I'll try to relax."
"Good!" Renji said, wiping his hands as he finished his burger and fries. "I'm going to go take a shower. Is that cool Rukia?"
Rukia nodded. "Sure, go ahead. But don't leave a mess like last time."
Renji gave her a grin. "Don't worry. I'll tidy up." He said, standing from the table and leaving the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps going up the stairs soon following.
Ichigo listened to the footsteps, frowning slightly. "He probably didn't shower at home," He noted, his voice low so Renji couldn't hear.
Rukia glanced up at him, then looked back down at her laptop, though she didn't start typing again. "If I were him I'd want out of that house as soon as possible everyday also." She said.
Ichigo nodded in agreement. "Yeah..."
Rukia shook her head. "I'm still curious about the fact there's nothing in the news about what fell in the woods last night."
Ichigo looked at her as she scanned through whatever page she had open on her laptop. She was obviously changing the subject. She didn't like to think about what Renji had to deal with in his home life, neither did Ichigo really. None of them talked about it, because it was just one of those horrible things that life deals out to remind you not everything is rainbows and sunshine.
Renji's mother died giving birth to him, and Renji's father, Zabimaru Abarai, blames him for her death. The old man was a retired firefighter, and heavily drinks while collecting security checks from the government to support the crummy little two bedroom apartment he and Renji shared downtown. He would browbeat Renji as a kid, and it only got worse as time went on. Occasionally Renji would come to school with a bruise on his face or arm, and would absolutely refuse to talk about it to anyone. The only reason Ichigo knew about his father was because he witnessed it first hand when they were twelve.
Renji's father had come bursting into Renji's room, red-faced and disheveled from lack of hygiene, and had yelled at Renji for bringing someone over unannounced. Ichigo had sat there, quiet and uncomfortable as Renji's father undermined and berated him in front of him. Renji said he had never been so embarrassed.
Ichigo regrets not saying anything. Renji had made him promise not to tell anyone, especially not his own parents. He had kept good on that promise, until Rukia started getting suspicious and he told her. She had balked and had wanted to call the police, but Ichigo stopped her. Renji wouldn't want that. He would hate them both forever if they interfered.
Ichigo felt he should have said something then and there. He should have stood up to Renji's father and told him to back off. But he was just a kid, what could he do? Renji's father would have shoved him aside and continued his verbal assault on Renji. But he still should have done it to show he had Renji's back, but he hadn't. He had sat there and let his friend get bullied by his own father.
That was why Renji took to alcohol so fondly. It was an escape, made it easier to smile and have a good time despite what would be waiting him at his crummy little apartment.
Ichigo felt lucky he had such loving parents. His father was a buffoon, but he still cared deeply for Ichigo and his two sisters and would never actually bully any of them. He would cut off his own arm before he did that. And his mother...his mother had been the center of their whole family before...it happened.
Even Rukia had a loving home-life. Her and her sister Hisana had been orphaned when they were very little, but when Hisana met Byakuya Kuchiki they fell in love and married and Rukia was given the cushioned life most desire. Her brother-in-law could be cold at times, but her sister made up for it with her kindness and preppy spirit.
But Renji...he got the raw deal out of the trio.
"Ichigo? Don't you think so too?" Rukia's voice snapped him out of his reverie. She was looking at him, waiting for his response to her earlier statement about the lack of news reports.
"Yeah, it's weird." He said, shaking his head. "Doesn't make much sense."
She nodded. "I'm going to keep looking. There's still a chance the report will come out later." She said.
Ichigo nodded to her, and leaned back in his chair, sighing. The day had been so eventful. He didn't even know how to process it. It had been so fun too, with their playing around in the backyard with their new ability. But he was still curious as to how they had come to have it...and to what extent they had been modified.
His eyes found Rukia still playing with her computer. He took a second to stare into her contemplative expression, tracing her delicate features with his amber eyes. He then gave a slight smile, making her laptop slowly lift from the table to shock her. She flinched as it moved and rose, staring at it in confusion for a second before glaring at him.
"Quit it," She hissed.
Ichigo grinned at her. "Make me," He said teasingly.
Rukia glared at him for a second longer then looking down at something. Ichigo wondered what it was she was about to do, but then gave a yelp as his chair tipped over and he went sprawling on the floor.
Rukia caught her laptop before it could slam back down onto the table and gave him a sly smile as he pushed himself up and rubbed his sore back. "Shouldn't have messed with me, strawberry." She winked.
Ichigo looked up at her, and they shared a laugh.
I had so much fun writing the baseball part lol. It's the only part of this chapter that actually happened in the movie. If you go to Youtube and look up 'Chronicle The Ball Test' you'll see what I mean.
And I'd like to add in something about a certain review I got on this story. pigsinthesky left a very informative review about Renji's character and how a lot of other stories don't portray him very well. I agree completely, and I apologize that so far he's seemed kind of one-dimensional. As it says in the description of this story, he will eventually go down a dark path and become the antagonist. So far he's been nothing but a Rukia-centric buffoon, but trust me he develops as the story goes along. I had long planned the abusive father thing- it happened in the movie as well with Andrew- and other factors will contribute to his antagonism other than just Ichigo and Rukia's eventual relationship- though that will be the biggest thing for him. He will already be at the edge, and that will push him over it.
Oh and the burger thing he did was a copy of what Steve did in the movie. When Matt is explaining his theory on their new powers Steve starts lifting Pringles out of the can and into his mouth to show off. I thought it would be pretty funny to do :) I hope that doesn't undermine what I just said before...
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