Chapter 3 - Explanations

In the previous chapter...

"If you could come to the Urahara Shoten at 12am midnight, then that would be great~," I grabbed the piece of paper next to me, and the pen that lay on top of it,

"Okay, what address is that?"

--

I carefully approached the destination, the piece of paper with the address on clutched in my hand. It seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. I went to press the bell, but the door was flung open,

"Ahh~, hello Kishiko-chan! Welcome to the Urahara Shoten! I'm Urahara, pleased to meet you!" The man with blond hair that was covered by a green and white hat stood in front of me. I bowed and straightened back up, shaking his outstretched hand. His grip tightened as he pulled me inside, leading me into a room with many pained faces. They all turned to look at me when I stepped inside, and sighed when I spotted a familiar face. Sitting round the table were a man with red hair and crazy tattooed eyebrows, a girl with shoulder length black hair, a piece of it hanging down the front of her face, a big breasted woman with long flowing hair, a small boy with white spiky hair, and Ichigo. As they all sat round the table, I noticed they all sported the same black uniform that I had been clad in earlier, the only exception being the white-haired boy, who additionally had a white haori over his uniform. I sighed as I was guided to a vacant pillow next to Ichigo. He looked up at me,

"I'm sorry, this wasn't my fault," he said sadly. I sighed again, muttering 'Sure'. I was about to sit down, before Ichigo stood up behind me. Urahara laughed,

"I'm sorry Kishiko-chan, just one second!" he grabbed a cane resting against the wall and pressed the end against my forehead. Just like the incident with the 'hollow', I was pushed out of my body, and found myself clad in the black uniform like everybody else. I felt dizzy, and I was struggling to breathe a little bit, and my back was already starting to ache from the staff-like sword strung across my back. I hadn't noticed before, but everybody else also had swords with them. They all had them in their sash, apart from Ichigo's, who's was also across his back. Ichigo had caught my lifeless body and was setting down on the floor. Nobody else seemed to have a body anywhere,

"Where are everybody else's bodies?" I questioned. The white-haired boy was the first to speak,

"Us four here don't have actual bodies since we're spirits. We have things called gigais, which are artificial bodies created for us so we can move around the real world while being seen," his voice was hard and cold, but in a way soothing. Something clicked,

"Oh, so because you're just spirits, you're like the souls I see? So nobody else can really see them?" the red head nodded,

"Yeah, but we're harder to see than normal spirits. A person may be able to see normal souls, but they may not have enough spiritual pressure to see a Shinigami," his voice was deeper than the boy's. I nodded,

"Uh-huh, so, I have enough 'Spiritual Pressure' to see you guys? And I suppose, become one?" Everybody nodded. Urahara clapped his hands,

"Okay! Before I take Kishiko-chan down to the training room, it's very rude if you don't introduce yourselves," he said it in a playful tone, but it was obvious it was an order. The white haired boy cleared his throat,

"Yes, well, I'm the Captain of Squad 10, Toshiro Hitsugaya," he held out his hand and I took it, taking an instant liking to him. Though he seemed formal, his personality seemed to be very nice. The next one to speak was the long haired woman,

"Hi, Kishiko-chan! I'm Taichou's second-hand woman, Rangiku Matsumoto, but you can just call me Rangiku-chan! We're gonna be so good friends!" She jumped up and instead of shaking my hand, pulled me into a death-grip hug between her breasts that left me struggling for air,

"Matsumoto...san...trouble...breathing!" I gasped when she let me go. She smiled,

"Oh sorry! And remember, it's Rangiku-chan!" She grinned as she sat down. Her personality seemed very enthusiastic, but she looked like somebody I could get along with. The black-haired girl was the next to stand up and take my hand, a sweet smile on her face,

"Hello, I'm Rukia Kuchiki of Squad 13, it's great to meet you, I'm sure we're gonna be great friends," her sweet attitude rubbed off on me and I found myself smiling in response. Last but not least was the red haired man. He held out his fist, and taking the hint, I pounded my fist with his,

"Yo, I'm Renji Abari, Fukutaichou of Squad 6. Pleased to meet ya," he also seemed like somebody who I could get along with, so that made me happy.

"And you've met Ichigo, so that settles it, now, time to go to the-" Urahara was cut off by yet another one of my questions,

"Wait, I came here to know how my Dad was killed. So tell me... please. What happened to him?" Urahara adjusted his hat,

"Yes, well, it seems that from the information Ichigo gave us, it appears that there is a very high possibility that he was killed by a Grand Fish-" I threw my hands in the air,

"Oh great, another one! Get it in your thick skull, my Dad was NOT killed by a hollow! That's it! I'm getting outta here!" I swiftly turned around, only to bump into a tall figure. I looked up to see a man wearing glasses and an apron staring at me,

"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you leave," he spoke in a gruff voice. I turned back round to scowl at Urahara, who opened up a fan and flapped it in front of his face,

"And besides..." he pointed his fan in a direction which I followed, to find my body being dragged away by two kids. Urahara chuckled as he finished his sentence,

"...We have your body held hostage!" I scowled and muttered 'Brats' before I sighed and held out my hand, figuring that I wouldn't be able to do much without it.

"Fine, take me to this training room of yours; I suppose I can put up with it for a while." Ichigo stood up and moved beside me,

"I'll come with her, I know how challenging it can be," he spoke. His voice held concern and worry, which didn't help, but I knew it would help once we got inside and got starting. Urahara turned around and began walking, just turning his neck so his face was only half-visible. His eyes were shaded by his hat, making him seem even more mysterious than I thought he was,

"Well, then. Shall we get started?"

TBC.

--

Sooo, training starts next chapter! Sorry it's a little shorter than the last one, but hopefully the next one will be longer.

In the next chapter...

"Ask your zanpakuto... its name!" I heard his voice faintly through into my world as the ground began to crumble. I felt like I was falling, but at the same time I was feeling nothing at all.

"My zanpakuto's name... is..."