Previously on Bridge the Gap, Kyoukan!

Renji the pineapple expresses his concern about trusting Jesa. Jesa hears a voice in her head saying various happenings are "Because of your kyoukan." Jesa realizes that the voice is from her power spirit. While the others at Urahara's shop do their own thing, Yoruichi leads Jesa to a futon where she can rest her body while getting to know her power spirit.

Chapter 9: Exploring the Soul

"Jesa... Jesa... Wake up, Jesa..." someone called gently.

"Five more minutes?" I mumbled. The spot of grass I was lying on was really comfy. It wasn't scratchy at all, and... Wait, grass? Didn't I fall asleep on a futon?

"Your body is still on that futon, Jesa," the voice answered my thoughts, but I was too disoriented to recognize that detail. "Try opening your eyes."

"Right, that would help, wouldn't it?" I mumbled sleepily. When I looked up, I saw a woman, in her late teens/early 20's perhaps—I'm not good with guessing age based on looks—with braided brown hair that reached her mid-back, wearing jeans and a rainbow-striped t-shirt. "Who are you?!" I asked. I got the feeling I should know who she was instinctively, but I knew for a fact that I'd never seen her before.

She gave me a look that said "Think about it. Figure it out."

I stared at her blankly. "Hint, please?" I asked after a minute or so.

"Fine," she said, sighing. "Zangetsu. Shun-shun Rikka. Sode no Shirayuki. Me. What do we all have in common?"

"I'm guessing this is my inner world, so... you're all... spirits in someone's head?" After a couple seconds, I added, "But wait, Shun-shun Rikka doesn't match up with that..."

"How do you know that for sure?" the woman countered. "But more to the point, what do we each represent? Reason it out."

"Alright, a logic puzzle. I like those. Now, let's see. Zangetsu is Ichigo's zanpakuto. Shun-shun Rikka represents Orihime's powers, and Sode no Shirayuki is Rukia's zanpakuto. So... Oh, duh! You represent my powers!" I rolled my eyes. "Took me long enough... Heh."

"And you called Ichigo dense!" the woman teased.

"So, Miss Power Spirit, got a name?" I asked, changing the subject both to escape the tease and in genuine curiosity.

"Of course!" she replied. In response to my hopeful look, she added, "But I'm not telling just yet. That wouldn't be any fun, just giving it to you."

"You're right..." I conceded. "But I'll have a chance to find out later, right?"

"Yes, Jesa," she replied. "Why don't you take a look around? Your inner world is a lot less monotonous than just a bunch of sideways skyscrapers," she said with a chuckle.

"Sounds good." I looked around and saw that I was sitting at the base of a tree. Above me, I saw branches that looked easily wide and strong enough for me to relax on and read a book. Speaking of books, there was also a bookshelf nearby with... "The whole collection of Bleach manga? Awesome! And DVDs of the anime and movies, and a laptop! I wonder if there's internet access here..." I said aloud, a silly grin on my face.

I figured since this was my inner world, I'd probably have time to look into that later, and there seemed to be more to explore, anyway. As I wandered around, I came across various bookshelves scattered here and there. One was full of joke books. Another had sheet music, and a violin resting on top. The next had some of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy novel series. After that, I found... an ice cream machine. "There would be something about my sweet tooth in my inner world..." I smiled and shook my head. Then I came across another bookshelf, this one with novels and humor books about cats. A photo of a younger me holding Raya and Brea was situated prominently on top. Cue the tears.

"I wish they could have come with us..."

"You found the photo, I see," the woman said gently, and I felt arms wrap around me from behind. I turned around and hugged her back, still crying.

I nodded to answer her question. "Thanks. I needed that hug."

"That's why I did it." She let go of the hug and stepped back to look at me with a smile, warmth and comfort radiating from her entire demeanor. "Now, come on, there's still more to see. There's something in particular I want to show you."

While we walked, a thought occurred to me. "When I started blaming myself for Tatsuki storming off earlier, I heard a voice telling me not to be ridiculous. Was that you?"

My power spirit looked over at me, clearly amused. "You just realized that?"

"Uh... Well, yeah," I admitted, slightly embarrassed. "But I also only just now thought about it since meeting you, so—"

"Jesa, I'm just giving you a hard time!" she interrupted, exasperated. "You should be used to that by now, what with how often Mom does it."

I stopped walking. "Wait, you just referred to my mom as if she were your own..."

"Because she is, silly! I'm a part of you, remember?" She swatted my arm lightly.

I nodded and rolled my eyes. "Right, right. So, how much farther till we get to what you wanted to show me?"

"We're actually already there," she answered. "If you thought those bookshelves here and there were odd, just look at these."

I looked around and saw... doors. Doors that didn't appear to lead anywhere. There was a white one, an orange one, a yellow, a magenta, a burgundy, and at least a dozen more. The white and orange ones were ajar, but the others were all shut. I walked closer and saw that the orange one had a picture of Zangetsu on it. The sword, not the spirit. The white one depicted Sode no Shirayuki. The others were just solid colors. I did notice that two of the solid ones seemed more prominent than the others, like they were really familiar and should have been obvious whose they were, but I just couldn't quite figure it out. Oh, well. It's a mystery to ponder later.

"Lemme guess: These doors lead to other people's inner worlds, right, Nee-chan?" I asked my power spirit. Sode-san had to have gotten in somehow, so I figured it was probably through the white door.

"There's more to it than that, but that's the short and sweet way to put it. And why'd you call me 'Nee-chan'? And I thought you didn't care for honorifics?" Nee-chan looked curious.

"A couple reasons," I answered. "I don't know your name yet, so I needed something to call you. I've often wondered what it'd be like if I had a sister, and I can easily see you as being an older sister. 'Nee' by itself just didn't seem right, so I added the honorific." I rubbed my neck. "That is okay with you, right?"

"Works for me," Nee-chan said with a smile. "Just don't forget that you still need to find out what my name actually is, Jesa."

"I know, I know," I said as I sat down in the grass that seemed to cover every bit of the ground in my inner world.

A/N: Thanks yet again to Apocalyxtic98 for beta reading.

Reviews are always appreciated, but I won't beg for them.

Yet again, my intentions didn't completely match up with what I actually wrote. I had planned to reveal Nee-chan's name in this chapter, but other ideas inserted themselves.