Misaki woke up the next day on the floor. It was a nightmare, and this time she saw the orange haired boy and the dark haired girl in it. There was no golden sphere around her, and Misaki was still unseen. She reached out to the both of them, but they seemed too far away for her reach. She spoke, but no voice exited her throat. Then suddenly behind her, was the large monster. It raised its hand and delivered a blow, which she didn't feel. She looked up to see the boy in black, holding it off with his sword. He turned toward her, his lips moved, as if he were about to say something. And the next thing she knew, Misaki was awake, her right leg on her bed and the other half of her body on the floor. The bed sheets were messy and her pillow was on her stomach, fallen on her due to the impact.
Misaki groaned and got up. She checked to see if there was any damage on her knee, and it looked as if she never fell at all. Misaki sighed, wondering if she was slowly going mad. She's read that hallucination was the first sign of madness. She checked the time, it was 6.30 a.m., and Misaki suddenly smiled. It was the first day of school, and she was rearing to go. She jolted into the bathroom and her mind was free of thoughts of the orange haired boy and the dark haired girl who knowingly or unknowingly saved her life.
She greeted her father and brother, and sat for breakfast, before she wondered what her brother would do. He was three years older than her, and he was supposed to be in the final year of high school. But he had enrolled into a university, and it was due to start after a month. Minato was reading the newspaper when he noticed the green pendant on his sister's neck. "Where'd you get that?" He asked, almost sounding interested. "Its moms, I thought I'd wear it." Misaki replied, and chewed on her bread. Minato grunted, and got back to what he was doing. "You're supposed to wear the uniform, not casuals." Minato said, and Misaki gasped. "Dad, where's the uniform?" Misaki asked, placing the plate in the sink. "Upstairs, honestly, I thought you'd put it on once you were done with your shower!" Her dad said, grinning cheekily. Misaki stuck a tongue out to him and ran upstairs. She opened her dresser and took a look at the uniform of Karakura high school, before gasping.
It looked very familiar.
'This is the same uniform that-that girl from yesterday was wearing!' Misaki's eyes were wide, and her heart rummaging against her chest. She sighed, and put the uniform on, and went downstairs. Minato was standing outside with a bored expression and he sighed. "I'm dropping you today." Misaki nodded, and followed him to the car. She waved to her father and sat in the front seat. "You should know we live a little far away from school. We live in the Kasazaki region of town, while the school is in the Gakuenchou region. I'll drop you there for a few days, but you'll have to walk later." Minato said, as he drove the car. Misaki nodded, as she kept thinking of the incidents that occurred the previous day. 'If that girl was wearing the same uniform, then did that mean she was a student in the school?' Misaki thought to herself as she looked out the window. She noticed buildings and modest houses and a small clinic named 'Kurosaki Clinic'.
After reaching the school grounds, she waved at her brother and walked in. She was supposed to be meeting a Miss Misato Ochi, who then would lead her to her classroom. She walked in to the principal's chamber and he greeted her nicely. Miss Ochi was a tall woman with brown hair and wore glasses, and she led Misaki to a classroom. "You stay here, and come in when I call for you, alright dear?" Misaki nodded. After a minute, the door opened and Misaki walked in.
Misaki didn't want to be made fun of. She didn't want people laughing at her, or calling her a freak of nature. She was an ordinary girl, with ordinary likes and dislikes. If she kept the fact that she could see spirits to herself, she was sure she'd make friends. As she entered the classroom, she heard a gush of whispers and gasps from the students. Misaki's chest was about to explode, and she looked down at her feet, her face a bright red. She gulped a large amount of saliva and shut her eyes tightly as the whispering continued. But one whisper caught her ears, and Misaki's heart leapt. "She's so pretty!" Misaki looked up to see her classmates' eyes on her. She then turned to see a boy with blue hair eyeing her suspiciously. Her gaze turned to a crimson haired girl who was drooling, and then she turned to see a boy, with orange hair. Misaki turned away immediately, and said, "M-My name is Misaki Otonashi, n-nice to meet you all." The orange haired boy's gaze was fixed on her, from the moment he heard her name. Misaki gulped and saw that the black haired girl was also a student in that very class.
'They're here…' Misaki thought to herself, as she looked down. "Okay class, I want you all to make Miss Otonashi as comfortable as possible. Misaki, you can sit behind Rukia Kuchiki, Rukia raise your hand so that she can identify you." Rukia did as she was told, but Misaki was confused at how the girl was looking at her. It was the same way that blue haired boy with glasses was eying her, and it sent chills down her spine. "Nice to meet you, Misaki, I'm Rukia. I sure hope we can be good friends!" Rukia giggled, and Misaki wondered why she was faking it. She turned to see the orange haired boy looking at her, and as soon as she saw him, he turned away.
Misaki made friends very quickly, as Orihime Inoue, a bubbly girl with burnt orange hair, bounced toward her during lunch and pulled her away, along with Tatsuki Arisawa, a dark haired girl, and Chizuru Honsho, the crimson haired girl that was drooling at Misaki earlier.
At lunch, both Rukia and Uryu approached Ichigo. "What's this about?" Ichigo asked, completely uninterested. He saw the new girl, and sighed. She shared such a similar name to his mother, and Ichigo was at first dumbfounded. She was a pretty girl, and he yawned. "It's about Misaki." Rukia said. "Yeah Ichigo, I can't believe you didn't notice. Then again, you're reiatsu identifying skills are weak as it is." Uryu said, and Ichigo perked up. "What did you say?" He yelled, grabbing the attention of the girl they were talking about. Rukia shushed them, and said, "Ichigo, she has a large amount of spiritual pressure." Ichigo's eyes widened. "How?" He asked.
"It actually doesn't belong to her, the spiritual pressure seems to be around her, but not from her. It's as if it's following her." Rukia said. Ichigo was confused. "Let me explain, as far as I've noticed, Misaki Otonashi has two spiritual pressures. One, is her own which isn't much. Only allows her to see ghosts, just like your sister Karin. But the second one, it's large, and it's around her body, like a shield." Ichigo understood, and "What do we do? Is she a threat?" Rukia shook her head. "What's confusing is, she has no idea about it. It's safe to say that she's harmless." Ichigo was infuriated. "Then why did you bother telling this to me at all?" Ichigo asked, completely annoyed. "Idiot! Don't you know hollows go after people with high spiritual pressure?" Ichigo's eyes widened. That was right, this would mean Misaki was in trouble.
"We have to find the source of the second spiritual pressure around her, and get rid of it." Rukia said. "You should let Uryu do it, after all he's the one skilled with the reiatsu searching." Ichigo grumbled and walked off. He took a look at Misaki and found that she was looking at him, she turned away immediately. She was indeed acting strange around him. Ichigo sighed and walked off.
A week passed, and Misaki was good friends with Orihime and Tatsuki and she was already invited to both their houses. After school, Misaki got a text from her brother saying he won't be able to pick her up. Misaki sighed, and began walking, to find Ichigo and Rukia not too far off. She figured they were dating, and kept her distance, not wanting to intervene between them. She then took a turn and walked off.
Ichigo and Rukia were aware that Misaki was behind them. But she didn't approach them, so they stayed put. Suddenly, Rukia's hollow pager beeped. "Ichigo! A hollow!" The boy pulled the plush bear from inside his bag, and took the pill from inside its mouth. "Where is it?" Ichigo asked, his eyes on Rukia. Rukia was quiet.
"It's near Misaki." Ichigo ran as fast as he could, hoping the girl was okay.
Misaki was humming a tune she heard recently. She loved her new school, and she was glad she made friends. A few boys flirted with her, but that was nothing compared to when Chizuru almost attacked her. Tatsuki always saved her from Chizuru and Misaki smiled. She told everything to Minato, and he laughed out loud at the mention of Chizuru's name. Misaki often looked at Ichigo, but she never spoke to him, but Rukia was a different case. She was kind, and Misaki liked her a lot. She was certain it was them she saw the other day, but Misaki let it slide. If she was meant to know what happened completely, then she would've known it by now. Right then, Misaki felt a familiar choking feeling. The air grew heavier, and Misaki dropped to her knees.
But then she heard something.
"Misaki!" It was Ichigo's voice. Misaki's vision was blurry, and she saw that there was a beast beside her. This was a different monster from before. It was large, and reptile like. It had a mask on its face, and a hole in its chest. It reached its hand out and held Misaki and she shrieked. It was crushing her, and Misaki felt something break. "You have quite the amount of spiritual pressure my dear, do let me eat you." The monster said, and Misaki struggled in its hold. Right then, she saw the golden sphere surround her, but it was partial.
Ichigo was shocked to see a sphere envelope around the girl, he shrugged that off and sliced the hollow. He caught the girl, before she hit the ground, and saw that the sphere completely envelope the both of them. He was holding her, so it covered him as well. "M-Misaki?" Ichigo said, shocked. Misaki felt the pain in her ribs slowly fade, and she looked up to see Ichigo, in black, holding her. She blushed at their closeness. The sphere disappeared, and Misaki was pulled up by the Soul Reaper.
"What was that?" They asked, simultaneously, for they both had seen something unusual. "I don't know." Misaki replied. "I- uh, I'll walk you." He offered and Misaki thanked him. He looked at the girl, from the corner of his eyes and saw that she was about to cry. "Misa-""I saw you before. With Rukia. You killed a beast that was following me when I first got here. Then this sphere covered me, and you couldn't see me. I spoke, you could hear, but you didn't see me. I don't know what it is, and why it protects me. But once I'm inside it, it heals me." Misaki said. Ichigo nodded, understanding that this girl honestly knew nothing. Then it hit him. Uryu mentioned that this girl had a second spiritual pressure, maybe which was what was protecting her? And maybe that was what was attracting the hollows to her. He decided to let Rukia and Uryu know, hoping they'd tell him more about what was going on with Misaki. Misaki knew that Ichigo wouldn't tell her anything, and she felt dull at the fact that even now, these strange occurrences were going to be a mystery to her. "The beasts, are called hollows." Misaki turned toward Ichigo. "I'm a Soul Reaper, and my job is to kill these hollows." Misaki listened on, about hollows and pluses. He told her about how he got his powers from Rukia, and that she had to stay here till her powers returned.
"Thank you." Misaki said, as she reached her house. "No problem, and uh…keep it a secret, okay?" Misaki nodded, and smiled at the boy. She walked back in, leaving Ichigo smiling back like a fool in front of her gate. 'That girl…what is she?' He thought to himself as he ran back home.
A/N: I'm sorry about the late update, its just that my exams are going on, and these are just one out of many more, and I find very little time to type. I hope you like this story so far, trust me it gets better! Read and review!