Ichigo told Rukia what he had seen earlier that day, with Misaki. At first Rukia didn't understand what he was saying, and as she listened to him more and more, she got a picture of what might be the reason for Misaki's spherical protection. She narrowed her eyes and began to sketch out what the sphere would have looked like, and when she showed Ichigo the drawings, he as usual, let out a look of disgust and called her art trash. Rukia kicked him on his head, and started to think. 'Could it be Kido?' She thought to herself. She then looked at Ichigo, who was squirming with pain, clutching his head as if it were about to fall off. 'No, it can't be Kido, if it was, such a high level Kido would've alerted the Soul Society by now. Or what if it has…?' Rukia was clearly confused.
She then knew whom to consult.
'Urahara.' She thought to herself, and nodded. He was the only man fit for this sort of complication. Misaki Otonashi was clearly not an ordinary human, and even if she was, something inhuman was protecting her or following her, and Rukia's duties as a soul reaper, and a curious person, deemed her fit to find out more. But even so, she wanted to get up close and personal with the girl first, to make sure it isn't just Kido. If it wasn't Kido, then Rukia would tell Urahara about this.
The next day in school was pretty normal. Ichigo was to never question or speak to Misaki, on Rukia's orders, and he shouldn't tell Uryu about what happened either. Rukia wanted it to be highly confidential, and that she would find out soon what was with Misaki that gave her the so called power. Rukia walked into the classroom and greeted Orihime, Tatsuki and Keigo and Mizuiro, and took her seat across Ichigo's. Misaki wasn't here yet. Rukia stayed up half the night formulating a plan. Although openly questioning her when they were alone was a reasonable idea, the plan that Rukia conjured was better.
She would go over to Misaki's place for a sleepover.
It would seem like Rukia was imposing on her, but she had no other choice than to go with it. Once she's in Misaki's room, she'll sense for anything unusual, and then report it to Urahara.
Misaki was tired. She had nightmares once again last night, and all that information about hollows, soul reapers and everything was driving her insane. Even with knowing all of that, she didn't know the reason behind the sudden healing sphere formation. She still had her doubts on where it came from, and why it came in the first place. And why only around her and no one else? She had no other choice than to let it slide for now, and she woke up. After realizing what time it was, she gasped and ran into the bathroom. She was going to be late today.
Misaki was in a hurry, and she dressed as fast as she could and skipped breakfast. She wore her uniform, and ran down the stairs yelling to her brother to drop her off. What she didn't realize was that she left her mother's necklace on her dresser, since she was in a hurry, she forgot about it.
She ran to class, and was thankful the teacher wasn't there yet. She let out a breath of relief, and went to take her seat. Just then-
"Misa! You're looking gorgeous today!" Keigo Asano. He was someone who Misaki found annoying. In a playful way, for she wasn't the type of person to dislike anyone. Keigo always told her she looked gorgeous or beautiful, and at first Misaki smiled at him, but now all she could do was sigh. "Shut up Mr. Asano, can't you see Misaki is obviously annoyed?" Mizuiro said. Misaki smiled slightly, and then her gaze shifted to Rukia who was staring intently at her. "Uh, hi Rukia." Misaki said finally. Rukia beamed, and Misaki could tell it was fake. "Misaki! Hey, I was wondering are you free tonight?" Before Misaki could reply, "Great! Then let's say we have a sleepover. Your place!" And when Misaki was about to say something, "I'll be there at 7!" Misaki smiled, and sighed internally. She liked Rukia, and she was confused as to why she wanted to have a sleepover with her. Not that she minded, she loved sleepovers, even though she's never had one.
After school, Misaki waved at Tatsuki and Orihime, and began to walk home. She saw Uryu, the boy with blue hair and glasses who glared at her on the first day she came, and Ichigo talking to each other. It didn't exactly look friendly, but with her experience of seeing them talk to each other, this was usual.
Uryu knew Misaki was a strange girl, but today was stranger still. He had deduced that the girl had in fact not one, but two different spiritual pressures, one her own and one surrounding her. But that day, the second pressure wasn't around.
He caught hold of Ichigo and told him what he thought. Ichigo, obviously was confused, so he told Rukia. "That's weird. I felt no immense pressure around her either. Anyways, I am going to further investigate. I'm going over to her house and I'll try and figure out what exactly is going on." Uryu nodded, and walked off, calling Ichigo a useless idiot.
Ichigo on the other hand, was worried about Misaki. He wondered if there were going to be any hollows following her around today. "Don't worry, I don't think any hollow is going to attack her today. Like Uryu said, there wasn't another pressure around her." Rukia's words made him feel a little better, but he still wondered about her. That globe, and about her unusual spiritual pressure. Why Misaki? What was going on? By the way Rukia and Uryu are taking this, it was as if she wasn't human, and Ichigo wouldn't accept it if she was deemed a threat. She looked too innocent. Too fragile to be a threat, and Ichigo knew looks could deceive, but Misaki didn't just look innocent to him. She felt innocent as well.
That evening, Rukia walked to Misaki's house and knocked on the door. A boy with a bored expression opened the door. "Rukia?" He questioned and she nodded. He let her in, and told her to go upstairs. Rukia figured that he was her brother, since they resembled each other greatly. Rukia went upstairs and knocked on the door, to find that it was unlocked. She walked inside, and "Misaki? I'm here!" And then she heard Misaki from inside the bathroom. "Oh Rukia? I'm taking a shower, I'll be out in a minute!" Rukia smiled at the girl's voice, and looked around. The room looked modest enough, and then she remembered the reason she was here.
Rukia closed her eyes, and concentrated for spiritual pressure. She felt traces of Misaki's pressure all around the room, and then suddenly she felt the massive pressure, coming from her dresser. Rukia's heart leapt, and she opened her eyes, and looked at the dresser. The spiritual pressure was large, and Rukia concentrated again. It was as if the spiritual pressure was mashed into the size of a small ball and it felt unnatural. It definitely didn't belong to a soul reaper, and Rukia concentrated more. As she moved closer, she held out her hand to feel it. She held the pressure in her hands, and Rukia opened her eyes, to find a green gemmed necklace. Rukia cocked an eyebrow, and tried to feel its reiatsu.
That necklace was the second spiritual pressure. Rukia gasped. How in the world could a necklace be so…powerful? Misaki wore this every day, so this now made sense. But what was this necklace in reality? And its foreign reiatsu scared Rukia, as it was something she never felt before.
She had to take this to Urahara.
"That belonged to my mother." Misaki's voice came from behind. Rukia gasped and almost dropped the necklet. Misaki giggled, and ushered Rukia to sit. "I know why you're here." Misaki said, making Rukia look confused. "I also know what you are. You're a Soul Reaper, right? Ichigo told me." Rukia sighed. "Misaki, I need this locket." Misaki frowned, and "Why?" Rukia explained.
"So this Urahara guy will know what's going on?" Misaki asked. "Hopefully." Rukia replied, and "Misaki, do not wear this locket, this is what attracts the hollows toward you. You can get hurt. I'll keep this with me, so tomorrow I can take it to Urahara once school is done." Misaki frowned. "On one condition Rukia." Rukia looked at her face.
"I'll come with you." Rukia nodded, and she understood why. Misaki did tell her that this belonged to her mother, so it meant that her mother always had it. Then again, there was a possibility that someone would've lent this necklet to her, but Rukia wasn't sure. "Where did you're mother find this?" Misaki thought for a second before answering. "She always had it. I can't remember a time when she wasn't wearing it." So her mother wore it all the time? "Were you attacked by a hollow in Osaka as well?" Rukia asked. "No. Actually, the first time I saw a hollow was here in Karakura, when I saw Ichigo fight it off, and you were there with him." Rukia was confused.
"You're mother…what happened?" Rukia asked, silencing the girl before her. Misaki gasped, and took a deep breath. "To be honest, I don't really know how it happened. But I do remember this. She fell extremely sick the night before she died." Rukia's eyes widened. "Only the night before?" Misaki nodded. The sleepover went quietly after that.
Rukia walked to Urahara's shop as fast as she could. Misaki was running behind her to keep up. As little as she was, Rukia was fast. Misaki grumbled and struggled to keep up. That day in school, something funny happened. Her face was still red due to what happened, and it was also why Ichigo wasn't with them at the moment.
Misaki ran to keep up with Rukia in the school corridors. As she ran through the halls, she didn't see Ichigo there, and Misaki squeaked, trying to come to a halt, but failed and fell on top of him. "Ow..." She said, and saw the position she was in. Her face was several inches away from Ichigo's and her chest was pressed to his, his right hand on her waist. And her hands, on his chest. Misaki yelped and quickly sat up, not noticing Keigo right behind her. He was holding a bottle of juice and it was going to fall on Misaki, because of her sudden jerk. She yelped once again, and she felt arms around her, and Ichigo pressed her close to him, and the juice fell on him, and not even one drop fell on the girl. "You okay?" Misaki blushed at their closeness and nodded. His breath was hot on her face, and Ichigo's shirt was wet. "I'm so sorry, Ichigo I-""It's okay. You should go with Rukia." He smiled, and released her. "I can't obviously come now, my shirt is ruined." Misaki looked downfallen. "Don't worry, it's not something Yuzu can't fix!" And Ichigo waved to her and walked away. Misaki still had a blush on her face, as she recalled the feeling when his breath touched her cheek.
What she didn't notice, was Ichigo's red face as well.
Rukia showed Urahara the necklace. Misaki was shocked to see Urahara, because he was nothing she thought he would look like. She thought he would be old, and looked like a sage or something. Urahara studied the necklace and his gaze turned to Misaki. He grinned and said, "This necklace was your mother's you say? Makes sense." Misaki was muddled.
Urahara chuckled. "I'm Kisuke Urahara, and you're Misaki Otonashi, and my dear, this little necklace is an amulet.
Rukia looked shocked. Misaki was still baffled. Kisuke sighed.
"An Amulet is an object which purports to contain certain magical properties which protects the owner from evil or harm, or provide good luck."
"How does Misaki have it?" Rukia asked. "You don't quite understand, Amulets always are owned by Magi. How it came to her possession, is quite unsolved." Kisuke said. "A Magi? You mean, a Magician or a wizard?" Kisuke's eyes twinkled with the mention of a wizard, and he nodded. "B-But how-?" "There's only one explanation to it. Your mother must have been a Magi."
A/N: Well, exams are over. For now :( I've another round of exams from February 09 till the end of March. (Impossible? Not likely.) My updates will be slow, but they'll happen, so please bear with me. I'm sorry, my life hates me at the moment. Read and Review! :)