Chapter 5 Nikko Kagayaki

By the time Hinata had made it to the temple, she found that she could barely take another step forward. Her final step outside the garganta led to her crashing to the ground. She tilted her head to the side when she heard a shout of surprise. She watched as Ulquiorra ran over to her, picking her up.

"What's wrong? Did he hurt you!?" His eyes held a dangerous glint.

"No, silly," she raised her small hand to his face. "I'm just tired. Can we go home?"

He looked down at her as if he wasn't sure, but she seemed to be on the verge of collapse. "Hold tight; we will be home in a minute."

With that, her eyes closed, and she was lost to the world of sleep.

…

She opened her eyes and was surprised to find that she wasn't in Hueco Mundo anymore. Instead, she found herself in a large open place with gentle hills full of green grass one way, and a forest on her other side. The sun was high in the sky, making everything so much brighter. With flowers all around, she had never seen a more beautiful place. She spun around in circles, laughing as she looked around. She quickly ran off into the forest, picking flowers and throwing them in the air as she ran. It felt like she had always belonged here.

As she played, she found a tree that seemed to touch the sky. She quickly climbed up, stopping every once and a while to look down and laugh at how high she was. When she reached the top, she looked out over the world before her. It was just as beautiful up here, if not more, than down below. She settled into the branch and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Suddenly, she felt the branch she was on shake. Her eyes flew open at the shock. She jumped up when she saw a girl a little older then her in a red dress and bright hair that seemed to shine like the sun looking down at her. Unfortunately, when she leapt to her feet, she didn't land right and fell. Hinata heard herself scream. The girl on the branch looked down at her with a confused look before vanishing. The next moment, Hinata's descent stopped, and she found herself on the ground in the girl's arms.

The older girl gently placed Hinata on the ground before squatting next to her, looking her in the eyes with a curious look in her eyes.

Hinata took the next few seconds to calm her heart. This must be why Ulquiorra always told her not to climb the trees in the Minos forest. When her breathing had finally slowed, she looked back up at the girl who was now sitting on the ground, making a circlet of flowers. The girl was beautiful, with large green eyes even brighter than Ulquiorra's; her bright red dress seemed to shine and dance every time she moved, and her sunshine hair was almost too bright to even look at.

"Tada!" The girl jumped to her feet. She throw the circle of flowers onto Hinata's head, where they sat for only a second before the circlet, which was a little too big, began to fall around her neck. "Whoops! Looks like I made it too big." She giggled.

Hinata smiled, "I like it!" She paused for a moment before continuing, "Thank you for catching me."

"No problem! Why did you jump off the tree anyways?"

"I didn't jump, I fell!" Hinata shyly looked at her feet. "You scared me."

The older girl leaned sideways to see Hinata's face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just so excited to finally meet you in the flesh."

They stood for a moment before Hinata stood up straight and held out her hand. "My name is Hinata Kurosaki! What's yours?"

The other girl smiled back and took Hinata's hand. "Nice to officially meet you Hinata Kurosaki, and you know my name already, silly."

Hinata looked puzzled, "How can I know you? I just met you?"

The bigger girl frowned. "You forgot my name?"

"I didn't forget; you never told me. What is your name?"

The older girl looked down at Hinata for a long while before smiling. "Then I guess you will just have to catch me before I tell you!" With that she vanished in a cloud of leaves.

Hinata stood there for another moment before laughing and taking off after the girl.

It was like they were in a separate world. Laughter rang throughout the forest and the hills covered in grass. Hinata had never had so much fun. The older girl was faster than she was and always just out of reach. Hinata gave a small smile as an idea came to mind. She suddenly turned, running at an angle to the older girl. It wasn't long before the older girl noticed that Hinata wasn't right behind her and turned to see why she had stopped chasing. She closely watched as the girl began to draw closer. When she was only a few feet behind Hinata, Hinata suddenly turned and jumped sideways, grabbing the girl around the waist as she ran into her. They flew from the impact, breaking several trees until they landed in a heap.

Hinata sat up, laughing as she looked down at the flustered girl below her. She stopped when she heard a door open and footsteps running over. She saw a beautiful woman with long, wavy brown hair and warm brown eyes running towards them from a small yellow house with a bright red roof.

The women yelled out, "Are you okay?"

The older girl smiled and replied, "We are okay Oka-san .We were just playing."

Hinata smiled again as she got off the girl. "I caught you, so you have to tell me your name!"

The girl smiled. "I guess you did catch me. My name is Nikko, Nikko Kagayaki!"

With that, Hinata said the name out loud, testing in on her lips. She found that it easily flowed off her tongue, almost like she had known her name all this time. When the name left her lips, she was surprised to see Nikko glow brighter.

"Why did you glow, Nikko?" She was surprised that this time she said it she didn't glow.

"Because you said my name, silly."

There was a soft cough that drew her eyes back to the woman. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hinata." She held out her hand towards Hinata.

Hinata looked at the women once more and saw that she was truly beautiful and warm. Without a second thought, she jumped towards the woman, hugging her legs. It seemed to take her off guard, but she bent down and returned the hug with such a strong passion that one would almost think it had been a long time since they had last met. She took a deep breath and found that the woman smelled familiar, but Hinata couldn't tell why.

Hinata looked up at the woman's face, smiling in response to her smile. "What's your name? Are you Nikko's mom?"

"My name is Masaki Kurosaki. Yes, I am Nikko's mother, in a way," the woman answered.

Hinata thought that her voice was familiar too. "I wish I had a mother," Hinata whispered. Then she smiled and grabbed the woman's hand. "Are you my mother? My last name is Kurosaki too!"

Masaki smiled and pulled Hinata up into her arms. "If that is what you want, then yes. I will be your mother."

Hinata laughed and hugged Masaki. "Now I have two brothers, a mom, and a sister!" She looked over at Nikko. "Right? You're my sister, Nikko?"

"Yes," Nikko said with a smile. She tilted her head to the side then, listening. "It's time for you to go back, Hinata. Ulquiorra needs you."

Hinata looked around with wide eyes. "I don't want to go back yet! It's so pretty here!"

Masaki smiled. "You can come visit us anytime you want, Hinata. We'll always be here, waiting for when you need us. This is your inner world, a special place just for us. When you need us, we'll be ready." She set Hinata back on her feet. "Go now, and return to your brother. He's worried about you."

Nikko hugged her. "If you need me, call out my name. You know who I am now."

"You're my sword, aren't you?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Nikko said with a smile. "All you have to do is say my name, and I'll help you."

Hinata could feel Ulquiorra now; he was worried about her. She turned to smile at Masaki one last time, and then opened her eyes.

. . .

Ulquiorra had come back from his hunt to find that Hinata was still asleep, her sword clutched in her hands the same way as when he had first found her. The only difference was that her sword was now glowing faintly. It had been a long time since Hinata had slept this soundly, and it worried him slightly. Not long after he thought this, she began to stir.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," Hinata answered, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She smiled. "I made some more friends!"

Ulquiorra smiled back. "Let's go for a walk, and you can tell me all about it."

Hinata bounced to her feet, brimming with energy once more. She couldn't wait to tell Ulquiorra all about the things she had learned at school, about the bullies, and about meeting Nikko and Masaki. Carrying her sword at her side in one hand, she took Ulquiorra's other hand and began to tell him about her day, walking out onto the dunes of Hueco Mundo.