Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a thing... sob.
So, hey! ...I...got...FEEDBACK!
I can't tell you how awesome it feels to recieve positive reinforcement for the stuff I write.
HarunoMarina: You were right. I couldn't believe I left out the whole Yuichi name thing. Hopefully I won't make another mistake like this one. I suppose I just took it for granted that everyone would understand. Again sorry but I'm happy you enjoyed it nontheless. Also, yes I do try to keep the characters in character otherwise... what would be the point in plot changes. I always found it interesting in other fanfics when something bold would happen in the story and the canon characters had to react to it in such a believeable way. And I try to not make my oc a mary-sue. I only just found out what that actually means by the way (I'm so behind!). My character has tonnes of faults, trust me she's far from perfect but then again everyone's definition of perfect varies.
Mari23: Yes, I too love dramatic moments in fanfics. Hopefully this one will be full of them. And the Bleach storyline will change into the whole; "No way did that just happen - but it did!" stuff.
Shaybo27: You're review made blush. Seriously. I had not idea anyone could like the things I've written. Thanks! I too love OC stories but it's rare to find any good ones, don't get me wrong there a few but not enough in my opinion. Unfortunately for you I'm not thinking about pairings... yet. I like to build deep connections with particular characters in stories such as these. It isn't always necessary but in this case (at least between Ichigo and Mai) it definately is. You'll figure out why sooner or later. You see Ichigo is somewhat... repressed. For him to like someone, romantically, it would have to come slowly before eventually giving him a swift subconcious kick before freefalling back to reality. Then when he comes out of his coma he'd eventually realise that he too has the capability for romantic attachment. I think if Tite Kubo ever drew him in a relationship Ichigo would be incredably warm, subtly affectionate and sensually intense. As such these things take time. Plus Mai has some pretty serious issues. And... there's just no way that I'm explaining what Mai is in this next chapter! Silly you. It's a big deal; integral to the story and to other characters. It will be explained bit by bit otherwise it would be equivalent to information overload. And finally, thank you for picking up on the whole original relationship stuff. I wanted Mai to have her own thoughts on the people around her; how they'd change her and vice versa. The more minor characters will have roles to play in the future too. Geez, I really did go on didn't I? Sorry... I'm just a happy chappie... and I actually hate chappy.
Hyourin-Kusabana: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Always great to have support.
I actually finished writing this chapter just a minute ago so I havn't checked for possible mistakes. The reason for this is because both my needy nephew and incredably loud niece are coming up and I have no time in the foreseable future to release this other than now. I do love them though; they're incredably adorable and talented and sweet etc.
Adios amigos!
Chapter 4:
Into the Black…and Out Like a Light
Stepping into the room the smell of damp wood and dust hit me. The door closed quietly like a death sentence.
"…Be careful Mai, this is the part where the big axe wielding psycho comes out of the dark with a hockey mask…" I whispered to myself.
The hackneyed stereotype did nothing to lighten the atmosphere.
The room was pitch black, darker than the rest of the house. There were no eerie Halloween lights or candles to lighten it up.
I felt surrounded.
As if there was something or someone standing in front of me, behind me, next to me in the black…
If I concentrated hard enough I could swear I heard shallow breathing.
Also unlike the rest of the house was the temperature. It was freezing; my breath rose in vivid silvery mists.
Then there was the smell; sweetly putrid and bloody rotten. I gagged in surprise. It wasn't really that bad but I'd never actually smelt a decomposing body before.
Then it dawned on me.
I was alone, in a pitch black room with a corpse.
Hit by a wave of irrational fear, images of zombiefied bodies slowly crawled towards me and lashed out at my ankles. I made to move backwards before it dawned on me how silly I was behaving.
Wait… right, take a deep breath, hold it, exhale, and calm down.
A body is just a body; dead or alive.
It shouldn't be that that I should be worrying about anyway.
Less concentrated than before it may be but the dread coursing through me spoke of another presence in the room.
And it felt curious… frighteningly controlled and hostile.
It was curious? Of me? Why?
Now matter how hard I strained my eyes or tried to reach out with my senses I couldn't pinpoint its location in the room; the whole room felt saturated in its presence.
…But I knew where the body was.
At the far end of the room there was some loose floorboards and cardboard cut-outs; probably something to be used in the fair. These were stacked at the side and behind them was Seigi's body. I could see the lingering traces energy flickering and dying; his life energy gone, his spiritual trace near depleted.
The presence in the room was watching me.
Feeling chained by it I wiped my palms on the thighs of my pants and moved one step forwards.
And with a rush of air it moved with me. I took another step. And another. The closer I got to Seigi's body the more agitated it seemed to become.
God, what was I doing? Should I even be here? Had he chosen the wrong person?
A shuffling, scuttling sound echoed across the walls.
I swallowed.
Seigi did tell me to not be overly fearful as it would only increase the strength of whatever was in the room with me. But it was awfully difficult to not be afraid when feeling like I had walked into a nest of ravenous cannibals and conscienceless creatures. Strange though that the presence hadn't tried anything seeing as how I was practically helpless. I was sensitive to the waves of the malicious unknown emanating from around me.
I remember Seigi also saying that I 'glowed' and that the 'scent' of it was different from… everything else. I was an unknown commodity then.
Did it find me as threatening as I found them? …How absurd.
Well he was right about one thing… my body was firing off some pretty lively sparks in my peripheral.
Either way I was in a death trap. If I tried to run they would kill me, I could feel it. But if I stayed here any longer I would also die.
So I moved closer to the body, the floorboards were propped right in front of me. Ignoring the pool of anxiety that my stomach was churning or the thumping in my chest I ripped the floorboards away from the wall and across the room in one swift movement. Maybe adrenaline was messing with me again but I wasn't focusing on that at the moment. I was looking at the body.
And the body. Looked. Back.
Letting out a yell I stumbled back and that's when noise erupted all around me.
Shrieks and growls, haggard breaths and groans…
I could see the black of the shadows moving everywhere; I definitely wasn't by myself. How many were there?
Panicked I whipped to look back at the seated corpse. It was still staring at me and yet it didn't really see me at all. It contorted and convulsed on the floor, changing shape and colour; from light pink, decaying skin to a darker unnatural hue. Somehow I knew it would end in black. Gruesome black skin like the other black skin thing currently gripping the wall with its claws behind the changing body. The one that was also staring at me… hungry; but this one was fully formed.
And human sized.
Dead, dirty red and glowing yellow eyes scorched holes into mine and small but sharp black teeth were revealed followed by a quiet guttural growl. Though it was squatting I could tell that its body was wiry and instinct told me it was very strong. As in stronger than human. Superhuman.
…Yokai.
Shit.
…Demon.
Like the thing in the dark street that had been hunting… for its human prey.
Double Shit.
Get out…
My moment of pause worked against me as the corpse on the floor suddenly stood up straight. For one hair raising moment it just looked at me.
Then something in it seemed to give and it lunged forwards towards me roaring in my face with inhuman features.
Get out now Mai!
Wide eyed I spun round and blitzed across the room before I could even register the speed in which I moved. I already had the door open when the rest of them reacted. They were probably pretty shocked at my response time. I would have been too if I weren't currently running for the hills.
…Because the room had been filled with them as I'd taken a leisurely stroll through it.
There was no time to take out my mobile. Besides whom could I call for help?
I didn't hear the footsteps as I was hit first in the lower back. I flew towards the floor landing hard on my knees as it rolled to the side after trouncing me. I looked it in the eyes for a moment; Seigi's body, and pushed up just in time to witness a horde of them burst through the door with single minded intent. Screeching into the night they shoved me into the hallway and painfully up against a wall.
Horrified and trying to move my breathing turned rapid, dark thoughts swirling within my terror. This was so very different to the incident with the Hollow. I was pulled in all directions, claws ripped at my clothes shredding skin. My mind felt pulled towards darkness and as the pain became more than noticeable I gave over to the instincts that were screaming in my ear.
Eliminate.
And my body responded wonderfully.
…Too wonderfully.
With a snarl I pushed off the wall behind me and rammed them all backdown a hall leading to the stairs. It was like hitting granite. Grabbing the grotesque head of the mutated Seigi I smashed it into the wall with strength I didn't know I had, watching absently as it burst upon impact, spitting blood on my hands and clothes.
I did the same many times over. My elbows drove into the hollows under shoulders and the vertebrae between shoulder blades. Tense fingers tore at dark skin, snapping the bones in arms and breaking tendons, ripping away at the danger. I slammed down against the ground, falling to the floor in an effort to take out the one behind me all the while pulling two more with me and battering them against each other as we rolled.
Martial Arts holding hands with simple brutality.
Throwing the two lifeless yokai away from me I got back up to have one of them fly at me and shove their claws deep into my right leg. I shrieked in pain. And then, with a racing heartbeat and seeing red I quickly bent over the creature, seized it by the legs, pulled and catapulted it as hard as I could across the landing in front of the stairs. It squawked pitifully as it hit the wall opposite… and went right through to the other side of the haunted house!
What the…!
…How did I…? There's just no way I…
Sparing an unhurried glance down at my bloodied hands I watched the tinted glow on them fade bringing back the gloom once again in the hall.
Panting I gazed up and down the dark corridor; my breaths the only sound to hear. On the floor I saw that where I'd fallen just seconds ago where now broken slats of wood. True it wasn't English oak but I shouldn't have been able to do that… I shouldn't have been able to do any of it, not without serious injury. But I felt fine. Sore but fine. Even my leg wound felt superficial though I know my muscles were damaged.
I was shaking.
And I was alone. I'd killed them all. The one I'd thrown (God, I'd thrown a man-sized demon) had been the last. Their bodies had kind of… melted quickly afterwards too leaving only a small amount of evidence of them having ever been there.
Well… fuck.
Proof of how truly screwed up the situation was: I don't swear. Well, not much. It just never occurred to me to. I was exhausted, covered in blood and had no idea how I was going to explain this when my friends saw me… soon to be ex-friends when they see me like this. My actions had been so… surreal, my response quick and efficient… as though I kicked demon ass all the time. I looked down and a nervous giggle forced its way through my mouth. My clothes were torn to shreds and I was injured but I still felt numb with shock.
Breathing deeply again I pushed my hair out of my eyes and made my way forward…
…just in time for a gigantic white arm to slash through the side of the building!
You have got to be sodding pulling my leg.
A hollow? Now?
Really? REALLY?
The massive white arm pulled back and ripped off the side of the building causing the floor I was stood on to shake. A triangular shaped head turned its body and looked around…and then took a stroll inside mere feet away from me. Strangely enough the floor beneath its large feet didn't bevel. The Hollow was looking for something.
Oh please don't be looking for me. Not now. Not after all that.
Slowly I backed up against the wall and slid down it as I descended the barely existing stairs. Staying calm, eyes stupidly closed I tried not to trip. Seeing energy waves and fluxes on top of yokai and Hollows felt too much to deal with in one sitting; it hurt too much for some reason. I tried to close myself off to the output but it wouldn't let me. It was too hard. Everything; auras and all kept flickering in and out of focus as if it was fighting for release.
My own aura was oscillating; fluctuating in various insane rhythms that I could barely contain. Last time this had happened I swore I'd knocked Jihi into the wall across my room.
The Hollow definitely wasn't looking for me; was it looking for Seigi? I didn't see him when I hurtled out of the attic.
And where, oh where was Kurosaki?
He'd done something to that hollow the other day and had made it go away. Couldn't he come and do the same thing now whatever it may be? And if he couldn't, could he at least teach me how to do it?
I made it to the bottom of the staircase with my eyes firmly closed when I heard a tap tap tap sound resounding throughout the hallway and repeating on the floor… getting louder… coming closer. Footsteps were incoming and fast. I turned slightly and…
…For a moment all I saw, all I felt, was…
Robes?
Black ones. Maybe some kind of kimono? And a feeling…
I was knocked to the floor on my bad leg and this time I felt the stinging pain that shot down towards my toes. From the fluctuations in the air I was sure there was more than one person that I didn't look to see.
There was a crashing sound as the stairs behind me gave way and I moved just in time to avoid the debris …but unfortunately came too close to the back wall that exploded right by the side of my head slamming me back down to the ground.
The wind knocked out of me, I opened my eyes and glanced around… and my jaw systematically hit the floor…
Kurosaki…?
I'd looked just in time to see a shock of orange hair run to slash at the neck of a Hollow I hadn't seen earlier. He moved swiftly in front of me, tawny brown eyes glancing at me anxiously along the way as he blocked an attack before slicing right through the skull of the apparition. I brushed debris out of my line of vision as I tried to focus past my blurring eyes. Heran further forward and faced the broken stairs were there was yet another white monster.
"What the hell? You guys just keep on coming!"
Ichigo Kurosaki?
He… was here? And he looked like an Edo era samurai…
He was… he… what?
I didn't have much time to deliberate on my shock however because as soon as I looked at him, I mean really looked at him, at his back, pain hit me.
Masses of pain.
It pushed at my insides, and my eyes…they were burning away at the corneas.
Kurosaki's aura… it was burning me alive.
I choked on a breath as my eyes refused to close.
It was so bright. Too bright, and it was awesome in its magnificence. The state at which I'd perceived it to be while he was… him and not a… soul didn't do what he really was any justice at all. Without the shell and skin of his body he had nothing to hold back such a force.
Power rolled off him in waves that slammed into me over and over again. I forced myself to watch them as they descended on the surrounding area and saw that his energy affected everything it touched. I wondered vaguely if that also meant it affected people.
…It was almost too much to bear; internally I agonizingly pulsated as his energy played havoc with my own. It was like my energy was straining to reach his, ripping a way out from inside my blood cells.
Whatever Kurosaki was he seemed to know what he was doing and could obviously handle himself well so I fought with all my might to not worry about that… or to distract him by shouting out. He had a super large sword…
My lungs closed up… and then opened again.
I needed to get out of here before I imploded. It really did feel as though I was going to blow up. Like an exaggerated version of how I felt when I fainted in the vestibule of Chiyu's Onsen. And I didn't want to put Kurosaki in the crossfire of any kind of danger from myself.
While he was preoccupied; it looked like he was currently oblivious to my presence anyway, I forced myself into a crawl/roll to the door or rather the hole leading to the back of the haunted house. It was supremely difficult; my body chose now of all times to seize up. I bit back screams as my bones cracked with my every move.
Something inside me was changing… fighting for transformation
The build up of subsequent energy was far more than my body could handle. And Kurosaki's power was fuelling it. It wouldn't stop…
"…S-stop… please s-top…"
I just wish I could move my eyes off him; I felt hypnotised. They must be melting by now…
The blood in my veins felt like liquid fire.
I watched as his head turned to the right whilst dodging a blow from white dude number four or five.
"Rukia what the hell's going on? Why are there so many?" The noise surrounding us from the fighting was loud and chaotic.
A lithe figure landed near him from the roof and shouted back.
"They were drawn here by something! Ichi-"
The girl dodged as a large claw swiped at her.
Kurosaki sliced and diced it.
When he landed I swear I caught a glimpse of him looking around. I missed whatever he did next as I rounded the corner of the hole.
"Rukia, where's Mai? She was right there!"
That's when the first explosion happened. A colourless wave blasted out of me and everything within a five metre radius was flung back. Negligently I saw a trash can fly into the air; litter spreading everywhere. But it wasn't enough yet I realised…
Another was building even stronger than the last and it exploded out of me mere seconds after the first. The large house creaked and whined; the force was weakening the infrastructure.
"…mnf… g-god… I…" With gritted teeth I managed to roll again… one last massive roll that kept me going to around the corner of the crumbling house were I finally came to a stop. It was all I could do as power; this time equalling the obvious powerhouse that is Kurosaki, began to tear its way out from inside me.
"Hey did you feel that just now?"
Absolute tidal wave of pure force erupted from me silencing the male voice inside the house and eradicating the west side of the building. I figured by now that the energy was like a physical force. The event caused a chain reaction as each room collapsed one by one to the ground in loud bangs. Some debris fell on me too. Nothing could be seen in the resulting dust cloud but everything could be heard.
"Jesus! What was that?"
"Ichigo we need to move NOW!"
"But that blast… and Mai, we need to find Mai!"
"I KNOW! BUT CAN'T YOU FEEL IT? It's coming again stronger this time!"
Oh she was definitely right about that…
"Whatever it is we have to move! Fast! Before were killed!"
"Alright already!"
I felt like I couldn't breathe. The final surge was coming… And it was killing me. I was lying there contorted and shaking violently, drenched in a cold sweat. My eyes wide and shocked, it wouldn't be long before I couldn't hold back the scream of agony that was threatening to break through my locked jaw.
I had just a few seconds to process everything. But I realised something before I nuked…
…I'd felt like this once before.
My body convulsed and the scream I'd bottled tore through my lips. I felt like each and every cell in my body had been stretched and their integrity altered. Bright light burst out from my core, from everywhere; even my mouth and eyes.
The remaining pieces of the haunted house were completely obliterated and the few stalls close by were blasted to the other end of the fair yard; rendered forever useless. One good piece of luck was that there had been no people close to me… but I couldn't think… there was only pain… and all I could see was white.
It ended in a fifty metre wide crater; though it wasn't very deep.
The shockwave however had reached the outskirts of the fairground disabling rides and electricity circuits shrouding the fair in the natural light of the night.
And then there was silence.
…
Everything was indiscernible. A blur of smoke and dust hovered over the area.
The entirety of my being was completely exhausted. Shouts started in the distance and I knew that bedlam would soon ensue. But it didn't occur to me to care or move or to say a word. My thought process had shut down and all I wanted to do was fade away…
As I started to fall into darkness I heard the gentle tap of wooden clogs across turned soil… and a cool hand brushed the hair off my forehead… and said everything would be fine.
I prayed the voice was right.
A little While Later
"How was I supposed to know the whole thing would cave down on us?"
"If you had taken just one second to think Ichigo, like I told you to, none of this would have happened!"
"AH! So what are you saying? That this is my fault?"
"You went ahead of me like an idiot! THE SHOE FITS!"
"Wah! –YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOLD US TO RUN AWAY!"
"WHAT, DID YOU WANT TO GET CAUGHT UP IN THAT?"
Rukia pointed her dainty index finger sharply across the field at the blast zone.
Heh… blast radius. It had felt somewhat like a bomb, except one that hadn't harmed a soul… literally.
He gritted his teeth. "Look Rukia, obviously I didn't want to get caught in that… so instead we just thought of the shamefully brilliant plan to RUN AWAY AND LEAVE MAI IN THERE ALONE?"
"WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF SHE WAS THERE ICHIGO!" Rukia shouted back.
"BUT SHE COULD HAVE BEEN RUKIA!" The words rang out over the field.
His heated eyes softened as he quieted. "…She was close when… whatever that was went off… and we just left her there. She could be hurt and we can't even find her." He laughed humourlessly at himself. "Some guardian I turned out to be."
Rukia watched as he turned to stare in the direction of the previously standing haunted house. Her eyes rounded with compassion at his words. "Ichigo… this wasn't your fault." They may argue 90% of the time but… even she could see the hero hidden under layers of adolescent baggage.
Before he could think of the perfect rebuttal he heard a groan from the floor behind him. There, lying prone on the soft grass were his friends; Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo. A hollow had managed to batter them away from the Haunted House and unusually enough completely ignore them afterwards.
Rukia sighed and walked over to the trio. She'd already administered the Memory Chikan; they were just a little bruised, Keigo muttering in his sleep as per usual.
Ichigo's eyes didn't stray from the southern area of the field. Police sirens could be heard from a few blocks away and he wondered briefly if something else had happened during all the chaos.
It wasn't as if any of this was his fault or Rukia's but…
He'd let Rukia drag him away from there.
When the astounding sight had blown over they'd rushed back to find Mai but she was nowhere in sight. He couldn't sense her anywhere near the field. Almost immediately afterwards they'd started to argue as they looked over the rest of his friends.
It had left him with a hell of a lot of questions and one huge insight.
Why the hell had she been there, alone in the first place?
He'd seen her briefly amidst the bedlam in the House; she'd been too busy shifting rubble away from her legs to notice him; if she could see him at all that is. He desperately wanted to test that theory; he could have sworn she glanced at him.
But the moment his back had turned he'd been swamped by Hollows to the left and to the right of him. And he'd lost sight of his friend.
She hadn't been killed in the blast. Hurt possibly, but definitely not dead. He knew that… he knew it because…
…Because he was almost completely certain that it had something to do with Mai anyway.
It had… felt like her.
Even now he couldn't contemplate on it or spend his time worrying incessantly; he couldn't look for her at all… because there were still Hollows roaming free around the site. Funnily enough they hadn't stepped close to the area since the explosion and Ichigo hadn't been able to find the little ghost girl Sen either. The parameter around the site felt charged.
"Ichigo, come on, there's more of them up ahead!"
His eyes closed briefly in frustration and he turned away from the scene of the wreckage. He definitely wasn't getting any sleep tonight.
Mai
I've been unconscious before in my life but this was different. It was… a little strange. Unlike normal sleep I didn't feel like I was rejuvenating. I felt like I was in some kind of stasis; pulled into an area of existence that was completely… in-between.
I was dead to the world but in a part of my being; deep in my core I was awake. Observing… I didn't know where I was but I was somewhere. I didn't understand my surroundings.
But I was there. In the void surrounded by… life. And death. And eternity. Creation and existence. Knowledge. Here you weren't alone but without understanding there was only darkness.
In the black I stayed buried.
But after a time, which could have been a lifetime for all I knew – time didn't exist here; at least not in the way we know it to - something began to change.
The black started to vibrate; ripples rolled through the spacearound me.
The vibrations turned violent and seemed to escalate before I was hit hard by an image that rammed into focus for a second before dissipating. A second one hit right after the first… and then a third, a fourth, a fifth; faster and faster they hit me, over and over; some all at once! Dozens of them! They were in black and white as though my brain had trouble filtering the information.
They told a story. I was given a peak into an old age war and new aged threat.
The final image was clearest and it stood perfectly still. I could feel the resounding white noise all around me… smell the cries that scorched the air…I could see the stench of destruction and hear each touch of skin on stone and heated metal…
…There were pillars… and gates… symbols and realms, pathways created from choices…
Blood in fire… earth and air tilted…
White turned to black, black to white…
All turned to chaos.
And there was the crack, like a fissure in the fabric of space and time concealed behind this field of war… drenched in blood and reaching for a voice.
…Wake up Mai…
The image flashed and flickered before it collapsed in on itself.
And the details of the image were ripped away from me.
…Wake up…
I could feel heat. My body was warm and I could vaguely feel fabric covering me.
…You need to wake up…
My consciousness was streaming back all at once. My fingers jerked.
…It has already begun…
I was back in my body. Awareness flooded my system; every single cell felt awake and alive.
My eyes snapped open and for the second time looked up at a ceiling I didn't recognise. I tried to get up but my body felt so sore. I ached. Why did I ache? I felt like I'd been on a run… the kind you go on the night before when you're not used to running and then the next day your legs feel like lead weights – lead weights on fire. Well that was how every muscle in my body felt.
Where was I?
My conscious self flooded with memories of the night's escapade. I'd nuked myself… accidentally of course… well it wasn't on purpose!
I'd had no control over anything last night; it had been completely out of my hands. That explained the soreness I suppose. Taking a breath I could feel my body; it was whole and quite well considering I thought I'd involuntarily ripped myself apart.
At the very least my vision was no longer a fuzzy variation of various different auras. For the first time in about two weeks my mind felt almost unbearably… clear and… right.
"Well if it isn't sleeping beauty!"
"GAH, WHAT THE…?"
He'd just appeared to my left; beyond him an open door. I must have been really out of it if I didn't notice him. He was three inches from my left earlobe.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you!" Sure he didn't. He looked quite amused.
I took a good, wide eyed look at him as he moved from beside me to sit a few feet in front of me. He wore a green kimono like outfit: green pants and a green kimono wrap loosely tied to see his collarbone. He was pretty well built. He also wore a green and white stripped hat, low over his eyes casting shadows and clogs that he seemed pretty used to wearing. His overall demeanour was relaxed giving the outward appearance of complete and total calm.
Appearances are deceptive however.
He sat there staring at me, looking me over as if he were searching for something. Then his eyes came back to my face.
"You've had quite the surprising night. Did you sleep well?"
Why was I here? …I don't think he's a doctor. And he asked the question in such a manner as to imply that I'd suffered through a small accident instead of what had actually happened; that I'd exploded. He must have known what had truly happened…
And yet he just sat there, or rather leaned back on his hind legs dangling what looked like an unfurled fan between his fingers. I remembered that he'd asked a question and was waiting with the patience of a saint for my reply. He probably figured how discombobulated I was.
"Er… I… uh, slept like a rock actually." My quiet reply. "Who are you? And… where am I?"
It hit me that I should have felt vulnerable being with a total stranger but… I wasn't.
This man would not hurt me. I didn't even know what he was like or anything; he could have been anybody. But there was no hostility in him (at least at the moment) or in his aura.
My eyes were trying to adjust to the pressure of stronger energy; his aura was… incredible. I couldn't really see it and it looked to be covered but its nature was just…
He smiled. "My apologies! I should have introduced myself first! I was just a little sidetracked a-hem…"
He unfurled his fan and used it cover half his face… why I don't know.
"My name is Kisuke Urahara and this is my shop you're currently holed up in! I found your school ID in your purse by the way. Mai Li… nice to meet you." He said cheerfully.
If he'd added the word 'finally' to the end of that sentence it wouldn't have felt out of place.
I was in his shop?
Another night or morning where I've woken up in a stranger's home. I felt a pattern emerging.
I vaguely wondered what kind of shop this guy had when he lost all frivolity to his voice and said, eyes shadowed but calm. "You were pretty exhausted when we found you last night… Do you remember?"
The memory of a hand brushing my forehead and a gentle voice reassuring me that everything was fine.
Oh, that was him?
So he had seen me last night.
For a moment I wondered why he wasn't handing me into the police or something equally as dramatic. Last night he'd been kind. From what I could recall before the blackness hit understanding had rolled off of him in emission.
Even now I could tell he didn't see me as a threat and rather than it being a hit to my pride it made me feel safe. But why had he moved me, probably before anybody had seen me through the dust cloud. Just who is this guy?
…Whoa, I'd blown up… scary thought. Now that it was over I no longer felt so sandwiched between emotions and physical feelings like I had been these past few weeks.
I put a great deal of effort in trying to sit up, Christ it hurt. Urahara's hand was reached out to help but I shook my head giving a small smile. His hand fell down and he went back to watching me, still patient and… observant? No he wasn't an enemy.
But he was curious. Insanely so.
He'd taken me from the ruins of my accident and taken care of me. He'd been kind. But… why?
There was no suspicion and he could easily do… anything to me. I mentioned his aura before well, Urahara's was extremely powerful, hugely intimidating, and abnormally sharp.
Like a blade.
It was massively controlled as well.
But I couldn't feel a thing from it.
No human I'd ever met possessed that kind of skill.
I looked him up and down. "You… you saw everything?"
"Every second." His smile widened, "It was an impressive display."
"You were impressed by my loss of control?" I frowned.
"More like your level of power. Pretty high for a 16 year old school girl."
…Level of power huh? Never had one before today. Was he referring to that glowing greenish energy that covered me? And what did he know about power levels? I had the feeling the boundaries of knowledge in this guy was endless.
I exhaled and nodded somewhat queasily. "Trust me the experience was completely new for me."
He nodded back in understanding. "I know. That was why you had no control… you awoke yourself last night." He was being serious but his eyes were shining.
"Eh?"
He grinned. "To fully awaken one you have to be prepared for exposure to the universe. It can pack quite a punch."
I lifted an eyebrow. Is that how he described my screw up? That I awoke?
"Why did you bring me here?"
"To heal you."
He'd healed me? I didn't look under the covers but my leg really did feel fine. My shoulder too.
Urahara was still staring at me. Like if he stared hard enough he could figure the mysteries of life.
"What is it?" I asked tentatively.
He jumped as if he didn't realise I'd caught him staring "Nothing! Nothing really. It's just that…" His head tilted sideways. "You're human."
I raised my eyebrows feeling a tiny bit fragile. "Why is that such a shock?"
He shook his head "It isn't." He sat down properly to get comfortable. He tapped his chin with his fan, eyes on the ceiling. "Hmmm, how to explain properly…"
He deliberated for a moment before looking back to me.
"Humans exist on the foundation of three things: mind, body and soul each split up into their own elements. Now normally this is the part were I'd lie but I'd say were way past that. So here goes…"
"Souls or spirits can exist outside the body if a human's soul is high in reitsu er, spiritual power and intensity." He added at my confusion. "And when it is, it can display inordinate amounts of skill and awareness. They could even have powers!" He ended enthusiastically.
This wasn't exactly new information. I see ghosts and other apparitions all the time. And then there was Kurosaki and what I saw last night… after that front row seat I completely believed the possibility of souls existing independently outside of their living issue.
"Sometimes however the physical side is where the power lies, in the blood, the bone and a person's chi… even if it is rare."
I nodded in understanding.
Urahara waved his fan frivolously. "There are forces at work in this world separate from human knowledge and perception and yet tied to humans irrevocably. Forces that, now after what happened last night, you will be unable to avoid."
Oh… good news I see.
"Forces that bring order to a chaotic world? And what has this got to do with your surprise at my being a human? You say that like your not one by the way." I finished shrewdly.
His lips quirked, "Perceptive aren't we." Then he sighed.
He held up a single finger. "Just ONE example of the forces I hinted at would be the existence of… soul reapers." At this Kurosaki's image came back into my mind and I remembered what he looked like last night: black kimono, sword as long as he was tall, sandals; he looked a little older dressed like this than he did in his school uniform.
"Their existence involves the balance of spirits in the human world and the protection of souls against hollows. Ah, I see a hint of recollection in your eyes." He pointed his fan at me.
I sighed. "Kurosaki…" I whispered.
He scratched his chin again, "Yes, that would be Karakura town's very own substitute soul reaper; has been for over a week now." He peered at me from under the folds of his hat. "You saw him last night?"
I fidgeted with my fingers "I saw him before I…" I made a few hand gestures sheepishly. "…Blew up." I finished feebly.
His voice turned curious. "Really? What happened?"
My shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I looked at him… and I came to pieces." I said in a self deprecating fashion.
"Scary huh?" He said matter of fact like.
I nodded. Understatement of the century.
"Well this ties in nicely with the second point then," he held up finger number two, "I took a small sample of your DNA… along with a sample of that energy you so usefully blasted into the atmosphere."
He waited as I downloaded that information. He took some of my blood… the very thing I'd warned Kurosaki to never do… Why would he want a blood sample from me in the first place?
I stared at him seriously. "You took some of my blood? Without permission?"
"I think you fail to grasp just how serious your condition was when I brought you here last night." He said wryly "The blood sample will take some time to analyse but I can tell you something about your unusual energy."
He took a second's pause for dramatic effect.
"It's …different." How agonizingly vague.
"…It's unlike anything I've ever seen." He sounded uncomfortably awed. "And you were born this way, no bioengineering involved nor were you subjected for long periods of time to large amounts of spiritual pressure. Your power, it comes from deep within you. It's something I don't think anyone could ever truly analyse; both your physical self and you spiritual self… and yet at the same time it's neither. "
I began a slow frown wondering why he was talking about me as if I were the scientific discovery of the century.
He pointed at me. "You, a human have power… lots of it. You know that last night was just the beginning, right? Bodily too, from what I can see you'll become stronger, faster; your body must react to danger allowing for change and development…"
He let himself trail off and was quiet for a moment then looked at me directly.
"You're brand new Mai Li, unique… Super."
He'd stupefied me into silence. Wait… super? …What did that even mean? I could remember last night and what Seigi told me… How I'd reacted to the yokai. But…
A little extreme don't you think? I think my brain might just shut down.
"I'm stronger now?" I asked rhetorically, barely a whisper.
"You should drink your water; I can imagine you're quite thirsty after being so drained." I looked to my right slowly and saw a large glass of clear, cold water that I had missed next to the futon I was lying on. The sight of the liquid seemed to activate a dry spell in my throat and I quickly drank it down. Maybe the water would help me think.
Wait a minute… Yokai…
"I already know about the Yokai." He said simply.
I raised my eyebrows, did he read minds too?
"No I don't read minds it's just an obvious next step topic wise." He twirled his fan in the air and then fanned his face again. "It's a problem that's been popping up more and more the past few weeks, well them and the hollows…"
"And Hollows are… souls? Gone bad?" I guessed.
He shook his head. "You're half right. Hollows are ghosts that lose their final links to humanity."
I frowned softly. "Why are they constantly ravenous?"
He smiled dryly. "They aren't hungry. They covet and crave what they have lost. They feed in an effort to gain back their hearts, to bury the missing piece of themselves under other souls."
I waited for a minute before speaking again almost inaudibly. "How sad."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Most wouldn't refer to them as creatures worthy of sympathy, especially after witnessing what you have…"
I shrugged self consciously. "It's still sad. So soul reapers… cleanse hollows? And that's what Kurosaki does?"
He nodded. "So you know Ichigo?"
I did a jerky head bob. "We're kind of friends…"
He started fanning himself as he watched me.
"I have to ask… why did you save me. Why are you helping me?" I asked quietly. "And why tell me all this?"
He shut his fan with a snap. "Because you needed it. And because… I'm intrigued."
His smile lessened slightly but didn't leave; rather it became a little awkward.
"I was in awe… I was already in the area and… why not?" He shrugged. "Also I realised how much pain you must have been in and I felt sympathy. You're still young after all."
Well it was better than pity. He was a scientist with secrets.
I nodded slowly. At least he answered the question, in a roundabout fashion.
Then I blinked. "Wait, what time is it?"
"It's just after 6:00 in the morning." He said nonchalant.
"What?" I yelped.
I bounced up… then fell back down groaning. My body hated me today. I hadn't been home all night! Jihi and Chiyu are probably having fits by now and I still had information to retain. So much had happened last night, this Urahara guy had the answers and I, well… I was in way over my head.
"Oh and your phone's been going off all night." Urahara pointed towards my bag.
"Right… I'll look at it later. Thanks." I said distractedly.
When I was finally able to stand I realised something was… different.
I looked down at myself.
"Urahara?"
"Mmm?"
"Whose clothes are these… and how did I get into them?"
"…Oh weeell, you see you were a mess last night so-
"You said you examined me. Was I naked by any chance?" I asked passively.
"Nooooooooo, of course no-OW!"
It had been a pure motor reaction. I threw the pillow at him then kicked him in the face were the pillow had landed. He rolled on the floor fake tears drizzling down his face. MY face was as bright as the surface of the sun! I'd been seen naked, for the FIRST TIME by… this guy. The last ten hours had not been kind to my poor soul.
No matter how shy I may or may not be this went too far. "These clothes are yours I take it?" I hissed, still bright red and trying not to hide my face and run away.
He crawled back up, looking like a scorned puppy; he probably didn't even give a rat's ass that he'd seen me naked but he played the part of the shamed older man well. Unbelievable. One hand on the side of his face where I'd kicked him, he looked miserable.
"…We keep old clothes just in case something like this happens… that really hurt by the way." He was whining now; maybe the tears had been real. "You do realise that you're stronger than the average human right? That kicking me in the face could have ended in, say, a broken bone on my part, right? You've probably never had a sick day in your life… right?"
He was right, I haven't.
Why did all this have to happen now? Why did I suddenly have to 'wake up' now?
I swallowed the embarrassment of my recent nudity.
"I'm going to sprint home; and I'm taking your clothes by the way, but first…" I paused for a moment as my words took form. "Did Kurosaki's er, what did you call it, spiritual energy… wake me up? Is that why it was so painful?"
He sat straight up for a minute, false misery gone. "I'd say it was more of a stimulus. From what I could see; from my perch in the trees, (…what?) it didn't instigate the change but it did speed it up at an alarming rate." He uncrossed his legs. "You obviously react strongly to energy and for having it blocked like you did, for as long as I think you did, Ichigo's reitsu was just the catalyst needed for awakening to ABSOLUTE POWER!"
He struck a He-Man pose and stayed that way whilst sitting… I sweat dropped.
"Okay… so I'm going to go… but I'll be back." There was still so much I didn't understand and he had all the answers.
He snapped out of the pose. "Of course you will! But you need to get back to school." He tone turned serious for a moment. "Do me a favour; keep as quiet about all of this as possible. I'll tell you my reasoning later and here-"
He gave me a bottle with a skull and crossbones on it. Nice…
"Take one every hour otherwise the pain in your body will only increase. Your cells were flooded with energy before you went unconscious and you weren't out for as long as I thought you would be. Come see me after school ends; we'll talk more"
I raised my eyebrows. "…Why thank you Yoda." I said gratefully.
That actually made him smile; a HUGE smile. Obviously he was a Star Wars fan…
"I have a question for you too." He muttered before I left. "One that we should both be able to answer in due time." His look turned into soft appreciation. "Who are you Mai?"
I didn't have a clue as to how to respond to that.
He shouted out to me as I bombed out the door leading to outside the (I saw over my shoulders) Urahara Shouten – hah, a sweet shop oh the irony, his voice quietening the further I ran.
"Good Luck! And remember to watch your speed. Don't loose control, wipe yourself out and eat a BIG breakfast. Your body's changed and people can see you, you aren't invisible blah blah…and don't be upset about me seeing you naked… for a teenager your 'bod' is pretty decent… and I've seen LOTS believe me!"
My cheeks didn't stop blushing until I was around the corner and out of earshot.
Moron.
I shouldn't have, not really, but the moment my feet had hit the pavement I'd felt the irresistible urge to run flat out.
And the results were both exciting and astonishing.
Normally, a walk from Urahara's to mine would take almost as long as it would take me to walk to school depending on my speed.
During my controlled run I had cut that time down to almost a third of it. I had done as Urahara instructed and had watched my speed but Jesus was there a difference!
Feeling the earth beneath my shoe covered feet and the wind in my face I felt completely and undeniably awake. And connected inexplicably to everything.
I had always been a decent runner; never a sprinter like Ryo Kuneida but I could easily hold my own in a long distance race and keep going long after everyone else. But now…
I could still do that; only now I could that at speed.
Actually there wasn't really that much of a change. It had more to do with my stamina level; it had flown through the roof along an obvious increase in muscle integrity/density.
A well of energy that had been building up within me was now pouring through my veins.
My breath had only started to come quickly about half way to my home and that was probably because my body still ached. I had taken one of the pills given to me by Urahara however and the run had loosened me up nicely.
Another fun fact?
I could jump higher too.
During my sprint I'd taken a short cut and almost ran right into a cart of fruit and vegetables, the owner preparing for early morning shopping. I was forced to jump right over it. Almost ix foot in height, ten feet in length…
And I had done it free-runner style.
I'd gripped the edges of the cart in front of me. Moving faster than I have ever ran before I pushed my body through the gap my two arms created using them as leverage giving strength to the jump. Feet tucked into my body I leapt high. When I landed I continued running as though nothing had happened leaving behind a stunned middle aged man, mouth open beside the cart.
It had felt unbelievable.
I could have laughed hysterically.
Overnight, quite literally, I'd become the fittest person in school and I had a feeling it wouldn't stop there.
It was a little scary to be honest.
And I'd wiped myself out. Stupid of me I know but it had been truly wonderful.
I clung to the door of the Onsen; out of breath.
Crossing my fingers I placed one hesitant step before the other. No one stopped me, no worried Chiyu or giddy Jihi. I had a vision of Pei sitting outside waiting all night for me to come home so that I could be interrogated.
I crept up the stairs to my room and walked straight into the shower.
What could I say to Jihi and Chiyu? Should I even say anything?
Nothing felt quite real yet.
I stood under hot water for 20 minutes. That helped the aches and pains. I leaned under the shower head and bent my head forward so the water could hit my back. This is when I noticed the bruises.
A spread of blacks, blues and yellow circles on my thighs, arms and shoulders. My knuckles were red and sore and I received a brutal flash back from the night's events. I'd hammered yokai into walls… I'd done so without pause. Where were the scratches on my arms from their claws? The bruises replaced them…
I scrubbed my hands extra hard.
I may be proficient and able when it comes to self defence but… not like this. I knew I was capable of differing levels of physical aggression given my past escapades and yet this… my viciousness troubled me.
Urahara had referred to the yokai as he would a statistic: but for me they were now flesh and blood nightmares that made me wonder about strange things like fate and… intrigue.
I should forget about it for a while.
But what about my conscience? Did I feel guilty… about destroying man-eating creatures?
No. No I didn't.
It had been necessary. They were going to kill me. I knew without thought that they were vile abnormalities that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
They didn't belong to this world; even if they were humanoid they were not supposed to be here.
With a towel wrapped around my form I stepped out of the shower and made my way over to the fogged mirror. It took me a moment to realise why I was frowning.
I lifted a mortified hand up to my mouth. Oh no…
Urahara had seen my tattoo.
Yes, I had a large ouraborous like tattoo covering part of my upper back between my shoulder blades.
The dark circle was unified by several dark strands of black… vines? Thorns?
I still didn't know what it truly was or what it meant… because I'd had it for as long as I could remember.
And Urahara had seen it during his close up examination of my body. He was probably going to think I was interested in that kind of thing.
I placed my forehead on the palm of my hand and sighed. Why that bothered me when the guy had seen me naked… Oh man, I had to just go to that place didn't I?
I gave a pathetic whine before I picked up a comb.
A long while later (my hair took time to tame) I descended the stairs and, unfortunately, bumped into Pei on my way…in her florescent pj's… yeah. A gift from Jihi no doubt.
Her eyes widened before she started grinning with mischief. "Whoa, look who didn't come home all night!" Her eyebrows did a playful kind of jiggle with a suggestive expression loading her features.
…Crap.
"Seriously Mai, what happened? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Please tell me!" She practically bounced on the spot.
I raised my hands in an attempt to pacify. "Pei, nothing happened really… a simple mistake, that's it. I swear…" She waited with impatience as I tried to find a reasonable excuse and failed pathetically. "…I fell asleep. With some friends. At the fair. We were talking until late and we just… feel… asleep?" It came out more like a question then anything.
"Were there any boys with you?" She pounced suddenly.
Not seeing the logic behind it I frowned and answered truthfully. "Yes, of course there-"
"MOM! DAD! MAI SPENT THE NIGHT WITH BOYS!"
She dashed downstairs before I could do a thing yelling on top pitch.
After a minute I unfroze and followed with an eyebrow twitch.
By the time I'd gotten to the main room Pei had practically divulged a twisted story of teenage angst, about some sort of night time, nefarious ritual drama.
Chiyu and Jihi were sat rigid at the breakfast bar as she went on. "…and there were three of them. Boys! And then they expected her to-"
My forehead throbbed. "Pei, STOP IT ALREADY!"
She stuck her tongue out. "Fine! …Party pooper."
I sighed and slouched on over to my guardians. I smiled meekly at them trying to ignore their rigid stares. "M-morning Jihi… Chiyu…"
Chiyu's middle finger tapped sternly on the surface top. "…Morning." She austerely.
I gulped.
"Have a nice time last night…Mai?" Jihi said dangerously quiet.
I actually began to sweat. "Y-yeah… s-sorry about not coming back in time, I…" I swallowed and shook myself. This was silly. Yes I'd worried them but I was fine and sensible and they shouldn't worry about me so much especially since they know I'm more than capable. I would never deliberately put them through any kind of anxiety.
I turned to face them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you but I'm fine. And I had a good night; my friends and I ended up talking for hours and we fell asleep on the crates outside of the fair. All in all a good night I'd say."
I went to pour coffee.
Silence rained for a moment before I heard Chiyu sigh. "I was worried you'd have a bad time being on your own and all and I wanted to make sure you were fine when you came home." She said simply. Well that clears it. Chiyu rocks.
I smiled at her and said, "Well I was fine and am fine, but thanks for worrying. And I'm sorry. Though in future I wouldn't advise waiting up for me; I'm pretty unpredictable."
She smiled back, "I know." She tousled my hair then walked off to get more coffee.
Jihi was still sat on his stool however, and was staring at me; his gaze giving me a thorough once over and a small frown gathered above his brow. He looked… concerned about something.
"What's wrong Jihi?" I asked quietly.
He didn't anything for a moment.
"Are you sure nothing happened last night?"
I frowned softly and nodded. "Mmm hmm… why?"
He laced his fingers together. "…You look different honey." He said kindly but not without substance.
I blinked and just watched him. Chiyu I saw turned her head to look at him too. It took me a minute to realise that he was right.
I did look different and I hadn't expected anyone to notice. I was completely healed for one thing and for another I looked fresh and bright; my eyes were more vivid than ever. And all my senses were so high… sharp in contrast to how they were a few days ago.
Chiyu transferred her stare from her husband to me after a moment. It didn't take long for her to come to the same conclusion as Jihi.
I looked back at Jihi and shrugged. "I had a good time."
His eyes focused in on me and I felt exposed. He wasn't irritated or anything but it was like he knew I was lying. But he didn't push me, he just smiled.
"You know, you can talk to me Mai… anytime… about anything, alright." He looked at me pointedly.
I nodded slowly. "I know Jihi."
He got up off his seat with a grunt and messed up my hair like Chiyu had as he passed me. "Just remember that." He whispered.
But could I? Really?
Could I tell him about the recurring dreams, about the Hollows and Yokai? I knew that both he and my aunt knew much more than I thought but I wasn't ready to confide in them… at least not until I understood more about myself.
Besides the idea of conveying the truth to them was incredibly embarrassing.
Pei nudged me a little while later after Jihi had returned to his normal moronic self.
"So Mai, details." She giggled.
"Pei, there really was nothing to report…" I started but she stopped me.
She gave me a morose glare. "Mai I'm dying here…" Then she sighed mournfully. "I didn't think I'd have to do this but you leave me no choice… here comes the look."
Her dark eyes rounded turning to gems in an exaggerated puppy dog fashion. She looked up at me from underneath a curtain of well cared for black hair and pretty lashes and I sighed. Oh well…
I ended up describing my friends to her. Having gotten the wrong end of the stick with what Jihi had said she'd figured I'd gone and done something somewhat promiscuous to instigate the sudden change in my appearance. She begged me to describe Kurosaki who she immediately figured to be a 'hottie' and then she'd gone on to explain to me about how both Orihime and Kuchiki (just from their descriptions alone) would be vying for Kurosaki's affection… simple, because they were opposites.
Somehow it ended up turning into some sort of Walt Disney tale so I left her in the kitchen to stew over her fantasy world in peace. Chiyu had her rota planned for today anyway and before Pei could object had forced her to wash up and meet her in the Onsen reception area. That's when Pei decided to give a full and complete account of what I'd told her about my night. Immediately Chiyu was enraptured.
Heading back upstairs to get my bag I felt a little… odd.
I needed to be outside again.
I ran down stairs, keys in hand again; ready for school. I walked back to the kitchen where Pei was still cavorting on and grabbed an apple.
"…And latest in, the reports confirm that the body of missing student Seigi Aseiga has indeed been found. After several days of searching he was discovered at a travelling fairground in the early hours of the morning this day…"
The TV continued to drone on and I saw Jihi shake his head sadly at the picture of Seigi. I felt my chest constrict at the sight.
They found his body… because of me. Had it been further mutilated by my energy explosion? After I'd rammed his possessed face into a wall?
Had I helped him at all?
Was he, the ghost alright? Had he disappeared or had Kurosaki taken care of the situation?
"Mai, are you o.k.?"
Jihi's large hand gently grasped my shoulder as he peered at the anxiety climbing into my expression.
I exhaled and tried to smile. "I just…" I gestured towards the television. "…I talked to him."
He smiled in sympathy. "It can be hard to hear about the death of someone your own age…"
I shook my head. "No Jihi…" He didn't understand. I waked away from his confused glance and said over my shoulder. "…I talked to him last night."
I didn't stay to see what he made of that.
Urahara Shoten
Well, well, well how… unexpected.
It hadn't exactly been difficult to find her.
For weeks now she'd been a bright light swimming through an ocean of life… and now finally, those that preyed on such untapped energy had started to take notice of her, which meant that she would have to be doubly careful.
Her arrival had been an unusually perfect coincidence; she had come at precisely the right time.
Kisuke Urahara leaned casually against the sliding door to the front of the Shouten, the sun hitting his face as he recollected about the previous night.
He hadn't expected anything out of the ordinary to occur, at least not then.
Sending Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu to circle the fair and exterminate the gathering of hollows, he'd kept out of sight in the trees beside the area just in case he was needed elsewhere, which he didn't think he would be… they were just a pack of Hollows…
But if the Yokai turned up… they'd be in troubled even with Kisuke Urahara by their sides.
…That's when he felt it.
It was like a pull.
The atmosphere became suddenly dense and had pulled back, like an intake of breath, to the far side of the park. To anyone else it would have felt like nothing more than an errant wind but to someone experienced in the tell tail signs of energy accumulation, transmission, and transference; it was something a kin to a drowning sensation.
Everyone else was safe but someone else was drowning in their own power.
Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki were over there too.
He hadn't had the unique pleasure of meeting Ichigo Kurosaki face to face yet… he would have to be careful… Which isn't saying much since he pretty much wrote the book on capability and was more than adept at stealth… thank you Yoruichi.
Beguiled, he flashed trough the trees ending just 20 metres, give or take, away from the so-called haunted house. Wasn't much of a house anymore though, the hollows had taken care of that and Ichigo was taking care of them.
He left that thought alone though and watched as a weakly retreating figure crawled out of the back of the house… and almost knock him down… without even touching him.
To Urahara he felt like he'd been hit in the chest by a blast of wind as heavy as a truck. He'd been too lax in his approximation of the situation.
Seeking protection behind a tree he peaked out to watch the girl. So she was here after all. He'd been so sure he'd felt her presence, that same signature she'd displayed during her arrival in Karakura…
It looked like she was indeed having some trouble with said energy.
Interesting.
She was suffering, in pain and was trying so admirably to control the uncontrollable. She also looked scared. He took that as a sign of her inexperience. Another wave broke out of her and his eyes actually widened.
…My God.
It was visible. He could actually see it. And so could other, normal people who were running and shouting in the opposite direction. The girl was going through some kind of transmogrification and there was nothing anybody could do to stop it. He'd seen similar things happen during laboratory controlled sessions in the past; when people activated their powers, but never to such an intense degree.
This feeling though… Urahara had sensed this somewhere before…
And He braced himself for what he knew was about to happen.
Before it did he witnessed Rukia drag a nettled Ichigo away from the fallen building. Ichigo really was dim when it came to his powers of observation regarding energy; his own was so massive it was difficult for him to sense the surrounding energies of others.
Grinning almost imperceptivity to himself, his eyes never leaving the girl; he saw her body curl in on itself before she let loose and erupted.
Bright light spurted out of her eyes, mouth, and emitted brightest from her chest. He had one second to marvel at the sight before taking cover behind a tree when the colossal shockwave hit…
And found that he actually had to move farther into the trees to keep from being crushed by them. He hadn't expected the raw energy of the explosion. He held onto the hat on his head with his hands, clothes rippling in the repercussion of the outburst. Said explosion spread to about fifty metres in all directions from where she lay destroying and blasting away carts and vendors. The remains of the haunted house no longer existed. Just bits here and there.
The resounding shockwave however spread throughout the park, knocking the wind out of the civilians.
Thinking about it now, there are only two people in his life so far who could have accidentally displayed such raw power. One was currently retired… for the moment… and the other was shielding himself behind a rollercoaster arguing with Rukia Kuchiki.
Silence covered the area (apart from the arguing, invisible shinigami - idiots).
He moved quickly to just within the blast zone, the ground overturned and slightly charred. Then he moved to a slow, measured pace towards the girl, the dust coloured air covered his form from prying eyes.
He observed her as he walked closer, taking in everything, not underestimating the possibility of danger. Not that there would be. This girl meant no harm to anyone.
A pleasure to finally meet you Mai Li.
First year high school student.
She could see, touch, feel, locate and talk to ghosts.
She was glowing slightly… like the resounding radiation after a nuclear bomb.
Her body trembled and she was covered in a cold seat, barely enough energy to lift the lids of her eyes. He could also see that her clothes were shredded and there was blood on her hands and arms.
She'd been through the mill tonight.
He could sense something else, the residual… smell and presence of…
Yokai!
She'd fought with Yokai… And had escaped, had survived. This was easy to tell.
Yokai don't leave victims alive.
Somehow it didn't come as much of a surprise.
Looking down at her form sympathy swelled within him. She was far from a normal teenage girl but she'd had a rough night and unfortunately for her, it wouldn't be the last. Her case resembled Ichigo's but with a rather massive twist… Secrets, secrets…
Crouching down he brushed the hair stuck to her forehead away and murmured words of safety.
"It's alright. Everything is going to be fine now." She fell into unconsciousness.
He needed to examine her. For weeks he'd wanted an introduction with her and now was the perfect opportunity. He needed to be absolutely certain that she was who he believed her to possibly be. Until then she was an unspecified subject. He also had to get her away from the area before anyone else arrived.
The game had changed. There was a new player on the board and the game was so much more complex than even he had believed it to be.
And now, this morning…
He'd told her the truth. She was a more than human but… there was so much more to her than that and he was somewhat apprehensive about pressurising her with too much detail.
But she needed a few hundred lessons in how to control her law bending, environment altering energy… it was so close to reitsu so it wouldn't be too difficult to control.
Whether she liked it or not she would play a roll in the war of so many fronts… She would just have to grow up and toughen up. Ouch.
Though her existence did bring up a rather puzzling question mark. Why was she here? Now? What is she?
He may know the possibilities of her existence and the substantial consequences that could ensue from such a necessary existence but… he was missing a large piece of a very intriguing puzzle.
He might actually have to look in the history books for this one.
Heavy footstep resounded within the room behind him.
"Boss I've made some tea. Was everything alright with Miss Li?"
Tessai loomed in the background. Urahara had specifically asked him to keep away from the guest with Jinta and Ururu. He didn't know what kind of reaction she would have to meeting so many strangers all at once. He'd introduce them later.
He broke out his fan. "Everything was fine Tessai! Quite fun in fact! We'll be seeing her later. Heh, she's quite spirited… and observant… There's a change in the air I can feel it." He smirked roguishly behind the fan.
The he walked back inside for his heavenly fix of the drug known as tea, Tessai at his heels.
Deep within the confines of the Soul Society's Research Department
Sometimes fate had the oddest of quirks.
It seemed that normalcy or peace was an impossible goal for the teenagers of Karakura.
Once they introduced themselves it wasn't long before they became targets.
And the human world was on a constant inspection.
The Soul Society: a place where few if any humans had ever journeyed to during their living days. Always was it on silent alert for any abnormality, patrolling in secret behind the eyes and ears of humans, trying forcefully to bring balance to an unbalanced existence… such is the nature of the human condition. If it wasn't unstable there would be no hollows.
Ever where there an individual who could describe such a place would be at a loss for words, the very air appeared cleansed and honed to be sharp as if on the edge of a sword.
The beauty and seeming purity of the realm of Soul Reapers hid many depths and many secrets behind its white washed walls. Divided into areas of interest such as the Kido Core, the Onmitsukido and the Science Division it brought a deadly kind of order.
Deep within the confining depths of the department of research and observation a computer bleeped in one current obnoxious shriek that anyone other than the current occupants of the spacey room would have gladly taken a wrench to just to keep the bloody thing quiet.
The room was deliberately designed for long hours of surveillance. The building had been split up into sections; the room above them was fully computerised with no researchers that documented information received by living energy particles in their constant watch on the world of the living. This (the one below) room was used for analysis inhabited by the dark eyed, caffeine addicts that worked 16 hour shifts. It would have helped if the data passed to them was even a little interesting, or if it would just flux and change once in a while but unfortunately life in the human world rarely changed on the spiritual level.
But of course the moment such a statement left the lips of one bored soul in particular the universe was obligated to prove just how wrong that person was.
The pale faced researcher on the desk parallel to the rather large screen that displayed current data blowups of significant energy readings stilled for just a moment causing his brown haired, brown eyed friend at the adjacent desk to look up at the unusual movement.
His eyebrows rose when said pale friend moved to lean forwards slowly as he read field schematics on the small device in front of him.
When his friend frowned he immediately pushed his swivel chair away from his own desk so that he could better see what his friend was troubled over. Things rarely happened in this room that caused any amount of unease. So when his buddy muttered the following words it only made sense that he listened with a seriousness that he never usually employs.
"Well that's… strange." The whisper barely ghosted his pale friend's lips but it was loud enough.
"What is it?" He asked as he pushed his chair towards his companion.
His friend finally looked at him and he had to keep his body from cringing when he saw the obvious dark marks under his eyes accentuating the already pale face. He knew he'd have them too; these shifts were killers.
"There's been an anomaly in sector seven." He whispered.
"Isn't that squad Thirteen's current area?"
Pale face nodded.
Brown hair shrugged.
"What's the problem? It can't be that big a…"
He trailed off when he saw his friend shake his head uneasily.
"The… data reading was high enough to alert the sensor fields…"
That caused his friend's eyes to widen.
"That…can't be… it…"
Pale face nodded. "Isn't possible, I know. That's not the problem though. I mean if it was just this I'd give the data to Squad Master Haruto to deal with but…"
"What?"
Pale face leaned closer to his friend just in case the other researchers realised that their jobs were indeed less interesting than possible menial gossip.
He whispered. "I heard that the soul reaper guarding over Sector Seven AKA Karakura Town missed their deadline to report in." Eyes flickering around them, Pale face leaned in closer. "Also a lot of the energy fluctuations from the normal hollow slayings have changed; they don't match the shinigami on duty there. The read-outs are too… powerful."
As his friend inclined his head to his own screen again Brown hair thought he saw the man pale even further if that were possible.
"This reading just now was enough to warrant an official co-investigation between the Stealth Force and the Science Department. It wasn't Reitsu for one thing and it…"
It isn't reitsu? What else could it be?
Far too interested Brown hair urged his friend to continue. "Go on."
Pale face gulped, never being one to have a strong constitution. "The area within the anomaly reading was… affected by the foreign energy particles."
What… did that mean?
Pale face stood. "I have to pass this along to a senior officer right now; this is too big for us." Meaning he'd have to pass it onto the Spiritual Wave Measurement Lab and then the officers (Vice-Head of department Akon and Hiyosu) in charge there would pass it onto the higher ups i.e. the head of Research and Development.
Brown hair nodded but stopped his friend before he could go.
"How strong was the pulse?"
Pale face thought for a moment. "It isn't the strength of it that's the problem. It's the fact that my computer, which holds all relevant data, even the classifieds from past research is in there, and yet couldn't find a match to the output ratio. Whatever it was… it wasn't something we know about, therefore…"
"Therefore it's potentially dangerous."
A quick nod. "Exactly.