A Dhampyr in Karakura

The multiverse. Vast and infinite. Within each contained universe there are trillions of stories, and with the addition of branching timelines causing alternative outcomes, alternative choices, there are even trillions more stories to behold, if not more. These stories go on to shape the universe that they lie within, sometimes drastically, sometimes not at all. Take Universe 78723 for example. Initially, the little planet known as Remnant had its own plans lined up for it, but, as seen due to a branching timeline in their universe, and a natural timeline in Universe 922, fate had other plans thanks to some uninvited guests. Many of you I'm sure recognize this event as the one where a young Spider-Man arrived via a Universal Transporter. This is just one of the many examples of branching timelines in a universe.

Take Universe 922 for example, where that particular Spider-Man arrived from. There he had a brother, a clone going by the name Ben Reilly. In his own adventures he went to a school run by monsters called Yokai Academy. He had many adventures at that school and many more to come, however, at this point in time his future is uncertain. Because of this there are millions of branching timelines all detailing his potential future. But there is one I am quite interested in.

Who am I? You may ask. Why, I am him. The one who observes, but never intervenes. The one who sees ever universe, every possibility. I am, The Watcher.

In this particular timeline, this potential future for Ben Reilly of Earth-922, it is long past his time at Yokai Academy. Fairy Tale is defeated, he has graduated from Yokai Academy, he attended an American college and became a doctor. Married the love of his life, Moka Akashiya. His life turned out well, even had a daughter whom they named Aqua. Not to be confused with Akua Shuzen, Moka's eldest sister.

However, good times do not last forever. Mr. Reilly was stricken with a natural sickness, one he no longer could cure. His cell deterioration finally caught up to him in his later years. Finally passing away at the age of 42. He leaves behind his wife, and his child, now 41 and 15 respectfully. This story, this...potential future, is of his daughter.


Aqua Reilly. Age: 15 going on 16 in a few short months; Hair: Platinum Blonde, light blue highlights added at the tips of her Makoto Kusanagi inspired bob haircut; Eyes: Heterochromatic. The left eye is blue, right eye is hazel; Teeth: Perfectly straight, no noticeable signs of vampirism from her mother; Weight: OFF LIMITS; Three sizes: EXTREMELY OFF LIMITS!; Likes: Punk-rock, Hip-hop, Metal, occasional ska (depending on the band), spaghetti, tomato juice, girls, ass, Mets, Jets; Dislikes: Country music, most vegetables, tea (prefers coffee and not "salad water"), Monsters.

From a young age Aqua had trained with her parents to become a more than adequate fighter, she eventually became really obsessed with Star Wars and took up fencing. Unlike her cousins, the children of Kaine and Peter Parker, her spider abilities never manifested as opposed to her vampiric abilities. As a child she simply wore inhibitors as a means to appear human, but now...now she does it more out of spite and resentment towards her heritage. She wanted so much to be like her father and loathed the idea of being like her mother. Her mother wasn't bad. Moka never mistreated her, nor acted cold towards her, she was always caring. But...that heritage. That power. If her mother wanted to she could probably take over the whole world on her own, and even the idea scared Aqua. That one person could have THAT much power and go unchecked is terrifying. What if she ended up like that? What if she mentally wasn't as strong as her mother and lost control? What if the first time she tasted blood she went on a rampage? It was too much for her, so she hid it all away, and Moka seemed to have no qualms about the idea.

Currently, young Aqua is sitting all by herself on a train with only two suitcases with her, wearing a Sublime t-shirt her dad owned as well as some tight black jeans with slight holes in the thigh area. It had been nearly a year after her father's death, and because of that, Aqua's mom thought best if they had a change of scenery. Truth be told, it was more like Moka needed a change of scenery. Without Ben around with her the New York skyline was just so...meaningless to her. She had quit her previous job as an Agent of SHIELD, part of a special task force that dealt with supernatural threats. But that was years ago. SHIELD is still around...but the age of heroes just isn't what it used to be. Captain America, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Future Foundation, the X-Men, Spider-Man...all dead, retired, or shells of their former selves. Things just aren't what they used to be. The solution? Move back home, or at least back to Moka's home country. Japan. Her sister, Kokoa had been living there for the last few years as specialized detective. She's called in when there are issues with the "supernatural" basically legal matters that involve monsters. Though they are known to the world now, most aren't allowed to truly be themselves and instead are locked in a state of "don't ask, don't tell." The stigma against monster kind is still there, but at least with people (how very few of them there are) like Kokoa, the monsters can at least be captured and tried by monster kind. The issue is when there are humans harmed by the monster. Then it becomes a matter of how to adequately handle the situation so that the humans are satisfied with the punishment. Thankfully for Kokoa, the town she's in doesn't have a lot of monster problems, even less than mutants which are practically nonexistent at this point.

"Karakura station coming up. Karakura station coming up." the conductor called out on the train's intercom.

Aqua sat up straight and yawned. Karakura, huh? she thought, From what mom had said the place is fairly small. Or, it is compared to Queens. Only 100,000 residents. That's like 1/25 the size of Manhattan! She stretched her arms and popped her back, still blown away by how much smaller her new home is going to be. I suppose the benefit of it being smaller means there should be larger homes, or at the very least apartments with larger living space than what we had. She scratched her head and frowned, Ooooor...the town is smaller in scale, so everything is bunched together like sardines in a can. Geez, I really hope it's the former. she sighed. The train started to slow and came to a crawl before finally stopping at its destination. Aqua took one more deep breath before she grabbed her things and stepped off.

So now came the hard part. Finding her new home. She was sent to live with her aunt Kokoa ahead of her mother who said she had to finish some things in New York before sending the rest of their belongings to their new home. Sounds fine and dandy...except for the fact that Aqua has never once met her aunt Kokoa, and if she had, it was likely when she was still an infant. Her mom also never talks about her and she seemed almost pained to call her to ask for a place to stay. Aqua is no D student, nor is she bad with social queues, it was painfully obvious there was some sort of rift between the two sisters for the last decade or more. What brought on the change?

All that baggage aside (the emotional ones, not her suitcases), there was still the issue of finding Kokoa's home. Apparently, her dear aunt couldn't be asked to pick her up because she was busy working, so Aqua was left with some of the vaguest directions she had ever received. "Once off the train, head west until you hit the chain ramen shop." Aqua read, "From there, turn right and follow the road until you hit the high school. Then take another right and head straight down the road before taking a left at the third intersection. House is the brown one next to the clinic. What?" Aqua rubbed her head in frustration, "'Head west' why would she put that? Does she assume everyone carries a compass with them or something?" she continued looking over the directions, but her eyes fell on the word 'clinic'. "Clinic? Like a hospital, right?" she scoffed, "Why didn't you just tell me your damn address and I could have found it on maps or something." she opened her phone and typed, 'Hospital,' in the GPS app and got several results. The first was Karakura Hospital, a large building that looked like it was the main medical facility in the town. The direct second result was Kurosaki Clinic. Clinic was the keyword. Aqua thought. She clicked on the image associated with the location and sure enough, there was an outside view of the clinic with two homes around it, one of them brown. "Christ, aunt Kokoa, could have just said the name of the clinic." she clicked on the directions and made her trek towards her new home.

She gained a couple of weird looks along the way, not because of her looks...well...possibly, but definitely not because of her physical features, she got most her mom's genes when it came to outward appearance. It was likely because she was walking around with two suitcases through the middle of town. A sane person would have hailed a cab or got on a bus or something. Well, the issue with that is...Aqua just didn't think about it. And by this point she had already made up her mind, may as well see it all the way through. "Kind of a pretty town at least. Seems fairly chill. Nice river to skip rocks in or do some of that cliché anime bullshit in. Who knows, maybe this small-town living experience will be an awakening for me. What if I'm meant to be a small-town girl! Complete with all the small-town experiences like knowing everybody by name, barbequing with the neighborhood, go fishing with all the younger kids who call me 'Nee-san' or something, maybe I'll even win some local pageant that nobody but the town cares about!" Again...these are the views from someone whose idea of 'small-town' is still a city with 100,000 people in it.

Finally, she made it to the house. It was a one-story home but looked fairly large for the most part. Next door was the clinic, Aqua looked it up and down. Pretty small to be a clinic right? she thought. Outside was a young girl with light brown hair watering the plants. She couldn't be much older than elementary school or junior high. The girl looked up and blinked a few times in surprise, "Oh, did Ms. Shuzen move out?" she asked in a sweet sounding voice. Ah, she's a curious cutie. Aqua laughed.

"Oh, no. Ms. Shuzen is my aunt. I'm coming to live with her." Aqua replied with a smile. She couldn't help it, the little girl looked too sweet.

The girl's eyes seemed to light up like high beams, "MS. SHUZEN HAS A FAMILY!?" she shouted out in genuine surprise, the was almost too much for Aqua. Aqua held back a snort as she waved her hand at the grade schooler before walking to the door of her new home.

"Hello!" Aqua called out. The house was quiet, she didn't notice a car parked nearby, but it's possible her aunt used public transport to commute to work and used a squad car. Regardless, she expected someone to be here. "Um…aunt Kokoa?" Aqua called again, "It's your niece. Moka's daughter? Aqua?" still nothing. "What the hell." she muttered. When first walking into the house she is greeted by front room that had a large closet on the right side wall. Walking straight ahead she would pass an entry way that showed a living room to the left and kitchen on the right. Continuing past both is a hallway that led to three rooms towards the back of the house and a bathroom on the right just before the first room. "Huh. Looks bigger on the outside." she mused. She dragged her two bags into the living room before walking to the kitchen to get something to eat.

As Aqua walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, she noticed a sticky note resting on the face of it. Seeing nothing ready-to-eat in the fridge, Aqua held off on her hunger and grabbed the note.

"Dear Aqua, welcome. Sorry I could not be there to greet you myself, but due to the nature of my job and the rarity of detectives like myself that means I'll work late at times. Your room is the farthest down the hall to the left. There is a bed, sheets, pillows, a desk for studying, and my old laptop for you to use. Closet is emptied and cleared for you. Also your school uniform is laid out for you on your bed already (the winter uniform is already hung up in the closet. Don't forget to wear your uniform to school, it starts April 1.

"The Kurosaki's are next door, they own the clinic. Isshin is a nice guy and will help you out with pretty much anything if you ask. Though, he may send his son Ichigo to try and fix the issue if he is busy with clients.

"There isn't much for food right now, so if you don't feel like instant ramen I left some cash on your desk so you can go get some food. There's a Korean Bar-B-Q place not too far from here.

"See you soon, Kokoa."

"Geez, what a long-winded way to say, 'I ain't gonna be there.'" Aqua groaned. "But!" she clapped her hands and smirked, "I ain't gonna turn down free food!"

Aqua happily took her bags to her now appointed room. Opening the door she noticed how bare it looked. No surprise, she was told there was practically nothing there. But, sure enough, her school uniform was resting on her bed and there was a roll of money on her new desk. She quickly pocketed the money before lifting the school uniform, judging it with each glance. She wasn't a fan of the bow tie or the skirt…actually, she just hated skirts, too much air flow.


Kokoa Shuzen, youngest Shuzen daughter, former vigilante, currently labeled a detective. Working out of the Karakura police department she handles cases of monster affairs, however, due to how few officers in her roll exists it means she must stretch herself thin across the region. In total she handles around eight to ten different cities on her own. Most of the time it's small issues like cracking down on brothels. Those are easy to handle and most of the time the monsters are let go with a slap on the wrist. However, every once in a while there is a genuine issue where a monster reveals itself and is a threat to humans. This was one of those times.

A real creeper type of monster, one that has been found stalking woman around the region was finally cornered. Kokoa was of course called in to handle the situation. However, calling her is a little overkill due to her abilities and the fact that…well, this monster wasn't really a fighter, he was just a creepy stalker. He surrendered almost immediately upon seeing the vampire. Seems her reputation still holds fairly strong among the monster world, of course she could probably thank Tsukune Aono and Ben Reilly (while he was alive) for that.

Right now she just stood outside her car, cigarette in her mouth, waiting for the proper backup to take the creep back to the monster world. The perp was currently in the back of Kokoa's car with a specialized power dampening collar on, some re-purposed tech that was initially used against mutants. So, she stood. Red hair down, beige trench coat on, a stream of smoke flying up to the sky as she took a drag. "You know, porn is completely free these days. Hell, you can even watch videos that give that voyeur experience. You ever hear of VR?" she took another drag, "Heeeella crazy." When she was done with hed cigarette, she threw it to the ground and stomped it out. "You're lucky it was me you know? Had they not had the patience to wait it out they may have killed you. Humans are different today than they were a few decades ago, they have weapons to deal with us now…well…most of us." She gave a sharp smirk and the slug of a monster trembled like a leaf. Her smirk disappeared and quickly turned to a frown. Sucks I'm out so late. I can't even greet Aqua. Fuck, where is that damn bus driver!


The next day, Aqua woke in her new home. She still had a few days before school, so that should get her acclimated to the jet lag. "2:30?" she groaned. Looking out her window she saw the sun shining, so at least she knew it was PM and not AM. Would have been easier if it was AM. Sleeping for like 16 hours would probably feel awesome. After a bit of stretching she finally rolled herself out of bed and put on a change of clothes before heading out into the living room.

"Oh, you're awake." Aqua stopped as she walked into the room. There, sitting on the couch, was a woman with medium length, messy red hair and striking green eyes. She wore a plain t-shirt and had a pair of business slacks on. "I got back not to long ago, didn't want to drive home, so I stayed at a hotel." the woman took a sip of the warm liquid in her hand (smelled like tea), before standing up and extending a hand to Aqua, "Guess this is strange, but I'm Kokoa. Your aunt."

Aqua stared a little longer, almost in disbelief. The woman her mother almost never talked about, and who her father only ever seemed to have good things to say about in private was now right in front of her. And she was…shorter than she expected? Like, Aqua assumed she was short based off an old picture she found, but she's like 5'3. That's a whole six inches shorter than even Aqua!

Finally, Aqua's brain snapped back to reality (oop, there goes gravity) as she realized she had just been staring at her estranged aunt's hand for about a minute and the silence was starting to get awkward. "Um...I'm Aqua. It's nice to finally meet you." she said quickly as she shook Kokoa's hand.

"Heh." Kokoa let out a slight chuckle, "Got your mom's looks, but you definitely got your dad's way of speaking. Guess that's the perfect blend, all-in-all." Kokoa walked into the kitchen and grabbed a warm bowl of rice for Aqua before cracking an egg over the top. "Here. I don't know if Moka ingrained some of the culture in you, but this here is a quick and easy breakfast."

"Thanks." Aqua replied as she grabbed the bowl and some chopsticks.

"When you're done eating, I'd like you to do me a favor." Aqua looked up from her food as Kokoa poured herself another cup of tea, "The other day, Yuzu, Isshin's daughter, brought me some leftover food. I'd like it if you could return the dish to them next door. Uh...knock on the door on the left side, don't go through the clinic doors, yeah?" she quickly downed her tea and scratched the back of her head, "I'm gonna take a bath. Long night."

That was...interesting. Aqua thought as she watched her aunt walk into the bathroom. She seems like a totally normal person, I don't get why mom hasn't talked to her for over a decade. She cupped her chin and sighed, "Monsters are weird." she muttered before walking over to the dish Kokoa had pointed to.

Aqua walked out the door, dish in hand and went next door to the clinic, avoiding the double doors of the clinic itself and instead moved around to the left side where a small walkway could be seen that led to a front door of a home attached to the clinic. "Huh, this is kinda like home after all." Aqua commented, remembering the numerous mom and pop shops and bodegas that had apartments or homes attached to them. She knocked on the door a few times and waited. Eventually she hear the clacking of the deadbolt unlocking before the door opened to reveal a small girl with short black hair. "Um...Yuzu?" Aqua asked.

"No, Karin." the girl said with a shake of her head, "Yuzu is my sister." she glanced down at the dish and back up at the teen, "I take it you're Ms. Shuzen's niece then? The one my sister was talking about so loudly the other day."

"Yeah, guess so." Aqua chuckled, "My aunt wanted me to return this dish to you guys, guess your sister brought her some extra food the other day. That's real sweet of her."

"Yeah." Karin replied as she took the dish from Aqua's hands. "My sis is always making a bunch of food, so sometimes we tend to have left-overs. Whatever we don't eat right away she gives to your aunt because 'she's always eating take-out'." she replied in air quotes.

Aqua nodded in understanding, "That explains the empty fridge." she mumbled.

Karin looked the girl up and down again and leaned against her doorway, "Hey, you in high school?" she asked.

"Yeah, starting up next week. Why?"

"My brother is starting up too. Just thought I'd ask. I don't know. Like, he's weird, but I feel like he, me and Yuzu are the only ones keeping our dad sane. Maybe Ms. Shuzen will need that from you? Can't be good for an adult to be eating out all the time." Karin mentioned.

"I'll keep that in mind."


The week passed by like nothing, and before Aqua knew it, school was already beginning. Strangely she didn't have any first day jitters. Maybe it's because she felt like she got all that out of her system when she first moved here so everything felt like a natural transition. Or maybe it's because she didn't have the pressure of an adult watching her every move as she walked out the door in the morning. Despite what she told Karin a week prior, she couldn't really do anything to help her aunt function like a normal adult. Aside from that day, Aqua has had little to no contact with the woman except maybe a 'goodbye' or some note on the fridge. She may as well be living alone at this point.

As she started her walk to school, she saw the front door to the Kurosaki household open and a boy with striking orange hair wearing the same school uniform as her leaving the building. "I take it you're Ichigo then?" Aqua asked as the two unintentionally started walking together.

"Mmhm. You must be Ms. Shuzen's niece then, right?" Ichigo replied in a monotone voice.

"Yeah, name's Aqua. Reilly." she replied with a nod. As the two walked they eventually came to a crossing where they had to stop for the traffic. Soon, two other students arrived at the crossing, both were girls. One was a lean looking girl with a sturdy frame, probably a fighter, with short black hair. Fits the tomboy archetype perfectly. Aqua thought with a nod. The other was a girl with long light brown hair and a HUGE chest! Aqua didn't want to stare, but she couldn't help herself constantly glancing down. Holy cow, look at those! They have their own orbit!

The black-haired girl looked at Aqua and Ichigo and seemed to have a scowl fall upon her face. "Oh jeez, Ichigo? You're coming to Karakura High as well? I guess they just let in anyone off the street these days."

"Can it, Tatsuki." Ichigo replied with an irritated tone, "You knew before almost anyone else I was attending the same school as you. The only person who probably knew before you was Sado."

The black-haired girl, Tatsuki as she was named, gave a slight snort. "Hey? Is he bothering you?" she asked while looking at Aqua, "Because if he is I can knock him into next week if needed."

"Oh, don't mind me." Aqua replied with a quick shake of her head, "I'm more than capable of handling myself. Been trained in mixed martial arts since I was six, won districts when I was twelve." Aqua emphasized her point by flexing her left bicep and grabbing it with her right hand.

"She's my new neighbor." Ichigo cut in, "She moved in with that detective that lives by me. Guess it's her aunt."

"Ooh," the brown-haired girl clapped a few times, "Are you a monster expert then? I hear she's one of those specialists." the girl seemed to have a cheery personality, definitely a bubbly one, her cousin Benji would probably be all over her...and not just for her large personality.

Aqua frowned slightly, "I wouldn't say I'm a monster expert. Hell, I wouldn't say I particularly care. My dad was an advocate, but that's about all I know."

The group continued their walk to the school where they were greeted by a fairly large gate that opened to a courtyard that led to the school. Pretty good sized school. Aqua thought, You'd think it'd be smaller due to the size of the city, but I guess you get commuters too. The group followed the signs for first years that showed them where their homerooms would be. Misato Ochi. Aqua says mentally as she finds her name and the name of her homeroom teacher, 208. Got it. She nods before heading to her new class. She passes by many students along the way, some look pretty bog standard, others look like troublemakers. She walked up the stairs and made her way into room 208 where the first person she saw was a large dark-skinned student with a muscular build. Aqua blinked a few times and nodded to which the student reciprocates. Soon the rest of the first-year class begins to pile into the room, including Ichigo, Tatuski and that bubbly girl from earlier.

"Welcome, welcome students!" a fairly young adult woman said as she walked into the room and stood behind the teacher's desk. She had long brunette hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a set of glasses and had a red track jacket on over her clothes. Which means that either she's a coach or some type of PE teacher...or maybe she just liked to be comfortable who knows? "Go ahead and take a seat where your name is listed, once that's done, we will go ahead and introduce ourselves!" it was weird...but the teacher seemed really friendly too. Like she actually wanted to be there. That felt rare.


After school, Aqua walked home...alone. Not like it was her fault after all. Ichigo and this big guy, Sado, got into a fight with some thugs at the school during lunch. Because of that, he and Sado had to stay back and get a stern talking to. It wasn't their fault though! They were totally jumped at lunch, Aqua saw it herself when she was eating lunch with some of the girls: Tatsuki, Orihime Inoue (the bubbly girl), Michiru Ogawa (a friend of Tatsuki's?), Ryo Kunieda, Chizuru Honsho, and Mahana Natsui. Aqua thought they were really cool for taking her under their wing, it probably helped that she made a good impression with Tatsuki this morning. Then there was Chizuru who was...overly friendly, but for different reasons. She was VERY open about her sexuality. Like, Aqua was too, but she wouldn't mention it unless asked. So, if Aqua was gay, then Chizuru was SUPER gay and the things the girls let her get away with saying or doing! Aqua couldn't comprehend it. She must be the greatest friend in the world or something.

Anyways, the point is Aqua was walking home alone. A lot of the girls go different ways, ride train, or have some sort of club activities either outside of school or that they are signing up for. That would leave Ichigo to be her walking buddy, but even he is held up. Pretty good day, boring walk though. "aaaaaaaugh..." Aqua stopped and looked both ways after hearing...a very strange sound, almost like an animal crying out in pain. Weird. Aqua thought as she continued walking. Suddenly, her body stopped dead in its tracks she sniffed the air around her...something was definitely wrong. Thinking quickly, she looked left, then right, then above, still nothing out of the ordinary. "aaaaaaaugh!" There was the sound again! Only a little louder this time. She felt her eyes sting and the inhibitor rosary around her neck began to glow. Looking up she saw the faint outline of a massive creature, invisible to the human eyes...but just barely visible enough for her to see.

"What the hell?" she asked herself. Her normal calm demeanor quickly turned to panic as she saw what looked to be a clawed hand or foot raise itself into the air and began to swipe at her, "OH SHIT!" she tried to move out of the way, but the claw hit her side and sent her flying into an alleyway, crashing into the side of a large trash can. "Uuuugh. What the hell was that." she groaned. Looking up she gasped as she saw the outline of the claw coming for her again, "SONOVA-" quickly, she dodge rolled to her left and accidently face planted against a wall, it seems the alley was narrower than she thought. Not wanting to be caught flat-footed, Aqua got to her feet and tried for an escape, but to her surprise, the near invisible creature was faster than she anticipated and snagged the back of her uniform and yanked her back, tearing her shirt in the process.

Aqua stood up and felt the cool breeze blow against her back and begin to growl in anger. "Oh you MOTHER-" she stopped herself before she cursed and instead let out a loud yell, "IT'S THE FIRST DAMN DAY OF SCHOOL!" she shouted. Suddenly, Aqua began to clench her teeth and grind them in anger, her hands balled into fists and her knuckles began to turn white. She saw the claw raise above the creature's head, but Aqua stood her ground, her muscles tensing, as the claw came down the teen sidestepped to dodge and countered with a ferocious uppercut. She may not be as strong as her mother or aunt Kokoa, and her powers may be dampened by an inhibitor, but she still had the equivalent strength of a superhuman if she really tried. The force from the counter was so powerful that she felt her fist go through whatever flesh the creature had and she could tell the arm was completely destroyed. Aqua then finished off the creature by gripping whatever stump of an arm was left and judo flipping it over her shoulder and onto the ground behind her. When the creature landed, there was a hard thud and loud crack as the pavement cratered slightly. Aqua took a few deep breaths before she reached into her backpack and grabbed her blazer, which she put on to hide the large tear now in her shirt.

As she walked away, she couldn't tell if she had necessarily killed the monster, but she could no longer see or sense its aura (a vampiric ability picked up from her mother). For all she knew she killed it. Her father was always the type to tell her that it wasn't their place to decide who lives and who dies, that killing was wrong and that he as Spider-Man tried his damndest to make sure he didn't kill anyone. But, this was where Aqua disagreed with her father. Her father always talked about the humans and the mutants of the world that he grew up in, never the monsters. Monsters were different to her. They were vile, lived off their old beliefs, and would do anything they could to pick on the weak. Sure, some humans did this too, the difference is, you have to be VERY evil or deranged to be considered a monster as a human being. So, that Aqua to her present predicament. Did the monster run away, or did she kill it? If it ran away, no problem, but the fact that she could no longer feel its presence told her that the creature was dead, and to that, Aqua could only say one thing: "Good riddance." she growled lightly.

Above the alleyway that Aqua was just in, sat a man with light skin, messy medium length blonde hair, and a scruffy trim of a beard on his face. He wore striped dark green and white bucket hat and wore a dark green samui with a black haori covering it. He initially came to help the girl as he saw the creature was stalking her, but he nor did the creature itself, have any idea what she was. "Interesting." he said with a light laugh, "I may have to keep my eyes on this one, she's either really dangerous, or a tremendous ally if needed."


It's been about a month or so since school started for Aqua, barring that one run-in with a damn near invisible monster (which she did not tell her aunt about) her life has been extremely normal. She thought about joining the Judo Club, but eventually decided not to because one wrong move and she uses more strength than necessary, she may kill a kid. Plus, she doesn't want to do tournaments or anything like that. She thought about joining the Art Club, but just didn't really have any passion in it. So she decided to stick to the going home club, where she at least has a talking partner in Ichigo Kurosaki, probably the only person she can talk to outside of school right now. Kokoa has been gone for almost a week and her mom said that she may be in the states until the middle of August!

"Something on your mind." Aqua snapped out of her thoughts when Ichigo spoke up. The two were currently on their way home from school, "Don't be spacing out too much like that. It's only Friday, still have classes tomorrow."

"It's not that." Aqua said with a shake of her head, "Guess it's just...kinda boring. Feels like I'm practically living on my own here. My mom is still in the states until the middle of summer break, my aunt is constantly gone from the house and I just..." she took a deep breath and sighed.

"You have no one to help you go through what you're going through." Ichigo replied with a rub of his neck, "Sorry if I'm prying, I just heard about your predicament is all. From my dad. I guess he knows all the details. Losing someone that close to you is...tough. Going through with with someone else is hell as it is, but with nobody there it's probably excrutiating." Aqua blinked a few times in confusion, how the hell did Ichigo's dad know her situation? Does he talk to Kokoa a lot? Why would Kokoa spill the beans about something so personal? "I'm not trying to be a jackass or anything, I just genuinely mean it when I say, that if you need someone to talk it over with about this things...my dad or me will listen."

It was then that Aqua realized what Ichigo meant and probably why Kokoa told his dad. Right, Ichigo lost his mother a few years back. So, if anybody knows what it's like...it'd definitely be his family. "Thanks, Ichigo." Aqua said with a nod, swallowing a lump in her throat. Ichigo stooped in front of his home and nodded before walking through the front doors. Despite how he acts, the guy is actually a big softy ain't he? Aqua thought with a slight smile. She walked into her home and about had a jump scare as she saw Kokoa sitting on the couch with dozens of empty chip bags and lemon/lime soda cans littering the ground, "I'm not cleaning this up." Aqua said with a deadpanned expression.

"Don't worry," Kokoa burped, "I'll clean my own mess, just put your stuff away." Aqua began to walk down the hallway to her room but stopped as Kokoa called to her, "Hey...kid." Kokoa started, "I...I know I'm a mess and I'm not ideal as a guardian right now. But just know that I'm not gone all the time because I'm trying to avoid some kind of responsibility, or something. I'd love nothing more than to help rekindle my relationship with my sister by being here every day with you, but I need to worry about making sure you have a place to live, food in the fridge (that's a new one), tuition for school, new cell phone plan, so on and so on. So, I don't want you thinking it's because I don't like you or something. Believe me, I owe your father my life. I'm hoping this is my redemption." Aqua gave a quiet nod. "That said, what attacked you that day. About a month ago."

"You know about that?" Aqua asked, eyes widened in surprise.

"I found out when I came home and saw the huge tear in your shirt. You didn't trip and fall to do that." she chuckled, "I hoped that you would have told me on your own, but it seems you plan on keeping it secret. So...what was it?"

Aqua clicked her tongue a little bit, it seems she had been found out, so she may as well tell Kokoa. After all, she is a specialist when it comes to monsters. "It's...hard to explain." Aqua started, "I couldn't really see the thing. Well, like, I could...but I couldn't. I could see an outline of aura, and that's about it. It was large, really large. Probably the size of a bus! It just attacked me out of nowhere! I..." she paused, unsure if she should continue. Would she get in trouble? This counted as vigilantism, right? Isn't that what she wanted in some way? Even then, they are monsters. So, no skin off her bones...but for Kokoa...this could make her job harder. She barely knows her, but Aqua definitely doesn't want to make things difficult for her aunt.

"You killed it, right?" Kokoa asked. Aqua stood with her mouth open a little before nodding. Kokoa took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "Good." Aqua blinked in surprise at the response. Kokoa interlocked her fingers together and leaned forward as if she was in deep thought. "That wasn't a monster kid. Technically, I'd say it falls closer to demon. It was a lost soul. Something that I don't take care of. Out of my jurisdiction. Plus, there are...others for that job."

Aqua shook her head in confusion and rubbed her temples, "So...what? Are you saying that I fought a ghost?"

"Essentially, yeah." Kokoa nodded, "You aren't the type that can see spirits normally, but if their aura is strong enough you can make out their outline. That's good, that's a pretty advanced technique. Not something I expected of you."

"Well...I can hear them too."

"Hear them?" Kokoa asked in surprise, "Well, shit. Call yourself a regular prodigy." Kokoa gave a light golf clap, and Aqua couldn't tell if she was being genuine or patronizing. "Anyways, that creature that attacked you. 'They' call them Hollows. Essentially lost souls that lost their heart, or the core of their spirit. That sort of thing. I'm not necessarily sure where they come from, or how they form. But I know that hollows can make more hollows by converting the souls of those whose spirits haven't left the human realm. Like, spirits stuck in purgatory, that sort of thing."

"So...what? Who deals with these things? The Sorcerer Supreme?" Aqua asked.

"Ha!" Kokoa nearly choked on her drink when Aqua said that, "The Sorcerer Supreme isn't gonna come down when there's a couple of stupid ghosts causing a ruckus. No, that job is for the Soul Reapers. Or, Shinigami, if you don't want to offend them, but I LOVE offending them." she chuckled.

"Soul Reapers? They angels of death or something?"

"No, more like, powerful spirits that help other spirits pass on to the afterlife...or at least, their version of the afterlife. See, all the afterlife's live on the same plane of existence and usually whatever afterlife you believe in, that's the one you go too. Or, sometimes, in the case of Valhalla, you can be pulled in there if the gods deem you a worthy warrior. Of course there's hell and it's many planes of existence. Each realm ruled by a different demon king of some sort. Your Mephisto's, Dormomu's, Nightmare's, Hella's that sort of thing. Get what I mean?"

Aqua was frantically typing on her phone, taking notes because she felt as if this information would be important, "Dif-er-ent demon kings. Okay, keep going."

Kokoa rolled her eyes and smiled, "Look, just remember this, Soul Reapers are a bunch of stuck up assholes stuck in their backwards way of living. The best thing to do if you encounter one is just ignore it, they'll go away eventually...or kick the bucket, that's what happened to the last one. Probably why you were attacked by that hollow."

"They die often?" Aqua asked.

Kokoa shook her head, "Nah, they work in like...regiments or something. Sometimes they just get reassigned to different areas after a set period of time. I noticed the last guy dipped not too long ago, either he died or was reasigned. Just in an unfortunate period where the new body hasn't showed up. Place has a pretty moderate number of hollows though. Surprised they only send one at a time here." she took a long sip of her soda and sighed, "Look, just the next time you see one or are attacked, unless you are for sure going to die, I advise you just to run and not fight. No sense fighting something you can barely see, especially when there's people whose job it is to deal with them. Okay?"

"Okay." Aqua nodded, "I'm gonna head to bed, it's been a long day." Kokoa nodded and waved her niece off.


That night as Aqua tried to sleep, she kept tossing and turning, after what her aunt told her how could she not! Those demons are just floating around out there, and people don't know? How many have been harmed or even killed because of these creatures? It didn't sit right with her, and her subconscious agreed as she kept thinking back to that day when she was attacked. An enemy she could barely see, she didn't even know if she actually killed it! But worse than that, the more she thought back about it, the more she felt like she remembered something. Even though she couldn't even see the details of the creature, her mind keeps showing her a horrific bone-esque mask, gnarly teeth, and horns like a bull. A true monster, demon or otherwise. "WAKE UP!" Aqua quickly woke up in a cold sweat. She could have sworn something was yelling for her.

She took a few deep breaths and put her hand to her chest, she could feel how rapid her heartbeat had become. Oh, just a bad dream. she thought. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise outside that sounded like a house had just been demolished. Aqua looked outside her window to see debris littering the front of the Kurosaki household and dust flying up. "ICHIGO!" she yelled out. Quickly, Aqua hopped out her bed and dashed out her door to go check on her friend. Before she could reach the front room she felt a hand cover her mouth and another pull her back, "Hey! The hell is wrong with you I have to go see if the Kurosaki's are alright!"

"Relax, kid." Kokoa said calmly as she tightened her grip on her niece. Despite looks, her strength was definitely that of a vampire.

"Relax? What do you mean relax! What if they are hurt!" Aqua shouted.

"What did I tell you earlier? Is your adrenaline rushing so fast that you can't use your aura sensing abilities?" Aqua stopped and her eyes widened. When she focused and took a breath, she felt that familiar pressure again. Almost the same pressure as the one she felt when she was attacked by a hollow a month ago.

"No..." Aqua struggled and tried to break free of Kokoa's grip, "Let go of me! I have to help them, we have to help them!"

"Focus more, your letting your emotions get the best of you right now." Kokoa warned as she tightened her grip when she felt Aqua was starting to slip out, "Feel that? That strange aura? The one that doesn't feel evil like the hollow?" Aqua stopped and gulped, focusing the best she could on the differences of aura, "Yeah, you sense it now, right? That's a soul reaper. More than that, I can assure you that Ichigo and his family are fine."

"How do you know? What if someone is hurt!" Aqua argued.

Kokoa rolled her eyes, "I'm a little older than you, kid, I can tell the differences in aura between humans, monsters, demons, and so on. Their aura hasn't disappeared, they are fine." Suddenly there was a bright light outside and Kokoa gasped slightly.

"The hell is that?" Aqua asked, sensing what her aunt was, "Some aura way stronger than that other soul reaper just appeared out of nowhere!"

Kokoa blinked a few times. She had known the Kurosakis for a long time, she knew that Ichigo had an ability to see ghosts. It's why she's actually able to tell the Kurosakis from different humans, because their aura has an anomaly in it. So, this...this aura she was feeling was both familiar, yet foreign. If what she heard about shinigami is true then it is possible that Ichigo-

"Aunt Kokoa?" Aqua asked.

Kokoa shook her head and loosened her grip, "They are going to be fine. Looks like an even stronger soul reaper showed up to help out the first." It was a lie, but Kokoa was sure Aqua wouldn't notice. But there is always the possibility that she's more atuned to her abilities than the teen gives herself credit for. In roughly only a minute's time, the aura of the hollow disappeared. "There," Kokoa said with a breath of relief, "Alls well, ends well, hm? Go on back to bed, get your sleep. If the soul reaper does it's job properly, the Kurosakis won't even remember about the attack. Aqua was hesitent at first, but after a minute of two, as if confirming her friend's safety, she nodded and walked back to her room.

As Aqua closed the door to her room, Kokoa could only bite her thumb nervously. "Shit." she whispered to herself, "Whether willingly, or unwillingly, I think your friend has just made himself a substitute, Aqua."


The next day, everything seemed fine as Aqua walked to school. She walked with Ichigo, and the official story is that a car ran into the side of his house. The two were running late because she decided to stay back and help with repairs, she couldn't help herself, she knew the actual reason after all. As Ichigo explained what happened he seemed pretty insistent that it was a small truck (or rather, that's what his dad had told him), but it came off as if he was trying to convince himself more than her. Does he remember it differently? She thought. "Hey, Ichigo." Aqua started, "Are you alright? You sure you aren't shaken up from the event?"

Ichigo blinked a few times and sighed, "To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure myself. You see, I kinda have this...curse? I guess? I don't know, I'm like a medium or something."

"What, like you can see ghosts?" Aqua asked with a slight chuckle before realization hit her. Her face went from joking to absolutely deadpan, "Wait...you mean you can see ghosts?" she asked seriously this time.

"Yeah." Ichigo nodded, "Always have been able to for as long as I can remember. Last night..." Ichigo paused and looked at Aqua who had a worried look on her face, "Nah, forget it. It was probably just a bad dream. Nobody expects a drunk driver to ride through the side of their house."

The rest of the walk was quiet, Aqua didn't pry any more. But she had a sinking feeling that Ichigo actually did remember what happened last night. And she's worried he may be scarred by the creature he may have seen.


At school, Orihime sat at her desk, sitting sideways in her chair, she leaned back against the wall and let out a long sigh. "Careful, Orihime, your mouth is open. A fly might get in there." Orihime looked up to see Tatsuki standing over her with a smile on her face, "You're a little young to be spacing out this much don't you think?" Orihime didn't respond, instead she let out a deep breath. Tatsuki clicked her tongue a few times before an idea popped in her head, "So, Ichigo is really late today, huh?"

"Huh?" Orihime shot right up just at the mention of Ichigo's name. Too easy. Tatsuki thought with a smile.

"You were thinking about Ichigo right now, weren't you?" the tomboy asked with a sly smile.

"N-No I wasn't!"

Tatsuki smirked and shook her head, "You are an awful liar." she then thought a moment before taking this opportunity to ask a question that had been bugging her for the last month now, "Hey, Orihime, just what do you like about that guy anyway? Like, he's cold, he's a brat, short tempered, he's got funny hair. Frankly, a beauty like yourself could do a lot-"

"I think he's funny!" Orihime said with a big smile on his face. The response was utterly confusing to Tatsuki. 'Funny' what about Ichigo was funny? Funny looking, MAYBE. But 'funny'? "Every time I think of his grimacing face..." Orihime couldn't hold it. The moment she started thinking of Ichigo she let out a laugh that she had to suppress.

"R-Really?" Tatsuki asked, feeling more confused than before.

"He might not come you know." the two girls turn around to look at their classmate, and friend of Ichigo, Mizuiro Kojima. He had short black hair and green eyes, parted down the middle with a stray bang in his face and the tips fanning out, around his neck was a set of headphones that he took off because he heard Ichigo's name called a few times, so he thought he'd let them know.

Tatsuki cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "How would you-OH right! You come to school with him and Aqua, huh? Actually, come to think of it, she isn't here either."

"Well, yeah." Mizuiro nodded, "I went by this morning like always, and there was this huge hole in the side of his house. His dad said it's because some truck ran through it in the middle of the night.

"No way!" Tatsuki yelled out, "T-Then does that mean he's...he's dea—OOF!" Tatsuki was cut off by a bookbag hitting her in the back of the head.

"I ain't dead, so don't get your hopes up." Ichigo said in his usual monotone voice as he swung his bookbag back around his shoulder. Behind him stood Aqua, holding a hand to her mouth to keep herself from snickering too loudly, at least she, like Orihime, could see the comedy that was Ichigo Kurosaki.

Orihime immediately became flustered and a huge blush came across her face as she began grinning from ear to ear. Even Aqua knew how badly Orihime liked Ichigo, but of course she doesn't say anything because that would be rude. While everyone greeted Ichigo and he took his seat, Aqua went to do the same, but felt a...strange presence. She stopped pulling out her chair and began looking around. It was a strange but familiar feeling. "W-Wait...you're-" she panned her gaze over to Ichigo, who stopped pulling out his chair as he looked at the girl who was sitting in the seat next to his. She was definitely a new girl, Aqua hadn't seen her before. She was rail thin, had pale skin, purple eyes and jet black hair in a bob cut with a few strands hanging between her eyes. As Aqua focused on the girl more, that feeling became stronger and stronger. It's her! Aqua thought as she looked to the girl, SHE'S A SOUL REAPER! Somehow, she gained a physical body.

"Nice to meet you." the girl said to Ichigo with a smile as she sat in her chair looking prim and proper with her hands folded on her lap.

"OH, Ichigo!" Mizuiro cut in between the two quickly, "This is Rukia Kuchiki, she just transferred in today. Kind of a weird time, but I guess her family was just in a situation where she had to move suddenly."

"Ichigo, if you don't mind," Rukia held her hand out, "I don't have the textbooks yet. May I use yours?" Aqua saw the look on Ichigo's face. He did remember last night. So, either this Rukia is a bad soul reaper for forgetting to erase Ichigo's memory or... Aqua looked to Ichigo and saw his face scrunch up at something that was in Rukia's palm. Using her advanced upside-down reading powers (a joke) she was able to read the writing on Rukia's palm: 'Say something and I kill you.' it read. She's extorting him! Aqua thought immediately.

Rukia felt an intense gaze, and almost threatening aura looking down on her. Turning around she saw Aqua in a full-on stare down. Rukia could feel it, her aura was intense, as if it belonged to some sort of monster. It was then that both girls had the exact same thought in their minds. This girl is trouble.

To be continued...


A/N: Yeah…hey…I'm not dead. This and like 2 chapters for Kaine Yoshida were supposed to be out back in October, but due to work and me getting sick for like a week, I kinda forgot/didn't have the time to edit them. So I'm taking some time now. Who knows, you may get a more consistent chapters. No promises though. Okay, see you again!