Night Rain [ Ichigo Kurosaki ]

goodnight, pretty bird

| nine |

         Amaya sat quietly in class staring out the window with her hand under her chin and her eyes fighting the urge to close. The teacher's voice was like a lullaby faraway in the background and the air entering the room was cool and soothing.

Amaya tried to sit up properly, mentally cursing herself for not sleeping the night before. How could she though?

When the whole night she was watched over by Yoruichi (who wasn't even in her cat form) and decided that being loud was the best way to watch over someone.

It had been a few days since Ichigo and everything had gone hectic. Amaya wasn't sure whether it was because now she was aware about the other worlds and supernatural powers or that it really had gone hectic.

Everything night she would hear the tremble of thunders, a tear in the sky and multiple explosions here and there but she never had the guts to look out her window.

Akiro remained oblivious to the other world and Amaya planned to keep it that way.

The bell rang and it took Amaya back to the real world. She glanced at the clock and left. Once Amaya got home she heard a loud yell.

"Amaya!!! I'm hungry!!!" Yoruichi shouted from the kitchen.

Amaya took a deep breath, stood up from her bed and made her way to the kitchen but noticed that Akiro already arrived first.

Akiro stood in front of Yoruichi as she crouched in front of the refrigerator searching for food.

"Ne... Old lady... You can't just come in here and eat all of our food!" Akiro scolded the dark skinned woman with his hands on his waist and his chest puffed out.

Yoruichi slowly turned around with an irritated look on her face, "Old lady?" The look turned evil in a matter of seconds. "Who you calling Old Lady, boy?" Her voice got deeper as she spoke but Akiro didn't seem to notice that, he stood his ground with his chest puffed out and his hands on his waist.

"My sister has to work really hard for all the food we have, it's not fair that you just come in here and eat all of it without doing anything beneficial!" He shouted in mild anger.

Amaya rubbed her face in worry, she was about to lecture her little brother but laughter broke out.

Yoruichi stood with her head and body tilted forward and shaking lightly, one hand on her stomach and the other wiping away tears that poured out of her eyes. "Beneficial? Woo! Big word for a small boy!" She chuckled, stood up straight, grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and left the room, just like that.

"Akiro..." Amaya started as her little brother started huffing out angry breaths. "Yoruichi-San is helping us right now, you have to be more nice to her alright?" She told him in a gentle voice.

He nodded with an angry expression, "I just don't want you to work so much sis, I barely see you anymore and with all these people coming around the house and eating all the time... It's not fair that you have to provide for them." He crossed his small arms and poured like the little child he was. Amaya smiled and started giggling, "You're jealous." She teased him, poking him in the forehead several times before getting her finger swatted away.

He huffed loudly, "I'm not jealous!"

*

Amaya lost track of how long it has been since Ichigo left the second time, she had been busy working and taking care of Akiro and Yoruichi (who has a habit of disappearing).

Amaya was on her way to school when she was stopped by a stranger. He was tall and lanky, his body covered in a white costume similar to what Amaya saw on the man who stood at the school's campus watching her. This one had a sadistic grin and purple hair, "Good morning Amaya-chan." He stepped towards her.

Amaya stood quietly, not liking the way she felt around him, pure uneasiness.

She took a step back and muttered a polite apology, turning away as quickly as possible and started to walk away in the opposite direction.

She was focused on the ground as her feet took her elsewhere but soon bumped into something hard.

She looked up and there he was again, this time he put his hands on her shoulder and opened his eyes.

A snake...

She felt pressure underneath his hands, her knees immediately buckled and she fell to the ground.

Why can't I stand anymore? Why is there snake around my neck?

Amaya started tugging at the air around her neck where she felt a powerful grip squeezing her, her lungs tighten as no air was let through, dark spots started to appear on the corners of her eyes as she gasped and choked on nothing.

Her head fell to the ground with a thud, her hands too tired to obey her mind and her eyes slowly closing as she stared into the big black hole that appeared in the sky.

There he was again, the man she saw at school, looking at her the same way he did, with a smirk on his lips.

This time the smirk turned into a smile and he opened his mouth and said something. He was faraway but his voice carried through the air. When he said the words, it felt like he was on the ground right beside her speaking into her ear.

"Goodnight, pretty bird."