Pendulum - The Butterfly Effect (Bleach FF)

8: Under the Cover of Darkness

I tossed and turned for what felt like hours that night, and the next night, and the night after that. One minute I was staring at the ceiling as moonlit fell across my futon and the minute next the sun blinding rays were creeping into view.

I couldn't stop thinking about the things that had happened to me here so far no matter what sleeping method I tried.

One thing that kept my mind racing was that Soul Reaper, Kaien. It had now been a few days since he had vanished from the village for the second time and I wondered how long it would be before he returned. A few months again? A year? Longer perhaps? There were so many things that I wanted to ask when he was gone, but when he was with me I was put on the spot and couldn't think of them. And now here I was, struggling to sleep due to my clogged up brain.

You won't disappear so easily next time, Kaien! I thought determinedly. He had promised to train with me and show me what was so special about those swords the Soul Reapers carry around, but again he had gone as quickly as he had appeared.

Finally, my eyes began to feel heavy with sleep and I felt as though I was drifting off into dreamland until a loud yell disturbed my rest from somewhere beyond the manor walls.

My brow twitched in annoyance as the yelling and loud talking continued. I buried my head underneath my pillow, but that only made it sound like a swarm of angry bees was buzzing around my room.

"Oh, for crying out loud" I whined loudly. "Just when I was finally tired!" I flew up out of my bed and stomped over to the door. Surprisingly, I found that there was no one outside of the room, but when I listened more carefully I released that the sound was coming from the road outside of the manor, which was conveniently only a few meters from my paper-thin walls.

Usually, the road was quiet, barely noticeable even. It was the road that Yuu and I took into the village and it was one of three ways to leave or enter by horse and carriage. I did occasionally hear the faint clip-clop of horse hoofs as travellers and tradesmen passed by which I didn't mind at all, but this ruckus was ridiculous.

A breeze of cold November air floated down my back, making me shiver so I retreated into the warmth of my room. The noise didn't quiet down at all so I decided to go investigate.

I splashed some water on my face, combed my hair back into a ponytail and threw on some clothes.

A long red woolly jumper that had been made for me by a villager but was far too big for me and reached to my thighs, thick black woolly tights, black pumps, and a black gloves and scarf set that once belonged to Yuu but I conveniently forgot to return them after borrowing them. Yuu seemed not to have noticed or cared so it was fine.

It seemed pointless to stay quiet when leaving my room as I usually would have this early in the morning. Anyone who heard the noise had no chance of sleeping through it.

My garden looked very different at this time of year. Usually, the ground and the little koi pond would be covered with cherry blossom petals, but now the bare branches were covered with frost and the pond was coated with a thin sheet of Ice. Frost also lay on the floor with patches of ice lying invisibly waiting for some unsuspecting victim to step on and break their neck.

The sun was only just beginning to rise. The sky was a pale orange in the east and dark everywhere else. Soon enough the sun would rise and make most of the ice melt away, part of my roof was bathing in the low light so I decided to run there where it would be less lethal.

I jumped from the roof onto the wall that divided the manor and the road and looked both ways for the source of the disturbance. Sure enough, just a few meters to the left past my bedroom was a large group of people huddled together.