"You're getting too close."
Green eyes watched as his friend paced back and forth while running a hand through his hair. He exhaled softly before saying, "You are worrying too much."
"I'm worried too much?!" his friend exploded, his face red in anger. "You should be worried about His Majesty finding out about this!"
"He already knows," he interrupted his friend's worries, making him pause and stare in shock.
"He knows?" he asked incredulously.
"He has known the entire time," he continued, ignoring his friend's gaping. "That is the only reason I have been able to go and visit her."
"Then why the hell have I been covering for you?!"
"To keep the others off my back and away from her," he answered, blond hair falling slightly into his line of sight. "And I wish for you to keep doing so."
His friend stayed silent as he stared at him with a frown before sighing. "Only if I can meet her. One time. That's all I ask."
"...I'll see what I can do."
- - - - - - - - - -
18 YEARS LATER
"OI!" Sayuri flinched at the unexpected shout, not turning around to see her former friend, Kobayashi Aoi's, angered form that was no doubt coming towards her. "What the hell is going on with you?!"
"I don't think that's any of your business, Aoi," she drawled out as she turned in her seat, keeping her face blank as the anger on Aoi's face grew.
Rukia didn't know what was going on. One minute she was talking to Sayuri about her training, and the next, this girl was shouting at her. She frowned, already deciding she didn't like her.
"And who is this?" Aoi snapped, turning her attention to Rukia, who met her gaze without a flinch. She has dealt with scarier people before, so this girl was nothing.
"Kuchiki Rukia," she said. "I'm Sayuri's friend."
Aoi barked out a laugh. "Friend? Sayuri doesn't have friends. You want to know why?" She took Rukia's silence as a sign to continue. "It's because she's a freak!"
Rukia opened her mouth to retort, but a hand wrapped around her wrist, effectively stopping her. She looked at Sayuri, who gave her a sad smile. "It's okay," she murmured. "Nothing I'm not used to."
The Kuchiki stared at her, alarmed. Where was the feisty, defensive girl she's known for the past week?
Who was this shy and self-deprecating girl?
- - - - - - - - - -
Rukia thought it would do Sayuri some good to let off some steam in Urahara's underground training area. Both the Kuchiki and shop owner stood off to the side as the eldest Kurosaki and a close friend of Urahara's, Shihōin Yoruichi, battled out Sayuri's frustrations.
Yoruichi frowned as she dodged Sayuri's fist once again. Her technique is getting sloppy, she noted before catching her eyes. And her eyes...there's so much hatred in them...
Too caught up in her thoughts, she failed to dodge Sayuri's roundhouse kick to her side, sending her flying into one of the rocks in the training area.
Sayuri panted, bending down to catch her breath as sweat dripped down her face. Seeing Aoi earlier... just pissed her off and terrified her at the same time. They had once been friends, but after the incident a few years ago...things were never the same after that.
"She hadn't even noticed that she had kicked Yoruichi-san into the rock," Urahara muttered to himself, arms crossed over his chest as a thoughtful look came over his face. He turned his head to look down at Rukia, who was staring at Sayuri in worry. "Did something happen at school today?"
"Uh, yeah," she murmured, eyes not straying from Sayuri as she dodged a kick from Yoruichi. "Some girl named Aoi came over, started calling her a freak." She shot Urahara a curious look. "You know something about that?"
Urahara exhaled through his nose, eyes closing at the realization. "Yeah, I know a little bit. But it's not my story to tell." He waved a hand at Sayuri, who was held in a chokehold by Yoruichi, who was trying to soothe her as she struggled to get out of it. He winced. "Sayu-chan will have to tell you on her own time."
Rukia frowned.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Seriously?" Sayuri sighed out, rubbing the back of her head with an exasperated look. She stared down at the computer screen in front of her that was pitch black. She had just been working on an essay for a psychology class when her computer mysteriously shut off. "And I don't even know if it saved or not."
She grumbled obscenities under her breath as she got up to head downstairs to get herself a snack. It was about midnight and she couldn't sleep again, but what else was new? Not this. She was about to open the fridge door when Rukia came rushing into the kitchen, her phone in hand.
"Hollow?" Sayuri asked, raising an eyebrow at Rukia's frazzled state.
The Kuchiki girl shook her head. "Worse. You know that what I did with you - giving you my powers, I mean - is punishable by death in Soul Society?"
"Stupid rule, but yeah."
"Well, this isn't a Hollow signal," Rukia said, pointing at her flip phone screen. "It's a Shinigami signal, and it's getting weaker and weaker."
Sayuri's eyes widened. "A Shinigami's dying here in Karakura?" At Rukia's nod, she sighed. "Where are they?"
"What-! Did you not hear a word I just said?!" Rukia shouted. "This is a Shinigami!"
"And they are dying!" Sayuri snapped back, making Rukia recoil with wide eyes. "I'm not just gonna stand by and let someone die when I know I can do something about it!"
Sayuri took a soul pill that Rukia had given her a couple of days ago and took off out of her home in her Shinigami garb.
- - - - - - - - - -
He was struggling to keep his eyes open.
Getting attacked by a Hollow was not on his list of things to do when he arrived in Karakura Town to get an update from Kuchiki Rukia on her mission since communications failed to reach her. He wasn't expecting to be attacked within the first ten minutes of being in the World of the Living, which was why he was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, having accepted that he was probably going to die.
"-ey!"
Was that someone's voice just now?
"-ke up!"
He fought to open his eyes.
"WAKE UP!"
His eyes finally cracked open to see the concerned woman hovering over him. Her bright blue eyes and chin-length black hair stood out as she turned her attention to her companion, who had him shocked.
It was Kuchiki Rukia.
- - - - - - - - - -
THE NEXT DAY
Sayuri watched the man sleeping on the couch with concerned eyes. Rukia was able to heal most of his wounds with Kidō, but the rest, Sayuri had to bandage herself. She realized that it may have been a bad idea to bring the Shinigami to her home, but she wanted to make sure that he was alright with her own eyes instead of hearing it from someone else.
Rukia was up in her room, terrified that the Shinigami would try to kill her on the spot. Sayuri understood her fear, she did. If she had broken a major law and someone she recognized came into town to possibly bring her in, she would be terrified as well.
Bright blue eyes traced the three claw-mark scars that ran down the right side of his face, over his eye. They moved to look at the 69 tattoo on his face as well, recognizing it from another man's tattoo.
"It looks like Kensei's tattoo," she murmured, not noticing that the Shinigami was starting to wake up.
Dark gray eyes became exposed to the world as he blinked away the sleep. They immediately landed on the young woman not too far from him and he couldn't help but ask, "You can see me?"
Sayuri jolted in shock, eyes snapping to connect her gaze with his. "Y-Yeah," she stuttered out. "Sorry, you caught me by surprise there. How are you feeling?"
"Like hell," he answered, groaning as he slowly sat up. Sayuri moved over with her hand raised in case his arms failed him. He gave her a thankful look. "Who are you?"
She smiled softly. "Kurosaki Sayuri. You are currently in my home."
He stared at her before he realized, "Wait, you're the girl from last night!"
"Yeah, I am," she chuckled. "And it wasn't last night. You've been asleep for a day, Shinigami-san."
He tensed. "You know what I am?"
"Hard not to, since I'm something like you," she answered. "I'm a Substitute Shinigami. And then some."
He raised an eyebrow. "You were with Kuchiki Rukia," he slowly got out, eyes narrowing.
She hesitated. "I was."
"Do you know where she is right now?" he asked, eyes looking around the room.
She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why do you want to know?"
He growled, frustrated. "I was given orders to find Kuchiki Rukia and see why she hasn't been communicating with us about her mission." At her doubtful look, he added, "That's all there is."
Sayuri stared at him. On one hand, she wanted to protect Rukia from the Soul Society and their ridiculous laws, but on the other hand, she didn't want to lie to this Shinigami because she knew he was much stronger than she was.
"One condition," she decided, catching him by surprise. "I want your name. Tell me your name, and I'll see if she wants to come."
He thought it over for a minute before saying, "Shūhei." Her eyes widened. "Hisagi Shūhei, fukutaicho of Squad 9."
She sighed softly before standing up, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I'll see if Rukia wants to come."
- - - - - - - - - -
"I don't know about this."
Sayuri eventually decided to physically pick up Rukia after she refused to see this Shūhei Hisagi multiple times. She knew his patience wouldn't last long, and she didn't want her home to end up getting destroyed again because of Rukia refusing to see him.
Rukia blushed furiously in embarrassment as Sayuri carried her downstairs bridal style. It was something she wasn't expecting the eldest Kurosaki to do after her refusal. She expected her to leave her alone, not carry her downstairs the way she was.
Shūhei raised an eyebrow at the sight as Sayuri put Rukia onto the ground on her feet. He found it slightly amusing to find the youngest Kuchiki a blushing mess and avoiding Sayuri's annoyed gaze. "Nice to see you're still alive," he remarked, making Rukia tense and slowly turn to look at him with wide, fearful eyes.
He smirked. "How's it been going, Kuchiki Rukia?"
Third chapter's done. I've been doing a lot of editing to this story and I've finalized my OC's name as Sayuri (finally, I know). Things are going to start picking up in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned for more. Until next time, have a great day.