It was the fourth time Keiji had asked her if she were okay and Chiori was beginning to get annoyed. "Are you sure you're alright?" he insisted. She frowned instead of actually giving him an answer and Keiji sighed upon realizing that she would likely begin to ignore him altogether if he asked again. Inori Yuzuhara walked alongside them and fixed them both with a bland look before tossing her hands in the air with a groan as they rounded the corner.
They'd just left school and the street they were on had a few other kids walking about just like them. Many of the houses on that particular street looked about the same: white with perhaps a few soft pastel colors dotted here and there. The farther they walked, the more kids began to move off in their own directions and they made their way home.
"Has she been like this all day?" Inori asked, glaring pointedly at Keiji.
He flinched back from her gaze before mumbling a quiet affirmative under his breath. Inori's glare grew worse. "Don't look at me like that!" Keiji snapped, "I didn't do anything!" He jerked away from both girls when it looked like Inori might lunge at him from Chiori's other side.
Keiji certainly did not appreciate the look in Inori's eyes. She had a very child-like appearance with her hair-ties adorned with shiny green baubles. Her pig-tails were pinned high on either side of her head and while they were very cute, they only served to distract people from the girl they belonged to. No one would believe Keiji when he told them that Inori was dangerous until they experience it first-hand.
Inori scoffed at both of her friends, hands settling on her hips before she stopped walking completely. "What were you two doing this morning before school without me?" She asked and Keiji frowned before answering her honestly.
"We just went to see what was going on at Kamakura Station," Keiji muttered, "We told you about that in class." Inori's eyes narrowed minutely at Keiji and the boy grit his teeth, silently asking whatever deities existed for strength.
"You could have brought me along." Inori whined and Keiji sighed exasperatedly before shrugging his shoulders in return.
"It didn't really matter, there wasn't even much of anything to see." His expression turned thoughtful. Inori continued to stare at him for a moment before snorting and turning away. She looked as if she were considering something very deeply.
"Well anyway," she continued. "Chiori, you've been falling asleep in class a lot more than usual, ya ever thought about asking your dad for sleeping pills?" Chiori shrugged her shoulders indifferently.
She grimaced at the thought of medication and fiddled with the earbuds hanging around the back of her neck. Inori patted her shoulder in a placating manner. "It doesn't really matter," said Inori, "I was just curious."
Chiori didn't even really have much of an answer for Inori anyway. To be honest, she just hadn't felt like bothering anyone with her problems. It did however make for a much more extensive collection of monsters to draw and the walls of her bedroom definitely could attest to that.
When they drew closer to Chiori's home she broke away from them and made her way to the gate. She turned and waved to her friends before entering the gate and disappearing inside her house. "Do you think she's...okay?" Inori's voice was just above a whisper, but Keiji heard her just fine anyway.
"She's fine," he replied. Inori gave the boy a skeptical look, but Keiji didn't say anything more and she didn't ask him anything else as they continued down the street.
Inside the house, Chiori pulled her shoes off at the front door in front of the landing by the stairs, before making her way into the kitchen. Her bag slipped from her shoulders to land by her feet and she whistled shrilly as she massaged one of her mildly aching shoulders. She didn't spare time to greet her family properly.
All she really wanted to do was go take a nap until dinner was done. It was mildly irritating because she would have offered to help with dinner if she'd felt more up to it. An ache had spread throughout her body while at school and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and never move again.
Chiori heard Yuzu ask a question, but she only shook her head and ascended the steps, dragging her bag along behind her. The bag hit the hardwood floor of her bedroom with a loud thump as per usual and Chiori paid it little mind. The poor girl crawled right into bed with her uniform still on. She had just enough presence of mind to set an alarm before falling asleep under a mass of blankets.
It's too early for goodnight, right?
A voice disrupted her rest, calling out from the darkness of her dreams. It was familiar somehow, but Chiori was sure she had never heard it before in her life. The voice didn't seem to come from any particular direction and Chiori figured it was just her imagination. A soft light began to filter into her vision and she noticed something fluttering off in the distance.
Is that a butterfly?
She wondered at it as it floated towards her. It shimmered and swayed with a glow around its small wings to help off-set it against the blackness of its surroundings. It was the only real source of light and knowing that butterflies did not glow, Chiori established that, yes, she was dreaming.
Slowly, Chiori raised her hand and let the butterfly perch on her outstretched finger. She examined the swirls of purple along the bottom edges of its wings with wonder and smiled when she was allowed to run the pads of her fingertips along the patterns. Its wings quivers and she giggled silently as the butterfly rearranged itself on the tip of her finger.
Atta-girl, said the voice. It started the girl and she scanned her surroundings in an attempt to find its origin. The darkness was vast and stretched far off into the distance. It seemed endless and the only noticeable movement came from Chiori herself and the butterfly. Suddenly, there was a loud crack from below and Chiori looked down. Bright white veins of light blossomed along the black surface beneath her feet.
She panicked and took a step back, but the fractures only worsened and spread out like a spider's web. Chiori could only look on in fear as the ground beneath her feet began to break apart and shatter completely. The butterfly took flight, but she was left to fall. She reached out for its light with the last of her strength but it was too late.
She fell and fell and fell only to bolt awake in the next moment and find herself sprawled on the floor in a heap of sweaty blankets. Her eyes were wild as she untangled herself, looking about her quiet little room in a frantic manner.
Nothing appeared out of place and a look through her windows convinced her that it was quite late. She grabbed her phone to find out exactly what time it was only to realize that she managed to sleep right through her alarm.
Chiori blew her bangs from her face and stood up from the floor. She figured that everyone else was already home and decided to change out of her uniform before opening up her laptop. She was just in the middle of restarting her playlist when a shudder racked the house around her. A terrified scream followed not far behind it and Chiori went pale upon realizing that it was Yuzu.
She scrambled from her chair and bolted from the room, nearly tripping down the stairs in her haste to get to the source. Thankfully, she managed to keep her balance and made it to the second level just in in time to see Yuzu hit the hardwood floor outside of Ichigo's bedroom doorway. She was by Yuzu's side in seconds, frightened and confused. Someone must have broken into their home!
She looked into Ichigo's room expecting to find her brother in a similar state or worse, but found something much more confusing. Ichigo was sprawled on the floor with his arms contorted behind his back as if they were bound, but Chiori couldn't see anything being used to restrain him.
"Chiori!" he yelled, bringing back her focus. "Take Yuzu and hide!" The urgency of his voice made her quiver with unease and the horrible feeling in her gut intensified at the thought of leaving him behind. She shook her head with the intent of arguing, but a sudden bout of nausea made her dry-heave instead.
It was as if a pressure had settled upon her shoulders and Ichigo's face clouded over with something close to hysteria as he tried to wriggle in their direction. He called Chiori's name over and over again, but it did very little good. She was already beginning to lose focus and she slumped to the side with only the passing thought of getting away from Yuzu before her stomach chose to empty itself.
Her eyes burned and tears slid down her cheeks, blurring her vision. The air around them vibrated and caused a painful ringing in Chiori's ears that slowly escalated into a low roar. She couldn't be sure exactly when she hit the floor, but there was little else she could do at that point.
The last thing she remembered was a desperate cry from her brother and a sharp crack that tore through the air around them. The air grew thick, her mouth like it was full of cotton, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she clenched her teeth.
Fleetingly she wondered if she were going to die and her vision clouded over into nothing.
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A monster had arrived to kill them all.
Its roar was horrid and it rocked the Kurosaki household with each massive bellow. The sound jarred Ichigo all the way to his bones, but he hardly focus on it when his family was in such danger. He watched his family suffer at the might of a creature unlike anything he'd ever known and could do nothing to help them.
He struggled towards Chiori and Yuzu just as the former lost consciousness, crying out to them though he knew neither could respond in the state they were in. "It was too much for her to handle." The voice of the girl who'd tied him up in the first place distracted him momentarily. He was so intent on helping his family he'd almost forgotten she was there.
She'd called herself a Shinigami, a god of death. Short and petite with shoulder-length black hair and wide violet colored eyes, he'd initially thought she was bullshitting him. She looked no older than him if not younger and he tried to treat her that way, but she was much stronger than she looked. He hadn't been prepared to get beat on by a short chick with a sword and honestly he'd never felt more humiliated.
Good thing she didn't actually use the sword. With surprising agility she used his head like a stepping stool in order to knock him on his face. She could jump he'd give her that, but it made it no less embarrassing for him to be put in his place.
When the creature outside their house appeared, she beat him down again with very little effort and bound him with some type strange light. She'd called it 'kido' and told him to keep him still while she went to try and deal with the problem herself. Before all that he would have definitely called her crazy, probably called the police, but he had no explanation for her existence let alone her ability to do the things she did.
Actually, no, he was still inclined to believe she was out of her mind, but then Chiori and Yuzu were out cold in the hallway and Karin could still be heard screaming from outside. There was only so much he could take before he began to think he was losing his mind.
When Rukia ran off with the intent to fight the creature alone he followed her instead of doing what he'd been told. Needless to say, she hadn't expected him to be able to move let alone manage to throw himself down the stairs after her and it apparently stunned her to some degree. He would have gotten smug if there were time for it and her expression quickly changed to disgust when she regained her composure.
"Don't fight my spell!" she cried once she realized what he was attempting to do. "You'll only do damage to your soul!" However, Ichigo was not listening to her and he snarled as he tugged at his binds, veins throbbing visibly in his temples from the strain. He was too angry to care about the damage he might end up inflicting on himself. He needed to save his family and that was all that mattered to him.
The street lights were bright, reflecting off the white paint of the houses along the road and the beast could be seen directly through the large hole blown into the side of Ichigo's family home. Its body was a dark gray and it hunched forward like a gorilla, but its arms were too long and its hands too big.
A white head covered in black markings set low on its shoulders with a mask-like face that appeared frozen in an ever-present grin. Its eyes were yellow and wide like saucers, but dull and completely soulless. It roared again into the night, Karin clenched tightly in one of its fists, and she gasped audibly, screaming at the top of her longs as it slowly squeezed the life out of her.
White-hot anger shot through Ichigo and the energy binding him began to fluctuate, pulsating in an unstable manner that made Rukia's breath catch in her throat. Rukia watched in awe as what she considered to be a mere human boy broke one of her own spells. A raw cry ripped from Ichigo's throat and a flash of light bounced along the walls of the room before his arms came free with an explosion of force and power. "That's impossible..." she whispered. The words felt like led on her tongue.
He was a stubborn fifteen-year-old boy with a chip on his shoulder, but he would fight anyone and anything to protect the one's closest to him. Even if it meant dying at the hands of monstrous creatures like the one outside his home, he was prepared to go down swinging. Rukia could barely believe it.
She watched Ichigo run out into the open street with nothing but a chair raised high above his head, hoping to do some damage. He met the creature's fist instead. It swatted him like a fly and sent him sprawling along the pavement. He couldn't honestly have expected anything less, but desperation will do that to a person.
The boy's an idiot, she thought, he should have just stayed inside and done as he'd been told. However, a small part of her admired him for his courage. "I found you!" the hollow bellowed, lunging for Ichigo, but Rukia interfered before any more damage could be done to the boy.
She cut into the back of the monster's calf with her blade and the pain was just enough to make it lose its grip on Karin. It practically threw the girl, but Ichigo was there just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.
Ichigo cradled his sister in his arms as the beast disappeared, but Rukia knew that it wasn't over yet. "Get it together!" she cried, her blade at the ready. "That thing isn't finished yet, it hasn't devoured your sister's soul and it's not going anywhere until it does!" Her words brought Ichigo's attention back to her.
"I should have guessed it before and it is just a guess, but I believe your contact with spirits has made you a target." She smirked to herself despite the fact that nothing about their situation was even remotely funny.
She glanced back at him from over her shoulder and Ichigo suddenly remembered the spirit of a young girl he'd periodically bring flowers to. He'd set them down at the place where she died and keep her company, hoping that she'd pass on eventually. "The hollow that attacked the spirit of that girl before wasn't really after her." Rukia said. "It sensed the strength of your spirit, Ichigo. It was after you."
Ichigo froze and guilt settled heavily upon him.
Ichigo was always feeling guilty, but he realized at that very moment that he was the reason his family was in danger. He decided then that he would make himself the only target. It was a foolish and impulsive decision, but lucky for him Rukia had already made up her mind that she couldn't just let him die.
After all, it was part of a Shinigami's job to protect humans, wasn't it? The hollow charged Ichigo, but Rukia took the blow instead. Ichigo didn't even see her move, but suddenly she was just there standing between him and certain death. Blood spurted from her shoulder in waves as gigantic teeth tore through the fabric of her black shihakusho and tore her skin right down to the bone.
The monster gnawed on her flesh and though she did eventually managed to make the beast pulls its teeth from her shoulder with a swipe of her blade, she also knew that they were all still in deep trouble. She collapsed in a pool of her own blood and shivered in pain, but still retained the will to berate Ichigo for his stupidity. She knew that they were all going to die at the rate they were going.
Slowly, she managed to drag herself on her belly to a nearby light-pole and rest her back against it. She clenched her teeth as the pain seared through her, but didn't cry out. She'd known pain before and this was nothing. "Do you want to save your family?" she asked. Of course he did. So, she made Ichigo an offer.
He had only one chance left to save his family. He would have to drive her blade through his own heart in order to gain the powers she held as a 'god of death'. Chances were slim that it would work.
In fact it was very likely that he wouldn't even survive, but they were out of options and Ichigo was desperate. In the end, he accepted her offer. He, a boy of fifteen years, was prepared to sacrifice his own life in an effort to save his family. "Give me the sword, Shinigami." He said.
She smiled at him and pressed the tip of the blade to his chest, right before his heart. "My name, boy, is Rukia Kuchiki."
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(A/N)
If you find typos please feel free to inform me.
Disparity: A departure from the norm
Shihakusho: Literally translates into 'Garment of Dead souls' and is the standard uniform of all shinigami or 'death gods'. The entire uniform usually consists of a pair of black hakama pants and black shitagi with white obi along with, but not limited to, a pair of white tabi and waraji, though some variations may occur.
Shitagi: an undershirt traditionally worn by samurai.
Obi: A sash.
Waraji: Sandals made from straw rope.
Tabi: socks with a separation between the big toe and the other toes.