It's been two weeks already since I've come to the World of the Living. As my father warned, the Hollows wouldn't come just in ones or twos. With Karakura having been named the current spiritually-enriched spirit zone, I could expect groups of Hollows coming in droves of fives and sixes; the most I've had so far has been nine. Thankfully, they were among the lesser Hollows-- completely manageable.
I worry though-- their patterns have changed. They no longer arrive and attack at random. It's... almost calculated. They will come and attack those with higher concentrations of spiritual energy. Humans and souls, alike.
As I've requested of my father, the other Quincy have done their best not to interfere with my work. Of course, when they become the target, it becomes unavoidable unless I can make it in time. Oftentimes, I don't, and they're forced to take action. This takes away from my kills. I've exorcised a good sixty Hollows this week. I'm exhausted.
Before now, I've yet to take my father up on his offer, to rest at the manor. I feel like my pride has been holding me back for doing so. I'd been sleeping at shrines and by the river's edge since my first night here. It's going to be nice to sleep in a proper bed again.
The familiar cold chill I'd been dreading to sense sweeps across my back. But this one... this one is different. Nevertheless; I groan, and it echoes through the night sky, me being over a hundred feet above the ground. I don't particularly feel like taking care of Hollows down inside the village. So I take the fight to them as they arrive.
Racing across my platform of reishi to the opposite end of the village from the compound, the sensation I'd received minutes prior brings me to the outskirts of the village and above a thick, dark forest with tall pine trees. Hesitantly, I slowly lower myself into it, avoiding the sharp branches that stick out around me. In this darkness, a man's scream is what scares me into losing focus. I go plummeting through the wood, my robe and skin catching on the same branches I'd meant to avoid, my body being yanked and caught on from all sorts of angles. Eventually, all I feel around me is air, until I hit solidity again, this time in the form of another being. I have no time to see who or what I hit, as the next thing I know, I'm sinking further into a source of water, a lake, my shihakushõ and Zanpakutõ weighing me down on my descent through the dark liquid.
The moment I touch the bottom, I flip myself around and kick off from the lake bed with my feet, straightening my body on my return to the surface. I take in a gracious amount of air once I do, as it had been knocked out of me the moment of impact. I had realized it, but my body aches in many places.
"Shit," a deep voice groans. From my place in the water, which is only a few inches under my chin, I turn to face the person I'd fallen on. Tall, dark hair and positively piercing eyes, he is the embodiment of both beauty and stone-cold intimidation-- a dangerous combination. Instinctively, I'm about to apologize. But then I remember that he's a normal human. He won't be able to see me. However...
"He's quite resilient for a human," I murmur. "That should've at least knocked him out, or even concussed him..."
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you," he suddenly grumbles. I jump.
"Y-You can see me?" I gasp.
"Uh, yeah? Why shouldn't I see you?" Gingerly, I approach him, wading through the water to reach him. I'm on the tips of my toes, now, as I reach up to examine him with my Kidõ. Before I can, he grabs me by the wrist. "Do you mind?"
"S-Sorry," I say, "I'm just not supposed to be able to be seen by ordinary humans, so it's just a little strange..." He releases me, and steps away, eyeing me up and down.
"You're kind of small for a Soul Reaper," he notes. I frown.
"Touché," I say, adjusting the collar of my robes, "but what are you doing all the way out here? You're a bit far from the village."
The man sighs, and turns away from me. He reaches across the water and grabs a small cloth.
"What's it look like?" he says, proceeding to drag it across his face. His... h-his naked body--
"O-Oh, I'm so sorry," I say, quickly moving away from him, my eyes shut and my face hot. "Oh my god, how embarrassing..."
"If you're that sorry, then quit apologizing and get out of here already," he snaps. I nod, almost too many times, giving him one last fleeting look of apology, and as I make to turn, I notice the wound on his head.
"Hey, you're hurt," I tell him, reaching toward him by habit.
"It's just a scratch," he says, dismissing me by grabbing my arm again. "No reason to get all emotional."
"Wha-- I'm not getting emotional over anything," I argue, hot with annoyance. I let my insistence take hold and pry away his fingers from my wrist. "I injured you, now let me heal you!"
"It's just a scratch," he repeats, arms raised to thwart my effort. "Now just get out of here, will ya?"
"I will - when - you let me - heal you!"
Despite my struggle, he's able to deflect every one of my attempts in reaching his face is thwarted again. He's definitely not a normal human if he's able to stop me so easily.
"Get off!" I begin forcing myself against him - yes, I'm aware of how vulgar it sounds - in order to move him back in the direction of the eastmost shore. "Listen, kid, I'm not in the mood, so you better knock it off before I knock you out!"
"This wouldn't be an issue if you just stood still like a good little human and let me do my job!"
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be injured other first place!"
"That's why I'm making it right here!!" So, I leap out of the water, and Shunpõ myself onto his back, wrapping my arm gently but firmly around his neck, unmovable. It's extremely unconventional, and probably quite stupid. It's also very embarrassing for me, as I have to literally cling to his nude body in order to heal him. Shinji would not be glad to hear this.
"You crazy woman! Get off of me!"
"Not happening," I say, and with my other hand, I begin using my Kaidõ to heal the gash on his head. With the amount of fussing and fighting he'd just done, I'm surprised at how complacent he's become once I'd begun. His pulse beats erratically; I can feel it from multiple points in his body as I hold on to him. I snort at this. "I wonder if you were only fighting me, not because you didnt want to be healed, but because you're n--"
"You're crazy, lady," he says, sighing. After a moment of silence between us, he speaks. "Don't I at least get to know the name of the girl who's forced herself on this naked man tonight?"
Mid-heal, I smack him in the head.
"Don't phrase it like that, you great big child," I grumble. "I wouldn't have to do this if you just stopped grabbing me and let me do my job in the first place."
"Yeah, whatever. So, your name?"
"After the huge pain in ass you just were, you better tell me your name first or you're going to earn another one of these," I tell him, gesturing to the nearly-healed wound above his eyebrow.
He chuckles; a far cry from his previous attitude and behaviour.
"Kūgo," he says. "Kūgo Ginjō."
"Kūgo," I repeat. "I'm Abaron Kakaku."
"Alright, Abaron." Kūgo lowers himself deeper into the water and begins swimming away from me and back to shore. I quickly look away, my face flushed, as his rear end had entered my view. "Care to mention why you fell on me in the first place?"
"I was hunting a Hollow in this direction when I lost focus," I explain.
"What happened to the other Reaper in charge of this village?" he asks.
"Killed in action," I say. "I'm not here to replace him; I'm here on a personal quest of sorts. One that I'm not going to speak about," I add, before he can ask.
"Alright, alright." Kūgo reaches the shore, the water falling away from him each step he takes to get out. I'm stunned to see him now glow green, the water literally peeling itself off of him, leaving him dry and--
"A-Ah, still naked," I say, shielding my eyes. Forgive me for any impure thoughts I may have within the next five minutes, Shinji, it's not my fault!! "How the hell did you do that?" I demand.
"I dunno," he says. "I've always been able to. Never really thought that hard about it."
"... so then you're not an ordinary human, after all," I breathe.
"Oh, did me knowing about Soul Reapers tip you off? Or maybe it was the light you just saw that did it."
I furrow my eyebrows at his back; he's wrapped a sheet around his waist for my sake, he says.
"I'd say it was your ridiculous amount of muscle mass, but I think that's just your ego inflating them."
"You've got a lot of attitude for such a small Soul Reaper," he grumbles, ruffling his long, dripping hair. "But I've never met another human like me. Or another one who's experienced similar trauma."
"Trauma?" I repeat, slowly wading back to shore, myself. "What do you mean by that?"
"What are you talking about? Why the hell would I tell you about it?"
"Oh, uh, well I-I dunno," I say, stepping out of the water. "I guess I just got swept up in conversation." Unfortunately for me, I don't have the same luxury of... of... of whatever it was he'd done to dry off. So I have no choice. I peel my arms out of the black piece of my shihakushõ, shedding it like snake skin, and dropping it to the ground behind me. I shudder. "Jeez, it's freezing out," I hiss, the air around me having become even colder than it had been before I'd gotten soaked.
"Yeah, I can see that," Kūgo says, smirking down at me-- or, more specifically, my chest. My lips part, and a long, strangled hiss comes out as I reach down to grab my sopping robe and whip it at him. "Oi! I just dried off!"
"Then next time, think twice before you decide to pass sexual remarks at me!" I screech, proceeding to rub my chest flat. "Anyway... now that you're healed, I have to find that Hollow. And... as much as I want to, I can't leave you behind, unprotected." I sigh deeply. "You have to come with me."
"No, thanks," Kūgo says, barely a second after I'd spoke.
"Wha-- You have to!" I exclaim.
"I'm fine taking care of myself, trust me," he says. All of a sudden, he drops his towel. Eyes shut tight, face sweltering hot, I growl in frustration at him.
"Trust you, my ass! You have to come, you don't have the option to refuse. I don't know if you've noticed, but you've got some high spiritual pressure, that could easily make you a target for one of these Hollows. So do us both a favor and listen to me."
"I don't follow crazy women," he says.
"Like I give a damn; now get dressed, I need to hurry."
"You're not going to leave me alone unless I go with you, are you." "No, I'm not."
Kūgo sighs. "You really are a crazy woman."