Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Heart Dawning ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

Yoruichi glared at Kisuke as she sat in front of him on the low table in the sitting room. He had requested she revert back into her cat form shortly after Daria and the others had run out of the shop, saying he didn't want her intimidating the girl any further once she returned and that she should just leave the questioning to him. She had protested, of course, but all that had done was cause him to question her trust in him. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she just hated how indirect he could be sometimes. He was of the mentality that you caught more flies with honey, but she fully believed that the best way to get answers was to break some bones.

Perhaps it was a bit brutal, but she'd been the head of the Punishment Force for decades. It was just the way she did things. Hell, he'd been in the Onmitsukidou, too, but he'd always been a bit softer than her, spouting nonsense about how those confined to imprisonment in the Maggot's Nest could “blossom if given the right opportunities.” It was that very sentiment that had led to that nutjob Kurotsuchi gaining his current position as a captain, which became his by default after Kisuke went into exile.

“We're back,” announced Renji as he walked in through the front door of the shop, carrying a slightly startled-looking Daria in his arms. Her eyes were wide and red-rimmed, tears staining her cheeks, and her hand clutched the front of his shihakushou so tightly that her knuckles had begun to turn white. Rukia and Ichigo entered a step behind him, and the moment they set foot inside the store a blur of dark hair sprinted past Renji, knocking him off-balance and sending him staggering backwards into some sweets.

“You're baaaack!” Chappy cheered in a sing-song voice, throwing its arms around Rukia's neck and hugging her as it hummed happily. “Did you kill the nasty-wasty hollow?”

Daria watched the scene unfolding before her, entirely dumbfounded. She was still in shock over the speed at which she'd been carried back to the shop, and now she was certain she was seeing double as Rukia was being practically strangled by herself. Renji set her down and she wavered a bit on her feet before gaining her balance, then she walked into the back room and froze when she found a second Renji lying in the middle of the floor, dozing.

“I'm guessing you didn't explain any of this to her, then?” Ichigo asked as he walked past her and over to his own body, which was slumped over at the table where he had left it in his haste to go after Daria.

“I didn't see any need to, at the time,” Kisuke replied, watching Daria's reaction as Ichigo got back into his body and stretched a bit, working some kinks out of his shoulder.

“What the... How...” she muttered, completely at a loss for words over what she had just witnessed.

“Ichigo can't fight hollows in a human body,” Kisuke explained. “He has to be in the form of a soul in order to battle with them using his shinigami powers. Likewise, Renji and Rukia must also be in soul form in order to effectively battle hollows. However, they can't interact with most humans while in soul form. So, when they're not engaged in battle Renji and Rukia remain in these gigai – artificial bodies, if you will – which I created for them. In order to release their souls from the gigai so they can battle hollows, they swallow artificial souls in the form of something known as Soul Candy.”

“See?” Rukia said, holding her hand out in front of Daria. Sitting in the center of her palm was a small, round, green pill-like object. Daria looked back over her shoulder at the female shinigami and found that the black-clad version of her had disappeared, leaving only the one that had been present earlier in the morning.

“I think I need a drink,” Daria said as she slowly sat down at the table, looking a bit pale.

“I'll get it!” Ururu eagerly chirped, jumping to her feet and rushing off to the kitchen.

Kisuke continued watching Daria as she sat there, taking everything in, hiding his face behind his fan. She had taken the idea of hollows and shinigami so well that it seemed odd to him that she should be having such a hard time with the concepts of gigai and artificial souls. Then again, it also looked as if she had been crying just recently. Perhaps her ability to cope with such outrageously new ideas was compromised by her already fragile emotional state.

“Urahara,” Ichigo said, pulling the man's attention away from watching the young woman as she observed Renji returning to his gigai. “Those things showed up again.”

“They did?” Kisuke asked, although he didn't sound at all surprised. His eyes flickered briefly back to Daria before returning to the young man seated across from him, and he urged him to continue with a wave of his hand.

“They were attacking the hollow,” Renji interrupted before Ichigo could say anything, plopping down at the table with a sigh. “It was as if they didn't even know we were there.”

“We actually killed two of them as we were taking the hollow down,” Ichigo added.

“How many were there this time?” Kisuke asked, recalling that Ichigo had seen two the last time.

“Three,” Ichigo answered. “The third one managed to get away after we killed the hollow, and it went right after Daria.”

“Which I don't get, because if they wanted her to begin with, why did they attack the hollow instead of her?” Renji wondered.

“They probably saw the hollow as competition,” Kisuke hypothesized, scratching under his chin. “In order to ensure that only they would be able to kill Daria, they had to take the hollow out, first.”

“But why would they want to kill her?” Ichigo asked. “I mean, why her? There's got to be some sort of reason they're not going after anyone else.”

“Um, excuse me?” Uryuu said, waiting until the three men finally turned to look at him before he continued speaking. “She's sitting right here, you know. You could try to be a little more sensitive.”

“Yeah,” Chad agreed.

Kisuke and the others all looked over at Daria and found her sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. Orihime moved to sit a bit closer to her, reaching up and stroking the older woman's hair in a motherly way.

“It's alright, Daria,” she consoled her. “Ichigo won't let those things hurt you. We'll figure out what they are and what they want, and we'll fight them together, okay?”

“I already know what they want,” Daria said, her voice breaking slightly as she struggled to keep herself from crying again. “He's right, they want me dead.”

“That was merely a hypothesis, nothing to be taken so seriously,” Kisuke insisted in a cheerful tone, attempting to lighten the mood. Daria lifted her head, her eyes meeting his, and he could see that it was not at all a laughing matter to her.

“I lied,” she told him, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Excuse me?” he replied, blinking, hoping he'd misheard her. He would never hear the end of it if Yoruichi had been right all along about her lying before when she said she had no idea what those creatures were.

“I lied before, when that Yoruichi woman asked me about the creatures Ichigo saw.”

Kisuke swore in the back of his mind, his gaze traveling to the cat sitting on the table in front of him. He could almost swear he saw it giving him a satisfied smirk, as if it was saying, I told you so.

“I don't know what those things are,” Daria continued, “but I have seen one before.”

“Where did you see it?” Rukia asked, a sketchpad poised on her lap as she drew a crude interpretation of the creature she had seen for a report to send to Soul Society.

“There was one of them there the night my mother was killed,” she told them all. “That was... almost ten years ago,” she added, pausing as she mentally calculated how much time had passed. “I was sixteen, then.”

“Are you sure it was the same thing? How did she die? Did that thing kill her?” Ichigo asked, rapidly firing off each question at her.

“Ichigo,” Kisuke said his name in a slightly warning tone. He knew the boy was just eager to get to the bottom of things, but Daria was visibly upset over the memory of losing her mother. He figured if anyone would understand, it would be Ichigo, so it surprised him that the boy was being rather insensitive given the current line of conversation.

“Sorry,” Ichigo immediately apologized once he realized the way he must sound to the woman. “I lost my mom, too, when I was ten. She was killed by a hollow.”

“I'm sorry to hear that, but at least you know exactly what happened,” Daria told him, sounding at first sympathetic before her voice took on a bitter edge. “My mother was simply dead when I got home one day, murdered, and there was one of those... things there, standing over her body. It had those same glowing red eyes, that same sickening appearance of a skeleton covered in burnt flesh. I've tried to forget it over the years, but... How could someone ever forget something like that? So yes, I am certain it was the same sort of creature as the ones that just tried to attack me.”

“Well, I think it's pretty obvious that you're not safe out there,” Uryuu concluded, crossing his arms over his chest and adjusting his glasses with one hand. “If those things killed your mom, then they must want you dead for the same reason. Until we figure that reason out, you'll be in constant danger.”

“Agreed,” Kisuke said, nodding. “So until we get this all figured out, you'll be staying here.”

“I can't do that,” Daria argued, shaking her head, her eyes widening at the thought of having to be under the same roof with that threatening woman, Yoruichi. She wasn't present at the time, but she knew if she was she would likely be protesting up a storm about letting her stay with them.

“Mr. Urahara's right,” Orihime told her, placing a hand on top of hers. “This is the safest place for you, right now.”

“I wouldn't want to impose,” Daria countered, making the best excuse she could, knowing it was a rather lame one and would likely fall upon deaf ears.

“Nonsense,” Kisuke replied, waving away her concerns with a hand. “We have the room. And it's not like we haven't taken in strays before,” he added, casting a glance over at Renji.

“I am not a stray,” the redhead angrily retorted.

“Shut up, moocher,” Jinta scolded as he walked into the room, carrying a tray full of snacks. Ururu followed him, carefully balancing a pot of tea and several cups on her own tray, with Tessai bringing up the rear. Daria sat quietly as the three of them took up their seats once more around the table and Ururu began serving the tea to each of them.

“So?” Kisuke asked after a moment, directing the question to her. “Are you going to stay voluntarily, or am I going to have to tie you up?”

Daria didn't miss the obviously suggestive undertones of his comment, and nearly choked on her tea as her gaze shot up toward him. A blush immediately rose in her cheeks in spite of not being able to see his expression, which he kept concealed behind the white fan in his right hand. The cat sitting in front of him on the table gave a low growl, and he chuckled as he reached out with his other hand to scratch it behind the ears. She couldn't tell if he had been joking or if he really was the kind of man who was into that sort of thing, but either way she didn't think Yoruichi would approve of him making such a comment.

“Everyone here is really nice,” Orihime assured her, oblivious to what had just been said. “You'll be just fine.”

Sure, Daria thought, turning to the girl and forcing a smile. As long as Yoruichi doesn't find out her boyfriend wants to tie me up, I'll be just fine.

“So it's settled, then,” Kisuke said, closing his fan and pointing it at Daria. “You'll stay here, where we can keep you under our protection until we're able to figure out what those things are and why they're so intent on killing you.”

“I do appreciate the offer, but I really can't stay here,” she protested.

“Don't be stupid,” Uryuu said a bit condescendingly. “Would you rather go back out there and risk getting killed?”

“What Uryuu is trying to say is that it's just too dangerous for you out there,” Ichigo said, trying to diffuse the situation before Daria lost her temper and took off again. “We can't keep an eye on you and make sure you're safe if you're out wandering around where those things could attack you at any given moment.”

“I'm well aware of the danger,” Daria told him, “but that's not the point. I can't just drop my entire life and go into hiding. I have a job, you know.”

“Then quit,” Kisuke said nonchalantly.

“I can't just quit!” she argued, her green eyes flashing as she stared him down.

“Fine, then,” he acquiesced. “Go about your everyday life as if nothing was wrong. Let every person you come into contact with be put into the potential danger of being killed by those things that are after you because they had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Kisuke watched as the defiant gleam in her eyes faded considerably. Not even the most stubbornly independent person could stand the idea of people getting hurt because of them. At least, not if they had half a conscience. He'd counted on her potential guilt over the deaths of others that might be around the next time she was attacked to help sway the situation in his favor. So far, it looked as if he'd made the right call. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she sighed and broke her eye contact with him, staring instead at the cup of tea held in between her palms.

“I'm going to at least need to go back to my apartment and pick up a few things,” she said, the fight in her voice diminished considerably.

“I'll have Ichigo escort you there,” Kisuke announced, nodding to the boy as he spoke. “It might be best if you go right away, while they're probably busy regrouping.”

“Got it,” Ichigo said, standing up from his seat at the table. “Come on.”

Daria sighed a bit and took another sip of her tea before standing and following Ichigo toward the shop at the front of the story.

“Hey,” Kisuke called after them. “Only bring what's absolutely necessary, got it? No need to weigh yourselves down with unneeded baggage, just in case.”

“Got it,” Ichigo called back over his shoulder, opening the door for Daria and letting her exit the store in front of him.

“This is a bad idea, Kisuke,” Yoruichi said once the door had been closed behind them. “Mark my words, you're inviting more trouble than you realize.”

“Relax, I have a plan,” he assured her, a sly grin spreading across his face.

“What sort of plan?” Rukia asked as she looked up from her drawing, her curiosity piqued.

“I think we're in agreement that there's something going on with this girl, right?” he asked, posing the question to everyone in the room even though he was looking directly at Yoruichi. “Well, we're never going to figure out what that something is if we just send her home.”

“And how do you propose we go about finding out what that something is?” the cat asked, still not thoroughly convinced that letting the girl stay with them was a good idea.

“I haven't figured that out, just yet,” Kisuke admitted as he stood, adjusting the hat on top of his head with a single hand. “It's going to take some careful calculations to come up with just the right tool for the job.”

“Is he talking about coming up with another of his crazy inventions?” Uryuu asked Chad, keeping his voice low in the hopes that the crazy shopkeeper wouldn't overhear him.

“Who knows?” Chad replied. Kisuke looked at the two of them over his shoulder and grinned.

It was just as he had feared. The man was definitely cooking up some sort of scheme.