InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Clash of the Egos ❯ Nerdy But Strong ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Bleach or Inuyasha. I wish I did though…oh well. Thank you for all the reviews. Write more! On with the story!!!

 

 

Chapter 5: Nerdy But Strong

 

Ichigo finally finished Konso on the last of the spirits haunting the sad little village. He sighed inwardly and stepped into Kaede's tiny house and sat in a corner, finally being able to rest.

 

“What is this place?” Orihime asked while she chomped down some chips that Kagome gave her. “I mean…how did the well from our world get connected to this one? Makes no sense.”

 

“You know…I'm not sure. Ask the all knowing grandma.” Ichigo replied beckoning to Rukia whose blue eyes bulged and she slammed his face in the floor.

 

“I'm not old!” she growled. And ran a hand through her hair. “At this rate you never know who is going to get through that well. How come you've never locked it or marked it off limits?” Rukia asked, the last statement directed at Kagome.

 

“Well, we've never had a problem with people around the well. There's no way a human can get through it without having either a Jewel Shard or the blood of a demon. They would just hit the bottom and have to climb back up.”

 

“No one can get through unless they have a high spiritual energy…right?” Rukia asked as she paced to and fro in the room.

 

“I don't know. I've always had the Kakera with me so it made no difference.” Kagome replied, looking down at the rigid half of what they had been told as the Shikon no Tama. It was purple, kind of like the glow in the well and glowed at the touch of Kagome's hands.

 

“That's so cool.” Orihime said looking at the Shikon no Tama closely. “I've never seen anything like this before!”

 

“It's caused a lot of trouble for us in the past.” Sango said while she looked at the jewel darkly. “If you met Sesshomaru before we had got there. Why didn't he kill you?”

 

“She used her Shun Shun Rikka.” Rukia replied.

 

“How did she get it?” Kagome asked.

 

“I'm not sure but it has something to do with her barrettes.” Rukia said before sitting down again.

 

“But I have one question for the young Orihime.” Miroku said, taking Orihime's hands in his. “Will you care to bear my child?”

 

She blushed, “No.”

 

Sango grabbed her Hiraikotsu and slammed it down on Miroku's head. “Sit down, monk.” She commanded and dragged Miroku back to his sitting place.

 

Orihime cringed, “What was that all about?”

 

“He's a perv.” Ichigo replied staring flatly at the wall.

 

 

~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~> ~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>>~>~>~>

 

 

 

“Recently, three teens from Karakura First High School have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. They are Ichigo Kurosaki, age 15, Rukia Kuchiki, age 15, and Orihime Inoue, age 15. Our informers announced that all of the missing teenagers are from the same class. Could there be a connection? To this point, we have no leads to what could have happened. We caution all the children in the neighborhood to be careful when walking by themselves.”

 

Chad watched the TV screen as they displayed the pictures of, Ichigo, Rukia and Orihime. Everyone at school had been talking about it and some pretty far-fetched rumors had flown around the school too. Like the one about how they had joined a cult and ran away from home. Or the one that said they were abducted by aliens. Ichigo's family was pretty freaked out, too. They had called every police department in Tokyo to look for Ichigo.

 

It was almost six o' clock. He had to get groceries before the store closed. It was seventy-five degrees outside so he didn't need a jacket like usual. He just took his keys and headed out the door.

 

~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~> ~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~> ~>~>~>~>~>~>

 

“Bye Karin!” the kids dispersed while they waved at Karin who had to be home by seven or else her dad would go crazy. She and the local neighborhood boys who wanted to play soccer for a bit. She had gotten so into the game she hadn't notice how late it was getting. She trudged out of the park and past a few bums on the benches by the fence and back toward her house.

 

Then, she felt something. It was much how she felt when she saw a ghost or when she had a memory given to her by a spirit. Usually she just ignored it and pretended like the feeling didn't exist. But this time, it was stronger than ever and her curiosity got the best of her. She looked to her right and saw some sort of temple but smaller. Like a series of small shrines. Commonly, spirits liked to hang around places like that. She crossed the street over to the steps and looked up.

 

She rather wouldn't have but she couldn't ignore the intense feeling she felt. Karin jumped up the steps, two at a time trying to ignore her weariness beginning to form. She reached the last step and paused to look around. Closing her eyes, she tried to reach out and find the source of the spirit energy. At that moment, she wished her psychic abilities were as good as her older brother's. She almost lost hope when she felt where the strongest aura was from.

 

Karin opened her eyes and looked to one of the miniature buildings to her right. She ran towards it and opened the sliding door and peering inside. It was completely dark. She took a deep breath and entered. Dust floated around everywhere and she coughed. `Well this place is empty…' she thought as she looked around. Nothing was in it except a large hole, which she presumed to be a well. Looking over the side of the well, she saw nothing. But when her hand rested on the lip of the well, a cold feeling shot up her arm and she jumped back.

 

“Whoa…” she said quietly. “I guess I did feel something.” There was only one way to find out what was down there. She put one foot on the rim then the other. Her sneakers slipped and Karin let out a scream as she fell head first down into the well.

 

“KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

 

~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~> ~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>

 

So much for grocery shopping. Chad was walking down the sidewalk. He had barely made it to the grocery store and it closed before he could get anything. `That's what I get for watching too much TV…' he thought. Now he was trudging home when he heard a scream. He recognized it to be Ichigo's sister, what was her name again? Karen? Korin? Wait! It was Karin! He hurried up and ran down the street. Where had it come from?

 

He could still hear the echoes of the scream radiating in the air. He saw nothing in the direction where he heard the noise unusual except the Sun Shrine. He decided to check the place out. He ran up the steps as fast as he could, which was pretty fast, and was at the top in a matter of seconds. He willed the voice to continue shrieking, and it did. The voice seemed to reflect off the white stone that floored the ground as Chad tried to locate Karin before her voice died down.

 

The echo had led him near a shack that had positioned itself in a corner of the complex. He thrust the door opened and that voice faded completely. Suddenly, Chad felt a presence behind him. He turned around, “I…shida?” Yup, it was our favorite Bleach nerd, Uryu Ishida. He was in his school uniform as usual. Uryu's face held a cold expression of his regular.

 

Uryu pushed his glasses up his nose, “So you heard it too?” Without hesitation, Uryu strolled to the well and looked down, “Enormous spirit energy surrounds this well…”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Forget it.” Uryu said coldly. He crossed his arms, and fell silent.

 

 

“I'm going look inside.” Chad said and tried to ignore the icy look he was getting from the school nerd. He jumped up on the edge of the well and looked down. It was dark and he heard no sound of water hitting the sides of the well. He then stepped forward and fell into the well. “Karin?” he called looking around as he descended. It seemed as if he would fall forever.

 

A purple glow surrounded him and he felt as if he was floating instead of falling. Chad finally hit the bottom of the well and looked up, twilight gleamed through the top of it. Wait, that couldn't be right… it was dark when he was in the shack. How did the light suddenly change? He looked down when he heard a groan, seeing Karin clutching her head in pain. She sat on the ground, and still didn't seem to notice him.

 

“Ow… Damn my lack of balance.” She mumbled. She looked up, “Oh hey…it's the big guy from Ichigo's school.” She stood with a bit of a stumble, “What the heck are you doing here?”

 

“I heard you screaming… so I came to check what was going on.” He replied, looked around and scratching the back of his head, trying to figure out how to get out from the well.

 

“You mean you jumped into the well without knowing where you'll end up at? Stupid…” Karin mumbled as she grabbed some vines and climbed up. “Hurry up! You're gonna slow me down!”

 

`Wow, she's just like Ichigo.' Chad thought as he followed.

 

~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~> ~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~> ~>

 

Uryu sighed as he looked down in the well. The giant hadn't come back yet. Probably got lost… He silently jumped into the well, expecting to find Chad unconcious from hitting his head on something. But then, something seemed to seize his legs and haul him deeper and deeper into the well. Uryu stayed silent, trying to contemplate what was happening.

 

He landed at the bottom and looked up, seeing dusk light shining through the top of the well. He heard voices and his eyes narrowed. With ease he ascended up the walls of the well using vines that ran around in the stone. He leapt and landed on lush grass, noticing he had found himself in a forest. `Interesting…' he thought as he walked forward trying to determine his location.

 

In the distance he saw the giant and a little girl walking towards the edge of the forest. Uryu decided to follow quietly. Stealthily he walked with his hands in his pockets his eyes still narrowed. The feeling that crept up his spine was coming from a spirit and a strong one at that. He looked around seeing nothing but trees and rocks. Nothing unusual seemed to haunt this forest but he just couldn't rid himself of the feeling that someone or something was watching his every move.

 

“Hey! Are you going to keep following us like that or are you gonna join us?” the little girl asked turning around and eyeing Uryu suspiciously.

 

“…”

 

The girl sighed, “Not much of a talker are you? Well hurry up! You're just as slow as Chad!”

 

Uryu twitched at the comment and invitation. Being compared to a lummox like Chad was insulting. But he just nodded and kept his pace until he had caught up to the two. He wasn't eager for traveling with them.

 

“So what's your name?” she asked as they walked.

 

“Uryu Ishida.” He hesitated to answer to a stranger.

 

“I'm Karin Kurosaki.” Karin supplied her name without being asked.

 

Uryu twitched at her last name. Was she related to that ignorant Shinigami?

 

“If you're wondering if I'm related to Ichigo, then sadly, you're right. He's my brother.”

 

Was she reading his mind?

 

“No, I'm not reading your mind. You're acting predictable.” Karin looked straight ahead when she spoke.

 

Uryu frowned. The little girl did resemble the Shinigami in an uncanny way but her hair was a different color. Thank goodness, he couldn't take the violent color of Ichigo's hair. It was somewhat disturbing.

 

“Do you have any idea where we're going?” Chad asked quietly. “We don't even know where we are.”

 

“I'm going where I sense Ichigo which is the direction we're heading.” Karin replied.

 

Uryu thought, ` Could it be that she has Ichigo's spiritual ability?' It seemed that way. Somehow they were connected through their powers. Charming. The forest was dark and littered with leaves and logs. Uryu looked around in disgust. This place reminded him of a swamp. How ugly. The trees became scarce as they walked on. It seemed that Karin's hunch was right for they ended up atop a hill looking down at a village.

 

“I told you I knew where we were going.” Karin said as she walked down the hillside. They came upon the first little wooden house, which was surprisingly old-fashioned. Most of the people were dressed in Sengoku Jidai period clothing. He remembered it from history class. The villagers' eyes seemed to be glued to the group.

 

“This place is freaky.” Karin said nonchalantly. Uryu seemed to agree with her.

 

`That well must have been a portal sending us back to Sengoku Jidai.' He thought. `I must find out how that can be.' He looked at Karin who ware a baseball jersey with a pair of short and a baseball cap and then looked at Chad who was in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants. They must have been looking pretty strange in this place.

 

“Are you a demon?” a child asked, poking Karin's stomach. “You look fairly normal to me.”

 

“I'd rather you didn't touch me.” Karin replied, glaring at the child.

 

The child sniffed and cried as he ran back to who seemed to be his mother. “Mommy! She's scary!” he exclaimed and clung to his mother's leg.

 

“There, there.”

 

Karin sighed and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. Uryu smirked. The girl turned out to be quite amusing. Karin walked up to a woman and asked her, “We're looking for an Ichigo Kurosaki.”

 

“I know no one of the name.” The woman replied before turning back to hanging up laundry.

 

“Ok, I'm looking for a boy with orange hair.”

 

“Oh you mean that foolish one who likes to jump on people's roofs?” the woman asked.

 

Karin seemed to hesitate before saying, “Yeah…sure.”

 

“He be at Lady Kaede's.”

 

“Who?” Karin asked, crossing her arms.

 

“The lady priestess. She be the head of the village. She lives at the border of the forest.” The woman then pointed in a direction.

 

An older man came out of nowhere to object, “No, she lives in that direction.” The man pointed in the opposite direction.

 

“You're both wrong! She lives up that hill.” A younger woman also objected to the coordinates.

 

`Imbecilic morons…' Uryu thought in distaste. The scatter-brained villagers were no help. So after many long moments, the three went off on their own.

 

“Can you still sense Ichigo, Karin?” Chad asked.

 

Karin nodded, “Yeah. He's in that direction!” They hurried East and came to the border of the village. Karin stopped and so did Uryu. That feeling was crawling up his back again. Something was coming but it was nothing like a hollow. It was different. Uryu looked to his left and saw a distant figure coming in their way. Dust was coming up from where its feet should be. It left up on two houses, making banging noises as it leapt from one to another.

 

“Where is INUYASHA?” the thing yowled. Uryu frowned, its body shape resembled a human's but it was covered in fur and had cat ears and whiskers.

 

“We are not familiar with this name.” He said, glaring up at the cat-being.

 

The being growled, “Insolent human! Unfortunate for you I am hungry right now! Tasty morsels like the girl shouldn't go to waste!”

 

Uryu's eyebrow twitched in anger. The thing was annoying him greatly. “Unfortunate for you, I detest your attitude.” His bracelet glowed and he pulled at the charm, and in his hand formed a silver flaming arrow. Skillfully, he aimed and let it fly. The cat yowled and screeched in pain and it exploded. In its place was burnt hole in the roof of the house that it had stood upon.

 

Karin and Chad's eyes were wide in surprise as Uryu's bow disappeared and he pushed his glasses farther up his nose.

 

A/N: Nerdy, but strong. It evens out.

 

“H-how did you do that?” Karin asked taking Uryu's wrist and looking at the bracelet. “How do you make it transform like that?”

 

“It would take too long to explain.” Uryu replied, yanking his wrist from her hand. “Now, can we go now that I have disposed of the vermin?”

 

“Whatever.” Karin said before leading them to a single house on the border of the village.

 

“KARIN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Ichigo Kurosaki's voice yelled, making Uryu frown unhappily. “And with ISHIDA!”

 

“SHUT UP! I CAME LOOKING FOR YOU! DAD HAS BEEN WORRIED! HE HAS NO ONE TO BEAT UP SO HE SPENDS HIS ENERGY IN FROM OF THE TV.” Karin yelled back, “HE SPENDS ALL HIS TIME WATCHING SPONTANEOUS TRIPS! IT'S DISTURBING ME!”

 

Uryu sweatdropped. Spontaneous Trips was one of those idiotic television shows about things even the producers didn't understand. The star Don Kanonji wasn't even aware what he was doing most of the time. 25% of Japan watch it, which means it was very popular with the youth.

 

Rukia Kuchiki was the second person running out of the hut, “Ichigo! What was all that noise about?”

 

“Hey! It's that one girl who came to my mother's death anniversary!” Karin said. “Ichigo what is she doing here? What are we doing here?”

 

“Um… how did you get here?” Ichigo said crossing his arms and frowning.

 

“I fell down a well.”

 

“So did I.”

 

“Was it the one at the Higurashi Sun Shrine?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So then there's something weird about that well.” Karin said.

 

“Apparently.” Ichigo replied.

 

“So then how come you haven't come home?”

 

“We are stuck here.”

 

Uryu had to admit the girl was pushy for a runt. Karin commanded, “I don't believe you! Something is going down here that I need to know about. Spit it out STRAWBERRY!”

 

>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~ >~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>< /div>