This got a lot of positive feedback on fanfiction.net, and I was told multiple times that it should be multi-chapter. So here it is. There will be NO fan shipping where an OOC gets together with a real character...I don't want to give anybody any ideas. Just throwing that out there
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Ichigo was still laughing.
So Rukia punched him in the gut. He groaned.
“Fool,” she hissed. “She deserves an explanation. At least we should give her that.”
“Fine,” muttered Ichigo, rubbing his now-sore stomach. At least he had stopped laughing. “Go ahead and tell her. I’m going to go see if I can find Yoruichi-san.” He promptly started clutching at his pants. Again.
“Going to find someone doesn’t require you to take your pants off,” I said extremely loudly. I had thought that was what he was doing, anyway. I could have asked a million questions instead of pointing that out, but that seemed like the easiest place to start when my head was still spinning.
Apparently this wasn’t what Ichigo had been expecting me to say. “What the HELL?!” he shouted, jumping back and crossing his arms defensively in front of him. His face was bright red. “I’m NOT! What’s WRONG with you?!”
“What do you mean what’s wrong with me?” I retorted, my temper flaring. He seemed to set me off so much easier than anyone else did, presumably because he was such a pain in the ass. Or such an idiot, I couldn’t decide which. “First, you, Rukia, and a cat start to believe in ghosts, and then that same cat starts talking to me, and then it turns into a person and jumps out my kitchen window, and you ask what’s wrong with me?!”
Ichigo angrily opened his mouth to shout at me some more, but Rukia silenced him with a basilisk glare. “Enough, you two,” she ordered, her glare flickering between me and Ichigo. I shuddered involuntarily at the ice in her eyes, and the corners of Ichigo’s mouth lifted ever so slightly. He was obviously used to this. But I had never known Rukia could be so…cold. She was always so sweet and kind-hearted in school. Rukia ignored my revelation, still scolding Ichigo. “She doesn’t know what you’re doing, Ichigo. She can’t see…go find Masako’s room and leave your body in the closet. I don‘t want you to leave it here and scare her any more than we already have.”
I could feel the blood draining from my face, and darkness started to gather at the corners of my eyes. I stood up, clutching at the table for support. “Leave…his…his…his…” My own voice sounded foreign in my ears. The darkness was threatening to en gulf me now. “His…body?” I croaked out weakly. I started to laugh, quietly at first, quickly escalating in volume until my high shrieks made even Ichigo jump back from the table.
He groaned. “Yeah, great plan, Rukia. That definitely didn’t scare her.”
Rukia was looking at me warily as I continued to cackle like a madwoman, but the ice had been replaced with a deep concern. “Masako? Are you…ok?”
The laughter started to subside and I gasped, beginning to regain my breath, and hopefully even a little of my sanity. “I’m fine, I’m fine!” My voice was still too high-pitched. Fake. “It’s just…you said…his…hi body. You’re kidding, right? Right?”
Rukia and Ichigo exchanged wary glances. “Uhhh…no, she wasn’t kidding,” Ichigo said, obviously afraid he would set me off again.
My nerveless fingers slid from the table. A rushing blur of black and orange was the last thing I saw before my entire world went dark.
*****
I opened my eyes, rubbing them groggily as I sat up and looked around my room. Everything was as it should be. I staggered out of bed and made my way over to the closet. I hesitated, and then slid the door open with clammy hands. No body. I heaved a sigh of relief.
Was that all…real?
I didn’t know what to think. Maybe I’d understand things better after I took a shower. I grabbed a towel and shuffled out of my bedroom, turned down the hallway…
…And found myself face to face with Yoruichi.
Ok…well, that answers my question.
She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, that annoyingly baffling smile still on her face. I could already feeling my mood heading south. “Hey, what’s up, Masako?”
“Oh, nothing unusual. I’m just going to go take a shower.” I stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. Yoruichi just laughed.
*****
Fifteen minutes later, feeling more refreshed but still just as confused, I walked into my kitchen, which was being used as a conference room. Ichigo, Rukia, and Yoruichi, all seated around the table, looked up as I came in. There was a steaming plate of lasagna in front of the last empty seat. I rushed towards it and sat down quickly. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.
“So, Masako,” Yoruichi said lightly. “How’s your day been?”
I glared at her. She still had that confusingly annoying smile on her face.
“Ok,” Rukia took a deep breath, apparently steeling herself for what was coming next. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this, Masako. Really. However, you deserve to know what you’re dealing with.”
“Yes, I think I do too,” I stated bluntly between mouthfuls of pasta. “So…who are you guys, really?”
Yoruichi sighed, but the smile never left her face. “Always the most difficult questions first.”
Rukia glanced at Ichigo. “Ichigo, you used to be semi-normal once.” I snickered. “Would you like to try to explain this to her?”
Ichigo rolled his eyes, but leaned across the table towards me anyway. He glared at me, a faint glimmer of annoyance already apparent in his ember eyes. “Can you stop stuffing your face for a minute and listen to me?”
Yoruichi snorted. “Leave her alone, Ichigo. She’s hungry, and she knows how to eat, just like I do.” Yoruichi looked extremely proud of herself.
For some reason, I had a feeling that I wasn’t being complimented. “Hey, the only reason I’m so hungry is because a certain cat ate my lunch.” Now it was Yoruichi’s turn to snicker. “Can we just get on with the explaining, please?”
“Right.” Ichigo didn’t look all that eager. “You know all those stories they told us when we were little about how a shinigami would come to take us away when it was our turn to die?”
I nodded. I didn’t like where this was going.
“Well, they’re not exactly true.”
No shit, I thought to myself. “No shit.”
“Hold on, we’re still getting to the good part,” Ichigo said. Rukia was starting to get fidgety. Yoruichi, on the contrary, still looked as happy as ever. “Shinigami do exist. The legends are just…wrong. That’s not exactly what a shinigami does.”
“Oh, yeah?” I retorted. “And yesterday I saw a pig fly by my bedroom window. He was wearing a pinwheel hat and said his name was Arnold.”
Ichigo started to get angry. I was personally surprised that he lasted so long. “Can you just shut your mouth for TWO DAMN MINUTES so I can explain?”
“You mean so you can try and fill me with more crap?” I commented. Ichigo stood up angrily, his chair clattering to the floor behind him. I wasn’t trying to make him mad, but it was just so easy…
“Stop that, Ichigo,” Rukia demanded. “When I told you, your reaction was much worse. It was so violent.” She shook her head mockingly. Ichigo scowled, and Yoruichi burst out laughing. I was glad that at least one of us was enjoying herself. Rukia turned to look at me, a careful expression on her face. “Masako, he’s not lying. Shinigami are real.”
“Oh really?” I snorted. “And what makes you think I’ll believe you?” For what seemed like the first time that day, Yoruichi stopped laughing and even her smile faded, her golden eyes fixed on my face.
“You should believe me,” Rukia said slowly, “Because Ichigo, Yoruichi-san and I are shinigami.”
A car pulled into the driveway.
Great. Like this couldn’t get any better.
