Regulus
New Member
It was finally the day for Reshin to enter into Soul City for the very first time. Today he was now one step closer to his life’s only goal, that goal being to find acceptance from others also affiliated with the Gotei Thirteen. As he entered the gate at the northern end he was immediately greeted with the sight of multiple, behemoth sized structures that made up the majority of Soul City itself.
Having stayed for all those years in the Rukongai, Reshin was not accustomed to such a vast scenery. The only decent sized structures he had ever seen was the academy and most homes as he could barely remember from his time on earth. Taking in the new sights and sounds the city had to offer, it was more than clear that it was gonna take some time getting used to for Reshin.
The small district in which he found himself in was so large to the point where if Reshin hadn’t been given a directory preemptively, than he would have already been lost to the point where he wouldn’t be able to find his way back. Taking a quick look at the map he had received from his former instructor, he began to navigate his way through trying to find the squad eight barracks to which he had been assigned too.
"Ne, ne, Ada-nee-chan," a fairly short teenage soul said, hanging on her older sister's arm, "how long has it been since you've gone shopping? You know you don't have to wear that drab uniform all the time," she gestured to Adele's shihakusho, "I know you're wearing a nice shirt with it, but you have to be more creative than that."
The Mystic looked down at her clothing. She wore the standard shinigami uniform with the exception of the lavender shirt she wore beneath her kosode, which was open due to her decision to forgo the thin white obi that usually held it closed.
"Not that long ago, actually. Alexia-san took me shopping a few weeks ago," the nekogami replied softly.
"Then either Alexia has no fashion sense or you don't," Tia scolded, "because you're still wearing that boring uniform."
From his place on Adele's shoulder, a large black tomcat hissed at the civilian.
"Shut up, cat, no one asked you," the girl sneered at Midnight.
"Please don't insult Midnight, Tia-chan," the Mystic frowned at her younger sister.
After having spent a majority of two hours searching for his barracks, Reshin at this point pretty much figured he was now officially lost. Despite having the map in hand, it ended up proving to be more of a hindrance than a help. Considering the fact that he didn’t understand its contents definitely played a heavy part in this precarious situation.
Eventually, Reshin no longer being able to contain his visible frustration, decided that it would be more useful to discard the item that caused his troubles so he would not continue getting even angrier by looking at it anymore.
“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.......“ Reshin muttered to himself. “Where in the hell am I?!“ he shouted at the top of his lungs, his commotion causing quite a peculiar response from the souls around him.
That in no way, shape, or form could’ve possibly made a good impression. Additionally, the fact that Reshin was still fairly distant from others made it difficult for him to ask for help from anyone. This made his situation all the more frustrating.
His attention would be distracted, however, when he thought he saw a familiar figure in the distance.
He wasn’t the type to just directly walk up to someone at random, but the appearance of this figure piqued his interest. Heading in that same direction, he could now make out three figures: two female souls, (one being a shinigami and the other a normal soul) and a cat. The normal soul and the cat did not interest him as much as the shinigami did.
He could swear that he had seen her somewhere before, but where? In the midst of his pondering he had not realized that he had already been noticed.
Midnight turned from Tia to glare with hostility at another death god. The tall man had been staring at his shinigami and he didn't like it. The cat hissed as his tail flicked back and forth.
"Midnight?" Adele looked at her feline companion with concern.
"What's that cat hissing about, anyway?" Tia grumbled, irritated that her onee-sama wasn't paying attention to her anymore.
"Midnight," the Mystic replied, emphasizing the fact that the cat had a name, "is concerned about the tall man that's looking at us."
The dark haired girl looked at Reshin and glared. What did that jerk want? Marching right up to the male shinigami, she stood before him with her hands on her hips.
"Staring is rude, you know." With a light toss of her head, the civilian flicked her long, black braid over her shoulder and continued to stare down the death god.
Stopping where he was, Reshin looked down at the small female in front of him. He didn’t exactly know what to make of her seeing as how he knew nothing of her. Never the less he didn’t want to waste time having to deal with some little brat. What he wanted to do was see if his curiosity was justified. Without any words he simply walked past the girl in front of him and made his way directly towards the woman who was the object of his interest. Bowing respectfully to her he began to introduce himself.
“I’m sorry if I’ve seem to come out of the blue like this. My name is Reshin Izukawa and its nice to meet you,“ he said a little shakily since he still wasn’t that comfortable with being so outspoken.
Tia growled and stomped up behind the man to give him a piece of her mind. Right before she could kick him in the behind, she was levitated into the air. With a yelp, the girl began squirming, but stopped when she was dropped behind Adele.
The Mystic gave no hint to being aware of her younger sibling. She fixed Reshin with an icy, silver stare, but bowed politely anyway, though not as deeply as the other shinigami had.
"I am Ama Adele," her voice was soft and flat, devoid of emotion other than a subtle hint of contempt.
From her shoulder, a large, black cat growled. "He's a rude one," the cat muttered, "and a weakling, too." From his companion's silence, Midnight gathered that she agreed.
Other than the fact that he just saw her get lifted up from the ground by some mysterious force, Reshin paid the civilian no mind, focusing more on the name that continued to resound within his mind over and over again. Adele now was it? Reshin knew that he had heard that name at one point or another, but he just couldn’t manage to pinpoint exactly where he heard it from.
“I’m sorry to bother you with this, but I believe we have met somewhere before,“ he said now one hundred percent certain that he knew this woman.
His slitted, red eyes now entirely focused on her own silver irises.
"Have we?" Her tone challenged his claims. Adele's eyes narrowed, turning blood red.
Who was Reshin? And where would she have met such a rude boy before? Midnight scoffed. "I don't think my shinigami would even associate with someone like you."
"Hey! Don't ignore me, you big jerk!" Tia stamped her foot and crossed her arms.
"Tia. Not now," the Mystic warned her sister. "Seeing one person set a poor example does not give you an excuse to behave rudely."
Reshin now began to get the feeling as if he had offended Adele somehow with his less than refined ability to communicate things properly to others. At this point, he was starting to seriously consider whether or not he should just walk away, or if he should proceed with a little more caution. Choosing to continue, he decided to choose his words a little more carefully.
“I suppose an apology is in order for my earlier rudeness. I’m terribly sorry if I came off a little bit as a douche of sorts, but I assure you that is not how I normally am. I guess you could say my word choice is a tad off at times,“ Reshin said as he bowed to Tia, the likes of which he had ignored previously.
Looking back to face Adele he now noticed that her eye color had changed, and was now similar in color to his own. It was at that moment he remembered who she was. The only one he considered a close friend during his days in the academy. She had graduated around two years before he had, which explained the difference in their power.
Tia turned her head and refused to look at Reshin, but muttered few words of insincere forgiveness after receiving a reproachful look from Adele. The soul said nothing else, preferring to instead scuff her shoe against the ground.
The Mystic's eyes softened and faded back to silver. "You were a couple of years behind me in the Academy, weren't you?" She asked, glancing at the other death god's uniform.
Midnight snorted, but lay across Adele's shoulders tamely. "At least the weakling had the sense to say he was sorry. Perhaps he at least recognizes you're much better than him," the cat grumbled.
"Hush, Midnight," the nekogami scolded her companion in Cat. The feline obeyed, resting his chin on his paws and closing his eyes.
Since Reshin could not speak Cat, it was obvious that he had absolutely no idea as to what was going on between Adele and her companion. The last time he saw her she didn’t even have a cat, so this was strange in (his opinion) to see her speaking to her cat with meowed replies. This wasn’t of much importance though, as Reshin refocused himself on the current situation.
“So I take it that you remember me now? You know the kid who used to separate himself from everybody and was pretty much the troublemaker in class,“ Reshin inquired curiously, hoping his former classmate would know who he was referring to.
The nekogami inclined her head a fraction, "you were alone a lot," she agreed. "But you were quiet and didn't cause me, personally, any trouble."
Tia, having grown restless, asked, "Are we going shopping or not?"
"You can look around a little if you'd like," Adele nodded to her. "I'll be a while. Sorry, imouto-chan."
Rolling her eyes, Tia left the two shinigami and one cat to their conversation in favor of a nearby boutique.
“So who is the kid if you don’t mind my asking?“ Reshin asked.
He had been so fixated on Adele that he hadn’t really noticed the multiple exchanges of formality between the two females. Were they related in some way? Regardless of the situation there, it seemed very odd to Reshin for Adele to act as a babysitter.
He made this assumption mostly in part because of their distinct similarities as far as them both having distant personalities. It seemed that quite a bit had changed since Reshin had last seen Adele over two years ago.
"Her name is Ama Tia. She's my little sister," the Mystic answered, not bothering to elaborate further.
“Really now?“ Reshin blinked in surprise. It was at that very moment when Reshin’s mind began to make its detour down memory lane. Let's take a little peek at what he saw!
It was around five years ago, two years after Reshin had entered the academy, where this sweet story began. Reshin, at this point in time, was starting to work his way up the ladder with in his class ranking, managing to ascend all the way from the bottom to fifth in the class. It was only then when his classmate’s began to take notice of his drastic improvement.
And then the chance meeting between them......
Adele was, at that time, a known figure in her class. Despite daydreaming and rarely talking, she was ranked third in her class. Her purple cat ears only served to make her stand out more.
She walked alone through the halls of the Academy, ignoring other students who called out to her either in friendly greeting or to call her names. The girl ignored them all, eyes never leaving the floor. Adele would've continued this way, had she not bumped into someone.
Backing up quickly from the tall boy she had run into, the cat eared girl bowed before uttering a soft apology. "Gomenasai kohai-san," her silver eyes flickered up to his face briefly before fixating themselves on the wooden floorboards again.
Reshin was staring blankly out towards the sky through one of the many windows that outlined the hallway. He was thinking about how in heaven’s sake he was gonna have time to study for the upcoming exam and have enough time for his usual training without staying up too late into the night once again.
His thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden he felt something run into him from behind. Whatever ran into him couldn’t have been that big though, since he barely even moved from the initial impact.
Turning around all he could see was a small, female shinigami with cat ears and long, dark hair standing before him. Hearing her almost whispered apology, Reshin simply bowed to her and began to walk away, seeing as he wasn’t necessarily the most social type of person.
“Just be careful of where you're going next time,“ He told her softly as he left her there.
"Oh," Adele stood still, listening to his fading foot steps. It was then she noticed the remaining people in the hallway.
They stared at her. Flattening her ears against her head, the girl walked quickly in the direction Reshin had gone. Unfortunately, she was stopped when a girl with red hair stepped in front of her. "Where do you think you're going?" The girl asked nastily.
Not giving Adele a chance to answer, the redhead continued, "You must think you're so much better than us, huh? You ignore us, but you'll talk to the best Zanjutsu user two years behind us. Just because you're third in the class doesn't mean you're better than the rest of us."
Her two friends, girls with blue hair, nodded in agreement, "right!"
The feline girl didn't say anything, her eyes remained focused on the ground. The blue haired girl on the right shoved her back and the one on the left grabbed her, pinning Adele's arms to her sides.
"Don't ignore us!" The blue haired girl that shoved her snapped.
"I bet cat woman thinks she's so special because of those freakishly ugly extra ears of hers," the redhead sneered stepping forward. She reached out towards one of Adele's ears.
"Please don't," the girl's voice was barely louder than it had been when she'd apologized to Reshin.
"No? Then meow like the mangy stray cat you are and we might let you go."
"Nya..." Adele's voice was barely a whisper.
"What was that, cat woman?" The girl holding her demanded, "Louder! And tell everybody what a bad little kitty cat you've been. Tell them how much you deserve to get hit."
Miserably, the cat eared girl obeyed. The blue haired girl not restraining Adele pulled out a spray bottle and spritzed her face. "Again!"
As Reshin neared the corner of the next hallway all he could hear were a few voices. It sounded to him just by the tone that each voice had that whatever was being discussed was not being discussed on friendly terms. Reshin, despite this, wasn’t the type to get involved with such things.
When he began to continue on to his own class he saw multiple students running across the halls to catch a bit of the action. What was going on exactly? Then without warning a fellow classmate of Reshin’s called him over. Reluctantly he went to see what the male had wanted.
“Hey Izukawa there’s these girls in the hallway throwin’ down man. You gotta check it out. These three chicks are completely humiliating that cat girl. That's what she gets I suppose for being such a freak of nature,“ The male told Reshin in a casual manner.
This fueled an anger inside of Reshin unlike any other. Whether it be himself or someone else, there was always some asshole throwing their weight around trying to claim superiority over those who were different from them.
Without hesitation Reshin stormed down the hallway until he had reached the previous hallway where he had left Adele. By this time a crowd had gathered to watch the utter humiliation of one of the elite in the Academy.
Pushing his way through the crowd, Reshin then proceeded to grab the ring leader of the group of miscreants that were harassing the poor nekogami. Lifting the red headed girl up by the back of her neck with his left arm, he then tossed her to the ground. Having done this, he made his intentions known.
“So you guys think this is funny, do you? Well how about I show you wenches a little bit of stand up comedy I’ve been working on,“ he growled in a menacing tone as he gazed deeply into the eyes of the now terrified blue headed girls.
“What do you get when a fist hits a face? Multiple skull fractures, brain damage, and heavy internal bleeding. Get it?“ he asked cruelly.
At this, the girls that were tormenting the cat eared shinigami in training began to flee. The crowd that filled the hallway up to the brim, quickly became silent.
Adele stood, unmoving. Her hair forming a curtain around her face. "Arigato, kohai-san," she thanked him quietly before turning to leave. Everyone stepped back, giving the cat girl a wide berth.
Some of the crowd dispersed while a few huddled off to one side of the hall to talk about what happened. The rest followed Adele to see how she would react.
The neko girl, for her part, walked a little faster. Her entire frame was stiff and her hands were balled into fists. With one sleeve, she scrubbed at the whisker marks the redhead had drawn on her cheeks with liquid eye liner.
Reshin, snapping out of his daydream about their first encounter, realized that he had zoned out for a bit. He didn’t even know how long he had been standing there motionless in front of Adele like this, but before he could embarrass himself any further he changed the subject.
“So how are you doing these days Adele? I heard that you have become quite the shinigami in these recent years,“ Reshin asked, trying to take the conversation a different direction.
The Mystic didn't really mind Reshin's dazed behavior, being fairly accustomed to his strange mannerisms. "I've been doing well," she lied.
"What division are you going into?" Adele asked Reshin, not feeling very eager to talk about herself. Memories of her own tugged her away from the present.
In the Academy, the feline Mystic had a habit of avoiding her peers. One such place to do so was training grounds at the furthest edge of the campus. Sitting at the foot of a tall, gnarled oak tree, she stared into space, ignoring the open text book in her lap.
No one else ever used these training grounds except for a few loners from the year before her. None of them paid her any mind, glad to ignore the weird cat girl so long as she stayed out of their way.
To her surprise, Reshin came to the training area with his Asauchi. Adele watched him work with his sword briefly before letting her gaze wander.
Reshin, like most other students at the academy, had to train long and hard for many hours a day to perfect their combat skills. Reshin was much like his classmates in that regard. He himself was almost never seen without his Asauchi on hand. And like any other day Reshin trained alone for hours on end.
Sword stroke after sword stroke made in rapid succession. Each swing slightly more precise than the next. He hadn’t noticed Adele for the most part because he normally practiced blind folded so that he could learn to feel his surroundings.
It was only when he removed the blindfold to take a break from his rigorous routine that he spotted Adele out of the corner of his eye sitting all by herself, as usual. Having nothing better to do, he decided that he would join her. He moved quietly, taking care not to disturb her as she stared at the sky above them.
The feline girl flinched slightly, but gave no other indication that she was aware of his presence. The quiet hum of his developing Spiritual Pressure wasn't bothersome, so the neko girl didn't mind much that he sat near her.
Grey eyes searched the sky for nothing as she listened to her surroundings: two heartbeats, breathing, the whisper of their weak reiatsu signatures, distant movement from the other training grounds. These sounds interested Adele, each was unique in quality, pitch, and volume.
Purple ears turned slightly atop her head, following various sounds that caught her attention. Absently, she turned a page in her book, the crisp rustling of the paper tickling her cat ears.
Once Reshin had sat down, he began his daily meditation, every so once in awhile taking a quick glance at Adele who, for the time being, seemed completely relaxed. A little satisfied with his acquaintance’s peaceful mood he now was able to concentrate more fully on his practiced ritual.
His concentration lasted until a random group of students showed up and spotted the two odd balls together.
Adele's ears pricked at the sound of other students approaching. Five heartbeats, thumping footsteps, snapping twigs, rustling grass, the swish of robes, and a faint buzz of unsettled reiatsu. Frowning, she looked to see the red haired girl and her two blue haired cronies with a couple of boys from Reshin's class.
Looking down, the neko girl tried to ignore them in favor of her book. They surrounded Reshin and Adele, causing the quiet girl to tense up.
"So he is your boyfriend," the redhead sneered.
"Yeah, you were right Kaoru," one of the blue haired girls chimed in. "I bet she's sleeping with him so he'll protect her. What do you think Hannah?"
Hannah, the other blue haired girl, pretended to think for a moment. "I don't know, Iris, maybe freaks are his type. Hey Reshin, did you bag the cat? Did she let you touch her ears?"
Kaoru, Hannah, and the two boys laughed. Adele didn't look up.
Reshin didn’t even attempt to look any of these pricks in the eyes as he spoke in response to each of their poorly thought up comments.
“You guys do realize you don’t have to put out your business to us like that, you know. It makes you all look like simple minded sex addicts. And as for me and Adele, we're just friends and nothing more. I doubt the guys you’re standing next to would dare bother me unless there was something pretty good in it for them. In which case the same could be said for you three sluts,” he retorted.
The two boys that were brought along were practically ranked near the bottom of Reshin’s class, and on top of that they seemed like the types that were more interested in the fighting part of being a shinigami more than anything else. As a result they neglected practically everything else.
The odds were a different matter, because as it stood, it was five against two. Luckily Reshin had his Asauchi on hand to combat them in case they wanted to get physical.
One of the boys glared, "Hey! Don't call my girlfriend and my sisters sluts just because your whore of a girlfriend is too uptight to give you any," the boy had long blue hair tied in a thin ponytail which he flicked over his shoulder with haughty toss of his head.
Balling his fists, he turned to his buddy, a brown haired kid. "I say we teach him a lesson!" The blue haired boy declared before grabbing Adele by the front of her uniform. "You like freaks, don't you, Ken?"
Ken smirked and walked up to the captive girl. "Eh, she might be a stuck up bitch, but she's kinda cute. I wonder if she has a good body under that uniform. It's too big on her for anyone to see anything."
Kaoru grinned before turning to her cronies. "Iris, Hannah, you heard the man, he wants a show."
The blue haired girls moved forward to rip off Adele's kosode to see what was underneath. The girl in question began to squirm, but the boy holding her only tightened his grip around her arms and waist.
Having had all he could stand of this non-sensible idiocy, Reshin swiftly moved into action, dashing from his crouched position using his Asauchi to strike the male holding Adele behind the hollow point of his knee causing him to fall, and consequently release his grip on Adele.
In complete shock the girl holding onto Adele loosened her grip which would, if Adele was quick enough, give her time to move close to Reshin. In the meantime Reshin held his Asauchi in one direction towards the other male while keeping an eye on the three girls still present.
“Unless you feel as if you want to die today I suggest you all take your tales of incest elsewhere. Otherwise you’ll only prove to everyone the obvious difference between a true shinigami and some low life thugs who couldn’t make the cut,” Reshin stated as he continued to stare them down while analyzing their predicament.
The cat eared girl stepped back when she was released. Not bothering to look up, she took Hannah's arm and yanked it up before pulling downward sharply, slamming the girl on the ground. Iris helped her sister up and the blue haired girls left quickly.
"Sorry, Kaoru, she's scarier than you," they called over their shoulders as they fled.
The redhead glared after them. "Cowards!" She shouted after them.
Ken, furious at Adele's harsh treatment of his sister snatched her robes and pulled. The kosode was torn from her, leaving the quiet girl in her red shitagi and hakama. The shitagi was fitted, showing her small waist and fairly large chest-much to Kaoru's ire.
"Oh. So you think you're special now? Do you think being skinny like a starving animal and having big boobs makes up for those weird cat ears? I bet you are some freak's exotic fantasy. Ever think of working in a brothel?" Kaoru sent the other girl the most poisonous look she could manage.
Adele kicked Ken in the crotch, hard. When he doubled over, she knocked him unconscious with an axe kick to the back of his head. Ignoring the angry redhead, she picked up her ripped kosode and wrapped it around herself, but the garment was too damaged to cover much. Sighing, the feline girl rolled up the torn robe and stuffed it under her arm as she walked away.
Kaoru ran at Adele's turned back in hopes of catching her off guard, but was floored with a brutal back kick to the stomach. Glaring at the retreating girl, the redhead yelled after her, "have fun walking through the school like that! I didn't know you were such an exhibitionist, giving everyone a show." Her snide comment went unanswered.
Seeing the work that Adele had done on her part, Reshin wondered "Why in the hell didn’t she do something before?" Other than that, their little schoolyard brawl had finally concluded. Taking a little look at the havoc they wreaked, he was quite satisfied that they wouldn’t have to deal with any more of their crap.
But there still remained one little issue. The bitch by the name of Kaoru’s excessive motor mouth. As he began to follow Adele, he took his Asauchi and struck Kaoru in the back of her head with it, knocking her out cold. With that done he wouldn’t have to hear random shouts of empty threats from her for a while.
About a few yards away from Adele, he removed his kosode, and then his outer robe. When he caught up to Adele he placed his outer robe over her. Afterwards he didn’t say another word as they continued down the hallway. He already knew there wasn’t much to discuss anyway, so what would be the point? Not like either would want to discuss anything on a general basis that often either.
"Arigato gozaimasu," the feline girl thanked Reshin quietly. She pulled the outer coat around her, hiding her form from the prying eyes of students they passed in the halls.
They whispered about Adele. Her kosode was gone and several strands of her hair had escaped the braid that rested against her back. Even some of the the fine, purple fur on her cat ears was out of place. The quiet girl ignored them, even Iris and Hannah, who sent her dirty looks and whispered to a group of girls with them.
It was unlikely that those two or Kaoru would attempt to physically abuse her again, having learned first hand why she was third in the class. Even a bit of a smack down wasn't enough to shut their mouths, though.
The feline girl paid the whispers, glares, and stares no mind, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the ground. Pulling Reshin's robe around her a little more tightly, Adele picked up her pace. Hopefully, she could make her way to her room undisturbed.
Back in the present, Reshin only sat as he watched Adele, who for a while had been spacing out . Her inattentiveness having persisted for a good ten minutes, now. Not one to judge, mostly because he had the same issue, Reshin waited for her to snap out of her day dream. After all, this type of behavior was to be expected from the cat eared girl.
While he waited for her, he suddenly realized that he saw someone in the distance. After watching the figure for a few seconds, he realized that it would turn out to be none other than Tia herself. Reshin almost cringed at this, knowing that it meant possibly hours of putting up with her while they traveled along to the squad eight barracks.
Well that would only be an issue if Adele would agree to show him where it was at least. Good thing that it would only be temporary, because if it was more than just a straight path to his assigned barracks he would probably commit simbuku right then and there.
Adele blinked, realizing that she'd been day dreaming. She waved to her sister to summon her before finally speaking. "What are you doing in this area of Seireitei if you're in the Eighth Division? Your barracks are in the direction opposite from the way we're headed."
Tia joined her onee-sama, not bothering to spare a glance in Reshin's direction. "Onee-sama, I found a store that would be perfect for you," the girl smiled, latching onto her sister's arm.
Looking down at her younger sibling, Adele raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Taking this as a cue to keep talking, the raven haired girl chattered away. "It's this cute little boutique with the most adorable clothes that you would look absolutely darling in! They had cute, little purses, and dainty parasols with interesting designs."
Hugging the Mystic's arm closer to her chest, the girl continued, "I think you'd look so cute in the one dress I saw. It was a white sailor's dress with navy trimming and gold buttons. It even came with the daintiest little gloves and I saw a parasol that complimented the whole thing! You should have seen the slippers that went with it..."
Adele smiled and nodded, though inwardly she hoped she wouldn't have to wear the outfit Tia was describing. The nekogami would attract far too much attention in that attire.
Midnight simply chuckled at his shinigami's distaste. He thought seeing her like that would be highly amusing.
Reshin, starting to get the feeling that getting to his destination would now take a while to reach, could do nothing as he watched the small girl chatter away continually. Figuring that if he was gonna be late, at the very least he’d be in the company of an old friend.
Although as Reshin actually paid attention to the detail of the dress that Tia was describing, it was becoming more and more apparent to him that this was gonna be a major pain in the ass.
Remaining quiet, Reshin dawned his normal look, which was void of feeling.
Waiting a little impatiently, Reshin remained still until the group he accompanied himself with began to move down the road.
Adele allowed Tia to steer her into the boutique she had been describing. The clothing shop was quaint, the pastel color scheme and many dresses were indeed, as Tia had said, cute.
The Mystic only protested weakly as the civilian girl pushed her into a dressing room. Before she could say anything else, her little sister was pulling off get clothing and handing her a dress.
After being stuffed into the new outfit, Adele was shoved out of the dressing room. "I told you this would look absolutely darling on you," Tia told her sister, leading her to a mirror, "look!"
The poor nekogami glanced at her reflection and blushed immediately; even her eyes turned pink.
Adele looked rather demure and sweet in the white dress. It had bell cap sleeves and the skirt was slightly puffy. A thick navy stripe with a thin white line through the middle wrapped around her small waist. The dress had similar navy and white trimming at the cuffs of the sleeves and on the hem at the bottom of the skirt. To top it off, a little gold button decorated the cuff of each sleeve.
The transformation didn't end with the dress. Navy slippers adorned her feet and little white gloves covered her hands. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail tied by a navy bow, leaving two thin, chin length bangs to frame her face.
"See?" Tia was saying, "you're adorable! Even Reshin and that cat can see that much." Midnight was too busy snickering at his shinigami to disagree.
Looking to Reshin, Adele sent him a pleading glance. Surely he would not agree with her little sister's madness.
What in God’s name had Reshin gotten himself into this time? Quite normally, Reshin would agree with Tia’s opinion of the dress, but knowing Adele’s personality, the cat eared girl would not think the same. Catching her glance he wanted to help out, but what could he do?
For one, he himself was very conflicted on the whole matter. Secondly it wasn’t a situation in which he could just kick someone's ass and call it done. Was he supposed to remove the dress or something?
He was pretty sure if he did that it would only make the situation much worse. And if that wasn’t bad enough his own body was thinking entirely opposite of his mind. Looking downward he tried to hide the bulge that was clearly showing in his front pocket.
Starting to blush himself, he was now officially clueless. The entire thing had now went from confusing to outwardly stressful. So much to the point where Reshin eventually had a silent meltdown, and passed out a few moments later.
“Ano?” Adele crouched by the unconscious boy and prodded his face with her right index finger. He started to wake up. “Are you okay?”
“Pervert,” Midnight sniffed with disdain, “he smells like a tomcat in rut. Don’t let his scent defile you!” He jumped between Reshin and his shinigami. No weakling boy was going to get their scent all over his companion.
“Ew. Can we just leave him here?” Tia complained, giving him a not so soft kick to the crotch.
“Tia-chan!” The Mystic stood and backed up a little, in accordance to her feline companion’s wishes. She gave her younger sister a glare, “don’t be so rude.”
“Gomen,” The younger girl bowed her head in apology to her elder sister.
“Can you get up?” The nekogami looked down at Reshin.
Still gripping his crotch from the immense pain he felt from Tia’s unexpected nut shot, he could only look up in fierce anger towards them all. He was literally thinking about busting out his zanpakuto and completely carving Tia’s face like a halloween pumpkin.
He managed to regain some of his composure, but retaining his menacing stare he slammed his fist into the ground. Forcing himself up he managed to get to a standing position, waiting a few seconds for the remaining pain to leave his groin.
Once this had been done he looked at them once more as he started to walk out of the door.
Then stopping in his tracks he turned around and gave them a little piece of his mind.
“You know what fuck it. It doesn’t matter anymore, because obviously I’m only being a burden to everyone. Well go ahead and do whatever the fuck you guys want. And Adele the next time you decide you want to bring that little demon possesed child around me remember that I have a much shorter fuse than you do. You may tolerate this shit, but I fucking don’t. That said I wish you all the best of fucking luck in your death written futures,” Reshin said, his voice now full of resentment.
After this he proceeded to race out of the shop, leaping skyward he began running rooftops, jumping from one building to the next. With in some moments Reshin had completely disappeared. His fairly large figure no longer visible to the small group.
Sighing, the nekogami turned to her sister. “Tia-chan, what’s the matter?”
The younger of the two women glared, “you don’t know?” She asked incredulously. “We were supposed to spend the day together but the minute that Reshin boy waltzes in you just let him take over and act like I don’t exist! Just because he was your only friend in the Academy doesn’t make him more important than me!” Tears threatened to spill from the civilian girl’s large, brown eyes.
Frowning, Adele hugged her little sister, “of course you’re important to me, imouto-chan. That doesn’t mean I’ll ignore everyone else either. You’ve spent this whole time trying to make Reshin-san miserable, that’s not the best way to get my attention. You should have said something.” Releasing the shorter girl, the Mystic walked up to the counter and paid for her outfit.
“I don’t have time to change, I have to go find my friend, I don’t think he knows his way around, is it alright if I wear this out the store?”
The cashier, an effeminate young man with chocolate brown hair and blue eyes nodded, “of course, shinigami-san.” He handed Adele her change, “good luck finding your friend.”
Thanking the man, she headed out the store. “Tia-chan, please grab my uniform, Midnight will lead you to me once I’ve found Reshin-san.” Without waiting for a response, the nekogami was gone.
Tia would have protested, but she realized she had done enough damage. To continue to be stubborn would only end in disappointing her onee-sama. Gathering her big sister’s shihakusho, she folded the robes neatly. “I suppose I just have to follow you, now, huh, cat?” She asked quietly.
Midnight huffed, his tail stiffening. “I have a name, you know,” the feline grumbled, but his utterings were lost on the civilian girl who did not speak Cat. “Whatever,” he muttered, following his shinigami’s scent out of the store.
Adele tried not to think about how embarrassing her outfit was as she tracked her errant friend. Being able to hear his reiatsu and being several times faster than him helped; hopefully she could intercept and calm Reshin before she had to run around dressed like this for long. Once she neared him, she disappeared from view before reappearing right in front of the other shinigami in a burst of speed known as Shunpo.
“Reshin-san,” she said, not sounding the least bit out of breath. “I apologize for Tia’s antagonistic behavior.” Although she controlled her breathing, her hair was out of place- strands of it standing on end- revealing how quickly she’d been moving to catch up.
Having been intercepted so quickly, Reshin noticed how much faster she was from their days in the academy. He still wasn’t in the happiest of moods though, and it was very clear by the look on his face that he could burst at any moment without warning.
He honestly did not want to be bothered anymore as he felt his stay with the others was only getting him more off track than what he already was. He didn’t need the taunts, jeers, verbal abuse, and many more from someone half his size, and in age four times his junior.
Facing Adele he stood motionless, not saying a single word to her. Reshin most of all felt as if he was betrayed somewhat since Adele did barely anything to control Tia’s behaviour. She knew exactly how he felt yet is was as if she ignored that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.
The fact being he believed she did nothing whatsoever to give him some form of leeway. It was his former life on Earth all over again. The constant scorn, the hateful looks and comments, the snickering, the bitter responses, the disregarding of his existence.
These are only a few of the things that had made Reshin give up on others to begin with. And he was living this all over again in his own perspective. The place in where Adele had found him was very close to the gate, in which Reshin entered prior to finding Adele and her companions.
Not willing to even look his only friend in the eyes he sat there stone faced.
Smoothing her hair down, the Mystic sighed. While she knew Tia had aggravated him and that she should be feeling some sympathy for him, or perhaps even guilt for failing to stop her younger sister’s behavior, she felt frustrated. Tia’s behavior and Reshin’s childishness were wearing on her patience.
Originally, Adele had intended to spend her day haunting her division’s grounds or tending her indoor garden. Despite having recovered somewhat from her mission to Earth, putting on a brave face for everyone around her and acting as if she was a-okay was taxing. When Tia had asked to spend the day together, the nekogami had agreed only because she knew she had been neglecting the younger woman in terms of spending time together.
When Reshin had appeared, it was simply too much. Between brokering peace between Tia and Midnight and her younger sister’s determination to drive Reshin off, Adele had gotten overwhelmed and had withdrawn into herself. While not quite fully leaving her old acquaintance to Tia’s mercies, she had not put forth much effort into reining in the younger woman, either. Now, both her sister and her old schoolmate felt ignored.
The Mystic, had she been herself, might have lamented the state of things. But she was by no standard fully alright and what little patience she did have was gone. Now, frustration and irritation at the childishness and inability to get along of Reshin and Tia reigned. The nekogami’s reiatsu, which had been previously repressed, flared. Despite her calm, nearly contrite countenance, her eyes turned ruby red.
“You know,” she started softly, the subtlest hint of venom in her voice, “I could leave you here; you’re lost. I would even be within rights to smack you. You insulted my sister. While her conduct left a lot to be desired, she is a civilian and a teenager. You are a shinigami, a reflection of the Gotei Thirteen. Letting a little girl get under your skin like that is an embarrassment. Are you sure you were ready to leave the Academy? Skill, which you have yet to develop, is not everything. Maturity is also a necessity.”
Sighing, she looked up, her fingers brushing against the hilt of her zanpakuto. “I understand you may feel neglected because I did not outright punish Tia-chan,” her red gaze pierced him, “but that would not have been the proper solution. How I discipline my younger sister, my daughter really, is none of your business. I will not apologize for not publicly embarrassing her so you could feel vindicated. If I address her behavior, it will be in a much more tasteful manner aimed at making her understand that such conduct is unacceptable, not in order to shame her.”
Her fingers tightened around the handle of her sword. Crescendo hummed a calming note, warning the Mystic not to lose her temper. “But you wouldn’t know that, would you? You didn’t spend nearly two decades of your life as a single parent. Rest assured, I know perfectly well how to insure my sibling is aware of the appropriate manner to behave in.” Her eyes narrowed. “If you ever publicly embarrass me like that again, never mind the property damage that I will probably have to pay for, I will see to it that you learn first hand how I teach respect. Do you understand?”
“I don’t actually. Wanna know why? Because I could care less about your life’s issues.
And as far as parenting goes I never insulted your method of teaching her right from wrong. If I had I would’ve been much more blunt about it. And respect? You can’t be serious. What was just displayed was not respect at all. In fact quite the contrary, on the lines of complete disregard for anyone else’s state of being,” Reshin kept his eyes fixated to the sky above them.
“And if you really knew me as well as you say, then you’d know there is only so much bull shit I can stand. I tried to be as tolerant as possible, but all I get in return is a slap in the face for my attempt via insults, nut shots, and the like,” Reshin said, almost entirely on the verge of saying something he shouldn’t.
“And as for Tia herself if what you were teaching that child were more efficient, then her outbursts would be less frequent. And finally for you my FORMER friend. I find it highly uncharacteristic of you to actually go against the laws of Soul Society by rearing your blade to another Shinigami. That in of itself is considered treason and is punishable by time in the seventh division, banishment with the removal of all powers, and even death,” Reshin added.
“Overall I’d say your conduct as of just recently has been no better than my own. And you wanna know something else. I could’ve asked anyone else to direct me, but instead I asked you despite what it would mean I’d have to put up with. Why did I do that? It's because I thought that after all these years I’d actually be able to talk to you again,” He said.
His voice as he ended this statement seemed to hurt him a little bit more than anything else that had been said. If anything it didn’t even seem as if it was meant to be an insult, but more of a pleading reminder.
Unfortunately for Reshin, his friend was already emotionally unstable and his comments killed every last bit of sympathy she had. Adele was angry. “I don’t need my sword for you. I’d never violate Crescendo-chan with your filth,” before he could do anything else she was in front of him and her foot connected soundly with his solar plexus.
She followed up with a harsh blow to his sternum, bruising her knuckles in the process. “Why would you want to talk to me if you don’t care about me? What purpose does that serve?” A leg sweep knocked the less experienced shinigami off his feet. “What point was there in approaching me if it was such a burden to deal with me and my sister? Was it really that bad that a little girl was behaving petulantly? Was that all it would take for you to decide that I’m worthless as a friend and as a parent?”
She picked him up by the front of his robes, “Would my conduct, reminding Tia that her behavior is not acceptable and even sending her away for a brief period of time in your defense, worrying about you getting lost and pursuing you when I could have easily left you to your own devices inappropriate conduct and proof of my childish idiocy? To believe that I should bother to care what happened to you? Is that disrespectful to you? An insult to your skills?”
Dropping Reshin, she looked at him rather harshly. “Is an explanation for my seeming lack of reprimand for Tia’s behavior and assurance that it will be corrected a lack of care for anyone else’s being?” The Mystic sent the Duelist to be flying backwards with an open palmed blow to the face.
“Then indeed my time and efforts have been wasted. Don’t waste your time trying to ‘talk’ to me again. I have no use for childish brats who can’t use their words in a calm and collected manner to describe their issues rather than having a temper tantrum. Even Tia had more control than you.” With another Shunpo, she disappeared.
Walking slowly, Adele let her facial expression fade into a mask of indifference. Her eyes faded from red to silver and her grip on Crescendo’s hilt tightened. The sword, in returned hummed a rather comforting melody.
“Onee-sama, there you are!” Tia ran up to her followed by Midnight. “Onee-sama?” It only took a glance for the girl to realize her big sister was upset. Hugging the Mystic, Tia gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s alright, Onee-sama. Come on, we don’t have to stay out here. We can just relax at my house,” taking the older woman by the hand, the civilian girl lead the shinigami in the direction of her living quarters.
Midnight jumped on her shoulder and rubbed his face against her cheek. “Next time we see that weakling, I’ll claw his eyes out,” the cat huffed angrily.
“No, don’t do that...” the nekogami protested weakly.
“Hmph. I won’t have the chance to if you don’t waste anymore of your time on that pervert shrimpling of a shinigami. His lack of poise and patience is more appalling than Tia’s brashness,” the kuroneko hissed scathingly.
Adele sighed, but did not say anything else. Tia looked at the cat and nodded once, before
turning to face forward again. She had a feeling that cat disliked this Reshin person as much as if not more than she did.
Having been laid out upon the ground, Reshin stilled seemed to show no emotion whatsoever. He already knew there was no point in fighting her so it would just be better to take the beating she gave him. She had a point about his temper, but when your life has been nothing but hell from birth, wouldn’t it be normal to be that way sometimes?
His gaze fixed on the sky above him as if they had never left it. Once again in solitude Reshin only looked up. All alone he was able to become peaceful again. Although now he could almost feel a void opening with in his own heart.
He should’ve been accustomed to losing everything he ever had by now. Somehow it made no difference whether he tried to be the nice guy or the firm guy. No matter what he did it always seemed as if the end result would never be more than him all by himself.
Remaining where he was he kept on looking up almost as if he were now peering through the clouds. Then little by little time seem to fly by. Minutes passed, then hours, and finally the night stars befell the Seireitei.
And just when it seemed as if he would decide to get up before it became too late, he still remained. As of that very moment he was no one. He now had no friends, no family, no home, no possessions other than his zanpakuto, nothing. He was just a worthless existence without cause. A life form without purpose or direction.
The stars and the moon shined brightly on him, separating his body from the surrounding shadows. Something similar to the dream he had seven years ago, but even now with these fluorescent beams of light upon him, his inner self was already consumed by the darkness of his own soul.
The young Duelist then came to the realization that his life was for nought, and his only life goal was pursued in vain. As such he came to believe that if his life were to be taken from him it would have virtually no effect to anyone or anything.
His best choice of action, as he thought it to be, was to simply lie there until he finally died a slow and painful death. Besides it would only be fitting for someone as worthless as him to die in a manner that befits a low life. Maybe then Adele would be happier that way, as it seemed Reshin was nothing but the yoke she bared.
Maybe this way he would lighten her burden by passing on. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about him or his childish antics.
Right as it appeared he was at his end, he began to reflect on his life and one final memory. That memory was of the day before Adele set out for the Gotei Thirteen as a graduate, and the final things that were said before she left. This takes place two years prior to their reuniting.
The day before she graduated was one of the few days Adele had more than five words to say. She stood in the library facing a window. Reshin stood a few feet away.
The boy had been a constant of sorts over the past few years. She had seen him in the halls, caught glimpses of him at meal times, and even sat in silence with him on occasion. Other than the fact that he was not content to watch her accept the treatment of anyone who would bully or abuse her, Reshin should not have stood out in her memory. But he did. From the sound of his reiatsu to his height and social awkwardness, he was unforgettable and by no means ignorable.
This boy who she rarely looked at let alone talked to stood out among the many names and faces Adele had encountered and forgotten. Leaving him without having spoken a single sentence outside of necessity or formality did not seem right.
"Reshin-san..." The Mystic to be started, grasping at straws for some word of wisdom or memorable saying to impart on the less experienced soul.
Having been staring into space for most of the time he was in the library, Reshin could’ve almost missed when Adele spoke to him, but it looked as if his ears had become pretty damn good at picking up low volume tones of voice.
Turning from the window he was looking at he faced Adele directly, his eyes peering into her own.
“Yes Adele,” Reshin asked, curious as to what Adele had to say.
He wanted to spend her last day with her seeing as she was the only friend he ever really had.
It would completely tear him apart inside if he couldn’t.
The words that would have been appropriate for such an occasion escaped her. What could she say to this boy? She had barely spoken a word she didn't have to to him or anyone else. And still he had come to her defense on multiple occasions. Still, he would sit beside her, even talk to her sometimes, even when she barely looked him in the eye.
Looking Reshin dead in the eye, she smiled. A real smile; this was probably the first time she'd smiled just for him. It was small, the faintest tug upwards of the corners of her mouth. "I'm glad," she tilted her head to the right a bit.
Reshin had felt a bit more nostalgic at the sight of Adele’s smile. Come to think of it, he didn’t really recall her ever smiling before. To him, it made him happy to see her this way, in such a pleasant mood.
“I’m glad as well,” Reshin responded in the most tender of ways he could possibly manage.
Looking back he remembered he had something for her.
“That reminds me. Adele, I have a parting gift for you,” he said excitedly.
Reaching into the bag he had be carrying for most of that day, he pulled out a small note that was addressed to the Mystic to be. Gently he handed it right to her, starting to smile as well.
Adele accepted the note, flushing a bit. Her eyes turned pink, signifying that she was flustered despite her smile.
Idly, she wondered if he understood what she had meant by her short phrase. She had wanted to tell him she was happy he'd been so kind to her and tolerated her oddities, but of course she'd only managed two words. Even now, when she'd failed to even thank him properly he was smiling at her.
Opening the note, she read it. Pink eyes trailed across the paper, taking in the message and darkening to a rather interesting shade of hot pink.
A little concerned with the way Adele just reacted, Reshin wondered if he had maybe done something wrong. He only written about how she had changed his outlook on others. And of course how it gave him hope in achieving his goals.
Although maybe from the way it was worded it possibly could’ve sounded a little more intimate than what was intended. Not sure of what to do next, Reshin just sat there looking at Adele.
Rather surprised at the effect she'd had on the younger shinigami in training, Adele blinked. How on Earth had she done that?
The Mystic to be tilted her head to the left, a slightly confused expression on her face. Slipping the paper into her pocket, she wondered how she should respond.
Looking Reshin in the eye once more -with a little difficulty- the feline girl tried to speak again. "I..." The sentence died on her lips.
She tried again, "I won't forget." Three words, Adele could have slapped herself. This was frustrating; why was such a simple thing so hard to say?
"Your kindness, I mean," she continued, "I'll remember it. It... It means a lot." By now, poor Adele had turned quite red and her eyes were a rather dark pink color. Why telling him this was so flustering was beyond her. It was just Reshin.
A few hours later Reshin and Adele found themselves still together. It was after hours and there wasn’t much else to do but to watch the stars in the night sky. They were outside in the courtyard of the Academy laying in the nearby grass, as they both watched the stars with uncharacteristic interest.
Turning over to his side, Reshin then wondered what reason Adele wished to become a shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen for. What made her commit to such a dangerous job?
“Hey Adele, is it alright if I ask you something?” Reshin asked.
"What is it?" The feline girl inquired, not taking her eyes -grey for the moment- off the sky.
“Why did you wanna become a shinigami?” he wondered, somewhat eager to know the differences, and or similarities in their respective reasonings.
"I didn't want to." Her reply was blunt. "But... For the ones that depend on me I'll do anything, even this." Examining the stars, the neko girl sighed.
“Well I suppose that would make your reasoning the exact opposite of my own. As you already know I’ve never had anyone. I was always alone, always tucked away somewhere separated from everyone. But when I began to get to know you a little better, my opinion on people started to change,” Reshin said almost as if he was in a daze.
“I never told you the reason I became that way did I? Well personally, it doesn’t matter because ever since we became friends, I’ve began to have faith in one day achieving my dream. My dream may sound a bit strange to most, but I’m sure you’d understand. That dream I have is to be able to find a place of belonging. To be accepted by others, and to be able to accept others,” he concluded.
Turning onto his back once more, he once again turned his attention toward the heavens, which were adorned in the most beautiful array of shining lights.
The very next day the time for Adele’s admission into squad ten had been announced. This meant that it would be Reshin’s last chance to see her before she departed. Not wasting any, time he raced through the halls ferociously to see her one last time.
The Mystic stood at the gates of the Academy, holding her bag. It didn't have much in it; Adele hadn't owned much during her years in the Academy.
Examining her new shihakusho, the nekogami decided she liked her new clothing much better than the Academy uniform. Footsteps and a familiar reiatsu signature approached, catching her attention. It was Reshin.
"Reshin-san," Adele acknowledged the boy. He appeared out of breath. "Have you been running?"
Trying to regain his normal pace of breathing, he took a quick load off. He had been running alright. As a matter of fact, he had been sprinting for hours across the entire school trying to search for her. Trying to speak, he muttered these words.
“Adele..... I’ve been..... trying to find you.... but you weren’t anywhere.....,” he said panting.
“ I wanted..... to tell you..... thanks for everything,” he managed to say as he was gasping for air.
When his breathing had returned to normal he stood up once more.
“And not only that, but I wanted to tell you that no matter where you are. No matter what happens, or what may become of you, please never stop pursuing your dreams. And I’ll promise to do the same,” he said.
For the first time, he showed someone his true side. All he had ever wanted was a friend, and Adele filled that role quite nicely. Now he was saddened that his only friend would have to leave him like this, and it was noticeable on his face.
But at the same time, he was also happy because it meant she would be able to take that next step in making her dreams a reality.
Taking one final bow to his senior classmate turned graduate, he silently wished her well.
The Mystic's eyes started watering. Here Reshin had all but poured his heart out to her and what had she ever given him to deserve this? What could she possibly say in return?
In the few years she had known him, she barely had more than five words for him. Even the day before in the library, she hadn't said much. She had hardly looked him in the face let alone in the eye and rarely if ever smiled. Adele hadn't done a thing but be there.
And now she was leaving; what could she do for him now? The shinigami had no words that could possibly make up for being a terrible friend. She didn't know what she could say in response to his heartfelt speech, and yet she couldn't let him leave with nothing.
Blinking back tears, the Mystic hugged Reshin. The gesture would have to do in place of words. Wondering if she should have given him some type of warning before embracing him, she looked up at him.
Her embrace was indeed out of left field, but it was enough for Reshin. Receiving Adele into his arms, he held her close to him as he buried his face into her shoulder. His eyes had become a bit watery as well, but his pride would not allow him to let the tears flow without letting her know.
You could probably call it him trying to be strong on his part, but it was too much for him to handle so he couldn’t really help it. It was the last time he would be able to embrace her like this for awhile, so he held on for as long as he could before she was called to leave.
The tightness with which Reshin gripped her was quite surprising. Weakly patting his back, Adele looked at him. "Please don't cry... You'll make me cry."
Unsure of what else to say, she slipped from his grasp. "You've already started to achieve your goal, you should be happy," she told him, finally having found her voice.
"Ja ne," the Mystic bid her acquaintance goodbye before leaving. Silently, she decided that she would learn how to say what was on her mind. Her failings couldn't be repeated.
Back in the present, Reshin still lay out under the night sky. Like that day when Adele left for the Gotei Thirteen, he began to let out uncontrollable tears. These tears were shed over his loss of his only friend, and for the dream, which he was so close to letting die with him.
He then finally came to the truth that if he let it all end now, he would be breaking the promise he made to Adele two years ago. Carefully standing himself up, he felt the pain of Adele’s misery. It was what he deserved after all. Weakly, he proceeded through the illuminated streets of Soul City in search of Adele.
There was no way he could just leave things the way they were. But how would he even be able to find her now? He didn’t have the ability to hear reiatsu as Adele could, neither was his tracking very developed. As stated earlier, he didn’t even know his way around this district of the city, let alone the city itself.
But this would not deter him in the slightest. Reshin was now hell bent on finding her so that he could at least make some form of amends. Limping through the rather overwhelmingly large area, he soldiered on. Would he be able to find her before his stamina let out?
Some looked on in concern, and some even asked to help him, but Reshin just gently waved them away. It was one of those things in which he just couldn’t accept giving in to his own pain over what was most important to him.
On and on he went. He walked on until the sandals on his feet had torn apart and his feet were bleeding profusely. His legs became entirely numb. But he refused to surrender his friendship despite his own agony.
If he had he wouldn’t feel any better than those who abandoned him. He was in no condition to do this, but somehow he was still standing. On the verge of collapsing, he drew his zanpakuto and stabbed the blade through the ground to give himself support.
“I w-won’t..... I can’t lose...... her,” he groaned as he fell to his knees.
With all the strength he had left he managed to will his way back to his feet again, but as a result lost consciousness standing up. In his current position he looked like one of those statues of fallen samurai.
Little did he know that his efforts had not gone unnoticed.
Reshin had managed to pass out right on Tia's front yard. Tia frowned at the sleeping shinigami. What was that jerk doing here?
"Reshin," Adele's voice was barely above a whisper. Her anger had long since burned out, only leaving regret, guilt, and now sympathy behind.
Tia jumped. She hadn’t heard her sister approaching. “Adele-nee-chan, please go back inside. You don’t owe this guy anything.”
“At least let me take him back to his Division Grounds,” the nekogami requested, “I’m sure his fellow Duelists will take care of him there.” Crouching next to him, she held her hands over his feet and allowed her Spiritual Energy to wash over his bloodied feet. Fortunately, Reiki was sufficient for healing the lacerations on Reshin’s feet.
The Mystic then carefully lifted the unconscious shinigami in her arms and stood. Tia followed her silently as she returned to the house. After washing Reshin’s feet and bandaging them for good measure -but not before applying a healing salve- Adele prepared to leave. After slipping on her sandals, she hefted the larger shinigami once more, not particularly hindered by his size, and set out.
“Thank you for spending the day with me, Tia-chan, as well as for your hospitality. I’ll be taking Reshin-san to his home, now. If you’d like, I can return here before I go home,” she smiled at her little sister.
Sighing, the civilian patted her older sister on the shoulder, “You’re too nice, Onee-sama. Please come back once you finish with him.”
Adele nodded to the shorter young woman before leaving. The Mystic, unlike her Duelist friend, knew her way around Seireitei quite well and began walking towards the Eighth Division. Before long, she was three quarters of the way there.
It wasn’t too long before Reshin began to wake up. Remembering his previous trek half-way across Seireitei, which he thought he had yet to complete he immediately sprang to life unaware that he was being carried.
In his sudden frenzy the two shinigami ended up tumbling over together, with Adele landing on top of Reshin. It was then that a familiar note had fallen out of Reshin’s shihakusho.
Yelping in shock at the Duelist's sudden motion, Adele was unable to catch herself before falling on Reshin. "Kyaaa!"
Once she realized where she had landed, the Mystic leaped up as if she had been shocked. Helping her friend up, she asked, "Are you alright?"
The same question could have been asked of her, really. Her hair was out of place, several strands sticking up in random directions, and her eyes were bright pink in embarrassment from their previous position. The fact that the simple, white, semi-fitted kimono she wore was rumpled from her fall did nothing for her appearance.
His head had been a little rattled by the impact of his fall, but he seemed to be perfectly fine. Then hearing a familiar voice he looked up to see Adele. Still feeling a little less than happy with himself about how he made her so riled up, he couldn’t find it in himself to make eye contact.
Then he spotted the note that fell out of his shihakusho. Almost desperately he snatched it up again as fast as he could taking it into his palm with the most tender care. From the way he reacted it must have been obvious to tell that the contents of the said note he carried was very important to him.
“I’m alright,” he quietly responded, focusing his eyes entirely on the dirt road below him.
Nodding, Adele brushed the dust off her kimono. She noticed the note, but decided not to pry. Judging by his reaction to it, he probably didn't want her to see it.
After a few more moments of silence, she looked at Reshin. "I... I'm sorry I lost my temper with you. You were within rights to be angry with me about... Tia's behavior. I could have done more to stop her. She really isn't to blame, though."
Looking skyward, the Mystic continued, "I haven't been there for her for nearly seven years. She was left in the care of a... Of my former employer. When she moved here to be closer to me, well, I can't say I've done the best job of being her big sister. I've been neglecting to spend time with her. So when you came along, Tia-chan was unhappy. I don't think she was quite ready to share me, well my attention really. She must have felt ignored."
Sighing, the nekogami looked at Reshin again, "So I apologize. It really is my fault."
Somewhat shocked at her response, he didn’t know how to respond. He figured that she still would’ve been upset with him for earlier. Now she was asking him to forgive her, when it was he who originally intended to find her to ask her forgiveness. She really took the blame for his actions in that instance as he felt it to be.
Regardless, he still wished to at least be able to correct his own mistakes right then and there. Getting back to his feet, he looked at Adele out of his peripheral vision, still uncomfortable looking her in the eye, and then began his own apology.
“Honestly, it's all my fault. You were right to question my maturity and how I acted. If anything Tia and I are a lot alike in the sense that we both have felt the same sense of abandonment. I really should’ve been more understanding of her feelings. And more importantly to understand how it made you feel when I questioned your parenting methods.”
Taking a deep breathe he bowed to her. Then without a word he handed the note that he had held to Adele.
“I also wanted to apologize for nearly breaking my promise that I made to you two years ago,” he said with his head still facing her feet.
Taking the folded slip of paper, the Mystic remembered the day before she'd left the Academy.
"You haven't broken your promise, so no harm done, I suppose," Adele mused. Placing the note in her pocket with care, she allowed a slight smile tug at the corners of her mouth for a split second.
"In any case, you need to go home." Without waiting for a response, the nekogami picked Reshin up bridal style and continued walking. "Your division grounds aren't too far from here."
“Uh Adele, why are you carrying me?” Reshin asked, a little concerned at his current position, and the image it was giving.
"You are in no condition to walk. You don't even have shoes," she replied as if her answer was the most obvious thing in the world.
About two minutes later they stood right in front of the gate of squad eight’s barracks. Finally standing on his own again he looked toward Adele. Not a single word was uttered as they exchanged embraces. Then after a few moments longer, Adele departed to return to Tia.
Hopefully she would read the messege in its content and be touched by it as it signified their everlasting friendship.
This is what the note had read.
To Adele,
I never knew what happiness was. Neither did I ever know any other emotion. I was always on my own. With no one to guide me in the right direction. It was when we had met that my ideals on these things had begun to change. What you taught me was to always be true to myself regardless of what anyone else may think. I thank you for teaching this because if it weren’t for you I would have never had a chance to experience what it felt like to be accepted by another person. You give me faith in myself and for your sake I will achieve my goal and maybe one day we will both find our places of belonging.
Your friend, Reshin Izukawa
In the mean time, Reshin stared down the gate of the squad eight barracks. After gaining his composure he then entered the place in which he now hoped to call home.
[12,730]
Credits:
Reshin playing the role of Reshin Izukawa
Dysney playing the role of Adele Ama
Special Thanks to everyone that read this. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did making it!
Having stayed for all those years in the Rukongai, Reshin was not accustomed to such a vast scenery. The only decent sized structures he had ever seen was the academy and most homes as he could barely remember from his time on earth. Taking in the new sights and sounds the city had to offer, it was more than clear that it was gonna take some time getting used to for Reshin.
The small district in which he found himself in was so large to the point where if Reshin hadn’t been given a directory preemptively, than he would have already been lost to the point where he wouldn’t be able to find his way back. Taking a quick look at the map he had received from his former instructor, he began to navigate his way through trying to find the squad eight barracks to which he had been assigned too.
"Ne, ne, Ada-nee-chan," a fairly short teenage soul said, hanging on her older sister's arm, "how long has it been since you've gone shopping? You know you don't have to wear that drab uniform all the time," she gestured to Adele's shihakusho, "I know you're wearing a nice shirt with it, but you have to be more creative than that."
The Mystic looked down at her clothing. She wore the standard shinigami uniform with the exception of the lavender shirt she wore beneath her kosode, which was open due to her decision to forgo the thin white obi that usually held it closed.
"Not that long ago, actually. Alexia-san took me shopping a few weeks ago," the nekogami replied softly.
"Then either Alexia has no fashion sense or you don't," Tia scolded, "because you're still wearing that boring uniform."
From his place on Adele's shoulder, a large black tomcat hissed at the civilian.
"Shut up, cat, no one asked you," the girl sneered at Midnight.
"Please don't insult Midnight, Tia-chan," the Mystic frowned at her younger sister.
After having spent a majority of two hours searching for his barracks, Reshin at this point pretty much figured he was now officially lost. Despite having the map in hand, it ended up proving to be more of a hindrance than a help. Considering the fact that he didn’t understand its contents definitely played a heavy part in this precarious situation.
Eventually, Reshin no longer being able to contain his visible frustration, decided that it would be more useful to discard the item that caused his troubles so he would not continue getting even angrier by looking at it anymore.
“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.......“ Reshin muttered to himself. “Where in the hell am I?!“ he shouted at the top of his lungs, his commotion causing quite a peculiar response from the souls around him.
That in no way, shape, or form could’ve possibly made a good impression. Additionally, the fact that Reshin was still fairly distant from others made it difficult for him to ask for help from anyone. This made his situation all the more frustrating.
His attention would be distracted, however, when he thought he saw a familiar figure in the distance.
He wasn’t the type to just directly walk up to someone at random, but the appearance of this figure piqued his interest. Heading in that same direction, he could now make out three figures: two female souls, (one being a shinigami and the other a normal soul) and a cat. The normal soul and the cat did not interest him as much as the shinigami did.
He could swear that he had seen her somewhere before, but where? In the midst of his pondering he had not realized that he had already been noticed.
Midnight turned from Tia to glare with hostility at another death god. The tall man had been staring at his shinigami and he didn't like it. The cat hissed as his tail flicked back and forth.
"Midnight?" Adele looked at her feline companion with concern.
"What's that cat hissing about, anyway?" Tia grumbled, irritated that her onee-sama wasn't paying attention to her anymore.
"Midnight," the Mystic replied, emphasizing the fact that the cat had a name, "is concerned about the tall man that's looking at us."
The dark haired girl looked at Reshin and glared. What did that jerk want? Marching right up to the male shinigami, she stood before him with her hands on her hips.
"Staring is rude, you know." With a light toss of her head, the civilian flicked her long, black braid over her shoulder and continued to stare down the death god.
Stopping where he was, Reshin looked down at the small female in front of him. He didn’t exactly know what to make of her seeing as how he knew nothing of her. Never the less he didn’t want to waste time having to deal with some little brat. What he wanted to do was see if his curiosity was justified. Without any words he simply walked past the girl in front of him and made his way directly towards the woman who was the object of his interest. Bowing respectfully to her he began to introduce himself.
“I’m sorry if I’ve seem to come out of the blue like this. My name is Reshin Izukawa and its nice to meet you,“ he said a little shakily since he still wasn’t that comfortable with being so outspoken.
Tia growled and stomped up behind the man to give him a piece of her mind. Right before she could kick him in the behind, she was levitated into the air. With a yelp, the girl began squirming, but stopped when she was dropped behind Adele.
The Mystic gave no hint to being aware of her younger sibling. She fixed Reshin with an icy, silver stare, but bowed politely anyway, though not as deeply as the other shinigami had.
"I am Ama Adele," her voice was soft and flat, devoid of emotion other than a subtle hint of contempt.
From her shoulder, a large, black cat growled. "He's a rude one," the cat muttered, "and a weakling, too." From his companion's silence, Midnight gathered that she agreed.
Other than the fact that he just saw her get lifted up from the ground by some mysterious force, Reshin paid the civilian no mind, focusing more on the name that continued to resound within his mind over and over again. Adele now was it? Reshin knew that he had heard that name at one point or another, but he just couldn’t manage to pinpoint exactly where he heard it from.
“I’m sorry to bother you with this, but I believe we have met somewhere before,“ he said now one hundred percent certain that he knew this woman.
His slitted, red eyes now entirely focused on her own silver irises.
"Have we?" Her tone challenged his claims. Adele's eyes narrowed, turning blood red.
Who was Reshin? And where would she have met such a rude boy before? Midnight scoffed. "I don't think my shinigami would even associate with someone like you."
"Hey! Don't ignore me, you big jerk!" Tia stamped her foot and crossed her arms.
"Tia. Not now," the Mystic warned her sister. "Seeing one person set a poor example does not give you an excuse to behave rudely."
Reshin now began to get the feeling as if he had offended Adele somehow with his less than refined ability to communicate things properly to others. At this point, he was starting to seriously consider whether or not he should just walk away, or if he should proceed with a little more caution. Choosing to continue, he decided to choose his words a little more carefully.
“I suppose an apology is in order for my earlier rudeness. I’m terribly sorry if I came off a little bit as a douche of sorts, but I assure you that is not how I normally am. I guess you could say my word choice is a tad off at times,“ Reshin said as he bowed to Tia, the likes of which he had ignored previously.
Looking back to face Adele he now noticed that her eye color had changed, and was now similar in color to his own. It was at that moment he remembered who she was. The only one he considered a close friend during his days in the academy. She had graduated around two years before he had, which explained the difference in their power.
Tia turned her head and refused to look at Reshin, but muttered few words of insincere forgiveness after receiving a reproachful look from Adele. The soul said nothing else, preferring to instead scuff her shoe against the ground.
The Mystic's eyes softened and faded back to silver. "You were a couple of years behind me in the Academy, weren't you?" She asked, glancing at the other death god's uniform.
Midnight snorted, but lay across Adele's shoulders tamely. "At least the weakling had the sense to say he was sorry. Perhaps he at least recognizes you're much better than him," the cat grumbled.
"Hush, Midnight," the nekogami scolded her companion in Cat. The feline obeyed, resting his chin on his paws and closing his eyes.
Since Reshin could not speak Cat, it was obvious that he had absolutely no idea as to what was going on between Adele and her companion. The last time he saw her she didn’t even have a cat, so this was strange in (his opinion) to see her speaking to her cat with meowed replies. This wasn’t of much importance though, as Reshin refocused himself on the current situation.
“So I take it that you remember me now? You know the kid who used to separate himself from everybody and was pretty much the troublemaker in class,“ Reshin inquired curiously, hoping his former classmate would know who he was referring to.
The nekogami inclined her head a fraction, "you were alone a lot," she agreed. "But you were quiet and didn't cause me, personally, any trouble."
Tia, having grown restless, asked, "Are we going shopping or not?"
"You can look around a little if you'd like," Adele nodded to her. "I'll be a while. Sorry, imouto-chan."
Rolling her eyes, Tia left the two shinigami and one cat to their conversation in favor of a nearby boutique.
“So who is the kid if you don’t mind my asking?“ Reshin asked.
He had been so fixated on Adele that he hadn’t really noticed the multiple exchanges of formality between the two females. Were they related in some way? Regardless of the situation there, it seemed very odd to Reshin for Adele to act as a babysitter.
He made this assumption mostly in part because of their distinct similarities as far as them both having distant personalities. It seemed that quite a bit had changed since Reshin had last seen Adele over two years ago.
"Her name is Ama Tia. She's my little sister," the Mystic answered, not bothering to elaborate further.
“Really now?“ Reshin blinked in surprise. It was at that very moment when Reshin’s mind began to make its detour down memory lane. Let's take a little peek at what he saw!
It was around five years ago, two years after Reshin had entered the academy, where this sweet story began. Reshin, at this point in time, was starting to work his way up the ladder with in his class ranking, managing to ascend all the way from the bottom to fifth in the class. It was only then when his classmate’s began to take notice of his drastic improvement.
And then the chance meeting between them......
Adele was, at that time, a known figure in her class. Despite daydreaming and rarely talking, she was ranked third in her class. Her purple cat ears only served to make her stand out more.
She walked alone through the halls of the Academy, ignoring other students who called out to her either in friendly greeting or to call her names. The girl ignored them all, eyes never leaving the floor. Adele would've continued this way, had she not bumped into someone.
Backing up quickly from the tall boy she had run into, the cat eared girl bowed before uttering a soft apology. "Gomenasai kohai-san," her silver eyes flickered up to his face briefly before fixating themselves on the wooden floorboards again.
Reshin was staring blankly out towards the sky through one of the many windows that outlined the hallway. He was thinking about how in heaven’s sake he was gonna have time to study for the upcoming exam and have enough time for his usual training without staying up too late into the night once again.
His thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden he felt something run into him from behind. Whatever ran into him couldn’t have been that big though, since he barely even moved from the initial impact.
Turning around all he could see was a small, female shinigami with cat ears and long, dark hair standing before him. Hearing her almost whispered apology, Reshin simply bowed to her and began to walk away, seeing as he wasn’t necessarily the most social type of person.
“Just be careful of where you're going next time,“ He told her softly as he left her there.
"Oh," Adele stood still, listening to his fading foot steps. It was then she noticed the remaining people in the hallway.
They stared at her. Flattening her ears against her head, the girl walked quickly in the direction Reshin had gone. Unfortunately, she was stopped when a girl with red hair stepped in front of her. "Where do you think you're going?" The girl asked nastily.
Not giving Adele a chance to answer, the redhead continued, "You must think you're so much better than us, huh? You ignore us, but you'll talk to the best Zanjutsu user two years behind us. Just because you're third in the class doesn't mean you're better than the rest of us."
Her two friends, girls with blue hair, nodded in agreement, "right!"
The feline girl didn't say anything, her eyes remained focused on the ground. The blue haired girl on the right shoved her back and the one on the left grabbed her, pinning Adele's arms to her sides.
"Don't ignore us!" The blue haired girl that shoved her snapped.
"I bet cat woman thinks she's so special because of those freakishly ugly extra ears of hers," the redhead sneered stepping forward. She reached out towards one of Adele's ears.
"Please don't," the girl's voice was barely louder than it had been when she'd apologized to Reshin.
"No? Then meow like the mangy stray cat you are and we might let you go."
"Nya..." Adele's voice was barely a whisper.
"What was that, cat woman?" The girl holding her demanded, "Louder! And tell everybody what a bad little kitty cat you've been. Tell them how much you deserve to get hit."
Miserably, the cat eared girl obeyed. The blue haired girl not restraining Adele pulled out a spray bottle and spritzed her face. "Again!"
As Reshin neared the corner of the next hallway all he could hear were a few voices. It sounded to him just by the tone that each voice had that whatever was being discussed was not being discussed on friendly terms. Reshin, despite this, wasn’t the type to get involved with such things.
When he began to continue on to his own class he saw multiple students running across the halls to catch a bit of the action. What was going on exactly? Then without warning a fellow classmate of Reshin’s called him over. Reluctantly he went to see what the male had wanted.
“Hey Izukawa there’s these girls in the hallway throwin’ down man. You gotta check it out. These three chicks are completely humiliating that cat girl. That's what she gets I suppose for being such a freak of nature,“ The male told Reshin in a casual manner.
This fueled an anger inside of Reshin unlike any other. Whether it be himself or someone else, there was always some asshole throwing their weight around trying to claim superiority over those who were different from them.
Without hesitation Reshin stormed down the hallway until he had reached the previous hallway where he had left Adele. By this time a crowd had gathered to watch the utter humiliation of one of the elite in the Academy.
Pushing his way through the crowd, Reshin then proceeded to grab the ring leader of the group of miscreants that were harassing the poor nekogami. Lifting the red headed girl up by the back of her neck with his left arm, he then tossed her to the ground. Having done this, he made his intentions known.
“So you guys think this is funny, do you? Well how about I show you wenches a little bit of stand up comedy I’ve been working on,“ he growled in a menacing tone as he gazed deeply into the eyes of the now terrified blue headed girls.
“What do you get when a fist hits a face? Multiple skull fractures, brain damage, and heavy internal bleeding. Get it?“ he asked cruelly.
At this, the girls that were tormenting the cat eared shinigami in training began to flee. The crowd that filled the hallway up to the brim, quickly became silent.
Adele stood, unmoving. Her hair forming a curtain around her face. "Arigato, kohai-san," she thanked him quietly before turning to leave. Everyone stepped back, giving the cat girl a wide berth.
Some of the crowd dispersed while a few huddled off to one side of the hall to talk about what happened. The rest followed Adele to see how she would react.
The neko girl, for her part, walked a little faster. Her entire frame was stiff and her hands were balled into fists. With one sleeve, she scrubbed at the whisker marks the redhead had drawn on her cheeks with liquid eye liner.
Reshin, snapping out of his daydream about their first encounter, realized that he had zoned out for a bit. He didn’t even know how long he had been standing there motionless in front of Adele like this, but before he could embarrass himself any further he changed the subject.
“So how are you doing these days Adele? I heard that you have become quite the shinigami in these recent years,“ Reshin asked, trying to take the conversation a different direction.
The Mystic didn't really mind Reshin's dazed behavior, being fairly accustomed to his strange mannerisms. "I've been doing well," she lied.
"What division are you going into?" Adele asked Reshin, not feeling very eager to talk about herself. Memories of her own tugged her away from the present.
In the Academy, the feline Mystic had a habit of avoiding her peers. One such place to do so was training grounds at the furthest edge of the campus. Sitting at the foot of a tall, gnarled oak tree, she stared into space, ignoring the open text book in her lap.
No one else ever used these training grounds except for a few loners from the year before her. None of them paid her any mind, glad to ignore the weird cat girl so long as she stayed out of their way.
To her surprise, Reshin came to the training area with his Asauchi. Adele watched him work with his sword briefly before letting her gaze wander.
Reshin, like most other students at the academy, had to train long and hard for many hours a day to perfect their combat skills. Reshin was much like his classmates in that regard. He himself was almost never seen without his Asauchi on hand. And like any other day Reshin trained alone for hours on end.
Sword stroke after sword stroke made in rapid succession. Each swing slightly more precise than the next. He hadn’t noticed Adele for the most part because he normally practiced blind folded so that he could learn to feel his surroundings.
It was only when he removed the blindfold to take a break from his rigorous routine that he spotted Adele out of the corner of his eye sitting all by herself, as usual. Having nothing better to do, he decided that he would join her. He moved quietly, taking care not to disturb her as she stared at the sky above them.
The feline girl flinched slightly, but gave no other indication that she was aware of his presence. The quiet hum of his developing Spiritual Pressure wasn't bothersome, so the neko girl didn't mind much that he sat near her.
Grey eyes searched the sky for nothing as she listened to her surroundings: two heartbeats, breathing, the whisper of their weak reiatsu signatures, distant movement from the other training grounds. These sounds interested Adele, each was unique in quality, pitch, and volume.
Purple ears turned slightly atop her head, following various sounds that caught her attention. Absently, she turned a page in her book, the crisp rustling of the paper tickling her cat ears.
Once Reshin had sat down, he began his daily meditation, every so once in awhile taking a quick glance at Adele who, for the time being, seemed completely relaxed. A little satisfied with his acquaintance’s peaceful mood he now was able to concentrate more fully on his practiced ritual.
His concentration lasted until a random group of students showed up and spotted the two odd balls together.
Adele's ears pricked at the sound of other students approaching. Five heartbeats, thumping footsteps, snapping twigs, rustling grass, the swish of robes, and a faint buzz of unsettled reiatsu. Frowning, she looked to see the red haired girl and her two blue haired cronies with a couple of boys from Reshin's class.
Looking down, the neko girl tried to ignore them in favor of her book. They surrounded Reshin and Adele, causing the quiet girl to tense up.
"So he is your boyfriend," the redhead sneered.
"Yeah, you were right Kaoru," one of the blue haired girls chimed in. "I bet she's sleeping with him so he'll protect her. What do you think Hannah?"
Hannah, the other blue haired girl, pretended to think for a moment. "I don't know, Iris, maybe freaks are his type. Hey Reshin, did you bag the cat? Did she let you touch her ears?"
Kaoru, Hannah, and the two boys laughed. Adele didn't look up.
Reshin didn’t even attempt to look any of these pricks in the eyes as he spoke in response to each of their poorly thought up comments.
“You guys do realize you don’t have to put out your business to us like that, you know. It makes you all look like simple minded sex addicts. And as for me and Adele, we're just friends and nothing more. I doubt the guys you’re standing next to would dare bother me unless there was something pretty good in it for them. In which case the same could be said for you three sluts,” he retorted.
The two boys that were brought along were practically ranked near the bottom of Reshin’s class, and on top of that they seemed like the types that were more interested in the fighting part of being a shinigami more than anything else. As a result they neglected practically everything else.
The odds were a different matter, because as it stood, it was five against two. Luckily Reshin had his Asauchi on hand to combat them in case they wanted to get physical.
One of the boys glared, "Hey! Don't call my girlfriend and my sisters sluts just because your whore of a girlfriend is too uptight to give you any," the boy had long blue hair tied in a thin ponytail which he flicked over his shoulder with haughty toss of his head.
Balling his fists, he turned to his buddy, a brown haired kid. "I say we teach him a lesson!" The blue haired boy declared before grabbing Adele by the front of her uniform. "You like freaks, don't you, Ken?"
Ken smirked and walked up to the captive girl. "Eh, she might be a stuck up bitch, but she's kinda cute. I wonder if she has a good body under that uniform. It's too big on her for anyone to see anything."
Kaoru grinned before turning to her cronies. "Iris, Hannah, you heard the man, he wants a show."
The blue haired girls moved forward to rip off Adele's kosode to see what was underneath. The girl in question began to squirm, but the boy holding her only tightened his grip around her arms and waist.
Having had all he could stand of this non-sensible idiocy, Reshin swiftly moved into action, dashing from his crouched position using his Asauchi to strike the male holding Adele behind the hollow point of his knee causing him to fall, and consequently release his grip on Adele.
In complete shock the girl holding onto Adele loosened her grip which would, if Adele was quick enough, give her time to move close to Reshin. In the meantime Reshin held his Asauchi in one direction towards the other male while keeping an eye on the three girls still present.
“Unless you feel as if you want to die today I suggest you all take your tales of incest elsewhere. Otherwise you’ll only prove to everyone the obvious difference between a true shinigami and some low life thugs who couldn’t make the cut,” Reshin stated as he continued to stare them down while analyzing their predicament.
The cat eared girl stepped back when she was released. Not bothering to look up, she took Hannah's arm and yanked it up before pulling downward sharply, slamming the girl on the ground. Iris helped her sister up and the blue haired girls left quickly.
"Sorry, Kaoru, she's scarier than you," they called over their shoulders as they fled.
The redhead glared after them. "Cowards!" She shouted after them.
Ken, furious at Adele's harsh treatment of his sister snatched her robes and pulled. The kosode was torn from her, leaving the quiet girl in her red shitagi and hakama. The shitagi was fitted, showing her small waist and fairly large chest-much to Kaoru's ire.
"Oh. So you think you're special now? Do you think being skinny like a starving animal and having big boobs makes up for those weird cat ears? I bet you are some freak's exotic fantasy. Ever think of working in a brothel?" Kaoru sent the other girl the most poisonous look she could manage.
Adele kicked Ken in the crotch, hard. When he doubled over, she knocked him unconscious with an axe kick to the back of his head. Ignoring the angry redhead, she picked up her ripped kosode and wrapped it around herself, but the garment was too damaged to cover much. Sighing, the feline girl rolled up the torn robe and stuffed it under her arm as she walked away.
Kaoru ran at Adele's turned back in hopes of catching her off guard, but was floored with a brutal back kick to the stomach. Glaring at the retreating girl, the redhead yelled after her, "have fun walking through the school like that! I didn't know you were such an exhibitionist, giving everyone a show." Her snide comment went unanswered.
Seeing the work that Adele had done on her part, Reshin wondered "Why in the hell didn’t she do something before?" Other than that, their little schoolyard brawl had finally concluded. Taking a little look at the havoc they wreaked, he was quite satisfied that they wouldn’t have to deal with any more of their crap.
But there still remained one little issue. The bitch by the name of Kaoru’s excessive motor mouth. As he began to follow Adele, he took his Asauchi and struck Kaoru in the back of her head with it, knocking her out cold. With that done he wouldn’t have to hear random shouts of empty threats from her for a while.
About a few yards away from Adele, he removed his kosode, and then his outer robe. When he caught up to Adele he placed his outer robe over her. Afterwards he didn’t say another word as they continued down the hallway. He already knew there wasn’t much to discuss anyway, so what would be the point? Not like either would want to discuss anything on a general basis that often either.
"Arigato gozaimasu," the feline girl thanked Reshin quietly. She pulled the outer coat around her, hiding her form from the prying eyes of students they passed in the halls.
They whispered about Adele. Her kosode was gone and several strands of her hair had escaped the braid that rested against her back. Even some of the the fine, purple fur on her cat ears was out of place. The quiet girl ignored them, even Iris and Hannah, who sent her dirty looks and whispered to a group of girls with them.
It was unlikely that those two or Kaoru would attempt to physically abuse her again, having learned first hand why she was third in the class. Even a bit of a smack down wasn't enough to shut their mouths, though.
The feline girl paid the whispers, glares, and stares no mind, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the ground. Pulling Reshin's robe around her a little more tightly, Adele picked up her pace. Hopefully, she could make her way to her room undisturbed.
Back in the present, Reshin only sat as he watched Adele, who for a while had been spacing out . Her inattentiveness having persisted for a good ten minutes, now. Not one to judge, mostly because he had the same issue, Reshin waited for her to snap out of her day dream. After all, this type of behavior was to be expected from the cat eared girl.
While he waited for her, he suddenly realized that he saw someone in the distance. After watching the figure for a few seconds, he realized that it would turn out to be none other than Tia herself. Reshin almost cringed at this, knowing that it meant possibly hours of putting up with her while they traveled along to the squad eight barracks.
Well that would only be an issue if Adele would agree to show him where it was at least. Good thing that it would only be temporary, because if it was more than just a straight path to his assigned barracks he would probably commit simbuku right then and there.
Adele blinked, realizing that she'd been day dreaming. She waved to her sister to summon her before finally speaking. "What are you doing in this area of Seireitei if you're in the Eighth Division? Your barracks are in the direction opposite from the way we're headed."
Tia joined her onee-sama, not bothering to spare a glance in Reshin's direction. "Onee-sama, I found a store that would be perfect for you," the girl smiled, latching onto her sister's arm.
Looking down at her younger sibling, Adele raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Taking this as a cue to keep talking, the raven haired girl chattered away. "It's this cute little boutique with the most adorable clothes that you would look absolutely darling in! They had cute, little purses, and dainty parasols with interesting designs."
Hugging the Mystic's arm closer to her chest, the girl continued, "I think you'd look so cute in the one dress I saw. It was a white sailor's dress with navy trimming and gold buttons. It even came with the daintiest little gloves and I saw a parasol that complimented the whole thing! You should have seen the slippers that went with it..."
Adele smiled and nodded, though inwardly she hoped she wouldn't have to wear the outfit Tia was describing. The nekogami would attract far too much attention in that attire.
Midnight simply chuckled at his shinigami's distaste. He thought seeing her like that would be highly amusing.
Reshin, starting to get the feeling that getting to his destination would now take a while to reach, could do nothing as he watched the small girl chatter away continually. Figuring that if he was gonna be late, at the very least he’d be in the company of an old friend.
Although as Reshin actually paid attention to the detail of the dress that Tia was describing, it was becoming more and more apparent to him that this was gonna be a major pain in the ass.
Remaining quiet, Reshin dawned his normal look, which was void of feeling.
Waiting a little impatiently, Reshin remained still until the group he accompanied himself with began to move down the road.
Adele allowed Tia to steer her into the boutique she had been describing. The clothing shop was quaint, the pastel color scheme and many dresses were indeed, as Tia had said, cute.
The Mystic only protested weakly as the civilian girl pushed her into a dressing room. Before she could say anything else, her little sister was pulling off get clothing and handing her a dress.
After being stuffed into the new outfit, Adele was shoved out of the dressing room. "I told you this would look absolutely darling on you," Tia told her sister, leading her to a mirror, "look!"
The poor nekogami glanced at her reflection and blushed immediately; even her eyes turned pink.
Adele looked rather demure and sweet in the white dress. It had bell cap sleeves and the skirt was slightly puffy. A thick navy stripe with a thin white line through the middle wrapped around her small waist. The dress had similar navy and white trimming at the cuffs of the sleeves and on the hem at the bottom of the skirt. To top it off, a little gold button decorated the cuff of each sleeve.
The transformation didn't end with the dress. Navy slippers adorned her feet and little white gloves covered her hands. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail tied by a navy bow, leaving two thin, chin length bangs to frame her face.
"See?" Tia was saying, "you're adorable! Even Reshin and that cat can see that much." Midnight was too busy snickering at his shinigami to disagree.
Looking to Reshin, Adele sent him a pleading glance. Surely he would not agree with her little sister's madness.
What in God’s name had Reshin gotten himself into this time? Quite normally, Reshin would agree with Tia’s opinion of the dress, but knowing Adele’s personality, the cat eared girl would not think the same. Catching her glance he wanted to help out, but what could he do?
For one, he himself was very conflicted on the whole matter. Secondly it wasn’t a situation in which he could just kick someone's ass and call it done. Was he supposed to remove the dress or something?
He was pretty sure if he did that it would only make the situation much worse. And if that wasn’t bad enough his own body was thinking entirely opposite of his mind. Looking downward he tried to hide the bulge that was clearly showing in his front pocket.
Starting to blush himself, he was now officially clueless. The entire thing had now went from confusing to outwardly stressful. So much to the point where Reshin eventually had a silent meltdown, and passed out a few moments later.
“Ano?” Adele crouched by the unconscious boy and prodded his face with her right index finger. He started to wake up. “Are you okay?”
“Pervert,” Midnight sniffed with disdain, “he smells like a tomcat in rut. Don’t let his scent defile you!” He jumped between Reshin and his shinigami. No weakling boy was going to get their scent all over his companion.
“Ew. Can we just leave him here?” Tia complained, giving him a not so soft kick to the crotch.
“Tia-chan!” The Mystic stood and backed up a little, in accordance to her feline companion’s wishes. She gave her younger sister a glare, “don’t be so rude.”
“Gomen,” The younger girl bowed her head in apology to her elder sister.
“Can you get up?” The nekogami looked down at Reshin.
Still gripping his crotch from the immense pain he felt from Tia’s unexpected nut shot, he could only look up in fierce anger towards them all. He was literally thinking about busting out his zanpakuto and completely carving Tia’s face like a halloween pumpkin.
He managed to regain some of his composure, but retaining his menacing stare he slammed his fist into the ground. Forcing himself up he managed to get to a standing position, waiting a few seconds for the remaining pain to leave his groin.
Once this had been done he looked at them once more as he started to walk out of the door.
Then stopping in his tracks he turned around and gave them a little piece of his mind.
“You know what fuck it. It doesn’t matter anymore, because obviously I’m only being a burden to everyone. Well go ahead and do whatever the fuck you guys want. And Adele the next time you decide you want to bring that little demon possesed child around me remember that I have a much shorter fuse than you do. You may tolerate this shit, but I fucking don’t. That said I wish you all the best of fucking luck in your death written futures,” Reshin said, his voice now full of resentment.
After this he proceeded to race out of the shop, leaping skyward he began running rooftops, jumping from one building to the next. With in some moments Reshin had completely disappeared. His fairly large figure no longer visible to the small group.
Sighing, the nekogami turned to her sister. “Tia-chan, what’s the matter?”
The younger of the two women glared, “you don’t know?” She asked incredulously. “We were supposed to spend the day together but the minute that Reshin boy waltzes in you just let him take over and act like I don’t exist! Just because he was your only friend in the Academy doesn’t make him more important than me!” Tears threatened to spill from the civilian girl’s large, brown eyes.
Frowning, Adele hugged her little sister, “of course you’re important to me, imouto-chan. That doesn’t mean I’ll ignore everyone else either. You’ve spent this whole time trying to make Reshin-san miserable, that’s not the best way to get my attention. You should have said something.” Releasing the shorter girl, the Mystic walked up to the counter and paid for her outfit.
“I don’t have time to change, I have to go find my friend, I don’t think he knows his way around, is it alright if I wear this out the store?”
The cashier, an effeminate young man with chocolate brown hair and blue eyes nodded, “of course, shinigami-san.” He handed Adele her change, “good luck finding your friend.”
Thanking the man, she headed out the store. “Tia-chan, please grab my uniform, Midnight will lead you to me once I’ve found Reshin-san.” Without waiting for a response, the nekogami was gone.
Tia would have protested, but she realized she had done enough damage. To continue to be stubborn would only end in disappointing her onee-sama. Gathering her big sister’s shihakusho, she folded the robes neatly. “I suppose I just have to follow you, now, huh, cat?” She asked quietly.
Midnight huffed, his tail stiffening. “I have a name, you know,” the feline grumbled, but his utterings were lost on the civilian girl who did not speak Cat. “Whatever,” he muttered, following his shinigami’s scent out of the store.
Adele tried not to think about how embarrassing her outfit was as she tracked her errant friend. Being able to hear his reiatsu and being several times faster than him helped; hopefully she could intercept and calm Reshin before she had to run around dressed like this for long. Once she neared him, she disappeared from view before reappearing right in front of the other shinigami in a burst of speed known as Shunpo.
“Reshin-san,” she said, not sounding the least bit out of breath. “I apologize for Tia’s antagonistic behavior.” Although she controlled her breathing, her hair was out of place- strands of it standing on end- revealing how quickly she’d been moving to catch up.
Having been intercepted so quickly, Reshin noticed how much faster she was from their days in the academy. He still wasn’t in the happiest of moods though, and it was very clear by the look on his face that he could burst at any moment without warning.
He honestly did not want to be bothered anymore as he felt his stay with the others was only getting him more off track than what he already was. He didn’t need the taunts, jeers, verbal abuse, and many more from someone half his size, and in age four times his junior.
Facing Adele he stood motionless, not saying a single word to her. Reshin most of all felt as if he was betrayed somewhat since Adele did barely anything to control Tia’s behaviour. She knew exactly how he felt yet is was as if she ignored that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.
The fact being he believed she did nothing whatsoever to give him some form of leeway. It was his former life on Earth all over again. The constant scorn, the hateful looks and comments, the snickering, the bitter responses, the disregarding of his existence.
These are only a few of the things that had made Reshin give up on others to begin with. And he was living this all over again in his own perspective. The place in where Adele had found him was very close to the gate, in which Reshin entered prior to finding Adele and her companions.
Not willing to even look his only friend in the eyes he sat there stone faced.
Smoothing her hair down, the Mystic sighed. While she knew Tia had aggravated him and that she should be feeling some sympathy for him, or perhaps even guilt for failing to stop her younger sister’s behavior, she felt frustrated. Tia’s behavior and Reshin’s childishness were wearing on her patience.
Originally, Adele had intended to spend her day haunting her division’s grounds or tending her indoor garden. Despite having recovered somewhat from her mission to Earth, putting on a brave face for everyone around her and acting as if she was a-okay was taxing. When Tia had asked to spend the day together, the nekogami had agreed only because she knew she had been neglecting the younger woman in terms of spending time together.
When Reshin had appeared, it was simply too much. Between brokering peace between Tia and Midnight and her younger sister’s determination to drive Reshin off, Adele had gotten overwhelmed and had withdrawn into herself. While not quite fully leaving her old acquaintance to Tia’s mercies, she had not put forth much effort into reining in the younger woman, either. Now, both her sister and her old schoolmate felt ignored.
The Mystic, had she been herself, might have lamented the state of things. But she was by no standard fully alright and what little patience she did have was gone. Now, frustration and irritation at the childishness and inability to get along of Reshin and Tia reigned. The nekogami’s reiatsu, which had been previously repressed, flared. Despite her calm, nearly contrite countenance, her eyes turned ruby red.
“You know,” she started softly, the subtlest hint of venom in her voice, “I could leave you here; you’re lost. I would even be within rights to smack you. You insulted my sister. While her conduct left a lot to be desired, she is a civilian and a teenager. You are a shinigami, a reflection of the Gotei Thirteen. Letting a little girl get under your skin like that is an embarrassment. Are you sure you were ready to leave the Academy? Skill, which you have yet to develop, is not everything. Maturity is also a necessity.”
Sighing, she looked up, her fingers brushing against the hilt of her zanpakuto. “I understand you may feel neglected because I did not outright punish Tia-chan,” her red gaze pierced him, “but that would not have been the proper solution. How I discipline my younger sister, my daughter really, is none of your business. I will not apologize for not publicly embarrassing her so you could feel vindicated. If I address her behavior, it will be in a much more tasteful manner aimed at making her understand that such conduct is unacceptable, not in order to shame her.”
Her fingers tightened around the handle of her sword. Crescendo hummed a calming note, warning the Mystic not to lose her temper. “But you wouldn’t know that, would you? You didn’t spend nearly two decades of your life as a single parent. Rest assured, I know perfectly well how to insure my sibling is aware of the appropriate manner to behave in.” Her eyes narrowed. “If you ever publicly embarrass me like that again, never mind the property damage that I will probably have to pay for, I will see to it that you learn first hand how I teach respect. Do you understand?”
“I don’t actually. Wanna know why? Because I could care less about your life’s issues.
And as far as parenting goes I never insulted your method of teaching her right from wrong. If I had I would’ve been much more blunt about it. And respect? You can’t be serious. What was just displayed was not respect at all. In fact quite the contrary, on the lines of complete disregard for anyone else’s state of being,” Reshin kept his eyes fixated to the sky above them.
“And if you really knew me as well as you say, then you’d know there is only so much bull shit I can stand. I tried to be as tolerant as possible, but all I get in return is a slap in the face for my attempt via insults, nut shots, and the like,” Reshin said, almost entirely on the verge of saying something he shouldn’t.
“And as for Tia herself if what you were teaching that child were more efficient, then her outbursts would be less frequent. And finally for you my FORMER friend. I find it highly uncharacteristic of you to actually go against the laws of Soul Society by rearing your blade to another Shinigami. That in of itself is considered treason and is punishable by time in the seventh division, banishment with the removal of all powers, and even death,” Reshin added.
“Overall I’d say your conduct as of just recently has been no better than my own. And you wanna know something else. I could’ve asked anyone else to direct me, but instead I asked you despite what it would mean I’d have to put up with. Why did I do that? It's because I thought that after all these years I’d actually be able to talk to you again,” He said.
His voice as he ended this statement seemed to hurt him a little bit more than anything else that had been said. If anything it didn’t even seem as if it was meant to be an insult, but more of a pleading reminder.
Unfortunately for Reshin, his friend was already emotionally unstable and his comments killed every last bit of sympathy she had. Adele was angry. “I don’t need my sword for you. I’d never violate Crescendo-chan with your filth,” before he could do anything else she was in front of him and her foot connected soundly with his solar plexus.
She followed up with a harsh blow to his sternum, bruising her knuckles in the process. “Why would you want to talk to me if you don’t care about me? What purpose does that serve?” A leg sweep knocked the less experienced shinigami off his feet. “What point was there in approaching me if it was such a burden to deal with me and my sister? Was it really that bad that a little girl was behaving petulantly? Was that all it would take for you to decide that I’m worthless as a friend and as a parent?”
She picked him up by the front of his robes, “Would my conduct, reminding Tia that her behavior is not acceptable and even sending her away for a brief period of time in your defense, worrying about you getting lost and pursuing you when I could have easily left you to your own devices inappropriate conduct and proof of my childish idiocy? To believe that I should bother to care what happened to you? Is that disrespectful to you? An insult to your skills?”
Dropping Reshin, she looked at him rather harshly. “Is an explanation for my seeming lack of reprimand for Tia’s behavior and assurance that it will be corrected a lack of care for anyone else’s being?” The Mystic sent the Duelist to be flying backwards with an open palmed blow to the face.
“Then indeed my time and efforts have been wasted. Don’t waste your time trying to ‘talk’ to me again. I have no use for childish brats who can’t use their words in a calm and collected manner to describe their issues rather than having a temper tantrum. Even Tia had more control than you.” With another Shunpo, she disappeared.
Walking slowly, Adele let her facial expression fade into a mask of indifference. Her eyes faded from red to silver and her grip on Crescendo’s hilt tightened. The sword, in returned hummed a rather comforting melody.
“Onee-sama, there you are!” Tia ran up to her followed by Midnight. “Onee-sama?” It only took a glance for the girl to realize her big sister was upset. Hugging the Mystic, Tia gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s alright, Onee-sama. Come on, we don’t have to stay out here. We can just relax at my house,” taking the older woman by the hand, the civilian girl lead the shinigami in the direction of her living quarters.
Midnight jumped on her shoulder and rubbed his face against her cheek. “Next time we see that weakling, I’ll claw his eyes out,” the cat huffed angrily.
“No, don’t do that...” the nekogami protested weakly.
“Hmph. I won’t have the chance to if you don’t waste anymore of your time on that pervert shrimpling of a shinigami. His lack of poise and patience is more appalling than Tia’s brashness,” the kuroneko hissed scathingly.
Adele sighed, but did not say anything else. Tia looked at the cat and nodded once, before
turning to face forward again. She had a feeling that cat disliked this Reshin person as much as if not more than she did.
Having been laid out upon the ground, Reshin stilled seemed to show no emotion whatsoever. He already knew there was no point in fighting her so it would just be better to take the beating she gave him. She had a point about his temper, but when your life has been nothing but hell from birth, wouldn’t it be normal to be that way sometimes?
His gaze fixed on the sky above him as if they had never left it. Once again in solitude Reshin only looked up. All alone he was able to become peaceful again. Although now he could almost feel a void opening with in his own heart.
He should’ve been accustomed to losing everything he ever had by now. Somehow it made no difference whether he tried to be the nice guy or the firm guy. No matter what he did it always seemed as if the end result would never be more than him all by himself.
Remaining where he was he kept on looking up almost as if he were now peering through the clouds. Then little by little time seem to fly by. Minutes passed, then hours, and finally the night stars befell the Seireitei.
And just when it seemed as if he would decide to get up before it became too late, he still remained. As of that very moment he was no one. He now had no friends, no family, no home, no possessions other than his zanpakuto, nothing. He was just a worthless existence without cause. A life form without purpose or direction.
The stars and the moon shined brightly on him, separating his body from the surrounding shadows. Something similar to the dream he had seven years ago, but even now with these fluorescent beams of light upon him, his inner self was already consumed by the darkness of his own soul.
The young Duelist then came to the realization that his life was for nought, and his only life goal was pursued in vain. As such he came to believe that if his life were to be taken from him it would have virtually no effect to anyone or anything.
His best choice of action, as he thought it to be, was to simply lie there until he finally died a slow and painful death. Besides it would only be fitting for someone as worthless as him to die in a manner that befits a low life. Maybe then Adele would be happier that way, as it seemed Reshin was nothing but the yoke she bared.
Maybe this way he would lighten her burden by passing on. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about him or his childish antics.
Right as it appeared he was at his end, he began to reflect on his life and one final memory. That memory was of the day before Adele set out for the Gotei Thirteen as a graduate, and the final things that were said before she left. This takes place two years prior to their reuniting.
The day before she graduated was one of the few days Adele had more than five words to say. She stood in the library facing a window. Reshin stood a few feet away.
The boy had been a constant of sorts over the past few years. She had seen him in the halls, caught glimpses of him at meal times, and even sat in silence with him on occasion. Other than the fact that he was not content to watch her accept the treatment of anyone who would bully or abuse her, Reshin should not have stood out in her memory. But he did. From the sound of his reiatsu to his height and social awkwardness, he was unforgettable and by no means ignorable.
This boy who she rarely looked at let alone talked to stood out among the many names and faces Adele had encountered and forgotten. Leaving him without having spoken a single sentence outside of necessity or formality did not seem right.
"Reshin-san..." The Mystic to be started, grasping at straws for some word of wisdom or memorable saying to impart on the less experienced soul.
Having been staring into space for most of the time he was in the library, Reshin could’ve almost missed when Adele spoke to him, but it looked as if his ears had become pretty damn good at picking up low volume tones of voice.
Turning from the window he was looking at he faced Adele directly, his eyes peering into her own.
“Yes Adele,” Reshin asked, curious as to what Adele had to say.
He wanted to spend her last day with her seeing as she was the only friend he ever really had.
It would completely tear him apart inside if he couldn’t.
The words that would have been appropriate for such an occasion escaped her. What could she say to this boy? She had barely spoken a word she didn't have to to him or anyone else. And still he had come to her defense on multiple occasions. Still, he would sit beside her, even talk to her sometimes, even when she barely looked him in the eye.
Looking Reshin dead in the eye, she smiled. A real smile; this was probably the first time she'd smiled just for him. It was small, the faintest tug upwards of the corners of her mouth. "I'm glad," she tilted her head to the right a bit.
Reshin had felt a bit more nostalgic at the sight of Adele’s smile. Come to think of it, he didn’t really recall her ever smiling before. To him, it made him happy to see her this way, in such a pleasant mood.
“I’m glad as well,” Reshin responded in the most tender of ways he could possibly manage.
Looking back he remembered he had something for her.
“That reminds me. Adele, I have a parting gift for you,” he said excitedly.
Reaching into the bag he had be carrying for most of that day, he pulled out a small note that was addressed to the Mystic to be. Gently he handed it right to her, starting to smile as well.
Adele accepted the note, flushing a bit. Her eyes turned pink, signifying that she was flustered despite her smile.
Idly, she wondered if he understood what she had meant by her short phrase. She had wanted to tell him she was happy he'd been so kind to her and tolerated her oddities, but of course she'd only managed two words. Even now, when she'd failed to even thank him properly he was smiling at her.
Opening the note, she read it. Pink eyes trailed across the paper, taking in the message and darkening to a rather interesting shade of hot pink.
A little concerned with the way Adele just reacted, Reshin wondered if he had maybe done something wrong. He only written about how she had changed his outlook on others. And of course how it gave him hope in achieving his goals.
Although maybe from the way it was worded it possibly could’ve sounded a little more intimate than what was intended. Not sure of what to do next, Reshin just sat there looking at Adele.
Rather surprised at the effect she'd had on the younger shinigami in training, Adele blinked. How on Earth had she done that?
The Mystic to be tilted her head to the left, a slightly confused expression on her face. Slipping the paper into her pocket, she wondered how she should respond.
Looking Reshin in the eye once more -with a little difficulty- the feline girl tried to speak again. "I..." The sentence died on her lips.
She tried again, "I won't forget." Three words, Adele could have slapped herself. This was frustrating; why was such a simple thing so hard to say?
"Your kindness, I mean," she continued, "I'll remember it. It... It means a lot." By now, poor Adele had turned quite red and her eyes were a rather dark pink color. Why telling him this was so flustering was beyond her. It was just Reshin.
A few hours later Reshin and Adele found themselves still together. It was after hours and there wasn’t much else to do but to watch the stars in the night sky. They were outside in the courtyard of the Academy laying in the nearby grass, as they both watched the stars with uncharacteristic interest.
Turning over to his side, Reshin then wondered what reason Adele wished to become a shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen for. What made her commit to such a dangerous job?
“Hey Adele, is it alright if I ask you something?” Reshin asked.
"What is it?" The feline girl inquired, not taking her eyes -grey for the moment- off the sky.
“Why did you wanna become a shinigami?” he wondered, somewhat eager to know the differences, and or similarities in their respective reasonings.
"I didn't want to." Her reply was blunt. "But... For the ones that depend on me I'll do anything, even this." Examining the stars, the neko girl sighed.
“Well I suppose that would make your reasoning the exact opposite of my own. As you already know I’ve never had anyone. I was always alone, always tucked away somewhere separated from everyone. But when I began to get to know you a little better, my opinion on people started to change,” Reshin said almost as if he was in a daze.
“I never told you the reason I became that way did I? Well personally, it doesn’t matter because ever since we became friends, I’ve began to have faith in one day achieving my dream. My dream may sound a bit strange to most, but I’m sure you’d understand. That dream I have is to be able to find a place of belonging. To be accepted by others, and to be able to accept others,” he concluded.
Turning onto his back once more, he once again turned his attention toward the heavens, which were adorned in the most beautiful array of shining lights.
The very next day the time for Adele’s admission into squad ten had been announced. This meant that it would be Reshin’s last chance to see her before she departed. Not wasting any, time he raced through the halls ferociously to see her one last time.
The Mystic stood at the gates of the Academy, holding her bag. It didn't have much in it; Adele hadn't owned much during her years in the Academy.
Examining her new shihakusho, the nekogami decided she liked her new clothing much better than the Academy uniform. Footsteps and a familiar reiatsu signature approached, catching her attention. It was Reshin.
"Reshin-san," Adele acknowledged the boy. He appeared out of breath. "Have you been running?"
Trying to regain his normal pace of breathing, he took a quick load off. He had been running alright. As a matter of fact, he had been sprinting for hours across the entire school trying to search for her. Trying to speak, he muttered these words.
“Adele..... I’ve been..... trying to find you.... but you weren’t anywhere.....,” he said panting.
“ I wanted..... to tell you..... thanks for everything,” he managed to say as he was gasping for air.
When his breathing had returned to normal he stood up once more.
“And not only that, but I wanted to tell you that no matter where you are. No matter what happens, or what may become of you, please never stop pursuing your dreams. And I’ll promise to do the same,” he said.
For the first time, he showed someone his true side. All he had ever wanted was a friend, and Adele filled that role quite nicely. Now he was saddened that his only friend would have to leave him like this, and it was noticeable on his face.
But at the same time, he was also happy because it meant she would be able to take that next step in making her dreams a reality.
Taking one final bow to his senior classmate turned graduate, he silently wished her well.
The Mystic's eyes started watering. Here Reshin had all but poured his heart out to her and what had she ever given him to deserve this? What could she possibly say in return?
In the few years she had known him, she barely had more than five words for him. Even the day before in the library, she hadn't said much. She had hardly looked him in the face let alone in the eye and rarely if ever smiled. Adele hadn't done a thing but be there.
And now she was leaving; what could she do for him now? The shinigami had no words that could possibly make up for being a terrible friend. She didn't know what she could say in response to his heartfelt speech, and yet she couldn't let him leave with nothing.
Blinking back tears, the Mystic hugged Reshin. The gesture would have to do in place of words. Wondering if she should have given him some type of warning before embracing him, she looked up at him.
Her embrace was indeed out of left field, but it was enough for Reshin. Receiving Adele into his arms, he held her close to him as he buried his face into her shoulder. His eyes had become a bit watery as well, but his pride would not allow him to let the tears flow without letting her know.
You could probably call it him trying to be strong on his part, but it was too much for him to handle so he couldn’t really help it. It was the last time he would be able to embrace her like this for awhile, so he held on for as long as he could before she was called to leave.
The tightness with which Reshin gripped her was quite surprising. Weakly patting his back, Adele looked at him. "Please don't cry... You'll make me cry."
Unsure of what else to say, she slipped from his grasp. "You've already started to achieve your goal, you should be happy," she told him, finally having found her voice.
"Ja ne," the Mystic bid her acquaintance goodbye before leaving. Silently, she decided that she would learn how to say what was on her mind. Her failings couldn't be repeated.
Back in the present, Reshin still lay out under the night sky. Like that day when Adele left for the Gotei Thirteen, he began to let out uncontrollable tears. These tears were shed over his loss of his only friend, and for the dream, which he was so close to letting die with him.
He then finally came to the truth that if he let it all end now, he would be breaking the promise he made to Adele two years ago. Carefully standing himself up, he felt the pain of Adele’s misery. It was what he deserved after all. Weakly, he proceeded through the illuminated streets of Soul City in search of Adele.
There was no way he could just leave things the way they were. But how would he even be able to find her now? He didn’t have the ability to hear reiatsu as Adele could, neither was his tracking very developed. As stated earlier, he didn’t even know his way around this district of the city, let alone the city itself.
But this would not deter him in the slightest. Reshin was now hell bent on finding her so that he could at least make some form of amends. Limping through the rather overwhelmingly large area, he soldiered on. Would he be able to find her before his stamina let out?
Some looked on in concern, and some even asked to help him, but Reshin just gently waved them away. It was one of those things in which he just couldn’t accept giving in to his own pain over what was most important to him.
On and on he went. He walked on until the sandals on his feet had torn apart and his feet were bleeding profusely. His legs became entirely numb. But he refused to surrender his friendship despite his own agony.
If he had he wouldn’t feel any better than those who abandoned him. He was in no condition to do this, but somehow he was still standing. On the verge of collapsing, he drew his zanpakuto and stabbed the blade through the ground to give himself support.
“I w-won’t..... I can’t lose...... her,” he groaned as he fell to his knees.
With all the strength he had left he managed to will his way back to his feet again, but as a result lost consciousness standing up. In his current position he looked like one of those statues of fallen samurai.
Little did he know that his efforts had not gone unnoticed.
Reshin had managed to pass out right on Tia's front yard. Tia frowned at the sleeping shinigami. What was that jerk doing here?
"Reshin," Adele's voice was barely above a whisper. Her anger had long since burned out, only leaving regret, guilt, and now sympathy behind.
Tia jumped. She hadn’t heard her sister approaching. “Adele-nee-chan, please go back inside. You don’t owe this guy anything.”
“At least let me take him back to his Division Grounds,” the nekogami requested, “I’m sure his fellow Duelists will take care of him there.” Crouching next to him, she held her hands over his feet and allowed her Spiritual Energy to wash over his bloodied feet. Fortunately, Reiki was sufficient for healing the lacerations on Reshin’s feet.
The Mystic then carefully lifted the unconscious shinigami in her arms and stood. Tia followed her silently as she returned to the house. After washing Reshin’s feet and bandaging them for good measure -but not before applying a healing salve- Adele prepared to leave. After slipping on her sandals, she hefted the larger shinigami once more, not particularly hindered by his size, and set out.
“Thank you for spending the day with me, Tia-chan, as well as for your hospitality. I’ll be taking Reshin-san to his home, now. If you’d like, I can return here before I go home,” she smiled at her little sister.
Sighing, the civilian patted her older sister on the shoulder, “You’re too nice, Onee-sama. Please come back once you finish with him.”
Adele nodded to the shorter young woman before leaving. The Mystic, unlike her Duelist friend, knew her way around Seireitei quite well and began walking towards the Eighth Division. Before long, she was three quarters of the way there.
It wasn’t too long before Reshin began to wake up. Remembering his previous trek half-way across Seireitei, which he thought he had yet to complete he immediately sprang to life unaware that he was being carried.
In his sudden frenzy the two shinigami ended up tumbling over together, with Adele landing on top of Reshin. It was then that a familiar note had fallen out of Reshin’s shihakusho.
Yelping in shock at the Duelist's sudden motion, Adele was unable to catch herself before falling on Reshin. "Kyaaa!"
Once she realized where she had landed, the Mystic leaped up as if she had been shocked. Helping her friend up, she asked, "Are you alright?"
The same question could have been asked of her, really. Her hair was out of place, several strands sticking up in random directions, and her eyes were bright pink in embarrassment from their previous position. The fact that the simple, white, semi-fitted kimono she wore was rumpled from her fall did nothing for her appearance.
His head had been a little rattled by the impact of his fall, but he seemed to be perfectly fine. Then hearing a familiar voice he looked up to see Adele. Still feeling a little less than happy with himself about how he made her so riled up, he couldn’t find it in himself to make eye contact.
Then he spotted the note that fell out of his shihakusho. Almost desperately he snatched it up again as fast as he could taking it into his palm with the most tender care. From the way he reacted it must have been obvious to tell that the contents of the said note he carried was very important to him.
“I’m alright,” he quietly responded, focusing his eyes entirely on the dirt road below him.
Nodding, Adele brushed the dust off her kimono. She noticed the note, but decided not to pry. Judging by his reaction to it, he probably didn't want her to see it.
After a few more moments of silence, she looked at Reshin. "I... I'm sorry I lost my temper with you. You were within rights to be angry with me about... Tia's behavior. I could have done more to stop her. She really isn't to blame, though."
Looking skyward, the Mystic continued, "I haven't been there for her for nearly seven years. She was left in the care of a... Of my former employer. When she moved here to be closer to me, well, I can't say I've done the best job of being her big sister. I've been neglecting to spend time with her. So when you came along, Tia-chan was unhappy. I don't think she was quite ready to share me, well my attention really. She must have felt ignored."
Sighing, the nekogami looked at Reshin again, "So I apologize. It really is my fault."
Somewhat shocked at her response, he didn’t know how to respond. He figured that she still would’ve been upset with him for earlier. Now she was asking him to forgive her, when it was he who originally intended to find her to ask her forgiveness. She really took the blame for his actions in that instance as he felt it to be.
Regardless, he still wished to at least be able to correct his own mistakes right then and there. Getting back to his feet, he looked at Adele out of his peripheral vision, still uncomfortable looking her in the eye, and then began his own apology.
“Honestly, it's all my fault. You were right to question my maturity and how I acted. If anything Tia and I are a lot alike in the sense that we both have felt the same sense of abandonment. I really should’ve been more understanding of her feelings. And more importantly to understand how it made you feel when I questioned your parenting methods.”
Taking a deep breathe he bowed to her. Then without a word he handed the note that he had held to Adele.
“I also wanted to apologize for nearly breaking my promise that I made to you two years ago,” he said with his head still facing her feet.
Taking the folded slip of paper, the Mystic remembered the day before she'd left the Academy.
"You haven't broken your promise, so no harm done, I suppose," Adele mused. Placing the note in her pocket with care, she allowed a slight smile tug at the corners of her mouth for a split second.
"In any case, you need to go home." Without waiting for a response, the nekogami picked Reshin up bridal style and continued walking. "Your division grounds aren't too far from here."
“Uh Adele, why are you carrying me?” Reshin asked, a little concerned at his current position, and the image it was giving.
"You are in no condition to walk. You don't even have shoes," she replied as if her answer was the most obvious thing in the world.
About two minutes later they stood right in front of the gate of squad eight’s barracks. Finally standing on his own again he looked toward Adele. Not a single word was uttered as they exchanged embraces. Then after a few moments longer, Adele departed to return to Tia.
Hopefully she would read the messege in its content and be touched by it as it signified their everlasting friendship.
This is what the note had read.
To Adele,
I never knew what happiness was. Neither did I ever know any other emotion. I was always on my own. With no one to guide me in the right direction. It was when we had met that my ideals on these things had begun to change. What you taught me was to always be true to myself regardless of what anyone else may think. I thank you for teaching this because if it weren’t for you I would have never had a chance to experience what it felt like to be accepted by another person. You give me faith in myself and for your sake I will achieve my goal and maybe one day we will both find our places of belonging.
Your friend, Reshin Izukawa
In the mean time, Reshin stared down the gate of the squad eight barracks. After gaining his composure he then entered the place in which he now hoped to call home.
[12,730]
Credits:
Reshin playing the role of Reshin Izukawa
Dysney playing the role of Adele Ama
Special Thanks to everyone that read this. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did making it!
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