A strong silence hung in the air around you. Right now you were in the library. What where you looking for? Something on spirits. Well hollows and Soul Reapers is what specifically you were looking for. And you didn't have to go anywhere other then the school. Since it was after school everyone had poured from the grounds leaving you alone. This was making it quite easy to look in the library. The quite rule didnt apply if no one was there to enforce it.
With your headphones in your ears you started to scan the titles on the books that lined the shelves. Slow Drain by The Exies started to blare through the tiny speakers. With the fast upbeat rhythm blaring you at, you couldn't help it. Along with the drums you shook your butt back and forth. Grabbing a book on hauntings you shook and stepped all while doing your own little dance. Everyone needs a little unwinding time. And no one was around, right?
"This would be why you sing and don't dace," came a voice from behind you. Stopping in midstep you dropped your book to the floor. Ripping your head phones from your ear you quickly turned around. Confusion hit you hard when you saw who it was. Standing there at the end of the row was they guy that was watching Etsu. Reaching his hand up he fixed the glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. No one said a word.
Finally you grew bored with this silence game. "What do you want?" you questioned bending down to get your book. The boy stared intently at you. He seemed to expect something from you. What? You had no clue. "To know about Etsu," he finally answered your question. At this you became even more confused. Yes Etsu was your cousin, but you hadn't seen her in years. Sure you knew a lot about the ten year old Etsu, but the 15 year old Etsu that was another story. Then again, what did this guy want to know about her?
The boy seemed to catch your hesitation. Without another word he turned to leave. "Wait" you said, but he was gone. Without thinking you took off running after this mysterious boy. Twisting and turning through the rows of the books you could only catch a glimpse of the boy as he continued to run from you. 'Why is he so fast?' you growled your ribs now completely pissed at you.
Finally your ribs gave out and you couldn't run any more. Bending over you gripped your ribs and tried to steady your breathing. Running with broken ribs, not the smartest thing in the world. Just then something caught your eye. A book was sitting on the floor in the middle of the aisle. Taking a step closer you examined the book. "Spirit's and Hollows" was the name of the book. An old leather cover was holding the worn page together. Picking it up your ran your fingers across the words imprinted in the black material. You knew that this book didn't come from this library. Then, where did it come from
"Nozomi!" Kei screamed the moment you walked in the door. Running at you full force she gripped you in a large bear hug. Again your ribs protested. "Where were you all night?" she questioned finally letting you go. Her eyes were filled with sadness and wonder. You couldn't blame her. After your gig you walked around town until you finally found a park. The rest of the night you spent staring at the moon. Then you hadn't even gone home to get your school uniform, you borrowed one of Etsu's.
"I was watching the stars," you answered her where to anyone else you would have just walked away. It was surprising that Kei was different, but she was your best friend. No matter how annoying she got. Or how much pink she wore. Kei nodded happily turning into the kitchen. "I made dinner!" she announced turning back towards the stove. 'Dinner?' you thought turning to look at the clock. 5:45 it read in bright red numbers. 'It took me that long to find a book?'
For a while dinner was silent. But of course with Kei around it never lasts. "So I have to go to work today" she stated stirring her food unto an unrecognizable mass on her plate. Oddly you stared at her. "We have to work too," you answered taking a forkful of your backed potato. At this Kei laughed. The girlish giggle sent a wave of annoyance crashing through your system. Something you really should be use to by now. "You dont have to work today. You or Keitaro," she said smiling at you. Now you were confused. You had two days off, Wednesday and Thursday. It was neither of those. Turning your glance over towards Keitaro you could see a smirk on his face. 'He's up to something'
Taking a deep breath you looked at the building before you. Already you could tell that you were going to hate this. The only thing Keitaro would tell you about tonight is that you would see. And now you found yourself standing outside this shop. Right about this moment in time you would love to be sitting on the hard butt numbing wooden stool of the caf.
Walking up to the front door of the shop Keitaro loudly rapped on the door. You stayed back not knowing what exactly to expect. Something about this place felt very weird. For a minute Keitaro waited and then he knocked on the door yet again. Still nothing happened. At this moment in time you grew very bored. Waiting was not something you were very fond of.
Suddenly as Keitaro began to knock again, the door flew open. The unexpected movement caused Keitaro to fly forward. He ended up face first on the floor of the store hand still up as if he was going to knock. Taking your eyes off of your brother, you looked at who had opened the door. It was a young girl. Her bangs fell in front of her face and she looked deathly afraid of you. Quickly she stepped to the side allowing you to enter the store. You nodded your head in thanks and walked into the store, kicking your brother on the way of course.
Looking around you found nothing spectacular. It was just a shop. Why in the world had your brother brought you here? Finally your brother shuffled on the floor and returned to his feet. Brushing himself off he looked around. "Where are you?" he shouted shoving his hands unto his pockets. It looks as if your brother was done waiting as well. Or he was just trying to get over the fact that he fell on his face. Probably both.
Slowly a man emerged from the back of the store. Lazily he yawned placing a hand over his mouth. Turning to look at you he just stared. Until he finally said, "Is she ready?" All you did was stare at this man. He had a stripped green and white hat on along with wooden sandals. Other then that, there was nothing more you needed to know about his dress. Thinking back to his earlier question you had to wonder if he was talking about you. Then again his staring at you most likely made that a yes.
After your brother shook his head a 'yes', the man nodded his head. He then turned and waved for you two to follow. Glaring at your brother you didn't budge. You had no clue what was going on, and you weren't moving until you knew. Keitaro sighed and crossed his hands over his chest. Giving you a glare of his own, you two were now locked in a battle to the death. Or at least until one of you blinked.
"Will you two children move?" the man stated bored as he just watched you two. Ripping your gaze from your brother, you turned to look back at him. From under his hat you could only see his one eye. With one last look at your brother you walked towards the man in the hat. He nodded at you to show that you had done the right thing. Like you needed or wanted his approval. Keitaro slowly followed your lead grumbling about a few incoherent things.
Once you were both at the back of the room, the hat man lifted up a secret door. Now you were in amazement. You hadn't even noticed that a door was there. Taking a step closer to the door, you peered down. All that you could see was a ladder. And it was a long ladder at that. It seemed as if it would never end. "Well start walking," he man stated. Quickly you turned to look at him. "I'm not going down any long ladder without knowing your name at least," you stated crossing your arms and just staring at the man. He sighed just staring at you. Obviously he thought you were a pain or something along those lines. "Kisuke Urahara," was his answer. Again you just stared at him. Now you knew his name, but nothing more about him. But the man was doing with your games. "I told you my name, now go," he said tipping his head so you could no longer see his eye.
Quickly you jumped on the first rungs of the ladder. It was that or you were going to be pushed in, you were sure of that. Slowly you climbed down the wooden poles one at a time. After what seemed like fifteen minutes you could finally see the end of the ladder. Not that it was close or anything. Sighing you continued your endless climb. Keitaro was now a couple of feet above you along with Urahara. Finally you were getting close to the end. Only about five more feet to go. And that of course is when you loose your grip.
A loud thump was heard as your butt connected hard with the ground. With an annoyed sigh you just sat there. At this moment in time you didn't see any reason on getting up. The only other people down here were still coming down the ladder and had a long way to go. "Aren't we graceful?" came a taunting voice from behind you. Quickly you jumped to your feet and turned around. Your eyes widened with shock. Standing there was none other then Ichigo along with Rukia.
"What are you doing here?" you asked taking a step away from the ladder so your brother could get off. Now Ichigo smiled. "We are here to say if you should really become a Soul Reaper or not," he answered a smug look now crossing your face. But with this you turned to your brother. "Taro" you stated boredly just looking at the sky. Keitaro just 'hmm'd to you in response. Now to that you said nothing. Not around people that is.
In a matter of minutes, Urahara had finished his decent of the ladder. Now everyone was standing looking at him. Slowly he scanned over everyone in the small group. His eyes rested on you. "Now. You are the one that wants to be Soul Reaper," he said looking you in the eye. Now you were completely confused. 'Who in the world thinks I want to become a Soul Reaper?' you thought side glancing Keitaro. He kept his gaze straight ahead of him on Urahara. That was a defiant he told everyone.
"You will have one simple task," Urahara said holding up his index finger. With this you turned your attention back to him. Tilting his head again you couldn't see his eyes. You could tell this was going to be an annoying habit for him. "All you have to do is run 10 miles," he stated bringing his hand back. 'Not going to be hard' you thought looking that the terrain. But then he spoke again. "You will have 2 hours to complete this challenge." 'Still easy'. "Go!" And with that you were off running. He should have known that running was one thing you did to train for boarding. Oh well stinks for him.
"And how is that going to be hard for her?" Keitaro asked Urahara while he watched his sister begin her run. Urahara just watched the girl as well. "You'll see," was the only answer Urahara gave. Now it was Rukia's turn to asked Kisuke something. "Have you figure out how we're even going to change her into a Soul Reaper yet?" To that Urahara said nothing. He did have a clue of what he wanted to do, but it was dangerous and he didn't need Rukia to yell at him for it.
"Are you going easy on her?" Ichigo asked thinking back how insane this man looks. Now it was time for Urahara to laugh. Sure it looked like her training would be easy, but Nozomi's training will be no walk in the park. Especially with what he's planning on changing her into a Soul Reaper. "Just dont kill her," Ichigo growled thinking about how he didn't need a dead classmate on his hands.
You were now an hour into your run. You lungs were burning along with your legs, but it was only two more miles that you had to run. And you had two hours to do this run. Kisuke was insane. Not that the hat and shoes didn't point that our. You would be able to finish this a half hour short.
Just then something came running along next to you. Turning you could clearly tell that you were running next to a spirit. The spirit of a young boy at that. In wonder you continued to stare at this boy while continuing your run. With a smirk on his face he continued next to you. Now this peaked your interest. You had no idea what this boy was doing next to you. And the boy seemed to love that you were clueless.
Suddenly the boy turned towards you. Slamming into your at full force. You were forced to stop running and dig your feet in the ground to prevent yourself from toppling over. Narrowing your eyes into a glare you raise your foot to hit the boy. You half surprised yourself when you foot made contact with the boy. All of the ghost stories of them floating right through you, ya not true. Again the boy ran to attack you. This time you continued to run dodging his attack. You were now sure that it was part of the test.
"Finished, and with two minutes to go," stated Urahara. You just collapsed in a tired hurt pile in front of him. Your ribs and back were still sore. Your legs and lungs now hurt. And you even wanted to beat that little ghost into a living pulp, minus the living part. At this Urahara just laughed. "Nozomi Hitogokoro, you will be the next Soul Reaper." And with those final words, you passed out. Hopefully someone would be kind enough to bring you back up the ladder.
Preview in results.
"Why do you want to be a Soul Reaper?" The question caught you off guard as you turned back to the man in the hat.
Pour the blue lotion on your hand you could feel a slight tingling in your fingers. This you found a bit weird, then again everything lately has been a bit weird.
"What are you doing to her!" screamed Ichigo as he jumped down the last few steps of the ladder.
