Bleach: Unwanted Past

Chapter 1

:My drawing of Kana:

When was the last time I had a break? You'd think that owning a small bakery would make life easier. Instead, you get customer after customer and order after order. It's only been four years since I opened my own shop, with the help of an old friend of course, but its service is way off the charts. My bakery ended up being the best in town.

With a long sigh, the glass door to the assorted sweets on display is closed loudly. I set the sweets in a big brown paper bag sitting on the counter. Looking outside my shop windows, I notice the sun is slowly starting to hide behind the tall buildings, darkness taking over.

It took me about an hour to clean up the shop. The routine is like clockwork. After so long of working here, it's been a faster process of finishing the cleanup. I soon look through my phone as I pull on my coat, a reminder of the cold breeze coming in with fall. Summer was over, school started for the young and busy teens I know, and the year somehow got busier for me. As I looked through my phone, a small smile graced my lips when I noticed a message from a familiar young teen. Her prominent and often set meeting spot before going home was almost comical. I'm surprised she's not with her crush as much as she hangs out with him.

The nightly breeze reaches my bare neck, sending a shiver down my spine. I hold the dessert-filled bag with one arm, locking my shop door with the other. The streets were practically empty, with the moon now shining brightly with the stars. It was my nightly routine, a usual relaxed feeling soon taking over my stressed body. But this time...

This time felt different.

I could feel the uneasy tingles running up my back and over my shoulders. I observed my surroundings from my view, refraining from looking around to cause suspicion to whoever was following me. If they knew I detected them, then it's over. Nobody seemed to be around on the streets, so I went low in a nearby alleyway.

A hard gush of wind flies by just as I reach for my necklace. I gasp at the abnormal wind, the bag of sweets falling out of my grip and onto the ground. I reached once more for my necklace, but nothing was there. My neck was bare to the touch, with no metal hanging around it.

My weapon...!

A low chuckle rumbles through the cold air, echoing against the stone buildings I stood in between. I turn to the voice. A figure stood in the air, but it was too dark to see any details.

"You know how long it took me to find you?"

The presence was threatening enough. Not only that, but the guy was stealthy. With how quickly he grabbed my necklace before I could even touch it, he was going to be trouble...but...how did he know it was my...?

"I suppose that's what you were aiming for, hm?"

I try to take a step forward, urging my body to try to do something. My knees give out before I can even take another breath. The ground is rough beneath my hands. Heavy. I feel like there are weights holding down my limbs. I try to reach forward, hand outstretched to anyone who could possibly be looking. Nothing. There was nobody there to help me. I'm all alone. I try to yell out, but it keeps getting stuck in my throat. Time felt slow, and my eyelids started to betray me. It was getting difficult to keep them open. The harder I tried to keep them open, the more bright white dots I began to see. The dots took more and more of my vision, like glittering snow, soon turning pitch black.

— — — —

The sun shone brightly through the window, taking its rightful place in the silent room. The warmth from the sun felt anything like it as the man in green sat right in the middle of it. Instead, he felt colder the longer he looked at the main object sitting on the table.