The Darkness In Our Hearts (TDiOH Bk1)

Chapter 9: Hollow in the Land of the Living

"Oh mother of all things holy!" I moaned, falling, instinct kicking in as I flailed in the air.

You're a soul reaper, you idiot, Ikari informed me in the back of my mind.

"Oh right," I breathed out, my voice lost in the wind already.

I halted and righted myself, standing above a small town. It was amazing what the powers of a soul reaper were.

"Ikkaku?" I called out, hoping he didn't see how much of a fool I was.

"Right here," he answered, appearing beside me.

"So where are we?" I asked, looking down at the town beneath my feet.

It spread out in all directions, the town ablaze with lights of all colours, some flashing while others remained solid. The town was framed by a forest on one side and a river running on the other. Feeling light- headed, I looked up and breathed deeply through my nose.

"Karakura Town," he answered, sweeping his own gaze over the town. "Come on, we better make this quick."

"Karakura Town?" I asked him as we dropped down to the ground, landing in the shadows just before a street- lamp on a little cramped alley.

In my mind, a hint of a memory floated by, blurry and too fleeting for me to grab. It was gone in seconds and forgotten, my mind turning to something else. "Doesn't this place already have another soul reaper here?" I asked, peeking around the corner before heading out.

"Yeah, Rukia Kuchiki," he replied.

"Wait, Kuchiki?" I grabbed his shoulder and turned him towards me. "I didn't know Squad 6's captain, Byakuya, had a relation."

The light in the town showed me enough to see the look of disbelief on his face, before it transformed into a 'really?' look. "Where the hell have you been hiding? Under a rock?"

Feeling my face burning up, I brushed past him, ending the conversation. He caught up easily, drawing a device from his pocket. Flipping the top half open, a little screen lit up with blue light and an enveloped flashed on the screen. Ikkaku pressed a button on the pad below the screen and text began to print on the screen.

"The Research Division say that the energy levels of the Hollows have been increasing and they have been able to pinpoint a medium- class Hollow. It's going to appear in the park not far from here," he explained, tapping the nail of his finger against the time in the corner of the screen. "It's going to appear in less than 10 minutes so we better get a move on."

Heading that way, we kept to the shadows, late night humans passing by us when we flitted before stalls. We were invisible to them unless they were beings of high- spiritual pressure. Although, I did have one child staring at me with a slack jaw when I vaulted onto a two-metre-high wall and walked along it like a tightrope.

We reached the park with time to spare, so Ikkaku lazed on a park bench while I went to explore my surroundings. A hand on the hilt of my zanpakuto, I walked past creaking swing sets and steel slides, before coming to the border of a small forest. I found a worn path, curiosity piqued as I looked down it. 

Leaves crunched underfoot as I took an involuntary step in. For some reason, a feeling was building in my chest: longing. The branches shifted in a growing breeze, the smell of crushed pine needles and citrus flooding my sense.

Laughter, light and clear.

Half a face, I couldn't see their eyes; a smiling mouth.

Shaking my head, the wisps of the memories faded quickly and I was left feeling as if I had forgotten something important. Worried that I had used up all my free time, I wandered back over to Ikkaku.