New World, Same Problems (ch3)--Bleach/xxxholic crossover
Title: New World, Same Problems
Author: Reidluver
Fandom: Bleach, xxxholic
Pairing/Characters: Watanuki, Doumeki, Mokona, Yuuko, Ichigo, Urahara
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Before Hueco Mundo Arc, after incident with Jorougomo is resolved
Summary: When Yuuko asks Watanuki and Doumeki to deliver something for a client in another world, Watanuki is excited at first. He should have known that no matter where he is, trouble is never too far behind.
Chapter 3: New Powers
"So . . . you're really from another world?"
"Yeah-it's all because of this thing that we were able to come."
Mokona burst out of the bag slung around Watanuki's shoulder. "Mokona is not a thing!"
"Weird enough, isn't it?" the boy continued, pointing to Mokona.
Ichigo chuckled. "Actually-we have something like this here as well. It's called a Mod Soul and his name is Kon. I thought that Mokona was just another one of Urahara's inventions when I first saw him. What's it like where you live?"
Watanuki frowned and glanced around. "To be honest, if I didn't know where we were, I would have thought we were back home. It's very similar." Watanuki glanced sideways at Chad. "So, what grade are you in, Chad? In college already?"
"Ichigo and I are in the same grade."
"What?"
"Chad looks much older than he is," Ichigo said.
"What did Urahara mean about you being a half-human, half-shinigami?" Doumeki asked, speaking up for the first time.
"And how are you still a human and able to have this reiatsu thing?" Watanuki asked, turning to Chad. "Are you some sort of priest, too?"
The two boys glanced at each other, and Ichigo shrugged. "It's a long story, but basically I've been able to see spirits all my life, and it wasn't until I met Rukia, a shinigami, that I was able to become part shinigami myself. As for Chad, Urahara said that my overflowing reiatsu started affecting my friends and gave them powers as well."
"So then there are others like you?" Watanuki was excited. He had been unconscious at the time, so he didn't know what their powers were like. Doumeki had briefly explained that Ichigo carried a large sword that expelled energy and Chad's whole arm took on a strange shape and emitted a type of energy as well. He was curious to see what other powers people could have in this world. As strange as it was seeing all the spirits back home and the ways Yuuko expelled or communicated with them, Watanuki found it all fascinating.
"Yeah, you'll meet them once we get to school. Their names are Inoue and Ishida."
Mokona leapt out of the book bag again. "Yay! School, school, school!"
"You'll get kicked out if anyone catches you talking!" Watanuki tried to stuff the creature into the bag but then gave up, allowing Mokona to travel on his shoulder. "Why don't you stay with Urahara anyway?" he mumbled. "You guys seemed like great friends."
"But then I won't be able to see all the stuff in this world!" Mokona said with a pout.
"Then why don't you travel with Doumeki?"
Mokona laughed and hugged Watanuki. "Because I need to protect you!"
"GAHH!" Watanuki resisted the urge to throw the creature to the ground like a football. "I don't need you to protect me! I can take care of myself."
"Waaaah!" Mokona wailed. "Watanuki's being mean to me!" A large, tanned arm stretched out and grasped Mokona gently.
"You can be with me, if you want," Chad said, his voice deep and soothing. Mokona looked up at the teen with stars in its eyes and hugged him tightly. Chad smiled and petted the creature.
"Mokona has a new friend!"
Ichigo smirked. "Inoue is going to love you, Mokona." They continued on their way and finally the school was in sight.
"Kurosaki-kun! Chad-kun!" They all turned towards the source of the noise in time to see a beautiful young girl with light orange hair come running towards them. Were it not for Yuuko's rather . . . interesting choice in clothing, Watanuki and Doumeki would have been caught off guard by her-feminine appearance.
"Good morning, Inoue."
"Good morning!" she said happily. Her cheerful attitude made Watanuki briefly wish Himawari was near. He felt the two of them would have gotten together quite nicely. "Who are your friends?" she asked.
"Watanuki and Doumeki," Ichigo said, pointing to each in turn. "They came from another world to deliver something to Urahara."
"Don't forget Mokona!" The black creature jumped off Chad's shoulder into Inoue's arms.
"Another world?" Yep, definitely just like Himawari, Watanuki thought. They both accepted rather unbelievable things to be true without a second thought. "That is so cool!" She glanced down at Mokona and then gave the creature a hug, nuzzling its cheek. "And Mokona is so adorable!"
"See, everyone loves Mokona!"
Once Inoue was done hugging Mokona, she stared at Watanuki intently. "You have very pretty eyes!" she said after a few seconds. "I've never seen anyone with different colored eyes before. And one of them looks like Doumeki-kun's!"
"Oh yeah, I noticed that, too," Ichigo said, leaning in to look at Watanuki. "Why is that?"
The two boys glanced at each other and then quickly looked away. "It's a . . . long story," Watanuki said quietly.
"Oh, uh-sorry about that," Ichigo said. He knew better than to pry.
"So, how long are you going to visit?" Inoue asked, looking back and forth from Watanuki to Doumeki.
"Just a day."
The girl suddenly became very serious and slammed a fist into the palm of her hand. "Before you leave I must make you one of my special dishes!" she announced, looking as if it were a matter of life or death.
Watanuki's interest was piqued. "You enjoy cooking?" It was rather difficult to find other people his age that enjoyed cooking. Most guys didn't care, and all of the girls (besides Himawari-chan~!) avoided him.
"Of course! I live by myself so I cook for myself all the time! One of my favorite hobbies is making new dishes to share with all my friends."
"Really? I like to cook myself, so maybe we could make a meal together."
"That would be wonderful!" Inoue rushed forward and hugged Watanuki tightly, nearly crushing him. All the same, it was one of the few times a girl willingly hugged him and he was unable to keep from blushing. It used to distress him that Himawari would never hug him, but after learning of her curse he knew she only refrained from doing so for his protection.
Through the whole conversation, Ichigo and Chad did their best to pantomime a warning about Inoue's cooking, but Watanuki didn't catch it. Doumeki inwardly smirked at how the part-timer had been so enthusiastic about cooking to notice their less than subtle hints. He didn't see what could be so bad about her cooking though; she looked healthy enough so the food couldn't be that strange, right? And as long as she put her whole heart into cooking, it had to be good.
"I don't think you'd be ready for Orihime's cooking, whoever you are," a voice chided. Doumeki turned towards the source of the noise and noticed another girl come their way. She had short hair and carried herself differently than most girls the archer had ever met. She seemed completely confident and ready to take on anything.
"Tatsuki!" Inoue let go of Watanuki and rushed to the girl to give her a quick hug. "Look, we have some visitors from-"
"From out of town!" Ichigo said quickly. Doumeki and Watanuki exchanged a look. Ichigo was fine with telling Inoue they were from another world, so why wasn't he fine with telling Tatsuki? With a nod, Watanuki carefully put a silent Mokona back into his bag, grateful that the creature had been able to figure it out as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tatsuki," Watanuki said with a bow. "My name is Watanuki Kimihiro and this idiot is-"
"Doumeki Shizuka."
"Why couldn't you let me introduce you?" Watanuki flailed his arms and pulled at his hair. "I was trying to be polite!"
"Shut up, you're annoying," Doumeki sighed, a finger already in his ear. "I can introduce myself you know."
"Of course you can! But there is something called basic etiquette which you obviously never learned!"
Ichigo and Chad paled. "His mood swings remind me of Keigo," Ichigo whispered.
Inoue just laughed and clapped her hands. "Wow, you two look like the best of friends!" Her comment didn't go unheard by Watanuki and he sighed in frustration. Even in another world girls got the wrong idea about their relationship! As Watanuki stood there sulking, Doumeki narrowed his eyes at Tatsuki. Rather than be alarmed (or laugh, in Inoue's case) at Watanuki's flailing about, Tatsuki was staring at them critically, as if she didn't trust them. She seemed to be concentrating very hard and Doumeki had a feeling that she could sense their spiritual energy. It felt like everyone in the entire town had varying degrees of spiritual energy, but the most came from Ichigo, Chad, Inoue, and Tatsuki.
Tatsuki had the least, but it wasn't in scant quantities like the rest of the town. Did her friends, or even herself know? It was no business of his, but the staring was getting annoying.
"What is it?" he asked. That seemed to break her out of her trance, but she kept her skeptic look.
"Where exactly are you from?"
"Just a few towns over," Watanuki said.
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "What town?" At that moment the bell rang.
"Time to get to class! Sorry Tatsuki, we've gotta get going!" Ichigo said quickly. He grabbed Watanuki and ran inside, with the others closely following.
"What, can't lie on your feet?" Watanuki teased. Ichigo chose to ignore him and steered the youth towards the classroom. He saw Keigo and Mizuiro sitting in their seats already. Well, Mizuiro was; Keigo was leaning against his desk and it looked like it was about to fall over. They waved at him and Ichigo waved back.
"And who might these two young men be?" Their teacher stood with her arms crossed and she eyed the two newcomers with skepticism. She paid special attention to Doumeki's bandages.
"Eh . . . sensei these are . . . these are-my cousins!" Ichigo said quickly. "They're . . . visiting and I thought they might want to come to class."
"Watanuki Kimihiro," the part-timer introduced with a bow.
"Doumeki Shizuka." The archer bowed as well.
"Hmmm, okay. Kurosaki, you can go and get some extra desks for your cousins and we'll begin the lesson." In a few moments' time, Watanuki and Doumeki had seats next to Ichigo and the lessons began.
The material was rather similar, though history made Watanuki's head spin. All these different names of countries and wars and famous people were completely foreign to him. It was nice to be in a classroom where no one knew who he was though. It was like a fresh start. No longer was he the freak kid who yelled at invisible things. There was one boy who kept starting at him though. He had glasses and dark raven hair, and he made Watanuki feel like he was looking into his soul. Watanuki couldn't shake the feeling that the boy knew he was different.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Watanuki stretched his sore muscles and yawned. His chest was still a little sore from nearly being crushed yesterday by that Hollow.
"Oi, Ichigo!" A boy with brown hair walked over to them. "Your cousins came to visit? Why didn't you let us know first? Aren't we your friends?"
"Shut up, Keigo," Ichigo sighed. He held out his hand to keep the boy from trying to hug him. "It was really sudden."
Keigo stopped wailing and glanced at Watanuki and Doumeki. "Did you get in a car accident or something?" he asked, gesturing to Doumeki's head bandage and the ones around his arms.
"Something like that," Doumeki said.
"Well, come sit with us!" Keigo said, slapping Watanuki on the back. The part-timer winced at the spark of pain that traveled down his spine. "We usually don't get many visitors."
"My name is Kojima Mizuiro," a boy with short, dark hair said. "It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too," Watanuki said, bowing.
Keigo stepped in between and shook his hands at them, shoving them towards the door. "Okay, okay, enough chit-chat. Let's go eat!"
As they made their way over to the door, Ichigo pulled Watanuki and Doumeki off to the side. "You guys probably need money for food, right?" he whispered.
"Urahara gave us some before leaving," Doumeki said, holding out a few bills. That seemed to put Ichigo at ease.
"Good, I was worried about that. Oh, and if anyone asks, your moms are my Aunts Tomoe and Yuuki, and you're from the Tekkimachi District."
"Got it, what-"
"Kurosaki." The three of them turned around. Watanuki gulped when he noticed the one speaking to them was the same guy who was staring at him strangely. "Who are your 'cousins' really?"
Ichigo folded his arms and matched the boy's glare. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"
"Don't insult me, shinigami," the boy scoffed as he adjusted his glasses. "They have unusually high reiatsu and I saw them get carried off with Urahara yesterday after that Hollow attack." He turned to them. "Where are you from?"
"Another world," Doumeki said.
"Idiot! Why are you so willing to give out information like that!" Watanuki yelled, waving his arms about.
Doumeki put a finger in his ear. "Your screaming is giving me a headache."
"I'm giving you a headache? You-"
"Ishida!" Ichigo cut in. After observing them that morning, Ichigo knew their bickering could go on for a while. "Doumeki is a priest where he's from and can shoot arrows with his spiritual energy."
"Really?" Ishida stepped forward towards Doumeki, looking more interested than Ichigo had ever seen in the time he'd known the Quincy. "You fight Hollows in your world?"
"Not exactly," Doumeki said. "We have spirits, but not Hollows. They are very different from this world and some of them are good."
"And how do you exorcise them? Are you able to make your own bow?" As they walked down the hall, Ishida continued drilling Doumeki on exorcising spirits.
Ichigo rolled his eyes at the exchange. "I don't think I've ever seen him so happy before," he mumbled under his breath.
Lunch was very enjoyable, although Watanuki wished he could have made his own bento. Doumeki also made this observation, much to his annoyance. But what made Watanuki so happy was the fact that he was actually hanging out with "the guys." Aside from Himawari, Doumeki, Yuuko, and Kohane, Watanuki really didn't have any other friends. Whenever he would try to make friends with other guys in his class they would just ignore him because of his past behavior in dealing with spirits.
People would gossip about him running from imaginary things and crawling on the floor like a madman. One time he had even grabbed a girl's arm to stop her from unknowingly touching a nasty looking spirit, but of course everyone else thought he was trying to hurt her. Even the teachers regarded him with some disdain and trepidation, mainly because he was a "nuisance" at times. Some couldn't care less though, as long as he turned in his homework.
And here he was, enjoying a meal with Ichigo, Ishida, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Inoue, and Tatsuki. (Well, and Doumeki-but he didn't count) They were all very kind and Watanuki felt normal and comfortable around them, especially because four out of seven of them apparently could see spirits, too.
Math was next, then language studies, and finally, gym. Once classes got out, Ichigo and the others had to go and see a teacher about something, so Ichigo asked Watanuki and Doumeki to wait for them. The two boys chose to wait near the sports field and watch everyone go by.
"Today was really fun," Watanuki said.
"Hn."
The bag rustled and Mokona stuck his head out. "Mokona got to go to school! Let's do it again!"
"Quiet!" Watanuki whispered, shoving the creature back into the bag. "There are still other people around!"
The two of them waited in comfortable silence until nearly all the students had left. Watanuki started tapping his foot and sighed in frustration. "Geez, what could they be talking about?"
"You're too impatient," Doumeki said.
"I am not! I'll have you know that-"
"Doumeki! Watanuki!" They turned around and saw the gym teacher rushing towards them, waving his arm. "Hey, boys. First of all, great job to both of you in the running exercise today. Second, do you think you could help me bring in some equipment? My usual helper twisted his ankle earlier today."
"Sure. Oh, wait-Ichigo might come back and then he'll wonder where we are," Watanuki said. "I'll stay here and when he comes we'll both go over and help."
"Sounds like a plan, thanks!"
Doumeki frowned. "You sure?"
"Of course I am! Nothing bad is going to happen to me in the two minutes you won't be here!" Watanuki growled. Really, why did Doumeki think he couldn't handle anything? It infuriated him! "Just go! I'll be there in a second." For a moment it looked like Doumeki was going to resist, but then he shrugged and followed the gym teacher.
"Stupid Doumeki," Watanuki mumbled. "Why does he have to act like such a mother hen?"
"Because he knows Watanuki is fragile!" Mokona said, his voice muffled by the bag.
"I am not! Shut up, manju bun-"
"Talking to yourself?"
"Dude, Kurosaki's entire family is made up of screwballs."
Watanuki looked up and his heart sank at the sight of two intimidating boys making their way over. They wore the school uniform but they looked like gangsters. One had auburn hair and two nose rings, while the other had gelled blond hair and his entire left ear was outlined with tiny hoop earrings. This couldn't be good.
"What do you want?" Watanuki asked, making sure to not sound scared.
"Oh . . . nothing much," the blond said. "We just thought you could help us."
"Not really in the mood. Now if you don't mind I have to be somewhere." He tried to walk away but one of them grabbed his arm.
"Hey, what's the rush, man? As a visitor to our school you should be more than willing to help others out." Watanuki struggled to get out of his grip, and in the process his white shirt was pulled back around the neck and the silver chain sparkled in the sunlight. "Eh? What is this?" The auburn-haired boy yanked Watanuki closer and pulled out the necklace.
"Looks like something from his girlfriend, Kenji," the other teased, leaning in for a better look.
Kenji snorted. "Or a boyfriend."
"Get your hands off me!" Watanuki tried to push them away but Kenji just pulled harder on the necklace. The part-timer gagged on the chain and massaged his throat. That had hurt.
"We'll leave you alone, four-eyes," Kenji said, jabbing a finger in Watanuki's face, "if you promise to give your cousin a message."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Watanuki growled. The older boy was definitely stronger than him so his only option for escape was to hear him out, but that didn't mean Watanuki had to be nice about it. He was sick of spirits and people alike pushing him around.
Kenji patted Watanuki's face. "Cuz we want you to."
"We've had a bone to pick with Kurosaki ever since he beat up our leader a few weeks ago!" the other said, clenching his fists. "He had his friend Chad with him and the boss had to go to the hospital!"
Watanuki rolled his eyes. "Considering how you guys are such cowards it's no wonder your leader was beaten up so badly. It's taken this long for you guys to get revenge and you're not even man enough to challenge him yourself? Pathetic." Watanuki had no idea where this back-talking attitude came from. Whatever it was though, it felt good. He didn't appreciate being taken for a sissy by these people and wanted them to know that.
"Why you little-!" Kenji's face was contorted with rage and he yanked on the chain. The necklace broke off and Watanuki gasped as the constricting feeling on his chest returned. It was nowhere near as oppressive as it was when those Hollow-things were near, but given his previous experiences, he wouldn't be alone for long.
"Give it back!"
Kenji and his friend laughed. "What, miss your pwecious wittle neckwace?" He dangled it in front of Watanuki. "Hold him, Aiko." Watanuki made a grab for the necklace but Kenji sidestepped and Aiko roughly pulled Watanuki's hands behind his back.
"Now, when Kurosaki comes to meet us we'll give him back your necklace," Kenji said. "And to make sure he knows we mean business, we'll send him a little gift by roughin' you up a bit." Kenji curled his hand into a fist and pulled it back. Just then another hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Leave him alone."
"Oh, look, another one of Kurosaki's cousins," Kenji said.
"Doumeki! Get the necklace-I can feel them coming! Hurry!" As much as he hated having to rely on the idiot and ask for his help, if he didn't get that necklace on quick then they were going to be surrounded. Already, Watanuki could feel his strength draining.
The archer wasted no time in asking for the necklace. Instead he pulled back on Kenji's arm and reached out for the necklace in the other hand. Whether by instinct or accident, Kenji's knee came straight up, colliding with Doumeki's face. The boy staggered backward, clutching his nose.
"Doumeki!" Without thinking, Watanuki threw his head back and hit Aiko's chin. The grip around him slackened and he wrenched out of the older boy's arms. Then, while he was still dazed, the part-timer swung his leg around, hoping to knock him off balance. Unfortunately, Aiko wasn't as dazed as Watanuki thought and he grabbed Watanuki's leg before it made contact. Watanuki barely had time to curse when Ichigo suddenly appeared beside him and punched Aiko directly in the face.
Aiko crashed to the ground and Watanuki would have fallen as well if Ichigo hadn't grasped his wrist. "Sorry about that," Ichigo said. "I hope they didn't hurt you too much." At the sight of Ichigo, Aiko yelped and took off.
"Nah, I'm fine. But I need the neckla-"
"Here." Doumeki dumped the chain and pendant into Watanuki's hand, and the boy felt immediate relief. Being next to Ichigo had really started to zap his strength. He must be very powerful, Watanuki thought.
"Where did that other guy go?"
Doumeki shrugged. "He ran after his friend." It was then that Watanuki noticed how red the area around Doumeki's nose was.
"Your nose okay?" Watanuki asked. Doumeki nodded.
"Yeah." He reached up to touch it and involuntarily hissed.
"At least it's not broken," Ichigo said.
"Kurosaki!" The three of them turned around and saw Ishida, Inoue, and Chad running towards them. Inoue and Chad looked concerned, whereas Ishida looked irritated.
"What is it?"
"Large number of Hollows coming in fast," Ishida said. He glanced at Watanuki. "There was a large blast of your reiatsu and now all the Hollows are drawn to this spot."
"It's not my fault!" Watanuki shook the necklace at him. "Some guys pulled it off me and now it's broken!"
Ishida yanked the necklace from his hands and examined it for a moment. "It's not broken." He fiddled around with it for a few seconds and handed it back. "One of the chains snapped, but the clasp still works. Put it on." Watanuki quickly did as he said and then hid the abomination under his shirt.
"Well, it looks like we're just gonna have to fight," Ichigo said with a grin. He pulled out a brown medallion and Watanuki nearly had a heart attack as he leapt out of his body, clad in a black hakama.
"H-H-How did you do that?"
"This is how I'm half-human, half-shinigami," Ichigo explained as Chad carefully lowered his body to the ground. "Like I said, long story."
Just then some lattice doors appeared out of nowhere and they opened, showing nothing but a blinding white light. Two black butterflies came out, followed by two people dressed like Ichigo.
"Rukia? Renji?" It appeared that Ichigo and his friends were as surprised at the appearance of the two strange people as Watanuki was. That made him feel better, since it meant that people arriving out of thin air wasn't a regular occurrence.
"Yo, Ichigo," the red-haired man said. Watanuki noticed that they also had swords but Ichigo's was much larger.
"Why is your sword different?" Watanuki asked, gesturing to the thick sword slung around Ichigo's back.
"Huh?" Ichigo turned around to face Watanuki and followed his gaze. "Oh-hard to explain, but our zanpakuto have two releases, shikai and bankai. I can't seal mine completely, so it stays in shikai all the time."
"Ichigo!" The short, dark-haired woman grabbed the top of his hakama and pulled him down to her level. "Why are you explaining that to him and how can he see us?" she hissed.
"Relax, Rukia! They're not going to do anything." Ichigo wrenched out of her grasp and pointed to them in turn. "Watanuki and Doumeki, visitors from another world."
"Eh?" Renji raised and eyebrow and walked towards the two boys as if sizing them up. He quirked an eyebrow. "They look normal to me."
"Of course we look normal! Why wouldn't we be?"
Renji shrugged. "I would have thought you'd look like those aliens from the movies Ichigo showed us. All green and short." Watanuki just stood there dumbfounded, experiencing one of the rare moments where he was at a loss for words.
"We delivered a box to Urahara!" Mokona shouted, leaping out of the bag before Watanuki could stop him.
Rukia gasped. "You're so cute!" She rushed forward and held out her hands for Mokona. "What's your name?"
"Mokona Modoki!"
"You know, if you put your ears up like this you look a bit like Chappy!" She let out a happy squeal and hugged the creature tightly.
"Chappy?" Doumeki asked, raising an eyebrow at such a strange name.
Ichigo and Renji groaned. "You don't wanna know."
"What are you two here for?" Inoue asked, stepping forward.
"Kurotsuchi-taicho recorded an unusual spike of powerful reiatsu yesterday," Renji explained. "At first he figured it was Ichigo going out of control-"
"Hey!"
"-but when it happened again he thought it could be something different and Seireitei sent us. That way, if it really was you being stupid we could beat it out of you," Renji teased as he slapped Ichigo on the back.
"Sorry, that must have been me," Watanuki said, raising his hand sheepishly. "Spirits are attracted to me. Urahara gave me something to mask my reiatsu but it came off for a few minutes."
"What? You are-" The rest of Rukia's sentence was drowned out by the Hollow shriek that cut through the air.
"I guess we'll talk later," Renji smirked as he withdrew his zanpakuto. He ran his hand down the blade and yelled, "Howl, Zabimaru!"
"Inoue, protect them and my body!"
"Santen Kesshun!"
Watanuki stared in fascination as many things happened at once. Renji's zanpakuto transformed into a segmented blade with spiky protrusions on each segment; pieces of Inoue's hairpins disappeared and formed a triangular shield in front of them; Chad's arm turned into a strange, weapon-like arm; Ishida pulled his left arm back and a blue mass of energy formed into a bow; Ichigo and Rukia withdrew their swords and crouched into an attack position, and twenty or so Hollows appeared out of nowhere.
"Getsuga Tenshou!"
The resulting battle was beyond description-Watanuki had never seen anything like it! As he watched Ishida shoot blue arrows and the shinigami slice through the Hollows, he couldn't help but wish there was something he could do besides watch. That's all he ever did; watch while others protected him. And the sheer amount of spiritual pressure was making him feel a little groggy, but were it not for the necklace he was sure he'd be out cold.
"Glad we don't have these spirits back home," Watanuki whispered. He would have been killed before he ever made it to Yuuko's shop that fateful day. Doumeki just nodded.
"This is a cool world!" Mokona said happily. He was currently perched atop Inoue's shoulders.
"Ahhhh!" Watanuki watched in horror as Rukia sailed through the air and slammed into the side of the school building.
"Rukia!"
"Come back!" Doumeki yelled.
"Stay by my shield, Watanuki-kun!" The boy ignored them and continued running toward the female shinigami. She was injured and he wanted to bring her over to Inoue's shield for protection. He couldn't very well leave her out there to be attacked by Hollows! Especially when it was his fault they were there in the first place.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow," Rukia hissed. She cradled her head and pushed herself up off the ground.
"Rukia? Are you all right?" Watanuki reached out and helped her stand up.
"I'm fine, but what are you doing here?" she snapped.
"B-But I-"
"Don't worry about me, they're after you! The only way we can protect you is if you stay by Orihime, so go back." Two Hollows suddenly appeared beside them.
"Tasty . . . so delicious . . ."
"Stand back!" Rukia said. She held out her hands and yelled, "Hadou no Sanjuu Ichi: Shakkahou!" A red ball of energy appeared out of her hands and shot towards the Hollow, effectively destroying the first one. Then she gripped her zanpakuto and charged towards the second.
That was amazing, Watanuki thought to himself. Remembering her warning, he took off towards Inoue's shield. Just then three Hollows landed in his path.
"Watanuki!" Through their legs he could see Inoue and Doumeki running towards him. He knew they wouldn't make it in time, and a crazy thought popped into his mind. Watanuki held out his hands like he had seen Rukia do, aimed it at the Hollows coming towards him and yelled, "Hadou no Sanjuu Ichi: Shakkahou!"
The red ball of energy that burst from Watanuki's hand was more like a wall. It was larger than him and so blinding that he had to cover his eyes. There was a loud explosion and once he could see again, to his utter shock the three Hollows were obliterated and the ground was all torn up. Doumeki and Inoue were kneeling on the ground off to the side, with Doumeki in front of Inoue protectively. The color drained from Watanuki's face as he realized he could have shot them.
Everyone (even the Hollows) paused in their attack and stared at Watanuki with a dumbfounded expression. He suddenly became very conscious of their stares and responded the only way he knew how.
"What?"
"Y-You just-"
"Focus on the Hollows and talk later, Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled as he jumped to the side to avoid a Hollow's tail. The remaining Hollows were defeated easily enough, and they all rushed towards Watanuki.
"That's so impressive, Watanuki-kun!" Inoue said. "I didn't know you knew kido!"
"I-I . . . I didn't," Watanuki said. He stared at his hands as if he had never seen them before.
Doumeki frowned. "So it just happened on its own?"
"No-I heard Rukia use it and so I just repeated what she said."
"But that was one of the simpler kido spells," Rukia said in amazement. "The level you used was near the level of a captain!"
"A captain?"
"They're some of the more advanced and powerful shinigami in Soul Society," Ichigo said. He laughed and patted Watanuki on the back. "You'd make a great substitute shinigami, if you were dead."
Watanuki paled. "Thanks-I guess?"
"Don't listen to anything Kurosaki says," Ishida smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "He possess no social skills whatsoever."
"Oi! Like you have room to talk!"
As he watched the two banter, Watanuki had an eerie sense of deja vu. It was like Ishida was Doumeki's counterpart in this world-albeit a more sadistic and emotional one. For the first time, Watanuki was almost grateful that Doumeki was usually so emotionless.
"Are you all right?" Watanuki teared his eyes from the fighting boys to glare at Doumeki. As per usual, the archer was staring at him intently, as if he expected him to break at any second.
Not anymore though.
"Of course I'm all right! I feel great!" The boy clenched his fists and grinned. "All these years the spirits have been taunting me and ruining my life. Now I have the power to fight them back."
"You're so awesome, Watanuki-sama!" Mokona cheered. He leapt from Inoue's shoulder and hugged him.
"I think we'll stay a few more days," Watanuki announced. "I want to learn a little more about this kido."
"What do you think, Pozione?"
"A human who can do kido with the reiatsu of a shinigami, and he smelled so delicious . . . "
"You think Szayel-sama would be interested in him?"
The Fracción let out a cruel laugh. "I bet even Aizen-sama would want to know more about this human."
So, what do you think? Does it seem believable? And now the trouble begins. If you're confused as to how Watanuki has this ability I promise you that all shall be explained eventually. :)
Previous
Author: Reidluver
Fandom: Bleach, xxxholic
Pairing/Characters: Watanuki, Doumeki, Mokona, Yuuko, Ichigo, Urahara
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Before Hueco Mundo Arc, after incident with Jorougomo is resolved
Summary: When Yuuko asks Watanuki and Doumeki to deliver something for a client in another world, Watanuki is excited at first. He should have known that no matter where he is, trouble is never too far behind.
Chapter 3: New Powers
"So . . . you're really from another world?"
"Yeah-it's all because of this thing that we were able to come."
Mokona burst out of the bag slung around Watanuki's shoulder. "Mokona is not a thing!"
"Weird enough, isn't it?" the boy continued, pointing to Mokona.
Ichigo chuckled. "Actually-we have something like this here as well. It's called a Mod Soul and his name is Kon. I thought that Mokona was just another one of Urahara's inventions when I first saw him. What's it like where you live?"
Watanuki frowned and glanced around. "To be honest, if I didn't know where we were, I would have thought we were back home. It's very similar." Watanuki glanced sideways at Chad. "So, what grade are you in, Chad? In college already?"
"Ichigo and I are in the same grade."
"What?"
"Chad looks much older than he is," Ichigo said.
"What did Urahara mean about you being a half-human, half-shinigami?" Doumeki asked, speaking up for the first time.
"And how are you still a human and able to have this reiatsu thing?" Watanuki asked, turning to Chad. "Are you some sort of priest, too?"
The two boys glanced at each other, and Ichigo shrugged. "It's a long story, but basically I've been able to see spirits all my life, and it wasn't until I met Rukia, a shinigami, that I was able to become part shinigami myself. As for Chad, Urahara said that my overflowing reiatsu started affecting my friends and gave them powers as well."
"So then there are others like you?" Watanuki was excited. He had been unconscious at the time, so he didn't know what their powers were like. Doumeki had briefly explained that Ichigo carried a large sword that expelled energy and Chad's whole arm took on a strange shape and emitted a type of energy as well. He was curious to see what other powers people could have in this world. As strange as it was seeing all the spirits back home and the ways Yuuko expelled or communicated with them, Watanuki found it all fascinating.
"Yeah, you'll meet them once we get to school. Their names are Inoue and Ishida."
Mokona leapt out of the book bag again. "Yay! School, school, school!"
"You'll get kicked out if anyone catches you talking!" Watanuki tried to stuff the creature into the bag but then gave up, allowing Mokona to travel on his shoulder. "Why don't you stay with Urahara anyway?" he mumbled. "You guys seemed like great friends."
"But then I won't be able to see all the stuff in this world!" Mokona said with a pout.
"Then why don't you travel with Doumeki?"
Mokona laughed and hugged Watanuki. "Because I need to protect you!"
"GAHH!" Watanuki resisted the urge to throw the creature to the ground like a football. "I don't need you to protect me! I can take care of myself."
"Waaaah!" Mokona wailed. "Watanuki's being mean to me!" A large, tanned arm stretched out and grasped Mokona gently.
"You can be with me, if you want," Chad said, his voice deep and soothing. Mokona looked up at the teen with stars in its eyes and hugged him tightly. Chad smiled and petted the creature.
"Mokona has a new friend!"
Ichigo smirked. "Inoue is going to love you, Mokona." They continued on their way and finally the school was in sight.
"Kurosaki-kun! Chad-kun!" They all turned towards the source of the noise in time to see a beautiful young girl with light orange hair come running towards them. Were it not for Yuuko's rather . . . interesting choice in clothing, Watanuki and Doumeki would have been caught off guard by her-feminine appearance.
"Good morning, Inoue."
"Good morning!" she said happily. Her cheerful attitude made Watanuki briefly wish Himawari was near. He felt the two of them would have gotten together quite nicely. "Who are your friends?" she asked.
"Watanuki and Doumeki," Ichigo said, pointing to each in turn. "They came from another world to deliver something to Urahara."
"Don't forget Mokona!" The black creature jumped off Chad's shoulder into Inoue's arms.
"Another world?" Yep, definitely just like Himawari, Watanuki thought. They both accepted rather unbelievable things to be true without a second thought. "That is so cool!" She glanced down at Mokona and then gave the creature a hug, nuzzling its cheek. "And Mokona is so adorable!"
"See, everyone loves Mokona!"
Once Inoue was done hugging Mokona, she stared at Watanuki intently. "You have very pretty eyes!" she said after a few seconds. "I've never seen anyone with different colored eyes before. And one of them looks like Doumeki-kun's!"
"Oh yeah, I noticed that, too," Ichigo said, leaning in to look at Watanuki. "Why is that?"
The two boys glanced at each other and then quickly looked away. "It's a . . . long story," Watanuki said quietly.
"Oh, uh-sorry about that," Ichigo said. He knew better than to pry.
"So, how long are you going to visit?" Inoue asked, looking back and forth from Watanuki to Doumeki.
"Just a day."
The girl suddenly became very serious and slammed a fist into the palm of her hand. "Before you leave I must make you one of my special dishes!" she announced, looking as if it were a matter of life or death.
Watanuki's interest was piqued. "You enjoy cooking?" It was rather difficult to find other people his age that enjoyed cooking. Most guys didn't care, and all of the girls (besides Himawari-chan~!) avoided him.
"Of course! I live by myself so I cook for myself all the time! One of my favorite hobbies is making new dishes to share with all my friends."
"Really? I like to cook myself, so maybe we could make a meal together."
"That would be wonderful!" Inoue rushed forward and hugged Watanuki tightly, nearly crushing him. All the same, it was one of the few times a girl willingly hugged him and he was unable to keep from blushing. It used to distress him that Himawari would never hug him, but after learning of her curse he knew she only refrained from doing so for his protection.
Through the whole conversation, Ichigo and Chad did their best to pantomime a warning about Inoue's cooking, but Watanuki didn't catch it. Doumeki inwardly smirked at how the part-timer had been so enthusiastic about cooking to notice their less than subtle hints. He didn't see what could be so bad about her cooking though; she looked healthy enough so the food couldn't be that strange, right? And as long as she put her whole heart into cooking, it had to be good.
"I don't think you'd be ready for Orihime's cooking, whoever you are," a voice chided. Doumeki turned towards the source of the noise and noticed another girl come their way. She had short hair and carried herself differently than most girls the archer had ever met. She seemed completely confident and ready to take on anything.
"Tatsuki!" Inoue let go of Watanuki and rushed to the girl to give her a quick hug. "Look, we have some visitors from-"
"From out of town!" Ichigo said quickly. Doumeki and Watanuki exchanged a look. Ichigo was fine with telling Inoue they were from another world, so why wasn't he fine with telling Tatsuki? With a nod, Watanuki carefully put a silent Mokona back into his bag, grateful that the creature had been able to figure it out as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tatsuki," Watanuki said with a bow. "My name is Watanuki Kimihiro and this idiot is-"
"Doumeki Shizuka."
"Why couldn't you let me introduce you?" Watanuki flailed his arms and pulled at his hair. "I was trying to be polite!"
"Shut up, you're annoying," Doumeki sighed, a finger already in his ear. "I can introduce myself you know."
"Of course you can! But there is something called basic etiquette which you obviously never learned!"
Ichigo and Chad paled. "His mood swings remind me of Keigo," Ichigo whispered.
Inoue just laughed and clapped her hands. "Wow, you two look like the best of friends!" Her comment didn't go unheard by Watanuki and he sighed in frustration. Even in another world girls got the wrong idea about their relationship! As Watanuki stood there sulking, Doumeki narrowed his eyes at Tatsuki. Rather than be alarmed (or laugh, in Inoue's case) at Watanuki's flailing about, Tatsuki was staring at them critically, as if she didn't trust them. She seemed to be concentrating very hard and Doumeki had a feeling that she could sense their spiritual energy. It felt like everyone in the entire town had varying degrees of spiritual energy, but the most came from Ichigo, Chad, Inoue, and Tatsuki.
Tatsuki had the least, but it wasn't in scant quantities like the rest of the town. Did her friends, or even herself know? It was no business of his, but the staring was getting annoying.
"What is it?" he asked. That seemed to break her out of her trance, but she kept her skeptic look.
"Where exactly are you from?"
"Just a few towns over," Watanuki said.
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "What town?" At that moment the bell rang.
"Time to get to class! Sorry Tatsuki, we've gotta get going!" Ichigo said quickly. He grabbed Watanuki and ran inside, with the others closely following.
"What, can't lie on your feet?" Watanuki teased. Ichigo chose to ignore him and steered the youth towards the classroom. He saw Keigo and Mizuiro sitting in their seats already. Well, Mizuiro was; Keigo was leaning against his desk and it looked like it was about to fall over. They waved at him and Ichigo waved back.
"And who might these two young men be?" Their teacher stood with her arms crossed and she eyed the two newcomers with skepticism. She paid special attention to Doumeki's bandages.
"Eh . . . sensei these are . . . these are-my cousins!" Ichigo said quickly. "They're . . . visiting and I thought they might want to come to class."
"Watanuki Kimihiro," the part-timer introduced with a bow.
"Doumeki Shizuka." The archer bowed as well.
"Hmmm, okay. Kurosaki, you can go and get some extra desks for your cousins and we'll begin the lesson." In a few moments' time, Watanuki and Doumeki had seats next to Ichigo and the lessons began.
The material was rather similar, though history made Watanuki's head spin. All these different names of countries and wars and famous people were completely foreign to him. It was nice to be in a classroom where no one knew who he was though. It was like a fresh start. No longer was he the freak kid who yelled at invisible things. There was one boy who kept starting at him though. He had glasses and dark raven hair, and he made Watanuki feel like he was looking into his soul. Watanuki couldn't shake the feeling that the boy knew he was different.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Watanuki stretched his sore muscles and yawned. His chest was still a little sore from nearly being crushed yesterday by that Hollow.
"Oi, Ichigo!" A boy with brown hair walked over to them. "Your cousins came to visit? Why didn't you let us know first? Aren't we your friends?"
"Shut up, Keigo," Ichigo sighed. He held out his hand to keep the boy from trying to hug him. "It was really sudden."
Keigo stopped wailing and glanced at Watanuki and Doumeki. "Did you get in a car accident or something?" he asked, gesturing to Doumeki's head bandage and the ones around his arms.
"Something like that," Doumeki said.
"Well, come sit with us!" Keigo said, slapping Watanuki on the back. The part-timer winced at the spark of pain that traveled down his spine. "We usually don't get many visitors."
"My name is Kojima Mizuiro," a boy with short, dark hair said. "It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too," Watanuki said, bowing.
Keigo stepped in between and shook his hands at them, shoving them towards the door. "Okay, okay, enough chit-chat. Let's go eat!"
As they made their way over to the door, Ichigo pulled Watanuki and Doumeki off to the side. "You guys probably need money for food, right?" he whispered.
"Urahara gave us some before leaving," Doumeki said, holding out a few bills. That seemed to put Ichigo at ease.
"Good, I was worried about that. Oh, and if anyone asks, your moms are my Aunts Tomoe and Yuuki, and you're from the Tekkimachi District."
"Got it, what-"
"Kurosaki." The three of them turned around. Watanuki gulped when he noticed the one speaking to them was the same guy who was staring at him strangely. "Who are your 'cousins' really?"
Ichigo folded his arms and matched the boy's glare. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"
"Don't insult me, shinigami," the boy scoffed as he adjusted his glasses. "They have unusually high reiatsu and I saw them get carried off with Urahara yesterday after that Hollow attack." He turned to them. "Where are you from?"
"Another world," Doumeki said.
"Idiot! Why are you so willing to give out information like that!" Watanuki yelled, waving his arms about.
Doumeki put a finger in his ear. "Your screaming is giving me a headache."
"I'm giving you a headache? You-"
"Ishida!" Ichigo cut in. After observing them that morning, Ichigo knew their bickering could go on for a while. "Doumeki is a priest where he's from and can shoot arrows with his spiritual energy."
"Really?" Ishida stepped forward towards Doumeki, looking more interested than Ichigo had ever seen in the time he'd known the Quincy. "You fight Hollows in your world?"
"Not exactly," Doumeki said. "We have spirits, but not Hollows. They are very different from this world and some of them are good."
"And how do you exorcise them? Are you able to make your own bow?" As they walked down the hall, Ishida continued drilling Doumeki on exorcising spirits.
Ichigo rolled his eyes at the exchange. "I don't think I've ever seen him so happy before," he mumbled under his breath.
Lunch was very enjoyable, although Watanuki wished he could have made his own bento. Doumeki also made this observation, much to his annoyance. But what made Watanuki so happy was the fact that he was actually hanging out with "the guys." Aside from Himawari, Doumeki, Yuuko, and Kohane, Watanuki really didn't have any other friends. Whenever he would try to make friends with other guys in his class they would just ignore him because of his past behavior in dealing with spirits.
People would gossip about him running from imaginary things and crawling on the floor like a madman. One time he had even grabbed a girl's arm to stop her from unknowingly touching a nasty looking spirit, but of course everyone else thought he was trying to hurt her. Even the teachers regarded him with some disdain and trepidation, mainly because he was a "nuisance" at times. Some couldn't care less though, as long as he turned in his homework.
And here he was, enjoying a meal with Ichigo, Ishida, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Inoue, and Tatsuki. (Well, and Doumeki-but he didn't count) They were all very kind and Watanuki felt normal and comfortable around them, especially because four out of seven of them apparently could see spirits, too.
Math was next, then language studies, and finally, gym. Once classes got out, Ichigo and the others had to go and see a teacher about something, so Ichigo asked Watanuki and Doumeki to wait for them. The two boys chose to wait near the sports field and watch everyone go by.
"Today was really fun," Watanuki said.
"Hn."
The bag rustled and Mokona stuck his head out. "Mokona got to go to school! Let's do it again!"
"Quiet!" Watanuki whispered, shoving the creature back into the bag. "There are still other people around!"
The two of them waited in comfortable silence until nearly all the students had left. Watanuki started tapping his foot and sighed in frustration. "Geez, what could they be talking about?"
"You're too impatient," Doumeki said.
"I am not! I'll have you know that-"
"Doumeki! Watanuki!" They turned around and saw the gym teacher rushing towards them, waving his arm. "Hey, boys. First of all, great job to both of you in the running exercise today. Second, do you think you could help me bring in some equipment? My usual helper twisted his ankle earlier today."
"Sure. Oh, wait-Ichigo might come back and then he'll wonder where we are," Watanuki said. "I'll stay here and when he comes we'll both go over and help."
"Sounds like a plan, thanks!"
Doumeki frowned. "You sure?"
"Of course I am! Nothing bad is going to happen to me in the two minutes you won't be here!" Watanuki growled. Really, why did Doumeki think he couldn't handle anything? It infuriated him! "Just go! I'll be there in a second." For a moment it looked like Doumeki was going to resist, but then he shrugged and followed the gym teacher.
"Stupid Doumeki," Watanuki mumbled. "Why does he have to act like such a mother hen?"
"Because he knows Watanuki is fragile!" Mokona said, his voice muffled by the bag.
"I am not! Shut up, manju bun-"
"Talking to yourself?"
"Dude, Kurosaki's entire family is made up of screwballs."
Watanuki looked up and his heart sank at the sight of two intimidating boys making their way over. They wore the school uniform but they looked like gangsters. One had auburn hair and two nose rings, while the other had gelled blond hair and his entire left ear was outlined with tiny hoop earrings. This couldn't be good.
"What do you want?" Watanuki asked, making sure to not sound scared.
"Oh . . . nothing much," the blond said. "We just thought you could help us."
"Not really in the mood. Now if you don't mind I have to be somewhere." He tried to walk away but one of them grabbed his arm.
"Hey, what's the rush, man? As a visitor to our school you should be more than willing to help others out." Watanuki struggled to get out of his grip, and in the process his white shirt was pulled back around the neck and the silver chain sparkled in the sunlight. "Eh? What is this?" The auburn-haired boy yanked Watanuki closer and pulled out the necklace.
"Looks like something from his girlfriend, Kenji," the other teased, leaning in for a better look.
Kenji snorted. "Or a boyfriend."
"Get your hands off me!" Watanuki tried to push them away but Kenji just pulled harder on the necklace. The part-timer gagged on the chain and massaged his throat. That had hurt.
"We'll leave you alone, four-eyes," Kenji said, jabbing a finger in Watanuki's face, "if you promise to give your cousin a message."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Watanuki growled. The older boy was definitely stronger than him so his only option for escape was to hear him out, but that didn't mean Watanuki had to be nice about it. He was sick of spirits and people alike pushing him around.
Kenji patted Watanuki's face. "Cuz we want you to."
"We've had a bone to pick with Kurosaki ever since he beat up our leader a few weeks ago!" the other said, clenching his fists. "He had his friend Chad with him and the boss had to go to the hospital!"
Watanuki rolled his eyes. "Considering how you guys are such cowards it's no wonder your leader was beaten up so badly. It's taken this long for you guys to get revenge and you're not even man enough to challenge him yourself? Pathetic." Watanuki had no idea where this back-talking attitude came from. Whatever it was though, it felt good. He didn't appreciate being taken for a sissy by these people and wanted them to know that.
"Why you little-!" Kenji's face was contorted with rage and he yanked on the chain. The necklace broke off and Watanuki gasped as the constricting feeling on his chest returned. It was nowhere near as oppressive as it was when those Hollow-things were near, but given his previous experiences, he wouldn't be alone for long.
"Give it back!"
Kenji and his friend laughed. "What, miss your pwecious wittle neckwace?" He dangled it in front of Watanuki. "Hold him, Aiko." Watanuki made a grab for the necklace but Kenji sidestepped and Aiko roughly pulled Watanuki's hands behind his back.
"Now, when Kurosaki comes to meet us we'll give him back your necklace," Kenji said. "And to make sure he knows we mean business, we'll send him a little gift by roughin' you up a bit." Kenji curled his hand into a fist and pulled it back. Just then another hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Leave him alone."
"Oh, look, another one of Kurosaki's cousins," Kenji said.
"Doumeki! Get the necklace-I can feel them coming! Hurry!" As much as he hated having to rely on the idiot and ask for his help, if he didn't get that necklace on quick then they were going to be surrounded. Already, Watanuki could feel his strength draining.
The archer wasted no time in asking for the necklace. Instead he pulled back on Kenji's arm and reached out for the necklace in the other hand. Whether by instinct or accident, Kenji's knee came straight up, colliding with Doumeki's face. The boy staggered backward, clutching his nose.
"Doumeki!" Without thinking, Watanuki threw his head back and hit Aiko's chin. The grip around him slackened and he wrenched out of the older boy's arms. Then, while he was still dazed, the part-timer swung his leg around, hoping to knock him off balance. Unfortunately, Aiko wasn't as dazed as Watanuki thought and he grabbed Watanuki's leg before it made contact. Watanuki barely had time to curse when Ichigo suddenly appeared beside him and punched Aiko directly in the face.
Aiko crashed to the ground and Watanuki would have fallen as well if Ichigo hadn't grasped his wrist. "Sorry about that," Ichigo said. "I hope they didn't hurt you too much." At the sight of Ichigo, Aiko yelped and took off.
"Nah, I'm fine. But I need the neckla-"
"Here." Doumeki dumped the chain and pendant into Watanuki's hand, and the boy felt immediate relief. Being next to Ichigo had really started to zap his strength. He must be very powerful, Watanuki thought.
"Where did that other guy go?"
Doumeki shrugged. "He ran after his friend." It was then that Watanuki noticed how red the area around Doumeki's nose was.
"Your nose okay?" Watanuki asked. Doumeki nodded.
"Yeah." He reached up to touch it and involuntarily hissed.
"At least it's not broken," Ichigo said.
"Kurosaki!" The three of them turned around and saw Ishida, Inoue, and Chad running towards them. Inoue and Chad looked concerned, whereas Ishida looked irritated.
"What is it?"
"Large number of Hollows coming in fast," Ishida said. He glanced at Watanuki. "There was a large blast of your reiatsu and now all the Hollows are drawn to this spot."
"It's not my fault!" Watanuki shook the necklace at him. "Some guys pulled it off me and now it's broken!"
Ishida yanked the necklace from his hands and examined it for a moment. "It's not broken." He fiddled around with it for a few seconds and handed it back. "One of the chains snapped, but the clasp still works. Put it on." Watanuki quickly did as he said and then hid the abomination under his shirt.
"Well, it looks like we're just gonna have to fight," Ichigo said with a grin. He pulled out a brown medallion and Watanuki nearly had a heart attack as he leapt out of his body, clad in a black hakama.
"H-H-How did you do that?"
"This is how I'm half-human, half-shinigami," Ichigo explained as Chad carefully lowered his body to the ground. "Like I said, long story."
Just then some lattice doors appeared out of nowhere and they opened, showing nothing but a blinding white light. Two black butterflies came out, followed by two people dressed like Ichigo.
"Rukia? Renji?" It appeared that Ichigo and his friends were as surprised at the appearance of the two strange people as Watanuki was. That made him feel better, since it meant that people arriving out of thin air wasn't a regular occurrence.
"Yo, Ichigo," the red-haired man said. Watanuki noticed that they also had swords but Ichigo's was much larger.
"Why is your sword different?" Watanuki asked, gesturing to the thick sword slung around Ichigo's back.
"Huh?" Ichigo turned around to face Watanuki and followed his gaze. "Oh-hard to explain, but our zanpakuto have two releases, shikai and bankai. I can't seal mine completely, so it stays in shikai all the time."
"Ichigo!" The short, dark-haired woman grabbed the top of his hakama and pulled him down to her level. "Why are you explaining that to him and how can he see us?" she hissed.
"Relax, Rukia! They're not going to do anything." Ichigo wrenched out of her grasp and pointed to them in turn. "Watanuki and Doumeki, visitors from another world."
"Eh?" Renji raised and eyebrow and walked towards the two boys as if sizing them up. He quirked an eyebrow. "They look normal to me."
"Of course we look normal! Why wouldn't we be?"
Renji shrugged. "I would have thought you'd look like those aliens from the movies Ichigo showed us. All green and short." Watanuki just stood there dumbfounded, experiencing one of the rare moments where he was at a loss for words.
"We delivered a box to Urahara!" Mokona shouted, leaping out of the bag before Watanuki could stop him.
Rukia gasped. "You're so cute!" She rushed forward and held out her hands for Mokona. "What's your name?"
"Mokona Modoki!"
"You know, if you put your ears up like this you look a bit like Chappy!" She let out a happy squeal and hugged the creature tightly.
"Chappy?" Doumeki asked, raising an eyebrow at such a strange name.
Ichigo and Renji groaned. "You don't wanna know."
"What are you two here for?" Inoue asked, stepping forward.
"Kurotsuchi-taicho recorded an unusual spike of powerful reiatsu yesterday," Renji explained. "At first he figured it was Ichigo going out of control-"
"Hey!"
"-but when it happened again he thought it could be something different and Seireitei sent us. That way, if it really was you being stupid we could beat it out of you," Renji teased as he slapped Ichigo on the back.
"Sorry, that must have been me," Watanuki said, raising his hand sheepishly. "Spirits are attracted to me. Urahara gave me something to mask my reiatsu but it came off for a few minutes."
"What? You are-" The rest of Rukia's sentence was drowned out by the Hollow shriek that cut through the air.
"I guess we'll talk later," Renji smirked as he withdrew his zanpakuto. He ran his hand down the blade and yelled, "Howl, Zabimaru!"
"Inoue, protect them and my body!"
"Santen Kesshun!"
Watanuki stared in fascination as many things happened at once. Renji's zanpakuto transformed into a segmented blade with spiky protrusions on each segment; pieces of Inoue's hairpins disappeared and formed a triangular shield in front of them; Chad's arm turned into a strange, weapon-like arm; Ishida pulled his left arm back and a blue mass of energy formed into a bow; Ichigo and Rukia withdrew their swords and crouched into an attack position, and twenty or so Hollows appeared out of nowhere.
"Getsuga Tenshou!"
The resulting battle was beyond description-Watanuki had never seen anything like it! As he watched Ishida shoot blue arrows and the shinigami slice through the Hollows, he couldn't help but wish there was something he could do besides watch. That's all he ever did; watch while others protected him. And the sheer amount of spiritual pressure was making him feel a little groggy, but were it not for the necklace he was sure he'd be out cold.
"Glad we don't have these spirits back home," Watanuki whispered. He would have been killed before he ever made it to Yuuko's shop that fateful day. Doumeki just nodded.
"This is a cool world!" Mokona said happily. He was currently perched atop Inoue's shoulders.
"Ahhhh!" Watanuki watched in horror as Rukia sailed through the air and slammed into the side of the school building.
"Rukia!"
"Come back!" Doumeki yelled.
"Stay by my shield, Watanuki-kun!" The boy ignored them and continued running toward the female shinigami. She was injured and he wanted to bring her over to Inoue's shield for protection. He couldn't very well leave her out there to be attacked by Hollows! Especially when it was his fault they were there in the first place.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow," Rukia hissed. She cradled her head and pushed herself up off the ground.
"Rukia? Are you all right?" Watanuki reached out and helped her stand up.
"I'm fine, but what are you doing here?" she snapped.
"B-But I-"
"Don't worry about me, they're after you! The only way we can protect you is if you stay by Orihime, so go back." Two Hollows suddenly appeared beside them.
"Tasty . . . so delicious . . ."
"Stand back!" Rukia said. She held out her hands and yelled, "Hadou no Sanjuu Ichi: Shakkahou!" A red ball of energy appeared out of her hands and shot towards the Hollow, effectively destroying the first one. Then she gripped her zanpakuto and charged towards the second.
That was amazing, Watanuki thought to himself. Remembering her warning, he took off towards Inoue's shield. Just then three Hollows landed in his path.
"Watanuki!" Through their legs he could see Inoue and Doumeki running towards him. He knew they wouldn't make it in time, and a crazy thought popped into his mind. Watanuki held out his hands like he had seen Rukia do, aimed it at the Hollows coming towards him and yelled, "Hadou no Sanjuu Ichi: Shakkahou!"
The red ball of energy that burst from Watanuki's hand was more like a wall. It was larger than him and so blinding that he had to cover his eyes. There was a loud explosion and once he could see again, to his utter shock the three Hollows were obliterated and the ground was all torn up. Doumeki and Inoue were kneeling on the ground off to the side, with Doumeki in front of Inoue protectively. The color drained from Watanuki's face as he realized he could have shot them.
Everyone (even the Hollows) paused in their attack and stared at Watanuki with a dumbfounded expression. He suddenly became very conscious of their stares and responded the only way he knew how.
"What?"
"Y-You just-"
"Focus on the Hollows and talk later, Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled as he jumped to the side to avoid a Hollow's tail. The remaining Hollows were defeated easily enough, and they all rushed towards Watanuki.
"That's so impressive, Watanuki-kun!" Inoue said. "I didn't know you knew kido!"
"I-I . . . I didn't," Watanuki said. He stared at his hands as if he had never seen them before.
Doumeki frowned. "So it just happened on its own?"
"No-I heard Rukia use it and so I just repeated what she said."
"But that was one of the simpler kido spells," Rukia said in amazement. "The level you used was near the level of a captain!"
"A captain?"
"They're some of the more advanced and powerful shinigami in Soul Society," Ichigo said. He laughed and patted Watanuki on the back. "You'd make a great substitute shinigami, if you were dead."
Watanuki paled. "Thanks-I guess?"
"Don't listen to anything Kurosaki says," Ishida smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "He possess no social skills whatsoever."
"Oi! Like you have room to talk!"
As he watched the two banter, Watanuki had an eerie sense of deja vu. It was like Ishida was Doumeki's counterpart in this world-albeit a more sadistic and emotional one. For the first time, Watanuki was almost grateful that Doumeki was usually so emotionless.
"Are you all right?" Watanuki teared his eyes from the fighting boys to glare at Doumeki. As per usual, the archer was staring at him intently, as if he expected him to break at any second.
Not anymore though.
"Of course I'm all right! I feel great!" The boy clenched his fists and grinned. "All these years the spirits have been taunting me and ruining my life. Now I have the power to fight them back."
"You're so awesome, Watanuki-sama!" Mokona cheered. He leapt from Inoue's shoulder and hugged him.
"I think we'll stay a few more days," Watanuki announced. "I want to learn a little more about this kido."
"What do you think, Pozione?"
"A human who can do kido with the reiatsu of a shinigami, and he smelled so delicious . . . "
"You think Szayel-sama would be interested in him?"
The Fracción let out a cruel laugh. "I bet even Aizen-sama would want to know more about this human."
So, what do you think? Does it seem believable? And now the trouble begins. If you're confused as to how Watanuki has this ability I promise you that all shall be explained eventually. :)
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