Seven Days in Heaven

Wherein Sado Yasutora gets a girlfriend, and Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki begin to grow up- and some other things happen.

Bear in mind, this is just a teaser chapter- it begins about 5 hours after the original story ends.

For more information, see the A/N at the end of the teaser.

As always, don't own Bleach, the world(s), or the characters- I just use 'em for fun, not profit.

Chap. 1

Damn it! I should have known this would happen!

But the embattled man didn't really have time to think. For all the promises he'd made to Arisawa Tatsuki- the girl he was rapidly falling in love with- and the Kurosaki twins- little sisters of his best friend- there was just no way he could guarantee their safety.

Because the four of them had left the world of the living to enter Soul Society, so that Tatsuki could say goodbye to her parents- who had been killed in a Hollow attack the previous day. And while their home town of Karakura, on the outskirts of Tokyo proper, was one of the most dangerous places to be on Earth, it was, at the moment, thousands of times safer than where they were know- even if one counted the massive battle of the previous night.

That night, Chad as his friends called him, had taken down an Arrancar disguised as a regular Hollow, but been struck down by a nerve toxin during the fight. Tatsuki, just coming into awareness of her own powers, combined with the already-awake, though untested, abilities of the Kurosakis, had rushed him to the town's large hospital, already having done what they could at the Kurosaki's clinic, run by their father, Isshin.

Chad ducked another blow from the massive, black beast before him, stepped forward, and delivered a crushing uppercut to the creature's mask. It flew backward, already disintegrating, but three more stepped forward at once to fill it's vacancy. Behind him, he could feel the three living girls back to back, fighting desperately to hold off the swarm of lesser hollows that got around him in the alley, whether by burrowing, flight, or climbing walls.

"Chad!" Tatsuki suddenly screamed, and he turned his head to see a bird-like Hollow grip the youngest twin's, the soft red-head Yuzu's leg, and begin to lift her off of the ground.

For the first few flaps of the large, feathered wings, he could see the beast straining, the black claws digging through the girl's shirt and into her tender flesh. But by the time the fifth flap had finished, Yuzu's feet had just been starting to leave the ground, when the brilliant blue bolt left Chad's right fist and engulfed the creature. The talons, slowly vanishing, were left intact, but the rest of the Hollow was completely obliterated. "Bind her if you can," was all he said before he turned his attention back to the larger enemies behind him.

Only a fool would take them into a war zone! We haven't even seen a hint of a shinigami since we arrived. What's happening out there?

* * *

Arisawa Tatsuki was scared- very scared. More scared than she'd ever been, in fact. Are we going to die? I promised Ichigo I'd protect them- not get them killed! And what happens if you die here, anyway? Isn't this where dead people go?

Unlike Chad, who'd had a great deal of experience fighting, but little training, Tatsuki was able to maintain her focus on the combat while thinking, because she had considerably more training- though admittedly, not with fighting ravenous monsters. Still, her hand-to-hand abilities were world-class, if the talent scouts she'd talked to after her last tournament were any indication, and the newly awakened abilities she'd found on Earth had been noticeably stronger and easier to use, here.

I'd be dead on my feet if we were still in Karakura- too much reiatsu. But here, it's so easy to draw it in. Even Karin and Yuzu don't look that tired.

Although she could still see them wearing down- the slightly taller, black-haired twin was scowling at a hollow during the short pause between waves, panting slightly. Her younger sister, Yuzu, wiped sweat off her brow and tried to ignore the four slowly-bleeding holes in her shoulders. "You two, stay behind me for the next wave. I'll hold 'em back while you rest up a little. Okay?"

Karin shot her a glare, but nodded and stepped backward with her sister. "Chad, behind you. Don't back up, 'kay?"

The dark-skinned giant didn't twitch, but in the sudden stillness, she knew he'd heard.

Why haven't they attacked, yet? Something's happening.

A Hollow's roar somewhere in the distant- but near enough to give hope- was cut off suddenly in a gurgle of dark blood.

Something that sounded vaguely human gave a triumphant roar, and a different, higher pitched, voice screamed out, "Charge!"

What the hell? Are we... is this it?

Before she could ask Chad what was happening, he sent a burst from his black Giant's Arm into the large hollow on his right, then repeated the gesture to the one on the left, and put himself in a ready stance, but didn't say anything as the middle one growled and began to move forward.

Behind her, she could hear the lesser Hollows chittering. It almost sounds like... they're afraid!

Without further warning, the creatures began to run- away from them. En mass, they were fleeing in the same direction- directly away from whoever had made that battle cry. Tatsuki watched them for a few seconds more to be sure they were really retreating, then risked turning again in time to see Chad's shield take a powerful blow from the giant monster, but not move an inch. In response, his bare left hand reached out and snatched the arm he'd just been struck with and yanked downward, pulling the Hollow's head within reach. Before it could recover, the giant had brought both linked hands down onto it's mask, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

The Hollows behind the giant began to retreat as well, each fleeing to the side and then following after their lesser brethren, and then there was a wash of relief when she saw why.

Running toward them at full speed was a short, orange-haired young woman and a tall, black-haired, stocky man with a white sweat band, both wearing the thick, black Shinigami robes she'd become familiar with. Their blades and clothes were both running with black blood, but behind them came fourteen other soul reapers, each of them bloody.

"We found you!" the woman in the lead yelled, "Sado-san! Ukitake Taicho sent us after you as soon as he felt you arrive- come this way, quickly! The Seireitei's been overrun, but the squad barracks are still safe."

"Don't hog all the speech, Kiyone," the dark haired man cried while glaring at his companion, "We agreed that I'd get to say half!"

Tatsuki wasn't willing to listen any further. Chad hadn't attacked them yet, so they must be allies, and that agreed with what her instincts said as well. So without a word, she leaned down to Yuzu and pulled the girl's swiftly weakening arms around her neck and stood up, bearing her on her back. "Come on, Karin, Yuzu. Let's go see what these Soul Reapers can do."

* * *

A/N: So there's been a change of plans. While I was 'originally' going to tie my first Bleach Fic, Seven Days to Heaven, into a much larger retelling of the main story from Bleach, I've come across a better idea. Why not, instead of going over a million events we all know, just tell snippets here and there? You know, like 'normal' fanfics? So that's what I'm going to do. This one is, again, going to mostly feature the Chad/Tatsuki relationship I've already covered in the first one, but it will be less oriented on them and more on... others.

The series as a whole could still be titled "Not a coward..." since that's the basis for the whole lot of 'em, and I'm going to rename the original story to that as well, but not until I get this one complete- just to make sure I have an actual series by then.

Also bear in mind, that I have a lot to write at the moment. I'm finishing my Naruto story, Late Blossoms, (featuring a Hina/Naru/Saku triangle- that ends well for all, set 5+ years post-shippuden).

After that I still need to finish my Avatar trilogy- that I haven't touched (much) since I started the first Seven Days. But it will be written- because Bleach (and Chad/Tatsuki) are too much fun not too.

So look forward to it, wait with baited breath, etc.

And as always, review if you like- it won't get the next chapter up sooner, but it will get the ones after that done much quicker. :)