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Chapter One - Kan Reddo De

Two girls sat on the porch of a small blue house, laughing while they brain stormed random things. It was dark outside, the stars in the sky covered by the rain clouds that loomed overhead. The moon was half hidden behind a tree, now fully cleared of the menacing clouds. But the girls didn't let it stop them, because they loved the rain. It was one of the very few things they agreed on.

One of them sat on the wood floor of the porch, her legs crossed as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. She had long, thick black hair with the random pink, green and blue highlights. Her eyes were the same soft green as her friends, her eyelashes long and flattering. She had on a long, dark black skirt and a black tank-top with a laced-up red corset over it. She was pale for a Japanese girl, and some people liked to think she was white, but she was really half Japanese, half Korean. She was the spastic one, always making random comments and spinning around in circles. She was outgoing and outrageous, but she was a good friend even though she was just a little hotheaded. Her name was Nikkohana Inabikari, though most just called her Nikko. Her name meant "sunshine flower of lighting" of which her parents had so cleverly came up with.

Sitting on the swing was Koishi Otome, also known as Koi. Her name meant "pebble maiden" which made no sense to her. But she did assume that her parents had been under the influence of some kind of drug when naming her, that was just the way they were. Her hair was cut short and the color of a dark red wine, framing the green eyes she shared with Nikko. Her hair flared at the tips, giving her a pixie look. She actually looked Japanese with her light olive skin, unlike her best friend. She wore blue jeans with a few rips here and there and a cute little black t-shirt. She had on peacock feather earrings that sometimes brushed softly against her cheek as she laughed. She was more of the logical, sensible one. She was the complete opposite of Nikko, yet they were the best of friends, almost like sisters. She was book-smart, but very clumsy when it came to pretty much anything else.

"If it rains tonight," Nikko said, looking outside the netting that closed in the porch. "Than we have to go play in the rain, okay?"

"Nikko-chan, we'll catch a cold." Koi said.

"No, we won't." Nikko continued to press her face to the netting. "We'll be just fine, you'll see."

"I am not going outside while it's raining." She complained.

"You know, technically, we already are outside." Nikko pointed out.

"Wow, you used a big word." Koi grimaced.

Nikko gave Koi the same look over her shoulder.

Suddenly, it started pouring buckets outside. The wind began to howl out of nowhere and it was impossible to see anything outside the net anymore.

"Yay!" Nikko cheered.

"No!" Koi cried when Nikko tried to get her off of the swing. "That rain will cut right through us!"

"So?" Nikko smiled. "At least we'll die happy!"

"I won't!" Koi tried to pull her arm from Nikko's grip unsuccessfully.

"Come on, Koi-san!" Nikko pulled Koi all the way to the door before a loud roar echoed through them.

They both looked at each other wearily.

"That didn't sound like the wind..." Koi said, her eyes worried.

"I'm sure it's nothing-" Nikko started.

But suddenly, they were flying. No, they weren't flying, the porch was flying. They were screaming as they were tossed around with broken wood surrounding them. They must've been thrown at least 300 hundred feet before landing harshly on the ground.

They both had the wind knocked out of them, unable to breathe.

They opened their eyes to see what had happened and what force had been so strong as to rip their porch off.

Speaking of porch, pieces of flying debris were now showering down on them. Nikko was able to dodge all the pieces easily, while Koi wasn't that lucky. She got hit with a good and hard piece of plywood right on the forehead. She was lucky Nikko was there to kick the next missile out of the way before it speared through her ribs.

"Itai..." Koi rubbed her head before turning to face Nikko. "Thanks."

"Uh..." Nikko was looking around, a frightened look in her eyes.

The were surrounded by...something. They were monsters, five of them. They were big and bulky with weird looking masks on. They looked strong and demeaning as they glared down on the two innocent humans.

"Oh, boy..." Nikko said as Koi screamed.

One of the huge monsters were about to snatch up Koi to shut her up when there was suddenly someone there stopping him.

Neither of the girls had seen this man run up, but he just...appeared there with a quick flash of yellow light around him. The man had a sword and was holding off the monster with just that, even though the humongous creature looked like he could easily snap it in two.

Beside him was another man with long dark red hair that was currently put up. He had a white head-band on over his forehead which seemed to be covering some sort of tattoo.

"Damn Hollows." The red-head sneered.

The dark headed one slashed his sword to the side, cutting off the monsters arm. The creature roared in pain as a weird looking kind of blood poured out of the stub that was left.

The red head jumped at towards two Hollows at the same time, cutting off both their heads in one swing. He quickly used one of the other Hollows head to get to the next one he was to kill, and sliced off it's head, too.

After he killed that one, he jumped to the ground and looked back. Apparently, the dark haired man had finished while the girls were watching the red-head kill off the other two.

"Well, that was easy." Red-Head laughed. "Why would they send those little weaklings when they knew we would most likely finish them off so smoothly?"

The black haired man just bowed his head. "I don't know."

Then suddenly, there was a loud roar from the edge of the forest. Koi and Nikko jumped as they turned to see a red laser-like beam of light erupting from the mouth of another one of those monsters. It was heading...straight...towards them.

The two of the men ran for the two of them, but they just weren't as fast as the light.

Suddenly, Koi and Nikko screamed as the red light engulfed them.

Koi sat up, wondering how the hell she was still alive. Nikko sat up at the same time, yawning.

"Yo, what the hell was..." Nikko started.

The two men were still standing their, the dark haired one calm while the red head looked rather...angry.

"Uh...hi?" Nikko grinned.

"Ugh!" Red-Head growled. "Now what the hell are we going to do?"

The dark haired one frowned. "Now...we take them back with us."

"And do what?" The red head sneered. "Drop them off in Rukongai?"

"Of course not." The other one said. "They'll go to the Academy. The Soul Society can't afford to miss out on their power."

All of this was being said as the girls stood up. Once the last sentence was said, they froze.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Nikko asked.

"It's a long story." Red-Head said. "Long story short, you're dead, and you're coming with us to the Soul Society where you'll learn to be a Soul Reaper. You two have indescribable power that you most likely don't know about yet. We'd also appreciate it if you didn't argue."

"Huh?" Koi said. "I can't even comprehend half of what you just said."

"Woah, dude." Nikko laughed. "That's so sugoi."

"Damare, Nikko-chan." Koi gave her friend her "shut it" look and Nikko shut her mouth. "Did you just say we were dead?"

"Yep." Red-Head rolled his eyes. "So can we leave now?"

"Uh, no we are not." Koi shook her head. "We're not dead! Because if I were dead, I wouldn't be standing here right now."

"Look behind you." He told her.

Koi and Nikko both looked behind them to where they had been laying. There laid their motionless, unbreathing bodies.

Koi screamed as Nikko leaned down and poked herself in the face.

"Dude." Nikko laughed. "That is so cool."

"Nikko-chan, we're dead!" Koi breathed hard. "How the hell am I still here if I'm dead?"

She turned on the red-head and grabbed his collar.

"How the hell am I still here?" She repeated.

Red-Head scowled at her.

"Get off me!" He screamed at her.

She fell back, landing on her butt in the grass.

"Renji." The dark haired man put a hand on Red-Head's shoulder and pushed him back. "Let me deal with this."

"Yes, sir." Red-Head bowed his head to the man before stepping away.

"I am Captain Byakuya Kuchiki." He told them. "I'm Captain of the 6th Division of the Soul Society. This is my Vice-Captain, Renji Abarai. You are still here because you're not in your human form. You are just a soul now, a very powerful soul at that."

"What is this Soul Society?" Koi asked.

"It's the afterlife." Byakuya said. "Every human that dies is sent to the Soul Society. It is sort of like Heaven or Nirvana to your beliefs."

"And what are Soul Reapers?" Koi asked. "Are you guys Soul Reapers?"

"Yes." Byakuya nodded. "We are among the highest of the ranks. There are 13 Captains for all 13 Divisions. Under those Captains are Vice-Captains, or Lieutenants. Then there are seats below the Vice-Captains and then there are a number of unseated officers. Our job is to make sure the souls of dead humans get to the Soul Society, and to destroy the souls that go bad. The souls that carry grudges or have an absolute sadness about them either turn into Hollows themselves or are eaten by other Hollows before becoming one itself."

"Hollows?" Nikko asked, now standing behind Koi. "Those things you just fought off. Those were Hollows?"

"Yes." He said. "They were the lowest class of them. Menos. They were sent here to kill you."

"But...why?" Nikko asked.

"Yeah, we weren't even dead yet." Koi shook her head. "What could they want with us?"

"You're the Hanbun no Tamashii." Byakuya explained. "The Souls of Half."

"The who-say-what?" Nikko raised an eyebrow.

Byakuya frowned. "You two are incredibly different, but you can't seem to stay away from each other. You are almost like sisters, am I correct?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Koi shrugged.

"You two share a soul." He told them. "Your souls were somehow split in half when you were being sent back down to the human world after your death in the Soul Society 17 years ago. Each of you have incredible power, but together...you're unstoppable."

Koi's and Nikko's jaws dropped.

"I'm sorry, but you must have the wrong people..." Koi said softly. "We don't have any powers..."

"You do, you just don't know how to use them." He said. "After training, you will see how powerful you really are."

"But..." Koi sighed.

Nikko's eyes were wide. "Ooo, so are you saying I'm more powerful than the red pineapple head back there?"

"Hey!" Renji scowled.

"In time, you will be." Byakuya nodded.

"Haha." Nikko smirked. "I'll do it!"

"Nani? Nikko-chan!" Koi began to argue.

"Hey!" Nikko hushed Koi. "We're dead, Koi. And this guy is most likely right. He seems like the smart type to me. He knew that we were almost like sisters to each other. I mean...honestly. What could go wrong?"

Koi frowned. "I don't like this..."

"That just proves it!" Nikko laughed. "I love this! It means we're different! Don't you want to be unique, Koishi?"

Koi swallowed hard. "Fine...I guess...I'll do it!"

"Yes!" Nikko punched her fist in the air.

"Now it's decided." Byakuya said. "Let's go. Renji."

Renji stepped forward and unsheathed his sword.

"Roar Zabimaru." He said as he slid his hand along the blade. Suddenly, it turned into a giant saw-looking thing. Nikko gawked.

"Cool." She smiled.

He seemed to shove the sword in the air and then twist it.

Suddenly, light poured from a door that somehow appeared out of thin air.

"Captain." Renji stepped aside so Byakuya could walk through.

He did, followed by Koi and Nikko.

"Hey, red pineapple." Nikko said as she passed Renji. "When I'm done with this whole training thing, you're going to be my first fight. 'Kay?"

"It would be my pleasure, rainbow head." Renji sneered.

Nikko laughed as she walked through the door.

The girls never looked back at the boring human lives they left behind. They kept walking forward, and soon they knew they would be able to achieve anything they wanted.

As Shinigami.