Thank you everyone who is totally crazy about Kensei! I know I do!
I also like the idea of princesses. I don't know why, but I really like them! Especially the traditional Chinese ones back in, well, Ancient China! I've made an Itachi OC about a princess, but its not in Fan Fiction.
Anyway, I'm thinking of making some sort of Princess Collection here, but I've still got to take care of my Byakuya story, which I hope that you will read too!
I'm going to keep trying to update this story so that it becomes a really popular Kensei OC. But I'm going to need your help!
Please review! They are the joys of any author on any website!
-Tammy Sakamoto
ONE
The sounds of crickets chirping faded away as the night's first stirring of wind softly blew the tall blades of grass northbound. None would have been able to realize that two figures lay upon the field beyond mediocre woods which found the companionship of nothing but small critters and the breeze.
One of the two strangers to the forest, the female, was clad in the most elaborate fabrics made of the highest quality silk cocoon. She played with a blade of grass as her bent knees kicked into the air freely and happily. To the left of the maiden, her partner dressed himself in lower quality cloths, but his simple attire of a sleeveless shihakusho and white Taicho haori was constructed of the best linen and strongest linen the Thirteen Court Guard Companies could provide.
Unlike the female, he laid still and calm, taking serenity in how the breeze hit his bare forearms and elbow, and how the cool winds blew the sweet murmurs of his companion over to his ears.
Exactly like a gentle and comforting lullaby.
They were as different as the sun and the moon, the ocean and the sky, the turtle and the rabbit. The skin was as pale as the sixteenth moon, an attribute of hers that he often complemented her on. His complexion on the other hand was in no way flawless, little scratches here and there adorned every part of his form due to the countless times battle and death met him straight in the eye. His limbs, back and chest were well built and defined, hers was thin and showed no sign of muscle formation. Her locks were too long and cascaded down to her low back and as black as midnight. The young man's hair on the other hand were silver as the moon in the sky that night.
But no matter how different they could be, she was the night and he was the moon. Both coexisted beside one another, lending their beauty in order to intensify their power even more.
'He could be as different from me as can be...and I would still...', the female told herself as she examined the males defined jaws from the corner of her eyes.
'I would...still...', a smile crept over her lips and a small giggle escaped. She turned over to her side and held her mouth as an attempt to muffle her shy laughs.
With her back turned to face him, the silver haired man was unable to see her face. Though he was much rather look at her eyes than the back of her head, he appreciated how smooth and soft a females hair could be. He was tempted to run his fingers through the black tresses. Because of her giggles that she tried to hide from him, his interest was spiked and he wanted to know the reason as to why she would have acted like so at that particular moment.
'Everything about her...the things that she does, always makes make me want to know more about her...', this time it was the male's thoughts as he supported his body with his right elbow and leaned over to see her face.
When he made out the side of her cheek through her arm sleeves, it comforted him once more.
"Oi, what's up Princess?", his gruff voice pierced through the wind.
She giggles erupted again once the sound of his voice traveled through her ears. If her murmurs were his lullabies, then his stern and rough voice was hers.
"...Nothing...it's...", that though from before rang through her mind, and she stifled her laughter again, "...nothing!"
"...That was totally a lie...", he muttered, but laid back onto the soft grass. Most often these days she would react like so, and she would never tell him what had happened.
'But that's okay.', he figured, 'I can always use that excuse to talk to her in the future...'
He had stopped denying his affections toward her a few months back. And though he knew his place as a professional and mature Taicho, he allowed himself to stay by her side.
As long as they were standing beside one another, maybe everything would be fine.
Finally, she turned back to look at the night sky, the moon shining back on her cheeks.
"Kensei-kun...", she begun.
"It's Muguruma Taicho.", he grunted.
She smiled, "Kensei-kun...don't you think the stars are really pretty?"
"They're just stars you know. It's all burning balls of gas."
"They're more than that. There's so many of them. That's got to mean that they're special in some way."
"...Whatever, you're right Princess."
"Of course! I'm always right!"
He gave her a deadpanned look and turned back to the sky, "What I think is better than the stars is the sky at night."
She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Now THAT is nothing at all. The sky is just a vacuum in space you know!"
"No...It's so large and grand. That's got to mean that they're special in some way. I'm always right! Tee Hee!"
"Huh?", she blushed and turned over to him, 'I don't sound like that!"
"Tee Hee! Tee Hee!", he continued, a satisfied smirk on his face appeared when he saw her getting frustrated.
"You're so immature!"
"What are you saying? I'm as mature and serious as it gets around here."
"Tee Hee! Tee Hee! What's all that about then?"
"Oh, I'm just trying to show you how you sound to us Shinigami, Princess."
"...", she didn't say anything, but simply lied down on her backside again, trying not to destroy that precious moment that night could still offer.
He sighed and closed his eyes, his hands going back to his head to support his aching neck. At the movement, the black haired girl looked at him curiously, wonder growing in her head as she asked herself how it would feel like to have his arms wrapped around her. She smiled and used her fingers to cover her lips.
"Kensei-kun."
"Yeah Princess?"
"Um...what can you do with stars?"
"...Huh?"
"..."
"Well...I remember my mother telling me that she would often wish on one star each night as a kid-"
She gasped, "Really?"
"Yeah...I guess. Though I doubt that it would work."
"I'm going to wish on each and everyone of them then!"
"Pf...you wish on only one star, Princess."
"Well I'm going to change that!"
"...", he glared at her. The fact that a girl younger than him could change laws and regulations angered him. He believed that respect was gained by oneself. If there came a time when he he to mention one thing he disliked about the Princess, it would be just that.
Ignoring her hunch that the ninth Division Taicho was boring holes into her temple, she clapped her hands together and looked at one star.
Once more, silence over fell the two as the wind began blowing through the grass again. This one that was present no was not as sweet as the previous quietness from a few minutes back due to the lack of their Princess' mumbles to herself. But he told himself that as long as the black sky reminded him of her long hair and she was lying beside him...he would be just as content.
"So sappy...", he frowned to himself, the female did not reply.
"Oi Princess."
She blinked and turned her head to face him.
"What are you wishing for?"
He asked himself if he just saw her eyes twinkled and if he was imagining the growing tinge of red on her pale face. The black haired girl did not answer his question.
"..."
"Well?"
I blinked again at the sudden irritation in his voice and lowered her gaze to his tattooed chest.
"...I'm not saying."
"Come on!"
"...No...no way!", she shut her eyes, wondering herself if the flush on her cheeks were too noticeable.
"Come on!", by this time, his irritation had blown up to the roof.
"No...", she whined.
"Just one then!"
"...I wished that you would be nicer to me."
"...What kind of a wish is that? I'm equally nice to everyone!"
"Are you kidding me? You're the meanest guy out there!"
"I'm just really mature!"
"Like, yeah right...!"
"Why you..."
"But anyway...I told you my wish. I'm going to finish off with the rest of the stars in the sky!"
"...But really, what else did you wish for?"
"Kensei-kun...", she groaned and closed her eyes again.
"Why can't you just tell me?"
"It's...too embarrassing!"
"You don't have to be embarrassed with me you know!"
"Yes I do..."
"Okay fine. I'm not going to ask you to tell me all your wishes. But just one more then."
"...Why are you so persistent today?"
"I'm just...curious."
'I'm curious to see if any of your other wishes are about me...'
"...I've made the same wish on each and every other star..."
"...Really?", he seemed genuinely surprised, "Just tell me then."
"...I can't!"
"...Princess..."
She slowly looked over to the silver haired Taicho. She could tell that her blush grew more radiant with her realization of how close their hands really were.
"...Okay. Fine...I'll tell you. But...you have to promise not to get angry at me!", she pointed her finger at him, to which he nodded.
"...", he said nothing but only nodded, "Okay."
"...", she looked down at her fidgeting fingers and bit her lips.
"..."
"...", one third silence grew around them. His curious spiked again and his anticipation became unbearable.
"What is it?", he snapped, to which her blush grew.
"I...I..."
"...?"
"I wished that...you know...you...you..."
His eyes started twitching, the his fingers gathered two fistfuls of his hair, tightly pulling on them.
"...Come on!"
"You...would...", she whined and shot up from her lying position.
"I wished on each and every star that you would kiss me!", I cried and covered her face.
His eyes widened and if possible, his tanned face had grown even more crimson than her own. The fourth silence swept through the field of grass. She held her face within her sleeved kimono moving not even one inch. The Ninth Division Taicho scratched his chin, perplexed at what he should have done at this particular moment.
And then finally, he sat up behind her and enveloped her smaller form in his arms.
She tensed and tucked her chin into her collarbone.
"Each and every star?"
"...Mmmhmmm.", I squeaked out.
He nodded in understanding, arms tightening around her even more. She gasped and slowly let one eye peek out of her fingers.
"Kensei-kun..."
"Well then,", he whispered and one one hand pulled her creamy hands away from her red face, "That's a lot of stars up there..."
The black haired female shied away from him and attempted at pulling herself out of his muscled arms.
'So that's how it feels like...'
Kensei grunted and pulled her back, forcing her face to turn to his own.
"...Princess."
"I'm sorry..."
He grew angry, 'Why are you sorry? There's nothing to be sorry about this!"
"But it made you uncomfortable..."
"...", he frowned and closed his eyes, "No it didn't..."
Her eyebrows raised up to her forehead, her cheeks grew even more red than before.
"It didn't?"
"I said it didn't, didn't I?", he glared at her and nuzzled her neck.
"...", she shifted around so that her chest was face his own bare one.
He stared at her and then up to the sky, "That's got to be an endless void of stars in the sky. The universe is infinite after all."
"No it isn't..."
"Yes. It is. Got that?", he growled and glared at her.
Kensei, who saw how the moon reflecting the harshness of the red on her cheeks, softened his gaze.
"Okay.", she whispered and focused her attention to his strong neck.
"Good.", he nodded in satisfaction and pulled the black haired girl even closer him to. By this point, her arms were glued in between the two of them.
"...Kensei-kun."
"Yep...there's definitely numerous amounts of stars you just wished on."
She nodded embarrassingly.
"...Then..."
Her eyes widened as her back hit the softness of the tall blades. Kensei shadowed every piece of light around her, so the only thing that she could direct her undivided attention to was his breath on her neck.
"I should start making your wish come true right now, Princess."
"K-Kensei-"
He brought the final silence of the night into presence with one peck on her lips. One deeper one came. The third kiss lingered on longer than the first two. The fourth involved a flick of his tongue. Hers. One rough murmur. And one tiny hum.
One kiss followed the previous one. Occupying the rest of the night for the strangers of the woods..
...
...
...
The pitter and patter of heavy rainfall rumbled through her ears, beating at her eardrums until she couldn't even hear the sounds of her bones breaking anymore.
The pain was unfortunately everything but gone, nothing but present. She would have whimpered or screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that somehow her sense of touch could vanish or maybe that the death grip on her limbs would release on command.
To scream means to show suffering. Of the things she could still remember from a past childhood continuously fading away, she was taught never to let anyone see her suffer.
So she would hold it in. She'll keep up her apathetic facade no matter how much she wanted to squirm and screech into the air.
"Never allow anyone to see you suffer."
If she could move her lips, the corners would have curled upward into the skies.
Never allow anyone to see you suffer.
She would have let him see that side of her. No matter what her social standing was or his.
And he would have kindheartedly kissed them all away. Shower her with the tens of hundreds of kisses like the nights spent in the open plain grass field.
But...
Experimentation.
Hollowfication.
Execution.
Escape.
Criminal.
Those words cut their ties. The threads she and him wounded wildly around their very being was roughly disconnected, pulling at her heart.
Making it bleed.
You are no longer here to protect me Kensei.
Kensei...
You promised never to leave me alone.
But you did in the end.
Yes, he began tying the first red string together. He tied the next thousands as well. And then she let go of her hesitation and began knotting them together even more. And she was a fool for doing that. Because in the end, after all the tight knots she had secured between them, no matter how strong they were stood no chance against the
harsh
rough
paining
tugs he made as he snatched them away.
He's gone.
Kensei's gone.
He was pulled out of her thoughts by the softening of the cold rain. It was still loud though, but just a bit more silent, enough just to let her hear the sounds of a zanpakuto slicing through the thick air and water.
She pulled her eyes from the ground and looked directly at the blade aimed at her throat. The hilt of it led to a hand followed by an arm, then a shoulder, shaggy brown hair and then the sinister eyes of none other than Sosuke Aizen.
When deep brown clashed against mahogany, the rain poured down heavily once more. She couldn't hear the sound waves travel to her. She didn't even have to try to read his lips. She knew what he was saying. What he was asking. What he was demanding of her in exchange for her life she knew he wouldn't intend to keep living after the secret was revealed.
The key to the Soul King's Dimension, that's what he's demanding her to hand over.
She said nothing. Why say anything? If it wasn't for him, then maybe Kensei could have stayed hers for the rest of time.
She turned to face the two Shinigami standing behind him. They were at fault too. She would never tell the location of it.
Upon not hearing the proper response he wanted, the brown haired man tilted his chin up. It signaled to the Hollow to grind her joints together more.
She did not scream still, though the difficulty of breathing made it so that her raspy intake of breath was heard.
He spoke again. She remained monotone. Aizen spoke about her life again.
And her lips twitched.
Her life? He couldn't bribe or threaten her anymore with her life. She didn't want it anymore.
Oh, how the pain was unbearable, she pondered in her mind as the monster squeezed harder. She felt the bones crack again. No, not cracked,
Snapped.
It should have killed her, after feeling ten or plus bones break under pressure. But the evil and horrible Shinigami, daring to stand before her made sure that it wouldn't happen. "Let her suffer some more, we'll get it out of her soon enough." He was toying with her life, not letting her die, but not letting her live.
I'll help you with that...
Her lips twitched one final time, before breaking out into the sweetest smile she's ever radiated since his execution date was announced.
Aizen stopped talking and gave and equally perfect smile. The tip of his hypnotic sword poked at her long throat, and the hollow grasped onto her frail body even more.
Yes, the suffering was very painful.
But she would never allow anyone to see her suffer. Not anymore.
Her smile turned smug and wicked, before her eyes dimmed and became void of emotion, the corners of her lips falling back neutrally. Her head tilted forward, her chin rested on the dirty fingers of the massive Menos.
She could have passed for a sleeping girl, if it wasn't for all the blood that now gushed out from her lips.
He lowered his sword, frowning, and placed the metal under her fallen chin to examine her beautiful face.
"...What happened?", a young Gin asked from behind him.
"I thought that you made sure she wouldn't die from the Menos holding her.", Tousen added in.
"I wouldn't have let that happen. But she didn't die from the Menos.", the brown haired man replied, "She bit her tongue to bring everything she knew into death."
"...Shit!", Gin smiled, raising his shoulders up. "The Princess just died, Soul Society would be too happy about dis huh?"
"...How unfortunate."
Aizen used the fabric of the dead maiden's orange kimono to wipe away the blood on Kyoka Suigetsu, "No. No one will realize that she is dead. And no one will come looking for her.
Her bones will forever remain here in the Crying Forest."
And they left, leaving her there to rot.
Of the three Shinigami, the shortest one with the silver hair briefly halted to look back at the Princess' corpse now collapsed on the ground.
His small hands bunched into hard fists.
His stoic mask was still in place.
"..."
'I'm sorry.'
And he left as well.
…
…
...
When she bit, she bit hard. Enough to draw blood, and even enough to engulf herself in pure bright light.
Was this the meaning of your life flashing before your eyes?
When the white light dispersed, instead of finding herself held hostage by the Fifth Division Lieutenant, a small lady stood before her. She wasn't in the raining forest anymore. She was upon some white clouds, and clear blue sky completing the puffy cottons. The princess no longer wore the wet silk rags of her kimono, but was clothed in a simple white yukata.
The old woman, dressed in a replica yukata except for in violet handed her a small stone bowl, holding in a clear liquid that resembled drinking water.
It wasn't drinking water though. It was amnesia serum.
She, the Princess has died, and was now preparing to be reborn in the world of the living.
She's dead.
And maybe it was for the best, after everyone left her behind.
As if it wasn't the first time she was here, the younger maiden took the bowl by her two hands and brought it to her lips.
"My dear,", the old senior spoke, her voice gentle and loving, "you must drink the entire liquid."
Her mahogany eyes looked at the old ones understandably, and began pouring the serum down her throat in the most refined way, handing the stone bowl back to the lady before bowing. She bowed back in courtesy and looked onward as the younger girl was engulfed by light again.
Before she turned into the glowing white orb that shot down to the visible Earth-the home of humans-below, the old lady saw her smile in content and close her wide almond eyes. The lady sighed and shook her head, mourning that such a beauty died at such a young age.
When she brought her attention back to the bowl where the Princess drank in, the old lady gasped.
She had instructed her to drink the entire potion.
The stone white bowl was three quarters of a way completed.
She shook, though she wasn't angry.
"We'll be seeing another one with unnatural powers again in Karakura Town!", she softly laughed to herself, before making her appointment with the next spirit passing.
…
…
...
No matter what they were, Shinigami or Human or Hollow, none will see the billions of networks of white orbs flying around the entire globe, shooting into homes and into the wombs of mother's stomachs.
One particular circled the blue water planet for nearly one century, before the time came for herself to shoot inside the swelling stomach like the rest of her companions.
It was the womb of a Japanese nurse and her partner a Japanese business man, residing in the town of Karakura, Tokyo, Japan, just as the old lady in the clouds had said.
…
…
…
Ninety-two years later
Karakura Town, Japan
Karakura Clinic
"My!", Kurosaki Isshin proclaimed, "What's her name, my star pupils?"
"It's Hamasaki Matsuhime, sensei."
"Matsu, named after her father.", she giggled and looked lovingly at her husband.
Hamasaki Yue smiled down at her, "And the suffix -hime, because she truly resembles a Royal Princess from a hidden world."
Isshin smiled, but the joy didn't reach his eyes.
'Aizen.'
…
…
…
One hundred seven years later
Karakura Town, Japan
Karakura High School
Class 1A
9:30 AM
One hour after the start of school
'Stealthy...stealthy...', I cheered on as I placed a hand on the shoji doors opening to my classroom. Double checking that the teacher was busily writing on the far board, I quietly pulled, allowing the sliding door (that I oiled with care for daily situation such as these) to silently open. Until it was just enough to let me go through, I stopped and quietly stepped into the room littered with posters encouraging academic pursuits.
Like the beginning, I shut the door behind me and began tip toeing through the columns of desk, while everyone looked at me and then at our sensei.
'Stealthy...stealth-'
"It's only the third day back from summer vacation and already you've begun your streak of constantly being late.", the firm voice of our female teacher rang out.
I froze on the spot, my head turning down to conceal my face.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Miss Hamasaki?", she frowned.
I sighed and slumped my shoulders, turning around to the front of the class and bowing to her.
"I'm sorry."
"Okay.", she shrugged and began writing in the green chalkboard again.
I gave a triumphant smile and fisted my hands and running to the back of the class.
"I don't get it.", an orange haired boy yawned, "You're always late. But sensei never gives you detention or yells at you like crazy."
I smiled once more and patted his shoulders, "It's me we're talking about here! And besides, sensei is always like that to everyone."
"Not to me...", he mumbled and crossed his arms. I blinked.
"Were you late Ichigo?"
"...Yes."
I grinned sat down onto my own seat, diagonally across from him in the second last row, pulling his notebook with me. He grabbed it and pulled the blue book back onto his desk and held it in place.
I frowned and opened up my backpack, "I'll take your notes for you if you let me copy the notes I missed."
"No! I'm using it right now!", he hissed.
"I'm offering to write your notes!"
"No!"
"Chad, may I use your notes then?"
The tall brown boy looked at me and brought his black book out for me. I glared at my orange haired friend when his own hand latched onto the thin book.
"Let go!", I whispered and yanked at his book, "Woah, when did your grip get so strong? Did you work out in the summer or something?"
"...Okay, let's leave it at that.", he hesitated and looked suspiciously at his tall dark friend. I stared at him oddly.
"Are you alright? Suddenly you just became pale in the face...You're hiding something aren't you?"
He snapped and flushed red, "No I am not!"
"The fact that you're not using conjunctions tells me that you are.", I squinted my eyes, pursed my lips and tugging at Chad's black notebook, easily pulling it out of the orange haired teenager's hold.
"Hey-!"
"HOLLOW! HOLLOW!"
"Kya!", I screamed and pulled the notebook to my chest, over my heart, "What was that?"
"T-that's...sensei! I have to go to the washroom!", he shouted and zoomed past all of us. I blinked when I saw something wooden hang off of his belt hook.
"What's that? Looks odd.", I turned to Chad.
He opened his mouth but froze, closing it and opting for another response to my question, "Wait, Hamasaki, you can see that badge?"
"Huh? What do you mean by that?", I looked up at him as he followed in pursuit with Ichigo, "Chad!"
"Chad! Where are you going?"
"...Washroom...!", he shouted and hurried out the doorway.
"What's with everyone today?", I asked myself before eying Ichigo's blue notebook. I snatched it and cackled, taking out a permanent marker and scribbling nonsense in the following six sheets of paper after his scratchy writing.
I love you Ichigo-kun! Mwa mwa mwa! Heart heart Matsuhime heart heart
I shook my head and giggled, snapping the book shut and turning to the back to throw the doodles back on its owner's desk. All of a sudden, I felt the uneven breathing of some beside my ear, causing me to lean back in surprise.
"Hey!", I hissed and placed a hand on my chest, sighing when I realized it wasn't Ichigo, "I thought that he came back..."
As I took a good look at the boy in front of me, I realized that he wasn't in our class before, and that it was the first time I've ever seen him. Blonde hair cropped to the base of his neck in a bowl cut style and thick choppy bangs framed his thin face. The face itself showed dull wide eyes...that were sparkling with disbelief and a slightly parted mouth to show a perfect row of teeth.
He looked like some sort of voodoo doll, I suppose.
"Who are you?", I asked to which he closed his thin lips and swallowed.
"...Hirako Shinji."
"Oh. You're new then. Sorry I couldn't get to school in time to see your introduction.", I gave a goofy smile and pulled at my knee high socks, "Nice to meet you."
"...It's an honour to see you..."
"Hm...", I shrugged and was about to turn back to the front of the class, but he held my attention with the next word out of his mouth.
"Princess..."
My half turned neck veered back around and looked surprisingly at him, "How-"
"Namie Hime,", he hissed and leaned forward in his seat, so that his face was closer to mine, "Why did you come here? You should have just lived comfortably in the Soul Society! Do you know that because Toko thought you came here, she ran to this world too?"
I dumbly stared at him, having no idea what he was ranting on about.
"Namie Hime! Say something! And why did you never come to us? Why are you even a student here under a fake name of Hamasaki?"
...Fake name? I was lost.
"What?"
"Do you know that with your reiatsu, you could be attracting a lot of monsters into this place? With no sword to defend yourself and no knowledge of destruction chants, the World of the Living is NOT for you!"
I raised one hand to shut him up, "Are you saying something in nerd talk over here?"
"Princess! Don't jerk around with this! It is a matter of your life!"
"Um...", I looked at the other students taking noted and then back at the new student. With his glaring the life out of me and myself not knowing what he was blabbering on about and not know what else to say, I slowly creaked my spine to turned back to the board.
He kept on poking me and demanding an explanation for the rest of the day, to which I swallowed and shifted my butt closer to the edge of my seat, creating distance between the two of us. Oh gosh, I'm sitting near a freak who has been playing too much Internet adventure games...
The bells chimed and signaled the end of the school day. I waited impatiently for the other students to stand and bowed together before snatching my bag and zooming out the door.
I made it over to the shoe lockers before an arm shot out and grabbed onto my shoulder.
I screamed and clutched onto my side bag nervously. Shinji, as he called himself turned me around and bent down.
"Namie Hime.", he said seriously.
"Can you just give it a rest!", I huffed and stomped over to my slot, the blonde hot on my heels.
"Not until you give me a reason why you left the Seireitei!"
"I don't know what you're saying!"
"You should! If you didn't, then why do you have THAT?"
He was referring to the mark in the centre of my forehead, three diagonal marks in the shape of tiny sunflower seeds side by side and spaced out evenly.
I gasped and pulled his hand out of my black bangs, pushing him back and combing through the short locks again, "How dare you!"
"See?"
"It's a birthmark!", I shouted back and pulled the indoor sandal off my feet, "Something that I was born with you uncouth man!"
"Princess!"
"Okay, cut it with the Princess thing. I don't know how you could have gotten my name without anyone telling you it, but stay away from me! Both of my parent's are cops!"
That was a lie of course. They were business people who worked in America, and couldn't fight for their lives.
"So you ARE Nami Hime!", he pointed at me, stepping closer.
"I'm NOT!", I screeched out of frustration and pulled at the heels of my converse, "I'm name is Princess, yes. But it's not Namie Hime! It's Matsuhime!"
"You can change your name one thousand times but you are still going to be Namie Hime from one hundred years ago!", he shook my shoulders, overwhelmed by anger.
"Kya!", I hollered and force myself away from him, "One hundred years ago? You're crazy! For the last time, my name is Matsuhime! Hamasaki Matsuhime! Not your Nami Hime from last century! She's dead! DEAD DEAD DEAD!"
I jumped back a little when I saw the changed look on his face. It was taken back and overwhelmed with emotions. His arms rested against his sides, lips turning down, his shoulders slouching even more than what was normal for him, eyes glistening with...pain? Mentality?
I didn't stay long to clear that out. I ran out the main doors and to the public streets.
"What a weird person!"
…
…
…
"..."
He stepped into the seemingly abandoned warehouse that sheltered the eight of them for the past century. Unlike how he usually carried himself out to the world in a goofy and awkward manner, Shinji expressed a grim and pain looked on his face as he examined the contents inside the building.
No mush later after the door was shut tight behind him did another blonde show up. She walked casually over to him and crossed her arms, examining his facial features.
"What's wrong with you?", she piped up, breaking the silence.
He stared down at her and then turned away, marching over to one of the many hallways that led to everyone's bedrooms.
"Hey!", he growled and pushed his back so that he would stumble with the next five steps, "Are you ignoring me?"
He remained silent and continued walking, stopping only when he came across one of the metal doors adorning three large dents on it. Though he may have stopped walking, Shinji kept on with the silent facade as he stared at particularly nothing on the door.
"Hey!", Hiyori ran up to him and kicked his ankle, though he did not budge, "What the? What's wrong with you Shinji?"
"..."
"WHY ISN'T HE ANSWERING ME?", she screamed and walked over to the next door over, and turned the knob.
Yet he kept silent, looking own at the floor and then back at the gray metal door.
"HEY! ARE YOU DEAF NOW OR SOMETHING?", she stomped and threw her sandal at him. No response.
One of the other doors opened and a few heads poked out. A girl with green hair emerged from the largest door within the hallway following a rotund male with dark skin and baby pink hair. Three other doors similar in appearance opened, showing that each of them belonged to a raven haired girl, and a man in a green jumpsuit and a blonde tired looking male. They all looked at one another as the blonde in the red sweat suit continued to knock the daylights out of the lanky boy.
"ANSWER ME WOULD YOU?", she hollered and gave him one kick in the face, successfully making him collide with the white wall opposite of the dented door.
Said door opened abruptly and a black boot came into view, following two gloved hands gripping the vertical ledges of the door. Out stepped a tall and enormously muscular man with cropped silver hair and piercings. He looked around to the other faces in the lit hallway, to Hiyori and then tp the former Fifth Company Captain.
He raised one eyebrow, the one with the gold hoop, "Would you please be quiet?", he growled in irritation, baring his top row of white teeth.
As he examined the blonde man more closely, he noticed that he was beginning to get up from the cold floor, his eye shadowed by his thick bangs. The usually grin he had was nowhere to be found and was replaced by an unfortunate glum look.
"...What's with you? And why were you standing in front of my doorway like that?", he questioned, his eyes squinting.
"That's what I'M trying to figure out!", the shorter blonde ran up to the two poking the lanky blonde's elbow, "Hey! Hey!"
"Yo, what's up?", he tilted his chin leaning against the ledge and staring intently at his friend. It was a rare cause for him to every act this way. Whenever the occasion came up though, there was always bad news to follow. Kensei made it his job to know of everything.
"...", Shinji looked up at him and after a few seconds later, turned to the side to look out at the end of the hallway to the makeshift living room.
"Shinji? What's the matter?"
"You alright man?"
"Master Shinji, are you alright?"
"Shinji!"
"Shinji?"
"Shinji-"
The man in the centre of attention lifted one arm to silence everyone of his long time friends and sighed, "You're not making this any easier for me to say."
"Shinji?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Shinji?"
"Tell us!"
He growled and glared at each and everyone of them with great intensity. They stopped speaking once more and looked at each other, curiosity spiking up to the roof.
His eyes softened when landing on the silver haired Kensei's. The former Ninth Taicho's face scrunched up because he noticed, causing his own to become more pained. Finally, his mouth opened, revealing the intricate piercing nesting in the centre of his tongue.
"I have news on Nami Hime..."
They were all taken back by this one single phrase. Kensei's eyes widened, and he stepped closer to the shorter man.
"The Princess? Quickly! Tell us then!", he shouted in his face. Usually, Shinji would have back away, but not this time, and it really worried Kensei. Mind anyone, he wasn't worried about the blonde, for the past one hundred years, he had been sitting on the edge of his seat, jumping and senses heightening whenever there was a topic on the black haired Princess.
His hopes were lifted, and for once in his life, he wasn't breathing heavily from a fight or because he had just finished a round of shouting at Mashiro.
They all looked at him, waiting for the news of the Princess they had left behind. Their attention didn't falter even when the shortest girl, one with dull black hair stepped into the scene.
Her name was Toko.
"Did you just say Princess...Shinji?', she squeaked, moving out of her own room from the end of the hall.
"Oh...Toko...", Shinji weakly grinned and waited for her to bring her feet over to the rest of the crowd.
He looked at her when she stood in between him and her old owner's lover. She wasn't one of them, but one year after their escape with Tessai, Kisuke and Yoruichi, she had somehow managed to get through the Sekaimon by herself. The seemingly five year old girl literally crashed through the warehouse's doors, and until this day, they had welcomed her to live with them.
They had all been waiting for the day when the Hime would come back, ever since the shocking news reached them along with the little maid. Apparently, the Nami Hime had left the barrier surrounding the Seireitei and afterward, just disappeared. Her spirit energy had suddenly disappeared, but the fact that Hollows never ate all of their prey and her body was never found was enough proof for the Commanding Captain that she wasn't dead, and Nami Hime was somewhere to be found alive.
They could do nothing else but believe and hope that she will be able to survive on her own, at least until the day they cross paths again. All of them had been waiting. But none of them have been waiting as desperately as this girl named Toko and Muguruma Kensei.
"Shinji?", she asked, her voice croaky from the lack of talking on her end to the other Visoreds, "Shinji, what were you going to say about Nami Hime? Is she here?"
The short girl was about to hurry toward the main door before his long finger caught her shoulder.
"She's not here."
"Aw...", she sighed and looked up toward Kensei, her self proclaimed father figure. In return, he stared back at her similar coloured orbs, trying to lift up her spirits, meanwhile attempting to keep his disappointment concealed.
"So Shinji,", the silver haired man grew serious and peered at the blonde, "Could you just quit making us curious and keeping Toko worried and just spill the beans?"
"...You mean don't keep you worried, Kensei?", he back talked, receiving a glare from the mentioned man.
"...What news do you have on the Princess? Tell-"
"Would you just try to keep calm?", Shinji cut through preventing all of them from hearing an earful from the Ninth Captain's. Immediately, he closed his mouth. It was worth it, if he could learn more about the Princess.
"...Look, Nami,", he began, brushing his fingers through his yellow locks, "Do you know how everyone thinks that she ran to the Human World after she went missing? That's only half true from the actual truth. She didn't run to the Human World, she CAME to the Human World."
He blinked twice, irritation growing with every passing millisecond, "That the heck? That means the same thing."
"Just...let me finish,", he closed his eyes and allowed his head to roll back, "There's no one that can confirm it, but when Nami went missing, and everyone thought she ran after us, she was probably killed."
Kensei erupted with enormous anger, "How can you SAY that? Of course she didn't die! I wouldn't have allowed that-"
"But Kensei! You weren't there!", the blonde shouted back, snapping his head back to stare at his friend square in the eye, "You left her! No! We ALL left her! Not a single Shinigami in this building or in the Seireitei bothered to go after her! She was killed! By who I can only guess was Aizen."
"No...she's not dead, you can't prove it. Right guys? He's just spouting nonsense.", he looked on hopefully at the others. Some of them shared the some of them shared the same expression he wore, some looked as if they were beginning, If not already believing the blonde's words.
"Shinji,", Love began, "How can you be sure of it?"
"...I...I...saw her today."
They all turned back to look at him, eyes wide in shock. Kensei allowed one large sigh escape and took a confident step forward, placing his hands on Shinji's shoulders. A relaxed grin played upon his lips as his tone lightened, "Geez! Why didn't you just say so? Man Shinji, you had me all pissed off just now. But I guess its worth it, now that we can finally see the Princess again."
He stared down at the girl called Toko and smiled, "You hear that Toko? We've found the Princess! She can live with us now, and we'll always protect her, just like old times-"
"Kensei...", she whispered, silencing him in an instant. Though his smile never disappeared, they had definitely weakened when he saw the hopeless look she gave him, "I don't think that's what Shinji is saying..."
His eyebrows furrowed together, but his smile never faltered, "Hey...Toko...why are you..."
"Kensei.", Love began and shook his head, "Just listen."
He stared at the long haired Visored, but shook off all the negativity and beamed his smile again, "So Shinji, when is the Princess moving over?"
Shinji's gazed hardened, "Dead. She's dead. She was killed, Kensei."
But Kensei's smile didn't disappear. He treated this whole notion of death casually. Kensei held onto the fact that Shinji had said he met her.
So she was still alive.
He wanted to move...but why wasn't his feet letting him.
"I...don't understand...", he whispered, but his smile never left.
He could hear Mashiro whining sadly, and Lisa, from the corner of his eye, was trying to comfort the young Toko as she began whimpering.
The corner of his lips quivered. He was sure everyone saw.
"Shinji,", it was Hiyori, "Explain it to him more clearly."
He sighed, turning to look at the floor, at most of the females breaking down, "She was killed Kensei. She died over one hundred years ago. She died even before Toko came to live with us."
"..."
"Today, when meeting Kurosaki Ichigo, I saw a girl that looked exactly like her in his class. The hair, the eyes, the body structure, the voice and personally. Everything was exactly the same. Even down to the Imperial Family mark on her forehead. She Had it. That's proof enough."
"...Then its her."
Shinji growled, his patience and shell breaking as Kensei never never once stopped himself from keeping that smile plastered on his face.
"...I...I have to go get her. You're putting the princess in more danger by just talking away like this."
"Don't bother, Kensei!", he huffed before continuing, "At first, I believed that it was actually her. Well...it is...but she insisted that she wasn't Nami. The way that she reacted when I talked about Hollows and everything outside of normal human day life told me that she thought I was insane. She doesn't get it. But I kept on trying to force it out of her, make her confess that she was really Nami."
"She must have been hiding it."
Love sighed and stared at Hiyori, who shrugged, "Why would she hide something like that?"
"Exactly. Kensei, look. This is what I meant by that she CAME to the World of the Living. After the Princess died, she was reincarnated into a normal human girl. Her name's Hamasaki Matsuhime. And...when I examined her reiatsu, it isn't the same as the Nami Hime we knew."
"..."
Toko and Mashiro kept on crying.
"..."
"The Fifteenth Princess, Hakusensha Nami, is dead. Dead since one hundred years ago. DEAD DEAD DEAD..."
And everything fell silent between the ones that were not openly mourning with tears.
"Kensei?", Hiyori asked carefully. His chin tilted down and none of them could see his face.
Within perspective of the silver haired Visored, he secretly looked at everyone looking at him with pitiful eyes.
And then, he looked up.
His smile widened.
"Well...", he sighed, "The dead is dead...". Kensei's smile widened and he pulled Toko away from Lisa.
"..."
They all looked at him. He raised an eyebrow.
"What? You can't just live the rest of your life grieving in her death now can you? Come on! Lighten up!"
"..."
"Pf...what's wrong with you guys? Don;t look at me like that. I'm fine. The Princess will live on in my heart."
"..."
"You're really downing my vibe, you know that? Like Shinji said, she's dead.", the silver haired man smiled, "We can't do anything. We all have to die some day right? It's life. Let's just move on. Forget about the Princess and be happy, like me. I'm fine. I'm fine can't you see that? So don't...don't look at me like that!"
He looked down at the girl holding onto his hand, "Let's go inside my room, okay Toko? Everything will be okay."
He gently pushed her in, following shortly after her. Before he shut the door and locked it, he turned back to smile at every other Visored remaining in the halls. Mashiro had retreated to her room, and so had Lisa and Hiyori, leaving Shinji and the other males looking on at him.
He smiled, the brightest smile he could ever conjure up, "Don't be sad guys. It'll be all okay.", he nodded and patted Shinji's shoulder roughly, "Thanks, Shinji, for telling me."
With that the silver haired man shut the door on their faces, before any of them could reply.
Once the metal door was locked, Kensei looked over at the five year old looking child behind him, wiping her fingers repeatedly over her eyes. He sighed and ruffled her hair on his way crossing over to the side of the large bedroom. Upon reaching the desk, he pulled open one of the drawers and began throwing paper everywhere.
Toko stared after her father figure as she ran over to his bed and sat on the hard mattress and pulled at a the single lone stuffed gray bear into her short arms. She resumed her loud crying, but allowed her eyes to peer over the large animal to see what the ex-Captain was up to.
He was shocked to see that he wasn't beating anything up like he often did when he was mad. He hummed when he held up a clean sheet off paper and walked over to the bare wall of his room. She blinked and grasped the animal he bought for her tightly as he sat down and laid his back on the cold white wall of his room. The paper was held pridefully in his gloved hands.
Toko frowned when she noticed that the stupid smile was still present. She stepped off the bed and ran to him, her feet between his ankles, his legs laid outstretched in front of his sitting form.
"Kensei...", she whimpered as he allowed her to sit down and lean into his firm chest.
"Huh?", he smiled, patting her head with the hand not grasping the white sheet of paper.
"...Why aren't you mad?"
He laughed, "Why would I be mad?"
"...But...Nami Hime..."
"I know she died, but we can't do anything about it.", he sighed.
After a moment of hearing her hiccups, he brought the paper in front of the two of them, bringing a gasp to escape the child's lips.
"This is the first time I've shown this picture to anyone else.", explained, "I got it one winter a long time ago. It took hours for the guy to draw it perfectly and made me pay stacks of money..."
"It's Nami Hime...", she confirmed and let a finger touch the cool sheet of paper. On it was a portrait drawing of the Princess, in a kimono with a single hair ornament adorning her styled black hair.
"The guy actually asked me if there was anyone that looked like that in real life. I told him that it was my girlfriend, and he laughed, saying that I had a lot of luck if I can find someone like her..."
"Kensei?", she whispered looked at the calloused fingers tracing the outline of the picture's heart shaped face.
"And you know what I said? I-"
"Kensei!", she cried and began crying loudly again, shaking and wailing out her Princess' name.
He swallowed and smiled, paying no heed to the cry child and continuing to stare at the smiling drawing, "..."
"...sniff..."
Kensei smiled and brought the paper closer to his face, "I told him 'Thanks for drawing it so perfectly', because it really DOES look exactly like her, and its the first picture I've have of the Princess..."
He listened to the loud and pained cries of Toko leaning on his chest, bring the picture even closer to his face.
"When I look at it...even though it's not really a photograph of the Princess...", he whispered, his mouth only hovering a few inches away from the portrait's lips. They were shaking.
"It's not really her, but the drawing is so good that I actually feel like Nami Hime is really present with me then..."
He closed his eyes, allowing his lips to press gingerly over the shaded paper's. Only a moment passed before he let the paper fall out of his hand and onto the floor. In suit with his lips, his entire body began to shake.
Toko turned around to look at his shadowed face, "Are...sniff..are you angry Kensei?"
His smile remained, though his eyes were shielded as he shook his head, "No...why would I be? But..."
He clenched his teeth and hugged the smaller child roughly. She began crying again and calling out the name of the girl they had been waiting for for the last ten decades.
"Why does my entire body feel like its going to break?"
He allowed her hollers to fill the entire room and the rest of the warehouse, in order to blank his mind from thinking of screaming at the top of his lungs.
-TBC-
In the title of this Fanfic, the red string in the Japanese culture signifies a bond between two lovers for eternity, or so I collect. So 'A Red String Under Ten Million Stars' should tell the reader that this story is about a love that bloomed underneath ten million stars.
Anyway, please review!
Tammy Sakamoto