Work Text:
WOAH!
I started this story YEARS ago. I think back in like, 2018? It's been a little document I'd work on here and there when I was bored, and I finally decided to publish it! Woo!
Along with One Piece, I also LOVE Bleach. This story was actually going to be called something different, but the current title makes the most sense and I love it.
This is going to be a LONG story, and I'm so proud. I really hope you guys like it.
Gonna rate this T for mentions of violence, blood, SA/assault and other suggestive themes. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Bleach, the characters, the manga or the anime. All rights go to Tite Kubo.
Anyways, ENJOY!
Chapter 1: Enter! The Demons
Another birthday come and gone…
Another demon crashing the party…
Rukia let out a sigh as she closed her book and turned off her light. Rukia had just finished celebrating her 25th birthday. And as always, it was bittersweet.
Rukia Kuchiki. A 25-year-old woman living in Karakura Town, trying to make a living as a struggling new artist. Short, thin, and relatively quiet, Rukia’s been having some trouble fitting in after moving to the big city only a short year ago. But that’s not because she doesn’t enjoy doing the same things every ordinary young adult does. Like everyone else, she enjoys movies, drinking, walks in the park, bike riding, swimming. The ordinary things.
However…
Rukia is plagued by an unwanted ability… the ability to see demons.
A dark shadow shot up her wall, followed by a low growl. Rukia would lie if she said she was used to it. She’s only been seeing demons since she was very young, but seeing them never gets any easier.
Since she was a very small girl, Rukia has been able to see demons. Not ghosts… not spirits, and not “apparitions”, but actual, soul-eating demons. The demons she sees vary in size, shape, color, and sound. But one thing that never changes is how terrifying they look. They almost all have white, skeleton faces, long limbs with sharp claws, and some have tails and glowing red eyes. They all always have long, sharp teeth, and emit noises that can only be described as “demonic”. Some walk on two legs, some crawl around on four. Some move quickly while others saunter around. Some are small and others are gargantuan, taller than some buildings. Every day Rukia sees a new demon, one not like any other, and some in mass quantities. She’s been seeing them since she was a baby, but the problem is,
No one else can see them but her, and no one believes her when she tells them.
For about two decades now, Rukia has been trying to convince others she can see these demonic beings, but no one believes her. Not a single person. So, after numerous failed attempts, Rukia accepted that she can only see these things from the underworld and has stopped telling people. She figured if she stopped she’d be able to make new friends, but even she’s failed to make one single friend.
Rukia watched the shadow stalk across the wall for a few moments before rolling her eyes and pulling the covers over her head. For some reason, the demons she saw never try to harm her. They act like she’s not even there. Some give her eye contact and even brush up against her, but don’t seem to see her. Which is fine by her. The last thing she wanted was the be harassed by these things. She just wished they wouldn’t crawl around her room when she was trying to sleep!
As Rukia tried to settle into bed she was stirred by a strange feeling. An overwhelming feeling of… what was that? She opened her eyes and sat up. The shadowy demon on the ceiling began to shiver and growl, its voice echoing before he raced across the ceiling and disappeared. Confused, Rukia looked around. Her room was in order, but saw a bright red light shining from behind her curtain. She hopped out of bed and pulled back her curtain. In the distance, she saw a bright red light shining from the woods far off the city limits.
“What in the world is that?” Rukia muttered. The light got brighter, and brighter. “Is that a comet or something?” Rukia wondered. She took this opportunity to spin around and grab her sketchbook from off her desk. She flipped to a new page before starting to draw with a red pencil. Only after a few strokes, however, the light faded away. She huffed in frustration before tossing her book back on the desk. Just her luck. This could mean inspiration for new piece, though.
Jumping back into bed, Rukia pulled the covers over her shoulders and settling back into bed. It was only until then she felt the odd sensation begin to die down. She has no idea what that was, but for all she knows, it could be a demon playing tricks on her.
“This looks amazing!” the woman’s eyes beamed at the canvas of her beloved cat.
“Thank-you.” Rukia bowed.
“I knew I made the right decision in hiring you to capture my darling kitty. Here’s your payment. Thank-you so much again!” the woman handed Rukia a check and Rukia gave her last thanks before heading off down the road.
Rukia didn’t get many commissions in the area she lived, selling most of her work online. But with the few she did get within her neighborhood, it made receiving payment a lot easier. Though if Rukia had to be honest, it was seeing their reactions that made her day. If she could do this for free, she would. Except, food, bills, and health expenses, are not free.
Throughout the day, Rukia paid for her major bills, and shopped for food, all unusually peacefully. Was it because of the time of day she went out? Was it because of the unusually warmer weather for January? No, it was something else… wait… was it because she didn’t see any demons around? Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Rukia looked around. All the passersby walking about didn’t have shadowy, floating and stalking creatures wandering about. Not a demon in sight… she wondered why.
Then Rukia remembered the light last night. Did that have something to do with it? The weird power that flowed through her room seemed to have scared off the demon last night. And that made Rukia wonder if she was the only one who saw that bizarre light. Maybe she could ask around…
Rukia made her way down the street and saw the folding sign sitting on the sidewalk. “Urahara’s Shop” it read, and had several papers pinned to it, advertising their sales. Rukia entered, and was immediately greeted by the familiar tall man with a mustache and glasses.
“Good morning, Tessai.” Rukia smiled.
Tessai nodded, “Good morning, Rukia. It’s been a while since we last seen you. What have you been up to?” he asked. Rukia grabbed a few things--some paper towels and her favorite candy--and walked up to the counter.
“Income hasn’t been great. Had to budget which left me little to splurge with. But I got a nice check today.” Tessai began ringing up her things as Rukia looked around. She didn’t see the man she intended to. “Where’s Urahara?” she asked.
“Out for a bit. He’s been stressed stocking the store. He should be back in a few hours.” Tessai said. Rukia nodded.
“So,” Rukia started, trying to sound casual. “Did you happen to see that red star yesterday?” Tessai held off scanning her items, giving her a confused look.
“Red star?” he asked.
“Yeah, there was a bright light in the woods last night. Kinda looked like a shooting star. Did you see it?” she asked. Tessai was still for second before shaking his head.
“Nope, can’t say I did.” he put her things in a plastic bag.
“Oh, well maybe I was dreaming it.” Rukia played it off. Probably just another demonic entity only she could see… but it was so vivid. It lit up everything around the city. Could she really have dreamt that?
“It’s that time of year that shooting stars get very bright and sometimes look like flying saucers.” Tessai handed her the bags. “Maybe it was a comet close to Earth.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Rukia played along. She had a strange feeling what she saw wasn’t just a comet or a star… Maybe Urahara saw it… “Well, I better be going. I have another commission due tomorrow and I have to finish it by tomorrow.” Rukia gave a smile and turned towards the door.
“I’ll let Urahara know you stopped by.” Tessai waved her off and Rukia set off for home.
Evening rolled around, and Rukia returned her brush to her jar of water and gave a tired sigh. It took her four hours to complete the border, but she’s sure the customer will love it. She placed the canvas in the corner of the room to allow it to dry and moved towards her dresser to get dressed for bed. She pick out a pair of pajamas and slid into them before reaching under her pillow to get her book. Once she felt the book, she tucked herself in and turned on the lamp to begin reading. However, a second later, the lamp’s light burned out. With an irritated huff, Rukia threw her book down and rolled out of bed.
“Damn bulbs… so cheap.” she mumbled as she dug around her kitchen drawer. She grabbed a new bulb and made her way back to her dark room. The sun settled quickly in Karakura Town during winter. By six in the evening, everything was pitch black, including her tiny apartment. She screwed the bulb back in and clicked it on, and the bright light lit up the room. With a satisfied smile, she crawled into bed and picked her book back up. A few seconds later, she felt a shadow creep around her walls and sighed. Damn demons… she lowered her book to see what was crawling on her walls this time, but let out a shriek when she saw a tall, hooded figure standing in the middle of her room. The figure looked like a tall man… but how did a man get into her apartment?!
“What are you doing here?!” Rukia screamed. They had their back to her, looking around her room and growling deeply. Rukia’s skin began to prickle as a chill filled her room..
“No… not here…” it spoke. Instinctively, Rukia jumped up in bed and hurled her book at the figure. The book bounced off the back of their head and they were sent flying forward, crashing into her desk that held her arts supplies. Grunting, the figure pushed themselves up and rubbed the back of their head.
“Get out you creep! I have more books where that came from!” Rukia screamed. It was then the figure turned around and looked at her. Rukia was surprised to see it was a young man. Dressed in a black gown and hood.
“Huh?” the man stood up and stared at Rukia with a perplexed look before looking behind him, and looking back at Rukia once more.
“Don’t stand there like an idiot! Get out of my house!” Rukia screamed. The man scrunched his face and eyed Rukia down.
“Wait… you can… see me?” the man pointed at himself. Rukia felt her face heat up.
“Of course I can see you! What kind of stupid question is that? Get out!” Rukia reached for another book below her pillow and chucked it at him once more. The man dodged and watched the book bounce off the wall before giving Rukia a shocked look.
“You really can see me!” he said. Rukia reached for another book, and threw it at him once again, this time bouncing it off his forehead. “Damnit! That hurt!” he yelled.
“I said get out!” Rukia reached for another book, but this time the man grabbed her arm.
“Stop it!” Rukia froze.
How did he move so quickly?!
“Fuck, what are you? A walking library?!” the man yelled at her. He squeezed her wrist and Rukia felt her hand go numb and she dropped the book. She gasped and pulled away, backing up against her headboard. The man glared at her before grimacing and rubbing his forehead. “That hurt! What are you throwing books at me for!” he yelled at her.
“Because you’re in my house! How did you even get in here!” Rukia yelled. The man paused before backing away.
“Oh, right… how can you see me again?” he asked. Rukia just looked at him. Was he being serious?
“What do you mean by that? Am I not supposed to see you?” she asked. The man paused before scowling at her.
“Technically, no. You’re not supposed to see me.” he said. Rukia didn’t know what to say.
“And why’s that?” Rukia asked, her impatience and anger boiling.
“As if a human would understand?” he scoffed and turned to walk out the door, until another book bounced off his head. “Will you cut that out!” he whirled around and roared at her, his eyes glowing a deep yellow. Rukia gulped and dropped the other book in her hand. His eyes stopped glowing, and the man stomped towards her once more. He reached out and grabbed Rukia, lifting her up above him and forcing her to look down at her. “Listen here, you little shit! I, for your information, are what humans commonly call ‘reapers’. I reap the lives of the humans who have come to the end of their pathetic lives and save your idiot species from rampant demons trying to eat your souls.” he dropped Rukia back on the bed before beaming his stare down at Rukia. Rukia just looked up at him. She saw a few orange strands of hair poking from behind his hood. “As for you.” he glared at her. “How are you able to see me? Explain yourself!” he yelled. Rukia was speechless this time.
“Uh… I, I don’t know.” she said. The man raised an eyebrow at her.
“You don’t know?” he repeated. “Well, if I know anything about humans, it’s that they love to delve into worlds they’re not supposed to. And when they try to toy with the portal of Hell, things like this happen. So, what ouija board were you messing with? What spells were you chanting? And where’s the damn star you drew?” he asked.
“What? No, I didn’t do any of that stuff.” Rukia said.
“Then why can you see me? Humans can’t just see reapers. So how can you?” he asked. Rukia just shrugged, and the male huffed angrily. “Whatever. You’re a waste of my time. You don’t have what I’m looking for anyways.”
“Looking for wha-AH!” Rukia lunged back and stared in horror at the man.
“What? What the Hell is the matter with you?” the man asked. When Rukia pointed behind him, he turned around and saw a four-legged black shadow clinging to the wall, bright red eyes staring at them. “Oh! That’s what you’re looking at.” The man raised his hand, and a bright red orb formed in his palm. With a swift lunge, he launched the orb at the demon and the creature dispersed into dust when the orb exploded on it, black dust sprinkling around the floor of the room before disappearing completely. Once the dust cleared, the man turned back to Rukia. “You can see demons, too?” he asked. Rukia nodded, eyes still wide. The man eyed her down suspiciously. “You are a very peculiar human.” he said. “But enough of this nonsense. I’ve spent way too much time here and revealed too much to you.” the man walked towards the window and opened it.
“H-hey! Wait!” Rukia yelled at him. “You never told how you got in here in the first place!” the man stepped on the sill and turned back and sneered at Rukia.
“Yet another thing you humans would never understand. Later.” he leaped out the window and Rukia jumped out of bed and ran to the window. She looked down but saw nothing. She looked everywhere, up, down, on the side of the building, and even down the street. The man was gone.
“Did that just happen?” Rukia asked herself. “Was I dreaming? I had to be.” Rukia closed her window and made sure it was locked. She ensured her door was locked as well. Before she hopped back into bed, she loaded her pillows with the books she chucked at the man. Just in case he came back. Rukia turned out the light, and pulled the covers over her head. “I’m going to pretend that didn’t happen. After all, there are no such things as ‘reapers’. No way. No how. And tomorrow, I’ll forget about this whole situation.” Rukia sighed, and didn’t get a wink of sleep that night.