Nakama

[~Sachiko~]

The fact that her supposed meal just turned into a hollow just ticked her off. Not only that it happened to be a hollow THAT WAS STRONGER THAN HER to boot. It was infuriating...she prepared to make another trip to the human world...no "meal" of hers was going to one up her.

[~Sachiko~]

Hueco Mundo, the hollow world. This is the world were only the strongest survived. This is the world which she called home.

She slithered along the sands of this world, it was a feeling she had grown used to. Lately, she felt the need to visit the living world more and more often. The reiatsu in the atmosphere felt less and less nourishing every passing day. The satisfactory feeling of eating souls only served only to decrease the time in between meals. With more trips to the living world and more consuming of souls, she was running into those annoying shinigami more often as well. It was like an endless spiral, and she was going around and around until eventually she would converge to a single point. Would that point be when she
reached her ultimate potential or her death, she did not know.

For her sake, she hoped for the later. She grew tired of her weak existence. It was not the shinigami she feared though, it was other hollows. The constant danger of being eaten by another stronger hollow or being forced to merge with another in mass always existed, it was how one would eventually become the strongest. One day, it would be other hollows that would run and hide in fear of her.

Eventually she made it to her destination, their meeting place.

"Took you long enough, shinigami slowing you down again you loser?" spoke out a hollow from the darkness. It sported four rather slim but muscular arms. Its body was serpentine, much like Julia's, but it sported armor plates instead of spines. It had a single horn on its mask, much like a rhinoceros.

"O shut up Eva, I recall you running for dear life from one a few weeks ago."

"O, but wasn't it just a few days back that you yourself had run away from one also? Face it, you both suck." Interjected another voice.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP LINA!!!" Both Julia and Eva said in unison to the mantis-type hollow.

"Besides," Julia had began to say in defense of herself, "When have any of you fought more than one shinigami at a time? At least I knocked out two of them before taking my leave."

"Hmmm, my personal high is five at once actually."

Julia glared at this individual, Marylyn, the condescending bitch. If there was anything she disliked above anything else, it was her. It's appearance was much like that of a scorpion, except she stood upright instead of scuttling along the ground. "Bah, they were all probably weaklings compared to the guys I fought."

"Pfft, whatever you need to tell yourself to make yourself feel better."

"Same to you bitch."

The tension in the room grew quite rapidly, another voice spoke up to break it, "Come on, we're all friends here right. If anything we should be directing our anger for more useful purposes no?"

Julia couldn't help but smile at this one, she was so small and petite, it was sort of cute how she tried to keep things peaceful between them all. For a hollow, she was strangely beautiful with her semblance to a butterfly. "You're so right my cute Lily-chan," coming up behind her to huggle her a bit, "you always say the right things."

"Lesbian..."

"O put a sock in it, you're the same way with Rosaria," Julia shot back.

"..."

"I rest my case, anyway where's Charlotte and Merril, I'm usually the last one to arrive?

"They found a particularly tasty soul a little while ago, but it had a few shinigami around it. Had to make a collaborative effort and decided to split the spoils between them," answered Lina.

"Ah, those two, shouldn't take them too long then."

"You kidding, I bet they already got their asses handed to them," broke in Eva, "I could beat them with all four of my arms tied behind my..."

"Care to test that theory?" came a voice from the entrace of their base. Two hollow soon made their way in to join the group. The one who spoke was Merill, her visage much like that of a fish of some sort. Her ability to manipulate spiritrons in order to glide across the skies was superb. Charlotte followed behind her, the bird-like hollow hardly ever spoke.

"Ah ha ha, what's a joke between friends."

"It's hardly a joke when you say it when we're not here."

"Ah, but I sensed you coming, I timed it just right yea."

"Right..."

The next few hours passed quickly, it was nice Julia thought to herself. A place they could all come back to, and forget everything. But the harsh realities of their lives would still always be in the back of their minds. Always
they would be on the hunt to satisfy their ever growing hunger and their lives would always be in danger of meeting an abrupt end. Such was the nature of their lives as hollow.

"Hey," she spoke out suddenly, "let's make a promise. We'll all become vastrorode one day and run this place."

"Pretty big dream you got there."

"I think its cool."

"I'm sure we can make it."

"Heh, I bet I'll become one before you even get close."

The last comment she would just ignore. "Alright so it's a promise. We'll be the most bad ass bitches this place has ever seen!" It was refreshing to have such a dream. Though their lives were shrouded in darkness and fear, she knew she had these happy times and others to fall back on. She had her nakama.

[Dizzy]

42 points get!

[~Sachiko~]

When she awoke, she felt she wasn't at the same place anymore. The smell and sight of burning wreckage and the sight of the purple haired shinigami were replaced now with the melancholic sight and feel of pure white sands shifting in the winds and the presence of her comrades. "Gah," she said groggily, "how'd the hell did I end up back here."

"We dragged your unconscious half-dead ass back here is what," taunted the familiar voice of the one she despised oh so much.

"Ah just shut it Marylyn, this one fought dirty. He doesn't fight like the other shinigami," she said in an attempt to defend herself.

"Whatever, guess you just can't handle a change of pace."

"Un-Unexpected things happened...I'm sure s-she'll do just fine the next time. Y-you shouldn't pick on your companions like that," let out Lily timidly.

Marylyn glared at Lily in a threatening manner, "You stay out of this powderpuff." Her poison-tipped tail quickly found its way merely millimeters from the butterfly hollows face, "Unless you really wish to get yourself involved."

Her face soon changed to one of annoyance as she felt the presence of one of Julia's scythes pointed at the back of her head, "Recover quick don't you."

"Leave her out of this, besides, maybe it’s time we stopped with the trash talk and indirect comparisons and see who really the stronger one is hmmm?"

Marylyn turned around and smacked away the scythe with one of her claws in the same go, "It'd be my pleasure bitch!" she yelled out as she advanced towards her with her other claw.

Julia immediately counter-acted this move by extending her spines to intercept the oncoming hollow. Once they enclosed around its body she followed by springing herself backward, releasing her hold half-way through, to propel Marylyn to a nearby wall."

"O looks like they're finally gonna go at it. I've been waiting for this!!!" called out Eva excitedly.

"How foolish..." noted Charlotte.

Merrill sighed at her companion's comment, "You're such a wet blanket Charlotte."

Around this time Marylyn had recovered from the blow she received and began to pick herself up from the rubble of the damaged wall. "See you had the time to make yourself fas..." She didn't get the chance to get her response out as the appearance of two scythes came into her view. She rolled along the ground to duck under one and as she rose she spun to the right of the other to dodge it. Mid-spin she took hold of one of the scythes with her tail to fling it back at Julia.

"Heh, how stupid of you," she said in face of her own scythe coming back at her. She put her hand out in front of her to take hold of the scythe. "You can't hurt me with what's mine."

"No, but not all of that is yours," Marylyn shot back smugly.

Indeed it wasn't. Julia soon found that the arm she had caught the scythe with was starting to feel a bit numb. The bitch dripped some of her poison onto it.... "Bah, it’s not like I need feeling in this arm to beat you." She rushed towards Marylyn.

"A frontal assault, really, I thought you were smarter than that." She crouched down to speed her tail right at Julia's quickly approaching face.

"You're right, I am smarter than that." With that said she ripped off her right arm and used it to block the incoming tail with the addition of weighing it down. It'll grow back anyway Once she got within sufficient distance she whipped her own tail at the scorpion-hollow, sending her flying towards another wall.

As much as she braced herself for that, Marylyn was too surprised to defend herself properly as she was sent flying and found herself another pile of rubble. Once she was able to poke her head out of the rubble she was greeted by two of Julia's scythes pointing at her face.

"Guess I'm the stronger one at the moment don't you think."

"Bleh, you got lucky," she said as she picked up a rock and threw it at Julia's head. "You won't win next time."

"Maybe there won't be a next time hmmm?" She taunted as she raised her scythes higher in a threatening manner. "You always were a bit annoying at the times."

How much she would like to kill this hollow, eating her didn't sound like half bad an idea at the moment. However she wouldn't get the chance to entertain the idea as many vine like appendages wrapped around her scythes.

"That's enough," called out Rosaria from the shadows. "Who gave you permission to play around with what's mine?"

"Bah, she wanted it, maybe you should take better care of "What's yours" then," scoffed Julia as she worked on freeing her scythes from the grasp of the vines. "Looks like you've been getting stronger yourself," as she found herself struggling to free them.

"What's it to you."

"Nothing, maybe I should test myself against you sometime."

"You'll have to work a lot harder then," Rosaria said as soon more vines ejected themselves out of the current ones holding her scythes to wrap around Julia and raise her up into the air. "You're nothing at your current state.

"Heh, give me a little bit, I'll give you a run for you money then. Anyways, I'm starving, how about we go get a bite to eat hmm? I'm starving."

"Just ate, I want to sleep."

"Meh suit you, how about you ladies?"

A resounding yes followed the question. As the others began to leave their chosen abode she made her way to Marylyn. "Here here, I'll let you eat the tasty bits to help your injuries heal," she said in a sarcastic manner."

"Oh, how generous of you, Julia-sama," she shot back with equal sarcasm.


Oh what a tumultuous relationship this group of friends had.

[~Sachiko~]

Spring, a time most would associate with words such as life, rebirth, or a new beginning. But not for a young girl named Hayase Risa, because the beginning of spring would mark the fourth anniversary of the death of the ten year old girl’s parents. Life was harsh to this young girl if one judged from most other’s standards to have lost her parents and such an age. It didn’t particularly help her situation when she was discharged from the local orphanage due to “special” circumstances.

Lucky for her she was not homeless for long as one of her few acquaintances at school had convinced her parents to let her use an adjacent home that had gone neglected for quite a while. It wasn’t exactly the best place for one to live and it was a bit lonely at times, but she didn’t complain. Well, she did have someone she could talk to whenever she wanted, but it's not like she could actually interact with the person. A home was a home, even if the heating didn’t work sometimes in the winter and the bath was cold ninety-percent of the time.

At the moment, she was in the process of preparing herself some dinner consisting of miso soup and rice. A knock at the door signaled an expected guest. She quickly answered after making sure it was safe to leave the stove unattended.

“Konban wa, Risa-chan.”

“Konban wa, Otomo-san.” The guest was Otomo Kyoko, the girl who had gone out of her way to help provide a home for her. Kyoko was an upper-classman at the school the two girls attended. There was a six year gap between the two, but due to the rather abnormally small population of children in the village they lived in, all children in the village attended the same school and shared the same teacher. Most families with children had opted to live in the neighboring city.
“Hey,” the older girl grasped the young girl in a headlock, “I thought I told you to address me as Kyoko-chan or Kyoko-nee!!”

The young girl giggled, “Okay, okay Kyoko-nee,” she said submitting to the older girl’s attack.

Kyoko sniffed at the air, “I see you’ve already prepared dinner, I brought some leftover side dishes.” The girl held up the bag she had brought with her and moved over to the small table where Risa usually ate her meals, taking out the dishes from the bag and unto the table.

“Thanks Kyoko-sa…nee, I’ll go do the rest,” the young girl said as she made her way back to the kitchen to bring a tray with two bowls of rice and two bowls of miso soup.

“Itadakimasu,” the older girl pronounced before digging into her share.

Risa looked on in amazement while eating quietly; she had no idea who the older girl could eat so much, having come here right after eating dinner at her own home.

“You know,” Kyoko said in between mouthfuls, “it’s a shame my parents won’t let you stay over at our place.”

“I guess…”

“Hey cheer up, once I get a place of my own, you can come live with me kay,” she said with a smile.

Risa returned the smile, she really was eternally grateful to have this girl as a friend. Sure life was pretty bad for the young girl, but at least for now she knew, she wouldn't always be alone.

[~Sachiko~]

(It sounds a bit random and short because I’m not done yet : P)

“Hey wake up or you’re going to be late for school!!!”

Risa groggily rose from her slumber in response to the shout, eyes blinking several times as she sat up. She then immediately lay back and curled up underneath the covers of her futon. “Five more minutes,” was her response as she grabbed onto her pillow and buried her face into it.

The other girl leant over the sleeping youth and hovered over her head with her own, placing her lips right over Risa’s ear. “I SAID WAKE UP!!!”

“Buawah,” Risa cried in surprise as she gazed around her surroundings, her long purple hair quite disheveled. “I’m up, I’m up,” she said, moving her head side to side until she spied her now rather comatose companion sprawled out on the floor next to her who she had, unbeknownst to her, conked on the head as she rapidly rose from her slumber. “Ah Kanako-chan, what happened to you!”

Kanako soon rose, albeit a bit disorientated rubbing her black-haired head, “I should have never agreed to wake you up in the mornings…”

“But you have to Kanako-chan! My alarm clock broke last month remember,” she said as she raised her finger as she made her matter-of-factly statement.

“THAT’S BECAUSE YOU”RE SUCH A VIOLENT SLEEPER!!!” roared the other girl.

Risa just returned an innocent gaze and smiled, “Niippaaahhh.”

So started Risa’s regular routine of waking up in the morning in preparation for school. She was rather late in waking up today so some toast would have to do for breakfast.

Kanako was still rubbing her head; a headbutt from Risa was rather painful. “I don’t know why I stick around here…” she grumbled.

“It’s because I’m so much fun to be with!” Risa quickly offered as an explanation.

In truth, the young black-haired maiden could leave whenever she wished. While her appearance was that of a young girl in her early adolescent years, truth be told that was the way she looked for the past 20 or so years. In reality this girl dead, an unfortunate victim of a carbon monoxide leak within this small home many years back and the reason why it was uninhabited until Risa came along. Of course, the leak was fixed when she did move in to avoid a similar accident from occurring.

Anyhow back to Kanako, the girl after death had been confined within this abode as a long gray chain attached to her chest held her in place in connection with the house. It wasn’t until Risa came and somehow helped her to unhook the chain when she could move a bit more freely. Though at first she was hindered by the chain’s rather long length, at this point in time the chain had somewhat shortened for reasons unknown the two girls. All Kanako knew was that as of late she was more able to traverse the area around her home. She would tell Risa of the strange things she saw outside sometimes, men and women clad in black kimonos that battled gargantuan monsters with white masks that sent chills down her spine whenever she laid her eyes upon one. She was rather careful to avoid both in her travels as neither looked friendly at all.

She laid her eyes upon her housemate; she was a rather strange girl Kanako thought at times. When they had first met she was rather surprised in the way the purple-haired orphan took the encounter in addition to being able to see her in the first place of course. Apparently this had not been the first of her experiences with those who have passed on. In fact, Risa would share stories about the spirits she had met around the town from time to time with her, though it seemed Risa had never seen one of the monsters from the stories Kanako shared.

With a quick “see you later”, the young girl soon disappeared from behind the front door which closed behind her. She was a strange girl, Kanako thought, but one that made her current existence a bit more interesting.