First time in the open! [O]

[Amy <3]

A cat would quickly scurry out of a dark ally way with the sound of a tin can of some sorts falling behind her. Yet that wasn't the only thing behind the cat, there was a women of red hair and a black robe usually worn by those who practice kendo in the world of the living. Her name was Amy O'Fee unseated unit of the First Squad of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads . A smile would come onto her face as she would say in a surprised and curious voice "Well looks like some animals can see the dead. To bad most will never understand why we are here."

As she walked through the market place in this over populated town known as Karakura, Japan she was not as amused as she thought she would be. This was her first mission and in the world of the living to top it... Yet there was no excitement, nothing to challenge her. All she was to do was walk around the market and study them, make sure they are ok.

But most of all she hoped to retain some memories... Of her live when she could explore this world as a human. All she remembered of her past life was that she was struck down by a hollow but before that everything is blank. Then again Amy was just grateful she remembered something at all. She knew from reading some archives that it was rare to remember things from your past life. But all she was hoping for was just one memory something to keep her fighting spirits up.

That was only to be a dream thought and now she had to lower her bar of what to expect from this market place. What she wanted to do was study the humans. Learn something of their culture or maybe meet a human who was "aware". That would be interesting but like it would ever happen. Amy would then do a back flip to land on top of one of the market stands set up. A butterfly of black and white would come over and land on her fingers tips as she sighed and said "Black and white... Both signs of death once in history, yet white has turned into a sign of hope... life."

[Itamiku]

What a day in Karakura Town. Weekends were always welcome, especially Saterdays. Those meant you had one more day to finish any homework you had for class the next day. Karakura Town University worked him like a mule, and this was perhaps the only carrot that'd been dangled in front of his face for a long time. His mother called him suddenly telling him about this market place having a discount on Strawberries... she didn't even like strawberries unless they were smothered in chocolate, so why she was having him get some, he didn't have the feintist clue. Though, with his new found 'friends' hanging around outside, he couldn't tell the milk man from the milk man who died two days ago. If that weren't bad enough, he had often been caught talking to ghosts, though others couldn't see them. it was such an unusual situation he was in... knowing that there was some sort of curtain drawn in front of everyone's eyes that hid these ghosts away... heck, if you told him about ghosts three weeks ago, he'd have told you you were crazy and to see professional help.

He couldn't help but bump into people as he made his way down the street. Heck, one could almost become cluster phoebic if they spent too long outside. A normal day, a normal weekend... despite seeing the undead. However, that would all change. In front of him, the red head just jumped suddenly without warning, Itamiku's eyes widened as he stumbled backward, knocking against others who gave him weird looks as they passed.

"S... Sumimasen..." He laughed hesitantly, a little embarassed of his reaction when no one else seemed to recognize that a small girl just did a ninja flip onto a freaking market stand in the middle of one of the busiest crowds he'd ever seen in Karakura! The girl didn't seem to notice his reaction as she looked about the crowd, completely missing him and his little outburst. Itamiku frowned as he moved to the stand she was on top of and edged around the side of it, looking up at the back of her head. Despite the noise of the crowd, he could barely make out what she had said.

"Black and white... Both signs of death once in history, yet white has turned into a sign of hope... life."

<"White and black are both just colors, why contemplate deep meanings that were never origionally attatched to the thing to begin with?"> He asked, loud enough to get the girl's attention as he leaned back on the wooden wall of the stand next to the one she chose to roost on. <"It's just a way to describe what you see, just as 'wierd' is also used to describe outragiously dressed red heads that suddenly jump from in front of you to stand on top of market stands."> The brown haired man quipped in an American accent of english, not the attempted accent of Japanese who didn't speak in complete sentences anyway. <"Get down from there or you'll make a scene."> he commanded looking at more people pass by, staring at him in a funny way.

"Ohaiyo..." he smiled embarassedly as they passed. They seemed to walk a little faster away after that. Frowning in his own confusion, he turned back to the red head. Was... she a ghost?
_______________________
<"">= English
""= Japanese

[Amy <3]

As she heard a voice start to mull over her self history lesson on symbolism she would sigh as she flickered her hand to cause the butterfly to flurry away minding her own business. She would put her head back to watch the sky and how it was so different from the one in the world of the dead, for this one was always changing everything so settle yet once a transformation started it was completed even faster. As she started to kick her feat back on forth she would snicker.

"It is just something to do and help make time fly bye faster, when you are as old as I mean time goes by very very slowly. Besides black only became the sign of death when things became more realistic and violent in myth and story. So why don't you mind you own business unless you have something important to say." The male voice would then quickly rebuttal her; calling her weird for what she had just done in the gymnastic categories.

Amy's emerald eyes would broaden as she just noticed that this wasn't one of the dead speaking to her but one of the living... an "aware" human. She would turn to see a young, robust, brown haired boy most likely from America for he had the same kind of skin type as her and carried the same accent. From the alarm of this she fell over backwards over the stand and landed on her back. "Oooooouch! Bloody Hell you can see me! Her English heritage was reaching out as she got anxious. Amy would quickly get up am press her hand against his body. She was able to grab his shirt "You can see me... Here come quick!" She would then turn around quickly and drag him into an ally way she first had entered from.

"Alright good sir explain how you can see me, now! Don't say anything about me dragging you in here; people were giving you the crazy eye out there." Amy would place her hand on her sword and back up a couple of steps. She would need to be careful, no telling what he could do.

[Itamiku]

The girl seemed to enjoy the philisophical debate they momentarily shared before she realized something that made her head snap to him, her green eyes widened as he looked at him, the shock evident on her facial features. He watched as the girl stumbled backward toward the edge of the stand.

"O-oii!" He said out of concern as she lost her balance and fell over backward out of his line of sight.

"Oooooouch!" He heard from the other side of the wooden stand. He didn't waste time in crossing to the other side to see if she was alright. And she didn't waste any time in sitting up, her eyes trained on him. "Bloody hell, you can see me!"

Itamiku blinked, rather confused on that comment. <"Yes... Of course I can?"> He asked shrugging his shoulders, an eyebrow arched as he replied calmly to her nervious and anxious remark. Pushing from the ground quite agily she put and hand on his chest, taking him by surprise and grabbing his shirt. His first reaction was to bring his right arm up and strike her wrist with the back of his and snake his hand around, her grip releasing his shirt from the strike and his own hand grabbing her wrist, but he held back the impulse seeing as he was in a crowd and it would look awkward if he were to start fighting the air.

"You can see me... Here, come quick!" She would then turn around and literally drag him into an ally. well, wouldn't that be a picture? his shirt was unexplainably being pulled by something through a crowd into an ally like he was getting mugged or something. He had been about to tell her he hadn't had a choice in 'going there quick' when she turned on him, fear, anger, excitement, he wasn't sure what was bursting in her grassy eyes but it was there... perhaps a mixture all of the above clashing in her mind as she put a hand on a hilt that hung at her waist. It was itamiku's turn to widen his eyes. Was... that thing real?

"Alright, good sir, explain how you can see me, now! Don't say anything about me dragging you in here; people were giving you the crazy eye out there." The girl commanded of him. Not like he'd have anyone to tell... and if he did, no one would believe him that he had just been kidnapped by a midgit with a sword.

<"Hey, I'm the one asking questions here ghost woman. Why can't others see you? Why are you wearing a sword on your waist? and more importantly, what the hell do you mean 'you can see me'... it's rather obvious you're standing right there, isn't it?"> Itamiku asked. I think, therefore I am was a very apt comparison here. I see you, thus, you are.

[Amy <3]

As soon as she was done with her wild assault of questions the boy rapidly replied with not the answers she was in search of but with other questions. Knowing that if she just repeated those questions they would get no were and this could get worse. Amy also noticed something else, a change in his outlook, nothing much but a slight change. Her eyes then diverted from him to the hilt of her blade. Was this the cause of his changed character?

The young shinigami would turn to the right exceptionally slightly to see down the other side of the ally way while still being able to keep a good stare on the boy himself. It had been a short amount of time but if anyone really cared for the boy's physical condition and survival then they would have followed him being carried by nothing to their blocked viewpoint. Also if anyone else who was "aware" and saw this would most likely come over because no one else did anything.

"It looks like no one noticed nor cared that you were dragged in this ally way so I will lower my guard." Her hand would lay at rest next to her side as the hilt fell down a little lifeless. She would move a tad closer to him and gave him a quick look up and down. No weapons or anything but his Reiatsu must be a good quantity if he can notice let alone see here. This was something worth looking into and reporting back to the Court Guard Squads. Amy would need to calm him down first and gain his trust.

"I will answer your questions to a level of course sense you obviously have no idea what the answers are to what I seek. First off I am no ghost women, ghosts are those who have died and who have not moved on. I am a Shinigami." A chuckle would penetrate here stone face during this serious time for she was expecting his reaction to her being a God of Death quick shocking. Amy would then slowly draw out her sword and hold it up at shoulders length pointing away from him.

"This isn't just any ordinary blade, this is a Zanpakutou. A sword only used by a Shinigami. It is apart of us born from our minds. I will explain more when I get to know more about you. It is used only for protection not to injury you, so breath kid. " She would move in closer gradually as she talked.

"To answer your other two questions in one, the first is I am shocked a human can see me for they usually can't, they are blind to the world of the dead. So let’s be cultured, no? Tell me your name and I will tell you mine." Amy then would move into arm's reach and put out her hand for a hand shake. Hopefully he wouldn't react in a violent nature to any of this.

[Itamiku]

"It looks like no one noticed nor cared that you were dragged in this ally way so I will lower my guard." Actually, this sorta surprised him seeing as it would have been odd for someone to look like they were being dragged by an invisible man. Even so, Itamiku was really confused at just whose side she was on. So, she was going to be using that sword of hers on others who may have tried to help him? Just who was she anyway? It wasn't every day a ghost woman came along and decided to drag you into an ally for god knows what for. He noticed as she moved a tad closer from their already close distance and checked him for something. She had a hesitant look about her face as she took a breath before speaking.

"I will answer your questions to a level, of course, since you obviously have no idea what the answers are to what I seek. First off I am no ghost women, ghosts are those who have died and who have not moved on. I am a Shinigami." Itamiku blinked as the woman let out a chuckle, obviously expecting his reaction to her being a God of Death to blow him away. Sorry to be disappointing, but her explaination made him wonder if she had been mentally ill while in life. Well, it didn't really make much sense... Sure, she had a sword... but a god of death? She didn't look that scary. The woman's hand gripped the black hilt of the Katana and slowly drew it out of her sheath, holding it shoulders length, edge pointing away from him as she held it with both her hands horizontally in front of her.

"This isn't just any ordinary blade, this is a Zanpakutou. A sword only used by a Shinigami. It is apart of us born from our minds. I will explain more when I get to know more about you. It is used only for protection not to injure you, so breathe kid." Kid? For her information he was older than she was! 'God of Death' my ass! he thought to himself. It was outragious to say the least! Having studied Japanese Mythology himself in his boredom, he had come to expect formless beings who appeared just before taking life... not some little girl with a sword and some acrobatic moves.

"To answer your other two questions in one, the first is I am shocked a human can see me for they usually can't, they are blind to the world of the dead. So let’s be cultured, no? Tell me your name and I will tell you mine." The girl sheathed her sword and held out a hand to him.

<"Soo... you're telling me that you're a god of death?"> he asked, looking at the hand. He hesitantly reached out his own and gripped hers in a firm yet brief shake. "Kyousha, Itamiku." He said cautiously. After a moment he released her hand and crossed his arms over his chest. <"You really don't look that forboding to me."> He said with a hint of skepticism in his voice. <"Besides, I've never seen a Shinigami before, so how do I know you're not just some ghost who's having a mental breakdown post-mortum?"> He asked. Ha! Gotcha there! He thought to himself, feeling as though he gained the upperhand in some unseen contest or debate.

[Amy <3]

As the boy repeated her question basically she would smirk and say "Well more or yes I am a God of Death one who guides the souls of those who lost their way to tranquility." The young man would hoist his hand up and shake hers. Their hand shake was short yet educational. Just from that hand shake she could tell two things from him. The first, he was the type who was worked out a lot for his grasp was stronger and solid. The second was his hands were coarse, like he did some work with his hands, maybe construction? "I am Amy O'Fee, pleasure to meet you."

As soon as their hands slipped away from each other Itamiku would step back and press his arms against his chest and questioned her might. She would grin, o what little the poor boy knew. He would then query what she was, what she had earned through years of training. Then Amy got the idea of a life time. If this man had any real power he could at least do something against one of her kido she knew. Nothing destructive of course but just something to mess with him, prove to him that she was a Shinigami. He was exceptional after all.

"What and you look so menacing yourself? Also I will show you that I am a Shinigami, by doing something only a Shinigami can do. It won't hurt you I promise." Amy's stance would change from relaxed, confronting to serious and battle ready. Her legs would be spread apart at shoulders length. Her middle and index appendages together, outright and point at Itamiku. "My will to succeed be the rope that sustains you; let my breath of light be the light to guide you. Bakudo no Yon: Hainawa!" As her voice turned strong and powerful with the incantation a rope of light would spring from her fingers and at Itamiku.

If the rope were to hit him it would twirl around him binding him. He would still be able to hope around but she had him on a leash if he was caught. If he dodged it, this could get dangerous yet interesting.

[Itamiku]

"What and you look so menacing yourself?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in the slightest, her mouth turning in a mocking smirk. Itamiku hesitated, he had no answer for her. Well, he wasn't supposed to look scary... but then again Shinigami was just a name just as White or Black were just names to describe something. Irony, gotta love it. "Also I will show you that I am a Shinigami, by doing something only a Shinigami can do. It won't hurt you, I promise." That's what she thinks. What could Shinigami possibly-? Itamiku thought to himself as the so-called Amy O'Fee's stance changed to a more appropriate fighting stance. The horse stance. He recognized it, though it was as high as a mountain... apparently she hadn't been formally trained in the art of Hand to Hand combat... Her legs would be spread apart at shoulders length. Her middle and index fingers together in a ridged point directly at him. Whatever it was, she looked rediculous.

<"On second thought, I'll pass on the demonstration">
"My will to succeed be the rope that sustains you;" Amy chanted as he spoke, not faltering in her concentration. "let my breath of light be the light to guide you. Bakudo no Yon: Hainawa!"

Something appeared on her fingers suddenly [4 meters away], after a moment, a golden something shot right at him, his martial arts training kicking in and his right hand raising instinctivly, unable to catch the rope, but it hit his arm and began wrapping around it and continued to snake around him. Reacting, he gripped the rope that attatched him to the 'Shinigami'. As the rope of light continued to writh and extend it would find itself stuck and unable to wrap further. His eyes widened suddenly as the palm of his hand came into contact with the reiatsu creation, it felt as though his hand was burning, but he wouldn't let go, actually, he couldn't, the death grip he had on the rope becoming tighter as a red light shone, mixing with the golden light of the rope.

"AGHHH!" He screamed out in pain as he fell to his knees, his hand contracting to his body, the rope of light along with it. After fifteen seconds, the pain would start to subside and the man would clench his teeth in pain as the burning subsided. He gave a forced smile.

<"Won't hurt, eh? Heh, that was worse than the dentist."> He smiled through his pain. Getting up, he gripped further up the rope of light with his other hand and pulled. Eh... it was made of stronger stuff than he thought... "Erm... you mind releasing me? Though my hand doesn't hurt anymore, I think I'll stay away from you Shinigami for a while..." He didn't dare release the rope until he knew it would stop trying to strangle him... at least it wasn't extending any further.

<"Alright, if I agree you're a shinigami, will you not do any more of your shinigami magic?"> a bead of sweat fell off his forehead, the pain more excruciating than he had thought. Hurt ten times more than that 'oops' the dentist had said during a fateful check up... let's just say he had to get a crown that day he shouldn't have.

[Amy <3]

As the rope of light and power flew at Itamiku he reacted like any person would if they never had heard of the fundamental kido. His hand would reach out and try to clutch it rather then move away from it. This caused it to twirl and coil around his arm. Yet the man would still grab it, shocking to Amy. As the rope ended off its job Amy would draw on the rope keeping it stretched and making sure he would go no were.

Amy would say nothing as he screamed in pain. She was doing this to study his capability, nothing more and most certainly not for entertainment out of his pain. He would drop to the ground and with him so did Amy's eyes just watching him. After fifteen seconds had passed the now annoying screaming had passed and he bared a grin. She would laugh and say "Humans are a riot always trying to act tuff when they are at a disposition, but that is instinct I guess.

As Itamiku got up Amy noticed slight movements in his hands and wrist trying to break the rope. To be able to do that alone for a human is rare. As he asked her...Maybe even on the line of begged for her to let him go she released the rope and clapped her hands together. This caused the rope to literally break into sparkling partials that dissipated into the air. "There I let you go, even though you didn't say please..."

She would get closer to him to make sure she didn't do anything to bad just giving him a quick glance over. "I am a Shinigami. Also it isn't 'magic' it is kido or demonic arts. So tell my Itamiku, is there anything unusually about you besides being able to see the dead?"

[Itamiku]

Itamiku blinked. It had only been just then he switched unknowingly into Japanese... but she had understood him? What had he been doing, talking in English the whole time then? Suddenly, the rope burst apart in a cloud of what looked to be shimmering dust or something of the like. So... this was a shinigami's power? Impressive now that he saw something he couldn't do... nor dreamed possible until today.

"There I let you go, even though you didn't say please..."

"Wait... you speak Japanese too?" He asked, opening and closing his right hand. Funny, as he looked at the palm, he saw a marking that hadn't been there before, it was still glowing with a red light which faded into black before his eyes, it looked like a ring of fire, the tongues of flames on the outside of the pitch black ring spreading out away from the center of his palm.

"I am a Shinigami. Also, it isn't 'magic' it is kido or demonic arts. So tell my Itamiku, is there anything unusually about you besides being able to see the dead?"

"Nope... unless you call my terribly bad luck in running into a shinigami who uses some destructive kido to prove she's a shinigami unusual." He shrugged, only half paying attention to her reaction. "So, that kido of yours really packs a punch doesn't it?" He asked, looking up at Amy, his eyes returning to a stern expression and his face falling from the smirk he had on a bit before. "Left a nasty scar or something..." He hesitated in calling it a scar... it didn't look like a wound at all... but it felt perminant enough, touching the black skin with his left fingertips. It was like it was burned on or something.

[Amy <3]

As the boy looked at his hand she was waiting for him to say something then ask her a silly question of the ability of her familiarity in foreign languages. Amy would reply to him in Japanese this time just to make sure she wasn't puzzling him. "Yes, you see us Shinigami must be well-informed in the languages of English and Japanese for the countries that speak them have high rates of souls that strayed from the trail of the light. Of course there are other Shinigami who converse in other languages but we have them take care of other areas."


When it was her turn to ask a question the boy would still be looking at his palm, like there was something a new there. "Well I guess that is sort of abnormal but you are exceptional so it isn't for you! Amy's eyes would widen at his account about kido being painful. It would be unfeasible for her kido to do any damage to him; it was a way of binding and only number four. Amy would process this though while dashing over to grab his wrist.

As she placed his palm under her eyes she noticed the strange scar. "Did I cause this? The kido I used on you is a basic binding spell known by many, it isn't suppose to hurt the person only restrain..." A thought would emerge in her head like a shrouded figure coming from the heavy mist. What if her spell could have caused some sort of ability to submissively awaken in him from the thought of being in peril? Amy would need to look this up when she got back to the world of the dead.

"Well my time here is sadly, up. If you don't need anything else I will be on my way, but of course I will try to find you on my next mission. I would like to check up on you, make sure you ok. I believe there is something within you yet to break our, but it is just a hypothesis so don't dwell too much on it.

She would wait for his answer on her questions and statements. Kyousha, Itamiku.... A very interesting human to keep as a contact indeed.

[Itamiku]

"Yes, you see us Shinigami must be well-informed in the languages of English and Japanese for the countries that speak them have high rates of souls that strayed from the trail of the light. Of course there are other Shinigami who converse in other languages but we have them take care of other areas." Huh, so it seemed he just got lucky this one understood english at all... despite her appearance, she originally spoke japanese? Itamiku wasn't sure about that, but who was to say there were races for Shinigami?

She seemed a little shocked to hear his hand had actually sustained damage from her magic... or Kido or... Demon Art or whatever she wanted to call it. "Well I guess that is sort of abnormal but you are exceptional so it isn't for you!" The girl pushed off the ground quickly and grabbed his wrist, facing the palm upward so she could see it easier. She brought her face close to it and he looked away for a moment, a little embarassed of how interested she was in his hand... it wasn't like he was going to die or anything...

"Did I cause this? The kido I used on you is a basic binding spell known by many, it isn't suppose to hurt the person only restrain..."

"Yes, you most certainly did! And it can't have been that basic if it hurt as much as it did! I was on the ground for heaven's sake!" He exclaimed, though it had done its job with restraining... The girl suddenly got a funny look to her face and Itamiku raised a brow, turning his head a little. What was she thinking right now? Sadly, he never got to know.

"Well my time here is sadly, up. If you don't need anything else I will be on my way, but of course I will try to find you on my next mission. I would like to check up on you, make sure you ok. I believe there is something within you yet to break our, but it is just a hypothesis so don't dwell too much on it." This caught Itamiku by surprise. Something within him? Break out? It sounded like she was hypothisyzing some cheesy superpower was locked inside him or something. What? Like lazer vision? Moving objects with his brain?

"W-wait! You tell me there's something inside of me then to not dwell on it?! Make up your mind! Are you going to tell me or aren't you?" He asked, a little demanding for one in his position. He was a human who got mixed up WAY over his head and he had no idea how it happened. But at the same time, it was because Shinigami existed that things were about to get a hell of a lot more difficult than they already were for this poor soul. Little did he know that because of something he couldn't control...

His life was about to change forever...

[Amy <3]

As she completed her little speech she wouldn't just turn around to leave yet no that would leave her first research incomplete. Her eyes would lock into his as she saw it change with the look of bewilderment, concern, but at the same time curiosity. Amy had struck the nerve some where in Itamiku that will give this experiment life. Sadly he had asked her questions that she could not answer just yet. Thankful, even if Itamiku didn't know it, that question gave her more answers.

The studded in the first word, it meant that he was troubled... He was losing the only linkage he had to this new world which he just started to study. He also had an emotion to his voice that was pointed to not asking but ordering. Amy knew she just couldn't leave him with nothing so she would give him some counsel. She would turn around shunning his face with her back as a black butterfly would descend from the sky to soon land on her finger tip.

Kyousha, Itamiku, you ask me all these questions but if I told you that would be amoral. To truely realize what you are you must do it by your own means! If I were to assist you it would be meaningless and it would demean who you are. She was only saying this as a way to fill in a good ending. To be frank Amy couldn't help him... for she did not know what was happening.

As she approached the back wall of the ally way the butterfly would land on her hand. Amy would point her hand towards the wall causing an old fashion Japanese feudal era door to be summoned and open. As she walked slowly into the pathway of light she would give him her last words. Something to maul over and with any luck cause him to run around the labyrinth he had just set up on his own.

This doesn't mean that I can not give you hints thought... Bear in mind there are more spiritual entities around here then just Shinigami and you. There are other human's 'aware', Shinigami have a enemy in this world, so be careful. Two phases that will help you in this time of need; while facing fear and danger we often find out things about are selves that no one has ever known before. When one door closes... Another opens!" On the last word the gates would close leaving Amy running back to do some research and Kyousha, Itamiku with a lot of questions.

[Exit]

[Itamiku]

This doesn't mean that I can not give you hints thought... Bear in mind there are more spiritual entities around here then just Shinigami and you. There are other human's 'aware', Shinigami have a enemy in this world, so be careful. Two phases that will help you in this time of need; while facing fear and danger we often find out things about are selves that no one has ever known before. When one door closes... Another opens!"

"one closes...? What, is this some sort of joke?!" He asked the closing portal in front of him. "Ahh..." He looked over to the crowd for a moment, a hand coming up to his head, ruffling his hair a bit. "Great... I see ghosts, I meet some crazy shinigami lady, then I start yelling at a wall... I'm delusional aren't I? Yeah... that's it..." He looked back at the wall before shaking his head.

No... this wasn't a delusion created of boredom... what happened was real and he could feel it in the core of his being... something changed about him... and he needed to find out exactly what...

But first, he needed to get strawberries...

[/exit]