6Ooooookay. I'm back.
I've had a troublesome life these last few months, and when I started getting better I finally got started on my fanfiction so... Yeah. Sorry... T_T
But don't worry though. I'm not leaving this unfinished. You might wait 30 years for the next chapter but that won't stop me from finishing it. Nope.
Oh, and I've corrected soooo many mistakes (mostly spelling) in the last chapters. Should be pretty much clear now, but if you find any more I'd be glad to know about them.
Argh... You know another tough thing about translating? In French the adjectives show you if you're talking about a girl or a guy. So in French there's 'la blonde' and 'le blond', while in English, it's just 'the blond' for both... Same problem with 'brunette'... Which makes it hard to understand... But you're not idiots (I expect) so... you deal with it :P
Hiyori had waited for the newbie to be asleep to go inform Urahara. Knowing him, he was probably horribly worried without showing it. But according to what Lisbeth had said, it wasn't the first time... She went from one roof to the next, using shunpo to g faster. This way, she landed in front of the shop, visitor-less at such an early hour, dawn only just starting to show. She slipped in through a left open window, and needn't search for her former Captain because of how well his reiatsu was easy to feel from where she was. He wasn't alone, there was also Tessai, Yoruichi and the two kids from the shop. She used that as a guide, soon getting to a lit room. She walked in without warning, startling the occupants. The blond was the first to react.
"Hiyori, tell me you've found her!"
The blond watched her former Captain in disbelief. She had understood that he cared about the girl, but not that much. His clothes were in an even greater mess than usual, and all his worry and strain showed on his face. Where had his impassivity gone? He must have searched for his daughter all night, but that only irritated Hiyori.
She had talked with the brunette a bit, and had changed her mind. She was an intelligent but reserved young woman, that didn't like drawing attention to her, and that cared about her rare familial relationships. She had admitted to her that no longer being able to see her father, despite their distance, saddened her. And Kisuke, that idiot, ruining the chances he had with his daughter... If he had told her the truth at the very beginning, he might of have been able to fix things before they got this bad. But Lisbeth had nearly gotten killed, all of this because she had no idea what she was, because Mister Urahara had kept his little secrets to himself...
The small Soul Reaper blew up. She jumped and kicked him in the face, not the least hiding how much better it made her feel.
"You... You... You nasty little... Do you even have any idea what your own daughter might be feeling right now, thinking she has to let go of you because she doesn't know you're a former Soul Reaper and that she's well off the become a Visored, ready to die for it? Do you have the slightest idea how much the distance you put in between both of you hurt her?"
"Who the hell are you? And why are you attacking our boss!" raged a boy with red hair, that Yoruichi silenced with a look.
"A... A Visored?"
Paleness settled into Kisuke's face. No... Not his daughter. Lisbeth couldn't be a future Visored. There was just no way that was possible.
"Hiyori, you're kidding, right?"
His former Lieutenant's livid and slightly sad look convinced him she wasn't joking. He pulled his bucket hat down before his eyes, not wanting to let his pain and rage show. Why her? She still had her whole life ahead, so why, why did she have a damn Hollow inside her? How was it even possible? Shit, had Aizen found her, used the Hogyoku on her and had wanted to use his child against Soul Society?
"I want to see her."
Hiyori shook her head, before plunging her gaze into the grey eyes.
"No. Stay out of it. It's better for both of you. You should have taken the first step earlier. You greatly hurt her, and I don't think the Great Urahara would be ready to ask forgiveness from anybody. You haven't been the father she needed, she lost her mother dammit! Couldn't you have, I don't know, for once been more serious and responsable?"
A blade couldn't have hurt him more than the words she used. He didn't even try defending himself, he knew he had messed up since the hospital, where his daughter had said he had no right to consider her as such. Surprisingly enough, it is Yoruichi that took his defense.
"We all know what method you intend to use to wake her latent Soul Reaper powers and to teach her to control her Hollow. But you know as well as me that it could just as well kill her. Leave them a chance to meet up and talk about things first."
Hiyori sighed. She had to admit she had taken this option into account, but she thought it might be too early, Lisbeth was still too angry and jurt by the blond's attitude. But Yoruichi actually giving her the choice.
"So we'll come tonight and let them talk."
The short Soul Reaper searched Tessai's eyes for help, who added as if to make it worse:
"I believe I should be there too, and that we should explain to her where the Visored come from originally."
No, she couldn't kill him, he was much stronger than her, but the wish was there. In fact, she shouldn't have insisted that much to come, and let Liza do it... In the end she gave up.
"I'll have warned you, if Lisbeth doesn't want to listen to you, it's your problem... Oh and, Kisuke..."
The blond looked up, and jumped to kick him again.
"You'd better make up for it all, you idiot, or I promise you I'll make you regret it. And wipe that defeated look off your face, it looks creepy."
"Hiyori... Thank you. Could you keep an eye on her?"
"I'm not a nanny, Kisuke. But I like her."
The blond went to one of the room's windows and opened it, then used shunpo to leave. Yoruichi turned to her despondent friend.
"Hey, Kisuke, you're not going to wallow in self-pity, are you?" she said in a sad voice.
She herself was affected by what was happening. The girl had her whole life left, she should never have been stricken by this... yes, this curse. Ichigo had been the first, but in his case, they knew why he had developed these faculties. But in Lisbeth's... It was so unfair, she had never mixed with Soul Reapers until recently. So why had she an inner Hollow?
Kisuke stood up, and motioned to her that he was going down to the training area. A few moments later the shop shook. The blond was putting his rage and sorrow into training.
ligne
Liza watched in surprise the brunette coming towards her. The latter had only fallen asleep a few hours ago, which not enough to have recovered from a sleepless night.
"Already up?"
"I wanted to go see a friend, so there is no reason to wait."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, it's not necessary..."
"Because you seriously think we'd let you go alone, you walking Hollow bait!"
The mini-Visored's voice came banging in her ears, and Lisbeth, being in a horrible mood and having little patience, turned to face her. The blond was apparently in as good a mood as her, and she couldn't help but ask why. The blond sighed.
"Someone I don't like that much is coming tonight," she briefly explained.
Liza pushed her glasses up her nose with the tip of her fingers, asking the small Visored if she was serious. When she nodded, Lisbeth felt the dark-haired Visored's gaze on her back. She had a bad feeling about this. She suddently wasn't in a hurry to get the said evening.
"So, where is that friend you want to visit, I don't have all day," said Hiyori, impatiently tapping her foot.
"He is at the hospital of Karakura."
"You fled from it and you want to go back there? Are you insane?!" exclamed the blond.
"Isn't it in this case that you go to a hospital?" said Lisbeth ironically, smiling slightly.
A vein swelled at the former twelfth division's Lieutenant's temple, and the latter pounced on the young woman, grabbing her shirt's collar and looked at her straight in the eyes.
"Your gonna stop kidding around now, or I'm smashing your face, is that clear?"
Lisbeth understood she meant it, and since she wasn't that good a fighter she nodded and shut up. The blond let go and, steadying herself, walked to the stairs. Seeing that Kisuke's daughter wasn't following, she yelled back:
"Are you coming or staying here?"
The brunette gulped and quickly followed her. As she watched them go Liza sighed. She didn't particularily want to be there that evening to see the confrontation of the father and daughter. Maybe she should inform the others, so they wouldn't get caught off guard.
In the meanwhile, the two girls had arrived at the hospital. They didn't stop at the reception, and the Visored, surprised, asked:
"You know what room your friend is in?"
"Yes."
Hiyori noticed Lisbeth seemed a bit anxious, and that she kept fiddling with her watch's bracelet. She didn't bother her with it, but made sure to remember it, thinking that it might come in handy at some point. As for the brunette... well, she didn't really know how Uryu would react to her being there, especially about her inner Hollow. She was scared that one of the only people she had left would reject her. She got more and more nervous as they neared her friend's room, and once they got to the door she hesitated to knock.
"Go for it, or you'll regret it," said Kiyori suddently, knocking in her place. "I'll wait for you outside."
So Lisbeth had no other choice but to enter. She closed the door behind her and walked closer to the bed. Her heart clenched. Uryu lied on the bed, paler than ever, and the bandages around his torso were enough to remind her she hadn't been able to help him. Sudden guilt filled her, after all nothing would have happened if she hadn't insisted on going at Ichigo's, and she was about to turn back when the boy's voice rose:
"Lisbeth? For goodness' sake, I was worried sick for you! Are you okay?"
She couldn't escape this now, so she walked towards the bed, grabbing a chair along the way, and sat by her friend's side. Uryu scrutinized her, analyzing the abscence of bandages, the wrinkled and slightly dirty shirt as well as the dark rings under the young woman's grey eyes. She hadn't gone home, he was sure of that, but she had found a place to sleep, even if she wasn't properly rested.
"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry for me."
"It's not with that recently-dug-up-zombie-face of yours that I'm going to believe you and stop worrying for a friend."
This plucked a smile from Lisbeth, and the boy internally congratulated himself, he didn't like seeing his friends being miserable, especially the brunette who tended to stay away from the group, in fear of putting them in danger. If only she knew...
"And with your father?"
The young woman's face darkened.
"I... I can't see him anymore." She breathed in hurriedly, and before her dunbstruck friend could interrupt her, she continued: "There's something I need to tell you. I know what I am, now. I... I have..."
He nodded encouragingly to her, somewhat knowing what she was going to say, even if he didn't understand why she couldn't see Urahara, he was a Soul Reaper as well after all.
"I have Soul Reaper powers and an inner Hollow," she said.
She waited, terrified, head lowered, to see her friend's reaction to the news, her fingers crumpling the edge of her shirt. A hand was placed on her arm, and she rose her eyes to the brunette, of whom she wasn't able to decipher the gaze.
"Did you find a Visored to help you?"
She nodded as a positive answer, and her friend smiled, telling her he was relieved.
"You... Thank you."
Lisbeth didn't know how to tell how happy she was. A weight had been taken off her shoulders. Uryu accepted her as she was, and that warmed her heart. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto the bedsheets, and she was about to wipe them away when the brunette did so in her place.
"Why are you crying?"
"I-I was scared that you wouldn't accept me. I already can't tell anything to my father, or to our friends, they wouldn't understand, I didn't want to lose another person I cared for."
Uryu's hand dropped back onto the bed. Seeing his friend's sadness, he wanted to tell her about Ichigo and the others, about all they had already gone through together, but he felt it wasn't the right moment. Not with whoever had attacked them not far from here and whom he suspected were after their group of friends. And with him being in this hospital bed... And, if she didn't know about her father, he wasn't the person meant to tell her. Nevertheless, he couldn't stand seeing her so unhappy.
"Hey, I'm sure they'll accept you. If you want when I get out of here, I'll explain it all myself."
"Uryu... I don't even know if I'll survive. Please, don't tell them anything."
"Lisbeth, you can't be serious!"
She looked away, and sighing, he asked her if she could help him sit up. So she helped him up, and against all expectations, he put his arms around her and settled his head on her shoulder.
"You'd better not die, or I'll come kick your soul's ass."
The thoughtfulness made her blush, and she shook his off stuttering. Uryu's cheeks had reddened as well, a little sheepish and surprised by he had spontaneously done, and he looked away. Lisbeth said bye and left the room, her cheeks as red as tomatoes, which made her Hiyori's target. The brunette didn't care. Uryu had held her in his arms...
Now that she thought about it, what had been this fluttering in her stomach?