18 First Contact

Before long we were out and about on the streets.

Tessai and Kisuke chaperoned us towards a meeting place on foot, running and a speed that was likely faster than driving a car or a bike. This was one of the first times I had actually been outside for a significant period of time since arriving in Japan.

I had never really gone wandering or exploring, certainly not on my own. I had forgotten about going outside at all really, so caught up in becoming stronger at a rapid pace and all the spiritual business. So much so that it didn't even enter my mind.

Now though, it was different. The middle of the day was glorious and bright as we dashed from one rooftop to another, dancing across the suburban landscape. It was dexterity and agility that I hadn't thought about putting into practice in such a way. My first instinct walking outside of the house was to look for the car that was going to take us to the meeting place, without realizing that we were faster than cars.

It was a far cry from Tessai or Kisuke's instant or near instant movement, but honestly, I think I'd enjoy this more than suddenly arriving at my destination. I felt like I was flying, even having enough leeway to spin and flip, testing the limits of my own dexterity.

Suzumi was doing just about the same, her long black hair fluttering in the wind as she twisted and turned, jumping high into the sky and dolphin diving downwards, only to catch herself in the last moment by springing back up with her hands, flipping into an upright position.

Frankly, it was absurd. I had issues seeing, obviously, and I was nigh blind. But in following the movements of Suzumi, Tessai and Kisuke, I was able to keep myself from falling, just with a little less gung-ho tricks side of things.

Though it was liberating, above all else. I had never moved like this, outside of training. I had barely run or moved at anything other than a stilted walk all my life, but now I was sprinting at a speed faster than a car over the top of buildings.

"Woah!" Suzumi called out, "Sorry!" I turned towards her, confused.

"What happened?"

"I just ran by a lady sitting on her balcony. Scared me good." Suzumi responded in a yell.

"Oh, no need to worry you two, I have implanted small spiritual devices into your clothing to keep you invisible to the living. You two are currently incapable of being separated from your physical bodies, so I thought it best if we keep it strictly physical, yes?"

"So we can't be seen by anyone?" I asked him, and his ribbon shook its end.

"No, anything with a powerful enough spiritual sensitivity will be able to see you, so stay away from children in particular. We don't want a large number of children all talking about people running across the rooftops at once."

"Ah, well I wouldn't be able to see them to know either way. Guess I'll just go bumping into people at high speeds to give them a good scare."

I nodded solemnly, but I think Suzumi just rolled her eyes at me and then the man.

"We have arrived." Tessai grunted in his bass-y voice as he jumped down into a park, landing gently on the grass, lighter than a feather. Suzumi and I followed after him, decidedly less delicate about it, as out feet thumped into the ground with sizable force.

"Uhm, good morning!" Uyu's voice rang out from in front of us, the young girl's ribbon lightening up with recognition.

"Hello there, Uyu!" Suzumi said gleefully, running over to the smaller girl and pulling her into a tight hug. Uyu squirmed and complained nervously, but her Ribbon said that she was loving the attention. I laughed at the delightful antics of my sorta-girlfriend, the two of them together, Uyu and Suzumi, was heart-warming to witness.

"She talks about her all the time, y'know." A gruff voice said softly from beside me. One look at their ribbon told me that it was Jinta. I nodded.

"So does Suzumi. Thinks of her like a little sister." Jinta's ribbon nodded happily. After our less than stellar initial encounter, Jinta mellowed out towards me quickly, though he was the fiery sort in general. If anything was going to temper his flame, it was his daughter, or his wife who I've yet to meet.

"That's good. I think Uyu always wanted an older sister. We're too old for another kid, so this'll have to suffice." He chuckled before walking towards the two Soul Reapers.

"Alright! Let's get going on our patrol, shall we?" He said, metaphorical engines revving at the thought, "You two eggheads got all your fancy gadgets?" I could feel Kisuke roll his eyes.

"When did you get so uppity, Jinta. Did you forget that I handcrafted all your tools?" Jinta scoffed heartly but seemed to take the comment as an affirmation.

"Let's get a move on then." He said, voice more intense now, less unrestricted forest fire and more focused welding torch.

We started to get a move on, everyone going silent and keeping their head on a swivel, looking out for something with their sight. Everyone sunk into a method with ease, Jinta at the lead, followed by Kisuke and Tessai at each side, then Uyu behind them, with me and Suzumi behind her.

Maybe it was the natural leading abilities of Jinta, or simply the experience of all barring Suzumi and I that compelled us towards a structure. Though, I didn't have much in the way of sight, I could try something else to keep a lookout instead.

"Jinta," I called, breaking the silence, "do you mind if I expand my soul sensing abilities? I might be able to get a better idea of what's going on around us." He didn't respond verbally, but he nodded succinctly, showing through on his ribbon.

I did as I had said, expanding my soul sense past just myself and a few others for the first time in a while. Now that I had a lot more control over my spiritual energy in general, I found it much easier to restrict the area my soul sensing 'bubble'. I don't know if it surrounded me like a sphere or a circular area of effect, but I could feel my aura reach further outwards towards the city limits.

By that point my vision was filled with the ribbons, thick or thin, wavy, crimped or straight, sharp-edged or feather soft, they were all slightly different. I'm not sure it was something I was capable of seeing before, a sense that was blocked to me by my inexperience in what was allowing me to see them in the first place. They all imprinted in my mind as easily as the name and face of a person, of their smell or their voice.

But there was way too many of them, thousands, tens of thousands maybe.

"Jinta," I called again, choosing to refer to the team leader of this temporary group, "is there a way to differentiate between living humans and dead human souls?" Thought it wasn't Jinta who answered.

"You believe you can narrow the ribbons you see?" Kisuke asked, intrigued, and I nodded, "A living human's soul ribbons will feel tighter, like water being held in a balloon, whereas souls without a body and without correct precautions will feel like water spilt on the floor." I frowned at the odd examples, but when I recontextualized what I was looking for in my mind, the thousands of ribbons cluttering my view suddenly became only twenty-eight.

"Twenty-eight souls without physically bodies within Karakura town." There was a moment of shocked silence from all that surrounded me, well except for Uyu and Suzumi who seemed to be surprised at the shock in their seniors.

"Accuracy on that, kid?" Jinta called out, his gruff middle-aged voice lightened by surprise and interest.

"Uh," I thought for a moment, trying to scrutinize my own senses, "as accurate as you'd think your sight is? Probably more? It's another sense for me, sir." I answered with difficulty.

"Well I never." Kisuke laughed excitedly, "A boy with a spiritual sensitivity that accurate… maybe captain level, at least, better than mine for sure, and that's saying something." Tessai's ribbon quirked oddly at that, though I couldn't parse the expression.

"Do you have a direction for us, Carter?" Jinta continued, ignoring the Soul Reaper's monologue.

"Uh, depends, sir. Do you want to move to the nearest one, or do you want me to look for something specific about them?" Jinta's ribbon tilted it's end in thought.

"Is there any that are moving in haste?" I looked over the ribbons for a moment and found one. A ribbon that was fairly close, the same 'spilt cup' feeling emanating from them that Kisuke had talked about earlier. It was moving at about a running pace from what I could see. The ribbon itself was fairly plain, but it was slowly becoming paler, a slight rip beginning to appear in the ribbon in a suspiciously perfect corner of a circle.

"One soul moving at roughly running speed, potentially in the process of becoming a Hollow?" I questioned towards the team leader.

"Direction." Came the immediate response, Jinta's voice rock hard.

"Thirty-five-ish degrees to our left, no idea how far out." I responded, tone clipped and short, trying to get as much information into as little time. Immediately the direction of our team shifted, the intensity heightening.

Not a word was spoken, only the sound of rushing air, the beating of my own heart, and footsteps against rooftops could be heard as we raced towards our destination.

The soul that I was keeping an eye on was still running, frantic from what I could only assume was a Hollow, the small rip in it's own ribbon ever so slightly becoming larger, a timer to the corruption of the soul.

"We're here!" I yelled out as we got close enough, but I received no response, the whole group dropping from the roof to the concrete below, finding ourselves on a long strip of road by the edge of steep decline to what sounded like a trickling river.

But that wasn't the only thing that was making noise. There was a shrill scream, and then a far more terrifying roar.

No, not a roar, but like the wailing screams of something that used to be a person, garbled with white noise, clouding it's own vocalization.

The noise was unlike anything I'd ever heard before, something entirely alien and incomprehensible. I could feel Suzumi stiffening at my side, presumably for the same reason. I steeled myself against the horror of it.

"Help! Please help me!" A man cried, the same soul that I had tracked to get here. I could hear the jangling of a chain or some sort as the man ran from the Hollow that pursued him with large, thumping strides.

"What do we do?" I yelled towards Jinta as they moved to the side. It was our first Hollow hunt, after all.

"Whatever you feel in necessary, every moment you are talking to me you are putting that soul in danger!" Jinta responded gruffly, and I simply nodded in response. But even as I made to move forward first, Suzumi had already moved forwards instead, leaving Uyu and I behind.

"Sir!" She called out to the sprinting soul, "Please get behind me and my friends, they will be able to keep you safe!" The soul responded with an incoherent scream but managed to race behind Suzumi.

I didn't let a moment go to waste as the Hollow moved forwards. I couldn't get a good read on the Hollow's ribbon, seemingly not possessing one, or at least one that I could sense correctly. But I could tell roughly where it was based on sound and Suzumi's ribbon. I backed up Suzumi as the Hollow thumped forwards, still trying to chase the soul that it wanted to make its snack.

"Over here, you dumb thing!" Suzumi yelled as she jumped into the air and, with a mighty crack, gave the Hollow's wide chest a kick, sending it stumbling backwards, only just forcing itself away from the steep decline that would've forced it to fight at a height disadvantage.

Now that I was able to get a better look at it, the Hollow was almost comically top-heavy, if it weren't so menacingly built. It's chest and arms were oversized, almost like a gorilla's and its legs, or what should have been legs, were replaced with what looked like claws or hooks attacked to a prehensile tail. I couldn't tell what the patterns were like on its mask, but it was shaped like a diamond, seemingly lacking eyes on its silhouette, but a large, grinning mouth instead, tusks twisting outwards from its gaping mouth.

"Jesus, you're an ugly bastard, aren't you?" Suzumi said, a bit disturbed.

"I can tell that much and I can barely see worth a damn." I said, somehow managing to make light of the tense situation.

"L-less talking more fighting!" Uyu yelled as she launched herself over Suzumi and I's head, winding back a large, gauntleted fist as the Hollow let out another ear-piercing scream and lunged forwards with one of its oversized fists.