Deja vu [Daiosharune and Miharu only]

It seemed rather peaceful here, in the heart of Karakura city, thought Darrell as he stepped out of the cab, waving his card over the payment unit.
As the vehicle drove away, Darrell put down his travel pack, stretching and taking a deep breath of air, which seemed strangely fresh despite being from a large city.
"I thought there would be more spirit activity..." He thought out loud, taking his phone from his pocket, and opening a text document.
"Old Karakura... right place... I hope that old lady wasn't just babbling..."
Slipping the phone back into his jacket, he shouldered his pack and began walking.
"Guess this direction is as good as any."

Less than a block away, he paused, looking around.
"Was that..."
A second howl, much closer this time, confirmed his fears, and a shiver ran down his spine. He had hoped to never hear that sound again, the sound of the monster that had haunted his dreams since the 'accident' many years before.
Setting down his pack, he opened a side panel, drawing out a long blade, as a crash nearby heralded the coming of the creature.
getting into his fighting stance, determination etched across his features, he hoped he was ready for what was to come...

(OOC: not bloody likely, LOLz XP)

[OOC: For simplicities sake, I will be reffering to Miharu as a girl whenever he's dressed as one. Makes it less confusing in the long run. Also, I have permission from Daio to do what I'm about to do in this post. >>]

Miharu stood quietly ontop of a telephone pole, looking fairly much bored out of her mind. Old Karakura was rather quiet that day, and one could only train so much at a time without tiring. And god forbid she tired herself out when there could still be trouble.

As if she'd jinxed herself, Miharu heard a nearby howl. "Hollow," she muttered to herself, her red-brown braids and the fabric of her black kimono rustling in the wind that had suddenly seemed to pick up. She sighed softly to herself, then used shunpo to get closer to the location.

She arrived in time to see a man standing ready with a blade in hand, just as the Hollow was rounding the corner. Judging by the fact that he had a blade and wasn't running like any sane spiritually aware human would, she assumed that the man was a superhuman. Curiosity drove the violet-eyed shinigami to stay where she was and watch to see what powers the man had.

However, it seemed that the man was just a foolish human who thought he could combat the Hollow with his sword alone. The beast charged, smacking into the man, sending him flying toward a wall. Miharu cursed under her breath, throwing some kunai and shuriken to distract the Hollow, then quickly shunpo'd behind the man, catching him, but ramming into the wall herself. "Ouch... that hurt, dammit..." she mumbled, pushing the taller human away and pushing off from the wall before drawing her blade. "Are you okay?"

Darrell grunted, shrugging off the blow, and turned to his rescuer, opening his mouth...
Which stayed open, as he stared at the girl from his memory, same outfit, same sword...

"you... you were the one who saved me..."

Before he could become too distracted, the creature howled again, pulling Darrell's sword from deep in it's shoulder, throwing the weapon where it shattered against the side of a building.

"Dammit, that was my favorite sword..."

As the monster turned it's attention back to the two on the other side of the road, Darrell pointed at one of it's legs.
"It's already injured... we aren't the first ones to fight this thing..."

"What are you talking about?" Miharu asked. She didn't remember ever saving this guy... well, until just now, anyway. A sigh escaped her as she rubbed her shoulder with her free hand. Being sandwiched between a full grown human man and the wall in that way really did hurt. Another sigh, and she pulled out three kunai, wedged between her fingers and giving the impression of claws.

"Hurry up and run," Miharu ordered, then shunpo'd forward and up so that she was above the Hollow. She then flipped her Zanpakutou so that the blade dug deep into the Hollow's back as she fell. After regaining her balance, she stood, still holding the blade, and ran along the length of the creature's back, digging a long cut and further injuring it. She then lept up, throwing the kunai in her hand, which disappeared into the wound.

However, the brunette wasn't expecting the Hollow's tail to suddenly shoot up, wrapping around her feet befoe slamming her into the ground hard enough for her small body to cause a shallow impact crater. The force of the blow caused her to cough up blood. However, she wasn't given enough time to recover before she was thrown again, this time hitting the wall and causing another impact crater. Luckily, the Hollow's tail wasn't around her legs anymore. Hopefully, she was out of range.

She shakily pushed herself to her feet, blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. "That... that really hurt, you bastard..." she growled as the Hollow, sensing it's victory, slowly approached. Miharu figured that it was attempting to avoid aggrivating it's injuries. She snapped and shunpo'd forward again. However, at the last second, she dodged around, going straight for the Hollow's tail.

A quick movement removed the annoying appendage from the creature, then she lept up making another slice at it's back before going for it's head. However, it was quicker than she thought and it dodged, causing her to land on the ground. As she moved to stand properly, one of it's claws smacked into her, the razor tips cutting into her as it sent her flying into the wall again, where she crumpled and didn't make a move to get up again.

Darrell was about to tell her what he thought of running, when he was once again left with his jaw hanging slack as she seemed to vanish in a blur.
Watching incredulously as she attacked the monster, it slowly dawned on Darrell that the girl must not be human...
"Which would explain a lot..." he muttered, wincing as he watched her being slammed into the ground and then the wall, still frozen in place with amazement as she counter-attacked.

It wasn't until she slammed into the wall right next to him and didn't get up that he snapped out of his stupor, seeing the blood trickling from her mouth and the long rips in her outfit.

"Hey, are you alright?" bending down, he placed one hand on her un-injured shoulder, the other clasping her hand which was locked around the handle of her katana.
Without knowing, he made a fairly silly request...
"Here, rest for a bit, lend me this, it seems to work better than the sword I had, I can take him."

Meanwhile, the creature stumbled, supporting itself against the wall of a building on the other side of the road, breathing heavily, it's many wounds and mangled leg causing it to howl once more in agony.

A quiet, dark laugh escaped Miharu's lips as she looked up at the human. "This Zanpakutou... would not allow you to use it... however..." she started before being cut off by a wet cough. "I... can lend you my power," she finished, lifting the katana in her hand and staring straight at him. She knew it was a risky move, but the stupid human wouldn't run. What could she do? She was as good as dead at this point, and if she let this guy fight as he was, he would surely die as well.

The Hollow needed to die anyway. If it was allowed to roam free any longer, it would surely kill many people.

Darrell got a distinctly puzzled look in his eyes.
"Wait, the sword won't... eh, never mind." shaking his head to clear it, he paused to give the katana a strange look, before processing her last words.
"You can lend me your power? Alright, if you think that would work. I don't want that thing killing anyone else. How do we do this?"

Behind them, the Hollow tried to step away from the wall, but lost it's balance and fell against the wall, several chunks breaking off and falling onto the ground, before the creature finally managed to stand upright by itself, waiting for the next attack in a defensive stance.

Another laugh slipped loose before ending in a strangled cough. "Ow... dammit..." she growled, then shook her head slightly. "I'll have to stab you, unfortunatly," the brunette stated, violet eyes flicking to the Hollow. "Live or die. It's your choice, boy. That Hollow isn't going to wait forever for you to make that choice."

Darrell recoiled, standing up and stepping back away.
"Are you nuts? I'm not letting you stab me! Thanks, but I'll take my ch..."

He never got to finish his sentence. The hollow, impatient with how slow things were going, picked up a piece of wall and threw it, hitting Darrell in the back of the head.
Luckily, it was small enough that it didn't actually cause much damage, and the hollow was too weak to throw it very hard.
However, it was enough to cause Darrell to stumble and fall, right onto Miharu's Zan, the blade punching through his chest and out his back, barely missing his heart.

A look of surprised pain coursed over his features, before coughing up a spray of blood onto the wall beside Miharu's head.
Smiling slightly, he turned to Miharu, a matching trickle of blood running down the side of his mouth.
"Well, looks like we do this your way after all... gods I hope I live through this..."

"Che. Moron. You'll live," Miharu stated, then concentrated on sending her power to the human. A flash there was a flash of light, and the brunette grinned up at the man. "My name is Sugisaki Miharu, by the way," she stated, relaxing slightly. The new shinigami would be able to handle things just fine.

About to comment on being called a moron, Darrell only gasped as a blast of energy tore through his body, erasing the pain in his chest. A feeling like liquid flame burned through his soul, coiling around a deep wound in his spirit and setting it ablaze.

When he could see again, he found himself standing in front of Miharu, with a sword in his hand, coming back to his senses just in time to hear her introduce herself.
"A pleasure to meet you, Miharu. I'm Da..."

An enraged scream rang through the air as the Hollow charged, it's speed severely diminished by it's mangled and missing limbs. A brief blur, and suddenly the creature was short another limb, Darrell having cleanly removed one of the creature's arms at the shoulder. He then removed the other arm with a similar move, and stood over the fallen creature.

"Don't you know it's rude to interupt people when they're talking?" He asked, rhetorically, before bringing his sword down into the creature.
After a few seconds, he turned and came back to Miharu.
"Umm, one question... How do you kill these things?"
Stepping aside, he revealed the Hollow, with no arms, no legs, and it's torso cut in half, but still squirming and howling in agony.

"...it's mask..." Miharu said softly. Her head then dropped as she closed her eyes, trying to reserve her strength for when she would have to move. She'd already lost a lot of blood, though, and was tired. 'Might have to let this guy look after me then... how sucky is that...' she thought vaguely, sighing softly.

Darrell snapped his fingers, recognition on his face.
"That's right, I remember, you cut it's face in two and it just evaporated... can't believe I forgot that..."

Walking back to the Hollow, he quickly split it's mask, allowing it to fade away, released from it's pain.
"Well, now that that's over with... How are you doing? Do you need help?" Darrell knelt down in front of Miharu, worry plain on his face.

Miharu made an attempt to get up, but her abused body quickly gave out on her and she sagged against the wall. "Shimatta..." she cursed quietly, then looked up at the human. Her violet eyes looked hazed over, as if she was trying to focus her vision, but not quiet able to. "I can't... really move right now... Where are you staying?" she asked.

Darrell shook his head lightly, and then pulled off his Shinigami shirt, barely noticing that it was completely different from what he had been wearing before.

"I just arrived, I don't have a place yet. Let's get you bandaged up, then we can look for a hotel..."
Pulling a first aid kit from his travel pack, he quickly got out a bunch of stuff, before pausing.
"Umm... will human first aid stuff work for you? I don't have anything else..."

"I'll be fine... if you just bandage me..." Miharu replied, resting her head against the wall. "Where's a fourth division lacky when you need one..." she muttered then, closing her eyes again. It was too hard to focus, and she was getting a headache.

-------------------------------

Hours later, Miharu awoke. She was laying on something soft, which she assumed to be a bed. Lifting a hand, she placed it on her stomach, feeling stiff bandages there, but no kimono top. 'Wonderful. I guess my cover has been blown, then... Well, it was only a matter of time before someone found out...' Miharu thought, opening her eyes to look around the room. Sitting in a chair off to the side was the human she'd previously handed her power over to. It was thanks to him that the brunette was still alive. He was back in his human body by this point, and Miharu had to wonder how long she'd been asleep.

"Thanks... um..." she started, then looked puzzled, realizing that she hadn't gotten the man's name before.

"Everyone calls me Daiosharune." He said, leaning forward to check Miharu's bandages. "I'm glad you're awake. I was beginning to worry..."

After making sure the binding had not come undone, he carefully pulled up the covers of the bed, covering Miharu up to the chin.

"I haven't told anyone my real name in over nine years..."
Sighing, he looked up, meeting Miharu's eyes.
"It's Darrell. Darrell Shard. I'll keep your secret, if you keep mine."

[OOC: Switching over to male terms.]

"I wasn't worried about it. It wasn't like it was a major secret anyway. More like a challange to see how long I can trick people into thinking I was a girl. So far, you are the only person to find out," Miharu said with a careful shrug before reaching up and beginning to pull carefully concealed clips from his hair, disgarding them to either side of the pillow until, finally, he was able to pull the wig he'd been wearing off, the wigcap underneith slipping off at the same time. Hidden under the wig was a head of messy, bright red hair. "This is the real me," he added with a slight chuckle before disgarding the wig and wigcap to the side. It had been a while since he'd taken those off for anything but showering, and it felt good to be rid of them.

"But you don't have to worry. I won't blab your secret, either, Sharu," Miharu said, leaning back into the pillow and closing his eyes slightly. 'I hope I won't get into too much trouble for this...' he thought, staring up at the cealing with half-lidded violet eyes.

Darrell sat there for a while, looking at Miharu, taking in the red hair and new information. He finally stirred, leaning forward, placing his knees on his elbows, the chair creaking slightly with the shift in weight.

"Thirteen years... you haven't changed a single bit in all that time..."
Leaning back, Darrell ran his hands over his face, sighing deeply.

"I know you're a spirit of some kind... the innkeeper couldn't see you... and I had to use strips of cloth from that other shirt I had for a while there to bind your wounds... I would ask what you are, but I felt it... WAS it for a while... you're a reaper, aren't you? Or at least, the japanese equivalent of one... a Shinigami, right?"

"Aa. Shinigami da," Miharu replied, canting his head slightly. "And now, in a way, so are you," he added, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, careful not to stretch his wounds, which truthfully were already on the mend, though he really wished he could go to Captain Toboe and and her division for some proper medical care. Still, he was grateful to Sharu for tending to him as he had.

"You keep making reference to the past. I don't remember ever seeing you before... though I suppose you'd have been a child at the time... still, you kept such a thing in mind?" the redhead asked, eying Darrell a little strangely.

Darrell laughed, shaking his head.
"Yeah, I was a child. Twelve, actually. It was one of those things you can't forget... the monster landing on the vehicle in front... the sound of metal twisting, asphalt shattering..."

Darrell slowly lowered his head into his hands, a single tear coursing down his cheek.
"Mother screaming... the creature howling..."

Looking back at Miharu, he smiled, "You leaping out of nowhere, slaying the beast that had caused so many deaths..."
"It was a thirteen car pileup. I was the only survivor. You watched over me until the rescue team managed to pry me out of the back seat."

Leaning forward, he brushed a strand of red hair out of Miharu's eyes.
"I thought you were my guardian angel."

As Darrell spoke, images flashed through Miharu's mind. He remembered that time. It was probably the worst accident he'd attended. Distracted, the violet-eyed Shinigami didn't notice Darrell leaning forward. However, the hand brushing a strand of his messy red hair out of his eyes brought him back to reality, along with the words spoken. "G-guardian angel?" Miharu asked, eyes wide, and a light blush staining his cheeks a pale shade of pink. He hadn't been expecting the action, nor the words, or the way they were spoken. "Y-you're mistaken. I was just... doing my job," he said haltingly, looking away.

Darrell leaned back in his chair with a thump.
"Just doing your job, huh? Is that why you waited long after all the souls had been sent to their final destination? Eh, never mind..."

Standing up and waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, Darrell turned to one of the open doors in the room, pulling his shirt off and tossing it on the floor. "I'm going to get cleaned up, I need a shower after all that excercise."

Before the door to the bathroom closed, he muttered something, loud enough for Miharu to hear...
"Beautiful enough to be one... especially without the wig... too bad he's..." and the door closed, cutting off the rest of the sentence.

Miharu's eyes followed Darrell as he left, then sighed as the door closed, cutting off the man's voice. Once he was gone, the redhead carefully laid back in the bed with another sigh, closing his eyes. "...tsukareta..." he murmured, opening his violet eyes half way and staring at the ceiling.

At that moment, his weakened senses picked up a mass of Hollow reiatsu, and he opened his eyes completely, staring in the direction he sensed them in before turning his head to stare at the ceiling again. It didn't matter. He was injured and far too weak to deal with a normal Hollow, let alone the ones that he was sensing, and he wasn't going to let Darrell fight without him there to look out for the human. Besides, he could vaguely sense a Captain-level Shinigami there, and there were sure to be a number of Quincy and Superhumans as well. It didn't matter if they went or not. The problem would be taken care of in short order.

Darrell stood in the shower, leaning against his hands, letting the cold water wash over his head and run down his back. A brief memory flashed through his mind, Miharu flying through the air, sword drawn, hair streaming out behind, an instant before clashing with the Hollow that had attacked the highway...

Shaking his head, Darrell chuckled softly, turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel and drying his hair.
"Falling for a Grim Reaper..."

The sudden image of a skeleton in a black cloak posing seductively with it's scythe caused him to burst out laughing. He was still giggling lightly when he stepped out of the bathroom, only the towel around his waist, and walked over to where his travel pack was sitting uner the curtained window, and began pulling fresh clothes out of it.