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Reaping 1 Ring! The Bell of The Heavens



I am Ichikaze Furukasibaku. Yes, it sounds like a samurai's name and for good reason. My family once was a house of nobels in Fuedal Japan during the late Asuka Period until the beginning of the Edo Period where outstanding debts lead to many of my ancestors execution. So, my family has been trying to rebuild its reputation and its been like that since the turn of the century where as my grandfather came into a huge inheritance and the family has gained some of its power back, untill he gambled it all away. So, now I just attend a regular highschool with some regular friends and Minami Atsuka, my current crush.

Once again, I awoke late for school and had to walk missing half of my first class and the worst part I acctualy wanted to go to school today since me and Atsuka were partners in science class. When I arrived my first class was a grueling math class along with a five minute lecture from my teacher about how being tardy is a bad example to those who look up to me. When he said that I tried to stiffle back a laugh and only could think, Who would look up to me for anything? Im an Otaku who has a crush on one of the most important girls in class, I have normal grades, grey eyes, and have an obscession with swords and swordplay. I just nodded and walked to english class were I would be tortured with the smell and sight of Atsuka's fragrance and pressence.

I finnaly had lunch and could'nt be happyer that class was over for fourtyfive minutes. I sat around my friends and they were holding the normal conversation about the prettyest girl in the school, which wether or not I wanted to I would be part of. "So, Ichi. Who do you think is the hottest girl in the school. Its Miyazaki of class 3-B right? Man she has an awesome rack..." I kinda half smiled and with held my answer. Another person chimmed in and said, "You know he has a thing for miss perfection, Atsuka Minami." A couple of the guys laughed and one or two nodded in agreement to his comment. The bell rung quickly and I thought that was possibly one of the quickest lunch periods I have ever had.

It happened in Science Class...when we were retold who are partners were I heard the ringing of a large bell. Well, it wasnt realy a ringing it was more of a low pitched vibration, like how you can feel a bell when you're at a shinto temple. It shook by body and was so loud I wanted to throw up and sat down from my quezzyness. Asuka walked over to me and bent down making eye contact, "Are you okay Ichi? Hey, I never noticed but you have very pretty eyes, I wish mine were a shade of grey." I laughed a little and half blushed at her comment, "Thanks, every other man in my family has them." She leaned in a little closer then the bell chimmed again making my vision become blurry and I blacked out. What the hell was happening to me?

I awoke minutes later in the nurse's room, a wet cloth on my head. She walked over to me and sat by my side, "You don't seem to have a fever but just to be safe im sending you home for the day." I nodded lightly to her and walked to her desk were she wrote me a pass to collect my things, "Make sure you go to the doctors, it might be serious." I walked out of the room and headed to the lockers to pack my things. Standing there waiting for me was Atsuka of all people, I was wondering why she was standing there waiting for me."I thought I'd skip the rest of school and walk home with you, I can make up the classes over the weekend." I was a little nervous so I just nodded her way.

We walked out of the school after sighning out and headed down the street.
Atsuka was talking of school work and things that tend to bore me, then again I heard the ear splitting ringing of that bell and then I saw him. A man was slowly walking twoards us. He was wearing a black hakama with a white uwagi that had petals and roses all over it as a decoration. His sash held a long blade that was covered by his seath with was crimson with white petals all over it and had a rose-shapped bell connected as a keychain at the end. He had shoulder length white hair and piercing red eyes kinda like the shinigami or a vampire. Atsuka was stairing at him full on and seemed to look through him, like he wasnt even there...

As he walked closer his bell jingled once again and caused me to wrench over in pain, almost to this mans pleasure. Atsuka walked over to me and was kneeling by my side with a look of alarm, "Are you ok? Why do you keep doing this?" I pointed to the man who was standing over me, "So, you can hear the bell too...well thats perfect. We needed a new one anyway." Atsuka looked up, stairing through the guy. "She cant see or hear me." I was having trouble comprehending what he was saying between the pain and Atsuka speaking to me. "There's nothing there, Ichi" The man made a quick motion and in a blurr Atsuka's head was removed and blood spurted from her corpse like a fountain. Nobody was around and the whole street seemed to be completely devoid of life, the trees didnt even sway in the wind that was blowing the rose petals that seemed to come from nowhere.

The man picked me up andput me on my feet, I was to terrified to try anything at the moment. "Your lucky, I cleansed this area or the demon you were walking with would have murdered you pretty soon" I was shocked at what he said, "Thats no demon! Thats a human girl named Minami Atsuka!" The man put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around, forcing me to look at Atsuka's dead body, "No thats a demon named Sumonji and she's a trickster type." When I looked at Atsuka's body I expected to see the head of a fellow classmate and humanbeing, but instead there was a shriveled and scaly corpse of what looked like a female salamander with human arms and legs, I nearly threw up.

The guy placed a petal on the body which set on fire and dissapeared without a trace. "So how old are you?" I was beginning to realise this was'nt a normal situation and tryed to regain my composure, "Fifteen and four months." He got an annoyed look on his face and repeated the question, "Whats your age? In Shinigami time." I was very puzzled by his question and gave him a blank face, "Whats that? Is that like dog years and crap?" He was very annoyed and pulled out a stopwatch, holding it in front of my heart. I looked at the watch and the hand was now moving at an alarming speed counter-clockwise. He took it off of my heart and stared at it with an amazed look, "It says your threethousand five hundred and fifty three years old, so why are you in a childs body?" I was even more perplexed by this question.

"Well, no matter. We're going back and so I have to remove you from this Doll and put you into your Hitodama Form." I was about to speak, when I felt a blunt pain in my heart and watched in agony as the man before me was slamming his hilt into my chest, directly into my heart. My mind began to feel empty and I weightless. My human form layed on the ground and dissapeared in a pile of ash. I reached out in desperation before it happened, only to have ash blow between my fingers. In the pool of blood I saw a man of roughly the same age as the Shinigami looking back, that man was me. I was amazed at what I was wearing, I had a three piece gi of bright reds and whites in the form of diamonds. My normaly spiked hair was relatively flat and tamed. And a long scar that started from my eyebrow to my chin whent down my eye which I could see perfectly fine out of.

I grabbed the man by the collar of his Yukata and found my strength and speed were far beyond their normal boundries, " bastard,what did you do to me? What about my family and friends, my body?" The man grabbed my wrist and twisted it, sendding sharp pains through my fourarm. "I simply placed you in you spiritual form givin the fact that was a very,very disfunctional Doll you were in and the names Kazuma Tatengu of the Tatengu clan. You are?" I rubbed my wrist and looked down at the ground as I spoke, " Ichikaze Furukasibaku." He smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder, "Time to go back to your cell, Ichi-Kun." I looked at him puzzled but heard a dull thud resound from my stomach and passed out, I dont know what happened after that.

When I regained consciousness I found myself in what appeared to be a dungeon of some kind. My gi had been removed and a very ragedy yukata had replaced its presence. The windows were barred also which did'nt help the rooms cooldness which was uncommon for a summers eve in Tokyo. I was trying to gain my barring which were totaly out of wack. I could barely see in the cell but when I tried to lift my head which was resting on something I was stopped with a soft hand to the chest. I looked up to see a women with bright pink cat like eyes and blond hair that was flat until it reached the lower-back were as it began to spike downwards."Awake I see." She smiled at me and I was slightly disturbed. She had all of her teeth, that was for sure and they dazzled perfectly liek a actors in a movie, no. The disturbing fact was her lower and upper canines were as long as the tip of my pinkys.

I jumped in a startled frenzy and scurryed away backwards twoards the wall, my back firmly against it, "What the hells the deal with your teeth?" She cocked her head to the side and the moonlight shined on the top of her head, making her furry triangular ears clear to my eyes. "Whats wrong? You act like you never seen a Nekomata?" I pressed harder against the wall thinking she was insane. "Dont worry, I dont bite unless frightened." She was walking on her hands and knees twoards me and I saw the irrefutable proof that she was'nt insane, she had a two-pronged tail sticking out of her kimono, swaying back and forth. She was face to face with me now and her sharp fangs were covered slightly in her saliva. In all actuality I thought she was going to kill me.

She leaned in more and we were close enough for me to feel her breath on my face which had to smell to it despite her being locked in a jail cell. "Its my 3,000th birthday and I wouldnt mind a present for my behavior." I began become nervous as she leaned in even closer to my face. I closed my eyes and tryed moving back but the wall which gave me comfort was now my emotional corner, I opened one eye to see what she was doing and felt her lips press against mine and stay there for about thirty seconds. I nearly passed out from the nosebleed I had obtained. She kept her face close to mine still and smiled, "First kiss?" I nodded yes, then she kissed me again and said, "Mine too." I passed out for a minute but rewoke trying to redeem myself

Before I could say anything I heard a loud yet calm voice from the hall leading to our cell. A old man accompanyed by three gaurds dressed in amazingly plain yukatas walked twoards the cell in urgencey. The girl huddled beside me and began to shiver as if she was very cold, or very, very afraid. He arrived in front of our cell and banged a large staff on the ground making the bars of the cell vibrate then open with a loud creaking noise. He opened one eye and looked at me with it, as if he was summing me up. "1st Level Shinigami Instructor, Ichikaze Furukasibaku. You are now free of any charges that were held against you by order of Shao Mein Lu, King of Tenjoukai on account of the Festival of Souls held in his majesty's royal court. You and that flea bag are invited, A fresh gi and kimono will be delivered to your place of residence on Meiji Street in the Ba-Precint. Enjoy yourselves."

As the man walked away with the three gaurds behind him, the room suddenly became quite and uneasy. The girl began to mutter something to hereself and slowly repeated it louder, "Mrs.Reana Furukasibaku. It has such a nice sound to it." A gaurd came in and lifted us up by the collars of our clothing and tossed us outside into cold, cold snow. I brushed the snow off of me and shivered while Reana seemed to enjoy it ," Its oddly warm today." I stared at her in amazement wondering why she was so normal with the winter when it was a warm August day when I arrived. "Whys it like this," I said stammering from the cold. She looked puzzled, "Like what? Winter? Its always winter and night in Tenjoukai, always."

I slowly became used to the cold weather and began to think about what I would have to do next, "I gotta find Meiji Street, its getting darker." Reana was happy to hear I needed help, "Before I was locked up I was a theif and burgular so I know my way around all of Tenjoukai." I couldnt have been luckyer, could I? A theif was infatuated with me. Under he lead we began to walk to my house.