Because I Wasn't Insane Enough Already

Chapter 19

HELLO, ALL! I would like to thank the amazingful mangaluver1723 for her dedication of chapter fourteen of her awesome story to me. 

And I am SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT. KuroKun and I ACTUALLY HAVE LIVES. So, sorry, and here's nineteen. Sorry if this is short, too. Anyway, enjoy. 

~Emo-san

TSUKI'S POV

I awoke somewhere in Rukongai. my head pounded unbearably and my throat was dry as sandpaper.  I sat up, coughing violently, and wiped my eyes. I tried to bind my hair back, but had nothing to tie it with. "How the hell did I end up here???" I wondered aloud. I couldn't remember anything from the past few hours, other than drinking. "That much alcohol should have killed me," I murmured. But you didn't die, did you? What do you think that means? 
"I don't know what that means, thank you very much!" I shouted. "So stop asking me questions I can't answer! You shouldn't push me out of trees one second and ask me philosophical questions the next!"
It means you can't die.
"Shinigami and konpaku can die! Kaien died. Miyako died. Lots of shinigami die. "
But you aren't a shinigami or a konpaku. You are alive.
"Yah, alive and in the afterlife," I commented dryly. I wasn't too sure if I liked my zanpakuto.
Shame, because I think you're growing on me.
"Really?"
No. But maybe you would if you'd drop the fact that I shoved you out of a tree...
"But that hurt!" I protested. I could feel Namida shrugging. and then her presence was gone, and she retreated back into the mindworld. I could just hear her say;
I don't know why I bother.
"I don't know why you bother either!" I shouted, frustrated. 
I seemed to have a talent for getting lost. I couldn't even see a house from here. Prairie stretched for as far as I could see, surrounding me. I hauled myself up and crested the nearest hill, following a deer trail. What I found shocked me. It was a house, but the more prominent feature was a pair of arms, one on either side, holding a banner in clenched fists. A chimney/cannon/thingy reached up to the sky, behind the banner reading; 'Kukaku Shiba'. I didn't have much time to contemplate the fact that I was in the territory of someone who wouldn't hesitate to cut me into tiny bits (and someone possibly bigger than Rangiku, if even possible. Someone certainly wearing less...) because a snorfling interrupted my thoughts.
"Bonnie! bonnie! No! Bad boar, bad! Come here! No---waaoooohh!" 
A large boar, decorated with a bow and a mean pair of tusks, came charging at me. 
"Wha~ holy mother of fricking shit!" I screamed, sounding much like Storme. I was such a hypocrite sometimes when I reprimanded her for her language. I dived out of the way of Bonnie as she fled past me and began goring one of the stone arms. A man with black poofy pants (they looked kinda funny), a green, red, and white shirt, and a green bandanna came chasing after her, ignoring me.
"Wow...you're even uglier than in the manga! Yumichika-chan was right!" I said, awed.
"Shut it!" he yelled at me, and would have fought me but for that Shiroganehiko (or was it Koganehiko?) stepped out of the house and began calling to Ganju, relaying the threats of his older sister. Ganju shot me a dirty look but ran after Shiroganehiko. ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

Kukaku. shit. I was going to die if I met her. I mean, she had always scared me in the manga (and I had gotten in trouble for the cover of volume 9), but I was positive she wouldn't take too kindly for a random girl to just pop up, hung over, on her property. But then it was too late to do anything, for Shiroganehiko shielded his eyes against the sun and looked straight at me.

"Who's that?" he asked. It was Ganju who answered over his shoulder as he ran to answer his older sister.

"Her? Oh, she's some drunk chick wandering around!" Ganju banged down the stairs and vanished from sight. I fled. I ran and ran, until I arrived, panting, at the rukongai by the East gate. It was a surprisingly short run, only about a mile. As soon as I came into view, people vanished into their houses. Hands on my knees, I stood there, gulping in the much needed air.

"Hello?" I gasped. "I don't mean anyone any harm." No one came out. 

"Leave us alone. Go away," one old woman called. 

"Gee, so welcoming," I muttered. What had happened to them that they'd become this distrustful?"I'm not a shinigami," I said, hoping to reassure them.

"Just because you're not wearing a black robe -" 

"A shihakusho," I broke in, a habit of correcting my friends. 

" - doesn't mean you aren't a soul reaper. Besides, you know enough about them to be one." A man's voice this time. But one child believed me. 

He wandered out of a hut, and stood staring at me. He looked vaguely familiar....maybe he had been in the background. Where had I seen him? "Ma'am?"  he asked.

"Huh?" I looked up from my speculations.

"Are you a ryoka?" Wow. that was out of the blue.

"Um.....I guess so. Hey, aren't you Yuichi's brother?" That was it! I knew he looked familiar!

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I know Chad." Not a direct lie. Just...well, I felt like  knew him, anyway.

"You mean that giant Yui's always talking about?"

"Probably, I mean -" A small, brown-haired boy broke out of the slowly gathering crowd. 

"Chad?" he asked.

"No, he's not here," the boy frowned,

"but he's doing well." Another lie. At this moment in the plot, Chad was having serious doubts about his relationship with Ichigo while fighting off Arrancars that "only Ichigo could handle".  Because ichigo has a big head like that. The old woman who had spoken earlier came forward, heavily relying on her cane. "Why are you here? Do you oppose the shinigami like the last ryoke?"

"Why, oh why, does everyone compare me to Strawberry?" i moaned, "and no to your question. Actually, I'm training under the sixth vice captain. They're not all that bad. Some are pretty decent." Of course, that went over like a ton of freaking bricks.