A Welcome Surprise in a Lonely World [Raph/Closed]

Karakura was an extraordinary town in the most literal definition of the word. Unusual. Remarkable. Compared to an ordinary town, it experienced extra spiritual events. It was the epicenter of a hollow incursion. It was a battleground for Quincies and shinigami and it was certain to become one again. Not today though. It had not been for several days. Today and for several days previously, it was merely a town with extra occurrences of hollow attacks compared to an ordinary town.

That kept Arata anxious of what was to come. That kept Arata more attentive of what happened around him. That kept Arata on the alert for the next conflict. That kept Arata up at night. The alliterative anticipation and anguish within the archer was utterly imperceptible. To anyone else on the street, he was just some nerd riding his bike. Anyone else would likely never anticipate the arrival of inter-dimensional attacker while taking out the trash. Anyone else would only notice the brisk chill of the winter air and not the abundance of decomposed debris of the dead within it. Well, anyone else except for one man.

A very unassuming man. If not for the circumstances surrounding how they became acquainted, a man that Arata would have struggled to recognize. A man that apparently had not left enough of an impression for Arata to remember what his name was. That man was just one crosswalk away. There was really no reason to go and bother the man. Other than recognizing him, he was a stranger to Arata and yet he had a strange urge to strike up a conversation with him.

Against his better judgment in more ways than one, he began a last second dash across the street to the chagrin of the waiting drivers. In no time at all, he was walking his bike alongside the man and hurriedly introducing himself with a smile.

"I believe we've met before but I don't think I had the chance to properly introduce myself. My name is Arata Sasaki."

What a way to spend his day off.

The truth was an exceptionally frightening thing and the truth that he might be different than the other humans around him, the people that he walked beside, was horrifying. Everyday, when he woke up, he couldn’t help but feel some kind of odd and lonely existence. There were definitely beings like him, though how many other humans that were experiencing similar things? How many people would wake up day by day, able to do things that they shouldn’t have been able to do and still left their houses to get their normal tasks done anyways? He’d always seen ghosts, sure, but this new shit? Nope. He’d never heard of it before, never seen it before… Nor had he ever been attacked by hollows before, realistically, so that was a completely new thing that happened too.

People whizzed by all the time, so many that Raphael barely gave the number a second thought. He kept walking, glancing down now and then, and then stopping and looking around. He was a little lost, admittedly. He was going to the university, at first, but he’d made a wrong turn and… Oh, it was a little hopeless. He’d have to leave Karakura, eventually, or at the very least get strong enough to fight back…somehow. The ability to unleash waves of telekinetic force to push things, disintegrate them and destroy them utterly… Well, that was crazy. But then again… There was Vance to be concerned about. He was… Raph shook his head. Concerning wasn’t the word for Vance, that was terrifying… Then there was also Watari…what was with him??? What was he doing? Was he preparing for some big takeover of their Soul Society? What were they going to do, kill the captains? The world had been quiet for a long time… What was going to come next?

Raphael was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t really notice when the man on the bicycle had started up alongside him, but he felt him quickly enough. He said that his name was Arata and that they’d…met before? That didn’t seem right, he thought he would’ve remembered a name like Arata but, all the same, he gave him a bit of a smile.

“Nice to meet you, Arata. Name’s Raph.” The feeling of quincy stuck out on the man, almost like a perfume that the man was wearing. The pressure and intensity of the day that Watari had forced something out of him stuck out like a sore thumb, and, for a moment, his head ached, but he forced it down. “I won’t lie to you, I actually don’t remember where we’ve met. I was a little confused for a second, but you apparently, remember meeting me. Where was that at?”