Either a Nobody AU but it's both Gin and Hisana that time travelled or WTL Hisana meets canon Ichigo? I can't decide which one I like more, so please pick your favorite. It's been a blast reading all the little snippets you have for WTL and TLM and thanks you so much for doing this!
(Nobody!AU where Gin falls through the time/dimension traveling portal a few months after Hisana does)
Tanaka Haru had always been rather average. The middle child, not particularly good looking but not ugly either, good enough get into the Onmitsukido (with the help of some family connections) but not good enough to make Seated Officer. So the last thing he'd expected was for him to catch up with the infamously elusive Nobody, when so many stronger, more talented shinigami had failed.
Looking back, Haru rather wished he’d chosen to stay in bed that day.
The first sign that something was off was that Nobody wasn’t alone. Admittedly, the amount of data the Onmitsukido had on Nobody could fill less than half a page, but one of the few things they did know about her was that she operated by herself (when she wasn’t off rescuing Rukongai orphans or whatever).
Whatever words Haru was about to say died on his tongue as the stranger sitting next to Nobody lifted his head at Haru’s entrance and-- holy shit that was a lot of scars.
The stranger was cloaked in a manner similar to Nobody, but the little that Haru could see of his face was disfigured horribly by severe burns, pale scar tissue twisting and distorting his skin until his original features were completely unrecognizable. One side of the stranger’s lips curved up sardonically at Haru’s reaction and he turned to Nobody.
“So this is what you’ve been doin’ all these months. Playin’ hide and seek with wannabe ninjas?” He asked, voice raspy from old smoke damage.
“Among other things.” Nobody looked towards Haru dispassionately and he felt his face burn as he realized the reason he’d found her so easily was because she hadn’t thought him a big enough threat to hide from. “Not that it’s any of your business what I’ve been up to.”
“So cold,” the stranger said mournfully, before glancing back at Haru. Haru took an involuntary step back and the stranger’s grin widened. “You see how she treats me? You’d never guess that barely a year ago, she begged me to stay by her side. Ran into a fire to find me, pulled my burning body out, cut out her own skin to stitch onto my body when too much of mine had burned away...stole me from near certain death. Isn’t that right, my dear?”
“You’ve never forgiven me for that,” Nobody murmured, almost inaudibly. The stranger put his hand over hers in a parody of affection and suddenly, Haru felt the absurd urge to pull her away from him.
“Nonsense,” the stranger said faux-cheerfully. “I look forward to the day when I can return the favor. But enough about that, where are my manners? What can we do for you and the esteemed Onmitsukido today, little ninja?”
Haru cleared his throat, fighting the urge to hide.
“By order of Captain Soi Fon, Leader of the Onmitsukido and the Second Division of the Gotei 13, the individual known as Nobody is hereby ordered to report to the Seireitei for--”
“Wait, have you seriously been goin’ around calling yourself Nobody?” The stranger interrupted, laughing. “Sweetheart, we really need ta do somethin’ about your crippling sense of self-worth.”
“Oh, like you’re one to talk about names, Ing,” Nobody snapped. “Of all the stupid, unoriginal--”
“We’re not talking about me right now, darlin’, this is about you and your awful taste in names. Don’t try to deflect.”
“It’s better than those sarcastic pet names you keep calling me!” Nobody retorted hotly.
“Who said they were sarcasm?” Ing asked, tilting his head to the side. Nobody shut her mouth with an audible snap, and Ing smiled wryly. “Until you come up with a better alias, I think I’ll keep callin’ you by them. Ain’t no way I’m gonna start callin’ you Nobody.”
“That’s who she is,” Haru spoke up, feeling irrationally defensive. At that, Ing’s lips curled into an unpleasant smile, pale blue eyes glittering.
“Did I say you could speak?” He asked softly.
“Leave him alone, Ing,” Nobody said, sounding abruptly tired. “He didn’t mean any harm.”
“Is that true, little ninja?” Ing asked, eyes glinting dangerously. Haru stood frozen, barely daring to breathe. Nobody was an unknown, a mystery, someone who knew too much and was endlessly frustrating, but she was never malicious. This man, however--
“See, my friend here thinks you mean her no ill will. That if I let you go, there’s no harm done,” Ing said conversationally. “I disagree, however. I think if I let you go, you’ll report straight to your captain and you’ll tell her everything you learned about us. You’ll keep coming back, bringing more and more people each time, until you finally get lucky. Maybe you catch us when we’re asleep, maybe when we’re injured. And when you finally do catch us, you’ll show my friend none of the mercy she showed you. What do you think, little ninja?”
“I--” Haru stuttered. He felt as if there suddenly wasn’t enough air in the room, or maybe like something was compressing his lungs from the outside. Squeezing tighter and tighter until his bones started grinding into dust.
“That’s what I thought,” Ing said. He tilted his head to the side. “You’re a pathetic little thing, aren’t you? The barest hint of spiritual pressure and you’re ready to pop like a grape.”
“I’ll pop you like a grape if you don’t stop,” Nobody interjected, the annoyance plain in her voice. “I can take care of myself just fine.”
“Because you’ve been doing such a wonderful job at that so far,” Ing said sardonically. At Nobody’s continuing glare, he relented, drawing his reiatsu back with a sigh. “Fine, fine, I’ll let the little rat go. He should let his superiors know, though, that I’m far less forgiving of people hunting you down than you are. Next time they send someone after us, I won’t be so nice.”
(Me the entire time writing this: hmm how can I make Gin and Hisana’s relationship even more complicated than it already is)
