Ripples in the rain
Chapter 1 Mysteries in the night
It was a clear night and the stars in the sky glimmered like little lights. It had been raining and the pavements were slick with water. The street lamps made the puddles shimmer like miniature moons.
Tired feet splashed threw them as a young man dashed down the narrow street.
The lamps around him flickered out and the street was plunged into darkness.
The young man dodged and waved his way threw the tiny side streets glancing back now and again.
His peruser was still hot on his heals and he groaned, he never lose him like this.
A large beefy hand grabbed his wrist and spun him around and slammed him into the damp wall.
The young man gasped his breath coming on short puffs. His eyes widened with fear, they had sent him.
The large man sneered, "You should know better than to try to double-cross my employers quincy."
The young man scowled, "It's hardly my fault that their security system is so crap."
His attacker back handed him across the face, "That's enough out of you."
The young man's head smacked of the wall and he let out a moan of pain, "It's too late," he sneered, "It's already left the city."
The beefy man swore and slammed his fist into the wall next to the young man's head, "You think your so damn clever don't ya."
The quincy shrugged, "I'm definitely more intelligent than you are."
The man growled and cracked his victim's head off the wall again.
The young man could feel blood trickling down the back of his head but refused to let it bother him. He grinned mischievously, "Looks like some one will be getting the sack," he teased.
A dark glint appeared in the man's eyes, "Not if I get the location out of you."
The young quincy shivered, he knew he shouldn't be afraid but the war had been five years ago and he'd gotten rusty.
The large man leered, "So why don't you an' me have a little chat doc."
The young man arched an elegant eyebrow, "And have me pressed to a wall and being threatened with bodily harm is having a little chat?"
The large man chuckled, "You got a spark you do but that's not gonna save you. Now where is the girl?"
The young man shrugged, "No idea," he replied mildly.
His attacker growled, "The truth doc, where did ya send her?"
"First express to the moon," the young man told him cheerful.
The man's fist crunched into his face and smashed his glasses.
"Well that was uncalled for," the quincy grumbled, "They were new this week to."
His attacker grind, "Too bad. Where's the girl?"
The young man looked innocently up at him, "Which girl are we referring to?"
The beefy man roared with rage, "You are insufferably quincy."
"And you're annoyingly stupid but I wouldn't let that bother you."
The man hit him again and blood seeped from his nose onto his white ribbed jumper. The quincy scowled, "That's most inconvenient."
The large man scoffed, "Just tell me where the brat is and I'll let you go."
The quincy eyed him sceptically, "Really?"
The large man growled at the quincy's smug expression, "Right, now you've really torn it."
The young man winced as blow after blow rained down on him. He half slid down the wall but the meaty hands pulled him back up. Mistake number one the quincy thought, you loosened your grip.
He went floppy his body keeling left. The mad dropped him in surprise. As quick as lightning the quincy half rolled and jumped to his feet. He sprinted into the dark leaving his attacker swearing after him.
The young man limped threw the streets and on to the main road. Cars flashed passed him and he shivered. It least it was light here and there were a lot of people bustling about. He smirked to him self, he done it and it was too late for them to do any thing about it.
He hurried back to his apartment and hoped that they were safe. His apartment was small and had a leak in the kitchen roof. The lights were off when he arrived so that meant they had already gone. He toed off his shoes and flicked the light on. Nothing. Frowning his stepped into the hall.
The door swung shut behind him and a cold hand clamped its self over his mouth.
"Shhhh," a silky voice whispered, "You should know better than to fight me Uryuu."
Uryuu scowled and struggled.
The man holding him laughed quietly, "Now, now settle down."
Uryuu bit the hand covering his mouth and staggered away from the intruder.
"You're to late. They've already gone," he told the other triumphantly.
"Oh no that's just to bad," the other man whispered icily. "Looks like you've been particularly naughty."
Uryuu backed away fumbling for the kitchen door handle.
The intruder's eyes narrowed, "Not there quincy," he warned.
Uryuu glowered at him, "If there already gone why are you still here? I doubt it's for my coffee."
The other man chuckled. "Why am I still here? I'm sure you know the answer Uryuu. You sent the brat away some where safe but you made on crucial mistake."
"And what was that," Uryuu remarked coolly?
"You know where she went. You see I wasn't sent to bring the girl back. I was sent to bring you."
Uryuu's eyes widened and her swore colourfully.
"Now, now watch your language," the intruder teased.
Uryuu glanced around for a way out. A few years ago he would have used his bow but it had been so long he would be sorely out of practice. Hound would beat him within seconds.
The man in the door way laughed ominously, "Looks like you're trapped well an truly this time."
Uryuu scowled at him, "I'm not beat yet." He fumbled in his pocket for the small knife he always carried with him. It was empty.
Hound laughed again, "Looking for this," he sneered swinging the blade from his fingers.
Uryuu swore again.
"Well that's one way of putting it."
"You'll be stopped," Uryuu vowed, "My friends will stop you and your filthy organisation."
Hound shrugged mildly, "I doubt that. We've been working on the soul society's downfall for over two hundred years. Do you honestly think that your puny friends can stop us?"
Uryuu nodded defiantly, "They can, they will."
Hound sighed and shook his head, "That's such a shame." As quick as a flash he had moved from the door way to reappear behind the startled quincy. He caught Uryuu's body as it fell. "Such a shame," Hound mused, "I had hoped you would choose the easy way."
Kurosaki Ichigo smiled to him self as he wandered down the sun lit streets. He hummed happily under his breath. Things had been good since he and Rukia had got back from saving the soul society, again.
He'd spoken to Chad and learnt that Orihime was pregnant. Rukia had been acting slightly strange though. She seemed to be very tired lately. Ichigo smiled and headed for the park.
The orange head weaved his way threw the crowed and felt a ruff creased piece of paper was slipped into his hand.
Ichigo glanced around but he couldn't tell who it had been. Carefully he unfolded the paper. The writing was neat almost elegant. It bore a simple message.
Protect her
Ichigo frowned, who should he be protecting and why? He had no idea. Shoving the square of paper into his pocket he turned and briskly returned to his and Rukia's apartment.
A rickety train pulled in with a screech of breaks at Karakura station. It was peeling paint and the seats were hard plastic. A young man and a little girl stepped off and glanced around the busy platform.
The young man took the little girl's hand, "Don't let go okay."
The little girl nodded. Together they made their way threw the mass of people. The young man's black and orange gold eyes flitted back and forth across the building looking for any one who might be a potential enemy.
"It's okay Yoko-chan, we're nearly there now," he told the silent child.
Yoko glanced up at him, "Will Ishida-san be all right?"
The young man gave her a reassuring smile, "Ishida-kun will be all right he is very clever."
The little girl nodded solemnly.
They left the station behind and wandered down the main street. The shops were brightly coloured and the people seemed happy and friendly. The little girl looked around in awe. She'd never seen any thing so bright. The city they had come from had been dark and dank with polluted air.
The young man smiled at her, "Like it?"
Yoko nodded and gave him a shy smile in return.
"Shiko should have passed on Ishida-kun's message by now," the black haired man mused.
"Are we going to stay with a friend of Ishida-san's," Yoko asked?
The older man nodded, "Some thing like that."
They walked in silence and the young man pulled a scrap of paper from his back pocket. He frowned in concentration and scrutinised the directions.
Yoko tugged his hand, "Hungry."
The young man chuckled as her stomach rumbled, "You are aren't you."
Looking around he lead Yoko into a small café. The inside was bright and cheerful and was painted yellow and white. The waitress smiled at them as they considered what to get.
They left the café a few moments later with a strawberry milk sake and a cream tea. Yoko happily slurped her from the pink and white striped straw a continued gazing round the town with large round eyes.
"This is so different to were we came from Kato-san," she said after a bit.
The young man nodded, "Some thing like that."
Yoko giggled , that was Kato's answer to almost every thing.
Kato inspected the piece of paper again,"Says we take a right turn up here," he muttered.
They had entered a part of town that was just flat blocks. Painted white they seemed to gleam in the sunlight. Kato lead Yoko up three flights of stairs and stopped outside a light brown door.
"This one," Yoko asked?
Kato nodded, "Think so."
He wrapped on the door and waited.
Rukia groaned as a knock on the door disturbed her from her nap, "Ichigo can you get that?"
Ichigo grinned, "Sure thing."
He crossed the living room and pulled the safety bolt back and swung the door open. In the doorway stood a young man with wild black hair, coffee coloured skin and a scar trailing from his cheek and partially across his nose. Holding his hand was a little girl with short messy light brown hair.
Ichigo stared and his hand automatically reached into his pocket to retrieve the square of paper he had been given in the park. Protect her, suddenly it began to make a tiny amount of sense.
"Who are you," he asked?
The young man bowed slightly, "My name is Kato Tsunami and my charge is Sasaki Yoko. Ishida Uryuu said that you would help us."
Uryuu, Ichigo thought, what does the stuck up quincy have to do with this? "I suppose you'd better come in," he told them.
"What's going on," Rukia called from the sofa?
"Trouble," Ichigo answered.
Yoko looked around the small apartment with wander. It was clean. It was reasonably tidy, it reminded her of Ishida-san's house sans the smell of fresh coffee. She missed her guardian already.
There was a small wood burning stove on the other side of the wall and on the mantelpiece was a collection of photographs. There was one of the orange haired man as a child with a smiling woman, a beaming man and two tiny girls, his family Yoko supposed.
Another was of the same man with the black haired woman from the sofa. The one that caught her attention though was the one of the orange haired man is school uniform surrounded by a group of similarly dressed teens.
Ichigo peered over her shoulder, "My graduating class."
Yoko smiled shyly at him, "Is that Ishida-san," she asked pointing?
Ichigo nodded, "That's right."
"He looked after me before things got complicated," Yoko told him sadly.
Ichigo put a comforting hand on her narrow shoulder.
He straitened up and turned to Tsunami, "So what's this all about?"
Tsunami shrugged, "Yoko is a special child. She is not dead but neither is she alive. Ishida thinks that she is some were in between but other people got wind of her peculiar ability and decided they wanted it for them selves. I know you recently had an encounter with Usagi Kagetora, let me tell you he is just the tip of the ice burg."
"So," Rukia said, "Let me get this strait that child," she pointed at Yoko, "Is neither dead or alive and some weirdos what to hurt he because of that?"
Tsumami shrugged, "That's a good place to start."
Ichigo put his head in his hands, "There's more to this madness?"
"Some thing like that," Tsunami responded.
Yoko's head suddenly snapped up, "Your monster says you're an idiot," she stated.
Ichigo gapped, "What?"
Yoko shrugged, "He thinks your an idiot."
"How the hell did you know that?"
Yoko shifted uncomfortably, "'Cause he told me," she whispered.
"Ah," Tsunami said, "I forgot to mention that particular trick."
Ichigo sighed heavily, "What else can she do?"
Tsunami shrugged, "She's in the in-between. Yoko can communicate with both dead and living things. She talk to zanpakuto, she can talk to hollows and she has an excellent memory."
"What does that mean," Rukia asked?
"Well," Tsunami looked sheepish, "She can access all the records you shinigami have accumulated over the years."
Rukia gapped, "How does she do that?"
Tsunami shrugged, "Don't know, Yoko just knows. She's a walking taking database. If she were to fall into the wring hands you lot would never be safe again."
"And you want me to protect her," Ichigo asked?
Tsunami nodded, "Some thing like that."
Ichigo looked over at the little girl. She looked exhausted and Ichigo wandered how long they'd been on the run. He took in her large sad hazel eyes and slightly too big cloths and sighed. "Fine."
Rukia looked over at Ichigo, "We need to tell Urahara-san."
Ichigo nodded, "Agreed." Uryuu what have you gotten your self into this time?
Author's Note
So here is the first chapter of the sequel of Ties that bind us.
This story leads strait on form were the other left off more or less so reading the first story would help you to understand some references (If you haven't already.) ;)
thanks for reading silvermokey
