Chapter 1: The Start of it All

And so the sand in the hourglass began to fall…

Sentoki Residence

November 5th

2:03 PM

"Odayakana! Grab your coat and come with mommy!"

The young five year old girl looked at her mother as she rushed through the kitchen, looking for bandages for the girl's father, who was standing by the front door. He was holding onto his left hand as blood gushed from a deep wound on his hand. "Seion, quickly! I'm losing a lot of blood!" he said as he watched his wife search. Once she finally found some bandages, she quickly ran out of the kitchen while she grabbed the young child's hand, who hadn't moved since she saw her father accidently slice his hand with a knife. The mother hurried over to her wounded husband to bandage his hand as best as she could. Once the bandages were wrapped around the cut, all three of them were out of the door and in the car. Seion drove the car to the closest medical clinic, the Kurosaki Clinic. Once they arrived, Seion helped her husband out of the car first, and then she went to go help Odayakana out of the car. All three of them walked in to find only one person inside; a man with short, spiked black hair, and was wearing a long white lab coat, and normal shirt and pants underneath it. The man looked up as the three of them walked in. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes. I cut my hand accidently while cutting some vegetables, and I need some stitches." Odayakana's father quickly explained as he continued to hold on to his injured hand. The doctor quickly walked over to them and said, "Don't worry, you came to the right place. I'm Isshin Kurosaki. You can follow me, and I can fix your hand right up."

"Thank you." The husband said. Then he turned to his wife and said, "You wait here with Odayakana. I'll be back soon."

"Okay, Hikaru." Seion said as she watched her husband and father of their child walk away with the doctor. Seion sat down in a chair close to the front doors and waited quietly.

"Mommy."

Seion looked down at her young, brown-haired daughter to see her look upset. "What is it, dear?" she asked calmly.

"Will… Will daddy be all right?" Odayakana asked as a tear rolled down her cheek. She hastily tried to wipe the tear away with her small hand. Seion smiled and she got down on her knees so that she was at eye level with the young girl. "Of course he will be. It's only a little cut. He will be just fine." She kindly replied as she brushed away some hair out of Odayakana's face.

Odayakana looked up at her mother, and when she saw her smile, the young girl couldn't help but smile as well. Then, the front door opened up, and a kind-looking woman with long brown hair entered with a young boy who looked to be the same age as Odayakana. The first thing that Odayakana noticed about the boy was his bright, orange-coloured hair. The woman that just entered looked over at Seion and Odayakana and asked, "Hello there, are you waiting for someone?"

"Yes, we're just waiting for my husband to get a couple of stitches." Seion replied.

As the two women conversed on, Odayakana wasn't paying attention to them as they talked. Instead, she just kept looking at the young boy who was holding on to the woman's hand. She had never seen anything like that – the fact that the boy's hair was orange, that is. She also seemed to notice that he was staring right back at her. She didn't really know why he would be looking at her; there was nothing special or out of the ordinary about her – at least that's what she thought.

Then, the sound of footsteps sounded in the distance, and got closer and closer. Odayakana looked over to see her father, Hikaru, enter the room with his hand bandaged up.

"Daddy!"

Odayakana raced over to her father with her arms stretched out and a big smile on her face. Hikaru picked up his smiling daughter, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug. "You definitely have one cute kid." Isshin said as he entered the room.

"Yes," Hikaru said as he looked at his daughter with pride, and then he looked over at Seion and said, "yes we do."

Then, Isshin said to Hikaru, "Now, you just remember what I said – you know, about caring for your injury and making sure the stitches don't come undone." He said the first part in a serious, stern tone, then it changed to a quick, rushed voice, but no one seemed to notice – except for Hikaru.

He turned to face Isshin, and then he said, "I will. Thank you, doctor."

Isshin's face changed from being serious to happy and smiling – like nothing was suspicious. "Anytime!" he responded.

Hikaru walked out of the clinic with his wife behind him, and his daughter still tight in his arms, like he won't ever let her go.

I will never forget the day I met the boy with the orange hair.

Sentoki Residence

September 4th

7:12 AM

"I'm going to give this to her."

"What?"

Hikaru looked up from the newspaper at the table and looked at his wife, who was standing beside him. Her hand was wrapped around a small, gold chain that hung around her neck. "What are you going to give her?" he asked.

"This." Seion replied, as she nodded her head down to what she was holding in her hand.

Hikaru sighed as he turned his head away. His eyes ventured over to the gold-hilt katana that hung on the wall in the living room. Then he finally said, "He's not going to come after her."

"But what if he does?!" Seion protested with agony in her voice. "I mean, what if he does find us and –"

"Seion, if he's going to come after any one of us, it's going to be me. I'm the one who got mixed up in all of this, I'm the one who tried to stop it, and I'm the one who put us in this situation."

"No! Please stop saying that, Hikaru! You know what he's like. He's not going to come after just you; it will be all of us. And besides – "

Seion paused as she turned her head towards the sword that hung on the wall, and then she said, "One of these days, it will call to her. She's going to find out who we are – were – someday."

Hikaru sighed again as he closed his eyes, and got lost in thought for a moment. "But, we have resources so that won't happen." He said.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

The two stressed parents were interrupted by their young daughter as she ran down the stairs, wearing a small girls' uniform. Seion walked over to the girl as she greeted her.

"Are you all ready for your first day of school?" Seion asked.

Odayakana nodded. "Yes, I'm already!" she replied with a big smile on her face.

After Odayakana had sat down and ate her breakfast, Seion came up to her, kneeled down to be at eye level with the small child, and said, "I have something for you."

Odayakana looked at her mother with interest and curiosity. "What is it, mommy?" she asked.

Seion reached around her neck, and she took off the little necklace she was wearing; it was a small gold chain with a small, round jade stone pendant on it. When she took it off, she wrapped it around Odayakana's neck, and clasped it together. She moved her hands away and let the necklace hang loosely around her daughter's neck.

Odayakana bent her head down to look at the small stone that now hung from her neck. "What do you think? Do you like it?" Seion asked.

Odayakana looked up into her mother's eyes – which were the same blue-gray color as her own – and smiled brightly. "Yes! Thank you, mommy!" she replied.

Seion smiled gently as she moved some strands of brown hair out of the young girl's face. Then she said, "Come on, it's time for your first day of school."

I never understood the real reason behind the jade necklace.

Karakura Elementary

September 4th

8:31 AM

"Hello!"

It took Odayakana a few moments for her to realize that someone was talking to her. She turned around in the chair she was sitting in to see none other than the orange-haired boy she saw a few months ago. The boy sat down beside her in an empty chair, and he had a huge smile on his face. "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. What's your name?" the boy now known as Ichigo asked.

Odayakana realized that this boy was the first person to have ever talked to her – other than her parents. It took her a moment to process what was going on.

"My name is… Odayakana Sentoki." She replied shyly.

Ichigo gave her a confused look after she said her name. "O – Odio – Odana – Odanok –", he said to himself as he attempted to try and say her name.

"Odayakana." She said more clearly.

"That name is too confusing to say!" Ichigo complained.

"What? No it's not." Odayakana defended.

"Yes it is! You need a new name! One that is easy to say." Ichigo explained.

Odayakana never heard anyone complain about her name before. Her mother always went on about how her name was gentle and kind – in fact, "odayakana" means "gentle".

"Well, o-okay then." Odayakana said finally, "what should my new name be?"

Then, Ichigo began to think on what Odayakana's new name should be. After a minute of intense thinking, he finally said, "I know! Your new name will be… Kana! It's a part of your real name, but it's easy to say!"

Odayakana thought about the new name that Ichigo gave her. She had to admit, "Kana" was easier to say than "Odayakana".

"Okay!" Kana said with a smile. "Kana it is!"

Ichigo responded by giving her a big smile in return.

And from then on, Ichigo would always call me Kana. It was also on that day that he became my first best friend.

Karakura Elementary

September 5th

3:35 PM

5 Years Later

After a long day of school, Kana was out waiting at the front of the school for her parents to come and get her. Since Kana is a little older now – 10 years old, to be exact – she thought that she would be able to walk home from school, since her home isn't that far away. But, her parents wouldn't let her. She never understood why, but her parents didn't want her to walk home, or to go to a friend's house, or stay after school. She never understood why, but her parents didn't want her going anywhere alone – except for school.

Although, today was a bit different. Her parents were supposed to pick her up around half an hour ago, and they are never late picking her up from school. When they dropped her off earlier at the beginning of the day, they never mentioned that they would be late. She was feeling worried, and was wondering what happened. Kana got really nervous, but then she decided to start heading home, and see what's going on.

It took her what felt like forever, but Kana managed to make it back home – the sun was still in the sky when she got home. She also noticed that her parents' car was still there. She really began to wonder what they could possibly be up to now that made them forget about her.

She walked up to the door, and she placed her hand on the door knob and she wiggled it to find it unlocked, and she cautiously opened the door, worried about what she will find on the other side of it. She didn't find anything out of the ordinary as she walked inside – except for the fact that her parents were nowhere to be found.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

She ran all through the house, looking into every room, calling out for them over and over. Her parents were not in the house at all. She stopped in the living room, and she looked around frantically and scared for her life. Where did her parents go? Why did they leave her alone? What was she going to do now?

Then, she noticed something out of the ordinary in the house. On the wall that held the gleaming katana that has been in her family for generations, right close to that sword – on the left side of it on the wall – was a small mark. She had never noticed this mark on the wall before, so she moved closer to it to see what it was. Up close, it looked – really familiar to Kana. The mark was in the shape of a small dragon claw, and it looked like it was burned onto the wall. Then, she realized what the mark reminded her of: she has a birthmark on the back of her neck that looked just like the mark on the wall. She also seemed to recall her father having a mark like that as well, but it was on his right wrist. She began to wonder why this mark was on the wall, or if it was there the whole time, and she just never noticed it. She placed the palm of her hand over the mark on the wall, and she suddenly felt that spot on the wall push in slightly.

She quickly moved her hand away to see a small square shape piece of the wall – with the mark in the center of the square – disintegrate, forming a square-shaped hole in the wall. Kana looked inside the hole to see what looked like a small book inside. She carefully placed her hand inside the hole, and slowly took the book out and into the open. When she looked at the book up close, she realized that this wasn't just any book; it was a journal. And a fairly thick one at that. Kana figured that there was way over a hundred pages in the journal. She continuously examined the journal, looking at the gold bordering on the dark green soft cover. Then, she noticed some writing on the front cover.

"Read This When You Are Ready to Know the Truth"

Kana had no idea what that could possibly mean, but she suddenly felt so scared that she didn't want to know what it meant. Before she knew it, she was throwing the journal back into the hole in the wall, and slowly backed away from it in fear and confusion.

I left that journal there ever since I found it, vowing to never look at it. No matter what…