Again

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she prepared to say goodbye to all that she knew. Her mother was crying as well, and squeezed her daughter in a tight hug. In between them was the girl's younger brother. His features were so defined and recognizable. It reminded the girl of her mission, of why she was leaving her loved ones. She didn't want to go. She felt a sob crawl up her chest and into her throat.

"Go, now!" her mother urged, giving her daughter a little shove.

The daughter began running, but paused for a moment to look back. Her mother hissed at her to keep going, and she obediently turned around and ran. She ran as far as she could, as far away from the hell that was her life, and away from everything she held dear. She took out a small device from inside her shihakusho.

It was a rectangular prism with a button at the top. What it was supposed to look like was beyond her, but she didn't question its function. She didn't have a choice. Pressing the button at the end, she was enveloped in light, and then she disappeared from the world, and its separate dimensions, altogether.

"Oof!" the girl huffed as she landed on her derriere ungracefully.

The girl rose to her feet, brushing herself off, groaning at the pain her body seemed to have. Did the journey really have to be so painful? She thought to herself. After straightening herself, she decided to find out where she was. There were buildings upon buildings as far as the eye could see all around her. Beneath her feet were large tiles. In the distance, she could see a large white tower with a bridge connecting it to another large building. It took the girl a minute or so to recognize her surroundings.

It was Soul Society! To be more precise, she was in the Seireitei. Clean, white, whole, and pristine. Untouched by flames, debris, and despair. Tears welled in the girl's eyes. She had done it! She made it. Relief exploded into her system, and all she could do for a moment was cry in happiness. Composing herself, the girl began to stride farther into the area, trying to get an exact location of where she was.

Pinpointing her place in the grand scheme of the area, she began to walk. After several long minutes of this, she paused. She had no idea when it was and what she was supposed to do now. The girl never thought that far ahead when she suggested this idea. Holy crap. Well, too late now. She would just have to make it up as she went along. The girl began to walk again, cautiously, looking out for people she might recognize.

According to her line of thought, it would be better to assimilate into the environment, find out the time, and, if need be, wait until the appropriate moment to approach those who could help her with her mission. She needed to first find the Academy, forge some documents, and then make her way to the Gotei Thirteen barracks as a new recruit. It would take a lot of maneuvering, but that was something she was accustomed to. And also, she needed to get out of her ragged clothing and wash up.

Her appearance was more than worse for wear. She'd had little sleep for years, she was always hiding in the dark, barely ate any food (there was little of it left), and was constantly in battle. To say that she looked like hell was an understatement. The girl was so used to being like this, though, that it was hard to imagine being any other way.

Lost in thought, the girl didn't notice when she walked right into someone. The one she ran into grunted a, "Hey, watch where you're going," in a voice so familiar, it made her freeze. Slowly, the girl's eyes traveled up a well muscled body clad in a crisp, clean shihakusho, and they finally landed on a tattooed face and fire engine red hair. Black eyes stared at her intrusively, and with some degree of annoyance.

"Renji-ji —" she stopped short, remembering that she had gone back in time. This Renji probably didn't even know she existed, if she did. This was not the same uncle (though not blood-related) who had been with her since she was born and helped raise her. Although he would be in later years, how many she didn't know, but right now he was just her mother's best friend.

Luckily for the girl, Abarai Renji did not notice her slip up. Instead he stared her down until something akin to recognition lit up in his eyes. Uh oh. The girl's features were prominently her mother's, and that would ultimately lead to suspicion if she didn't speak up soon and distract him.

"I, uh, I beg you pardon, Abarai…fukutaciho," she said as she noticed the arm band he wore. Renji was still a lieutenant? Exactly how far back in time did she go? The ice age? Looked like she would have to wait a while before revealing herself and actually starting her mission.

"It's okay. Just pay attention next time," he replied before walking off.

The girl turned to stare as he went. All of a sudden, he stopped and turned around. "Have we met before?"

The girl smiled a little. Good thing her uncle was dense. "No, we haven't met before now." Which, technically speaking, was actually true.

Once Renji had disappeared, the girl jumped onto a rooftop to remind herself of where she was. She spotted her destination almost instantly, and began to shunpo her way over there. Upon reaching the Shinigami Academy, she snuck in through the front doors and made her way to the records room. Luckily, no one was there and so the girl took her time forging documents. And, of course, she did not use her real name. If she used her real name, there would be mass confusion and heavy interrogations. It was not yet time to reveal her mission.

Once that was done, she stole away to the storage rooms where she picked up a non-tattered shihakusho in her size. Now that she thought about it, she wondered how Renji didn't notice her beat up state. Oh well, she shrugged, her uncle had always been dense and unobservant. Feeling a bit more refreshed, she looked for a schedule for the graduation and when the new recruits would be initiated into their divisions. When she found it, she quickly memorized it, and then left the Academy.

The girl would have to wait a couple of weeks before she could announce her presence to the world under the alias of Itayama Masaki. She wondered if her first name would give too much away, but if the time period gave anything away, it was that they were blissfully unaware. However, she thought, if anything were to give her away, it would probably be her appearance…once she cleaned up a bit. She had her mother's black hair, though hers was significantly longer, down to her mid-back, but it also flipped out at the ends. Her eyes were like her father's, a warm brown, but the shape of them was closer to her mother's. If anyone looked too closely, they would figure out her lineage. And that would be a huge problem for this point in time.

No, she was just being paranoid. If she was paranoid, she might end up revealing herself. Now was the time to be calm. Taking a brief moment to steady her nerves, the girl wove her way expertly through the Seireitei, finding the abandoned areas. Her father had once told her about the abandoned areas when he fought his way through the Seireitei to rescue her mother. He had fought with a captain there, and destroyed a good chunk of buildings. All she had to look for was the destruction. Then again, it could be before her father had ever invaded Soul Society. He could still be learning how to be a shinigami from her mother!

The girl really needed to confirm what time it was. No, wait…she thought about the schedule she saw in the Academy. It was around the time where her father had lost his powers. So he had already rescued his mother and gone through Hueco Mundo to rescue one of his friends, consequently one her of aunt-like figures. She groaned. She would have to wait for about a year before she can even approach someone with her secret. Her father absolutely had to have his powers back before anything could be done.

Upon finding the rubble, the girl visibly relaxed. She had found her hideout, a for sure place that no one would stumble upon. It was too far out from the barracks. All she had left to do was wait a couple weeks until the graduation ceremony at the Academy. Then she would sneak herself in, and wind her way into the Gotei Thirteen. After that, she would just live like a shinigami without having to worry about death, destruction, and basically Hell on Earth. In other words, the time period from which she came from.

In her time, the girl's father had disappeared sometime around when she was seven and her brother two. That's approximately when the Devil known otherwise as Aizen Sosuke invaded the Living World and Soul Society, starting first with Soul Society. She had been studying how to harness her shinigami powers in Soul Society at the time of the attack, and her uncle Renji, who had started to take over her father's role, was quick enough to get the girl and himself out of there. His priority was her, and then her brother once they reached the Living World.

The girl had been learning in the Living World, too. She had a home in both worlds, though she always preferred Soul Society over the Living World. Although, there was also the third niche with the Vizards, but that was another story. As soon as she and her uncle of sorts reached the Living World, they made a direct path to their home where the girl's younger brother and her mother awaited.

Renji threw open the door, shouting that Soul Society was being attacked by Aizen, pushed the girl into the house. Her mother immediately rose from her seat at the kitchen table, where she had been feeding her young son. The girl picked herself up off the floor, and ran towards her family. It was chaotic, her mother and uncle yelling at each other, wondering what they were going to do. They both wanted to go to Soul Society to help, but they just couldn't abandon the children. The girl interjected that she could help to, but that offer was shot down in flames. It would be a few years before her help became necessary.

It took a handful of years for the Soul Society to fall at the hands of the villain. A majority of shinigami died defending it, but it was taken over. The rest of the fighting forces fled to the Living World. A good chunk of those measly numbers stationed themselves at Karakura, the girl's hometown. However, the girl and her brother were smuggled out of the country for safety. The shinigami were afraid of what might happen if Aizen and his forces were to get his hands on the two children of the man whom had had the only chance of ever defeating Aizen.

Soon it became apparent that they needed all the help they could get, so they sent for the girl and her brother to come back to Karakura to help fight. Even though the girl had little more than the most basic of basic training, she would be helpful enough to help keep them alive. It was soon discovered, though, that she could do more than just defend herself and take down an Arrancar or two. Her inherited Hollow powers made her a powerful weapon, not as powerful as her father had once been, but powerful enough to help keep the shinigami afloat in the hellish war.

Aizen, being as smart as he was, had the shinigami cornered. He had cut off all routes and communications with the others that had been stationed throughout the world. He focused on Japan, and prefecture by prefecture, he turned it all into rubble and flames and terror. To the shinigami's credit, they had evacuated a good portion of the human population out of the country and into others that had yet to be struck down by the Devil himself. And from there, almost all of those beloved to the girl had been slaughtered, one by one.

The situation was turning out to be so desperate that the girl knew that they had to try something else, anything else, even if it only changed the situation slightly. Any bit of good progress would help. That's when she came up with the idea of time travel. If she could stop her father from disappearing, if she could have him help fight in the war, then all would not be lost, or at least seem so helpless. She had Urahara make a device, despite him being on the verge of death, that would help her send someone back in time. She volunteered herself, and that's how she ended up there.

The girl sighed as made herself comfortable inside one of the abandoned buildings. Why was she thinking about that? She needed to focus. Focus and determination is what she needed to succeed, not think about what she couldn't change! Though, she supposed, it was natural, since she had just jumped through time not two hours ago. She leaned her head back on the cold concrete wall, and let her mind drift until she dreamt about being in her father's arms once again with his warm smile shining down on her.

"Daddy!" the girl screamed as she sat up, waking up in a sweat.

The girl sat panting heavily and looked around her. Of course, of course it was just a dream. Her dad really wasn't there. It was all just a nightmare that had morphed from a good dream. It took a minute for her to calm down. As the trauma of the nightmare passed, a low rumbling sound occurred. She looked down to realize she was starving. It had been a week at least since she had last eaten. Great, looks like she would have to sneak into society to grab something to eat. She groaned, she didn't want to risk it, but she had no other choice if she was not going to starve to death.

The girl laughed at the twisted idea; she had been running around fighting tough, vicious, sadistic opponents and lived to tell the tale, and then she dies of hunger. Yeah, that would be funny, if she wasn't dead. Sighing and resigning herself to what she needed to do, the girl rose to her feet and stretched. She looked out a window and saw that it was yet another bright, sunny day. For the last several years, all the girl had ever seen was blackened skies from the smoke and debris that the destruction and fire had caused. It was a dark and endless world of nothing but Hell. It was nice to see some sun after years of blackness, but she also knew that there was a rare change in weather in Soul Society.

Striding quickly through the door, leaping swiftly and quietly from rooftops, the girl made her way over to the recreational part of the Soul Society. She quickly found her favorite food place and entered as stealthily as she could. Luckily, the workers there didn't bother to question new faces, seeing as there were tons of new people everyday, and she ordered some food. Once full, she snuck out of the restaurant without anybody important noticing her. After that, she quickly fled back to her abandoned and temporary home.

As the hours passed in the girl's makeshift home, she found herself growing bored. She noted vaguely that the sun was lowering in the sky. Just this one time, the girl would allow herself to address her zanpakuto, seeing as the growing loneliness was nearly overwhelming. For a long time she had been denied talking to her sword due to the fear some had that her zanpakuto's spirit was merged with the Hollow from which her powers derived from. When Soul Society needed use of her Hollow powers, she was no longer banned from it, but she restrained herself anyway, partially because terror had been instilled in her, but it was mostly from habit.

Hello? She called out tentatively.

Speaking to me again? Or having a lapse in the oh, so perfect self-control?

…Sorry, guess I'll leave you alone.

Wait! I'm sorry. I'm just upset that you never talk to me.

You know perfectly well why that is.

Yeah, everyone around you is a bunch of paranoid chickens.

Hey!

It's the truth. Just so you know all you have are your father's powers, not anything else. You are perfectly safe from hostile takeover.

…You mean it?

Would I lie to you?

I guess not.

A laugh rang through the girl's mind. You guess?

Well, I wouldn't really know from experience.

True.

I…I just need someone to talk to. It's so hard being somewhere familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time, being around people I know but who have no clue about who I am.

Yeah, and it's only going to get worse.

The girl groaned. I know, you don't have to remind me. Trust me, I know that this is going to be utterly difficult.

Good, just don't take it lightly and let your guard down. These people may look and act like your family, but they're not. They're you're family from before they knew you. Heck, you technically don't even exist right now. Just…be careful.

I will. Or, at least, I'll try, she replied grinning.

A sigh came from someone else in her mind. I suppose that's the best we'll get out of you for now. You are very much like your father in that regard, the newcomer said.

Really?

Yes, but that wasn't exactly a compliment.

Anything about my father is wonderful to hear, and having that I'm remotely like him in anyway is a compliment.

The girl could almost envision her zanpakuto spirit smiling. Of course, that's because you have a huge father complex.

Sh-sh-shut up! The girl blushed. It's just that I look so much like my mother, that I never get any comparison to my father. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother very much, it's just that I…

Loved your father more?

No! I just have very little left of my father other than my fuzzy memories.

Understandable, but you still have a father complex.

As her zanpakuto sniggered, the girl let out a mental scream. Aaaaugh! Whatever, I'm done talking to you.

Wha —

She viciously severed the mental connection before her sword could finish. The girl may now have been deafened by silence, but at least she knew that she wasn't completely alone. Out of a window, Kurosaki Masaki saw the blurred colors of a sunset and determined to get herself comfortable before falling asleep.

A/N: I have finally come out from underneath my rock and decided to write another Bleach story. I don't know how long it'll last, but I hope you all enjoy it.