~Epilogue~ ~30 Years Before Ichigo Became A Substitute Soul Reaper~ Eyes flashed as the girl ran, her foot steps thundering in her ears as she raced forwards through the cool air that was nipping at the skin the small girl showed through her tattered clothing. Only a few hours ago her family was safe, for the moment. The little girls, seemingly only 8 now, had witnessed her family's murder. Why? Because her family wasn't exactly a typical family, they are not human, the only way there race survives is by having a family, so none of them stem from mortal souls, and neither are they soul reapers. They are powerful, their powers are seemingly alike in some ways to soul reapers, but there was a huge difference. At full power, the race is around 2 to 3 times stronger than a captain. What are they? They actually do not have a name for what they are, being as nobody actually knows they exist except for a small rare few, but they refer to themselves as Nekos for their appearance. They all have cat-like features, showing a tail and ears, nimble and usually short in stature. The men chasing her had somehow seen there differences, that they tried so desperately tried to hide. Her parents shoved her out, and ended up being murdered, as the girl watch in the window. Now why were these humans able to kill the two parents? They had sworn to not use any powers over a regular soul with nothing and unable to protect themselves, and so they did not fight with the strength of their kind. Though the men had somehow seen the little child standing in the window and chased after her, but luckily she wasn't without training and had taken off. She now was the last of her ancient kind, and was now also, alone. her tail whipped around behind the poor child and her ears were pinned on her head. She forced her legs to move through the forest, but suddenly, she was forced to stop. A giant wall she had not noticed now stopped her from continuing. She had never actually been this far away from home, and little did she know that, behind this wall, was the 13 court guard squads. She focused her mind, using a technique taught to her, and suddenly, the child appeared on the other side of the wall. Looking around in amazement, she noted that this place looked much better than the district she was ultimately from. She gathered her thoughts as the moonlight glinted off her white hair, her red eyes shining as she sped down and hallway-like path. No matter how hard the child tried, she couldn't keep her mind from wandering back to her now deceased family she left behind, and also, no matter how hard she tried to, she couldn't keep from having small tears drip down her face. She had run so far now, her legs were hurting her, and she didn't want to move at all, as she slowed to a walk she finally noticed the moon was disappearing over the horizon. Her mind reeled in question on where she could hide, since she knew that she couldn't be seen, not yet anyways. Before she could even put forwards any actions to hiding, two figures stepped around the corner of the hallway, and stopped when they caught sight of the abnormal child standing before them. The girl just started to back away from the men in fear. She noted their appearance, they were wearing black kimonos with a white coat like thing on as well. One stepped forwards curiously at the little child. The child in question looked up fearfully, at the man that had stepped forwards. His hair was long, falling over his shoulders, white in color with brown soft eyes. For some reason, the girl decided not to run as of yet, maybe it was the pain that was in her legs or exhaustion radiating from her that made her do so but she had no clue. The man bent gingerly down to the cat-like child's height, and looked softly at the obviously afraid, shaken, and slight tattered looking girl. "What are you doing here, child?" He questioned in a soft tone that for some reason settled the girl down just a little. "I-I was running.." She replied cautiously, wondering why he seemed so nice. She always had to hide her appearance, and the one time she didn't the kids around her started calling her names and throwing rocks at the poor little kid, and soon after the family moved."From what?" He questioned, and once again his voice was completely soft and welcoming. "T-the men…" She answered and the man kneeling in front of her had noticed that she flinched, a look of complete pain flashed across her face and then disappeared again, one that shouldn't have to pass a seemingly innocent little girl. "Did they do something to you? Those men?" He questioned, and her face twisted fully this time of pain this time, she decided to answer. "They killed my family, 'cause were not normal…" Was the small ones answer. The man looked slightly shocked at this piece of information. "Whats your name?" He asked, looking at the girl in pure sympathy and warmth, and the girl now wasn't as afraid anymore, she trusted him, somehow. "I'm yui." was the small ones answer to the soft questioning. "Well, Yui, I'm Jushiro." He responded with a warm smile. "How about I take you someplace safe?" He asked the child, praying the little girl would follow him to the first division. "O-okay then.." Yui responded to the question. The walk to this supposed safe place was long, and the little girl was drained of energy. Noticing her fatigue, Jushiro bent down to the child that now walked beside him and scooped her up, holding the tired girl in his arms gently. The man was, and has usually been, good with children, I mean his Zanpakuto are two kids, and his heart was wrenched seeing this poor unique child. Finally, upon arriving at the head captains office, he knocked lightly on the large wooden doors, hoping for quick entry. "Come in!" The voiced boomed on the other end of the door. Setting the girl down on her bare feet, he opened the large doors and walked in. The childs red eyes wandered nervously around the room, the large open wall with a small fence caught the child's eyes first, noticing the suns arrival over the horizon, before the child turned her attention sheepishly towards the seeming very old man that was seated behind a desk. "Why have you brought a child to my office, Captain Ukitake?" He questioned the man as the little girl looked around, still slightly fearful of being around here. "Head Captain, I found this child inside the walls of the soul society, she says that she was running, and her family was killed. I was wondering if you knew why this child's family was targeted." He responded, and the little girl, though the man hadn't noticed her full appearance since she was hiding her appearance behind him. He looked down at the fearful child and coaxed her out. Upon finally realizing her appearance, head captains eyes opened out of surprise. He knew of this elusive kind, and if she said her whole family was murdered, it meant that this must be the last child of this rare family of a powerful but small race. He knew that there were a few living in hiding so nobody knew their existence and they could not be used for their power."It seems who have caught the last of a rare kind. Do you know what I speak of, child?" He questioned, trying to make sure that he was correct when he saw the cat-like child before him. "Y-yes I do.." Was the childs reply as she looked now curious, and a little less fearful. "What are you talking about, head captain?" Jushiro questioned the superior, and Yamamoto told him about the childs forgotten race. When they finished talking about the child, Jushiro decided to ask where she would stay. "Where will Yui stay, may I ask?" He questioned curiously. "I am not sure as of yet." Was the reply. Having gotten bored a while into the explanation she was looking over the railing at the now visible blue sky. "Do you think I could take her in?" The man asked, looking at the white haired little girl. Her red eyes glanced back at the two, questioningly. She actually kinda hoped the man before her could take her in, she felt safer around him, like she could trust him."You can take her in, it is obvious she trusts you, but you must not tell others of what she is." Was his reply and the little girl sighed, and her ears were no longer pinned to her head, they were swiveling around in curiosity as they left the 1st division. [Authors Note: If it wasn't to clear, Yui's appearance is long, abnormally white hair with blood red eyes, and of course she has cat ears positioned on her head and all, when she gets older, as in the next chapter, she will be around 5'3'', and all that stuff, and she will have her hair around waist length, and will have a hourglass body, yadayadayada, its time for me to stop my idiotic rambling. buhbye!]