Name: Kokoro Akiyama

Race: Human (For now because I am not spoiling)

Age: 16

Birthday: April 18

Appearance: Kokoro has short chocolate-brown hair that barely even graze her shoulders. There is also one lock of hair that hands in the middle of her face but leans towards her left side a bit will the end of it points towards the right. Her skin is a natural beige color, and she has redwood colored eyes. She is 5'5" and weighs about 122 lbs. She does have an hour-glass figure sort of speak, but without all the exaggerations. She's between being a B cup or a C cup. There are also certain days when she would do this ridiculous thing, but I'm not going to spoil anything.

Good Traits:

1. Kokoro acts very mature for her age most of the time (If someone pisses her off that's a different story). Because her father was never really in her life that much, she had to learn how to fend for herself. If anyone tries to offer any help, she'll automatically refuse.

2. Despite being distant from everyone most of the time, Kokoro has a Mommy complex. She would help any child whether they simply need a band-aid or are being bullied.

3. Kokoro is very observing. Even if she pretends to not see it, she can tell when someone is hiding something or in some sort of distress. In other words, she can tell when a person is lying about something or not.

4. She cooks like a pro. The only time Kokoro is artistic is when she's cooking and singing.

Neutral Traits:

1. Kokoro doesn't try to be a preacher. If there's a problem she has no experience of herself, she will step off. She feels that it's not her place to give advice or try to help when she herself wouldn't know what to do.

2. Kokoro is brutally honest. She will say anything no matter how harsh it may seem. For example, let's say you ask her, "Hey Kokoro, do you believe in love at first sight?" Now, instead of saying something that's compromising like, "Oh, I think love is different for everyone.", this would be her answer, "It's all make-believe." Now if you are someone who believes in love at first sight, wouldn't you think that was harsh, too?

3. Kokoro usually keeps to herself as a result of having to fend for herself. She barely makes contact with anyone and usually expects them to make the first move if they want to talk to her. Although, occasionally she will come out of her shell if given the chance.

4. Kokoro, like her father, can sing. The thing is, she keeps that to herself. She even keeps secrets about how her father is the lead singer in a band called, "The Fugitives". If anyone found out, then they would never leave her alone about it.

Bad Traits:

1. Kokoro has a terrible sense of direction. If she's in an unfamiliar territory, she will need guidance or she will get lost. And because she is so self-reliant, that only makes matters worse for her.

2. Kokoro doesn't like it when people touch her. This includes shaking hands, a pat on the back or head, and even a simple hug. She will do everything in her power to either prevent or just push away anyone who tries to touch her. Even if there were no ill intentions behind it, she still won't like it.

3. For a girl, Kokoro is pretty manly. She even hates cutesy colors like pink or purple or even turquoise. She grew up hanging out with guys, so she's more used to doing guy things like sports or camping. She never in her life goes shopping out of materialism. If she buys clothes, it would only be out of necessity. She even dresses like a guy when she's not wearing her school uniform.

4. When it comes to love, Kokoro wants no part in it. To her, it's a ridiculous fantasy that only exists in fairy tales. She herself was never scorned by love, but I'm not spoiling anything.

5. Kokoro doesn't like change. She's happy with just living the same boring life, but only because deep down, no matter how many times she tries to deny it, she's scared of it. Unfortunately for her, change is going to be the very thing that hits her in this story.

6. Kokoro likes to eavesdrop on people. Sure she doesn't preach, but that doesn't mean she doesn't like to listen in on what's going on. This is one of the ways she observes people. She also often times lets curiosity get the better of her.

Likes:

1. Kokoro likes to play soccer. In fact, she's a pro at it.

2. Kokoro occasionally likes to read as well, but only when she has the time, the patience, and if she's interested enough.

3. Because of her self-reliance, she's learned how to become a good cook. She loves cooking new recipes she hasn't made yet every day.

4. Kokoro loves to go grocery shopping. To her, the supermarket is her mall.

5. She likes the color red. Even she doesn't know why.

Dislikes:

1. Kokoro is a tomboy, so she dislikes any cutesy colors like pink, purple, or even turqouise. She practically avoids anything girly, such as dresses, stuffed animals, accessories, and etc.

2. Kokoro hates being called by nicknames. She doesn't understand why people go through the trouble of coming up with them. She will be irritated by them and sometimes even lash out at the person calling her stuff like, "Koko-chan" and "Koko". Although there is one nickname that she will not stand for, "Hot Koko". If anyone calls her that, she will lash out and maybe even try to attack the person.

3. As much as she likes kids, there is always that one kid who has to be that kid, Jinta Hanakari. You will always find them in some kind of argument.

4. Again, Kokoro doesn't like change.

How it all Began:

There was once a little girl who never really had a family. She never knew her mother, and her father was never there for her unless he sends money to her from his job with letters. It's not like he was the type who neglected her intentionally, but how else was he going to support the both of them. While her father would travel the world for his band, the girl would take care of herself. So ever since she was 6 years-old, she taught herself how to cook, clean, and take care of herself all on her own. Of course, she would always follow instructions when it came to cooking and cleaning. She would even go grocery shopping on her own. Still, there's always the issue of her getting lost. That's how she ended up at the Urahara Shop.

Looking outside from the porch, The man wearing a hat and clogs noticed a little girl on her own standing right in front of his shop with curious eyes. He approached her but kept a small distance so he wouldn't frighten the poor child. He then bent down to her level and said, "Hey there, little one? Are you lost?" The girl only looked up and just plainly answered with, "I can manage." A spark of surprise could be seen in his eyes, but he just simply smiled at the little girl and said, "Where do you need to go?" He asked her softly. She simply answered, "I need to buy some groceries for this week." The man didn't expect to hear something like that from a 6 year-old. At that point he then had to bring up the question, "Where are your parents?" Her eyes widened a bit but then turned sad as she looked down and responded with, "They're around." The guy could see now that this was a touchy subject. Man, this girl is too young to be going through any of this, the man thought to himself. Still, the fact she was only proved how strong she was. He then held his hand out to shake with hers and introduced himself. "My name is Urahara Kisuke. What's yours?" The little girl just stared at him for a moment. Kisuke got the idea and pulled his hand back to himself. He then pointed out the directions to find the local markets and waved good-bye as he said to her, "Good luck finding the market, and take care, ok?" The girl never knew what it was like to be cared for, so this was something she did not expect. Before Kisuke entered his shop, the girl stuttered, "K-Kokoro." Kisuke looked back now curious.

"Hm?"

"My name. It's Akiyama Kokoro."

It was the first time Kokoro had ever opened up to anyone. Ever since then, Kokoro began to work at the Urahara shop at the age of 8 and that's how life had always been for her. There was one incident on Halloween when she first encountered the supernatural side to life. She was out trick-or-treating against her will with Kisuke and Yoruichi. While Yoruichi was dressed in a Catwoman suit and Kisuke was dressed as the Joker, little Kokoro was dressed as a skeleton, with the bone suit and everything, especially the mask. It was kind of strange since normally girls her age would dress up as angels or something cute like that. Kokoro was definitely one of a kind. As they passed by a couple of houses, screams were heard coming from the forest. Kokoro handed Yoruichi the candy before rushing towards the source of the screams without warning.

"Hey, Kisuke."

"Yeah?"

"Does Kokoro normally rush towards a dark and scary forest?"

Kisuke could only give her an awkward silence as her answer, for even he wasn't so certain, himself. Meanwhile, Kokoro made it deep within the forest only to find it was just some scared kid, only 2 years younger than her. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" She asked and as soon as the kid saw her, he freaked out thinking she was the walking dead. "Calm down. This is just a costume." Kokoro said as she pulled up her mask over her had and said, "See?" The boy calmed down and said, "I'm sorry. You just scared me." Kokoro sighed putting her mask back on and asked, "So what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be trick-or-treating?" The boy only shivered as he answered with, "I was dared to stay out here for one hour. The guys outside said that if I can do that, then they would give me their candy. But it's so scary in here!" Kokoro just sighed and said, "You've been duped, there's no one out here but us." This left the scared child frozen in his place, now feeling like such an idiot for being in here in the first place. Suddenly Kokoro had felt something strange. It was powerful, and now even she was scared. She looked up and saw what she could only describe as a monster. This strange twisted power had brought her down to her knees.

What's going on? What is that thing?! She screamed in her thoughts. The boy laid there frozen with fear not knowing what to do. "Hey, are you ok? Please be ok?!" Kokoro looked at him confused. Can't he see it? Can't he see the monster that's staring at us face to face?! Suddenly the monster pulled its arm back preparing to smack away the kid as though he was a bug. Oh no! Kokoro, despite her state of fear, lunged in between the boy and the monsters arm. She braced herself for the worst, but for some reason, nothing happened. Kokoro opened her eyes and gasped as she witnessed a man in a mask slicing through the monsters arm. Kokoro couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on. Who was that guy, and how could he be so brave as to take on that thing? The monster roared in agony as it lost it's arm. Now the man was standing right in between it and the kids. It then fled more concerned in self-preservation than wasting his life on some kid's soul. Kokoro couldn't see him very well because of her mask, so she took it off to get a better look at him. He was tall and his mask looked similar to that of the monster's. Wait, was he a monster too?! Now Kokoro wasn't she if she could even trust this guy.

"You kids shouldn't be out here. It's not safe." The guy said in a strange tone without turning to face them. It was disfigured, as if there were two people talking at the same time. The boy behind Kokoro took one look at the guy and screamed, "SLENDER MAN!" Before passing out. "Idiot..." Kokoro muttered to herself looking back at the kid. "Um, thank you for..." Kokoro paused as she turned her head forward again only to find the man had disappeared. Shame, she never got to thank him. Helping the boy out of the forest, Yoruichi and Kisuke were rushing towards them. Once the target was in sight, Kisuke grabbed Kokoro's shoulders shaking her like a mad man and yelling fast, "Areyouok?Didsomethinghappenoutthere?You'renothurt areya?!" It took Yoruichi's yelling to calm him down. "Kisuke! Calm down. You can see for yourself that she's fine, right, Kokoro?" She asked in the end towards Kokoro. Kokoro only stood there for a moment and said, "Uh..yeah..I'm ok." Kisuke sighed in relief and soon the whole thing was forgotten, at least, everyone else forgot about it. Kokoro looked back towards the forest, wanting to know more about the man in the mask.

Chapter 1: A New Day, A New School, and A New Life

Waking up early, a girl by the name of Kokoro got up and performed her weekly ritual of preparing for high school. She would always get up at 5 a.m., brush her teeth, get dressed, brush her hair and rush out of the house with a slice of toast in her mouth and her school bag in her right hand. Surely 6 in the morning would be too early to be rushing to the school building, but that's the thing, it's not the same school. Kokoro had recently transferred from another high school to Karakura Town High. The reason was because this high school happened to be close to where she worked, and that was Urahara's shop. Plus it's a walking distance from where she lived. Once she finally made it, it was 7:55 a.m. That's how lost she was. She knew that if she wasn't in class by 8, she'd get a tardy. She didn't want that so she ran inside of the school, and unfortunately got lost inside of the building as well. "Damn, I'm too late." She said to herself as she looked up and saw that she only had 3 minutes left and knew it would be hopeless at this point.

"You lost or something?" Kokoro then quickly looked behind her with curious eyes and saw it was just a guy with brown hair. Kokoro just stared for a bit until the guy asked again, "Hey, do you need directions or something." The guy was obviously getting nervous by how the girl wasn't even paying attention, or that's what he thought. "I can manage." Was all she said. The guy just smiled seeing right past her and said, "You're the new transfer student, right? Follow me." Kokoro wasn't left with any other option, so she followed him to the classroom.

Once they made it, the bell had rung. Perfect timing. The brunette guy sighed in relief seeing they had made it on time. Normally he could care less, but he was also watching over the new student and making sure she made it on time. So it made him feel good to see his mission was a success. "Oh, my name is Keigo, by the way. Welcome to Karakura High!" The man said cheerfully as he held his hand out to shake with hers. Kokoro stared at his hand for a second then walked past him leaving him to hang and dry out like washed up laundry. "Nice to meet you." She said plainly as she did this. Keigo could only stand there in shock as a cold wind blew through him. "So...cold..." He whimpered to himself. "Geez..." Was all Kokoro could say to this scene. Kokoro just walked over to an empty desk and claimed it as her own right away. Suddenly a girl with long smooth hair and huge breasts ran inside and yelled cheerfully as she held one hand up in the air, "Hi, Kurosaki-kun! Good morning!" And next to her was a guy doing the same thing and yelling cheerfully, "Hello there, Ichigo! Good mornin'!" Kokoro looked behind and right away thought, Wow, what a dork.

Kokoro watched for a bit as the girl conversed with the guy next to her, and then one thing lead to him hugging her. Right away, Keigo was yelling in rage at the guy. "JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Well, one thing was certain for Kokoro, this was going to be quite an interesting school year for her. She was actually amused by this little comedy scene as she watched them go at it about one guy being a sleaze and the other guy being an idiot for thinking that way. Still, as fun as it was to watch this, the teacher just had to step in and scold the both of them by ordering them to sit in their seats.

Just as the guy was about to take his seat, it was already occupied. Kokoro looked up noticing the guy standing there as he gave her a wide grin and said, "You must be the new transfer student." He then took her hand and kissed it. "Pleased to meet ya." Kokoro only narrowed her eyes at him in a glare as she pulled her hand away and got up. "I'm sure you are." She said as she got out of his seat, assuming that's why he had come over to her desk in the first place. The guy only smirked as he finally took his seat and said, "Thanks for keepin' the seat warm for me, doll-face." Kokoro resisted from lashing out and simply said while holding back rage,

"My name is not doll-face."

"Then what is it, cutey?"

Just as she was about to yell at him for calling her that, "Akiyama Kokoro, please step up here and introduce yourself to the class." Kokoro just plainly looked towards the teacher's direction and plainly said, "Uh, I think you just did that for me, Ochi-sensei." Misato giggled at that and said, "Very funny, now come on up here and tell us a bit about yourself."

"But there isn't really anything to tell. I think my name is pretty much all they need to know. It's not like I'm trying to make friends here or anything. I came to school to study, not to hang out."

"Wow, how sad. Alright then, take your seat over there in that empty desk behind Shinji."

"Who?"

"Ouch, I'm sittin' right here, Koko-chan." Kokoro looked next to her to see it just so happened to be the same dork who keeps giving her these ridiculous pet names. "You know my name now so you can stop giving me nicknames." She said with an irritated tone as she sat down behind him. Shinji's focus followed her to her seat as he answered with, "Aw, but they're so cute for ya."

"I don't need to be cute. I just need to get to work."

"Geez, well aren't you a Plain-Jane." He said now starting to not like this girls attitude. Seriously, what a buzz kill. During lunch, Kokoro sat in her desk as she opened her bento box and began to eat. Keigo saw the opportunity and rushed to sit with Kokoro until Shinji "accidently" bumped into him, knocking Keigo over with his lunch all over his face as he laid there like a dead cartoon dog with his legs up in the air. "Oops! My Bad~!" Shinji chanted as he took his chair from his desk and now sat in front of Kokoro's desk. Kokoro had just stuffed her right cheek full of rice the moment she witnessed that little scene. She then chewed her rice and swallowed it while Shinji said to her reassuringly, "Don't worry, Koko. I know what it's like to be the new guy. In fact, I transferred here just yesterday."

"Do you plan to harrass me the entire school year?" Kokoro asked in an annoyed tone as she got up from her sit and walked a few steps to avoid him, but he only followed and got in her way.

"Geez, I was just tryin' to be nice to ya. Don't ya have a heart?" Shinji complained now annoyed as well, but then he stopped for a moment as a sudden spark appeared in his eyes. He then stayed silent for a moment. Kokoro's eyes turned from annoyed to surprised when she noticed this. This was the same look her boss gave here all those years ago. "Hey, you ok?" She asked now starting to wonder what's going on. Suddenly Shinji grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. Kokoro was shocked at first but then became enraged and freaked out as she yelled, "HEY LET GO, YOU CREEP!" Suddenly out of no where, a Keigo rose up from his rice grave and yelled, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! FIRST YOU ATTACK ORIHIME AND NOW YOU'RE EVEN GOING AFTER A GIRL WHO JUST GOT HERE?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" You're one to talk, Kokoro thought to herself.

"You again?! Didn't I just say that Orihime would have screamed or hit me if she was uncomfortable with it?!"

Keigo then started to wuss out again but then got back on the horse when he remembered what Shinji said, "Well, obviously Kokoro wasn't comfortable with it at all! She was yelling for you to let go and you're still not letting go, you pervert!"

"Well, obviously, ya don't know that Koko-chan is the playin'-hard-to-get type of girl! Deep down, she knows she likes the attention, don't ya, Koko-chan?"

"You find excuses for everything, don't you?" Kokoro asked with an irritated look in her eyes.

"S-See?! Even she agrees that you're creeping on her and she doesn't like it!"

"Oh, shut up! You were after Orihime earlier, weren't you? So why don't you go after her and leave Hot Koko to me." He said that last part with a smirk on his face. That's when Shinji suddenly felt a dark aurora close to him and saw that it was radiating from Kokoro. He was shocked and let go of her taking a step back afraid of what was going to happen. Even Keigo was scared. "HOT KOKO?! REALLY?!" Kokoro finally yelled in rage. She was so pissed she wanted to strangle this guy or maybe even kill him. Yeah! That'll do it! Just as she was about to exact her revenge, "WILL YOU THREE SHUT UP ALREADY?! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO EAT IN PEACE HERE!" A guy with a pair of glasses on yelled towards them. Kokoro snapped out of her fit of rage and then got to the real issue at hand. Oh yeah! She was trying to avoid Shinji, and that she did as she picked up her lunch and finished it outside. "Great, thanks a lot, Four-Eyes." Shinji said with a slight glare towards him. "Wasn't she just about to attack you?" The guy argued. "Good point..." This was all Shinji could say as he turned to the direction where Kokoro left and sighed. Something about her... He now wanted to learn more about this girl, get under her skin just to see all of her darkest secrets and finally figure her out once and for all.

Outside, Kokoro was eating her lunch, but then that girl from before walked up to her and said, "Hi, Kokoro, right? Would you like to sit with us?" Kokoro didn't expect to be invited anywhere. She was so used to sitting by herself during lunch she had no idea other people existed. Still, she was fine with how things were going so she respectively declined her offer by saying, "No thanks. I'm good here." The girl seemed nervous and so she asked this time, "Well, then do you mind if I join you? You seem so lonely eating all by yourself."

"If you're only doing this to show me some sympathy, then I don't need it." Kokoro said plainly to here. "Oh no no! I don't mean it like that. I didn't mean to make it seem like I'm doing it just because I feel bad for you." Kokoro sighed and said, "Really, what you're trying to do is very generous of you, but you really don't have to ditch your friends and sit here with me if you don't want to." Orihime was so surprised, but even she could see right through it. "You must care a lot if you feel that way, Kokoro. Hirako-san was wrong after all. You really do have a heart!" She stated cheerfully at the last part. Kokoro just stared at her sort of surprised she would say something like that. "Well of course I have a heart. I'm only human right." She said as if what Orihime said was pretty dumb. Orihime sat down across from her and giggled nervously now. "Ahaha silly me. I should have known better." She then pulled out her bento box which had rice with red bean paste, some banana slices, and topped with honey and graham bear crackers. Kokoro couldn't help but give a sort of disgusted look towards the bento box of death and asked, "Um..Whatcha got there?" Orihime gave a sweet smile and said, "It's my own recipe for dessert rice."

"I see that...Is this really how you eat?" Kokoro asked with a seriously concerned look in her eyes, because she knew if this was how Orihime ate on a regular basis, then she'd die from malnutrition at any given time. "Yeah, why?" Mommy Mode now kicked into high gear, Kokoro got on her knees and begged, "Please let me teach you how to cook real food!" She didn't mean for it to sound insulting. She was just seriously concerned. Orihime was surprised by this but it wasn't the first time someone insulted her cooking, so she wasn't really bothered by it. "Uhh ok." Kokoro smiled at this and said, "Great! Lessons will start this Saturday. It will have to be late since I sort of have a day job, will that be ok?" Orihime just nodded smiling. She now understood that Kokoro was a kind person after all. She just needed to warm up to people. "In the mean time, you can have the rest of my lunch. Just, please, don't eat this crap." Kokoro said handing her what was left from her bento box. She only ate some of the rice in it anyways. In Kokoro's bento box was some rice, sushi, and even those cute little weenies that look like red octopus. One of the only creative qualities of Kokoro happened to be her cooking. She made her bento box look like an ocean after coloring the rice blue and placing the sushi and the octopus weenies in the sea of rice. Orihime thought it looked amazing and tried some of it. "Oh wow, it tastes like the ocean inside of my mouth! This is really good, Koko-chan!"

"Please don't call me that." Kokoro almost hissed with a stern and annoyed look on her face. Orihime tensed up and kept her mouth shut.

Once the bell had rung, Kokoro was on her way out of school but got lost again. Wandering around the hallways, she stumbled upon Shinji being held against the railing by some carrot-top guy. Geez, was this dork made to piss everyone around him off or something? Kokoro thought to herself but quickly hid to eavesdrop on them.

"Ah c'mon! It's not like Orihime is yer girlfriend, right? I mean, let's face it. Yer socially inept. You and I both know that hotty is never going to give you the time of day, right?" Shinji said chuckling at the last part. Ichigo was pissed by what he said. How dare he talk about Orihime like she's some kind of snack tray that can just be passed around. "You should know better, Hirako!" Shinji just looked away and stuck his tongue out showing of his piercing. So far, it looks like those guys were fighting over Orihime. Good, that means that creep will back off from now on. "Look, I'm not joining you're stupid organization, so you can just leave and get the hell out of my town!" Organization? Kokoro now had to hear more. Was Shinji part of some kind of gang and that's why he's here, to recruit people. Man, this guy's worse than she thought. As Kokoro continued to listen, Shinji then started to sound more serious. "I'm not goin' anywhere. I will keep followin' you until you say yes. And besides, there's no escapin' it. Once the symptoms start to show, it's already too late. You either except it and join us, or it will eventually take over and consume you." This was truly frightening. Kokoro didn't expect anything like this. Whatever they were talking about, she wanted no part of it.

Unfortunately, Kokoro sneezed just as she was about to sneak away. She was only human, she had no control over it. Ichigo stopped and turned to look in the direction that sneeze came from. "Hey! Who's there!" He called out calmly. Kokoro wanted no part in this no matter what, so instead of coming out clean, she took off running. Ichigo heard the pattering and yelled, "HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Ichigo then ran over to where Kokoro was hiding, but she was already gone. "Damn it! Someone was eavesdropping!" Ichigo said pissed off. He didn't want Orihime and the others to know. He had to find the culprit before Orihime and the others find out about Shinji and the Visoreds. He didn't want to worry them, especially not at a time like this. Shinji just stood there with a serious look on his face. So, someone was spying on them, huh? He stood up and straightened himself out as he approached Ichigo and said, "Think about it, alright? And leave this ta me." He then looked down and noticed some blue speck. The hell is this? He thought to himself. He just sprinkled it off of his fingers noticing how sticky they were and headed out waving good-bye to Ichigo without even facing him.

Returning from school after finding the exit, Kokoro had finally made it to the Urahara shop and just in time to catch Jinta in the act of abusing Ururu again. Kokoro just had an annoyed look as she sighed, picked up a broom, and bopped Jinta on the top of his head with the stick end of it leaving a bump on his head. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" Jinta yelled in both rage and pain. "That's for misbehaving and abusing Ururu again. How many times do I have to tell you to leave her be." Kokoro said to him sternly.

"Well she started it!"

"Oh really? Care to explain?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you, you Old Crone!"

Immediately, Kokoro grabbed Jinta by the collar of his shirt and yelled, "TAKE THAT BACK, YOU BRAT!" The argument had continued until Kisuke stepped in, held his hands as fists, and bopped both of them on the head at the same time causing them to yell, "OW!" at the same time. Kisuke then pulled out his fan and stated in a serious but relaxed tone, "Settle down, you two. You'll scare the customers away." They both hmphed at the same time as they looked away from each other. Kisuke couldn't help but laugh at this. Despite the fact they don't like each other, they both acted like brother and sister. This store had always been like a family. Yoruichi would be the Mommy, he would be the Daddy, Tessai would be the Uncle, and the kids where like his own kids, including Kokoro. Kisuke watched as Kokoro tended to Ururu. She always did have that Mommy complex about her. Yeah, things were fine just the way they were.

Like all other week nights of school, Kisuke had always invited Kokoro to join him and the others for dinner. It was like a picturesque family moment. "So, how's your new school?" Kisuke asked Kokoro. "Meh." was her only reply.

"Meh? Did something happen?"

"Nah, just the usual school drama. You know how it is, right?" She in turn asked him. Kisuke only chuckled at this and said, "No one's giving you any trouble, are they?" Kokoro at that point thought of one person who would be suited as an answer for this question, Hirako Shinji. "Just some dork, but it's no biggy." She said plainly. Kisuke put down his fan, now his Daddy Mode in high gear. "Do you by any chance know the name of this dork?" He said in a dark tone as he began to crack his knuckles. Kokoro narrowed her eyes at him and muttered, "Geez, I just said it was no big deal..." Yoruichi laughed out loud at this and placed her hand on Kisuke's shoulder. "Relax, Kisuke. If Kokoro says she can handle it, then let her handle it." Finally, some common sense around here. "But here's some advice for ya?" She then leaned over the table and whispered out loud, "If guys are picking on girls, it's only because they think they're cute." That only brought back Kisuke's rage ten times more. Now even Yoruichi and Kokoro were getting nervous by this.

"Name! Now!"

"C-CALM DOWN! I CAN HANDLE IT, HONEST!"

"Kisuke, relax." Tessai said as he placed his hand on Kisuke's other shoulder. Kokoro sighed now relieved. "Let me handle it!" Tessai said in a triumphant tone and soon washed away all hope Kokoro had for a peaceful dinner. Geez, all this over some dork? Maybe I should have ate at home instead. Kokoro thought to herself as she face-palmed herself.

Once dinner was over, Kokoro waved good-bye to everyone at the shop as she headed home on her own. Luckily, there was no way she could get lost. She had gone down this path almost all of her life, but just as she finally made it to the street, there was a crowd of people. What are the odds? It looks like they were watching some kind of live TV Program, and right in the middle of the street leading to her apartment. Damn, looks like she'll have to find some other way home. After what seemed like hours of walking, she had finally admitted to herself, "Great...I'm lost..." She looked around to find a street sign to at least find out where she was. Wandering around, she saw the forest and finally remembered this part of town. This was where she went trick-or-treating with Kisuke and Yoruichi all those years ago. The same place where she was nearly attacked by some monster, and the same place where she met the man in the mask. Kokoro, now letting her curiosity get the best of her, decided to head towards the forest, but she only stayed a few distance from the perimeter, remembering what happened the last time. She was going to try to play it safe, but even she should know better, for curiosity always did kill the cat.

Before Kokoro knew it, there was that strong energy again. It overpowered her like before, bringing her down to her knees in shock and terror. Kokoro looked up to see a monster standing before her. It was missing an arm, just like the one before... Oh God... It WAS that same monster from before! Do something, Kokoro! If you don't, then it's all over! MOVE!, Kokoro screamed in her head trying to get back up so that she could get away. The monster held its hand back the same way as before, only using its other hand since that's all it's got now. Kokoro once again had found herself bracing for the worst to come, but then, nothing happened. Kokoro slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see a man standing in between her and the monster. As she got a better look, she realized... It was him! "The man in the mask..." She said out loud without thinking.

Looks like she remembered after all, but now was not the time to reminisce about the good old days. He returned his focus on the hollow in front of him and lunged into the air, but this time, the hollow knew better. Having lost an arm had brought it many years of experience as it dodged its masked opponent's slice this time, not planning to lose another arm. Perhaps it should take his arm, just so that they were even. Claws then sprouted from the creature's finger tips as it aimed them towards the masked man's arm, but then something happened. The man in the mask was suddenly pushed out of the way and instead, Kokoro was the one who took the hit. Its claws had sliced deep into her side. She was losing a lot of blood. The man in the mask did not expect this. He made a move while in mid-air so that he could catch her before the both fell to the ground. He landed on one foot and one knee as he set her down on the grass. "Wait here, and don't die on me..." There was more to it but it was all fuzzy to her at the time. Kokoro was becoming disoriented from the loss of blood. The man in the mask knew that he had to do this quick, so he decided not to hold back, and shot a cero at the hollow, defeating it once and for all.

Once it was finally over, the masked man picked up Kokoro bridal style and rushed her to the nearest hospital. "Th...Thank...you..." Kokoro said weakly before passing out. The man in the mask, now completely tense by this, finally made it to a hospital and left her in the hands of the paramedic. Although, he almost didn't want to let her go. Ghosts from the past began to haunt him as he remembered that awful day...the day he had lost everything...

To Be Continued...