Chapter 2
The girl, now known as Yukine, just stood there, staring uncaringly at Ichigo and the others before beginning to leave once more. This time, Karin ran up behind her and grabbed Yukine's wrist.
"Hold on a sec! You just save me, use your weapon, and leave?" Karin asked. Yukine barely looked over her shoulder to answer Karin.
"That's right." Yukine said bluntly.
It was only a glimpse, but Karin finally got a close look at Yukine's face, which was enough to make Karin's eyes widen and break out in a cold sweat. Yukine finally yanked her arm from Karin's grip and silently began walking away again, back into the busy town of Karakura.
"Something's not right about that girl." Renji said.
"Isn't that obvious. She obviously has no restraint or care about what she says." Rukia said. As the girl was leaving, Karin rushed over to Ichigo.
"Ichigo, you have to go after her!" Karin exclaimed, gripping Ichigo's sleeve.
"Huh, why?" Ichigo asked.
"I could see it in her eyes. She's hurting and broken...you have to help her!" Karin said. Ichigo was a bit shocked. To see Karin freak out like that was all together a rarity.
"...Alright. Don't worry Karin." Ichigo said.
"Wait, we're going after her now?" Rukia said.
"Like you guys said, there's something not right about her anyway." Ichigo said.
"He does have a point." Renji said.
"Looks like we have no choice then." Rukia said.
"Karin, think you can get home on your own?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, just help her." Karin said. With that, Ichigo and the others all took off after Yukine.
The three Soul Reapers followed Yukine around Karakura Town for sometime. They saw her walk around most of the town, but no one even seems to glance at her. Anyone would think that a girl in dirty clothes while carrying a sword would be draw attention towards herself. She even took a random apple from in front of a store through an entire crowd and no one noticed.
"Now something is defiantly wrong here." Rukia said.
"She's walked around most of the town and no one's even noticed her." Ichigo said. Yukine finally stopped walking when she was in a random plaza in the town. Ichigo and the other others were not far behind her.
"You people can stop sneaking behind me." Yukine called out, not even looking behind her. That made all three of them jump for a second before finally approaching her.
"Tell me, what do you people want?" Yukine asked, turning around to face them.
"We have some questions about you that we need answered. Like-" Ichigo said.
"Alright." Yukine responded. That just made Ichigo stop talking completely.
"Um, you don't even know our questions." Renji added.
"Whatever they are, I'll answer them." Yukine said.
"Well, ok. But, maybe we should go somewhere else. Kisuke may have some advice about this." Rukia said.
"Good idea. Hey, uh, Yukine, think you could-" Ichigo began.
"Kisuke Urahara. Urahara shop, right?" Yukine said, already walking again. Once again, Ichigo and the others were all left silent.
"That girl. She is just not right." Ichigo muttered.
It didn't take long for all four of them to get to Kisuke's shop. They all quickly found Kisuke and got right to the point after introducing Yukine to him.
"Really? This girl has a Zanpakuto?" Kisuke said, his usual fan over his face.
"Yeah. And throughout the whole town, no one even seemed to notice her." Ichigo said.
"No one? Hm, that is strange." Kisuke said, closing his fan.
"It doesn't matter if they notice or not." Yukine suddenly said. That made everyone look at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rukia asked.
"People will forget me, whether they notice me or not. Nothing I do matters, including saving that girl." Yukine said, not even sounding like she cares.
"What?! My sister was going die if you weren't there!" Ichigo protested.
"Then that's how it should've been." Yukine said. That caused Ichigo to get angry enough to roughly grab Yukine by the collar of her shirt, but she still didn't even seem to flinch.
"Why you little, that's a living person you're talking about! At least act like you care about it!" Ichigo shouted.
"If people are going to forget me, why lie to them to try and be nice?" Yukine said. That made Ichigo calm down, but he still had a grip on Yukine's collar and was now confused.
"You mean 'forgetting' like they'll never see you again?" Rukia said.
"No, I mean they will forget me almost immediately. In a few hours, a few minutes, they forget me and anything I did or say." Yukine said.
"Wait, you really mean people just completely forget you?" Renji said.
"That's right. By the end of today, all of this will by forgotten by even you people. Which means you won't even know how your sister survived." Yukine explained. Ichigo finally let go of Yukine's collar after hearing that.
"Now that is serious." Kisuke said in a serious tone.
"Kisuke, have you heard of this kind of thing before?" Rukia asked.
"I've only heard about it. And if this is the case, then there is a serious problem hear." Kisuke explained.
"What do we do?" Renji asked.
"Ichigo, get all of your friends here as soon as possible. I have a feeling we'll need all of the help we can get to this done. Rukia and Renji, you two stay here with Yukine." Kisuke said, heading to the back of his shop.
"I rarely see Kisuke act like this." Rukia muttered.
"Well, I'll be right back then. Keep an eye on her." Ichigo said.
"Something tells me she won't care about leaving." Renji said, already looking at Yukine sitting down on the floor against the wall. Sparing Yukine one last look, Ichigo rushed out through the door.
It may have taken at least half an hour, but Ichigo finally came back, in his body, with Uryu, Orihime, and Chad.
"So, Ichigo, what are we doing here?" Uryu asked.
"You see, we found this with this strange problem, and Kisuke just said I needed to get you guys to get it done as soon as possible." Ichigo explained.
"Who is this girl?" Chad asked.
"You'll get to meet her." Ichigo said. Just as he said that, everyone saw the door open to see Rukia and Renji come out, now also in Gigais.
"Ichigo, glad you're back." Rukia said, approaching and the rest of his friends with Renji right behind her.
"Hey, Yukine, you come out too!" Renji called out.
"Yukine?" Orihime said.
"That's the girl I mentioned." Ichigo said. Only a few seconds later, they all saw the black haired girl come out of Urahara's shop, Zanpakuto still in hand.
"Whoa! She looks so tough." Orihime said, as cheery as ever.
"These are your friends?" Yukine asked, more like a statement.
"Yeah. Yukine, this Orihime, Uryu, and Chad. Guys, this Yukine." Ichigo said, gesturing each person as he said their names.
"So, how did you meet Yukine?" Chad asked.
"She saved Karin when Hollows suddenly started appearing." Rukia explained. Before anything else could be said, Kisuke finally came out.
"Good. You're all here." Kisuke said.
"So, why'd we have get everyone here?" Renji asked.
"It's because the situation with Yukine." Kisuke answered.
"Situation?" Orihime said.
"Yukine claims that we'll forget her at the end of the day, and that's actually why I need this to be checked out." Kisuke said.
"How are we going to check to see if that is actually possible?" Uryu said.
"Not to mention what that has to do with all of us." Ichigo said.
"First of all, the more people who have seen and can help Yukine the better, and second, all of you, including Yukine, are going to have to pay a visit to the Soul Society." Kisuke explained.
"The Soul Society?" Yukine questioned.
"It's the place where all Soul Reapers come from, not to mention where all souls go as well." Renji explained.
"I hope you don't mind going Yukine. I promise it'll all be worth it in the end." Kisuke said, smiling at the girl. And, just as usual, Yukine didn't even seem to care about it.
"Fine." Yukine simply said.
"Great. Since, Orihime, Uryu, Chad, and Yukine can't leave their bodies, you'll all have to use the Senkaimon I have. And, as most of you know, you'll only have 4 minutes." Kisuke explained. Everyone except Yukine, Renji, and Rukia shuddered at the mention of that.
"A Senkaimon?" Yukine questioned again.
"Don't worry Yukine. We'll explain everything involving the Soul Society to you." Ichigo said.
"Actually, that's not quite true." Kisuke interrupted.
"What does that mean?" Rukia asked.
"Like Yukine said, by the end of today, we'll all forget her and anything involving her. Which means, every second we have is important." Kisuke said, sounding serious.
"We really only have one day!?" Renji said.
"I'm afraid so. So, the explanations will have to wait. After all of you get her to the Soul Society, take her to see Kurotsuchi. He may be able to check her spirit energy for anything unusual." Kisuke said. That made everyone but Yukine shiver this time.
"A-are you sure? I-I mean, it's Kurotsuchi, after all." Ichigo said.
"He's the best chance we have I'm afraid. If it makes you feel any better, have Ukitake or Unohana come with you. Now, if you'll all come with me, I can open my Senkaimon." Kisuke said, going inside the shop before everyone else.
"What's wrong with this Kurotsuchi guy?" Yukine said.
"He's just a mad scientist who's obsessed with experimenting or dissecting things." Uryu explained, still shivering.
"...I see." Yukine said, turning on her heel, following Kisuke inside first.
"Does nothing faze that girl?" Uryu said.
"...Yeah. That's actually seems to be the sad part." Ichigo said, going into the shop himself, being followed by everyone else now.
(A/N: This chapter may be shorter than my usual ones, but I'm just glad I'm back to working on this story. Till the next chapter then, bye!)