Twilight Marionette:Da da da da! Second chapter done!

Twilight Puppeteer: Must you act like such a fool?

Twilight Marionette: Silence!

Authors Note: Thank you to those who read my first chapter, I appreciate it. Since this is my first story its all very hit and miss. Please R&R if you have the time as I love both compliments and constructive criticism.

Yeah I know this will be a slow chapter too but don't worry the story will speed up a little soon.

Disclaimer:I do not own Bleach or its characters etc etc. Though I do own my own characters and idea's, probably. xD

Chapter Two : Agreement

Akatsuki had fallen asleep for the third time that day and awoke with a awful groggy feeling in her head. Her memories of recent events still blurry in her mind. She sat upright in the bed and looked out of the window, the sun had long since set and the moon was rising over the houses across the street, the sky so clear that she could see so many stars. She gingerly got out of bed, slipping of a pair of fluffy slippers that someone must of put there after she had fallen asleep. 'These humans sure are kind to strangers.' she thought to herself with a smile then nodded to herself, 'I should find the man who brought me here, I wonder what kind of person he is.' Akatsuki walked over to the door and just as she reached for the handle she hesitated, 'I don't really have anyway of thanking him though.'

"Hmmm I could always just say thank you, its not much but I feel I owe that at the very least" she said to herself with a serious expression. Akatsuki retreated away from the door and walked back towards the bed. With a small amount of concentration she separated from the gigai, its now empty form crumbled to the floor. Akatsuki bent down and picked it up and laid it flat on the bed, making sure to make it look like it was asleep. 'I wonder who put me in this gigai anyway? And why?' she thought to herself.

Free of the gigai's restraints she shook herself off and concentrated on the area around her. Three people, there were three people in the clinic not including herself. Two women and one man. But she couldn't sense anyone or anything beyond the building. A slight sense of unease ran through her mind. She had never been very strong or powerful like the others had but at least she had always been a lot more perceptive, her finely tuned sense's could detect things others couldn't and much faster even when they could. Just like her other ability it was one of the few things she knew she could always rely on. But now she wasn't so sure.

"This isn't good, I don't feel like my power has recovered in the slightest and I don't have the option of going home to regenerate it would seem, what am I supposed to do?" she said to herself while holding one hand to her mouth in thought, her injured arm hung by her side limp. Her attention was drawn by something white and she glanced down at her arm and saw it was bandaged. 'Well of course it,' was she thought to herself, someone treated her in this form before placing her into the gigai. That person must of then wrapped bandages around the gigai in the same places she had been injured so as not to arouse suspicion. She blushed slightly at the thought that someone had done all that for her. She raised her left hand to her forehead, slowly and carefully she unfurled the bandage from around her head, allowing her hair to spill down her back. Feeling the sensation of release she shook her head dramatically, her long red hair flowing freely through the air, the moonlight giving the scene a almost magical feel. She stretched her body while making sure not to move her right arm and felt a wave of pleasure sweep through her, it felt lovely to be free of the confines of her head bindings and that gigai. She smiled happily to herself and walked gracefully over to the window and slid it open so that the cool refreshing night air swept all around her, her long red hair blowing about the room behind her. She looked up at the stars again and sighed, if there was one thing she hated about home it was the lack of stars.

Then a sudden realization hit her and she silently cursed at herself for not noticing it sooner, her Zanpakuto wasn't with her. Normally it was tied vertically across her back but it wasn't there, nor could she feel it anywhere close. Someone had not only taken it but hidden it from her. If only her powers weren't so badly weakened she would be able to find it easily. It was probably the same person who had saved her life and she relaxed slightly, this person had helped her but wasn't taking any chances either. It was very likely that he knew what she was then if he went out of his way to hide her sword. Then again, maybe he hadn't found it at all and was more concerned with saving her life at the time.

"I wonder where he's put my Zanpakuto? I do hope he didn't just leave it the the street, its gonna be a pain to find if its lost again!" She let out a heavy sigh, "Not that I could use it right now, I'm probably weaker then a human injured like this." She closed her eye's and let the cool night air push all of her worries to the back of her mind. She breathed in deeply to catch the scent of the breeze and her heart skipped a beat, there was someone just outside, close, on the roof perhaps. There was no way whoever it was didn't hear her talking to herself just now. Her mind raced at the thought that she had been overheard, 'I need to kill them, I can't let them leave, what if it is a Shinigami?' She sniffed the air again and her heart faltered, it smelled like a Shinigami. Steeling herself for the worst she jumped away from the window back into the center of the room and stood ready for the attack, but it didn't come. Without her Zanpakuto and her reiatsu being so low from her injuries she didn't stand any chance against a skilled opponent.

"If your going to attack me then get it over with, I won't run and I won't hide if its my life your here for! I'm tired of running!" she declared, hoping that the assassin outside didn't hear the waver in her voice.

There was no reaction, just the sound of the gentle breeze blowing into the room and the sound of a car driving down the moonlit street. Akatsuki almost let her guard down and it was then that he made his move. It was so fast that Akatsuki almost didn't perceive the movement at all, had it not been for her keen senses she wouldn't have even been aware of him move behind her. She spun around fast just as the presence appeared behind her and jumped backwards towards the window out of his immediate reach. Akatsuki realized that she had been right, it was a shinigami, his long black kimono shifting in the breeze, his hand resting around the hilt of a guardless sword strapped to his back. His face was hidden by the darkness but she could tell his eyes were locked with hers. The moonlight shone through the window, slowly revealing his face and she realized who she was looking at, it was the orange haired kid, Kurosaki Ichigo. Dressed in full Shinigami attire with what looked like a huge butchers blade strapped to his back, he resembled a Shinigami in every way. Akatsuki noted that she didn't feel overly threatened by his appearance though. She didn't feel any malice from him at all. Ichigo just stood there, their eyes locked with a grin on his face.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Akatsuki said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Guess I'm really in a bad way when I can't even tell I'm talking to a shinigami. Though I guess that was your gigai huh?"

Ichigo noticed that the fear had gone from her voice once she had seen his face, her pose was now relaxed with her hands on her hips. His grin faded and his face took on a more serious expression, "I think we need to talk, Akatsuki-chan."

"What about I wonder," Akatsuki responded, she slowly edged backwards until she all but two feet from the open window. She inwardly grimaced at her actions, if it came to blows she would have to run but even then she doubted she could get very far in her injured state. The speed at which Ichigo had moved was just too fast to evade without her own reiatsu to bolster her own speed.

"About your intentions, Akatsuki!" Ichigo's hand tightened around Zangetsu's hilt. "I'm not a fool Akatsuki-chan, I know that your an Arrancar and I want to know what you want with my family! Did Aizen order you here?!"

Akatsuki inwardly laughed at that statement but she kept her expression neutral. "My intentions?" Akatsuki replied, her calm expression replaced with a sudden look of melancholy, her eyes arced away towards the floor, "I guess I don't really have any. I didn't plan to be here. I guess, I'm just going to keep moving forward until I can no longer move. If I had any intentions I don't remember them."

"What? What are you talking about?" Ichigo said. Releasing his grip on Zangetsu he let his arm drop to his side, "What where you doing here then? Who hurt you so badly?"

"That's a lot of questions Kurosaki, questions which I can't answer." Akatsuki said playfully and shrugged. She carefully watched his expression.

"You mean you won't?" Ichigo responded angrily. His hand started to reach for his sword again.

"I mean I can't! I don't know who hurt me! I don't remember at all!" Akatsuki shouted back at him, frustration and anger mixing together. It was the truth, she really didn't know why or how she ended up here in the real world in this state. The fact that she couldn't open a way home worried her most of all, it meant she was either too weak, or had been abandoned altogether. She subconsciously reached towards her neck, her fingers stroking the thick bone collar that made up her broken mask.

Ichigo noticed the tears of frustration forming at the corners of her eyes. Though he had come here to force a answer from her he hadn't come here with the intention of killing her unless he had too but her voice and face told him she was telling the truth. "Alright alright don't start with the water works!" he said to her while scratching his head. He considered Akatsuki for a few moments then made a decision. "I don't mind you staying here till you feel up to leaving." He knew he might be being naive but he wanted to give people a chance.

Akatsuki hadn't been expecting him to say anything like that and was taken by surprise. "Really?" Akatsuki strode towards Ichigo and looked up at him, her golden eyes staring deep into Ichigo's brown eyes. She reached her hand up to touch his forehead but he pulled away from her defensively. A sudden gust of air blew into the room causing her hair to blow around her and Ichigo, as if trying encircle them both in its silken strands. "Why should you be so kind, you should want to kill me, or at the very least exile me from your house. Are you not worried about what I am at all? What kind of idiot are you?!" She chastised him, prodding him with her finger. Ichigo stood dumbfounded at her actions, a moment ago he was threatening her and now she was chastising him for sparing her realized what she doing and pulled her hand away fast and hid it behind her back, she shot Ichigo a nervous smile. 'Good idea, way to push your luck Akatsuki!' she thought to herself.

After regaining his composure Ichigo considered his next answer. "Are you the honorable sort? If you made me a promise would you keep it?" Ichigo responded with a grin that said he knew the answer. He watched her eyes closely.

"Yes," Akatsuki responded. The idea of bowing to this Shinigami's will didn't sit well with her but she knew she had to play nice until she was either able to leave, or fight back.

"Then swear that I can trust you'll cause us no trouble or harm," Ichigo said.

"I can, it was never my intention to hurt any of you to begin with!" Akatsuki said with a huff as she spun around and crossed her left arm around her chest. That was the truth, she really didn't like hurting people for no reason. Even shinigami.

"No weird stuff either," Ichigo added.

Akatsuki turned her head and responded with a raised eyebrow. "Define weird."

Pretending that he hadn't heard he carried on. "Once your healed up your out of here OK? Don't go looking for trouble either, I don't need any hassle."

"OK," Akatsuki nodded, "I'll leave once my injuries are healed up."

"And you can call me Sir Ichigo as long as your here." he said grinning.

"Not going to happen," she responded with her own grin. Akatsuki couldn't understand Ichigo Kurosaki at all, she considered trying to get close to him again but decided against it.

"Oh and think of a name OK?"

"Why, is Akatsuki not good enough?" she said with slight annoyance.

"It makes things easier," he said evenly, "And if people are after you, maybe your own name isn't a good idea if you think about it. Especially if you don't remember who's after you."

"Why?" she said in a gentle voice, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Do I need a reason?" Ichigo said back to her.

Akatsuki closed her golden eyes and smiled back. 'Who are you really, Kurosaki Ichigo?'

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"Amnesia eh?" Isshin said in between mouthfuls of his breakfast. Ichigo sighed at his fathers lack of manners. "Makes sense I guess, you were pretty badly beaten up when I found you." Isshin carried on in great detail about his so-called heroic rescue of Akatsuki.

Akatsuki smiled back at Isshin, or at least what she hoped was a smile. There was no way this was going to work, no matter how gullible Ichigo said his father was. "Um yes sir," she answered, while trying to maintain her smile. Isshin looked at her thoughtfully and Akatsuki took the time to take a good look at the man who had saved her life. In most ways he didn't look anything like his son but in others he did, all in all Akatsuki thought he looked quite handsome. What puzzled Akatsuki was that if this was the man that had saved her, then he knew a lot about about spirits at the very least. And if he had indeed been the one who had treated her the other night, why was Ichigo insisting that she not mention anything about Shinigami or Hollows. 'Perhaps the son and father are ignorant of each other?' Akatsuki stared back intently at Isshin trying to work it out. Akatsuki realized that Isshin must have been the one to put her into the gigai after treating her. So did that mean Ichigo thought she had been found in the gigai to start with? Isshin had noticed her stare and had mistaken it for genuine interest in what he was saying.

"Well if that's the case we should call the police and let them know, they'll probably know how to find out who she is and where her family are," Karin interrupted her father.

'Could you not refer to me as 'her' when I'm sitting next to you?' Akatsuki thought to herself.

"Aw you must have been so scared!" Yuzu said as she jumped onto Akatsuki's back to give her a cuddle, causing Akatsuki to wince in pain as Yuzu made contact.

"No no its fine, there's no need to cause trouble on my account," Akatsuki replied waving her left hand up and down, trying to ignore to the best of her ability Yuzu's cuddling.

"Well if you say so miss," said Karin, her look turning to one of disinterest.

"Well your welcome to stay here as long as you need to!" Isshin said cheerfully, "Make yourself right at home!"

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"That," Ichigo said, "Was close."

"It wasn't a problem," Akatsuki said back, she was trying to balance on a wall while walking along and kept wobbling. She jumped in front of Ichigo and threw her thumb up in triumph, "I did great!"

'What are you congratulating yourself for?!' Ichigo thought. "Why are you in such a great mood anyway?"

Akatsuki smiled and wagged her finger at him as if the answer were obvious, "Do I need a reason?"

"Heh I guess not," Ichigo replied, he watched as Akatsuki started marching off again, 'She doesn't know where we're going, why is she leading?!' Ichigo wanted to take her to see Urahara, if anyone could help him get rid of this pest it would be him. He sighed at the memory of just getting Akatsuki out of bed. When she finally left the gigai Ichigo had had his first proper look at the real Akatsuki in the light of day.

She was shorter then him by at least a head and her features were younger then his, though she looked older then his sisters. Her long hair was a pale red which when left untied almost reached down to her knees. He noticed that she took great care of her hair, it was well groomed and straight with chin length side-locks and a frontal fringe. In fact not a single hair was out of place. Her skin was so pale that it was almost white but not in a sickly way, the contrast with her pale red hair gave her an alomost ghostly appearance. Akatsuki wore a white kimono and a pair of white hakama with a black obi tied around her waist. Overall the outfit looked slightly similar to Rukia's and the outfit worn by most female Shinigami. Around her neck she wore a large red silk scarf, Ichigo assumed to hide her broken mask which ran around her neck like a thick collar. He had wondered where her Hollow hole was but had thought better of asking, he imagined her taking the question the wrong way and slapping him.

Curiosity got the better of him and he asked about her clothes. "Whats up with the get up anyway? You look like a shinigami but dressed in white."

"This?" Akatsuki said as she looked back at him as she walked on ahead, "I found it and thought it looked cuter then my other clothes. But I hate black so I dyed it white."

Ichigo stared back at her, 'So there was no practical reason at all?' he thought sarcastically. "Found where exactly?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"On a shinigami." Akatsuki responded matter of fact style.

"I'm doubting she gave it too you willingly," Ichigo said, probing for answers.

"Well, she may have done but since I hit her on the head and undressed her we'll never know will we," Akatsuki answered with a evil grin.

Ichigo felt his stomach sink slightly, 'A female shinigami, she mugged a female shinigami!' "Er did this shinigami you hit have black shoulder length hair?" He really hoped it wasn't Rukia she had hit on the head, though he very much doubted Akatsuki could sneak up on Rukia. Still, that would be a awkward meeting either way. It would be best if he kept Akatsuki away from as many of his friends as possible before she healed up and left he decided.

"I dunno, I was busy stealing her clothes," Akatsuki replied innocently with a contented grin on her face.

'Don't sound so innocent about it, you stole someones clothes idiot!' Ichigo thought with a exasperated expression on his face. "We'll be there soon, Urahara will know what to do with you. Maybe I can get him to adopt you or something."

"Urahara?" Akatsuki asked curiously.

"Yeah he's this really annoying and happy go lucky guy but he's really clever and devious," Ichigo said. He had the greatest respect for Urahara but couldn't deny that what he said was true but he decided to leave his eccentric nature for Akatsuki to discover for herself.

Akatsuki stopped and let him catch up, remaining still until he was beside her, "What is he?" she asked, a slight hint of distrust in her voice, "A shinigami like you? Or a shinigami like them?"

"A shinigami like me?" Ichigo repeated her words, not sure what she was getting at. He was about to ask her when she cut off his train of thought.

"It doesn't matter I guess, I made you a promise after all and I won't break it," she grinned at him. "My honor demands as such, I'll leave as soon as I can, don't worry about it," she added on.

Satisfied with what she had said Ichigo didn't add anything else, though he wondered about her sudden change in personally.

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"Have you found her yet?" Aizen asked in his soft but forceful voice, a fake smile on his face, the question full of unspoken malice.

"Not yet, she is harder to find then we assumed she would be," Gin replied, he was completely unafraid of Aizen and of the implied threat in his voice. "Indeed it seems you did too good a job on her after all. Shame you didn't take her free will from her at the start," Gin's evil grin spread across his face and he ran his fingers through his hair.

"No, she is of no use to me if she is a mindless doll, she will serve me and of her own free will," Aizen replied, leaning back into his throne he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He smiled at the thought of her escape from Hueco Mundo, from Las Noches itself. He didn't know she had had that much will power left in her after all she'd been through and it peaked his curiosity. What did she hope to accomplish by such a small thing like this.

"Well I don't mind if you don't want us to drag her back here by her hair, though I am curious then as to why you want to know where she is, if you don't want her back then why all the fuss?" Gin asked, his grin revealing nothing about what he was thinking.

"Oh by means, drag her back here Gin, just don't damage her too much," Aizen smiled at Gin, "She is unique and she belongs to me. That's all that needs to be said." Aizen smiled to himself and closed his eyes. Akatsuki belonged to him and he wanted her back.

That meant the conversation was over and Gin left the grand chamber where Aizen sat seated in his throne and stalked down the hallways, his grin never leaving his face. After a few moments he stopped in the middle of the hallway, though his eyes never opened he knew who was there.

"My my whats with all the sneaking around dear?" Gin said outloud in his oily voice.

Phasing into the visible spectrum Otono knelt in front of Gin, her voice steady and respectful. "We found some of her blood, however, we found no body." Otono didn't dare to look into Gin's eyes, she feared him enough as it was and despite her calm voice she was extremely anxious in his presence. No one would talk about what had happened to her predecessor and she had no intention of finding out first hand.

"Well then Otono dear, I suggest you get back out there and bring her back to us, the poor girl must be so lonely by herself." Gin replied, malice in his words. Otono was one of the many Arrancar who served Gin in Las Noches. Dressed in the standard female Arrancar outfit with long blond hair and a Zanpakuto sheathed at her side Gin saw her as nothing special. But she did have her uses.

"And if she resists Lord Ichimaru?" Otono asked, her meaning obvious to Gin.

"My dear, you'll just have to defend yourself. Just don't kill her will you."