Hey, hey! I've got some reviews that I feel like I should explain to… Momo is OC, but there's a reason for it. I just didn't really pay attention to it…. Haha. I'm sorry. And about the learning Chinese at four, it doesn't mean she learned all of the Chinese language and such onlyat the age of four. It means she started to learn it at the age of four. She might have truly learned it all at the age of 7, but she started to learn at four. I started to learn English at the age of four, and now I speak it fluently instead of my native language….

Anyways, I hope that helped you whom were confused! I'm truly glad that you gave up some of your time to tell me what was wrong with it though! It helps me a lot. Now, on with the story!

Disclaimer - ….You know the routine.

Ch. 2 - Hikari Ryu

"Chotto matte!" the young girl dressed in a blue dress cried. She ran up to him and hugged him, sobbing into his shirt. "Don't leave. Please don't leave me."

He smiled sadly down at her as he brushed her hair down. "I'm sorry. I have to go for this village. For my kingdom."

She raised her hands to her head as she tried to wipe the tears away. She felt his fingers brush them away. "Demo… Demo… You'll get hurt! You might die!"

"I promise I'll come back to you, okay? Take this rose as a memory of me and a symbol of my promise." He gave her a single, fully bloomed rose and mounted on his beautifully groomed, white horse. He took the reins in his hands and was about to gallop off when she interrupted him.

She shook her head. "Iie. Take me with you!" she demanded. "If you die, I want to die right by your side! I love you, Hikaru! I want to –"

THUMP

Momo twitched, shutting the book. Sap, sap, sap, and well, more sap! Why in the world did they give me such a sappy book to read while I'm "sick"?!! Stupid literature teacher…She just had to give us a reading assignment right when I was about to leave. Momo took her book and placed it on the bedside table next to her. She turned on the lamp and got out of bed.

She glanced at the other bed in the room where Toshirou slept to make sure he was asleep. Why did Okaa-san make me share the same hotel room as him? Doesn't she know I need privacy?

She tore off her pajamas and pulled on some decent clothes. She looked in the mirror and pulled her dyed dirty blonde hair into a bun and tied a blue cloth and green ribbon around it. She then placed her blue-green contacts in. Her mother said that if they were to be a disguise, they'd have to wear a disguise, so she died her hair dirty blonde and bought blue-green contacts. When she went out, she also wore a lot of makeup – not too much but a lot more than she normally would.

Toshirou, on the other hand, dyed his hair a dark cadet blue, and when he went out, he rubbed gel in his hair to make it stick down instead of up. He also wore slate gray contacts.

As she walked around Osaka, she was thinking of earlier that day.

---

She threw a glare at Toshirou as she marched up to him. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Why the heck are you here?" she growled, poking her finger into his chest.

He pushed her finger down and replied simply, "School."

"I know that, but why are you at my school!!?"

He shrugged. "Your mom applied me here, so don't ask me."

"Okaa-san? Arghh!" she grumbled, walking away.

Rukia looked at the boy before walking up to him. She smirked. "So you're the new guy that Hinamori-sensei was talking about."

He nodded as he turned the combination to his locker. Opening the door, he grabbed his books and shut the door quickly.

"I'm Rukia, also an agent at the agency."

"Why were you so mean to him, Momo?" they both heard down the hall. They turned their heads to watch the scene that appeared before them. Momo shook Orihime's hand off her shoulder. "Because."

"Did he do something bad?" asked Tatsuki, catching Momo's pace. She halted as she came upon a thought. "Oh… wait… is it because—"

Momo halted and turned around, glaring at her. "Don't say it," she said sharply. Tatsuki caught Orihime's eye and nodded grimly. Orihime mouthed an "Oh…ok".

Toshirou turned his gaze towards Rukia. "Is she always like that?"

"I don't know," Rukia shrugged before adding quickly, "I mean, I do know, but I shouldn't talk about Momo behind her back. If you want to know why she acts like that, ask her yourself. Ja ne." She ran towards her friends shouting, "Chotto matte, minna!"

They turned to see Rukia running towards them and smiled at her. "Where have you been?" Orihime asked.

"I was talking to the new student."

Then, during period three, which was literature class, the secretary said through the intercom, "May I have Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Toshirou for dismissal? Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Toshirou for dismissal, please."

The literature teacher nodded at Momo. Toshirou wasn't in the same third period as she was. "Well," the teacher began to say, "we only had you back for one day, and you still have all that other homework to catch up on, so I won't give you much homework." She started to open drawers and rummage through them. Finally, she picked up a book titled, "Forbidden Grounds of Love" and gave it to Momo. "This will be your only assignment from me. It is to finish this book. If you're back by tomorrow, however, you do not have to finish it all but please read up to the third chapter by then." Momo took the book graciously and stuffed it in her bag.

"Arigato," she said as she walked out the door and to the office. On her way up to the office, she met up with Toshirou. He glanced at her and nodded as a greeting. She glanced away from him and ignored him. "Hmph!"

Opening the door to the office, she saw Soi Fon sitting in a chair, waiting for both of them.

"Okaa-san?" Momo asked. "What happened?"

Soi Fon stood up and grabbed her bag from the floor. "Talk in the car. You too, Hitsugaya."

Once in the car, Soi Fon started to explain. "Earlier today… a note was sent out. I want you two to go to Osaka and start early while examining the note."

"Ano," Momo said, "what did the note say?"

"Four words. Next victim: Hikari Ryu."

"Eh? Already? But didn't that Sakura girl… already… get—"

"What do you want us to do?" Toshirou interrupted her. Momo scowled and glared at him.

She said the next few words seriously, "Find him and protect him. You will go undercover as the names Tanaka Takeshi and Nakamura Mizuki. I didn't want to use too much money on you two because most of the money will be used for your food and such, so I only ordered one room for you at the suite."

Awkward silence pierced the silent air before Momo finally shrieked, "NANI!? How could you do that? Especially since we're opposite sexes! Can't you—"

"Double bed or two singles?" Toshirou, who was much calmer than Momo, asked, glancing out the window.

"My, my! You make it seem like Soi Fon has a dirty mind, you two!" a voice said from the front seat. A head popped from behind the chair.

"Yoruichi-san!" Momo gasped. "What are you doing in here? I didn't see you earlier!"

"Ahohoho!" she laughed. "I was hiding, of course. Anyways, two singles! We don't want our precious Momo hurt… or anything."

Toshirou looked at her like she was crazy. He muttered underneath his breath, "What is up with this family?"

Unfortunately, each of the family members heard him loud and clear. They all turned to glare at him. Then they said simultaneously, "Is that an insult?"

"Okaa-san! Pay attention!" Momo yelled as a car's tires screeched in front of them, avoiding their own car. Soi Fon steered the car in the correct direction and avoided all crashes. "Ah! Gomen, gomen!"

Toshirou didn't pay any attention as Momo lectured her mother on being a more careful driver. 'So this is the top spy family in Japan… Interesting…. They don't really look like it,' he thought as he glanced at the family.

---

And that was the end of that. Momo stopped in her tracks to think. Now that I think of it… He never answered our question… It probably was, though – an insult, that is.

In a sudden rush, she heard footsteps pounding behind her. Eh? She turned around before a hand covered her mouth and a voice said, "Shhh."

She was about to throw him off of her before she heard it. The deep voice of a man as he yelled, and footsteps running in search for something. "Where are you?" he barked. Then he smirked. "You can run, but you can't hide. How many people have I gotten so far? Six, and you will be my seventh. If it isn't a lucky day for you!"

He paused before saying anything else, then added with a glance towards where they were standing, "Hikari Ryu."

-X-

"Where are we going, Hikari-san?" she yelled as they ran, Momo following him.

"Away. Away from that creep." Finally, they stopped at an Internet café that happened to still be opened. "Come on," he said, tugging at her hand. "Let's go in. We'll be safe in here… I think."

She nodded silently as she trudged in behind him. To herself, she was wondering if she should contact Toshirou. Nah. He'll just take control of everything. I wouldn't even get to do anything! They found a table far away as possible from the window that didn't have any computers on it.

"So, you're Hikari Ryu," Momo murmured. "You're the next victim, ne?"

He looked astonished. "How'd you know about that?"

She smirked, pointing to a stack of newspapers. "It's almost everywhere."

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "What's your name?"

"Nakamura Mizuki."

"Nakamura Mizuki? I've never heard of you. Are you new around here?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I just moved here yesterday with a… ano… a… relative…"

He nodded as in understanding. "Ahh, I see. No wonder I haven't seen you around yet."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah."

-X-

Toshirou, who had woken up after hearing someone slam the door to the room (he's a light sleeper), was running. He almost panicked not seeing Hinamori anywhere, but he knew that she knew how to fight. The only thing he was really worried about was that she might bump into the kidnapper and get herself kidnapped. "Hinamori!" he called out.

He halted, seeing a funny looking man. He continued to walk but slowly as he followed him. The man had a facemask – a black one too, number one thing to look like a theif, he was wearing all black, suspicious item number two, and three, he was looking around to make sure no one was looking. He was a criminal, all right. Now, Toshirou just needed to see if he was the criminal that he was looking for.

He saw the man peek into a café, and he noticed that the man smirked. Toshirou watched as the man went inside and then quickly followed him.

-X-

Momo stopped talking. Hikari looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?"

She lightly whispered as she stood up. "He's here. Run, go, get away!"

He looked shocked at first and then said, "Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you?"

She shot back, "Well, I'm not the next victim, am I? Now, GO!"

"Too late," a voice said behind them. Momo turned around and scowled, glaring at him.

"You," she hissed, "you're the one that's kidnapping all of these innocent people! Let them be! What did they ever do to you?"

He shrugged. "Oh nothing. I just need them for… something."

"What?" she growled.

He sneered, "None of your business. Now, out of my way. I need that boy!"

Hikari stood in shock in the corner of the room. He knew he needed to go, but he didn't know where. A hand was placed on his shoulder. He was about to yell when the person's hand went up to his mouth to shut him up. "Urusen," a masculine voice said. "Go into the kitchen. I've already asked the manager if I could hide you in there. He's calling the police right now."

Hikari turned around. "Who the heck are you?"

Toshirou looked at him with stern eyes. He growled, "Stop wasting time and go already!" Hikari nodded and ran as fast as he could without being seen to the kitchen. There, he saw the manager rush him inside while talking on the phone.

Momo glared at the man in front of her. She screamed, "NO!"

The man gave a deep growl. "It's a good thing no one's here."

She looked at him, and then saw something gleam in his hand. Her eyes widened, but she didn't have anytime to react. She saw him lunge straight towards her with the sharp knife. Chairs were all around her, so if she moved, she would have a 95 percent chance of tripping. She was kind of clumsy after all. She could jump and land on his back and then fall to the ground. Or, she could do a back flip, land on a table, and then sprain her ankle.

Momo didn't have anytime to think, so she did a back flip and did land on a table. "Ah!" she cried while losing her balance. The table flipped, and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She looked up to see the knife coming closer. She tried to stand up and run or do something at least, but it seemed to be that her ankle was sprained or maybe broken.

Momo closed her eyes because she knew what was going to happen. She sat there for a few minutes, waiting for the ghastly pain and cut to come, but it never did. However, she did hear a grunt in front of her. Momo slowly opened her eyes to see Toshirou crouching in front of her.

Toshirou, whose main goal was to pick Momo up before she got stabbed, flinched. He didn't seem to get there in time. When he got there, he felt an excruciating stab at his right arm. Blood started to drip from it. He raised his free left hand, the arm that didn't get stabbed, and strongly gripped around the man's wrist. He forced the man's hand to move back, which made the knife slowly exit the skin. A police siren started to be in hearing distance, and the man sneered, running away, "I'll get him next time, bitches!"

The man exited through the back window. Toshirou walked over to where Momo was sitting. He crouched down next to her. "Daijo-bu desu ka?" She winced as she meekly nodded. He took the bottom of his shirt and ripped some of it off and tied it tightly around her ankle. He reached his hand in pain for her to grab. His other arm was holding her back up, so she could stand up correctly. She was in the middle of standing up when she felt something warm drip onto her hand. She looked down and gasped as she saw where it came from.

"Nani?" he asked, pulling his hand away from her so she wouldn't look at it after she finally stood up.

"Your hand, Hitsugaya-kun! You're hurt," she cried as she reached to touch his hand. He tore it away from her.

"It's nothing."

"Demo… you're hurt because of me! If I hadn't done a back flip, you wouldn't be in this mess."

"It's nothing," he repeated bitterly.

Momo tried to grab his hand once more. He still made it out of reach for her. Toshirou knew she couldn't move from where she was for she still wasn't used to the pain yet. "Give it to me!" she demanded as she continued to reach for his arm.

"No," he said simply. "I don't need any help."

"Why are you being so stubborn?!" she demanded, putting her hands to her waist. Reaching out again, she cried, "Just give me your hand already!"

Then, she tripped and was about to hit the ground when Toshirou caught her. "Be more careful," he said as he steadied her to the ground. She saw that his right arm was free and grabbed it. "What are you doing," he asked, annoyed.

"I'm helping you. Is that such a problem?" she asked as she untied the ribbon in her hair and took the blue cloth off of her bun. She let her hair loose as it swayed upon her shoulder. She took the blue cloth and tied it around his injured arm. Tears started to simmer in her eyes. Eh? Why am I crying? Demo...

He looked at her, confused. "Why are you crying?"

"This is all my fault! You wouldn't be hurt if I had called you earlier, or if I hadn't done a back flip, or if I didn't follow that guy, or if—"

He started to chuckle. She started to whack him on the head. "Why are you laughing at me while I'm sitting here, worrying about you?! I feel horrible! Don't laugh at me!!!"

He started to chuckle even more. "HEY! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?" she yelled.

"Yes, yes, I did," he said between his laughter. He smiled softly. "I've never seen this side of you before. You should show it more often, really. Stop acting so cruel and cocky like you know everything." He stood up and pulled his arms back to stretch. "Well, anyways, arigato."

He left to go talk to the police whom were outside investigating the place. Momo sat there, confused. She felt her face heat up. Her hand touched her cheeks.Nani? Why am I blushing? Didn't he just… insult me? Or did he just… compliment me?

-X-

"Oh, hmm… He broke the light switch. For the billionth time, let's think of a way to escape. Maybe we could cause a fire," the new girl suggested as she continued to search the dark room for something to use.

"No way," a male's voice said. "Do you know how dangerous that is? We would probably get burned - or die."

"Hmm…" the new girl said, pondering. "We could… ano…"

A girl wearing a jersey spoke up. "We could use the window."

"What window?" a boy said as he stood up to search the room.

"That one," she said, pointing to a small window near the ceiling.

"It looks like a bathroom window…" the boy said. "Do you think we can reach it?"

"Look for a chair," the new girl cried out. "Or more like… feel for it. It doesn't seem like we can really see anything in this dark place."

A young girl with black hair looked around for a chair, but she tripped over something hard. "Owie, owie, owie!" She felt around for the hard thing and picked it up, examining it. "Hey! Look! I found a flashlight!" she exclaimed in a cheery voice as she held it up in front of her face. "I wonder where the switch is though…."

"Noeru! Give that to me," a feminine voice said. She snatched the flashlight from the younger girl and turned it on. She flashed it around and then pointed it to the new girl. The flashlight slid from her hand and hit the floor with a thud.

"Haku-sempai!"

Sooo… that's the end of this chapter! Hope you liked it! I'm planning to make this a… 40 chapter story… Actually, I wanted to do fifty, but I thought that's too long.. eheh… or maybe 30 chapters??? Hmmmm….. Ah.. oh well, I'll figure it out soon enough!

Xoxo MimiMichie