Present Time-KaraKura Town
"Kisuke! Kisuke! Are you listening?" Yoruichi was annoyed at how rude he was acting.
He was in a daze and had been in his thoughts for some time; he did not hear a word she said. "I'm sorry Yoruichi, what was it you were saying?"
She became aggravated and wondered what was so important he could not focus on anything else. "Never mind, obliviously there are other things that are more important, what is going on with you? I noticed you have been acting strange and lately you seem troubled." She looked at him with curiosity to what had him worried.
He was beside himself, flash backs of everything that happened in the past kept popping into his head. He couldn't think of anything else and knew it had to mean something. "Well Yoruichi, I cannot put my mind at ease. For the past few days I have been thinking about our time in the Seireitei.
She knew if he was thinking back to the past it could only mean one thing. "The Seireitei, it's about her, the one who left you brokenhearted?"
He became silent and the look of sadness came upon his face. He thought back to when he first met the woman who had changed his life. "Yoruichi you know it has been about 100 years since we were in Soul Society and 60 years since she died. Now all of a sudden I cannot get her off my mind. It is like she is trying to tell me something is about to happen."
She looked, as though she knew what he would say next would be of no surprise. "Do not tell me Kisuke, is it those gut feelings again?"
He laughed at how she knew what it was he had on his mind and before he could say a word, she would come right out and say it. "You know me too well Yoruichi, these feelings I have are never wrong. Take heed to what I said, we must look for anything suspicious."
She knew Kisuke was just beside himself and was bringing up the past because he still had unresolved feelings for the woman he loved. "Of course I will that's what I like about you Kisuke. Those gut feelings telling you to prepare for the worst. Why must you take things so seriously?"
She needed to get some air and decided to leave the shop to take a walk. While roaming the streets of KaraKura Town, she passed a hospital where commotion was stirring up.
A woman wearing white clothing was yelling frantically. "Dr. Donuchi, there is a problem with one of your comatose patients!" The hysterical nurse ran over to him out of breath. "Dr. Donuchi, its patient Jane Doe, I went to check on how her but she was gone!"
The doctor could not believe what she had told him. He ran back into the building with the nurse following behind. The doctor quickly went inside the room where the woman had been staying since she was admitted to the hospital and to his dismay she was not there. "Nurse Yotoa, how could Jane Doe be gone? This woman has been comatose for the past 10 years. There is no way a person in her condition can come out a coma and walk away without any precautions. We must check the hospital immediately. She could not have gotten far. This is an Security Alert sound the alarm, we have a missing patient."
She was confused and could barely put one foot in front of the other but somehow found herself roaming behind the building not too far from where she woke up. She felt faint and tumbled over a few objects before leaning on the side of the building. She looked around and tried to figure out which direction she should take when she caught the attention of a woman who was heading toward her.
The woman could not believe what she was seeing, a beautiful but frail young woman walking behind the building of the flower shop wearing nothing but what appeared to be a hospital gown. She could see the young woman needed help and decided to go over and assist her. "Young lady, are you all right?" She looked at the frightened young woman with concern for her. "Can I help you with something, are you hurt?" She asked looking at the young woman who moved away from her.
She wanted to runaway but was too weak to lift herself from off the building that was holding her up. She tried to walk but almost fell to the ground when the woman who saw her from afar caught her. She looked at the woman who helped her from falling. "Thank you, can you tell me where I am? I need to find someone but I do not remember who."
The woman gave her a warm and trusting smile. "Well first we need to get you some clothes. A young lady like yourself cannot go around town naked." The woman wrapped her coat around the young woman.
She shivered and started rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "Yes, I guess you are right, I am cold."
The woman smiled at her as if she was someone she had not seen in a while. "My name is Yunan Lee and you are?"
She felt confused and looked at the woman clueless to what her name could be. "I cannot remember nothing seems familiar to me."
The woman smiled as she stared at her trying not to pressure the issue. She knew something traumatic must have happened for her not to have any memory of who she was. "I see, maybe I can help you, come with me."
She was grateful that the woman was willing to help her and smiled. "Yes, I would like that very much, where are you taking me?"
The woman looked around as though she was searching for something. "I am taking you to my home, lets see I do not live too far from here. If you like, you can stay with me for the night. That is the least I can do after all."
She smiled with curiosity to why the woman would help someone she did not know. "Thank you, its Yunan Lee, right?"
The woman grinned as she looked at her. "You are correct, are you hungry? I will order us some food when we get to my house."
Her stomach started to growl causing her to feel embarrassed. She put her hand on her stomach and smiled. "That would be great, thank you again Yunan Lee." They crossed the street and headed for the woman's home.
He was concerned and worried that bad things would come. He felt something was not right and could not put his mind at ease. He looked at Yoruichi as she entered into the shop. "Did Renji or the others find anything out of the ordinary today?"
She walked in and looked at him with concern. Before she left he had been walking around the shop eagerly waiting for something to happen. She knew if he didn't focus on something else it would become an obsession. "Kisuke, there isn't anything to be worried about, nothing unusual happened and if it does you will be the first to know. How about we do something constructive to take our minds off of this danger you speak of?"
He knew she was trying to ease his worries but the feelings he had would not go away. "I know what you are trying to do but you will see Yoruichi, it is drawing near."
She shook her head at how pigheaded he was and knew there was nothing she could do or say to get him to focus on something else. "Kisuke the only thing near is you loosing it and me running away to a place where I can relax." She lay down on the floor and had a thought. "How about telling me one of your stories?" She watched him as he started to reminisce about the past.
He found himself thinking about her and could remember everything like it was yesterday. "Yoruichi, did I ever tell you about that day in the Seireitei when I first laid eyes on her? She was beautiful, her hair was black as onyx and it flowed to her shoulders. She had the most amazing eyes, the color of an emerald that would make you fall in love, and they were big and sparkled in the light. Her kimono fitted her figure just right and when she spoke it was so delicate and polite. She was known for her tattoo of a small red rose on her left hand that was said to be a birthmark. Everyone thought she was a snob like the rest of the nobles but I knew she was different."
Yoruichi looked at him with angry eyes and wondered how he could say something like. "What do you mean like the rest of the nobles Kisuke!"
He could tell she was upset by the tone of her voice but could not believe she would get offended. "Yoruichi you know I was not talking about you. You are my friend, I would not dare say anything to upset you."
She laughed at how gullible he was to think she would be angry about something so petty. "You know I was kidding, we have been friends for a long time and I do not take offense to anything you say."
He knew she was teasing but liked when she took noticed of things. "Anyway like I was saying, I can remember that day in class when we first heard a noble of the Mikisa Clan wanted to come to the Reijustsu Academy and receive the teachings and learning's like us commoners. You know that nobles have the privilege to skip all the hard work we commoners have to procure."
"So what are you saying Kisuke, you think we nobles have it easy?" Yoruichi looked puzzled waiting for him to answer.
"Oh nothing Yoruichi, please do not take offense to what I said. Although everyone looked down at her and most of them did not want to talk to her, she always smiled and had a positive attitude. It was said that she wanted to come to the academy to show how much better she was than us but when you talked with her she treated you like an equal. She became the most admired and adored noble in Soul Society because of her caring attitude toward others. Unlike a certain individual we do not speak of in the shop."
She knew it had to be Byakuya; everything in the past always came back to him because of what happened between them. "I guess there is no escaping what happened back then but I have no regrets and you should not either. It is the choice we all made and there is nothing that can be done about it now but I can tell by your expression you have not made amends, am I right?"
"You figured me out, of course I have regrets but the ones I have is more on a personal level than revenge or betrayal. How can I be at peace when there are so many things to atone for? I have hurt, lied, and deceived those who trusted me and now I have to live with what I have done." He knew what she was trying to say and agreed to some of it, but how he felt about what happened in the past was still bothering him, especially the choices he had made concerning his own happiness.
Yoruichi knew if they did not end the conversation of the past, it would do more harm than good. "I am exhausted from reminiscing about the past, are you finished?" Her stomach started to growl causing her to rub it. "Let's eat Kisuke, I am hungry."
Kisuke was saddened by Yoruichi's boredom. " I guess I am, dinner will be late tonight. There is a grocery list on the table I saw earlier that needs my attention." He walked over to the table and read the list. "Now lets see what I need from the store." He was appalled and could not believe he ran out of food so quickly when he went to the store a few days ago. He had almost forgot the extra mouth he was feeding until he saw Renji who was about to leave out the door. "Hey Renji, I have some errands for you, freeloader."
He looked at Kisuke and smiled as though what he had said didn't bother him, but hated when he and the others called him that. He felt they did not want him around but knew they were teasing. "I cannot right now Urahara, I just received a Hollow Alert!" Renji responded in a hurry as he ran out the door.
Kisuke sighed frustrated at how he could never get him to do anything without asking. "Always when I'm giving him errands, come Tessai, we have shopping to do."
The room was dark and soundless, she lay in bed and thought about whom it was she needed to find and wondered if they knew who she was. She had been trying to figure it out since she arrived at Yunan Lee's home but nothing came to mind. She turned on her side and was about to fall asleep when she started to feel strange and heard something outside. "What is that noise? There is something out there, I can feel it pulling me toward it." She thought to herself scared at what it could be. She could not stop herself from walking toward the sound of something sinister.
Yunan Lee was startled; she heard something in the other room and decided to see what it was. She did not see anything and decided to check on the young woman who had just left before she walked into the room.
"Can I get you anything before I go to bed?" She asked looking in the spare bedroom. "Young lady, where did she go? She does not know who she is or who she is suppose to look for, so where could she be at this time of night? I hope she is all right." She wondered as she looked out the window. "I hope nothing is wrong, maybe she will come back soon." She closed the curtains and went back to her bedroom.
The young woman followed the sound outside, straight to a Hollow, who felt her spiritual power. She was still as she stood in front of it; the horror was all over her face. She wondered if the Hollow had seen her, it did not move. She decided to turned around and run but before she could do anything the Hollow made a noise and looked straight at her.
The Hollow smiled delighted to see she came. "There you are, I have been looking for you. Now I can take it all, your power will be mine."
She looked at the Hollow strangely in fear of what it wanted. She was curious to know what kind of creature it could be. "What are you and why have you lured me here?"
"What I am is no concern of yours. All you need to know is that I am going to eat you up. Yes, how tasty you look woman." The Hollow licked its lips contemplating on getting what it wanted. "How scrumptious you will be, I can feel your spiritual power. So yummy and tasty, I must have it!"
"Get away from me!" She pushed away from the Hollow. "I do not know what you are talking about, I have no power." She ran away in fright of what the hollow would do to her. "Help, please someone help me!" She yelled running away from the hollow.
"Running away will not do you any good woman. I will find you, there is nowhere for you to hide!" The Hollow yelled jumping into the air as it moved in the direction she had went.
The Hollow followed the young woman who was running toward the direction of Renji, who saw Ichigo and Rukia lurking in a remote spot in town.
Ichigo was startled by the noise of someone approaching. Then he sensed the power of someone familiar and knew it could only be one person. "Renji, is that you making all that racket?"
He had followed the hollow alert to their location and appeared before them out of the darkness. "Yes Ichigo; Rukia, do you feel that spiritual power? It is like no other I have felt, that must be where the Hollow is, lets go."
Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji located the Hollow, who had caught up with the young woman. They watched with curiosity to who the woman was and wondered if the power they felt was coming from her.
"I told you get away from me, you monster! You are not going to eat me, I have no power for you to take!" The young women yelled frantically as she stood in front of the Hollow who was not letting her leave.
"Come here woman, I have no time to be chasing you. I want your power now!" The Hollow blocks her path and goes in for the attack.
She put her hands out in front as though she was blocking herself from being attacked. "No, you are not going to kill me!" She was scared and thought she would die but something inside started to take over. She felt strange and could feel the power flowing throughout her body. She did not know what to think or do then all of a sudden she saw a flash of light.
"Ichigo and Rukia, do you see that? The Hollow must have been chasing that woman. We must stop it from killing her, let's go before it's too late." They started to head toward the location of the Hollow and young woman to help when they felt something. "Wait Rukia and Ichigo, do you feel that spiritual power? That woman, it's coming from her?" They were stunned to see how much power was coming from the young woman.
"How can she have so much spiritual power of that magnitude?" Renji asked with curiosity watching what was going on between the woman and the Hollow.
"It is unreal, we can't just stand here let's go help her." Ichigo demanded in concern for the young woman.
"What is happening to me? I cannot control it." She attacked the Hollow with a cero blast. To her surprise she destroyed the Hollow, but did not know how or why she was able to do it.
"Ichigo, did you see what she did to the Hollow?" Rukia asked with amazement. "She destroyed the Hollow with a blast from her hand! How can this be?"
Renji was in disbelief at what he had seen. "How could she perform that technique? We have to find out who she is."
Ichigo started to think back to his battles with Hollows and his own Vizard powers. "There is only one that can perform an attack like that, but does that mean she is some kind of Hollow or Vizard?"
Rukia stared at him confused. "Ichigo, it is not possible, how can she be one of them when she did not transform?"
"I do not know but that technique she performed was an attack that only Hollows and Vizards are capable of doing. Who is that woman, she can't be a Hollow if she just destroyed it but is she is a Vizard then how come I have not seen her with the others and why did she not transform?" Ichigo was clueless but wanted to know more about the mysterious young woman.
"Well the only way to find out is to ask her, I will handle this." Renji headed toward the young woman.
"Renji do not scare her off!" Ichigo yelled with anger, he knew Renji would take the wrong approach by being aggressive to get answers from the woman.
They watched, as Renji approached the woman for answers but noticed she fell to the ground before he could get to her. They ran to her aide to see if she was all right. "She fainted, we must help her, lets take her back to Urahara's Shop. Maybe he can help." Ichigo suggested with concern for the young woman.
They made it back to the shop where everyone was sleeping. "Urahara and Yoruichi, we need your help!" Ichigo yelled holding the unconscious woman.
He yawned as he walked into the room wondering what the reason was for such a late visit. He looked up in surprise to what was going on. "What is all the commotion this late at night and whom do you have there with you?" Kisuke asked curiously wondering if she had something to do with Renji's departure earlier. "Does she have something to do with that Hollow Alert?"
"Yes Urahara, the Hollow was chasing this woman and she destroyed it before we could intervene."
Yoruichi looked surprised as she stared at the woman. "You are saying this woman destroyed the Hollow by herself?"
"Yes, she destroyed it with ease like she had done it many times before." Ichigo stared at the young woman thinking about how she destroyed the Hollow. "She used the cero technique that only Hollows and Vizards are known to possess."
Yoruichi stared at the young woman puzzled. "Is that so, then who or what is she?"
They looked clueless and stared at the woman while she slept. "We do not know she fainted before we had the chance to ask."
Kisuke looked at the woman with curiosity but knew there was nothing that could be done while she was asleep. "I guess we will have to let her rest and ask her when she awakens. Yoruichi, I am going to make a bed for her in your room. I think we all should get some rest. Rukia and Ichigo you can stay here for the time being. See you all in the morning," Kisuke yawned as he walked away.
Yoruichi stared at the woman and noticed something on her hand she thought she saw before. She couldn't figure out why it seemed so familiar but knew Kisuke was good at remembering things, she called out to him. "Kisuke come here, I have to show you something." She knew she wouldn't be able to go to sleep until she found out what it was that picked her interest about the young woman's hand.
He entered the room and wondered what was so important that it could not wait until morning. "What is it Yoruichi, you want me to get you some milk so you can get to sleep?"
She disregarded his sarcasm for her mind was elsewhere. She pointed to the familiar looking mark on the young woman's hand. "Take a look at her left hand, what do you see?"
He was stunned his mouth dropped to the floor, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "This cannot be, a tattoo of a red rose! There is only one person we know who has a small tattoo on her left hand."
"This woman is the presumed dead, Caisuikia Aizen!" Kisuke and Yoruichi looked at each other surprised and wondered how Caisuikia ended up in the Human World without them sensing her presence there.