A/N: There's still quite a bit of skipping around in this chapter but that's only because I don't want to spend chapters and chapters on the human world when it doesn't further the plot too much... Once they're in the Soul Society the jumping around should slow down somewhat and then stay at decent pace.

Also, don't get too used to weeklyish updates, it's most likely a fluke cause I haven't had too much work to do that would keep me from writing and I'm not suffering form writers' block. Yet. It always hits me at one point during a story... anyways... I digress... onto the story

"Oh?" The hatted man said curiously, "You're just going to let them fight off a menos by themselves?"

A knowing grin spread over the girl's face, "I don't see you rushing to help either," she stated shrewdly as she turned her gaze back towards the tearing sky.

"Ah, you caught me," he said with his own grin. "But to be honest I half expected you to rush in regardless of the consequences."

She bit her lip before answering, "I want to. I really do. But now isn't the time, so stop trying to tempt me."

"Oh, but Kimi! It's so fun to temp and tease you!"

Kimiko sighed, she had already known that about him; Urahara had constantly prodded her about doing something "fun" over the last year or so. He claimed it was because he didn't want her to become rusty, and although he had a point, his true motives had probably been something along the lines of the fact that he liked watching her try to restrain herself.

"It's out," She stated, changing the topic. The giant gillion had finally pulled itself free of the tear and began to head towards the park just like the rest of its brethren were doing. "Are you really not going to do anything?" She asked, trying to read his features. Kimiko knew that Urahara was lazy, but there was no way he would purposely endanger the town. Would he?

"Well, I'm not," he started before turning to his staff, "But they will. Ururu. Jinta. Go for it."

"Yes boss," they both responded as they readied their weapons. The pigtailed little girl balanced her gun on her shoulder and released a barrage of spiritual bullets that destroyed almost half of the hollows encircling Ichigo and the self proclaimed "last quincy". Both males looked over in their direction, shocked.

Urahara waved his fan nonchalantly, "You take care of the big guy over there and we'll take care of the small fry." They both nodded and ran off down the street.

"Are you sure they can handle it?" Kimiko asked, still not completely convinced that merely standing by was such a good idea. She was so anxious that she had taken to nervously pulling on her short black hair.

"Mr. Urahara!" Rukia cried out, running up to them and looking out of breath. "We have to do something! We have to help Ichigo!"

He just shook his head. "But it's a menos! They can't-" Her protest was cut off by the sound of the blond's fan snapping shut.

"Don't worry Miss Kuchiki," he said, "I have faith in Ichigo."

Kimiko raised an eyebrow. "You put your faith in the strangest of people," she commented quietly.

Kisuke heard her and deigned to comment. "I put my faith in you," he said, grinning.

"Exactly," she replied in a sigh. She still didn't understand why he had helped her. Why had he risked himself to keep her safe after the incident?She owed him a lot and she always made a point to pay back her debts. She had decided that if he ever needed her for anything, she would help him to the best of her ability.

"Haruko!" Rukia exclaimed, just now noticing the other girl. The sound of her pseudo name brought her out of her thoughts. She looked towards the female soul reaper. "You were supposed to stay away from here!" Rukia finished off a hint of desperation in her voice. She was already worried about Ichigo, she didn't need to worry about Haruko's safety as well.

The girl chewed on her lip for a split second before her previously calm demeanour quickly faded away to be replaced by wonder and shock. Kimiko mentally slapped herself for forgetting her persona. With Urahara, there was no need to pretend and so she had gotten too relaxed. But with Rukia, her guard had to be up. To Rukia she was just a relatively normal high school student who had gained the ability to see ghosts because of Ichigo's overwhelming spiritual pressure, and she planned to keep it that way for as long as possible. It was true that she dropped her guard every once in a while, but overall she was pretty consistent with the persona she had created.

Mentally prepping herself to get back into character, she turned to Rukia and put a sad childish pout on her face. "I'm sorry..." she said, doing her best to actually sound as such.

"Oh it's not her fault," Urahara intervened, "I'm the one who brought her here. She looked so lonely standing there by herself so I said that she could come along and that I'd protect her." She flashed him a grateful look which he responded to with a grin and a wave of his once again opened fan.

Rukia deflated somewhat at his words but was still obviously worried both for Ichigo and now Haruko as well. Her attention then once again turned towards Ichigo and Uryu who were currently executing some strange plan. Kimiko blinked at the scene; why did Uryu have a sword strapped to his head? When Ichigo grabbed his zanpakuto she finally understood their intentions; the quincy's bow tripled in size as the excessive and free flowing spiritual pressure made its way into him.

"That's huge..." Kimiko said as she stated her thoughts out loud.

Rukia misunderstood, thinking she was talking about the giant hollow that the two were trying to combat. "It's a menos grande. I've only ever seen one in books at the Soul Reaper Academy!"

Instead of responding to Rukia's comment she said something different. "That idiot!" The smaller black haired girl exclaimed as she watched Ichigo take off on his own. "What does he think he's doing?!" Her voice held the type the tone someone would have when scolding someone inexperienced. Situations like this put cracks in her character, it was a good thing that Rukia was too busy watching, wide-eyed, as a cero was blasted at their orange haired friend, to notice.

"That kid sure is something else," Kisuke said as they watched him deflect the mass of spirit energy with his own. It was crude, but it was enough to cause the enormous creature to withdraw, pulling the sky closed after it.

The girl watched the boys for a moment longer. She saw Ichigo collapse and Uryu begin to shoot off arrows in an attempt to release the spiritual pressure that threatened to engulf them both. Ichigo possessed an incredible amount of power for a human, frankly, it was worrying. What would he do with it? For now he was preforming the duties of a soul reaper, but would he become consumed by his own power? Could he be a danger to everyone around him? It would probably be wise to keep an eye on him, just as Urahara was already doing. Vaguely, she wondered how he found the time to watch both her and Ichigo, create new gadgets, run a shop, and still somehow always seem to be slacking off; he truly was an impressive man. She sighed and ran a hand through her annoyingly short hair.


"What do you mean she left?" Kimiko asked an agitated Ichigo. She had been taking a late night walk, something she was known for, when she had come across a cursing Ichigo. When she questioned him about what was wrong he gave a really quick explanation that had merely left the girl with more questions. Noting how worried and annoyed the orange haired teen was, Kimiko had dropped her normal happy demeanour in order to get as much out of him as she could without having to waste time on her usual, purposely naive, remarks.

"She left some screwed up note," he was saying as he waved the piece of paper in the girl's face, "that took me forever to decipher! It says that she's leaving and that I shouldn't go after her. What the hell is she thinking?!" He was angry that Rukia had done something so stupid without a single word to him even after everything they had been through. Without another word, he took off down the street at a run. Kimiko followed right behind him.

As they turned onto a different street, Kimiko fell behind; she slowed down to a jog before stopping altogether. She could sense something. Further down the street there was a clashing of spirit energy. Her eyes narrowed. The spiritual pressures were so familiar, she just couldn't place them right away. When she realized who it was, her heartbeat sped up slightly out of anticipation. She turned her gaze to follow Ichigo's retreating back for a moment longer before turning and going down a different route. Instead of heading down the centre of the street she went through the alleys and bushes; she needed to keep herself hidden. She needed to restrain herself. She couldn't do anything stupid or reckless: not now. Not yet.

When she arrived she saw her friends on the ground and her hands curled into fists involuntarily. Uryu was beaten so badly that he could barely move and Rukia had her own injuries and was panting heavily from overexertion. Ichigo was already there, facing off against two new soul reapers, one of which wore a white coat overtop the usual uniform, the other had a badge tied to his arm. "Byakuya Kuchiki..." she mumbled to herself as recognition set in, "A captain... Why would a captain be here?" Her knuckles paled from the strength of her grip.

It took a lot of effort not to get involved when the captain utterly defeated Ichigo and left him bleeding on the sidewalk, close to death. She had actually shifted her weight slightly and moved a step forward without meaning to, she caught herself shortly after and forced herself to stop. Her control of herself had grown lax over the years and it annoyed her to no end. She had let herself go and that would need to be changed, especially after this had happened. Before her eyes, the soul reapers, along with Rukia who looked incredibly sad, went back through the senkaimon.

Kimiko opted to wait a few moments before showing herself. When she figured she had waited enough, she turned the street corner and ran up to them. Ichigo was unconscious, but Uryu was still hanging on. She kneeled down beside him to get a better look at his injuries.

"It's nothing really," he said, trying to seem tough even though the act of talking was enough to cause him to flinch. She shook her head at him.

"Acting tough isn't going to score you any points," she chimed. The sound of footsteps made her turn away from him. "Urahara. Perfect timing as always."

"I do my best," he grinned as he crouched down to inspect Ichigo and Uryu for himself. "You've taken quite a beating, I can take you back to my store and patch you up if you like," He suggested to Uryu as Tessai heaved the other teen over his shoulder in preparation of the journey back to Urahara's Shop. The quincy declined, saying that all he needed was some first aid and then he'd head home. He was stubborn about it so in the end they heeded his request and let him do as he pleased. The rest of them then headed to Kisuke's place, conversing about the ordeal along the way.


Kimiko rubbed a tired eye. She had been woken up unceremoniously by a commotion and shouting. As she tuned back in to the real world she recognized the voices. "Ichigo must be awake," she said to herself as she stood up and headed to the source of the noise. Before she had a chance to touch the door to where he was resting it flew open so she came face to chest with Ichigo. "Glad to see you're finally up," she said happily.

"Haruko, sorry, but I don't have time to talk right now." He said with a determined look in his brown eyes. Even with all his unhealed injuries he was ready to go do something reckless, she could tell just by looking at him. After he had woken up, the shop owner had told him about what happened and now he was determined to go save Rukia no matter the cost. Ichigo attempted to brush past the smaller girl but she wouldn't let him; she purposely stepped to block his path.

He looked ready to protest but she cut him off, "Do you really think you can do anything in this condition? You're being an idiot. Stay and rest." Her tone was more of an order than a suggestion which caused the orange haired teen to look shocked. He wasn't used to her acting this way.

His thoughts were interrupted by Urahara. "And once you're doing a bit better you can start training," he said.

"Training?" Ichigo echoed as he turned back to look at the store owner.

"Yes training," Kisuke confirmed. "You can't honestly expect to get Rukia back without your powers. Once you've recovered more we'll start your training in preparation for what you're obviously planning on doing, but until then listen to your friend and get some rest." Reluctantly, Ichigo finally listened to them and sat back down. "Well, now that that's settled..." he turned towards the girl and motioned for her to follow him, "I need to speak with you if you don't mind." She nodded her head in understanding and they exited the room together.

"What is it Urahara?" she asked, curious about what he could want from her.

"I'm sure you've figured out what Ichigo plans to do," he started with a sigh. She nodded her head; honestly she had expected this type of reaction from him, especially after how he had acted when he first found out Rukia had gone missing. "Well," Kisuke continued, "I'd like you to go with them."

The request surprised her. "You want me to go to the Soul Society? I really don't think that's-"

"You'll end up going eventually so why not now?"

Kimiko looked down at the floor with an expression that was difficult to read. "I know that, but-!" She cut herself off with a dejected sigh. "No... Never mind..." She looked up and met his eyes with a newly determined look in her own. "I owe you a lot so I'll do as you ask. I'll go with Ichigo, but can I ask why? Why are you taking such an interest in this?"

"All in good time, my dear Kimi. All in good time," Urahara said grinning. He then waved at her and disappeared into another room.

As the door shut behind him a thought struck Kimiko. "Wait... did you say 'they'?!" She called out after him but got no response. She would have brushed a hand through her bangs out of annoyance, sadly she didn't have any. As she exited the store she was stopped by the sight of a familiar black cat.

"That's where I come in," it said, staring up at her with it's golden eyes. "Care to follow me?" The two set off into Karakura town. As they walked, Yoruichi set off on her explanation. "I'm sure you've noticed that Ichigo and the quincy aren't the only humans with powers in this town; there are two more that have caught my notice."

Kimiko looked at her with curiosity. "Which ones?"

"They're in Ichigo's class I believe, so you should know them- Ah, there's one of them now." The duo paused near a park.

Kimiko looked around the area for anyone she knew; her gaze fell upon Orihime and she arched an eyebrow. "You can't mean her, can you?"

"That's exactly who I mean," the cat said as she headed over to the bubbly girl with Kimiko trotting behind her.

Orihime noticed them as they approached and smiled happily. "Haruko! Hello! How are you? And who's your friend?"

The cat answered for herself, "My name is Yoruichi and I have a proposal for you."

Orihime's eyes widened, but instead of being shocked like a normal person would be, she instead picked up the cat and swung her around joyfully. Yoruichi wasn't too pleased about being spun so she wriggled out of the girl's hands and landed back on her feet looking as dignified as possible with her somewhat ruffled fur. "You can talk! You're so amazing!" The brunette gushed. She looked like her birthday had come early.

Yoruichi coughed to get the girl's attention before saying, "I have something you may want to hear." She then launched into an explanation about Rukia and about what Ichigo planned to do.

The usually bubbly girl grew somber as everything was explained to her. As Yoruichi finished, the brunette had a hard look in her brown eyes. "I'm going too," she said.

"That's what I wanted to hear," the cat said with a pleased swish of her tail.

Kimiko was dumbfounded. "But you do realize what you're getting into right? Going to the Soul Society is going to be extremely dangerous and for what? You don't even know Rukia that well!" She knew Orihime from their time in class together and so she knew that this girl was kind and not at all meant for fighting. What could Yoruichi be thinking asking this type of person to go along?

Orihime gasped at her words. "Haruko, this isn't like you!" The black haired girl scoffed but let her continue. "I may not have known Rukia for very long but she's important to Ichigo and that's all I need to know! I'm going to help, whatever it takes!"

Kimiko's face relaxed into a soft smile. "I see. Very well then." Orihime returned the smile with a big one of her own and then the trio set off to look for the others.

They found Chad half an hour later and his reaction to a talking cat was much more interesting than Orihime's had been. After another long explanation the large teen agreed to join them as well and so the four of them went to find the last person. They discovered Uryu already training by himself in a secluded area in the woods. As he noticed them he allowed his spiritual bow to vanish. His reaction to Yoruichi was rather funny as well, but she did her best to keep from giggling. Once he was caught up as well it was time to get down to business.

"Are you sure you won't train with us?" Orhime asked, pouting. She had been hoping that everyone would work hard together and form a close bond that would transcend time and space: or something to that effect anyway.

"I train alone," the quincy retorted as he fixed his glasses. "Although, I have a question before you leave." Yoruichi nodded, signalling him to continue. "What will Haruko be doing?"

Said girl blinked. "What do you mean?" She asked, curious where he was going with this. She wondered if she had been too obvious; he was the smartest in his grade after all.

"Orihime and Chad have both presented some form of strange powers, correct?" Everyone nodded. "But what about you? You can see spirits and hollows and you've been exposed to everything, but can you actually do anything?"

She knew he had no ill intent, but his words still stung. Being looked down upon or underestimated was a pet peeve of hers.

"I'm glad you brought that up Uryu," Yoruichi said as she stood and arched her back. The topic of the conversation eyed the cat warily. The feline jumped down from the rock she had been sitting on and when she appeared again there was something clutched in her mouth. She dropped it in Orihime's lap. "Do me a favour and put that on my paw." The brunette complied. Once the piece of fabric was securely on her left front paw she took a leap and collided with Kimiko's head with enough force that she fell backwards. Yoruichi landed safely, but the girl was forced into a roll.

"Was that really necessary?" She questioned in an annoyed tone as she straightened back up and rubbed her now sore forehead, pushing her bangs aside as she did. Wait... bangs? Slowly, she reached over and took a strand of her hair in order to get a better look at it; it was a grey colour. She sighed as she looked up and met the shocked stares of the other three people. The person who stood before them now wasn't the Haruko they knew; she lay on the ground motionless. Haruko was only a shell: a convenient doll. The one who stood before them had silvery coloured hair that reached down to her lower back instead of the shoulder length black hair they had been accustomed to. It had a slight wave to it but was nothing remarkable beyond that. Her eyes were still the same icy colour but had a different look to them; as if their owner had seen and experienced many things. She had gotten shorter and the rest of her appearance had reverted to look more childish than she had before. Save for her eye colour, she looked like a completely different person; if they hadn't seen it for themselves then they probably wouldn't have believed it.

"Well the cat's out of the bag now," Yoruichi said as she proceeded to paw at the fabric until it finally came off once again.

"How original," Kimiko said sarcastically. She was busy pulling at the shihakusho she hadn't worn in what seemed like forever. It took a lot of her self restraint to not embrace her sorely missed companion. In the end she gave up and resorted to stroking its sheath: her zanpakuto. She had missed it terribly.

The black cat leaped onto the new soul reaper's shoulder and studied the faces of everyone. "Let me introduce you to Kimiko Kitamura and if you haven't guessed already, she's a soul reaper."

"Is this when I'm supposed to say "pleased to meet you"?" The girl asked since she was unsure how to act now that she was finally free to truly be herself for the first time in a long time.

"Nice to meet you too!" Orihime said cheerfully, taking the whole thing in stride. The others were more doubtful.

A/N: I know I say "silvery" when I refer to Kimiko's hair but in fact it's a dark grey colour that's darker than Gin's or Isane's hair. And her eyes are light grey. Just thought I should clear this up now. :)

And sorry about the blurb on her appearance but I figured I should get it out of the way now and then never do it again :D