I do not own Bleach.


~Naomi~

Naomi looked at the place where the man with white hair used to be. Who was he? She turned when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She saw the man in the pink kimono and the woman with glasses and a book.

"I guess we should reintroduce ourselves. I am Kyoraku Shunsui. I am Taichou of 8th squad in the Gotei 13. And this is-" the woman hit the man with the book she was holding so she could introduce herself.

"I'm am Ise Nanao, Fukutaichou of 8th squad." Nanao readjusted her glasses while ignoring Shunsui's, fake, hurt expression.

Naomi nodded at the two. "And he was..." She looked back in the direction the other black samurai had gone. But these black samurais where different than the ones she had nightmares about. Different than the ones that ran her out of every foster home that ever dared to take her in. Different than the ones that made her feel like ending her own misery. They were more like guardian angels than bringers of death and misfortune.

"That was Ukitake Jushiro, 13th Squad Taichou." Shunsui fixed his hat after making sure it wasn't bent in any places. "It was nice to meet you, Naomi-chan. Maybe we can talk again some time." Shunsui smiled before leaving to follow after his friend and make sure he was alright.

Naomi was surprised at how fast they could move. She followed the direction they were heading in. She saw the woman one more time before she had gotten to far away.

"So what did they want to talk to you about?" Naomi turned to see Ichigo standing behind her.

"I'm not sure. I don't really remember. What do you know about the go tie thirteen?" Naomi thought it sounded familiar, but couldn't quite pin point what it was.

"Well...um...that's..." Ichigo tried to think of a way to not answer the question.

"What is taking you two so long?!" The two looked towards the end of the field and saw a woman with orange hair waving at them, Inoue Orihime.

"Just asking Ichigo-kun some hard questions. Think you can do better, Orihime-chan?" Naomi knew she could get her new friend to tell her what Ichigo was obviously refusing to share.

"Yes!" Orihime loved answering Naomi's question. They always meant that the girl would go to her house for dinner. "Tatsuki-chan! Naomi-chan is coming with us! We are going to my house for dinner!" Orihime ran towards the group assembling in the parking lot beside the soccer field.

Naomi laughed at he girl's enthusiasm. Everyone broke off into separate groups as they walked to their different destinations. She walked behind the two girls as they talked the whole way to Orihime's house. Both girls waved to Tatsuki as she excused herself saying she had practise in the morning and that she wanted to get lots of rest.

"So what's on the menu for tonight?" Naomi was a little worried to ask, but knew it was probably going to be edible.

"I have mushrooms, celery, ice cream, cheese, jello, pickles, and jalapeños. So I was planning on making sweet jalapeño poppers." Orihime smiled at her friend as she walked into her house.

Naomi sweat dropped at the girl's ingredient list. She was hoping the girl wouldn't use all of them. "Sounds great." She sat down in the living room as Orihime walked into the kitchen to make the strange concoction. "What do you know about the go tie thirteen. I met some people who where telling me about it, but I didn't really get it."

Orihime peaked her head out of the room. "Who where you talking to?" She wondered how her friend had heard about the shinigami organization. She didn't have any reiatsu.

"Let's see." Naomi thought back to the three black samurais she had met. "They all wore black outfits. Two had a white coat over them. One of the two had a pink kimono on top. I think his name was Kyoraku Shunsui. The other with a white coat was Ukitake Jushiro, I believe. And the woman said her name was Ise Nanao." Naomi smiled at herself for remembering their names. She usually did, but they had said that they had already introduced themselves to her. That baffled her, she never forgot names of people she found interesting. And those three took the cake.

Orihime was surprised by the names. She knew exactly who her friend was talking about. 'So she can see shinigami?' She decided it was okay to tell the girl what she was getting into.

~several hours later~

The two girls sat on the couch facing each other with an empty plate of sweet jalapeño poppers between them.

"So let me see if I have this right." Naomi held up a hand and began listing things off. "The people dressed in black are called shinigami. The monsters with holes are called Hollows. Shinigami live in a place called Seireitei, and that is in Soul Society. They protect plus souls from Hollows, because Hollows eat them. Shinigami fight Hollows using swords called zanpakutou, which are a part of the shinigami's soul and is different with each shinigami. Shinigami with white coats, that are called haoris, are Taichous for specific squads. The thirteen squads make up the Gotei 13."

Naomi waited for Orihime to nod before continuing. "Ichigo-kun is a substitute shinigami, because he is still a human. You have been to Soul Society, but you are not a shinigami. Sado-kun and Ishida-kun have also been to Soul Society. But they aren't shinigami either. You all have something called reiatsu, which I do not posses? How do you know?"

"Well...it's sort of this feeling that I can sense. I can feel it around most of the people that are around Kurosaki-kun, but none around you." Orihime tried to explain it as best as she could. "Anything else you would like to know?"

"Why are the shinigami interested in me? If I don't have any reiatsu, then why are they concerned about me.?" Naomi couldn't understand how she could be considered a threat when she didn't even have any power to fight them with.

"It might be because you have no reiatsu but can still see them. I have certainly never heard of someone like that, but then again I'm quite new to this stuff myself." Orihime smiled at her friend. She was glad to be able to tell her the truth.

Naomi smiled back at Orihime. "Thank you for the delicious food. I should get back to my place. It's getting rather late." She got up and began walking towards the door.

"You could spend the night. I have enough room." Orihime was worried about what might happen to her friend, it was really, really late.

Naomi slid her shoes on and faced her friend. "I'll be alright. Besides, I don't have a uniform to wear at school tomorrow. I'll see you at school." She waved to her friend as she left the house and ran back to her apartment. She took the stairs two at a time till she reached the third floor. Then turned right and walked till she got to the door with '370' written on it.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the key. She fiddled with it to try and get it into the lock, it was an old lock.

"Evening, Naomi-chan." Naomi turned to see a man in a pair of black dress pants, a white button up shirt with a black jacket over it, and a fedora on his head. The pink kimono draped over his shoulders gave away who he was. "Do you remember who I am?"

"Good evening Kyoraku-san." Naomi finally got the key into the lock and turned the key. She sighed with relief as she heard the lock turn, it had a tendency to stick every now and then. "How is Ukitake-san doing?" She threw her key into the bowl in her entranceway and leaned on her door.

"He's doing well. How are you doing?" He was surprised to see the girl again so soon. She even lived next door to them.

"I'm doing well. I just got back from Orihime-chan's place." She wanted to see if he knew who she was talking about.

Shunsui smiled at the girl. He guessed the woman had told her everything about shinigami and Soul Society. "So Ichigo-kun's friend filled you in?" He wanted to be sure.

"Yes. Shinigami-san. Here is a question for you. Do all of the basic uniforms consist of only black and white fabric? Has there ever been red fabric included?" Naomi wanted to make sure they weren't involved with the men that were ruining her life. They always showed up and she would have a gap in her memory afterwards, and be forced to start over in a new place because of the trouble they had caused.

"Not that I know of or remeber, and I have been a Taichou for a long time. Why do you ask?" Shunsui was curious about what the girl remembered about their encounter that afternoon.

"Just something that has been bothering me for sometime now. For as long as I can remember actually." Naomi was upset she couldn't find out anything about her stalkers, but at least she had a lead. "It's late, I shouldn't keep you. Have a good evening, Kyoraku-san."

"Shunsui is just fine. Kyoraku-san sounds like my parents." Shunsui smiled at the girl as she waved and closed her door. "Sleep well, Naomi-chan." He walked next door to his apartment.

Naomi walked to her bedroom and changed from her soccer clothes into a pair of shorts and a tank top. She stretched on her bed as she reviewed her day. She concentrated hard on what happened after they had finished their game, but as hard as she tried, all she got was a headache. She sighed as she rolled off her bed and turned her lights out. She was done with the day.

~Jushiro~

Jushiro sat on his futon and drank his cup of tea. It was his fourth one since he had gotten back to the apartment. He sighed again, he couldn't get those indigo eyes out of his head. They seemed so concerned, yet they didn't make him feel irritated. They felt comforting in a way.

He finished his tea and brought cup out to the kitchen. He passed Shunsui as his friend returned from his walk.

Shunsui looked at his friend curiously. "When did you tie your hair back?" He hadn't seen his friend tie back his hair since a little incident that happened before he had lost his previous Fukutaichou, Shiba Kaien.

"I just thought it was more practical this way." Jushiro decided against another cup of tea. "You should get some sleep. We have to be at Karakura High School early tomorrow. Who suggested that we act as teachers anyway? We don't even know what they teach here." Jushiro walked back towards his room.

Shunsui chuckled a bit, Jushiro was starting to act more like himself. "At least it will keep us close to Naomi-chan in case those men show up again. I don't see why we had to send Nanao-chan back to Soul Society though." Shunsui was very upset to not have her with him.

"Because she needs to research more about these red and black shinigami. Good night Shunsui." Jushiro closed his door and turned out his light. He was glad the day was finally over. He hoped the next day would be better.


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