After nine and a half pages of homework Yourichi and Cirucci returned. Cirucci had on a new set of cloths and Uryuu did a double take. Yourichi had her dress up in one of the school uniforms of Karakura High. "Since you are going to be taking care of her until we can figure out what happened to her I thought that she should dress the part of being one of your classmates." Yourichi smiled and winked.

Aside from the teardrop tattoos under her eyes and the bit of mask still stuck in her hair she looked like any normal high school student. Ishida had to be honest with himself, she did look the part and he was even slightly attracted by her looks. "I'm not so sure about taking care of you. You've already told me that you want to kill me. What's to prevent you from just sticking a knife in me while I sleep?"

Cirucci being hundreds of years old just smiled. "Nothing. You could tie me up if you're that uncomfortable around me, hentai."

Ishida blushed candy apple red before bursting out, "I'm not a pervert!"

"What ever you say, hentai." Cirucci turned her back on him.

Uryuu pushed his glasses up on his nose and looked at Urahara. "Does she have to be alive for you to conduct your research?"

"Well I did think that that was the goal here." He commented from behind his fan.

"Yeah, it is. This isn't going to be painful for her is it?" Uryuu asked with mild curiosity.

"No, I have methods that are nothing like the eighth espada's methods. Rest assured that she won't feel any discomfort at all." He snapped his fan closed.

Cirucci, had been holding her breath unconsciously when she heard the question let out a sigh of relief.

"Bring her back here after school and we'll get started. We'll also have some more clothes for her then, and don't worry about payment. I'll charge it to the Shinigami Research Institute. They owe me for some past research anyway."

"Come on Cirucci, I guess that I have to take you with me." Uryuu said resigned to the fact that he was stuck with her.

"What a way to make a girl feel welcomed." She sniped.

"I wasn't the one that dropped into a lake and almost drowned. I was the one that saved you. I was the one that refused to kill you. The least you could do is say thank you and come along quietly." Uryuu was fuming.

"I didn't ask you to save me you know." She pouted.

"Well I did and I'm beginning to feel sorry that I did!"

They left the store with Yourichi and Urahara watching them leave. "They act like they're married." She commented.

"Makes you wonder doesn't it."

After arriving back at the house Uryuu explained that he used to live alone but his father had cut off his allowance after he had ignored his demand that Uryuu not have any more contact with shinigami. This forced him to move back home, at least until he found a job to support himself. He thought privately, "I better find that job soon, especially now that I have to take care of her."

Cirucci looked about the house and was privately impressed with how Uryuu lived. "So this is the place? Not bad for a Quincy. I didn't know that you could make a living at that."

"My father is a doctor and the director of a hospital. He makes plenty of money to afford this. He is also a Quincy so don't go and try to push any of his buttons. If he finds out that you used to be an arrancar he will just use you for target practice."

He took her to the guest room. "You can sleep here."

"The closet is full of women's clothing. Is someone else living here too?" She asked.

"I made them, so if you like something try it on and see if it fits." He told her.

"What are you? A Quincy or a tailor?" She sweat dropped.

"Just be quiet. I'll wake you up in the morning so we can go to school."

"Why do I have to go to school? It's not like I have any reason to go."

"What do you plan on doing while I'm gone? Knitting? Or baking? Oh, I know, you want to sit down with my father and talk about all your past deeds as a hollow and arrancar. That would go over well don't you think?" The sarcasm was laid on thick. "No, you're coming with me. Urahara will make sure that you have proper enrolment. I'm sure that your class schedule will be very similar to my own. Now get some sleep." Uryuu left her and closed the door behind himself.

During the night Uryuu heard crying. He got up to investigate. He got to the door of the guest room and he heard the sobbing coming from behind the door. "What is she crying about?" He gently knocked on the door. "I'm coming in."

When he entered the room he saw Cirucci with her head buried in the pillow shaking with each sob. He went over and knelt next to the bed and tentatively reached out and touched her shoulder. "What is it? Why are you crying?" He spoke softly. The sobs got louder as she turned to look at him.

"Why?" She asked through her tears. "Why are you being so nice to me? I wanted to kill you and all you have done is show me mercy and kindness. Why?" Her voice faded at the end. Her eyes closed again and her breathing evened out.

Uryuu watched as the lines of her face released and took on a more peaceful look. "I've been meaning to ask myself the same question, but I think you just answered it for me." He watched over her for a few more minutes and then stood up and headed for the door. As soon as his hand touched the handle he heard a soft voice. "Thank you." He smiled and went back to bed.

In the morning Uryuu woke to his alarm clock blaring out the morning news and traffic reports. He rubbed his eyes and hurried up and took a shower. After he got dressed he stopped at the guest room door and knocked. "Cirucci? Are you awake yet?" He knocked again when he didn't hear her stirring. "I'm coming in." He opened the door and found the bed neatly made and everything in order. "Where did she go? I'm going to kill her when I find her!"

He left for the kitchen to make some breakfast for himself and found Cirucci standing in front of the counter with a knife in one hand and a spoon in the other and looking very frustrated. She was glaring at a half squashed tomato on the cutting board. "If I only had my wings I'd slice you into perfect little pieces!"

Uryuu just grinned a moment. "If you had your wings you wouldn't be here. So I for one am glad you don't have them."

Cirucci jumped a little at being caught talking to a tomato. "It's not polite to sneak up on someone while they are holding a knife." She chided him. Then she looked at the knife and back at him then set the knife on the counter. "I'm just having a little trouble slicing up this tomato."

"I see why. May I?" He asked. She stepped aside giving him access to the cutting board and the offending tomato. He opened a different drawer and took out a larger knife and proceeded to slice the tomato like an expert. "The trick is to use a sharper knife on delicate vegetables to get the results you want. What were you making?"

"I was going to try and make some tomato and lettuce sandwiches. I remember them from when I was alive and I liked them, I think. Anyway, thank you for slicing the tomato for me."

"Back when you were alive, you never put a foot in a kitchen did you?" Uryuu asked with curiosity. He could tell that her skill with a simple knife was not up to food preparation.

"Honestly? I don't remember that much. I sort of remember the atmosphere of the house I lived in but the names of the people? The faces? Just fuzzy recollections. Sort of like having something on the edge of your mind but you just can't grasp it." The look in her eyes said that she wanted to remember.

"Well if you would like I'll do a search and try and come up with some of your history. As long as your name when you were alive was Cirucci I think I can narrow down the possibilities for you. Then you can see which ones strike a chord with your memories."

"You can do that? How long would something like that take?" Her eyes were full of wonder now.

"Well taking into account that you and Yourichi fought over three hundred years ago and that you were a high level hollow at the time. I'd say that you died about four hundred years ago. The big thing is if your family line continued along and allowed the family history to be entered into an internet database then it should only take an hour or so. Otherwise it means digging through official records from the period and praying that we come across something relevant."

"Well if it helps, my family was rather prominent at the time, I think. I just can't quite remember our family name."

"Ok, well for now we need to make lunch and have some breakfast before going to school. I'm not going to lose my number one placement in the grading. Go sit down and let me make the breakfasts and lunches." He shooed her out of the kitchen and set to work.

Karakura Highschool:

"There's Ishida, and he has that girl with him." Keigo yelled out as he rushed up to them.

"Sweet lady, we meet again. I didn't get to introduce myself properly yesterday. My name is Asaon Keigo. I am so happy to meet your acquaintance." He stood tall before Cirucci.

"Um, Ishida, why is this imbecile standing so close to me? Didn't I push him away from me yesterday?" Cirucci asked rather annoyed.

"Asano san, step back. The lady does not like you standing so close." Uryuu said in his best intimidating voice which wasn't that intimidating.

"What's with the proper names? I thought that we were becoming friends!" Keigo whined.

"We are not friends and we have never been friends. I tolerate your presence, that's all. Right now I'm not inclined to tolerate you, so move away from the lady."

"Is Keigo bothering you Uryuu?" Ichigo asked from behind Uryuu and Cirucci.

"Nothing I can't handle Kurosaki." Uryuu said pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He looked back and saw that Rukia Kuchiki was with him and she was closely examining Cirucci. "Before the rumors start flying, let me introduce you to someone. This is Cirucci. She and I became 'acquainted' on one of our 'field trips'. She is currently staying at my house." He leaned in to Ichigo and Rukia and whispered. "She is not a threat as she has lost all of her powers."

Both of them looked at him with serious concern. "On my honor as a Quincy, I'll deal with this situation."

"Whatever you say. You know how to find us." Ichigo said flipping his book bag over his shoulder.

Rukia pulled out her cell phone and looked at it. "Nothing here. I'll trust you Uryuu. Take good care of her."

Ichigo and Rukia left the pair standing in the school yard. "Come on, we have to get you checked in."

"Those were the shinigami that invaded Los Noches weren't they." Cirucci asked with a touch of fear in her voice.

"Yes they were. Don't worry about them. They're not going to start something. Ichigo and Rukia are really pretty level headed as long as you tell them what's going on. I'll explain it to them at lunch."

"This town is crawling with shinigami, no wonder Aizen lost so badly. Over confident fool." Cirucci grumbled softly.

They got Cirucci checked in with the front office and then made it to class on time. Cirucci noticed one huge man in the class. "Who is he?" she asked with a slightly dazed look in her eyes.

"That's Sado Yasutora. Everyone calls him Chad." Uryuu said not noticing the look in her eyes.

"So that's Chad. Yourichi was right. He is a big one, and not bad looking either." Cirucci mused.

"I didn't bring you here to check out all my friends!" Uryuu exclaimed blushing rather hard.

"Calm down. I'm not going to eat anyone. I'm just talking. Honestly the only one I trust right now is you. I'm not sure why, but I do trust you. Maybe it has something to do with that damn Quincy pride of yours. So where do I sit?"

"Uryuu, who's your friend?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah Uryuu, I thought that you had the hots for Orihime?" Tatsuki put in causing both Uryuu and Orihime to blush.

Orihime looked at Cirucci closely and noticed the bit of mask stuck in her hair. "That's a nice ornament. I think it suits you quite well. Is that all that's left of it?"

Cirucci's head snapped around and she looked at Orihime with shock. "You were the one weren't you?"

"Yup! That's me. I thought you were Loli at first. My name is Orihime, and you are?"

"Cirucci, Cirucci Thunderwitch." The shock wasn't going away.

Tatsuki looked at the class roll call. "It says here that your family name is Ishida. That would make you Uryuu's cousin?"

"Um, a very distant cousin." Uryuu put in quickly.

"With a hair piece like that I'm sure that she's a VERY distant cousin." Tatsuki commented.

Cirucci turned on Uryuu. "What is it with this place? Does everyone know who I am?"

"More like who you were. Take it easy and just get to know them. They are all good people. No one is out to hurt you here." His tones were calming.

"It's just that I feel a bit overwhelmed at the number of people that can already see me for who I was. I'm not used to being the powerless one in the crowd."

"Just think of your lack of power as your security blanket." Uryuu smiled. "As long as you are like this, I'll protect you."