Beware of Soul Reapers

It was almost a full week after the first successful Hikari/unknown magic combo. Kurama and Drake were going to meet up with Tatsuki at the dojo. Suddenly, Drake gets a feeling from behind and yells "DUCK!" Kurama narrowly avoids what looks like a cane. Drake stands up and glares at the attacker.

"What was that for?!" he growled angrily.

"Huh…I missed," said Urahara amused.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear… What was that for?!"

"I think you know…after all, you did steal from my store a few weeks back," said Urahara.

"What are you talking about? I've never been to your store! I don't even know the name or where it is!" protested Drake.

"Same here," said Kurama.

"If that's true, then who shot off that high-level Shinigami spell?"

"Shinigami…Spell? I don't know what that is, do you bro?" said Kurama.

"Not a clue," shrugged Drake.

"Let me refresh your memory…the spell I saw shot off was Bakudo number 33: Pale Fire Crash. Ring any bells?" said Urahara. His eyes shot up in amusement when he saw their reaction.

"Oh, you meant that spell. I was the one who shot that…I still can't believe my little experiment with combining magic actually worked," said Drake.

"Combining magic? That spell doesn't use magic; it uses spiritual energy," said Urahara confused.

"Yeah…we couldn't get it to work for us so he came up with the idea of using magic we do know how to use and combined the two. The next time he tried it, it actually worked for a change," said Kurama.

"So that blast was an accident?" said Urahara.

"Pretty much, yeah. We didn't know if it would actually work, but he figured it was worth a shot…"

"You do know that by using that spell you made yourself known to the Soul Society, right?" said Urahara.

"What's the Soul Society?" they said in unison.

"You two have no idea of how much trouble you're in, do you?"

"No…uh-oh…We gotta get going or Tatsuki will have both our hides for being late to class!" said Kurama as he looked at his watch.

"What happens if you don't show up at all?"

"Tatsuki will make sure we never hear the end of it for a week straight. And believe me when I say it's a nightmare. Every time she sees us she'll start ragging on us because we missed class!"

"And if you have a valid excuse?"

"She'll still rag on us…though not as much."

"I see… Unfortunately, you two will have to come with me," said Urahara.

"WHAT! Not a chance in hell!" said Drake angrily.

"Well you can either come with me or you can deal with the Soul Reapers who are sure to come after you for using the spell. Your choice."

"Um, Drake…? We might as well go with him…" said Kurama nervously.

"Why…? Wait, let me guess…"

"Class started five minutes ago. At least if we go with him Tatsuki won't get on us too badly…"

"Fine… we'll come with you. But if you try to hit either of us with that cane again we're gone!" said Drake annoyed.

"Fair enough…follow me boys," said Urahara cheerfully.

"Urahara-san…are they the ones who…?" said Tessai.

"I still haven't figured it out if it was them. What I do know is that they can shoot a high-level Bakudo even though they aren't Shinigami."

"Should I close the store early sir?"

"It would probably be a better idea to do that. I have a feeling that they'll be knocking at the door soon enough anyway," said Urahara.

They went into a room and sat down. Urahara turned to them and said, "Why don't you two start by telling me where you learned that spell."

"Well, there was this weird monster thing with a white mask and a hole in its chest that attacked us. We dodged it as long as we could when this girl in a black and white samurai outfit started going at the monster. She was having trouble killing it and she used that spell," explained Drake.

"I paid attention long enough and wrote down the spell, word for word. We started trying it out to see if we could use it to and didn't have much luck until he came up with the idea of combining magic. And that's pretty much it," finished Kurama.

"So you two were saved by a Soul Reaper who used a spell and you decided to copy her? What did you mean when you said 'combining magic'?" asked Urahara.

"Well, we're more used to magic than whatever the spell uses. I figured if we were having so much trouble over a simple spell that it was worth the risk of combining the two."

"So you two have no idea of how to use spells without combining them with your own magic?"

"Pretty much…though we have managed to use Pale Fire Crash without it, but it's power is very weak."

"Would you like to know what you need in order to cast it properly?" asked Urahara.

"Sure…"

"Do you know what 'spirit energy' is?"

"Not a clue…"

"Spirit energy is what most people would call psychic. Those with a high enough concentration of it can even see the souls that the Soul Reapers haven't gotten to yet."

"Wait a minute… You mean those people I see floating around are really the souls of the dead?!" said Drake in disbelief.

"What did you think they were?"

"A trick of the light…or something."

"Moving on… The power that Soul Reapers use to cast spells, such as the Pale Fire Crash, is called Spirit energy. And judging by the looks of it, I'd say your concentration of energy rivals Ichigo."

"Oh joy…"

"Anyway, in shinigami, the amount of spirit energy is equal to their life force. They use all that up and they die."

"Wait a minute. So our energy is tied to our life force energy?!" said Kurama surprised.

"Yes… Why are you two looking at each other like that?" asked Urahara suspiciously.

"Um…it's nothing really…" said Kurama nervously.

"Spit it out… What are you hiding?"

"It's just…if what you're saying is true…then that would mean our spirit energy is literally unlimited," said Drake cautiously.

"That would be impossible. No human can have unlimited spirit energy…"

"Well, actually…we aren't human at all. We never have been…" said Kurama.

"So you two really were the ones who stole those Gigai…"

"That was his doing, not mine…" said Drake with a look at his opposite.

"So what are you really? Two lost souls looking for a new body or something?" joked Urahara.

"Close… we were created by humans, but that doesn't mean we ever were human."

"Created?"

"We… We were created by a clan known as the Hikari. Their final work was centered on one goal…to give an actual soul to their artwork."

"So you two are really a painting?" asked Urahara, not believing a word of it.

"Give the clan some credit… we weren't created by a painting! More like something that reflects things…" said Drake vaguely.

"Our real name is Kokoyoko, or The Black Wings."

"So what do you two really look like?"

"We'd show you but…we don't want or former Tamers to know we're back," said Kurama.

"Tamers?"

"Tamers…the humans who had our personality locked in their DNA until they reach a certain age. Although in his case… He didn't have that age limit like me. He could come out almost any time he wants to; though the humans generally resist him when he tries."

"So basically you two are an art piece that reflects something and your true name is the Black Wings. You were locked inside certain DNA and could come out whenever you want to. And you don't want your last Tamers to find out you're back again."

"Are you kidding?! I'm amazed that we've been able to keep them from finding out for as long as we have!" snorted Kurama.

-----

Kurama…simmer down! If you lose your temper now, you'll reawaken your wings and alert them!!!!

-----

"Well…since I have no way of knowing whether you two are telling the truth or making this up, I think it would be a good idea to go ahead and let the Soul Reapers find you…" grumbled Urahara.

"Feh…like they could ever catch me. The police have tried that and not ONCE have they ever succeeded," retorted Drake.

-----

Now who needs to chill? If you keep that up he'll figure out your other name and we'd be screwed!

-----

They left the shop that night and went straight home. Urahara was still irritated about what he had heard; he didn't think that they were telling the truth at all. When they got to school, they were greeted by an unhappy Tatsuki.

"Hey, don't blame us! It wasn't our fault we missed class…for once," said Kurama quickly.

"Some weird guy tried to attack us with his cane or something and wouldn't leave us alone. He seemed to think we took something of his for some reason," shrugged Drake. This calmed Tatsuki down enough to not pound them into a pulp.

"IF what you're saying is true, then what did he look like?" asked Ichigo. Kurama took out a piece of paper and drew a rough sketch of the shop owner. Satoshi took one look at the drawing and said, "Wait a minute… You were attacked by Urahara-san?!"

"You know this nut-job?" said Drake in surprise.

"Yeah… we get our groceries from his shop," said Daisuke.

During lunch, Daisuke and Satoshi discussed what Drake and Kurama claimed had occurred.

"It doesn't make any sense… Why would Urahara-san attack Drake and his brother?" said Satoshi.

"Why don't we go there after school and ask him?" suggested Daisuke.

"Good idea. We need to get to the bottom of this…"

"Welcome to Urahara Shoten! What can I do for ya today?" said Urahara cheerfully.

"We need to talk," said Satoshi.

"What about?"

"Two of our classmates said you tried to attack them for no reason."

"Wait a minute…you wouldn't happen to be referring to a white-haired kid and a black haired boy would you?"

"Drake and Kurama… So were they telling the truth or not?" said Daisuke.

"I highly doubt that they even know what the word truth means…" snorted Urahara.

"What makes you say that?"

"I confronted them yesterday because I saw a blast of something a week ago. I figured whoever shot that were the ones who took the items from the store the day you two first walked in," said Urahara.

"So you did confront them."

"Yeah… they agreed to come and have a chat in my store and according to the black-haired kid, his brother was the thief."

"The black-haired kid is Drake and the white one is his twin Kurama," said Daisuke.

"Anyway, we were talking about something and then they went and made some wild story about never being human to begin with," snorted Urahara.

"What…?" said Satoshi, thinking he hadn't heard correctly.

"They went on about how their real name was the Black Wings and that they were really an art piece that reflected something… a pack of lies if you ask me," said Urahara.

"Did…did you just say that they called themselves the Black Wings?!" said Satoshi in horror.

"You don't think…"

"We better call your family and have them check the seal on that mirror…" said Satoshi worried.

"What's going on? Was it something I said?"

"Um…not exactly. It's just that we really need to make sure they're telling the truth about who they really are," said Daisuke vaguely.

"Hello, Niwa residence… Dai-chan, what's wrong? You sound upset…did something happen?" asked his mother concerned.

"Mom, can you check the seal on the Black Wings for us? We really need to double-check that it's still there…" said Daisuke worriedly.

"Daisuke sweetie…what happened down there? Why do you want us to check the seal?" asked his father.

"I don't have time to explain…it's just we'd really appreciate you checking it for us. Something came up around here that's given us a reasonable suspicion that the seal has slipped or worse, broken," said Satoshi.

"We'll go check then. We'll call you when we get back," said Emiko.

"Thanks mom…bye," said Daisuke before he hung up.

"I really hope that they find the seal exactly like it was when we put it on…" said Satoshi concerned.