Secrets In Her Smile

This is the first installment to The Secrets Within series.
This story is a remake of the story Secrets and Scares.

Summary: Rukia wasn't the only one who was taken to the Soul Society that night she was found. A student at Karakura High, and also a friend of Ichigo's, named Kana was unwillingly taken. Ichigo and his friends now must save Rukia from execution and discover the secret Kana hides within.

Warnings: Violence

Disclaimer: I, xX-Star Sapphire-Xx, do not own anything relating to BLEACH. This means anything relating to the anime, the manga, characters, plot, etc. Tite Kubo owns all rights to BLEACH. I only own my original character that I have implanted into Kubo's piece of work.


Chapter Three: Found
"What was lost has now been found."
-Unknown

"I hate math!" Kana stated as she stretched her arms up in the air. She didn't see the point in learning math passed the point of the simple things (like adding and subtracting). Learning about graphs and quadratic equations are just too complicated to understand. Who really needed to know the slope of a circle? Not Kana. She couldn't even think of a situation that would need such an equation.

Actually, Kana didn't really see the point of math, history, language, science, gym... Of course, this could be because Kana was not a very good student to begin with. Her grades were less than average, receiving mostly "C"s with the occasional "D"s and "B"s. Her grades weren't from her not studying though. Kana studied constantly. She blamed her home-school teacher she had as a child for her lack of knowledge a normal 15 year old teenager should know.

"School is so hard," she groaned and dropped her head on her math textbook. Sometimes, she believed that if it weren't for the friends she made, she wouldn't be in school. She struggled in school and didn't see the point to it with it except that she got to see her friends everyday.

Ichigo's face suddenly appeared in her mind and her face began to feel hot. She sat back up in her chair and covered her face with her hands. "No, stop thinking about him!"

Anyone who knew Kana knew of her huge crush on the bad boy of Karakura High School. Even students from different classes and years could see it, but Ichigo was completely clueless about it (along with Keigo). Kana wasn't exactly quiet about it either. She would openly flirt and be especially nice. She even went as far as to go out of her way to walk to and from school with him. Well, Kana had an ulterior motive to why she did so, but she got to spend more time with Ichigo which was a definite plus.

Arata Kano even noticed, yet he still had the courage to ask her out. Kana's face burnt, remembering her conversation with the boy.

"I'm sorry. I like someone else," Kana said, feeling bad about hurting the baseball player's feelings. She didn't dare look away from his face, though.

"I kinda figured." Arata Kano smiled, a smile that held no hard feelings for her rejection. "Anybody could see you have eyes for only one guy in this place."

He looked over towards the entrance of the school, and Kana followed his glance. She spotted Ichigo talking to Rukia and smiled. She noticed they were looking over their way as well, and she gave them a wave.

"Yeah, it's too bad he's the only one who can't see that," Kana commented, smiling more brightly when Ichigo waved back. "I don't mind though. I'm happy just being his friend."

"Are you really okay with that?" Kana was shocked by the pitcher's question. "I mean, I'm sure you're happy to be his friend, but hasn't he been hanging out with that new girl? Aren't you jealous that he's spending so much time with her?"

Of course Kana was jealous. She would be lying if she said otherwise. Ichigo and Rukia both told her they were not dating. They wouldn't lie to her about something like that. There wouldn't be a reason to. That was what Kana kept telling herself anyway.

"I have to get going. I still have practice to get to. I wish you the best of luck."

Kana was about to say the same, but Arata shocked her by placing a kiss on her cheek. She immediately turned red.

"Now it's his turn to be jealous."

Kana squealed at the memory, placing both her hands over her ears and shaking her head in hopes of getting the thought out of her head. With Arata's sudden kiss, Kana wasn't even able to see Ichigo's reaction because she was so busy with her own. The kiss wouldn't have been that big of a deal to Kana had Ichigo not been just feet away staring in their direction. Kana felt embarrassed and upset about it because she didn't want Ichigo to get the wrong idea.

The blonde quickly got out of her chair and belly-flopped onto her bed. She dug her face into her pillow and screamed out "Stupid Arata!" which only came out as muffled yelling. Surprisingly enough, the screaming in the pillow thing actually made her feel better.

Kana's screaming stopped when she suddenly felt uncomfortable. She felt as if the walls were closing in on her, and she was starting to have a hard time breathing. The pressure was so strong against her body she felt like she couldn't move at all. Even so, she moved up from her bed and stared at her window. Something was going on, and it wasn't good.

"Is that Ichigo...?"

Her windows slid open, slamming against the frame. The noise made Kana jump and fall out of her bed. Her heart pounded in her chest as her mind told her to run. Her body agreed as she stumbled to her feet and rushed over to the door. One moment, the door was in sight, and the next, she ran right into a solid figure. She fell back on her backside, but her eyes never left the figure that now stood in front of her.

He was definitely a male with a stone, unreadable face wearing a shihakusho Kana was familiar with. In his long black hair, he work a headpiece that showed off his nobility. He also wore a white haori over his clothes and a white scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck. It didn't take long for Kana to recognize the man. She pushed herself across the floor as far away from the man as possible.

"Pretend you didn't see me. Please!" Kana cried out, tears starting to form in her eyes. Her back hit her bed, and she stopped moving. She hugged her knees to her chest and screamed out for help. "Ki-!"

Before she was able to finish, Kana was no longer in her bedroom. She couldn't recognize exactly where she was in the dark, but she could tell she was still in Karakura. She looked around and saw no one around. That was until she looked up and spotted Ichigo in the air, swinging his blade down at a red-headed soul reaper. Kana gasped and looked away, not able to watch the scene that was about to unfold.

When Kana heard gasps instead of clashing of blades, she looked back and saw Ichigo standing there looking at his zanpakuto. It's blade was gone, and Kana knew where it went without having to look. If she wasn't scared before, she definitely was now.

"Ichigo!" she screamed, making the boy look in her direction. He looked shocked to see her, but he looked even more startled when he found who had his blade. Kana wanted to warn him. She wanted him to run. He had know idea who he was up against. Kana knew Ichigo was going to die.

Before Kana could get a word out, the dark-haired noble appeared a few feet behind Ichigo. It was like he just walked passed the teenager without giving him a second glance, but Kana knew that wasn't what happened. Her suspicions were correct when blood spilled out of Ichigo's body.

"Ichigo!" Kana screamed again, but this time in pure terror. Without a second thought she stood up and ran over to him. She was so focused on Ichigo, she didn't even see Rukia trying to do the same but the red-haired man pushed her back and pinned her to a pole.

When Kana reached Ichigo, his blood was already pouring onto the street. Tears fell as she knelt down next to the teen and tried to figure out a way to stop the bleeding. Kana was starting to get sick to her stomach, seeing all the blood, and the smell wasn't helping much either. She had to do her best to ignore it though. Her main objective was to save Ichigo.

"Ichigo, please, wake up," Kana told him as she used her hands to put pressure on the wound on his back. "You can't die."

A conversation between Rukia and the other two men were happening, but Kana couldn't think (let alone listen) about anything else other than Ichigo. She was still trying to stop the bleeding, but she felt like she wasn't doing a thing. Blood was still coming out of his stab wound in his back, even with her hands there to stop it. He still had a slash on his chest that she couldn't reach. Kana felt completely useless.

"Please," Kana whispered, holding back a sob. She ended up crying anyway. "You have to save us." She felt like she was talking to a brick wall. She knew Ichigo wasn't going to respond. She knew he wasn't going to live much longer. She just didn't know what else to do.

Beneath her bloodied hands, Kana felt Ichigo's body tense. She stopped breathing, not believing what she was seeing. Ichigo was awake and still able to move. Ichigo reached out and grabbed the hem of the nobleman's clothes.

"'He's dead' you say. " Ichigo commented, lifted his head up. Kana wasn't sure how he was able to focus of the trio's conversation with how much pain he had to be in. "'He bares a striking resemblance to him.' I'd rather that you'd quit talking about me like I'm not even here, you got it?"

The nobleman glared. "Let go."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you." Kana could see Ichigo's arm beginning to shake. She knew he had to be using the last of his strength. "Try looking at me when you talk."

"I see. It looks like you won't be needing that arm."

Kana stared at the man, then looked at Ichigo. The teen still looked so determined, and he didn't let go. As much as she liked Ichigo, she thought he was being stupid. She was sure Ichigo didn't understand the difference between a bluff and a threat.

Thankfully, Rukia ran over and kicked Ichigo's hand off.

"Rukia, what are you do-"

"You are just a human," she told him, hatred filling her voice. "You are just a lowly human. How dare you touch my brother like that? You better learn your place!"

Kana stared at Rukia, surprised by her actions and words. She and Ichigo were so close, Kana didn't understand how Rukia can suddenly act so cruel to Ichigo. Rukia told her brother they should go back to the Soul Society and then looked down at Ichigo. Tears were in her eyes, and Kana was able to understand the reason behind her actions.

She's protecting him...

A hand tightly gripped Kana's upper arm and pulled her away from Ichigo. "Kana, you're coming too."

"Let me go, Renji!" Kana screamed and tried to shake her way out of his grip. She looked at Ichigo who was staring back. She could see the questions building up in his head. She could also see the pain and the guilt... Just looking at his face hurt Kana more, making her cry even harder. "Let go! I have to-!"

"It's a lost cause, Kana. He's going to die. Stop moving!" said the red-headed soul reaper, the one she called Renji. He pulled her farther away from the teen, which only made Kana fight more.

"No! He can't die!" Kana still fought, even after Renji opened the gate to the Soul Society. She knew there was no point to try to get out of Renji's grasp. He was much stronger than she was. Kana just couldn't look away from Ichigo and how upset he looked before he passed out from the pain and blood loss. "You can't die!"

The door of the gate then closed, and the dying orange-haired bad boy was out of sight. Kana stopped moving and stared at the closed gate. She felt helpless before, but now she felt even worse. She sobbed into her hands, not knowing if Ichigo was going to live or die. She forgot about the blood on her hands until she opened her eyes. She looked at her hands and then at her clothes, which also had Ichigo's blood all over. She didn't realize how much blood was on her, and now she even had some on her face. Kana's stomach started churning, and she lost everything she had eaten that day.

"Shit, Kana!" Renji exclaimed, taking a step away.

Kana felt someone rubbing her back until she was done being sick. She looked and saw Rukia there with a sad smile on her face. Just by looking at her dark eyes, Kana could see Rukia was feeling the same thing she was.

"T-There's so much b-blood. I've n-never seen s-so much b-blood," Kana stuttered, lifting her shaking hands to show Rukia. "He's not going to make it."

Rukia's smile faltered, as if knowing what Kana said was true. Kana sobbed again and hugged Rukia.

As the four continued on, Kana could only think of Ichigo. She couldn't even think about what was waiting for her in the Soul Society. All Kana could think of was Ichigo dying right before her eyes, and she couldn't do a single thing about it.


Author's Note: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in months. My hard drive crashed and it had all my information on this story. That includes the outline, chapters, and all that. Sorry again!
I've been trying to make the chapters long, but it's not really working.. I stretched this chapter out as far as I couldn't without it ending in a weird spot. I guess I could have gone more descriptive with the conversation with Rukia, Ichigo, Renji, and Byakuya, but I did everything from Kana's point of view and her main focus was helping Ichigo. Plus, I didn't want to just rewrite the episode because I know how boring those are to read. I'll try my best to make the next chapter longer. :)
I'm also apologizing for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I wrote this really fast, and I wanted to get it posted as soon as I could.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!