OMG! I am so srry for the long wait! I had writers block and family stuff, but you probably aren't reading this anyway so ENJOY THE CHAP!

Chapter 2: A New Life

"!" Isshin shouted, his foot high in the air ready to strike his 'unsuspecting' son. Said son simply tilted his head to the side, causing his father to collide with the closet supplies.

"Hello to you too, dad." Ichigo uttered and kept on walking, closing the closet door in the process.

He was in no mood to be messed with right now, especially after what happened this morning with Keigo. The tired teen wondered into the kitchen, where his twin sisters were waiting for their brother's return.

"Welcome home, Ichigo!" the younger twin, Yuzu, politely cheered. She placed Ichigo's plate on the table, then cleaned her slightly greased hands on her pink Chappy apron and went back into the kitchen to fix her father's supper, but not before letting her nig brother ruffle her hair a little and give her a small grin.

"Where's old Goat Face? Usually he'd have you in a head lock by now." The older twin, Karin, asked in her usual 'I don't care you' voice. She brushed a stray black hair out of her eyes, and proceeded to eat her bowl of sticky rice.

"He's in the closet."

"You put him in there?"

"Yeah." He answered like it was no big deal.

"Heh, figures."

Ichigo was about to sit down and eat, until he heard the doorbell ring. Who would be here at this hour?

He slowly pushed in his chair as he and his sisters stared into the hallway. The doorbell rang again, and this time it was followed by a series of knocks. Ichigo sprinted to the door, as did his sisters and father who crawled out of the closet, and he was met by three strangers.

Isshin stood beside his son and examined the sight in his doorway. Two of the strangers were recognizable; he'd seen them countless times when he went to the shop down the street to buy Karin and Ichigo coffee. But the girl they were holding was everything but recognizable, partially because her head was covered by one of officers' jacket while the other was holding her.

"What can I do for you, officers?" Isshin asked naturally, in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"Are you the doctor here?" the older gentleman asked.

"Yes, I am." he answered calmly, occasionally glancing to the girl in the younger gentlemen's arms. Her body seemed frozen and lifeless; one of her arms was limply thrown over her carrier's right shoulder while the other just dangled like dead weight.

The younger officer seemed a little panicked, but Isshin could tell the poor guy was trying to keep is cool.

"We need your help, doctor. We found this girl unconscious in the middle of the road with a big gash in her skull. She won't make it to the hospital with an injury that serious." The man stated, getting straight to the point. There wasn't much time; she could go into a coma any minute.

Ichigo went a little wide-eyed when he saw the girl, he had a feeling he knew her from somewhere.

"I will do everything I can, sirs." Isshin held out his arms in order for them to give him the girl.

"Thank you so much sir!" The younger man nearly screamed and quickly handed the girl over to him. They said goodnight, closed the door, and left without another word. He stood there for one or two seconds for a quick examination, when he felt something wet on his hand and saw blood dripping from his fingers.

"Yuzu! Karin! Get the emergency kit and some disinfectant! Ichigo, go and clear off an operating table." Isshin shouted, his instincts kicking in and adrenalin pumping. The girls ran to get the supplies from the clinic office while Isshin and Ichigo went to the operating room to set everything up.

"Everything's set up dad, what else do you need me to do?" Ichigo asked. His father quickly laid the stranger down and prepared the IV.

"No! I'm sorry but you can't be in here son. Just wait out in the hall and assume the fetal position."

he ordered, his voice was very stern and rushed. His cold sholder lightly bumping Ichigo's on his way to the computer screen to set up her heart monitor.

Outside of the operating room, Ichigo sat in the hall quietly.Why do I have the feeling that I know her? Sighing, he laid his head on top of his knees, waiting for the operation to be over so he can get a look at his dad's latest patient. Knowing it will be a while, he decides to get a spare chair and pillow from the room next door to hers so he can wait the proper way. (and so his butt won't hurt from sitting on that cheap chair for a long time)

In the pitch dark blackness, were small silent drips of water on the concrete and what seems to be very distant cars and sirins. The freezing air sending chills up her spine as she tried to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room.

"Where am I?" her delicate voice breaking the quietness and echoing off of the walls. She tucked the stray hairs from her porcilen face and stared out in front of her, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The goosebumps on her skin more visable than a few minutes ago, granting their owner an obvious word saying that she was cold.

With her sight some what restored, she looked around causiously taking in the mysterious surroundings.

There was a small lit candle sitting on top of an oddly and almost equically small table that was admitting just enough light for it to be a shade lighter from pitch black, and a thin yet warm blanket under her body to provide her some kind of comfort. From her perspective, it seemed like she was in some kind of drain pipe on the outskirts of a small city.

She seemed safe, but wasn't taking any chances just incase some criminals were using this as some kind of her footsteps as quiet as she could, she quickly excused herself and hunted for the exit for obvious reasons considering the circumstances, but not before taking the tiny candle with her.

It was like a mouse in a maze, she searched endlessly for a way out for what seemed like hours but was only about 10 minutes. Constantly wondering where she was going and how she ended up in a sewer drainpipe. Rats and baby snakes crawling and slithering against her bare feet. Sounds growing louder and softer with each turn she makes, making her dizzy the whole way.

The youngest of the twin sisters rushed to fetch some warm damp towels, her tiny heart beating like it always does in an emergancy like this. The tiny nurse hat on top of her pale auburn head slowly slipping off with each step she took.

"Yuzu! Hurry up with those towels, we need to clean her wounds!" the old man screamed, his gloved hands stained red from trying to stop the blood flow from her wound. The monitor ever so slightly decreasing with every breath the girl took, the elder sister holding a defibrillator close at hand. Yuzu came back soon after her father managed to almost stop the bleeding, her lungs burning from running so fast in the customary heels her father made her and her sister wear. She handed over the towels and proceded with helping her father. Isshin gentally pressed the towel to her head and started to clean the red from his patient's silver locks.

Damn it! his mind screamed, How much blood does this girl have! With her abused head free of the dried flakes, Isshin had to now disinfect the wound, sew it shut, and then bandage it. He quickly reached his hand out beside him with his palm up, Karin then handed him the disinfectent and the cotton pads. With professional hands, he put the chemical on one of the cotton pads and began the surgury.

With one last turn, she was at the mouth of the drainpipe staring out to the lights of the city. She was amazed. She had never seen an enitre city before, especially from this view. Her mouth went ajar

as warm wind gentally blew her hair sideways, like it's fingers were softly brushing it. She closed her eyes and sighed, if only moments like these happened to her more often. But the moment didn't last long for she heard a deep low growl from th epits of darkness she just walked out of. Waisting no time to wonder what that was, she quickly darted from its mouth and headed straight for the city as fast as her tired legs would permit her.

"What the hell was that!" she screamed, her dry throat scratching at her vocal cords causing her to cough. Her tired legs were burning and her arms were aching, she had never ran that fast before. She waited until she regained her strength and ability to breath before she carried on.

When she got to the city, she stopped in her trackes and gasped silently. It was bigger than she could've ever imagined! The people walking on the sidewalks were happily chatting and making their way to their houses. She sprinted into the middle of the street and looked around, amazed at what she was seeing. The buildings were absolute giants, and everybody was smiling and waving at her.

Why are they waving at me? Do they know me? Not wanting to assiciate herself with strangers, but not wanting to hurt their feelings, she waved back. The residents seemed to brighten and glow as they walked by. She smiled waved somemore only to see their smiles grow wieder. Her stomach felt light, she had never really felt this feeling before. It was so much happy as it was being accepted and well treated. Children were dancing around her, laughing and giggling while their parents were watching and smiling brightly.

Then a man, a particular man walked up to her gracefully. Her face went pink as she eyed the strange man. His white shirt stuck to his toned stomach like it was a second skin, that same shirt showed his stone cut biceps, and equally toned legs were hidden by blue jeans. But the only strange thing about him besides him seeming all too familiar, was that he had no face.. Before she knew it, the man had stopped in front of her and was standng perfectly still.

What the...her gaze went to the people around her to the residents surrounding them doing the same thing, with their smiles gone and the happiness in the air vanished. Confused, she sturned back to the faceless stranger. He tilted his head to the side as if he was asking her what she was doing. Then the girl before him reached out a delicate hand to touch his face, but he turned to ash blowing in the wind where she touched his elagent face. She gasped and watched as he disappeared along with the city and its citizens.

"W-wait! I'm sorry!" she shouted, but she was hopeless to stop it. Everything around her was vanishing, and she was feeling light-headed.

She shot straight up out of her bed, covered in cold sweat as she put a hand to her chest to slow her heavy breathing. After she had calmed down, she looked around. She was in a big white room with three individual chairs lining the adjacent wall next to the exit and she was laying on what seemed to be some kind of hospital bed.

"No dad. Sorry but I didn't find any I.D."

"Should we wait for a missing person's report?"

"Yes, that would probably be a smart thing to do." The voices coming from outside of the exit seemed to be pretty close. With her curiosiy spiked, she slowly pushed down the thin cover and eased herself off of the bed. Her feet touched the marble like floor with a miniscule thud as she made her way to the open door, brushing a stray hair from her vision she leaned her head out and looked down the pale blue walls of the small hallway.

What the...Where am I?

"Oh! Your awake!" She jumped and looked to see a little girl about 11 or 12 years old who was holding a large bowl full of water. The girl tilted her head in confusion with her brows furrowed, who was this girl?

"Did you sleep well?" Her innocent voice complimented her bright smile, as the two stared at each other. Her smile soon faded the longer the other girl stayed silent, a slight frown taking its place.

"Are you alright?" The young nurse asked in a worried tone. The other girl nodded with slight hesitation, hiding her her hands behind her back. The girl's bright smile returned as she nodded and placed the bowl at the side of her small feet.

"Well, thats good! I'm glad to hear that!''

"Yuzu! Who are you talkin' to?'' another voice echoed from behind the small frame of the nurse in front of her.

"The woman from a few weeks ago! She's awake!"

"WHAAAAATTT!" the voice boomed. Both of the girls jumped as rapid footsteps quickly grew louder, until another nurse appeared beside the other nurse. She was the same height and face but had short dark brown hair and was hunching over in exaustion, breathing slightly hard. The oldest of the three girls tilted her head in confusion. The blond nurse seemed to notice this and smiled at her.

"Oh,I'm sorry ma'am. I don't believe we have been properly introduced. I am Yuzu Kurosaki. Well, Nurse Yuzu Kurosaki at the moment." she giggled happily, then politly gestured to the pamnting nurse to her right. "And this is Nurse Karin Kurosaki!" The nurse, Karin, regained her stolen breath and gaized up at the stranger that was supposed to be in intensive care.

"Hey, wait a minute. This isn't an old woman, that goat-faced bastared lied to me!" she shouted in fury.

"Karin, he didn't actually say she was old." Nurse Yuzu said calmly. "I'm sorry ma'am if we're bothering you." The girl simply shook her head and stared past the nurses, to a tall man in a white over-coat talking to a red headed woman heading out the door.

"HEY GOAT-FACE!" Nurse Karin yelled. Nurse Yuzu quickly followed in procute to stop her sister from killing the doctor.

"Oh, Karin my..." the doctor was cut short when a high-heeled foot stabbed his stomach. His face chaned from friendl to pain filled and furious.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!" he screamed.

"I swear, if your not attacking Ichigo, your attacking Karin! What am I going to do with this family!" Yuzu gentally shouted, her delicate voice unused to yelling and making her throught slightly sore.

"BUT SHE STARTED IT!" While the three were fighting, the girl snuck past them un-noticed and temporarely forgottened.

'Better get out while I can...' and unknowingly into their house. Her soft muave eyes never left her surroundings as she roamed the unfamiliar territory, amazed at how good the building looks. She stared in aw as she wondered aimlessly around the big house. She could still hear the shouts and screams from behind her but she easily ignored it, as she walked into the hallway and noticed some stairs.

"I wonder what's up there?" she asked herself out loud. The mahogony steps slilent as she made her way upstairs. It was quiet, her curiosity gettiing the best of her as she opened the first door she sees. It was a room, with a small bookshelf on the left wall filled with books and quietly set under a window, a computer desk across from it in the right wall and a bed nest to it in the corner. It was somewhat comforting in a sence, as the faint smell of spearamint and cinnamin overflowed her nostrals. But it was short lived as her instinct kicked in telling her she wasn't supposed to be here.

She sighed and left the room, wanting to stay there longer but knowing she shouldn't. As she closed the door, she rammed into a wall and leaned against the door gentally rubbing her sore nose. When she opened her eyes, however, it wasn't a yellow tint like the rest of the walls but it was more of a grayish color. She reached a delicate hand up to it and touched it slightly, noting it was warm to the touch. Her hand slowly glided over it like it was about it break, then noticing that it wasn't a wall at all. The girl lifted her thistle eyes, only to lock with honey-chocolate brown ones.