A/N: Hello again dear readers. A quick update for once :) By the lack of response I just decided to go ahead with my own plot but have listed this story as an AU since it no longer corresponds with canon. Again, let me know what you think. Any grammar or spelling errors are my own.

Special thanks: Rose527 for alerting; I hope this chapter makes it worth reading.

Disclaimer: If I owned it Yachiru would be Byakuya's long lost daughter and the anime would be labelled as crack instead of action/adventure...I guess it's a good thing I don't own it.

Chapter 4:

"So Kei, where did you learn to use a sword?" Rukia asked conversationally while she filled in her math problems. They were all crowded in Ichigo's room. Decidedly, Kei had appropriated the bed and was settled on her stomach with a book from their reading list sitting in front of her. Ichigo was filling out a science report (it was supposed to be a joint project with Kei) forlornly at his desk.

"The visoreds taught me."

Two heads looked at each other with varying degrees of surprise.

"You mean like Shinji?" Ichigo clarified.

"Do you know another group of Soul Reapers with hollow masks?" she asked rolling her eyes, "Yeah, they raised me." Looks were exchanged again, "I'm better at Kido, Hachi taught me all the way up to Bakudo 99 and Hakudo 98."

"But you don't have a Zanpukto?" Rukia continued, choosing to address this new information at a later time.

"Nope." She popped the 'p' with her mouth lazily and rolled onto her back. Turning back to her notebook, Rukia looked oddly thoughtful as she stared at the next problem. Ichigo had a feeling her mind wasn't on Taylor Polynomials, but he was also well aware that the midget would keep her theories and secrets to herself until she was sure. Once again, Ichigo felt like he was out of the loop.

"Ichigo..." Rukia was peering into his closet and looked oddly horrified and a touch angry, "What the hell happened in here?"

"I re-organized it," Ichigo replied as he reread the final draft of his report. When he didn't get a response, he turned to face the tiny Soul Reaper and felt a shiver run up his spine as he beheld her frightening glare, "What?"

"You re-organized it?" she sputtered, "Damn it, Ichigo!"

Smack.

"OW! Rukia stop hitting me!" Ichigo was clutching his jaw, trying to assess if it was broken or dislocated, "What the hell?" Kei watched interestedly as Ichigo stood up furiously.

"I left my stuff here!" she retorted and dope slapped him again, "Where the hell is all of it?"

"I put it in my sister's closet!" Ichigo snapped back. With a low growl, Rukia stalked off to reclaim her old clothes (half of which belonged to Yuzu anyway) and was cursing Ichigo under her breath. The door slammed shut and Kei let out a snort of laughter, "Shut up, Kei!" She stuck her tongue out in response and continued reading as though nothing had happened.

By the time the evening winded down, Ichigo was grateful to finally be alone in his room. Rukia was bunking with Yuzu and Kei was bunking with Karin. Though he could still hear Karin and Kei snickering about something or the other, it was relatively quiet. Only the moonlight lit his room and Ichigo just stared at his ceiling unable to fall asleep.

Guilt will not change anything. Zangetsu's words were the bare bones facts. He always knew what was going in the mind of Ichigo and never applied any sugar coating. As always, his words didn't really make Ichigo feel better, but they were welcomed for the most part.

Then what else am I supposed to feel?Ichigo wondered letting out a sigh.

Resolved. Resolved to fix this, to stop him by any means.

That didn't help very much.

We're evenly matched. He and his hollow were mirror copies of each other. If Ichigo had hollow powers, than his hollow had Soul Reaper powers. If he had Bankai, so did the hollow. Ichigo needed something to tip the scales in his favour. Unfortunately he had a rough idea of what could work, but it scared him.

Then you train to get better. Everything sounded simple when Zangetsu said it in that ever calm tone of him. Ichigo could be staring into death's face, but Zangetsu would never raise his voice a single decibel. It made anything seem possible.

I'll find a way. Ichigo promised to himself. He would do it, he would defeat his hollow.

Without a warning, Karakura was drenched in rain. Not just a small downpour but a full on storm with lightning and thunder. No one simply walked anymore, they booked it as fast as humanly (or shinigamily) possible. One would think that rain would make them melt. Now Kei ran too, but because she actually would melt; she forgot her waterproof mascara and would prefer not being referred to as racoon. She left Ichigo umbrella-less and bolted to school. One can imagine how bemused the orange headed Shinigami was when he reached class completely soaked.

Squelch! With ever step, his aura of menace grew.

Squelch, squelch.

"Hey, Ichigo, sorry about-" Kei cut off when she spotted him. A truly menacing glare covered his face. Not the usual annoyed Ichigo scowl, but a glare, "Oh damn."

"What the hell, Kei?" he roared, throwing his bag roughly at his desk.

"I was having mascara problems, okay?" she retorted unashamedly, and quickly put a desk between him and her person.

"So you left me in the rain!"

"It was necessary."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched. With his nostrils flaring, Ichigo took his seat and kept his jaw clenched. He would not stoop to her level. Repeating this mantra, Ichigo kept his eyes on the blackboard and away from Kei. It was annoying how she got under his skin. If it was anyone else, this shit would not go down so easily. Of course this made Ichigo wonder why the hell he let her get away it. Then he made the mistake of looking at her. There was just enough moisture in her hair to make a few tendrils cling to the skin of her neck and the curve of her collar bone...

Damn it!

Ichigo had his answer (he was content to call it an influx of hormones and nothing else). And he was not happy with it.

As the class progressed, Kei gave up on listening completely and started dozing with her head in her hand. Though she looked peaceful enough, there was a sudden spike in her spiritual pressure and this time Ichigo knew exactly what it was.

Zanpukto.Zangetsu said it before he could.

"Not again," Kei muttered to herself. Once again she was in that awkward water world with no sun. The world was unchanged since the last time. She was standing on a great cement pillar about twenty feet above the water below. The roof seemed no closer. At the very least that strange looking fellow wasn't-

"You're here, Kei."

Kei muttered a surprised curse as the man appeared before her a mere three feet away. As usual, she couldn't see his eyes and he was still wrapped up in a black and emerald shihaksho. His long hair swished as though there was wind. He still had no sword. Immediately, her heart rate picked up and adrenaline pumped through Kei's veins.

"Who are you?" she asked as steadily as she could.

"How many times must I cry out before you finally realize?" he asked her coolly, almost hollowly, "My name is..." His voiced didn't carry and she missed it completely. Kei cursed under breath again.

"A-are you Ichigo?" she asked nervously. The man gave a bark like laugh that was completely devoid of humour. It made her shudder.

"No, far from it, Kei," he replied.

"Where am I?" she asked the next most basic question.

"You don't know?" he seemed incapable of giving a straight answer. A sword appeared in his hand. It was dull silver and jointed in the middle. He flicked it closed and open again while she watched with mild apprehension, "This is a gunblade, the weapon of a warrior." Without warning he fired a blast of black energy at her. With a loud yelp, she ducked and though the shot missed her, Kei found herself clinging to the edge of the pillar. When she looked up again, he was standing above her, holding the extended sword at her.

"Drop or die," he commented wryly, "an interesting choice. How long do you think you'll last?"

Fuck this.

Kei let go and took a deep breath before she fell into the cold water below. A black shot cut through the water like air and Kei dove out of the way, now impeded by water as well. Coughing and sputtering, she broke to the surface and with water obscured eyes scanned for her enemy.

"Don't get distracted, Kei," the man suggested and Kei spun around to find him standing on another pillar farther away this time. She dodged another shot, but this time it grazed her arm, "Too slow."

Her vision started shaking. At first she thought it was her own fright, but then Kei realized it was the entire world collapsing in on itself. The pillars were crumbling and waves were starting to collide with her body in the water. Slightly irritated, the man looked up at the ceiling where a shadow was starting to pass over the thin trellises, blocking out the pale light. The shaking got worse and Kei's vision started to blacken as the now harsh current pulled her under.

"Until next time, Kei."

"Kei!" voices were shouting at her, but Kei didn't know how to tell them that she couldn't breathe, that her lungs were full of water, "Wake up, damn it!" Finally, Kei felt air fill her lungs and with a shuddering yelp her entire frame jolted, "Ow! What the hell is it with you women?" opening her eyes, Kei saw several heads crowding over her and Ichigo clutching his jaw not far away, "Even while you're asleep you still manage to punch me!"

"Huh?"

"Ichigo, try be a little more sensitive," Tatsuki scolded while Rukia and Orihimie got her back up and into a chair. The entire lecture was watching her with curious eyes. Rukia was shooting her furtive glances. Something was going on.

"Um...I'm fine..."

"You hit your head a bit, me and Ichigo'll just take you home," Rukia got a firm grasp on Kei's upper arm so she couldn't escape. A smart move on her part, since Kei was calculating her best shot at escape. Looking resigned, Ichigo followed them out like some form of security. Once they were well out of ear shot of the lecture hall, Kei started complaining.

"Rukia, watch the claws damn it!" she whined, trying to get the soul reaper to loosen her hold, but no such luck. Rukia had knuckles of steel.

"What were you dreaming about?" Rukia asked finally stopping in her near run.

"N-nothing," Kei replied hastily and then received raised eyebrows from both Ichigo and Rukia. Clearly, their expressions stated 'don't insult our intelligence', "Oh alright, I saw this guy with long black hair like Ichigo while he was Getsuga and he pulled out a gunblade or something and tried to kill me. Are you happy now?"

"Were you in some weird alternate dimension?" Ichigo asked intently.

"Yeah, why?"

"I knew it," Rukia looked mildly impressed with herself, "You have a Zanpukto spirit."

Kei stared at them for a second.

"Bullshit."

"No, she's right, it makes sense," Ichigo ran a hand through his head. This was getting more complicated by the second. Before the incident with his hollow, she had perfectly normal, non soul reaper, non hollow type spiritual pressure like Uryu's. It was strong, but nothing odd. Now it was a mash of Shinigami, and her own personal flavour.

"When the hollow stabbed you with his sword, I think he transferred some spiritual pressure to you," Rukia deduced, explaining her theories, "And by extension that means you got Ichigo's spiritual pressure since technically they're the same person."

"Oh, so I can blame Ichigo for all this?"

"Basically."

Face palm.

"Don't tell her that!"

My god, why do you humans do this?

The first time her Zanpukto spirit talked to her in her thoughts followed a week later. Though Rukia and Ichigo had warned her this would happen, Kei wasn't entirely ready for it and almost yelped out in surprise. After breathing deeply for a second, she answered him.

It's called lecture, an unfortunate part of the university experience. Get used to it.

With what sounded like a low groan, her Zanpukto shut up again. One week since she'd started training with it. Every evening after dinner, Rukia would drag her to Uruhara's shop where she would be forced to meditate. Once she was back in her 'inner world', her Zanpukto would hand her a sword and they would parry. Of course no one else was really forced to do it. Occasionally, Toshiro, Ikkaku and Renji would meditate with her. Yumichika and Rangiku argued with more their swords than they meditated. Ichigo never did. The only upside to this entire week had been Orihime's return. Thankfully, she healed them both Kei and Ichigo. It was a relief to be allowed back into regular activity.

"Psst, Rukia!" Kei hissed under her breath as the professor droned on and on about some bacteria or something.

"What?" Rukia replied, not taking her eyes off the teacher at the front.

"My sword talked to me just now," Kei whispered.

It's as if no one's ever talked to you before. I find that a little bit sad.

"What's he like?" Rukia asked curiously.

Absolutely delightful, lovely, a true gentlemen. Tell the pretty Shinigami that.

"He's snarky, and a little bit of a girl," Kei replied smartly. Two could play at this game.

"He should get along with Fujikujaku," Rukia replied.

Damn you, woman.

Aw, our first fight.

It was the start of a beautiful partnership, Kei could feel it. After she got over her initial fright of her Zanpukto, she managed to quickly establish a symbiosis with him. Outside of their training time, he didn't try to kill her and in exchange she tried to insure that she trained harder when they did fight. And then of course there were parrying sessions with Ikkaku who loved to beat the crap out of anything and everything. These sessions with Ikkaku were more than just a way for Kei to increase her own experience, but for everyone to learn about her powers. It was noe like she had a standard zanpukto and she was a standard Shinigami, It was odd; Kei didn't need to go into Soul Form to access her Zanpukto. Instead it was a latent power more like Uryu's in the sense that she could summon it. At the moment, without knowing Shikai, all Kei could summon was a silver non descript sword. Nothing special, but it was sturdy.

"Do you think I'll ever figure out his name?" Kei asked miserably. She could feel the bruises on her person from all their 'training' and yet she didn't know it's name.

It's not a matter of figuring out, but listening. Something which you are remedial at.

Oh sorry, did you say something?

Har har.

"You'll hear it eventually," Rukia soothed bracingly. It had only been a week, but Rukia had come to learn that Kei like Ichigo expected far too much from herself. Admittedly her skills had grown impressively, not as impressive as Ichigo had been, but still above average.

"I'd better, because he's driving me insane," she murmured irritated.

Well you're unpleasant and...you have stupid hair.

Well done.

"Explain to me again why you guys are doing this?" Ichigo asked watching as Rukia and Kei ran around assembling their outfits in states of undress. Rukia was trying desperately to get one particular tress of her hair to lie just properly on her head while simultaneously zipping the back of her dress. Kei in comparison looked much less dignified, running around in a pair of black sequined shorts and a bra looking for her gladiator flats.

"Do you want the official reason or the truthful reason?" Kei asked stopping in her search to give Ichigo an annoyed look like he was somehow in her way despite being on the other side of the room.

"I need research on human recreational activities for the Soul Society," Rukia explained looking pleased with her appearance, "At least that's what I told Captain Ukitake." The glitzy dress suited her dark hair to a tee. Admittedly, she looked amazing, not that Ichigo would ever admit that. The last thing the midget needed was an ego.

"And I just can't spend another Friday in the house doing shit all," Kei shrugged triumphantly holding up her flats. While Rukia located her clutch, Kei moved on to pulling a shimmery lace top on. Eye shadow palettes, a flat iron and various pairs of shoes, shirts, and dresses all littered the room. The bed no longer functioned as a place to sleep, but instead held the various items of clothing that had been rejected by the girls.

"Whatever, but why is all your crap in my room?" Ichigo asked miserably.

"Rukia appropriated your closet and offered to share it with me," Kei replied, preening herself in the mirror at every angle possible. Ichigo turned away. She didn't have any bad angles. A blush spread across his cheeks. Looking annoyed, he followed them downstairs in search of a snack. Unfortunately, Isshin wandered into the main room.

"Where are you two off to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Club Shatter," Kei replied slipping on her shoes. If possible, Isshin's eyebrows rose a little bit higher. Club Shatter was famous and hip. They were two attractive young girls. The perfect targets for midnight creepers. This was not something Isshin could allow. It didn't help that Kei was very likely to start a bar fight. More to the point he wanted grandchildren and that would hardly happen if Ichigo stayed moped and had a nonexistent social life outside of slaying monsters.

"Ichigo, you're going with them," Isshin ordered. Both parties looked appalled.

"No, no, that's alright Mr. Kurosaki," Kei insisted, "We'll be fine-"

"I insist," Isshin replied and gave Ichigo a glare.

"Dad, Rukia's a Soul Reaper!" Ichigo looked highly irritated.

"Ichigo, you're going." It was one of the few times Issihn chose to be adamant about something.

"Well in that case, you need to change," Kei commented looking at Ichigo with a critical gaze.

After arguing with Kei for a few minutes, Ichigo stalked upstairs to change into something more 'sexy beast' as Kei put it. A few minutes later he appeared in the stair way in black pants and a grey blazer. Very appealing, Kei found herself biting her tongue and regretting her words. His orange hair was tousled just enough that he looked in perfect disarray. Just rumpled enough to look casual, but still chic.

"Let's get this over with," he sighed, resigned to his fate.

They chose public transport as their chariot to the club since it was cheap. On the way home they planned to take a cab of course, depending on how smashed (Rukia preferred the term inebriated) they were. The entrance to Club Shatter was obscured by a long train of party goers. After their initial scope of the front of the line, a leering bouncer sent them to the back where they found a few familiar faces.

"Tatsuki?" Ichigo could hardly believe it. Usually the Karate guru didn't enjoy these conformist activities anymore than he did, but then Ichigo spotted a naive Orihime standing next to her. Of course, Tatsuki would only subject herself to such torture for Orihime.

"There has to be a better way of getting in," Rukia commented thoughtfully.

"This sucks, this line is massive," Kei grumbled.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have wasted forty five minutes looking for your goddamn eye liner," Icihgo suggested with an angry edge to his voice, "Just shut up and endure it." As expected his advice was ignored and a grin spread across Kei's face; the 'shit is going to go down' expression, "Oh no, whatever you're thinking just stop right now!"

"Too late."

Without giving away a word of her plan, Kei rounded up everyone and slowly, they skulked to the back entrance of the club. You see, Kei had a way with people. Let me clarify, she had a way with people who didn't know her. It was very easy for her to bash an eyelash and swish her hips once or twice and hypnotize anyone in her path. She had charisma which was enough to cover up for her lack of charm, dignity and grace. So while the others waited in the alleyway, she sashayed over to the door and knocked twice. A young looking security guard pulled open. He had soft eyes and looked naive. The perfect target. In the distance, Ichigo couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but he could make out expressions. She wasn't being fake, just mildly facetious and the poor sucker was falling for it.

"Hey guys, come on!" she hissed, the guard was gone but the door was open invitingly. Scurrying to catch up, every quickly stole into the building.

Club Shatter was not an ordinary dance club or bar. It was a three story party mad house. The interior was rough with plain woodwork and cement floors, but in the darkness and blaring lights, one could hardly tell. There was a bar on every floor and the drinks ranged from every price. People crowded every available space. It was the sort of place that teemed with life, where you were so close to one another that you hear each other's heartbeats.

"Club Shatter, ladies and gentlemen," Ichigo did not sound impressed.

"I'll have a shot of tequila and a martini," Kei ignored him completely and seated herself at the bar. Ichigo resisted face palming, "Sit down, shut up, and a have drink Bleach." She didn't sound annoyed, on the contrary; Kei was in an inexplicably good mood. This was her element. The nightlife. Even Ichigo's scowl and resulting hunch seemed attractive. Those eyes that always seemed fierce to her seemed oddly raw and primal in the dimmed light. Very attractive.

Damn it, not attractive!

The brain cannot defeat biochemical impulses, mon cher.

Shut up, Salaud!

"Time to dance!" Kei decided abruptly, chugging the last of her martini. A fresh beat thumped her heart and Kei was not going to miss it for the world, impulsively, she grabbed a certain someone's hand "Let's go Bleach." It seemed the alcohol was already starting obscure her judgement. Ignoring that little thought, Kei gave Ichigo's hand a hard tug.

"Stop calling me that," Ichigo grumped and ordered another beer. Someone was chugging those oddly quickly.

"Come on!" a hard tug later, Ichigo was being dragged forward with the force of an untamed beast. With satisfaction, Kei noted that several girls at the bar, who had been shooting interested glances at Ichigo, now looked thoroughly disappointed.

The words echoed loudly and with every note sung, Kei got a little bit closer. She had his right hand in her left and one of his hands was on her waist while she steadied his shoulder. Setting the pace, Kei managed to get Ichigo to do a small salsa with her, nothing to grand just the basic footwork. It wasn't technique that mattered. Something odd sprung up in their eyes. Anyone who knew them well enough could see it. Whatever this elusive 'it' even was.

Fire, though Rukia and then studied their flushed faces and unsteady movements, no, something a little bit more then that.

"I would like another drink now," Ichigo commented with a raised eye brow. It was hard to dance when she insisted on leading. With a small chuckle, she started pulling him along through the floors of the club.

The entire club sang. On the third floor was nothing but endless dance floor. There was no place to move, to breathe, without dancing and Ichigo managed to follow Kei's lead as she swung her hips to the beat. When another guy tried to engage her in a dance, Ichigo was there first, with a hand securely wrapped around hers. In her dazed, half buzzed state, it would not serve to let Kei out of his site. Besides that, Ichigo didn't want to watch her dance with someone else. It wasn't even that. Ichigo wanted her to want to stay with him. For her own good. At least that was what he told himself.

You're jealous, Ichigo. Zangetsu sounded surprised, but Ichigo didn't want to think right now. Everything was humming. Instead, he let him drift closer to her.

Am not! Ichigo was appalled at himself; he needed to find a way to deter her and himself. She was singing to the music now, the chorus.

Quick say something childish and petty!

He was close now. Kei was surprised that he was being bold, evening fending off some unwanted attention. She was flushed, but Kei found herself wanted to spend more time with him, wanting more of him generally. She wanted him to say something, even though she wouldn't be able to hear it above the music. Then he bent his head down and placed his lips right next to her ears. A shiver rushed through her.

"You singing is like a whale's!"

That was it. There was no stopping it. Their lips touched. A fire blazed between them, something primal and hungry. It was something more real than anything else that had happened that night. Shit. Both of them knew somehow they were irreversibly tied to each other. Shit.

It was only after she was home and in bed that Kei realized what an unattractive and annoying thing he'd said.

Bastard.

"Bastard!" Kei bolted up in bed. She had a slight migraine and felt very groggy. Her room was empty meaning Karin had already left for soccer practice. That meant Kei could freak out privacy. She had kissed Ichigo. Not just kissed, she had made out with Ichigo Kurosaki. That wasn't even the freakiest part. The freakiest part was that disgust did not fill her veins when she thought about it, meaning she could not regret it.

Fuck. She could not let anything happen between them. It was imperative. Even as she resolved no to feel anything, her body was filled with fire and wind and water.

You humans are so bloody confusing, why was last night bad?

Because, his hollow wants us both dead and I can't have feelings for him. This is Ichigo we're talking about, he'll give his life to save another, and I'm not going to let him do that.

What do the issues of you having feelings for him and the possibility of his hollow killing everyone have to do with one another?

Kei didn't have a particularly good answer to that.

Ah, your afraid.

...Regardless of that, me and Ichigo have to maintain status quo, meaning mostly that I have to prove I am better than him. That's how our relationship works.

Judging by the current state of hormonal affairs, Ichigo will win this contest.

"It's so much harder to freak out when there someone in your head!" Kei threw her pillow at the wall. She took a deep breath. Surely, without alcohol in her system, Ichigo wouldn't even be a blip on her radar.

After ensuring that the hallway was clear, Kei quickly scooched into the bathroom armed with a towel and her jasmine smelling body wash was with the intention of clearing her mind under scalding water. Undressed, Kei wrapped herself in a towel and waited for the shower to heat up properly.

"Would you shut up Kon!" Ichigo yelled from the other side and the door knob turned. With frozen shock, Kei realized she forgot that the lock on this door didn't click properly sometimes. All she could do was stare as the door swung open. Shirtless, Ichigo strode into the bathroom and Kei's jaw dropped. Then he spotted the extra occupant in the bathroom and his jaw dropped too.

My god, those abs.

Clean thoughts, Kei, for the love of God.

Even with his hair looking inexplicable, Ichigo was still incredibly...sexy. Kei shuddered at the thought. She didn't know that Ichigo was burning up exactly as she was. The flush didn't appear straight away on his face and it certainly wasn't from embarrassment, but something else entirely. The fluffy towel against her smooth skin made him want to...

"I'm just going to go," he murmured deeply and slammed the door shut. Feeling weak in the knees, it took Kei's mind a second to catch up with exactly what had just happened.

I give you two a week before some sort of scandal breaks out.

Ichigo knew he wouldn't last the week.

It wasn't like he was some overly hormonal pervert, or some crazy playboy. Ichigo had two girl friends in the last year, one was Tatsuki (they barely lasted three months before wanting to kill each other) and a girl named Mitsuki from her his class in senior year who moved away. And it certainly wasn't that Kei was some goddess like woman with magical powers of seduction. But there was something about it, about her, something drew him to her. It was the exact same feeling as the one he felt the first night they met when she clutched his hand only amplified. What Ichigo didn't understand was how one night at a club managed to royally screw up their antagonistic relationship.

No. Now was the time to be maintaining the status quo, not changing it.

He couldn't protect her as it was and if he let himself get too attached she surely wouldn't make it. Things around Ichigo seemed to always face bad luck, especially people who he cared about. Every single one of his friends had, at one point or another, faced some sort of peril, some sort of crisis because of him. If another person fell to the same destruction, Ichigo wasn't sure how he would handle it.

Isn't it also true that your strength comes from those around you?

Ichigo didn't have an answer to Zangetsu's question.