Girl-of-Action- I do not own bleach and never will.

"A challenge of skill, wit and bravery..." Shiro repeats, clicking his tongue. "Kinda droll, ain't it? Not to mention vague," Shiro remarks lowly, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. He sets a hand on his hip, shifting his stance. "Fine. Let's say I was to accept this challenge. Then what would happen?"

"Obviously we would compete, and when I win I will have that cross."

Shiro's eyes flash in warning behind his glasses, the hand not on his hip twitching slightly. It is apparent that he wants to grab his charm in a protective response, and only just contains himself from doing so. "You arrogant bastard," he positively purrs. "And what happens if by some miracle that perfect being that is you loses?"

"As that's not going to happen, I don't really care. What do you want?"

Shiro grins, striding forward until he stands toe to toe with Uryu. To his credit, Uryu doesn't flinch, despite Shiro being ever so slightly taller. "I want you."

"..." They stare at each other in silence for a moment before Uryu bursts out in rage. "What is that supposed to mean?!" He shrieks, aghast. Shiro takes a step back, bending over himself laughing.

"Oh, that was good…" he says after he's settled down, wiping away some tears from behind his sunglasses. One arm is swung around his middle. Apparently he laughed so hard that it hurt.

"Be serious," Uryu mutters, straightening his collar in a flustered manner.

"But I am."

"What?" Uryu says flatly.

Shiro shrugs. "I tried to be your… friend, Ishida. You didn't care to be, and that's fine. Things have changed though. You're not just some other guy who can see spirits anymore. You're a- what did you call yourself?"

Uryu straightens his posture, practically preening at this attention, at the recognition of his power. "A Quincy," he states.

"Aa, that. Honestly, you could be… useful."

Uryu narrows his eyes. "So what exactly are you saying? If you were to win, I'd have to- what? Be your… friend?" His upper lip curls, Uryu not even attempting to hide his disgust at the prospect.

Shiro bares his teeth in a lopsided grin. "Oh no, it's too late for that. I guess I should clarify, huh?" he remarks offhandedly, snickering somewhat at Uryu's expression.

"Please do," he says sourly, black eyebrows are furrowed slightly in increasing worry and lips pursed into a tight line.

"When I said I want you I don't mean anything sexual, so get that outta your head right now. I'd never make that type of deal," Uryu's face heats up and he sputters in protest how 'the thought never crossed my mind until you brought it up, imbecile!' Shiro waves Uryu's protests away as he goes on. "What I mean is that if I need someone with your kind of abilities to, say, take care of a pesky hollow that I can't be bothered with, then that's what you will do."

"That's… not so bad," Uryu concedes under his breath, tapping one finger on his pants leg in thought. Shiro notices a bracelet then dangling from the lanky boy's wrist, with much the same charm that Shiro has strung around his neck. It is also a cross- in fact, they may be identical.

Is that why he wants mine? A matching set? There has to be more than that. He's too desperate for ka-san's charm. Is it possible that the charms have something to do with his powers? Will he become stronger if he has Ka-san's too? Shiro pushes the thought from his mind for now and smirks, obviously not done. Uryu pales at what else the mentally disturbed boy has planned. "And, say, if I need someone with maid abilities to clean up after I eat at school, that's also what you will do. By the way, this is only the tip of the iceberg, although I will say that it'll end at the end of highschool."

Shiro appears heavily amused when Uryu wastes no time before spitfiring denial after denial. "Indentured servitude? No. Absolutely not. There is no way in hell or high water I'm agreeing to that," Uryu proclaims with the utmost gusto.

"Why not?" Shiro inquires mildly, rocking back and forth on his heels in a bored fashion. "I particularly remember you saying that you don't care what I choose. Aren't you sure of your abilities? I thought you are supposed to be this all powerful Quincy." Shiro hits him right where it hurts- right in his Quincy pride. Uryu growls, conflicted, and it's then that Shiro knew he won. A smirk is plainly etched across his face by the time Uryu offers this snippy order.

"Meet me here same time tomorrow."

"Oh Kuchiki-chan~"

"Shiro…" Rukia returns, although much more reserved. Ever since Shiro purified the Grand Fisher he's been in a terrible mood, even more so after Rukia explained that he in fact purified the Gran Fisher and did not kill him. He understands well enough the importance of the balancing the worlds, understands that the Plus soul that became the Grand Fisher wasn't at fault and deserved to move on. He understands all of this, and at the same time, Shiro just doesn't give a damn. The idea that his mother's murderer (in whatever incarnation) is somewhere in the Soul Society, possibly with a good new life, bothers him to no end. He explained it once as a constant bad taste in his mouth.

Rukia, unsure what to do, decided to give him some space… Yet here he is now with an entirely new deposition and seemingly no explanation. 'Unnerving' doesn't really cover it. Rukia squints her dark eyes at him. "Are you bipolar, Shiro?" she asks bluntly.

There is laughter at the question, the boy seeming pleased by it and not at all insulted. In actuality, Shiro is genuinely happy. Only a week ago and Rukia would have hesitated at asking something so bold. Despite being unnerved at this moment though, she doesn't have a moment's pause in asking. Shiro's laughter patters off into quiet snickers. "Maybe a bit," he admits with his not-so-reassuring cheshire grin. "Anyways, I'm not here to discuss my mental state, Kuchiki-chan~"

"What are you here to discuss?"

"Kido."

"Oh." Dark eyebrows shoot up in interest. This would be the first time they had discussed anything afterlife related (besides hollows in town) when not having their usual morning meeting in the nearby cafe… Not that Rukia is complaining. Kido has always been her favorite shinigami art, and she's been having fun playing teacher for Shiro. This in mind, she doesn't bother to ask why the sudden interest and instead says- "Well, let me go get my notebook-"

"Nope, not like that. I want to learn Kido. In fact, I want to learn it so well that I'll have a few down pat before this time tomorrow…" He closes her gaping mouth with one finger. "You'll help me, won't you, Kuchiki-chan?"

"But that's impossible!" Rukia blurts out, shaking her head and taking a step back. "It took me a week at least to be fully competent in a few kido, and I am a natural!"

"Really? Well then, I guess that'll make ya the perfect teacher. If anyone can teach me kido in a day, it's gotta be you."

Rukia's eyes slowly widen, face reddening at the high compliment. "I know what you're doing…. I know what you've been doing…" she mutters, not meeting the boy's gaze.

His grins grows, actually relieved that she noticed his subtle manipulation of her over the last week and doesn't appear mad in the least. "Yeah? Doesn't make what I say any less true."

Rukia huffs, but nonetheless is swayed to give it a go. It couldn't hurt to try, she reasons. Straightening her posture, she sets her hands on her hips. "If I'm to be your teacher in this, you are to in turn treat me with the utmost respect during the lessons and actually listen to my advice- got it?"

"Yes, ma'am~" A sarcastic salute is offered, yet there is a honest eagerness in his demeanor that he doesn't bother to hide.

An eagerness that frankly, Rukia shares.

They decide to practice in one of the many abandoned warehouses on the edge of town. The powerless shinigami left and returned an hour or so later with several dummies. Highly anticipating learning honest-to-God magic, Shiro urges Rukia to jump right into the lesson, not even caring where she obtained those human-like dummies. The girl first insists on explaining the basics of kido, much to Shiro's disappointment who wanted to try it right off the bat. Nonetheless, Shiro upholds his side of the deal. As long as her lesson lasts, he would be respectful (more or less). First, she asks him what he believes Kido to be. When he basically describes it as magic, going even so far as to use the insulting word, Rukia all but has a fit, (much to Shiro's quiet amusement). Vivid red eyes, free from his glasses thanks to the dim lighting in the warehouse, are half-lidded as he watches her little spaz out.

After calming down and regaining the dignity of a proud Kuchiki, she precedes to wipe out her sketchbook and markers with the most serious and determined look on her face. They sit across from each other, Rukia on her knees and Shiro cross legged. The solemn teacher explains the differences between reishi (spiritual particles free in the air or making up inanimate objects), reiryoku (the spiritual particles that make up each spiritual being and are contained within) and reiatsu (the spiritual pressure that a spiritual entity excludes). Shiro knew a bit about reiatsu beforehand thanks to their talks regarding Kenpachi, though everything else is new to him.

Much to Rukia's delight, Shiro proves to be an excellent and attentive student that she only needs to explain things once to. She describes in some detail how Kido is basically Reiryoku manifested by sheer will and careful manipulation, most of the time with the assistance of special chants mainly given to them by Soul King himself.

"Magic," Shiro pips in assuredly.

She swats him lightly with her sketchbook. "Kido," she corrects, sniffing airly.

Shiro frowns slightly. "How do these incantations help anyway?" He whines slightly, not really wanting to memorize them. "I get that names and words have power, but they only have power 'cause of the agreed upon meaning behind them. I've heard these incantations of yours- they're just a bunch of strung together, random phrases."

Rukia is blown away by the, dare she admit it, insightful and valid reasoning. Truly, this boy soaks up information like a sponge when he is actually interested. Rukia mulls over this for a moment. That, or I am just a great teacher…. Yes, I'm pretty sure that's it. "I took a high-level class at the Shin'o Academy on this, actually," she admits to her student, "since Kido is my favorite shinigami art." She clears her throat before beginning her impromptu lecture. "Kido incantations, in their most basic form, are a kind of complicated poetry. There are rules involved such as you would find in a simple haiku, though of course much more complex. It requires both a sort of... melody you could say, as well as a set structure. A comparison could be to that of a common sentence… With a noun, verb, and so forth generally required."

A hand is waved dismissively. "Sure, but why?"

Rukia is flustered by the deceptively simple question. "Well, in my Theories of Kido Incantations course-"

"Theories," Shiro cuts in blandly, not impressed. "Meaning you don't know."

"The theories are very credible-"

"You don't know," Shiro states with an air of finality, rolling his shoulders.

Abruptly, Rukia transforms from flustered to furious. She jumps to her feet without intending to, pointing a finger confrontationally. "Now listen here you obnoxious little brat! There is very little in this universe of ours that can be considered fact. Heck, even you humans thought not too long ago that the World of the Living is flat and everything revolves around you, and wasn't that considered fact?" She taunts hotly. "We Shinigami realized that this was not so ages ago! And at least we have the decency to admit that we don't know the truth for sure in this instance of Kido Incantations!"

Slow clapping interrupts Rukia's huffing and puffing after her little rant. The girl is slightly startled by the sound, although soon following understands that the gesture is sincere. Shiro is smirking, as usual, but he's doing it in a way that clearly shows his approval. "Ya know what? You have a point there, Kuchiki-sama~"

Her chest puffs up in pride at the rare compliment from the often stubborn and haughty boy. "Yes, well-" she freezes, just processing the 'sama' bit. Shiro dissolves into a mess of shameless snickering.

"What's wrong, oh wise one?" His voice is lilting with glee.

"You're mocking me!" she accuses, disappointed despite herself. She had believed his earlier compliment sincere.

"Not at all. It was a good argument. I just thought you'd appreciate the respect, ne?" Rukia doesn't know what to say. She is used to being addressed as sama, yet for some reason the idea of him using the suffix is plain wrong, even in harmless teasing. She shakes the thought from her mind and continues on with the lesson.

The first kido Rukia tries to teach is Bakudo #1, Sai… Try being the key word.

"How, how…" Rukia mumbles to herself like a mad woman a half hour later, staring unabashedly at the scene in front of her. She wants to teach Bakudo to Shiro first, even if he would have been more suited for Hado. This is done in hopes that Shiro would learn control both with his reiatsu and fighting, which currently is a crude if somewhat ingenuitive berserker/ hack 'n slash style. Her Nii-sama would be beside himself at the blatant lack of sensible technique in display, Rukia is sure.

Obviously though, plans to change this are turning out… well, not as planned.

Shiro crosses his arms, smirking faintly. "I think I did pretty well," he comments offhandedly.

Rukia whirls toward him, dark eyes wide in blatant disbelieving. "How is this pretty well?!" she shrieks, gesturing wildly to the horribly mutilated dummies. "Sai is supposed to only incapacitate the subject!"

Red eyes flicker briefly to the dummies. "Hm… I dunno; I still think I should get an A+. I mean, they look pretty incapacitated to me."

"That one's arms are broken, the one next to it has all the fingers on the left hand missing, and the third's right leg is entirely ripped off!"

"They're really incapacitated," Shiro comments wisely, expression appearing devoid of any humor.

"Sai is not supposed to harm the subject!"

"Looks like I improved one of yer fancy lil spells, then," is the nonchalant reply. "You're welcome." Rukia throws her hands up in the air in a 'so done with this' fashion.

"Fine, that's it. You're learning Hado."

"Alright, I'm seriously about ta flip my shit if they don't stahp that damn racket within the next few seconds!" The speaker seethes and rages, at the end of her patience, which in truth is about nonexistent to begin with.

"Hm. Our new neighbors are pretty noisy, aren't they?" This one, a male, notes with a generally uncaring countenance.

"No-fucking-duh, baldy! Why don't you go over there and tell them to shut the hell up?!"

"What? Why me?"

"'Cause yer the only other person here and I damn well said so!" As soon is this is said, another explosion roars from next door, shaking the ground with its strength. They peak out their front door and watch blankly as much of the next door warehouse comes crashing down. "... On second thought, screw this! I'm gonna give them a piece o' my mind!"

"Wait- I don't think that's such a good idea. One of them feels like a-" but the man's companion ignores him.

Marching right up to the opposite warehouse (or what remains of it), she proceeds to kick down the barely standing front door. Shiro and Rukia turn to find a short, raging midget in a red sweat suit and with blonde big tails. Most predominantly though, she carries zanpakuto, which she waves threateningly at them. "What the fuck is goin' on here?!"

The situation, as Shinji Hirako predicted, deteriorates quickly after this.

A few minutes before...

The Substitute Soul Reaper may have gotten 'Hado # 1 Sho' down pat, but anything stronger than that blows up in their faces. After the initial glee of learning his first spell wears off, and he has grown tired of creating craters in the warehouses concrete ground (much to Rukia's chagrin at the time, afraid of being overheard as she was), they decided to move on to Byakurai. After dozens of failed attempts, in which Shiro only managed light up his body with blue electricity and get his hair to stand on end, Rukia suggested that Shiro has a natural strong aversion to the element of lightning. It would make sense, she said, since Shiro obtained her powers which are based on ice.

Rukia's attempt to cheer him up lead to a disastrous outcome. Shiro got a crazed look in his eyes, remembering Rukia's favorite kido spell from their time hollow hunting- Sokatsui. "Ye Lord, Mask of flesh and bone, all creation…"

"Shiro, NO."

"Flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man…"

"Don't you DARE."

"Truth and temperance upon this sinless wall of dreams…"

"I'm telling you, you're not ready!"

"Release, but slightly, the wrath of your claws!"

"FOOL, you're going to kill us both!"

"Hado # 33: Sokatsui!" This is what brings down the house- literally, not figuratively. The backlash is terrible. Rukia just manages to shield herself with a bakudo from the worst of it before her meager protection shatters. Yet, she is not out of danger. The warehouse is collapsing around her now and she is in the center of it, trapped in her gigai. She doubts she has enough energy anymore to conjure up a bakudo strong enough to defend herself, not after demonstrating various kido for hours and protecting herself from the backlash. Rukia grimaces. This is going to hurt, she thinks bitterly as she curls up into a ball and covers her head, knowing the likelihood of her gigai being destroyed is high. The pain never comes though.

Shiro, although ticked off at his failed attempt, is not angry enough for it to cloud his mind. He knows Rukia is in danger, along with him, but he is hardly panicked. Strolling over to Rukia's curled up form, he waits patiently until the first piece of the roof is a few feet above them. Pointing a finger up, he chants Sho several times until all the huge chunks are reduced to something much more manageable. Then, leaning over Rukia, he let's it fall. Since he is in shinigami form, the little projectiles hardly matter. Not a piece lands on Rukia.

The dust storm that's kicked up, however, is a different story altogether. They cough and hack, struggling to cover their own mouth and nose, but there seems to be no end to dust particles clouding the air. It is like a thick, gray smog. All at once though- the smog scatters under a loud bang and a wave of erratic spiritual power. "What the fuck is goin' on here?!" Shiro wipes his eyes fiercely to see who is confronting them. When he does, he bursts out laughing.

"Oi! Stop laughing! I'm talkin' to you!"

"Do you really think you're intimidating or something? You're shorter than even my friend here, and ya look like an eleven year old. You have pigtails for God's sake." He might have said more, but he breaks out into further snickering instead. It isn't everyday a four foot tall little girl kicks down your front door and starts cussing you out, after all.

Rukia for her part is not pleased by the reference to her height and briefly ponders stomping on Shiro's toes, but soon brushes that to the side in favor of something more urgent. "She can see us…" Rukia mutters in high suspicion. As usual though, Shiro doesn't share in her caution.

"You…" Shiro only laughs harder when the little girl takes off one of her sandals and throws it at him. When he somehow manages to dodge the fast moving projectile, she crosses her arms and positively huffs. "I don't like your attitude, punk." She juts her chin out at him.

"Don't know why. I'm just a slice of sunshine," is the sarcastic return. He cranes his neck some to see a new, tall figure stepping into view behind her. The newcomer is tall, thin and neatly trimmed. He wears dress pants, an orange shirt and a black tie with blonde hair to his chin as well as a cheshire grin. Shiro, somehow, instantly takes a liking to him.

"Geez, what happened here?" the guy mutters in wide eyed admiration of the mess. "You guys do know that New Years isn't for quite awhile yet, right?" he asks them wryly, sliding a hand into his pocket and smirking widely. It would be an exact replica of the 'Kurosaki-kun' smile (as Orihime put it the day before) if the guy didn't slouch so much.

Shiro shrugs. "Yeah, we know."

"So why…?"

With a completely straight face and serious tone of voice, Shiro answers. "I'm a pyromaniac." He appears completely unrepentant of this statement.

The blonde openly gawks at him, then guffaws at Rukia's following, undignified squeak. "What's with the gothic get-up and giant-ass sword?" The man continues to prod, shaking in repressed laughter.

"Isn't it obvious?" Shiro makes a show of seeming offended and exasperated. "I'm a satanist," he juts his right thumb at his own chest. "-and this here is my virgin sacrifice." He waves a hand vaguely at Rukia, who is currently wearing one of Yuzu's light yellow sundresses. Her stature and dress furthers her innocent persona, and she really would look like the part... if she were actually frightened and not so obviously flustered and upset.

"Shiro!" she reprimands loudly.

"Kiddin', kiddin'... She just forgot her stuff at home. Really, she's a satanist too- the one who got me into this whole business actually! Girl after my own heart." He sets a hand dramatically to his heart, this dopey, lovestruck look on his face. Rukia facepalms, to incredulous at Shiro's antics to even be properly outraged right now. "We do need a sacrifice or two though, so thanks for comin' by! Step right on in~ I'll have the pentagon up and in a bit, don't you worry, and then we can really get this party started." This is followed by Shiro's trademark, insane cackling that could send shivers up almost anyone's spine. The echoing effect within the remains of this warehouse does wonders to make it sound just that much more intimidating. The rest of those presents appear properly freaked out by this- Rukia included, even though she has heard it plenty of times by now. Unlike Tatsuki, Rukia isn't sure if she can ever get used to that sound. The man isn't as expressive as the rest, but even he seems to give pause at it.

The little blonde girl on the other hand stands there, not exactly shaking in her one sandal, but appearing completely gobsmacked nonetheless. One of her eyes twitches. "What the fuck?" She manages, before finding her voice. "Enough with the bullshit!" Hiyori snaps, at the end of her almost nonexistent patience. "Don't play around- Yer shinigami. In my books, that's worse than satanists, or whatever crap you're spewin'." She growls, yes, growls.

Shiro is intrigued by this anger, as that makes two people in one day who hate him purely for being a shinigami. Seems like Kuchiki-chan hasn't been completely honest with me~ I wonder just how many skeletons the shinigami are hidin'? As for Rukia, she is not to be pushed around or tolerate such insults to her people. She sets her hands on her hips and meets the other girl's gaze. "And who are you, to judge the shinigami?" Rukia questions coldly, subtly prodding for information all the while.

"Ne, Hiyori? You aren't really gonna be baited by this chick, are you?" The tall blonde man tries to stop his short companion, but she isn't to be contained.

She tosses her remaining sandal at his face to keep him out of the way. "Shud up, ya baldy!"

Shiro feels the good first impression he had of the other man wither and die right there. He hadn't even tried to stop the shrimp! "Oi! Why are you letting her knock you around like that? This isn't some type of stupid anime, where abusive couples are funny or somethin'! Get your ass into gear!"

"Er…" Shinji quickly glances at the boy, giving an annoyed 'are you an idiot' look- one hand still pinching his nose. Shiro abruptly and belatedly realizes what Shinji had been trying to do- he was trying to distract Hiyori for them… Not that this repairs Shinji's image in Shiro's mind's eye. He doesn't need protection! Unfortunately though, Shiro's little outbursts attracts Hiyori's attention back to the matter at hand as she loudly and proudly proclaims, "I'm Hiyori Sarugaki, ya stuck up bitch. A red-blooded Vizard through an' through!"

Shinji would facepalm if he weren't already holding his bleeding nose. "Now you've done it…" he mutters in frustrated resignation.

"Vizard…" Rukia repeats under her breath, hands slowly lowering to her side although she does stand her ground. "Impossibile. They were exiled-"

Hiyori snorts in a distinctly unladylike fashion. "Yeah, and where do you think we were exiled to?"

Understanding what Hiyori is implying, Rukia instantly takes offense. She steps forward aggressively, raising a fist. "The Soul Society would never endanger the human world by exposing it to such abominations. They would have sent the Vizards to Hueco Mundo!" That's right, it can't be… She tries to reason with herself. The vizards haven't been seen in over a century, and these two goofballs couldn't be… but they could- their power, and I can tell they're trained, and those katana… Are they carrying zanpakuto?! Hiyori's tale is becoming more and more likely, but Rukia clings to her stubborn loyalty and trust in the Soul Society.

"Ouch…" Hiyori's companion mutters under his breath, having heard the venom in Rukia's voice. He rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. "Jus' what are they teachin' you kids at the Shin'o Academy these days?" Rukia's chest tightens, as this show of knowledge is just another testament to them being who they say they are.

"Oi," Shiro butts in. "I think I might've missed that class," he deadpans. "Who the hell are you- what was it, buzzards?"

"It's Vizards, ya moron!" Hiyori screeches.

Shiro smirks at the reaction and crosses his arms. "Well?" he prods.

It's Rukia who responds. "From my history class at the Shin'o academy, the rest of my classmates and I learned of the exiled Vizards. It's a cautionary tale on how power corrupts, both figuratively and literally. The Vizards, once powerful shinigami, were so desperate for power that they convinced the former head of Research and Development to experiment on them and turn them into hollow-shinigami hybrids. They gained immense power as they had hoped- but at the loss of their sanities."

"So that's what they're teachin'. What a drag. No imagination at all…" Shinji complains carelessly, obviously put-off by the tale.

"Tch. These guys? Insane? I don't know 'bout the squirt, but the other guy…?" The guy liked my jokes. Doesn't seem too insane to me. That's how Shiro would have finished, if he had the time.

Shinji appears very pleased by this assessment if his growing grin is anything to go by. Hiyori, not so much. "I'll show you insane, ya damn Shiiiiiiiniiiiigaaamiiiii!" All out of sandals by this point, she runs straight at him, pulling her katana out in a flourish from behind her back. Red reiatsu, so akin to Shiro's own, erupts around her as she goes. Rukia fires some kido at Hiyori, but in her weakened state it hardly slows the charging maniac down.

"Not there is anything wrong with insanity!" Shiro yells over the reiatsu-triggered winds that now circle violently around the crumbled remains of the Warehouse. He lowers his voice for this next part, a sly expression and smirk making its way to his face. "After all, it makes things all the more fun." At the last possible moment, he draws his sword and brings it up to meet the katana in a flurry of sparks.

Girl-of-Action- And the vizards make their introduction~ Didn't expect that, didja? Thoughts on what this might mean for Shiro's future?

Anyways, thanks for reading! And for those who have, thanks for the reviews/favs/follows~

To the guest reviewer Lunar Loon, I really appreciate you saying so! I will be doing my absolute best to keep up this level of work throughout the story, and I hope to hear from you again. :) Thanks for the review~

Well, that's all for now. Until next time. ^^