I never expected my story to be so popular so fast, and this is just my first fanfiction! This is incredible! I'm happy to hear that people are enjoying it, and I have had more than one reader inform me that they didn't usually like genderbending, but I managed to make them like it. SERIOUSLY CHINA READ THIS THEN TELL ME THEY FOUND MY JAW. ALSO, I THINK THE FLOOR IS BROKEN. :3 Lol, moving on from lame jokes. (I'm tired, sorry! X3 )

Here it is~! Chapter 7~! I'm quite happy with this chapter. It sets something up that will happen later on in the story. \^v^/ I'm sorry this took so long to get posted, I'm trying my best.

Chapter 7 - Shadow in the Dark

Kanra's fingers released, and she heard the familiar sound of the arrow slicing through the air and hitting the target with a thunk. She loved that sound, and the feeling as if she became weightless when she fired it, as light as the arrow in mid flight towards the target.

It was one of the reasons she took up archery in the first place. Sitting on the banister she leaned back, using her well developed stomach muscles to not fall a complete 180° from where she was before, and stayed somewhere around 135°.

She knocked the arrow in the fingers of her right hand, holding the bow with her left. Kanra kept her eyes locked on the target she had put in the fireplace.

Breathe in,

She drew her bow back slowly, the lower digit of her thumb at the corner of her right eye, just at the cheek bone. She held the bow so she didn't grip the handle, letting it press against the pad of her palm directly below her thumb.

A mistake many new archers make is gripping the bow, which when fired, causes thier wrists to twirk back, which moves the bow, which then moves the arrow, messing up the shot.

Breathe out.

Her form was perfect, developed almost naturally; she hardly needed the arm guard to protect her from getting snapped by the bowstring when she first learned. Letting the bowstring roll expertly off the tips of her fingers, Kanra fired a second time. The arrow flew straight and true, hitting the target right in the center.

At the sound of keys fumbling at the door, Kanra swung back up without using her hands to help her, still holding the bow in her left hand and reaching for another arrow with her right. Gripping the banister with her right hand, Kanra stepped over with her back to the wooden railing, and hooked her boots under the bottom of it.

She let herself fall forward, knocking the arrow and drawing it back, stopping with the drawn arrow an inch from a startled face, aimed directly between their eyes, in one fluid motion. Kanra kept her face blank, a slight frown on her lips as she stared the tall woman eye-to-eye.

"KANRA ORIHARA GET THAT (cuss word of your choosing) ARROW OUT OF MY FACE RIGHT NOW OR I'LL KICK YOUR SORRY ASS TO JUPITER SO FAST YOU WON'T HAVE TIME TO EVEN THINK OF A SMART ASS COMMENT!" The woman shrieked.

Kanra laughed, letting herself drop, twisting in mid air so she landed softly on her feet. An unbearably irritating grin spread wide across her face, and her eyes sparkled in laughter. Just as Kanra opened her mouth, the angry Namie interrupted Kanra before she even could start to say a word.

"I said, SHUT UP! It was peaceful enough while you were gone, but now I come in and find you have been firing arrows all over the place and aiming at the multiple cardboard boxes scattered everywhere. I so much as blink and then there you are, pointing an arrow between my eyes!"

Kanra laughed again at the flustered woman, doubting she did much while Kanra was away. "Oh Namie-chan~," Kanra sang, "I wouldn't kill you~! I would miss your complaints, insults, and death threats too much~! And besides, who would I pay to hate my guts, boss around, and give me your unique, wonderful charm~? I doubt anyone would wake me up quite like you. It takes a lot to drop a ten inch thick book near Kanra Orihara's head~!

"Ikebukuro, Kanra, you could pay Ikebukuro to hate your guts. The entire city does. Hear me? All of your precious humans wish you would drop dead." Namie said, walking to her desk and throwing the box that was on top of it in the corner. That display of well-managed anger sent Kanra on a third bout of laughter, so much her side hurt, but not from the wound.

Kanra was watching the sunset from her perch on the banister, facing the windows. Just after the sun set, Kanra heard a knock at the door. Namie had left the second she was done with work, and Kanra knew there was no way she would return. Hopping down soundlessly onto the carpet, she flicked out the switchblade. Looking out the peep hole, she saw the hallway was empty. At her feet was a envelope that had been pushed under the door.

She picked it up, slicing the top open with her knife, and pulling out a note as she slowly walked towards her desk. She froze halfway there, heart in her throat.

Why did she feel like this now, and with him being the one they were now after, of all people? On the note, written in a sloppy scrawl, read:

Your punishment for disappearing has passed over you. It now falls on Hewajima.

She walked up to the window, looking down with a blank face. A familiar group of people were crossing the street. One stopped, then turned and waved at Kanra.

Taisho.

The note crumpled in her fist, and as soon as they had left, she sprang up the steps. She knew what she had to do.

A few minutes later, a silent shadow flew across the rooftops, leaping from building to building. It was dressed fully in black, everything covered except for the eyes.

She had met with Celty, and Celty helped Kanra disguise herself. She promised and explanation later, but Celty had waved it off. It was her idea to use contacts, to make her eyes as black as obsidian.

Kanra had brought her bow, and the quiver of arrows was strapped to her back. In addition, she had her sword, with a three foot blade. She couldn't use her signature knives. She wasn't going to let herself be identified, by either Shizu-chan or Taisho's men.

She let instinct guide her, and soon she came across Shizu-chan, walking along an alley, smoking a cigarette. Shizu-chan was apparently lost in thought, because he ended up walking straight into a dead end. There was a old building that collapsed in a fire, and a mountain of the charred rubble blocked the way.

Idiot. Kanra thought, as she watched Taisho's group approach Shizuo. Taisho wasn't there, however. Typical. Taisho is such a coward.

Shizuo stopped just short of a large pile of rubble, the remains of what must have once been a building. He bent the cigarette he was smoking, and rubbed it into the ground with the toe of his shoe. He turned around, and saw a group of men grinning and walking towards him.

One of them stepped forward and raised a crowbar. However, before Shizuo could do anything, an arrow streaked through the air, and caught the crowbar right at the gap, knocking it out of his hands.

...wait, an arrow?

In the next split second a solid black figure, a shadow really, dropped down and a long streak of silver slashed diagonally across the guy's chest. The figure rushed forward, jumping and landing in the heart of the group, which was in the intersection between two alley ways.

All Shizuo could do was watch, as one guy flew from the center of the group, landing on his back where he stayed still. Then another was knocked back, and got pinned to a wooden board propped up against the wall by an arrow, before the board snapped in half and fell on him.

Shizuo was able to catch a few glimpses of the Shadow, which he determined was female, and saw a sword slashing. Finally there were three left, one ran at the Shadow, but she just gripped his collar and flipped him, slamming him down on a second guy, then spinning and kicking the third guy in the jaw.

Shizuo walked closer, stopping three feet from the Shadow. She put her sword in its sheath, and stared him in the eyes. His breath caught in his throat, frozen my the burning black obsidian eyes.

Who is she?

Ok yes, there is quite a bit of archery. :3 It was fun to be able to use some of the more classic yet still highly badass weapons that sadly aren't in common use today. Now these days its all about guns and explosives (don't get me wrong, love explosions and all *not an arson though, I just like fire*) and no one would realistically bring a sword or bow to a gunfight. Archery is having a bit of a moment though, with movies like the hunger games, that one superhero movie with the dude with the bow that I can't think of, and others. Altough that isn't why I got into archery, I have just simply always loved the sport. I myself have a bow I bought last August for my birthday, and the guy at the store was an archery-fanatic. Just to be clear on one thing, the stance you have when you hold a bow could result in getting snapped when the bowstring as it flys by your arm. I wasn't sure if that was clear. For those of you that don't arch, please, send me a PM and I can give you all the information I know, or simply clarify on anything.

The thing with Celty helping out Kanra also sets up a future event. *still has plans.*