A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Writer's block strikes again! I think I've got it under control, now. So first off, I'd like to thank my new beta reader, AliceLovesCakes! Everybody give her a big round of applause! Yay! She's got her work cut out for her folks. Wish her luck. Lol. Any who… this chapter is kind of slow moving. The next few chapters will be that way, but they are all building up to something pretty big! Okay, enough of the spoiler stuff… On to the story! Enjoy!

CHAPTER TEN-

ILLUMINATING THE SHADOWS

Uryu Ishida, proud Quincy, sole heir to his father's legacy, best friend to the future Isaka Ju'oh… complete and total asshole. Uryu sighed aloud. Why couldn't he just stop thinking about what he wanted and concentrate on his friend? It was probably because he didn't really know what he wanted. He wanted Jazz to be happy. He knew that, but why did the thought of her being happy with Kurosaki make him feel the need to bash in a skull or two? He'd meant what he had said to the ex-substitute soul reaper. He really would kill him if he hurt her - but now he was looking for any excuse to make good on his promise. Why? Sure, he and Ichigo were never really the best of friends, but he didn't hate the guy. He was trouble but he never purposely hurt people that he cared about. He'd be good to Jazz. So, why was this bothering Uryu so much? Why was the thought of being forced into a marriage with Jasmine not bothering him as much as it should be?

Uryu stood outside Urahara's Shop, not really wanting to go inside. There were Soul Reapers in there. He could sense at least two aside from Kisuke and Tessai and he knew exactly which ones he felt. There was also a strong spiritual presence in the air but couldn't quite figure out what it was or where it was coming from. Something else was going on besides this mess with Jasmine and it had Ichigo Kurosaki written all over it, even though he was probably oblivious to it like always. He didn't really care about that right now, except that whatever was going on would involve Jazz by default just because of her new relationship with the ex-substitute Soul Reaper.

That relationship was what he was worried about at the moment. What the hell was she thinking? Every spiritually aware dumbass in Karakura could have sensed the reiatsu roller-coaster going on with Jazz last night… ALL NIGHT! Ugh! Uryu was disgusted. He'd put it together pretty quick about what she'd been doing as soon as he figured out that Ichigo had been with her. She really needed to learn some control over her spiritual pressure while she was… Nope! He didn't even want to finish that thought. He was more concerned with why it had felt so familiar. He'd remembered a few times that he'd felt her lose control at night years ago and she'd blamed it on nightmares. It had felt a bit darker then, almost like she had been afraid, so he'd believed her. Now he wasn't so sure.

He sensed her before he saw her. Jazz was walking up behind him, and she wasn't alone. Her reiatsu was almost overpowering even now that she had it under complete control. That was new. She'd been pretty strong before but nothing quite like this. Uryu turned to her and smiled as kindly as he could until he saw Ichigo walking beside her. His smile quickly vanished. He'd just sensed… something… from Ichigo. What the hell was that?

"Ishida." Ichigo nodded in a half-ass greeting.

Good. Uryu wasn't really in the mood to play nice with him today, anyway. "Kurosaki. You're late."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I had to work."

"You have a job? It's about time you quit being lazy!" Uryu was kind of surprised. All he'd seen Kurosaki doing so far was hiring himself out to random sports teams at school.

"Lazy? You don't know the half of what I've been doing!" Ichigo yelled.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Kurosaki! I know exactly what you've been doing." Uryu was about to blurt out that Ichigo had been doing his best friend but he figured a comment like that wouldn't earn him any points with Jazz so he kept it to himself and just hoped the jerk picked up on the insinuation.

"Okay, boys. Are we done with the macho stuff? I'd really like to get this over with." Jazz smiled at the two of them and shook her head before dragging Ichigo to the door and knocking loudly.

She looked back at Uryu with a knowing glance. She'd felt them, too. The Soul Reapers. Uryu looked at Ichigo who stood, smiling down at Jazz, like he didn't have a care in the world. That expression looked really odd on him. At least he wasn't brooding. Uryu really got tired of the constant scowl on Ichigo's face. He really shouldn't judge though. He imagined he looked about the same most of the time, now that he really thought about it. He shook his head at Jasmine, trying to signal her not to say anything about the others. Ichigo couldn't see them anymore and it wouldn't do anyone any good to let him know they were there.

The door slid open, startling the three of them. "Ah… How unexpected! If it isn't Ichigo Kurosaki… It's been a while. And you must be Jasmine. I've been just dying to meet you." Kisuke Urahara beamed at them from the doorway, stepping aside and waving his fan at them to enter. "Come on in. You too, Uryu. Have a seat in the kitchen there. I'll be with you in a minute. There are some… things I need to attend to."

Jasmine watched the strange shop keeper walk to the back of the shop and disappear behind a sliding screen as she followed Ichigo and Uryu into the little old world style kitchen. As they all took their places on the cushions around the low table, she found herself nestled awkwardly between the two men in her life. Looking at the both of them, she sighed and scooched a little closer to Ichigo.

They'd both warned her that Urahara was a little odd, but she was beginning to think that was putting it mildly. He had looked at Jasmine like he'd known her forever even though she was quite sure she'd never met the man before in her whole life. Uryu had told her many stories about him and so she knew he was much more than the ordinary shop owner he pretended to be. She'd heard about his past as a Soul Reaper Captain and how he was supposed to be some sort of genius scientist. She just hoped he was more like Albert Einstein and less like Dr. Frankenstein. Jazz leaned toward Ichigo and whispered, "How did he know who I was?"

Ichigo shrugged, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her a little closer. "Nobody knows with Hat & Clogs. He's kind of one of those people that… knows stuff."

Jazz smiled up at him, giggling a little, just as Uryu scoffed. "He knows stuff? What does that even mean?" He cleared his throat while Ichigo scowled at him over the top of Jazz's head. "Jazz, Urahara does 'know stuff'," he air-quoted, "because he's very smart, very perceptive, and VERY well informed. And who knows? I might have mentioned you a time or two in passing and he just made an educated guess. Besides…"

Jasmine turned a skeptical eye toward her friend. He was rambling. Uryu only tended to ramble when he was either tutoring her in advanced calculus (yuck), or when he was nervous; but why? Sure, the last 24 hours had been kind of insane, but there wasn't much for him to worry about except for maybe the whole pending marriage debacle. Ryuken would more than likely sort all of that out for them. Uryu had said so himself. She watched her friend closely. He was stone faced while he continued on listing random facts about Kisuke Urahara. She probably should have been listening but she'd tuned him out and was instead studying the dark circles under his eyes and how he never fully looked at her as her talked. Maybe it was the presence of the soul reapers she'd felt earlier. Maybe he had the same gut feeling she did that something wasn't quite right in Karakura Town.

Jazz reached out and laid a hand over Uryu's where it rested on the table finally silencing him. She waited for him to look her in the eyes and smiled gently. "Uryu, what's wrong?" She asked. Ichigo stiffened at her side but didn't say anything.

Uryu opened his mouth, then closed it again and shrugged before averting his eyes to a spot on the table in front of them. He pulled his hand slowly out from under hers and folded it along with the other hand neatly in his lap. "It's nothing… I'm just… tired, I guess." He looked at her briefly before staring down at his hands.

Ichigo leaned in close and kissed Jasmine's temple then whispered so quietly she barely even heard him. "Don't worry, okay? I'm sure he'll talk to you about it later when I'm not around."

Jazz glanced up at Ichigo and he offered her a reassuring smile. She couldn't help but smile back. How did she get lucky enough to find someone like him? Most other guys would never understand her friendship with Uryu without showing an ounce of jealousy.

The distinct click-clack of wooden sandals approaching pulled her out of her thoughts, along with the retreating spiritual pressures of at least two soul reapers. There was however, two more lingering close by. One more however, continued to linger close by. One that felt very familiar. She couldn't figure out why they would. She had never come in close contact with very many Soul Reapers. She mental shook of the odd feeling. Soul Reapers were not her enemy so it didn't really matter much who Mr. Urahara hanging around his shop. It was none of her business anyway.

"Thank you for being so patient with me." Kisuke crooned as he walked in and took a seat on the opposite side of the table. He kept his head down slightly so that the brim of his hat covered his eyes in shadow. For someone who seemed so warm and inviting, he had an air about him that warned of danger and power. Jazz hated that that she couldn't see his eyes. She was a firm believer in the old adage that the eyes were the windows to the soul. She supposed that was the reason she always kept her eyes down cast around most people. Just one more way to keep her secrets safe.

"So, what brings you kids here today?" Kisuke started, "Ah, I see. Miss Isaka, you've got a pretty messy problem don't you?" He leaned across the table and took Jasmine by the hand, startling her. "Don't be scared. I wouldn't hurt a fly. Besides, it'll only make your reiatsu spike again. We really need to get that pesky barrier out of the way."

Jazz was stunned, along with Ichigo and Uryu. All three stared open-mouthed at Kisuke like he'd just grown two heads. "What?" He asked with a dismissing wave of his fan. "I'm not a mind reader. Ryuken stopped by last night and explained the whole thing. He figured at least one of you might come to me for help."

Jasmine blinked and laughed nervously. "Oh, okay… but I… uh, I think I kind of handled that already."

"The barrier? Yes, he said you did a beautiful job of dissolving it for the most part but it will only build back up in time unless whatever causing it is completely eradicated. It's like… well, imagine a water hose connected to a faucet. Someone or something has tied knot in the hose. What you did last night loosened the knot a bit more and got the water flowing again." He explained as if he were teaching a room full of kindergarteners. "What we need to do now is remove it completely before it tightens back up."

"And find out who did it to begin with." Ichigo interjected. At least he was following along somewhat.

Jasmine was still desperately confused. "Okay… so if what I did was loosen the knot, or barrier or… whatever, then what happened before that? I didn't do anything at all to make my powers come back. They just did all of a sudden! I was just… talking… to Ichigo," she tried to hide the blush creeping up as she continued, "and then, BAM! Reiatsu overload!" She exclaimed. None of this was adding up. If the hollow she'd fought had the ability to steal reiatsu like she'd been told, then why hadn't it truly stolen hers? And how would someone know that she would believe her powers were gone after waking up from that fight? That would have had to have been more than just coincidence! Someone would have to have timed it perfectly. But who? And why would anyone want to do that? Her first thought was that it had to be Aria or the twins, but that would mean they had put her father at risk, too. They would never do something like that to him… would they? She sighed long and hard. "I have so many questions, Mr. Urahara. I don't even know where to begin." She admitted, slumping against Ichigo who squeezed her shoulders gently.

He looked up at Kisuke with a solemn expression. "Help her, please."

Urahara nodded. "Of course. I've already got someone in the Soul Society searching through the archives there for anything that might be used to block a person's spiritual pressure in this manner. Tessai and I will just need to run a few tests and…"

"Tests?" Uryu came to alert. "What kind of tests? Look Urahara, I know you're a scientist and all but that's exactly why I won't let you near Jazz with any of your damned needles or experiments!" Uryu stood, voice getting louder with each syllable.

"Whoa! Calm down!" Urahara laughed dryly. "Who do you think I am, Uryu Ishida?" The question was more of a menacing warning, and Uryu sat down immediately. "They'll be Kido scans. No one will even lay a hand on her, and… as I was saying, we should be able to figure out the best way to completely remove the barrier without causing much damage."

Jazz swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Much damage?"

Urahara smiled broadly. "Probably none at all. I just like to be prepared for all possible outcomes."

Probably… That was not very comforting. But Ichigo trusted Urahara and despite his earlier outburst, Jazz knew that Uryu did too. "Well then," She said as she bravely stood to her feet, "Let's get this party started, huh?"

A/N: Alright, what'd ya think? Kinda short, but I don't like to extend a chapter too much if it's mostly just dialog and information. Leave a review and tell me where you think this might be headed! I love hearing from you guys! Oh and before I forget, I read a fantastic story recently and I just had to ask permission from the author to give her story a little shout out. She said go for it, so everyone should go and check out Imagine I was Gone by sadsmile33. It's really amazing and not at all what you would think from the summary. It's cute and sad and funny and… well, it's great! Just go read it! Lol. And give her some praise in the reviews! Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me on this story. I really appreciate all of the support. Love Ya'll!