Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach in any shape or form. I merely own Maya.

Thank you all for the wonderful favorites and follows. Now to answer my wonderful reviewers.

Sonata Fuling: Thank you for your review. I am aware that this was a rather dark and emotional chapter but I wanted to develop her character more. I didn't want her to be seen as just another OC in a story. I wanted to make her seem human even if she isn't. And don't worry, this chapter might be late but it is updated ^-^

the below average: Awe ^^ Thank you for your wonderful review. I know this chapter is a little late but as promised, it is here.

humble servent: As I said, I know this is a rather dark chapter and as for it clashes with other chapters, I wish to ask you why you would say something like that? I thank you for your review ^-^

Kurochan12: Thank you for the review ^-^ Its a pleasure!

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Where The Wild Roses Grow

Chapter Ten: Cursed Parakeet.

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An ambulance siren could be heard in the not too distant streets.

"A cursed cockatiel?" the boy asked in disbelief as he looked at the bird inside the cage, his eyes sceptical at the new information.

"Well, all its previous owners died some kind of violent death..." the other boy replied, slightly nervous to be talking about such a subject.

"Really? That's freaky..."

There was a short pause. Glances were given amongst the two.

"Shigeo, you want it?" the one who had brought the bird in the first place asked, he must have been told to get rid of it, or maybe it was just a hunch. The poor boy didn't want to end up dead like the previous owner.

"What? After what you just said? Hell no!" he backed away a bit to prove his point; he wanted nothing to do with the cursed bird.

Glancing towards the familiar mexican, he raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Chad, how about you, it's cute...?" Said person looked at the bird and for a while silence ensued between the group but nonetheless, he had to admit, the bird was rather cute.

"Stop it man, you know Chad has a weakness towards cute things." Shigeo whined aloud as he tried to change Chad's mind.

They were next to a construction site, a long way above them, something blurry moved, although none of them noticed it. One of the steel girders that wasn't properly secured somehow fell over the edge, straight towards the group on the ground. The bird shrieked and started flapping about with its wings.

Hunched over, a steel girder lightly bent across his back and head, a grunt escaped Chad's lips.

"Chad... are you okay?" the boy who had brought the bird there asked in disbelief, his eyes wide.

"It's nothing." a substantial amount of blood came down from his forehead and the two stared at him in utter shock.

"Nothing? You're bleeding!" They exclaimed but all was silent when the so called "Cursed Parakeet" spoke.

"My name is Shibata Yūichi, what is your name mister?" the bird asked, intrigued by the man who just saved them all.

"What is with this bird, it's talking like a real person!" Shigeo said, once again backing away slightly to prove that his assumption was correct. This Parakeet was cursed.

"What is your name mister?" Yūichi Shibata questioned again.

It took a moment for the tall mexican to answer. "Yasutora Sado, I'm 15 years old." He introduced himself as worried glances were shot between the other remaining two.

"Check it out. Chad's interested in the bird."

"I'm going now!" To be fair, Maya didn't actually know why she bothered announcing her departure; due to the fact that nobody even cared. Well pretended not to care.

Sighing loudly under her breath, the silver haired girl slowly made her way towards school; her mind void of any thoughts, blocking anything that could remind her of that night out.

She was still hesitant to return to school, knowing a certain orange haired boy and a Soul Reaper with no powers would be hot on her trails; asking questions left and right, demanding where she had been or wanting to know why the hell she didn't do to help Orihime and Tatsuki.

But in that moment, Maya honestly didn't know what to say or do, but in their opinion, they had every right to question her actions. She scoffed as she kicked at a pebble, watching as it flew through the air. "I wish I could have a humanity switch. If so, mine would be off permanent. These emotions. So disgusting." She had been so different before she discovered her true nature.

She wasn't so violent, so distant and so cold. But now, it honestly felt like her humanity was slipping away and though it sounded awesome not feel or have any emotions, the thought of it sounded horrible.

Silence followed her as she walked towards the massive structure known as Karakura High School; the sound of her feet hitting the pavement ringing in her ears as she blocked out all around her. It would have been a lot easier if she could just flash-step towards her destination but what would a sane person do if they saw a silver haired girl disappearing and the appearing a further distance away?

And besides, she didn't want to be grounded for another week and have double chores to do around the house, managing Jinta's work was hard enough, considering as the red haired boy always made sure to torment her for every second she was doing his chores for the day. Ugh! What she wouldn't sacrifice just to shove a Cero down his throat.

It didn't take long for Maya to reach her destination, and soon realized that it was lunch already. Mustering up enough courage, Maya found herself walking towards the spot where she knew Tatsuki and Orihime were. She had to at least start somewhere; Tatsuki and Orihime were the first ones she felt the need to apologize to.

Sitting underneath their familiar shade, Maya sighed as she approached the group, her hands trembling but soon vanished when a familiar busty haired girl flung herself at the silver haired girl; said girl's eyes widening as she stumbled back.

"Oh Maya," the girl gushed catching everyone in the group's attention. "I'm so glad your alright! I thought that the sumo wrestler who crashed into my house turned out to be alien in disguise," she took a deep breath. "And that he kidnapped you and did all kinds of experiments on you!" Looking at Maya expectantly, the grey eyed girl didn't blink as she observed her silver haired friend.

Staring at her friend with a dumbfounded expression, "Sumo Wrestler? Disguised Alien? Experiments?" Maya murmured with a raised eyebrow as Tatsuki stood from her comfortable sitting position.

"Don't mind her overactive imagination Maya," Tatsuki stated. "She's on one of those daydreams again." Blinking at the tom boy, Maya barely had time to reply before Orihime yanked her towards the group, blabbering about something with red bean paste and honey.

"Geez there's not even a trace of that burn left," Kurosaki Ichigo exclaimed aloud. "It's nearly healed in just one day." Rubbing his forehead, Kuchiki Rukia stood behind him, a grin on her face at the compliment.

"Don't be so surprised," she said with proudness thickening her voice. "I got the best grades in my Kido class and I have a talent for it." She bragged. "Healing your wound was easy."

Ichigo craned his head to stare at her. "You got graded?" He questioned. "So what then? There's a school for Soul Reapers?" He asked curiously.

Holding a juice box in her hand, the raven haired girl confirmed his question, "Huh? You could call it that." A dumbfounded expression formed on her face as she questioned, "Tell me how do you open this thing?"

Staring at her for a few moments, Ichigo demonstrated how to do it. "You just use the sharp end of your straw." She frowned.

"What straw?!" She exclaimed frustrated

"So, it looks like you're together again." Glancing towards the owner of the voice, Ichigo frowned. "Uh-huh, you two seem pretty chummy."

"Mizuiro, shut-up. C'mon, does it really look like we're chummy?" Kurosaki Ichigo questioned staring at Mizuiro.

Looking at them closely, he added after a pause. "Maybe. Well, to be honest, the two of you do appear to be very close, but still, people are gonna talk about you two, and if they talk enough, everyone will think you're an item." Mizuiro exclaimed and the orange haired strawberry merely blinked.

"If I really cared about what others thought, I would've dyed my hair black a long time ago." Ichigo exclaimed with a dull expression.

Rukia hadn't looked up once from examining the juice box to see what was going on between Ichigo and the new presence. She soon found herself thinking aloud as she marvelled at the human world invention, unknowingly drawing attention to herself. "So this is the straw! It's short, but now I have to know where do I poke it?" A light tap on her shoulder had her looking up to meet the curiously gleaming eyes of a young looking black-haired boy.

"Hi there," he said jovially. "How ya doin!"

Rukia immediately put on her perky personality like a second skin. "Why hello there! You're um, Mizuiro?"

He chuckled happily. "That's me. I guess we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Mizuiro Kojima. I really like-"

"Reading books and picking up girls." Ichigo said cutting the now wide-eyed Mizuiro.

"What? That's not true Ichigo. Why would you say something like that?." He asked and Ichigo merely glanced at Rukia.

"Hey Rukia, watch out, he may look like a nerd but he's a player." Ichigo warned as he glanced at Rukia's direction, a sigh escaping his lips as the girl still continued to poke and probe at her juice box.

"Eh just forget it," Ichigo sighed, seeing how she wasn't even paying attention. Suddenly an overly cheerful voice broke through his thoughts.

"You know I go for the older girls, right?" Mizuiro questioned and Ichigo nodded.

"That's exactly why I said watch out." He muttered under his breath, the sudden sound of footsteps reaching his ears. Glancing towards the sound, he soon found himself staring at a familiar silver haired girl, a sudden flashback running through his mind.

He frowned as he could clearly see that the girl was visibly shaking, her hands fumbling with each other as she held her bento box in front of her. Her eyes connected with his and he raised an eyebrow. "Hi." She greeted with a bright smile, her hand raised in a waving motion.

Mizuiro and Rukia glanced at the newcomer and Mizuiro returned the gesture. "Oh. Hello Maya." She smiled lightly and turned her attention towards Rukia and Ichigo.

"Could I talk to you two for a second?" This seemed to catch Rukia's attention and her juice box was now for the moment delayed. Moving towards them, Maya led them a few feet from prying ears and took a deep breath, all the while avoiding their gazes.

"What's this about?" Kurosaki questioned, raising a eyebrow as she flinched.

"I-," she took a deep breath. "Wanted to apologize for the other night." Before they could pipe in, she continued. "I was there the night Orihime and Tatsuki got attacked and I-" her hands clenched tightly. "And I'm sorry for not being there to protect them. I ran away because I was scared. And I know you two have every right to be mad at me. If it wasn't for you two, Orihime and Tatsuki would be dead because I was too much of a coward to help." a firm hand was placed on her shoulder and much to her surprise it was Rukia's hand.

Staring into said girl's violet orbs, she gave Maya a reassuring smile. "As you saw, Orihime and Tatsuki are fine. There's nothing to worry about alright. The only thing that matters are that they are alright and safe. Its past as one shouldn't dwell on it. Don't blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault."

Rukia now had both Maya's and Ichigo's attention, both staring at her with an expression that could be described as respect and awe. Nodding her head, Maya opened her mouth to reply but a familiar voice broke the unwanted silence. Maya frowned as Rukia then turned her undivided attention to the almost forgotten juice box.

"What's this? Rukia Kuchiki the hot new transfer student is here with you guys? How did that happen?" Keigo was practically bouncing on his toes with glee.

"Ichigo picked her up. He's the one who brought her here." Mizuiro shot Ichigo a look of triumph.

"I did not!" Ichigo protested.

He was promptly ignored. "Ichigo did! What a guy! Good job!" Keigo burst out, stars practically dancing in his eyes as he openly stared at an oblivious Rukia.

"Well I guess. It's really no big deal." Ichigo tried to sound nonchalant as he stared at Keigo, willing the brown haired boy to shut the hell up, but as everyone knew, Keigo Asano wasn't one to actually listen.

Throughout their whole back-and-forth, Rukia hadn't looked up to acknowledge either one of them, too preoccupied with haphazardly poking at the resistant juice box.

Rukia looked up suddenly as a brown-haired boy enthusiastically dropped to his knees in front of her. "Greetings, I'm Keigo Asano! Welcome lovely lady to this garden of manliness!"

"Uh, hello." She was too shocked to use her cheery voice, staring up at the brown haired boy in confusion.

"Yeah! Lunch party! Right here! Right now!"

"Some party, noodles and juice," Mizuiro broke in. Standing there with a dumfounded look, Maya honestly didn't know where she fit in. Everyone seemed so- so open and friendly and here she stood like an idiot.

"Shut-up, it's the feeling that counts!" Keigo snapped at his friend before turning his attention back to Rukia. He tried to make his voice suave and low as he said, "So, Rukia, if you find yourself needing anything you just call on me. I'm here for you."

And Rukia decided to use Keigo's offer to her advantage. "Oh? Great open this!" she exclaimed, shoving the still unopened juice box at the boy.

But as Keigo went on to gladly do as she commanded, he promptly bumped into Chad.

"Chad... you're injured." and indeed he was, his forehead was wrapped in bandages, and his right forearm was bandaged. They waited for his explanation, even Maya glanced at him to assess the injuries.

"Yeah, the one on my head is from a steel girder that fell on me yesterday, the one on the hand is from a collision with a motorcycle, the rider was hurt badly so I had to carry him to the hospital and that's why I'm late."

Maya was surprised but didn't show it, this young man was sturdy and probably strong and she briefly wondered what the hell this guy was made off.

Chad on the other hand didn't think much of Maya's presence on the roof. His reasoning was simple, if Ichigo was fine with her being here, he was fine with it too.

"Man, I still don't know what you're made of." Ichigo proclaimed as he stared at his friend in awe and worry.

Chad put down a birdcage and everyone looked at it, some more interested than others.

"Hello, my name is Shibata Yuuichi, what is your name?" the bird spoke to them and it was only then that Maya could sense it. The lost little soul of a boy was trapped within that bird and by the looks of it Rukia and Ichigo sensed it too.

Blocking out everything and everyone around her, Maya merely kept her gaze on the little bird. A frown settling on her forehead. She would have to bring this up to Kisuke and to be honest, she had never seen something like this before and now, watching the saddened look reflecting in the birds eyes, she wondered how and why such a small little soul could carry such a heavy burden.

It would seem that after consulting with Urahara about her finding at school; the silver haired Arrancar could find now rest as she tossed and turned on her futon, her eyebrows knitted together.

That little soul carried a heavy burden on his shoulders and Maya was sure, that this time, she vowed to herself that she would never run away when someone needed help and she would never ever turn her back on someone who needed it the most.

"Out of the way!" Karin yelled as she almost ran into Ichigo.

"What's going on?" he knew that there was probably a medical emergency at hand, seeing his sisters dressed in small nurse uniforms.

"There was a big traffic accident at the intersection nearby. We have a lot of people that need help." was Yuzu's reply and even though despite the situation, he would admit that his sisters looked rather adorable.

He heard his dad yelling at someone and went to see if he could help in any way. "Dad, anything I can do to help?" he asked after Isshin hung up with whoever he was talking to on the phone.

"No, just stay out of the way." Isshin didn't even look at him as he left the room, he stood to the side, waiting to see if something needed to be done to help.

"Oh, this is a big one, Ichigo, get your ass here, you have work to do!" Isshin yelled from the other room some time later.

Ichigo recognized the hunching mexican right away, his two sisters were barely holding up Chad, he was struggling to stay on his feet.

Karin however was focused on the strange bird, she felt a presence inside it, but she also felt something else from it, a memory...

"Phew, this is a bad wound, you'll have to stay here for a while." Isshin said as he did his best to disinfect the giant paw print on Chad's back.

"That isn't necessary, I'm fine." Chad took the birdcage in one hand, and his shirt in the other. He made three steps before collapsing like a tree.

"Told you so..." was Isshin's answer to all that. "Alright, let's put him to bed..."

After they placed him in the bed to rest, Ichigo left to his room, Rukia was already in there, sitting on his bed, a concentrated expression on her face.

"Did you feel it?" Ichigo asked seriously, closing the door behind him, the silent agreement was that they would be quiet while in his room; to avoid further incidents with Isshin.

"Yes, once again I felt nothing from the bird, but the wound is definitely from a Hollow." She informed him and Ichigo nodded.

"Should we give it a burial while Chad is asleep?"

"No, there is something more happening here, we wait to see what it is. My guess is that there is a Hollow chasing the soul inside the bird, we should lure it out first." Rukia explained with a expression that could only be described as serious.

"Yeah, that makes some sense, besides, we can keep an eye on Chad if he's close." Ichigo agreed.

"We will have to interrogate him in the morning, he knows more than he lets on." Rukia remembered the 'story' how Chad got the bird.

Kurosaki Karin on the other hand, tossed and turned in her bed, sweat rolling off her forehead as she recalled the memories she now shared with that bird and to be honest, those memories were far from pleasant.

"Good morning!" Yuzu greeted as her brother came to the kitchen.

Ichigo rubbed his head as he came downstairs instantly noticing the lack of a certain black haired girl.

"Good morning. Where's Karin?"

"She said that she's not hungry, she's feeling sick today."

That was something new, he could clearly see that Yuzu was anxiously waiting to get everything ready for him and dad so that she can go and devote herself fully to Karin before school.

"She's sick? I guess there's a first time for anythi-" he was cut off as Isshin burst into the room.

"Ichigo! Chad disappeared from his room." there wasn't much else that could get Ichigo moving so fast, so early in the morning.

Making her way down the path she always took to school, the lack of sleep started to catch on the silver haired girl, a humming tune sounding from her. Her mind travelled on what Rukia had said to her an she still couldn't help but feel guilty. But thus yet again, she woke up late and this time, she knew she wouldn't get off so easily. She briefly wondered if Ichigo and Rukia solved the bird problem but that all came to an end when she spotted a rather familiar face walking in the confinement of a warehouse.

"What the-?" She frowned, school was now the last thing on her mind as she ran up towards the tall mexican known as Yasatoru Sado or rather Chad.

"Mister, I'm really sorry, this is all my fault. All the people who owned me met misfortune. I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry, I don't mind." Chad assured the bird.

"Mister, don't worry about me, you should just leave me."

"I can't do that." He protested back.

"Mister, please just leave me."

"Don't worry, being sturdy is my only worth anyway."

Chad saw something move above him, he looked up but didn't see anything strange.

"Move!" Barely seeing the silhouette of a silver haired girl sprinting towards him, he could barely see a silhouette of something big falling towards him. He jumped forwards, dodging the blow that destroyed a part of the wall.

"It found us." He ran, holding the cage tightly jumping through the window that was close by. He needed to hide, but he couldn't just hide anywhere. He needed a place where he could stay without other people getting hurt. There was a park close by, but the path there would take him close to the clinic.

Watching his figure disappear, a huff came from her lips. "I blame this stupid Gigai!"Cursing, she followed shortly after.

Ichigo and Rukia were close to the clinic when they saw Chad. He saw them too, before he turned and ran the other way and soon after, a familiar silver haired girl was seen skidding around the corner before taking after him.

"Dammit! Chad! Maya!" About to sprint after them, his blood ran cold when he heard a whimper.

"Ichi-nii..." He turned to see Karin leaning to a wall, dangerously wobbling.

"Karin! What's wrong, you look like you can barely stand!" True to his words, she fell to her knees. "Karin!" He ran for her, checking her up, having a doctor as a father had a few benefits.

"Ichigo. Take her home, I'll go after him. " Rukia spoke after seeing him worry over his sister.

"But-" He didn't want to leave his sister, he didn't want to let Chad go, he didn't want to leave Rukia alone with a Hollow around or for that matter Maya. He couldn't be everywhere.

"Don't argue! I can't have your concentration breaking in the middle of a fight." She was right, he hated to admit it, but she was right, if he left his sister, he wouldn't be able to think about anything else. He resigned to his duty.

"Rukia, if you and Maya can't handle him, don't try and be a hero, alright?" His voice was serious and showed genuine care.

"Fool, like I would give you the chance to worry over me... now go!" while the emotions in her voice were a lot less obvious, they were there.

Ichigo ran towards his house as Rukia sprinted to join Maya in their chase to catch Chad.

"Karin, how do you feel?" he asked as he ran, still trying to figure out what was wrong with his sister.

"Ichi-nii..."

She was crying, that wasn't supposed to be happening. His sister never cried.

"I saw it, I saw the strongest memory from the ghost... I saw it... right in front of him, his mother... his mom was killed right in front of his eyes." He stopped dead in his tracks, being a Shinigami had a tendency of bringing out all the worst memories he had to the surface.

"Please...Ichi-nii, please... save him..."

Still sprinting after him, Maya cursed the lack of speed she had. Hearing footsteps behind her, she glanced back and saw a familiar raven haired face. It wasn't long after that Rukia was finally in step with Maya.

"Rukia! What's going on?" Glancing at the girl beside her, Rukia turned her attention to the matter of hand.

"I'll explain later. We have to get to that bird before-"

A sudden eerie sound echoed around them and Maya skidded to a halt. It sounded and felt so much like a Hollow. "You smell really nice..." The voice was deep and unmistakeably from a Hollow. Rukia stopped right away, looking around frantically, trying to find the source.

"How about letting me have a taste?" it was behind her, whispering in her ear. Maya's eyes widened as she noticed how close it was. "You smell delicious. Wonderful. Time to eat your soul." It opened its maw and lunged at them, both rolling out the way as they then turned towards the Hollow.

"So you're still alive? You're tougher than I thought and you could see me clearly. That makes me curious. Just who are you?" Narrowing her eyes, Maya lunged as she sent her knee crashing into the hollow's mask, using the momentum and pushed herself into the air.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." As the incantation fell from her lips, Rukia had also sent her own attack on the Hollow, flipping herself over the Hollow, she too, pushed herself in the air. "Hadō #33. Sōkatsui!" A burst of blue spiritual energy escaped Maya's hands as she sent the Kidō attack towards the Hollow, just as Rukia sent her own.

Landing on opposite sides of each other, they both had small smiles on the faces but it soon vanished as from the smoke, the Hollow emerged...unscratched and unharmed.

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"Rukia!"

A yell.

A gasp.

A fountain of blood.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

Author Note: Wow! I think that was a rather long chapter from me. There wasn't much Maya in here but I am going to try and write longer chapters. Please review and let me know. And could you please tell me if Maya is Mary-Sue?