Disclaimer: (clinging to Tite Kubo's leg) Pleeeeeaaaasssssse let me own it. Pleeeeeeeaaaaassssse. (Still refusing) Damn. Must try different tactics… I don't own. (Not yet…)

I love the reviews, guys. Thanks, a lot. Your encouragement helps me to write.

Time for anonymous replies:

I3Bleach: Thanks for your fun reviews, and I'm sorry I didn't get to answer them sooner. I liked writing the rain scene, so I'm glad that you liked reading it.

--

"What are you cooking?" Shuuhei inquired, watching Kasumi's back from a safe distance. She didn't want him in the kitchen while she was working in it.

"Dunno. Do you want spaghetti or stir fry? I can do both."

"I vote stir fry!" a happy voice said way too close to her ear.

Matsumoto found herself having to dodge a well-thrown kitchen knife. "Don't sneak up on me! And when the hell did you get here?!"

"Just now!"

Shuuhei decided that it might not have been a good idea to follow along when Matsumoto made a shushing noise earlier. Kasumi had good aim. And a knife. Bad, bad combination.

Kasumi sighed at her neighbor's antics. She had nearly given her a heart attack. Said heart attack waiting to happen had flounced away into the living room, where she yelled, "You need a table!"

The foreigner twitched. "I'm not made of money! Didn't I tell you this yesterday?!"

Shuuhei made the wise decision to stay out of the way, while he watched Kasumi chop up some veggies with gusto. She was also muttering darkly to herself.

Matsumoto quietly snuck over to where Shuuhei was standing, making sure not to piss off her friend even more. Conspiratorially, she whispered, "Where does she get reflexes like that?"

He shrugged, but the question refused to leave his mind. "In my experience," he replied, keeping one eye on Kasumi, "one doesn't develop reflexes for anything unless it has happened before or if there was some sort of specific need for them." His gaze flicked to Matsumoto for a second. "And that's a bit scary."

Rangiku didn't push the issue, remembering the state of Kasumi's legs. The girl was a bit paranoid, but she probably had a good reason. Then again, the fact that the paranoia had a use also sort of disturbed her.

Sure, she had only met Kasumi the day before, but it didn't stop her from caring. She felt like she had known the girl for years. And, judging by how relaxed Shuuhei was, he seemed to feel the same.

Kasumi whipped her head around to stare at the two, making them feel cornered. Did she hear them talking? Their fears were assuaged when they heard, "Is chicken stir fry all right?"

They nodded vigorously, and—with a suspicious glance in their direction—Kasumi returned to her cutting board.

Matsumoto mused for a moment, before piping up, "The word paranoid doesn't fit her personality. Now, Twitchy, on the other hand…"

A twitch was all the warning the lieutenant got before a knife imbedded itself in the wall next to her left ear. "The comments from the peanut gallery are not amusing, nor are they welcomed." Calmly, Kasumi got out some semi-frozen yakisoba noodles and bashed them against the counter, breaking them in half.

Her neighbor and captain got the hint.

Unfortunately, Matsumoto was never one to listen to such things. Proof being how often she pissed off her captain. And she was on cloud nine—teasing Kasumi was even more fun than teasing Hitsugaya. He wouldn't actively try to kill her (most of the time) because he still held on to the thin hope that she would get some paperwork done—someday. Kasumi's reactions were funny and possessed a danger element. Enough said.

Shuuhei had more brains than that, or rather, he chose to use them. Realistically, he could probably take anything Kasumi dished out. On the other hand, he would not like to be poisoned by the food she was making.

Well, that…and the fact that no one had taken the chainsaw away from her yet.

--

"Shuuhei! Help me!" The Captain only stared blankly at his drinking buddy, who was currently pinned to the wall with a bunch of forks—the price for having tried to sample the food before it was done. At his lack of response, Matsumoto cried, "Why won't you help me?"

He thought that the reason was rather obvious. Kasumi was watching this exchange out the corner of her eye.

"She's giving me a free meal…" he started, trying to convey to his friend about his fear of getting poisoned. He messed it up, of course.

"What?! Are you trying to tell me that your stomach is more important than your friend?!"

He thought about it for a second. "…Pretty much, yeah."

Kasumi stopped paying attention, so that she didn't burn the food. Thus, she didn't notice that the other two had seen the small upward twitch of her mouth. Really, she didn't mind Matsumoto and her antics. In fact, she loved it. It made her feel like she was part of a family. This was also part of the reason why Arianri was still alive. Dead. Or…err…whatever. Thinking about it made her brain hurt.

Then again…

Matsumoto, in Kasumi's opinion, was actually worse than Arianri. She had no idea why she didn't mind the abuse, but it probably had something to do with being able to give it back. And, for some odd reason, she was irritated again.

Shuuhei and Matsumoto and shrunk back in terror when they saw the pulsing vein appear on Kasumi's head for no reason. Very, very scary.

Shaking her head, Kasumi blanked out her mind for the moment, and concentrated on turning the vegetables, noodles, and meat in her pan. While slightly burnt noodles were crunchy and tasty in her opinion, she felt that the others would disagree.

Man, her headache was getting bad…

…Kasumi…

She perked up, feeling her head twinge. "Hmm?"

Matsumoto (who had removed the forks with some help) and Shuuhei stared at her. "We didn't say anything," the lieutenant remarked, looking at the captain for confirmation. He shook his head.

Kasumi blinked, and then shrugged. Reaching to her left, she grabbed the thickening mixture she prepared earlier.

Kasumi.

She frowned, as the pain in her head strengthened. 'Datenshi? Was that you?'

The sword made a sleepy inquiry, making it rather clear that she had nothing to do with anything.

Turning off the stove, Kasumi dished the stir fry onto three plates and passed them out along with disposable chopsticks. Since she didn't have a table they all ate in the kitchen using the counters.

Kasumi!

A sharp lance of pain shot through her skull. Wincing a little, she set down her plate and hopped onto the counter, dangling her legs over the edge. She waved off the questioning glances from her friend and her captain. "It's just a headache," she explained. Thinking, she tried to figure out why that quiet voice calling her sounded so familiar, and she tried to place just why this was so.

As soon as she tried this, her head exploded with pain. Gasping a little, she put her head between her knees to try to lessen the throbbing. The edges of her vision swam with encroaching darkness.

This time, she could barely understand that whisper in the back of her brain. The waves of pain made it difficult to hear…the only clear part was her name.

Kasumi! …a…e…p, Kasumi!! …is...n…t…e, KASUMI!!

And then everything went dark.

--

She could taste salt, and something else she wasn't able to identify. A gasp of air escaped her lips, giving her an even better taste. This time, she recognized the metallic flavour.

Peering into the dark water around her, she could see the broken body on the seafloor, not even 10 feet away. Dark smudges floated up from it, but none of it reached her, for which she was thankful.

But then, where was the taste coming from?

Glancing down, she tugged futilely at the barbed wire wrapped around her legs. It was the dark smudge rising from it that she had sampled.

Blood.

Frantically, she jerked her head upwards. No, no…not this again! This isn't real anymore!

The little light that filtered down from the kelp was blotted out by many circling creatures.

This isn't where I die! This is a memory! She reached down, fingers scrabbling, trying to pull out the metal digging into her leg. Her fingers were heavy and slow in the salty water, and kept slipping on the barbs, cutting them.

THIS IS OVER!! MAKE IT STOP!! SOMEBODY!! ANYBODY!!

--

Kasumi's head snapped up, nearly colliding with Shuuhei's chin.

"You're awake!" Matsumoto cried, suddenly enveloping the girl in her Hug of Death. "Are you alright?!" When she didn't get a response, she only panicked and hugged her tighter. "Why aren't you answering me?! What's wrong?!"

Shuuhei rolled his eyes. "I don't think she can breathe, Rangiku."

"Oh!" The busty lieutenant realized her mistake and released Kasumi immediately. The poor girl inhaled and exhaled sharply a couple of times before catching her breath again.

"Are you okay?" Kasumi's captain asked her quietly. She managed to nod, not up to talking after the hug.

The other two let out a sigh of relief. When Kasumi had suddenly toppled off the counter and onto the floor, they weren't exactly sure what to do. Basically, they just panicked. Luckily, Kasumi had woken up after only a minute or so.

"What happened?" Matsumoto pressed, eyeing her friend with worry.

"I'm not sure. I had a massive migraine. I assume that the pain made me pass out."

Shuuhei was also looking at her with concern. "We should take you to Unohana."

Kasumi shook her head lightly, headache mysteriously gone. "No thanks, my head doesn't hurt anymore." They stared at her, and she felt a little cornered under the weight of their gazes. "Um…but…I'll go to see her anyway. Just to make sure nothing's wrong. Tomorrow."

They continued to stare for another minute. "No…that's all I'm going to concede…sorry."

Giving up, they decided that it was probably time for them to head home. After saying their goodbyes and walking out the door, Kasumi's tentative, fake smile that she had worn for them fell immediately. She didn't know what had just happened, or why, but she knew one thing for certain.

She didn't want to go to sleep.

--

Sorry for the excessive amount of hilarity in the beginning. It was important, and I couldn't make Matsumoto stop. It just wrote itself in.

I'm super, super sorry for the late update, though! I was planning to update earlier this week, but I had a test to study for and a paper to write. I have no idea when the next chapter is going to come out, either. School is picking up the pace (took them long enough).

Please review! Or I'll let Yachiru cut your hair. I have brownies for reviewers, too!