Twilight Marionette: Desu desu DESU!

Twilight Puppeteer: Huh!?

Twilight Marionette: I said Desu~!

Twilight Puppeteer: Trust me, I heard you the first time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, its characters, theme's, idea's or....oh hey it so sunny outside!

Chapter 11: That which is missing

"Why must you be so rough!?" Akatsuki moaned dramatically as Ichigo tried to examine her arm.

"Well if you held still it would be much easier!" Ichigo complained. He was trying to examine Akatsuki's arm and was having mixed success. Though Akatsuki hadn't mentioned anything to him on the way back to the clinic he had noticed her acting overly protective of her right arm. She tried to pull her arm away from him again and he squeezed her arm slightly.

Akatsuki jumped from the sudden pain and turned her head to face Ichigo, her expression a mix of pain and embarrassment. She stuck her tongue out at Ichigo and turned away from him to sulk and allowed him to look at her arm.

Ichigo grinned at her reaction and was happy that she was finally cooperating with him. He rolled up the sleeve of her white kimono and looked up and down her arm, gently turning it over so he could check for injuries. There were no marks of any kind on her pale skin, not even a single bruise or blemish, which Ichigo thought was strange since he was certain that there were foot prints on her kimono's sleeve.

"What did she do to your arm?" Ichigo asked.

"Hehe nothing really," Akatsuki started to answer.

Ichigo squeezed extremely lightly, causing her to jump again.

"Heheh she may of accidentally stepped on it a few times," Akatsuki replied in an unconvincing innocent voice.

Ichigo sighed at her response. It was obvious then that the woman had been repeatedly slamming her foot down on her arm, so Ichigo wondered why Akatsuki was being so forgiving about it. He gently felt his way up her arm as carefully as he could, checking for any signs that her arm was broken but was relieved to find nothing. However the pain in was causing Akatsuki told him that at the very least her arm needed bandaging up.

"Hold still a minute," he said as he got up and went over to his desk draw, opening it up he reached inside and removed a basic first aid box.

Akatsuki still hadn't turned to face him and sat with her back to him on the middle of his bed. She sat with her arms curled around her knees, letting her bury her head into her legs. She felt Ichigo prod her back and she obediently offered him her right arm which he took hold of careful and started to wrapped material around her lower arm where it hurt the most.

"So why did she 'accidentally' step on your arm half a dozen times?" Ichigo asked in a serious tone. When he had realized something was wrong he had found the Arrancar standing over Akatsuki, and it looked like she was trying to step on her face. He just didn't understand why she wouldn't say anything even though they both knew she was lying.

Though Akatsuki was hiding her face in between her legs she was sure her expression had turned dark. She felt very angry and frustrated and was trying her best to hide that from Ichigo. "Your very blunt Shinigami-san," Akatsuki said in a depressed voice. Just as she felt Ichigo tie off the ends of the bandage she wrenched her arm free and climbed off of his bed.

"Hey!" Ichigo protested to Akatsuki's back but she had already left his room and closed the door behind her. "Damn it, whats her problem?" Ichigo said out loud.

Isshin watched Akatsuki leave Ichigo's room, as she closed the door behind her she turned and rested her head against the door, her left arm cradled her right arm and she sighed heavily. Her white kimono reminded him greatly of the white kimono that shinigami who had lost their powers wore. While Akatsuki rested her head against Ichigo'sdoor she reached up and wrapped her fingers around the large silk scarf and pulled it free from her neck, revealing the thick bone collar around her neck that Isshin assumed was the remains of her Hollow mask. Her hand dropped away from her neck, the silken scarf wrapped tightly in her fingers.

Akatsuki turned to face Isshin who was looking her straight in the eyes. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Then she pretended not to notice him and slowly walked off down the corridor.

Isshin walked over to where she had been stood and knelt down, his fingers closed around the red silk scarf and he stood back up. It was softer then any silk he had ever felt and he wondered if it was stronger then it looked too. 'She's no fool, she knows I can see her, so why did she pretend not to notice?' he thought to himself.

------------------------------------------------------

Akatsuki sat up in her bed with the covers wrapped her as she hugged her knees, she felt like crying but she was too angry to cry, and in truth she didn't even know why she needed to cry at all. It was all so frustrating, that of all people, she, who could read the memories and thoughts of others would herself have amnesia. She fell onto her back and thrashed her arms and legs about like a child having a tantrum. Once she had got that out of her system she lay still on the bed, the only sound was that of her gigai's breathing.

"Ahhhh damn it, this is no good," Akatsuki said to herself and sighed. Everything was so confusing that it made her head spin. "Damn it damn it damn it!" She climbed out of bed and walked over to the window and looked out at the setting sun. There were going to be no stars tonight, she could tell, even though the sky was so clear and cold.

"What would sister think of me if she saw me like this?" Akatsuki said to herself and laughed. She could just imagine Hakumei standing over her and whacking her repeatedly on the head with her scythe and scolding her for being so soft. "That's right, I'll do the best I can! I'll just have to find whats missing!" she said to herself with conviction and punched the air with her good arm.

Then less enthusiastically she scratched her head and laughed to herself. "Now I just need to think of something to do."

------------------------------------------------------

"It would seem that Akatsuki is in Karakura town after all," Gin said in his oily voice, his usual grin spread across his face menacingly. Though Otono had come back defeated again he had let her live on a whim, after all, he thought it was more fun to watch her watch her back nervously. Besides, she had at least found Akatsuki. "However, she escaped us again it seems," Gin carried on, his voice showing his disinterest in such small details. It would of been much easier if was able to search for the girl himsef, and much more amusing as well, but he was awareas was Aizenthat their presense in the world of the living would be noticed by Soul Society almost immediately.

Aizen sat on his throne, his chin resting on his hand as he considered Gin's words. "I see, at least we now know where she is," he said in his usual charming voice. A smile played across his lips. He turned his attention back to the other occupants of the throne room. Stood to his left was Kaname Tousen, though standing in a relaxed manner he always seemed ready for action, his blank expression revealing nothing at all. Stood to attention in front of him was Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra, of all the Espada was the one who Aizen knew respected him the most. However he noticed that Ulquiorra seemed ill at ease, which was a very hard thing to tell and Aizen nodded his head ever so slightly towards him.

Ulquiorra took the nod as permission to speak. "With respect, Aizen-sama, would it not be easier if you send me to recover Akatsuki?" he asked in his stoic voice, his facial expression remaining completely unchanged as usual.

Aizen's smile widened slightly at the question. It was true of course, logically Ulquiorra was the best suited to finding his missing doll, his tracking and combat skills were very worthy of praise and he would make sure not to injure Akatsuki if at all possible. He waited for Ulquiorra to continue but Ulquiorra stood waiting patiently for Aizen to respond, his expression emotionless as always. What interested Aizen the most was that Ulquiorra had spoken up in the first place, he normally waited for orders respectfully, carrying them out with his usual cold hearted efficiency. "I have another task for you," Aizen stated plainly.

"As you wish, Aizen-sama," Ulquiorra replied.

------------------------------------------------------

Grimmjow yawned impatiently as he leaned cross armed against the cold stone wall outside of Aizen's throne room. He wasn't in the habit of eaves dropping but he had been bored, nothing of interest had happened lately at all since Akatsuki had ran from Aizen's grip. Besides, he knew that those in the throne room were aware that he was here listening in, so it wasn't really spying at all. They were talking about Akatsuki, the Arrancar who had apparently turned traitor against Aizen. At the time he had grinned at the news, Akatsuki had not seemed the type to do something like that, it wasn't like her at all. The fact that they still had not dragged her back only served to amuse Grimmjow even more and he grinned.

"What do you want?" Ulquiorra asked in a neutral tone of voice.

Inwardly Grimmjow flinched, he hadn't noticed Ulquiorra appear in front of him at all and his voice had come as a shock but he was careful not to let it show on the outside. He wouldn't give Ulquiorra that satisfaction. He slowly and deliberately stood up straight in front of Ulquiorra and looked down at him with a uninterested expression. "Nothing that concerns you," he said menacingly and grinned at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra's expression didn't change in the slightest but this didn't surprise Grimmjow.

"Is that so," Ulquiorra said in a matter of fact way, rather then as a question. Grimmjow's attempt at intimidation was wasted on him.

"Yeah," Grimmjow said and turned and walked away from Ulquiorra down the hallway, his footsteps echoing loudly in the huge space. He didn't hear Ulquiorra move but wasn't taken by surprise this time when Ulquiorra appeared in front of him, his sonido almost soundless. He ignored Ulquiorra's attempt to block his path and walked around him casually.

"What do you know about Akatsuki?" Ulquiorra asked Grimmjow, making him stop but not turn around.

"Ha!" Grimmjow exclaimed loudly and grinned. "Why ask me!? I'm sure I know nothing you don't already know," Grimmjow said evilly, amusement obvious in his voice.

Ulquiorra put his hands in his pockets and walked over towards Grimmjow and stood beside him, earning him an aggressive growling noise from Grimmjow which he ignored. "Do not hide anything from me," he said in a calm, emotionless voice. He didn't wait for Grimmjow's reply and slowly but purposefully walked off down the corridor.

Though his words and tone had been completely benign, Grimmjow had felt the threat in the words as Ulquiorra had walked away from him. However the hidden threat was wasted on Grimmjow and he just shrugged his shoulders. "As if I'd tell you anything," he said in a harsh tone of voice.

High up in the darkness of the hallway a figure stood upside down on the ceiling watching the two Espada walk away. Grimmjow suddenly turned and looked towards the ceiling but saw nothing there, the figure gone from the shadows. Though Grimmjow couldn't see or or sense anyone there he was sure whatever it was was still close enough to hear him and he was fairly sure who it was anyway. "If your worried about her, why not go after her yourself! I'm not gonna help you!" he shouted seemingly to himself. Receiving no response he tutted irritably and stalked off down the halls of Las Noches to find something to amuse himself.

------------------------------------------------------

"Akatsuki! Hey! Akatsuki you in there!" Ichigo half shouted as he banged on the door to her room. Though he wouldn't tell her, he had felt guilty about upsetting her yesterday night. Though he still wasn't really sure what he had said to upset her. "Hey!"

Ichigo turned to walk away when he heard the faint noise of someone falling out of bed, he turned around and stood patiently for the door to open but nothing happened. "Hey! Don't fall back asleep on the ground you lazy idiot!" he said and banged on the door again. 'Oh yeah, good idea, make her feel better by waking her up and calling her a idiot, damn it. I'm the one being a idiot!' he thought to himself and grimaced. This time it sounded like someone wrestling with a bed cover and losing, more silence, and then the sound of footsteps. Ichigo watched as the door handle turned and opened.

The door opened ever so slightly so that Akatsuki could peek through the gap, her golden eyes looked much better then they had yesterday after the attack Ichigo noticed which was a relief, they had looked so lifeless before. "Shinigami?" Akatsuki said in a sleepy voice, the word ending with a yawn which she stifled with her hand.

"Hey, about yesterday," Ichigo started but hesitated as he wasn't very good at this kind of thing.

"Huh? What?" Akatsuki said quietly and yawned again.

"I just wanted to apologize, that's all, I felt like I might have said something to upset you," Ichigo said in a serious voice, his gaze intently locked onto her sleepy eyes.

"Yesterday?" Akatsuki said and almost fell asleep at the door.

"Can we talk?" Ichigo said and moved towards the door which Akatsuki opened lazily and he walked inside. The room was a mess, not that there was much in the way of furniture and items to make a mess with. But Akatsuki had done an admirable job with the pillows and covers from her bed. 'She really did fall out of bed' he thought and grinned. He picked up the pillows and covers and started to make her bed. "Anyway, sorry about yesterday, whatever it was I said, but, I think I deserve to know what she was talking about, don't you?" Ichigo said in a kind but serious voice.

"Its not easy," Akatsuki said to Ichigo, she cradled her right arm without thinking. "Truth is, I have no idea whats she's talking about."

"Seriously? She said some pretty harsh things to you. Most people don't attack you like that over nothing either," Ichigo said curiously as he fluffed the pillow and put it at the head of the bed. He turned around to continue and stopped dead, his face turned red as he blushed. Only now did he notice. Akatsuki was all but naked, all she had on was a pair of panties and nothing else, her long red hair was spilling over her shoulders, hiding her breasts from sight. 'Damn it! Not good!'

Noticing Ichigo turn red Akatsuki closed her eyes and smiled innocently. "Yes?" she said.

"I, well, the thing is," Ichigo stuttered.

"Is something wrong Shinigami-sama?" Akatsuki asked innocently. She reached up towards her hair to brush it from in front of her body.

Ichigo turned even more red and ran from the room and slammed the door behind him. "Join us for breakfast when you dressed!" he said from behind the door and hurriedly walked off.

"Hehehe," Akatsuki laughed to herself and walked over to her cupboard and withdrew the outfit Urahara had given her before. Once she was dressed she spent nearly 15 minutes brushing her long hair till she was satisfied that is was evenly smooth and soft and jumped to her feet. "Right!" she said enthusiastically and grinned. "Time to find whats missing!"

------------------------------------------------------

"Good morning Akatsuki-chan!" Yuzu said happily as Akatsuki entered the kitchen to join them for breakfast. In truth Akatsuki was hardly even hungry but it felt like the right thing to do, after all, they were being so kind to her it would be wrong not to accept. But she still didn't understand why they would be so kind to a total stranger.

"Good morning Yuzu-chan," Akatsuki said and smiled at Yuzu as she passed by. Akatsuki had noticed that Yuzu liked to do all of the housework, including cooking most of the families meals. Akatsuki could feel the happiness from her whenever she was busy like this, it was a pleasant feeling. Akatsuki sat down at the table next to Ichigo's father, Isshin and placed her hands on her lap and waited politely. Ichigo, who was sat opposite her was doing his best to avoid eye contact and sat with his elbow on the table to support his head. Akatsuki's expression narrowed and a evil smile played across her lips.

Karin had noticed Ichigo's and Akatsuki's respective expressions and was interested in a otherwise boring part of the day. "My my, whats this then?" Karin said sarcastically to her brother. "Shes giving you the evil eye Ichigo."

"You know now that you mention it your right Karin-chan!" Isshin piped up and looked between Akatsuki and Ichigo several times.

Ichigo ignored his sister and father, they would never let him forget it if they found out he had walked in on Akatsuki naked. He could just see it now, his father giving him the thumbs up and saluting him and spouting some nonsense about him becoming an adult. Karin would just mock him for the next few days until she got bored and Yuzu would blush and scold him for invading Akatsuki's privacy. He mentally willed Akatsuki not to say anything, but that evil expression didn't give him much hope. 'She wouldn't dare! Would she?'

"It's nothing, I just don't feel well, that's all," Ichigo said dismissively.

"Oh my!" Akatsuki said in mock shock, which didn't match her evil expression and smile. "Maybe next time you shouldn't run off so fast," she said sarcastically.

Ichigo nearly choked and turned to face her, unable to stop himself from blushing slightly. His father and sisters both suddenly had their attention focused on Akatsuki. "What do you mean!" Ichigo stuttered out.

"Oh I'm sorry I misheard, ignore me," Akatsuki said happily and waved her left up and down dismissively towards Ichigo. She smiled cutely at Yuzu as she placed some toast down in front of Akatsuki.

Yuzu then served Ichigo and noticed that he had gone back to looking depressing and she sighed and patted him on the head which snapped him out of it. "Poor Ichigo! If your not feeling well you should go back to bed," Yuzu said in a stern but caring tone.

"Yes poor Ichigo," Akatsuki said.

"Sorry to worry you Yuzu, I'll be fine, just having trouble concentrating is all," Ichigo said and took a bite out of his toast.

"You didn't seem to be having trouble concentrating earlier Ichigo," Akatsuki said sarcastically, causing Ichigo to nearly choke. She watched in interest as Ichigo suddenly jumped to his feet and quickly walked around the table to Akatsuki and grabbed her hand.

"I just remembered, I promised to show Akatsuki around today! We should really get going!" Ichigo said and dragged Akatsuki to her feet and hurried her out of the house before anyone could say anything. Akatsuki waved to Yuzu as Ichigo dragged her out of the door.

"Ho ho, how very interesting!" Isshin said to himself and crossed his arms and closed his eyes as if in deep thought. Akatsuki seemed much more full of life then she had last night and that relieved him, he wasn't sure what was wrong or what had happened but he was glad that she wasn't letting it get her down.

"That was nice of brother wasn't it," Yuzu said in a sweet voice.

Both Isshin and Karin looked at each other and grinned wickedly.

------------------------------------------------------

"So where are we going?" Akatsuki asked curiously as Ichigo pulled her along the street. Ichigo seeing her naked didn't mean very much to her but she decided to pretend she was holding a grudge, at least for a little longer. Ichigo was so childish she thought.

"We are not going anywhere, I'm going on patrol with Rukia" Ichigo said and stopped walking once they were a good distance away from the clinic. "You know you really need to be careful what you say, people might get the wrong idea," Ichigo scolded her.

"Who might get the wrong idea?" Akatsuki asked innocently.

Ichigo was about to answer her when he realized that that innocent question was a trap, he steeled himself for what he knew was coming.

"And what wrong idea is that?" said Rukia in a curious but harsh tone. Ichigo slowly turned to face her.

"Nothing at all!" Ichigo said defensively.

Akatsuki lifted her left arm and Ichigo's right arm along with it into the air. "You might want to let go of my hand first," Akatsuki pointed out sarcastically. Ichigo let go of her hand, allowing her arm to fall to her side. She put her hands together behind her back and leaned forward towards them both and smiled evilly. "I'll leave you two love birds to your patrol," Akatsuki said and ran off down the street.

"How are things going?" Rukia asked once she was sure Akatsuki was out of earshot.

"Theres no problem," Ichigo said bluntly. "We better get going."