Dancing Flower
Bleach Fanfiction
Mayuri/OC
Family/Hurt/Comfort
Chapter 11
I don't wanna stop

All my life I've been over the top
I don't know what I'm doing
all I know is I don't wanna stop

All fired up I'm gonna go till I drop
you're either in or in the way
don't make me, I don't wanna stop

I Don't Wanna Stop-Ozzy Osbourne

Mai waited until her targets were totally unaware before she jumped them. She watched from behind a nearby corner, her spirit powers effectively hidden away. The boy was the first to exit from the storehouse, tired and pale. He brushed his long black hair out of his eyes and turned to address his sister.

"Come on, Sayomi," the boy bit out harshly, roughly taking his sister by the hand. "We can't waste any time here. We have to hide."

"You're so nervous, Enma," noted the girl timidly as she too stepped out into the blinding sun. She blinked rapidly and tugged nervously at her Shihakusho, cowering slightly beneath her larger brother. "Why are we running, they're not after us."

"I'm not taking any chances," snapped Enma, his hard black eyes glaring through Sayomi's skull. Mai shook her head; he was so mean to his sister, and she just let him push her around. In a way, the teen felt kind of bad for what she was about to do. Carefully, she pulled away from the corner and crossed her legs. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

Next to her the air began to charge with electricity as the Reishi molecules began to vibrate at sonic speeds. Mai didn't open her eyes to watch what was happening next to her, but she knew that electrons were connecting to create a real image of herself. When she finished the entire process she sighed wearily and looked up,

"Hey there, good-looking," she teased as the clone of herself smiled cockily, "You know the plan, right?"

"Of course I know the plan," Mai's clone replied. "I'm you, remember?"

"Well let's get started then."

Sayomi and Enma were barely down the street when Mai leaped down from a nearby building and blocked their path. She snickered as they came skidding to a halt and stood frozen. Mai brushed the blue hair out her eyes and grinned.

"I have to admit, you two are hard to find. I spent all day yesterday looking for you."

"What do you want?!" demanded Enma hotly as he threw an arm out in front of his sister. Mai ignored him and began to pace back and forth between the walls.

"Now my only question is: Which one is the one I need? Bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish…"

"I asked you a question," screeched Enma, taking a threatening step forward. "And I expect you to answer it; what do you want?"

"Well, aren't you the rude one," sneered Mai as she came to a stop, placing her hands on her hips. "Let's see, how do I explain this? To put it simply, I've come here for the strongest of you two; the other is a pile of dead meat for all I care."

Enma's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

Mai smirked and brushed her bangs back to show her birthmark off. The twins' eyes went wide. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Gold eyes watched as Sayomi rubbed her forehead nervously and frowned. Got you, she thought. It had been a gamble to assume her target would have a birthmark as well.

Enma snarled and stood in front of his sister."Run," he snapped without looking at her. "I don't want you in the way." The timid girl heeded his words and took off in the opposite direction from Mai. When Sayomi was out of sight, the boy drew his Zanpakuto and swung it easily at his side. "I'm the one you're looking for, but if you think you can take me alive you've got another thing coming."

"Bring it on, weakling!" Mai laughed. She dodged around his attack and took off down the street with Enma close on her heels.

Sayomi laid on the ground a shaking mess. Her hands and ankles were bound by a powerful spirit energy that shocked her if she tried to move. Terrified, she whimpered when a pair of hands grabbed her by the arms and took towards some unknown corner of the Seireitei.

Mai huffed loudly and took a sharp left down a random street. She barreled past a squadron of soldiers with the boy Enma close on her heels. Whenever he began to lag or lose interest she'd goad him on until he'd pursue her with fresh fury. This game between them had dragged on for over half the morning and was heading into the afternoon. Mai grew bored with running around in circles, so with smirk she tensed her legs and leaped on to a nearby roof.

"Hey, why don't we play a game?" she called down.

"I figured we were already playing one...," Enma deadpanned breathlessly as he came skidding to a halt beneath her. "And why would I play any game with you, do you think I don't have anything else better to do than chase you around like some idiot?" he snapped.

"Aw come on, I'll make it worth your while," Mai said mockingly. "Let's play hide and seek. The rules are simple: count to twenty and try to find me. If you can, I'll let you take off my head. Sounds fair, right?" The teen smirked as she caught his attention. She departed then with a laugh and wave. "Don't cheat, or I'll kill you!" she called before she disappeared from his view over the other side of the building.

She landed easily and took off with a grin down the street. The longer she kept Enma on this wild goose chase the better her plan was going to work out. Mai turned a corner sharply and cried out as she ran headlong into a pair of Shinigami. A pair that looked oddly familiar.

"Uryu, Orihime!" Mai sat up in a tangle of arms and legs, rubbing her forehead, "Is that you?" The Quincy and girl groaned. "Why are you wearing Shihakusho's?"

"It was Orihime's idea," answered Uryu as he sat up and adjusted his glasses. "She figured we'd travel easier if we were disguised like the enemy."

"Not bad," said Mai as she helped Orihime to her feet. She honestly hadn't expected much from the airhead. "Why didn't you think of that, Pretzel Stick?" She watched in satisfaction as a vein bulged in his forehead. Instead of answering, he huffed haughtily and looked away. Mai smirked. "Have you seen any of the others?"

"No," Orihime said. She then dug around in her uniform and pulled out a small book. "But the other Soul Reapers said that Rukia is being held in a prison somewhere nearby, so that's where Uryu and I are heading. What about you, Mai, what are you doing?"

Mai opened her mouth to answer and froze as a shiver shot down her spine before spinning on her heels to look at the empty street. She slowly took a few steps forward, heart thundering in her ears. Mai had the distinct feeling someone was watching them. A few paces down she paused and scanned the area.

Then quickly turned to the back alley on her right, her Zanpakuto in her hand. It was dark with a set of stairs leading deeper in. She squinted her eyes. There was someone there, she was almost certain of it. Slowly and carefully, she approached the threshold. Just as she was about to step over into the shadows Uryu called out.

"Mai, are you ok!?"

The teen glared at the apparently blank wall. She was so sure someone was there. With a snort she turned and walked away, sheathing her blade. Unused to being around so many people with powerful spirit energy, she was probably just imagining someone was there. Mai bid farewell to Orihime and Uryu and ran off to engage Enma again, leaving a trail of spirit energy for him to follow.

He had followed the two intruders who had disguised themselves as Shinigami. A simple but efficient plan, but Mayuri didn't expect much else from the two as he observed them from afar. As he was determining whether or not to just kill them, a streak a blue hair shot past his hiding spot and sent Mayuri's heart hammering in his chest.

Could it be...? He remained where he was, unwilling to break his camouflage in case he had been wrong, which was very unlikely. So confident he was in his camouflage, he was startled when all conversation ceased and suddenlya figure came striding past the corner of the dark alley he hid in.

Mayuri's breath caught in his chest.

His daughter, Mai Kurotsuchi, was tall and thin, with a head of long blue hair that flowed down her back just like her mother's. In her hand was a long Zanpakuto. She was scanning the area, her stance almost tense. Then her head whipped around to stare right at him.

Mayuri tensed as her eyes, golden and piercing like his own, seemed to glare intensely at him, as if she could see him. Mai gripped her sword and cautiously approached, irritation and wariness in her eyes. She was just within arm's reach, so close he could touch her, when the boy's voice called out from down the street then, catching her attention. Mai paused for a moment before she put away her Zanpakuto and left.

So close, she had been so close….

He waited until they had gone, Mai leaving a very traceable spirit trail behind her. He was just wondering what she was playing at when a boy came sliding past the corner and raced off in the direction the trail was leading.

"What are you up to, Mai?" he whispered to himself.

A/N: Oh you guys are so lucky. I managed to write down the next six chapters and hand them over to my beta before Fall semester started. Which means I'll be updating this story over the next few days. To make it interesting... So be sure to go and thank ThablueGRRL for her hard work and dedication. As I said she's amazing!

By the way, does anyone actually read these things or am I just wasting my energy? Hmmm, oh well. Remember CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!

Pathless Spore

P.S. The Omake is up to date, so go check it out. For those of you who don't understand, it's a collection of Drabbles of Mai's time growing up with Kisuke and other Shinanegans she gets into.