I do not own Bleach or Skip Beat

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I've had some trouble building up this chapter and then with the holidays on top was stressful too. Anyways, hope you enjoy! Please review!

Chapter Ten – Natural

"Kyokou!" Ren cried, finally freeing himself from Rojuro and Love.

She looked up at him, pulling her mask away as she did so. She cradled it in her arms as she looked at him. She wasn't scared of her inner monster? And then Ren saw it; Kyokou was crying. This wasn't like the other times she had cried, however. The tears streamed silently down her cheeks.

"What happened?" he whispered, grabbing her shoulder.

She stared blankly at his chest. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Kyokou," Shinji said. Ren twitched, irritated that he was interrupting. "Did you know that you had Shinigami blood in you?"

Kyokou stared at the ground. "No."

Ren glared at Shinji. "What does it matter?"

Shinji sighed and looked at the other Vizards who were gathering around. "It matters a great deal, actually. If she's a Shinigami, then she needs to meet with Kisuke again. However, she also has an inner hollow, which means she's just like us. She's a Vizard."

Ren clenched his fists, but Kyokou reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm not going back to Kisuke," she whispered. "I just want to go home."

"You can't go home!" Hiyori growled. "You're one of us!"

"Leave her alone!" Ren blocked them from Kyokou, glaring.

"Look, you've upset him," Mashiro chirped.

"That means now is as good a time as any to find out if he can hollowfy in his human form," Hiyori said, drawing her blade. "We need to know what both of them can do!"

Ren snarled, moving to pull on a mask that he hoped would appear as Hiyori's had, but Kyokou grabbed his arm and drew one of her short swords from her side. The other Vizards moved in; Ren wouldn't be able to fend off all of them. Kyokou drew her other sword as well and took a defensive stance, her mask back on her face. Ren knew that she knew how to use those blades in her hands, and moved to get out of her way. He wanted to fight too, but he feared he'd be a hindrance if he attempted to help her right now.

Hiyori attacked first, swinging at Kyokou as Ren moved out of their way. He was blocked by the other Vizards who had also pulled on their masks and drawn their blades. Ren glanced at Kyokou and then attempted to pull his mask down. Nothing happened. He tried again, and this time a frail feeling mask covered his face. A heavy weight filled his hand, and he glanced down at the sword that had materialized when he fought Kuon. It was time to fight.

Fighting with a blade was uncomfortable for Ren. He preferred hand to hand combat, but so did Kuon. The Vizards were careful not to hit Ren with their blades, but they weren't going easy on him either. It made things worse when he attempted to turn them away from Kyokou, but she had her situation under control. After just half a minute, however, his mask shattered and his blade vanished in a wisp of smoke.

The Vizards froze, their masks disappearing except for Mashiro who was still fighting with Kyokou. Mashiro didn't use a sword; she was a hand to hand combat person too. Kyokou fended the green haired girl off expertly, dodging and using her blades to shield against Mashiro's kicks. Ren watched her in awe. This was the control they were all talking about. He didn't understand why his mask had shattered, but they all watched as Kyokou battled Mashiro for the next fifteen minutes without pause.

Mashiro feinted, but Kyokou spun and blocked the girl with one sword while she used the other short sword to swing at the girl's unprotected side. Mashiro just barely dodged out of the way, rolling in a tight ball so as not to leave any openings. Kyokou assumed a defensive stance again, breathing hard. A thin crack formed in her mask, but it didn't shatter the way Ren's had. Ren found himself holding his breath, waiting to see what Kyokou would do next. She took her training seriously, he knew, and took pride in the way she used that training to her advantage.

Mashiro, rather than attack, backed away and looked to Kensai, her head tilted to the side. All the Vizards seemed thunderstruck by Kyokou's ability. Slowly, the mask faded from Kyokou's face, and she sheathed her swords. Ren was expecting to see pride in her eyes, but instead he saw confusion. He stepped towards her, reaching out again.

"Kyokou?" Ren asked. "Are you alright?"

She looked up at him, and then collapsed.

. . .

Kyokou heard his voice in her head again, the man from the park. He was trying to tell her something – a name – but she didn't want to hear it. As Ren had stepped towards her, her legs had finally given out and she'd succumbed to the exhaustion that suddenly took over her body. Ren was leaning over her now, calling her name softly, but another voice was louder. His voice. She closed her eyes, trying to block it out, but she was unable to. Finally, she made out the words Renai Fukushuu. Then the voice went away.

"Kyokou, please," Ren was pleading.

She blinked and looked up at him. The concern on his face surprised her; they had become friends, but Ren was very careful with his expressions around her. She tried to sit up, but he pushed her back down on the sand. He was gentle as he pressed a hand to her forehead and then pressed his fingers to her neck, taking her pulse. She lay still, watching him.

"They pushed too hard," he muttered, throwing a glance at the Vizards.

"Mr. Tsuruga," Kyokou said, pulling his hand away. "I'm alright."

He frowned, looking down at her. "I've told you to call me Ren, Kyokou. We're equals."

Kyokou shook her head stubbornly, sitting up slowly. Why did he insist on calling them equals? She still had yet to reach his level. "Can I get up now?"

Still frowning, he helped her to her feet, shooting nervous glances at the Vizards as he did so. Kyokou looked at them too, wondering why they had stopped the training. They had been insistent on attacking, so why stop? Had she done something? Had Ren? She waited, glancing at Ren; he was staring at her. She blinked and looked up at him, confused. There was wonder in his eyes.

"Kyokou," Shinji said, stepping forward, "how long do you think that you can hold your mask like that?"

Kyokou turned to him slowly. "I don't know. Kumi said she didn't want to fight me, so . . ."

They were all staring at her again. "Kumi?" Hachi asked.

"That's her name . . . my hollow. Actually, her full name is Akuma Tenshi, but Kumi is what she prefers."

"It has its own name?" Love asked, eyebrows raised behind his shades.

Kyokou could feel her face going red. Did their inner hollows not have names? Did Ren's inner demon have a name? Ren . . . Kyokou got sidetracked. Once he had finished battling his inner hollow, he had returned to his usual self . . . but before that, he had looked like Corn had in Guam. She wanted to ask but –

"Kyokou," Hachi said. He was the calmest of all the Vizards and brought her attention back. "Please, continue explaining."

Kyokou drew in a deep breath, and then explained everything that had happened while in her inner world. The others were shocked, with the exception of Ren, but Kyokou had known the whole time that she wouldn't have to fight her inner demons. Shinji walked away after their conversation to make a phone call, but Kyokou didn't care anymore. She was exhausted, and so she sat down and listened to the others' murmurs.

. . .

"She's a natural," Hachi said, watching Kyokou and Ren as they spoke a short distance away. "I've never seen talent with short blades like hers, nor have I seen anyone control their hollow so easily."

"It's not the hollow we're worried about," Shinji said, rejoining the other Vizards. "I told Kisuke what's been going on, and he thinks it's the Shinigami in her that needs controlling."

"Even so," Kensai said, glancing at the odd pair, "she's mastered more than we were able to in just a few short hours."

"We have another problem," Shinji said, drawing their attention back to him. "Lory is coming with Kisuke to retrieve them. We won't be able to do much more from here on unless Lory consents to it. We all know how protective Lory gets."

There were grumbles of agreement. Lory was a very kind, if not exuberant, person, but he tended to go a little overboard. He'd grown worse since being exiled to the human world. Lory was a scary person to cross, and they all knew that Kisuke had upset him by interfering with Kyokou and Ren.

"We have company," Hiyori said, looking up towards the entrance to the warehouse. All the Vizards looked up, waiting expectantly.