• • •

"Another false alarm?" I asked, nimbly jumping from the top of a nearby light pole and landing right next to Ichigo. I couldn't feel any trace of the Hollow's reiatsu; I could tell it'd already been taken care of.

The question was: who took care of it?

I noticed Ichigo's body tense up, but just as quickly it relaxed; I'm guessing that he was just shocked by my sudden appearance.

"Yeah, there's no trace of the Hollow again." Ichigo explained, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at Rukia. She was just now dragging his seemingly lifeless body around the street corner.

"Shut up," Rukia ordered, violet orbs narrowing at the strawberry. "Just hurry up and return to your body!"

"You better do something about this!" Ichigo threatened, mid-phase back into his body.

"Are you saying it's my fault?!" Rukia yelled, outraged. "I pass on the orders just as I receive them from the denreishinki."

"So hurry up and fix that!" Ichigo argued back, rolling his eyes.

I froze.

It was that same reiatsu.

It felt both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

"Fighting among friends?"

Everyone froze at the sound of the voice; I could tell that Rukia and Ichigo were caught off guard by the newcomer. I was just caught off guard at that voice… it sounded familiar as well.

"What a disgrace."

All three of us turned towards the voice of the newcomer, freezing.

Of course.

He was a classmate of ours; that's probably how Ichigo and Rukia would know him. However, I had other connections to him.

The teenager was dressed in stark white clothing, giving him the appearance of a priest of some sort. But the combination of white and blue immediately gave it away to me; after all, it wasn't a well known combination.

"Good evening. Kurosaki-Kun. Kuchiki-San… Kokawa-San." The teenager spoke, glasses glinting in the reflection of a nearby streetlight.

"Who are you?" Ichigo questioned, "That's some weird clothes. You a priest?"

"Ichigo," I hissed, catching his attention. "You should know who he is. He does go to our high school, after all."

"Kurosaki-Kun, you can see spirits, correct?" The newcomer asked, calmly as ever.

"Wha?!" Ichigo asked, growing tense. "What are you talking about?! It's not like such things can be seen..!"

I tensed, my hand hovering near Ankoku-Tatsu as my eyes focused on something in the distance to the right.

"Ah, a new Hollow is here." The guy in white announced, still seeming unfazed by all of this.

Rukia gasped; both of our cell phones began simultaneously beeping. She pulled hers out of her pocket at an amazing speed; her eyes widening as she read the order.

"I-It's really here..! An order!" She exclaimed, her fingers tightening around her cell phone until they became even whiter than usual.

"Which way?!" Ichigo asked, looking in-between Rukia and I. It was like he had already forgotten about our…dear…classmate.

"That way," The dark haired teen spoke, pointing to his left; our right. "You're not at that level of understanding, and yet you call yourself a Shinigami?"

His deep blue eyes glinted, squinting a bit in a glare.

I lightly gasped as I recognized the bracelet that jingled from his wrist, lightly swinging back and forth. The same silver bracelet; adorned with a silver cross charm and circle around its center.

The charm jingled once more, before a spark of reiatsu gathered in each corner of the cross. In the next second, the reiatsu flared and formed what appeared to be a huge bow. He grabbed the center part of the cross, tugging it back; exactly like one would do when aiming with a bow.

He released the reiatsu arrow; it flew at a great speed. The arrow traveled many meters before finally piercing though the skull of the Hollow that recently appeared.

"The signal…" Rukia gaped, eyes wide as she looked down at the screen, "Disappeared..!"

"Wha?!" Ichigo choked out, turning to gaze at his fellow classmate with eyes wide. "What the hell are you?!"

"Ishida Uryuu. Quincy." He introduced himself, then turning his head to stare us down, "I… hate Shinigami."

"What..?" Ichigo asked, not comprehending what he had just said.

"Don't you get it, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Ishida asked as his deep blue eyes narrowed, "What I'm saying is… I hate you."

I glared at Ishida as well, my hand leaving Ankoku-Tatsu's hilt and forming a fist at my side. I could feel my nails digging into the palm of my hand; I was probably cutting my own flesh. But I didn't care. Ishida had no reason to say that..!

"That means you as well, Kokawa Junko." Ishida spoke, his glasses flashing once more in the light before revealing his deep blue eyes. Blue met blue as we glared; although, they were shades on different ends of the blue spectrum, light versus dark. "My own family, even."

"F-Family?!" Ichigo repeated, looking at me with wide eyes.

One look at me was enough to know that Ishida was telling the truth. I don't think Ichigo had ever seen such a fierce glare from me before. The berry froze as he looked at me, blinking a few times before his gaze traveled to the Quincy once more. I wouldn't even meet Ichigo's gaze; I was terrified that he now knew that I was related to people like Ishida.

"Yes, we are. Has she not told you, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Ishida asked, bringing his hand up to raise his glasses. "Kokawa Junko is my cousin. Her Mother and my Father were sister and brother."

"That's right." I spat out, nodding as my glare intensified.

My fists tightened even more, my whole hand turning a pale white. Ichigo looked at me with worry in his eyes, I could tell from my peripheral vision. But I couldn't take it anymore. I just snapped.

"That's right! And why don't you tell them about how she was abandoned by her own family?! Her own flesh and blood!" I screamed, feeling the tears well up in the bottom of my eyes; the stinging feeling was familiar. However, I wouldn't allow myself to cry. Not here; not in front of everyone. "They disowned her because she listened to her heart and married the person that she loved! So what if the man she happened to love was a Shinigami?! That's better than being a Quincy!" I spat, my voice full of venom, as was my glare.

"You could have been a Quincy also." Ishida spoke, glancing down at me. His deep blue eyes took in my Shihakusho and he shook his head. "You, however, chose to become a Shinigami on your own. That's not my fault. You should pay for your own actions, not let others pay them for you."

"Heh," I spat, sarcastically laughing. "The Quincy way just didn't appeal to me. And, let me clarify this for you: it never will!"

"You turned out to be just like your Mother," Ishida chided, shaking his head. "Will you tarnish the family name even more by marrying a Shinigami as well?"

"Shut up!" I seethed, shaking with rage. "I won't have you talking about my Mother like you knew her! You never met her!"

"I might not have ever actually met her, but I have seen pictures. You look just like her, don't you?" He asked, causing my eyes to widen. "Grandfather kept all of those stupid pictures after she died. My own Father even has some as well."

"I don't know why you're telling me that." I shook my head, "It's not like that changes anything. You can't turn back time. They made a mistake that cannot be fixed. Nothing can patch up those old wounds; scars haven't even fully formed."

I thickly swallowed, feeling the searing pain flash across my chest. I hung my head, my eyes being shadowed by my bangs. Scoffing once more, I crossed my arms, my hands still in fists.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving." I said, turning around from them all and beginning to walk away.

"Leaving?" Ichigo questioned, running up to me and placing a firm hand on my shoulder, "Are you sure that's best right now?"

"Ichigo, just let me leave." I whispered, lightly shaking. "Please."

I begged.

I knew I didn't have to, but I did.

Ichigo's cinnamon eyes widened in surprise from the broken look in my own eyes. My eyes were probably becoming bloodshot; I could feel the tears welling up. I met his gaze for a second before breaking it, flash stepping off into the night.

I didn't know how I was going to face them. They know…

They know that I'm a Quincy. They'll both probably hate me now as well, especially when they hear all about the Quincy and their ways.

But... Rukia looked like she didn't know what the term 'Quincy' meant anyway. Either she didn't know or she was just too shocked to find out that I was one.

Sighing, I phased into my apartment.

I guess I'll just have to try and avoid them all. After all, it's for the best.

• • •

"Third place, huh?" Tatsuki asked, patting Orihime on top of her auburn head as we gathered around the large chart posted outside of the classroom. "As usual, you did great."

"Yeah, nice job Orihime!" I nodded, grinning up at the ditzy girl beside me. Orihime meekly laughed; she probably wasn't used to all of the attention and praise from her fellow classmates.

Actually, if we were being honest here, I never would have expected Orihime to come in third out of all of the other Freshman. Although, it did kind of make sense. She could have had book smarts and no street smarts; like me, she probably lacked common sense.

"Amazing~!" Michiru gushed, as she looked at the list in awe. "Orihime is that smart?!"

"She doesn't look it, does she?" Tatsuki asked, pointing at a spaced out Orihime who was grinning. "But, since middle school, this kid could really study."

"Ryo is second place, huh?" Michiru asked, looking at the other names.

"She's got brains and brawns." Chizuru complimented, grinning. "She was also the Freshman representative when we had our entrance ceremony."

"Really?!" Michiru exclaimed in awe once more, "No wonder even the teachers respect her!"

"She is also entering the national competition with her track team." Chizuru explained, as she threw her arms around Orihime with a grin.

"Really? How impressive…" Michiru muttered.

"Well, I'm actually entering the nationals too." Tatsuki said.

"Eh!?" Michiru and Chizuru asked, eyes wide.

"Huh?" Tatsuki asked, "Didn't I tell you guys? In May, I won the competition in Tokyo. Our karate club this year is great! The boy's team is also going to the competition. After all, I, 'The Girl Who Will Win Three Consecutive National Championships,' has joined!"

"Really?" I asked, impressed that the teams had made it that far.

"Yeah!" Tatsuki replied, smiling. "Although, we'd have an even better chance at winning if you joined. After all, we did tie during our last spar."

"What?!" Chizuru and Michiru exclaimed, looking at me with wide eyes.

"You managed to tie with Tatsuki?!" Chizuru questioned, a scared look in her eyes.

"Yeah, although I am kind of rusty. That was my first spar in years." I explained, shrugging my shoulders.

"You must be really good then!" Michiru complimented, looking at me with sparkling eyes. She was always one to look up to those around her.

I weakly laughed, getting cut off by another loud individual. Three guesses who.

"Away with both of you!"

Keigo.

"Noisy as always, eh?" Tatsuki asked, looking over her shoulder at the commotion Keigo and the other guys were making not too far away.

"Ehehe," I nervously laughed, eyeing Ichigo sneakily and hoping that he hadn't seen me yet. I still had to make an escape..! "Yeah, I guess…"

"Look! I didn't know you made it, too!" Orihime exclaimed, pointing up at the poster with a grin on her face.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, turning towards the auburn haired girl to look at what she was pointing to.

"Oh, you mean I'm still on these lists?" I asked, looking as I saw my name printed by the number twenty-seven.

"It's a good thing your name's on there!" Tatsuki said, ruffling my hair as well; exactly the same thing she did to Orihime. I smiled back at the dark haired teen.

I looked around the hallway again; now it was only us and Ichigo.

Now was the perfect time to go..!

"Um, I left my book in the classroom! I'll see you guys later." I said, smiling as I hastily waved goodbye to Tatsuki and Orihime.

Both girls exchanged looks with one another; they knew that something was up. When Ichigo walked by, it him them both.

I was, for some reason, avoiding Kurosaki Ichigo.

It's only a good thing that they didn't know why as well.

• • •

"Urahara," I called, walking into the small shoten as I sat my bag down by the doorway. I walked further into the shoten, coming into the living area and spotting said man. "Need any help today?"

"No, nothing particularly. What's wrong?" Urahara asked, picking up on the change in my demeanor. He always was good at that; seeing the walls that I had built and finding ways around them.

"Nothing's wrong," I spoke, forcing a fake smile. "Silly! What would make you think that something was wrong?"

"Junko." Urahara said, pronouncing my full first name. I knew he was getting serious when he did that. "Something is wrong. Spill it."

"Well-"

"Oh my! Well, if it isn't Kuchiki-San! What's up…ACK?!"

Apparently, Rukia had arrived and threw her phone right at Urahara's head. And we all know how easy it is to hit Urahara on the head.

"What do you mean, 'What's up?!' You didn't answer no matter how many times I called you, so I came to see you here!" Rukia exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at Urahara. However, her violet gaze soon traveled to me, causing her eyebrows to rise in confusion. "Jun? What are you doing here?"

"Um, I came to see if Urahara needed any help around his shop." I explained, forcing another fake smile onto my lips.

I had been successful in staying away from both her and Ichigo all day long, only for her to find me at Urahara's. How ironic is that?

"We've been somewhat busy and the store has often been left empty." Urahara said, answering Rukia's previous question as he rested his face in his hand.

"Hey! What happened to that cold-faced, arrogant looking brat?" Jinta asked, appearing in the doorway as soon as Rukia walked further into the room.

"Cold-faced, arrogant looking brat?" I echoed, somewhat confused. "Oh, that cold-faced, arrogant looking brat." I chuckled when his words clicked together in my brain, "You mean Ichigo, right?"

"Yeah! But it doesn't bother me if he's not with either of you two. I hate that guy because of his arrogant look." Jinta explained, crossing his arms. "So it's better if he doesn't come."

"Hey now, Jinta…" Urahara weakly said, waving his fan.

"It's not like Jinta could even do anything to Ichigo anyways." I said, shrugging my shoulders as I looked up at Urahara with a smirk.

"Ichigo is… probably getting caught up in trouble again… right about now." Rukia muttered, sparing a glance at me before looking at Urahara once more. "That's also the reason I came here today. I have something minor I wish to ask."

"What is it?" Urahara asked, tilting his head back a bit so he could stare at Rukia with his piercing gray eyes.

"I want to know if you have ever heard of the word 'Quincy'." Rukia said, phrasing her question as a statement instead of coming right out and asking about it. Slowly she made her way to my side, sitting down and looking at Urahara expectantly.

"Quincy…" Urahara mused, his gaze traveling up to his ceiling as he racked his brain for any memories. "I haven't heard of them for a long time…"

"A long time..?" Rukia questioned.

"Certainly… It has a familiar ring to it." Tessai said, entering the room. "For me, it has already been roughly… two-hundred years that I haven't heard about them."

"Two-hundred years..?" Rukia echoed, eyes wide. "What do you mean? What the heck is a 'Quincy'?!"

Urahara sighed, tilting his gaze towards the floor. "The Quincy were… scattered all over the world at one time. They were relatives of magic hunters who specialized in the war against Hollows. And… it's a clan that was destroyed more than two-hundred years ago."

"Destroyed…" Rukia whispered, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes. In modern terms, they were humans who, like Kurosaki-San, had the ability to detect the existence of Hollows. And it all started when they began training to confront them… In order to defeat Hollows, the same as Shinigami do." Urahara explained, "However, there is a critical difference between them and Shinigami. And that was the deep ditch that lay between them since ancient times. That is… whether to kill or not to kill the Hollows. It was the Shinigami, who try to purify Hollows with the Zanpakuto and send them to Soul Society versus… The Quincy, who stuck to the thorough killing of Hollows."

My words from last night ran through my mind…

"The Quincy way just didn't appeal to me. And, let me clarify this for you: it never will!"

I was speaking the truth; I couldn't bring myself to see the Quincy way as the correct way. I couldn't condone the murder of the Hollow soul.

"If you think about it, it was a natural human conclusion." Urahara continued. "Hollows devour the souls of humans. 'Why must it be that they, who harm and kill friends and relatives, get sent peacefully to Soul Society?' Whomever thought so could see what they did as reasonable. So they stubbornly tried to kill Hollows. They held the faith that they were avenging their friends. However, that faith accordingly… led to their destruction."

"Their destruction..?" Rukia asked, sneaking a glance at me. Deep violet met icy blue for a fraction of a second. "But, that can't be…"

"Not everyone was destroyed…" I spoke, starting Urahara with my knowledge of the subject. "Those who promised that they wouldn't intentionally fight and kill the Hollows were allowed to walk away with their lives. However… They still desperately believed that what they were doing was right. They passed down their knowledge throughout their generations. They passed it down to their children, who taught their children, and so on. It was like a never ending cycle."

Urahara looked down at me, but I wouldn't meet his gaze. I sighed, drawing my legs to my chest as I wrapped my arms around them. Resting my chin on my knees, I traced the pattern of tatami mats on the floor.

"The Quincy always spoke about their 'honor.' They truly thought that what they did was right. But, down in the bottoms of their hearts… they knew that the Shinigami had been right. However, after their destruction, their hearts grew cold towards the Shinigami. They hated them with their whole being." I explained, sighing once more as I made up my mind to go ahead and come clean. This was something that even Urahara didn't know everything about. "My Mother was a Quincy. She even fought against the Hollow before the Shinigami arrived. Mom fought to protect the ones that she loved. But, the funny thing is, she happened to meet my Dad on a battlefield. He was a Shinigami of one of the highest ranks; he was a Taicho, I'm pretty sure. After she met him, they soon fell for each other. Not that long after their meeting, they married. Because of Mom's love for the Shinigami, her own Father disowned her. He told her that he didn't want anything to do with her. But… I remember visiting him, the night before they died. He tried to make an effort to get to know me… to try and persuade me to become a Quincy. I was too young to fully understand any of it, really, so I didn't pay much attention."

"You eventually chose to become a Shinigami and came to me. Why?" Urahara questioned.

"The Quincy terminate the Hollows. In other words, they kill them completely and destroy their soul. The Shinigami purify the Hollows, sending them to the Soul Society. I thought that the Shinigami way sounded better, more humane. Even if Hollows did kill my parents, and countless sets of foster parents, I don't blame them. They were once normal people. They only stayed attached to this world for too long after they died. Eventually, something happened and they became a Hollow. It's not like they chose for fate to deal them that. They were normal people once, just like all of us were. So as long as the good one's go to the Soul Society and the bad one's get sent to Hell, I'm alright with the Shinigami way." I explained, taking another deep breath before trudging on.

"Mom left a note, explaining all of this to me. I wasn't allowed to open it until I was older… until I was old enough to understand what it spoke of. My parents laid out both paths to me, telling me about each one in case I had to choose one someday. Of course, I eventually had to choose a side; much sooner than I'm sure they would have expected. All of you know that I chose to become a Shinigami. I made that choice."

Surprisingly, everyone was quiet once I got done speaking. I was expecting to be bombarded with questions, but I greatly appreciated their silence. However, not too much sooner, I felt a huge burst of reiatsu.

I tensed, while Urahara looked up at the sky with a thoughtful expression.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Rukia asked, not feeling the reiatsu.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"A Hollow, huh? And at a time like this?!" Rukia growled, reaching in her pocket to withdraw her phone. "Sorry, Urahara. Let's continue this next-"

Both phones then grew quiet.

I bit my lip in concentration as I took mine out of the pocket and watched the screen. What in the world was going on? Where was all of that reiatsu coming from? It was definitely Hollow reiatsu, not Shinigami reiatsu.

"The signal…disappeared? Already..?" Rukia asked, before shrugging and stashing her phone back into her pocket. "Humph. That Ichigo. He's pretty efficient."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Again?!"

Rukia snapped her phone out of her pocket once more, only to find that the beeping had stopped again. The signal disappeared before her very eyes.

"It's gone again? What's up with this? Could it really be broken..?" Rukia asked, holding her phone up to the light and examining it. Nothing looked wrong with it from the surface…

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Again? I guess it really has broken. It's impossible for Hollows to come out at this…pace..?" Rukia's eyes widened, mine following in suit. The phones definitely had to be broken. There was no way this many Hollows would appear in Karakura at once.

However, more and more dots began appearing on the screen. They all moved around, some disappearing every now and then. But, even so, more were appearing than were disappearing.

"What is this..?" I murmured, listening as the beeping became louder and was now constant; there were no breaks in the sound.

"The number of Hollows… is rapidly increasing!" Rukia exclaimed, meeting my gaze head on. I stood to my feet, our gazes locked as we dashed out of the shoten, side by side.

We didn't get too far.

As soon as my foot hit the pavement outside of the shoten, I froze.

The sky… Something was wrong with the sky! It looked like it was cracking!

Whatever was happening, I was sure that it had something to do with the vast amount of Hollows appearing. Maybe this is why they were continuously appearing..?

"W-What is with the sky..?" Rukia asked, frozen as well right next to me. "What is with that heavy spiritual disturbance? What… What in the world is happening?!"