Hello there!

Wow so you guys are awesome with the OC poll. Right now Kakyoku is in the lead with Ayumi and Yoshiko in second and third followed by Kojima and Nakashima who are tied for fourth and then Akane in fifth. I was shocked you all responded so quickly to her!

Now the reason for the sporadic updates.

Um.

Go to my profile.

Seriously, go. You can see that there are a LOT of fics there. My Muse, though highly productive, seems to enjoy different stories at different times. Right now since Ichigo is infuriating me, I'm tending to update stories like "Book of the Dead" which is Shinji-centric and "Arcana" which is all about the Espada and, right now, its focusing on who they were before being Espada. Of course right now my uber-focus is "Terebellum" which is the fairy tale story I'm writing. Right now its got Ulquihime, UraharaYoruichi and GinRan and I promised a lot of people giving me requests for it that GrimmjowxSoifon would be in there.

But here's an update!

Nakashima opened his eyes.

He wasn't laying on the ground, stuck through with arrows, his hands twisted and broken. He was standing on a street in Rukongai. Frowning he turned around, looking for something that would let him know what was going on. He could have sworn he was at the wedding--he had been trying to get the antidotes but someone had stopped him. Akane. Akane had been there and she had stopped him and then Hanabusa had come and the whole thing had dissolved into wave after wave of agony.

"Fire!" a little girl shouted, "there's a fire!"

Nakashima took off with the crowd, somehow already knowing what he was running too but unable to stop himself from running none the less. The smell of burning, of charred food and wood and flesh hit him with the same strength as a physical blow. He pushed harder. Somehow in this dream he was not crippled. Walking was fine but running usually was hard, fighting was impossible. He was a thinker because of that. But now he ran, not caring if it would hurt or what the consequences were. He knew what the fire was, he knew what was on fire. Finally he rounded the corner and saw what he knew he would. When he had been unconscious he had never realized just how bad the fire that had scarred them all was.

Nakashima felt small hands push him aside. He turned to see a little girl with long dirty silver hair shove her way through the crowd. She was the one who had screamed for them. But they were all too terrified to go in and help. The blaze had spread from the original hideout to the surrounding buildings. Most of the people had gotten out but some remained--the street kids who were trapped, they remained. The little girl stared horrified at the building. She turned and looked at the people, her gold soaked eyes locking right with his. She looked so young, so innocent and so broken it stole his breath away. Her lips trembled as she stared at them.

"There are people inside!" she cried looking at them, "they're dying!" a beam snapped as part of the building caved in, "we have to help them!"

"They're already dead, little girl," one of the men sad with a sad shake of his head.

"No!" she shrieked, unwilling to see the truth, "they're not dead!"

"Little girl--"

"They're not!"

Her gold eyes seemed to harden as she realized that none of them were going to help. Reaching up she rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of as many of the tears as she could. Her dress was clean which meant it was new. New and long enough to come to below her knees, it fit her well which was so rare for the kids. Without a thought to the fact the dress was probably the only thing of any worth she had she reached up and tore a good portion of the hem off. She tied it around her nose and mouth and before anyone could stop her she ran into the building. Shouts went up all around from the people but no-one could stop her. Nakashima felt his eyes widen as he saw her small form run into the building. She was going to save them all. He knew how the story would end but that did not stop him from reaching for her, his hands trying to grab onto her and keep her there.

After a handful of heartbeats he saw her stagger out, half dragging a badly burned Kuroda. People in the crowd gasped and for a moment no-one moved. Then as if she had flipped some invisible switch the crowd was suddenly alive as people raced forward to take Kuroda from her. She spared one look at him before running back into the building to try and save the only family she had ever known, since the only home she knew was long gone.

"Someone go get water!"

"Sand!"

"We've got to get the fire out!"

Soon the ground was full of people as a few other brave souls ventured in to try and save the people trapped inside. Finally she reemerged with a final child before sitting down hard on the ground, right in front of Nakashima. He knelt down, knowing she could not see him as she reached up with trembling fingers to try and untie the knot of the cloth. Her fingers couldn't reach it though so she yanked it down. Aside from the cloth and the tears her entire face was stained with soot, the pretty dress she had was darkened and singed in some places. Her fingers trembled as she put her hands on the embroidered flowers that had once been a pretty yellow color. Tears dripped down her cheeks to land on her hands. As they slid down the skin they revealed the pale skin underneath all the dirt and soot.

"Oh my God--someone get a doctor!!"

"They're all taken up--"

"Get him now!!"

They both turned at the same time, him and the young girl were on their feet at the same time as well running to the two new figures that had emerged, one dragging the other. He saw himself, young and unconscious and barely recognizable between the burns and soot that covered him. But the boy dragging him, there was no mistaking the determination in Kojima's hazy eyes even though his back, his arm and some of his torso was a mess of fused together fabric and skin. Though it could have been nothing but agony he still gripped his brother's unconscious form as he dragged him through the dirt and out of the building. His brother's form trembled with fatigue and pain. He was just as kid but his eyes, they looked so old. Even though he was out of the fire Kojima continued to drag him, one agony fueled step after the other.

"Son, son you can stop," someone said as he dragged him past them.

Kojima seemed not to hear them as he kept walking. He wasn't getting far. The men could have stopped him but the scene, it was so heartbreaking that no-one was sure how. Out of the crowd stepped a girl. Bandages wound around her forehead, covering one of her eyes completely. Her mother seemed to want to stop her but determination shown in her eye. She walked over to where Kojima was standing, placing herself right in front of him. He kept walking until they were almost toe to toe in the dirt.

"You're out of the fire," she said, "you saved him. You can put him down now," she said, her voice soft and a thousand times more mature than any child's had any right to be.

"We're not safe," he said, his fingers tightening on the fabric.

The younger version of Manami reached out and covered Kojima's burned hand with her own. He winced in pain but her hands were gently as she moved his hands from the back of Nakashima's shirt and lowered him to the ground. Kojima's hands remained extended as if he hadn't felt the weight move at all. Instantly healers swarmed over Nakashima. Manami looked at Kojima who stared at Nakashima even as tears began to shine in his cloudy eyes.

"He's safe now," she said simply, "you rescued him."

Kojima barely had time to nod before his eyes rolled up and he all but collapsed onto her small form. Manami pulled him fully onto her lap as she sat down in the dirt. The silver haired girl walked over to where Nakashima was laying. Completely mimicking the moves of Manami, she sat down and pulled Nakashima's head onto her lap.

The scene changed.

Suddenly he was standing in the bright colors of the Hamano household. A slightly older version of him was laying on his stomach, legs useless except in the most extreme of circumstances. Mildly crippled, if there was such a thing. At the moment wiggling toes was equivalent to sticking his foot into a barrel of broken glass. A book was open in front of him. He knew everything, the pain, the boredom--it was impossibly hard sometimes to say which was worse. Probably the guilt. The guilt because though he was burned and crippled, Kojima was as well. It should have only been one of them, not them both. Kojima should have gotten out, not tried to pull the beam off him to save him.

Sitting nearby, shaking from agony because the burns were not deep enough to destroy the nerves, was his brother. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut as a woman with grey hair unwrapped the bandages from his arm to reveal the mess that was underneath.

"Kojima," she said, her voice soft, "open your eyes."

He shook his his head as much as the burns on his back and neck would allow him too.

"Open them," she said. One eye opened tentatively, then the other, "you must never close your eyes in a fight. If you do," she spoke as she began to clean the wounds, "you'll never know when the battle's almost over."

"This isn't a battle," Nakashima said.

"Of course it is," she smiled at the boys, "not all battles happen against enemies that you can see or touch, sometimes the most important of battles happen inside you."

"inside me?" he looked at his arm and then at her, "but--" he stopped, "am I loosing?"

"Are you still here?"

"Yes."

"Then no. As long as you can keep fighting, you haven't lost anything."

The scene shifted again.

He was older now, he could move without the assurance of agony. He recognized that they were in a training hall of some sort. Light slanted through the arched windows. He was standing, getting as much exercise as he could. Standing next to him was a much younger version of Ayumi, young enough so that she was still waddling more than walking. In her hands she carried a big, bright lollipop. Instead of eating it though she was holding it out for him.

"Come on Naka!" she cried, her voice high and childish, "just a little more."

He smiled as he watched his younger self bite back the urge to tell her to stop moving. Instead he let his eyes move from the scene to the one taking place down the training hall. Kojima stood there, his body already taking the narrow shape it would as he became an adult. Compact, thin muscle wound around his frame. Most would just mistake him for skinny. In one hand he held a long narrow rod, the weapon only looking rather harmless. His eyes moved from him to his sparring companion. At this age Akane had already decided the world was a terrible place. Her gold eyes were hard and analytical as she stared her opponent down, her fingers holding her own identical weapon. Both of them wore their hair long and pulled back into sever knots. that and the fact their cloths were intended for much taller, bigger people made them look like children playing dress up rather than children practicing to take life.

Without warning Akane lunged forward, her staff sliding smoothly over her wrist and arcing towards Kojima. He swung his own in an upwards arc, the movement deceptively simple. With one smooth motion he hit her staff twice in rapid succession before reversing the arc and bringing the other side down, momentum adding force to the blow. Akane's staff smacked the ground from the assault as Kojima pressed the tip of his staff under her chin, his foot stepping on her weapon to assure she did not use it against him. Her gold eyes narrowed angrily. Nakashima bit back a smile as triumph glowed in his brother's eyes. He had no idea what was about to happen.

In a move she would become known for Akane kept one foot on the ground and threw her body backwards, the ball of her foot slapping against the staff with enough force to compromise the user's grip. His balance already compromised by the foot he placed on her staff it was easy for her to pivot on her leg and slam her knee into the foot he had planted on the ground. There were many things though impossible that his brother could do. Unfortunately a split was not one of them. When his hands came out to brace his fall, her foot snapped upwards and with a quick motion she caught his chin on the flexed part of her foot. He could try another move in the match but all he was looking to do was get a broken jaw or nose. Unfortunately the threat of pain had never been a deterrent to his brother. His hands wrapped around her foot as he threw her backwards.

Akane slammed into the ground with enough force to have the young him and Ayumi stop their walking and look at the two of them. She kicked upwards and jumped to her feet, her gold eyes swearing the same kind of pain that Kojima''s blue grey ones promised. The two forgot about their weapons as they began to circle each other, eyes scanning any sort of opening the other might leave. Nakashima saw the younger version of him watching them intently but it was nothing compared to Ayumi. The little girl had already imitated the way they came to rest, how their feet were positioned, how their hands were always up. Had she already known that her life would be full of battles back then? Had it been something instinctive in the otherwise innocent little girl? Her eyes lit up as he turned around to see Kojima and Akane rush each other, colliding in the middle as her foot aimed for his side while his fists streaked for her face. They both missed.

Akane's other foot however, slammed upwards directly in between Kojima's legs.

He went down like a ton of bricks as she planted her feet and stepped out of reach, not that he was getting out of the fetal position anytime soon. The younger him winced in sympathy for his brother while Ayumi stared at the move Akane had just executed as though it was still there in the air.

"That was so cool!" she gasped wildly turning to face him, her feet moving into the same stance.

"No, no no," the younger Nakashima said shaking his head and stepping back, "you aren't coming near me with that foot of yours."

"Its feet! I'll give you the lollipop," she said wiggling the candy in front of him.

"No. Why don't you ask Akane if she'll practice with you?" he said looking over at her.

She was standing towering over Kojima, a water bottle between her lips. Her gold eyes were closed as she drank. Finally she lowered the bottle, wiping her lips on the back of her hand. Her gold eyes were on Kojima before they slowly slid over to him. For a moment the two of them stared at each other, her breathlessness no longer just from the fight and his no longer just from the threat of Ayumi burying her feet in two sensitive areas. Pink stained both their cheeks as they quickly looked away from each other, their eyes going back to their respective companions. Ayumi gave a nod and walked over to where Akane was standing.

"How'd you do that?" she asked.

How

How

"How could you?!"

Nakashima opened his eyes to make out the foggy form of Ayumi bent over him, her hands pressed tightly to his chest. He saw shimmering light between her fingertips as she pressed her hands to the places where he had arrows fired into him. He could feel the sticky blood underneath him, steadily widening in a pool around him. Whatever she was doing, it was working far too slowly or it was not working at all. He imagined that even Shinigami had their limits. Her sword lay to the side, glowing faintly as well. He could hear the choked tone in her voice. He had always known when she was crying.

"N-Naka?" she looked at his face, "hold on okay?" the glow rose up or his eyes failed him, "its okay. Just hold on."

She raised her eyes from his to look at the scene in front of them. Hanabusa was as good as dead. Akane's grip on the sword was firm as she systematically cut him up. But she hadn't finished him off, something that was strange. Though she was known for enjoying killing and hurting people, it was not like her to toy with someone. Then again, Ayumi didn't think there was a person in the world that Akane hated more than Hanabusa.

"Wait!"

Ayumi turned to see Kyo standing there, horror written all over his face as he gripped the sealed form of Tenbinza. His eyes moved from Ayumi to Nakashima to Akane and then to Hanabusa. No-one moved. Even Akane stood perfectly still as she looked around at them. Ayumi looked down at Nakashima's barely opened eyes. She was doing kido and it was working somewhat but it wasn't working like it should have been. She was terrible at Kido. Even after the special training she was bad at it. She couldn't let Nakashima die though, especially not because of people who he shouldn't even have been fighting. Nakashima wasn't supposed to fight. That was one of the most basic rules, after the fire he wasn't able to fight. They had all made sure that he was okay. But now he got hurt. Furiously Ayumi wiped at her cheeks and forced more of her Spiritual Energy into the kido shining through her fingers.

"K-kyo," she whispered, "I need your help."

Kyo looked down at her and then over at Hanabusa, obviously torn between the two of them. It was as though his future and his past were laid out clearly in front of him. Hanabus and Akane stood there. Hanabusa more than her but the two of them had impacted his life so much. And there, her hands pressed desperately to her big brother's chest was Ayumi, the girl who had shown him to be proud of what he could do instead of ashamed of his abilities. He felt warmth against his palm and looked down at his Zanpakto. If he chose the past would he be able to abandon Tenbinza again? If he chose the future would he be able to let go of the people who had been with him since he came to the world? His fingers gripped the hilt of Tenbinza tightly. What was he supposed to do? How could he possibly choose between the two of them. It had been so much easier when he was hidden away. He wasn't ready to make this choice. He would never be ready to make this choice.

"I--" he looked between the two of them, "I--" he tightened his grip, "Heikou! Tenbinza!" his shikai manifested immediately, "Bakudo 63! Sajo Sabaku!"

He only needed to say the spell once but the bright ropes of Spiritual Energy wrapped both Akane and Hanabusa into cocoon-like confines. Kyo turned and dropped to his knees where Ayumi was next to Nakashima. His eyes assessed the bleeding wounds. He went to depower his Zanpakto but something stopped him. Instead he got to his feet and turned it around so the tip was pointing at Nakashima's body. He focused on the only healing spell he knew. He did not have the control healers usually did. But he had the raw power. Touching the tip of Tenbinza to his solar plexus he closed his eyes and sent the spell spiraling through his Zanpakto. He heard Nakashima inhale sharply, the fighter's equivalent of a scream as he basically banished his wounds.

He looked down at Nakashima, realizing that he was standing with his legs on either side of the scientists body.

"Do you mind?" he demanded sarcastically.

"Naka!" Ayumi tackled him to the ground. Nakashima patted her back before he got to his feet and walked over to where the box was. He opened it and peered inside, wincing at the mess the contents had made, "what was that?" Ayumi asked.

"Antidotes," he said, "You," he looked over at Kyo, "go and try to find out if the others are alright. You should be able to find them easily," he said looking at the people behind him, "will those hold?"

"Yes," he said scratching the back of his neck, "I'm good at Kido," Nakashima glared, "right, antidotes, going," he said turning and running off.

"I hope you're not really crushing on him," he said looking down at his sister. Ayumi blushed.

"At least I don't fall in love with homicidal people," she said raising her chin defiantly, "please don't let Koji kill him."

"I'm sure Kojia will just put him in a lot pain," Nakashima said, "then the two of you will be able to partake in whatever crazy mating rituals you Shinigami do," he sighed dropping the box and walking over to where Akane was. Her gold eyes hardened as she watched him walk over, "I gotta say, the whole greet-at-the-edge-of-a-sword-thing was rather kinky, even for you."

"Just be glad I can't move," she hissed, gold eyes flashing.

"Oh trust me, I am," he said with a half smile, "you let your hair grow out."

"What does my hair have anything to do with this?" she demanded, suspicion poking in her eyes.

"Nothing. But its been a while since I saw you and you're not going to tell me anything so I thought I'd point out the obvious," he glanced behind him, "plus I figure by reminding him that I've seen what you wear under that body suite of yours, he'll open his mouth first."

"He can't keep his mouth shut anyway," she sneered.

"Nakashima!"

They all turned as Yoshiko came running into the room.

"I can't find Hisana or Byakuya anywhere," she said looking at him, worry written on every inch of her face.

"They probably went to 'talk' to Kuroda," he said with a shrug.

"I can't find Kojima either."

Thats probably not good.

Next time we'll see what our favorite Lord and Lady Kuchiki are up to.