Reviews would be appreciated~

Spring Rain

Chapter Three

"Ukitake Katsumi."

"Hirako-kun?"

"Or should I say...Chuya Katsumi."

Not giving her the time to response, Shinji charged at Katsumi, bringing his zanpakuto back around. Without a weapon of her own, Katsumi could only dodge his attacks. It was clear to her, however, that there was a huge difference between their skills and it was only a matter of time before Katsumi could no longer evade his blade. As Shinji swung his zanpakuto out, the blade came dangerously close to slicing Katsumi by the throat. With two fingers, the momentum of Shinji's zanpakuto was suddenly neutralised.

Raising an eyebrow, Shinji was met with bright red eyes instead of emerald green. A murderous like smirk started to spread on the girl's face as she slowly turned her fingers to point at Shinji. Her lips moved and although no sound came out, a Hado shot out from her fingers. Shinji barely dodged the spell, hating the fact that he was just taunted; the fact that she could use a mid-level Hado without incantation or calling the type and level, but still mouthed it so he would know, was more than irritating.

As Shinji was recovering himself, and observing what seemed like a new opponent, the girl stretched her arms up to the air and let out a satisfied groan before looking down at her own hands. She moved her fingers, clutching her hands into tight fists before releasing them. When she finally looked up, the smirk was still plastered on her face. "Ah...it sure is great to be back," she muttered, closing her eyes to take in a deep breath before disappearing and reappearing next to Shinji, bringing her leg down for a kick. Although he dodged, the impact of her kick sent a wave of energy his way though he withstood. "Chuya...I haven't heard that name in a century. That cursed name. Would you like to ask your friend to come out? Or shall I go on a little hunt?" Before she could do anything, however, the girl was taken away by what could only be described as a blur.

"Oh man...I haven't had my fun yet," Shinji grumbled.

~.~

The moment she was let down, the girl raised her fist but was faced with a blade pointed right at her nose. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes now focusing on the man on the other end of the blade. "Did you not get enough of an ass kicking last time?" she taunted with a smirk, taking a step back but Urahara took a step forward to keep the distance between them. He could never let her get too close but he definitely could not let her too far away either. "Come on now, Kisuke, there's no need for the blade. Let's fight like civilised people, shall we?"

"You talking about being civilised? That's funny," Urahara smiled. They continued staring at each other, with Urahara keeping his zanpakuto between them still. "It's time for you to go. Bring Katsumi back."

"Why should I?" she asked, tilting her head further. "This body doesn't belong to Katsumi but...you already know that, don't you?" Urahara kept quiet, to which the girl simply scoffed. "Katsumi, Katsumi, Katsumi. You know, ever since we were born, everything has been about Katsumi. Finally, we have the princess we had been longing for. Oh, don't mind her twin sister, she's not wanted. But guess what? Without me, your precious princess would have been dead. She should have been dead. Isn't the Soul Society all about justice? Where's my justice? Did anyone fight for me? Did you?"

"Where's the justice in killing twenty-nine shinigamis?" Urahara questioned back.

"Pulling that card now, are we?" she smirked. "I'll admit, there was no justice in killing those shinigamis. Just a whole lot of fun. It's entertaining to watch them fight someone they knew they had no chance beating but still tried so hard. It's amusing to see them struggling so much only to beg me to end it. I still remember each and every one of their faces when I killed them. The moment my blade pierced their hearts. The feeling of flesh separating when I dismembered them. Must have been a real mess for you guys to clean up."

"The Soul Society is still after you. You will be chased down and prosecuted. You won't ever get to live the life you wanted so badly."

"Then let them come. You think I would be afraid of the Soul Society? I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to scare me so I would go into hiding and let Katsumi come back. Maybe for one day I believed in the bullshit of Katsumi protecting me from prosecution. But then I realised it was just another way of you assholes telling me that you don't need me around. You only want Katsumi. You don't even dare to say my name."

Lowering his zanpakuto finally, Urahara sheathed the blade before looking at the girl. She was the definition of tragic; anyone who had heard of her story would feel nothing but pity for her. However, those who knew what she had done and what she was capable of would never be able to feel that pity. "Kagome," Urahara said, staring into her eyes. "Ukitake Kagome, twin sister of Katsumi."

Her expressions softened but only for a second after hearing her name. "I know there's something coming, something big. And I know that eventually you're going to come to me for help. I will let your precious princess come back but only because I am looking forward to seeing you begging for my help. All of you, especially that Commander of yours. I'll make him get on his knees."

Right after her declaration, Kagome closed her eyes and her body dropped onto the floor. Urahara caught her, holding her in his arms before letting out a soft sigh. "She's going to be a pain in the neck," he mumbled, picking the girl up effortlessly. "Why did Ukitake give me such a troublesome girl? I wouldn't complain if he gave me a charming woman but I can't even flirt with this girl because he'd probably cut my head off if he ever found out...Ah! Why did I ever say yes to taking care of her?"

~.~

"It is going to be fine, Katsumi...Everything will be fixed and you will be back on your feet again soon enough. Do not worry."

A gentle hand stroked her hair, reassuring her, but she knew she was not going to be fine. She knew she was dying. She wanted to speak but she could not find the strength in her. Hearing a scream, she turned her head slowly to the left, watching helplessly as her sister was laid and tied down on the altar next to her. Her lips moved but no words came out. She wanted to tell them not to hurt her, to ask for someone to help her. "I don't want to die! Please! Please don't do this! Please, I'll be good! I'll behave! Please, don't!"

"Kagome!"

Sitting up on her futon, Katsumi was trying to make sense of the dream. Or rather, memory. It was not until a drop of tear splattered on the back of her hand did Katsumi finally realised that she was crying. The feeling of helplessness stuck with her. She laid there, watching as the other girl screamed for help yet there was nothing she could do. Remembering the screams was even more unbearable for her as Katsumi finally broke down. She could not remember who the other girl was but she knew she was someone important, someone close.

A handkerchief was handed to her and Katsumi looked up to see Urahara standing in front of her. She took the handkerchief, wiping her tears but they were never ending. "Who was she?" she cried. "Why does it hurt so much? Who is this...Kagome?"

"Your twin sister," Urahara said. "Her life was sacrificed to save yours but...you won't remember any of it, fortunately enough for you. That's another story for next time, however. Today, we have something more important at hand. Your zanpakuto. Do you remember the name? Or the release command? Do you even know what a zanpakuto is?" Urahara held her zanpakuto before her eyes but Katsumi frowned, not even paying attention to the katana. "No? I suppose not. Looks like we have a lot to do then. Let's go."

"How could you?" Katsumi asked, refusing to move. "How could you just drop something like that and pretend it is nothing? My twin sister was sacrificed to save me and you just moved on, telling me I am fortunate to not remember? I have a twin sister. How could I not have known that? How could I have forgotten? How could I?!"

Letting out a sigh, Urahara took a seat next to Katsumi, putting her zanpakuto in his lap. "You are having these...dreams. Nightmares. But they feel like memories, don't they? A long time ago, your memories were sealed away but it was for your own good. For your safety, and the safety of others, you cannot remember. That's a sacrifice you have to make. Sometimes, not remembering and not knowing is a blessing. There will come a time, however, when it all comes back to you. For now, shall we work on your zanpakuto? It'd be rather useless to have you on the battlefield without it."

Lately, everything felt so strange.

Her body felt strange; somehow, she knew how to fight despite having no recollection of ever learning how to. Not to mention the odd energies that she had been able to sense lately. It seemed like everyone had some sort of energy with the level and intensity of it differing from one to the other. Her mind felt strange too; she was haunted by dreams every night yet every single one of them seemed more like a memory. Even the world felt strange. Although, none of that felt as strange as having a katana in her hand.

When she was handed what Urahara referred to as her 'zanpakuto', Katsumi took a good look at the weapon. It was a beautiful katana, with a diamond-shaped tsuba, a teal-coloured hilt, and a teardrop-shaped ornament hanging at the end. The blade of the katana was exceptionally long, reaching almost a metre out in front of her. Yet, this was no ordinary katana. It was a katana with a name, with an ability. One that Katsumi supposedly knew how to activate but there was nothing in her memories that was related to the zanpakuto even remotely. Not even in the ones Urahara helped her recover, or the ones that appeared in her dreams.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Urahara smiled, watching Katsumi. "She may be one of the most beautiful zanpakutos in Soul Society, losing out to just Rukia's one. It's powerful too, although I only saw you using it once."

"But you said I would have to remember the name and the...release command? I do not even know what those mean, how am I suppose to remember?"

"I'm sorry, Katsumi."

Just like before, Urahara muttered under his breath and pressed his palm to Katsumi's forehead where a surge of energy shot through her. Falling unconscious, Urahara leaned her up against a rock and used a binding spell on her. Although it seemed like there was an understanding between him and Kagome, there was no harm in being too safe. He was not heavily injured last time but Urahara was not too fond of the idea of being stabbed again.

A few seconds later, the girl's body jerked a little as she slowly raised her head. The red eyes were a dead giveaway that Kagome had took over. Unlike last time, however, she made no attempt to break free of the binding spell. "Why are you wasting your time training her? You and I both know that it would be much quicker if you sent an invitation to everyone in Soul Society and asked them to come beg me. Katsumi isn't the soldier you need. She will never become the soldier you need." A strand of hair fell on her face and Kagome tried to move her hand though she was bound in place. "Can you...?" she asked, looking at Urahara. "I'm not going to attack you. If I were, I would have broken free already. It's a pain in the ass to break these myself."

Urahara hesitated for a moment though he released the binding spell. Kagome brushed the strand of hair out of her face and stretched her arms up, letting out a groan before looking over to the store owner. A smirk appeared on her face as her eyes glided down his arm, seeing that Urahara had his hand placed on top of his cane. "Do you think the Soul Society would ask for the help of one of their most wanted criminals?"

"I think the Soul Society is shameless enough to ask. And then betray me in the end."

"And if they never come to you?"

"Then you don't know the Soul Society like I do," Kagome grinned. "First of all, they need all the help they can. Whether it's from me or those they exiled before. Isn't that the reason why you're still associated with them, Kisuke? They threw you out but you still help them. Secondly," she hummed, holding up two fingers. "Even if they don't need or want my help, they don't want me on the opposite team. Realistically speaking, I won't be able to kill all of you. However, I could kill enough to significantly damage your side. Last but not least, I'm a Chuya."

~Meanwhile~

When she opened her eyes this time, Katsumi was standing in what looked like a training field. Unlike last time, she was much calmer when she saw her younger self standing on the field with her zanpakuto in hand. Standing opposite Katsumi was the man whom she called brother. Katsumi stepped a little closer to the young Ukitake, taking a good look of his face. It had been so long that she almost forgot what her own brother looked like. Seeing him now, even though it was just a memory, was more emotional than Katsumi thought.

"Are you ready, Katsumi-chan?"

"As always."

They unsheathed their zanpakutos at the same time and charged at each other. The blades clashed together but neither of them was giving in. Ukitake easily gained the upper hand on her, forcing the young Katsumi to move purely defensively. "You're still afraid of hurting me, Katsumi-chan. That means you're not fighting me at full strength. You will only get hurt on the battlefield and burden your comrades if you continue to fight this way." Despite the advice, young Katsumi was still fighting defensively. Most of the time, she was using her zanpakuto to block Ukitake's moves. When she did use it offensively, she went for places she knew that Ukitake would be able to block. That was, until Ukitake forced her into a corner and went for the kill.

"Cry, Harusame."

That was as much as Katsumi got to see this time before she felt like she was pulled into a vortex. She woke up with a loud gasp, sitting up from the rock, surprising Urahara who had been waiting all this time. Without a fight, Kagome got bored quickly into their conversation and went back into sleep instead, leaving Urahara watching a blacked out Katsumi. "Welcome back, Katsumi-chan!" Urahara smiled. "So, did you get it? My technique to get your memories back is still a little primitive, I'm not sure exactly which memory would be restored each time."

"There is a lot more than precision you need to work on," Katsumi groaned, holding her head in her hands. "Harusame...my zanpakuto's name is Harusame."

"That's a pretty name," Urahara smiled. "Well, now it's time for you to enter Harusame's world and fight her. She would most likely try to kill you, and she would most likely succeed." Katsumi's confused and terrified expression brought out a chuckle from him. "You won't die." A raise of her eyebrow and it was evident that Katsumi did not believe him. Urahara did not blame her, however, because he was never straight with her. There were many times when she was younger when she would fall for everything Urahara said, though she soon learnt. "Do you think I would have told you to do it if you would really die?"

"But why must I...enter her world?"

"There are many things that are perfect about you but there is just one flaw about you, Katsumi. I seriously do not understand your need for everything to be explained. Could you not, for once, just do as you're told without ever questioning?" The look on Katsumi's face was clear; it was a simple no. With a sigh, Urahara sat down opposite Katsumi, directing her to put her zanpakuto on her lap. "Right, this here..." he said, patting his cane, "is Benihime. She's my zanpakuto but she's...not very nice. However, there is a bond between us because we're together all the time.

"Your Harusame," he continued, pointing at her zanpakuto, "was stashed away, forgotten. Even if you do remember her name, you won't be able to use her. Not to the full potential, anyway. You could possibly release her but I doubt it would be for long. This is because zanpakuto's have their own personalities. You need to treat them nicely in order for you to be able to use them. Neglect means that they are going to throw a tantrum and refuse to cooperate. By going into her world, you can fight her and if you win, she would submit to you."

"And...how do I enter her world?"