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Spring Rain

Chapter Seven

What Ichigo said triggered something in her.

It was a memory that Kagome buried deep inside herself. It was a memory she was so afraid of that it haunted her every night, even now. It was a memory so full of guilt that she was feeling tired just from keeping it. No one knew about it, because she did not dare to tell anyone. As the twin shunned by even her own family, if they found out, Kagome would not have been allowed to live. Not even with the prophecy that she needed to be alive in order for Katsumi to live.

Every time she closed her eyes, she could still see Katsumi when they finally found her after she was missing for a few days. How her body would twist in pain, how her eyes would flicker from the beautiful emerald green to that evil yellow. She could hear Katsumi's scream as if she was back on that day, how every scream of hers pierced right through Kagome's heart. Although she was never treated like a part of the family, Katsumi always saw Kagome as her equal. It was Kagome who pushed her sister away, believing that sooner or later, she would be like everyone else. It hurt to see and hear her twin suffering yet Kagome did nothing. Then, it was the silence that scared Kagome. She was so afraid that Katsumi was gone, her only family and protection.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Her mother came to her room that night, and silently, she dressed Kagome in a kimono so beautiful that only Katsumi was ever allowed to wear. She brushed her hair and tied the two braids down the middle of her head neatly. All the while, however, her mother never spoke. The look on her face was solemn, but Kagome was too afraid to ask. She was never treated with such kindness by anyone other than Katsumi; she did not want it to end because of a stupid question. Once she was dressed up, her mother left as she came, without a word.

She could still remember the glee she felt, feeling the soft fabric of the kimono and admiring the patterns. She only ever wore hand-me-downs, from their cousins. Everything that Katsumi owned, Kagome was not allowed to have. This was the first time she had something so nice and she temporarily forgot about her sister.

But good things never lasted long, Kagome learnt that night.

Led by the hand of her father, Kagome was brought to the clan's ceremony hall. Unlike festive times, only a handful of clan members were present. Even at her age, she knew something was not right. She tried to slip her hand from her father's but his grip on her tightened. That was when she saw it: Katsumi laying on the altar with an unoccupied altar on the other side. This was why she was kept alive. This was why she was allowed to wear a beautiful kimono and had her hair done by her mother. This had always been her fate.

Screaming and struggling, Kagome refused to accept her fate but what could a girl her size do? She was helpless the moment her father picked her up and placed her on the altar. She lost all hope when her brother stood over her, pinning her shoulders down while her grandfather and father were both reciting the incantations. Looking over to Katsumi, all the worry and guilt she felt were gone. There was only hatred left. If there could only be one alive, why must Kagome be sacrificed? Why was Katsumi born earlier? Why her?

~.~

"Well, you are an unexpected visitor."

"Save the foreplay. I'm here to talk."

"You and I have nothing to talk about."

"You are just as much my zanpakuto as you are Katsumi's."

Crinkling her nose at the smell, Kagome put her hand up to cover it while her brows were tightly knitted together. She had only been in Harusame's world a couple times, though it was a couple too many in her opinion; a wooden platform on an endless ocean seemed to be trying a little hard for the aesthetics. Moving to a corner of the platform, Kagome sat down by the edge and dipped her hand into the water with her back to Harusame. They both knew if Harusame was to attack, the zanpakuto spirit would be the one in a disadvantage.

"So you're here to beg me to lend you my powers?"

"The opposite, actually. I'm here to threaten you to let me use your powers," Kagome smirked, splashing the water a little. "Hey, you should really invest in some fish in this. Maybe a Great White shark? That would be cool."

"And how are you planning on threatening me?"

Harusame raised her arm a little, bringing a wave over Kagome and soaked her from head to toes. If Kagome did not like her, Harusame could barely tolerate her. She could always feel the presence of Kagome in Katsumi, and it always gave her a dirty feeling. And while Harusame resented Katsumi for neglecting her, she simply did not care for Kagome's personality. The ego, absolutely no respect for anyone, and especially her recklessness. Almost anything negative that one could think of, Kagome had it.

Her smirk was wiped off her face when Harusame brought that wave over her. From their very first meeting, neither of them hid their dislike for each other and Kagome appreciated it. If there was one thing she hated the most, it would be playing roundabout. She saw no point in wasting time pretending to like someone when it would be easier and serve a better purpose to be straightforward about how she felt about them. Several times, Harusame referenced the 'dirty reiryoku' Kagome possessed as the reason why she did not like her. Kagome, on the other hand, just thought of Harusame as useless. In fact, that was what she thought of every zanpakuto in existence.

Circumstances, however, forced her to come to Harusame.

Her enemies were no longer simpleton shinigamis. A new era of war was coming their way and their opponents were ones they never faced before. If this was simple warfare, Urahara would never train Katsumi. He most definitely would not have came to Kagome asking for her help, when he knew perfectly well that she was the last person he should be trusting. And after her last encounter with an arrancar, even Kagome was humbled. She was handicapped with an injury but deep down, she knew even if she was her usual self, it would have been hard for her to win that fight. She needed all the help she could get, which meant coming to Harusame.

"Let me use your powers, bankai and all. Or when I get back to the real world, I'll snap you into two."

If anyone else was to make that threat, Harusame would not believe them even for a second. This is Kagome speaking. Honouring her words was the only good thing about her, that Harusame would admit. Although, she did not have to be a person of honour for Harusame to believe her words. Simply being Kagome was more than enough.

"I'm doing this for Katsumi. I have nothing to gain if she dies, and you're the only one who can protect her."

"You're smarter than I think," Kagome smiled, getting up from the floor. "You better not have performance issues when I need you."

A loud thumping woke Kagome from Harusame's world. Shinji gave her a little wave and a grin though she only responded by throwing her shoe at his face. He barely flinched as her shoe bounced right off the barrier. They did not spend much time together, though Shinji knew she was a different person to Katsumi. Her identity, however, was still a mystery to him. Whoever she was, she was definitely an interesting person.

"You're going home. Someone's here to pick you up."

Shinji pointed over to the stairs where a familiar orange-haired girl stood. Kagome did not recognise the girl though she did the uniform; that was the school Katsumi recently transferred to. Was she a friend of Katsumi's? Either way, it seemed as if Kagome could finally escape this miserable place and stop witnessing the sad training they claimed to be a solution to their situation.

Standing up, Kagome stretched her arms and let out a soft groan. Before Shinji could signal for Hachi to dispel the barrier around her, Kagome placed her hand on it and broke through herself. "You could have broken through this whole time?" Shinji frowned. "So why didn't you?"

"Why do you think so?" Kagome asked.

Only then did Shinji finally realised that Kagome toyed with them. There was no doubt that she could break through the barrier and escape a long time ago, yet she did. She would not have been able to fight them all at once, but she also knew that they would not risk exposing their hideout. Kagome alone emitted enough reiatsu to attract all of Seireitei, if they were to engage in a fight they would be attracting unnecessary attention. Attention they could not afford attracting right now.

"Go home," Shinji said, directing her over to the stairs. "And perhaps we will see you again soon, princess."

Fidgeting with her fingers, Orihime kept glancing to Kagome every so often after leaving the warehouse. She had many questions running through her mind, questions that she was sure she would not get answers to. Why was Kagome (or Katsumi, as she knew her) with Ichigo and that group of mysterious people? Why was she confined in a barrier? And although she never talked to Katsumi in school, it seemed as if this Katsumi was different to that Katsumi. Something about her put fear in Orihime though she could not put a finger on it.

"There you are, Orihime." A familiar voice stopped the duo in their tracks. "Kisuke sent me to- Orihime, please come towards me slowly and get behind me."

"Yoruichi-san!"

Despite her confusion, Orihime could sense the hostility toward Kagome from Yoruichi. Did they know each other? As she took a step forward, Kagome grabbed her by the elbow and instantly Yoruichi went into attack mode. Suddenly appearing to her side, Yoruichi raised her leg to kick but Kagome effortlessly stopped her attack with her arm. Pulling Orihime close to her own body, Kagome wrapped an arm around her neck, using her as a body shield.

If there was anything that would destroy the shinigamis, it would be their weakness to the humans.

"Katsumi-chan, what are you doing?"

"Let her go."

"Long time no see, Yoruichi," Kagome smirked. "I'm afraid I can't let her go. After all, she's keeping me alive."

"Kisuke's been looking for you too."

Kagome doubted every word Yoruichi said. What she meant to say was Urahara had been looking for Katsumi. He wanted Katsumi to return home. Although she was used to being the forgotten one, it did not take the sting out of it. She loosened her hold on Orihime, letting Yoruichi take her. There was no point in resisting and getting into a fight here, with Yoruichi no less. It would not help her case either.

Cautious of Kagome, Yoruichi kept a distance between them the entire journey. She kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure she would not try to sneak an attack though unexpectedly, Kagome respected the distance and seemed disinterested. This was not the Kagome Yoruichi knew of. The stories she heard were those of a bloodthirsty murderer, but the Kagome before her looked just like any other teenager; hating on the world but posed no threat to the world herself.

~.~

"A warrior who can't fight will only hold us back."

Those were harsh words.

As soon as they returned, Urahara wasted no time in telling Orihime that she was not needed in the upcoming battle. Not because her powers were not needed, but rather because she would become a burden for them. Seeing the split second of anger and sadness flashing across Orihime's face, Kagome did not feel sorry at all. Part of her understood how she felt, being an abandoned one, though there was a much larger part of Kagome that understood just because one wanted to, did not mean one could. Urahara's words were harsh but they were truer than the sky was blue. Despite not knowing Orihime, Kagome could tell that she was not meant to be on the battlefield.

"So am I a replacement for her?" Kagome asked, half jokingly.

"This is not the time, Kagome," Urahara said, now directing his seriousness at her. It made her uncomfortable, to see him in such a light. "Please return Katsumi, we have much to do and we lost some time while you were off having fun."

"I'll have you know that it was Katsumi who got herself kidnapped and nearly got us both killed. "

"Then let her come back, and I'll make sure it never happens again."

"Where are you taking me, Kagome?"

"You'll see." Leading Katsumi deep into the forest, even Kagome herself was having a difficult time navigating. This was the first time her twin sister asked for her to play together. Katsumi was so excited when Kagome said she would take her to a secret place, one that belonged to just the two of them. However, as they walked deeper into the forest, she was starting to get a bad feeling. They were so far from home and no one knew where they went. What if they ran into trouble? No one would be able to help them. Just as she was about to ask to go home, Kagome disappeared. Where did her sister go?

Opening her eyes, Katsumi was no longer in the warehouse Shinji took her; she was back in her room. Reaching with her hand to touch her back, she could feel a bandage underneath her clothes. A knock interrupted her silent thoughts and Urahara opened the door as if he knew she would be awake. "Would you care to join us for training, Katsumi-chan?" Urahara smiled. "We have much to do."

Sat alone on his throne with a screen in front of him, the attack led by Ulquiorra was playing on the screen. Ulquiorra was one of his best and while the objective of the mission was not to win the battle, though losing was not within his expectations either, even when the opponents were Urahara and Yoruichi together. Knowing his former colleagues well, Aizen knew they would look for back-ups. They always did. Not that he cared, if he was being honest. It did not matter who they bring into the fight because Aizen would be the final winner.

With his head in his hand, Aizen skipped through the battle until someone caught his eyes. He sat up a little, a smile slowly spreading on his face. "That's an interesting ability you have, girl," he commented, pausing the screen to take a better look at Orihime. He even rewound to when she first appeared several times, replaying Orihime displaying her abilities.

He was not interested in who the Seireitei decided to bring into the oncoming war, though Aizen was beginning to think that he may have to change his mind. It never stopped to amuse him where and how they found these people, but it definitely made things more interesting for him. Just as he was about to stop the video, yet another intriguing individual appeared on the screen. She seemed to be a lot more grown up than the last time he saw her though Aizen recognised the two braids in her hair instantly. It was most definitely her. If he were not interested before, he was now.

"It's been a really long time, Princess Chuya."