Shippoman: Sorry about last week, I was super busy and unable to get this chapter finished in time. It's a little longer this time so I hope it's alright, but at the very least you should all be happy by the end.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 9:

"Good morning, Ichigo!"

Shinji moved closer to the wall as the very loud Keigo greeted the orange haired teen. It always amazed him how Ichigo could put up with someone that irritating, but then he thought about his own irritating life and shrugged. Maybe it wasn't that hard. After all, he had to deal with Hiyori and Mashiro on a daily basis. In fact, his current foul mood was because his monkey-like companion had forced him to return to the high school, again.

The day before, two arrancar made an appearance and fought with the orange haired teen and his friends. He was the only one of the three that was cleared to return to school, though the bandages he had on his head and arms told how bad the fight had been. He was sure that it wouldn't be much longer before the teen sought their help. There was no reason for him to be there any longer.

Despite this, he was still was forced to come.

"Morning, Hirako."

Shinji's internal thoughts were halted and he turned to see two of the females from his class smiling at him. He instantly smiled back and wrapped an arm around each of them. Although he couldn't remember their names, he knew it would be such a shame not to respond. Especially since they were really cute.

"Good morning!" he exclaimed happily. "And how are you doing today?"

"Good," the one on the left answered with a giggle. "You ready for the quiz today?"

Shinji groaned having forgotten all about it. "That's right, it's today isn't it."

"Yep, hope you prepared yourself," the one on the right added.

After that they went inside the classroom and the blond followed. He took his seat beside Ichigo and waited for the class to start, greeting the other students as they too entered the room. It was going to be a long and boring day for him, especially since he didn't even have the voluptuous Orihime to ease his boredom.

Luckily, at that moment, the teacher walked in and started taking role call. When she finished, she looked over the list again and shook her head.

"Looks like we have another new student today," she announced as she looked toward the door before moving toward it. "Miss Umehito? Come on in and introduce yourself to the class."

Shinji snickered to himself at the name. Umehito, what kind of person had a stupid name like that? He started to lean back in his chair watching the girl before the class enter and write her name on the board. Her dark red hair was long and pretty and he thought he caught the scent of plum blossoms. Then as she started to turn around, he saw the name written on the board.

"My name is Ume Umehito, it's nice to meet you all."

Shinji was so stunned he nearly tipped over in his chair. The girl before him was someone he hadn't seen in so long, he was beginning to believe he'd never see her face again. Yet here she stood. Then her eyes met his and he felt his breath stop. Her eyes betrayed the deeply ingrained pain and sorrow she was trying to hide with her smile. He noticed her eyes widen slightly in recognition before her lips began to tremble and her hands clenched at her side.

"Umehito?" The teacher called the girl's attention, and all the tension within her vanished.

"Yes?"

"You can take the seat between Mr. Asano and Mr. Hirako."

"Alright then."

The girl walked down the rows of desks until she was at the empty one beside Shinji who was looking right at her. He had so many questions for her but didn't want anyone present to hear them. However, she never once looked his way, not for the rest of the class. Still he watched her every move. The way she wrote, her responses to the people around her, everything. All of it was wrong.

Finally the class came to an end and as expected she was immediately bombarded by questions from the other students. She forced a smile on her face and answered, however she could. Eventually he had enough waiting and approached her.

"It's been a long time Yukiko," he greeted, showing all his teeth with his smile.

"Hirako," she returned slowly. "It has been...a long time."

"Wait, you know him, Ume?" Keigo exclaimed in amazement.

"Yeah, and why'd he call you Yukiko?" Chizuru asked in confusion.

"We used to have the same class in middle school," Yukiko answered with a shrug. "That's a nickname he gave me back then. I still don't get why and even though I've told him not to, he still uses it."

"What can I say, no matter how much time passes, you'll always be Yukiko to me," Shinji laughed without missing a beat. "Anyway I was hoping you and I could use these minutes between classes to catch up. Maybe swap a few stories?"

She sighed but got to her feet and addressed the other students. "Well he does have a point," she admitted. "And he won't leave me alone until I do, so I'll get it over with now. Be right back!"

After she bid farewell to the students, the two walked side by side talking back and forth about "old times". As soon as they were in an area where no one else was, however, Yukiko stopped and leaned against a wall.

"You can drop it now. What is it you really wanted, Captain Hirako?" she asked, her voice hard and cold.

"Well for starters, I'm not a captain anymore so just call me Shinji," the blond male stated firmly. Yukiko didn't respond to this so he continued. "I want to know how long you've been out and why the hell you thought it best not to tell us."

"Tch, that it? I haven't been out long, I was freed when Ichigo came to the soul society. And as for why you weren't told? I asked Kisuke and Youruichi not to. I didn't think I was ready to face you again, Captain Hirako...and I was right."

"I said call me Shinji. And anyway what do you mean you can't face us?"

Yukiko glared at him for a moment before closing her eyes and letting her crossed arms fall to her sides. As soon as she released them he could see. She'd been holding them still, without them hanging on to each other they began shaking; almost as if she was about to have a seizure.

"Wha...?" he started to ask, concerned by what he was seeing.

"I was trapped by him for a long time...far too long," she answered taking long, deep breaths every break. It was clear to Shinji that she was trying to keep herself calm. "After everything I went through...I can't be around people I knew. Why do you think I came here? Just being able to see you is enough to tear at my mind. The images, the memories of what happened over those years are always threatening to break loose... Even now as I speak, I can feel that part of me screaming to run, to get as far away from you as I can. I know you're not a threat...but I just can't...I can't focus on that."

Shinji was worried as she moved a shaking hand to her head, her voice starting to speed up, and even cracking from the strain of holding herself together. He knew that after being trapped by Aizen for as long as she was, she wasn't coming out unscathed...but even he didn't expect it to be this bad. "Yukiko..." he murmured softly.

"Please...Hirako, for my sake," she pleaded leaning against the wall for support and rubbing her forehead. "Don't approach me until I'm ready."

They lapsed into silence as he helplessly watched his past teammate crumbling before him. "I promise," he whispered, then he reached forward, placing a hand on her shaking shoulder.

Yukiko jerked away from the touch almost instantly and clutched her head with both hands as the building pressure within her own mind became too much. "I can't...I don't want any more pain," she cried, tears sliding down her cheeks. "It's too much. He's going to be so mad at me for being here. I shouldn't be here!"

"Yukiko, what are you talking about?" Shinji asked taking a step back to avoid touching her again. He realized immediately that making the contact only made the situation worse. "You need to calm down."

Her eyes were wide and she was panting heavily as she cowered against the wall, not having the strength of will to look at him anymore. "No more...I don't want to be punished anymore." Then suddenly, her frightened eyes locked onto him, full of resignation. Her hands slowly moved to her side, and closed as if they were gripping something. "I have to go back to him. I have to go back to Sousuke."

Shinji felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach. He'd never heard her use the man's first name before. And seeing the fear and uncertainty directed at him mad it worse. The woman before him was utterly broken.

"Ume!" Shinji was startled by the voice and turned to see Ichigo hurrying toward them. He looked pissed despite his previous depression. The blond attempted to block the carrot-top's way but was easily side stepped. To his surprise, the teen went right up to the shuddering, fearful girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, Ume?" he asked worriedly.

Almost instantly the shaking and muttering stopped and she looked up at him with clearing eyes. "Y-Yeah, thanks Ichigo." She straightened up and looked back at the confused blonde sternly. "Shinji, I hope you can understand now why I said I wasn't ready," she murmured. "So please, just keep your promise." With that, the young female turned on her heel and marched off.

The other two waited until she was out of sight before moving. Shinji was about to follow after her, but Ichigo grabbed his caller and pushed him against the wall. "I don't know what your deal is with Ume, but stay away from her. She doesn't need you adding to her triggers."

Shinji stared silently at Ichigo for a long while sizing up the teen with a frown. "What do you actually know about her?"

"Enough to know you shouldn't be anywhere near her."

"Like what?"

"None of your business. How do you even know her, Hirako?"

"None of your business," Shinji muttered in a snarky manner. "But I do know far more than you."

Ichigo bristled at his statement. "You have no idea what she's been through, recently. Just stay away from her."

At this point Shinji had had enough and jabbed the orange haired teen in the side, doubling him over. "Don't pretend that you know what she's been through. That girl never let's on to anyone exactly what's going on with her until she reaches a breaking point. Whatever she's told you, whatever you think you know is only scratching the surface." He turned away from the pained teen and began walking down the hall but paused after a few steps. "Besides you should really be worrying about yourself right now. You nearly got killed in that fight yesterday because of your hollow. Question is, will you do something about it...or let it finish taking over?"

With that he returned to the class to see Yukiko had gone back to talking to the other students like nothing happened. On closer inspection, however, he noticed the moment he walked in, her hands started shaking again. He silently clenched his fists and promised he'd beat Aizen for every action he took against the young female.

Yukiko smiled softly as she calmly breathed in and out. Before her stood her opponent, weapon in hand. Despite facing an armed foe she was calm and relaxed.

"Wow," she murmured to herself. "This is completely different. I sense absolutely nothing from him...not even the killer's intent I'm used to."

"Did you really think they would?" Soyokaze replied. Although she wasn't expecting a reply, it didn't surprise her either. Most of her internal thoughts turned into full conversations after all. "He's a human with very little spiritual energy. Even on your worst day he wouldn't pose a threat."

"I know," Yukiko murmured. "That's why I'm happy. I can get in some practice without soul shattering fear."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted as her opponent's weapon hit her shoulder. She jumped at the contact and blinked a few times. When did the referee say start?

"Point!"

"Come on Ume, you can do it!"

Yukiko shifted a little. After taking a moment to remind herself what she was doing, she silenced her sword and again took a fighting stance. The wooden sword in her hands felt light as she face her opponent once more. This time, she quieted her mind and waited for the signal.

When it came, her opponent shot forward. To her, he appeared to be moving in slow motion. She watched as he stepped toward her, raised his weapon and brought it down at her head. It took her a moment to realize he was attacking as she was mesmerized by the slowness of his movement. Because of this she was barely able to get her own weapon up in time to defend.

His sword struck hers weakly and she easily brushed it aside and thrust the tip of her own into his chest.

"Point!"

"Way to go, Ume!"

Yukiko looked up to see her new friends cheering her. She smiled and lifted her gloved hand in acknowledgment. Then she returned to her combat stance. There would be one more bout; which would decide the winner of the match.

She once again took a deep breath and prepared herself. Moments later the referee called for them to start and they began to move. She was once again amazed by how slow her opponent seemed to move, but this time she didn't allow herself to be distracted by it. Instead she moved just enough to keep from being struck, marveling at how easy it was fighting against a mortal. Then she finally moved under his swinging blade and struck him across the chest.

"Point and match!"

"Wow, that was incredible, Ume!" Chizuru exclaimed as she and a few others ran up to the much older female. "I thought you said you'd never practiced Keno before."

Yukiko slowly removed the protective headgear she was wearing before sheepishly grinning at the rest. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was worried no one would want to face me if they knew the truth," she explained. "See...I used the live at a dojo and my father was a great teacher of the Kamiya* Style. I've been learning it since I was a kid."

The other students gawked at her and many didn't know how to respond to that. "Wow that's so cool," Keigo exclaimed excitedly. "Does that mean you could beat my sister?"

"Uh...I don't want to make any assumptions," Yukiko said quickly. She was 90% sure she could fairly easily, but didn't want to let on what her actual skill level was. "It has been awhile since the last time I sparred with anyone so I'd probably lose against someone that good."

"No way, you're really talented," a girl older than Keigo but with the same hair color. She took Yukiko's hands in hers and stared at her with pleading eyes. "I need you on the kendo team. You'll join right?"

The ex-soul reaper felt very out of place and slowly pulled her hands out of the other's. "Sorry, but I actually help my uncle out in his shop after school. Thanks for the invite though."

"Oh come on! You're the best fighter here," she argued.

Yukiko shook her head in reply. She glanced around and noticed that Keigo was deliberately avoiding them now and realized the woman before her was definitely his sister. "I'm really sorry. I can stop by during school hours but once it's over I have to leave."

The girl tried several more times to convince Yukiko to join the club but the older female wouldn't budge. She didn't have enough hours in the day to do school, clubs, and her nightly meditation. There wasn't enough time before the war to spend that much time at the school. Eventually she managed to convince the other to stop and was able to leave the matted room and head home.

It'd been a long day for her, grabbing some new clothes to wear when she wasn't at the school, seeing Shinji for the first time in 107 years, and nearly taking his head off after freaking out. She could still feel the burning desire to draw her sword and cut him down. If it hadn't been for Ichigo's timely arrival she would have.

Luckily Shinji went along with her request and didn't approach her the rest of the day. He didn't even speak to her unless she called out to him first. It also gave her a chance to alert a few of the other students to her mental state. She explained that her family died in a fire and that she had PTSD because of it. They were all very receptive and offered to help her anyway they could. She asked they just keep an eye out and if they see her shaking or muttering to herself that they should just say her name. They thought it was an odd request but were still willing to do so.

Now, she was sitting alone in her apartment trying very hard to sort through a set of memories and failing. Every few minutes she would snap her eyes open, panting heavily from the mental strain the exercise put her under. She just kept thinking about her encounter with Shinji which only added to the difficulty of her task. If she was able to run into him so easily there was a good chance that she'd run into the others. Something she wanted to avoid if at all possible.

"Yukiko, it's getting late," the nightingale murmured softly. "You should really head to bed now."

"I know...I didn't make any progress tonight though," Yukiko grumbled back as she returned to her feet and began to change. "Wasn't coming here supposed to help? It seems to only be making it worse."

"You're just saying that because of Shinji," Soyokaze pointed out. "You weren't expecting to run into him so it took you by surprise and you're paying for it now. But now that you know he's at the school you can brace yourself and simply focus your attention elsewhere."

"It's not that simple, Soyokaze," the young soul reaper muttered. "Even if I don't see him or can't feel him...I still know he's there. I can still sense when he's watching me. It's difficult to relax. If I'd know he was in that class I would have gone somewhere else and just let Ichigo know I was there separately."

Soyokaze sighed and shook her head. "He's agreeing so far to leave you alone, don't make his mere presence more of an issue than it is," she scolded. "If you quit thinking about him being there you'll hardly notice it."

Yukiko didn't think it'd be that easy and said as much, but still she agreed to give it a try and slipped into an uneasy sleep, both dreading and looking forward to tomorrow.

For the next couple days, things went rather smoothly at the school. She was able to make it through her classes without paying too much attention to Shinji. Her new friends kept her busy too, when she wasn't working on school work, and she was able to meet a girl with short dark hair that came in her third day there. He name was Tasuki and she'd apparently been in recovery for a few days. Yukiko was pretty sure it had something to do with why Ichigo was injured but didn't press it with either of them.

On the other hand, she was still unable to make any progress in her meditations at night. Her mind was too distracted, she couldn't relax when she was alone and each time she started the process only tore her apart further. Because of this she began trying to think of something she could do to keep herself calm when she was alone.

That's what led her to making a phone call as soon as she was out of school. "Hey, Kisuke, sorry to bother you," she murmured as soon as he picked up the other line. "No nothing's wrong. I was just hoping you could help me find something." She waited as her friend replied before continuing. "I was hoping you'd know where I could find a Plum Blossom. The scent, the plant, anything really." She was sure she heard him laugh on the other end, probably thinking about when she was a part of squad 9. But he eventually gave her a few directions to place he knew. "Thanks, Kisuke. I owe you one."

After that she hung up and began following the street, looking for the points Kisuke used to mark where she was supposed to turn. Eventually she came upon a little shop filled with plants of different sorts. It was a sensory overload as she stepped inside and she had to shake her head to recover from the sudden saturation of smells.

The shop wasn't very big, but the space available was filled to the brim with plants of various sizes and colors. "Can I help you with something?" Yukiko looked around trying to find the source of the voice and finally spotted a short old woman standing behind the counter. Her head was mostly blocked by the plants sitting on top of the counter, making it difficult to see her.

"Yes, I was hoping to find some plum blossoms," the ex-soul reaper answered with a smile.

"Ah, plum blossoms. Are you seeking some sort of peace?" the woman asked.

"Yes, something like that," Yukiko agreed.

"In that case, follow me," the woman murmured, moving away from the counter and walking farther into the maze of plants. The younger woman nodded and followed after her, taking in the different plants as they moved. "As it so happens, I only have one plum blossom available at the moment, though if you want I can order a few more for you."

"That would be lovely," Yukiko murmured, noticing the shop owner hadn't turned around to speak. Instead she just kept moving forward, her eyes seemingly closed as if she didn't need to see to know where she was going.

"Here we are," she said after a few moments of walking and searching. She stood up and handed the potted plant over to the young woman. "Will that be everything?"

"Yes, how much for the blossoms?"

"500 yen," the woman answered holding out her hand.

Yukiko nodded and pulled out the specified amount of money from her pocket. She was glad that Urahara had opted to give her a weekly allowance while she was in the world of the living...an amount she had every intention of paying back once she returned to her duties...if she returned that is.

After she paid the shop owner, and signed a paper the woman would use to order more plants, she thanked her and headed out the door. The one plant in her hand gave off the soft scent she knew all too well. Just as it had in the past, she could feel her muscles and mind relaxing. She would need more if she wanted that apartment room to be a haven from the rest of both worlds. As she stood outside, she lifted the plant to her face and inhaled deeply, feeling the tension within her drift away even more.

"Too bad there isn't an orchard I can go sit in like in soul society," she murmured to herself. "Oh well, I should head home and try the meditation once more. Hopefully I'll make some measurable headway this time."

She smiled to herself and walked around to the back of the shop through an alleyway, taking a short cut back to her apartment. Just as she was exiting the alleyway, she bumped into someone and lost her grip on the potted plant. To her surprise, the person she'd bumped into managed to catch it before it hit the ground and held it out.

"Sorry...here," the person growled. Yukiko followed her line of sight from the plant, up the burly bare arms, to a well-toned chest wrapped in a purple tank top and finally the head, covered with really short silver hair and a piercing in the left eyebrow; which was lifted in a never ending scowl.

For the second time in a week, Yukiko felt her heart seize up and her breath catch in her throat. The man before her was overbearing, and seemed to tower over her. Tears started sliding down both cheeks in a steady stream. Her body was shaking and screaming at her to flee, to defend herself, something, anything. But all she could manage was to stand there and stare, in her panicked state. She could see his eyes widen slightly as their eyes met and a single word slid past his lips...nearly shattering the shaking doors within her.

"Yukiko..."

Shippoman: The time has finally come. 107 years of separation and the two are finally able to see each other again. But with Yukiko nearly breaking all over again just seeing him, is there anyway for them to start over? Stay tuned to find out, and remember to R&R.