Is knowing too much a good thing?

Back upstairs…

"First you get attacked by Hollows almost everyday for no reason, then you sense Yoruichi's presence, and to top it all off, you can activate my Zanpaku-to without being near it! What is going on?!"

"I…I have no idea. That was the first time I've ever held a sword, let alone use one!"

"You seem to have a knack for shocking us…" said Yoruichi dryly.

"By the way, how did you know what Benihime's attack was? Did she tell you or did you just say that out at random?"

"Um…I already knew what her attack was. I also know that she can create a barrier of blood-mist to defend you from attacks," said Kari.

"Next you'll be using her final release, am I right?"

"Actually…no. I have no clue what her Bankai is."

"How many others do you know? Zanpaku-to and their attacks, I mean," asked Yoruichi.

"Let's see…I know Zabimaru, Senbonzakura, Hisagomaru, Zangetsu, Shinso and that's pretty much it, well at least off the top of my head."

"Are those the names of the Soul Reapers or are they Zanpaku-to?" asked Urahara.

"Zanpaku-to. I also know which one belongs to which Soul Reaper."

"This is getting ridiculous…" muttered Urahara.

"What, you're not going to see what else I know about the Soul Society?" grinned Kari evilly.

"I'm almost afraid to ask. How much do you know about Yoruichi and me?" asked Urahara.

"Do you really want me to tell you or would you rather not know?"

"I'd prefer knowing how much information you have on us now rather than later," said Yoruichi.

"Who should I do first? Yoruichi or Urahara-san?"

"Do me first. I might as well get this over with quickly."

"Okay then. Kisuke Urahara, former captain of the 12th division and founder of the Shinigami Research Institute, Zanpaku-to's name is Benihime the Red Princess, and is one of the few known female Zanpaku-to. You left the Soul Society after creating something that could be very dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands, as well as a Gigai which would prevent a Soul Reaper from regaining their powers, rendering them virtually undetectable."

"Woah…how do you know so much?"

"I also know who took your place. Mayuri Kurotsuchi is the current captain of the twelfth division, and his assistant captain is actually one of his old creations using Gigai and Gikongan. Her name is Nemu Kurotsuchi."

"Impressive. How much do you have on me, Kari?" asked Yoruichi.

XxXxX

"You'd be surprised… Yoruichi Shihouin, former captain of the 2nd division and ex-commander of the Shinigami special forces, also known as the 'Flash Goddess' for her mastery of Shun-Po. You prefer to be in your cat form, and you are an old friend of Urahara. 22nd generational head of the Shihouin family, one of the four noble families and you earned a great deal of respect while you lived in the Soul Society. You prefer not to use the honorifics. After you left the Soul Society to help Urahara escape, you were succeeded by your previous protégé, Soifon, who is now the current captain of the 2nd division and the commander of the Shinigami Special Forces."

"Wait…if you knew I was a girl, then why…?"

"I didn't want to shock you so much when I first met you. You do sound like a guy when you're in your cat form after all."

"You still haven't told us how you know all this," said Urahara.

"I think it might be better if I show you two something. Take a good look at who's on the covers of Volume 6 and 17 of the manga I originally brought with me," said Kari as she handed them the Bleach manga.

"What the… Is that me?!"

"That's a fairly good picture," said Yoruichi amused.

"The reason I knew so much about you before coming is because of these books. (And the fact that I actually looked you up online!) You two were my favorites out of all of the others," said Kari.

"So in other words, we were just characters out of a graphic novel to you?"

"My favorite ones…I was pretty shocked when I saw that Hollow the first night I arrived."

"It does explain a few things…" said Urahara.

"The real question you should be asking is whether the fact that she knew so much about us is a good thing."

"I think we should deal with this later… Right now I think we've had enough excitement for one day," said Urahara.

"Agreed," said Yoruichi.

"I think I'll go relax by reading for now. I'll be in my room if you need me," said Kari as she got up.

"Well, at least now we know more about where she got her information," said Yoruichi.

"…"

"What are we going to do with her now?"

"Nothing…she's almost harmless; if you don't count the times when she has a bad headache and is in a bad mood," said Urahara.

"I think we should still keep an eye on her for now. I'll be with her if you need me," said Yoruichi as she went off after Kari.

As Yoruichi neared the room, she noticed that the door was left open just wide enough for her to slip through. She entered the room and saw Kari reading her graphic novels at an alarming rate.

"How fast can you read?!" said Yoruichi amused.

"I can read over 9 or 10 pages a minute. I'm a fast reader," joked Kari.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go for it."

Yoruichi sat next to Kari and looked at the books she was reading. She attempted to read them while still in her feline form, to no avail.

"Need some help?"

"I'm fine. I'm not used to reading manga."

"It only took me an hour to get the hang of reading right-to-left for the first time," commented Kari.

"You're a quick learner then."

"Sometimes…though mostly it takes a while for me to do something if it doesn't catch my interest long enough," said Kari with a shrug.

"Why did you like me and Kisuke more than the others?" asked Yoruichi, changing the subject.

"You two cracked me up…and you reminded me of myself. Urahara-san was meddlesome, yet mostly helpful…when he felt like it. You enjoy cats and have a witty demeanor like I do most of the time…plus you seem to love messing with other people's heads through mind games," laughed Kari.

"True," chuckled Yoruichi.

"Actually, you two tie for my favorite characters…I can't seem to choose who I like more between the two of you."

"That's amusing to know…"

"I'm guessing that you're wanting to learn what else I know about the Soul Society…"

"If nothing else it would pass the time."

"The eleventh division, which is lead by Kenpachi Zaraki, the only captain to gain his position without being recommended by the others, is the one who is more likely to fight than talk. Division four is the medical division…the captain is Unohana Retsu and is considered one of the weakest divisions out of the Gotei 13. The weaker of the Soul Reapers who graduate the academy are assigned there. 12 is the research division, 13 is the only one who doesn't have an assistant captain, your old division is the Special Ops and number 10 is lead by Toshiro Hitsuguya, the youngest captain in the Soul Society right now," finished Kari.

"Do you know how to use any spells?"

"The only one I can remember off-hand is Bakudo 33, and I don't know how to use it."

"You know the incantation to Bakudo 33? That's a pretty high-level spell…"

"Want me to repeat it? I seriously doubt that anything will happen."

"We might want to go outside…just in case you actually manage to fire that spell properly," said Yoruichi.

"Whenever you're ready, Kari," said Yoruichi.

"Ruler,

the mask of blood and flesh,

all things in the universe that fly,

that which names all,

In the name of truth and temperance,

Dig your claws into the walls of sinless dreams,

Bakudo 33: Pale Fire Crash!"

Kari repeated the words exactly as she remembered them; as she expected, nothing happened.

"You really do know the words to the spell. Where did you learn that?"

"Heh…let's just say there's a reason why I love subtitles," she grinned.

"Eh?"

"Bleach isn't just a graphic novel, it's also an anime! I happened to watch a recording of it with subtitles; so I memorized the spell," explained Kari.

"I don't think I can take much more of this…" said Yoruichi.

"Likewise…" muttered Kari.

-----

"Oh, that reminds me! Kari-chan, what's for dessert tonight?" called Urahara.

"We still have leftover cookies, don't we?"

"I think so…"

"Well, you can eat those. I'm not in any shape to stand and cook!" she said irritably.

I'm in no mood for anything at all right now… It's been a while since this has happened. Oh well…I hope he doesn't get any bad ideas.

"Well I hope you're in the mood for sushi, cause that's what we're having," said Jinta.

"I think I'll pass. Yoruichi, tell them not to wait up for me. I'm getting a real headache from all of this…"

"You and me both," said Yoruichi.

"I know I'm not supposed to go riding since I'm supposedly on 'vacation', but I think we really need to get away…at least for an hour," said Kari.

"Think he'll know we went riding?"

"He'll put two-and-two together once he sees the bike and helmet are gone, along with something to drink."

"I'll take…"

"Milk, right?"

"Smart girl…what're you gonna get?"

"Water. If I took a sport drink, then I'd use it up too quickly. I think we should wait until they start to eat dinner. By the time they find out we're gone, they'll have a hard time catching us," grinned Kari.

"I'll go tell them not to wait up for us at dinner then," said Yoruichi.

Yoruichi rode on Kari's shoulder; secretly Kari was grateful that Yoruichi didn't have the same irritating (not to mention VERY PAINFUL) tendency to dig her claws into her. They rode around for a while, enjoying the feel of the breeze. It wasn't until around ten that they returned; Urahara was a tad annoyed at them both.

"I thought I said no bike riding," said Urahara irritably.

"Hey, we needed a break from the training…besides, whoever has the key to the lock controls who gets to ride," said Kari amused.

"She has a point you know."

"So where did you two go?" asked Tessai.

"We just went riding…there was never any destination in mind," said Yoruichi.

"You do realize that you left your belt here, didn't you? What if a Hollow attacked?"

"They didn't even bother us. How many did we pass on our ride?"

"Around 4. We went right past them and they didn't even bother us. I don't think they even sensed her," said Yoruichi.

"Wait…she delivers packages and Hollows chase her; she goes on a ride for fun with you along, and they don't even realize she's there?"

"Eh…I've had weirder things happen," said Kari.

"So the reason you left was…?"

"We needed to get away from all the excitement from today. It's not like we hurt anything."

They went back inside and almost immediately went to bed. (Yoruichi bunked with Kari, naturally.) The next morning, Kari, Yoruichi, and Urahara all meet underground after breakfast. They went back to training; strangely enough, Kari was actually getting the better of Urahara. Pretty soon, it became clear that she no longer needed any more training…at least on Lesson one.

"Well Kari, it seems to me that you won't need any more training from lesson one. Think you can handle lesson two?"

"And become a Hollow if I don't make it?! Besides, in case you haven't noticed, most of our fighting was done while my soul was still inside me; we haven't done much in the way fighting in my Konpaku form."

"You're only delaying the inevitable," said Yoruichi.

"I have some serious doubts as to whether or not I even have the same kind of powers as you two!"

"Well, there's one way to find out," said Urahara.

"Let me put this as simply as possible…try turning me into a Soul Reaper without worrying about becoming a Hollow in the process!"

"Okay…cranky much?" joked Urahara. Yoruichi took one look at her eyes and knew that now was not the best time to talk about this.

"Since you were the one who brought it up, I suggest we see how long you last against Kisuke in your Konpaku form," said Yoruichi.

Urahara knocked out her soul and they went at it for a few hours. It seemed that Urahara was trying to figure out where she got her seemingly endless energy. (Yoruichi knew, and she sure wasn't going to clue him in!)

"Well, I do know of one other way to give you Soul Reaper powers," said Yoruichi.

"I'm aware of that other way. I know exactly what I'd have to do, and it would involve one of you temporarily loosing your powers," said Kari bored.

"Once again you amaze us with your knowledge," said Urahara, his voice having a hint of sarcasm.

"Yoruichi, do I have to be a Soul Reaper in order to learn how to turn into a cat like you?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Because I feel like turning someone into a scratching post," said Kari with an evil smirk.