Summary: We learn a little more of the arrancar's plans. Meanwhile, all is not well for our young couple.

Uryuu's mouth was set in a hard line as he marched back into the living room. "What the hell was that?" He demanded.

"What?" Reiko asked around a mouthful of pizza.

"You just insulted my friend." He said. "I think you need to apologize to her."

"I was just trying to help." She protested. "She probably doesn't know how dress for the real world. I mean did you see how much cleavage she was showing? She looked like a streetwalker."

Uryuu bit back his reply, took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Even so, you really hurt her feelings."

Reiko snorted. "Feelings? Come on, it's not like she's a human being or anything."

Uryuu's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe she actually said that. His mouth opened and closed and he tried to form a coherent thought though his anger and astonishment.

"What?" He managed to spit out.

"You know." Reiko said waving her hands around in a vague gesture, "She's a shinigami. She's a part of the spiritual ecosystem, filling a niche. Kinda like a wolf or a dung beetle."

Uryuu's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "Where did you get that nonsense from?" He asked, almost dizzy from trying to follow her logic.

"From my uncle." She replied. "He said they're just the flip side of hollows, doing their job because that's what they are. Cogs in the machine."

That made things a little clearer to Uryuu. She wasn't deliberately trying to put Nemu down. She was speaking from a position of ignorance. He took another deep breath. Then another.

"Look Ijima-san." He said as he adjusted his glasses. "When you first met Nemu, you were sure she was going to kill you. Remember?"

"Yes." Reiko said trying to follow along.

"Why did you think that?" He asked.

She scrunched her eyebrows together as she answered. "Well, Uncle said that's what shinigami's do. They attack on sight and kill any quincy they can."

"Is that what happened?" He probed. "Did Nemu act that way?"

"Uhm, well. No." Reiko admitted.

"So isn't it possible your uncle was wrong?" He pressed.

"My uncle was not a liar!" She said standing up.

"I'm not saying he was." Uryuu said holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm saying there were things that may have been true before, but they're not now. I'm also sure there were things he was told that were distorted over time with nothing but oral traditions to pass them along."

Reiko seemed to accept that. "You may be right."

"What do you know about Soul Society?" He continued.

"It's where we go when we die." She answered. "It's also where shinigami come from."

"And how are shinigami created?" He asked.

Reiko furrowed her brow as she thought about it. "I don't know. I thought they were immortal or something, that they were always there."

Uryuu pushed his glasses up. "They are recruited from the souls of the dead. If they have enough spiritual power, a soul can become a shinigami." He looked up into Reiko's eyes. "Every shinigami you see was once a person just like you or me."

Well, not Nemu, but Reiko didn't need to know that.

She looked back at him, realization slowly dawning on her face. "Oh no. I didn't know that."

"Even if you didn't," He lectured, "It's still not nice to talk to someone you just met that way. That's just common courtesy."

She hung her head in embarrassment. "You are right Ishida-san. Sometimes I just run off at the mouth without thinking. I'm sorry."

"That's fine for me," he said, "but what are you going to do about Nemu?"

"I'll apologize of course." She said. "The next time I see her, I'll be sure to let her know I'm sorry I hurt her feelings."

Suddenly Uryuu felt very tired. Dealing with this problem had been emotionally exhausting.

"I'm going to bed."He announced. "It's been a long day."

Wearily, he turned away from the young woman and started climbing the stairs. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK Ishida-san." Reiko replied. "And just you wait. Everything will turn out all right tomorrow. You'll see!" She gave him a grin and a cheery thumbs up.

He stared at her. She seemed to be contrite and sincere as she smiled at him. He forced himself to smile back and continued up the stairs. She didn't notice the smile never quite reached his eyes.

This wasn't working out, he thought. Reiko seemed to have more problems than just being broke and homeless. He was going to have to do something to help her get back on her feet. More importantly, fellow quincy or not, she had to find a place of her own. The lack of privacy and constant interruptions were really starting to annoy him. This was supposed to be the time for him and Nemu to finally enjoy some long denied closeness. Having to constantly change their plans was very, very frustrating. With that thought in mind, he decided he'd better take a cold shower before turning in.


"Sorry I'm late." The insect-like arrancar said stepping out of the gargantua. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not at all, Anata." Sargon answered. "I just finished questioning our comrade here."

Sprawled on the ground, Sumuqan lay bruised and bleeding, surrounded by the lesser hollows of their gang.

"If nothing else, he's serving as an excellent example of the price of failure."

"I did what I could." Sumuqan rasped.

"So you keep whining." Sargon said as he kicked his subordinate. He punctuated every sentence with a heavy stomp to the ribs. "Don't you have any initiative?" He snarled. "Don't you have any loyalty? Nergal was our most reliable operative and you let him die!"

"Anata was there too" Sumuqan moaned.

"Anata was backing you up." Sargon growled. "This was your mission which you failed."

"There was nothing to find!" Sumuqan mewled and he tried to shield himself. "There were no artifacts, nothing with any power in it. It's like the old man was never there. His relatives must have taken everything when he died."

"He's right you know." Anata said. "That place was totally empty. I think the shinigami may have set us up. Tried to lure us into a trap with false rumors."

Sargon shook his head. "If I were to set up a trap, I'd at least put in some bait. This lead was a dead end."

"So what do we do now?" Anata asked.

"You keep pursuing your mission." Sargon replied. He walked over to Sumuqan and dragged him to his feet. "And as for you, I've got another idea. Since Nergal is no longer with us, I'll have to rely on you to execute it. But be warned." He leaned in close, baring his teeth in a snarl, "If you screw this one up, you no longer have a place here. Do you understand?"

Sumuqan steeled himself to look up at Sargon's face. Blood and sweat rolled down his quivering face. He couldn't summon the courage to answer him. He didn't need to. Sargon could see by the abject terror in his eyes that Sumuqan understood all too well.


"So why did we have to come all the way out here for lunch?" Uryuu asked as he adjusted his tie.

"It's nice to get away from the school every once in a while Ishida-kun." Orihime chirped.

"Besides," Ichigo said, "We needed someplace quiet to talk."

That was an interesting statement, Uryuu thought as he looked around the American Burger. Fast food wasn't really his style. He couldn't remember eating in one of these franchise places before. Still, if they were looking to get away from their classmates, the restaurant certainly fit the bill. It was far enough away from their school that they were the only ones in uniform there.

"Let's take that corner booth." Rukia said pointing towards the back. Chad nodded and went to sit at the booth as the rest of the gang stood in line and placed their orders. Ichigo finished placing his order first and went to the booth, plastic number in hand. Chad got up to place his order as Ichigo sat down.

"So what is this all about?" Uryuu said when they were all finished.

"Not right now." Ichigo said. "We should probably wait until after our orders are served so we don't get interrupted."

"Besides," Rukia added, "I'm expecting someone."

"Really Kuchiki-san?" Orhime said. "Who?"

Rukia spotted someone through the window. "There she is." She waved at the person outside. Uryuu was dumbfounded when Nemu walked through the door in a school uniform.

"Nemu-san, how are you?" Rukia said as she greeted her fellow shinigami. "I was so surprised when you called. How are you enjoying your vacation in the real world?"

"It's been very educational so far." Nemu said.

Rukia turned to her friends. "Guys, you've all met Nemu for the twelfth division, haven't you?"

The group all gave her polite greetings.

"May I sit here?" she asked Uryuu.

"Sure." He said while sliding over. As she settled in, he whispered in her ear. "Are you still mad at me?"

She shook her head. After she had time to cool down, she thought about what had happened. Logically, there was no reason to mad at Uryuu. She wasn't sure why she had lost her temper do quickly. She thought about calling him the next morning, but decided it would be better to talk to him in person. She called Rukia to find out where he would be that day and was invited to lunch that way.

"I'm sorry." She whispered back. "I don't know why I acted that way."

"I'm sorry too." He started to say.

"You too are looking awfully cozy over there." Ichigo said with a smirk.

"Shut up." Uryuu said. "I'm just seeing if she wants to order something"

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Then why were you whispering?"

Fortunately, Uryuu was saved by the arrival of the waitress.

"Good afternoon everyone. Who had number three? Triple cheese burger with steak fries?"

Uryuu turned around to see the waitress. He was immediately struck with a powerful sense of déjà-vu.

"Ijima-san?" he yelped.

"Ishida-san!" Reiko squealed. "Fancy meeting you here. Are these your classmates?"

"What are you doing here?" He asked

"Ta-daa! I got a job here!" She sang out as she twirled around to show off her uniform.

"You know her?" Ichigo asked

"Of course." Reiko said. "I'm the new quincy in town."

"Another quincy?" Orihime said. "Ishida-kun, I thought you were the only one left."

"It's a long story." He sighed.

Reiko started a bit when she noticed who was sitting next to Uryuu. She seemed to shrink in a little and looked very embarrassed.

"Oh. Nemu-san." She said. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"I could say the same." Nemu coldly replied. She looked at Uryuu who shrugged.

Face flushed, Reiko started passing out their orders. She hadn't been able to carry all of them and soon held an empty tray.

"Just a moment. I'll be right back with the rest." She said as she made her second trip.

"Hey Ishida." Ichigo said after Reiko had left. "Is it cool to talk around her?"

"What do you mean?" He responded. "Is something going on?"

"There's been a lot of arrancar activity lately." Rukia said. "And it all seems to be centered on your grandfather."

Uryuu sat up straighter. "My grandfather? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Ichigo answered. "As far as we can tell, they're after something your grandfather had."

Uryuu shook his head. "I can't think of anything any quincy would have that would interest a hollow."

"What's this?" Reiko asked as she came back with the rest of their food. "Stuff about hollows and quincys?"

Everybody looked at Uryuu this time.

"It's fine." He said.

Rukia brought out her sketchbook. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Is that really necessary?" He asked

"You be quiet!" She snapped.

She opened the book to the first illustration showing a snarling arrancar-bear in front of a dramatically dark background with lightning bolts overhead.

"I'm sure you all remember the storm the other night when several arrancars and high level hollows attacked the town."

Everyone nodded as she turned to the next page showing the arrancar-bear in a fedora and trench coat.

"Meeting resistance, we find that instead of leaving, they went into hiding."

"This sounds interesting." Reiko said as she pulled a chair up to the booth.

"Should you be doing that?" Nemu asked. "You are on duty."

"Oh come on." Reiko replied. "They're not going to fire me on the first day."

Nemu sniffed and held her hand over her nose. "What is that perfume you're wearing?"

"Do you like it?" Reiko asked. "I just got it this morning.

"No." Nemu said trying to move away. "It smells very strong to me."

"Really?" Orhime said. "I can barely smell it."

"I'll move over here." Reiko said moving farther away from Nemu. It didn't help much. Nemu took out a handkerchief and put it over her nose.

Rukia turned to the next page where a group of arrancar-bears stood over a bleeding Afro-bunny being confronted by an Orhime-bunny and a Chad-bear.

"The first indication that they were looking for something specific was when they were caught by kur..kara…this guy."She pointed to the Afro-bunny. "He overheard them talking about an unspecified thing they wanted to gain power."

Orihime threw out her chest in pride. "We sure chased them off, didn't we Sado-kun?"

Chad gave a gentle smile as he nodded. Rukia turned to the next page showing Rukia-bunny and Ichigo-bear fighting several arrancar-bears.

"We've confirmed that they are looking for something your grandfather had during a stakeout. Unfortunately, we couldn't capture one for interrogation."

"When were you guys going to tell me about all of this? " Uryuu asked.

"We're telling you now, aren't we?"Ichigo responded. He turned to Rukia. "We're done now, right? We don't need to look at your crappy pictures anymore, right?"

"I told you to be quiet!" She growled.

She turned to the last page showing an arrancar-bear standing on a pile of comically dead hollows, holding up his arm in triumph.

"Urahara-san believes what we are seeing is the result of a power vacuum."

"With nobody in charge of Hueco Mundo, everybody's trying to take charge." Ichigo clarified. "The arrancar we've been seeing seem to be convinced something your grandfather had will give them an advantage."

"Can you think of anything they might be looking for Ishida-san?" Rukia asked. "It would be a big help."

"I already said I don't know." Uryuu replied. "How could hollows use Quincy artifacts? It doesn't make sense. Still, I'll look through his things and see what I can find."

"I'd like to help." Reiko said.

Uryuu looked at her and frowned. "I don't think you should get involved in this Ijima-san."

"Why not?" She asked. "As a Quincy, I think I have a responsibility to help."

Uryuu pushed up his glasses. "If you get involved in this, it may leave you exposed. You don't have the skills you need to defend yourself."

"I can create a bow. I can fight." She said defensively.

"Maybe so, but you lack skill with it." Uryuu pointed out. "If you can't hit anything accurately, you're just as much a danger to yourself as your enemy."

"Then teach me." Reiko pleaded. "I can better if you help me, I know it."

"Tell you what."Uryuu countered. "If you promise to stay out of this, I mean run if you so much as feel an arrancar, I'll give you some lessons."

"Really!" Reiko said with a beaming smile. "Can we start tomorrow? "

"I suppose..."He began to say. Nemu started to make a choking sound.

He peered at her face in alarm. "Are you alright?"

She had her handkerchief pressed tightly against her nose and mouth. Her complexion looked a little green.

"I'm sorry everyone." She said. "I'm feeling a little nauseous right now."

"Maybe you need something in your stomach?" Orhime said holding out her burger. "Try this. I think it could use some grape jelly personally, but it's not bad."

Nemu looked at the triple bacon and blue cheese hamburger in front of her face, dripping with onions and extra ketchup. The smell overpowered even Reiko's perfume. Gagging, she jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

Everyone spoke up in alarm.

"Is she OK?"

"Is she sick?"

"Someone should go see if she needs help."

All the girls stood up to go after her. Reiko waved them all back down.

"Don't worry about this. Please finish eating, I'll handle it."

"Are you sure?" Orhime asked.

"Of course. Besides," she said looking at Uryuu, "I have something I need to say to her."


Reiko walked in to find Nemu heaving over one of the toilets, supporting herself with one arm on the wall. She looked up with at her, shaking but looking less green. She walked over to the sink and starting running the water.

"Are you OK Nemu-san?" Reiko asked. "Everyone is worried. Can I do anything to help?"

"You can stand as far away from me as possible." Nemu croaked. She filled her hands with water and splashed it on her face.

"Oh right, the perfume. I forgot it was bothering you."

That was one reason, Nemu thought as she rinsed the sour bile out her mouth. She was surprised to feel so sick all of the sudden, but she figured it was the cheap rental gigai. Urahara was still upset with how she had damaged his deluxe model. Maybe he had modified this one to punish her? She was sure she'd feel better if she got out of it. She rinsed her mouth out again.

Reiko watched her from the corner by the door. "Um, Nemu-san. I've been meaning to tell you something."

Nemu arched an eyebrow and turned around. She leaned against the sink, using a paper towel to dry off.

Reiko continued. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about insulting you last night. I was being very rude and thoughtless. I know I spout off without thinking a lot, and I forget to think about what other people are feeling. If I were you, I probably would have got mad at me too. So, you know, I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again."

Nemu looked downward in thought for a second. It's true she didn't like Reiko, but she didn't really have a good reason for it. Perhaps she should work on getting along with her better. She seemed to be sincere.

"Very well." She said looking up. "I accept your apology."

Reiko sighed in relief. "Thank you Nemu-san that's a big load off of my mind. Ishida-san really let me have it when you left and made me realize I need to be more sensitive to other people. "

Nemu certainly wasn't going to argue with her about that.

"He's really something, you know." Reiko said. She leaned towards Nemu with a smile on her face. "Say Nemu-san, how well do you know Ishida-san? Like, if I were to ask you stuff about him?"

"Fairly well." Nemu said cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know we only just met, but…"She looked from side to side, even though there was no one else in the bathroom. "I was thinking of asking him out!"

"Asking him out?" Nemu repeated in a mechanical tone. It felt as though the floor had dropped out of the world. Her stomach heaved as though she was falling a mile a minute. She thought she might start throwing up again. And the foolish girl in front of her would not stop talking!

"Can't you just see it? Not only is he cute, but he's a quincy just like me! It's like fate. Then after awhile, we'll get married and have lots and lots of babies. We can rebuild the quincy race. We'll be like the quincy Adam and Eve! Nemu-san? Hey, you're not saying anything. You're starting to look green again. Are you going to be sick?"

Reiko couldn't know the struggle going on inside. As soon as Reiko said "married" an image popped into her mind. An image of her killing Reiko. It wouldn't be a quick, painless death either. No, she knew just how to treat a human's body to make it last a long, long time, enduring agonies that made every second stretch out for an eternity. She could just picture it, Reiko laid out on a slab, restrained hand and foot, loose coils of pink intestines splayed out in all direction while she screamed and screamed. Nemu could almost feel the scalpel in her hand, feel the blood running down her arm.

NO! she screamed in her mind. Closing her eyes, she shook her head and forced the image to go away. Even then, a small voice seemed to whisper inside. Telling her to attack now. Telling her how easy it would be, even confined within a gigai, to dismantle this annoying girl with just her bare hands.

Reiko came closer, a look of concern on her face. She touched Nemu on the shoulder.

"Hey, do you think you need a doctor?" She asked.

Nemu looked at Reiko's hand. She shook as she fought the urge to seize it violently. This wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to hurt an innocent person. Why couldn't she make it stop?

"I have to leave." She blurted out as she ran out the door. She almost knocked down Uryuu who was standing outside.

"Nemu, what's wrong?" He asked as he grasped her by the shoulders.

Nemu's first instinct was to wrap her arms around him, to seek comfort in his embrace. Before she could, a terrible thought struck her. What if he could feel it? What if he could look into her eyes and see the vile things lurking in her mind? She tore herself away and ran out the door, fleeing down the street.

"Nemu-san!" Reiko called out as she left the bathroom.

"What did you say to her!" Uryuu shouted as he took off after Nemu.

"I don't know."Reiko wailed. "Whatever it was, I'm sorry!"

Ichigo and Chad got to their feet. "Let's go. Ishida may need help."

"No." Rukia said with a thoughtful look on her face. "I think its better we leave them alone."

"Yes, "Orihime agreed, "its better we stay out of this."

The boys looked at each other confused. They sat back down. Reiko looked out the window, the realization that she had seriously misunderstood something important written all over her face. Meanwhile, a manager came out from around the main counter and approached Reiko.

"Ijima." He curtly snapped, holding out a piece of paper. "This is for you."

Reiko distractedly took the paper from his hands. After the first few words, it soon had her full attention.

"I'm fired?" she wailed.


Nemu sat on the boulder next to the waterfall. Her head was in her hands as she tried to understand what had just happened. She had resolved to be a better person. She was finished with harming innocent people and causing needless suffering. She still had so much to atone for. Reiko was not a bad person deserving punishment. Why did she want to hurt her so much? True, she declared her intentions to take Uryuu away from her. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know Nemu's relationship with him. It was completely unfair to Reiko to resent her and be angry with her. She couldn't help it. The small angry part of her inside still whispered, tempting her to hunt her rival down and eliminate her. She couldn't make it stop.

"I thought I'd find you here." She heard. She looked up. Uryuu was walking down path to their secret place, a gentle smile on her face. At first she was happy. Then she looked away. She didn't feel worthy of his presence.

"What's wrong Nemu?" he asked. "You looked upset when you left."

He sat down next to her and waited patiently for her to speak. He wanted to put his arm around her. The way she shrank away from him made him think that wasn't a good idea. The wind blew through the trees. Birds sang. The waterfall led a dull splashing roar to the background.

"Ishida-san." Nemu said while still looking away. "You can no longer be with me. I'm afraid I am still a bad person."

Uryuu was shocked at her use of formality as much as what she said.

"What are you talking about Nemu?" He said. "You're not a bad person."

"I must be."She replied. "I thought that I could change. I wanted to be a better person. Now, I think I was just lying to myself." She looked at Uryuu with tears forming in her eyes.

"Ishida-san, when I was talking to Reiko, she said some things that made me very angry. I wanted to hurt her. Mayb even kill her. "

"What did she say?"Uryuu asked concerned.

"It doesn't matter." Nemu said. "I told myself I wasn't going to harm anyone anymore. I wanted to do good things and help people. If that's true, why do I want to do hurt her? If I say I am good, but I really want to do harm to someone anyway, and I can't stop feeling that way…doesn't that make me bad?"

Uryuu gently reached for her. "No, Nemu, that doesn't make you a bad person. People feel like that all the time."

Her eyes widened. "They do?"

"Yes," he said smiling, "people are like that a lot. In fact, it would be little strange if you could control your feelings like a light switch. Look at Kurosaki. Most of the time, I want to punch him right in his smug, scowling face. I don't act on it though. We get along."

"That's true." Nemu said. "You are good friends. So I'm not unusual?"

"Of course not." Uryuu said. He moved his face close to hers. "I think you may be jealous though."

Nemu gasped. Jealous? Of course! That must be what she was feeling. She was jealous of Reiko. On the other hand, she had good reason. She could still hear the woman babbling on about using Uryuu to start a new quincy race. Her scalpel hand began to itch. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her back to him. She knew what her problem was now. She still felt unclean.

"How do I make it stop Uryuu?" She said sadly.

He was glad she used his name again. He put his arms around her waist.

"There's nothing you can do really." He said. "Give it time. After a while, you'll see there's nothing to be jealous about and the feeling will fade away."

Despite herself, Nemu leaned into his arms. It felt so good to be held like that. "So you're not disgusted with me?"

He laughed. "No. You're Just as normal as anyone else." He gently turned her head to face him. "And you're very special to me."

He lightly brushed her lips with his, earning a smile. Nemu turned to face him, wrapping her arms around him as she had wanted to when he arrived. His fingers buried themselves in her hair as their kisses grew deeper and longer. All thoughts of violent revenge soon left Nemu's mind. Time and space shrank down to just the here and now, a sunny spot by a waterfall in the arms of the man she loved. It was strange when an odd idea intruded.

She moved away to speak. "Uryuu, aren't you going to be late for class?"

"I'll borrow somebody's notes." He replied as he pulled her back. Later, the grass on the riverbank proved to be surprisingly soft.