author's notes=bold

"I feel terrible for what's happened to Soul" Maka was saying. Byakuya was walking with her to the board where she was going to pick out an assignment for herself and Soul when he got better. Byakuya simply nodded but said nothing. Soul had been injured when he and Maka went to investigate a disturbance at a church. They had been rescued by Maka's father and Professor Stein and now Soul was in the infirmary. Byakuya had visited him a few times but he didn't really make things better, especially since a few weeks ago he had been sensing Senbonzakura but the faint energy would disappear before he could locate it. Of course it had left him annoyed and on edge. He had been losing his temper more than usual lately. Just the other night he and Black Star had gotten into a wrestling match that destroyed a table. Luckily it had been at home. The two quickly got over it and had gone back to what they were doing before the fight, which was arm wrestling. Tsubaki said they fought like siblings, not that Byakuya knew what that was like seeing how he'd been an only child. "This one looks interesting" Maka mumbled as she pulled a paper from the board. "Maka it's not your fault and I'm sure he'll be okay. Soul is a strong person" He told her. She stopped looking at the board and wiped a tear from her eye. "Thanks" she told him. Byakuya simply smiled and was going to say more when Sid-sensei walked up.

"How are you two today? Byakuya have you been working on finding yourself a partner?"

"Kinda"

"Come on kid! You've been here long enough that you can start your search. Get to it! Anyway I'll see you guys later…and if you see Black Star tell him that library better be spotless"

"Library?" The two asked at the same time. Both knew that was the last place he'd go willingly.

"Yep, he didn't do too well in his extra credit assignments so he's cleaning it up" Another teacher called to him down the hall "Gotta go"

"I guess we could make sure he's started" Maka said

"After we get some food. I'm sooo hungry" On cue Byakuya's stomach growled. Maka giggled

"Hey look there's Kid, he can do it for us" She pointed. Sure enough Death the Kid was walking towards them. After the whole incident with Black Star he had taken some time off from school and had just started back. He and Black Star had some kind of rivalry going. "Hey Kid want to do me a favor?"

"Sure what is it?"

"Can you check on Black Star? He's cleaning up the library"

"Yeah, I was headed there anyway" He looked at Byakuya who was trying to figure out how he got mud on his jeans. "Hi Byakuya" Kidd said quietly. He glanced up from his inspection.

"Hi" He mumbled before continuing on what he was doing. Maka tried to hide her smile. It had become obvious to her and Tsubaki that Kidd had a crush on the other boy but Byakuya was extremely oblivious. She mouthed 'Ask him' to Kid. The Thompson sisters had told her of Kidd's plan to invite Byakuya over but he was too nervous. Maka thought now would be a good time since he might not get the chance again. He cleared his throat.

"Uhhhh…Byakuya I was wondering if…m-maybe you'dwanttocomeovertonight!" He rushed the last part out. Maka smacked her forehead. Byakuya stopped his inspection and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you say?"

"Would you like to come over and have dinner with me and the girls tonight?" Kid said a little calmer. Byakuya's frown turned into a smile which caused Kidd's heart to skip a beat. Most everyone agreed that he had a beautiful smile. It was something he had been told many times as a child but of course as the years went on in Soul Society he stopped smiling altogether.

"Sure, then I can finish my chess game with Liz" Kidd didn't care what the reason was, Byakuya had said yes! He calmed himself down.

"Okay. My house at eight then" He blushed slightly "Bye Maka, I'll see you later Byakuya" He hurried away.

"He is one weird kid" Byakuya said when he was some distance away. Maka rolled her eyes. She had no idea on how it could be more obvious about Kid's crush. Together they walked down the hall.

Later that evening found Byakuya was headed to Kid's home. He had just come from visiting Soul. He was starving and was more focused on his stomach than on paying attention to where he was going. It wasn't until ten minutes into his walk that he noticed someone was following him. He stopped to look around but couldn't see anyone. He tried sensing their soul which is what Maka had been trying to teach him but he wasn't very good at it yet so that didn't work. He tried walking once more and still got the sense he was being followed. Growing frustrated he balled his hands into fists and punched the building next him "Cut this crap out! Show yourself!". Instantly someone jumped down from the roof of a building.

"Nice punch" He said referring to the fact that Byakuya had cracked the wall "I didn't realize you had that much strength"

"Mifune!" His anger melted away as he hugged the older man. Mifune ruffled his hair "What are you doing here?" He asked pulling away.

"I check up on you from time to time. I couldn't just let you leave and not make sure you were okay"

"You dropped off the clothes when I first got here didn't you?" Heasked "Where's An?"

"So many questions. Yes I dropped your clothes off and An is in a candy store. I couldn't keep her away from it. She asks about you all the time. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet"

"Come on then, we'll get her then grab some food" Mifune put an arm around Byakuya as he guided him down the street. Meanwhile in Kid's home he sat at a table watching the food he had made get cold. "Maybe everything wasn't symmetrical enough. What if he saw through a window how horribly unsymmetrical the dinner was and left? These bowls aren't even the same size!" Kid was starting to freak out. Patty crossed her arms while Liz tried to calm him down. He had worked for hours making sure everything was perfect and in place. He had even called Tsubaki to find out about Byakuya's favorite foods. In fact it was all he had worked on after he and Black Star had come back from talking to the sword Excaliber, which according to Kidd had been a wasted trip. Patty was pissed off. She could tell Kid was heartbroken. She was definitely going to get show how she felt next time she saw Byakuya.

"You dumbass!" Patty's fist collided with Byakuya's face. " He worked on that for hours and you never showed up! You could've at least called!" Byakuya was shocked, in fact the small group of kids in the hall all were. It had started off quiet enough. He had been happy from seeing Mifune and An. They had gone out to eat then Mifune treated them to ice cream but the entire time he kept feeling like he had forgotten something. It wasn't until Patty punched him the next morning before the first class that he remembered. His eyes widened.

"Who the hell cares? So he found something else to do? Kidd will get over it" Black Star came to his friend's defense.

"You don't understand Black Star" Maka shook her head. Tsubaki sighed.

"Don't understand what? All he did was cook some food"

"It's okay " Byakuya felt terrible. He couldn't believe he had forgotten "I didn't think he'd do all that" Just as he finished Kid came walking up. He took in how upset Liz was and how Patty was glaring at Byakuya.

"What's going on?" He asked. As soon as he heard him Byakuya turned his attention to him.

"I apologize Kid for last night. I honestly did forget, I got distracted on my way there and shouldn't have"

"It's not a big deal" He shrugged though he didn't mean it.

"Yeah it is, when I tell someone I'll do something then I mean it. I said I was coming over to eat with you guys last night and I didn't. I wanna make it up to you. Tonight you come over to our house and I'll cook for you"

"Really? I mean are you sure?"

"What? You never offer to cook for me!" Black Star stated. The girls rolled their eyes.

"I'm sure" Byakuya said

"Okay that's fine" Kidd answered trying to play it cool. Byakuya smiled causing the other boy to blush. The girls clapped and pulled Kid away to congratulate him. Black Star scratched his head " I don't get it" He whispered to Byakuya. "I don't get it either but I guess the little things make him happy" he answered back. The rest of the day went by smoothly. Soul was released from the infirmary and they celebrated by skipping a class, in fact the week was going well until it got to Thursday. Up to this point Byakuya had managed to get by without a weapon but as the days went on it became apparent that he'd need one. It wasn't as if no one wanted to be his weapon partner. He got requests everyday but he wanted none of them. He still held out hope that Senbonzakura was out there somewhere. Dr. Stein was getting impatient with him, he thought Byakuya was being stuck up. He gathered the class outside for a demonstration. He had asked his old partner, Death Scythe, to help him out. Of course he wouldn't willingly so after much prodding (threatening and scaring) he finally agreed. "This will be a demonstration today. I want all of you to see how a meister and the weapon are supposed to work together" Death Scythe changed into his weapon form after he couldn't get Maka's attention. "Byakuya come out here" The class whispered excitedly while the called out student huffed. "You need a weapon" Dr. Stein stated.

"No I don't" He answered.

"In order to go any further here yes you do. Byakuya Kuchiki choose a weapon"

"I said no" There was a tense silence as the students watched to see what would happen. No one talked to Dr. Stein like that. There was no warning. One minute Dr. Stein was standing there the next he was attacking Byakuya who managed to dodge the first attack.

"Byakuya quit being stubborn!" Maka shouted. Black Star couldn't believe how fast his friend moved while Soul was debating whether or not he should stop the fight. Kid had to clasp his hands behind him in order to stop himself from grabbing Liz and Patty to shoot their teacher. Byakuya was ducking and dodging most of the attacks. He had a few cuts but nothing serious.

"All right I'm done practicing" Dr. Stein said causing the students to panic.

"We have to do something" Soul started to walk out but Black Star grabbed him.

"In case you haven't noticed Byakuya can handle himself fine"

"It's true, I've never seen anyone move like that" Kidd added.

"So we just watch while our friend gets attacked for no reason?" Soul yanked his arm away.

"Dr. Stein knows what he's doing" Patty said "Besides if it gets too serious I think Maka's dad will put an end to it"

"He might not need to" Tsubaki mumbled. Everyone turned their attention back to the fight. Byakuya was managing to hold his own though he didn't have a weapon. He flipped out of the way from a deadly swing then quickly countered with a kick that Dr. Stein blocked. "I'll admit that your hand to hand skills are good but you'll need more than that if you intend to last here" He quickly hit Byakuya with the handle causing the boy to stagger backwards then went in for another blow but it was stopped by a girl who had changed her arm into a blade. There was a collective gasp. Her hair was cut short with it being slightly longer on the right side and covering that eye, it was also pink. She wore matching pink glasses and wore one white hoop earring in her right ear. Her outfit consisted of a jean skirt with pink leggings underneath. Her shirt was white and unbuttoned revealing a pink cami under that. All in all she stood out. Dr. Stein lowered his weapon, taking a step back. "Are you his weapon partner?". She said nothing in response. Instead she allowed her arm to change back then turned around. Byakuya was still a little dazed but once his head cleared and he took in who had protected him he couldn't stop grinning.

"Z!" He shouted happily. Z was what he used to call Senbonzakura growing up. Back then she used to manifest herself in a child form to keep him company because he was often lonely. Being brought up as the next head of the family left little time to play with his many cousins or to even make friends so his zanpakuto had taken it upon herself to be his companion. He couldn't believe it, she looked just like she did back then only with different clothes. "Byakuya use me" She smiled as she disappeared; a beautiful katana was in her place sticking out of the ground. On the handle a sakura tree wrapped its way around. He smirked. Dr. Stein tilted his head. Byakuya knew exactly how to wield her. Without hesitation he went straight for Dr. Stein. Too bad the watch Captain Kurotsuchi had given him had started to come alive with a voice
"Captain Kuchiki! Are you there? It's Nemu" He slid to a stop.

"Nemu! I'm here" He said into the watch. He hurried some distance away so no one could hear the conversation.

"I'm so glad I reached you, Captain Kurotsuchi was sent to Hueco Mundo along with Captain Zaraki to help Ichigo Kurosaki. Everyone is preparing for a major battle"

"He's been sent away?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I took over trying to reach you and even now I don't think the signal will hold up long but I have something important to tell you"

"What is it?"

"You're not in a parallel world, you're somewhere on earth. We discovered this before he left. His machine had been set to earth not the parallel one he discovered. However because of the side effects we can no longer sense your spiritual pressure and have no idea as to where you could've ended up"

"The city I'm in is called Death City!"

"That's great, I'll tell Captain Yamamoto…" he could hear the hesitation

"What is it Nemu?"

"Honestly sir the Head Captain thinks we should put all our energy in protecting that Kurosaki boy's hometown. It was decided at a meeting that the search and recovery mission of you would be put on hold. He felt you wouldn't be able to contribute because what's happened to you and he feels that since you're on Earth that you'll be fine for now"

"I understand" Byakuya said sadly "I'm to remain here until the effects wear off"

"Well kind of sir, if we can defeat Aizen then we'll have the men and time to come after you" Static started to come through

"The signal wont hold up much longer. This could be the last time I have contact with Soul Society for awhile"

"Than…you…standing" She was starting to break up

"Yeah, be careful" He said but she was gone. He plopped down on the ground. He understood the reasoning. They needed to focus on Aizen. Whatever was going on had to be serious for Kurotsuchi and Zaraki to be sent to Hueco Mundo. Just because he understood didn't mean he liked it. He now officially cut off from his home. He had never felt so alone.

"You're not" Senbonzakura said as if she had read his mind. She was back in her human form "We'll get through this Byakuya"

"I know but that doesn't mean it sucks less"

"What are you guys doing?" Black Star asked popping up "Dr. Stein thought you were going crazy. For a minute it looked like you were talking to your watch" He took in Byakuya's depressed demeanor "I like angry you better"

"Shut up"

" Its true. You don't do the depressed thing well"

"Shut up Black Star!" Byakuya jumped up to hit him. Before Z could stop them they were wrestling around. Byakuya was beyond angry and she had learned to stay away from him when he got like that but Black Start didn't seem to mind. In fact he started laughing.

"I can deal with you being upset but I don't know what to do when you're sad like that" Byakuya let him out of the hold he had on him.

"I'm fine now"

"You sure?"

"Yes idiot" He pushed his friend. Black Star pushed him back, seconds later they were fighting again. Z smiled, Byakuya thought they were alone but they weren't. He had good friends already but didn't realize it yet.

Back in his quarters Shinigami was looking in a mirror. He removed his large, foam like white hands. His real hands were pale and small. He pulled off the black flowing robe that he always wore shaking out his long, dark hair. Finally he pulled off his goofy mask revealing the delicate face of a woman, yes Shinigami was a woman. "Yamamoto I hope you can defeat him" she whispered to herself "My students aren't ready yet, I'm not ready yet". She sighed and touched her face. The secret would have to last a little bit longer.

if you havent guessed this story is going through the soul eater manga. the chapters i kinda went through were the ones where maka fights chrona and black star and kid meet excaliber. also in the bleach manga byakuya went to hueco mundo to fight yammy but in my story because of whats happened to him he obviously doesnt go and since im going by the manga i made senbonzakura a girl. i dont watch the anime but i heard it was a boy in that one. also i hope you liked the little thing i threw in there about shinigami being a woman. that'll be explained later on. thanks for reading and for the reviews/alerts. see you next chapter.