If you haven't yet, check out my friend VanityIre's Harry Potter fanfic!

I do not own Bleach or its canon, only the non-canon in the fanfiction.

A/N: I do NOT edit this for the fact that this is for NANOWRIMO - editing is pretty much a taboo for NaNoWriMo participants. Because NaNoWriMo is more about quantity than quality, I am trying to find a way to have quality without dragging the story on. This may cause some parts to feel rushed or unfinished. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

This entry has 3,287 words.

Chapter Six: A Nightly Walk

Ayame came to class with her hands bandaged, but still wore her cross around her wrist. She chewed on the eraser end of her pencil. When she got home last night, she avoided seeing her grandparents. They would worry about what happened to her hands. She managed to avoid them in the morning, too, by waking up earlier and leaving before either of them could see her hands. Ayame sighed and took the pencil out of her mouth. Some of the students were outside playing an odd game for their free period. Kuchiki and Ayame were the only two left inside the classroom. She decided to work some more on her scarf (it was already about two feet long), and Kuchiki sat next to the windows where she watched the others out on the field. Kuchiki spooked Ayame by hopping off the desk she had been sitting on. It was only a guess that the others had packed everything up and were headed back to class. She put her scarf away and waited for the rest of the class to return.

Shortly after the next lesson started, Ishida entered the classroom. Everyone went quiet, except for a few hushed gasps, and the teacher froze to glance at him. "What happened to you Ishida?" she asked after several seconds.

"I fell down some stairs." He adjusted his glasses.

"Well, take your seat and class will continue."

All of the students did not seem to buy it, but the teacher acted as if she believed his story. Students whispered about what could have happened to him as he walked to his seat and long after he sat down. Ayame kept her hands in her lap. She did not want her own injuries to become known, and she was lucky no one had noticed them yet. When lunch period came around, she declined joining Orihime and the other girls for lunch outside. If she moved now, others would notice her bandaged hands. As usual, Asano makes a scene when asking Kurosaki to join him for lunch. She slowed her speed of putting her books away to listen to them. Kurosaki accepted, but only if he could invite someone. Ayame placed her hands back in her lap and stared at her bare desk. Not to her surprise, though she kept a straight face as she listened, Ishida declined. He preferred to eat alone - she observed this every school day before. Asano, Kurosaki, and Kojima left the classroom. Not many students stayed in class for lunch, so the room was fairly quiet. Ayame stared down at her hands and squeezed them together.

"Kawano-san." Ayame's eyes widened for a brief moment and her lips separated. "I want to apologise for yesterday." He paused to see if she would reply. She closed her mouth and put on a blank expression. "I take my role as a Quincy seriously, and I was hoping you would somehow understand if you witnessed the differences between a Quincy and Soul Reaper. If you found my approach unnerving, you could have left instead of standing there. There was no chance I was going to back down from my duel with Kurosaki-san." Ishida stopped to adjust his glasses. "I see you've managed to figure out how to harness the spirit energy and use it to your advantage," he said. "But by the looks of your hands, you can't hold out for very long. I hold my offer open to help you." She did not look up or make any move to acknowledge that she was listening to him. He left the classroom - she guessed to go find Kurosaki and eat with him, Asano, and Kojima.

"Ayame-san!" Orihime jumped up and waved Ayame down when she saw her classmate approahc the group of girls sitting under the shade of a tree. "We're so glad you decided to join us!"

Ayame smiled and sat next to Ogawa. She took out an onigiri and began to eat it one bite at a time. The girls began talking about Kurosaki; Ayame was not paying enough attention to completely understand what they were saying. Her mind was elsewhere, trying to figure out if she should take Ishida's apology as an actual apology or not an apology at all. He was sincere at first, but then she felt like he was saying it was, somehow, her fault for what happened. He did help her out afterwards when she was running from the Hollows that outnumbered her.

"Ayame-san?"

"Huh?" She looked up from her onigiri.

"You zoned out for a minute," Tatsuki said. "We've been trying to get your attention for a couple minutes."

Ayame lowered her onigiri and smiled. "I'm sorry. What was it you wanted?"

Ogawa spoke up, "We asked what happened to your hands. Did you fall down the stairs like Ishida-kun?" She put emphasis on the last sentence to show her sarcasm.

"Is Ayame-san thinking about Ishida-kun?" Orihime said with an interested expression.

"N-n-nani?" Ayame's face turned a deep red.

"Well, youre wearing bandages just like Ishida-kun. Were you guys together when it happened?" Ogawa added. Ayame looked to Kuchiki and had a flashback to the Menos Grande encounter last night. "Kawano-san?" She tilted her head.

Ayame's expression of embarrassment had disappeared. She blinked and put back on a smile. "No, I just hurt myself cooking last night." It was better that they did not know the truth. Kuchiki knew what happened, but Ayame could trust her not to mention anything about it. The subject was dropped when Honshō interrupted the silence with a discrete but perverse comment to Orihime. Tatsuki was quick to tackle the perverted girl to the ground and shout at her to shut up. Ayame and Kuchiki smiled and giggled with the others; however, Ayame noticed Kuchiki's expression change. She could understand what she may have been feeling, but not what she was thinking. The rest of lunch was spent planning things for tomorrow and the Fireworks Festival.

Everyone had left the Handicrafts Club except Ayame and Ishida. She had already finished several rows of her scarf but stopped to pack things up. The air was heavy with silence. It was uncomfortable for Ayame, because she was fighting with herself to figure out if she should say something to him. She had been debating most of the day about whether or not to ask to be his pupil. Now that they were alone, no time was better than now. Ayame took a deep breath and approached Ishida. He was finishing up a few stitches on his own project when she interrupted his concentration. "Ishida-kun," she paused to see if he was listening while he worked, "would you give me another chance? I would like to learn more, and become stronger." Ishida continued stitching. Ayame looked at her feet forlornly. "If I have the chance to, I would help protect people." She glanced up to see Ishida had stopped. He stood up, and she stepped one foot back.

"Kawano-san," he said as he put his thread and needle away. "Don't expect anything to be easy. It takes time to become strong. It could take you years to become as strong as I am." Ayame nodded, ignoring the pride he put in his words. "I will train you harder than my sensei trained me. I don't accept complaining or whining of any kind."

Ayame looked at him directly in the eyes. "Sou desu."

"All right, then," Ishida sat back down in his seat, "we can begin tonight, Kawano-san."

Kuchiki and Kurosaki burst into the room, the Ponkichi doll from yesterday in Kuchiki's hand. He and Kuchiki came up to Ishida's desk. "Uryū, fix Kon up, will you?"

"Why me?" he asked with an uninterested look on his face.

Kurosaki put a hand on his hip and answered, "I thought it was your specialty to fix things like this."

"I refuse to fix your doll."

"Why?"

"I don't have to answer." He began twisting loose string around a spool to save for future use.

"Oh! I know why!" Kurosaki put a fist in his open hand. "You can't do a thing with your hands like that!" Ayame saw Ishida's eyebrow twitch as the substitute Soul Reaper continued. "Can't even thread a needle, can you? Yeah, it's impossible..."

"Impossible? I'll show you my abilities!" Ishida took the bait, and grabbed for Kon. He threw the doll down on the top of his desk and fixed Kon in seconds. Not only did he fix Kon up, but he dressed him in an old Western dress with a wig of blond curls.

"What the - Who are you?" Kurosaki stared at the 'improved' Kon.

"He's all dressed up," Kuchiki said, not believing what she was looking at.

Ayame bit her lower lip to prevent herself from blurting out. It was funny, but at the same time she could not bring herself to laugh at Ishida. Kon began rampaging on top of the desk as Ishida started explaining what he did and how he improved him and what more he could do. It took some time for Kon to calm down, and then Kurosaki left with Kuchiki and Kon. Ayame was left with Ishida in the room. She cleaned up whatever needed to be put away and trashed unusable material. The two of them walked to the shoe lockers. Silence floated between them. Her skin crawled from anxiety and happiness. Ayame walked to the school fence. She turned around and waited for Ishida. He walked across the school yard toward her at his own pace. "What's first, Ishida-kun?"

He stopped once he got up next to her, and she took it as a sign to follow him. Ishida did not respond for some time until they were out of view of the school. "I'm sure you already know about the Quincy's weapon. It was something of a surprise that you could conjure your bow without help. You've done some research?" The wind picked up as the sun started falling from the sky. "The Quincy are humans with high spirit energy. There were once many of us, but 200 years ago the Quincy were wiped out by the Soul Reapers. Soul Reapers saw the Qunicy as a threat. Instead of sending a Hollow to the Soul Society, a Quincy completely destroys a Hollow." He paused. Ayame glanced up to him, wondering why he had stopped talking. "My grandfather was one of the last great Quincy before the Soul Reapers left him to die against a group of Hollows. I couldn't do anything, and since then, I've been doing everything I can to show the strength of the Quincy to the Soul Reapers. Last night, though, Kurosaki-san told me something I have considered." Ishida stopped walking and turned to Ayame. "I still hold prejudice against the Soul Reapers for what they did to my sensei, but what you think of the Soul Reapers should not be influenced by my view." Ayame nodded, and gestured for him to continue walking and talking. He got the hint and began talking again. "You see, there is a force that holds the human and spirit worlds in balance. The Soul Reapers keep this balance by purifying Hollows and sending spirits to the spirit world. Our power, a Quincy's power, completely destroys a Hollow. This causes an imbalance between the worlds which could ultimately bring an end to both worlds. My grandfather proposed that the remaining Quincy in the human world act as first-responders to a Hollow attack to protect those who might be harmed. The Quincy and Soul Reapers would be working together. He was monitored closely by the Soul Society, the community of Soul Reapers, but he died because they came two hours too late to get rid of the Hollows. It's from this careless act on their part that I hold a hatred for the Soul Reapers and Kurosaki-san."

Ayame looked up to the sky. She listened as he continued telling her about the Quincy. It felt strange to be the last Quincy. Were they really the only two left? A thought came then her face suddenly burned pink. Ishida did not seem to notice or care at the time. He said to Ayame before breaking off to walk to his home, "Get some rest." Ayame stayed in place to watch him leave. She walked the rest of the way home, alone. After she had dinner with her grandparents, she decided to go for a walk. The fresh air helped with a headache she had since school ended. It was hard to ignore some of the energy she detected all around her. There were few souls that wandered around tonight, though. That made things easier for her to relax.

Her mind wandered as she walked down the street. The stars twinkled above, and a street lamp blinked to her right. A dark figure walked toward her. She reached out her energy to see if she could recognise who it was. "Ishida-kun?" He looked up, and seemed to know already that it was her.

"Kawano-san," he greeted.

"What're you doing out so late?"

He hesitated to answer. Within that moment of hesitation, Ayame felt Kuchiki's energy and two unknown ones. The first thought Ayame had was if Kuchiki was all right. She turned down the street Kuchiki's energy signature came from. Ishida took her arm and looked down the street. He did not have to talk. Ayame could figure out what he was thinking. She followed him down the street. Ishida stopped, summoned his bow, and shot an arrow down the sidewalk. Ayame did not question this, and walked the rest of the way behind Ishida.

"It's not very nice to see two armed men attacking an unarmed girl," Ishida said when they were close enough to see the two Soul Reapers and Kuchiki.

"Kuchiki-san!" Ayame went to Kuchiki's side and kneeled beside her, hovering a hand over her classmate's shoulder. "Are you okay? What's going on?" She inhaled and understood when she saw the depression on Kuchiki's face.

The tattooed Soul Reaper bent forward. "You can see us? Just who are you?"

Isihida answered, "We're classmates." He paused before adding, "And… I hate Soul Reapers."

Kuchiki stood up, Ayame followed her to a standing position, and the first girl looked over her shoulder. "What are you two doing here?"

"A coincidence," Ishida replied. "Nothing for you to worry about. But, if you must know know…" He began making up a story about how he came to be here with Ayame. He was interrupted before he was finished. In the blink of an eye, the bag he was holding up was cut off from the handles.

"I asked you a question: who the hell are you?" When he was not given an answer right away, he lifted his sword from its resting position on his shoulder and pointed it at Ishida. "Well, you don't have to answer. I'll just kill both of you first!"

Kuchiki stepped between the Soul Reaper and her two classmates and shouted, "Wait, Renji! They have nothing to do with this!"

"I already gave you an answer you," Ishida said quickly. "Classmates of Kuchiki Rukia. And I'm the one who hates Soul Reapers."

"That's not a proper answer!"

Ishida closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them back up, the air about him was different. "I'm Ishida Uryū. Pleased to meet you." Ayame did not feel comfortable sharing her name with a stranger, especially one with a sword, and therefore remained silent.

"What's this…?"

"You may be a Soul Reaper, but you'd still like to know who killed you, right?" Ishida pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He stared at the tattooed Soul Reaper with coldness.

The Soul Reaper began shaking, and then put a twisted, toothy smile on his face. "I've decided: I'm going to kill you!" Ayame and Kuchiki looked on with wide eyes when the Soul Reaper moved faster than Ayame could see. He managed to wound Ishida badly. Ishida fell down, in obvious pain, and his blood started pooling from his wound. Ayame held back the urge to scream. There was nothing she could do to help. Kuchiki turned back toward the Soul Reaper and was deep in thought. The hair on the back of Ayame's neck stood on end as the Soul Reaper stepped forward and raised his sword in one hand. "Now, for the final blow! Remember this, Ishida Uryū, the man who killed you is Abarai Renji.

"Wait!" Ayame and Kuchiki shouted in unison.

Before Abarai could deliver the final blow, the ground shook and cracked. His swing was interrupted by the fact that the ground he was on lifted up from the small tremor. He looked over his shoulder, and then jumped onto the railing of the fence. "Who are you?"

When the dust cleared, Ayame saw Kurosaki standing in his Soul Reaper uniform with his over-sized katana withdrawn. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, the one who will beat you. Nice to meet you." A look of shock was smacked on everyone's face.

Abarai smirked. "I see now, you're the human who took Rukia's power." He then leaped from his perch and clashed swords with Kurosaki. He repeatedly beat his sword down on Kurosaki's larger weapon, criticizing him for not knowing anything about his sword.

"Ichigo!" Kuchiki screamed. She stepped forward to approach his side, but Ishida grabbed her by the ankle.

Before blacking out, he quietly said, "Don't go." Ayame got on her knees next to Ishida. She carefully turned him onto his back, and then rested his head on her lap. The wound looked deep and the blood stained his nice blue shirt. It was hard to resist, but Ayame brushed some of his hair from his face.

"You're an idiot for coming here," Abarai told Kurosaki. What he said was of some interested to Ayame. She heard that Kuchiki would get her powers back after Kurosaki was killed, and then she would die back at the Soul Society. Then, he bragged about Kurosaki would not be able to even make a scratch on a Soul Reaper like him and his captain. Ayame gasped and looked up to see the second Soul Reaper. He gave off a cold, disinterested air that sent chills down her spine.

"You let your guard down," he said in a cool, monotone voice. "That boy was the one who severely injured the Menos Grande, forcing it back to Hueco Mundo."

Abarai laughed at this. "How ridiculous is that? Seriously, Kuchiki-taichō, are you looking at his zanpakutō? It's big, pitiful, and useless! I bet he doesn't even know the name of his zanpakutō."

"You guys give your swords names?" Kurosaki interjected.

The tattooed Soul Reaper laughed again. "And you consider us equals? Well, you're two-thousand years too late!"

Ayame watched in awe and fright as Abarai's sword took on a new form with the swipe of his free hand. She was literally frozen but shaking with fear. "Kawano-san." A gasp managed to leave her lips after holding her breath for a long time. Ishida had opened his eyes enough to see her. "Get out while you can. No one else needs to get hurt." Ayame looked down at him, and shook her head.

"I'm not leaving without you, Kuchiki, or Kurosaki."

Ishida gave her a blank stare, and then closed his eyes again. Ayame looked back up in time to see Abarai's transformed sword dig into Kurosaki's shoulder. He rmouth dropped open as she witnessed the Soul Reaper drag the blade through Kurosaki's flesh. Kurosaki dropped to his knees, eyes wide and eyebrows quivering.