I do not own bleach, I give full credit to the creator, and I thank him deeply for creating it. I wish to thank the people who reviewed, it makes me feel ecstatic. 

Chapter six.

Kumiko stared at the cell ceiling feeling foolish. She couldn't believe that she froze like that.

She closed her eyes and thought back on that man's reiatsu. It was painfully scary, like the one that wanted to end her.

Flash back

A dark room with a single light glowing on a group of strange people looming over a crib. There was a man feeding a little child. But it wasn't milk.

It was a light purple liquid in a clear bottle. The baby drank it while the people made notes on the clip boards. The person pulled the bottle away and one of the men put a pill in her mouth. After a few minutes, a man gave her a shot and dark liquid went into the container. The man left the room with the other men, leaving the girl to coo to herself.

-----

A dark alleyway glowed with a bright light and a figure holding a bundle. The person in the dark kimono ran down to the river with the whimpering baby. The moon shone high in the sky like a silvery orb. The wind blew over the sleeping town. This only made it easier for the shinigami to move around. He stopped by the river edge under the bridge. He dropped the bundle on the ground making the baby cry. As the baby cried, there was a roar from above. The man did nothing but hid. The baby continued to cry as a monster crawled towards the noise. It was drooling and growling as it loomed over the baby.

"Sing, Benihime."

Suddenly the hollow was blasted with a red light. It disappeared and the man came out kantana unsheathed and he dove at the child. But he was stopped by a man in a stripped hat. The other man fell from the hat man into the river.

The stripped hat man picked up the wailing baby and rocked her gently. He then walked away, as if nothing happened.

----

"Kumiko!!" The little girl with short dark hair looked behind her to see a black woman and the stripped hat man.

"Kisuke-san, Yoruichi-san." the little girl sheathed the kantana she was training with.

"Are you finished?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yes."

"Then let's head back." She followed them up the ladder and back into the shop. Urahara scooped her up, causing her to giggle. Yoruichi shook her head, noting she was going to have to talk with him about coddling her.

"You were doing so well, Kumiko-san," Urahara said in his playful manner. "You were going so fast I almost couldn't keep up!"

"Yeah almost," Yoruichi said, arms crossed. She didn't want to be the fun sucker but she needed to know how to protect herself against the real world. Not be a pampered little child.

------

"Very good, Kumiko-san," Urahara said, watching her dispatch the hollow. She looked back at him her smile a mile wide.

"Arigato, Kisuke-san," she said, allowing him to ruffle her short hair. She smirked as they began their race back to the shop.

"I win!" Kumiko said touching the shop door. He laughed and admitted defeat. He had purposely let her win of course. But she was certainly improving.

"Kisuke-san?" Kumiko asked.

"Yes Kumiko-san?"

"Will it always be like this?" Kumiko asked innocently.

"It might change a little."

"Will I always be with you?"

"Of course." But his voice sounded troubled. He led her inside giving her a candy to suck on.

-------

Kumiko panted watching the hollow disappear. She looked behind her expecting to be praised by Urahara.

But no one was there. Only the gigai was there. She walked back into the gigai and waited, thinking he would come back. She waited and waited. Night came and the park grew cold. She tried feeling for Yoruichi's, Urahara's, or anybody from the shop's reiatsu. But she couldn't feel it at all. She felt something wet fall on her cheek and rain began to pour. She looked around and noticed a shadow in an alley way. Thinking it was Urahara she ran towards it only to find out it was something else. She was now shivering and she quickly ran through a hole in a fence. She noticed the abandon warehouse and went inside. She felt numb and it wasn't just from the cold. She felt horrible, he had left her and he wasn't coming back. She touched the wall with her hands and muttered something. The building glowed blue for a few moments and stopped. She collapsed onto the rubble tears running down her cheeks.

------

She still did not wish to forgive them. They left her alone and she almost died because of it. She wished she had though rather than face them again. She suddenly remembered Ichigo and his family and the time they spent together. She hoped he was okay.

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Ichigo stared at the wall, feeling numb. They had Kumiko. Somewhere beyond that wall, they had her. He had not expected something like this to happen. He was convinced she was alright though. He refused to believe other wise. He would never forgive him self if she wasn't okay. He remembered the time she spent with his family before coming here.

-------

"Kumiko-san! Come here I want to show you something!" Karin said, her foot on her soccer ball. Kumiko hurried over of the back step. Ichigo watched her as she did so.

"What is it Karin-chan?" Kumiko asked, curiously.

"I'm gonna show you how to score a goal," Karin said, kneeling down.

"A goal?" Kumiko said, unsure.

"Yeah," Karin said, putting the second soccer ball in front of her. "See that basket over there."

"Yeah," Kumiko said looking at the laundry basket.

"You want to kick this ball into that basket. You hit it like this," Karin hit the ball with the side of her foot and it hit the rim of the basket.

"Except you're supposed to get it in, right?" Kumiko said as Karin winced. Ichigo bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Yeah now you try," Karin said, a little on the cross side.

Oh Kumiko got it in the basket alright. She also made a hole in the basket and a dent in the wall. Karin's jaw dropped and Ichigo was wide eyed.

"GOAL!" Kumiko said cheerfully.

"Good job Kumiko!!!" Isshin said jumping at them.

"Hey I want to teach you something else," Karin said with an evil look on her face.

"What?" Kumiko said as Yuzu came out with a basket of sheets..

"THIS!!" She kicked Isshin but lost her balance and fell on him.

"Oh I get it. DOGGIE PILE!!"

Somehow everyone except Ichigo was stuck on top of each other. Karin was tickling Kumiko and Yuzu was trying to untangle the sheets that were once in the basket she was carrying and Isshin was rubbing his head. Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at the silliness

Everyone stopped. They grinned as if thinking the same idea. They all launched themselves at Ichigo all falling into the small hall way. Some how he didn't mind so much. Karin was trying to get Isshin off but was laughing. Yuzu was laughing with Kumiko on her lap. Hey at least they were not arguing.

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Ichigo clenched his fist, vowing to save both Rukia and Kumiko. He vowed it on his soul.

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Kumiko sat up trying to think of a plan. She felt extremely foolish for freezing like she did.

Suddenly her face lit up. Her idea was so obvious she couldn't believe why she didn't think of it before. She got up looking at the door. She touched the wall with her eyes shut.

They had performed some tests. Some moron concluded that she could not use kido because she was too sensitive to it. She didn't say anything because she was too scared at the time.

But heck were they wrong.

That's it! Please read and review. It makes me happy. 