White Flower

Author's Note: Hello! My darling readers I am soooo sorry it has taken so long for me to upload this chapter. I have had severe writers block! And I have been writing other stories at the same time and it has gotten me off track. I have a bad habit of that. -_-

So, to make up for my blunders, I shall bless you with chapter 8 of White Flower! YAYAYAY!

Recap

He groaned as his posture relaxed and turned around to see the person he least expected to see at this hour. Kensei Mugurama was standing there smirking at Shinji's sorry state. What shocked him more than seeing him, was seeing a very unconscious Akari slung over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

Shinji stared at him with his jaw to the ground. "H-How-"

Kensei rolled his eyes. "Barely even had to lift a finger. I can tell that she had gotten stronger and all and probably would have had to resort to drawing my zanpakuto if she saw me, but I just tapped her in the back of the neck and she was out like a light."

Shinji was still speechless. "After all I had to go through, he just tapped her in the back of the neck?!"

Kensei grunted in annoyance and turned to walk away. "Quit being an idiot, accept that you're a sore loser and come on already!"

Shinji shut his mouth and followed him grumbling. "First, I was sucker punched by a 98-pound girl, then I was completely humiliated by Kensei. What else could turn out wrong in my life?"

Present (Akari's dream)

Screams and wails echoed throughout the forest. The source of the saddened cries came from a small little girl, practically a toddler. She was laying on the ground, curled in a ball and trembling with fear. The girl was covered in dirt and grime, like she had rolled in mud. Her clothes were tattered and hanging on her in rags.

Tears began to soak her face as she called out to the silent trees above her.

"Where are you?! Brother? Brother!"

When she got no answer, her wails became louder, until she was sure that someone miles from where she was could hear her.

"WHY DID YOU LEAVE? COME BACK! YOU SAID YOU WOULD!"

However, this time, she did get an answer. But it was echoed, faded. She slowly got back up on her feet. Although, her small legs were so shaky that she fell back to her knees, and set to crawling towards the sound.

"Lily…Lily…"

That voice…she knew that voice. Except, it wasn't the one she was looking for. But she kept crawling. In the distance, she could see a sparkle of light hovering high above the trees. She felt some kind of pull to it. Like she has seen it before. As she got closer, the voice got louder, and she could tell that it was a feminine one.

"Lily…LILY!"

End of Dream

"LILY! LILY! LILY! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!"

Akari's eyes shot open with fright. She reflexively reached for her bracelet, which held the necessary spirit energy to call upon her zanpakuto. There was one problem, it wasn't there. So she did the only thing left. She sat up and put all her energy into a left hook and threw it. It was caught by a strong hand.

Her vision finally was cleared of the sleep in her eyes. She was able to see who she attempted to hit. She saw Kensei's scowling face in front of hers. He snarled.

"Make sure you know who you're hitting next time. If that would have hit me, I don't think I would keep from retaliating."

Akari scoffed. Yeah right. His reflexes were way too good for him to be hit from a simple punch. She was about to communicate that with him until she saw a flash of green in the corner of her eye. She didn't get the chance to make out what it was before she was tackled back onto the bed roughly. She grunted slightly in pain.

"Kensei! You're such a meanie! There's no way I would let you hurt Lily. It's okay Lily, there's no need to be scared." A high-pitched feminine voice proclaimed. Akari recognized it immediately.

"Mashiro? Um, I can't breathe." She wheezed out when the girl squeezed her tighter.

"Oh! Sorry Lily!" Mashiro loosened up a bit, but she didn't let go. She was about to ask her if she could get off, until she started to feel wetness on her shoulder. Mashiro lifted up her head and Akari saw that her face was soaked with tears and she had a little snot running from her nose. Her face softened I concern. She had always had a soft spot for criers, especially Mashiro. She used to be her best friend, after all.

"Mashiro…why-"

"I missed you so much Lily! Why did you leave us? Leave me…" Akari's breath was caught. She didn't know how to respond to her desperate question. She found her heart breaking the longer she sobbed.

"Mashiro…I'm sorry-"

"Save it. C'mon Mashiro. She doesn't deserve your tears." Kensei snapped from the corner of the room. Akari glared at him from over Mashiro's shoulder.

"Don't speak to her that way!"

"You don't deserve to speak to her at all!" They glowered at each other from across the room until Mashiro scrambled off of her and went to stand by Kensei. She wiped her eyes and gave her a bright smile, like she had never cried in the first place. She then gestured over to the small desk beside the table, which held a pile of clothes.

"You can change over there when you are ready to get up. And I suggest you do that soon…the others are downstairs waiting. There's a bathroom over there if you want to freshen up."

Akari narrowed her eyes. Mashiro was acting strange. She was being way too formal. And tense, like Kensei. Kensei she could understand, since he hated her anyway.

Nothing else was said as they both hurried out of the room. Akari sat in the silent space for a moment before slowly getting up. She walked over, took the clothes and entered the bathroom. In the mirror, she stared tiredly at her raggedy appearance. Ever since she had come to the World of the Living, she had begged Kisuke Urahara for a gigai that would change her appearance. Instead of brown hair, she now had short blonde hair that rested just past her shoulder blades. Her once dark chocolate eyes were now turquoise.

Even though her appearance had changed, it didn't change her spiritual pressure. So, people who were already familiar with her, would identify her in a heartbeat no matter how much she had appeared to change. That's how Shinji had found her.

Akari quickly slipped on the faded blue jeans and the simple white tank top. She slipped on the tennis shoes then stood up to gaze back at her reflection. She combed her hands through her wavy locks. Actually, there was nothing wrong with her hair. It looked perfectly fine. She just needed an excuse not to go out there.

She was stalling, and she knew that, of course. However, she knew that she had to get out sooner or later. Making the rest of them wait would do her more harm than good. Especially to the more…violent ones down below. She breathed in and out to calm her nerves and walked out into the hallway to start her trek to her likely doom.

(Downstairs)

A short, blonde pig-tailed girl in a red jumpsuit flopped down onto the couch. She groaned in annoyance.

"Ugh! When is that piece of trash going to wake up? And Kensei and Mashiro have been gone a long time too!"

Shinji, who was fanning himself in a chair, glared at her. "Quit whining Hiyori! She'll wake up when she wakes up!"

His reply was a smack to the face with a sandal. He fell out of his chair comically. The two men sitting across from him sighed in irritation. The blonde haired man flipped his hair then glanced at his companion.

"There they go again….but I understand Hiyori's irritation."

The man beside him with a tall afro and sunglasses nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

A scoff was heard from the balcony above. There was a woman wearing a school girl outfit with two braids over each shoulder and glasses. She was reading a very…inappropriate magazine. Without looking at them, she hid her face behind the magazine.

"After what she tried to pull, I was upset too. I think any of us would want to get a crack at her."

A hum was heard from the corner of the room. There sat a rather big man with a pink mustache. He had his hand crossed in front of him as if he was praying. He said nothing other than that.

The sound of footsteps echoed off the walls and everyone stilled. They looked towards the sound and saw Kensei and Mashiro coming down the stairs. Kensei had his usual scowl on his face, but Mashiro, who was uncharacteristically walking down the stairs had a look of depression on her face. When they were at the bottom of the flight of stairs, Mashiro took to crouching by Hachi, the pink mustached man, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Shinji, who was nursing the bruise he had on his cheek, stared at Kensei. "So?"

"She's coming. I suggest you get ready."
"I just want her to try something!" Hiyori said, gritting her teeth.

"We are not going to attack her. We just need to convince her to-" Shinji started.

Lisa, the girl in the school outfit, interrupted him. "I don't even know why we are even bothering to negotiate with her. I still don't understand why she is even here."

Love, the afro man and Rose, the long, blond haired man, made sounds of agreement. Shinji sighed.

"She is here because she is one of the only people that I trust with this and I know that none of you want to do this so I am sending her out. She has had more contact with the outside world than we have."

Nothing else was said. No one spoke up. Hiyori huffed and sat back down on the couch, but it stayed silent. It was like this for the next ten minutes before the sound of a door open brought them all to attention.

Light footsteps were heard. They were slow…almost hesitant. For a second, they stopped. Everyone thought that the person walking changed their mind about coming down, and was about to head back. But there was nowhere to go. Eventually, she would come face to face with all of them. She would come face to face with her past….

Author's Note: Hey guys! It's a while. My Kuroshitsuji story is on hiatus because I am having a huge writer's block!