Love for the Lost and Broken

by virgo-24

Story On Hold for the moment. Sorry! Will be returning to it but can't say when

6. Chapter 6

Love from the Lost and Broken

Author Note:

Readers and Reviewers! I come in peace!

(Well… aside from the destruction of the balance between the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and the Soul Society of course ;p Just Kidding!)

So this chapter gets back to the main story, (which is going to end up begin longer than I had thought; 15 chaps at the least). Sorry for taking so long with the last chapter; Kaien kept bugging me cause he was mad that he didn't get much talk time; then he flipped when I told him that he wouldn't be in the story again for a while. (Tousen doesn't mind though and I can't really tell with Gin O,O).

Anyways…

Oh! Two things…

I have become addicted to the Bleach Cover Collections, yeah I know. I love it! If you haven't heard any of the Bleach Beats then you should go and listen, they sound awesome.

I recently purchased three hard cover Bleach graphic novels. Number 40 (Ichigo vs Ulquiorra), Number 43 (Barragan vs Hachi and Soifon/ Stark vs Shunsui) and the Official Character Book #2: Masked. I haven't read them yet but I can't wait to get to them; you can go on the computer and read the manga if that's your thing but I find the hard copies to be excellent for continuous reference.

I really didn't like the last chapter I wrote so I tried to make this one good; I did like writing about Masutātorikkusutā's past though. I wanted to make him seem badass so I made him the first captain of the tenth division and had him tussle with Old Man-Yama. (Of course that has a special significance that I will tell you about later.)

Also: In case you're wondering the song in the last chapter was Releasing the Demons by Godsmack. (The one disclaimer I forgot to include… *sweat drop*).

Sixth Chapter starts… NOW!

Chapter 6: Oh Shit…

An hour and a half of travel; and no one to talk to. Ugh, Masutātorikkusutā was getting sick of it. But at least the ride was going to be over soon.

'And then I get to wake sleepy head up.' Masutātorikkusutā thought deviously as he glanced at Muramasa who was still sleeping peacefully.

Coming to a T-turn Masutātorikkusutā pulled the wheel left and headed down the straight, narrow road to the small private airport he used whenever he was flying out of the country. The airport was about five mile away now and it wouldn't take long to get there. Still the lack of talking company caused Masutātorikkusutā's mind to wonder quickly; nothing important really, just thoughts of how awesome the concert was going to be and how great it was going to be to see his friend after so long.

'She may not even recognize me though; I'm a lot taller than I was back then.'

Actually his gigai had been what was so short, at the time he had been using a child gigai to avoid detection since he still lived in Karakura town; a hot spot for Hollows and therefore a hot spot for Soul Reapers. His gigai had made him look the same age as his female friend had been back then; only six years old. How long ago had that been, ten years wasn't it? Shinigami or not it made Masutātorikkusutā feel old…well, older. How old was he again? He often lost track of how many years had gone by; five hundred years since he had left Soul Society (not nearly as many years in the Human World but still quite a long time). Another thousand before that when he had been the captain of the tenth, and the fifty years before becoming a captain when he spent his time acting like a fool and swinging a wooden sword haphazardly during his training. A thousand and fifty years; that was how long he had been a Soul Reaper. Although he was an abnormality amongst other spiritual beings because he was able to remember his life before he died. Still, Masutātorikkusutā didn't normally count the ten years that he was a human. Ten years he had survived as a human in his mind always paled in comparison to his time in the afterlife. His whole existence had lasted a thousand and sixty years. But he chooses not to think about those ten years he was alive (what he could remember of them); such things only brought sadness to his mind.

Snapping out of his wandering thoughts Masutātorikkusutā let his eyes rest upon the large frame of the black jet that would be Muramasa and his flight to Japan. The plane was owned by him and anyone who knew him could tell that it was his from across the tarmac. A pitch black Boeing 787 Dreamliner; both sides sporting the name of his band in white, graffiti-style letters and decorated with red skulls and blood splatter (the artists he hired to paint the thing had been paid close to a king's ransom for all their work). And if you happened to be paying attention you would notice a strange symbol painted in white on the top of the large side wings and both sides of the one at the back. No one really knew what it meant (no one from America anyways) but every Soul Reaper would quickly recognize it as the symbol for the tenth squad. A way to identify himself but be subtle about it.

Pulling to a stop Masutātorikkusutā parked and pulled the key from the ignition before allowing the doors to open and move up towards the sky. Muramasa was still sleeping through the whole process. Masutātorikkusutā had an image of unbuckling Muramasa's seat belt and watching him fall out the open car door. Laughing at the idea but deciding not to be so cruel Masutātorikkusutā hopped out of his seat and walked around to the passenger side.

"Muramasaaa…" Masutātorikkusutā called in a weird sing-song type manner.

"…" "Muramasa…" He said again, this time more firmly.

"…" "Muramasa…wake up." He tried for the third time.

"…" "Wake up, now Muramasa." Masutātorikkusutā spoke, getting louder and more annoyed.

"…" "MURAMASA! Get Your Sorry Ass Up!" Masutātorikkusutā hollered loudly.

That did it; Muramasa's eyes snapped open and he lunged forward in his seat. Unfortunately because he had leaned the seat back his seat belt wouldn't reach all the way up. Just as he sat up fully the seat belt reached its end and constricted against his chest. The force of the constriction caused Muramasa to fall against the seat (right onto the sore lump on the back of his head once again). Muramasa shut his eyes once again and tried to will the pain away as he worked on figuring out what had woken him up. As if on cue the one who had just yelled at him to wake up reached into the car and pushed his hand against the side of Muramasa's head.

"Muramasa! I mean it! Wake up!" Masutātorikkusutā shouted as he shook Muramasa's head back and forth slightly not realizing that the man was already awake.

He hadn't been awake two minutes but Muramasa's blood was already boiling. And Masutātorikkusutā's continued assault on the side of his head wasn't helping him calm down any. Fast as lightning Muramasa clicked the button that released the seat belt and shot forward; reaching out his left arms Muramasa grabbed the front of Masutātorikkusutā t-shirt and shook him with the same force that had been placed on his own skull moments ago.

"I'm awake damn it!" Muramasa snarled.

"Excellent! Now move it!" Masutātorikkusutā said with a laugh.

Climbing out of the sports car Muramasa scowled at the taller man who just grinned away. Muramasa was not happy; this was the second time that Masutātorikkusutā had woken him up today. Not to mention that neither way had been pleasant; once yelling into the ear and once being dragged down a stair case. Not a good day, not a good day at all; (and it wasn't even noon yet). Smoothing his hair down Muramasa continued to glare daggers at the overly energetic man across from him.

"Asshole…" Muramasa seethed as Masutātorikkusutā pulled their bags and instruments out of his car.

"Dick…" Masutātorikkusutā answered curtly.

"Must you be so vulgar?"

"Must you bitch all the time?"

Muramasa didn't answer this time; he knew that there was no point since Masutātorikkusutā would just find a way to retort. No matter want someone said Masutātorikkusutā always seemed to be able to counter it with something smart in the blink of an eye (even if it was lewd or improper).

"And how am I vulgar? You called me an asshole remember?" Masutātorikkusutā questioned as he slung some of his luggage over his shoulder.

Ignoring his companion once again Muramasa grabbed his own luggage as some of the runway workers came to collect the rest of it. Masutātorikkusutā being the people person that he was quickly engaged in conversation with them. They had all worked for Masutātorikkusutā for years and he considered them friends. Whenever he was traveling he spoke fondly with them about what they were doing and how live was going in general. None of them knew he was a Soul Reaper; none of them had the faintest idea of how powerful the man they spoke to was. If people in Japan were ignorant of all the Soul Society business that went on right underneath their noses then people in the United States were even worse off. At least Masutātorikkusutā was careful with keeping his powers hidden; it wouldn't do well to be found out.

It was slightly humorous in Masutātorikkusutā's opinion. The way the workers at the small, private airport scurried about with their tasks. From fueling the plane and preparing the runway for take-off to the people loading the luggage and checking the flight patterns. All this going on as Muramasa and himself walked slowly across the tarmac; in his mind it looked like a scene out of a spy movie. Masutātorikkusutā kept such thoughts to himself but that didn't change the fact that you could feel the energy of excitement coming off him in waves. The strength of it was almost was powerful as his spiritual pressure. Masutātorikkusutā tried to talk to Muramasa but said man continued to ignore him as they boarded the black jet to wait for take-off. Masutātorikkusutā could tell that he had pissed the blue eyed man off again.

'Great, got to apologize now…' Masutātorikkusutā thought to himself as Muramasa headed for the private section at the back of the plane.

Masutātorikkusutā never said anything with the express intent of making someone mad or upsetting them in any way. However; more often than not that was exactly what his big mouth seemed to do. And because he wasn't someone who found joy in hurting someone without a legitimate reason, situations like this would force him to feel guilty. And feeling guilty would lead him to apologize, however; Masutātorikkusutā was not an apologetic person. So in his mind apologizing was nothing more than a pain in the ass. Still if he didn't apologize it would just eat at him till it drove him crazy.

Sighing in defeat Masutātorikkusutā followed Muramasa who had already made his way to the rear of the plane. Masutātorikkusutā found his companion in one of the comfy reclining chairs; leaning back with his eyes closed.

'He can't be asleep again…' Masutātorikkusutā thought as he stared down at the man with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

"Oi…" "…"

"Come on now, don't start with this again." "…"

"*Sigh*… Hey I wasn't trying to be an ass; I was just kidding earlier." Masutātorikkusutā muttered as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Your jokes are not amusing…" Muramasa finally answered still keeping his eyes closed.

"Hey, I'm apologizing here ya know." "Yes, I know."

"Come on…"

Muramasa opened his right eye enough to see the other man. He knew Masutātorikkusutā hated the idea of having to apologize so Muramasa sort of wanted to draw the moment out. However Muramasa didn't want to drive the taller man completely crazy so he sat up from his reclining position and extended his hand to shake. Masutātorikkusutā had said that the hand shake was a way of greeting someone or striking a deal with them; but he also said it was a sign of forgiveness and coming to terms with someone. So whenever he and someone else would reach an understanding they would shake. Grinning like a nut Masutātorikkusutā grabbed Muramasa's hand and yanked him to his feet none to gently. Muramasa's eyes widened as Masutātorikkusutā wrapped his free arm around the shorter man's neck.

"Let go…" Muramasa said evenly.

Masutātorikkusutā who still had ahold of Muramasa's hand forced him to shake before releasing him.

"Whatever you say…but you can't lie down like that. If you go to sleep during the ride you'll get jet lag."

"You'll get jet lag regardless of whether you sleep or not." Muramasa spat as a vein throbbed in his forehead.

"True…but sleeping makes it worse." Masutātorikkusutā stated as he headed back to the front of the plane for god knows what reason.

'Lying fool…' Muramasa thought knowing full well that Masutātorikkusutā was talking out his ass*1.

Following Masutātorikkusutā back to the front of the plane (to make sure he didn't do something stupid) Muramasa furrowed his ear brows at what was going on. One of the three flight attendants had stopped Masutātorikkusutā on his way to the front of the plane and appeared to be speaking with him. Normally Muramasa wasn't the nosy type but the expression on the woman's face made him curious. She seemed to be worried about something; so instead of hanging back and being courteous Muramasa moved to stand next to Masutātorikkusutā.

"Oh, there you are." Masutātorikkusutā said as though he hadn't just yanked the other man out of his seat.

"Hey, Muramasa. You know Kishi*-chan; don't you?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't met her before." Muramasa answered as he observed the woman across from himself and Masutātorikkusutā who he now knew as Kishi.

The woman was young, probably no older than twenty-five years of age. She was slim and tall, about five and a half feet. She had short, black hair that was held back in a bun and her eyes were a deep brown. She was clearly of Japanese descent and was of course wearing the blue and white stewardess outfit.

"Well; Kishi this is Muramasa and Muramasa this is Kishi."

"Hello Muramasa-san*…" The young woman spoke softly, allowing a smile to form on her lips; Muramasa simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"So anyways, what did you wanted to tell me Kishi-chan?" Masutātorikkusutā asked turning his attention back to the young woman.

At this the stewardess' eyes darkened and her smile dissolved; it was replaced with the same look of concern and worry that Muramasa had seen earlier. The woman began shifting uncomfortably in her spot; whatever she had on her mind was making her uncomfortable but she also seemed uncertain as to whether or not she should express whatever was bothering her. What could have gotten the young woman so worried and worked up?

"What is it? Come on you can tell us." Masutātorikkusutā said gently in an attempt to convince the girl to speak.

"F-forgive me Masutātorikkusutā-san; b-but I'm concerned about this t-trip your taking." The woman finally admitted with a stutter.

"Oh? Why it that?"

"I-I…I dreamed of it."

"You dreamed it?" Masutātorikkusutā questioned.

"Y-yes…I dreamed that you two are going to meet a great conflict of some sorts. If you go, you must be careful. The Shinigami* are upset with you both for some reason."

Muramasa's body went ice cold at those words. Could Soul Society find out about him? Or did they already know that he was still alive? The news, although the accuracy of it was unknown was still very unsettling. At least to Muramasa it was. Masutātorikkusutā didn't give any indication that the news worried or bothered him at all. In fact the news seemed to almost amuse the black haired man. He chuckled lightly to himself before speaking to Kishi once again.

"I don't think that I shall worry about the Shinigami's all that much. In truth I think I should be more concerned with the Ashimagari*.

"I would hope that you not have to deal with either of them." The young girl answered.

"Do not worry Kishi-chan; I fear not the Ashimagari or the Shinigami. Muramasa and I will be just fine." Masutātorikkusutā said in a reassuring tone.

The young girl nodded in agreement just as the pilot came over the intercom saying it was time for take-off and to get to your seats. Masutātorikkusutā and Muramasa did just that as they returned to the back of the plane, sat down, and buckled their seat belts. Masutātorikkusutā made some smart comment about how Muramasa should be careful that the belt didn't constrict him to the point that he couldn't breathe. Muramasa wasn't really listening since his mind was still buzzing with worry over what Kishi had said. However, when he registered that Masutātorikkusutā was insulting him about earlier Muramasa promptly glared at the man across the aisle before raising a curtain finger in the taller man's direction. Masutātorikkusutā made several unintelligible sounds before busting out into a fit of laughter. Muramasa scowled and rolled his eyes at the man; he never understood how someone could laugh at being insulted, belittled, and flat-out disrespected. Still Masutātorikkusutā always behaved in this manner; no matter what was directed his way.

"How long is this flight anyways?" Muramasa asked as Masutātorikkusutā finally stopped laughing.

Masutātorikkusutā thought for a moment as the plane slowly began moving down the runway. "Hmm… ten, eleven hours; something like that."

Muramasa groaned loudly at the thought of spending eleven hours in a small space with only Masutātorikkusutā for company. Rubbing his temples and counting backwards from ten to prevent himself from doing something stupid Muramasa waited for the cabin to stop shaking. Masutātorikkusutā didn't mind flying; Muramasa wasn't totally sure about it though. On one flight Masutātorikkusutā had said that Muramasa was afraid of flying. That situation had ended up with Masutātorikkusutā leaning over the small sink in the planes' bathroom with a wad of cotton stuck up his left nostril from the impact of a book that Muramasa had thrown at him. Masutātorikkusutā didn't say anything else on the subject and Muramasa would never dare say if it was true or not. The plane soon leveled out and stopped it's shaking (much to Muramasa's relief). Masutātorikkusutā unbuckled his seat belt and hopped out of his chair faster than a bat out of hell.*2

Masutātorikkusutā crossed the aisle and sat in the seat one away from the one Muramasa was occupying. Well; 'sitting' wasn't exactly the correct term; Masutātorikkusutā was upside down in the chair with his legs dangling slightly over the headrest. Muramasa glared at the idiotic man before trying to ignore him all together; yeah right.

"Sup?"

"Not you since you're in that position."

"Ah, getting quick at the comebacks. That's good."

"…"

"Hey…you looking funny like this, you know?"

"No, I can't say that I do know."

"Come on…"

"We're already on our way Masutā; I don't need to come or go anywhere else."

Masutātorikkusutā grinned before somehow flipping himself around so that he was sitting in the chair properly. He placed both of his hands behind his head and laced his fingers together before continuing to bug the heck out of Muramasa. Muramasa asked the man why he had to be such a pain to which the taller man responded that it was the only way to make sure that he didn't die of boredom. Muramasa wasn't sure if it was really possible to die from being bored but if it was then both he and Masutātorikkusutā were in trouble. Still; Muramasa was almost willing to bet money on the fact that Masutātorikkusutā would suffer more from boredom than himself. The reason? Because Masutātorikkusutā had the attention span of a gnat; meaning that he would need a lot more things to occupy his time. Then again Muramasa figured that Masutātorikkusutā would drive him insane faster than he would get bored of bothering him. So… what to do? Simple; sleep.

"Don't you dare go to sleep!" Masutātorikkusutā shouted as Muramasa tried to put his plan of ignoring him into action.

"Go…away."

"Go away where?"

"I don't care; just make sure that it's far away from me."

"Are you really going to be such a jerk?"

"…"

"Ugh…you're a pain."

"…And what does that make you?"

"?"

"Never mind."

Masutātorikkusutā shrugged before getting up and going Kami* only knows where; finally leaving Muramasa in peace. But even though Masutātorikkusutā was no longer bothering him Muramasa couldn't make himself go back to sleep. Great, that fool had gotten him up long enough to make returning to his twice interrupted slumber an impossible task. Muramasa cursed and damned the taller man in his mind over and over again; just his luck, his terrible rotten luck. Getting fed up Muramasa let his mind go blank in an attempt to calm himself down so that Masutātorikkusutā didn't end up with another nose bleed. He wasn't really mad, just annoyed; or at least that's what he tried to tell himself. In truth Muramasa had gotten himself worked up other the strange warning the stewardess had given Masutātorikkusutā. What he had heard was driving him crazy and making it futile to even try and rest. Time to try something else. Closing his eyes and focusing his mind Muramasa began to meditate, and as he meditated his mind slipped away; and he entered his inner world.

Muramasa's Inner World

Opening his eyes Muramasa found himself standing in the center of one of the many white pillars sticking out of the endless blue ocean that was his inner world. He like his inner world, he always had. It was quiet, peaceful, and calm like the still waters' that covered it. Still, the world was not exactly the same as when Kouga had been his master. The waters' below were no longer completely still and unmoving. They swayed and danced gently against the bases of the pillars of white. There was smell as well, when Kouga was his master the air was clean but as the Hollows took hold the air grew thick and hard to breathe. But after Masutātorikkusutā had become his wilder the air quality had changed again. The air was clean again but held the scent of salt. Beach air as Masutātorikkusutā called it; the smell was swept through the inner realm by a gently breeze. The breeze, yet another minor change to the world that Muramasa called home. Perhaps the most dramatic change to his inner world was the addition of night. Night time; Muramasa's world had always been light even without the existence of a sun. There was still no sun but the day did become night. It had taken awhile for Muramasa to even realize that his inner world now processed a night time. Either way he couldn't say that the night was any less as lovely to look at as the day. The night still provided a source of light in the form of a white, glowing moon. The moon even had cycles as the real one in the human world did. And along with the moon the black sky would be filled with endless, gleaming stars. When he had first seen it Muramasa had almost walked off the edge of the pillar he had been standing on. The sight was so breath taking and it never lost its ability to awe the viewer. Masutātorikkusutā had said that much and then went on to say that he was going to have to point out all the stars and constellations to Muramasa sometime in the future.

Muramasa never understood the point of the changes in his inner world; he knew the changes were caused from the energy of a new wielder but he never understood the meaning of the changes themselves. Although it was must likely Masutātorikkusutā love of the ocean. He had once told Muramasa that he had salt water in his veins. Muramasa didn't know if that was possible but Masutātorikkusutā had only laughed and tried to explain the reason for his attraction to the ocean. Muramasa never got what he was saying but Masutātorikkusutā didn't seem to mind as long as the beauty stayed that way.

Masutātorikkusutā loved the ocean; nothing could change that. Muramasa was easily able to recount times when Masutātorikkusutā would simply turn up gone. Everyone would be looking for him only to have him turn up and few days later wet and grinning away. He would slip down to the coast with his surfboard and ride every wave that came his way. The crazy fool had even said once that he could probably use his reiatsu to create a shockwave in Muramasa's inner world and cause the water to form huge waves. The idiot claimed that it would be awesome while Muramasa quickly shot down the idea. Such statements made Muramasa worry about just how sane the taller man actually was.

Ignoring such bothersome thoughts Muramasa walked to the side of the pillar and sat down allowing his legs to hang over the edge. Such an activity was nothing new for him; after Kouga had been sealed away Muramasa spent every moment in silence amongst the white columns' waiting for his master to call out to him. Such thoughts were depressing and Muramasa preferred to avoid thinking about them. Still, such things were hard to forget about. But it was all in the past, or it should have been; something was still a miss. Masutātorikkusutā was far different in the way he interacted with his partner's. When it came to Masutātorikkusutā and Kyōfu the two were in perfect sync although the bat spirit's opinion often differed from his master's. But other than the rare variations in opinions Kyōfu and Masutātorikkusutā had a better partnership than any Soul Reaper and Zanpakuto pair in Soul Society. Muramasa had been inside the minds of almost all the Zanpakuto spirits in the Seretei; they all had some form of animosity towards their master's that he had exploited for his own schemes. But Muramasa had been around Masutātorikkusutā and Kyōfu long enough to know that the bat Zanpakuto held no evil will towards his master, and vice-verses.

With himself and Masutātorikkusutā though, it was like the polar opposite. Muramasa and Masutātorikkusutā fought; all…the…time. Whether that fighting was throwing punches or trading insults it was always a fight. Masutātorikkusutā seemed to think of it as a game which pissed Muramasa off to no end. It was almost as if Masutātorikkusutā didn't see Muramasa as a partner but just a housemate. Then again, Muramasa wasn't sure he could stand to be partners' with the fool that was Masutātorikkusutā. Muramasa often wondered how the man had survived so long without everyone in Soul Society finding him. The man was so rash and reckless that it was inconceivable that he was able to avoid such detection.

There was a reason that a Soul Reaper was meant to have ONE Zanpakuto; Muramasa just knew it. A Soul Reaper was only able to get along with one Zanpakuto spirit at a time. Muramasa had almost regretted when he agreed that Masutātorikkusutā would be his new master. He had even once considered the fact that being dead was possibly better than dealing with Masutātorikkusutā. Still, Masutātorikkusutā wasn't flat out cruel either; he just worked differently than most people. Muramasa theorized that the man had probably been dropped on his head as a child or something. Such an event could explain his odd mannerisms but Muramasa never really knew with Masutātorikkusutā.

Muramasa didn't know how long he sat on the white pillar in his inner world, unmoving, just thinking. Muramasa only hoped that time was moving faster outside of his inner world since it was impossible to tell what time it actually was there. Suddenly someone or something smacked Muramasa in the back of the head, causing him to nearly fall of the edge of the column. Muramasa cried out as he clutched the back of his head and whipped around to see what had assaulted him. It was Masutātorikkusutā, grinning ear to ear as though knocking someone out was funny. Muramasa quickly reconsidered his earlier thought that Masutātorikkusutā wasn't out right cruel. Masutātorikkusutā snickered to himself before plopping himself down right next to Muramasa.

"Sup?" "…"

"Again with the silent treatment?" "…"

"*Sigh* Your annoying…" Masutātorikkusutā said crossed his arms behind his head and leaned all the way back.

"I'm annoying? Do you even listen to yourself talk? You're the annoying one." Muramasa said through clenched teeth as he glared at the man now resting on his back.

"I never listen to myself talk actually." Masutātorikkusutā stated with his eyes closed as he swung his leg back and forth over the edge of the pillar.

"That explains a lot." Muramasa deadpanned quietly.

"What'd you say?" Masutātorikkusutā asked cracking an eye open.

"Nothing…" "…Hm…"

What was going on? Masutātorikkusutā never ended something that simply; maybe he really was losing his mind like Kaien always accused him of. Sneaking a look at the man's face Muramasa was starting to get worried about the taller man. Masutātorikkusutā's face was had a solemn, almost empty look to it; and his bright purple eyes looked almost clouded. Why was he here anyways? Masutātorikkusutā never entered Muramasa's inner world like a Soul Reaper does with their Zanpakuto. A master had to meditate to enter the inner world of their Zanpakuto but Masutātorikkusutā only did that with Kyōfu. In fact, Muramasa wasn't really sure how Masutātorikkusutā would be able to enter his inner world. Whenever Masutātorikkusutā showed up here Muramasa never sensed that he was there. Actually, Muramasa never knew Masutātorikkusutā was there until he either kicked him in the leg or whacked him in the head (depending on whichever action he felt like executing on that particular day).

"Hey!" Muramasa yelled finally getting unnerved with Masutātorikkusutā's odd behavior.

"Huh?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uhh…Nothing really. Just thought I'd come say hello."

"Right…" Muramasa answered, clearing not buying Masutātorikkusutā's excuse.

"You don't believe me." It was a statement, not a question.

"…No…" "That hurts me; Muramasa."

"What do you want?" Muramasa snapped getting tired of Masutātorikkusutā's strange(r) behavior.

Masutātorikkusutā was silent for a moment before answering; "To know what that dream of yours was about."

Muramasa was taken aback, why was Masutātorikkusutā asking about that now? Wait; better question was how the hell did he even know?

"What are you talking about?" Muramasa replied, trying to play the remark off.

"The dream that had you up and walking around in the middle of the night."

"I already told you, I couldn't sleep."

"Don't lie to me… I am your partner remember; I can tell if you're lying."

"You just read my eyes like you do with everyone else." Muramasa countered.

"Either away, I want to know."

"It's none of your concern."

"And why is that."

"I said to drop it!" Muramasa yelled as he glared at Masutātorikkusutā who looked almost hurt.

There was silence until Masutātorikkusutā finally spoke; "Sorry… I don't mean to pry. I just wanted to know if you were ok."

Great, now Muramasa felt like an ass; Masutātorikkusutā just had to go and be worried over a stupid dream.

"Sorry…" Muramasa muttered quietly.

"It's cool…"

"Why do you care anyways?"

"Didn't you ask me that before? Hmm…I care because I consider you my partner and friend. So; I don't what you to be bothered by anything."

Once again Masutātorikkusutā had managed to make Muramasa feel like the bad guy; how he did it Muramasa would never understand. Although knowing that he cared enough to ask wasn't terrible either. But it had to be about the dream, didn't it; the dream that Muramasa had been trying to forget. Masutātorikkusutā was the noisy type so of course once he heard about it he wanted to know all about it. But not matter what Muramasa was keeping the dream to himself.

"Hey Muramasa…"

"What is it?" Muramasa asked, hoping that he wasn't going to be interrogated again.

Masutātorikkusutā pointed up into the air from his resting position before speaking; "That cloud right there; looks like a turtle*3.

Muramasa stared at the other man like he was crazy before looking to where Masutātorikkusutā was pointing. Sure enough there was a cluster of puffy clouds in the bright blue sky; and one of them was shaped like a turtle. Wait? Since when did his inner world have clouds?

"Cool…" Masutātorikkusutā said in a spaced out manner.

"Whatever you say Masutā…"

"What do you mean 'whatever you say'? Haven't you ever just watched the clouds roll by and notice that they make shapes?" Masutātorikkusutā asked.

"I do not watch clouds float through the sky." Muramasa answered blankly.

"You mean in all the time you've spent in your inner world you've never watched the sky?"

"This is the first time I've seen clouds in my inner world."

"What! Really?"

"Yes…really."

"Oh wow… that's interesting." Masutātorikkusutā said before he got quiet and just watched the sky.

At this point Muramasa scanned the skies and realized that it was littered with small groups of clouds for as far as the eye could see. His inner world had never had clouds before; he knew that for a fact. So why were there clouds now?

"Maybe you should watch the clouds from now on; it's a very freeing thing." Masutātorikkusutā muttered still half transfixed on the fluffy flying marshmallows.*4

"You're crazy Masutā…"

"Maybe…"

"You're not supposed to agree…"

"Hai, Hai*…"

"Why are the clouds so important anyways?"

"Because the spirits live in the clouds; and the spirits guide their children on the earth."

Muramasa when instantly what Masutātorikkusutā was talking about; aside from the man's love of the ocean he also had a love of Native American mythology or whatever he called it. Masutātorikkusutā knew just about every story concerning the Native American culture and he could rattle them all out to you in a heartbeat. Some of the stories spoke about the fact that the gods lived in the clouds and watched over the people of earth.

"Again with that spirit stuff?"

"I didn't say I believed such things to be fact; I just find the stories to be intriguing."

"Uh-huh…"

"And besides; in Japan I'm basically the Grim

Reaper and you're a sword with magic powers."

"True…" Muramasa answered.

Now that he thought about it; Masutātorikkusutā did have a point. Although he was pretty certain that all the Soul Reaper's in Soul Society wouldn't appreciate being compared to a skeleton with a black hood carrying around a scythe. Well; that was the American interpretation of the Grim Reaper anyways. Muramasa had heard so many stories from Masutātorikkusutā about Native American beliefs and customs that he didn't even bother to remember them all. That, and Muramasa was almost convinced that half of the odd things Masutātorikkusutā said came from his knowledge of the strangest subjects.

"Although, I do think that people have spirit animals."

"Do you now?"

"Yeah; some people even have several."

"Ok then, what's yours?" Muramasa asked, hoping to kill some time.

"I have three; the Coyote, the Bear, and the Wolverine." Masutātorikkusutā stated matter-o-factly.

"You don't say…"

"Don't act condescending* with me."

"Right…"

"Would you like to know your spirit animal?"

"And you know this how?"

"I can read people remember!"

"Oh, yeah…"

"So you wanna know or not?"

"Sure, whatever…"

"… Bee, Mouse, and the Wolf…"

Muramasa could just feel his left eyebrow twitching. The wolf part wasn't all bad; but had Masutātorikkusutā just compared him to a bee, and a mouse? Muramasa glared at the other man, who had just sat up from his comfortable resting position. Masutātorikkusutā had that stupid, fake innocent look on his face; like he hadn't done a thing.

"What…?"

"I would really hate to have to kill you."

"Why! I was being serious!"

"You just compared me to a mouse!"

"Baka*! A spirit animal doesn't compare you to the animal itself; your spirit animal just has similar traits to the person it represents."

"Kyōjin*…" Muramasa seethed as Masutātorikkusutā cracked up for the umpteenth time today.

"It's not a bad thing."

"Yeah, it's a 'you're crazy' thing."

"Whatever…see ya later."

"Where at you going?"

"To read my book, it's new and I must read it."

"And how long do you have to read it before we land?"

"Still about nine hours I think."

"This flight is never going to be over at this rate." Muramasa grumbled aloud.

"Do something to pass the time; read a book." Masutātorikkusutā said as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"I don't even have a book to read."

"Here… read this one then."

Masutātorikkusutā placed a book on the ground before turning to walk away. Where had he been hiding that thing anyways? Muramasa picked the book up and examined it. It was old but in good condition; the title was in big white letting across the front. The Green Mile by Stephen King; wasn't that the guy that Kaien had said was crazy or something? Muramasa had seen Masutātorikkusutā reading the book before; and according to Kaien he had read it over fifty times in eight years. Turning to question him Muramasa realized that Masutātorikkusutā had already disappeared. Muramasa quickly snapped out of his meditation intent on following Masutātorikkusutā.

Human World

Muramasa opened his eyes and looked around for Masutātorikkusutā; said man was across the aisle with a book in hand. He didn't even look like he had moved for a while actually. Scowling Muramasa shifted in his seat, meditation was a killer on the back. As he move Muramasa caught site of something in the seat next to him; picking it up he realized it was the same book Masutātorikkusutā had given him in his inner world. Looking at Masutātorikkusutā again Muramasa got a look at the book he was reading. Bag of Bones by Stephen King; the same guy who wrote The Green Mile. Another book by the suspected crazy writer; great. No way… no way in hell was Muramasa reading anything given to him by Masutātorikkusutā; it was almost guaranteed to be dirty in some way.

Masutātorikkusutā's POV

'Ha-ha; King you have done it again.' I thought to myself as in turned another page in my new book.

I had been so into my book that I had lost track of time; reading and taking a few cat naps had passed a lot of time; almost nine hours. We would be landing soon and I couldn't wait to get off the plane. Siting for hours on end was a pain in the ass; literally. Turning my head I grinned at the site of Muramasa with his nose buried in the book I gave him. He had point blank told me that he wasn't reading something I had given him but there he was. He was about halfway through it as was I with my own book. I was getting ready to be a smart ass and ask him how he was enjoying the book that he swore he would never read but my cell-phone choose that moment to ring. I answered it quickly… bad idea.

Normal POV

Muramasa looked up from the book in his hands as he heard the sound of someone hollering. He saw Masutātorikkusutā talking on the phone telling whoever was on the other end to stop talking so loud.

"I can hear you Kaien, you can stop yelling."

The two continued to talk for several minutes about what was going on and such; Muramasa didn't think that the three they left back in Cali would be missing Masutātorikkusutā so soon. Guess he was wrong; either that or Kaien and Gin had already destroyed something.

"Hey Gin, yeah I hear you; how's it going?"

Now Gin was talking to him? Geez; did those two really miss Masutātorikkusutā that much? Or more likely they had driving Tousen insane and had to find someone else to bug. That had to be it.

"Hey Tousen; those two are behaving like I told'em to right?"

Or not... wow; there must really be nothing to do without Masutātorikkusutā there. Muramasa figured that those three would be glad to get rid of Masutātorikkusutā and himself. However; it was starting to look like he had thought wrong…oh well.

"Hey Muramasa…Gin, Kaien, and Tousen say hi."

Muramasa blinked twice before giving an awkward little wave in Masutātorikkusutā's direction.

"He says hey you guys."

"I don't hear nothin'." Gin's voice sounded through the cell phone's speakers.

"He's seating across the aisle Gin; of course you can't hear him." Masutātorikkusutā answered as Muramasa glared at the phone knowing that Gin wasn't there to see it.

Masutātorikkusutā continued to talk on the phone until the pilot announced that the plane would be landing soon and to re-buckle your seat belts.

"Ok; yeah…got to go. Alright; talk to you guys later…bye."

Masutātorikkusutā grinned and chuckled to himself as him returned his cell phone to his pocket and buckled his belt. Muramasa buckled his as well but the whole time wearing nothing but a scowl on his face. Masutātorikkusutā warned him that his face would stick that way*5 if he kept it up. Muramasa just told him to zip it.

Once the plane had landed Masutātorikkusutā quickly hopped out of his seat and headed for the door (he really needed to uncramp his legs at this point). Muramasa followed, not at all as excited as his companion. Masutātorikkusutā quickly noticed this and since he already knew the reason for Muramasa's behavior he decided to resolve the problem then and there.

"You can stop obsessing over the warning we received."

"How did you…?" Muramasa began but stopped when his eyes met Masutātorikkusutā's.

"Right…I keep on forgetting that you can read people like that."

"You should work on remembering it then. And I can't read mind's; I can only work with what I get."

"Whatever…" Muramasa said as the two men exited the plane.

Masutātorikkusutā was overjoyed that he was finally able to stretch his sore muscles. For about five minutes he stood on the tarmac stretching his arms, legs, and back. Masutātorikkusutā grunted as him bent over and his back cracked six times in a row. Muramasa ignored him as they both waited to be picked up by the car that was going to take them to the train station. Even if it was a private plane the town that Masutātorikkusutā had once lived in didn't have its own airport. So; to get to where they were going to take a three hour train ride. They would be staying in a house that Masutātorikkusutā owned and had lived at before moving to America. The house was maintained by a group people Masutātorikkusutā had hired to do all the tasks around the house while he was away. Apparently it was more of a mansion than a house (just like Masutātorikkusutā's current home). Muramasa was not looking forward to spending another three hours doing nothing but sitting on his ass but there was nothing he could do about it at this point.

"Hey Masutā; what time is it?" Muramasa asked as he and Masutātorikkusutā waited patiently for their ride to show up.

"It's noon exactly."

"Noon? How is that possible; we didn't leave until eight in the morning?"

"Time zones my friend; we did leave at eight and if we flew for eleven hours than it would be seven in the afternoon right now. But; Japan's time zone is seven hours behind Cali's. So… here it's only noon."

Muramasa didn't like the fact that Masutātorikkusutā was talking to him like he was a child. At least it felt like he was; that or the headache he had was affecting his thinking. Muramasa rubbed his temples trying to make the headache go away; it helped a bit since the headache wasn't terrible but he knew the throbbing behind his eyes would soon get on his nerves if it continued.

"The time difference also contributes to jet-lag; which is why you have a headache."

"Right…" Muramasa didn't like what he was hearing; he had flown before that was true but this was the first time he had experienced jet-lag. If it was going to be like this than Muramasa was going to get fed up with it quickly.

"But I wouldn't worry; humans suffer from it for a few days at most; but we aren't humans so it doesn't affect us as badly."

"Then how come I have a headache and you're completely fine?"

"The effects vary from person to person that's why. But still; it shouldn't last long. And besides; if all you've got is a headache then your way better off than a lot of people."

"Whatever…" Muramasa agreed as the vehicle that would be taking them to the train station drove up.

Muramasa was starting to think that Masutātorikkusutā wanted everyone in Japan to know that they were coming. At least that was the impression that the black limo driven and escorted by guys in black suits and dark sunglasses gave off. Muramasa thought that such a thing was unnecessary since the train station was only thirty minutes away. Flashy; that was how Masutātorikkusutā was. It was a real pain when you didn't want to be located by Soul Society. Muramasa didn't know where exactly in Japan Masutātorikkusutā was dragging him to but in his mind nowhere in Japan was safe from the eyes of the Soul Reaper's.

Ignoring the slight pounding in his head and mentally damning the fool that had come up with the idea of time zones Muramasa followed Masutātorikkusutā and entered the limo right behind his taller companion. Masutātorikkusutā (who is just this lazy) decided that he didn't really want to sit in the cushy, red-velvet lined seats and instead stretched himself out straight across the floor of the limo. He didn't give a hoot that he was in Muramasa's way. Hell no; he just laid there while Muramasa was forced to step around him to get to a seat and sit down.

"Manuke*…" Muramasa muttered as he glared at the lump on the floor known as Masutātorikkusutā who at that moment very much resembled a beached whale.

"Mesu*…" Masutātorikkusutā replied as a yawn escaped his lips.

Now, truth be known my dear friends (that's you guys/gals :p) normally Muramasa would not retort even at such a vulgar insult. But in this moment, with Masutātorikkusutā in such a defenseless position; Muramasa was going to make him regret such an insult. Masutātorikkusutā had rolled over so that his back was facing Muramasa; the perfect time to act. Muramasa pulled back his right leg and kicked it out again with a lot of force. Masutātorikkusutā cried out as Muramasa's sneakered foot connected with the back of his right shoulder, then again with the center of his lower back and once more below his ribs on his right side.

Now, once again my dear friends the truth must be known that Masutātorikkusutā was not the sort of person to let an assault like this go on without some form of repercussions. So as he rolled away from the attack Masutātorikkusutā managed to turn over and deliver a powerful karate chop to Muramasa's shin. And to make matters worse Masutātorikkusutā wasn't just a master swordsman; but he was also an expert in kendo, ty quan do, judo, baritsu, and of course had a black belt in karate. Being a Soul Reaper made the attack strong of course; but the fact that he was skilled in how to do the technique properly caused the force to be increased greatly. So when the attack hit Muramasa's shin you can bet your ass he felt it. And it hurt like hell; worse than being hit really hard with a hammer.

Muramasa quickly regretted his choice in kicking Masutātorikkusutā as the pain in his shin reached his knee before shooting back down to his ankle. As the pain in his leg stabbed like daggers Muramasa was also glaring daggers at Masutātorikkusutā who was now seating in a seat like a normal person rubbing his side. Masutātorikkusutā's violet eyes burned into Muramasa's blue one's as well. The two were not happy with each other that much was for sure. Masutātorikkusutā crossed his arms and produced to act like a pouting child. Muramasa on the other hand was still dealing with the throbbing in his right leg. The sharp pain had left quickly but everything from the knee down still throbbed with a dull ache.

Muramasa thanked the god's that the ride to the train station would be over soon so he could get far away from the man across from him before he ripped his head off or vice-versa. However Masutātorikkusutā's pouting didn't last long and soon he was grinning as wide as every like something really funny had happened. Muramasa didn't really appreciate the grin much; but he said nothing since he refused to give the black haired idiot another reason to attack him again.

"Are you enjoying the book I gave you?" Masutātorikkusutā asked out of the blue.

"Are you trying to suck up again?" Muramasa asked still pissed at the taller man.

"You started it and you know I'll right".

Although Muramasa knew that Masutātorikkusutā was acting childish he also knew that Masutātorikkusutā was in fact right. Of course he wasn't going to admit that; not in a million years. Muramasa was really unhappy that Masutātorikkusutā had attacked him and was now trying to act all nice and chummy with him. Still; that was sort of how Masutātorikkusutā behaved. Giving in Muramasa dropped the animosity and answered the question.

"It is surprisingly good; I had figured that you would give me something nasty to read."

"What at you talking about? I would never do no such!" Masutātorikkusutā affirmed as he glared at Muramasa, mad that he had even suggested such a thing.

"Oh yes, never in your life…" Muramasa responded, the sarcasm in his statement as thick at cold molasses*6.

"Indeed…"

"That Percy fellow; is an ass though."

Hahaha! Well; that's something we agree on."

"I suppose so…"

"Did they execute Dale yet?"

"You mean did Percy screw it up on purpose yet; yes."

"Hehe… Bad way to go out."

"Yeah…"

It was strange in Muramasa's opinion; how Masutātorikkusutā could make people calm down so quickly. A few minutes ago they had been ready to kill one another and now they were discussing details of the book he was reading. Muramasa had figured that Masutātorikkusutā did things like that on purpose; after all if he didn't take the persons' mind off the fact that they wanted to kill him then they may actually try to. Muramasa wasn't going to though; it would be a waste of time. That and no matter how idiotic Masutātorikkusutā was he wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Oi… don't think you can off my so easily."

"I don't; and stop reading my thoughts!"

"Can't help it…"

Muramasa scowled once again as the limo came to a stop. Masutātorikkusutā got out first and Muramasa followed behind him. Masutātorikkusutā was already heading to get tickets but Muramasa was having trouble keeping up; every time he put pressure on his leg it felt like someone was trying to yank it out of its socket. Muramasa almost fell over at one point but Masutātorikkusutā grabbed ahold of the fuzzy collar on his jacket and righted him before he got too far off balance.

"What were you trying to do? Break my leg altogether?

"You started it; and no…I wasn't going to break it. Just make it sore."

"Well it damn sure worked." Muramasa snapped as he tried to walk on his hurt leg again.

Muramasa was finally able to put enough weight on his leg so that he could walk. Unfortunately, he looked as though he had a really bad limp; Muramasa hoped that it would go away soon. Masutātorikkusutā got them their tickets and said that the train would leave in half an hour or so. Great more waiting; Muramasa was a patient person (he had to be when dealing with Masutātorikkusutā) but he was slowly getting annoyed with having to sit around all the time. The waiting didn't seem to bother Masutātorikkusutā much though; he just sat there staring off into space. Muramasa had no clue why the other man stared at nothing like that; it was weird, borderline creepy really. It isn't like there was anything of interest in the sky to look at (useless he was observing clouds again).

Even so Muramasa was beginning to notice something; something that Masutātorikkusutā didn't because he was too busy staring at nothing. Muramasa noticed that the people walking around the train station were staring at them. It took a while to notice but once he did Muramasa quickly began feeling uncomfortable. There were a lot of people at the station at the moment; some coming and some going, but a lot of them were staring. Staring at Muramasa and Masutātorikkusutā like they were samples under a microscope. It was true that they did look slightly out of place amongst the mass of what was mostly dark colored suits and briefcases but were the stares really necessary? They weren't that out of place; were they? The stares were really bothering him now and Muramasa refused to look at any of the people who were doing the staring. Finally having enough Muramasa nudged Masutātorikkusutā in the leg with his foot to get his attention. It took a few tries since Masutātorikkusutā was in La-La Land at the moment but he soon snapped out of it a looked at Muramasa.

"What is it?"

"Everyone here is staring at us."

"Not everyone but you are right; a lot of them do seem to be staring."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Should it?"

"Uh, yes…"

"Hmm…"

"Any clue as to why their staring?"

"I know what they think; so of course I know why there staring?"

"Care to elaborate?" Muramasa deadpanned.

"No…"

"Masutātorikkusutā…" Muramasa growled in annoyance clearly not liking the taller mans' humor.

"I'm just kidding…" Masutātorikkusutā said, waving his hands back and forth in defeat.

"Although…if I were to elaborate you probably not like the answer." Masutātorikkusutā said immediately sounding a lot more serious than he had before.

"Try me…" Muramasa challenged before he could even think that he would regret the answer he got.

"The majority of the people staring at us… think we're members of the Yakuza.

Muramasa's jaw just about dropped at that; the Yakuza? Really? Masutātorikkusutā started laughing at the look Muramasa was giving him; the 'you're crazy' look. Muramasa knew at this point that Masutātorikkusutā had lost his mind.

"You're not serious…"

"As serious as a heart attack*7…" Masutātorikkusutā stated evenly, as though being called a member of the most dangerous and well know crime organization in Japan didn't bother him at all.

"And why would they even think something like that?"

"Well; I'm walking around with two katana's strapped to my back and your limping like you got into a bad scuffle."

"That was your fault. And a limp doesn't make you a Yakuza member."

"Not to mention that you have face tattoos." Masutātorikkusutā stated as though Muramasa hadn't even interrupted.

Muramasa blinked at that statement; what the hell did eye markings have to do with anything? And they weren't tattoos…well actually; he wasn't really sure what the markings were. They had always been there; he didn't know why but they were there. What, did the Yakuza have a thing for face tattoos or something?

"Actually many Yakuza members have full-body tattoos; but some do have a thing for getting them on their face."

"Stop that!" Muramasa snapped, getting really tried of Masutātorikkusutā reading his eyes.

In a way it felt like the other man was searching through the cracks and crevasses in his mind. And Muramasa did not appreciate it. Odd really; he had wormed his way into the minds of all the Zanpakuto's in the Seireitei but as soon as someone came tapping on the walls of his mind Death Con Four was initiated. Oh how the tables had turned; a complete three sixty really.

"Stop what? I'm just saying…"

"Don't answer a question that I haven't even said yet."

"Don't like me in your head?"

"No…" Muramasa hissed his voice low and full of venom.

"Don't worry; it's not like I digging into anything overly private."

"I have a feeling that the way we each define private is drastically different from one another."

"Whatever you say…" Masutātorikkusutā answered flatly as a bell started ringing and a voice over the intercom instructed to board the train.

Masutātorikkusutā complied first, quickly heading for the train car that corresponded with his ticket. Muramasa followed reluctantly; glaring at the back of Masutātorikkusutā's head evilly. Boarding the train Muramasa quickly figured that Masutātorikkusutā had picked the most expensive cabin to ride in. Mainly because the cabin was full of mainly business men in their fancy silk suits and their female equivalents aside from the fact that most of them wore skirts. They were just regular business people though; they were on the COE and executive level; probably off to finalize a business deal or something of the sorts. Honestly Masutātorikkusutā had more money than anyone probably cared to guess; but they sure wouldn't mind having some of it for themselves. Of course Masutātorikkusutā had been in the world longer than any human could live so the exact extent of his riches was a mystery. Oh well; more expensive meant more comfy.

Again Muramasa noticed something unsettling; everyone in the train car had noticed them since their seats were in the back and they had to walk across the length of the cabin. Their reaction was even worse than that of the people outside. The people in the cabin were gasping and whispering amongst themselves; staring wide eyed at Masutātorikkusutā and Muramasa as though they were aliens or highly contagious. Muramasa didn't hear much of what the people were saying but what he did hear he understood; and one word seemed to appear over and over…Yakuza.

'Great…just great…' Muramasa thought as he and Masutātorikkusutā took their seats in the back.

Masutātorikkusutā still didn't seem phased by the people in the cabin at all and simply focused on bothering Muramasa.

"Told you…" Masutātorikkusutā said almost smugly; as though he was glad that half of Japan thought they were Yakuza.

"It isn't a good thing you know?"

"Says who?"

Muramasa was starting to think that Masutātorikkusutā really enjoyed the attention; hell he was probably thrilled that they thought he was connected to such a notorious crime syndicate. He was just that crazy. Muramasa sighed to himself as the train lurched forward before beginning to move down the tracks. The entire cabin full of passenger's made a point of staying as far away as possible from the two shady characters at the back of the cabin. Muramasa was slightly grateful for this but didn't find the idea of scaring the piss out of them nearly as funny as Masutātorikkusutā did. Masutātorikkusutā grinned like a fool and snickered to himself at the way the people were behaving.

"I don't see how scaring them is in any way funny."

"Actually neither of us have done anything to warrant them acting so fearful…yet."

"Yet...?" Muramasa questioned.

Masutātorikkusutā didn't answer but Muramasa knew that it meant that Masutātorikkusutā was planning to do something cruel, stupid, or both. In this case it was probably both. Muramasa made a mental note to watch the taller man like a hawk to make sure he didn't cause trouble. Masutātorikkusutā made no move to try anything foolish though; instead he pulled out that new book of his and started reading it again. Muramasa did the same since he was still carrying the book Masutātorikkusutā had given him and since he was halfway through he decided to continue reading.

That lasted for about forty-five minutes until Masutātorikkusutā decided it was time to scare the shit out of everyone there. Now my dear reader (yes you…) it was a commonly known fact that Masutātorikkusutā was a man that loved to make a big deal out of a speck off nothing. However; it was also known that Masutātorikkusutā was not violent unless the occasion called for it. So although he may have wanted to cause a lot of havoc his rational side (what little bit he had) knew that he couldn't cause too much of a fuss or risk getting into a heap of trouble. So; finally he settled on something that while frightening if done quickly and correctly it wouldn't make too much of a scene. Speak of the devil, here came his target.

His target… a Japanese business man that had come to the end of the cabin to get something from his suitcase. The man wore a thick, brown suit and brown dress shoes that matched. He was short and pudgy (pudgy was being fairly kind actually) the pudgy man's gut threatened to bust over the waistline of his suit pants and the bottom button on the man's white shirt was just begging to pop off and sail through the air until it smacked someone in the eye. The man's short black hair stuck to his sweating forehead as he tried to wipe the perspiration away with a faded blue hanky. Oh…this was going to be great.

The baggage hold was actually a small corner of the train car that had walls added to it to form a small, dimly lit room. The pudgy man entered the room and began looking for his suitcase. He cursed under his breath as he was unable to locate the object at first. The business man felt the presence of someone else but didn't pay the person any mind thinking that it was someone else who had come to retrieve something. Masutātorikkusutā had waited till the pudgy man had entered the small room before getting up and following him inside. The man's back was turned and Masutātorikkusutā observed him in complete silence. These people had no idea; Yakuza was the least of their worries (considering that the train was occupied by a God of Death). The pudgy man had finally found his briefcase but unfortunately for him it had been placed on a high shelf by one of the baggage loaders and he was too short to reach it. Masutātorikkusutā was hard pressed not to laugh as the pudgy man stood on the tips of his toes and stretched his arms as far as they would go trying to reach his briefcase. The poor man cursed over and over again as he tried in vain to grab his briefcase. By this point Masutātorikkusutā had moved closer to the pudgy man making sure to be as quiet as a mouse. Walking up behind the man Masutātorikkusutā reached up and over the man's head and grabbed the briefcase that the man was having so much trouble with. The pudgy man nearly jumped out of his skin as he whirled around and come face to face with Masutātorikkusutā who held the case out for the man to take. The man was clearly nervous being near the taller man but took his briefcase regardless.

"A-Arigato*…" The pudgy man stuttered as he stared up at Masutātorikkusutā.

"Sore o genkyū shite inai*."Masutātorikkusutā answered as he moved to the side to let the business man by.

The suit clad man opened his briefcase and began rummaging for the document that he had come for. The business man had recognized the taller man and wanted to leave quickly. As the pudgy man dug through his briefcase he realized that the strange man who had retrieved it for him hadn't walked past him to leave the room. The man turned so that he could see Masutātorikkusutā out of the corner of his eye. Masutātorikkusutā knew the man was watching him; that was the point of his game. Slowly Masutātorikkusutā reached for one of the swords strapped to his back. When he had walked onto the train car he had made sure that the two blades had remained hidden. It would have been no good for security to confiscate them; no good at all. He grabbed the hilt of Kyōfu no sakebi and removed the Zanpakuto from its sheath.

The pudgy man immediately went ridged at the site of the katana, the bright metal shining in the dimly lit room. The man tried to stay calm and continue to look for the papers he needed but that was hard to do at the moment. Masutātorikkusutā grinned as the site of the target stiffing in fear; Masutātorikkusutā wasn't going to hurt him but he was going to make the suited man squirm. Normally he would never pull out his sword in front of a human but if it meant getting rid of his boredom and having a good laugh he was down for it. Masutātorikkusutā knew that the man wouldn't say anything to anyone (he would be too afraid to) and that the only reason the man hadn't ran away already was that he thought Masutātorikkusutā hadn't realized that he had noticed the unsheathed blade.

Masutātorikkusutā held the blade over his head, inspecting it in the light, trying to scare the pudgy man. It was working; the more Masutātorikkusutā turned and twisted the blade the more his target was unable to stop his body from shaking. The pudgy man had found the papers he needed and quickly shut his briefcase and moved to place it on the floor; he moved slowly so that he could focus on how to get out of the mess he was in. Masutātorikkusutā knew that the man was either going to make a run for it once he sat the briefcase down or was going to act like he didn't notice him and just walk out like there wasn't someone standing behind him holding a dangerous weapon. Masutātorikkusutā could read the energy coming off the man and knew that he was leaning more towards acting like nothing was going on. Masutātorikkusutā smirked at this. If the pudgy man was going to act like that then Masutātorikkusutā would have to teach him a lesson about standing too close to sharp objects.

'The Butterball Turkey' (as Masutātorikkusutā had decided to call him) had placed his case on the ground and was standing back up to get ready to exit to small space. In the blink of an eye Masutātorikkusutā had swung his Zanpakuto in a downward diagonal. But remember my friend, Masutātorikkusutā never kills without reason. The blade didn't even come within a foot of the pudgy man's back. Masutātorikkusutā had swung the blade for the sound it would make slicing through the air. The swing was very loud because of all the force that he had swung the blade with. That was what he was looking for; the noise made the pudgy man think that Masutātorikkusutā had struck him down. But he was totally unharmed (but he didn't know that). At that moment the man took off out the door faster than Masutātorikkusutā thought that he would be able to move.

Everyone turned towards the back of the train as the pudgy business man ran out of the baggage room like a demon was after him. He was shaking, sweating and his heart was pounding ninety miles an hour. Several people asked him what was wrong but he said nothing. Hearing something from the baggage room again everyone returned their attention to the doorway; just as Masutātorikkusutā exited… his blade already sheathed as though nothing had happened. Half of the passengers paled and the rest looked like they were going to be sick as they put the pieces of the puzzle together. They were in deep shit…or at least they thought so.

Masutātorikkusutā returned to his seat with that smile on his face; the smile that said he had done something very bad. He was snickering and was on the verge of busting out into full-blown laughter until his companion demanded answers. Muramasa had seen Masutātorikkusutā leave but didn't realized he had followed someone; then he saw the pudgy business man run out of the room and Masutātorikkusutā come out with the grin that said he was up to no good splitting his face just about in half.

"What did you do?" Muramasa questioned; sounding very unhappy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't try and pull that on me!" Muramasa snapped, if Masutātorikkusutā said something like that again Muramasa swore he would kill him.

"Oh shut up! I didn't hurt him." Masutātorikkusutā answered; completely unfazed by the angry look Muramasa was giving him.

"What did you do?"

"Oh…just swung my Zanpakuto around a bit."

"You what?" Muramasa shouted not even caring if anyone on the train could understand him (they probably couldn't though, he and Masutātorikkusutā were still speaking English).

"Stop shouting…I didn't even cut him. I was just in it for the laugh."

"How the hell is that funny?"Muramasa said, coming dangerously close to losing his patience with the taller man.

"Come on I know you saw the guys face; it had to by priceless." Masutātorikkusutā said with a grin.

Muramasa was speechless; Masutātorikkusutā was defiantly trying to get them arrested or worse. He started to reprimand his companion again but Masutātorikkusutā had other plans. Before Muramasa could even open his mouth Masutātorikkusutā had grabbed his I-pod, turned it on and shoved the earbugs into his ears. Muramasa was not happy; he knew Masutātorikkusutā was doing it on purpose and if not for the fact that his shin was still aching he would have kicked the taller man again. That and the fact that if he attacked Masutātorikkusutā twice in one day Muramasa figured that he would be buried some place where no one could find him. Muramasa let it go but didn't take his eyes off Masutātorikkusutā this time. The other passenger's seemed to have calmed down but several of them would glance back every few seconds or so. Muramasa cursed to himself as he heard Remedy by Seether coming from Masutātorikkusutā's I-pod (did he really have to turn the volume all the way up?). Muramasa really, really hoped that this ride would be over soon.

Two hours later after a total of three hours onboard the train it came to a stop at a small station, the only one in the whole town in fact. Slowly people began to exit the train as others took their place; the people moved like rats' in a maze to and from the station. Everything seemed normal until people noticed the group of passenger's that were coming off of the last car on the train. The people hopped off of the car and literally ran away as fast as they could; like they were afraid of something. A lot of people actually slowed their quick pace, trying to figure out what was going on. After everyone else had exited the last train car two more people stepped out as well. They moved slowly and even, unlike everyone else that had just exited the same train car. These two looked different but there was nothing about them a first glance that would make the passenger's run from them. However; once they exited the cabin rumors quickly spread, the main rumor being that those two men were Yakuza members and the taller one has tried to kill someone.

No one knew if the rumor was true or not but it didn't change the fact that some people found the idea of the two men being Yakuza member's exciting and others were scared shitless by the same possibility. Either way all of the people at the station made sure to take in every detail they could about the two strange men.

The taller one, who seemed to be the leader, looked very happy. About what no one could guess but he was grinning away like there was no tomorrow. The man's long, black hair was held back in a hair tie and some people who were close enough were able to see the rainbow colored icicle gauge in the man's right ear. The man's attire was differently westernized which caused him to stand out from the masses at the station. Faded, baggy blue jeans with the fabric at the knees ripped open and frayed. The jeans appeared to have two sections of chain links attached to them on either side of the man's legs; the two sections of chains weren't just for show either. The links looked like with could chain a Rottweiler in place without any problem. The man's top half was sporting a an orange t-shirt with the words 'Out of my mind…Back in five minutes…' in black across the front of it. The brightness of the shirt was bested only by the ridiculously red jacket that the man wore. He really did look like he had stolen the brightness of the sun and somehow woven it into his clothes.

The man following him was a different story entirely; they were completely different from one another. The second man was tall but not nearly as tall as his companion. And judging by the look on his face he was either thinking about killing someone or was heading to kill them at that moment. Then again, his companion may have been the one to end up dead since the shorter man was glared at the back of his head as though he could kill him with nothing more than the stare itself. The man was very unhappy, a far contrast to the grin that the taller man was displaying. The man's spiky, dark brown hair swayed slightly as he walked with his hands crammed in the pockets of his dark, baggy jeans. No holes in the jeans though; he wasn't nearly as rough on his clothing as his smiling counterpart. A black t-shirt with a strange purple symbol on the front and a black jacket with a fuzzy, white fur collar completed his attire.

The two men were so different; both in their attire and in their behavior. But even still they were traveling together to Kami* knows where (although the shorter man didn't look too happy about it). The two men may have been quite different but both of them did have something in common…they were scaring a lot of people. After getting off the train those two had drawing a lot of attention and the rumor that they were Yakuza members hadn't helped at all. That possibly of the rumor being true was seemingly validated by the fact that the taller man had two swords strapped to his back and that the shorter man had face tattoos. Once the rumor was out of the train it spread like wildfire; some people didn't believe it, some were amazed at the possibility of it being true, and others were terrified that it could be true. Either way; the rumor was going to be in the ears over every person in the small town in a few days.

Muramasa sighed as he and Masutātorikkusutā walked out of the small train station; he had given up on figuring out what Masutātorikkusutā had done to the poor man during the train ride but had decided to make him regret it once they had gotten off the train. That was now.

"Ouch!" Masutātorikkusutā hollered as Muramasa whacked him in the back of the head.

"What the hell was that for?"

"For acting like an idiot…" Muramasa answered solemnly, ignoring the strange looks that several people were given them.

"That's bullshit…" Masutātorikkusutā snapped.

"No it isn't…"

"Whatever…" Masutātorikkusutā said with a dismissive tone in his voice as he and Muramasa exited the station.

"Hey…where are we anyways?"

"We're in my home town; I told you that already!"

"I'm talking about the name of the town Masutā!"

"Huh?"

"You've failed to mention that so far…"

"Oh shit! My bad…" Masutātorikkusutā said as he rubbed his hand through his hair.

"Are you going to answer me or just stand there like a fool?"

"Depends…"

"Depends on what?"

"On whether you want the answer or not."

He was doing it again; talking in riddles. Not only was it a pain in the ass but Muramasa never understood anything Masutātorikkusutā was saying when he talked like that. Of course he wanted to know where the heck he was; why wouldn't he? Masutātorikkusutā really was a piece of work; in every aspect of his personality and behavior, he was just plain odd.

"I want the answer…" Muramasa said sternly even though he was starting to wonder if getting the answer was worth his time.

Masutātorikkusutā grinned; a grin that unnerved Muramasa to the core for a reason that he could not place. "This is my home town…Karakura Town."

Muramasa was really starting to hope that all the loud music Masutātorikkusutā contently listened to was affecting his own hearing. If not than Muramasa was in deep shit. He was in the heart of Shinigami territory and he was going to be there for at least two whole weeks. Masutātorikkusutā was crazy; Muramasa had decided this a long time ago but this made the decision all the more correct. Why; why would that idiot even think to bring him here? Muramasa may have been dead to the Soul Society but if they figured out that they were wrong he was as good as dead. What was Masutātorikkusutā thinking? Oh… wait… Fuck! It dawned on Muramasa at that point that Masutātorikkusutā knew that he had done something bad enough for Soul Society to want him dead. However since Masutātorikkusutā believed in second chances and all that mess he had never questioned Muramasa on what it was that he had done. Meaning that Muramasa had never actually told the taller man about what had happened in Karakura Town. Oh boy, Muramasa was really going to be kicking himself good over these one.

"Oi, Muramasa!"

Muramasa snapped his head up at the sound of Masutātorikkusutā's voice and realized that the man was already walking off somewhere.

"Are you coming or are you going to stand around all day?" Masutātorikkusutā questioned before turning to walk away again.

If he had time to object he would have but in this case Muramasa didn't have the time to fume over this screw up. With a sigh and a scowl Muramasa hurried to catch up with Masutātorikkusutā before the man walked off and left him. Muramasa had to follow the taller man since he didn't know where he was going, even if he had been in Karakura Town before he hadn't exactly taken the time to go site seeing. Masutātorikkusutā seemed to know where he was and he looked under joyed about it.

"Hmm…Nothing much has changed actually. That's good…I shouldn't get lost at all." Masutātorikkusutā said to himself as he took in the buildings and streets around him and his companion.

Muramasa remained silent and let Masutātorikkusutā have his little trip down memory lane while he was still pissed at being within a hundred miles of Karakura Town. Muramasa was starting to think that he didn't have bad luck but that his whole existence was cursed. It seemed possible when he thought about it; he just wished there was a way to get rid of it. Of course if his existence itself was cursed then the only way to fix that was to be dead. Well; nothing could be done about it at this point. Muramasa would just have to be extra careful and observant in case any of the Shinigami showed up.

"Muramasa!"

Once again Muramasa realized that Masutātorikkusutā had started walking off without him noticing.

"Are you going to keep that up or should I go ahead and leave ya here?"

"Shut-up…" Muramasa grumbled as the caught up with Masutātorikkusutā for the second time.

"Well…If you're coming you'll have to move it; because I'm taken the short route." Masutātorikkusutā said with a mischievous grin.

"The short route?"

"Yeah, now come on." Masutātorikkusutā said as he headed up the street.

Muramasa had no clue what Masutātorikkusutā meant by that but he followed anyways not wanting to get lost. The two men hadn't gone far before Masutātorikkusutā started looking around, as though he was looking for something. Muramasa was getting ready to ask him what he was doing but before he could even form the words Masutātorikkusutā had ducked into an alley. Muramasa had no idea what the taller man was doing and didn't have time to ask as Masutātorikkusutā leaned half why back out of the alley, grabbed the fur collar of Muramasa's jacket, and pulled him into the darkness of the alley as well. The unexpected tug had caused Muramasa to lose his balance for a moment before he quickly righted himself. He glared at Masutātorikkusutā who had let go of his jacket but the taller man was already sneaking through the alley. Muramasa followed until Masutātorikkusutā stopped dead in his tracks.

"What are you doing?" Muramasa questioned.

"Going to my old friend's house." Masutātorikkusutā answered simply not even turning all the way around to face Muramasa.

"Through an alleyway?" Muramasa asked as he crossed his arms.

"I told you I was going the short way."

"Masutā; this alley is a dead end…" Muramasa deadpanned.

"*Sigh*…Yes, I know that."

"So why are we down here?"

"Long story…"

"Short explanation please…"

"Fine…" Masutātorikkusutā said as he started looking around once again.

"Long time ago…then I was still living in Karakura town my friend and I had the talent for, getting into trouble. Well I had the talent for it…anyways we decided that we needed to make secret routes to help us get from one place to another more easily. We had about ten different ones all over town and they all lead to different places that we considered safe. I was on the run From Soul Society and she had a problem with people bullying her. So; whenever we needed a quick escape or were planning to meet up with each other we would use the secret routes we had made. However… in order to make sure that no one could follow us there was certain things you had to look for and use before you could even get to the routes itself. And if memory serves that pipe that I need should be on that ledge."

Masutātorikkusutā pointed to the ledge he was speaking of as Muramasa finished processing everything he had said.

"And to get to that ledge; you had to find all of the loose bricks in this wall and pull'em out."

Masutātorikkusutā started searching the wall and one by one he found the loose bricks and pulled them out. Once the bricks were placed in a neat pile on the ground Masutātorikkusutā maneuvered up the wall using the missing brick spaces like rock wall climbers would. The ledge was about fifteen feet off the ground but Masutātorikkusutā was able to climb it quickly. Once he reached the ledge he used one hand to hold himself in place well he used the over to fell across the top of the ledge. He cried out in triumph as he pulled a rusted pipe off of the ledge before climbing back down to the ground.

"The old woman that used to live in the lowest apartment had a bad habit of leaving things lying around. This is the pole that they use to pull down ladders to the fire escapes."

Masutātorikkusutā held the pole up to revile the rusted hole on the end before using the pole as a pointer to gesture towards a fire escape on the side of the apartment building they were standing next to.

"Like that one right there." Masutātorikkusutā said as he hooked the ladder with the pole and yanked.

The sliding ladder hit the ground with a thunk as Masutātorikkusutā climbed back up to the ledge, returned the pole to its resting place, came back down to the ground and returned the loose brick to their spots in the wall.

"Simple as that…" Masutātorikkusutā said as he ascended the ladder.

Muramasa just stood there thinking. How could a man who acted like a complete idiot half the time come up with stuff like that? Muramasa was pretty impressed with Masutātorikkusutā's trick; he never thought that the taller man had the brain space for that type of planning. Masutātorikkusutā was not a moron; Muramasa knew that. Still; with the way he always acted Masutātorikkusutā was always the brawn more so than the brain (that was why he had Kyōfu after all).

"Muramasa!"

For the third time Muramasa jerked his head up to see Masutātorikkusutā with his arms crossed, already two levels up the fire escape looking down at him.

"You're doing it again…"

"Doing what?"

"Staring of into space."

"I don't daydream like you do Masutā."

"Really? Because every time I turn around you're staring ahead like your day dreaming."

"I was thinking…"

"Well save it for later."

"What do you want?

"Move your ass…" Masutātorikkusutā stated as he pointed to the ladder on the fire escape.

Muramasa didn't really think that he looked like he was daydreaming when he was thinking but Masutātorikkusutā seemed to think differently. But now wasn't the time to worry with that. Muramasa followed Masutātorikkusutā all the way up the fire escape; all ten floors worth. Muramasa was glad that he wasn't human or he would have already been tired. But he was in a gigai so he would still get tired just not as quickly as a human would. Once they had reached the top of the building Masutātorikkusutā walked to the edge and looked out over Karakura Town, a smile on his face. Muramasa just stood quietly with his hands in his pockets; he figured that Masutātorikkusutā would be doing stuff like this a lot.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"It's time to go for a run."

Those words made Muramasa want to disappear; when Masutātorikkusutā said that it meant a lot of moving. Looking over to the taller man Muramasa realized that Masutātorikkusutā was now standing on top of the railing that ran along the roof of the apartment building they were on.

"Must you really do that?" Muramasa questioned hoping to get out of all the 'running' he was going to have to do.

"Of course…It's the fastest way there."

"Where is that exactly?"

"My friend's apartment…duh."

"Right…"

"You better keep up."

"Wait, hold on!"

Too late… Masutātorikkusutā had already jumped from the railing to the roof of a nearby building.

"You better get a move on." Masutātorikkusutā shouted as he ran across the top of the roof.

'Shit…'Muramasa cursed mentally as he chased after Masutātorikkusutā.

Among all the interesting, strange, or random talents Masutātorikkusutā had one of the most well know was his ability at free running (also known as parkour). Aside from surfing and skateboarding parkour was his favorite physical activity; and he was damn good at it to. The same could not be said for Muramasa. By the time Masutātorikkusutā had finally stopped moving Muramasa was several feet behind him, hunched over and breathing heavily. He may have had skills that were beyond that of a human but even Muramasa couldn't keep up with Masutātorikkusutā. The limitations of the taller man's gigai didn't seem to affect him at all. Either that or Muramasa was so bad at parkour that he had become exhausted a lot quicker. Muramasa didn't really care to think about it that much as he worked on trying to not die from a heart attack since he felt like his heart was getting ready to pound right out of his chest.

"Oi…you gonna make it?"

"You…suck…" Muramasa breathed harshly.

"What? It's not my fault you can't keep up."

"Shut-up…"

"Whatever…" Masutātorikkusutā said as he started walking again.

"I'm not…running anywhere else." Muramasa snapped.

"We're already here, so don't worry about it."

Muramasa could never figure out how Masutātorikkusutā could be so fast. The man's height and bulk should have slowed him down; but Masutātorikkusutā seemed to defy that assumption. They had stopped on the roof of yet another apartment complex; this one was only four stories high though. Muramasa was really glad that the running and jumping that Masutātorikkusutā loved so much was over. Not only was Muramasa winded but he also didn't want to take the risk on missing a landing and falling to his death any more than he had to. Masutātorikkusutā was moving again; down this buildings fire escape. Muramasa followed; his breathing not totally even but enough so that he could make it down the fire escape. Muramasa didn't have to going down all four levels however; he found Masutātorikkusutā on the second floor fire escape landing, looking into one of the windows.

"I don't know about Japan, but in America I think that Peeping Toms get arrested."

"I am not a perv Muramasa. I'm seeing if my friend is home or not."

"Is she?"

"No…odd; it's almost four o'clock. School should be out for the day by now." Masutātorikkusutā muttered to himself.

"So, we wait for her to return."

"Something like that…" Masutātorikkusutā said.

"What are you doing now?"

""Why do you always assume that I'm up to something?"

"Because… you are always up to something?"

"Oh, you caught me."

"Seriously…"

"Well…when we made the secret routes all over Karakura Town, we also made a way to get through this window."

"Uh-huh…"

"You see this pipe right here?" Masutātorikkusutā asked pointing to a small vertical pipe that seemed to be attached to the railing.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It's hollow on the inside…" Masutātorikkusutā stated as pulled the vertical pipe up and out of the place where it was attached to the rest of the rail.

"And a long time ago; there was a screwdriver in it. If no one's found it."

Masutātorikkusutā turned the two foot pipe over and a small screwdriver fell out into his hand.

"Ha-ha… Still here. One of the old handymen had a bad habit of forgetting his tools out here."

"Okay…" Muramasa said as he waited for Masutātorikkusutā to continue.

Masutātorikkusutā walked across the landing before speaking again.

"This drainage pipe…" Masutātorikkusutā said tapping the large pipe with the screwdriver, causing it to ring loudly. "If the screws on the clamps weren't tight, you could fit your hand in the gap."

Masutātorikkusutā unscrewed one side of two of the clamps; the pipe popped outwards about an inch allowing Masutātorikkusutā to reach under it. He pulled out a thin strip of metal, about three inches wide and a foot long. Once he had the metal strip he returned the clamps to their places and screwed them back in. He remained silent as he returned the screwdriver to its place inside the hollow pipe and jammed the pipe back into its spot on the rail.

"Once you had this metal strip… you could wedge it under the window seal and open in up. Simple as that…"

"Right…"

"But… if the occupant is not home…that would be called breaking and entering. And that, they well arrest you for… in Japan and America." Masutātorikkusutā stated as he headed back up the fire escape.

"Since when do you follow the rules?" Muramasa asked as he followed Masutātorikkusutā back up to the roof.

"I always follow the rules."

"Bullshit!"

"Hahaha…" Masutātorikkusutā laughed as he sat down on the edge of the roof.

"So what…we wait until this friend of yours shows up?"

"That's the plan."

"Great… more siting and doing nothing."

"You could always go for another run."

"No thanks…" Muramasa responded as he sat down a few feet away from Masutātorikkusutā. Muramasa wasn't amused at the taller man's suggestion at all.

"Whatever you say…" Masutātorikkusutā answered as he turned on his I-pod and shoved the earbugs into his ears for the third time that day.

'At least he'll be quiet…' Muramasa thought as he tried to find a more sensible way to kill his time.

Muramasa was bored…

Yes, he was bored out of his mind; something that he didn't even think was possible. But there he was, stretched out on his back on the roof on an apartment complex somewhere in Karakura Town. It had been two hours and he had finally lost his patience with sitting around; he had done quite enough of that already today. For once Masutātorikkusutā wasn't complaining about being bored, probably because he had been listening to his music the whole time. Muramasa was staring to regret not putting his own I-pod in his pocket rather than his suitcase. Yeah, Muramasa had an I-pod; western culture had ruined him (at least that was his story). At least if he had it he wouldn't be so bored.

"Hey…Cap'…" Masutātorikkusutā spoke suddenly.

"Huh…?"

"So…why were you spaced out so much earlier?"

"You're just now asking me that?"

"It just came to me to ask…"

"No reason…" Muramasa answered quickly.

"You answered to quickly Cap'."

You're crazy…" Muramasa replied as he sat up.

"No…You were thinking about the Shinigami finding you. This is where you caused them so much trouble… isn't it?"

'How did he…? No way… damn it.' Muramasa thought as he realized that Masutātorikkusutā must have read his thoughts at some point.

"You don't think that I'm watching your back."

"?"

"I know that they'll kill you if they find you. But they'll kill me if they find me too. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or myself."

"…"

"You believe me Cap'?"

"I believe you… thanks." Muramasa said, the last part coming out in a whisper.

"Don't maintain it Cap'…" Masutātorikkusutā answered.

"Is 'Cap' my new nickname?"

"Yes it is …"

"Great…" Muramasa deadpanned.

Muramasa was waiting for the loud laughter that he knew was coming. But nothing happened, Masutātorikkusutā's snapped his head forward; his attention had been captured by something. Muramasa started to ask the taller man what was going on but Masutātorikkusutā had climbed to his feet and ran down the fire escape in the blink of an eye.

'What now?' Muramasa thought to himself as he crawled to his feet and hurried to catch up with his speedy companion.

By the time he found Masutātorikkusutā he had already wedged the strip of metal he had obtained under the window and had popped it open. Leaning the metal strip against the side of the building Masutātorikkusutā raised the window with his free hand and crawled through it. Muramasa again wondered how the man could move so fast as he himself worked on trying to get through the window as well. Masutātorikkusutā smiled as he got a good look at the living room on his friends' apartment (it was hard to see through that window) it made him think of all the fun they had before he was forced to leave or be found by Soul Society. Masutātorikkusutā saw Muramasa get through the window and give him a very dirty look as he did so. Masutātorikkusutā pressed his index finger to his lips, telling Muramasa to be quiet. Muramasa gave him an evil glare but complied with his request for silence.

Masutātorikkusutā walked quietly across the apartment's living room and headed left once he got to the hallway. Muramasa didn't follow this time, he didn't think that Masutātorikkusutā was really idiotic enough to sneak up on someone who had no clue he was there. Actually; knowing Masutātorikkusutā that was exactly what he was going to do (Masutātorikkusutā's sense of humor was indeed something to behold). Masutātorikkusutā made sure to tread down the hallway as quietly as possible; he didn't want to revile himself just yet. Halfway down the hall Masutātorikkusutā came across a door on the right side that he remembered to be his friend's bedroom. He walked past it for the moment but the door was open and he was able to see inside. An older version of what it had once been; still a lot of bright colors though. Oddly enough there weren't as many stuffed animals as there had been ten years ago. His friend had so many that her whole bed had been covered in them; now he could only see three of the stuffed items. The black and white stuffed kitten her friend Tatsuki had given her on her sixth birthday, the red Chappy bunny that her brother had given her the same year, and of course the chibified (I think that I just made up a word…) stuffed owl that he himself had given her. It was comical in his opinion…when he had presented it to her she had wrinkled up her nose and crossed her arms, saying that it 'looked funny' and that there was no way she was going to keep it in her room; but there it was.

He heard the door to the apartment open and then shut again. That sound was followed by the voice of a female humming and singing a light tune to no one but herself and the space around her. Masutātorikkusutā smirked from his spot in the hallway; she still did that? The sound of rustling plastic and a feminine giggle; Masutātorikkusutā stepped further down the hallway, walking till he came to the open doorway to the small kitchen. For a moment he was stunned; like someone had whacked him upside the head with a log. The little girl he had befriended a decade ago wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a beautiful young woman that surly had hordes of boys chasing after her.

Masutātorikkusutā remembered easily that her older brother had distinctly disliked the fact that his younger sister was such close friends with him when they were younger. He had been concerned for her, as any good brother would be. But his sister's will had won out in the end; after all Masutātorikkusutā was one of the few people that hadn't bullied her about the color of her hair and was therefore someone who she was great friends with. If only her older brother had known that she sister's best friend was a Death God; Masutātorikkusutā smirked slightly, imaging the possible looks that would have been plastered on her brother's face had he been seen with his Zanpakuto on his back and wearing his Soul Reaper garb. She had always known that Masutātorikkusutā was different somehow. He had tried to explain it to her but it didn't help at all. Until the day a Hollow had come after him and she had been there. Normally he would never have revealed his true form in front of her but at the time he had no other option. He had cut down the hollow as quickly as he could; but it was too late. Her wide, greyish eyes had seen it all; and she had been staring at him. The small boy that she had known for years had transformed into someone that would look like a giant in her eyes, wearing a strange black robe and carrying a sword. He could still remember what had happened then…

Flashback (just a short one though…)

The ancient Soul Reaper had just cut down the Hollow that had attacked him and his human friend. He had sliced the beast clean in half, the slash even and smooth; precession that had been gained after centuries of training and fighting countless battles. The hollow hadn't been all that strong but it had been quick; it had taken him several moments to kill the annoying creature and he wanted to return to his gigai before his young friend realized what was going on.

"W-Who are you?" A small, bright voice sounded from behind him as the remains of the destroyed Hollow floated away and disappeared.

'Damn it…' The spiritual being cursed mentally as he spun around in an instant.

He saw his young female friend, her hands clasped together over her chest as she stared up at him with her big grey eyes. His gigai lay on the ground a few feet behind her, where he had stood when he had been forced to exit the faux body and fight the Hollow that had come after him and his friend. He was in deep shit. He may have left Soul Society and was therefore not technically bond to abide by the rules of the spiritual world but it still wasn't a smart idea to run around looking like this and having people see him. Wait…

"You can see me?" Masutātorikkusutā asked in amazement.

"O-of course…why wouldn't I be able to?"

It dawned on Masutātorikkusutā that his friend had always had the ability to see spirits but he wasn't aware that she could see Shinigami. He hadn't been worried about her seeing him in this form but more concerned that she would panic when she realized that she could not wake up his gigai. But she was able to see him; that made the situation a lot worse.

"Please…Please, my friend…H-he won't wake up!" She cried out suddenly not even realizing that she was speaking to her friend already.

"*Sigh*… There is nothing wrong with your friend."

"W-What do you mean nothing's wrong…he won't wake up!" She screamed, fear and confusion in her voice as she kneeled by the unoccupied gigai.

"No…he won't wake; because he is not there."

"W-What? Then where…where is he?" She cried out again, her eyes filling with unshed tears.

"He's standing right in front of you…" Masutātorikkusutā answered slowly.

Her eyes widened at the bizarre statement. She looked him up and down slowly, doing this several times as Masutātorikkusutā just watched her in return. Finally she crossed her arms and wrinkled her nose before speaking with certainty.

"You are not Masutātorikkusutā-kun*…"

The Soul Reaper had to stop himself from laughing out loud. She always did that when she didn't believe something or was refusing to do something she was told. Even in the strangest of situations she would wrinkle her nose and cross her arms. Her way of winning the argument…not that it always worked. Masutātorikkusutā rolled his violent eyes and tried to think of a way to convince her otherwise. Suddenly an idea came to him… he knew just how to win this one. Squatting down so that he was level with her he motioned for her to step closer to him .Most people would have either run away or flat out refused; but not her… she was fearless, so much so that he was always sure to watch the people that she was around. Slowly she took small steps toward him, stopping when she was only two feet away from him. He motioned for her to come closer still but this time she shook her head side to side casing her oddly colored hair to sway and dance around her face. She wasn't going to move any closer, no matter what he said.

"Do you remember what Masutātorikkusutā always told you?" The newly revealed Soul Reaper asked, playing along with what his stubborn friend was insisting on.

"Masutātorikkusutā told me a lot of things." The young girl answered matter-o-factly.

"No, no…The important thing he told you. The one that he told you never to forget."

"H-how do you know 'bout it?"

"Because I'm the one that told it to ya… don't you remember; Hime-sama*."

The small child's grey eyes widened at the nickname Masutātorikkusutā had given her. She didn't like the name at all. She wasn't 'sama' to anyone. She had insisted many times that if he was going to call her anything that he say 'chan*' instead. But still Masutātorikkusutā would call her that nickname; when she asked him why he called her that his answer was simple. 'You are Hime… a princess. And a princess is one that deserves respect. So… you are Hime-sama to me." Over time she had given up on trying to get him to stop saying it; and finally she got used to it. Masutātorikkusutā and her brother were the only ones that called her Hime; but Masutātorikkusutā was the only one to ever address her as though she was someone really important.

"Do you remember it?" Masutātorikkusutā asked again breaking his young friend out of her thoughts.

"You is kind…You is smart…You is important*8…"

The littlegirl's eyes widened at those words; Masutātorikkusutā had alwayssaid that to her. Whenever she was upset or sad she would remember those words; they made her feel better that someone cared about her so much to say such good things about her. How could this strange man know those words? Masutātorikkusutā said that there were only to people he had ever said that to; and the other person had died a long time ago.

In an instant the small girl had stepped closer to the Shinigami that claimed to be her friend. She was so close in fact that her head was almost touching the tall man's nose since he was still squatting down. She looked up at him thoughtfully; big grey orbs staring into violet ones. She wasn't looking at him though, she was trying to look through him; to see if he was really telling the truth or not. Having no luck with simply looking at him the small girl reached out her small hands and pressed them firmly against the tall man's cheeks. Masutātorikkusutā had been told by many people that he was good with children, something that he didn't quite understand. He figured the whole thing about it was that the kids liked him a lot for a reason he had never quite discovered. That was probably why he didn't mind the small girl's hands on his face; he had had many children do the same thing to him before.

But his friend was of a curious nature, so she didn't just keep her hands still by any means. After a while the girl's small hands began to squeeze and press against his cheeks over and over again in different places. Masutātorikkusutā continued to play along and let the child investigate freely. She pressed her hands against both sides of his jaw line before moving them up and across his cheeks. She fingers moved and curled against his face slightly as her thumbs rested across the bridge of his nose. Masutātorikkusutā didn't speak at all as the child continued to try and make sense of how her friend could have transformed so drastically. He watched her silently; she didn't pay him much attention though…ever once and a while she would lock eyes with him but most of the time her gaze was transfixed on the rest of his appearance.

The young girl pushed the strange man's face all the way to the right then moved it all the way from the right to the left. Masutātorikkusutā allowed her to move his head from side to side without any resistance on his part. She even took the time to poke his ears and pull gently on his hair. Finally she released the man's face and he returned his head to its original forward facing position so that he could see her expression. She still looked thoughtful but that look had been overshadowed with a mix of shock and amazement.

"Masutātorikkusutā…?" his young friend asked in wonder.

"The one and only…" The ancient Shinigami answered with a soft smile.

There was a moment of silence before the child spoke again, "You is kind…You is smart… You is important." She spoke the words that Masutātorikkusutā had told her to always remember.

"That you are…" Masutātorikkusutā replied.

"Heehee…Silly that was for you." His female friend giggled as she stood on the tips of her toes and wrapped her small arms around his neck.

"So it was…" Masutātorikkusutā answered quietly.

The child released him and stepped back a few feet allowing him to stand back up to his full height. She smiled at him, finally believing that he was who he claimed to be. Her smiled faded as she turned around and studied the gigai that still lay unmoving on the ground. She looked between the gigai and the Soul Reaper several times; trying to figure out if the man was really Masutātorikkusutā then what about the body resting on the ground. Sensing her confusion Masutātorikkusutā walked briskly towards his gigai his friend's eyes never leaving the tall man's form. In seconds Masutātorikkusutā had reached his gigai and reentered it. She young girl watched in amazement as the tall man disappeared completely from sight; it looked almost as though he had somehow merged with the body that held the familiar appearance of her best friend. There was a moment of silence as Masutātorikkusutā's conscious realigned with the gigai's system but once he could move again he jumped up so fast and with such force that he almost fell over.

"Masutātorikkusutā-kun!" His friend cried out as she ran up to him.

"Oh…there you are Hime-sama… what happened?" Masutātorikkusutā questioned, his voice back to its child-like tone rather than the deep baritone it had been moments ago.

"What do you mean what happened? And don't call me Sama!"

"Yeah, yeah…So are we going?"

"Uh…I guess so."

"Then let's go!" Masutātorikkusutā shouted as he turned to walk off.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" Masutātorikkusutā asked.

"Don't try to avoid it! What did you just do? How did you get so tall all of a sudden, and where did you get that weird robe and that sword?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't lie to me…" The small girl spoke firmly, she wanted the truth.

"Ugh…I; can't really tell ya Hime." Masutātorikkusutā replied, sounding oddly nervous.

"And why is that?"

"Uh…'cause it's a secret."

"A secret…?"

"Yeah, a secret that has to stay between me and you." Masutātorikkusutā spoke with seriousness.

"Why…why does it have to be a secret?"

"That's just how it is… you can't tell anyone ok? You're the only person that knows about it and it has to stay like that. Do you understand?"

"Uh…Yeah, I understand." His female friend answered, slightly shocked at how serious her friend sounded.

"Promise me…promise me you won't tell…"

"I won't tell anyone Masutātorikkusutā-kun."

"Good…"

"So…are we going? It's getting late and Sora is sure to worry."

"Yeah, we can good."

"Ok…race you!" The young girl cried as she took off running, intent on beating Masutātorikkusutā back to her and her brother's apartment.

Masutātorikkusutā was caught off guard but quickly recovered and chased after his female friend as he yelled out from behind her."

"You never beat me before and you aren't going to now!"

End Flashback

That had been so long ago; when his human friend had been merely a child. But now… she had grown up so much in the ten years that they had been apart; it made Masutātorikkusutā sad and happy at the same time. Her back was to him as she removed something from a plastic bag that was the source of the noise he had heard earlier. Out of the bag the young women produced two chocolate cupcakes, both covered in white buttercream. Masutātorikkusutā watched as the young women placed both of the lovely looking desserts on the kitchen table. She walked out of the room for a moment, thankfully not in the direction of the hallway he was in or the living room. She had walked out of the kitchen through the door on the opposite side of the room into another hallway. She didn't walk far though, only about halfway down the hall to put her phone and keys in there usual place on the small table the stood against the left wall of the hallway. It only took about twenty seconds; from the time she left the kitchen till the time she came back. But something was wrong; she noticed it immediately. She had placed two cupcakes on the table; but now there was only one cupcake… the wrapper for the second one lay in the spot that the second cupcake had sat mere seconds ago. In an instant the reality hit her like rough waves crashing against the shore…someone was in her apartment.

Muramasa was starting to wonder just what Masutātorikkusutā was doing; the taller man had walked down the hallway on the other side of what he assumed was the living room and Muramasa hadn't heard anything from him since. Taking a risk at getting caught Muramasa walked across the living room and leaned out into the hallway. He saw Masutātorikkusutā about halfway down the hall leaning against the right wall with a…wait… was he eating a cupcake? Muramasa blinked a few times, not really sure in he was seeing things correctly. But there the taller man was; eating a cupcake like all was right in the world and he hadn't just broken into someone's home. Masutātorikkusutā looked up from his cupcake devouring and nodded his head in Muramasa's direction. Muramasa glared at his polar opposite, really wanting to know where he had gotten that cupcake from such it was clear that no one had seem them yet. Masutātorikkusutā finished the cupcake and sucked the excess icing off his thumb and index finger. Muramasa was starting to wonder if this friend of Masutātorikkusutā's really existed at all, or if he had been lying from the start. In truth it didn't really matter to Muramasa but if there was no one here then he didn't want to sit around and wait anymore. Masutātorikkusutā was on the move again, he headed back down to the end of the hallway. Muramasa had half a mind to follow his companion but decided to just wait at the other end of the hallway. Masutātorikkusutā peaked out from the kitchen doorway, making sure not to be seen. The young female that had returned to the kitchen was acting as though nothing had happened but Masutātorikkusutā knew her better than that. She acted like nothing was wrong but she knew he was there. Her back was still towards him as she occupied her time with pull things out of several other plastic bags she had spread out across the table. Deciding to make his presence known Masutātorikkusutā stepped into the kitchen, no longer making sure that his presence was concealed. Knowing his friend she would flip out in a few minutes…actually she flipped out sooner than he expected.

In a flash the young female had grabbed a broom that was resting against the wall and swung it forcefully at the intruders head. Masutātorikkusutā saw the attack coming though and managed to grab ahold of the brooms handle before it connected with the side of his head. The force of the swing had caused the broom wielding female to spin slightly so the she was part way facing the man that had broken into her apartment. However, she wasn't turned around enough to see him fully; but she knew that he was tall and broad and that it was going to be hard to get the upper hand in this situation.

"Now, now… that is no way to treat a guest my dear." Masutātorikkusutā reprimanded, recalling the times when he would scold his much younger friend all those years ago.

"Who are you?"

"I'm me… who you*9?" Masutātorikkusutā paused before speaking again, "Your English is good; I see that you've been paying attention in your studies." He stated, not asked.

The young woman didn't answer, instead she swung the broom again; this time she aimed for his side but again he was able to catch the bottom half of the broom with his other hand. Had it been anyone else Masutātorikkusutā would have probably yanked the broom out of there hands and beat them senseless; the broom in one hand and the hilt of his Zanpakuto in the other (just to make sure they really got the message). But not with her; she was important to him so he wouldn't teach her a lesson not to attack him like he would most people. Unfortunately his inner musings had caused him to become distracted from what was going on in reality.

And in reality…CRACK!

…

…

…

"ITAI*!

In reality the young female had taken advantage of the intruder's lapse in focus and had side kicked him in the shin. And since the young lady had a friend who had been so kind as to teach her karate; the hit had hurt… like hell. So Masutātorikkusutā had instantly cried out as he grabbed his left shin in both his hands and jumped up and down like a mentally challenged kangaroo. Of course, since holding his injured leg with both hands forced him to hop on only one leg his broad frame was badly off balance. In the end Masutātorikkusutā ended up falling backwards into the hallway, landing on his ass while still trying to rub his sore shin.

'Maybe I shouldn't have done that to Muramasa…shin shot's really do hurt like hell.' Masutātorikkusutā thought to himself as his attention was caught between forcing the pain in his shin to subside and eyeing the young woman standing only a foot away with the handle of the broom only an inch from his forehead.

His innocent, pacifistic friend seemed to have become a dangerous little fighter. He was blaming Tatsuki for the change; not matter what he was blaming her because he knew that he was right in his assumption. At least he knew that was where she learned karate in the first place. Masutātorikkusutā briefly wondered how good they both were but decided not to get sidetracked again since that was the reason that his shin was currently falling off.

"So…Tatsuki-toraburu*-chan has been teaching you to fight huh? You're pretty good…even though you've always been a pacifist. I guess that rule doesn't apply for self-defense though; right?"

That statement sent the princess' mind reeling; this person knew Tatsuki-chan? Just who was the man that had broken into her apartment? She was torn between demanding answers or forcing the strange man to leave her apartment as soon as possible. How did he get inside the apartment was a better question? The only entrance was the front door and she knew that it had been locked and the only ones who had the keys were herself and Tatsuki. The only reason that Tatsuki had a key was in case of an emergency and the orange haired princess knew that her friend wouldn't give her key to just anyone. Really…who was this man?

It was the young woman's turn to have a lapse in concentration because in a flash Masutātorikkusutā had jumped to his feet and snatched the accursed broom from her hands. She nearly cried out in surprise but managed to keep herself composed in front of the intruder who had gained an advantage in the situation. Masutātorikkusutā glared at the broom before tossing it behind him; it impacted with the far wall of the hallway behind him. Once the annoying think was out of the way he turned his attention back to the young female who had kicked him in the shin. Instead of coming after her like the women thought he would the tall man simply crossed his arms and stared at her, almost like he was offended in some way. She was confused by this but confusion gave way to angry as she remembered that he had broken into her home. She gave a huff as she crossed her arms and glared at him similar to the way he had done to her. This caused the man to chuckle quietly to himself. The annoyed female could easily see the man's white teeth, including his bottom two K-9 teeth. She noticed that those two teeth looked more like fangs that a vampire would have. Her overactive imagination quickly went to work at thinking that he was a vampire and had come to suck her blood, Of course that didn't explain why it was his bottom K-9's that looked like fangs and not his top two but her imagination didn't seem to care either way.

"I'm not sure what exactly you're are thinking about…but; I'm almost certain that your imagination is getting the better of you. Once again…"

'Once again? Why does he talk like he knows me?' The young female thought, still not recognizing the man from anywhere.

"You don't remember who I am?" The man asked though it seemed as though he already knew the answer.

"No…I do not." She answered with a glare.

"I see… not too surprising; you only saw me in this form one time after all."

'This form…what on earth is he talking about?' She thought in confusion.

"I really can't believe that you have forgotten me altogether though… I think I may be slightly offended. Or maybe that's just my heart aching over the fact that you don't remember me." Masutātorikkusutā said with a sad tone in his voice; even clutching his hand over his chest were his heart would be.

That was for show really but the bright haired woman didn't know that. Who was this man that she should remember? In truth she did fell as though she had met the man before, not from his appearance but his behavior. His odd statements and strange sense of humor seemed oddly familiar.

"If I should remember you than could you please help me with it?" The young female asked as she uncrossed her arms.

"Hmm…" The tall man hummed in the back of his throat; his lower jaw jutting out slightly to reveal his sharper than normal lower K-9's pressing against his upper lip.

Masutātorikkusutā continued in his fake contemplation before returning his fangs to the inside of his mouth and speaking. "You must not attack me again if I am to help you remember me. I would like to leave with nothing more than an aching leg if I can help it."

The young woman's face wrinkled slightly as she nodded in acknowledgement; she wouldn't hurt him anymore (so long as he kept a fair distance from her person of course). Masutātorikkusutā smiled at the nod; all his teeth, normal and sharp clearly visible. In an instant he had stepped closer to her; not so close that she could hit him for it but close enough to worry that he was too close to her. Maybe it was just his height, but it was still a bit uncomfortable. As if sensing her thoughts the tall man leaned down so that his height was even with her own. Well; now he was even closer to her because he was leaning forward slightly but he still maintained a good distance between her and himself. But then again, the young female hadn't noticed the decreased space between them as she was too busy staring into his eyes. Deep pools of purple mixed with bloody red; those eyes…they looked so familiar.

The young women couldn't place when or where she had seen those eyes before but she had seen them. In a way that calmed her down a bit; that meant that she must have known the man from somewhere after all. Staring back at him with confidence she waited for him to speak. When he finally spoke he asked a question that was so strange and familiar that she had no clue how to answer it.

"Do you remember what it was that I told you?"

"?"

"Do you?"

"Well…" She spoke, trying to remember what he had said to her. It couldn't have been something that he had said in the past few minutes; so what was he talking about?

"You do not remember…"

"No…I'm afraid I don't." She finally admitted.

"Oh, but I think that you do."

"Huh?"

"You just don't know what it is that you are supposed to remember."

Again with the riddles? This man was making her head hurt with all the weird things he was saying. How had he said something that she was supposed to remember, she wasn't even sure she knew who he was!

"What am I meant to remember exactly?" She asked with a bit of impatience in her voice.

Another smile, wide and devious; was plastered on his face as he spoke. "I told you not to ever forget it."

The young women couldn't say that she was scared but in a way she felt almost…bad. Yes, she felt bad… bad that she was apparently told something that she was unable to remember. Most people wouldn't have even listened to what the man was saying and just worked on forcing him out of their house. But not her… she was sweet and understanding like that, always giving people the benefit of the doubt; no matter how much doubt there was and how much she shouldn't trust someone. It was just her nature… although many people had told her that her behavior would come back to haunt her later. Oh well…she was in too deep now.

"But in truth…I don't think you've forgotten what I said. I think you just need a reminder." He spoke up, pulling the young woman from her thoughts.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really…"

"Then you may remind me."

"I didn't really ask permission but ok."

"Are you always like that?"

"Like what?"

"A know-it-all…"

"You told me that before."

"I did?"

"Yeah, a few times."

"Hmm…"

"You want that reminder?

"Yes please…"

Another moment of silence before he spoke again, his voice kind and slow.

"You is kind…You is smart…You is important…"

Those words hit the princess' like a punch to the gut. It all came back in a flash; memories that were always there but buried and locked away in her subconscious. A creature, large and black; that she now knew as a Hollow. The Hollow's roar and a flash of black and white. A fight, between man and beast; claws verses a blade. A deep cut splitting the Hollow in half. The dissolving particles and the shimmering of the blade as it was sheathed. The wielder of the blade turned to face her and…it was him!

The man in front of her was the same man that had protected her from that Hollow ten years ago. That man…the man who had been her best friend until he had left so long ago. She had been so sad when he had left; it hurt her a lot. But he had told her that he had to leave because he was being chased and he didn't want her and Sora to be dragged into it. He had left and his memory had moved to the back of her mind. But now; the memories were back as though they had always been there. Before he had left he told her never to forget those words that he had shared with her. Those words…the words that had been her light when she had been sad or upset. Masutātorikkusutā… that was who had spoken the words to her. The man before her was Masutātorikkusutā.

"So…you did remember…Hime-sama."

Before he could think Masutātorikkusutā was tackled in a crushing hug by the squealing women. She continued to squealing and cry into his chest, so happy to see him after so long. He hugged her back and told her that he was glad she remembered him and was happy to see her too. She pulled away from him and fired off question after question at him about how he was, what he had been doing and what he was doing back in Karakura Town. He answered all of her questions just as quickly as she asked them, smiling at her familiar bubbly nature.

"I'm so happy to see you Masutātorikkusutā-kun." She told him as she wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"I'm glad to see you too Hime-sama."

"Don't call me that…geez, the first time I see you in ten years and you still call me that?"

"Of course….I'll always call you that."

"Great…" His friend said in exasperation.

Masutātorikkusutā smiled and figured it was time to introduce her to his companion, Masutātorikkusutā let out a loud whistling sound to alert Muramasa that it was alright to come out. His friend winced since she was so close and the whistle was so loud, he laughed at her…she elbowed him for it.

Muramasa was trying to be patient, he was a fairly patient person; he knew that. But this waiting to know what Masutātorikkusutā was doing was starting to grate at his nerves. Suddenly a loud whistling sound cut through the air; it was Masutātorikkusutā. Muramasa figured that was the taller man's way of telling him it was okay to come out. Muramasa walked slowly down the same hallway that Masutātorikkusutā had gone down, his mind slightly preoccupied with thoughts of what Masutātorikkusutā's friend was like. Most likely loud and obnoxious like Masutātorikkusutā himself. Muramasa came to the doorway of the kitchen and heard a feminine voice speaking to Masutātorikkusutā.

"Who it that?"

"A friend of mine…"

"One of your band mates you told me about?"

"Yeah, watch out… he's too uptight."

"Really?"

"Well…I was thinking of something a lot worse to say."

"Be nice…"

"I am nice…"

'Bullshit…' Muramasa thought as he stepped into the room.

When Muramasa stepped into the room his blue eyes locked with the grey eyes of the women that Masutātorikkusutā had told him about. His breathing stopped as they stared at one another. The young women gasped and raised hand to cover her mouth. Muramasa thought that his eyes would pop out of his skull as he stared at the young woman before him. Her bright grey eyes and her shinning orange hair made his gut lurch. He knew her; she had been there two years ago. She had healed him even though she knew he was the enemy and had tried to speak to him when the Hollow's had taken over. He didn't belief it…he couldn't. If it was really her than he was in a lot more trouble than he had thought to begin with.

"Hime-sama, this is my friend…Muramasa. And Muramasa this is my friend…Orihime Inoue."

In that moment, Muramasa had only one thought running through his mind.

'Oh Shit…'

Author's Notes:

*-Japanese Dictionary:

Kishi- Name of the flight attendant that warned Muramasa and Masutātorikkusutā…her name means 'a long and happy life'.

Shinigami- I know that you all know what a Shinigami is (if you didn't you wouldn't be reading this fic). But remember…humans don't realize that the Soul Society even exists; the human's opinion on Death God's would be different then how we know them to be. So when Kishi warns Muramasa and Masutātorikkusutā she refers to Shinigami as the demonic bringers of Death and not the kind, understanding beings that help souls find their way to the Soul Society.

Ashimagari- A spirit in Japanese mythology that entangles the legs of travelers. Masutātorikkusutā tells Kishi that he is much more worried about coming across this devious spirit than a Shinigami.

Kami- Japanese word for God; so 'Kami knows where' is just like 'God knows where'.

Hai- yes/alright

Condescending- showing or characterized by a patronizing or superior attitude toward others. (Not a Japanese word but I had to look up the definition so I gave it for everyone else just in case.

Kyōjin- Means 'lunatic'

Baka- Means 'idiot'

Manuke- Means 'moron'

(Just like in America…different words that all have the same basic meaning to them.)

Mesu- Son of a female dog…just; the meaner way of saying it. (Bitch…)

Arigato- Means 'Thank-you'

Sore o genkyū shite inai- Means 'Don't mention it…'

Sama- A more respectful version of San; mainly used to refer to someone of a much higher rank than oneself. (It is considered very arrogant to refer to yourself as Sama and improper to address people with this term if they are ranked below or equal to oneself.) So when Masutātorikkusutā addresses Orihime as Hime-Sama, it is technically incorrect; she doesn't like the name for that reason and often insists that he call her Chan instead. He does it anyways because of his belief that since her name means Princess she deserves to be addressed with respect and admiration like a real Princess would be.

Chan- Japanese suffix that is often used in reference to babies, young children, grandparents, and teenage girls. This suffix is used to show that the speaker finds a person endearing.

Kun- The male version of Chan; used in reference to male children and teenagers. Can be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or has known for a long time.

San- Japanese suffix that roughly translates to "Mr." "Mrs." "Miss" or "Ms." in English depending on who your speaking to.

(If any of you have read a fanfic before you probably already know how people are addressed and all that but I just wanted to make sure because nothing surprises me now-a-days.)

Itai- Means 'Ouch…'

Toraburu- Means 'trouble'. Yes…Masutātorikkusutā called Tatsuki trouble; he knows her since they would have both been friends with Orihime at around the same time.

1*- Love that phrase…not sure why but it just makes you think how it would really be if you were talking out of your ass.

2*- It's a joke my friends…heehee. Masutātorikkusutā's Zanpakuto spirit takes the form of a bat after all.

3*- I was trying to think of what shape the cloud would make and I thought of a friend of mine that absolutely loves turtles. Yeah…I know.

4*- My youngest niece calls them that; she says that one day she's going to fly up into the sky and eat one of those flying marshmallows.

5*- My mom tells me that all the time…I still make faces; so far they haven't stuck.

6*- Do you have any idea how thick cold molasses actually is? I mean really; it's like tree sap…not to mention that trying to pour it when it's cold is a near impossible task. (Personal Experience Talking).

7*- I think that I came up with that one…I can't swear to that but I remember saying it one day and it sounded good so now I say it all the time. And after all; a heart attack is a pretty serious thing…ya know?

8*- That is a popular quote from the book and movie called 'The Help'. That line is said by the character Aibileen Clark played by Viola Davis in the movie. I do not own this quote, the character who said it, or the book/movie version of "The Help". I really wanted to use the quote though because I love the book and the movie and I decided that if Masutātorikkusutā was going to tell Orihime something important it would be this quote because of the way it's meant to signify their friendship. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie than you are missing out my friend.

9*- This statement that Masutātorikkusutā made is inspired by the song I'm Me by Lil Wayne the second single on his EP album The Leak. I was listening to it when I was writing that part of this chapter so I put it in there. I do not own Cash Money Record or this song, all rights go to Wayne himself; love ya Wheezy!

More Disclaimers':

I do not own the books The Green Mile or Bag of Bones or the movie versions of them either. I love both books and movies and respect Stephen King as a writer; The Green Mile first inspired me to write stuff after all. All rights go to King and the movie industries that made the films.

I also don't own the song Remedy or the band Seether that preforms it; all rights good to the band members.

I do not own a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (not that I would want to anyways…I hate flying) nor do I own any of the international flight companies of the United States or anywhere else in the world. (I just know someone could try and sue me for not disclaiming that).

I didn't mean to offend anyone with the Native American stuff;I included it because the subject fasinates me and Masutatorikkusuta is a man that believes in the consept of spiritiual things like that. I you are of Native American decent I am not being rude in any way. Thanks.

Other Stuff:

Sorry, sorry, sorry it took so long to update…this chapter is really long though so I hope that makes up for it.

I hope all you fanfic readers out there like this chapter…RaR (Read and Review!)

Also…I am working on writing two more stories right now.

My strange dream in the Gotei 13 (if you say that fast it well rhyme ;)

And

For the Love of Science and Madness (that title may change at some point)

I haven't uploaded anything for these stories yet but I well let everyone known when I do. You can read them if you like… the first one is a One Shot and shouldn't take to long for me to finish.

That is everything I think… Oh! Prayers for all the people involved in the movie theater shooting in Colorado. Hearts go out to all the people killed or injured and to their families and loved ones.

Thank-You all for your patience and support!

Peace Out!

Virgo-24