CHAPTER 5

A/N: First off I'd like to thank the two users that reviewed, Scarlett Foxie and 2 lazy 2 login, for reviewing my story 3

It was greatly appreciated! 2 lazy 2 login brought up the point that my story didn't have enough description, so I'd like to dedicate this chapter to them and description. Thank you so much!

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster."

I couldn't stop thinking about that sentence. That one lone sentence that my great-grandmother used to say very often. She was without a doubt a woman wise beyond even her great years. As a young child I had basically ignored the phrases and quotes she said, just wrote them off as old person talk- but now- now I really understand it.

Around me the tree branches rustled slightly as the wind danced with them. The small clearing I was in, which had been flat and unblemished ground earlier, was covered in divots and pieces of earth jutting out like the arms of resurfacing zombies. A haze of dust hung in the air.

"You did well today. I assume this newfound enthusiasm is for Kurosaki's sake?" Kame's question wasn't that much of an actual question.

"Yeah," I slapped my hands together in an attempt to regain some feeling in them, "I don't plan on going with him to just end up getting in the way." My mind flitted briefly to Orihime before I shook my head, "I love Orihime and all but… I worry she'll do more harm than good. I even worry more that in an attempt to help she'll just get herself hurt and someone will be left feeling guilty for that…Her heart is too big for her own sake."

I let out a hiss of pain as sensation suddenly came back to my hands and I was able to really feel the extent of my scrapes and cuts.

"Perhaps we should get you some protective gear before the departure. Not to mention that you and I need to discuss strategy."

I simply 'hm'ed at his suggestion then shot a glare off into the forest. A small bird hard started singing loudly and it caught me off guard. Trees. Trees always posed problems for my abilities; they distorted noise, interrupted my connection with the earth, and liked to allow me to jam my toes into their roots.

Kame started to babble slightly and I took that break as a chance to wipe the sweat off of my forehead and place my shoes back on. Urahara's shop was a reasonable distance away from this middle-of-nowhere clearing.

I took one last look at the slight mess I had made before walking in the direction that would lead me to my desired destination.

"There's going to be a few foreseeable issues when we get there."

Kame had easily caught my attention with that.

"What do you mean?" I questioned him as I stepped cautiously among the trees; I had to save what was left of my pinky toes.

"There are going to be many people there with high Spiritual Pressure, unlike anything you've experienced before."

I rolled my eyes a little bit, "Well I'm sure they're not going to walking around with all of it just hanging out. I'll be able to handle it."

"I'm not worried about you being able to withstand the initial pressure, Nori. You have more Spiritual Pressure and energy than you're aware of right now. What I'm worried about are the battles that could possibly happen. There are many strong people that will attempt to stop you."

Smiling softly I continued picking my way through the tall and ancient trees. If anything knows more secrets and has seen more crazy things than Kame, it's these trees. These trees must be wise with age. My great-grandmother was wise with age, Kame is wise with age, and Urahara is wise with age. I listen to all of them because of their wisdom, so perhaps if I-

"Nori! Are you even paying attention!?"

"Son of a-!" Kame's outburst shook my skull and scared the crap out of me. The only thing that hurt worse than my head was my pinky toe that felt like it was in my liver.

"Freaking- holy son of a- of all things great and freaking- ahhh!" I held my injured foot as I twitched on the ground for a minute.

Upon sitting back up I began muttering to not just myself, but also Kame. "What? What is so damn important?"

"Many components."

I sighed and pulled myself upright "Okay. Tell me all about it. I know you will one way or another." Limping slightly I continued on my way to the shop.

"There's energy everywhere in the Soul Society; even in the Seireitei the buildings and such are made out of energy. I am unsure whether if this will hinder your abilities or help you. We also need to address the situation of footwear for you-"

"That's simple," I interrupted Kame quickly, "I won't wear any. I can see better and feel things better without them anyway."

He sighed, "I had a feeling that you'd say that unfortunately. I had hoped that you would agree to wear something but I can see now that that was silly of me. Well you should at least get a pair of gloves or some article of clothing like that in order to protect your hands- never mind that. Let's look at the bigger picture. You need to get an outfit together that won't hinder your movements."

I sighed in relief as I finally stepped out of the forest. Now that I didn't have to worry about hitting any trees or roots, I could breathe easy. Stepping back a little I got a running start to jump over a rickety fence. I cleared it easily and landed with a small thump on the middle of the sidewalk.

"I'll make sure to do that when I get home. We have to leave tonight after all." I stuffed my hands into my pockets and continued on my way.

As I neared Urahara's shop the number of other people walking increased and I got some odd looks and double takes from people.

"You're covered head to toe in dirt. You look like a- how do you people say it- hobo."

I chuckled slightly as I rounded the corner into the lot that the shop sat on. As usual the two twerps were outside sweeping. Well actually Ururu was trying to sweep and Jinta was being a jerk to her.

"Hey," I smacked the back of his head to make him let go of Ururu's hair, "Do I need to Tessai to sort this out?"

Jinta looked slightly scared for a minute but then he gave me a nasty look. "Awe what are you doing here?! Why do you gotta ruin my day?"

I rolled my eyes but then started snickering quietly to myself when Tessai stepped out of the building to greet me. Jinta scrambled to pick up the broom and make himself look busy.

"Good afternoon Miss Ishikawa. If you're looking for Kisuke he's downstairs training Ichigo."

I smiled innocently at him slightly and nodded "Thanks Tessai. You have a nice day, alright? And keep an eye on that Jinta, he was working so hard when I showed up you just have to see for yourself." I could feel Jinta's eyes boring in my back but I decided to just ignore the twit.

Urhara's shop looked the same as always. Despite the drastic series of events that had happened over the last few months, this place always remained the same. As if it was unchanged by time.

I made my way into the back and over to the spot where I not only knew the hidden door was, but I could also feel it in the very slight vibrations of the mats. After I found out about that "little" hidden gem I became extremely suspicious of what other "little" secrets this shop could be hiding. Regardless though, it didn't really surprise me at all that a character such as Urahara had something up his sleeve like this.

"Ah why if it isn't Nori! You're looking very-" Kisuke cocked an eyebrow, "one with nature today."

"I was training." Was my only reply as I walked towards him and spirit Ichigo. I jumped up onto the rock that they were sitting on together, "As I can see you guys were as well."

"We just finished up for today actually," Kisuke explained to me as he fanned himself, "It's been a long day for all of us and you guys are leaving tonight. Which reminds me, keep your window open tonight. You'll receive a message when it's time."

I deadpanned at what he said. "You're too ominous, like really Kisuke. But," I scratched the back of my head, "too bad you're done training already. I was really looking forward to kicking Ichigo's ass again!"

"Go ahead if you wish, Miss Nori. When I said we we're done training I only meant Ichigo and I. Have at him."

I cracked my knuckles menacingly and Ichigo looked rather nervous. "Now, Nori, let's not do anything too rash here…" He held up his hands as a plea.

"Like hell I'll listen to you!" I could almost feel the evil glimmer in my eyes as I lunged at him, "Come here Ichigo! Let's have an all-out fist fight! Winner gets to live!"

It was just a matter of waiting now.

I had cleaned myself up, eaten, meditated, and got everything I needed for this once in a lifetime trip. Maybe calling it a trip was a little much, it was a mission. I needed to keep my head in the game and remember why we were doing what we were doing in the first place.

Sighing, I lay back on my bed and stared at my boring as hell ceiling.

"Ne, what do you think of my outfit, Kame? I did as you said; it's easy to move in and I even have nice gloves on." I examined the fancy leather gloves that I had pilfered from Yumiko's dresser.

"It looks nice but I hope that the cheap fabric that all you humans use nowadays can hold up in a possible battle- not that we want to get into one. You're even wearing shoes. I have to say that I'm surprised."

I personally didn't find the fabric of my outfit cheap, so I ignored Kame's comment about that and smiled at his sort of compliment. I was just a simple cherry blossom colored t-shirt with a pastel green sleeveless zip-up sweater. For pants I had also gone for a simplistic style and just grabbed the first pair jean shorts that I had.

Giggling a little I wiggled my toes, which were housed currently in a thin pair of black flats "Well I figured that it'd be a safer bet to have shoes on for running around- as soon as I get into a fight they're coming off though."

"We don't want to get into a fight though, Nori." Kame sounded rather annoyed.

"I know, I know but I'm just saying that-" I jumped as my bedroom door opened.

"Who are you talking to?" Yumiko gave me a displeased look I told her she was hearing things, "Well not matter. I'm going out with some friends for the night so behave yourself. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Actually you probably won't." I smirked at the idea of not having to deal with her.

She gave me an unreadable expression so I elaborated, "I told you that I'm going on a trip with a friend for a few days. I'm leaving really early so we probably won't see each other."

Yumiko simply rolled her eyes, "In that case just don't come back pregnant or something. Okay?" She didn't even wait for a reply- or my snide remark- so I rolled my eyes.

"She's a piece of work."

I snorted at Kame's response, "You've been hanging around me too long. Anyway, did you see how epically I kicked Ichigo's butt in a brawl? Man it was awesome!"

"I don't recall any of that…" Kame trailed off, "Honestly I remember you leaving from training in the forest and then we were here…"

Quietness settled between us as I took that in. Kame had told me that eventually one day he'd fade completely. I knew he knew what he was talking about but I hadn't been expecting it to happen so fast.

Sensing my worry about losing him Kame attempted to comfort me, "Don't worry child. I'm still going to be here for a while. But we're not going to be able to change the fact that someday I will be gone, so you're going to have to start accepting that."

I simply nodded, no longer in the mood for chitchat. A red blob whizzed by me from my window before splattering all over my wall. The red ooze dripped down the wall and wrote a message.

"Come on down, Nori!" I began to read it aloud, "It's time to play a rousing game of 'Have You Trained Enough to Survive the Soul Society?!'. So start heading down to my wonderful shop or I'll call you a scaredy cat for the rest of your life!" The feeling of dread began to grow slightly as I deadpanned at Kisuke's message.

"P.S. Have a sense of humor!" I rubbed my temples, making my way towards the window, "Kisuke, you are one of a kind."

"That's one way to put it…"