As always, a big thank you to my beta EternalDream for being fantastic.

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Interlude: Mamoru and Yuzu.

The bustling city crowd didn't please Mamoru one bit. Above him, his guardian crows flew above him, unseen by the humans that surrounded them. He walked briskly away until he reached the park that was free from the crowd that he disliked.

He was fond of Japan, and Tokyo had its good point. This park was one of them. He walked towards his favorite spot, a big sakura tree that beckoned him with its shade. With a few hand seals, he made himself invisible from any possible prying eyes. He leaned against the tree and enjoyed the feel of the grass beneath his body and the sweet smell of the Sakura flowers surrounding him. He felt at peace, and he knew that he needed to savour this feeling. In three months, they were going to launch a full scale attack on Soul Society, and after that, there would be no turning back.

"Do these belong to you?"

The shy voice surprised him, and he looked incredulously at the young woman who stood almost beside him, his crows perched on her shoulders. No one should have been able to see his crows or him. No normal human could. A small spike of reiatsu from the small woman caught his attention, but it should have been too weak for her to have been able to see him.

Rather than answering her, he asked demandingly, "Who are you?"

His senses were on high alert as he studied the girl before him, his mind already calculating how he can fight her, if necessary.

His crows squawked at him, as if berating him for his harsh attitude.

"Ah! Pardon my rudeness. I'm Yuzu. Yuzu Kurosaki. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, but well... your pets..." She gestured helplessly to them.

Her surname startled him even more than her presence had. Mamoru musted a calm look on his face and nodded his head as he slowly stood up as brushed the dry grass that clung to his pants. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be rude. You took me by surprise, that's all. My name is Mamoru Taira." He bowed before her and she did the same. His senses remained alert for any possible attack, and once again, his crows squawked in displeasure.

"Phobos, Deimos. Come here."

His crows had always been obedient, had always came at his command, but this time, they defied him. Both crows fluttered their wings slightly when he called their names again and stayed on their new perch. He watched as a tiny smile formed on Yuzu's lips.

"Phobos and Deimos? The moons of Mars?"

Mamoru nodded. "Aa. They were a gift from my grandfather." Was the young woman playing a game? Pretending to be unaware of his true nature?

"They're very beautiful, and healthy. You take very good care of them."

Mamoru could only nod, his mind reeling again as he tried to mentally seek an explanation on how someone with such a weak reiatsu could see him and his crows. But every time he looked into her eyes and glance at the sweet smile on her face, he found himself unable to think. She was not a Shinigami, that was certain. He tried to rack his brain for anything from the intelligence report on her brother, Ichigo Kurosaki, and in the back of his mind, he finally remembered a small tidbit of information in regards to a younger twin sister named Yuzu.

Phobos finally flew from Yuzu's right shoulder and perched himself on Mamoru's own right shoulder, but before he settled down, he made sure to peck at Mamoru's face slightly. Mamoru didn't even wince as he took something from his pockets and offered it to Phobos, who immediately ate the food he offered. He reached into his pocket again and extended some of the food to Deimos, but the crow ignored him and nuzzled close to Yuzu's neck.

"They're still upset with me," he murmured as Phobos continued to eat from his hands. No attack seemed to be coming from Yuzu, and he could sense no other presence within the vicinity. He couldn't make sense of the situation. What was her aim? "My apologies if they have disturbed you, Kurosaki-san."

"No, not at all. I always go for a walk during my lunch break from work. It's always good to have fresh air after sitting in an office all day."

"You work around the area?" he inquired politely, deciding it would be prudent to gain more information on what her motives were for talking to him.

"I work at the veterinary clinic down the corner. Mostly paperwork, but I hope I start working with animals soon."

"You wish to be a veterinarian?" he asked in surprise. He was fairly certain the reports on the Kurosaki family mentioned a hospital clinic for humans.

Yuzu nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to become a nurse. My dad is a doctor. But..." her words trailed off as she looked lost for a moment before shaking her head. "Anyway, I thought working with animals would be a good."

Still totally unable to discern what her true motives were, Mamoru quickly formed his hands in a series of seals while her head was turned away. In less than a second, Yuzu Kurosaki stood before him, hidden from the rest of the humans in the park as he began to read her mind. Before he could press any further past some loving thoughts of her family and a brief glance at some old pain, Deimos flew in front of him and flapped his wings, causing his spell to break.

Yuzu, completely unaware of what just happened, began to laugh. "Oh my... perhaps Deimos is hungry too?"

Mamoru watched Deimos fly in circles above their heads before readying himself to land back onto Yuzu's shoulder. Before he settled down, he voiced his displeasure to Mamoru with a loud squawk. Mamoru narrowed his eyes as he held up more seeds for Deimos who just shook his head and nuzzled close to Yuzu's neck again.

"Perhaps he would like you to feed him, Kurosaki-san. I seem to have displeased him quite well today."

Yuzu laughed as she accepted the seeds from Mamoru, and Deimos quickly ate from the palm of her hands.

Mamoru studied Deimos, who briefly glanced at him before looking away, almost in a haughty manner. Deimos had never defied him before, and thinking back to his brief mental hold over the young Kurosaki, he finally realized that she was showing no malice or even knowledge of who he was. She had no plots or plans against him.

Yuzu laughed, and Mamoru was again transfixed by the happy smile this Kurosaki girl offered his crow. "Mou, Deimos-kun. You should be apologize to Taira-san. That wasn't very nice."

Deimos brushed rubbed his wings against Yuzu in response before flying over to Mamoru to do the same.

"I accept your apology," Mamoru said softly, and he was rewarded with a nod from Deimos.

"I guess you're all friends again," Yuzu commented cheerfully. Phobos and Deimos squawked agreeably before flying away, and Yuzu returned her attention to Mamoru. "It was good to meet you, Taira-kun."

Mamoru bowed in response as Yuzu gave him another smile before walking away.

Despite his earlier glimpse of her innocence, Mamoru made it a point to be in the park the next day. She was still a Kurosaki. It was well known how powerful their family was, and it would've been easy for her to use a kido designed to protect her mind from spells that he had cast.

A month later, he was still not fully convinced of her innocence even when Yuzu met him in the park on a bright, sunny day with a picnic basket in hand and shared her lunch with him. Despite a strange flutter in his heart, his mind chose to stay sharp, unwilling to bring down the barriers he had created.

Not even a kiss made him believe there was nothing that Yuzu Kurosaki wanted from him, that she wasn't hiding something from him deep inside. Her loving response to his kiss almost made him loose his resolve, to finally believe that she was truly, fully innocent, but he resisted. During that second month, her gift of a locket was accepted, yet held in suspicion for any spells that may be used as a tracking device.

It was not until the third month when she lay still in his arms as she breathed her last that he realised he was the one this entire time who had had unhonorable intentions. She had given him her heart despite the short time they'd had to get to know one another. She had truly loved him...he could hear her thoughts as her body ceased to live. They were full of love and regret for him and for her family.

Sora Kurosaki roared in anger in front of him, and Mamoru barely registered what the young man was saying beyond demanding to know why he had killed his aunt. Mamoru could only look at the young boy, and he offered the truth in his response.

"Because I love her."

End Interlude