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Chapter 18: Keeping Secrets

Her bag swinging from her side, Kirara made her way from the school, yawning widely. With everything that had happened that day, from Ichigo becoming a Shinigami, to the new student in the class, it had been almost impossible for Kirara to take a nap. Almost. And when she had attempted to converse with Kokoro no Kage regarding the whole thing, she had barely been able to hear anything that he said.

Pushing her hair from her face, Kirara pushed her worries over her Zanpakuto aside and tried not to think about it. Instead, she wondered what she was going to do when summer break finally hit in a little over a month. It was easy enough to stay close to Ichigo to monitor him during school, but summer break made that a little more difficult.

Yawning again, Kirara decided to leave that until summer break to figure it out. Like she'd said the night before, she wasn't good at planning ahead. Rukia suddenly ran past her, dragging Ichigo away from the school as he yelled loudly. She stopped, blinking multiple times as she saw the black robes he wore that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"His Zanpakuto...was that really it?" she wondered aloud, having caught a glimpse of his Zanpakuto on his back. It was massive. "And...wait..." she glanced in the direction they had come from. "Did she leave his body behind?" she asked curiously, before shrugging and walking on. It wasn't her fault if they were stupid enough to do something like that. "Something tells me that was a spur of the moment thing," she mused to herself. She considered following the pair, but the Shinigami seemed to be a bit more aware of her surroundings than Ichigo, meaning to do so would be a lot more risky.

"Hey Kirara, wait up!" she looked around to see Tatsuki and Orihime walking towards her, and smiled.

"Oh hey," she greeted as they caught up to her. "Don't you have your karate class now?" Kirara asked Tatsuki, who shook her head.

"Nah. I have the day off," Tatsuki explained. "We were thinking of getting something to eat. Want to join us? I know we already have plans for this weekend, but..."

"I'd love to," Kirara nodded, not seeing any reason why she shouldn't. Tatsuki and Orihime were two that she actually liked in the class. While Orihime seemed to have been a little nervous of her at first, she had bumped into her one day while out in town, and suddenly seemed to like her. Kirara had overheard her telling Tatsuki that it was because of the look she had seen in Kirara's eyes.

"That new transfer student seems nice," Orihime commented as they all walked away from the school and towards the town.

"She doesn't seem used to our kind of school," Tatsuki spoke in a thoughtful voice.

"It is quite different. More western," Kirara pointed out as she played with the ribbon around her neck. She was looking forward to the less restricting summer uniforms that started within a few weeks. "It took me a while to get used to the place when I first started," she admitted.

"Oh yeah, you didn't start that long ago," Tatsuki remembered.

"She's very polite too," Orihime added. Kirara bit back her snort. Of course she was. Not only was she attempting to act like a regular high school girl – and failing miserably with her overly polite and friendly act – but she was a Kuchiki. Those kind of stiff manners were not easily disguised.

The three talked about Rukia, and about school in general, as they walked through the town, discussing where to go for food. "Oh, how about there?" Orihime pointed to one place, and when she peered inside, Kirara stiffened when she saw Mashiro and Kensei arguing.

"Uh, maybe somewhere else," she suggested.

"Yeah, it looks a little loud in there," Tatsuki nodded, raising her eyebrow, seeing them too.

"So have you guys got plans for summer break yet?" Orihime asked as they finally settled on a place.

"Not yet," Kirara shook her head as she ordered a large bowl of ramen. Her stomach growled loudly at the idea as Tatsuki and Orihime made their orders too. "What about you?" she asked.

"Nothing yet," Orihime shook her head.

"I've got the Martial Arts Championship, but the finals are just at the start of summer break," Tatsuki told them.

"We should totally go around looking for the best place to eat!" Orihime suggested with a bright smile. "We can try all the best combinations, all the different foods they sell! Oh! And we should go to a festival and try out all the food there too, and-"

"How you are the size you are is beyond me," Kirara blinked at her multiple times, before a large bowl was set down in front of her.

"I could say the same for you," Tatsuki blinked at the sheer size of the massive bowl in front of her. Kirara grinned, and began to eat as food was set down in front of the other two girls.

"There's still over a month to go before summer break starts. Plenty of time to think of what you want to do," Kirara said between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, exactly," Tatsuki nodded. "We've still got our exams before then," she grumbled, and Kirara groaned.

"Don't bring that up...I hate tests," she complained.

"But just think! After the tests are over, we only have two weeks left of school! Then weeks of summer fun!" Orihime cheered, loud enough for other customers to look over, shooting them weird looks.

"Well, she's not wrong," Kirara laughed.

"Good evening Kirara," Hachi was the first to greet Kirara when she returned to the warehouse that evening. Judging from Shinji's scowl, he was still pissed at her flippant comment that morning, which made her smirk.

"You're late," Love commented.

"Do I need to break out the mother comments again?" Kirara retorted as she walked past him.

"Do I need to break out the brat comments again?" Love looked up from his manga to raise an eyebrow.

"What's ever stopped you before?" she smiled pleasantly at him as she dropped her bag and took a seat beside Rose, stretching loudly.

"Anything exciting happen today?" he asked, looking up from restringing his guitar. Kirara shook her head and yawned loudly.

"Got food in town, it was great. That's about it," she shrugged.

"You mean other than realising you're in a class with a damn Shinigami now?" Hiyori's irritated comment made her look around.

"Oh, yeah, other than that. Be nice if he could control his Reiatsu, made it hard to take a nap," Kirara yawned again, grabbing her back and pulling it close.

"Maybe you could use that time to actually work then?" Shinji muttered.

"If I wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it," Kirara muttered, lifting a book from her bag and opening it as he glared at her.

'Perhaps you...mention...other Shinigami?' Kokoro no Kage suggested.

"Oh yeah, her," Kirara remembered the new girl in class. "Not just yet. I sensed something off with her and I want to know what. And if I tell these guys, they'll not let me even think about figuring it out," she told Kokoro no Kage, who hummed.

'Keeping this...yourself...well,' he gave a broken warning, but Kirara dismissed it. Something about Rukia was different. She had next to no Reiatsu, and Kirara had a suspicion that she had broken one of the greatest laws of the Soul Society and given them to Ichigo. Why, was beyond her.

The next week flew by, and was definitely eventful. Not only were Ichigo and Rukia always together now, making it hard for Kirara to keep an eye on him, but Orihime came under attack by her Hollowfied brother. She'd heard the gist of it from listening in on Rukia and Ichigo's conversation. The two definitely weren't subtle.

"Anything, Hachi?" Kirara asked as she sat with her back to the massive man. His hands glowed green as he hovered them over her exposed back, and she played with her hair as she kept it out of the way.

"It's strange," Hachi murmured as he continued to move his massive hands, which were almost the size of her torso. "I can sense something there, but I just can't work out what exactly it is doing," he admitted. "I do believe it is to do with your hair turning white," he told her.

"That much I figured Hachi," Kirara turned her head to grin at him, hiding her real emotions. She was worried, and the white spreading up, overtaking the black, seemed like a time limit. More than half of her hair had turned white by this point, and it wasn't slowing down. In fact, it seemed to be speeding up.

100 years ago, when Kirara had first noticed it, the white in her hair had progressed steadily up through her hair, but after the incident with Aizen, it had slowed down to the point where it had been a while before she realised that it was still growing. Now, it was back to the same pace as before.

'Perhaps...tell them...cannot hear...' Kokoro no Kage suggested, but Kirara didn't respond. It wasn't that she didn't think it was connected. She was scared that it was connected.

"Well, I guess that's it for another week," Kirara got to her feet and pulled her shirt back up, hiding the two scars down her back from view. One thin, one thick and jagged, the two scars were reminders of a past she didn't want to think about. "Thanks for trying, Hachi," she smiled to the giant man, tying her red ribbon loosely around her collar.

"Sorry I haven't been able to give you an answer," the man apologised.

"It's fine," Kirara waved a dismissive hand as she grabbed her grey jacket from the back of the sofa and pulled it on. "See you later!" she called over her shoulder, jogging out of the warehouse as she headed off to school. As she left, her smile faded and she sighed.

'It...not wise...hide from...' Kokoro no Kage gave another broken warning.

"Old man, your warnings are getting repetitive," Kirara's voice was soft. "It'll be fine," she told him, but even she didn't believe her words.

"Hey, Yamada," Kirara looked around as she lifted her lunch out of her bag. "You coming up to the roof for lunch with us?" Mizuiro invited her with a smile.

"Huh? Oh, sure," Kirara nodded with a smile. Her stomach growled at the thought of food, and even though it was just more store-bought food, she was starving. She'd only had a piece of toast that morning while Hachi was scanning her, and she hadn't been able to think of anything other than food. "Is Keigo coming?" Kirara raised an eyebrow as they walked out, leaving the brown haired boy to be shouted at by the teacher.

"Who knows," the other boy shrugged dismissively.

"You're cold..." Kirara muttered, raising an eyebrow at him. They headed up to the roof, and walked through the already open door to see Rukia and Ichigo standing together, with Rukia holding out a juice carton.

"So, you're together again?" Mizuiro teased as they walked over, and the two looked at them in surprise.

"You two seem pretty close," Kirara grinned.

"Shut up," Ichigo groaned as Rukia read the carton in her hand.

"I dunno, you have been together almost everyday. Is high-school romance finally blooming in our school?" Kirara sighed dramatically, unable to help herself.

"You had to invite the delinquent up here?" Ichigo grumbled, making Kirara's grin widen. That was a nickname that she vastly preferred to her other. "I mean come on, does it really look to you like we're 'close'?" he asked in irritation.

"Maybe," Mizuiro shrugged. "Well, to be honest, you two do appear to be pretty close. But people are gonna talk, and if they talk enough, everyone will think that you're an item," he warned.

"Whatever," Ichigo rolled his eyes as he pierced his own juice carton with a straw. "If I really cared about what people think, then I guess I would have dyed my hair black a long time ago," he pointed out.

"Fair point," Kirara chuckled.

"So this is the straw!" they looked at Rukia, who had been completely oblivious to their conversation. "Short...but now I have to know where do I poke it?" she wondered aloud. Kirara bit her lip. Despite her being a Shinigami, Kirara couldn't help but relate. It had been confusing for her when she'd first got to the World of the Living.

"Hi there, how you doing?" Mizuiro smiled at the baffled girl.

"Why hello there," Rukia instantly switched personalities. Kirara resisted snorting at it as Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You're um, Mizuiro? And Kirara?" she asked, looking to the other girl. Kirara nodded.

"That's me. I guess we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Mizuiro Kojima. I really like-"

"Picking up chicks," Ichigo finished for him. This time, Kirara couldn't stop her snort of laughter as Mizuiro looked hurt.

"Ichigo, that's not cool!" Mizuiro's usually cool attitude was gone as he complained.

"Watch it, he may look like a dork, but he's a real player," Ichigo warned.

"Absolutely. Definitely keep a watch out for this one," Kirara added, and Rukia blinked in confusion as Mizuiro voiced his complaint.

"Cut it out! You'll permanently damage my reputation!" Mizuiro told him. "Besides Ichigo, you know older women are more my style," he added. Kirara was amused by his words. If only he knew.

"What's this? Rukia Kuchiki, the Hot Transfer Student, is here with you guys?!" Keigo's cry made them all look around. "How did that happen?" he demanded as he walked over.

"Oh, I guess he found us," Kirara grinned. "Ichigo invited her to join us," she explained.

"I did not!" Ichigo yelled furiously, but the damage was done.

"Ichigo did? What a guy!" Keigo gave him a thumbs up.

"You're the worst," Ichigo muttered to Kirara, who smirked back.

"That's what you get for calling me a delinquent," she told him, and he glared at her. Keigo turned to Rukia, who was still struggling with her juice.

"Greetings! I'm Keigo Asano, welcome lovely lady, to this Garden of Manliness!" he saluted as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Uh...hello?" she offered, baffled by him.

"Hey, I resent that comment about a Garden of Manliness!" Kirara put her hands on her hips, her lunch bag bumping her side.

"Oh Kirara, you know I wasn't including you! You rarely eat with us, so it's always a pleasure when you do!" Keigo smiled at her.

"Oh shut up," she sighed.

"So, Rukia," Keigo turned back to the noble. "If you find yourself needing anything, just call on me, I'm here for you!" he told her, and her eyes lit up.

"Great! Open this!" she held out her carton.

"No prob, your wish is my command!" Keigo nodded, only to bump into someone behind him.

"Hey Chad," Ichigo greeted the giant as he took a seat. The teenager raised a hand, revealing that he was covered in bandages.

"Whoa, what happened to you big guy?" Kirara asked as she sat down, unable to ignore her growling stomach any longer.

"I had a mishap. A steel beam fell on my head," Chad explained calmly. Kirara raised an eyebrow. He had to be the only human who would talk so casually about that. "My hand got hurt when a motorcycle ran into me. The rider that hit me got banged up pretty bad," he added. "The force of the collision knocked the guy out, so I picked him up, and carried him to the hospital," he said.

"So uh...a typical morning for you then?" Kirara asked weakly. She knew Shinigami who were more fragile.

"My only question is what exactly is your body made of?" Ichigo frowned. When Chad set down the cage in his hand, they noticed the tiny bird inside.

"Hey, so where'd you get the bird?" Keigo asked curiously.

"My name is Yuuichi Shibata. It's nice to meet you," the bird greeted, making Ichigo, Rukia and Kirara stiffen. "What's your name?" he asked.

"That is amazing! I mean the way this bird can talk is phenomenal!" Keigo exclaimed in amazement. Kirara stared at the bird, too stunned to hide her reaction.

"Is that...it's a soul inside the bird," Kirara thought to herself.

'Yes it is...how peculiar,' Kokoro no Kage spoke, for once in a complete sentence.

"I've never heard of such a thing...I never thought it was possible," Kirara was fascinated by the tiny creature, that housed the soul of a young boy.

"So Chad, where did you get this bird?" Ichigo asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Someone..." Chad went quiet for a solid minute. "Gave me him," he finished.

"Hold it! There you go again, getting lazy and cutting your story short!" Keigo yelled as Chad took a seat in front of the bird. "Come on! That's a bad habit you have Chad, now explain! Spill it!" he ordered.

"That was the whole story," Chad told him. Rukia and Ichigo began to speak quietly, and Kirara stood again.

"Where are you going?" Keigo asked as Kirara walked away. "You haven't even eaten yet," he pointed out.

"I just realised I have an assignment due, I need to get it finished," Kirara shrugged.

"What? You not having your work done?" Ichigo asked her. "That's unlike you," he commented.

"I guess I'm really starting to get into the role of delinquent," Kirara replied. He rolled his eyes at her words, and Kirara disappeared back inside. As soon as she did, she shivered. Not only had spending even a few minutes with Rukia with so few others around made her uncomfortable, but the spirit inside the bird made her even more uneasy. If she'd stayed any longer, she wouldn't have been able to hide it.

"Okay class, can you get out your history textbook, we're going to be starting the next chapter," the teacher announced, but as they were all shuffling around their bags, there was a knock at the door, and it slid open.

"Pardon me for the intrusion," the gym teacher Kagine apologised as he stood in the doorway. "But the Principal has requested for Miss. Yamada to come to his office now," he requested. All eyes moved to Kirara, who yawned widely.

"I think we've established that I'm Miss. Yamada," she stood, grabbing her things. She walked to the door, raising an eye at Kagine, who frowned back before turning and leading the way. Kirara smirked very slightly. He'd tried to have as little contact with her after she had made a fool out of him – leading to another trip to the Principal's office. "Excuse me sir, I have Miss. Yamada here for you," Mr. Kagine announced as he knocked on the Headmaster's door, and opened it.

"Thank you Mr. Kagine. Come in, Miss. Yamada," Kirara walked in, and blinked at the figure sitting in front of him.

"Love? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I figured you'd know more than me," the man shrugged, picking earwax from his ear as Kirara walked over.

"Yes, I was a little vague when I called you in, my apologies," the old man behind the desk apologised as Kirara stood beside Love. Even when sitting down, he was almost at the same height as her. "I've called Miss. Yamada, and yourself, as her legal guardian, as we've received something very serious," he explained.

"That's right," Mr. Kagine seemed unable to hold his tongue as he stood at the side of the desk, his arms folded as he scowled. "These pictures were brought to my attention, and I felt it very important to share them with the headmaster here," he announced, slamming an envelope down.

"Pictures?" Love frowned.

"I knew I hadn't been overly disrespectful this week..." Kirara mused aloud.

"These pictures!" Mr. Kagine snapped, glaring at her. "Are very worrying for Karakura High School. To see one of its students hanging out with such a strange crowd!" he exclaimed. With a raised eyebrow, Love reached forwards and lifted the envelope off the desk, opening it to pull out a small collection of photos.

"Strange crowd?" Kirara raised an eyebrow. She leaned over Love's shoulder, and a snort escaped before she could stop herself. Love flicked through photo after photo of the Vizards, out on one of their few group outings to get something to eat.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Mr. Kagine looked victorious to have finally gotten one over on Kirara.

"These are pretty good pictures," she took them from Love, flicking through. There was one of Mashiro throwing one of her typical tantrums, while Kensei looked close to exploding at her. Love was looking through a manga book, while Rose looked irritated at him. "I think this is my favourite," she showed him one of Hiyori hitting Shinji about with her sandal as Hachi tried to stop her.

"Oh, that is a good one," Love agreed with a grin.

"Have you any remorse for these photos?" Mr. Kagine asked, his smug expression fading.

"Why would I?" Kirara raised an eyebrow.

"I agree," Love nodded. "I see no problem with these. Except maybe this?" he held up one of Lisa looking through a swimsuit catalogue, while Kirara agreed or disagreed with the choices. Kirara just grinned at him, unapologetic.

"She needed a second opinion, and I gave it to her," she explained. "Who took these photos?" Kirara asked, looking up.

"That's confidential," Mr. Kagine growled at her.

"Too bad," Kirara shrugged, not looking overly affected. "I'd love to know who got so close to us without us realising," she mused.

"Me too," Love nodded.

"They're skilled at collecting information, that's for sure. I'd have blamed me if this wasn't of me," Kirara chuckled. Love nodded again.

"We done here?" he looked up as the gym teacher visibly wilted.

"Well, I...uh...headmaster! Surely you should do something about this!" he turned to the man.

"Of course!" the old man nodded. "Could you get me the number of that bespectacled beauty?" he asked, and the gym teacher let out a wail of horror as Kirara smirked.

"I'll check in with her about that," she told him, turning and walking over to the door.

"Now hold on a minute-"

"Have you got something else? Because honestly, these photos aren't exactly the worst things in the world," Kirara raised an eyebrow at him, sounding impatient.

"You represent Karakura High School when you're out there, you should-"

"I'm not wearing my uniform in these pictures you know," Kirara rolled her eyes. "I'm not representing anything. So calm down. Go run some laps or something," she waved a dismissive hand, and the headmaster chuckled as Mr. Kagine spluttered.

"How dare you-"

"I think we're done here," he whirled to yell at Love, only to realise that he had to crane his head to look up at him. He visibly paled, taking a step back.

"Sure..." he muttered, and Kirara's smirk grew as she opened the door.

"Good seeing you again, headmaster. I'll bring cookies next time," she called over her shoulder as she walked out.

"Oh! I look forward to it!" he smiled. Love ducked his head to get out the door, and as soon as he shut it behind him, he heard more shouting.

"What a waste of time," the sunglasses wearing Vizard complained.

"I hear that. It got me out of class though. I'll buy you a drink next time for your time," Kirara told him. Love grinned, appeased by her offer. "But now, how about we get some food?" she suggested.

"Don't you have class?" Love raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, but I skipped lunch and I'm starving," Kirara told him. "Hey, you ever hear of a human soul ending up inside an animal?" she asked him curiously.

"What? Sure, a couple of times. Usually when they're lonely, or just weird," Love nodded. "Why?" he asked.

"Saw it earlier. Never seen it before. Now come on, I'll even treat you to ramen," Kirara offered.

"Music to my ears. Oh, and we should show the others these pictures," Love held up the small collection. "They're bound to get a kick outta them," he chuckled, and the pair began discussing the photos, laughing as they made their way out of the school grounds and into town.

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