disclaimer: i do not own bleach or any of its characters or locations mentioned in the manga or anime. i just own this story line and the OCs

thanks to: Red6, lovelylilvamp66, Moonstar2015, Avatarpotter, PeaceLoveChelsi, Gwenny-Dear, Doreen769, WWE-Little-Angel, NeeMou, Happy-Valley, and Evangeline43, Goldensaurus, Zororenjilover, butterfliesinspring, and imagination junkie for your reviews, alerts, and favorites!

sorry i'm a couple days late. it was spring break this week and i was away, but here it is. enjoy!

m

Chapter 6

I was so far into my memories that I hadn't heard the bell ring to signal it was time for lunch. Still gazing out the window, I rested my chin on my hand and absentmindedly watched the clouds scuttle their way across the sky. The flashback to my first day at Karakura High School had led to several others of the following weeks I had spent with the group I now called my friends.

For the past year I had done nothing but shut myself away, trying, and failing, to remember what had happened the night my mother died. But, after that first day with Ichigo, Rukia, and the others, I found myself acting more like a teenager than I ever had before. It was like I had been transported to a separate universe, one in which I actually connected with people and was somewhat happy.

Most of my time since I had arrived at Karakura High was spent eating lunch with everyone on the roof or at Orihime's for a late night study session. On the weekends we would all go for outings in the park or along the river while talking about anything and everything. All five of them were such a strange mix of emotions and opinions that there was never a dull moment among us. The more time we spent together, the more I noticed small cracks in the wall I had put up to shield myself from the outside world. Every smile, every inclusion, every late night phone call made those cracks turn into gaps, and those gaps into whole missing chunks. I found it getting easier and easier to be myself, to not think twice before I spoke my mind or entered into a discussion. I laughed and smiled and for once, felt the pain inside me lessening a bit.

But, just as my social life had bloomed beautifully, every rose has its thorns. There would always be moments when, out of the corner of my eye, I would notice one of my friends watching me, warily. It was as if they were waiting for something to happen; like at any moment I was just going to spontaneously combust. When I would turn to look back at them however, they would already be gazing in the opposite direction faster than I could even blink.

Whispering among themselves was just as common as the staring. I could never completely tell if they were speaking about me because…well, I never knew what the hell they were talking about in the first place. I would only catch snippets of the conversations which, as any seasoned eavesdropper would know, never amounted to anything in the end. There was one phrase, however, that I heard them all use very often: spirit energy. But, what that was supposed to mean I still had no clue.

Back in the classroom, I was still sitting alone, lost in my own thoughts when suddenly, I felt the book my elbow was resting on slide out from under me. My face went crashing down to meet my desk before I could react and the two collided with a loud smack.

"Ow," I groaned into the laminated wood. I sat up slowly, massaging my nose, to see Ichigo standing beside my desk, book in hand. He looked bored as always, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"That was necessary why?" I asked, my voice a bit muffled from behind my hand. Ichigo shrugged irritatingly.

"We called your name twenty times. Had to get your attention somehow. Everyone's gone up already. It's time for lunch." Glancing at the clock on the wall I realized he was right; I must have completely zoned out. "Come on already," he complained, tossing the book back to me.

Almost instinctively, I caught it with surprising ease. Shocked, I blinked a few times and looked up to see Ichigo's eyes filled with the same surprise as mine. It was a well-known fact among us that hand-eye coordination was not my forte. Something like this just did not happen. Well, neither does getting to school from the middle of town in a matter of seconds. You're just having quite a successful day aren't you, Sayuri….

Turning around, Ichigo began to walk towards the door. "Don't make me drag you up there," he threatened, looking over his shoulder at me with a grin, all traces of his suspiciousness gone. Apparently, it wasn't something he felt needed to be worried about. Rolling my eyes, I reached under my desk for my bag and jumped up from my desk.

"Oh shut up. I'm coming," I mumbled. Chuckling, Ichigo crossed his arms behind his head and waited for me to reach him at the door. As we walked down the hallway, we came upon the spot where he had crashed into me that first day. I hadn't even remembered that incident until just a few moments ago. I had also completely forgotten about the weird sensation I had felt when I touched his hand for the first time. It reminded me of opening a door on an extremely windy day and having all the air knocked right out of you. I had gotten so dizzy it was terrifying and from that moment on, I took care to never let him touch me again.

"Oh, by the way, Uryuu's in a bad mood today, so just watch out," Ichigo drawled in his usual bored tone. I gazed out the window again at the sky which was almost bursting at the seams with so much blue. A storm was definitely on its way.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked, not really paying attention. Uryuu always seemed to be in a bad mood whenever Ichigo was around, which was all the time, so I didn't understand how today would be very different from any other.

"I don't know, something about not getting enough sleep. But his whining is starting to give me a headache, so don't say anything to piss him off, alright?" Looking up at him, I raised an eyebrow in surprise and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Out of the two of us, you're worried that I'm going to say something to set him off? Have you ever met yourself?" Ichigo glared back at me but I stood my ground. Rukia had showed me that although Ichigo acted like a tough guy, he really wasn't. Pissing him off just to prove he would never do anything to get back at me had become an entertaining game of mine.

"You know-" But before he could even get a response out of his mouth, I stuck my tongue out at him and dashed up the stairs to the roof, laughing. Throwing open the door, I took a deep breath of fresh air. It smelled like damp earth, another sure sign that a storm was brewing.

I walked around to the side of the enclosed staircase entrance to find everyone already eating. They were all near the gate that lined the edge of the roof. Chad was leaning against the rails, staring off into the sky like usual. Rukia and Orihime were sitting together, chattering away about a test we had coming up later on. Uryuu was sitting off on his own, tearing his sandwich apart and eating it piece by piece while jumping at any small sound made within ten feet of him. His eyes rested half open above dark purple circles and his mouth was turned into an even deeper frown than usual. I could see what Ichigo meant; he looked like hell. I wonder why he hasn't been getting any sleep. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to stay out late…, I speculated to myself.

Ichigo arrived behind me and flicked the back of my head with his fingers. Pushing him away playfully, I laughed and sat down with the girls, angling myself so I could still keep a worried eye on Uryuu. He always seemed so sensible and…together. Seeing him like this was a bit unsettling. I winced as I watched him rip off another piece of his sandwich and angrily stuff it in his mouth.

Looking away, I realized something else that was surprising and totally out of the ordinary: everyone was here for lunch. No one was running off to return a forgotten book to the library or a form to Ms. Tanaka. There was no one who had left something in their desk that took over half an hour to retrieve. For the first time since I started school at Karakura High, I wasn't being force fed a transparent explanation as to the disappearance of Ichigo or Rukia while everyone attempted not to look me in the eye.

I often wondered where they were really running off to, because that was clearly what was happening, but I never had the courage to ask. Whenever someone decided they had to leave, there was a look on their face of such seriousness it was as if someone's life was at stake. Something inside me told me it was a bad idea to delay them from what they were doing.

"What do you think Sayuri?" I snapped back to reality as Orihime turned to look at me. "Do you think we'll need to know definitions for the test?"

"Hmm," I popped a potato chip into my mouth as I thought. "Well, I-" But, my opinion was never heard because at that very moment, my heart almost failed me. A howl pierced the air around Karakura High School so dreadful, it made me cringe. The hairs on my arms stood on end as I recognized the undertone of nails being dragged across a chalkboard. My eyes widened and I stood up immediately, dropping my sandwich on the ground. As it sounded again, I almost wanted to cover my ears the sound was so terrible. But instead, I turned around in the direction the noise seemed to be coming from, straining my eyes against the ordinary layout of Karakura town beyond the roof's gate.

"Sayuri," Orihime had stood up with me and was looking at me with concern on her face.

Walking to the gate, I wrapped my hands around the vertical bars and squinted. Laser like, I scanned every street I could see, but there was nothing around that looked like it was big or frightening enough to be making that noise. Turning back to the group, I noticed how most of them hadn't even moved. Could they not hear it? The howling was still going on. But how could they not…? It was so loud it felt like my eardrums were going to burst. Looking around, I suddenly noticed that Ichigo was gone. Again. Funny, I thought, he didn't mention having to go anywhere. Rukia was staring at me strangely, her eyes narrowed and serious, just like Ichigo's had been earlier when I caught the textbook he threw to me.

As that howl tore through me again, I looked back through the bars of the gate, remembering what the little ghost girl had said about Ichigo being able to see spirits. He couldn't know anything about that noise could he? Could that girl? But this is the first time I've ever heard it so it can't be what's made him leave each time before this. No…wait a minute…. I suddenly gripped the bars tighter. This isn't the first time I've heard it. It's the same noise as yesterday. The same noise I heard right after the-

The park. And the footprint. And that man.

His eyes were instantly in my mind and I could picture them clearly right in front of me, burning as if they were on fire themselves. Something stirred in the back of my mind; a feeling of recognition, as if I had seen those eyes sometime even before the park. I shook my head vigorously, trying to get rid of the demonic gaze, but it remained. As those demonic eyes bore farther into me, I could feel my body freeze and become rooted to that spot. My hands felt so hot, as if they were being welded to the gate. In fact, I could feel my whole body heating up unnaturally. I was on the verge of remembering something, I could feel it. Something that had to do with that man. What was happening to me?

With one great tug, I managed to detach myself from the metal, stumbling backwards and into someone standing right behind me. As strong hands secured around my upper arms, I struggled frantically, still locked in the glare of those eyes.

"No! Please! Let me go! Don't hurt her!" A terrified voice screamed in my ears, and the feeling of being held still in that way felt so familiar. I reached out with my mind trying to understand, my fingertips brushing the edge of a memory that had been so long forgotten. A memory of that night.

Then, for the second time that month, I had water poured on my head.

"Sayuri! Snap out of it!" Uryuu was shaking me and gripping my arms so tightly it actually hurt. As my vision cleared, Rukia also appeared before me, holding an empty water bottle in her hand. Breathing heavily, I reached up to push the wet hair off my face. My heart was beating so wildly against my ribcage, I was sure the bones had to be damaged. I was starting to feel a bit dizzy again as my vision shifted in and out of focus.

"I need to sit," I mumbled. Uryuu helped me to the ground, loosening his hold a bit but never letting go completely. I kept my eyes open, taking a few deep breaths, terrified that if I closed them those nightmarish ones would return. I realized it had gotten quiet and the howling had stopped.

Looking around I saw that I had been moved away from the gate. We were now against the side of the staircase entrance, in the shade. Rukia knelt beside me and placed the back of her hand against my forehead. Pulling it back almost instantly, she gasped in surprise.

"Whoa, you're burning up!" I looked at her in surprise. On the contrary, I was actually starting to feel much better. My heart was slowing down to a normal pace and the cold water had helped to cool me down.

"Really?" I said, touching my forehead as well. It did feel pretty warm. Orihime knelt beside me with nothing but terrified worry on her face. Her eyes were wide and shiny and I looked back at her with nothing but confusion in mine, and probably fear as well. She threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me to her. Something dripped on my shoulder, and I realized she was crying. As her sobs filled my ears, I was at a total loss for words. I lifted my shaking hands and placed them on her back, hugging her tightly in return.

The thought of causing Orihime that much pain filled me with guilt, and I hugged her harder. I buried my face in her shoulder and let myself get swept away in the feeling of having someone to lean on; someone who could help carry the load for even just a few moments. The whole time I was aware of Uryuu's hand still resting on my back, and of Rukia and Chad kneeling right next to Orihime.

They were all there for me. My friends. Just like that first day. My throat felt tight but I swallowed the feeling and pulled back, my face red from the commotion I had caused. Looking down at my hands twisting in my lap, I heard Orihime sniffle.

"I'm sorry. I have no idea what…. I don't know where that…." Sighing, I realized I didn't even know where to start with an explanation. So I skipped it altogether. "Thank you. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh stop it," Rukia said and she punched me in the arm. I looked up alarmed at the gruffness of her voice, but saw her smiling gently at me. "We're allowed to worry about you, you know." Orihime nodded vigorously and Chad grunted in agreement.

"Yeah," Uryuu tilted his head and through his glasses I could see that his eyes had softened from the sandwich-destroying glare they had been earlier. "What happened?" Looking back down at my hands, which still felt very warm, I again searched for the right words.

Ever since that first day that I had had lunch with Ichigo, Rukia and the others, they had gotten me to severely loosen up. Those first few days we talked about many things including my scars and how I had been in some kind of "accident". I told them I had no memories of the night when it happened, but I had woken up a few days later to learn my mother had not survived and that I now sported a fashionable new set of stripes. They had let me do most of the talking, and listened intently as I told them what I could about myself and my strange life.

I had never spoken so much to complete strangers in my life. But those weird little feelings of safety, trust, and connectedness were always present in my mind, egging me on and building my confidence. I had opened up and soon, each of them did the same in return. I learned a lot about them all within my first week of school, and had woken up on the weekend with an accomplished feeling. For the first time in my life, I had made real friends. There was an invisible thread that tied us all together, and even though I couldn't understand why, I knew I could talk truthfully to them.

"I'm not too sure," I said quietly. They all looked at me expectantly, and when I met Orihime's red puffy eyes, I couldn't bring myself to lie just to alleviate her from worrying. She deserved the truth. All of them did. "I heard something. Some kind of…howling noise. It was so strange. I heard it yesterday too, at Urahara's. Right before you left, Rukia." She had a strange expression on her face, as if she were trying to gaze right into my thoughts. "So I got up to look out the gate, and then-"

How could I word the next part so they would understand? They hadn't seen the man in the park; they wouldn't know how terrifying his eyes were and how they seemed to look straight through you. "And then I heard a voice. I think it was mine. Like a memory, from the night of the accident." No one said a word. Orihime reached out and placed a hand on mine. I looked up into her big, brown eyes and saw such a change there it made my stomach curl into a knot.

She looked strained, her mouth pulled into a tight line and her eyes were serious and guarded. "It was probably just the heat," she said, and I stared at her in disbelief.

"Wh-what?" Orihime lowered her eyes and fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

"It was probably just the heat or something," she mumbled, letting several strands of her orange hair fall over her face so she could avoid looking at me. I was still unsure that I had heard her correctly. Just the heat? How could Orihime, of all people, not believe what I was saying? Orihime, who came into school every day re-enacting TV shows from the night before in crazy little voices. Orihime, who believed aliens were real and had been living in the drainage system of her house for weeks. Orihime, whose imagination was bigger than her boobs. Now, she wouldn't even look me in the eyes as she basically told me I was lying to them about what had just happened.

"You can't be serious," I said, no louder than a whisper because my voice had suddenly failed me.

"Neither can you." Rukia stood up sharply from her place beside me. As her eyes met mine, I shivered at their coldness. There was nothing but a somber disbelief written all over her face as she gazed down at me. Rukia too? I felt my hands clench into fists, surprised at the flame igniting in the pit of my stomach. I had never been angry at Rukia before.

"You think I'm making this up?" I looked at the boys for help, but they too were staring at the ground, wearing the same restrained expression as Orihime, and avoiding me. Their sudden estrangement was gut-wrenching and I could feel the furious heat rising inside me. "Why would I do that? How could I do that? You know me, I wouldn't lie to you. I have no idea what happened and you think I would just-"

"That's enough." Rukia's voice was hard and suddenly sounded years older, making me feel like a disobedient child that had just been slapped. She turned away from me and I sat up straighter, shrugging Uryuu's hands off my shoulders. As Rukia walked away silently, the others stood up and fidgeted around for a few moments, unsure whether they should follow her or stay with me. I laughed. An ugly, shallow laugh so full of bitterness that it sounded nothing like me.

"We should go in." Chad said, his voice sounding far away in my mind. I didn't respond, but turned my head to the side, away from them. Taking the hint, they gathered their things and shuffled back towards the stairs.

And just like that, the thread was cut.

Why did I think it was a good idea to trust them with the truth? I had just smashed down the wall I had tried so hard to put up against the world over the past year. But, in that single moment of relaxing just a little, I had shown them how mentally unstable I really was. There was no friendship that could be formed in only a few weeks strong enough to withstand the level of insanity that came with hearing invisible howling monsters and flailing around like a crazy person. I was stupid for thinking I had found it here.

And what was up with Rukia? Her reaction hurt the most because over the past few weeks I had become closer to her than any of the others. It was like she instantly shut down and closed a door in my face. She wouldn't even hear me out, or try to help me. I was no longer her friend in that moment, but an outsider who had clearly stumbled upon something she didn't want me talking about. What unspeakable topic had I stirred up?

Defeated and disappointed, I sighed looked down at my hands. They were in tight fists, holding the edge of my skirt in two identical vice grips. Opening them up, I flexed my fingers which were stiff and tingling slightly. My palms still felt hot with the anger that had flared inside me moments ago. There were slight indentations from some of my nails, but none deep enough to draw blood. Pressing my palms to my face, I gasped as their heat almost burnt holes through my skin. Pulling them away quickly, I stared at my hands worriedly.

Rukia had said I was burning up before and even though I felt fine, maybe something really was wrong with me. I was hearing things, having flashbacks, moving at the speed of light….Maybe I was going crazy.

As I gazed at my hands, worrying that something in my brain had finally snapped, I could swear I saw a small spark leap from my left middle finger to my ring finger beside it. Blinking quickly, I tried to dismiss it as another of my hallucinations, until the same thing happened on my right hand as well. This time, the small spark that resembled a mini bolt of lightning wrapped itself around my right ring finger and stayed there. Turning my hand over slowly, I watched, mouth open, as it leapt across my fingertips until it reached my index finger, leaving small shocks in its wake. Folding the other fingers into my palm, but leaving that finger pointed, I inspected it further.

It seemed to pulse with a strange energy, shimmering in and out of focus, but consistently staying in its place. A strange feeling surged through me with each throb. I felt…alive. Electrically charged almost. I was about to look back at my other hand to see if that spark had returned, but as my gaze wavered, so did the little lightning bolt. Returning my focus to it, I had a sudden thought.

Pointing my finger toward the ground, I took a deep breath and braced myself, completely unsure of what was about to happen. At this point, anything was possible in my book; no one would believe me anyway so I might as well go out with a bang. Figuratively…I hoped. Holding my breath, I squeezed my hand a bit and thought only of sending that little spark into the cement. Closing my eyes at the same time, I waited for a crack or a boom. Anything. But there was only silence.

Peeking through closed lids, I saw that the spark was completely gone. Damnit. I felt like such an idiot sitting there alone, my wet hair sticking to my face, finger pointed at the ground. Squeezing my hand a few more times, I mentally begged the spark to return, but, if it were possible, I only made myself look stupider.

I threw my hands up in exasperation and felt a shock of white hot heat shoot through my finger. CRACK! I froze as a piece of concrete crashed to the ground inches away from where I sat. Slowly looking up, I felt my mouth fall open in utter disbelief and my eyes widen almost painfully trying to take it all in.

The entrance to the stairway leading back down into the building was now missing a chunk out of the top corner. From that point down in a diagonal line, there was a thick scorch mark that was still smoking. I stood up slowly keeping my hands stretched out before me, afraid that any sudden movements might bring the entire roof down with me still standing on it. Bits of ash crumbled and fell from the wall as a slight breeze dislodged them. I was about to touch the black powder when the atmosphere around me wrenched apart as another howl filled my ears.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move beyond the gate. Running to it, I grabbed on to the metal, pressing my face in between two of the rails. Where did it go…I just saw it…. My eyes flitted back and forth along the streets that I could see, trying to figure out what I had seen. It had been big that was for sure, so it couldn't be that hard to find.

"Come on, where are you," I said out loud when suddenly, a few blocks away, something caught my eye. All I could make out was an enormous outline that moved in and out of focus. No matter how hard I squinted or widened my eyes, I felt like I couldn't focus on it. Then, I could see a much smaller figure leap into the air beside it, bringing what looked like a huge sword crashing down. That terrible howl tore through me again, but this time it sounded different, in pain almost. I pressed my hands to my ears even though they were still burning. The outline crashed to the ground, bringing a few telephone poles with it, sending vibrations all the way to my spot on the roof. Then suddenly, there was silence except for the cacophonous racing of my heart.

I wrenched myself away from the gate and ran for the door.