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

welcome KawaiPanda, morganclaire1, tenshous, 4, Maxim0, BlueAurora, Tedd, and MistGirl423 to our lovely little family here =]

i just want to thank all of my awesome followers so far as we get to our second 2 digit chapter...oi i feel like the story's just starting...anyway, i really appreciate everyone's support and please please keep the reviews coming so i know how the story's doing and how you all like little sayuri. i'm almost at 40 readers on this story which is insane and super exciting so thank you everyone so so much 3

and now...enjoy

m

Chapter 11

Panting, I slapped my hand against the rock that marked the starting point of the obstacle course for the fifth time.

"Again. This time, don't let anything touch you." Yuroichi yawned and laid back on the rock. One of her legs was crossed over the other and her feet jiggled slightly as she stared at me.

"What do you mean?" I said, exhausted and frustrated. "That time was perfect! Nothing hit me." I looked out over the course again; it was nestled between two cliffs in a sort of small canyon. As I raised my eyes to the top of one of the cliffs, I saw Jinta lying on his stomach, dropping small pebbles off the side. Beside him was a pile of much larger stones that he would throw at me while I ran the course. My job was to dodge them as well as the blasts of Kidō Renji shot my way from the other side of the canyon wall. As I looked at them Jinta smile evilly and waved to me.

I held out my arms and flipped them over, then looked down the front of my body. Nothing. Looking over my shoulder I felt my heart sink. There was a small welt beginning to rise on my right calf in the shape of a circle. Exactly the kind of bruise a medium sized stone would leave if it was wailed at you by a demonic red-headed child. Closing my eyes and letting out a sigh, I sank to the ground, completely out of energy to even walk one step.

Ever since that long conversation in Urahara's shop between all of my friends and I, my life had changed drastically from just confusing to a hot mess of craziness. The day after Urahara explained what he could to us all, I began training in the underground facility he kept hidden below the shop.

The first time I was brought down there I honestly was too shocked for words. The space was huge; it was at least the same size as all of Karakura Town, but it wasn't just a simple, cut-and-dry training space. It looked like a desert of some kind, the ground mainly made of dirt and sand. There were rock formations all over, some tall enough to form canyons and some much smaller. The roof looked like a real sky complete with clouds and a sun, even though we had to be miles below the actual ground judging by the size of the space. When I asked Urahara how he managed to make something like that, he just smiled at me and shrugged.

Even though its creation have to remain a mystery to me, it was clear that the space perfect for training me to use my powers. At first, Urahara was the only teacher I had, but pretty soon everyone became invested in helping out. Everyone had different ideas on what I should learn, so in the end we decided that everyone could help if they wished. Urahara taught me battle tactics. We went over how to fight against different weapons like the zanpakutō of a Soul Reaper or the body of a Hollow (since they don't ever really use weapons). Ichigo and Chad helped me with endurance. They believed that being able to survive for long periods of time would come in handy with opponents who may be stronger than I was. Rukia taught me concentration and helped me to bring my spirit pressure under control. Yuroichi also helped me train, and with her I practiced agility.

The first time I really "met" Yuroichi was an experience I knew I would never forget. I had gotten to the shop after school, and she was sitting on the table, licking her paws. I dropped my bag on the floor and plopped down on a cushion.

"So," I said, crossing my legs like a pretzel, "What's on the agenda for today?" I looked around, expecting to see one of the boys, or even Urahara, but it seemed like the shop was empty.

"Everyone's gone into town on some errands, so it's just you and I for today," she answered, standing on all four feet. I stared at her warily. How exactly was a cat supposed to help train me to fight or use my lightning? What exactly could she do? "Give me just a moment," she said as if she had heard my question. All of a sudden she leapt off the table and there was a huge puff of smoke in the room. At first I thought one of the lights had exploded. Coughing, I tumbled through the doorway into the back hallway until most of it cleared.

Peeking back around the doorway, I felt my jaw drop and if it hadn't been attached to the rest of my face it probably would have hit the floor. A naked woman stood in the same spot where Yuroichi had just landed. She had dark skin and violet hair that fell down her back. As she turned to look at me, I stared into a pair of familiar golden feline-like eyes. Grinning, she crossed her arms, thankfully covering herself a bit.

"Let me get dressed and we'll head down, ok?" the woman asked.

"Yuroichi?" I stammered, feeling a bit like an idiot. She nodded and laughed and I turned away quickly as she started to walk towards me. She grabbed some clothes off the top of a shelf in the next storage room and I stood against the wall waiting for her. As she emerged, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail at the top of her head.

"Sometimes it's just easier to be a cat, I find," she said, winking at me. And that was all the explanation I got. But Yuroichi the human had just as much agility as Yuroichi the cat. She could jump long distances, tumble through the air, and flip around an opponent during battle like a piece of rubber. When we trained, she would set up obstacle courses for me to make my way through using bits and pieces of training from everyone. I would have to dodge flying rocks, use Flash Step, dive and tumble past more rocks, fight anyone who jumped into my path, and think cleverly about how to make it past certain obstacles.

Today's course was rather straightforward; we were working on basic agility. I had to run down into a ditch and make my way over several large piles of unsteady rocks, practicing my balance and lightness of body. I also had to dodge Jinta's rocks and Renji's Kidō, much to their pleasure. After making my way across the ditch and grabbing the bandana tied to a post on the other side, I had to go all the way back through the course again to the starting point. Yuroichi then decided whether I had adequately conquered her torture chamber, and so far, I had yet to get a "congratulations!" or a "you pass!" from her at all.

I leaned my head back against the rock and breathed heavily. I was still covered in sweat, even though I had discarded my t-shirt a while ago. My black sports bra clung damply to my skin, as did my shorts. As I wiped some sweat off my stomach, my hand passed over part of my scar that was there. It ran from my right hip across the front of my body, then wrapped around the left side of my waist just below my ribs.

There was a split second of fear and embarrassment that clawed at me like it always did, as I realized I had been running around with my scars plainly out for everyone to see. But as quickly as the thought came, it passed. I traced the scar with my fingers and again marveled at how it felt warmer than the rest of the skin around it. As I did, I realized that I no longer cared if people could see my scars, especially these people. My friends. They didn't care, although the first day I was brought down into the "training yard" (as Urahara called it), he had asked if he could look at them more closely.

I had stood there awkwardly as he lifted my arm and ran his fingers over my skin. He had stared at them for so long, sometimes his face almost inches away from me. In the end he said he couldn't really explain where they had come from, although they looked like a burn of some kind in his opinion. I had already thought of that of course since my house had exploded into flames. Perhaps I had gotten tangled in something that was ablaze when I tried to escape? Guess I'll never know, I thought bitterly, brushing some dirt off my knees.

I heard dirt crunching nearby and looked up to see Renji sauntering towards me from around a bend in the rocks.

"Tired already?" he laughed, raising his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the rock again.

"Why don't you give it a shot Renji and show me how it's done," I offered. "Then I can shoot lightning at you and see how well you do." He laughed and leaned against the rock next to me.

"Please. This isn't hard to do. You've just got to be light on your feet. And quick. You don't pay enough attention to your surroundings," he said, grinning because he believed, yet again, he had proven himself superior to me. I just looked back at him, a look of sheer boredom on my face.

Renji was so busy feeling smug, he didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late. As he stood there all full of himself, I reached over and pushed on his calf right below his knee, causing his leg to buckle underneath him. He fell right on his ass in a small cloud of dust, and the look of surprise on his face was enough to make me laugh out loud.

Jumping up, I moved a couple steps away from him in case he tried to hit me back.

"What was that about paying attention to your surroundings, oh wise one?" I asked. Jinta laughed loudly from his perch on top of the canyon wall and Yuroichi chuckled as she watched in amusement. I crossed my arms and fixed Renji with a grin. His eyes narrowed as he slid his legs under him. I knew he was about to lunge at me, so I waited until the second before he moved. I stepped to the side, and Renji went sailing past me, grabbing at nothing but thin air until he fell face first onto the ground. He had tried to use Flash Step, not remembering that I could use it too. To me, he wasn't moving faster than light anymore, but the same speed that I could move at. I laughed again as Renji stood up, coughing from all the dust he kicked up.

"Looks like you need to run the course too," I said, knowing full well I was baiting him more and more. But I liked pissing Renji off. He had such a short fuse and would rise to any provocation aimed at him. At first it had been funny just watching him and Ichigo fighting for no reason, but soon I got in on the game too. It was entertaining to watch him try to retaliate because he relied so heavily on physical attacks. However, all my time with Jinta from before my powers had even surfaced had already prepared me for anything Renji could throw my way.

Out of all the people in this strange, dysfunctional, super-human family I had somehow fallen into, I spent the least time with Renji. He lived in the shop with Urahara, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta, but lately I had been spending most of my time below in the training yard rather than upstairs working. Renji took over my job when I was training so we never really interacted very much, except on days like today when he was asked to help out.

Even though I didn't really know him, I found Renji very easy to read. His emotions were always clearly written on his face and he often said exactly what was on his mind, which was usually criticism or some smart ass remark. Because of this, I learned quickly what would set him off and how he would react to certain things, and it had become a fun sport to annoy him.

"Now now kiddies, that's enough," Yuroichi said as she slid down off her rock. Landing lightly on her feet, I couldn't help but think how much she resembled a cat even in her human form. Renji wrapped his arm around my neck as if to hug me and smiled innocently at Yuroichi.

"We're just messin' around, right kiddo?" He gave my neck a squeeze as he said the word "kiddo" which he knew I hated, and I glared up at him. Yuroichi raised an eyebrow before she walked away back towards the huge ladder that led back upstairs. Renji was still waving to her and grinning like an idiot, so I punched him in the stomach. He let go of my neck and stumbled backwards into another rock.

"You should probably stop letting your guard down like that. It might get you into trouble," I said, tauntingly. I grabbed my t-shirt off the ground where I had thrown it a few hours ago and began to run towards the ladder too. Yuroichi had called it a day which meant it was probably about time for me to head home.

"Well," Renji said, sputtering after me, "At least I don't leak spirit energy all over the place. I could tell where you were from the opposite end of town if I had to." He fell into step behind me as I rolled my eyes and ignored him. Weeks of falling into arguments with Jinta over stupid comments like that had taught me it was smarter to just keep my mouth shut.

Renji kept talking smack as we reached the ladder. I placed my foot up on the first rung and hoisted myself on before climbing for what seemed like hours. Why can't he just put a stupid elevator in? This climbing will be the death of me. But when I reached the hole in the ceiling through which was Urahara's shop, I was pleasantly surprised to see that while I was breathing heavily, my muscles were no longer burning in pain from the physical exertion of the day. My body was beginning to lean up, my muscles becoming a little more defined, and strenuous activities weren't really strenuous anymore. I smiled to myself as I slipped my t-shirt back on over my head. Looks like all this is worth the trouble after all. Reaching up, I pulled the elastic band out of my hair and let it fall back down onto my shoulders.

As I looked out the windows I could see that the sun was beginning to set. The sky was a light pink and shadows were beginning to stretch across the yard. I walked into the back room to say my goodbyes. Urahara was stirring something in a pot on top of the small stove against the wall and Tessai was handing him spices as he asked for them. Jinta was reading his comics and Ururu was playing with a doll. Yuroichi had sprawled across a few pillows and was reading a packet of official looking papers. I leaned against the doorframe, watching them all as Renji slipped past me to sit at the table as well. He flicked me on the ear, and as I rubbed the spot, I felt it.

At first it was like a ripple on water, only a slight and soft disturbance, but still there nonetheless. The hairs on my neck and arms stood on end and I felt the invisible fingers of a presence grasping at the edge of my consciousness. I rolled my shoulders a bit, hoping to shake off the strange feeling. It felt somewhat familiar, as if it was being obscured by a fog I couldn't disperse. It pushed harder and harder on my mind until the feeling became overwhelming. I heard a crackle and a roar as if something was erupting into flames and I snapped my head around to face the front of the shop across the hallway.

"Sayuri?" Ururu's soft voice floated to me as if she were miles away. Jinta had put down his comic book and stared at me, a worried expression on his face. Yuroichi had sat up on her pillows and Urahara had stopped cooking. They were all watching me but I didn't understand how they couldn't feel it too. The presence was so strong and a pressure had begun to build around me. My chest felt constricted and I could feel myself getting light headed. There was an evil feeling in the air, like there had been when the Hollow was following me through town weeks before.

I stared at the closed front door. There was nothing different about it at all; it was still the same sliding door that had always been there. But at that moment, I was sure that if I moved it aside I would find something beyond it in the yard; something that maybe should be left undiscovered.

"There's something outside," I whispered. My voice was dry and sounded raspy, like I had gone hoarse. I heard some scuffling behind me and saw Jinta run up to the front window, trying to see outside. Urahara had also gotten up and was standing close by. Part of me wanted to let Urahara him go open the door and check what was out there, but another part urged me to do it myself. I couldn't explain it, but it felt like the presence was calling to me, reaching out for me to answer.

I took a tentative step forward and half expected someone to grab me and hold me back. But they all stayed put, the tension in the air becoming thick and almost electric (which I was sure had something to do with me).

The walk to the door felt like an eternity, and a voice in my head was screaming at me to turn back. I could feel my heart speeding up and pounding in my head. I felt like I was moving slowly underwater as my hand reached out for the door and my fingers curled into the handle. Bracing myself, I slowly started to slide the door open. But, once I moved it only an inch, I felt something grab it from the other side and pull it. Jumping back, I felt my hands instantly heat up with lightning and saw the white hot glow of it out of the corners of my eyes.

"Ichigo," Urahara said from behind me, a note of relief hidden behind a sarcastic tone of voice. I let out the breath I must have been holding without realizing it and looked unbelievingly at him, his orange hair glowing a bit in the dimming light. He looked back at me, confused, one eyebrow raised.

"Everything ok?"

"Oh yeah," Jinta said walking up next to me, one hand on his hip and the other waving away Ichigo's question. "Stripes is just losing it. Nothing new." On a regular day I probably would have put Jinta in a headlock or smacked him in the back of the head, but today was different. I knew it wasn't Ichigo I had felt out in the yard. I knew him and I knew what his spirit pressure felt like. This was something entirely different.

I stepped around Ichigo and reached out with my own mind, trying to sense it again. But as fast as it had appeared it seemed to disappear. I could feel something tickling the edges of my consciousness, but it would flicker on for only a moment before going off again. I couldn't shake the darkness that had come with that presence; it was completely unnerving. Like nothing but hatred had filled the air around me for a few seconds before it slowly faded away. My eyes scanned back and forth across the empty yard, but there was nothing but shadows slowly moving across the ground as the sun sank lower and lower.

I walked further outside and stopped in the middle of the lot, looking around.

"I know I felt something," I whispered to no one in particular.

"Very good, girl," a voice said from behind me. I froze, an ice cold shiver racing down my spine and rooting me to the ground. A terror I had never felt before suddenly took hold of me. My heart felt like it stopped beating and all I wanted to do was run as fast and as far as I could. "You should always trust that little voice."

I heard a crunching and knew whoever the voice belonged to was making his way closer to me. I heard a rustle of fabric and could feel him close behind me. I knew that voice. I had heard it before, sometime in the past. It made me uneasy, and not knowing why made me scared. Out of this fear, I reacted on impulse and spun around, throwing out my hands. A flash of lightning erupted from me but when the light dimmed, I could see that no one stood before me.

"There's no need to be afraid," the voice spoke again from behind me and I swung back around, my eyes widening in surprise. How did he move so fast?

"Sayuri!" I heard the shouts of the others as they ran out of the shop behind me. Ichigo reached me first, placing a hand on my shoulder and looking at me intently, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. As the others reached us, Ururu's small voice confirmed my fears.

"He was at the footprint," her small hand pointed across the yard to a corner now in shadow. Half hidden in the dark, stood the man I had seen before I almost passed out near the footprint weeks ago. He looked the same; his hair was long and black, tied into a braid that ran down his back. The little light that was left caused his skin to look pale and white. It shone beneath his robes which resembled the ones Renji wore except that there were no sleeves, and they were loosely tied so his chest was slightly exposed. The fabric was red with a strange pattern going up both sides. The more I stared at it, the more I realized it was the bottom half of a dragon.

"Yes, I was. Watching, as I have been. And waiting," he began to walk towards us and as his arms swung at his sides, I saw that the dragon patterns continued off of his robes, and onto his arms. They ran all the way down to his hands and ended with his palms being the mouths of both dragons. Weird tattoos.

I looked up into his face and suddenly wished I hadn't. His eyes locked onto mine and burned so fiery red I thought the world around me was going to erupt into flames. There was a strange gleam in his eyes that made my skin crawl; they ran over me like he was appraising a valuable object.

I knew instantly that I didn't like him, that he was bad news. An insatiable darkness radiated off of him like heat from a fire, and it made me sick. But I couldn't stop my curiosity. My mother had always said it would be the death of me.

"Waiting for what?" I asked.

"Why, for the day you would be fully born into your powers. I have been waiting quite a long time, after all." He grinned at me and suddenly I felt anger flash inside me as I took in everything about this strange man. Somewhere deep inside my mind something stirred. I knew this man from somewhere. I had seen him before and he had done something to make me hate him with a passion that frightened me.

Ichigo stepped in front of me, stopping the man from walking any further and I saw that he was now wearing the robes of a Soul Reaper. I felt a rustling at my elbow and looked over to see Renji had walked up to us as well, also in his uniform, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword which was tied at his waist. The man chuckled and I put my hand on Ichigo's arm. He looked back and me and it was a few moments before he stepped aside.

"You have cautious friends," the man remarked, crossing his hands behind his back.

"For good reason. You say you know me but you haven't exactly introduced yourself," I said, keeping my gaze fixed on the man. He laughed again and it made me grit my teeth.

"But you already know me, Sayuri Kobayashi." How does he know my name? I felt the anger drain from me, only to be replaced by a fear laced with uneasiness. Did I meet him that night…is that why I can't seem to remember him? He's not exactly someone easily forgotten though…. "As all daughters know their fathers."

All the air that had been in my lungs suddenly left in a gust that made me feel as if I had been punched in the stomach.

"What did you say?" Ichigo asked. I could hear reactions from the others still standing behind us near the shop, but I felt like I was caught in the middle of a nightmare, unable to move and unable to speak. I just stared at the ground with a sinking feeling inside me.

"No," I muttered. "No you're not." My hands balled into fists and I realized I felt like I was drowning. I scrambled to make sense of what I knew was the truth. "My father's dead. He died before I was born, my mother told me." My voice was getting steadily louder, and shakier. I had backed up a few steps and was shaking my head as if that would make his words go away. "She told me. You can't be my father. You're not my father!" He looked at me with pity in his eyes, as if I were an injured animal on the side of the road.

"I'm afraid that's not entirely false. I am dead, but, not in the finite way you are imagining. I would have thought after all this time among Soul Reapers you would have somewhat of a better understanding of how death works."

"So you're not a human," Renji said, his eyes narrowing. The man shook his head.

"Correct, Soul Reaper. I am not." He turned back to me, "But Sakura wished to keep you from me. From the truth."

"How do you know my mother?" I shouted at him, panicking now as his words were starting to make sense. There was a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach that was telling me he was telling the truth. Hadn't Urahara said that since my mother was a Soul Reaper, for me to have inherited Shadow powers my father would have had to be one? Could this man be a Shadow? They were spirit beings, which meant they weren't human as he just said. I had no idea why, but no matter how hard I wished it wasn't so, I somehow knew he wasn't lying.

"Sakura and I…we have a bit of a history together. We were lovers," he said, grinning in the most disgusting way. As if the memory was still pleasurable to him now. "How else do you think you were born, child?" He looked at me, and I felt the overwhelming urge to claw his eyes out. There was something that disturbed me about the way he said "lovers". It made my stomach squirm and I didn't want to hear him say anymore.

"Shut up," I snapped. Renji looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. "Don't talk about my mother." My palms were heating up and I struggled to keep myself in control. "And don't call yourself my father again." The grin slipped off his face and his mouth set in a straight line. His eyes suddenly lost all amusement and clouded over with harshness that almost swayed me from my anger.

"You can deny it all you want, child. But deep inside you, you know that I am who I say I am. You can feel it. I can tell that you do. You sensed my presence before any of these…silly creatures even knew what was happening. Shadows can do that, you know. We have heightened senses when it comes to dealing with our own kind, and can sense each other over an even wider distance than these Soul Reapers."

"You're a Shadow?" I whispered, not really needing him to answer. I now understood why his presence felt so familiar: it was identical to my own. In my mind, I reached out and when I felt him there, I went deeper. Spirit ribbons erupted around me, dancing in a nonexistent breeze, each the representation of people's spirit energies. There were several red ones, which I now knew from my training and education represented Soul Reapers. Looking around, I saw a few white ones as well that shone much brighter than others. Then I spotted my own, just like I had weeks ago when Urahara had taught me how to summon the ribbons in the first place.

It was a bolt of lightning, flickering with static electricity, but flowing in the wind as all the others did. Beyond it, I saw another distinct ribbon. It felt the same as mine, gave off the same aura. It was difficult to understand completely, but it was like recognizing the feel of water on your hands. You instantly know you're in water. The same went for the ribbons and spirit pressure in general. It was just a feeling that became natural to me. I knew the ribbon was the same as mine. But the Shadow man's was a flame; red and orange and hungrily reaching towards the sky.

"Come with me, Sayuri," I heard his voice echoing in my mind as I watched the flames of his ribbon dance before my eyes. "You belong with me. With your own kind, where I can show you sides of your powers that these people could never imagine." I stared into the fire and felt a surge of energy unlike anything I had ever felt before. Suddenly I felt larger than myself, larger than the yard and the shop and even the whole town. With one flick of my wrist I knew I could bring Karakura Town to its knees if I wanted to. I could bend them all to my command for my power was limitless. It was intoxicating and the pleasure from it spread through my veins like wildfire. "You know you want to," he whispered.

I was suddenly drawn back to that first day I met him, when he locked his crimson eyes on me for the first time. They had haunted me for weeks and even now I saw them before me, burning like the fire itself. There was a blackness in them, an emptiness, and a hatred that repelled me rather than attracted. They sent a warning shock through me that zapped away the pleasure of power. I wanted to run from him not join him. Something inside me was screaming for me to wake up, to remember things long forgotten.

There was a memory, a far off feeling of what having no control was like. The hopelessness and complete defeat was painful to remember. I suddenly felt trapped and pulled back. I would never wish those feelings upon anyone. I wanted nothing to do with this man and as I stared into the flame of his ribbon, it began to change. Suddenly, it grew larger with a roar and I felt myself fall backwards and hit the ground.

As I landed on my butt, my regular vision came back. Ichigo fell to his knee and threw up his arm to shield himself from the pressure the Shadow man was emitting. It rippled through the air, a slightly visible force field coming right at me. Suddenly, Renji was in front of me. One arm took his sword, swing it over his head, and held it against his back. He wrapped the other around my waist and pulled me to him. His body shook slightly as the force field made contact with his blade, and he clutched me tighter.

I looked up at him, terrified that he would be hurt, but his face was completely calm. He stared back at me, our faces closer than they had ever been.

"Now's not the time to try and do some soul searching," he said quietly. "Ichigo," he said, looking up. "I think it's time for him to leave." Ichigo nodded and began to stand up. Renji looked back down and me. "Ready?" I looked down and flexed my hands a few times. Nodding to him, I saw him prepare to move out of the way.

Closing my eyes, I let the confusing anger I had felt towards this man pulse through my body. He had no right claiming to be my father or to talk about my mother the way he had. And he certainly had no right to try and hurt my friends. This conversation was over. I was done talking to him, whoever he really was. I felt Renji let me go and allowed the energy to well up inside me. As soon as I felt he was far enough away, I opened my eyes.

Holding out my hands, I exhaled and released all of the energy towards the Shadow. The lightning shot across the yard faster than he could dodge it. I felt it make contact with his body just before he seemed to melt into the ground. It was like the shadows had swallowed him up whole. He then emerged from the wall to our right in an area that was all in shadow as well due to the setting sun. He was clutching his arm as it dripped something deep red onto the ground.

His eyes were glowing red now, and the air around us rippled again. But instead of another attack, there was a sudden outbreak of appearances throughout the yard. The shadows cast by the oncoming night began to morph and from them emerged several other figures from each of the corners of the lot.

There was a thin, blonde man in a gray sort of jumpsuit, a dark-haired woman in an ethereal blue dress that flowed over her like water, and a young man who wore a vest covered in what looked like tree roots. It was this one I noticed first, and he winked at me.

Renji, Ichigo, and I pressed our backs together so we were facing out towards the new intruders. I conjured up some more lightning into the palms of my hands and let it run up arms.

"Katsu," the blonde man drawled in a haughty voice, "You look just awful. Very unbecoming of a king." The woman sniggered, and the tree man stepped forward towards us.

"What did you expect? He just told this poor girl he was her father. I'd be pretty upset too." I backed up further against the boys. "Surely it's normal she'd take after him. We all know our king to have a bit of a short temper," he said smirking. He lowered his eyes and looked up at me through his lashes, his eyes becoming heavy and hypnotizingly sultry. For a few moments I couldn't move; he was mesmerizing. But then Renji elbowed me in the side and I loosed a bolt at the tree man's feet. He stopped walking and chuckled a bit.

"Oh, you want to play?" he asked, grinning dangerously.

"Enough!" Katsu shouted from near the wall where his arm seemed to have stopped bleeding. The dragon tattoos on his arms were glowing red, and I had a strange feeling that if he got angry enough fire would start shooting from his hands like my lightning shot from mine. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at me. "It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. My blood runs in your veins. I know because I put it there."

Renji grabbed my arm and started to pull me back behind him and Ichigo again, but Katsu wasn't finished.

"You can run from it as long as you want, but the truth is that you are a Shadow. You have inherited my legacy, not that silly coward of a Soul Reaper's. You can continue with this charade here in this…," he gestured at Urahara's shop, "hole in the wall. But I will tell you this. You will come to me one day when you realize who you truly are. When you understand your duty. You can't run from that no matter how hard you try! Something your fool of a mother realized too late," he smiled at me triumphantly and I couldn't hold in my anger any longer.

I screamed and ran at him. I placed my palms together and then pulled them apart, a sheet of lightning exploding from between them and racing towards Katsu. It tore up the ground and traveled faster than anything I had ever seen. His eyes widened and he suddenly pulled the hilt of a sword from his waist. His tattoos glowed brighter, and a red flame licked along them until it hit the hilt. It looked like the dragons were breathing fire into the sword as a blade of flames formed.

It cut right through my lightning like it was butter, sending it rocketing off in separate directions. I heard Urahara scream something at the kids and realized I couldn't be so reckless. As I came within reach of the fire blade I leapt into the air and flipped over Katsu's head, landing on my feet behind him. I spun around and sent a slash of lightning at his stomach but he blocked it with his sword just as quickly.

I felt something wrap itself around my ankle and looked down to see a vine trying to wind its way up my leg. A panic welled up inside my mind and I shot lightning down at it as well, falling over as I did. As it retreated I looked up to see Katsu glaring down at me. I tried to crawl like a crab backwards and away from him, but he was already too close.

"I was hoping we would have had more time to talk about all this but, like father like daughter after all," he said, no traces of affection on his cold face.

"You're not my father," I spat back at him. He grimaced but before he could make another move, I saw a gleam of metal out of the corner of my eye. A familiar serrated sword blade almost took off one of Katsu's arms, if another vine hadn't wrapped around his middle and pulled him back.

"Get out of there, Sayuri!" Renji yelled from the other end of the blade, and I took his advice. I jumped to my feet and raced back to where he was standing. Ichigo grabbed me and pushed me between himself and Renji.

I looked out at Katsu and saw his glowing eyes staring back as he stood there with the others. Who were they? Were they Shadows also? They had called him their king as well…what could that mean?

"You will see, Sayuri," he called from the other end of the lot. "You will no longer be able to run." He then stepped back and they all melted in to the shadows, but not before the tree man blew me a kiss. For a few moments we all stayed alert, keeping our eyes open in case it was a trick and they were about to come back. Urahara stood near the shop with Tessai and Yuroichi. The kids must be inside, I thought, relieved. Hopefully they didn't get hurt.

When enough time passed, I took a deep breath and let myself de-tense.

"Well," I said, forcing myself to smile. "He seemed nice."

"Yes," Urahara said, walking towards me. "And I have a feeling this is just the beginning of your happy family reunion." I swallowed hard and looked around the yard at the numerous shadows that now inhabited it as the sun finally slipped below the edge of the world. I had never been afraid of the dark, but perhaps this was a good time to start considering it.