k guys so my awesome friend R totally turned me on to some typos in this chapter and some mistakes i've made so I went back and fixed them for you =] enjoy guys!

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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 my latest followers: Ducky the Insomniac Panda, TheDeavil, fearlessdreamerr, Green-eyed Grinch, The Woman on a Flaming Pie, and ILuvKellanForever

Chapter 14

"Stop it, Jinta!" Ururu begged quietly as she brushed snow off of the top of her head for the third time since we had left the store. I shook out the hood of her jacket where most of it had fallen and looked around for the little brat. The tips of his bright red hair were sticking out from behind a pile of snow that had been plowed to the side of the road. His giggles bounced off the walls of the side street and I put a finger to my lips, signaling Ururu to keep quiet.

Bending down, I scooped up a handful of snow and began packing it together. Ururu watched me warily, like always, not a hint of amusement on her face but I knew she'd get a kick out of it. Being as quiet as I could, I hurried around the corner behind where Jinta was hiding. Just as I thought, there was a dumpster resting against the wall. Placing the snowball gingerly in my pocket, I hopped up onto the lid, the snow muffling any sounds I made. I climbed up to the top of the wall behind Jinta's hiding spot and crouched down. Just as he was peeking over the top of his mini fort to see why we had gone quiet, I launched my snowball at the back of his head. He let out a shout and slipped on the snow, falling forward over his pile of snow and sliding to a stop at Ururu's feet. I jumped down next to him and started laughing, seeing the confused look on his face.

"No fair!" he shouted, standing up and rubbing the back of his head where his hair was now dark and wet with melted snow. "You can't attack me from behind!"

"Says who?" I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him.

"Says me! Ow!" A black streak cut through the air and landed on Jinta's head.

"Will the both of you just shut up," Yuroichi hissed. Jinta swatted at her and she jumped to the ground nimbly. Sitting down, she licked one of her paws. "The sun's going down. It'll be freezing soon, so let's just focus on getting home."

"You're just jealous 'cause you don't have thumbs to throw snow with," Jinta pointed out right before he lobbed a rather lumpy snowball at the cat. She screeched and jumped a good five feet into the air before landing on all four feet.

"You just wait 'til I show you what I can do with claws instead," she hissed at him, her fur standing on end before she launched herself at him and began to chase him down the street. I couldn't help but start laughing. When Jinta slipped on a patch on ice and fell flat on his face, my sides felt like they were going to split open. And when Yuroichi jumped on his back and started pulling his hair with her teeth, I was convinced they had.

Beside me, Ururu sighed and started walking after them, but not before I noticed the smallest trace of a smile on her stoic little face. A strong gust of wind whistled its way up the street from behind me, snaking over my coat's collar and down my neck. I shivered and hunched my shoulders, shoving my hands down into my pockets. The weather had steadily begun to grow colder over the past few weeks as the end of the year worked its way closer and closer.

I yawned and bent down to pick up the grocery bags Jinta had dropped. We were on our way back to the shop when we ran into Yuroichi who was out on patrol again. Lately, things had been very quiet on the evil spirit being front. Too quiet according to Kisuke. There had been no hints of Hollows or signs of the Shadows anywhere. No trace left behind at all and that was worrisome. It made me feel like we were getting the calm before the storm, as if any moment the air would just cleave in two and hell would be unleashed. At least that's what would happen in my nightmares.

Ever since the first one all those weeks ago, I had been having bad dreams almost regularly. Every couple days or so I would close my eyes and drift off to a world where my father tore open the sky and stepped down into Karakura town. He would stomp around at a few stories tall, zapping into oblivion dream versions of my friends and my mom and even Emiko and Isamu. I would wake up drenched in sweat either on the floor or tangled up in my sheets so badly that it was like wearing a strait jacket. A few more holes showed up on my wall that I quickly covered with more flyers and announcements from school. I somehow managed to convince my stepparents that the sounds they heard were me knocking into things on my end table during the night and them hitting the floor.

Last night had been particularly bad. In my dream I had watched both Jinta and Ururu get destroyed right in front of me and as I held their limp bodies, felt nothing but the deepest fear and hatred rising inside me. I woke up screaming and thrashing around on the floor and after that couldn't fall back asleep. I hated those dreams. I hated the feelings I had within them, such extremes of anger and sadness and loneliness and power. I always felt the power with which I knew I could crush my father and yet I never used it. I was afraid of it, just like in my waking hours.

I could feel my feet dragging in the snow as I walked up to Jinta, still suffering the wrath of his furry attacker. The crunch of my feet on the small white crystals seemed to bounce off the walls around us that blocked the yards from the street. Each one echoed back, magnifying in sound and making it seem like something much bigger was following right behind us. My mind began to wander, and it was then that I felt it.

A sudden shift in the air around me, so subtle, like the movement of air when someone walks slowly past you. But I still felt it and stopped dead in my tracks. What was that? I reached out with my mind to sense what presence had just surfaced but came back empty handed. Figuratively that is. I looked over my shoulder at the empty street behind me. Nothing was there except a few swirls of snow. Suddenly I felt the shift again, this time from farther in front of us. I spun around, my eyes scanning the tops of the walls and streetlights. But again, there was nothing there and as soon as I reached out to feel for the culprit, the feeling vanished.

It was hard to understand what exactly I was feeling. It was like standing outside a pool of water while…something swam around inside. Every time it surfaced, the water would ripple around it and for a moment, a swatch of its skin was visible. But as soon as it appeared, it vanished beneath the ripples again before I could tell what it even was. I could feel ripples in the air around me, not so much in the form of shifting winds but shifting spiritual pressures. I could feel it in my mind. It was like it was playing hide-and-seek with me. I wasn't in the mood for games.

Looking ahead, I saw that the others hadn't sensed a thing. They were still walking on: Jinta nursing a few cuts and bruises, Yuroichi lecturing, and Ururu in silence. I was confused. I mean, the shifts were subtle but not unnoticeable. How could they not have sensed anything? Something Urahara had said to me one day during training pushed its way to the forefront of my thoughts.

"As a Shadow, you're going to have abilities none of us will. You'll be able to do things and sense things the rest of us can't, especially when it comes to other Shadows. You all share a similar makeup and are therefore connected in a deeper way." A chill ran down my spine. Could that be why no one else sensed the shifts? Because they couldn't? Because it wasn't any old spirit being causing them? It had to be a Shadow.

"But which one," I said aloud. Just then I felt another shift very close behind me, and with it, a burning desire to consume and devour. Not even turning around to look, I shot forward and was right behind the kids in less than a second, using flash step for the first time since the incident underneath the Karakura shop. I grabbed both kids around the waists and shot into the air, ignoring their sudden shouts of protest and confusion. I landed on a nearby roof and let them go, spinning around to look back at the street.

Underneath the pavement, I could see something. There was a shadow on the ground, as if being cast by some giant creature on the under side of the pavement. I stared at it, feeling the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was laced with a terror that was usually reserved for my nightmares and that erupted within me every time I thought of my father. Please don't let it be him. Please.

"Sayuri!" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked down to see Yuroichi perched on the tiles beside me.

"You can't feel it?" I looked into her large yellow eyes and wished I could somehow make her see. Make them all see.

"Feel what!?" Jinta shouted. I looked back at the ground. The shadow was still there. I could feel them all staring at me, but this time I had no concern whether I looked crazy to them. I knew what I felt. I knew that it had something to do with the Shadows even if no one else could sense it. If there was one thing that stuck with me through all of my training so far, it was to accept that I was different. I was going to be able to see and hear and feel things only Shadows could. I had learned not to completely reject it. But I got to thinking, what if this thing manifests? Do we run? I was certainly not going to use my powers again, that was for sure. I wouldn't take the chance of missing and hurting one of the kids, or anyone else around me, ever again.

"What is it, Sayuri?" Yuroichi stood up and followed my gaze to the icy pavement below.

"I don't know." I shook my head. "Something big. And hungry." A harsh laugh cut through the air and we all looked to the left. On top of one of the lampposts there sat a young man who was not exactly dressed for the weather. I recognized him: he had been one of the Shadows in the yard when I met my father.

"Oh, he's hungry all right!" His laugh sounded again, cold and hard, cutting right through the frozen wind. He hopped to his feet nimbly and fixed his eyes on mine. It was in that moment that I knew I didn't like him. The way he looked at me, his eyes slowly making their way around my face and then down my body just creeped me out. I shivered and he grinned. "He's quite hard to control when he's this hungry. I haven't let him eat in days just so that we could come out to play today. He's getting angry. I don't think I'll be able to hold him back and you have the highest amount of spirit energy for miles around. It would be pretty hard to hide seeing as you're just a baby Shadow after all." He crossed his arms over his bare chest and laughed again.

His skin was lightly tanned and smooth underneath an open brown vest. From farther away it looked like it was made of the bark of a tree, all different shades of brown and black and gray. Patches of moss seemed to grow on it, soft and velvety. His pants were rather tight and brown, as were the heeled boots he wore. His auburn hair was messy and rumpled as if he had just rolled out of bed, and he would have been attractive if he didn't give me the creeps. Plus, I didn't like the way the vines growing out of the back of his vest seemed to be moving as if they were alive.

I grabbed handfuls of the kids' shirts and pulled them both behind me, not really sure what my plan was. I wanted to look back down to the street to see what was happening, but I was uneasy about taking my eyes off of the tree man.

"Who are you," I asked as I felt Ururu's hand grip my shirt. The man faked offense and placed a hand over his chest as if I'd wounded him.

"You don't remember? We go way back, Sayuri," he said, grinning again.

"How do you know my name."

"Isn't it obvious?" He stopped smiling, and his face suddenly looked lethal. "I've been following you." A chill that had nothing to do with the wind spread through my body. I felt my eyes widen as I pushed the kids closer together behind me. "But you only sensed me today, because I wanted you to."

"Why do you want her to know you're here," Yuroichi demanded stepping out from behind me. "And who are you?" The man raised his eyebrows, surely taken a little by surprise that I was accompanied by a talking cat. Nevertheless, he smiled and jumped from the light to our rooftop. I took a step back, keeping the kids behind me, and he laughed softly, fixing his eyes on me again.

"Name's Mikio, kitty cat. And what man wouldn't want to be noticed by such a…delicious Shadow as this one." He cocked his head and his eyes didn't move from mine. It didn't matter, I still felt violated anway. His words dripped with a greasy suaveness I recognized from living in Hidori. Sometimes, at night when you walked past the bars, the drunk men stumbling out of the doors would shout similar things to anyone they could discern was a female. Even though their words slurred, and their vision was probably blurry, I had always felt a threat underneath the pick-up lines and come-ons. It was there now, in Mikio's words, and for some reason it made me angry. The way he was smiling and grinning at me like I was some piece of meat he was sizing up. It was disgusting.

"What do you want," I said, sounding tougher than I really felt.

"Nothing really, gorgeous," he said, his face turning into a mask of innocence. "I just wanted to warn you about my friend down there, that's all. Before it was too late and that pretty face of yours got ruined." He grinned again. If Renji or Ichigo had been there, they would have laid this guy out flat already for talking to me like that. The thought of Renji made me feel a bit better, knowing how tough he would be if he were there. I had the courage to pull my eyes away from Mikio and look down at the street.

The shadow wasn't just a shadow anymore. It was a glob, slowly rising out of the pavement and forming itself into some kind of creature. I watched as it began to sprout arms. Two, three, four…then two legs. Finally, a head began to emerge from the center of the glob, white with hollow black and yellow eyes. I dropped my gaze to its chest, and saw there a hole that ran clean through its body. A Hollow. Mikio began to laugh again, and the creature turned its head to face us all on the roof.

"Smells like dinner," it said, not moving its mouth to speak.

"Move!" Yuroichi shouted, but I didn't need her warning. I knew the Hollow was going to strike seconds before it began to move. Turning around, I grabbed the kids again and leapt to the next rooftop. We were already halfway there when one of the Hollow's giant fists came down on the tiles, smashing them to bits.

"We have to get out of here!" I yelled to the cat. I didn't want to destroy another home. Wrapping my arms tightly around Ururu and Jinta, I started hopping from one rooftop to the other, heading towards a part of town where I knew there would be less houses to demolish. Once we got to the river I stopped and let go of the kids. I put a hand on both of their shoulders.

"You need to run home. Get out of here, you got me?" I looked at them both, hoping the urgency in my voice would scare them into running.

"But what about you?" Jinta asked and for the first time I saw clear concern in his eyes.

"Yes, what about you, sweetheart?" a voice drawled in my ear. I lashed out with my arm, but Mikio was too quick. As my body spun in the direction of my punch, I felt him appear on my other side. "Over here, love." I turned to see him standing directly behind the kids.

"Run!" I shouted as I launched myself at them. Mikio disappeared and the ground began to shake. As I reached the kids, the air was wrenched apart by that familiar howling that Hollows were so well known for. It had found us, and it was too late for the kids to get away unnoticed. Tripping over ourselves, I grabbed their wrists and started running, pulling them along with me. But the Hollow wasn't going to let his dinner get away that easily. He howled again and began to run after us, shaking the earth so hard I was sure the whole planet could feel it. Suddenly, Ururu tripped over a rock and her hand slid out of my grasp.

I turned and ran back to her just as the Hollow reached her. Throwing myself over her, I braced myself for the impact. Sure enough, the Hollow's giant fist came whistling towards me and smashed into my left side sending me flying through the air to land farther down the riverbank. I stood up, my side throbbing, sure I had broken something, to see the Hollow looming over Ururu. Jinta was kneeling at her side, his arms thrown around her neck as they awaited their turn.

I began to run back at them as fast as my legs would take me, getting as much force and momentum behind me as I possibly could. I passed the kids and launched myself into the air, flipping over so that my feet made contact with the Hollow's chest. He flew backwards off his feet, kicking up snow and dirt as he went. I landed neatly and ran back to the kids, not bothering to watch as the giant got back up and collected himself.

Pulling Ururu to her feet, I brushed her off quickly.

"Just use your lightning!" Jinta shouted at me. "What are you doing? You could take him down easy!" I looked at him, exasperated. I was not about to get into the complexities of my inner turmoil and self-loathing with a ten year old.

"I just can't," I told him, looking down and taking Ururu's hand in mine. There was a small scar that ran across the top of it, currently hidden beneath her mitten, but I knew it was there. We all did. Jinta threw his hands up.

"Then we're dead meat!"

"Jinta," Ururu implored quietly.

"Everybody screws up you know!" he continued to shout at me. "Just get over it! Are you really gonna let it stop you from doing your job?" I stared at him. My job? The Hollow screamed from behind us, and without even thinking about it, I threw my body on top of the kids, praying and silently screaming for some way to keep them safe.

As the Hollow's footsteps grew closer, I readied myself for the crushing final blow. I began to feel a warmth in my chest as my heart beat faster and faster. It grew hotter and hotter, like white fire, and suddenly shot outwards and down the path of my scars. I begged myself not to lose control, letting myself feel just how close the kids were to me. But no lightning came.

Suddenly I felt the impact of the Hollow's attack, but no pain, only a heavy pressure on my back. The force of the blow caused the kids and me to sink into the ground a bit, and a shower of red rained down on us from above. A scream tore through the air, and suddenly the pressure on my back let up until it was gone completely. I spun around to see the Hollow staggering backwards, cradling a hand to his chest, dripping dark red all over the pristine white snow. What the hell…?

It was then I noticed movement to my right. Turning to look I rubbed my eyes a bit, worried I might be hallucinating. A woman was standing not too far away from us. She wore tight black pants that tucked into thigh high white boots. Black fabric was wrapped several times around her chest instead of a shirt and over that she wore a white robe that looked as if the sleeves and hemming had been singed off. The robe had a hood that covered her head, but her brown hair tumbled out from under it in loose, glossy curls. I couldn't make out her face very well because she wore some kind of black fabric that covered everything under her eyes. As I watched her, I noticed that the edges of her body frequently fizzled quickly in and out of focus, like the picture on a television when there was interference. Like static electricity. She was so unlike anyone I had ever seen, I couldn't help but stare.

She must have sensed me watching her because suddenly she turned to face me and I let out a gasp. As her eyes met mine, I felt like I was looking into a mirror. An identical shade of light crystal blue stared back at me, at the same height too. She began to take slow, even steps through the snow towards me and time seemed to slow down. Never once did she break our gaze in the eternity it seemed to take until she was standing a few feet in front of me.

"You buzzed?" Her voice was quiet, yet full of a defiant strength and authority. There was a hint of danger there as well, which did not go unnoticed.

"Who are you?" I whispered, unable to find my voice, and for some reason afraid that if I spoke too loudly she would disappear, only a figment of my imagination. I couldn't exactly put my finger on why I was so shocked that this woman was here. It might have been that we could have been twins, or perhaps the strange feeling of déjà vu. Like I already knew her….

"I am you. Or parts of you, really. The most essential and powerful parts all manifested into something that can keep you safe. Something that can help you do your job." My job. She held out her hand and dropped something heavy into mine. Looking down, my eyes widened as I realized I was now holding a sword. Her sword. "It's not just a sword, kid." I looked up surprised. Can she read my mind? Almost immediately she responded, sounding annoyed, "Did I not just say I was a part of you? Your mind is a part of you isn't it…."

"Yes. Sorry," I insisted, holding up my other hand to calm her down. Looking back at the sword, I adjusted my grip on the handle. There was a thick, dark red liquid dripping off the blade onto the snow where it spread out like wisps of smoke. I held it up in front of me, my eyes taking in every little detail. "It's a zanpakutō, isn't it?" I asked, glancing up at the woman. She nodded once.

"It's me. I am the power that lives within that blade, and I wascreated by you. The power of a Soul Reaper swims in your veins, and it has lain dormant behind a wall for some time. Lately, there have been many cracks in that wall and I have been able to slip through until you finally heard my call and set me free yourself. But understand something, kid." She stepped forward and grabbed my chin with hands protected by fingerless leather gloves. "You are not my master. You do not own me. I am my own entity. But," she let me go and held up a finger. "If you ask nicely, I will lend you my strength. My job that was given to me by you, is to protect, you understand?" My job is to protect.

If this woman's, my zanpakutō's, job was to defend, then it had to be mine as well. She was a part of me, making our purposes one in the same. Even if my powers scared the shit out of me, they could keep me safe. And most importantly, they could keep the kids safe. And at the moment, that was all that mattered. Not who my father was or what kind of wreckage I could leave behind. But those two children and getting them home safely. Getting everyone home safely. My job is to protect. Perhaps that could be my lifeline to keep me from falling into the footsteps of my father as well.

"Yes," I answered, more power behind my voice than I expected. "I understand. So please, will you lend me your power to keep the people I love safe?" The corners of her eyes turned up in what I figured was a smile. I smiled back. "Thank you, um…" I trailed off, realizing I didn't know her name yet. Or if she even had one, if I created her.

"Raiu," she whispered before fizzling out and disappearing. Raiu. Thunderstorm… I grinned.

"Well, that's appropriate," I said to myself.

"Woah!" Jinta shouted beside me. "Where'd that come from?" Time had snapped back into real-speed and I looked over at the kids. Ururu was still sitting on the ground, cradling Yuroichi in her arms and Jinta stood behind them staring bug-eyed at my new weapon. I gripped the hilt tighter in my right hand and looked down at the blade. It was so thin, but I could still feel the weight of it. The power that it held. Deadly power. I then realized I had never even held a sword before, let alone used one. You'll be fine, a voice said inside my head. Just trust me. And yourself. I swallowed hard, gritting my teeth. I had a job to do after all.

"Doesn't matter where it came from. It's our way out of here," I said, looking at the kids. Jinta raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Take Ururu and run home as fast as you can. I don't know if I'll be able to kill this thing but I may be able to hold it off long enough for you to go get help." Jinta nodded and grabbed Ururu's arm. She let go of Yuroichi who sprinted to my side.

"I'll stay with you. I may be able to do something," she said, the hair on her back standing on end as she eyed the Hollow still nursing his wound about a mile away

"Ok," I agreed. Looking back and Jinta and Ururu I said, "Now go!" They took off and I turned back to the monster, steeling myself for what could be my last moments not splattered like jelly across the river bank. I slipped off my jacket and let it fall onto the snow.

"Alright," Yuroichi said, "You're at least holding that thing right so we're off to a good start." I grimaced, keeping an eye on the Hollow. He seemed to be getting over his little cut, the anger becoming more evident by the second as he began scraping his feet on the ground much like an animal before it charges. "Now, the main thing you want to remember is to go for its-"

"Head," I finished. "Got it." The Hollow threw its head back, letting out another atmosphere shattering howl, and I fought not to drop Raiu and cover my ears. As it ended, he began running towards me, his feet crashing into the ground like boulders. Let's go kick some ass, Raiu growled in my head. I grinned and began walking towards the Hollow. With every step I started to move faster and faster until we were both charging towards one another.

"Hold it with both hands!" Yuroichi shouted to me. "You can do more damage that way!"

Once there were only a few yards left between myself and the Hollow, I crouched down as far as possible, and pushed off the ground. Using my flash step to help me out, I launched myself into the air high above the creature's head. He stopped running and looked up at me, leaving himself unguarded and in the perfect position for my attack. While in the air, I lifted my zanpakutō over my head and brought my left hand to the hilt, just below my right. As I reached the peak of my jump, I felt my heart sputter in excitement as I began to fall back through the air. Now!

With a shout and all the strength I could muster, I swung my zanpakutō downward and felt it make contact with the Hollow's masked head at just the right time. It felt like slicing through butter with a warm knife. I watched as Raiu's blade traveled fluidly through bone mask, then flesh, all the way until my feet hit the ground. As everything stopped, all I could hear was my own breathing, heavy with exertion. It was as if I could feel every single drop of blood dripping off my face and arms. I was so aware of everything around me in that moment. Looking up, I watched in slow motion as the two halves of the Hollow fell towards the ground. Once they landed, they began to break up into small particle-like pieces, just as they had when Renji had killed that Hollow in the park all those weeks ago. They floated upwards until they disappeared into nothing, leaving only a pool of blood behind to suggest that a monster had ever even been there in the first place.