The Other One

by I've got Rhythm in my Soul

Enter Mai Li, new student, non-conformist, social retard and all around doomed teen. Meeting Ichigo Kurosaki just made it worse...

9. The Importance of Being Ichigo Part 1

Disclaimer: Thou shall not dare own Bleach… except its originals.

Sorry, guys. Really don't have any time at all to reply to your reviews on here (I'm currently in the middle of a lecture...). Will expand on the reviews shortly I promise.

Thank you.

Chapter 8:

The Importance of Being (who you are) Ichigo (and nothing else) Part 1

Mai

I realised a long time ago that it takes but a moment for the world to change around you. Until of course you realise that it is in fact you who has changed. This night was one of those glaring moments.

I felt lopsided; I'd more or less crawled up the stairs, seemingly avoiding the perkiness of Pei in the process and almost fell into my fortress of solitude, such as it is.

My arm was a lost cause.

By the way the limb screamed 'PAINFUL' in bold capitals I was almost certain I'd fractured it… with my own energy. I'd actually managed to hurt myself with the uncontrolled rawness of my power. I hadn't been far off the mark when I'd referred to myself as a freak of nature.

There were bandages stored away in the cabinet of the bathroom in case of emergencies but I didn't think using them as a means of bracing would help at all. Thinking about what to do next I came within a hair's breath of calling my aunt for aid; she'd studied medicine before I was born, but the realisation that she'd ask me questions about how I'd injured my arm without causing surface damage knocked me back before I could take even a single step towards my bedroom door.

I didn't know what to do.

And I knew I'd have to find a suitable lie to use in future. It was obvious that this might be the first of many future injuries.

Oh… joy.

And what brilliant timing.

The first year at high school was the year a student was scrutinized the most and placed in abject categories designed to weed out the trouble makers from the elitist do-gooders and top model students.

It was also the year in which the family would begin to notice the subtle changes in their members.

So for all this to happen now and not five years down the line when I would be a fully grown adult… really bad timing.

I let out a sigh and moved into the coolness of the bathroom. The dark cupboard was nailed and sealed to the wall next to the large black framed mirror positioned parallel to the shower. With nothing else to help myself with I began wrapping my arm tightly in bandage material and adhesive tape. I forced myself to breathe slowly through my clenched teeth; it came out in a hiss. The more I wound the material the more excruciating the pain became. The limb shook and even worse it was my right hand, my dominant hand.

The fingers of my left gripped at the white sink in front of me. Releasing the marble I brushed the hand roughly through my hair, untangling the knots absently and forced myself to calm down.

I felt incredibly on edge in my own home; the space I perceived to be a safe haven. I could feel the pressure of the town throbbing on my shoulders; a live weight of emotion, sin, reitsu, energy, life, and death leaving finger trails of wants, wishes, knowledge and fears over my soul.

But I didn't want to drown in it so I forced it to become white noise. The more I tried the more it tickled and pulled at me incessantly.

When I'd left Kurosaki I'd given Urahara a call. The fact that the hollows had been acting suspiciously and overly intensive had nipped at the back of my conscious since before I'd met up with my friends. Having it confirmed that I'd been used as a display for a scientists intrigue didn't make me feel better about it either.

Saying yes to his question though, I admit, made me feel somewhat… relieved.

Desire so deeply entrenched within the purpose of my being had been satisfied with my acquiescence to the plea of the verve laced throughout Karakura.

So ultimately I was a quinki-dink of epic proportions.

As I walked home the darkness stretched around me had hummed. Rather than the natural absence of presence within the void I'd felt instead, once again surrounded. The fabric of the divide between worlds was slowly weakening and I felt as if the smallest amount of pressure would unearth a horde of monstrosities.

I also couldn't help but think that Urahara had glazed over the topic of demonic entry into this world, the world of the living as he called it. That there was far more to the tale that he'd happily skipped over .

And he'd done so for my sake.

Welcome to Karakura Town: host to Hollows, yokai and soul reapers… trespass carefully.

When my mobile sung its too cheery song I accidentally banged my head against the side of the cabinet.

Mental note to self: change the tune before the next morning or else suffer an incredible drop in IQ and emotional leniency.

It reminded me too much of Urahara. Great.

I grimaced at the dull reflection of myself in the mirror. Then pushed off against the sink and turned slowly moving my sluggish self out of the bathroom. The soft wool of the carpet beneath my feet felt incredibly soothing in comparison to the chilled marble of the bathroom floor tiles. I plopped down at the end of my bed and grabbed my phone out of the school bag at my feet.

I glanced at the caller ID and blinked. Then my fingers worked at speed to answer; my good hand fumbled with the buttons.

"Ichigo?"

Immediately I felt a rush of red flash up my neck. It had just come out. Without my consent. Again. Oh, someone… just… shoot me. In the foot. I give thee permission. My premeditated rules for social etiquette were being broken down one by one.

By him, as per usual, but he didn't seem to mind.

"You killed a hollow with your fingers."

I blinked. His voice was soft with drowsiness but the undertone of disbelief was still evident.

"Shouldn't you be going to sleep?" I glanced at my watch; it wasn't late yet but he could do with the extra hours.

"I tried, believe me." I heard rustling in the background; bed covers being shifted. "I kept quiet on the way back but… Mai how did you do that?"

"Well…"

"I haven't slept properly in close to 48 hours and any energy I regained was used up killing hollows. I'm that tired, and yet I still can't sleep because every time I close my eyes all I see is you. Glowing and shoving a hand through the skull of a hollow. What. The. Hell. Mai?"

…Wow.

He'd seemed fine on the way back; I'd figured I'd have the rest of the night to think of what to do and say the following morning but… in fact I thought, by the composed expression he upheld as he'd pulled me forward that he wasn't even surprised by the sight of me… glowing.

Earlier

"Are you sure?" He said; his eyes flickered over my face searching for clues.

I smiled softly. "Yeah."

We'd stopped at an interchange and the hymn of traffic sounded out to us as we stood in a corner alley. Home was just ten minutes due north for me but Kurosaki's was maybe two minutes away… it had taken that long to convince him to allow me to walk the rest of the way. He just looked so… tired.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry about er, that." He gestured towards my arm. "I didn't mean to grip so hard."

I blinked. "You didn't." And I'd understood too. He'd needed to have a corporeal grasp on something he could control, something he could fix, could make better.

So he'd gone with his all-pervading urge to protect. The fact that it was me he'd chosen to focus on did nothing but confuse me.

The tired smile he gave me spoke volumes of his appreciation.

I shook my head and brought myself back to the present. "What do you want me to say? I thought the action was pretty self-explanatory."

There was a brief silence; I heard an annoyed sigh before he spoke again. His tired drawl was slight, his voice quiet, and his tone no-nonsense.I pictured him sitting in the natural night light of his room, leaning the back of his head against a wall, his eyes closed and the scowl on his face softened in his self-imposed isolation.

"You just shoved your fingers into its mask. Your fingers Mai. It was unreal. So don't tell me it was just 'pretty self-explanatory'."

I bit my lip at his manner. "It was my first time; I don't really know how I did it." I answered honestly.

"You always say something like that." He groaned.

Beyond annoyed with myself at how insecure suddenly I felt I closed my eyes. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Wait, what? Hey, I'm not…" I heard him exhale. "Look, I'm not getting at you. It's just… it's really frustrating. Do you have any idea how that looked out there?"

Well, yes considering I was in its epicentre. I furrowed my brows. "Was it really that surprising? I mean, after the… after the other night…" I meant to say after I'd gone nuclear but, well, it was a sensitive subject for me. It's not everyday you blow up.

"The other night?" He paused for a second before I heard him suck in a breath. "Jesus Christ, that really was you."

I heard someone exclaim, 'that was her?!' in a loud whisper in the background with him and I groaned internally. Ichigo more or less ignored it though.

My eyes stared down towards the carpet.

"Guilty."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What could I have said that wouldn't sound completely… insane?"

"Good point."

"Thank you."

"So, do you want to tell me about it?" I noted his use of words and choice of syntax; do you want to tell 'me' rather than do you want to talk about it in general?

"I experienced a moment of awakening. No biggie."

He laughed quietly and it surprised me; he really must be tired. "You blew up and it was 'no biggie'?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Well, it's not like it was a big thing." I shifted my bottom up on the mattress using my feet for leverage until my back rested comfortably against the headboard.

"Right. It was just a tiny energy bomb." He said dryly.

"Absolutely. Tiny, tiny explosion."

"It felt kinetic."

"Sorry?"

"The blast. I was thinking about it. It blew everything away but you didn't actually hurt anybody."

My head tilted to the side as I thought about it. "It makes sense considering I don't possess any evil intent towards the innocent civilians of Karakura."

"Say what?"

"Emotive and physical intention has a pretty volatile effect on my energy dispersal." I explained.

"Oh, ah erm, okay then. Oh wait, is that why you went nuclear? Because you lost control of your emotions?"

The intuitive leap threw me. I mean I knew he was smart but, the guy didn't always show it. "Not… exactly." How was I supposed to convey across to him that his reitsu had pushed my own energy into blasting its way back into my life… but wasn't actually the cause of it.

Realisation hit me for a moment.

It pushed its way back into my life?"

Then what had originally made my power sleep beneath the surface of my subconscious all this time?

Very good question Mai.

It took me a minute to realise he was talking to someone on his end and with a brief frown I pressed my ear closer to the receiver.

"What?" Someone said something to him and he huffed. "Alright, alright, I'll ask. Just shut up before my dad hears you." He cleared his throat. "Mai?"

"Er, yes."

"Rukia wants to know if there was a…" He paused and pulled his mouth away from the phone. "A what?" He queried to Rukia again and I heard a feminine whisper hiss at him.

"A stimulus. She wants to know if there was a stimulus to your wake up call. Whatever that means…" He muttered.

The corner of my mouth involuntary tugged upwards. "Wake up call?"

"Had to come up with something on fly." I could almost see his brash shrug; something I had great difficulty in attempting to pull off.

I tread carefully. "There was an initial stimulus." I admitted. "But there was never really a cause par se in the first place. Apparently I've always been this way. The inevitable emission last night was the breakdown of a block that had existed to previously contain my energy within me."

"Oh…Pretty severe reaction."

"Hm."

"Did it hurt?" He queried hesitantly.

"Nope. Not a bit."

"Uh huh."

"Okay, how would you describe a massive, internal accumulation of energy that resulted in an outburst that rocked the surrounding atmosphere as well as your insides?" I really didn't want to go into detail about how much that had actually hurt me.

"Right… Sorry."

"Why? It wasn't your fault."

Even though in a way it was. I bit my lip.

His breathed slowly. "I suppose."

"About tonight…" I began but paused when I noticed my bedroom door slowly open out of the corner of my eye. My face crinkled in puzzlement as the moment drew out.

Then Pei's head popped out of the small opening.

I frowned, puzzled. Er…

Her head tilted sideways and her petit hands grasped the door's edge. "Who're you talking to?" She asked innocently.

Innocently… Riiiggghhhtt.

Seated on my bed with my phone in one hand against my ear as the other laid limp with pain on my lap there wasn't much else I could do but look at her. "Ichigo Kurosaki." I said at a snail's pace.

"My whole name? What's with that?" I heard him say over the line.

"One second." I muttered at him.

A large smile broke over Pei's face. "Really?"

I had a feeling that Pei had been holding back on the subject of my friends; but I feared all that was about to change. She stepped out joyfully from behind the door and closed it too with her butt.

"Oooh, can I say hi? Can I? Please?" She whined pleadingly.

I blinked at her and tried to ignore Kurosaki's questioning grunt.

"Ah…" Once again I had no idea what to do.

"Yay!" She 'squeed'. She'd officially laid claim to the creation of the word when I mentioned it the previous day.

She practically bounced over to my bed with the graceful air of a ballerina in the crux of her performance. Plopping lightly next to me she reached out with a perfectly manicured right hand and held it out palm up.

Politely bewildered and figuring that I was royally screwed either way I haltingly handed her the device and watched, wondering with a perverse sort of curiosity as to what his reaction would be.

Pei beamed and quick as a flash had the phone against her ear.

"WHY HELLO THERE!"

This she happily projected to the neighbourhood and I heard him curse. A hand shot out and wormed its way behind my back gripping onto my shoulder to pull me closer so that our arms were touching. With a chirp and a smile she tilted the phone towards me so that I may hear his replies. I raised a brow at her but she just shrugged.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Pei!" As if that explained everything.

"Your Pei?" I heard him reply deadpan.

"Yep!"

"Great. Wait, you mean Mai's cousin?"

She looked absolutely thrilled. "That's me!" Even her eyes sparkled and she twisted so that I could clearly see her face. 'You talk about me?! REALLY?!' Her lips mouthed at me noiselessly and I sweat dropped.

"Ooookay… Yo."

She pulled her ear away from the mobile for a second and flashed me an impressed grin. "This guy's choc filled with attitude. How do you resist it?"

"Huh?" I heard him ask dully.

"Huh?" I said at the same time.

Resist what?

Pei continued to blabber on, oblivious (or uncaring) of the consequences.

"And grouchy as hell but that only adds to the flavour." She tattled with a significant smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She waved a dismissive hand through the air and almost hit me with it as her bobbed hair flowed gently about her.

I arched a brow at her in confusion. "Flavour?" Was Pei speaking a different language tonight?

"Flavour?"

"Wow, you two are in sync!" Her expression lit up with anticipation and completely ignoring my own perplexed frown talked once again into the receiver. "Hey, is it true you've got orange hair?"

"What? Why is that important?"

She ignored him too. "And that you're the bad boy of Karakura High?" Treading into dangerous territory now…

"Bad boy?"

"And that, you're like, the number one hottie there?"

"Huh?"

"So tell me, is Orihime Inoue the one you like or Rukia Kuchiki?"

Gate to hell wide open now…

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on you can tell me. You have no Idea how extremely needy I am right now for gossip info!"

I had a funny feeling that he really wouldn't give a crap and I tried to smile convincingly as I felt her trudge headfirst into unsafe waters. "Er, Pei? What are you doing?"

But my self appointed sister took that last step to ensure utter chaos would strike.

"It's what Mai told me."

Her voice: the epitome of demure.

But the evil grin she bestowed upon me beat all her past wickedness.

My eyes widened at her and my mouth opened wordlessly.

Private and confidential I'd told her. Private and confidential. Not to leave the breakfast table, I'll hold it over your head until you die kind of promise.

"Mai said that?"

He sounded surprised and intrigued and it did nothing to help. Panicked, I nudged Pei and her eyes flickered towards me. I gestured for the phone. She shook her head.

"She sure did!" She replied. "She talks about you all the time!"

Oh God.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I closed my eyes and leaned against Pei's shoulder. Praying for patience probably wouldn't help at all but doesn't hurt to try.

"What else did she say about me?"

My eyes snapped open and my head shot up.

"Okay, that's quite enough of that." Moving quickly I pressed my thumb into the crevice of Pei's wrist and she yelped, dropping the phone which I managed to catch with my sore arm. Her eyes followed the movement as she rubbed her arm.

"Oooh, lightning fast reflexes!"

I sighed. "Pei, please go." I pointed at the phone securely lodged in my grasp, never ever to leave it again. "I'll be done in a minute."

She looked at me in consideration. Then, after a long moment she rolled her eyes and moved, slumped like off of my bed.

"Fine." She whined.

"Thank you." I smiled gratefully. "I'll be downstairs in a moment."

I watched her drag her feet towards my door but before she closed it she peeked at me through the sliver of a gap she'd made. The eye I could see shone with intent.

"Remember Mai… details."

And with that she left, closing the door behind her.

I let my head fall back to where it was previously positioned against the headboard behind me. Taking a deep breath I brought the phone back up to my ear.

"I'm really, truly sorry about that." I said miserably.

Pei…

She'd taken my words and twisted them to sound the complete opposite of what they originally were. I hoped he didn't take too much offence…

"So you talk about me huh?"

...Not quite the reaction I was expecting.

I struggled for words. "That's, erm, no."

"You talk about me."

"I do not."

"Sure you don't."

"I don't. Really." I said as resolutely as I could.

"I think… I just received… a lot of proof there Mai."

Was he… was he playing with me? I had to admit it wasn't something I was used to and it took me longer than I care to admit to adapt.

"The words were all wrong."

"Wrong words huh?" He yawned, I could barely hear it. "I kind of figured, I mean you don't talk that way. At all." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Will I see you at school tomorrow?"

I frowned and smiled confusedly. "Of course you will Kurosaki, why wouldn't you?"

"Kurosaki." He said bluntly.

"…What?"

"I asked you to call me Ichigo." His sleepy voice mixed in with his no-nonsense tone and a twinge of irritation caused me to stutter somewhat.

"W-why can't I… what's wrong with calling you Kurosaki?" I managed to ask.

"It makes me flinch, alright."

I bit my lip. "…I'll try."

"You'll try?" I could almost see his raised eyebrows.

"I'll try."

He paused for a moment before sighing tiredly again. "Night Mai."

"Good Night Kurosaki."

The light on the phone died as I placed it on the cupboard next to my bed. I looked at it for a moment as if waiting for it to spring magically to life before turning my head to look down at my fingers, my mind relaxing and searching. Then my eyes closed, my forehead twitched and I sighed.

"Pei? I know you're out there; I can hear you breathing."

The door leading out into the hallway crashed against the opposing wall. My eyes flickered back open revealing a very shocked Pei.

"How?!" She yelled in disbelief.

Standing there with outstretched limbs; in her fluffy, pink, long armed pyjama's, I couldn't help the slight smile that broke out on my jaw. She'd probably sped at warp speed to change so that she could listen at my door. Just because I secretly enjoyed how much she behaved like her father I tapped my ear with a single finger. "Exceptional hearing."

That and I had felt her aura. An ability fast becoming favoured.

She huffed and brought her arms up to cross over her chest and I moved to stand up.

"So Mai…"

I paused and blinked at her.

Pei smirked mischievously. "Details. Now."

"Details?"

"Yes."

I looked around for a viable escape option and found none. "There aren't any to tell."

She looked at me for a moment before sighing, shaking her head from side to side dramatically, like I'd seen mafia bosses on TV do when disciplining one of their own. "Do I have to use my secret weapon here?"

"Secret weapon?"

Without flare she turned away from me, marched towards the opening of my door and shouted. "MMMUUUUUUMMMMMM!"

I freaked and dove off the bed, reaching her in an instant to cover her mouth with my left hand. "Alright, I'll tell you! Please stop shouting!"

Triumphant, she grinned behind my hand and I lowered it, sighing resignedly.

"What do you want to know?"

Her eyes glinted. "Everything Mai, everything."

Thinking of the magical circus of happenings that had occurred since day one of my arrival in Karakura I arched a brow at her. "That could take a while."

She caught on quickly. "And we have to be downstairs in a minute for dinner… with dad… I see your point." Thinking seriously for a moment, a pose that had her stroking her chin with a single finger like an old man she suddenly bounced. "Okay here's the plan: we eat real fast and then bomb it back up here. Agreed?"

"You know I don't really have any choice in the matter." I said matter of factly.

She shrugged. "Since when has that ever bothered you?"

I blinked again. "True."

I more or less told her everything (omitting, obviously, the parts that incriminated those of us who could see into the nether) about the various scenes I'd enjoyed these past two months.

Two months.

The time had both flown and crawled by.

Remembering my first day at Karakura High I could barely believe that I now had the friendship of several well adjusted, utterly opinionated, overly rambunctious and inherently weird individuals.

And yet Ichigo Kurosaki topped the chart with his ever present cynical attitude, a nature which makes him ill-disposed towards the duty bestowed upon him by Rukia, his stubbornness, his… determination. The necessitate to maintain an image of 'cool' around his peers and elders despite his claim of never caring what people thought of him… the permanent scowl on his face…

His interest in my oddness.

...The fact that in spite of his grudging agreement with Rukia to assist with the hollows he seemed to really fit the job well.

All this I explained to Pei (ignoring the above discernment).

And she listened intently as we sat crossed legged on my bed, our favourite bands playing softly in the background. I'd already previously confessed to much simpler things; I'd described him and the rest of them but I hadn't divulged to her anything more personal than what she'd already blatantly tossed out to Kurosaki over the phone.

This time I drew Pei a mental picture of… a hero. A hero and his shadow guide. A goddess with the princess namesake. The protector with her watchful eye and hopeless wishes. The class clown and his master. The quiet man with a fondness for cuteness. The glasses wearing solitary man and his mission. The observant bookworm, the man-eater nymph, the energetic lesbian, and the timid aspirer.

I'd referred to myself as the grey warden.

It felt peaceful talking to her about the usual teenage stuff, the kind of things I'd expected to talk about when I first started at Karakura High. But I could sense, with disturbing ease just how left out Pei felt. She didn't blame me and though irritated at them she also didn't blame her parents.

When she was a child Pei was approached by a stranger, a man who had watched her play in the playground at her nursery school. She had been three years old at the time.

The next day her parents had pulled her out of the centre and that had been the end of her life within the educational institution.

I had guessed when I'd been told the story that there was a lot more to it then that but I had felt that in asking for more information I was trespassing on ground where I had no right to walk.

---

Shouten

"I thought you'd come here Kuchiki, though it is kind of late." Kisuke reached a hand to the back of his hat and yawned. "Couldn't we have done this in the morning?"

The uncomplicated drawl echoed across the yard in which Rukia Kuchiki stood in. It was late, too late for her to be up and about but she wasn't as tired as Ichigo had been. She was too wired to sleep for more than a few hours so when she'd woken up just after 1am it didn't seem like too much of a stretch for her to visit the one man with all the answers.

She'd left Ichigo out in a coma, snoring his gigantic reitsu filled heart out.

Rukia rolled her shoulders and she stared, arms crossed over her chest at Kisuke. "I couldn't sleep. Now seemed as good a time as ever."

Urahara sighed. "I suppose. And I think it's obvious why you're here…" He peered at her through the shadows covering his eyes that his hat made and she tensed as always. "Though I question your need to know at all."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He flapped a hand up and down. "Nothing, nothing. It's been a long night, that's all."

Leaning slightly on her left leg she gave him a once over. He did look somewhat tired but not weary, more mentally exhausted. It was more like he'd spent the past several hours reading or shifting through data and the caffeine Tessai provided with prompt no longer perked him up. She felt somewhat guilty about borrowing his time like this but…

…But she'd just witnessed Mai punch through a hollow.

She needed some answers.

Rukia took a breath. "Ichigo and I were out chasing hollows tonight." She began. He didn't do or say anything, he just waited. "It didn't go as smoothly as it usually does and when we finally caught up to the hollows we found them acting very strangely. They were-"

"They were targeting Mai Li."

The man's face was a blank; there was no expression to signal an emotional response from where he stood, leaning against the sliding door into the shop.

She frowned at him. "Yes."

"It's hardly surprising." He simply uttered.

She blinked. "Huh?"

He shrugged, whirling his cane in his right hand. "I slipped something into her drink to increase the output of her energy."

So she was coming back from Kisuke's place when we were attacked, Rukia thought.

"Why would you do something like that?"

"It was a test."

"You mean an experiment?"

"If you'd like." He granted.

Her arms dropped out of their crossed position across her chest. "Urahara, that was incredibly dangerous… and stupid! She could have been killed!"

"Mah, don't be so morose. She's fine now isn't she? Besides, wasn't our orange haired shinigami there to save the day?" He queried.

"That's not the point!"

He paused in the twirling of his cane and locked eyes her in the dim light of the night.

Rukia felt herself stiffen.

Kisuke Urahara wasn't smiling or physically expressing anything his normally cheerful personality demanded of him. "It is exactly the point. And while we're on the subject of points…" He brought his cane down lightly but the tap of its tip against the ground sounded out eerily around her. "…I honestly can't believe you were naive enough to use the Kiokuchikan on Mai."

Startled Rukia could only stutter. "W-what?"

His head cocked to the side. "I told you, specifically, not to use the Chikan against her. I didn't expect you to listen to me but…" He exhaled almost lazily but the way his eyes pierced through her she could tell that the man was actually dissatisfied with her, almost disappointed.

But then Kisuke spoke the magic words.

"You don't want Mai Li as your enemy Miss Kuchiki."

What does that mean?

No… she knew exactly what he meant.

It didn't take her mind more than a moment to remember in explicit detail the other day when she'd used the memory suppression device on her now new friend.

When she'd approached the girl Rukia had believed that the act of wiping her memories to be only one of the many possibilities available to her at the time. Admittedly she'd made it obvious to Mai her intent by the meaning displayed her eyes for the entire world to see.

I was such an idiot.

It wasn't until Mai had stood to stare back at her during that lunch hour did she realise that the girl she was coming to investigate was possibly much more than she had anticipated.

Rukia Kuchiki had already been made well aware of the potential power held within the eyes of but a few individuals. Her brother was one; the Thirteen Court Guard Squad's General was another… she'd glimpse something extraordinary in Ichigo's glare recently, something that could one day develop into something quite formidable…

…But then she'd happened upon the compulsively undeniable and downright unnatural weight of Mai Li's intense gaze she'd been all but stunned to admit that the eyes of a creature she couldn't hope to understand in the smallest of moments from that day had completely eclipsed the cold and all-encompassing stare of Byakuya Kuchiki.

It had rooted her to the spot and pulled at her mind like gravity; for a mere second she was forced to rethink her, as she realised after, rather brainless strategy. There had been something present in Mai's gaze that made Rukia think that she was being focused upon by a predator; that no matter how she tried to placate it, the creature that was Mai would have sooner made a show of completely devastating her flesh, to reveal all her flaws and fallacies in the light before ripping out her treacherous throat and mercilessly dragging her soul down into the deep dark of the never ending abyss to chain her to the unknown void.

She should never have approached her with such distrust.

But then the moment was over and Mai Li had shuffled on the spot like any normal teenager.

The memory however still reflected in perfect detail the way in which Rukia perceived Mai now.

She couldn't help but admit that she liked her; friendship was an amenity Rukia hadn't called upon in recent times… not since Renji. But she'd found herself rough housing in the dirt with Mai and acting, well, like she used to behave in Hounding Dog (Rukon District), her old home.

"…But I promise that I'm no danger to you and definitely not to Kurosaki. You have nothing to fear from me…." She lifted her head up slightly so that Rukia could see her conviction. "…Ever."

That's what she'd said and Rukia knew now, from that single glance and without any doubt that Mai was someone she could trust.

However…

There was just something so undeniably dangerous about her. Even her compassion was commanding in the sense that it was unmoveable, unshakable.

Rukia's face took on an apprehensive look and her eyes narrowed, searching Urahara's. "Is she dangerous?" She all but whispered.

Urahara raised a single brow.

"Is she dangerous?" He repeated.

Then he smiled his usual mysterious grin and chuckled; the sound was filled with subtext. He turned smoothly on his right foot; his cane too, a mark of overwhelming suggestion over one shoulder as he moved into the store, the echo of his humour following him. Rukia trailed immediately afterward, her lithe form hardly making a sound.

"Is she?" She insisted as she drew closer.

His head turned to look over his shoulder at her and she stopped.

"To you? No. In general? Extremely."

Rukia's stomach clenched.

Urahara whipped his fan out of nowhere and unclipped it. "Ah, don't be so tense Miss Kuchiki!"

Don't be so tense? She thought, he just confirmed the suspicion I've entertained since I first met Mai… well… no… he didn't actually confirm it. He just admitted she was dangerous. But many individuals are dangerous.

"In what way is she dangerous?" She asked cautiously.

For a moment he deliberated. "In trying to replace her memories; and she considers all her memories as vital…" He added pointedly. "You visited upon her an act of pure violence. Violence of the mind. You were very lucky she reacted as leniently as she did."

You didn't answer my question, she noticed but his point was one deserving of thought.

"Lucky?" Rukia asked confusedly. "I thought she was pretty explicit in how she felt about it." She finished with a grumble, remembering all too clearly the way Mai so easily brought her too her knees.

"Rukia…" She noticed the use of her first name. "You were very fortunate. With the fragility of Mai's energy you were lucky that your action didn't prompt her subliminal power or her abnormally developed instinctive drive to assert itself as a means of protection. And it wouldn't have been her fault… it would have been yours. It does a great deal of good to know that Mai's control is as impressive as it is."

For a moment Rukia stood there, stunned. Kisuke regarded her seriously.

"I just… I thought she might be a threat… or something… at the time." Rukia muttered and shook her head. "I had Ichigo to think about. I guess I should have heeded your advice."

Urahara sighed. "She forgave you, didn't she?"

"Readily."

"So what's the problem? You have her friendship now." Then the side of his mouth quirked upwards. "Besides she'd never hurt Ichigo."

Rukia's head tilted. "Hmm?"

"She considers his life worth more than hers. I can hear it in her voice." He elaborated.

Considering her behaviour just hours previously the statement wasn't hard to believe.

"You should get some rest Miss Kuchiki; you're going to need it." Kisuke uttered. He turned to move into the back rooms but Rukia's voice made him pause.

"Who is she Urahara? What is she?"

At first he didn't answer. She was inches away from pulling at the collar of his green kimono and demanding that he explain the strangeness of the night when he turned towards her slightly, shadowed in the crevice between the door and the wall so that she couldn't see clearly the details of his face and spoke.

"She is currently beyond your comprehension to conceive."

…What?

Rukia stared into his shaded face. "Explain."

He didn't move. "No."

"What? Urahara-"

"What, you think because you ask in that definitive tone that I'm going to just divulge to you information that I haven't yet presented to Mai." His fan snapped shut and Rukia blinked at the hardness of his tone, something to which she wasn't use to. "It wouldn't be fair Miss Kuchiki."

It took Rukia a moment to realise she'd stepped backwards. "Why haven't you told her then?"

"She isn't ready to hear it. Or rather circumstances being what they are, it really isn't the right time. I'll have to unveil it piece by piece."

Rukia opened her mouth again but with a wave of Urahara's hand was silenced. "I've already said enough. It will be a lot for her to process… I've had trouble processing it myself." He glanced back towards Rukia and moved into the dim light of the interior of his shop; his stormy eyes were a haze of secrets and hypothesis, of questions and answers. "There are things about this town you have yet to witness that Mai has already begun to uncover. She's the good guy Rukia Kuchiki, but she's also tied to our complex past, and as such irrevocably tied to the future of all."

Thrown completely by the statement Rukia pondered, looking down at her now clenched fingers. They were small, so much smaller than Mai's, the same hands that had protected her this very night.

But…

Tied to the past? To the future? It sounded so… foreboding. So much so that Rukia wondered now, for the first time, what kind of future Urahara could foresee.

"She's important."

It wasn't a question.

"…Yes."

Rukia glanced at the man, taken aback by the slight infliction of sentiment that was usually absent in his words. His face was as always a mask of possibilities but there was something there shining in his eyes that couldn't be hidden by his hat. A spiritual message he was sending to Rukia.

He barely knew Mai Li… was it possible that he was… fond of her?

That he cared about the girl's fate?

Or was it reverence she glimpsed?

…How strange.

---

Mai

Morning came and with it the pain in my arm.

It surprised me how much it still hurt. After the hurricane of energy I'd released and the injuries from my unhealthy spar with my first hollow: the Shrieker, I'd been able to heal the most substantial of wounds into mere contusions within the time frame of 12 hours. 8 hours after that and those bruises were mere memories.

At 8am this morning it had been almost 14 hours since I'd punched a hole through the face of the tall hollow and yet my entire arm was throbbing, aching.

Worse still was the lamer than lame excuse I contrived for Jihi; Chiyu was off attempting to accommodate some swanky new business manager or some such so Jihi was the only one to welcome me down to breakfast.

He'd heard my not so quiet clomp down the stairs so he was already looking towards to me when I turned into the living room.

"Morning sunshine!" He'd greeted.

How was I supposed to answer that? "…Hi."

Then I'd explained, without thinking, that I'd been clipped by a bike messenger. At night.

Smooth, eh.

He'd slowly raised an eyebrow and his eyes flickered briefly to my limb. I'd felt that hiding my right arm wrapped neatly in a tight bandage had only brought more attention to it.

But he just sat without bluster. "Eat your Breakfast Mai, there you go…"

His attempt at a façade of cool was promising but the stiffness in his shoulders conveyed a worry I hadn't noticed the night before.

I looked down at my plate and my stomach rumbled loudly.

On the plate sat four perfect slices of toast lathered with butter, three fat eggs and 2 mouth watering home made hash browns. I hadn't asked for double servings of everything, he'd provided the service with prompt… as if he'd intercepted my need to fulfil my new super-charged metabolism.

The fact that he'd given me a look as he'd done it, a look that informed me of knowledge held just behind the shine of his eyes made me think what I'd already been engaging. Jihi and Chiyu understood more about me than I thought I'd ever have to know about myself.

I tucked into my plate before the saliva could drip free of my mouth.

He sipped at his coffee casually; like me he was a caffeine junkie. "You were pretty quiet last night Mai. Is everything alright?"

His question caught me unawares; eggs and hash brown stuffed incredibly un-lady-like in my mouth blocked my answer. I blinked at him, lifting my head up to lock eyes with his gentle cobalt's and paused in my shovelling to nod fervently; I had no wish to provoke further feelings of concern.

His mouth quirked up. "Good week at school?"

I finally managed to swallow. "It's getting better." Remembering the staring faces of several gossiping seniors yesterday afternoon I continued. "Especially with the weekend starting tomorrow."

"Itching for a break already?" He chuckled, leaning his chin on his left hand, blond locks sliding along his cheek.

I wondered really if any kind of break would be had for me this weekend. Urahara wanted me to come to his store this weekend and I had a feeling that the visit would include an impromptu lesson on yokai hunting. I could just picture him waving his fan over his face needlessly with that suspicious smile and out of place jovial laugh.

I almost face palmed.

This Jihi noticed. "Er… are you alright?"

I lifted my head up slowly and stared at him blankly. "I'll be fine."

He sweatdropped but just nodded like the smart man he was.

The real surprise however came when I opened my front door to leave just a few minutes later.

As the open door revealed to me the outside world I came face to face with Kurosaki who was standing there, poised and ready with a fist raised to knock.

Brown flickered wide in suprise in and I had to step back before my nose crashed into his jaw line.

I raised a hand against the morning light and peered up at him.

Oh…

The sun was definitely in favour of him today.

Of course, a full twelve hours revitalising slumber would help with that too.

But he was glowing.

As if to compliment him the giant ball of gas in the sky seemed to be making him, no, helping him shine for he was always so bloody dazzling without it anyway.

It licked at his orange hair transforming it golden and I noticed immediately the flux of his aura. It was calm; a current of unyielding strength, a thundering river of verve and it stretched coolly about him.

When it brushed unknowingly over my own, tingling fingers of light yearning for contact I had to clench my fist in an effort to control the rush of energy that almost broke free of me.

The white of his eyes weren't red with exhaustion and liquid honey speckled across his irises as he blinked down at me.

I straightened as if I hadn't been staring. "Good morning."

Realising he still held his arm aloft he dropped the hand and shoved it in his pants pocket. "Hey."

Then, like a rehearsed performance, Rukia's head popped out from behind his back; a demented and somewhat off-putting Jack in the box.

"Why, good morning Mai!" She cried out cheerfully.

Eyes literally watering at the excessive twinkle in her eyes and the extremely obnoxious sparkles that seemed to cover her entire form (how did she even do that?) I sweatdropped. "Oh, er, hello Rukia."

Every time I closed my eyes to blink I saw glowing dots behind my eyelids. Extremely over the top there Rukia.

She stepped out from behind Kurosaki, peering up and around her at the splendour of my aunt's Onsen. Her hands lifted as she twirled. "So this is where you live. Impressive place!" Rukia stared with such wide eyed wonder you could almost believe this girl was 15 years old… almost.

I strode out of the door way, Kurosaki moving to the side to allow my passage and glanced briefly to each place she pointed.

But I felt the pull of Ichigo's gaze on my back and turned curiously towards him.

He'd focused on me without shame, still standing there with his hands pocketed; the epitome of cool.

After a moment he simply quirked a brow.

"So, school?" He offered.

"Sorry?"

"Can I walk you to school?"

Rukia elbowed him in the side suddenly back from her sojourn around the mansion sized home/hotel. "We! Can we walk you to school?" She seemed to remind him. Apparently they'd talked this through before coming here.

His forehead twitched but otherwise his nonchalant scowl remained.

"Sure."

I looked form one to the other in bewilderment. "Er, I know my way to school guys."

Kurosaki nodded as if he'd expected the statement. "Obviously." He hitched his bag strap further up is shoulder. "Thought you might like some company."

My head tilted sideways. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

I studied him. "I've never been asked to be walked home before so I've never… required company. I'm alright." I nodded as if I were trying to affirm this.

But I realised without completely appreciating the reflection that maybe I was trying to convince them. Old habits dies hard I guess.

Ichigo's brow knitted together. He gave me this look and for the life of me I couldn't decrypt it. It bordered on the line of 'god, you're difficult' but I wasn't sure. His eyes seemed to take a turn towards opaque with the intensity of his thoughts; I couldn't read them (he was probably lamenting on the meaning of his life or something).

Rukia stood poised at his elbow, openly watching us like a physics professor studying the dynamic qualities of magnetism.

Clearly we were very intriguing specimens.

Then Kurosaki sighed and looked up at the sky, exhaling in exasperation.

"Fine. You're alright and that's swell. But…" He looked back down at me. "Since you're stubborn and I'm according to you infuriating, I'm going to completely ignore that."

The hand in his pocket came out artfully and settled once more on my arm, this time curving around my bicep, pulling me forwards… again.

"Let's go!" Rukia pumped her fist as she led the way.

Buh… uh?

I scratched my metaphorical head.

How did it come to this once more? When we reached the corner his hand slipped away but he continued to stroll with Rukia fluttering in front; eyes down as she played with her mobile.

The morning air was filled with the resonance of far off traffic. It wasn't until we reached an interchange that the hum became a shout of bleating cars and horns. In this clamour Ichigo's masculine voice carried indubitably from my right.

"You don't have to need anyone to walk you home to have a friend walk you home."

His easy strides were easy to keep up with. "I know that. It's just… you really didn't have to."

His eyes flickered to my face. "So what, do you want us to go ahead of you? Pretend like we don't know you?"

The wind blew softly as we arrived at a crossing. "No it's just…" I shook my head as if trying to clear the cobwebs. "It isn't-"

"Necessary?" He finished, arching a brow. "You say that a lot."

"Pity you don't listen to me." I muttered, surprising myself.

He looked at me askance with a feral kind of smirk that stunned me. "I'll never listen to that."

He crossed the road.

My eyebrows shot upwards.

He'd completely flummoxed me but I couldn't say anything. Why? Why did he have to be so… so… ugh! My chest tightened and for the moment there I'd actually felt irritated with his insistency. And I had a feeling I'd just been issued a challenge.

Unsettled I glanced towards Rukia. She kept stabbing at the buttons on her phone; with each stab a grunt littered the air as if the device had done her a disservice. I gave Ichigo a quick look and his replying grimace said 'this one defies the laws of man; I have no answer for you'.

As we moved into Tsubakidai we started talking about, erm, well… stuff. E.g. do you think you could out run a car in shinigami form? Do you glow all the time or is it just a 'when you're attacked by hollows' thing… because it would be totally awkward if it happened during class? …Stuff like that. It was actually pretty fun.

But then Kurosaki brought up the previous night.

He was staring straight ahead, his eyes a myriad of hidden thoughts. I hadn't expected him to talk again for a while; he seemed the type to really internalise the answers he received.

"So I take it that was your first time?"

I looked at him side on. "First time?"

His eyes flashed to mine briefly. "The first time you killed a hollow."

"Oh." Why? "Yes it was."

More walking.

"You doing all right?"

I glanced back up at him with creased brows. "Of course."

He let out a long breath. "The first time I took out a hollow I lost consciousness; I didn't have time to work it through my head that I'd just severed a creature that no one else could see with this huge ass sword that just appeared in my hands from out of nowhere. The second time I killed a hollow I was saving a kid. I felt vindicated. Every time I slay a hollow there has always been a justifiable reason behind it."

Oh, that's what it is… "You're worried about how I'll take it."

"Should I be?" He looked at me fully this time.

I could see that underneath the steadiness of his expression lay a sea of misgivings and worries, not all of which lay at my doorstep. "No. No it felt necessary."

He nodded in deliberation. "It kind of does, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…"

I kind of understood his point: slaying hollows wasn't for the faint of heart and it didn't exactly show up in any of the history books. It wasn't a subject studied anywhere. Theory meant nothing once you came face to face with the emptiness of the unfilled. You had to learn through the body, through your instincts. It was a 'jump in the deep end and hope you don't drown' kind of thing.

I smiled a little.

"I freed the spirit. He said thank you."

Ichigo blinked. "The hollow spirit said thank you?"

I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "Well, not with words but aren't they supposed to do that?"

He cocked a brow. "Er, no."

"Oh." Pretty lame answer, I know. But, come on, I'm a weirdo.

But then Rukia, who had been listening in on the conversation turned to face us, walking backwards. She was pretty good at it too; she side stepped a pedestrian without turning to look. "You can speak to the soul that resides within a hollow?"

I mulled it over. "Maybe. It was more like a connection of energies. And it was only for a moment. It could have been a fluke."

"Maybe. Sometimes when Ichigo has slain a hollow we catch a glimpse of the spirit within but never once have we been able to confer with it, nor sense its energy. The overwhelming hollow instinct is so extreme it snubs out any reason within its soul."

…The way her eyes tightened shrewdly and how her lips pressed shut after she spoke made me think that she was holding back on something. As if she was stopping herself from saying something.

I felt Ichigo shift beside me. "What about the soul reapers from your home? Can they speak to the spirit within a hollow?"

Rukia tore her eyes away from me. "No. Or at least I've never heard of a soul reaper who can." Then she twirled to face forwards, calling back to us. "Hurry up or we'll be late!"

I shared a look of puzzlement with Kurosaki.

What she'd said made sense; I wasn't a soul reaper, but I knew even then that her perturbed thoughts would have relevance in the future.

Then, unexpectedly, the air about me changed.

The smallest hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as the haunting ambience, that sorrowful echo of damned reitsu slowly rippled through the atmosphere.

My hand reached out of its own accord and it gripped the fabric of the back of Ichigo's shirt.

He stopped walking and looked back over his shoulder enquiringly. "What's wrong?"

South of us… "A hollow." I muttered.

He frowned as always, staring at me silently, eyes drifting from my face to the hand that relinquished his school blazer.

"What's going on?" I heard Rukia; my eyes went to her as she came to a full stop when she found both of us were no longer following her.

I indicated my head directly towards the source of my distress. "A few minutes in that direction… I think." I saw Rukia swiftly pull out her mobile.

Kurosaki sweatdropped and fully turned, leaning on his right leg. "You think?"

I bit my lip. "No, I know it's there, I'm just not sure exactly where it is. Kurosaki do you sense anything?"

His brow twitched at my use of his last name. "No." He glanced at Rukia. "We don't exactly do it like you do."

My head tilted sideways. "What do you mean?"

Ichigo gestured at Rukia's mobile. "That cell is like some sort of hollow tracking device that only soul reapers can use."

Rukia nodded and stepped forward presenting it to me: it looked like any ordinary mobile.

"It's called a soul pager; it transmits orders from the soul society. It provides the time frame within 20 minutes of arrival and the perimeter within half a mile." She pulled the device away. "What do you do?"

I looked from her curious gaze to Ichigo's knowing one. "I close my eyes and count backwards from ten."

Rukia's mouth popped open. "Excuse me?"

"It doesn't matter." Kurosaki said with a half formed smirk, letting his school bag drop down his arm and catching the strap to allow it to rest at my feet.

I pointed down at it and raised a brow in query.

"Look after it for me."

Rukia shook her head as she glanced up from her phone. "I'm not getting anything." She shrugged and waited, leaving the decision up to Ichigo.

"We should probably check it out."

Then Rukia's phone beeped.

As one we all blinked and leaned over to peer at it, bewildered at the timing. Rukia brought it close up to her face, gaping at it stupidly.

"Huh."

Ichigo scowled at her. "What?"

"There is a hollow." She pointed dumbly towards the markets. "That way. Four minutes."

Both their heads turned simultaneously to stare at me.

I looked nervously at them and tried to smile; I even threw in an insecure little hand wave.

They both glanced back at the other and sweatdropped.

Then Ichigo sighed. "Let's get this over with."

Regarding them with intrigue I opened my mouth to ask what they were up to when Rukia popped a red glove from out of her back pocket, slipped it on and, without preamble, shoved it against Ichigo's chest.

My eyes widened when the glove glowed statically with reitsu and his soul staggered unflatteringly out from his now inexpressive shell. The eyes of his body fluttered closed and his form swayed until it keeled over backwards onto the grassy pavement.

Rukia eyed it with distaste. "You look like a dead pig."

Ichigo glowered at her. "And whose fault is that?"

Her hand placed itself on one hip and its twin followed in example on the other. "Yours; you never catch yourself."

"Right, because you give me a chance. You always drag me off… freaking strong for an imp." He muttered.

Rukia's forehead twitched. "What did you say?"

"You heard."

…Ichigo.

My eyes started at his face, drifting down to his toes.

From this close and without the added layer of my own energy throbbing its way into the atmosphere it was impossible to ignore the pulse of reitsu already thickening the air. There would never be a faucet capable of stemming this tidal wave. His aura glowed colourless about him and for a moment I understood that the lack of control at the centre of his being lay within his ignorance. It was simply without shape…

…Like his sword. My eyes drifted over it; it was like his energy didn't understand the structure its own defence mechanism should take. Lack of awareness equals shoddy defence.

I watched, entranced as the reitsu poured out through his skin.

An uncontrolled mess.

It wasn't a heated source of power. It wasn't cold. Rather it seemed to echo the internal magnificence of his soul's potential.

There was just so much of it. How could such tremendous latency exist within the soul of a teenager?

Maybe I was being hypocritical but… why did I feel as if I understood the capacity of his energy far more than my own?

…It called to me.

A whirring roar almost at peace with itself; like the eye of a storm. Confused but defiant.

When my eyes reached his again I found that my exploration hadn't gone unnoticed. He scowled at me; a queston mark littering his brow.

...Shit!

Feeling utterly mortified my mouth opened to apologise to him but the words refused to come out. It hit me in a part of my mind that the scene echoed the memory of how I first met him; staring at his hair like an idiot because I'd never witnessed a more daring shade of orange before. Only this time I was bewildered by his aura.

Well done Sergeant Apparent.

But he simply looked at me. Those brown orbs searching, revealing something I couldn't read but informed me anyway that there was nothing to be sorry for.

…Because he'd been trying to read me too.

A few times since I first revealed to him our similar gifts in the supernatural Kurosaki had attempted to try as I did, to search with his energy. When he'd asked for advice I'd hinted that my own emotions often generated a far stronger sagacity in my verve and that the same could be applied to his reitsu.

His soul being separated from his body probably made him more sensitive to the forces that surrounded him. But the fact that his reitsu was so palpable would undoubtedly make the effort a tricky one.

I hadn't inquired about his success with it yet.

Then he moved swiftly bringing me out of my thoughts. He flew by me in a blur of black without stirring the smallest current of air through my clothes, Rukia on his tail.

"LOOK AFTER MY BODY FOR ME!"

An epic trail of dust followed them in their wake.

I blinked at the decreasing size of his soul reaper form. Then I turned to look at his body lying vertically on the pathway next to me.

On hearing footsteps my head shot up and I saw a young couple walked by, hand in hand and both wearing suits.

Their eyes went immediately to the body then up at me.

I stared at them.

They stared back.

A nervous tick endangered my scrupulous expression.

...What the heck was I supposed to do now!

I cleared my throat, eyes flickering from the body to the two strangers.

"Narcolepsy!" It was the first thing that came into my head.

The couple glanced back at the body, at each other and shrugged. They sauntered off immediately forgetting about the scene and I sweatdropped. Okay... Maybe they couldn't be bothered with the trouble.

Or maybe, as I'd already witnessed for myself, the citizens of Karakura were used to the strange things that tended to occur in their town.

When they were out of sight I turned back towards Ichigo. Er, I mean is body, but not his corpse, he wasn't dead, his soul was simply kicking hollow ass… wait do hollows even have asses? My brow pulled together tightly as I thought hard about such intellectual concerns…

Right, way to think about what's important there Mai.

Rolling my eyes internally at the stupidity of my actions I slumped and scratched the back of my head. Regarding his form where it lay prone and face up in front of my feet for anyone to see I noticed that the angle at which he'd fallen had looked quite painful.

I should probably move him.

My legs bent, crouching down and I reached out with my hands.

Sliding one under his neck I lifted his head off the pavement, orange locks no longer lying in the dirt and moved my other over his body to weave underneath his right. Since the weight of another human didn't exactly exert me as it once did I pulled his body up into a sitting position and then brought him up with me as I stood in a kind of stoop.

Only then did I realise how absolutely wrong our positions appeared.

I blinked, peered down at the orange mane that blocked my view of the rest of the body in my grasp and my eyes widened.

His face was practically buried in my chest, just above the cleavage line.

It took me a second…

Then I almost dropped him in surprise at the huge onslaught of warmth that flashed through me.

Oh Jesus. Just perfect.

I was screwed. His face was in my chest and I was screwed.

All I'd need now was for someone to come around, gasp horrifically or, depending on their personality gleefully, and take a picture, maybe sell it on Youtube.

When it came to my uniform I wasn't the most diligent. I wasn't like Pei: I didn't go around deliberately wearing the shortest skirts I could find to show off legs that a super model would show pride in. Instead I chose a look that didn't inhibit my movements. So naturally I had a general dislike for suffocating collars. This was why I always wear my school shirt with the first three buttons open; I'd close one when I'd arrive at school.

Due to this it took barely a moment after the shock wore off for me to notice the brand new sensation of having the surprisingly soft skin of Ichigo Kurosaki's forehead shift tantalising across my collarbone with every inch of movement my breathing produced.

It was unusually… distracting.

But as atrocious as my timing had become, placing Ichigo's body away from the side of the road was the top priority now.

My head turned this way and that way as I searched the area with anxious eyes and chewed on my lower lip.

I hefted his body over one shoulder and carried him casually over to a low wall next to the neighbouring residential area. I ignored completely how odd it might look for a teenage girl to be carrying a teenage boy in a fireman's grasp. Securing an arm around his waste I crouched, my other hand splayed across his back to steady him. Settling the body down I made sure to not bang his head against the brick. Then I retracted my arm and leaned back pushing the loose fringe I had out of my vision.

My eyes settled on his face and I paused in my stir to stand.

Huh.

…I'd never before seen a face that looked like his… and I've never actually thought about something like that before.

Looking back on the faces of every single acquaintance I'd ever made I'd notice that there were similarities between each of them. The same dark eyes, or the same colour hair, a similar shaped nose or jaw line, and even an analogous kind of stature there was always something to connect them. It spoke of the human race as a whole that deep down underneath all our physical flaws or perfections we really were united by biology.

Ichigo's face didn't fit any physical schematic I'd stamped to memory.

Everything about him was something I'd never glimpsed before, from his scowling expression to the colour of his hair and peach skin. His strong willed personality and his cool venire of detachment; his physical presence and his ability to see ghosts.

A singularity.

Precious…

What does his fate have in my store for him I wonder? Does his destiny speak to him in dreams?

Five minutes later the duo returned, fresh faced and out of breath to find me seated serenely next to Ichigo's body.

My head tilted up at the proxy. "I had to tell people that you suffer from narcolepsy."

Ichigo quirked a brow at me; standing there is his shinigami robe with a hand on his hip while the other settled ungraciously in his hair.

"Why?"

"…I think I might have appeared somewhat suspicious in character."

"Hmm."

Wait, was he considering the idea? And was that amusement I saw in his eye?

Before I could ask he stepped forward, approaching his body. My jaw decided to drop open when I saw for the first time how Ichigo managed re-entry into his soul's shield.

As if his shinigami form wasn't corporeal he merely pushed his fingertips into the very solid surface of the chest of his lifeless shell, his hands disappearing into the body and then his arms…

…Sheathing himself like one would a sword.

When fully submerged his body shuddered; concentrated reitsu flared for a moment.

Then his eyes jerked open and he turned his head slightly against the brick behind him; scowling askance at my wide eyed self.

"Freaking weird, right?"

I snapped my mouth closed. "Scary actually."

Silently appraising him I wondered at the idea of your soul leaving your body… Did he ever worry about not being able to re-enter it?

"You're very brave."

He looked stumped as if he didn't understand the semantics of the allegation.

"Brave?"

I nodded. "Yes."

Kurosaki looked away from me; confusion evident in his features.

…Didn't he see himself clearly?

Rukia stood near to us, already finished with her panting and waiting for us to stand.

I complied, passing to Ichigo his school bag in the process; when his brain scattered self didn't immediately catch it, the bag dropped with a flump in his lap and he grunted.

I winced. "Sorry."

He half shrugged.

My eyes held Rukia's in a pensive grip. "Aren't Soul Reapers supposed to be stealthy?"

With no bag to grasp onto the ex-soul reaper simply cocked her head to the side. "Sorry?"

"Isn't it kind of… not stealthy, to leave his body lying around?"

Rukia sighed, her naturally crossed arms tightening just a smidge. "We don't really have much of a choice I'm afraid. But…" She gave me a wry glance. "…I'm working on a solution."

Ah, of course… Kisuke Urahara.

I nodded, my feet shifting awkwardly on the pavement.

Noticing Ichigo watching us in interest Rukia glanced at me and I at her; a moment of silent communication passed between us (something I'd only ever managed to do with Pei).

"What is it?" He asked, a scowling brow arched.

"Nothing!" We both chimed in eerie sync with one another.

He looked from Rukia's overly cheerful, closed eyed, beaming smile to my steady gaze and open expression.

"Right." Once again he hitched his bag onto his right shoulder. "Are we going to school or what?"

As he turned towards our destination I nudged Rukia with my left hand and pointed with my right at Ichigo's back.

He doesn't know about Urahara yet?"

She waved a hand about her face.

He doesn't need to… yet.

…If you say so.

---

Unfortunately that wasn't the last of the morning's hollow run.

We were forced to stop again just a few minutes outside of the school gates.

As before I was left to stand watch over Ichigo's body.

Why didn't I go with them you ask?

The answer was a simple one: I didn't want to ruin Ichigo's show. He had his own pace and I was worried that I'd destroy the routine with my outlandish style. Plus with my hand the way it is I'd probably just be setting myself up for a fall.

And he hadn't asked me to join him anyway.

I defiantly commanded myself to disregard the small, deeply senseless but nontheless unsettling knot of hurt that realty produced.

Anyway… back to Ichigo's body.

A doddery old female teacher I'd seen teaching the seniors hurried over to his body at one point when I'd moved away in my regular pace up and down the pathway.

Her fingers had been poised to check for vital signs when I'd had to shout out scaring her to bits. Whilst I tried to explain to her that my friend simply suffered from the sleeping disorder: Narcolepsy, she'd had none of it, worrying her poor little heart out and making me feel like a soulless louse.

She's stared at me, terribly anxious, eyes popping. "But he's passed out on the street! We should bring him inside, phone an ambulance, RING HIS PARENTS!"

Yeah, she'd become a little hysterical. I'd stepped back, wide eyed as I tried to conciliate her.

Convincing her how absolutely sure I was of his being fine the woman had toddled off, looking behind her every now and then with surprising suspiciousness. So I'd expected it when her head appeared around the corner about ten minutes later once Ichigo was finished to check that I hadn't left him.

Yes… incredibly smart and stealthy you are, you soul reapers you.

But I had to speculate, without really wanting to know the answer, what typically happened to Ichigo's body when nobody was there to supervise it.

Ugh… My mind just went somewhere dark indeed.

The rest of day passed me by in a blur of relative normalcy.

It happened in slots.

Arriving in class a little later than expected Orihime welcomed us in, jumping out of her seat and knocking her desk into Chizuru's backside. The nymphomaniac went flying, sliding across the class room floor to come to a halt at the feet of an incredibly amused Tatsuki. The red head glanced up, glasses askew and blinked.

"Wow Chizuru, you're in your rightful place for once." Tatsuki stated, nodding to herself at something that only made any sense to her.

Chizuru rearranged her spectacles. "Rightful place?"

"On your back on the floor, though the gutter would have been more appropriate." She sniffed and stepped over her friend.

"HEY!"

Orihime seemingly oblivious to the scene and her clumsiness waved at the three of us.

"Good morning Kurosaki! Morning Mai, Rukia!"

Her smile outshone the glaring light of the sun this fine day. And though I noticed her obvious acknowledgment of Ichigo's entry first, she also offered me a warm hello with her eyes and a friendly little bow towards Rukia who reciprocated theatrically.

The Princess really was incredibly kind hearted.

At lunch Tatsuki had wanted to abandon me to the crazed enthusiasts of her martial arts club. When I'd presented to her my thankfully bandaged arm she gave me this look that said 'I know full well that you could take down the majority of the members with an arm tied behind your back'.

She let it go though.

Following that I ate with Michiru, Mahana and Ryo who were their usual out-of-place selves. We watched, entertained as Tatsuki sumo wrestled an amorous Chizuru to the floor when the girl had tried to force feed her lunch to Orihime using only the fingers of her right hand.

Don't ask what she wanted to do with the other hand; I'd almost coughed up the whole of my lunch with that one. Where all lesbians in the same league as her or did Chizuru come with a warning tag?

And still the red head questioned afterwards about why we were all inching away from her in art class…

When the bell rang to signal fifth period however, my right hand was visibly shaking.

Switching between writing hands all day had proved exhausting.

It hadn't helped that Kurosaki had noticed either.

The lesson before lunch he'd sat directly behind me to my left so every single painful twitch of my hand, every self derogating whisper after each blunder and the occasional rubber scuffle over paper didn't go unseen.

For some unfathomable reason he glared at me over it.

It was possible that I was annoying him or something but that didn't seem like the kind of shallow thing he'd be preoccupied to dwell upon. But obviously it was clearly upsetting him.

Concerned, I'd turned to face him and asked if he was alright.

His cheek had twitched and he'd stared at me in disbelief.

Then he'd slammed his face heavily into his desk, an almost inaudible suffering groan sounding out against the wood.

Startled, I'd searched the class for someone to explain his behaviour.

…And sweatdropped at the Mexican wave of extremely bored shrugs I received in return, it was maths class after all. Rukia simply raised her eyebrows and I endeavoured to ignore the sight of Keigo in the back row, craning his head above everyone to investigate (nosy) about the meat crashing on wood sound. He was pretty verbal too.

"What was that sound… why's Ichigo's face kissing his desk… doesn't he know he won't look any prettier that way? From over here the back of his head looks like a hedgehog…"

Many head throbs later Ichigo raised his now tender head and glared around at Keigo who withered at the sight of the infamous scowl being forced on him in all its glory.

"Keigo?" Ichigo grunted.

"Yes sir, boss?" Keigo whimpered from under his desk in the back row.

Sniggers erupted around the class room.

"Shut the hell up."

"Okay boss."

Afterwards, while I'd moved through the hallway towards my next lesson Ichigo had stood in my way. Using the sleeve of my shirt he'd towed me towards a side wall, out of the way of ambling students.

A small sigh escaped me. "This is starting to become a bit of a pattern."

His insolent frown was enough of an answer.

He leaned against the wall in front of me, releasing the tight grasp his hand held on my blouse. That same appendage reached down to circle fingers around my wrist and lift the limb, presenting it to me.

"When did this happen?"

"Last night." I answered quietly.

He connected the dots. "That hollow you punched?"

I nodded and he eyed the bandage wrap. "Is this even helping?"

"No, not a bit." I laughed slightly.

Watching me he sighed and released my wrist, placing it lightly by my side. Then after a moment of deliberation he shook his head, eyes gazing down the corridor without seeing much of anything at all. A lopsided smile appeared fleetingly on his face like a ripple in water.

"What am I going to do with you?" He seemed to mutter to himself.

My smile was tentative. "Nobody's ever known what to do with me."

He nodded, still looking down the hall towards the gathering throng of students. "That I believe."

As outlandish as that had been it wasn't the part of the day that ran semi-circles of dread inside of me.

The last lesson of the day was when everything crash banged.

The fateful time of when Ichigo first met Uryu.

---

I should have seen it coming but I hadn't.

And it was such a diminutive moment in time you would think I wouldn't be so anxious over its outcome.

But the incident would have the nature of a domino effect.

It all started with Keigo's belly aching, which let's face it, isn't much of a shocker.

The last lesson on Friday was always the most painful to live through, melodramatic lunatic classmates not included. With the weekend being just around the corner to the monotonous class, students were always waiting on tenterhooks for that final bell to ring shrilly out over the school grounds.

In these classes Keigo had the tendency to always moan and never cease moaning longingly about the lack of feminine quality these times possessed.

Regrettably for him justifying circumstances presented this lesson as one of only two compulsory items.

The student roster being the labelling scheme it always has been deferred to a system of cultural values. The majority of the girls in first year chose to take up Home Tech: cooking and sewing.

The very notion of learning how to master the art of embroidery, to erudite the most efficient methods of kimono decorate with useless profligates and cook seamlessly like proper Japanese housewives are supposed to wasn't something I could claim to crave experience for.

I had enough experience about those subjects; my time at the Onsen continues to serve me well.

So feeling rather righteous about it I'd gone with the male majority: lessons in work psychology.

And was the only female present out of my friendship circle in attendance.

Situated midway through the classroom one lascivious, brown headed, perverted idealist held his head on his arms that were braced across his desk. He'd stared despairingly about the room noticing for possibly the 100th time the lack of womanly product.

Mizuiro didn't even look up from his phone. "It's only an hour until school ends and the teacher's going to be late today. I'm sure you can withstand the pain of the last lesson of the day."

Keigo mumbled inaudibly into his arms, casting furtive glances around the room. His face fell into a state of abject misery and he slumped forward once more.

"Why do we have to sit here anyway? This is the most boring class ever!"

Which meant we'd all have to suffer in silence with him.

From my seat I had a perfect view of the back of Keigo's and Mizuiro's heads.

Amazingly Keigo never noticed my presence in the room.

Maybe it was the pervasive aura of one Ichigo Kurosaki and his back up man Yasutora Sado whose unapproachable forms seemed to encompass the whole of the back row.

Uryu Ishida was the only male not to attend; being a member of the home handy craft club meant that he was already a known commodity in the home tech quarters.

Approximately three minutes into the usual Keigo rant I'd caught the ever growing eyebrow twitch on Kurosaki's forehead throb ever brightly.

He wasn't in the mood.

Chad too I noticed hadn't paused form his day dream out of the window. Now normally Orihime was the usual suspect to travel to reverie land, so this could only signify just how truly uninterested the kind giant was.

With my chin seated comfortably on my left hand, the elbow of which was braced on the desk I sat behind, I glanced left to right at my sullen companions.

Looking up at the clock hanging from the wall besides the blackboard I raised a brow. The teacher was more than twenty minutes late; he probably wouldn't be turning up.

Shifting the arm I was leaning on down from under my jaw I laced the fingers of my hands together bringing them to my lips, pressing against the softness there and debating on what to say…

"H-how long have you known each other?"

The ambience around me caused the words on my tongue to come out a little unsure and I swallowed when their gazes immediately latched onto mine: two differing shades of brown glassy with sheer tediousness.

Their hope for a reprieve stemming the tides of boredom there made me almost wish I hadn't opened my mouth.

"How long have we known each other?" Ichigo repeated. "Me and Chad?"

"Yes." I nodded, genuinely interested despite the awkwardness.

Both blinked, glancing at each other in surprise.

Then, without further comment, Ichigo twisted out of his seat, dragging his chair around to straddle it. His arms crossed casually over the back of the chair crown and he leaned his chin on them.

Chad didn't leap out of his chair but he did lean in to form a close semi-circle. Despite being only two inches smaller in height than Ichigo I felt undeniably tiny in between the two of them.

As Kurosaki pushed on the toes of his feet to pull his seat closer he started to talk.

"We were juniors. There was this local gang drafting right out of our middle school. I caught their attention straight off the mark." He paused to point briefly at the Mexican. "Chad took a beating for me."

My brows shot up to my forehead and I looked at Sado. "Really?" He hummed a yes. "Why, what happened?"

"…They threatened him with concrete blocks."

Ichigo snorted. "Threatened? I was two shades from having my head creamed into the pavement."

I whipped back towards him. "Creamed?

A nod. "With concrete."

"Like mashed potato?"

Where did that come from?

He threw me an 'okaaay' kind of look. "Not the term I'd use but… sure."

The notion of him being beaten by anyone was a concept difficult for me to grasp, especially with all the scenes since I'd first met him depicting perfectly a guy born to not just to 'take punishment' but to also 'dish out' in excess.

My expression must have told this tale because he smirked bitterly. "They carried baseball bats. If they hadn't I would have kicked their asses." He said this with such certainty it had to be truth.

The drama of it all was stunning.

"They were such a pain in the ass. Their leader had this beyond stupid name. It was…" He scratched at the side of his face with a deep frown of concentration. "Er… What was it Chad?" He looked towards his friend enquiringly.

"…Weasel."

I looked at the two of them in disbelief. "Weasel?"

They both nodded and even though their expressions were passive I could tell they were enjoying my reactions.

"What happened to him?"

"I beat the shit out of him." Ichigo said in an indifferent drawl.

My eyebrows rose. "Oh." Good for him.

He shrugged. "It was only fair."

"Ichigo saved my life." Chad's deep voice sounded from my left.

I looked at him in surprise. "Really?" He nodded and my head turned back to a now uncomfortable Ichigo. "You did?"

"I just happened to be there."

"By the east river side, just under the mid-way bridge at sunset." Chad chimed in.

His small smile was endearing. Ichigo shrugged unconcernedly.

But something ate at my soul.

Their admissions… they'd been surprisingly charming; Chad had taken a beating for a complete stranger and Ichigo had returned the act of valour by saving his life.

In the past… when I'd been faced with that kind of crisis… who had I befriended?

I hadn't helped anyone, I hadn't even tried to.

All my thoughts had been focused entirely on my desire to die.

To cease all thought and all feeling and to just… stop.

I remember…

Piercing through my mind like bullet fire in a storm… boy could I remember.

A passage of time I could only depict as wretchedly dim.

Colourless streams that made little sense detailed to me a time of my life where I'd been so emotionally paralysed, physical pain felt more like a relief.

The worst of it? I had chosen to drown in the sensation, one that spread like a poison.

Madness.

Feeding within me a darkness I'd never before encountered. One that, sometimes, is still quite difficult to keep at bay.

People thought I was strong?

Weakness was a forte I was well acquainted with. And managing to keep it hidden was a gift in and of itself.

Why the hell was someone as good and untainted as Ichigo Kurosaki, a guy who fought only to protect, even remotely concerned with my well being?

Someone who once used her strength to provoke pain.

God… If he ever found out about… about any of that… he'd be appalled with the very idea of befriending me.

And that thought terrified me. Now, that I'd received genuine compassion and consideration, that he'd willingly shown me trust and displayed a keen curiosity in what made me… me, something I didn't think was possible for anyone…

…Now that thought scared me to death.

He considered me worth knowing, interesting even or he wouldn't try to get to know me the way he does.

Weeks ago I'd troubled my socially deficit self at the very idea of becoming the friend of such a brilliant light. Now I despaired at the awful thought of losing the connection to a person I felt was destined to be a part of my life.

Even if we were opposites.

"Mai? You alright?"

His voice penetrating my emotional flow had me turning, slightly dazed towards Ichigo; his near relaxed face challenging the inquisitive scope of his eyes.

"S-sorry?"

The scowling brow puckered further. "You look pale."

Yes, I suppose I would. I shook my head and tried to smile. "I'm fine, really."

Sat astride his chair he leaned his weight on it completely. By the way he stared… and stared, eyes questing to route out the cause of my behaviour I could see he didn't believe me.

Escaping the unavoidable gaze of the substitute death god I pressed my lips together and cast my eyes about the room. My eyes latched onto something.

"Can you tell me about that?"

I pointed towards the tattoo on Chad's arm.

Amore e Morte: love and death depicted with a snake, a heart and a pair of wings. He'd had it done a year ago. Though he didn't tell me his full reason for receiving the tat he did imply that it was impart to his grandpa; his 'Abuelo'.

"It's beautiful." I said softly, fingers tracing the design when he offered up his bulging bicep.

"Thanks."

"You say that word a lot around us." Ichigo commented ambiguously.

My eyes looked to him. "What word?"

"Beautiful."

He murmured the adjective into his arms, his chin leaning on them lazily.

"Does it bother you…?" I asked slowly.

"…No."

That expression he pulled; the bridge of his semi-scowling stare, the infiltrating, introspective scope of his eyes made me feel once again as if I where stuck under a microscope. All he needed now was another pencil to suck on.

But he still didn't understand, I could see that and I understood. Most people didn't go around casually commenting on the beauty of their friends. So why did I? And why did he always have to focus on it?

My eyes flickered from one beautiful boy to the next, remembering clearly their reactions the last time I'd mentioned certain striking aspects of their physiology.

After a moment I spoke, my hands fiddling with the edge of my seat.

"Maybe I just… perceive you to be as such."

I was multiple shades of grey standing in a sea of blooming, golden colour.

Ichigo, sharing a look with his mixed heritage friend, cleared his throat. A faint red hue slowly worked its way over his cheeks. He raised an arm to scratch at his head and then hid his face behind it

I tilted my head.

"Did I embarrass you again?"

"Shut up." He muttered from under his limb.

No more was said on the subject; instead Chad continued his narrative of their middle school lives.

Just as Kurosaki began explaining their resolute maxim; to raise their fists in the defence of the other, Keigo's clear whine sounded out from his seat in the row ahead of us.

The tick on Ichigo's forehead had developed in size; so big that its circumference covered half his skull. His blush now gone, he shoved a hand into his hair and leaned against it to look balefully at the brown haired weirdo. I tap danced my fingers rhythmically across the surface of my desk.

"We're a class full of dudes! Sausages in excess! Boyfriends who like to study! NERDS!"

From behind we could still see clearly the streams of tears lamenting down his face, arching out in the air and onto Mizuiro's desk who, finally, glanced up at his phone to look passively at his friend. Keigo truly was the antithesis to Mizuiro's calm.

"There are a couple of girls here in-"

"SAUSAGE FEST! WE'RE A SAUSAGE FEST OF SUPREME GAYNESS!"

"…Man you really are bored aren't you?"

My brow creased in speculation. I side glanced Chad who was sending looks of sympathy through his dark locks towards Mizuiro. Ichigo, by comparison just scowled half heartedly at the whiner; this kind of thing happened every other day after all.

"WHY IS ICHIGO ALWAYS THE LUCKY ONE?!"

The guy in question blinked and lifted his head up at Keigo in confusion. "Dude, I'm right here." He muttered.

But his voice was taken over by the cries of the lunatic in front of us.

Keigo's bright eyes stared deep into the distance (at candy-land/playboy mansion), his fist raised and clenched in his passionate diatribe.

"He's probably hanging out with Rukia right now!"

Mizuiro shot a look at us over his shoulder, suppressing a giggle at the frown slowly darkening on Kurosaki's face. "Er, Keigo he's… wait." Mizuiro blinked back to the class idiot and tilted his head.

"I thought you liked Orihime?"

The tears running down his face paused and Keigo turned casually towards his dark haired friend. "Oh I do, she's a goddess."

I choked on an inhale and pressed my lips together, concentrating solely on the surface of my desk.

He'd uttered this as if it were a recognized law of the universe in which he lived… or rather the place in which his mental world resided in.

Mizuiro nodded. "So… your heart belongs to anyone around… if she's cute?"

Silence.

Keigo jerked up in his seat. "THAT'S SLANDER! I'M A RESPECTABLE YOUNG MAN! AND YOU SURE SEEM TO LIKE THE HOTTIES YOURSELF!" He pointed hysterically at Mizuiro, crying once again. "YOU'RE ALWAYS WITH A GIRL, YOU SHOULD KNOW! IT'S NATURAL!"

Mizuiro whipped his hands up to placate his louder than LOUD friend. "Okay, okay! It's perfectly natural, I get it!"

Grateful for a chance to witness something more interesting than watching paint dry the majority of the class decided this was the time pay close attention to the machinations of the court Jester and his King.

Keigo hadn't finished his rant and he leaned vexed over his buddy who began to blubber. "The way you always pick the cream of the crop is the real scandal! It's greedy, I say, greedy!"

"I'm sorry!" Mizuiro shouted.

And lo, we had two criers on our hands.

"It's just because you're rich and popular! Elitist!"

By this time Mizuiro had his arms raised over his head in a pleading kind of defensive position. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm so popular!"

Then he fled dramatically out of his seat, tears trailing in the (nonexistent) wind behind him. Skirting past my desk he skidded towards Chad, who just so happened to be the biggest shield of us all and pressed his face into the side of his shirt.

"Chad, he's picking on me because I'm so popular!" He snivelled.

Sado's face was priceless: an 'out of his depth' blank. I could almost see the dots aligned above his head ending subtly in a question mark.

Keigo snorted, his voice marred with his tears. "Oh stop blubbering!" He twisted around in his seat. "I'm the real victim here-"

When his eyes landed on me his words spluttered and breathed their last. I blinked at him. What did I do? He seemed to convulse as if his brain had been wired the wrong way and certain messages weren't being sent to the right place at the right time.

Finally his lips moved. "Mai's… in this… class… too?"

"Keigo, she's always been in this class with us." Uttered Chad.

The boy's eyes snapped closed, opened then closed again as if he refused to believe what he was seeing.

When the vision refused to disappear he whined a pitiful moan of horror.

Mizuiro peeked up from Chad's massive form. When he realised the coast was clear he perked up and sighed at his slouched friend.

"Yes Keigo, you're not dreaming. You did in fact say all that in front of your hero." He whipped out his mobile, already moving past the moment.

Keigo's bottom lip trembled.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Idiot."

Though the lesson was rather pointless I'd learned much about my male friends, in some instances a little too much. Still when the bell rang signalling its end we all exited enthusiastically into the corridor.

And there, right there was when the afternoon cracked in two.

I'd walked purposefully forward towards the stairs when-

"Li san."

Turning to the source of the noise I was able to spy Uryu Ishida making his way through the crowding mass towards me; his hand securing a thin grey bag to his side, the black of his hair shining immaculately against the luminescent lights.

"Uryu, hello." And I smiled.

There was an aura of tranquillity echoing through the controlled flux of his reitsu. It was a far better sensation than the sharp hostility that represented his dislike for Ichigo.

"Good afternoon. I heard you injured your arm last night."

I tried to shrug again, internally wincing at the awkwardness that still exited in the movement. "It's alright."

"Of course it is, but I wanted to offer my services." His glasses tilted as he spoke, the lights above him reflecting of their surface hiding his eyes.

Services? I stepped aside for a group of chatting students. "What do you mean?"

He moved to the side with me. "I witnessed in class that you were having difficulty with your writing. I thought I might write up the notes you missed out on for you next week."

I blinked across at him.

From the way he kept shifting his gaze I could tell he was feeling somewhat unsettled by the situation but still he was willing to offer his help. More simply, I was glad that he was talking to me at all. He was the expert at keeping his distance.

Now all I had to aim for was for him to call me Mai instead of the incredibly boring single syllable 'Li'.

"Thank you Uryu. But are you sure, really? It isn't necessary; I'd catch up either way."

"It fine Li san." He pushed his glasses up the brink of his nose. "I'll have the notes ready for you by Monday."

I was about to thank him again; appreciative of any opportunity to retain my high position on the markers board, when Kurosaki appeared at my shoulder.

He opened his mouth to say something but paused in surprise at Uryu's presence in front of me.

Uryu stiffened.

Oh no…

The steely glint of his intelligent blue eyes fastened like glue to Kurosaki and the obviously unwanted presence of his reitsu. His own turned to steel; a flow of furious pride… oh.

Pride.

Somehow Uryu's pride would not allow him to tolerate Ichigo.

But why? What was it about Ichigo that threatened him?

I had the apprehensive feeling that Uryu had been holding onto this for quite some time and that sooner rather than later the hostile stares, once so one sided, would now elevate to physical confrontation.

Confusion laced across Kurosaki's scowl as he took in Uryu's openly hostile stare. It was understandable, but then this sliver of something trespassed through his eyes and they hardened. The skin of his face tightened.

"You got a problem?"

His voice, low toned and controlled couldn't be heard beyond the three of us.

Fabulous, he already sounds heated.

Uryu's hand gripped the strap of his bag so tightly I could hear the material giving way under his palm. By the rise of energy slowly chipping away under the perfect stratum of his control and by the glare now present on his pale skinned face I was worried how close he was to making a scene for which none of us were ready for.

All of a sudden I felt trapped between two atomic bombs.

The feeling had been incredibly… male.

Any second now I felt I'd be flattened.

After the longest moment in the history of time Uryu finally answered.

"With you?" He said and I flinched at how he made two simple words sound more like an insult than a query. If Ichigo's scowl didn't look irritated before it certainly did now.

Uryu chose that moment to finish. "Not at present." Not at present? Oh dear…

"Excuse me Li san, I'll be off." Uryu said laboriously; his good manners contradicting the brusque way he spoke to Kurosaki.

I swallowed, eyes switching from the two of them. "Okay."

He passed us extending another glare towards my orange headed friend and walked resolutely down the hallway.

Angry, Ichigo's eyes followed him until he disappeared round the corner.

"Who was that guy?" He rumbled, seriously.

Biting on my lip I dared answer, knowing that this could be the start of something unbelievably nasty.

"Uryu Ishida."

Saying the words I felt like I was signing a declaration of war.

---

The weekend passed with an unexpected lack of incidence.

I did visit Urahara as he requested but the sojourn didn't end in grisly confrontations with creatures of darkness.

The fresh smile he'd greeted me with as the sliding door swished open before I'd even grasped its handle sent me stumbling back.

"Mai! You came!"

Of course I did. I'd been fleetingly afraid he'd track me down if I left it for more than two days.

I'd nodded dumbly, pink smattering my cheek slightly at his cheer, and made to bow.

But he dragged me forwards into the store before I could complete the comportment.

Mmm…Kay.

The atmosphere this time was far more casual.

Jinta leaned nonchalantly against a side wall, Ururu pitter-pattered to and from the room serving hot beverages and Tessai was out of sight, probably somewhere in one of the many rooms of the store.

"Erm, I'm not trying to be rude or anything but…" I stared down at my drink in trepidation. "There's nothing in it this time, is there?"

Urahara threw a guilty smirk at me. "No, that was a one time thing only."

I frowned dubiously at him for a minute. "You're sure?"

"Of course!" He beamed from across the table.

"…Because I wouldn't want to drink this only to suddenly find a horde of hungry yokai on my back." I asked as innocently as I possibly could.

Kisuke sighed and leaned forward to peer at me form under his hat; for once the shadow disappeared and I could see the honesty in his features. "Mai, I promise."

Relieved, I nodded. "I believe you."

"Thank you."

There was a brief moment of silence where we both drank our tea. It wasn't difficult to trust Kisuke Urahara; it seemed the man was, very much like a boiling kettle, filled to the brim with secrets, some of which weren't his to tell.

When he'd explained the issue about detecting the hostile nature of yokai however I was overcome by a sense of foreboding. This sense whispered to me in a voice high pitched with sadistic laughter just how absolutely doomed I was.

"You heard me." Urahara affirmed.

I blinked at him, nonplussed.

"But how have you been fighting them all this time?"

Jinta snorted from behind me and I turned my head to frown at him. His expression sang of dissatisfaction. The boy shifted uncomfortably until he just shrugged.

Urahara cleared his throat. "We've had a limited degree of success."

The door to my left suddenly slid open and the hulking presence of Tessai stepped surprisingly adroitly through the entrance. In his beefy arms he carried some sort of electronic device with a screen attached to its bulky surface. I had no clue as to what its function supposedly was.

"It's a receiver." Having watched me from the beginning Urahara answered my silent question. "We've set up numerous transmitters located in high incidence areas around Karakura town. As you know the suburb we live in is quite large and we possess a limited number of these." He gestured to the black tool with a single finger. "They are set at a specific frequency the sole function of which is to detect the presence of low level demons. It has succeeded… but only 53% of the time." He finished hurriedly, beating his fan furiously in front of his face.

"Only 53%?" I queried, wide eyed.

He glanced up, making sure I wasn't about throw my cup at him and lifted up two fingers. "The machines fail in two areas. One…" He brought down one finger. "The transmitters take too long a time relaying data back to the receiver and two…" He dropped the second finger. "Some Yokai arrivals and there subsequent attacks are over too swiftly for the devices to broadcast in time."

"So sometimes you arrive at a site to late?"

The grim line of his lips as he picked up his tea cup spoke volumes of Kisuke's frustration.

I got the feeling that the use of the word 'sometimes' was a descriptive in need of amendment.

"And that's why I'm necessary?"

I was genuinely curious. Apart form the obvious reasons for my presence in dealing with the yokai I had a feeling that this subject pertaining to the lack of sensory data Urahara possessed was at the core for the cause of my involvement.

But the expression I glimpsed on the mystery man's face made me rethink my thoughts.

"No. That's why you're an asset." He hid his smile behind his tea cup. "You're necessary because the Natural Order of Things decided it was finally time it needed a bit of a scrub."

An orange question mark flashed conspicuously above my head. His grin widened but unfortunately he also ignored its proverbial existence.

"I need you to be ready Mai. Don't disregard any of the sensations you're able to discern from the environment around you."

"I won't." I promised.

"According to my calculations there'll be a yokai occurrence within the next five days."

"Right."

"You'll be our only reliable sensor so the moment you sense it… and you will sense it before the rest of us." He promised darkly. "…I'll need you to inform us immediately, even if you're not 100% certain."

"Will do… wait, within the next five days?"

"According to my calculations."

"But haven't the intervals between incidences been decreasing?"

"Fluctuating." He corrected.

"Fluctuating." I amended.

"Yes. Sporadic appearances are becoming more common but if we rely too much on the data we might miss something vital." Kisuke leaned on the low table in front of him, lacing his fingers together. "Though we've acquired thorough knowledge of their various methods of violence, demons don't follow any regular pattern of behaviour so we shouldn't assume that they'd follow an according attack outline."

"I see."

I wasn't afraid. Not at all. Me? I laugh in face of danger. And Pain? Love it! Absolutely, oh yeah… Br-bring it on... Uh huh… yep...

...Help?

Then I remembered something he'd previously mentioned.

"You said they possess a penchant towards cannibalism? Wouldn't that imply that they also eat their own kind?"

"Yes. The yokai do anway." He said without hesitance; his open expression asking what my problem was. "They're base creatures Mai; the yokai obey their need to satisfy their intense physical requirements." He shrugged his shoulders. "Whichever Assault Class yokai they follow promises them fulfilment."

"So… when they see me… they're going to want to… eat me?" I asked hesitantly.

"Possibly."

"Just checking." I said, nodding like everything was cake.

In the third instalment of my visit I'd presented my injured arm to Urahara.

Holding it aloft with one hand Kisuke's eyes drifted impassively over the uncovered limb.

"Well done." He muttered dryly.

Quite aware of the thoughtlessness of my actions I hummed an agreement. "It's much better today."

It was true; after a full day of dull pain I'd woken bright and early Saturday morning without so much as an itch. My forearm felt fine but obviously Urahara's eyes uncovered something mine hadn't.

"You over extended."

"My energy?"

"Mm-hm."

His other arm lying comfortably on his crossed legs lifted to grasp my hand. He pushed both his thumbs into the centre of my palm and began to pressurise the surrounding muscle.

The energy in my arm fluxed.

It circled through the limb like a ping pong ball in a pachinko machine before unexpectedly shooting down and exploding out through my upheld hand in a blaze of faint green light and directly at Urahara's phalanges.

His fingers were forced to release me.

"Crap!" I brought my hand towards my chest so rapidly my back slammed into the floor.

Wide eyed, I took in the ceiling fan whirling slowly above me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Hmmm…"

His hum was contemplative if not curious.

Frowning I sat up, my plat slapping the side of my face and looked at him.

Kisuke just sat there; he hadn't moved a muscle, he simply took in his fingers that he flexed experimentally before making another humming sound.

I swallowed. "Are you alright?"

His eyes were barely discernable beneath his hat but the way his lips tipped appraisingly made me think he was too deep in thought to even hear me.

Then, just as I was beginning to calm his head whipped up.

"Well, wasn't that fascinating?" He said, curiously.

Was it?

He gestured towards me enfolding his arms into his kimono. "You shouldn't hurt yourself again now that you know what it feels like. The real problem comes with controlling the output."

I nodded, exhaling. Rubbing the skin of my forehead I thought about the question that had been my true initiative behind wanting to see Kisuke today.

"Urahara?" I asked making sure I got his attention this time.

He quirked a brow, flurrying his fan. "Yes?"

"Why is my energy so different from Ichigo's?"

And from Rukia's, from Chad's, Uryu's, Orihime's… Urahara's.

His eyes took me in seriously for a moment.

"You're not a soul reaper Mai."

"But I am human. Before Ichigo became a substitute soul reaper his reitsu was still miles apart from my own."

My energy wasn't reitsu. I'd established this several weeks before; my power held similarities to spiritual energy but at its core it was fundamentally different.

I said this and kept close watch on any inconsistencies in his form: there were none. But the way his eyes focused on mine felt unnatural.

"You are human." He acknowledged. "But you hold no soul reaper comparison; your energy isn't reitsu, hollows sense your presence, you confound and stir your yokai prey and your extreme sensitivity to the environment that surrounds you exacerbates the vivacity of your instincts." He raised a brow, tilting his head to peer up at me. "The term 'Human' refers merely to a division in your genetic makeup. It is only one part of who you are."

I focused my eyes onto his, part of his statement echoing significantly inside my skull.

The term human…?

…One part?

One part of what makes me an enigma? Only one part…

"One part ?" I asked quietly.

This time his eyes did flicker; almost a blink and a flash of something else. "Sorry?"

"One part human?"

His gaze was soft and when he next spoke his words were incredably ambiguous.

"A source of elements… but human nonetheless."

...Did he just lie to me?

---

One Hour Later: Urahara Stouten

He'd barely gotten away with that one.

She'd left, after he'd shuffled her out of his sliding doors of course. He was expecting company this afternoon.

It was another glorious day. He listened, perched outside on the porch to the birds that sang nearby and let out a long sigh.

He was walking a thin line playing this game of half truths.

…A source of elements?

How contrived. And yet utter fact.

Flying a little too close to the radar with that one, aren't we Kisuke?

A little too close to the source for comfort.

It had been a slip of the tongue; he'd merely been trying to explain that 'human' wasn't an overall descriptive: it wasn't the end and be all of everything.

In fact 'human' didn't elucidate half of what she truly was at all.

Staring vacantly over the yard in front of him he recalled how he'd attempted to negate the effect her raw energy seemed to have had on her arm.

He'd been repelled back.

The shock however was in how her power seemed to suggest that his intrusion wasn't warranted nor needed. She was already completely healed so it wasn't required.

Ruminating the possibilities Kisuke lifted his hands up in front of his face for inspection.

The tips of his fingers were still sore.

Regardless of the prevailing presence of his own reitsu, her vivacity had simply pushed his aside. A primal surge.

A searing heat that didn't burn. A disturbing chill that echoed the emotional lack of seasoned warriors.

It hadn't welcomed his intrusion.

And why should it? He hadn't asked for permission.

…Part human?

An ingredient. One part of a whole that made her into the being she was.

He'd almost told her. But he wouldn't… not yet.

He'd already sent her tumbling down the rabbit hole and now Alice was slowly picking up the pieces of herself hidden from view until now.

She was the answer to a prayer.

The construct of a requirement.

...To protect the balance...

Who was he to make this more difficult for her than it was already becoming?

A smirk descended on his cunning features as he sensed the approach of familiar reitsu.

Right on time.

Needless to say a minute later the expected arrival turned into his yard and approached.

Sighing, he stood and stretched, a hand immediately settling on the back of his hat covered head.

"Back again Miss Kuchiki?"