Thanks to AmericanNidiot, Sakamaki Suzuku, IrishPrincess1987 and Lord Nighthammer for reviewing! Thanks also to everyone who favourited and followed!

So as I mentioned at the end of Shadowed Heart, I was planning on focusing on this, along with my other unfinished stories, so here's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long!

Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think!

Chapter 3: Face From Nightmares

When Ichigo woke late the next day, he had been certain it was a dream. His sisters and father claimed a truck had smashed into the side of their house, and the idea of fighting a monster with a sword given to him by the delinquent of a classmate that was Kirara, was a ridiculous notion. He needed to stop reading so many comics.

When he finally made it to class, he was even more certain that it was a dream. Not only did Kirara greet him as if the night before hadn't happened – taunting him for being late, the hypocrite – but she didn't have so much as a scratch or bruise on her. The night before, she'd been covered in blood, after taking a nasty hit from the monster while saving his sister.

His delusion was shattered, however, when on his way out of class at the end of the day, Kirara had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him onto the roof to explain what happened the night before. By the time she was done, Ichigo's head was swimming with ideas of sword wielding spirits who helped ghosts pass on, and destroyed those who had become Hollows. It was just too much to believe.

"Shinigami, Hollows, you can't honestly expect me to believe this crap!" Ichigo yelled, still on his feet. Kirara was sitting, leaning against the railings of the roof, her arms folded across her chest and her legs crossed in front of her. Ichigo shook his head in disbelief. In the school uniform, Kirara looked like a normal girl – a delinquent who skipped class a lot, but a normal girl all the same – and to think she was a spirit residing within a fake body – Gigai, she'd called it – was just ridiculous.

"Ichigo," she opened her eyes and looked up with him. Her gaze made him pause. Something about her expression made some part of him start to think she might be telling the truth. But it was just too unbelievable. "Last night a Hollow trashed your house, and almost killed your sisters before you purified it. I know you remember that," Kirara remained sitting, her arms folded. He took in a breath, staring at her.

"Okay, then where are your wounds?" he asked her suspiciously. "Last night you were covered in blood and stuff, now you're fine!" he pointed him out.

"A friend healed me," Kirara waved a dismissive hand. "But that's not the important question," she told him as his eyes narrowed in frustration. He really didn't care for how she was acting.

"Sure," he rolled his eyes. "Having injuries that bad magically healed, that's not an important thing to wonder," he muttered. A small smirk pulled at the corner of Kirara's mouth as she watched him.

"Ichigo," she gave a small laugh. "I know there's another question that you want to ask me, so come on, lets hear it," she said, her blue eyes piercing him. Ichigo watched her for a moment, letting silence fall between them, before his scowl softened slightly, and he let his hands drop, resting by his waist.

"Who...what are you?" he asked. Kirara's eyes glittered, and her smirk grew.

"There you go," she nodded.

"You know..." Hanataro jolted when Kirara spoke suddenly, breaking the quiet that until then had only been disturbed by the sweeping of his broom. "You don't have to be so scared. I ain't moving anytime soon," she commented. The nervous 7th Seat watched her with wide blue eyes. He couldn't help but believe her. It didn't look as if she'd moved from the spot since the previous day. Still in a ball of sorts, the prisoner was against the wall, her legs pulled in close and hugged to her chest. She didn't look dangerous. She looked like she shouldn't be there.

"Um..." the young Shinigami started, swallowing nervously. Kirara gave a small smirk.

"You got something to say to the dangerous criminal, kid?" she asked, laughing quietly. However, she still didn't move, or even open her eyes. He'd noticed that she never did.

"Why..." Hanataro started, and took a shaky breath. "Why are you sitting there?" he asked the question that had been on his mind since he'd first met her. He looked to the cot, which remained untouched, and the chair had been pushed to the far side of the cell, out of the way.

Kirara didn't respond; her breathing even and so quiet that he thought she'd fallen asleep.

"You ever been to the World of the Living kid?" he jumped when she suddenly spoke again. He managed to keep hold of the broom, clutching it close to his chest as he looked at her again.

"Oh...n-no," he shook his head, watching her with wide eyes.

"Huh. You should sometime," Kirara told him casually. "Humans...they're pretty odd," she said as Hanataro stopped sweeping to listen curiously. "Every time I thought I was getting used to them, they went and did something else to throw me off," Hanataro listened intently. "This one kid, he never stopped surprising me. Every time I thought I was getting to know him, he went and did something completely unexpected," Kirara sighed, letting her head fall back against the wall.

"Wh-"

"Hey kid," the door opened and the young Shinigami jumped in alarm. "You done?" Renji asked as he stepped into the room.

"Uh, um, I-"

"Yeah he's done," Kirara spoke up for him as he struggled to find the right words. "Aren't you kid?" she asked. He looked at her again, eyes wide, before nodding quickly. Once the cell door was opened, Hanataro left, and Kirara sighed.

"Why do you sit there?" Renji's question made Kirara finally open her eyes.

"Listening in, where you?" she gave a small smirk. Renji rolled his eyes, and turned away to leave. "I prefer the ground," Kirara finally said. Renji glanced at her for a moment, watching as she kept her gaze steady on him. After, he then left, finding himself more and more confused by the strange prisoner.

Once his footsteps faded, Kirara sighed heavily and stood, stretching. Her body was stiff and she desperately wanted to be moving, but the small cell didn't give her much of an option to. Instead, she walked over to the bars again, leaning against them. "Do you think we'll be able to get out of this one?" she wondered softly.

'Have faith. You have friends who care about you,' Kokoro no Kage reminded her. Kirara stepped away from the bars, and sat back down in her usual spot. 'They won't leave you to face this alone,' he soothed her. Kirara laughed bitterly at his words.

"I want them to," she admitted in a small voice, pressing her face to her legs as she pulled them in close. "Ichigo's probably dead because of me, unless Kisuke got to him in time. And Kisuke and the others..." her grip tightened on her legs as she took a deep breath. "They shouldn't have to come back here and risk everything just to save me," she whispered.

'But you know that they will though,' she gave another laugh at the Spirit's words.

"I know," Kirara confirmed. "There's too much at stake to not."

When the door opened a few hours later, Kirara's head lifted from her knees as she woke instantly. After a moment of sleepy haze, she gave a small smirk.

"I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting to be graced by your presence, Captain-Commander," she lifted her head and opened her eyes to survey the old man that boasted the title of Captain of Squad 1. He looked old – impossibly old – and was even older than that, but Kirara knew his frail and wizened appearance was a bigger deception than her delicate frame. As one of the strongest Shinigami in history, he had definitely earned the title of Captain-Commander.

"I am not here to have a battle of wits or trade barbs with a child like yourself, Kirara Yamada," Yamamoto cut straight to the chase, making her smirk widen. "I am here only to hear your side of the crimes you have been accused of, and to find out the whereabouts of the others who disappeared a century ago," he said firmly. Kirara got to her feet, still smirking as she stretched, groaning a little from the strain.

"My crimes?" Kirara repeated when she let her hands fall to her sides. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes glimmering in the poor light. Yamamoto's eyebrows rose very slightly to the point that Kirara almost missed it. She then took a step back, leaning against the wall as she shrugged. "You already know what I'm guilty of. Transferring my Shinigami powers to a human, so he was able to save his family. Of course, you only care about the first part of that statement," Kirara let out a wide yawn and tears came to the corners of her eyes, not showing an ounce of remorse.

"Does this mean that you confess to the crime you have been accused of? Of breaking one of the most forbidden laws of the Soul Society, since the creation of the Gotei 13?" Yamamoto asked, cracking one brown eye open. There was a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai met the human, and I pretty much confessed to them, so what's the point in denying it now?" Kirara shrugged again. The Captain-Commander didn't respond, simply staring at the once-Lieutenant of Squad 2.

"Very well," he finally spoke, breaking the silence after a minute. His eye closed again. "And the whereabouts of those who disappeared one hundred years ago? Captains Urahara and Shihoin, and Commander Tsukibishi of the Kido Corps, not to mention Captains Otoribashi, Hirako, Aikawa and Muguruma, as well as Lieutenants Yadomaru, Kuna and Sarugaki, and Ushoda of the Kido Corps, all of whom were subjected to the experiments by the former Captain of Squad 12?" Yamamoto listed. Kirara paused for the slightest moment, before glancing away, looking bored.

"Not a clue," she told him, disinterested. "Hiding in the Rukon, maybe in the forests. Could be the World of the Living or even Hueco Mundo. I lost contact when I went to the World of the Living alone," Kirara lied, her gaze going back to the Captain-Commander before she yawned again.

"I see," he spoke in a low voice. He met Kirara's gaze for a moment longer, his eye opening again. A chill ran down her spine, and she forced herself not to blink, but her stomach churned and her skin crawled. A bead of sweat ran down her face as she struggled to keep an impassive face. Then, without another word, he turned and left. As soon as the door shut, Kirara fell to her knees, willing what little food was in her stomach to stay down.

'What a fearsome man,' Kokoro no Kage murmured as Kirara gasped for breath. She couldn't disagree with the Spirit. The sheer power she'd felt from one look alone was more terrifying than facing Kensei that night in the forest.

"He knows..." she started, and swallowed, a shudder running through her. "He knows about the experiments..." Kirara whispered, pushing herself back against the wall. "He thinks Kisuke did it...that rat bastard," Kirara hissed, slamming her fist to the ground as she slowly caught her breath.

"I see you're doing well, Kirara," her breath, only just steady again, hitched at the soft, pleasant voice. She looked up sharply at her visitor, unsure of what horrified her more. That he'd managed to sneak up on her, or that in a hundred years, Sosuke Aizen had not changed much. His soft brown hair was longer, and he wore his usual smile; brown eyes piercing behind his glasses. His soft, gentle smile once comforted Kirara as it did many others. Now it made her sick. The long sleeved white Haori he wore made Kirara just as sick as seeing his face did.

"So..." Kirara got to her feet and dusted off her shirt and shorts. "You finally decided to show your face, huh, Sosuke?" she walked over and leaned against the bars of her cell, looking up at the much taller man.

"I admit, I was debating it," the now-Captain Aizen nodded, still smiling. "Then your friend, Natsuki Hamasaki, she came to see me and asked me to visit you. To see if you'd talk to me, when you wouldn't with her," Kirara forced herself to remain impassive as he chuckled. Of all the people that Natsuki would go to, it was the one responsible for everything. She wanted to punch her old friend for it so badly.

'Focus, Kirara. Do not give anything away,' Kokoro no Kage whispered, trying to help her keep calm.

"I know, I found it funny too," Aizen's smile grew in laughter when Kirara didn't speak.

"Are you here to torture me, Sosuke? Or to see how your sick experiment has been progressing?" she asked him in the calmest voice she could muster. To her anger, Aizen's smile grew as if he was speaking with her before, long ago.

"Oh Kirara," he chuckled again. "I don't care about that. As far as I'm concerned..." something changed in his gaze, piercing Kirara deeply. Something cold ran down her spine. "You and the others are failed experiments who died that night. Even if you're here now, it's just a shell," Kirara jerked back from the bars at his words before she could stop herself. "I suppose I came here out of curiosity about you remaining, when what happened should have caused you to disappear from existence completely. Tell me, Kirara," Aizen stepped closer to the bars. Kirara didn't move, a hand over her chest as her heart thudded painfully and her hands twitched. "Just how are you failed experiments doing?" he asked with such pleasantry, it was almost as if he was asking after old friends, and not after the subjects of his cruel experiments.

"How would I know?" Kirara shrugged, letting her bored mask slip into place, and her hand fell back to her side. "I ditched their sorry asses a long time ago," she told him indifferently. The corner of Aizen's mouth twitched at her answer, and he lowered his head slightly with a small laugh.

"For someone who was once second in command of the Militia Corps, you are a terrible liar, Kirara," Aizen told her simply. Kirara's eyes narrowed very slightly before she could stop herself. "After that night, you would have stuck together, as weaker beings always do. And knowing my former Captain...well..." Aizen chuckled, a knowing smile on his face. "Of all of you, he'd never let you out of his sight," Kirara's eyes widened at his quiet words.

"What are you-"

"There's no point in lying, Kirara. As I said, you have no talent for it," Aizen spoke before she could get the words out. "After all, neither of you are particularly aware of your surroundings when around each other. At least, not during that evening of our joint mission...nor at the Captain-Commander's festival," Kirara froze, her breath catching. To think he was watching for so long, it made her even sicker. "I must tell you," Aizen continued on. "I had originally hoped that it would be my former Captain I saw again," he admitted. "But now that I think about it, you will make everything much more interesting," Aizen then adjusted his glasses, and the piercing gaze was gone, hiding his true self as he smiled his deceptive smile. "It was nice to see you again, Kirara. I am sorry that it is under such unfortunate circumstances. Goodbye," the Captain turned, pausing for a brief moment to give her a full view of the Squad 5 insignia on the back before he left.

Staggering backwards, Kirara's back hit the wall and she slid to the ground, her tears already spilling down her cheeks before she let out a choked sob, burying her face in her legs as she finally broke.

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