Hey! Another chapter!

Like always, I want to thank everyone for reading and those (few) who reviewed:

Elfen Children: Ichigo and Rukia is a good guess, but I had someone else in mind that I think fit the story a little better. You'll see what I mean when you read on. I was thinking the exact same about her mask, and I think I know what I'm going to do for it. I'm glad you like the shipping, because I'm enjoying writing the conflict that continues between them, as well as the conflict with what Nanami is feeling.

Kaneko Aikawa: Another faithful reader! I'm so happy you're still enjoying the story as much as I am. The resin you don't recall any mention of Sakura is because she was need brought up. We find out just last chapter that Nanami has some kind of dark past where she lost a friend. The reason is wasn't mentioned until now is because I hadn't thought about the idea until chapter 7 or so. In other words, I had to sneak it in somewhere, and that seemed like the best spot to do so. Thanks for catching that I hadn't described Kaguya's Zanpakutou! I was so focused on Nanami's I forgot about hers… lol

(There was a 3rd review that I got, but he/she reviewed for the first chapter, so I wasn't sure whether I should give them a shout-out or not..)

So, apparently I'm been spelling Vizard "wrong" all this time and no one has said anything. Well, I don't know if it's "wrong" for sure because some people could spell it differently. I was on the Bleach Wiki site and noticed that they spell it 'Visored', which is really weird for me to say aloud. I'm not sure which is the right way, so I'm going to stick with the way I've been spelling it. It really doesn't matter to me, but that's just something I noticed.

Anyway! I know it's only been a week since the last chapter went up, but I was on a roll and thought I would spoil you guys, because you are so good to me and I feel like I should. XD

Here's what I've got for you next!

. . .

Chapter 12: What Now?

(Let me say that I do NOT like the title of this chapter. Like…at all. But I couldn't come up with anything better. If anyone can think of a more creative title that is in the form of a question and has something to do with the chapter, let me know! Thanks!)

It was safe to say that Kaguya was not expecting Captain Byakuya Kuchiki to be standing right behind her. And he was none too happy (as usual). Behind him was Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Matsumoto, Hiyori Sarugaki, and Shinji Hirako.

"We finally found you—uh…what was your name again? Kagura?" Shinji asked, scratching the back of his head in thought.

That was swiftly followed me a swift kick to the head from Hiyori. "Her name is Kaguya, dumbass! Pay attention, will ya?"

Despite the tense moment, I smiled. "They always have to make a scene, don't they?"

Kaguya 'tsk'ed in annoyance. She glanced behind her at Captain Kuchiki, who was definitely the most menacing one here. "I guess I'll have to come back another day when you we don't have guests. Remember, Nanami, My Lady has her eye on you."

"You're not going anywhere, Kaguya!"

But just as the words left my mouth, she was gone. Where she got her speed, I wasn't sure, but she definitely has one of the fastest Flash Step skills I've ever seen.

"Rangiku! Hiyori! After her!" The shorter 10th Squad Captain ordered.

Lieutenant Matsumoto nodded to her captain and was gone. Hiyori, of course, was none too happy about being ordered around.

"I know that, shorty! I'm goin'!" She was gone just as fast as Matsumoto.

"Don't call me short!" Captain Hitsugaya called to no one, because the Lieutenant and Vizard were gone.

I was about to go with them, not feeling too comfortable letting kaguya out of my sight, but I didn't make it one step before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

It was Shinji, the man who had been teaching me to control my Hollow ever since I started my training as a Soul Reaper. He had his usual straight face, though I saw a bit on conflict in his eyes.

"I know you want to go after her, but we can't let you do that."

I narrowed my brows. "Why not? She's fast; you have to know that if you've followed her hear. I could help catch her—"

"We don't want to catch her," he interrupted.

Hitsugaya stepped forward. "We appreciate you leading us to her, but we never intended on following her here to capture her. We want her to point us in the direction of her leader, Sakura."

My entire body clenched just at the mere mention of Sakura.

I sighed and released my Zanpakutou back to its original Katana, and then replaced it back in its sheath at my waist.

"So…how long has Sakura been free?" I asked purely out of curiosity.

Master Shinji looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, I'd say it's been about two months time here in the human world."

That caught me off guard. I turned to my idiot teacher. "What?! Two months? That means she's been wondering around the human world for 8 weeks and no one here knew about it?"

He put his hands up in defense, as if I were going to hit him. "Whoa, hey! Calm down. I swear, your temper is almost as bad as Hiyori's."

"I'd say that's more her mother's temper than anything," I barely heard Hitsugaya mutter.

"Has it really been that long, Shinji?" I demanded.

"No. As you know, the flow of time here is much more different then the flow of time in Soul Society. I'd say it's been…about 4 days since Kaguya broke her out of prison. But…we think she's only been here in the human world for about three of those days."

I nodded. "That explains why I felt someone's eyes on me the other day."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Who was it? Kaguya? Sakura?"

I shook my head. "I thought so at first, too." I looked over at the man dressed in casual clothes. "That was you, wasn't it Shinji? I hadn't realized it until I reached the house when I sensed you leave."

Said Vizard looked a little sheepish. "Well…uh, yeah. That was me. I couldn't help myself—I wanted to make sure she hadn't found her way to you. So I came to check on you, and—"

"You…IDIOT!"

From somewhere int he sky, Hiyori came flying right toward Shinji, her foot planted firmly on his face. He was sent straight down to the ground, which was several hundred feet below us.

Hiyori looked as pissed as always. "Ugh, he's such a moron! He's the one the led Kaguya right to you. I swear, I'm going to kill him one of these days," she treated, though it was a very empty one. We all knew she wouldn't actually kill him.

Hitsugaya sighed. "What a fool."

Rangiku appeared next to her captain. "Sir, we tracked her as far as we could, but we lost her east of the border of Karakura town."

He nodded. "At least we have a general direction to start in."

Rangikucame up to me suddenly and hugged me tightly. My face sunk into her bust, cutting off my breathing. "This must be hard for you, poor girl. We'll do our best to catch Sakura, I promise!"

I finally pried my face away, gasping for slightly, I looked up at her apologetic face. (Whehter she was apologizing out of pity or for nearly smotheringing me to death, I wasn't sure.)

"And I'm sorry your idiot teacher led her right to you."

I nodded in thanks, trying not to agree too much that Shinji was, in fact, an idiot sometimes.

"We purposely appeared in the human world far from this town because we didn't want her to find you. Now, thanks to Shinji, our plans have changed." The shorter and youngest Captain shifted his gaze to Byakuya, who had remained silent this who time. "We need to inform the Head Captain about this."

He nodded in agreement. "Yes. But we shall do it in person. I suspect that he will be sending more Captains to take care of this situation." He looked over at the only Lieutenant present. "Rangiku."

She was startled to attention, having been gazing in awe at the clothing shops just below. "Y-Yes sir!"

"You and your Captain will remain here and keep an eye on the town. Do a continuous check of the border, and send a Hell Butterfly if you sense either Kaguya or Saukra get anywhere near where Ichigo and Rukia reside."

They both nodded.

When Byakuya's eyes moved back to Hiyori, he avoided looking right at me. "Collect Shinji and return to Soul Society."

Hiyori glared at Byakuya, having been given yet another order. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get him."

With that being the dismissal, Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku disappeared, while Hiyori dove down to gather Shinji from the rubble he inadvertently created. My Captain, however, lingered just a few seconds longer, and I managed to catch him before he could disappear, too.

"Captain, please."

He refrained from leaving, though I doubt it was because I asked him to.

"What is it, Nanami?"

I bit my lip and hesitated. I had so many questions, but I knew he was going to get impatient and leave, regardless of what I had stopped him to say.

"I…I want to be a part of this mission. I mean, because we all know Sakura's M.O. is to track me down, I'm already involved. But…I want to go after Sakura, too."

For the first time since arriving here, he looked at me. His gaze was almost lifeless, and yet it never fazed me. Growing up, his cold stare was something of a comfort. When Hisana wasn't feeling well and I was afraid she would stay sick forever, his calm gaze assured me otherwise. I needed that now, because Sakura had gotten to me once. If happened last time happened again… I would for suer lose myself to my Hollow.

"I cannot allow that," he said simply.

"Why not?" I pouted like a child, though I was also mad that he would try and keep me out of this.

"The less involved you are, the easier it will be to track Sakura down and take her back to Soul Society. Your involvement will only worsen the situation."

"'Take her back'…?" My anger flared unexpectedly, and I dared to glare at the stubborn Captain before me. "You know damn well that if a prison cell couldn't hold her the first time, it's not going to work a second time. She's too dangerous to—"

"Be kept alive?" he finished for me.

I bit my tongue before I said something that I might seriously regret.

He looked at me as if he understood that's exactly what I meant to say. "I understand that what happened with Una was…unforgiveable. However, I have orders, and I will follow them." As if it were a side note, he said, "I will say that it's not my call on the matter. The Head Captain will decide what to do now that our situation has changed."

I nodded and looked away, deciding that It was best not to argue any further. There was a long silence before he spoke again, this time with a little more gentle edge to his voice.

"Aside from that, Hisana would not want you to get into any danger. She would be very upset if I had to let her you got hurt needlessly."

I snapped my eyes back up to his, my heart clenching with joy to hear mention of Hisana.

"Is…Is she doing okay? She's getting her rest, and not walking around the estate too much, right?" I asked hurriedly, having been dying to know since I first arrived here.

He nodded once. "She tells me often that she misses you, though it seems like it was just yesterday that you left Soul Society."

I wasn't going to say anything, because I knew if I did I would completely ruin it but… This was Uncle Byakuya's more gentle side. He would never dare show this side of himself when others were around—only to me or Hisana. He raised me from a new born, and I knew it must have been hard to let me go. Just like I knew if was hard for my mom and dad to send me away. In his own way, he was comforting me. He knew I would be happier knowing that Hisana was well. And he was right.

I nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Uncle Byakuya."

After another gentle nod, he was gone.

. . .

Arriving back home, I felt a lot more exhausted that I thought I would. I guess gathering up all that Spiritual Energy in order to lead Byakuya and the others right to me drained me more than I thought it would.

I barely made it into the next room before I small, yellow plush toy strung into my arms. "Nanami! Thank goodness your home!"

I caught Kon in my hands with ease; with my arms extending outward. I learned early on that I had to be careful about how I held the perverted little Mod Soul.

"What is it this time, Kon?" I was only half curious, because usually this game ended in me throwing him across the room for saying something he shouldn't.

"It's that—that evil witch you brought home with you a month ago. Ever since you've been using her to watch over your body while you're playing patty-cake with Hollows, she's gotten all high and mighty, and I'm the King of this house hold!"

I raised a brow and put him down on the floor. "You know, I don't think Dad would appreciate you saying that."

He waved me off with a swish of his stuffed paw. "That's not important now. What is important is what Yui does to me while your gone! She's been beating me and being scary all morning, and I haven't even done anything to her yet!"

I rolled my eyes. "'Yet' sounds like the key word." I sighed heavily. "Leave Yui alone, and she will leave you alone. It's that simple."

As I walked by him, I picked up the purple stuffed animal sitting on the table in the hallway.

Kon huffed, but he still followed me around the house like a dog. "No one here seems to believe me. You'll see one day when she's trying to rip your head clean off your shoulders."

I ignored the rest of his little rant. He was just mad that he wasn't the only mod Soul in the house anymore. I took Dad's advice and never let Kon watch over my body while I was gone.

I felt a tingle go down my spine. Just thinking about it made my shudder.

I eventually found Yui in my room, looking through my drawers as if she were looking for something to wear.

"Hey, Yui."

"Hi, Nanami."

Said Mod Soul was still in my pajamas that I was wearing last night, which I thought was funny. Although, just thinking about my bed made me that much more exhausted, and I wouldn't mind climbing back into bed with the morning that I've had.

Speaking of my bed… It was covered in almost all of the clothes that I own!

She looked back down at the drawer scrutinizingly. She had already picked out several t-shirts, a long dark skirt that I haven't warn yet, and pair of jeans from my drawers, but she was still digging around what wasn't all over my floor.

"I was going to pick out something to wear, but I don't like anything you've got here. It's just not what I like. And that dress you have on that doll is too…flashy." She made a motion to the purple alligator doll I picked up on my way here.

I looked at the doll in my hand. The plushy was sporting a bright green sparkly dress, with green shoes and a tiara to go with it. The doll was something Tara was given as a little girl but never touched. The twins were too young to understand Mod Souls and Hollows, so we told them Tara gave the doll as a present. And that gave me an idea.

"Well, one of these days we'll go to doll shop and you can pick out what you want to wear when you're not watching my body for me. As a thank you for all that you've done for me. And every now and then we'll pick out new outfits. Does that sound fair?"

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Y-You're serious?"

I nodded and smiled. "Of course. I've got some time this afternoon, so we can go a little later, okay?"

After another second of just staring at me, so suddenly leaped forward and hugged me tightly. My arms were trapped at my side, and we almost tumbled backwards from the impact. (I had never been hugged by my own body before, so this was strange to say the least.)

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! That would mean so much to me…!"

I smiled and patted her/my back the best I could with what little wiggle room I had. "You're welcome, Yui."

Once I got her calmed down, I took my body back and put the little green pill in the mouth of the alligator. After a second or two, she blinked and stood up in my hand.

"By the way, have you seen that stupid lion? He needs a good lesson about trying to jump into my arms when I'm in your body." The small doll shuddered. "Just thinking about it grosses me out."

I chuckled lightly. "Yeah, he seems to have that effect on people." I let her down and motioned down stairs. "Last I saw him he was heading toward the living room."

She saluted me like she was going on a mission. "Roger that!" And then she toddled her way out the room and. I decided that I would clean my room after I greeted Mom, so I threw on a pair of jeans and my favorite t-shirt with a large rose on the front and headed down stairs, too.

I rolled my eyes at Kon and Yui rolling around on the living room floor, wrestling and hitting eat other. They didn't even bother to stop when I told them to keep it down or they would wake Izuro.

"Hey, mom. I'm home," I greeted as I entered the kitchen.

The worrying mother that she was immediately looked in my direction. She stopped what she was doing (the dishes) and came over to me, hands still soapy from the the water.

"Nanami, are you okay?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

"I sensed your Spiritual Pressure earlier—you shouldn't have needed to release that much energy for a normal Hollow. Is everything okay?"

I hesitated, not sure what to say. Some part of my mind wanted to make up a lie to tell her so she wouldn't worry about what happened today, but another part reminded me that it wasn't fair to keep her in the dark. She needed to know, especially since it was Sakura that we were dealing with.

"Well…something did happen, but its kind of a long story."

She nodded lightly and smiled in understanding. "I see. Well, I won't force you to tell me, but I'm here if you want to talk."

If it were dad standing here, he would have demanded I tell him right then and there. He probably would have gone crazy trying not to act like it wasn't a big deal. But Mom knew that it was something bigger than a Hollow, so she didn't press it.

I smiled, too. "Thank you." My smile quickly faded. "And it's not like I don't want to tell you. I just… It's something that both you and Dad need to hear. But the short version is…there's someone after me."

If that wasn't blunt and straight to the point then I don't know what is.

Mom blinked in surprise. "And you don't think that's something your father and I need to worry about?"

I shook me head. "No, I'm not saying that. I just mean that everything should be all right. I think we've got a handle on it."

But I am definitely not going to let my guard down, not when it comes to Sakura, I though to myself.

"'We'?" Mom asked with a raised brow as she returns to the dishes.

I stand next to her and start to dry the dishes and put them away. "Yeah. The woman's name is Sakura. She was very interested in me when I was in Soul Society." I kept my voice steady, trying hard not to think back on it too much. "She was put in the High Security cells and locked away, but I guess she had an accomplice and got away. A few of the Captains came to investigate her disappearance, though they were hoping she hadn't made it to the yuma world yet." I thought about Shinji and held back a cringe. "Uh…for now lets just say the plans have changed and they need to regroup."

She looked up from her dishes long enough to ask, "Was Byakuya on of them?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I guess this explains why he hadn't sent a message yet; they were trying to get this mess straightened out."

She nodded, too. I hadn't really thought about how much she must be missing Byakuya and her sister. It's been so long since she's seen or heard from Aunt Hisana that I almost feel bad for missing her myself. It's not fair to be kept from one of your only family members for so long, but I guess that's just the way it has to be.

"Who else is here?" she asked as we finished the dishes.

"Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Matsumoto, Master Shinji and Hiyori."

She giggled, and when I looked at her confused she waved me off. "I was thinking about how Ichigo would react if he heard you call Shinji 'master'."

I laughed, too. "Yeah, I don't always call him that, though. I just do it out of respect. And I bet it makes Dad's skin crawl when I call Byakuya my 'captain'."

I made a crawling motion with my fingers to emphasize my point and we both laughed heavily. It felt nice to laugh because of how overwhelmed with fear and worry I've felt in the last few hours. If I had the choice to pick how I felt every day, that is what I would want more than anything else.

. . .

I put a lot of thought into whether I would continue the chapter and I decided that this was as good a place as any to end it. The next chapter will be a filler, and we will finally know what happened to Nanami back in Soul Society when Sakura first approached her. I'm still working out all of the kinks and dents myself, so I'm not even 100% sure what will happen yet. XD

I know I still need to describe Nanami's mask and Kaguya's Sword and all that, but that will come in another chapter. Promise. For now, let's take baby steps until we get there, shall we? :)

I also noticed how horrendous chapters 9 and 10 were when I came to my grammar and spelling. And I have to say…I'm sorry you had to read that in that horrible state. Even though I probably won't be reposting that chapter at the moment, I did go though and fix a lot of things. I've gone through the last few chapters about 100 times, so I'm HOPING that I didn't screw up as badly as chapters 9 and 10. Hoping, being the key word.

More NanamiXHiroshi in the later chapters. Maybe even in the next chapter—she still hasn't confronted him about the happened in front of her him yet. Hmm…

Let me know what you guys think and if I did happen to screw up real bad again. (Probably.) I look forward to reading what you guys have to say!

Thanks For Reading And Reviewing!

—Romni