In Kakuraka Town, every morning of everyday seems to follow the same (or at the very least) similar schedule. For example, in the Kurosaki residence, Ichigo will either wake up to his father preparing to sneak attack him or he will wake up to the sound of his alarm (of which he will promptly throw across the room). Whereas, in the Urahara residence, Kiyoko will either wake up to the sound of Jinta tormenting Ururu or he would wake up to the shouting of his father, calling him for breakfast. These little habits could often help define how the day was going to follow or the mood of each individual. For instance, when Ichigo was roughly awakened by his father we would always come into school grumpy with dark circles underneath his eyes (which Kiyoko found laughable as Ichigo slept over eight hours each night) and for the rest of that day he would be a hotbed of sarcasm and frustration.

Only it was on this morning in late April that Kiyoko just knew that today was going to be eventful. Maybe it was because there were no noises in the corners of his room which allowed for the male to have the first good nights rest in over two weeks or maybe it was because both his father and Tessei seemed to be deep in conversation across the breakfast table. In all honesty, Kiyoko couldn't place his finger on it exactly but judging by the underlying feeling of unease and strange excitement he wouldn't necessarily say that it was unwanted.

It wasn't until he arrived at school that Kiyoko finally knew what was wrong. At first, it wasn't easy to place as a couple pieces of rubble or scaffolding dotted around a few buildings wasn't anything out of the ordinary but by the time he entered the school grounds it was quite clear that something had happened. Quite simply because the blonde knew for a fact that there weren't any claw marks in the sports field yesterday at 4 o'clock.

Blinking in confusion, the male stood among a few others gossiping on lookers as he gazed down at the deep trenches that had mysteriously appeared overnight before turning to walk inside the white building, questions already rushing through his head.

However, by the time he had entered his classroom a whole new set of questions had developed as he stared across at the seated transfer student, whose head was turned to stare boredly out the window.

"Oh my God, Madarame, are you okay?" asked Kiyoko, his eyes wide as he stared at the endless amount of bandages that seemed to coat both the female's arm and leg.

Just yesterday the female started at the school, today she was wearing bandages on both her arm and her leg whilst a plaster was attached to her cheek. To say the contrast had Kiyoko confused would be an understatement, first the grounds look like an earthquake hit the town overnight and now the brand-new transfer student was carrying injuries like she was in a car crash. Just peachy.

"I'm fine, Urahara, just fell down a set of stairs," explained Mikayla, her bored gaze turning to him as he placed his bag on top of the desk, an expression of disbelief quickly spreading across his face as he looked down at her.

"Yeah right, what set of stairs do all that to one person?" came the question from behind them causing the pair's attention to shift towards the new voice.

Said new voice came from none other than Ichigo as his eyes trailed across Mikayla's form, almost analysing each bandage and bruise with an expression of similar disbelief to that of Kiyoko. Even the other male, despite not really liking the girl that much, was slightly concerned as he saw the different coverings that now sheltered the previously undamaged skin.

"Hey, did you both see the sports field?"

"Yeah, the thing's been completely torn apart. I'm kind of grateful though, means no outside sports anytime soon," smirked Kiyoko, his hands moving through his hair as he slowly began to braid it back into a long plait.

"You're just saying that because you want to do gymnastics," scoffed Ichigo, rolling his eyes playfully as he watched Mikayla's eyebrow raise in confusion.

"Gymnastics?"

"Yeah, Kiko, over here loves it because he's the best at it," explained the boy, watching as the female turned to face the blonde as though she wanted further explanation from the source himself.

"It's nothing really, just a few cartwheels and backflips. I also like dance, specifically breakdance but normally they only let us do traditional Japanese dances," said Kiyoko, hair now running in a long braid as he heard the female hum softly in understanding.

"Do you do any sports, Madarame?" asked Ichigo.

"I used to do running but I suppose I also did wrestling as well as boxing, if you will," answered the black haired female, shrugging lightly as she turned away from the visible faces of shock.

On one hand, both the boys found themselves shocked at such a revelation, not expecting the female to have done boxing off all things. Not due to her gender but rather due to the feeling of grace and power that she easily carried, however, Kiyoko wasn't as surprised as Ichigo. After all, when the younger had bumped into her yesterday he had noted the muscle tone as well as the way her body seemed to tense underneath the glare that Ichigo had first given her. If anything boxing should've been slightly more expected but for Kiyoko it was the idea of her wrestling someone that took him most of guard.

Though with this new knowledge came a new idea as towards what could have been the real cause of all the bandages.

Could Kiyoko be involved in an underground fight club? If so, then did she gain the bruises from a fight gone bad?

Numerous questions arose but as both Ichigo and Kiyoko shared a look they both knew that this would have to be a conversation for another time as they both shook their heads before turning to face the front of the board, watching as their teacher walked in to start the lesson.

…

From that point forward, the day quickly fell into something that wasn't too far out of the ordinary with the most interesting thing being Keigo snorting out milk from his nose after laughing too hard (the milk in question spray onto Ichigo which led to a the latter of which chasing him across the rooftop).

Which brought the small group back to the end of the day, once again at the shoe lockers as Ichigo found himself waiting for Kiyoko to put on his shoes. Rolling his eyes, the orange haired male began to wonder why it always took the younger male nearly five minutes to put on his shoes and then spend another two to fix his hair (seriously it was just hair!). Sighing loudly in annoyance, the older teen slammed his friend's locker shut before glaring at him sharply.

"Hurry the fuck up, Kiko. Otherwise, I will leave you here," warned Ichigo, before walking off, listening to his friend quickly scramble to grab both his bag and his outdoor coat as he rushed over to catch up with his friend.

"Cheeky bastard,"

Scowling softly, the shorter male jumped up to place a slap on the back of Ichigo's head before rushing off down the streets. Running after him, the orange haired male shouted curses towards his friend as Kiyoko continued to cackle loudly, his eyes curling into half moons as a wide smile stretched across his face.

…

That night, Kiyoko prepared himself for another peaceful night and as he finally drifted off, that was what he received. Not once did the teenager stir or toss in his sleep instead he laid blissfully unaware with his hair spread across the pillows in a golden halo. The only sounds echoing across the room were soft snores as the angry red of the alarm clock glowed dimly from his bedside table.

And as a gentle atmosphere of peace filled the room, all seemed like it was planning out to be another night of zero sounds or noises.

Until the clock hit one.

It was then, when the crescent moon was at its highest and the street lights were the only form of lighting that Kiyoko suddenly awoke, his eyes blinking blearily across the room.

Confused at this sudden awareness, the blonde hair slowly sat up, his gaze turning to look at the alarm before letting out a groan of annoyance. Rolling over, the male harshly picked up his pillow as he promptly pressed the object against the side of his face in an attempt to hopefully gain a few more hours of sleep. The desire to sleep was quickly dissolved as the sound of slow tapping emerged from the window, the sharp tapping of glass eerily echoing throughout the small bedroom.

Not again, please, I'm begging you not again.

Breath hitching, the male gingerly pulled the pillow away as he turned to face the direction of the noise, eyes now wide as a feeling of dread began to curl around his stomach.

Please, it was so peaceful last night, why can't you just leave me alone?

Suddenly, the gentle tapping came to a stop forcing the room back into silence as Kiyoko's grip slowly began to tighten around the pale bedsheets. Letting a shaky breath escape his lips, the blonde carefully rolled back onto his side, trying to escape the earlier sounds as he desperately tried to fall back into the blissful void known as sleep. Squeezing his eyes shut, the male slowly began to mutter soft whispers of prayers underneath his breath.

Then it started again.

However, this tapping was unlike the one that first greeted Kiyoko. Now the tapping came in inconsistent beats against both the window and the floorboards, ranging in strength and volume. Nervously, Kiyoko's grip tightened further on the bed sheets as he slowly reached across to his bedside table in an attempt to turn on the lamp.

Only it didn't switch on.

The switch flicked frantically back and forth but never once did the warm artificial light fill the room, instead it remained cold and detached as the violent thumping continued.

"Fuck this," muttered the male, quickly grabbing onto his blanket as he rushed out of the room, turning back once to catch the glimmer of a heavily shadowed figure in the corner of his room.

Shakily, the blonde quickly ran down the hallway, turning harshly into the dimly lit bedroom of his brother only to be met by a locked door.

"What?"

"Hey, Jinta, let me in," he softly whispered, knocking lightly on the door as he tried to push it open, trying his hardest not to disturb his sleeping father.

"Jinta, open the door,"

Then suddenly a cold feeling washed over him, slowly Kiyoko pulled away from the door, his head turning to look behind him only to see nothing but darkness. Taking in a shaky breath the male turned back around only for the sound of slow tapping to fill his ears. Eyes wide the blonde laid a shaky hand on the door, soft knocking now becoming harsher as he tried to pry the door open.

"Jinta, I swear to God open this fucking door!" he shouted, eyes now frantic as he tried to locate the source of all this madness.

"Open the door!"

Then water.

Gasping, the blonde sat up in bed his eyes searching across the room as he scrambled out of bed, falling harshly onto the floor as he frantically tried to untangle his legs from the blanket.

"Kiyoko! Calm down!" shouted Tessai, quickly moving to grab onto the younger male's arms as he flailed about the ground, fighting against the hold as his eyes searched across the room.

For the first time, Kiyoko experienced the sound occuring in his head rather than reality. A fact that would later lead to the discovery of a well kept family secret (much to the chagrin of his family) and the death of his innocence (both figuratively and literally).

It would be later on that same day, when Kiyoko was more aware and calmer, that he would reach the conclusion that it was the nightmare that had awakened his family inadvertently. It was a weak conclusion that even Kiyoko knew was wrong but deep down there was an underlying refusal to admit the truth.

It wasn't the nightmare that caused the rest of the household to awaken, instead it was the sound of large cries and shouts that Kiyoko had unknowingly been emitting from both inside and outside of his dream.

It was these shouts that led to both Kisuke and Tessai waking up, their eyes wide with confusion before concern quickly overran their emotions leading towards their discovery of the distressed boy. Tears ran endlessly down his face as the teenager seemed to be fighting against himself, the blanket curling and trapping his legs whilst his arms waved about, punching the air.

The sight itself was both disturbing and distressing as Kisuke made quick work to find a way to successfully wake up Kiyoko with Tessai moving to try and comfort the now awake children, their faces pale with horror as they watched the boy they considered to be an older brother fight against himself.

After ten long and painful minutes, Kiyoko finally woke up to a facefull of a bucket of water.

Despite the bucket of water, the male still found himself unable to decipher where his dream ended and where reality began, his eyes frantically searching the various blurred faces as he continued to fight against the strong hold. Finally, the boy collapsed in his uncle's hold, eyes puffy and red with tears as loud sobs racked through his body.

"Christ, what the hell is going on?!" shouted Kisuke, finally having enough of all the commotion as he looked across the room towards his son.

The question went unanswered as Tessai gently let Kiyoko go, watching as the younger male slowly curled into a ball with his messy bed-ridden hair easily shielding his face from view.

From the corner of the room moved Jinta, his fists clenched tightly as he gingerly walked towards his older-brother figure. The red-head had heard Kiyoko's earlier screams and shouts, able to easily understand just who he was calling out for and why.

After all, Kiyoko only ever called him by his full name after something really bad had happened.

At first it used to be for little things that Jinta had been doing to annoy the other male (like leaving milk out of the side in his bedroom on a hot day) but in recent months Kiyoko had been using it after he had a particularly bad night. Nights that had never once resulted in this type of outburst.

So slowly, the ten year old walked towards the blonde before wrapping his arms tightly around his body. The reaction was instant with Kiyoko suddenly sweeping the red head into a bone crushing hug. Shocked (and still slightly scarred) the boy began to run his fingers through the long blonde hair, an action he knew would calm the older male as his grip tightened further on the younger. Tears rolled down his face as he tightly clung onto Jinta's shirt, burying his face further into the younger male's neck as loud sobs filled the room.

At this point, the entire household were gathered in the small bedroom with the vast majority (excluding Jinta) carrying faces of concern and confusion. Kisuke, now thoroughly irritated at his inability to fully comfort and help his son, quickly ordered everyone to leave the room (save for Kiyoko and Jinta, who were still hugging one another). Moving across the room, the older blonde gradually kneeled on the floor in an attempt to not startle Kiyoko further before replacing Jinta's hand with his own as he gently began to detangle the long, matted locks.

"Kiyoko," murmured Kisuke, watching as bright unfocused eyes eventually began to still on the face in front of him, his face collapsing further into despair as the cold reality finally hit.

This time there would be no avoiding it; Kiyoko would have to explain everything that had been going on for the past three months.