Hello :)

Chapter V is out.

Here come the usual disclaimer, reminder and warnings.

Friendly reminder: this story will be slightly AU and some characters might be OOC. For anyone who is not into YAOI, please do not go or read any further, this is not going to be your cup of tea :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters, they all belong to Tite Kubo-Sensei etc., etc.

Usual WARNINGS: Spoiler alert for anyone who is not up to date with the manga and only watched the anime! Somewhere along the way might contain but is not limited to include dark themes, suicidal thoughts, heavy sexual contest, yaoi (again xD) and some other themes not suitable for under-age reader. Read at your own risk and discretion! And if you don't like, please don't hate too much :3

This Chapter is dedicated too all of you who are guests and occasionally pop-up.

I used to be one :)

Special thanks to Strawberry (Guest) for the marvelous review. You gave me wings of excitement. Thanks to you, my muse would not let me be until I finished another chapter, so here it is :D Hope you'll all like it xD

Chapter V

It did not take long for the car to pass the sign which said "Welcome to Karakura". Shirosaki found an inn with a large parking spot close the downtown center. He opted for an inn near the center to avoid using the car once the need for shopping arose. He knew they would have to make some purchases for the girl. He would make sure he was not involved in the whole shopping spree. Nope, there was no way. The inn was a fine white establishment from the outside.

Shirosaki, once again, helped Ossan since he would be carrying the sleeping Masaki in his hands and lead the way to the entrance of the inn. On the inside a variety of carpets, decorations and furniture were the first things they noticed. All in different shades of crimson red, gold and white.

Ossan made way to the reception desk, where they were greeted as appropriate by the staff. Though some where giving them odd looks from the corner of their eyes whenever they could afford it. It was not every day you saw two well-dressed males, with bizarre features, carry a sleeping girl. Ossan took notice of the attention they were gathering and set to stop any rumors that may start at any given moment by speaking to whom seemed to be the Concierge.

"Good day. I would like to request for three adjoining rooms for my children and I. We have been traveling for several hours and are quite exhausted. Would you mind to have someone gather the luggage from our car? It's the black Rover SD1 Vitesse."

You'd have to be blind not to notice the way everyone lightened up at those words. The Concierge was extremely happy to know these were high class guests, since they were about to pay for three rooms instead of sharing one. The commission for this month would be sweet for the smiling lady. Other staff members were glad to know the girl was no kidnapped or worse since she was asleep. Giving the arrived guests a better look, they could see the tiredness in their forms, reassuring them even further that everything was fine.

The Concierge was more than pleased to send the Bellboy to pick up the customers luggage and had one of the Housekeepers' escort the clients to their staterooms, wishing them a pleasant stay.

The Housekeeper, a lovely young maid dressed in the traditional kimono of the region, showed them to their rooms. She took the time to clarify the how the connection between rooms worked, how to use the room's facility and technology. She also explained how the phone worked and how to order room service, where the menu was etc. She asked them not to hesitate to contact the Reception should they require anything else, gave them their keys and left the room with a deep bow.

Ossan laid Masaki down on the bed, while Shirosaki locked the door. Since this was the central room out of the three connected, this would become Masaki's room. That way the two of them could be within hearing distance in case of an emergency. Shirosaki opted to take the room to the left, leaving Ossan with the room on the right. One look was all they needed to move to the left stateroom. Both took a seat on the large bed, choosing opposite directions as per their norm. They left the door partially open, so they could hear when Masaki awoke.

Shirosaki was the first to talk. "So… what do we know, Ossan?"

"As we have already established, the attack was intentional and well organized. The timing was flawless. It was over before we landed. The barrier was intact and Masaki's parents mentioned shadows, Shinigami can't manipulate shadows. It's a specialty of my race. And the leftover reiatsu, all leads to the Quincy. We know there were five individuals. Now the questions we have no answer to are: why is there an assault among my own kindred? What could possibly motivate them to do such an act? Had this happened back then all those centuries ago the answer would have been simple. A declaration of war and rebellion against my throne. Now it's meaningless, especially since the seal was placed so long ago. Another option would be that there is someone holding the stings and recruiting a new army, killing any who oppose or refuse to participate."

Shirosaki listened patiently and occasionally nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. All are valid points. But would they really destroy the whole mansion just because they refused to join their cause? Also, you are leaving out the detail that most likely the responsible members were aware of your arrival. This was definitely personal. There is also the possibility the mansion was destroyed because they were looking for the only survivor. In this case Masaki. If they were really making plans and taking notes of the movements within then I'm sure the goal was utter eradication. You can forget about the recruitment part. That must have already been accomplished since there were five guys. Yes, I admit there were some small fry, but there were at least two really strong ones, those that were difficult to sniff. Can you think of anyone who would want to eliminate your family?"

Once again, the staring contest began. Neither wanting to be the first to break the silence or the others thoughts. This time it was Ossan who broke eye contact, searching throughout his memory for anyone intent on doing this atrocity.

"No. Ever since the seal… Very few are aware that I'm around. I would have sooner expected something like this from the Shinigami, but from my own? Unless…"

Realization struck the elders face and shock soon overtook him completely. Shirosaki, being the "not so patient person" he was, tried to get Ossan to speak up his mind. But the other was lost elsewhere. A deep frown settled upon Shirosaki. He hated when the other behaved like this. It was nearly impossible to get him out of one of those moments. For being a fragment of a King, he sure took his sweet time figuring things out. And even more time to share. Damn it! He was pale, but not invisible! Getting tired of the silent treatment he leaned over the bed to reach the other and punched his companion in the face.

"Damn it Ossan! Share your darn thoughts already! You know I'm not one for suspense and I sure as hell can't read minds!"

The punch did remove Ossan from his mulling, but the raise in voice could have roused Masaki from sleep. Ossan stood from the bed and made his way to the partition-door. Masaki was still deep asleep and gave no indication she would soon wake up.

Ossan loudly exhaled relieved Masaki was continuing her rest. He looked back at Shirosaki and gave him a sharp glare.

"Hehe, ops. My bad." Was Shirosaki's nonchalant response to the dirty look Ossan was aiming at him. He was not sorry, nor did he feel really bad. It worked, nonetheless and Ossan groaned before speaking up.

"I hope what I'm about to say is incorrect… What if… What if Soren* is back? If Soren was reincarnated and somehow kept his memories from that time… Everything would add up. The attack on the manor, the drastic increase in mortality of my family… You see, I didn't notice the same pattern with other Quincy families. A good example would be the Ishida's family. The one in this town is the last of their branch, but it was caused mostly due to not wanting to mix their bloodline with Gemischt instead of 'incidents'. If he was back, it makes sense to think he would want to finish what he had started. Another reason why he would want to destroy my family is Ichigo. He hated him with a passion and I wouldn't pass it beyond him to do everything in his power to assure he couldn't be reborn. I… I'm not sure, but even just thinking about Soren makes my blood boil."

The moment the name Soren was spoken, Shirosaki found it hard to control his emotions. Heh, he too hated the son of a good mother. Hey, don't judge him for not calling him a son of a bitch! Soren's mother might have been a good woman. It was not her fault that bastard turned out the way he did. Then Ichigo's name was mentioned. Just the name was enough to calm Shirosaki's rage. He agreed with Ossan about the boiling blood, though he would prefer a barbecued Soren rather than his own boiled blood. Man, he was getting pissed again. No, he would keep it cool. He has too, for the little girly next door. But if he was to cross paths with Soren. Oh, no. Nothing would stop him from ripping that man apart like Lego blocks. Only these parts would not have the chance to be reattached. Nope! He would make sure not even a bloody cell would remain of the guy. Oh, yeah. He would keep that firmly in mind.

His deranged smile from ear to ear stretched his face. "Ossan. If that comes to be true, I call dibs on Soren's head. You can play with what remains of him, if there will be anything left of course."

They looked at each other, silently agreeing.

Shirosaki's smile suddenly turned back in a frown. "Ossan. This was a Quincy attack. If I remember correctly, he wasn't a Quincy, but a… what is it called nowadays? Oh, yeah! Hybrid. He was a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid scumbag. Surely, he couldn't gather a Quincy army, even less convince them to attack 'The Kurosaki'. Maybe, once we rest and find a place for Masaki-chan, it would be a good idea to go back there and look for more clues."

Ossan was surprised by Shirosaki's words. Not only did he reign his blood-lust, but gave a valid argument. True, Soren had been a mistake from the very beginning. He should have never let… He should have seen the signs sooner. Even after all this time he blamed himself for not having seen what was happening sooner. Maybe it could have all been avoided…

They were both startled by the knock on the main door, followed by a loud yawning sound coming from the adjoining room. Looks like Masaki was waking up, meaning this whole conversation was coming to a premature end. Ossan checked the reiatsu on the other side of the main door. Since it felt human and he could not detect any ill intentions he opened the door only to be met by a shy Bellman carrying their luggage and car key. Huh, he had completely forgotten about the luggage. The poor soul was bowing and apologizing like there was no tomorrow for the delay in delivering the luggage, afraid of having offended the esteemed guests. Ossan reassured the young man everything was fine and thanked the still apologizing man for the delay saying it gave them precisely the time to recover from the journey. The Bellman was thankful to the customers and offered further assistance. Politely declining, Ossan was about to send the man back to his duties. But the Bellman wanted to go a step beyond duty and offered his personal number in case they required anything at all. Poor man, he had taken the luggage and got lost through the inn since it was his first day at work and already got scolded on several occasions for forget his whereabouts. Had he received a complaint from these guests, he surely would have gotten fired. Ossan thanked the young man, assured him everything was fine and politely ushered the other out, locking the door.

Masaki rubbed the sleep from her eyes and greeted her group members. Shirosaki took the liberty to inform the girl of the sleeping arrangements and offered some clothes in case she would want to take a shower as well as an extra toothbrush and other needed toiletries. Yes, the clothes would bee too large on the skinny female, but it was better then anything Ossan could offer. Masaki cheerfully took the proposed clothes: light blue baggy sport trousers and a white pajama shirt. The trousers had a string at the top for size adjustment. They would still be way to big since she was only about 5'5 compared to Shirosaki's 6'0, but it was better than nothing. She was soon gone to the bathroom for a nice long warm shower.

A shower sounded like a great idea. Shirosaki took another pajama set for himself, this one consisted of black shorts and a dark red shirt, black boxer briefs for his nether regions and the rest of the necessities. He too went under a hot shower. He would sleep the rest of the day away. What with the flight and all. Not to mention it was past two in the afternoon and they have had no breaks for over a day. Yes, shower and sleep. Ossan followed his companions leads and he too opted for a set of pajamas: midnight blue shirt and trousers with white leaf patterns. Everything else could wait for later. They were all exhausted in one way or the other.

Afraid…, scared… He was running from a horde of Hollows, Barragan's personal servants. Followers of 'The New King' of Hueco Mundo. He had fought against many and came out victorious, but there was no end to these vermin's. He was injured during the last confrontation and was bleeding from a major wound on his stomach, still too young to fully use his high-speed regeneration. The pursuers able to follow him by the scent of his own blood. He was desperate. He had to get away from his persecutors. Those guys behind him would be catching up to him soon. He had to be faster and put as much distance as possible so he could heal enough to get rid of them the old fashion way.

An unfamiliar reiatsu burst just a few paces to his left. Great. Even more enemies. Perhaps he could use it as a distraction? The reiatsu was powerful, yet unbalanced, like the owner wasn't able to conceal or manipulate it. Must be an incompetent young one. Still such power, could it really emanate from an inexperienced soul? Or was is a trap? He decided to risk and hide, praying the Hollows following him would attack the unknown powerhouse. They did, he was safe.

A high-pitched scream pierced the air. Shit! It was just a kid. Well that's how life is, unfair. He wanted to continue his escape. He should let the kid be his scapegoat. It's just another soul…

Another cry resonated throughout the forest. This one was laced with a hint of pain. He turned and went in the direction of the mysterious reiatsu. The scene he stumbled upon was terrifying.

The, previously sleeping, pale figure jumped out of his skin and woke up drenched in cold sweat, breathing ragged and uneven. His lungs weren't able to process all the oxygen he was frantically getting in and out. It took Shirosaki several moments to realize he was startled awake from a dream. A nightmare or was it a memory? He couldn't remember. Huh? This was the first night terror in centuries. Could it be a storm was brewing in the distance? Considering just recent events, he was fairly positive for this to be the case. He looked around himself and just noticed it was already dark outside. He must have slept for several hours. He glanced at the nightstand clock. Two in the morning. He frowned at the inanimate object like it wronged him in some way just by displaying the ungodly early hour.

Sighing loudly, he decided to try and get back to sleep. It did not take long to conclude there would be no more naps. Just as he was about to go to the restroom to refresh, he felt a foreign reiatsu approaching. Expanding his senses, he found out it was a small fry Hollow. He would go and send him to the afterlife as a precaution. There was no need for this Hollow to come near them. Surely the wretched thing was aiming to consume Masaki's reiatsu. Speaking of the girly. Her reiatsu was all over the place. He should wake her up before she attracted even more Hollows.

With the plan in his mind, he set it in motion by exiting his room and entering the central stateroom where Masaki laid on the bed. Just looking at her, you could see she was haunted by an unpleasant dream. He quietly approached her, softly shaking her shoulders while gently applying soothing reiatsu on the palm of his hands. He did not want her to jump out of bed, or worse cry out. Who knows what would Ossan think, not to mention the staff.

"Masaki-chan, Masaki, wake up. Wake up little one. It's just a bad dream. We are here by your side. Come on wake up." Not once did Shirosaki raise his voice, but his voice and the addition of the calm reiatsu were enough to rouse Masaki out of her slumber. She was shaking and was about to scream out of fright. The yell was stopped by a pale hand on her mouth, followed by Shirosaki shushing sounds and warm words. "It's alright. You're fine and safe. It was all just a dream."

Masaki was cozy and felt appeased that she suddenly hugged whoever was the owner of that voice. She was still very sleepy and her eyes did not get the chance to really have a good look at the person in front of her.

Shirosaki on the other hand was too stunned to make a sound. He had not seen that one coming. He had a Hollow to chase away, but there was still some distance between them and the approaching threat. Meh, he had time. Not like it was a big fish, it was a rather low-class Hollow, so where was the rush? Besides, the girl had been so frightened. Poor thing, must have relived the horror of her previous night.

After several minutes, Masaki was calm enough to notice she was hugging the Hollow. She was expecting to see the elder male, but was surprised that she was pacified by a Hollow. 'Well, he is not all that bad, even Heika said so.' Thought Masaki, perhaps she could finally find it in her heart to give the pale man a chance.

"Thank you." Were the first quiet words spoken. "Thank you for waking me up." Slowly she released her hold from Shirosaki's shoulders.

"No problem, kid. Now try and go back to sleep, it's still too early in the morning for your to be roaming around." Shirosaki was continuing to use his comforting voice and gestures. Not wanting to scare off little Masaki. Not after what just happened. Masaki nodded her head. She turned to the other side and was trying to fall asleep. But, she knew there was no way she was going to fall asleep again, not after her nightmare. She was about to voice her concern to Shirosaki, when she noticed the male was gone. The window next to her bed was open. That was so cool. How did he manage to pass so near her and not even notice? How did he leave so fast? Where was he going? Why was he awake? Did he only wake up because of her nightmare or was he awake before that?

So many questions were passing through the girl's mind. Her unanswered questions soon lulled her back to sleep. Shirosaki's comforting reiatsu lingering onto her being. She fell asleep to thoughts of white knight and shining horses instead of knights in shining armors and white horses.

Neither of the two had noticed their third member who witnessed the whole ordeal hidden behind his partially closed door. A smile spread through his face at the notion of how nicely Shirosaki had treated Masaki. He had been awoken by Masaki's unstable reiatsu and was on his way to her, when he noticed Shirosaki's presence next to her. He had not anticipated the sight in front of his eyes. He was even more astounded when he noticed Shirosaki's reiatsu manipulation. He was consciously pacifying the girl who then hugged the pale man. This was getting interesting. In all the years he had known the Hollow, he had never seen this side of his character. It was surreal. Ichigo had really made a good choice. No matter how many times he had been told, he had never believed. Until now.

When Shirosaki left and Masaki fell asleep, he used his own senses to figure out what caused the abrupt leave. Ah, a minor Hollow. Nothing major, really. Shirosaki will not get even a warm-up. He searched the area for the local Shinigami. He knew of the distribution of Shinigami's by areas and since this city had a large influx of spiritual movements he was sure there must have been at a least one around. He was proven wrong. He could not sense any Shinigami's around, not for miles and miles away. Just what was going on? This was not how they work. He was tempted to go and accompany Shirosaki, but refrained from joining. He would stay and look over Masaki. Shirosaki was capable and strong, if this was a trap he could easily escape. Nodding to himself he opened the door and took a seat at the nearby chair.

Shirosaki took no time at all to get rid of the Hollow. For a small-fry, the Hollow had been huge and irritating. He closed his eyes to check if there were more Hollows in the area. Nope. Zilch. Good. He did not need any more annoyances, Ossan and the girly would be more than enough.

He did notice something weird. There was a faint reiatsu in the distance, remains of a battle. 'Should I go and check or should I go back? It's dim and weakening by the second. If I don't explore now, it'll be all gone by morning. Oh, what the heck! Not like I've got anything better to do.'

The reiatsu lead him to the outskirts of town. There wasn't much he could sense. Whatever happened it must have been a quick work. The lingering reiatsu belonged to a Shinigami and judging by the way it felt, the Shinigami must have been frightened beyond words. Just what could have provoked such a strong input of emotions? Shirosaki was trying really hard to sense anything else. But there was nothing left. Whoever attacked the Shinigami, must have been really fast. Stupid, weak Shinigami. They should really stop underestimating their enemies. With that final thought, Shirosaki used his Shunpo and went back to the inn.

Chapter V done ^.^

Looking forward to any and all criticism, just please don't hate :3

Yes, Shirosaki used Shunpo. I'll explain the "how's" and "why's" in one of the future chapters.

*Soren* is a Danish name meaning stern one. In America it would be: stern, strict, severe or even 'God of War' You can see I love the last one xD

In French and Scandinavian means thunder.

Quick recap: English is not my mother language so if I made any mistakes or any errors, please let me know. I am the writer and the spellcheck person all in one. I'm getting the feeling this is getting old, but I love feeling safe xD

Wishing everyone a great day/night ahead :)