CHAPTER ONE
URYU
Something was wrong. He could feel it in his very core. An enormous amount of spiritual pressure was radiating from nearby.

"This is no ordinary hollow," Uryu Ishida mumbled. "It must be something stronger... An Arrancar or a Menos or something. I'd better go check it out." He ran toward the source of the spiritual pressure ready for a fight.

The last thing he expected was to see a teenage girl trying to fight off an especially angry-looking Menos. It attacked her with a ferocity that told Uryu this was no ordinary girl. She dodged the attacks with too much skill for it to be the first time she'd had to do that, but despite her swift reflexes, it soon cornered her.

Uryu quickly fired several arrows into the Menos at once. The attack was enough to take it down, but when it vanished, Uryu spotted a new problem. A very small spirit had zeroed in on the girl. The spirit looked like a scared little boy, but his hollow mask gave him away as a threat.

"Come with me, Miss," the spirit said in the voice of a child. "It isn't safe here!"

Uryu was about to warn her not to trust it when she pulled out a Zanpakuto and shoved it through the hollow's chest. It cried out in pain before attempting to attack her again.

She clung to the weapon for dear life but didn't release it into its next form. "You! Soul Reaper! Release your Shikai!" Uryu shouted as he sensed the hollow gaining power.

"What did you call me? And what the hell is a Shikai?" She asked, but there was no time to answer as the hollow tried to bite her. Uryu sensed the power radiating from it and suspected its bite was lethal.

"Get down!" He shouted. She dove to the ground as he sent an even stronger arrow attack than his previous one at the hollow. The hollow was impossibly strong despite its childlike appearance. It survived the attack.

Enraged, the hollow attempted to attack Uryu. That was when he heard a familiar voice shout, "Bankai!"

"Ichigo..." Uryu mumbled as his frienemy unleashed his own attack.

"Hado Number Thirty-Three, Sokatsui!" Rukia Kuchiki cried, unleashing her favorite Kido attack.

Between the two of them and Uryu, the hollow was soon defeated.

"Are you alright?" Uryu asked the unidentified and clearly untrained Soul Reaper. He wondered if she was still part of the Academy.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Is that a Zanpakuto?" Ichigo asked in surprise. "Are you a Soul Reaper?"

"Your friend called me the same thing," she replied. "I don't know what that is."

Rukia studied the girl curiously. "Her spiritual energy is cloaked. I can sense enormous power within her, but I can't read her energy. I don't recognize her," she said.

"What is your name, Soul Reaper?" Uryu asked.

"My name is Kyori," she replied.

"Wait, I know you," Uryu realized. "I've seen you around the high school recently."

"You're that new girl," Ichigo added. "You started school about three months ago, right?"

"That's right," Kyori confirmed.

"I'm Ichigo. That's Uryu and this is Rukia. Where did you come from?"

She hesitated. "I don't know," she finally replied softly.

"You don't know?" Uryu repeated.

"Look, I woke up three months ago in a strange shop with this sword next to me. I had no idea where I was, but I felt like I was in danger, so I ran. I've been on my own ever since, and I'm mostly okay, except that those freaks keep chasing me."

"Hollows?" Ichigo asked.

"Not just hollows," Uryu replied. "She had a Menos after her, and you saw the second hollow... There was something different about it."

"Look, Kyori, you're obviously a Soul Reaper. Your Zanpakuto proves that," Rukia said.

"My what?" Kyori asked.

"The sword," Ichigo explained.

"Wait... You said you woke up in a shop," Uryu said suddenly. "Was it Uruhara Shop?"

"That's what the sign said," Kyori replied.

"Kisuke... We'll need to speak with him to sort this out," Rukia decided.

"I'm not going back there. What if he kidnapped me or something? I don't know how I ended up there."

"Kisuke's a pain in the ass, but he's one of the good guys," Ichigo replied.

"That's a bit of a stretch," Uryu protested, "but he is our ally. We'll go with you, Kyori. You'll be safe."

"I don't know any of you. Why should I trust you?" Kyori asked.

"Because we came to help you when we didn't have to... And because you're a girl who is in trouble and it's my duty as an honorable man to help you."

As she looked into his eyes, she hesitated. "Alright," she agreed. "I need answers and I'm sick of those freaks chasing me all the time."

Uryu offered her his hand. She cautiously accepted it. "The shop's not far," he said. As he held her hand, Kyori seemed to calm down a little. Uryu smiled at her encouragingly as Ichigo led the way to the shop.

KYORI
Together, they headed to Urahara shop. They were met at the door by a little girl with big, sad eyes and a redheaded little boy who glared at them.

"Jinta, Ururu, is Kisuke here? It's urgent we speak with him," Rukia explained.

"It's always urgent," the boy whined.

"Just answer her question, Jinta!" A man with spiky red hair snapped as he appeared from within the shop. "Don't be a brat."

"Shut up, Moocher! You don't tell me what to do!" Jinta snapped.

"Renji? What are you doing here?" Rukia asked in surprise.

"We got an alert about unusual activity a few minutes ago, but as soon as I got here, it vanished," Renji replied.

"Too slow, Loser!" Jinta taunted him.

"Shut up, you little shi-"

"Renji!" Rukia said, cutting off what he'd been about to say.

"Are you two brothers?" Kyori asked.

"What? No way in Hell! This kid's just a pain in my ass. We're not related," Renji clarified. He paused to study her. "Wait a minute... Have we met?"

"I don't know."

"Renji, do you recognize her?" Ichigo asked. "She has amnesia."

"If I didn't know better..." Renji shook his head. "Nevermind. I do know better."

"What is it?" Uryu asked.

"She looks a lot like Kiki."

"Kiki? Who's Kiki?" Ichigo asked.

"Kiki Hattori," Renji replied. "Third Seat of Squad Ten. She was killed about seven years ago."

Kyori tensed. Her family name was Hattori. That was one of the few things she knew about herself.

"So she was ranked right behind Rangiku? That's impressive," Ichigo said.

"Yeah, she was a badass. Anyway, she's dead, so this conversation is pointless," Renji insisted.

"Excuse me, Renji, but Jinta never answered Rukia," Ururu said softly. "Mr. Kisuke is out on important business, but he'll be back soon, Rukia."

"Thank you, Ururu," Rukia replied. "Maybe we should wait."

"Renji... Are you sure this Kiki girl is dead?" Kyori asked.

"Oh, I'm sure. I saw it happen," Renji replied. "She took an attack to try to protect the rest of us and her soul just... Shattered. So did her Zanpakuto. I've never seen anything like that before. It broke Rangiku's heart. They were close, and she was there, too."

Kyori nervously showed him her sword. "Did the Zanpakuto look like this?" She asked.

Renji tensed. His jaw dropped almost comically for a moment before he turned angry and demanded, "Where did you get that and what kind of game are you trying to play?" He drew his own Zanpakuto.

"Renji, stop!" Rukia cried.

"She's got a dead Soul Reaper's weapon, Rukia!" Renji protested.

"A Soul Reaper you admitted she looks like. Renji, what if she is Kiki?"

"That's impossible. I told you, I watched the girl die. No one could have survived that attack... And even if she did, it's been seven years. Why would she only turn up now?"

"Kyori has no memories."

Renji stared at her. "Kyori..." He repeated.

"Let me guess," Uryu said. "Kiki was a nickname for Kyori?"

"She's an imposter... She must be," Renji insisted.

"Listen, Red, I just want to know the truth, alright?" Kyori said in frustration. "I'm not here to cause trouble. Calm down before you suddenly spawn another spike on your head!"

Renji gasped and shook his head before he put his Zanpakuto away. "Shit..." He mumbled. "This can't be good. Not after seven years. Someone must have done this to you."

"Wait... You believe she's Kiki now?" Ichigo asked.

"Kiki used to say that exact thing about my anger making more spikes grow on my head... And she called me Red," Renji replied. "I don't understand it, and I don't know what's going on with her spiritual energy, but this is Kiki. I need to tell Rangiku and Captain Hitsugaya."

"We need to talk to Kisuke first," Rukia said firmly. "Kyori woke up here three months ago. He must know something. Then we can tell the people in the Soul Society."

"So we're just supposed to sit around and wait?" Renji demanded.

"Patience is a virtue, Renji," a man wearing a green and white bucket hat and clogs said pleasantly as he entered the shop. "One you apparently do not possess. What can I do for you, my friends?"

"Kisuke... Do you know this girl?" Uryu asked, motioning toward Kyori.

"Not in the slightest," Kisuke replied cheerfully. "I'm pleased to see she's here and conscious, though. Kisuke Urahara," he said as he extended his hand to Kyori.

"If you don't know me, why was I in your shop when I woke up three months ago?" Kyori asked, not taking his hand.

"Oh, that's easy. I found you, looking like someone had done a real number on you. The Zanpakuto at your side suggested you were a Soul Reaper. I had no idea who you might be, and your spiritual energy was basically unreadable, but I couldn't very well leave you bleeding and dying on the street, could I? So I brought you here and Tessai did his best to heal you using Kido. I guess it worked, because when I checked on you the next morning, you were gone."

"So you don't know what happened or who did this to her?" Uryu asked.

"I do not. All I can tell you is that whoever attacked her probably had no intention of her surviving. She's lucky to be alive." Kisuke paused. "Do you know your name?" He asked her.

"Kyori," she replied. "That's pretty much all I know."

He softened a bit more as he looked at her. "Kyori, I don't know who's after you, but I do know you're safe here. We will do everything we can to protect you."

"How can you protect me when we don't even know who's after me?"

"This shop is probably the safest place in Karakura Town," Rukia replied. "Whoever did this won't detect you here."

"I don't feel comfortable hiding out in some shop with strangers."

"But everyone is a stranger to you, right?" Ichigo pointed out.

Kyori sighed. "Alright, that's true, but I still don't feel safe here. I'm fine on my own."

"Where have you been living?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Kyori... Are you living on the streets?" Uryu asked with obvious concern.

"I built a small shelter. It does the trick, and I sneak into the school early to use the showers," she admitted. "I'm fine."

"You can't just live on the streets," Ichigo insisted. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I eat at school. They give me free breakfast and lunch."

"That hardly qualifies as food."

"I have to agree," Uryu chimed in. "You must be starving."

"I'm fine," Kyori insisted. Her stomach growled. Traitor, she thought.

As another man arrived, Kisuke smiled. "Perfect timing, Tessai. Our young guest requires food," he said, pointing to Kyori.

Tessai gasped as he noticed her. "You came back... Excellent. I'll prepare something delicious for you." He hurried into the shop.

"I didn't agree to that," Kyori protested.

"Kyori, at least stay and eat something," Uryu said gently. "If you still want to leave after that, we'll figure something out."

She sighed. "Fine," she agreed because she was too hungry to keep protesting.

As they all headed into the shop, Renji said, "I think we'd better alert the others now."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kisuke said.

"Why the hell not?"

"Whoever did this to Kyori was a Soul Reaper. I can't say for sure who it was because their energy was cloaked somehow, but I know that much. Whatever happened to her was done very deliberately, and it's no easy task to pull something like this off. Until we figure out who it was, you should be very careful who you tell about her. There is a traitor in the Soul Society."

Everyone tensed at his words. "Kisuke, she was part of Captain Hitsugaya's Squad," Renji said after a moment. "I trust him and Rangiku completely. They didn't do this."

"We can't be too careful, Renji," Kisuke insisted.

"Come on, Kisuke," Ichigo protested. "There's no way Toshiro did this. He's not that kind of guy."

"I don't know," Jinta said. "For such a tiny guy he's got a lot of rage in him!"

"You're one to talk, Kid," Renji replied, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe we should tell my brother," Rukia suggested.

"Capta- Byakuya is still proving he can be trusted after everything that happened with Sakura," Renji reminded her. It was obvious he struggled to call Rukia's brother by his name.

"What happened? Did he do something wrong?" Kyori asked. His name was familiar to her, but she had no idea why. Still, the idea that he was in trouble stirred something in her that she couldn't quite identify.

"Byakuya used to be the Captain of Squad Six," Uryu explained. "Renji took over after Byakuya messed up pretty badly in both his personal and professional lives."

Kyori was curious what this mysterious former Captain had done, but she decided not to push the subject.

"Renji has a point," Ichigo admitted. "Sorry, Rukia," he added quickly as she looked at him with obvious annoyance.

"It wasn't entirely his fault. Aizen was getting into people's heads when he shouldn't have been able to. Some of my brother's actions were the result of that."

"Some," Ichigo agreed, "but not all."

Rukia sighed. "No," she admitted. "Not all."

Kyori felt bad for her. It was obviously hard for her to admit anything negative about her brother.

"We can't guarantee he can be trusted right now," Ichigo continued. "I'm sorry, Rukia, but we can't take the chance."

"Kyori really is welcome to stay here," Kisuke said.

"Look, I'll be fine on my own for a little bit longer," Kyori insisted, uncomfortable with the debate. "I don't know the Soul Reapers. I don't remember any of this. And if one of them did this to me, how do I know it wasn't one of you?"

"You can stay with me," Uryu said suddenly. "I'm not a Soul Reaper. I'm a Quincy. Our energy is different, so that rules me out as a suspect."

Kyori hesitated. "I can't just move in with some guy I just met," she protested.

"We're classmates. Besides, I live on my own. No one will bother you at my place and I promise you'll be safe there."

She considered this. "I don't know," she replied nervously.

"It's better than living on the streets, Kyori. I promise you can leave if you change your mind, but will you at least let me try to help you?"

For some reason, Kyori felt like she could trust Uryu. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll go with you for tonight at least."

With that settled, Kyori tried to relax as they waited for Tessai to arrive with food.

STEVIE
She'd only been in Karakura Town for a day, but there was something about the place that was unsettling. Stevie Yabuki sensed something ominous lurking in the shadows.

"I'm being paranoid," she decided aloud. After all, her family had just moved to Japan from San Francisco. It was a big change. Of course it felt strange to her.

As she continued walking, a vision suddenly took over her mind. Stevie had been having visions ever since she was a little girl. She couldn't control when they happened or what she saw. Sometimes it was the future. Sometimes it was events from the past. Either way, the visions rarely came when she actually wanted them to.

She found herself on the same street she'd been walking on. A man with long black hair and a formal way of carrying himself stood watching something in the street. For some reason, Stevie noticed the expensive scarf he was wearing in particular. A severely injured girl lay motionless on the ground. The man carefully placed a sword beside her before turning around and walking away, leaving the girl helpless in the street as she bled out.

Stevie tried to run toward the girl, but suddenly felt something slam into her.

She snapped out of the vision and realized she'd been knocked to the ground. A girl she didn't know was laying on top of her.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked as she shifted off of her. "You almost got hit by a car!"

"I... I guess I dazed out," Stevie replied. "Thanks for saving me."

"Tatsuki! Oh my gosh, are you alright? Are you hurt?" A perky girl asked as she came running toward them frantically.

"We're fine, Orihime," Tatsuki reassured her quickly as she stood up.

Orihime looked at Stevie before smiling. "Hi! I'm Orihime Inoue. I'm so glad you're alright!" She said cheerfully, offering her hand to help Stevie back to her feet.

Stevie smiled back at her as she as she took her hand and stood up. "I'm just lucky Tatsuki was here to rescue me," she said. "I'm Stevie Yabuki. My family just moved here from San Francisco and I'm a little overwhelmed. I start at the high school tomorrow and was trying to find my way around the area."

"Well then hi, New Girl!" A boy said very dramatically as he arrived with another boy. "I'm Keigo," he added flirtatiously.

"And I am Mizuiro," the other boy added charmingly.

"We were just going to get something to eat. Come with us!" Orihime said. "Then you can say you know five people in school already!"

"Five?" Stevie repeated as she counted only four.

"Yeah, we're meeting up with our friend Chad," Keigo explained. "Come on, the cafe's not far." He grabbed Stevie's arm.

Several flashes of Keigo flew through Stevie's mind. In most of them, he was screaming and running away from things. Then, she saw an especially terrifying flash. It lasted longer.

"Give me the girl," a voice said harshly. Stevie couldn't see him clearly, but something about his presence made it hard to breathe.

The terror was clear on Keigo's face, but he looked back at Stevie, took a deep breath, and stood his ground. "N-no," he stuttered out. "You can't have her."

"If you refuse to give her to me, then I will simply take her," the man replied.

Keigo refused to move, but as the man came closer, he began visibly trembling. "Ikkaku! Yumichika! Where are you guys when I actually need you?" He shouted.

As a sword came toward them, Keigo shouted, "Stevie, run!"

The vision faded. Stevie jumped away from Keigo in surprise.

He tried to save me even though he was terrified, she thought. He's going to become my friend... But who was he trying to save me from? Why would anyone be after me?

"Are you okay, Stevie?" Orihime asked in concern.

"Yeah, sorry... I just..." Stevie began.

"You just don't want Keigo touching you," Mizuiro guessed. "I can't say I blame you," he added with a grin.

"Come on, Stevie," Tatsuki said. "I'll protect you from these two idiots."

"I resent being lumped in with Keigo," Mizuiro protested.

"Too bad," Tatsuki replied with a shrug.

As they arrived at the cafe, a very tall boy with muscles and dark skin nodded at them. "Chad, this is Stevie. She's new in town," Keigo said with a big, goofy grin on his face. "Stevie, meet Chad!"

"Sado," Chad corrected them.

"Chad doesn't really talk. Don't mind him!" Keigo insisted.

"My name is Yasutora Sado," Chad said firmly.

"Sure, Chad. Whatever you say, Buddy! Let's get a table!" Keigo eagerly led the way to a free table and they soon ordered.

As they talked and waited for food to arrive, Stevie pulled out her sketch pad and began to sketch the first vision she'd had. She wanted to capture it while the images were still clear in her mind.

"Hey, that's really good!" Tatsuki said as she peered over Stevie's shoulder to look at the sketch. "I mean, it's kind of dark with the bloody girl and all, but the details are amazing! You're really talented, Stevie."

"Oh, um... Thanks," Stevie replied awkwardly. She felt herself blushing.

Orihime smiled as she leaned in to look but tensed slightly as she saw the image. After a second, she recovered her smile. "Tatsuki's right! You have so much talent," she said. "Can I take a picture of it?"

Stevie was nervous, but how could she refuse such an eager, cheerful girl? "Sure, if you really want to," she replied.

Orihime pulled out her phone and snapped the picture. "What inspired this?" She asked.

"It was just something I saw in my head," Stevie replied honestly.

"I see. It's very creative... Oh no! I just remembered Chad and I have something to do!" She grabbed Chad's arm. "Come on, Chad. Let's go! Bye guys!"

Chad shrugged and allowed Orihime to drag him away as she kept waving with her free hand over her shoulder.

"That was odd," Stevie mumbled.

"That's just Orihime," Tatsuki replied with a shrug. "You'll get used to her."

"They left without eating," Mizuiro pointed out.

"More food for us then!" Keigo replied with a laugh.

Stevie tried to relax, but as the others engaged her in small talk, she couldn't help but worry about what had made Orihime react so strongly to her drawing.

CHAD
They walked away from the cafe rapidly. "Orihime, what's wrong?" Chad finally asked when they were several blocks away.

"Look at Stevie's drawing," Orihime replied, pulling out her phone.

Chad studied it before his eyes widened. "That guy looks just like-" He began.

"Byakuya! I know!" Orihime replied. "Why would Stevie have draw him standing over some random bloody girl?"

"I think the better question is how does she know what he looks like? It's rare Byakuya comes to the world of the living and even more rare that he uses a Gigai. She shouldn't have been able to see him unless she's not a normal human girl."

"Hmmm... She does give off a strong spiritual energy. Maybe she's like us?"

"I don't know. She seemed confused by what she drew."

"I think we should show this to Ichigo," Orihime decided.

"Alright," Chad agreed.

They headed to Ichigo's house. He arrived at the same time that they did.

"Chad? Orihime... What are you two doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"There's a new girl in town and she almost got hit by a car but Tatsuki knocked her out of the way and they were both okay so we took her to the cafe with us and she started drawing a picture of Byakuya and-" Orihime said in one breath.

"What? Slow down, Orihime," Ichigo said, cutting her off.

Chad took Orihime's phone and showed Ichigo the picture. "The new girl drew this," he explained.

"Why is some random new girl drawing Byakuya?" Ichigo asked. He tensed, his eyes widening as he looked at the rest of the picture. "And why is Byakuya standing over Kyori?"

"Who's Kyori?" Chad asked.

"Do you mean Kyori Hattori?" Orihime asked. "I've seen her around school. I tried to introduce myself, but she's not much of a talker. How can you tell it's her? Stevie didn't draw her face."

"Because she did draw the Zanpakuto next to her, in pretty good detail... That's Kyori's sword."

"Kyori's a Soul Reaper?"

"Apparently... But it's news to her, too. She has amnesia. Rukia, Uryu, and I found her, and Renji identified her. Kisuke says not to trust the rest of the Soul Reapers with this information yet because one of them did this to her... And if this picture's right..."

"Ichigo, no! Byakuya couldn't have hurt her," Orihime said in horror. "There must be another explanation."

"I hope you're right, Orihime... But until we know for sure, let's keep this between us. Introduce me to Stevie tomorrow and I'll see if I can get some answers."

"Ichigo... You should tell Sakura," Chad said.

"As soon as I know what I need to tell her, I will," Ichigo promised. "There's no point in going to her without the full story, or at least more than we have right now."

"And Rukia?"

"I'll tell her... Just not tonight. She's with Renji at Kisuke's trying to figure things out. Neither of them will take me implying Byakuya may have had something to do with this well, so I want to have more facts before I stress them out for no reason."

Chad thought they deserved to know sooner, but he trusted Ichigo, and he decided it was okay to wait a day. "Alright, Ichigo," he replied.

"We'll figure this out," Ichigo promised. "Hopefully sooner rather than later."

An ominous feeling hung in the air at his words. Chad knew then that whatever was going on was important and had a feeling they needed to prepare for their biggest fight yet.