Clicking off of Fenton's line Jamie walked with her eyes down caste. Ignoring nearly everything and only looking up when she had to cross a street or thought she heard a voice of a long dead friend. She should have come back sooner, but running away had more or less become her life. When she'd lost too many of her children, orphans,she just up and moved away. Never looking back, never going back. Jamie wondered briefly if the cherry tree she'd planted all those centuries ago had survived.Then she heard the play ground noises. Swings creaking, the streaky sounds of a child inching their way down the big scary slide, the heart beat of a young man and the unmistakable smell of reapers. Reapers! Her eyes went everywhere except where they should have as she hit into a sudden muscled wall. "Hmph…" Ichigo had taken his lunch off campus to evade yet another Orihime event. He'd turned his head to look for traffic when his back suddenly stiffened by a soft body streaming into him. He turned to see who had hit him and blinked. It was a girl. "Sorry." She said before turning down the way he'd come without once lifting her head. Ichigo looked at the school and then at her dejected form moving further from him. He could really use a break, couldn't he. He raced up to the girl and cleared his throat. "It was all my fault." The girl slide a sideways look at him. Her eyes threw him."Wow those are really awesome contacts." At his statement, she stiffened up and raced to the nearest store front window. "Holy Shit!" She turned to him and he suddenly felt unsteady. She quickly lowered her head and took him into the restaurant putting them into a booth ordering 2 vanilla milk shakes. Before passing their waiter a hundred dollar bill for the kids sunglasses, putting them on she then eased her head up and took off her cap her hair making him squint as the sun reflected off it. The girl put her hat back on. "Sorry, but they aren't contacts." Ichigo slowly sipped on the milk shake. "Wha..what do you mean? You were born with them?" The girl giggled. " Of course I was born with them silly. Its just been along time since they actually changed with my mood. I used to be able to control them so I wouldn't make a spectacle of myself. That and they tend to make people a little ill. The only person who liked them, has been gone along time." Ichigo took her hand feeling the loneliness in her tone. " They really are awesome, its just that they are too awesome." Jamie laughed and blushed. "That sounds so cheesey but thanks. By the way Mr. Wall what is your name?" Ichigo smiled. "If I'm a wall then you must be a steam roller. Name's Ichigo Kurosaki." The girl laughed so hard she had the shake coming out her nose. Quickly she put a napkin up to it. "Oh, how embarrassing. Sorry. Name's Jamie. I don't want to give my last name away just yet. People tend to make a big deal over it. I just want to be me, so just call me Jamie." Ichigo smiled. "So are you the new student from America?" The girl blushed. "Damn. News travels faster then the tides here. Yes, but which school is still up for grabs. Hey by the way why are there so many grims around here, if you don't mind my asking?" Ichigo blinked and leaned closer to whisper. " You mean reapers, right?" Jamie nodded. "Yeah the whole school yard is full of them. What is it some massive hollow escape? Not that I can sense them yet but I'm pretty sure that won't last long." Jamie felt eyes on them and then a snap shot. The waitress from the other table blushed as she came up to them. "I couldn't help it, the two of you just seem so perfect together. I hope you don't mind." Jamie smiled lightly. "No we don't mind, but we aren't a couple. He's my cousin, he's ditching school so he can show me around his town. So please when you post it say its after school's out. We really don't need him getting into any more trouble then he's already courting." The girl blushed harder. "Of course. Ichigo's a good kid. I used to go to school with him. I'm just back from college to work during the holiday. I hope Ichigo shows you the best parts of our town." Ichigo smiled remembering the waitress suddenly. "I'll make sure he does." Jamie eased back and the 3 of them started to talk about all manner of things. Before long it was after school, and the students began walking by. "Hey Ichigo! " Keigo said as he walked in and then paused as he saw Jamie sitting across from Ichigo. "Whoa! Whose the new babe." Ichigo grimaced but Jamie laughed. "Oh I've heard worse, trust me. Hi I'm Jamie. Want a milk shake? Toki can you whip our friend up one?" Toki nodded and removed herself from the two as Keigo with tongue hanging out replaced her. "Wow. You're hot! What's your name?" Ichigo wanted to smash his friend's face in, but Jamie only had to lay a hand on his to calm it. "My name is Jamie and from Ichigo's description you must be Keigo the lady killer." She giggled while Keigo fainted backwards only to be caught by Jamie's hand that snatched him from hitting the ground. "Wow you're strong. You should join our karate club." Keigo said returning to consciousness. Jamie was about to laugh when she suddenly sagged. "They found me, damn. Oh well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Just act cool o.k. No big thing, just my bodyguards."
Lips started to sweat as Mira began her death march through the city. The damn link with mom had become sketchy, almost impossible to get a steady reading. With each failure Mira's more dangerous side came out to play. Less patience, more violence. "You know mom won't like it if you hurt someone." At that Mira turned on him and showed all her pearly whites, just like a shark. "Not if its only you who gets hurt." Lips sucked in his lips and then blinked. "I found her." Mira snarled. "What do you mean you found her?" Lips pointed across the street at the desert shop. Mira suddenly lifted Lips off his feet in a bear hug. Tears streamed down and were wiped off on his bomber jacket. Then he was dragged across the street in a rush. They entered almost calmly. Jamie was entertaining two waiters, 2 boys from a school and the other patrons. "I told you I needed to walk, didn't I?" Jamie said and then sighed. "I'm very sorry. I know you worried over me, I'm just having a bad day or I was until I steam rolled Ichigo here who skipped the rest of his classes to keep me company." Mira smiled and went to sit on the bar stool while Lips smacked his lips at the tall shakes that were now in front of everyone at mom's table. Jamie smiled comfortably and nodded at Toki who winked and stood up and made 2 shakes placing one in front of each of the new comers. Lips sucked it down in no time flat. Jamie snickered. "Next one you'll have to buy Lips." Lips pouted which made Jamie smirk. "Alright one more." Mira eased it down with a slight salute." Everyone these 2 are the best of the best pilots in Draco's Hoard. They are also 2 of my best friends and unfortunately my babysitters when I go places." Keigo had already moved with lighting speed to sit beside Mira who was restraining herself while Lips made kissing noises. Jamie shook her head and smirked when Ichigo's phone rang and he swore. Jamie swiftly snatched it from his hand. "Ah, am I talking to Ichigo's boss?" Ichigo tried to snatch back his phone, but Jamie batted his hand away as she nodded. "Yes I'm in town for awhile but I'd really appreciate it if I could borrow him. I'm willing to pay top dollar and have you sign a contract so Ichigo won't lose his job in the mean time." She paused and raised an eyebrow at Mira. Who nodded and then hit Lips in the face as he kept making kissing noises.Snorting she tapped her ear bud and went out side. While everyone else winced at Lips injury. Jamie just sighed. "He knows better. Especially when she's holding it so well in. She has a nasty temper. What you just witnessed was restraint. She'll make sure you don't lose your job." Ichigo blinked. "Wait you don't have to do that." Jamie frowned at him. "Indulge me please. How about we start after school tomorrow? I have to make sure that everything has arrived and been placed just as the photo's they sent me. I mean unless you have other plans in that case we could wait till the weekend." Ichigo saw that Mira had come in, her eyes were calm and her tension gone. Her eyes a warm amber her smile softened as her eyes glanced towards her friend. She nodded gently to him. "After school will be fine. I should be going any ways. I have to make sure Keigo doesn't follow you home. Where do I pick you up?" Jamie smiled. "How about at your house?" Ichigo itched at the back of his head. "I guess that would be alright, but can I call you?" Jamie took out a walk man and a set of ear buds. "Channel 4 is my number. Its just for my peeps as they might say." She giggled and got up. " You better let us leave first so that you can handle Keigo. Poor boy. More like an over eager puppy, if he could tone it down just a little bit the girls would think he's cute." Ichigo laughed. Which made Jamie frown."Sure he doesn't have your kind of looks or strengths, but he is your friend so he must be loyal and true. Or do you merely pity him." Her tone growing cold. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her. "No he is my friend, and not out of pity." At his response it was as if her coldness had never existed. " Forgive me for suggesting such a thing. I shall make it up to you. Both." Mira with Lips still holding his iced black eye came up to them. "We better get going Jamie, before it gets too dark." Jamie nodded. "Don't forget channel 4 after school tomorrow." When Keigo tried to follow Ichigo grabbed him and made him sit down till the 3 of the new comers had left.
Orihime may have not been the only one who had noticed Ichigo's absence, but no one had said anything. After school she walked to her favorite desert shop to get a pick me up with a strawberry shake. When she saw him she blushed hard at his presence in her favorite dinner. Right up until he grabbed a feminine hand. She turned and ran smack into Tutsuki. With tears in her eyes she tried to escape, but failed as Tutsuki held her. "What's wrong?" Orihime shook her head and hit her swiftly catching her friend off guard. "Oh Tutsuki forgive me!" She said as she ran around the corner, away from it all. Tutsuki gasped and was helped up by a strong hand. "Are you alright? Man your friend is kind of emotional. She does know mom isn't interested in him, she's just having a rotten day and Ichigo was nice enough to help her over the hill. My name's Mira." Tutsuki studied her in detail. Well muscled, but still had the curves, callouses on her hands, a few scars that were faded. Mira smiled and Tutsuki found it was one that made her feel safe. "Want to come in?Mom's buying shakes for everyone who walks in." Tutsuki looked back where Orihime ran off.
Mira laid her hand on the kid's shoulder. "I understand. Go. Take my card, you need help or just want to bullshit I'm there. So is the Hoard if you need more then just me." Tutsuki took the card. "Drako's Hoard. Dragon's Hoard?" Mira smirked."Yeah, no worries we're good people. Mom just seems to collect us where ever she travels. Probably collect a few new siblings while she's here. Gets kind of lonely. Thus the Hoard part." Tutsuki laughed. "Next you'll tell that the girl in there is your mom. That she's the Dragon of the Hoard." Mira raised her eyebrow. "And like you don't see ghosts and there's no such thing as hollows or reapers. That your school is just a normal school, which is bullshit with that many reapers. What are they after?" Tutsuki saw Mira's eyes go from warm open amber to deep dark near black color as if a storm was rising up from inside of her. "So she's the one then." Mira suddenly picked her up and dragged her into the alley. Mira's breath mirroring the tornado inside of her. "They are after mom! Don't try to deny it its too late for that. Now spill what you know!" Then just like that Mira let go of her and slammed into the opposite wall, shaking. Her ear piece falling out, a high pitch squeal emitting from them. After a moment, Mira stopped shaking and took a breath. She looked at the cement. "Sorry." Tutsuki went and knelt to her. "What's wrong with you?" Mira laughed. "Wrong? Its a side effect of my special powers. I see visions in my sleep, so I don't get much sleep. Plus I fear them, the ones I've already had about being here. I don't like what I've seen, its confusing, painful and life changing. I like my life, I don't want it to change." Her eyes made Tutsuki hug her. "I know how you feel. About the reapers, they are just looking for your mom, if she's the soul smith. I don't think they want to harm her just to....know about her." Mira's eyes focused on Taski's face. " Yeah she is but she hasn't had her powers since she's been cursed to eternity here. That's been over 3000 years.The only thing left is her ability to forge weapons and armor from metal. Which isn't in big demand these days. Lucky us she's been making money, saving and investing for nearly all of those years. " Mira eased up and dusted herself off. "Sorry, I just get overprotective with mom. She hasn't been herself since the desert thing, had to call off a few engagements, actually been letting her older friends take them. I...." Tutsuki handed her a scrap piece of paper. " Here's mine and call any time though you can find me at the dojo 3 blocks from the school." Mira hugged her. "Thanks. I need to have a friend. Your welcome anytime at our home. Its the newest monstrosity in KaraKura, not too far from the Kurosaki Clinic. We're looking for my sister, she was kidnapped by her x boyfriend. Here's a picture of her. I better get going before mom buys the whole damn building. She tends to do that from time to time. Don't forget to tell your friend mom's not into him. Please." With that Mira left her new friend in the alleyway's entrance. Tutsuki studied the card in her hand and then the picture of the two sisters. Both so different but yet the same. Mira had dark hair cut short and was straight, while P.B. as it said on the back was blonde with hair that rippled in waves down her back or Tutsuki suspected as the hair seemed to go past the picture.Drako's Hoard. The card was expensive. Gold embossed lettering, even the small print. Which seemed to be coded. She took out her phone and ran it through the decoding app. 'For the job no one else will take, call us: In God we trust.' Just to see if it worked she called the number that seemed too long. " Malcolmn here how can I help you?"
Tutsuki paled and clicked off. The phone came on all by itself and the same man coughed on the other end. " Ah you must be trying out the number right? Its ok. Names Malcolmn like I said before. No one just gets a card for shits and giggles. So you must have been entrusted with a gold embossed card right." Tutsuki coughed. "Yeah. Mira. She said I could call just to talk if I wanted too." The man laughed happily. "I'm so glad the kid got a friend. Ole Mir maybe the best pilot and a seer but she doesn't do well making friends. Especially with that temper of hers, kind of terrifies anyone other then family away. If mom asks you if I'm coming tell her no. Or better yet make sure my name doesn't come up in conversation. Rather not have her know we're coming. She tends to get a little pissy about such things. Thinks we're becoming overbearing. Just because we lump her in with our children when we....well you've seen her she looks like a 16 year old if that. We can't help it." Tutsuki winced at the man's apparent excuses. A woman's voice grabbed at the phone and came on. " You just go on and never mind us. Your friend is waiting a block and a half from your position. She's eating hmmm....something called hotpot. Ordered quite a bit, very upset. Mal, no you can't. You can kiss her ass when we get there after she's kicked your ass all over KaraKura. Sorry you had to hear that, he's such a whiner. Your brother isn't even half as bad as you are. We'll see you soon dear, best be off if you want to catch her." Then the line went dead.Tutsuki blinked at the phone and then put all three items into her purse before lighting off to the Hotpot dinner. For some reason she believed everything that the woman said and she didn't disappoint, there feeding her face was Orihime.
Tutsuki went in. "Hey I need to talk to you, and don't run away. If you do I'll have to pay for your meal and I don't have any money on me." Orihime's lips quivered as her eyes welled up with tears."She's not into him." Tutsuki took out the picture of Mira and her sister. "They are here looking for her. She was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend. They are really worried about her. So the more people who are on the job the faster they find her. The way Mira said 'ex' I don't think he's a nice guy." Orihime swallowed hard against the lump that was calming down. " I feel like a fool. She was just probably asking him for help. Can I help too?" Tutsuki smiled. "I'm sure you can, but we need to keep it on the low end. If the ex gets wind that people are actually looking for them, they could run or he might do something to her." Orihime suddenly lost her appetite at the 'something'. "Hey if your done here, why don't we go and see where Mira's staying." Orihime nodded and got the waitress to box up the left overs paying as they left.
Mira, Lips and Jamie walked towards the bus stop when Lips paled as he heard crashing of swords in the dark alleyway. "Mom, Mira stay right here. Just stay." Jamie sniffed, paled and started to walk but was grabbed by Mira. "He said stay mom. He's been advancing in his talents."
Yumichika and Ikkaku fought the many mouthed, rapid healing hollow which seemed to only keep growing with each cut they made.And as for its face? It kept disappearing and reappearing at different places on the body. Both of the reapers were already next to exhausted, with only one option left. Banki. A haughty cough suddenly cut through the clashing. "May I?" Lips took Ikkaku's spear from him and danced out of all the monster's defenses and stabbed at the only place that the face had yet to appear. Both reapers winced at the place that the man had stabbed, but the beast evaporated. The hollow's last mouth asked. "How did you know?" The stranger snickered. "Where else would a creature like you keep his face. The only place not even a reaper would feel comfortable hitting. In your next life don't be such a mouth,and you won't end up like this. Goodbye." With that Lips tossed Ikkaku his weapon as he passed the two and smirked. "Think outside the box you idiots and next time you won't waste so much of your energy. Sheesh." He walked calmly outside and began to walk back to the 2 girls he'd left. Yumichika looked at Ikkaku who was looking at his weapon in disbelief. "H....how did he...." Yumichika put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "We need to take this further. He might be the one we've been looking for. The Soul Smith. Who else could use your weapon and know where to hit such a hollow. We need to know." Ikkaku gripped his spear harder. " You go, I need to talk with my zenpakuto's spirit form." Yumichika blinked but nodded. "I'll meet you back at Kisuki's. Unless you want to meet back at Keigo's." Ikkaku's mouth moved over the names. "Kisuki's, will be fine for tonight. I need time to think things over.I need answers for what just happened." Jamie breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Lips come out of the alley. Mira eased off and let her go to him when he was a little closer. Jamie squeezed him hard. "Don't you ever do that again! You scared me." Lips held her close and walked up to Mira who merely nodded her relief to him. "Alright mom your scaring off all the other fish. Unless you wanna be my only fish?" Which with that Jamie quickly flashed over to Mira. Lips blinked and looked up at Mira whose own eyes widened at the magic act. The bus pulled up to the stop before they could think any further. Yumichika saw the act as he came up to the alley's entrance. The girl was beyond beautiful, he could even feel his zenpakuto was in full agreement with him. But he frowned, even so....he would watch and wait.
Uryu was walking to his apartment from the sewing shop picking up some last minute material and some new needles. When he felt the presence of a hollow of some great pressure. There was not one reaper around to take care of it. Leaving it up to him to take care of. He sighed.
Pressing his glasses back up he placed his bag of items behind a bush and proceeded to the little court where in the morning the street performers would dance, sell paintings and other wares to get by in the winter. There in the middle was a hollow or something that was part hollow. This was not good, how was he supposed to deal with such a thing....He strung his bow and pinned the creature's legs to the cement with pressure lines.


48 hours before: Fenton and Rory had left their luxury plane at the army base and taken a floater. A sea plane that wouldn't be as flashy to the authorities in case they got called out while coming in for the landing. "Think that old drowning duck of a submarine of Columns is in the hanger?" Fenton said as they came closer to the cliffs where the smuggler's cavern was hidden. Rory slipped him a sly look. "No not yet. There's still some heavy pirate activity going on in his usual spots. But if we ever have a fight I'll let him take you with him." Fenton swallowed hard. "No, you wouldn't. I might like it too much." Rory snorted. "As if. You and your fear of drowning...." Fenton shook his head. "No its being crushed in that tin can of his. Not drowning per-say." Rory rolled her eyes. "What's the difference? Crushing-drowning its all the same. Now do you have the parachute?" Fenton checked the latches on his chest and nodded. Oh he'd done it 99 times, it was just the 100th time they said one usually had problems with. Got too cocky, lazy in the checking of ones gear. That sort of thing. So he'd done a few practice jumps with the boys when they'd dumped the jet. All perfect. Not too perfect, just perfect. "Ready are you?" For an answer he got kicked out of the plane a little higher then he was used to. "Why can't I just keep my big mouth shut?"