Hey everyone, nice to see ya. I've got a new story here for you, one that revolves around the life of and OC that I had developed. I had done a few Full Metal Alchemist stories in the past, all of them with OCs of mine. They all seemed to have turned out pretty good, but I've always wanted to write a fic for my most absolute favorite series, Bleach.

I had this story in my mind a few years ago when I had finished one of my FMA stories, but unfortunately life had gotten in the way and I found myself unable to continue writing at the time. But, now that some time has been freed up, I can 'finally' get this story underway. (Cue the heavenly lights and choirs)

Now, I must point out to you guys, that while you are reading the most current chapter that I post, I have actually written at least a dozen chapters further. There are two reasons for this: One, it is my intention to post a new chapter every Saturday or Sunday. But as we all know, and as I have explained before, life does happen; so, I want to keep a stockpile of content saved up, so I can give you readers the promised chapters every week. If something was to happen and I couldn't write anything, I still have some of the story to post for you. Think of it like a savings account for chapters, lol. And two, it allows me to correct the future of the story in case one of you happen to catch something I didn't.

Moving on, I know for a fact that some of you will wonder what the pairings for the story will be. As it stands: yes, there will be a pairing for the main character. No harem! Who that is, even I haven't made a final decision yet. But, I will tell you that I will be putting up a poll in the near future with the possible prospects of pairings. However, I can tell you that Rukia, Orihime, and Yoruichi will 'not' be possible. They will likely be paired, but just not with the OC. I won't tell you who the prospects are, you'll just have to wait and see.

As I had said, chapters will be posted every Saturday, or Sunday. But, if I mange to get ahead enough, and 'if' you all are good boys and girls, I might treat you with two chapters in a weekend. (Bribing me with sugar cookies 'might' work too)

And yes, if you must know, I am indeed evil! Mwa ha ha ha!

Now that I have kept you busy long enough, on to the show!

(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH; ITS CHARACTERS, NAMES, LOCATIONS, OR STORY! THAT HONOR BELONGS SOLELY TO TITE KUBO AND HIS TEAM! ONLY THE OC, AND RANDOM NAMES NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOKS OR ANIME ARE MY OWN!)

Chapter 1

(So it begins.)

67th District, South Rukongai, Fallen Tree, Present

The sun was high in the sky and slightly to the west. It was a mildly hot day and most of the residents of Fallen Tree were either sitting in the shade conversing, taking afternoon naps, or down by the river cooling themselves off. Afterall, there really wasn't much to do in Fallen Tree.

The 67th District of South Rukongai was named so, because of a large sycamore tree in the middle of town that had fallen over, but because the majority of its roots were still in the ground it continued to grow on its side.

Being in the 6th level of Rukongai, the living conditions were mediocre at best. Most of the houses, if one could call them so, were really no more than simple shanties comprised of a simple framework with boards and planks for walls. The windows consisted of a simple hole were no boards were placed, with worn out rags acting as curtains. The clothing that the residents wore were no better, also consisting of rags. Most residents did not even possess foot wear.

What was worse was the constant crime that plagued them. Day after day, local thugs and crime organizations would pester the residents for whatever money, possessions, or even food that they had, even if they had nothing to give. Kidnapping, assaults, and murder were also somewhat common there as the criminals would make the residents pay anyway, one way or another.

But if you were to ask any of the residents what they thought about the crimes, most of them would tell you that it really wasn't that bad, compared to the soul reapers. Indeed, the soul reapers were supposed to be their guardians, supposed to stop the criminals. But in truth, that really wasn't the case.

The fact was, certain sectors of each side of Rukongai were assigned to certain squads of the 13 Court Guard Squads as their responsibility, and it just so happens that districts 60-80 of South Rukongai were assigned to Squad 11.

Anyone in any sector or district of Rukongai knew that Squad 11 was full of nothing but blood thirsty bullies. Where they were supposed to protect the residents, they instead acted worse than the criminals that they were supposed to stop. A lot of times, they would fight and beat up the residents simply because they were bored.

This was the life that Timothy Durn had quickly grown accustomed to. Timothy arrived in the Soul Society 12 years ago, waking up in the woods next to a tree with simple rags for cloths and a sword next to him. But what had happened next had terrified and scarred him, the fact that the sword spoke to him and he immediately recognized the voice.

World of the Living, Manassas Texas, August 1989 (12 years ago)

The streets were somewhat vacant, but still showed some life as people were driving or walking home from work, or going to work. Amongst them was a single couple, on their way home after catching a movie at the theaters. They were enjoying their slow walk as they enjoyed their conversation consisting of discussions about the movie, simple topics, and occasional friendly insults.

The man was in his late 20s, had blue eyes, and was just a little shorter than average height at 5 feet and 5 inches. His hair was a dirty blonde that used to be red, but became lighter over the years.

The woman was a couple years older than him, and just a hair taller as well with green eyes and chestnut hair that hung low to her mid back.

"I don't know honey, I thought that movie was a little ridiculous. I mean, really? How can you even 'attempt' to make a 3 foot wide pancake? And not just one, but five?! Five! Can you even imagine how long it would take to eat that?" the woman explained.

The man next to her chuckled and turned to her. "Come on, you have to admit that John Candy is funny. I thought the best one was when he was getting mad at the washing machine." he replied.

She in turn laughed as well. "Yes, I will admit that was funny. The look on that lady's face was priceless. But still, I still think that Spaceballs is his best so far."

The man nodded in agreement. "Yes, that was by far his best. Funny how you go to watch a movie with John Candy, and see a preview for his next movie at the same sitting."

"What was that movie called again hun?" she asked, causing him turn and think for a minute.

"Hmmmm…..I know that the kid from this movie is supposed to be the main actor in it. Give me a second…...Ah! Home Alone, that was it. That also looks like a good one too." He commented, causing her to nod.

"Yes, it does. We should go see it too. So, what do you say, dear husband of mine? Is it a date?" she asked with a smirk on her face, causing him to chuckle.

"Yes, it's a date, dear wife of mine." He finished by taking her lips with his in a quick, but loving kiss.

The couple continue walking down the street, arms intertwined with her head resting on his shoulder. That's when the worst night of their lives began. As they walked up to an alley, a man comes out and turns to them, stopping them.

"Wallet now, and I won't have to use this." He stated.

The husband looked down to see that the man had a small knife in his slightly outstretched hand. The wife gasped and held tighter onto her husband's arm, tears starting to form in her eyes. The husband slowly held up both of his arms in surrender.

"Ok….ok. Just….take it easy….let me grab it….ok?" the husband replied, earning a nod from the thief.

Keeping his left arm up, he slowly reached around behind him with his right in a gesture to grab his wallet. At least, that was what it appeared to the thief.

In a quick move, he caught the thief by surprise, using his left hand to push the knife away to the right, away from his wife. At the same time, he quickly thrust his right hand, now in a fist, into the thief's face. The force caused the thief to back up a couple of steps and he stood there a second, rubbing his mouth where the husbands fist made contact.

The thief's lip was now bleeding, and the husband could see that he managed to knock a tooth loose. The thief spit the tooth into his hand, looking at it before lifting his head to glare on the husband.

"You're gonna pay for that, you fucking bastard." He stated in a cold and deathly tone.

The husband quickly pushed his wife behind him and balled up both of his fists.

"Stay away from us, I'm warning you. Just leave, and we won't call the cops." he responded as he glared back.

The thief started to chuckle. "How are you gonna call the cops….if I cut your throat?" the thief growled.

He then charged at them, knife ready to thrust, and dodged the left swing from the husband. The thief then jabbed the knife into the man's right side, right under the ribcage. The husband yelped with pain before turning and hitting the thief with his right fist, hitting the thief's chest.

The thief gave a quick cough, then lunged again. The husband swung with his right again and hit the thief in his left shoulder, but the thief managed to swing back, cutting the man across the chest, from the left side under the ribcage to the right side of his chest.

The husband again cried in pain, but stood his ground. The wife immediately starts yelling for help, seeing that her husband was losing the fight of life and death. The thief stops his assault and stares at the man, grinning.

"Heh, you have got a mean punch you bastard, but I'm done with you. And after I kill you, your wife is next." he taunted.

The husband slightly gasped and gave the thief an evil look. "Don't you fucking THINK about touching her! Just leave!" he yelled, causing the thief to chuckle.

"Oh, I will….after I'm done with you."

He charged again, ducked under the husband right hook, and thrust his knife. The knife hit home, right in the husband's left side of his chest.

The wife stopped and gasped at the sight of her husband getting stabbed, fear taking her over as the husband slowly slid to his knees. He sat there for what seemed like eternity, before finally tilting and falling over onto his right side. She placed both hands over her mouth and tears began flowing from her eyes.

"No…..no…." she whispered and turned to see the thief coming for her.

"And now you pretty thing….you're next." He said with a grin.

She took one timid step back as he slowly walked up to her, then jabbed her with the knife in the same spot that finished off her husband. He quickly withdrew the knife and she put her hand over the wound, feeling blood seep through her fingers.

The thief ripped her purse from her arm, causing her to fall forward and land face down on the pavement. He walked over, reached into her husband's back pocket, and took the wallet. He then looked at her husband and shook his head.

"Should've just given me the wallet, you stupid fool. Now your wife can join you in hell." he coldly stated and ran back into the alley, the sounds of his footsteps disappearing into the night.

The wife lifted her head, her vision starting to blur, and looked at her husband. "Tim….please….Tim….answer me. Tim…" She was starting to get light headed as hear vision started to now black out.

"Su…Susan…I'm…I'm sorry." He tried to reach behind him to grab he hand, but then it simply fell to the ground.

"No…please.." was all she could muster before she, too, blacked out.

20 minutes later

Timothy woke up to numerous flashing lights and the hustled chatter of many people. His vision was still blurry, so he blinked a few times to try and clear it up, which helped. After a few seconds, he slowly started to push himself up until he was on his hands and knees. Doing so caused him to become slightly light headed, so he shook his head slowly a few times.

After a few seconds more, he managed to lean back to where he was now sitting on his legs. He started looking around, still confused as to what was going on. He stopped when his wife came into view, laying prone and face down on the ground.

"Susan…" he weakly called, then shook his head again to clear more of his disorientation.

"Susan…" he called again and saw no movement.

He slowly crawled to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Susan, wake up." he whispered, and relaxed when he saw her start to stir. "Susan, come on honey, wake up." He nudged her again and she slowly opened her eyes.

Her hair fell off her back as she turned her head back around to face him, apparently as dizzy as he was a minute ago.

"Tim?" she asked and he started gently to rub her.

"I'm here hun. Are you ok?" he asked, responded by a slight moan, then a little nod.

"I…I think so honey."

He let out a sigh and slightly nodded. "I'm glad hun. Can you sit up?" he asked, getting another slight moan.

"I think so. Can you help me?" He nodded and slipped his hands under her shoulders, lifting them slowly as she started to get to her hands and knees.

"What happened honey? Why are we here?" she asked, causing him to turn and look around.

"I don't know Susan. It looks like something bad happened here. Can you remember anything?"

He turned back to her seeing she was still on her hands and knees trying to shake off her dizziness.

"I…I remember someone trying to rob us." She stated.

He thought for a second before it clicked. He then remembered everything; getting stopped by that man, fighting him, then getting stabbed. Susan then sat back onto her legs and let out a tired moan. That was when he saw it.

"Susan…what the hell is that?" he asked worried.

She looked at him, confused. "What's what?" she asked, and he pointed at her chest.

"That." he stated with worry in his voice.

She looked to where he was pointing and slightly gasped at what she saw. "Uh…"

On her chest was some sort of white disk with a one-foot chain attached to it. "I…I don't know…What is this thing?" she asked now starting to worry herself.

She slowly reached up and grabbed ahold of the chain, giving it a slight tug. The disk on her chest didn't budge at all. She tried again a little harder, but to no avail.

"Whatever it is, it's stuck." She stated, now starting to get even more worried.

"Let me see." He leaned forward, but stopped when he heard her gasp, causing him to look up.

"What's…" he started, but stopped he saw her with wide eyes, pointing at him.

He looked down, only to see that he had the same white disk and chain on his chest as well.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, then grabbed his own chain and started pulling on it.

"Mine…mine's stuck as well!" he said with worry.

"Honey, what is going on here?!" Susan asked, now very clearly worried.

At first, he didn't hear her, fear starting to cloud his head as he sat there staring at the chain and disk.

"Tim!"

He broke out of his trance and looked at her. "I'm sorry hun, I really have no idea what the hell is happening here."

He looked at her and she gestured to the people behind him. "Maybe we should go ask for help…"

He turned back to the people, then nodded. "Yeah, lets go ask."

He slowly stood up, taking his time as he was still slightly dizzy. Once he was on his feet, he reached down and helped Susan to her feet as well. She almost lost her balance, but remained standing.

"You ok?" he asked.

She nodded and stood straight. "Besides this weird thing on our chests, just fine." she stated as an attempt at a joke, causing him sigh, but nod.

"Alright, lets go."

He took her hand in his, then they started walking towards the ambulance. "Excuse me, sir." he called to the paramedic, but got no reply. "Hey sir. Can you help us?" But yet, still no reply.

He reached his hand forward to put it on the man's shoulder and stop him. "Sir, excuse…"

He quickly stopped and Susan gasped when his hand simply went right through the man's body.

"What?! What the…?!" he choked.

He walked forward to the next man, a police officer, and slowly tried to touch him. Again, his hand simply went right through the man as if he wasn't there.

"Tim…! What is happening?! What is this?!" she stated through her hands, filled with fear.

He slowly brought his hand up to his face, and touched his cheek. To his surprise, his hand didn't go through him. He put his hand back in front of his face and looked at it.

"I…" he started.

"Hey, what have we got here?" a voice asked.

The couple was brought out of their daze to see a police sergeant talking to the paramedic. "Two adults. One male, one female. No IDs. Male seems to be in his late 20s, female in her late 20s, early 30s. Male has two stab wounds and a gash across his chest, female has a single stab wound to the chest. Both died from stab wounds to the heart."

Tim and Susan both couldn't believe what they had heard. The paramedic had just described the exact wounds that they remember receiving from the thief. Tim turned to his wife and slowly closed his eyes.

"Wait here…" he said in a gloomy voice.

Susan tried to stop him, but he quickly walked over to the ambulance and stepped inside. He sat down on the bench next to the gurney with a white sheet draped over and took a look. She fearfully, but patiently waited for him. Her eyes went wide when her husband sat back on the bench, eyes wide with fright.

"Tim…" she meekly called, but he didn't respond.

After a few seconds, she swallowed, then started walking over to the ambulance as well. She stopped at the doors and stared at him.

"Tim?"

He slowly leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. "Susan, I…"

She swallowed again at the tone in his voice, then slowly and fearfully climbed the steps into the ambulance. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Tim? Are…"

He shook his head in his hands. "I…"

She turned to the gurney and slowly peeked over to see that one corner of the sheet was pulled over to reveal the body's face. Her face.

"I think…we're dead…Susan."

Her eyes went wide as saucers as she placed both of her hands over her mouth and slowly backed up until she went right through the side of the ambulance, landing on the ground. She braced herself up on her arms and sat there in absolute shock.

After a minute, Tim came out from around the back of the ambulance to find his wife sitting there with a face filled with more fear and shock than he had ever seen before.

"Susan…" he called, but his words never reached her.

She was simply filled with so much fear that nothing could reach her.

He lowered his head and tears started pouring from his eyes. "Susan…" he tried again.

And again, his words never got to her. After what seemed like eternity, he lifted his head back up and started walking towards her. He knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She slightly jumped, then turned to him.

"We're…dead?!" she asked in shock.

He lowered his head again, then after a few seconds, nodded again. "I…I believe so…Susan."

She turned back towards the ambulance, stared for a minute, then lowered her head as well. She then placed her head in her hands and began sobbing.

After a brief moment, he shifted over behind her and embraced her in a hug from behind, sobbing himself. They both sat there as the ambulance crew with her body closed the vehicle doors. They then climbed in and pulled away. After a while, the only thing left in the area was a single, ghostly couple sitting in the road, crying.

Time passed endlessly, before Susan finally began to calm down. She then crossed her arms and placed her head in-between them. Yet, more time passed until he finally stood up and nudged her arm.

"Susan…let's get out of the road." He barely choked out, but she simply shook her head.

"What does it matter? We're both dead anyway…"

He lowered his head and let out a sigh. "Honey…come on."

She sniffed, but finally nodded and began to stand up. Once she did, he placed his arm behind her and rested his hand on her shoulder. He walked her to the walkway and they began their very slow walk towards home.

Neither one of them spoke a word for what seemed like hours, until finally Susan broke the silence. "Tim…"

He turned towards her to see she stopped crying, but could still see tears in her eyes.

"Yes…honey?" he replied.

They took a few more steps before she continued. "What do…what do we do now? We're dead…dead…"

Every time she spoke that word, more tears began to appear in her eyes. Taking his hand off her should, he tilted her head to where it was now laying on his shoulder.

"I…don't know honey…I don't think there's anything…we can do."

After a while, she finally spoke again.

"We could...we could go…haunt somebody…" she stated before she broke out in tears again, failing to try and lighten the mood.

He simply sighed and started stroking her hair. That was one of the reasons he loved her. No matter what the situation was, no matter hard life wanted to treat them, she always tried to make a joke about it to make them laugh and forget the pain. Somehow, she always succeeded.

But tonight, it was evident that that was not going to work, at least not the way it was intended. Because he still managed to smile, not because of her joke, but because he could see that even after death she hadn't changed.

"If we do…" he started, causing her to look to him, where he turned back to her. "Can we…start with your mother?"

Her eyes welled up and she lowered her head again. But after a few minutes, she chuckled. He then turned back to her, relieved to see the hint of a smirk on her face.

"You…always did…hate my mom…"

He faced forward and simply couldn't help but smirk himself. "No." She lifted her head and looked at him. "I never hated your mom…just her attitude…and that dog."

He turned back to her to see her eyes stop crying and slightly widened.

"You…never told me you hated Sampson…"

Again, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Well…I guess I just did."

She turned back and sighed. "And what the hell was wrong with Sampson?"

He simply turned to her and turned her head to him with a cold stare in his eyes. "Do you have any idea how many times that mutt climbed on me in the middle of the night and yelped, scaring me half to death, just because he wanted to be petted?"

She scoffed and turned away from him. "He just wanted attention is all."

He shook his head. "Yeah…IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! God, I lost count of how many times I wanted to kill that dog."

She quickly turned to him and slapped his shoulder. "Don't you dare hurt my dog!"

He didn't turn his head, he just simply looked at her in a side glance. "Can't now, we're dead." Then an idea came to his head. "Maybe I should just go haunt the dog and make him bark, waking your mother. Two birds, one stone."

Nothing could have stopped her, as she suddenly started laughing, causing him to as well. They finally settled down as they came to their apartment complex and the tears returned.

"Well…I guess we're home." She stated, getting no return from him.

After a moment, he let out a sigh. "Yeah…home. Or…it used to be."

67th District, South Rukongai, Present

"Hey! You! Wake the hell up maggot!" Timothy was disturbed from his sleep by a sharp kick to the legs.

'Oh great, what now?' He let out a long yawn, then slowly looked up to the aggressor.

It turned out to be a man only a couple inches taller than him with a tad bit of muscle and a hint of extra weight around his midriff. He had black hair that hung down the sides of his head, nearly touching his shoulders. The man sported a goatee that looked like he had pulled it from a back-alley dumpster.

'Him again?' Timothy thought. He looked past him to see he had brought 4 friends with him.

One was Timothy's height, but way skinnier than him.

The next one was about the same height as the man in front of Timothy, same build, but not as pudgy.

The one after him was the same height, but packed a little too much 'extra baggage'.

The last one was a good foot and a half taller than Timothy, but like the second guy, he was skinny as well.

All of them had swords in their hands.

"What do you want Yokoma?" Timothy asked, and the man simply grunted.

"It's tax day you runt! Plus, you owe me for last week, so the cost is triple!" he finished with a smile. The men behind him started chuckling with wide grins.

Timothy yawned again and turned back to him, inwardly sighing. 'Is he for real? Can this fool ever take a hint?'

Timothy slowly stood up and started stretching his back, hearing audible pops.

"So, what do I owe you now Yokoma? Shouldn't you be aware by now that I, like the rest of Fallen Tree, have nothing to give you?" Timothy pointed out.

Yokoma shook his head and chuckled. "You know the law here runt! One way or another, you're gonna pay up! Now, hand it over!"

Timothy simply stared at him with a raised brow. "Hand what over? I just told you I have nothing."

Yokoma then pointed down to Timothy's side and he turned to see his sword.

The sword Timothy had was a standard sized katana. The guard was a black cutout of a fox pouncing, fangs bared. The hilt was black as well with an orange cord wrapped around it as a handle. The sheath that it was in was solid black with an orange stripe running down the length on both sides.

'If he thinks that I will hand her over, he's got something else coming.'

Timothy slowly turned back to Yokoma with an emotionless stare.

"Are you serious?" Timothy asked in a monotone voice and Yokoma held out his hand palm up.

"Give it here runt, or I'll kill you where you stand! Either way, we're leaving here with that sword!"

Timothy lowered his head and let out a quick sigh. "See boys? I told you he'd give up. You just gotta know how to handle puny runts like this."

Timothy simply stood there while Yokoma spoke to his goons.

'Well, I guess break time is over. Back to work.' Timothy thought.

He raised his head back up and Yokoma was a little confused to see him raise his right hand up with his index finger outstretched. "Huh? What are planning to do maggot? Poke me?"

'I've had enough.' Timothy inwardly moaned.

"Hadō #1…Shō" Timothy announced.

Suddenly, a quick burst of energy left the tip of Timothy's finger and hit Yokoma in the chest, pushing him back into his goons and knocking them all down.

Not by the force itself as it was nothing more than the force of someone simply pushing you with their arm, but enough to knock them off balance.

Timothy stood there as they all grumbled and yelled at each to get off them.

"Please take that as a warning and leave. I have no quarrel with you." Timothy warned in a low tone.

After a few seconds, Yokoma was standing up looking at Timothy with pure rage. Timothy returned the glare with an emotionless look.

"You wanna play you maggot?! Fine by me!" The rest of his goons managed to make it to their feet with swords at the ready.

"I'll admit runt, you caught us by surprise with stunt of yours. And I don't know how you can use Kidō, but it's not gonna help you in this fight. Now draw!" Yokoma demanded.

Timothy stood there staring at them with the same emotionless look for a moment, before he sighed. "Look fellas…I don't want to fight you. I rather prefer if you would just turn around and leave. I don't want to hurt you, but take my word for it that that does not mean I won't. This is your last chance. Leave."

Timothy could see that the statement had struck a nerve as Yokoma was now clenching his teeth.

"You take me for a fool?! If you don't wanna fight, then it's your funeral! Kill him!"

Without hesitation, all five of them charged after Timothy with full intent to kill him.

Timothy let out a sigh. "I guess it couldn't be helped. I really didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice." He then drew his sword and pointed it straight at them.

"Tease."

Upon saying this they all quickly stopped in their tracks staring at Timothy with wide eyes.

"He's…he's bluffing…right boss?" the tall one asked and Yokoma just scoffed.

"Of…of course he's bluffing you idiot! No runt like him has a zanpakutō! Now get him!" Yokoma yelled back.

They resumed their charge at Timothy and he closed his eyes.

"Moeru Kitsune."

The blade on Timothy's sword immediately burst into flames. Yokoma and his men all watched in fear as the blade straightened out and shortened itself to a length of 17 inches. while the guard dissipated.

Afterwards, the flames disappeared, and Timothy swung the sword to hold it at his side.

Yokoma's eyes slightly widened while the men behind him were simply terrified. "B…boss…we should leave! We can't fight someone who has a zanpakutō!"

Yokoma quickly turned back to him. "What are you, a coward?! He doesn't have a zanpakutō! It's just a cheap kidō trick!" He then turned back to Timothy.

"Heh! Impressive display young man! Again, I don't know how you can use kidō, but I'm not gonna fall for your pathetic tricks!"

"Interesting." Timothy stated, causing Yokoma to raise a brow.

"By simply releasing, I've evolved from a runt to a man. I'm curious to see what you would think of me after I finish with you." Timothy stated, keeping my emotionless stare.

Yokoma got ready to charge at Timothy, but stopped when he saw a small flame ignite next to him. "What the…?!"

He quickly turned when he saw another flame ignite to his right.

"B…b…boss…w…what's going on? the large one asked.

"L…look! Another one!" the short one yelled, pointing to the group's left.

"A…and another!" the tall one cried looking behind them.

"T…there're everywhere!" the short one yelled again.

In all, there were fifteen flames surrounding the group.

Yokoma turned back to Timothy with rage filled eyes. "Enough! YOU DIE!" he yelled and continued his charge at Timothy. He held his sword high and to his right, ready for a diagonal slash across my chest. He came to within ten feet of Timothy before he swung down.

The sword came to within a few inches from Timothy's shoulder…then he suddenly vanished.

Needless to say, the entire group was completely surprised, with the four goons now freaking out.

"H…h…he disappeared!" the strong one whined.

"W…where did he go?! the tall one followed.

"I don't know you fools!" yelled Yokoma.

"B…boss…let's get outta here!" the tall one added.

"I don't think so." Timothy coldly stated, now appearing behind them.

Yokoma and his men all turned around just in time to see Timothy cut the strong one across his chest from his left shoulder to his right hip. They all stood there in total shock as to what had just happened.

Yokoma was quick to recover and charged at Timothy yet again.

But also, yet again, Timothy quickly disappeared with Yokoma's blade striking empty air. "What the hell is this?!" he yelled.

The other three goons were now absolutely frantic. "B…boss! He cut down Ryochiro! We gotta get outta here now!" the fat one yelled.

Yokoma was now completely stark mad as he turned to him. "Shut the fuck up! Quit your crying and find h…"

Yokoma froze when he saw Timothy standing behind the tall one with his sword arm raised. "FOOL! BEHI…"

Timothy swung down on him, slicing open his back on the right side from his shoulder to his lower back.

The last two goons turned and swung at Timothy, but he disappeared again, and they missed.

They simply couldn't take it anymore as the two men both dropped their swords and started running away.

"COWARDS!" Yokoma yelled. He gasped when he realized that Timothy was now right behind him with the point of his sword to his back.

"Those two had the right idea. Your two friends here are still breathing. I strongly recommend that you stop this pointless fight and take care of them."

Yokoma slowly turned back to him, fear now dominating his eyes.

"As you can finally see, you cannot fight me. Drop your sword, and I will let you take your men away, so they may live. Continue to fight me, and all three of you will die. Right here…right now." Timothy stated with a cold tone.

They both stood there, unmoving. Yokoma because was fearful and contemplating what to do, Timothy waiting to see what Yokoma would do.

'Don't do it…just give it up.' Timothy thought.

What felt like hours passed, before Yokoma finally released his sword. "I…I yield."

Timothy stood there keeping the blade to Yokoma's back more a few moments more, to get the point across to him not to try anything.

Finally, Timothy withdrew his blade and hung it down to his side. "You may leave." he coldly stated, and Yokoma nodded, moving over to go grab his two comrades.

Timothy's head and eyes were watching his every move.

Surprisingly, Yokoma managed to sling both men over his shoulders and started to leave.

"Don't come around here again. You were lucky today to even receive two warnings. Next time, you won't even get one." Timothy warned and Yokoma quickly nodded and started walking off into the woods.

After a few minutes, once Timothy was sure Yokoma was gone, the flames around him extinguished themselves and his sword returned to its original state. He slid the sword back into its sheath and let out a depressed sigh.

"Well well, it's been a while since you've let me have a little bit of fun." The sword stated happily.

Timothy closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky. "I don't wanna argue with you right now. As you can see, I'm not in the mood." he replied in his mind.

He heard a slight chuckle. "Yes, well I can see that. Either way, don't feel bad about what just happened. Afterall, you gave them plenty of chances to turn and walk away."

"Yes, but nevertheless, it shouldn't have happened. I could have killed those men." Timothy stated with a hint of regret.

"True, but they plainly deserved it." The sword added.

Timothy lowered his head and crossed his arms. "Since when did you become the bloodthirsty type? No one deserves death. No one."

He could hear a faint growl. "Except that man!"

Timothy's eyes snapped open upon hearing that comment. The comment was completely true, no one deserved to die more than that man. I

He closed his eyes again and began to growl himself. "Don't you worry. He will get what's coming to him. One way, or another, he will die! And that…"

Timothy opened his eyes and stared out into the woods with an evil glare. "…is a promise!" he stated out loud.

Squad 8 Headquarters, Seireitei, Present

Deep within the heart of the Seireitei, the home of the soul reapers, stood the headquarters for the 8th squad of the 13 Court Guard Squads.

Inside, many of the seated officers, and a small portion of the squad itself, were moving about conducting their normal operations. Some were completing and filing paperwork, some were holding meetings discussing the agendas for the day.

The squad's Captain was in his office finishing up his part of the squad's paperwork.

Or at least, that was what he was supposed to be doing.

In truth, he was nowhere inside the headquarters, much to his lieutenant's dismay. He was actually up on the roof of the building sitting next to another man.

The Captain of Squad 8 was none other than Shunsui Kyōraku.

The man stood at three inches over six feet tall, had long brown hair that he kept tied into a ponytail with bangs that hung loosely down the left side of his face. He was a clam, somewhat carefree individual that valued the peace and quiet.

He was well known for the straw hat and pink, flower styled kimono that he always wore. He was also known for how casual he was when speaking with others, regardless of rank, and his absence of a temper.

No matter how minor or severe one of his subordinates did something wrong, he always approached them with kindness and compassion to help them correct their mistakes. Just about everyone in the Seireitei respected Captain Kyōraku.

He only had one flaw…he was lazy.

Normally around this time, he was supposed to be in his office filing paperwork and coordinating with his officers about the daily activities. Instead, most of the time he could be found sprawled out on the roof laying in the sun sleeping, or in this case, sitting on the roof drinking sake.

The man next to him was his closest friend, the Captain of Squad 13, Jūshirō Ukitake.

The man was quite similar to Captain Kyōraku in many ways, sharing the same compassion towards his men and rarely ever showed any form of anger.

He stood only a couple inches shy of Kyōraku, had long, white hair that hung loose, stretching down to his mid back, and a loving smile the rarely left his face. The only notable difference between their personalities was the fact that he was nowhere near as lazy as Kyōraku.

But unfortunately, he frequently suffered from an illness of the lungs that he had since birth.

The two men sat there on the headquarters roof sharing a bottle of sake between them, enjoying the comforts of conversation and the warm sun shining down on them.

"It's quite the nice day, isn't it Shunsui?" the white-haired man asked, gaining the nod from Kyōraku.

"Indeed. Too bad everyone's too busy worrying about Aizen's treachery." he states, taking a sip of sake.

Jūshirō turned his head to his friend. "Yes, even I am concerned about this whole ordeal."

Shunsui let out a sigh and turned his head as well. "Relax Jūshirō, he had us all fooled. No one could have predicted what he was up to."

Jūshirō shook his head and turned back forward taking a sip as well. "No, he covered his tracks far too well. I'm still having a hard time believing what he did."

"So am I. What I find even more confusing are the events leading up to it."

Jūshirō turned back to his friend, brow raised. "Are you referring to the ryoka boy, Ichigo Kurosaki?" he asked and Shunsui nodded.

"Indeed I am. It's funny how he manages to break into the Seireitei, fight, and defeat many soul reapers, including two captains, and in the end turn out to be an ally. He is one odd boy, with even odder circumstances."

Jūshirō simply chuckled.

"Yes, it's amazing how the situation played out for him. I'm glad he accepted the position of substitute soul reaper. His resolve is amazing, and I have a feeling that he may still have a role to play in the near future."

Shunsui tilted his straw hat and looked up to the clouds. "Yeah, I don't think we've seen the last of him. Judging by the way he acts, I'm sure we'll see him around sooner than we think."

Jūshirō smiles and turns his head back forward with closed eyes. "Yes, I agree."

Kyōraku takes a sip of sake and lets out a relaxed sigh.

"Changing the subject, did you get the memos from yesterday's Captain's meeting?" Kyōraku asked, earning a slight nod.

Captain Ukitake's illness had struck him again, causing him to miss the Captain's meeting that was held the day prior.

"I did. Although, I have not looked at them yet. Anything important?"

Kyōraku shrugged his right shoulder and slightly waved his hand side to side.

"Besides old man Yama and a few of the others discussing Aizen's actions, and the fact that he spent too much time in Central 46's chambers, not too much. He said that he was gonna assign someone to look through 46's records and find out what he was doing in there."

Jūshirō turned to him with a raised brow. "Did he say who?"

Kyōraku shook his head. "No, but knowing him he would more than likely assign either myself, or you for it."

Jūshirō turned back and sighed, taking a sip. "Did he say anything else?"

"Yeah, he's also gonna change up the Rukongai assignments. He said that the new assignments would be given to us within the week. Besides that, he also made the official announcement that the Lieutenants of squads 3, 5, and 9 will take over as acting Captains until replacements can be found." he finished, then took a sip and refilled his saucer.

"Yes, well, who knows how long that will take. With the Seireitei as disorganized as it is right now, and with everyone still in shock over what Aizen did, it could be a couple years before replacements are found."

He held his saucer over to his friend, and he filled it.

"Maybe, but then again maybe not. We'll just have to wait and see."

Jūshirō nodded and turned back. "Yes."

Both men continued drinking in peace.

67th District, South Rukongai, Fallen Tree

The sun was getting low in the sky, and after the…unfortunate…events from earlier, Timothy decided to call it a day a little earlier than normal. He had gone out to his secluded training area before the sun rose, and except for a quick nap and the earlier fight, he hadn't stopped.

In the past, he only trained a few times a week. At first, the training was simply for him to become stronger and be able to defend himself whenever one of the criminals wanted to cause him grief. For the first few months, it just made matters worse for him as they became far more abusive towards anyone that tried to put up a fight.

But as he got better, and after a few fights, fewer and fewer of them kept bothering him. Some of them even stopped pestering the townspeople, fearing that they would end up fighting him again. But the truth is, he really didn't even care about the townspeople.

When people first arrive in Fallen Tree from the human world, they tend to get adopted, or adopt themselves into one of the makeshift families. Afterall, it's exceedingly rare that a person will ever meet any one of their family members from their life in the human world. In fact, in the twelve years that Timothy had been there, he had never heard of even one such occasion. So, people just simply accept a new family once they arrive there.

But for Timothy, he had no interest in such things. He simply wanted to be left alone to himself, and everyone in town accepted that. "Hey, Timothy!" Except one. Timothy let out an inward sigh and slowly turned around to face the voice. "What Albert?" he replied in a monotone voice.

The voice came from a young man, slightly taller than Timothy, with green eyes and brown hair that hung loosely to his shoulders. He arrived here in the soul society about 56 years ago. They first met a few weeks after Timothy came to the soul society. Timothy was sitting on the ground leaning against a residence, still recovering from the shock of ending up there, when he happened to walk by and stop.

67thDistrict, South Rukongai, Fallen Tree, 12 years ago

It was a cold and windy evening…it was raining. Timothy sat next to one of the shacks that the people here seemed to call 'houses'. He sat there with his arms crossed and his head between them, his sword tucked in the crook of his arm, soaking wet from the rain.

But he didn't care.

He had nowhere to go to get himself out of the weather.

But he didn't care.

Timothy was so filled with despair…how could he care?

In one night, he had lost his family…his home…his life. He had lost everything.

The rain continued to pound on his head as he continued to be lost in thought. 'What do we do now…Susan…?' He was so deep in thought that he never heard the squishing sound of footsteps approaching him.

"Hey, you alright?"

The voice managed to break Timothy's trance, so he slowly looked up to see who was talking.

It was a young man holding a makeshift umbrella that consisted of a bamboo pole with a rag over top, held open by a few smaller bamboo twigs.

"What?" Timothy asked in a low voice and the man stepped a little closer.

"I asked, if you were ok?" he repeated.

They both just stared at each other for a few moments before Timothy finally answered. "Yeah…just peachy."

He continued to stare at Timothy for a few seconds more. "Can I help you?" Timothy asked in an annoyed tone, causing the man to tilt his head slightly.

"Uh…no. But…why are you sitting out here in the rain?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice. Timothy scoffed and turned his head away.

"Maybe cause I feel like it...What's it to you?" Timothy answered, even more annoyed.

"I'm just asking sir, calm down, I didn't mean anything by it." the man answered with his free hand up in surrender.

After a minute, Timothy lowered his head and sighed. Timothy knew the man didn't mean anything by it, but he just simply wanted to be left alone. "Sorry…I know you were just asking. Sorry for my rudeness." Timothy told him in a low, but calmer voice.

The man started to chuckle, and Timothy turned to him. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm Albert by the way. Albert Müller."

Albert finished by squatting down and holding his hand out to Timothy. "And you are?"

Timothy looked at his hand, then back to him and sighed. "Timothy, and look Albert…I don't mean to be rude…but I would prefer to be left alone."

Albert raised his brow again.

"Ok…well I don't mean to be rude either, but why don't you come home with me? At least so you can get out of the rain." he finished with a smile, hand still outstretched.

Again, Timothy continued to stare at him for a moment longer. "Why are you trying to help me? For all you know I could be one of those guys that keep robbing you people. Afterall, I do have a sword here."

Albert turned and looked at it, then back to Timothy and shrugged his shoulders.

"So what? You have a sword…If you wanted to tax me, you would have done it by now. And if you wanted to tax my home, you also would have done so by now. Besides, it's not like any of us has anything to give. Hell, you have more than most of the town with that sword of yours."

"Point taken. However, you still didn't answer my question. Why are you trying to help me?" Timothy stated in an annoyed voice, his patience wearing thin.

Albert chuckled again. "Simple, we all have to help each other in order to survive here. Otherwise, the criminals would have kidnapped, or killed us all by now."

Timothy let out a sigh with a slight growl of annoyance.

"Look…I don't want your help. I don't wanna help any of the rest of the people here. I just wanna be left alone, to myself. Is that SO much to ask?" Timothy retorted with a slightly raised voice, but Albert just continued to smile.

"I see…well…nevertheless, I'm taking you back home with me, so you can dry off."

It was now Timothy's turn to raise a brow. "Excuse me?"

"You're coming home with me. I'm not the kind of person who is just gonna let someone sit out here in the rain." Albert stated, his voice never wavering.

"And if I refuse?" Timothy asked, and Albert shrugged his shoulders again.

"Then I'll just sit out here with you until you decide otherwise."

Timothy lowered his head in defeat and gave a loud, annoyed sigh. "Fine." Timothy moaned, and Albert started to slightly chuckle.

"I knew you'd give in. Now come on, my home is just a few houses down."

Timothy nodded, then took Albert's hand as he gave him a boost to his feet, pulling Timothy under his umbrella.

"See? Not so hard is it?"

Timothy turned to him. "Don't get cocky, I can still choose to sit back down."

Albert started to laugh. "Then we would just start all over again, wouldn't we?"

"Whatever. Let's just go." Timothy moaned.

Albert gestured down the road and they began walking towards his 'house'.

"By the way…" Timothy started, and Albert turned to him. "…what kind of a name is Müller?"

Albert turned back to the road chuckling. "It's German. I was born on the outskirts of Bremen, Germany in 1928…human world time."

Timothy raised a brow. "1928? So, you've been here a while, huh?"

Albert nodded. "Yeah. I died in 1945, when I was 17."

Timothy thought about it for a moment, then his eyes went wide when the figures hit him.

"Wait a minute! You were in a Hitler Youth Brigade?!"

Albert's eyes then went empty and he lowered his head.

Timothy quickly held up his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." he quickly stated, and Albert shook his head.

"No, it's fine. And no…I wasn't. You seem to know your history pretty well."

Timothy turned back forward and sighed. "Let me guess…you were among the ones who refused to serve…weren't you?"

Albert nodded. "Yes…The war was pretty much over…we were just waiting for our military to give up…but it didn't happen. The soldiers came through, grabbing any teenage man or woman to serve for the fatherland. They finally came to our farm and took my younger brother and I. They told him to get into the truck, and he did, not knowing any better…but I refused."

Timothy turned back to him. "And they shot you…" he stated, and Albert nodded.

"I know we finally lost the war, only a few months after I died. Some of the residents who had died years afterwards told me…It's a funny thing…"

Timothy raised a brow. "What's that?" he asked, and Albert chuckled.

"That I had to die…because of the will of a madman."

Timothy turned back to the road to see that they had arrived at Albert's home.

"So…" Albert started, and Timothy turned back to him.

"So?" He returned, then Albert turned to him.

"What happened to you? I can tell you haven't been here long, and if you know historical events, such as the 'Hitler Youth Brigade', then you must be one of the lucky ones to keep their memories from the world of the living."

Timothy turned back to the shack. "…Mugging…"

Albert frowned and turned back as well. "I see…"

Timothy closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Me and my wife."

Albert quickly turned back with slightly wide eyes. "I'm…I'm so sorry…Have you…tried to find her?"

Timothy sighed and lowered his head. "I found her…but not the way I intended…Enough of this sob stuff, let's go inside."

Albert nodded and they both went inside.

67th District, Rukongai, Fallen Tree, Present.

Ever since then, Albert's kept up with Timothy, trying endlessly to become friends with him, never taking the hint that Timothy didn't want friends.

Although, even Timothy had to admit that Albert's persistence was legendary.

"Hey Tim, have you heard?"

Timothy rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Heard what?" he stated in an annoyed tone.

"Yokoma and some of his boys, they got their asses handed to em?"

Of course, Timothy knew exactly what Albert was referring to, but even he didn't know that Timothy went out training, so he played dumb.

"Is that so? Well, I guess either a rival gang got ahold of em, or they managed to piss off a soul reaper."

Timothy turned and started walking back to the shack, Albert following after a moment.

'Sigh, of all the days…why can he just leave me be?'

Albert caught up and placed his hand on Timothy's shoulder, now walking beside him.

"Aw come on. Are you sure it wasn't you?"

Timothy turned to him with a raised brow. "And why would you think that it was me?" he asked in his monotone voice, and Albert pointed to Timothy's sword in his rag sash.

'Oh, give me a break…this again?' Timothy thought.

Timothy rolled his eyes again. "Really? Just because I have a sword doesn't mean that it was me. I only have it to protect myself, nothing more."

It really wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either.

Albert held his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok. No need to bite the head. I was just joking with you."

Timothy side glanced him. "You're the only one joking here, so you're not really joking 'with' me."

Albert then chuckled. "Touché. But anyway, it doesn't look like they'll be bothering us again anytime soon."

"Nope." Timothy plainly stated. 'They would be more stupid than I thought if they did.'

Albert then held his chin in his hand. "Come to think of it…I have noticed that fewer and fewer criminals have been showing up in town over the past few years. Do you think that the soul reapers have finally started to help us?"

Timothy sighed. 'Like they would ever help us.'

Albert turned to him and Timothy shrugged my shoulders. "Who knows? Not like I care. As long as they leave me alone."

Albert then shook his head. "Yeah yeah, I know, Mr. Recluse."

Timothy rolled my eyes. "Aren't you like…5000 years old by now? Shouldn't you be acting more grown up than that?" he replied in an annoyed tone and Albert laughed.

"Try 56 and 17 human years."

Timothy then growled in annoyance. "Albert, is there something you want from me? If not, can't you please leave me be? I'm tired, and I'm in no mood to play your damn games."

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I just wanted to know how your day was." Albert quickly stated with hands up and a smile on his face.

Timothy let out another sigh and turned to him. "It was fine, thanks for asking."

Albert nodded in understanding. "And your training? How did that go?"

Timothy slightly flinched but kept his composure. He rolled my eyes and turned to the road. "What are you rambling about now?"

'Crap…there's no way he could know…' Timothy worried.

Albert leaned over to him and whispered. "Oh come on Tim…Did you really think that after all these years living together I wouldn't notice? And that's not the only thing I know."

Timothy slowly turned to him in a side glance.

"What are you talking about?" Timothy asked with a faked annoyed tone, trying to hide his slight shock.

"I know that you possess spirit energy Tim, and that you know some kidō."

The shock overtook Timothy as he grabbed Albert's shirt and tossed him into the split between shacks next to them. He was a little surprised, but kept his smile.

"How the hell do you know that?!" Timothy asked through clenched teeth and Albert shrugged.

"Easy, I've seen you eating in the woods before, and always around the same time. We all know that normal souls don't need food and water, only those that possess spirit energy do. Plus, I've seen you use kidō before. So, I put two and two together."

Timothy let go of him and leaned back against the opposing shack.

"Hey, don't worry Tim…I'm not gonna say anything. In fact, I've known about it for a couple years now."

Timothy lifted his head back to him in slight shock. "Years?" he dumbly asked, and Albert nodded.

"Yeah. But again, I won't say anything. I mean, how could I? I'm not stupid you know. I know that it was you that has been chasing away all these criminals."

"Not by choice. I just simply wanted to be left alone. They're the ones who wanted to pick a fight, not me." Timothy corrected in a normal tone and Albert just held up his hands, palm up.

"Well, like they say. Tomato, tomáto. Anyway, regardless of how it happened, the people's lives here have gotten better, thanks to you."

Albert finished by placing his hands on his hips.

"Albert…" Timothy started, and Albert raised a brow. "You better not tell anyone…"

Albert then closed his eyes. "I already told you, don't worry I won't."

Timothy then looked at him. "I mean it Albert…no one can know about this. I don't wanna hurt you…but if you tell anyone…I won't think twice about cutting you down." he warned through his teeth.

Albert's expression never changed, he just continued to stare at Timothy with his smile.

"Is that all? And here I thought I would be cursed to hell by you." Albert finished in a chuckle.

Albert then held up his right hand. "I swear on my life…er, soul…that I will never tell anyone."

Timothy simply stood there staring at him, evaluating the situation. "Fine. Just remember what I told you, Albert. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Timothy turned back towards the street and began walking.

"Hey Tim…"

Timothy stopped and looked at him with a side glance. "Just don't push yourself too hard, alright?"

Timothy simply closed my eyes and shook his head before turning back to the street.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Timothy called, waving over his shoulder."

Timothy returned to the road and continued walking home, thinking about the new situation.

"Do you think he would tell anyone?" Timothy's sword asked in his head and he sighed.

"Who knows? I don't consider him a friend, and I may be a little thick headed, but even I can see that he's a trustworthy person." Timothy replied mentally and his sword then began to chuckle.

"Only a little?"

Timothy let out a low growl. "And just what is that supposed to mean?" The chuckling stopped.

"Oh, come on Tim, he's been trying to be friends with you for twelve years. But no, you keep trying to push him away, insistent on being alone."

Timothy slightly shook his head. "And for good reason. We can risk anyone finding out our secret…not even him. You know what could happen if it got out into the open."

"Yes, I do. Have you ever thought that maybe he would keep that secret as well?" the sword asked.

Timothy then stopped and lowered his head. "That is not a risk I can take. And the closer I let him get to me, the higher the chances are that he will discover it. It's not worth it." Replied solemnly.

Timothy then heard the sword sigh. "I understand that Tim…but you can't do this on your own, even you have to admit that."

Timothy raised his head back to the road. "Again, that is not a risk that I am willing to take. This discussion is over." The sword sighed again.

"If you say so, just don't do anything stupid. That's also a risk you can't take. We have a job to do, and you can't afford to do anything stupid."

Timothy sighed and started walking again. "I know."

Timothy arrived at the shack that acted as home that him and Albert shared, on the days that he didn't decide to sleep out in the woods. He pushed the rag door aside and stepped inside, walking over to the wall on the right side near the small fire pit dug in the floor. He sat down and leaned his back against the wall, setting his sword down beside him.

Timothy crossed his arms and leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes in thought over recent news.

The news that was spreading around Fallen Tree was that a few Court Guard Squad Captains had turned against the soul society and fled. It was big and terrifying news, sure. But the name of one of the Captains was what hit Timothy the most…Aizen.

Afterall, it was his doing that had caused Timothy to be in the situation that he was currently in.

It was because of him that Timothy's life was filled with sorrow and despair.

He had to die, and Timothy had to be the one to make sure he died. The problem Timothy faced, was how he was going to get to him.

Originally, Timothy's plan was to find a way into the Seireitei, find him, then kill him. And as if breaking into the Seireitei wasn't as close to impossible as it was, finding Aizen without getting caught was going to be even more of a challenge.

But now everything had changed. Now he was supposedly no longer in the soul society, meaning that he was now out of Timothy's reach.

What's more, Aizen now had the entirety of the 13 Court Guard Squads hunting him, meaning that Timothy's chances of killing him before they did were very low.

Timothy had to come up with a new plan, to try and find some way to get to him. He couldn't leave the soul society…and even if Aizen came back in the future, how would Timothy get to him before the 13 Court Guard Squads do?

Timothy let out a depressed sigh and started rubbing his temples.

"What the hell am I going to do?" Timothy whispered.

"Keep training…at this point that's really all you can do. At least until we figure out a new plan." His sword answered.

Timothy lowered his hand and leaned his head back again. "Yeah, but for how long? The longer we wait, the more likely that the Court Guard Squads will find him before us…so it takes us back to the question…what do we do?"

A brief moment of silence passed, then a sigh. "I don't know Tim. We'll think of something…"

Timothy was brought out of his thoughts by the rag door sliding over and he turned to see Albert walk in.

"Hey Tim…" Albert greeted with a slight bit of worry in his eyes.

Timothy rose my brow. "What's wrong?"

Albert pushed the rag door back kneeled down next to Timothy. "The soul reapers are here…" he stated with a worried tone.

Timothy closed his eyes and slightly banged his head against the wall. "What do they want now?" he moaned.

Albert turned to the door frame, then back to Timothy. "I don't know…but it doesn't look good."

Timothy lowered his head and let out a loud sigh. "Well, just stay inside and maybe they'll ignore us. It usually works."

Albert then shook his head. "Not this time…"

Timothy turned to him with both brows raised. "What do you mean?"

"They're searching all of the houses…I think they're looking for something…or someone…"

Timothy's brows dropped, then they heard a voice.

"Nothing here sir." said a man with a low, gruff voice.

"Well keep searching! We're going to find him! Gather everyone in the street, be it man, woman, or child! I want everyone out here!" said another voice.

Timothy turned to Albert with concern in his eyes. "Let's get outta here…" Timothy stated, and Albert nodded.

Luckily, Albert was a smart individual, and over 500 years of constant threats from thugs had taught him a key lesson…always have an escape route.

They both got up and quietly stepped over to the back wall. Albert pulled out a purposely loosened nail, then pulled away a small three-foot-wide, two-foot-tall piece of wall and slid it to the side.

"You first…" Timothy stated, and Albert began crawling through the opening.

"Nothing here, let's check the next one." Timothy heard from the shack next door.

He turned to see Albert had made it through the opening, ending up behind our shack. He then got down and crawled through as well.

Timothy could now hear the footsteps approaching the doorway to the shack and quickly turned around to replace the slat over the hole.

The wall had one nail that was exposed and bent so that the slat would rest between the head and the wall, holding the slat in place. Timothy heard the slat tap into place, and immediately afterwards heard the rag door be thrusted open.

They both sat motionless for what felt like an eternity. "No one's here, let's hit the next one."

They heard the rag door unfold back into place and the footsteps disappear. They both then let out a quiet breath of relief and looked at each other.

"What do we do Tim?" Albert asked, now clearly worried.

"I don't know, but we need to get a better look at what's going on." Timothy replied.

Timothy looked over to his left and gestured Albert with my hand. "This way, keep low, and keep quiet." he whispered, and Albert started to follow.

They both carefully moved from one shack to another. They would then stop for a second to listen, then move on to the next shack.

Once they got behind the fourth shack, they froze when one of the soul reapers stopped right in front of them and started looking into the woods. Sweat started pouring from their heads as they sat motionless, waiting for inevitable moment when the man would turn to his left and spot them.

'Don't turn left…don't turn left…' Timothy thought as the man continued to stare out to the woods behind the shacks.

After what seemed like forever, the man finally turned around to his right and walked back in the direction he came from.

After they could no longer hear the man's footsteps, they both let out the breaths that they were holding in.

"That was too close Tim…" Albert stated, his voice starting to crack.

Timothy nodded and gestured for them to keep moving. He looked around the corner to make sure the man wasn't standing there.

It turned out he was, but he was facing the street. Timothy turned around to Albert and gestured for him to wait here, he nodded.

Timothy looked around the corner again to see the soul reaper was still facing the street. He quickly, but quietly darted across the opening to the other side and waited a moment.

After a few seconds, Timothy peeked back around the corner to see the man turning around. Timothy quickly backed away and gestured for Albert to back up, which he did.

Timothy heard the footsteps again and coming closer. His body froze as they kept getting louder...but suddenly stopped. Timothy and Albert both sat on either side of the opening, paralyzed.

After a brief moment, Timothy heard the footsteps again, but getting fainter. He took a chance at a glance around the corner to see the man walking away.

Timothy quickly turned to Albert and gestured him to quickly move across.

Albert got off his knees and quietly darted across the opening to Timothy, stopping just passed him. They both took a second to calm their heart rates down, then moved on.

After about ten minutes of peeking corners, and darting across openings, they finally made it to the last shack on the row. Timothy took a peek around the corner to see no one there, then gestured for Albert to follow.

They snuck alongside the side wall of the shack and stopped just before the edge, next to the street. Timothy took a deep breath, then carefully peeked around the corner, stunned by what he saw.

Timothy could see the entire town gathered in the middle of the street with nine soul reapers guarding them. He could also see five more soul reapers doing the 'house calls' at the far end. He pulled myself back and turned to Albert.

"There's at least fourteen of them…they've gathered the entire town in the street…I think you were right…" Timothy turned back towards the street. "…they are looking for someone."

Timothy then heard a familiar voice and his eyes went wide. 'No way!' he thought.

He peeked around the corner again and froze when he saw Yokoma standing next to one of the soul reapers, the one who looked like he was in charge.

Timothy slowly backed away from the corner and rested against the wall. "It's Yokoma…he's here."

Albert's eyes widened for a moment. "I can give you three guesses as to who they're looking for…but I'm pretty sure you'll only need one." he stated, and Timothy nodded.

"Yeah…they're looking for me."

Timothy let out a sigh, then froze when they heard a woman scream.

Timothy's eyes widened, and he quickly peeked around the corner to see an elderly woman being pulled from the group by one of the soul reapers.

"Alright everyone. We're looking for the guy who assaulted this man and his friends! He is wanted for questioning in regards to this incident! Now, we know he lives here, and we know that you know who he is! You should be aware that harboring a fugitive is a serious crime, and anyone who is harboring him will be punished!"

Timothy backed away and lowered his head. "They're holding onto one of the elder women…it looks like Yokoma lied to the soul reapers, telling them that I assaulted him and his goons. They're threatening to 'punish' the woman for 'harboring' me."

Albert's eyes went wide as saucers. "Tim…you know that they will kill her if they suspect that she's harboring a fugitive!"

Timothy slowly nodded and turned back towards the street.

"Tim…we can't let that happen…" Timothy's sword started.

Timothy sighed and lowered his head. "I know…but we can't fight them without your ability…and we can't let people know about you…" he replied in his head.

He heard the sword sigh. "I know…but Tim…we can't just sit here and let this happen…you have to do something, or she'll die…"

"I know! But we can't risk it…we just can't."

A moment of silence passed, then Timothy peeked around the corner to see the woman now on her knees.

"Tim…we can't let her die because of our secret…it's not right." The sword yelled.

Timothy pulled himself back and lowered his head. "And what do we do after everyone finds out about you, huh? What then?" Timothy retorted.

He heard another sigh. "That is just a chance that we are gonna have to take…but I can't stand just sitting here knowing that we have the power to stop them!"

Timothy let out a deep sigh. "Are you absolutely sure about this…there is no turning back from this…you know that right?" He then heard a growl of anger.

"I'm aware of that! And I'm sure about this, now go!" the sword ordered.

Timothy slightly nodded, then turned to Albert. "I've got no choice, I'm gonna try and stop them."

Albert lowered his head, then nodded a second later. "Yeah…" He then raised his head to Timothy and placed his hand on Timothy's shoulder. "Just…be careful Tim…and remember…"

Timothy rose his brow.

"…they're just doing their job…so don't kill them."

Timothy nodded and turned back to the corner. "Yeah…for once." he whispered.

"Sigh…you ready?" Timothyasked inwardly.

"Ready!" the sword stated.

Timothy stood up slowly, then took a deep breath. "Here we go…" he whispered and started slowly walking out from around the corner.

Yokoma and the lead soul reaper noticed Timothy at once. "T…That's him! He's the one who did this!" Yokoma yelled. The leader pushed the old woman aside and walked forward.

"So, you're the one who attacked this man and his friends?" he asked, and Timothy shook my head.

"No, I merely defended myself. They are the ones who had attacked me."

The leader turned to Yokoma and rose a brow. "Is this true?"

Yokoma quickly turned to him and waved his hands. "No! No, we did no such thing! We we're only walking through the woods when he came up and attacked us! We tried to defend ourselves, but he took down two of my friends, almost killing them, then took off! I swear!" he yelled.

The leader turned back to Timothy, looking at the sword in his sash. "Well, it's blatantly obvious that you're the one who cut them down, so whether or not it was self-defense, or assault, you're coming with us. And we'll be taking that sword." the leader demanded.

Timothy lowered his head and sighed. "No…you won't." he calmly stated, and the leader rose a brow.

"Excuse me?! I don't think I heard you correctly…care to repeat that?!" he asked and the other soul reapers placed their hands on their zanpakutō.

"I said…" Timothy started, then lifted his head to them. "No…you won't." he answered in a cold tone.

The leader then smiled, teeth bared. "I see, so resisting arrest, are we? The penalty for that is death. So, tell me…" The leader then drew his zanpakutō and the others followed suit, getting into ready stances. "…Are you ready to die…smartass?"

Timothy lowered his head and let out a sigh. "I'll tell you the same thing I told him…I don't want to fight you, but you persist…I will." he turned back to them with his emotionless stare and the leader began laughing.

"And just what do you think you're gonna do to us, huh? You may have a sword, and you may have been able to fend off this man and four of his friends, but what could you possibly do to seventeen soul reapers."

Timothy then heard footsteps come up behind him and he side glanced to see three more behind him, swords at the ready.

"And not just any soul reapers…" the leader started, and Timothy turned back to him. "…but members of Squad 11!"

Timothy then drew his sword and held it to his side. "I know that from what I heard, Squad 11 prides themselves with their combat abilities. To lose without dying is an insult to the squad. So…I will give you this one, last chance to leave with the pride that you have left."

The man then clenched his teeth and growled. "Not only do you have the balls to insult me…but now you've gone on to insult our squad! Forget what I said earlier about bringing you in for questioning…you will die right here…right now!"

Timothy sighed and lowered his head. "Very well…I warned you."

He rose his sword to where it was now pointing at the leader. He then raised his head stared right into the man's eyes. "Tease…Moeru Kitsune…"

And so ends the first chapter of our story, and I shall leave you with this nice little cliff hanger, mwa ha ha ha!

Now, just to point it out, there will be some chapters that do not have fights, or any action scenes to them, but are entirely necessary for the story. Again, looking forward to any reviews, good or bad, that you wish to offer.

I have read quite a few fanfics before, and I noticed something that I wish I had done with my FMA stories, review replies. So, by all means, do feel free to drop a review as you see fit. It does not matter if it is good, or bad. I expect complements 'and' criticisms.

As for the replies, I do ask that you please reply to the chapter itself that the review is regarding. That way I will know where in the story you are talking about. I will read all of the reviews, and will answer the first five (by date and time) and post those replies on the header of the next chapter. If you are a guest and do not have an account with FanFiction, please include a name or something similar; that way I can include that name when I respond to your review.

Thanks for reading fellas, and I hope to see you next week.