I stood before a mirror hanging on the inside of the cupboard door. The glass surface rippled and my eyes flashed blue before everything settled back to normal.

"So we've come to an agreement?" 

The blue dragon grumbled a response incoherently.

"I said, have we come to an agreement?" I snarled, mouth twisted until my teeth were bared.

"Fine then," she snapped and the surface of the mirror rippled until the figure before me was not my own, but the blue dragon's form.

Her scales glimmered in the little light as she turned away, eyes unable to meet mine. Her aura shifted around her, turning blue in her anger. Not for the first time, I noticed how scary and how uncannily she resembled me. Body form, height, her facial features.

Her long blue hair and harsh electric blue eyes were the only differences.

I would say Hollow bone as well, but... I scratched at my left shoulder blade in discomfort. Smooth cool bone met my fingers. All the major wounds inflicted by her had turned to bone. Add that to the one still on my sternum from my fight against Kenpachi and that made five all up.

"Swear on your name and honour."

She gave a dry laugh, the corner of her mouth lifting up. "Hollows don't hold honour close to their hearts."

"Then swear on your powers." I wasn't budging until she did it. I couldn't have her running wild again and I definitely couldn't have her killing me when I least expected it.

Now it was her turn to snarl at me. But she did as I asked. "I swear upon my name, Chiya Faber, and my powers, that of the Great Dragon Queen, that I will not kill the Soul Reaper Kera Senbonsai and that I will aid her in her mission, both with my powers and my strength."

Chiya shuddered after her pledge, eyes dulled as if the words had drained her. "Happy?" she snapped.

"Quite," I responded in surprise. How did I hear her name?

"Because I let you. No, scratch that. If I had a goddamn choice, I wouldn't have even told you. Names are powerful things in our worlds. So don't go chanting it daily," she huffed, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Her spiritual pressure throbbed within me, begging to be released. I forced the twisted energy down again. "Got it. And what's this about you being the Great Dragon Queen?" I probed.

She huffed, aura flashing brilliantly. The mirror was now a beacon of dark blue light. When it cleared, she was gone.

"My secrets," she hissed crankily in my head and I felt her recede deeper in my mind, taking with her the growing spiritual pressure.

I sighed and flopped onto the bed, drained. That had taken a lot of energy. My fingers ran over the thin band of metal at my neck. Guess this thing was doing its job well enough. Urahara had fashioned a new collar, one to just mask my twisted spiritual energy and keep it down enough to not bring attention to myself. My fingers brushed against my neck, feeling the whole again.

Knock, knock!

"Just a second!" I hollered, jumping to my feet and back into my gigai. "Okay, you can come in now," I called as I straightened, adjusting to my gigai.

Yuzu poked her head in. "Kera, Karin should be out of the bathroom in a minute or so. I have your outfit out here by the way."

"Yuzu, you didn't have to buy me any new clothes," I groaned. "But thanks... cousin."

Her little face lit up as she opened the door wider to let me through. "It's so great you chose to transfer to Karakura for your final years of school!" She pounced on me, hugging me and walking down the hallway at the same time. I tried not to fall over. "I just wish your parents could have come for the festival."

She pouted and I laughed at her, poking her cheek. Yuzu, when not being the 'adult' of the house, reminded me so much of Yachiru that it hurt.

"I actually just got off the phone with my mum and dad and they're quite upset as well. But you know how working parents are," I lied.

We walked into the main room, just in time for a heated embroilment between Ichigo and his father, Isshin.

"I already told you no!" Ichigo shouted, twisting his father's arm back at an awkward angle. Isshin had rivers running down his cheeks as he moaned in pain.

"Ichigo, let your poor father go," I scolded him good heartily.

Ichigo then noticed his audience. "Oops," he said and released Isshin.

Yuzu began scolding Ichigo, then Karin appeared from the bathroom, towelling her hair. She started in on the conversation and soon, all of them were trying to talk over the other.

I stood in the corner, smiling. A lively family, this one, much like Squad 11. Only, less physical fights and less alcohol.

Kisuke's words echoed in my head. "Remember, Kera. The Kurosaki family, besides Ichigo, are going to think you're their cousin, so play your part well."

I'm not sure how he managed to manipulate their memories so much but I wasn't going to question him on that. I was, however, still waiting for an explanation on why I had to pretend to be their cousin and spend my last few days in the World of the Living at their place.

Although, considering I saw Jinta sighing heavily and hugging the fridge, I guess it was more so that Urahara couldn't afford my high metabolism. But that wasn't entirely my fault; blame my wacky spiritual energy and Hollow abilities.

"Why are you sighing?" Karin asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just thinking of how lively it is here compared to back at home where I have no siblings to interact with."

"Can we trade then? We'll have your father and you can have ours," Karin joked.

Well, I hoped she was joking.

"Here you go, Kera." Yuzu handed me a plastic bag and I took a peek inside. "I left the shoes out for now; they're over by the door if you need them."

"Thank you," I replied, giving her a smile. "Ichigo, you better not leave without me," I warned as I stepped over Isshin's unconscious form and headed for the bathroom.

"Don't worry. Keigo would kill me if I didn't arrive with you in tow," he called after me.

I shut the door to the bathroom and relished in the silence. I unwrapped the clothes from the plastic and added them to the pile of clothes I had placed in her early on a little shelf. Then I undressed and stood under the shower head, face upturned as I blasted the water.

Several minutes later, with washed hair and clean skin, I stepped out and dried myself off. Then I saw myself in the mirror.

How I had changed. A gigai is made specifically for a soul reaper, so I know what I saw standing before me was what I looked like in my soul reaper form. My face was more gaunt than usual, narrower too. My body was more muscled now from my recent training sessions with Urahara and I swear I had grown taller. Is that even possible? I shook my head, wet hair flopping around.

My eyes peered back at me through the strands. They didn't have the same spark they did back when I first started my soul reaper adventure.

I was hit then with the enormity of this mission. Everything had been so cut and dry back then, back in a past I wasn't even sure I had. My future was a jumbled mess ahead of me and I had no idea what would happen. Would I die in the soul society? Would I be welcomed back? Would we save Rukia?

Would Yachiru forgive me for what I did? And what about Kenpachi. My heart gave a painful tug. No, he would never forgive me. He didn't seem like the forgiving type. If it had been anyone else on Squad 11, maybe just maybe he would forgive me. But not when it concerned Yachiru. You'd have to be blind to not see the bond those two shared.

Tears drenched my cheeks. I had not even realised I had been crying. I wiped away at them angrily and glared at my reflection.

"I won't be weak anymore," I stated loudly then turned away to get dressed.

I only looked at my reflection to tie my hair up into a high ponytail and to admire the dress. It was a simple cocktail dress in a dark green colour, about mid thigh length. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help feeling great in it; dresses were never my style but I made an exception for this one.

"Oi, hurry up! The others won't wait lon..g.." I wrenched open the door to see Ichigo. He blinked when he saw what I was wearing.

"Make a comment and I gut you," I threatened.

He straightened and turned away, cheeks tinted pink. "I was just going to say you looked nice."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"Come on, let's go." I followed him down the hallway.

That is, until I got a peek of his room. And the strange little toy on his bed. Ichigo was already at the end of the corridor when I slipped inside and headed towards the bed.

A plushie? Oh my. If the others found out that Ichigo had a stuffed lion, he'd never hear the end of it. I leant over and lifted a paw. Maybe I should tell them, just to see Ichigo's face. I pulled an ear.

"Hey, watch what you're pulling!" it said.

It. The plushie. The stuffed lion spoke. I released it and stepped back, surprised. How was the toy talking?

"Well, hello. Aren't you a cutie?" it said. "But you're a bit on the small side," he added and pointed to my chest area. I picked him up by the tail and spun him.

"Say something else, I dare you, you freak!" I snarled as it screamed.

"Oh, I see you met Kon," Ichigo said from the doorway. I flung the stuffed lion at him and he caught it by the face. Kon started blubbering to Ichigo about me. "Shut it, you piece of stuffing!"

"What is that?"

"A Mod soul."

"Huh?"

Ichigo gave me a look then sighed. "Sometimes, you are a bit clueless."

"Hey! If it doesn't concern me, then I don't need to know about it," I said in my defence, crossing my arms.

"In short, it's a soul you put in your gigai or body when a soul reaper leaves it," Ichigo said quickly. "Ask Kisuke about it next time, we don't have time to discuss all of it. The others are waiting."

"Let's go then."

Ichigo threw Kon unceremoniously on the bed, where he lay crying. We exited the room.

What a stupid, perverted creature. They aren't that small, are they?

A/N: for those who wish to know, the five points where the Hollow bones have formed are: stomach, sternum, left shoulder blade, side of neck on right and thigh. 

Comments and votes highly appreciated!!