WARNINGS: mild violence/death/mild language

Noboru (Climb)

Gina Keianna.

That was her name.

She was alone, silent as she watched Urahara making tea. He was quiet, too. She didn't think he was completly aware that she was watching. Then again, Kisuke Urahara knew everything, so she wouldn't put it past him.

She quietly walked into the room before sighing so he knew she was there. He glanced back and raised an eyebrow at her as she sat in a chair next to the window. She stared outside, daydreaming again.

Gina had always wanted to be the one thing no one would let her be.

A Shinigami.

Urahara had told her so many stories of when he was a Captain of the 12th Division of the 13 Guard Squads. She wanted to be just like him. And if she couldn't be a Captain, she would settle for Lieutenant or at least 3rd seat officer. He had let her practice with his Zanpaktou (which he didn't do very often) against Yoruichi and had told her that one day, when she was ready, she would be a great Soul Reaper.

She had asked if she could be one soon. Go to the Academy like all the rest of the Rukongai inhabitants, and then graduate to become a Soul Reaper. He had told her no, that she wasn't supposed to die until the right time came.

Gina was upset at first, but it's pretty much impossible to be made at Kisuke for long.

"What's wrong, Gina?" Urahara's head poked around Gina's shoulder, making her jump.

"Ah!" She fell out of the chair she was sitting in and onto the floor.

Urahara laughed as she laid there. "You're not very observant. If you want to be a good Soul Reaper, you're going to have to watch your surroundings."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Gina sighed.

She stood up and brushed herself off. "That was mean, Kisuke."

"I know, but sometimes, I just can't help myself." He smiled.

"Can we practice, Kisuke?" Gina pleaded suddenly. "Please?"

"Yoruichi is here right now, Gina." His face fell.

"Ugh." Gina groaned. "This sucks. Why can't I just die already?"

"Because we'd miss you if you were gone." Urahara patted her shoulder.

"Uh-huh." She grimaced. "You'd miss the way I clean all the time and that would be it."

"Yep." He grinned.

Gina rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Urahara."

"Aw, I was joking, Gina." He put an arm around her shoulder and looked out the window with her. "We love you like our own."

"Yeah, and I want a kitty as a mommy." Gina giggled. "You would be an awesome dad, though."

Urahara smiled. "Thanks, Gina. Now, you should go to bed. It's getting late."

"Okay, Kisuke." Gina gave Urahara a hug before walking up stairs.

She opened the door to the room she slept in alone. It was dark and she automatically slinked over to her mat in the center of the room. She pulled back the covers and slid under them.

Gina laid down and stared out the window again. The lights outside Urahara's Shop were bright but it didn't bother her sleep.

She thought about all the things she could do when and if she became a Soul Reaper. She would be great. She knew that. She had seen Urahara's eyes when she had fought with Yoruichi, they were impressed and quizzical. And she had overheard Yoruichi telling him that she had fought on the level of a 4th seat officer.

That had gotten her excited.

Not to mention her high spiritual pressure. And her ability to release Spiritual Energy from her hands.

Urahara had told her that her power was rare amoung humans and when she became a Shinigami it would only increase. She could take all Spiritual Energy from the air and concentrate and reproduce it in her her hands before throwing it at her enemy. Supposedly, that was impressive.

Gina sat up and walked over to the window, sitting in front of it and leaning on the window seal.

It was warm outside tonight. She liked the way the breeze brushed her silver hair back behind her.

Her hair was pretty long. It was silver and shiney, her best feature. Her eyes were an ice blue and made her soft lips look almost white against her skin. She was kind of short (way shorter than Yoruichi in her human form) and her skin was soft. Some people would say she was beautiful. She just thought she was Gina.

She reached over and picked up her old ecustic guitar and strumed random notes for a second. She played with the strings before strumming again. Gina softly began playing the lullaby her mother used to hum to her when she was little.

"Your eyes are the light of the sky, close them and night will fall. But I will protect you from the worlds lies, I will cut down them all. You are the promise that lies in my heart. You are the stars above. Shine just a little bit brighter now, and I will show you my love. I will show you my love..."

Gina put her guitar down and wiped away those damned tears again. She missed her mom...

Suddenly, Gina froze. She glanced out the window and felt her heart grow cold.

Wait.She thought. That spiritual pressure...it's a Hollow.

Her head jerked to the park just down the street. A threatening cry could be heard.

She jumped out the window without a second thought.

She ran as fast as she could down the street, making a sharp right into the park. Her feet hit the grass quickly as she sprinted towards the huge boar-like Hollow without hestiation.

She could do this. She promised herself she would never give up. If this thing killed her, that would only be what she wanted.

She smiled and released a battle cry as she gathered spirit energy in her hands and released it at the Hollow. It cried out, but it barely phased it. She threw it over and over again, not stopping even when her muscles were sore.

"What the hell?" A voice said from behind her.

Gina made the mistake to look back and the Hollow swiped her towards a huge tree.

She knew him. His name was Ikkaku Madarame and he was the 3rd seat in the 11th Squad. And he was one hell of a fighter.

"Aren't you Urahara's girl?" Ikkaku said as he absentmindedly blocked the Hollows attack with his Zanpaktou.

"Um...no." Gina quickly stood while shaking her head. "You're in my way, Madarame."

"Looked like you were losing to me." He laughed.

"Ugh!" She threw an energy ball at him, hitting him square in the chest. "This is my job! If you screw this up for me, I'll kill you!"

"Calm down." He laughed. "Women are so touchy."

"Ikkaku!" She screamed as she jumped for him.

But he quickly got out of the way, without thinking about the Cero the Hollow was about to fire at him. And instead of hitting him, it hit her.

She screamed as it threw her back against the fence. She felt it ripping the life out of her and smiled. She was finally getting what she wanted.

She fell to the ground when Ikkaku easily killed the Hollow. He ran to her and looked her over, worried.

"She just...jumped in front of it." Ikkaku said.

She should've known that Urahara and Yoruichi were there. They always seemed to know where she was.

"Gina." Urahara leaned down and touched her cheek. "What have you done?"

"I...just wanted...to be...one of them." She choked out.

"You'll be a great Soul Reaper, Gina." Yoruichi told her.

She was in her human form now and pretty as ever.

"I love you guys." Gina said. "I'm so happy."

"We love you, too." Yoruichi hugged Gina before Urahara took her hand.

Gina stopped breathing then.

She slowly felt her soul rise out of her body, and she was suddenly standing, free of pain and full of energy.

"Wow." She smiled. "I'm dead!"

She did a little dance in a circle. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Ikkaku." Urahara said sadly. "Would you escort Gina to the Academy once you get back? It would be doing me a big favor."

Ikkaku shook his head. "No way."

"Ikkaku, you were the one who got her killed." Urahara informed him.

Ikkaku groaned. "Fine."

"Good." Yoruichi said.

"Yoruichi." Gina hugged her tightly. "I'll miss my favorite kitty."

"I'll miss you, too, silver." Yoruichi hugged back.

Then Gina turned to Urahara and tackled him to the ground in a huge hug.

"Ow." He laughed. "I'll miss you, kid."

"I'll miss you, too!" Gina hugged him tighter. "You're so funny! Hilarious! And sarcastic! And just plain awesome!"

"I know." He said. "But it's time for you to go now, Gina."

"Okay." She stood up and turned to Ikkaku. "I'm ready."

"Great." He said sarcastically. "This is gonna be fun."

Comments:

Urahara and Yoruichi: just so you know, this starts about 10 or so years before the main Bleach plot-line, which is why Gina is the only one there and Ururu and Jinta aren't.

Urahara letting her use his Zanpaktou: Yes, I know it's unlikely for Kisuke to let her use his Zanpaktou, but we can always pretend!

Yoruichi and Urahara like parents: well, we both know Yoruichi and Kisuke were probably made for each other, so let's just pretend they like pretending to be a mommy and daddy!

Ikkaku?: yeah, well, he's the only one that could come down at the moment and he's funny, so we went with him. this is also going to be refered to later on in the story!