Yo.
So here's the next chapter finally. It's mostly done, just needs a bit here and there for polish. Hope ya'll think it was worth the wait. The rest should be up relatively soon.
======++++++++=============++++++++++++===========++++++
Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot,
& Viz Media LLC.
Seikirei is created by Sakurako Gokurakuin and distributed by Young Gangan, Square
Enix, Seven Arcs & Funimation Entertainment
No permission has been obtained from any of the copyright holders for the use of the
characters and situations from this series. This work of fiction is not for profit and not
intended to infringe on copyrighted intellectual property in any significant or harmful
way.
Should they, or any of their affiliates, request it, this non-profit story will
be taken off line as quickly as possible.
Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I shall hunt you
down and skewer your nuts. You want to use them? Just ask me first as I'll probably say
yes.
Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies.
And The Root Beer. The sweet, nectar-of-the-gods root beer.
Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard.
...hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story.
=========
Rukia blinked, watching both Ichigo and the girl walk away from the station. She stood
watch over them from the top of a telephone pole across the street from the station in
question.
Watching the two, her mind whirled at what all of this meant, and if she wasn't careful
she'd slip. That would be all too easy at this point, as she still hadn't gotten over her
shock of Ichigo with a girl who wasn't from their little group.
Even stranger, was that she could tell that while Ichigo was scowling, it wasn't close to
his usual ones that normally graced his face.
She continued to watch as the two made their way, with the girl, Uzume if she recalled,
trying to latch onto his arm. A part of her twisted seeing that again, that it should be
Orihime with him coming to mind before she squashed it.
She found herself ready to hop off the pole to follow them when something else caught
her eye.
Down below her and wearing a sharp business-like attire a man almost too leisurely
walked down the street wearing sunglasses and was talking in a phone every so often.
Underneath one of his arms looked what appeared to binoculars. After a moment he took
hold of them and held it up to his eyes and with a start Rukia noticed that he was directing
them towards Ichigo and Uzume.
No longer thinking of following the two Rukia jumped towards the ground to observe her
new prey more closely.
=========
Ghostface211 presents...
In Association with Wheeljack...
A Bleach - Sekirei Crossover
Veiled Moon
Feather Two: Meet The Folks (UK house mix)
Comments, Constructive Criticism, and MST 3000's can go to ghostface211@gmail.com
=========
"Oh, wow", Uzume gushed in open mouthed awe. "So this is it?"
"Yeah, this is it", Ichigo muttered.
Showtime.
Both stood several feet away from the Kurosaki Clinic with Uzume all but skipping the
last few feet to stop and gaze at her ashikabi's home. Standing two stories the Kurosaki
home slash clinic as seen from sky was in a reverse 'L' shape pattern turned 90 degrees
with the clinic portion jutting outwards from the right side of the home toward the street
and sidewalk. The clinic portion had an extension that was only one story with the green
roof angling downward from near several feet above where the 2nd floor of the home portion
was. Above the glass double door entrance and equally sized window portion was the sign
of the Kurosaki Clinic for one and all to see, the sign outline and lettering in white imposed
over a light blue background.
His eyes darted to the clinic's insides, viewable from where they were at. Nobody at the
desk, but if he was lucky maybe they were helping a patient. Time to go around to the
home's front door.
"Uzume", he called, getting her attention. "This way".
With that, both walked past the clinic entrance and walked alongside it and passed the
mini parking lot to the home's entrance. Walking around the brick and iron fence he finally
reached the door and he paused to look back and saw Uzume practically bouncing in
place, and supremely thankful that she was wearing a bra this time. Sighing he narrowed
his eyes and braced himself with Uzume behind him and reached for the doorknob and
paused.
With that the door flew open and Ichigo took a quick hop back, bracing himself with an
arm out, ready to grab Uzume if he needed-
He blinked.
His father stood halfway out the door, his hand still on the doorknob. No, that in itself
wasn't unusual...scratch that, it was since he wasn't flying out to him but what was really
unusual was that he was wearing a burgundy colored robe and a pipe in his other hand.
Seeing the two his eyes widened in pleasant surprise.
"Ichigo", Isshin bellowed happily, marching forward with open arms and grasping his all
too stiff boy in a hug.
"What", Ichigo deadpanned.
Isshin then let go of Ichigo and turned to the girl, looking on a bit bewildered. "And
guest!", he said, moving and walking toward her. "Welcome, welcome! I'm this boy's
father, Isshin Kurosaki", he introduced, giving a short bow.
"Good afternoon, sir." Uzume bowed slightly in greeting. Clutching her hands, she gave
Isshin a sunny smile. "I'm Uzume! Ichigo's girlfriend!"
The former shinigami turned and gave his Sekirei a flat look, who simply shrugged in
response. Isshin seemed to miss the exchange as he returned Uzume's smile, "Ah! So
this is your lady friend my son?"
"Uh... yeah, you could say that." Ichigo cautiously agreed, eying his father carefully.
Isshin laughed heartily as he patted Ichigo on his shoulder, "No need to be embarrassed
Ichigo! After all, it's not every day a man brings home a potential new family member!"
He turned to Uzume and pulled her close, giving the Sekirei a quick squeeze. "Sorry for
my boy. He's quite the shy one."
Uzume shook her head and smiled as she returned the embrace, "Don't worry about it.
I'm working on it."
"Ha, that's what I like to hear," Isshin replied as he broke the hug. He put his hand on
her shoulder, gesturing towards the open door. "Please, please come in. Everyone's
waiting."
With that Ichigo stared open mouthed at the man masquerading as his father introducing
himself like a normal human being instead of the man-child that raised him.
'It has to be a mod soul, per- Wait, everyone!?'
Turning to the doorway stood his sisters... and his comrades behind them.
'Shit'.
With that he did the best thing he could think of.
"Yo", he said raising his arm in greeting.
No one said anything.
'Shit...'
"Come boy!", he heard his father cry as he slammed a hand into his back and practically
shoved him forward toward the front door, stumbling all the way.
As Ichigo regained his balance at the front door he turned to sneer at his father before
being grabbed and pulled from behind into the home. With that his father turned to her.
With a gentlemanly bow with a hand to his chest he motioned to the door.
Eyes flickering back and forth, she then followed her ashikabi into his home, taking note
of the others there.
Her face took on a puzzled look at catching the expressions of two girls before they
turned to go further into the home. One wore a look that looked...lost. The other stared
at her with hard stare, measuring her.
"Huh", she breathed as she entered the home.
=========
Meanwhile...
"They're turning on the last street. Reports say this is the one where he lives at", Rukia
heard the man say.
Standing and keeping a distance of a block away from the couple Rukia continued to
watch the tall man as he spoke into his phone. The entire walk to this point was also
simply staying away from the same distance as he continued to report to whomever his
superiors were.
"What time will you be there, I want to catch up and sit for a bit", he grumbled. After a
moment he got his reply and answered, "Dammit, will you hurry up! Do you know how
long I've been tailing them on foot?"
"..."
"I don't give a damn how bad traffic's been, you get to sit down and its cold over here!"
"..."
"Yes it is, you're in a damn temp controlled van! Che! Whatever, just be here, he should
be arriving any moment. We need to set up shop to see if he spills anything".
Rukia raised an eyebrow at that. It had been all too easy to see what he was up to, but
the fact that he was trailing a friend of hers had more than irked her, her aura chilling the
area close by that the goon had been rubbing his arms most of the way up to this point.
This new wrinkle was the nail in the coffin that had her deciding to act.
As much as she could, at least.
"What th'?!", the goon muttered as he stumbled a bit, hopping on a foot. Turning back,
he saw his upturned shoe behind him. "How th' hell...?"
"Dammit all, what the hell is this?", he grumbled as he grabbed the shoe. The shoelaces
had all been cut, almost as if they had split apart at not being able to contain their contents.
Standing he moved around paying attention to his other shoe, feeling it out.
No, it doesn't feel tight or anything, and he couldn't remember anything to suggest there
had been a problem with the other shoe.
"Just my luck", he grumbled as he slipped the open shoe back on, mindful to walk slower
lest it fall off.
"Hm", Rukia tsked as she walked behind him, Sode no Shirayuki resting on her shoulders.
As the goon bent over to slip the shoe on she flicked her sword arm.
"DAMMIT!" he cried as his pants fell.
=========
Back at Ground Zero...
Ichigo's eye twitched as Uzume was seemingly everywhere. From the living room walls
to every picture to the kitchen she was moving about, her eyes taking in what she could,
imagining every bit of history that may have happened. Hands touched walls and
caressed chairs and pictures. All this with a smile that would have powered the whole
house and clinic if she could plug into the wall. While he had expected this he hadn't
expected that his friends would be there and this soon. Trying not peek at the corner of his
eye at them he could pretty much feel Tatsuki's aura growing by the moment.
Well not really.
But if he could he would. And Tatsuki knew that he would. And he knew that she knew
that he would if he could.
"Uzume", he then said aloud, capturing her attention immediately.
"Yes, Ichigo", she quickly responded, hopping over to him.
He resisted the overwhelming urge to close his eyes as she grabbed his right hand in
hers as she stood beside him. Thankfully she didn't rest her head on his shoulders like
he had expected her to.
Finally turning to his friends and family he looked at them and gauged their reactions.
His father was grinning like an idiot. Nothing surprising there.
Karin had a raised eyebrow and Yuzu was strangely... neutral.
He turned to see Uryu and Chad, and in doing so missed Yuzu's eye twitching.
Chad wore a neutral look and Uryu seemed to be almost... studying her he guessed.
Having fought with them long enough he knew they would be curious, and knew that Uryu
had probably thought of several scenarios as to what the hell was happening.
Tatsuki was...
Forget that, he knew he was a dead man. One glance was all it took to see 'that' look on
her face and the vein at her forehead. At this point it probably was good that Uzume had
her powers after all. It'd give them a running start. Good thing she couldn't use shunpo or
hirenkyaku. Or at least he thought she didn't.
And Inoue?
He glanced at her and paused.
She was standing and gazing at him and Uzume. The look she was giving him though...
It reminded him a little bit of when he had left Uzume that first time, after he spent his first
night at Maison Izumo several months ago. Her face was slightly tilted, her bangs brushed
to the side with a few just over her eyes and her mouth open slightly.
Catching him looking at her she blinked and smiled at him, but even he could see that it
wasn't close to her normal cheery ones.
With that something else in his stomach knotted.
"Now son", his father said, clasping his unused shoulder and still grinning like an idiot.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?"
With those words Uzume let go of Ichigo and stepped up to the people who had gathered
and bowed to them.
"Everyone", Ichigo said, glaring at his old man and giving in to the inevitable, "this is Uzume".
"Its so very wonderful to meet all of you", she said rising, her smile even more radiant.
He gulped as Tatsuki's twitching eye became even more pronounced.
"It's...it's nice to meet you", Orihime said, stepping forward.
"I've wanted to meet Ichigo's friends and family for so long, but Ichigo said it wasn't a
good idea. Seeing you all now I wonder why he said that?"
With that Ichigo looked at the ceiling, unbelieving that she mouthed that out loud.
"Yeah, I wonder why", Tatsuki said, the heat evident in her tight reply.
Uzume looked at her blinking in confusion.
'Fuck me', Ichigo internally lamented.
"Hey", he said aloud, getting their attention. Best nip this as best he could now. "I have
some stuff I wanna go over with you. Let's take it up to my room", he finished motioning
up the stairs with his head.
"We're going to your room?" Uzume said a bit too excitedly.
'We are, you aren't', he thought. 'Better to separate everyone now while we still have
a home'.
"Uzume, uh, if you don't mind, I need to talk with them privately for a bit. Dad and Yuzu
and Karin can show you around. "My sisters", he added, realizing that he wasn't going
to be able to introduce them proper before everything spiraled out of control.
"But"?
"Look, I just want to bring them up to speed. Alone. Trust me, its ok."
"Ichigo?" she questioned, concerned at how he was acting. He was home, his family was
around and from what he said before they left was that they wanted to meet her. So why
was he acting so strangely now that everyone was here?
"Uzume-chan, was it", she heard his dad say as he came up to her.
"Uh, yes", she responded, her thoughts momentarily broken.
"Come on over, trust me what I have is much, much more fun than what my hapless boy
has to say".
"Um, thank you but-"
"I have pictures", he said, stopping her immediately as her eyes brightened. Ichigo's own
eye twitched, knowing his dad was taking advantage to the situation, but before he could
say a word his body was brought forward by someone grabbing his collar.
"Yeah, let us talk", Tatsuki growled out as she then hauled him to the stairs, him
protesting all the way.
"Tatsuki-chan", Orihime called out, following them to get Tatsuki to let go of Ichigo. Uryu
nodded to Uzume before he turned and silently followed them and Chad bowed at Uzume
before turning to follow himself.
"Hey!" Uzume called out with an arm outstretched, not liking seeing her ashikabi
manhandled.
She stopped her forward momentum as Isshin took a hold of her closest wrist gently
and tugged.
"They'll be fine", he assured her. "Besides, the best stuff is over here anyway", he happily
supplied as she found herself going along, giving a concerned glance at the direction she
last saw her ashikabi in.
=========
Outside...
"The hell happened to you man?"
The nameless goon eyed his partner disdainfully as he entered the back of the van, his
outfit ripped to shreds. The only thing still in pristine form on him were his pair of boxer
shorts and black socks. "I dunno, but there's something freaky about this place."
"If you say so man," his partner shrugged as he eyed his companion oddly. "Aren't
you cold?"
"The fuck do you think?!" he growled as he took his seat. "If I was superstitious, I'd think
I pissed off some ghost or something."
The very same ghost he had pissed off, Rukia trailed in behind him. Her arms crossed
in front of her as the van's door closed. His partner snorted and looked away from him,
"Whatever man. Did you at least get the bugs planted before your wardrobe malfunction?"
"No such luck," he grunted. "I was barely able to hold onto my dignity after you called."
"Do you at least have them on you?!"
"I dunno!" he shouted. "In case you hadn't noticed, I was having problems!!"
"Screw your problems!" his partner shouted back. "You know how much shit we're
gonna be in if we don't report what that Kurosaki kid's doing so far from the capital?
What we should be doing is storming his place and taking care of any loose ends!"
'Loose ends huh?' Rukia thought. She frowned as she fell through the van's floor, "We'll
see about that.'
"You know you can't do that without top brass approval," his partner countered.
"No shit flasher," he retorted as he picked up the transistor. "And that's just what I'm
gonna get now!" Bringing the device to his lips, he pressed the button to talk, "Kurokawa
to MBI HQ. Need a response, over." He paused as he got no response, not even a hint
of static. "HQ over." he repeated.
"Dude," his partner began to get his attention. "Look down."
"Huh?" he asked as he looked down...
And found the radio's wires cut and frayed. Sparking all the more irritably.
"The fuck happened?!?" he cried as he threw the transistor down to floor.
"Maybe this place is haunted..."
"And maybe we just got a shit wire job!" Kurokawa growled irritably as he reached into
his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "No need to panic..", he began as he flipped
his phone open.
And his mouth thinned into a tight line as the flip part of the phone fell to the ground.
"GODDAMMIT ALL!"
Rukia smirked as she hovered over angry men. Oh this was gonna be so much fun.
=========
Back at the fort...
Tatsuki had indeed let him go. After all, it was only a small reprieve before they reached
their destination and she gutted him for real. Fixing his shirt as she let go he walked up
to his room to open the door and allowed the others to enter first.
As Chad being the last walked in he followed and closed the door behind him.
"Alright, now wh-urk!", Ichigo choked out as two hands gripped his collar tight enough to
cut the flow of air to his lungs and was unceremoniously shoved against the wall next to
his door.
"Arisawa!", Uryu cried out.
"You son of a bitch", Tatsuki growled out menacingly before she found several arms grab
hers and felt Chad's massive arms curl under her shoulders and lifted her away to hold
her firm in his grasp.
"Let..me...go!", she yelled out, or tried to as Uryu palmed her mouth, shutting her up as
glared at him. He glared back at her.
"Kurosaki-kun", Orihime had called out, now instantly at Ichigo's side as he sat on the
floor with the wall propping him up. He was gasping for breath as his head was turned
towards Tatsuki, who was still struggling in Chad's grasp, but he knew that as tough as
she was she wasn't going to break Chad's hold. Uryu still had a hand over her mouth as
her eyes bored into Ichigo's own.
He wiped his mouth with his wrist and again straightened out his shirt and rubbed his
neck. Thanking Orihime he stood up and Tatsuki's struggles lessened as she in turn
continued to glare at him.
"You just can't wait to hear what I have to say", he growled at her.
She twisted her head, and Uryu let go and she took a quick gasp of air. "You coward!"
she spat at him. "You don't even have the balls to say anything and you have the
goddamn nerve to tell *us* to wait!"
"You don't know anything of what's happened", he barked back at her.
"Oh, I know what's happened", she growled. "Your balls finally dropped and you found
yourself a pretty girl to go live with but didn't have enough to tell us on your own!"
"Tatsuki-chan!", Orihime cried.
"Orihime", Tatsuki said, looking at her.
"Ku-Kurosaki-kun must have had a good reason", she said, her voice wavering. She
turned to look at him. "Right?", she questioned, voice cracking and eyes holding as
much faith as they could with the circumstances involved.
"If there are any, I'd like to hear it now as well", Uryu said, standing a foot away from
Tatsuki and Chad.
"I want to know as well, Ichigo", Chad responded too, his own normally passive face
calling for answers.
Ichigo turned to look at all of the and turned back to Orihime, noticing her mouth quivering
a bit as she gazed at him hopefully.
He sighed and walked to his bed and plopped down upon it, the sprains in the mattress
squeaking in response, too long used to more force being used upon it. He gazed was
fixed at some point on the floor as he began to speak.
"What I have to say is for your ears only. I don't want my sisters to know anything", he
said, though none of them save Uryu noticed he didn't include his father. "And yes, I've
been threatened", he told them as he lifted his head to them.
With that, all of their attention was focused and Tatsuki's glare abated slightly, curious
now as she heard this bit of news. With that Chad finally let her go and she stepped
forward. "Start talking", she demanded.
=========
So here's the next chapter finally. It's mostly done, just needs a bit here and there for polish. Hope ya'll think it was worth the wait. The rest should be up relatively soon.
======++++++++=============++++++++++++===========++++++
Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot,
& Viz Media LLC.
Seikirei is created by Sakurako Gokurakuin and distributed by Young Gangan, Square
Enix, Seven Arcs & Funimation Entertainment
No permission has been obtained from any of the copyright holders for the use of the
characters and situations from this series. This work of fiction is not for profit and not
intended to infringe on copyrighted intellectual property in any significant or harmful
way.
Should they, or any of their affiliates, request it, this non-profit story will
be taken off line as quickly as possible.
Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I shall hunt you
down and skewer your nuts. You want to use them? Just ask me first as I'll probably say
yes.
Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies.
And The Root Beer. The sweet, nectar-of-the-gods root beer.
Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard.
...hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story.
=========
Rukia blinked, watching both Ichigo and the girl walk away from the station. She stood
watch over them from the top of a telephone pole across the street from the station in
question.
Watching the two, her mind whirled at what all of this meant, and if she wasn't careful
she'd slip. That would be all too easy at this point, as she still hadn't gotten over her
shock of Ichigo with a girl who wasn't from their little group.
Even stranger, was that she could tell that while Ichigo was scowling, it wasn't close to
his usual ones that normally graced his face.
She continued to watch as the two made their way, with the girl, Uzume if she recalled,
trying to latch onto his arm. A part of her twisted seeing that again, that it should be
Orihime with him coming to mind before she squashed it.
She found herself ready to hop off the pole to follow them when something else caught
her eye.
Down below her and wearing a sharp business-like attire a man almost too leisurely
walked down the street wearing sunglasses and was talking in a phone every so often.
Underneath one of his arms looked what appeared to binoculars. After a moment he took
hold of them and held it up to his eyes and with a start Rukia noticed that he was directing
them towards Ichigo and Uzume.
No longer thinking of following the two Rukia jumped towards the ground to observe her
new prey more closely.
=========
Ghostface211 presents...
In Association with Wheeljack...
A Bleach - Sekirei Crossover
Veiled Moon
Feather Two: Meet The Folks (UK house mix)
Comments, Constructive Criticism, and MST 3000's can go to ghostface211@gmail.com
=========
"Oh, wow", Uzume gushed in open mouthed awe. "So this is it?"
"Yeah, this is it", Ichigo muttered.
Showtime.
Both stood several feet away from the Kurosaki Clinic with Uzume all but skipping the
last few feet to stop and gaze at her ashikabi's home. Standing two stories the Kurosaki
home slash clinic as seen from sky was in a reverse 'L' shape pattern turned 90 degrees
with the clinic portion jutting outwards from the right side of the home toward the street
and sidewalk. The clinic portion had an extension that was only one story with the green
roof angling downward from near several feet above where the 2nd floor of the home portion
was. Above the glass double door entrance and equally sized window portion was the sign
of the Kurosaki Clinic for one and all to see, the sign outline and lettering in white imposed
over a light blue background.
His eyes darted to the clinic's insides, viewable from where they were at. Nobody at the
desk, but if he was lucky maybe they were helping a patient. Time to go around to the
home's front door.
"Uzume", he called, getting her attention. "This way".
With that, both walked past the clinic entrance and walked alongside it and passed the
mini parking lot to the home's entrance. Walking around the brick and iron fence he finally
reached the door and he paused to look back and saw Uzume practically bouncing in
place, and supremely thankful that she was wearing a bra this time. Sighing he narrowed
his eyes and braced himself with Uzume behind him and reached for the doorknob and
paused.
With that the door flew open and Ichigo took a quick hop back, bracing himself with an
arm out, ready to grab Uzume if he needed-
He blinked.
His father stood halfway out the door, his hand still on the doorknob. No, that in itself
wasn't unusual...scratch that, it was since he wasn't flying out to him but what was really
unusual was that he was wearing a burgundy colored robe and a pipe in his other hand.
Seeing the two his eyes widened in pleasant surprise.
"Ichigo", Isshin bellowed happily, marching forward with open arms and grasping his all
too stiff boy in a hug.
"What", Ichigo deadpanned.
Isshin then let go of Ichigo and turned to the girl, looking on a bit bewildered. "And
guest!", he said, moving and walking toward her. "Welcome, welcome! I'm this boy's
father, Isshin Kurosaki", he introduced, giving a short bow.
"Good afternoon, sir." Uzume bowed slightly in greeting. Clutching her hands, she gave
Isshin a sunny smile. "I'm Uzume! Ichigo's girlfriend!"
The former shinigami turned and gave his Sekirei a flat look, who simply shrugged in
response. Isshin seemed to miss the exchange as he returned Uzume's smile, "Ah! So
this is your lady friend my son?"
"Uh... yeah, you could say that." Ichigo cautiously agreed, eying his father carefully.
Isshin laughed heartily as he patted Ichigo on his shoulder, "No need to be embarrassed
Ichigo! After all, it's not every day a man brings home a potential new family member!"
He turned to Uzume and pulled her close, giving the Sekirei a quick squeeze. "Sorry for
my boy. He's quite the shy one."
Uzume shook her head and smiled as she returned the embrace, "Don't worry about it.
I'm working on it."
"Ha, that's what I like to hear," Isshin replied as he broke the hug. He put his hand on
her shoulder, gesturing towards the open door. "Please, please come in. Everyone's
waiting."
With that Ichigo stared open mouthed at the man masquerading as his father introducing
himself like a normal human being instead of the man-child that raised him.
'It has to be a mod soul, per- Wait, everyone!?'
Turning to the doorway stood his sisters... and his comrades behind them.
'Shit'.
With that he did the best thing he could think of.
"Yo", he said raising his arm in greeting.
No one said anything.
'Shit...'
"Come boy!", he heard his father cry as he slammed a hand into his back and practically
shoved him forward toward the front door, stumbling all the way.
As Ichigo regained his balance at the front door he turned to sneer at his father before
being grabbed and pulled from behind into the home. With that his father turned to her.
With a gentlemanly bow with a hand to his chest he motioned to the door.
Eyes flickering back and forth, she then followed her ashikabi into his home, taking note
of the others there.
Her face took on a puzzled look at catching the expressions of two girls before they
turned to go further into the home. One wore a look that looked...lost. The other stared
at her with hard stare, measuring her.
"Huh", she breathed as she entered the home.
=========
Meanwhile...
"They're turning on the last street. Reports say this is the one where he lives at", Rukia
heard the man say.
Standing and keeping a distance of a block away from the couple Rukia continued to
watch the tall man as he spoke into his phone. The entire walk to this point was also
simply staying away from the same distance as he continued to report to whomever his
superiors were.
"What time will you be there, I want to catch up and sit for a bit", he grumbled. After a
moment he got his reply and answered, "Dammit, will you hurry up! Do you know how
long I've been tailing them on foot?"
"..."
"I don't give a damn how bad traffic's been, you get to sit down and its cold over here!"
"..."
"Yes it is, you're in a damn temp controlled van! Che! Whatever, just be here, he should
be arriving any moment. We need to set up shop to see if he spills anything".
Rukia raised an eyebrow at that. It had been all too easy to see what he was up to, but
the fact that he was trailing a friend of hers had more than irked her, her aura chilling the
area close by that the goon had been rubbing his arms most of the way up to this point.
This new wrinkle was the nail in the coffin that had her deciding to act.
As much as she could, at least.
"What th'?!", the goon muttered as he stumbled a bit, hopping on a foot. Turning back,
he saw his upturned shoe behind him. "How th' hell...?"
"Dammit all, what the hell is this?", he grumbled as he grabbed the shoe. The shoelaces
had all been cut, almost as if they had split apart at not being able to contain their contents.
Standing he moved around paying attention to his other shoe, feeling it out.
No, it doesn't feel tight or anything, and he couldn't remember anything to suggest there
had been a problem with the other shoe.
"Just my luck", he grumbled as he slipped the open shoe back on, mindful to walk slower
lest it fall off.
"Hm", Rukia tsked as she walked behind him, Sode no Shirayuki resting on her shoulders.
As the goon bent over to slip the shoe on she flicked her sword arm.
"DAMMIT!" he cried as his pants fell.
=========
Back at Ground Zero...
Ichigo's eye twitched as Uzume was seemingly everywhere. From the living room walls
to every picture to the kitchen she was moving about, her eyes taking in what she could,
imagining every bit of history that may have happened. Hands touched walls and
caressed chairs and pictures. All this with a smile that would have powered the whole
house and clinic if she could plug into the wall. While he had expected this he hadn't
expected that his friends would be there and this soon. Trying not peek at the corner of his
eye at them he could pretty much feel Tatsuki's aura growing by the moment.
Well not really.
But if he could he would. And Tatsuki knew that he would. And he knew that she knew
that he would if he could.
"Uzume", he then said aloud, capturing her attention immediately.
"Yes, Ichigo", she quickly responded, hopping over to him.
He resisted the overwhelming urge to close his eyes as she grabbed his right hand in
hers as she stood beside him. Thankfully she didn't rest her head on his shoulders like
he had expected her to.
Finally turning to his friends and family he looked at them and gauged their reactions.
His father was grinning like an idiot. Nothing surprising there.
Karin had a raised eyebrow and Yuzu was strangely... neutral.
He turned to see Uryu and Chad, and in doing so missed Yuzu's eye twitching.
Chad wore a neutral look and Uryu seemed to be almost... studying her he guessed.
Having fought with them long enough he knew they would be curious, and knew that Uryu
had probably thought of several scenarios as to what the hell was happening.
Tatsuki was...
Forget that, he knew he was a dead man. One glance was all it took to see 'that' look on
her face and the vein at her forehead. At this point it probably was good that Uzume had
her powers after all. It'd give them a running start. Good thing she couldn't use shunpo or
hirenkyaku. Or at least he thought she didn't.
And Inoue?
He glanced at her and paused.
She was standing and gazing at him and Uzume. The look she was giving him though...
It reminded him a little bit of when he had left Uzume that first time, after he spent his first
night at Maison Izumo several months ago. Her face was slightly tilted, her bangs brushed
to the side with a few just over her eyes and her mouth open slightly.
Catching him looking at her she blinked and smiled at him, but even he could see that it
wasn't close to her normal cheery ones.
With that something else in his stomach knotted.
"Now son", his father said, clasping his unused shoulder and still grinning like an idiot.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?"
With those words Uzume let go of Ichigo and stepped up to the people who had gathered
and bowed to them.
"Everyone", Ichigo said, glaring at his old man and giving in to the inevitable, "this is Uzume".
"Its so very wonderful to meet all of you", she said rising, her smile even more radiant.
He gulped as Tatsuki's twitching eye became even more pronounced.
"It's...it's nice to meet you", Orihime said, stepping forward.
"I've wanted to meet Ichigo's friends and family for so long, but Ichigo said it wasn't a
good idea. Seeing you all now I wonder why he said that?"
With that Ichigo looked at the ceiling, unbelieving that she mouthed that out loud.
"Yeah, I wonder why", Tatsuki said, the heat evident in her tight reply.
Uzume looked at her blinking in confusion.
'Fuck me', Ichigo internally lamented.
"Hey", he said aloud, getting their attention. Best nip this as best he could now. "I have
some stuff I wanna go over with you. Let's take it up to my room", he finished motioning
up the stairs with his head.
"We're going to your room?" Uzume said a bit too excitedly.
'We are, you aren't', he thought. 'Better to separate everyone now while we still have
a home'.
"Uzume, uh, if you don't mind, I need to talk with them privately for a bit. Dad and Yuzu
and Karin can show you around. "My sisters", he added, realizing that he wasn't going
to be able to introduce them proper before everything spiraled out of control.
"But"?
"Look, I just want to bring them up to speed. Alone. Trust me, its ok."
"Ichigo?" she questioned, concerned at how he was acting. He was home, his family was
around and from what he said before they left was that they wanted to meet her. So why
was he acting so strangely now that everyone was here?
"Uzume-chan, was it", she heard his dad say as he came up to her.
"Uh, yes", she responded, her thoughts momentarily broken.
"Come on over, trust me what I have is much, much more fun than what my hapless boy
has to say".
"Um, thank you but-"
"I have pictures", he said, stopping her immediately as her eyes brightened. Ichigo's own
eye twitched, knowing his dad was taking advantage to the situation, but before he could
say a word his body was brought forward by someone grabbing his collar.
"Yeah, let us talk", Tatsuki growled out as she then hauled him to the stairs, him
protesting all the way.
"Tatsuki-chan", Orihime called out, following them to get Tatsuki to let go of Ichigo. Uryu
nodded to Uzume before he turned and silently followed them and Chad bowed at Uzume
before turning to follow himself.
"Hey!" Uzume called out with an arm outstretched, not liking seeing her ashikabi
manhandled.
She stopped her forward momentum as Isshin took a hold of her closest wrist gently
and tugged.
"They'll be fine", he assured her. "Besides, the best stuff is over here anyway", he happily
supplied as she found herself going along, giving a concerned glance at the direction she
last saw her ashikabi in.
=========
Outside...
"The hell happened to you man?"
The nameless goon eyed his partner disdainfully as he entered the back of the van, his
outfit ripped to shreds. The only thing still in pristine form on him were his pair of boxer
shorts and black socks. "I dunno, but there's something freaky about this place."
"If you say so man," his partner shrugged as he eyed his companion oddly. "Aren't
you cold?"
"The fuck do you think?!" he growled as he took his seat. "If I was superstitious, I'd think
I pissed off some ghost or something."
The very same ghost he had pissed off, Rukia trailed in behind him. Her arms crossed
in front of her as the van's door closed. His partner snorted and looked away from him,
"Whatever man. Did you at least get the bugs planted before your wardrobe malfunction?"
"No such luck," he grunted. "I was barely able to hold onto my dignity after you called."
"Do you at least have them on you?!"
"I dunno!" he shouted. "In case you hadn't noticed, I was having problems!!"
"Screw your problems!" his partner shouted back. "You know how much shit we're
gonna be in if we don't report what that Kurosaki kid's doing so far from the capital?
What we should be doing is storming his place and taking care of any loose ends!"
'Loose ends huh?' Rukia thought. She frowned as she fell through the van's floor, "We'll
see about that.'
"You know you can't do that without top brass approval," his partner countered.
"No shit flasher," he retorted as he picked up the transistor. "And that's just what I'm
gonna get now!" Bringing the device to his lips, he pressed the button to talk, "Kurokawa
to MBI HQ. Need a response, over." He paused as he got no response, not even a hint
of static. "HQ over." he repeated.
"Dude," his partner began to get his attention. "Look down."
"Huh?" he asked as he looked down...
And found the radio's wires cut and frayed. Sparking all the more irritably.
"The fuck happened?!?" he cried as he threw the transistor down to floor.
"Maybe this place is haunted..."
"And maybe we just got a shit wire job!" Kurokawa growled irritably as he reached into
his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "No need to panic..", he began as he flipped
his phone open.
And his mouth thinned into a tight line as the flip part of the phone fell to the ground.
"GODDAMMIT ALL!"
Rukia smirked as she hovered over angry men. Oh this was gonna be so much fun.
=========
Back at the fort...
Tatsuki had indeed let him go. After all, it was only a small reprieve before they reached
their destination and she gutted him for real. Fixing his shirt as she let go he walked up
to his room to open the door and allowed the others to enter first.
As Chad being the last walked in he followed and closed the door behind him.
"Alright, now wh-urk!", Ichigo choked out as two hands gripped his collar tight enough to
cut the flow of air to his lungs and was unceremoniously shoved against the wall next to
his door.
"Arisawa!", Uryu cried out.
"You son of a bitch", Tatsuki growled out menacingly before she found several arms grab
hers and felt Chad's massive arms curl under her shoulders and lifted her away to hold
her firm in his grasp.
"Let..me...go!", she yelled out, or tried to as Uryu palmed her mouth, shutting her up as
glared at him. He glared back at her.
"Kurosaki-kun", Orihime had called out, now instantly at Ichigo's side as he sat on the
floor with the wall propping him up. He was gasping for breath as his head was turned
towards Tatsuki, who was still struggling in Chad's grasp, but he knew that as tough as
she was she wasn't going to break Chad's hold. Uryu still had a hand over her mouth as
her eyes bored into Ichigo's own.
He wiped his mouth with his wrist and again straightened out his shirt and rubbed his
neck. Thanking Orihime he stood up and Tatsuki's struggles lessened as she in turn
continued to glare at him.
"You just can't wait to hear what I have to say", he growled at her.
She twisted her head, and Uryu let go and she took a quick gasp of air. "You coward!"
she spat at him. "You don't even have the balls to say anything and you have the
goddamn nerve to tell *us* to wait!"
"You don't know anything of what's happened", he barked back at her.
"Oh, I know what's happened", she growled. "Your balls finally dropped and you found
yourself a pretty girl to go live with but didn't have enough to tell us on your own!"
"Tatsuki-chan!", Orihime cried.
"Orihime", Tatsuki said, looking at her.
"Ku-Kurosaki-kun must have had a good reason", she said, her voice wavering. She
turned to look at him. "Right?", she questioned, voice cracking and eyes holding as
much faith as they could with the circumstances involved.
"If there are any, I'd like to hear it now as well", Uryu said, standing a foot away from
Tatsuki and Chad.
"I want to know as well, Ichigo", Chad responded too, his own normally passive face
calling for answers.
Ichigo turned to look at all of the and turned back to Orihime, noticing her mouth quivering
a bit as she gazed at him hopefully.
He sighed and walked to his bed and plopped down upon it, the sprains in the mattress
squeaking in response, too long used to more force being used upon it. He gazed was
fixed at some point on the floor as he began to speak.
"What I have to say is for your ears only. I don't want my sisters to know anything", he
said, though none of them save Uryu noticed he didn't include his father. "And yes, I've
been threatened", he told them as he lifted his head to them.
With that, all of their attention was focused and Tatsuki's glare abated slightly, curious
now as she heard this bit of news. With that Chad finally let her go and she stepped
forward. "Start talking", she demanded.
=========