Bleach Veiled Moon Chapter 4 WIP

Ghostface

Lazy Bastard...
#1
Sup folks?

So, it's been a while since I posted anything of worth here I thought I give you guys a tease to see what we've been up to on this chapter. As it stands the chapter is about... 35% complete. It's a slow grind atm, but it is getting worked on.

Any-poo in this chapter, we meet some new Sekirei and this teaser is basically to gauge how you folks like them. They'll be fairly important going forward so please don't hold back. Also, be warned that this is a rough draft scene.

Enjoy.

====================================

Teito...

"Ahhhhhhhh! That was so dang good~!" Ikki let out a satisfied moan as she patted her belly in contentment.

Across from her, Nanami sighed at her sister's display. "Was it so good that you have to act like a starving pig? C'mon Ikki-chan, this is a nice place, can you act like you've been to nice places for once?"

"Oh don't be silly, Nanami-chan." Ikki sighed as she waived off her sister's compaints. "This is the greatest compliment I can give! They should be paying us for the rub I'm giving them, y'know."

Nanami groaned, rubbing her forehead slightly at her elder sister's display. "It's way to early for this."

"Oh live a little, why don't you?" Ikki responded. "Besides, we got to plan for today's ashikabi hunt."

"Whatever," Nanami replied, eager to get to this topic. "You do realize we're in the part of Teito with those damn twins right?"

"Yeah, duh. That's the point of this little meeting." Ikki smiled confidently as she made a fist, punching it into her open palm. "It's time to plot how to crush those damn busybodies."

Nanami frowned, "Don't you mean avoid them?"

Ikki blinked and looked at her sister in confusion, "Avoid them? Why would we do that? We'd have to deal with them eventually. Might as well do it now, right?"

Nanami considered this for a moment. "While that is... one way to look at it," she admitted hesitantly. "You fail to point out a major flaw in that reasoning."

"And that would be...?"

Nanami sighed again, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Oh I don't know. Maybe the fact that we're to weak to go against such high numbered opponents right now? Or how about the fact that we just went from a trio to a duo?"

Ikki shuddered at the last sentance, cleared her throat before she grumbled a response. "Please don't remind me about that one. That was the closest we've come so far and Narashino had the nerve to betray our pact just to be selfish! Oooooh, that one still pisses me off so much!"

"Ditto," Nanami said, shaking her head at the reccent betrayl. "That's why we gotta be super careful in how we deal with the game until we find our ashikabi. It's just the two of us now y'know."

"I know Nanami-chan, I know." Ikki replied, folding her arms and nodding. "Just leave it up to your bis sister! No matter what happens we'll get through this game together! And we'll stomp those BDSM twins flat just you watch! They'll be a warning to anyone who wants to get in the way of our dreams!"

Nanami smiled, "I know you will Ikki-chan." she said approvingly. "It's a very... you thing to say."

She grinned foolishly. "It is isn't it?"

"But we're still hiding from thse twins until we find our ashikabi."

Ikki pouted, "And that's a very you thing to say as well."

Nanami laughed. "It is isn't it? So let's run with it eh?"

"Fine," Ikki sighed out. "As the big sister, I'll humor you this one time but that's it. If we run into them though, just leave the fighting to me."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Nanami said with a wink. "I'd probably try to take 'em out for you."

"As if I'd let you," Ikki said with a responding grin. It was at this point their wiatress came and handed the bill to Ikki. The sekirei nodded her thanks to their server before she left. Ikki took a quick look at the bill before patting herself down, pausing slightly as she felt herself come up with empty pockets. She stiffened slightly as she looked at the bill again, sweat slowly dripping from her brow.

Nanami looked up and noticed her sister's expression ôIs something wrong?ö she asked, concern in her voice.

"No Nanami-chan," Ikki responded in a monotone voice. "Nothing's wrong at all."

Nanami frowned, "Then why are you sweating Ikki-chan?"

"Becasue it's hot in here," she replied. Tearing her eyes away from the bill, Ikki's eyes twinkled as a plan was obviously froming in her head. "Say Nanami-chan... why don't we get some traning in?"

Nanami blinked, "Traning?"

"Yes, traning!" Ikki cried as she suddenly stood up from her seat. "The best way to be sure we can take tose evil twins down should we stumble across them is to train, train, train like our lives depend on it! Becasue they do and I refuse to let us die on my watch! You get me?"

"Yes yes, I get you!" Nanami replied, taken aback slightly at her sister sekirei's attitude.

"Super!" Ikki responded. "Now the first thing we gonna do is get a jog in! Ok?!"

"OK!!"

"Great!" Ikki replied, clasping Nanami's wrist. "So let's get started! Like right now! "

"W-woah woah! Aren't you gonna pay for our food first?!"

"Can't pay! Traning!"

ôYouÆre...ö Nanami frowned, "Are you about to make us dine and dashers?"

"Life saving traning!"

"Did you leave our MBI cards at the hotel AGAIN?!"

"Life or death traning!"

"If you stay here I can explain our situation to the manager and get our cards to pay for it!"

"Won't belive you! Let's Train!"

"So you did forget our cards again!"

"Less talk, more running!" Ikki responded as she pulled on Nanami's wrist and dragged her away from the restraunt towards the exit.

"HEY! HEY! Stop those dashers!" Cried their server, preparing to give chase. "I am NOT working a double shift for this shit to go down on my watch!"

"I don't wanna be a criminal, stupid Ikki-chan!" Nanami cried out.

"Don't complain, this'll save your life one day!" Ikki responded. "It's all for traning!"

"I dun wanna criminal record!" Nanami cried.

"GET BACK HERE THEIVES!"

And so began another ordinary day in Teito.

====================================
 

Muramasa

Well-Known Member
#2
"I know Nanami-chan, I know." Ikki replied, folding her arms and nodding. "Just leave it up to your bis sister! No matter what happens we'll get through this game together! And we'll stomp those BDSM twins flat just you watch! They'll be a warning to anyone who wants to get in the way of our dreams!"
big

"As if I'd let you," Ikki said with a responding grin. It was at this point their wiatress came and handed the bill to Ikki. The sekirei nodded her thanks to their server before she left. Ikki took a quick look at the bill before patting herself down, pausing slightly as she felt herself come up with empty pockets. She stiffened slightly as she looked at the bill again, sweat slowly dripping from her brow.
waitress

Nanami blinked, "Traning?"

"Yes, traning!" Ikki cried as she suddenly stood up from her seat. "The best way to be sure we can take tose evil twins down should we stumble across them is to train, train, train like our lives depend on it! Becasue they do and I refuse to let us die on my watch! You get me?"

"Yes yes, I get you!" Nanami replied, taken aback slightly at her sister sekirei's attitude.

"Super!" Ikki responded. "Now the first thing we gonna do is get a jog in! Ok?!"

"OK!!"

"Great!" Ikki replied, clasping Nanami's wrist. "So let's get started! Like right now! "

"W-woah woah! Aren't you gonna pay for our food first?!"

"Can't pay! Traning!"

ôYouÆre...ö Nanami frowned, "Are you about to make us dine and dashers?"

"Life saving traning!"

"Did you leave our MBI cards at the hotel AGAIN?!"

"Life or death traning!"

"If you stay here I can explain our situation to the manager and get our cards to pay for it!"

"Won't belive you! Let's Train!"

"So you did forget our cards again!"

"Less talk, more running!" Ikki responded as she pulled on Nanami's wrist and dragged her away from the restraunt towards the exit.

"HEY! HEY! Stop those dashers!" Cried their server, preparing to give chase. "I am NOT working a double shift for this shit to go down on my watch!"

"I don't wanna be a criminal, stupid Ikki-chan!" Nanami cried out.

"Don't complain, this'll save your life one day!" Ikki responded. "It's all for traning!"
multiple typos

edit: or was the traning/training thing intentional?



Overall Ikki and Nanami seem a bit interesting. I'd need more material to make a better judgement though.
 
#3
Asking just to be sure the Sekirei in this chapter are <a href='http://sekirei.wikia.com/wiki/Nanami' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Nanami, Sekirei 78</a> and <a href='http://sekirei.wikia.com/wiki/Ikki' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Ikki, Sekirei 19</a> right?
 

Wheeljack

Well-Known Member
#5
Chaotic Symbolism said:
Asking just to be sure the Sekirei in this chapter are <a href='http://sekirei.wikia.com/wiki/Nanami' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Nanami, Sekirei 78</a> and <a href='http://sekirei.wikia.com/wiki/Ikki' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Ikki, Sekirei 19</a> right?
Yes.

Nearly all the Sekirei mentioned, outside of Maki from the last chapter, are seen or mentioned in canon or other media.
 

nick012000

Well-Known Member
#6
I'm still hoping Ichigo gets <a href='http://sekirei.wikia.com/wiki/Oriha' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Oriha</a> for reasons I hope are obvious. :p
 

zeebee1

Well-Known Member
#7
I doubt it's possible for people who aren't human to get a criminal record.
 

Coelacanth

Well-Known Member
#8
nick012000 said:
I'm still hoping Ichigo gets <a href='http://sekirei.wikia.com/wiki/Oriha' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Oriha</a> for reasons I hope are obvious. :p
I see what you did thar.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#9
Good teaser. The main things I'm looking forward to are the interactions between the new Sekirei and Uzume, and the Sekirei in general with Ichigo.

And of course, the reactions of Isshin when he realizes Ichigo has a harem. Probably depression at how thoroughly Ichigo proved his manliness.
 
#10
Yes, i've been waiting for an update, teaser or something. A good intro to the new Sekirei, can't wait to see what happens next.
 

nick012000

Well-Known Member
#11
zerohour said:
Good teaser. The main things I'm looking forward to are the interactions between the new Sekirei and Uzume, and the Sekirei in general with Ichigo.

And of course, the reactions of Isshin when he realizes Ichigo has a harem. Probably depression at how thoroughly Ichigo proved his manliness.
Or the reaction of Orihime, Rukia, and Neliel when they realize he's gotten a harem of aliens. :p
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#12
nick012000 said:
zerohour said:
Good teaser.? The main things I'm looking forward to are the interactions between the new Sekirei and Uzume, and the Sekirei in general with Ichigo.

And of course, the reactions of Isshin when he realizes Ichigo has a harem.? Probably depression at how thoroughly Ichigo proved his manliness.
Or the reaction of Orihime, Rukia, and Neliel when they realize he's gotten a harem of aliens. :p
Orihime will totally miss the issue and be concerned with Ichigo travelling across the universe to fight evil.

Have we seen Nel yet? I'm curious what's happened to her. Hopefully she's haunting Ichigo.
 

Seed00

Well-Known Member
#13
Who wants to bet the psychotic sekirei from the last chapter becomes Ichigo's sekirei?

I'm all up for Ichigo having a harem, but that just means that wathever progress he made with Uzume goes down the drain since he won't be able to have as much alone time with her as they used to. This puts him right back where he started with Uzume. Him hiding his feelings behind that scowl once again. Poor Uzume, and she made so much progress too.

The trouble with harem fics is trying to keep it balanced and giving each member her screentime with the male lead. With MIya being as strict as she is, not every member of Ichigo's harem may have the same closeness he has with Uzume.
 

zeebee1

Well-Known Member
#14
I think a new addition would be useful. Ichigo still has to come to terms just what bonds mean to a sekirei, and Uzume needs the competition to understand that those bonds aren't enough.
 

Wheeljack

Well-Known Member
#15
Just want to make a note before we put up the first part, regarding 'Nanami'. It would appear that 'Nanami' is not her name, but rather 'Nanaha'. When revisiting her scene in the anime I heard it being said as 'Nanaha'. Not finding anything on wiki or the Sekirei wiki I went to take a look at the japanese wiki.

<a href='http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/????_(??)' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/?&#124...28459;?)</a>

Sure enough, her name is listed as 'Nanaha'. ??(???)

And going back to the manga, where this mess began, it seems someone already updated it with the correct name.

As to Ikki and Nanaha, both were Sekirei that were all too breifly seen. For Ikki, extremely breif, one page in the manga and several seconds in the anime. For those who are unfamiliar with them, here are some pics of Ikki, from the anime (which look far better than the page she got in the manga, shame the same can't be said of Toyotama...:blue:).

Ikki, Number 19.



Nanaha, Number 78:

 

Ghostface

Lazy Bastard...
#16
To add, this chapter's about oh say... 90% complete. It would've been done sooner, but you know how RL can be I'm sure.

And now what all of oh say... 2 of you have been waiting for...

Happy Labor Day folks.

================================================================

Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump,
Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & 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 these 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. Please support the official release.

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.

=========

Fate can be a funny thing.

On a cool day in at the end of November two people with completely different destinies came together, and for better or worse, two destinies became one.

With that, a snowflake fell.

For her, fate decreed that at one otherwise mundane instant a change direction while being pursued, where in dozens and dozens of other worlds she continued forward, and was set upon a course with a cruel and lonely path.

For him, fate had already rolled the dice months before, changing the direction of one seeking power, thus leaving him to continue his life in a peaceful, yet strangely empty, existence. With this, other options were opened to him, leading him to make a decision to search for an apartment far from home.

That snowflake soon became a snowball that began to roll.

That meeting, however insignificant it may have seemed, set in course a motion of events that would affect those far removed from these two, some of those who in many other instances were on a sad and lonely end as well.

The snowball continues to roll on, and is now picking up steam...

=========
It was a tranquil sunset. It had been a calm day in early March and the sky was now turning gold as the sun began to set over the horizon. A surprisingly pleasant breeze wafted through the city as the work day began to dwindle towards a close. This in itself was not odd, except for the fact that there was an area of desolate buildings towering over a surprisingly quiet street. In fact one of these desolate buildings stood a good five or six stories tall and towered over all the others. And atop said building stood two figures that, if noticed by anyone below would have stopped any traffic dead in it's tracks.

Looking atop over the edge of the building stood a woman. She had her left leg rested atop the small wall that surrounded the roof and her left arm rested upon that knee as she leaned forward while her right had rested upon her right hip. Her clear blue eyes took in the wonderful scenery before her and a bright smile adorned her lips. The setting sun seemed to melt upon her olive colored skin, and her bluish purple hair tinted slightly in the sun's rays and softly wafted in the breeze. She wore a green chinese style shirt top with yellow highlights upon it, and white thigh high boots that had a large number nineteen imprinted upon her left thigh boot. Black gloves and tights that melted into the boots completed the woman's look, and by her side rested a pair of sheathed kodachi blades.

Sitting upon the rooftop edge beside her was another knockout of a woman, and while her face showed her irritation with the situation it could not take away her obvious beauty. Though from where she sat her back was against the sunset yet she had turned to watch, the wonderful sight just enough to slightly temper her irritation before closing her eyes. She was dressed in a rusty colored sailor fuku style skirt, and cream colored sleeveless turtleneck shirt with open cleavage that displayed impressive cleavage. Her arms were decorated with near shoulder length orange gloves that cuffed near the shoulders with a white color and her legs with thigh high dark brown socks and white calf length boots. Across her back and poking out from behind her long ash blonde hair was a weapon that looked somewhat like a spear was holstered by a wide brown belt that wrapped over her right shoulder and around the left side of her waist was held together by a metal ring that rested atop her breasts. Wrapped around her waist was the same type of belt as an accessory, a matching metal ring in front. Two strands of ash blonde hair stood out like antennas at the top of her head and also wafted in the breeze along with her bangs and the locks of hair that fell at the sides of her face.

The woman's eyes opened, and her brown eyes showed clear resignation and irritation as she spoke, "Ikki-chan... why are we here again?"

Ikki turned to her companion and the right hand atop her waist rose and clenched into fist in determination. "Was I not clear when I explained my plan, Nanaha-chan?"

Nanaha head fell and she sighed before standing up and facing her companion. "Humor me."

"Ok then," Ikki nodded as she turned back to the setting sun, "How long have we been out in Teito, Nanaha-chan?"

"About three months", her friend answered, folding her arms in front of her.

"And in those three months, how many times have we been attacked by those sekirei who are looking to thin out the competition?"

"Far too many times for my liking," Nanaha responded as she repressed a shudder.

"Exactically," Ikki responded. "So it's far past time we found our ashikabi, don't ya think?", she said, holding up a finger for emphasis.

"Agreed," Nanaha answered. "So what does us being on a roof have to do with us finding our Ashikabi?"

Ikki simply sighed, palmed her face with her still raised hand and shook her head, "Oh Nanaha-chan, is it not obvious? Setting up shop at such a high point would allow us to observe all the humans in this area and find out if our Ashikabi is amongst those who live here!"

Nanaha sighed as she walked up and patted Ikki on her head, "Ok then, answer me this. How long have we been up here?"

Ikki brought a finger to her lips thoughtfully, "Hmmm... about ten days give or take?"

"And how many people have we seen in those ten days?"

Ikki's face fell a pinch as she did the math very quickly, "Not many."

Nanaha's hand retreated from Ikki's head to her shoulder, pulling the girl close, "And how would we know that our Ashikabi would be down there being this high up?"

"Because we'd feel that burning sensation, silly!"

"But what if just seeing him is not enough?" Nanaha countered.

Ikki's face really fell after that. "Oh," she said quietly, twitting her fingers together. "I.. I never thought about it like that."

Nanaha sighed, "Look Ikki-chan. The only one who wants to find our Ashikabi more than you is me. All I'm saying is that it's probably time to scout out another location."

Ikki nodded and looked up at the other girl worriedly, "But Nanaha-chan... what if he's not there?"

"Then we move on and look for another location," Nanaha answered as she hugged the other girl's shoulder reassuringly. "Our Ashikabi is out there Ikki-chan. Just waiting for us to find them and give our love and devotion to them."

Ikki smiled a little at that. Her little sister always knew just what to say to make her feel better, "Yeah... yeah you're right Nanaha-chan."

Nanaha smiled as she kissed Ikki's forehead, "From our awakening until the end, we will be together forever my dear Ikki-neechan."

Ikki's smile grew all the more at those familiar words, "Always and forever my little sister Nanaha."

The two sekirei stood like that for a while before Nanaha broke their embrace, "Ok then, where's the next location Ikki-chan?"

Ikki pointed towards the setting sun, "That way."

Nanaha blinked, "That way? What's over there?"

Ikki grinned confidently as she picked up her weapons, "Our Ashikabi! C'mon Nanaha! Our beloved is waiting for us!"

"He- HEY! Wait-!" was all Nanaha got out before Ikki leapt from the rooftop and onto the streets below. Nanaha sighed as he heard a loud thud and looked over the edge. "Ikki-chan are you alright?", she called out, holding her open hands at the sides of her mouth to help her voice carry.

"No..." Ikki squeaked out pitifully. "I think I hurt myself a little bit..."

Nanaha groaned as she turned towards the stairwell. Though she couldn't really hear Ikki she just *knew* what she had said. "Oy.... that's why people use the stairs Ikki-chan", she softly said to herself.

And so the hunt continues.
=========
Ghostface211 presents...

In association with Wheeljack...

A Bleach - Sekirei Crossover

Veiled Moon

Feather Four: Murphy's Law

Comments, Constructive Criticism, and MST 3000's can go to ghostface211@gmail.com
=========

Karakura...

Ichigo scowled as he and Uzume passed another pedestrian who took the time to smile a little too happily at them. It was still morning, a half hour passed 10, and both he and Uzume were out to the town. As they had left his home, he realized that he had one more place to stop by before completely saying goodbye to Karakura. With Uzume ready to purchase souvenirs for her fellow residents there may not be enough to time to swing by the time they were ready to leave.

With his graduation and celebration now over with his father had reopened the clinic, and as expected with that opening was a rather large backup of people that had to reschedule for the day due to being closed yesterday along with the people who needed to see Dr Kurosaki today. Uzume had seemed oddly disappointed as she mentioned she had wanted to talk to his father, why he wasn't sure, but with Isshin busy since early morning and kindly shooing them aside when they did see him this was pretty much the next course of action to take.

What he didn't expect was the sheer number of people, boys, girls, couples, the elderly, to be smiling at him in such a manner as he and Uzume walked down the streets hand in hand. Had he the sense of mind to turn to his quasi-girlfriend he would've noticed the sunny smile plastered to her face that just seemed to invite people to look at and take heart at the innocent joy that the girl radiated. For him it was a matter of self conciousness and ego as he continued to plow along, his scowl growing more as the streets went by.

"Ichigo."

The former shinigami thoughts were interrupted as he turned to look at his sekirei, "Yeah?" he grumbled.

"You're scowling again," Uzume sighed. "Stop it."

"I would if I knew what the hell is up with people today", he grumbled as they came up to another corner.

She rose an eyebrow at her ashikabi, "You mean it isn't obvious?"

"What is?", he questioned, pausing as they reached the corner to look at her.

Uzume sighed dramatically, her wide smile betraying her humor at the situation. "Take a guess."

He blinked at her a few times and then quickly looked her up and down before doing the same to himself, checking for anything unusual on his person. His sekirei's shoulders shook slightly in silent laughter at this action. "It's spring."

"I know that," Ichigo grumbled.

"The cherry blossoms are about to bloom," Uzume continued.

"No duh," Ichigo sighed. "Doesn't explain why people are looking at us funny."

"Love is in the air..." Uzume said in a soft voice as she looked up at him with a small smile. That smile turned into a dissapointed frown at Ichigo's clueless look. "You really don't know?"

"N-no," he ventured, a bit wide eyed at her expression.

"Never mind then," she sighed. She moved closer to her ashikabi, resting her head on his arm. "I got my work cut out for me that's for sure," she muttered.

"Come again?" Ichigo asked.

"Just thinking to myself," Uzume quickly answered. "So where we goin' Ichigo?"

He turned back to the street as they continued along, thoughts ablaze at how properly describe or how much the next stop to her. It seemed pretty easy at first, his thoughts now turning to earlier in the morning. After the excitement of yesterday, Ichigo was slightly surprised to have Uzume awake before him. Although it was quickly forgotten by her lips locking onto his. Eventually, they had gotten out of his room and got together for one last family breakfast. Ichigo seethed as he remembered looking at his father who had hurried through his breakfast and Uzume who seemed like she had been trying to strike up a conversation with his dad but couldn't get the words right, with the topic changing every few minutes. He had figured it was related to last night, and his father pretty much smiled at the both of them, acting as if almost nothing had happened.

Oh yeah, goat chin was going D-O-W-N for that one.

After the meal was finished, he had saw the girls off to school. Admittedly he was a little curious as to what Yuzu had said to Uzume before they left, but it was probably a girl thing. Once the girls left for school his father had rushed back to his clinic, grabbing his coat as he disappeared through the hallways and Ichigo quickly went back to his room and packed up his clothes and prepared to head off for Urahara's shop. Uzume had decided to tag along to get a better look at the small city as well as pick up some souvenirs for the Izumo House crew.

"Are you listening Ichigo?" came Uzume's voice, piercing his thoughts and shook his head and she sighed. "I was saying", Uzume continued, "That its been a while, and while I don't mind being alone with you you still haven't told me where we're going".

"I didn't did I?" Ichigo said aloud. He rolled his shoulders slightly as they continued to the shop, Ichigo continuing to ignore the various stares they were reviving. "We're going to see an... an old family friend."

Uzume blinked and hummed to herself before scrunching her eyes in thought. "What is it?" Ichigo asked as he noticed her expression. "I thought all your family came to the graduation"?

"Yep they did," Ichigo answered. "But the dude we're going to see... well he runs a shop. And he couldn't close up for the day."

"That's too bad", she sighed. She then turned her head to him as they walked. "Is he your uncle or something?"

"You could say that I guess," Ichigo grunted. "He helped me out with some things a lot last year and I want to at least thank him one more time before we leave."

"Hn", Uzume acknowledged, still looking at him before smiling. "He must be ok, you're not scowling as hard as you normally do."

Ichigo gave her a flat look, "And what's that supposed to mean exactly?"

Her smile turned into a grin as she closed her eyes for emphasis. "I mean you're always scowling, and it doesn't even let up as much for your father. Just more things I need to work on," she mumbled that last bit.

"Uh huh," Ichigo muttered. "Well I got my reasons for scowling y'know."

"Oh," her voice muttered excitedly. "And they are?"

He held up his free hand as he responded, "People pissing me off. People being idiots. My dad being an idiot. Punks challenging me to fights. Punks getting on my nerves about my hair. My dad being an idiot. Stuff like that."

She pouted. "But you're always wearing it, even around me most of the time".

"They've annoyed me for so long it's my default look these days," he bluntly answered. "You get enough sekirei after you like I get enough idiots after me and you'd look this good too."

She laughed, her tongue sticking out and clamping it with her teeth, thoughts on the multiple rounds she had with the twins before Ichigo came along. "Cute," he muttered. "In any case, we're going to see this guy to thank him and to see if he can do me one final favor, so do behave yourself please?"

She blinked and focused on him in confusion. "What?"

"I mean how you're acting now, don't do it in front of him." He elaborated, jerking the arm Uzume was holding onto a bit for emphasis, "I don't need to give him any openings to be silly right now. I need him on his best behavior and that means you gotta be a prude for a while."

She continued to look at him in confusion. "Ichigo..."

"Yeah?"

She looked away before sighing and pushed out her bottom lip. "You're no fun."

He shrugged at that and her eyes scrunched again, confused but kept her peace. He sighed at her look, "Look, it's only for a little while ok? Then you can be all kissy face or whatever with me until we leave."

Her face brightened at that. "I'll hold you to that," she grinned, all smiles again.

"It's too late to re-phrase that isn't it?"

"Far too late", she said as she quickly closed the distance to give him a peck on the cheek.

He blushed at the display of affection, noting that a few people were now looking at them with slight disapproval although more were still smiling for some odd reason. "Better get it outta your system while you can, we're almost there."

Her grin widened. "Oh? That was gonna be my last one until we got there, but if you insist..." she giggled, grabbing his arm to duck into an upcoming alleyway, double checking to see if there was anyone around.

Ichigo grumbled as found himself pulled along and thought about taking more care with his words before his sekirei's hands clutched his head and brought his cheek down to her lips.

=========

Teito...

"Ahhhhhhhh! That was so dang good~!" Ikki let out a satisfied moan as she patted her belly in contentment and rolled back a bit, the backrest of the chair stopping any further motion.

Across from her, Nanaha sighed at her sister's display as she dapped her mouth with her napkin dainty and set it down atop her empty plate. "Was it so good that you have to act like a starving pig? C'mon Ikki-chan, this is a nice place, can you act like you've been to nice places for once?"

Both were eating at a nice restaurant, far away from where they had been setting up shop for the last week and half to Nanaha's quiet consternation. Around them the restaurant was filled with people and waiters and waitresses busying themselves at their assigned tables or carrying food. Along with the aroma that wafted throughout the restaurant to tickle noses were the sounds of conversation and the clinks and clanks of food being cut, picked and of beverages being drunk. Both had ignored the odd and some hungry looks being thrown their way as they had eaten in relative peace with small conversation of their current hunt.

"Oh don't be silly, Nanaha-chan." Ikki sighed as she waived off her sister's complaints with a hand. "This is the greatest compliment I can give! They should be paying us for the rub I'm giving them, y'know."

Nanaha groaned, rubbing her forehead with both hands lightly at her elder sister's display before placing them back down on her lap. "It's way to early for this."

"Oh live a little, why don't you?" Ikki responded. "Besides, we got to plan for today's ashikabi hunt."

"Whatever," Nanaha replied, eager to get to this topic. "You do realize we're back in the part of Teito with those damn twins right? The part where we had decided to avoid, right?"

"Yeah, duh. That's the point of this little meeting." Ikki smiled confidently as she sat straighter and made a fist and punched it into her open left palm, the smack of flesh being hit causing a few of the people at neighboring tables to briefly turn at the sound. "It's time to plot how to crush those damn busybodies."

Nanaha frowned, "'Avoid', you mean. Right?"

Ikki blinked and leaned forward to look at her sister in confusion, resting both hands on the table. "Avoid them? Why would we do that? We'd have to deal with them eventually. Might as well do it now, right?"

Nanaha considered this for a moment, remembering it had originally been Ikki's idea to get out of Dodge for awhile. "While that is... one way to look at it," she admitted hesitantly, looking away briefly before turning back to face Ikki, her ash blonde bangs, antennas and side locks bouncing at the motion. "You fail to point out a major flaw in that reasoning."

"And that would be...?"

Nanaha sighed again, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Oh I don't know. Maybe the fact that we're both too weak to go against such high powered opponents right now? Or how about the fact that we recently went from a trio to a duo?"

Ikki shuddered at the last sentence and cleared her throat before she grumbled a response. "Please don't remind me about that one. That was the closest we've come so far and Narashino had the nerve to betray our pact just to be selfish! Oooooh, that one still pisses me off so much!"

"Ditto," Nanaha said deadpan, more or less agreeing for Ikki's sake than for any irritation on her part. It had been the three of them atop a rooftop when Narashino had looked below and had found him. Abandoning any sense of reason as she dropped down to find him, leaving both of them stunned before they gave chase. When they had finally caught up they had arrived in time to see Narashino's wings spread high, a sign of her contract with her ashikabi.

Both Ikki and Nanaha had been extremely happy watching their friend find the one for her. It hadn't been until after the two left, with Narashino turning to wave back at them when Ikki realized what that had meant and sank into a small bit of depression before writing it off as betrayal to soothe her ego. Nanaha knew that she hadn't meant it at all like that at the slightest, all three had been great friends - sisters as Ikki had called their little group when they had been released, but Nanaha too felt the sting of losing a friend and realizing that they would one day have to face off with only one winner walking away. It had been pretty much Ikki's way of consoling herself and psyching herself up at what may come, and Nanaha couldn't quite muster up a good argument to think otherwise, than hoping they all met again on happy terms rather than at the edge of a weapon.

This event of course had been the direct reason why Ikki had suddenly decided to stay atop rooftops, hoping that they too would find their ashikabi the same way. "That's why we gotta be super careful in how we deal with the game until we find our ashikabi. It's just the two of us now y'know."

"I know Nanaha-chan, I know." Ikki replied, folding her arms and nodding. "Just leave it up to your big sister! No matter what happens we'll get through this game together! And we'll stomp those BDSM twins flat just you watch! They'll be a warning to anyone who wants to get in the way of our dreams!"

Nanaha smiled, "I know you will Ikki-chan." she said approvingly. "It's a very... you thing to say."

She grinned happily, her dimples now more pronounced. "It is, isn't it?"

"But we're still hiding from those twins until we find our ashikabi," she then said matter of factually.

Ikki pouted, "And that's a very you thing to say as well."

Nanaha laughed. "It is, isn't it?", she parroted. "So let's run with it, eh?"

"Fine," Ikki sighed out, her eyes closing. "As the big sister, I'll humor you this one time but that's it. If we run into them though, just leave the fighting to me."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Nanaha said with a wink. "I'd probably try to take 'em out for you."

"As if I'd let you," Ikki responded with a resounding grin. It was at this point their waitress came and handed the bill to Ikki. The sekirei nodded her thanks to their server before she left. Ikki took a quick look at the bill before patting herself down, pausing slightly as she felt herself com up with empty pockets. She stiffened slightly as she looked at the bill again, sweat beginning to visibly form atop her brow.

Nanaha looked up and noticed her sister's expression ôIs something wrong?ö she asked with concern in her voice.

"No, Nanaha-chan," Ikki responded in a monotone voice. "Nothing's wrong at all."

Nanaha's eyes became half lidded as she frowned, "Then why are you sweating Ikki-chan?"

"Because it's hot in here," she replied, fanning her face with the bill for emphasis. Tearing her eyes away from the bill whipping back and forth, Ikki's eyes twinkled as a plan was obviously forming in her head. "Say Nanaha-chan... why don't we get some training in?"

Nanaha blinked, "Training?"

"Yes, training!" Ikki squeaked as she then suddenly stood up from her seat. "The best way to be sure we can take those evil twins down should we stumble across them is to train-train-train like our lives depend on it! Because they do and I refuse to let us die on my watch! You get me!?"

"Yes yes, I get you!" Nanaha replied eyes wide, taken aback slightly at her sister sekirei's attitude.

"Super!" Ikki responded with a clenched fist. "Now the first thing we gonna do is get a jog in! Ok?!"

"OK!!" Nanaha barked out.

"Great!" Ikki replied and reached out to quickly clasp Nanaha's wrist. "So let's get started! Like right now! "

"W-woah woah! Aren't you gonna pay for our food first?!" she squealed as she was pulled forward a bit before pulling back, stopping Ikki's momentum. Escaping both girl's attention was how quiet the restaurant became as everyone found their little escapade much more entertaining than what they were talking about.

"Can't pay! Training!" Ikki pronounced again and tugged a bit harder.

ôYouÆre...ö Nanaha frowned as realization of Ikki's change in attitude set in. "Are you about to make us dine-and-dashers?"

"Life saving training!"

"Did you leave our MBI cards at the hotel AGAIN?!" she squawked in irritation. To the side several waiters had heard and one decided to dash up to the register at the front.

"Life or death training!"

"If you stay here I can explain our situation to the manager and get our cards to pay for it!"

"Won't believe you! Let's Train!"

"So you *did* forget our cards again!"

"Less talk, more running!" Ikki responded as she pulled on Nanaha's wrist and dragged her away from the restaurant towards the exit, the table and Nanaha's chair being nudged aside as she was pulled. Thankfully, it was not enough to tip anything over.

"HEY! HEY! Stop those dashers!" Cried the man at the register, preparing to give chase along with their waiter. "I am NOT working a double shift for this shit to go down on my watch!"

"I don't wanna be a criminal, stupid Ikki-chan!" Nanaha cried out, semi-tearing up as Ikki began to pull harder for more speed..

"Don't complain, this'll save your life one day!" Ikki responded. "It's all for training!"

"I dun wanna criminal record!" Nanaha cried again as she too followed Ikki as they both literally flew out the front doors too fast for their pursuers, who ended up seeing nothing but two blurs go by.

"GET BACK HERE THIEVES!"

And so began another ordinary day in Teito.

=========

"So", Uzume said, looking around. "This is it".

In front of both of them stood the Urahara Shoten, a small, but two story shop that was built further back on its lot of land, looking a bit out of place compared to its neighbors. On the second story was the placard that told the shop's name, and to its left was a small wedge to which the shop van was parked. On the store's right was what looked to be a storage area connected to the building, a bit similar looking to the Kurosaki Clinic, Uzume would think. She also noted the unpaved land from the sidewalk to the shop itself.

All in all it was not quite was she was expecting.

"Yes," Ichigo muttered, wiping his face in an effort to mask whatever color his face was, most likely red from Uzume's affections from the last several minutes. "This is it." Uzume hummed at that and retook Ichigo's hand, walking forward and pulling him along briefly before he moved in step with her. Just as they reached the front doors both heard a meow from above and both looked up and Ichigo's eyes widened. 'Yoruichi.'

Said former Second Division Captain and teacher was in her cat form and slinking down the roof, stretching almost lazily before resuming its way toward them. Uzume had paused, never taking her eyes off the cat as it reached the edge peering down at both of them, seemingly to lock eyes with Ichigo for a moment before turning to look at Uzume. After a seemingly eternal moment Yoruichi pulled herself (or himself, in this form) inward and leaned forward.

'She isn't...", Ichigo thought as his eyes narrowed.

His thoughts were answered as Yoruichi jumped into Uzume, who laughed and easily caught Yoruichi and then cradled her close. In no time at all Yoruichi rearranged herself to her liking and immediately began to purr as Uzume immediately began to rub and scratch behind her ears. "What a nice cat you are," Uzume cooed as she slightly rocked back and forth. After a few seconds of that Yoruichi again purred as her head tilted to Ichigo, giving him a look that by all rights screamed contentment and trolling at the same time.

"Yes, she's a nice cat," Ichigo deadpanned, returning Yoruichi's gaze with a deadpan one of his own.

"Yes", another voiced popped up. "She a very nice cat, indeed."

Both Ichigo and Uzume's eyes came upward, surprised as neither heard the shoji screen slide open.

Standing in the entrance was a man, tall with a twinkle in his eye that had Ichigo's stomach begin to churn. He hair was pale blond, locks and forelocks visible underneath his green and white strapped bucket hat, one thick lock coming right between his eyes and parted by his nose. He wore what appeared to be a dark green gi, whose pant legs were rolled up a bit. A long black haori rested on his shoulders and fell to his calves, a white diamond pattern gracing the edges near the bottom, side by side appearing all around the bottom of the haori.

His head tilted forward, his hat blocking the suns rays so that a dark shadow covered the top half of his face, his eyes barely visible. Raising a hand, he brought up a closed folding fan to rest upon his right cheek.

"Kurosaki-san," he greeted, and then sharply opened the fan, hiding his face. The sudden and unexpected clap caused Uzume to flinch slightly. "And lady-friend", he then said, his barely visible but very amused eyes now turned with great interest to Ichigo's guest.

Ichigo's left eye twitched. 'Oh yeah... we're off to a great start...'

=========
 

Waruiko

Well-Known Member
#17
This was everything I wanted right up to the end... then it ended.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#18
I know Ichigo has reason to trust him, but given her nature I would keep Uzume FAR away from Urahara. The man is still a mad scientist at heart, after all.

And can we take it that the random sekirei you introduced will be more of Ichigo's harem?
 

Coelacanth

Well-Known Member
#19
Fuck yea! Master Troll has arrived!

Seriously ghostface, this was everything I wanted to see in this chapter.

I;m not too enthused about the new characters, but that's because I don't know much about them yet. So i'm really looking forward to whatever you come up with.

Btw, how many snippets are left in this chapter. I've lost track with the length of this chapter.
 

Ghostface

Lazy Bastard...
#20
And can we take it that the random sekirei you introduced will be more of Ichigo's harem?
Pretty much, yes. Hope how it happens is nice for ya'll.

I'm not too enthused about the new characters, but that's because I don't know much about them yet. So i'm really looking forward to whatever you come up with.

Btw, how many snippets are left in this chapter. I've lost track with the length of this chapter.
Well I hope that these girls get to grow on you as the story progresses. We're only scratching the surface on these characters right now, so I hope to keep you entertained with them as this journey progresses. As for the snippets, you should know by now that it's gonna be a looooooooooong read before this chapter is finished being posted. B)
 

Wheeljack

Well-Known Member
#21
dr.michael92 said:
Fuck yea! Master Troll has arrived!

Seriously ghostface, this was everything I wanted to see in this chapter.

I;m not too enthused about the new characters, but that's because I don't know much about them yet. So i'm really looking forward to whatever you come up with.

Btw, how many snippets are left in this chapter. I've lost track with the length of this chapter.
Quite a bit left, as against our better wishes this ended up being another monster of a chapter as Ghostface mentions above.

As for Ikki and Nanaha, credit goes to Ghostface for his nurturing of these two. There will be more to come into play, as the butterfly effect is in with not only Uzume not being the one to take out other Sekirei, but Ichigo being Ichigo(and I don't think anyone can say he would not be a 'strong' ashikabi, if you catch my drift).
 

Seed00

Well-Known Member
#22
Urahara is the lesser evil compared to Mayuri. Uzume has far better chances than being dissected without any anesthesia or being dissected at all.
 

Ghostface

Lazy Bastard...
#23
Time for the next part. Kinda fillerish, but it does set up for future things.

================================================================
Uzume found herself looking curiously at what was on sale in the shop as Ichigo led her through the small store. His hand pulled her along and her hair whip lashed back and forth as she tried to take in what she could during their brief but brisk walk. She recognized several of the candy brands that were out front where they were easy to see and a few more that she didn't know of. Some of those caught her eye and figured it'd be a nice starting point for Miya and Kagari.

Finally both came into a small section of the store that had a table set, not unlike what Miya had in her dining area. The one Ichigo had identified as Urahara walked to the small table and sat, motioning for both her and Ichigo to sit across from him. Both did, Ichigo sitting indian style and Uzume sitting similarly, lowering the cat she brought in, 'Yoruichi' - Urahara had named him, onto her lap. She ran her fingers through his fur and scratched behind the ears, and idly wondered why Yoruichi had been refereed to as she.

"Welcome once again, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara said, slightly smiling at him before turning his head to Uzume. "And to you as well. It is good to see Kurosaki-kun with a lady at his side," he trailed off before turning back to Ichigo and slightly lowered his voice. "Though not quite the one we were expecting."

Uzume blinked and Ichigo stared at him through half-lidded eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Urahara closed his eyes and softly shook his lowered head. "Ah... such is the bliss of ignorance." He rose his head and opened his eyes to see Ichigo's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Just commenting that you're the same as always, Kurosaki-kun," he said smiling.

"Right back at'cha clogs," Ichigo grunted.

"So what brings you to my humble store this fine morning?" Urahara asked, raising his hat slightly to get a better look at his guests.

"Nothing much really," Ichigo began. "It's my last day here and I wanted to say my thanks, stuff like that."

"Of course of course," Urahara nodded. "Please allow me to give my humblest apologies for being unable to attend your graduation."

Ichigo gave a shrug of indifference, "Don't worry about it, it doesn't bother me. Rukia didn't show up either and you don't see me crying a river over here."

Urahara chuckled, "I suppose not. To be honest, I'm surprised she didn't show up."

"She's got her responsibilities," Ichigo shrugged again. "It'd have been nice to see her again, but hell she showed up at my first party. That's good enough for me."

"Rukia?" Uzume asked. "Who's she?"

"Rukia?" Ichigo responded as Uzume slowed in her stroking of Yoruichi. His eyes gained a bit of a far off look as he looked up to the ceiling, "Rukia is... an 'old', old friend."

Uzume's eyebrow rose at her ashikabi, "Old friend, eh?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yup." He chuckled, "It's the best I can describe it off the top of my head."

"Hoh," Uzume said in a curious tone. "If she's such an old friend I wonder why didn't she show up to the party?"

"Probably something to do with her work," Ichigo responded in a matter-of-fact tone. "Like I said, It's no big deal. It's not like we'll never see each other again or something that mellowdramatic." He frowned slightly as he noticed a small smirk on Uzume's face. "What?"

"Hehe," Uzume's smirk turned to a mischievous smile. "I just remembered something."

Ichigo scratched his head, "And that is...?"

"Well," Uzume began. "It just that I remembered when we first met and you said you didn't have a girlfriend. Is that because..." Uzume trailed off insinuatively.

Ichigo held his hand up to cut his sekirei off, "Not even on the same island girl. I mean really, it'd be like going out with Yuzu or Karin. Sick and wrong."

Uzume blinked, then met her ashikabi's gaze with another teasing smirk. "Oh really?" she asked sweetly. "You don't have to protect my feelings or anything like that, Ichigo. If she was someone you crushed on you can tell me."

Ichigo shook his head, fighting off the sudden sick twist in his stomach thought of him and Rukia like that. "Let's just say she's like family and leave it at that. It's kind of a long story, and too long and personal to get into here y'know."

"You and your secrets," Uzume sighed. "Well I still have time to weed those out of you to, so I'll let you off the hook for now," she said playfully.

"Gee thanks," Ichigo replied sarcastically.

Urahara watched the two banter a bit, his head lowered as the brim of his hat cut helped to block everything else aside from the two as he took them in. "My," he whispered to himself.

"I have to take that back, you have changed."

Ichigo blinked, looking back to Urahara. "Did you say something?"

"Not really, just noting something interesting." But before Ichigo could ask what Urahara spoke again, cutting him off. "My apologies once more, Kurosaki-san," he said, ignoring Ichigo's frown, "but I've been amiss in my duties as a host." He turned to Uzume and bowed forward, but not taking his eyes off her. "I am Urahara Kisuke, the humble owner of this candy shop."

Uzume bowed back to him from her sitting position as well. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Uzume."

An eyebrow raised, hidden underneath his hat. "Hoh? No last name?" Ichigo began to cough in his hand, loud enough that Uzume didn't respond to Urahara as she looked at him in concern. "Ah well, it's not important," Urahara waived off. "Tessai!" he called out.

"Yes?" the other man called back, peering his head in.

"Would you please prepare some tea for our guests? Oh, and if you can, you can give Uzume-san here the tour." He then paused to look back at her, looking a bit sheepish. "That is, if you want to. There's a nice variety of things there that may catch your interest, and I'll give you a discount for missing your graduation," he said enticingly.

"Would that be ok, Ichigo?" she asked her ashikabi hopefully. "I'd like to see if there's anything that Miya and Kagari would like."

"Sure," Ichigo said, nodding. "That's fine."

"Thank you so much," she said to Urahara as she stood up. As she did, Yoruichi jumped from her lap and bounded up to Urahara and landed in his lap. Uzume smiled at that and turned to walk towards the door.

"Please, this way Uzume-san," Tessai told her as he shut the door behind him. Ichigo turned to fume at him but settled into scowl as he saw that both Urahara and Yoruichi were still looking at the door.

"Very talented, that one is," Yoruichi mentioned offhand in that form's deep-voice as Urahara began to scratch her and rose her head.

"You're making me jealous, Yoruichi-san." Urahara said in mock pain as he now rubbed underneath her chin with a finger.

A cat smile crossed Yoruichi's lips, "It's not your fault Kisuke. There are just somethings in this world that require a... woman's touch."

"I suppose so," Urahara nodded in agreement as he stroked the head and ears. Soon Yoruichi was purring and leaned into Urahara's chest to nuzzle against it. "But there are still some things only a man can do, after all."

"Ok first off," Ichigo interrupted and pointed at both of them. "Keep your flirting down to a minimum please. It's creepy like that."

Yoruichi's eyes glowed slightly in her feline form at Ichigo's comment and lifted her head away from Urahara to look up at him with a tilted head as if thought. "Flirting? Were we flirting, Kisuke?"

"I don't think so." Urahara answered, rubbing his chin as if considering the question. His eyes then met with Ichigo's and idly twinkled in amusement. "Perhaps Kurosaki-san is seeing things in a different light these days?"

"That would make sense," Yoruichi agreed, nodding as if that answer summed up the situation to her liking. "Perhaps this Uzume girl has found his special scratch point, if you will."

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"Ah, I see!" Urahara nodded in understanding, idly scratching underneath Yoruichi's chin again. "It would go a long way in explaining that air around Kurosaki-san these days."

"What air?" Ichigo growled.

"What air?" Urahara repeated, smiling slightly. "The air of youth of course! Spring has come to Karakura, and that girl has brought about the spring of your youth!"

"Indeed," Yoruichi agreed. "From what I've seen thus far, that girl might just be a modern miracle worker. She might even manage to crack a smile out of the boy once."

"I'm not even gonna dignify this with a response." Ichigo muttered.

"Oh look, he's embarrassed!" Yoruichi continued. "Clearly we're onto something, Kisuke."

Ichigo groaned slightly, rubbing his brows slightly as his irritation grew. "Yes, you're clearly on something. Now, if you're done having your fun can I get to the reason why I'm here?"

"Oh, you're no fun," Yoruichi pouted slightly. Well as much as a cat could.

"So I'm told," Ichigo shrugged indifferently.

"You need to learn to loosen up a bit, my boy," Yoruichi sighed. "Or you'll scare that girl off."

"Somehow I doubt that," Ichigo responded.

"Oh?" Urahara mumbled. His head raised enough to keep his eyes hidden in the shadows of his brim hat, but Ichigo knew they were filled with curiosity. "Is that because that girl...isn't human?"

Ichigo's face turned neutral as he looked up at Urahara, "Should've guessed you'd have noticed that."

"Well I think I can assume you haven't changed that much to come here and brag about your new girlfriend," Urahara chuckled. "Although that would be an event in and of itself."

"If you say so," Ichigo responded in a dismissive tone. "So since you were able to tell she isn't human maybe you could help me out with a few other things."

"I am your humble servant Kurosaki-san." Urahara responded. "But before I can help you..."

"You need to be brought up to speed," Ichigo finished. "Fair enough. It started a couple of months ago..."

=========

Meanwhile...

"Hmm, this looks good, and so does this one...," Uzume murmured to herself, deep in thought as she looked at the various candy around the store, pulling out a few to look them over. Though small, there was much bigger selection than she originally thought there would be."Excuse me, Tessai-san?" she called out, getting the man's attention.

As Uzume had looked around the store Tessai had begun to brew the tea. Setting it he walked towards Uzume who was still bent over one of the smaller stands but had her head turned to him. "How may I help you, Uzume-san?"

"How much for this one?" she asked, holding up a brown and gold wrapped package.

"Three-hundred yen."

Uzume whistled as she debated about it momentarily, looking at it before humming to herself and grabbing two more and tossing them into the store bag that she had grabbed. Humming again, a pink wrapped package caught her eye and she made her way towards it to pull out. Pink wrapped with a yellow and blue bubble shaped font she gazed at it and turned to Tessai, asking him about what he thought.

This had gone on for several more minutes, as Uzume continued to question Tessai about the various brands she had never heard of and alternated between returning them to their stands and deciding to take a chance and dropping them into her basket, hoping that it would tickle Kagari and Miya's fancy. She smiled, taking a few more, wondering if Ichigo would like them when they were on the ride home.

=========

Back to the plot...

Urahara gazed at Ichigo intently, enraptured by Ichigo's recent adventure. Below him in his lap Yoruichi was also focused in Ichigo, ears perked up so as not to miss anything. It was then that Ichigo had said something interesting and he couldn't help but interrupt.

"So this...," he began, and Ichigo paused, not quite irritated at being butted in on. "This norito, you say, is what would allow them to use their true strength?" He then lifted an unseen eyebrow at the boy. "And you said that it would be released on the onset of a kiss?"

Ichigo frowned and he hunched a bit, waiting for what was to come next. He paused as Urahara brought the hand that had been at Yoruichi's head to his chin and looked off to the side, causing the brim of his hat to nearly hide his entire face. "How very curious..."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed slightly at the shop keeper's words, "Curious how, exactly?"

Urahara smiled slightly at Ichigo, "Curious in a variety of ways, Kurosaki-san." He turned back to the former shinigami as he continued, "Such as how is it that I can somewhat feel your presence in her?"

The strawberry-blonde haired man stiffened. "Presence? You mean like reiatsu?"

Could it be?

"I wouldn't say that," Urahara corrected, holding up a pointer finger in protest. "A reiatsu such as yours is very definite. Very certain. Now I won't rule out that it's possible that she may indeed have some of your reiatsu in her, it's so muddled that it wouldn't make much of a difference. However, your reiatsu still has yet to even begin to recover so at the moment I wouldn't make that leap in assumption."

"I see," Ichigo nodded, squashing that small feeling of hope. "So I suppose that's the bond between us that you're sensing."

"Bond?" Urahara asked gently, Yoruichi's eye raising in response to Urahara's tone.

"Yeah..." he responded softy. The high school graduate's eyes fully closed, and his frown deepened as he remembered his sekirei's words on that chilly November afternoon. "Uzume says she belongs to me. Body, mind, soul. And if... if I die, she would die with me."

"And your life continues to be interesting, doesn't it Kurosaki-kun?" Urahara sighed. "So your relationship," he then paused as if trying to find the right words, .".. is a symbiotic one?"

"Symbiotic?" Ichigo asked, his eyes opening slightly. "How do you figure?"

"You said so yourself did you not?" Urahara continued, his expression turning thoughtful. "She literally lives for you. She derives her power from you."

"I wouldn't say that," Ichigo retorted. "She doesn't need to be near me all the time despite how she acts. Hell, she was still living in Teito while I was finishing up high school. I'd say our relationship is more commensal than anything. She's benefiting from me and I'm not really getting anything out of it."

The exiled shinigami captain smiled at that, "I wouldn't say you were not getting anything out of it." Ichigo remained silent, not wanting to rise to the bait. "Tell me, did Uzume-san tell you anything else about her people?"

"Not really," Ichigo sighed. "Although when I met her, she was being chased by some of her people."

"Is that so?" Urahara asked. Ichigo nodded as he continued his tale.

=========

"Are you sure? I can help with that," Uzume said, following Tessai with full grocery bag in her had.

"It's quite fine," Tessai responded, holding the tea tray with one hand to his side.

"Here, at least let me get the door for you," Uzume said, bounding quickly in front of him. Before Tessai could respond, she took hold of the latch on the shouji screen and pulled to the side.

"...and so dad said that he wanted to meet...," she heard Ichigo's voice trail off as both me and cat stopped to turn their heads in their direction.

"Ah...," Uzume said, pausing at the door. "Did I interrupt?" she asked, suddenly feeling a bit foolish for not at least knocking. This wasn't Izumo after all.

"My apologies," Tessai said aloud, waiting behind her.

"No, no, no, its quite alright," Urahara reassured, waving his hand absently, as if to blow away any offending odor. "We were just talking about you and when the tea would be ready," he said.

"Whew," Uzume blew out, happy that it wasn't quite the large faux pau that she had thought it was. With that, she moved onward to her seat next to Ichigo, settling the bag to her right side and sitting down to smile at Ichigo to her left.

"Is that enough?" Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow, noting the full bag.

"It should be," she replied, a smile still on her face before her eyes opened in surprise.

"Oh!" she got out as she felt something jump onto her and two small light objects on her crossed legs.

She turned to find the cat Yoruichi put his forepaws on her chest, just below her clavicles and above the top swell of her breasts for support as he seemed to be looking right at her. She blinked in confusion as her head moved back a bit and tilted forward, meeting the cat eye to eye for a moment. The moment held for some time, as neither noted the sounds and clinks of the tray being settled and cups being placed as both continued the impromptu staring match.

And just as quickly as it started it ended as Yoruichi mewled and settled down to curl in her lap, tail flickering briefly.

"Huhh," Uzume breathed as her hands again came down to scratch and nuzzle the cat. She turned to smile at Ichigo. "Guess I passed whatever test he- Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked out of his thoughts when he was addressed, watching almost spellbound as Yoruichi promptly decided to do her more 'thorough' look that had been mentioned in their talks and had held his breath. "No-nothing. Just never saw Yoruichi do anything like that," he mentioned as the cat turned to give a look that had the word 'Please...' written all over it, going unnoticed by Uzume.

"Oh. Well, good to know that he likes me then," she said. "That was something else," she then continued as the aroma of tea filled her nose as the last cup was filled.

"Thank you, Tessai. If you would...?"

"Yes," Tessai responded as he turned to leave, pausing a moment to meet Urahara's eyes as if to confirm that everything was ok. With a slight nod, Tessai finally made his way to the door and slid it shut behind him.

"So," Urahara said as he picked up his cup. "Kurosaki-san was just bringing us up to speed," he mentioned before taking a sip of his tea. "However, sometimes you don't quite get all the good info from secondhand sources," he said and ignored Ichigo's sputtering. "Now if you do not mind Uzume-san," he said, holding her gaze. "Tell me about yourself."

=========

????

-BU-BUM-

This... feeling...

-BU-BUM-

I know... this feeling...

-BU-BUM-

He's Close...

-BU-BUM-

Hurry... hurry oni-chan...

-BU-BUM-

=========

Teito...

Minato blinked and suddenly stumbled. Catching himself quickly he stood, but not completely. Hunched over he brought a free hand to his head and his eyes widened at what had just happened. The voice that cried for help was now haunting him while he was awake. However, as soon as the voice had come it was gone, and with it his thoughts we completely his once more. It was a bit past noon now, and his first lunch break at his new job had just begun. He was about to sit with his bentou in hand when the girl appeared in his thoughts again.

Finally gaining his bearings he sat carefully, looking back and forth to see if anyone had noticed. Looking like no one had noticed he turned back down to his food and blinked, wondering if what happened would happen again and set his food down in his lap.

His brought his hands up to his face, sliding them forward to which his fingers had to open in order for his eye to see, his forefingers at his head and his pinky at the bridge of his nose.

Taking a deep breath he began to massage his temple, trying to regain control from the overwhelming emotions he had felt just scant moments ago, and as the seconds wore on it was proving to be a very trying experience. 'What in the world is going on here?' he thought in worry, his mouth opening and closing.

-GURGLE-

'And what the heck wast that?!' he asked himself at the loud grumbling sound that had broken his thoughts.

"Having a bit of a problem?" a voice said.

Turning, he saw the man who had been addressing him, or so he thought as the man in question wasn't even looking at him. For that matter, where had he come from so quickly?

He was tall, at least several inches taller than he was, maybe even as tall as that Ichigo-guy from the other day. His hair was mussy and uncombed, sharp locks falling over his forehead and a few upwards. Day old stubble peppered his square jaw which looked to be drooling a bit. He had white t-shirt and the dangling clinking that he had heard was the dog tags that hung around his neck that dropped to his chest. Though bent over, Minato could tell this man was no slouch. He looked to be an athletic man, with a lightly tanned complexion, strong arms and well developed muscle that was easily visible through his t-shirt.

Minato gulped and shrank a bit as he knew he was outclassed and hoped there wouldn't be a problem.

"Yo!" the man called out cheerfully.

Minato gave a timid wave back in response, "...Yo."

The man simply chuckled in response, "No need to be all careful, I won't bite man. Name's Seo." His eyes lowered to Minato's lap, eying the bento box sitting on his legs and licked his lips unconsciously. "Y'kno... that's a mighty fine lunch ya got there."

"Yes... yes it is." Minato said in a hesitant tone as the bigger man eyed his lunch hungrily. He sighed and picked up a rice ball, holding the object towards the bigger man, "W-would you like to try one?"

Seo grinned as he took the offered food stuff, "Thanks man! You're all right!" Three bites latter, the scraggly man was licking his fingers in appreciation with a thoughtful look on his face, "Mmmm... Good stuff man."

Minato smiled in response," Thanks."

"Yer girl make this for ya?"

A slight flush crossed the bridge of Minato's nose as he laughed slightly, "No such luck. My landlady did."

Seo's eyebrow rose at that and then nodded slightly. "That so? That's nice of her. So... what's your life story my friend?"

Minato shrugged slightly, starting to feel himself easing slightly at Seo's continued company, "Not much. I'm working and waiting for cram school to start."

"Cram school?" Seo gave Minato an examinatory stare, " Your first time?"

Minato sighed, "Ah... second actually."

Seo gave a wider grin as he patted Minato's back, "Well that's great ain't it? That means you got the inside track this time, right?"

"I guess that's one way of looking at it. What about you?"

"Me?" Seo shrugged indifferently before he continued, "Eh, I've been a college guy for six years now. Things didn't work out so good y'know?"

Minato frowned slightly at the response, "That's not exactly something a repeater likes to hear."

Seo blinked at Minato, then laughed at the response, "Ah my bad, my bad. Didn't mean to rub it in like that my friend."

=========

Meanwhile, in the distance...

In an area not too far from where the two men were beginning to bond over food and educational opportunities, there was a sound. A sound that caused women to shudder in fear, children to cower and hide, and men everywhere to thank their ancestors that it was going farther and farther away from them.

It was a curse.

It was a hurricane.

And it was about to make it's presence felt very, very soon...

"Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

=========

Meanwhile, back at male bonding hour...

"Ooh, that croquet looks delish. Mind if I...?"

Minato gave a polite smile at the larger man and nodded, "Go ahead. Have one."

Seo grinned in appreciation as he took the offered food item, "Don't mind if I do! You're a good man Minato. Don't let anyone tell you different!"

"-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Minato nodded, then blinked in confusion as a deep sense of dread filled his very being. An odd sound reached his ears, and he felt his body tighten up in fear slightly, "What the heck is that sound?"

"-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Seo's grin suddenly vanished from his face and his huge shoulders slumped slightly. The croquet he was prepared to eat was quickly placed back into Minato's bento and his arm dropped limply. His eyes, so full of energy just a moment ago were filled with a sense of... well if it was possible, Minato would have said that his eyes were filled with resignation as if he were to fall from grace.

Seo sighed, and said in a listless tone, "Oh fuck me, this is gonna hurt."

That was a slight understatement.

Minato could only gape in awe and horror as a black blur raced toward them like a tsunami, hitting Seo dead in his chin. The force of nature kept charging forward, sending Seo a good foot or so away from where he was sitting before they came to a stop. "Seo-san..." trailed off Minato. His eyes wide with a mix of fear, sympathy, and shock clear to see. All he could do was watch as the blur became something more human shaped.

Minato's surprise grew as he saw a girl sitting atop Seo's chest. She was dressed in what appeared to be a fetishy black maid outfit with a white apron from what he could see. He couldn't make out any more of her features as she grabbed Seo's shirt and pulled his limp body up to her face. "What the hell, you greedy little bum?! Didn't I tell you we'd be by with your lunch late today?!?"

Minato blinked at the voice, wondering why it sounded familiar.

"Huh?" Seo replied in a dazed tone. "Issat you Hikari-chan?"

"Hikari," Minato muttered softly.

Hikari growled and shook Seo violently. "Don't 'HUH' me you dirty son of a bitch! How many times I gotta tell you to stop moochin' off other people before you get it?!"

"It's kinda hard to remember your words when you brain my damage every time you say them." Seo answered wobbling a bit.

"Don't get cute with me you jackass!" Hikari shouted.

"Excuse me sir."

Minato blinked and turned his head away from the odd scene of destruction in front of him to respond to the familiar voice behind him. Familiar, and yet different. If this Hikari's voice was like pure wraith, this voice was more like a spring rain. She was dressed in a maid outfit like Hikari, except her maid costume was white. She was bowing to Minato, so the young ashikabi couldn't make out her features, except that her hair was not as flared out as Hikari's.

"I'm so sorry you were being bothered by our loser friend over there." She said as she continued bowing. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble for you."

"Ah... i-it's ok," Minato reassured the bowing girl. "He was no trouble at all really."

"Oh, is that so?" The girl rose and smiled fondly at Minato. "Well in any case, please forgive the intrusion."

Minato was about to respond when he got a good look at the girls face.

And that's when it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"You're that S&M girl that was chasing Musubi-chan!" He cried out, pointing at the girl.

At the accusation, the girl's smile turned into a look of recognization as well, "You're that guy that winged number Eighty-Eight!"

And that's when things got awkward.

==================

"I will say it is a sad thing to see you go, Kurosaki-san," Urahara murmured. He, Ichigo and Uzume stood at the entrance to the store; both Ichigo and Uzume about a foot outside while Urahara remained within the door frame. "It will seem a lot quieter now, more than usual."

"Its been quiet for a couple years now," Ichigo said, shrugging his shoulders with his eyes closed.

"Well, relatively speaking, of course," Urahara amended, lowering his head before raising back up. He then turned towards Uzume. "And it was great meeting you, Uzume-san."

"And it was a pleasure meeting you as well Urahara-san," Uzume bowed in response. She smiled pleasantly as she rose from the bow, "I hope we can meet again someday soon."

"Likewise my dear," Urahara nodded. "Of course that all depends on Kurosaki-san here."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at them. "Uh huh..."

"Oh that means we'll definitely be back," Uzume nodded. "We've barely gotten to know each other," she said to Urahara. "Besides, I'd like to spend more time with Yoruichi."

"Hoh," Urahara murmured almost sadly, his hand clutching his heart as he bowed his head. "My Yoruichi-san is being taken from me."

"Oh don't worry," Uzume smiled at Urahara, "I'll be sure to bring him back on weekends."

"You can stop that now," Ichigo growled.

Uzume turned to Ichigo at his growl, forming an almost cat-like smile on her face, lifting her hand, bent forward, as if it were a paw. "Oh hoh, sounds like someone's feeling a bit possessive."

"Oh my," Uraraha began in an amazed tone, "I never knew you could be the possessive type Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo was about to retort, but stiffened slightly as Uzume moved close to him and practically plastered herself to his arm. "Oh, you silly boy," She sang back at him smirking at the same time. "You know I belong to you only."

"Yeah yeah," Ichigo sighed. "You do realize the sooner you stop playing around the sooner we can get on our way."

Uzume sighed at her ashikabi's demeanor, "You really are no fun," she pouted. Ichigo shrugged in response.

"So, you'll be leaving...," Urahara trailed off.

"A little later this evening, actually," Ichigo said. "Uzume wants to shop around a bit, so we'll be in Karakura Houchou for awhile," he groaned out.

"C'mon, Ichigo, it won't be that bad," Uzume pouted again, letting him go.

"Well then, I shouldn't keep you waiting." With that, Urahara stepped forward, suddenly straighter and seemingly taller as he stopped in front of Ichigo. "Good luck to you, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo blinked, caught off guard at the sudden seriousness that Urahara radiated.

"Do not fear, as things will be kept well in hand here in Karakura. Go forth and do what you do best; shatter people's expectations and perceptions about you. Know that you will always have a place here and and ear to talk to should you need it. We are in your debt. Never hesitate to ask if you need anything."

Uzume blinked at his words, feeling the same as she did last night as everyone left. What was up, she wondered.

Ichigo's mouth open and closed silently as an odd wave of emotions played within him as he gained his bearings. Catching himself, he bowed to the older man and rose back up. "Can't quite say it was always fun, Hat 'n Clogs," he began, "but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'll do my best to keep in touch."

He then frowned. "And I know Karin has been spending some time here, so don't do anything that'll bring me back quicker," he growled as Urahara then had the dignity to look a might sheepish for a moment and waved it off with his hand.

"No need to worry about that, Kurosaki-san."

"There better not," he said as he then felt a light touch at his legs and a meow reached his ears. Seeing Yoruichi below on her hind legs he bent down and put his hand on her head.

"Thank you as well, Yoruichi," he said. "Thank you for everything," he said as he met the cats eyes and held back a smirk as the cat nodded slightly at him and rose up.

"I'll be seeing you two," he said as he turned. "Lets go, Uzume."

With that, both began to walk off the lot to the street before Ichigo suddenly stopped and turned around. "Oh," Ichigo called out as he then walked back. "I do have one thing I need..."

"Hoh," Urahara's eyes widened as the boy came forward.

=========
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#25
Seed00 said:
Urahara is the lesser evil compared to Mayuri. Uzume has far better chances than being dissected without any anesthesia or being dissected at all.
Point. Although given what all of Soul Society owes Ichigo and what kind of threat he'd pose when he regains his full power... not even Mayuri is foolish enough to poke that tiger with a stick. And notice Urahara's words there. "...Your reiatsu still has yet to even begin to recover..." were his exact words. Meaning that it will recover.


You know, I almost pity the Disciplinary Squad and guys like Higa when that happens. Zangetsu and Hichigo are going to be busy little facets to his soul.
 
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