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.
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