Karasuba would be lying if she said she didn't care at all when Miya abandoned the Discipline Squad for a human doctor named Kurosaki Isshin. Hell, she would be lying if she said that the fact Isshin managed to make her stoic former captain laugh didn't shock her. But in the end Karasuba swallowed her questions as Miya walked out the door. Besides, it wasn't like Karasuba couldn't check in on the holder of the God's seat. And "playing house" with her new pet human might soften Miya just enough to give Karasuba that critical edge when it came time to kill Miya in the years to come.
The second surprise for the Black Sekirei came when she discovered that Isshin came with a ready made family for Miya as well. Her terrifying commander, Number One herself, was now a wife and mother.
Just the thought made Karasuba want to vomit.
But even her disgust at Miya's actions did nothing to sate the nugget of curiosity that had developed over what had drawn her away from the Sekirei Plan. That curiosity blossomed into a passing interest in watching Miya's new family from a distance.
All in all, Karasuba didn't see much that was all that interesting about them. Isshin was an idiot, one that reminded her in some ways of Minaka really, although every so often he would move in a way that spoke of someone versed as well in combat as as he was in the medical arts. The younger girls were even less interesting than Miya's husband. The one girl, Yuzu, was so saccharine that the only reason Karasuba didn't kill her outright was concern over what Miya would do to her.
Buy the older boy, Ichigo, was another story.
The first thing that caught Karasuba's attention was how he, unlike his father and siblings, utterly rejected Miya's attempts to become integrated into his family. Simply put, the strawberry-haired youth wanted nothing to do with Number One. Just the distant sight of Miya's hurt look was a balm to whatever passed for Karasuba's soul.
The second thing to catch her attention was his fighting. It seemed that Miya's surrogate son had developed a habit of taking on the local street gangs in Karakura town, sometimes with odds worse that ten to one, and winning. It was something so different from the average human that it was more than worth taking note of.
Finally, there was his personality. In many ways, Ichigo was like the Miya of old; cold and aloof. He never let anyone get to close to him, with the exceptions of his little sisters. Even those that called him friend didn't seem to know him.
But even for all of that, watching him was more of a hobby than anything else.
*****
"Come on, you bastards. You want me, here I am," Ichigo challenged with an almost feral glee in his voice.
That glee was noted with a smirk by a woman with pale gray hair from her perch on the roof of a building across the street as she watched while Ichigo got into another scrap.
"There you are, Karasuba," a voice piped up with a note of disdain.
Karasuba looked idly over her shoulder to regard her new partner in the second Disciplinary Squad, Number Eight, Yume where she stood. Like Karasuba she was dressed the traditional black robes and lighter dark gray coat of the original Disciplinary Squad. Unlike Karasuba, the brunette Sekirei of Fate looked thoroughly annoyed. "Something I can do for you, Yume?" Karasuba asked as her smirk widened a bit.
"Where have you been?" Yume demanded as she stalked up to her partner, arms folded under her ample breasts.
"Oh, just out people watching," Karasuba playfully drawled before she returned her attention to the brewing fight. It looked like things were just getting good. Maybe today would be the day Ichigo finally decided to eliminate the local pests rather than just beating them into submission?
"You hate people," Yume countered as she moved to stand beside Karasuba.
"I suppose I do," the Black Sekirei noted with her usual irreverent mirth.
Yume finally turned her attention to the strawberry-blonde boy roughing up a group of thugs and snorted in disgust as she commented, "I suppose that explains it. You would enjoy watching something like a single opponent getting beaten by sheer numbers."
"Maybe. But I have little doubt the boy will win. He's beaten worse odds than this before, after all," Karasuba defended.
"So you've watched him before, then? What caught your attention about this human? Other than the obvious, of course," Yume inquired as Ichigo did indeed turn the tide of battle and beging to deliver a skillful and rather savage beating to the street gang that had "cornered" him in the alleyway.
"I suppose you could call him a little hobby of mine. Like a favorite pet," Karasuba airily replied.
"Again, you hate humans, Karasuba. Other than his rather disturbing violent tendencies what caught your attention about this one?" Yume asked.
"Just that that one is Kurosaki Ichigo," Karasuba admitted.
The look of shock on Yume's face was almost as entertaining as the look of pain on Miya's whenever her attempts to bond with Ichigo failed as the brunette exclaimed, "That's Number One's adopted son!?"
"Indeed it is. And he's becoming quite the little fighter. He has a habit of cleaning out the local trash like those thugs before they become too bothersome. Never finishes them off though. But I suppose he's still young," Karasuba explained. "The best part, though, is that as far as I can tell dear Miya has no idea."
Something in Karasuba's tone of voice felt like a stone in the pit of Yume's stomach as she narrowed her eyes and commented, "You watch him often, then. And Number One."
"Every girl needs a hobby. Besides, he's slightly more interesting than the rest of the human infestation on this planet. Look at him. When he lets himself he really enjoys the battle. That's rare in humans," Karasuba explained.
Yume decided to do just that and took a moment to truly concentrate on Miya's stepson. Indeed there were flashes of joy as he fought, as well as equal parts sorrow and disgust that flashed across his face as the last gang member dropped. It was clear that as much as he liked the conflict he did not enjoy the results of his efforts. Yume could see, even briefly from this distance, that he had a good heart. Then, with almost startling speed, the fight was over and his face closed down into a disinterested sneer before he strode off, hurting but victorious.
"Hmm, he let them live again. I wonder how long it will take before he realizes that you have to exterminate vermin to really get rid of them?" Karasuba mused with an almost disappointed note in her voice.
"You do realize Miya will end you if you hurt her son, don't you?" Yume asked after a pause.
"That would be a fight worth having," Karasuba replied with a mad gleam in her eye before she calmed down. "But it's a thought for another time. I'm content to just watch. For now," she teased.
Yume bristled at note of something in Karasuba's tone of voice that she could not quite identify. She hoped this passing interest in the eldest Kurosaki child would fade from her partner's mind in time.
"So why did you seek me out, Yume. Do we have another assignment?" Karasuba asked, breaking the other Sekirei's reverie.
"A group has managed to take a newly awakened Sekirei and are trying to experiment on her. We are to retrieve her and eliminate the group that has her," Yume reported.
"Sounds fun. So who did they nab?" Karasuba asked.
"Number eighty-eight. Musubi," Yume replied.
"Well let's go get her back then," Karasuba suggested with a feral sneer.
Yume nodded in agreement as the pair leaped off. As the moved, she wondered if she should make time to talk with Miya about Karasuba's interest in Ichigo when she got back from the mission? After all, it would probably be best if Miya was aware of the Black Sekirei sniffing around her son. The last thing this world needed was Karasuba trying to influence anybody toward her way of thinking.
The second surprise for the Black Sekirei came when she discovered that Isshin came with a ready made family for Miya as well. Her terrifying commander, Number One herself, was now a wife and mother.
Just the thought made Karasuba want to vomit.
But even her disgust at Miya's actions did nothing to sate the nugget of curiosity that had developed over what had drawn her away from the Sekirei Plan. That curiosity blossomed into a passing interest in watching Miya's new family from a distance.
All in all, Karasuba didn't see much that was all that interesting about them. Isshin was an idiot, one that reminded her in some ways of Minaka really, although every so often he would move in a way that spoke of someone versed as well in combat as as he was in the medical arts. The younger girls were even less interesting than Miya's husband. The one girl, Yuzu, was so saccharine that the only reason Karasuba didn't kill her outright was concern over what Miya would do to her.
Buy the older boy, Ichigo, was another story.
The first thing that caught Karasuba's attention was how he, unlike his father and siblings, utterly rejected Miya's attempts to become integrated into his family. Simply put, the strawberry-haired youth wanted nothing to do with Number One. Just the distant sight of Miya's hurt look was a balm to whatever passed for Karasuba's soul.
The second thing to catch her attention was his fighting. It seemed that Miya's surrogate son had developed a habit of taking on the local street gangs in Karakura town, sometimes with odds worse that ten to one, and winning. It was something so different from the average human that it was more than worth taking note of.
Finally, there was his personality. In many ways, Ichigo was like the Miya of old; cold and aloof. He never let anyone get to close to him, with the exceptions of his little sisters. Even those that called him friend didn't seem to know him.
But even for all of that, watching him was more of a hobby than anything else.
*****
"Come on, you bastards. You want me, here I am," Ichigo challenged with an almost feral glee in his voice.
That glee was noted with a smirk by a woman with pale gray hair from her perch on the roof of a building across the street as she watched while Ichigo got into another scrap.
"There you are, Karasuba," a voice piped up with a note of disdain.
Karasuba looked idly over her shoulder to regard her new partner in the second Disciplinary Squad, Number Eight, Yume where she stood. Like Karasuba she was dressed the traditional black robes and lighter dark gray coat of the original Disciplinary Squad. Unlike Karasuba, the brunette Sekirei of Fate looked thoroughly annoyed. "Something I can do for you, Yume?" Karasuba asked as her smirk widened a bit.
"Where have you been?" Yume demanded as she stalked up to her partner, arms folded under her ample breasts.
"Oh, just out people watching," Karasuba playfully drawled before she returned her attention to the brewing fight. It looked like things were just getting good. Maybe today would be the day Ichigo finally decided to eliminate the local pests rather than just beating them into submission?
"You hate people," Yume countered as she moved to stand beside Karasuba.
"I suppose I do," the Black Sekirei noted with her usual irreverent mirth.
Yume finally turned her attention to the strawberry-blonde boy roughing up a group of thugs and snorted in disgust as she commented, "I suppose that explains it. You would enjoy watching something like a single opponent getting beaten by sheer numbers."
"Maybe. But I have little doubt the boy will win. He's beaten worse odds than this before, after all," Karasuba defended.
"So you've watched him before, then? What caught your attention about this human? Other than the obvious, of course," Yume inquired as Ichigo did indeed turn the tide of battle and beging to deliver a skillful and rather savage beating to the street gang that had "cornered" him in the alleyway.
"I suppose you could call him a little hobby of mine. Like a favorite pet," Karasuba airily replied.
"Again, you hate humans, Karasuba. Other than his rather disturbing violent tendencies what caught your attention about this one?" Yume asked.
"Just that that one is Kurosaki Ichigo," Karasuba admitted.
The look of shock on Yume's face was almost as entertaining as the look of pain on Miya's whenever her attempts to bond with Ichigo failed as the brunette exclaimed, "That's Number One's adopted son!?"
"Indeed it is. And he's becoming quite the little fighter. He has a habit of cleaning out the local trash like those thugs before they become too bothersome. Never finishes them off though. But I suppose he's still young," Karasuba explained. "The best part, though, is that as far as I can tell dear Miya has no idea."
Something in Karasuba's tone of voice felt like a stone in the pit of Yume's stomach as she narrowed her eyes and commented, "You watch him often, then. And Number One."
"Every girl needs a hobby. Besides, he's slightly more interesting than the rest of the human infestation on this planet. Look at him. When he lets himself he really enjoys the battle. That's rare in humans," Karasuba explained.
Yume decided to do just that and took a moment to truly concentrate on Miya's stepson. Indeed there were flashes of joy as he fought, as well as equal parts sorrow and disgust that flashed across his face as the last gang member dropped. It was clear that as much as he liked the conflict he did not enjoy the results of his efforts. Yume could see, even briefly from this distance, that he had a good heart. Then, with almost startling speed, the fight was over and his face closed down into a disinterested sneer before he strode off, hurting but victorious.
"Hmm, he let them live again. I wonder how long it will take before he realizes that you have to exterminate vermin to really get rid of them?" Karasuba mused with an almost disappointed note in her voice.
"You do realize Miya will end you if you hurt her son, don't you?" Yume asked after a pause.
"That would be a fight worth having," Karasuba replied with a mad gleam in her eye before she calmed down. "But it's a thought for another time. I'm content to just watch. For now," she teased.
Yume bristled at note of something in Karasuba's tone of voice that she could not quite identify. She hoped this passing interest in the eldest Kurosaki child would fade from her partner's mind in time.
"So why did you seek me out, Yume. Do we have another assignment?" Karasuba asked, breaking the other Sekirei's reverie.
"A group has managed to take a newly awakened Sekirei and are trying to experiment on her. We are to retrieve her and eliminate the group that has her," Yume reported.
"Sounds fun. So who did they nab?" Karasuba asked.
"Number eighty-eight. Musubi," Yume replied.
"Well let's go get her back then," Karasuba suggested with a feral sneer.
Yume nodded in agreement as the pair leaped off. As the moved, she wondered if she should make time to talk with Miya about Karasuba's interest in Ichigo when she got back from the mission? After all, it would probably be best if Miya was aware of the Black Sekirei sniffing around her son. The last thing this world needed was Karasuba trying to influence anybody toward her way of thinking.