NaClO (By invitation, otherwise CLOSED)

[HookerBoots]

Amaya and Isamu popped the tiny round pellets from the dispensers into their mouths and were jolted suddenly forward and apart from their bodies. Despite their bodies' states of undress, each of their souls were clad in their uniforms. The two of them looked at the false souls wearing their skin, and Amaya shrugged. "Right, so. We've got something odd. Keep the bodies safe, please, there's no need to leave the house."

The one in her body nodded. "Yes, ma'am." It saluted, and then went to pick up her clothes and put them on.

Nodding, Amaya turned toward the open window and hopped up onto the sill. "All right, we're out!" and she launched herself out into the night. She could feel Isamu following her, both of them bounding through the air as they made their way toward Orihime's apartment.

~ ~ ~ ~​

They skidded to a halt as Ichigo, Chad, and Uryuu all converged on the balcony outside Orihime's house. Amaya blinked. "I . . . I've never been here before," she said, "but I'm pretty sure that's not standard." Outside the door was large gate bathed in shadows that was standing open. She recognized it, but didn't know if any of the others would. Why a hell gate was here, when there were no souls to carry down was troubling.

The door to Orihime's apartment opened, and a tall young man with chin-length hair walked out backward, talking to someone. ". . . it's fine. Trust me."

The three younger men drew in audible breaths as he came into view, and the young man glanced over, a mysterious smile on his face. He walked backward still, towards the gate, his hands outstretched to the ginger-haired girl who was following, her eyes a bit distant.

As he disappeared into the shadows around the gate, Uryuu made a motion towards the girl who was still following. "Inoue-san, stop!"

But his cry was too late. The shadows wrapped around her and the gates slammed shut behind her. Ichigo ran forward, unlimbering Zangetsu and slashing at the structure violently. But the blade seemed to pass through it, and then it shimmered and disappeared. "Dammit!"

Amaya stepped up to where the gate had been, one hand moving through the air as if feeling an invisible wall. She shook her head slowly. ". . . doesn't make sense," she muttered. "No malice, nothing!"

Isamu stepped forward, looking at it with a tilt of his head. "That's odd. If it was . . . well. No telling what's happened." He narrowed his eyes and peered over the railing at the city. "There's five of us, so we can get a lot of the city covered before dawn."

Uryuu nodded. "Yes. We'll all head in different directions, and if she's out there, we'll find her."

Stepping up onto the railing, Ichigo nodded firmly. "We'll find her," he said, his voice determined. "I'll head north, you guys split up the rest." And he was gone.

Looking after him, Amaya snorted. "If I didn't know he was always like that, I'd think he was interested in her," she said. "But anyway. Sooner we go, the sooner we find Hime-chan." She shifted her posture slightly. "You guys know the town better than we do, which directions do you want to head in?"

Chad looked out over the nightscape of the city. "West," he said, and followed Ichigo's leap off the balcony onto the ground and take off running.

There was a moment of silence as he left, then Uryuu turned to them. "I can at least still sense people, and I know you can too. I don't feel Inoue-san at all."

"Me either," Isamu said, looking out over the balcony. "Doesn't mean much, there are a number of ways it could be masked.

The slender boy nodded. "I'll go south. If one of you wanted to stay here and search for clues, that wouldn't be a bad idea." He looked at the railing, then sighed and headed down the stairs.

Amaya and Isamu looked at each other. Finally, she sighed. "You've got a better chance of kicking the ass of whoever took her. I can look for clues, but I don't think I'll find anything. Especially since I have no idea what might look out of place here."

Isamu nodded. "It's at least worth looking, though." He moved to bound off toward the east, but stopped when Amaya put a hand on his shoulder, looking quizically at her

"Be careful, love," she said softly. "There's something strange about all this, and I don't . . . be careful, and call me if you need backup."

"I will be careful," he said, "and I'll call if I need help." They both knew he wouldn't, but she smiled at him and took her hand away before turning to the open door behind them.

~ ~ ~ ~​

The first beams of sunlight were cresting the horizon when they met up again, this time at Ichigo's house - more because they could tell that was where he was heading than by any agreement.

None of them had found a trace, not a hair or a fingernail. Amaya had reported finding nothing unusual in Orihime's apartment, but admitted that they might have more luck tonight. The group's determination was untempered by the fruitless night. "Right, so we'll meet up at Orihime's apartment after school," Ichigo said, yawning broadly. "See what we can find, and work from there, I guess."

Isamu yawned as well, stretching his arms over his head. "That sounds like a great idea. Can we cut class today?" he asked Amaya.

"Not even," she said, running a hand through her hair. "We'll go, because it's expected." She sighed. "Gods, I hate a sleepless night. Come on, we need to get ready for work." Turning to flashstep away, waving over one shoulder. "See you at school, guys."

 

[Armphid]

Isamu rolled his shoulders as he walked out of the school building. It had felt strange all day, going through the motions knowing Inoue was kidnapped somewhere. The others didn't remember her; she wasn't even in the school records. Whoever was behind this was both fast and thorough.

And familiar.

It might be nothing and he hadn't voiced the suspicion yet. But Soul Society did this kind of thing in the aftermath of Hollow attacks all the time. It was exactly the same; like it had never happened and no memories with the survivors no matter how traumatic the experience had been. Had they erased the memory of victims the way Inoue had been? He'd never done it...but had Soul Society? Could they?

He sighed as he turned the corner and pulled out his Soul Candy Dispenser. It was brightly colored with the words "Soul Candy" in English and a plastic frog's head on top with the name "Kaneshiro" written around the base. The American looked at it sourly...it was so dumb they had to call it that. And that animal head. Not that he didn't love the ladies of the Gotei 13 but sometimes the Shinigami Women's Association had way too much say over things like this.

He popped a pill and gulped it down; a moment later there was the energizing jolt of power as he was blasted free of the gigai. God. God damn! The power! He couldn't help but grin, feeling the trust strength of his soul surging through him. Gigai were useful and all but it was staggering how much weaker they made you.

He glanced at his shell, "Head back home and make up some sandwiches, all right? We'll want something to eat when we get home."

"Haa, Takeuchi-dono." Isamu's gigai had a serious, bleak face and he nodded heartily. "I shall do as you ask, and should the sandwiches not be to your liking, I shall slice my belly open in recompense for my failure, kero."

Isamu stared at him a moment. ...And the fucking personalities they gave them. How programmed these damn things, anyway? "Okaaay, sure. Just get going. And keep your eyes open, whoever's behind this might come after you too."

"I shall not fail you, kero! A retainer is always vigilant in the lord's castle; even asleep, I shall watch with the eyes of a hundred lesser men, kero!" The gikon controlled fake body turned and bolted forward, running with the arms stuck out behind like airplane wings.

"...Fucking Japan."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

They'd met up at Orihime Inoue's apartment, by mutual agreement, to see if they could find any clues. After Ishida deftly picked the lock, they were in.

It was a nice place; not too frilly or girly. Isamu picked up a pink teddy bear with a smile and set it back down. "It's got a nice feel to it, this place."

Chad nodded. Ichigo did too, "Yeah. Inoue's so...sunny, I guess it makes sense."

Ishida was standing by the table. "Someone was here with her." Amaya, also out of her gigai, stood on the other side, her arms crossed under her massive tits. "Tea for two."

"So it was a guest...and I bet someone she knew," Amaya said. "She just wouldn't let anyone in, would she?"

Ishida grimaced. "I'd like to say no...but she is friendly and quite naive. If someone told her they needed help, she'd let them in."

"This guy." They all looked over to where Chad was standing by the apartment's small house shrine; pointing at a picture in it. "He was there."

Ichigo blinked. "What the-Chad, are you sure?" The brawny high schooler nodded. The strawberry shook his head, "That can't be...that's Inoue's brother. He's been dead for years now....and I know he went to the other side, 'cause I sent him there."

Amaya had pulled her phone out of her cleavage and was tapping at it, "The Acidwire incident, right? I had Rukia's reports on the town sent over to my phone last night. Her brother became a Hollow...but you purified him."

"Meaning he went right through the other side and on to reincarnation," Isamu said. "So it couldn't have actually been him we saw."

"No. It must have been-" Amaya cut off and she blinked as her phone started to ring. "What...no caller id?" She clinked the answer button on the screen and raised it to her ear, "Moshimoshi?"

"Hi Titanotits!" The voice on the other side was a child's voice, a girl it sounded like, prepubescent if she had to guess. It was peppy and chirpy. "You're there with all the guys right? Great! I want to play a game."

Amaya blinked, "Uh, I'm sorry, imooto-chan but we don't have time for a game right now."

"Oh? Then you want the girl to die?" Amaya went stiff and sucked in a breath. There was a spiteful laugh from the mysterious caller. "Put me on speaker."

"Amaya-san," Ishida's eyes were intent, "is it them?"

"It is, somehow," she answered. She held her phone out to the middle of them and hit the speaker button.

"Can you all hear me now? Good. I want to play a game. If you win, you get the girl back. If you dooooon't there's no telling what will happen to her!"

"A game?" Ichigo shouted , glaring down at the phone, "What the hell is this? You give Inoue back right now!"

"Be at the park in three minutes. Not a second late, or I don't know if she'll stay as healthy as she is right now." Then there was a click and the line when dead.

Ishida burst into motion as soon as the girl had finished speaking. His long legs had him out the door and down the stairs in seconds, Chad fast behind. Ichigo stared at the phone a moment, then bolted for the door as well, "Damn it!"

Isamu and Amaya moved together, the pink haired beauty taking a spare second to close the door behind them. They caught up with the other three in a matter of moments, the small group pelting towards the park.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

At the park, a ringing public phone had sent them to the supermarket, again with only three minutes to spare. After about thirty seconds of running, Isamu realized they were being stupid. "Kuragari-chan, why are we running?"

She looked over at him, "Because-"

"No, I know, why are we running?"

She blinked. "...Because we're dumb." The lush bodied beauty dashed up to Ishida, "Gomen, Ishida-kun!" Though she didn't think he'd really mind. She scooped him up into her arms and then blurred into a flash step.

Ichigo blinked, "What the-hey!" Isamu jumped up and grabbed both he and Chad by the backs of their uniform shirts and then blurred into motion as well.

They arrived at the super market in a quick ten count, Amaya and Ishida just ahead of the other three. The buxom lieutenant looked around, "Okay, this is it. Everyone keep your eyes open and maybe we can spot them!"

"Right." Isamu set the two larger boys down, "Sorry about grabbing you guys."

"Just let us know next time, all right? It makes sense though." Ichigo looked around. "What the hell is this kid playing at?"

The quintet scanned the area intently but nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all. At exactly three minutes, the pay phone in front of the grocery store rang. It didn't even get one ring before Ichigo had picked it up, "Yeah?"

"That was quick...hmm. You're not cheating, are you? I don't like cheaters. If I think you're cheating...well, she won't die but she may not come back with all her parts!" Then there was another of those malicious giggles.

Ichigo bristled, "Why you-"

"Okay, next stop, Urahara Shoten! Don't be late! And if anyone else answers the phone, she dies!"

~~~~~~~~~​

Fiery haired Jinta sighed, "Man, this sucks! Why do we gotta sweep all the time? It ain't like it's this dirty out here."

Meek and dark haired Ururu looked at him with a small smile, her cheeks rosy as always, "Well, um, it's probably only that clean because we do it everyday, Jinta-kun."

"Shut up! I know that, you-huh?" The two kids paused, hearing approaching feet. The two small figures turned to see Ichigo, Chad, Uryuu, Amaya, and Isamu all running down the side street towards them. Jinta smirked, "Well, if it ain't the loser patrol! Something got you running scared?"

"Jinta...I don't think they're stopping!" Ururu and Jinta exchanged a look as the group bore down on them full speed.

Four voices bellowed at once, "OUT OF THE WAY!"

"kYahah!" Ururu tackled Jinta out of the path of the charging group before the two of them were trampled underfoot. The red haired boy goggled after them as they threw the doors to the ship open and thundered inside. "Hey! Hey, what the hell?"

The phone on the counter rang and Ichigo lunged for it, the others gathering around. "You little shit! Inoue, is she okay? I want to hear her!"

"Hee! Listen to you, acting all tough! You actually made it though, I'm impressed." The girl snickered, "A little out of breath from what I can hear, maybe you're not tough enough for this game."

"Wait 'til I get my hands on you!"

"Ah ah ah, you don't want to make me mad, dooo you? I wouldn't, if I were you. Not with her all tied up and helpless." The five would be rescuers exchanged a look. "If you want her back, be at her apartment tonight at 8PM sharp. Don't be late or, well, you should know by now. Buh-bye!"

"Wait," Isamu grabbed the phone from Ichigo, "why back there? What are you playing...shit. She hung up." He set the phone back down on the counter. "Damn."

Ichigo kicked the counter, "Jerking us around like this! What do we do now?"

Amaya sighed, "We don't have a choice. We have to do as she says, at least until we have some idea what's going on."

 

[HookerBoots]

On the other side of town, two lithe figures stalked through the shadows, staying hidden as they ghosted behind another slender figure. The lead woman turned down a corner and darted into a building, the door slamming and audibly locking behind her.

The two following stopped at the corner and they both hopped up onto the roof of the building she'd entered. They crouched there, for a moment, then the smaller one turned her head. "Yoruichi-sama, what do you think this place is?" she whispered, her voice lightly obscured by the mask she wore over her lower face.

"Not their base," the dark-skinned woman whispered back. "It looks like a safe house, Soi Fon." She thought for a moment, then straightened up. "Stay here for a bit - I want to check in with Kisuke on this."

The captain of Squad Two glowered for a moment, but nodded. Yoruichi flashed from the rooftop to the next one, on and on until she vanished from sight.

~ ~ ~ ~​

"Well," Amaya said, sighing, "we have two hours before we have to be there. Maybe we should have a cup of tea and talk about what to do."

Ichigo was pacing like a caged animal. "We know what to do. We go there, and we cut down anyone who gets in our way!"

"Stop being a moron," Isamu snapped. "We need a plan for whatever they want us there for. It's obviously a trap."

Uryuu nodded. "Clearly." He stood up. "I'll head over and set up a stakeout, so that we can at least see what they might be setting up for us." He pulled his jacket off and turned in inside out, so that the black outside was exposed. "I'll let you know if anyone shows up."

"How?" Ichigo's voice was blunt. "You can't move faster than a run, and we may need info faster than that."

A small head popped up from a bag that Uryuu had at his waist, the head of a stuffed lion toy. "I'll do it! I'm fast, and I can spot things as well as four-eyes here!"

One of Uryuu's hands shoved the head back in. "Shut up, Kon. I have a cell phone, Kurosaki." He flipped the phone out of his pocket. "I'll call the shop, or Sado-san." And with that, he headed out the door at a jog.

Urahara bustled into the room behind him, fanning himself. "Yare yare! What a surprise, all of you visiting me!" Ururu followed with a tray of tea and sat it down on the table. "What brings you all here? Just to use my phone?" He plopped down between Ichigo and Chad, smiling slightly.

 

[Armphid]

"Orihime Inoue has been kidnapped," Isamu said. Urahara's smile faltered. "It happened last night."

Amaya nodded, "She let someone into her room and they led her out...and into the Gates of Hell." She grimaced, "But it couldn't have been. It didn't feel anything like this. There was no malice, no energy I could feel at all..."

Ichigo snorted, "Yeah, and it's not like they'd take Orihime anyway. I mean, I can't think of a less Hell-worthy person."

There was a soft rumble from behind and everyone but Urahara turned their head to see Tessai looming in the back of the shop. "This is serious. It can't be anything normal either. Manager, the fact that they even knew about this shop..."

"Means they're not normal humans," the former captain finished the thought. "So, what will all of you do?"

Isamu and Amaya exchanged a look, Chad just watching Ichigo. After a moment, the orange haired youth shrugged, "We have to do what they ask. We can't risk Orihime's life."

"I agree, though I hate it," Isamu added. "Man, this is all so weird. And so out of nowhere."

Amaya pursed her lips, "And whoever this is...they clearly know about you, Kurosaki-san, and Hime-chan too. I wonder..."

Ichigo suddenly stood up, "We'll find out tonight. I'm going to go home and try to do some homework and rest up. Urahara-san." The green robed man looked up, listening, "Could you look into this on your end?"

"I'm a shop keeper, not a detective...but yes, I'll investigate. Don't expect too much, I've never really done this kind of thing before."

Was that really true? Isamu eyed the older man. Surely he'd have had to do investigation as part of Squad 2 before he became 12's captain. Ichigo nodded, "All right then. I'll see you guys tonight." Chad rose as well, nodding, and made his exit following behind Ichigo.

Amaya looked over at Isamu, making a quick decision and hoping he wouldn't be too mad at him. "Isamu-kun, would you go and keep an eye on the others? You can move quickly between them in case the enemy attacks while we're separate?"

"If that's a concern, shouldn't I stay with you?" He flinched as her eyes narrowed, "I just mean with the limiter on and all, you know?"

She raised an eyebrow and shrugged; beside her Urahara was fanning himself and Tessai stood immediately behind her, flexing. "I think I'll be fine."

"Uh...right." Okay, man, these guys were weird. And she just went along with it! His love was an odd girl. "All right. I'll report in every now and then, otherwise, I guess I'll see you at 8 unless I hear different." He inclined his head to the other men and then rose as well, walking out of the shop and closing the door before he blurred away with shun-po.

Urahara tipped his hat so it hid his face a bit, "Sooo...I get the feeling you had something you wanted to say but not in front of anyone else. Something bothering you, Kuragari-san?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Watching teenagers do homework, play bass, and watch another building was about the worst duty Isamu could think of. He almost felt like Amaya was punishing him for something. And he'd even told his Soul Candy to make them sandwiches!

He wondered what Amaya was up to during all this time for that matter...but she was smarter than him, so she was probably following up another lead she'd thought of. Though why she didn't want him along...wait. She didn't him along? Was that why he was doing this stupid lookout duty?

No. No, he wasn't going to think that way about her. She and his sword were the two things he trusted above all else.

The afternoon wore into evening. The sky was already dark when the quintet gathered again in front of Orihime's apartment; all of them arriving before the prescribed date.

Ichigo was the last to arrive; a soul now like Amaya and Isamu. As he landed, the slender Quincy pushed his glasses up. "We're all here then." It was a testament to how serious he was about this that he didn't even chide Ichigo for cutting it close. "I wish I could say I'd seen something in my time here...but I haven't." He shook his head, "The neighbors have been about but nothing else. I haven't sensed anything either."

Before anyone else could speak, Amaya's phone beeped. "8 o'clock," she said, reaching in to silence it. A second later, there was a glow from the windows of Orihime's apartment; a reddish purple light pouring out the windows, "Ara! Minna, let's go!"

"Right!" The group surged forward, charging up the stairs and to Orihime's door. It swung open at Uryuu's touch, the graceful boy somehow getting in the lead.

"Huh?" Orihime blinked as the group barged in and skidded to a halt. The apartment looked completely normal. The buxom teen was seated by her table; one of her schoolbooks out, looking at them. "Uh...you could knock, you know. What's up? You all look surprised? Did something happen?"

They all stared at her; expressions of confusion on the faces of all but Uryuu whose face was mingled relief and suspicion. Ichigo coughed, "Orihime, you, uh, are you okay?"

She looked at him as though he'd just announced she was a purple zebra. "...Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Isamu paced to the wall opposite the door and looked out the window. Nothing. "Inoue-san, what do you remember about today?"

"H-huh? What do you mean?" The busty girl shook her head, "You're all starting to freak me out."

"It's all right, Hime-chan," Amaya said. "Just answer the question."

"Oookay. Well. Today we all went back to school! First day back!" She beamed, "And you guys were teachers, and Takeuchi-san, uh, sensei made Kurosaki-kun do push-ups, and-"

Chad grunted and Ichigo looked stunned, "Orihime, you don't remember being kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped? I haven't napped at all today! I was doing my homework like a good girl."

"Memory modification again." Isamu frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't like this. It's just like-"

There was a thunderous crash from outside and the building shook, the door slamming shut. There was a howling roar from outside and the wind lashes at the windows like they were in a typhoon. The glass bowed in for a few moments and then broke, spraying the room with broken glass.

Amaya leaped for the door and blinked, trying to pull it open, "Hey, it's locked! When did that happen?" And why could she just tear it off it's hinges given the strength she had as a soul?

"Damn!" Isamu glared out the window, "Look!" Outside, the towering Gate of Hell was back, the door creaking open. He glanced back at the rest of the group, "Out the window and let's-the hell?"

The others followed his eyes to the back of the room and gaped in shock. Towering Chad was on one knee, his hands straining around one of Orihime's delicate forearms as the ginger beauty had grabbed him from behind and was choking him to death. The silent young man's enormous strength didn't seem to be enough to keep the slender girl at bay.

She grinned at them; the expression vicious and gloating and complete out of place on Orihime's pretty features. Her eyes suddenly burned red and she let out a laugh that fell in pitch and timbre to become that of a man. Orihime let Chad go, the boy falling heavily down to his hands and knees, coughing as he tried to draw in breath. "Kuroudo," she said in a deep, menacing voice. Orihime blurred and suddenly became a tall and broad shouldered man in an outlandish suit; opposing panels in yellow and purple and wearing a tall top hat. He had an elegant mustache and his hair was long and a fresh seaweed green color. "Pleased to meet you."

Before they could react he and Chad suddenly flew through the air towards the now open portal outside. Chad spun in the air and reached out to them before disappearing into the swirling energy inside the gate.

"Chad! No!" Ichigo leaped out of the shattered window, the others following behind, save for Uryuu, who bolted out the now un-locked door. The mysterious Kuroudo was standing on top of the portal with two other figures. One was taller than Kuroudo but far leaner, his body hidden in a slightly baggy suit that covered him head to toe. A few locks of pink hair and hard blue eyes stared out of an open zipper on a mask over his face. Beside him was a little girl, barely coming up to his waist. Her hair was a perfect storybook blond, long and down her front and back and she wore a strange looking dress of pink edged in white and a large poncho of the same pink over it.

The girl waved, "Hiii!" Her voice was the one from the phone; girlish, childish, malicious. "I'm Ririn! This is Noba! And we've got two of your friends now! Buh-byeeee!" The Gate of Hell slammed closed, wavered, and vanished, the three strangers with it. The street was quiet and empty, as if they had never been there.

Ichigo stared, "Chad...and Orhime too..."

Uryuu pushed his glasses up his nose, "No soul ribbons that I could see..."

"Fuck!" Isamu turned and kicked a garbage can that was at the curb, sending it shooting off into the air to vanish out of sight a few moments later. "What the hell is going on?"

Amaya's face was serious. "I don't know. But we'll find out. Come on, we're going back to Urahara Shoten."

 

[HookerBoots]

"Ahh, this tea is quite excellent, Tessai-san," Urahara said, taking a deep breath. The two men were sitting together at a table in the back of the shop, a metal pot and two steaming cups on the table.

"Arigato, manager-dono. I've always been fond of chrysanthemum tea." The large man rumbled his response, lifting the cup, small in his large hands. They both looked up as the sound of feet came closer and closer, followed by the sound of Jinta hollering, a crash, and the door to the room they were in crashing open.

Urahara looked up at the group of younger people in the doorway and beamed. "Good evening, minna-san! How can we help you tonight? I'm afraid I've made little headway on your request."

The group shuffled into the room and settled around the table, Amaya, Isamu, Uryuu, Ichigo, and Ichigo's body. "Look, we've got big problems," Ichigo said, leaning to one side and pressing his substitute Shinigami badge against it. The small, round pellet of a gikongan popped out of the mouth and Uryuu caught it in the air, shoving it into the mouth of the lion-shaped backpack he had been carrying.

"They - whoever they are," Isamu said, "took Chad. We know one's a shape-shifter, or illusionist; he made himself look like Inoue-san, and then grabbed Chad and left." He sighed and shook his head. "Wasn't a damn thing we could do, they sucked him into that gate and laughed at us."

They described the trio that had taunted them, while Urahara and Tessai listened. When they finished, the blond man sighed. "That is quite a puzzle. Vanished without a trace, you say? My, my." He fanned himself a bit, thinking. "There are a few things we can do that might help with the investigation."

A small face appeared in the open door. "E-excuse me, manager-san," Ururu's voice was timid and shy. "There's a call for our guests, she says it's a matter of life or death."

The group was on their feet in a flash, Amaya and Ichigo reaching the door at almost the same time. They muscled past each other into the hallway, but Uryuu beat them to the phone, hissing, "Idiots, we don't know if she could even hear you over this thing, don't you know how phones work?" He grabbed the receiver, lifting it to his ear, "Hello?"

"I don't know how they work," Amaya said sulkily, arms folding beneath her breasts. A little giggle almost bubbled up when Ichigo and Uryuu both blushed and turned to face away so they weren't looking right at her cleavage.

They could hear the same little girl's voice over the phone. "Oh, it's the skinny boy! Well, it works the same anyway! If you want to see your friends again, you should come to Karakura History Museum and play with us!"

"This isn't a game, tell us where our friends are!"

The little girl - Ririn - tsk'd. "I told you how to get them back, that's good enough. Come to the museum, and we'll play and if you win, maybe you'll get Boobs or the big guy back!" She laughed. "You'd better hurry, unless you want us to get bored and start taking off pieces!" There was an audible click as she hung up the phone.

 

[Armphid]

"I'm gonna tear that little-gah!" Ichigo threw his hands up in the air. "What the hell is the point of all this, anyway? If they want to attack us, why don't they just attack us?" He then glanced around witha pugnacious look on his face before looking surprised. "...No one's going to call me "dumb" for saying that?"

"Not all of us can be Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki," Uryuu said. "But your point, while expressed sophmorically, isn't entirely without merit. Why these games?"

"But I'm a Senior..."

The rest of them ignored that. Amaya tilted her head back, "Maybe this is another trap to try and grab someone else, to weaken us further before the real attack. We still outnumber them."

"That you do." Urahara was looking at a ticker tape that had come out of what had looked like an old answering machine next to the phone. "This is interesting. That girl's voiceprint isn't that of a human or of a shinigami."

Isamu frowned, "So what are they then? I've never seen any Hollows that look that human."

Tessai spoke, his bass rumble troubled, "I suspect some kind of kidou is being employed by these three, for their strange abilities. It might be difficult to fight them hand to hand."

"No problem." Ichigo looked confident, "Gestuga Tensho's got range. Think that'll beat this kidou of theirs?"

"Don't be a fool, Kurosaki!" Uryuu gave his classmate and frenemy a glare, "The power of that technique is too great to use here. You could accidentally destroy the entire museum! And a lot of the surrounding area. The risk of hurting someone by mistake is too great."

Amaya nodded, "I'm good with kidou, actually, but...well, being a lieutenant, I've got the limiter on. I'm only at a fifth of my normal strength."

"Geez." Ichigo looked over at the slender youth, "Looks like your Quincy stuff is our ace in the hole then."

Before he could answer, Tessai spoke again, "Don't count on it. So far, they have attacked in such a way as to mitigate your fighting skills. They have likely anticipated Ishida-dono's as well."

Isamu snored, "Yeah, everything's worked out perfect for them. Well, that's about to change. I can use kidou too and I'm stronger than a lieutenant." Every set of us looked at him; some considering, some disbelieving, some amused. "...I am! Stronger than some of them, anyway!"

"Doesn't matter, we need to go." Ichigo looked over at Urahara. "Could you please keep my body safe here until this blows over? We want Kon as an extra set of eyes and a secret lookout. ...Plus, I don't think he could outrun these guys if they came after my body with him in it."

"Hey! I gave YOU a pretty good run around, if you remember!"

"Shut up."

The former Squad 12 captain nodded, "Of course. Keep your wits about you out there now. Whatever their motive or abilities, this is most assuredly a trap."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

"It's been a long time since I've been here," Ichigo commented as they stepped into the large lobby of the museum. Rearing up in front of them at the back of the room was a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. The doors had been unlocked despite it being in the middle of the night. "It doesn't seem like anything's going on."

There was a faint crackle as the loud speaker in the room came on, "Hiii! You all made it! Great! Now we're playing hide and seek! If you can find us in here, you get your friends back! But no weapons, try to bring them, and they'll die!" She giggled. "Put them in the cases over there."

The three of them went over to see a set of three display cases set up to hold the three weapons like they were museum pieces. On each was a hand written placard. Isamu blinked as he read his, "Hitoshirezu...Daikon?"

"Heh, that's one mean radish you got," Ichigo snickered. Then he looked at his own and growled, "I'll beat the crap out of her!" The sign read "Zanketsu" (Slaying Ass) before Ichigo kicked it to pieces.

"Really, don't get so excited over such a little thing," Amaya said, her sword already in a shut case that read "Saru Konton Tsugi" and shaking her head.

"Shut up!"

Uryuu sighed, "It's no good. He's got the same mental state as our enemy." The three finished putting away their weapons and moved to join Uryuu, the group then walking forward into the next room. As they did, he pushed his glasses up his nose, "...Did anyone else sense something strange just now?"

"Not now," the whiny Kon spoke up from Uryuu's back, "but this whole place has a weird energy; I noticed it as soon as we came in."

"Hey!" The others turned to look at Isamu, who was last in line. He was pointing back the way they came, "Look, guys!" The room they had just left had changed, now looking exactly like the room they were in.

Amaya blinked and then looked to the left and then right, "It can't be...over there too, and there!"

"What the hell, Kon?" Ichigo smacked the plushy who had been converted into a backpack, "You were supposed to be watching our backs!"

"I was! I didn't see anything strange; it was just suddenly different!"

"I see." Uryuu nodded, stroking his chin with the long fingers of his right hand, "It's a maze. But clearly not an ordinary one. There must be some kind of riddle to figure out to solve it."

Isamu sighed, "Not to further my image as a meat head but, I'm not good at this kind of thing. What do we do?"

Uryuu reached into Kon, ignoring a muffled protest and pulled out a spool of red thread. "We start by creating a reference point, since all these rooms look alike." He went over and tied the thread to one of the posts by the door they'd come in from and then gave the spool to the little stuffed lion to hold, "Make sure that keeps spinning and makes a trail for us."

"I get it." The auburn haired shinigami grinned, "Theseus and the Minotaur, right?"

"Good thinking, Ishida-kun." Amaya smiled at him, making him blush, and then moved next to him and dug her hands into Kon's pouch as well.

"Oh, to think I wanted to be in you," the lecherous mod soul sighed.

Amaya seemed to have not heard or was just ignoring him as she pulled out a little notebook and a pen, "This'll help too. We can draw a map of where we've been to figure it out."

"Okay." Ichigo nodded, "So...I guess we just need to start going in a direction, huh?" he squared his shoulders and started to walk straight ahead, "Let's go then."

"Straight to hell," Isamu muttered, falling in behind him. Amaya walked beside her love, Uryuu and Kon taking up the rear, red thread spooling out behind them.

 

[HookerBoots]

They were proceeding cautiously, moving as carefully as possible through the next room. All of them gained a measure of confidence back when nothing terrible happened. Amaya was't sure what she expected, maybe a pit full of spikes opening up at their feet, or walls that moved to smush them. Nothing happened, though, and it was a little bit of a relief. At the same time, she thought to herself, the fact that nothing had happened probably only meant that something worse was waiting ahead.

The second room was a lot of nothing as well, just displays identical to the other ones they'd passed. Amaya could feel Isamu tensing up, expecting something coming soon, knowing as well as she did that they hadn't been brought here just to be caught in a mobius strip.

"We should be more careful," Amaya said, her right hand opening and closing. "It's way too quiet here."

The second their feet hit the floor in the third room, everything was covered in a black mist, that enveloped the group. When it cleared, they were trapped, each to their own glass display case. Each of them was along a different wall, enclosed in glass on top of a wooden pedestal about a foot above the floor. Amaya blinked, looking around at them. "What . . . what just happened?"

Her words echoed back to her strangely, and the others, when they answered, were muffled. "A trap," Uryuu said, his eyes thoughtful as he looked at the cases. He tapped the glass in front of him tentatively, testing its strength.

Anything else he might have said was drowned out in the sound of Isamu and Ichigo starting to punch and beat down their enclosures, the impacts ringing through the room. It wasn't until the little plushie lion hopped onto the center display case - holding a very fancy looking set of jewelry - that they stopped and looked.

"Kon, how the hell are you out there?" Ichigo glared at him, as though this were his fault. "C'mon, put your legendary speed to the test and help us break out!"

The lion looked at all of them, a little surprised. "Guys, come on! You're not locked up in anything. Look!" He flipped himself off the enclosure at Amaya and passed right through the glass, landing with an "Oooof!" against her chest. "Ahhh, nee-san, if you want to be trapped, though, that's okay too!"

She picked him up by one leg and flipped him through the air. He went sailing, and even though she half-expected him to thud against the inside of the glass, he didn't. As he passed through the glass again, the image wavered and vanished for her - they were all standing on the floor, weren't they? Nothing at all happening, just the same old room again. "He's a pervert, but he's right," she said. She waved her hand through where the glass had been and took a step forward. "Try it, believe it's not there, and you'll be free."

There was a moment's hesitation, then they all did it, and blinked in surprise as the illusion of being trapped shimmered and disappeared. Ichigo dashed over and grabbed the toy by the foot. "How did you see through it? What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know!" Kon glared up at him with a fierce expression. "It was just clear to me as you are now!"

Uryuu tilted his head thoughtfully, then moved and grabbed the toy from Ichigo. "I have an idea, but I need more evidence." He put the backpack plush on his shoulders again. "Let's go. I want to keep going."

 

[Armphid]

"This place makes no sense! It's impossible!" Ichigo threw up his arms and scowled at the rest of the group, not really angry with them but in general. "I hate these stupid puzzle dungeons!"

"That sounds like something Inoue would say." Isamu shook his head. Not that he disagreed. He was getting touchy himself and he knew it. They'd been at this for at least an hour. After the trap with them in the cases, they'd walked on a few rooms, only to come to a room that fell away into an impassable firepit. Turning left, they'd crossed a few more rooms and then the room ahead collapsed in on them as they tried to enter. "Maybe that's what she sees in you."

"What?"

"What?"

If they tried to go past three rooms, they hit an impossible trap. So they'd started moving in an L-pattern at Ishida's suggestion and it had worked, no more traps. But there was also nothing else. More and more and more of the same rooms, over and over.

And now they were back where they started, Ishida looking at the red thread tied to one of the posts in the display case lined room where he'd tied it off, then glanced back behind him to see the spool held in Kon's hands with the line going out the door they had just entered. "So that's it."

Amaya noted the youth's words and stepped over to him, "Ishida-kun, did you figure it out?"

"Yes." Ishida nodded and turned to face the group as a whole. "This museum can't be big enough for all the rooms we've walked through, let alone all oft hem being the same. Which means they're not different rooms at all."

Ichigo growled, "Quit trying to impress us with how clever you are and just spit it out already!"

Isamu nodded slowly, "I get it. We've been going through the same rooms, right?"

Amaya slapped her balled up right hand into her left, "Of course! We've been looping over and over!"

Uryuu nodded. He hadn't expected the half breed lout to figure it out that quickly. "A Mobius strip. We've been going through the same nine rooms over and over, whenever we could to the "end," we just go back around for another loop. And those traps keep us from breaking out of it."

"Yeah. Good thinking, Ishida-san." The American grimaced, "I don't see how that helps us get out though. Those traps almost got us a few times now. That first time, I thought we were done for."

Amaya pursed her lips, "Except Kon-san wasn't caught in that trap."

Ichigo shrugged, "So what? He was with us for all the others."

"Yeah! That firepit was so hot, I thought my cute plastic eyes were gonna melt!"

Ishida blinked. "He wasn't caught the first time, but all the ones after that. And before then...I see. I think I've figured out almost everything now." The other three looked at him. "I know how to solve the maze. Before we do, I'm going to need to borrow something from you Kurosaki."

"From me? I mean, if you want Kon to dress up like a doll again, I guess you can have him but is this really the time?"

The Quincy's expression was pained, "Not that! I need to borrow your Substitute Shinigami badge." He held out his hand, "Just for the next little bit."

Amaya nodded, "No ahead, Kurosaki-san. I think I might be beginning to figure out what he's thinking."

"Uh, well," Ichigo glanced at her, his eyes dipping to the magnificent and breath taking expanse of cleavage exposed by her kosode. "Y-yeah, sure, if you say so, Amaya-san, uh, Kuragari-san." He reached into his own robe and pulled out the pentagonal object, handing it over to Ishida.

"All right. Follow me and don't stop, no matter what happens." Uryuu shifted the badge in his left hand so that it was held in his palm and completely hidden by it. Then he started off into a run through the door ahead of them.

"Hey, Uryuu, hold on, damn it!" Ichigo started after a few moments after Amaya and Isamu, bringing up the rear. They charged through out room, then another, and then the floor in the room ahead fell away into a yawning chasm.

"Don't stop," Uryuu snapped, his stride never breaking as he hurtled out over the empty space...and just kept running. The other three followed after, a bit wide eyed, their feet landing solidly on the nothing beneath them, the group bursting through the closed door on the other side-

-to come out into the lobby they'd come into first upon entering the museum. The sound of someone clapping drew their eyes to the skeleton in the middle of the foyer to see the diminutive girl Ririn sitting atop it. Her mischievous eyes were bright and she had a smirk on her cute lips, "You got it! Wow, I'm impressed! I really thought you'd all be wandering around for another few hours." She tilted her head, her green eyes on Uryuu. "How'd you figure it out, four eyes?"

"I'm actually embarrassed it took me so long," he replied. "The Mobius strip was what really got me there but I should have seen it in that first trap. You didn't trap Kon because you didn't know to include him in your illusion. But after that first time, you were sure to. The only explanation for that was if none of the traps were real to begin with, just illusions you placed on us."

Her smile was a bit sheepish but also more genuine. "Ahh, sugoi! You're the brains, huh? Well, good for you! And...too bad."

There was a flash of purplish light and the tall, lanky man who had been standing with her on the gate was suddenly behind Uryuu, grabbing hold of him, his wine red eyes serious and a few locks of reddish hair sticking out of the horizontal zipper of the mask he wore.

"Damn it!" Isamu started to move, already knowing he was too late to intercept the abduction.

"Ishida-kun, no!" Amaya reached out, having turned and lunged for him as soon as Ririn had congratulated the boy. Of course they'd take him now! And she couldn't reach him in time!

Uryuu just pressed his left hand against his attacker's arm, a slight upbend in the corners of his mouth. There was a flash of light from the palmed Substitute Shinigami badge and the masked man's eyes went wide and then empty. He jerked back and away from the slender youth as if he'd been shot and his head snapped back, the zipper now wide enough to show more of his face, his mouth opening and a small ball the size of a gumdrop to come flying out. He watched impassively as the limp form fell to the floor heavily and the green sphere clacked onto the tile. "I was certain but this proves it."

"That's...Soul Candy?" Isamu blinked at the ball on the floor and then the body behind it, "Then that's a gigai!"

"Yes. Everything Urahara-san told us makes sense now." Ishida was smirking at Ririn now, the little girl looked startled and even a bit afraid. "Not shinigami, not humans, not Hollows clearly but seemingly human forms. That left only one real possibility, that I've just proven. Mod Souls, like Kon. And I bet those illusions of yours are a special power build into you, aren't they?"

"Like my super legs!" Kon was scrambling around, trying to lift himself up enough to look at the scene. "But I didn't think there any other Mod Souls left."

Ririn smirked again, "Don't compare us to you! And congratulations, four eyes, you really did figure it out. But not the most important parts. Why we're doing this, and what we did with your friends..."

A statue by the wall suddenly turned into the outlandishly dressed Kuroudo, who dove and plucked up the limp gigai as well as the displaced gikongan and bolted out of the museum's main entrance, Riran leaping after him. The quartet charged after them, rushing down the steps. Ishida drew in a breath as they saw two figures sitting up at the base of the steps, looking about in confusion, "Inoue-san..."

"Chad!" Ichigo rushed down to the two of them, "Inoue too, you're both all right?"

"Don't let your guard down, kid!" Isamu reached for his sword only to find it not there, surrendered when they'd started the maze. "Shit!"

In the middle of the street in front of the museum, the three mysterious enemies were standing in front of the gate of Hell once again. "Like I said, you won the game, so you got them back!" Ririn was all smirking superiority again, "Aren't you happy? And here," she gestured to the masked Noba who nodded and lifted a hand. Three purple swirls appeared for a moment, the shinigami's zanpakuto falling out of them to clatter onto the sidewalk. "You solved it fast enough, you'll have a little breather before school starts. I'd try not to be late, 'cause that's when the next game starts too! Byeeee!" The three of them hopped backwards into the gate, the enormous doors slamming shut with terrible speed, the whole thing then vanishing.

Isamu glared at the empty space where it had been. "...I don't condone violence against kids, but in this case..."

 

[HookerBoots]

They landed on the sidewalk in front of the school gates, looking around to see if they could spot a trap before it sprang shut on them. Instead, in the early dawn light was Ichigo's body, lying on the ground as if sleeping. "I hate playing by someone else's rules," Amay muttered, turning around slowly, her sword still sheathed but her hand on the hilt.

She turned as she heard footsteps, and saw her and Isamu's bodies running down the street, dressed for their work at the school. "We received your call and came at once, kero," Isamu's body said with a low bow. "It is an honor to serve, my lady, my lord."

Amaya shook her head and muttered, "The things the Woman's Association decides to do. . . ." She raised her voice. "Yes, arigato gozaimasu." She stepped into her body, raising one hand to grab the pill that popped out of her mouth, and noticed Isamu doing the same next to her.

They worked their arms and legs a bit, getting used to the feel of having something corporeal again. Isamu looked at Ichigo, one eyebrow up. "You should get back into your body before your classmates get here think you got kicked out of the house."

Ichigo glowered at him, but moved to line himself up with his body. "I don't know why Hat-and-Clogs couldn't have left it in my room, so that I didn't have to worry about people thinking I'm some weird hobo."

As he merged with his body again, there was the sound of rushing air, and when they all looked, Ririn and Noba appeared from a swirl of smoke on the top of the wall surrounding the school. The little girl was holding a large wall clock in one hand, and Amaya noted that it had the correct time on it. "Good morning, minna-san," the tiny blonde sing-songed, "So glad to see you all made it!"

The group scowled at her, narrowed eyes and folded arms. "Ara! No words of welcome? Well, I'll be generous and explain the rules anyway!" She moved so that one leg was in front of the other, holding up her free hand with one finger raised. "One of you," her finger pointed, moving back and forth over the group, "is an imposter."

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked, his face filled with confusion rapidly turning to anger. "An imposter?"

Isamu looked at the two on the wall, then at the group. "The shape-shifter, Kuroudo, he's not there." He frowned at the two mod souls on the wall. "You're saying one of us is your buddy in disguise."

"That doesn't make sense, though!" Amaya shook her head. "When could they have switched? We've been together since we left the museum, there's no way."

Kon's lion body jumped up to land on Ichigo's shoulder. "Nee-san, that's true, but remember, they had Hime-chan and Chad-san prisoner. What if it's one of them?"

Orihime shook her head, "No, it's not me!" Chad shook his head as well, his hair falling over his eyes.

Amaya looked back at Ririn. "I think you're bluffing. Maybe your two-toned friend is just at home having a snack, not replacing one of us at all."

"You can think what you want, Big Boobs," the little girl said, shrugging. "But if you don't find the imposter, your friends will disappear!"

Ichigo launched himself at the girl, hands outstretched, but she dodged him without effort. "Now, now, you're almost making me mad," she said, wagging her finger at him. "But here are the rest of the rules!" She tapped the clock. "You have until noon to figure out who the imposter is! If you guess right, as a group, then you win! When you're wrong, the school and ev-reee-one in it will be eliminated!"

Uryuu blinked. "Eliminated? What do you mean, eliminated?"

"They'll disappear," she said, snapping her fingers, "never to be seen again!" She laughed lightly. "You get one guess, just one! Otherwise, everyone's gone without a trace!" Her laughter was the only sound as the smoke enveloped them again and they vanished from sight.

Silence for a moment, then Ichigo shook his head. "Man, that's crazy. Do you guys think they can actually disappear the whole school?"

Uryuu shrugged. "They took Chad-san and Inoue-san earlier, there's no reason to think they couldn't." He turned to look at the other two students. "Do you two remember anything from when you were gone?"

Orihime thought for a moment, putting one finger to her chin. "Hmmm. I don't, really. I remembering being in my room, and then I remember seeing you all outside the museum, but there's really nothing between."

Chad shrugged his shoulders and rumbled, "I was floating in darkness. That's . . . all."

"Hmm." The Quincy nodded slowly. "It's possible the portals they make lead to an extra-dimensional space." He studied the school. "Though they never said they would eliminate Inoue-san or Chad-san."

Ichigo bristled visibly. "I'd never let anyone do that! And I'm not going to let them do this, either!" He jumped as a pair of hands landed on his shoulders.

 

[Armphid]

"Morning Ichigo!" Keigo Asano grinned and looked around at the group, "Wow, you guys are here early...and out of uniform...and with...teachers?" His eyes narrowed, "You guys...you're doing that uncool thing where you actually study, aren't you? And it's not bad enough to do evening cram schools, you show up early in the morning for it! And you're corrupting Inoue-san with your geekiness!"

"Shut up," growled Ichigo, Uryuu, and Isamu all at once, the three then blinking at one another as Keigo wilted back.

Behind them, the more diminutive Mizuiro walked up calmly, "Good morning everyone. Kuragari-sensei, you're looking particularly lovely today. I'm very much looking forward to art class." He continued on with a wave, Keigo following after him a moment later, wailing something about the scary eyes he was getting from those studying freaks.

Once they were mostly out of earshot, the slender Quincy pushed his glasses up with his right hand, "So, what do we intend to do now?"

Ichigo shook his head, "We have to play their game and find that imposter, to protect our friends, and everyone else at school."

"Then we should go to class," Chad rumbled. The dark skinned boy's expression was as impassive as ever. "If we're late, they'll pull us aside and it'll be harder to ask questions and figure things out."

Isamu nodded, "Yeah, you guys go ahead. Watch and think. We'll try to meet up at the first break." He glanced over at Amaya, "I think we should call Urahara Shoten too, to make sure they're all right." The others looked at him with the question clear on their faces, "Think about it. We left Kurosaki's body with him but it ended up here."

Ichigo blinked, "That's right. How could they have gotten it away from him?"

Amaya grimaced. "We'll find out. You guys go off to class now." The four students nodded and headed off. The busty shinigami sighed, crossing her arms under her titanic tits. "...This is really a mess."

"You're not kidding." The American shook his head, "I'm actually missing the days when all we had to worry about was Hollows."

Amaya smiled, "Those were tough times too, in their own way. And dangerous. Remember when I first released my sword? That Hollow had broken my left arm and then next thing you knew, I was holding a wakazashi and stabbed it!"

Her lover looked at her like she'd grown horns, "Amaya-chan," they were alone at the moment, after all, "what are you talking about? It was a stomach wound and your sword released as a naginata first."

She whirled to face him, beaming and pointing at him, "Bing-bong! That's right!"

He slapped his forehead, "Of course. Good thinking, Amaya-chan. Now you know I'm me. And I...don't actually know you're you, you could be playing along with me."

She nodded, "That's true. So, ask me something only I would know!"

"Uh, okay." Isamu thought a moment and then grinned. "Do you remember when we first made love at the Harvest Festival all those years ago? Ran-san set us up in the Squad 10 barracks."

"Ara, talking about that! You're so bad!" Amaya looked around and stepped up closer to him, concerned students or fellow teachers might overhear their salacious conversation. "But it wasn't me, it was Hinamori-chan."

Isamu nodded. "So. That's us."

"Hai. But the other four..."

He shook his head, "Two. It's got to be Sado or Inoue. They were the ones kidnapped and the only ones that could be replaced."

"I wonder...it depends on how strong those illusions they can do are, doesn't it?" Amaya frowned. "I don't think we can rule any of them out."

Isamu looked rebellious but didn't argue. "We should get to class ourselves."

She nodded, "Keep your eyes open and think of things we can ask the others to root out the imposter!"

 

[HookerBoots]

The morning seemed to drag and rush simultaneously. There wasn't a lot of work to do in Amaya's classes - the students were working patiently on still life drawings, which meant there wasn't a lot of chance to chat with them. She couldn't tell if any of her four friends were the same as always or not.

She actually spent most of her first two classes staring moodily at the students, idly chewing on the end of a pen. She almost started when Chizuru said, next to her, "Kuragari-sensei, could you look this over? I don't think I got the perspective right." The spectacled girl was not-quite looking down Amaya's top, but she wasn't hiding that she might be interested.

When the bell rang, signaling the start of her lunch period, she stood up and stretched a bit. She grabbed her boxed lunch, thankful that the false personalities had thought that far ahead, and headed out the door and down the hall. She paused, then ducked into the classroom where she could see the four kids standing around the desk talking seriously. "Well?" she asked, heading towards them. "Any decisions?"

The door opened behind her and she could feel Isamu walking in as well. Ichigo shook his head. "No. But they're disappearing people already." He held up a blue, white, and red striped wristband. "They took Tatsuki."

Amaya's mouth firmed. "Fine. Then we square it away now." She straightened her posture. "Takeuchi and I have proven to each other that we're who we say. But you all won't believe that, because we're people you know well." She went over and stood next to Uryuu, then leaned over and whispered something to him.

He blushed bright red. "Th-that's not what happened! I would never - never - such a thing!"

She beamed. "Correct!" Amaya clapped him on the shoulder. "Now, you do the same - something that I should know."

There was a moment when the kids were surprised, then Uryuu nodded. "That's very wise. All right." He thought for a moment, the flush leaving his cheeks slowly. "When the three of us fought Kurotsuchi, you, Kuragari-san, threw yourself between me and his blade, taking a paralyzing strike. That was very noble of you."

She and Isamu both shook their heads. "It wasn't me," she said. "It was Nemu-san."

He nodded sharply. "Correct." He turned his eyes to Isamu. "And if she's real, and says you are too, you must be." He nodded. "Good thinking." The slender young man looked at Ichigo. "All right, Kurosaki, your turn."

"What do you mean? Of course I'm me!" Ichigo glowered.

"But, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said, gray eyes wide. "Any of us could be false! We all have to be tested!"

He sighed with ill grace, but folded his arms and nodded. "Fine, all right."

Uryuu pushed his glasses up his nose. "When we first met, you recall, that Menos Grande appeared." Amaya blinked and looked at Isamu - they'd heard a bit about that incident, but not much. "You distracted it, while I took it down with one shot."

Ichigo bristled like an angry cat. "Like hell you did! We worked together, you wouldn't have been able to even hurt it without taking my spiritual pressure and using it to fire that huge arrow! Your hands were bleeding afterwards!"

"That's right," the Quincy said, his lips quirking. "Now, try and follow the idea here, Kurosaki, and think of something you can use to verify my identity."

 

[Armphid]

Ichigo stared at the other boy for a few long seconds. "Uh..."

Uryuu's left eyebrow twitched. "You can't think of anything?" The other young man looked defiant but didn't say anything. "Really? After all we've been through, none of it has stuck in your memory at all?"

The orange haired boy growled, "Don't say it like that! It's weird!" Man! It sounded like they were in a bad yaoi manga!

"Hm." Orihime said softly, "It is weird but part of me likes it." Chad nodded.

Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, "The problem is that when we've been doing stuff, the others have been around too. So it's not like there's any one-on-one interactions I can really can on to prove you're really Uryuu Ishida."

Uryuu looked at him and then nodded slowly, "That's true, isn't it? A good point, Kurosaki. There were a few moments during that day with the Menos incident though, if you recall."

"Oh, yeah." Ichigo nodded. "When you confronted me and I wanted to just fight it out. But you used that Hollow bait for that stupid contest."

"That's too easy!" Orihime shook her head, "Ishida-kun would never do something like that!"

The slender youth's lips quirked in an almost smile and he shifted his gaze to put the busty teen out of his sight. "But I did. You pass, Kurosaki."

Orihime's eyes were wide and her mouth was open in an "o" of shock. She face was almost stricken. "Then...then everything that happened that day was...was Ishida-kun's fault?"

"I'd like to say it was," Ichigo spoke up before Uryuu could answer, "but it wasn't really. You said you just used a little bait, there was no way it could attract all those Hollows that showed up, let alone a Menos Grande, right?" The Quincy nodded. "So it was really that Aizor asshole trying to smoke out Rukia."

"Oh." She looked relieved somehow and then smiled. "Well, even if it was, I owe you another one, Ishida-kun! If it hadn't have happened, I never would have gotten my powers woken up."

The kid blushed and didn't seem to know what to say. Isamu rolled his eyes, "Yeah, okay, great, tender moment." He ignored the baleful look Amaya was giving him. "That leaves Inoue and Sado...who are the most likely suspects anyway."

Ichigo grimaced, "Orihime'll be tough just 'cause she's so daffy." The girl in question looked a bit miffed but then shrugged in acknowledgment. "But Chad's easy!" He turned to the towering youth, "Your coin, Chad, who do you wear it to remember?"

Chad didn't answer right away. The big youth shifted his weight on his feet. "It's from my homeland."

"Yeah," Ichigo nodded, "but you told me once you wore it to remember one of your relatives, which one?"

"My....mother." His cheeks colored. "I'm secretly a huge momma's boy."

Ichigo blinked, "Huh? No, man, it's-hey!"

Isamu flashed past him in a blur, grabbing the bulky, dark skinned imposter and slamming him against the wall hard. "You're the imposter! And you're right here with us!" He was in his gigai, unfortunately, which meant he didn't have access to even a eight of his proper strength or power. He also didn't give a fuck right now. The shinigami pinned him to the wall with his left forearm across "Chad's" throat and the right pulled back, waiting to deliver a blow. "Right where I can put my hands on you." His teeth were set in a snarl. "Now your friends will bring back Tatsuki Arisawa and the real Sado or I'll cave your God damn head in and we'll see just what that does to a Mod Soul."

 

[HookerBoots]

"Awwww, you figured it out!" Ririn's voice came from the outside the window, sounding pouty. "And here I was hoping for an excuse to disappear the whole school." Their heads turned toward her sound, and when they looked back "Chad" had turned back into Kuroudo, grinning wickedly at Isamu, who still held him pinned.

"Yeah, well, deal with it, brat!" Ichigo scowled at her, arms folded. "We won, so bring back everyone that you took."

"Including Sado-kun!" Orihime chimed in.

Ririn waggled a finger at them. "Ah ah ah! I never said I'd bring back anyone who disappeared."

Amaya scolwed at her. "That's playing dirty! You said we'd win if we guessed right."

"I did," the little girl agreed. "But! I never said you'd get anything for winning." Her lips curved into a wicked smile. "You're all being such poor sports, I think you should get something for it." She gestured with one hand and the people on the baseball diamond vanished in a shimmer. Another motion, and the small groups that were gathered around the school campus vanished one by one.

"Shit!" Amaya and Uryuu both dove for Ichigo's school bag, her picking it up and dumping it out as he caught the badge as it dropped out. He spun and threw himself at the wall where Kuroudo was pinned, the badge outstretched.

Before he got there, there were two flashes, one around the two-toned man and one around Amaya. They both reappeared on the far roof neat Ririn and Nova, Amaya tucked under the masked young "man's" arm, struggling a bit. "Let me go, you little monster! I'll kill you for this!"

 

[Armphid]

Ririn shook her head, "Ah ah ah, don't talk so big, you old cow." The little girl's right hand plunged into Amaya's cleavage and pulled out her Soul Candy dispenser. "You can't do anything in that gigai." She then slapped Amaya across the cheek with her left hand, "we'll do whatever we want!"

Isamu had just enough presence of mind to strike his shoulder against the badge still held in Ishida's hand as he rushed for the windows of the classroom, "RYAHHH!" The force of his spiritual pressure bursting forth blew out the windows; glass showering down. His sword released as he unsheathed it, shimmering into the warhammer as he shot across the empty space like a bullet.

"Ahh! Noba!" Ririn shrieked and shut her eyes as the raging shinigami rocketed towards them. The tall, gangling Mod Soul nodded and gestured and the whole group vanished, pulled backwards into one of those purplish portals.

Isamu landed where they had been a moment later. He stood straight, his weapon held in his right hand. Gone. Gone again! And Amaya with them! And he hadn't done a thing to prevent it! He snarled and the building beneath him groaned suddenly as if a great weight had been set upon it; his reiatsu billowing out in a thick flood. His hand tightened on the haft of his weapon, knuckles going white. "Everyone involved with this is going to pay," he growled. Bastards! His fury burned outward but there was a lance of white hot shame through it as well. He'd let them take her. He'd failed her. Let her down. Again. Maybe for the last time. His grip tightened again and a thin line of blood oozed out from between his fingers to drip onto the rooftop.

"Takeuchi! Calm down!" Kurosaki was next to him now; his body occupied by Kon back in the classroom. Below them, Orihime and Uryuu ran out into the courtyard below. "You're going to bring down the whole building if you keep it up!"

Isamu let out another snarl in answer, a sound far more feral, more bestial than he had expected and turned his wolf's eyes on Ichigo. The young man blinked and paled but stood his ground. "We'll get her back, I promise. Chad too. And the others. But you got to cool it first."

"Takeuchi-san, onegai!" Orihime's voice was full of concern. "We need you to do it, please stay with us!" She looked around, "And don't break the school, we need that too," she added after a beat.

Isamu closed his eyes and shuddered, forcing his rage down with a visible effort. They were right. Damn them! Damn him! "Ggrrr-riggght, right," he managed after a moment.

Uryuu Ishida grimaced. He knew the two shinigami were closer but that display was unsettling. And it didn't help matters. He knew better than to say that though. "Let's regroup. We need to figure out what to do now."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah. The reservoir, let's go there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The quartet stood on the bank of the river-like reservoir. Isamu's body was tense with anger, trembling slightly from restraining his emotions. Orihime looked up at him and bit her lower lip before reaching out to touch one of his clenched fists with her warm, soft hand. "She'll be all right. We'll get her back, I promise. Gomen, but we need you, Takeuchi-san.."

He looked into her large grey eyes and his fury dimmed. It didn't go away, it didn't even diminish by half. But it rolled back enough for him to think straight, for him not to see red at the edges of his vision. Isamu let his hand relax enough to briefly squeeze her hand and then release it. "You're right, Inoue-san. ...I'm sorry that any of you had to see me like that." He took a deep breath, "So, what's our next move?"

Uryuu shook his head, "We've no way to know where to find them now. But if they stick to the pattern, they'll contact us and sooner. It's been escalating."

"Yeah, I noticed that." Ichigo frowned. "The first time, it was a whole day before they moved again but it's been getting faster and faster. Why?"

"Hm." The buxom Orihime walked closer to the edge of the water, her arms crossed under her generous assets. The three men braced themselves, waiting for her to go off on a bizarre tangent. "I think...they don't want us thinking about what's going on. It's as much a distraction as everything else."

All three men blinked. Ichigo shook his head, "Uh, what do you mean, Orihime?"

She turned, "Think about it! None of this makes any sense! It's all crazy and disjointed and...and..." The girl grimaced, as if unsure how to put her feelings into words, "...it's like it's all a show or a trick and if we get too much time to think about it, we'll figure out how it's done, you know?"

Before they could answer; there was a screaming wail from the far bank and all three turned to see rockets shooting up high into the now darkening sky. They burst into brilliant fireworks. Uryuu pushed his glasses up his nose with one hand, "This isn't really the time of year for fireworks..."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, and look!" From one of the explosions, a small object was fluttering through the breeze straight towards them. Ichigo jumped up to snatch it out of the air, unfolding a piece of paper. "It says "Destroy the gate in thirty minutes" but-"

Before he could finish the sentence, the gigantic gates of Hell fell from the ski and landed in Karakura Town on the other side of the water. The doors swung open and a all of them felt a sudden force pulling them in, as if a wind were blowing in reverse. It picked up strength, Orhime squealed and was pulled forward a few yards before one of Uryuu Ishida's arms grabbed about her waist and jerked her back to the lamp post he was holding onto, "Ah, just like in Soul Society, arigatou, Ishida-kun!"

He flushed but nodded. It felt good to touch her, even for that reason, to have her close like this. "The question," he raised his voice to be heard over the roaring wind, "is whether this is another distraction!"

Isamu and Ichigo glanced at each other. The older shinigami spoke first, "That's not the Hell Gate. It doesn't work like this."

"Yeah, which means Orihime is right." They were slowly moving towards the river's edge, the pull dragging them inward.

"And Ishida. We're supposed to flail around trying to break a gate that doesn't exist-"

"-and end up getting sucked into it, which is what they wand in the first place. Except unless we screw around, maybe the next part isn't set up yet," Ichigo finished.

"Let's mess up their schedule then." Isamu's grin was fierce.

"Yeah, let's go!" Ichigo hurtled off towards the gate.

Isamu sighed and flashed back to grab Orhime and Uryuu each around the waist. "Hold on you two, we're going in!"

Orhime let out what may have been a scream of either fear or triumph as he launched himself after Ichigo. Neither attemped to swing wide or up to bring weapons or kidou to bear on the gate. They rocketed into the swirling portal inside and vanished-

-only to reappear in a barren and rocky landscape under a red sky. Ichigo glanced back behind them, but there was no trace of the gate. "Well, we're here, wherever that is."

"Awww, and it would have been so fun to watch you play with the Gate!" All eyes snapped forward to where Ririn was sneering at them from atop a ridge. The little girl smirked and twirled a familiar green and white striped hat in her hand. "You're smarter than you look. Though you'd have to be."

Isamu let the buxom girl and the slender young man go, the two of them spreading out on the flanks of the group, Ichigo ahead of the other three by a few paces. This place...it was familiar somehow. But how? What the fuck did that matter? "Where's Amaya and Sado?" He swept his sword from its scabbard, "Bring them out now and I won't break you, you little bitch!"

"And everyone else!" Ichigo's voice rang out, Orhime and Uryuu nodding. "We're tired of your stupid games! Bring everyone back, now!"

"Such bad attitudes! For that, it's challenge round time!" The little girl twirled and suddenly a pair of wooden crosses appeared behind her; Chad was tied to one and Amaya to the other, both seemingly unconscious. A pair of giant hourglasses then slammed down over the two prisoners, a hold in the bottom so they weren't crushed. The upper globes of the hourglasses were full of sand which began to spray down over the still forms of the captives. "Get them out in five minutes or they'll be buried in sand! Buuut-"

Two-toned Kuroudo and the silent Noba appeared at the base of the ridge, "You've got to get past Noba and Kuroudo!" Her grin turned vicious, "And our special guest challenger, Triskadeka!"

Orihime let out a gasp as a third figure appeared between the two Mod Souls set against them. The figure was monstrous; a demonic creature that was mockery of the female form. Her skin was leathery, gnarled, and a greenish grey color. Her hair was a fiery red and stuck out in all directions in wild spikes, her face was long and elongated, almost ape-like, and a pair of horns stuck out of her forehead. A filthy wrap of cloth that may once have been black but was now just the color of muck held and concealed large, sagging tits. Besides her bust, her body was almost cadaver thin and a long, serpentine tail slithered and lashed back and forth behind the wretched creature. Her legs were long but bent the wrong way and instead of feet she had enormous cloven hooves. Her hands had one long finger too many and one of them clutched a wickedly serrated sword of crude wrought iron.

"What...the hell?" Ichigo blinked. "Where did that thing come from? They didn't have that before!"

Uryuu's eyes narrowed. "No. They didn't." Could it be...it had to be like that. It was the only thing that made sense. But could he be sure?

The horrible monster woman let out a howl, "Ichiiigoo Kurooosaaakiii!" Then she rushed forward, Kuroudo doing the same while Noba simple stepped backward into one of his portals. Isamu and Ichigo didn't need to look at one another. They moved as one, charging forward to meet their foes head on, both men's battle cries ringing in the air.

 

[HookerBoots]

The fight was heavy and hard. Triskadeka met Ichigo with a speed that seemed sure to break her - for surely it was female - wraith-thin body. And the force with which their blades met seemed like it would be certain to break both her crude sword and her arm with it. But she met and matched his motion, only being pushed back slightly when he pressed forward. As he pulled back to recover, her blade flashed out, forcing him into defense before he realized what was happening.

Kuroudo launched himself forward, arms reaching out towards Isamu to try and grab the shinigami. Isamu, trained for battle and angry as a hornet, dodged easily, his sword flickering out to slice off a piece of the mod soul's suit. "I'm not that easy to catch!" he yelled, dancing to one side and turning to face the two-toned man. His mind was working as well, pondering. They had had time to prepare. Not a lot, of course, but enough that they could have armed themselves for the fight. But the only one using a weapon was that monster, Triskadeka. That didn't make sense, unless . . . unless they weren't fighting in earnest. What did that mean? He dodged another of Kuroudo's attacks, a big haymaker this time, while he considered.

Noba made his way - quickly - towards Uryuu and Orihime, flashing in and out of his portals towards them. "Inoue-san," the slender young man said, watching the pattern, "you'll have to do most of the fighting, and I'm sorry for it. But I can help with tactics."

She nodded once, an expression of serious focus on her face. "Right."

He gave her a tight smile. "Good. Jump left . . . now!"

They both flung themselves to the left, moving just in time to avoid a knee strike that would have landed on Orihime's right arm. As Uryuu helped push her more or less to her feet, she held out her hands, palms forward. "Hinagiku! Lily! Baigon! Santen Kesshun, I reject!" The sparks flew from her hairpins, spreading into a triangular pattern and putting up a force field between the two teenagers and the ninja who was striking at them now.

Triskadeka flung herself forward at Ichigo, the sword darting with a speed that made the dark blade blur. Her mouth gaped open in an obscene leer as she pressed him back and back, countering every blow he managed to throw, and shaving off scraps of his uniform and nicking off the tips of his hair every now and then.

Finally, he pushed himself back farther and braced himself. "I'm done playing!" He gripping Zangetsu in both hands, held in a forward guard position. "Getsua Tensho!"

The fight paused for a moment, with Triskadeka seemingly poised to dart away from an attack. But nothing happened. They could feel him gathering in his reiatsu, and then it just . . . dissipated. He stared at his sword for a minute. "Old Man Zangetsu, what the hell?!"

Triskadeka and Ririn started to laugh, the emaciated female throwing herself at him again, making his jolt from his reverie to counter a strike that might have taken his head off. She laughed even as she thrust and spun and slashed at him. Finally, he launched himself into the air, several feet over her head. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way!" They could feel that gathering of pressure and power again. "Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!"

There was a swirl of fog around him, and they could feel that reiatsu . . . dissipate again. He was left, when the fog swirled away, standing looking exactly as he had before, but with a very confused, almost lost, expression on his face. As he stood there, looking at his sword, eyes wide and puzzled, the cadaverous figure crowed and threw herself at him, blade outstretched.

 

[Armphid]

Isamu stared in shock. The kid...he'd beaten Byakuya Kuchiki and used bankai to do it. Everyone knew that! And now it...it didn't work? What the hell? He then held up a hand to stop one of Kuroudo's punches. The guy was strong. But not that strong. And he was holding back. "I'm sick of this shit."

"You can't be tired of the game alread-yYYYY!" The two-toned Mod Soul's voice dopplered off as the shinigami took hold of his outstretched hand and then flung him bodily at the hourglass.

Noba's eyes widened and narrowed behind his mask and he opened a portal behind himself and flew back into it, appearing to snatch Kuroudo before impact.

Uryuu nodded, "Inoue-san, now!" He knew it! He couldn't do more than one at once!

"Hai! Kouten Zasshun, I reject!" She swung her left hand wide, her large breasts boucing, and a golden pulse shot forward, trailing light behind it.

Ririn gasped, "Noba, stop-Ahh! Tasukete!" She then let out a squeal as Isamu was in front of her, a snarl on his face.

"Hado no yon," he swung his fingers towards her.

Noba's eyes went to the shining projectile Orihime and sent towards the hourglass and then to Isamu's sparking fingers and he shook his head, "Gomen."

A purple portal appeared in front of the shinigami's fingers as he discharged the kidou, "Byakurai-agGGH!" The lighting shot forth into the spatial distortion only for it to reappear and lance into the half-breed's right shoulder; blasting and burning into his spirit flesh.

Unimpeded, Orihime's attack went on. She had no instinct for battle, no killing desire, but her will to save and protect her friends was unmatched. Even by Ichigo. The lone fairy she had to attack struck the glass and blew it apart; glass, wood, and sand flying. "Yes! Good job, Tsubaki," she cheered. "Hold on, Sado-kun!"

Triskadeka had been pressing Ichigo hard, taking advantage of the boy's shock over his bankai failing. She had the advantage and he was barely able to avoid several swipes of her hideously serrated blade. Ichigo's eyes were wide as he reeled, trying to keep up. She...she was stronger than he was. Faster! And without Getsuga Tensho, without his bankai...

Then the hourglass was shattered and Isamu was struck by his own kidou. The monster glanced that way and then hesitated, making a shocked, growling gasp. Ichigo rushed forward past her, muscling her out of the way, "Chad!" He rushed up to where the tall boy was tied to the crossbars, "Hold on, I'll get you down."

"It's all right." The brawny youth's bass voice rumbled and he shrugged his shoulders, the ropes holding him simply uncoiling. "...They're loose. They must have done it."

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked. And that Triskadeka...she had a wide open shot at his back when he ran past her but she hadn't taken it. What was...his eyes spotted the familiar white and green striped hat Ririn had taunted them with earlier. "...Hat and clogs...damn it! Urahara-san!" Ichigo turned around, bellowing up into the air. "Come on out, the game's up!"

Orihime and Chad looked confused. Isamu growled as he stood up, one hand pressed to the hole in his shoulder. Uryuu just nodded. "These guys could've finished us off plenty of times. But they never did! All of this is just some crazy game of yours! It's over, come out!"

"My, my. Well...I wouldn't call it crazy." The captain turned shop keeper stepped out of apparently nowhere, reaching down to pick up his hat. He dusted it off and set in on his tawny hair. "It was actually all well considered, I assure you. Good for you figuring it out!" He looked over at Isamu. "...Some of you may have taken it too far though."

"I'll show you too far," the American growled. "What the hell are you up to with all of this?" He turned his fierce eyes on the monster who had stopped about ten feet form him. "And you! You knew! And you kept it from me!" The reiatsu of the rest of the combatants had lessened but his was increasing; increasing quickly. "You owe me a damn explanation!"

"All of us are owed one, I think," Uryuu said. The lithe youth had drawn closer, Orhime trailing along with him.

Urahara held up a fan in one hand, "The games were all just that. Designed to test and help develop many useful traits. Teamwork above all else, and you used it quite well here. But also creativity, intellect, problem solving, and decision making. It also let you all look at yourselves and what you could contribute. Or not contribute. Kurosaki-kun. Ishida-kun. You two especially need these lessons and need more training."

 

[HookerBoots]

As the illusions surrounding them faded, Triskadeka's image faded as well, turning slowing from a horrible monster into Amaya, holding her zanpakuto in one hand. She looked at Isamu, worry on her face. "It was supposed to be a challenge that taught a lesson, that's all." She started toward him, then paused, her free hand outstretched, at the look on his face.

Ichigo shook his head. "Okay, so we were supposed to learn stuff. That doesn't explain why I couldn't use my bankai, or the Getsuga Tensho."

"Things are different here," Urahara said, peering out from under his hat. "It's harder to focus, and to do those things here, because you're not in Soul Society." He shook his head. "You have to train more, there's something coming . . . train more. And, Ishida-san . . . ."

Uryuu blanched and turned away, his arms folding over his chest.

"Even when you're friends were in direct danger, you couldn't do anything, could you?" The shopkeep's voice was almost sympathetic. "You no longer have your Quincy powers."

The slender young man stood stiffly for a moment, then nodded. "Correct. I haven't been able to form a spirit bow since before we left Soul Society." He glanced at the two shinigami. "I believe I will be able to remedy that, however, as I have an artifact that I . . . found during our time there. I just need time to train with it, and figure out how best to use it."

Urahara nodded. "That's something. I hope it works in time."

Amaya moved towards Isamu again, sealing her sword. "We wanted you all to learn to work together, and I . . . didn't think anyone would get hurt."

He turned to look at her, eyes blazing. "Didn't think anyone would get hurt? It was a fight! Someone could always get hurt!"

"None of us were swinging to kill, or even injure!" the heat in her voice made the others start and stare.

"But you could have been hurt!" He was facing her now. "You lie to me, then deliberately put yourself in danger, and tell me that it's all okay because it was a game? Bullshit!"

Amaya huffed. "I didn't lie, I just didn't share all I knew, because I knew it wasn't dangerous!" She sheathed her sword angrily. "I did it to help us, all of us, work better as a team!"

The others had sort of clustered together on one side of the arguing shinigami, and were drifting towards the ladder to the main part of the shop. "We're, um, going to go, then," Orihime said quietly, eyes wide.

"We already know how to work as a team!" he bellowed. "You and I are literally part of a military organization! The rest of them work well as a team, which is clear! Why did we need to learn to work as a team?!"

The two of them were almost nose-to-nose now. "It's about working together with them! And just because we know how to work as a team doesn't mean we can't still learn!" Amaya took a deep breath, and visibly calmed herself. "Look, let's get upstairs and ask Orihime to heal you. You're hurt, and once you're healed up, we can go home."

 

[Armphid]

Isamu grimaced and his eyes narrowed, "We're not just brushing this off because I got hurt. That's the whole damn point!". He pointed at Ichigo, the orange haired young man halfway up the ladder at this point. "He didn't know this was a game! He thought it was a damn fight! What if that technique hadn't failed? What if he'd used his bankai successfully? He'd have cut you in two!"

"Hey! Leave me out of this!"

Amaya had walked to the foot of the ladder herself but turned her head to give her love, "You think I don't know what I'm doing? That I couldn't take him?"

"...Seriously, can you both not involve me in this?"

The pink haired woman tossed her silky locks and started up the ladder, "You're just mad because I fought him instead of you."

"Man." Ichigo hauled himself up into the shop proper, "What is it that makes everyone want to fight me?"

"Doubtless your impeccable manners," Uryuu said from further down the hallway.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Orihine stuck her head around the corner from even further in, "He may be right."

Ichigo sputtered, "Wh-what? Orihime!"

She nodded, "Think about it! In any movie or tv show, it's always the stuck-up formal guy that everyone hates! You should try being ruder."

The Quincy grimaced, "How? He calls almost everyone by their first name already."

Isamu glared up at Amaya from the foot of the ladder, "What? Do I look like a Squad 11 idiot? And quit trying to change the subject!" He frowned upward for a few more seconds before starting to climb, "That's not the point and you know it."

Amaya hopped up onto the hallway floor. She looked down at him, "The whole situation was under control. I wasn't in any danger. No one was."

"Is that why I've got a hole in my back right now?"

She colored and her eyes flashed, "No one was supposed to get hurt! You took it too far! Even after you figured it out! You always take it too far! This was just training!"


"No, no." Isamu made it up in record time, looming over Amaya as the two faced off. "Training is mutually agreed on and has clear goals! You fucked with us, deliberately made us think people might be being killed-"

"It was a test as much as training," she snapped, interrupting him. "It was worth seeing how everyone would respond to an unknown threat that had the upper hand." She crossed her arms under her breasts, "If that's all you've got then this is pointless. My decision was reasonable."

"You lied go me!"

"No, I didn't! I didn't tell you, that's different! And it was for-"

"My own good?" His hands curled into fists. "The sake of the mission? You call it or qualify it however the fuck you want, you deceived me. You treated me like any lieutenant or captain would treat an underling. That's not what we're supposed to be! We don't keep things from each other!"

"It's not like that!"

"It's exactly like that!" He threw up his hands, "And I can't believe you're defending keeping me in the dark. That's part of the whole damn problem with the Gotei 13!"

She swung her own hands out, "And sometimes it's necessary for superior officers to keep some information from their subordinates, that is the reality of war and part of a superior's duty!"

"Tch! Nice line, did you learn that from-" Isamu snapped his mouth shut. That was too far. But she had. Fuck, she was taking his cock but now that bastard's ideals? But it wasn't fair to say, even to hint it. "Forget it. We're done."

Amaya bristled as he strode past her, her carriage erect. "I suppose we are," her tone was frigidly enraged.

Isamu paused a few strides away. Their backs were to one another. He paused, opened his mouth, then shook his head and walked away. He stormed past the room where the others were sitting around a table, their faces hesitant save for Urahara, who looked unperturbed.

Orihime half stood, "Ah, Takeuchi-san! Your injury, let me heal it."

"I'll heal it myself," he responded without breaking stride. "Arigatou."

"Oh." She nibbled her lower lip, "But are you sure? It'll be quick. And very calming. Uh, relaxing, I mean!" There was no answer, just the sound of the shop's doors opening and closing.

"Well!" Urahara nodded, "Now that that's done, let's talk about why we thought you all needed this training now, and what you'll be facing soon."

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya settled down at the table with the others, sitting very straight, not looking at the others, hands clasped on the table in front of her. The others arranged themselves around the table, most of the males seeming hesitant to get too close to her. Orihime took the longest, staring out the door with wide eyes, then coming and sitting down next to Amaya. "Amaya-chan, I could . . . ."

"No, thank you, Orihime-chan." She gave the younger girl a small smile. "It's not necessary, things will work out." Amaya turned her attention to Urahara. "Now, please go ahead, Urahara-san."

He nodded. "Well, first off - "

"Hey, wait a second!" Ichigo broke in, his eyes narrowed. "What happened to everyone from school? Where are they?"

"Ah, your classmates and teachers are all fine, fine," Ririn spoke up. "They're in a nice, safe spot in the mountains. They should be waking up now, I think."

He glowered at her for a moment. "That's something. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

A husky voice from the door said, "Don't listen to him, I think he does it on purpose." They turned to see Yoruichi standing there leaning against the door frame. "We actually found one, Kisuke."

"One what?" Uryuu asked, sliding his glasses up his nose. "It would be delightful if one of you would tell us what was coming."

She sat down at the table, muscling between Ichigo and Amaya, and ran a hand over her hair. "Bounts."

Amaya blinked. "They're supposed to be extinct!"

"A lot of things that Soul Society says are gone aren't," Urahara said grimly. "The Bount are one of those things - though they were as good as destroyed. Frankly, I'm surprised you even know the term."

"I look into a lot of books I'm not supposed to," she said with a wave of her hand. "You actually found one, though, Yoruichi-san?"

"Soi-Fon and I did. It was feeding, and we were able to stop it, thankfully."

Ichigo held up a hand. "Hold on, hold on. What are they? What was it feeding on?"

"A person." The silence at the table was deafening.

Urahara broke in. "You've all heard about vampires, right? Of course you have. Well, those stories are about Bounts." He tipped his hat forward. "They're immortal, unless killed, and they survive by consuming the souls of humans."

Orihime's face was white. "Vampires? They're real?"

Amaya put an arm around her shoulders. "Not like you're thinking - they aren't Dracula. And there can't be many of them left."

"Enough of them," Urahara said. "So that's why I brought in Ririn, Kuroudo, and Noba. They've got built-in reishi detectors. Since the Bount are, similar to the Quincy, enhanced humans, they should be easy to detect!"

"They'll need camouflage," Ichigo said. "You can't just add three new people without anyone talking. Something like what Kon wears most of the time, or something."

Amaya stood up. "All right then. I'll see what data I can pull up - let me know if you need us, or anything else comes to light." She headed for the door, then paused, one hand on the door. "Kurosaki-san . . ." she hesitated a moment. "Please work very hard to regain your abilities. You are a very important part of things now. Aizen-tai . . . Aizen cannot be allowed to continue, and the Bount are dangerous. You are needed." And she left.

Urahara lifted the brim of his hat to look after her, then huffed. "I'd been going to say something similar. But it has more force coming from a pretty girl, doesn't it?" He clapped his hands together. "In any case, I think dinner is ready, if you're all willing to stay while we talk over how to hide our new friends."

~ ~ ~ ~​

Amaya went home and half-heartedly looked around the house, not really expecting to find Isamu. If she knew him, he wouldn't have come home. He was probably on top of the tallest building in town, brooding and seething.

She wound up in the kitchen, and sighed. "All right, so what now?" She sat in one of the chairs, tapping her fingers on the table. She wasn't ready to make up yet, and knew Isamu wouldn't be either, so she'd give him a few hours to cool down before she went to find him. In the meantime . . . she shrugged. Might as well try to remember as much about the Bount as she could - she thought there was more to it than what they'd covered, but she couldn't remember off the top of her head.

She stood up and went into the living room, lighting a candle and a stick of incense before sitting on the floor tailor style. She rested her hands on her knees and closed her eyes, relaxing her body in preparation to focus her mind. The knowledge was there, she just needed to access it.

~ ~ ~ ~​

An hour and a half later, she opened her eyes and nodded. "Right, then." Standing slowly, letting her muscles stretch easily rather than pushing it, she moved to blow out the candle. Amaya made her way into the bathroom for a call of nature and to wash her face quickly before changing her clothes and going back to the kitchen.

She made a light, quick meal - egg-and-tomato sandwiches, Isamu's favorite, some pickled daikon, two bottles of a bubbly drink they'd discovered here, and some rice that she took the time to actually mold into the shape of Chappy the Rabbit - he thought it was funny when she took the time to do that sort of thing. All of it went into a basket and she headed out, feeling for where his spiritual pressure was centered before heading out.

 

[Armphid]

Isamu stood outside the shop for a few moments after shutting the doors. Let them have their damn meeting and that madman tell them whatever was going on. He didn't want to be in that place anymore. Or ever again. He was finished with them. As if violating Rukia hadn't been enough, now he was playing tricks on people he expected to trust him. That was another damn thing! If this was about working together as a team, why the deception? Generally you don't want your teammates fucking LYING to you!

If this was supposed to foster trust and teamwork, it had pretty seriously backfired in his opinion.

Soul Society wanted them to work with Urahara and his motley band, so he would as much as was necessary. Otherwise, he was done with them. That included Yoruichi. She'd gotten Kurosaki to bankai in three days. They'd been training with her for over a week. What had she done? Nothing. Nothing they couldn't have done on their own. She'd given them a training area, maybe, but so fucking what? They...he could find his own training space.

Amaya would go back to them. She was probably already apologizing for him. For him! As if he was the one that was wrong!

He snarled and flash stepped away to land on a rooftop several streets away. Isamu reached into his kosode and pulled out his phone. He should call the Gikongan that was in his gigai at the house and have it take some clothes to the school and meet him there. He didn't want to go back there tonight. He didn't want to see Amaya. He stared at the phone, wanting to make the call but his fingers didn't seem to move despite that. "...I'll wait a while first."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

He spent the next few hours wandering Karakura Town and the outskirts in a kind of patrol. Isamu aligted atop a high office building downtown and growled softly. There were no Hollows around to fight, unfortunately. He really, really needed to work off some of this anger or he wouldn't be able to patch things up with Amaya when-

No. No, fuck that! She was the one who deceived him! If anyone was going to patch things up and apologize it should be her, damn it! Isamu growled and grabbed his kosode, pulling and jerking it, causing the fabric to dig into the wound on his back and send fresh pain into him. "Ggnn, right. Remember. That's what I am to her, after all we've...after everything."

Even as he did it, part of him objected, told him how foolish it was. But he ignored that line of thought. He had a right to be angry. She hadn't regretted it at all. She'd have told Him if He was here, wouldn't she? Of course. He was a higher officer. And Japanese. And-fuck!

He leaped out into nothingness and rocketed forward, flash stepping away again, again, and again. By the time the burst of furious adrenaline had subsided he was no longer in the city's heart but at it's edges.

Isamu ended up in a park on the outskirts of town. The restless energy his fury gave him needed an outlet. There was nothing to fight...unless he summoned his sword. Maybe...maybe this indignation would be enough to...no. He took a deep breath. No, he doubted Hitoshirezu Daimyo would respond well to his current mood and mindset.

He had to cool down. As much as he wanted to be angry, almost relished the furious rage coursing through him, it wouldn't help. As mad as he was, Isamu didn't want this to be the end.

Isamu walked to the fountain in the middle of the park. He looked over the tall and wide water features and then started to peel his clothes off until he was down to just his underwear. Proper boxers, worn in defiance to the mandated fundoshi. He stepped over the lip of the fountain and then sat down in the cool water with a sigh. Damn, it felt cold! But maybe he needed that right now. And once he got used to it, it might even be pleasant.

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya flashed up to where Isamu was, sitting in the fountain in the park, and smiled against her will. She'd wagered he'd be on top of a building, and she'd lost. That didn't bode well, though - he was so upset that even the usual stuff wasn't calming him down. Her smile faltered at that thought, but she moved forward anyway, the handle of the basket held in both hands. "You look wonderful like that," she said quietly. "Mostly naked and slick with water."

"Hmph." He opened his eyes and looked at her, trying to resist the draw that her presence had. She looked so sweet, standing there in a blue dress holding that basket. And her words, combined with that look . . . he was glad he was sitting in cold water, because he wasn't ready to let her know how his body wanted to respond. "I'm glad you enjoy the show, I suppose. But should you really be thinking about a subordinate that way?"

Amaya huffed a sigh. "God, it's not about that, you know it's not about that." She stepped up to the edge of the fountain and sat down, setting the basket next to her. "It has - had - nothing to do with rank, I just . . . look, I'm sorry." She looked at him then, eyes clear and sharp. "I thought it would be a good idea, and I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. I made a mistake, and I'm sorry that you got hurt."

Isamu looked back at her, startled. He hadn't expected this; he'd expected her to try and persuade him that she'd been reasonable, or that he'd been overreacting. "I . . . thank you." He shifted a bit, his posture becoming a bit less cold. "It's just, now that you've kept this, I can't stop wondering what else you might be keeping from me?" Sighing, he ran one wet hand through his hair. "And I know that's not what it is. Just like I know you're right, even though I hate to admit it, that there are some things you need to keep secret for security reasons. But it feels a lot like a betrayal."

Nodding, she toyed with the hem of her skirt. "I understand. But I swear there isn't anything else I'm keeping from you. And I promise," she thought for a moment. "I promise that in the future, unless it is something that I have been ordered to keep confidential, I won't keep secrets from you."

That was more than he'd expected, too. "That's . . . I appreciate that, Amaya-chan." He lifted himself out of the water and settled on the edge of the fountain by her.

"But," she said, "I won't be your senior officer forever, we both know that. One of us could get transferred, or promoted, or what have you. The other Captains and Vice-Captains may not agree with that." She laughed a little bitterly. "Most of them don't, we already know that." There was a pause as she thought again. "But it was more because it was me, wasn't it? You expected it from them, and I . . . disappointed you."

"A bit." More than a bit, but it felt more distant now. "But . . . everyone makes mistakes. You made this one. And I made the one that got me a lightning bolt to the shoulder." He twitched a bit, feeling the wound pull.

Her eyes lit. "Wait a minute! You didn't heal that?" The stubborn expression on his face was everything she needed to know. "You stay right where you are!" She stood up and pulled out her phone.

"It's not that big a deal -" he started to say, then stopped at the look she gave him.

"Orihime-chan? Hai, please come quickly. The park by the playground, the one with the fountain. No, no need to get the others. Arigatou." She tucked the phone into her pocket and gave him a look as she sat down.

He looked back at her, a little exasperated. "I could do it myself, right now! So could you!"

"It will make her feel like she's helped. And hopefully remind you not to do that in the future." Amaya opened up the basket and grabbed a sandwich, putting it into his hands. "Eat in the meantime. I made your favorite."

Unwrapping the sandwich, Isamu gave her that familiar, wicked grin. "You did." He took a bite of it and then peered into the basket as he chewed. Swallowing, Isamu laughed. "You made rabbit-rice!"

 

[Armphid]

It was such a cute, silly thing when she did that. She'd tried to explain it to him a few times; about the appearance of the food mattering and a girl's lunch was supposed to be cute, blah, blah. It was still funny. And she'd done it because she knew it was funny, that he'd laugh. Or at least want to. It was another gesture of reaching out, or peace between them.

Isamu began to tear into the sandwiches. He hadn't really been aware that he was hungry, but now he was ravenous. It came of having high spiritual power and pressure; you had to eat, even if you were a spirit. And it had been a very stressful last few days. Thanks to that damned Urahara.

"Amaya-chan." She looked at him with those large emerald eyes and he felt his heart swell. It might be her turn to be disappointed in him. As soon as she'd said it, he knew that was why it had hurt him so deeply, why it was so personal. She should be better than that. "At risk of us having another argument...I don't want to keep training with that Yoruichi."

"What?" She blinked, "Isamu-kun, we need to achieve bankai and she-well, you saw! Kurosaki beat Byakuya Kuchiki after just 2 days training!"

"And how long have we been training with her now?" The American glowered at the rabbit rice. "Well over a week and no bankai for either of us." He shook his head, "And what's she done for us as a sensei, anyway? We both materialized our swords on our own. All that happens when we "train" with her is we fight our swords. There's nothing she's done or had us do that we couldn't do ourselves."

The pink haired assistant captain frowned, "We can't be sure of that. It's like training with Hitsugaya-taichou. Just because we couldn't see much change didn't mean it wasn't happening."

"But seeing the change is part of the reason we wanted to train with her." Isamu shook his head again, "That was the point. To get there faster than we would otherwise."

"And that might be happening," she said with a more insistent tone. "Why don't we talk to her about it before you decide? I think...you're still mad at Uruhara and you're painting Yoruichi with the same brush."

"Why shouldn't I?" If he was a real wolf, not just had the nickname, his hackles would be up. "Like she didn't know about this idiot plan of his? Wherever the the hell she went to? She was part of his half baked plan to rescue Rukia by sending in a bunch of kids with no idea who or what they were facing, don't forget." He took a deep breath. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean...I did mean to snap, but I'm not angry with you or trying to start another fight."

"I do know. But maybe we should agree that we'll talk to Yoruichi about your concerns and talk about something else instead," she responded. Her voice was even and the words carefully spaced and enunciated.

A shiver went up his spine and an image of a smiling Retsu Unohana flickered in his mind's eye. Damn! When had Amaya learned that trick? "R-right. Yeah, sure." He reached out to tug one of the rice 'ears' off of poor Chappy. "So what new Hollows is Aizen sending our way? That's what this was about right? That damn Urahara said something was coming."

"It's actually nothing to do with Aizen." Amaya's lovely face was stern and serious...which was also SUPER adorable but he wasn't about to tell her that. "It's something else. Someone or some ones else, I should say."

"Seriously? There's a new player in this whole mess...who?" He shook his head, "There isn't anyone else!"

"Not true." Amaya sighed, "You see-"

"Ara, Amaya-san!" Both of them turned to see young, buxom, beaming Orihime running towards them, waving. She ran up, "G...gomen...for it taking...so long. I ran from...bus stop to...bus stop...but I'm so slow! I think...it's my boobs! Lots of wind resistance, you know? Though the slope and roundness should help with that, so-"

Amaya stood up abruptly, her cheeks pink as were Isamu's, "It's okay, Hime-chan. Why don't you sit down and catch your breath? You really didn't have to do all that running."

The girl nodded vigorously, "Oh, but I did! See, Takeuchi-san is wounded! And there's vampires around! And they could smell the blood and find him and he doesn't have a good sub-weapon to power his super! Holy water is the best but the cross is good too," she held up a finger and waved it a bit back and forth, as if lecturing, "but he's just got his hammer, which is kind of like an ax, and the ax super sucks! So I had to get here right away before he got into a fight with only a bad super move backing him up!"

Isamu blinked. That was all crazy, but there was one crazy thing that stood out in it. "Wait, wait, vampires?"

"Yeah!" Orihime looked at him and then looked up and down his barely dressed, wet body. "Wait, wait...wow. Uh, why are you-oh! Did I interrupt something? I know, you two were going to outsexy the vampires, weren't you? That's a bold strategy, all right!"

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya shook her head. "No, that wasn't it, Hime-chan," she said. "I was just explaining to Isamu-kun what we'd heard about these Bount." She took a long drink of the soda she'd opened. "But first if you would heal his shoulder, I would appreciate it."

"Oh, of course!" The redhead stepped closer to them, then paused. "Um, gomen, Takeuchi-san, do you mind if I heal you? I don't want to do it without your permission."

He looked rebellious for a moment, but then caught Amaya's gaze, and looked at the eager, pretty girl standing in front of him with wide eyes. "Yes, go ahead, Orihime-chan." He couldn't disappoint them both, not when they were looking at him like that.

"Arigatou! Just hold still and it'll be done in a minute or less!" She tilted her head. "Well, maybe more, I guess, but it sounds better the other way! Like getting your delivery in 30 minutes or less, but the healing is free anyway, so it's fine!" She held out her hands, palms out towards him. "Souten Kisshun, I reject!" Four of the 'petals' from her hair pins broke off and came out, forming a glowing oval between them as they moved towards his shoulder.

Neither of them had had a chance to study the girl's abilities prior to this, really, so Amaya leaned in to look at it. "Are those . . . people? Little people?"

"They're the Shun Shun Rikka," the girl said easily. "They're my power, you know? Little fairies that can do stuff!" She gestured with one hand. "That's Ayame, and that's Shun-o!"

Isamu turned his head to look at his shoulder as well as he could. "It's healing so fast! And it doesn't hurt." He looked at Amaya. "You know how our healing is, this is much easier on the body." He would know, of course, having been healed much more frequently than she had.

Orihime nodded as the skin closed over his wound. "It's different, somehow? That's what Unohana-taicho said, at least. And it takes longer to replenish reiatsu, too." The glow vanished as the two little people flew back to her hair. "There you go, good as new!"

Amaya blinked and put a hand on Isamu's shoulder where the wound had been. "It's like it never happened! Not even a scar," she marveled. "That's amazing, Hime-chan! Thank you very much!"

"It was my pleasure," the girl said, sitting down on the fountain. "So why don't we go over what we know about these Bount and come up with a plan? Because I think garlic necklaces are a great idea!"

~ ~ ~ ~​

Four hours later, Amaya and Isamu were lying on their futon, curled up together. "So what do you know that you didn't want the kid to find out?" he asked, one hand idly stroking her shoulder.

She shifted a little. "I made an effort to remember what I knew about the Bounts - it isn't a lot, but I wanted to talk with you about whether or not we should tell them." Amaya licked her lips. "They're humans, sort of, like the Quincy. But the Bount are . . . the result of some experiments that Soul Society did."

"What."

"Before Urahara founded the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, people still did research - they were trying to find the key to eternal life, I think, or something stupid." She brushed her hair from her forehead. "Things went wrong, I think - the book I read didn't say for certain, but reading between the lines . . . ."

Isamu looked at her. "What happened?"

Her fingers tightened on the sheets, then loosened. "They were blamed for an explosion that destroyed a tenth of the seireitei. And their powers are problematic for the balance, of course, but they were hunted, supposedly to extinction." She frowned. "I think the experiment went wrong and caused the explosion, and the Bount were blamed for it, because Soul Society wanted them hunted down anyway."

He nodded. "That sounds like them, certainly."

"So from what they said, the idea of eternal life worked, kind of. They suck the souls from people, not blood, but the effect is the same as it is for 'vampires'." Amaya sighed and tipped her head back. "They're killing people, and I have no idea why there here now, or how they survived. But we have to stop them, and I feel kind of sorry for them."

 

[Armphid]

"They have a raw deal, that's for sure," Isamu answered. He smiled in the darkness and gave her a squeeze, "My compassionate girl." His sympathy was just that; these Bounts got dealt a bad hand but in the end, they were just like Hollows. He wouldn't feel any compunction or regret about killing them. But Amaya's went deeper. She wouldn't hesitate, he knew that, but she'd feel honest regret at the situation. "...I need to remember the next time that you act like one of them that you're a better person than I am."

Before she could answer him, both felt a surge in reiatsu that was like a bomb going off. A very familiar bomb. Both sat bolt upright in bed, "Kurosaki! He's fighting! I didn't feel the pressure with him before but I do now! It came out of nowhere!"

They must be able to hide it. Urahara had hinted at that from what Amaya and Orihime had shared of the meeting he had missed. "These guys don't wait around. Let's go!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Even without the stream of reiatsu, it was easy to find the fight. Gouts of fire burst into the sky and there were fires starting in the immediate area. "Shit, not subtle, are they?" There was a huge tongue of flame that sent heat rolling out. They weren't' close yet but even at this distance, it looked like Kurosaki was fighting a man whose legs ended at mid-thigh to be replaced with jets of flame; similar for the arms just below the elbows. It was dark other places but with yellow heat lines shooting through it form muscle groups and give definition; like hardened lava that had cracked to show the molten core beneath.

Isamu grimaced as he felt another two energies that were familiar. "Amaya-chan! It feels like Orihime and Sado are heading somewhere too!" They were moving with purpose; had they found an enemy? "You want to help them or Kurosaki? I'll go to the other!"

 

[HookerBoots]

Amaya studied the situation quickly. This was a bad situation for Kurosaki - if he couldn't use his Getsuga Tensho, he had no range at all. And range was what you needed, fighting something made of fire. Made of fire! What even was it?! "Stay here, Takeuchi-san," she said, "I'll meet up with the others and see what I can do - I'll be back as soon as I can." He at least had some range, and . . . did gravity work on fire? They were going to find out, she supposed, and prayed she didn't make the wrong choice.

As he nodded and leaped into the fray next to the red-haired boy, she darted off, flashing up and around to get the straightest shot to where Orihime and Chad were heading, hoping to catch them if she couldn't be there before them.

She could see them in a short while - wherever they were going wasn't that far away, it seemed. Amaya flipped down from her height and paced them on the street for a moment. "How much farther?"

The rabbit-purse Orihime was wearing spoke up in Kuroudo's voice. "Not much farther, Kuragari-san! Soon we will be upon them, and then we shall see who the victor in this glorious battle will be!" A small head poked up from Chad's shoulder, and she saw a little turtle plush nod its head once. That much be Noba.

". . . Right." She looked ahead and saw an alleyway opening in front of them. "That's where, I imagine. You two go in up front, I'll make sure he can't go over and around." She flashed away, up and to the side, sliding around to be over and slightly behind the end of the alley - she could see something happening down there, but not what.

Orihime and Chad ran into the alleyway, stopping a decent distance away. "All right, evil-doer!" Orihime cried. "Surrender now!" Chad didn't say anything, but his fist was clenched, and Amaya could feel the reiatsu growing from where she was.

A figure straightened, resolving into a man of medium height, with a goatee and short brown hair. "Ahhh, konnichi-wa." He smiled at them, and all three of the newcomers watched in horror as the second figure, which had slumped to the ground when he stood, started to dissolved into sand. "I'm so sorry, but I really have to go. The meal was excellent, but you'll have to wait your turn to fight me."

Chad's fist had started the glow, clearing charging with power. "No you don't," the laconic young man said, pulling back to fire a blast of power.

The other man jumped into the air, landing on one of the fire escapes overlooking the alley. "Tsk. Young people, always thinking they know best." Closer, Amaya could see that he was dressed very formally, in a button-up shirt, vest, and tie. She could see the glint of a gold pocket watch from the left pocket of the vest. "I'll see you again, and we'll settle whatever grievance you think you have then."

"I think we'll settle it now," Amaya said, sword lifted over her head as she dropped down on him from above. He was fast, faster than she'd thought he'd be, and she missed him by a hair, slicing cleanly through the fire escape railing.

He jumped again, and landed on the roof where she had been moments before. "Ahhh, shinigami-san, I'd be happy to show you my regard for you and yours, but, alas!" He bowed mockingly, "I have other things to attend to this evening. Good night, minna-san!"

And he was gone. Amaya looked down at the two teenagers in dismay. "Well . . . shit," she said, sword dropping to her side.

"What now, Amaya-chan?" Orihime asked. "Should we chase after him? Try and catch him in more evil deeds tonight?"

There was a moment of thought, and Amaya shook her head. "No, it's . . . Oh! Oh, no, we need to go! Kurosaki-san and Takeuchi-san are fighting another Bount - with fire powers! We need to get there!"

All three of them were moving almost before she finished speaking, and she guided them towards the place where all the fire in the city seemed concentrated.