"NO NO NO A MILLION TIMES NO!" Hitsugaya protested. "I'm NOT going on an assignment with him!" Hitsugaya jabbed a finger at Ichigo. "Not after the bullshit prank Kurosaki pulled last month."

"what, mixing sake with your tea? That was Rangiku's idea." Ichigo giggled.

"I can punish Rangiku, but there's /nothing/ I can do to keep you from doing it again."

Renji snickered.

"This is not a request Hitsugaya taichou." Yamamoto said quietly. "In three days, Ichigo Kurosaki will be traveling to Yokohama to visit his cousin Miki Kurosaki. You will be spending that time along with him trying to get to the bottom of the matter of these strange monsters showing up in Yokohama."

Hitsugaya sighed. Oh well, at least he wasn't the only captain going. Byakuya was coming along too.

Byakuya smiled a small, smug smile, thinking of Rukia's suggestion a couple of days back.

Flashback

"You should go on the mission too Onii-sama, and see if you can finally make Ichigo yours!"

Byakuya snorted. "I could have him any time I wish, what makes you think I actually want him."

"I heard you moaning his name last night." Rukia glared. "And seen you staring at his ass as he's walking away. I've seen you /blush/ when he comes up in conversation. In a way I never thought I'd see. Hisana wouldn't want you to be sad forever would she?"

"No..."

"And nobody will honor your devotion to her more than Ichigo will."

Silence.

"He's been having wet dreams about you too."

"And how do you know of this?"

"I slept in his closet when I visited last. Remember? I heard him moaning sensually in his sleep, moaning /your/ name."

"I am... unsure."

"Onii-sama... you two are very alike, I can only hope you get up the courage to fight through your grief and try."

"You are good for each other Byakuya." Senbonzakura carried a tray of tea in, and served the two shinigami and Sode no Shirayuki. The two shinigami and their zanpakuto sipped the traditional drink, from the traditional ceramic cups.

So Byakuya decided, to try and make Ichigo Kurosaki /his/, with Senbonzakura's enthusiastic endorsement.

end flashback

Byakuya sighed. "In the end, the final assessment is mine and Ichigo's. There will be little combat unless a hollow appears, this is merely a fact finding mission."

~ Three days later ~

Miki Kurosaki, secretary, dispatcher and machine operator at Digital Accident Tactics Squad or DATS and partner to Pawnchessmon Black sighed, staring at the little bed and studio she'd put together in the attic of a DATS safehouse for Pawnchessmon Black. This little place would be hosting Ichigo's friends, Yuzu, Karin and her /crazy/ uncle Isshin. The last time he visited her, she almost got evicted because of the damage he did kicking in the window to kick Ichigo early in the morning.

"Now I want you to stay up here when they're home. In the morning I'll tap the drainpipe outside three times, when that happens, thats when you come down for work. Yoshino will be picking us up in the car. And there will be a sweatshirt and blanket for you to hide under if people come nearby. If someone finds you, stand very still and pretend to be an old suit of armor, okay?" Miki asked.

"awww but Miki, I want to come with you... why can't I meet your cousin?"

"Because they don't know about Digimon. I'm sorry Pawnchessmon. Don't worry, I've arranged for some visitors to sneak in and keep you company." Miki gave pawnchessmon black a kiss on the cheek. "You're like a little brother to me, not just a partner, so don't worry I'd never leave you out in the cold."

Diiiiinnggg dong!

Miki ran to the window. Ichigo was there. "hey cousin Mouse! Get down here and come meet my friends."

"Funny, I invited some friends of mine from work to come and meet you!" Miki pulled her head in. Ichigo always called Miki "Mouse" as a joke.

Pawnchessmon Black sighed, plopping down in the hidey hole in the attic. This was going to be a lonely two weeks. But the affectionate reassurances calmed the anxious digimon down.

Miki opened the door, hugging Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu, and Isshin. "Welcome uncle, cousins and... er... friends..."

In gigai, Hitsugaya, Byakuya, Rukia and Renji looked rather odd. Rukia and Renji had had plenty of experience with human dress. So had Hitsugaya. But Byakuya was wearing a suit and tie, several conspicuous and expensive pieces of jewelery, and a mismatched vintage Yale jacket sold in New Haven in the 1950s. (1) Orihime, Uryu and Sado were hanging around as support as well. The group greeted Miki with huge grins.

"I had to borrow a company house just to accommodate you all." Miki chuckled. "C'mon in."

"Right, cousin Miki, these are my friends Orihime Inoue, Uryu Ishida, Sado Yasutora, Toshirou Hitsugaya, Renji Abarai, and Rukia and Byakuya Kuchiki." Ichigo introduced them one by one. "My friend Rangiku had work but she might be joining us later."

"Its very nice to meet you." Rukia beamed, preening.

Korodo was hanging from her shoulder by a detatchable strap that Uryu had given him. Ririn and Nova were hiding in Uryu's backpack. Ririn peeked out from under the flap, while Nova might as well be asleep, splayed out on his back in the bag. She peered jealously at Miki, then realized she was being jealous of Ichigo's cousin! It wasn't like Ichigo could date a relative. And why... WHY DID HE NEVER NOTICE HER FOR ALL SHE DID DURING THE BOUNT WAR! "its no use, I'm just an animated doll, I'll never get Ichigo's attention all to myself."

"C'mon in, I'm sorry I haven't started dinner, been getting some paperwork from my job done. Just finished it when you arrived."

Ichigo and the others followed her in. "Don't worry about dinner! I'll do it! You guys just have fun okay?" Yuzu skipped merrily off to the kitchen.

"I think I'm gonna play soccer, Toushiro-kun, will you come with me? You've /got/ to show me how you control the ball so well." Karin beamed.

"Later Karin, sorry I want to socialize with Kurosaki-chan a bit. We /are/ here to visit her."

"Suit yourself."

By the time the car from DATS stopped in front of the company owned house where they were staying, Yuzu had made a big meal of fried eggs, chicken and rice.

And this was the first thing to catch Agumon's attention. "FRIED EGGS!" The digimon squealed.

Megumi and Masaru had to both hold Agumon back from rushing into the house and begging like a spoiled dog or cat.

"Agumon, quiet!" Masaru told him. "Miki's cousin and his friends don't know about digimon!"

"Miki set up the attic for the digimon to hang out in, heating, water to drink, food, and amusement. So please try not to give her away?" Begged Masaru.

"but... ANIKIIII..." Agumon whined.

"Its okay Agumon, I'll ask for a doggy bag, you'll have your fried eggs. Besides, Miki knows how much you like them. Remember how many you ate for lunch last month?"

"Fried eggs are the most amazing food on either world!" Agumon sighed blissfully, a blush coming to his cheeks. "They're better than cheeseburgers, better than chocolate!"

"You know." Masaru suggested. "We could always say that they're furries."

"Masaru do you even know what a furry is?" Touma demanded, rolling his eyes skywards.

"Um..." they waited expectantly. "Not really."

Agumon and the others climbed the fire escape. "hey there comrade!" Agumon bounce tackled Pawnchessmon Black and grinned. "You lucky man, you live in a house where someone makes fried eggs! You get to taste the awesome power of the fried eggs!"

"er... thanks... I think..." Pawnchessmon black blinked. Pawnchessmon white helped his partner to his feet. Falcomon rotated his neck and then stuck a head under his wing. "I'll join Keenan on the roof when the sun goes down. He loves gazing at the moon."

Down below Hitsugaya was setting the table. Then he heard the doorbell go. Miki ran to the front of the house and opened the door.

"MIKIIIII!" Thud. Miki found herself pinned to the floor by an over exuberant Megumi, who got up with a huge grin. Miki sighed in relief.

"Glad you guys are here, you know that little..." she leaned in close "friend of ours is going to get lonely if I left him on his own."

"No problem. We DATS agents have to stick together right?" Masaru asked. "C'mon, introduce us." Masaru hung his coat next to the hook where Rukia had hung Kurodo. Clever Rukia had put the modsoul near the entrance, figuring she might hear something from Miki's friends about the monsters in the area. Surely monsters visible to all humans would yield rumors right? Maybe they'd talk about the monsters attacking the area and how worried they were about the attacks!

Kurodo gave a sigh as soon as they'd all passed him. "Rukia needs to stop reading fantasy and romance novels." He muttered. "What exactly is this DATS anyway?"

"Hi everybody! My friends from work are here!" Miki lead her team into the living room. "Everybody, these are my cousins Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu, my Uncle Isshin." Isshin gave Masaru a stern, stern look. Masaru gulped, turning pale at the glare he was being given.

"I'm Orihime Inoue, I'm in Ichigo's class at school. My cousin lives in the area also so I decided to tag along." "Rukia Kuchiki, its a pleasure, this is my brother Byakuya." "Renji Abarai! Rukia's best friend and her brother is my boss." Hitsugaya came in with a sigh on that. "Toushirou Hitsugaya... a pleasure." "Sado Yasutora." "My name is Uryu Ishida. I must say your uniforms are most exquisite." Uryu beamed. "I never dreamed that a bunch of teenagers would be dressed for work so smartly!"

"uryu's a craft nut." Ichigo said with a grimace. "So he goes absolutely gaga for any kind of fancy looking clothing."

"Oh this is our work uniform." Yoshino explained. "I'm Yoshino Fujeida, you can just call me Yoshi for short. I'm the oldest of the group, we work at a place called DATS as junior investigators. Think of it as prep for going into the police academy."

"Masaru Damon, I may be a DATS member but my talents lie more towards street fighting. I'll take on anyone anywhere and I mean it!" Masaru made a muscle.

"Touma H Nordstein, think of me as the brains of the operation." Touma chuckled. "Masaru doesn't like me because he thinks I over think everything."

"And I'm Megumi Shirakawa, Miki and I are the dispatchers at DATS." Megumi beamed.

"What exactly does DATS do?" Rukia asked as Yuzu carried a tray of tea in.

"Its a place for teenagers who are proficient in investigations to prepare them for going into the police academy." Miki explained. "Me and Megumi are in charge of logistics and supply." That cover story was offered to them by commander sampson himself.

"And this little guy was placed in our care. His parents are former scientists who taught at DATS. They're letting us tutor him." Keenan had an absolutely bizzare appearance to Hitsugaya. Masaru patted Keenan on the head.

"Me pleased to meet you!" Keenan cheered.

"What kind of ten year old is covered in tattoos?" Hitsugaya demanded coldly. "If you don't need me, I'm going up to the roof."

"The roof? Me go too, me like watching sky from roof!"

"No you stay here and... why don't you go play with Ichigo's sister Karin, she needs a soccer partner."

"awww, you no want me to come?"

"Thank you very much but no."

"Hitsugaya likes places where he can see the sky." Rukia commented. "And he has a bit of an icy attitude. Not sure why, maybe its because he has such a strong connection to the weather." She gave a small smile.

Hitsugaya hopped up onto the roof, calling Hyorinmaru to sit next to him. The two sat in silence, staring at the sky, unaware that Pawnchessmon Black was staring boredly out the window with Gaomon just six feet below them.

He heard voices downbelow. "Gaomon, I'm bored, I want to meet Miki's family, but she won't let me."

Hitsugaya blinked, listening carefully.

"It can't be helped, many people in the larger world do not know of digimon, even though many of us mean no harm, the humans are still afraid."

Hitsugaya blinked, the voices were in the... attic?

"I know, but I should be able to show myself to my partner's family. Its not fair."

"Others who are not her family are visiting, didn't you hear the fuss downstairs just now when that Orihime woman hugged Keenan?"

"I like hugs."

"Besides that, when we joined DATS, we agreed to help keep the human and digital worlds from harming each other. If we are ordered to keep this a secret, then we must."

"I know, it doesn't mean its easy. At least Miki took care to make me comfortable."

"She made a promise to be your partner, she must honor it." The first voice sounded disappointed and upset. The second sounded calm and serene, and both were male.

Hitsugaya blinked. Partners? Digimon? Secrets? What had Kurosaki's cousin gotten up to?

Suddenly, inside, every shinigami's soul pager went off. "I got it!" Rukia added. "Thats /our/ work phones!"

Back at DATS alarms went off. Kamemon and Kudamon had been manning the monitors while everyone else was away. "Its an unknown disturbance!"

"Its not a digimon." Kamemon warned. "There's a small one near it the energy signatures are completely different."

"its not Yggdrasil come back either, its too weak."

Rukia leapt nimbly over the rooftops. "Hado 33, SOKOTSUI!" the attack missed. The hollow darted off down an alleyway. Rukia dropped to the alley. "Sode no Shirayuki, be on your guard."

"Of course." the voice issued from Rukia's blade. "It sure is slippery for a small hollow."

There was the bong of a tin can. "SHAKKAHO!" Rukia fired a hado 31 at the source of the noise.

"BLAZING ICE!" A burst of ice shards shot at Rukia, who dodged the attack. "You wanna play tough huh! Well take that, and that, and THAT!" Suddenly a small brown blur was pummeling on Rukia's head.

Rukia shrieked in shock, stumbling over due to the pummeling. She grabbed the thing pummeling her by the scruff of the neck and held it at arms length. "This isn't a hollow. Hey rabbit, have you seen a masked monster coming through here?" The creature was a large brown and pink talking rabbit with stubby little horns on its head. The ends of the rabbit's ears seemed to be usable as probosci because as it leapt back the creature pointed, the ends twisting to look like an index finger.

"He went that way, up the alley."

"Kay, can you show me where?"

"only if you apologize."

"I'm sorry, my name is Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki."

"I'm Lopmon!"

"kay Lopmon, lead the way!"

"What do you want with such a horrible thing anyway?"

"Its my job to kill them." Rukia replied. "i'm a shinigami, that monster is called a hollow, my job is simple, kill hollows and cross the souls of dead humans over to the other side so they can be reborn." Rukia realized she may have found a willing witness for Yamamoto, a real live monster that wasn't rampaging and was visible to all humans. Not to mention, IT WAS A BUNNY RABBIT! OH SHE JUST HAD TO GET NIISAMA TO LET HER KEEP IT!

"Kinda like how we all go to Primary Village?"

"Where?"

"I'm a digimon, short for digital monster, when we die, we're reborn in Primary Village as an egg, and we have to hatch and grow up all over again!" Lopmon said cheerfully. "Primary village is watched over by special caretaker digimon who protect it!"

"Yes, its very much like that, only when humans die they go to soul society for a time, and /then/ they're reborn."

"What's the Soul society?" Lopmon was smelling the ground like a tracking dog, but her nose was twitching like a rabbits.

"The Soul society is a world that humans go to when they die and that shinigami like me live in." Rukia replied. "We use the senkaimon gate to pass from our world to this one."

"WOW! We use a digital gate to get from my world to this one! We have so much in common Rukia, why don't we be friends?" Lopmon begged.

Rukia hmmmed. "only if Sode no Shirayuki says its okay."

"Who's Soda no shirayuki?"

"Sode, its a day sound, not a dah sound." Rukia told Lopmon. "And Sode no shirayuki is my zanpakuto."

"She can hang around for a week, and then I'll decide if its okay." Sode no Shirayuki appeared behind Rukia in a whirl of snowflakes. "I'm Sode no Shirayuki, the most beautiful ice zanpakuto in soul society. We zanpakuto are born from the souls of shinigami, we're their subconscious mind personified into a sword. Rukia, its coming."

"What?" Lopmon blinked.

"time to EAT YOU SOUL REAPER!" The hollow leapt out of its cover, jaws bared. It was some kind of four legged, fast running reptile hollow.

Rukia held out her hand, and Sode no Shirayuki transformed into a sword. Rukia sliced out in once fell swoop, and the hollow fell to the ground dead. It disappeared into nothing but dust.

"WOW! You're way stronger than a normal human!" Lopmon's eyes glowed. "Can you help me get strong too?"

"I suppose, but i'd have to test you to see how good you are. Fortunately I don't think anything you can do to me can cause permanent damage."

"I hope not!" Lopmon snuggled Rukia, and the shinigami felt herself swoon slightly. Clearly this was an affectionate creature this digimon.

Rukia reentered her gigai and set lopmon on her shoulder. Lopmon happily snuggled her cheek as she headed back to the house.

She peered in the back door first, looking around. She sensed Miki's reiatsu faintly up in the attic. "okay i'm gonna put you in my room and then call my friends in to introduce you."

"mkay." Rukia snuck in and hurriedly put Lopmon in her room. Then she hurried to the other shinigami one by one and informed them of what she'd found. Oddly enough Miki didn't move from the attic.

"Interesting." Hitsugaya gave Lopmon a gentle poke.

"HEY, I don't like being poked you know, I may not be human but I have feelings." Lopmon pouted at Hitsugaya with hugely cute eyes.

"Sorry, its just the only monsters we've ever seen are hollows." Hitsugaya peered at Lopmon, and was clearly uncomfortable at being pouted at by a bunny.

"Good work Rukia, this may be what we were sent to investigate." Byakuya mused. "Tell me Lopmon, are there others like you?"

"Yeah lots of others, but not everybody's friendly. Digimon get stronger depending on the emotions of the humans around them! So if those emotions are evil then a digimon can get in real trouble. I don't feel anything bad from you guys though."

Ichigo chuckled. "I should hope not."

"Maybe that explains the attacks that Yamamoto sotaichou wants us to investigate." Renji mused, looking over at his captain.

"Perhaps, but this little one is the only lead we have and she may have important information. We still need to determine the nature of the threat these attacks pose in regard to human souls."

"It sounds like human souls are precisely the cause of the attack." Uryu snorted. "hey lopmon, wanna try on a doll hat I made?"

"do I look like a doll birdman?" Lopmon stuck her tongue out at Uryu.

Uryu's face fell. "You can have her Kuchiki. Clearly she's a shinigami's pet." He strode out.

That evening Miki slept up in the attic surrounded by her partner and a pile of happy digimon. Rukia, Orihime, Renji and Lopmon sat in Rukia's room sipping herbal tea while Lopmon told them all about the digital world. "Seeeee? Seeeeee? Primary village is our soul society! And its a very very satisfying place to visit. I get to watch young digimon grow up! The instructors there are the greatest ever! Elecmon-kachan is as fussy as a mother hen when protecting his little ones. Togemon teaches us how to read and write. And Swanmon is in charge of getting food for all the babies!"

Byakuya smiled as he paused to look in on Lopmon. The little rabbit reminded him very much of his sister.

He walked down the hall to his and Ichigo's room, carefully opened the door and was greated by the sight of a half dressed Ichigo. "Aherm... if you don't mind I must change as well."

"Sure, not like its anything we don't know about, we're both guys right?" Ichigo blushed faintly.

"Precisely." Byakuya was pleased at the amount of muscle tone on Ichigo's torso, but he decided to try and attract the boy's attention.

Byakuya slipped from his gigai, placed it in the closet, and then carefully hung his haori up. He loosened the opening of his shihakusho's kimono, letting it fall loosely behind him and expose his chest.

Ichigo peered over his shoulder as he put on his pajamas and he almost choked. Byakuya was /gorgeous./ His muscles were lean, well developed, his frame slim. And as he slid his fundoshi off Ichigo got a very good look at a part that made him turn scarlet. Byakuya was hung like a god. And as he turned around to hang his clothes in the closet Ichigo caught sight of an equally attractive backside and he felt his own manhood threatning to harden in his pajamas. Blushing furiously Ichigo tried to think of Kon, the most un attractive thing in the world, to make his hard on go away. But thinking of Kon produced thoughts of Kon's perverted habit and his tendency to stash porno mags in Ichigo's underwear drawer. That just made the tightness in Ichigo's pajama pants worse.

Byakuya turned about as he slipped on his night yukata, making sure that Ichigo got a goooood second look at his package, all the while acting as if he hadn't noticed. He saw that furious blush and the growing bulge. Byakuya was determined to make this mission count.

The kensaikens were always bothersome to remove. Byakuya fussed with the one on the side of his head. But it got stuck in his /hair/ and then his scarf swung into his way.

"hold still." Ichigo sighed, reaching up to try and get it out carefully.

"Ahch, it happens sometimes." Byakuya growled, squirming as he tried to get the scarf out of his way. He was so close... he just wanted to...

Then the moment was over, Ichigo stood not 8 inches away from him, a faint blush on both of their cheeks. Their eyes met... Ichigo's seemed as large as saucers.

Then Ichigo blushed, darting the few steps to his bed with shunpo and climbing under the covers with his back to Byakuya. His semi hardon hidden beneath the covers.

Byakuya grunted, turning and going to bed, making sure that he did so utterly nude and that the blankets were thin enough that Ichigo would be able to see the outline of his body and everything from the waist up.

Ichigo squeezed his hardon painfully between his legs, squeezing his eyes shut.


Rukia was up early the next morning as Lopmon was tugging on her hair. "Rukiaaaaaa. I'm hungry I'm hungryyyyy."

"Mnnph..."

"Rukiaaaaaaaa." Lopmon's stomach grumbled cutely.

"omigoodness! You're so cuuuuteee!" Rukia hugged Lopmon so tight her face was smooshed to Rukia's cheek.

"I love that you think I'm cute but my stomach is terribly empty." Lopmon said with curlicue eyes. "Please Rukia-san, please feed meeeeeee."

Rukia plucked up the digimon, put her on her shoulder, and carried her downstairs, nuzzling the creature tenderly.

Pawnchessmon black had wanted to make early morning tea for his partner when he heard the footsteps. "its really clear outside Rukia-san!" A feminine digimon voice said cheerfully. "Is it always that clear in Soul Society?"

"oh it rains sometimes." Rukia said cheerfully. "Hey lopmon, if you stay will you show me the digital world too?"

"I dunno how to get a person to come back with me." The digimon pouted.

Pawnchessmon waited until Rukia's back was turned, then dashed upstairs.

Rukia froze. "What is it Rukia?" Lopmon asked worriedly. The soul reaper whirled.

Unfortunately for Pawnchessmon black, he had never come across Shunpo before. Rukia caught him easily. "Hey!"

"REEENJIII! Caught an intruder!" Rukia hauled pawnchessmon black, still stunned by the arm.

Masaru peered out the crack in the attic door. "uh oh." he whispered. "Agumon stay back in here with me." He and Touma had spent the night in one of the attic's two rooms, Yoshino had spent the night in the other. Megumi, being Miki's best bud, had hidden in her room.

Pawnchess white peered out the keyhole of Miki and Megumi's door. "Miiikiiii." he whined, running over to Miki and Megumi and shaking Miki. "Miiiiikiiiii... one of Ichigo's friends has black-kun!"

"white hide!"

Suddenly Agumon burst out of the attic and, newly awake and irritable, Miki charged out of her room in her night yukata, the garment in severe danger of falling off. "I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU BLACK-KUN!" Agumon butted Rukia in the chest and Miki grabbed Pawnchessmon black.

"YOU LAY A HAND ON PAWNCHESSMON BLACK AND I SWEAR I'LL SEND YOUR BUNNY OF DOOM BACK TO THE DIGITAL WORLD PERMANENTLY!" Miki yelled at Rukia. "HE WAS JUST BRINGING ME MY MORNING TEA AND YOU GRAB HIM AND HAUL HIM BY THE ARM LIKE A PACKAGE!? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I DID THAT TO YOU?"

Agumon was pounding harmlessly on Rukia's shoulders. "HANDS OFF BLACK-KUN HANDS OFF BLACK-KKKKKKK." Masaru grabbed Agumon off Rukia and dragged him back towards the stairs still yelling about what he'd do if Rukia hurt Pawnchessmon Black.

"Soooo." He smirked as Renji, then Hitsugaya, then Uryu, Sado, Ichigo and lastly Byakuya came out of their rooms. "any of you guys pick a fight with one of our partners, you're gonna get a black eye, understand?" He cracked his knuckles menacingly.

Hitsugaya kicked Masaru's shins. "crystal. Of course, you're assuming that just because I'm small, I can't do this." He brought his elbow into Masaru's stomach, right in the diaphram. Masaru doubled over and wheezed. "Better I do that then Kuchiki-sama kill your little lizard friend for hitting his sister."

"A smallfry like that can't do anything to me. Hitsugaya-taichou he's just a human. I can defend myself." Rukia growled. "are you hurt cute wickle wopmon?"

"no..." Lopmon cuddled Rukia and stuck her tongue out at Masaru.

"Did da big scawy wizard scawe you?" Rukia asked in cutsie talk.

"dude, you watch her around Rabbits. Rukia can be crazy around them some... hurrrrk!" ichigo suddenly found himself on the ground with a lump on his head from Rukia's rebuke. "iiiitaaaaai..."

Masaru glared around at this bunch. To him Rukia saying he was just a human implied she might be a digimon in disguise! Did that even happen? Or was there something else going on here.

"Thats enough." Touma was limping suspiciously as he pushed the group apart. "Agumon, we TOLD you to stay hidden. Masaru, control your partner. Miki, not gonna criticize you cause he's /your/ cousin."

Ichigo glared at Miki. "Clearly you have some explaining to do."

Miki glared right back. "I signed a confidentiality agreement, unless my boss says I can tell you, or you give me a reason to tell you, then no." She turned and stalked back to her room. "Tell Rukia if she puts her mitts on my partner again in a way he doesn't like, I'll break them." Miki snarled at them.

"Rukia?" Byakuya asked his sister as she slammed the door. "did you start this?"

"Gomenasai nii-sama. I thought the creature had broken in." Rukia told him.

"naw, he's one of DATS kept pets. I never thought I'd run into them in a million years." Lopmon yawned. "Thanks for keeping me safe Rukia-chan, those /people/ are in charge of keeping digimon out of the human world.

"Why'd she call you a bunny of doom?" Ichigo asked.

"Hell if I know." Lopmon grumbled. "I'm just cute and fuzzy."


1. I spent several years living in new haven metro area and going to school at a high school in new haven. There's no snow in soul society, so I must imagine that if a young Byakuya had to go on patrol in gigai on the yale campus, he'd need a jacket to keep warm and blend in.