Cold Fire

Chapter II – The Invitation

The musty scent of drying leaves.

That was the first thing that hit Ichigo when he arrived in the Soul Society. Slowly the bright light that had obscured his vision faded, leaving him with the image of whitewashed buildings and a clean cobblestone road. Gripping the rough fabric of the handle of his backpack he cleared his senses. He thought back to a couple hours ago at Urahara's shop, waiting for the portal.

- Flashback -

Surprisingly it hadn't taken much to convince his father to let his son participate in the 'exchange' program. After packing a few necessities, and saying goodbye to his family (his father and Yuzu in tears, Karin was basically indifferent to the whole thing), Ichigo had went off to Urahara's place on the 29th of August just like the note had told him to do.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, here to help again today?" asked the shady (A/N: heh…) shopkeeper, his fan covering the lower half of his face.

"Nope, I'm supposed go to the Soul Society for awhile. I guess the portal thingy will be picking me up here," replied Ichigo rather uninterestedly.

"Ah… I see," Urahara muttered quietly, a slight smile on his face, and walked over to the storage room to check out some new merchandise.

Listening to the clicking sound of the shopkeeper's receding footsteps and thinking that he would just sit and wait for the portal to escort him, Ichigo sat on a rather decrepit-looking chair in the entryway to the shop. As he sat he stretched slightly, sighing in pleasure as a couple of out of place joints popped back into place.

"Is he gone?"

Ichigo jumped in sudden surprise, looking down to where the noise had come from – his backpack. "What-"

"Phew, now I can come out. I must say that male pheromones are much less pleasure inducing than a female's," sighed an all too familiar voice.

"K-Kon?"

"Oh hello there Ichigo! When do we get to see Nee-chan?" asked Kon, an innocent expression on his fuzzy face.

"Okay Kon, I wish I could phrase this more eloquently, but to be frank, what the hell are you doing in my backpack?" questioned Ichigo, twitching slightly; it felt like he had been doing that a lot lately.

"I faced many horrors last time you left me with that- that- sister of yours, my sexy body was assaulted countless times. And, oh pain of pains! My beautiful name was changed to the degrading title of…. BOSTOV!!"

Kon was in tears by the end of this tragic speech, and he crumpled upon Ichigo's backpack, dramatic sobs being emitted from his faux fur covered mouth.

"Yare yare, with you keeping up this racket I'll probably get kicked out of the Soul Society for causing a disturbance of the peace," grumbled the orange-haired teen, cleaning out his ear with a pinkie finger.

"Pleeease take me with you Ichigo! I haven't seen Nee-chan for so long, besides," Kon chuckled lightly, a gleam in his beady eye, "we're buddies aren't we?"

"Whatever, just don't bother me when we're there," muttered Ichigo, attempting to fend of the living plushie that had suddenly attached itself to his side, sobbing in gratitude.

"Kurosaki-san, Kurosaki-san,"

Ichigo looked down to see Ururu tugging at his sleeve meekly. "Eh?"

"The portal will be here very soon, Urahara-san said you should come to the back of the store."

Silently Ichigo picked up his things and followed, snatching Kon and shoving the disgruntled stuffed creature into his pack quickly. They passed by the selves of the many strange items for sale until they reached the door that led to the back room.

"Ah, Arigato Ururu-chan," cried Urahara brightly. Beckoning with his fan for Ichigo to come by him, he spoke, "The gateway should appear in just a few minutes, if you would just wait here until then…"

And so Ichigo stood and waited, there was defiantly no way he was getting out of this now. He understand why he was needed at the Soul Society, in fact, he was surprised that they hadn't called for him sooner… But that didn't mean that he wanted to go back, however, he couldn't run away anymore. It was time that he had faced the problem, a. k. a. Renji. Ichigo hadn't seen the other teenager since the Bount experience; he closed his eyes as he was suddenly bombarded by dully painful memories.

A first kiss, inexperienced and slightly awkward, noses bumped, lips pressed together experimentally…

"Aishiteru Renji."

"Right back atcha Strawberry."

Hands tangled in Ichigo's bright hair, bruising nips down his abdomen. Ichigo panicked when he saw them, much to Renji's amusement… "How am I supposed to explain these to my dad you horny baboon!?" "Just say they're a present from a friend." "Wha- NO WAY!!"

"A-ah Renji!" "Don't worry, It'll feel better in a moment." "Nn…" Hot bodies moving in sync, clothed in nothing but moonlight…

The ache of loneliness, Renji was on a mission again.

Excuses for absences, he missed Renji when he was gone, yet when he was with him he felt like he was suffocating.

"You're cold Ichigo, when I first met you I thought you had fire… But I guess I was wrong."

A sudden exclamation from Urahara brought Ichigo back, something had changed in the air, it seemed to shimmer in front of him, and the spiritual pressure was higher and more noticeable too.

"Here we go," chirped the shopkeeper happily. Sure enough, an old-fashioned sliding door was starting to materialize in the air in front of them. Ichigo was reminded of the time when Byakuya and Renji had come to take Rukia away to her execution. Like then, Hell butterflies fluttered around the entrance, bathed in a bluish light.

Slowly the door opened, a bright light from inside blinded Ichigo temporarily. Next thing he knew the red-headed shinigami known as Matsumoto was standing right in front of him.

"Hello again Kurosaki-san, Urahara-san," she said politely, bowing slightly to show massive cleavage.

"Ah h-hi Matsu-"started Ichigo, only to be interrupted by a flying mass of stuffing.

"OH MY BEAUTIFUL GODDESS WITH BOUNTIFUL VALLEYS!! You have come to bless me with your enormous pillows of youthful love!" cried Kon with much emotion, latching onto the attractive vice-captain's rather large bosom.

"Um, please excuse this guy," said Ichigo blushing slightly, "he's just crazy, very unstable you see. Now get in there, and stay there!" he growled at Kon menacingly, pushing the writhing teddy back into his pack. "So ah, where's the short guy?"

"Hitsugaya-taichou is on a solo mission right now, top secret, I have no idea when he'll be back," replied Matsumoto, still looking a little weirded out by Kon. "Well, if you'll excuse us Urahara-san," she said cheerfully, bowing slightly again, "we ought to be off, the portal will she down automatically soon."

"Ja ne Kurosaki-san, vice captain-san," returned the shopkeeper casually, and turning away, he left the room.

"Well, shall we go Kurosaki-san?" asked Matsumoto.

"Sure, just a sec," Ichigo arranged his pack comfortably on his back, took a deep breath, and moved forward. "Okay, let's go."

They stepped through the door, and again Ichigo was temporarily blinded. Slowly the vision of the Soul Society appeared in front of him, and the scent of musty leaves hit his nose.

End of Flashback –

"We should stop by the main office, to let them know that you've arrived," Matsumoto told Ichigo, and so they made their way along the cobbled streets.

Ichigo could feel the eyes of many people on him as he passed, he wasn't exactly surprised. After all, he was one of the famed Ryouka who had broken in some months earlier, the Ryouka who they were now in alliance with. Still, Ichigo did not exactly love the feeling, and was glad when they reached the main office.

It was a large building, bigger than most in the Soul Society. The two shinigami entered through the large doors in the front after the guards nodded their approval. Ichigo felt more than a little bit intimidated by the sheer vastness of the entryway, the ceiling seemed to touch the sky itself. Matsumoto did not stop to look however, and so he followed.

After ascending an enormous staircase, they emerged upon a long and rather unoccupied hallway.

"Just a little father Kurosaki-san," said Matsumoto with a polite smile.

"Um, you don't have to address me by my surname Matsumoto-san," replied Ichigo rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. It kind of bugged him, being called by his last name. "It's Ichigo."

The vice captain looked slightly surprised, and Ichigo wondered if he had been rude, but the surprise faded quickly and she smiled. "Ichigo-san then."

"Th-that's fine."

"Here we are!" Ichigo turned slightly to see a plain-looking door on his left, the nameplate read: "Fujime Hitomi, External Matters. The substitute shinigami thought vaguely that external matters might have to do with the physical world. After rapping her knuckles on the door to alert their presence to the occupants of the room, Matsumoto entered the office with Ichigo right behind her.

The room looked just like any other normal office, except for the diplomas on the wall that stated Fujime Hitomi's passing of the Soul Reaper's exam, among other certificates and notifications that could only belong in the Soul Society. Sitting at the desk was a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, her black hair pulled into a casual, yet smart, looking ponytail. She looked up when they entered and smiled, obviously pleased to see the other young woman.

"Matsumoto-san! Good to see you, is this the boy from the Physical World?"

"Yep," replied the red-headed woman, pushing Ichigo forward slightly, "he's just arrived."

"Hajimemashita," greeted the orange-haired teen, bowing slightly, "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo…"

"Nice to meet you too Kurosaki-kun," said Hitomi smiling kindly, "I'm Fujime Hitomi, please sit down. I just need to confirm some things before you settle down here in the Soul Society."

And for the next couple of minutes they talked. For the most part Hitomi just asked questions which Ichigo or Matsumoto answered. Finally after Hitomi filled out some sheets and gave them to a secretary to file, it seemed like they were about done.

"There is just one more thing, Kurosaki-kun. We need to figure out where you will be living during your stay." Before Hitomi could continue to address that subject, there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?' asked Hitomi.

"Excuse me, Fujime-san, Ukitake-taichou sent me with some papers for me to drop off," came the familiar voice of someone Ichigo knew very well.

"Rukia?" gasped Ichigo.

"I-chigo?" replied Rukia; she was staring at him looking very surprised. She had hardly changed since he had last seen her, which had been a couple of months ago she was carrying her Zanpakuto and wearing her usual shihakusho. "What brings you here?" she asked curiously, the look of surprise faded and was replaced by a look of unexpected pleasure.

"I was summoned to live here for a year," answered Ichigo, glad to see his friend.

"Where will you be staying?" questioned Rukia interestedly.

"Well, that's what we were just discussing," said Hitomi, "hello Kuchiki-chan, I can take those papers from you."

"Oh, hello there Fujime-san, Matsumoto-san," replied Rukia, mildly embarrassed for having ignored her superiors. She handed Hitomi the papers quickly. "Wait a sec," a light bulb went off over Rukia's head, "Does Ichigo not have a place to stay?"

"Not at the current moment, Why?" asked Hitomi.

"Well, there are a lot of spare rooms at the Kuchiki mansion, and I'm sure Nii-sama wouldn't mind…" replied Rukia, "I could also show him around the Soul Society, be his tour guide!" She was looking very excited by the end of this, it would be really fun to get to hang out with Ichigo, and they could catch up with each other. Renji would like it too, I'm sure of it! Rukia thought enthusiastically.

"Hmm, well that should be fine. If it's alright with Kurosaki-kun." said Hitomi, looking over the papers with a pair of reading glasses.

"What do you say Ichigo?" asked Matsumoto.

"That would be fine," replied Ichigo, it would be nice to have someone to talk to for a change. He wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Byakuya (the man's cold behavior sort of annoyed Ichigo), but it would be a small price to pay.

"Great! Let's get you moved in right away then!" cried Rukia cheerfully, pulling along a startled Ichigo behind her and out the door. "Goodbye Fujime-san, Matsumoto-san, arigato!"

"Kuchiki-chan can be quite forceful sometimes, ne?" commented Hitomi, a sweatdrop on her forehead.

"You're quite right about that," replied Matsumoto, chuckling quietly.

To Be Continued –

After seeing Renji's bankai, I can't help but think of him as a baboon. XD

A/N: I hope Rukia doesn't seem to OOC, she's just happy that Ichigo's back. And no, this is not IchiRuki, this is ByakuyaIchi.

Thanks for all the reviews and stuff! I really appreciate it! I'll be on vacation for the next week, so don't expect an update for a little while. There will be some more on Renji and Ichigo's relationship, and hopefully we'll see Byaku-chan! Wai! So until next time, R&R.