Eien sighed as she wandered the streets of the Seiretei. Her master had come back shortly after he left, only to tell that he was going to an emergency meeting and that he would be gone for quite a while, so he gave her the rest of the afternoon off. Eien kicked a rock along the street, ignoring everyone she passed, wondering what had just happened. He was in such a hurry and it was unusual. Something must be seriously wrong for her master to be acting in such a way. She shook her head and picked up speed. As she took the corner she collided with someone who ran into her. Groaning she looked up to see a raggedy haired Rakku standing over her.

"Walk much?" He said helping her to her feet.

"Run into people much?" She retorted.

"We were just looking for you." Chi said, all of a sudden standing behind Eien, who whipped around clutching her chest.

"You gotta stop doing that!" She said.

"Doing what?" Chi asked.

"Suddenly appearing places!"

Chi shrugged, "Sorry."

Eien sighed, "How did you get out? Not you, Rakku, i know how you got out."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, relax. I was let out. I have the rest of the day off."

"Same here" Chi said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Both our masters had some urgent meeting to go to." Rakku replied offhandedly.

"Interesting. Same here."

"Not really." Rakku said, "All our masters are captains, so they are all obviously going to go to mostly the same meetings."

Eien punched his shoulder, "Hey, shut up!"

He laughed, "I'm just messing with you."

"Well, we have the afternoon off. What do you guys wanna do?" Chi asked.

Rakku shrugged, "It doesn't matter. We might as well have some fun."

"Doing what though?"

Both Eien and Rakku shrugged.

"I heard a new tea shop opened up." Eien suggested.

"That sounds good." Chi grinned.

"Tch. Whatever." Rakku said.

"Where is it?" Chi asked.

"Over in the 6th division district. I heard that they opened it up as a way to sell the candies that Byakuya-sama was having them make." Eien replied.

"Yeah, that does sound kinda familiar." Rakku commented.

"How would you know? You were never around!" Chi reminded him.

"I was sometimes." Rakku defended.

"But not enough..." Eien said.

"What? You're ganging up on me too?" He smiled.

"You need to behave more." Chi reprimanded.

He waved her off, "Yeah yeah."

Eien grimaced at Chi, "It just goes in one ear and out the other..."

"Believe it or not, following orders can actually have it's benifits." Chi commented.

Rakku shrugged, "Give me a break."

"Like you deserve one."

"I don't need to take this," He laughed and began walking.

"You know it's true." Chi prodded with a grin.

Eien chuckled at his antics and followed him down the street. The arrived shortly there after and took a table outside, waiting for someone to come take their orders.

Eien grinned, "I'm thirsty."

"You're always thirsty, Eien." Rakku said, crossing his arms.

"And in case you haven't noticed, so are you." Chi said coolly, her elbows propped up on the table and her chin resting in her hands.

Rakku couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah i guess so."

"And he could say the same." Eien added. The three began laughing like they haven't in a long time.

"A-ano, could I please take your orders?" Asked a waitress, coming up to the table. She was slightly unnerved by the unusually sharp canines of its inhabitants.

"Ah, a green tea for me please." Chi requested.

"Same for me too, please." Eien asked politely.

Rakku grimaced, "Black tea."

"Coming right up!" And the waitress hurried off, eager to away from the three.

Eien watched her leave, "Well something was off there..."

"I know." Chi pouted. "Ow!"

"What's wrong?" Rakku asked.

"I accidentally poked my lip with my tooth! It hurt!"

"It's from laughing so much." Rakku said.

"But that's never happened before! Recently, it almost feels like my canine teeth are getting longer." Chi retorted.

Eien stared at her, "Really?" She poked her own canines, "Mine just feel sharper. Not longer..."

"Mine feel both, actually." Chi said, "What about you, Rakku?"

He poked his teeth with his tongue and stuck out his tongue to show them that nothing happened, "I think you're both just paranoid."

"Wait. Look." Eien said, noticing the blood that soon surface at the place where his tongue poked his tooth.

"Whoa, maybe you aren't as crazy as you seem." Rakku said, slightly surprised.

The waitress soon came back with their teas. She quickly left the tea and retreated.

"I sense something suspicious." Chi commented as she sipped her tea.

"As do i." Eien said, staring at her reflection in her tea.

Rakku grunted in agreement.

Eien looked up and watched as unfamiliar shinigami passed, remaining silent.

"There is a definite feeling of unease in the air." Chi said. The others paused then nodded in agreement.

"We should just go." Rakku said.

"Agreed." Eien agreed. The trio left their payment on the table and walked off. Rakku tried to cheer them up by telling them about some of his daring escapes and failures but no one was in the mood for funny stories.

"Hey," Chi interjected during the middle of another one of Rakku's stories, "Aren't those our masters?" She pointed down a street to their right.

"Quick, over here," Rakku said, pulling them into an alleyway up closer to where their masters were.

"What are you doing?" Chi hissed.

"I do not want to eavesdrop on my master!" She snapped back.

"Well i do!" He said, not looking at her. Chi leaned against the wall and grumbled, but said nothing more. Eien was a little uncertain about eavesdropping, but if she left she was certain to be seen.

"A whole bunch of them suddenly disappeared." Hitsugaya was saying to the other captains.

"How is that possible?" Ukitake chimed in.

"That's just the thing, no one knows." Byakuya said, his eyes narrowed.

"What do we plan to do about it?" Hitsugaya asked.

"We don't know at the moment. More information needs to be gathered." Byakuya replied.

"What about in the mean time?" Ukitake questioned, sounding concerned.

"We just have to keep a closer watch on those that remain." Byakuya said in a tone that said that the conversation was now over.

"Get down," Rakku said, pushing Eien and Chi down low so they wouldn't be seen as the captains left.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Chi asked as she dusted herself off after the danger had passed.

"I have no clue..." Eien said.

"We should probably be getting back to our masters." Chi said, "And be sure to keep an ear out in case one of them let's something slip."

"That means you too, Rakku." Eien grinned.

He threw her long hair into her face so she couldn't see, "Yeah. Go home, little girl."

"Well, see you guys later." Chi bade and hurried off down the streets on her way back to the 11th division head quarters.

"Bye." Eien said, separating from them, Rakku simply waved.