Once again, the OC in this fic, Reiya, doesn't belong to me. She's just part of the request from someone on Gaia. Enjoy~

"So," Reiya's voice finally broke the silence that had settled over them, "what kind of message did Urahara send you with?" She tilted her head to glance over her shoulder. For some reason, this strange boy wouldn't walk next to her.

Ishida hesitated, tensing a little at the piercing gaze. "I... I'm not able to say. Urahara-san asked me to keep it quiet."

A slight pout tugged at Reiya's lips. "It's strange for anyone to want to deal with Kurotsuchi-taichou," she pointed out. "What kind of person is he?"

'Crazy' was the first word that jumped to Ishida's lips, but he refrained from saying such. Even if it was true, he knew that wasn't the question that was being asked. "Urahara-san used to be the captain of the Twelfth Division," he explained. "So, he and Kurotsuchi know each other."

"That's right," Reiya murmured to herself, speaking louder again as she address Ishida. "Then, why you?"

Ishida's eye twitched slightly at the question. "Ichigo was busy elsewhere and I was the best candidate."

An eyebrow shot up in amusement. "Oh?" she asked, sending a smirk over her shoulder. "Renowned for your keen sense of direction?" A light burst of laughter erupted from her throat at the annoyed look on the boy's face. "Joking, of course."

The quincy mumbled something under his breath before stepping up his pace to walk next to the shinigami. "It's odd that you're the only one I would run into here," he commented, taking another, good look at the empty streets.

"It's not that odd," she argued. "You were nearly to Rukongai. I thought you'd been here before?"

"I have," he answered quickly. "My previous experiences were just...rushed."

"Meaning you were running away a lot?"

A blush claimed Ishida's cheeks once more. "I wasn't running away..."

Reiya took a moment to survey him from the corner of her eye. "...You were running away."

"I-I was not!" Another laugh caused him to heave a rather heavy sigh and slump his shoulders in defeat. Alright, so maybe he was running a little bit...

"Don't worry," she assured, waving a hand, "we'll come across more shinigami soon. There's always a bunch of slackers walking around like they don't have anything to do."

Ishida extended a finger in her direction. "Isn't that what you were doing?"

"Not at all," the female quickly disagreed, racking her mind for an excuse. Hell, he was a Ryoka, he wouldn't know if she was lying or not. "I was on patrol."

"Only you?"

"Yes."

"Really."

"Are you saying I don't know how to handle myself?"

"Well..."

A hand clamped easily onto the hilt of her zanpakuto as Reiya spun to face Ishida. "Care to test that theory?"

Black eyes widened slightly as Ishida took a step back and raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that isn't there safety in numbers?"

It was probably a lame cover-up, but Reiya let it slide, relaxing again and rolling her eyes. "Just because I'm not a seated officer doesn't mean I can't hold my own."

As she turned to continue on their trek, Ishida let out another breath and followed after her more cautiously. Man, women were crazy. He started to follow again before a high-pitched scream, like one of a child, caught his attention. "What was that?"

Reiya head snapped in the direction of the cry, her forehead creasing. "This reiatsu...it's a hollow."

"A hollow?" Ishida repeated, a bit dumbfounded. "Here? H-hey, wait up!" He chased after the female's vanishing form, quickly using his hirenkyaku to follow her shunpo.

Stopping short of the scene, Reiya was surprised to see Ishida right on her trail. "How did you...?" Shaking her head lightly, she narrowed her eyes toward the cause of the disruption. "A huge hollow," she murmured lowly, unsheathing her zanpakuto without a second thought.

"Wait!" Ishida shouted as she charged forward, his fingertips not even able to brush against his Quincy cross before she was ahead of him.

"Stay back," she yelled, though never turned back to make sure he had followed those simplest of directions. "Sore ni tobe, Mussu no Hoshi-tachi!"

Ishida stopped short as Reiya raised her zanpakuto straight into the sky. He watched, in slight awe, as the blade began humming with life, burning a bright white-blue from the center outward until it was encompassed by the ethereal energy. The light shot up into the clouds, bursting into an explosion of tiny, condensed energy particles in the shape of stars. He saw the intent and, without thinking, immediately rushed toward the hollow and its prey, a young boy that must have traveled a bit too far off the Rukongai path. He scooped the boy up into his arms, using his hirenkyaku to dodge out of the way of the deadly stars as they darted toward the ground, pinning the large creature down. Ishida glanced over his shoulder to watch the ending spectacle, the stars burning hotter and brighter until they exploded with a boom, reminiscent of a super nova, all but evaporating the enemy.

Satisfied, the confident smirk on her lips evidence enough, Reiya slipped her zanpakuto back into his sheath. Turning to face Ishida and the near-victim, though, her lips fell into a frown. "I wonder what a hollow like that was doing here, and with a child from Rukongai nonetheless."

Turning his attention to the frightened boy, Ishida kneeled down in front of him and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. He attempted a friendly smile, which (likely) came out more pained than anything. "Are you alright?"

The child sniffled and looked from Ishida to Reiya before nodding lightly. "I-I saw it coming and I r-ran. I d-didn't know where I was g-going."

"Shouldn't there have been a gate guardian?" the Quincy asked, tilting his head to look back at Reiya.

"There should have been," she agreed, raising her head to glance in the direction of the aforementioned gate. There was no way to tell, from this distance, what had happened, but it was something that needed to be investigated. "Come on, let's go check it out."

"W-wait a minute," Ishida said, this time standing his ground. "Shouldn't you notify your superiors first? Isn't that proper protocol?"

Reiya paused and shot a grin over her shoulder. "I'm from the Eleventh Division," she stated. "We don't worry much about that kind of thing."

"Eleventh Division?" Ishida thought, bewildered. "She serves under Zaraki?" Not for the first time, Ishida wondered just what this girl's deal was. However, he did have to stop her from going. "A-as well as that may be," he spoke up, "I still have a message to deliver. I don't want to be stuck in Soul Society all day."

This time, the female turned around and gave a short sigh. "Fine," she conceded. "Have to ruin all the run."

Relieved, Ishida looked down to the child that was still next to him. "You should get home. Things will be alright now." Though, he wasn't sure he could be promising such a thing, it was likely just a freak accident that wouldn't repeat itself. At least, he hoped.

"Well, let's go," Reiya ordered as the boy scampered off in the direction of the nearest gate. "We still have a ways to go before we reach the Twelfth."

"Ohhh? What's this?" Mayuri peered at the pair in front of him. "The Quincy is back? Have you come to let me cut you open?"

Ishida's eye twitched for the second time that day. "I've come to deliver a message," he announced, "from Urahara Kisuke."

"Oh?" The captain's intrigued look dulled slightly. "What does he want now?"

"He sent me to retrieve the details of... an experiment." His gaze slid to Reiya, who was watching the conversation with the utmost curiosity. He wished she hadn't come, almost, as he didn't want her listening in on what was likely secret information that shouldn't have been talked about in the first place.

"You'll have to be more specific, boy," Mayuri said in a harsh tone, annoyed at the vague request. "I'm a scientist. We tend to do a lot of experiments."

"This one is special," Ishida insisted, narrowing his eyes slightly. "It's that one."

Finally, his meaning got through as Mayuri's face drooped slightly. "What makes him think I have those old records? I threw everything he left behind out!"

"He said he was sure you would still have them." Though, the boy himself wasn't so positive. Besides, what did it matter to Mayuri what happened to the recordings of the initial ideas and concepts of hollowification? Well, he was a scientist, after all-- maybe Urahara was right.

"Old geezer," the captain mumbled. "Girl!"

"Yes, sir." The automatic response, as well as the sudden appearance of a presence Ishida hadn't even noticed, jolted him slightly. Sure enough, though, Mayuri's lieutenant and engineered daughter, Nemu, was at her captain's side in an instant.

"Go find those folders, so this Quincy can get out of my hair."

"Yes, sir."

Ishida frowned slightly, remembering his last encounter with this pair, but kept quiet. He had no interest in making the business of shinigami his concern. It seemed Reiya was immune to the interaction, as well, as she occupied herself with tracing the star-shaped guard of her zanpakuto lightly with her fingers.

"Here," Mayuri said, shoving a stack of papers into Ishida's hands after flipping through them for a moment. "Now, get out."

"Uh, right. Thanks." Feeling the captain's burning gaze on him the entire time, Ishida turned and left as quickly and gracefully as he could with Reiya in tow.

Next/probably final chapter will be up tomorrow sometime. Lame meeting with Mayuri is lame, I know. Realistically, Mayuri probably would have drug it out or added strings to the deal, buuuut... I'm sleepy. So, I hope you enjoyed.