Contagion
Chapter 1

It waited.

It didn't matter how long it would take, but its purpose forbade it from acting rashly. Impatience would ruin it, causing alarms to rise prematurely. That could not happen.

So it waited for the perfect opportunity.

And it was rewarded for its patience.

Yes, this one would do nicely.

xlx- 15 years following Calm After the Storm: Epilogue -xlx

He walked along the roof's edge following the steady stream of children as they walked leisurely to the elementary school, careful about prying eyes looking up and seeing him. It was a fine line he balanced on. His… descendants (although he hated the word; it made him feel old) had carried on his legacy of seeing 'ghosts,' which wasn't surprising.

Since his idiot father became human again and had children, his latent abilities had been passed to Ichigo and his daughters and their respective children gained the extraordinary gift to see 'ghosts' as well as their children.

So Ichigo was hiding in not-so-plain sight, making sure his great-great-granddaughter was delivered to school safely.

Sometimes it struck Ichigo how odd that sounded, especially when he was thinking of his family and caught a glimpse of himself in a reflection. With the appearance of a twenty-four year old, it was quite humorous. He almost forgets to laugh every time.

In any case, Ichigo glanced down the street and saw they had arrived safely. He smiled when she was accosted by her friends, already popular.

The shinigami jumped away, following the same schedule he had followed for over a decade. He peeked into the schools and offices of his family, always careful to stay out of sight. No one needed to see a look-alike of their grandfather in weird traditional clothes haunting them; which is essentially what Ichigo had been doing.

Not that they needed to know of course.

Halfway across a jump from one building to another Ichigo's head jerked to the left. Making a foothold under his right foot he kicked off to the street below and used shunpou from there.

As far as he could tell, this was nothing compared to his usual enemies, but if the war had taught him anything it was that hollows usually have nasty tricks up their metaphorical sleeves. A simple mistake could sometimes be an unwary shinigami's undoing.

A plume of dirt and rubble shot into the air and Ichigo poured a little more power into his steps. He quickly reached for Zangetsu and before the frog-like hollow even registered the threat Ichigo had cleaved it neatly in half.

Resting Zangetsu's tip in the thick grass of the lawn, the man leaned casually against his old friend.

"You know, we seriously need a challenge… I'm not being cocky, old man, I'm just saying normal hollows are too mundane to be any fun anymore… Almost makes me wish Grimmjow had survived… No shit! Of course I was just joking… stay out of this, you idiot… don't ma—"

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

In less than a blink of an eye swords clashed with a resounding ring and sparks flew haphazardly. "I see your instincts have not dulled."

Ichigo growled and shoved away from the shinigami he had not seen for nearly a century.

"It is very rare for one to see such an intimate connection with one's zanpakutou as—"

"You shouldn't be here, Byakuya. Why have you come?" he snarled at the captain before visibly calming somewhat and sheathing his blade. He walked away, intent on ignoring the man behind him, not really caring if he answered. Byakuya, a little stunned at the mood change but ever the stoic aristocrat, he lower his own weapon and followed.

"One would think you would have tried to kill as soon as I approached." Hearing the evasion for what it was, Ichigo sneered over his shoulder before ascending an invisible staircase toward the nearest rooftop.

"Would you prefer that? I wouldn't mind."

"Hardly."

"Hmm, your choice, I guess," said the exile with a careless shrug. Byakuya looked hard at the seemingly relaxed man inadvertently confusing the hell out of him.

"You are not the same Kurosaki I remember." This elicited a mocking scoff before they jumped over a few rooftops.

"You expected an arrogant brat, screaming profanity and cursing the world for causing all his misfortunes? Please, am I obliged to perpetually behave like a sixteen year old? I grew up. Married, had kids, lost loved one, some of them I sent to you myself." With that Ichigo hopped over the edge, waving reluctantly for Byakuya to follow as he dropped. The dignified taichou peered over the edge to see how far the 'substitute' had fallen. It wouldn't do to seem ungraceful and fall too far.

Fifty feet below Ichigo was waiting for the aristocrat to catch up and Byakuya followed the vaizard's gaze through the window to see a familiar mop of bright orange hair above a flimsy wall.

"My nephew. He has some reiatsu, enough to see a few of the weaker souls wandering the office, but not enough to sense me, being Yuzu's grandson and all." He waved a hand dismissively. "Hopefully he'll get that promotion he's been working at." He didn't notice the slightly incredulous stare sent after him as Ichigo allowed himself to fall the remaining distance to the crowded street (being careful to avoid crushing anyone).

They walked in silence the rest of the way towards what Byakuya now saw as their destination, a small park. Ichigo removed Zangetsu to rest him against the back of the bench he sat down on. The red-head studied Byakuya over crossed arms.

"Tell me why you're hear, Byakuya, or I will attack you and do you the discourtesy of letting Urahara experiment on you." The two regarded each other coolly, neither giving away their thoughts.

Behind his nonchalant exterior, Ichigo's brain was in hyper drive trying to deal with so many mixed emotions roaring through him. Shocked surprise that Byakuya (of all people!) had come to him, relief no one else had come with him, a grudging respect the taichou had had the guts to come at all, and that simmering rage that always made itself known when he thought about anything dealing with Soul Society. Hell, the only reason Ichigo was sitting here at all was because Byakuya and a few of the other taichou had supported him through the sham of a vote.

But wasn't bitter, not one bit.

Well…

The regal man sighed resignedly in a rare show of emotion. "I am obliged to precede my reason for being here with a question." He was clearly hesitant and tense. Ichigo marveled at this amazing view of the stern, cold, aristocrat dropping his guard, and his amusement showed clearly until Byakuya asked his all-important question. Byakuya was currently going through all Rukia's advice. 'Manual to Ichigo: Surviving' had been helpful so far, excluding the illustrations…

"Do you hold a grudge against toward Soul Society?"

Ichigo's eyes widened at the inquiry for an instant before narrowing and a growl escaped, the sound dissonant as it joined a sudden metallic rattle of the bracelet on his wrist. The reiatsu inhibitor glowed darkly. Byakuya assumed (correctly) it would be working over-time to contain the power.

Byakuya stood very still and relaxed when Ichigo rose to his feet and took a step toward him before his head whipped around to redirect his glare to his motionless zanpakutou and it was apparent he was holding a discussion with the sword. The obvious subject of their argument watched closely. Considering the dark flash of Ichigo's eyes, his was not the only less-than-benevolent reaction, but it seemed the hollow inside the exile also took exception to the topic. He was wrenched from his musings by the absence of the chains clatter.

Ichigo ran a frustrated hand through his hair and sat heavily on the bench once again.

"Zangetsu (maddening old man that he is) deems it necessary to expunge the fact it would be unfortunate if you inexplicably went missing, because I doubt you have come following the orders of others."

"Hmm."

"Right. I suspect where this is going, but I'll answer your question anyway. Do I hold a grudge against Soul Society." He was quiet for a moment and he tilted his head back to look and the slowly rolling clouds across the sky. He rubbed his eyes. "I have a grudge against the forty-some bastards that exiled me. I'm not naïve enough or so blinded by anger that I blame the guy selling ramen, though I will admit for a while I blamed his cat as well."

"It didn't appear as though you were as enraged as you claim by the manner in which you departed the chamber, very nearly as if you were attempting to emulate myself."

The younger snorted his amusement (Byakuya hid his disgust at so common an expression). "Hardly. We figured we wouldn't give the bastards the satisfaction of seeing me rampage. You'll never know how close you came to having to elect a new Center forty-something-or-other."

"Central Forty-six."

"Whatever. The point is that I don't blame the whole of Soul Society for the narrow-mindedness of a few." Ichigo finished and watched for Byakuya's answer.

"You truly are not sixteen any longer," he mused and Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Well, have I answered to your satisfaction or are you going to leave again for a century until you have another pointless question?"

Byakuya, expressionless, got down to business.

"For the past five months the souls inhabiting Rukongai have inexplicably been mutating into hollows."

A/N: Oh Noz!!! Whatever will Ichigo do?!?

I know, I know!! I will allow you all to throw tomatoes at me now, I deserve it for making you wait so long! I don't pretend to have a (legitimate) excuse for being so lazy, so bring it on...

Those of you new to the story, If you haven't read 'Calm After the Storm,' STOP!!!! This is the sequel and this won't make a shred of sense to you if you haven't read 'CAtS' first. (Maybe this warning is a little belated... nah)

So I know this is short, but they will get longer, promise!!

Any concerns???? Drop me a review!! I always look forward to your comments!

Disclaimer thingy: not mine. You can tell because I am not that awesome.