Chapter 2
Every breath he took was filled with warm air, having been heated by the sun from outside. The barely filtered rays that were tinted twilight thanks to the thin window coverings, added a sepia light to their borrowed room that allowed for them to sleep and recover the rest they had lost in their travels.
With a long intake of air, Byakuya finally opened his eyes, blinking them several times to give them a chance to adjust to the newfound light. He felt rested, but he was stiff from having slept on anything other than his own exquisite bed. He stretched long and hard, extending his arms high over his head, still laying down, before swinging them out to his side where his hand brushed up against another.
With a mild start, he immediately looked over to see Nyruki still fast asleep on the futon he had placed her in, laying on her side with an arm stuck straight out towards him. She had tugged the thin blanket up to her chin and buried her nose in it, affectively hiding herself entirely, save for half her head that rested against her pillow.
He smiled a lazy grin as he pushed himself up and ran a hand back through his hair to somewhat straighten the mess from having slept on it. He needed a shower and a comb.
He rose from the futon and found a robe to wrap himself in before he stepped out of the room and into the hallway where he went to the small dining room with the hope of finding another.
He did.
"Ah... Good morning, Kuchiki. Please, have some tea." Urahara smiled, already sitting on the floor at the table with a steaming cup in hand.
Byakuya simply nodded and fixed his hair a bit more as he sat, combing the black locks several times with his long fingers.
"Are the gigais prepared?" He asked, reaching for an empty cup and the tea pot to fill it.
Urahara swallowed his mouthful of tea, "Soon. Tessai stayed up all night to get them ready."
"I see. It is appreciated." Byakuya said, taking a sip.
"It's no problem. Breakfast?" Urahara asked as he slid a fresh and perfectly ripe banana across the table.
Byakuya eyeballed the fruit with eyes bouncing between it and the store's owner before he set his cup down and snatched it up.
Urahara smiled, "Is your companion still asleep?"
Byakuya nodded, if at all to give himself time to finish chewing his bite of banana and swallow it down.
"Poor thing was exhausted last night." Urahara mumbled lowly.
"I can't say I was any different. Our nights as of late have been spent training to overcome Nyruki's Zanpakutō abilities. It has not been easy." Byakuya said, taking another bite of the banana.
"I did the research. She has a remarkable power. I wish you luck in finishing the training." Urahara said.
"Figures you'd already know." Byakuya grumbled.
"Of course I know. I may live in the World of the Living, but that doesn't mean I'm out of touch with what goes on in the Soul Society." Urahara said as another entered the dining room.
Byakuya looked up from his tea as the two children under Urahara's charge entered, being Jinta and a small, meek looking girl with black hair tied into pigtails on either side of her dainty little head.
"Boss! Look what I scored!" Jinta howled with excitement as he heavily dropped a large, green striped watermelon onto the floor.
"Oh! Well done, Jinta. Go carve it up and see if Tessai is finished with that rice!" Urahara had to holler after the boy as he tore down the hall with the watermelon in his arms.
The little girl on the other hand, with big shy eyes, sat down and poured herself a cup of tea, "Is that woman staying awhile, Manager?" The girl asked softly.
"It depends on their business, Ururu." Urahara said simply with a pat to top of the girl's head.
"I like her hair. It's really long and I wanna play with it." She said almost too quietly, sipping her tea.
Byakuya tried not to smile, but that soft, barely visible arc crept across his lips anyways.
"She often needs help with it. I'm sure if you ask her once she wakes, she'd be more than happy to allow you to play with it." Byakuya said kindly, earning a rather shocked stare from Urahara that was half hidden by his green striped hat.
"Really?" The little girl perked up.
Byakuya nodded, "Yes... Really."
The girl's smile widened, "I'll go ask right now!"
Before Byakuya could stop the girl, she was already gone, leaving him to sigh with the thought that he might be in trouble later with Nyruki. His eyes shifted from the door to Urahara, whom had hidden most of his face, save for his shadowed eyes, behind a small fan.
"What?"
"I didn't know you were so good with children." Urahara said, snapping the fan closed and setting it down on the table.
"We were all children once." Byakuya said simply, hoping to hide his lapse in stature.
"But you were never a little girl."
"Neither were you."
Tessai soon walked into the dining room, carrying a large wooden bowl loaded down with steaming rice that he set down next to the tea and a plate of chopped fruit. Breakfast was fruit over rice with coconut milk.
"I must thank you for your hospitality, Urahara. You will be compensated for it." Byakuya said as he served himself up a small plate.
Urahara beamed, "You know how to make a day, Kuchiki."
They settled in to eat their meal where no words were said for quite some time. They ate in since until Nyruki stepped into the room with freshly washed hair and dressed in a plain robe. Ururu was close behind, holding a brush, a comb and a small bag full of hair ties and hair pins of all different colors and sizes. Her shy little face was graced with a smile as she plopped down behind Nyruki, whom had sat next to Byakuya and without a word, served herself a plate of breakfast and a rather large cup of tea.
Then she glared at Byakuya.
"I hate you." She grumbled with irritation as she snapped a bit of coconut covered fruit into her mouth.
Byakuya slightly cringed, "For the record, I didn't tell her to go wake you up. I just said when you wake up."
"The sun is up. Time to wake." Ururu smiled as she combed through Nyruki's hip length hair.
That earned Byakuya another glare that he refused to look at while he finished his second cup of tea.
After a few more minutes, Jinta returned with perfectly triangular cuts of watermelon and set the tray down on the table. The pieces were immediately attacked like fresh meat as each took one for themselves.
It wasn't until after breakfast, with every last piece of food gone, that Ichigo and his friends arrived at the shop.
"Yo! Hat n' clogs! You here?" Ichigo's voice rattled through the shop from the front, being far too loud for being indoors.
Urahara's shoulders slumped, "In here!" he deadpanned.
The gaggle of footfalls drew close until the group reached the dining room. Ichigo walked in wearing a standard t-shirt printed with the number 15 and blue jeans, while Uryū, carrying a backpack slung over his shoulder, wore jeans and a blue zip up hoodie.
Behind him walked in a pretty, but tiny teenage girl with long flowing blood orange hair and big, doe like gray eyes. She wore a simple yellow blouse and knee length skirt that was printed with flowers along the bottom hem. She carried a tote bag clutched in both hands in front of her and she immediately waved at Byakuya with a pleased smile.
The last of Ichigo's group was a massive, young looking and dark skinned fellow with shaggy, wavy brown hair that covered up most of his face and only left a singular brown eye open upon which to see.
"I see the whole group is here." Byakuya said plainly, taking a sip of his third cup of the morning.
"Guys, this is Nyruki Sawada. She came here with Byakuya last night. This is Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado. We call him Chad." Ichigo said, pointing at each one as he said their names.
"Morning." Nyruki said, offering a smile as Ururu softly hummed with glee to herself while she combed through the portion of hair she had separated from the rest.
"I brought some clothes for you. Rangiku had left a few things at my place the last time she visited. She couldn't carry it all back with her." Orihime smiled as she sat down next to Nyruki and began to show her what was in the tote.
"Thank you. Once our gigais are-" Nyruki started, only to be interrupted.
"Oh! They're ready by the way. You can hop in any time." Urahara grinned wide.
"Oh good. I'll be right back, Ururu. Then you can keep going ok?" Nyruki said sweetly as her and Byakuya both rose to their feet.
"Mmhmm. I'll be here!" Ururu smiled.
They left with Orihime close behind and shut the door. Nyruki and Orihime followed Tessai to a room at the end of the hall with Byakuya having broken off to return to their borrowed room. They walked inside and found two stands, both covered with silken sheets and covering up what was underneath that was in the shape of a human.
"The one on the right is yours." Tessai said as he shut the door once they had stepped inside.
Nyruki sighed heavily as she gripped the sheet and yanked it off, revealing a standard muscled female with no facial features, no hair and no skin. The only common attribute between it and Nyruki was that they were the same height.
"Well, here goes." Nyruki sighed again.
She stepped around to the back of the gigai hanging on the stand before she dropped her robe and draped it over the gigai's shoulders. She rolled her neck and steadied her breathing before she punched in through the gigai's back and popped inside with a soft pop.
In a moment, the gigai had morphed, molding to Nyruki in perfect form. Long black and damp hair sprang from the gigai's head and trailed all the way to her hips before several locks lightened into white streaks. Skin immediately wrapped itself around her body and her black collar instantly popped through to wrap around her neck.
After a few moments, Nyruki opened her eyes and dropped off the stand, having assumed control of the gigai in perfect sync. She instantly wrapped herself up in the robe to cover herself, but a short pang of nerves shot through her with worry that she hadn't been fast enough.
Nyruki and Orihime both stepped from the room, vacating it for Byakuya to enter and get into his. The two woman went to the room Nyruki had slept in where Orihime set down the tote and began to pull several articles of clothing, including a lacy pair of underwear.
"Here. They're clean. I washed them last night." Orihime said with a pleased smile as she handed Nyruki the panties.
"Matsumoto's?"
Orihime nodded, "Mmhmm. They look like they'll fit... Oh! But I didn't get you a bra. Rangiku's are all too big." She frowned.
Nyruki turned around and slipped on the panties and sure enough, they fit, "It's alright. I'm small enough to get away without one." She turned back around.
"Maybe... Maybe Uryū can come up with something really fast." Orihime mused as she shot for the door.
"No! Wait-" Nyruki tried, but it was too late.
Orihime had blasted back down the hallway before Nyruki could stop her and the only thing she could do was study the clothes the petite woman had brought.
There was a pair of straight leg jeans that Nyruki instantly decided she would wear, as well as a pair of nice black heels with only a three inch heel on them. She figured they would look nice with the straight leg. She had a harder time deciding on a shirt however, as there were quite a number of them. There was a couple blouses, a tank top, a vest and a few t-shirts of all different colors and shapes. She had no idea what to choose.
After only a minute, Orihime, accompanied by Uryū, returned to the room where Uryū immediately set to work. He pulled a small kit from his backpack and a small roll of elastic tape before pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose.
"Do you know which shirt you want to where?" Uryū asked.
"Um... I really have no idea." Nyruki softly blushed.
"Hmm... Oh! This one!" Orihime smiled wide as she plucked a black blouse from the pile.
Nyruki had to admit, the blouse she had picked was nice. It had a small looping hole at the center of the chest and the elbow length sleeves had slits that ran from the hem of the sleeve, to the hem of the shoulder. The collar dipped just enough to show the hollow of her neck and where the hem met with the hole, a small golden bead had been sewn.
She didn't get much longer to contemplate the top before Uryū immediately set to work however, as he turned it inside out and effortlessly sewed in a band of elastic tape, crinkling the fabric of the top just beneath the bosom to blend where he had sewn. He was finished in a matter of minutes.
"There we go. That should do." Uryū smiled as he examined his work for a moment before turning it back right side out.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." Nyruki said softly as she took the blouse from him.
With just a nod, Uryū packed up his backpack and left, followed by Orihime whom shut the door behind her with a soft click.
Nryuki shed her robe and set it down on her futon before pulling on the jeans that actually fit pretty well, albeit a bit on the long side, but the heels would fix that. She pulled on the freshly modified shirt and adjusted it so it sit comfortably on her torso. The bottom hem rested around her hips, covering up half her backside and the fabric was actually quite soft. The fresh alteration fit perfectly and helped to give her the small amount of support she needed, as well as highlight her modest bust.
Freshly dressed, she headed back to the dining room to rejoin the growing group.
"You look so cute! Those clothes look great!" Orihime beamed wide as Nyruki sat down where she had been and Ururu immediately set to work on her hair.
"Thank you. I'm sure I'll accessorize it later." Nyruki softly laughed.
Byakuya soon returned as well, having taken the time to shower before he dressed. The dark colored slacks were a bit on the tighter side, but not uncomfortably so, and he had left the top couple buttons of the untucked gray button down shirt undone, allowing his collarbone to show. The navy blue zip up was open, as well as the lightweight jacket and he had tied his hair back into a messy ponytail with several locks falling free around his face.
Nyruki's cheeks colored a darker pink.
"I hope we will be going soon, Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya said as he remained standing and stuffed his hands into the pockets of the lightweight jacket.
"Yeah. We'll go now. Just meet us outside, Sawada." Ichigo said as he stood.
Nyruki waited for a few minutes longer until Ururu finished with her hair, having put it up in a high ponytail with several braids mixed into the whip's length. She thanked the girl and grabbed her shoes before trotting to the front door, slipping them on and joining the group waiting for her outside in the sun lit dirt lot.
"Come on. It's this way." Ichigo said with a wave for them to follow.
Byakuya and Nyruki glanced at each other for a moment and then set off.
The morning was warm, but not so much so to make their chosen outfits out of season. The sun felt great against Nyruki's newfound skin and she couldn't help but turn her face up towards the heat. It earned her a barely there smile from Byakuya.
"So! What kind of information are you hoping to get, Byakuya?" Ichigo asked, leading the group along the sidewalk through the busying town.
"Some sort of clue on where to start looking. This Hollow has been incredibly elusive for the past 2,000 years." Byakuya answered from the back of the group.
"2,000 years? How has he managed to evade the Shinigami?" Uryū asked with slight shock in his deep blue eyes.
"He's invisible. Only those with high spiritual awareness and pressure can sense him, but from what we've been able to compile, he only eats low level souls with little spiritual energy to maintain his stealth." Byakuya said.
"A survival instinct." Uryū said lowly, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
"Yes." Byakuya said simply.
"How are we supposed to fight a Hollow we can't see?" Orihime asked, resting a finger on her small chin.
"Between all of us, we should be able to sense him before he gets close." Chad said with a rumbling voice that was highly uncharacteristic of a 17 year old boy.
"Hell, with just Sawada here, we have an early warning system." Ichigo laughed.
Nyruki's cheeks shaded themselves pink again, "Yeah." She mumbled and tucked a white lock of hair behind her ear.
Byakuya sent her a reassuring and comforting smile.
The group crossed the street and headed down another where the buildings began to shift from the downtown high rises, to smaller, more nondescript buildings with a few graffiti tags along the alleyways. The streets were becoming darker, dirtier and the deeper they walked into the less traveled parts of town, the more random piles of trash gathered in random corners.
"Where are we going, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked, keeping his hands in his pockets to keep from wrapping an arm around Nyruki to keep her close and protected.
"Our informants' place." Ichigo said with zero hint on his face that a smile had been there only a minute before.
"We should tell him, Kurosaki." Uryū said quietly.
That perked Byakuya's ears, "Tell me what?"
Ichigo stopped walking and turned to face Byakuya with a set expression of seriousness that wasn't usually there.
"Look, Byakuya... Just keep an open mind about this." Ichigo said calmly, stuffing his hands into his back pockets.
"If I knew what to keep an open mind about, it would make it easier." Byakuya said flatly.
"Just... Just trust me, alright? I haven't led any of you astray yet." Ichigo said evenly.
Byakuya's eyes narrowed, "Who is it?"
"Our informants are-" Uryū tried, but stopped talking when Ichigo smacked him in the back of the head.
"He'll find out!" Ichigo thundered loudly.
"Don't hit me! What is wrong with you, you ape!" Uryū roared back.
"I'm not an ape! I'm just trying to keep our asses from getting shredded!"
"He won't shred us! We're trying to help him!"
"And he very much would shred us with his pink swarm of death!"
"Enough!" Byakuya's voice echoed far further, and far louder than the two younger males.
Both Ichigo and Uryū silenced.
"Continue to walk and cease your bickering. You're drawing attention." Byakuya said, now in a normal voice.
The group glared down the alley they had walked and a small group of passersby had stopped to examine the commotion. The moment they were caught, they scattered like cockroaches and went about their business.
With just a huff, Ichigo and the others started to walk again, emerging out the other end of the alleyway into a dank, shadow covered alcove with several back entrances and large garbage dumpsters laying in random places. The air was fowl from the stench of the garbage and Nyruki softly coughed with the futile hope of clearing her sinuses.
Ichigo headed for a beaten up door sprayed with graffiti that heavily overlapped each other, making it impossible to see what any of it said. It was hidden behind a pair of dumpsters, tucked into the shadow of the building.
"Promise me, Byakuya. Don't freak out." Ichigo said as he glanced back over his shoulder.
Byakuya drew in a long breath, but remained silent as he waited.
Ichigo raised a closed fist and smashed it down against the door, pounding on it three times, pausing, pounded twice with another pause and then once more before he dropped his fist.
The group waited in silence as muffled footfalls sounded from the other side, dropping down heavily in precise intervals. They could tell that whomever was coming was walking down a flight of stairs and before long, a series of clicks, clunks and chain slides rattled against the door before it cracked open just enough for someone to peak through.
"That you, Ich?" Said a low, gruff and male voice. The shadow was too thick for Byakuya to see its owner.
"Yeah. Open up." Ichigo said.
The door closed for a moment where one more chain slide grated across the metal door before whomever was on the other side, opened it.
The one whom had answered the door was cloaked and hooded, shrouding his face in enough shadow to obscure his features. From what Byakuya could tell, the man was slightly taller than Ichigo, but noticeably heavier set. His shoulders were broader and his arms where thicker. The man was physically strong. From what he could see of the man's face, only being his sharp jaw and mouth, every time the man talked, it revealed a pair of small fangs
"You brought him?" The man growled, slightly bearing those small fangs to them.
"He needs help and we're giving him a hand." Ichigo said.
"What's in it for me?" The man asked.
Byakuya shifted his eyes down to the man's feet, which were covered in black boots with white pin-striping.
"Perhaps I can work some magic and get the Soul Society to leave you guys alone, but you've gotta help us out first." Ichigo said.
"Ichigo Kurosaki... That is not your offer to make." Byakuya said sternly.
"You want the help?" Ichigo asked with a backwards glance.
Byakuya sighed, "Yes."
"Then consider it."
"Not until I know who that is." Byakuya said flatly.
The cloaked man scoffed and growled a bit more, but eventually stepped aside to allow the group in.
"Not out here. Get inside." The man said harshly.
The group filed inside where the hooded man shut and locked the door with a myriad of locks and deadbolts before leading them up a curling set of stairs. They climbed several flights, turning corner after corner until they reached a large garage type door at the top.
The cloaked man reached down and unlocked a heavy padlock before lifting the door up with ease and holding it for everyone to step inside.
Once the last had entered, that being Byakuya, the hooded man shut and relocked the rollup door behind them. With the door closed, Byakuya studied the room.
The large room was a run down studio apartment, with large cracks and distressed walls. The outside wall was lined with windows, offering a chance for sunlight to shine in and that wall served as the kitchen and dining area. The center of the room was the living room, furnished with a pair of well worn couches and a large armchair, all surrounding a wooden coffee table and an old TV. Towards the back of the studio was a sectioned off area, but with the light coming in through the windows, all could tell that that was the bedroom. In the adjacent corner was another sectioned off area, having been cordoned off by accordion dividers, which was clearly the bathroom and bathing area.
All in all, it was a hovel, but it had been kept in decent order, as it was clean and picked up and everything was put in its place.
As the hooded man walked passed the group, he held out an arm towards the couches.
"Pop a squat. I'll go get her. She'll wanna see you guys." Said the hooded man as he headed for a door Byakuya had missed at the back of the studio, hidden by a drape of curtains.
Ichigo headed for one of the well worn couches and sat down, sinking a ways into the mix-matched cushions.
However, Byakuya and Nyruki remained standing while everyone else sat without a care.
"Who is that, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked plainly. He was done playing games.
"You know him." Ichigo said just as plainly.
"Who. Is. It?"
The hidden back door flew open with a bang as a bounding, buxom beauty came bolting through the studio apartment, beaming with a wide smile. She had long turquoise hair that billowed behind her with every bound, with a cute face and a fat crimson stripe across her cheeks, going over the bridge of her nose.
"Ichi!" The woman squealed as she lunged and tackled Ichigo, which buried his face into her modest cleavage from her V-necked t-shirt.
Byakuya's eyes shot wide open, as he recognized the woman. The last time he had seen her, she was but a child, but she had somehow erupted into an adult with a crown of a Hollow mask on the top of her head. Now however, the remnant of that Hollow mask was entirely gone and she was very much an adult woman.
"Neliel Tu Oderschwank?" Byakuya gasped with an open mouth.
Hearing her name, the woman released Ichigo and stood up, now being shy.
"Hmm?" She shied into her shoulders.
"She's one of our informants, Byakuya. They give me intel, we keep the Soul Society off their backs." Ichigo said, crossing his arms.
The hooded man returned through the door and closed it, locking it behind him before walking to the group and lowering his hood.
This day could not be anymore shocking.
The man was crowned with a messy array of blue hair that went every which direction and his eyes were the same color. Tattooed blue swaths that almost looked like wings were printed at each corner of his eyes, but what Byakuya was expecting to see, being the remnants of a Hollow mask on his cheek, was entirely not there, leaving the man's face completely unobscured.
"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!"