"The hell?" the orange-haired male said.

Grimmjow felt the younger boy's footsteps rush up behind him, but his mind continued to reel at the sight before him. Kurosaki, the only man to give him a real run for his life, was standing far above him.

Jinta leaned down and grabbed the small cat in one hand, bringing it closer to his body to prevent her from falling. He was conflicted on what he should do, he could see that his little secret was quickly found out; not only by Ichigo, but Urahara too. The older man sat at a small table behind the teenager, and was currently giving him a stern look.

"Since when did you get another cat?" Ichigo asked, taking notice that the cat was staring very seriously at him for some reason.

"Actually," Urahara quickly recovered, "we found that cat under the shop." He remembered Yoruichi found something there earlier today, and it just wasn't in her personality to tell him about the helpless looking animal, but it was far too easy to figure out the situation. "We obviously can't provide for the animal here, so why don't you take it home?"

Jinta was infuriated at the suggestion, but felt it wasn't his place to speak out. It was his fault that Urahara is trying to get rid of another animal they couldn't possibly take care of thanks to the shop's merchandise.

"I don't think-" Ichigo started, but swiftly stopped as he saw Urahara's calm, but still face. He knew that he didn't have the skill to even talk the man out of this decision.

"Jinta, why don't you go get a small box from the back?"

The boy nodded, and only slightly hesitated when handing the kitten over to Ichigo before running off to find a well-suited box to carry the cat in.

Grimmjow only tuned back into the living world as his rival held out his hands, of which he was traveling ever closer to. He tried to twist his body to look at the human that held him captive, but this trade off was too quick. He found a new, larger pair of hands around his torso. He couldn't help but notice that he could fit perfectly in these two palms. His body collided with the boy's shoulder, as the humans talked as if he no longer existed. Cat instincts returned as Ichigo scratched behind one of Grimmjow's ears. A strange noise crawled up his throat that could only be described as a purr.

Jinta soon returned with a box with a few holes poked in the top. A haunting feeling slowly crept through the cat as he saw that he was brought over the opened box. He dug his claws into the hands that held him, only remembering afterwards that these belonged to Ichigo. A cat-like smirk appeared on his face when the teen flinched, but he was not dropped. Instead, he was slowly guided into the box, and trapped inside when the box was swiftly closed by the boy with red hair.

The first thought that came to Grimmjow's mind was that at least this cardboard box was much better than a paper bag. He shook his head to get rid of such a simple-minded thought. The box shifted as it was handed off to the orange haired teen.

While Grimmjow was only trying to think of a way to scratch out of the cardboard, Ichigo was trying to think if this cat had rabies. It did live outside for who knows how long. He quietly stared at the claw marks on his hands, and hoped that this cat didn't have any other diseases. Some quick thoughts of dumping the cat somewhere went through his mind, maybe even at the animal shelter. He couldn't possibly take care of a cat…could he?

After soon wrapping up the conversation with Urahara, Ichigo wondered if the whole reason he was invited over was to hand the cat to him. He felt a little guilty about thinking of just getting rid of the poor kitten. His sisters did take care of a kitten before…maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Leaving Urahara's shop, Ichigo made his way to the closest vet. While his father did run a clinic, he felt that he probably couldn't properly take care of a kitten.

Grimmjow's travels were slightly smoother than when he was first captured. Although he was pissed off that he was in the hands of one of his biggest enemies, his mind just couldn't focus on any one memory. He could feel his body heat rise from the sun light beaming upon the box, warming the contents quickly. But the kitten didn't feel discomfort; actually he was feeling the exact opposite. His body felt relaxed, even more than when Ichigo scratched behind his ears. The combination of the swaying of the box and the wonderful feeling of the warmth made his mind foggy once more. He couldn't think of anything but sleep. His eyes slowly closed, and he fell asleep soon afterwards.

When Ichigo no longer heard the disgruntled meows of the cat, he almost worried that something was wrong with it. He was relieved when he reached the entrance of the vet. Walking up to the front desk, Ichigo could see a blonde woman filing some papers in some cabinets. "Excuse me?"

Seeing that there was someone there, the woman walked briskly up to the desk and smiled. "How may I help you?"

"I'm hoping to get this kitten checked out," he said motioning to the box he held.

"Oh!" She said, just noticing the package. "Is this your first time here, sir?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I'll see if I can get you an appointment, I'm pretty sure there was a cancelation earlier…But in the meantime, you can go sit in the waiting area." Ichigo turned around to see a couch and a few chairs beside a small selection of animal toys and accessories.

"Okay, thank you."

The women just smiled and took a few papers with her as she went through a door behind the desk. The substitute shinigami sat down and looked at the pet items practically right next to him. Bored with looking at the toys, he glanced down at the box in his arms. He opened the top a little bit to see that the small kitten was asleep. It looked so peaceful, and so adorable.

It wasn't until now that he noticed small dark smudges under the cat's eyes. The markings almost looked like they were placed there purposely with paint. He took his free hand and brushed the cat against its side. Its eyes twitched at the touch and Ichigo could hear it mew. He couldn't help but smile, it was quite cute. Finally, it opened its eyes, and revealed their clear, blue color. But as soon as they opened, they closed again. "Don't want to wake up?" Ichigo questioned the cat quietly.

"Sir?" the blonde woman from before asked while walking up to him. "The doctor is ready to see you in room 6. He'll be in to examine your cat shortly."

"Thank you," Ichigo said. She resumed her work by filing some more papers as Ichigo made his way to a door with a large 6 printed on it, once again hoping that the poor cat would be healthy. Walking into the room, he sat down in a chair in the corner. The room was small and a bit crowded, especially since a large metal table took up the majority of it. There was a small desk area in the opposite corner, with some cabinets hanging above it. Some small pictures of animals hung around the room, and a plant was put next to another door to make things a bit more pleasant. Ichigo assumed that the door across the room lead to the back where all the animals were held, and the employees stayed during breaks in the day.

He was a bit surprised when an older man, and a slightly younger nurse filed into the room to greet him. "Hello sir," the doctor said as the nurse grabbed a clipboard that was sitting on the counter top and smiled. "Let's take a look at your cat, shall we?"

This chapter was hard to write, I'm not going to lie. I have no idea which aspect made it so difficult, but it was just so horrid to write. I don't really like how I wrote it, but I'm more than willing to move onto more of the fun stuff, of course. Sorry it's been a long while that I've updated . Hope you enjoyed it, though.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please review (I have set so the reviews can be made by non-members too, so please take a minute to review (: )