Four-The Morning(s) After

Urahara tapped his fan on his cheek, resisting the urge to dance a little happy dance, but that was exactly how he felt on this fine morning. The Winter War had been brutal, no doubt about that. But, as the Western saying went 'to the victor, go the spoils' and some very interesting spoils had just been delivered to him. Of course, he would probably have to deal with Kurotsuchi once he discovered it was gone, but until then Urahara planned to indulge his curiosity to the fullest. Szayel's private stash had contained some interesting things, and one of the most intriguing was sitting in front of him, in his underground training room.

Urahara stepped closer and gave the control panel an affectionate pat; aside from the unfortunate choice in colour scheme, the machine looked promising. Perfecting the Garganta had given Aizen easy access to the real world as well as Sereitei, but apparently he had been working to create another kind of gate. Maybe he had planned to use it to find the Spirit King or perhaps to find other planes of existence to conquer.

"Or maybe he was hoping to find the perfect vacation spot." Urahara chuckled. "No matter. You are now in the hands of an enterprising and handsome business man, and we," he patted the control panel again, "are going to have a splendid time."

He fanned himself and giggled. "Now, now, where do we begin?"

A throat cleared behind him. Urahara turned to see Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu. The look on Jinta's face indicated that he did not appreciate any employer who held discussions with inanimate objects.

"Before you start, I should remind you that we are scheduled to pick up new inventory today," Tessai said.

"Yes, yes, could you take Abarai-san with you?"

"He's not here right now."

"I'll go," Jinta said.

"No, no I'm afraid you don't quite have the necessary qualifications for this job." Urahara sighed. "I suppose I must go."

"Qualifications? What the hell does that mean?" Jinta demanded. "I'm way smarter than that stupid freeloader."

"Hmm, I'm sure you are, but I was thinking of a different type of qualification." Urahara sketched the form of the tall and broad Vice-Captain with his fan.

"Huh?"

"There will be much to carry. Too much for you," Tessai said. "We should go."

"Yes, yes." Urahara fluttered his fan at his young employees. "We won't be long, you two. Please keep an eye on things. Do your chores." The fan fluttered at the large machine and its brightly coloured control panel. "And no touching the new toy."

"Yes, Kisuke-san," Ururu said.

"Humph." Jinta folded his arms and scowled at the two men as they left. "Humph, stupid freeloader." His glare shifted to the machine and his scowl deepened.

"Jinta-kun, we should get to work." Ururu held out a broom, which she had apparently conjured out of thin air.

"Hey! Who left you in charge?"

Ururu held up a second broom. "I'm going to sweep too."

She continued to hold the broom out, until Jinta snatched it away with a curse.

"We should start upstairs."

"Shut up! I'll start where I want when I'm good and ready." He approached the control panel and waved his broom at it. "And I think that maybe I might just start here. Stupid thing's all dusty and it's a dumb colour." He gave the panel a poke with his broom.

"Jinta-kun, you're not supposed to touch that." Ururu's eyes were wide. "Kisuke-san said so. It might be dangerous."

"Pfft!" Jinta smacked her with the broom. "You're still not the boss of me." He poked the panel again, this time with the stick end of the broom.

"Jinta-kun," Ururu whined.

"Humph!" Jinta whacked the panel.

Somewhere in the machine a low pitched whine started.

-0000-

A low rumbling noise woke Renji up. He squinted up at the soft light filtering through the shuttered window, trying to get a sense of place. The low rumble turned into a long sigh; Shuuhei's version of a snore. Renji grinned and relaxed. After they had finally finished rediscovering each other, Shuuhei had shifted to one side and fallen asleep. Renji could not blame him; he had passed out moments later, drained but happy.

Renji rubbed his forehead and stretched. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his morning-after-too-much-drinking headache was nothing more than a dull ache behind his eyes.

Probably sweated all the alcohol right out of my system, he thought.

He stretched again, trying to shift his legs away; they were still tangled up with Shuuhei's. Shuuhei grunted and rolled over and pushed his face into the pillow. After a moment he tilted his head and cracked an eye open.

"Umph, what time is it?"

"Not sure, early."

Shuuhei stretched until his back popped. "Your stamina has certainly improved."

"Knew all that bankai training would be good for something."

Shuuhei rolled over and sat up, running his hands through his hair. Renji grinned; the black spikes were flattened against one side of his head and swirled into a crazy mess on the other side.

"No laughing. Yours isn't any prettier."

"Still not a morning person, I see." Renji chuckled and scrubbed at his own hair. "So what's on your schedule today, Vice-Captain?"

Shuuhei thought for a moment. "Let's see: there's the six month inventory to finish, weekly attendance records to verify and approve, monthly patrol schedules to finalize, final edits to the latest edition, and some new recruits start their orientation today. How about you?"

"I'm supposed to head to the real world to help Urahara."

"Sounds interesting."

"Er, well, you never know what crazy thing he'll make me do next. And there're always Hollows popping up, or worse, and those kids are always getting into trouble, and…you know, you should really ask for some help with all that work."

"It's not that bad. Captain Hitsugaya helps out when he can." Shuuhei lay down again and put his hands behind his head. "And being busy keeps my mind off of things."

"I guess…but you can't keep on like that forever."

Shuuhei shrugged. "There'll be a new Captain sooner or later." He forced a short laugh. "Might even be you."

"Hell no! That would be too weird, and aside from having bankai, I've still got a lot to learn. But what about you? I'll bet you're pretty close to it."

Shuuhei's mouth set into a hard line. "No. Never. I will never unleash his second form. Even if it means staying a Vice-Captain forever."

Renji frowned, but did not say anything. He had never been able to understand Shuuhei's relationship with his zanpakutou. Zabimaru could be difficult at times; the baboon was stubborn and cranky and the snake had a blood thirsty streak that sometimes shocked Renji, but he had never come close to feeling the utter loathing that Shuuhei had for Kazeshini.

"Ya know it might help if you talked to someone else about it. Like maybe…"

"No!" Shuuhei sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, so that he had his back to Renji. "I know who you're going to suggest…don't even think about it. I know you think the world of him, but Kurosaki Ichigo is a hundred years to young to ask for advice."

"Yeah, you might be right there. He's still a kid about most things. But he's not who I was going to suggest."

Shuuhei looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised in surprise. "Oh? Then who?"

"That Vizard, Kensei. The one you said you knew from when you were a kid. From the way you've described him, he sounds like someone you could talk to."

Shuuhei turned around. "I don't know about that but…it might not be such a bad idea." He paused, thinking. "Maybe I will," he murmured. "Hmm, not bad at all Abarai."

"Humph, don't look so surprised," Renji grumbled. "I do have them sometimes."

Shuuhei nodded absently, still thinking about it. He was not sure if Kensei even remembered the snot nosed kid he had once saved or if he would even be interested in helping a Shinigami.

"It won't hurt to ask," he murmured. "And if we reach out to them… And of course you have good ideas." Shuuhei grinned. "Just not usually before breakfast."

"Hah. Hah." Renji glared for a moment, then began to grin; one of his big wolf-like grins. "So, if it's such a good idea…" he drawled.

"You're thinking about some sort of reward, I suppose." Shuuhei leaned across and placed one hand on either side of Renji's head.

Renji's hands curled around Shuuhei's waist, pulling him back onto the bed. "Sure would encourage me to have them more often. So, how late can you be today?"

"Hmm, a little. You?"

"Whatever crazy thing Urahara has in mind can wait."

-0000-

Rukia hurried along the hallway towards Ichigo's room, frowning at the communicator in her hand. Bright triangles flashed on the screen, indicating the presence of Hollow four kilometers away. However, there were other signals too, ones she could not make out and they were obscuring the readings, so she could not determine how many there were nor how strong they were.

"One seems strong, almost an Arrancar. And this other…" She gave the communicator a shake. "Stupid device! Stupid communications unit giving contracts to the lowest bidder and getting crap units as a result. Hey!" She stopped at Ichigo's door. "Ichigo, wake up. There's a job. Ichigo!"

She pushed the door open when there was no response. She frowned at the lump under the comforter. "Ichigo!"

The lump grunted, "Go away."

"Get up!" Rukia stomped into the room, grabbed a corner of the comforter, and pulled.

"Stop that!" Ichigo pulled back. "Too loud, damn it!"

"You're the one who's yelling. Let's go! There's a Hollow."

"If it's just one, let that Afro-san guy get it. I'm taking a sick day."

"Substitute Shinigami don't get sick leave. And besides," Rukia tugged hard and caught a glimpse of rumpled orange hair and a pale face, "you're not sick, you're hung over. Moron. I told you not to go out with those guys!"

Ichigo tugged back hard, pulling the comforter out of her hands. He curled into a ball. "Shut that thing off and go away! The noise'll have my family in here."

"It would serve you right, idiot!"

"C'mon Rukia. Please!" One brown eye appeared from under the covers, looking pathetic. "Just this once."

"Humph!" Rukia snapped the communicator closed and planted her hands on her hips. She extended her senses in the direction of the Hollow. "Lucky for you Ishida and Chad are already on their way. I'll go help them." She waved a finger at the bed. "But don't think we're done talking about this. And I'm telling Ishida why you're not coming, so you'll have to deal with him too."

"Okay, okay, whatever." A slender hand waved at her. "Just go. Thanks Rukia."

"Humph!" Rukia turned and left, being sure to slam the door.

Ichigo rolled over, pressed his face into the pillow, and groaned. He had hoped that returning to his body would lessen the pain in his head, but no such luck. A shower, water, and some ibuprofen were needed, but that would mean standing up and Ichigo was certain that leaving a horizontal position would make things much, much worse. He wrapped his arms around his head and tried not to think about the spinning and the pounding.

His headache was horrible, but it kept another problem at bay. Whenever Ichigo was able to clear his head it immediately filled with images from the previous night; red hair against flushed skin and white sheets, black ink next to ivory skin, taut muscle sliding under tanned flesh.

And then there was that husky voice: "Do they feel different, taste different? Wouldn't you like to know, Kurosaki?"

"No," he muttered into the pillow. "I don't want to know. I'm not supposed…"

Hah! Of course you do, partner, you wonder about it and about a bunch of other things. How he would smell up close, how his hands would feel on you, and how it would taste when you…

"Shut up!" Ichigo winced. "Not now."

He had learned to control the monster that shared his soul with Zangetsu, but maintaining control was a constant struggle. And it seemed that the Hollow took pleasure in tormenting him; not trying to get out or take control, but just reminding Ichigo that he was there, and he liked to play dirty.

C'mon it's no big deal, chicks, guys, whatever. Just as long as you remember one thing, if you want to remain king. Just remember. It's the king that rides, not the other way around. So you'd better just forget about some of the things you have been thinking, none of that for you. You're the one who rides, and not some little u…

"Shut the hell up!" Ichigo pushed back, forcing the crazy voice and laugh into silence. After a few moments the Hollow's presence receded, but Ichigo's headache had swelled to massive proportions. And that was not all. Ichigo rolled over and looked down. The images that had flooded his brain during his conversation with the Hollow had caused another problem.

"You've go to be kidding me!" Ichigo groaned. There was no helping it; he was going to have to go to the bathroom. He was not giving in to the Hollow and his traitorous body, and a cold shower was the surest remedy.

"Just no puking until you get there," he muttered. "What a crappy start to the day."

At least it was the weekend, he thought, so no school. All I have to do is get showered and then I can go back to sleep. Sleep and a quiet weekend, that's all I need.

-0000-

After some immeasurable time in dark and silence, they exploded back into light and sound. Once the gaping hole had spit them out, it closed; leaving no sign that it had ever been there. Kankuro could hear the creatures screaming around him, and there was some other yelling, high pitched and girlish. It was not Miri, he was sure, she did not squeal. He was still holding on to her as they hit they ground and rolled to a stop.

"You alright?" he gasped.

"Umph, get off."

Kankuro scrambled to his feet, trying to get his bearings. Off to one side he caught sight of something that looked a computer panel. It was brightly coloured and there were sparks and smoke coming out of it. Ozone scented the air along with a funny smell he could not quite place. Next to the panel, there were two kids, a boy with bright red hair and a girl with dark hair and blue eyes. The boy was yelling and whacking the panel with a broom. The girl's eyes were wide with shock.

"Jinta-kun! Hollows!" She tugged on the boy's arm.

"Get yer hands off! I see 'em. Hollows and two other freaks." The boy whirled around, brandishing the broom like a weapon. "Bring it on you freaks."

"I think he means us," Kankuro said.

"Yourself at least." Miri grinned weakly and leaned over, hands on her knees.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Miri said.

It did not look like nothing to Kankuro, her face was too pale and she was sweating. The other creatures were still swirling around and Kankuro was sure they were getting ready to attack. One was advancing on the kids and three were heading towards Kankuro and Miri.

"We have to help them, Kankuro," Miri gasped.

"Yeah, right. You look kinda shitty."

"Ah, give me a moment, little bit dizzy yet. It is the…" Miri groaned and grabbed her stomach.

Kankuro swore, his hands starting the motions that would release his puppets.

Shitty start to a shitty day, he thought. I don't know where I am, don't know what the hell I'm fighting, and my partner's busy puking up her breakfast.