AN: Phew! That took longer than I hoped! First, thanks to all of you who favorited and reviewed my first work. I appreciate any constructive criticism you guys have. This chapter introduces the first major deviation from canon, so be warned things might start twisting away from the norm…

Several people have asked what route this story will follow: I honestly don't know. With the intro of the Bleach cast, this more than likely will be an amalgamation of all the routes with a touch more Heaven's Feel.

Stray Hound (Part I)

It was strange, being an incarnation of man's collective wishes: you simply started existing where nothing existed before, fully aware and capable of understanding. The people had longed for something, someone to believe in that lacked the petty arguments, grudges and contempt of the gods atop the mountain. Putting up with their disputes and the resulting chaos that was reflected in the mortal world was draining on even the most pious of souls. Thus, these desires pooled over generations, building on each other until at last, awareness exploded into being, and three new gods were born. Though lacking in terms of power compared to the original gods, it mattered little: the people loved them. They were perfect in form and willing to place the needs of their worshippers first.

Despite the desires that birthed them, things started a slow decline as the years passed. As though the wishes of man were unable to create another true goddess like the other two, the last was cursed with mortality and thus was fated to grow older, albeit far slower than a human. The people who once loved them began looking upon them with suspicion, and the old gods began taking an interest in them all.

And all that could be done about it was wonder from behind a blindfold.

______________

Ichigo woke up in a mild state of confusion. His dream lingered barely at the edge of his consciousness, but something about it filled him with a strong desire to call and check up on his sisters and make sure they were okay. Dismissing the odd urge, he sat up and stretched. There was no two ways about it: the bed was too comfortable for its own good. No wonder the people who rented these places tended to be lazy slobs. Ichigo grabbed his bag (no point in unloading it if you organized your stuff and only planned to stay for a little bit, he reasoned) and pulled out a set of fresh clothes. He opted for slim fit dark blue jeans, a white long-sleeve shirt with a red stripe down the middle, and would top it with a gray jacket. He took these and a set of boxers and socks into the private bathroom. He was glad he got the master bedroom, seeing as he was the first to go to bed last night.

After a good hot shower, Ichigo stepped out, fully dressed and awake. He looked at the Command Mantra on his hand dully, noting the very faint glow that it still gave off, before considering breakfast. Maybe there was a grocery store nearby to grab some cereal, or a decent breakfast cafe. He'd have to be careful not to buy too much, lest Orihime get a chance to cook. However, he would need to wait at least until the majority of his friends were up and about. Like hell he was wandering about alone again and drawing all the trouble the three worlds had to offer! He plopped onto the nearest couch and turned on the TV, flipping to the local news. His mood soured as he heard of another "gas leak" that had hospitalized an entire family in their sleep. "Tch. Damn those mage bastards," he growled lowly.

He was soon joined by a silent Rider, who took up a position just behind his left shoulder: a perfect guard position. The simple act made Ichigo twitch slightly. Servant or no, this was getting ridiculous. "You know, I can defend myself. You don't have to stand at attention like a samurai all the time. Sit down and loosen up a little," he said gently, trying not to sound off-putting or ungrateful.

Thankfully, Rider didn't seem offended and gracefully sat down beside him. "I was told about the basics of Soul Reapers last night. However, I have a question."

"Sure."

"Are you a spirit, inhabiting a false body like Rukia Kuchiki?"

Ichigo snorted. "Nah, I'm still alive and using my real body. I just had… an interesting introduction to the whole thing."

Rider remained silent, waiting for him to continue. When it became clear he wasn't, she moved on. "Why did you come here, if not for the Holy Grail War?"

Ichigo pointed to the TV. "That. Soul Society got nervous about all the deaths and the power behind the fire during the last war, and sent us to look into it when they suspected things were starting up again."

"I see. You really came with no desire for the Grail," she confirmed again.

"Never even knew something like this existed until yesterday."

Rider quietly mulled over this. Something wasn't adding up. Why would a person with no knowledge of the Grail, or even the most basic of magics be selected as a Master? Sure he had power, that much was blatantly obvious by how much of his 'spirit energy' he bled out for her to use, but still… she cut her musings short and banished her worries. Ichigo had agreed to participate in the war, and so she would do everything in her power to assist him, as was her duty. She glanced in the direction of the hallway as the gentle giant, Chad, quietly joined them.

"Morning," Ichigo called to his friend.

"Morning, Ichigo" he rumbled blearily in return. The tall young man meandered over to the kitchen and absently noted, "We need food."

"Yeah. When everyone's up and moving, we'll grab breakfast and stock up."

The half-Mexican giant grunted in understanding and sat at the table. "Rider, do you have any changes of clothes?" he asked smoothly, taking note of her rather… exotic outfit.

Rider turned towards Ichigo, who coughed slightly and nodded. "I don't think that exactly fits under 'public attire.'" The recent events of his ridiculously convoluted life had managed to teach him to stay focused in even the most unusual circumstances, but he still had trouble with beautiful women from time to time. He had managed to keep his focus on the absurdity of the situation last night, but today, with no pressing matters to discuss with her at the moment that he could recall, he found it hard not to blush with Rider's choice of clothing. At least she wasn't as bad as Rangiku…

Nodding, she simply allowed herself to be wrapped in a burst of purple magical energy that obscured her form. The light faded a moment later, revealing a more conservative outfit. Instead of her strapless dress, a black turtleneck sweater and dark blue jeans covered her shapely body. Her boots were replaced with simple brown casual shoes, and a black ribbon had manifested, tying back her long hair at around her mid-thigh level save for a few stray locks that framed her face. The most obvious and, to Ichigo, most stunning change was the disappearance of her mask and the loss of the red rune on her forehead, finally revealing her lavender eyes. These were only slightly obscured by a pair of reading glasses that sat across her nose lightly in place of her mask. The only oddity aside from her hair color was the shape of her pupils, which looked square, but it was a subtle thing that would not likely be noticed by casual passers-by. "Will this do?" she asked.

Nodding his head slightly in earnest approval, Ichigo gave her a once over. "Much better, thanks." For the time being, at least she now looked reasonably normal, if you consider purple hair that long normal. 'Then again, my hair is bright orange,' he thought wryly.

With everyone in the penthouse slowly trickling into the living room, the group approved of the idea of breakfast, as well as Rider's new outfit. "Now if you came in dressed like that, I wouldn't have been so jumpy!" Tatsuki had said after seeing her new clothes. The group departed the penthouse shortly afterward, stomachs rumbling. Ideally, they wanted to eat somewhere with some privacy. If another magus was nearby, it would be frustrating to have them overhear their plans. Thankfully, they just looked like a pack of high school kids out for a social morning, not super-powered souls capable of leveling the town to its foundations.

They were quite a sight to the early morning crowd: a bronze-skinned behemoth, two tall youths with bright, chromatic hair, a pale scholarly type, an obvious tomboy, a shapely young woman, and a short, indigo-eyed young lady who carried herself almost like a noble. The seven of them eventually happened upon a café that suited their immediate needs. It was quiet, out of the way and served a pleasant variety, with an open air patio on the second floor. No one was up there at the moment according to the resident specialist in soul detection, Ishida. It didn't take long for them to sit in the brisk morning air, nursing warm drinks up there.

Taking a sip of black coffee, Uryu started things calmly. "So now that Ichigo is officially entered into this battle, we need to do some strategizing. It's obvious that we're going to be setting up a nightly patrol for now, but this battle does not have any restrictions on when and where to fight."

"I wouldn't get too worried about that at the moment. From what the priest said, magi are a secretive bunch. They won't get too violent at least until the seven Masters all check in," Ichigo explained while warming his hands around his cup.

Tatsuki threw in her two cents. "What about last night then? Your attacker didn't exactly care about any of that."

"Lancer was apparently following orders from his Master, but even then he made sure to attack in an area with no witnesses," Rider explained as she sipped her tea slowly.

That relaxed the group a hair. So far, it looked like only Lancer and his Master were going to be the problem. Struck with a thought, Ichigo grew pensive. "What sucks is that I think I ran into Lancer's Master and didn't notice anything. Just before Lancer attacked, I met a guy named Gil," he described the enigmatic blonde, recalling his parting words perfectly.

"It does seem odd he'd clue you in then disappear at the same time Lancer appeared," Rukia mused. "However, he could be another Master, or even a Servant, since Rider can easily conceal herself like this. It wouldn't surprise me if the others could do the same."

"She's right," Rider conceded without looking. "While the likelihood of him being a Master is high, it could have been part of an alliance. They might be splitting the souls they harvest."

"It seems that our advantage of numbers won't be so decisive after all," Ishida sighed. "If we start picking off magi as a team, we will likely force the other Masters to rally against us, and that could cause this battle to drag on far longer than necessary with far higher risks for all involved."

Having taken a swig of his coffee, Chad finally spoke. "We should use our numbers while we can, then."

All were in agreement on that point. "First things first: we need to scout out the city for possible battlegrounds. That way, we can arrange our battles away from innocent bystanders. According to the rules of this thing, no one outside of the magi are supposed to know about any of this, so we'll need to watch our step more than usual. Even if they can't see me or Rukia, they can still see Servants and the aftermath of our fights," Ichigo explained.

Rukia smiled. "Good thing I brought my Kiokuchikan with me, then. It won't last forever, but it should buy us some time. We'll split up into teams for safety. A sensory specialist should accompany a fighter to discourage trouble. The teams can scout out the city in three directions. Potential battle sites, important landmarks and references, and any sources of significant spiritual pressure, since they will be targeted by Servants first."

"Sounds good. So who's going with who?" Tatsuki asked.

"Seven people, three teams… Sensory specialists include Inoue, Ishida and me," Rukia sorted out her thoughts to the group. "That just leaves the fighters. Due to the inherent risk, the odd man out should accompany Inoue." It was an understandable decision: too many people and spirits would jump at the chance to kidnap the girl, what with her god-like power to reshape fate and all.

Rider broke her from her musings. "Ichigo and I could theoretically form a single team. While I lack the ability to remotely sense other Servants at a distance other than a vague feeling and seeing them while they are astralized, the Command Mantra has the ability to inform the bearer of any nearby. If a magus is going about their daily life, they will do so with the Servant in tow for protection. If a Servant is alone, it can easily be tracked and cornered."

"And what would your role be?" Rukia inquired suspiciously.

"His Servant." she replied blankly, like it was the dumbest question she had ever heard. "If I'm with him, it won't be necessary to use a Command Spell to call me to his side. Even if Ichigo is powerful, since he is marked as the Master any alliances that form will target him or me first. Staying together provides the best mutual protection." With no logical arguments to counter her assessment aside from their own insecurities about her, the other six souls reluctantly agreed to the pairing. If Rider tried anything, one Getsuga Tenshou would be sufficient to settle the matter. Ironically, this also made the decision-making process much smoother, as Ichigo was the person just about everyone wanted to be partnered with. Inoue wanted to for obvious personal reasons, Rukia due to being comfortable with him and having the most experience working side-by-side, and Ishida because their fighting styles complimented each other.

It was decided that Rukia would have the burly Chad as support, while Orihime would travel with Tatsuki and Ishida. However, before anything was done to further their knowledge of the battleground, they needed to stock the kitchen. Paying for their meal with their shiny new unlimited credit cards, the teens plus two (Rider was an unknown and Rukia over a century old) meandered into the city in search of groceries.

The store they found was pretty small, but had enough for them to stock up for several days with plenty of variety. While most of the items on their impromptu list were essentials like milk, rice, meat, and vegetables, each member of the nakama made minor detours to add their own contributions to the rapidly filling cart.

While Ichigo inspected the fresh produce, he felt an unusual, subtle, but very powerful spiritual pressure nearby that tingled in the back of his senses. As he pretended to inspect a few tomatoes, he noted that the source of the power was getting closer.

It was… different from any he had sensed before. While the actual amount of spiritual power present in the soul was immense, it felt… wrong; warped and twisted from what it should be. Placing the tomatoes back on the display, he moved closer to the source, leaning over some oranges. The soul had some sort of active conversion going on. Part of her spiritual pressure felt natural, gentle and soothing, but this was being drowned out by a gritty, almost Hollow-like force that loomed heavily over him like the weight of ages. Lifting his head surreptitiously, Ichigo finally found the source and it was nothing like what he was expecting.

The girl with the massive spiritual pressure looked utterly harmless, with dark purple, almost blue hair that was pulled up on her left side by a red ribbon. Her smile was sweet and happy as she perused the vegetables with her deep blue eyes while humming a soft tune to herself. The teen's outfit consisted of a pink button-up blouse with only the second button closed over a plain white shirt. Her calf-length skirt was a muted khaki color, almost white. She was slender and fit, her figure developing into quite the beautiful woman. Unlike Aizen, whose unassuming spiritual pressure concealed a manipulative, cold personality, this girl had the opposite vibe going: malevolent spiritual power with a warm, gentle demeanor that practically radiated off of her. In a way, it reminded him of Nel back in Hueco Mundo.

The Soul Reaper attempted to memorize the feel of the girl's spiritual pressure before moving on. It wasn't hard to do so with the distinct conversion it was going through. She might be a potential Master, but his Command Mantra wasn't acting up in any discernible fashion. Still, she may end up becoming important later on.

Finishing their shopping, Ichigo made it a point to report his findings to the others once they met up again. "You feel that, guys?"

The Quincy smirked. "Who do you think I am? You? Of course I sensed the spiritual pressure saturating the area. It is subtle, but very dense."

"No kidding. The source is a girl about our age, maybe a little younger. About 5 feet tall, blue eyes, dark hair done up on the left with a red ribbon. Doesn't exactly look very threatening, but then again, neither did Aizen."

"Right. It would be wise to not underestimate this girl." Rukia added as she glanced towards the source of the dark aura. While she couldn't see the girl in question, she could sense the figure distinctly enough without Ichigo's normal torrent of energy blunting her senses.

Then again, if it wasn't for said torrent of energy, they might never have met and things could have turned out much differently for the both of them.

Such thoughts were driven out of the forefront of her mind when Rider added "I don't sense any Servants here. If she is a magus, the Grail hasn't chosen her as a Master."

"Let's hope it doesn't. If her Servant shares a link like ours, it'll be a disaster." Such corruption passing into a legendary hero was a disconcerting thought. The image of Musashi Miyamoto as a Saber-class cackling like his Inner Hollow amidst a field of blood was a disturbing one, indeed.

"That's unlikely. Most magi do not normally give off mana or 'spirit energy' unless actively preparing a spell or ritual and even then, most magi can't continuously give off the level required to maintain a Servant in the same manner you do," Rider explained quietly.

A sigh of relief passed through the group as they wheeled the cart up to the register. The clerk looked them over, visibly startled by the mix, as well as the colors of Ichigo and Rider's hair. Seriously: purple and orange? And who would have the patience to dye and maintain hair that long? Still, she did her job without complaint. It wasn't like they were stirring up trouble or anything. Having paid for everything, the seven companions departed back to the hotel with their bags of food.

While they were putting the various items away, Rider couldn't repress a small smile while she sorted the bag of goods she was working on: 4 cans of red bean paste, 2 tubs of butter, 6 kinds of cheeses, and 3 loaves of bread. While none of them stood out as unusual aside from the sheer variety of cheese, the dreamy smile Orihime was giving the food as she placed them in the fridge was downright comical. "Hungry again already, Inoue-san?"

The busty girl broke out of her daze like she had been caught sleeping in class, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head with a giggle. "Well, breakfast was a little light…"

Tatsuki sighed with an amused grin. "I swear, Orihime-chan, you could out-eat Chad any day of the week!"

The brunette gave her friend a mock-glare. "Hey! I don't eat that much!"

"Says the girl who eats a whole loaf of bread with a whole can of sweet bean paste for lunch practically every day at school," Tatsuki countered.

Orihime stuck out her tongue and giggled again before diving back into her own bag to finish stocking the kitchen. Soon, the cabinets were filled with cans of various soups, a few bags of rice, chips, a dozen or so spices, some sauces and other such odds and ends. The fridge was now fully loaded with everything the group needed to hole up in the penthouse for a few days straight if need be. All in all, the group was settling in nicely.

Rukia and Ichigo decided to forgo leaving their bodies in the room until after sunset. If magi could see spirits, they would likely start picking fights with their Soul Reaper forms in the middle of the day under the assumption that they were Servants or agents of other magi. They simply weren't willing to risk an amoral bastard causing collateral damage in order to have an excuse to extract souls. For now, the group would have lunch here and then go on a tour of the city in their respective teams. No use tipping off wandering magi on the scale of their alliance.

With a couple of hours to kill before then, each member sought their own means of personal amusement. Tatsuki went out onto the large balcony and began going through her katas, including some basic exercises Yoruichi had taught her to start Hakuda. Chad was listening to his MP3 player through his very large headphones. Orihime took the time to jot down some recipes, daydreaming every few minutes. Rukia was looking over the city, a look of wonder and contentment making its way to her face. Uryu was holed up in his room, likely sewing. Ichigo was channel surfing and Rider sat next to him, her gaze as vigilant as always. With her so still and calm, Ichigo's mood soured a little. She may be a Servant, but geez… "Oi, Rider."

The woman turned her lavender gaze to him. "Yes?"

For a second, Ichigo swore he saw a reddish glow from within her pupils, but dismissed it as a trick of the light or just a Servant thing. "We're not going anywhere for a while, so why don't you do something to relax a little? Got any hobbies?"

Rider didn't show it, but she was more than a little pleased that her Master was so considerate, even if it was technically unnecessary. "I like to read, if there is something you or your friends have to share."

The Vizard shrugged. "Ever heard of Shakespeare?"

Rider brushed back some of her long hair behind her shoulder before replying. "I haven't."

Shaking his head at the idea of someone NOT knowing of the master playwright, Ichigo meandered to his room and rifled through his bag, eventually coming to the side pocket. "Where did I put those?" he grumbled before unzipping the pocket, and was greeted with the sight of a wad of… brownish gold? The wad wiggled a little and then popped out of the bag with a loud gasp, revealing a very familiar stuffed lion. Ichigo was understandably blindsided by the development. "Kon?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

The animated lion plushy took several more deep, haggard breaths before turning and giving the teen an angry glare; it was actually quite amusing to see that look on a plush toy's face. "What do you think, you moron? I ain't being left behind this time while Orihime and Rukia-neesan run off again! Don't think for even one second I'm gonna let you hog all the glory being the hero this time!"

Ichigo wearily rubbed his eyes. "Kon, did it ever occur to you that this wouldn't be fun and games? Besides, Yuzu's probably going crazy worrying over where 'Bostov' went," he offered the mod soul as much patience as he could muster, though the last comment was delivered with an almost sadistic smirk.

The lion crossed his puffy arms and turned his head, still miffed. "Feh! I don't even have your body to make up for my pain of dealing with your sister while you're off saving the world! No way am I going back! "

"Too bad! I'm serious: this is way too dangerous for you! If I have to, I'm mailing you back home before the others notice you!"

"Ha! Like you'd go through the trouble of explaining how I got in your bag in the first place! You know that I can protect your body in a crisis way better than that badge of yours!"

"Not to mention hit on every girl you come across while joyriding in it…" Ichigo muttered under his breath. It was then he noticed that Kon was facing the doorway, a familiar, almost hungry look on his face. Ichigo lifted an eyebrow and followed his gaze to see Rider, still in her public outfit giving the mod soul a quizzical look.

Kon's perverted nature kicked in as he looked Rider over from head to toe and came to one unequivocal conclusion: the woman was SMOKING HOT! "Where have you been all my life, oh goddess of beauty?!" he howled in joy as he jumped straight from the floor towards Rider's ample bosom.

She winced slightly at the sailing plushy, not that Ichigo could blame her for reacting at being accosted by a perverted stuffed lion. The instant Kon entered range Rider's long leg lashed out and drove the heel of her shoe into his sun-shaped face before stomping it to the ground. "What is this?" she finally asked while Kon flailed unintelligently from beneath her foot.

"A stowaway. Name's Kon, a mod soul that I sometimes have to use when I leave my body. He's literally a pill that can animate lifeless bodies."

It was somewhat amusing to see her look down at the still struggling toy with such interest, surprise evident. "Is that so? How?"

"Soul Reaper thing. Rukia has one too, though hers…" he shuddered at the memory of the hyperactive rabbit soul that Rukia loved.

Rider picked up the stuffed plushy and held the lion at arm's length, giving it a critical gaze. "Is he always like this?" she asked while Kon struggled to come into "close contact" with the woman's shapely form.

"Yeah, you can see why I'm reluctant to let him near my body these days. If he ever bugs you, feel free to kick him around. He's resilient."

"That's cruel, Ichigo!" Kon whined.

Rider gave Kon a sly smile. "I'll keep that in mind." Kon had a sense of impending doom briefly hit him at the look she sported while Ichigo suddenly felt rather glad that Rider was on his side at the moment. That smile she just used sent unpleasant chills down his spine. Tossing the toy over her shoulder and subsequently into the hallway, Rider's expression relaxed back into neutrality. That neutrality vanished as she could practically feel Kon's eyes boring into her backside. She had a feeling he was disappointed that her long hair blocked his view. Turning to face the lecherous lion, she was about to send him bouncing around like a pinball, when a new voice cut in.

"Kon?"

Said mod soul perked and turned to see Rukia, whose confused look dropped into one of exasperation. "NEESAN!" he practically cried while bounding towards the petite Soul Reaper. Rider found great satisfaction at watching the plushy's pounce halted by Rukia's lifted leg, and even greater satisfaction when the girl brought her foot down and pinned Kon's head to the floor.

"Hello, Kon," she drawled. With her arms crossed, she waited for Ichigo to step out of his room. A moment later, he came out, a trio of books tucked under his arm. "Explain," she deadpanned, the temperature dropping a little.

Ichigo sighed. "He hid himself in my bag and popped out when I was looking for these," he casually lifted the books.

Rider took note that Kon wasn't really struggling to get out from Rukia's foot, and felt a brief surge of righteous anger: Rukia's smaller foot did not completely cover the toy's eyes, giving him a clear view up her sundress. "Kuchiki-san, are you comfortable with him there?" she asked as she pointed the peeper out.

Rukia glanced down, and scowled when she followed his one exposed eye's gaze. She understandably proceeded to stomp the stuffing out of the animal with characteristic vigor. "Didn't you learn anything from the last time?" she growled amidst Kon's pained wails.

Ichigo smirked in amusement at the sight before turning back to Rider. "Found 'em. Try this one first: It's one of his most famous works," Ichigo said, handing her a somewhat worn copy of "Hamlet." Still tucked under his arm were his copies of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Romeo and Juliet." He figured he'd burn some of his time re-reading them. It wasn't like he could spar with anyone without leveling the place and his badge hadn't detected a Hollow yet. It was weird being out of town without his overenthusiastic father embarrassing the hell out of him to keep him occupied. Oh well, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth usually, so he returned to the living room, plopped down on the couch and cracked open "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Rider also sat down, completely immersing herself into the play within a few minutes. However, she proved very aware of her surroundings, decking Kon in the face when he attempted to sneak up on her without even looking up from her book.

Between the two of them reading and their odd hair colors, Rider and Ichigo could have likely passed for relatives at the moment.

Kon's appearance earned mix responses. Orihime almost pointedly ignored the little toy, though not out of spite: she was simply too lost in her own little world at the moment to notice at all. Tatsuki took care of that, though. The moment Kon started to move in her friend's direction, Tatsuki, as though driven by some greater power, came inside and booted the toy off course, sending it screaming towards Chad, who caught it and took a moment to silently analyze the now nervous toy.

This proved to be the most favorable result, actually. Chad's hidden love of cute things made him decide to spare the toy its suffering. "I'll keep him out of trouble," he finally said as he tucked the toy under his arm before leaning back to enjoy his music.

Kon's response to this was predictable. "NOOO! NOT AGAIN! I'm so close! So close to heaven!" he wailed while struggling futilely against the half-Mexican's iron grip.

"What the hell was that thing?" Tatsuki growled, only partially satisfied with the animal's woe.

Rukia shrugged. "That's Kon, our resident mod soul. You remember when Ichigo mentioned that he got his powers in the spring? Well if you think back to then, you should recall when Ichigo started acting strange for a day. Like REALLY strange. You trashed the classroom that day because of that. He's the reason," she partially explained, preferring to let the tomboy figure it out on her own.

Tatsuki stared blankly at her shorter friend. The memories of back then were still somewhat hazy from the time she had her memories wiped. After a moment of concentration, realization dawned.

Now while Tatsuki lacked the raw power of any of her friends, she did have the ability to shift her spiritual energy to parts of her body, reinforcing them to withstand damage and increase her strength in that area. As a result, she could focus up to what amounted to the totality of her power into a single strike. It would leave her drained and unconscious, but for one blow, she could hit almost as hard as Chad's La Muerte technique.

Naturally, seeing her clenched fist glowing with a dark blue energy set off warning bells in everyone's minds. "So HE'S the one who hijacked Ichigo's body, eh? Oh, he's had this coming for a LONG time!" she said, murder dancing in her dark eyes. She started stomping over towards the terrified plushy, who suddenly felt that Chad was his best friend.

Chad was torn. He already knew that Tatsuki was a more skilled fighter than him, even if he was far stronger, and an angry Tatsuki was a bona fide terror. But Kon was harmless in his current state, not to mention already being punished for his admittedly lecherous behavior. Grunting, he made up his mind. "Calm down. He's locked in a stuffed animal and harmless. Even if you did beat him around, he wouldn't be too badly hurt."

Kon felt that the bronze-skinned titan was trying to be a savior despite the obvious jab at his current form, as his logic effectively reduced Tatsuki's rage to a more acceptable level which dissipated the angry crackling around her hand. Kon was safe from having his head obliterated… for the moment. No sooner had he released a relieved sigh that he found himself yanked harshly to the spitfire's eye level. "You are SO lucky that Chad's willing to stick up for you. But if I catch you ogling Orihime-chan or anyone else, I'll pull your stuffing out through your mouth and pitch you into the nearest river! Are we clear?" she snarled.

Kon gulped. Deciding to figure out a way around it later, he managed to squeak out a "Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'm glad we reached this understanding," Tatsuki replied lightly with a smile before dropping him. With that, she headed to the kitchen to make herself lunch and get a drink. Hakuda was a lot more strenuous to learn than normal human martial arts, since it combined aspects from countless styles into a cohesive whole designed to efficiently and quickly dispatch a target in dozens of ways. She had to fight with her prior training to keep from slipping back into karate. It so far was proving to be close to impossible without Yoruichi-sensei's "sparring sessions" i.e. getting pummeled by a true master of the art to demonstrate its finer points. She still had a long way to go, but it made her feel good to know that she was getting stronger.

After everyone had lunch, the unofficial rapid response team split into their respective teams and departed the hotel in ten minute intervals. Inoue's group headed to the north, crossing the river that sliced Fuyuki into its two halves. The western side of the water led into the residential district known as Miyama.

Chad and Rukia moved towards the western half of Shinto, the urban center of city, doing their damnedest to remain innocuous. In hindsight, the pair wasn't exactly suited for this: they couldn't be more different from each other in terms of appearance and bearing. The fact that they seemed to be touring the city together made it seem even stranger to passersby.

Ichigo and Rider moved deeper into Shinto, heading southeast which, according to Uryu, led to the place where the fire had wreaked havoc ten years ago. He took note that the place seemed almost exclusively modern: the buildings were all tall structures with the newest architecture and were all heavily modernized. It was actually quite odd. The entire district felt like it was rushed, slapped together as quickly as possible with an overwhelming air of newness. There wasn't a single historical landmark, or any simple houses: condos and apartment complexes provided homes, with all of the more typical houses standing across the river in the Miyama half of the city. As the Master and Servant pair meandered through the streets, Ichigo focused his meager spiritual awareness outward and frowned.

"Is something wrong?" the normally silent woman beside him asked.

Ichigo scratched his head before leading her to a large, open field dotted with leafless trees, still in the thrall of winter. While meandering along its edge, he found a sign. "Fuyuki Memorial Park," he muttered before peering into the well-kept grounds. The grounds had recovered well from the fire a decade ago, though in the dead of winter it was hard to tell. No snow had fallen in Fuyuki recently, leaving the dry grass exposed which added to the barren feeling of the open space. "'In memory of the lives lost in the Fuyuki fire…'" he glanced down at the staggering rows of names on the large plaque. Hundreds had been lost, their names painstakingly carved into the plaque in solemn dedication. Ichigo was understandably disgusted with the amount of life lost to this event.

From the looks of things, though, the Soul Reaper on duty had done his job admirably, as there were no ghosts in the area according to his spiritually attuned eyes. That did not stop the pervasive aura of despair that had been left behind in their passing.

"This place holds countless grudges," Rider murmured with a hint of sadness reaching her even tone.

Ichigo was hardly surprised by his Servant's awareness, nodding his head at her assessment. "Yeah. These people all died suddenly, and those that didn't suffered before they were sent to pass on."

Rider nodded in agreement. As a spirit, she was sensitive to these feelings and the impressions they left on people. It was no wonder there were no children playing in an otherwise pleasant park. The place was littered with painful feelings that scratched at everyone who came near. Those without proper understanding or awareness would likely be caught in the maelstrom of negativity before long. While not particularly dangerous, these emotions had a deterrent effect rivaling the most complex Boundary Fields.

With a gesture to his companion, the young Vizard started off again. So far, the field looked to be the best site in this part of town to engage in battle. It was wide open, away from population centers, and offered cover from prying eyes with the tree line. After a few more minutes of walking, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city at work, a stray thought hit Ichigo. "Right, I almost forgot. I never did find out your true name."

It was hard to glean the woman's thoughts, though she seemed to stiffen very slightly at his words. "I don't know if it would be wise, at the very least, not in a public setting," she finally said.

"Huh?"

"While it might seem that we are alone, magi could have familiars around that can relay what they see and hear to their master. Birds, squirrels, dogs, cats, any animal could serve as a familiar to a skilled magus. On top of that, you have no formal training to resist mind-reading spells. If someone tried to do so, they would learn my identity very easily unless they tried to do so with no subtlety, in which case it's a battle of wills," she explained patiently, though Ichigo could have sworn on the Captain-General's sword that she wasn't being entirely honest.

"Alright, alright, you make a good point. But you're going to have to trust me with it eventually. Just don't wait too long, or it's only going to make matters worse in the long run," he replied with a deep scowl.

Rider looked away from his hard amber gaze. "Please understand that it's for your own protection as well as mine. I'll tell you my name when we know more about our enemies."

"The sooner the better. I'm pretty fed up with secrets these days." Leading a double life and always being a step behind his enemies (and in Urahara and the Vizards' case, his allies) had pretty much stripped him of his patience on the matter.

Rider could only nod. She hoped it wouldn't be too soon…


On the opposite side of the river, Orihime, Uryu and Tatsuki marveled at the difference walking a block in Miyama could make. One street looked like a pleasant rural town with several comfy-looking traditional homes ideal for the middle class Japanese, while the next street up the hill changed into a heavily westernized suburb, with houses growing progressively larger the higher up the hill you looked. Crowning them all was a massive estate that, while not opulent in any extreme, had an almost regal air to it. Whoever lived there must hold great influence in the city. So far, no particular landmarks had stood out. The private parks in this region were too small and close to homes to risk a fight of the magnitude they were anticipating.

That would have been the end of their part of the tour had Uryu not noticed something odd about the house on top of the hill. "Hold on for a second."

Orihime tilted her head quizzically. "What is it, Ishida-kun?"

"You don't feel that? Something is surrounding that house: a barrier of some kind," the Quincy muttered as he pointed towards the massive manor atop the hill.

Orihime and Tatsuki both closed their eyes and focused, trying to expand their senses to detect what had caught their friend's attention.

When she found it, Tatsuki whistled in awe. "What do you call that?"

"Whoever established that barrier didn't want anyone entering without permission: its power is violent and destructive, but held within a distinct boundary," the Quincy surmised, pulling out a map of the city from his pocket to mark the location. It would be too risky to investigate now, after all. With that done, Uryu prepared to leave before noting that Orihime was still concentrating on something. "What is it?"

For a moment more, she didn't respond. "Orihime-chan?" Tatsuki tried.

Suddenly, and with no warning, the girl's eyes snapped open and she gave them a panicked look. Barely managing to keep her voice down she blurted out, "Someone's dying! This way!" before tearing off, slipping down a side street that curved towards the more open areas of Miyama. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone on the street to hear her distress, though several people did start cursing her reckless run.

"Hey! Wait up!" Tatsuki barked. "Damn it," she growled slightly before chasing after her friend.

Sighing, Uryu took off after them, subtly bolstering his speed with some ambient spirit energy. "Inoue-san, slow down. What did you sense?" he asked as he caught up.

"It's just up ahead! Someone's… someone's dying! Whoever it is, they're fading! They're hurt!" the healer nearly cried before darting around her friends and bolting along the hill's circumference.

As they chased after Orihime, Tatsuki managed to speak between harried breaths. "What's gotten into her? I haven't seen her panicked like this in years!"

"…Inoue-san's been much more aware of lives around her as of late, and appears to be trying to… make up for the times that she couldn't be of help to us. We all worry about her, but part of me thinks she needs this, if only to ease what she experienced in Hueco Mundo." His reply was analytical, but anyone with any experience with the guy could hear the concern in the calm archer's voice.

Tatsuki had heard fractions of tales from that bleak realm, passing references really, but she knew it would be a long time before she would be able to learn the sheer magnitude and horror of what had gone on in the Hollows' dimension.

True to her word, Orihime quickly led them to a small, abandoned shed at the edge of a patch of forest, likely part of a construction project that was left unfinished. Uryu hypothesized that whatever might have gone here was abandoned due to the fire, but cut his musings short when his spiritual awareness told him what Orihime already knew: someone was clinging to life in there, but was losing the battle. Perhaps a survivor of a Servant attack? A wounded Master?

"Arisawa-san, help me move this," Uryu said as he stood beside the broken, dented door. Aside from this old thing, the only way in was through a hole in the wall that required a person to crawl almost down on their stomachs. Tugging at it, he couldn't shift the thing at all on his own. Orihime was fretting, looking almost feverish as she held her fingertips against the pale blue hairclips that channeled her powers, painfully tempted to use Koten Zanshun to slash the thing open.

"Move aside, I got this," Tatsuki said before channeling her spirit energy into her arms. To her, the power that flowed through her soul either was cool and refreshing, or warm and soothing, always helping bring her mind into clarity. The world seemed clearer and crisper, and everything she did with her power felt like it held greater… significance, for lack of a better term.

Even when all she was doing was serving as the group's muscle.

With a yank, the old shed's door groaned and relinquished its hold, its rusted tracks grinding as the door slid open, part of the sheet metal folding like an accordion.

Inside the dusty old shed lay the source of Orihime's distress. She looked only slightly older than the three high-schoolers, likely in her early twenties, her skin pale from loss of blood. She was dirty with a layer of dust over the front of her clothing, which consisted of a very dark brown business suit complete with a dark, purplish-red tie, slacks and dress shoes. It was hard to make out her face due to her position and the poor lighting, but her features told them she definitely was not Japanese. Her right arm hung limp on her lap as she sat with her back against the far wall, her red, boyish-cut hair a tangled mess. More to the point, a pool of blood had formed below her left side, seeping through a makeshift sponge of tattered cloth that, to their spiritually attuned eyes, was reinforced by a slowly fading rune of greenish spirit energy.

The source of the blood was almost enough to make Tatsuki vomit on the spot, forcing her to gulp back some bile: the woman's left arm was completely gone, hacked off at the shoulder like a haunch of raw meat. Uryu narrowed his eyes. The likelihood of her being a survivor of a Servant attack was high, but first... "You were right, Inoue-san. She's hanging on, but if that rune burns out, she won't have the strength to survive."

Orihime barely heard his words. The horrible wound dredged up too many frightening memories: Grimmjow's brutal slaughter of Luppi after she healed his missing arm, watching the same Espada tear the two arrancar, Loly and Menoly, to pieces, Ichigo's fights, and Hollow Ichigo ripping off Ulquiorra's arm with contemptuous ease. Almost in a blind panic, Orihime called out four words:

"Soten Kisshun: I Reject!"