Chapter 7: The Awakened…

Curiosity evident in her eyes, she nodded. "I understand." Lord, you idiot! Hurry up and tell her everything! I hate deceiving others… Especially a girl this innocent. Sighing to himself, he dropped the girl onto a tree branch; standing beside her, he put two of his fingers onto his forehead and mumbled a few words Ichigo in no way understood. A flash of blue light surrounded both of their bodies; then, snapping his fingers, the two disappeared into thin air.

Closing her eyes, wind seemed to spin around her; when she finally did manage to open her eyes, one thing escaped her throat; a scream. She screamed as loud as she could; they were in the frikkin' air! The air! And they were falling! Falling really, really, really, fast! She was going to be run over by cars once she landed; if she managed to live the fall! "Calm down," A voice whispered into her ears. Grabbing her by the waist, they disappeared in a flash of movement, as she gathered his strength into one leap, which… Seemed difficult considering that fact that they were on air; there was nothing to push against. Striding forward, Baki landed on top of one of the buildings, both of there figures concealed by the darkness of the night; taking a deep breath, and gasping in and out, she began to grow calmer.

The man next to her chuckled, a tint of amusement on his smirk. "That was fun, ne?" Her eyes turned as wide as saucers until she screamed once again. "DON'T YOU EVER, EVER, EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" She screeched. Her arms shaking by her sides as she stomped her foot onto the roof, she began to shudder. His grin turning into a frown, he bowed before her, his neck down and his knee pointed upward. "I'm sorry," his head sinking lower toward the ground as he avoided her eyes, he continued. "I should've warned you first. I'm not doing a very good job, am I?" Hugging herself as the wind began to blow colder air, she looked at him sympathetically. "Get up," she chocked out.

"It's… Okay. I was just a little scared at first," she could see her very breath before her as she spoke; realization then struck her that indeed, tonight was very cold. "There's… No reason to bow down to me. Why--? I'm nothing… Special," She continued to shudder, the air seeming to get colder by the second. Raising himself off the ground, his eyes still not meeting with hers, he opened his cape and pulled her in it. His hands landing on her waist once again as his neck lightly leaned onto her shoulder, he apologized once again. "I'm sorry," he said. "You—" Ichigo said, cutting into his sentence.

"What I did was wrong," he said, interrupting her as she did to him. "My obligation was to take care of you, not frighten you," His eyes seemed to darken as he gritted his teeth. "Will you forgive me?" Ichigo didn't even give her answer a second thought as she responded, her voice kind and in a soft, sweet melody, as the words flowed out of her mouth. "Of course I do," She smiled. "What are friends for?" A grin struck the man's face. Friends…? She… Didn't hate him?

His grip around her waist tightened as his breath tickled her ear. "He made a good choice, you know," there was absolutely no doubt held in his words. He held in a chuckle. "Makes me wish I got to you first," his eyes saddened as he brought his head upward, staring down onto the cars as the street signs continued to flash. When had it last been since he felt so content…? Forever. He knew that much. His eyes scanning the area, a new determination filling them, he landed onto target. "Perfect," he mumbled. "I couldn't have chosen a better place."

Giving her a small warning ahead of time before he made movement, he jumped onto the next building. Standing on the very top, in other words, the roof, he walked towards to parking lot that was behind the structure and looked down. Making sure no human was there, he jumped down, his grip on her firm. Not a single sound escaped Ichigo's lips as they landed. Shrouded in the darkness, Baki dug through his pockets and pulled out what he was looking for. Then, handing the card to her, he stuffed his hands back into his pockets for a few seconds and gave her a reassuring look.

Taking his hands out of his pocket once again, he turned her towards the building entrance, which was located on the other side. "Wha--? What am I supposed to do?" "Just walk in the building and ask for a room to rent for two days," Pointing to the card in her hands, he explained further. "Just give them the card and they'll charge it onto our household." That last sentence had confused her even further. "Our household? As in ours? Both yours and mine? But I don't even live with you! I--!" He put his finger onto her lip.

"When… Err, Ryou, first told me about you, I took the time to make you a card. Let's just say that you'll be living with us very soon," Nodding, she looked onto the card. "And, as you can tell, it says your name." Baki affirmed. Giving her another little push, he then backed away into the shadows as she soon landed into the small amount of flourishing light that was coming from the small lanterns that were decorated on the sides. "Should I tell them there are two people?" She yelled at him. "If you want too," He hollered back. "But I think it'll be more fun to cheat--! Wait. On second thought, just say there are two people, okay?" Nodding, she turned around, but then once again stopped, and turned her head towards his direction. "Um… How come you aren't coming along?" He looked at her sheepishly.

"Werewolf," grunted. "At the front counter." Her look struck with fascination, she nodded. Baki watched from the shadows as she walked into the building. Ichigo was met with a woman at the front; she smiled, trying her best hide the look of disgust as she sensed the smell of her natural enemy on the very card she handed to her. Without Ichigo noticing, the woman began to eye her as the girls' gaze was taken to the paintings on the wall. Her fingers tapping on the desk, she handed the card back to her and immediately removed her gaze to the other direction.

Ichigo held the card in her hands, gratitude in her smile before memory came to her; she forgot to tell the woman that two people were going to be in this room. "Excuse me, miss! I'm sorry, but I forgot to tell you that two--!" "I know," she hissed. "Just get that damn card out of my sight." Bowing before her once, she turned around and ran back to where Baki stood, his foot tapping patiently onto the pavement. "I'm… Done." She extended her hand out to him, giving him back the card but her shook his head to the side. "

You keep it," he grinned. "It's yours, after all." "H-hai!" Holding the card between her fingers, for she had no pocket to hold it in, she asked Baki a question, breaking the one-second silence that was held between them. "That woman," A smug look crossed Baki's face. "She knew everything; I didn't even need to tell her how long we're going to stay. She even knew two people were going to be in that room," Baki's grin grew bigger and bigger. "How'd she do that?" He answered her the moment the last word escaped her lips. "I told her," he pointed to his forehead.

"Telekinetically." Getting no response from the girl, he pulled her into his arms and jumped upward, and landed into the room; the window was open, after all. Ichigo didn't even bother to ask how he knew which room it was, or how convenient of a fact that the window was left open. Shutting the window behind him, he took off his coat and set it onto a chair. Crashing onto the couch, his legs crossed, he closed both eyes and breathed in. "I'm going to check how Ryou's doing," he said. "So please, don't distract me." "Hai." "Good girl." Putting two of his fingers onto his forehead, he began to concentrate.

A flash of light struck Ryou's mind as he looked before him, his features still holding disgust.

Lord! You there?

Yes, Baki. How's Ichigo doing?

Perfectly fine.

Good. Keep it up.

So, how are things going on over there? Did you beat the shit out of that guy yet?

A chuckle could be heard between the two as it rang in their thoughts.

Not yet… But I will soon.

Ne? Well, hurry up. It's best to get out of that area as quickly as possible. You should teleport yourself to another city, just to be safe.

I don't think that'll help much, but I'll do it any way.

Anyway, Lord, just be careful.

Sure.

How long until it fully takes over…?

I'm guessing about… A half hour? Maybe a little less than that; I can already feel its power and blood going through my veins.

Like I said before, be careful. Ichigo and me will be just fine so don't worry.

I'm counting on you, Baki.

And I'm counting on you to stay alive.

I have no intention of dying. Well, I guess I should return back to the battle now. All I've been doing is defending. So, then, should we meet somewhere tomorrow?

Yeah. We'll talk about an exact meeting place tomorrow; until then, good luck, Lord

The small, invisible light that connected the two minds disappeared in a flash as Ryou looked before him. "I guess its time for me to attack, don't you think so…?" Ryou asked. A frown crossed the man's face as his features became doubtful; if he didn't leave soon, he could possibly be killed. Besides, he didn't want him to take over. He barely managed to control it; it had almost let loose as he made his way up the stairs, ready to kill the girl.

Oh well. It didn't matter anymore. He wouldn't further this battle anymore; after all, he still have many tricks and maneuvers that he didn't want to reveal just yet. With a sudden, un-called for jump into the air, he sprung up, his figure shining for a split second as it appeared before the full moon. With the blink of an eye, he disappeared. A frustrated growl could be heard as the man cursed under his breath. He got away!

Well, at least he had more time to escape… Not that it would take very long. With a flash, Ryou too, disappeared; he teleported himself into a city, unaware of whether or not Ichigo and Baki remained present in here; after all, he never told him. Here he stood, on a building, a chill surrounding him as the wind blew. He was in Osaka, a place he always seemed to go to whenever he was bored, or had free time. His features began to slightly change, almost darkening; his behavior became more gruesome as well, as his eyes flashed a red.

A smirk crossed the man's face, a new personality emerging. He cracked his knuckles, a vivid picture of his target appearing in his mind. How long had it been since he'd had his last killing? He nearly forgot what the taste of blood was like. Pink hair. Well, that was interesting? Not many people he knew had pink hair. How beautiful would it look; her dark, pink, crimson hair mended together with the red of her blood? That was what he called true art. That was it; it was official. Ichigo Momomiya would be the one to kill at this night.

HUZZAH! And there we have it. ;) Hope I'm not boring you! xD Anyway, anyone have any ideas as to what will happen? Besides the fact that Ichigo is obviously being targeted, does anyone want to take a shot, and see if one of their guesses are right?

There are still a lot of unanswered questions that Ryou provides to hint at, but never fully explains. Anyone have a guess? ;) Anyway, just be nice and give me a nice, review; and if you can help it, make it a long one. It's fun, sitting there and reading all the comments everyone has to make.