The captain's meeting continued smoothly - well, as smoothly as they ever went with that group of lunatics gathered into one room. Afterwards, Hanatarou made good on his threat to keep Ichigo in the fourth division for a checkup.

"I'm tellin' ya, I'm fine," Ichigo insisted. Hanatarou gave the girl a stern look.

"And I'm telling you that we don't know that until I make sure," he admonished. Ichigo scowled, but didn't protest further. After what seemed like hours, Hanatarou finally finished his ministrations, and proclaimed Ichigo healthy, and let her leave with a warning. "Just make sure you check back in if you start feeling dizzy again. I wasn't kidding; that thing could be doing anything."

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo agreed quickly, and hurried back out into the sunshine. Renji met her on the street, looking embarrassed.

"Ya still look like yerself," he mumbled. "Only... short. And..." His eyes dropped to Ichigo's chest, his face flushed. Ichigo felt her temper rising up again. She hadn't meant to lose it in the meeting, but she hadn't been feeling like herself. Ossan and Shirosaki's warnings rang through her mind again about something seeming off. She still couldn't sense much, and wasn't feeling different aside from the odd vertigo that seemed to hit her every now and then, and that could have been a simple side effect from being in Seireitei as a girl. Hanatarou seemed to think that was the cause, he couldn't find anything really wrong with the Shinigami captain. Ichigo realized that Renji was still staring, an unusual expression on his face.

"For god's sake, Renji, I'm still Ichigo!" she snapped, and he jerked his gaze away, mumbling something incoherent.

"Sorry," he muttered after a few moments. "You're going back to the human world after this, right?" Ichigo had started walking, and the other captain kept pace with her easily, sometimes having to check his stride when he pulled ahead.

"Where the hell else would I go?" Ichigo demanded. "It's not like I have to stay here."

"Hitsugaya's pretty upset that you haven't moved in permanently. He says it makes more work for the rest of your squad, you not being here. He keeps asking me if I know when you're coming back, as if anyone tells me anything."

This was a complete lie, as Rukia told him everything - even down to the embarrassing details that Ichigo would have rather kept secret, like Kon's using his body for going out to a club one night while he was fighting hollows.

"You know perfectly well Rukia tells you whatever you want to know," Ichigo sniped at him, irritated for some reason. She suspected it had something to do with what Yoruichi called 'feminine modesty' - not that she had any of course, she quickly told herself and then wondered who she was trying to convince. Just cause it was twisted and weird, didn't make it any less her body, and she just didn't like people staring at her that way. It was fucking creepy when Shinji did it. Maybe that was just that it was Shinji, and that Shinji was a creepy bastard even when he went to buy milk.

In companionable silence, the two Shinigami captains made their way towards the gate into the human world. The doors opened automatically at their approach, and Renji walked through with his hands on the back of his head, whistling. Ichigo tried to follow, and slammed into some invisible barrier.

"What the hell?" Renji looked back, his face frozen in a comical expression.

"What happened?" he asked, passing through the doors again easily. Ichigo slammed her hands up against the barrier.

"I can't get through," she explained. Renji stood on the threshold, and she tried again. It was completely solid to her, despite the fact that he was standing in the middle of it - whatever it was.

"Maybe I could carry you?" Renji suggested a little too quickly. Before Ichigo could shout him down, he'd swung her up into his arms and walked forward. This time they both stopped short, although his hands passed through it. He turned around and backed up through the door - his body passed the entryway until Ichigo reached the barrier, and then he found he couldn't move any further. Dropping her easily to her feet, he scratched his head.

"Well that's weird," he commented. Ichigo kicked him on the shin.

"You think? Dumbass! I'm going back to talk to the soutaichou about this." She spun on her heel and started stalking back towards first division when another wave of dizziness assailed her. Renji caught her by the elbows as she slumped backwards, unconscious.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked the insensate girl. He picked her up, and carried her back towards her rooms in the fifth division.

-[TBC]-
(SHOOOOOORT.)

Also: I drew a chibi girl!Ichigo based off of my keychain, but alas - my scanner is teh broken. As soon as I get the stupid thing hooked up and all the drivers and stuff installed, I'll scan it and post a link somewhere in the later chapters.