Ch 8: Growing Troubles
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Shiro continued to go to school, and the cat had started following him more than Ichigo. Shiro liked the cat, but he would've rathered it follow Ichigo instead. Kasai would follow him everywhere, so they made sure that the cat's gigai was left at home during the day. In class she would sit on his lap or try to climb onto his shoulder, he would quietly shove her off, and she would growl at him and try again. During lunch she would steal food from him or Ichigo, or raid a lunch that had been forgotten that morning. After school, she would disappear for a few hours, only to show up again at home right after dinner to raid the leftovers.
Overall, the Hollow cat seemed pretty tame, and didn't bother other spirits as long as she was able to feed from Ichigo or Shiro's spiritual power. She had been seen by his sisters, but they had thought nothing of it since she was just another spirit to them. They left her alone, she left them alone. Kasai had adapted quickly to living with Ichigo, not even taking a day to settle in. He fed her, both food and reiatsu, and had given her a box stuffed with an old blanket to sleep in. It seemed like she had made herself at home, and it was proven true a day later.
Ichigo had gone out for a bit after school, and Shiro, with nothing better to do, was currently sitting on Ichigo's bed reading a book he had found, and Kasai was laying at the other end of the bed. It had been a pretty quiet afternoon, until they heard someone coming up the stairs. Thinking nothing of it, the other bedrooms were up here after all, Shiro ignored the noise. Kasai however, had perked her ears up and was watching the door. The steps stopped in front of their door, and Kasai gave a low growl, knowing it wasn't Ichigo on the other side from the lack of reiatsu. Shiro snapped his head up when he realized the same thing and the door was opened.
He barely caught a glance of Yuzu with a laundry basket before Kasai had lept off the bed and put herself between Yuzu and Shiro. There was a person who was not part of her pack intruding into a place she had claimed as her territory. Protective over what she had claimed, Shiro was unable to stop her before she flared her reiatsu and grew several times her size. By the time he had come up behind Kasai, Yuzu had already dropped the basket and run down the stairs. Hearing the front door close, and Ichigo's voice coming from downstairs, Shiro knew he only had a few minutes at most before Ichigo came up to interrogate him. Reaching up, Kasai was a rather large animal now, Shiro grabbed a tuft of fur behind her ear and pulled her down so she was on his level.
"What was that about, you stupid cat?! She's one of the other humans that lives here! You know that!" Shiro half shouted, trying to keep his voice down. He panicked slightly when he heard two sets of steps coming up the stairs, meaning Yuzu was with Ichigo.
"Change back, now!" Shiro demanded. There was a brief hesitation, then Kasai did as she was told. Grabbing the cat, Shiro disappeared into the hidden room right as Ichigo walked in with Yuzu right behind him.
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Ichigo was met as he was walking in the front door by a crying Yuzu, saying something about a huge scary monster with glowing eyes in Ichigo's room. Directing her to the living room while calming her down, he asked what happened.
"I went in your room to put your laundry in there, and there was a big monster. It's eyes were glowing too. I dropped the basket when I ran out. Make sure it's gone Ichi!"
"It's okay Yuzu. I'll go make sure it left, alright?"
"Let me come with you!"
"Sure." Ichigo went up the steps to his room, Yuzu following him. Walking in and sweeping his gaze across the room, he noted the lingering energy, but didn't comment.
"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. Okay Yuzu?"
"Yeah, I'm okay now." Yuzu replied, though there was still some nervousness in her voice. "I need to go get dinner started. Karin should be back from soccer soon, and dad will probably be back soon too." Ichigo sighed as he heard Yuzu going down the steps. Clearly, there had truly been something, for her to be that frightened, but he could also sense something too. Realizing the lingering energy went above him, he quickly ended up in the hidden room. Crossing his arms, Ichigo stared down Shiro and the cat hanging from his hand by its scruff.
"Mind explaining what happened?"
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The next day Byakuya visited, having been sent to investigate the multiple Hollow signatures that had been detected around Ichigo. Byakuya was clearly not pleased with the situation. He had confronted Ichigo as the substitute had been out on patrol, and they were now standing in an abandoned area of the park.
"Kurosaki, you had been warned before about keeping Hollows around. Sou-Taichou has ordered that all Hollow's be purified immediately. I was sent to ensure those orders are followed, whether by you or myself."
"I know I was told before, but I'm still not going to do anything. Shiro can't figure out how to return to the inner world, and the other Hollow isn't hurting or bothering anybody. So I see no reason why I have to get rid of them." Ichigo was getting edgy, not happy with the way this conversation was going.
"Because it is a Shinigami's job to eliminate Hollows, which is the exact opposite of what you are doing."
"I thought it was our job to protect souls, making it only necessary to kill a Hollow when it is a threat. These Hollows are not. Shiro is a part of me, and I accepted the responsibility of protecting those Hollows when I took them in. And by the way, they both have names."
Byakuya gave him one last look, then shunpo'd away. He felt his signature heading for Shiro, who was in a different part of town in his soul form. He had apparently left his gigai at Urahara's Shop, deciding he didn't want to use it over the weekend and would get it before school Monday. He felt another signature heading to his house where the cat was. 'Crap' Figuring Shiro could manage, he went into a shunpo towards the second signature. When he arrived, he was not expecting what he saw. Renji was stopped outside the house with a giant lion staring him down. It had the same fiery fur Kasai did, and getting closer, the same golden eyes and tiara shaped fragment.
"Kasai, stop it!" Amazingly, this got a reaction from both of them. Renji flashed behind Ichigo to hide, and Kasai turned to look at him. 'Those are some big fangs on that cat.'
"Why are you here, Renji? And why is Kasai after you?"
"You know this Hollow?!"
"Yes. Why are you here?" Ichigo repeated.
"I was told to deal with some cat like Hollow that had been sensed around here, but got stopped by that lion. Why do you know this Hollow?"
"Her name is Kasai, and she's kinda my pet right now."
"Pet? How is that thing a pet?"
Ichigo ignored him to talk to Kasai. "Hey Kasai. It's alright now. He won't do anything to you. Come here." Kasai hesitated for a moment before shrinking back to cat size, and jumping on his shoulder.
He turned back to Renji. "Yep. Pet."
"But that thing almost attacked me!" Renji exclaimed. Kasai hissed at him.
"No, she was keeping the house safe. You're a Shinigami she doesn't know, so you can't just expect her to be friendly to you."
Ichigo flashed away to where he sensed Shiro and Byakuya. It was hard to find them though, as their signatures were moving very quickly through the town, as if they were chasing each other. And that was exactly what was happening. Shiro was running from Byakuya, but that wasn't all, that strange. What was strange was that Byakuya didn't have a sword, but Shiro still had his, plus Senbonzakura. Shiro was grinning like he was having fun, and Byakuya was scowling, trying hard to catch up and retrieve his sword. All in all, it actually looked pretty funny. After a while though, Shiro began to slow down. He may be faster, but Byakuya had plenty of stamina and experience from chasing a certain cat. So Ichigo shunpo'd over, grabbed Senbonzakura from Shiro, and stood to face Byakuya.
"Return my Zanpakuto." Byakuya demanded.
"Sure." Ichigo casually agreed. "On one condition."
"What is it?"
"Go back to Soul Society and tell sou-taicho to leave us alone."
There was a stunned pause, then, "You do realize that is suicidal."
"What's suicidal is you standing here arguing with me, while I have three swords and you have none. And by the way, I have Shiro and Kasai helping me too." Byakuya glared at him, then the cat on his shoulder.
"There is one other option Byakuya, but I don't think a noble like yourself would accept it. I will fight for anyone who falls under my protection, as long as they aren't causing any harm. You help me, I give your Zanpakuto back, and I'll help you with any trouble from Soul Society."
Byakuya took a moment to think about this. 'He is going to do whatever it takes to protect them. Even though I am bound to Soul Society, he has shown me that some things are more important than the rules. He truly cares for these beings, that the Soul Society wants to destroy even though they have done no harm, and one is even a part of him. Nothing is worth destroying part of his soul.'
"I will join you Kurosaki. Make good on your promise to help me out of this mess you have gotten us into."
"Deal." Ichigo handed the sword back, and Byakuya left. He felt another Senkaimon open nearby, and Renji's reiatsu disappeared. Having rejoined Shiro and Kasai, he led them all home. On the way, he briefly felt somewhat sorry for Byakuya. That was not a report that anyone would want to give.
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