So, after the special halloween omake (that was late) I managed to finish chapter Eight. I am proud of myself right now and actually have nothing else to say about this that that I would appreciate reviews.

End of AN

Chapter Eight

Heat

"Damn, I have yet another reason to hate humans…" Bezanthume said as he stumbled forward on a street that hopefully lead to the park. It was impossible for him to fly right now, not before that fucking tea left his system. Who the hell has hallowed tea? What possible meaning would a human have for such a thing? It was just idiotic to have something like that! It was pure luck that he happened to crash into an empty house when the tea started affecting him.

Bezanthume stumbled and he had to support himself on a street lamp. The steel under his hand glowed red, the lamp broke with a loud crack and he felt how the steel started to give in under his weight. That was another thing; it was nearly impossible for him to control his powers now. Everything he touched would be reduced to ash for the next couple of hours and every electric circuit in his immediate proximity would short-circuit. He pushed himself away from the lamp and continued on his way. He had left Lilith alone with Kuchiki Rukia and by now right about anything could have happened. There was an untrustworthy angel if there ever was one. Not like Bezanthume would ever trust an angel in the first place, but Lilith was especially untrustworthy.

He kept stumbling forward and was gathering fearful and amazed looks from the people that were walking the streets. It seemed like he couldn't even stay invisible with the tea still in his system. He had retracted his wings a while ago to conserve energy. The people that saw him were wise enough to steer clear of him. He was at least twice their size and he wasn't really looking sociable right now. He had his hood down and was breathing heavily. His hair was in his face and his hands were swaying limply by his sides. He was sweating profoundly and even though the spell he had used to change the color of his eyes was still in effect there was a dangerous glow in his eyes. He was grateful that there had not been any kind souls that would approach him. He didn't know what he would do in his present condition.

These humans had a very appropriate saying for this kind of situation:"A wounded beast is the most dangerous" or something along those lines. His mind had a hard time grasping thoughts right now. It felt like dull knives were gnawing at his insides. His body was trying to quickly counteract the poison he had ingested by trying to force a transformation. He really hated being that mist-like thing. He felt at home in this humanoid form. In his ethereal form he felt no pain, no hunger, fear, or mercy, or simply put: he was nearly invincible, but he could not feel or distinguish between friend and foe, only destroy and pervert everything he touched.

He hated that, so he fought the transformation and gritted his teeth from the pain. He would endure this for how long it was going to last. Judging from the amount of tea he had ingested and the severity of the attack he would say that this would subside in an hour or so. Still, he had no time to wait for it to pass. He had to get back to the park as soon as possible.

Shit! Things were really not going according to plan…

Orihime

Tatsuki-chan let her cry against her chest as long as the tears flowed and Orihime was not sure how long that was. So much had happened and she had not had a chance to let it all out when she had been surrounded by people that were only trying to exploit her. Sure, she had cried, she would have lost her mind if she hadn't, but she had always kept her head, so that they couldn't make use of her weakened judgment… too much. She had a feeling she had been played like a violin in spite of her resolve, but still it did pay off. Bezanthume did save her in the end. She was back here, with Tatsuki-chan and everyone, before everything went wrong, before the fighting and the useless violence became mundane.

Orihime sniffed and raised her head from Tatsuki's chest. Now that her thoughts were coming back to her she wasn't sure about how much and about what had she talked about while crying. How much did Tatsuki know now? Did she believe any of it was a more valid question? This was definitely not the first time she had babbled about a bad dream she had while crying against Tatsuki's shoulder. Tatsuki placed a reassuring hand over her head and petted her hair. Orihime raised her eyes up to level with Tatsuki and saw the look in her eyes.

"Your imagination never seizes to amaze me. Don't worry; it was all just a dream, Orihime. Believe me." Tatsuki said and then stood up to stretch her aching muscles. "Agh! My legs fell asleep! Damn it!" Tatsuki did a series of stretches to fight the tingly sensation in her legs and Orihime also stood up. She walked into the kitchen and noticed that the tea she had made for Lilith was still there, it was cold now, but it would be simple just to reheat it.

"Would you like some tea? I was making some for… myself and then you were banging on the door." Orihime was about to say "Lilith", but then decided against it. She didn't want to start explaining why there had been someone named Lilith in her apartment, if she hadn't told Tatsuki about her already. She had a feeling that any excuse she could come up with would lead to her mentioning Bezanthume at some point. She really didn't want to start explaining him. She was almost sure that she hadn't mentioned him to Tatsuki just yet. She was not 100 % sure, though. She had a tendency to spill her guts out when crying.

"Sure! That's fine." Tatsuki said while doing a split on the floor. Orihime could only hope to be that flexible. She had trouble doing the simplest of stretches during P.E. Sure, the fact that Tatsuki was an active member of the karate club had its part in her astounding flexibility, but she was a natural to begin with. Orihime reheated the tea and then washed two cups in the sink. When did those pile up? She would have to take care of it later. She carried the teapot and the cups to the living room and set them on the table. She and Tatsuki sat down on the floor and Orihime poured the tea into the two cups.

"So, how did it go with Kurosaki? Did you catch him?" Tatsuki asked and took a sip out of her tea. Orihime's hand stopped right before she drank the tea. Yeah, what could she say here? Lying to Tatsuki was something she would rather not do, but was there really any other way out of this?

"Uhm… I ran after him, but I wasn't able to catch him… and then I got lost… I was actually making tea to calm my nerves when you showed up." Orihime lied. It wouldn't actually be the first time she had gotten lost and she hoped that her story sounded plausible. Tatsuki gave her a look and then smiled. It looked like she believed Orihime's explanation. That was a relief. Orihime sipped her tea.

"Where did you get that ring?" Tatsuki said and focused her eyes on Orihime's right hand. Yeah, how was Orihime going to explain the ring? Tatsuki would not believe her if she said that Kurosaki-kun gave it to her…

"I wandered into a market when I was lost and there was this really nice lady selling jewelry and she gave me a discount on this ring, a nice find, right?" Orihime said and laughed nervously. Tatsuki narrowed her eyes and took a serious expression.

"You're hiding something… Who was it?" Tatsuki leaned closer to Orihime and looked at her straight in the eyes. Orihime leaned back and wondered if she should tell Tatsuki about Bezanthume to make it easier. It was hard to lie to someone who knew you as well as Tatsuki knew her and it was extra hard to lie to a friend as close as Tatsuki.

"What… What do you mean? No one gave this to me!" Orihime rushed to answer and then turned her eyes away. Tatsuki grinned widely and pointed an accusing finger towards Orihime.

"What is this? Someone is giving you jewelry and you didn't tell me? You should tell me these things, there's no telling what the guy could do to you if you give him the wrong idea… It is a guy, right? What's he like?" Tatsuki talked with excitement shining in her eyes. Orihime tried to deny everything but Tatsuki had already made her mind about this. She was right, in a way, there was someone new in her life that was giving her jewelry, there was just that he was a psychotic eight feet tall demon. He was not what Tatsuki would call "boyfriend material", but that was not something she could actually tell Tatsuki, now was it?

"No, I actually did buy this on my own! Is that so hard to believe?" Orihime said and then gave Tatsuki a look full of honest innocence. She had learned how to fake one during her stay in Las Noches. Tatsuki made a face and then turned away from Orihime's expression of child-like innocence. It was obvious that she felt a little guilty about pestering her with her curiosity. Orihime, in turn, felt bad about making her feel bad, but just took another sip of her tea. It tasted better than she had remembered…

"Well, you do live on your own… Sorry for doubting you, but you really should get a boyfriend." Tatsuki said. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while. Orihime treasured every moment, but Tatsuki was getting restless. She glanced at the clock on the wall and then turned to Orihime to tell her she should be leaving now. Orihime asked her a question right at the second she opened her mouth.

"How about you, Tatsuki?" Orihime asked Tatsuki and stared at her right in the eye. This had been one of the questions she had pondered over during her captivity to keep her sanity. Now she just had to say it outside or her mind would probably implode on itself. Tatsuki stared back at her in surprise.

"What about me?" Tatsuki asked and tried to look indifferent. Was she avoiding the question? Now that she thought about it they had never talked about Tatsuki's love life, Tatsuki had just given her advice about her crush on Ichigo. Tatsuki's love interest hadn't come up just yet.

"Do you have anyone special in mind?" Orihime asked and nudged closer to Tatsuki. Tatsuki gulped and opened her mouth to answer and then she closed it and then opened it once again. Tatsuki made a puzzled face and put a hand on her throat. Suddenly it felt very hard to speak, like there was a great big lump in her throat stopping a word forming on her lips. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What was wrong with her? She shouldn't get so worked up from a single question. This was stranger than strange.

"Well, the boys in our class are nice and all, but they are also… weak… A man is supposed to be the one to protect you and well, I don't need to be protected… The only guys in our class that could beat me in a match are probably Kurosaki or Chad and they're not my type… So, no, I do not have anyone special in mind." Tatsuki was staring at her tea and seemed to be deep in thought. She didn't really look depressed, but Orihime did get a feeling that she was asking herself too many serious questions. She needed to cheer her up.

"Oh yeah! I should be making dinner! You want some?" Orihime said while standing up and running over to the bag of groceries. She busied herself over checking if she had remembered to buy everything and Tatsuki walked over to her. She took one glance at the selection of foodstuff in front of Orihime and what was still left in the bag and made her decision.

"Sorry, but I really should be going home by now. It's getting dark already and my mom must be worried sick." Tatsuki said and picked up her bag from the floor. She still had her school uniform on. She had intended to stop by at Orihime's place quickly and then go home, change and then think of what to do from there. Things had not gone exactly as planned and she ended up staying with Orihime until sundown. She was just so sensitive sometimes; if a vivid dream was enough to cause something like this she had to wonder how much she would cry when someone broke up with her?

"Oh, sorry about keeping you, Tatsuki-chan… I'm such a crybaby." Orihime said in a matter-of-fact tone and walked over to the kitchen with her hands full of groceries. Tatsuki raised a brow at her behavior, but got her answer when she heard the rumble Orihime's stomach made just then. She must be starving, Tatsuki was hungry herself, but she could tough it out until she got home, and to her mother's cooking. Orihime's cooking was a little too… extraordinary.

"I'm off! See you later, Orihime!" Tatsuki yelled and opened the door. Orihime didn't answer her. The only sounds were the clatter of pots and pans and the sound of a kitchen knife hacking away at an unfortunate vegetable. Orihime was an excellent cook, but she just tended to get too creative with her cooking. Tatsuki shrugged it off and stepped out. She closed the door behind her and walked down the stairs. She glanced at her watch and was surprised to see how late it was already.

She decided to take a shortcut through the park not to make her mother worry too much.

Lilith

Lilith was sitting up in the tree and twisting a strand of her hair around her finger nervously. Benny is really not going to like this. Only did she let them get away with the girl he had kidnapped, but now there was a dead kid laying face down on the grass and a replica of the girl's body laying limply on the ground. Well, the kid was still breathing and muttering something, but he was inevitably going to die. Did he need this kid to fulfill his contract with that busty girl? Should Lilith at least try and heal him? She had never been that gifted in healing, she was a more of an illusion and charm kind of girl. Lilith bit her lip and flew over to the orange haired kid.

"Damn it… Damn it… Damn it…" The orange haired kid was repeating those words over and over again. Lilith thought that it was creepy, but understood that his hate and sense of regret helped him stay conscious. That was good. Lilith kneeled down next to his head and poked him a little. The boy sluggishly turned his head to face her. If this kid was able to see her, an angel, then he was doomed. The talks about an "angel of death" were not all wrong. People that were very close to having their connection with this plane of existence severed were able to see angels, most of the time. It was a simple test to see if she should even bother to save him.

The boy blinked his eyes to see clearly and his eyes searched for the thing that had poked his head. His eyes finally fell on Lilith. His eyes stayed focused at her for a second, but then he blinked and his eyes started darting around again. So, does that mean he can see me… or not? Maybe he can see me just barely?

Oh, screw it! The kid was probably going to be okay anyway… But Lilith should make sure that he would stay alive until Benny got here. What was keeping him anyways? He might not be as fast with his wings as she was but he still should have been back about fifteen minutes ago. Did something happen? Did he get distracted by something, like a school girl walking home alone? She was aware of his appetite and wouldn't be surprised if he had stopped on his way for a snack, then he would feel guilty about it and make it up to the girl, in one way or another. He was a very contradicting personality and it was still a mystery for Lilith as to how a demon could be like that.

Lilith started to mutter words in her own language that would probably sound like beautiful music or singing to any human able to hear it. Her language wasn't all verbal in nature at all, that had always been hard for any other beings than demons to understand. She had a hard time remembering the words for a spell that would humans with bleeding wounds, but she was able to stop the bleeding and stabilize the boys breathing. Good, at least he wasn't going to bleed out now. Bezanthume can think of the rest when he finally gets here.

Lilith flew back over to the tree and perched herself back on the branch of the tree. He was too nervous to retract her wings and she felt good with such a strong life force around her. Trees were old and tranquil in nature. She leaned her head on the tree and closed her eyes to calm herself. What will come, will come…

But now she felt sleepy.

Bezanthume

He was finally in the park. He wasn't sure how long it had taken him to get there, but from the fact that his reaction to the tea hadn't subsided yet, he could say it wasn't an hour. He leaned on tree to catch his breath.

Damn, he really, really hated tea right now. He wasn't that fond of the "Chiyo" woman either. The stupidity of man never failed to amaze and infuriate him. The tree he was leaning on started to wither and smoke was already rising from the point he was leaning on. At least he had regained some control over his powers, earlier the tree would have been set on fire on contact. He pushed himself off of the tree before he started a fire that would probably spread to the nearby housings. He kept on walking on the path that led deeper into the park.

He was still breathing heavily and sweating and he really felt dehydrated. One of the drawbacks of having a human body, well, more humanoid than human. It was impossible for demons to squeeze all of their self into a body that was merely human, it just wouldn't take it. Every demon that chose a human form were always superior to normal humans in some, if not all, ways, but still they had some of the weaknesses of humans. He kept on thinking about this and walking forward. He really had a bad feeling about leaving Lilith in charge of Kuchiki Rukia.

"Come on, girl, come have fun with us!" A slightly slurring male voice shouted out. Bezanthume glanced at the direction the voice was coming from, but didn't pay it any more attention when he noted that they weren't close enough to notice him. The antics of some drunks were not his business.

"Yeah, girlie, we won't hurt you" Another male voice called out. This one didn't even sound drunk, just lecherous. Bezanthume spared them another glance and saw seven men surrounding a girl that was wearing something that looked like a school uniform.

"We'll be good to you, girlie, we'll do you real good" Another man said and grabbed the girl's arm. Bezanthume heard the girl's fist making contact with the man's face. He heard the man stumble back and fall to the ground. At least the girl had a good punch.

"You bitch!" The man on the ground shouted with a nasal voice, the girl had broken his nose. Bezanthume smirked and kept on walking. It was still none of his business. He heard the sounds of the men rushing towards the girl and the sounds of the girl landing quite a few punches. That should discourage those drunks…

"You little cunt! You're gonna pay for that!"

He stopped walking. There was something wrong with this picture. He didn't hear the girl run away. Instead he heard the men muttering curses.

"Get the fuck off me, you bastards! I'll kill you!" The girl screamed and Bezanthume heard how the men grunted when they had to hold her down harder.

"We're gonna treat you real good, girl…" The man with the broken nose said. Bezanthume heard the sound of a zipper being opened.

Bezanthume gritted his teeth and suddenly noticed that he was moving again.

Tatsuki

Tatsuki fought back with all her might and was able to knockout three of them before the rest were able to wrestle her to the ground and hold her arms and legs. They were cursing and groaning, but what really pissed her off was that they were also laughing at her. She could see the lecherous smirks on their faces and suddenly realized what was bound to happen now.

"Get the fuck off me, you bastards!" She fought back even harder and the men holding her arms and legs had to press her down with their whole weight to keep her from getting free.

"We're gonna treat you real good, girl…" The guy with the broken nose said while unzipping his pants. Tatsuki looked up to his face with horror. His whole jaw drenched in blood and the front of his shirt stained with his blood. She also noticed that his teeth were also dyed red from blood.

"You disgust me…" A very low male voice said from behind the man with blood on his face and a broken nose, her potential rapist. The man turned around to see who would interrupt his fun and was suddenly dangled up in the air by his neck by the largest man Tatsuki had ever seen. Tatsuki knew someone like Chad so that was a lot to say about a person.

"Don't you dare say a single word, you scum!" The mystery man said in a very dangerous tone while he was strangling the life out of the man he was holding up in the air with one hand. The man was breathing heavily and sweat glistened on his face. Did he run to save her or was he sick or something? Tatsuki heard how the man either gritted his teeth in anger or the neck of the man he was holding was starting to creak, either way the man holding down her right leg was shocked enough about the appearance of her savior to loosen his grip enough for her to get her leg free.

She gave the guy holding her left leg a nice kick in the face with her right leg and when he stumbled back in pain she slammed the heel of her foot against the neck of the man that was holding her right leg just a second ago. Judging by the strangled gurgling voice he made while falling on the ground Tatsuki had been able to damage his windpipe. She was just about to handle the men holding her arms down when they suddenly let go like her arms like her skin was burning their hands. Why would they do that?

The answer to this came a fraction of a second later in the form of a blood stained flying object. She turned her attention to her savior in awe. The guy he just threw around like a rag doll wasn't exactly a featherweight. He had to weigh around 80 kilograms and this guy just threw him like he was nothing with one hand.

Who was this guy? It was hard to determine his age because his hair was in his face and his coat covered the rest of his body, but he looked young, maybe a couple of years older than she was, but definitely under 20. And then there was his size that might have added a couple of years to her estimation. He was at least eight feet tall. He was still breathing heavily and his arms were limp by his sides. It looked like he was about to fall on his back.

"Are you alright?" Tatsuki said and got back on her feet. She kicked a guy that was about to come back to his senses and then walked closer to the man that had just saved her. He was really not looking so good. Did he have some medical condition? Maybe it was genetic, just a drawback of his colossal size, expanded arteries or something. She had seen a documentary on something like that on TV. The colossal man didn't even seem to notice her. He looked like he was in quite a lot of pain. Tatsuki took a step closer and felt the heat radiating off of his body. He was really sick.

"Do you need an ambulance?" Tatsuki asked and looked up to his face. His hair was hanging in front of his face and he had his eyes closed. Tatsuki walked back to her bag and dug around for her phone.

"Wait…" The man said in his incredibly low voice. Tatsuki turned back to face him and saw him looking right at her. His eyes looked like they were shining their own light "This is just an allergic reaction. I'll be fine in an hour or so… Still hurts like hell, though…" Tatsuki kept on staring at his face. She had expected for him to be… well if not deformed, at least look somehow different from normal sized people; simple or at least plain in his features.

She really did not expect for him to be handsome. From what she could see in the dim lighting of his face was definitely not in any way deformed. His eyes were a luminescent green that stood out from behind the curtain of his long dark hair. She wasn't sure but it looked like his hair was either a slightly reddish kind of black, or a very dark brown color. She wasn't able to make out any fine details of his face before he straightened his back and started stumbling in the opposite direction. He was really running a high fever and probably should not be moving around, but he was probably the one to know his own illness better than she ever could.

"What? You're not even going to ask if I'm alright?" Tatsuki said in an annoyed tone. The man didn't even seem to acknowledge her. He just kept on walking with his back turned to her. Tatsuki glanced over to the seven unconscious bastards around her and noticed that some of them were already coming back to their senses. Not like she couldn't just knock them out again, but staying near an eight feet tall guy wearing a black overcoat would make matters a whole lot more uncomplicated.

Even though he seemed to be stumbling forward sluggishly Tatsuki had to run to catch up with him. His step was about twice as long as hers and even though he was moving rather sluggishly for his own pace Tatsuki had to speed up her step a little to keep up with him. He kept on walking without even noticing her. She was heading in the same direction anyway, so why not have an eight feet tall bastard repellant?

"Why are you following me, girl?" He asked with his incredibly low voice. It was almost like a rumble than a voice. He might not have actually pronounced the "girl" in that sentence, but Tatsuki was just pissed off from being called "girl".

"Why are you being so rude, bastard?" Tatsuki shot back without thinking. The man glanced at her with those glowing green eyes of his and something in the look in his eyes gave her chills. Maybe she shouldn't have insulted the man who just saved her from being raped. She noticed how his lips curved up slightly for a second. Was he laughing at her? That bastard!

"Sorry, but it's kinda painful to talk right now…" He said and his face flinched from pain for a fraction of a second. Tatsuki blushed and turned her eyes away. She felt bad about being so rude to him. He was obviously in great pain and she expected him to be polite? She felt like an awful person… This guy just saved her while having a severe allergic reaction and she started bitching to him about him being rude. What was wrong with her? She should be thanking him, but instead she was insulting him.

Bezanthume

The girl, that was following him for some reason, was getting depressing thoughts. Bezanthume looked as far into her mind as he could in his current state and found out that her name was Arisawa Tatsuki, a close friend to Inoue Orihime. Well, it was fortunate that he had decided to save her. Inoue Orihime would not approve of her friend getting raped in a park. He would have to turn back time and go save her anyways.

But how was he going to get rid of her? He stressed his inner eye and was able to see her destination and sighed in relief as it was an exit from the park quite close to the place he had left Kuchiki Rukia. If this girl was a friend of Inoue Orihime he couldn't let anything overly terrible happen to her.

The girl stayed quiet as they walked and just kept glancing up to his face whenever she thought he wasn't looking. She must have noticed the unnatural glow of his eyes, but if she really did notice that why was she not even the slightest bit intimated? Maybe she didn't think of it as frightening because he saved her or something? Humans and their total lack of control over their erratic emotions… Bezanthume didn't have time to be concerned over such things right now and decided to leave it as it was. It was just not safe for him to go poking around in the girl's mind in his present condition. She would not die, but turning her into a crazed maniac or a drooling vegetable couldn't be filed under "okay" in Inoue Orihime's book.

They kept on walking in silence and it was painfully clear to Bezanthume that Arisawa Tatsuki was almost bursting at the seams to ask him about something. He was careful to ignore her and keep on walking. He couldn't help but notice her mouth opening and closing when she was just about to ask say something, but then remembered that it was painful for him to talk and decided against talking. If he wouldn't have been in so much pain it would have been a whole lot harder to stop a grin spreading on his face. Humans might have their, many, flaws, but they were always just as amusing. And they were so easily manipulated to boot.

They walked past another patch of trees. Bezanthume raised his head and aimed his eyes towards the tree Kuchiki Rukia was supposed to be under. He was more than disappointed to see the limp form of no other than Kurosaki Ichigo laying on the ground and staining the grass under him with his own blood. He just knew he never should have trusted Lilith in the first place. But how did Kuchiki Rukia's gigai get there? Well, that is unimportant now. I have to make sure that this girl does not see Kuchiki Rukia's faux body. That would mean too many questions that would lead to memory manipulation.

"You have something to ask me" Bezanthume said and set his pace in such a way that his body would block her from seeing Kuchiki Rukia's faux body and the nearly dead Kurosaki Ichigo. When she looked up to his face the girl turned her whole attention to his eyes. So she had noticed that they were glowing after all. Bezanthume kept on looking into her eyes to stop her from averting her eyes to the sight behind him. If he would have had the same kind of eyes that humans had then he wouldn't have noticed the slight blush that rose up on her face.

"Well, it was just that I was wondering if you were new in town… It's just that you're… kind of hard to miss… and I haven't seen you around…" The girl's voice faded into nothing while her blush deepened. Bezanthume sensed a wave of anger and frustration from the girl named Arisawa Tatsuki. She was beating herself up from saying such things maybe? Bezanthume saw nothing illogical in her question, but her reaction caused his lips to quirk up a little.

"Well, I am new in town… and hard to miss for that matter" Bezanthume couldn't stop his amusement from shining through his voice. Arisawa Tatsuki did not take kindly to this and punched him in the gut. She might have meant it to just be a playful jab in the ribs, but with Bezanthume's current condition it caused him to see black spots and lose his sense of balance. He fell down on one knee and clutched his stomach while groaning from the sudden waves of knowing pain. He really, really hated this. Perhaps it would have just been easier to succumb to the transformation in the first place and avoid this situation altogether.

"Sorry! I'm really sorry! Are you alright? I don't know why I hit you. You're sick and I went and punched you in the gut… I'm such an awful person…" Arisawa Tatsuki hurried to say and stepped closer with the intention of helping him. Bezanthume swatted her hands away before she burned herself.

"I'm just fine; you just caught me off guard there. You have a nice punch by the way…" Bezanthume said and straightened himself from kneeling on one knee and into his full height. The girl took a reflexive step back and he saw a small undertone of fright in her eyes. Did she think that he was going to punch her back? What a stupid girl… Maybe he could get rid of her faster if he pretended to attack her? Bezanthume looked at her eyes again and noticed that the undertone of fear was very small. She would probably hit and kick right back at if he even tried to get hostile.

"I'll walk you through the park; there are all kinds of people lurking around here that could still attack you. I wish to rid you of the inconvenience of beating them into submission, that's all." Bezanthume said and gave Tatsuki a slight smile that didn't bare his inhumanly long fangs. He noticed how the girl blushed again and felt like rolling his eyes. Humans were so fucking easy to manipulate…

"Yeah… Thanks." Arisawa Tatsuki said and then started walking with Bezanthume staying right next to her. Bezanthume noticed that she was tenser and now avoided eye contact when just a minute ago she was glancing up to his eyes with great interest. Yes, humans were easy to manipulate, but they were also almost impossible to comprehend.

Lilith:

"Lilith, wake up!" Bezanthume's voice roared in the edge of Lilith's mind. She stirred in her sleep, but failed to wake up.

"Just a couple more minutes…" Lilith mumbled in her sleep and positioned her head more comfortably against the tree. She was just having a very pleasant dream involving several scantily dressed people and a whole tub full of whipped cream. She wished that she could catch that dream again before it slipped too far. Things had just started to get exciting.

"Lilith, you perverted little nympho, if you don't wake up right now I will rip your wings off!" Bezanthume roared into her mind with enough force to chase her dream away and snap her back to reality. When did she fall asleep, how long had she been asleep and where was Benny?

"Stop calling me Benny and tell me what the hell happened already! How could you lose Kuchiki Rukia, have her faux body there and almost get Kurosaki Ichigo killed?" Bezanthume's voice roared in a very angry tone. Lilith dropped down from the tree and walked over to Kurosaki Ichigo to see if he was still breathing. He was, that was good, she wasn't sure how mad Bezanthume would be if he had died while she was asleep. She wasn't sure because she didn't have a word to describe it.

"Well… First these two guys showed up and tried to take Rukia away. I thought I should distract them, so I did that and the high and mighty looking bastard was able to get away with a lock of my hair! Then this hero here showed up and I decided to use him to at least delay them long enough for you to show up. This kid lost, they talked about something extremely irrelevant and then the two guys left with Rukia in tow. If you wouldn't have wandered around somewhere this could have been avoided. What the hell were you doing anyways, having a snack?" Lilith said and then stopped to catch her breath. It was going to take a little while for her lungs to fully recover. Lilith felt Bezanthume's presence falter and his anger subside gradually.

"Kuchiki Byakyua… Well, there wouldn't have been much you could do against him anyways, but why didn't you just grab Kuchiki Rukia and fly away? There shouldn't have been a way for them to catch you if you would have done that." Bezanthume said into her mind. Lilith didn't answer him in a couple of minutes and she felt how Bezanthume's anger grew back into its original intensity.

"The thought didn't even occur to you, did it?! Fuck, I knew you were an angel, but you are unbelievably stupid!" Bezanthume roared into her mind and she felt like she was smothering under the weight of his anger.

"That Byakyua could predict my movements! There was no way for me to get close enough to get Rukia. He was fast enough to slice of a lock of my hair. You were the one who was god knows where doing god knows what! I was counting on you coming to take care of them!" Lilith screamed back at him mentally. Bezanthume's presence wavered for a second. Lilith could picture him sighing and gritting his teeth.

"Yeah, whatever… There's nothing we can do about it now anyways. I'll be there in a matter of minutes. Make sure to keep Kurosaki Ichigo alive. If you manage to fuck that up you're going right back where I found you." Bezanthume said into her mind. Lilith raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow at Bezanthume's statement.

"What do you mean "nothing we can do"? You can turn back time! Just do your thing and get Rukia back!" Lilith exclaimed. She felt how Bezanthume's presence wavered and then disappeared completely. Did he get fed up with her? No, Bezanthume was better at mental communication than she was and the fact that a connection wavered and disappeared like that meant that someone was too weak to maintain it. What had happened to Bezanthume? No, better yet: what could make him weak?

Chizuru:

Chizuru opened her eyes and for a second she was unsure of where, who and what she was, then she realized that she was someone with a huge headache and very sore muscles, everything else came back to her at a much slower pace. She remembered that her name was Honshou Chizuru; she went to Karakura High and…

"Welcome back, sweetie! Did you have a nice nap?" Honshou Chiyo chirped and her smiling face appeared over Chizuru. Mom? If mom was here, then here is probably home… Chizuru turned her head to the side and saw her living room, at her house, definitely not the park.

"How did I get here?" Chizuru asked her mother. Her mother, instead of simply answering her right away, sat down on the side of the couch, petted her hair and checked her temperature in the process. She was acting very… motherly. That was fine, but now it was just wrong.

"Mom, how did I get here?" Chizuru asked and forced herself up on her elbows. Her head hurt like hell. Did Lily carry her here, or did she just have a gap in her memory? The last thing she remembered was closing her eyes on that bench in the park. After she got her first real kiss… Why did she go and pass out just when it was getting interesting?

"You were carried home in the arms of the most charming man. Really, he was such a gentleman. He was in such a hurry though that I didn't even catch his name…" Her mother babbled on. She was carried home by a man? She lost consciousness in a park and then she was carried home by some man? A gentleman or not, she had still been touched by a man while she was unconscious. That would be discomforting for a normal girl, like her mother insisted on calling heterosexuals, but for a girl with her preferences it was downright disgusting.

"What? By a man, that's disgusting!" Chizuru screamed and shot up to a sitting position. The world spun around her and she felt like she was going to be sick. She lowered herself down on the couch again. Why was she feeling like this? Was she sick? Had that been the reason she passed out? Whatever it was her head still hurt like hell.

"Oh, don't try to hide it. You have nothing to be embarrassed about." Her mother waved her right hand and had her left in front of her mouth while she giggled. "He was quite a hunk, mommy wouldn't have minded to get a piece."

"MOM! He could have raped me for all you knew and you just thought about how much of a gentleman he was because he was handsome?" Chizuru yelled at her mom with all her might. Her mother leaned back and looked shocked by her daughter's behavior.

"But he knew where you lived, so he couldn't have been a complete stranger and I think you would be bleeding all over if a man his size would have raped you. And I didn't find anything else wrong with you other than the slight burn marks around your mouth. How did that happen by the way, did you burn yourself on something like hot tea?" Honshou Chiyo said and then pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose in a very Ishida-like manner. Chizuru sighed; her mother was talking all smart again. That annoyed the hell out of her, but she did have a point. Maybe Lily just called for someone to carry her home after she passed out on her. Chizuru loved the idea of Lily carrying her, but her logical side said that Lily wouldn't be able to carry her all the way home.

"His size?" Chizuru said, sounding puzzled. What had carried her home, a giant? Was her mother even talking about his height, or maybe she was talking about his… She really didn't want to think about what she might be talking about. Lily might have called one of those relatives of hers that lived in Japan for help and Lily in herself was already taller than either Chizuru or her mother, so her mother was probably talking about his height, hopefully.

"Yes, he was huge! He had to bend down just to get through the door and he looked like he could just pin you up against a wall and– " Honshou Chiyo said with a dreamy sound in her voice before her daughter interrupted her.

"MOM! That's disgusting! I do not want to hear about your sexual fantasies!" Chizuru yelled and got up from the couch. She tried to ignore the dizziness, but still had to support herself on the couch. Was she coming down with a cold or something? She still walked around the couch and started to carefully walk up the stairs. Her sense of vertigo didn't get any better, but it didn't get any worse either.

"I'll be bringing up some soup in a minute, honey!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen cheerily. She was just as unfazed about her daughter's insults as she always was.

Chizuru opened the door to her room and then threw herself on the bed. How could she feel so tired when she had been sleeping just a couple of minutes ago? Her whole body was aching and her head felt detached from the rest of her body. Her bed felt so warm and inviting that she worked her way under the covers and closed her eyes when the softness of her bed made her feel very, very sleepy. The soup could wait, she wasn't that hungry anyways…

Bezanthume

He had parted ways with Arisawa Tatsuki on the gate of the park. The girl had asked him what his name was and Bezanthume had pretended not to hear her. She really did not need to know that. He had saved her, not the other way around. She had no right to ask for his name. He already knew her name and saw no reason for any more interaction, so he had simply walked away and told the girl to go home.

Now he was walking across the grassed field in the park and towards the desolate tree smacked right in the middle of it. He saw Lilith lying on the ground close to Kurosaki Ichigo. He was sure that Kurosaki Ichigo was alive, because if he wasn't then Lilith would be a couple of dimensions away already.

"Good evening, Lilith." Bezanthume said in a tone with just the slightest hint of amusement in it, the rest was just filled with pure killing intent. Lilith shot up and turned around to face him in surprise. She looked scared for the first second, but when she saw in what condition he was in it was replaced with curiosity.

"Damn, you look terrible. What happened to you?" Lilith asked without a hint of fear lacing her voice. Bezanthume wasn't sure why he even expected her to act like a normal angel in the first place. It had already been established that she was definitely not normal. Lilith stepped closer to him and stopped when she felt the heat radiating off of him.

"Perfect, it was getting kind of chilly out here." Lilith said merrily and took another small step closer. Bezanthume looked at Kurosaki Ichigo's unconscious body lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. He knew that this was only his soul and he would be fine if introduced back into his own body.

"His real body cannot be far. Go find it." Bezanthume said in a tone that didn't allow any objections. Lilith looked up to him with a sour look on her face, but didn't tempt her fate any more that she had already. She flew over to the direction she had seen the faux body run from when they suddenly appeared.. A thick of bushes and trees about twenty feet away from the tree Rukia had been under. It didn't take long for her to find a body with orange hair lying face down on the ground.

"Found it! Now what?" Lilith yelled to Bezanthume. Bezanthume was squatting down next to Kurosaki Ichigo's body and checking his wounds they looked severe and he would definitely die if nothing was done.

"Bring it over here, there's nothing else we can do but reunite him with his body and hope that the condition of his soul doesn't…" Bezanthume suddenly stopped talking and his head shot up and he looked around the trees and bushes. He couldn't see anything with his normal sight, so he closed his eyes and scanned the surrounding area for minds to the best of his ability in his current state.

"If you are here to help this boy, then you should come out before I hurt you." Bezanthume said with the spell changing his voice to sound human activated again. There was utter silence for a solid minute he decided to wait for an answer before acting. He stood up to his full height and raised his right hand up with his thumb resting on his middle finger. He charged the tips of his fingers with his fire and then launched it to the place where he had seen two minds trying not to be noticed by him. To an outsider it looked like he simply snapped his fingers and a twelve foot pillar of flames rose up from the thick of trees and bushes he was facing. He noticed two figures leaping out from the wake of the raging flames right before they would have been incinerated. It would have been simple for him to take control of the flames and make them reach out and burn them to ash and bones, but he didn't actually want to harm these people.

"My,my! That did surprise me quite a bit!" Urahara Kisuke said from behind Bezanthume and pressed the blade of his zanpakuto against the side his neck. "But I recommend that you would not try something like that again."

PS AN: By the way: Bezanthume calls Orihime literally "Princess" not something like Hime-sama. Something I wanted to point out. Review, and I hope you liked it.

Crazy Laughter