EPILOGUE ~ One year later
Halloween was back again and everyone was getting ready. Walking down the sidewalk was four people. One was a big, muscular teen with brown shaggy hair, the next was a skinny teen with glasses, another teen had long red hair in a pony tail and tattoos, the other was a short teen with spikey white hair with a little flipped over his forehead. They were Chad, Uryu, Renji, and Toshiro; all four were looking for something to do for Halloween. Renji stopped and sighed.
"So, any ideas as to what we should do?" asked Renji. "Ichigo would of come up with something." said Chad. They all grew sad as they remembered last Halloween. Their friends; Ichigo, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, Keigo, and Orihime had invited them to hang out, but, they disappeared. No one has seen them in a year. Actually, they felt like there was another, but couldn't remember.
"I know, I still wish we knew where they went." said Toshiro. "Maybe if we spent last Halloween with them, they'd still be here." said Uryu. They all sighed, nothing could be done now, their friends were gone. Just then, a flyer flew into Renji's face, stunning him. "Ah, what the." said Renji.
He pulled it off to look. It was a flyer for a sale at a shop called 'Los Noches'. "Hey, this is the shop Keigo talked about, said it was full of cool, spooky stuff." said Renji. "Well, let's go check it out." said Chad. They followed the address on the flyer and soon came to the front of the shop. They entered and saw that it was dimly lite, making things look creepy.
"Wow, it really is spooky here." said Chad. Toshiro looked to bump into something. He looked to see a statue wearing a vampire costume and it made the small teen stare. "Guys, is it me, or does this statue kinda look like Keigo." said Toshiro. The others looked and agreed, it looked like Keigo back when his family forced him to shave his head.
"Okay, that's kinda creepy." said Renji. Uryu looked and spotted a pink teddy bear in a karate outfit. It was in-front of some candy on sale. "Huh, Orihime might have liked this little bear, or Tatsuki since she does karate." said Uryu. They agreed and continued to look.
They saw some fortune telling cards and Chad stopped dead. "Is that Mizuiro?" asked Chad. They looked to see one deck open to show off and a card flipped over was called 'the helper'. The picture on it did in fact look like Mizuiro. "Okay, things are getting weirder and weirder." said Toshiro.
They came back to the front of the shop to jump. They saw a man with short silver hair, crescent eyes and a devilish smile. Around his neck was an orange cat with brown eyes, wearing a light blue collar with a bell and tag. "Welcome ta ma shop, need any help?" asked the man. "Uh, we're just looking for anything that we can do for Halloween that's fun." said Renji.
"Oh, hm, do ya think we got any, kitty-chan?" asked the man, stroking the cat's head. The cat purred loudly, nuzzling into his owner's hand. Chad came over and looked at the cat. "Is it okay if I hold him, I like cute animals." said Chad. "Sure, here." said Gin.
He took his cat off his shoulders and handed him over to the giant teen. The teen stroked the cat, who purred but not as loudly as when he was with his owner. "What's the cat's name?" asked Uryu. Chad hummed and checked the tag to pale slightly. "Yo-your cat is orange with brown eyes, and his name is Ichigo?!" asked Chad.
Everyone stared, it was just too big of a coincidence. "Ya, why do ya ask?" asked the man. "Well, we had a friend named Ichigo who has orange hair and brown eyes, he went missing last Halloween." said Toshiro. "How strange, but I had my cat; Ichigo, since he was a little kitty." said the man. "Oh." said Renji.
Chad looked at the rest of the collar to look at the back. "There's no clasp, only smooth metal with a crest...'Ichimaru'?" asked Chad. "Yep, tha's ma last name, I'm Gin Ichimaru." said the man. "Then, how does the collar come off?" asked Uryu. "A special key." said Gin.
They all nodded but were suspicious. First a statue that looks like a bald Keigo, then a card with Mizuiro in it, and a last, a cat that resembles Ichigo, even having the same name! Plus, that teddy bear kinda seemed out of place too. Ichigo squirmed in Chad's hands and jumped down to brush up against Gin's leg. Gin picked his cat up, who happily went back around his shoulders.
"Now, back with ya, anything specific ya lookin for?" asked Gin. "Uh, maybe a game." said Renji. "Alright, I have a real 'scream' of a game." said Gin. He went behind his counter and pulled it out. They saw it was a board game called 'game of Destiny'.
"It's a really popular game, but if ya play, play at ya own risk." said Gin. They nodded and Renji smiled. "How much?" he asked. "500 yen." said Gin. "Really, for this?!" demanded Renji.
"It's a popular game, plus if ya don't like it, ya can bring it back and get a refund." said Gin. "...Alright." said Renji. He paid and everyone left. "There's something suspicious about that shop, the statue, the card, the cat, maybe even that teddy bear." said Uryu. "Ya, I know what's wrong...that Ichimaru guy charges way too much for his shit." said Renji.
"Calm down, he said you could refund it if you don't like it." said Toshiro. "There's something else." said Chad. They looked to him to see he was in deep thought. "If this game is so popular, why keep it hidden behind the counter?" asked Chad. "True, plus I watched where he got it from, this was the only one there." said Uryu.
They all agreed but sighed. "Look, we'll play it tonight and see what happens, if it sucks, I get my 500 yen back." said Renji. They all shrugged and continued on, oblivious to the mistake they just made.
~ BLEACH
It was noon and Gin put up his 'out to lunch' sign and sighed. Those kids were cleaver, they almost found out who his little kitty really was. Speaking of kitty, Ichigo was meowing at Gin, pawing his leg, wanting attention. The warlock smiled and picked up his little pet and carried him to the back. "My, my, Ichigo, tha' was intrestin, no?" asked Gin. Ichigo only tilted his head in confusion.
He put Ichigo down and got out a container with cut up pieces of chicken and heated it up. He put it on a plate and put it on the floor, also filling a bowl up with bottled water. Ichigo happily devoured the warm, juicy meat as Gin ate his own bento. Gin's gaze then hit the crest on the back of Ichigo's collar. It wasn't a normal crest, it was the spell he put on the collar.
The only way to remove the collar was a spell he invented, so basically, no one can remove it but him. He smiled as he listened to the cat purr. He admitted it, he spoiled Ichigo, but why wouldn't he? Ichigo was a good cat, and when he looked through Ichigo's mind when they first met, as a teenager, he deserved it then too. His Ichigo deserved the best.
He never feeds him any cat food whats so ever, he also only gives him bottled water to drink. He even has more cat toys than any other house cat could ever own. He also took Ichigo with him wherever he went. Yep, his little kitty-chan was spoiled and it didn't make him any less loyal or lazy.
He finished his bento to have Ichigo jump onto his lap and settle down, purring with a belly full of warm chicken. Gin happily stroked Ichigo's pelt, happy that he was no longer alone. For all the centuries he was alive, he was on his own, alone. Now with Ichigo, he was no longer alone or felt lonely. He then smiled more as he thought of those four teens.
He laughed and Ichigo looked at him, purring louder, happy Gin was happy. "Oh Ichi." cooed Gin, stroking his ears. His gaze hit Ichigo with red eyes but the cat showed no fear, only interest. "Things are gonna be fun." said Gin. Ichigo meowed happily and rolled onto his belly, batting at Gin's hand.
He laughed and tickled his kitty-chan's belly, who purred even louder. Things were going to be fun from now on, not only because of idiot mortals, but also because he has Ichigo to share it with.
A/N: Well, Gin has gotten some more victims. Ichigo seems happy in his own little cat world...then again, he was brain-washed. Any who, this is the last chapter of the story, thank you everyone for reading this story, I'm so glad you all liked it. Also, one more thing...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!