"Well, that was something else." Hajime said as he gave Ichigo a massage. All the wounds had been bandaged, and Ishida was sleeping in the living room, after he'd called Ryuken to let him know he would be staying over with a friend. He hadn't wanted to try explaining his injuries, and Ichigo would be able to give him more healing in the morning. They were all hopeful Ishida would be recovered enough then that Ryuken would never have to know about the incident with the shinigami.

"Yeah." Ichigo sounded sleepy as white fingers soothed and relaxed him. "Mmm. So good." He mumbled, then sighed as white lips touched his throat. "Hajime."

"Yeah?" The demon said softly, white fingers tangling with normal ones, as he slid onto Ichigo's back. He knew the teen would be able to feel his arousal, but he couldn't help it. Fighting turned him on, it always had. It had taken quite a bit of self-control for him to give Ichigo a massage first, but after the beating Ichigo had taken it had been the right thing to do.

"Do you mind if I take you?" Ichigo asked softly, glancing over his shoulder. The position they were in wasn't right at all for that. Hajime grinned, sliding back off the teen and perching beside him on the bed.

"Be my guest." Hajime let his desire curl into the word, smoky and intense. They'd experimented quite a bit, but kept coming back to this. Ichigo was a naturally dominant person, and enjoyed being in control. So the demon wasn't surprised at all when the teen gripped his arm, tugging him into position beneath him. Hajime went willingly, enjoying it as Ichigo gave him a deep, thorough kiss. Then the teen began moving down, gently teasing white skin as he made his way to more sensitive regions. He paused over Hajime's stomach, kissing and stroking the tense abdominal muscles. Then he slid down further, nuzzling Hajime's thighs and planting more kisses there, on that sensitive skin. "Ichigo." Hajime moaned his name softly, letting all his desires come out in that single word. Then he gasped in pleasure as wet heat enfolded him. "Ah!"

They had been together some time, now, and Ichigo had learned all of Hajime's pleasure points. The demon whimpered softly as his lover tormented him, his agile tongue finding all those spots and gently teasing them. Hajime half-closed his eyes, floating on a cloud of sensations, white fingers tangling in orange hair. Ichigo bobbed up and down on his length, drawing more soft sounds from his demon lover.

Then he pulled away with a small pop, and Hajime made a small, needy sound as Ichigo smiled. The teen climbed back up him then and gave him a hot, devouring kiss. Hajime melted into it, tasting himself on his lovers lips.

"Tell me how much you want this." Ichigo said, his voice filled with heat. Hajime swallowed. If any of his other masters had asked this of him, he would have hated them for it, because he would have been forced to lie. But with Ichigo, everything was different.

"I'm dying to feel you inside me. Please, take me master." He rasped out, lifting his legs in invitation. Every word of it was the truth and Hajime gasped, arching in pleasure as Ichigo suddenly entered him. The teen's soft grunt along with the sensation of being filled was mind numbing. "Nnngh, yes!" Hajime gasped out, then moaned again as Ichigo moved inside him, the thick, throbbing flesh hitting him in all the best ways.

Hajime slid a hand between them, touching himself as Ichigo's fingers dug into his shoulders, making the demon gasp in pleasure. Ichigo could not hurt him at all, but he enjoyed that faint pain as he was being taken. Then Ichigo's pace slackened and he began deliberately missing Hajime's prostate, just brushing against that sensitive organ. Hajime whimpered softly, looking up into lust filled brown eyes.

"Ichigo, please, stop teasing me, ah!" He gasped as Ichigo speeded up again, hitting his prostate dead on. Then he chuckled softly as the teen's hand closed over his own, both of them stroking his length for a moment before Hajime pulled his hand away. It felt good to give himself over to Ichigo's attention, letting the teen please him and take his pleasure.

"You're so wonderful, Hajime." Ichigo whispered in his ear and Hajime turned his head to catch those warm, sweet lips for another passionate kiss. Hajime couldn't have quantified the taste of those kisses if he tried, but it was delicious. It made him want more, made him want to drown himself in those lips.

"So… are you… ngh!" Hajime arched and tensed as Ichigo speeded up, finding the best spots inside him effortlessly. "Ah, Ichigo!" He panted, aware of his climax approaching. He could feel the pleasure, a heat pooling in his belly begging for release.

"Hajime, ah!" Ichigo moaned into his ear and the sound of how undone the teen was brought Hajime to the edge. The demon hissed softly as one last thrust took him over, gripping Ichigo's shoulders tightly as his body tensed in his moment of pleasure. Hajime met brown eyes and pulled Ichigo into a deep kiss, muffling his cry as the teen stiffened, emptying into him in hot bursts. Hajime let go with a small sigh, eyes half-closed as he floated in hazy, post-coital pleasure. Ichigo nuzzled his neck, giving him a gentle, affectionate kiss. "I love you." The teen whispered in his ear and Hajime could feel the bonds weaken just a bit more. This was real. This was what he needed to be free.

"I love you too." Hajime whispered softly, but he had to wonder. Was there something still left? Something Ichigo had to do… or something he had to do, to break the bonds entirely? And if so, what could it be?

He simply didn't know.

"What is this?" Ichigo looked at the blank dummy in front of him dubiously. Hajime just whistled from where he was perched on top of a tall stone. He was enjoying the new Kindle he'd gotten. Isshin had decided to get them for everyone, since they were just coming into Japan and there were some really good family deals. Hajime's was in full color so right now he was reading a manga.

"If you stab Zangetsu into this, it will forcibly take him into the materialized state." Yoruichi said with a smile. Hajime just scooted back on his rock a bit, spreading out his legs and leaning back on one arm, trying to find a more comfortable position. Grabbing a boulder, he placed it so it would prop him up from behind. This whole process was going to take days, from what he'd heard.

"AH FUCK!" Hajime screamed as a blade suddenly slammed into the dirt between his legs. "WHAT THE HELL!" He yanked himself up and yelled down at a brown haired guy in a tattered trench coat. That had to be Ichigo's materialized zanpakuto. "BE MORE CAREFUL OLD MAN! YOU ALMOST TOOK MY BALLS OFF!"

"HAJIME!" Ichigo yelled back at him as the zanpakuto just looked unamused. Dulce was giggling hysterically as Hajime scowled, rubbing the inside of his thigh. It had actually been a near thing. And while he could recover from an injury like that, it was not a pleasant experience.

Hajime just watched as the zanpakuto proceeded to mess with Ichigo. Every single sword the kid tried to use shattered, and the first few times he went flying pretty bad. Hajime blinked as he noticed a sword out there that looked a lot like Dulce, in his unsealed state. Hopping down from his rocky perch, he surreptitiously approached that sword. Kneeling beside it, he reached out to touch the dangling silver and moonstone charms. What did this mean?

"Hmm." Hajime tried to grasp the hilt of the sword, but it almost seemed to shock him, pushing him away. "Um!" Hajime ran a finger over the hilt bindings, feeling another odd shock. But this one didn't push him away. It felt almost… welcoming? "This is really, really interesting." Hajime considered the sword, wondering what else he could do with it.

As Hajime was playing around with the representation of a bit of Ichigo's weakness, the boy in question was still busy fighting Zangetsu. He hadn't even noticed there was a blade that resembled Hajime's in the bunch, and after his Zangetsu style blade had shattered, he wouldn't have tried to use it anyway. The Dulce Amor sword was an obvious representation of how much he relied on Hajime. But in Hajime's hands, it did have some interesting properties.

"Hngh!" Ichigo was blown across the battlefield, lying on his stomach and trying to stand up.

"Stand, Ichigo." Yoruichi said, not unkindly but firmly. "Three days. You don't have time to lie around." Ichigo was trying, but having huge problems. "I'll say it one more time. Stand, Ichigo!" Ichigo spat out a mouthful of blood, coughing. Then he suddenly curled up with an odd whimper. "What is wrong with you?" Yoruichi said with a small frown. Something about that sound was strange.

"It's fine." Zangetsu's echoing voice said as the zanpakuto walked up to the struggling teen. "If he can't stand on his own, then I'll just drag him to his feet!" Zangetsu reached down and was about to do just that before he frowned. "…Just a moment." The zanpakuto said, surprising Yoruichi. She blinked as he flash stepped away, and she followed his movement to a particular sword. Hajime was… licking it?

Hajime, meanwhile, was experimenting with the sword. Touching it in different ways gave him different sensations, and when he licked it, he got a lovely tingling feeling on his tongue. It also tasted like mint, cool yet slightly sweet. He thought he could lick it all day –

"You are interfering with our training." That echoing voice almost made Hajime cut his tongue on the sword. Pulling away, he looked up at the man beside him in surprise. This was definitely Zangetsu, he matched Ichigo's description perfectly.

"Huh?" Hajime hastily wiped the spit off the sword, feeling another electric thrill from touching it. "What d'you mean?" Then he glanced over to where Ichigo' was lying and… gripping his crotch? "Oh. Wow. Did I give him a boner? Hey, can I keep this thing?"

"No." Zangetsu said, completely unamused as he grabbed the front of Hajime's shirt and yanked the demon to his feet. Hajime's eyes widened at the look on his face and he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. He could have fought the zanpakuto into oblivion, but that would only hurt Ichigo and help absolutely nothing.

"Okay, okay. I'll go play with my Kindle again. Just try not to cut my balls off." Hajime said with a grin before flash stepping away and jumping back onto his rock. His Kindle was still there and he grabbed it, going back to his manga. Old man Zangetsu watched him a moment, as if he suspected trickery, then went back to Ichigo. The teen was managing to recover from his bout of Hajime induced arousal, but he was beet red and Yoruichi was giggling. Hajime just sighed and looked at that particular sword longingly.

"This is going to be a long three days." He mumbled.

As it turned out, though, it only took two and a half days for Ichigo to defeat Zangetsu and gain his bankai. That was a huge relief for Hajime. Yoruichi hadn't been able to specify the consequences of failure, because apparently they varied from person to person. But since they included things like losing all spiritual power, well… Hajime was glad this had worked. He'd actually tried to convince Ichigo not to do it, but after sensing the power Hajime and Byakuya had unleashed against each other, he'd insisted. Ichigo had pointed out that if Byakuya had had another captain as backup, Hajime would have been in dire straits. Which was true, although he would have had a few options left.

But having Ichigo beside him as a full-fledged priest would make his options a hell of a lot broader. Hajime leapt down his perch, disappointed to see all the blades had vanished. Ichigo smiled at him, clearly feeling very energized despite all the cuts and bruises on his skin.

"Good job Ichigo! Hey, can you show me this bankai?" Hajime was interested to see it. Ichigo hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Bankai!" Hajime blinked as, instead of assuming a larger form – which, really, his own bankai did – Ichigo's sword condensed into a slim black blade. "Tensa Zangetsu!"

"Cool." Hajime admired the black sword, then grinned. "Hey, we both have black swords! Maybe Dulce and Zangetsu could have something together." He laughed as he heard his zanpakuto retch, and from the look on Ichigo's face Zangetsu was saying something. Probably in a really disgusted tone. "So what does it do?" Hajime tried to feel out Ichigo's bankai, and felt a bit puzzled. Condensing spirit power could certainly have interesting effects, he knew that. Taking a spell with a large effect and forcing it into a small area guaranteed that it would be more powerful. "Oh, wait, I get it! You've condescend all your spirit power into a smaller form to make it stronger. Is it just the strength of the blade though? Does it enhance your Getsuga Tensho?"

"Hajime, calm down!" Ichigo said with a laugh. Hajime grinned, and desisted. He was asking way too many questions at once. "It enhances everything. My speed, my strength, my Getsugo Tensho."

"Can't you feel the difference in his spiritual pressure?" Yoruichi asked and Hajime blinked, tilting his head to one side. He'd been so locked onto the blade that he'd missed it, but Ichigo's reiatsu was indeed enhanced. By quite a lot, actually.

"Nice. Like this, you'd have killed that Renji guy." Hajime said approvingly and Ichigo smiled, letting his bankai go. "Just remember, though, you can probably fuck yourself up with that." He warned and Ichigo looked confused as Yoruichi nodded. "I mean, you've got enhanced speed right? I don't know how much your endurance is enhanced, but you can hurt yourself going too fast. Nothing else, you could sprain an ankle or something. You'll have to figure out the limits." Hajime was sure there would be limits. He'd discovered Dulce Ruina's limits the hard way, once upon a time. That had been ugly. Ichigo frowned and nodded.

"Why don't we go show Urahara?" Yoruichi suggested. "He'll be interested to see your success." Hajime nodded with a grin. He was sure Hat 'n Clogs would love to have a go at Ichigo with his new bankai. And he was really good, so Hajime wanted to see how that would go.

He was betting Ichigo would get herded again, but he wasn't entirely sure. It could be interesting.

Several days later.

"You want me to do what now?" Hajime looked at Isshin in disbelief. The fact that Karin and Yuzu were supporting him in his lunacy only floored the demon further. Even Ishida seemed to think it was a good idea.

Ishida was hanging out at their house a lot lately, and Hajime wondered how bad things were going with his dad. He wasn't going to ask though. It was probably a very painful subject. But now they had some sewing stuff in the living room, and Hajime was teaching the Quincy to meditate. Despite his odd aura, Hajime thought Ishida could learn priest methods if he tried. The Quincy had already managed to pick up a focus stone, a large, artificial emerald.

And now everyone except Ichigo thought that using his ultimate form to go to the Karakura Town anime convention was just a dandy idea.

"It would be amazing Hajime!" Yuzu said, stars in her eyes as she pictured it. Hajime wanted to swear. "Don Kanonji is going to be there and he'll be so impressed with you!"

"If he's anything more than a fraud, he'll probably run screaming." Hajime retorted, getting disappointed looks from the entire family except Ichigo. He just had a hand on his forehead, looking disgusted with the whole thing. Hajime knew that he thought Don Kanonji was a fraud. "But, look, there's a HUGE problem with this idea." When he'd said he could walk down main street like that, he'd just been joking, because… "If I stay in that form long enough, a portal to the eternal darkness will form. I can't stop it forever, and when it does demons will spill out. They'll be under my command, sort of, but as soon as they finish whatever I tell them to do they'll start to wander off." Hajime spoke from long experience. While a demon king had power over the princes, trying to lead demons was a bit like herding cats. "You don't want that to happen. Take my word for it." Most demons of that power stayed in the eternal darkness, their natural environment. It was difficult to breach the barriers between worlds, and coming to the three worlds meant a risk of death. However, summoned out of the darkness, they would enjoy their freedom here while they had it. That would be ugly. "So yeah, no."

"Couldn't Urahara come up with something to suppress that effect?" Ishida asked and Hajime stopped dead, blinking.

"Uh, maybe he could." That idea had a huge appeal to the albino, and he wasn't going to say it was impossible. Urahara had created that crazy training area under his shop. "It might be expensive though." Urahara would certainly charge them for that and Hajime was broke. He'd used his money to buy a basic cake decorating kit.

"I will take care of it Hajime!" Isshin assured him and Hajime ran a hand through his hair, considering it.

"Okay then. I'll go talk to Urahara right away." They weren't training as intensely, now that Ichigo had reached bankai, but they were still training with Urahara and Yoruichi. "You want to come Ichigo?"

"Sure." Ichigo followed him out the door, then asked quietly. "Are you really okay with this? You don't have to, Hajime." Hajime grinned and shook his head.

"I'm actually really cool with it now." He said honestly. "If Hat 'n Clogs can use something to suppress that reality bending effect, and if it can survive my transformation, I'd be able to use my powers more freely." Ichigo blinked at that. "That's why I don't use that much, y'know. Part of the reason anyway. The other reason is the explosion when I summon it." There had been a lot of broken windows the night he had fought Byakuya, and people had blamed it on a supersonic jet. Logical and completely wrong. "And Isshin is paying for it. I can't lose."

"Oh. When you put it that way, it sounds a lot better." Ichigo sighed. "But now we'll have to go to the anime convention and go see Don Kanonji. Ugh, I can't stand that guy! I don't know why anyone watches his show." Hajime just shrugged.

"The problem isn't the show, it's your family. Man that was mean of Karin, dumping a bowl of popcorn over me that way." He complained. Hajime had stopped by to watch the show and started making fun of their idol. Karin had finally taken steps to shut the demon up. "He has everything about the afterlife totally wrong."

"I know." Ichigo sighed. "Although your rendition of the afterlife is pretty depressing." He added and Hajime shrugged with a grimace.

"It is what it is." He'd been to Soul Society before, and from the way the demon slayers were acting it hadn't changed much. Calling it Heaven or a paradise was a huge, huge stretch. They had to wait at the bus stop for a while, before catching the one that would take them pretty close to Urahara's shop.

When they finally got there, the shopkeeper was enthusiastic about the new project.

"I'd actually been working on that already!" He said, pleased, and Hajime blinked at that. "That reality warping effect is one of the most dangerous things about you, Hajime, so I wanted to think of a way to contain it." Ichigo was off to the side, looking through the soul candy. They'd been seriously thinking about getting him some. The Not Dead sign wasn't working too well, Ichigo had nearly ended up in the hospital once.

"Uh, okay." Not very trusting but Hajime could roll with that. It was a pretty damned scary power, after all. "Can you come up with it in two days? That's when the convention is." It was being held on the weekend. Urahara adjusted his hat with a smile. "And how much will this cost?"

"Oh, I'm sure I can. Part of the trouble was figuring out how to deploy… aha." Urahara hurried on as Hajime crossed his arms and gave the shopkeeper a stern look. He'd been plotting ways to contain the demon in their midst. Ichigo was giving Urahara a scowl, too. "But if you simply wear it, that's not a problem!"

"I'm starting to wonder if I should wear anything you give me." Hajime groused as Urahara looked hurt. "Don't put any trackers in it or anything, or I'll hurt you." He'd forgotten he was dealing with a crazed scientist. Yoruichi had told them about his history with the research and development team in Soul Society.

"Just a suppression device, I swear on my own hat." Urahara pledged and Hajime decided to go with it. He trusted Urahara, although he sometimes wondered why. "Now, for how much it will cost, hm. Let me see." Urahara got a pencil and paper and worked out everything he would need to use. "I think it would be best if we set it into a belt, and it will need to be a good sturdy one. Plus a bit for my time… oh, three hundred dollars?" Hajime winced and pulled out his cell phone.

"Let me call home." He said as Ichigo looked a little appalled. That was a lot of money. "Hey, Isshin? I spoke to Urahara and he said he could make a belt for me, but it would run about three hundred dollars… really? Uh… well, okay then. I'll tell him that, thanks." Feeling slightly mystified, Hajime hung up the phone. "He said to put it on his account. He has an account here?" That was weird. Urahara laughed, waving his fan.

"He's had an account for a very long time! I'll get started on that, then. Did you want some Soul Candy? I just got a new shipment in." He asked Ichigo, who hesitated before nodding.

"I think I do." He took a dispenser to the front of the store. "I want to try it, at least. People don't seem to believe my Not Dead sign, and a hollow nearly stepped on my body last week." He said, sourly. Hajime laughed, although it was a valid problem. Too many hollows had clawed feet, and having them step on his human body could be fatal. Urahara smiled, ringing him through. "God only knows what it will do to my reputation though." Ichigo muttered to himself and Hajime laughed, a soft, rasping sound.

"You mean, something worse than dropping dead all the time?" He teased as they left the store. "I'm actually looking forward to this convention now." Hajime said, and really meant it. He had some ideas on how to liven things up, as well.

It would be interesting.

Hajime leaned against a wall and smoked on his pipe.

The pipe he was using was formed out of his power, so it was black as sin and light as a dream. What he was smoking was the incense he'd prepared for Ichigo, so it was sweet as love and tickled his lungs pleasantly as he inhaled. Exhaling, he carefully formed a smoke ring, smiling as it floated into the air.

"This is some fun." He murmured to himself. He was just waiting for everyone else. He'd gone to Urahara's shop by himself to pick up his belt, then came here on public transit. Ichigo and the others would be taking the car, but that posed interesting problems. Apparently, Don Kanonji was incredibly popular and attendance at the con had swelled massively. So parking was a bitch and Hajime was waiting, despite the fact that public transit wasn't exactly fast.

So he'd broken out his marijuana incense. The marijuana didn't do much for him, but it made the smoke smoother. And there was no chance anyone would smell it. While the odor of marijuana was distinctive, the frankincense, sandalwood and saffron would more than mask it. Not to mention all the other ingredients, which included his own blood. That gave the incense a very musky odor. No human could have smoked it the way he was doing, but Hajime's body could easily tolerate temperatures that would kill any normal person.

"What are you supposed to be?" A kid with a camera asked him as Hajime looked over lazily. "And can I take your picture?"

"Oh sure." Hajime stood, adjusting the new black leather strap that crossed his chest. Ishida had made him a strap and scabbard for Dulce Amor, as well as ties to peace bond her into place. Of course, he could break the peace bonding instantly, but it seemed it was mandatory for any live weapons brought to the convention. "And I'm one of the four Kings of the eternal darkness." Hajime said with a grin as he pulled down his mask, to give the kid the full effect. The kid snapped several pictures.

"So cool! What anime is that from?" He asked and Hajime responded with an Indian obscenity. "I'll have to look that up."

"You do that." Hajime sniggered to himself as he leaned against the wall again, and went back to his pipe. "Mmm." He said appreciatively as he savored the scent in his nostrils. It really was nice. Then he started as a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Hajime!" Ichigo said with a smile, then wrinkled his nose. "What are you smoking? Whew!" He waved a bit of the smoke away and Hajime grinned, tapping out his pipe and stamping on the embers.

"Marijuanna incense. What, you don't like it?" Hajime said with a rasping laugh as Ichigo looked appalled. "Hey, it needs to get used up." He let the pipe vanish into the thin air as he straightened from his place against the wall and admired Ichigo's costume. "I love how that looks on you." He complimented the teen, smiling as Ichigo went a little pink.

With Hajime going as himself, Ichigo and Ishida had decided to dress up a bit for the occasion as well. Inspired by Hajime, they'd both decided to go as demons. Ishida was dressed up as a character from an anime Hajime had never heard of, and he looked amazing with his carefully made, black armor. Hajime had no idea what it was made out of, but it looked good, although not as real as his own armor. Ichigo, on the other hand, wasn't going as any particular character. He'd just decided to make himself look like Hajime, which was easy enough. Ishida had made him a mask similar to Hajime's, and he was wearing a skin tight, black catsuit, along with a tattered white loincloth similar to the one Hajime was wearing. They really did look like a set, although unfortunately the difference in quality was pretty clear. Hajime's mask looked real, while Ichigo's looked like it was made out of paper mache, which was the case.

Still, they caught plenty of second looks as they went through the convention. It was very large for a town the size of Karakura, but maybe that wasn't a surprise with Don Kanonji there. He was a more than local celebrity, and people from Tokyo were making the trip out just to see him.

"Ishida!" Ichigo waved as he caught sight of his friend. Hajime looked around for Karin, Yuzu and Isshin but couldn't see them. "We're splitting up, Hajime. We'll be meeting up for Don Kanonji's special presentation at five, dad's already got the tickets."

"Oh, okay. Do we have any money?" He asked and blinked as Ichigo laughed and passed him a hundred dollars. "Wow, okay! Has your dad been saving for this all year?" He asked, a touch bemused as he tucked the money away into his new belt. Urahara had thoughtfully included some internal pockets onto it. The belt was black leather, and very thick and heavy, but the weight didn't bother Hajime a bit.

"Pretty much. This is our summer extravagance." Ichigo said tolerantly and Hajime grinned. "So feel free to go nuts. There's so much stuff to buy here, it's not even funny."

"I can't wait." Hajime was sure he could find something completely inappropriate to buy. "Love your costume, Ishida." He said with a smile and the other teen smiled.

"Thank you. Why don't we go to Artist's Alley first? There's something I want there." Ishida suggested and Hajime and Ichigo went with it. They had no particular plans.

Getting to Artist's Alley was a bit of a challenge, mostly because they kept getting stopped by people wanting to take pictures. No one realized how incredibly real Hajime's costume really was, of course, but they were still attracted to it.

"You're putting us both in the shade, Hajime." Ichigo said with good humor. "Next time you'll have to wear a real costume!" Hajime considered that and grinned, lifting up his mask for a moment.

"Yeah? Well, I'll go as Sephiroth then." Hajime pulled his mask back down and rubbed his hands together. "I could really get something going with this hair." It was absolutely perfect, although his complexion and eyes weren't.

"I could definitely make something for that." Ishida said thoughtfully, clearly already planning it out in his mind. "If you got the supplies, of course." Hajime nodded. That was a given. They finally arrived at the artist booth Ishida had been looking for, but they had to pause a moment as the man gave Hajime a wide-eyed look.

"Wow, amazing! Can you please hold still?" Hajime rested a hand on one hip as Ishida and Ichigo exchanged amused glances. "Yes, perfect, hold that pose!" Hajime snickered but did that, letting the man make a quick sketch of him. It really didn't take that long. "Thank you! I can't wait to ink and color it, I'm certain someone will buy it. Ah, what are you exactly?"

"One of the four Kings of the eternal darkness." Hajime said, highly amused. "A Demon King." He spelled out as the man looked confused. Then Ishida spoke up.

"I'm Ishida Uryuu. I ordered a commission from you online and we arranged for me to pick it up here." That got things rolling and Ishida paid for his picture, which was a really nice, full color piece. Hajime wasn't certain who the character in it was, but Ishida was pleased.

They kept wandering around the convention, and got to check out the vendor booths. Hajime saw something he really, really wanted halfway through. A choker of red fur, the color matched the red spots on his armor almost perfectly. There was a bit of black ribbon looped around it, and a silver and moonstone charm was hanging from it. The charm looked like a little heart with wings.

"Nice!" Hajime checked the price and winced a little. But he could afford sixty dollars. "I'll take it." As soon as he finished buying it, he carefully fixed it around his neck. He thought it added a very nice touch to his armor, although it probably wouldn't survive a transformation unless he was very careful.

"I'll take this one." Hajime blinked as he saw Ichigo had found a choker for himself. His was white suede, studded with black crystals. It looked just as good as the red fur, and matched his armor well too. "It's a great deal, only thirty dollars." Ichigo said as he fixed it on, making Hajime laugh.

"Mine cost twice that! Oh well." Amused, they went on to the other booths. Ishida found a silver cross bracelet, very similar to the Quincy cross, and decided to get it. Then they stopped at the snack area, picking up some fried octopus and dip. Hajime ate the tentacles with relish, remembering the kraken.

Then they found a room that was dedicated to martial arts practice. There was some kind of demonstration going on, and they all watched, interested in the styles on display. Hajime wasn't terribly impressed by any of it, but the kids watching seemed to like it.

"I could take any of them." He said with a rasping laugh, and one young man heard him. He had startling green hair, cut very short and spiked. His eyes were dark blue and he glared at Hajime, who lifted his mask and gave him a smirk. He could sense the spiritual energy within the man, and suspected he might be an off duty shinigami. They had always come to the living world to amuse themselves during festivals, and what else was an anime convention if not a festival? Of course, if he was a demon slayer, he'd have the sense to –

"Care to try it, demon?" Hajime blinked in surprise as at the cool, challenging tone. Then he laughed again before leaping over the ropes holding back the crowd in a single bound.

"Hajime, is this wise?" Ishida asked, looking around for Ichigo. But with appalling timing, the teen had gone to find a bathroom. Hajime rolled his shoulders, then shrugged.

"Probably not, but it sure could be fun. What's your name?" He asked, not because he cared but because it was polite.

"Saito Yukituro. I already know your name, demon." He said briskly and Hajime lifted an eyebrow before pulling down his mask. This guy was a shinigami then. Interesting.

"Try using it, then, demon slayer. And I'm surprised you would confront me. You're nowhere near Byakuya's level." He said conversationally, knowing the humans around them wouldn't follow any of it. The man in front of him scowled.

"If you are what you claim, you won't kill me in front of dozens of people." He pointed out and Hajime's estimation of his intelligence rose a bit. Of course, it had nowhere to go but up. He'd been thinking Saito was a moron for responding to him at all.

"Then let's have at it." Hajime said with a raspy laugh. He left his sword in the scabbard, just launching himself at the man bare handed. He was an expert in that style of fighting, although he had to be careful here. His claws were a deadly weapon, when he wanted them to be.

The sparring that followed was very pleasant. Hajime found himself falling into a training mentality, herding Saito across the room like Urahara handled Ichigo. And it was amusing, because he was infuriating the young demon slayer. Hajime could sense his power very clearly, now, and had decided the man was as young as he looked. Young and brash and stupid, a lovely combination.

Hajime saw Ichigo threading through the crowd and decided to put an end to his fun. Hands slapped against the floor, and he lashed out with two clawed feet. He didn't touch flesh, but he ripped through clothing with surgical precision, and there were gasps and screams from the watchers as everything came right off. Saito went bright red and stuttered as he grabbed the tattered remains and tried desperately to shield himself. Hajime laughed, his raspy voice rising over the babble easily.

"That's what you get for challenging the King." He said mockingly, flipping himself back up and walking away. "Hey, Ichigo! What time is it?" He was having fun, but they needed to make sure they reached Don Kanonji's show on time.

It was why they were there, after all.