In the middle of the Night Arc: Untitled Preface: Chapter 12/? - Supernatural Idol

After Kariya had made his presence known, threatened and challenged us, then disappeared into the night, Ichigo and I were both left exhausted, frustrated, and angered. We split apart, Ichigo pulling out his phone to call whatever underworld authority handled cleanup, walking away to talk in a hushed voice to the person on the other end, as if he had accidentally interrupted someone in the middle of doing something. He banished his sword, letting it fade into the air as he walked away, a slight limp in his sway. I would have asked him if he were alright, but that would have been a silly question. Of course he wasn't alright. I wasn't even alright, and even though I wanted him to be that pillar of strength for me in this crazy world of make believe, I knew that I couldn't always keep holding his hand.

Letting him go his own way, I turned and made my way to Yoshino's dead body laying by the trees. Her eyes were still open in that wide, horrified look she'd died with, and me being unable to deal with it, I reached out to close them with a gentle palm. Leaning Hyorinmaru against the tree, because I didn't know how to banish it back where it had come from, I sat next to her and examined the gaping hole in her chest. Kariya was physically and emotionally capable of offing his subordinates like this, and it made me wonder what made them follow his lead in the first place. There were many emotions and situations out there that could make a person loyal, Momo's story made me think of that.

By now, the hole had closed up with what was left of her gory insides, a slush of organs pooling in the empty space. My dinner wanted to come up and say hello, but I forced it to stay down as I turned my head to look away, just in time to catch Ichigo closing his phone and making his way over to me. I owed him a lot for the number of times he had helped me over the course of... has it only been three days since Koga's attack? It felt longer than that. Ichigo came to squat next to me, gazing down at Yoshino's body, but unlike me he did not turn away, nor did he look like he was about to throw up. I both envied and pitied his experience with this sort of thing. Did he see this kind of thing a lot? Was he always around so much violence? Did he ever stop being so calm, cool and collected when in a crisis? Maybe it was a little mean of me to think so, but for once I wished I could see him lose that control, to see him enraged.

"How are you holding up?"

I bit back the urge to roll my eyes because I knew that if I did, then my vision would blur and make me even more nauseous. Couldn't he tell by my pale complexion, my heaving breath, and shaking hands that I wasn't holding up at all? No? Well, damn... "I'm fine," I said, surprising myself with a steady voice. "What are we supposed to do, now?"

"Well," Ichigo said, shifting to poke me in the shoulder, "I've called the clean up crew. They'll be here soon to ask questions about what happened here and make sure we are alright considering there was another master vampire here with us. They want to perform a sort of magical examination on us to make sure that there are no other spells or curses clinging to us."

I glance up at him, skipping over Yoshino's body in front of us as fast as I could. "They've never done that before..."

Ichigo shrugged. "Koga wasn't a master vampire, and Aizen hadn't known of you a the time. So we were let off the hook. However, now that you are aware of the circumstances around you, the team will no doubt want to interview you before they report their findings to Unohana, who will in turn tell Aizen. You see?"

I looked away, falling back against the tree so that Yoshino was to my left and out of my immediate field of range. "I guess..." There wasn't really any other option than cooperation when it involved Aizen, because if I didn't, then I was sure he would make it so I'd regret it. Ichigo shuffled around to my right side, which I was thankful for, because if I focused on him then I wouldn't have to do so on the body.

"Hey. What's wrong?" A loaded questions. Everything was wrong. What -wasn't- wrong? That would have been a lot easier for me to answer.

"..."

So much for answering him. There was no answer in my brain that would make him nor I feel better, so why bother even saying anything at all? I suppose I could have passed my unease off on Yoshino still laying by us, and maybe he would have bought it, but I couldn't lie about something this important. Aizen was wrong, the bounts were wrong, I was wrong... there were so many reasons. What was worse was that I wanted Ichigo to take all those wrongs away and turn them into rights; to always have him in my corner versus Aizen, to have him fight next to me against the bounts. I wanted him to take hold of me and tell me that I wasn't a messed up freak beyond saving. I wanted him to kiss me, to fuck me, and to love me like no other.

Rough fingertips grazed my chin as Ichigo tilted my head to look at his face and I sobered, stilling my rampant thoughts with a stomp of a mental foot while I looked into those big, beautiful, brown eyes shining down at me. My limbs went limp as the tension was drained out of my muscles, relaxed by the soft touch of his warm skin on my cold cheek, and his warm breath ruffled my hair. I didn't know how we had managed to get so close to each other, but his face was all I could see, and I did not mind it at all.

We kissed, and the first thing I was aware of was how perfect his lips felt against my own. They weren't as soft as I had imagined, but they weren't chapped or harsh at all. Rather they were the texture of strong velvet, muscled with the strength of an experienced kisser. My god, they were better than I had ever imagined. I tried to kiss back just as passionately, not wanting to be outdone, but at the same time pouring all of my feelings into it, hoping that he understood just how much I've wanted this to happen. Successfully, he responded, parting my lips easily as he delved his tongue inside of me. The unexpected move made me gasp, opening my mouth wider for him to taste, for me to taste him. One of his hands caressed my jaw and traveled up the sharp line of bone to disappear into my hair, and I leaned into the warmth, tilting my head to the side inadvertently to give our tongues an easier angle to work at each other. His mouth tasted of the sushi we had for dinner, and I eagerly sucked his tongue back into mine.

My body was overheating, hot with Ichigo's heat and my own flushed emotions of lust and passion. I felt another hand wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him as my back threatened to fall against the tree. With nothing to hold onto, my hands quickly attached to the fabric of his shoulders, clenching the bunched material as if hanging on for dear life. Ichigo let my mouth go, but only for a moment to heavily breathe before he dived back in, intending to continue, and I would have let him, if a pair of bright lights hadn't raked over us, interrupting our make-out time. Wait, we were still in the park was a dead woman, weren't we?

By the time I was done being surprised, Ichigo had stood up and started walking over to the newly arrived white van that was now parked on the other side of the open grass area, which was open and letting people out of the back, sliding doors. He walked purposefully with a confident stride, waving at them in greeting and calling out their names in familiarity. He was already mingling with them while I sat here freaking out.

I stood, but I was in no want of human companionship, especially after what had just happened only seconds ago, so I remained leaning against the tree, keeping my head down and my sword in a tight grip as I crossed my arms. I may have come across as aloof to the passing strangers, but I was too busy trying to mask the unease and nervousness I felt on the inside. Ichigo and I had just had our first kiss. I don't know who started it, we were both leaning into each other when it happened, but we had both responded to the other, and somewhere inside of me was a feeling of hope and delight curling around my heart. He liked me back. I wasn't the only one who had feelings, he had wanted to keep kissing me. He at least had an attraction to me, which told me he wasn't homophobic, at least.

Another equally intense feeling of nervousness and dread entwined with those happy feelings around my heart and squeezed lightly. What did that kiss mean, though? Did he only think that I was a one-night stand, someone to screw and throw away? Was he only interested in a friends-with-benefits sort of relationship? Is there anywhere in that heart of his, even if it was a tiny smidgen, that cared about me the way I did for him?

My eyes widened and I was thankful that the fringe of my bangs covered half my face as a blush darkened ever corner of it to a deep shade of red. Wasn't it a bit too early in this unrequited relationship to jump to such drastic conclusions? I have thought it in the past, but I had just blamed it on teenager hormones. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to squish myself into a shadowy corner and cry. It was the truth, and I was mortified that I couldn't take it back. What would Ichigo say in response to my feelings? What was he going to do? Well, there was no need to worry about that, I was far more superior to him when it came to karate, but that didn't ease my fear at all. I didn't want to hurt him, and I didn't want to be hurt in kind. The best way I could think to go about this was to wait until we got a moment alone with each other, preferably tonight when we get back to the dorms. I wouldn't start off with it, though, I would bring up a few other subjects before I dive into that headfirst.

"Um... Excuse me?"

The interruption gave me an excuse to snap out of my mopey inner thoughts and I looked up to see a mousy boy looking at me, his body language screaming with nervousness as he tried to say whatever it was he needed to say. He had a ordinary face with an unpopular haircut and was of average height, but I knew there was nothing ordinary about a boy who worked with a group of people stuck with cleaning up a bunch of monster bits. Did he also change into an animal? Or was he a witch? Maybe a vampire? No, that didn't feel right...

"Yes?" I asked when he didn't continue, still trying to silently figure him out.

"You're Hitsugaya Toshiro, aren't you?" I nodded. "My name is Hanataro. Hanataro Yamada. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He gave a hasty bow, holding tightly onto his clipboard as if he were afraid of dropping it. Then again, he looked almost as afraid of keeping hold of it. I returned the gesture, keeping the same grip on Hyorinmaru. "Same."

Straightening with a blush on his face, Hanataro scratched the back of his head in bashfulness. "Thanks a lot. Not many people think so..." I lifted an eyebrow, hoping it would urge him to get to the point. "Ah! R-right... Anyway, um... would you mind if I could subject you to a short questionnaire? Nothing personal, I promise! Just about the events that happened tonight..."

I thought for a moment before giving another nod. I would have preferred if Ichigo were here to back me up, but he was otherwise engaged at the moment. If I had to, I could skip over the fine details.

His face brightened up immediately with a huge smile. "That's great! Um... Okay, if you could just start at the beginning when this whole thing happened...?"

Keeping my voice under control and as monotonous as possible, I recounted the night's general events. "Ichigo and I were walking home when Yoshino suddenly appeared. She wanted to kill us because of Koga, so the both of us had to fend her off. We somehow ended up in the park, and I was afraid to say it, but she was winning. And when we thought that it was over, it was Kariya's turn to show up unannounced. He killed her and proceeded to threaten and challenge us to kill the rest of his subordinates before we could kill him. After that, he vanished."

Hanataro nodded, filling out the sheet of paper in front f him as I relayed my story, and I watched him as he scribbled everything down. My story was short and to the point. They did not need to know that I had been on a date with Ichigo, nor anything about me learning to summon Hyorinmaru, and they certainly did NOT need to know about the both of us kissing just as they were pulling up. I just hope Ichigo was thinking the same thing...

The young man looked up at his again, worry in his voice. "Are you injured? Do you need some medical help? I can help you if you need it."

Looking down at myself, I was perhaps a bit dirty, but I wasn't too injured, just a few bruises here and there. "No, I'm fine."

He nodded his head. "Alright, if you are sure. I'm going to take a look at Miss Yoshino now." Yamada walked over to her, shuffling the papers on his clip board as he did so, and I followed behind him. The rest of his team was milling about the open space, taking readings and measurements with instruments of some kind, and I didn't feel like gawking at them stupidly. Yamada was pleasant enough.

"She's not Yoshino anymore, you don't have to sound polite for her benefit."

The boy looked over at me, a sad smile on his face. "Yes she's dead. But that's just the kind of person I am, I guess. The dead leave behind an empty shell, and being kind to it is just another way for me to show them respect." He looked back down at the body, his rueful smile now gone. "Even if they were bad people here on Earth, I wish that they find the peace in death that they never found in life. We all have potential to be evil, but that's the same for being good. Unpleasant events could change a person very quickly, vampires included."

As he bent down to examine the body, I stepped back to give him room and turned away from the sight. Admittedly, there was a part of me that was curious as to what he was going to do, but I didn't think I could take it right now. Hanataro seemed like a gentle kid, so all the more power to him for being able to do this kind of job, I was not so lucky to be that understanding and open-minded. He wasn't the type of person to get caught up in a battle, he would be better as a medic.

This line of thinking bought be back to the time when Ichigo was with me in Aizen's office and he was complaining about using me to fight his enemies for him. Necromancers weren't meant for combat, that's what he said. It was understandable, what could the power to raise dead people achieve in a fight? I couldn't even consciously raise them or even control them, only put them to rest, so gathering a zombie army would be pointless. Not that I would, I have more respect for the dead than that. There was the possibility that my powers could evolve into something stronger, but right now my main focus should be on getting familiar with wielding Hyorinmaru. Perhaps my experience with him will lead me to learning new things about my necromancy powers and I could use that odd, yet strangely well-mixed power I felt after first discovering Hyorinmaru's name.

"Toshiro!" Did my eye twitch? I thought it twitched. It felt like a twitch... "Come meet the mastermind!"

"Would you stop calling me that? That's not my job title!"

"So what? You should still like it, it's a cool nickname!"

Sighing and trying to release all the tension from body, I squared my shoulders and walked toward Ichigo, who was standing next to the van with the leader of this group. Not really wanting to give Ichigo any of my attention right now for fear of being unable to resist the urge to finish that kiss, I sized up the man he had been talking with. His appearance made for an interesting character, that was for sure. His hair was as spiky as my roommates, only black, and their builds were quite similar. Compared to my white skin tone and Ichigo's tanned one, he was a healthy shade in between, but what was mostly noticeable were the tattoos on him face; three vertical lines on one side of his face, a lavender bar that ran over his nose to his hairline on the other side of his face, under it the number '69' in bold, black ink. I wondered how drunk he had to have gotten in order to get those.

Ichigo gestured the introductions between us. "Toshiro, this is Hisagi Shuuhei, alpha leader of the clean-up crew. Aizen always has a team ready to respond in case things get messy around town, like the recent Bount invasion. Ordinary humans have a pesky curiosity, so it's vampire law to keep their existence a secret. Shuu, this is Hitsugaya Toshiro. He's the necromancer everyone's been talking about."

Hisagi held out his hand to me. "It's an honor. Many people talk of you, but so few have actually met you."

It took me a moment to get over my hesitation and shake his hand, I'm not a very sociable person, so these sorts of introductions always made me nervous, and when someone says "it's an honor," it makes it worse. Just what has Ichigo been saying about me to these people? I frowned upon such extreme exaggerations. "It's a pleasure to meet you, to, but I don't think I'm anything so important to circulate rumors."

He shook his head. "Don't underestimate yourself. The power over the dead is a rarity, of course people are going to talk about you. And now that you are helping us with the other group of vampires intruding on this territory, it's only going to light fire to that hype."

Great more attention. "So basically, I just became the next Vampire Idol?"

"More than that. You've become an celebrity to the entire supernatural community living here." My face told him I didn't like that, but he merely shrugged. "Sorry."

"So, just how many people are we talking about?"

He crossed his arms in thought. "A lot. The vampires, the werewolves, the were-panthers, the witches, the oracles, the were-rats, the dragons, and eventually word will spread to the council."

Indeed, that was quite an impressive list. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head. "Which one are you?"

He smirked. "Wolf."

"And who is your leader?"

"I'll be happy to introduce you." Both of us heard a couple of grunts, as if someone were trying to clear their throats very loudly to get out attention, and it worked. Hisagi and I turned our heads to Ichigo, who had a raised eyebrow and a mild look of "really?" on his face. Hisagi flushed and cleared his own throat. "But now is not the time. I have a battle site to clean up. Can I ask you both a few questions?"

Ichigo nodded, so I didn't really have a say in it, but I went ahead and gave a verbal affirmation to his request. "Sure."

He reached into the van's passenger side and retrieved a small notebook. The brown cover looked like it has seen better days and it was filled with writing in various inks, but Hisagi flipped through it until he found a few blank pages near the back, his pencil poised to write. "Okay. First off, who's that?" Ichigo and I followed his pointing finger towards the woman laying on the ground nearby.

"That's Yoshino Soma," I said. "She was part of the Bounts."

"Which one of you killed her?"

Ichigo answered this time. "Neither of us. Kariya himself did it."

That made the black haired man pause in the middle of writing that down and looked up at us. "Kariya? The leader of the Bounts? He killed his own colleague?"

I nodded. "She had come after me because of Koga's defeat. She, apparently, wasn't supposed to leave their hideout, and Kariya was upset enough to kill her for it. Then he challenged us to defeat the rest of his vampires. If we succeed, he'll consider fighting us himself."

"Yeah," Ichigo said, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "He said that we weren't worth his time, but our charming personalities won him over. He called us amusing, made his challenge, then disappeared."

"Interesting... Did he reveal to you any hint of his plans?"

I thought back to the fight, to the words we exchanged, and scoured them for any hidden meanings. "No... Not directly."

Hisagi gave me a confused look. "What does that mean?" But it was Ichigo who answered.

"He implied that there was something going on, but it was too over our heads to understand."

"You mean his aggressive intrusion on our territory?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I think he means something different. We already know he is trespassing."

Putting his small notebook away in his pocket and his pencil behind his ear, he asked, "Okay, show me where you saw Kariya?"

We pointed and he walked over to it, leaving us to stand here quietly. He moved around, sniffing the air, the ground and the trees, and then writing everything he smelled into that notebook. He knelt down and put his hand onto the ground, pawing at the grass as if he were massaging it in slow circles. His behavior was quite intriguing, and I found myself watching him and cataloging each action to ask about later. Thankfully, he didn't leave us in awkwardness for too long, about ten minutes, before he walked back over to us.

"Well, he didn't leave a single trace of his aura when they disappeared, and the only trace of kido I sense is Ichigo's... And I assume the other is yours," he said looking at me. I nodded. "The only evidence that he's been here is Yoshino's dead body and the park disturbed by battle."

Ichigo laced his hands behind his head. "So I guess a locator spell wouldn't do anything."

"No it wouldn't. Neither would an aura tracker..."

"What about Yoshino's hair? We could use it for a backwards locator spell, maybe even figure out where she's been spending most of her time."

"Hm... It's possible, though it would be easier to do if she were still alive, you'd have to cast it using her blood instead. Do you think you could handle such a difficult spell?"

My roommate shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. "It's worth a try, at least."

Hisagi crossed his arms. "Alright, get a list together of what you might need and I'll see what I can do."

Ichigo nodded and they conversed a bit more on the subject, but I wasn't really paying anymore attention. I was lost at the word "aura" and nothing they were discussing pertained to me in any way, so my attention focused itself elsewhere while they chatted about such things, primarily on Hanataro who was waving me over. After glancing backwards to make sure I wasn't the focus of either of them, I left both spiky-haired men to their discussions, and made my way over to him.

As I neared the both of them, I could see Hanataro standing up from where he knelt by her head and writing something down on his clipboard. Not really sure why he invited me over, I stayed silent until he was ready to talk. It was safe to assume he'd just done a spell on Yoshino much like Hisagi had done to the spot where Kariya had been standing.

Finally noticing that I was in the vicinity, he smiled up at me. "I bet you were wondering what I was doing, right?' I shrugged some, not confirming it, but not really denying it. "Well, I was trying to do what humans call an autopsy, but very different from it. We both already know what killed her."

I nodded, jerking my head toward the hole in her stomach. "It's kind of hard to miss."

"Yep." Hanataro held up a finger. "However, we need to know WHY he hit her there. He passed his hand through her like so..." He demonstrated Kariya's movements exactly, but then his face twisted in a frown. "She would have fallen against his shoulder, right?" I nodded again. "But while he had her like this, both of your views must not have been good, because he reached up and literally squeezed her heart, until it was nothing but mush."

That did sound like something that would most assuredly kill a vampire. Because Kariya's attack was so sudden and so violent, I assumed it alone would have killed her , but now that Hanataro said something about her heart I should shake off everything about B-movies and get the facts. "So vampires can only die if you pierce their heart?"

The scrawny guy shrugged. "You either have to pierce it with a stake in order to immobilize them, or destroy it completely to kill them. Doesn't matter how; a hand is just as good as a kido spell. Otherwise you could behead them or set them on fire. A blowtorch is a nice option if there's no daylight, though it is kinda messy." He chuckled to himself and I couldn't help but smile in return. This was great and what I needed right now, some straightforward knowledge about how to kill something.

"What about werewolves?" I asked, eager to hear more. Hanataro scratched his head, taking a moment to think about his answer.

"Unlike vampires, all were animals age, except for the dragons. Lycanthropy is a sort of disease if you want to get into medical terms, and takes over the body. They are cured if they already have a cancer or disease and become immune to them if they don't. They heal very slow from silver weapons, though, blows to the head and heart will kill them. Oh! And if they break any bones, then it will heal wrong if it isn't set back into place, but ya gotta be quick, they heal fast!"

I was a dehydrated and lonesome human in the desert, and Hanataro was this shiny, glittery oasis, or that at least that was the imagery that came to my mind upon realizing he was more informative than any book. Even Ichigo hadn't given me this much information. "Witches?"

"Oh, you mean like Ichigo-san?" Yeah, sure. "He's mortal. Unlike were animals, he can even get sick. They are like magical humans, but less susceptible to those diseases. They can get sick, but not as often. Have you ever seen Ichigo sick?" I shook my head. "Last time he got sick was the swine flu in 2009 when he visited North America for the PAX convention!"

That was believable, Ichigo did like playing video games with his friends on occasion, there were a few times when he told me he was going to the arcade. It was usually with Sado, Orihime, Ishida, Tatsuki and Rukia, as well as Keigo and Mizuiro tagging along every now and then. Those people were his main group of friends, plus or minus a few other people. I was never into gaming like he was, but I had no idea he was into it enough to go to a different country for a convention. He probably went with a bunch of his friends, again.

The corner of my lips turned up slightly. "Sounds like something that would happen to him."

"Oi, Yamada! You done?!"

Startled at the yell, the jittery man glanced over and wave back at them before bowing to me. "I'm sorry, I have to get my work done. It was a pleasure to meet you!"

Nodding in response, I watched as he then ran to Hisagi, where a small crowd of people gathered, and gave his report. Studying the scene, I found that his superior officer was rather fond of him by the way he smiled encouragingly at him. The two of them could easily be mistaken for being in the same pack, but something in my gut told me that they were different flavors. Was it too personal to ask someone what their totem was, did everyone know how to sniff out each other? Not really wanting to make a fool of myself, I decided not to ask and mind my own beeswax until they felt comfortable enough to tell me. That's the kind of understanding I know that I would hope for in return.

Instead of joining them, because being around Kurosaki right now still made me feel a little awkward, I went to stand by Yoshino's body, hopeful to stand guard here until someone came over to wheel her away. I felt that it was important that she shouldn't be alone right now even though she was permanently dead and gone from the world. Well, unless she decided to pop up and follow me all over the place like those dead animals, but nothing human had ever done that before, so I doubted it.

The wind ruffled her hair and clothes, but her expression remained ever peaceful, I would have believed she was just taking a deep nap if it weren't for the blood. Cautiously, I knelt down, leaning in to study her face. All of my recent memories flashed before my eyes, of how we met, her eagerness to fight us, and then her sudden death. When we fought Koga, we had been able to find out what it was he wanted, what his motives were, before we killed him. Ugh, it's still hard for me to comprehend just how I managed to go through with that. I probably wouldn't have been able to at all if Ichigo hadn't been there. But when we fought Yoshino, we never got to truly understand her desires and motivations for seeking us out other than a mention of Koga's name.

It was safe to assume that she was most certainly not in league with Kariya since the other man hated her enough to kill her. No, that wasn't right. He killed her with no emotion, no attachment. It was a cold, calculated move, like someone offing a pawn in a chess game. There was a possibility that she and Koga had been planning this together, but that wasn't definite. I don't think I'll ever get the chance to know, and that bugs the shit out of me. If I could just understand her, then maybe another piece of this political vampire puzzle would fit into place, and Kariya's side of things might be just that much clearer. Unfortunately, I did not have that power. If I did, I didn't know how to tap into it. Raising a vampire would be a little too much for my first time. Perhaps Hyorinmaru would be able to guide me. If not, then I had no idea where to start.

Something crinkled in the wind and garnered my attention downward at the sound. It was like the sound of paper brushing cloth, but there was nothing immediately in my line of sight. Glancing to make sure no one was watching, I lifted her jacket on one side and saw a pristine piece of white paper sticking out of her inner pocket. Upon drawing the folded paper out, I soon realized that it wasn't pristine at all. Splotches of blood soaked through most of it, and the edges were torn and singed from her fire-based weapons and armor.

Plugging my nose at the back of my throat and trying to breathe through my mouth to stave off the stench(unsuccessfully), I delicately peeled it open, trying to keep my fingers from getting too bloody. It was blank. Her blood had probably soaked through the note and erased anything that had been on there. Was this something she'd been planning on giving us in the fight? Was this supposed to be information on Kariya? Could this be what Kariya had killed her for? He could've taken it from her when he had killed her, but then what would be the point? He'd already exposed himself to his enemies. Was it a note, a letter, for Koga? From Koga? There were many possibilities, and I didn't even know where to begin to look for the answers.

Fortunately Hanataro, in his haste to give his report, left a few items behind and I searched through them for something helpful. Long plastic gloves, no. A hair net, no. Oh, but there were some plastic bags, small ones that could be from a grocery store, and an idea popped into my head. If I couldn't determine what was on these, then maybe someone else could! Grabbing a baggie, I gently put the paper in there, flattened out all the air, and closed it. Maybe Urahara could decipher it-

My cell phone rang, scaring the ever-living-shit out of me. I forgot I even had it considering how little I use it. Sighing and trying to slow my fast-beating heart, I answered when I felt calm again. Tapping the answer button, I held it up to my ear. The number wasn't in my contacts, nor was it familiar at all. "Hello?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro?" It was a woman's voice.

"Yes," I said, suspicious of how this person knew my name. It wasn't Momo voice at all, and she was the only girl aside from my mother that knew my number. If it were any of Ichigo's friends, they would call his phone, not mine.

"Ah, finally. I rang earlier but received no answer." Most likely because I was in the middle of a fight.

"Um..." How do I politely go about asking who the fuck is calling me? Social idioms fail me as a feeling of confusion washed over me.

"Oh! Right. Introductions! We've met before, but I never got the chance to tell you my name! It was a pretty intense battle, but I was confident that it would be easy enough for you to prevail. Kisuke called me away, otherwise I would have stuck around at the end."

I frowned. "You mean..."

"Yes, I'm Shihouin Yoruichi."

Wondering how she managed to get my number was all of a sudden a minor detail that could be overlooked for the moment as I shimmied around the tree, making sure to sit at its base out of everyone's view before I spoke again. "Nice to meet you, for what it's worth over the phone. Still don't know what you look like. I didn't think Urahara would pass my message along. You were the one who gave me his card, right?"

"Guilty as charged. I was nearby when Koga's little area spell went up, so I went to see what was going. That's when I ran into you."

"Thank you for your help. I probably wouldn't have lasted that long if it weren't for you."

"Not at all. You had Ichigo there with you, he would have moved, I just got to you faster." I could imagine her shrugging as she said that. "And as for the card, that was all Kisuke. I had no idea who you were when he asked me to give it to you, and when I asked, his response was 'You'll know him when you see him,' which was Kisuke-speak for 'I'm not sure what he looks like, either, so go out and find him for me.'"

"I thought he knew what I looked like when I visited him. He said he had a dream about me."

"Eh. Some people like Matsumoto and Ichigo see your face, others like Urahara get only a name, and a few people with no magical or supernatural inclinations at all get inklings and blurs. It's different for everyone."

I leaned back against the tree, folding an arm over my stomach to try and get a bit comfortable. "Have you dreamed of me?"

"Yes, but not until after I helped you out. Apparently, I'm supposed to play a big role in your upcoming training."

That surprised me. "How did you know about that?"

"Like I said, a dream. So I got your number and decided to call you to set up a time and place."

"How did you get my number, anyway?"

"Oh that's simple. All I had to do was call up Ichigo and tell him about my dream, and he eagerly gave it to me, said that if I was destined to train you, that we should start as soon as possible. And so here I am."

"Ignoring the fact that I prefer he okay it with me before he gives out my contact information freely, I'm glad to have been able to talk to you."

"Same here."

Glancing around the tree again, Ichigo was talking to another group of people, but they were nothing but strangers to me, so I had no desire to join them. "So, when are you supposed to train me?"

"As soon as possible."

"Do you require compensation?"

"Kisuke said you would easily take care of that."

"Did he?"

"Yes. I assume you know what he was talking about?"

Thinking about the crystals in my pocket, yes, I did know. "When do you want to meet up?"

"Tonight. Right now."

"Where?"

"Where else? The Urahara Shouten. And bring that idiot Ichigo here, too. I need to have a few words with him."

AN: And so ends another chapter! Glad to finally be able to get back to this story, I'm anxious to finish it! As always people, thoughts and comments are welcome! Not sure how long this story will be... Maybe 20-25 chapters... We'll see how it flows.