So... I'm back! After 4 days, longest time I've taken to post, actually. Wanted to see if I could get more reviews after leaving it for a few days :/ It really seems that romantic dramas are the ones that provoke more response from people. But oh well, that's not why I'm here. Come on people! How about some action to spice things up!

Anyway, to LeEldestHatter: Um... Supernatural theme... You could say so, if you tilt your head slightly. That shall be clearer in Chapter 20 :)

And to fokker333: Hollows, a little. But nothing more about the curse and Nel. She has no malicious intent towards Rukia and the rest, and she might make an appearance next time, just not in this arc. Ichigo and Rukia are the main characters; everyone else is a supporting role or an arc-specific role.

Also, I want to apologize to all HitsuHina fans, but like I said, all Shiro-chan will play is a very slight cameo role at best. I needed Karin paired with someone for purpose of the finale. So, I hope this wouldn't deter you from reading this story (I'm guilty of avoiding fics pairing Ichigo or Rukia with someone else), cuz the only main pairing I support is IchiRuki. If it makes you feel better, any HitsuKarin romance will be very slight.

The plot still moves forward, but this chapter still needs to plug some holes.

So, without further ado, here's the next chapter! Read, Enjoy, and Review! Come on! Lay your thoughts on me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. Neither do i own the series my story is based on or any group, place or organization mentioned in my story.

Strawberry Fix

Chapter 19: Give Me a Sign

Saturday 2100hrs

"An attempted robbery by three armed gunmen was foiled when a man gave them a taste of their own medicine. Earlier today, the three masked gunmen, armed with M16s, held up the well known jewelry shop Africa Diamonds located in Tokyo Midtown. Having disabled security moments before, the gunmen were able to execute their plan relatively unchallenged as they stormed the jewelry shop, shot a salesman, and held six people hostage. What they didn't expect was an armed civilian bold enough to take on all three of them."

"The unidentified man…" As the news reporter droned on, Urahara turned to Ichigo, who was sitting on the opposite side of the counter, and said, "That's it? You told me to watch the news just to listen about some Robin Hood guy save the day?"

Ichigo spun his Kel-Tec on the counter and rested his head in his arm. "Just listen to the rest of it," he said wearily. Urahara turned back to the television.

"Unconfirmed reports had the man using a small compact handgun, or more commonly known as a mouse gun, to take down the robbers, although the exact model is still unknown. A mouse gun is a small handgun, no more than six inches long and used mainly in self-defense…" Urahara didn't hear the rest, as his head snapped towards the gun Ichigo was twirling in his hand.

"That was you?" Ichigo nodded and sighed. "Well then why the long face? You're a hero!" Urahara said as he clapped Ichigo on the back.

"Yeah, well excuse me for not proclaiming my heroic status," Ichigo said dully.

He paused as the reporter carried on, "Police are requesting that the man identify himself for questioning, repeatedly reassuring that he is in no way considered a suspect…"

Ichigo snorted. "At least they know how to lie through their teeth. Can you imagine what would happen if they find me and find out that I'm not licensed to carry? They'll haul my ass to jail faster than I can blink. And if they raid my house, I'll be in even deeper trouble. Even if they don't do so under public pressure, the families of those gunmen can sue me for injuring their loved ones. How twisted is that?"

"Hmm… I see your point. So did any of the witnesses get a good look at you?"

"I hope not. I kept my head down and I didn't talk to them. But that's not my only problem," Ichigo said as he slid the gun towards Urahara. "This gun isn't exactly common. It'll be too incriminating if they find it on me, so I can't use this anymore. I'll need another one similar to it." Ichigo hated to throw away the Kel-Tec since it had been one of the first few guns he'd bought, but it was a necessary move. If he ever used it again, forensics would be immediately able to identify the gun, and he might not escape identification a second time.

"Well, I suppose I'll take that then," Urahara said as he relieved Ichigo of his weapon. As Ichigo watched Urahara pocket the pistol, he felt like he'd lost a good friend. Still, it was a necessary move. "I think I have just the thing for you though, come with me," he said, before moving around the counter. Ichigo followed him.

Urahara moved towards a shelf by the wall where he pressed a button and the shelf swung aside, revealing a set of stairs that led downwards.

Below was a room that housed Urahara's main bulk of trade. They stepped into an armory, roughly one third the size of the main shop. This was where Urahara stored the weapons he provided Ichigo with, as well as some other customers Ichigo had never met before.

The weapons were all stacked and organized neatly based on their type. Assault rifles, shotguns, handguns all occupied the shelves lining the room. Boxes of ammunitions were stacked on another shelf, and Urahara even had one cabinet that was categorized solely with melee based weapons. And sitting in the corner was the flamethrower that had managed to save all their lives a few weeks back.

Urahara walked over to the pistol rack and selected a small pistol. He tossed it to Ichigo who caught it and began examining it. As Urahara walked over to the ammunitions cabinet, he introduced the gun to Ichigo. "This baby you're holding is a Semmerling LM4. It's extremely rare; I think only about one thousand have been produced. It's a manual repeating double action pistol, which means you have to pull the slide after every shot, but it's even smaller than your old Kel-Tec, which makes it easier to carry."

Retrieving a box, Urahara handed it to Ichigo. "And the best part about it? It uses the .45 ACP caliber round. It's different from the Kel-Tec, and you'll have maximum stopping power in each shot. It holds five rounds if you already have one in the chamber. Watch out for the recoil though." As Urahara continued his sales pitch, Ichigo listened carefully, since he needed to know how to fully utilize it. He was sold already though, so by the time Urahara finished, Ichigo accepted it without hesitation.

2100 hrs

"Hey, onii-san, come here for a second," a voice called from the living room. Curious, Koganehiko went to the living room, where his brother, Shiroganehiko was sitting on a couch and watching television. He had the news on, which Koganehiko thought was strange. His brother almost always never turned to the news. "Listen to this story," his brother said, and he complied.

"…The hostages were unable to get a good look at this unidentified man who had saved them by taking down the three gunmen who had held them hostage," the news reporter said. Koganehiko saw nothing wrong with that, just a trio of dumbasses who didn't plan properly.

The feed then cut to a man who was being tended to by paramedics even as he was being interviewed. "It all happened so fast. One moment, the three robbers were in control, the next moment, one guy came in and opened fire on the three of them. Immediately after the robbers were down, I didn't think about anything else except helping the man subdue the robbers. He didn't show his face though, although he did have a cap on and he looked like he had red hair or something."

The screen now returned to the reporter. "The situation was the same with the other hostages. None of them were able to get a good look at their unidentified 'savior', as he's being dubbed. What they did agree on was that he was tall, looked to be around his mid or late twenties, and he had a cap on. No one got a good look at his hair color, as one eyewitness claimed it was blonde, another claimed it was red. One eyewitness even claims it was orange," the reporter laughed.

At this point, Shiroganehiko turned to his brother. "Do you think that sounds like our guy? I'm betting that it is. In fact, I'm sure it is!" he said with his voice raised.

"Calm down, Shiro. We don't know that for sure. I want him as badly as you do," Koganehiko said.

Shiroganehiko wasn't convinced, but they both turned back to the program. "Unconfirmed reports had the man using a small compact handgun, or more commonly known as a mouse gun…"

"There! You heard it for yourself Onii-san, that's got to be him!" Shiroganehiko shouted as he banged the sofa's armrest. "Who else would carry a gun like that? We have to find him, Onii-san, and make him pay for what he's done to us! We must claim back our former glory and show him that no one messes with us!"

Koganehiko looked at his brother's angry face that was full of malice with a slight pang in his heart. He wanted revenge, and he had every right to want to.

Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, who were usually simple known as Koga and Shiro, specialized in demolitions from former army training. After being discharged from service for misconduct, they had offered their services as such; if someone needed to off someone by blowing them to kingdom come, they came to Koganehiko and his brother. Timed bombs, remote controlled ones, tripwire traps and the like, they specialized in them all. They were the best in the business; no one messed with them.

Well, at least they were, until someone botched their latest operation, which turned out to be their last. He had succeeded, then proceeded to tail them back to their stash of explosives where he had blown up their entire stash, along with the cash they'd stored. Shiro had lost half the fingers on his left hand when he'd tried to salvage the cash. They had been surprised, humiliated, and put out of business. No one wanted a demolitions team who could get defeated by their own explosives. To add insult to injury, they were now living in this small run down flat, struggling to make ends meet.

Ever since then, Shiroganehiko was obsessed with finding the man and getting revenge, and it had caused him to waste away, refusing to do anything else. The only problem was, the man had ghosted away, and neither he nor his brother could find any trace of him. Koganehiko wanted revenge as well, but unlike his brother, it hadn't manifested as an obsession. He still had to take care of his younger brother.

After being out of it for a year or so, he'd realized that this business they were into was very dangerous. They could easily have had a bomb blow up in their face while wiring one, and Koganehiko didn't want to lose his brother. So ever since they were forced out of business, he'd sworn that they would no longer touch explosives, unless if it was used against the guy who had humiliated them. They still had a few more blocks of explosives left, but that was it.

"Ok, let's say that this unknown shooter is really the guy who'd destroyed us. We can't afford to be rash. We don't even know if it's really him, not to mention where he lives and all that. Be patient, Shiro. If it really is him, you'll get your revenge. Just… be patient for a little while longer. Let's wait till we have more information."

2300 hrs

Karin was smiling slightly as she practiced her juggling tricks with the soccer ball with her feet. It wasn't always necessary, but as a center forward she needed to be able to get past defenders easily. She had the week off before leaving for Germany, and she had no practice for the meantime. She'd seen how professional players in other countries were able to shimmy through defenses by twisting, turning, hopping over and completely up-ending defenders. Pure poetry.

Her good mood was also undoubtedly helped after her date with Toshiro. They'd gone to an amusement park that was located near her club's training grounds, so they had gone there after her day's training had ended. They had, surprisingly, included a football themed prize game where participants had to shoot a football through a hole approximately 6 yards away that was barely bigger than a football to win a prize.

Once the stall owner had recognized her, she'd been jokingly banned from trying. She didn't mind though, as Toshiro gladly stepped up to take the shot, and he did so with ease.

Karin had met Hitsugaya Toshiro a year ago when his soccer team had used the stadium for training. He was a student in the University of Tokyo, studying psychology as his major. He was also the Captain of the University's football team, which was why the Urawa Red Diamonds had opened up the stadium one weekend to let them train there.

The both of them had hit it off pretty easily. Toshiro had a passion for football, although he wasn't interested in making it his full time career. It was a pity though, since Karin thought he showed promise. It helped that they were of the same age too.

Anyway, after their training, he had, quite shyly, asked her out to dinner. She was slightly taken aback, but had nevertheless accepted, and the rest was more or less history. He would often join in her team's celebrations whenever they won a match, unless his exams were coming up. She too knew better than to disturb him whenever he did have any examinations. They lead pretty different lives, but they were still able to find time to spend with each other despite everything.

Karin's musings were interrupted when her door opened. It was Harribel. She was holding a paper bag, although Karin couldn't see what was inside. She looked at Karin with an expressionless face even as Karin greeted her. Then, she spoke in a monotone, "You were following me yesterday." It wasn't a question. Karin was surprised she knew, but didn't deny the fact.

"I was just worried about you," Karin said. "You're just so much different from when I first knew you. You're scaring me. You've changed so much ever since your treatment. What happened to the old fun loving you?" she said.

Harribel smiled, although it was a smile of no humor or emotions. "I'm seeing things in a new light. Everything just seems so… meaningless. What's the point of all these kind of things? They simply don't matter in the whole grand scheme of things."

"That's precisely what's wrong with you! The old Harribel would be off to the latest arts workshop, the latest concert. Where's that old you? Now, you just stay at home and do nothing, and if you do, I don't even know where you go. You refuse to tell me. You've changed, Harribel, and I can't stay blind to that."

Harribel laughed. "Oh Karin, can't you tell? I'm feeling perfectly fine. In fact, I've never felt better in my life." She walked up to Karin and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just be patient, Karin. We'll talk soon, Karin… We'll talk like we've never talked before. I promise," she said before walking towards their kitchen. Still feeling preturbed, Karin followed her.

Harribel reached the counter and removed the contents of the paper bag, sending another pang in Karin's heart. It was a Big Mac; Harribel was a vegetarian, and she was completely against the eating of meat, often attempting to force her non-meat eating ways onto Karin. She didn't even eat eggs! This was once again proof that something was terribly wrong with her.

Disheartened, Karin turned away and retired to bed. She considered calling Toshiro to just have someone to talk to, but he was having his exams. In fact, he had already sacrificed his studies today just to spend some time with her, and Karin didn't want to disturb him any further. As she did, her thoughts drifted to the card that strange old man had given her yesterday. She wondered if she should call…

0300 hrs

The pain wrenched Karin from her sleep. There was a sharp stinging sensation in her left palm, and the sense that she wasn't alone in the room. "Harribel?" she called out. There was no answer.

Terrified, Karin fumbled for the bedside lamp's switch and turned it on. The sudden glare nearly blinded her, but she blinked and looked around the room. It was empty. But she was very sure…

Her bedroom door was open. Then, from somewhere outside, she heard the sound of a door closing. And locking. She looked at her stinging palm again and saw a small puncture wound. There was a small drop of blood leaking from it, but it was shallow, and it seemed to have already begun healing.

Sunday 1000 hrs

"Midtown Mid-Life Crisis!" the headlines screamed. On it was a shop front that was all too familiar to Ichigo, window glass broken and police tape cordoning it off. Ichigo cringed every time he looked at the headlines. When he'd woken up that morning, he immediately got the paper and began scanning through it, hoping that a description of him wasn't going to pop up.

What he was most worried about was his hair. He usually hid it well, but it wasn't foolproof. Anyone who took the time to look closely would see his orange hair. So he scanned the papers, on the lookout for descriptions he hoped would never surface. In fact, he'd gone down to a convenience store close to his home to buy editions of other newspapers, all in the hopes that none of them had managed to get a proper description from the witnesses.

Thankfully, all the articles were mostly written from the same materials, albeit phrased differently. Without a name and a face to go from, they'd dubbed Ichigo all different sorts of names, although they all had to do with calling him a hero. Some simply called him the 'Capped crime fighter', although he secretly liked the name the Yomiuri Shimbun had given him – the capped crusader.

All the newspaper articles carried on with a brief summary of the incident. It was essentially a recap of whatever he'd heard on television the night before. This time however, the police had been cooperative enough to provide reporters with the caliber of the bullets he'd used, narrowing down the field. Once again, the police had requested that this 'capped crusader' come forward, reiterating that they wouldn't press charges on him.

Their descriptions of him were sketchy but still slightly unnerving. They'd gotten his hair color wrong (red), the football club's crest on his cap wrong (Liverpool) and his age range wrong (early thirties). They did manage to catch his face, but thankfully not his eye color, what he was wearing and his build. The wrong description was at least providing Ichigo with some form of reassurance that they weren't going to figure out his identity.

The rest of the articles included views and opinions by some so called 'experts' on criminal psychology or something like that. Some even argued that someone like him was armed and dangerous as well and should be locked up. That gave him all the more reason not to come forward.

His cell phone rang. He picked it up and checked the display. It was Rukia. Smiling slightly, he answered. "Hey, how's my capped crusader doing today?" he heard her say.

"Oh no… not you too. I hate that name," Ichigo groaned as he face-palmed in exasperation. He could almost hear her smiling.

"Why? I think it's cute! I could even feature you in my Chappy plots," Rukia said. Ichigo could only sniff in protest. That wasn't such a bad idea, but he didn't want to be featured as the 'capped crusader.' "Silence means consent. So you do like that name!" Rukia exclaimed.

"I never said that. You're just imagining things. Anyway, what's up? You're not the type to just call for no reason."

She laughed. "Can't a girlfriend do that? Or is it usually the other way round? Anyway, it's nothing really important. I just wanted to call and ask if you've seen the newspaper articles about you, although judging by your reaction, I suppose you have. I must say though, I think you'll look great with red hair. Maybe throw in a couple of tattoos as well and I'll be sold." As she spoke, Ichigo house phone rang. He sighed but made no move to pick it up.

"I hear your house phone ringing Ichigo. Aren't you going to pick it up?"

"Nah, I usually leave it to the answering machine, since only my clients, besides you of course, call my house phone," he said even as the call was directed to the answering machine. His recorded message came on. "Hi, this is the Strawberry Repairman…"

Once the beep came, a young woman's voice spoke up uncertainly, "Uh, hi. Someone told me you could help me with a problem I have… I was hoping you could tell me what you really do, because I don't know if you can really help me…"

Ichigo's interest was piqued slightly as he leaned closer to hear more clearly. Something about that voice… "Hey Rukia, can I call you back later? On second thoughts I need to pick this call."

"That's ok, I need to go too. I'll see you later," Rukia said before hanging up, allowing Ichigo to jump to the unknown caller.

The caller was slightly surprised when he answered. "Oh uh… I suppose you heard me just now. I have this… trouble that I have with a very close friend of mine, and some old guy gave me a card with your name and number."

Old man… "Did he have white hair or was he wearing anything bright? And have you seen him before?" Ichigo asked, thinking it was probably Ukitake-san or Kyoraku-san that had given this woman his number.

"No, he was bald, as a matter of fact, and old. Very old, and the strange thing is, I've never seen him before in my life," the woman said, which Ichigo found strange. He didn't know anyone by that description, let alone gave out cards.

"Ok, so what's this problem with your friend? She's not missing is she?" After his last missing person case, Ichigo didn't want to take another one for awhile.

"Oh no, she's not missing. There's just… something terribly wrong with her and I don't know what to do."

Normally, Ichigo would have asked for more information, but this time, he was feeling an overwhelming sense of protectiveness, that it was his responsibility to help this woman with whatever problems she was having. His mind was screaming at him to accept, no questions asked. "Ok, so what's this problem you're talking about?"

The woman hesitated. "I believe she has joined some sort of cult… It doesn't seem dangerous yet, but there's something terribly wrong with it and I don't want my friend to get dragged in."

"I see… Well, I can't get all my information through phone. In that case, I'll meet you in person. So where do you stay? So I can pick a location closer to you."

"I'm staying in the Taito district in Tokyo. I hope that's not too far for you."

"No, that's perfect actually. I'm located in Shinjuku. Do you know the Four Seasons Hotel in Marunochi? There's a lounge bar there. How about I meet you there at noon?" Ichigo didn't know why, but he was getting a good feeling with meeting up with this person.

Two hours later, Ichigo was seated on a lounge bar by the window and facing the entrance as he nursed a simple glass of white wine. He didn't know who he'd be expecting, but something was telling him that he would know the person as soon as he met her.

Five minutes went by without anyone registering so much as a blip on his radar. He was beginning to wonder if this person decided not to show up when a woman walked through the front door. She was wearing a simple shirt and jeans, but she too had on a cap, but unlike Ichigo's cap which was worn to maintain secrecy, hers was worn simple as a preference, since Ichigo could see her black ponytail extending from behind her. It was worn forward slightly, such that Ichigo couldn't see her entire face.

Her eyes didn't focus on him just yet; instead they were exploring the entirety of the lobby. Then, her eyes found the bar and Ichigo felt himself growing numb in shock as he recognized the person that was looking straight at him. She looked older, obviously, and her hair long enough to make a ponytail, but he recognized her anyway.

"Oh my goodness, Karin…" Ichigo said to himself as she spotted him and made her way towards him. Ever since his father had told him that Karin was now a professional footballer, he hadn't made any attempts to find her. He did try to follow any snippets of her life whenever she featured in the newspapers, although few of them were on her private life, so he couldn't imagine how she needed his help. Well, she needed the Strawberry Repairman's help, but that was him.

"Karin, I can't believe it. It's you," he said, standing up as she reached him.

Surprisingly, she didn't seem to show any recognition. "Yeah, I'm Kurosaki Karin. Surprising, isn't it?"

Ichigo was confused. "Karin, don't you recognize me?" She frowned as she stared at him. Slowly, recognition and shock began to dawn on her face.

"Ichi-nii?" she asked in shock. She almost seemed like she didn't believe it wasn't him.

He took off his cap, revealing his trademark orange hair. She stared at him silently while he watched her apprehensively; taking in the changes ten years had done to her. Then, to his surprise, she stepped forward and gave him a hug, which he uncertainly returned. "It's so great to see you again, Ichi-nii. I never expected to run into you in here, of all places. I'm so glad that you're alive and well."

"You're… You're not mad? You're not mad that I left?" He asked in surprise as he released her and sat down. She sat on the chair opposite of him.

"Mad? We were never mad at you nii-san. Ok, perhaps I was for awhile, but I was mostly sad that you refused to confide in any of us and chose to run instead. We were worried about you, Ichi-nii, all of us were. I don't hold it against you for leaving, and I don't think Yuzu and the old man will too," she said.

Ichigo didn't know how to react to that, so he was slightly relieved when a waiter approached their table. Both of them looked up as he approached. He stopped right beside their table and stood rigid before saying in a monotonous drawl, "A spear has no branches."

"Excuse me?" Ichigo asked in confusion. The waiter seemed to snap out of a daze as he twitched slightly before focusing on Karin.

"Huh? Oh, I apologize. Would you like anything to eat or drink?" he asked Karin with a slight bow.

"Uh, just a diet coke will do." The waiter bowed again and left. "I can't really hold alcohol that well," she explained under Ichigo's questioning look.

As they relaxed for a moment, Karin commented, "I can't believe it. I'm here for an appointment to meet someone and I meet you as well."

"So, who are you meeting?" Ichigo asked, knowing full well who she was looking for, but it appeared that she didn't.

"Oh, I'm here to meet someone who calls himself the strawberry repair…" Karin began but trailed off when she suddenly remembered something. "Wait, strawberry. Ichi-nii, are you…"

Ichigo nodded in silence.

1100 hrs

"There, Onii-san, it's him, I tell you. Him!" Shiroganehiko exclaimed as he slapped the paper in his hands. "See? It says here that he was using a .32ACP caliber mouse gun, which is the same as that guy who we fought against! I'm telling you, it's the same guy!"

Koganehiko sighed softly, careful not to let his brother hear. "They said this guy had red hair. The guy we're looking for has orange hair. And besides, just because he used a .32 doesn't mean it's him."

His brother snorted. "Yeah, red and orange are nothing similar, and I'm sure there are millions of people walking around with a small .32 pistol. They said these people didn't get a good look at him. Are you going to believe the words of a few cowering chickens who probably wet their pants when those gunmen came in? We have to find him, Nii-san, I want him bad."

Koganehiko looked at his brother sadly. Shiro, once extremely well-toned and muscular, had stopped all forms of exercise after losing half of his left arm and allowed a thirst for revenge to govern him. Koga had continued to maintain his physique despite going through tough times but Shiro looked a shadow of his former self, his muscles replaced by a pudgy body that didn't suit him at all.

So, although Koga had decided that it was probably pointless, he'd decided that he would humor his brother if he was still bent on revenge. Still, he admitted that Shiro had a point. Mouse guns were very uncommon so there was just a chance that this unknown 'capped crusader' was the guy who put them out of business. If it wasn't, well, Koga hoped that Shiro wouldn't get too trigger happy.

If it was, then it was just too bad for that guy, because Koga would then gladly join in.

Oops, now Ichigo has popped up on the radar of some people whom he isn't exactly friends with. Oh well, he should survive right? But what about those around him? Or am I just messing with you guys? Slow plot development, but roller coasters start out slow right?

Oh, I just randomly placed Shiro-chan as majoring in Psychology, cuz that's gonna be my second major (hopefully)!

Thought I would just add the red hair and tattoos part for the fun of it. No, once again, there will be NO romantic dramas at all.

I'm not a vegetarian. Do vegetarians eat eggs?

Cryptic phrases for the future are the best! Cryptic scenes as well! There's one of each in this chapter. Can you guess which?

Anyway, some extra stuff.

The brief description I gave of the Semmerling is mostly accurate I think. It's pretty rare though. I think they only make like a hundred a year, because its handmade. Whether Ichigo has to use it or not, who knows?

The Four Seasons Hotel in Marunochi exists too, and so does the lounge bar. I couldn't find a layout of the hotel though, so I just imagined it.

My next update would probably be Thursday, or Wednesday, so watch this space!

Anyway... Review! I hope you blue moon reviewers would review too, so I know how most of you guys think of my story! Reviews make the world go round! And me a happier man too!