I didn't mention this last chapter, but I own neither Bleach nor Inuyahsa. Damn.

If you happen to be wondering why anyone with an iota of sanity would attempt to write a Inuyasha/Bleach crossover fic, here's the answer- three kids at my lunch table at school (myself being one of them) are having a contest to see who can write the best version of said crossover within a certain set of restraints. What these restraints are I will decline to say; you'll find out as said crossover progresses. Our little contest ends on April Fool's Day.

On that note, any feedback is appreciated (there's no rule against help).

Cultural side note necessary for the chapter- In Japan, school punks are sometimes referred to as Yankees. "American people" Yankees are called "gaijin" (shortened from "gaikokujin" which literally means "person from outside the country") or "amerikajin" (literally "American", but hopefully you could figure that out). Yakuza, on the other hand, are adult Japanese mafia.

Enjoy!

THE FRACTURED SKY

phase 2: trip & fall (those strange little men)

She started to scope out the mess of wet paper streamers and confetti, said good night to a family friend working the turtle catching booth, and sleepily waved goodbye to the stragglers still on the temple grounds who were trying to take photos of her and 'that cute guy in the demon costume'. Turning around to see what she thought might be a horrible cesspool of a mess she was going to have to mop up in the morning (which was only an hour or two away, anyway), she discovered that a number of the Karakura students were…

…cleaning?

There was a large number that had stayed behind, surprisingly. Kagome was curious. What high schooler in their right mind would choose to stay and clean a filthy courtyard when they have a week off from school? No matter, less for her. Inuyasha had since gone inside to scrub the gunk off his face, so Kagome decided the least she could do was thank those that were helping her.

As she got closer, she noticed that something was off about all of those who remained. There was the short white-haired boy and the redhead with tattoos, but there was also a bald teen with a wooden sword at his hip, two black haired boys (one with square glasses), someone wearing their school uniform with darker skin and round eyes- he was definitely a foreigner, a blonde-haired bombshell of a woman, and two skinny people with orangey hair- one male, one female. There also was a short, slender girl, who looked just about Kagome's age and height, and even body type, save her haircut was short to fit around her heart-shaped face.

"Ah, uhm, hi there," she stuttered, calling out to the motley group.

"Yo!" Tattoo called out. "Need a hand anywhere else?"

"Well, actually, I was coming to thank you and ask, 'Why are you here?'" she stammered out before she realized what she was saying.

Tattoo came close to her, and she quickly realized that it was 2AM, there was really nobody left outside beside these kids and her, her only male friend was inside the small house on the compound that she called home, and Tattoo was considerably larger than she.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

He put his arm on her…

Leaned real close…

And whispered, "You're a shrine maiden here, right? You realize that that friend of yours stinks of blood. Just thought I'd let you know."

Kagome was shocked. Who would know, besides her? Alright, so when she first met her friend, he was a pain to have to throw into a bath, kicking like a two-year-old. However, Inuyahsa cleaned himself and his clothes as often as he could now, especially after all the things the two of them had to do.

She was a miko, a shrine maiden for a Shinto temple, and was in charge of a sacred relic once watched over by her female ancestors. Under the cloak of night, or through the sands of time- one of the wells on the temple property allowed him and her to travel back and forth between eras- the two of them slew demons that were after this holy artifact. Unlike herself, who used a bow to fight enemies from afar, Inuyasha fought tooth-and-nail, so to speak. That mop of white hair and the dog ears sticking out of it was really no wig. He was a demon himself.

But then, if Inuyasha was a demon looking like that, maybe these people were...

"If he smells so strongly like the blood of others, maybe we could ask you if he could help us out with something," Tattoo added.

Kagome was half shocked and half downright angry. Having lost her shyness, she screamed in the teenager's face, "Who do you think you're talking to? If you need his help so badly picking a fight with street punks, Yankee-Doodle-Dandy, go hire a yakuza." She breathed heavily, her eyes full like saucers from having told this punk off.

The white haired boy from earlier looked up from what he was scrubbing, walked over to where Kagome and Tattoo were, and coughed loudly three times, looking upwards at Kagome and further upwards at his classmate. "Abari Renji, whatever you just did…" the boy started, then squinted angrily, "never, EVER, do again."

"But, but, Captain…" Renji protested.

"No 'buts'. Unless you want yours to have a sword sticking out of it," White-Haired retorted, somewhat aggravated. Renji backed off.

Kagome was further confused. This child was senor to this… this… unruly teenager? Who were these people?

White-Hair answered it for her. "My name is Toshiro, Hitsugaya," he said, having regained his cool. Something in the way he said it seemed to put her at ease, too. "We are not Yankees, or Yakuza, or anything like that. In the easiest way to explain this," he paused and sighed for a moment, like someone much older than himself was prone to do, "we protect innocets from the restless spirits of the dead."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. She was slightly confused. There was no aura coming off this boy as a demon or human, but he most definitely was letting off a strange… feeling. Just a small leak of it, but it was there.

"Are you human?" she inquired.

"No," he answered mechanically, as if this wasn't the first time he had been asked.

"Are you… older than him?" Kagome asked, pointing to Renji. The red-haired boy let off a stifled laugh. "I'll take that as a 'no'. But how about this- are you older than me?"

"Probably older than your parents, maybe even grandparents. Any other questions, miss, before I ask you mine?"

"Why are you here?"

Histugaya dropped his harshly adult demeanor and pointed over to the sacred tree in the center of the courtyard. The tree he pointed to was useful in a similar way to the temple well, it allowed Inuyasha from the past and Kagome from the present communicate without being in the same stream of time.

Hitsugaya breathed in heavy. "We have reason to believe that that tree is being used by a person manipulating some of these malevolent spirits- Hollows, they're called…

…and, if you don't want the populace of Tokyo to die, we're going to have to destroy the altered time stream that exists at this temple… and cut down that tree."