Disclaimer: The only bleach I own was used to wash my Viking Kittens Fear Me T-shirt.


Traveler turned out to be true to his name. On the second day, sated with milk and warm scraps from the table, he made a point of exploring the thirteenth squad compound, sniffing and rubbing his face on everything that appeared stationary to him. What surprised Ukitake was that he didn't mark any of it in the way Kisuke warned him male cats did. Instead he was satisfied with simply leaving the less permanent feline calling card and moving on about his business. When he was finished, he returned to Ukitake's office and settled himself on the pillow that had been supplied specifically for him. He watched to comings and goings of other people with what seemed like a keen interest.

When Kisuke stumbled up a little after dusk, however, Traveler sneezed and went to sleep. Kisuke gave him a watery gray eye. "So he's still haunting you, eh?"

"It's like he's always been here," Juushirou chuckled. "Have a seat. What brings you here this fine evening?"

Settling on his haunches, Urahara stretched and yawned. "I put in a longer day than I thought I would, but I'm not tired enough to go back to my quarters." He paused, then lowered his voice a little. "I have too many things rolling in my head and I thought you could help me to sort them out."

"Don't you usually go to Shihouin-san for that?" Juushirou was flattered, but he was also curious.

"I do. . .but only sometimes. Some of my ideas are so far out there that even she wouldn't approve. Some I think might be flat-out illegal and it's best not to talk to the authorities about them in a careless way." Of course it would be all too easy to forget that such a fun loving, laughing creature could be involved in the military, let alone the head of it.

"You don't trust her?" That would certainly be a surprise.

Kisuke's face became painfully serious. "I trust Yoruichi with my life. I just don't want to put her in a bad position. There are just things she's better off not knowing."

"I think I understand how you feel. There were things I thought about while I was at the Academy that I didn't dare tell anyone but Shunsui." Which was true. Ukitake smiled at him reassuringly. "Say anything you want here without fear of judgment."

If he looked closely, Ukitake could detect a slight blush on the younger death god. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, and a smile replaced it. "I take you at your word, Juushirou-sama. Yoruichi will be pleased."

Juushirou couldn't help but smile back. "So tell me, what's been in your head today?"

The smile on Kisuke's face became sly. "Well. . ."

Evening passed quickly, with the younger shinigami speaking in hushed and reverent tones about his most recent theories, with the older shinigami interjecting only to ask questions and once and a while offer up an idea of his own. To which the younger shinigami reacted with a delight that was infectious. What seemed to interest Kisuke the most was Juushirou's own ideas about power, its acquisition, its creation. "If there was a way in which a single shinigami, even of limited power, could face a menos without hesitation, wouldn't that be of use to us?" Kisuke ventured.

"That would depend on the means by which that shinigami obtained that power," Juushirou replied. "We have laws just the same as the human world does. What can they be worth if we set them aside for our own convenience?"

"You're starting to sound like Kuchiki. I know it's a matter for Central 46 to suss out, but I'm thinking of what's unthinkable. Suppose the Menos gain sentience. For all we know right now, they are merely killing machines. But if it were possible for them to know themselves, or even be directed by a hand that knew them, they would be the worst threat imaginable, right?"

"I see where you're going, Kisuke-kun. I can't pretend to deny your logic, but it's best not to use a worst-case scenario as an excuse to dabble in something that can ruin you," Juushirou cautioned.

Kisuke sat back, a little crestfallen.

"Now now," Ukitake chided, "if Yoruichi isn't here to sit on you when necessary, the task must fall to me. I'm fairly certain she'd make a rug of me if I encouraged you to do something she wouldn't approve of, am I right?"

"Who wouldn't approve?" demanded the already-tipsy eighth squad captain. The other two men turned to look at him, Urahara with astonishment, Ukitake with warm but annoyed welcome.

"And how long have you been listening, Shunsui?" asked Juushirou with a smile.

"Long enough to ascertain why you weren't interested in sharing, Juu-chan." He stumbled over and flopped down next to Kisuke. "Urahara, my young friend, let's have a drink and you'll tell me what you just told our snowy-haired Taichou."

When Kisuke looked at Ukitake questioningly, the older man smiled. "He's perfectly safe. If he proves to be a danger we'll just sic Shihouin on him."

"Ahh, what a lovely way to be assassinated!" howled the clearly pleased Shunsui.

From his pillow, Traveler stretched, rose, and sat on his haunches. While the three men talked long into the night, his great yellow eyes followed them as if he were listening. When the little group dispersed sometime after three, he left his pillow and followed them to the door. When Ukitake closed the door, he heard an indignant meow. "So, this is it, is it?" The cat stretched and pawed the door lightly. "Well then, we'll say farewell for now, and you just be more careful." He reopened the door and Traveler walked slowly away, following the path that Kisuke had led toward the twelfth division compound. Ukitake watched until he could no longer see the lean black form in the distance. Then he wondered how it happened that of all the beings that had been in and out of his presence in the last few days, this was the one he would somewhat miss.

"You did not," she laughs.

"I did," Ukitake replies solemnly. " I had no idea before then how relaxing it is to lay in bed with a cat on your chest, listening to it purr. But as it so happens, Traveler came back the next day. You remember that, don't you?"

Yoruichi leans suddenly forward, touching his hand lightly. "It was a good day."

"One of the best," he says as their fingers intertwine.