A/N: Just a small group to thank for the last chapter: Lynansidhe, Dragon and Sword Master, Dark Inu Fan, Rukia's Reflection, and KitElizaKing. And thank you to everyone who put this or its author on their lists.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach or Inuyasha characters, mangas, animes, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Tite Kubo et al and Rumiko Takahashi et al, respectively.
Secrets Abound
Undercover Idiots
Mizuiro and Keigo were cruising the beach and trying to pick up women when their pursuit led them to an area away from the sight of the rest of their friends. Intent on their mission, they had no idea that they'd gone so far, nor that they were the ones who would find the first clue to solving their friends' mission.
While being rebuffed for the tenth time that morning, Keigo happened to glance to his left just in time to see several older men disappear into the tree line that separated the beach from a forest. Not thinking anything of it, he shrugged the matter aside in favor trying his luck on the eleventh girl to catch his interest.
His cohort hadn't noticed anything odd but was instead busying entering numbers into his phone, chatting up the ladies of his choice despite several glares from what were clearly annoyed fathers. It was only when Mizuiro caught sight of Chad coming towards them that he paused in his private endeavor.
"Mizuiro," the taller teen said and looked around for the other one of his friends that liked to play at being a ladies' man. Only the short dark haired one could pull it off but Chad had never had the heart to tell Keigo that.
"Chad," the other boy greeted.
"Where's Keigo?"
"He was right there…" Mizuiro pointed towards the edge of the beach, not bothering to see whether his answer was accurate.
Chad simply nodded and left him to his favorite pass time while moving further down the length of beach. Keigo was presently being hung up by the collar of his shirt, an irate husband having taken exception to the high school student's attention towards his wife. "Keigo," he uttered quietly, using his size to his advantage to let the angry demon know that he would protect his friend if necessary.
"Hey there, buddy. Do you think that you could help me out? I seemed to have made a mistake."
"Mm," Chad agreed almost silently, hefting the other teen away from a male that clearly still had murder on his mind. "You should probably apologize," he commented finally, unused to making conversation as often as he had that morning.
"I have offered my deepest regrets. There are so many lovely women here it's hard to tell who are the mothers and who are the daughters." The female he'd hit on seemed to preen at that compliment but her mate growled lowly in his chest.
"Mizuiro seems to have found them," Chad admitted, although, he was sure that Mizuiro would be the next one to go one step too far.
"What? He's keeping all the hot babes to himself? No fair, Mizuiro!" Keigo yelled, running off towards his friend, leaving Chad to make one last apology.
Bowing deeply, the armored giant quickly followed his friend's fast retreat so that he could prevent another disaster. One of the fathers that had been glaring daggers at the playboy had finally had enough of Mizuiro's antics and was now trying to flatten him with his youki alone. "Time for lunch," Chad cut in, not bothering to ask what was going on.
"These lovely ladies have invited me to eat with them," Mizuiro started, ignoring the fathers increasing glares.
"Ichigo needs to see you," he told them, Keigo close to getting his clocked cleaned.
"I thought it was time for lunch," the other boy protested when Chad had been successful in dragging both players away from danger.
"An excuse. Those men would have hurt you. You must watch yourself here, Mizuiro. This is not home," Chad warned, the seriousness in his voice finally driving the gravity of the situation home for them.
"Alright, Chad, buddy," Keigo agreed, placing his hands behind his head and returning to the rest of their friends willingly.
"I suppose I can call it a day. I did get several numbers despite disagreeable fathers. The women here are truly beautiful." Mizuiro clicked through his contact list one more time before shutting his phone. "Lunch, huh?" he asked.
"I'm famished. Did you guys order anything yet?"
"No, we are waiting for Ichigo to wake up."
"A fine time to nap. He doesn't know what he's missing." Keigo chuckled, nudging his orange haired friend's foot when they reached the blanket.
Chad didn't bother to tell the class clown that Ichigo wasn't asleep because he wanted to be. Currently Rukia had the daiko's head on her lap, remorse clearly having over taken the petite Shinigami. Normally she wouldn't have shown such an intimate position to the outside world but the tall man knew that it wasn't the first time that she had nursed Ichigo back to health in such a way.
"I see you managed to bring them back in one piece," Tatsuki said and chuckled. "I really thought you'd have to pry them out of some infuriated father or husband's grip."
"Did," Chad admitted, glancing at Keigo.
"Hey, now, I didn't know she was married."
"Have you ever tried looking for wedding rings?" Ichigo's irritated voice interrupted, an amber eye opening to glare at Rukia when the remnants of her strawberry sundae dripped onto his face.
Keigo opened his mouth to retort but closed it when it occurred to him that he hadn't bothered to look for such a thing. "Good point. So, what's for lunch?"
"Don't know, Ishida went with Orihime to round up the grub. We should probably hope our bespectacled friend convinces the wait staff to ignore her preferences on everything but her own food. In the meantime, Kuchiki and I were having a little snack."
"Ah, well, I guess we'll just lounge here and wait. So, Ichigo, how was your nap?" Keigo asked, watching with avid interest as the daiko sat up and stole the last of the sundae from Rukia's spoon.
"Hey!" Rukia protested, smacking Ichigo on the face with the spoon even as he smirked.
"That's the least of what you owe me, midget. If you're going to drop your food on someone's face, at least have the decency to share."
"I had another spoon," she admitted, her embarrassed eyes sliding away from the collected company. "Besides, I thought you didn't like strawberry flavored things."
"I don't but it had fudge on it so it was tolerable."
"You and your chocolate fetish," Tatsuki laughed, feeling sorry for the Shinigami. Rukia's cheeks were bright with embarrassment and it was probably best that they moved away from the topic before Keigo or Mizuiro made it worse. "So, did you guys see anything interesting on your quest of stupidity?" she asked the boys before they could pick on Ichigo and Rukia's foray into flirtation.
"Nah, just a lot of sand and blue water. There seems to be a lot of families at that end of the beach but nothing truly interesting."
"Unless you count the group of old guys wandering into the forest. Must be some kind of guided tour or something," Keigo said off-handedly.
Ichigo and Rukia's eyes swung to him in tandem before exchanging some sort of silent communication. "Did they see you see them?"
"Nah, they weren't paying any attention."
"Good."
Keigo looked between his two Shinigami friends, a light bulb finally turning on dimly. "Oh," he said when the pieces finally fell into place for him.
"What do you know, they were actually useful for something," Tatsuki murmured, having put things together a lot faster than Keigo.
"Now that you mention it, that wasn't the first group," Mizuiro commented.
"Who would have thought?" Rukia murmured but was distracted by the arrival of their lunch. They'd table the discussion for now as it was too dangerous to make any speculations outside of their suite.
"Yeah," Ichigo agreed before reaching for the sandwich with his name on it.
The other teens quickly followed suite and left things for later, intent on the large portions of food given them. They spread out on the blanket and enjoyed the picnic like atmosphere. Ishida had done a good job getting normal things to eat, the only one that had odd combinations belong to their healer friend who happily dug into something they weren't sure was edible to the rest of mankind.
"This is the life," Keigo sighed, downing a bottle of water without pausing for breath. "We should do this more often."
"You mean the day at the beach or the coming to a five star resort that we can only afford in our dreams?" Ichigo asked, not above the idea of relaxing more.
"Both man but I mean just hanging out. We haven't been able to do that in what seems like forever."
"You're right, Asano-kun. I apologize for all the inconveniences," Rukia apologized.
"Not your fault, Rukia-chan," Keigo said, knowing it hadn't been her idea for some madman to attack Karakura. "If it weren't for you, we might not be here now."
"He's right, Kuchiki-san," Orihime agreed, smiling at the other girl gently. "We're really glad to have met you."
"With or without you, Kurosaki would have gotten involved in a lot of trouble and dragged us along for the ride regardless." Ishida smiled crookedly, unused to consoling another person.
"It's amazing how you can insult one person while reassuring another, Ishida," Ichigo said after taking a swallow of his soda.
"It's a gift," the Quincy retorted and smirked at his rival.
"Thank you. I never imagined finding friends like you here," Rukia said softly before clearing her throat.
"You probably despaired that we were all like Ichigo," Tatsuki commented, earning a glare from her childhood friend while Rukia nodded.
"True. The night we met did give me a poor impression," she agreed.
"Hey!" Ichigo protested. "You weren't much better, midget."
Violet eyes narrowed and Rukia was tempted to place him in a binding spell before she remembered where she was. "Shows what you know."
Ichigo opened his mouth to start an argument but closed it tightly when he sensed several eyes on him that didn't belong to his friends. They were used to the fights between Rukia and him that sprang up from nowhere. In fact they had stopped paying attention to them about the time he began to protest. Glancing around, he found three sets of brown eyes staring at him from three meters away, small noses twitching in either curiosity or desire for the sandwich he still held.
"Can I help you?"
"You two sound like Aunt Kagome and Uncle Inuyasha," one of the children said, smiling widely enough to show off her fangs.
"Uh…" Ichigo uttered, unsure of what to say. He wasn't supposed to let on that he knew the Taishos but lying was out of the question too because they'd know it instantly.
"Do your relatives fight a lot over unimportant things?" Rukia asked, rescuing the situation brilliantly.
"All the time. Auntie likes to make Uncle slam into the ground but I think dunking him under the water like you did the nii-chan with orange hair is fun too. I tried to do that to my brothers earlier but Mama didn't like it."
"I see…" Rukia commented lowly just as a panicked mother came running up to the trio of children and scooped them up in one go.
"I'm so sorry. I hope they didn't bother you."
"Nah, they were just curious."
"Too much for their own good," the mother muttered, carting the children away. They could hear her scolding them all the way back to their father who was too busy laughing to be of any disciplinary help.
"Wow, were they…"
"Yup, triplets, if I'm not mistaken," Ichigo said, giving Mizuiro a pointed look.
"Actually, I think there were more interested in our food than our conversation," Rukia chuckled before finishing off her bento box.
"I got that feeling too," Ichigo laughed lightly before devouring what was left of his sandwich. No use in wasting good food.
"They were just the cutest children," Orihime commented, sighing in contentment as the last of her odd concoction was finished. "I wonder if they're all like that."
"Probably. Yuzu and Karin were cute too until they got bigger. Now Karin's a smartass and Yuzu's a tyrant when it comes to the house rules."
"They're all cute until they grow up. Then they become punks who get into fights for no good reason." Tatsuki smirked at her friend when he scowled at her.
"That's the pot calling the kettle black. Who beats up on our classmates every day for no reason?" Ichigo jibed.
"There is a reason. I have to protect Orihime from unwanted advances."
"Tatsuki-chan…"
"You may have to pass that duty off to someone else," Ichigo informed, a sly grin coming across his face as he caught Ishida's silent agreement with the martial artist's statement.
Rukia, in an effort to repay Tatsuki's kindness from earlier and keep Ishida from using his Quincy powers in public, hit Ichigo over the head and glared at him. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"
"Right back at you," he shot back, snatching Rukia's juice from her hand and standing up to hold it above her head.
"Give that back," she ordered, trying to figure out a way to punish him without her drink spilling.
"Come and get it," he told her, backing towards the hotel, keeping an eye on her so that she wouldn't spring an attack on him when he wasn't looking.
"You really are a fool," she spat and stalked him all the way to the showers that had been placed at the edge of the deck so that people could rinse off the salt water.
"A lot you know," she said and snatched the glass from his hand when he was stupid enough to lower it to where she could reach. Finishing off the beverage, she put the glass on the tray of a waiter who happened to be wandering by before cracking her knuckles in anticipation.
"I do know quite a bit," Ichigo said and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when she stood unknowingly underneath a shower head. Reaching out, he pulled the cord that would bring the water down her head, laughing hysterically when she shrieked in surprise. "And that was for almost drowning me."
"I'm telling Nii-sama!" Rukia shouted, pushing her drenched bangs out of her face.
"I'm not scare of Byakuya," he informed her. Leaning against the shower stall, he held out a towel for her, not surprised when it swallowed her petite form.
Rukia growled, trying to think of something that would scare him. "Then I'll tell Kukaku-san that you're abusing me. She'll take care of you."
"You think I'm scare of her just because it turns out that she's my cousin?"
"No, I think you're scared of her because she almost blew you up the first time you met."
Rubbing the towel against her skin, she winced when the action hurt. Looking at her skin, she noticed the bright red sign of a sun burn. "Drat," she said, not noticing the sympathy in Ichigo's eyes.
"Come on," he said, taking her by the hand and dragging her back to the hotel. "I'm sure there's some aloe gel somewhere inside." On the way there, he gave a worker a message to his friends, knowing that at least Chad would understand what he was doing.
"Ichigo…"
"I noticed when I woke up. You should be careful about the sun, Rukia. Your skin is really fair so you have to put on a strong sun screen. It likely wore off by the time you were done swimming."
"I… Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Mm."
Ayame watched them go, a small smile on her face. Her trio of mischief makers were busy stuffing their faces so she turned to Kouga and gave a nod. The wolf tribe leader got up and made his way unobtrusively inside. He knew the group of seemingly human teens had found something out so he would take the opportunity of their leader breaking off from the pack and make contact.
He trailed them to their suite, the noise of their conversation disappearing completely as they closed the door. Giving them a couple of minutes to find something for the girl's burn, Kouga studied the scents in the hall, finding a stranger's that matched the man that had confronted the Shinigami daiko earlier.
When the couple of minutes were over, he knocked on the door and waited impatiently until someone answered the door. The orange haired teen opened the portal, frowning at his presence. "Can I help you?" he asked, clearly annoyed with the interruption.
"You have something I need," Kouga said and pushed his way inside. Shutting the door quickly, he leaned against it casually, blocking the only clear exit.
"Who is it, Ichigo?" The girl's voice was clear despite the slight pain from the sunburn she had.
"It's the father of those kids from earlier."
"Oh," came her answer as she appeared in the doorway. "They weren't a bother, I promise."
"Don't care about that," Kouga said truthfully. "I swear they're picking up bad habits from Kirara-san. Anyway, I want to know what your friends found out."
"Excuse me?" Ichigo said blankly, Kirara's name setting off an alarm bell in his head.
Kouga looked at the blank faces and groaned. "Damn that Sesshoumaru. He didn't tell you who your back up was, did he?"
"I'm not following."
"Look it, kid, I don't know whether you're being obtuse on purpose or you're just like that naturally."
"He's like that naturally."
"Rukia!" the daiko hissed.
"Ichigo, there's no reason to beat around the bush. If I'm not wrong, this is one of the Taishos' men."
"I ain't their anything. Me and mine are the best trackers around and the Taishos asked us to help you guys look for the traitors. Now what did you find?"
Ichigo narrowed his eyes on Kouga and the wolf demon almost laughed at the similarity between Inuyasha and the kid. "How do I know that you're telling the truth?"
"Kid, if I wanted you dead, you would have been dead already."
"He's telling the truth, Ichigo. His youki is steady and there's no sign of subterfuge in it. May we know who we're talking to?"
"Sorry, guess you don't know anything. I'm Kouga of the Demon Wolf Tribe. We're the last wolves in Japan so we're small in number but you won't find anyone better at tracking people. For obvious reasons we hide what we are so the public thinks there aren't any more actual wolves."
"It's nice to meet you, Kouga-san. I am Rukia Kuchiki, and this is my friend Ichigo Kurosaki. Yes, our friends found something out. Apparently two groups of older men took off into the forest at the edge of the beach on the opposite end of where we were. Unless Taisho-san is offering guided tours through trees and brush, I'm confident in deducing that they aren't supposed to be there."
Kouga nodded, her reasoning sound. "Nah, something like a hike through the woods would never occur to the old dam. Alright, guess it's time to keep up my end of the bargain. You guys just keep on as you are. Oh, and just so you know, that stranger that bugged you this morning has been wandering around the hallway outside your suite. You've got someone suspicious, so watch yourselves."
"They didn't break in, did they?"
"Nah, I can't smell them in here but you probably peaked his curiosity when you mentioned that the Quincy has archery equipment. He's likely worried that he has spiritual powers. Anyway, I'll leave you here. If anything happens, just give a yell, we'll hear you."
"Ah, sure."
Kouga turned to open the door but a thought occurred to him and he glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, and tell your friend that if he hits on my mate or daughter again, I'll take him out in a very painful way."
"Your daughter? Isn't she like four?" Ichigo asked incredulously. The triplets hadn't looked old enough to be in school.
"My other daughter. She said she'd been hit on by a playboy wanna-be teen earlier. Figured it was your idiot friend with the black hair."
"Mizuiro…" Ichigo sighed and nodded. "Got it. Sorry about that Kouga-san."
"Che, just so you understand." With that the wolf demon left and snuck back to his family with seeming nonchalance.
"So, did you do your due diligence?" Ayame asked, stroking the hair of her youngest girl while not taking her eyes off of the boys.
"What do you mean?"
"You threatened that boy on behalf of your not-so-innocent grown daughter, didn't you?"
"Well…"
"Yeah, that's what I figured. So, what do we do now?"
Feral light glinted in brown eyes as he looked directly into her green orbs. "Now we hunt."
"It's been so long. Do you think that Lady Hisana will watch the little ones?"
"Don't see why not, she's already watching Inuyasha's two."
"And they're such angels after all." Kouga snorted but got up and wrangled his sons. Angels, right.
Not.