Ichigo is tired. Tired of the heartbreak, of straddling the line between life and death, of the never-ending exhaustion that comes from constant fighting. If not for his need to protect he probably wouldn't be in this situation: a powerless shell of the man he could have been. Barely 17 and he feels like he wants to sleep forever.
But he can't, the restless hum under his skin won't let him. Teetering on the edge of his consciousness is the half-forgotten awareness that comes from a lifetime of battle. It's all he can do to keep from crawling out of his skin (metaphorically) and there are only so many thugs to beat up daily. Recently, he's been expanding his circle of 'influence'. Adding a couple of miles here and there to satisfy his cravings. On the bright side, his martial arts have improved dramatically; on the downside, his reputation has plummeted to Marina Trench levels of bad, he wouldn't be surprised if the local yakuza put a bounty on his head (He hates that his only sustainable outlet is violence).
It was like his body was trying to make up for no longer being able to release his spirit energy so it builds up under his skin, folding over itself again and again -- he doesn't want to know what would happen if it ever tries to force its way outside of him. He's seen his insides become his outsides more than enough for someone his age.
In his roaming, he's begun to notice that Karakura is not the only town that is spiritually dense, it is just the densest, but honestly, despite Ichigo's meager sensory abilities, even he knew that comparing Karakura to the neighboring towns was like comparing molasses to saltwater. The difference was so big they are even in the same category.
So imagine his surprise on one of his many walks through western Tokyo -- he'll never admit it but he is lost at the moment -- when he feels energy much like his own brush against his awareness. Curiosity peaked, Ichigo makes an attempt to locate the source, just to alleviate his boredom he tells himself never mind all the trouble he's gotten into in the past.
It's a slow process, but with the power of spite and determination and with many, many wrong turns he eventually manages to make contact with the energy source (contact meaning getting within two hundred feet of his intended target). Now, he knows that his appearance is attention-grabbing on the best of days, but what he doesn't know quite yet is that for the spiritually sensitive, spirit energy with a density like his is like launching a bowling ball through a glass door. It's startling, to say the least so it's not surprising that his presence raises more than a few hackles.
Best part of it all: Ichigo doesn't even notice.
Lin Koujo liked to think of himself as a relatively unflappable man, he wasn't one to complain or break down when plans go bad or even very emotive (the moments of visible panic he feels when his charge does something monumentally stupid don't count). He was calm and steady, like an old river he was told, so when his Shiki go from lazily circling his space as he builds his desk to suddenly tightening into a protective dome of viciously cycling malcontent he very calmly very efficiently starts setting up wards and boundaries for the small office.
"Lin?" A voice asks from across the room.
Lin takes a moment to assess the situation before addressing the speaker, "Something set off my Shiki," he offers, "they only behave like this to warn me of a potential predator." Lin couldn't be sure as to the nature of this threat, but if it was strong enough to send the Shiki into a protective frenzy he knew to be cautious.
"So whatever set them off is nearby, but not yet dangerous." It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement. Kazuya wasn't too keen on wasting time worrying about this so-called 'predator', but if the opportunity arises again he would like to study whatever it is.
Funny how they were so deep in their thoughts it never occurred to either of them to take a glance out the window.
Hey guys, first off I would like to formally apologize for ghosting on my stories for a year: I am sorry, my only excuse is that school started picking up and I was just too lazy to bother writing *nervous laughter* but on the bright side as of a week ago I'm no longer a high school student*happy exclamation* so expect more updates over the summer, at least until fall when I have an actual schedule*crossed fingers hopefully*. Second thing, I've decided to go ahead and rewrite DGGH, so this will be the new version(as you can tell by the title), no I'm not getting rid of the old one (if anything it will be a reminder of what I don't want), but be aware that once this goes up the previous DGGH is officially discontinued. Lastly, there is no beta, all mistakes belong to me, Bleach and Ghost Hunt do not, and please be reasonable with the comments, I know new stories by new writers are a little incoherent so feel free to ask me questions (no spoilers) if anything confuses you.
Until next time, Firefox signing off. (*–*)