Another week later.


Seated behind his desk, reading light glinting off white hair, Ishida made another in a growing file of notes. "What do you mean, your power is pushing at you?"

Hei gripped his own arms, wondering if the touch would be enough feedback to stop any circuit from forming. Though it wasn't nearly that bad. Just... prickly. "I've never gone this long without using it. Even when I was supposed to be locked down in Pandora for a month - things happened." For once more along the lines of violent self-defense than assassination, but still. "It's... like not taking a cat for a run. It starts getting crazy. Jumping the shelves. Making paper blizzards."

Ishida leaned the pen away from the page. "Most people would take a dog for a run."

"It's not a dog," Hei said firmly. "Dogs take orders."

"Hmm." Ishida tapped the page. "I would guess that while she possessed you, Bai had partial control over the Contract as well. So it would make sense that the power never felt completely part of you." He lifted his gaze. "But it is yours now. You'll have to come to terms with it."

"Can't practice if I'll get caught." Hei breathed out, trying to let go of that feeling of constriction. Like wearing a waiter's uniform when he needed a knife right now. "The best idea I have is to take a bullet train out to the country, try a few things, and get back before Section Four can catch up."

"I'd never realized what an advantage it was that only spirits could detect a use of power," the doctor mused. "Though I wonder..."

"It's the star," Hei reminded him. "How can you keep the world from seeing that?"

"I've encountered sadistic fools who might try," Ishida said, half to himself. "The real problem is keeping the police, or your ex-employers, from linking your use of power to where you are." He shook his head. "I'm not sure whether to curse whoever took that video or be glad I at least understand why your employers are utterly determined to see you in their hands. Or dead."

Hei had to look away, recalling the wave of white light Ishida had shown him days ago. Surviving inside the Gate had been terrifying enough. He'd had no idea what disarming the Syndicate's plan had looked like from outside.

It won't be just the Syndicate that comes for me.

The Japanese government - the world - would want to know what had happened inside Hell's Gate. And he'd had more than enough of being a lab rat. "I couldn't do that anywhere else. The Gates... reality doesn't work right there." Hei dared a glance at Ishida. "But people probably wouldn't believe that. Would they."

"I'm afraid not." Ishida's frown deepened.

Hei sat up straight. He didn't hear anything out of place. He definitely didn't see anything; though earlier tonight Ishida had confirmed a silvery blur near the ER was a recent ghost, which had done a former assassin's nerves no good whatsoever. How could you leave no witnesses if dead men talked? "What is it?"

"Ordinarily I favor living as normal a life as reasonably possible. But it's irresponsible not to have your own powers under control. You need to practice. Without getting caught." The doctor glanced down at paper, as if looking through it. "I may have an option. I'll need to investigate further." He let out a slow breath. "In the meantime..."

Stalling tactic, Hei knew. Something he wants to talk about, but can't.

"So far, I would say Ichigo's new hobbies seem to be beneficial," Ishida stated. "Speaking as an acquaintance, he seems... less tense."

Which was probably as close as a good doctor would get to discussing anything without permission. Hei nodded. Hesitated. What do I say? What should I say?

Well. He could try some of the truth. "It's... kind of nice to go over.. some interesting things, when no one's getting killed?"

Ishida stared at him.

Hei felt his cheeks burn. Damn it, he could pull off an alias half-drunk and with a concussion, and had. Why did trying to be honest always crash and burn?

"Like a shinigami trying to be human," Ishida murmured. Arched a brow. "Now that was an interesting twitch."

Ah. Yeah. "Mao helped me with some translations."

Ishida settled his hands on his notes; evidently prepared to wait an hour if that was what it took to get him to talk.

"My code name in the Syndicate." Hei tried to shrug. "If you hear someone bring it up, and they're not a cop, you should probably kill them. Or run." Breathe in. Breathe out. "In Japanese, it's... Kuroi Shinigami."

He'd seen a lot of reactions to that name, from disbelief to panic to utter, white-faced terror.

A hidden smile. That was new. "What's so funny?"

"When they're on duty, every shinigami wears black," Ishida shrugged. "The ones you have to watch out for are wearing the white haori. Those are the captains." He paused. "And Urahara is dangerous no matter what he's wearing. Usually he favors green. And a truly odd striped hat."

So one of Ichigo's former teachers was a shinigami? Definitely not going into Urahara Shoten, Hei thought. We'll find candy somewhere else.

"Though I admit I'm curious why they gave you that name," the doctor mused. "Appropriate for an assassin, but what it implies? Death is inevitable. Humans miss."

"Sometimes I did," Hei admitted. "It's hard to get the ones who teleport."

Ishida's fingers gripped his pen. "Teleport."

"And then there was Wei. I had to kill him twice." Hei grimaced, because that? That was the universe being completely unfair. "I wonder how much time Amber rewound to pull that off."

"...There are Contractors who can rewind time."

"Just Amber. And she's... gone." Hei had to look away. "She was the one who planned for Hell's Gate to explode, like Brazil, and leave Contractors alive. Tried to get me to make that choice: humans or Contractors." He swallowed. "I found another way."

Shouldn't have said it. Shouldn't have said anything. He'll ask about Amber, and... what can I say? I hated her. I needed her. I wanted to love her but she always lied to me, even about Bai. Especially about Bai.

Because if either of them had just told him, admitted that Contractors were starting to feel again, starting to look beyond reason to friend, and maybe even family-

Then maybe he'd never have held his sister's throat between his fingers, and called himself a coward for not killing her.

"Teleportation." A pen scratched across the page. "Perhaps you could give me an idea of the range of Contractor abilities? If the Syndicate does locate your team, I'd prefer to know what kinds of mayhem my hospital might suffer."

He's not asking.

Hei'd take the small mercies he could get. Ishida should know what might land on his doorstep. "Contractors aren't like you. Every Contractor has just one power."

"Thank the gods for small favors," Ishida murmured. "Such as?"

"Teleportation's not rare," Hei obliged. "I've seen a lot of variations. Someone who could teleport themselves, another who could teleport herself and anyone she was in contact with... um, those would be the ones who steal scrubs once they get inside. If they care. They can teleport themselves, not clothes. Another could switch something he was touching with something he targeted; that was really hard to dodge, when he was after your heart." Sometimes he woke, feeling that unnamed Doll's blood on his cheek. Odd; so many kills had drenched his hands in red. Why did dreams bring the blood he'd never touched? "And Wei blew things up by teleporting anything coated in his blood. I'm sure there's other variants." Huh. He'd never really tried to classify Contractor powers in his head. Though he was sure the Syndicate had. It'd been enough to know what an enemy could do, so he could work out a counter. "I've seen possession, cryokinesis, pyrokinesis, hydrokinesis, electrokinesis, and gravity control. Contractors who could stop your breathing, explode your organs; one who could control atmospheric pressure enough to cause spontaneous rainstorms - that was tricky when her partner had cryokinesis, if I hadn't stopped him with-" He cut himself off. "I mean... Huang fired a flash-bang, that was enough heat to melt the ice and give me a distraction."

The pen stopped. "I notice," Ishida said deliberately, "that while you're willing to discuss other Contractors, or Dolls in general, you have been distinctly evasive when it comes to your own Contract."

"Habit." Rumors of what the Black Reaper could do had gotten out, of course they had, but he tried not to give it away. Not to mention that what he'd done to the Pandora facility proved his power had never been what he'd thought. "And... I didn't want you afraid to do exams."

The doctor looked up, face set. "You have a touch-lethal power."

"Yes." Which wasn't a lie, not exactly- ah, damn it. It might be important. Medically. "I can create electrical charges. And redirect them."

Ishida's glance flicked to where his shirt hung loose, hiding the belt and wires underneath.

Hei shrugged, trying for some of Li's innocence. "I can also fix TVs?"

"That would be the lower end of the scale, I take it." Ishida's tone was very dry. "The upper end?"

Ah. Yeah. "...I melted the equipment." Hei tried for another shrug, felt his shoulders stiffen, ready for an attack. "Somewhere past lightning strike."

"Hmm." The tension went out of Ishida's form. "Good."

Hei had to blink. "Good?"

"If you are attacked by a Hollow, don't hold back," Ishida advised. "Normal Hollows can be killed by any blow that would be fatal to a very tough human. For older monsters... you might need all of it."

Some Hollows needed a lightning strike to kill them. Why had he thought going to ground here was a good idea, again?

Because the Hollows might kill us, but the Syndicate will definitely kill us, Hei told himself firmly. Ishida's a Hollow target, and he's stayed.

Though Ishida didn't have to worry about the government catching him. Yet.

He's a doctor. He's probably not worried about himself. "Your people should be safe. If we're caught."

That drew Ishida up straight in his chair. "I'm sorry...?"

"It's in my files," Hei informed him, matter-of-fact. "I'm trained to manipulate people. If the Syndicate catches up with us, they'll think you and the hospital are innocent bystanders we leveraged into helping us." He looked aside, considering all angles of the situation. "Ichigo should be safe, too. His family's alive, so he's obviously not a Contractor. They'll note him as someone I cultivated as a local source, that's all." Maybe. Those eyes... "As long as he makes sure he looks innocent."

Silence.

Damn it. Not acting as an alias was confusing. "Did I say something strange?"

The doctor was eyeing him like an x-ray with an odd blur on it. "You really wouldn't hurt someone who wasn't a target, would you."

"No?" Hei agreed, bewildered. "Collateral damage makes any other mission harder. Section Four knew I wasn't after them, so they targeted other Contractors first. And hurting civilians means anyone they're connected to is now a possible source of risk to the mission. Even if they're afraid to hurt you, they have eyes, and ears, and information leaks in the right place will kill you as dead as a knife. I had to tell Bai that so many times..." He couldn't go on.

She's gone. She's really gone. I don't even have a body to burn. What do I do now?

First things first. He had to keep his team alive. And that meant giving their evidently combat-experienced doctor enough information that Ishida didn't get himself killed.

Nodding to himself, Hei looked up. "The first thing you have to know, if you fight Contractors, is that it doesn't matter what their power is. You have to know how they think."

"Pyrokinesis," Ryuuken said flatly.

"If they're experienced enough for the Syndicate to send them on assignment, then they know enough not to waste their power. It's not rational to incinerate your target if his bodyguards will kill you while you're paying your price." Hei drew a breath. "A Contractor does what they think is in their rational self-interest. If that means betraying their employers, they'll do that. If it means taking a hostage, they'll take one. If it means picking up a shard of broken glass to slit the throats of everyone on the whole floor so they leave no witnesses..."

"I see." Ryuuken's glasses gleamed. "Mass homicide would have every police officer in Japan hunting for them."

"Yes," Hei agreed. "But not every Contractor thinks of that."

"...Of course they don't," Ryuuken sighed. "Rationality combined with intelligence and long-term thinking? That would be expecting too much of the universe." His pen hovered over the page. "Go on. I have rounds to do in an hour... and it seems we have a lot to cover."


Scowl on his face, Ichigo headed for the Sasajima Market, and tried not to feel guilty about random bystanders doing a double-take and getting the hell out of his way. It'd been months since he'd had the energy to be a properly grumpy adolescent punk after school, and he was going to enjoy it, damn it.

Because two days ago, he'd spotted a weird blur out of the corner of his eye. And felt a shiver where no cold spot should be.

Dr. Ishida had been able to confirm it just yesterday. The trickling wounds in his soul hadn't stopped bleeding; not yet. But according to the Quincy they were healing over, and he'd regained just a touch of spiritual pressure. Not much. Yuzu probably had more. But something.

And when Ryuuken had told him that Ichigo could see the relation to Uryuu, because the pair of them had that same little frustrated eye-twitch. The one that meant, Kurosaki, I don't know how you convince the universe to let you keep breathing, but I'm actually glad you're alive. I'd just never admit it.

He was going to get better. He was going to see spirits again.

...Annoying, cranky, sobbing ghosts running from the Hollows or the shinigami. Go figure.

But if he could see even as much as Yuzu, then maybe people would stop flinching around him. He had enough flinches of his own, damn it. He didn't want to hurt everybody else.

A cranky punk kid probably wouldn't hug Li. Probably.

And if he did hug Li, he'd make sure the ex-criminal saw it coming. Because the guy hid it well, especially when other people were watching, but he had as many twitches as Orihime had had after they'd rescued her from the Arrancar. The way Li would just... freeze, sometimes. At an accent, a turn of phrase, the silhouette of a thin teenage girl.

Somebody hurt him. A lot. For a long time.

Made Ichigo want to drag the guy home and feed him Yuzu's cooking. Only Li and Goat-Face in the same room would be a disaster. Isshin would be loud and exuberant and throw a punch for training, and Li-

Li would probably try to fillet the idiot before he could think through, wait, bad idea. Because that was what fighting for your life did to regular humans. Ichigo knew that firsthand.

Nope. Much, much better to grab a snack with the guy at little street shops, then follow him through the latest alley or crowd for whatever interesting tidbit Li'd decided to teach today. So far they'd gone over climbing, tailing, losing a tail, what to look for to set up a dead drop, and spent two hilariously embarrassing hours with makeup. Though Li called that contouring, and admitted he never used it unless it was an emergency. Easier just to switch out jackets and look harmlessly innocent.

Ichigo had absolutely no clue how Li pulled off harmlessly innocent.

Which was probably just as well. From what Ichigo had seen of spy and underworld stuff in this world and Soul Society, it seriously messed with your head. Way better to go after whoever needed a pounding one on one.

Although talking about fighting with Li punched Ichigo in the heart like a glimpse of one ice-wielding shinigami. Despite the guy having a good foot on her. And, you know, not being dead. Because Li. Seriously. Did not. Believe in fighting fair.

Ichigo had to skitter sideways on the sidewalk from shadows just thinking about the one spar they'd had so far. Because Li did not throw punches. Li threw fists. Elbows. Feet. Cartwheels. Random shattered bottles. Bits of freaking newspaper. If it was there, it was a weapon.

Urahara had taught him zanjutsu and cutting his opponent down, no matter what. The ex-captain's training relied on spirit pressure to block lesser blades, and keep a shinigami alive through what ought to be mortal blows. Li's fighting style-

Li fights like a mortal.

Dodge any hits you could; human bodies bruised. Avoid sharp edges; human bodies bled. Finish fights as hard and fast as possible, because human bodies got exhausted.

Which wasn't that far off from how an unseated, power-stripped shinigami had had to fight Hollows. Rukia would like Li. Ichigo was sure of it.

He liked Li. Kind of a lot. Scary hints of a past and all. A guy who had the skills to be a ninja assassin was holding down at least two part-time jobs to keep the rent paid and get his cousin her favorite candy. Kirsi was quiet and shy, but trying to talk to people in fits and starts. And she was kind to cats, patiently coaxing strays out with treats. To the point Mrs. Sasajima had let her put up a little card on the market bulletin board with Lost pets found and a small fee listed. And as for Uncle Kuno... well. Guy was homely, no two ways about it. But he steadied Kirsi when she froze up with people, and if he wasn't well enough to move fast yet, he had enough patience to outwait the most stubborn old yip-yap dog that'd dug itself under a foundation.

Ichigo liked them. Which wasn't at all what he'd expected from people who gave him Vizard vibes. Yeah, he'd liked the Vizards too - eventually - but they were all so angry. Not just because of their Hollows. Because they'd been betrayed, and spat on, and under a sentence of execution for a hundred years for something that was not their fault. It was Aizen's fault, all of it, and the fact the ex-captain had gotten away with it had left every last Vizard bitter to the core.

Li's family wasn't bitter. How, Ichigo had no idea. Though maybe because they really were criminals. They'd done horrible things; Li admitted as much. Now... now they just wanted to live.

Like me.

Ichigo would never, ever forget everyone who'd died because of Aizen's dream of conquering heaven. And there was blood on his own hands, he couldn't wash it off...but he'd never forget who'd let Aizen get that far, either. He'd be just as happy to leave Soul Society to go stew in its own self-important juices and never deal with the Gotei Thirteen again.

When I die, I'm asking the first guy I meet in Rukongai where the Shiba mansion is. Kuukaku's got sense.

He didn't miss the Gotei Thirteen. He missed people. Rukia. Renji. Toushirou. Even Byakuya, the stiff-necked idiot. So long as he could see them again, someday... then maybe he could take care of his piece of the world, and leave Soul Society to take care of itself.

And part of his world was a skittish shelf-stocker who could climb buildings bare-handed. Now if he could just talk to the guy and Ryuuken and figure out who to hit so Li could stick around. If he wanted to stick around...

Ack. Situational awareness, idiot!

She was still a few yards away, at least he hadn't stepped on her - but that was Yuzu, walking into the market. Now what?

Act natural. Li works there, of course Yuzu's going to run into him. Not going to look strange if you know him, either.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo headed in.

"-No way!" Yuzu's voice was bright and happy next to the eggs. "It's just a manga. No one can just flip raw eggs and vegetables together like that in one toss. It'd go everywhere."

"Well..."

Uh-oh. That was Li sounding thoughtful.

"You'd have to have really good reflexes," Li went on thoughtfully, moving older eggs from main shelf to the discount section. Ichigo made a note to give Chad a call; the prices looked decent for the age, and if Li was shifting things he'd bet every dozen was intact. "But I wouldn't try it in China."

"Maybe." Yuzu's blonde brows scrunched down, as the twelve-year-old considered improbable recipes. And possibly shinigami flash step. "But why not in China?"

Li glanced from one end of the aisle to the other in an obvious look of subterfuge, then leaned closer. "Don't eat raw egg in China. Trust me. Bad idea." Straightening again, he smiled at Ichigo. "Kurosaki! Is this your sister? You didn't say you had a chef in the family."

"Um," Ichigo managed.

Yuzu was pink, heading toward red. "I'm not a chef yet! I just like to cook. I don't really do anything fancy."

"Good simple meals are the best," Li nodded. "So what were you planning?"

And she was off, hands waving as she listed off ingredients for hot-pot and what setting worked best with the old rice cooker and recipes she might try the next time someone in the house needed a treat. Ichigo listened, and shook his head. He could talk about recipes and the housework with Yuzu, he'd taught her how to get started, but actual cooking? He didn't burn rice, and he could put together a decent sandwich. That was more or less it.

Though it was more Yuzu talking and Li just putting in a word or two as he worked. Huh. Like conversational judo. Ichigo let the happy babble wash over him, waving as his sister hit the cash register and skipped out the door. And trying not to sigh or snicker as Yuzu did a quick sidestep, almost bumping into Kirsi and Uncle Kuno as they headed for the bulletin board. "Could I do that?"

"You just need practice." Folding his apron neatly, Li tucked it into his employee locker and picked up a battered green duffel bag that'd been hiding behind cartons of soba noodles. "The trick is really caring what they say."

Ah. Yeah. That would definitely be the hard part. He could probably try with Yuzu, but how did you care about a complete stranger's cooking?

The duffel, now; that Ichigo cared about. Because that unassuming bag meant Li was carrying his climbing gear. Or maybe something even more interesting. "So what's the plan for this afternoon?"

Li's smile was a faded thing, but somehow more real than the innocent grin he gave every passing customer. "Well, if you were interested, I thought we might try a climb that has... limitations."

Eep? "Height? Speed?" Ichigo asked warily. Because climbing was fun, but he was getting used to the idea you had to plan it first.

"Security cameras."

For a moment, Ichigo flashed back to Yoruichi's smuggest smirk, and wondered if pale, blue-eyed Li was a very lost reincarnated Shihouin. Because augh. How had the guy picked up on the fact that one of the things that still made an ex-substitute shinigami twitch was the idea of being seen?

Li shouldered the bag without a flicker of expression. Waiting.

Limitations means not getting caught, Ichigo told himself. "Sounds good-"

Wait. Wait, Li's face hadn't twitched, but there was something alive in blue eyes, like pure cat mischief. Why-?

Which was when the memories of one evil black kitty waved in his brain that Li wasn't just showing him how to not get caught, but what to do when you did. Because plans always, always went wrong.

Oh no. "You're going to have us wave at a camera once we get to the top," Ichigo predicted. "Just to mess with their heads."

Yep. There came that brighter gleam. "Well, I wasn't planning to - but that sounds like fun."

I am so dead...

The market door-jingle was a welcome distraction. Ichigo peered that way despite the intervening shelves, hoping to distract Li from imminent death by security camera embarrassment. Cats were distractible, right? Where was a laser pointer when he needed one?

Which made his mind grind to a halt with the image of Urahara, Yoruichi, and a laser pointer. Because Sandal-Hat so would.

"Hideyo?" A woman's voice, not too old, wavering on the edge of shrill. "Hideyo, where are you?"

There was something seriously wrong with his life, Ichigo thought, already moving, that he could recognize terror and imminent panic from just five words.

But if there was something wrong with him, at least he wasn't alone. That soundless presence was Li was right behind him, and Kirsi and Uncle Kuno had already stepped back from the bulletin board. Uncle Kuno in particular was giving the frazzled thirty-ish woman gripping the counter in front of Mrs. Sasajima an assessing look that had cop written all over it.

"He's not here either?" The woman shook her head, stray black hairs flying from her neat bun. "I just looked away for a minute-!"

"Now, now, Mrs. Asao," Mrs. Sasajima clicked her tongue, "I'm sure he just got distracted. You know that next door has that sale on the little transforming lion-robots-"

"I looked there first!" Mrs. Asao cut her off, knuckles paling. "I've looked all over the street! He's not anywhere! I have to - I can't-!"

"You have to sit down." Rounding the counter, Mrs. Sasajima caught her by the shoulder. "Li! Get Mrs. Asao a cup of water."

"Yes, ma'am." Eyes wide, Li handed Ichigo the duffel.

Thankfully he'd handled it before when they climbed, so Ichigo knew to subtly get his center of mass underneath. The bag looked like it had maybe a change of clothes in it. Which it did. It also had a considerable heft from everything else Li had packed in, and Ichigo was kind of morbidly curious about how much of the wires and harness and who knew what else was actually legal.

Don't ask. Can't get in trouble if you don't know, right?

And then Ichigo had to do a double-take, because Li's hands actually shook handing Mrs. Sasajima the water, and he knew Li was cool and calm with the anticipation of trouble coming so how did he do that?

Mrs. Sasajima drew herself up straight as she pressed the glass into Mrs. Asao's hands, apparently confident she was the cool head here. "Now you drink that, the heat can rattle your brains. If Hideyo won't come out-"

Water splashed as Mrs. Asao shook her head violently. "He'd come if he could hear me! He's missing - oh, what if he's in the road, I've told him and told him-!"

"Then the young scamp's either in trouble, or he will be," Mrs. Sasajima hmphed. "Either way, we need to call the police."

Cops? Ichigo tried not to jump, expecting a mass stampede for the door. Li and the others were running from the cops, they weren't about to... stay... right here...

None of them were moving. Kirsi was still. Uncle Kuno was frowning, for all the world a concerned homely older gentleman about to offer his assistance to a lady in distress. Li was wide-eyed and biting his lip, for goodness' sake, Yuzu would have taken him home on the spot.

Of course they're not running. Ichigo manfully restrained himself from slapping his own forehead. Running from cops looking for a missing kid? No way that wouldn't look shady.

...Oh. So that was what Li was trying to get at when he talked about harmlessly innocent.

They're going to drive me crazier than Sandal-Hat, I swear.

Or maybe not. Because there was a weird honesty in their craziness. They were all dangerous. Granted, he hadn't seen Kirsi be dangerous, but he was sure she had some kind of secret ninja poisoned needles up her black jacket sleeves, or daggers in her cobalt wig, or something.

They were dangerous, and they knew they were dangerous, so... they didn't have anything to prove.

So they could look harmless.

It was so not like Soul Society, it made his head spin.

Or maybe that was just his soul wincing as Mrs. Asao kept shaking and wailing, while Mrs. Sasajima was insisting no, really, the police...

Kirsi bent down a little, whispering in her uncle's ear.

Uncle Kuno frowned. Almost a grimace. Gave her a look askance.

Kirsi nodded.

Kuno sighed, eyes imploring the ceiling. Glanced at Li, sliding a look at Kirsi that ended with a raised eyebrow.

Li went still. Blue eyes sought Kirsi's violet. He tilted his head.

She nodded, more firmly.

Li let out a breath, and nodded back.

Ichigo felt his own eyes widen, and tried to bite back questions. Because he might not know what had been silently discussed, but he knew enough.

They're going to do something. And it could cost them.

"Good idea, ma'am," Uncle Kuno said respectfully. "But I used to be a detective. Even if we call now it'll take 'em time to get organized. Better to get fresh eyes looking right now. Got a picture? Li's good at poking around alleys." He squeezed Kirsi's hand. "Sorry, kid, you should sit this one out. It's hot, you almost wilted getting here, and kids are a lot harder to talk sense into than cats."

Kirsi ducked her head. "...Okay."

Kuno patted her shoulder. "You can help me keep everybody on track if we get more volunteers."

"I'm sure you will," Li said brightly. "People around here are pretty responsible." He glanced at Ichigo. "Maybe you can tell me some good spots to start? I've only been here a little while, I don't know all the places someone could get lost-"

Ichigo scowled, handing over the duffel. Maybe he was no spy-ninja-assassin, but he knew darn well that was we've got a plan, you want to help? If you don't, you've got an out.

No. No way.

"You kidding? I'm coming with you." Ichigo gave him a fiercer look. "You don't even have a phone yet."

Li scratched the back of his head, sheepish. "Oh, right, right..."


Yin, I hope you know what you're doing.

"So what's the real plan?"

Hei glanced back at Ichigo as they headed around the back of the market and out of sight, still a little surprised the teenager had decided to jump into his team's plotting with both feet. Yes, they were looking for a missing child, which was technically not a criminal act, but - Kurosaki wasn't dumb, and he was definitely not naive. He knew they were up to something.

"Whatever it is, we should check the rivers first," Ichigo went on grimly. "Kids and riverbanks in Karakura? Bad news just waiting to happen."

Somehow, Hei had the feeling Ichigo wasn't talking about drowning. "The rivers will be one of the first places we search."

"One of the-" Ichigo sputtered as they ducked out of sight. "Do you have any idea how many little creeks and culverts and weird places to drown there are in Karakura? It'd take days!"

Yin had said yes. Hei just hoped Ichigo was worthy of her trust. "Kirsi can do it in less than an hour. She's... special."

"She's..." Ichigo trailed off as Hei stopped. "Kirsi's an albino. I looked it up, their vision's horrible. But you said she was your lookout."

Digging into his duffel, Hei nodded. "She has other ways to see."

"Other ways to-" Ichigo swallowed, glancing around the alley for any stray eavesdroppers. "Lost pets, now a kid... she can find things. Oh hell, no wonder you're hiding her."

Hei looked aside. Because that ache in Ichigo's voice said he understood. It hurt.

"Not going to ask," Ichigo said firmly. "If Kirsi wants me to know, she can tell me." He huffed. "But what were you going to do if I didn't come and she found the kid?"

Oh, this was going to be fun. Pulling his fist out, Hei opened his hand to display two earpieces with mikes.

Always have a backup.

Ichigo blinked, open-mouthed. "...Are those what I think they are?"

"Yes."

"But-"

"It's safe," Hei assured him. "We've always checked our equipment for tracers. And our employers were too smart to put tracers on them in the first place. Anything you can track, can be tracked back." Now he did smile, wry and dark. "The last thing they wanted was for me to know where to find them."

"Um." Ichigo didn't pale. Just straightened, serious and interested. "What did you do-?"

"I was the one they sent when people defected."

Ichigo blinked. Held that teenage scowl through what had to be a monumental effort of will, for almost ten seconds.

Gave up, and snickered.

Hei let him get it out. It was funny. "Here." He lifted his own comm to his ear. "This is how you put it on."

And suddenly he had to catch his breath, because the teenager trusted him enough to mimic him. Even when the earpiece pinched. It had to be secure. The last thing an operative needed was comms cutting out because they'd fallen off when another Contractor's air-blast sent you through a nearby wall.

Hei watched Ichigo finish. Held up empty hands a moment, then reached over to check the comm really was secure. Nodded, and stepped back. "Comms."

"Check," Huang's growl came over the line.

"Check," Yin said quietly.

Ichigo took a deep breath. "Check."

All voices came in clear. Good. Right now Mao was lurking somewhere near the market, ready to break into the net with a warning if a Hollow headed for Yin. And Huang did have a burner phone, with Dr. Ishida on speed-dial. They were as prepared as they could be. "Location?"

"Not on this street," Yin stated. "Expanding radius."

"How far can a kid get in a few minutes?" Ichigo muttered.

"More like half an hour, my guess." Huang's words were low, but clear, even as the murmur of other voices came through in the background. "Takes a while to admit your kid's gone."

"So at least a mile," Hei stated. "Farther if someone else got involved. Or he got to the trains." He took a deliberately slow breath. Not the time to burn adrenaline. Not yet. "The farther out he is, the more likely someone else is involved. He's eight. Half a mile and he'd be tired already."

Ichigo tensed. "So which way do we go?"

"Nowhere. Until we have a location." Hei met that impatient gaze, reminded of lessons he'd learned the hard way when he was not that much younger. "Move now, and we might go the wrong way."

"And... that'd take more time." Ichigo hugged himself, physically holding back the urge to run off in any likely direction. "Damn it."

"No chatter," Huang said shortly. "Problem."

Not a life or death one, not yet, or Huang would have already told them to abort. Hei nodded. "What."

"She's got a reason to panic. Seems past three months, people've been going missing around here."

From the way Ichigo started, that was news to him. "Understood." Hei settled the duffle on his shoulder, hoping this was just a lost child and he wouldn't need any of it. Glanced at Ichigo. "Breathe. Just a few minutes."

The seconds dragged like nails across his skin, but two minutes later Yin drew a sharp breath. "Found him."

"Location," Hei requested.

"Past the demolished hospital. Moving north. Two men. One carrying him." Yin paused. "They have guns."


It was like running with a whole different person. Li's face was... cold. Empty.

Scared, Ichigo thought, pushing himself to keep up as Li decided a chain-link fence was a suggestion, not a wall, and bounced up and over it in two hooking steps of worn sneakers. And then the teenager had to side-step and grip and swing, because damn, Li was half-cat, and hadn't anybody told him roofs weren't highways?

...Not that Ichigo had any room to throw stones. Nope. Though the last time he'd pelted across Karakura like this, he'd only have fallen if he wanted to.

Or if an Arrancar had punched him in the face. Ow.

He kind of wished he were fighting Grimmjow all over again. Then he'd been scared for his own life, and Rukia's, and everyone around him. This - being scared for a kid he'd maybe seen once or twice, who was being threatened with a gun instead of a cero-

He couldn't blame Li for that cold. He wished he could borrow some ice for his own veins. This was going to be ugly. "Cops?" Ichigo suggested between jumps.

Li didn't look back. "Bad idea."

"Hate to say it, but he's right," Kuno said gruffly. "Locals, guns, kid? They'll freeze."

Ichigo swallowed. "But-"

Kuno snorted. "You won't."

His heart was in his shoes and there were fanged butterflies trying to claw their way out of his stomach. "How do you know that?"

That earned him a wry laugh. "You're here, ain't ya?"

They believed in him. They believed, and they'd asked him to help when a life was at stake.

He hadn't been part of a team in a long, long time.

"Slowing down," Kirsi reported. "Stopped. Large house. Abandoned." A breath. "Moving again. Through the main gate. They had keys."

And he'd never been part of a team this organized. No wonder Li was hanging onto these two like his life depended on it. It probably had.

Soul Society could learn a lot from these guys.

Ichigo had to pay extra attention to his footing the next few seconds, because his traitor brain had flashed up Li's team crashing headlong into the whole Gotei Thirteen and whoever'd taken over for the Chamber of Forty-Six.

Either they'd end up running the place, or running for their lives from paranoid hidebound idiots with more power than sense. Again.

Li's team didn't have power, and they knew it. More, they knew they didn't have time. Guns and a random kid off the street - if they were lucky, there'd be a ransom call in. If not-

"They're going inside." Kirsi's voice shook a little. "They're... afraid."

Just below the crest of the next roof, Li stopped. Dropped to a crouch; breathing in, slow and deliberate.

Ichigo followed him, telling his traitor heart to slow down, there had to be a good reason Li'd stopped when they were this close-

A stray waft of breeze, and Ichigo knew.

Death.

Faint. If the neighbors noticed, they probably thought of dead rats, or electrocuted pigeons. But Ichigo had met that scent before he'd ever seen shinigami, and sometimes he thought he'd never be free of it.

He hadn't thought Li's face could get any colder. The older man yanked open his duffel, movements fast and practiced. "Can you see inside?"

"Some." Kirsi was silent a moment, as if peering through the distance. "Four men. They had a cloth over the boy's mouth. They took it away. They're... stepping around something on the floor. Several things. Can't get an angle."

"Be careful. Don't risk being seen."

Ichigo blinked. Someone could see what Kirsi was doing? How?

Explain later, Li mouthed.

"Seen?" Kuno bit off a swear. "You think-?"

"Could be our kind of problem." Li shoved a pen and sketchpad Ichigo's way, dove back into the bag for something tangled and black. "Layout."

Ichigo did his best to sketch out the windows and room Kirsi described, marking approximate locations of the Yakuza with guns. Definitely Yakuza; Kirsi had called out several tattoos, at least one of which rang a bell-

Oh wow. Those are serious knives.

Split-bladed, dark except for the very outer edges, long as Li's forearm and hilts solid enough to be weapons all by themselves. At least three of them; one at each side, one behind. Li stripped off the white shirt, pulled on tight black, snapped the harness on over it, and suddenly looked very dangerous indeed.

Blue eyes met his, flat and so achingly empty.

Ichigo took a breath, not even tempted to flinch. Yakuza, kid in trouble, and what sounded like multiple dead bodies in the house. This was no time to pull punches. "I think this is Boss Yanase's house. He died about six months ago. In the... earthquakes." Which was one way to refer to Aizen's whole mess, and Karakura shifted to a whole other dimension, and- No. Not thinking about it.

Pulling on black gloves, Li nodded once.

"So why's a boss's house bein' used to dump, 'stead of taken over by the next slime?" Kuno said darkly. "An' why bring in a kid... oh fuck. You think-?"

Li's lips bent a hair. "What's our luck like?"

"Aaaaah hell." A gusty sigh. "Plan it."

Li nodded again, drawing a gloved finger across the sketch to where Kirsi had said the boy was. "He's your target. I'll take the others."

"Four on one?" Ichigo said pointedly.

"Your target doesn't know me," Li stated. "He'd fight. The first priority is to get him out of there. Alive."

"And if this is our kind of problem, your first priority is to get the hell out of there," Kuno growled. "Because this is gonna get messy. Attention-getting messy. Damn it." A ragged breath. "We could-"

Li's mouth was a hard line. "He's eight."

"...Yeah."

Li fished out another pair of black gloves, and gave Ichigo a cold stare. "If things go wrong, get out. I'll need room to pull out the dirty tricks."

Whatever they thought was in there, this had better be one damn good explanation. "I hear you," Ichigo ground out, pulling on dark fabric. Weird; felt just a little metallic. Why? "But be careful, damn it! They've got guns and you're not bulletproof."

Kuno coughed. Kirsi giggled.

Even Li's eyes thawed a bit, as he took something folded and black out of his back jeans pocket and shook it out.

Ichigo blinked at the longcoat, darker than black, with an odd yellow-green lining. How the hell did all that fold up into a pocket? "What is that?"

Li shrugged it on, almost smiling. "As a friend of mine said... it's not a fashion statement."


That must be Yin's window, Hei thought, studying the pigeon-smeared pane of glass overlooking where they crouched by the artificial pool in the house's garden. Leaves and pond scum choked the water, muting the tiny waterfall to a fitful gurgle. But none of that got in the way of Yin's specter. The pale blue shimmer in the shape of a girl rested her hand on his shoulder, light as probing fingers of wind.

Dolls are changing. Yin can touch things now.

Or at least she could touch him. And Mao. Huang, not so much. Ishida speculated it was spirit powers interacting with spirit; that Yin's specter was becoming less a bodiless observer and more like a true shikigami.

Which was why he'd just signed at her to stay out of sight. Bad enough if the possible Contractor inside saw her. If it could touch her-

If I can touch someone, they're dead.

Ichigo was crouched down by him, just vibrating a little as he frowned at the pool and then the nearby window, evidently reminding himself that they needed a second to breathe before they assessed the situation. Not bad for sixteen. Not at all.

Orange brows flew up suddenly, just as Yin's specter sank down into concealing water. But Ichigo stifled any sound of surprise, mouthing, She looks through water?

Hei nodded. Moved, still low, marking suited forms shifting inside and one vaguely stirring child.

Better to go now, take the boy while he's still out-

Ichigo's hand grabbed his arm.

He wouldn't do that without a reason. Hei cast the teen a glance.

"Something's wrong in there." Ichigo's face was pale, but determined. "Karakura's got... weird earthquakes. That old hospital? Last time I felt something like this, the place tore itself apart."

Prioritize exit over kills, Hei noted. "Understood." He raised an eyebrow.

Ichigo swallowed, but didn't bristle at going over their scanty plan again. "You go, I count to five while you get them away from the window. I grab the kid, I get out, I don't look back. Rendezvous later."

Hei nodded, satisfied. Someone had thumped a degree of mission sense into a teenage skull. If it'd been Urahara, the shinigami was not just powerful, but patient. Very, very dangerous.

Problem for later.

The problem now was a simple sheet of glass. Granted, it wasn't laminated high-rise glass. But there was no convenient place to swing from to crash through feet-first, and most Yakuza bosses had a rudimentary sense of self-preservation. Meaning he was probably gauging that shimmer under the smears correctly and that was bulletproof glass.

No clear line of sight from outside; he doesn't have to worry about snipers, Hei reflected, reaching into his pocket for two specific packets he'd taken out of his gear earlier. And Yakuza run toward cheap. If he's just worried about handguns... it's probably not tougher than Level 3.

Ichigo stared at the clayey off-white bits Hei was breaking off and sticking tiny timers in, eyes just a little wide. "...Um."

Hei knew that face; from Huang, other handlers, and no few bemused Syndicate trainers. Especially if they realized what Bai's power was.

You carry explosives. In your pocket. Why.

Hei shrugged. "You never met my last landlady."


Sweat dripped down the side of Takeoka's face as he motioned Miyamae forward with the squirming brat. Miyamae didn't look happy about it. Too damn bad.

One more. Just one more to feed this thing-

Miyamae swallowed, looking at the other two guys for backup and not finding it. "You sure the boss asked for a kid?"

"What Boss Yanase asks for, the boss gets," Takeoka said flatly. Hand not near his gun; the plan was to act confident. Let the low-levels think he was wavering and he'd be Yanase's next meal. "Think about all of us, Miyamae. Boss gets what he needs, then he'll nap for a while. Like he always does. And then maybe we can... take a vacation."

Well, Takeoka would. Yanase had munched on underlings before, he'd probably take Miyamae and the others out before he even thought about Takeoka. And that'd buy him enough time to get on a plane. Curses couldn't cross the sea, right?

Yanase's curses had already put three made men or their families into the hospital. A couple in graves. Takeoka was not going to be next. Even if that meant feeding the damn evil spirit Karakura General's whole maternity ward.

Sheesh, Miyamae ought to be thanking me. It's just one kid.

He took another step toward the empty space where Yanase's chair had been, placed to overlook the pond, all those months back before Karakura's weird earthquake. Their group had cleared all the furniture and bodies from the fancy dining hall back then. Which was good, because otherwise there wouldn't be room for the pitiful lumps of garbage he was stepping around.

They'd have to change clothes after they were done here. Wasn't enough room deodorizer in the world to cover the stink.

Feed it, get the hell out of here - maybe send an exorcist back here later, Takeoka thought. If it works, good; the boys who live'll owe me. If not...

Something wavered in the air, like waves of cold instead of heat. Behind him Takeoka heard the kid whimper, before one of the shaking Yakuza covered his mouth.

...Then Yanase'll be hungry again anyway.

"Aaaahhhh..."

Nails across a temple bell. A torrent of tsunami water surging over everything. Yanase's voice was all of those, and yet still firm and cold as the boss had been in flesh.

"...A snack." Too-long fingers flexed, like a spider testing its web. Shadows of teeth gleamed. "But first... how goes the reorganization, Takeoka? What progress have you made toward Boss Wada's permanent retirement?"

"He's been hard to budge," Takeoka reported, feeling sweat turn icy. "Haven't been able to get him here for you personal, Boss. Give us a little more time." Damn it, he wants to talk first. This is bad. The longer he's awake, the more of us he'll eat-

Something crackled, like tiny festival fireworks.

The window? Takeoka jerked his head that way, spirit or no spirit. No way, that's bulletproof-!

Shatter-white glass crumpled, falling in one sparkling sheet, followed by dark and fast and urk-


Ichigo dove into the edge of chaos, wishing he had the nerves to spare to watch a black coat, whipping wires, and startled Yakuza mooks going down like three of him had cut loose in a bad mood.

Only he couldn't. Because the little hairs on the back of his neck were all trying to run screaming from the shimmer in the middle of a half-dozen dead bodies. A shimmer with glowing eyes, and reaching fingers, and teeth.

And under the storm-snarl, the clink of a chain.

Jibakurei. I should've known, I should have, Orihime and the others said this part of town was drawing Hollows - it's a damn earthbound ghost. Not a Hollow, not yet, but it's already eating people-!

He could see the black burns on the fresher bodies. Hand prints. Lip prints, on what had been a woman's neck.

Part of him wanted nothing more than to bolt and lose his lunch in ragged bushes. And just keep running. He didn't have powers anymore, there was nothing he could do-

Yes. There is.

Step in. Knock the hand reaching for the weapon away; gun, dagger, it didn't matter. Keep moving into a yank against the thumb gripping Hideyo, even as his other hand delivered a palm-heel strike that knocked the Yakuza back and into something that squished...

Don't look!

Ichigo snatched up the screaming kid under one arm, wishing he could scream himself. The half-heard moaning, the deep-sea pressure building in his head and nerves - he didn't need to see the hole opening in a demi-Hollow's chest to know when one was about to turn. "Hideyo! Your mom sent us. We have to get out of here."

Another thrash, then the kid went mostly limp. "There's a monster!"

"I know!" Ah hell, yet another Karakura resident stuck seeing the spirit world. It was amazing the shinigami hadn't quarantined the place-

The world imploded.

...Ow, Ichigo thought; ears ringing, knee a distinct throb of pain where it'd hit the expensive wood floor. But at least he hadn't dropped Hideyo. Or fallen into anything dead-

Dead. Spirit implosion. Hollow's reforming right damn now! Ichigo tried to shake off the shock, jerking his head toward where Li had just dropped the last thug like a load of cheap laundry. And winced, holding his head like...

Like he can hear the screaming.

Spiritual sensitivity meant spirit energy meant Hollow snack. "We have to run- Duck!"

Li moved, faster than anyone Ichigo'd seen not cheating with spirit powers. The blur of claws was just so much bigger than human.

It's going to-

Li twisted even as the claws clipped his shoulder, turning the impact into a no-hands cartwheel that flipped him out of the Hollow's grasp.

Ah hell, that's got to burn...

And he was standing here like an idiot and not moving. Because he'd been a shinigami, and that was a Hollow, and all his training said move forward, strike, don't let it get away!

Li's faster than I am. If it can swat him-

A breath tickled his skin. Hideyo's head slumped over into the side of his throat, face slack with the all-too-familiar pallor of a spirit-sensitive who'd been flattened by greater power.

If we go down, Hideyo's dead.

It hurt. It hurt his pride, his training, maybe even his soul. But he knew what Rukia would do. What she had done, fighting Shrieker, to save Chad and a kid's soul stuck in a parakeet.

Run. Call for backup. "Get outside! We can't fight it in here!"

He bolted for the empty window-frame, dodging bodies and groaning thugs, heart in his throat. The hell with fighting it in here, they might not be able to fight it at all. Sure, Chad had swatted Shrieker with a telephone pole - but that was Chad. Far as Urahara could tell he'd had buried powers long before Ichigo'd ever met him. Just ask the people whose motorcycles had hit him. Chad had walked away in one piece.

All we've got is a little blurry ghost-sight and maybe a teaspoon of spirit-pressure between us. We wouldn't do any better than that TV idiot Don Kanonji.

Kirsi probably had more power, he'd seen that odd shimmer in her shape leaning over Li from the water... but she was the team's lookout. She didn't fight. She shouldn't fight - if that was a spirit projection the Hollow would just eat it. And who knew how that'd hurt her.

But it's a pure Hollow now. Soul Society's radar ought to be ringing bells all over the place. Uryuu and everybody should feel it. All we have to do is stay alive until they get here, if Uryuu uses that Quincy flying leg he'll be here in minutes-!

Half a breath, and Ichigo ducked and jumped-

It was like running into concrete. Concrete on fire.

Tail, Ichigo thought, head ringing as he slid away from a shimmer that was long, curved, and way too solid. The back of his neck was burning, all the way down his spine. Of course the bastard's got a tail.

And the Hollow was already smart enough to leave Li - who should have been more tantalizing prey - to keep all of them from getting away.

Minutes is going to be too long-

Shimmer. Slashing toward the two of them. Ichigo rolled, but it was so fast.

A black wire whipped past Ichigo's nose, carabiner end wrapping itself tight around shimmering air before latching onto the wire. The cord went taut, and yanked.

Claws skimmed through Ichigo's hair, and a howl shook his bones.

"What is it?" Li had both gloved hands and all his weight bracing the wire, face pale. "Not human. Not a Contractor-"

"It's a Hollow - an evil spirit!" Ichigo tried to shake off blurry vision, and caught the shadow of a tail flexing to move. "Let go!"

For a second he thought Li would be too stunned by evil spirit to react. But one of Li's hands dropped to his belt, and the wire cut loose just as the Hollow surged, black cord snapping up to strike against a snarling bone-white mask.

I saw it, Ichigo realized, stunned. Just for a second, but-

Not important. The wire had just glanced off the mask, the Hollow was still coming.

Only now it had a very visible black flutter telegraphing its moves. Because no matter how the Hollow tugged and snarled, it couldn't seem to phase through Li's wire.

If we can see it, we've got a chance. "Watch out for the tail," Ichigo got out, staggering upright. "And the claws."

"Tail." Li moved close so he could grab a hand to get all the way up, voice flat in a way that said, I'm going to freak out about this later. "How do we fight it?"

"You need spirit powers that can blast a hole in concrete," Ichigo admitted, "or-"

Wire and Hollow shimmered, gone.

"Ah, hell," Ichigo groaned. "Why's this one have to be smart?"

Li whirled, almost back to back with him. "It teleported?"

"Close enough." And he was going to freak out about Li not freaking out later. Because Li had said teleported the same way Tatsuki would have said flying kick; something nasty but normal for the guy pounding on you to pull out of his bag of tricks. "It's not here right now, but they don't like to run from food. It'll come back somewhere it doesn't think we're looking-"

He almost saw the glint of steel in time.

The strike from above seared his shoulders, drove him to his knees and side even as he curled to protect Hideyo. Because there was nothing else he could do. The tail was coiled around his legs and squeezing, claws pierced through his shirt like flaming razors, and it was just too goddamn strong.

I'm going to die like Mom did.

...I tried...

A black glove snagged the dangling wire.

Ichigo's breath caught, every muscle twitching, the pain of Hollow-burns almost forgotten. Because static across his skin slammed him back to facing down that damn idiot Byakuya on an execution ground for Rukia's life, one elegant finger touching his shoulder to blast lightning through spiritual flesh and bone.

Byakurai. How-?

The Hollow convulsed, screeching; and if claws dug in and drew blood Ichigo didn't care. The tail spasmed. Went loose.

Roll!

Ichigo came up in a crouch, still clutching the kid, squinting against the light now flaring in the shadows. Blue-white, like a shinigami raising reiatsu to flatten his opponent into the dust. Only it was around Li, as sparks flew from the wire; real sparks, he could taste the ozone, and how the hell had someone who could barely see Hollows weaponized lightning? He would have sworn Li couldn't be a shinigami-

And he would have been right, because that red glow in Li's eyes was one he'd seen before. When Hiyori lifted her Vizard mask. Only there was no mask.

What. The. Hell?

The Hollow thrashed again, shimmering outlined with crackling sparks, ozone biting the air. Li's lips thinned, glow brightening enough to cast shadows-

A wail, and the monster burst into glittering spirit particles, blowing away on the wind.

He purified it. Ichigo got to his feet, shaky. Like Orihime with Tsubaki.

And like Orihime calling on her most deadly fairy, it looked like it'd cost him. Li was actually breathing hard as he wrapped the wire in loops from hand to elbow, before he stored the bundle in a pouch on his belt. "Get ready to exfil," he said raggedly. "They'll have seen that spike."

"Damn it," Kuno groaned. "Did you have to?"

"He had to," Ichigo jumped in. Because he was guessing exfil meant exfiltration, and no. Just no. "But you can't leave. You need help. Hollow wounds fester. It's bad."

Li was shaking his head. "I can't be here, the cops are coming-"

"Damn right you can't be here!" Ichigo cut him off. "People are going to come for that Hollow, some of them people I know, and no way am I explaining that window-"

Wait. What?

"Cops?" Ichigo asked warily. "We haven't called them." Not to mention Karakura cops knew better than to go near mysterious booms. At least until the dust settled.

"Not your cops." Li gave him a serious stare. "People you know?"

"...Explain later?" Ichigo ventured.

Li nodded. "Run beta."

"Copy that," Kuno said gruffly.

Ichigo blinked at the short crackle of static, before the comm went silent. "Beta?" He reached up to take the comm off his ear, because Li just had and twitchy as the guy was he didn't want Li startled-

Fingers encountered hair still standing on end, glomping onto his hand like the static-kiss of death.

Ichigo craned his eyes sideways to glimpse waving orange strands. Looked at Li's mussed, but still perfectly flat, black hair. "That is just not fair."

"Practice." Li tossed something small and black his way.

Ichigo caught the plastic comb, and tried not to growl. Or maybe groan. "Why."

"To hide the evidence."

Right. Way, way easier to explain finding a lost kid if he didn't look like he'd grabbed the wrong end of a power cable. Ichigo licked the plastic and set to work-

The heck? "Now what are you doing?" Because Li was glowing again, as he moved from thug to thug, each one twitching as Li flattened a hand on their face.

"Keeping them out until the cops get here." Li's face was cold again. "They won't remember the last hour."

Ichigo swallowed. "...You can do that."

"The brain runs on electricity." Li glanced at Hideyo drooling on Ichigo's shoulder; still out, but not as pale. A flicker of uncertainty shadowed the chill. "I... don't want to hurt him..."

"The Hollow knocked him cold," Ichigo said soberly, pulling the comb through to flatten his hair somewhere close to normal. "Anything in the last ten minutes is going to be fuzzy. And he's eight and going to be talking about monsters." He shifted the kid with a wince; explaining the Hollow burns to Goat-Face was going to be so much fun. "Are we climbing out of here?"

The faintest hint of a smile crossed Li's face. "I thought we might use the front door."

A bit of a scramble, two locks, one gate, and they were out. Ichigo'd never been so glad to breathe street exhaust in his life.

Oh man, I hurt everywhere.

Li had to be hurting just as much, but no one would have seen it in the way he moved, heading for the cover of the nearest alley with a black cat's unhurried grace. "You found the kid here," Li stated, stripping off coat, harness, and black shirt. "Looked like he had heatstroke. You heard sounds from the house, but the kid was more important..."

Ichigo winced, seeing the Hollow-burn plain on Li's shoulder before the white shirt covered it. He still didn't know how the damn stuff got you even through clothes. Probably because it was a spirit-wound. "And we split up a few streets back, you were searching the blocks north of here. Weren't there, didn't hear it, couldn't have seen it." Damn it, that still didn't explain why Li wouldn't be with him, not to mention the little matter of claw-marks- oh. That might work. "And I waved you down and told you the kid was fine, yeah I'm a mess, the kid was squeezed in behind that dumpster and I should've been more careful, I got hung up, I'm going right back to the clinic to get a tetanus shot. So you went home to take care of your sick uncle."

Another faint smile. "Good. Always keep your story simple. And stick to it."

"You still better explain," Ichigo grumbled. "Beta?"

"Second exfil plan," Li obliged. "We wait long enough for pursuers to think we've bolted from the area before we leave."

Damn. I should be taking notes. "You worked that out in advance."

"You'd rather fight with speed than strength." Blue eyes met his. "Half the trick of speed is thinking out what you're going to do before it ever happens."

"So you don't have to think when it happens," Ichigo realized. "That's... oh." Oh, damn it, why didn't Sandal-Hat ever say that?

Li took a deep breath. "I want to explain. I will explain. Later. But right now a special unit is on their way from Tokyo, and if you want to get through any interview with them with your memories intact, you can't know what happened."

Memory-wiping. Argh. Why did the shinigami even bother, wasn't like people would believe stories of monsters these days. Not to mention, creepy. Which covered way too much of Soul Society; see Kurotsuchi, all of freakin' Twelfth Division, and even Urahara for goodness' sake, no wonder Aizen had gotten away with stealing pieces of people's souls for who knew how many centuries. Hell, Kurotsuchi had gotten away with torturing Quincy souls to destruction, and he was still a captain.

Add another checkmark to "die, head straight for Kuukaku, do not pass Go, do not go to Seireitei".

And why would shinigami bother wiping their memories now? They knew Ichigo knew about Hollows, and usually they left anyone with him alone, it did less damage that way-

Wait. Wait, cops from Tokyo? Oh, that just froze sweat all down his spine. "There are living cops who can mess with your memories?" Ichigo demanded.

"Living-?" Li cut himself off. "Dr. Ishida's not happy about that either. If everything goes wrong, if we can't explain - Ishida knows most of it. Ask him. Tell him I said you could know everything. Tell him... my name is Hei."

Hei. It tingled, like hearing a zanpakutou's name for the first time.

Not all of him, but part of him. The dangerous part.

Hideyo grumbled something in his sleep, and Ichigo reached up to shift messy hair just a little farther away from his aches. "Okay, but if Ishida knows you show him those burns, I wasn't kidding-"

He was alone in the alley.

"...How does he do that?"


A/N: Now Ichigo's met Hei.

...Enjoy picturing orange Ichigo-floof.

Did you know there are different grades of bulletproof glass? Canon, I imagine Hei would. ;)

Yes, I know the DtB anime uses "Kuro no Shinigami" (Shinigami in Black) rather than "Kuroi Shinigami" (Black Shinigami). But neither Hei nor Mao (real name Ricardo) are native Japanese speakers, and Hei gained the title of Black Reaper in South America. They're not going to use the poetic translation, they'd use the closest literal one.

(Note the anime characters who do use "Kuro no Shinigami" are all Japanese!)

Yes, Hei's team did use real names as aliases. Meta, so readers have a chance of recognizing them by name. In-universe - they had a very short time to bug out, and Huang/Kuno Kiyoshi might not have had any fake IDs to fall back on, given he was openly living under his real name.