That night, they were on watch again. There was still nothing from the Bount, and there wasn't any word on Ichigo or his companions. Nobody had seen them or felt any strong spirit force, so Miyako decided to take her usual spot in a tree, watching the horizon. She hadn't felt the familiar spirit force she did a few days ago, and there hadn't been any word from the Captain or the lieutenant, so Ikkaku allowed 11th squad to patrol where they pleased. Unfortunately, he was a little loose with specifics, so some members took it upon themselves to party instead. Sometimes Seireitei would erupt in loud, drunken yells and it would echo out towards the north. Miyako shook her head and sighed.

Ikkaku is going to make them regret this in the morning, she thought to herself. Nevertheless…everyone is treating the Bount invasion as if it was nothing. Maybe I shouldn't be so vigilant.

A twig snapped.

Miyako gripped her soul slayer, slowly pulled it out halfway, and narrowed her eyes. She remained incredibly still and concealed her spirit power as best as she could as she tried to search for a second presence. Her breath grew bated and she slowly glanced down into the darkness. After a pause, a loud voice suddenly called out and shattered the silence.

"Hey! Miyako! You out here?"

What??? That inconceivable idiot! Miyako gritted her teeth and looked up at the moon in disbelief. Jamming her sword back into its sheath, she jumped down, landing in front of Renji.

"What the fuck are you doing out here??" she growled.

"You know, you're awfully stupid to pick the exact same spot as last time," Renji grinned.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Miyako crossed her arms. "Like stalk Rukia?"

Renji's grin turned into a scowl and he narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is your problem?"

"You're following me!"

"You're acting weird!"

"How would you know?"

Renji sighed. "Okay, so 11th squad members are loners, I'll give you that. But ever since the Bount arrived in Soul Society, you've been a little…off."

Suddenly, Miyako punched Renji hard in the face. His head snapped backwards and he put a hand to his cheek.

"How's that for off?!?" Miyako yelled.

Renji rubbed his cheek. "DAMMIT!" he bellowed. "I'm a lieutenant! Show me a little respect, would ya?"

"Baka! Barging through the woods, yelling my name!" Miyako snapped at him. "Whatever was out here is probably gone now, no thanks to you. You have such a loud mouth; the whole of Soul Society could've heard you for miles!"

"Just what is it that you're looking for?" Renji pressed. "Captain Zaraki was just out here the other night, and he said that there was nothing here!" He crossed his arms and examined her closely. "Yet I wonder what you're doing out here, in the same spot, all by yourself."

Miyako gritted her teeth in anger and shook her head. "As I recall, Lieutenant, you're a part of 6th squad, not the 11th. So, with all due respect, sir, get out of my business."

"As a lieutenant of the 6th squad, I have the authority to report you to my Captain," Renji smiled and crossed his arms.

Miyako rolled her eyes. "On what grounds?"

"Evidence that you're hiding something from the rest of Seireitei."

"Do it," she dared him. "Report me to Captain Kuchiki. If anything, you'll waste his time and get yourself into trouble, and I'll at least have the pleasure of standing in front of his desk for a few minutes."

Renji stared at her in surprise, wide-eyed, and a grin started to slowly form across his face. Miyako had realized what she blurted out too late to take it back, and Renji was all over it. He let out a giddy laugh.

"Oh, so now it all comes out! I can't wait to tell this to Ikkaku!" he looked like a kid in a candy store. He started naming names, listing them off of his fingers. "Rangiku…Yumichika…Izuru…Shuhei…definitely Yashiru…"

"Tell anyone and you're dead," Miyako snarled.

Like a cat cornering a mouse, Renji cocked his head and smiled maliciously. He unsheathed his soul slayer and rested it on his shoulder.

"Try me."

Miyako curled her lip and pulled out her soul slayer, but Renji was already dashing into the woods. She let out an angry grunt and ran after him, dodging trees and keeping a keen ear to his movements. The leaves were rustling and the grass was crunching softly as they trod upon it, but they hardly made any sound as they moved incredibly swiftly and quietly through the woods. It was dark, and moonlight only shone through in patches, making the navigation through the thick foliage and trees harder than normal, but Miyako listened for Renji's footsteps, his breathing, and felt the wind on her skin and hair as the air would rush through in different patters as he moved through it. Eventually, she caught up to him and the loud clang of soul slayers smashed the silence in the woods as they locked into battle.

Renji enjoyed every minute of it. The 6th squad didn't spar nearly as much as the 11th squad had, as they abided mostly to the rules instead of breaking them, and Renji wasn't used to the lack of fighting. He had more than his fill of it when Ichigo Kurosaki first invaded Soul Society - nearly dying three times - and he had been beaten in the human world against the Bount's strange spirit-capturing contraptions, but the former incident was up against very tough odds and the latter his spirit force was constrained in a foreign world. Both experiences made him come out stronger than before, and he was the only lieutenant in Seireitei able to perform Bankai. Miyako, of course, knew all of this, and there was no way she could ever beat Renji at the level she was at, but she was from the 11th squad. In 11th squad, it never mattered who or how strong your opponent was; you either fight or die. Miyako always chose to fight, and Renji admired that about her. The 11th squad members all had the same resolve and he missed that. He missed their spars together. It was the first time in a long time he really got to unleash against a comrade instead of an enemy, more out of fun than of anger or despair.

As they clashed together, Renji couldn't help but smile. His playful grin made Miyako even more irate, however, and she clenched her teeth together as she gripped her soul slayer tightly and swung it at him again and again. They moved quickly and rebounded off of the trees; their swift movements making leaves fall softly to the ground and pieces of rock and dirt would fly up at random. Miyako lunged against Renji and smashed her blade against his, and he countered with a jump and a slash. Miyako dodged out of the way, but a loud rumble interrupted their fighting.

Miyako, who was on her knees, looked around.

"What is that?"

Renji's eyes darted around the forest, and the loud creaking and groaning turned their attention to a large tree. Miyako stood up and trotted towards Renji to get out of the way, as leaves started to fall everywhere and the tree shook violently. The trunk began to slide slant-ways towards the ground from Renji's slash. With a loud roar, the tree tipped over and the leaves and wood made a deafening sound as it all crashed down to the ground.

Miyako and Renji stared at the tree, then looked at each other. Stifling a laugh, Miyako tried to hide her smile. Renji sheathed his soul slayer and grinned.

"Oops."

They both snorted and chuckled as they stared at the tree.

"Captain Soi Fon is going to be pissed," Renji snickered.

"Baka. Weren't you aiming at all?" Miyako grinned at him.

"I was aiming for you…I guess I overdid it," Renji put his arms behind his head.

As Miyako examined the large fallen tree, a different flash of color off to the side caught her eye. As she scanned the woods, she spotted something that was out of the ordinary. She reached out and gripped Renji's arm.

"Look!"

Renji followed her gaze and his brow furrowed. They both trotted closer to the figure and saw that it was a body.

"It's a resident from Rukongai," Renji said grimly.

Miyako knelt down over the body. A pool of blood had collected under it, and whoever it was, he was face-down. She shook her head.

"Dead," she sighed. "It looks like he's been like this for a while."

Renji clenched his jaw and scanned the woods using the strange blue sunglasses as he did before.

"I hadn't felt any reiatsu out here," Miyako said. "Maybe they've moved on?"

Renji didn't reply. He folded the scanner up and stuck it in a pocket. Instead, he started to walk deeper into the woods, passing the body.

"Renji?" Miyako stared after him, but he didn't respond. She walked after him, but after a short while, he stopped and stuck out his arm to halt her.

"Renji, what are you – "

"Shh!" Renji hissed. His expression looked harsh, but he stared straight ahead. Miyako followed his gaze and gasped.

There were at least seven or eight additional bodies strewn about in the woods. They were all dead, lying in pools of blood. One of them was decapitated, another had a missing arm. Most of them had torso wounds.

"Who…?" Miyako whispered.

Renji shook his head. "I don't know, but some of them have soul slayer wounds."

Miyako examined the bodies more closely. Renji was right; the decapitated body's head was cleanly sliced off. Some of the torso wounds were deep slashes. The rest of the bodies had ugly exit wounds, as if something larger and more blunt had been used.

"But…do you think the Bount are responsible for this?"

"A Death God wouldn't leave a mess like this lying around," Renji replied. "These men hardly seemed a threat, either. I can't imagine one of our squad members coming out here just to kill a few residents from Rukongai."

"Captain Zaraki…" Miyako trailed off.

Renji glanced at Miyako. "He probably sensed what was going on out here way before we did. I'm sure he's following leads."

Miyako sighed. "Still…we have to report this."

Renji nodded. "Yeah. We do."