...Arrival, part 2...

"…care to help?" the amber eyed man crooned, leaning some weight into his walking cane. He flashed a toothy smile, as if waiting to hear the punch line of some perverse joke.

The large bearded man behind him was not so emotive; his eyes slimmed at the eyes of the shop owners, unflinching at the intensity of the tension of the situation. Ichigo took a quick glance at the behemoth, and shuttered at the sudden feeling of déjà vu, as if they had met before. Of course, it was most likely not under the best of situations.

"Or maybe I should've made an appointment with your cute secretary, then?" All of his muscles tensed at the voice… It came from behind me!? Ichigo's mind screamed in alarm, and turned around in disbelief.

He spotted the fair raven haired woman behind the counter uninjured, although just as shocked as he was. The old man, who had just a second ago been in front of him…was somehow leaning on the cashier counter, moping with a look of boredom on his aged face. Even from where he stood, Ichigo could hear his wife's controlled breaths, as if she were trying to hide from a vicious tiger on the hunt.

"Excuse me…" Ichigo jumped slightly, and turned again to face an older woman carrying a pot of flowers. "Excuse me, Dr. Kurosaki…" she said sweetly. He stepped to the side, and watched wordlessly as the woman continued ahead to the counter, completely oblivious to the situation unfolding.

"I think you should take that, Mrs. Kurosaki…" the old man nonchalantly suggested, now leaning both his elbows, back towards the counter. Rukia's violet eyes glanced back to her husband, and shuddered just barely when he simply sent her a nod. She took a deep breath, and looked toward the older woman and smiled warmly; casually leading them towards the cash register on the other side.

"Astounding acting ability, wouldn't you say?" The man observed.

"Get out of our store…" Ichigo finally growled, now given a miniscule amount of ease from Rukia's slight distance from the three of them.

The man's amber eyes shot back towards him, serious unlike before. However, this quickly changed as a yawn broke his intimidating stare, and he now stared with a wily interest. "Look, I know we've had our little squabbles in the past…"

"You Ataenushi freaks kidnapping my daughter is 'little'!?"

"Psh…can't believe he called himself that…I bet he was really jealous of me…" the man mumbled, before clearing his throat and glancing again toward Ichigo. "That wasn't my idea…that was Hisashi …my brother. Personally, I thought it was just plain stupid…you and your friends were the ones who killed Aizen for goodness sakes!"

"What?" Ichigo was caught off guard by the comment, not knowing any way to respond.

"You know, really creepy looking old guy, and really melodramatic as well…you killed him with your bankai…?" The man unflinchingly questioned.

"He said something about using me…so am I still a target? Or did you just think Uryuu would've been easier to grab?" His question was answered with a soft snort, as the old man tried to hold in his laughter.

"My brother had a different objective than mine…he wanted to wage a suicidal war against Sereitei, while I on the other hand, have a different target…" He placed his hat onto the counter, and with a simple gesture of his fingers, directed the large bearded man to find a seat. "One who had had done harm to you in recent history, if I'm not mistaken…"

"And that would be…"

"Tsk, tsk…" the suited man waved a finger in disapproval, "that's not what I'm here to talk about, doctor. You see, I really need this pain in my back taken care of."

"Like I give a crap about what's messing up with your health…" Ichigo growled again, only to be answered by another bout of soft laughter as well.

"This…pain isn't a 'what', but a 'who'…it was a metaphor of sorts…" Seeing that the orange haired doctor was still looking uninterested, the suited man raised his cane into view, and grabbing hold of both the end and side, slid it open to reveal a blade. "Raidentetsuya's buddy is in town…he can feel its presence, even as I speak…"

That Zanpaktou's name…

"You know, when a kidnapper fails at their job, it doesn't take long for authorities to track them down. The really skilled ones who manage to elude capture are smart enough to lay low…but of course, only the really troubled ones often go back to finish it…and I have no doubt in my mind that Ping could be a sure candidate…"

"What's the catch, old man?" Ichigo quickly said.

"What? Can't you see that this is just an old man's attempt at apologizing for what rash decision his brother made?" He said with a hurt look on his face, but quickly gave up when Ichigo wouldn't fall for it. He chuckled at this, but it wasn't out of mockery. "I simply give you this opportunity, so you could say, overlook any pleas from help from above, and finally stop from being a Sereitei dog like you are…"

They stared each other down now, neither making a move or a sound. That is, until Kazuhiro's amber eyes quickly glanced down at the single yellow flower sitting in a vase of water. He glanced back toward Ichigo, and wordlessly took his leave, but stopped short of pushing open the door, ringing the bell just slightly.

"Send Renji my regards…" then he left.

"I'll be back to kill you, Vizard…" Ichigo's attention switched toward the large man, "…be sure of that…" was all he growled, before he too, left to the sound of the bell chime.

"Wait…" Ichigo breathed out. "…Renji?"

--

I can't believe I'm doing this… Renji groaned to himself. In front of him stood a two story school building, decorated thoroughly in celebration of the school play.

The red haired Vice Captain was surely in denial—how could a Shinigami officer be so terrified of such a little thing…? No…it was probably the anxiety getting to him…

He took a deep breath in and out and slowly made his way to the open doorway, confident that he could take on this…challenge…but then cowardly sauntered back to his spot in the courtyard.

Geez…my knees are shaking… he growled at his sudden ineptitude and cowardice. What's to be afraid of? Urahara said she'd be here, along with my d-…my dau-"

"You ok, man?"

Renji's heart jumped from surprise, and with an astounding show of ability, he blasted midair and fell backwards to the ground at least five feet from where he previously stood. He looked to his would be attacker, and sighed out of embarrassment when only a teenager and a slightly older woman stared at his strange behavior.

"Oh, sorry about that…did I scare you that bad?" he laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head; although the brunette woman wore large sunglasses, Renji swore he could see her eyes roll out of boredom. "Are you here to see the show?"

"Uh…yeah…" he mumbled, and looked around for any other witnesses to his embarrassment.

"Well, you shouldn't just stand around you know, the show's already started!" The teen smiled and escorted the woman up the steps toward the entrance; ushering Renji after them with his free hand. Reluctantly, he followed them into the building.

"You ever been here before?" the teen asked casually, his eyes roaming up and down the trophy cases as they walked down the hallway.

"N…no…but I know someone who, uh…does…" Get a grip, Renji…she's your daug-

"What's your name? I'd hate to piss off a Yakuza by calling him an old man, hahah…" the teen said with a surprising calm.

He better not be talking about my tattoos… "It's Renji…" he attempted to growl, as intimidating the teen could provide a way to gain some sort of false confidence at this point.

"You know, I hear Emiko Arisawa is a really good lead. I wonder where she got her acting ability; her mom…or her dad…"Renji involuntarily sighed at the 'D' word, but at least it was soft enough for the other two not to hear.

They had finally reached the auditorium doors, which were closed as the show was on already. Still, between looking at the timed schedule poster and their watches, it was only five more minutes before intermission. Although there was no usher at the door the three of them decided to stay outside, as to not cause any distraction to the actors and audience already inside.

"By the way," the teen said to break the silence, "I'm Ping, and this is Suzume…" he introduced the two of them.

Some words from the-

Yosh!!! Kon here! That hottie, Yoruichi wanted me to tell you guys that the review responses will be taking a short reprieve for now! Anyways, instead, there'll be a new section down here for future chapters, called "OC Trivia Corner", mainly explaining about the many OCs of this fanfic universe, and how each story is related to each other!!

Ok, see you guys then!!!