Hello, dearest readers! This chapter is pretty much a fluff piece that leads up to the excitement. It's a school setting for most of it until close to the end. After that, all hell breaks loose in the next chapter, which I'm sure you're all waiting for. But let's focus on this one for now. In this chapter, all of the characters just try to play it cool while the mystery guy stalks them, trying to find a weakness to exploit. Let us see if he manages to find one. Enjoy the latest chapter!

Chapter 6

The next day, we all made our way to school, except for Gingka and Kitsune. I dropped them off at Kisuke's shop with Toshiro and we both headed back in the direction of Karakura High School. He kept the kido short enough so that he could brush the back of his hand against mine. He always did have a thing for constant contact after the time he thought I was dead. Ever since then, he would do little things to feel my warmth and remind himself that I was still here. It was more of an absentminded habit, one that I never minded since I liked it.

"You don't sense the mystery guy yet, do you?" Toshiro asked quietly so that only I could hear him.

"No, he's not following me yet," I told him. "If he was getting remotely close, I would be able to tell. I'll let you know when I feel him getting close."

He nodded and we carried on walking in silence. I could feel that he was still apprehensive about me being the bait and so I reached over to take his hand in mine. Then I walked a little closer so I could rest my head against his shoulder for a little while. The moment we reached the corner that we wound need to turn right on so we could be at the school, I pulled away from him and slid my hand from his. I gave him an apologetic look and he shrugged as we carried on walking, hearing the first bell ring that signaled that the students had only five minutes to get to class. I could see Ichigo waiting by the gate as we approached and he began to grin.

"You made it just in time! I'm surprised about that. I figured that the two of you would take off for some alone time."

"Ichigo, when you marry someone, it's not all about alone time. It's about the love you share with the other person," I told him with a pleasant grin that soon morphed into a devious smirk. "Although, the sordid activities during alone time are quite fun. Right, Shiro?"

"You're not wrong," Toshiro said with a mirroring smirk.

I looked over at Ichigo and could see that his face had turned bright red, his mouth opening and closing as if he had something to say but was rendered speechless. After a few more seconds of acting like a fish, he finally just turned around and headed towards the school, both Toshiro and I laughing to ourselves. It was just as I was walking inside when I felt the presence of the mystery guy on the edges of the perimeter that I could actually sense. It was as if he couldn't quite find me yet and was narrowing down his options. I knew it would take until lunchtime before he made it to this district and began stalking me.

I was beyond bored. The teacher was talking about some sort of math that I had zero interest in and I could see Toshiro out of the corner of my eye just absorbing it like a sponge. Since Ichigo was a bit taller than me, I would hunch down so the teacher couldn't see me and drift off to sleep in my boredom. Toshiro would keep tugging on the kido shackles to jostle my arm just enough to force me back into consciousness and each time I would turn to glare at him. Even though he would give me a stern look, I could see the gleam of amusement in his turquoise eyes.

After that, the teacher began to lecture about weather, which was a topic that I simply loved. Being married to Toshiro for two years meant that I could forever be with someone who could alter the weather, depending on whether or not he needed it snowy or stormy. Some days, since he knew how much I loved thunderstorms, he would ask Hyorinmaru to change the weather for me either during the day or night. Toshiro could do that himself but only for short periods of time in comparison to his Zanpakuto spirit.

I sat up straight in my chair and listened raptly to what the teacher had to say on the subject. I wished that I could change weather like others could. All I can do if I tried is make it really bright or really dark. I could hear Toshiro laughing quietly under his breath but I completely ignored him, opting to just listen to the lecture until Toshiro let out a tiny snicker that he couldn't stifle. The teacher gazed up from her book to give Toshiro a stern look.

"Mr. Hitsugaya, is there something about my lecture that you find funny?" she asked seriously.

"No, ma'am," he said, forcing himself to calm down. "I apologize for my outburst. It won't happen again."

The teacher nodded before turning to me with a small smile. "You should take a lesson from him in politeness. Don't think that I didn't notice you trying to hide behind Ichigo and sleeping during the math lesson. It's a good thing that you get A's in that subject or you might have been in trouble."

"Sorry, ma'am," I said sheepishly, glaring over at Toshiro when the teacher looked away because I could see him laughing again.

Thankfully, I didn't have to suffer the embarrassment for very long since lunch was right after that. Toshiro and I took a huge bag of lunch we bought together up to the roof when no one was looking to have our "alone time." Once we had settled in on the top of the roof with our food spread out on napkins, we began to dig in and eat what we had amassed. It took me a little while after we had finished to realize that I hadn't picked up something sweet for dessert. I was a little sad until I saw Toshiro reach next to his hip where I couldn't see to pick something up. I looked over and gasped in delight when I saw that he had bought a cupcake for me, but pulled it away from my grasp before I could snatch it away.

"This is for us to share," he said with a smile. "Don't think you're getting all of it to yourself."

He finally handed it to me and I quickly swiped my finger along the frosting on top before dabbing it on his cheek. He did not look very amused by my childish behavior but I giggled and leaned over, licking his cheek to clean the icing from him before he could stop me. When I pulled away, he had rolled his eyes in mock exasperation before slid his finger on the icing this time. He wiped the icing on my lips before leaning over to swiftly lick it away and kissing me. I kissed him back for a few seconds before he pulled away and took a huge bite from the cupcake. That was when it hit me that it had been his plan all along.

"You smooth little jerk," I said with a laugh. "I can't believe you did that. I hope you bit off a piece of paper from the wrapper."

He chuckled a bit as I ate the rest of the cupcake before saying, "I know you. I'm sure you would have found a way to eat all of that on your own without giving me a bite of it. You do that all the time and I'm not letting it happen."

I was going to utter some cutting remark when I felt something menacing nearby. It wasn't close enough to cause us any harm but it was to the point where I would be able to see the source of it. I stood up as Toshiro gave me a questioning look and I slid my gaze across my surroundings until I found it. On the roof of a building two blocks away stood a shadowy figure, standing unnaturally still as he watched me. I gave him a mocking wave and felt his spiritual pressure skyrocket, but I wouldn't allow it to affect Toshiro by launching spiritual pressure of my own. I was sure that the mystery guy had a murderous expression on his face, even if I couldn't see it, and I might have made him angry enough that he might attack a day earlier.

"Time to go inside, Toshiro," I said distractedly, watching out of the corner of my eye as his head snapped up to lock his gaze on me when I didn't use my pet name for him.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is he here now?"

"Yes, that's right," I stated before looking down at him with a small smile. "Not only that, but I've already managed to make him even more angry."

"Maybe you should go over there and dislocate his arm," Toshiro said flatly, sarcasm dripping from his words. "Then you can make friends with him and we won't have to deal with this any longer."

"You just won't let that go, will you?" I sighed before helping him gather up the trash. "I'm not as bad as you make me out to be."

"Actually, you're every bit a pain as I say you are," he stated, sounding amused now. He reached over to cup the back of my head and kiss my forehead before letting go. He seemed to glare over in the direction of the building with the mystery man before giving a sharp tug on the kido shackles. We made our way back down from the roof, going down a few flights of stairs before we encountered Ichigo and Renji.

"Toshiro looks a little tense," Renji said. "And you just look smug, Imayru. I'm going to guess that our mystery guy is stalking you now."

"I don't like this," Toshiro said. "I'd rather we get this over with now. Maybe we should put the plan into motion sooner."

"No, we can't!" I told him. "He'll know that something is wrong if we do that! If we have any chance of getting this guy, he can't think we've got a trap set up for him! Going too early will definitely make us look suspicious."

"I just don't understand why you're so determined to fight this guy," Ichigo said. "You've been acting strangely lately, almost blood thirsty."

"I am not being blood thirsty," I huffed. "You find out more about someone by fighting them. That's all I'm trying to do."

"Why do you feel so compelled to do that? It's like you're obsessed."

"I can't explain it, I just have to do this."

"Leave it be for now, Ichigo," Toshiro warned him. "We should trust her judgment in this matter. She won't do anything rash." He turned his gaze to mine, eyes blazing like turquoise fire. "Isn't that right, Imayru?"

"That's right," I confirmed with a nod. "I know I've been acting weird and I'll try to limit it to manageable levels."

"Please do so," Renji said. "You've been weird since the moment I met you. I don't think I can handle any more."

"You guys are terrible," I grumbled before walking down the hallway, this time yanking Toshiro after me as he chuckled at my behavior. I was pretty sure he was letting me be bossy and that only made me angrier.

Thankfully, the bell rang and we all headed back to our classroom. I was quite ready to go home already and I was half tempted to leave if I could. I could feign sickness, say I was tired, or something similar to that. Then I remembered that I was tethered to Toshiro like an animal and he would never let me skip class. After a while, the teacher gave us some reading to do and that was what we did until school ended. Finally, I was free from the confines of high school and practically bolted out of the door. Toshiro looked a little grumpy about it but I was too happy. Since it had been agreed that we couldn't all stay in one place because Ichigo's house and Kisuke's shop didn't have enough space, we were spread out among our friends in the Human World. Rukia and Rangiku would be with Orihime, Kitsune and Gingka were staying at Kisuke's shop, Ikkaku and Yumichika were with Chad, and Toshiro and I were staying with Ichigo. I didn't mind where we stayed, so long as we had a roof over our heads. I could sleep out in the open if I had to, but neither Toshiro nor Ichigo would let me in case the mystery guy attacked. So we all went our separate ways and got settled into our new places.

It was nighttime and hours after dinner. Imayru had already watched the sun set from the roof outside of the window of the spare bedroom at Ichigo's house. She was still out there, lying on her back as she stared up at the stars. I was keeping watch over her as I worked on my homework, which she had already completed before sunset. I was sitting at the desk nearby and she was at an angle outside the window so she could be seen by me at all times. The next time I looked up, it seemed like she was taking a nap, her arms behind her head to use them as a pillow. It wasn't until she sat up straight as if she had touched a live wire that I focused all my attention on her.

"What is it, Imayru?" I asked her as I stood up from the chair, walking over to the window to lean on the sill.

"He's nearby," she said simply, sounding a little tense.

"Where?"

She didn't speak for a few seconds, looking in every direction before gazing off to the right. "There's a big house over there that he's watching me from. I can see him from here."

"You and your eyesight," I sighed. "I am beginning to wish I could see in the dark like that because I can't see him."

"No, you really don't," she said. "There are times where even I wish I couldn't see the monsters in the dark."

"I've always meant to ask," I said softly, "but how long have you been able to see in the dark like this?"

She tilted her head to the side for a little bit before answering. "Ever since I was the Lost Girl. I could see perfectly for short distances in the night since I was nocturnal. Then, after I was abducted to Hueco Mundo for a year, my new shadowy power allowed for it to be intensified and now I can see for long distances at night."

"That's my girl," I said as I crawled out of the window to sit beside her, wrapping my arms around her waist to pull her closer. She leaned her body against mine and rested her head on my shoulder. "Still just as wild as you were when you were the Lost Girl."

"And you're just as bratty as when you were a kid," she said, leaning over to quickly kiss me and then lying her head back on my shoulder.

"I'm much better than I was as a kid," I laughed, trailing my fingers up and down her spine and feeling a little self-satisfied when her back arched a little. "Remember when we had a pranking contest for a whole day during the time that Momo was training to be a Soul Reaper?"

"How could I not?" she said with a giggle. "You were so angry when I finally won."

She was quite right about that. It was a hot summer's day, one that was peaceful in comparison to the others. The other kids in the 1st District weren't tormenting me that day and so I was rather bored while staying at home. Imayru had been cleaning the house all day and so I followed her around, moving things a little whenever she wasn't looking. She noticed within a minute what I was doing and so she reprimanded me for it with an amusingly angry look on her face. I told her I was bored and she said that she'd play a game with me if I left her alone long enough to clean properly. After a ten minute game was finished, I began to go back to moving things as she cleaned and so the pranking war started.

She went into my room during the time I had lessons with Granny and moved all of my possessions a centimeter out of place so that I walked into the room, knew there was something wrong, yet couldn't place where the feeling was coming from. As payback, I took her latest edition of Seireitei Communications Monthly that she only subscribed to in case it ever featured Momo, grabbed a black marker, and drew funny pictures on every face in the magazine. Imayru was angry at first, but she found it funny the next day after our prank war. This kept going on and on until dusk when she came up with the best one that not even I could beat. Since she knew we had the tradition of watching the sunset and eating watermelon, she set up a trap so that once I stepped in the circle of rope lying on the ground, it yanked me up into the air and dangled me by my ankle. She waited until I swore to her that she had won before she finally let me down, helping walk around the other traps she had set up in case I managed to escape before she could get her promise.

"I still feel a little angry that you managed to do that," I told her with a grin. "However, the one thing I took from that moment was never to have a prank war with you every again. You take things too far."

"Only because you forced my hand!" she said, her black eyes shining with an evil gleam.

"Remind me never to be your enemy," I stated flatly, noticing her pleased smile. "You get this devious sparkle to your eyes that is rather concerning."

"But I love you, so you're safe. For the most part, of course."

I was about to say something else when she sat up straight in my hold, as if she was straining to see something. "What is it now?"

A slow self-satisfied grin formed on her lips before she said, "He's trying to get closer. Let us see what he does when he finds the barrier."

We sat there and waited together for about a minute before there was a huge explosion of light that illuminated the mystery guy for the span of a second. When I heard Imayru's tiny laugh, I knew nothing had happened to the guy but the fact that he had been thrown backwards quite a distance. Such a strange girl, I thought to myself as I continued to stroke her back. But that is why she's my light. I leaned in closer to lightly brush my nose against her throat, inhaling her scent just before an involuntary shiver passed through her body. That was one of the few spots that I could get that sort of reaction out of her, even though she hated when I did it during the times she was trying to be serious. She knew that I liked reassuring myself that this was all still real and not just some beautiful nightmare.

"Shiro," she whispered in a slightly breathy tone of voice, her eyes a little unfocused as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"Yes, Imayru?" I asked her, quite satisfied with the whole situation as I planted light kisses along her jaw.

"I'm trying to focus here and you're making that impossible," she told me. Her body once again betrayed her as she tilted her head a little to give me better access.

"No need to do that," I said before gently pushing her back on the roof and lying on top of her, making sure to keep my full weight off of her. "I'll have your concentration scattered in a few minutes."

Her fingers were sliding through my hair at the nape of my neck and before I knew it we were kissing. As I kissed her deeply, I grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from my hair, pinning them to the roof above her head and hearing her make a contented sigh. Perhaps it was because I was so absorbed in the feeling of our tongues sliding against each other that I didn't hear the door to our room open until the sounds of footsteps getting closer caused me to pull away. I was extremely irritated by that point and looked to see Ichigo approaching, his look of worry morphing into one of suspicion. Still underneath my body, Imayru had to look at Ichigo at an angle that put him upside down.

"What were you two just doing?" he asked hesitantly.

Before I could answer with some cutting remark, I watched as Imayru grinned at him and said, "What else would a married couple do while they are alone? We were making out. It was getting good, too, if you hadn't shown up."

Ichigo's face turned beet red again and he yelled, "You didn't have to tell me that!"

"Hey, dummy, you asked!" she yelled back, a smirk playing faintly along her lips, which looked a little swollen from our kisses. "If you don't want to know the answer to something, then don't bother with asking a stupid question!"

"Don't call me a dummy!" Ichigo took a step closer in a threatening way and I gave him an icy stare, the shingles surrounding Imayru turning frosty before extending up to the window sill.

"Back off," I growled.

"Hey, you almost froze me," Imayru pointed out. "You're lucky my temperature runs hot."

"Look, I came here for a reason!" Ichigo sighed. "I just wanted to know if you guys saw that strange explosion of light!"

"That was our mystery guy hitting the barrier I created a while ago," Imayru explained. "I didn't want for him to get too close as of yet, so I made an invisible barricade to stop him."

"Now you know," I told him. "So you can go and leave us in peace for a while. She and I were a little occupied with something when you barged in."

Ichigo made some apologetic statement under his breath before walking out of the room entirely. I looked down at my wife, who had a mischievous grin on her face, before she pushed me off of her somehow. I landed on my back pretty hard, barely even having any time to react before she straddled my waist to sit on my stomach. She had a proud little smile forming on her lips now that lit up her eyes and I put my hands on her hips to keep her there.

"You really are a great escape artist," I told her. "There's a chance that you might be better than what the humans refer to as 'Houdini.'"

"That's not true or I would have been able to get rid of these kido shackles," she said, showing me the wrist where the silvery band still resided. She tilted her head back and looked up at the sky, almost as if she was searching for something. "You know, I used to look up at these stars for answers to all of my problems back when I stayed here for a hundred years. I would beg for them to show me a sign that would send me on the right path to my true destiny and not just one that showed no way out."

"Did they?" I asked.

"I think they did," she told me warmly before looking back down at me. "It was two years ago. I got a call on my soul pager straight from the Head Captain, who said that he needed to talk to me urgently and that I should come back to the Soul Society. I think that was my sign. First person I saw when I came back was you."

"I was really angry at you back then," I said softly. "Even more so than that time we didn't speak to each other for a few years. You just left and I was upset."

"But we got over it together," she said happily before adjusting her position so she could lay on top of me, her head resting on my chest so she could hear my heartbeat. "I'm glad I came back that day. Coming back has led to many adventures, whether they were good or bad. Now I'm married to you and happier than ever. I love you, Toshiro."

"I love you, too, Imayru," I whispered before kissing the top of her head. Since we couldn't be seen from any passersby down on the sidewalks, we fell asleep just like that under the gentle light of the stars.

The next day, which thankfully fell on the beginning of the weekend, passed like a blur as Toshiro and I discussed the plan at length. I was going to be the bait and everyone else would be my backup in case things took a turn for the worse. Ichigo would be by Toshiro's side at all times to make sure that he didn't try to run out and fight the mystery guy in his weakened state. All of this would take place in a park nearby that was outside of the barrier.

The day passed quickly as night slowly began to fall, all of us leaving our Gigai at Ichigo's house. I had opted out of telling my trainees about this plan so that they would be safe and I knew Kisuke would keep them at his shop. We had to run on foot so that Ichigo could keep up but we made it to the park before it was too dark. I gave Toshiro a quick hug and a cocky salute before walking out into the middle of the clearing there, pulling my hood up from my dragon kimono. I left Tatsuya stay sheathed for now, deciding not to let the mystery guy see my Zanpakuto just yet. I wouldn't let out my spiritual pressure yet either, just to make him sweat it out when I later did. I stood in the middle of the clearing and waited patiently for him to arrive.

Think this is going to work? I asked Tatsuya in my mind.

Your goal here is to find out more about this guy, he said. Information gathering is always something that you can accomplish. It's your next step that might not be so easy. If you plan on taking him down soon, you better know him like the back of your hand before you make a move against him.

You've got it, I agreed. I was about to say something else when I heard a distinctive rustling noise. Oh, look. I guess it's time already. Prepare yourself, Tatsuya.

There was a growl in my mind and I knew him to be as ready as I was. There was a high pitched whistling noise that could be heard, making my ears ache but nothing else. It was cut off before a shadowy figure came out from the trees and walked closer to me. This guy wasn't as big as I'd thought he would be, at least the height of Ichigo and about as lanky. He wore all black, just like I had seen him from the window, and his hood was obscuring his features. I was about to question him a little when I heard stumbling noises behind me. I turned around to see Toshiro supporting Ichigo as they walked, both looking extremely pale and it was almost as if just staying upright was causing them a lot of pain.

"It was him," Toshiro gritted out. "I don't understand how he did it, but with that whistle everyone was knocked unconscious except for us. I think it's because we have a stronger reiatsu than the others."

"I wanted this to be a one-on-one fight," the shadowy figure said simply. "I didn't want for all of you to ambush me in case she loses."

I pulled my hood down and glared at him. "There is no way I would lose to the likes of you, but it's funny that you would think so."

"Just because you've got skills doesn't mean that I'm not stronger than you," he said. "Your arrogance is going to lead to your death. You should watch your tongue lest I cut it off."

"I would love to see you try," I said with a devious grin. "But first, why don't you pull back that hood so I can get a good look at my opponent."

"As you wish," he stated plainly before doing as I said.

Before me stood a young man with short, shaggy looking blue black hair that covered most of his right eye and both eyes were as dark as night. I didn't have long to reflect on his appearance before he pulled his blade from the sheath on his back. Ichigo had been right when he said that this guy's sword was huge. It almost looked to be as tall as I was and the flat of the blade was as wide as a person. The sharpened side of it was jagged like a saw blade and I knew it would hurt like hell should I let it cut me.

"Let's get this over with," I said determinedly. "I'm not letting this drag out all night. I'm going to give you my all and just go straight to Bankai."

"If you think you can beat me in such short time, then be my guest," he said, his eyes shining darkly. "You've tormented me enough during the time we've first met. I would like to take the information I need and then leave your corpse to rot."