Author's Note 1: Finally, the sixth chapter has finally been made. Sorry if it seems a bit fast, but I'll make it up to you with the next chapter coming soon. Anyway, please enjoy the read and do review!

Ch. 6: The Night Before

As Ichigo and Tatsuki shared their intimate moment, the two teens were unaware that they were being watched from above. Hovering over them was a small ball with an antennae sticking from the side and a camera aimed directly at them. The airborne contraption adjusted its lens, focusing its image that was being transmitted back to its owner. During this time, Kisuke Urahara was busy watching the live feed from his surveillance instrument in the comfort of his lab on a large computer monitor. The storekeeper sat leisurely in his chair and sucked on a large lollipop as he watched the two teens. "Well, this wasn't what I was expecting," he thought with a smile. "Ichigo, you sly dog, you!"

The shopkeeper minimized the camera's video link and began recording his findings. The ex-captain analyzed the charts and gauges that measured Ichigo's spiritual energy. "That's strange," Kisuke thought out loud as he read the scan. It wasn't uncommon for Ichigo to have abnormally high spiritual energy. To him, that was a natural occurrence and wasn't too much of an issue. However, the readings that he was receiving made the hat-and-clogs wearer arch a brow. "This can't be right. The level being here is usually seen in shinigami not wearing gigai."

Wanting to better understand the phenomenon, Kisuke set the camera's video link to detect spiritual pressure (similar to thermal imaging which the ex-captain coined 'infrablue view'). When he changed the view, he saw that the substitute shinigami's reiryoku was leaking from his body than usual. While it was true that Ichigo's spiritual pressure would always seep due to low reiryoku control, his human body was supposed to naturally harness the excess energy (similar to the shopkeeper's gigais). Instead, it appeared the teen was exuding more energy than usual.

He then noticed something else about Ichigo's spiritual energy. Upon closer inspection, the released energy was being absorbed into Tatsuki's body. Not only that, but the energy seemed to have been augmented somehow. "What's all of this stuff?" Kisuke questioned as he further studied the teen's reiryoku. Not only did it appear that Ichigo's power grew, but it seemed there were a few chemicals, both organic and otherwise, bonded to his energy. "Wait, those seem to be… pheromones? And what's all this other junk?" After a moment of contemplating, the blonde-haired man realized what he was seeing. "Oh, I get it now!" the inventor exclaimed as he lightly palmed his forehead and leaned on the back of his chair. "That's the formula I had Renji give Ichigo a few days ago."

A wide smile grew on Kisuke's face as he took note of his invention's effects. The bonding and mixing of the cologne with his body's pheromones and spiritual energy, the profuse blushing on Tatsuki's cheeks, the intense scent that she must be smelling, and the two teen's intense behavior. Kisuke pulled out a fan from his sleeve and began waving it in front of his face. "I believe that you have proven my little bottle a success," he said with content as a small chortle escaped his lips. Truth be told, not even he knew the performance of the product he made. What he was witnessing had exceeded the ex-captain's expectations. "Ichigo, you just showed me that I may have created the first ever love potion." With this realization in mind, Kisuke took this moment to celebrate by spinning around in his chair, giggling from his findings and the fact the his guinea pig was none the wiser.

After a long day of spending time with Tatsuki, Ichigo soon returned to his home. The young male fought against his father's attack and ate his dinner with the rest of the family before going upstairs and into his room. The strawberry-haired teen pulled out his school work and began studying the information to prepare himself for tomorrow. However, he was unable to stay focus on the book as the only thing on his mind was what happened between him and Tatsuki a few hours ago.

"What was that about?" Ichigo wondered as he sat back and folded his arms. "I've never seen Tatsuki act like that. It was kinda strange. I hope she's alright." As he reminisced about what occurred between him and her, the teen turned to his window, gazing at the outside world. "But it felt… I don't know… good for some reason. Like it was supposed to happen. What could that mean?" As Ichigo thought over the situation, he began to realize something that he felt was an impossibility. That after all these years, he was starting to feel attraction toward her. Knowing this, Ichigo shook his head in a foolhardy attempt to erase such thoughts. "No way! That can't be it!" he mindfully denied as a blush unknowingly crept on his face. "I mean, Tatsuki's one of my best friends! And while I care about her, it's nothing like that! We must've been caught up in the moment! That's all it was!" Ichigo let out a sigh as he rubbed his temples. He thought spending time with Tatsuki would alleviate the stress before school, not add on to it.

The teen decided to push these private feelings aside. Thinking about his afternoon, he couldn't help but remember the incident at the river. He was not oblivious to his inner hollow's sudden appearance. The chorus of the being's psychotic laughter echoed in his head like a bad memory. A chill traveled down his spine as he remembered the hollow's strong killing intent trying to control him. He was so close to giving into his rage, so close to killing another human being in vengeance. "There's no way that should have happened," the substitute shinigami thought. "I've had that thing under control." The orange-haired teen rested his forehead on the palm of his hand. "If it had taken over, not only would I have killed that guy, but Tatsuki…" Ichigo didn't want to imagine the unfortunate consequences that would have befallen his childhood comrade. He knew that for his inner hollow, friend and foe were both fair game in his murderous plans. "At least it didn't come to that," the teen thought thankfully. "But now this means I really need to train harder than ever. I can't risk having that thing return." A determined expression formed on Ichigo's face as he closed his book and stepped toward his window. "I'm not going to let that happen. I'd rather train myself to death than let that bastard take over." Ichigo grabbed his soul badge from his desk and pressed it against his chest. The teen stood in his shinigami form as his corporeal body fell onto the bed in front of him. "Time for me to go," Ichigo said as he wrapped his hand around Zangetsu's hilt before he flew out his window to search for hollows to slay.

It was midnight and Ichigo laid fast asleep. His shift as a shinigami had ended some time ago and the teen was able to defeat about a dozen hollows and konso three spirits. For him, he made a rather good haul and deserved his time to rest. As the substitute shinigami slept in his abode, a garganta portal began to appear over a tall antennae in the Kitakawase district. Like a zipper of a coat, the distortion opened over the spire displaying a torrent of dark chaotic energy.

Suddenly, a figure shot out from the rift and landed on the tip of the antennae before the Garganta sealed closed. It appeared to be a young male with blood red eyes and robes that had a similar design of shinigami's shihakusho (though the hakama and kosode were red while the shitagi underneath was black). He stood on his perch and scanned the city as his robes blew in the wind. "So this is Karakura Town, a.k.a. the new juriechi," he thought out loud. The male inhaled, taking in the fresh air of the new town and whatever spiritual energy floated in the air. "Not bad for a podunk place like this. The concentration is at the highest it's been in recent memory. It might be larger than the last one." Knowing this, the shinigami cracked a smile.

"Such energy. Such life. Such a delicacy," a malevolent thought came to his head. "Forget the sample. I want the whole damn meal! We've been dining on hollow for so long, I almost forgot what pure, untainted human soul tatses like. Though a hint of spiritual energy does give it more flavor…"

"Restrain yourself… Or rather, myself," the shinigami replied as he placed a palm on his forehead. "Besides, a true connoisseur knows it's best to savor a meal than hastily gorge on it."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," the inner voice replied.

"Speaking of hollows, whatever happened to those beasts that were sent a few days ago?" the shinigami wondered as he cupped his chin in thought.

"Maybe they had their fill and returned to Hueco Mundo on their own," the voice answered.

"Perhaps. Though it is possible that they ran into some interference."

"Yeah, right. Even if they did, that was almost a small army you sent. If someone was dumb enough to tangle with that mob, they would've been chow then and there."

"In normal circumstances. But knowing where we are, the Soul Society would throw conventional tactics out the window in order to secure their foothold here." The shinigami concentrated on the multiple spiritual points around the city. At that moment, long reiraku appeared around the young man, swinging wildly in the breeze like reeds in a field. Most of the ribbons were white in color. However, he noticed two of the threads were red. "So there are shinigami in the town."

"'There are shinigami', eh?" the voice asked. "You're implying more than one. How rare."

"Perhaps." He glanced at the two red ribbons and felt a staggering difference of power between them. The strongest of them had a strange feel to it. Curious by the odd thread, the stranger grasped it to feel the spiritual energy. "Unlike the other one, the owner of this ribbon isn't a run-of-the-mill shinigami."

"You're right. It feels like a strange mixture of shinigami and human, but with the hint of something else… Hollow? No way…"

"That answers our question of the lost hunting party." The drifting warrior smirked at the discovery. Wanting to remember the energy to track for later, the shinigami grabbed the ribbon with both hands and ripped off a small section.

At that instant, Ichigo quickly shot up from his deep sleep, his face covered in sweat. He glanced around his surroundings, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. There was no spiritual pressure nearby that was cause for alarm. Though the strawberry-haired teen felt uneasy, he quickly calmed himself down. "It must've been nothing," he dismissed his worry. The boy turned to the desk and glanced at his badge and saw it was still dormant. "If it were anything, my badge would've went off by now." With a yawn, the teen laid back down on his pillow and quickly allowed sleep to overtake him.

Back at the Kitakawase antennae, the shinigami watched as his prize blew in the wind. He knew that he literally had the life of his next target in the palm of his hand. "It's clear that this soul surpasses the normal parameters of most other spirits. Almost reminds me of someone…"

"How humble of you. Look, all I know is it's gonna be quite the treat! I can't wait to gorge on this one!"

"Patience. I still want to survey this town and study this target. Then we shall begin our conquest of conquering, consuming, and counterinsurgency."

"Right. All I'm hearing from you is that you want to bide time," the inner voice responded. "That has always been your problem. You never go full force right away. Funny how you're calling me a glutton, but here you are playing with our food. Makes me wonder which of us is more sadistic."

"What can I say? I'm studious by nature. If things were different and I was of the living, I could've been a newscaster."

"Right. Whatever you say, Christine Chubbuck."

The shinigami groaned, a scowl of annoyance wrinkling his face. Suddenly, the drifter became alert as he felt an on-coming presence just south-west of his location. Not wanting to drag any attention, the shinigami lowered his spiritual pressure to near unnoticeable levels, the ribbons surrounding his body vanished. "This night just keeps getting more and more interesting," he mused.

Meanwhile, at the bank of the Onose River in Karakura Honchou, a Senkaimon appeared. It's dual doors slid open, revealing a bright white light shining from the other side. A Hell Butterfly fluttered through the opened passageway as it escorted its entourage, Nemu Kurotsuchi, to the Human World. Once she arrived, the Senkaimon closed behind her and disappeared. "It appears I have arrived at the registered co-ordinates," she thought analytically.

It's been two days since her last venture to the world of the living. After delivering the notes she took to her captain, the young woman was given permission (or rather an aggressive order) to return to the town for more reconnaissance. The purple-haired woman turned around and faced the direction of Ichigo's spiritual pressure. A smile formed on her face as she felt the familiar energy of the young boy from such a distance. It was clear from the intense blush on her cheeks that she was still feeling a strong attraction toward the male shinigami and was hoping to further her study on both Ichigo and her fascination with him. "I have returned once more, Master Kurosaki," she thought. "Perhaps I shall have more success during this venture."

"More shinigami have come!" the dual-psyched man's inner voice replied, its tone more annoyed than anything else. "How in the hell did these bastards find us so quickly? Or did we stumble on the Gotei 13's answer to Cancun?"

"Since we just arrived from the Garganta gate, it's less than likely the Soul Society knows of our presence." The shinigami then glanced at Ichigo's ribbon piece. "I believe that our friend here is the star of this little show. If the Soul Society has the spotlight on him…"

"Then the big man has him in center frame," concluded the inner voice.

"Yes," the shinigami agreed slyly as he stuffed Ichigo's ribbon in his pocket. "Now to study this new area closely."

"About time! Let's hurry up and find the prime haunts. I can't wait to try my first soul from here!" The shinigami groaned at his secondary persona's impatience. Ready to set his plans in action, the spirit vanished from the antennae without a trace.

The next day, Ichigo awoke from his sleep well rested. He stretched his arms and back, loosening his body for the new day's advent. "Great, another week of school," the teen thought as he pushed himself out of bed. "Good thing I managed to read enough stuff after I came back from fighting hollows." The teen grabbed the books and papers that were on his desk and stuffed them in his backpack.

As the young male walked to the door, he saw the knob begin to turn. Out of instinct and experience, Ichigo sidestepped the entrance as Isshin barged into his room. "Rise and shine, my son!" he shouted as he flew into the room and landed on his eldest son's bed. Hearing no screams of pain and anger, the goat-chinned man glanced down on the furniture and saw that there was no one there. "Ichigo?" he called in confusion.

"Give it a rest, you crazy old man!" Ichigo said as he jump kicked his father in the back.

Isshin screamed as the force of his son's attack sent him flying out the window and crashing to the ground two stories below. Ichigo poked his head out of his window and saw his father laying face first into the dirt. "I can't believe my own son would attack me from behind!" he wailed. "I thought I raised you better than such cowardly acts like that!"

"This coming from the man who blitzes into his kid's room every damn morning!" Ichigo retorted. "How many times have I said stop barging in and attacking me, dumbass!" Not wanting to hear anymore of his father's excuses, Ichigo slammed his window shut and made sure to lock it for good measure. "Just one morning where that idiot doesn't try beating me. That's all I ask," the substitute shinigami mentally prayed, though knowing such a reality would not come to pass.

Ichigo shook his head, clearing his mind of the events that happened in the last few minutes. He then glanced at the clock on his desk. "I have plenty of time to take a shower before I head to school," he thought. The teen went to his closet and grabbed his school uniform. Before he left, Ichigo backtracked to his desk and grabbed his cologne. He glanced at the bottle, then at the open door to make sure he was alone. "I guess it wouldn't hurt," the young shinigami figured as he hid the cologne bottle in his clothes and left for the bathroom to take his shower.

A half an hour had passed until Ichigo left the bathroom. The teen finished bathing and was dressed in his school ensemble. He also sprayed the cologne after he had finished his shower. The teen returned to his room and hid his cologne bottle before grabbing his backpack and going downstairs. He joined his sisters and father for breakfast. Once more, his dad tried to attack him at the table in retribution for his failed attempt earlier. However, after a short scuffle and a table chair to the head, the excitement quickly died down. When he finished, the teen said his good-byes to his family and left for school.