6: Tasty

Whoever this 'Dream Merchant' was, he was right. This place looked like every other human city Ichigo had been in. It looked a lot like the shots of Tokyo he'd seen on TV, for a matter of fact, and people acted like normal, regular people. If it weren't for the spirits he kept seeing, he'd think he were home.

The spirits weren't the spirits of departed humans, as far as Ichigo, or the other shinigami could tell. They were grotesque and macabre for the most part. Mostly purple blob-jelly things with huge eyes and other random organs strewn through the jell-o of their bodies. They had seen a few dismembered hands, but they gave off a decidedly predatory spiritual pressure that made Ichigo want to stab the things to oblivion. He didn't have any idea what those things could do, and Matsumoto kept her two male companions moving in constant search for her captain or he would have.

Matsumoto was an unrelenting force of nature in her search. She rose earlier than the other members of the search party and Renji had to physically drag her back to the apartment they had found almost every night for the past week and a half. Though he insisted a worn out lieutenant wouldn't be any use to their captain, Matsumoto countered with the fact that she couldn't be of any use to him unless she knew where he was. Renji would tell her that she couldn't find her captain if she couldn't see strait. She never tried to escape the apartment once she was in it, though, and that was a very good thing, since neither male could really stop her if she tried. Ichigo didn't actually know any kido, and Renji couldn't set up restraining wards to save his life. Keeping watch wasn't a viable option either, as she could easily knock them out with kido, or slip out the bathroom window if she felt stealthy.

As the deathberry wandered aimlessly through the town, he hoped that they would find the kid captain soon. Ichigo never liked seeing people upset, and Matsumoto was absolutely devastated at her captain's disappearance. Toshiro's disappearance upset Ichigo too. He couldn't help himself, but he thought of the white haired shinigami as a younger brother figure, probably because he seemed the same age as Ichigo's sisters and acted like Karin. If those two ever met, they'd probably get along like a house on fire. Exactly like a house on fire.

Ichigo looked up and actually took note on his surroundings for once. He was at a river that looked uncomfortably like the one where… where he'd first met the Grand Fisher. There were a lot of nice cherry trees here, though. That was different. There was also a high schooler walking along the bank, muttering angrily to himself.

"Yuuko-san is insane," Ichigo heard. "Telling me to take a different rout to the shop today. I'll be late, and she'll charge me over time! And I'll be late on HER ORDERS!" Other than talking to himself, the kid didn't seem too weird. Ichigo decided to just leave him alone, and continued to walk down the bank. His inner Hollow seemed to have different ideas, though.

"Doesn't he seem tasty, King," the Hollow said hungrily.

Ichigo's head jerked up to the kid. Who was staring at him in horror, as if he'd heard the Hollow. Could he? That wasn't supposed to be possible! Not even the other Vizoreds could see inner Hollows! If he could, things would get real ugly real fast.

There were two people standing behind the guy with orange hair. One was an older man with longish hair, sunglasses and the beginnings of a beard. The other was a white and black version of the (probably) human standing in front of him, only this … spirit was in traditional clothing with a long sword strapped to his back.

Something about the white spirit scared Watanuki. There was something… unnatural about it. It stood there grinning at him, as if to say 'wait till I get you.' And it had said he looked tasty.

The old man acted then, standing in front of the white boy, as if blocking him from getting to Watanuki. The orange-haired boy standing behind them seemed horrified at what the white spirit had said.

"Zangetsu! Don't be a spoil sport!" the white spirit whined. "He looks tasty! Why shouldn't we eat him?"

The man –Zangetsu- said something. Well, at least his mouth moved, but Watanuki didn't hear anything come out. At this, the orange-haired kid jerked his head toward the old man, nodded then took off running down the bank of the river, away from Watanuki.

Watanuki's own trance of horror was broken too. He turned and pelted toward Yuuko's store, that wonderful, safe store with the wonderful ward around it. Risking a glance over his shoulder, he was shocked to find that all three people who had been on the edge of the river were gone. Even the creepy spirit with whiter skin than Taicho.

That was strange. He had been expecting at least the hungry spirit to still be there, watching him or something, if not trying to catch him.

He arrived at his destination out of breath.

"He's here! He's here! Watanuki: April first!"

"He's here! Watanuki's here!" Maru and Moro's greetings reached his ears as Watanuki caught his breath. He removed his shoes and entered the shop, putting on his apron.

"Ah, Watanuki," Yuuko greeted him. "How was your day?"

"I almost got eaten because of you!" he accused. To the boy's surprise, Yuuko had the good grace enough to actually looked startled.

"Eaten?"

"Yeah! There was this kid, my age, and two spirits behind him. An old guy and an all-white version of the kid who said I looked tasty!" Watanuki growled at her. "And it's all your fault! Because you said 'Take a new way to work today, Watanuki'" He continued with his rant, but Yuuko ignored him. She'd stopped listening after her sla- part-timer had described the spirits he'd seen. A serious look passed over her face as she digested that information.

"That's interesting," she murmured.

"What?" demanded Watanuki irately. While he was irritated with Yuuko-san, he knew from experience to listen to what she said when she got that serious look. Usually, her words turned out to be crucial to life-and-death situations, and the surviving of such. Though, sometimes, she just set him up for her own cruel amusement, the ratio of important information to jokes was stacked enough in 'important information's' favor to prompt Watanuki to take the witch seriously every time. Sure he fell for her jokes, but he also continued living, which was a very good thing in his book.

"I'm out of beer," she said in the same serious tone.

The bespectacled boy sighed and went to get his employer some more alcohol. She would never discuss anything serious when she was in this mood, so trying to get anything important out of her would be impossible. He started to exit the room, but Yuuko's voice made him pause.

"And see if you can find Taicho," she called after her little errand boy.

Watanuki brought out a few bottles of beer from Yuuko's stash, but he couldn't find the white haired spirit anywhere during the brief search he conducted as he made his way back to Yuuko.

After getting the witch her alcohol fix, she commanded Watanuki to find the spirit once again, and then make snacks. A thorough search later, he still hadn't found the grouchy guest, and he was willing to look in some pretty strange places. Working on the assumption that the young-looking individual would be asleep, as he was every day when Watanuki entered the shop for some time now, the search had been centered around comfortable places that Taicho had usually been found. The idea that maybe the strange boy wasn't asleep flitted across Watanuki's mind. If he wasn't asleep, then the number of hiding spots grew, but it would make more sense, since he hadn't been in any of his usual nap spots.

This search also turned up nothing, and the excitable boy was getting frustrated. Where could that watermelon-stealing spirit be? He hadn't left the shop-

That though made Watanuki pause. He might not have left the lot that the shop was on, but what if the boy was outside? It seemed ridiculous—it was freezing out there!—but then again, the white-haired spirit seemed to revel in the cold temperatures.

Watanuki glanced at the back garden and lo and behold, there was Taicho, in the middle of the yard. He was just standing there in one of the child-sized kimono Yuuko loaned him. Once the agitated young man had gotten proper footwear for an outside trip, he ventured into the frozen garden. It was frigid, and the wind slashed through his clothes. Watanuki wondered how Taicho could stand this weather, even if he was a spirit.

As he approached the spirit in question, Watanuki was surprised that he hadn't turned around to see who was coming. Usually, Taicho could sense someone coming even if they were being completely silent, and there was no way that Watanuki's approach could be described as quiet, by any means. Hesitantly, the boy reached out a hand to shake the spirit's shoulder to get his attention. Taicho didn't respond.

"T-taicho?" Watanuki said through chattering teeth. He was cold out here without his jacket.

"He's out there." Taicho's voice seemed distant, somehow.

"W-who?"

"I…" Taicho's brow furrowed in frustration. "I don't know. I don't know, and I need to!" The wind blew even more viciously, as if to emphasize the spirit's anger. "I can't forget him, but I did…"

"T-taich-cho, we should g-go back ins-side," Watanuki stammered. "Yuuk-ko-san is wa-waiting."

The ice-hued spirit nodded, reluctantly turning to go back into the house. Watanuki followed gratefully. Once in the house, Taicho seemed to snap out of it, though he seemed exaousted. Yuuko merely glanced at him when he entered with Watanuki, but after the two of them brought her snacks, she ordered Taicho off to bed, and gave Watanuki the day off. He wasn't exactly sure what Yuuko was up to, or if he really wanted the day off in this bad weather, but he obeyed his employer and left her shop.

As he was leaving, Yuuko called out, "Watanuki-kun should visit the park on his day off! He should have some fun, right?"

"Right, right!" Mokona agreed with her like the sycophantic honey-bun that he was.

Watanuki left in a huff after that.

As the icy wind cooled his temper, Watanuki actually considered Yuuko's words. What was it with the witch and alternative paths lately? Was he supposed to meet someone? It was entirely possible, but she had seemed taken aback when he had described the encounter at the riverbank. Or was he not supposed to see anyone there? Whether he liked it or not, Yuuko's every move was carefully calculated to produce whatever effect she desired. She was in complete control of her surroundings. Nothing happened that she didn't appear to already have known about. Sometimes it was scary how much she seemed to know. It was quite possible that he had been supposed to meet someone at the river, but if so, then why hadn't he? Yuuko had looked surprised. Had some part of her master plan not fallen through?

Watanuki looked up, and to his dismay, his feet had automatically brought him to the park! Yuuko-san seemed to be in complete control of his life, at least, since even his feet were obeying her wishes and not his.

At least he wan't the only person in the park, he mused as he spotted a woman dressed completely in black sitting on one of the benches as the wind played with strands of her long strawberry blond hair. He wondered if she was actually enjoying this weather. As his rout through the park brought him closer to the woman, she jerked, as if startled and looked at him with curious grey eyes.

"Er, hello," Watanuki said as she continued to stare intently at him.

She jumped again, looking around the park before finally pointing at herself, asking, "Me? Are you talking to me?"

"Um, yes," he replied politely, walking a little closer to her. "Who else would I be talking to?" Closer, he could make out details about her outfit. It was a traditional-looking gi that didn't quite cover the woman's impressive… assets. Other than the white belt and edging on her outfit, the only color came from a pink scarf draped about her neck. He also noticed that there was what appeared to be a small, ash-colored lioness draped on the bench next to the woman. If lions could be called 'small'. It, too, was looking at him with eyes that were eerily similar to the woman's.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to see me," she said. "I'm impressed."

She wasn't expecting anyone to see her… that stood Watanuki's hair on end. If this woman meant what he thought she meant, than she was a spirit, and spirits were very bad news for Watanuki. The cat next to her? Definitely a spirit. "Ah…" was about all he could manage.

"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku," she continued. "Who are you?"

"Ah- Watanuki Kimihiro," Watanuki Kimihiro said. Though he probably shouldn't have.

"April First!" Matsumoto cheered. "A good day for drinking," she said with self-assured authority. The lioness nodded in agreement. The movement left trails of what seemed to be ash around its head.

"Matsumoto-san-" Watanuki began, but he was interrupted by a hand thrust toward him in a 'halt' gesture. The lioness looked irritated, but didn't get up, thankfully.

"It's 'Rangiku'. 'Rangiku-san' if you must but calling me 'Matsumoto-san' makes me feel old."

"Ok…" Watanuki tried to regain his train of thought. "Rangiku-san, why are you here?"

"Why am I here? Hm…" she mused. Watanuki wondered if this woman was drunk. She'd probably be great friends with Yuuko-san if they ever met, even if this woman was sober. Especially if this woman was sober. Watanuki shuddered at the thought. If this woman was sober, then what was she like drunk? "I'm looking for someone. Someone important."

"Really? Who?"

"You probably couldn't- what am I saying! Of course you could!" Rangiku-san laughed. "You can see me, after all."

Watanuki gulped. There went the possibility this woman was human. "W-who are you looking for?" he asked nervously. How fast could he leave? He didn't want to be here, with this human-looking spirit and the lioness. True, both the Ame-Warashi and the Zaski-Warashi were human-looking, but they were fairly powerful, and Watanuki didn't like messing with powerful spirits that weren't Yuuko's clients. Or (apparently) had crushes on him. He certainly didn't want to mess with lion-spirits.

"I'm looking for Hitsugaya Toushiro."

"I'm sorry, I don't know that person," Watanuki told her, hoping that he wouldn't have to and she wouldn't fry him for not knowing.

"I didn't expect you to," she sighed, and for a second, a look of sorrow passed across the woman's pretty face. The lioness's ears and tail drooped, mimicking Rangiku-san's mood. She'd said that she was looking for someone important. Watanuki wondered who exactly this 'Hitsugaya Toushiro' was to Rangiku-san. "He's been missing for weeks, and I miss him so much, even if he did make me work. It feels like years since I last saw him."

"I'm sorry." There really wan't anything else for Watanuki to say.

"It's ok." Rangiku-san smiled at him. "I'll find him in no time, and he'll be back where he belongs and-" Rangiku-san stopped as she and the lioness looked suddenly in the direction that Watanuki had come form. "Sure are a lot of people with high reatsu," she muttered.

Watanuki turned to see what Rangiku-san was talking about and saw Himawari-chan coming down the path. "Himawari-chan!" he gasped, disbelieving his luck. Yuuko-san's advice was actually good for something! He started towards her, but stopped. "Um, Rangiku-san, I-"

She laughed. "Don't worry about it!" she giggled. "Have a nice day with your girlfriend."

"Himawari-chan's not-" but it was too late. The strange spirits was already gone. The lioness had left, too, although Watanuki didn't see why. Surely the lioness didn't care about his privacy, did it?

"Watanuki-kun, I didn't expect to see you here!" Himawari-chan exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought you had work."

"Yuuko-san gave me the day off, and told me to come home through the park," Watanuki sighed, reveling in Himawari-chan's presence. It was so sweet! And so much sweeter for Doumeki's absence! "What brings you here?"

"Oh, well, I wanted to see the park covered in snow, so I took the long way home after my piano lesson," she explained.

"Ah! I see!"

As Watanuki spent some coveted 'alone-time' with his precious Himawari-chan, he forgot all about the strange spirits whom he had met at the park.

A/N: Yay, longest chapter yet! Let's see if I can keep this up.

Anyway, I'd like just clarify something, mostly for my own sanity. The rescue party arrives the same day Watanuki almost gets eaten. This chapter takes place a while later. So. Yeah. I felt the need to say that.

In any case, thank you for reading. Those of you who reviewed, you guys are TOTALLY WICKED!!!! Those of you who haven't reviewed... please do. Even if you just want to say 'keep going' or something. I'd love to hear from you, so please review.