So the fourth chapter, where Grimm(sort of) makes his appearance. I again am only slightly sorry for taking so long to put this chapter up but once more this isn't my main story, so it's not my main focus. But on with the story yes?

Don't own bleach…which sucks… I wish I did, Grimmjow and Shiro would be in it more.

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Chapter 4: Ichigo meets Captain

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Ichigo tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for everyone to finish using the restrooms. "Chill out Ichigo the cats aren't going anywhere." Ikkaku said though he was a bit annoyed at the time some of the people were taking. Some were out but most were taking their sweet time…Rangiku…

"I know but there's a demonstration happening at the jaguar habitat in five minutes and I don't want to miss it. If they're not out soon I'm going by myself and you lot will just have to catch up with me." Ichigo explained as he checked his watch once more, four and a half minutes till the time he had been told. "That's it I'm going see ya later."

He ran off to find the jaguar habitat. He almost ran by it and had to slide to a stop so he could backtrack. As he walked closer he heard singing from down in the exhibit. The soft female voice drew him in almost more then the thought of seeing the panther did.

'Things to see, things to remember, visions that dance through my dreams. People I once knew, places I've once been, oh so familiar to me. These things of the past, revealed to me, they are but a mystery.'

He looked down and saw the woman from earlier sitting on a rock off to the side with two jaguars laying beside her listening to her sing. Her hat was now laying on the rock next to her revealing long golden hair that glowed in the evening sun. It fell like silk around her shoulders and pooled around her slightly making it seem as if she was sitting in a puddle of shining gold.

A few thoughts came to mind for Ichigo, 'First how'd she get all her hair hidden in that hat? Second she must hang around here a lot if the jaguars are that used to her. The song seems familiar, the words kind of remind me of my dreams…damn she has a really great voice, it's as silky smooth as her hair looks.' She looked up and spotted him as she finished singing and smiled at him her royal purple eyes shining in the sun light. He felt his heart skip a beat, 'God, she's beautiful!'

She got up and dusted herself off before picking her hat up and walking around the cats lazing at her feet and walked to the other side of the habitat. Looking ahead of her path he saw her destination was a large rock. A large lounge like throne looking rock with a big blue-black cat curled up asleep on it.

'That must be him. Captain…' Ichigo thought as she stopped at the bottom of the stone.

"Cap' wake up!" He heard her call as she tossed her hat on the felines head. He flicked his ear making it shift to the side covering the other ear fully. It actually looked like he was wearing it on purpose not like it had just been thrown on his head. The cat picked up his head –after her telling him twice more to 'get his lazy ass up'- and lazily looked up at her after yawning. She sat down next to him and pointed up in Ichigo's direction. Captain turned his hat clad head to look up where she had pointed to.

During this Ichigo had moved so that he was directly in front of the rock the two were on. Now that he was closer and that Captain was looking up at him he could see Captain's eyes. Ichigo sucked in a breath at the sight of those bright sapphire blue cat eyes that were locked intently on his form.

The woman took her hat off Captain's head drawing his attention and appeared to tell him something before heading to the gate for the zookeepers. Two minutes or so later she was walking up to and standing by Ichigo's side. He was in the processes of pulling out his sketch book but her hand on his arm stopped him. He gave her a questioning looking, "I'll take you down after the idiot is done making a fool of himself. So you can get better sketches."

"Really?! That'd be great thank you!" Ichigo smiled gratefully at her. "By the way you've yet to tell me your name. You know mine so I feel at a bit of a disadvantage."

"And maybe that's the way I like it." She gave him a sly smile to which he smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Clair. He's looking at you by the way."

"Yeah they've all been doing that. He almost looks blue from here." He commented turning back to the cat and leaning on the railing.

"He is, he's dark blue-black and has no spots that would label him a black leopard or black jaguar. He is a true panther. My favorite finding most definitely."

"Finding? … Is that the idiot there?" Ichigo pointed to the man that had just entered the habitat.

"Yep, that's him. I did ask Captain to not eat his hand or any other body part but no promises." She shrugged uncaringly. "Now we just wait, watch, and listen to a bunch of stuff we already know yes?"

"Haha yeah." He decided to occupy his time with observing different things in the enclosure including the guy talking. He was and average man in pretty much every aspect. He was about 5' 8" from what Ichigo could tell at this angle, he had mud brown hair and wasn't really built but not necessarily skinny either.

The habitat itself was quite large probably about the size of a basketball court but a little wider. There were some trees in the left back corner, several rocks randomly placed and a stray tree here or there but not enough to obstruct a person's view. He counted four jaguars and then Captain made five. Ichigo let his eyes drift back to the panther, he was watching the man warily but had yet to move from his curled up position.

As if he felt Ichigo's eyes on him Captain looked up and the two locked eyes again. "Have… …us yet?" A voice that Ichigo could have sworn he knew asked though the voice faded in and out not letting him hear it fully. Suddenly he found himself in a forest that he felt he should know with a figure hidden by the shadows standing in front of him. He went to ask who it was but the voice spoke again. "Don't speak," again Ichigo felt he should be able to place it yet couldn't. "You must remember soon…waiting…found… you have… Remember!" the voice spoke as if it knew it was not being fully heard.

Ichigo tried to move, to ask what he needed to remember, to do something, anything. Just as he felt his lips stat to move a flash of light blinded him momentarily. When his eyes recovered in place of the figure of a man was the silhouette of a large cat, a large cat with eyes as blue as the ocean. "Grimmjow…" was all he managed to get out before the forest faded from his view.

'Ichigo? Hey you alright? Hello?" Clair asked poking his arm.

"Wha'? Oh sorry uh… daydreaming…did I miss anything?"

"Almost, he's about to try and get on the rock, and Captain does not look happy about it in the least. Also your friends are coming this way." she paused, "Who's Grimmjow? You whispered his name just now."

"Another friend like the others…"

"You were closer to him weren't you?"

"In a way yes, we…we were a lot alike."

"Sorry, it seems like a touchy subject… Oh here he goes."

"Tell me why he seems to think he'll get a different reaction then others have?" Ichigo asked waving at everyone as they gathered around.

"He thinks they were showing fear. So his brilliant plan is to show no fear and 'assert his dominance' over Captain." Clair said nearly laughing at the idiotic idea.

"If Captain is anything like my friend, then 'asserting dominance' is not the best idea. He didn't take to well to that, tried to beat me up a few time 'cause I wouldn't back down." Ichigo smiled fondly, all the memories he had made over the past six years were dear to him no matter what they were. "And even if he's not like my friend. Tiny maybe a hundred eighty pound human is going to fight a three hundred pound cat in a battle of will. This'll be good."

The speaker moved towards Captain's rock and as soon as he was three feet away Ichigo heard Captain begin to growl while his tail twitched in an agitated manner. The man tried to stare Captain down as he took another step foreword trying to show no fear. The level of growling went up a notch or two with every step the man made and by the time he was at the base it was almost a low roar.

"There's brave and then there's stupid. This guy is the latter." Clair commented as he picked up his foot to get onto the rock. At this Captain stood raising his hackles and bearing his fangs with a deep growl. Still the idiot kept going and stepped fully onto the rock. Then something strange happened, Ichigo saw the feline look up at him and Clair and felt himself nod, and out of his peripheral saw Clair do the same. The two shared a confused look but were brought back by Captain's roar.

He had roared and pushed the man down making him fall several feet away and land hard on his back. Captain moved to the edge of the rock and stood at his full height his shadow falling over the man, and just stared down at him. No noise, no fangs showing, just stared, an intense stare.

"I'll be right back." Clair said as she climbed over the fence and jumped the twenty feet down into the habitat. She landed gracefully and turned it into a roll to transfer the momentum. "I told you not too, I told you it was a bad idea. But No~ you just had to prove me wrong. You just had to prove that you knew better then me. And were did that get you? On the ground in the dirt on the bottom of the food chain and quite the bruised ego as well I'd imagine." Clair said loud enough for everyone watching to hear. She stopped right next to the guy and looked down at him in disgust. "You are without a doubt the worst zoologist I've ever laid eyes on. Now get out of this zoo you and your 'I'm human therefore I'm better' aren't wanted or welcome here."

"You're not even a real staff member you're just a volunteer! You can't tell me what to do!" He sneered at her.

"Can't I? I'm pretty sure I can, because you are harassing my animal. Not to mention I'm the one that donated a good deal of money to the zoo allowing them to upgrade as they have. I'm also the one that brought these newly found animals here to this zoo instead of the one in Tokyo or other more famous places around the world. I'm also one of the leading zoologist in the world so I repeat. GET OUT NOW!"

The man looked like he was going to have a heart attack from all the information that had just been thrown in his face. He stayed frozen till Captain gave a loud roar scaring the living daylights out of him making him scramble for the exit. The crowd was completely silent, either too awed by the information or shocked by the turn of events.

Captain nudged Clair's hand to gain her attention, she petted his head and cooed at him for a bit, telling good job for only scaring the idiotic man and not hurting him. She then turned to the crowd. "Sorry for the abrupt ending but shows over. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your time here though." She apologized to the people then turned to Ichigo, "Hey zoology-in-training meet me over at the gate." She pointed in the direction he needed to go and started walking Captain trailing behind head held high proud of his work.

"You get to go down in there!? No Fair!" Keigo complained.

"It's for school so yes I get to go down moron. I'll catch up with you guys later alright." He waved good bye and gave Urahara a reassuring nod, and ignored Rukia's worried look completely, not wanting to keep Clair waiting at the gate while he got in an argument again.

"Keisuke?" Yuroichi whispered.

"I'll stay and watch, you go on with the others. And try not to bug poor Byakuya too much." He chided playfully.

"No promises." She laughed as she head off with the others.

Upon arriving at the gate Ichigo saw Clair leaning on the wall waiting for him. "So then you're Clair Smistin, zoologist extraordinaire?"

"Yeah that's me," She smiled as she unlocked the gate, but then gave a mock frown "You're not going to go all weird on me now are you?"

"No, I was just making sure I heard right. Though it is really cool to actually meet you. We use your material in class a lot. There's a rumor that you've only been out of collage one year and started your career while still taking classes, is that true?" he asked as he entered and she locked the gate back up.

"Yeah, my parents were low key zoologists at the time, so I went with them a lot and did cyber schooling for the most part." She told him as they passed through another gate into the habitat. Captain was sitting a few feet in.

"Cool, Um, hey what was that song you were singing earlier?"

"Oh that? It was just something that I made up on the spot. Pretty good though huh for a spur of the moment thing?"

"Yeah it was great, you have a beautiful voice. Maybe you should be a singer as a side job."

"Flatterer."

"No I'm serious you were really great."

*Mreow~* Captain rubbed against Clair's leg.

"I'm sorry were mommy and daddy ignoring their spoiled little kid?" Clair joked as she scratched his ear. He huffed not liking the joke and looked at Ichigo as he leaned against her. "Well here he is the last of the new guys. Captain this is Ichigo, Ichigo this is Captain the truest panther in existence."

Captain got up and circled Ichigo sniffing here and there and stopped in front of him and sat down. Ichigo followed and knelt so that he was at eye level with the large feline. Now that he was closer her was able to see the details of his markings, to which Ichigo was surprised he even had considering what Clair had said.

"He has markings did you notice?" In full he was a dark-blue black as Clair had said earlier, but his paws and the tip of his tail were a slightly lighter shade. And there was a tiara shaped ring of lighter fur on his head that started at the base of his ears and dipped down meeting above the middle of his eyes. The area around his eyes and his underbelly and chest were nearly black as they were darker then his main fur.

"Well I noticed the lighter ring of color on his forehead and the dark underbelly, if that's what you're talking about."

"Those, but his paws and the tip of his tail are lighter too."

"So they are. How'd I miss that? Quiz time! What can you tell me about his size and build?"

"He's closer to a puma in size isn't he?" Ichigo said Clair nodded. "Built for speed and stealth, maneuverability due to flexibility is probably one of the most useful aspects in hunting though. Where did you find him?"

"A forest."

"Not what I meant but. Pray is most likely hunted from the trees yes?" A nod. "Another reason for the stealth and maneuverability. From what I saw up there when he growled… two and a half inch fangs?" he asked looking up as Clair.

"Two and a quarter inch."

"So close." He looked back at Captain and saw him examining him with as much interest as Ichigo was using. And once more he caught the panther's electric blue eyes. 'They never seem to be the same color. Then again… neither did Grimmjow's. They seem to change almost like a mood ring.' There was an intelligence in the cats eyes that no animal should have possessed. And yet he had seen it four times so far today with these animals. "Magnificent…" he breathed out, as the though that he was really this close to a panther caught up with him.

At the whispered word Captain's head tilted a bit and Ichigo swore Captain had a smug look on his face. He raised a head and reached out towards the cat. Captain sniffed it, bit lightly then rubbed his head against it. "A warning bite?"

"Maybe he's saying 'I like you but be warned 'cause I don't like you that much.'."

"Highly possible." Ichigo chuckled standing.

"Let's move to where there's more light. That way you can start on your sketches." Captain was the first to get up and headed right for his rock leaving the two humans to follow. He had already made himself comfortable when they reached him. Ichigo found a nice spot in the grass to sit and reasonable distance away and got his books out. Clair went to play with the younger more curious jaguars that were creeping closer so that Ichigo could work in peace.

After getting everything he need Ichigo decided to be brave and try and get as close as Captain would let him. He got up and put his books away then started walking towards the rock Captain opened an eye and looked him up and down then went back to his dozing. Ichigo stepped up onto the base of the rock and heard a growl from the cat so he put his foot back down on the ground. "I just want to sit next to you." The growling stopped and Captain looked up at him a questioning look in the cat's eyes. "Please? I won't come up if you growl again." Captain's head tilted in a confused manner but moved curling up more to leave some extra room for Ichigo to sit. "Thank you."

Slowly but confidently Ichigo sat next to him. Once more he reached out and laid a hand gently on his side and began stroking the soft fur along his ribs. Captain laid his head on his paws with a contented sigh as Ichigo began scratching behind his ears. "How about that he let you on the rock." Clair said coming over.

"He let's you up too."

"Yeah but so far it's just the two of us. I wonder what makes us special." She said as she knelt down and rubbed Captain's chin. "Maybe he's just picky. I guess that means he likes you though."

"I asked."

"Asked what?"

"If I could sit next to him."

"Hmm, I fell on it and he just let me stay there" She smiled sheepishly as he chuckled.

There was a pause as Ichigo looked around, it was a lot different looking from floor level instead of looking down on everything. 'Then again it's the same when I'm standing in mid air above everything, so why should it be different her.' He joked in his head. Looking up he saw Urahara watching them he nodded and waved receiving a wave in return.

"Say Ichigo, I know it seemed like a bit of a touchy subject but your friend. The one who's name you said earlier, what was he like?"

"Well, I shouldn't exactly label me and Grimmjow as friends. Rivals might be a better term." Captain opened an eye and looked up at him.

"But you said you were closer to him then the others?"

"Because in a way I was. I had met him more times. We let our fists do the talking more times then not. But damn he was fun to fight. Then the stupid bastard got himself killed and left me with no one that could give me a run for my money. He was the one that always pushed me, I got stronger because of him, and for that I'm thankful."

"You said you were a lot alike." Captain shifted to a more half sitting half laying position his eyes trained on Ichigo. Ichigo returned the look as he went on to describe Grimmjow.

"Headstrong, stubborn, neither of us ever went down without a fight, nor would we. He died fighting like the warrior he was and for that I think he could be proud. We both have crazy hair colors though I think his beats mine, his was blue believe it or not."

"That would be epic, natural blue hair oh how I wish for thee. I did die mine blue once, well my bangs anyway."

"Nice. His mouth was rather foul though he swore A Lot. I swear every now and then but he swore a lot more then need be. An excellent hand to hand fighter, knew how to wield a blade though if he had too. Ah~ I wish I could fight him again." He said leaning back and looking at the sky, missing Captain's head tilt.

"You know Ichigo."

"Hmm?"

"You should… try and get to the top of the rock."

"Right let's see how did you put it something like, 'I like having all my limbs attached to my body.' So no thanks."

"Aw come on, you should still try."

"You first, ooof! What was that for?" Ichigo asked, Captain had grabbed hold of his sleeve with his teeth and pulled him down and put a paw over him.*Mroew* 'That smug look, I'd know that smug look anywhere. That's the one Grimmjow always gave me.' "Oh so you wanna rough house is that it?" He smiled as he pushed Captain's paw off and went to get up but was softly tackled and pinned to the ground. "Cheater!"

Ichigo managed to roll himself and Captain over. The two wrestled as Clair sat on the edge of the rock and cheered them on. "H-Hey s-stop that's hahaha, that's cheating! Captain come haha on stop!" Captain had pinned Ichigo and was nuzzling his side and stomach were his shirt had ridden up tickling him with his nose and whiskers.

"Wow Ichigo you're ripped, tummy muscles!" Clair said through her laughter.

"Thankss…stop it will ya you over grown house cat!" Ichigo said trying to push him off. Captain paused for a moment then dropped his full wait onto Ichigo making him grunt. "Alright I take it back you're not a house cat. Now get off you giant ball of fluff." Ichigo managed to get out a smile on his face, Captain yawned. "Cap'n come on, I can't breath, genius!"

*Mer~ow* Captain rolled off and gave him that smug look from earlier.

"Yeah, yeah. You win I lose haha rub it in will ya. Though it is a bit unfair you being a three hundred pound cat built to wrestle down large prey. Whereas I'm not quite two hundred pounds and even though most is muscle it doesn't really help against you at the moment." Ichigo stood up and brushed himself off. "Though…" He suddenly took off for the rock, Captain on his heels as soon as he realized what was happening.

Upon reaching the top Ichigo promptly sat down. "Nice view, I like it." He adjusted a bit pulling one leg up to a bent position and the other laid out straight, and propped himself up on one elbow. Captain stopped just short of him and just stared at him for a while. Ichigo turned and again found him locking eyes with the cat. And once more found himself in that forest he had never been yet felt oh so familiar.

"My King…" A distorted voice said from behind him. 'Shiro.' He thought.

"You're…closer…" The voice from before came again along with the cat in the shadows. He knew if he could just pinpoint who the voice belonged to he'd have an easier time. The cat took a step forward but Ichigo still couldn't see it properly. He reached a hand out and his hand touched fur and a flash of light brought him back to the zoo his hand cupping Captain's head. Captain was now laying down his upper body draped over his leg and head resting on his hip.

"You're not going to kick me off?" Captain rubbed his head on Ichigo's hip the rolled so his chest was facing up and reached toward Ichigo's face with one of his paws. "I'll take that as a no." Ichigo laughed at the display, he guessed it was because he had beat him to the top therefore had won. He rubbed Captain's chest before the cat rolled back to how he was before. Looking down at the now dozing feline Ichigo couldn't help but smile, and couldn't help the strange yet welcome feeling of belonging right there, right then with who he was there with. "It's almost like déjà vu."

"I heard once that having déjà vu means you are right where you are meant to be, at the exact time you are meant to be there, with the persons you are meant to be there with." Clair said climbing up and laying down next to Captain petting his head as he slept. She looked up at Ichigo and smiled, "But yeah it is like déjà vu isn't it."

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So there is the end of this chapter, I think that's a nice safe spot to leave off till next time. All the animals have now been seen yay! The déjà vu saying thing that I had Clair says, I think it's from a tv show called Fringe but I can't remember. No idea what's going to happen in the next chapter maybe his party I don't know yet haven't started writing it. Till next time reviews will make me more inclined to write and post the next chapter sooner.