Note: Sorry...I kinda lied...The fighting and action will take place in the chapters to come, not this one...Sorry if I had ya hyped..
They had received their hell butterfly and we now heading into the Senkaimon. Once they were inside, things were quiet.
Yumichika studied his surroundings. As much as he has been through it, the coloration of this place never ceased to please his sense of aesthetic taste.
"Hey Ikkaku?" he asked.
"What is it Yumi?"
"Don't you think that the coloration of this place is absolutely stunning?"
"Hell if I know." he answered. "I don't have a great aesthetic taste like you do Yumichika."
Yumichika huffed, crossing his arms. "Well obviously you do if you're dating me."
Ikkaku blushed. "W-well.." he cleared his throat. "That's because you're the only thing I find beautiful in this world."
Yumichika blushed a little, feeling flattered. "Really?"
"Yeah and…?"
Yumichika stopped in his tracks and smiled, lowering his gaze to his feet. "I hope sometime in the near future, I can show you true beauty."
He started walking again and in no time, Ikkaku and Yumichika had exited the Dangai.
"So what should we do first?" Ikkaku asked. "Look for the hollows or find a place to stay?"
"Let's look around a bit." Yumichika answered. "If we can't find or even sense anything unusual in about an hour, we'll go find somewhere to rest."
"Alright Yumi." Ikkaku said. "Let's get going then."
As they we walking, they kept their hands at their Zanakuto's, in case of any sudden attacks. They didn't let anything distract them until…
Yumichika spotted none other than Keigo Asano and his older sister Mizuho. Yumichika immediately grabbed Ikkaku's collar and jumped the both of them into a tall tree.
"Hey!" Ikkaku complained. "What's the big-"
"Shush!" Yumichika said putting a hand over Ikkaku's mouth mouth and pointing to the siblings.
"Alright Mizuho." Kaigo was saying. "I'll meet you there in 3 hours."
"Don't do anything stupid," Mizuho said. "Or else you're dead when you get home."
"Yup!" Keigo said with a nervous laugh. "Sure thing sis!"
Mizuho ran off to wherever she was heading. Yumichika deemed it safe to come down. He jumped down and landed right in front of Keigo.
"Whaaah!" Keigo yelled and landed on his near. "You're here… which means the bald guy is here too!"
Ikkaku jumped down and landed beside Yumichika. "Did you just say I'm bald?"
Upon noticing the look on Ikkaku's face, Keigo's face contorted with fear.
Yumichika laughed, playfully slapping Ikkaku's arm. "You know he does this every time."
"I know," Ikkaku said, calming down a bit for Yumichika's sake. "It still pisses me off." He turned to Keigo. "You can't remember anything can you?"
Keigo looked deeply offended. "That is not true! I remember tons of things!"
Yumichika looked at him. "What is my name?"
"Yumika!" Keigo said confidently.
Yumichika lowered his head in disappointment. He bawled his fists. "That is not my name!" He looked up at Keigo with anger.
Keigo took a few steps back and held his arms up defensively. "You're even scarier than him when you're mad!"
It was Ikkaku's turn to laugh. He clapped a hand on Yumichika's shoulder. "Calm down there pretty boy. If you get too mad you'll ruin your good looks."
Yumichika blushed a little, shaking away from Ikkaku's grip and turning away. "I-I know that."
Keigo cleared his throat. "If you guys are wanting to stay at my place, I'm afraid the answer is-"
"We don't want your hospitality." Yumichika interrupted, facing him. "Your sister is just too much for us to handle. We'll find a different place. That's not the reason why I wanted to speak with you though."
"Why did you want to talk to me then?" Keigo asked.
"I wanted to warn you." Yumichika said, putting his serious voice on. "There are 3 highly dangerous hollows on the loose around here. Humans with high spirit energy such as you and your school friends should stay inside after dark. We were told they were highly dangerous, but weren't given specifics on their powers, so who knows what they're capable of."
Keigo blinked a few times. "Y-yeah okay. Stay inside. I got it."
Ikkaku grabbed Yumichika's arm. "Come on Yumichika. We're leaving now. We gotta keep searching."
Yumichika flashed a friendly smile at Keigo and waved good-bye, in which Keigo weakly waved back.
Yumichika sighed. "You know what I wonder Ikkaku?"
"What is it Yumi?"
"How on earth did Ichigo befriend that kid?" Yumichika asked.
"Who knows," Ikkaku said. "Then again, how did we become friends? I guess sometimes friendship is a mystery."
"I guess you're right." Yumichika agreed.
They searched around for another 3 hours, way longer than originally intended, but they had no luck. They couldn't find anything, nor could they sense anything.
"My feet hurt." Yumichika complained. "And we still need to find somewhere to stay."
"I know." Ikkaku said. "And if your feet hurt, I'll carry you if you want.."
Ikkaku put his sword in his belt, which was a rarity all on its own. Ikkaku picked Yumichika up, piggy-back style. Yumichika rested his chin on Ikkaku's head. He had one wrist grasped by his other hand around Ikkaku's neck.
"Better?" Ikkaku asked.
"Yes," Yumichika said. "Thank you."
"Eh, no problem." Ikkaku answered.
Yumichika yawned silently. "Where are we going to sleep?"
"I don't know Yumi." Ikkaku said tiredly.
"Could we try Mr. Urahara's Shop?" Yumichika asked.
"Yeah. Let's go there."
Ikkaku used flash step to get them there. He set Yumichika down, stretching out a bit to ease his sore muscles.
Yumichika knocked on the door. "Mr. Urahara?"
"Oi." Ikkaku said, pointing to a sign. "It says 'Out for a holiday. Be back on the 30th. ~Owner of the Shop'"
"Great," Yumichika muttered. "Just our luck he'd pick now to be out."
Ikkaku put a hand on Yumichika's shoulder. "Don't sweat it Yumi. We'll just find somewhere else."
A hell buterfly appeared in the sky.
"A hell butterfly," Yumichika said, reaching up for it. It landed on the tip of his index finger. "'3rd Seat Madarame and 5th Seat Ayasegawa. This is from Kisuke Urahara. I understand you have a mission at the moment. You are welcome to use my shop as a base. The only ones there at the moment are Ririn, Kurodo, and Noba, but they aren't in a gigai or stuffed animals, so technically no one. You are welcome to any food there except what is out for sale in the front. Anything you do eat however will have to be replaced no later than October 15th. You may send the money for it or replace it fully. You may use the guest room. You'll have to share because there's only one. There's a key under the doormat, buried in dirt. Anyways, bye. I gotta run. Having fun at the beach! Urahara out.'"
The butterfly flew away, leaving them alone once again. Yumichika looked at Ikkaku, who was staring at Yumichika.
Ikkaku blinked upon noticing Yumichika looking at him. He cleared his throat. "Rather long message huh?"
Yumichika giggled. "Yeah." He paused. "And you don't have to be ashamed of staring.. I know I'm beautiful.~"
Even in the moon lit night, Yumichika could clearly see Ikkaku blushing. 'Mission accomplished.' he thought to himself.
Yumichika lifted the door mat and cringed when he saw the key wasn't on the surface of the dirt. He immediately put it down. "You're digging for that key Ikkaku. There's no way I'm touching that dirt!"
Ikkaku bent down to find the key. "Yeah yeah." He said, digging up some dirt. "I knew that Yumi."
About an inch and a half down, he found the key. He wiped it off on the leg of his uniform then tossed it to Yumichika. "There."
Yumichika caught it in his palm and went to the door, putting the key in and unlocking the door. It clicked and Yumichika slid the door open. He flipped a light on and the store came to life.
"Well come on Ikkaku." Yumichika said. "Let's get settled in then shall we?"