Fwaaahh, another chapter! sorry it's been a while since update, I was going to make it either really long or upload two chapters at the same time but project and exam made me all- bllaahhh. grawrrr but it's winter break, so yaaaayy
Chpt 8- Kei
"Where were you guys?" Rukia asked.
Everyone gathered together for dinner. The sounds of eating and aromas of food filled the room.
"Mmmph," Ichigo swallowed his food. "Ran into a bit of trouble."
"Are you okay?" Inoue asked.
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, what about you guys? Run into anything?"
"Nope," Ishida picked at some fish.
"Nothing," Chad mumbled.
"Were they scwary?" Nel asked as she munched on some fish.
"Yeah, a little," Ichigo smiled.
Yachiru slammed her chopsticks down, stood on her chair, and leaned across the table. Her bright eyes gleamed mischievously. "Ne, ne, were they strong?"
Ichigo twitched at the close proximity, "Yeah, I guess you could say that…"
"Grah, I'm just itching!" Kenpachi gave a crazed grin. "I just can't wait to fight one!"
"They are not to be taken lightly," Hitsugaya added. His eyes fell on his lieutenant sitting next to him; the white bandage showed through her strawberry-blonde curls. Matsumoto felt his eyes on her injury. "Ara, Taichou, were you thinking about me?" she grinned.
"W-wha-" the short captain sputtered and turned back to his food. "Quit spouting nonsense!"
"Aw!" Matsumoto put her spoon down and glomped the boy. "My captain's worried about me!"
"Matsumoto!!!!!" came the muffled reply as the captain struggled. The thin, tan arms scrabbled against the vice-captain's grip, paused, then went limp.
"I think you killed him," Urahara grinned. He wouldn't mind dying like that.
"Eh?!" she wrenched the limp boy away from her. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, Captain!"
Everyone laughed as she desperately shook him awake, the white-haired boy blushing and yelling.
"Hm?" Yoruichi just finished eating her twentieth bowl when she saw a small shadow dash across the hall. She gobbled down the last bits of rice then set the bowl down with a belch. "Ah, that was some good food. Kisuke, I'm gonna go walk around a bit."
The shop owner nodded. He, too, saw the shadow.
When Yoruichi was out of sight, she quickly morphed to her cat form. The dark hallway instantly became bright as day as her gold eyes adjusted. She nimbly walked to the direction where the shadow went.
"Hmm, I think this is his room."
Yoruichi froze, a paw in the air, a velvet ear twitched. The thing was in Matsumoto's room.
"Mmm…when is he gonna come. Ugh…"
"When is who gonna come?" Yoruichi revealed herself. The creature hidden in the shadow of the moonlight jumped and whirled around.
"Shit!"
"Who are you?" Yoruichi demanded. By the outline of the shadow, it had short legs, a tail, and a long body. Its small eyes, glowing from the moonlight, narrowed in scrutiny.
"A nin-cat?"
Yoruichi was puzzled. Nin-cat?
The creature saw her pause and took the chance to escape.
"Damn!" Yoruichi cursed when she realized her mistake.
The creature gave a startled cry when the cat seemed to teleport in front of it, blocking its escape. The shadow backed away until its rump bumped into the corner of the room. "Grr!" it snarled. Yoruichi's eyes widened when the creature lunged for her throat with lightning speed.
"Hm? Where's that medic?" Jinta asked.
"Restroom," Ururu replied.
The dishes and bowls were all cleaned, the dining table cleared. Everyone relaxed in the midst of each other.
"Well," Urahara stood, "shall I get some sake--?" He stopped when he heard a crash and thud.
"What was that!" Inoue gasped. Everyone stood up, tense in anticipation.
There were sounds of tumbling, running, yowling, and hissing.
"That sounds like Yowuichi!" Nel squeaked from behind Ichigo.
Everyone sprinted to the origin of the sound. They came to the dark hallway where the sounds were getting louder. Then, out of Matsumoto's room tumbled two shadows, one of them Yoruichi. They wrestled about hissing and growling. Finally, the unknown creature broke away.
"Kisuke! Don't let it get away!" Yoruichi cried.
Everyone made a grab for it, lunging and pouncing.
"I got it!"
"Idiot!"
"No wait, I'll get it!"
"Argh!"
"What the hell is that?!"
"Ow, you fell on me, aho!"
The creature slipped around the corner and disappeared.
"After it!" Urahara yelled.
Hanatarou sighed as he closed the bathroom door behind him. 'It's been a long day,' he thought as he stared blankly at the dark hallway. He didn't like the way the hall looked so spooky so he searched for the switch. He groped the wall until his fingers brushed the switch and flipped it, brightly lighting up the hall.
'That's better,' he thought. "Hm...Is it just me…or is it quiet?'
Then, floor seemed to shake. 'An earthquake?!'
"AAhhhh!!!!"
Hanatarou watched in terror as captains, vice-captains, humans, and cat ran into the wall at the other end of the hallway. In the cloud of dust a small shadow wriggled out of the mass of bodies and ran to his direction.
"Hana-chan, Hana-chan, Hana-chan, Hana-chan," the little brown blur chanted as it streaked across the hard-wood floor. "Hana-chan!" It leaped up to its goal.
"Kei!" the stupefied medic caught the furry mongoose in his arms. "What are you doing here?"
The mammal looked up with its bright beady eyes and gave a nervous grin. "Um, heheh…Found you?"
Hanatarou brought the animal closer to him. "You shouldn't be here!" he hissed.
Kei flattened his little ears and hissed back, "Hey, I'm just doing my job alright? I was given orders to look for you and, voila, mission accomplished."
Hanatarou groaned, "But you're not supposed to get caught!"
"Hey, not my fault! How was I supposed to know there would be a nin-cat here?"
"Nin-cat? Never mind," Hanatarou sighed. He turned his attention back to the audience. 'Great, now they're really going to ask questions.'
Ichigo brought up a shaking hand up, pointing at the creature in Hanatarou's arms. "The mongoose… it talks!"
"Oooh, so she wasn't a nin-cat."
"No, Kei, she wasn't. You attacked Yoruichi-san," Hanatarou explained, his smile twitched.
Everyone was in a room, Yoruichi and Urahara gone to fix Yoruichi's scratches. Curious eyes stared at the talking animal; Nell and Yachiru boldly petted Kei's brown fur while Chad tentatively joined them.
"Is that thing yours, Yamada?" Hitsugaya asked, his cold glare sent chills all over Hanatarou's body.
"N-no, sir. Kei belongs to a friend of mine."
"It's amazing how he can talk!" Matsumoto commented. "At first, I thought he was a person with similar powers as Yoruichi's."
"Nope, lady, I'm a hundred percent mongoose," Kei piped up.
Then, Urahara came in with Yoruichi, who had several small scratches on her body. Hanatarou immediately gave the cat-lady a low bow of apology. "Gomenasai, Yoruichi-san! Please forgive Kei. He's a bit of…an idiot." Hanatarou glared at the mongoose and nodded his head towards the cat-lady.
Kei grumbled as he walked over to Yoruichi. He lowered the upper part of his body in an awkward bow. "Please accept my apology, miss. It was a terrible misunderstanding."
Yoruichi chuckled, "Apology accepted."
Satisfied, the mongoose returned to his post in Hanatarou's arms.
"Yosh!" Urahara clapped his hands. "Now that we've put that aside, I have a question for our little mongoose friend."
"Nani?"
"Yoruichi told me you called her a 'nin-cat,'" Urahara tapped his chin. "Does that make you a, what, a nin-mongoose or something?"
Kei felt Hanatarou's grip on him tighten. He narrowed his gold eyes. "What's it to you?"
"Nin-cat? Nin-mongoose?" Ichigo asked.
"You see," Urahara started, "I've only heard stories, but it is supposed that there are people known as 'shinobis.'"
"Shinobis?" Ishida quirked an eyebrow, "As in ninjas?"
"Hai," Urahara replied. "I've read somewhere that some shinobis made pacts with animals to help them in fights."
"Why haven't I heard about them before?" Ichigo asked.
"You could say they have hidden themselves within Soul Society. They are very secretive," Hitsugaya explained. "The nobles find them…distasteful so they are not allowed within Seireitei. The funny thing is that the 2nd Division is similar to shinobis yet a bit different. … "
"I've also heard rumors that there are many shinobis who got into Seireitei by using fake identities," Matsumoto added.
"Wait, if Kei belongs to Hanatarou's friend…then doesn't that mean that his friend is a shinobi!" Rukia realized. "If his friend is found out, it would cause trouble."
"Or," Urahara pointed out, "it could mean that Yamada-kun is also a shinobi."
Hanatarou had to calm himself. 'Don't panic. Don't show any emotions,' he thought. 'He doesn't have proof.'
"Hahaha, this kid a shinobi?" Kenpachi laughed. "I've heard of them. They're supposed to be pretty strong. I can't picture the kid as one, though."
"Yeah," Matsumoto agreed. "I heard that some kill people in cold-blood."
"Hanatarou-kun would never do that," Orihime gasped. She turned to the boy. "Ne?"
No one noticed Hanatarou flinch but Kei. 'Oh, if only she knew,' Kei thought. Hanatarou faced Urahara and gave a meek smile, "I-I don't see how I could be such scary person." His mouth felt dry as he said those words.
Urahara watched the boy for any emotions. Finding none, he got bored. "Oh well," he sighed and got up, "it would have been interesting." As he went through the door his hand slipped into his sleeves.
"Whoa!" Everyone cried as a white streak zipped through the air.
"Oi, Hanatarou!" Kei shouted. "Watch out!"
"Itai!" Hanatarou clutched his throbbing head. He picked up the object of fault: a closed fan.
"Ahaha, oops," Urahara scratched the back of his head. "Seems like my hand slipped."
"Urahara, you…" Ichigo gritted his teeth. Who the hell could make a mistake like that?!
Hanatarou handed the fan back to the shopkeeper. He flinched as he touched the small bump on his head.
"He's lying again." Yoruichi jumped on the counter. Urahara was organizing the candies and snacks.
"He's very good at it, too" Urahara mused. "If Hachi also agrees with us about him, he's definitely one of them."
"Why are you so interested in shinobis all of a sudden, anyways?" the cat's back leg briskly scratched her lean stomach.
"Well," the storekeeper hummed, "haven't you noticed the similarity between the descriptions of shinobis and the hollows that have been popping up?"
"Ah, I see…"
"I was hoping that if Hanatarou was one of them, he could help us understand more about a shinobi's way of life. If we do, then maybe we can find a way to get rid of these hollows."
"But if he is found out, there will be trouble between him and the higher-ups."
"Meh," Urahara shrugged. "I guess all we have left is to wait until Hanatarou has no choice but to reveal himself."
"Shinobis sound very interesting," Ishida commented.
"Un, but they also sound a bit frightening," Orihime shivered. Sure, she had seen shinigamis against hollows, shinigamis fighting against their fellow peers, and first-hand deaths of the human-like espadas. But humans killing other humans? That was murder, something she's only read and heard on the news!
"I wish one would come," Kenpachi muttered. He was bored but didn't want to go back to Soul Society yet. And besides, he thought as he along with Chad watched Yachiru and Nel play around with the mongoose, his lieutenant didn't seem ready to go yet.
"Where did Hanatarou go again?" Ichigo asked.
"I think he went to the bathroom to check on his head," Rukia answered.
Kei paused in the middle of his romp with the two girls. "I'll go check on him," he said and walked to the bathroom.
When the mongoose arrived at the bathroom door, he pawed the wooden entrance, "Hana-chan, it's me." He heard the door click open, letting just enough space for the animal's lithe body to slip through. "How's the bump?" he asked.
"I'll be fine," Hanatarou replied, his reiatsu-covered hand was over the area of the bump.
"You know," Kei sat on the cold tile floor, "it would have been so easy to dodge that. Hell, even a genin wouldn't have to think to dodge that."
"I know."
"Yet, you let it hit you on purpose."
"He was testing me."
"That shopkeeper probably knows everything, anyways," Kei stared at a bug crawling by.
"But Ichigo-san and the others don't," Hanatarou leaned towards the mirror, his fingers brushing back his hair. It seemed that the swelling went down.
"You know they're going to find out soon, anyways," Kei snorted. He turned and slipped out of the bathroom.
Hanatarou straightened back up and stared at his reflection.
"Hanatarou-kun would never do that, ne?"
The medic grimaced. 'Even if they're going to find out soon,' he thought, 'I don't want them to know yet.'
Demon eyes gleamed through the darkness.
"They're here, I can smell them," snarled Veneno Gato. He finally found them! His nose found a trace of his brother's blood, probably from the orange-haired boy's clothes. The smell led him to a small shop. Soon, he would be able to get revenge for Brother's death.
He sniffed the air again.
There were more souls in the shop besides the two shinigamis he had encountered. Perhaps he should kill them before the two boys. Then, they will also feel the pain, the same excruciating pain that seems to have possessed him.
Veneno Gato shuddered in anticipation. He could already hear their screams of death, cries for mercy, feel their flesh be torn to shreds by his claws and fangs.
"I can't wait any longer," he breathed. His body jolted forward, rage pulsing through his veins. He sprung out of hiding, letting out a terrifying screech.
"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya warned.
"Hai, a hollow is coming," the lieutenant began to unsheathe her sword.
"Lets go."
"Hai."
Rukia snapped her head to the window. "A hollow's coming. It's coming to the entrance."
Everyone scrambled to their feet and hurried out of the shop. Nel followed after them but was stopped by a large hand.
"You stay inside, Nel," Ichigo ordered.
"But, but--," she protested.
"I don't want you to get hurt," Ichigo explained. He smiled, ruffled her green locks, and shunpoed outside.
"But, I don't want to be alone," the ex-espada finished. She pouted, then ran down the hall. There was no way she was going to be left behind, all alone in this big shop while everyone else went out to fight!
Then, she stopped.
Where's the entrance, again?
Hanatarou's hair bristled when he heard the screech, a sound similar to nails scratching a chalkboard. 'It must be the hollow that got away,' he thought when he felt the familiar energy in the air.
"Hanatarou!" Kei ran past the medic. "Come on, everyone is at the entrance."
The boy nodded and followed the little mongoose behind. When he rounded the corner, he bumped into the small arrancar.
"Nel!"
"Ah, Hanatawou!" Nel cried.
Hanatarou grabbed her hand and helped her up, "Sorry, didn't see you. You okay?"
"Un," Nel rubbed her side. She was relieved to find someone to keep her company.
"Oi, Hana-chan, enough chatting and lets go!" the mongoose barked.
"Y-yea! Sorry, Nel, but I have to go. Stay here where it's safe."
Nel blinked as she the boy and mongoose go. Not once but twice she had been dumped. "W-wait!" she shouted, running after them. "Don't leave me alone!"
aaiighhttt~ any mistakes in writing? i was lazy to check haha. hmmmm....is it me or does this chapter seem a bit...fast? i dunno i wasn't really pleased with it. ugh, and yeaaa i coulda have Hanatarou reveal himself but NOT YET! aahh not yet~
Read and Review please! i love readin them reviews.
Tale of Despereaux was cute~ and Booya was tasty~