Me: So, we're back!

Rukia: ALL of us.

Ichigo: Yep.

Me: I got some long reviews after the fiftieth chap. it was cool! i'm glad someone noticed Peyton's Dane Cook reference. So YES, spaceisforstars, that WAS Dane Cook-ness (grins)

Ichigo: I liked the one from the two sisters that said their wake-up call was gonna suck since they stayed up all night. What were their names, uhhhh...uhhh...OH! VivianAndAbby. Yep, that's it. AND they gave us triple D's for awesomeness! AND they liked my dia- ...JOURNAL.

Me: (rolls eyes) Journal, my ass. It's a diary.

Ichigo: OF MANLINESS!

Me: Whatever. And the one about reading the fic all day, then coming back from Subway right when i updated was cool too. Thanks for that, KrazyKyuubi!

Rukia: There was one i liked, from crazysane. it mentioned sneaking past their parents because they weren't supposed to be on the computer after midnight, but started reading this at 11:55 or something and just couldn't stop reading.

Me: And of course, the reviews i usually get from MiloMaxwell, Maxride4life, animelover1993, X-ParadeOfJoy-X, shadowxofxdarkness, ultima-owner, and so many others! Thanks!

Ichigo: (yawns) Can we move on now? This is so fucking boring. Oh, but I, ICHIGO KUROSAKI, want to thank ultima-owner first. THE CAKE IS A LIE! I love that game..

Me: (rolls eyes) Whatever. You with your dramatic effects. Although, that IS a cool game, Portal. Anyways, enjoy!

"C'mon, hurry up, get up!" Matsumoto shouted in Peyton's ear, making her jolt awake and into a sitting position.

"What, what's wrong?"

Rukia was already awake, combing her hand through her hair and looking out a window. They were in a little hut, from what Peyton could gather. "Nothing's wrong. We're just hungry."

"Starving, to be exact," Matsumoto chimed, rifling through her bag until she pulled out a brush. She then brushed the hell out of Rukia's hair, which the tiny Soul Reaper seemed to utterly despise.

"I CAN TAKE CARE OF MY OWN HAIR, THANK YOU!"

"I can see that. If you didn't want me fooling with it, you shouldn't have forgotten to bring a brush," Matsumoto replied matter-of-factly.

Peyton stretched and stood up, smirking at them. They sounded just like her and Lindsay. She felt a sudden twinge of homesickness at that random thought, but it was gone just as quickly.

"Where are we? And how the hell did I get here?" She asked with a yawn.

Matsumoto glanced over at her. "Oh. I convinced Kuchiki to let us stop in a village for the night. With any luck, he's still asleep, and we can go re-stock on some GOOD food before he gets some."

Rukia made a face. "Don't even mention his idea of food. He seems to take to heart that a Soul Reaper must travel as lightly as possible...How does he stay fed?" She wondered out loud, to which all three shrugged with a "Hmm" noise.

"And as to how YOU got here, YOU got to get carried for a good three miles. Well, maybe longer, if you count finding our way to the village," Rukia continued.

Matsumoto giggled. "He carried you right over there, and kissed you goooooodnniiiiiigghhht!" She cooed, making Peyton's temple throb and Rukia just smirk.

"What about Toshiro? Did he kiss you goodnight?" Peyton replied slyly, barely blinking as Matsumoto gave her a look that could kill.

"Of course not. He is my Captain, I am his Lieutenant. End of story."

"Mmmhmm."

"STOP QUESTIONING IT!"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!"

LATER...

"I still don't get it. I thought Soul Society was supposed to be this awesome place with no worries," Peyton commented as they wandered the poor village.

"It is for those higher up. It's actually much like the Human World. Nearly identical problems. In fact, over here, souls very rarely find each other in the afterlife," Rukia replied solemnly.

"Then why do you.."

"Lie?" Matsumoto suggested, tossing a kiwi from hand to hand carelessly. She scoffed. "Would YOU come to the other side if you knew you were just as better off in the Human World?"

"Except HERE, there aren't any Hollows. So why not just tell them that?" Peyton asked.

"That's too honest," Rukia replied bitterly with a shake of the head at the whole thing.

They were a little less talkative after that. Until they heard painfully familiar voices shouting nearby.

The three exchanged a sigh. "They're up."

Ichigo eyed it cautiously. "What the hell is that supposed to be?"

Renji shrugged, staring at it with curiosity. "Captain Kuchiki said it was a fruit, but I dunno what the hell kind of fruit smells like THAT."

Ichigo sniffed it, then sneezed. "Ew. It smells like moldy cheese...and socks."

Renji sighed exasperatedly and tossed it at Toshiro's head. "Here, this one's no good. Ichigo sneezed all over it!"

Toshiro caught it with ease, making Renji droop and Ichigo smirk. He turned to look at them. "Great. Captain Kuchiki is not going to like MORE delays."

"Why didn't he just come here and grab some food himself?" Renji asked moodily, ripping a random leaf off a branch and picking it apart absently.

"Because he has brought it upon himself to watch the Miyamoto family while we're away."

Ichigo sweatdropped. "Isn't Peyton the only one who can see the assassins?"

"I tried telling him that, but he just said he had their room rigged. He said he'd be able to see them just fine," Toshiro replied, and anyone could hear the heavy doubt in his voice.

"Speaking of which, last night was all your fault," Renji commented, pointing a finger at Ichigo.

His scowl deepened. "Oh yeah? My fault we got to sleep? Oh, I'm such a terrible person."

"NO, your fault that the other chicks of the group wanted to get carried around. ALL YOU!"

"Well, sorry for being so awesome to my girlfriend! Maybe if you treated RUKIA good once in a while..."

"RUKIA'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Toshiro held up a finger, then shook his head. "I'm not getting into this," he muttered. They ignored him.

"You say that NOW. I bet you fifty bucks you hook up by the time summer gets here."

"Well, you're wrong, AS USUAL!"

"I'm right more often than YOU! You're the one who had to give me and Peyton sixty bucks because you were too much of a DUMBASS to realize we were already together!"

"Oh, you wanna bring up past prediction fails, Strawberry? What about the time Toshiro and Matsumoto hooked up at that ONE party and you said they would remember later?"

"We did NO SUCH THING!" Toshiro exclaimed, and Renji pointed at him. "See? You didn't remember! ICHIGO was WRONG AGAIN!"

"OH YEAH? What about the time you got the SHIT beat out of you by Byakuya and I told you whenever you and Rukia made out again, the same thing would happen? AND IT DID. So stick THAT up your pineapple ass!"

"YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE, STRAWBERRY?"

"We ARE outside, dumbass."

"...Oh. Then I'll just kick your orange ass NOW!" He shouted as he literally kicked Ichigo in the ass, sending him flying right through a stand and sliding until he was right in front of a very familiar pair of shoes.

Peyton sweatdropped about three times, and finally spoke. "...That's his HOT ORANGE ass to you," she stated as she took a bite out of her mango.

Ichigo looked up at her. "A little assistance?"

She smiled and grabbed his good hand, and he sprung right up. "One day. ONE DAY, this will come back and bite you in the ass, you Trimmed Pineapple Head!" Ichigo said ominously, still holding Peyton's hand.

Renji just sighed. "Dammit, that Demon Dog..."

"Maybe it just wants a career in cosmetics?" Peyton offered.

"Oh, shut the hell up! You and Strawberry can just kiss my ASS!"

Matsumoto eyed Toshiro strangely. "...Captain, you alright?"

He was bright red, and just shook his head quickly as if shaking away evil thoughts. "...Fine."

Peyton looked to Ichigo, who just smirked and shook his head. "I'll tell you later."

FIVE MINUTES LATER...

Byakuya and Tetsuo were waiting outside the hut for them when they all walked up. And were soon sweatdropping.

Rukia and Renji were shouting at the top of their lungs about who was the better Soul Reaper and why they could never date each other.

Matsumoto was flitting around Toshiro, asking him over and over what was wrong while offering random scenarios to help figure out what it was, while his temple was throbbing and he tried his best to ignore her.

Peyton and Ichigo were arguing over which one stepped on her mango, him or Renji. Inbetween which he kept trying to get her to let him win by kissing her in random places. But to her credit, she wasn't relenting.

"SOUL REAPERS! ...And Ms. Cullen!" Byakuya finally shouted. They all fell silent, blinking at him innocently.

He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted when they heard crashing inside the hut. Everyone exchanged a look and ran in, and their jaws dropped at what they saw.

A girl fighting air, and the three Miyamoto siblings watching on in terror.

Two assassins lay dead, and soon two more dropped to the ground to join them. She looked up at them all, panting, and cracked a half-smile.

"I saw them heading this way. Guess I still have that fighting in me." Peyton noticed that Ichigo went rigid at the sight of this girl.

Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened as well. "Wait...Ichigo?"

The Soul Reapers all looked cautiously to Ichigo, as if wondering how he would handle it. He blinked a couple times.

"...Senna."

Senna grinned, amber eyes crinkling happily. "You DO remember. I knew you would."

Renji leaned towards Rukia. "But...How is she even..?"

She shook her head stiffly, gaze flitting between Ichigo and Senna. Chiyoko ran up to Peyton. "Peyton-chan, you missed the ninjas! They tried to grab Arisu, it was scary," she exclaimed, hugging her waist.

Senna cocked her head. "Who're you?"

She flashed a half-wave before holding out her hand. "Peyton. Call it a hunch, but I'm guessing your name's Senna."

She shook it with a grin. "Yep, that's me!" Chiyoko glanced up from Peyton's shirt, which was now slightly wet.

"Thank you, Senna-san."

Senna ruffled her hair. "No problem."

Ichigo looked more confused than when Peyton tumbled out of Matsumoto's bag, which was saying something.

Actually, come to think of it, EVERYONE looks plain confused...

Senna looked Peyton up and down. "Something tells me you're not a Soul Reaper."

She shook her head. "Nope. Just taggin' along."

Chiyoko's eyes widened excitedly. "I just had the most excellent idea! You should come with us, Senna-san!"

"NO!" The Soul Reapers exclaimed, making the others jump. They seemed to have suddenly regained total control of their mouths as they started shouting more words of disagreement all at once.

Chiyoko huffed. "But SOUL REAPERS, don't you see? Senna-san can see the ninjas as well. So that way, when Peyton-chan sleeps on Ichigo-san's back, SHE can keep us safe too!"

Senna cocked an eyebrow at Peyton and Ichigo. "Sleep on Ichigo's back?"

Peyton waved her off. "Ehhh, it's nothing, really. I think Chiyoko has a point. Why not let her tag along?"

Everyone slowly quieted down. They looked to Ichigo, as if his opinion was suddenly the most important of all.

He dragged Peyton out of the room and to the side of the hut without another word. Senna watched them with a sweatdrop, then looked to everone else. "Do they do that often?"

"What the hell are you thinking?" He asked once they were outside.

Peyton gave him a look. "I could ask you the same thing. What the hell's wrong with you guys?"

"Senna's just...she's..."

"She's just what?"

He glanced around, then sighed. "...You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, you know that?"

She laced her fingers with the ones poking out of his cast, then smirked up at him. "Since when have I ever known what I'm getting myself into with you? Tell me, what's so bad about this Senna chick?"

"Nothing's BAD about her, just...she shouldn't be..." He sighed again. "If she tags along, will you drop it?"

"No."

"But she's tagging along anyways."

"Yes."

He chuckled and shook his head before kissing her forehead. "I'm telling you, within three hours, you're gonna wish she never showed up."

"Oh, we'll see about that," she replied confidently, squeezing his fingers for emphasis.