Amaterasu had used up too much ink to disappear on Ikkaku. She was a little annoyed at herself for switching out the golden ink pot for her fire tablet. She had to give the shinigami here credit though. The soldiers here are much more effective then some of the ones she used to fight. For instance the one pursuing her had no trouble keeping up even when she flipped over him and ran the other way.

It wasn't until she kicked some dirt into his eyes that she was able to get away.

She rounded a corner and sat down for a breather when she was greeted by a shrill voice.

"Wow! You're almost the size of a pony!"

Amaterasu turned her head and saw a cheerful looking girl. She had bright pink hair and she was bouncing on her toes.

"I saw you in some of the paintings in Byakkun's house. But you're much bigger, and you had more stripes." she chirped. "I think I'll call you pony! No, stripy. Because of you're red stripes."

Amaterasu nodded in acknowledgement and stood up to keep going.

The girl apparently took it upon herself to follow, because she climbed onto the wolf's back.

Amaterasu stared at her for a few moments before trotting off again.

The girl either wanted to give her a tour, or had no sense of direction. Amaterasu suspected that it was the latter.

The two girls had spent quite a bit of the day traversing through Seireitei. The girl would point in various directions and Amaterasu would follow. Between the two of them they had probably pilfered a year's worth of candy (For the girl) and meat pastries (For herself). Amaterasu made a note to herself that she would return to the places and leave payment as soon as she found a place to leave the girl.

"Hey Stripey! I wanna show you to Kenny. Lets go find him. Hya pony!" She commanded and dug her heels into the wolf's side.

Amaterasu stopped short so fast that the girl all but fell off. Amaterasu was perfectly fine with being nicknamed. She had received many over her travels and they went from Snowy to Wolfy To Pupgang Amadeus Gandalfr. The last one being from someone who thought himself a theatre expert. Amaterasu was also perfectly fine with being ridden. She had carried many people in her lifetime. Some of them were willing, but most of them were not. Her rider would either sit just behind her shoulders or on top of her reflector.

What she was not going to accept was being treated like a toy. Animal form or not, she had dignity and she was not about to let a child take that from her. She would make that understood even if she didn't speak.

"Whats wrong? Why did you stop?" Asked the girl.

Amaterasu only turned her head back stared at her in response.

Yachiru, who was not in fact used to being chastised by anyone other then her Guardian, became very uncomfortable under the wolf's gaze. She had gotten the message loud and clear.

-You are to treat me with respect. That is not an option-

In another place a solemn looking woman observed the two from a monitor.

"Captain Kurotsuchi. It appears the wolf is able to subdue lieutenant Kusajishi."

The room she was became silent immediately. Everyone else in the room rushed to the screen to see the miracle.

"Hn. Interesting." Said a particularly odd looking fellow. "Nemu! Take what you need and bring that wolf back here. It has piqued my curiosity!"

Captain Byakuya Kuchiki had spent an unusually long day at his office coordinating the searches and repairs. It was a welcome distraction from the news he had gotten yesterday. His little sister had been found. Her powers a mere fraction of what they were before she left and a human had developed soul reaper abilities. She had broken a serious law and Central 46 was not happy. Yesterday he had spent a fair bit of time trying to find some way to protect Rukia until he nearly succumbed to exhaustion.

Since the sun was still high in the sky he decided to step out and join the search himself. He had sensed Kusajishi just out side his door and he prepared the pork bun in his pocket for what ever she may be doing. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

...

...

...

He was still rendered speechless by what was out side.

Yachiru was outside and sitting on the back of a white wolf, or was it a woman? How in god's name did Yachiru get a wolf into Seireitei?

"Hi Byakushi! This is Stripey!" She chirped.

The supposed wolf woman only sighed in response and gave him a tired look. -You too?-

Why was Yachiru calling this one Stripey? Wait, When he looked a little closer he could see faint pink markings on its head and shoulders.

"Where did you find it?" He asked, not entirely sure if he wanted an answer.

"I thought Stripey was a pony when I saw her" came the reply.

The wolf and captain shared a moment of mutual exasperation in Yachiru's silly and somewhat irritating antics.

He thought about reporting the girls but remembered that Yachiru made up half the pair.

He turned around and shut the door behind him.

The eleventh captain was grinning. His third seat had just gotten back to him and told him about strong snowy white wolf. The wolf had apparently blown through a several walls while it was running about and kept giving the shinigami the slip. He was hearing rumors that the creature was mysterious and powerful and wielded a giant glaive. It had been a while since he'd had a good fight. Wolf or not, he was going to see what it was made of.

He hoped the hardest part would be fighting the mutt and not finding it.

He was not disappointed when he found the wolf in a clearing. He was annoyed that his lieutenant was sitting on it though.

"Oy. Yachiru, get off the mutt. It can't fight with you sittin' on it." He grunted.

"But Kenny. Stripey isn't a mutt. She's a wolf and she's fluffy." She protested as she hopped off.

"Eh, whatever." He sized up the wolf and took a few swings. "Now fight me wolf!"

The wolf merely sidestepped the first blow and parried the rest.

Kenpachi was impressed. He hadn't expected the mutt to actually parry his blows. He swung at it a few more times. a little harder each swing and got the same response right up until the last blow. Somehow the seven pointed blade had been replaced with a glowing blue shield. When it blocked him, he could feel the bones in his arm rattling.

The wolf would not actively strike at him or stop grinning, which was a little irritating.

"Fight back dammit!" He barked. "And stop smiling at me!"

Amaterasu was amused. This was likely the one that had raised the hyperactive girl. Neither of them really respected boundaries, had any manners, or had hidden agendas. Their propensity for destruction was also a shared quality. She suspected that Gekigami and Bakugami would like these two and they would bond over their shared fondness for destruction and battle.

She knew better then most that even the fiercest were excellent fathers. She also knew that the battle hungry captain was more driven by boredom then ambition. He wasn't boasting of his strength, nor was he announcing to the heavens that he was invincible. If anything he was modest, he simply stated what he was. Not bad qualities to pass onto children.

Amaterasu twitched her ears when she heard mechanical whirring. She stopped grinning when small robots got closer to her location. She growled when she smelled chemicals leaking out of them. Three lines and a few dozen broken robots later, Amaterasu found herself being surrounded by fake naked people and the lieutenant of squad 12.

The eleventh captain was not happy about having his "fight" interrupted and was cutting them down. Still they were about to be over whelmed when three large bombs appeared and blew them up. Unfortunately the noise had attracted the attention of other captains and when they approached they saw her weapon disappear with a sudden deluge.

The weapon did not reappear when the rain stopped either and to Kenpachi and Yachiru's amusement the wolf started fighting in a way that highly resembled Kung Fu. It kicked down the woman and disappeared down an alley.

"Stupid woman!" Cursed the 12th division captain.

The wolf had destroyed the cameras before they could get any conclusive data. The scientists in the room had seen it manipulate the world and couldn't get any conclusive data other then the fact the changes happened. They wished that they could get some data soon, preferably before their captain got into an experimenting mood.

"Send more drones after that creature!" Came the order.

"Interesting. Very interesting. "

A creature with powers like that would prove very helpful for his plans.

"Gin. Test that beast. Convert it to our side if you are able. Get rid of it if you are not."

Amaterasu was not happy with herself. She had gotten carried away again and used up all her ink again. She even had to use her "wolf kung fu" to fight. Now she had robots AND shinigami on her tail. She dug under a fence and popped up in front of a very surprised young woman.

Rangiku Matsumoto was on her way to get a drink when she saw a wolf spring from the ground. To say she was surprised was an understatement. She quickly got over her surprise and began petting the wolf. "Aren't you the cutest thing? " she cooed "Your white as snow. I bet my captain would LOVE you."

Amaterasu on the other hand could not believe what she was seeing. The woman had HUGE breasts! How on earth did she manage that kind of weight jiggling about all day? Why were they that big? How did they not fall out of her clothes? They bounced a lot. She couldn't stop looking at them.

Rangiku was completely oblivious to the wolf's stares. She let the wolf into the barracks and carefully snuck it to just out side of her captain's office. She gestured for the wolf to wait while she went to fetch her captain.

Amaterasu sat in the hall and waited...

And waited...

and waited...

She couldn't stand waiting any more and pushed the door open herself.

"Matsumoto! I am up to my neck in paper work! I am not going to stop just so you can show me a drawing!" Gritted the captain with out looking up.

"But captain! It's not a drawing! There is a real wolf sitting out side and it's tame!" Insisted Rangiku

"Matsumoto! You've had too much to drink!"

The door slid open and Amaterasu walked in.

Matsumoto quickly gestured for her to get back out when-

"I'm busy! Go away!" Said the captain.

The wolf looked around before realizing he was talking to her. She made her most human sound yet. "Huh?" -Me?-

"Yes lady. You. There is a mutant wolf running around and blowing things up in Seireitei. I have too much work to catch up on. Unless you've got information you want to give me about those things, go away. And take something for that sore throat of yours. You sound like a dog." he insisted.

-Um. Alright.- Amaterasu wasn't quite sure what to make of the boy so she figured she may as well do as he said. She left and shut the door behind her. Leaving behind a speechless Rangiku and a busy captain behind.

That was probably the first normal reaction she had received since she arrived at soul society. The sun was about to set and Amaterasu didn't feel like glowing in the moon light just yet so she drew in the sky again. She wondered if anyone noticed the day getting longer.

"That's a pretty interestin' skill ya got there" came a voice.

Amaterasu turned her head and saw someone with a face that heavily resembled an old enemy. His eyes were shut. His hand was wrapped around the hilt of his sword. He intended to kill her, but for what purpose?

She could tell that this guy was hiding something, something very important to him. She kept watching him to see what he would do. She watched, so that she could see his true character.

"Ya know ya ain't really supposed ta be here."

This guy was unsettling, but not malicious. Amaterasu suspected that he cultivated his cold and creepy mask on purpose. There was fire too, perhaps a passion for cunning and trickery or some other subject.

"I can't have ya runnin' around an' messing with Seireitei."

There was also fear. But not fear of herself. It was the intense fear of loss and fear of failure. This was probably why his eyes were always shut tightly.

"An ya obviously ain't gonna leave-"

What she saw most, was resolve. This one had dedicated his whole life for something. He had devoted time, and effort for one purpose and he was terrified of failing.

"Tell ya what. If you can beat me. I'll leave ya alone"

He drew his sword and pointed it at her. She was unafraid.

"Ikorose, Shinso"

There was a bright flash of green where the sword hit and Gin felt a sharp jolt in his shoulder.

When the flash subsided the wolf was still there, in fazed and unharmed. She got up and trotted away Leaving a wordless message.

Gin's facial expression never changed but inside he was shaking. In the few moments the wolf had made him feel small. It was like all of his layers had been ripped away and his soul was laid bare for it to see.

Not even Aizen made him feel like that.