All Hollow's Eve II
Halloween was a strange night.
From the costumes and decorations, to the candy-begging and juvenile pranks, to the tradition of carving pumpkins and telling scary stories, it was all very bizarre to anyone looking in from the outside. It became even more bizarre upon remembering that Halloween was essentially one big 'All You Can Eat' buffet for hollows in the human world, with the weakened barrier between the world of the living and Hueco Mundo serving as the giant, flashing neon sign inviting one and all to stop in and have a bite.
Nothing about the annual event ever made sense and all one could do was to try and expect the unexpected, to just roll with whatever strangeness came your way.
But sometimes the strange occurrences warranted a closer look…
It was pretty weird for humans to be able to see spirits in the first place, but not too uncommon an occurrence, especially in Karakura Town, and that wasn't too much to be concerned with; in particular, the child had mentioned that the two shinigami had been "see-through," an indication that she could only just barely perceive them. That by itself wasn't really too much of a surprise; children were always better at perceiving spirits than adults and, like the overwhelming majority of children, she would probably grow out of it in time and live her adult life blissfully ignorant of the spirits wandering about the earth. Her existing memories of them would fade and eventually she would only remember any apparitions as mere figments of a child's overactive imagination.
All in all, there was little to be concerned with in regards to the child.
Her two guardians, however…
The woman had punched Satsu with a force that belied her size and stature, the male clearly knew what a shinigami was and to top it all off, neither one of them had any detectable spiritual pressure whatsoever. Each of these little things individually would be easy enough to ignore, but all three combined…
No, something definitely wasn't right with those two.
Takk followed them from above, going from rooftop to rooftop to tree branch, trying to stay at least fifty meters back at all times while staying hidden in the shadows. Surveillance activities were generally left to Squad 2 and their specialists, but basic courses in tracking and stealth had been a part of everyone's training back at the Soul Academy and while it hadn't exactly been Takk's best subject, his curiosity demanded that he follow the strange individuals and learn more about them.
"She's gorgeous…" sighed his brother, Satsu. "Takk, I think I'm in love."
"She tried to punch your teeth down your throat and you're in love with her?" asked Takk incredulously, taking his eyes off the strangers for a brief moment as he regarded his brother. "You're either nuts or more desperate than I thought."
"It was just a love tap, that's all," said Satsu, gazing down at the blonde dreamily as Takk hopped over to a nearby roof. "I think she likes me."
"And I think she'd like to tear your head off and roll it down the street…" said the elder twin, shaking his head at his brother's delusions as Satsu followed his lead over to the rooftop. "Besides, don't you think there's something strange about them? They're not exactly normal, even by Karakura's weird standards."
"The way they defy gravity is part of what makes her so amazing!" explained Satsu as he watched the belligerent beauty escort the child to another door.
"I'm not talking about her breasts, moron," Takk growled. "They saw us, and saw us clearly. They even knew what we are!"
"So? Maybe they're friends with the Kurosaki kid or something," shrugged the younger of the two brothers. "I think you're thinking too much."
"Maybe I am…" Takk conceded reluctantly. "I hadn't thought about that. It doesn't explain everything, but…"
He trailed off as the male down below turned around and looked up at them, making direct eye contact with Takk and narrowing his eyes in obvious irritation and hostility.
"Oh…shit," breathed the shinigami.
"What? What do you see?" asked Satsu as his brother went completely pale.
"We're some fifty-plus meters away, on a rooftop, in the dark, obscured by shadows and heavy cloud cover over the moon at the moment…" Takk began slowly.
"Your point?"
"He can see us..." said Takk. "This far away, in the dark, and he can see us."
"Okay, that's a little…weird," Satsu admitted finally.
"It's worse than just being 'a little weird…'" Takk explained as the redhead finally broke eye contact and moved further down the street with his two companions.
"How so?"
"I don't think he's human."
The sight of a hundred-plus human teenagers in terrible, cheaply-made costumes crammed into a single dimly-lit gymnasium dancing about to horrible thumping noises that had somehow been mistakenly classified as music was acid-etching itself into Ulquiorra's brain as a horrible memory that would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his decidedly un-natural life.
"This is my punishment for my sins during the war…" he muttered as his green eyes scanned the room. "I am beginning to wish you had left me as naught but a pile of black ash, woman."
"It's not that bad!" Orihime tried to encourage him. "Smile, talk to people, make new friends, try dancing; you never know if you'll like something or not until you try it."
"False; I am one-hundred percent certain I will not enjoy this. I will not tear you away from whatever enjoyment you may find here, but I am going home," said Ulquiorra, turning and heading back for the door.
Orihime reached out and grabbed him by his blue cape, holding it tightly in an attempt to dissuade him from leaving.
"Batman never runs from anything," she told him playfully, poking at the bat symbol on his chest.
"How fortunate it is, then, that I am not Batman," was his stiff reply as he moved to slip past her and out the door.
"I didn't think the Demon Bat of Los Noches ran from anything, either," said Orihime simply, stopping Ulquiorra in his tracks. Despite how 'air-headed' Orihime often acted, that singular comment had been a precision strike against the cuarto's pride and now he could not leave no matter how much he might wish to.
Clever girl…
Mechanically, Ulquiorra slowly turned back around and returned to Orihime's side, refusing to allow the woman to see how deep the verbal jab had cut him.
"If I can endure a trip to the mall with the likes of Tyn and Grimmjow, I suppose I can endure this," he said evenly. "However, I would like to go on record and state that this 'music' is a crime against humanity far worse than anything I may have perpetrated during the war."
"Okay, so maybe this song is bad, but I'm sure the next one will be better," chirped Orihime optimistically. "I'll go grab us some punch and then I'll introduce you to some of my friends. You okay with waiting here by yourself for a minute?"
"I will be fine…Yoruichi."
"Cat-Woman," corrected Orihime. "I'm Cat-Woman, remember?"
"Is that not what I said?" asked Ulquiorra stoically, raising an eyebrow. Orihime gave a light laugh at his comment as she headed into the sea of people looking for the refreshment table.
Ulquiorra surveyed the room and the mass of writhing bodies once more, making a concentrated effort to tune out the horrible thumping noise emanating from various speakers set up throughout the gymnasium. The pale Espada decided that as long as he stuck to the edges of the gymnasium and away from the central mass of seizure-esque behavior that apparently constituted dancing among humans, he should be able to tolerate the evening and keep Orihime happy. Sure, she planned on introducing him to a few of her friends but given her love of talking, it was doubtful he'd ever need to say much more than a simple "hello" to any of them.
"Oh wow, someone actually came as the goofy Batman!" said a voice beside him and Ulquiorra turned his head slightly to glare at the offending teen, also clad in a Batman costume, though his was the black costume more commonly seen in movies; the same interpretation of the character Ulquiorra would have dressed as had he actually been given a choice.
Though, the Espada thought that he would have picked out a much more-professional and less-cheap version than the teen had.
"Not by choice, I assure you," said Ulquiorra finally, remaining calm and diplomatic. "This costume was hand-picked by a…friend."
"You must have some weird friends!" scoffed the teenager, one of his black bat ears drooping to the side as he spoke.
"I will say this only once; call Orihime Inoue 'weird' again and you shall regret it," warned Ulquiorra quietly, a hint of malice flashing in his green eyes too quick for the dim-witted human to even notice.
"Oh, you were talking about Orihime!" exclaimed the boy. "Oh man, I didn't realize that; no, man, it's cool; she's a friend of mine! I'm Keigo Asano, a classmate of hers."
"Ulquiorra Cifer," said the Espada curtly, hoping the other male would take the hint and leave him alone.
"So, are you like, dating her or something?" asked an oblivious Keigo. "I mean, I know a few guys have asked her out and she keeps turning them down, and if she brought you to the party with her…"
"We are just friends for the moment."
"Ah, come on, you can tell me!" pressured Keigo with a grin as he nudged the Espada with his elbow, "We're both guys, right? You and her are a thing, aren't you?"
"I do not know what you are referring to and I would prefer to not continue this line of discussion."
"There's nothing to be ashamed about!" said Keigo. "Orihime is a major babe and you should be happy to have her! Though I can't figure out what she'd choose your kinda creepy Goth-vibe-thing to my awesomeness, but hey, whatever!"
"You have completely misunderstood my relationship with Orihime and insulted me; I would ask that you take your leave of me now and go find someone else to annoy before I become cross," stated Ulquiorra flatly, knowing that his tone would be enough to convince any intelligent, reasonable human being to go elsewhere.
How unfortunate it was that Keigo Asano seemed to be neither intelligent or reasonable.
"Chill out, man!" laughed Keigo. "It's a party; learn to laugh and loosen up! It's all good, bro!"
"I am most certainly not your 'bro,'"
"I get it; you're kinda shy. You just move to Karakura or something?" continued Keigo. "Either way, you're in luck because I am the guy to help you out: I can introduce you to people, I can teach you how to have fun, and I can make you almost as cool as I am."
"I neither want nor require your assistance, thank you," said Ulquiorra coldly, but the teen didn't seem to be listening.
"See, I am the life of any party because I know how to have fun! Chicks dig guys like that and if you're going to be dating Orihime, we've got to do some major work on your attitude and people skills."
"If you are not going to go away, would you at least be silent?" asked the arrancar, wishing all the while that for one brief, glorious moment, he was back in Los Noches where he could indiscriminately kill any offending fool who dared annoy him without fear of reprisal from the Soul Society.
It was challenging, but somehow the Espada managed to keep a thin-lipped grin from appearing on his face as the thought of what he would do flitted through his head.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about! You gotta ditch this anti-social thing you've got going on and-" began Keigo, oblivious to the fact he was toying with Death incarnate.
The teens words all became incoherent gibberish to Ulquiorra's ears as he continued to prattle on and on before the hollow could stand no more. With an unnatural strength that most certainly did not match his thin frame, Ulquiorra grabbed the teen by the collar of his shirt that wasn't quite covered by his plastic 'armored' chest piece and lifted him up in the air just enough to be eye-level with the former Espada.
"Please be silent or I shall have to hurt you," stated the Demon Bat of Los Noches icily.
"Okay, okay, I get it!" exclaimed Keigo. "I'll lay off!"
"Good. Thank you," said Ulquiorra, setting the teen back down and turning away to await Orihime's return. Asano didn't move from his spot beside Ulquiorra, but at least he was finally, mercifully, silent.
For a moment, anyway.
"Guess I should have came as Robin, huh, bro?"
Ulquiorra just sighed and facepalmed.
If there was one godforsaken holiday that Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez could do without, it was Halloween.
All Hollow's Eve itself was the single most awesome holiday in all the realms, a mayhem-filled murder-palooza that he mourned no longer being able to participate in.
His first exposure to the human version of the annual event, which they had for some stupid reason dubbed "Halloween," had been last year, the first human Halloween any of the Espada had experienced. Oh, at first it had sounded decent enough by human standards: horror movies on television, celebrations of death, disemboweling vegetables for no apparent reason… All fun, wholesome activities that he could really get behind…except for one major nuisance that everyone had neglected to warn him about; the hordes of goddamn children and their incessant door-to-door begging for candy.
Grimmjow had spent most of that first Halloween chasing the few kids in the neighborhood down the apartment hall, away from his door and out of the building entirely and the sexta decided that this year, he was not going to work that damn hard again.
Hence the "Do Not Disturb: Fuck Off and Die" sign he'd made and taped to his door.
The idea was that kids would see that and would leave him alone out of fear for their miserable little lives. The idea was that he could enjoy a nice, peaceful evening watching television without interruption. The idea was that this Halloween would be different from last year.
Except that the goddamned kids kept knocking on his door, anyway.
Grimmjow wasn't sure if they were illiterate, suicidal, or just plain stupid, but he was rapidly reaching the end of his oh-so-limited patience.
Having just finished chasing another brat away from his door, the Panther Lord flopped down on his couch and let out a long, irritated sigh as he wished everyone would just leave him the fuck alone. He reached for the beer sitting on his coffee table and took a long swig as he un-paused the DVD of his greatest hockey moments, reflecting on yet another way the holiday had fucked him over this year; there were barely any horror movies on television at all, and none of them were any good. Hell, he'd seen more Christmas-themed shows than anything while channel surfing!
Somebody needed to die for this affront and if Grimmjow had known who to hold responsible, he'd have been at their house ripping their lungs out through their skull, consequences be damned.
Still, watching the DVD of his greatest hits from his all-too-short NHL career always brought a twisted smile to his face and he could literally feel his blood pressure going back down to a somewhat-normal level as he laughed at the violence on the screen.
And then someone knocked at his door again…
"That's it! " Grimmjow roared as he jumped up from the couch, "Someone is about to die!"
He stalked over to his apartment door and yanked the wooden slab open, fully prepared to murder whoever was on the other side…but there was no one there.
"What…the…fuck?" he muttered, confused. He felt something brush against his legs and looked down just in time to see a black tail heading into his apartment.
That goddamn black cat again…
Yep, something was going to die, alright.
In fact, Grimmjow suddenly thought he understood why that feather-brained jackass, Tyn, had resorted to eating his neighbor's cat so long ago.
"It's the end of the world, furball!" bellowed Grimmjow, slamming the door shut as he whirled to face the unwelcome intruder in his sanctum, an intruder who was currently perched on the back of his couch. The cat didn't seem to be either impressed or intimidated by his promise of pain and suffering and with a feral roar, Grimmjow launched himself at the feline.
The lithe little black cat deftly sidestepped the humanoid missile, cocking its head to the side in what almost looked like amusement as it watched Grimmjow go crashing to the ground and rolling across the floor.
For a brief moment, Grimmjow even thought he heard someone laughing.
He was the only person in the apartment, though, so any laughter he heard had to be imagined and inconsequential at the moment; the only thing that mattered with flaying that damnedable cat alive! He got back to his feet, growling as he turned his gaze back to the couch and his target, only to see that the cat was no longer there.
The frustrated Espada did a full spin, searching for any sign of the tiny demon, but there was nothing; wherever the cat had disappeared to, it had done so swiftly and silently.
"I will find you, you little bastard!" promised Grimmjow as he began to tear through the house, checking the bathroom, dumping the clothes hamper into the floor, ravaging the bedroom, emptying the closet, crawling under the bed… "When I get my hands on you, I'm going to—"
"It's Halloween and you're still watching your hockey movie?" asked a voice from the living room.
"Yoruichi Shihōin…" hissed Grimmjow, barely suppressing an annoyed twitch as he climbed out from under his bed, temporarily halting the search for the fleabag.
"And the pumpkin you put out on your balcony? I don't think you understand how to properly carve a jack-o-lantern; it looks like you just shoved a fist through it and yanked out the innards."
"That's typically how I eviscerate people and shinigami…" came Grimmjow's retort as he re-entered the living room and angrily plucked an overly-large dust bunny from his blue hair, "If it works for them, why wouldn't it work on a stupid pumpkin?"
"That's not… Ah, forget it," sighed Yoruichi, grabbing the brown bottle sitting on the coffee table and taking a swig of Grimmjow's beer. The sexta twitched violently and clenched his fists angrily at the sight, seething with rage; first the goddamn cat snuck into his apartment and now the habitual nudist…
She wasn't entirely nude this time; she was at least wearing a top, although that top was Grimmjow's own hockey jersey and did absolutely nothing to cover the lower half of her body.
"This really is a cute shirt…" Yoruichi remarked, making a show of feeling the fabric.
"It's a jersey, woman!" snapped Grimmjow angrily. "And put some goddamn pants on!"
"Fine…" sighed Yoruichi, getting up from the couch and pushing past Grimmjow to go into his bedroom.
"Wait just a goddamn minute-" he began as he tried to follow her, only to have the door shut in his face.
"Now, now, Grimmjow; a gentleman always waits outside while a lady dresses. You do want to preserve my modesty, don't you?" called the woman from the other side.
"What modesty?" snorted Grimmjow. "You're a psychotic nudist with a penchant for breaking and entering!"
"I assure you, nothing was broken during my infiltration of your apartment," said Yoruichi smoothly as she opened the door finally, revealing herself to be wearing a pair of Grimmjow's sweatpants and some socks.
"What, not even going to bother to deny the rest of it?" sneered Grimmjow.
"Well, 'psychotic' may be a bit strong of a word… Works for you, but I think 'eccentric' might be a better choice for me."
"Why the hell are you here?" asked the exasperated Espada finally. "I only threatened the kids; I haven't hurt anyone…yet."
"The 'yet' part is what worries me…" said the ex-captain. "Besides, I thought you might find Halloween marginally more enjoyable if you had some company."
"No thanks, get out."
"Nope, sorry," said Yoruichi, "We're going to watch some scary movies, eat some popcorn, and enjoy the holiday like normal people."
"No, we aren't," Grimmjow corrected her bitterly. "Besides, I don't have any popcorn."
"Well, I'm still not leaving until you humor me and watch a couple of movies like a semi-normal person at least," Yoruichi stated matter-of-factly as she headed to the small kitchen and began searching through the cupboards. "So you find us a scary movie and I'll find us some snacks."
"Bossy little…" growled Grimmjow under his breath.
"And I mean scary, too; something that even you have a hard time watching."
"Nothing scares me!" declared Grimmjow boldly, puffing out his chest in a boisterous show of pride.
"Grimmjow, take this seriously or I will turn all my years of experience as an intelligence operative against you and uncover every dirty little secret you have and share them with the others," Yoruichi promised him with a disturbingly polite smile. "Now, where do you keep the chips?"
The expression on her face was as pleasant as could be, to the point where most men would find themselves charmed and captivated by her appearance, and yet somehow a shiver ran down Grimmjow's spine as he remembered Aizen's briefings on the former shinigami standing before him. She could, and most definitely would, be able to fulfill her threat and there would be very little, if anything, Grimmjow could do to stop her.
"Don't have any, you goddamned evil little witch…" muttered Grimmjow as he reluctantly began searching through his stack of DVDs in defeat.
"I see… Well, I suppose we'll just have to improvise."
Grimmjow found the one movie that had given him nightmares and pulled it out as Yoruichi made her way back to the couch with a couple of fresh beers and a bowl full of…something. She sat the items down on the coffee table and turned to the Espada, who quietly handed her the DVD without making eye contact.
"Child's Play?" she asked, surprised.
"Hey, that fucking doll was creepy, okay?!" snapped Grimmjow defensively.
"Hey, I'm not here to judge..." soothed Yoruichi as she took the disc from the case and put it into the player, taking the hockey DVD and putting it away. Grimmjow flopped back on the couch, sulking, as Yoruichi went and turned out all the lights before sitting down beside him and retrieving her bowl of snacks.
"Can't believe I let you talk me into-" began Grimmjow, only to be silenced as Yoruichi crammed a handful of the dry snacks into his mouth. Surprised, all the Panther Lord could do was to eat the crunchy treats, making a face as he swallowed the snack; he didn't have any chips or popcorn in the house, so what the hell was in the bowl? He grabbed his beer and popped the top off before peering over to take a closer look inside the bowl, only to be surprised by what he saw.
"Is that fucking Meow-Mix?!"
Yoruichi didn't answer, instead popping a handful of the snacks into her own mouth and chewing contentedly as the movie started. Grimmjow just stared at her for a moment before he shrugged and grabbed himself another handful.
Goddamn, Halloween was one weird fucking night.
In the many long months since first arriving in Karakura, the Espada had all made great strides in moving forward and growing as individuals, sans Grimmjow, and their growth was helping them better blend in with the humans around them. Still, despite all their progress in adapting to their new lives, fragments of their past remained that could pose a serious problem if they were triggered.
The fact that two shinigami were attempting to trail Halibel and Tyn quietly was one such trigger as neither of the two arrancar were particularly fond of feeling hunted.
Thus far, Halibel had managed to restrain herself from whirling around and confronting the soul reapers by focusing on the child currently under her protection; as long as the shinigami were nearby, it was an added layer of protection for Emi and that made their presence tolerable.
Tyn, on the other hand, was grinding his teeth and growling as he clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly; while the two shinigami were a mild annoyance to Halibel, the tercera realized that they were drudging up uncomfortable memories for Tyn of his time in exile, being hunted by Aizen's extermination squads.
"Calm down…" Halibel attempted to soothe him. "It's annoying, but harmless; they don't know what we are and there's little reason to be concerned. Just ignore them and they'll lose interest and go away."
"Are you talking bout those two ghost guys?" asked Emi, looking behind them. "I don't see anybody!"
"Oh, they're back there alright…" hissed Tyn, ignoring Halibel's logic. "Following us, trying to hide in the dark…stalking us. The last time I caught something trying to track me, I—"
"Hush," Halibel interrupted him sharply, knowing full well that the story would end with a graphic description of blood and carnage that was completely unsuited for a child's ears. "We can't have any of that in front of Emi."
"Then cover her eyes and ears…" growled Tyn. "I'll make it quick."
"Make what quick?" asked Emi inquisitively. " I don't understand—"
The loud, reverberating roar of a hollow startled the girl, cutting her comment short as she yelped and hid behind Tia. It was far too easy to determine exactly where the sound had come from and the two adults stepped back into combat stances as a brown-skinned, mask-wearing winged serpent came screaming down from the night sky, aiming straight for Emi.
Damn, thought Halibel bitterly, worrying about those two idiots distracted both of us from even knowing it was up there!
The hollow's cry was answered by the battle cry of someone else, however, as a massive blade appeared out of nowhere and came down diagonally through the serpent's leathery neck. The separated head began to dissipate into spirit particles as it fell, disintegrating completely before it hit the ground, and Ichigo Kurosaki shouldered his oversized zanpaktou as he turned to face the two Espada.
"Sorry bout that…" he said casually. "He almost got away from me."
"He killed the monster!" Emi exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder. "Is he a good guy?"
"You can see me?" asked Ichigo in surprise. "Yeah, I'm called a 'shinigami' and we're the good guys."
"Miss Halle Bell, is he really a good guy?" asked the girl a bit timidly, looking up at Tia for confirmation.
"It's okay, Emi," she told her, "This is Ichigo; he's… an acquaintance of ours."
"You're welcome, acquaintance," Ichigo told the blonde sourly. "Sheesh, would it kill you to try and be nice for once?"
"Teenagers have such smart mouths…" commented Tyn dryly, which served only to make Kurosaki narrow his eyes in irritation.
"So are you friends with the other two ghost guys?" asked Emi before Ichigo could retort.
"What other two 'ghost guys?'" asked the substitute shinigami, momentarily forgetting about Tyn's insult.
"We're being tailed by two of your shinigami butt-buddies," growled Tyn. "They've been following us for three blocks now."
"Why?" asked Ichigo, suddenly becoming alarmed. "What did you do?"
"Not whatever you might be thinking…" said Halibel, taking over. "They were slacking off, Emi spoke to them, and they've been following us ever since."
"You punched the funny one, Miss Halle Belle!" Emi reminded her brightly.
"He deserved it," stated the blonde dismissively, as if it were but a trivial detail. "Look, we're going to take Emi to a couple more houses before we take her home; can you get those two idiots to leave us alone or not?"
"Fine…" sighed Kurosaki, gathering his spiritual pressure underneath his feet and rising into the air, "I'll have a word with them and see what their deal is."
"He can fly!" gasped Emi in surprise as the shinigami continued up and away, heading off towards the two slackers. "How can he fly? I want to fly!"
"Magic," said Halibel simply, hoping the girl would let the subject die.
"That's so cool!" Emi gushed. "Can all of the shin…shiny…shinygami fly? Tell me about them! I wanna know everything!"
"It's a long, weird story, kid…" said Tyn, intervening on his roommate's behalf, "Too long to tell it tonight. She'll have to explain it some other time."
"Aw, man!"
Once upon a time, Ichigo Kurosaki had looked forward to Halloween; as a child, he'd loved all the costumes and candy and good-natured scares to be had throughout the course of the evening. He enjoyed hearing scary stories and urban legends designed to give small children nightmares. He loved the scary movies and the spooky feeling of listening to the wind howl all night long.
Looking back now, though, he realized that it had never been just the wind howling outside.
His life had changed forever the night he met Rukia Kuchiki and Halloween was just another casualty of his lost innocence; he knew the truth now about the origin of the holiday and that there were in fact real monsters lurking in the dark. Gone were the simple days of costumes, candy, and fun and in their place was a horrifying truth and a responsibility to spend each Halloween out on patrol to protect as many innocent souls as he could.
In short, the once-beloved holiday had become a pain in the ass that the already overburdened teen could do without.
It didn't help matters knowing that Karakura was now home to a handful of former Espada, and it made things even worse when he had to do things to cover for them.
He knew who the two 'slackers' were before he even found them; he had been briefed on which shinigami would be added to the Karakura patrol for the night and while he hadn't recognized most of the names, two in particular had stood out.
Takk and Satsu, Squad 5.
The two brothers made no attempt to conceal themselves anymore as Ichigo approached their location, with the younger twin, Satsu, giving his trademarked friendly-yet-goofy grin as he greeted the teen.
"'Sup, Ichigo?" he asked. "How's it going tonight?"
"You tell me…" began the substitute as he touched down on the rooftop with them, "Explain to me why you're following…innocent people around like this?"
His inner hollow was positively rolling in riotous laughter at the use of the word 'innocent' to describe the two arrancar.
"They can totally see us!" Satsu explained excitedly. "And they know what we are! Takk thinks that's kind of weird, and it kinda is, but—"
"The woman also punched numbnuts here with enough force to send him back about five feet," Takk interjected, "No normal human of her size and build should be able to do that to a shinigami. Then there's the problem that the two adults don't have any detectable spiritual pressure at all despite being able to see us… The kid has a little, but it feels like the other two don't even exist."
"And?" asked Ichigo, playing it cool and pretending to be unimpressed. "This is Karakura; this town is pretty much the epicenter for everything weird in the world. I don't see a reason to be overly concerned with them."
"See, Takk?" began Satsu. "I told you it was nothing to worry—"
"Look, with all due respect since you're an Acting-Lieutenant and friends with our Captain, cut the crap and be straight with us," said Takk curtly, folding his arms over his chest defiantly. "I'm not stupid; I saw you talking with them down there. You know exactly who and what they are, don't you?"
"Why is nothing ever easy with you two?" growled Ichigo as he mentally raced for an acceptable answer that would keep them from blabbing about their find to the entire Seireitei and thus exposing the Espada and by extension Ichigo's involvement in keeping them hidden for so long. If only Takk was as carefree as his younger brother, that would make things a hell of a lot easier…
"Sorry," offered Satsu with a shrug. "I still think there's nothing to worry about, but if you could just give me her name and maybe put in a good word for me…"
"Fairly certain she's not interested in you…" Takk said dryly, giving Ichigo another moment to piece together a convincing lie, "Also fairly certain that her companion wouldn't just sit idly by as you tried to pick up his woman."
"I'm telling you, I think she likes me. I'm sure her friend will understand…" said Satsu.
A cover story began to form in Ichigo's head as he listened to the two siblings bicker about Satsu's Halibel-centric delusions and while the two Espada would probably find it insulting, it would ultimately keep their secret safe.
If he could convince Takk to buy into it, of course.
"She doesn't even know you, much less like you, dumbass; you're lucky she didn't knock any of your teeth out!" Takk explained to his brother. "And her 'friend' looks like the kind of guy that'd try and rip your spine out for messing with his woman!"
"Coming between two Captain-class shinigami does tend to end badly…" Ichigo agreed, making a show of giving a reluctant sigh as if he didn't want to reveal the 'truth' about Tyn and Tia.
"Say what now?" asked Satsu, clearly confused.
"Captain-class?" echoed Takk, sounding equally lost.
"By now I assume you're familiar with the story of Kisuke Urahara's fall from grace with the Gotei 13, courtesy of Aizen, right?" asked Ichigo.
"Well, yeah… I think everyone knows that story by now."
"They don't know the entire story…" Ichigo began ominously. "Look, before I go any further, you two have to understand that this is strictly confidential; you are not to speak of it to anyone, even each other, ever. Only the Captains know about this, and even I was only informed out of necessity."
"Wait, why didn't Renji tell us about this?" asked Satsu, earning him a bonk on the head from his brother.
"What part of 'strictly confidential' didn't you understand?" growled Takk. "That means 'top secret,' you dumbass!"
"Calm down, guys…" Ichigo soothed them. "Renji couldn't tell you because it's a very 'need-to-know' sort of thing, and you didn't need to know."
"So…they're Captain-class shinigami…but I don't recognize them," said Takk slowly, almost accusingly.
"Captain-class refers to their strength, not necessarily that they were Captains. Aizen spent many decades setting up the pieces of his grand plan, and part of that plan was getting his subordinates Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen into positions of power within the Seireitei."
"Yeah, they were the Captains of Squad 3 and Squad 9," agreed Satsu. "That's pretty powerful."
"They weren't the first choices for those positions, though…" Ichigo told them, keeping his voice low to maintain the illusion of sharing a secret, "The two individuals you were following, Tyn and Tia, were the front runners for those two positions when they opened up, and that made them a hindrance to Aizen's plans."
"He framed them and had them expelled from the Seireitei…" Takk concluded. "Kind of like the Urahara deal."
Nice; they were buying into it and making their own leaps of logic, inadvertently helping Ichigo.
"Not quite…" Ichigo corrected him, "Forty-two years ago, evidence surfaced from an 'anonymous source' that these two had conspired with the missing criminal Kisuke Urahara during his hollowfication experiments. Central 46 judged them guilty and they were thrown into the Maggot's Nest underground prison and left to rot there until after the war when the truth about Aizen finally came out."
"And when they were released, they were too pissed to rejoin the Gotei 13, weren't they?" Takk asked. "That's how they knew what we are, and that's why they spoke the term 'shinigami' with a kind of…disgust."
"Exactly," agreed the substitute readily, "They chose to leave the Soul Society entirely and had special gigais constructed for them to conceal their spiritual pressure. They've been living in Karakura ever since the war and the only reason I was told of this was because I live here and have a much higher chance of running into them."
"And clearly you have ran into them before…" Takk pointed out.
"Happened a few months back," lied Kurosaki, "I realized they could see me and knew what I was, but when I asked them how, they told me to mind my own business…they just phrased it much more colorfully."
"And then you went back to the Seireitei and started asking around, and you were let in on the secret," Takk surmised, scratching his chin. "Yeah, I can see why this is being kept quiet; unjustly imprisoning two would-be Captains for forty-plus years isn't the sort of thing you'd really want to advertise to the world."
"And they don't like to talk about it, either," Ichigo said. "They hate to be reminded of it and they adamantly refuse to tell me about their time in the Gotei 13."
"I wouldn't want to talk about it either…" Satsu said, shuddering. "Imprisoned for forty years on bogus charges… I think I'd be pretty mad."
"I don't think 'pretty mad' even comes close to how I'd feel…" Takk said. "No wonder they're bitter. Jesus, I feel like shit now for bothering them."
"Yeah, really," Satsu agreed. "We should probably go apologize and—"
"Take it from me, they'd prefer to just be left alone," Ichigo interrupted him. "They tolerate me because they sympathize with the story of Rukia's sham trial and my part in clearing her, but they don't really play well with anyone else."
"Well, you tell 'em, then," said Satsu. "I mean, we didn't know."
"Moral of the story; Central 46 is composed of the dumbest asshats in the Soul Society," Takk growled. "But yeah, tell them we're sorry. We won't bother them again."
"Can I take the blindfold off yet?"
"Not just yet…" Anrak answered smoothly as he led Neliel through the dark corridor of the Dangai, holding her hand to guide her as he followed the Jigokuchō, more informally known as a 'Hell Butterfly,' to the end of the tunnel and what lay beyond.
He hadn't intended on going to the world of the living tonight, but he'd changed his mind after seeing how much the memories of Nel's hollow past haunted her. She needed this, whether or not she realized it.
"I have been to Karakura before, you know…" Nel informed him with a teasing tone as she dutifully trudged through the darkness with her captain.
"Who said anything about Karakura?" asked Anrak as they neared the end of the Dangai and the exit to the human world.
"Where else would we be going?"
"Dunno," shrugged the shinigami. "We'll find out when we get there. Besides, I thought you liked surprises."
"If you don't know where we're going either, then why do I have to wear the blindfold?"
"Captain's prerogative." grinned Anrak, squeezing his wife's hand. "Besides, one of us needs to be able to see the Hell Butterfly so we don't get lost."
"Shall I assume this is some kind a romantic getaway for a few hours?" asked the ex-Espada as they finally reached the end of the tunnel.
"If we were in Squad 11, maybe…" answered Anrak as he stepped through the gateway and into the world of the living. "Watch your step."
The blindfolded Lieutenant stepped through behind him, still clutching his hand tightly as she took her first step out into the night sky of the human world.
"Oh, nice…" Anrak commented as he surveyed the city below them. "I think you'll like this surprise."
"Can I take the blindfold off now, then?" asked Nel, reaching up towards her face with her free hand.
"Nope," answered her Captain, playfully swatting her left hand down as he finally released her right. "That's my job. Now, close your eyes."
Anrak stepped around behind her and began to gently untie the dark cloth that had been wrapped around Neliel's eyes, being careful not to accidentally pull any of her long, green hair that had somehow become entangled in the knot. He slowly lowered the piece of cloth and stepped up to stand beside his lieutenant, grasping her hand tightly once more as he released the black fabric and allowed it to fall free, fluttering down to the ground on the night winds.
"Now you can look."
Neliel opened her eyes and dropped her jaw at the sight of the city laid out before her, a city with towering structures that dwarfed anything Karakura had to offer and thousands of other smaller buildings dotting the landscape. Countless cars moved about on the streets down below and the sidewalks were filled with people meandering about their daily lives.
"Where are we?" asked Neliel breathlessly.
"Like I said, I don't have a clue," answered her Captain honestly. "When I requested a Jigokuchō to lead us through the Dangai, my only specific order was that it take us somewhere that had no Soul Reapers guarding it tonight."
"How can we not have anyone stationed in a city this massive?"
"The world is a big place, koibito, and we're still rebuilding our numbers from the war," said Anrak, giving her hand another gentle squeeze. "It's All Hollow's Eve, and these people need someone to protect them until the night passes."
"That's why you brought me here…" said Nel, realization dawning on her as Anrak nodded in confirmation.
"You seemed so upset over your past and the sins you committed prior to evolving into an arrancar that I didn't think you'd be completely satisfied with just standing back and letting the squad do all the work tonight."
"I did so many horrible things through the years…" Nel murmured. "So many lives stolen…"
"And now's your chance to repay your debt to those lost souls," Anrak told her. "You and I are the only Soul Reapers here tonight. These people need us."
As if to drive the point home, a hollow roar could be heard echoing down the canyon-like streets running between the massive skyscrapers.
"You brought me all the way here, just to ease my conscience…" Neliel smiled softly at her Captain.
"Of course," answered Anrak. "So, how do you want to do this?"
Nel pursed her lips for a moment, thinking it over strategically.
"We should split up; we can cover a lot more ground that way between your shunpo and my sonido," she said finally.
"I'll take the right half of the city, then," agreed the shinigami before giving her a cocky smirk. "Bet I can rack up more hollows than you."
"You're making this a contest?" asked Nel incredulously.
"Hey, you can take the shinigami out of Squad 11, but you can't take Squad 11 out of the shinigami," said Anrak with a grin. "Of course, I understand if you're too intimidated by your chances against me…"
"You're impossible…" Nel chuckled, shaking her head at him.
"So you give up, then? I win by default?" teased Anrak.
"Not a chance," answered Neliel, sticking her tongue out at him before vanishing, using her sonido to speed down to the city below and began her hunt for the hollows prowling the streets.
Anrak watched her go, silently musing on if it was morally right of him to goad her into treating it like a contest; atonement for one's sins was a serious thing, but he didn't want Nel to lose her smile and her joy by focusing too much on her dark past as a hollow. After debating it for a few seconds, he concluded that he'd done the right thing, the necessary thing, in order to preserve Nel's happiness.
And in the end, it didn't matter which of them would win because the true winners would be the people down below who would be blissfully unaware of the horrors that had been hiding in the shadows, waiting to prey on their children.
Stop stalling and get to work, baka, came the irritated voice of Kage Shitsukoi, his zanpaktou. If that green-haired hollow bitch beats us, I swear I'll never let you hear the end of it!
Alright, alright, I'm going!
"You told them what?"
Ichigo resisted the instinctive urge to flinch under Halibel's icy tone and he didn't dare repeat himself since he could already tell the tercera was pissed at his choice of a cover story. She narrowed her sea-green eyes dangerously, prompting the substitute Soul Reaper to hold up his hands and try to stall her from punching his lights out just long enough to explain his reasoning.
"Look, it was the best way to put an end to their questions and suspicions, okay? I'm sorry if you're not happy with the idea of people thinking you two are shinigami, but it's better than telling them the truth and hoping they'd stay quiet." he said, trying to appeal to the menacing blonde's logic. "They believed the cover story completely and they even told me to apologize to you for stalking you!"
"Unbelievable…" sighed Halibel, her posture relaxing just enough to indicate the urge to punch the teen had passed.
Ichigo suspected Tyn was in a less-forgiving mood, though.
The redhead stood a few feet away from Ichigo and Halibel, keeping their small ward, Emi, just out of earshot of the conversation, but the teen knew full well that Tyn's sharp ears had allowed him to hear every word perfectly. To his credit, he wasn't growling or making any threatening gestures at the moment as he was too busy scanning the night skies and sniffing the scents carried by on the wind; he may have allowed himself to be too distracted to sense an approaching hollow earlier, but he was on full alert now and nothing would get remotely close to the child without the quinto knowing about it in advance.
"As long as they leave us alone and it doesn't lead to people asking us uncomfortable questions, I suppose it's tolerable," said Halibel finally. "It's a fairly clever excuse, I'll give you that."
"Thanks, I think…" Ichigo said, not sure if he should feel honored to get such marginal praise from the prideful Espada or irritated that she couldn't be bothered to say a simple "thank you."
Tyn slowly ambled up to them with Emi in tow, aware that the conversation was effectively over and it was now safe for the child to hear anything else that might be said.
"If everything's settled, can we go home now?" asked Tyn, his voice barely friendlier than a growl as he gave the shinigami a quick glance, malice reflecting in his eyes.
Yep, he was definitely pissed.
"Aw, just a few more houses, please?" Emi pleaded, squeezing the adult's hand and pouting, giving her best cutesy face in an attempt to sway her two guardians into giving in.
Unfortunately for her, the heartless arrancar were immune to a child's charms.
"We promised we'd have you home by eight, kid, and it's nearly eight," Tyn said, trying to force an apologetic smile that looked decidedly-unnatural on his face.
"Sorry, Emi, but he's right," Tia said softly, doing an infinitely-better job of pretending to be sorry with a well-practiced look of regret etched onto her face. "You don't want your mother to worry, do you?"
"No, I guess not…" Emi agreed reluctantly. "But I'm just having so much fun that I don't want to go home just yet!"
"So are we, dear," Tia lied, ruffling the child's hair, "But a promise is a promise."
"I know…" Emi sighed in defeat. "Maybe next year we can stay out later!"
"Maybe so," Halibel said smoothly, but Ichigo knew that internally the Shark Queen was already thinking of a dozen ways to avoid next Halloween entirely. Still, the tone of her voice and the look on her face were both so sincere...
Really, he thought he should write a letter to Hollywood and inform them that he'd found the next award-winner for Best Actress.
"And don't forget, we need to keep it a secret that you saw ghosts and monsters tonight…" Tyn interjected, his tone suggesting that his irritation with Ichigo's story still hadn't passed just yet.
"But why?" asked Emi. "I can't wait to tell mommy about all the cool stuff we saw!"
"Because most people can't see ghosts and monsters…" Ichigo jumped in, squatting down to be eye level with the child. "The few who can are generally kids, just like you. Adults don't believe in ghosts and if they don't believe, that can't see them. They'll just think your imagination is running wild or that you had a nightmare."
"Oh…" said Emi slowly. "I guess that makes sense."
"But we know what happened," Tia comforted her, patting her on the back reassuringly. "We'll always know. It'll be our little secret, okay?"
"Okay!" Emi agreed, brightening up at the prospect of sharing a secret with 'Miss Halle Belle.'
"And since the monsters will be out hunting until the sun comes up, Ichigo here is going to sit on the roof all night and keep all the bad ghosts away for you," Halibel said, patting the child's head as Ichigo frowned.
"Whoa, wait a minute here…" he protested. "I get that you're concerned for the kid, I do, but I don't think that's necessary. We have almost two thousand Soul Reapers scattered around the world tonight to try and protect people, with seven in Karakura alone…eight including me! She'll be just fine."
Halibel narrowed her eyes again and folded her arms across her chest, prompting Ichigo to flinch slightly. He knew that stance and that look all too well; he'd seen Rukia do it more times than he could count, he's seen Yoruichi do it a few times, and even Rangiku had used it once or twice. It was the look of a woman silently telling a man that he would do as he was told or suffer dire consequences, the look of "do as I tell you or else."
He forced himself to meet her icy gaze evenly, refusing to back down; after all, he had defeated Aizen, had looked death itself in the eye on numerous occasions, had saved the world and the Seireitei from certain annihilation…there was absolutely no way he was going to be intimidated into doing Halibel's bidding!
Oh, sure, he had allowed Rukia to use that look on his successfully before, but that was different; Rukia was his girlfriend and had one hell of a jump kick! He'd caved to Yoruichi under the look before, long ago during his training for bankai, but that too had been different since lives had been on the line. This was completely different in every regard and he would not be bullied by the blonde standing before him!
Halibel's intimidating glare didn't relent in the slightest and Ichigo felt his blood began to freeze as a cold chill crept up his spine.
"No way, I'm not doing it!" he choked out defiantly, trying to find solace in the knowledge that all he had to do was stand strong and he could win this battle of wills. This was just Halibel, not Rukia, not Yoruichi, not Rangiku…
Her eyes narrowed just a tiny fraction more and Ichigo gulped nervously as sweat began to form on his brow. Mentally, he kept reminding himself that it was just Halibel…
Halibel, the former tercera Espada.
Halibel, the merciless Shark Queen.
Halibel, who had a reputation for ruthlessly beating the men who dared challenge her authority.
Halibel, who would likely twist his head off with her bare hands and kick it from here to the far side of town like a soccer ball…
"Fine…" he sighed, breaking eye contact and looking away. "I'll keep everything away from your building."
"Thank you, Mister Ichigo!" Emi cheered, hugging him. For her part, the terrifying Espada favored Ichigo with an almost-nonexistent nod of her head.
Then again, Ichigo thought he might have just imagined seeing the gesture as a way to console himself.
"Can we please go home now?" asked Tyn irritably, and Halibel favored her roommate with what appeared to be a genuine smile, probably her first of the evening, as she reached down and grasped Emi's small hand tightly.
"Let's go."
It was eight o'clock on the dot when Tyn and Tia finally arrived back at their apartment complex and the tenth floor to return mi to her mother. Miyo opened the door and welcomed them back, only to have Emi excited shove her overflowing candy back up in her face to boast about her haul. Halibel, at least, managed to fake a smile suggesting that she found the antics cute, but Tyn looked utterly bored and more than ready to simply walk down the hall to his own apartment unit and be done with the entire evening.
"That's a pretty big haul, dear…" Miyo was complementing her daughter. "Looks like you had a fun time!"
"It was awesome!" Emi gushed. "Miss Halle Belle and Mister Tyn are really nice and we went to a lot of houses and they told me a cool ghost story 'bout Halloween!"
"That's great, sweetie," Miyo told her daughter affectionately. "Now, isn't there something you want to tell Tia and Tyn before you go inside and wash up for bed?"
"Wait just a minute!" the child exclaimed, running around her mother and into the apartment before anyone could move, "I'll be right back!"
Halibel and Miyo looked at each other and shrugged simultaneously as Tyn just leaned back against the wall, folding his arms over his chest and drumming his fingers against his bicep impatiently…at least until his roommate shot him a warning glare with a decidedly-unfriendly smile, prompting the redhead to stand up straight and at least pretend to be interested in what Emi was up to.
It was another couple of minutes before Emi returned, with two medium-sized Ziploc bags filled with candy that she offered to the two Espada.
"See? I told you I'd share my candy with you!" Emi said excitedly. Tyn and Tia accepted the offered bags with a gruff "thanks, kid" and a polite "thank you, sweetie."
"Go ahead, try some!" Emi urged them. The two arrancar looked at each other before Halibel opened her bag and pulled out a small piece of candy. She delicately unwrapped the confection and popped it in her mouth, making a show of savoring the chocolate and caramel. Emi just grinned wider at the sight of her idol 'enjoying' the candy before she turned to look at Tyn.
Suppressing a sigh, the raptor withdrew a lollipop from his bag, frowning as he examined it.
"Tootsie-Pop?" he asked as he unwrapped the bulbous end of the stick, confused. "What's a Tootsie-Pop?"
"Haven't you ever seen the commercials?" asked Emi. "They're always asking how many licks does it take to get to the center!"
"Huh…" mused Tyn thoughtfully as he finished unwrapped the candy. He stared at the red-colored ball for a second before shrugging and opening his mouth.
*CRUNCH!*
"The answer is zero," said Tyn as he casually ground the hard candy shell into dust with his teeth.
"Cool!" Emi cheered him.
"Oh my God!" Miyo cried. "You're going to break your teeth like that!"
"I have tough teeth," shrugged Tyn, swallowing the remains of the hard shell and the decidedly-more chewy center whole. "Strong jaws, too."
"B-but…" stuttered Miyo, obviously worried for her neighbor's health and safety "You should really see a dentist after that."
"Why?" asked Tyn, sounding more annoyed than confused by the concern. Tia just elbowed him sharply before jumping in to smooth things out.
"Oh, he will," she lied, "I'll make sure of it. And Emi, don't imitate Tyn; it's very important to take care of your teeth, okay?"
"Okay, Miss Halle Belle," Emi nodded. "But that was still pretty cool!"
"So am I supposed to eat the stick, too?" asked Tyn, looking at the remains of the lollipop. Halibel just smacked him as Emi chuckled.
"No way, silly!" she chided him. "Just the candy part."
"Then why did they bother putting it on a stick?" growled Tyn. "It doesn't make any sense!"
Halibel just forced another friendly-grin, one that was far less convincing than the norm, as she grabbed Tyn's arm and began to drag him down the hall to their apartment before he could embarrass her any further. She waved to Emi and Miyo as Tyn continued to complain about the sheer pointlessness of the stick, with Emi happily waving goodbye to her two friends until they vanished from sight into their own apartment.
An irritated sigh escaped Ichigo's lips as he sat perched on the darkened rooftop, his legs dangling over the edge as he stared out at the city. He'd promised to stay up here all night, and even though he'd been coerced into giving his word by the intimidating tercera residing a couple of floors below him, the teen intended to honor it no matter how pointless he found it.
Oh, he was actually pretty happy to see that the arrancar was concerned for the safety of a human child, a child who would have likely been on her menu just a couple of short years ago but with so many other Soul Reapers patrolling the city streets tonight, camping on the roof seemed so completely unnecessary and utterly stupid. In a night laden with annoyances that he could do without, the last thing Ichigo had wanted was one more pain in the ass to deal with.
"Better safe than sorry, I guess…" he muttered to himself, trying to feel better about the entire situation.
It wasn't working.
He sighed again and sat his right elbow on his leg as he rested, leaning his shoulders forward and resting his tired face in his open hand, chin firmly in his palm as his fingers stretched up around his cheek.
"You look like you could use a drink."
Ichigo gave a startled cry at the new voice, losing his balance and falling forward off the roof. It took a split second to gather his wits and gather his spiritual pressure underneath himself, halting his fall down to the unforgiving concrete far below.
"You're too tense; you definitely need a drink," commented the voice.
Ichigo scowled as he hopped back onto the rooftop, refusing to allow the other man's charismatic smile to dissipate his anger just yet.
Shunsui Kyōraku, however, remained completely unfazed by the teen's seething rage and his easygoing smile never wavered for an instant as he offered the substitute-shinigami a brown jug that was no doubt filled to the brim with sake.
"What the hell are you doing sneaking up on people like that?" snarled Ichigo, pushing the jug away as he resisted the urge to smack the flamboyant Captain upside his head.
"Sorry; I didn't realize I was sneaking," apologized Shunsui sincerely as he opted to take a quick swig from the jug. "It's not like I was suppressing my spiritual pressure or anything. Thought you'd sense me."
"No, I'm the one who should apologize…" Ichigo sighed guiltily, "I was too caught up in my own head to notice you."
"Want to talk about it?" offered the Captain, taking a seat on the ledge and patting the concrete beside him, gesturing for Ichigo to sit with him.
"It's just been a long, annoying night," said the teen gruffly, taking the offered seat. "I really think I hate Halloween."
"I love Halloween myself," said the elder shinigami, adjusting the tilt of his wide-brimmed straw hat. "Hate All Hollow's Eve with every fiber of my being, though."
"Not even sure there's a difference anymore…" said Ichigo before casting his gaze sideways to look at the elder man sitting with him. "What brings you out tonight? I didn't think the captains usually participated in the All Hollow's Eve patrols."
"We usually don't, except for Yama-jii; I just wanted to talk to Urahara, catch up with him since it's been so long since we've had a chance to chat… Unfortunately, he didn't seem overly talkative and politely asked me to leave when a couple of guests showed up unexpectedly. I didn't even get to see who it was."
"Good ol' Kisuke; always keeping everyone in the dark about everything." Ichigo commented sarcastically. "He's a nice guy, but his penchant for keeping secrets gets really annoying."
"Indeed…" mused the other man as he looked out across Karakura Town. "So, now that I've told you why I'm here, why don't you share why you're sitting on a rooftop all alone instead of patrolling?"
"There's a kid in the apartment building…" Ichigo began slowly, cautious about revealing too much to the unnervingly-perceptive Captain. "Sweet kid, low spiritual pressure, but I'm a little worried she might be a target tonight. I'd rather play it safe, you know?"
"That's nice of you," said Shunsui earnestly. "Kid's lucky to have a guardian angel looking out for her. Mind if I keep you company a bit?"
"No, of course not…" Ichigo said, relaxing a bit.
While the Captain's sudden appearance had annoyed him at first, Ichigo did actually enjoy the company of the easy-going, friendly man beside him. Hell, Kyōraku had always treated him with respect ever since the very beginning and that had meant something to the teen; while so many others in the Seireitei had treated him with varying degrees of contempt in the early days of Ichigo's time as a substitute Soul Reaper, Shunsui Kyōraku had always treated him more like a peer and an old friend.
"I think we should start formally celebrating Halloween itself in the Seireitei as a way to offset the doom and gloom of All Hollow's Eve…" Shunsui began, offering Ichigo the jug again. "We may have to do it a day late or a day early, but I think a small party or celebration would be good for morale. I'm sure some of the others would disagree, but I'm also sure plenty of others would think it's a good idea."
"I'd bet every single thing I own that Nel and Rangiku would agree with you. I'd also bet Byakuya would adamantly be against it," grunted Kurosaki, finally accepting the offered jug and taking a long swig before handing it back. "God, that stuff's strong."
"You get used to it," shrugged the other man, taking the jug and downing a quick drink before handing it back to Ichigo again. "And I have no doubts about those three; I'm less certain about how most of the other senior officers would feel about it, though."
"Renji and Anrak will agree to anything that'll give them an excuse to drink," said Ichigo, taking another drink of the alcohol himself. "Sui-Feng will hate the idea, but she'll probably vote for it purely because Yoruichi would want her to."
"Tōshirō will swear up and down that he hates the idea, but if there happens to be watermelon-flavored candy involved, he'll agree to just about anything," mused Shunsui, smiling as Ichigo took yet another drink.
"Isn't that a little manipulative?" asked the teen, excusing himself as he gave a slight hiccup and handed the jug back to its owner.
"Oh, absolutely, but sometimes that's the best way to reach your objectives; it may not necessarily be honorable, but it's generally quick, clean, and easy. No fuss, no muss," agreed the Captain with another smile, curiously not taking a drink for once. "As you get older, you'll realize that sometimes the best way to win a battle is with a little subtlety and guile rather than with brute force and determination."
"Sounds like something the Stealth Force would say…" grunted Ichigo as Shunsui handed the sake back to the teen.
"Doesn't make it any less true," said Kyōraku as Ichigo took another drink, "Doesn't make it any less true at all…"
A small group of exhausted and terrified twenty-somethings ran through the darkened and foggy woods frantically, desperately trying to escape the very embodiment of death that was nipping at their heels and thirsting for their blood. It was supposed to be a simple camping trip, a fun excursion for a small group of friends to enjoy together, but the rising of a full moon had abruptly put an end to innocent fun and brought with it horror beyond words.
Blood, still wet and glistening, adorned the faces of the fleeing, but it wasn't their own; instead, it was all that remained of one of their friends who had been so brutally torn apart right in front of their eyes.
They ran, screaming for help as the cries of their dying friend faded into the distance and, after several long and agonizing minutes, the woods went silent once more. He was dead, of that there was no doubt, and maybe, just maybe they could safely take a minute to catch their breath.
Half of the group wasn't willing to chance it, no matter how oxygen-starved their muscles were, and so they kept running. One woman decided that it was safe enough and she stopped, grabbing her boyfriend's arm and keeping him by her side.
"We need to talk…about earlier, about what you said…" she began, panting.
"Now?!" he asked, incredulously. "Now is not the time to discuss our problems!"
"When if not now?" she pleaded. "Please, we can work this out-"
"Not here!" exclaimed the man, shocked, "Not now!"
"Yes, now, or don't you love me any—" she began, only to be cut off as the nightmarish beast erupted from the bushes behind her and pounced, ripping into her with savage fury.
"I thought this was supposed to be a horror movie…" grunted Tyn from his place on the couch as the bloody scene unfolded on the television screen. "This is more like a bad comedy."
"She completely deserved that…" said Tia unsympathetically, taking a swig of her beer and waving her other hand at the televised bloodbath for emphasis. "Anyone that criminally stupid doesn't deserve to live."
"Maybe we should find something better to watch…" suggested Tyn. "I'm losing brain cells watching these idiots."
"Agreed," said Halibel, setting her beer down and picking up the remote. "We have a couple of hundred channels in our cable package so surely there's at least one with a good horror movie on."
"People do some stupid things when they're running for their lives, but I've never seen anyone that retarded," said Tyn, picking up a heavily meat-laden slice of the pizza sitting on the coffee table in front of them.
"I'd like to kill her myself for being an embarrassment to my gender," said Halibel darkly, searching through the channels.
"Do you ever miss it?" asked Tyn, his voice muffled somewhat from having a mouth full of food.
"Miss what, killing humans?" asked Halibel, arching a finely-manicured eyebrow at him.
"No…" clarified Tyn, washing down his food with a sip from his own beer, "I mean the chase. The hunt. The way we'd spend All Hollow's Eve if we were still lesser hollows."
"Not as much as you miss it, I'm sure," replied the blonde, finally settling on a channel showing a horde of zombies shambling about. "I did what I had to in order to survive; sometimes I got caught up in the thrill of the chase, but most of the time I found the effort annoying."
"I almost always enjoyed it…" said Tyn, the look in his eyes suggesting he was remembering some of his favorite hunts, "I don't miss the slaughter at the end of the chase that much, even if food always tastes better when it's marinated in fear, but I loved the hunt itself."
"You really are an animal, aren't you?" asked Tia, smirking at her roommate.
"So just out of curiosity, those few times you got caught up in the chase, was your prey bleeding?" asked Tyn, watching the smirk evaporate from Halibel's face as her cheeks reddened.
"So maybe we're all prone to falling victim to our animal instincts at one time or another…" said the Shark Queen, looking away.
"Don't be embarrassed," said Tyn, pulling her closer. "I like your animal side. I like it when you allow yourself to be just a little bit primal. I'd have loved to go hunting with you back then."
"I think maybe I would have enjoyed that, too…" said Halibel softly, laying her head against his shoulder as the zombie horde on television finally caught a stray human and began to dismember him.
"I guess as far as human holidays go, Halloween isn't so bad…" Tyn said. "This…I could get used to this."
"Mm, me, too," agreed the blonde as a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the television. "This is actually kind of romantic."
"Should we be concerned that we don't have a normal view on the holiday?"
"Fuck normal," said Halibel. "Let the humans enjoy the holiday how they want, and we'll enjoy it as we want."
"I can live with that…" said Tyn, kissing the top of her head affectionately. "Happy Hollow's Eve, Tia."
"Happy Halloween, Tyn."