I'm back! I don't want to bug you guys with further notes so, here you go!

Trouble

Soul Society was in an uproar. Cancer had left right before the war. Panic brewed. Would the pale stranger really go through with only taking Ichigo? Yamamoto was concerned. How long before they all fell apart? The old man shook his head. He shouldn't have said that to the boy. He knew with Cancer's stubbornness and kind heart the boy would sacrifice himself. Believe they'd be better off without him. Yamamoto knew Ichigo would disobey. How did such a kind, strong-willed person like Ichigo become a Slayer, and a Zodiac no less? He called in Rukia who had been standing outside of his room.

"Any word from the search party?" The raven-haired lieutenant shook her head sadly. "No, Sir."

The old man sighed. How were they to see all this if their Seer had run away? Cancer Zodiacs were very hard to find, and Ichigo's apprentices – only one could See with the help of the Yokan Mirror. Yamamoto, always the calm and planned leader, for the first time, did not know what to do.

XXX*XXX

Ichigo quickly moved along the forest, his thoughts turning back to Soul Society. Yamamoto would be furious. Rukia as well. He slowed, finally coming to a stop. He knew this was the best thing he could do for Soul Society, but would the stranger keep his promise? His thoughts were interrupted by a darkness, a darkness that came from deep inside the forest. It blocked his senses…and evoked a horrible feeling of fear. Ichigo looked to the horizon with rising anxiety as he watched the moon, his deity, stop shining and the sun rise.

"Shit." The orangette cursed lowly, running even faster than before, away from the forest. He gathered mist and made himself invisible, but somehow knew that this darkness would know where he was. Ichigo ran, feeling his pounding heartbeat ring in his ears. Why was he so afraid? What was the thing after him? Why would it want something like a slayer? The slayer looked behind him briefly. That was a mistake. His eyes met red and he was paralyzed. His mist fell away and he fell to the ground. Ichigo was left staring at a dark mass of a person with red eyes.

"You…!" The creature attacked as Ichigo cried out.

XXX*XXX

Shiro jerked off his steed and choked. Something, something was happening to his prize, to his Ichigo! He tried to search for the boy only to find that the sun had risen and he no longer had power in the light of the sun. He cursed and watched as his steed dissolved into his beloved Hell Butterflies and flittered around him. He could feel it. Ichigo's fear. What a joke this was. Whatever had taken Ichigo had known. Had known that Shiro wasn't as powerful as he was in the moonlight. They knew that Ichigo wouldn't be in the safety of Sereitei or Shiro. The pale stranger clenched his hands into fists snarled at the ground, revealing sharp white fangs. When had he gotten so careless?! Nevertheless, he calmed. Wallowing in his own anger wouldn't help bring his prize to him. The vampire steeled himself and ran towards the forest.

In his haste to reach his destination, he forgot himself and didn't realize that a small group of slayers awaited him. The two muscular ones grabbed his arms and restrained his movements. "Oi, Libra's lieutenant! Bring the cuffs."

Renji grumbled as he cuffed the pale stranger. He'd been Byakuya's lieutenant for a while now, but Kensei-taichou still didn't know his name! "Hurry up Abarai! I can't wait here all day!" Sagittarius, Kenpachi, yawned and cleaned his ear with the hand not holding Shiro. Renji wondered why they decided a lieutenant to accompany two Zodiac Slayers to apprehend the enemy, but he just gritted his teeth and bared with it. When Renji put on the cuffs, he was surprised that the stranger did not struggle…in fact, he seemed distracted.

Renji stared at the pale man. "Who are you?"

All movement stopped. It seemed as if time had frozen as the other two slayers turned to look at the man. He did not speak, merely focused his eye upon the red head in front of him.

"Where's Ichigo?! Where have you taken him?"

The stranger merely stared, a grim look in his eyes. Renji could not deal with this. Anger, he could deal. Smugness, he could deal. But this grim, worried look upon the enemy's face unsettled him. Ichigo was also nowhere near here. "Where is he?"

Renji observed the stranger. They had put on the reaistsu restraining cuffs, locked him in a cell, shoved him around, and yet, the man showed no emotion on his face – save for his eyes. If one looked closely, they'd see the wild churning of worry, though he showed none of this outwardly. Renji wondered why he did nothing. Most prisoner were angry, sulky, but this man did nothing…like he was biding his time. What was he waiting for? If this was the man Ichigo foresaw laying siege to Soul Society, why wasn't he now? Two presences appeared beside him from where he was watching the pale man. So lost in thought was he, that he did not acknowledge either.

"Abarai-kun, if you think that hard, you'll get wrinkles."

Renji jerked out of his reverie and stared wide-eyed at the two Gemini, Ukitake-taichou and Kyoraku-taichou. Kyoraku, whom had been the one to call out smiled.

"What's troubling you, Abarai-kun?" Asked Ukitake.

The red head returned his gaze to the stone-still stranger

"It's strange that that man has not done anything. Ichigo's prophecies always come true…so why hasn't he done anything?" Ukitake looked at Kyoraku.

"It's like…he's waiting for something."

Renjji turned to the Zodiacs. Seeing their deep looks at one another, he titled his head. Ukitake spoke once again.

"…We've witnessed many Cancers come and go. Their life spans – are very short. This is not due to ill health…but rather those who covet Cancer's spiritual powers" He paused and looked at Kyoraku. The other man continued,

"Cancers are very sensitive to the future…we asked a Cancer some years back about divination. They said 'The moon allows us Cancers to See. Fate and Future are tied. The future has many intermingling paths that change, unlike Fate. Fate is the final outcome. Nothing can be changed.'"

Renji furrowed his brows, not understanding where this conversation was going. He had always assumed that fate and future were basically the same.

"Ichigo-kun probably told us the mostly likely future for Seireitei at that moment – meaning that that stranger probably was expecting war. Then Ichigo left to save us from that...and that changed our path."

Renji nodded, still confused, but getting the gist or what they were trying to tell him. This left one of his questions to linger his mind. What was this stranger waiting for?

XXX*XXX

Shiro schooled his face into a mask. No emotions. He would not allow these slayers to see him. What had come of Seireitei? From long ago…had they forgotten so easily? Ichigo was the only one that felt it. Felt the pull of the stars, of the deities of the world. Ichigo, the youngest Zodiac Slayer. How he hated that word. Slayer. When had vampires been deemed the enemies? Shiro's kin…the Zodiacs' kin. They were slaying each other without knowledge of who they were and where they came from. Shiro growled under his breath and glanced at the red head that had been staring at him for a while now. He seemed to be trying to figure out why Shiro was so still. In fact, he was the only slayer that had caught on to his behavior. Shiro frowned. All he needed was the sun to set. Then he had full reign. He didn't care for the slayers lives. What he needed was Ichigo.

Ichigo was his whole world. His one and only love. And something had snatched him away. Something dark…and old. Very old. Possibly older than himself. Why Ichigo? Well…Shiro understood that the power Ichigo held was invaluable, but why him? Why now? Questions circled around in his head, but he had yet to change his face. The red was still staring, as well as the Gemini. The Zodiac under air, Mercury. Even they, mind and intellect, did not know their connections. What a sad time Seireitei had entered. The three slayers turned to him again. Shiro betrayed no emotion.

The Sun, the opposite.

He had to wait for the Moon rise in its stead.

Pink and orange streaked the sky. Shiro resisted the urge to smile; the red head remained on a chair across from his cell. Soon. A black hell butterfly flew in from the barred window. Then another. And another. The red head did not notice until the butterflies started to flutter around Shiro. Shiro watched as the red head bolted up and called for help. As if that would give him an advantage. Shiro finally grinned as the sun's last streaks fell and the moon rose. The shackles that held his wrists together fell off in pieces. Moonlight gathered upon his body and his white sword appeared on his back. A single white hell butterfly landed on his finger.

"Time to rescue my beloved, no?"

Know what I'm trying get to you guys in a sneaky roundabout way yet? Tell me what you think, and thanks for waiting for me…made you guys wait forever.