Disclaimer: Not owning bleach… ever.

#KM#

"Phasing through walls?" Kisuke questioned curiously as he hid his disbelief behind his ever present fan "Usually Shinigami do not, or cannot, use this ability." He explained calmly.

"Huh," Ichigo hummed to himself as he tried to think back to that faithful night to see if he might have missed something. "I'm pretty sure Rukia phased into my room that day."

Kisuke, ever unflappable kept on fanning himself as he pondered this new tidbit of information. His weary gray eyes stayed glued on the inquisitive expression Ichigo showcased as if it were a rare occurrence before snapping his fan closed to gain the orange head's attention.

"As you said, it's essentially phasing through solid objects in the world of the living. But this technique is mainly used in the Onmitsukidō as a stealth skill." He expanded when it became obvious Ichigo would not let it go "The cadets call it Umbra, but its full name is Umbra Ambulatio."

Ichgio blinked in confusion "And what does that mean?"

Kisuke's hat shadowed his eyes as he leaned forward with a serious expression that almost shocked Ichigo "The literal translation is Shadow Walking."

The orange head gulped in nerves at the sudden thickness of air and the way the sunlight outside seemed to decrease little by little as if a cloud had suddenly decided to block the sun at this exact moment.

"I-is it like a secret, forbidden technique?" he questioned nervously.

Kisuke stayed silent as he let the moment stew. His eyes darkened, and Ichigo was momentarily reminded of that time the blonde had told him about their past and how the Vizard had been hollowfied ages ago.

"In reality-" he began seriously.

"BUWAHAHA!"

"SON OF A-!" Ichigo fell backwards in shock until he hit a wall and rolled to a stop. "Yoruichi!"

Said person started to laugh out loud as she rolled around the hallway in unrestrained amusement. Kisuke also began booming with laughter as the two found entertainment in their little prank.

Ichigo merely reddened until he resembled his namesake "You two! I was being serious." The two merely kept on laughing harder, making the orange head growl low in threat as he stood up to strangle the laughing pair.

All of a sudden, he slipped under the rub he had unintentionally moved when he tumbled earlier and fell backwards again. This time though, instead of stopping against the wall, his body seemed to phase through the tatami door and he fell on the floor of the neighboring room.

Almost instantly the two shut up as they stared at the place Ichigo had stood before looking at each other in unrestricted surprise and sudden horrifying realization.

"Shit," Yoruichi cursed out as Kisuke nodded in agreement.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep." He murmured when it became obvious Ichigo wasn't even there anymore. "The suspension is gonna kill me."

"Yeaaaaah," Yoruichi drawled "I'm going back to soul society."

Kisuke whimpered as he felt the breeze of a flash step before he found himself standing alone in the sitting room.

"Tessai!"

#KM#

As Ryūken tidied up the paperwork in his office, he found himself snapping to attention as he heard a faint whoosh of air and a distortion in the reishi. As he looked up he saw his wayward nephew walking through the room as if he owned the place and could only stare at the strangeness of the situation.

"Oh," Ichigo exclaimed as if shocked Ryūken was there. This was his office! "I didn't see you there Ryūken-Jisan. Could you point me in the general direction of Uryuu's office?" he asked casually.

Ryūken merely stared until his motor functions seemed to start obeying him again and pointed towards his left.

"Thanks!" Ichigo called back as he phased through the nearest wall towards the left.

Ryūken stared a couple minutes more at the now empty air where Ichigo had stood moments ago before going back to his work. If he erased it from his memory, it would certainly avoid an intense head-ache, better to act as if it had never happened.

It never happened.

#KM#

Hours later, Shiba compound…

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A high pitched squeal resounded through the entire clearing making the birds take off in fright "WHO CHANGED MY SAKE FOR CATNIP!?"

Not to be continued…

A/N: Well this one goes to Darke13 for his phasing through walls idea. Hope you liked it, and I was actually able to incorporate a frazzled Ryuuken!