Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Lucifer's Angel ❯ Chapter 3

“Abarai-san?”

Renji was snapped out of his day-dreaming by Kira's voice. “Huh?”

“Were you even paying attention?”

“Erm…no.”

Kira sighed. “We're starting our scout in the afternoon this time. Urahara-san believes the creature goes into hiding during the night.”

“Why're we tracking this guy down, anyway? I mean, it's not like he's done anything, right?”

“Research, Abarai-san,” Urahara said, tapping Renji's head none too gently with his fan. “Whether or not this creature is any threat, there is still much to be learned.”

“If we can find him.”

“Well, yes, there is that problem.”

“So how long do we attempt to catch this guy before we give up?”

“You seem very eager to get back to your paperwork,” the captain said, eyeing the redhead.

“I'm not! It's just that this is getting boring, running around tryin' to find somethin' when we don't even know what he looks like or anything. Just feels like a wild goose chase.”

“Abarai-san has a point…” Kira said, nodding in agreement.

Urahara smacked them both with his fan. “This is exactly why I'm here! You two are too lazy to properly complete this mission.”

“It's not that we're lazy,” Renji said, rubbing at the sore spot, “but this just seems like a big waste of time…”

“Research requires patience. Now get out and search!”

• • • • • •

“It's too damn hot out…” Renji grumbled, settling himself against the rooftop wall in the shade created by a nearby building. “What the hell am I doing anyway?”

“Lookin' for me?” Ichigo's voice cut through his mutterings.

Renji looked up to find the angel standing above him. “You look better at night,” was all Renji could think to say.

“Sorry - daytime's not my most favorite, either. For obvious reasons,” Ichigo replied, hopping down to sit next to Renji.

“Why're you out? Shouldn't you be hiding?”

“For the time being, Zangetsu is leading your friend on a false trail.”

“Zangetsu?”

“My familiar. He'll usually take the form of a black cat or wolf, though he's able to take the form of any animal of the night. I'm able to relinquish the majority of my power to him, which makes him emit my reiatsu, and it gives me back my ability to hide. The risk I take is of him getting killed…”

“What would that do to you?”

“Well, I'd lose a very dear friend, for one! I mean, how would you feel if somebody killed your Zanpakutou?”

“That would essentially kill all my spirit power.”

Ichigo smirked. “Same here.”

A silence fell for a moment. “What do you do all this time?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, since you can't go around corrupting people anymore, what do you do when you're not bugging me?”

Ichigo gave him an innocent face. “Am I bugging you?”

Renji eyed him back like he'd just sprouted a hand out of his head. “That face is creepy…”

The angel snickered. “I usually merge with Zangetsu and run around as a cat. I've been able to find quite a few cat-loving women who give me food when I give them that look.”

“I'm sure it's a lot cuter on an innocent-lookin' cat than on a freaky kid like you.”

“You didn't seem to find me so freaky last night.”

“That was before your little trick,” Renji growled, looking in the opposite direction, a scowl and a light blush on his face.

“My trick? Oh, you mean this.” And Ichigo was instantly on the other side of Renji, nose-to-nose again, a smirk on his face.

“Ack—! Cut that out!” Renji freaked, shoving Ichigo away.

The angel chuckled. “You're kinda cute when you blush.”

“I am NOT cute,” Renji spat, glaring at him.

“Ah - of course not.” Ichigo shifted to sit on the top of the ledge. “I'm sure you've been called handsome and manly by many women, am I right?”

“Yeah, hundreds 'n' hundreds of `em,” Renji said sarcastically.

“Hm? I would really think you'd be quite the ladies' man with your good looks. Or is it your lack of charm that scares them off?”

Renji glared at him. “Shut up.”

Ichigo laughed. “So it's your tough guy exterior? But usually girls are attracted to the stoic tough guys… So that must mean you're not all that stoic. A loudmouth, I take it - from the way you were acting last night, I guess that should've been obvious. And with the red hair and tattoos - quite the outcry for attention, if you ask me.”

The shinigami was fuming. This guy…really pisses me off…

“And short-tempered. You're probably the jealous, greedy type, too, from the way you've been keeping these meetings secret from your teammates.”

“How the fuck does that make any connection at all?”

“After last night? If you really despised or disgusted me, you would've alerted them, right? But you haven't. I think…you want me all to yourself.”

Renji fought back a blush. “If I told them now, I'd be in trouble for not telling them sooner.”

“Better late than never. If they catch you here with me, you'll be in more trouble.”

That was very true…

Suddenly, Ichigo tensed with a scowl, looking behind him. “Seems as though your friend has found Zangetsu…”

“What'll you do?”

“:Abarai-san! I think I've found it!” Kira's voice came through the radio. “:Please assist me - I don't know what I can do without damaging it.”

“I'll be right there, Kira,” Renji replied. When he turned his attention back to Ichigo, the angel was gone. Bastard…

It took him a minute to locate and get to Kira, but when he did, he found him tracking a black coyote.

“What's this?” Renji asked.

“It's the strangest thing! It's giving off the same reiatsu signature as the one we're tracking, but I can't see it or the animal through the glasses! I can definitely feel it, though.”

“So the thing we're tracking down is this mongrel?”

“I know, it's very strange, but I don't know how I could be mistaken… Besides, it spotted me before I spotted it and it's been systematically trying to lose me ever since. No normal animal would do such a thing. Ah! Where'd it go?!” Kira's sudden panic was justified - the coyote simply vanished.

Kira and Renji stopped.

“Augh - I can't find it anywhere…” Kira whined.

“Don't worry - it'll come out later,” Renji said.

“Urahara-taichou, do you have any reading on the signature?” Kira asked through the radio.

“:Negative. So you guys know what this creature looks like?”

“Yes - it's just a black coyote. Should be easy enough to find.”

“:Not if it gets out of the city.”

“There's…also one other thing… The glasses don't pick up the reiatsu, nor are we able to see the coyote itself through them. We felt the reiatsu, though, so we should be able to recognize it again.”

“:Aiya… All that hard work put into these things and they're useless… Oh well, they still look nifty, right?”

• • • • • •

Ichigo sat in the corner of a dark dead-end alley, his knees pulled up to his chest, and the black coyote by his side.

“Arigatou, aibou,” Ichigo said, petting the coyote.

“What will you do next time, master? They will continue to hunt us now that they know we exist.”

“No - they know that you exist. Only he knows that I exist. They will be searching for a black coyote, not an orange-haired kid.”

“So what is it that you wish to do?”

Ichigo thought it over for a moment. “I guess…we'll allow ourselves to be captured. Now that I'm like this, Soul Society isn't going to be so dangerous for us.”

“What if we're killed?”

Ichigo smiled at him. “Don't worry, he won't let that happen.”