Serendipity

Cigar Blues (Part 1)

Seren was now hurrying after the high-level Hollow and its prey after using her Chappy 'Soul Candy' to push her own soul out, and she had already sent the perky bunny back to the shop with the ice cream. Good thing she never left home without it.

'At least I won't have to worry about the ice cream melting while I'm fight—!?' Seren thought, startled when she suddenly found herself being yanked backwards by someone who was obviously much stronger than her, despite having absolutely no trace of reiatsu. She landed on her back and just lay there for a second, stunned.

This could only mean one thing...

Seren gulped nervously as she glanced up at the culprit behind her sudden stop.

Sure enough, Urahara was looming over her rather ominously. He seemed to have used the curved handle of his cane to hook the back of her shihakushō in order to stop her... and there seemed to be a sharp edge to the wide shit-eating grin he had plastered on his face.

'Oh, crap! He's totally pissed!!' Seren realized, blanching, when she realized just how much trouble she had gotten herself into.

"My, my, what have we here...?" Urahara said. He didn't raise his voice, but she could tell he was angry. "Wasn't it just yesterday that I warned you to lay low until I gave you the green light to join the action, and yet here you are, rushing so recklessly into danger as a Shinigami when I specifically told you not to."

Seren winced at the steely tone in his voice. She really wished he wouldn't stare at her with so much disappointment... She'd have rather been yelled at than see that look in his eyes. Even though she was only trying to help, she felt really guilty now for letting him down. She knew her disobedience was only part of the reason why he was so upset with her. It was obvious that she had worried him by running off on her own like that...

Urahara sighed tiredly as he held a hand to his head. This girl... it seemed she really liked to make him worry... He knew Seren was probably strong enough to handle that thing on her own, but he still didn't like the idea of letting her take on an opponent like that by herself. He was probably being overprotective, but he couldn't help it.

If anything happened to her...

"Just what am I going to do with you?" Urahara mused wryly as he crouched down next to her. She was acting uncharacteristically demure after his scolding, and she looked a little ashamed of herself for worrying him...  He just couldn't stay mad at her after seeing her like that. She understood what she had done wrong and had taken his side of things into consideration. She was properly reflecting on her actions, so there was no need to back her even further into a corner. He perked up slightly when a reiatsu that he hadn't felt in a long time joined in the fray with the powerful Hollow ahead of them.

"Well, since you're already out here, you might as well come along," Urahara said as he removed the black reiatsu-sealing cloak that he had used to sneak up on her and draped it over her shoulders. "There's something I want to check, and... Letting you see for yourself what kind of things you'll be up against, if you join our fight, will give you a better understanding of just how dangerous it will be."

Some Distance Away,
On A Certain Rooftop

"!!!" Ichigo and Shinji said, a little startled when they both sensed other powerful reiatsus flare up in the town.

"Wha... What is this reiatsu...?" Ichigo asked tensely as he and Shinji stopped their fight for a moment. "It's unbelievably strong... Is it a Hollow?" He had never sensed anything like this before... there was something really strange about this thing's spiritual energy.

Shinji deadpanned, extremely unimpressed. He couldn't believe this kid...

They obviously hadn't been surprised for the same reason.

'Oi, oi... He just noticed that now!? Is he really worth our time?' Shinji wondered. It seemed Ichigo's ability to sense reiatsu and reiryoku was currently at about the same level Seren's had been when she was five-years-old, before they had even started teaching her about any of this stuff. That was just sad. Shinji had sensed the high-level Hollow as soon as it appeared, and he could also tell that Seren had transformed into a Shinigami, but then her reiatsu had suddenly been snuffed out completely only a few minutes later. Shinji could vaguely sense Urahara's reiatsu now, so he had probably found her and done something...

'But this other Shinigami reiatsu... I don't recognize it. Who can it be?' he wondered.

WOOSH!

"—Ah!" Shinji exclaimed, flinching in surprise, when Ichigo took advantage of the lull in their fight to jump off the roof and started heading in the direction of the Hollow and the mystery Shinigami. "Hey! Wait, damn it! Where're you goin', Ichigo!? We're not done talkin' yet!!!" he yelled incredulously.

"I refuse!" Ichigo shouted back bluntly as he waved goodbye.

"I said I'm not finished yet!" Shinji yelled, sweating nervously as a vein throbbed on his forehead. Why did this kid have to be so stubborn? Hiyori might actually skin him alive if he came back without him again!

"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it! I don't care what kind of organization your so-called 'Visoreds' is, but I have no desire to become 'nakama' with you all!" Ichigo shouted stubbornly.

Shinji furrowed his brow  slightly and frowned as he and Ichigo stared each other down.

"I am a Shinigami!" Ichigo declared resolutely as he placed a hand over his heart and a tiny bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "I'm definitely... not one of you!" he added as he shot Shinji a defiant glare before continuing on his way, put as much distance between the two of them as possible. As if he would just blindly trust someone so suspicious...!

"Che! What a rude little punk...!" Shinji grumbled, sighing in annoyance as he started fishing his cellphone out of his pocket. "This ain't gonna be easy..." He sighed heavily as he dialed Hiyori's number and waited for the proverbial axe to fall.