Ugh, crappy summary... Anyway...here it is, my first Inu/Bleach crossover! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko and Bleach is the property of Kubo Tite. So back off, lawyers! Hyaa!
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter I: Ominous Premonition
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Thin and pale hands
Smirking with a fox's smile
Silver stardust hair
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Like in most of the barracks in the Gotei 13, the Third Division's barracks were relatively quiet. The only sounds that drifted through the air were the sounds of the division's members drilling themselves in order to perform their best, or the occasional yell of pain from the barrack's dojo, where the squad members tried to perfect their sword-fighting abilities.
All of these sounds went unnoticed to one Higurashi Kagome, who was currently huffing and puffing her way down one of the long corridors in the barracks. The only sounds she was aware of was her own labored breathing and her sandals clacking on the wooden floor. In her arms was a large stack of paperwork, filled out and signed by her own taichou (squad-captain), Ukitake Juushirou.
Usually, Kagome wasn't ordered to do things like this from Ukitake-taichou, since she was currently the Thirteenth Division's fukutaichou (assistant squad-captain). The ones who would have gladly done what she was doing now were co-Third Seats Kotetsu Kiyone and Kotsubaki Sentarou, who would have probably fought over who got to carry what amount of paperwork. At least they would have been able to divide the load between them.
Unfortunately, Kiyone and Sentarou had been on another errand for Ukitake-taichou, and were unavailable. Since Kagome was the only other choice that the bedridden taichou had, Ukitake had ordered Kagome to deliver all of his finished paperwork to various taichou around the Gotei 13. A sweatdropping Ukitake had then waved Kagome out his door, watching the small woman try not to stagger beneath her load of folders and other papers.
'Dammit! Why does Ukitake-taichou have to have all of his paperwork delivered at the same time?' thought a disgruntled Kagome, her arms straining under the weight of all of the folders.
She knew that she shouldn't mentally berate Ukitake like that; what with being stuck in bed for days at time, the white-haired captain hardly had any time to fill out the necessary paperwork and get it delivered before the date it was due.
So far, she had delivered paperwork to Ukitake's long-time friend and fellow captain, Shunsui Kyouraku, the stoic captain of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Byakuya, and the fight-loving captain of the Eleventh Divison, Zaraki Kenpachi – she had used shunpo (flash steps) to help her get around the enormous expanse of the Gotei 13 at a faster pace.
Currently, she was heading to the office of the captain of the Third Division, Ichimaru Gin, who was probably one of the strangest captains that Kagome had ever met.
The first time she had met him, she had noted how tall and skinny he was; she was just over five feet, and he easily passed six, making him taller than her by more than a foot. The second thing she had noted was the color of his hair – silver, and probably where his name came from – and she knew that she was screwed; she had always had a weakness for guys with silver hair.
Ichimaru-taichou's face distinctly reminded her of a fox's, what with his eyes mostly closed practically all the time and his mouth nearly always curled into a mocking, but strangely polite smirk. Kagome sometimes wondered how the guy got around without running into walls.
And she was very cautious around him. Along with her weakness for argent-haired men, Ichimaru Gin's very presence kept her on edge, making her somewhat nervous around him. She never said more than she had to around him, and made sure to keep her comments polite. To put it bluntly, Ichimaru Gin reminded her of a conman or a blackmailer (1), as he always seemed to be listening intently to her in case she let something slip, something that he could use against her. And conmen could never be trusted.
Seeing Ichimaru-taichou's office door, Kagome sucked in a deep breath, tucked her load tighter against her stomach, and half-sprinted to his door. Once she was just outside, she released her breath in a loud puff and panted to get more oxygen into her system. Once she got her wind back, she found herself faced with another dilemma: Knocking on the door.
Kagome looked down at the load in her arms and nearly groaned in frustration. Raising her left knee, she attempted to balance the paperwork folders against her thigh. It took several seconds before she got the stack to stop wobbling around, and then a few more to find her balance while standing on one leg.
Satisfied, Kagome looked up and the sliding shoji door, and raised her fist to knock. And right at that second, the door slid open abruptly, and Kagome found herself looking up into the smirking face of Ichimaru Gin.
"Oh? So it was you, Higurashi-fukutaichou," said Ichimaru suavely, his smirk widening; Kagome briefly wondered how he managed to make her title sound like a term of endearment.
Kagome's face flushed, since she was standing in a somewhat awkward position, and in front of a taichou, no less. Flustered, she gathered the folders up into her arms haphazardly and put her leg back down.
"Sumimasen, Ichimaru-taichou," said Kagome quickly, her hands slipping on the sleek folders. "I just came to deliver some paperwork–"
Ichimaru, who seemed to have noticed that she was having trouble with the stack of paperwork, interrupted her.
"Here, let me help ya with that," he said, reaching out and grabbing the pile of folders.
Kagome jumped both in surprise – at this chivalrous gesture from Ichimaru Gin, from all people – and shock – when she felt his large, spidery hands slide over hers as he took the paperwork. She barely managed to keep herself from squeaking in surprise.
She was even more surprised when Ichimaru simply turned around and strode into his office, leaving Kagome no choice but to scurry after him. She blinked when he placed the folders down on the front edge of his desk, before returning to the other side where his chair was. Kagome barely noted that he had been doing paperwork of his own before she had arrived, put back in their proper folders so that their content was hidden from all eyes but Ichimaru's.
Kagome made sure that she was in front of his desk as well when he reached out with a long arm and began sifting through the various folders before him.
"Hmm, mine aren't even on top. Ya gotta be more organized than that, Higurashi-fukutaichou," stated Ichimaru chidingly, wagging his finger at her and tsking disapprovingly.
Kagome didn't fail to notice that his thin fingers managed to pluck out his Division's color-coded folders – Third Division's official color was azure – as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
"Sumimasen, Ichimaru-taichou," said Kagome, bowing with a scarlet face. "I'll be mindful of that in the future."
"Good," said Ichimaru, sounding pleased. "Now don't ya have to deliver the rest of these?"
He gestured at the stack of folders, and Kagome realized that he was right. She also realized that he was practically kicking her out, in his own polite but mocking way.
"Of course," said Kagome humbly, nodding in affirmation. "I'm sorry to have taken some of your time, Ichimaru-taichou."
She gathered the now-smaller stack of folders and clutched them to her bosom, giving Ichimaru a short bow.
"Sumimasen," she said politely.
Ichimaru responded by cocking his head slightly, and his slitted eyes seemed to narrow at her, as if he were examining her. His smirk, meanwhile, remained in place. Kagome wondered if he had lost the ability to not smirk.
Turning around, she headed for the open shoji door, her dainty feet making barely any noise on the tatami mats below. As soon as Kagome turned and reached, somewhat handicapped, for the hand slot in the shoji door, she barely contained her gasp of surprise when she saw that Ichimaru had followed her all the way to the door. His tall, lanky form towered over her, and she hastily took a half-step back in order to get some space.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she realized that she hadn't sensed him or even heard him when she had been exiting the room. Then again, that was why he was a captain, and she was not.
Ichimaru acted as if he hadn't literally snuck up behind her, though he cocked his head at her again, his smirk somewhat contemplative.
"See ya later, Higurashi-fukutaichou," he said in a somewhat casual manner; again, Kagome wondered if there would be a difference between him calling her by the suffix –fukutaichou or –chan.
"U-un," said an unsettled Kagome, managing a tiny bow, a slight leaning forward of her torso.
Then she quickly turned away from him and began making her escape back down the hall. She had to force herself to maintain a reasonable pace; not too slow –enough to make her look lazy – and not too fast – to the point she looked like she was frightened. And she was somewhat scared of Ichimaru-taichou, in the way that most subordinates were scared in some way of their superiors.
Now she had something to add to that fear as she felt Ichimaru's eyes – what color were they, anyway? – bore into her back with such intensity that Kagome wanted to run as if the hounds of hell were at her heels. There was something unsettling and strangely alluring about his presence; maybe Ichimaru was secretly a vampire.
The thought was so absurd that Kagome nearly snorted out loud; she wasn't one to deny that vampires existed, but rather that anything amiss would be sensed immediately by the more powerful shinigami (death gods) in the Seireitei.
Putting on a determined face, Kagome made sure that she walked at the same pace long after she had left the Third Division's barracks, so that she proved to Ichimaru that she wasn't a coward.
Or maybe he had simply dismissed her from his mind as soon as she was out of his sight. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
Owari
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Author's Notes
(1) Doesn't he? LOL
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Did you like it? Huh? Huh? Huh? I know, it's kinda weird that I picked Ichimaru Gin of all people, but he's one of my favorites. There is something utterly lovable and yet disturbing about him at the same time. Or is it just me? Hmm…
Remember to REVIEW! If I get some positive reviews, I'll start uploading the other chapters I've finished.
Until next time, ja ne! ^.^