"Well it could be worse."-Speaking

'Don't say that you fool...'-Thinking

"Pathetic"/"What the hell?"-Hollow/Weapon Form talking

"Fight!"-Zanpakuto/Yelling/Attack Name

Chapter 11: Relaxing Snake Bite.

-It had been some time since the dreaded battle with the Uncanny Sword, Masamune Nakatsukasa. With Tsubaki's brother at peace and her family name cleared, Ichigo returned to Death City and his daily life in this strange city. But what could be waiting for him just around the corner?

Ichigo's Apartment:

"No."

"Come on Ichi!"

"Nope, not that."

"But it looks so good on me!~" Blair cooed, pushing up her chest.

Despite that however, Ichigo remained strong, "Regardless, you are not going to Maka's dressed like that!"

Now...why were these two roommates having a fairly one sided argument concerning a certain female's current choice of clothing? It was quite simple actually.

It turns out that Maka and Soul were having a party (likely celebrating Soul's recovery after the injury he got sometime ago) and the Scythe Miester had invited a few of her fellow classmates to attend, Ichigo included. After the recent mission with Tsubaki and BlackStar, Ichigo had wanted a nice chance to relax and have some fun, so he accepted her invitation. Happy that the normally anti-social shinigami had decided to join them, Maka also made sure to remind Ichigo that he could bring someone along if he wanted.

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo eventually came to the idea of asking Blair if she wanted to go along. Its not like he had any other friends from Death City that he could invite anyway and the two of them hadn't had that much time to spend with each other lately due to missions and all. So why not?

Too bad Ichigo had forgotten one very important detail about this kitty in particular...

...Blair liked to make his life a living hell any chance she could get.

It turns out that the magical cat had the idea of wearing a very revealing outfit to Maka's party...one that would involve a lot of cleavage and teasing. So in response, Ichigo had respectfully refused to go to the party as long as Blair was wearing that outfit. This of course resulted in Blair letting out a mini fit in a attempt to change Ichigo's mind but even that didn't have much of a effect on the strawberry.

Blair huffed and turned her back on Ichigo, "You're so mean~"

Letting out a small sigh, the Vizard then walked over to Blair and gently touched her shoulder.

"Come on," Blair looked over at the young shinigami, "We won't be there for that long. Can't you just dress in something a bit more...covering? Just this once?...for me?"

Blair glanced at Ichigo, still pouting while doing so, "Do you promise that you won't complain the next time I want to wear it?"

The orange haired shinigami twitched for a second or two but he eventually nodded. Seeing this, Blair instantly changed moods. The magical cat-girl instantly jumped up and gave Ichigo a brief hug before running off to change her attire. With muffled sounds of various shirts, coats, and pants being thrown about, Ichigo just released a tired sigh before taking a seat.

He knew he was going to regret it...but how could he say no? It was a miracle that he had been able to get her to change her clothes in the first place, denying her this little favor was beyond even his control.

It was a few minutes later when Blair returned, now wearing her more common attire. It included a pair of short-shorts, a black coat, a tank top (much more covering then her bra), and her trademark witch's hat. Twirling around so Ichigo could get a good look, Blair grinned when the Vizard gave her a kind nod of approval. With that little issue out of the way, the duo finally started to make their way to Maka's place.

On the way there however, Blair had a question that had been bugging her for quite a while.

"Hey Ichi?"

The Vizard gave her a quick glance, "Yeah?"

"Why did you come to Death City in the first place?", it had been quite a interesting question when it came to the mysterious Vizard (whatever that meant, Blair had no idea). Despite rooming with him for quite a while, Blair still had no idea of why Ichigo was here, where he came from, or what his life was like before coming to Death City. Its not like the city was a giant tourist attraction, people just don't come to live here all that often. So why here of all places?

Too bad Ichigo isn't the type to talk about the past, that's one thing Blair had gotten from the young man after all the time she had spent with him. He is just so private when it came to topics like this...it was really something that drove Blair nuts at times.

Still, back to the topic at hand. Ichigo hadn't said a thing since he was asked such a question and there was a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was thinking over what he was going to reply with. But when he did reply...all Blair could do was mope.

"Nothing much really, I had some problems back home but nothing...too earth shattering." , he then turned back to that cat, "What about you? Despite all your fears about your magic, why did you come to this place out of everywhere else?"

Of course he would turn this around on her. Considering how big of a deal Blair had made her magic sound back when they first meet, why was SHE in Death City? Screw Ichigo's reasons (for the moment at least), why was she there? She told him about how the people avoided her due to her magic and the idea that she was a witch because of that. Hell, it was amazing that she was able to go for so long before one of the DWMA's students came knocking on her door.

"Um...I-well..." Blair muttered, trying to think of a good reason. Ichigo on the other hand, just smirked a bit but remained silent none the less.

After mumbling over her words for a few moments, the magical cat elbowed Ichigo in the ribs, "I don't know...Blair was bored, this place was interesting..."

'...'

Ichigo looked at her with a expressionless look on his face, "You didn't think about it that much did you?"

Blair let just a tiny blush come to her face, not wanting to admit that her reason could have been that simple, "Well...maybe. Blair just heard so many stories about how weird the city was, it just sounded fun." The kitten just started to mumble after that, a little too embarrassed for her own good.

Getting only a bit of enjoyment out of Blair's mumbling (the shinigami always wondered what it was like to tease someone, he never had the opportunity like Blair or Yoruichi always had), Ichigo let out only a small chuckle. Blair had stopped mumbling at that point and was now giving Ichigo a frustrated (yet cute) glare. Ichigo wasn't paying attention however and was instead looking at his watch.

"Come on then, I'd rather not be late and have to hear Maka complain." And with that, Ichigo picked up the pace a bit with Blair trailing behind him.

Maka's Apartment:

It had taken only about a few minutes or so, but the two individuals arrived at the young Miester's home with more then a few minutes to spare.

Walking up a set of stairs, Ichigo couldn't help but notice how the apartment complex was surprisingly similar to his own. Did Shinigami-sama own these buildings and simply supplied them to his students when they needed them? Well, he did seemingly own the city with the DWMA being right at the center of it (not the mention the fact his name was in the city's as well) so it could have been possible.

Still, those thoughts were pushed aside when Ichigo and Blair came across the door number that Maka had given him before hand. Knocking on the door, Ichigo didn't have to wait long for someone to answer it.

Maka opened the door with excitement and smiled brightly at the Vizard, "Ichigo! You came!" she said, "I was worried that you weren't going to come...and you brought Blair with you." Maka hadn't expected Ichigo to bring Blair of all people, but who else did Maka know who Ichigo would have brought with him? Her dad? Stein? Shinigami-sama?

Ichigo raised a brow at that, Did she really think that he wasn't going to come to her party?, "I told you I would come..." , this caused Maka to look away with a bit of a blush on her face.

"Well, you're normally don't hang around others at school so...I thought you were just telling me that so I would stop bugging you." ,Ichigo glared at her. He wasn't that anti-social. Yeah, he could be a bit cold when in public but it wasn't that bad...right?

"Right. King, you are about as Social as a hollow is cuddly."

'Shut it.'

"Although...Nel wasn't that bad when she got a nice par of-"

'Shut Up, Seriously.'

"And then there was that Espada chick that the little ice-pick fought and her friends..."

'I swear to god...SHUT UP!'

Noticing the thoughtful look Ichigo had at the moment, Blair decided to reintroduce herself to Maka...not that she needed to reminded. Sliding past Ichigo (who was currently 'talking' with his hollow). Blair walked right up to Maka and lifted her up in a big hug.

"Maka! Its been so long! I haven't seen you since you and Soul cut me in half!" Maka grimaced at that memory. That was one of the first time she had ever seen Ichigo enraged like that. It wasn't something she wanted to see directed towards her or Soul ever again. It was like looking into a inferno, like a pit of hell itself. The monsters, the evil humans she had killed in the past would have just dropped dead if he looked at them the same way. It was just horrifying.

Still, it wasn't a memory that was fit for this time. Maka gave the magical cat her own smile and returned the hug, "It has been awhile hasn't it?"

Blair eagerly nodded at the young girl's question but before she could say anything else, Maka asked another one, "You're not...you know, mad about all of that...are you?"

Oh sure, Ichigo was okay with the whole thing but what about Blair? She never expressed her feeling about the whole 'trying to kill you and eat your soul' situation. Was she mad? Was she furious? Was she thinking about ways to get her revenge at this very moment? What was Blair thinking!?

But of course...Blair had the exact opposite reaction that Maka was thinking about.

Why would Blair be mad? The four days that she had spent fighting Maka and Soul were just so fun! She got to really mess around with the duo and she even got to see first hand how protective Ichigo really was. It was actually pretty scary when he confronted Maka and Soul and nearly ripped them apart, right then and there. It was only luck that allowed Blair reappeared before that happened. Still, if thats how Ichigo could act when he thought she was dead, then Blair didn't want to know what could happen if...

That didn't matter right now though! All that mattered was Maka's party and spending time with Ichigo. Speaking of which...

"Ichi? You okay?" Blair poked Ichigo, who had still not moved since he talked to Maka. It was starting to freak out both Blair and Maka (who Blair was still hugging) just a bit.

Luckily, her poking finally brought Ichigo out of his inner world and back to the present. Vowing to finish whatever he was talking about with his hollow later, Ichigo turned to the two ladies with a small frown, "Sorry about that, I kind of got distracted..."

"You tend to do that a lot..." Maka muttered to herself, "Anyway, come on in. Everyone is almost here."

Giving their host a nod, Ichigo and Blair followed Maka into her apartment. Upon entering said home Ichigo couldn't help but notice that even the inside of her apartment was similar to his. Oh sure, the furniture and placement of various objects were different but the basic shape of the place was the exact same as his own apartment. It just seemed a bit weird...kind of like Déjà vu or something.

'Eh, whatever.'

Waving away any weird feelings, Ichigo and Blair were lead over to a few coaches and chairs. This was also where a few of their other friends had been waiting for them. Taking a seat next to each other, Ichigo gave a small nod to others who were sitting in the room with him and Blair. Those people turned out to be Soul, who was sitting in a nearby couch with Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters were occupying another couch themselves.

"Hey Ichigo, Blair." Soul returned the nod while also earning a wave from Blair as well.

Turning to the son of death, Ichigo noticed that it seemed like everyone was just sitting around and doing...well, nothing before he and Blair arrived.

Understanding the look Ichigo was giving him, Death the Kid just shrugged, "BlackStar and Tsubaki are a bit late, so we are holding out on the activities until they get here."

One of Ichigo's eyes twitched a bit once he heard this but he tried to not let it show. For some reason, he just knew BlackStar would be late to this little party and would drag Tsubaki along with him in that regard. Ever since the mission to hunt down Tsubaki's brother, Ichigo has had a feeling that BlackStar's sense of timing would come back to bite him in the ass later...and lookie here, it did.

Still, Ichigo tried his best to not let it bother him. This was Maka's party after all. How good of a house guest would he be if he ruined the mood by overreacting to a single boy's tardiness?

"A reasonable one considering that jackas-"

'You really want to be a pest today don't you?' Ichigo muttered into his mind, his hollow laughing back at him.

Still, it couldn't be that bad. Ichigo had arrived just a few minutes shy of being late, there is no way in hell that Tsubaki would let BlackStar being that late to the party...right?

-Twenty minutes later-

"I'm going to kill him." Ichigo muttered.

Soul nodded, "I'll get the body bag."

-Twenty MORE minutes later-

Finally after forty minutes of waiting, the group sighed in relief when they heard someone knocking on the door. Quickly popping up, Maka ran off to go see who it was and after a minute or two of waiting (again), the group put on their best smiles when they saw the ninja duo finally join them. Sure, Ichigo wanted to toss BlackStar out of a window, but he held back on that for now.

"Well, you two took you're sweet time." Soul said with a grin, earning a sheepish look from Tsubaki.

The young girl hung her head, "I'm sorry we're late everyone, we kind of got held up." While Tsubaki didn't openly explain why, Ichigo and Soul had a general idea as to what had held them up.

The two turned to BlackStar, "Did you get your hand stuck in that funky water again?"

The two were referring two a special type of water that Professor Stein had given BlackStar to help him maintain Tsubaki's new form. It seems that the young weapon had actually gained her brother's weapon form after she defeated him, but it was far too strong for someone like BlackStar to wield. So in response, the ninja had asked (or demanded) for some help from the school's resident professor.

This 'help' resulted in a strange jar and even stranger water designed to absorb spiritual/soul energy. If BlackStar could eventually hold his entire hand in the water without feeling anything, then he should be able to handle Tsubaki's new form. The Professor suggested however that BlackStar take it on only one finger at a time.

And how do you think that turned out?

BlackStar scoffed before sliding into a chair, "Yeah, that is one freaky jar..."

Oh, and BlackStar still couldn't tell the difference from the properties of the Jar and the water. He was thick in the head like that.

Sighing, Ichigo accepted the boy's excuse, regardless of his personal opinion of the matter. He still wanted to toss BlackStar out of a window for causing all of them to wait on them for nearly an hour, but he let it go...until the next time they could spar anyway.

Regardless, Ichigo didn't really care all that much when Tsubaki sat on the other side of him, the couch now being occupied by Blair, Ichigo, and Tsubaki. Its understandable that a person like Tsubaki wouldn't leave her friend alone to go to a party, especially if he was messing around with a soul/spirit absorbing jar of water. Considering that BlackStar looked like a dried up zombie every time he messes with that stuff, some supervision was always required.

"Ah," Tsubaki said, not recognizing Blair. It wasn't that surprising, as only Ichigo, Soul, and Maka were actually the people in the room who had seen the cat's human form before, "Ichigo, who's your friend?"

But before Ichigo could respond, Blair leaned over the young Vizard and got a bit too close to Tsubaki, "I'm Blair! Nice to meet you, do you know Ichi?"

Ichigo gave the cat-lady a small glare. He knew that Blair had at the very least seen Tsubaki and the others before, and Ichigo had mentioned her enough that Blair shouldn't have to ask such a question. Still, Ichigo wasn't that surprised by this, Blair was the type to mess around at every opportunity.

"Well," Tusbaki said as she leaned away from Blair, "Ichigo is in the same class as the rest of us, and he helped me and BlackStar in a mission not too long ago."

"Really?" Blair pouted before turning to Ichigo, "Ichi! Why didn't you tell me about that? No wonder you leave Blair all alone! You're off running around with her!"

Both Tsubaki and Ichigo blushed at the implication. "Thats not what she meant!" Ichigo shouted, Tsubaki silently nodding at the boy's statement.

Blair didn't look convinced however. Luckily though, Maka's timely entrance with some food caused this conversation to be put off for the moment. But that didn't stop Ichigo from giving Blair a glare, for which Blair just returned with a smile of her own. They weren't done with this conversation by a long shot. Still, any strange or awkward conversations were saved till after everyone was finished eating or else they might have gotten a old fashioned 'Maka Chop' to the side of their heads.

After everyone had finished their food however, the party pretty much devolved into minor chit-chat between everyone.

Blair talked to Maka, Tsubaki, and Liz, the three of them comparing how the guys they lived with acted in comparison to each other. BlackStar talked to Soul, ninja telling the weapon about one of his latest 'god surpassing' stunts. It involved a bungee cord and a whole lot of paint. Patty also listened in on the ninja's tale, although her sister made sure to pay attention in case BlackStar mentioned anything...inappropriate.

-Slap!-

"Damn it, what was that for!?"

And Ichigo talked a bit with Death the Kid. The young shinigami had been interested in what exactly Ichigo's abilities were for quite awhile now, since he had the least amount of experience with Ichigo's powers. But Ichigo just waved him off, saying that he would tell him at a more appropriate time. Although, that was just a big lie.

The truth was, Ichigo just didn't want to deal with explaining 'his version' of a shinigami to Kid just yet. It would only cause a big head ache for both of them.

Still, despite the late start, the party turned out quite nice. It was nice to have a little breather from the chaotic duties that each student (besides Blair) had to deal with at the DWMA. Or at least it was nice until two ominous wavelengths echoed through the city, grabbing Maka's and Ichigo's attention easily.

It was fairly nice...or at least it was until something happened. Like a plague, two Spiritual energies echoed throughout the city, catching the attention of everyone that could sense them, Ichigo and Maka included.

Shooting out of her seat, the Scythe Miester accidentally knocked Liz out of her own seat, "Hmmph! Maka?!"

"Witches!" Maka said, running past the set of couches.

Any fun that the others had been having instantly vanished, a shocked expression falling over every student's face, "What?!"

"Two of them, I don't know how but they're in the city!" Maka said as she ran towards the door, "I'm going to check it out!"

That made Soul's blood run cold, "Maka! Wait a sec-", But it was too late as Maka ripped the door open and dashing out of her apartment before they could react.

With the door slamming behind her, all of the other students were awestruck at the news that not only were there witches in the city but alos that Maka had just run off to investigate by herself! Soul instantly took off to finds his partner, with the others not far behind. But during all of the commotion, none of them seemed to notice that Ichigo and Blair were already gone.

Sometime Later:

"Ichi?"

Ichigo looked at the cat on his shoulder, "Yes?"

"Are we there yet?"

It had been around four or five minutes since Ichigo had taken off to investigate the two Soul Wavelengths he had felt. They were certainly Witches for damn sure, but they had vanished as quickly as they appeared. The young Vizard was sure about where the source of the signals had originated from but what could have caused them to vanish so quickly? Did they come to this city to hunt someone down? Did they come to deliver a message? Why were they here?

And more importantly...when in the hell did Blair catch up to him?

Ichigo was sure that he had taken off during the commotion that had developed when Maka left, so how did she find him? How is that possible? Did she have like a teleporting spell attached to his body or something?

Ichigo sighed, "No, not yet."

Ichigo and his unwanted guest had been running for about five minutes now and Blair was already bored. Its not Ichigo's fault that the witch's soul wavelength had appeared in the middle of the city. It was far enough to run as it is and Ichigo didn't want to use his shinigami powers until he was certain that he would need them.

If only Blair could sense wavelengths like Ichigo and Maka could, at least then she could take this situation a bit more seriously.

"Aw, but we've been running for-"

"Blair," Ichigo interrupted her, "If you're so bored, why don't you head home?"

The magical cat just shook her head, "But what if something happens? Blair wants to help Ichi just in case!"

Shaking his head, Ichigo just continued onward. Of course that would be Blair's reasoning. She had been a bit annoyed that Ichigo couldn't take her with him on that mission with Tsubaki and BlackStar, so now Blair was doing her best to keep the shinigami in her sights as often as possible. It was a sweet gesture, but could get a bit irritating.

Still, the boy did his best to not let her whining bother him to much. After a few more minutes of running, Ichigo was almost relieved when they arrived at where the spiritual wavelengths had originated from. Ichigo noticed that not only was Maka there along with Soul (who had caught to his meister just moments before), but so was Professor Stein and...Nurse Medusa? Why was she there?

"Ah, Ichigo!" Stein waved over to the boy, "I take it you're here to investigate as well?"

Ichigo calmly nodded and approached the group but remained on edge. Something...wasn't right about the situation. Ichigo just had a sickening feeling in his gut. If this is where the witches should have been, where were they now?

And then there was the feeling...of blood being spelt. It made Ichigo sick to his stomach.

Still, the boy did his best to hide the uncomfortable feeling the best he could, "Yeah, but it looks like I'm a bit late aren't I?"

"A bit." Stein shook his head, "Nothings here, if a witch did create these wavelengths, they're long gone by now."

Ichigo sighed, the idea of this all being a waste of time greatly bugging him. Still, he couldn't help feel like something was off about of this, like there was a shadow still hanging over the group, him and Maka in particular. It had a almost nauseating feeling about it, something worse then the evil humans. A bit of madness that Ichigo had almos-

Ichigo was knocked out of his thoughts however when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, he noticed that the local medical advisory was quite worried.

"You okay Ichigo?" The DWMA's nurse asked the boy, a bit concerned. He looked a bit pale in her opinion.

The Vizard shook his head, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Medusa didn't look too sure, "Really? You could always come back to my office if you're feeling under the weather."

"No thanks, I'm fine...really."

The nurse still seemed a bit unsure about the subject but finally let it go after giving Ichigo one last look over. Smiling, Medusa gave Ichigo a pat on the shoulder, "Okay, but just remember. If you ever feel a but down, come and visit me okay?"

Ichigo wanted to brush off the suggestion, but the Nurse's piercing glare made him reconsider, "...sure."

Smiling a bit too sweetly, Medusa gave Stein a small nod and walked away, "Its was nice to see you again Ichigo!" Medusa waved to the boy before leaving. Ichigo waved back at the school nurse but still seemed to be distracted by something. It was like there was a beacon being lit off in the distance...but what could it be?

Professor Stein left soon afterward as well, claiming that he had a experiment to work on. Maka and Soul were still talking to each other while Blair was exploring for a bit, a nasty feeling having worked its way up her spine.

But as Maka and Soul (who have been talking about something fairly important during most of this, seemingly ignoring Ichigo's arrival) finally departed, Blair noticed that she was all alone. Meaning that someone else had already left her behind...

"Ichi?"

Meanwhile, somewhere in Death City:

You would think that people would be a bit freaked out if they saw a grown man flying from rooftop to rooftop right above their heads.

Well, Death City wasn't exactly normal to begin with.

But, Ichigo didn't care if anyone noticed him. Its not like stranger things didn't went on in this city day after day. The boy was far more focused on following something he had sensed back in that alleyway. Despite what Professor Stein had said, Ichigo had actually sensed something back in that alleyway.

Perhaps it had to do with his unique perception of Souls in comparison to Maka and Stein, or maybe it was because he had witnessed this presence before? Back at the Church he had fought that strange boy, Crona? Either way, the young shinigami had somehow been able to snag just a trace of one of the witches that had been in that alley.

And he recognized it.

Taking out his combat badge and discarding his body, Ichigo took off without warning and followed the trail. Sure, it might have been a good idea to inform Stein or someone else of this but at the rate the trail was vanishing it would be too late by then.

In order to get a better vantage point, Ichigo scaled a nearby apartment building so he could get a better look at the city.

While doing so, Ichigo had to admit that even from a building this big, the view of Death City was quite breath taking. Perhaps it was the shear number of buildings, or how the people walked around without a real care in the world. Either way you call it, the sight of him gazing over the roof tops of this city calmed the boy. Despite the difference in architecture, looking at the city from such a angle reminded Ichigo of his old home.

Of Karakura town.

"Ichigo, now is not the time." Ichigo sighed at Zangetsu's words.

That wasn't why he was here. He had a Witch's left over Spiritual energy to track.

"Right."

Taking a moment to concentrate, Ichigo widened his range. His ability to track Spiritual Energy has never been that great but after after the display the witch had left back in that alleyway, it wasn't that hard to track for even someone like him. Despite that however, Ichigo was having a bit of trouble finding his target. The amount of energy left behind by this witch was slowly disappearing. If he took too much longer, Ichigo could lose his only chance to catch the witch by surprise.

Still, the trail was starting to dissipate...

"Got it."

...but not fast enough.

Using a bit of Shunpo, Ichigo vanished from the rooftop and made his way over to where he felt the largest concentration of the witch's spiritual energy. Getting closer, Ichigo had no doubts that this was indeed the same witch that had attacked him back during that incident with that strange kid with the black blood. Ever since thing, Ichigo had been wondering how long it would take her to make another move. But in Death City of all places? That was unexpected to say the least.

Ichigo didn't care though. This witch owed Maka an apology for what that Crona kid did to Soul, and that doesn't even cover the 'observing' crap that she mentioned the last time they meet. After Aizen, all Ichigo wanted to do was nip it in the bud while he could.

The Vizard eventually came to a stop at a dead end however, another alleyway. Ichigo took a moment to expect the alley before diving into it. There was no telling what traps or unsuspecting creature could be waiting down there for him. But after searching for any other foreign spiritual energies that could be hiding down there, Ichigo only found the witch's.

"Fine then," Ichigo muttered, drawing Zangetsu.

Taking a leap from his current rooftop, the orange haired Vizard landed in the middle of the alley. He was sure to be as quite as possible while he made his approach, his sandals making only a slight noise as he touched down. Taking a moment to assure his suspicions, Ichigo narrowed his eyes towards one of the darker sections of the alleyway.

"I know you're down there," Ichigo raised Zangetsu, "Come out quietly and I won't level this entire place to flush you out!"

Ichigo waited for a moment but scoffed when he heard no response from the 'witch'.

"Fine then, you asked for it."

Lifting his Zanpakuto upward, Ichigo prepared to blast the alley with a unnamed Getsuga Tenshou. It should be no where near enough to kill the witch, but it should be enough to ruin her hiding spot and flush her into somewhere he could see clearly. As he was about to launch his attack however, Ichigo heard a very familiar chant finally emerge from the shadows.

"Nake snake cobra cobubra, Nake snake cobra cobubra..."

Ichigo cursed. He remembered those words, that was the same chant that the witch had uttered before she attacked him last time. But that wasn't the only thing the Vizard heard. There was also a slithering sound in the distance...like the sound of a snake slithering on the ground.

"Light Serpent!"

A pair of giant teeth burst from the darkness, four giant fangs flying towards the young shinigami.

Ichigo had only a few brief moments lift his massive sword up in time to intercept the sudden strike. With the sound of metal clashing with something and fangs digging into Zangetsu, Ichigo's eyes widened as he got a good look at what had attacked him.

It looked like some type of snake, only not completely there. Instead of a long leathery body, the creature instead had a a body that was made up of many strange orbs and dots with a snake's head at the end. In fact, the head didn't even look like the real animal! It was more like a crude, simplified version that was colored pitch black!

"Ichigo, look closely." Zangetsu warned.

Taking the advice, Ichigo examined the snake creature as it tired and failed to break through his Zanpakuto. It was then Ichigo noticed it, a familiar aura that was surrounding the snake's body. It was the same energy that he had followed to this exact location.

"The thing belongs to the witch, shes using it to delay you." Ichigo growled at the realization.

How could he had been so stupid? This thing might have caught him off guard due to having the same energy signature as its master but that is not what pissed him off. Instead of trailing the witch, Ichigo had been following this creature by mistake. His determination for catching the witch had blinded him to something that was right in his face!

Its not that the trail he had been following was getting weaker, that was only part of the issue. The power he had felt from thw witch was much greater then this creature's, even her left overs should have been more powerful then this! The difference in power was obvious and he only realized it now, when the snake was right in his face.

It had been a wild goose chase from the very start!

"Bitch!" Ichigo shouted, tossing the snake off of Zangetsu with a swing.

The serpent flew through the air and slammed into a brick wall. Shaking off the headache the impact had given it, the snake tired to attack Ichigo again with another lunge. But with a single slice, Ichigo decapitaed the creature, leaving it to fall to the ground as he sighed at the pointlessness of the situation.

Ichigo sighed, "I ditched Maka's party for this?" Grumbling to himself, Ichigo put Zangetsu back on his back and walked away, the snake dissolving into a pile of tiny twitching arrows as he did so.

"I wonder if I can still make it back in time." Ichigo mused. That idea was dashed however when Ichigo heard something new moving behind him. Putting a hand on Zangetsu's hilt, Ichigo glanced behind him.

There, in the same shadowy corner that the first familiar had emerged from, three new ones appeared. Slithering out from the darkness, the three snakes hissed at Ichigo and leaned their heads back in preparation for a attack. Ichigo looked downright bored however due to how easily he took out the first one. Still, that didn't stop the boy from taking a careful glance at the alleyway.

There were other parts of the alley that were covered in shadows...more of these snakes could be hiding, just waiting for the perfect chance to attack.

Speaking of striking however, the three snakes took this moment to leap at Ichigo with their fangs bared. Reacting in turn, Ichigo brought out Zangetsu and prepared to cut them down just like he done to their sibling.

At least he would have if it wasn't for-

"Smashing Pumpkin!"

-a giant pumpkin shaped explosion engulfing the snakes just a few feet away from Ichigo.

"Yay!" Blair yelled, floating down towards Ichigo. The Vizard on the other hand just started at the Pumpkin construct with a blank look on his face.

How? How did she find him? Ichigo had left without telling anyone and that included Blair. So how and the hell did she manage to get here so quickly? Had she been following him this whole time? Ichigo knew that Blair could be fast when she wanted to be but this? To keep up with Ichigo for this long and do so without him noticing at all? Ichigo's powers of sensing sucked for sure, that was clear now, but how was this even possible?

But none of these questions seemingly bothered the magical cat-girl. Blair just spun around as she landed on her explosive pumpkin. Taking a small hop off of the pumpkin, Blair giggled a bit and ran towards Ichigo.

"Did you see that Ichi?" Blair said, hugging the young Vizard, "I squished those nasty snakes before they could hurt you!"

Despite know that he could of handled those creatures, Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the girl's determination. Taking a small glance at the remains of the snakes, which were nothing but ash now, Ichigo chuckled and patted the girl on the head.

"I can see that Blair," the girl looked up, "Thanks for the help, you really showed them."

Taking a moment to let that sink in, Blair let out a small squeal and hugged Ichigo even harder. This accidentally caused Ichigo to blush a bit due to the feeling of two...notable features of Blair being pressed against his chest.

"King...could you just-"

Ichigo's hollow asked, but Ichigo cut off his mental connection to the spirit. He wasn't in a good mood, he didn't want that bastard to make this situation any more awkward then it already was.

"Blair?" Ichigo patted the girl on the shoulders. Blair briefly stopped hugging him and looked up, "Do you want to head back to Maka's party? Seems like a better idea then staying here with a bunch of dead snakes."

Blair nodded her head eagerly. The alley made her feel uncomfortable even with Ichigo there with her. The magic that came off those snakes...it just felt wrong. They were sinister, sadistic, and reeked of madness. The magical feline had seen many different types of magic in her life but this was something completely different and not in a good way.

Feeling a bit worried at how eager Blair was to leave, Ichigo put his hand around her shoulder just in case. Without waiting any longer, the two friends vanished in a burst of static, leaving the empty alley behind them.

Or, at least it appeared to be empty.

Far off to the side, away from the fight was a pair of two trash cans. After Ichigo and Blair had left, the metal container started to move slightly, like there was something inside of it. With a small creaking sound, one of the lids slowly lifted itself open. Two pairs of eyes poked themselves out of the container and scanned the area, checking to see if anyone else was around. When that proved to be correct, the trash can's lid was tossed to the side, allowing a small green frog to hop out of the filth filled container.

"Ugh," the frog flung a random banana off of its head, "Sick..."

Still, that wasn't the most important thing the frog was concerned about. Taking a moment to make sure there wasn't anyone one else around, the strange frog quickly bolted. Hoping at a speed that shouldn't even be possible, the little creature was sweating bullets at the thoughts going through her mind.

'Great! First Medusa turns me basically into a tadpole bomb and now theres another witch in this city!' the frog inwardly screamed. the frog had seen that explosive bit of Magic Blair did, there was no way that it could be anything other then a witch...right?

Taking a turn, the frog hoped that she could find the entrance of Death City before anything else happened to it.

'Ribbit...and then theres that guy with the huge sword," the frog muttered, 'He slaughtered Medusa's familiar like it was nothing!'

Trying its best, the frog quickly hopped its way through Death City. Dodging random bystanders and their feet, the frog did its best to not be seen by anyone. It took more then a few minutes of constant hopping, dodging, and even the occasional getting stepped on before the frog finally saw a giant set of doors in the distance.

'Screw it! I'm out of here!' the frog thought, the sight of a door filling its sight, 'Hopefully Medusa won't find me after I've high tailed it our of here, ribbit!'

And with that, the frog seeming hopped its to freedom, escaping the walls of Death City.

Too bad it didn't notice a pair of sharp eyes following its every movie, just waiting...like a snake, about to pounce onto a fearful, little frog.

Chapter END.

-Sorry if this chapter seems a bit filler-ish, I wanted to get some character interaction in during this break and show that not every chapter has to be filled with nonstop fighting and chaos (which is hard to do in Bleach or Soul Eater). Still, for those who are familiar with the end knows whats going to come next.

Until then, I will see you guys next time. And if you have any questions, send me a message or leave it in a review (Unless you are a guest, then don't bother since I can't message you back).

RxR