~Going in blind.~

~Somewhere deeper in the cave.~Kurai.~
Kurai stops as well."Hmm,something the matter Mikiru-kun?What is it that you find odd?"

Taking the pager she dials Seireitei and quietly converses for a few moments,finishing with "..be waiting." Snapping it shut she hands it back to Shiro."Here,they'll open a gate to take him back." She looks at Shiro with concern."Alright,something is wrong with you.What is it,talk!"

Shiro is shivering for some odd reason. "... my... shoulder..... is.... " he pauses, "it.. feels like.. it's burning..." he looks very pained.

Before she can answer there's a shimmer in the air and two sets of paper screened doors open.A familiar female shinigami walks out."Altria-chan,I'm here for the patient." "Sakura?So they send you..here." Picking up Mugen she carefully hands him over to Sakura."Please take care of him.I'll try to find a way to..reverse it..here." Taking him carefully Sakura gives a short nod."Of course. Be careful yourself,I don't want to see you in 4th after this." She walks back through the senkaimon,it shimmers and disappears.
With that done Altria turns her attention back to Shiro,moving closer."Your shoulder?" Thinking over those words she suddenly recalls how it was exactly that he got a shoulder wound."Show me where!" Her expression turns worried.

Miyuu appears out of the shadows after the shinigami leaves,thinking it best to remain unseen till then.'No point in making trouble for Altria-chan.' Looking at Shiro slightly concerned she keeps glancing around,getting a bad feeling,her ears flatten down.'I don't like this..something just changed here..and that feeling..too familiar.We should head the other way before some obstacle pops up, good thing it's where we need ta go anyway. Shin-kun out ta be close now too,besides my breeze will guide if need be so it out ta be fine.' She tugs Shiro and Altria by their sleeves."Hey,we need ta move.Suck it up Shiro-kun and let's go."

Shiro forces himself to ignore the pain in his shoulder and glances over at Miyuu, "..... I'll.... be fine... let's go." he starts heading in the other way.

~with Kurai~

Mikiru looks up at Kurai, "....... I sense....... 'Him' " he picks up his pace and heads deeper into the cave. He notices three people near some statues of shinigami. "!....." he drops his voice to a whisper and his reiatsu to a level that is barely detectable, "Kurai.... hide your reiatsu.." He ducks behind a large stalagmite to avoid being seen.

~With Mikiru and Kurai.~
Acting like it's very much a fun game Kurai steps behind another stalagmite as well,laughing silently,making sure to keep his voice lowered to the barest whisper."My dear Mikiru-kun,I was not aware it was showing.But as you wish." His almost not there reiatsu drops off completely,as if he's not standing there at all.Smiling playfully Kurai takes a quick look."Well,well,the two girls I know but who's the boy?"

Mikiru peeks just barely to get a better look at the guy with brown hair. "...." he then hides from view again and whispers quietly to kurai, ".... looks like a new kid.... but.." he pauses, his expression remains emotionless, "somehow he seems familiar.... I can't tell for sure.... but there's something deffinetly different about him."

Looking sharply in the direction the two are hiding Miyuu narrows her eyes.'Just now..I could have sworn..' Shaking her head she follows after Shiro into the other tunnel,tugging Altria by her sleeve again."Come on,we need ta find the Hollow.."

Shiro stops as his other shoulder begins to have the same burning sensation, he turns to wait for the others and tries to ignore the pain. (in thought) 'it's worse..... now both my shoulders are burning... ..... erg... what now? ... ahg... this hurts.'

"Let go,will you." Tugging her sleeve back she catches up with Shiro,looking at him worried."You look..did it get worse?"

"Whoops.I keep forgetting cats have good hearing." Kurai looks highly amused."Well,you don't say.Ah,come to think of it,I have seen him before."

Shiro nods slightly, "yeah... it seems like it's gotten worse..... I think... It might be a warning sign..........." He turns to looks over at the stalagmite mikiru is hiding behind and points," I don't know..... but.... something over there is bothering me."

Miyuu looks over to where Shiro is pointing,her eyes narrow."Oh really? How..interesting." Grabbing Altria by one arm and Shiro by the other she drags them a little further in,putting some distance before stopping."Choose.Either we keep going or we go investigate what's bothering ya..though I've got a hunch." She looks at Shiro seriously,"Make sure it's something ya can fa.." Trailing off she frowns,staring deeper into the tunnel."Hollow..incoming..in a bit.."

"eh?" Shiro turns and draws his black kunai, and makes a defensive stance. he winces from the pain in his shoulders but holds his pose.

~behind the stalagmite~

Mikiru makes some hand gestures to Kurai, telling him that the three other people are aware of their presence. He also glance over at Kurai and points toward the walls of the cave, indicating it would be wise to try to slip into the shadows to avoid being caught.

~behind the stalagmite~
Kurai does a motion with his hand to indicate understanding before moving backwards and seemingly disappearing from view.

Mikiru slips off after Kurai and keeps close just in case something happens, he looks back once more to see if the others were paying any attention. then continues to follow kurai along the wall.

At Miyuu's comment she draws Tsukiyomi,watching the tunnel.It remains empty. "Oh I see..we're to go in then?" Keeping the ball of light close by she moves further in cautiously until the tunnel opens into another cave.There are statues here too but some of them are of Hollows.There's a low rumble in the air.

Mikiru picks up on the rumbling sound and stumbles, "!!" he tries to regain balance but can't and is about to hit the ground when he grabs Kurai by accident.

"Hm?" Slightly surprised Kurai moves swiftly,regaining his balance and grasping Mikiru's arm,pulls him back straight on his feet."Careful there.Looks like the owner of this place is awake now." He smiles,still looking highly amused.

Mikiru thanks Kurai curtly, and then coughs hoarsely. *cough!* *cough!* ".... oh crap...." he glances back hoping no one but Kurai heard him cough.

"Oh don't worry,they won't hear it all the way over there.Except maybe the cat but that's of no consequence." Kurai pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to Mikiru."Take it slow Mikiru-kun.If you come back and collapse Akkei-chan will have our heads."

Mikiru accepts the handkerchief gratefully, but doesn't have any need for it. "..... thanks.... but.... Miss Akkei is most likely going to chew us out anyway.... since... you were 'supposed to' make sure i didn't sneak off." XD he grins for once and seems a bit cheerful.