Erich watches over the young Kurosaki every night, examining the state of the boy’s soul for any hint of change. It’s safe to say he’s grown attached; with every nightmare he eats he understands more about the boy and his life, and Erich—

Erich can’t help but admire the boy. He’s so young, so determined and kind and protective that he almost seems unreal. But he’s also hurt. Hurt and lonely and desperate in a way that Erich recognizes — it’s the desperation of a warrior restricted to the medics. Of a man torn from his unit.

Kurosaki has had his purpose stolen from him by his own actions and now he’s at loose ends.

But the boy’s determination is a good thing.

Three days in and Erich can already spot the beginnings of healing, the first tiny signs of repair. The tattered edges of Kurosaki’s soul begin to smooth over and the heavy bleed of strength begins to slow. It’s more than he expected so early, but it’s also a relief.

He knows the man sees it as well from the way he backs down, still wary but not so aggressive. The man still watches them, still observes their actions and their interactions with the sleeping children, but his observation has more to do with curiosity than anything else.

Alexis, of course, does everything in her power to drive him crazy. She darts past him unexpectedly. Fades in and out of shinkai at random. Steals his fan or his hat and races away, fearless and happy and so very pleased with herself.

The chance to interact with people like this is rare, and Alexis enjoys taking advantage of it.

Erich just enjoys the results. The man’s reactions are amusing, as is the way he constantly turns to Erich whenever Alexis plays a trick on him.

“You warned me, but I didn’t expect this,” the man says one night, a pout on his lips and his bright blond hair wild from where Alexis had yanked the hat from his head.

Erich chuckles and steps through the window into the young woman’s room, reaching out to pluck her nightmare away. It has a familiar taste, dark with regret and haunted by green eyes, and he wonders how deep the wound must be to continue to bother her after so many times Erich and Alexis have eaten the result.

“What… exactly do you do?” the man asks once Erich has breathed out a piece of his power to guard her rest and stepped once more from her room. “I know you eat dreams, but how does that help?”

Erich watches the man for a moment and considers his answer. How much does he want to reveal to this strange being who can see them whenever they step beyond shinkai? He doesn’t know. Doesn’t know if the man is a threat in the making, either.

But the question seems harmless enough.

::Besides allowing for a longer, more unbroken sleep?:: Erich answers question with question.

The man huffs and waves a hand. “That’s only a side effect, I’m certain of it,” he says with confidence. “You’re doing something and I can’t figure it out.”

Laughter rumbles deep in Erich’s chest, the noise enough to draw Alexis back to his side. She looks ridiculous with the man’s striped hat perched carefully atop her head and the grin she flashes him says she knows it.

::What’s going on?:: she asks.

::He wants to know how we’re helping them,:: Erich explains with a nod back towards the young woman sleeping behind them.

Alexis gives the man a shrewd look. ::It won’t do you any good,:: she tells him. ::We’re baku and you’re not. You can’t do what we do.::

“But I’m curious, baku-san,” the man explains with a sheepish smile, hand creeping out towards his hat. “Would you do this poor humble shopkeeper the honor of an explanation, please?”

Alexis scoffs and rears up on her hind legs so the man’s hat is once more out of his reach. ::You’re interesting,:: she tells him bluntly, taking the man aback.

“Maa…”

::There’s not much to it,:: Alexis continues, tail flicking lazily from side to side. ::We eat their dreams and blunt the damage so that when they dream it again, there’s less there to wound.::

::The more we eat, the more it fades,:: Erich adds when it looks like the man is unsatisfied with Alexis’ explanation. ::We give them a chance to process it subconsciously, without being awoken by the stress.::

“I see,” the man murmurs, glancing away from them and towards the room Erich left. “Then thank you. For doing this for them and for healing Kurosaki. You… didn’t need to do this.”

Alexis huffs and shakes her head, sending the man’s hat fluttering to the distant ground. ::We’re baku,:: is all she says, before giving Erich a look and darting off in the direction of the tallest of the teens. They can both feel the swell of the boy’s nightmares returning once more and she is the fastest of the two of them.

“You’re concerned,” the man murmurs thoughtfully, watching Erich as Erich watches Alexis run. “I thought— Kurosaki is beginning to heal, and the others seem fine—”

::If you think they’re fine, you’re either blind or lying to yourself,:: Erich says with a shake of his head. He turns away and begins to bound towards the home of the black-haired teen.

The man appears at his side moments later, hat on his head and easily keeping pace. “Well, perhaps not fine, but you’re assisting them and they’re getting better, yes?”

::Slowly, but yes,:: Erich allows. “And Kurosaki is healing.” He pauses outside the black-haired teen’s window and watches the sleeping teen. ::It will take time, however. For all of them.::

“And your concern?” the man asks, slipping into the room alongside Erich. “If everything is going well, what worries you?”

Erich shoots the man a deadpan look while pulling the nightmare from the teen’s mind. ::Precisely that. It is too—::

The boy rolls onto his back and yawns, squinting sleepily up at the man. “What— Urahara..? You— woah!” The boy’s eyes land on Erich and he lunges from his bed, a bow materializing in his hand. He aims the weapon at Erich and draws back the gleaming string, an arrow forming in the process. “What the hell?!”

::—clean.:: Erich sighs and scrubs a paw across the bridge of his nose, ears laying back. Somehow, it doesn’t surprise him that the teen can see him, not after the way the man — Urahara? — can as well. Not after everything he’s seen in the dreams of all the teenagers they’ve been helping. ::Good evening,:: he greets the teen calmly, dropping his paw back to the floor and trying to look as peaceful as possible. ::I apologize for waking you.::

The teen just stares at him blankly, body slowly relaxing the longer Erich remains still. “Urahara, explain,” he demands.

“Maa, well… apparently two baku have been drawn to Karakura of late,” Urahara says lightly. He smiles sheepishly at the dark look the teen gives him and raises both hands in surrender. “Would I lie to you?”

“Absolutely,” the teen responds without hesitation. He lets his weapon dissolve away once more. “For all I know, this is something you created somehow and decided to name after a yokai.”

Erich grumbles at the accusation. Him, a creation of Urahara’s? Pah. ::We are absolutely not related to him,:: he tells the teen firmly. ::We are baku who wander the land as we will, not some… newly made creation. If any can be named our creators, then name the first world war and all the nightmares and darkness that arose because of it.::

Urahara looks fascinated. The teen looks disbelieving.

“They’re here to help all of you,” Urahara says, unphased by the accusation of lying. “Ishida Uryuu, meet— uh… do either of you have names?” Urahara blinks and stares at Erich, apparently only then realizing that none of them had introduced themselves.

He cocks his head and considers the two maybe-humans thoughtfully. He’s already stretched more boundaries of late than usual. A few more shouldn’t matter too much, especially for the companions of the teen who has gained the blessing of a greater kami. ::Erich,:: he offers when the silence begins to stretch. ::I chose the name Erich.::

“Well then! Ishida Uryuu, meet Erich-san, one of two baku who has been guarding your sleep for the past few months.”

Ishida looks between the two of them in disbelief, then drops back onto his bed and buries his head in his hands with a sigh. “I’m going back to sleep,” he mutters. “I’m too tired to deal with this. Get out, both of you. And Urahara— stay out of my damn bedroom unless there’s an emergency!”

“Maa, maa, sorry about that, Ishida-kun,” Urahara says with an awkward laugh. “I was speaking with Erich-san and, well… lost track of where I was.”

Ishida mutters something that sounds like ‘ridiculous’ and lifts his head enough to glower at both of them.

Erich shakes his head in amusement and steps across the room, shouldering Urahara back until the man tumbles out the window. He glances back once at the teen, nods his head, then phases through the wall and outside as well.

“Well,” Urahara says with a laugh. “I think that went quite well!”

He swats Urahara with one great paw and sends the man tumbling without a hint of regret. He grabs the man’s hat with his trunk, announces firmly, ::We’re keeping this for good,:: and lets himself fade back in shinkai.

It wouldn’t stop Urahara from tracking him for long, but the man’s offended sputters were an amazing sight to see.

Maybe he should join Alexis in playing with Urahara.

It was certainly a thought.