“Are you sure we shouldn’t go out right now?” Ichigo asked as he and Uryuu followed Rerugen back into his home at last. His muscles burned from all running and wrestling, but he’d fought in worst shape before. And he had his pack with him, plus Rerugen. “We don’t know how long it will take to find the Hollow.”

Rerugen glanced up at the sky, then shook his head. “The moon will be down in four hours. Take this time to rest and recuperate your strength while I go out and scout our prey.” Before Ichigo could do more than open his mouth to protest, Rerugen quelled him with a stern look. “Unless you have experience tracking by scent?”

“No,” Ichigo admitted with a grimace.

“Nothing to be ashamed of. It’s something everyone either needs to be taught or needs to spend time teaching themselves. It’s not something that comes naturally to us.” Rerugen stepped into the entryway and plucked a towel from a hook, then sat down and began to wipe his bare feet clean of dirt and grass. “Doesn’t come naturally to wolves, either,” he said casually, not looking up from his task, “so it’s no surprise we have to spend time learning it.”

Ichigo dropped to sit near Rerugen, brushing off the worst of the debris with a hand. “So, what, you’re going to go out hunting and we’re just going to stay back?”

“I am going to go out scouting while you and the others rest,” Rerugen corrected him gently. “I will do nothing more than confirm its location and then I will return. And when the moon is down, we will go as a group and hunt it together.”

Uryuu slotted himself against Ichigo’s side, leaning forward enough that he could peer around Ichigo to see Rerugen. “Why after the moon is down? You mentioned this was supposed to be an advantage, and you… want to discard it?”

“I can’t be certain how long it will take to hunt the Hollow down.” Rerugen passed Ichigo the towel then dusted off his hands and rose to his feet. “And do you truly wish to court the moon setting in the middle of combat if you can avoid it?”

Ichigo traded rueful looks with Uryuu. Rerugen was right, fighting during moon-set and the sudden sensory drop was terrible. They’d just… lost track of that in the excitement.

(Of another Quincy, another Wolf.)

(Of someone who cared and wanted to help.)

Rerugen chuckled softly and leaned down to ghost a touch through both of their hair, as if he wanted to ruffle it but didn’t dare. “Yes, precisely. I expect both of you to rest. Eat whatever Mami-san has prepared for you and nap if you can. If you can’t, at least keep yourself from exerting too much more energy.”

Uryuu made a face at Rerugen’s words but didn’t speak out, so Ichigo didn’t draw attention to it. Being ordered to care for themselves by someone outside of their pack was… strange. Combined with Rerugen’s clear fondness for them and his unspoken desire to become part of their pack, Ichigo felt more unbalanced than he’d been since he’d first started to Change.

(He needed to talk with Tatsuki.)

Rerugen didn’t seem to expect any sort of answer, either, straightening up and padding into the main room without a backwards glance and heading straight towards Ren and Mami. He greeted Tatsuki, Orihime, and Chad before settling into conversation with Ren and Mami.

Ichigo turned on the step enough to observe the man’s interactions with the two souls. Mami handed him some onigiri and he took them without complaint, eyes crinkling at the corners from his fond smile.

“They’re his pack,” Uryuu murmured, keeping his voice barely audible in deference to Rerugen’s enhanced hearing. “His… pack leaders? And… he wants to join ours?”

“Maybe they all will,” Ichigo suggested, voice just as quiet. “Would you… be against that?”

Uryuu remained silent, gaze fixed on the three as they spoke.

Ichigo let his brother be, unwilling to push when there was no good reason. Letting Rerugen, Mami, and Ren into their pack wasn’t a choice for him alone, and they had plenty of time for everyone to make that decision on their own.

Rerugen laughed softly at something Mami said and shook his head, finishing off the onigiri and wiping his hands clean on a napkin Mami handed him. Ren pulled him into a hug before he could move away, holding him tight in their arms and only reluctantly letting go when Rerugen murmured something in their ear. Mami stole a hug as soon as Ren stepped back, her voice soft as she wished him luck.

“I wish we could help him,” Ichigo grumbled, tossing the towel back where Rerugen had grabbed it from. “There were so many of those damn mini-Hollows out there…”

“We’d just get in his way.” Uryuu edged closer and leaned against Ichigo, his weight a comforting warmth along Ichigo side. “And he was able to get you out even as a wolf, right?”

Ichigo leaned into Uryuu in return, thinking over his first encounter with Rerugen and the strange abilities he’d displayed. “Yeah… I’ve never seen anything like what he did. It didn’t even really feel like reiatsu.”

“Didn’t… feel like reiatsu?”

“I could sort of feel it? But it didn’t feel right.”

Uryuu made a considering noise and draped himself across Ichigo’s back, staring thoughtfully at Rerugen as the man finally extricated himself from Ren and Mami and turned back towards them. “Something related to the Wolf we don’t know?”

“As if that doesn’t cover more than we ever expected.” He had thought they’d gotten a decent grasp on the change and everything it entailed, but already Rerugen had introduced them to things they had never considered. How much more remained that they weren’t aware of?

Rerugen smiled faintly at the two of them as he approached. “I’ll return before moon-set,” he promised.

And then, between one step and the next, his body faded into gleaming silver mist. His clothes dropped to the floor and the mist swirled past them, settling into Rerugen’s wolf-form just inside the door. He didn’t break stride, continuing out the door as if he hadn’t swapped from two legs to four mid-step.

“If I had any doubt he was a Quincy, that erased it,” Tatsuki announced with exasperation.

“He does that sometimes,” Ren said with a warm smile. They turned to Ichigo and Uryuu then and beckoned for them to come in. “Please, come sit down over here and rest. Mami made food, and I’m certain you’re hungry after all that running around.”

Uryuu reluctantly pulled away from Ichigo and rose to his feet, hauling Ichigo up after him. “Thank you, Ren-san, Mami-san.”

Ichigo lingered in the entryway, staring out the open door. He wished Rerugen had let them follow him, but… the man seemed so certain of himself and his skills. And… he’d followed through on his promises so far.

He’d give Rerugen the benefit of the doubt.

(He truly wanted to believe…)