Chapter 2: I See No Evil, I Hear No Evil
It was Friday and the first thing Kokoro did after being released from the hospital was head for school. She didn't care if she was in any kind of pain. She needed to study. Once she found the school building, she got lost in the hallways again. Luckily she wasn't so totally lost now that she was a bit more familiar with the place. Orihime noticed her and waved, "Good morning, Akiyama-chan!" Kokoro narrowed her eyes at her giving her a sort of telekinetic signal. Orihime tensed up and brought down her hand slowly as she said, "Let me guess, I can't call you that either?" Kokoro just shook her head. "Then... just Kokoro?" Kokoro nodded in response to this. Orihime then looked at the time and said, "Oh no!" She then grabbed Kokoro's hand and yelled, "We better get to class or we'll be late!"
"Hey! Let go!" Kokoro yelled not wanting to be dragged off, even if it was towards the classroom for a good reason. Kokoro winced from the stinging pain she was feeling in her right side while her right arm was the arm being stretched out. That was where she was injured that night, but Kokoro couldn't worry about that right now. She had to get to class, damn it!
Once they made it, "Good morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime shouted while holding Kokoro's arm in the air instead of her own. Kokoro gasped but tried to hide the pain she was feeling. "Uh is she ok?" Ichigo asked noticing the painful look on Kokoro's face. Orihime blinked a few times not noticing it. Suddenly you can hear from the hallways a guy screaming, "KOOOOOOKOOOOROOOO!" Soon enough, Keigo was gripping Kokoro's shoulder shaking her like a mad man with tears in his eyes as he was yelling, "AREYOUOK?!IHEARDABOUTWHATHAPPENEDLASTNIGHT?!WHYAR EYOUHERE?!YOUSHOULDBERESTING!" Kokoro was now getting sick from being shook back and forth. "Please...Stop...It hurts..." Kokoro said in a dazed and disoriented tone. "Uh, Keigo I don't think it's a good idea to be shaking her like that." Orihime warned him nervously as she watched Keigo shake Kokoro violently like a bobble-head. It took Ichigo's punch to Keigo's jaw to snap Keigo out of his madness. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR, ICHIGO?! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS?!" Ichigo then pointed down next to him and Keigo had a confused look for a moment but then gawked in terror realizing what he had down. Kokoro was laying on the ground looking like a rag doll that had fallen off of the toy shelf as she twitched an arm or a leg every so often.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Koko-chan!" Keigo cried but that was enough to bring Kokoro back on her feet. It seemed like a joyous moment, until the dark aurora from yesterday appeared once again as she yelled, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING KOKO-CHAN?!" Keigo coward away like a scared puppy.
"Huh? Did ya just come back from the hospital already? Shouldn't ya be in bed or somethin'?" Kokoro immediately snapped out of her fit of rage and gave Shinji a confused look. "How did you know I was in the hospital?" Kokoro asked now starting to become suspicious.
"It's no secret. Rumor has it ya got roughed up pretty badly by some gang last night. Ya really shouldn't be walkin' the streets at night, ya know?"
"Thank you for your concern, but I can manage." Kokoro said the first part sarcastically, but now she understood what Keigo was freaking out about earlier. He was worried too, but why? She's fine, there was nothing to worry about. As far as she was concerned, it was like none of it had ever happened. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about the man in the mask. Once again, he had saved her life. She owed him big time.
Seizing the opportunity, Shinji pulled Kokoro into a hug with her face against his chest while his arms were wrapped around her head. "D'aww! Koko's so cute when she day dreams!" Kokoro immediately snapped out of her thoughts and started flailing her arms around as her cries were being muffled by Shinji's chest. "CUT IT OUT! I CAN'T BREATH!" Where her muffled cries. "Hey! Stop smothering her! She just got out of the hospital! You're killing her!" Keigo yelled more enraged by the fact Shinji had his arms around his precious Koko-chan.
"Are you crazy?! Why would I wanna kill Hot Koko?!"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT?!"
"Asano! Hirako! Akiyama! In your seats, now!" Misato finally called to them as they now realized class has just begun. Well, this is sort of awkward. Once they sat down, Misato handed out sheets of paper to everyone. It was a Pop Quiz. "Ok class, lets see just how much you all know before we begin our school year together. If you pass, great. If not, we'll work on that, Asano." She said targeting Keigo at the last-minute. Keigo tensed up knowing she was on to him and this only made him even more nervous. Once the timer was set, everyone simultaneously picked up their pencils and began their pop quiz. "Done." Both Shinji and Kokoro surprisingly said at the same time. It surprised everyone in the class, including each other. Shinji just grinned and said, "It's like we were made for each other!" Kokoro just plainly said to him, "Dream on." Soon the pop quiz was over and Misato read the grades out loud. "Alright, let's see who passes." As she read over them, it was just as Misato thought. "Asano, you get a D, so you're the only one who doesn't pass." Keigo's jaw was almost touching the ground in shock. If he's doing poorly now, imagine how he would do the rest of the school year?!
Later on during lunch, Kokoro had brought two bento boxes this time. One of them was for Orihime, and of course, it was pink. "Here. Until you learn how to cook properly, eat this for now." Orihime opened it and was amazed. This time, it was like a garden with green onions as the grass, the rice being the earth underneath the grass, flower shaped carrots and tomatoes, broccoli trees, and a little panda cookie laying right in the middle of it. "It's so cute! Thank you!" Orihime chimed and she ate it happily instead of her planned lunch which was sweet bread with wasabi sauce and soy sauce. Kokoro sat down across from her and pulled out her own bento box which was the same meal only her box was red instead of pink. Since they were inside of the classroom during lunch, Keigo couldn't help but notice this scene. "Aw! Look at the love Koko-chan puts in her cooking!" He chimed but immediately got glares from Kokoro for calling her by pet names. Keigo flinched and kept his mouth shut.
"You should have seen what she made yesterday! " Orihime exclaimed to Keigo. "Oh wow really? What did it look like?" Keigo asked excited to know. "It was like an ocean in a bento box! There were octopus weenies, sushi, and the rice was made blue to look like the sea." Suddenly, a thought had stuck Shinji. Blue rice? Of course, that's what those specks were. He thought as he looked over to Kokoro with serious eyes while no one was looking. So, she's the one who was spyin' on me and Ichigo.
When class was over, Kokoro was in the middle of the hallway, lost as always. "Hey, Kokoro!" Orihime shouted as she rushed over to her waving. Once she made it to Kokoro, she stopped for a moment to breathe. She had been all over the school looking for her. Kokoro turned to face Orihime and asked her plainly, "You ok?" Orihime held one hand up as a signal to assure Kokoro she was fine while she was still panting. "I...wanted to ask about tomorrow. Where are you going to teach me how to cook?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. Well, it would have to be your house since I want to see how you work in your kitchen."
"Um, ok, but aren't you teaching me how to cook anyways?"
"Of course, but I need to see your skills so far so that I can help you improve on certain things. I'm not going to teach you something if you already know it."
"Oh ahahah, good point. My bad." Orihime laughed nervously, but then she stopped when Kokoro was looking out the window. She looked out the window too to see it was a little boy with a red cap, only he had a chain attached to his chest. A soul? Orihime was surprised and looked at Kokoro then back at the boy who waved at them. Kokoro waved back, and had just proven Orihime's suspicions. "You see him, too, huh?" She asked now a bit serious. Kokoro turned to her with a surprised look. "What do you mean? Of course I can see him? He's just a kid, right?" Kokoro asked sort of confused, or she at least pretended to be. Deep down, she knew that boy was dead. She just couldn't believe it, though. Orihime understood and just smiled softly, "It's alright, Kokoro. You have a gift."
"Maybe I don't want it." Kokoro mumbled as she turned and waved good-bye to Orihime without facing her as she kept walking ahead. "I'll see you tomorrow after work, ok?"
"Um ok, but, Kokoro?"
"What?"
"You're going the wrong way. That exit goes to the gym."
Kokoro quickly stopped, then turned back towards Orihime and pointed towards the direction behind her as if to ask if that was the way out. Orihime nodded smiling and that was enough for Kokoro to understand. "Thanks." She said as she left the building, leaving Orihime all alone. Chad appeared out of no where and asked Orihime, "She can see them, too?" Orihime turned to Chad with a serious but calm look and nodded. "She doesn't seem to want to, though. I guess she just wants to be normal like everyone else." Orihime said with a concerned tone. Chad looked ahead and said, "Yeah, I can see that."
On her way to work, Kokoro noticed a couple of guys leaning on the side of the wall. Right away, she could tell they were from a gang so she walked ahead ignoring their presence, but they didn't ignore hers. Kokoro could suddenly feel that she was being followed. "We're ya goin', Sweetheart?" One of them sneered as he stood in her path smirking. "I'm going to work, so if you'd please step off, then I'll just be on my way." Kokoro said plainly. The other guy placed his hand on her shoulders and said, "Hey, Babe, I've got a job for ya." Now they were both snickering but Kokoro simply said, "No thanks." As she brushed off his hand and continued ahead. This irritated him so he grabbed her arm with a vice grip. Kokoro glared about ready to throw a punch at him but then felt her body tense up in pain. Damn it! It must be my injuries, she yelled in her thoughts. She fell to one knee trembling in a slight stinging pain. The guy holding her arm smirked seeing she was at a severe disadvantage.
"I've got you now." He said before his head was suddenly bashed into the other guy's head. Kokoro was surprised and looked up to see a familiar face from school. "Ichigo?" She asked. Ichigo looked down and held his hand out to her. "So, the rumors were true. Are you ok?" Kokoro refused his hand by getting up on her own. "I can manage." Was her answer, as always. Ichigo could see that Kokoro was the self-reliant type. That's good. "So, where you heading?" He asked her.
"Urahara's shop. I work there."
"Are you serious? You're obviously not fully healed yet!"
"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine."
"Oh really? Then why did you fall to the ground like that?"
Kokoro could see he wasn't giving her much option. He prefered her to be home resting instead of going to work. Why does he care, anyways? It's not like they're friends or anything. Kokoro just sighed and said, "Fine, I'll go home, I guess I'll just have to call my boss and tell him I can't come today, geez." Kokoro then turned to walk away but then Ichigo stopped her by saying, "Wait! I know you can see them." Kokoro froze look a statue, her hair now hanging over her eyes casting a shadow to hide them. "Look, I know it's scary, but you don't need to be scared." Kokoro just stood there and muttered in a serious tone, "I don't like change." She then walked home on her own.
Ichigo just stood there watching her leave. He didn't try to stop her though. From what Orihime had told him, it seemed that Kokoro just wanted a normal life. So did he, but that was a long time ago. Now his life has been changed forever and there's no going back. He just hoped that one day Kokoro would accept it just like he did.
Saturday
Kokoro was in that same dark forest, alone and afraid. Where am I? How did I get here? Thoughts of fear ran through her head as she looked around listening to the rustling in the bushes and tree branches all around her. It was though as if she was surrounded by the very creatures of darkness themselves. Suddenly a bush began to rustle. Kokoro's eyes where wide with fear and confusion as she watched the violent trembles of the bush before her, but then the rustling stopped. Kokoro sighed in relief, but suddenly, a skeleton like creature wearing marigolds around the top of its skull in the form of a headband and long claw-like fingers was behind her. It screamed as it grabbed Kokoro, causing her to scream herself awake from her nightmare. She looked around for a moment but then sighed in relief. It was just a dream, she assured herself as she got up and saw it was Saturday. Her cell phone then rang and she picked it up. That's odd, I don't recognize this number...
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Shinji."
"How did you get this number?" Kokoro asked annoyed by his voice alone.
"Orihime gave it to me when I asked her for it. I didn't know you were inta girls, Koko-yuri."
"I'm not! And stop calling me pet names!"
"Hehe, glad to see there's still hope for me yet."
"Ok, seriously, if this is what you're calling me for then I'm just going to hang up now."
"We need to talk... about Thursday." Kokoro had paused for a moment now confused by what he meant, and the way he said it... He sounded so serious.
"What about Thursday?"
"I think it's best we talk about this face to face. Meet me at the local mall at the food court. See ya then." He then hung up. Kokoro didn't like the sound of this. She then got dressed into a grey T-shirt with a white undershirt with sleeves reaching to her elbows while her grey shirt was loose and baggy. She even wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers as she headed out to the mall. She had also brought money with her, for she planned to buy groceries later for when she gives cooking lessons to Orihime. Hopefully there was a supermarket inside of this mall.
Shinji had been waiting almost all day. He was dressed in his orange blouse, dull purple tie, black sleeks and he was also wearing his signature worker cap. Where the hell is she? He thought to himself checking his cell phone every so often for the time. He finally decided to eat without her and groaned because his food was cold now. He then sighed seeing that she stood him up and decided to leave the mall. She must have realized what he wanted to talk to her about and assumed she was in some kind of trouble. He was just going to clarify that no one could know about what she just heard. Although, he might threaten her into silence as well, but it wasn't like he was going to hurt her on the spot. On his way out of the mall, he saw the horizon signalling that it was almost night time, but then he caught her in his sights across the street. She had that lost look in her eyes. "Hey you! Are ya lost or somethin'?" He called out to her. Kokoro immediately turned and saw him standing right there.
"I thought you were going to be waiting in the food court."
"I was, for like the entire day! My food got cold because of you!"
"Not my problem."
This ticked off Shinji as he held his hands out wanting to strangle her. He then saw the way she dressed and tried to hold back his snickers, but it was impossible. "Pfftt! Are you sure you're not a lesbo, Koko-yuri-chan?!" Kokoro glared at him and yelled, "OF COURSE I'M NOT A LESBIAN AND STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"Then why do ya dress like a man?"
"WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?"
"Don't worry, Koko-yuri-chan! I won't judge ya if ya are. In fact, we should totally go club-crawling together and pick up some hot chicks. You can be my wing man!" He said placing an arm around her shoulder while holding a thumbs up. Kokoro pulled his arm off of her and said in anger, "If this is why you called me out here then I'll just be on my way." Just as she was about to leave, Shinji stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're right, we still need to have that little chat we had planned." He said in his serious tone. Kokoro shrugged his hand off of her shoulder and blinked for a moment. This was definitely a side of him she hasn't seen before. Plus, judging by the way he was dressed, he didn't seem like so much of a dork anymore. Kokoro then walked towards the mall and said, "I have to do some grocery shopping. If you want you can tag along." Shinji watched as she walked ahead and just smiled as he followed. She was pretty mature for someone her age. She also seemed self-reliant. Too bad there aren't enough people like her in this world, and his comrades would be a good example of what he meant by that.
Back in the mall, inside of a supermarket they had, Kokoro grabbed a basket and walked with Shinji down a couple of aisles looking for specific ingredients on her list. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Kokoro asked her while she was grabbing some ingredients such as amakuchi, chukara, karakuchi, and many more. "What are ya plannin' to make with this stuff?" Shinji asked kinda curious. "Karē-Pan." Was all she said.
"Anyways... I know it was you who was spyin' on me and Ichigo. How much did ya hear?"
"Enough."
Shinji chuckled a bit at this. "Aren't ya afraid of bein' caught red-handed? I mean, c'mon, ya did hear some very incriminatin' stuff."
"We're in a public place. If you tried anything, you won't get away with it." She plainly said trying to reach for the Kewpie jar. It was so high up she could barely reach it. Kokoro got on the tip of her toes trying to reach for it. Just as she felt her finger tips lightly tap the Kewpie jar, someone had taken it right out of her reach. She looked behind and saw it was Shinji. "Ya know, ya could have just asked, right?" He said waving the Kewpie jar lightly. Kokoro just narrowed her eyes towards him and said, "I could have gotten it, myself."
"Sure ya could've. Ya don't need to be ashamed to ask for help once in a while."
Kokoro only stood there now and sighed. She then went to grab the Kewpie jar from him but then he held it up in the air and said, "Nah ah ah. Yer goin' to have ta ask for it, first." This annoyed Kokoro to no end.
"I thought you were helping me?"
"But I thought ya never asked for any help?"
"I didn't!"
"Then I guess ya won't be needin' this then." He said about to place the Kewpie jar back in its place, but then felt his arm being restricted from doing so. He looked and saw that Kokoro was tugging on the sleeve of his blouse to keep him from returning the Kewpie jar to its place. She just stood there for a moment until she finally asked in something but mumbling it so he couldn't understand what she was saying.
"Can ya repeat whatever ya just said a little louder?"
"May I please have the Kewpie Jar?!" She almost yelled in an irritated tone. This was so embarrassing for Kokoro because she never had to rely on anyone before. To her, having to ask for help seemed like something only a weak person would do. Shinji just smiled and handed it to her. "Of course ya may. I'm surprised to hear ya say 'May I'. Figured ya'd be rude about it." Kokoro snatched the Kewpie jar from his hands and put it in the basket then continued to wander down the aisle for more ingredients. Shinji watched from behind and followed.
Back to the topic at hand, he supposed. "Can I trust ya won't be tellin' anyone about that little chat ya overheard?"
"Look, Shinji, I don't care if you're in our school only to recruit people to some gang you're working in. Just leave me out of it, ok?"
Shinji paused for a moment surprised by her answer. She thinks I'm a gang member... "Pfftt HAHAHAHA!" Shinji laughed so hard even random strangers began to stare at him like something was wrong with him. "What's so funny about being in a gang?" Kokoro asked plainly like it was no big deal. Shinji finally sighed to calm down then placed his hand on Kokoro's head, messing up her hand as he rubbed it. "Yer all right." He said. "Hey!" Kokoro whined as she pulled his hand off of her head and tried to fix her hair.
"Finally, somethin' that proves yer a girl."
"Shut up!"
In a neighborhood, Kokoro was wandering around heading to Orihime's place. Shinji tagged along whether she wanted him to or not. Kokoro couldn't believe that he even planned to annoy her on week ends. "Are ya sure ya know where Orihime lives?" He asked her with doubt in his speech. After that trip to the mall, he learned right away that her sense of direction sucked to say the least. Seeing that lost look in her eyes and how she was ignoring him, he sighed and pulled out his phone from his back pocket.
"Yeah, Hi. It's Shinji, is Inoue Orihime there?"
"Um, this is Orihime, Hirako-san."
"Oh, my bad. Hey, I'm here with Koko-yuri-chan and she and I are on our way to that cookin' class you two had planned." Kokoro tried to hold in the anger she was feeling right now only because she didn't want to be rude and interrupt a call. Plus, she didn't want Shinji to know she was listening in on them.
"Oh, really? I didn't know Akiyama-chan invited you to join us."
"That's because I didn't!" Kokoro finally snapped in the middle eavesdropping on them. Shinji chuckled at this the began rubbing her head again and messing up her hair while he continued the conversation.
"Hey! Quit it!" Kokoro yelled pulling his hand off of her hair and straightened it out again.
"Anyways, we're kinda lost and we're wonderin' if you could give us directions to yer place."
He listened and nodded with an "mhm" to everything she said and finally said, "Ok, thanks, see ya soon." He then hung up and grabbed the collar of Kokoro's shirt dragging her to the right as he said to her, "C'mon." Kokoro glared and yelled in protest, "Hey! Let go, you Creep! I can walk on my own!" but Shinji wouldn't give.
Preparing the kitchen for her lesson, Orihime heard the doorbell ring and was excited to see they had found their way. When she opened the door, she couldn't help but give a sweat drop to the sight. Shinji was just standing acting suave and calm while Kokoro looked embarrassed and exhausted at the same time. "Uh, hey! You finally made it! Please come in, eheheh." She said laughing nervously in the end. Shinji walked in while Kokoro just stumbled in like the walking dead. "Are you alright, Kokoro?" Orihime whispered asking her because she was now concerned. "He dragged me...all the way here...how would you think I feel..." Kokoro said in an irritated yet tired tone. Orihime was shocked and looked at Shinji who made himself at home by sitting in the kotatsu table in the living room. "That bastard's gonna pay..." Kokoro muttered to herself, but then a light bulb lit up on top of her head as she smirked evilly at the dish she had planned just for Shinji.
In the kitchen, Kokoro observed everything. "Good, so far you have everything needed to cook. Now, let's see how good you are at preparing." She said observantly and handed her the ground beef. "Cut them into cubes." She ordered and watched. It looks like so far Orihime was good with cutting. She handed her some vegetables as well to cut while she did a separate batch of her own, and one extra. After all the ingredients were prepared, Kokoro taught Orihime how to prepare the dough. Finally, it was time to wrap them in the dough and deep fry them. Once they were ready, Kokoro helped Orihime put them all on a plate in an organized fashion. The big plate had Orihime's batch of Karē-Pan, the medium plate had Kokoro's batch, and then their was a small plate with just one Karē-Pan. "Why did you make a third one, Kokoro?" Orihime asked curiously. Kokoro didn't answer as they headed to the living room and joined Shinji at the Kotatsu table.
Shinji couldn't help but sniff the air while he waited. Whatever they were making, it smelled really good. "Finally, I was droolin' just waitin' for ya to finish." Shinji said comically. Orihime giggled and asked, "So which should we try first?"
"Yours in case we need mine to make it better." Kokoro said plainly.
"Ouch, Koko-yuri-chan, give the girl some credit. You haven't even tried hers yet."
"Stop calling me that!" Kokoro yelled.
They all tried Orihime's first. Kokoro chewed on it for a moment to observe the flavor then narrowed her eyes.
"Orihime."
"Yes?"
"Did you sneak in some chocolate while I wasn't looking?" Orihime gulped and said, "I'm sorry. It's just that I thought it would give the Curry a little more flavor." She apologized nervously but Kokoro swallowed and said, "Calm down, cocoa beans are actually one of the ingredients that can be used in curry, so you're off the hook. Besides, this is pretty good." She smiled in the end reassuringly towards Orihime and this made Orihime smile happy that she succeeded. Shinji tried it as well and agreed. This was really good, but he was curious about how Kokoro's would taste like. As he tried to sneak a bite, Kokoro smacked his hand and said, "Paws off! Besides..." She then smiled cheerfully and held the small plate towards him. "I made a special one just for you!" She said cheerfully. This surprised both Shinji and Orihime. Shinji smirked at this and cupped her face. "Well, ain't that sweet of ya, Hot Koko." Now Kokoro was more than happy enough to make this special dish just for him. She pulled his hand out from under her chin and said in a cheery yet annoyed tone, "Don't push your luck just yet." Shinji chuckled and took a bite out of the special Karē-Pan Kokoro made for him. Mmm, this is really..."GAHHH!" He yelled with a flustered face looking like he was about to breathe fire. Orihime gasped in shock while Kokoro was hiding in the dark corner of the room giggling. "WATER! WATER!" Shinji cried out and Orihime rushed to the kitchen then came rushing back with a glass of water but tripped and accidentally splashed Shinji's face. Kokoro couldn't take it anymore. She burst into laughter after witnessing such a golden moment.
"Ah man! I love it when crap lines up together like that!" She said in between her hysterical laughs.
"YA MEAN YA HAD THIS PLANNED ALL ALONG?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU PUT IN THAT CURRY?!" Shinji yelled enraged by the sudden betrayal. He should've seen Kokoro's cutesy act as nothing more than an act. Kokoro snickered to herself and said, "Oh, I just added the regular ingredients, although I might have added extra karakuchi."
"YOU WHAT?!" Shinji yelled in shock. That's the hottest one and she claimed to have put extra doses of it in his curry?! Still, seeing Kokoro laugh like that, it was the first time he had ever seen her so happy about anything. So he let her have this one. He then snagged one of Kokoro's real Karē-Pan while she was trying to calm down from laughing. Then took a bite and was surprised. This was really good. "This is really good." He told her and Kokoro said, "It should be. I made it, myself." Shinji snickered at her cockiness, whether it was intentional or not.
Once dinner was over, Kokoro only took a few of both Orihime's and her own Karē-Pan. As for the special one made for Shinji, he threw it out while no one was looking. He was never really a spicy food lover, and that thing was just ungodly. Now that they were on their own,
"So...still wanna go pick up some hotties, Koko-yuri-chan?"
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?! I'M NOT A LESBIAN!"
"...Does that make ya available?"
"NO WAY!"
Sunday
Kokoro finally returned to the shop on Sunday. She missed working there and she had missed the company of Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai, Ururu, and maybe even Jinta. She wouldn't admit it to them though. She felt it wasn't important to tell them. "Kokoro, I'd like to have a word with you." Kisuke said inviting her inside to have tea with him, Tessai, and Yoruichi. As she joined them at the table and drank some tea, there was an awkward silence in the room for a moment. Kokoro just continued drinking her tea. Finally, Yoruichi was the one who broke the ice when she randomly asked proudly, "So, rumor has it you went on a date yesterday!" Immediately Kokoro started spewing her drink while still holding the cup to her face. Tessai handed her some napkins to clean her face. She plainly thanked him and cleaned her face.
"Is it true?" Yoruichi asked almost excited to hear the gossip. "Did you really go on a date yesterday?"
"No way! Yes I hung out with that dork but it wasn't anything like that!"
"Dork?" Yoruichi then gasped in excitement and asked, "You mean that same dork you told us about on Thursday?!" Now Kisuke starting spewing his drink in the same way Kokoro did. Tessai also offered him a napkin. "Thank you." Kisuke said before cleaning his face then began cracking his knuckles with intense anger in his eyes. "You still haven't given me a name, Kokoro."
"I already told you. I can handle it!"
"Then start handling it to the point where he never bothers you again, or I will find his name. One way or the other, I will find him." He said in a cold and sinister tone. Tessai even agreed to help out. Things have just gotten weird ever since her first day of school, and she was never one for change. "So, is this what you wanted to talk about?" Kokoro asked a bit curious about why she was back here in the first place. Yoruichi turned to Kisuke, and he sighed picking up his fan as he hid his face behind it. "We also heard that you can see spirits, am I right?" Kokoro's heart had almost ached from hearing this. Of all the people to bring something like that up, why did it have to be her own boss, the very first person she opened up to. She held her arms close to her chest as she looked down and muttered in a serious yet sad tone, "Don't tell me you actually believe in that nonsense." Kisuke sighed and turned to Yoruichi. Yoruichi understood and said, "Kokoro, you can't ignore it forever. I know this must be scary for you, but you're going to have to accept it sooner or later."
"Accept what?" Kokoro muttered before she finally snapped. Her eyes were watering as she slammed her hands on the table and yelled, "There is nothing to accept! As far as I'm concerned, everything is just fine the way it is! Why must it all go away?! WHY DOES IT ALL HAVE TO CHANGE?!" Suddenly, Kokoro could feel her body tense up again as she gasped and fell to her knees coughing. Yoruichi rushed over to Kokoro, patting her back to try and calm her down. Kisuke was surprised by her outburst and was saddened by it as well. He ordered Tessai to get a glass of water for her. They gave each other a serious look before Tessai did as he was told. "Here, drink this." Tessai told Kokoro as she took the glass and finally calmed down at least a little bit. "You ok, Kokoro? If you're still recovering from your injuries then you should just stay home for the day." Yoruichi asked her a bit concerned. Believe it or not, even she considered this shop as a family. "I can manage." Kokoro said as she got up almost shaking from her nerves being shot. Kisuke didn't like the looks of this. "Kokoro, what really happened to you that night?" He asked her seriously. Kokoro looked back at him for a moment then turned and said, "I apologize for my outburst. I'll see you all tomorrow." She then left shop and returned home. Kisuke turned to the glass of water then picked it up. He observed it for a moment.
"Kisuke..."
"What is it?"
"Do you really think it's a good idea to just let her walk out of here like that? She might get sick again or worse."
Kisuke continued to inspect the glass of water and said to Yoruichi, "I'm sure she'll be fine for now." He then turned to Tessai as they exchanged serious gazes. They both knew... Something was wrong.