"Hey, Moo! Stop drinking from the toilet! Do you remember how long it took for me to get you out of the bathroom last time you got stuck in the doorway?"
She was answered with a defiant, "Moo!"
Orihime sighed. Moo was fun to have around, even though she only had him for around an hour or so. While he was fun, she quickly learned that pet Hollows were also high-maintenance.
"Come on out, Moo!" she crooned. "Guess what I have?"
"Moo?" Moo slowly slithered out of the bathroom, curious as to what the redhead had to offer.
The girl held up a bowl proudly. "I made Hollow food!" she informed Moo happily.
The Hollow looked dubious.
She pouted. "Aww, not you too!"
She turned her back on her new friend, crossed her arms, and stomped her foot haughtily.
"No one ever eats my cooking…" she muttered.
Her little emo session was interrupted by a loud ripping sound.
Frightened, Orihime spun around.
What the…?
Where the bowl had been not moments before, was now a gaping hole in her apartment floor. Moo sat close by, chewing up the food, bowl, and floor bits.
Swallowing, Moo looked like he was in deep thought.
He ate the food… …And the floor too. I'll need to get that fixed.
Orihime was about to scold her pet on the digestive problems that flooring can cause to one's stomach when Moo's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Mooooooo!" he happily sang out.
Orihime's eyes widened. "You… you liked it?"
"Moo!"
"You liked the food?"
The Hollow simply nodded.
Standing there, shocked, the girl was paralyzed for a moment.
Then, out of the blue, a wide smile nearly cracked her face in half and she flung herself at the Hollow.
"Oh, Moo! You're so great! You're my best friend ever!" she cried out, hugging her pet.
"Moo~" cooed Moo appreciatively.
For the next four hours, twenty minutes, and thirty-two seconds, Orihime and Moo went on a huge hippie-friendship montage, doing friendly activities such as going to carnivals, buying each other ice cream, shopping for accessories, playing mini-golf, skipping through fields of flowers, catching butterflies, eating butterflies, going fishing, swimming at the beach, starting their own gang and spray-painting their symbol on police buildings, trying on sunglasses, and climbing government-owned trees/monuments.
Finally, at nightfall, the two were thoroughly exhausted.
Sitting on a swing in the park they ended up at, Orihime looked over at Moo.
"Hey, Moo? We should do this again tomorrow," she hummed.
Moo gave a content hiccup.
"We're going to have so much fun together, and be best friends forever."
"Moo."
Sighing contently, the girl looked up at the stars.
They're so pretty…
She scanned the sky, planning to point out constellations that Tatsuki had shown her to Moo, when something strange appeared.
Wait, is that a Senkaimon?
Sure enough, the gates to the Soul Society appeared before the pair in the night sky.
Moo looked at her questioningly. "Moo?"
This is bad… Any Shinigami in their right mind would kill Moo instantly!
"Quick, Moo! You have to hide!" she warned the Hollow, jumping up and ushering him to the bushes.
Moo was almost completely hidden when it opened, revealing a single figure accompanied by a Hell Butterfly.
"Inoue?"
Orihime stopped in her tracks. She turned slowly, fearing for the life of her new friend.
"I can explain," she started.
The figure stepped out of the Senkaimon and landed before her.
"Shuuhei?"
There was no doubt that it was the lieutenant of Squad Nine, in all his tattooed glory.
He looks rather worried, she noted.
"Um, Inoue, I know that you're rather understanding on most matters, so I suppose I can tell you. I've kind of bent the rules a little, and, well, ya see-" He's cut off when some massive object comes crashing through the bushes with a roaring, "Mooo!"
"Wait, Moo, no!" she cried out. Moo kept charging.
"Shuuhei, please, don't hurt hi-" She stops when she sees the man grinning, his eyes shining in joy.
Huh? Did I miss something?
Shuuhei extended his arms to the Hollow and ran to meet it.
"Moo!"
"Mo! I missed you so much!" he called out as he was tackled to the ground by the Hollow, which was now occupying itself by dousing the shinigami's face in Hollow drool.
"You two know each other?" Orihime questioned. "And his name is… Mo?"
Shuuhei smiled up at her from the ground. "Yeah, Mo is my Hollow! I found him running through the Fifth Division's courtyard, and Momo was really freaked out, so I hid him and used memory replacement on Momo. I keep him a secret from the others, for obvious reasons. I kept him in the forest below the Sokyoku, but one day he just disappeared. I would have never guessed he would end up here!"
Orihime smiled. "Oh, that's great! I have no idea what I would do if I lost a pet!" she said, clapping her hands in a frisky way.
Her smile faltered.
Oh, wait. If Moo goes with Shuuhei…
Orihime deflated a little, but managed to keep up a smile. "Well, I'm glad you found him," she told Shuuhei.
Shuuhei opened a Senkaimon and waved back to her. "Thanks for watching over him, Inoue!"
And with that, Shuuhei and Moo/Mo departed.
There he goes…
She looked up at the stars one last time before heading home.
Catching something strange, she shook her head and walked away.
I could have sworn that I saw a garganta closing…
-
Aizen silently reentered Las Noches.
Almost got caught… …I'm glad that Mo is doing okay.
Aizen smiled. He knew that Hisagi would take care of his former pet.
All according to my plan.