Title: The New Apartment
A/N
: So you guys know, this isn't going to be nearly as in-depth as Entropy, seeing as it will only be twenty chapters long.
Disclaimer
: I don't own Bleach.


Sora's temper explodes within three seconds of taking a look at his and his sister's new home. "Where's all the furniture?" he demands of his now-sheepish landlord. "This is supposed to be a furnished apartment!"

The landlord won't meet his eyes, instead staring at the ceiling with a casualness plainly forced. "The tenant before the last one took all the furniture with him—packed up in the middle of the middle of the night when I put the eviction notice on his door and decided he'd take some extra stuff with him. The next tenant was too poor to afford furniture."

Hands curling into fists, Sora resists the urge to swear (a habit picked up from watching his father); Orihime is, after all, still in the room. Deep breaths; calm down. You are not like him, you are not like him… "Couldn't you have tracked him down and made him give you the furniture back?"

"Nope." The landlord shakes his head as an especially grim little smile flits over his face. "Because he was stone dead three weeks after leaving my building and the place where he was staying had been looted."

"Oh." Sora isn't entirely sure what to say to this; a few quick calculations are done in his head. "If I bought furniture for this apartment, would I be able to take it with me, legally, if I ever moved somewhere else?"

The landlord mutters something inaudible.

"Sir?"

He looks up and shrugs. "Yeah, sure." If anything, the landlord looks like he'd have rather avoided this question.

Sora smiles a little and nods. "Thanks."

Still muttering to himself, the landlord gives Sora his key and leaves his two new tenants to themselves—the paperwork still has to be finalized; he'll come back later in the afternoon, or so he calls over his shoulder.

Once left alone, Sora turns his attention back to Orihime. She's inspecting the refrigerator (At least we still have that, even if there isn't a chair) with the fascination of a small child. Sora stops her just short of climbing inside.

Sleeping bags aren't all that expensive, all things considered. They'll have to do until I can earn enough to buy proper furniture, which may be a while.

The apartment building runs a free daycare service, so Sora at least knows where Orihime will be able to go while he goes to work. They had better take good care of her; I haven't protected her this long just to lose her because of someone else's incompetence.

Orihime's wide brown eyes look into his own. "Is this where we're staying?"

Sora smiles tiredly and puts a hand on her head. "Yes, it is."