A Green Harmony

Part 2

Just then Rukia came up to join the group. She started to give some bland reason for being late, but stopped, looking back and forth between Armonia, calmly eating her lunch, and Midori, who was obviously petrified at her presence.

"Hello, Rukia." said Armonia, giving her a sidelong glance.

"Whu...?" was all Rukia could stammer before Ichigo burst out with "You know her?"

"Of course!" replied Armonia pleasantly, "We were in the same class at the Soul Reaper Academy."

"Armonia!...Midori!...What are you two doing here?" Rukia finally managed, plunking herself down against the wall.

"Long story...well not ALL that long. The main part of our mission right now is to just be here, observing you guys and how you're adjusting back to life here in the real world again." said Armonia.

"Captain!" squeaked Midori.

"What Midori? You don't think our oldest friend deserves to know why we're invading her territory?" Armonia asked in a chiding tone.

"It's not that," hissed Midori, "I just don't think everyone else should know yet." Armonia's eyes widened a little and she looked around to see everyone else staring at her in various stages of incredulity and shock.

"Damn! I forgot about you guys..." she said, looking slightly embarrassed and scratching her head. "But hey, now the cat's out of the bag, and all...or at least most...of the questions based on our presence have been answered."

"Not quite," Said Rukia flatly, "What's the other part of your mission?"

"Well...it seems that a large supply of hollow bait has been accidentally released into the real world...into this region. We're here to track it down and recover it...before the worst happens." She answered, looking slightly grim.

"WELL THEN, WHAT ARE WE SITTING AROUND FOR?" hollered Ichigo, remembering his last encounter with hollow bait.

"BECAUSE there are thousands and thousands of places it could be and...I'm afraid we won't get a lead on it until...some of it is...used." She replied, looking grimmer still.

"WHAT?"

"I'm afraid, at the moment, all we can do is...wait." she said looking down and eating the last few bites of her lunch.

"Well...now that I've darkened everyone's day...what time does the bell ring to release us from this hormone-filled death-trap?" Armonia asked, immediately releasing some of the tension out of the air.

"Come on," said Chad "I'll show you the other half of the building."

"Come on Squeaky," said Ichigo, giving Midori a wry smile "Might as well follow suit and finish getting you accustomed to this hellhole.

The next day, Rukia invited Armonia and Midori over to Ichigo's house...mostly because she had no where else to invite them to. Yuzu answered the door when they knocked. After standing and looking back and forth between them in speechless befuddlement, the door was wrenched the rest of the way open by an oblivious Isshin.

"Don't just stand there gaping Yuzu, who is it-" He started to ask before he was stopped dead in his tracks by the sight of the 3 teenaged-looking girls on his doorstep.

"Are..you here...to see...Ichigo..?" He asked, eyes nearly popping out of his head, as Yuzu half-hid behind him with a concerned look on her face.

"...Yes..." Replied Rukia, looking a little impatient. Isshin's eyes went starry and he ran to the bottom of the stairs, tears of pride streaming from his eyes and hollered "Ichigo! Why didn't you TELL me that you had FINALLY developed into a normal teenaged guy?"

"What the hell are you yellin' about, Goatface?" asked Ichigo, stumping down the stairs in baggy clothes and bedhead. He froze when he saw the girls standing just inside the front door.

"What the heck are you guys doin' here?" He asked, trying to simultaneously smooth out the bedhead while seeming to just be nonchalantly scratching his head, while Midori edged behind Armonia to blush in private.

"You invited us. Remember?" said Rukia, in a tone that suggested that if he didn't remember, he better damn well regain that chunk of memory before the rest was lost to a solid head bashing.

"Huh," he grunted, "Must have then." and proceeded to lead the way back up to his room, kicking his more embarrassing laundry under his bed before the ladies should happen to see it.

"I bet you're wondering why I invited us here today..." Started Rukia, with a sarcastic grin.

"Couldn't you have given me some WARNING?" he said, trying to be loud enough to make a point without alerting the ever listening ears of the rest of his family.

"Could have...if I had been able to WAKE you from your sleep of the dead this morning!" Said Rukia at the same volume.

"Should we come back later after you two have worked this out?" asked Armonia with an amused and slightly teasing smile. Midori continued to blush and hide.

"STAY. Sit. Please." said Ichigo, this time using scratching his head as an excuse to hide his face behind his arm and look embarrassed.

"I guess this is what happens when friends become room-mates, huh?" teased Armonia, obviously enjoying herself, as she slowly made her way over to a chair and plunked herself into it.

"Sit down Midori." she ordered, in a tone that suggested that her patience was being tried.

"Ohno, it'sokayIcanstand." squeaked Midori, trying to find some other way to hide her blushing face as her cover had been blown.

"No, no, come sit by me Midori." said Rukia encouragingly and dragged her over to sit on Ichigo's bed.

"Ohno! But...I..." Midori protested, but quieted as soon as she was seated on the far side of Rukia from Ichigo, and was thus once again hidden from his view.

"So why ARE you here?" asked Ichigo, "Besides you, seems how you live in my closet." he added, glaring at Rukia momentarily. Unfortunately for the world, Kon chose that moment to make his appearance.

"I hear company Ichigo-" was all he managed before the sight of Armonia's chest accosted his attention and tied his tongue.

"Oh sweet Heaven full of angels! Is it my birthday?" he exclaimed, launching himself towards her chest.

"I wouldn't-" She called, but too late. Morso had already sunk his little fangs into Kon's head and was chewing away contentedly, happy to have something softer than a wrist-bone to gnaw on for once. She lifted the chewing ferret out of his pouch and put him on the bed between Rukia and Midori, with Kon hanging, screaming from his mouth.

"Better do something to quiet that screaming before your family starts to wonder." Armonia advised absentmindedly as she sat back down. "Now. Tell what that is and where he came from."

"That's...a bit of a long story." Said Rukia.

"We've got the time." said Armonia, gesturing grandly. So as Rukia explained the story of Kon, Ichigo, for the sake of everyone's ears, gently freed Kon from the deathgrip Morso's teeth had on him and put him where he hoped he'd be out of reach, where he whimpered, whined, and muttered direly on the subject of his treatment.

"So it was all thanks to that greedy merchant huh?" Said Armonia, chuckling, "I knew he'd come to no good." Rukia chuckled, agreeing fully. Behind Rukia, Midori hung her head and muttered something.

"What was that Midori?" asked Armonia, leaning to try and hear her better. This resulted in yet another incoherent murmur.

"Louder Midori." snapped Armonia.

"I SAID MAYBE THAT'S WHERE THE SHIPMENT OF HOLLOW BAIT WENT!" Yelled Midori, before turning an, if possible, brighter shade of red and ducking her head again. Even Kon and Morso were perfectly still for a moment.

"That's BRILLIANT Midori!" Hollered Armonia, before jumping out of her chair and giving her a big, boobiliscious cuddle.

"AIR!" gasped Midori, flailing her one free arm.

"OOP! Sorry hun." said Armonia, releasing her. "Where is this store?"

"Ichigo, get dressed. We're goin' shopping." said Rukia grimly, nabbing the two other girls and leaving the room to let him get dressed.

"Greetings, greetings my fine friends! Come to buy some more merchandi- hold it. I know you..." Urahara was added to the list of people shocked to see Midori and Armonia.

"And you best be remembering who I am too." said Armonia, with no small amount of attitude.

"Yes, yes. And what can I do for you?" he responded, trying hard to FORGET who she was.

"Did you by any chance get a shipment of THESE?" she asked, whipping out her cellphone with a picture of the packages of hollow bait pulled up.

"Those?...Oh yeah...Oh that's the candy I sold to those kids the other day." He said, shrugging it off as a minor thing.

"WHAT?" They all yelled, as Ichigo pounced on him and commenced beating him to a pulp.

"YOU gave HOLLOW BAIT to CHILDREN?" asked Armonia, nearly as ready to beat on Urahara as Ichigo was. As one of Ichigo's fist's swung back, Armonia caught it, pulled him out of the way, and grabbed Urahara by the collar of his robe.

"Hollow bait? That stuff was hollow bait?" he asked, trying to sound more innocent than he was.

"YES. Hollow bait. NOW. What did these kids LOOK LIKE?"

"I don't know! Kids...they looked like average, everyday candy-eating KIDS! I didn't serve them anyways...Jinta served them, I just caught a glimpse of them, as they were buying something new." he said with a desperate smile.

"Once again, a faulty product sold to unsuspecting PAYING customers." growled Rukia, pulling out her hollow detector. "Now all we have to do is wait for the signal...and hope we get there on time to save the kids' life."