3.

URAHARA SHOTEN:

The sun glared over the patio of the feudal style building. A man in strange clothing which included a green haori and a striped hat as well as wooden clogs and a cane by his side basked in nature's glory until his new helper arrived.

"Ah! Hey Ichigo!" He waved his cane as he welcomed the orange haired lad.

"So is it true you are hiring people for a job here?"

"Yes but I reserved it especially for you." He put out his hand in a gesture of a handshake. "You're hired boy."

"Boy?" Ichigo retracted looking puzzled.

"Now for your first task I need you to deliver these packages to Pokakutel office on High Street." Urahara clicked his fingers and three of his other helpers held in glorious fashion three equal sized cardboard boxes which all were labelled as FRAGILE.

"But I can't carry all those!" Ichigo stammered.

"Well you can drive right?" When Ichigo shook his head he smiled. "Well this will test your strength then as your walking with them boy."

"Stop calling me that!"

One of the helpers, a goliath of a man knelt aside Urahara. "Urahara-san, are you sure he is right to carry this volatile material? I will gladly help the rookie."

Ichigo twitched as they sullied his name.

Urahara sighed. "I trust he will carry them with the tenderness and finesse..." He spoke almost demonically for a moment. "...His job depends on it."

Ichigo was raining sweat beads by now until Urahara waved his little fan. "Okay now good luck Ichigo." He chirped as Ichigo set off with the rather heavy packaging.

-----

"Gee that Hat 'n' clogs is such a creep..." Ichigo said to himself as he trudged along the footpath with the boxes. When stacked on top of each other they surpassed Ichigo's height and they were so wide that Ichigo had trouble peering to each side to see where he was going. Even he knew this was an accident waiting to happen.

The sound of a woman yelping made Ichigo jump, but it was because he bumped into her as she was walking in front of her. He managed to catch a glimpse of her lustrous, long brown hair as it descended to the pavement.

"Oh no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

When he saw her lying on the ground he was worried he knocked her out. He dropped the one box left in his grasp and assisted the young girl as she looked dazed. "Are you alright? Should I call an ambulance?"

"No...I'm fine..." She let out a forced giggle as she grabbed the back of her head which made her seem clumsy. She had a magical, brimming smile and the fairest of skin; her eyes were a crimson-brown.

"Let me at least help you up then." Ichigo grabbed her hand and propped up the poor female. She looked like she was a fairly sophisticated lady as she wore a navy blue skirt to her knees and a blue sweater with a sky blue collared shirt underneath.

"Thanks. Oh no! You're packages!" She looked in dismay at the broken contents of Ichigo's delivery.

"Never mind, it's, my fault anyway." Ichigo shrugged off.

"Is that addressed to the Pokakutel facility?" She asked in curiosity.

"What makes you think that?" Ichigo asked cautiously.

"Well I'm heading there for work and we're expecting a delivery today!" She chirped in a fashion that reminded Ichigo of someone he lost a while ago.

"That's a funny coincidence then...Do you know what it may be?"

"Nope. I'm just a secretary there." She picked up a flattened box. "Let me help you carry them.

"Oh um...thanks." Ichigo kindly accepted her assistance. "By the way my name's Ichigo."

"That's a nice name." She complimented. "My name's Kaede, pleased to bump into you."

"Hahahaha." Ichigo forced a laugh to break the ice.

-----

As they walked they managed some small talk until Ichigo brought up his late partner.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that." Kaede lent a sympathetic ear.

"Well I can't help but think that it's my fault." Ichigo spoke solemnly.

"Oh I'm sure you did all you could."

"Well she was very stressed from delivering the baby and I must have contributed to that."

Kaede placed a free hand on his shoulder. "Don't take the burden alone, you should talk to your family and close friends about it; they'll help you out."

"That's another thing..." Ichigo had to be careful before he produced unwanted tears. "I seem to always lose those close to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well my best friends are all dead due to my incompetence and so to..." He had to stop. "...I'm sorry..."

"You don't have to tell me if it's too personal..." now Kaede seemed reflective. "I have no parents..."

"Sorry?"

Kaede bowed her head as she continued walking with the package. "Well I have never seen my true parents. In fact...I can't recall anything before last year."

Ichigo felt selfish. Here he was trying to gain a sympathy vote yet she never even had the privilege of being around a family let alone remembering having one. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Kaede produced a smile. "It's okay. I will one day meet them – I am sure of it!"

"I admire your optimism." Ichigo felt a bit better seeing her resilience to such a crisis. "Well looks like we're here."

The building was about five stories and had shimmering glass panel windows. It had a strange logo which would have made Walt Disney turn in his grave if he saw it. A circle with two pointed projections at a tilt.

"Well I can take these from here Ichigo." She took the semi-destroyed contents and placed them on the reception desk. The foyer had a pleasant, welcoming scent like the kind you would smell in a new car but with a hint of honey and lavender. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too." Ichigo waved as he approached the door, but since he wasn't looking forward he inadvertently bumped into the wall adjacent to the door. "OUCH!"

"Tee-hee." Kaede giggled at the clumsy orange haired boy.

"Hey that's not..." Ichigo remembered that this was probably karma for running into her before. "...Okay see ya."

Apart from the possible broken nose Ichigo felt happy getting to know the kind woman.

Hopefully Hat 'n' clogs will make me deliver there more often

The image of that enchanting girl he ran into today would float around in his mind for the rest of the day. But something bothered him...

Why do I feel like I've known that girl from somewhere?

Who could the girl from before be? What connection does she have to Ichigo, if any? More happening in the next chapter.