A/N: Before we get started, I have a few minor points to make. First of all, Bleach isn't mine. Secondly, I've received a few reviews that I'd like to address. On the issue of Sado's name, I'd like to point out that in the flashback in volume 11, Ichigo's nametag said 'Kurosaki.' The nametags on the school uniforms usually have the family name, so that's one reason I believe that 'Sado' is Sado's family name, not his given name. Also, in volume 33, Unohana refers to him as 'Sado-kun.' Unless they'd gotten a LOT closer than the Soul Society arc indicated, she wouldn't use his given name. Also, he isn't 'Chad' as he and Ichigo haven't met yet.
Oh, btw, Ichigo does appear in this chapter.
Theme: A-ly-ya (Negima ending theme).
Sado sat outside in the little park he'd found. The pile of money in his case was small, but he was mostly enjoying being outdoors and playing his guitar. A black haired girl with long bangs and a braid with a ribbon threaded through it had been watching him for a while. She wore a gray uniform jacket and a long gray skirt.
He wondered if she was a schoolmate. A small blonde girl eyed him, and then spoke to the orange-haired boy who held a black haired girl's hand. She darted over to him.
"Hi! This is from me, Karin, and Ichi-ni!" she chirped, putting a small yen note into his guitar case.
"Thanks," Sado said. He checked the sun; looked like it was time to pack things up.
"Hey, mister, do you have a home to go to?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I need a lot of money to get back there," Sado replied. "Take care."
"Yuzu, come on!" the orange haired boy called.
The girl with the braid snapped her cell phone shut. She smiled. Thank god her parents were so old fashioned; she now had a perfect recording of the man on her home answering machine.
Ayaka might want to track him down, and she knew that Ikeda and Takase were looking for a guitarist. She'd also send his picture to We Belong Dead, and see what happened. If he could play like that on an acoustic, she'd like to hear what he could do with a real axe.
00
"Taking care of business every day, takin' care of business every way"
Kensei fumbled for the CD player's controls, and eventually wrestled the cord into submission.
"What the hell was that?"
"Bachman Turner Overdrive," Sado replied, shaking off his grogginess. He was beginning to hate the futon, but it beat falling out of bed every morning.
"I am never gonna get that outta my head," Kensei grumbled. "Who's cooking breakfast?"
"I am. Good thing we got groceries yeterday- I was getting tired of takeout."
Sado cracked some eggs open and began making breakfast- tamagoyaki, coffee and the rest of the miso soup from yesterday's dinner. Everything still tasted wrong to him. He enjoyed the process; he didn't have to think about anything but the food.
"I could do that," Lisa said, watching him from the table.
"No, I'm fine. You want salty or sweet tamagoyaki?"
"Salty's fine, I don't have much of a sweet tooth."
Kensei elbowed her. "Thiirrteen," he murmured.
"Shut up," she whispered.
She cleared her throat. "Um, don't you have any other clothes, Sado-kun?"
"What's wrong with my shirt?"
"Oh.. nothing. Not many men can pull off pink. I was just wondering if you had any quieter shirts. Most of the ones you have would suggest you were raised by chameleons from the '60s."
"I have a couple of Abuelo's dress shirts."
He liked the shirt he had on. It was a checkered pink shirt that he'd gotten for his birthday from Miguel. Abuelo's shirts were nice too, but he worried that he'd bust their seams. They probably wouldn't fit for long, since he was still growing.
"If they fit, why don't you wear one of them, instead of.. that."
"Fine, I'll change after breakfast. Mugarama, what kind of omelet do you like?"
"Whatever you're having is fine by me."
00
Sayo Kinomoto was in her forties, blessed with perfect eyesight and mousy brown hair that was going grayer every day. Considering the way the current semester was going, she was beginning to think she either needed to change careers or acquire a drinking problem.
Kurosaki was probably going to get himself killed, and Inoue had already subjected her classmates and a teacher to a nasty bout of food poisoning. She'd be lucky if they didn't wind up in the morgue or the city jail.
The ninth graders were out of control-again. The kendo team had never quite settled after Kirino's reign, and the current student council president regarded her as a role model. Takase wasn't as violent as Kirino, but he had scared most of the ninth graders into line with a few soft-spoken threats and a smile.
This looked like the last straw, she thought, looking at Yadomaru and the alleged transfer student. Was this some sort of practical joke? Thirteen year olds simply didn't come in that size. She was used to teachers that were bigger than her, but Sado made her feel like a doll. He could probably pick her up and carry her if he wanted to.
"Ms. Yadomaru, I think you've made a mistake. Mashiba is a junior high school."
Sado produced his passport and passed it to Kinomoto. She checked the birth date and paled.
"This seems to be in order. I'm sorry for the mistake."
Sado shrugged. "Happens all the time."
"So, may I ask why you're transferring?"
"My grandfather died."
"My condolences. I assume you've been living in Mexico for the past few years."
"Yes."
"What were your grades like?"
"Decent. I'm not that good at math, but I get by. Language and music make more sense to me."
"He's fluent in Japanese, Spanish and English," Lisa added.
Sado allowed himself a small smile. He could also speak 'tourist Chinese,' and swear in eight languages.
"Impressive. We'll set up testing today. I'd suggest, since the week's half over, that you start Monday."
Sado nodded. He'd like to put it off for as long as possible, personally.
"I think that's a good idea," Lisa agreed. "He still needs a student uniform."
"Kinomoto-sama!" a woman yelled. She burst into the office, holding a copper-haired girl by the shoulders. Sado tried very hard not to notice that the girl had the largest chest he'd ever seen. He knew grown women with less cleavage.
The woman looked frazzled; her brown hair was escaping the braid she'd put it in, and she had a greenish tint to her skin and eyes.
The girl had pretty gray eyes and looked startled. He thought her blue hairpins were really cute.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kinomoto demanded.
"This junior-grade Lucretia is stillin my class! She poisoned the entire class a week ago!" the teacher complained.
Kinomoto sighed. "Houji-san, can this wait?"
"I was sick for three days! If this keeps up, we're going to get sued!"
Kinomoto massaged the bridge of her nose. Then she smiled, thinking up a solution.
"Yadomaru-san, would you mind leaving Sado-kun here? I'll have the office staff prepare a room for him so he can take the transfer exam today."
"Not at all," Lisa said. "Sado, do you want me to pick you up?"
"I can walk."
"I'll see you later, then."
Kinomoto turned to the girl. "Inoue-chan, could you show Sado-kun around, please?"
"Leave it to me, ma'am!" Inoue said, saluting.
00
"I'm Inoue Orihime. Nice to meet you, senpai!'
"Nice to meet you," Sado said. "I'm Yasutora Sado."
"Huh? I thought the principal was using your family name."
"She was. I forgot that Japanese people use their family name first. I've been living abroad for most of my life."
"Lucky! That must have been fun! So, um, this is the office. I guess we should go to the ninth grade's classrooms."
"I'll be going into eighth grade."
She laughed. "Sorry, Sado-kun. I assumed you were older. I can't believe we're the same age. You and your mother look more like a couple than a parent and child."
"Yadomaru isn't related to me."
"Really? Oh, here's the gym. Class 2-b is playing basketball today. Do you play any sports?"
"I used to play baseball."
"Oh? Why'd you stop?"
"I outgrew my uniform. Which class are you in, Inoue?"
"Oh, 2-F, with Mr. Makino. Moving on, here's the music room," she said. "I always get in trouble; I like to make up my own songs."
Sado nodded. Music classes were boring anyway. He'd progressed beyond do-re-mi a long time ago.
"Our classroom- the window seats are the best! Oh, and by the boy's bathroom, you can use the stairs and get onto the roof. Kurosaki-kun says the roof's haunted. Do you believe in spirits?"
"Not really."
He kept quiet until they were back at the office. Inoue happily chattered away, pointing out interesting sights.
"You have tests today, Sado-san?"
"Yeah."
"Wait right here!" she ordered and took off. She reappeared, holding a muffin.
"Here, take this. I brought it from home, but I think you'll need it to get your energy back. Now go out there and fight! Fight!"
She jumped up and down and Sado tried to focus on anything but her. The short uniform skirt and the blouse did nothing to hide Inoue's assets.
"Ah, thanks for the muffin," he said, blushing.
00
Sado rubbed the kink out of his neck. Those tests made his finals in Mexico look like grade school quizzes. He knew he'd aced the English section, although he wasn't too certain about the math or some of the grammar questions.
He grinned, remembering the little treat in his lunch box. He'd always liked carrot cake. Houji was probably exaggerating.
He took a bite. It was carrot cake, gone horribly wrong.
00
"How'd you do?" Kensei asked, checking the progress of the yakisoba he was cooking.
"I think I did pretty well. I forgot how difficult kanji was. No wonder Mami always complained."
Kensei chuckled, remembering Piedad's complaints. She'd spoken Japanese well, but she made a lot of mistakes. She'd given up completely on kanji.
"Yeah, your mom never liked the language much. I don't think it liked her much either."
"What happened to Yadomaru?"
"She's eating dinner with her boss. It's just you and me tonight."
"Ok. By the way, I used up the mouthwash. I think I met one of the worst cooks in the world."
"Do tell."
"She gave me a carrot cake muffin that had leeks and red beans in it."
"Bleh. That's a terrible thing to do to carrot cake. Next time, just say you can't eat it 'cause it's against your religion."
"You're telling me to lie?"
"Think of it as self-defense. Or you could just tell her she's a lousy cook."
Sado thought he'd prefer the first option. Thinking of those gray eyes filled with tears- no, he couldn't do it. Inoue was sweet, pretty.. and probably had a boyfriend already. He scowled, stabbing at his dinner with the chopsticks. What was he thinking? He was leaving this place as soon as he could. There was no time for friends, no time for attachments.
00
"Hey," Lisa said, unplugging Sado's headphones. "How was school?"
Sado looked up from 'Gulliver's Travels.' It was one of the select group of favorites that he'd taken with him. The rest-and the radios- were on their way.
"Interesting. How's Grandfather?"
It felt really strange to say that. He'd never met Papa's parents. He'd met Shouko once, or so Papa'd said, but he didn't remember her at all. They still didn't seem real to him. The only uncles and aunts he remembered were waiting for him to come home.
"He's fine, and he and his wife are looking forward to Saturday."
"Can I have my music back?"
She gave a half-hearted sigh and relinquished the headphones. How'd she gotten this attached to the kid anyway?
00
"I feel like an absolute shit for doing this to Sado-kun," Kensei remarked, nursing a beer. He slid one across to Lisa. The beer had been a five-finger discount, hidden away in the fridge.
"I know. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd tell Genji he has measles or something."
"He's still nursing a grudge against Akihito?"
"Yes. I was really tempted to eat his soul, but I'm not sure he would've noticed."
"Probably would've made you sick, anyway."
"Probably," she agreed.
"I never noticed before, but doesn't Sado-kun look a bit like Kyoraku?" Kensei said, changing the subject.
"It's just your imagination," she replied, looking down at the table. "You'd better get to bed- you're taking him shopping for his school uniform tomorrow."
"Hey, why do I have to do it?"
"The store owner would recognize me."
Kensei took a pull on his beer. Had the stress warped Lisa's brain? She was acting like she was Sado's mother. Hell, he'd known the boy from infancy, and he didn't brood over him like she did. What the hell, he'd go take Lisa's advice. Doing normal human things would take his mind off the past.
Sado-kun, I hope we never have to meet again. I hope you'll forget that there's anything beyond the world humans live in, and have a happy life.
A/N: And that's our show. Next time: Meet the family.