THREE
SUPPLIES
"Rukia! Come on!" Rangiku wailed, eager to be off.
"Coming, coming!" Rukia called back. She checked again to make sure her blades were with her. She never liked leaving headquarters without her sword, but going into the city with it would be too suspicious. She had to opt for hidden blades instead.
Another member of their group, Aki, waited for her with Rangiku. Both of them carried a bag each, hiding five shotguns in total. Aki had been one of Rangiku's apprentices and was now a full-fledged fighter. She had no rank, but was respected among the others.
As Rukia exited the room, the other two started walking off, leading the way. She hurried to catch up.
As they passed the other girls, most of lower status, they were greeted with great respect, receiving bows and such. Rangiku, being the highest rank of the three, got more of the respect than Rukia and Aki. They didn't mind though.
Soon, they exited headquarters and walked along narrow alleys and secret passages wedged between the scattered warehouses and other abandoned buildings to get into the neighboring city. Their territory of the abandoned district was mainly in the eastern side, closer to the city than the enemy gang. It made things easier for them.
They reached the outskirts of the lively district and entered the walls barricading it secretly. The walls had been set up to prevent the invasion of the city by the gangs ruling the empty district they called neighbor.
So far, there had been no assaults. But if they wanted, either gang could have easily conquered the city.
Rangiku led the way through the rarely used winding back roads that would certainly confuse anyone who happened to pass through. Only several members of their group knew the passages well, Rangiku and Rukia among them. Aki had only been there twice before and would have gotten lost walking alone.
"Finally!" Rangiku breathed out in relief when she saw a faint chalk mark on the brick walls lining the narrow roads. She took the next left turn and the other two followed closely.
After a few more turns, they arrived at a plain wooden door set into the walls. There were no windows anywhere, just one door. It did look quite suspicious, but not many people used the roads so it was safe.
Rangiku rapped the door in a particular manner, two short knocks followed by three longer ones. It was quiet for a while before someone knocked back from behind the door. Rangiku knocked back once, paused then knocked again.
The door opened cautiously and curious eyes peered from behind. The young girl looking back at them was familiar to Rangiku and Rukia, but not to Aki.
"Welcome," the girl said softly.
"Oh! Who's there, Ururu?" A man appeared from behind the girl, wearing green and white garments and a striped hat that matched the rest of his clothing. Seeing them, he smiled. "Oh! Welcome, ladies!"
Rangiku nodded and entered into the place. Rukia followed, Aki behind her.
The place was a spacious room of sorts. There was one door at the back of the rectangular room. The main chamber was a sitting room, with several cupboards by the walls and nothing much. A lone window at the side of the room lit the place slightly. Candles lit the opposite side of it where the sunlight didn't reach.
The three guests flopped down on the couches, Rangiku sighing. "Urahara! Can't you change that secret knocking and make it shorter? It's getting annoying!" she complained.
Urahara looked at her, confused. "Annoying?"
"Don't give us that look," Rukia said, glancing at him. He smiled apologetically. "Sorry.. Yoruichi-san said 'the longer, the better'. You'll have to tell her if you want it changed. And we've gotten used to it already! What's wrong with it?"
"It's too long and annoying," Rangiku repeated. She shrugged her bag off and one of Urahara's workers, Tessai, came forward from the shadows to take it. "Could you check on them, please?" Rangiku asked. Aki passed her bag too.
"Shotguns?" Urahara asked.
"Yup." Tessai took the guns into the back room.
"Tea?" Urahara asked politely. The women shook their heads. He looked disappointed but joined the three women at the couches. "Need supplies?" he asked.
"Of course." Rangiku dipped her hand into the neckline of her shirt and produced a piece of paper tucked at her ample chest. She passed it to Urahara and he read it quickly.
"Do you want all these today?" he asked.
"Yes," Rukia said.
"Hmm.. I'm sort of low on hand projectiles at the moment, like the flying stars. It might take a while to get them."
"We have to replace the swords and guns we lost. But we need bullets, mostly." Rangiku stretched her arms in front of her.
"That I have," Urahara said. He turned to look behind him and called out, "Jinta! Ururu!"
Two kids came from the shadows, the girl who opened the door for them and a slightly taller red-haired boy.
"Could you please get these for them?"
The boy took the paper from the man and nodded, going into the back room with Ururu.
"How's Yoruichi-san? I haven't seen her for a while?" Urahara fanned himself with the fan he always kept in his hand.
"She's good," Rangiku answered.
"And her leadership?"
"She's a good leader for us," Rukia said.
"I see." Urahara nodded thoughtfully. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I heard fighting yesterday."
Aki nodded. "Yeah. There was another battle," she said.
Rukia grinned. "I got to fight their deputy!" she said, feeling a little proud. Urahara's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? That's...great?"
Rukia frowned at him and Rangiku elbowed her playfully. "No need to boast," she said.
"He's a good fighter," Rukia said, recalling her battle with the Moon-Slayer.
"I've heard that his sword was a pure black one," Urahara said. Rukia nodded. "That's true."
Rangiku raised an eyebrow at her. "You didn't tell us last night."
"Oh. I guess I forgot about that."
Rangiku stared at her until she fidgeted. "What?" she asked sharply. The blonde woman shook her head. "Nothing."
The back door opened and the two kids came out, bringing some bags with them. "It's all here," the boy, Jinta, said. He dropped his load carefully by the women, Ururu following his lead. Rukia and Aki crouched down to check their orders.
"Oh, Kuchiki-san! How's Sode no Shirayuki?" Urahara asked.
"It's great! It serves me well," Rukia said, grinning at him. She was one of the very few women in their group who made a point to use a sword as her first weapon of choice. She, at first, wasn't too skilled in it, but the longer she used a sword, the better she got at wielding it.
"That's good to hear! Just bring it around if it gets a little blunt or if you need it changed or something."
"Don't worry. I take good care of it."
When she and Aki were pleased that all they needed were in the bags, they stood up. Tessai came out of the back room as they were slinging the bags around their shoulders.
"These are done," he said in his deep voice, passing the bags to Rangiku, who had the least load of the three.
"Thanks again," the blonde said, bowing slightly. Rukia and Aki bowed a little too.
"Oh, it's no problem!" Urahara waved at them with his fan. "Send my regards to Yoruichi, eh?"
"Will do." Tessai opened the door for them and they left the mysterious man's place.