CHAPTER FOUR: A QUINCY'S DAILY ROUTINE!

And so I came to live in Uryuu's house. His house has one main floor and an upstairs floor for bedrooms. Most of the room is covered in the Quincy emblem. The design on the white couch has a giant blue cross on it, and the designs on the plates and bedsheets have a blue cross also.

Ah… So this is the famous "Quincy Pride" that I've heard so much about.

"I call the bedroom upstairs!" I yell as I run up the wooden stairs.

He starts to chase after me. "Wait a minute!" He grabs my arm just as I'm about to enter his room. "You can't sleep here! This is my room!"

"Huh?" I look at the door and see that his name is hung on it. Along with a blue Quincy cross of course.

"Oh," I say. "Well, do you have anywhere else for me to sleep Uryuu-san?"

He pushes his Quincy glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose. "Right." He nods. "There is one spare bedroom downstairs that you can use."

I smile. "Arigato Uryuu-san!"

I bolt back downstairs and find a small bedroom cluttered with boxes and papers. There is dust everywhere and some of the wooden floor is rotting in places. The bedsheets are pink, but they have brown mushrooms on them.

Pink bedsheets? Has this room ever been used?

"Oh well!" I sigh as I pull out a broom. "I guess Spring Cleaning's coming early this year!"

The thought occurred to me while I was lying on my new pink demushroomified bed. There was no one else living in this house except for Uryuu-san.

Does Uryuu-san live here all alone?

The idea wasn't so farfetched. Quincys were an endangered species now. But when I tried to go back to sleep, the question kept bugging me. So I got up and decided to get some milk or something to ease my conscience.

Even through my thick socks the floor felt incredibly cold. And a freezing draft kept blowing through the halls, so I was shivering all the way there. The house looked so dark at night.

At night.

I forgot that the human world had a night. It doesn't feel the same here, though. It's colder, darker, sinister. I admit, I always felt safe in Sereitei at night, but this world doesn't make me feel safe at all. Maybe it's because I don't know any people here. Or maybe that a Hollow might attack me at any moment. But whatever it is, it's making me feel uneasy. I usually seek refuge in the shadows, but tonight, the darkness is so heavy that it's suffocating.

I tiredly walk up to the fridge and grab a small carton of milk with a cute cow logo on it and take a seat at the small dining table. I look across the table and see a picture on the counter. A small blue-haired boy with big round glasses, a short old man with glasses, a gray mustache, and gray afro-like hair, who both seem very happy, a solemn man with brown hair and glasses, and a black-haired woman who's face is covered by a dark blue hat with decorative black roses all stand facing the camera in front of a backdrop of a nice flowery park somewhere.

Is that Uryuu's family?

Uryuu looked so cheerful back then. And the serious brown-haired man looks like he has a Quincy cross on his wrist that's almost identical to Uryuu's.

Where did they go? Poor Uryuu-san.

I hear a faint buzzing noise coming from inside Uryuu-san's laundry room. I slowly walk towards the strange sound and find my clothes sitting on top of the washing machine. Uryuu-san insisted that I wear proper bedclothes, also known as pajamas, because that's what most humans do, apparently. I see that my shirt has a few additional Quincy designs on it. Thankfully, nothing else does.

buuuzzzz bzzzzzzzzz BZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZBZUDSUSDJFDKLFWELFHK EEE!

Eh? Is that obnoxious noise coming from my clothes?

I reach inside the pile of clothes to find a pink Hello Kitty cell phone. And then I remember that I never asked for a phone. In fact, I specifically told people I did not want a phone. Ever.

Is this that creep Urahara's doing?

But wouldn't it be impossible for him to get his hands on a Soul Society copyrighted cell phone since only the Technological Bureau can distribute them? Unless a captain gave an order to the Technological Bureau to give me a cell phone, which means one of captains knew that I was leaving Soul Socity and purposefully pre-ordered a cell phone for me in the real world at Urahara's shop!

OH EM GEE!

BZZZZWIYFOWEHLKAKDFB;woiehfa;wefaejbfsdkfJKGLAJKBEKJF! EEEYEHEE!

I should probably take a look at who's texting me right now…

09:11 P.M.

Ukitake: Hitsuguya Taichou told me where you went...

I'm very disappointed in you Sada-chan.

09:18 P.M.

Toshiro: You will regret this decision for the rest of your afterlife Kinisada! I promise you that!

09:20 P.M.

Ukitake: Hitsuguya's not gonna let this go man. He's really pissed off right now.

09:30 P.M.

Lucy: Don't worry. I told Ukitake and Toshiro to shut up about this. So don't worry about them. Just keep doing whatever you're doing Sada-chan!

09:35 P.M.

Toshiro: GET BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT KINISADA OR I'M GOING TO EAT ALL OF YOUR HOLLOWEEN CANDY! I KNOW WHERE YOU PUT THAT STASH! DON'T THINK I WON'T DO IT!

09:37 P.M.

Urahara: I find this conversation extremely amusing. XD

10:01 P.M.

Byakuya: Sup.

These are not the messages that I had expected. And how the heck did Byakuya get my number?

I look over the messages again. Hitsuguya-kun seems really angry because I left. He even threatened to eat all of my Halloween candy! And Uki-kun isn't happy about this either. I hope those two don't tell anyone else about this…

I delete all of the messages and put my phone back in the pile of clothes. Then I walk back to the table and throw the milk carton in the trash. I take one last look at Uryuu-san's family, and then I go to my bedroom and quickly fall asleep.

I wake up to the pleasant sound of birds twittering outside my window.

I smile.

What a nice thing to hear in the morning.

It's too bad that Soul Society doesn't have any birds.

I look around and see a faint ray of sunlight streaming through the cracks in the ceiling. Uryuu-san has got to get that fixed soon.

I promptly throw off the bedsheets and stretch. Then I jump out of bed and run towards the dining room.

"Uryuu-san! Did you make breakfast yet?"

I skid to a stop on the cold wooden floor. I smell a familiar scent in the air. Toast? Bagels? Bread? Pancakes? Waffles? What is this delicious food item?

I see Uryuu-san flipping something in a pan near the stove. He's wearing his normal school uniform along with a pink checkered apron with Quincy crosses sewn onto it. He pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Hmph. Isn't it a bit pretentious of you to ask me to make your breakfast?" He flips the object in the pan again. "Lucky for you, I made another omelet just in case. You can have that one."

"Oh. Em. Gee. Thanks Uryuu-san!"

I immediately take my place at the small table in the middle of the dining room. I've never had an omelet before. I wonder how they taste.

Uryuu-san flips the omelet one more time before he grabs a plate plops the omelet down. He holds the plate out towards me.

"Here. Take it."

I eagerly snatch the plate of yumminess away from him and set it down on the table. Then I give him a hug.

"Arigato, Uryuu-san!"

His face gets a little red as he pushes me away.

"Stop that! I still have to cook my omelet!"

I smile. "You're so silly, Uryuu-san."

I sit down at the table and start to hungrily snarf down my omelet. After a few minutes, I have finished eating it.

"Thank you for the yummy meal, Uryuu-san!"

He finishes making his own omelet and comes to sit at the small table. He eats his omelet slowly and gracefully, unlike me. He looks up, noticing that I'm still there watching him.

"Don't you have anything better to do than watch me eat, Shinigami?" he says between bites. "Usually when people like you stay here, they're supposed to be on a secret mission or an assignment to kill or capture Hollows. Don't you have something to do like that?"

Oh. That's probably the only reason why Shinigami even come to this town. What should I say? Hey I'm Kinisada, Captain of Fifth Squad! I got suspended from my captain's duties so I decided to live here with you! Congratulations!

"Right! I almost forgot! I'm here to kill some Hollows!" I give him a thumbs up. "Thanks for reminding me, Uryuu-san!"

He looks at me funny. "Are you sure that you can handle a Hollow by yourself? I mean, you don't seem like a person that would…"

I glare at him. "You doubt my ability to kill Hollows?"

He backs away. "No! Wait a minute!" He sighs. "I'm sure you can kill Hollows. It's just that I-"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Never mind. I have to go to school." He takes his pink apron off and picks up his school bag. "I'll see you later, Kinisada-san." He walks out the door.

Is Uryuu-san going to school?

I've always wanted to see a school in the human world. So I quickly run to my room and get dressed. I check my phone again.

You have no new messages.

Perfect. I stuff my phone in my pants pocket and slip on my shoes. Then I run outside. The sky is a bright blue with clouds drifting lazily in the breeze. The road seems to stretch on forever, lined with a sandy brown sidewalk and different colored buildings. Birds sit on the telephone wires high above the ground, and many green trees swing slightly as the wind ruffles their leaves.

I sigh.

What a beautiful day…

But I don't have time to savor the nice view of the city, I have to catch up with Uryuu-san. I run along the sidewalk, my feet pounding the ground with every step. Ordinarily, I would just flashstep to catch up with Uryuu-san, but this gigai does not allow it. I really don't mind running, though.

Soon, I see Uryuu-san a few yards away from me, but I stop and hide behind a nearby building. I cautiously peek out around the corner. Two young men are greeting Uryuu-san.

"Yo, Ishida," says the one with short, messy orange hair.

The other says nothing. He is tall and tan with shaggy brown hair that covers his face and is more heavily built than the orange-haired one.

A girl with long orange hair pinned with two peculiar blue snowflakes joins them.

"Ya-hoo, Ishida-kun!"

What did she say? Ya-hoo? Is that even a word?

"Oh, hey Inoue," says the orange-haired guy. "So," he says, turning back to face Uryuu, "do you want to walk to school with us, Ishida?"

At first, Uryuu-san seems hesitant to join them, but after a few seconds, he reluctantly agrees.

I silently follow behind the four as they walk towards school, making sure to mask my reiatsu.

"What's the deal, Kurosaki? Why do you want me to walk to school with you?" Uryuu-san says in a slightly annoyed tone.

Kurosaki… Why does that name sound familiar?...

"I wanted to tell you, Ishida. There's a rumor that a new student is going to transfer to our school."

A new student?

"Yeah, I heard," Uryuu-san replies casually.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Pretty much."

They walk in complete silence until they reach a huge white building surrounded by a brick wall. A golden plaque on the wall said "Karakura High School".

So this is a school? Interesting…

I follow them closely as they walk inside.

"I have to go meet Tatsuki-chan!" The orange-haired girl whispers loudly as she starts to run quickly towards the school. But within the next few seconds, she carelessly knocks over another student.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" the orange-haired girl says. "I guess I wasn't paying attention again… I didn't mean to run into you."

The others race over to her.

"Hey, are you alright?" the orange-haired guy, Kurosaki, says as he gestures a hand to the auburn-haired girl.

She smacks it aside.

"I'm fine," she replies, sounding rather annoyed. Then she stands up and promptly reassesses her surroundings.

Uryuu-san blinks as a look of realization crosses his face.

"Wait, are you the new transfer student?"

"Yes, I will be, starting today," she mutters. Her dark green eyes study the strange ragtag group of students. "And who might you four be?"

"Well, my name is Ishida Uryuu," he says, whilst pushing his glasses up farther onto the bridge of his nose.

"Yasutora Sado," says the tall, brown-haired student.

"But you can just call him Chad," says the orange-haired girl. "My name is Inoue Orihime. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

They all turn to face the one with shaggy orange hair.

"Huh?" He turns back to face them. "Oh. My name's Ichigo."

Uryuu snickers. "Did you forget your name again, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo grimaces. "Shut-up, Ishida."

The two stare menacingly at each other, and I swear that I see a flicker of lightning between them.

"Kurosaki-kun! Ishida-kun! Please stop it!" pleads Inoue in her annoyingly feeble voice.

Chad pushes the two away from each other, and they all resume looking at the new transfer student.

"So, what's your name?" says Ichigo.

"Gray Avi."

"Interesting," mutters Uryuu-san. "And where do you come from, Miss Avi?"

She hesitates for a moment, as if she's contemplating what to tell them.

"My… my parents died when I was really little, and I've lived with my uncle in Japan up until recently. I just moved here, and I have an apartment nearby."

"Well, we were just heading to school. Do you want to join us?"

She smirks. "Why not!"

They walk together in silence until they reach the building.

"We're here~!" sings Inoue as they stop in front of the doors.

Well then, I guess I'd better get going. There's nothing else I can do right now. It's not like I could fake being a student here or something. Uryuu-san would just blow my cover.

I turn around and ignore the rest of their frivolous conversation. I couldn't care less about them really. I begin to walk towards the city, and I hear thunder in the distance. After a while the sky starts to sprinkle down little droplets of rain.

I look up at the graying skies.

This rain feels so cool and nice…

I stop to just savor the fresh sensation of being peppered with the newly formed rain. After a while, the raindrops grow in size, and now streams of cold water run down my face. I stick out my tongue and taste the delicious droplets.

I wonder who those three really were. It seems like they can see more than just what the regular human eye can perceive.

I sigh as I continue walking down the wet concrete path. This rain reminds me of the yesterday, when Uryuu-san decided to let me stay in his house. But today, the rain doesn't bring the same emotions. Today, I don't feel happy or sad, I just feel-

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

I reach into my pocket and check my phone.

09:32 A.M.

Ukitake: Hey

I decide to text him back this time.

Hey

I press send, and my message appears in a pink bubble next to his. I remember that this must be the latest phone. An iPhone possibly?

Ukitake: Are you ever coming back, Sada-chan?

What reason would I have to go back, Ukitake?

But I know I can't text him something like that, so I decide to write something more generic and vague.

I don't know if I can.

His reply immediately pops up on the screen.

Ukitake: Hitsuguya grudgingly ate all of your Halloween candy. I never realized you kept such a big stash. He has a stomach ache right now.

I snicker. So it wasn't a bluff after all…

LOL XD

I laugh as I put the phone back into my pocket. I couldn't possibly picture Hitsuguya snarfing down all of that Halloween candy!

I secretly hoped that Ukitake had recorded it, but when I tried to imagine him using a recording device, I laughed even harder.

What do I do Hitsuguya? The camera's not working!

What do you mean it's not working? We have to send this video to Kinisada! She'll totally LOL at this!

You do realize that the lens cap is still on, right?

Shut-it Byakuya!

I wondered where they would even get a camera in Soul Society. But by then, I was completely out of breath. I laughed so hard that my lungs hurt, so I stopped thinking about that before I passed out from a lack of oxygen.

I hope Uki-kun and Hitsy-kun are alright…

I quickly discarded the thought. They were fine. And they shouldn't spend all of their time worrying about me. They should be focused on what to do about those espada running around in the human world.

Then I remembered that Lucy-sama, Hitsuguya, and Soi Fong were supposed to be dispatched to the human world to take care of that. And that they should be here by now. But I don't sense their reiatsu…

~It was then that a senkai gate opened somewhere within the human world.~

Is that them?

The feeling passed, and the gate closed. Their reiatsus disappeared.

I just sensed two shinigami… And only one of captain level…

It didn't seem like a very familiar reiatsu, so I assumed that it was Soi Fong and her rotund lieutenant.

But where are the others? Where are Hitsy-kun and Lucy-sama?

I frowned. I kind of wanted to see those two. I mean, even though Hitsuguya would try to take me back to Soul Society, I would still enjoy their company for a short while. Here, I'm all alone. Uryuu-san isn't really my friend. He's just a really adorable Quincy that lent me a room to stay in. And those other three, what were there names? Ichigo? Chad? Orihime? I barely even know their names, but I wouldn't consider them to be my friends either.

I see a lightning bolt strike a nearby building in the distance.

And what was up with that guy, Ichigo? He seems like he has too much reiatsu to be just a normal human…

The lightning illuminates the dark skies.

Is he a shinigami?

Well, it wouldn't be too farfetched. Some of the captains have talked about a Substitute Shinigami living in Karakura Town. Maybe that's who he is.

I start walking again, feeling for the reiatsu of the shinigami around me. I sense Ichigo's, of course, he's horrible at hiding it. Omaeda's is barely detectable, and Soi Fong's is almost nonexistent. There is also that one shinigami that is actually assigned to this town.

I smirk.

Now I wonder where that espada is hiding. I can't seem to sense her.

Her?

Why did I call the espada a "her?" What if the espada is a guy?

I shake my head. I wouldn't know something like that for sure, and I don't know what made my mind decide on that, but…

If that espada really is a guy...

Well, it's not like I will actually meet this fabled espada anyway. I was specifically told not to fight her, so I plan on staying out of this. This is the Gotei 13's problem now.

I sigh.

I just hope this is all over soon.