I own nothing but my OC.

"English speech"
"Japanese speech"
'Thoughts'
[ | ] Scene transition and/or time lapse
Setting/scene
Flashbacks and changes in POVs will be labeled as needed (unless stated otherwise, it will be third person omniscient)
SOUND EFFECTS WILL BE IN ALL CAPS

Hush

The Following Morning,
Urahara Shōten

"G' mornin'… everyone…" Seren said, yawning, as she stumbled into the kitchen and started trying to help Tessai cook breakfast.

"Good morning, Seren-dono." Tessai greeted the young girl respectfully. He watched as the sleepy girl picked up the chefs knife and one of the tomatoes he had planned on slicing to add to the omelets. "Seren-dono, you are still half asleep, please have a seat at the table and wait with Ururu and Jin—"

SLICE.

SLICE. SLICE. SLICE. SLICE!
CHOP. CHOP. CHOP. CHOP!

"…" Tessai said as he watched her proceed to slice and mince all the ingredients with the lightning speed of a master chef. It seems she had improved her skills if she could do all that without cutting herself in the current state she was in… "Nevermind."

[ | ]

"Itadakimasu!" Everyone said as they picked up their chopsticks and started to eat.

"It's yummy." Ururu said softly as she munched on the tasty omelet.

"Huh? I just realized Kisuke-san isn't here…" Seren said, blinking in confusion. A few sips of coffee had finally helped her wake up.

"He sleeps in a lot." Jinta commented carelessly as he scarfed down his food and held his bowl out to Tessai. "I'm ready for seconds!"

"It looked like there was a light on in his room when I passed by." Yoruichi said.

"I believe the manager is probably still working on an experiment." Tessai offered as an explanation. "He was suddenly struck with inspiration last night, after the three of you had gone to bed."

"… He's been working in there since we went to bed?" Seren asked, raising an eyebrow as she frowned slightly. Knowing him, he probably never went to sleep in the first place… If he didn't emerge from his lair by lunchtime, she might have to do something before he started to mold…

[ | ]

After Lunch

"…" Seren said as she stared down at the tray of untouched food that they had left just outside Urahara's door.

That was it. Not only had was he running on zero sleep, but this would make the second meal he was trying to skip. Time for a little tough love.

SLAM!

Urahara flinched when his door suddenly flew open. Very slowly, he turned to face the doorway. The only person who would do something like that was…

"You have one minute to find a good stopping place in whatever it is you're doing." Seren informed him as she stood in his doorway, crossed her arms, and fixed him with a stern glare.

'I knew it…!' Urahara thought, smiling wryly to himself, as he sweat dropped and scrambled to make sure all the reactions of his experiment were stabilized enough to be left on their own for a while. He could tell Seren meant business, and he had learned not to ignore her attempts to make him take breaks since that usually resulted in her pushing everything off the desk, ruining whatever he had been working on in the process.

He smiled when she grabbed his wrist and started pulling him out the room the moment he finished. Although having to restart those experiments from scratch had been frustrating, he wasn't angry since he knew she was only doing it because she was worried about him whenever he became so absorbed in his experiments that he started to neglect his health. It was kind of cute how she acted like a wife taking care of her workaholic husband…

… But if you asked the others, they would say it felt more like they were watching a scene of mother scolding her naughty child.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to skip meals! Missing one night of sleep is bad enough! You're going to make yourself sick if you keep this up, you idiot scientist!" Seren scolded Urahara as she herded him to the bathroom. "Take a bath while I reheat your food, and come to table to eat. I'll ask Tessai-san or Yoruichi to bring you a change of clothes. I know you want to keep working, but you'll think better with a full stomach and a quick nap."

"Hai, Hai." Urahara said obediently as he stepped into the bathroom, and she closed the door behind him. What a diligent little thing she was…

"… She really did it…" Ururu said, amazed. She and Jinta had been watching the whole scene taking place in the hallway as they peeked around the corner. This was the first time they had ever witnessed someone successfully remove Urahara from his room after he had shut himself up to work on an experiment. Ururu didn't dare, and Jinta had repressed the memory of whatever had happened the last time he tried… but he remembered enough to know better than to ever attempt such a thing again.

"Che." Jinta clicked his tongue in annoyance. Their boss really spoiled Seren, the way he let her get away with stuff like that…

"What are you two up to?" Yoruichi asked suddenly, making the two children jump guiltily for eavesdropping.

"Yoruichi-san… Seren-san got Kisuke-san to leave his room!" Ururu explained, eyes sparkling with amazement.

"Oh, I see. No wonder you're so amazed after witnessing such a rare occurrence. If you think that's impressive, you should have seen it when she was less than half his height!" Yoruichi said, smirking like a Cheshire cat. It had been hilarious to watch chibi Seren struggle to drag Kisuke out of his room, or 'lair', as she liked to refer to it. It had probably been a mistake on his part to teach her Hakuda, since she turned out to have a real talent for it.

[ | ]

Later That Evening

"…" Seren said as she stared into the empty freezer of Urahara's fridge later that evening.

"What are you doing, Seren?" Yoruichi asked when she spotted the teen staring so forlornly at it, wondering what was so fascinating.

"A freezer with no ice cream... It's unnatural." She replied, feeling something between awe and shock.

"What? We're out of ice cream already!?" Jinta asked as he rushed into the room. His selective hearing was amazing. He had heard that all the way from the front of the store, yet he seemed virtually deaf whenever they tried to get him to do menial labor.

"It's… all gone?" Ururu asked disappointedly as she stuck her head in the doorway too, making an adorable kicked puppy face.

"That can't be. I just bought a new box of popsicles a couple of days ago." Tessai said as he joined them. He had gone after the kids to see why they had run off, but now it was obvious why. This was a serious crisis for them.

"Well, I guess it's not really that surprising…" Jinta conceded reluctantly as he crossed his arms and sighed. "They were the 'fun-size' ones, so you have to have at least two or three in order to feel satisfied. No wonder they went so… fast…?" Jinta was suddenly all too aware of the piercing stares everyone in the room was giving him.

"So it was you." Tessai concluded, frowning, as he loomed ominously over the boy.

"W-Wait! I can explain—" Jinta stuttered nervously as Tessai dragged him out of the room by the back of his shirt collar. "Oooowwww! No! Not that! Anything but tha—"

SHUT.

"…" The girls said as they heard the door of another room shut, cutting off the sounds of Jinta's desperate cries for mercy.

"Jinta-kun…" Ururu said softly as she continued to stare in the direction he had been dragged from the room. "… He never learns."

"He'll live. Anyway, why don't you just go out and get some more ice cream, Seren? You can pick up some more milk for me while you're at it." Yoruichi said carelessly, choosing to ignore the disturbing scene they had just witnessed. It's not like Tessai ever did anything seriously harmful to the kid. Seren smiled wryly as she sweat dropped, feeling a little sorry for Jinta. Well, it's not like he didn't earn it, but it was kind of sad that no one even batted an eyelash when they heard his cries for help… Must happen a lot…

[ | ]

"Hm? Where's Seren?" Urahara asked when he finally remerged from his room again. He had managed to finish this particular experiment rather quickly.

"She went to get more ice cream since Jinta killed it off already." Yoruichi said nonchalantly as she lay on the floor, reading some of Seren's manga.

"You let her go alone? That's not good. It's dangerous for that girl to wander around alone like that." Urahara said as he spun around, preparing to go after her.

"She'll be fine! Seren can take care of herself. You're the one who taught her, after all." Yoruichi reminded him.

"Exactly! She's so petite, that she looks like she'd be an easy target… It would be a shame if she got into trouble for hospitalizing anyone foolish enough to attack her~!" Urahara said proudly as he whipped out his fan. He stopped when a sudden wave of a two powerful and very familiar reiatsu washed over him the moment he set foot outside the shop. He shut his fan. So, it was starting.

"Urahara… this is…" Yoruichi said as she walked over to stand in the doorway. She had felt it too. There was something else close by, as well. Something dangerous.

All traces of his usual mirth and humor were gone as Urahara stared off into the night. That reiatsu was far too close to the area he was sensing Seren's from for comfort.

[ | ]

Seren was humming cheerfully as she exited the convenience store, holding her bag of ice cream. That's right, mission accomplished. She started to sing along to the song on her iPod as she made her way home.

"Tonight, Love is rationed
Tonight, Across the nation
Tonight, Love reflects worl—!?"

Seren yanked the headphones out of her ears as she whipped her head around, startled by all the intense spiritual pressures that were suddenly being released all over the place. One was definitely her dad's, and suspected another one was probably the Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, that she had heard so much about. There were a few hollows around too… Including the one that was trying to sneak up on her at the moment. He was about as subtle as a bull in a china shop.

"Haah… I don't have time for this..." Seren said, sighing in annoyance as the hollow jumped out from its hiding place and lunged at her. The hollow never even knew what hit it. Without even turning her head to look, Seren raised her hand and slammed it into its face in her own backhanded version of Tessai's Hakuda technique, Tessō (Iron Palm) when it was just an inch away from biting her. Its mask shattered instantly from the concussive force of the blow. "… If I take too long getting back, the ice cream will melt." She finished as the hollow fell and disintegrated.

"!?" She gasped in surprise when she felt a strange and powerful reiatsu appear just a block away. The way it was moving… it's like it was chasing something… or someone.

Seren sighed heavily as she stared at the ice cream she had just bought. What a waste… It looked like she wasn't going to make it back in time, after all.

'I hope he won't be too at me…' She thought, grimacing a little, as she started to run after the dangerous reiatsu, ignoring all sense of self-preservation. Urahara had specifically told her not to become a shinigami outside of the underground training room, but…

This was an emergency.