You all must be wondering why Momo and I are in a rundown condominium that happens to belong to Momo's foster family. I should probably go back to where we left off.
That same dreadful noise was repeatedly ringing in our ears, and Momo and I looking frightened as two words and seven letters kept flashing in front of our
eyes: Ichigo's cell 483-2730. Momo and I looked at each other; unsure whether or not we should answer it.
"Go ahead, Rukia." Momo urged me, "It's for you; I'm sure of it!"
"Uhhh… it's okay, Momo! Really! I don't feel like answering the phone."
"But your closer to the phone." She pointed out.
She was right. Momo had to be 2 and half inches away from the phone than her.
"Fine," she said in defeat, reluctantly walking up to the annoying phone.
Once Rukia covered the distance between her and the phone; instead of picking it up from the cradle, she pressed the button that would put it on speakerphone.
"Hello?" she said in a polite voice.
"Hey, I was wondering if I could speak to Ms. Rukia Kuchiki?"
"Uhm… I don't know whom you are talking about."
"What?! She's not there? I thought she was staying there with her friend, Momo Hinamori. Is Hinamor-san there?"
"Well…" Rukia turned around wondering what Momo has to say. Momo was violently shaking her head and her hands making a motion as if cutting her
throat. Rukia must have misunderstood the meaning behind Momo's body language. Rukia thought that Momo was trying to tell her say she was not there either, but what Momo was trying to communicate to her was 'don't be an idiot and don't you dare think up some random story right on the spot!'
Of course, it was too late.
"I think this Hinamori person you are talking about moved two years ago." Rukia said, thinking of the first story that came to mind.
In the background, Momo just smacked herself-HARD-on the forehead.
"Really? That's strange, because the last time I visited Momo at that house was two months ago."
"Oh… well I get those kinds of things mixed up! Two years, two months I could never tell the difference!"
"Who are you?"
"I'm… the Maid."
"Okay… so do you have a name… the Maid?"
"No, I only have a title."
"Which is…"
"The Maid."
"So… do you have any affiliations with my friends, the Maid?"
"I'm not going to answer any of your questions! For all I know, you could be a stalker! I know I should have asked this question long ago… but
who are you?"
"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo." (A/N I know it should be the other way, but this is how they do introductions the Japanese style!)
"Well, it was nice having this phone chat with you Kurosaki-san. I am sorry I have to cut this conversation short since my masters will be displeased
that my ten minute phone call will cost them a fortune."
"Matte-" but before he could finish what he was about to say, Rukia pressed the button the end button on the cradle.
When Rukia turned around, she saw that Momo's face was buried in her hands and sitting on the couch. On cue, Momo lifted her face up to look Rukia directly in the eye.
"Wow," was all Momo could manage to say.
"What?! What did I do this time?!"
Momo didn't answer her question.
Suddenly, the phone rang again.
Rukia and Momo jumped in surprise at the sudden ring. They both warily turned around to see the caller ID.
They both looked at each other, shock etched in their wide-eyed faces… it was a call from Toshiro's cell phone.
"You're going to have to answer it this time, Momo." Rukia said, a devilish smirk on her her face.
"WHAT?!" Momo exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at her friend.
"Come on, Momo! You can't expect me to also answer this one!" Rukia had a stern, frustrated look on her face.
Momo gave in and walked up to the phone, also pressing the speakerphone button.
"Hello?"
"Yo, I was wondering if I could speak to either Momo or Rukia?"
"I do not know any person in the household with those names. Perhaps you have the wrong number?" Momo rolled her eyes to the fact that she would
have to go along with Rukia's story. She knew that it couldn't be possible, but there was always the possibility that Ichigo told Toshiro his phone conversation
with Ruk-the Maid.
"No, I'm pretty sure I punched in the right one. Whenever I contacted my friend, Momo, I would use this number that I am using right now talking to you,
and all those times I've used this number she would answer. I think you're in the wrong house, whomever you are!"
"You must be crazy! Because the previous residents moved two years ago!"
"A believable story to anybody, but me! You're lying and we both know it!"
"It's the truth!"
"It's a lie!"
"Truth!"
"Quit it before we get into a childish argument!"
"But what I said is true!"
"Who the hell are you!!!"
"I'm… the Nanny."
"What the fuck!!! Momo was knocked up???"
Momo and Rukia just gawked at the phone and turned to gawk at each other.
"When did this happen?" Toshiro continued, not waiting for anyone to answer his previous question. "Who's the father? Is it a boy or girl? What's the child's name?"
"I can ensure you that this Momo person is not the one with a child, but my masters of this household. Good-bye." With that, Momo clicked the end button on the cradle. But she didn't stop there. Momo also pulled the phone cord that connected the phone to the wall.
"There." Momo said, smiling at her handiwork.
Than, there was the sound of a phone ringing in the distance.
"I forgot to include the other phone upstairs."
"Let's go see who the call is from." Rukia suggested.
"Who knows, it could be from the boys."
"Or it could be from somebody else."
Rukia and Momo walked slowly to the foot of the stairs. They were pondering over if they should or shouldn't go upstairs to answer the other phone.
"Maybe we should just let it ring, Rukia." Momo said, looking anxiously at Rukia.
"Why? Don't tell me your still afraid of that one part in The Grudge movie."
"Actually…"
"Momo!!!" Rukia looked at Momo in frustration.
"I can't help it, Rukia! That part where the detectives find the phone in the attic always freaks me out!"
"Oh my gosh, woman; pull yourself together! If it makes you feel any better, I'll go first."
Momo still looked anxious, but nodded her head.
So, Rukia led the way up the stairs, with Momo following. Once they reached the top of the stairs, they both turned to see that at the end of the hall was the handset in its cradle on a small table. The duo approached the phone and stopped at a distance where they could see the person calling on the flashing screen.
Rukia and Momo gasped at the phone: it was from Momo's foster sister. Momo quickly picked up the handset, a few times almost dropping it, until she finally had a good hold on it. She pressed the talk button and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hello!!" Momo said, unable to hide the happiness from her voice.
"Hi, Momo." The person on the other line said in a calm voice.
"Nemu!!! It's nice hearing from you again!"
"I know it's been a while since we've been able to hang out together. I was calling to see if maybe you could… visit me."
"That's a good idea, Nemu! Is it alright if my friend can come along?"
"It's fine! Your friend can come with you."
"Okay, well Rukia and I will see you tomorrow."
"Alright! Bye!"
"Bye!" and then Momo put the handset back on the cradle.
"I'm so tired!" Momo said after yawning and stretching her arms.
"Me, too. Let's hit the sack." But before Rukia went to bed, she turned the answering machine on the phone.
"Good idea." Momo said in a tired voice.
"Come on."
Once they were a few feet away from the phone, it started ringing for the fourth time.
Rukia groaned. "Not again!"
"Rukia, let's wait and see what the person wants."
After the fourth beep, the answering machine started to record the message.
"Hey, this is Toshiro (and Ichigo) and I don't know what you did to our friends, but we're about to find out soon. My friend and I are about to head to your house to see what's going on there. If we find out that there are no girls there, we will take action. You better watch out, you better not cry, because Toshiro and Ichigo are coming to that house!!"
All Momo and Rukia could do were stare at the phone in shock. Then, they did the first thing that came to mind: they packed their bags.
"Hey, Rukia, I was wondering how long does it take to get from Ichigo's apartment to here by car." Momo yelled to Rukia across the hall.
"I don't know, about ten minutes."
Momo realized that there wasn't much time left and so did Rukia, and they picked up the pace. When they packed what seemed like half their closet full of clothes in a bag, they ran out of their rooms and met each other in the middle of the hall. Momo was also carrying her BlackBerry.
"So, how are we going to sneak out?" Rukia asked.
"We're going to go through your bedroom window."
"Why?!"
"Because there's a tree that we could use to climb down to the neighbor's backyard and take a shortcut."
"But… where are we going?"
"We are going to Nemu's condo."
"But… what about your… foster father?"
Momo thought about that for a minute before coming back to reality. "We don't have time to think of that. We'd better get going before the boys show up."
Momo quickly ran to the window in Rukia's room and flung open the window. Putting her BlackBerry in her pocket and slipping the handles of her bag up her should, she started climbing down the tree in lightning speed. Rukia did the same thing with her bag of clothes and went on the branch closest to the window. Once she had good balance on the branch, she closed the window and, as quick as the wind, started climbing down the tree. Just as Rukia reached the ground, they heard the sound of a car engine coming from Momo's driveway. Rukia and Momo looked at each other in shock and quickly sprinted across the lawn.
After jumping over a couple of fences, they found themselves at an alley. Then they heard some barking and growling sounds coming from the darker end of the alley. From the limited amount of light given to them from the moon, they could see that the source of the noises were coming from a group of stray dogs, baring their sharp, canine teeth to them and hunger in their eyes.
"Uhhh…. Momo?" Rukia asked, starting to back up to the other end of the alley.
"Yeah?" Momo asked, starting to back up as well.
"Who let the dogs out?"
"What? Rukia, this is no time for jokes!"
"Seriously!!!" Rukia said, looking serious. "Who let the dogs out? I'm not trying to be funny or anything, I swear! It's just that the neighborhood is so peaceful around here I can't imagine stray dogs and an alley-"
"Oh, I know that my neighborhood is nice and all, but not that nice!" After saying that, Momo turned around and started running with a new surge of energy from who knows where. Rukia was right behind her, with the same feeling of unknown energy coursing through her body. Then, the dogs started to follow them, in pursuit. Half an hour later, they found themselves at a dead end. They desperately started looking around for another way out. After seeing a pile of garbage and discarded boxes, Rukia and Momo climbed them as if they were a flight of stairs and made it to the other side of the alley. On this side that Rukia and Momo were on was another neighborhood.
This neighborhood was different from the one where Momo lives. The neighborhood almost reminded of Momo the time she was at the outskirts of Karakura Town, only more populated. Beggars and the homeless were sitting outside of rundown buildings that had grimy windows. Every single surface of the buildings was decorated with graffiti and there was not a single spot that wasn't graffiti-free. Garbage, glass, papers, bottles, and bags were littered everywhere.
"Well, this is where my step family lives." Momo said, spreading her hands out to the neighborhood.
"Wow." Was all Rukia could say.
A/N Well… that's the chapter. I hope you like it and I am terribly sorry if there is not enough humor as I hoped there would be and that it did not turn out the way you expected it to. So what do you guys think of Momo's stepfamily??? Tell me what you think about the idea. If there's one thing to blame it's that I've been on the computer for almost three-quarters of the day! Right now, it's 1:21 in the morning! I think I was on the computer around eleven to twelve in the afternoon. So, I guess you could say I've used all my brainpower, concentrating on this chapter. It's sort of filler for the next chapter and I already have it planned. Maybe I could have it up by the end of the day (since it's 1:26 AM) or maybe tomorrow. I don't know.
Bottle-fairy: about your question concerning if Momo and Toshiro went out. I'm sorry to say, but they never did, but they will sometime in the nearby future! I guess I was trying to have Momo say that she'll make sure that Rukia and Ichigo will become a couple again and that she hopes her and Toshiro will become a couple as well. I hope that helps!
Thank you everyone for reading my story! You have made me so happy and that I'm proud to say that I've made it to the double-digit chapter for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay, go chapter ten!
Bloc-9