Chapter 10 – Fur Balls, the Mysterious Lighter and the Scarlet Pineapple

With everything back to normal, Kari and Kaname were forced back into their squad duties. And for some odd reason, Renji was avoiding them.

Kaname was whining, "I saved his life and this is how he repays me? HE'S SO MEAN! Stupid pineapple head…"

Kari hugged her. "Do you want to go prank someone?"

Kaname sniffed. "No thanks…I'm not in the mood."

Kari gasped. "NOOOOOOOOOES!"

Kari flash-stepped to Renji. "SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH KANAME!" She screamed.

"What? Is she okay?" Renji asked, alarmed.

"NO! She doesn't want to prank anyone!"

"Maybe she's finally grown up…" Renji tried.

"WHAT? SHE COULDN'T HAVE! I'M NOT EVEN GROWN UP YET AND I'M OLDER!" Kari sobbed.

She then turned to glare at him. "This is all your fault…" she said and started to approach him.

Sweat drop

"What'd I do? I haven't even seen Kaname lately!"

Renji tried to defend himself.

Kari glowered at him. "Exactly! YOU BUTT!" She stopped and then said seriously, "She really wants to see you."

Renji looked down and Kari flash-stepped away. Kaname came a second later, right behind him. He didn't even notice her until she said in his ear, "You know, you can't REALLY avoid me. I'm everywhere." And she disappeared with the wind.

Renji turned as red as his hair and looked around frantically, trying to find her. But nothing was there; she had disappeared.

Kari and Kaname were skipping along outside when Kari stopped. Her eyes went wide and she yelled, "I NEVER GOT MY STUFF!"

Kaname gasped. "Hey, we never did! You wanna go now?"

Kari grinned. "Yeah, let's skip out on duties." They both grinned and set off.

Meanwhile, Kenpachi was yelling at the top of his lungs, "WHERE IS THAT WO- I MEAN GIRL? SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO PAPERWORK!"

Yachiru pouted. "This is gonna be a boring day without Kari or Kaname."

Also meanwhile, Byakuya's eyebrow was twitching as he was asking his depressed lieutenant where Kaname was. When the pineapple mumbled his answer, Byakuya had to fight to keep his composure.

"Those two girls will be the death of me," he thought.

The girls finally reached the 80th district by mid-afternoon. They felt eyes upon them; they knew something was going to happen, especially when twelve guys surrounded them.

The guys were taunting them. "What are two lovely girls like you doing here all by yourselves? And soul reapers; you must think you're tough. Why don't you come and play with us? That'll teach you not to walk around here alone."

Kari and Kaname looked at each other and burst into laughter. The guys scowled and said, "What? You think you're too powerful for us? You're alone and you're women."

There was an audible snap as Kaname's eyebrow twitched. Kari started to laugh in a forced way. Kaname barely managed to utter, "First, you say we're alone. Then, you taunt us. Now, we can forgive idiots for those things but then you called us weak! AND! In the same sentence, from the same dirty mouth, you say women…PREPARE TO DIE!"

Kaname started to charge; Kari held her by her shihakusho's top (if you could call it that). Kaname was wriggling. "Lemme at 'im! LEMME AT 'IM!"

It was amusing for their attackers to see a very tall woman being held back by one that was so much shorter than her. They became overconfident and started to taunt them once more.

"It's just what we thought. You're just a couple of WEAK WOMEN."

Kari started to laugh. She let go of Kaname and said, "Go ahead."

Kaname stopped. "Don't you want to have some fun too?" She asked.

Kari grinned. "No, it's all right. Go ahead. I'll meet you at my house."

Kaname grinned back. "This'll only take a few seconds, after all."

The men started to yell. "How the hell will we take a few seconds to finish off?"

Kari shook her head. "Because she's the third seat of the 6th squad…and I'm the fourth seat of the 11th squad. You know…of the 13 court guard squads?"

The men all gasped and backed away. Kaname smiled reassuringly at them. She took her Zanpakuto and handed it to Kari. "I won't be needing this."

The men started yelling, "Hey, now that's damn cocky!"

Kari just grinned. "Okay. Cya." She flash-stepped away.

Kaname smiled. "Later."

And then she attacked.

A few seconds later, Kaname was sitting on a pile of corpses. Well, almost corpses. They looked dead but they were still alive. Barely.

Kaname got up, wiping some blood of her hand. She looked down at her uniform and groaned. "Aww man! That's gonna stain!"

She squared her shoulders and said, "Now, to Kari's house…where is that again?" She kicked one of the more conscious guys. "Hey! Where's Kari's house?"

The guy groaned. "How the hell should I know? She's your friend!"

Kicking him again for swearing, she set off in the direction of a vaguely familiar forest.

A few minutes later, Kaname was sobbing on the forest ground. "I'm so LOST! Where are you Kari? KARI!"

Kari stopped for a second. She listened closely and then shrugged. "I could swear that I heard Kaname just now…"

Saria chuckled. "You're going nuts, Kari."

Kari screamed at her, "I already AM nuts! I can't be more nuts! But…then…owww, my head, I'm thinking too much."

Kari was trying to open the door to her house. It was stuck. AGAIN. After several unsuccessful attempts, she thought, "Screw it" and kicked the door down. While Saria applauded her for her smartitude, Kari noticed a furry bundle on her floor. Approaching it quietly, she realized it was a wolf pup.

Awww-ing like a school girl, she put her hand out, letting it catch her scent. A little black nose poked out and approached her hand. The tinniest pink tongue darted out to lick her. As Kari awed once more, the cute little wolf bit her hand.

"OWWWWWW!" With comical tears in her eyes, Kari shook her hand like crazy, thankful that the wolf pup was not still biting it.

As the wolf let out a pitiful howl, Kari gathered it up in her arms. It fell asleep against her. She grinned, grabbed her small backpack that had been there since the day before graduation and left the house, turning back only once to look at her house.

Kaname lay on the forest floor, watching the sunlight filter through the leaves. She loved the forest; everything about it made her feel at ease.

Her ears pricked when she heard a little meow. Following the soft sound, she came to a sad sight; a baby jaguar, mewing, trying to wake up its dead mother. Kaname's eyes filled with tears as she recalled her own experience. Crawling towards it, she put out her hand, letting it sniff her scent. The little black jaguar seemed guarded.

She looked into its ice-blue eyes and had a silent conversation with it. She understood that hunters had killed its mother. She told him the same had happened to her parents. As they came to a mutual understanding, the kitten approached her.

It rubbed against her hand, mewing softly. She grinned. It then showed its sharp little teeth. She awww-ed, saying, "They're so cute!" As his teeth started to close on her finger, she pulled her hand back. "Nice try" she said. The kitty mewed again.

She then turned to the dead body; she'd have to bury it…but where? Hearing a scratching noise, she turned to see the little kitty digging under a tree. "Whatcha doing there, buddy?"

She smiled as she saw the little kitty dig a hole much bigger than itself. Shooing the kitty aside, she took a deep breath and then said, "Raikôhô!" Electricity charged through her fingertips and to the ground, sending dirt flying. Kaname coughed. As the dust settled, she saw a deep hole had formed. The little kitty sneezed behind her.

Kaname carried the dead body to the hole and lightly placed it in. The little kitty mewed once more. It then started to push dirt with its little black nose into the hole. Kaname smiled faintly, got on her hands and knees and pushed the rest of the dirt in. She patted the top of the grave, placed a lovely oak stick on top and said a silent prayer for his mother.

Whistling to the kitty, she walked out of the forest…

…And right into Kari.

They both head-butted and fell on their butts. Kaname started whining. "Kari! Why do you have to have such a hard head?"

Kari whined back. "Why do you have to be so mean?"

Kaname noticed a thick bandage wrapped around Kari's hand. She raised a single eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"IT BIT ME!" Kari whined, pointing at the little wolf that was wagging its tail while trying to attack the little jaguar.

Kaname laughed hard, concealing her own grazed finger. "Loser!" She yelled.

Kari started screaming. "I SAW THAT FINGER! I SAW THAT GRAZE! DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A LOSER!"

Kaname laughed so hard that she was crying. "You're a loser because it actually bit you –" She started to howl as the little jaguar bit her foot. It walked over to the wolf and they tapped paws, like they were high-fiving.

Kari fell to the ground laughing. She got up and was then knocked to the ground again by Kaname. Kaname stopped messing up Kari's hair as she realized, "WE'RE IN THE 80TH DISTRICT!"

Kari shrugged. "Yeah, and?"

Kaname gave her a pointed look. "Should we really be doing this?"

Kari conceded. "Good point."

They slyly got up, grabbed their pets and, looking around furtively, flash-stepped away.

Renji had been moping around all day, distraught that Kaname had skipped her duties. As he thought about what Kari had said and what Kaname had done for him, he grew more and more confused.

Finally, he followed Byakuya home (knowing that he and Kaname were neighbours) and, as he stood around, waiting for Kaname to come home, his feet got attacked by a little black fur ball. When its razor-sharp teeth bit his foot, he realized that this wasn't a cat; it was a jaguar!

"What the hell? Ow, get off of me, you stupid –" Renji started.

His other foot got bitten by a wolf pup. He started screaming even louder. Kaname and Kari were on the ground, laughing. He scowled at them, trying to kick the fur balls off but they were stuck on.

Kaname finally got up and pulled the pets off. "Shoo!" She said. She went over and lightly started kicking Kari. "You too!"

Kari pouted, grabbed the fur balls and went inside, leaving Kaname and Renji alone. Seconds later, Kari returned without her backpack or the pets, but with a lighter. She told Kaname she'd be back later.

Kaname tried not to smile at Renji's face. His lower lip was stuck out; he was sulking. "You've been beat within an inch of your life; I saw what you looked like after your fight with Kuya-chan. You've gotten so many sword wounds but two little pets bite you and you're upset?" She said.

Renji yelled, "One's a wolf pup and one's a freaking jaguar!"

Kaname put a finger to his lips and said, "Kuya-chan will kill you if you're too loud."

Renji's face grew scarlet. He let out an exasperated sigh and looked down at his feet, a hand on his neck. He muttered, "Why didn't you come in today?"

Kaname shrugged. "We went to Kari's house…well, she went there. I dealt with some wannabe bad-boys. It was fun 'til I got lost and couldn't find the way to Kari's house."

Renji grabbed her shoulders. "What do you mean you dealt with bad guys? Kaname, those districts are dangerous! They're not like the Seretei!"

Kaname smiled. "Thanks for worrying about me but I've lived in those districts too. I'm not that weak."

He let her go. "Really? From what district?"

Kaname smiled faintly. "79th – Kusajishi."

Renji's eyes widened. "Like Lieutenant Yachiru?"

Kaname nodded. "Yup."

Renji looked down again, unsure of what to say.

Kaname smiled sadly. "I'm sorry that you had to find out about everything by Saria and not by me. I didn't mean for you to be embarrassed. I'm sorry."

Renji looked around. "It's fine."

Kaname started to tease him. "So, Renji, do you like me? Huh? Do you?"

Renji blushed even more. "I don't!"

"Oh come on, Renji! This isn't elementary school. You can tell me."

"Well, I…"

"Just admit it."

Kaname looked up at him, a smile tugging the corner of her lips. He turned around, frustrated. "How can I say anything when you're like that?"

Kaname's eyes filled with tears. "Is it because of my age? Is that it? I'M SORRY REN-CHAN! I'm so old!" She started to run off.

He caught her hand and pulled her back. Without looking at her, he said, "It's not that."

Kaname sighed and leaned against her house. "Just tell me," she said.

Renji started, "I…" He stopped when they both heard mewing and howling from inside. The pets were at the windows, staring intently at them. Kaname rolled her eyes.

Renji blushed. "Why are they staring at us like that?" Kaname only shook her head. With a sigh, she said, "You know what? For now, this is enough." And she placed her head on his shoulder.

He turned his head towards hers, resting his chin on her red hair. Then, suddenly, Kaname got up, smashing his chin and said quietly, "Bye Ren-chan!"

She ran off…then back-tracked, kissed him on the chin apologetically and ran off again in Kari's direction yelling, "Take care of the pets!"

Byakuya yelled, "BE QUIET, ALL OF YOU!" Renji heard growling from inside. He looked up at the sky and asked, "Why me?"

Slowly, but with great bravery, he opened the door and walked into the zoo…called Kaname's house.