Hi again! So here's Chapter 10. I'm sad that I only got 4 reviews in the last Chapter :( Oh well, I'm still updating anyways.
To TB and anyone else reading this: This is an AU, so although I did use the description of one of the Hollows in Bleach, it's not the same. I.E I changed the mask into just a pseudo-white face, there's no Hollow hole, and the roar... Hmm I realized I never did use the word roar anywhere in this chapter and the last. Oh well.
Also, the smell has its uses somewhat in future chapters. Right now it doesn't serve much purpose.
Couple more things. This story arc (I can't think of anything else better to call it) will end around chapter 17. I just finished writing 15 so I can afford to update today:) Yeah, pretty far, but I like a buffer.
Once this particular arc ends, another one will start. I may carry on with this story after the second one or I may post it as a sequel. No idea. I'm also not sure if I will last that long anyway. But just something to look forward to.
I realized something I forgot to mention in the previous chapter. I wrote that Byakuya wore his kenseikan like how he did in the Fullbringer Arc. I know it's a symbol of his nobility in Bleach but in my story, I added it as a fashion statement. He doesn't think of himself as a noble in this story.
Ok, nothing more to add. I'll butt in again at the end. So without further ado, here's the next Chapter of Strawberry Fix. Read, enjoy and review more than just 4 please! :(
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. Neither do i own the series my story is based on or any group, place or organization mentioned in my story.
Strawberry Fix
Chapter 10: Dance with the Devil
Past
45 years later
"Kuchiki-sama, it's time for dinner," the servant said with a bow. Kuchiki Ginrei looked up from where he was sitting. His two German Pischers, who were lying lazily on the floor, perked up at the word 'dinner', but made no move to get up as their master stayed in his seat.
From where he was sitting, Ginrei could see the maid sweating. So too was he, but that was inevitable, given the two flame torches he kept permanently lit directly besides the door and windows. He had given strict instructions to the servants to never extinguish them, especially at night. "Just bring me my dinner," he coughed out.
The maid bowed lower. "Forgive me, Kuchiki-sama, but the rest of the family has requested that you join them."
His temper flared. Who did his family think they were? Did they think he was some deranged old man who liked to cause discomfort to everyone who walked by just for the fun of it?
He raised his voice at the maid. "I said bring me my dinner! And if they don't like it, you can tell them to join me." The maid flinched at his voice, but he didn't care. He had to get his point across. Besides, he was doing her a favor by ordering her away from the heat.
"Yes sir, I'll go right away," the maid squeaked before rushing off. Ginrei sat back down but didn't relax, his grip on his rifle tightening ever so slightly. He coughed. He'd placed the torches near the door and windows to allow the smoke to dissipate, but it still managed to disperse throughout the entire room.
But then again, dying from smoke inhalation was still better than... how they died. He definitely did not want to die that way. He stared out into the compound. It was already dark out. The cherry trees in the garden rustled faintly, but Ginrei wasn't appreciating the scene. He kept his eyes peeled on anything that moved, looking for the appearance of a dark shadow.
Did he kill them all? They had succumbed to the fire, but maybe not all of them were dead. He clutched his rifle to his chest like a lifeline. Bullets had no use against it, he had witnessed it for himself, but he felt more reassured just by holding it.
A scream suddenly rang out. His heart shot to his throat as he sprang up, raising his rifle and alternating his gaze between the windows. Blood pounded through his brain as he waited for the telltale sign of a shadow darker than black itself to show. His dogs were still lying there lazily. What the hell were they doing? Hadn't he trained them well enough? Unless…
That scream sounded just like… his men. Did he just imagine that? Ginrei slowly sat back down, but he kept his rifle raised. No moving shadow escaped his gaze, as he scanned his room and beyond. He wouldn't go down without a fight. He knew they were out there, and he would be ready and waiting, even if he had to stay awake the whole night. They wanted to get him, they would have to dance with him first.
2305 hrs
Ichigo could only stare in shock as the creature reared up. He had never seen anything like it before. The closest thing it resembled was a cross between a human and a frog. It had the muscular torso and forearms of a human, although it had numerous scars decorating it. Its legs were extremely bulky, and it was crouched in a leaping position. Instead of regular hands, its hand had three fingers, all ending with extremely sharp looking talons and its feet were webbed.
The moonlight reflected off its bluish skin, and its face was... if you could even call it that. It looked like the skeletal face of a frog, with two glowing red eyes and a bared set of white teeth that gave the creature a perpetual grin. Its nose was just two slits sitting in between its two eyes.
Ichigo began backing away slowly as the creature threw its head into the air and began looking around, as though it was sniffing out something. Whatever it was, it definitely didn't look friendly, and Ichigo wasn't going to stick around to say hello. Then, having hardly moved a few steps, the creature froze and its eyes locked onto Ichigo.
The first thought that ran through Ichigo's mind was, 'Oh shit,' as everything started moving in slow motion. The creature reared back, and using its legs, launched itself towards Ichigo with such force that Ichigo barely had time to dive away, holding his ko-wazikashi in a death grip while letting go of the scabbard to provide himself a free hand. Ichigo could feel the force of the wind created as it shot past him.
Ichigo barrel-rolled before getting up in a crouch. He watched as Froggy braked and home in on him again. It edged slowly towards him. Ichigo stood alert and waiting for the next attack to come. Now he wished he had actually owned a katana. The longer reach would be to his advantage. He couldn't afford to go on the offensive, and he definitely couldn't go toe to toe with Froggy as it was surely faster than him and would be able to dodge any attack Ichigo launched. The only choice would be to counterattack when it attacked him. He couldn't keep dodging and he would eventually get tired.
As it edged closer to him, Ichigo found himself backing away. He was painfully aware that he was running out of roof. 'Ok, breathe, relax. Don't do anything rash. Concentrate. Concentrate. One wrong move and it would be over,' he thought, trying his best to maintain lucidity.
Then, it lunged high, aiming for Ichigo's face. He saw his chance and fell backwards, supporting his fall with his elbow while thrusting his sword into the air. He was nearly too late. A talon passed within a hair's breadth of Ichigo's face and it was moving so fast that Ichigo only managed to catch a leg with his sword. But connect it did, and it sliced open a long gash on Froggy's leg. Blood spurted out, splattering Ichigo's hand and the sword in a dark liquid but thankfully not his clothes.
The force of the jump sent Froggy tumbling over the roof, but it managed to hook a talon onto the ledge before it plummeted. Ichigo wasn't stupid enough to get closer, like in the movies, and attempt to push Froggy off. So, he backed away towards the center of the roof and tried using his hands to wipe the blood from his sword and hands.
Froggy swung back onto the roof. Its eyes glared at Ichigo with a piercing intensity. Blood was leaking from its wound but it was still moving fine. It didn't seem affected by the wound at all.
'Now what do I do?' Ichigo thought. He considered making a run for it, but where would he run to?
Froggy lunged at him again. Ichigo dove to the side as it swiped at the floor where he stood, striking the floor and peeling off concrete like it was a fruit, but as it landed, it followed up immediately with a sideways lunge. Ichigo pivoted to the side, but he left his free arm dangling a fraction of a second too long, and Froggy connected with his arm, sending Ichigo spinning. It felt as if he had been struck by an oncoming bus. As it shot past him, Froggy turned round, skidded to a halt and pounced again. Ichigo barely had time to recover before he was forced to dive aside again, his sword somehow still in his hand.
Slight panic was starting to set in. Its attacks had started out clumsy at first, but it was beginning to get more ferocious. At this rate, Ichigo would have to let himself get hit before being able to get a hit in as well. He really didn't want to go there. He wasn't ready to lose an arm yet. If only he had a gun with him. Pumping a few pieces of lead into it was bound to drop it. At least, he thought it might. Froggy was acting as if the deep gash was a mere superficial wound.
Froggy was slowly advancing on him again, as if daring Ichigo to make a move. He had no choice. He had to make a stand.
Ichigo weighed his options. Diving away would simply just be repetitive, and Froggy didn't seem the least bit tired. It seemed to prefer leaping straight at him, which meant it was unable to change course in mid-air. His only option was to dodge, but stay close enough to deal a blow, which meant risking getting torn apart by those talons. He would have to time it perfectly.
Once again, it pounced. This time, Ichigo twisted his body as he hopped to one side, exposing the creature's flank. Taking his chance, Ichigo swung his blade down, falling backwards as he did, just as Froggy took a passing swipe at him. It worked. His blade sliced through the creature's neck, severing about one-third through, and this time it elicited a shrill cry, moments before a searing pain flared across his torso.
Froggy's passing swipe had connected with Ichigo, tearing through his shirt and slashing him across his chest. He didn't know how bad the damage was; the only thing he knew was that it hurt like hell.
The creature crashed to the floor, skidded a few meters before coming to a stop; dark liquid, which Ichigo assumed was its blood, pooling from its neck. Ichigo stumbled slightly before sinking to his knees, dropping his sword and pressing a hand to his chest in an attempt to stop the pain coursing through his whole body.
Another shrill cry sounded, and Ichigo turned round in fright, expecting to see Froggy charging at him again. It had gotten to its feet, but instead of going after Ichigo, it ran towards the roof ledge and leapt towards the other building before disappearing down the wall.
Ichigo kneeled there, panting slightly for a few heart stopping seconds until he was sure it wasn't going to return. Then dropping onto all fours, his hands began searching for his sword, at the same time trying to keep himself from collapsing from the pain. Finding the handle, Ichigo leaned heavily onto it as he struggled back to his feet.
A hand still pressed to his chest, Ichigo walked towards where his sword's scabbard lay, wincing slightly with every step he took. It took a few steps, but he managed to steady himself. Perhaps nothing vital was damaged.
He managed to make it back to his flat without any trouble. Dumping his sword on his sofa, Ichigo sank into a chair, panting softly from the pain. The arm he'd pressed against his wound was now soaked in blood. He winced again. Never before had he suffered a wound like this. What the heck was that creature? Ichigo had never seen anything like it before. Its physical appearance look like the reject of some mutation project gone wrong. Also, who was it after? Was it targeting him or was it just another case of bad luck?
Removing his hand, Ichigo inspected the wound. The gash was big, but it didn't seem too deep. It was definitely more than skin-deep though. One thing was for sure, he had to get it treated.
Trying his best to ignore the pain, Ichigo wobbled over to his telephone. He was about to reach for it when he paused. He needed help, but who was he going to call? He couldn't call Unohana-sensei; he only had her clinic number and it was surely closed by now. His father was likely back in Kyoto by now and it would take him a couple of hours to get here. He could call Rukia, but what would be the point of that?
Maybe he'd go down to Unohana-sensei's clinic tomorrow. But for now, he would have to settle for some self-treatment. Fishing out his first-aid kit, he took out the necessary items; a cloth, sterile gauze, tweezers, a cloth bandage and some antiseptic cream. He'd probably need stitches, but that was the best he could do for now. He washed the cloth with water, pausing to grab a bottle of aspirin along the way. He peeled off his shirt, wincing again as his chest muscles moved. This was going to hurt in the morning. Provided he wasn't too scared to sleep.
? hrs
He gazed at it in surprise as it came stumbling back onto the barge. First off, it had returned empty handed, a first all this time he had been using them. Secondly, it was hurt, and bad. Its leg had been sliced open, exposing flesh and bone, and its neck was severed one-third of the way. Who in the world managed to do this to it? This target was supposed to be just some homeless guy lying drunk in an alley. It shouldn't have had any trouble at all.
Ok, in hindsight, maybe he should've sent two Hollows instead of one, but he didn't think it would've run into that much trouble. They were fast, strong, and very hard to kill. Sure, the hollows weren't invincible. They had their weaknesses; one could easily kill them and another could severely weaken them, but anything else in between was hard to wound them, let alone kill them. The young ones weren't as powerful as the older ones, but it still took a lot to wound or kill them.
Oh well, he had to punish this one. He had to let it recover first though. He turned and walked towards the hidden entrance to fetch the mother, since he couldn't carry it by himself, sweeping his pink hair from his eyes as he walked.
Monday 0900 hrs
Ichigo awoke with a throbbing ache in his chest. His hand automatically moved to his chest as he sat up before he remembered, and felt, why. He looked down at his chest. He had slept shirtless yesterday night so he could see the bandages that were stained with red. The bleeding seemed minor now, but he had to get it checked. He wasn't about to unwrap the bandage though.
His telephone began ringing. Ichigo paused and looked at it as he waited for the recording to play and his caller to identify himself and explain why he was calling so early in the morning.
It played the usual recorded message before a soft voice echoed through his phone. "Hello Ichigo, this is Hanataro calling." Hanataro was a medical researcher Ichigo had helped awhile back. In return, he had offered his services to Ichigo if he ever needed it, and now was one of those times. "I was in the lab since six this morning so I figured you'd still be at home. If you are, pick up. I've got the results of the test you se-"
Ichigo picked up the phone. "Yo, Hanataro. What do you have for me?"
"Oh, hi Ichigo. You awake?"
"I'll give you time to ponder about how stupid that question is later. The sample I sent you is tested?"
"Yeah. I've got the results printed right here. It says here," Ichigo heard the rustling of paper, "That it contains the usual ingredients in wine. Grapes, yeast, sugar, water, the very basic stuff for making wine. There're also some strange ingredients like truffles, as well as some spices like Tumeric Powder and Cinammon."
"Is there anything weird on the list?"
"I'm getting to that." There was more rustling of paper. "There is one weird ingredient that seems out of place. It's something called the Giant Feather Grass. I did some research on this grass. It's native to Spain and they are used mostly for decorative purposes such as dried flower arrangements. Never once did I see any mention about it being used as an ingredient in food, let alone wine. Was this what you were looking for?"
Ichigo pursed his lips in thought. "Not exactly what I was expecting, but I think it's useful. Thanks for your help, Hanataro."
"No problem. Always glad to help."
"Oh wait, one last thing. How does the Feather Grass smell like?"
"Smell? You mean the sap or the flower? The flower doesn't have any smell but its sap does have a slight salty, bitter smell to it." So that was where that salty smell came from.
"Ok thanks a bunch Hanataro. Remember to dispose of the paper. I don't want anyone to know what I'm doing and I'm sure your boss wouldn't be happy to know you were using the lab for other non work related purposes."
"Oh man, you have a point. Ok, I'll dispose of it." Smart as Hanataro was, he was quite timid and afraid to get into trouble.
No sooner had he put down the phone that it rang again. He grumbled; this time he didn't bother waiting for the answering machine to pick it and did so himself. "Hello?"
"Oh, hello Ichigo-san. It's me, Nelliel. Remember our date?"
Ichigo remembered, alright. He just didn't want to think of it as a date. "Uh… right. A date."
She laughed. "It sounds like you've forgotten." Ichigo didn't know what to say. "Anyway, are you still available at seven, or do you have something that requires your fixing?"
"Um… no, seven's fine," Ichigo said numbly.
"That's great! Ok, there's this restaurant called Chez Tomo in Minato. Have you heard of it?"
"It's that French Restaurant right? Yeah I've heard of it, but I haven't been there before."
"Great! Then I'll meet you there at 7," she said.
"Wait! How will I recognize you?"
"You recognized my brother, didn't you? I'm sure you'll be able to recognize me. But if you can't, I'll be wearing a white dress. See you soon!" And she hung up.
Ichigo gazed in stunned silence at the phone. It sounded like this woman was quite used to getting her way. Something told him she wouldn't take no for an answer that easily.
He had the rest of the day ahead of him to look into Kuchiki Sojun's disappearance. He also had to get his wound checked and probably stitched up as well. But first – he dialed Rukia's number. She picked up after a couple of rings. "Hello?"
He smiled when he heard her voice. "Hey Rukia, I told you I'll call you back once I've gotten the results from the lab right? Well, I've received a call from my guy in the lab after he'd analyzed it."
"That was fast," she said. "You're more reliable than I remembered."
"What are you talking about? I'm always reliable," Ichigo said with a huge grin. Argh, why was he always smiling or feeling more upbeat when he was talking to her? But he digressed. Back to the topic.
"Sure, you just keep telling yourself that. So, anything important?"
"Maybe, maybe not. I'm not entirely sure. He said it contained the usual ingredients found in wine like grapes and um… yeast, as well as uncommon ingredients that were meant for the flavor; I forgot what exactly. Oh but there was this one thing he found that was out of place. He said it was called… Giant Feather Grass. He said it was from Spain and is mostly used for decorative purposes. It's not toxic, but it's never used as a food ingredient. That was the only weird thing. No drugs or mind-control serum. It could be important, it could be nothing, but that's all there is."
"It does seem fishy, but it could also be nothing. So what are you going to do now?" she asked.
Ichigo contemplated telling her as his hand drifted to touch his wound. "I'll just keep looking around, see if I can come up with anything else. No change in status, I suppose?"
Rukia sighed. "Unfortunately no. Nii-sama and Nee-san stayed longer, but otosan didn't show up. Now I'm beginning to fell afraid that something bad has happened to him."
"Don't worry Rukia. I'm sure everything will turn out fine."
"I hope so. Thanks for your help Ichigo, I really appreciate it," Rukia said, bringing a slight smile to Ichigo's lips.
"No worries. I won't disturb you any longer. Bye!" He hung up and stared into space, pondering. He didn't know where to start looking for clues to Kuchiki Sojun's disappearance. Something about the origins of the grass was nagging at him, not to mention the eyes old Froggy had. So far however, the answer was eluding him. A twinge of pain emerged from his wound again. He had to get that treated, as soon as he could. Now where did he put his car keys…
1745 hrs
He gingerly touched the tender flesh around the wound as he stood shirtless in front of his mirror. He could feel the slight roughness of the adhesive tape used to close the wound. He had gone to Unohana-sensei's clinic, a readymade excuse as to how he suffered his injury. Thankfully, she didn't ask, only raising her eyebrows questioningly.
Unohana-sensei had opted to use adhesive tape to close the wound instead of stitches. It required less time to apply and there was no need for the anesthetic required if she had gone with stitches. Thankfully, Ichigo did not have much chest hair, as it would have reduced the effectiveness of the tape. On the other hand, she told Ichigo that the tape was not as effective as stitches so she warned him to shy away from whatever dangerous activity he was partaking in that got him the injury in the first place, or the wound would be at risk of opening again and she would have to use stitches this time. He didn't answer, but remarked in his head that it probably wasn't an option.
Now, he was getting ready for the 'date' he had been dragged into. His mind kept playing back to the conversation he had yesterday. He couldn't believe how he'd been suckered into a date when he was currently occupied and not very interested.
He deliberated over what to wear. He didn't want to dress too formally, lest she got the wrong idea, yet at the same time he didn't want to dress too casually. Finally opting for a dressy casual look, he fished out a light blue dress shirt he didn't know he had, black dress trousers he thought he'd disposed of, and a black jacket. He deliberated on a tie, but finally culled the idea. He took along his trusty cap as well, but he wasn't going to wear it inside the restaurant, of course. Date or no, he still wanted to avoid attention.
1850 hrs
He made it to the restaurant slightly before seven. The place was crowded and there was a small waiting queue. Ichigo walked up to the waiter at the counter, who eyed him with as he approached. "Hi, I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. I think she made a reservation…"
"Name?" The waiter simply said.
"I believe she reserved it under Nelliel…" Ichigo said.
Surprisingly, the waiter's expression immediately brightened. "Oh, she's already here! Come, I'll take you to the table," he said enthusiastically. He sounded like some excited kid and Ichigo couldn't phantom why.
As the waiter lead Ichigo in, his eyes immediately fell on a table situated near the center of the restaurant and the person sitting at the table. It was a strikingly attractive woman which Ichigo could only assume was Nelliel, and Ichigo could see why she was Szayel's sister. Alongside Szayel, who had shocking pink hair, she had long waving green-blue hair that seemed to glisten in the restaurant's light. Like she'd said, she was wearing a white dress. It had a high neck that was slightly lower than her shoulders and it ended mid-thigh. It seemed to hug her figure at all the right places and make her glow in the restaurant's dim light, as if she was in the spotlight.
Ichigo could see a few men who appeared to be out on dates as well sneaking glances at her, as well as some who were openly staring. Nelliel looked up at the waiter as he approached. Her eyes fell on Ichigo and she smiled radiantly. "Hi, you must be Ichigo," she said as Ichigo sat down. "Nice to finally meet the man my brother talks a lot about." Her voice was soft and high pitched, and it added to the alluring aura she had around her.
"Nice to meet you too, Nelliel-san," Ichigo said. He could feel the eyes of many men staring at him in jealousy but he ignored it.
She responded with a small laugh. "Please, just call me Nel," she said. She seemed blissfully unaware of the many hungry stares she was receiving. Either that or she was reveling in it.
"In that case, just call me Ichigo," he replied
"Would you like to place your order already ma'am?" the waiter asked, his gaze fixed on her.
Upon Nel's recommendation, Ichigo went for the duck served with a bean puree while she ordered the lobster and soft-scrambled egg in a sea urchin soup. Once the waiter had left, Nel turned to Ichigo. "I see we have a lot in common, especially in the uniqueness of our hair color. So, tell me more about yourself," she said with a child-like eagerness in her eyes. "How did someone like you start out in this repairman business?"
Ichigo hesitated for a moment. How much should he tell her? She knew who he was from her brother, so that much he couldn't lie about. "I guess it all started when I ran away from home…"
As the time wore on, Ichigo found himself relaxing more and more in her presence. She listened intently and knew when to interrupt and when not to. She did not ask him any of his personal history, giving him the option of revealing it if he wanted to.
Their food arrived about 15 minutes later and they paused to eat, only pausing to make small talk in between.
Eventually, he found himself talking about why he ran away from home; the death of Masaki, his guilt, his desire to find the killer and what happened after he did. Nel just sat there and listened silently. When he was finished, she said, "Wow, that's really a lot for a 15 year old to go though."
"Yeah. I missed them, and there were so many times I'd wished I could turn back, but I'd burnt too many bridges to go back."
"So you have no idea where your family is?"
"Actually, surprising as it sounds, I somehow bumped into my father on Thursday. I had a drink with him and we talked about old times. It turned out that my fears about their reactions were unfounded. He said they missed me too, but at the same time he recognized I had my own life to live. We're still family, he said. Oh, and the day after that, I bumped into my best friend from ten years ago. Talk about coincidences."
"So how did he react?"
"It's a she, actually. She was pissed off at first. Railed at me for quite a bit but calmed down eventually. But if I thought she was pissed, her brother's reaction was worse," Ichigo said with a laugh. "He's the head of some family firm, and it's pretty successful at that. When he saw me, he threatened to throw me out of the house for what I did to my friend. He very nearly did too, if my best friend hadn't stepped in." He smiled as he remembered Rukia stepping up uncharacteristically for him against her brother.
"She sounds like she means a lot to you," Nel said.
"Oh yeah, she does. But she's crazy too, kind of like her brother. Sometimes I always wondered if it ran in the Kuchiki family, but then I would remember she's adopted."
He was surprised when a flash of shock crossed Nel's face, but when he blinked, it was gone. "You know the Kuchikis?"
"Yeah, I do. Why?" he asked, confused.
"No, it's just that… I though… I mean, I've heard of them, I didn't expect to run into anyone who knew them." There was a period of silence before Nel said, "Your father's right, you know. You guys are still family. They can't hate you."
He was slightly perplexed with her rapid change of topic, but he disregarded it. "I suppose you're right. But how about you? Is your relationship with your brother doing fine? He never once mentioned you when we talked."
"Oh, it's a long story. Simply put, I wanted to surprise him. You see, we're Japanese, but we spent a lot of our time in Spain. Szayel came here a month ago to visit our baa-chan due to her ailing health, and I stayed in Spain. Not for long though. I came to Japan on Saturday hoping to surprise the both of them, only to find out that our baa-chan got mugged. I guess you could say my appearance was marred by the mugging so he must have forgotten about that. But tell me, how did you manage to find the necklace anyway?"
Ichigo smirked and waggled his finger. "Can't tell you. It's a trade secret."
She leaned closer. "Oh come on, can't you tell me?" She said in a very cutesy manner. But Ichigo wasn't going to cave in, not this time. From somewhere deep in the trenches of his memories, he remembered Rukia constantly trying to pull the same stunt on him countless times. How he remembered he had no idea. But in any case, he had more than enough practice.
So he said, "Maybe later, but tell me something. What exactly is that necklace for? Do all your family members have one?"
"Sure we do. It's somewhat like a family symbol. I'm sure Szayel told you about it. Every family member has one," she said, tugging at the neckline of her dress and pulling out a gold chain. Pulling the whole chain out, it revealed the same white mask-like pendant Szayel had.
Nel continued speaking, but Ichigo did not hear her, as his breath caught in his throat. So that's why it was so familiar. Staring back at him were the two Almadine Garnets on the mask, and they looked exactly like the eyes on the monster that had attacked him yesterday.
There. That's the end of this chapter. Plot not moving much? I would've continued, but it would have lasted too long, so I stopped here.
This will be the last time I add the past part. It's not necessary anymore so it's pointless to do so. Hey, now the story can move faster too.
Oh and how was the fight? Boring? I hope not. Anyway, some extra stuff.
There is such a restaurant as Chez Tomo in Minato, Tokyo. The food I had Ichigo and Nel order were some of the more notable ones. Couldn't find an actual menu so yep.
Medical tape is sometimes used to close up wounds in place of stitches. It's not as effective as actual stitches, and it's useless on body parts that are constantly moving and hairy people, but it's much easier to use than stitches.
The Giant Feather Grass is native to the Mediterranean. Which includes Spain. The part about the smell and taste is made up though, it's probably false.
My next update depends on when I finish the next chapter, so it'll probably be on Monday. Sunday if I'm lucky.
Ok, now that you've read this chapter, review please! Why so few reviews? :( Is it because you don't like me begging for them? If so, tell me in the reviews :D
