Once again, I have to thank Cloud Link Zero for BetaReading this chapter. Thank you, sir :P
Chapter 014 - A Delicious Encounter
Shortly after...
"Well, well...Are you two blowing off work to go for a walk?" Urahara asked the twins as he snuck up behind them, causing them both to jump slightly.
"No way!" Matsuri quickly denied, since that was something that she never did nor intended to do.
"We've got the day off." Fujimaru clarified before shooting off a question of his own. "What about you? You're usually locked inside your lab."
"Oh, I see, I see..." Urahara nodded, before noticing the questioning look on both their faces. "Oh, what am I doing here? Sorry, I was a bit distracted...well, I hit a sticky point in my research, so I decided to get some fresh air. I really should create something that could continuously send a gentle and refreshing breeze to our faces..."
"Yeah, the air in those laboratories is quite suffocating...How about carrying a fan around with you?" Fujimaru proposed and, by the look on Urahara's face, the scientist seemed to have enjoyed the idea. "What are you working on now?"
"We're working on healing supplies." Urahara revealed. Since the twins seemed quite interested in that, he decided to continue. "You see, the med crews are currently pretty understaffed and overworked. That should ease their work quite a bit."
"Are people with amazing healing abilities like Konoka-sama's very rare?" Matsuri innocently asked. That made Urahara's expression change drastically, like he had just seen a ghost...or other kind of spiritual being dangerous enough to scare a Shinigami. "I suppose not just anybody can heal serious wounds overnight..."
"Fujimaru, Matsuri...Please don't speak of Konoka-san's powers again." Both twins' eyes widened, as they had never seen such a dangerous look in Urahara's eyes, ever. "Those with exceptional powers are better off keeping them a secret. Otherwise...people like Konoka-san risk being targeted by those with dark intentions."
"You're kidding, right?" Fujimaru asked in disbelief. "Are her powers that great?
"I most certainly am not. I believe there's already someone who is targeting Konoka-san..." Urahara looked over his shoulders and to both sides, making sure no one was hearing them.
"Who?" The twins asked in unison, both wanting to know who would dare to threaten Konoka's well-being.
"I'm speaking of...myself!" Urahara eventually revealed, with the goofiest expression he could do on his face.
"No!" Matsuri shouted, apparently not noticing the Captain's expression. "We won't let you lay a hand on her!"
"You may be a Captain, but you can't have Konoka-sama!" Fujimaru supported his sister, while Urahara walked back some steps, with both hands defensively in front of his body.
"Kidding! I'm kidding, kids! It was just a joke..." The researcher sighed, as he saw them both calm down, although they still seemed a bit upset. "But I'm serious about keeping her powers a secret."
"Now that you mention it..." Fujimaru thoughtfully held his chin as he spoke. "...she's alone during the day, so I guess it'd be better to keep it quiet."
"You WERE kidding about the other part, though, right?" Matsuri warily questioned Urahara, not trusting in the insane minds most scientists had.
"For now! Eheheh...eh..." Urahara stopped laughing as he felt a slight amount of Killing Intent coming from the young girl.
"I'm keeping my eye on you!" She warned him, before resuming her walk down the street, without a goodbye to the older man.
"A bad temper, really..." Fujimaru tapped Urahara in the shoulder and waved to him, before following his sister. "See ya later, Urahara-taichō!"
"I'm still thinking about that idiot! Ohh, I'm really mad!" Matsuri continued to complain about Urahara's attitude. It had been like that since they left the Captain behind and they had already crossed almost the entire South Rukongai, so Fujimaru's ears were burning already. "What's funny in joking with serious things?"
"Don't know, sis..." He said yet again, while he unblocked his left ear with his pinky finger. "I wonder how Rukia and Renji are doing."
"Oh, it's true!" Matsuri suddenly remembered why they were going so far away from the Seireitei. They were going to visit two of the kids they had met during their Rukongai patrols. "We entered Inuzuri a while ago, haven't we?"
"Yup. They live over this way, don't they?" Fujimaru questioned his sister, while he inwardly sighed by being able to stop her from mentioning Kisuke Urahara.
"I know they said something about living near the river, so I guess we're in the right way." Matsuri answered, while they continued to walk by the riverbank. After some minutes, they identified a familiar girl with black hair and wearing a purple kimono, entering in a small house, about 50 meters away from them. Nodding to each other, the twins continued to walk until they reached the place. "Hmm, I guess it was this one."
"There's only a way to find out." Fujimaru advanced towards the door and knocked on it twice. It was more than enough, as the little girl opened the door immediately afterwards. "Oi, Rukia!"
"Ah! You two!" The surprised Rukia stared to both twins who were smiling to her. "What are you doing here? Are you working?"
"No. We just thought we'd come to see how you're doing." Matsuri answered.
"Oh, really?" Rukia's eyes widened. She felt something unexplainable inside of her. It was the first time she had, besides Renji and the other kids, someone who cared and worried about her. "W-well, I...I wouldn't want you to waste the trip. Please, come see my place."
"Lead the way." Fujimaru told Rukia, who complied. As they entered in the small wood building, the twins had a nostalgic feeling. The place where Rukia lived closely resembled the one where they slept night after night, until the day Seigen rescued them. "This sure brings back memories, doesn't it?"
"Sure does..." Matsuri answered, with a slight wetness filling her eyes.
"Huh?" Someone made a noise, but it wasn't Rukia. As they turned, they saw a boy with red hair looking to the girl, but pointing to them. "Who're they?"
"Fool!" Rukia shouted before she slapped the back of Renji's head, almost making his eyeballs come out in the process. "These are the people who gave us the water before!"
"They did?" The confused and hurt Renji asked, while he rubbed the back of his head.
"You've got no sense of gratitude!" Rukia scolded her best friend. "You're lower than a snake! You're a bug!"
"A bug? Nobody calls me a bug!" The shocked Renji shouted with blank eyes, until something hit his mind. "Wait...I seem to be remembering something!"
"And he'll forget again, I'm sure." Rukia told to the twins, who chuckled. Renji in turn slapped his own forehead, so he wouldn't do something worse to Rukia.
"I've seen this happen before..." Fujimaru whispered to his sister and chuckled. Matsuri lightly elbowed him the gut so he would stop, although she was chuckling a bit as well.
"Please, no more fighting." Matsuri asked, but both children pointed to each other, preparing to make a new accusation.
"If you promise to quit arguing, I'll give you some of the snacks we brought..." Fujimaru vaguely said, while he stared to the opposite side of the kids.
"Snacks?" Both asked at the same time, before their bellies started to growl, causing the twins to chuckle again.
"I'm sure you'll be amazed at these flavors you've never tried before." Matsuri even giggled as she spoke, while Fujimaru decided to hide his face behind his right hand.
"Poor guys..." The male twin thought. At the same time, Matsuri started to open the lunch boxes. There were four closed bowls, filled with a sweet porridge of boiled and crushed azuki beans, one for each of them. There were also four fish-shaped cakes, meant to accompany the porridge. Rukia tried a bit of the porridge, with her eyes immediately starting to sparkle. Renji did the same, although his reaction was a bit different...his eyes were on fire.
"This is great!" Both shouted, before they started to devour the porridge.
"Was I right, or what?" Matsuri proudly questioned, while the confused Fujimaru sweatdropped and stared in disbelief to the children eating as fast as they could.
"What is this called?" Rukia asked, while she took a moment to regain her breath.
"Zenzai. It's a sweet bean porridge. It is meant to be eaten along with the cake." Matsuri revealed, causing Renji to stop for a second and to turn his attention to fish-resembling cake. "That's taiyaki. It's a bean cake filled with red bean paste."
"This is..." Renji had to take another bite before continuing. Fujimaru frenetically changed his eyes from Renji to Matsuri and back to Renji. "It might look like a fish, but the bean jam is great! And the cake part isn't bad either!"
"Renji, give me a bite of that taiyaki, would you?" Rukia suddenly asked. "I want so save mine for the little ones."
"Eh, you didn't even need to ask." Renji smirked, before sharing his bean cake with his best friend. The twins couldn't avoid trading a smile to each other.
"You haven't touched your food yet, Fujimaru. Something wrong?" Rukia questioned the male Shinigami. He immediately felt his sister's eyes falling on him, and instantly became covered in sweat.
"We-Well, I...I'm not hungry. I ate too many candies earlier. I'll leave this for the little ones." Fujimaru offered. He didn't have to look to his sister to know she wasn't convinced. He then reached his pocket and took out a handful of candies. "Here take these too."
"Aren't you a bit old to be eating candies?" Renji asked, with his eyebrow raised. Fujimaru finally let himself look to his sister and both ended up sighing heavily.
Flashback
"Here you have, kids!" Ukitake carried hundreds of candies in his arms, of the most varied colors and flavors. The twins' eyes turned blank as he released them all on the table in front of them. "If you want more, you can ask me anytime!"
"Uhh...thanks, Ukitake-taichō, I guess..." Fujimaru tried to express some gratitude, before trying to count every single candy on the table. "Where in the hell are we gonna put so many?"
"It's just...it has been some time since we've eaten candies." Matsuri tried to transmit the idea that they weren't children anymore. However, Ukitake was searching something inside his Captain's haori and didn't seem to have listened.
"I have something else for you. Captain Ginrei Kuchiki of the 6th Division once gave this to his grandson. I heard he loved it, so I guess you'll like it too." Ukitake told them, while he showed them the two objects he had been searching for. Both looked the same, two green dolls that were meant to represent a man/creature whose body was made of...seaweed! Matsuri and Fujimaru's eyes turned blank and their jaw hit the floor, causing a expression of confusion to appear in Ukitake's face.
End of Flashback
"They seemed really happy, didn't they?" Matsuri asked to her brother, who nodded with a grin on his face. "They seem so much like us..."
"Yeah, that's true..." Fujimaru rubbed the back of his head, while he silently compared the duos. Aggressiveness on her part...check! Verbal abusing on her part...check! Overall female domination...check! "Unfortunately for little Renji, that's so true..."
"Hey, isn't that Kaien?" Matsuri suddenly asked. In fact, on the end of the street, Kaien had stopped to buy some water.
"You're asking me? You're the expert on that matter, not..." She didn't even let him finish the sentence. Thanks to Matsuri's deceivingly small right fist, Fujimaru's face got to intimately know the stone wall on the other side of the street. "So...true..."
"Kaien!" The genius Shinigami turned as he heard a female voice calling for him. Running in his direction came Matsuri Kudō, happily waving to him. "I didn't expect to meet you here, Kaien-kun!"
"Kaien-kun?" Kaien's left eyebrow began to twitch as he repeated the suffix in his head. "Hey, pipsqueak! Are you stalking me or something?"
"S-stalking? Of course not!" The shocked Matsuri took a step back, feeling a bit disturbed by the idea. "Me stalking him? I would never... though that isn't such a bad idea...all I'd need to do is make sure Fujimaru isn't with me! Eheheheh!" Her face did not betray her thoughts, however.
"Well, since you and your brother are always together, I find it a bit strange to find you here in the Rukongai all alone." Kaien told her. Matsuri pouted, since she knew her brother would appear eventually, so she decided to put the plan into action in some other day.
"We went to visit some of the kids we met the other day. He's back there." Matsuri pointed to the place from where she came from, with Kaien following with his eyes. In fact there he was, slowly getting up from the ground and with the left side of his face swollen. "What about you?"
"I came for a walk too." Kaien put both hands behind his head and let out a large grin. "What can I say? I like it here, it feels like home to me! And I have a brother and a sister who still live in the Rukongai, so I come to visit them sometimes."
"A brother and a sister?" Fujimaru asked as he reached them. Strangely, or not that much, he stood by Kaien's side instead of Matsuri's.
"Neither of them are very bright, to tell you the truth." Kaien chuckled a bit. "They're the type to leap before they look. I wonder where they got that from..."
"Have you ever looked in a mirror?" Fujimaru asked and laughed, causing Matsuri jaw to hit the floor and a swell vein to appear on Kaien's forehead. "I'm joking, I'm joking!"
"Well..." Kaien pondered that for a bit. "Truth is that it's better to jump in rather than beat the idea to death without ever doing anything about it. At least they take action, even if it's not always wise."
"Did you always live in the Rukongai?" Matsuri questioned.
"Hmm...we were once part of the aristocracy." Kaien decided to tell them, thinking that they wouldn't react like the others. He was wrong. Their eyes were almost bigger than their heads. That made him sigh. "That was a long time ago. It doesn't have anything to do with me, really...I'm not the aristocratic type anyway. Besides, things like name and rank don't mean much, I think."
"So what means most to you?" The interested Fujimaru asked.
"Living the way I want!" Kaien swiftly answered, with his face showing the most fierce expression they had ever seen. As quicky as he answered though, his expression changed to a bored one and he turned his back on them. "See ya around!"
"He said that with a straight face and then just walked away! I could never pull that off!" Fujimaru threw himself to the ground laughing, while his sister rolled her eyes.
"It's getting late already, Fujimaru!" She warned her brother. "We'll go back to work tomorrow and I still have to find a place to hide that gift..."