The next couple days passed without a problem and Kokoa jumped for joy as she took in fresh air for the first time in days. The weirdo in the hat and Hanataro had come to the conclusion that all the Hollow blood was mostly out of her system and it would be alright for her to get back to her everyday life. While she wasn't allowed to push herself when she trained, it was better than being stuck in that room. She stretched her legs as she smiled at the cloud covered sun; she was going to spend as much time as she could outside for the next several days and wasn't going to complain about it. After being locked in a room like she was, even for medical reasons, she came to appreciate the hot yellow orb in the sky; the only reason she'd be inside was to sleep, sit through class, or if it was raining. She was excited to get some light training in after being bound to a room for three and a half days; the only plus side to that was that she managed to get ahead on homework and got her paper done for history class. Now that she didn't have to worry about homework, she could focus on getting stronger.
"You sure you want to do this so soon?" Moka asked as she stood across from her.
They had managed to get far enough away from the school to not have any spectators, but still close enough to draw attention if the two decided to try to push each other. Kokoa had argued heavily against using the underground training area that the shinigami had been using since they've arrived because she wanted the fresh air; something everyone understood.
"Yea" with a smirk "let's see what you've got."
Everyone just watched as the two stared each other down; everyone knew this would be an interesting fight. Moka had been drinking mostly tomato juice for the past few days while Kokoa has had fresh blood from Hanataro twice a day as medical treatment to recover from the Hollow blood. On the flip side of that though, Moka had been training with Zangetsu in various fighting styles and has been focusing mainly on controlling the power she already had.
"Remember Moka," Zangetsu said "focus on defending for now; I want to see how much you've learned and going on the offensive won't do that."
Moka nodded to her mentor as she bent over at the waist and put her left foot back; the basic stance in capoeira. The tension between the two practically became visible as they waited for the signal to begin. It had been a while since they last sparred, and while this wasn't going to be an all-out spar like when they were at the mansion, it was going to be good. The two vampires smirked at one another as Ginnei walked in between the two.
"Be careful Shuzen-san" Hanataro said to her.
"Alright you two," Gin said "remember this isn't an all-out thing and we're trying not to cause property damage for once. That being said" holding his hand in the air before swiftly bringing it down "begin."
With that he vanished and Kokoa charged at her sister and threw a punch; aiming for the silver haired vampire's face. Moka sidestepped to the left and watched as her sister skid to a halt and attempted a low roundhouse kick to sweep her feet from under her. Just before Kokoa made contact, Moka did a backflip over the attack and landed a little heavier than she intended. It wasn't enough to throw her off, but it did slow her down just enough for her sister to throw an uppercut at her; she backpedaled and fell back into her stance.
As this continued, the group watched as Kokoa threw attack after attack at her older sister and the latter dodging each one with a sidestep, flip, or backpedal. Zangetsu observed more closely than the others; he needed to know what he had to focus on with Moka and what would be a good thing to teach Kokoa. The younger vampire didn't seem to favor kicks like her sister, opting for punches instead. While this was an easy thing to teach, it would slow down his teachings with Moka if he had to teach the two completely different things. It was still early in the fight though.
"Moka's not even trying to block" Kurumu said "she's just dodging; and it looks like she's dancing. Why?"
"It's how the style is;" Zangetsu explained "capoeira is a martial art that's disguised as a dance. There is no emphasis on blocking; instead dodging is the preferred method of defense. This keeps the user from taking unnecessary damage from an attack and allows them to move into a position to make an offensive strike. With how strong her future opponents are bound to be, it makes little sense to teach her to block an attack that could very well break a bone. By dodging the attack, she can create an opening on her opponent and deliver a powerful counter attack."
Moka did another flip over her sister and saw at least four spots she could kick to send her sister flying, but she wasn't allowed to. She had to focus on the defensive side of her training and take note of where she could deliver powerful counter attacks. As Kokoa threw another punch at her, she decided to switch tactics and grabbed the fist coming at her and tossed her sister to the side with a sidestep to the right. The surprise in Kokoa's eyes didn't go unnoticed to her as she passed by her. After going ten minutes of dodging attacks completely, switching to blocking wasn't something that would be expected by anyone.
Kokoa quickly recovered and threw a barrage of punches at her older sister; who seemed to block each one with ease with her hands. She could see her sister was intentionally not attacking because she was asked not to; it was still annoying the living hell out of her though. Every time they had fought in the past, Moka never held any punches. She'd always attack if there was an opening and never held back like this. She put more force in her punches and forced Moka to catch the fists rather than just block them.
"Stop holding yer attacks," she growled "and fight me seriously."
"Sorry Kokoa, I can't just yet" with a smirk just before she head-butt the red head.
The hit caused Kokoa to take a few steps back as she regathered her bearings. The hit wasn't enough to get her a concussion, but it was enough to give her a mild headache and disorientate her. After her head stopped throbbing for a bit, she noticed her sister in the same stance that she had been in when they began the fight. She wanted to land at least one hit on her older sister before Zangetsu told her to take the offensive; but with all the jumping around Moka was doing, it didn't look like it was going to happen. An idea came to her mind that should work.
She charged her sister and began to throw a kick at the silver haired vampire; Moka did a spinning front flip over her, just as she had expected her to do. Kokoa quickly planted the leg she used to throw the kick and used it as a pivot to spin around and throw a punch at where she expected her sister to land. As she spun, she could see the surprised look on Moka's face just before her fist connected with her cheek. The silver haired vampire's head turned to the side from the force of the hit and everyone just stared in shock at what had just happened. Kokoa had just landed a solid hit against Moka; after being confined to a room for three days!
"Did that just…" Yukari asked "happen?"
A smile grew on Kokoa's face as she realized her plan had worked and actually managed to hit her sister for the first time ever. She was ecstatic and buzzing with joy on the inside. She actually did it! What made it so much better was that they were both bare handed. She didn't think it would really work, but it did. It didn't matter to her if it was pure luck or not; it happened!
"Take the offensive Moka" Zangetsu said.
"Sorry Kokoa" Moka said with a smirk.
The younger vampire was snapped out of her mental celebration by a strong kick to the head that sent her to the ground. The hit was just strong enough to keep Kokoa from getting right back up and Zangetsu decided to end the fight. Hanataro rushed over to Kokoa to make sure she was alright.
"I actually hit her" Kokoa kept repeating in a happy tone with a smile and dazed look on her face.
"No concussion;" Hanataro said in relief "she'll probably just have a bad headache when she snaps out of it."
"Has that ever happened before Moka?" Mizore asked.
"No, not once before today;" with a smile as she gently touched the spot she got hit at "I think that might actually bruise a little."
"Want me to heal it for you?" Orihime asked.
"No; for Kokoa it's a big deal. I want her to be able to see the result of her hit" as she kneeled next to her sister and ruffled her hair "now she'll train even harder than before since she's starting to catch up."
"It was a lucky hit, that's all" Yukari insisted.
"Doesn't matter; she still hit me and that's something she's been trying to do for about ten years now. To think, she hasn't even gone through her growth spurt yet" with a chuckle "when it finally happens, she'll stand over just about any vampire her age. Possibly even those older than her."
"What's more impressive is that she managed it while fighting like a bar room brawler;" Soifon said "I guess that unpredictability paid off."
"That's not very nice Soifon-san;" Urahara said as he walked up "wasn't Aono-san just a bar room brawler when you first saw him in the Rukongai districts? He held off three hollows on his own if Yoruichi told me correctly; isn't that why you offered to train him? Could've been some other reason though" with a perverted giggle.
Before anyone could blink, the petite taichou had the blond man in an arm bar and wasn't about to let go of him. She was sick of the accusations he always made towards her and was going to make him stop them one way or another. Just as she was about to dislocate his shoulder, she was struck on pressure points and forced to let go of the man; she felt herself get lifted and saw it was Yoruichi who saved the man.
"Now, now, I thought we talked about this my Little Bee" the feline like woman said with a smile "you can't just try to beat the crap out of him cause he says something you don't like. That's my job" with a Chester grin "and it's usually just to his wallet."
Soifon just looked away from her mentor, wishing she could cross her arms across her chest to make the point that she was pouting. Every time she was about to put the irritating blond man in his place, Yoruichi always showed up to save him; it was annoying, but she couldn't go against Yoruichi.
"What's he even still doing here?" she asked without looking at him.
"I'm glad you asked Soifon-san;" Urahara answered in a jolly tone "the Head Master asked me to make some phones for the girls" pulling one out of his pocket "I just finished the last one before coming here."
"Cell phones?" Yukari asked as she took the flip phone from him.
"Yup; and they're not just any cell phones" as he showed all the features "you see, these phones will keep track of what Hollows you purify. Since the Seireitei has a bounty on certain ones, I can give you store credit for them. For those without a bounty on them, you'll still get some credit; just not as much. As long as you have it with you when you purify the Hollow, it will register."
"In case you haven't noticed," Kurumu said "Mizore and I don't have anything that can purify Hollows. How exactly are we going to get credit?"
"Don't forget about me" Ginnei said.
"That's a good question, and to answer that" he tossed each a bracelet "wear these. Toujo-san helped me make them; they generate a field made up of Pure Nature's Energy around your body. Once they're synced to your youki, you can use ranged attacks to finish off Hollows as well. But until then, you will need to use only close range attacks when fighting a Hollow."
"What about" Kokoa asked with a groan as she sat up "the ones we've already taken care of?"
"Well…" tapping his chin "I could scan your Bake-bake bats for trace reiatsu left behind on them from the Hollows you've purified in the past. I can also try scanning Sendo-san's and Toujo-san's wands to see if anything registered there. I can't guarantee that you'll get credit for every one of them, but it will be something. I'm afraid I can't do much for Kurono-san or Shirayuki-san but give you some credit for the ones I know you two took care of. I'll put together a catalog of things you can purchase from my store; it'll range from candy to training."
-A few minutes later-
Kyo sat nervously in a container as he listened to the sound of electricity running through the machine the hatted man had Kokoa place him in. He gulped a little as the bulbs pointed at him began to flicker to life. After his last experience with a shinigami's experiment, he was terrified to say the least. When the lights came to life without interruption, he was bathed in a green light and he gave a relieved sigh as he didn't feel any sort of pain from it.
"Let's see;" Kisuke said "sex: male, weight: fifty kilograms…"
"That's not right" Kokoa said in surprise "he should be about a hundred kilograms."
"My machine's precise, but I'll check the calibration after this;" getting a nod from Kokoa "now, this might tickle little guy" as he pushed a button.
When he pushed the button, the light changed from green to blue and Kyo began fidgeting as he fought the urge to laugh. Kisuke's eyebrow raised as the list of Hollows Kokoa had fought became visible on the screen.
"My, my" with a laugh "you've been pretty busy. You have a lot of little guys, but quite a bit of nasty fellows here too; this guy here" showing Kokoa "managed to attack a hospital and ran off before a shinigami could arrive. That one killed three non-seated shinigami, and this guy…"
"Tsukune-teme killed that one;" Kokoa growled interrupting him "it had some weird poison on its claws and cut my leg. I had to loan him Kyo so he could kill it."
"We'll keep this our little secret then" he whispered to her with a grin as he hooked her phone to the machine "let's download the list to your phone and…" as he waited for the list to download "you're good to go."
He handed Kokoa the phone and she decided to see how much store credit she had; her jaw hit the floor.
"That's… a lot of zeroes…" in disbelief.
Moka looked over Kokoa's shoulder and saw that she had in the mid hundred thousand's for in-store credit. It only made sense since the younger vampire had taken down some 'big guys', as the shop owner had said, and a number of little ones. Add to that the fact that she actively hunted for any on campus, she was surprised it wasn't higher than that. As she thought about it, she realized that Kokoa's hunts weren't as successful lately because of the presence of the shinigami; had they not showed up, Kokoa would probably have in the millions.
"Now let's see" Kisuke said as he opened up the machine "looks like everything is right in here. Maybe I didn't zero the scale properly after moving the machine here" as he sat on the scale and pushed the on button "would someone read that for me?"
"Sex: male" Moka read "weight: sixty nine kilograms."
"Hehe" the shop owner giggled "my favorite number."
His comment got him a well-placed punch on the head from Soifon, who had a tick mark on her forehead.
"Try to act like you're being serious about this" she growled at him.
"Weight: seventy kilograms" Moka said as the reading changed because of the knot that formed on the top of his head.
"Yoruichi;" he cried like a child "Soifon-san's being mean to me again."
"Age:" Ichigo said "six."
When they finally got Urahara to be serious again, they scanned Moka's Bake-bake bat and discovered it was female and an even lighter weight than Kyo, only thirty kilograms. The only thing that made sense would be that Fairy Tale had modified the female Bake-bake bat to be lighter so anyone would be able to use it. However, that didn't explain the weight difference that Kyo had; he was missing half his weight and there wasn't any logical answer. He decided to look into it after he scanned Ruby's and Yukari's wands; luckily there was some form of reiatsu left on their wands from Hollows that they cleansed.
"Looks like everyone has gotten some in-store credit for the Hollows they've cleansed;" Urahara said with a smile "I'll send a catalog once I put it together. But before I do that, Shuzen-san I'd like to examine Kyo more thoroughly so I can figure out why he's missing half his weight. It will be noninvasive unless I see something that requires me to be invasive; I'll let you know should that happen though."
"Alright, I need to take a few more days to recover anyway."
-Gyokuro and Issa-
The two vampires ate in silence; they were both home from trips and often weren't allowed to talk about their business trips. Gyokuro had figured that Issa cut the tuition funds from Kokoa and Moka after his trip to Yokai Academy, but that did little to bring them back. The Head Master had spoken to both of them about a full time paying job of some sort that would cover tuition and give them a little pocket money. That medic that had treated her daughter had crossed a line with her and she was already formulating a way to make him suffer. It wasn't going to be too hard to make sure that happens.
"I saw Kokoa the other day," she said with a smile "she seems to be doing well."
"As expected of her."
Issa wasn't happy about the fact that the Head Master had secured his daughters jobs to cover tuition to keep them at Yokai Academy. He was tempted to force them back to the mansion even if they were kicking and screaming the entire way. Right now though, that would be a fruitless task considering those that were at the academy for the moment.
"Agreed; I'm glad to see she has more friends, but I'm irritated by the species she's decided to mingle with. A succubus, a yuki-ona, a werewolf, witches, and shinigami? It's a pity that there aren't more vampires at Yokai Academy; there's so many lesser species they seem to have forgotten how weak they really are."
"We can recommend to more families that Yokai Academy is a good educational facility; their curriculum covers a vast amount in the time frame the students are there."
"I thought it was cute how close she seems to have gotten to that medic shinigami;" as she took a drink of her wine and heard her husband nearly choke on his food "I hope she remembers that she's to be wedded to who we pick and doesn't do anything…" she searched for the right word that would set her husband off "drastically pleasurable."
She could feel the killer intent coming from her husband and mentally smiled; the foundation for the medic's demise had been laid and there was little that would keep her husband from targeting him. If she knew her husband as well as she hoped, she knew he would hire an assassin in particular. That irritating runt of a medic would be dead within the month, and with who Issa was bound to hire no one would be able to save him. The assassin who was going to be hired was known as Black Parade, and she knew exactly why the assassin went by that.
'I hope you enjoy your last days worm,' Gyokuro thought with a smirk as Issa got up from the table and went for a phone 'cause there's no escape for you now.'
-Tatsuki-
The black haired human sat on the park bench after her run to catch her breath for a moment before having to run back to her home. One thing had been on her mind ever since she left Yokai Academy, her half brother. While he was technically older than her, she would always see him as the pacifist kid that would sooner run from a bully rather than stand up for himself. He had always been the target of the people she'd beat growing up; rival martial artists, bullies, punks that didn't know when to shut up, the list could go on. The sudden change in his personality had taken her through a bit of a spin. She wondered if his time at Yokai Academy had done him some good; not to mention his time as a shinigami agent as he said his title was because he hadn't graduated from the Shinigami Academy.
She wondered if it had mainly been those girls he had made friends with while at Yokai Academy; she remembered their dad often saying something about having several female friends, and his mother making accusations of forming a harem. They all seemed nice enough. The thing that annoyed the living hell out of her though was that when he met each one of them they had basically been planning to use him. Kurumu planned on making him a slave, Yukari was just making his life hell, Ruby had tried to kill him, Mizore only wanted to reproduce with him, and she couldn't help but to suspect Moka of using him too. But because Tsukune had put that behind him, she had decided to get over that unease and support him.
Speaking of support, she noticed the looks her brother was giving the martial art shinigami; she'd be willing to put money on them having some sort of thing between them. She just hoped it wasn't a strictly physical thing. Her brother a man whore; that thought sent chills down her spine and made her laugh at the same time. The goofy little kid that could barely talk to anyone of the opposite sex, that wasn't family, a man whore? What a change that would turn out to be; of course she'd kick his ass if he was though. He knew better than to turn into that.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" she heard an angry voice practically shout.
"I'm sorry" a girl's voice replied.
"Sorry doesn't fucking cut it you stupid bitch."
Tatsuki had heard enough and decided to tell the guy off. She walked over and could see that the guy was somewhat nicely dressed; designer clothes, a fancy Rolex watch, hair kept neat, and had a silver ring on his right hand. The girl was dressed in a good looking sun dress and had flip-flops on and a bracelet on her right wrist.
"I suggest you leave her alone;" she warned the guy.
The guy looked over and she could see the annoyance on his face.
"This doesn't involve you onna" he said "I suggest you stay out of it."
"Leave. Now" Tatsuki warned again.
The guy had reached to grab her shirt and was greeted by two punches to the gut and a fist to the face before he could blink. The hits knocked him backwards and on his ass as he lost his breath. Rage could be seen in his eyes as he stood back up and pulled a butterfly knife from his pocket; as he flipped it open, a hand grabbed his wrist and spun him to the ground yet again.
"Pulling a knife on a woman? How pathetic" a new voice said.
Tatsuki blinked in amazement as she looked at the person how had just put the abusive boyfriend on the ground. He had wiry black hair that was combed back and reached the middle of his neck, he was dressed in simple jeans and light blue t-shirt with a black button up t-shirt completely unbuttoned, and had red eyes. Tatsuki wondered if the person who had just stepped in was a vampire as the guy picked himself up yet again. The guy had flipped his knife around and attempted a downward stab on the black haired man; who lazily grabbed his wrist, wrenched it behind his back, took the knife from him, and pushed him away.
"If you are going to try to use a knife don't hold it like this;" imitating the guy "you hold it like this" flipping it the right way with the blade tip pointing towards his opponent and demonstrating "see, smooth. Try again."
He tossed the knife back to the guy, who had caught it. Tatsuki just watched in amazement as the black haired guy, yet again, lazily dodged the stab and slash attempts before he grabbed the guy's wrist and karate chopped his gut causing him to bellow forward until he was hit with a knee and sent to the ground again. Whoever this new person was, he had to be very skilled in fighting to seem so calm while facing someone with a knife; no one without some knowledge of self-defense would ever consider it.
"I suggest you leave now; the police are already in route and everyone here has been filming on their phones."
The guy looked around while grinding his teeth together before taking off. The black haired man walked over to Tatsuki and the girl and smiled at her gently.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes" as she wiped her face "thank you. Both of you."
"That guy was a punk;" Tatsuki said "I eat guys like him for breakfast."
"The police should be here soon" as he heard the sirens "I'm Jyuu."
"Ten?" the girl asked.
"My mother doesn't have much of an imagination."
-Twenty minutes later-
"I'm glad they aren't asking us to go to the station with them;" Jyuu said as he and Tatsuki watched the girl go with the police.
"I'm just glad we were here; no telling how that could've gone."
Jyuu nodded; he had seen things get out of hand really quickly before and when that happened, nothing good came as an end result. The guy might've been human, but he refused to stand by while a woman was in danger.
"I didn't want to ask with everyone around" Tatsuki said catching his attention "but you're a vampire right?"
"You know about Yokai?"
"Just recently found out actually; your red eyes give it away."
"I'm surprised you aren't freaking out about a 'creature of the night' being out in broad daylight;" with a chuckle "I was expecting that, or a long list of questions."
"I got most of that out of the way when I found out;" as they walked "I haven't seen you around Karakura Town before, you just passing through?"
"Yea; family business trip of sorts and I lost track of my sister. I was hoping to find her soon before…" his cell phone began to ring "one minute please" as he answered it and walked to the side "Hello? Yes. May I call you back at this number? Thank you, I'll call back as soon as I can. Sorry about that" as he walked back over "work."
"You seem kinda young for the kind of work that calls during lunch and you have to call back later."
"It's complicated…" with a sigh "family business and my sister usually leaves me with most of the paperwork."
The two talked for a while as Tatsuki showed Jyuu around Karakura and they looked for his sister. Tatsuki was afraid to ask about his actual age because she wasn't sure if it was an insult to them or not. She was surprised to find out he was actually half European and half Japanese; his complexion suggested he was completely Japanese, but as she looked at his face with more attention she could see his features were definitely European. What caught her completely off guard though was that the person who beat her at the national tournament last year was a low level vampire; D-class from what Jyuu had said. As time passed they eventually found themselves at the arcade center where Jyuu saw his sister on the DDR machine. She had long sand blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail, dark blue tennis shoes, dark yellow shirt and a skirt made from denim that went past her mid-thigh.
"How many times to I have to tell you;" he said as she noticed him "if you're going to go out and about, take your phone with you."
"Hehe…" as she scratched her head "I forgot. I really wanted to see what games the arcade had."
"Thank you for showing me around Karakura Town, Arisawa-san;" with a smile to her "I owe you dinner or something."
"Sounds good."
"Onii-chan has a date" his sister teased as Tatsuki put her number in his personal phone and she handed it back to him.
"Come on" as he grabbed his sister "work called."
Tatsuki could see the blush on Jyuu's face as he led his sister down the street. She couldn't help but to think she had the same kind of relationship with her brother; always having to look after him and keep him out of trouble when they were together. Now though, he was finding trouble all over the place and seemed to be able to handle himself. He's grown up quite a bit since she last saw him and while she was happy about that, she was worried too. How long would it be until he found himself in a situation he couldn't handle on his own?
-Kokoa-
The small vampire laid sprawled out on the roof of her dorm and was enjoying the sunlight in the new black two piece swimsuit she bought. It was a long day getting all the notes she needed from her various sensei and showing each of them the note that Hanataro gave her to make sure the absences didn't count against her. While she had been locked in the detox room it was hard for her to relax at all and now she finally had the chance to. There were no Hollows on campus, not that she'd be able to do anything about it at the moment, she didn't have to worry about homework, had a new swimsuit, and didn't have a care in the world for now. The calm air gently blew over her as she stared at a cloud that looked like a chibi bat; with as calm as everything was, her mind was still busy with thoughts.
Ichigo had told her that Hanataro stuck up for her against her mother and even said that she owed an apology to her. Kokoa knew that couldn't have played over too well with her mother; she was too much like her father and demanded extreme respect from those around her. The medic had to know that her mother was extremely powerful, and yet he still stood up to her.
"Shuzen-san; is this guy a friend of yours?" she heard from the stairwell entrance.
She rolled over and saw one of the girls from her floor holding onto Hanataro by his arm; most likely to punish him if he had lied in order to get into the girls' dorm.
"Yea, I'll make sure he leaves before lights out" as she rolled back over.
She didn't hear anything from the girl as the door closed and Hanataro walked towards her. A part of her really wanted to ask him why he stood up for her against her mother, but she didn't want to break out into tears again like last time. He seemed to have that feel to him that helped her open up to him in ways she's only ever opened up to her sister, and then some. She had never told anyone but him what she thought about her time at the mansion, she cried on him, used him as a pillow twice and even drank his blood. They had a weird friendship.
"Are you feeling alright Kokoa-san?" he asked as he sat down next to her.
"Yea; I spent most of the day relaxing and haven't had any weird feelings."
"That's good to hear;" with a smile "I think after your last dose tonight you should have all the Hollow blood out of your system."
"Awesome."
The two sat on the roof in silence; Hanataro unable to think of how to continue the conversation, and Kokoa trying to think of a way to say 'thanks for saving my life' without sounding sappy. The more she thought about it though, the harder it was going to be. He had helped Yukari return her to her proper age, saved her from the Hollow during the massive attack nearly a week ago, and had saved her from the Hollow blood she had been poisoned with. How exactly can thanking him not sound sappy without turning the situation into a perverted scene from a manga?
"That two piece looks good on you;" Hanataro said with a slight blush "it brings out your eyes."
"Thanks;" with a blush of her own as she shrunk back a bit "that's actually why I bought it."
"Why'd you decide to come to the roof instead of the pool?"
"Vampires and water don't mix," she answered "and I got tired of the stares from everyone. They all look at me as if I choose to drink the Hollow blood and I'd rather be up here away from everyone for a while."
"You know the truth, that's all that matters right?"
"That's not enough for some people. They make up their minds before they know the facts and think that they know the whole story; they can go fuck themselves for all I care. I'm not gonna waste my breath on someone that won't listen to the truth. Aren't you hot in that" looking at Hanataro in his shinigami uniform.
"It's a little warm, but it's no big deal. After wearing it for so long, you kinda just get used to it."
As they continued talking, the cool breeze that had kept Hanataro from overheating vanished and he had to take off his top. As he did, Kokoa saw the four scars that ran across his back that were the result of him saving her a week ago. Guilt began to fill her; no matter how much she had apologized for not being able to handle the Hollows on her own, it never seemed to ease her mind. This was the first time she was seeing the damage though. As she looked at the scars, she began to think that they just seemed a lot worse than they really were because of his tiny build and lack of mass. If he were bigger, then maybe they wouldn't seem as bad.
"I'm sorry" she said.
"About what?"
"Your back. I wasn't…"
"Kokoa-san, we talked about this. It's alright" as he turned around and she saw the single scar across his torso.
"How did you…" feeling uneasy about it as she pointed at the injury on his torso "get that scar?"
"The Septima Espada; I had gone to Las Noches in Hueco Mundo to heal my friends and he attacked me and the person I was treating."
"An Espada; like Jagerjaquez?" as she traced the scar.
"Yea; only he was technically weaker than Jagerjaquez-san."
Kokoa gently kissed him on the cheek; his skin was soft and warm, something she didn't expect to be on someone who had seen the battlefield. Since she considered him a friend, a kiss on the cheek couldn't really be considered a sappy thank you; and it sure as hell didn't classify as something perverted.
"Thanks for saving me from everything" as the both of them blushed.
