Author's Note: Just noticed the 'Chapter' part on some of the chapters is aligned kinda weird. I'm not sure what the problem is. It shows up just fine when I'm editing or previewing, and I've tried to fix it to no avail. Probably something to do with . Has no affect on my writing of course, so just try to ignore it I guess.
Chapter 7
Konoka
Chirping birds and sunlight slipping in through the blinds of his bedroom window roused Aaron from a slumber he failed to recall falling into. Of course, passing out and then awakening somewhere else was becoming a recurring theme for the new Shinigami. Keeping that in mind, he didn't fret over the how and why he had gotten back into his bedroom.
"Wait...what in the…?"
What concerned him far more was the realization he wasn't alone underneath his sheets. He first presumed Tessai Tsukabishi, the giant that worked at the Urahara Store, had trailed him home, yet the individual snoozing peacefully beside him was far smaller, delicate even. With some hesitancy, Aaron jerked his comforters off the mysterious person. Locks of wavy, brown hair greeted him, and he gagged on his own saliva, unsure why a barely clothed woman was lying in his bed.
"That's it! I'm dreaming! This must be a dream!" He hit himself upside the head and chuckled. "Yeah, I'm just having some kind of crazy dream!"
He laid back down to get some more shut eye, but when he neither woke up nor sensed he was truly asleep, he jumped up and began sweating like a dog in the heat.
"Okay, this is real! This is actually happening!"
The girl moved some, disturbed by the sudden glare of light against her bone-tired eyelids. This afforded Aaron a crystal clear glimpse of her face.
"K-Kana…?!" he said in a horror-stricken whisper. It was Kana alright, although the color of her bedridden hair had thrown him off. Shaking his head, the issue was the least of his concerns. "W-What the hell is she doing here?!"
Unintelligible muttering escaped her before she reached out and wrapped her arms around him on spur of the moment. Her bear-like grip sucked him in, and Aaron blushed profusely at their faces becoming mere inches apart. Peach-scented perfume hit his nose, causing him to sigh in ecstasy. Kana even made sleeping adorable somehow. As bizarre as things had become, Aaron admittedly yearned to remain like this for as long as possible. Her lips, ripe for the taking, made him pucker his own. He moved in closer. He understood what he was doing was wrong but hardly cared.
A knock at his door caused him to bite his tongue, and he had to stop himself from wailing at the top of his lungs in agony. His reddened eyeballs shot over to his doorway, where his sister, Izumi, was standing. She smiled slyly; this was more than enough to give her brother a good idea what she was going to ask.
"Oh, am I interrupting something here?"
Aaron struggled to respond, "N-No! O-Of course not! I-It's not what it looks like!"
"H-Huh? What's going on?" With a yawn and stretch of her arms, Kana rubbed her peepers and probed around in confusion, half-awake at this point. "Oh! Good morning, Izumi! Morning, CT!"
"M-Morning my ass!" Aaron hollered back. "What are you doing in my bed?!"
"You didn't seem to mind her being there a few seconds ago," said a snickering Izumi.
"S-Shut it, you! I was asking her!"
Kana shrugged. "Hmm. You know what, I don't have a clue either! I guess I was so tired last night, I just fell asleep here! I was partying with some of my friends from work, and we were out pretty late! Those girls sure can boogie!"
"...Yeah, that sounds like something you'd do alright."
"I was wondering why you came home smelling like a brewery," chimed Izumi.
Kana giggled. "Yeah, I was pretty wasted! M-My head is sorta killing me actually. Could we close those blinds already? That stupid Sun thingy is getting on my nerves!"
"I-Izumi wasn't kidding! You really do reek!" Aaron pinched his nose. "I-I still don't get why you had to crash in my bed. Wouldn't Izumi's or even my Mom's make more sense?"
"Your bed is really comfy, CT! I felt like Goldilocks! Yours was the only one that was just right! You move a lot when you sleep though! Your foot kept poking me in the butt!"
Aaron chose not to dignify that last remark with a response.
"Well, I won't interrupt whatever you two lovebirds were up to." Izumi was trying, and failing, to hold back a bout of mocking laughter. "I'll...uh...just go get ready for work."
Aaron tossed a heavy book at her, one that missed its intended target by the skin of her teeth. Dealing with an insufferable sibling like her was bad enough without Kana's idiotic antics adding on to his misery.
"Oh, I should probably get started on breakfast!" Kana yawned again and added, "Then again, maybe I should catch some more Z's! W-Wait, maybe that's a bad idea. I haven't even started on the laundry yet. Ugh! I forgot to do the dishes too!"
"...Alright, I take it back. You are without a doubt the worst housekeeper that has ever lived," said Aaron with absolutely no remorse. Sighing, he hopped out of his bed and put on a shirt. Everything that had transpired almost made him forget he still had to go to school today. "Uh...by the way, what's going on with your hair? I thought you were a blonde."
"Oh yeah...a-about that..." Kana spoke apprehensively. "N-No, brown is my natural hair color. I just dye it blonde for work. Guys here in the human world seem to really like blondes for some reason."
Aaron, feeling strangely guilty, could hardly argue.
"I-I think you look better with brown hair," he stated in a flustered peep. "Y-You should just keep it like that."
"You think so? Well, my boss won't like it, but if you think it looks good, CT, I'll do it!"
She flashed him a seductive smile. Boiling like a piping hot tea kettle over a stove, Aaron dashed out of his room and into the sanctity of the bathroom.
"Man, he must've really had to go!" chimed Kana. She then rested her aching skull on one of Aaron's pillows. "Screw it. I'm just gonna take a quick nap, sleep all that liquor away, and then get to work!"
It didn't take her long to doze off. Izumi, brushing her teeth, peeked in at her.
"She really is the worst housekeeper ever. I don't think she's done a thing since the first day she got the job. Oh well. Guess it doesn't matter. That just means things are exactly the same as before she got here."
#
Konoka Mitsumi, aka the Red-Haired Beast of Hino Municipal High School, rose from her luxurious bed and moaned, gradually dragging herself out of her dreams and into the real world. She debated if waking up in the first place was such a great idea. Remembering she had little choice in the matter, she stood and shuffled like a zombie onto her bedroom balcony to get a view of the morning sun shining brilliantly in the heavens. It was going to be a beautiful day, just like the weatherman promised. Still, this did nothing to erase the frown painting her lips.
"...Dammit. I really wish I could just skip today or somethin'..."
Melancholy tinged her speech. She headed back into her room, taking a seat in front of a large mirror to brush her messy, scarlet hair into something more acceptable for a girl of her standing. Then again, she hardly cared about such things. Most at Hino High didn't even keep in mind that she was the wealthy heiress of a now deceased coffee manufacturer. No, to them, she was the Red-Haired Beast, the resident scourge on campus and constant troublemaker. She much preferred that persona, one where no one was dumb enough to mess with her, one where she was free to do what she wanted, when she wanted. At home, she felt restricted like a bird trapped inside of a cage.
The door to her room was flung open. Jives, her loyal assistant, stepped in and bowed toward his mistress.
"Good morning, Miss Mitsumi," he stated.
"...Good morning, Jives," she weakly responded, not bothering to turn to her butler. Her absentminded gaze instead remained on her reflection. "If you're here to tell me not to ditch school again, you can save it. ...I was plannin' on going today. I need to get out of this house. It's gettin' on my nerves for some reason."
She brushed at her flowing locks harder, the noise drowning out the thoughts racing in her mind. Jives said nothing at this and checked a close-at-hand calendar. He was well aware of the date; Konoka was too judging from her behavior.
"...I didn't mean to disturb you so early in the morning, Miss Mitsumi, but I felt it prudent to inform you that it is time to come downstairs for breakfast. I've also taken the liberty of preparing your things for school and have also arranged your limousine to drop you off there at a timely manner. I do wish you would consider what I proposed the other day however."
"...Private school, right?"
"Indeed. Someone of your status shouldn't be cavorting around with..."
"No thanks," she said sharply. "All those kids with silver spoons up their asses really piss me off. No, I'm just fine at the school I'm going to."
Jives emptied his throat. "Yes...of course. It is your decision, Miss Mitsumi. As always, if you need anything, do not hesitate to call on me. I'll be here in a flash."
He didn't need to tell her that, she thought. He was always there when she required him and oftentimes when she didn't. This had been the case her entire life. Indeed, he might have been meddlesome at times, but Jives was one of the few people she could honestly rely on, one of the few people she thought of as 'family.'
"Family, huh?"
Sighing at nothing in particular, she took heed of a nondescript box on her desk amongst her other possessions. It seemed like it was calling out to her, so she picked it up and then opened it. An emerald attached to a golden necklace rested inside. She reached out for it, yet her fingertips paused, sensing something peculiar about the object today. She soon shrugged the vibe off as her imagination.
"...I need to get it together already."
The necklace fit snuggly around her neck. She was a bit shocked by this; she hadn't worn the thing in ages and presumed she had outgrown it. A small smile showed she was happy this wasn't the case. It quickly vanished as she checked her watch for the time. School would be starting in less than an hour.
"...Alright. Let's just get this over with already."
Whether she liked it or not, she was just going to have to find a way to get through the rest of the day.
#
Konoka, after much effort, made her way down to her mansion's dining room. A cavalcade of loyal maids and butlers lined the path toward it, with each and everyone of them respectfully bowing at their mistress. The display was enough to make Konoka roll her eyes. Her staff did this every morning; she guessed they were contractually obligated to. If she had her way, she would have them doing something far more productive.
The dining room was likely big enough to be a two bedroom apartment. While they were still alive, her parents used it whenever they were throwing lavish parties for their friends and associates. Nowadays, it merely served as a place for their only child to eat.
She stepped into it, and a pair of her servants closed the doors behind her. Dressed in her school uniform—it consisted of a long-sleeved, white blouse, an almost knee-length black skirt, and a red bow wrapped around the shirt collar—she sat at the head of a long table in the center of the room. She found it excessive and pointless, just like the chandelier that hung overhead. It was made for dozens, but she was the sole person that ever ate at it. Unlike her mother and father, she never invited guest over nor did she care too. She preferred solitude, something the rather vacant walls of her mansion provided.
Minutes passed as she waited impatiently for her breakfast, drumming her fingers against her leg. Most assumed being rich meant you got to partake on the finest of cuisine. While this may have been true, Konoka knew that also meant it took forever to prepare and get to you. A simple cheeseburger sounded really good to her at the moment.
"...This is so stupid."
Jives eventually arrived with her meal and placed the steaming hot try in front of her before removing the lid. Wordlessly, she dug into it.
"I apologize for the delay, Miss Mitsumi," Jives said with an apologetic bow. "One of the cooks discovered the natto to be slightly outdated, so he whipped out a fresh batch for you to partake in. We also decided to rewash all the rice after discovering some of it appeared less than satisfactory. Fortunately, there was enough that did pass the cook's inspection to serve to you."
"...It's fine, Jives. Thank you."
In spite of her less than enthusiastic claim, Jives gathered things were anything but 'fine.'
"Er...t-the reconstruction of the east side of the mansion should be completed by the end of the week. Again, the construction crew apologizes for any inconvenience they may have caused you with all the noise these past few days."
"Thanks for the update," was all Konoka had to say on the matter while she stuffed white rice into her piehole. "I still don't get what the hell happened in the first place."
Whatever went down occurred around the time Don Kanonji had shown up on her doorstep to exercise a supposed spirit, but the details on what followed escaped her. She jokingly wondered if her memory had been erased.
Other than the clattering of Konoka's chopsticks, things became unnervingly quiet within the confines of the dining hall. Believing they could no longer dance around the problem at hand, Jives cleared his throat once more.
"As I'm certain you realize, today is the anniversary of the day your parents perished in that unfortunate car accident ten years ago."
Konoka chewed her food, moments later answering, "...What's your point?"
Feeling bolder, Jives replied, "I've arranged for your limousine to take you to the cemetery where they're buried so you can see them before you head off to school. I'm sure they would greatly appreciate..."
"Forget it, Jives," she remarked at once. Jives anticipated such a reaction; it was the reason he had contemplated keeping his mouth shut. "Who says I gotta go see them just because of what happened? I've got better shit to do than waste my time in some graveyard. Tell the driver to just take me straight to school."
"...I apologize, Miss Mitsumi, but that just won't do." Jives spoke in his usual calm and collected voice, yet there was also some sternness to it. It caused Konoka to grumble. "Dozens of your mother's and father's friends, family, and former business partners will be in attendance to honor them, and the head of the ceremony is expecting you to say a few words. Now then, I've already prepared a speech for you to..."
"Tell them to kiss my ass, Jives. I'm not goin', and that's final."
"B-But, Miss Mitsumi, you have to…!"
Her faithful butler didn't get the opportunity to change her mind. Konoka stormed out of the room, slamming the door hard behind her.
"W-Wait a moment, Miss Mitsumi!" Jives exhaled and eyed Konoka's unfinished meal. "I wonder if the mistress will be alright today..."
#
Mirroring the scene from earlier, a row of butlers bordered the pathway to Konoka's limousine on the right of her, whereas a brigade of maids stood on the left. Behind their mistress was Konoka's black-suited security team, all of them ensuring the perimeter was safe enough for the heiress of the Mitsumi fortune to trek down. Their presence should have been comforting, yet Konoka instead found them all incredibly annoying. No matter where she went, there was always someone in her employment stalking her from the shadows. Apparently, none of them understood the concept of 'personal space.'
"Would you guys just back off already?!" she screeched as her bodyguards scanned her limo with a metal detector to check for explosives. As large and intimidating as the group was, even they couldn't help but shake in their boots thanks to Konoka's sharp tongue. "I'm just a stupid coffee heiress! Who in their right mind would try to kill me?! Now get outta the way already!"
She shoved them aside, climbed into her vehicle, and closed the door with so much force, a crack formed in the tinted glass. Fearing for their very lives now, her security staff nodded at one another and all came to the conclusion their mistress was indeed safe and sound for the time being. Not even the most hardened of criminals would be foolish enough to go toe-to-toe with her, they thought.
Her white limo was given the clear to drive down the extensive pathway leading to the large, secure gates that cut off the Mitsumi mansion from the rest of the world.
"Thank God..." Konoka said lowly while the car passed through them. Simply being away from home had a calming effect on her. She felt she could finally breathe. "Tsk! I can't believe Jives. I have half a mind to fire that guy..."
Her driver, curious at her mumbling, was unable to resist glimpsing at her using the rearview mirror. He focused solely on driving however after she shot him a look that sent shivers crawling down his spine.
Her mind went back to the matter of Jives. Even if she truly craved to dismiss him as her personal assistant for being such a pain in her behind, her conscience would never let her. For whatever reason, he had stuck with her after her parents died, even after so-called friends, family, and investors had abandoned her in her time of need. None of them cared for her, only her money. Jives was different though. He genuinely seemed to worry for her wellbeing, going out of his way even to ensure she became a proper lady her parents could be proud of.
"Ugh. I guess I really can't just throw his old ass onto the street."
"Miss Mitsumi, the cemetery is coming up on the next block. Would you like me to stop?" her driver postulated.
Konoka chewed the inquisition over. All this talk of family had gotten to her. Her previous, adamant stance of claiming to have no interest in seeing her folks was beginning to sway in the opposite direction.
"N-No. Just...take me to school," was the response she settled on. Her driver nodded, and the limo screeched past the cemetery and into an oncoming lane of traffic. While it did so, Konoka could see a well-sized crowd, likely the one there to commemorate her parents, in the distance. Though she hadn't the faintest idea, her tightly balled fists were trembling violently. "...Why am I gettin' so pissed off all of a sudden?"
Deep down inside, she knew the answer. None of those people in the graveyard gave a damn about her mother and father. This was the first time anyone besides Jives and herself had even gone to see them since they first died. She had half a mind to leap out of the limo and pound all those using her folk's name to further their own ambitions into a bloody pulp. Somehow, someway, she stayed put in her seat, opting to hold in a rage that threatened to erupt like lava from a volcano.
#
School had been the furthest thing from Konoka's thoughts when her chauffeur pulled up to Hino Municipal High School. So lost in her muddled thinking, she hadn't even realized this until her driver let her know.
"...Huh?" she responded, leering out her window to see other students entering the edifice of learning. "R-Right. Thanks."
Her chauffeur opened her door, and the heiress of the Mitsumi fortune, somewhat lethargic, climbed out of the vehicle, grabbed her things, and made her way inside the school.
"Uh...h-have a good day, Miss Mitsumi!" her driver shouted to her back.
Making her way to her locker, Konoka stashed what she didn't need into it, replacing them with books and other nicknacks she would require for class. The second she finished and closed her locker, she flinched at two very large and very irate boys towering over her. The one on the left had a black eye, and as he cracked his knuckles, he was ready to dish out one of his own. The delinquent on the right meanwhile kept glancing at his cohort. He was obviously the one who took the orders of the duo. Konoka figured him no real threat.
"There you are, Red-Haired Beast!" the black-eyed boy bellowed. "I've been waitin' for ya! I was startin' to think you were too scared to show your face before me! I'm here to pay you back for what you did to me the other day! No one beats me in a fight!"
"No one except me I guess." As tempting as the idea of dishing out some more pain sounded to Konoka, she had neither the energy nor the patience today to deal with a brute such as the one before her. "Unless you want to end up in a coffin this time around, I suggest you and your flunkie here get lost."
Usually, a simple threat or two was enough to get most out of her face and running with their tails between their legs. This hadn't been the case in this instance however. When she slung her backpack over her shoulder and attempted stepping through the two thugs, they cut her off and shoved her back. Her bag hit the ground, scattering her possessions all over the place.
Konoka, now incensed, said, "...I'm tryin' to do you clowns a favor and let you off easy this time. I suggest you both use whatever you have rattlin' around in those thick skulls of yours and take this opportunity to get the hell out of my sight. I'm in a bad mood today."
The black-eyed boy replied, "You don't scare me, Red-Haired Beast!"
He loosed a punch, and Konoka, caught off guard, sidestepped it at the last moment. Nearly being hit set something off within the Red-Haired Beast. Seeing red, she grit her teeth, took hold of her attacker's arm, and effortlessly chucked him across the hallway. He bounced against the ground like a stone skipping across water prior to colliding face first into a row of steel lockers. Needless to say, he was knocked out cold.
His friend jumped into the mix and tried striking at Konoka from behind. She responded by elbowing him in the stomach. Being unable to breathe, the delinquent backpedaled, powerless to stop Konoka from headbutting him square in the face. He slumped to his knees, blood dripping from his now crooked nose. Worse than his pain was Konoka lifting him off the floor by the collar of his shirt. She cocked her hand back and readied to finish the job, yet she couldn't once her prey began to whimper like a helpless child.
"...Maybe next time you and that idiot you call a friend over there will listen when someone tries to give you some good advice!" she said through clenched choppers. "Like I said, I'm not in the mood to screw around today, so take your pal here and scram before I take a few of your limbs as souvenirs!"
The boy got the message loud and clear. Tripping over himself, he scurried down the corridor like a rat retreating into its hole. This suited Konoka perfectly fine. She wiped her hands clean before reaching down to refill her backpack with her belongings.
"Those guys weren't even worth the trouble," she uttered. "Dammit. I'm gonna be late to class thanks to this shit."
Grasping a hefty history book, Konoka stopped in place, becoming aware of a massive shadow hovering over her. Her head whipped around, and her red eyes became as wide as saucers at the brute she assumed she had dispatched earlier being seconds away from pouncing on her.
The last thing she expected was to be saved, yet that's exactly what happened. Someone came charging in, ramming their shoulder into the boy that was at least twice his size. The blow did the trick; the giant was swept off his feet and into a garbage can, sending trash flying all over. Konoka couldn't hold back a chuckle; the look suited the brute perfectly to her.
"You...I know you," she said, narrowing her eyelids at Aaron Higuchi. He instinctively yelped, afraid the Red-Haired Beast was going to reward his selfless efforts by breaking him in half. "You're Higuchi, right? The kid from Class 2C?"
Aaron sheepishly nodded. "S-Sorry. I-I didn't mean to..."
"Y-You and your little boyfriend are gonna pay for this!" Konoka's black-eyed, would-be assailant gathered the remains of shattered pride as he pointed a trembling finger at the individuals that had blackened his remaining eye. "I'm gonna pay you both back, you hear!"
The threat didn't bother Konoka in the slightest. The boy, not wishing to push his luck any further, got going while the going was good. Aaron inched away from Konoka while she was paying him no mind, wanting to jet somewhere else himself.
"You..." she called out to him. Strangely, he discovered himself unable to move after hearing this, his legs becoming as heavy as lead. "Why did you…?"
Her senses heightened at someone approaching.
"No...way he's that stupid," she mumbled, thinking the guy she had thoroughly flattened had returned for round two. Instead, she spotted a teacher, the same teacher she had been spending countless hours with for detention. Now she understood why the brute from before had gone so abruptly. "...God dammit. I don't have time for this shit..."
"Let's make a break for it!" Aaron suggested.
"You ain't gonna hear any argument from me."
"Hold it right there, you two!" the instructor ordered, putting a stop to their plans. "Of course! Whenever there's a fight or some other trouble happening, you seem to be in the center of it, Miss Mitsumi."
"Piss off," she snarled. "I didn't even start it this time."
"And I didn't do much of anything," Aaron said out of earshot.
The teacher painstakingly inspected the two students standing in front of him as if doing so would reveal they were fibbing. Stumbling upon nothing, he frowned and contemplated on what to do with them.
"Can I go now?" a jaded Konoka inquired. "I'm already late for math class as it is."
"Yeah, me too?" added Aaron. "Y-You gave me some homework that I forgot to...uh...I mean, homework that I totally finished, but need to...er...look over! That's it!"
"I don't think so!" declared the instructor. "I know full well you were capable of something like this, Miss Mitsumi, but it seems you've roped in an accomplis now! I'm disappointed in you, Higuchi! Violence in the hallways! Attacking your fellow students!"
Aaron gasped. "H-Huh?! I-It wasn't like that at all! I was just…!"
"I don't want to hear it! Both of you, follow me!"
Without the Class 2C teacher, who was fuming with ire, elaborating any further, Aaron and Konoka sighed, having a good idea what was to come.
#
Kana tossed another piece of candy down her throat while she lazied around on one of Kisuke Urahara's dusty store counters. Urahara, sorting some of his inventory, broke away from the task to curl his lips at his guest's antics.
"Would you mind getting down, Miss Mitarashi?" he kindly requested. "Just think of what'll happen if a customer comes in and sees you like that!"
Kana glanced at the door and then laughed, much to her host's chagrin. "What are you talking about, Mister Hat and Clogs? You know as well as I do that no one ever comes to a run down dump like this! You've got nothing to worry about!"
Urahara chose not to chastise her over her less than kind review of his establishment, knowing it to hold some truth. In fact, other than Kana, he hadn't had a customer since he opened his humble store this morning.
Snacking on a stick of licorice, Kana said, "So, what do you think about what I told you?"
Urahara scratched at his beard stubble. He then shrugged, happily smiled, and replied, "I honestly haven't the slightest idea!"
Kana fell off the counter and onto her cranium. "W-What do you mean you don't know?!"
"Hmm? I'm just a simple shop owner. You can't expect someone like me to have all the answers to life's questions."
"Tsk! That's bull!" Kana got to her feet and wiped her outfit clean of dirt. There was plenty of it piled on the floor of the Urahara Store. Tessai hadn't gotten around to sweeping evidently. "You're a Shinigami! Not only that, but you're a Shinigami that sells weird junk!"
"'Weird junk', you say?"
"That's right!" Holding up an ordinary-looking piece of bubble gum, Kana said, "Like this! What even is this?! I know it's not regular gum! It tastes awful!"
"Um...it actually is just gum, Miss Mitarashi. It's a new flavor of my own invention! Miso soup! I'm...er...guessing by your reaction it doesn't taste all that great."
Embarrassed, Kana chucked the confection away and got something else. "Uh...I-I meant this thingy!"
The black eyepatch in her grasp definitely wasn't candy. It was similar to something a pirate of the seven seas would wear in her opinion.
"I would be very careful with that if I were you, Miss Mitarashi," warned Urahara as she put it on. "That eyepatch is designed to devour the wearer's excess spiritual energy. That's strange though! I don't recall having that thing lying around the shop..."
After Kana collapsed and began seeing stars on his floor, he came to her aid by pocketing the eyepatch and assisting her to a standing position.
"Y-You weren't kidding about that thing! I feel totally drained! I-I could use some sugar..." a woozy Kana stated. "That's weird! I swear I've seen that thingy somewhere before..."
"Please don't try that again, Miss Mitarashi. You hardly have any spiritual energy as it is in your powerless state. The next stunt like that might kill you. I'd hate to see anything happen to my number one customer, so take more care in the future."
"Aww! You're so sweet! Wait, are you just trying to butter me up so I'll buy more stuff from you?"
Urahara whistled innocently and went back to checking over his supplies.
Kana changed the subject. "So you really don't have any ideas about all these weird Hollows in Hino? What about that Shinigami me and Sasune saw at Aaron's school? She was the reason all those Hollows were there that day! I don't get it though. Why would a Shinigami be working with Hollows? That's not exactly in our job description!"
Urahara, polishing a glass counter, replied, "Perhaps this unknown Shinigami you're talking about is the same culprit behind all the strange Hollows that have been popping up in Hino."
Kana gasped. "You really think so?! I never even thought to put those two things together!"
"H-Haha. Really now? Not at all?" Urahara gathered his 'number one customer' was fairly dense, but this was a bit much, even for her. "I would suggest tracking down that Shinigami as soon as possible and finding out what she's up to. Of course, if you need any supplies to assist you…!"
Kana chucked a bag of treats at his beaming face, piping him down.
"I should've know you were just trying to get me to buy something!" she exclaimed. Snapping her fingers, she added, "Oh! I better tell CT about that lady!"
She hopped off the counter to do so, yet her strength left her all at once. Urahara winced when she crashed into the ground again.
He stood over her, saying, "Perhaps you should rest here for the time being, Miss Mitarashi. You really do need to give your spirit energy a chance to recover."
She whimpered; this sufficed as an answer for Mister Hat and Clogs.
#
Aaron usually took great solace in the final bell of the day ringing at school. Nonetheless, that wasn't the case today. No, he glowered up at the clock, knowing that unlike the rest of his classmates, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He fumed like petulant child at his desk and balled his fingers, desiring to strike out at something or someone. He held his anger in check. His fists had gotten him in enough hot water, he thought.
"You all did a wonderful job at the sports festival the other day!" The teacher, the very same one that had caught Aaron and Konoka redhanded earlier in the day, shouted at the backs of his departing class. "Still, I don't want any of you slacking off! There's a test coming up this Friday that I want all of you to study hard for!"
The news induced a wave of fussing from Class 2C. Aaron had no sympathy for them. They, unlike him, weren't going to have to serve detention for the next two hours. Still seething, he felt the punishment harsh considering he didn't believe he had done much of anything other than coming to the aid of a person who plainly needed his help. He tried explaining all this to his instructor, but they weren't hearing any of it. So, Aaron's whole evening was officially ruined.
"This is bullshit..." he uttered beneath his breath.
"Yo! Why are you still sitting there?" Sasune strolled over to his best friend with his bookbag across his shoulder. "Didn't you hear the bell? It's time to go! Since we've almost been killed dozens of times the last couple of weeks, I was thinking we should hit up the maid café and celebrate our...uh...lack of dying! What do ya say?"
Aaron, glaring a hole into the chalkboard, retorted, "...Can't. I have detention."
"Huh?! You?! A goodie-two-shoes like you has detention?! What'd you do, jaywalk in the hallways or something?"
"Look, it's a long story. Just...go on without me, and tell Kana I can't train with her today."
"I see. Well, that's unfortunate, pal." Sasune sure didn't sound all that empathetic. He patted his friend on the back, though Aaron couldn't help but feel this routine was just an act, partly stemming from the way the Quincy was smirking like a supervillian in a comic book. "I guess I'm just going to have to keep Miss Mitarashi company today."
"...I knew you were going to say something like that. Don't you dare try anything funny with her, you hear? She's an idiot, so she might actually fall for an asinine stunt of yours."
"Heh. I'm not promising anything! Have fun in detention, chump!"
"Y-You son of a…! Get back here!"
His so-called friend fled at the speed of light, and Aaron could do nothing more than hope Kana would be alright in Sasune's hands. His own were tied at the moment.
"Ugh. This really sucks..."
"In case you've forgotten, Higuchi, this is detention! You'll have time to socialize with your friends after you get out of here!" said his teacher, sharpening his eyelids.
"Tsk. Yeah, yeah."
With nothing better to do, Aaron kicked his feet up on his desk and slid on his headphones, switching on some blaring, electronic music. It was so loud, his instructor paused from grading exams and was tempted to say something but felt his student was at least keeping himself out of trouble.
On the subject of trouble, Konoka Mitsumi trotted into the classroom just then. For whatever reason, she chose the desk directly next to Aaron's to sit at. There was no way he could listen to music with the Red-Haired Beast so close, so he switched it off and sat up straight, sensing his blood run cold.
"Yo," she said to him nonchalantly.
"H-Hey there," he managed to reply. His meek voice barely carried to her ears.
"There you are, Miss Mitsumi." The instructor crossed his arms. It was difficult to tell if he was actually pleased to see Konoka had come to detention as told. "You know, I'm going to have to start charging you rent if you're so determined to stay after school with me on a regular basis."
"Psh. I bet a perv like you wouldn't mind havin' to stare at my mug all the time," she replied, chewing on a stick of gum. "Kiss my ass."
The teacher became as red as her hair at her impertinence. "Congratulations, Miss Mitsumi! That little outburst of yours has just earned you and Higuchi another hour of detention!"
"Oh, come on!" Aaron hollered. "I didn't even do anything this time!"
"Oh, so you finally admit you weren't as innocent as you would have believed me to think, eh? Make it another hour of detention for the both of you! And if the two of you are determined to undermine me some more, I'll make sure you kids stay after school with me for the rest of the semester!"
Slamming his forehead into his desk, Aaron wasn't sure anymore on why he had bothered to open his big, fat mouth.
The room descended into an awkward silence. Aaron, under the impression she would steal his immortal soul if he did, tried his hardest not to make eye contact with Konoka. He remained unsure as to the reason she had decided to sit next to him but decided it was nothing good. She likely blamed him for getting the two of them in this mess. If that was indeed the case, there was no telling which moment she would choose to pound his face in as a dose of revenge.
Nevertheless, he was unable to resist peeking at her, if only to see what she was plotting. However, his eyebrow rose once he saw she was doing nothing more than filing her crimson-polished fingernails. The act was utterly outlandish to him. Konoka Mitsumi, the Red-Haired Beast, was the absolute last individual he expected to behave so...femininely. Then again, she was a girl, a girl with an incredibly rough and tough demeanor, but a girl all the same.
"...You need somethin'?" she asked, catching how wide his peepers were.
Aaron gagged on his tongue for a moment. "M-Me?! N-No, nothing at all!"
She smacked her lips and lost interest in his strange behavior. Aaron, meanwhile, started to perspire like he were sitting in a sauna. He hadn't the foggiest idea how he was going to survive three hours with the Red-Haired Beast ready to snap his neck like a twig.
"Huh?! Seriously?! Only five minutes have passed?!" he whispered in alarm. Maybe the clock on the wall was broken, he attempted to convince himself. "Ugh. Someone just kill me now..."
His brown, quivering eyes strayed over to Konoka a second time. Bored out of her wits, she was twirling a pencil between her fingertips. There looked to be something on her mind, but Aaron wasn't sure what.
"...Alright, now you're startin' to piss me off." Konoka's visage wrinkled into one of irritation, and she broke her pencil down the middle with a single gesture. Aaron's throat was so dry from witnessing this, he couldn't scream even though he wanted to. "You got a crush on me or somethin'? You've been starin' at me nonstop ever since I got in here. Frankly, I hate it when people stare at me."
"Y-You?! S-Staring at you?! N-Nonsense!" Aaron stammered. His racing heart drowned out his common sense, leading him to add, "I was just...uh...admiring that fly on the wall over there!"
'Stupid' didn't even begin to define how he figured his claim must have sounded.
"...Yeah, that don't even sound right," said Konoka, unknowingly agreeing with his sentiment. "Why the hell are you so damn jittery? You act like I'm gonna hurt you or somethin'."
"You...aren't?"
"Huh? Why the hell would I do that?"
"N-No reason! No reason at all!"
The discussion, if one could even call it that, died down. The scribbling of his teacher's pen did nothing to calm Aaron down, actually increasing his anxiety strangely. Needing a distraction, he opened a notebook and began doodling anything that came to mind. He wasn't much of an artist; stick figures were about the best thing he could do. Even so, the task focused his brain on something other than his impending doom.
"Oh. Thanks for earlier, by the way," said Konoka out of the blue.
"Huh? W-What are you thanking me for?" Aaron timidly asked.
"That punk from this morning. I don't even remember kickin' his ass, but I must've if he was that eager to pay me back. Anyway, I owe you one for stickin' your neck out for me when he tried to get a cheap shot on me."
"Oh, that. Don't mention it."
Aaron still wasn't sure why he had done what he had. Maybe he simply wasn't one to stand idly by while someone else was being harassed. Whatever the case, the last thing he anticipated was to be thanked by Konoka Mitsumi. It honestly made him quite pleased.
"I'm surprised though," Konoka continued. "I figured a skinny guy like you would be a creampuff."
Aaron frowned. "Y-Yeah. A lot of people think that. I've been training actually. Taking on guys like the ones from this morning aren't any problem for me."
"Really now? Maybe we should go at it some time."
Aaron spat out the apple juice he had been drinking from a pouch, incidentally soaking his instructor.
"...You've just earned yourself another hour, Higuchi!" the dripping teacher declared.
Aaron rammed his skull into his desk again. "Oh my God! I'm gonna be here the rest of my life at this rate!"
"...I'm startin' to think you aren't exactly right in the head," Konoka said to him. "Anyway, I train in martial arts, so if you're really as good as you claim to be, I wanna know which one of us would come out on top in a good, old-fashioned brawl."
"...She really does want to kill me!" he said out of earshot.
"There aren't a lot of people who have the balls to go toe-to-toe with me. You're different though, Higuchi. You weren't half bad at the sports festival. That game of tug-of-war and the relay race were the first times in a while I've actually had to try. I still can't believe you though. At the time, I was like, 'This kid is completely insane.'"
"Y-Yeah. That's exactly how everyone else felt, I'm sure."
"I'm still pissed our race got interrupted."
Already considerably freaked out, Aaron became more so after Konoka stuck her face inches away from his own. She smelled of perfume, another thing he hadn't thought someone like her would use.
"What were those monsters that showed up that day?" she asked. "You know, the ones that screwed up the whole festival at the end?"
"Eh?! 'M-Monsters?!' I...uh...don't know what you mean!"
Her talk made no sense to him. Hadn't Kana erased the memories of those at the sports festival that day?
#
The noiseless, jampacked monorail car Kana was riding in to get back to Hino was suddenly filled with the sound of her sneezing.
"Bless you," a few people beside her said.
"Thanks!" she happily replied. She then sniffled. "That's weird! Am I catching a cold or something? Oh, I know! Some cute boy must be talking about me!"
That sounded about right to her, and she nodded.
"W-Wait. Why am I getting the feeling I forgot to do something very important?"
If that was the case, the precise details escape her.
With a shrug, she chimed, "Ha! I must be imagining things!"
#
Growling at Kana's negligence, Aaron was baffled at why he relied on her to do anything.
"I'm not an idiot," Konoka said to him. "No one else could see those bat things, but I could, as clear as I can see you. I wanna know what the hell happened that day."
In spite of it probably leading to him getting his ass kicked, Aaron chose to give her the silent treatment. Hollows were a sensitive subject, one he wasn't going to blabber about to anyone who'd listen.
"Is this detention?"
Those within Class 2C's homeroom turned their head to a pink-haired girl with many piercings on her face. Smacking on some gum, she blew a large, pink bubble, letting it pop before she regathered the sticky stuff with her tongue to chew on some more.
"Huh? Who is that?" said Aaron. While the girl wore a Hino High uniform, he couldn't recall ever seeing her in the past. It was strange. A bizarre-looking individual such as this one would have stuck to his mind like glue. "Looks like someone who'd hang out with the Red-Haired Beast."
"I don't know her," said Konoka plainly. Aaron hadn't meant to be overheard, and he shoved his fist down his throat to prevent himself from muttering something else idiotic. Konoka didn't seem to mind his remark at all however. "Somethin' about her gives me the creeps."
Her assessment puzzled Aaron; he didn't get those vibes at all.
"Y-Yes. This is detention," The Class 2C teacher wondered if he was imagining things. He removed his glasses, wiped his eyes, and squinted at the pink-haired girl. She replied by fashioning another bubble, and it burst with even more force this time. "You are…?"
"Akira Akiyama," she announced. "I'm new here."
"I can see that, Miss Akiyama. Well, was there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah. Someone told me to go to detention, so here I am. I got caught smoking in the girl's bathroom. I don't see what the big deal is. It wasn't like I was hurting anybody."
"'S-Smoking?!'" The instructor was mortified. "H-Have a seat right this instant, Miss Akiyama! I don't know what institute of hooligans you attended beforehand, but here at Hino Municipal High School, we do not tolerate tomfoolery! I can't believe it! Smoking behind school walls during schools hours!"
"Technically, it's after school," Aaron stated.
"Quiet, Higuchi. Do you want another hour here?!"
"No, sir..."
"Haha. This place is a real riot." Having paid the teacher's rant little scrutiny, Akira took a seat all the way in the back of the room and put her feet up in the same fashion as Aaron. "It's just a cigarette. Don't get so bent outta shape, gramps."
Never in his thirty years of educating at Hino High did Class 2C's homeroom instructor have to suffer through so much insubordination. His bloodshot eyes violently shook, and he almost readied to jump to his feet and give the three before him a serious tongue-lashing. However, he had far too much paperwork that still required his full and undivided attention. For now, he would leave the troublemakers be.
Konoka sniggered. "Damn. She really ruffled his feathers."
"Yeah. He's pissed alright." Aaron hardly felt sorry for his teacher. He gazed over to Akira as she stuck her gum underneath her desk. The second she looked back, she blew him a raspberry. "H-Hey!"
"Take a picture! It'll last longer!" she said.
"What the hell's her problem?" asked Konoka.
"In case you three have forgotten, this is detention! You'll have plenty of time for socializing after you get out of here!" the teacher growled.
Konoka shook her head. "You still haven't answered me, Higuchi. What were those things at the festival? Quit leaving me in the dark! Somethin' weird happened at my mansion back when that Don Kanonji fool was there. For whatever reason, I can't remember what, but my gut is tellin' me it has something to do with those monsters."
"...Crap. I was really hoping you had forgotten about that..."
Aaron was saved yet again from having to spill the beans when a phone started to ring somewhere in the classroom. It stemmed from Akira, and she reached for her Denreishinki without delay.
"Akira Akiyama here. ...Oh, it's you, boss. I was wondering when you'd call." She sat up, listening closely to the other end of the line. "No, I haven't had the time. I'm stuck in detention right now. ...Huh? What do you mean you don't know what detention is? Do I really gotta sit here and explain the whole concept?!"
That was the last straw. The teacher, slamming his pen into his desk, stood. "Excuse me, Miss Akiyama! Please get off of your phone! For the love of all that's holy, this is detention for crying out loud! Don't you kids get that at all?!"
"That's it. He's totally lost it," said Aaron.
"Looks like it," chimed Konoka. "Poor bastard..."
"Eeey?! For real?!" Looking like she had stumbled upon a ghost, Akira all but dropped her phone. She fumbled it between her fingers, soon enough reeling it in and putting it back up to her ear. "D-Don't yell at me! I don't know where the damn thing came from! I-I didn't send any of 'em out today! Shit! Fine! I'll...uh...figure something out! Just give me a sec!"
With the speed of a bullet out of a gun, Akira rose and rushed out in the hallway, tripping over her left foot while she did so.
"I don't get paid enough for this shit!" she hollered, her intonation reverberating.
"G-Get back here, Miss Akiyama! Miss Akiyama!"
The teacher's pleas fell on deaf ears. All things considered, words weren't exactly working for him any longer, so he went into hot pursuit for the pink-haired girl, striving to drag her back to serve her due punishment by force.
"Where's the fire?" said Konoka.
Aaron shrugged. "Yeah, good question."
As charged up as he had been, Class 2C's instructor quickly came back huffing and puffing. The mind might have been willing, but the flesh was weak. He hadn't stood a chance of keeping up with a youngster like Akira.
"I'll...g-get her yet!" he panted.
"I'm goin' to the bathroom," said Konoka, making her way toward the exit.
"W-Wait a second, Miss Mitsumi! You aren't going anywhere!"
"If you wanna follow me, be my guest, but don't get mad at me when they arrest your perverted ass for goin' into the girl's bathroom."
That was checkmate, and the teacher grit his teeth.
"Uh...I gotta go to the bathroom too," remarked Aaron.
"Oh, no you don't, Higuchi! I might not have been able to stop the girls, but you aren't leaving that seat unless you want to be expelled from this school!"
"Look, this is an emergency!"
"I don't care what it is! You hold it until your allotted time is up, mister!"
Becoming desperate, Aaron yelled, "You're gonna have to mop the floor at this rate if you don't let me go! I have a very weak bladder, sir!"
This was a trick, the teacher thought. This wasn't his first rodeo. When one teaches mischievous, scheming pupils long enough, one learns they will say and do anything to get out of class and out of the watchful eye of their instructor. Nevertheless, he couldn't risk taking the chance Aaron was fibbing. If the boy wasn't, he would be in a heap of trouble with the principal for denying his student the basic liberty of a restroom break.
"...Fine," the teacher said through clenched teeth. "Go. And hurry back! If I find out you were goofing off instead…!"
"Thanks!"
Aaron left with a salute, an almost jeering one at that. With salt wholly kicked into his wounds, the Class 2C teacher lacked the vigor to become any more upset. No, he simply retook his seat, placing his hand on his throbbing temples.
"I don't get paid enough for this shit," he mumbled.
#
Aaron's hands were at his sides while he caught his breath. He had been so busy running, he hadn't even paid any mind to where he was. Crumbling tombstones and mausoleums encompassed him as far as the eye could see. It was quiet, distressingly so, and he shivered after a cold gust of air swept past him.
"The cemetery," he said. "How in the hell did I end up here?"
He hated places like this. It reminded him of death, how fragile beings like him were. A single accident or misfortunate event meant he would become one of many buried there.
"C-Calm down, Aaron. You already know what happens after you die."
His concerns with his mortality wasn't the reason he was there.
"Where did she get off to?"
Akira Akiyama was nowhere to be seen. He was convinced he had spotted her dashing off in the general direction of the graveyard, but maybe he had imagined things.
"Why the hell would she want to come all the way out here anyway?"
Now he felt silly. Why had he gone out of his way to follow a total stranger?
He hadn't been alone in his choice. Footsteps resounded behind him, and he shifted around to an out of breath Konoka
"Any luck findin' her?" she inquired.
Aaron shook his head. "It's like she vanished into thin air."
"Tsk. I guess this little field trip of ours was a waste of time. Then again, I'd have done anything to get outta that stupid classroom. I was about ready to punch that teacher's freakin' head off."
It was only then she even took in where they were. How ironic, she thought. She had ventured her hardest to stay away from this place, yet she had come here of her own free will in the end.
"Something wrong?" said Aaron.
"...Nope. I need to take care of somethin' though."
She ran off toward the other side of the cemetery in the wake of those cryptic words. Aaron opted to do the same. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do. He caught up to her, seeing her head whip back and forth at the innumerable graves. Tempted to inquire who she was so urgently seeking out, he kept his mouth sealed.
The duo came upon a pair of oversized and extravagant graves.
"Psh. Who would be vain enough to be buried in those?" whispered Aaron.
"There you two are." Konoka leaned down enough to read the inscriptions carved into the marble head markers. The one on the left said 'Heishima Mitsumi', whereas the one on the right read 'Kyoko Mitsumi.' "You happy now? I'm here. Whoopie."
"W-Wait…! Are these your…?"
"Parents? Yeah," explained Konoka casually. "Today is the anniversary of the day they died. I wasn't even going to bother comin' out here. I didn't see the point. Here I am though."
Various items, such as flowers, greeting cards, and other sentimental things, were strewn around the burial place. Konoka guessed it was from the ceremony from earlier in the day, the one Jives had told her about. Lifting up a teddy bear, she gazed at the thing like it could answer the many questions buzzing in her head.
"Huh? Why wouldn't you want to see your folks?" asked Aaron. "I don't' get it."
"...I'm just not the kind of person that gets caught up on the past. They're dead. I can't change that. Comin' out to visit them won't bring them back to life. Besides, I'm sure they don't want me mournin' them forever. Knowin' them, they'd want me to move on."
"Come on. There's gotta be more to it than that!"
Revolving to him, Konoka harshly replied, "...Just drop it, will ya? This really isn't any of your business, Higuchi."
She needn't say anything further. Aaron, gulping, no longer held any ideas of pressing the issue.
"...I should be dead too," Konoka muttered out of the blue.
"Huh?"
She smacked her lips, having not meant to say that out loud. "I was...in the car the day of my parent's accident. Heh. I can barely even remember why we were out that day. I think my father had some sort of important meeting with one of his business partners. Yeah, that was it."
Her countenance lit up with enlightenment.
"We were going out to eat, I think to celebrate him cuttin' some sort of deal that would make his coffee company even more profitable. Anyway, I don't really recall much of what happened afterward. One moment, we were drivin' on the road without a care in the world, and the next, I woke up in a hospital bed with forty stitches on the side of my head. I found out what happened to my folks after the fact."
Aaron pondered why she was sharing this with him. He never took her as the chatty type.
"...I should've died in that accident too," she said without any hesitation.
Aaron's eyes grew. "H-Hey now! You shouldn't say stuff like..."
The last thing he foresaw was being interrupted by her catching a case of the giggles. There was nothing funny about the discussion, not in his opinion.
"Why was I the only one that lived?" she asked herself. "I used to blame myself for what went down. I thought since I was the only one that survived, maybe that accident was my fault. I've wised up over the years though. It was just plain luck I made it outta there with only a couple of scratches. Maybe I've got a guardian angel looking out for me."
"I didn't think someone like you would believe in stuff like that."
"...I don't. Not really anyway."
"No? What do you think saved you then?"
Without answering him, Konoka fondled the emerald-infused pendant adorning her neck and faintly smiled.
At this point, Aaron was certain he couldn't be caught off guard by anything. He had spent the last two years at Hino Municipal High School being terrified of the Red-Haired Beast like the rest of his peers. It all seemed so silly in hindsight. Konoka Mitsumi was no menace, no beast waiting to rip everything in her path to shreds. Deep down, she was nothing more than a normal a girl, a sweet one at that.
"See? This is why I didn't want to come out here," said Konoka, brushing a single tear off her cheek. "I get all mushy and shit. Listen, Higuchi. If you tell anyone what I've told you here, I'll break your ass in two. Got it?"
Aaron nodded gingerly. Perhaps he had spoken too soon.
"Let's get the hell outta here, yeah?" said Konoka.
"Sounds good to me. It feels like something is about to sneak up on us," replied Aaron.
His claim proved prophetic. The two's instincts kicked in, and they made haste to turn the other way. Akira Akiyama awaited them.
"That was quite the story," she told Konoka, exhaling a cloud of black smoke. She took another hit of her glowing cigarette, adding, "I can relate. My mom and dad are six feet under too. Never really got the chance to get to know them."
"There you are!" said Aaron. "You know, the teacher was about ready to put his foot up your ass for you leaving like that!"
"Haha. Like I give a shit. He'll get over it." Another round of dark vapor escaped Akira. "So, you two were able to catch me after all. Talk about having no lives. Do you guys really have nothing better to do than stalk random people? I'd be careful if I were you though, kiddies. Something really bad is about to happen!"
"Is that a warning...or a threat?" asked Konoka cautiously.
Akira finished her tobacco, tossing it aside. "Take it however you want, sweetie. My job here is done. I'd stick around, but that'd probably be rude since you two lovebirds seem to be having so much fun on your own. Later, kiddies."
"W-Wait a sec!" Aaron shouted. "What are you talking about?! What's…?!"
He managed to answer his own query when he picked up on the unmistakable presence of a Hollow. It was close-by, and judging from its spiritual pressure, incredibly powerful.
"Wait! Where did she go?!" he cried. Akira was gone alright. It was as if she had never been there in the first place. "Okay, something tells me she isn't just some delinquent that smokes in the girl's bathroom!"
"Told you she gave me the creeps," stated Konoka.
"I don't think it's her we should be worrying about..."
A humongous entity slithered up behind them just then. The noise from it protruding its lengthy, forked tongue caught Aaron's and Konoka's attention. There stood what Aaron immediately gathered was the Hollow, its purple body in the shape of a snake's. It was long, at least fifty feet in his estimation. Gleaming, yellow, and inquisitive eyes peered out of its white mask, and the mask itself was decorated with red markings. Aaron had never before seen anything like it.
"What's this? I was told I would have two tasty morsels to snack on, but I never imagined I would bump into humans with such savory spiritual energy," the Hollow commented in a low, scratchy voice. This was also the first time Aaron had heard one of the malevolent entities speaking human tongue. "Yes, you both will do nicely to calm my upset stomach. I haven't had a bite to eat in quite some time."
"You wanted to know what those things at the sports festival were, right?" said Aaron to Konoka. "Well, you're about to learn first hand!"
"...A simple explanation would have worked too," she said laconically. "Detention doesn't seem so bad now."
Aaron couldn't have agreed more.
END
