It took Nijima well over an hour once Ichigo got to her place, to grab a shower, some clean clothing, something to eat. Treat and bandage her arms, feed her, make sure that she wasn't in need of a trip to the local ER (because explaining that to Kenichi out of the blue would be more difficult than he cared to admit) had her take some medicine.

Some perscribed for any pain and infection that she might have from her surgery, and something to help her rest comfortably too.

Not in that exact order. But pretty close to it.

And then once she'd conked out on her living room couch to the sound of terrified screams coming from big titted monster victim- He covered her with a blanket and then lowered the volume of the TV so that it wouldn't bother her any and then set out a glass of juice for her. In case she got thirsty at some point.

And then quickly scribbled down a note for her, telling her that he was going out for a little bit, and he would be back as soon as he could.

He needed to find Kenichi and let him know that he was okay anyways. Since he had a feeling that the boy and Miu had both been looking high and low for him and coming up empty.

And even if they hadn't- which was doubtful given who they were- he still felt the need to seek Kenichi out and tell him what had happened. He needed to know that Ichigo might very well have made herself a target now. Especially after what she had done to Loki since the guy would be out for blood.

And steps would have to be taken to protect her.

Setting the note down next to the glass of juice, he paused for a moment to study Ichigo in the dim light from the TV screen and felt a small smile tug at his lips before he then straightened his spine and walked off.

He didn't think it would be right to leave the door unlocked, so after borrowing the spare key that she'd made for him a while back, he slipped out of the house and gently closed the door behind him.

The walk to the dojo was an eerily quiet one with nary a soul in sight anywhere. And at one point, Nijima started to wonder if he was going to see tumble weeds blowing across the street somewhere ahead of him. Honestly he felt as if he were walking the streets of a ghost town.

He'd never seen the streets so deserted before. Usually he would be able to spot at least a half dozen or so people scurrying about trying to get home or something.

It was disconcerting to say the least.

Still, he managed to reach the dojo without any incidents. And once there, he made sure to knock on the gate a few times knowing that one of Kenichi's master's would hear him and open the doors.

It took a few uncomfortable minutes, but the gate finally opened and one of the masters peeked out at him and then shouted excitedly. "Kenichi! Your alien friend is here!"

Nijima, despite his discomfort smiled wanly at the man as he waved him inside the yard. The second that he was inside Kenichi and Miu ran up to him talking at once. Both of them going on about how they had found his clothing, how they had both been worried about him, what did Ragnarok want with him and most importantly- how did he get away?

He didn't say anything for a while. Probably too long, if the concerned expressions on their faces were anything to go by. So when Kenichi took him by the arm and started to steer him towards the house, Nijima finally lost it and started crying again.

Kenichi froze up, startled by his sudden breakdown and looked to Miu and his masters for help. At which point the elder made his way over to the kids and waved Kenichi off and told Miu to go and make him something to drink and maybe get him a snack too.

Once the two of them were gone, the man bent down a little bit and asked him in a very serious tone. "Are you alright young man?"

Nijima took several deep breaths and wiped his face with the back of his hands and gave the old man a miserable look before slowly saying in a slightly shaky tone, "I need to talk to you, the other masters, Miu and Kenichi."

"Is this about what happened when you were taken?" The elder asked. Nijima lifted a hand and rubbed at his forehead for a moment as he nodded his head. "Alright." The man said softly as he maneuvered Nijima into the house and let him sit down wherever he wanted.

The other masters watched him with a combination of curiosity, and concern. Not that he could blame them any. The fact that he'd burst into tears a few minutes ago and wasn't acting like his usual self probably had them worried that he was broken or something.

He waited until Miu was there, just as she had finished setting down a cup of tea and some food for him to snack on before he decided to finally start talking.

"Before we really delve into things, Kenichi- I owe you an apology." He said, catching the other boy off guard slightly. "I owe you an apology for worrying you and Miu and your masters as well. But I also owe you an apology for...for being reckless and thinking that it wouldn't land me in any trouble. But most of all, I owe you an apology for what will likely happen in the near future."

Kenichi looked baffled for a moment as he went on to say, "You and Miu asked me how I managed to escape Ragnarok a little while ago- and I will tell you, it's just...a little bit difficult to put things into words."

"Take you're time Nijima. We're listening." One of the masters- the guy who called himself Kensei said to him.

Nijima looked at the man and gave him a small, grateful smile. Aside from the elder, and the guy with the nearly white colored eyes, the Chinese master was one of the few people present who seemed to genuinely like him and worried about him.

"Alright, so Loki had Siegfried capture me and was talking about stuffing me in a crate and nailing it shut- when your sister showed up."

Kenichi cocked his head in a curious manner and looked at him oddly for a moment as Miu gasped and shouted in disbelief, "Honoka?! She saved you?"

"No! Not Honoka. Do you really think a ten year old girl would stand a chance against those thugs? They'd eat her alive!" Nijima snapped. The ridiculousness of the thought of little Honoka trying to beat those damned thugs up alone and without any form of help or backup was damned near maddening.

Kenichi caught on faster than he'd expected though. The change in his expression was subtle, you had to know what the hell you were looking at to even see it. But his expression had gone from neutral to downright murderous in the span of the blink of an eye.

To be honest, Nijima often wondered if the masters had caught on to the fact that Kenichi practically had a split personality when it came to his sisters. But upon seeing the frowns of confusion on their each of faces, he began to very much doubt that they'd figured that fact out just yet.

No matter. They would eventually.

So he didn't feel any immediate need to point it out to them. At least not yet anyways.

"She's supposed to be home, resting, after her surgery." Kenichi finally said, his tone cold yet furious at the same time. His body tense with his anger.

"I know." Nijima said as he fidgeted with his claw like nails for a moment.

"So what happened?" Kenichi finally asked.

"She showed up, got into a pissing match with Loki- grabbed him by the throat, lifted him nearly six in a half inches up off of the ground. Threatened him. Then when he said that she could have me- she broke one of his arms and probably shattered one of his knees so badly that he's going to need corrective surgery just to be able to walk again. And then stepped over him while he writhed in agony on the ground, grabbed me and then left."

"And that guy Siegfried? Where was he?"

"Right there. I think he was so shocked by the whole thing that he just froze up. Cause he didn't move at all."

Kenich scowled at him, obviously not pleased to hear this as one of the masters put his hand up, drawing their attention to him.

"Sorry to interrupt you Nijima, but could you please clarify something for us?" He asked. Nijima nodded his head and the man then asked curiously. "Kenichi has another sister? As in more than one?"

"Yes."

"How old is she?"

"She's about three, maybe four months or so younger than Kenichi." Nijima replied with a small frown.

"Oh. Alright. Carry on then." He said.

Kenichi made a growling sound of annoyance and then turned his attention back to him and asked, "Is she hurt?"

"She's got some scratches on her arms and some nasty bruises on her legs from Loki trying to free himself of her grasp. But outside of that, she seemed to be totally fine. She's at home now. Resting."

"I should go and check on her then." Kenichi said as he started to get up when Nijima reached out and grabbed his arm, and pulled him to a stop.

"Leave her be, Kenichi. She's sleeping right now. And the last thing that she needs is to have her brother show up unannounced, and flip out on her."

"But-"

"We have more important things to talk about right now." Nijima snapped at him in irritation. "She injuried Loki for heaven's sake, Kenichi! The man is going to be out for her blood! We need to think of some way to protect her from them! Especially since she's going to be defenseless while she heals."

"That's going to be difficult." Kenichi said as he sank back down to the floor.

"And just why is that?" Nijima asked him. His dark eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"Because it's going to take her six to eight months or longer for her to completely heal from her surgery. That is, barring any further complications anyways."

Nijima stayed quiet as one of the other masters asked, "Excuse me, Kenichi. But just what sort of surgery is your sister supposed to be healing up from?"

"Heart surgery." Nijima said automatically as Kenichi deadpanned at the same time. "Heart transplant surgery."

Everyone stared at the two boys oddly for a heartbeat or so before Nijima reached out and grabbed Kenichi by his shirt and shouted in his face, "What the hell do you mean by 'heart transplant surgery'?! When did this happen?"

"Ow! It happened a week in a half ago you idiot!"

"I thought that she was simply having another valve surgery!"

"No! She had a heart attack a month ago and her heart was failing- she had a heart transplant because it was the only option left to keep her alive!"

The two boys scuffled around a little bit before finally managing to pry the other off of them and separating at which point they both sat there on their hands and knees panting for a moment before Nijima wheezed, "I thought that the surgery was the same as before..."

"No," Kenichi huffed as he slowly sat back on his heels. "The doctors decided that they couldn't repair the damage to her heart anymore without doing even more harm to her. So they figured that since it was failing anyways that a heart transplant was the last viable option left to her."

"I wondered what she had been hiding from me lately." Nijima said with a small frown.

Kenichi snorted and then suddenly demanded, "Wait. Why the hell would she be hiding things from you?"

"Because I've been staying with her for the last four months. Which you would know if you ever visited her any to check on her!" Nijima growled at him.

"Why are you living with my sister? A-Are the two of you dating?!" Kenichi snarled at him as he glared daggers at his skull.

"Ew. No." Nijima said without thinking and then yelped as he was suddenly grabbed by his shirt again by the other boy and hauled up off of the floor and shaken, violently as Kenichi yelled at him.

"What do you mean by, 'ew, no'? Are you saying that Ichigo isn't good enough for you? I'll have you know that health issues aside, my sister is a solid fifty on the attractiveness scale! She's literally so pretty that it hurts to even look at her. And an alien freak like you would be damned lucky to have her!"

"Let go of me you idiot!" Nijima growled at him as he squirmed in his grasp. "I happen to like your sister just fine. Just not the way that you're thinking."

"Oh." Kenichi said as he automatically dropped him and then sat back down again. "Alright then. So what's the plan to keep Ragnarok away from her?"

Nijima gnashed his teeth and tossed out a suggestion. "I was thinking that maybe she should move back in with your parents and Honoka-"

"She won't do it." Kenichi said with an aggrieved sigh. "She didn't exactly like living with us when she first came home. She's sort of weird about personal space. I also think that she just sort of likes her solitude."

"She is a little bit of a stickler for privacy, I'll admit." Nijima agreed with a nod. "But I think part of the reason that she would refuse to move back in with your parents has more to do with the fact that she doesn't like being fussed over or coddled."

"Yeah, there's that too. She may tolerate it from Honoka, but the last time I tried to coddle her she literally climbed out of my bedroom window and ran for it." Kenichi said looking just slightly irked at the mere mention of the incident. Because apparently he was holding a little bit of a grudge over it.

Poor Ichigo. He's never going to let her live that down.

"Well she can't be left alone so we need to think of something and fast. I don't know how long it will take Loki to get himself patched up and back out on the streets, but even if it isn't immediately- there's always his lackeys." Nejima said. "And then there's Siegfried. I don't know exactly if he'll be sent after her or not, but I'd rather not risk it."

The two boys lapsed into silence for a moment when the elder finally spoke up, "Why doesn't she just stay here with us?"

Both boys turned their heads to look at the man as Miu said in a questioning tone, "Grandpa?"

"Now hear me out before you both nay say me," The elder said. "But since the young lady has health issues, and is going to be in trouble with Ragnarok- this is the best solution all around. She stays with us and has more than one person watching over her and protecting her. And if she has any further health issues, Akisame and Kensei can be of immediate assistance."

"Ideally speaking that would be a good idea." Kenichi said with a thoughtful look. "She'd have more people with their eyes on her pretty much all the time. Plus we'd be able to re enforce specific rules as far as what she can and can't do while she's healing up. But Elder Haytao, Ichigo is really, really independent minded. She tends to like taking care of things herself. My mom tried to get her to wear a dress once for a family outing- and it was like world war three occurred. It really wasn't safe to walk into my home for like a month."

The elder laughed at the oddly serious look on the boy's face as he told them that.

"She's a strong willed girl, huh, my boy?"

"Strong willed would be putting it mildly." Kenichi said. "So would saying that she's as stubborn as a mule."

Nijima merely nodded his head sagely in agreement with him. He had never seen her behave quite like that before, but if Kenichi was trying to warn the man- then he must have seen something truly terrifying.

"I'm not too worried my boy. Besides, I think it would be nice to have another girl present. Miu and Shigure might appreciate a little bit of extra female company. Don't you think?"

Nijima and Kenichi both exchanged a look that appeared to be something of a mixture between, We're screwed, and fear before Nijima cleared his throat and said, "If she comes to stay here, she'll want to pay rent and help buy extra food. She'll likely have doctors appointments every few weeks too."

"She also works from home," Kenichi chimed in. "She graduated from school when she was fourteen. So she doesn't go to school anymore. But she does have two jobs. One is working as a ghost writer. And the other is more of a hobby. But they both pay pretty well and she can make her own hours and stuff. I don't think she'll have too much of a problem staying here as long as she can keep herself busy and help out financially."

"Wonderful! When do you want to start helping her move in?" Hayato asked happily. Kenichi gave him a blank look and Nijima sighed and slowly got to his feet.

"I'll talk to her. But just in case she decides to be difficult, someone may have to kidnap her." He said seriously before then bowing to them and thanking them for their time and then leaving.