"My wards can't keep you out?"
"Honey, I can't be kept out of anything." She told the scientist standing in the doorway. Turning the page in her book, she silently cursed choosing to take anthropology as her major.
"You must be a menace to deal with." He told her, closing the door behind him. She looked up long enough to give the shopkeeper a cheeky grin, then turned back to her textbook.
"Good thing Ichigo loves me the way I am."
"Oh yeah, the most unlikely loverboy out there. Where is he right now?"
"School. I think in Chemistry. I was bored and my classes cancelled for today."
"And you thought that I would be good company?"
"For some reason, Ichigo likes you, and I want to know why."
"And yet, he's dating you." Oooh, clap back. Maybe he was salty from the previous beating? And was that mixed with jealousy? She could work with this.
"That's an even bigger mystery...By the way, I brought us lunch."
"I didn't think I needed sitters, Kurosaki-kun."
"I would have believed that. If Lilly's first question upon seeing you for the first time would have been anything other than 'does he know food and sleep are necessities and not something you can live without?'" Ichigo told the shopkeeper, moving to attack from another angle and dropping out of the way of a Hadou spell.
"I still don't need two brats to take care of me," Urahara responded, blocking Zangetsu.
"Your appearance tells another story. Being locked up in that lab for days is not good for you, Hats-and-Clogs."
"Maybe, Kurosaki-kun, but you shouldn't be worrying about me. And your moves got more fluid."
"Just accept it that both of us are on your case. I can speak for both of us when I tell you that we're not going to drop it anytime soon." Or until Lilly finally gets your file from the Onmi. "And you saw what I had to go up against for a year now."
"Guess who's the bastard cousin of the Shihoin clan head?"
"Urahara." Ichigo groans when she walks in after a successful visit to Soul Society. Lilly can already spot the cogs turning in his head, and he starts talking again before she can share more of her findings. "And since Yoruichi turns into a male cat when transformed, this would explain his need for moon tea. He wasn't trained with his transformation."
"Exactly. And this would also explain his wardrobe choices. Dude's father really liked cheap releases. According to his file, he doesn't remember anything about his poor mother or the brothel she tried to raise him in."
"What happened to them? Outside intervention?"
"Most likely. Place burned down and she died saving her son."
"How convenient," Ichigo mutters, accepting the folder she hands him. "And let me guess, he wasn't supposed to survive it."
"Bingo."
"Where's your annoying half?"
"Trying to convince Captain Unohana to take her in as a student. Or talking with the builders. Depends on what time is it." He'd spent the whole day at the shop, pouring over the scroll containing the Shiba clans history.
"She could have asked me if she wanted to learn about healing so badly." That statement made him freeze. Their plan might have had unforeseen side-effects.
"Are you jealous, Hats-and-Clogs?" Noting where he was, he rolled the scroll back up with a carefree smile. The letters were starting to dance across his vision. "And besides, she's not driven by pure academical interest."
"Oh, pray tell, Kurosaki-kun. Why would Lilly-chan wish to talk with Unohana-taichou then?"
"Don't play dumb. She's gathering allies. Given her status as a possibly illegal Shinigami, even if she's a member of the Kuchiki clan and the fact that I seem to be a mix of everything under the sun," he didn't miss the slight widening of eyes under the shadow of the hat, "we need people to stand by us. Even if I get appointed heir of the clan by Kūkaku, Central 46 could still move against us and win."
"Why, Kurosaki-kun, that sounds like a well thought out plan. Colour me amazed." The fan appeared to hide his expression, gaining a small twitch out of Ichigo.
"Don't credit me. Lilly spent a lot of time working on this and networking. Figuring out who could we trust was really the hardest part."
"Am I among those?"
"I'm talking to you about this, aren't I?" Tessai walked in, placing down a tray with tea on the table. "We had long talks about it. She has a similar background to yours and has a vague idea of what you'd done after you got exiled. You embody everything Lilly hates. A willing lamb in the slaughter-house. A scientist who would do anything to reach a good conclusion. Someone who considered the people around him more pawns than human."
"Those are quite harsh observations."
"She managed to prove all of them right so far." Urahara's shoulders stiffened, and he hid his face with his fan and his hat. "Dating someone who can zip across dimensions as easily as breathing has its perks. At least she began to trust you now, and that's a big win in my books."
"You're full of surprises, Kurosaki-kun."