Shiro sighed in utter bliss as she bit into her smarty and co. sandwich, Chad watching her in horror as the fillings dribbled out the sides. Smarties, custard and tuna smeared in the middle of a glazed doughnut did not look all that enticing. The smell of it almost making him retch.
"I don't know how that can be so enjoyable," he muttered. She shrugged.
"Blame it on my hormones?" She suggested, about to take another bite when a little girl entered the bar crying.
"Sado-chan, birdie," she cried, running to the giant. The pair stopped to stare, a sparrow had managed to tangle a foot in her hair and was struggling to get free. Shiro was astonished, not by the bird but the girl. She had never seen her before but Chad clearly knew who she was if the warm smile was anything to go by. Also she clearly wasn't chad's, her hair was a light blue and her eyes were as blue as the sea and flecked with a golden honey colour.
"Hold still," he murmured, pulling the little bird free. Calming it down he passed it to the girl, she clutched it to her chest tightly.
"Let's go put birdie outside, he can't live here." The little girl nodded, racing ahead of him. Shiro watched as he opened the door for her, the two watching as the sparrow escaped the little girls clutches. Chad picked her up once the sparrow was out of sight, sitting her on the bar.
"Ushio did you run away from Granny again?" He asked, trying to sound stern, whenever she was around he turned into a big softy. Ushio nodded almost crying again.
"Better apologise when she comes here to find you." She nodded again, biting her lip to stop the tears. She didn't like crying much, the boys called her weak when she cried.
"Chad!" Shiro cringed as she heard her desperate mothers shout, the bar door slammed open moments later by the screaming woman. It was a miracle she hadn't ripped the door off of its hinges yet. Yoruichi stopping dead in her tracks when she caught sight of Ushio sitting on the bar. She sagged against the bar in relief.
"Sorry Granny Yoruichi." The older woman smiled, not able to stay mad at the toddler for long. Shiro just sat there stumped wondering when one of them was going to explain who the girl was to her. The little girl ended up asking for her when she pointed at Shiro and asked "who's that?" excitedly. Two pairs of eyes turned to her, having forgot she was even there.
"Ushio this is my daughter Shiro, you can call her Auntie Shiro." The little girl nodded stumbling over her name slowly. Shiro turned to Chad for a better explanation.
"She belongs to a friend of mine, I babysit her sometimes because of her mothers job. Yoruichi met her last time and got attached." Shiro turned to watch her again, she was animatedly explaining to Yoruichi about the bird and how it got caught in her hair. She couldn't help but smile hoping her own child would be lively like that. Right now she was about to pop but finally her maternal instincts were starting to show.
"Hello my baby." The bright bubbly voice broke her train of thought, as a woman with short black hair picked up the little girl. She was a real beauty, tall and curvy, wearing dress slacks, a button up shirt and vest that gave her an hour-glass figure. Her hair was pinned up into a bun, bangs framing her face, her eyes a deep forest green. The girl clung to her tightly, she mustn't have seen her mother in a while.
"Thanks for taking care of her Sado, she must've been a real handful," the woman said, her voice barely had a Japanese accent, she must have spent a lot of time traveling to gain an international accent like that.
"Aside from managing to get a sparrow stuck in her hair she was fine, she missed you though. Bring back anything?" He asked, pouring her a drink. The woman laughed, imagining how her daughter must have reacted to the sparrow and holding her a little tighter.
"A German Shepard named Hinako, beautiful dog, she was my partner in the mountains and I couldn't resist bringing her home. You'll like her Ushio, she's very friendly and loves playing chase." Ushio pulled at her mothers bangs, not wanting to be ignored anymore. It was then the woman noticed the pair staring at her.
"That's Granny Yoruichi and Auntie Shiro, I met Auntie today," she whispered as if it was some big secret.
"Seems you've been entertaining my daughter, thank you. Suna Ichihara at your service," she said offering her hand with a smile. Yoruichi took it, introducing herself and her daughter, intrigued by the odd woman.
"Sorry to cut this short but I have a prior appointment, thanks for playing with Ushio. I hope we get another chance to talk, you guys seem interesting." She waved her daughter waving as they left.
"Chad where did you meet that woman?"
The smile never left her face as she excited the bar but it was more relaxed. Sado had keep his promise to introduce Ushio to her family. She hugged the little girl closer, her daughter the best thing that had ever happened to her.
"Granny took me to the park today," Ushio muttered, intent on telling her mother everything.
"I saw a birdie and followed it, granny didn't know. It got stuck, Sado-chan helped birdie, he let me hold birdie too."
"Did you let mr. Birdie go?" She asked, partially distracted as she ducked through traffic, searching for a certain shop.
"We did, mama where are we going?" She asked, curious. She wanted to play with the doggy her mama had mentioned earlier.
"I'm meeting a man, he knows where the person I'm looking for lives." She stopped, standing before the shop she was looking for. It was a tattoo parlour, it didn't have a name featured anywhere but the door was open and it was the right address. She stepped inside, a little hesitant. Noticing the man at the counter, she placed Ushio on the couch that was off to one side before talking to him.
"Nnoitra?" She asked, her memory a little hazy when it came to this man.
"Yeah, that me. What do ya want?" He asked not looking up from his magazine, he was incredibly bored.
"I'm Suna Ichihara, I called earlier in the week. Sorry I took me so long to get down here, I just got back from back from an overseas trip," she explained. He looked up at her, piano tooth grin in place. That was the man she remembered.
"Not every day I get a gorgeous woman calling up and asking for something other than a tattoo. What is it ya want?" She grinned, leaning closer to him.
"I'm looking for a man and was told you know where he is." Nnoitra raised a brow, things were getting interesting.
"And who is it yer searching for?"
"Grimmjow jeagerjaques." His smile dropped at the name, he scowled.
"Get out," he hissed, he didn't know this woman and he wasn't about to betray his best friend.
"I'm not leaving till you tell me where I can find him," she growled hoping she wouldn't have to start a fight in front of her daughter. The little girl was flicking through one of the books filled with Nnoitra's art work, off in a world of her own.
"Kay, Nel I need you to remove someone from the shop," he shouted, eyes still on the woman.
"No," came the thundering reply.
"It's a girl, I can't hit a girl," he shouted back annoyed, the woman was smirking trying to hold back laughter. A woman with long sea green hair entered from the back of the shop, a little boy following her like a duckling.
"Nnoi you could have just picked her up and carried her outside," she said, glaring at her husband. The woman standing there didn't look very strong.
"She was asking for Blues whereabouts I'm pretty sure that means she ain't weak. The people asking about him never are." Nel passed the boy over to Nnoitra jumping the counter, shifting into her fighting position. She sighed, really hoping she wouldn't have to fight Nel if her scare tactics didn't work. She pulled out the gun she had hidden on her person, pointing it at Nel.
"Look I just want to know where he is, he has something I want. Tell me and I'll leave, nobody has to be hurt," she reasoned, if this didn't work then she would have to threaten the boy and she didn't like doing that considering she had a child of her own.
"Aren't you remotely worried about this affecting your daughter?" Nel asked attempting to distract her in order to get the gun.
"Ushio come here," she ordered. Ushio looked up at her mama, not scared of the gun at all. She had grown up around them. The second her daughter was by her side she bent down picking her up.
"Mama I'm bored," she whined pulling at her bangs. That shocked the pair. Nel sighed, this was turning out to be a most interesting day, she hadn't been held at gun point for a few months but this woman wasn't like the others. She wouldn't hesitate when she had to pull the trigger.
"Give her the address," Nel demanded, confusing Nnoitra. He glared at her jaw slack.
"What," he spluttered, his son looking up at him.
"I am not leaving my child without his parents. Tell her what she wants to know or I will kill you myself," she hissed.