Chapter 8:
With their speed, the two ex-soul reapers were able to make it across town in very little time. When they reached their destination, the doors were still closed. It was rather surprising for Yukiko to see the small building surrounded by a wooden fence, with traditional japanese style doors and a white van on the left side.
"What is this place?" she asked, looking over the area from the front yard. "It's...quiet."
Youruichi chuckled lightly as she walked up to the closed door. "This is Kisuke's place. It's a little shop that sells candy among other things to the humans, while providing gigai and other tools for soul reapers."
"How have you been able to hide all this time if you're selling tools to soul reapers?" the younger female asked.
"Easy, we make sure only the younger generation area aware of us," she answered with a smile. "We knew how to stay invisible."
Yukiko smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense," she murmured lightly. She looked over the building before her and pictured the man who owned it...or at least, the man she remembered.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a side door opened and two kids came outside. The boy had bright red hair and a broom in his hand. "Ugh, why do we have to sweep the front?" he demanded angrily. "If he was out here I'd show him!"
"But Ginta, you're scared of Mr. Tessai too," the girl mumbled. She had short black hair with bangs that hung in the center of her face. She too was carrying a broom and was wearing a bright flowery dress.
"I'm not scared of that muscle monster, Ururu!" Ginta exclaimed as he started digging his knuckles into the poor girl's head.
"Ouch! Ginta that hurts!" she cried holding her hands to her aching head.
Yukiko watched the pair in amused confusion. Beside her, Youruichi chuckled before approaching them. "Causing problems again this morning?" the older woman laughed.
At the sound of the voice the pair stopped and looked up at her. "Oh, it's just you, Youruichi," the boy muttered letting the girl go. "You looking for the owner?" As he talked, he caught sight of the ex-soul reaper still standing near the front gate. "Who's that?"
"An old friend," Youruichi answered brushing it aside. "Is he still sleeping?"
"Probably," Ginta grumbled. "Come on in."
He looked over at the unfamiliar woman once more before moving to the sliding doors and pulling them open. At the same time, Yukiko moved toward the building, nodding to the little girl as a greeting. As she stepped through the doors, she saw stands lined up in the room, filled to the brim with candy, trinkets, and a random assortments of odds and ends. She assumed that anything soul society related would be in the back so the living wouldn't accidentally discover them.
"Ginta, the store isn't open yet. What are you doing?"
Yukiko was startled by the deep voice that spoke and she immediately looked for the source. What she saw was a very tall man, with his black hair in cornrows and a white apron on. She would not have been able to recognize him if it wasn't for the obvious body structure. Even the sunglasses he wore couldn't fully mask his identity.
"Tessai," she whispered. Her breath caught in her throat seeing him and a few images flashed through her mind that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"Youruichi's back," Ginta grumbled in answer. "And she brought a friend."
Tessai stopped in his path toward the back and looked toward the door where he spotted the "friend" that was brought. "I see."
In an instant, he set the box he was carrying on the floor and walked over to the door, towering over the younger female. Yukiko swallowed hard as he stood there. She could feel her lungs compressing, cutting off her oxygen, as she waited for him to do something...anything.
"It's good to see you again, Yukiko!" he said loudly dropping one of his enormous hands on her shoulder. The impact nearly caused her to collapse, but after the pat he turned and walked back to his box. The nervous air that had grown had all but disappeared. "The owner is sleeping in the back. I'll go wake him."
"That won't be necessary."
Again Yukiko lost her breath, and her heart stopped. Her hands started trembling as she forced herself to look to the back room where the owner now stood. He was tall, shorter than the hulk that had towered over her before but still tall. He wore a green kimono, clogs on his feet and a striped hat that covered his facial features and most of his hair. In one hand he held a cane and in the other he had a small white fan.
"Welcome back, Youruichi," he greeted, tilting his hat up so his face was visible.
As he did so, his eyes met Yukiko's and she had to fight back the urge to recoil. It was indeed the man she remembered, Kisuke Urahara. She could remember the torture she suffered by his hand and had to force herself to shut it away. "It wasn't him, it was Aizen. None of it actually happened," she repeated in her mind over and over again. Although it did nothing to calm the rising fear while the reiatsu of the three permeated the air, it did allow her to nod in his direction without stepping backward.
"Yukiko...it's good to see you," he expressed, a sad smile covering his face. "I have something for you."
It was a half hour later when Yukiko stepped into the dining room of the Urahara shop. She now wore a school uniform, with the skirt sitting at her mid thigh and her button up form fitted shirt. "Uh, Kisuke, how did you know my size?" she asked as soon as she could see the residents sitting at the table.
"I've made a gigai for you before," he pointed out with a smile. "Of course I wasn't going to forget what size clothes you wear so easily."
Yukiko weakly grinned at him before taking the only open space at the table. "So, since you had this waiting for me I guess this means you knew I was coming?"
"Of course," Youruichi answered. "I was alerted by Soi Fon about the decision the Head Captain came to."
"I see, that makes sense," Yukiko acknowledged.
"The squad 2 Captain gave me a bit of useful information that allowed me to make a few special modifications to your gigai," Urahara continued.
"What modifications?" Yukiko asked. She was hoping the conversation would keep her mind off of the thought of what they had put in her food. She forced herself to lift the food to her mouth, hoping she was right in trusting they hadn't done anything to it.
"For instance, I heard that familiar reiatsu alone can become a trigger for you," Urahara explained. "So, I added a special reiatsu dampener that allows you to go through your day without sensing anything, unless you want to."
"You mean, I don't have to worry about being over taxed by reiatsu?" she asked looking down at her false body. Now that she took a second, she could no longer feel anything coming from the people next to her. Granted the gigai they were wearing kept their own reiatsu had a near invisible level. She couldn't feel them before until they were right next to her, but now, there was nothing at all. "You know...it actually does help." She took a bite of her food and smiled when she realized nothing was obviously wrong with it. It tasted pretty good, and she could feel the anxiety over it dwindling slightly.
Urahara and Youruichi gave each other a knowing smile and began digging in themselves. The entire group enjoyed the meal as the two ex-captains regaled the two children with tales from their time in soul society. Yukiko enjoyed hearing the old stories as she ate her food and simply listened to their voices. When she finished eating, she simply closed her eyes and allowed the voices to fill her mind while she breathed deeply, trying her hardest to keep from allowing the shaking doors from opening.
Eventually, the group stopped talking and shared worried looks. "Well there's somewhere we need to be," Urahara stated getting to his feet. "Ginta, Ururu, You know where her apartment is going to be. Please show her there."
"My own apartment?" Yukiko asked getting to her feet as well.
"You did mention that it would be easier for you to recover if you were not surrounded by those you once knew," Youruichi reminded her. "This is just to give you a place at night where you can keep working without our interference."
"I see."
Urahara took a good hold of his cane and headed to the door stopping before he exited. "One more thing, that group is here and worried about you," he murmured. "Would you like us to let them know you're here and what your circumstances are?"
Yukiko took a few moments to think about what he'd said before shaking her head. "No...I'll tell them myself when I'm ready," she sighed. "Please...I don't want them...to see me like this."
The two ex-captains nodded and shared a look with each other before leaving. Yukiko sighed heavily to herself, feeling tears prick her eyes as she watched them go. She wanted more than anything to see that group, but knew that if she did so now...it'd only cause heartache, on both sides.
"Are you ready to go, Miss Yukiko?" Ururu asked as she picked up a set of keys.
"Um, I'd prefer for you to call me, Ume," she returned as she approached the young girl.
"Alright, Miss Ume."
"Just Ume."
"Ume..." Ururu repeated.
"Tch, what kind of a name is Ume?" Ginta demanded. "Sounds stupid."
"It's an old nickname she had from a long time ago," Tessai answered as he knocked the boy over the head. "Don't push it."
"Ow! Fine, I'll drop it!" Ginta exclaimed angrily. "Come on, Ururu. Let's get this over with."
Yukiko allowed the two children to lead her away from the shop and down many different streets. She was enthralled by the change in building structures and by the different vehicles she could see. It was in every sense a new world for her.
"So, you two live with Kisuke?" she asked after a time. She wanted to understand who these children were in relation to her old friends. "For how long?"
Ururu didn't answer, but Ginta glared at her in return. "What's it to you?"
"I was just curious. Kisuke never really struck me as the adopting type," the older female answered with a shrug.
Ginta glared at her for a long time before he finally continued on his way. "Yeah, we're living with him. We have been for as long as we can remember."
"I see...well I'm glad he can be there for you," Yukiko expressed softly.
"Tch, whatever," Ginta grumbled. "What are you doing anyway? I didn't hear any plans from any of you."
"Oh, well you know Ichigo Kurosaki, right?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah."
"I plan on attending his high school starting tomorrow," she answered with a smile. "It'll be nice to see him again."
"You friends with carrot top?" Ginta asked scathingly. "Well whatever. Just don't go causing problems for us like he does."
"Heh, I'll try," she agreed with a small giggle.
"We're here, Ume. Here's the key for room 25 and here's the information you need for tomorrow," Ururu cut in as she stopped in front of an apartment building. She held the keys up to Yukiko who took them and started for the building.
"Thanks a lot, Ginta, Ururu," she called out. "Maybe I'll see you two later. You kids are cute after all."
"Who you calling cute?!" Ginta demanded.
Yukiko chuckled again before disappearing inside. It didn't take her long to find her room, and when she did she made sure there was an area fully clear on the floor where she sat and began to meditate.
"You didn't waste any time did you," the little Nightingale muttered the moment she closed her eyes. "Are you this eager or desperate?"
"Funny," Yukiko grumbled walking down the hallway to one of the hundreds of doors before her. "Look, the sooner I get started on this the sooner I'll be able to put all of it behind me."
"You do realize that chances of completely getting over this are slim to none," Soyokaze pointed out.
"I know...but I want to make sure I can at least talk to my three man support group here," the ex-soul reaper stated firmly. "I'm going to need their help if something happens. I need to know I'm not going to snap at them when the time comes."
"I know, Yukiko," the sword spirit replied softly. "You do have other things you should take care of though."
"I'll do that either later tonight or tomorrow," Yukiko stated firmly. "Now, let's start with Youruichi."
Yukiko spent the remainder of the day shut in her apartment room attempting to go through each memory regarding the three souls she'd had breakfast with. Unfortunately, she was unable to get very far with any of them, rendering her utterly exhausted and on edge. So much so that she woke after only four hours of sleep.
"Well, might as well grab breakfast and get my necessary shopping done," she grumbled to her sword spirit as she got up and rinsed herself off. She'd sweat a little too much over the last several hours thanks to the meditation and attempt at sleep.
She glanced around her room for seemingly the first time, taking in the one room apartment in full. To her left was a twin bed shoved all the way against the wall, to her right was a small desk with a lamp a top it and a window behind it, and directly in front of her she could see the sink, oven, refrigerator and counter tops that made up her kitchen, and a set of doors. One led to the bathroom and the other was a coat closet.
"So, what I'm going to need is a lot of water, something I can easily snack on after a long meditation, a few clothes that are not a uniform, and bathroom supplies," she listed off as she focused on each area in turn. "Am I missing anything?"
"Other than a clock to keep track of time, I don't think so," Soyokaze answered. "Just make sure you aren't late for your first day. You are supposed to be relaxing during the day after all."
"I know."
She quickly grabbed the few items she'd taken with her and left the apartment, shooting a text to Urahara as she went. Moments later she received a reply with a list of stores within walking distance to her that should have what she needed. She silently thanked him for the information, and for the phone. It had been in the pocket of her skirt when she put the gigai on and he'd explained its functions over the meal they shared.
With the new information in hand, she was able to grab everything she needed and drop it off at her apartment with plenty of time left to reach the high school. She was grateful to Ururu for supplying the school information, which she looked over as she walked. Luckily for her, the way to the school was fairly peaceful. There were few cars on the road this early in the morning and a few other students were walking along the same path as her.
In next to no time she was at the gate to the school and shielded her eyes from the sun as she inspected the outside of it. It was smaller than the academy she went to in soul society and much less tree filled. But the building seemed welcoming enough and she smiled at it. It would be interesting going back to a school, one that wouldn't hate her because of lack of control.
She shook her head, clearing her mind of the memories before heading inside. She moved down one hallway after another looking for the class number written on her sheet. When she found it, she glanced through the little window catching the eye of the teacher inside. The female teacher walked to the door and pulled it open for her and smiled warmly.
"You must be Miss Umehito, please come inside and introduce yourself to the class," she greeted.
Yukiko nodded and stepped inside before bowing to the group of students in front of her. "I'm Ume Umehito. It's a pleasure to meet you all." After that she looked up and scanned the room.
Right away she spotted Ichigo who didn't look too surprised to see her. She reasoned that Urahara must have explained what was happening with her. Good. He did seem to have bandages around his head and she wondered what happened. Scanning the room further, she located Uryu and internally chuckled at the surprised look on his face. Strange though, Chad and Orihime weren't there. She was sure she'd heard they all went to the same class.
Just as she was finishing her scan of the room, her eyes settled on one last person. He was a blonde boy sitting next to Ichigo with all his teeth showing despite not actually smiling. She could see shocked recognition in his eyes which only served to confirm her suspicions. Instantly her heart seized up and her breathing all but stopped. Her ears began to ring as she continued to stare at the boy.
"Captain Hirako..."
Shippoman: And so she comes into contact with the first of the eight missing soul reapers, and it's not getting off to a great start. How will this reunion pan out and just how upset will he be that she's there? Stay tuned to find out and please remember to R&R.