Her worst nightmare comes true!
As they exited the plane, three Americans immediately went on the look-out for their own. They were trying to find (and/or convince) someone who had recently moved away to come home. They realized that she wasn't anywhere close to the airport and immediately went looking for Anne.
-----
Kari was doing her usual route when something immediately caught her attention. At first she thought she was seeing things…then she realized that she was going to need a LOT more Advil to make it through…her father and grandparents. She finished her run and went straight to the shop.
"We've got trouble…and its not a Hollow again!" she said out-of-breath.
"Kari? What's wrong? You look like you've seen Menos Grande!" said Urahara concerned.
"I wish it were Menos Grande! Hollows I can live with, but not them."
"Who's 'them'?"
"If you see an old man with a blue shirt and something embroidered on it, then stall him while I get away."
"What's going on, Kari-san?" asked Tessai.
"It's…my family again! I can't believe Gramps and Dad actually showed up!" said Kari in dismay.
"Wait…you mean that your…?"
"Yes…my father and grandfather are here. In this town! (Though why they brought Grandma with them is beyond me!)"
"What's so bad about them finding you?" asked Jinta.
"My dad and grandpa have a tendency to…force their ideas on you. I was barely able to get them off my back about moving here!" groaned Kari.
"How can they force their ideas on you? You're the most stubborn girl I've met…when you want to be," said Urahara.
"They hound you with the way they see things…and won't get off your back until you either agree or go mental. Unfortunately, I have yet to go mental on them."
"You're forgetting something, Kari-san," said Tessai.
"What?"
"Even if they do find out where you live, they can't do anything about it before going through us. Besides, we've completely forgotten what your real name was months ago!"
"True. But if they can't find me through regular mail, they know how to contact me through the computer!"
"I still don't get how you can actually get that thing to work for you and not us…" grumbled Urahara.
"I've showed you three times! How many more do I have times do I have to teach you before you actually remember it?!" asked Kari exasperated.
This was when she sensed someone coming their way…someone she knew. She turned just in time to see a familiar face pass by.
"If he asks, say that I'm on a run and won't be back until tonight! I'll be in the underground room until he leaves!" said Kari upset. She ducked out of sight when he entered the shop. (He was getting something for her grandmother.)
"Can I have it delivered?"
He gave the room number and hotel name to Urahara who said, "I'll be sure to give this to the delivery carrier."
The man left soon after that. Ururu went to the room and said, "Kari, he left!"
"Thank god… So what did he want anyway?"
"He just ordered something delivered to his hotel room and said that he was searching for someone named Mariah…I think."
"Good thing I changed my name! What did you think of him?"
"He seemed a little irritated…and he was a little scary."
"That's my idiot father for you…now you know why I didn't want him to find me."
"So…was that your father, Kari?" asked Urahara.
"Unfortunately…I never could get along with him."
"Well he wanted some medicine delivered to the room he's at. I got the name and room number."
"Great…he would have it delivered. And that hotel doesn't have room service! I hope my luck doesn't run out when I go drop the package."
"Why would your luck run out?"
"If my grandmother sees my face, then they'll know where I am and the last thing you want is to deal with my dad and grandpa showing up."
"So what makes you think that your grandmother is in the room?"
"She doesn't get around to well. She'd rather stay in the room knitting than go out looking for me."
"Why'd they bring her if all she's going to do is stay in the room?" asked Urahara.
"Knowing her…it was either take her with them or have to listen to her nagging!" laughed Kari.
She got geared up to deliver the item…and she made sure to put on something that even her family would never expect her to wear! Right before she was about to leave, Urahara stopped her.
"Here…you can wear my hat so they won't recognize you as easily. Just be careful, okay?" said Urahara.
"Thanks…and don't I always come back in one piece?" joked Kari.
She rode off in the direction of the hotel…and didn't see her grandfather walking in the direction of the store. She went past him and he never even turned towards her. Her disguise was working…so far!
-----
There was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" asked Sarah.
"I'm here to deliver an order for someone named Sarah Nichols," replied a girl's voice.
"I didn't…"
"It was purchased at the shop and the guy asked if it would be delivered to his room," said the girl before she could finish her sentence.
She opened the door; the girl handed it to her and said, "Have a nice day ma'am."
"I didn't get your name."
"It's Kari. I'm the one they send when a customer asks for his order to be delivered!" laughed the girl. Her eyes were covered by her hat and tinted glasses. She had a jacket around her waist with what she thought was random scribbling; she wore a pair of blue jeans that looked to be around size 10, her shirt had no sleeves and was held up by strings that tied around her neck. Sarah went back into the room and opened the package.
-----
"Yes! She didn't recognize me!" said Kari in a silent cheer.
As she rode back to the store, she waited at a crosswalk for the light to change. That was when she realized her father was standing beside her. He didn't react when she rode off and clearly showed no intention of following her.
'That's two for three… hopefully I won't bump into gramps while I'm at it!'
(Coincidentally she did…and escaped without him realizing who she was!)
"So? How did the delivery go?" asked Urahara.
"None of them even recognized me! Looks like your hat did the trick!" laughed Kari, relief was clearly in her voice.
"Good! Though I wonder why they didn't recognize you even with the hat and your glasses…"
"Probably because I wore this particular shirt and I dropped three or four sizes."
"You did? Funny…I never even noticed that," admitted Urahara.
"I'm glad you didn't. Oh well…even if they do find me, at least I'll have a good excuse why I can't go back home."
"What?"
"When I lived in the States, I was lazy and was rarely motivated to do anything like get a job. They never let me live my life without criticizing me in several areas."
"What areas?"
"My clothes, my living arrangements, and my lack of interest in things they like, etc."
"Yikes…I wondered why you didn't want them to find you. That explains a lot," said Urahara.
"I'm taking the rest of the night off…I need to hit the Advil in my room…" said Kari wearily. (She stayed in her room for the rest of the night.)
The next few days were both easy and yet had many close calls. Finally…the one thing she had been trying to avoid happened. They found her! Though luckily for her, they found her while she was at the park with Ururu and Jinta.
-----
"Mariah! We've been looking all over this town for you!" said her father.
She made no response…or any indication that she heard him.
"Answer me!" said her father irritably.
"Go bug someone else!" said Kari annoyed.
"We didn't come here all this way to leave without seeing you, Mariah," said her father.
"Who is Mariah?! My name isn't Mariah, it's Kari!" she retorted angrily.
"Kari-san…this guy is scaring me…" said Ururu. (Her dad didn't understand a word the girl said!)
"Let's go back to the store… this guy has obviously lost his mind," said Kari. (The only one who speaks English in this segment is her father.)
"Mariah, where do you think you're going?!"
"Home…and back to work," said Kari in plain English.
"You…with a job? Yeah right!" snorted her father.
"Oh, and remember that bike you gave me? It got seriously trashed," said Kari, trying to keep herself from laughing at the look on his face.
"What did you do to it?"
"I turned the chain (which was broke) into a belt. And as for the bike itself…I still have it, but only for sentimental reasons," said Kari.
Right as he started to say something, a roar echoes across the playground. Kari's eyes opened slightly as she heard the roar.
"What the hell was that?!" asked her father.
"You're kidding… Don't tell me you actually heard that monster?!" asked Kari in surprise.
"Of course I heard it! Why didn't anyone else hear it?"
"Because very few people have a high enough spirit energy to even see the thing, let alone hear it!" said Jinta annoyed.
"Don't bother explaining it to him. Remember what I said earlier about my dad and grandparents not liking my love of anime and manga? Well even if you do tell him the truth, he still won't understand. That's just how he is," said Kari annoyed.
"Kari-san, did you bring a Gikongan or the glove with you?" asked Ururu.
"I don't like Gikongan…and I wasn't expecting to run into him again. But…I do know another way to kill the damn thing."
"Your chain?"
"Yuppers."
"What are you…?" said her father before she lost what little patience she had.
"Shut. Up. Dad. This is NO concern of yours…even if you did try to stop me, I'll still go."
"What…?"
"Come to think of it…I do recall taking a Soul Candy with me earlier. It might still be there…" said Kari as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out what he thought was a Pez dispenser with a cat on it. She popped one of the 'candies' into her mouth and waited; she staggered then lead Jinta and Ururu back to the store without a word. He never saw her turn into a Soul Reaper or the sword she now carried…
She disposed the Hollow quickly and then went back to the store; she handed Kitsu her Zanpaku-to and then retook her body. Unfortunately, she didn't know that her family was there until it was too late.
"Glad you came back Kari," joked Urahara.
"What the hell…?! Why didn't you warn me before I got back into my body?!" she hissed.
"I thought you'd see them when you came in…I didn't expect you not to notice your own flesh and blood."
"I am soooo gonna kill you!"
"Why didn't you even try to tell us who you were Mariah?" asked her grandfather.
"Simple…if you couldn't tell who I was at a glance, then I felt you didn't need to know. Besides…I assumed you three were on vacation and I didn't want to wreck it by showing up."
"We came to bring you back," said her grandfather.
"Back where? To the States and my old life?! No thanks…I'm staying here."
"You do know I brought Pepper and Hondo with me, don't you?" asked her father.
"Those are the names of his two dogs. Both are a real pain!" Kari said to Urahara after she caught the look he shot her. He left the room so she could handle them alone.
-----
"I don't care if you did bring them. I'm not going back and that's all there is to it!" she said angrily.
"You won't have a choice. Once Social Security finds out you moved away from the States they'll cut you off," said her father, thinking it would cinch the deal.
"And I should care why? I already told you I'm not leaving. I hope that wasn't your back-up plan."
"Fine…Let's see how long you'll be able to keep living here once…" started her father.
"Cut the crap. They already did that five months ago and I'm still here. I hate to break it to you dad, but you won't be the critic anymore; the same goes to you Gramps!"
"I hope you're happy with what you've done," said her father angrily.
"Shut the hell up about how I should run my life! I'm sick and tired of you trying to make me into something I don't want to be!"
"I really hope you're not too attached to your things…Your manager let me put both Pepper and Hondo in your room," said her father coldly.
"Feh…like I really give a damn about what those dogs do! And need I remind you of that little incident in Atlanta?" she retorted.
"You really have lost any respect you had."
"Whatever…oh, and by the way, Hondo and Pepper are the least of my worries…Kitsu has already knocked them both out cold for me."
"Who's Kitsu?"
"Oy! Kitsu, come meet the cause of my headaches!" she yelled; an orange fox appeared from the doorway and sat next to her.
"This…is Kitsu. Now, why don't we go get something to eat? It'll be my treat," said Kari, eerily calm.
Two days later they left to go back to America. Kari watched them get on the plane as waited until the plane went off into the distance before she left the airport.