Summary: Reiko settles in to the Ishida household as the arrancars move forward with their plot.
"This is not what we were promised." A short but powerfully built arrancar said as a lesser hollow bandaged his arm.
The wind howled around the jagged rocks blowing sand across the ground under Hueco Mundo's eternal night. Their small band huddled in the lee of the stones, trying to find a small measure of comfort. There had been many more of them before their raid on Karakura. The survivors had their faith badly shaken by the loss.
"The leader said we would find good feeding and gain power." It continued. "I never saw anything like the human who faced us, Nergal. He smashed us like insects. I broke my arm trying to block his fist. I barely made it back."
His companion was a tall, thin arrancar with a snake's jawbone for a mask. "Watch what you say, Sumuqan. Someone may question your loyalty."
"What good is loyalty if I'm dead?" Sumuqan asked. "I joined up with this faction for power! When are we going to get what we were promised?"
"Don't let me stop you from leaving if you're unhappy with us, Sumuqan." A deep voice rumbled.
The wounded arrancar twisted to look up at the huge arrancar with the bear skull mask. He prostrated himself on the ground before him. The rest of the band did so as well.
"Lord Sargon." Sumuqan said, all traces of anger and impatience carefully suppressed. "Please forgive me. I meant no disrespect."
Sargon looked down at the groveling creature. He was under no illusions as to his minion's true loyalty. He was a hollow. It was expected he would be looking for any advantage to get ahead. Sargon knew he would be stabbed in the back and replaced at the slightest sign of weakness. He should kill Sumuqan right now as an example to the others. Looking over the rest of his pitiful band, he knew he couldn't afford it.
He settled for kicking the disgruntled henchman in the face. As Sumuqan hit the ground on his back, Sargon stepped on his chest using it as a platform.
"Listen up, all of you!" he shouted. "I know you're all upset at the reception we received in the real world. There were more shinigami than any of us had ever seen. There were humans with unusual powers that killed off a lot of our comrades. We got our asses handed to us. So what? Nothing has changed. That which we need is still in that town somewhere. Once it's in our hands, we will become strong. Many will flock to our banner, making us even stronger. It's only a matter of time until all of Hueco Mundo is ours. If we find the secret."
"How can we search with all the dangerous enemies there?" one of them demanded.
Sargon glared at the questioner. He was in danger of losing control. He had to regain their confidence to keep the group together. He could feel Sumuqan squirming under his boots.
"We will move cautiously." He said. "Suppress your reiatsu. Disguise yourselves whenever possible. Feed lightly and only on those who won't be missed. For now, stay here and heal your wounds."
He stepped off the furious Sumuqan, grinding his heels as he did so. He was going to have to deal with Sumuqan's attitude sooner or later. It would have to be later.
"Nergal," he commanded, "get a few of our most trusted followers together. I found a lead."
Ryuuken and Uryuu were already deep into their morning routine of saying absolutely nothing to each other when Reiko entered the dining room.
"Good morning." She said shyly as she approached the table.
She looked a lot better rested and dry, her glossy, shoulder length black hair tucked behind her ears. Both men rose from their seats.
"Good morning." Ryuuken replied. "I trust you slept well?"
"Yes." She said as she took her seat. "Thank you again for letting me stay."
"Think nothing of it." He said as he returned to his paper. "It would have been unseemly to turn you away on such a stormy night, especially as my son had already said you could stay. Without consulting me first."
Uryuu ignored the dig and tried to change the subject.
"That's a lovely dress you have on." He said to Reiko. She was wearing a rather modest sun dress in blue gingham.
She glanced down at her dress. "You like it? I made it myself."
"Really?" Uryuu said with interest.
"Well, the cloth is obviously regular cotton print stock, and used a sewing machine for the long seams, but I did a lot of hand sewing on the trim." She said.
"I can see that." Uryuu said as he leaned in closer. "The hook and eye arrangement at the waist is purely ornamental isn't it?"
"Of course." She said. "The actual fastener is a conventional zipper in the back. I try to avoid buttons whenever possible."
"Me too." Uryuu said. "They're so annoying, even though you can't get around using them some of the time."
"Tell me about it." She said. "If I could, I'd use zippers for everything. For this dress, I wanted something to make it a bit less plain, that's why I used to the hook and eyes to create a cinching effect in the front."
"And that's why you put it over a plain white background?" He asked.
"Yes, exactly!" She exclaimed.
Her face beamed with pride and happiness as she discussed the finer points of her creation. She seemed very different from the timid girl of last night.
Ryuuken sighed behind his newspaper. There was no way he was going to be able to ignore their conversation and finish his reading. He folded his paper and put it away.
"So what are you plans now, Ijima-san?"He asked interrupting their intense conversation on fabric styles.
Reiko seemed to shrink back into herself as she remembered where she was and her status as a guest.
"I'm not sure." She said quietly. "Finding more Quincy was my only goal. I've traveled so much finding nothing. I was beginning to lose hope. Even so, I didn't think about what I would do once I found living quincys."
"What you should do is forget about the Quincy and lead a normal life" Ryuuken advised.
"How is it not normal to use the gifts she was born with?"Uryuu testily interjected.
"Those 'gifts' are no longer required in this world." Ruuken replied. "The time of the Quincy is over."
"Or maybe it's time for the Quincy to find a new way to fit in with the world." Uryuu shot back.
"Even if that were so, you still can't make a living at it." With Uryuu's face turning red, he turned back to Reiko. "Do you have any plans for today?"
"Yes sir." She said. "I plan to look for work. I still have a few places on my list to check. Or I may decide to stop looking and figure out where to go from here. Either way, I'm going to need money. I will also find a place to stay. I can check with the local charities to see where I can go for tonight."
Uryuu and Ryuuken looked at each other. They both adjusted their glasses. It didn't take long for them to reach a mutual, unspoken agreement.
"That won't be necessary." Ryuuken said.
"You can stay here while you look for work."Uryuu finished.
"Oh, I couldn't." Reiko protested. "You've already done enough for me."
"It's just until you can afford a proper home." Ruuken said. "You will be more successful finding work with a permanent address. We can find you a place after you are employed."
"We're happy to have you here." Uryuu said. "It's the least we can do for a fellow Quincy."
Reiko flushed and smiled as she bowed her head. Tears of gratitude formed in her eyes.
"Thank you so much. I…I mean, I, uh…" She had to stop as her voice began to quaver.
Ryuuken stood up. "Since that's settled, I have to get to work." He finished his coffee and picked up his dirty dishes. "Don't wait up for me Uryuu. I expect to get home late tonight. Ijima-san, I wish you luck on your job hunt. I will see you both tomorrow."
With that, he left through the kitchen dropping the dishes in the sink on the way out.
Uryuu turned to his guest. "You're not eating anything. Help yourself while I get you some coffee."
"Please don't trouble yourself for me." She said.
"Nonsense." Uryuu replied as he poured out a cup. "You're our guest."
Reiko's eyes welled up again in gratitude. "Thank you" was all she could force out.
Uryuu left her alone as she filled her plate and started eating. He believed he understood. She was overwhelmed and needed a little time to deal with it all. He let her eat in peace. After a while, she settled down enough to talk.
"I don't mean to sound rude Ishida-san," she said, "but your father doesn't seem to like being a Quincy. Why does he insist the quincy should be no more?"
"He has his reasons." Uryuu replied with a frown. "He says there's no point in being a Quincy these days. That we're not needed with the shinigami around and there's no profit in it."
The last words were heavy with disgust at his father's attitude.
"I don't understand." Reiko said. "Why did he teach you if he doesn't believe in the old ways?"
Uryuu adjusted his glasses. "He didn't. My grandfather taught me. He believed differently than my father. He felt Quincy's still had an important role to serve in this world. He's the one I model myself after."
Reiko smiled. "I'd like to meet your grandfather. Does he live nearby?"
Uryuu's face clouded over. "No. He died some time ago. Hollows killed him."
And not just hollows. Unbidden, the memory of Captain Kurotsuchi waving that obscene picture under his nose rose in his mind. Someday, he was going to have to deal with him. In a way, whether he sought him out or not, it felt inevitable he would face down the mad scientist again.
"I'm so sorry." Reiko said. "I didn't know."
Uryuu forced a wan smile on his face. "Of course not." He said. "How could you have known? Don't worry about it."
"I've upset you." She said as she bowed her head, shrinking into herself again.
"Seriously, don't worry about it." Uryuu insisted. "I hold on to those memories whenever I feel down. We did have a lot of good times together."
Reiko slowly but visibly relaxed. "Really? Like what?"
Uryuu leaned back as he thought about happier times. "Well, there's the Quincy training of course. But there's a lot of other stuff too. I could talk to him about anything. He would help me with my schoolwork. We would go fishing. He taught me how to sew and how to cook. I can still taste my favorite. Mackerel miso stew. You know, even knowing the recipe, I can never get it to taste the same as grandfather's"
"It sounds like he was a great guy."Reiko said.
"He was." Uryuu said. "I still have a lot of his stuff. His books and journals were a big help in continuing my training."
Reiko sat up very straight at this bit of news. "He left you artifacts? And manuals? Can I see them?"
"Of course." He replied. "Just as soon as you finish eating and we wash the dishes.
Reiko gave the widest smile he'd seen from her yet and began to eat as fast as she could and still be polite.
He was definitely putting in the overtime this month, thought Zennosuke Kurumadani.
After last night's patrol, he'd gone home for a late supper, then straight to bed. Now here he was, bright and early patrolling his beat once again. Didn't the higher ups know how frustrating it was to work in a town where everybody and their third cousin seemed to have some kind of power? How was he supposed to make it up the ranks if he never had a chance to kill any hollows? Not to mention his financial situation. Unseated shinigami didn't get paid much and hollow bounties were a huge supplement. He'd been meaning to ask out a cute little number from the ninth division for some time now, but there wasn't much he could do to impress her with just his basic pay.
Eager to claim a kill, he rejoiced as he saw a hollow on the street from his vantage point on the rooftop. It was a fairly large one with a deer skull mask. By its reiatsu, it was a strong hollow, probably worth a lot of bounty money. He scanned the area from side to side. No other shinigami nearby. No weird humans with powers. This was it! A hollow all to himself to terminate and claim. He could practically feel that ninth division girl in his arms as he drew his zampakuto. It struck him a little odd that the creature was just standing there. Normally hollows hunted or stalked something. No matter. A bounty was a bounty any way you got one!
Before he could move in for the attack, the area in front of the hollow blurred and warped. From the disturbance another hollow appeared. An arrancar! He was a huge creature with a bear's skull for a mask. He was keeping his reiatsu tightly suppressed, but Kurumadani could still feel the immense power leaking out. The shinigami ducked down. He was under no illusions about his power. There was no way he would be able to defeat an arrancar. He pulled out his phone, preparing to report the creature's position. What happened next made him hesitate. He watched in puzzlement as the hollow bowed down before the arrancar.
"Hail Sargon." The creature said. "I am prepared to fulfill my part of the bargain. If you are prepared to fulfill yours."
"If this information of yours gives me what I seek, I will admit you to our group." The one called Sargon rumbled.
"That is good," the hollow said nodding, "I wish to be among the strong. With order starting to rise from chaos, standing alone is dangerous."
"We will be the strongest." Sargon said, "What we seek will give us the edge."
"It might help if you told me what it is." The hollow hinted. "Is it a weapon? A spell?"
"Don't worry about what it is." Sargon said in a warning tone. "Just show me what we talked about. And remember what will happen if I am displeased."
"Of course lord Sargon." The hollow said. "It's right this way."
Kurumadani reminded himself to breath as he watched the creatures walk away. He quickly made a decision. He would follow them and find out what was going on, then report it to Soul Society. As soon as he was sure they would not be able to detect him, he got up and leaped to the next rooftop in the direction they had left.
"Who's this? Is this you?" Reiko asked as she held up a picture.
"Where did you find that?" Uryuu asked as he took it from her hand.
Curiosity turned to horror as he realized what he was looking at. It was a picture of him splashing around in a kiddy pool when he was three years old. Naked. Feeling his face turn red, he quickly put it face down on the coffee table.
"I found it in this box." She answered. "You were so cute!"
"Uh, well, uh, here's a scroll you may be interested in." He said as he quickly tried to change the subject. "It covers the family history when they arrived in Karakura."
Reiko was still looking through his grandfather's pictures. "Look, here's some more."
They had taken several boxes from the storage room downstairs to look through in the living room. It had been so long, Uryuu forgot about his childhood photos in the box. As he scrambled to think of some polite way to get the pictures away from her, the doorbell rang. He looked from where Reiko sat with a handful of pictures to the hallway leading to the front door, then back again several times. There was no helping it he supposed.
"I'll get it." He sighed.
Reiko continued to flip through the pictures, giggling occasionally. Looking back ruefully, he was unprepared when he opened the door.
"Surprise." Nemu said. Uyruu jumped a little
"Nemu! I wasn't expecting you." He said clutching his chest.
"I know. That is why it's a surprise." She responded. "I thought today would be nice for a picnic."
She held up a large wicker basket loaded down with food. Now that he had a moment, he saw she was wearing a large brimmed white hat with flowers in the band, an ankle length yellow dress and white canvas soft soled shoes.
"I rented this from Urahara's, so we have to get a full days use out of it."
"Sound great." Uryuu said. "Let me get my keys."
"Ishida-san, look! I found one of you on the toilet!" Reiko said laughing as she walked up holding a snapshot.
Nemu's eyes narrowed. "One of what?"
Reiko looked up surprised. "Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Uryuu's?"
The boy in question felt his heart thumping against his rib cage. He had totally forgotten about his house guest as soon as he saw Nemu. He scrambled to gather his wits before things got awkward.
"Ijima-san, this is Nemu. You met her last night." He said gesturing with his hands.
Reiko stepped closer, confusion on her face. "I don't understand. This person is human, not a shinigami."
"I'm in a gigai." Nemu explained.
"A gigai? What's that?" Reiko asked.
Nemu was taken aback. How did she not know what a gigai was? Was her training that incomplete?
Uryuu explained. "A gigai is a sort of false body. It lets soul reapers interact with the real world."
"Oh." Reiko marveled. "It looks so real." She reached out and pinched Nemu on the shoulder. "It even feels real."
Nemu frowned at the uninvited intimacy. She took a step back to get away from Reiko's hand.
"Are you coming in Nemu-san?" Reiko asked. She waved her handful of photos in the air with a naughty grin. "We've got naked pictures of Ishida-san to look at!"
Nemu's eyes locked on Uryuu's.
"Naked pictures?" She asked arching on eyebrow.
"It's not what you're thinking." He said as his face turned beet red.
"I can hardly wait for the explanation, although I can't see how that would change the facts." She said coldly.
"Ah ha ha." He laughed nervously. "Why don't I explain on our way out? Oh, I forgot." He turned to Reiko. "We're going on a picnic today, I expect we'll be gone until late afternoon."
"Oh, that's OK." Reiko said. "I really should start looking for work. I'll tidy up here, then go."
"That sounds good." Uryuu said with relief. He went to get the keys. "Here's the key to the front door. Here's my phone number just in case. And, here is some money for later."
"I can't take this," Reiko said trying to push the folded bills away. "You've already done so much."
"Consider it a loan." Uryuu said. "You're going to get hungry walking all over town, you're going to need to eat somewhere, you're going to need money for the train if nothing else. You can pay me back once you get a job."
Slowly, reluctantly, Reiko took the money. "Thank you, Ishida-san." She said with a smile. She turned to Nemu. "He's such a nice guy."
"Yes," Nemu said in a cold flat voice. "I'm aware of that."
While Nemu was relieved the girl would not be tagging along, she still felt…odd. She couldn't figure out why. The girl was being polite. She wasn't treating her like a threat or being insulting. So why did she feel just a little bit upset with her?
Uryuu checked the charge on his phone, then closed it with a snap. "We're all set. Good luck Ijima-san. We'll see you later."
"Thanks again, Ishida-san."She said with a polite bow. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. You two have a good time!"
Uryuu and Nemu waved until Reiko closed the door. Ever the gentleman, Uryuu carried the basket. Nemu put her arm in his and held him tight.
"Now about those naked pictures..." She said.
Kurumadani continued to follow as the hollows walked to their destination. Along the way, they were joined by first one, then another arrancar. All of them were carefully suppressing their reiatsu. One had a snake's jaw mask, the other insectoid, covering almost the entire face. After several blocks, they finally stopped in an alley behind a modest looking apartment building. There, they began to do something he couldn't see. He had to get in closer.
Dropping down to the street, he carefully approached the alley mouth. Ensuring he had adequate cover, he slowly peered around the corner. What he saw was like nothing he'd ever heard about at the academy.
"Information, old man." The one called Sargon snarled. "Tell us what you know."
To Kurumadani's astonishment, he saw the blurry form of demi-hollow, half-chained and half-merged to the building. It took the form of an old man wearing a knit cap and a cardigan. It whined piteously.
"I just wanted peace and quiet." It moaned. "Why does everyone have to play their music so loud? Why do those lousy kids upstairs have to be running around all the time? Don't they understand, I need my reeeeessstt!"
The last word came out as a drawn out, high pitched howl. His struggles pulled at the chain over his heart, tugging the hole open wider. The spirit was well on his way to becoming a full hollow.
"You will have your peace old man," Sargon said, "if you can answer our questions."
The spirit raised his head, a look of hope in his eyes. "Really?" It asked. "Even today, they still won't stop. Nobody listens to me anymore. They ignore me when I knock on the door. The landlady won't answer my calls. It's worse than ever."
The poor fool, Kurumadani thought. He doesn't realize he's dead.
Sargon leaned in closer. "Serve me well, and you will have peace old one. If they won't listen to you, I will give you the power to make them stop."
"Yes, yes!" The demi- hollow said "I will help you. I want to be able to stop them. I want power! Freedom!"
"Then listen well." The snake jawed arrancar said. "Souken Ishida. An old man like yourself. He had long hair and a mustache. Do you remember him?"
The ghostly figure slowly shook his head as he fought to recall. "Souken. Souken. Yes, I remember him. He was quiet. I thought he'd be a problem with his grandson always visiting, but the boy was quiet too. They were good people. Why did they have to go away? Why can't they all be considerate like that?"
"Never mind that!" The insect-like arrancar snapped. "Were you close? Did you spend a lot of time with him?"
"I would stop by for tea once in a while." The old man muttered. "I wouldn't call us close."
The arrancar looked at each other. They did not look happy.
"Did he tell you any secrets, old man?" Sargon demanded. "Did he have a place where he would hide something?"
"Hide something? What are you talking about?" the old man asked querulously. "I told you, I would stop by for tea once in a while. I didn't know him that well."
This really displeased the arrancar. As one they turned to the hollow who had led them there.
"I thought you said this old fool had valuable information?" Sargon growled.
"You were looking for information about the old Quincy, you said."The deer masked hollow said as it tried to back away. "He knew him when he was still alive."
"So what?" Said the bug faced arrancar. "He still knows nothing of importance."
"That's not my fault!" He yelped. He tried to turn and run, only to be sized from behind by the snake jawed one. He forced the quivering hollow to face Sargon.
"The rewards for aiding us are great." Sargon said as he held his hand up. He slowly brought it down to rest between the hollow's deer like antlers. "The punishment for failure is even greater."
A burning smell began to drift across the alleyway. Sargon's hand glowed red as he gathered the energies for a cero blast.
"Sargon, please! Give me another chance!" The hollow bleated as it felt its mask catch fire.
Sargon gave a predatory grin, replying with only one word. "Cero."
In a flash of red, the hollow was reduced to a pile of ash. Kurumadani cringed at the thought of his lost bounty. Well, maybe the girl wouldn't mind something cheap for a first date?
The arrancars formed a circle.
"Now what do we do?" The snake arrancar asked.
"This is a bit of a setback."' Sargon said. "Here's what we'll do now."
They huddled together while the big arrancar outlined his plan. Try as he might, Kurumadani couldn't hear what they said. After a few minutes, they broke their huddle.
"Let's go." Sargon ordered.
"Wait!" the demi-hollow cried. "What about me? You said you would give me power!"
"You were useless to me old man."Sargon sneered. "No doubt you were just as useless in life. You deserve your little slice of hell."
The arrancar began to blur as they departed.
"No! Come back!" The demi-hollow screamed. "Don't leave me here! You promised you'd help me! You'd free me! You promised! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHGGRRRHHHHH!"
The last scream was the most hollow-like yet. Kurumadani made a mental note to come back and deal with the restless spririt before it got much worse. Right after he reported what he saw. After taking three steps away from the wall, the air about him suddenly blurred as the three arrancar materialized around him. Sargon drew his zampakuto.
"You know," He said almost casually, "if you are going to be peeking around corners to spy on people, you might want to consider getting a haircut."
Following actions to words, the huge arrancar swept his blade six centimeters over Kurumadani's skull, cutting off a huge chunk of his beautifully coiffed, painstakingly cultivated afro.
"Oh, hell no!" Kurumadani raged as he stared at the lump of hair at his feet. "Nobody messes with the 'fro! Not even you tough guy!" He drew his zampakuto and called its name. "Good morning,...urk."
Kurumadani could not finish as one of the arrancar's zampakuto's was sticking out of his chest. As the blade withdrew, he tried to run, but his legs would not obey him. Even for such a terrible wound, he should be able to do something, but his limbs seemed to turn to ice. Soon it was getting hard to breathe. He fell over on his back.
"Nergal." Sargon ordered. "Check his phone. Make sure he didn't report us."
It didn't take long for the arrancar to do so.
"Looks like he didn't have time." He said. He crushed the device under his boot.
"Well shinigami," Sargon said "looks like you've run out of luck. If it means anything, you can take pride in knowing you fed the next rulers of Hueco Mundo."
The three arrancar closed in around his paralyzed body. This was it. He was doomed to be just another name on the causality list at HQ. His only regrets were he'd never know just how nice dating that ninth division honey would have been and that he would die with his hair in such terrible condition.
Suddenly, the arrancar were stopped. Kurumadani found himself surrounded by a glowing yellow shield.
"What's this?" The one called Nergal hissed.
"Tsubaki. I reject!"
A small object slammed into Nergal's face, breaking his mask and opening a nasty gash. He dropped to his knees and clutched at his face.
"Who did that!" the insect like arrancar demanded.
They turned to see a young girl holding her hands out while strange forms whirled above her head. She radiated great power. The large young man standing next to her was as least as strong. As they watched, a strange gauntlet formed on his right arm. He began to stride forward, purpose and determination showing strongly in his face.
"Sargon, what shall we do?" Nergal asked.
The big arrancar thought for a second. "Retreat." He ordered "We don't need to fight. Not yet."
Grabbing Nergal, they opened a portal back to Hueco Mundo and left.
Chad stood and watched. He pondered racing over using sonido and fighting them, but three to two were still bad odds when you didn't know your enemy. As the portal closed, he relaxed and let his powers subside. His arm returned to normal.
"Ayame, Shun'o, I reject!" Orhime called. The shield around Kurumadani quickly changed to a healing field. She walked closer to the downed shinigami to get a better look. Chad stood over her as she kneeled down.
"What's wrong with him?" He asked. "Will he be OK?"
"He's been badly wounded, but that's not all." The young girl said. "There's some kind of poison in him. I think I can heal him, but I'm not sure. I'd feel better if we could get him some help."
Chad nodded. He picked Kurumadani up. "Can you heal him while we're moving?" He asked.
She scratched her head. "Well I guess so." She said. "I've never tried before. Maybe if you don't go too fast?"
Chad didn't think that was a good idea. When getting people medical attention, speed was always a good. He had an idea.
"Why don't you get on my back?" he suggested.
"Get on your back?" Orihime said. "That sounds like a great idea! Oh wait, won't that be too much for you Sado-kun?"
Chad merely smiled and shook his head. Both of their weight combined wouldn't be enough to even slow him down.
"Well, if you're sure." She said. With a little effort, she was soon perched on Chad's broad muscular back, her arms wrapped around his neck. She looked down at Kurumadani in Chad's arms. He was still conscious, his eyes now able to move and his breathing easier. He still couldn't speak.
"Don't worry shinigami-san!" She chirped as she reassured the wounded man. "Well soon get you to, uh, hey Sado-kun, where are we going?"
"Urahara's" Chad supplied.
"Hey that's perfect! He'll know what to do. Off we go!" She cheered, pointing the way. Chad smiled and set off at his fastest pace.
Despite having a rough start to say the least, Uryuu and Nemu had a good time together. The weather had been perfect, neither too hot nor too cold. Fluffy clouds drifted across the sky as they ate their lunch on a blanket under a tree in the park. By the fountains, an acoustic band playing old favorites took requests, entertaining the small crowd while children scampered and played with their dogs on the thick green grass. People played Frisbee or flew kites, or just enjoyed each other's company as they walked under the bright sunshine. After they ate, Nemu rested in Uryuu's arms, watching it all, taking it all in, talking about everything and nothing. As the sun went down, they stopped for some ice cream on the way home, slowly eating their cones as they walked hand in hand, Uryuu carrying the basket, the street lights winking on one by one.
"I had a lovely time." Nemu said as they reached the front door.
"Well it doesn't need to stop now." He said with a grin putting the basket down. "Ryuuken said he's going to be working late."
Nemu looked quickly side to side as she blushed. "You don't mean?"
"Of course." He said as he put his arm around her waist. "It's been a long time. We've been good. I think we deserve it."
She began to laugh. "Perhaps a little later." She said pushing ineffectually against his chest. "It's almost dinner time."
"So? We'll order out." He countered. "Maybe we could even use it."
"What do you mean, 'use it'?" she asked with a puzzled smile.
He leaned in close and whispered in her ear the various ways food could be worked into love play. She put her hand over her mouth to suppress her giggling.
"Do you want to try it?" he pressed.
Nemu kept glancing from side to side, her feelings a mixture of embarrassment and excitement. This sounded so naughty. So bold. So interesting. Surely as a scientist, she should engage in a little experimentation? Who knows what the results might be? Making up her mind, she met Uryuu's eyes and gave a quick, but definite nod. Grinning from ear to ear, he pulled her close. Their lips met just as their eyes closed, wrapping their arms around each other as they enjoyed a long overdue kiss. It was not easy to disengage when the porch light came on. They leaped apart just in time.
"Ishida-san." Reiko said as she opened the door. "You're back. Ah, Nemu-san, did you have a good time?"
Uryuu could have kicked himself. He had forgotten all about his house guest. He tried to stammer out a reply as he worked to keep his hands from shaking. Almost getting caught like that had pumped his body full of adrenaline.
"Ijima-san." He sputtered. "Yes, we had a very nice day. In fact, we were just talking about ordering some food."
"No need for that." She said. "I've already made dinner. I think you're in for a pleasant surprise."
Not another surprise today, he thought. He wasn't sure his heart could take it.
"Why do you say that?" He weakly asked.
"I made your favorite, mackerel miso soup! You've got to try it." She crowed. She faced Nemu. "I made plenty for everyone if you're staying, Nemu-san."
"That's all right." Nemu said. "I'm feeling some indigestion at the moment."
That was actually true. She didn't want to bother Uryuu with it, but she had been feeling heartburn and indigestion since lunch. It might have been due to her eating all the pickles and salted food. She was craving the taste for some reason and her body was not responding well. Perhaps it was because of the cheap gigai she had rented. Urahara refused to rent her the deluxe model anymore.
"I think I'll go home now."
"Are you sure?" Uryuu asked. "It would be nice to have more guests for dinner."
Nemu looked into his eyes. She could see he felt bad about this. She considered staying for dinner, but suddenly, she felt a little nauseous.
"It's alright Uryuu." She said forcing herself to smile. "I'm going to go home and lie down for a while. Don't worry about me."
"If you're sure." He said.
"I'm sure." She reassured him. "You worry about entertaining your guest and enjoy your soup."
"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.
Her smile was more genuine this time. "Of course."
As they drew closer, they both realized they could not kiss goodbye in front of Reiko. Neither of their fathers would approve. If word got out they were a couple, there would be hell to pay. They finished with an awkward handshake. It was with some regret that she waved goodbye, this time the door closing on Reiko and Uryuu. As soon as the door closed, her heartburn got a lot worse.
