The day after their arrival, Keiko and Shuuhei woke up shortly after Inoue-san, and, leaving Shuuhei to get changed, Keiko made her way downstairs to find the younger woman running around the kitchen making food. Despite the fact the room looked like pure chaos, food and ingredients all over the kitchen, spills and messes almost every where one looked, the girl appeared quite happy.
"Inoue-san! What are you doing? Do you need help?" Keiko stared at her, quite amazed by the girl's speed and, contrary to the what the room suggested, grace as she ran around the kitchen.
"Nope! Sit, sit! I'm almost done!" she smiled over her shoulder before quickly turning back to whatever it was she was working on.
Blinking a few times, Keiko took a seat at the table, which was the only thing in the room not messy, and set for four people. "You really don't need to do this for us, Inoue-san," Keiko spoke up, actually feeling bad.
"Don't be silly!" she called over her shoulder before turning around. The speed and hyperactivity seemed to leave her face for a moment as her eyes fell on the Captain. "I don't mind it. I haven't been able to cook for people in a long time, and it's nice to have a full house again. Besides! I've come up with a lot of yummy dishes since Matsumoto-san left! I want your opinion!" With that, she quickly turned back to the stove.
Keiko nearly fell out of her seat when Shuuhei slipped behind her and bent down to whisper in her ear: "Matsumoto loves her food, but Hitsugaya-taichou couldn't eat it, it's so bad."
Turning around and dropping her voice to a whisper, Keiko replied: "Then -act- like you enjoy it, even if it's nasty. This girl is too sweet, and she's doing us a -huge- favor, so I don't want her being upset because of something so trivial."
"Ne, Akuuno-san, Hisagi-san, are you two together?" Inoue-san spoke up from the stove, staring at the Captain and lieutenant.
At the same time, Keiko responded with a 'no' while Shuuhei said 'yes'. Keiko quickly turned to glare at her lieutenant, but he only grinned at her. Rolling her eyes, she sighed, but smiled none-the-less. "I'll go get Kenpachi, then. I think he's been up on the roof all night."
"Don't bother," Kenpachi replied, bending his head as he entered the kitchen so he didn't smack it into the door jam. "I'm not going to eat you, woman, so stop worrying."
Keiko looked towards Inoue-san to find her staring at Kenpachi, then looked back at Kenpachi who was grinning at the orange-haired girl as he sat down at the table. With a scowl, she hit Kenpachi's shoulder. "Don't be so rude."
"What?" he snapped, looking down at her. "Just telling her the truth."
"Ugh, whatever," Keiko rolled her eyes.
Inoue-san promptly made her way around the table, shoveling various types of food onto everyone's plates before sitting down at her own place. "Let's eat!"
For a few moments, Keiko stared down at her plate. It -looked- alright... Inwardly shrugging, she leaned forward to take a bite. It was.. nasty. But, she was a Captain! She had to learn to control her emotions as well as what emotions her face gave off! Although, it was fairly hard this time... The combination of flavors was almost nauseating. Glancing up, she saw Inoue-san staring at her in anticipation, her eyes sparkling with hope. Keiko swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled (although it was -really- hard to force that smile). "Not bad." With a look of triumph on her face, Inoue-san bent over her own plate to eat.
Keiko reached out to grab a drink of what she -hoped- was juice, and downed the entire thing before glancing to Shuuhei and Kenpachi. Shuuhei seemed to be having the same problem, by the very slow way he ate, but Kenpachi... looked like he was enjoying the food. Brow furrowing, Keiko stared at the big man for a moment. He ate the food fairly quickly with no bitching, and when his plate was empty, he actually held it out to Inoue-san and asked for more. Eyes wide in surprise, Keiko quickly turned to look at Shuuhei who gave her the exact same look.
Once breakfast was basically over, Shuuhei and Keiko claiming that they were full and didn't eat a lot (considering more than half of the food was left on their plates), Inoue-san smiled and cleared the table.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed quickly turning around to face the three Shinigami. "I made myself lunch, but I didn't make you three anything!"
"Don't worry about it!" Keiko replied, probably a bit too quickly, but it seemed the younger girl didn't notice. "You've done so much for us already, Inoue-san. Besides, Shuuhei and I need to start our investigation shortly, so we'll just grab something to eat when we feel hungry."
"You're not going to school?" she looked at Keiko quizzically.
"What?"
"When things generally happen around here, Shinigami generally wind up going to the Substitute Shinigami's school to watch out for him. Matsumoto, Hitsugaya-taichou and a few 11th Squad members have done that in the past," Shuuhei explained.
"Why..?" Keiko looked incredulous. That.. just didn't make sense to her. Shuuhei just shrugged. "Uhh, well, uh, no," she started, turning back to Inoue-san. "We're not going to go to your school, actually. We will, however, be waiting there once you and everyone else get out so you can show us the places Hollow have been appearing."
That seemed to appeal to the girl as she smiled brightly. "Okay! Well, bye-bye for now!" she spoke quickly before literally launching herself out of the kitchen and house.
Keiko stared down at the smoke trail, letting out a low whistle. "Anyway, you decide whether or not you'll be coming with us, Kenpachi?" she asked, turning to look at the big man, but he was already gone. "How the -hell- does he disappear so quietly for someone his size?!"
"Don't know," Shuuhei replied, getting up from the table and moving behind Keiko to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her back into him, carefully avoiding her back as best he could. "But at least it gives us some alone time," he grinned.
Rolling her eyes, Keiko smacked his arms, but didn't pull away. "We have work to do, you."
The two Shinigami left Inoue-san's house and first made their way back to the park they had first shown up at. Before they had gone to Urahara's shop the previous night, Kuchiki-san had pointed out that that park was one of the hot spots. Other than that, until the others were finished with school, it was the only place they had a clue about.
"I don't get it," Keiko murmured, fiddling around with her cell GPS locator. "We've been in the living world for hours and not a single Hollow has shown up. Yamamoto-soutaichou made it sound as though Hollows were around almost constantly."
"Do you even know how to use that?"
Blinking, she looked up at Shuuhei. "Yes!" she retorted and quickly looked back down at the screen, fiddling with the gadget again. No... she really didn't know what she was doing. With a sigh, she shoved the item into Shuuheis waiting hand. "I'm a Captain. I lead a squad of 400 Shinigami. I know them all by name. I crossed blades with Zaraki Kenpachi and lived. Yet, I can't use that.. that.. -thing-!" she pointed at the phone that Shuuhei was messing around with.
"I think you broke it," he commented.
"What?! I did not!" she yelled, forcing his hands down to she could see the screen.
"Kidding," he laughed.
"Ohh, you!" she growled, smacking his arm. "Anyway, you find anything?"
He shook his head. "No, nothing."
With a sigh, she looked around the park and shrugged. "I guess we'll just wander around until they get out of school or something. They didn't exactly mention any other place but here."
Without anything else to go off of, they did just that, Kieko picking a direction and Shuuhei following her, every so often checking the screen. For hours, they walked all over Karakura, but not once did the phone find some thing.
Stopping in another park on the opposite side of town, Keiko sighed and plopped down onto the bench. "This just makes no sense. We should have been able to find something by now, even something small and insignificant."
Shuuhei snapped the phone shut and sat down beside her. "Don't know what to say. I guess we just wait for them, or wait for a Hollow to show up."
Keiko nodded and leaned into him, a hand snaking out to grab the phone from him. She started to play around with the thing, repressing a smile when he draped an arm over her shoulders. "You should probably show me how to use this thing," she commented.
"Mm, maybe later," he replied, leaning back to get comfortable and pulling her closer. "I feel useful knowing how to use that."
"'eh? What do you mean?" she asked, moving her head to look up at him.
"Well, you and Kenpachi are here, two of the strongest Shinigami. Knowing how to use that thing makes me feel like the brains of the group," he grinned.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?" he looked down at her, surprised by the grief on her face.
"I feel like I'm just casting a shadow over you. I mean, I showed up out of no where and became your Captain, pretty much taking everything away from you. Everyone looked up to you when you took up all the responsibilities of a Captain, but now it's like you've faded into my shadow."
Shuuhei shook his head. "How can this worry-filled girl be the one who brought Kenpachi to a draw? You worry too much. I never -wanted- all the responsibilities of Captain, but the Squad needed someone to look up to, so I picked up the mantle. I was thoroughly relieved to hear I was getting a Captain, that I wouldn't have to do so much anymore. I'm -happy- to be so.. so.. lazy anymore."
"Really?"
"Yes," he smiled, reaching out to flick her nose. "It's nice having so little work to do. But at least I can do something while we're here to investigate." For effect, he took the phone from her and slipped it into his pocket. "Now, what do you say we go get something to eat. I'm hungry."
"In a minute," she murmured, settling down against his side, smiling when she felt his arm tighten again.
Since neither Keiko nor Shuuhei could think of what else they could do in the meantime, after getting something to eat, they continued to wander around Karakura, trying to find some sort of clue. But nothing showed up. The phone did nothing more than to piss Keiko off (as she was beginning to think she -had- broken it), and since there was nothing better to do, she suggested they might as well go wait for Kuchiki-san and the rest of the group to get out of school.
"Maybe I really -did- break it," Keiko murmured, leaning forward to look at the screen.
"I doubt it. All you did was hit a bunch of different buttons. I don't think this thing is -that- sensitive."
Shrugging, she turned to look towards the school entrance, and, finally seeing people begin to exit the building, she turned back to Shuuhei. "I guess they're getting out soon. A bunch of kids are starting to leave."
"Still -nothing-," Shuuhei muttered, snapping the phone shut and slipping it back into his pocket. With a sigh, he leaned into the lamp post behind him, his arms folding behind his head. Immediately, his eyes came to rest on a group of girls who were whispering among themselves, giggling and every so often pointing towards him. "Why do you think they're doing that?"
Keiko waved as Kuchiki-san and company finally exited their school and came to a stop with the Captain and lieutenant. Rolling her eyes, she turned to look at Shuuhei. "You have 69 tattooed on your face. What do you -think- they're laughing at?"
"Actually, they were commenting on how you two look good together," the Substitute Shinigami spoke up, smirking. "Anyway, come on, we'll show you a few of the places we've been having trouble with." Not waiting for a conversation, he took off down one of the streets leaving Keiko to quietly say "Oh" and Shuuhei to grin smugly. Quickly shaking off the comment, despite the grin remaining on Shuuhei's face, Keiko turned to walk beside Ichigo.
While in the Onmitsukido, she, as well as her comrades, had learned much about this Substitute Shinigami as well as his friends, about how Inoue-san and Sado-san had gained their powers because of Ichigo's own abundance of power. The whole ordeal was messy, and it broke plenty of Soul Society rules, but Keiko could see how the boy was really innocent in the whole thing. She was one the few Onmitsukido members that actually didn't look down on him for it. The Quincy, though. Well, that was another story, and honestly, as there wasn't much information to be shared, she didn't really care much about him because his aura certainly didn't hold any hidden hatred for anyone in his current company.
"So, what exactly has the problem been? Yamamoto-soutaichou made it sound like there was an unusual amount of Hollow just showing up everywhere all the time," Keiko watched Ichigo from the corner of her eye. "Shuuhei and I have been all over town and haven't found a single Hollow nor a slight disturbance."
"Well, that's not exactly it," he shook his head. "It's almost like.. planned attacks."
Kuchiki-san took the moment to slip in between Ichigo and Keiko and shove the orange-haired boy out of the way. "What he means to say is," she started, ignoring the fact that Ichigo was now behind her, growling threats and shaking his fist at her, "that at any given time, a large amount of Hollow, anywhere from 30 to 50, will randomly show up all over Karakura at exactly the same time. Normally such a large number of Hollow isn't that big of a deal to us, but we've been worried that we might not be able to get around quick enough and get rid of all the Hollow in time..."
Keiko stared at the ground, digesting this information. In time.. She must mean before one of the Hollow could prey on a soul. "Has there been anything else out of the ordinary? I mean, does it seem like they're planning to do something?"
"We don't know," Kuchiki-san shook her head.
Honestly, Keiko was now glad that she had brought Kenpachi along. Sure, she was a Captain and she had two lieutenants with her now, and getting rid of a Hollow was, for the most part, child's play. But even those facts aside, there was still the possibility they might not be able to get rid of such a large number, so spread out, quick enough. She would take all the help she could get. And she was sure Kenpachi wouldn't mind.
"Any specific time they show up? Any general patterns?"
It was the Quincy who spoke up: "The time of day has been different every time, ranging from late at night, middle of the day and early in the morning. As for patterns, I haven't been able to detect any. There are a few places, such as the parks, where a Hollow almost always shows up, but otherwise, the location is almost always different."
Keiko nodded. "Well, it almost seems like we won't be able to do much of anything until something actually happens."
Although that was the general consensus, she still insisted on checking out the few parks that the Quincy had mentioned. To no surprise on her own part, every place Ichigo pointed out was a place she and Shuuhei had visited at some point during the day.
"Ugh, we're getting no where," Keiko groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. Letting out a long, frustrated sigh, she glanced around at everyone. "Honestly, there's nothing more we can do tonight, so you might as well all go home and rest. Generally, I'd advise you to not even bother helping out because you're not Shinigami," she glanced at Inoue-san, Sado-san and the Quincy, "but I'll want as much help as possible to make sure no souls get hurt."
Agreements were made, good nights were spoken, and the group eventually broke up to return to their respective homes.
Part of me really, really wants to go more into Keiko and Shuuhei's relationship, because the more I write about them, the more "squee" I get. It's one of the many things in this story that's just -there- because it can be, just like Rukia getting the comb from her brother and being all "eeee!" But, 'eh, we'll see what happens.
I also feel bad because there isn't much I can do with Kenpachi right now. He's basically lounging around Orihime's trying to communicate with his zanpakuto. How thrilling. Yeah, maybe he can go out to get his sake, cause some trouble, but I already established (in the previous chapter) that the chances of that happening are RARE. Such a conundrum.. Oh, well, the next chapter is where Kenpachi gets to shine! Progress being made? Yep!
Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people.
Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos.