From the NCIS team there was a shock. It wasn't a large shock by any means, considering the mysteries and strange events of this case. It was more of a shock to Karin, Ichigo, and Toshiro.
"Urahara?" Hitsugaya said levelly, slightly curious as to why the man was in America, and why he was trying to sneak in a government building. Toshiro assumed that it was because he and the Kurosaki's were here but he couldn't be sure. The man had a strange way of doing things and his motives were never clear. Not to mention Urahara always had a habit of putting himself in the center of events.
Before Toshiro could say anything else aloud, or think about, Ichigo interrupted, "Why the hell are you here?" He said in Japanese.
Karin frowned, "Uh, didn't Rukia mention going commercially or something? You know to-" Karin didn't say suspicious, she knew at least one of the agents could speak Japanese and could understand what they were saying. She realized that leaving it off the way she did leave some general suspicion. Karin sighed, but thought the question worth it, or at least the answer would be of some worth. At least it would give her brother a little time to think and cool off.
"She did, to you. She might have mentioned something like that to me… Well I came commercially by commercially getting myself caught, I can't just appear here can I?" Urahara smiled and cocked his head to the side, "Appearing randomly in the building would be worse right? So I officially got caught~"
Toshiro rolled his eyes, "I don't think you understand the term 'commercially,' or understand the term 'suspisious.'"
"Boss?" McGee asked, curious as to what they could be saying but to also inquire of the strange man. McGee was curious as to what this man meant to the group, and whether or not he knew about soul reapers and that kind of stuff.
Gibbs turned to speak to the guards holding Kisuke Urahara, "Let him go, he's harmless."
The taller guard frowned, with confusion hinted in his brown eyes, "How is this man harmless? He managed to get this far in base without a trace?"
Urahara put on a fake pouting face, "I only wanted to see my favorite little captain!~"
Toshiro rolled his eyes again, he felt nothing good would come of Urahara's visit. He watched as the other guard let Urahara go as the still reluctant one slightly lightened his grip.
Gibbs knew the man's coming was unusual, he did have to admit the man had skill getting this far into the naval base without detection until recently, but Gibb's had a feeling that the man didn't want to be detected until then. He could have probably gotten into the building unnoticed, but he wanted to be found. The man, who wore green Japanese style clothes with traditional wooden sandals and a white and green striped hat, wasn't here to cause trouble or to harm anyone. It was more like he needed to see or communicate to one of the three witnesses NCIS had in its care. Or there was the possibility that the man just wanted to place himself in whatever situation these kids were involved in. He most likely had business with one of them.
What troubled Gibbs most was the conversation of the Japanese group that happened after the man arrived. The three obviously knew the man, and weren't too thrilled that he had come. The young girl mentioned coming commercially, and which apparently this man had not, yet the man thought he did, Gibbs cracked a miniscule smile at this. She also bit off her sentence too soon, not finishing her statement. She was aware that Gibb's was listening. The newcomer had called the white haired kid, 'his favorite captain,' and seemed to address him with a sort of importance. Yet it was a kid he was talking to. Was he a sort of royalty? The white haired kid acted military like, which led to the possibility of a child soldier or gang involvement. If anything, this encounter only added more questions surrounding Karin, Ichigo, and Toshiro.
Finally the two guards left Urahara, the skeptical one looking over his shoulder as he left. Urahara smiled as he felt the grip on his arm release, he was free.
"Who are you?" Asked Ziva David, asking what the whole team was thinking.
"Kisuke Urahara, and who might you be?" He said with a wide grin.
"Agent David," she replied, "The two back there are agents DiNozzo and McGee."
Tony waved when he heard his name and McGee slightly nodded. Noticing McGee, Urahara narrowed his eyes in curiosity. Why did this human have a strong spiritual pressure? By far it did not compare to Karin Kurosaki's, or Ichigo's, but it was strong enough to be noticed.
"What is your relationship with these kids?" said Gibbs, who had not yet introduced himself.
"I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya's guardian!" Toshiro blanched, not the response the young captain was thinking of.
Not only was Toshiro shocked, but the NCIS team as well. The man in front of them seemed irresponsible and didn't seem like the type to be taking care of children.
Ichigo Kurosaki chuckled before glancing at the still in shock captain, he wondered how this would all go over.
"Toshiro?" Karin said quietly as she tapped his shoulder.
Urahara made a tsk noise and pulled out a small, colorfully wrapped, package. The paper surrounding it was a reflective gold with tiny Japanese characters etched on the sides. A red ribbon was tied around the box with a petite bow on top. Kisuke pulled one end of the ribbon and the bow fell, slowly falling onto the ground. The agents watched him carefully, wondering what could be inside the box and who it was intended for.
Urahara gave the small box to Karin Kurosaki who opened it in slow anticipation, "To help you understand the gravities of the situation~" said Urahara happily.
What Karin saw made her face scrunch with confusion, "Chocolate?"
The square package had four chocolates delicately decorated, in their own compartments. There was red tissue paper surrounding the desserts, framing the little candies. Karin didn't know how this would help her understand the 'gravities' of the situation, or for any matter, how it would help at all. Sure, chocolate is delicious, but why now? Why only her?
"Eat, eat!" The giver said enthusiastically in Japanese.
Karin hesitantly took a square piece of dark chocolate, it was lightly drizzled with lines of white chocolate.
"Oi," said Toshiro, not sure what Kisuke was thinking. This was strange behavior from Urahara, but what wasn't strange? Toshiro didn't know what to think.
"You know, I should have some to make sure they're safe," DiNozzo said jokingly, eying the sweets.
Urahara smiled and gestured to the box in Karin's hands, "Take as much as you want, agent-chan~"
"Well, if I must-" DiNozzo reached for a chocolate but Ziva swatted his hand down, "Tony."
"He offered, Ziva. I can't refuse such kindness," DiNozzo smirked and looked to Urahara who was enjoying the agent's interactions and the whole situation in general.
"I insist!" Urahara added to the conversation, motioning again towards the golden wrapped box. Karin, who deemed the chocolate harmless if Urahara was offering it to an agent, dropped the chocolate into her mouth. After Karin had swallowed DiNozzo took a circular piece of chocolate and did the same.
"Wow, this is good! Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, good!" The agent exclaimed.
"Can I have some?" Asked McGee, curious as to the taste of the chocolate.
Urahara grabbed the chocolate from Karin and hid it somewhere in his clothes, "None for you, other agent-chan," DiNozzo looked towards McGee with an amused look and shrugged.
Karin gasped, and immediately covered her mouth. The room seemed to look to her, "Karin?" Ichigo asked, wondering what Urahara have done.
Urahara smiled and put a finger to his chin, muttering quietly, "I didn't think it would take effect so soon! Hmm. . . This is wonderful~"
Karin looked to Urahara, "What on earth did you give me?" She asked shocked, in perfect English.
DiNozzo blanched, whatever the girl had eaten he surely had too. Ziva snickered beside DiNozzo, amused momentarily.
Everyone in the room was looking at Karin, who now suddenly knew English.
"It's a new product~ You can't expect all soul reapers to know every language."
Everyone in the room who knew of the existence of soul reapers paled at Urahara's words, and that wasn't because of the 'new product,' part.
"Soul Reapers?" said the strangely quiet Gibbs.
…
Author's Note:
I don't know if a 'language converter/translator' of any sorts existed in the series or not, so I kinda made one up. Karin can't stay ignorant forever! Since this takes place before the time skip that would make Karin about 11 or 12, meaning she wouldn't be fluent in English. I tried to stay true to that but I felt like things might flow easier if she knew English, not to mention a slight twist, DiNozzo also ate the chocolate! I meant to post this chapter earlier but alas, that thing called 'school' got in the way. Thanks for continual support, views, reviews, and alerts!