The Next Morning...
Maseko sat down slowly, letting herself sink into the warm bath water. She slowly relaxed and drifted off into a complicated thinking process. Hmm, what should I do today? Maybe I should go shopping. Though, I don't have much money. Maybe I should just party. Eh, I don't look old enough. I should just walk around town. Maybe find some old friends. Maybe even... No, she died a long time ago. Anyway, I should just walk around the town. Window shop, maybe.
"Is the water alright?" Orihime asked. It snapped Maseko's mental concentration.
"Uh, yeah. It's just warm enough. Thank you again, for letting me stay here." Maseko said, smling.
"It's okay, really! It was just a nice gesture." Orihime said.
"Still, thank you." Maseko said, "So, I was thinking, and what do you say about walking around town today?"
"Um, I guess that's alright. I need some exercise, anyway." Orihime said.
"Cool, and I need to shop, too. I need some clothes." Maseko told Orihime.
"Okay. So, Maseko, how long do you plan on staying?" Orihime asked.
"Um, maybe a month. Probably longer. I want to meet some people, make some friends. Maybe get a boyfriend." Maseko said, thinking of a really hot guy, dancily dipping her and kissing her tenderly. She sighed.
"A boyfriend?" Orihime thought about what she admitted to a sleeping Ichigo, "Yeah, that's nice."
"I'm glad you think so. 'Cause if you were a lesbian, I'd be a little... creeped out." Maseko said, referring to the fact that Orihime was letting her bathe near her. Orihime laughed a little, and so did Maseko.
"So, who do you have in mind?" Orihime asked. Maseko didn't answer, so Orihime clarified, "I mean, what kind of guy do you picture yourself with?"
"Oh. Well, I've been with a lot of guys with short hair, so a long-haired guy sounds cute. Maybe with an irregular hair color. I don't know, just someone... interesting." Maseko told her.
"So, Chad, what are we doing today?" Fakedo asked Chad, who was getting dressed in another room.
"Don't know." Chad said, stepping out of the bathroom in a brown pair of pants.
"Um... Shirtless?" Fakedo asked, looking and pointing weakly at his... broad chest.
"Oh, sorry." Chad said, slipping on a loud, yellow, hawaiian-style shirt. Fakedo sighed and Chad laughed nervously.
"So, would you like to... I don't know, walk around town?" Fakedo proposed. Chad thought about it for a second. Then he nodded, "Okay!" Maybe I can make a few friends around town. Or maybe... no, it's been forever since I've seen her. She wouldn't be in a small town like this. She was always into big, extravegant things.
"You coming?" Chad asked from the doorway. Fakedo snapped out of her thoughts and nodded quickly. She got up and walked to the door. Chad let her out and he then locked the door. 5 minutes passed, and they were at the front doors of the apartment building. Fakedo looked to both of her sides and started walking towards her left, seeing as it looked the most populated in that direction. She then saw a large group of people crowded around a large area and all of the heads were averted upward. She looked upward and saw a brown-haired woman walking across a power line. The woman started bouncing a little, then she jumped off of the power line. Fakedo gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
"She's okay!" A man shouted from the front of the crowd. Fakedo sighed in relief, when the crowd started to split. A girl with brown hair, assorted blonde highlights, and a sophmore high school uniform on walked out of the crowd, a buxom, orange-haired girl following her. Ma-ma-Maseko?! Fakedo yelled in her head, "Maseko?" Fakedo asked out loud.
"Huh?" Maseko said, looking to her left. She saw a girl with orange hair and green eyes staring back at her. She had a green shirt and a black skirt on. Maseko blinked a few times. F-Fa-Fakedo?! She yelled to herself, "Fakedo?" she asked.
"Maseko! Oh, my God!" Fakedo yelled, gripping Maseko in a tight hug.
Tears started streaming from Maseko's eyes, not only because her ribs were being crushed, but she just found out that the girl that she thought was dead, has been alive all this time! "Fakedo!!"
"Maseko, I never thought you would be here!" Fakedo cried into Maseko's shoulder.
"Fakedo, I never thought you'd be alive!" Maseko cried in a raspy voice, due to her crushed lungs.
Chad and Orihime looked at each other, then back at the embracing women. All of a sudden, Chad spoke up, "Do you... know each other?"
"No, Chad, we're just embracing each other becuase it's 'Embrace a Stranger' Day, and I picked her." Fakedo replied sarcastically.
"Gotcha." Chad said shortly.
"So, this is Chad. Orihime has told me about you guys." Maseko said, squirming out of Fakedo's grasp, "Apparently, Chad isn't too... loud, unlike his shirts." Maseko said humorously. Chad laughed, and so did Orihime and Fakedo.
"Why did you think I was dead?" Fakedo asked Maseko.
"Well, that battle we had with the few shinigami a while back. I thought that the one man had killed you." Maseko said quietly.
"Shinigami? Why did you guys fight shinigami?" Orihime asked. Maseko and Fakedo gasped and held up their hands defensively.
"We were just... we didn't mean that! We were just... I don't know." Maseko said, sweating nervously.
"Okay!" Orihime agreed immediately. Though, Chad had his doubts. He shrugged and payed attention to the conversation. Suddenly, a small figure hopped onto Chad's shoulder.
"Is that a pickle? Wow, I now have a sudden craving for a pickle." Fakedo asked.
"No, his name's Nova, he's a mod soul, and I'm not quite sure why he's here." Chad said bluntly. Maseko's eyes widened and she grabbed Fakedo's arm.
"Um, Fakedo and I have to catch up, so, see you guys later!!" she yelled nervously, tugging Fakedo a good two miles away from them.
"What's the big idea, Maseko? Why you freak out? I didn't even get to say 'hi' to Nova!" Fakedo complained.
"Hello?! He's a specially designed mod soul! He could sense that I'm a Bount the minute he saw me! And what do you care if you say 'hi' to him?!" Maseko yelled.
"I wanted to be polite. Plus, he was a little cute," Fakedo said.
"He's a stuffed doll!" Maseko yelled. Maseko's eyes widened again when she sensed a familiar reiatsu, and turned around. It was the Ichigo Kurosaki kid, in shinigami robes! And he had a small mod soul in the shape of a bird on his shoulder.
"Damn it!" Maseko yelled, grabbing Fakedo's arm and running in the opposite direction. A good three or four miles away, she stopped. She took in large breathes of air at a time, out of breath.
"Why was a shinigami there?" Fakedo asked.
"He was the first guy I met here. Apparently he's a shinigami. I knew he had reiatsu, but I didn't think he was any different from Chad and Orihime. I didn't know he was a full-on shinigami!" Maseko yelled.
"You coulda warned me!" Fakedo yelled.
"Like I said, I didn't know!" Maseko said.
"Well, arguing doesn't do us any good." Fakedo said, rubbing her temples with her index fingers.
"I know. We just, need to figure out how to mask ourselves a little bit better," Maseko said, "Got any ideas?"
"Clue-less." Fakedo said, rolling her eyes. Maseko sighed.
"Maybe we could just steal ourselves a few of the latest gigai." Maseko proposed.
"That could work, but we'd have to get some that look almost exactly like we do now. And, if haven't noticed, that'll be a little difficult for me." Fakedo said, shaking her head, referring to her orange hair. Then she pointed to her eyes, signaling her vibrant green eyes.
"Hmm, you're right." Maseko said, tapping her finger to her chin.
"Hey, do you feel any other shinigami-related reiatsu?" Fakedo asked.
"Hmph, just a girl. She doesn't seem too strong." Maseko said.
"Let's find her. We need her gigai." Fakedo said, rubbing her hands together, clearly plotting something.
"I like the way your mind works, Fakedo. No wonder we're friends." Maseko said, a small smirk appearing on her face.