hey peeps got another chapter still don't know what to put here please read comments at the end and enjoy the story.

Chapter 4: Eccentric Friends

Brendan POV

To say the house that I'm bring them to is eccentric is an understatement. The last time I was there the house had two great big arms in front of it holding up a sign and a chimney that was way too tall. Though with way the owner is who knows what it looks like now after all I heard she fired off a massive firework into the Seireitei seriously that woman is nuts.

As we are finally approaching the clearing that her house is in I look behind me to see how the group behind me is doing. Nora and Ruby still seem to be full of energy, Yang and Blake look bored out of their minds, Ren seems to be making sure Nora stays with us, Pyrrha was with Jaune and were talking though about what is beyond me. Weiss on the other hand looked a bit disheveled and was not happy about how long it was taking. She catches my eyes looking back "How much longer is it until we reach this place!" she barks at me.

I sigh "Not much longer so just relax Princess." This comment earns me a stifled laugh from Yang and a scornful glare from Weiss.

Then Ruby pipes up "Why aren't we taking them back to our house."

This gains a smirk from Yang who instantly teases her sister and new friend "Ooh~ so you guys are that serious huh?"

I just sigh again 'Yep just like I thought she is just like Yoruichi.' I ignore Yang giving no reaction, much to her disappointment, and turn to Ruby who is blushing a bright red, much like her cloak, to answer her question "It is because we need a place where there are not a lot of people. After all the rumors seem to get your guys descriptions down really well so we have to wait till the rumors die down, but that can take a while. So I am taking you guys to a little isolated location to wait it out." We reach the edge of the tree line and just before we exit the forest I stop and turn to the group. "Though I have to warn you guys the people I'm taking you guys too aren't exactly normal."

Most of the group giggles a bit then Yang speaks up "I don't know if you noticed but we are not exactly normal in almost any sense."

Then Weiss barks at Yang "Speak for yourself!"

This earns more giggles as Yang smirks "Sure whatever you say Princess."

I sigh as it looks like the Weiss is about to explode "ok ok settle down" I gesture behind me "Right through here is their place, but please once we are inside don't say anything negative about the house they are very touchy about it."

As I turn to exit the forest Blake calmly asks "Why? Is the house that bad?"

I stop and laugh "You have no idea." Everyone looks confused by this "Just take a look for yourself." I step aside to let the others go first.

As they step through and out into the clearing they are all awestruck by the sight. As I walk out to join them I am also slightly taken back by it as she has once again gone over the top with her design. Now instead of big bulky arms holding up the banner it has been replaced by statues of the upper body of muscular men flexing with the banner hung in between them by their necks. I look down at the actual house part 'Huh it looks brand new. I wonder if she has fired the fireworks canon recently or did one of her crazy explosive experiments go wrong?' I look around at the group and most of them have about the same reactions as I thought they would. Nora seems to be in awe of the sight 'I wonder if she can sense the explosives that she makes here' I thought and it looks like Ren can sense the danger it would be if Nora entered recklessly and is keeping an eye on her.

"Woah those statues are huge." Ruby says in wonder.

"This is a pitiful excuse for a house." Weiss stated with disgust as if it were fact.

"Oh come on Weiss it's not that bad." Yang said then gave a slight chuckle though by the look of her I think she agrees with Weiss on some level. Blake on the other hand just had a look that, while she was trying to hide it, said that she was trying to process what it is she was looking at.

"Well it sure is original." Jaune says as he gives off a little bit of a nervous laugh though it certainly looks like it has taken him some time to process as well.

"Well I am sure the inside is nice." Pyrrha said trying to think of a way to justify approaching the house.

"I did warn you that they decorate the outside in such an eccentric way." I say as I start to approach the house. Once we are close enough I shout "Hey Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko are you guys here I'm here to see Kūkaku."

Just as I finish two big burly men jump out of nowhere spoking everyone else in the group into a battle stance. Koganehiko then says "What is this? Another group of people in ridiculous clothing."

"Hey come on guys we've talked about this before you shouldn't-" I didn't get to finish because Weiss finally exploded.

"Excuse me but I have been marching through the forest for the better part of today only to meet a pair of roughens that are about as polite to guests as a bunch of Neanderthals. Now if you don't mind let us through so that I may get cleaned up then you shall see that my clothing choice is far from ridiculous. In fact, I would say your clothing is-"

"OK I think that is enough we didn't come here to argue about fashion." I interrupt Weiss while placing a hand on her shoulder as I move between the two of them before either start a fight. "After all we came here looking for a favor. We wouldn't want to get off on the wrong foot now would we?" I look at Weiss with a little smile, but she just glares at me and unlike Ruby's hers makes me laugh nervously a little. Then I turn to the muscular brothers "Well is Kūkaku here or not?"

Shiroganehiko answered "I am afraid that master is out right now."

Koganehiko followed up "Master and Ganju left to buy more materials for their craft."

"Well we have been outside for almost the entire day. So how about you guys let us in so we can comfortably wait inside please?" I smile at them hoping for a yes cause personally I'm tired of being out in the sun and my new friends look like they could a rest too.

They both look at each other and seem to contemplate the suggestion, then they nod in unison "We think that it will be fine." Says Koganehiko.

"Yes, after all you are Master Yoruichi's student so we are sure that Master Kūkaku will be happy to see you again." Adds Shiroganehiko.

'I bet that woman will be happy to have a Guinea Pig to help make new kinds of fireworks. Last time I "helped" her make fireworks it nearly took my face off!' Though as I think that I just laugh a little and smile hiding my fear of such things happening again "Thanks guys it was getting a bit much being out here in the sun."

Then Koganehiko leads us inside while Shiroganehiko stays outside to keep watch for any trespassers. We enter the house and immediately are lead down a flight of stairs "What a strange design to have a downward staircase right at the front door." Said Ren nonchalantly

"Makes you wonder how they get upstairs." comments Nora "OH do you think that they have some sort of secret passage to the upstairs. Then what could they be keeping up there? OOHH do you think they some big secret up there? COULD IT MAYBE A ROBOT THAT IS USED TO PROTECT THE WORLD! RENNY DO YOU THINK THAT THEY WILL LET ME PILOT IT! If they did I could break so many bad guy's legs hehehe." After her laughing, that sounds more evil then the supposed bad guys she wanted to fight, she continues on with her rant as we make our way down.

Koganehiko brings us to a door and opens it "You can stay in here while you wait for the master."

As everyone makes their way inside I stop before I go in "Hey Koganehiko do think it would be cool if I went and got snacks for everyone from the kitchen?"

He thought about it for a minute "I don't see why not. Just make sure you don't any of the Masters favorites. You remember what they are yes?" I nod and head toward the kitchen hoping to give them time to discuss their current positions.

As I come back with rice crackers and some cold drinks I see Koganehiko sitting in front my guess is to keep them from wondering to places they are not supposed to. As I approach I don't hear anyone talking, but as I go to open the door to bring in the snacks I hear someone finally speak up "Is it true that we are dead?" I stop for a sec before cracking the door slightly and see that it was Weiss who asked the question.

She was looking at Ruby who had a look of deep sorrow as her earlier happiness seems to have been drained from her. Ruby was fiddling with her hands probably trying to find the right words. I open the door the rest of the way with a small smile as I step inside and close it behind me. I then start handing out drinks and put the crackers in the middle "So when and who figured it out first?" I asked as it is the only way I can think of to affirm their guess even more blunt then me breaking the new to Ruby. Then all attention shifted toward me along with the faces of realization of the implications about what I asked.

The group around me that was so cheerful earlier was now a mix of different things. Yang looked as if she was going to beat the crap out of someone, Weiss had her face in her hands and was mumbling something, but she was too far for me to hear. Blake just stared blankly at the table not making any sound or movement. Pyrrha was clinging to Jaune's arm tightly as if he would disappear on her and their teammate, Nora was crying into Ren and he had a very sad look on his face as he tried to console her. Then after a little while Jaune spoke with a surprising calm considering what was going on with his friends "I was the one to first speak it out loud, but I think that on some level we already knew."

"I think that tends to be the trend." I sigh as I lean back a little "It took me almost a month to fully accept it, but for you guys it is different." I motion to everyone in the room and smile "You guys have each other to lean on, to go through this predicament together and not being alone is the best thing for everyone I think. After all most people don't have friends or family to be with during a time like this."

This lightens up the mood at least just a little bit then Blake turns to me "If it is true that this is the afterlife then which religions afterlife are we in?"

"Hm. To be honest I never have really ever thought about it, but now that you mention it this place doesn't seem like the afterlife of any religion I have heard of." I say as I shrug "Though apparently there is a hell, but this place is not heaven."

"Wait are you saying we are in Hell!" Weiss exclaimed

"What?! No I'm not. This place is called the Soul Society." I half shout back.

"So what is the Soul Society then?" asks Ren with Nora still clinging to him still slightly downtrodden from the info of them being dead.

"Well from what I know this is the place all souls go after they die and then they wait to be reincarnated back into the world of the living." I reply

"What about those wierdos in black that could shoot those red balls?" asked Yang with mild contempt in her voice while twirling some damaged hair.

"I think you are talking about the Shinigami." I said

"Wait you mean Soul Reapers." Replied Blake.

I think for a moment "Yeah if memory serves correctly then that is another name for them. Though how did you know that?"

"I have seen the word before and that is what it meant." Blake replied.

"Well anyways, their job is basically to be the special police of the Soul Society and the world of the living. Their main duty is to keep the balance between both worlds stable and protect the souls from things that would harm them. So they won't take being assaulted lightly, which is why we need to hide out and wait for this to all blow over."

When I am done describing the Shinigami Nora finally speaks again, but still not with all of the enthusiasm that she had before "Why do we have to. Those seemed like complete push overs to me. We could just break all their legs and be done with it."

"Yeah that's right I could flatten one of those guys in one punch." Agrees Yang.

I sigh "Those guys were probably among the weakest of the Shinigami. So of course you guys were able to take them down." I sound bored "To put it in perspective my teacher used to be a Shinigami of the highest rank and do you know how many times I have been able to beat that cat when we spared?" They shook their heads from side to side and then I hold up my hand and make an O "Zero times, to say it is frustrating is an understatement."

This bring some shocked looks from everyone but Yang who asks "Are we really supposed to be impressed by that. I mean we haven't seen you or your teacher fight before."

I think for a minute "Well I don't mind showing you if you want to go around." I say with a small smile

Yang looks excited and ready to fight when suddenly a new voice speaks from behind me toward the door of the room "Listen punks I don't care if you want to prove a point or if it is just some sort of friendly sparing, you will not be doing that in my house." We all look to see who enters and we see a woman with green eyes and wears bandages over her long messy black hair. She is wearing her usual white skirt and an exposing red robe that reveals her large "assets". She is also missing her right arm that has long since been replaced with a mechanical one with bandages where the mechanical arm meets where the rest of her flesh arm ends and also has a tattoo on her left arm. There is also a sheathed sword behind her arm right that is held up by the bandages. With her pipe in her mouth she is giving us all a bored stare until her eyes land on me and then she smirks.

Her smirk causes me to gulp and give a nervous smile back at her "H-Hey Kūkaku long time no see."

Weiss has another outburst "Who are you calling a punk!"

She takes a deep puff from her pipe and exhales a bunch of smoke and ignoring Weiss continues looking at me "Yeah long time no see kid and from what the brothers have told me is that you wanted to ask for a favor." With her mechanical hand on her hip she had a very toothy grin "You know what I will be asking right?"

I sigh "I'll help you make fireworks, but I will not be helping with your crazy experiments." I sound determined, but on the inside I am very nervous because we actually have nowhere else to go and this woman can be very scary when she wants to be.

She sighs "Fine just take all the fun out of it." she takes another puff from her pipe "So what is the favor you wanted."

I rub the back of my head "Well you see we need a place for these guys to hide from the Shinigami for a while and well I couldn't think of a better place than here considering how you guys feel about them."

She takes another puff from her pipe "Well things are different now, but I'll still take them in. After all I need more hands cause there is gonna be a festival and they asked me to make fireworks for it."

"Wait the deal was that I help you not them." I exclaim in fear for my new friends' safety because this lady is crazy when it comes to explosives.

Nora on the other hand looks more excited and almost back to her upbeat self that she was before "Do we get to make ones that make a big BOOM that you can feel all the way down to your bones?" She has a devious looking grin on her face as she asks this.

Kūkaku smiles with an even more devious grin "Nope," Nora deflates a little "you have to think bigger. For I am gonna make one that blows away the clouds." Now Nora looks like she has stars in her eyes at the thought of it.

Before Nora can speak Ren and I shout out at the same time "No way!" we look at each other a bit stunned that we would say the same thing in this situation, but I quickly turn toward Kūkaku and say "There is no way I can let that happen I am not about to let these guys get into an accident for a favor I am asking for."

Kūkaku tries to brush off my concern "Come on we will be extra careful to make sure no one gets hurt."

Now I am starting to get a bit pissed "That is what you said last time and one of your damn crazy fireworks NEARLY TOOK OFF MY HEAD!"

She then gives me a bored glare "Then you expect them to just lounge around and do nothing until the rumors die down?"

This tempered my anger completely as I looked down knowing she was right. "She is right and I think that I speak for everyone when I say that we would rather earn our keep than live off the charity of our new friend." I look up to see that it was Pyrrha who spoke and everyone else seem to be nodding in agreement.

Then I see a mischievous smile creep its way onto Yang's face as she speaks "How about we make it a bet then. You and me spare and if you win we won't do any of the dangerous stuff, but will find a different way to help around here. However, if I win you have no say in what we do and you have to do one thing we say."

Her smile is making me nervous "W-well I'm not too sure if we should do that. After all it would ruin the choices that everyone would want to make."

Yang eyed me up and down "Oh already claiming your victory." She then stands up and walks over to me "That only makes me want to do it more." Now her grin is almost predatory like I had just issued some person challenge. "Does anyone else have a problem with this wager?"

Everyone shakes their heads and Kūkaku speaks up "Listen as I said before I don't if you guys fight just not in the house."

Then I foolishly chime in "But wasn't it you who destroyed most of the house last time I was here."

She then gives me a death glare "What did you say!?"

I realize my mistake and go for a quick escape before Kūkaku blows me up with most of the house "So Yang lets go have that sparing match." As I grab her hand and start to quickly make our way back up the stairs outside. As we went outside I could only think 'This is going to either end badly or be really fun.'

3rd POV

A little walk from the house Yang and Brendan make it to a small clearing and take up positions on opposite ends. Brendan speaks first once they are in place and they start warming up "You sure you want to do this? The bet I mean."

Yang just gives a broad smile "Of course. A good bet always makes things more interesting."

On the edge of the clearing that is slightly raised the group has gathered to watch the fight. "So who do you guys bet on?" asked Kūkaku interested about the blonde that was fighting.

"Hm. Hard to say. Yang is a really powerful hand to hand fighter, but Brendan seems to also be one and his skill level is unknown. If what Ruby says is true than he is supposed to be pretty good and this fight could go either way." Says Jaune in his tactician mode.

Weiss scoffs at this "I don't think so Yang is the strongest on our team and the only one here who has ever proved to be able to fight toe to toe with her is Nora."

"I don't know when we first meet him in the forest he had the aura of an experienced fighter so I wouldn't count him out yet." Said Blake calmly, but on the inside she was nervous for her partner.

"YA. WOO. BEAT HIM TO A PULP YANG" shouted Nora while Ren standing next to her was watching intently interested in what kind of fighting style their new friend used.

Brendan saw their friends gathered under the shade of the trees and waved to them. He then saw Ruby turn her head angrily 'huh did I do something wrong?' he thought.

Ruby on the other hand just couldn't understand why she was so mad, but it started when he grabbed Yang's hand and pulled her outside. As the two about to fight got into their stances Yang gave Brendan a questioning look "You really gonna fight like that your balance is all screwed up?"

Brendan smirked "Don't worry about me this is just the style I use to get things started against unknown opponents."

Ren is also confused because in all the different styles that he knew the stance their new friend was taking went against what every single one of them said to do. 'Is there some sort of trick to the stance?'

As Ren racked his brain a man walked up behind the group and spoke "Oh so this is Yoruichi's student that I have heard about. What an ingenious stance to take."

The group turned in surprise and Kūkaku spoke "Ha didn't expect to see you here Urahara."

Urahara pulled out his fan and had it in front of his face "Oh Ms. Shiba it has been awhile now hasn't it."

"Yeah and I see you still wear that stupid hat of yours." Kūkaku sniped at him

Urahara looked hurt at the comment "How could you say such a thing. This hat is extremely fashionable in the world of the living and has been my companion through many hard ships." As now a tear looks like it is about to fall from his eye.

"Yeah whatever, but if you're here that means Yoruichi isn't far behind right?" Kūkaku questioned as she took a puff from her pipe.

Urahara snapped back up almost instantly clearly showing that all of that was just an act "Oh I'm sure Yoruichi will be along shortly."

As if on cue another voice sounded out from behind the man "Of course I wouldn't want to miss my pupil in a sparring match after not seeing him in so long." All of the group looked around but say no one behind the man. "Down here kids." They all looked down in the direction of the voice only to see a black cat sitting there in front of them. "Hello."

This caused Weiss to jump into Ruby's arms and exclaimed "That cat just talk!."

Nora on the other hand was immediately right in front of it crouching fascinated by such a thing. "THAT. IS. SO. COOL. It is like Blake only the whole body is a cat not just the ears and it sounds like a man." She then suddenly picks the cat up and carries it over to Ren "Renny can we get one like this PLEASE. Just think of how awesome it would be."

"Nora I don't think they sell cats like that anywhere and this one does not look like it likes to be held like that." He replies calmly in his usual fashion.

"Quite so if you would please put me done little girl" said Yoruichi a bit pissed now.

"Oops sorry." Nora laughs nervously as she gently put her down.

Ren then turns to Urahara "what do you mean be ingenious? His stance goes against everything they teach you when learning a martial art."

Urahara looked at the boy in front of him and could see that the boy was very knowledgeable in martial arts and he could sense that he had great control over his spirit energy. Which was odd considering this boy was no Shinigami and as he looked over the rest of the group of kids they all seemed to have a similar feel to them though the orange and blonde girl felt a bit wilder. He turned back to the boy seeing that he was still waiting for an answer "It is because it goes against those teachings that it is ingenious. All he has to do is shift his weight a little bit in a certain direction and his entire body will go with it moving into a different stance to strike at his enemy with."

Ren gives this some thought "That wouldn't work because there are way too many stances that his body could fall into. It would require the knowledge of an unreasonable amount knowledge and skill of many styles of fighting."

Yoruichi laughs a little at this "That is why this style of fighting that he made is perfect for him."

"Oh then how many styles does the boy know?" asks Urahara from behind his fan hiding a grin because he could already estimate the number based on how Brendan was holding himself while in the stance.

Yoruichi thought about it for a minute "He says that he is not too sure he stopped keeping track after a while, but from our sparing sessions I have seen some where close to 30-40."

This drops Ren's jaw as he himself only knows close to 4 styles and then exclaims "That is impossible and even if he did then there would be no way that he could use all of them effectively"

Yoruichi just shrugs "For most people that would be true, but he seems to have no problem with it. Oh I should also mention that he is also proficient in a couple of different weapon forms." Ren turns back to the fighters seeing their new friend in a different light as even some masters that he knows about have only learned no more than 15 styles. Yoruichi continues speaking "Though to be honest, all of his knowledge can be a down side some times because he just has to many choices in battle and can't make the split second decision that is required."

Everyone turns back to the fighters as Yang finally gets ready to attack"Are you sure you don't want to take a better stance?" she asks. Brendan only gives a slight nod as a response "Ok just don't go crying when you get hurt." As she charges she thinks 'Man this is gonna be too easy' She didn't know just how wrong she was.

And there we go another chapter bites the dust, but you know what it is getting hard to write this because i have like two other stories up in my head that keep poping up when I try and think about this one. To resolve this I have decided to put them down on paper so that I might be able to focus a little bit more on this one. so chapters might take a while as my brain hopes back and forth.

also can't believe i keep forgetting to do this but shout out to the two guys that inspired me, Cherryayay and almost stupid, by having me help them with one of the stories they are working on.

also i know some people are saying that this feels rushed, but to be honest i don't know how to fix that, maybe find an editor or something, it is rushed mostly due to the fact i already have more than 20 chapters rolling around in my head and i want to get them out as fast as possible before they slip away and it probably has to do with me feeling like i have limited time in the day to do this so i keep trying to write down as much as i can when i can.

any ideas on how to fix that are welcome. also tell me what you guys like about this story so that i can make sure to keep them and tell me what yyou don't so i can try to take them out.

also side note i have decided romance between Ruby and Brendan is what i am going with. oh and there actions reflect that neither of the pair has ever had romantic feelings toward another person before so that is what i am going to write in not 100% sure how that will translate though. As while it will be a central plot thingy it is not the focus and will still be the tags that i have this story down for.

anyways hope you guys like this let me know what you guys think as a review or PN me for all constructive criticism is welcome thanks.