• • •
"Well, that's Rukia for you." I laughed at the frustrated look on Kurosaki's face. Walking back towards the picnic table, I placed the abandoned marker and book back into my bag.
"You know," Kurosaki spoke, as he picked up two of the balls that I had fixed, "These look really good."
"Thanks, but I'm not an artist." I modestly replied, lightly laughing as I threw the rest of the balls back into the weird pitching machine that Rukia had abandoned as well. What were we supposed to do with that thing..?
"It's better than Rukia's drawings. I might have been able to tell the difference if we had these in the beginning." He said while I laughed.
"Kurosaki, a five year old can draw better than she can sometimes." I sniggered, remembering all of the drawings that she had made to help teach me things back in the day. Realizing what I had just said, I pointed an accusing finger towards the orange haired teenager. "Don't you dare tell Rukia I said that, either! She'd kill me!"
An evil grin spread across his lips, well, it'd be better classified as a smirk with his personality. I glared at the orange haired teen before giving in and sighing.
Dropping the accusing finger that I had been pointing at him with, I simply shrugged. "Doesn't matter; Rukia will believe me before she believes you. So, go ahead and try to tell her. She'll probably bind you in another Kido spell." I sniggered, trying to picture that. I hadn't been there to witness Rukia placing Kurosaki in a binding spell, but she'd told me all about it.
"That's not even funny. She drew on my face after she pulled that stupid magic trick on me!" Kurosaki bellowed out, glaring at the air next to him as if it were Rukia herself.
Laughing, I slung my black and green hobo bag over my shoulder. "Well, it looked hilarious the way I pictured it in my mind. But, it doesn't matter. Besides, we should be heading home, too. I have to shower before I meet up with Tatsuki and Orihime later…"
"Yeah; you're all peppery." Kurosaki said, pointing out the obvious.
"Well, duh. Besides, you are too. So you shouldn't be talking." I said, rolling my eyes. I blinked, before deciding to answer his question from earlier on. Biting my bottom lip, I answered. "Hey, to answer your previous question, I have no clue as to where Rukia is going 'home' to."
"You don't? But, aren't you two like best friends?" He asked, looking confused.
"We are best friends, but that doesn't mean that I know where she's been staying. That's why I asked her if she wanted to stay with me when I first found her, but she refused. She told me that she'd find somewhere else to stay. That way, as she stated, she wouldn't be a burden to me." I rolled my eyes and began to walk out of the park, with Kurosaki following next to me.
"Where do you stay, then?"
Looking up at him, I tilted my head. "I have my own apartment. Well, technically, it isn't mine. My old teacher slash guardian gave it to me. He thought it was best if I stayed on my own from now on. I didn't have a problem with that; if I did stay with him, he'd probably force me to work in his store…"
Looking at the street signs closely, I absently nodded. I still wasn't that great with navigating around this town. I was never any good with directions; because of that, I had countlessly gotten lost in the Seireitei while I did random missions and everything. That's mainly what I relied on Rukia for. She seemed to know her way around that maze like place.
That's when I noticed that Kurosaki was still walking next to me. And he had been, for quite a while. But I was taking the right route home. Was he walking me home? Or was he trying to be a sneaky stalker and find out where I lived?
"Why are you still here?" I asked, a confused look on my face.
He met my confused look with a blank stare. "I'm going to my house."
"You mean you live around here, too?" I asked, watching as he awkwardly placed his hands in his pockets. He nodded, not even looking around at street names.
I shook my head as we lapsed in silence once more. I nervously looked around after another couple of minutes, wondering if I had taken a wrong turn or something. I was sure that I had taken the right turns, so why hadn't my apartment come into view yet?
"Yay~!" I quietly whispered, as I finally saw my apartment. Kurosaki noticed the spring in my step as I sped up.
"Wait! You mean you live in that apartment?!" Kurosaki yelled out, pointing at my apartment building with a shocked look on his face. Actually, I found his face quite hilarious.
Giggling, I nodded. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"It's just… That's my house over there." He stated, as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the rather large building across the street from the small apartment complex. And when I say small apartment complex, I mean small apartment complex. It was only two stories tall, and the entire building was split into four different apartments; two on the first floor and two on the top. All in all, it looked like a regular home turned into an apartment, which is probably what happened.
Blinking, I lightly pouted. "I should have known. After all, it does say 'Kurosaki Clinic' on it in big print." It just wasn't in my nature to pay attention to things like that.
"Wait, if you really live in those apartments, then how come I'd never seen you when we walked home from school? We would have been going the same way and we would have been bound to run into each other." He suspiciously asked, cinnamon eyes slightly narrowed.
"Well, I had stopped by and watched Tatsuki and the karate team; she'd asked me to join, but I declined. I wanted to see how good they were, though. And then I'd go to my old teacher's house. He usually wound up making me do random chores around the store. So I usually got home late." I explained, wondering why he was so suspicious of me in the first place.
"Oh," Kurosaki muttered, seeming to sound pleased with my answer. It was, after all, a plausible excuse. He could even ask Tatsuki if he didn't believe me. Or Urahara, if he knew him.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" I said, waving as I turned to walk up the stairs to get to my apartment on the second floor.
"Yeah, see 'ya." He replied, and I nodded my head to indicate that I'd heard, but I don't know if he'd seen it or not. I shrugged my shoulders, digging into my bag for my key.
• • •
"Yay! Jun-Chan made it!" Orihime exclaimed loudly as she grabbed me into a large hug as I stepped into her apartment. I lightly hugged her back as well, not wanting it to turn too awkward.
"Well, yeah. Of course I made it. I told you I was coming, right?" I asked, smiling as she released me from her grip. "I don't easily go back on my words. And if there's some reason why I would ever have to, then I'd make it up to the person. Although, I'd make sure it was something much better."
"That's so thoughtful!" Orihime said, smiling.
"Hey," Tatsuki called out, as I turned my head in different directions trying to find her. She was seated at Orihime's table.
"Hey, Tatsuki." I smiled. Orihime and I walked over towards her table and took our seats. We formed a triangle, with Orihime being the point.
"So, what are we going to do?" Tatsuki lazily asked, as she looked at all of us. We had been quiet for a few seconds, not knowing where to start.
"I don't know." I spoke, looking towards Orihime to see if she had any suggestions. After all, this was her house. She had the final say in anything we would do.
"Well…" Orihime began, thinking. "Well, why don't we get to know each other better?"
"Hey, that's actually a good idea." Tatsuki said, looking mildly interested now. I'm guessing that Orihime didn't have good ideas like that most of the time.
"It's fine with me." I said, lightly nodding with a smile.
"Okay! So, we should go in rounds! Like everyone should answer whatever question is asked. For example, what's your favorite color?" Orihime asked, smiling. "Mine's orange."
"Hm, green." Tatsuki answered, having to think about it for a second.
"Mine is…Um, I don't really know." I spoke, causing them to sweat drop at my answer. "My favorite color tends to change depending on whatever mood I'm in. Like now… it's probably a bright blue!"
"Awe, that sounds like a pretty color! But, I'm the same way, too! My favorite color changes so each one has a chance to be my favorite." Orihime said, smiling and waving her arms around wildly.
"Okay, calm down." Tatsuki said, grinning. "So, how about your favorite food next? Mine is apple pie."
"That sounds good," I spoke with a smile. "My favorite would be strawberry pocky."
"My favorite is red bean paste!" Orihime happily cried out, grinning like an idiot.
"That's… interesting." I said, sweat dropping. "Let's see… How about your favorite genre of music? My favorite is rock slash pop."
"Rock." Tatsuki automatically replied, grinning at me.
"Um…let's see…" Orihime trailed off, "How about pop? Cause I like all kinds of upbeat music!" She nodded to herself, and then she saw that it was her turn to ask the next question. "What's your favorite talent? Everyone knows that mine is daydreaming!"
Tatsuki chuckled. "Practicing and training. Physical stuff, mainly."
"Well, I play the piano and sing a bit." I said, trailing off a bit. I hadn't actually touched a piano in years, but I would still sing in the shower or whenever I was bored.
"You actually play the piano?" Orihime asked, impressed.
"Yeah, but I haven't been able to touch one in years. So I'm probably really rusty. And I don't like singing in front of people, cause I kind of have really bad stage fright." I explained, sheepishly rubbing the back of my teased hair with a smile.
"But you have such a pretty voice! I'm sure you'd sound even better singing!" Orihime said, lightly pouting.
Tatsuki nodded along with Orihime. "She's right. You'll have to sing for us sometime."
"Um, sure." I said, a bit unsure.
"It's a promise, then." Tatsuki spoke, smiling.
I gently nodded, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.
"Alright! Next, what's your favorite TV show?"
• • •
The rounds and rounds of questions had continued for a few hours. I now felt like I knew almost everything about the two girls sitting next to me. I did feel a bit guilty considering that they probably felt the same way, when the truth was they didn't know about a huge chunk of my life: my Shinigami side.
However, the conversation didn't just stick to asking questions and having them answered. Somehow, the conversation had strayed to my encounter with Orihime in the park earlier on. She had told Tatsuki about how Ichigo was there and everything.
"Are you freaking stupid?!" Tatsuki shouted, shooting Orihime a somewhat shocked and scary look.
"Don't be rude," Orihime chastised. "I'm totally not stupid!"
"Yes, you are! To waste a chance like that…" Tatsuki trailed off, crossing her arms as she sighed at her best friend's denseness.
"Yeah, Orihime." I said, nodding. "I mean, I don't know Kurosaki very well, but I'm sure that he wouldn't do that sort of thing often."
"You guys really think so?" Orihime asked, taking a sip of the tea that she had prepared for everyone.
"Yep, at times like that you just gotta go for it!" Tatsuki said, seeming to gain energy.
"Go for it?" Orihime and I asked at the same time, exchanging confused glances. How did Tatsuki imagine her going after something like that?
"Yes! When he says, 'Should I walk you home?' of course you say, 'Sure.' Then you use the pain in your leg as an excuse to lean on him!" Tatsuki explained, placing her finger into the air. "Then when he's walked you to a place where nobody is around… pull him into a dark place, and… Take him down!" Tatsuki bellowed, frightening Orihime and I at the same time. We both jumped and Orihime spilt the tea that she was drinking.
"T-Tatsuki-Chan!" Orihime whined, embarrassed that she'd spilt her tea all over herself.
"Oh, yeah. That reminds me…" Tatsuki trailed off, as she turned towards me. "What were you and the other transfer student doing in the park with Ichigo?"
"Huh?" I blinked, trying to buy me enough time to come up with a good excuse. It didn't take me long to come up with a good story, and I nervously smiled. "I-It was nothing like that, Tatsuki! Rukia and I are new here, so we decided to look around the town for a bit. We kind of got lost in the park, and Kurosaki showed up and helped us out a bit!"
"Is that all..?" Tatsuki asked, shooting me a suspicious look.
"Yep!" I exclaimed, trying my best to look all innocent. Thankfully, I was saved by the bell; well, it was more like I was saved by the beep in this case.
I blinked, looking down at my pocket. My cell phone was going off, which naturally meant that there was a Hollow that was about to show up.
"Sorry, it's just my phone going off!" I explained, not having seen Orihime and Tatsuki jump up into the air in surprise at the sudden loud noise. I pulled out my phone, quickly unlocking the touch screen.
"What's the matter?" Orihime asked, as she saw the somewhat tense look appear on my face. I knew where the Hollow was supposed to appear; this was going to be bad!
"Oh, I'm really sorry! I really have to leave! I was supposed to be home before now. I had promised that I would." I spoke as I stood up, my hand tightly clenched onto my phone. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?"
"Yeah, tomorrow." Tatsuki said, while nodding with Orihime.
"Yep! We'll see you tomorrow morning!" Orihime added, beaming.
"Okay, I'll see myself out. Have a good night!" I exclaimed, as I quickly waved and made my way towards her door and slipped on the pair of black flats that I had worn.
As soon as I had walked out of her apartment and closed the door behind me, I checked my cell phone again.
It said that the Hollow would be showing up at the Kurosaki Clinic! Kurosaki wouldn't know anything about it, because he doesn't have a pager and he really sucks at sensing these kinds of things. I growled as I focused reiatsu to my feet, deciding to use Shunpo to get there much faster. As I appeared in front of my apartment, I quickly rushed up the stairs to my room. I had to focus on trying to stop my hands from shaking as I inserted my key into the lock, and rushed inside.
I tried to find my Gikongan, also known as Soul Candy, which Urahara had given me earlier on. I found the Pez like panda dispenser sitting on my desk. I reached for it, jamming the head back and swallowing the bright green pill that popped into the air. In a rush, my soul was forced from my body.
Looking back, I saw the gikongan standing there awaiting my orders. I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair. "Stay in the apartment and don't come out. If there is danger, then run. In other words, you're free to do whatever you like. Just don't stuff your face with food, got that?"
The gikongan nodded, giving me a salute. "Got it, Jun-Sama~!"
I nodded, and immediately ran. My window was thrown open to let in the nice breeze, so I was able to jump out of it. Running on the air again, I made my way to the second story of the Kurosaki Clinic; my brain had told me that they'd be more likely to live in the upper half, with most of the lower portion being the actual clinic.
I chose to go into the room that was right across the street from my window, thinking that I'd start my search there. After all, I could still feel a bit of Hollow reiatsu coming from that room.
Apparently, my senses had been right. Standing in the middle of the room were Rukia and Kurosaki. Kurosaki was in his soul form, and Rukia was dressed in a pair of plaid pajamas.
However, the atmosphere was tense. I bet you couldn't even cut it with a knife, or should I say Zanpakuto?
Just what had I interrupted?