Chapter 10: A Matter of Respect
Xcution Hideout, Naruki City
Ginjo is sitting at the bar of the Xcution hideout, thoroughly enjoying some liquor when there is a knock on the door matching their secret code.
Ginjo sighs before jumping off his seat, walking towards the door. Upon opening the door, he is greeted by a tall man with long dark hair wearing a white shirt and black suspenders. The man has a scar above his left eye, which is currently hidden by a book he is reading. The man closes the book abruptly and slips a bookmark in between the pages once Ginjo redoes all of the locks.
The Xcution leader states casually, "Well would you look what the dog dug up?"
The tall man snickers, correcting Ginjo, "Oh Kugo, I believe you meant to say, 'would you look what the cat dragged in?' Truly, you should familiarize yourself better with the sayings."
Ginjo shrugs, "I don't care about the sayings, Shukuro, I want to know why you are here!"
"Shouldn't that be obvious? You called me twice yesterday. The first time was to explain how we would be training 'Kurosaki' and 'Sado' to become our newest recruits so that we could later steal their powers to use against the Shinigami… then, all of the sudden, I get another call from you late last night saying that plans have changed without explanation."
Ginjo takes a swig of his liquor, "I didn't think you ever needed explanations from me, Shukuro."
The man, known as Shukuro Tsukishima, shifts about a bit nervously. "Of course, I don't require an explanation from you. Never. I will follow you without question. I'm just curious what led to the sudden change in plans."
Ginjo sighs, "There are a couple of reasons for that… It might be too dangerous for me to try and absorb a Fullbring so closely related to Quincy abilities. I doubt Quincy reiatsu mixes well with Shinigami and hollow reiatsu—I'm not willing to chance it if I don't need to…"
Ginjo takes another sip before continuing, "Another, much more important, reason is that kid sitting over there."
Ginjo then points to the corner of the room where Yukio is sitting on the sofa, playing his video game.
Tsukishima raises a brow, "I don't follow. How is Yukio involved in this?"
"Well, he wasn't… until after the girl left yesterday. As soon as her and Sado left, he was on me like a hawk, begging me to let the girl keep her powers and that we can find another way. It was quite precious…"
Tsukishima still has a confused look for a moment before his face relaxes into a smile. "Ah, so Yukio has found a girlfriend. That is precious indeed."
Yukio overhears this from the other side of the room, pausing his game and shouting at Tsukishima, "She's NOT my girlfriend! I just met her yesterday!"
This causes the two men to chuckle, Tsukishima correcting himself, "My apologies, I meant to say, 'Yukio is crushing on her'!"
This causes Yukio to get even more flustered about it.
Riruka, who is still fixing her Dollhouse from last night, states in an uncharacteristically casual tone, "Just ignore them, Yukio."
Yukio's eyes widen, about to thank her, but is cutoff by what she says next, fully facing the boy with a proud smile on her face.
Riruka gives the boy a thumbs up, "I'm so glad you were able to find your sweetheart so young! It's adorable!"
This causes the boy to groan in embarrassment, hiding his tomato red face under his hat and within his jacket.
"Well, this visit sure has been entertaining… Are Jackie or Giriko around by chance? I'd like to see them before I go.", Tsukishima states casually.
Ginjo shrugs, "Last I heard, they were both out of country. I could give them a call to summon them, but I honestly don't feel we should… not with so many Shinigami around…"
Tsukishima nods, "I understand…"
"By the way… I met with some Quincies last night who have an interest in Kurosaki as well. I blackmailed them into cooperating with me, but I'm still going to meet them tonight to finalize the details," the Xcution leader explains.
Tsukishima raises a brow, "Alright… why are you telling me this, though? It sounds like you have it handled…"
Ginjo gives his friend a serious look, "I don't trust them… if things go south, I want you to use your powers on them."
The other man nods, "As you wish. Can I assume that means I will be getting a phone call from one of you if the worst does indeed come to pass?"
Ginjo nods, prompting the other man to wordlessly acknowledge with a nod of his own.
Tsukishima then lets out a sigh, "I really should be going now. I had an interest of my own that I was pursuing."
The Xcution leader raises a brow, "Another Fullbringer?"
The tall man shrugs, "Probably, although it is too soon for me to say for certain."
"Well, I'll leave you to it, then. See ya later." Ginjo responds as Tsukishima turns to leave.
Karakura Elementary School
Ever since she got to school, Yuzu's thoughts were occupied by what her uncle told her earlier. By the time the class was having lunch, her thoughts were interrupted by her friend, Midoriko Tono, calling her name.
Yuzu regards her friend with widened eyes, "What?"
Midoriko looks at her classmate in concern, "That's the tenth time I said your name… Are you feeling alright, Yuzu?"
Yuzu nods, "I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind…"
Midoriko nods slowly, feeling a bit guilty, "That makes sense I guess…"
The two sit and eat their lunch quietly for another moment.
Midoriko grabs Yuzu's attention once more, "So what kind of exchange program did Karin get into? I'm pretty sure the whole class wants to know…"
Yuzu carelessly answers, "She's going to be an undead samurai…"
Midoriko gawks at Yuzu, who is now alarmed, having just realized what she said.
The blonde girl scrambles to come up with an explanation, "That's the name of some western band our dad is into, I think! The two of them are going there together! They didn't really tell me much…"
Midoriko nods, "Oh, ok! For a second, I thought you meant that in a literal sense! That'd be crazy!"
Yuzu wears a neutral expression as she watches her friend giggle for a few moments.
The blonde's expression tilts to the ground slightly as she clutches her bracelet, "Yeah… that'd be impossible…"
Kurosaki Clinic
After school, Yuzu is dropped off at the Kurosaki Clinic by Midoriko's parents.
Midoriko waves to the girl as she walks off alongside her parents, "I'll see you tomorrow, Yuzu!"
Yuzu gives a soft smile as she waves back. As soon as Midoriko's family is out of sight, Yuzu turns to walk into the house.
The girl thinks to herself, "It's a good thing uncle is too busy managing the hospital to pick me up today…"
Yuzu wears a guilty expression as she walks through the house and into her room before retrieving a white cape from her closet, "He won't be happy… but I have to do this!"
Yuzu balls her hand into a fist, eyeing the cape intently, "I know I want this, but I'm still intimidated by Ms. Bambietta… still, someone else's life is on the line! I can't just stand by and let them be killed because of me! Even if there's a chance they won't be..."
Yuzu states with finality, "Yes, it's what mom would do…"
The girl immediately flings the cape around her shoulders. Soon after she does this, Yuzu can feel a presence behind her which causes her to freeze up.
Bambietta's voice rings throughout the girl's room, "Nice place you got here, girl…"
Yuzu slowly turns around to see Bambietta nonchalantly sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. The woman is looking around the room with a curious expression before noticing Yuzu's stare, upon which she returns the girl with a smirk.
"It's nice to see you've decided to join our side of the Quincy hierarchy!", Bambietta states as she gets up from the bed, walking towards Yuzu.
The woman proceeds to pat Yuzu on the head, which makes the girl flinch.
The black-haired woman chuckles, "Good obedient girls like you deserve a treat. Oh, I know! How's ice cream sound? Kids love ice cream, right?"
Yuzu normally would be down for something like that, but as with everything with Bambietta, Yuzu feels squarely uncomfortable.
Bambietta notices Yuzu's unease, "Why the long face, girl? I'm just offering you a reward… so you'd best speak up, it's the polite thing to do." Bambietta clutches Yuzu's hair again making her yelp lightly.
After a moment, the girl's expression turns serious as she looks at Bambietta with eyes full of resolve, "I'd rather you teach me how to fight."
Bambietta's eyes widen at this before softening. She lets go of Yuzu's hair and starts wearing one of her smug smiles. "Seems like a fire has awakened in you girl—that's good. Because you'll need it to survive training with me!"
The woman promptly marches towards the exit of the room, barking, "Follow me! We'll need to run a small errand before beginning your training!"
Yuzu nods as she follows Bambietta outside of the house towards the front gate.
Once the pair of Quincies reach the street, the girl can hear a familiar voice calling out to her, "Yuzu?"
Yusu is startled, turning to find a familiar boy, "Oh Chad, hey! Sorry, but I'll have to cancel our plans for today..."
Chad glances at Bambietta next to the girl.
Bambietta returns to boy's look with a smirk, "That's right! Yuzu and I are going to spend some quality time together today—a girl's night out!"
Chad scrunches his brow, before looking back at Yuzu questioningly.
The girl gives him a reassuring, albeit nervous, smile, "It's ok, Chad. Ms. Bambietta is..."
Yuzu pauses briefly, "I don't think Ms. Bambietta would treat Chad well if she knew he was with Ginjo..."
The girl notices Chad and Bambietta's stares, forcing her to think of something to say, "She's an acquaintance of my uncle."
Chad raises a brow, glancing at the woman who stands there with a bored expression on her face. After a moment, the boy nods, "Alright... see you later then."
The boy gives a wave, which the girl returns, before turning to leave alongside her new mentor.
5 Minutes Later
It isn't long before the duo of Quincies reach a nearby two-story apartment building. Bambietta leads the girl up a staircase before walking two doors down from the stairwell.
Yuzu raises a worried brow as she hears Candice's voice inside, moaning, as well as grunting noises from someone she doesn't recognize.
After a moment, the girl's eyes widen, "Candice is in trouble!"
Bambietta frowns, gritting her teeth in obvious anger. Yuzu flinches at this before the woman points towards the stairwell, "Go wait over there… I'll deal with this…"
Yuzu immediately does as ordered, creating distance between herself and the entrance as Bambietta pulls out a key and opens the door.
As the door opens, empty beer cans come rolling out, prompting Bambietta to wear a scowl, "She's so dead…"
After the woman marches inside, the girl can hear some shouting, which causes her to become worried before a young man she doesn't recognize comes running out in his underwear, holding his clothes balled up in his arms. The man doesn't even seem to acknowledge Yuzu's presence as he bolts down the stairs with a fearful expression.
Yuzu can still hear Bambietta's shouting, "You SLUT!"
The girl gulps before walking towards the doorway to see Candice slumped down on a couch, clothed in nothing but her undergarments. The woman lazily holds her belt and heart-shaped buckle in one of her hands. Yuzu looks to the floor, finding beer cans littering the ground inside as well.
Bambietta stands in front of Candice, with her arms crossed, wearing a scowl in disgust, "Unacceptable! This isn't just your apartment Candy—you're making a mess in my space too!"
Candice angrily retaliates, "Oh yeah we'll you're *hiccup*... not much *hiccup* better..."
"I don't have the drinking problem here!" the black-haired Quincy retorts.
Candice slumps back on the couch before looking at Yuzu, her eyes widening. Yuzu's expression becomes concerned when she sees the poor state Candice is in. The woman looks like she hasn't gotten much sleep, as there are dark rings under her eyes. Furthermore, her usually well-kept green hair is disheveled. All in all, the woman looks like a wreck.
Candice calls, weakly, "Hey... you wanna learn from us after all! Color me surprised! But you *hiccup* shouldn't want to... we're... no good—"
Bambietta suddenly kicks Candice in the shin, causing the woman to groan in pain, "SERIOUSLY?! Stop doing that!"
The black-haired Quincy scoffs, "Only after you stop talking like a dummy!"
The green-haired woman shrugs, "I don't think I'm talking like a dummy… you're the dummy!"
Bambietta growls, her face turning red as if she is about to throw a fit. Yuzu takes a step back, bracing herself. Surprisingly, however, Bambietta exhales slowly, forcing herself to calm down, before returning to her previous scowl.
"In His Majesty's name, would you get your shit together woman? Your girl has come back to learn from us! You should be jumping for joy, with lightning crackling throughout the sky and all that! …all I see is a sad, drunken mess!"
Candice snarls at the other woman, rising off the couch, "You want lightning? I'll show you lightn—AAgghghuu"
Candice pukes on the floor, causing Yuzu to look down at the vomit with a horrified expression. The woman stumbles a bit before slumping back on the couch again.
"Hmph. I rest my case." Bambietta states with a nod, before shifting to a thoughtful expression, raising a finger as if to dictate. "I'll take care of training her today. You focus on getting yourself cleaned up. I want the apartment cleared of your beer cans by the time we return or I'm kicking you to the curb!"
"Why you—" Candice starts to counter but is unable to finish her sentence as she feels more vomit coming, holding her hand over her mouth.
Bambietta retrieves something from the table in the back of the room before turning her gaze to Yuzu, "Come with me, girl. We're heading out of town for today's training. The Shinigami don't focus on unpopulated areas, so we should be fine to do some basic training out there."
"I understand.", the girl states.
Yuzu follows the woman to the stairwell, pausing at the top to glance back at door to the apartment once more before following Bambietta down the stairs.
Candice muses, looking at the heart-shaped belt buckle in her hand, which houses her Quincy Cross, "A mess, huh... bitch. What do you expect when you're reminded about how shitty your life really is..."
1 Hour Later, Karakura Outskirts
After about an hour of walking through the forests outside Karakura, Bambietta stops in the middle of a clearing.
The woman regards Yuzu with a bored expression, "Good. There are a lot of shadows here, just as I thought. We can begin your training now."
Yuzu huffs and pants as the distance of trek here and the many up-hills without any breaks did a lot to wear her out.
The girl looks up at the woman, confused, "Huh? But we just got here… I need a break… also, my name is Yuzu not Yui."
Bambietta shrugs, "Well I asked Candy last night if Yui would be a cute nickname for you and she agreed to it."
Yuzu stares at the woman blankly, sweat dropping as she mutters between her breathes, "That's probably because she was drunk…"
Bambietta eyes Yuzu, "What was that?"
The girl waves her hands defensively, "N-nothing bad! I just think you probably should wait to give me that nickname until I'm a proper member of your group…"
It's Bambietta's turn to look unconvinced, "Really?"
Yuzu starts sweating nervously before Bambietta shrugs, "Well, fair enough, I guess. But Yui, dear, you still have to show me what power you currently have. Please understand that the Shinigami are more active at night, so we're on the clock here."
Yuzu still has her hands on her knees, "But I need water—"
The girl suddenly finds herself doubling over in pain as the Quincy woman knees her in the gut. The girl yelps as tears fill her eyes at the pain as the woman glares down coldly at her. "Your reaction speed sucks, we ought to work on your defense."
Yuzu is still crying from the pain, trying to get up off the ground.
Bambietta rolls her eyes at the seemingly pathetic display, "I thought you said you wanted to learn how to fight, but you can't even take a kick from me! I wasn't even using any reiatsu! Talk about pathetic!"
"Why are you being so mean to me?! What'd I ever do to you?!" Yuzu asks, wiping the tears out of her eyes as she finally manages to get to her feet.
Bambietta wears a cold expression as she addresses the girl's question, "Exist."
"Huh?!", Yuzu gasps, completely confused.
Bambietta snorts at the girl's confusion, "Oh, don't pretend you don't know, Yuzu Kurosaki. I listened in on your conversation you had with Ryuken Ishida this morning to ensure you made the correct decision."
Yuzu's expression turns to one of dread, somehow becoming even more terrified of the woman in front of her than she already was.
Bambietta takes this as an opportunity to walk up to the girl, lifting her chin up with her hand as she speaks in her ear, "I might not seem it, but I am very protective of my friends, Miss Kurosaki. That said, if you chose not to train with us, that would only leave me with one choice—abduct you and force you to awaken your hidden potential. And as for Kugo, he and all of his friends would die too. I won't stop until any and all traces of you have been eliminated from this world. No one will suspect us of having taken you. I refuse to let one of my closest friends and one of the most powerful Quincy in existence be tossed aside like garbage because some sniveling little girl refuses to awaken her power! Now, either you show me what you know right now, or your 'break' will be a something a little more literal."
Bambietta grasps Yuzu's right shoulder, beginning to clutch down on it harder than she did even the night before.
"Are we at an understanding?", the woman asks, with a cold look in her eyes.
"Y-yes Ma'am." Yuzu manages to respond with a quick nod.
Bambietta lets out a sigh, the look fading from her face as she releases Yuzu's shoulder.
"Now then, this should be far enough away from the Shinigami's gaze… just for good measure, I brought this."
Bambietta pulls a scroll out of her coat, which Yuzu eyes curiously, "What is that exactly, Ms. Bambietta?"
The woman wears a bored expression, "It's a scroll, obviously. Just be a good girl and watch quietly."
Yuzu nods as Bambietta unrolls the scroll, beginning to chant its contents in German, "Verstecke uns mit deiner himmlischen Kraft in den Schatten."
The young girl gasps at what happens next. The area around them, at least a mile in diameter, is consumed by some sort of black magic dome. Once the spell has finished, Yuzu can see that the surroundings are nearly identical to before, the obvious differences being the blood red sky and drop in temperature.
Bambietta huffs, "This is a shadow dimension that hides our presence from the outside. You can safely use all of your powers here. Don't be shy—show me what you're made of, Yui!"
Yuzu proceeds to demonstrate what little control she has over her powers by shooting red reishi arrows at a tree, although they completely missed their target. Yuzu expected Bambietta to be berating her for her horrid aim, but instead she hears the woman gasp.
The girl is even more concerned by this, her face wearing a worried expression, "Did I do something wrong?"
Bambietta breaks out of her momentary shock and shakes her head, "Besides having perhaps the worst aim I've ever seen? No…"
Yuzu sulks at the comment about her aim.
The woman investigates Yuzu's bow, "Have your bow and arrows always been this color? Candice didn't mention this… why do I feel traces of Shinigami and hollow energy? But, at the same time it feels like your reiatsu is neither of those two—as if something else entirely… That should be impossible..."
Yuzu chooses to answer the first question, "Well, I guess my arrows were blue when I first activated my Quincy powers in the cemetery where I met Candice. My arrows turned red yesterday when I…"
Yuzu pauses, prompting Bambietta to narrow her eyes and ask, "When you what?"
Yuzu considers her next words carefully, before settling on a half-truth, "…after I had a life and death encounter with a hollow."
Bambietta hums and ponders to herself, "Non-blue reishi arrows are not unheard of among the Sternritter... although the color change is typically associated with that form… And the fact that she is emitting this weird reiatsu from her arrows is particularly troubling. Perhaps this has something to do with what His Majesty sees in this girl..."
Yuzu looks at the woman, nervously awaiting her next words.
Bambietta takes notice of this, "Relax. What color your arrows are doesn't matter too much. But I will have to instruct you on how to control your reishi better… as well as in marksmanship, apparently. Let's start with those."
After about an hour of explanations by Bambietta and practice of reishi control techniques on Yuzu's part, Bambietta was impressed to find that the girl had a near insane level of talent for reishi control that she was staring to expect is unnatural, especially after the girl's arrows suddenly turned back to blue, and she stopped emitting that weird reiatsu about 30 minutes in. Her marksmanship was still desperately lacking, but that would improve with time and practice.
Bambietta, satisfied with Yuzu's offensive progress, calls out to the girl, "Alright, you can put the bow away now, we're done with that for today."
Yuzu does as she is told, curiously awaiting further instructions from the older Quincy.
Bambietta explains, "Now, as I said before, your defense sucks too. So, your next lesson will be Blut Vene…"
"Considering she is still alive; she should be able to use it…" Bambietta adds mentally.
Yuzu tilts her head, struggling to pronounce the term correctly; "'Blut Vene'?"
Bambietta nods, "Yes, it is the primary method of defense for the Quincy. Observe."
Bambietta rolls up the sleeve of her suit revealing her bare arm. Shortly after, blue lines of light flash across her skin as the woman pulls a knife out of her jacket pocket and jams it in her arm, causing a crunching sound. Yuzu looks away, not particularly wanting to witness the woman cut her arm open.
Bambietta scoffs, "Oh please, you really think I would cut my arm open after going through the whole explanation of a Quincy's best defense? Look here, the knife hasn't even punctured me."
Yuzu looks at the woman and gasps in shock, seeing the blade of the knife smashed completely, the metal having buckled in on itself leaving what's left of the knife a crumbled slab of metal, not unlike crushed soda cans.
"Woah! How can you do that?!" Yuzu asks with stars in her eyes.
Bambietta huffs, "It's super simple. You just focus reishi through your blood vessels, hence the term Blut Vene, which greatly enhances your defensive abilities against any type of attack—physical or spiritual."
Yuzu nods excitedly, "Alright! I think I'll give it a try!"
Bambietta scoffs, "While it may be a fairly simple technique, no one is bound to get it on their first try. Even I took four—"
"I think I've done it!", the girl squeals in delight as blue lines appear on her skin.
Yuzu tries to bite down on her arm but squeals in pain. "My teeth! I thought you said this ability was defensive?!"
Bambietta sweat drops, "Well, a good defense is the best offense, so they say…"
The woman mentally snorts, "At least that's what that bore Cang Du says… as if he could beat me in a fight, though… hmph…"
Yuzu nods before giving Bambietta a big smile, "So, this only took you four tries to learn without any help? You must be a genius in the Quincy Craft, Ms. Bambietta!"
"Uh sure, yeah… Let's go with that…", the woman gives the girl a nervous, crooked smile. "I can't let her know I was actually about to say fourteen tries! Defense has never been my strong suit..."
Bambietta shifts to a serious expression, "Alright. Now I want you to try using Blut on your entire body."
As Yuzu does so, Bambietta can see the lines extending down the girl's legs and up to her neck.
The black-haired Quincy takes this as her invitation to strike, attempting to land a hit on girl's midsection for the second time during the day. The girl's reaction speed was still too slow, so once Bambietta landed the hit, which sends Yuzu against a tree. The girl closed her eyes expecting to feel a lot of pain only to feel… mild numbness.
The girl gets up, seeing Bambietta clutching her knee, "Verdamnt! This kid's Blut is strong! Where does she get it from?!"
"Are you ok?" Yuzu asks the woman, who gets up off the ground a bit more slowly than Yuzu expected she would.
Bambietta shrugs, "Just a bruise. It's my fault for underestimating your Blut by not using my own. Who'd have known a novice's Blut would be as hard as rocks… actually, scratch that, kicking you with your Blut felt like I was kicking a steel slab!"
"I would know, I tried it with Cang Du…" the woman notes mentally, cringing at the reminder.
Yuzu looks down, "Oh, uh… I'm sorry."
"Don't you ever apologize for your strength, Yui. You'll make a fine Quincy one day." Bambietta says, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.
Yuzu looks in her eyes and at present, fails to see the predatory glare she has seen in them thus far.
Bambietta removes her hand from Yuzu's shoulder, "Now turn off you Blut. It's time for us to head back."
The woman chants a different spell this time, which deactivates the shadow realm around them.
Bambietta starts to head down the hill before pausing and rummaging through her pocket. "Oh yeah, catch."
The woman, with her back still turned, tosses Yuzu an object. The girl catches the object Bambietta tossed her, finding a small-bottled water.
The woman elaborates, "You have 3 minutes to rest before we head back down. I'll be waiting up ahead."
Yuzu stares at the back of the Sternritter woman, starting to think that she maybe isn't all that bad.
45 Minutes Later, Karakura Town
The walk back to the apartment didn't take Yuzu quite as long. She noticed that she also wasn't nearly as winded compared to the trip up.
"I wonder if this is as a result of my training?", the girl thinks to herself.
Bambietta stops suddenly a distance away from the apartment, causing Yuzu to bump into the woman by accident, lost in thoughts.
Bambietta turns on her heel, looking like she is ready to slap this girl.
"Watch where you're going!" the Sternritter hisses in a hushed tone.
"Sorry!" Yuzu nearly screams, but forces her voice from doing so, partially out of fear of the Sternritter.
Bambietta turns her glare from Yuzu to the road in front of the apartment, where two tall figures stand.
"Looks like we might have a fight on our hands…", Bambietta remarks.
The words of the older Quincy cause the girl to widen her eyes, starting to feel fear for her life. "But I can't—"
"Calm down. I said we might have a fight on our hands. You wait here, I'll confront them and see what they want." Bambietta states, giving the younger girl a wink and a smile.
As the woman approaches the figures, her eyes widening in recognition of them.
Before her are what appear to be a young Hispanic boy and an older looking, Japanese man. They observe the woman's approach, the Hispanic boy assuming a particularly cautious stance.
The boy turns to talk with the man, "So, she's the Quincy you were talking about…"
The two seem to be discussing something when Bambietta starts to break the ice, "It's not a good sign when you see young men just standing in the street in the middle of the night. Perhaps you decided blackmail wasn't enough and that you would have your way with me, is that it, Kugo? You even brought back up…"
This causes the boy to stumble back and wave his hands in denial, "N-no, I was just wondering where you and Yuzu went to… it's getting quite late and I'm starting to get concerned…"
The man accompanying him elects to remain silent; however, instead staring at the woman dubiously.
"Likely story…", the Quincy woman states before acknowledging the other man's stare.
Bambietta is about to say something offensive to the man before pausing as she starts to wear a seductive smile, "Oh? Did I actually hit the nail on the head? You want me, don't you?"
The Quincy woman starts to unbutton her jacket, causing the man to chuckle, "As tempting as that would be, right now, I'm afraid I'll have to pass."
Bambietta huffs at this, "A shame… although, I'd rather not do it outside either…"
Ginjo's face becomes stern, brushing the woman's comment off, "You should know, I'm interested in hearing what exactly you did with Yuzu Kurosaki. I shouldn't have to remind you what happens if I don't see her alive and well…"
Bambietta stares silently at the man for a moment with a blank expression, before her mouth contorts into a smile, "Why don't you ask her that?"
"What do you mean?" Ginjo asks carefully.
This prompts Bambietta to call behind her, "Yui, come here sweety!"
Ginjo raises a brow at the pet names while Chad looks uncomfortable at them, not liking the implications. The two males watch as Yuzu hurries to Bambietta's side. As she stops next to Bambietta, Yuzu's eyes widen in recognition of the two men in front of them. She opens her mouth to speak, but clamps it shut when she feels a, now familiar, but equally unwelcome, sensation of a hand running through her hair.
Chad's eyes widen in disbelief before his expression shifts to one of rage as he watches the black-haired woman begin to gently stroke Yuzu's dirty blond hair, as if the girl where her child. Yuzu wears a frown and flinches at the woman's touch, indicating she is quite uncomfortable. Chad takes a step forward, but Ginjo puts a hand in front of him, stopping him. Chad looks at the man, the expression of rage on his face demanding to know why he stopped him.
Ginjo shakes his head and elaborates, "Let's just hear her out first. Besides, it would be a bad idea to provoke her while she has ahold of Kurosaki."
"Handsome and smart, can't say I dislike that… anyway, why don't you tell these two what we did today, Yui." Bambietta states, still running her hand through the girl's hair.
"O-of course! I was spending the afternoon with Ms. Bambietta here in order to learn how to control my powers." Bambietta stops stroking Yuzu's hair, cocking her head to the side in slight confusion, not fully aware of Yuzu's Fullbring training from the day earlier.
Chad and Ginjo's faces become neutral at this, the latter commenting, "I see…"
Bambietta stares at Yuzu with an annoyed expression, "I should've known… you learned that weird power from them, didn't you?"
The girl nods, "Yes. It's called Full—"
"I'll cut you off right there, Kurosaki. Talking about such things in the open can be… problematic… in any case, I'm not the average human, as you must've gathered by now." Ginjo explains.
Bambietta glares at the man, "What do you mean not the average human? Are you saying you're a Quincy too?"
The man shakes his head, chuckling, "No, nothing like that."
"Then what are you?", the woman growls at him, beginning to lose her patience.
Ginjo carelessly looks to the side with a bored expression, "Did you listen to what I just said? Also, why would I tell that to someone I just met last night? I have to keep these things a secret to ensure the privacy of my peers is preserved. ~"
"Why you—!", Bambietta hisses.
Yuzu can feel the woman next to her begin to draw reiatsu into her heart-shaped belt buckle.
Deciding she doesn't want a conflict to break out between the two factions, she steps in front of the woman, "Wait, Ms. Bambietta! I will explain everything to you, just please don't attack Mr. Ginjo and Chad—they also hate the Shinigami!"
Chad grumbles, "I don't know if I'd go that far…"
Bambietta glares at the girl like she is nothing more than garbage, but ultimately decides to back down, giving a huff as the reiatsu around her disperses, "I already knew that…"
Ginjo decides to approach the woman, digging through his coat pocket.
"This must be your apartment.", he gestures to the building next to them.
The woman eyes Ginjo carefully, raising a brow as he pulls a cup of instant ramen out of his pocket, "Why don't we finish this discussion over a steaming hot cup of ramen?"
1 Minute Later
Candice hears a knock on the door followed by Bambietta's voice, "Hey Candy, open up!"
Luckily the hangover mostly faded away within a couple hours, making it so she could get the place cleaned up before Bambietta's return. Candice opens the door, raising a brow at the scene that greets her.
"The hell are these guys here for?", Candice blurts out.
Before Candice can protest or say anything more, Bambietta declares, "They're here to finish discussing last night. We treat them as guests."
Bambietta then pushes the other woman out of her way, letting the two males and Yuzu follow in after her. The girl gives Candice a brief, apologetic look as she walks through the doorway. Candice is motionless for another second before she slowly closes the door, watching the guests make themselves at home. Chad leans against a wall in the corner by the window, crossing his arms, while Yuzu sits on the sofa next to him, where Candice had been sitting previously. Bambietta sits at the kitchen table, watching with great interest as Ginjo peels back the lid of the ramen cup, beginning to fill it with water from the sink.
Candice can hear the man explain, "The convenience of instant ramen has revolutionized the day-to-day meal experience. Preparing ramen is as simple as boiling water and pouring it into a cup! Momofuka Ando is a real one."
Bambietta nods her head, with some degree of childish enthusiasm, "I see…"
Candice watches the ramen guy and Bambietta talk for about another minute until she can practically feel a vein pop out of her forehead.
"What the hell is going on?!", the woman shouts as sparks of electricity come off her skin, causing the lights to flash on and off briefly.
Bambietta finally turns her attention back to her companion, "Calm down, Candy. We're just gonna discuss Yui's training. He was even polite enough to offer some food!"
Ginjo passes her the hot cup of ramen he just removed from the microwave, prompting her to start slurping it down with a fork.
"Y'know, I could teach you how to eat it with chopsticks.", Ginjo offers casually.
Bambietta looks up at the man, giving him a slightly condescending smile, "That's sweet of you to say, but forks are clearly the superior utensil—they're much easier to use!"
This seems to light a fire in Ginjo's eyes, "That may be true, but chopsticks are much more versatile. Plus, if you are planning on staying in Japan for an extended period of time, knowing how to eat with chopsticks would be an invaluable tool to have."
Bambietta nods her head, looking up thoughtfully, "You just may have a point…"
Candice's eye begins to twitch, only becoming more agitated at how the two are interacting with each other so casually.
Bambietta shifts her attention to Candice, "Get over here, Candy. Kugo said you can have some ramen too."
Candice sweat drops, "No thanks…"
The woman adds mentally, "I want as little to do with your ramen boy toy as possible…"
The black-haired Sternritter then points at Yuzu, prompting Candice to shift her gaze as well.
"Well then, Yui, why don't you explain to Candy and I what your weird powers are about.", Bambietta states, causing everyone's attention to shift on Yuzu.
Yuzu gives Ginjo a look, who merely shrugs, "Tell them if you want. They'll find out eventually anyway…"
The girl nods before loosely explaining what Fullbringers are, with help from Ginjo here and there, and how she is also a Fullbringer.
Yuzu concludes, "My special Fullbring power is connected to my mom's Quincy Cross somehow…"
Bambietta nods, "I see… that would explain your red arrows and almost unnatural talent for the Quincy Craft. Your Fullbring must enhance all of your Quincy abilities…"
Ginjo decides to add to this, "Not only that, but by combining the Fullbring ability of reishi subjugation with the Quincy ability to absorb and manipulate reishi in any manner they choose, Kurosaki here could, in theory, operate at 100% reishi efficiency."
The others in the room stare at him, a bit confused as to the meaning of the technical wording he used.
Ginjo takes this as an opportunity to dumb things down, "What I mean is that she wouldn't experience any major losses of spirit energy, having effectively unlimited stamina."
"So, you mean she could fight forever?" Candice asks, scratching the back of her head, still confused at the complex terminology.
Ginjo takes a slurp of his own cup of ramen before answering, "That's the idea."
Bambietta quirks her brow, "Are you sure you're not a scientist or something on the side?"
Ginjo chuckles, "No, that would be way too much work for someone as lazy as myself. It's as I told you before: I've been around. You pick up a thing or two the more places you go."
This seems to satisfy the black-haired woman, who finishes off her own cup of ramen.
Candice decides to address the elephant in the room, "So then, how do we proceed with Yuzu's training? Is it the kind of thing where you guys keep her for one day and we get her the next, or what?"
Yuzu attempts to speak but Ginjo speaks instead, "That would be ideal, but I'm afraid the constant moving around may be more likely to alert the Shinigami."
Yuzu tries to speak up again, but Bambietta raises her voice this time, "So, it's settled, Yui will stay and train with us! She'll get more powerful that way."
"Not a chance! Need I remind you I have the Soul Society on speed-dial?" Ginjo snaps at the woman.
Bambietta pouts before adopting a sly expression, "Well, in that case, what if I let you do anything you want with me, including sex?"
Ginjo replies immediately, "No deal. I'd rather not do something like that with you."
The black-haired woman widens her eyes in surprise, caught off guard, "H-huh? What did you say?"
The man elaborates, bluntly, "I don't want to have sex with you… or her for that matter."
Candice merely huffs at being called out before shaking her head, "Bambi really doesn't know how to be patient with a man… you can't just ask for sex like this…"
Bambietta rises from her seat, her face completely red as she begins to throw a tantrum, "WHAT?! That's absolutely Un-ac-cept-able!" Bambietta emphasizes each syllable by slamming her hand on the table each time.
Ginjo raises a brow, turning away from his ramen cup, "Really? We just met... there's no way I trust you enough yet to do anything as serious as that with you..."
"And trust me, handsome, you don't want to..." Candice chimes in, causing Bambietta to glare embarrassingly at her with a face as red as a tomato.
Candice's eyes widen, realizing she overstepped, "Oh shit."
Bambietta raises her hand beginning to form some kind of blue reishi ball in it, however, Yuzu cuts in, "PLEASE STOP FIGHTING!"
Bambi doesn't hear Yuzu as he begins to step up on the table in front of Ginjo, whose eyes widen in a mild show of fear.
Ginjo begins to explain carefully, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves—!"
The scene causes Yuzu to lower her head, disappointed at being ignored like when she's around her family. Chad has been taking note of Yuzu's behavior since they arrived, keeping a close distance to the girl to prevent the black-haired woman from laying a finger on her. Chad decides to take initiative on Yuzu's behalf, walking up to the table and slamming his fist on it, shattering it to pieces.
Ginjo and the Quincies glare at Chad, speechless in momentary disbelief.
The boy elaborates, "Sorry, I'll pay for table. It's just, Yuzu would like to say something."
Bambietta, who looked like she was about to leap at the boy and tear his head off, shifts her gaze to Yuzu, her expression softening slightly, "So, Yui's feeling left out? Go ahead, say what you will, sweety."
Bambietta's expression appears to be friendly on the outside, but neither Yuzu nor Candice missed the way her fist clenches into a ball.
Yuzu gulps, "Why can't you all just train me together? Xcution's hideout has a way to cut off most of the reishi from the inside from the world outside, so we wouldn't need to go out to the woods for my Quincy training or use that spell. And wouldn't it also be good for Xcution to become more friendly with the Quincy in Japan? After all, the Shinigami outnumber us more than ten to one."
Bambietta places a hand on her chin and Ginjo also seems to be in thought.
Candice decides to give her two cents, "Whatever you decide you are comfortable with, I'll go along with it. Remember I told you I'm not forcing anything on you."
Yuzu's expression sours slightly at this, as she looks away from Candice briefly.
"What's with that look?" the green-haired Quincy asks, genuinely thrown off by the reaction.
The girl shakes her head, hardening her gaze, before looking right back into Candice's eyes.
"No, this is my decision. I will get as strong as it takes, Ms. Candice. I swear this in both the memory of my brother and mother—I will save you.", Yuzu monologues without thinking, but it was effective, as Candice's expression shifts to one that is a mixture of confusion, dread, and joy.
Candice turns to look at Bambietta, raising a brow as if to question her.
Bambietta shrugs, "She didn't hear it from me. Trust me, she already knew."
Candice turns back to face the girl, feeling a wave of emotion she hasn't felt for a long time. The figure of the girl shining brightly like the sun in front of her at the display of altruism. "This girl would sacrifice everything for the sake of a stranger she just met, even in the face of Bambi's constant harassment… someone like this…"
Bambietta interrupts Candice's thoughts, "So that's settled. I don't suppose you have room for us at your place, Kugo?"
Ginjo groans, "I never agreed to take you two in…"
The black-haired woman begins to pout, but Yuzu cuts in before something can come of it, "I thought you said your goal was to make a safe haven for the spiritually inclined? Especially those who face prejudice! Well, from what I heard, no group has had it worse from the Soul Society than the Quincies! They may be different than you, but the Quincies are still people!"
The man flinches at the girl's insistence as she continues, "Or are you saying you don't take in Quincies? In that case, I'm leaving too—"
"Wait." Ginjo cuts in, making the girl look at him with a hopeful expression.
The man lets out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, "You have a point… I guess… I guess I can take them in… but only if you two promise to keep a low profile and be well-behaved."
Bambietta snorts, "Of course! What would make you think I wasn't well-behaved?"
Everyone in the room rolls their eyes as she says this.
Ginjo pulls two cards out of his pocket handing them to the Quincy women, "Call the number on that card later tonight. I'll have you two go through our traditional onboarding process… it will test your patience, so keep that in mind… Ms. Basterbine."
Bambietta pouts, "I told you that you have nothing to worry about!"
Ginjo grunts, "Good, then I'll hear no complaints about it when you two are done with it… happy now, Kurosaki?"
Yuzu nods with a smile on her face, "Yes! Thanks, Mr. Ginjo, you won't regret having them on our team!"
Candice eyes the card carefully before something hits her, "Wait… Bambi… What's wrong with the apartment?"
"Nothing at all, Candy… it's just…" Bambietta trails off, averting her gaze from Candice.
"Just… what, Bambi?" the green-haired Quincy asks slowly.
Bambietta sighs, "It's just that the landlord will be coming for rent again in the next few days."
Candice cocks her head, "So what, you're just being cheap and want to freeload off of Ramen man over here?"
Bambietta picks at her nails, "Well, I can't say that isn't a part of it…"
"What is it then? I thought you said you had money?", Candice asks, confused.
Bambietta shifts somewhat nervously, "I did… it's just…"
The black-haired woman pulls out some old, foreign-looking currency from her pocket, "These are no longer a valid method of payment anywhere."
Candice deadpans, sparks of electricity erupting from her body.
Bambietta waves her hands defensively, "Now calm down, Candy. There's no reason to get mad."
"Of course, there is, you dumb bitch! How could you be so stupid?!", Candice shouts.
Chad and Yuzu sweat drop as the Quincy women banter while Ginjo just smirks, watching the chaos unfold.
"Now that I think of it, I do think having these two around will make things a lot more interesting.", he thinks as he finishes off the last of his Ramen.
Author's Note:
This chapter was a longer chapter out of necessity, as I wanted to cover a lot of ground and plot progression, while spending a good amount of time with the characters.
Speaking of which, if it wasn't evident by now, I am aiming at something quite ambitious in that I am not only aiming to have three main characters, but three main supporting casts, one for each of the Kurosaki children. Think of it like Ichigo's inner circle in canon (Rukia, Uryu, Orihime, Chad, and Renji… debatably characters like Nel and Urahara too)
For Yuzu, this group will include the two Bambies, Chad, and the three members of Xcution I have introduced thus far. There are also a couple others who will come in later, but I won't comment on that just yet. Given that, I want to develop these characters and their relationships early on if possible, so that it really feels like Yuzu is growing close to them and perhaps is changing them for the better, as Ichigo did with his group.
With that, I think we've spent enough time with Yuzu for now, so will shift focus to Karin and Isshin in the next few chapters.
