Disclaimer: Based on The Loud House created by Chris Savino and owned/published by Nickelodeon. I am not and do not claim to be the creator. Also inspired by Bleach created by Tite Kubo. An AU to the Loud House canon.

Chapter 5

Fitting In

They were at a small shopping district that she had never been to before. Most of the buildings were two-story places with dim lights. There was a warm smell in the air that reminded her of cinnamon sticks.

"Where are we going?" Stella asked.

"I'll get to that," Lincoln waved off the question. "Now where was I? One day, the council started to put bounties on souls. The higher the level the higher the price. Their hope was to encourage stronger rangers to hunt those souls. At first, it worked just as they intended. But then they noticed something. Rangers who used to focus only on weaker souls began targeting stronger and stronger souls. Apparently, all they needed was the right incentive."

"Wait, if people get paid for the higher monsters," Stella began, "what happens for the smaller monsters?" Lincoln gave a sharp look at her. "Right, souls," Stella corrected. "Wouldn't rangers ignore lower-level souls?" Their walk was slowed down as they were nearing a tailor that was connected to a dry cleaner.

"There are always inexperienced rangers, Stella. They take care of them." He stopped to throw his cup away into a nearby trash can with Stella repeating his action. "Just like we are about to do." He walked into the tailor with Stella following to find a tan carpeted room with gray wooden walls. It was lit brightly with light bouncing off the glass-plated front desk directly into Stella's eyes. Small platforms covered the floors with mirrors surrounding them. Near the platforms were changing rooms that had fresh brown paint covering the doors.

"Where are we?" Stella asked She looked out the window trying to see if she recognized anything on the street.

"Welcome to 'Duds for Dudes'," a raspy voice with a slight southern twang called out from underneath the counter causing Stella to jump slightly. She watched as a hand grabbed the top of a table followed by a body being lifted off the floor. There stood a very tall man with a bright red afro making him appear even taller. His fair skin revealed the acne and sweat that covered the top of his head. He whipped the top of his head off with the green wool jacket that was covering a drenched yellow shirt. His eyes looked at Stella before moving to Lincoln causing a bucked-toothed smile to appear on his face. "Hey, what's up Lincoln."

"Hi Mr. Spokes," Lincoln replied as he moved towards the counter giving the tall man a handshake.

"Lincoln, you've known me long enough to call me Rodney." He released Lincoln's hand before stretching out his back causing a loud cracking sound to fill the room. "So you're gonna introduce me to your friend Lincoln?"

Lincoln stiffened at his comment. Were they friends? It was like Stella said, they barely knew anything about each other, but she agreed to work with him. That's not enough to make them friends, but maybe acquaintance was the better term for their relationship. Was that the end of their relationship?

He heard a cough come from Rodney as the elder man motioned with his eyes toward Stella, who was having similar thoughts. "Oh," Lincoln stated, "this is Stella Zhau. Stella, this is Mr. Rodney Spokes."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Stella said while holding her hand out.

Rodney took it giving a strong handshake giving her the same smile, "Please, that makes me sound like my old man. I'm only forty-three and still have plenty of years in me. So, did your family just move here recently?"

"Um, no sir. I've lived here for a few years now." Stella replied confused at the question.

She watched as his face shifted into a small frown before looking at Lincoln who gave a simple nod towards Mr. Spokes. Soon a softer smile reappeared on his face as he leaned on the counter making him level with them. "Well, I guess we need to get you a new uniform huh? I have a few in the back so I'll grab them and we can try a few on and find the right fit. And Lincoln, your uniform is in the other room, give me a minute to get it." He moved off the counter and walked to the back towards a side door.

"Uniform?" Stella whispered.

"Yup," Lincoln said as he leaned against the counter. He turned his head towards her, a smirk forming on his face. "We can't have you chasing souls looking like," he paused before moving his hands up and down towards her, "that."

"What's wrong with what I am wearing?" Stella looked down at her red jacket covering her white top. Admittedly her torn jeans were not the best thing in this weather. It was lucky her clothes matched at all considering her rush this morning.

"Nothing really," Lincoln replied smiling, "it's that you are about to go to work as a ranger, so we need to get you a uniform. Otherwise, someone might remember you in the morning." She tilted her head to the side at his statement. "Ranger's uniforms are made up of a special material that allows us to be forgotten by non-observers," Lincoln explained.

"Oh, so I need a uniform," Stella replied, starting to understand why they were here.

"Yup."

"But what do I do with the clothes I'm wearing now? Not sure if I can afford to come back here tonight. It's already 7:23."

Lincoln was about to answer until they heard Rodney return from the side room carrying multiple black clothes over one arm while holding on to a hanger a dry-cleaned white shirt and black jacket and pants. The jacket looked foreign to Stella as she remembered seeing similar jackets from Jordan's photos after her trip to Japan last year. It looked easier to move in compared to her current jacket which was strangling her body.

Rodney handed Lincoln the freshly cleaned clothes, "Alright, both of you get changed then we can work out the finer details." He began walking to one of the changing rooms with Lincoln and Stella following behind him. "So what are you guys after tonight?" Rodney asked Lincoln as they walked.

"A level three Chimera," Lincoln replied casually.

"Huh, kinda expected something bigger."

"Hey, I just took out a Levithrall last night," Lincoln defended.

"I heard," Rodney said as he began hanging multiple uniforms onto a shiny golden bar inside the changing rooms. "Rusty couldn't stop talking about it last night. He kept telling me that he needed more free time to train before you guys passed him. To be honest, I think he just wants to get out of work." He moved out of the changing room. "Alright Stella, find one that you feel fits the best then come out to that platform," he pointed to a nearby platform. "I'll look for modifications that need to be made, and fix it next time you bring it in."

He moved out of the way allowing Stella to walk in. She closed the door and looked at the back mirror whilst taking a deep breath. It was the first time she was alone since leaving with Lincoln. The room was silent and the light surrounding her reflection looked right at her. She ran her hand through her hair as she slowly moved towards the bar. Her feet felt extremely heavy for her to move as she slowly got towards it. She reached out to grab one of the clothes before freezing and retreating her hand holding it and closing her eyes. She stayed there for a while before slowly releasing her grip grabbing one of the many hangers and laying it on the bench.

She took off her jacket laying it on the bench and peeled her shirt over her head. The dark purple of her skin shocked her at first before remembered the pain she felt this morning. Slowly she traced the bruise over her stomach wincing as the pain raced up to her brain. She clutched her eyes as images of the monster kept flashing into her mind. What would happen if she stayed still for a little longer or fell down earlier? The creature would have definitely caught up to her. What if she kept running instead of looking back at Lincoln? Would she have to deal with seeing those creatures again?

A slight, sudden knock broke her thoughts. "Stella," Lincoln's voice rang out, "everything okay in there."

"Y-yeah, just trying to find the right fit." Stella hoped that she sounded convincing. She grabbed one of the outfits and tried it on only to find the pants were too wide. The next one she tried on felt better, but the jacket sleeves felt too tight compared to the loose feeling she expected. Luckily she found an almost perfect fit that she thought only needed one or two modifications.

She turned to the mirror to find a strange sight. There she was wearing a white shirt and wide black pants. The black jacket sleeves were wide and hung around her arms loosely freely flowing around as she situated the rest of herself. Stella slowly moved away from the mirror wanting to escape the look it gave her before turning to the door. Slowly she opened it and walked out to see Rodney sitting on the platform talking to Lincoln. He was also in the uniform with his shoulders relaxed as he leaned against one of the standing mirrors. Unlike his regular clothes, Lincoln filled out the uniform completely. It fit him well with no area being too loose or tight on his body, except he still wore those socks with that weird stitching. Surely if he asked, Mr. Spokes would fix it for him.

Suddenly a high-pitched whistle came out from Rodney as he noticed Stella exiting the changing room. "Alright, looks good from here. Let me get a closer look at it. What do you think Linc?" He got up from the platform and pulled out sewing tape from one of the jacket pockets.

Lincoln looked over as she walked to the platform. His eyes widened slightly before he turned his head away scratching his face with one finger. "It does look good."

Stella stepped on the platform to see the reflection from the changing room surrounding her as they watched her stand still. Rodney asked her to do something. She really wasn't sure what he said but the mirrors seemed to hear him since the reflections picked her arms straight out pointing towards her. She watched as they continued to point before both arms stretched out to her sides. They stayed like that just staring at her. The eyes were staring straight at her making Stella wish she could leave the platform.

A hand grabbed her shoulder shocking her out of the mirror's trance. "Alright," Rodney said giving her a smile, "when you bring the suit in, I can tighten up the pants legs and shorten up the sleeves." He moved away from her as Stella reached her hand towards her chest closing her eyes. Her breath was steading itself out.

"Are you okay?" She opened her eyes to see Lincoln standing beside her. His eyes were soft with a straight lip.

"Yeah," Stella answered while stepping down. "It's just a lot to take in I guess."

Lincoln remained quiet for a moment before giving her a small smile. "Hey, we're going to take things slow. I plan on doing my best to get you used to this world." He began walking to the counter with Stella following behind him. "After all, you've already met the most important person in this world."

"Really," Stella said rolling her eyes. "Never knew you to have an ego."

Lincoln gave a small chuckle. "I meant Rodney. A great ranger is only as good as his tailor. Mr. Spokes just happens to be the best one in the state."

"Flattery will not convince me to lower my price Lincoln." Mr. Spokes said as he stood behind a register.

"Dang it," Lincoln said cringing. He huffed as he pulled out his wallet. "How much is it?"

"The new uniform will cost and your dry cleaning comes to 234,000 and your dry cleaning is 3,150. All together 237,150 Hanju."

"Hanju?" Stella whispered to herself.

"That's the currency for observers," Lincoln stated as he pulled out multiple red papers with white writing. He handed them over to Mr. Spokes who looked down satisfied at the transaction.

"Thank you, Lincoln. Now make sure both of you are safe tonight."

"I'll try Mr. Spokes," Lincoln replied as he began to walk out the door with Stella following close behind. "I'll sure as hell try."

They were outside now with the moon glistening overhead and the street silent. It was a nice cool night that Stella would normally sleep through. "So what now?" Stella looked up at the moon that seemed to be watching them.

"Now, we begin the hunt."

Thank you all for reading.

I am open to comments, questions, and critiques. Everything you say is greatly appreciated since it helps me grow as a first time writer.

If you have some suggestions for future chapters, please post some ideas that will be taken into consideration. There is a loose plan for this with future plot lines, but the plan can change if I feel like it. Some of the chapters could be filler or could be adapted into the main story. I will try to give credit to people who change some parts of the story.

Again thank you for reading.