"I still can't believe Gin let you go with me!" Rukia shouted happily as they entered the Senkaimon. "What did you do to convince him?"
"Oh, we have a wager that I can both find him a delicious treat and finish three seats worth of paperwork in a day," Izuru waved a dismissive hand to the Hell Butterfly escorting them. It tried to land on his head. "If I win, Captain Ichimaru has to let me go to the World of the Living at least once a week, so long as paperwork and my other Lieutenant duties are not shirked."
Rukia beamed up at Izuru as they stepped into the World of the Living. They stood right outside a forested area. "This is where she usually meditates." She said as she turned towards the treeline. "There's a small waterfall just through there. It's really pretty there. Maybe you can get some inspiration for your poetry here, too."
"It will be weird if I don't write some, huh?" Izuru said, looking around with interest. "Following you."
She snickered softly and led the way. "It would be strange. Anyway it's this way!" She pointed through a gently worn path and with the natural grace of a noble, she led her tall friend through the trees.
It was a quiet walk, birds chirping overhead with a gentle breeze. She followed the sound of running water until they stepped through the treeline.
There Masaki stood with her bow ready.
"Hiya!" Rukia chirped. Waving. "It's been a while, Masaki-chan!"
"Rukia-nee?" Her bow lowered and she blinked.
"My you've gotten so big! We're probably around the same age now!" Said Rukia, being physically about 13 or 14 years old at this point. A chill ran down her spine, and she looked over her shoulder to see Izuru staring Masaki down, a thin brow raised high into the air.
"So are you a shoot first, ask questions later kind of teenager or is this a new version of 'hello'?" Izuru asked with a hand on his hip, opposite of his Zanpakuto. He walked out from behind Rukia, but never got closer to Masaki. He instead found a nice patch of wild flower, crouched, and started plucking off different petals. His back was completely facing her and, apparently, vulnerable.
Rukia rolled her eyes.
Masaki watched him with a bewildered expression. "What is with you? You shouldn't expose yourself like that! I could kill you!"
"You couldn't actually." Rukia smiled. "I wanted to introduce you to one of my best friends!"
"I told you, we can't be friends! We're enemies!" She faltered, her bow disappearing as she dropped her hands.
Rukia just smiled and went to crouch with Izuru, curiously watching him pluck the petals.
"These make great tea if you dry them and add clove, according to Kira," Izuru added that last bit in a hushed whisper. He took out a handkerchief and gently wrapped his bounty in the silk, tucking it into his sleeve.
Rukia hummed softly in response, nodding a bit. She could faintly remember reading something like that in one of her books a few years back.
He then stood up and faced Masaki with his head cocked to the side. "Look, who told you that you had to be enemies with Rukia?"
Rukia smiled wider as she looked up at Masaki who seemed to be irked, her brow twitching a bit. "What? I'm a quincy! We're natural-born enemies!" She snapped.
"Ohhhh… See, I just thought you were a weird kid with a bow. My mistake." Izuru smacked his forehead with the full force of his palm, but he kept on grinning. "So, technically speaking. My Captain has ordered me that if I ever found a Quincy, I'm supposed to kill them…"
Izuru paused and Rukia could almost hear the script being made by Kira.
"... Drag them by the chain to the nearest Hollow, force the Hollow to eat them… then kill the Hollow." Izuru leaned forward. "But if I don't know the human teenager who goes to have crepes with Rukia is a Quincy, then I can't hurt humans."
Masaki visibly paled and her fingers twitched. You could tell she wanted to pull her bow out.
"Izuru! Don't worry about him, Masaki," Her tone was scolding but there was the faintest smile on her face.
Masaki turned to Rukia. "Who is he?!" She shouted. "Why did you have to bring him here?"
"I'm bored and want to buy crepes?" Izuru answered with a shrug. "Kira Izuru, Lieutenant of Squad 3 and Rukia's best friend, besides Renji."
"Ah…" Masaki seemed puzzled and it made Rukia giggle. "What?"
Izuru sighed deeply through his nose. "Look kid, can I call you that? Well, whatever I'm doing it anyway. Look kid, Rukia cares a lot about you and therefore you are safe from me so long as my superiors don't find out about you." Izuru explained as calmly as possible.
"And if they find out?" Masaki said in a testing tone.
"Please refer to the part where I feed you to a Hollow," Izuru answered, then walked to the trees and hid out of view. A few seconds later, he stepped out wearing black pants, a white button-up, black vest, and leather shoes. "Rukia, you should put on your gigai so we can go into town."
Rukia smirked, "What's with the fancy clothes? Going on a date later? Hmmm?"
Izuru proceeded to roll up his sleeves to just below his elbows and slip on a pair of black leather gloves. "I live for the aesthetic."
He reached out and closed Rukia's mouth. The amused twinkle in her eyes could not be dimmed.
She simply nodded and pulled away before heading to slip into her gigai, coming out dressed in a simple white and purple floral dress and white flats. A cute headband holding her hair in place, a purple band with a white flower. The dress was white with purple flowers along the bottom, allowing for gentle contrast without being overpowering.
Izuru rolled his eyes. "The purple would have given you away if Hank hadn't."
"Hank?" Masaki repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What's a Hank?"
Rukia giggled. "Hank is a fish. And purple is a good color." She elbowed him. "I happen to like every shade of purple." They made their way out of the little wooded area and onto a more populated street. The only other people being a man further down the road with his young daughter.
"Where's the nearest sweets shop?" She asked Masaki who gave her a bewildered look.
"You hop topics fast. I'm still stuck on that Hank fish." She muttered. "It's quite a walk from here if you don't mind." She sighed, side eyeing the two.
Rukia smiled. "I've been told I have the attention span of a rabbit." She shrugged. "Rabbits are cute though so I don't mind." She laughed when Izuru made a funny noise in the back of his throat.
Masaki shook her head and snorted. "Let's go." The trio started walking. "You're strangely persistent." She commented.
"Well, I actually care about you." Rukia shrugged again, giving her a fond smile. "I want to be friends."
"Why?" Masaki asked, a genuine confused expression on her face. "You don't even know me."
Rukia exchanged amused looks with Izuru.
"That's a secret." She finally responded with a wink.
"There are not enough crepes in the world to bribe me into talking," Izuru replied, shoving one hand into his pants pocket.
Masaki blinked at them, unimpressed. "You both are strange."
"Yup!" Rukia chirped. "It wouldn't be fun if we were predictable!"
"All you need to know is that both of us are on your side no matter what…" Izuru looked in a random direction and glared. "I'm not going to dignify him with a response. He can kiss my ass."
Rukia looked up at him and smirked. "Uh-huh." She nodded. "Masaki is good. So he doesn't deserve a response."
"What are you even talking about?" Masaki frowned, brushing honey blond hair out of her face. "Why am I even bothering with this?"
"Because you're curious and a good person." Rukia nodded like that was the answer. "Come on. Just give us a chance. I'm sure we could be great friends."
"What do you think I'm doing?" Masaki grunted and looked at Izuru. "You've just been silent for the most part- besides your quips. What's your say in this?"
"Rukia does a lot of talking on her own. But I agree with her. I think this could be the start of a good friendship." Izuru shrugged nonchalantly.
"And what do you get out of this?" Masaki asked with a deep frown.
"One less string of fate binding me to the misery of my squad." Izuru hummed, eyes glazing over.
"He means he's lonely and wants friends," Rukia translates with a sad look in her eyes. She winced when Izuru elbowed her in the side, "Ow, what was that for?"
"Just because something is true doesn't mean you have to tell people," Izuru said with a tight frown. His gaze swept over the busy street as eyes started to turn in their direction.
"We've reached a busier part of the city." Rukia commented on the obvious.
"Yeah it's not far now." Masaki nodded, deciding to just ignore their strangeness. It only took Masaki a few meters of walking to realize why Izuru was frowning. "Are you Japanese?"
"Genetically speaking, yes," Izuru answered. There were people staring at them, specifically at Izuru who, at a second glance, looked like a member of the Yakuza if he got some arm tattoos. He stared at some locals who flinched away in fear. Then he said something that Masaki couldn't understand and the locals visibly relaxed.
"Oh, a foreigner," An older woman breathed out to a younger one, possibly her daughter.
"Yes, I am a… Um, high school student from America," Izuru spoke to the women in the most textbook Tokyo dialect possible. He lost his accent, causing his words to come out almost choppy. "Masaki-san is my… um."
"Japanese tutor!" Rukia supplied helpfully and jumped into the conversation. Her Japanese never shifted from its formalities. "Issac-san is my cousin by marriage, and Masaki-san has been teaching him how to speak Japanese."
"Oh, how wonderful, Masaki-chan. This will help you practice your English and get yourself a very good job at a company." The younger of the two women cooed. Then, she turned to Izuru and said one of the few bits of English Masaki could understand, "You speak Japanese very well."
Izuru bowed politely to the women, causing them to giggle and the trio quickly walked away.
Masaki glared up at the blond. "Really? Was that necessary?"
"It was either that or your family hearing from the local gossip that you're hanging out with the Yakuza or an older man," Izuru answered then smiled brightly when they reached the cafe. He took a step forward then stopped, his face going pale. "I don't have a mask."
While much of Rukia's past was starting to slip from her mind, it didn't take much to pull the most recent of memories. She slapped Izuru in the arm. "It's the 80s, you don't need a mask to enter a place."
Izuru blinked stupidly and chewed on his bottom lip. "Ah, I see. My mistake."
Rukia smiled sadly. "Yeah, it's safe here."
"I don't even want to know." Masaki shook her head. "We're here." She pointed to a building. Ichiban Sweets. The name made absolutely zero sense but it was a cute little shop so it was easily overlooked.
"It's owned by a foreigner and his wife." Masaki commented, leading the two into the small shop.
"Masaki-chan!" A brunette man with bright blue eyes smiled widely from behind the counter. "We haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?"
"I've been good, Michael-san." Masaki bowed politely. "I've been caught up in my studies. How have you and Minako-san been?"
"We're expecting our first baby." He flushed a bit with happiness as he beamed. "It's a boy. We're so excited to have a tiny pair of feet running around this place soon."
"These are my… New friends, Michael-san." Masaki blushed a bit and stepped aside, even though her frame could only really hide Rukia who was so small.
Rukia was a bit saddened at the name of the man, so her greeting wasn't as cheerful.
"Hello," Izuru said with a simple wave.
"New friends? Our Masaki is expanding her horizon!" A heavily pregnant Japanese woman with shining black hair and deep brown eyes stepped out from the back room. "Welcome to Ichiban Sweets. Feel free to pick something out, on the house!"
"Oh no no no," Izuru immediately protested with a slight social-anxiety pitch to his voice and waved his hands frantically. "That's very kind of you but this was my idea. I wanted to treat Masaki-san and Rukia."
The woman shook her head. "You can pay for everything else but I want you to choose something on us; for taking such good care of our dear Masaki-chan." She insisted.
Izuru turned to Rukia for support and to tell him what to do.
Rukia shrugged. "Are you sure? We could pick something expensive."
"I'm sure. We get plenty of business." She countered. "Now choose!" She smiled widely and waved to the menu. "It's a simple menu, but I hope you find something you like."
Izuru bowed his head and pointed at a rather simple treat for his pick. Rukia could hear him muttering "Gin can eat that" before he then ordered the most expensive crepe on the menu, slapping his money onto the tray to be very clear what he was paying for. All the while his face was a bright pink. "You two can order whatever you'd like."
Rukia picked out a mid-priced strawberry crepe, requesting extra cream and offered to pay for it.
Izuru placed more money on the tray, as if silently telling her to put her damn wallet away.
Rukia frowned. She was literally rich, basically a princess. "I'm treating next." She said matter of factly. "It's only fair."
"You're only paying if you can beat me to the money tray," Says the minor noble who outranks her by at least a dozen seats and has no reason to spend money.
Minako smiled as she went and prepared everyone's sweets.
"She knows my usual." Masaki mused, watching as Rukia glared up at Izuru.
"I will be treating next time." She murmured with a smirk.
"I'd sooner kiss a menos then let that happen," Izuru countered through his teeth. "I didn't get to treat you that day, so I'm gonna make up for it."
"You don't need to treat me." Rukia huffed and crossed her arms. "I have more than enough money to treat you and your entire squad twice over. So let me treat you!" She stomped her foot with a pout.
Izuru leaned forward so he was Rukia's height, "And I'm a Lieutenant and it's my job to make sure those under me are cared for and appreciated."
"Are you two… dating?" Masaki finally asked.
"No." Izuru and Rukia said "calmly."
~O9O~
Standing in the middle of the office supplies shop, Rukia watched as Izuru carefully scrutinized a paper clip.
"Why?" She asked softly, not one ounce of curiosity in her voice. Her expression was flat as she crossed her arms.
"Because, I need to figure out which paperclips can hold large stacks of paperwork… These ones are too small." He put the paper clip back into the box and placed it back on the shelf.
"It says it on the box, I don't understand why you had to pull one out." Rukia shook her head.
Izuru smirked. "Because, I know how to use paper clips past their intended use. Those ones are too small."
Rukia raised a brow before shaking her head. "Whatever you say." She murmured, picking up a pack of multicolored post it notes. "Didn't you want these?" The sticky notes were snatched from her hand before she even finished her question. "That answers that."
A packet of highlighters were also thrown into the basket Izuru was carrying. Followed quickly by a rainbow assortment of folders. Then color coded, carefully selected string.
"Color coding I get, but this feels a bit much for some paperwork." Masaki commented from behind them.
"You can never be too organized." Izuru offered a cool smile, picking up a pack of paperclips. "These ones look right."
Rukia smacked her forehead. "Oh my gosh." she murmured. "What's next? Stickers?"
Izuru turned slowly and smiled almost as slowly. "Why yes… Yes, stickers."
She groaned quietly. "Why did I ask?"
"In my defense, half of the soul society has the mentality and maturity of middle schoolers. Middle schoolers-" Izuru picked up a very large package of different stickers. "- love stickers."
She blinked slowly before nodding in agreement. "You're right."
"I know." Izuru smiled before schooling his expression to one of indifference as he moved towards checkout. His attempts to appear friendly in that body always came across as a grimace of discomfort.
The clerk eyed the mass amount of supplies with mild prejudice. These weren't exactly the most masculine of supplies, especially when the sticker set had sparkly Hello Kitties on them.
"Elementary Education teacher from America," Was all Izuru supplied in broken Japanese and the clerk brightened up immediately. He took his purchase with a stiff bow and left the store with Rukia and Masaki. "Nosy. Oh well."
He then hugged the bulging bag close to his chest. "Stationary, how I miss thee."
"Go write some poetry about it." Rukia teased, getting a blank, unamused glance in response.
Rukia just smiled.
"Well, I think this brings our little adventure to a close." Masaki clapped her hands. "I have to get home for dinner."
Rukia pouted. "Yeah, we ought to be getting back ourselves." She sighed, "We're reaching the end of our allotted time anyhow."
Izuru let his arm drop, gripping his bag tightly. "Alright, we'll head back then. I swear if anyone says I can't have these supplies…"
Masaki nodded and hesitated before opening her mouth. "I had fun."
Rukia grinned. "Yeah? We'll come visit again, don't worry."
Masaki nodded before bowing, offering a wave, and leaving.
Meanwhile, under the glowing light of dusk in the Soul Society-
Gin's plastered grin turned into a defeated frown. The little cake Izuru had brought him was fluffy and sweet, practically melting over his tongue. The insult of it all? It was persimmon flavored.
"I will have the paperwork written out for my next trip, Captain Ichimaru. Excuse me," Izuru bowed low and respectfully to his disgruntled captain and left, with an air of smugness about him. Maybe next time, his captain will learn not to make a bet.
~O9O~
"We need new mascots for the Soul Candies!" Yachiru declared to the Shinigami Women's Association. "We haven't made one in forever and it's time we design some! Who has ideas?"
"Oh!" Rangiku shot to her feet in excitement, "How about we make a sexy personality? For us… mature women."
"Design it, Gingersnap!" Yachiru gave a thumbs up. "Who else has any ideas?"
"Try these."
Yachiru blinked several times as multiple inkbrush drawings floated in front of her. She giggled and gathered each one, looking at the heads with a hum. "Wow! These are great! Who drew these?"
"Me? I just spoke," Izuru said, while hovering over Yachiru with a raised eyebrow.
"Izurun?!" Yachiru gasped.
"Aren't you a part of the Shinigami Men's Association?" Nanao inquired and adjusted her glasses. "What are you doing here?"
"Iba doesn't know how to run a club," Izuru said with a shrug and happily plopped into a seat next to Momo. "So, I want to join and those designs are part of my initiation. I even added potential personality traits."
"Hmmm…" Yachiru scanned each page, tossing a couple to the side, deeming them "uncute!" but squeed when she came across a cartoon red panda. "What's this say?"
"Allow me to read it, president," Nanao picked up the paper and cleared her throat. "Retsuko. Mild-mannered and timid, will go into a rage of righteous fury if gigai is in danger and attacks the foe with intense death metal karaoke music."
"Can we make the Soul Candies sing?!" Yachiru's eyes practically sparkled.
"I have a few that you tossed. A swan one that hums ballet music is a personal favorite of mine," Izuru said with a shrug. "I visited the World of the Living recently and saw that humans have a ton of mascot ideas. I also made a few that could appeal to guys since my squad has been wondering when more 'manly' Soul Candies would be released."
"Izuru… when did you…?" Momo started to ask but Yachiru jumped into the air and painfully landed on Izuru.
"Izurun! We must all go on a field trip to the Land of the Living! The sweets we could get!"
Rangiku smirked and glanced over a few of the designs. "If we make these and they become popular, we'll make a bunch of money. Consider yourself in, Izuru."
Izuru let out a groany chuckle and nodded. "Happy to help…"
This chapter was literally so much fun to write omg. Masaki before she met Isshin was difficult to write at first but she was pretty simple once you get her personality down.
Please let us know what you think~ Reviews, follows, and faves fuel the fires of inspiration after all!