Yasutora 'Chad' Sado stared down at the innocuous looking message on his phone, a look of pure terror on his face. Around him, his friends were relaxing and having their usual conversations/bickering matches with each other as they ate their lunches on the rooftop of their school, including the various Shinigami Soul Society had sent to deal with the Arrancar situation. School was the one place all of them could take a breather from the mess involving Aizen and the upcoming Winter War and relax, but right now, Chad was anything but relaxed. The words on his phone screen glared at him definitely, conveying the message he desperately wished wasn't true, but he knew it was.

My flight's landing in a few hours. I'll be arriving in Karakura around five o'clock. I'll see you at the airport.

XOXO, Valentina.

Chad cursed under his breath in Spanish. Of all the times for her to come and visit, why now? Ichigo, who was sitting beside him bickering with Rukia about something or another, noticed his usually calm friend's distress and gave him a serious look.

"Chad, what's wrong?", the orange haired young man asked. His question made Rukia's and everyone else's attention fall onto him as well. Most of the people there may not know Chad well, but they knew something had to be very wrong for such a stoic young man to look so upset. Chad sighed and continued to stare at his phone screen.

"It's my cousin. She's coming for a visit.", Chad said bluntly. Ichigo blinked at him in surprise. He didn't know that his friend had any living family left.

"I didn't know you had a cousin.", Ichigo stated. Orihime nodded along with his statement.

"Yeah, me neither. You've never even mentioned her before.", the girl tacked on. Chad stared up at the blue, cloudless sky as he started to reminisce about his older cousin.

"She's less of a cousin and more of an older sister to me. Her parents died shortly after she was born. House fire. Her father was my mother's brother, so my parents took her in. We grew up together, and when my parents died, my Abuelo took her in as well as me. She's been there for me my entire life, and we were always very close. Even when I was much less… noble than I am now.", Chad explained, frowning as he recalled his younger, more violent days. Ichigo's and everyone else's eyes widened at his words.

"She sounds really important to you. How come I've never met her?", the substitute Shinigami asked. Chad avoided his gaze and stared at his phone, or more accurately, the damning message on it that he wished would go away.

"That's because she still lives in Mexico. After our Abuelo died, I decided to move here using some of the money he and my parents left me to get back in touch with my Japanese heritage, but my cousin decided to stay in Mexico. A little bit after I left home, she moved to Mexico City to attend the National Center for the Arts as a dance student. Because of her obligations at school, she can't leave the city very often, so whenever I see her it's me going to visit her in Mexico. This is the first time she's flown out to visit me, and it's the last thing I wish she had done.", Chad responded, and everyone stared at him in bewilderment for his statement.

"But why? You said it yourself, she's like a sister to you! Isn't it wonderful that she cares enough about you to fly halfway across the world just to see you?", Orihime asked, deeply confused by her friend's reaction. Chad looked at her with a serious expression.

"Because of Aizen and the Arrancar. At the end of December, they're planning on attacking, and they've already sent people to engage us in combat. You saw what those two Arrancar did to me last week. They could have left me unconscious for days. I don't want my cousin to get caught up in that. She doesn't have powers like we do. She could get seriously hurt and never know what hurt her in the first place.", Chad stated ominously, staring at his still bandaged injuries that served as a vivid reminder of the state that emotionless Arrancar and his huge companion left him in. Uryu, who was sitting a short ways away from him, nodded and pushed up his glasses.

"I agree, it is a huge risk for her to visit right now. But if you're so concerned about her well-being, then why didn't you tell her not to visit in the first place?", Uryu asked, ever the perceptive one of their little group of superpowered humans… Well, not that that included him technically anymore, considering his Quincy powers were still non-existent after he used Letzt Stil against Mayuri in Soul Society, but no one was tactless enough to bring it up unless necessary. Chad sighed heavily as a deep frown appeared on his face.

"Because Valentina is stubborn as a mule. Once she gets something into her head, there's no stopping her from doing it. Trying to talk her out of doing something is like trying to talk Ichigo out of doing something. It never works.", Chad answered, and Ichigo bristled at the perceived indirect insult.

"Hey, who are you calling a mule?!", he asked defensively. Orihime laughed good-naturedly at their antics.

"If she's anything like Ichigo, then she must be a good person Chad!", the orange haired girl said cheerfully. Chad, for the first time since receiving that message from his cousin, smiled.

"She is. She's actually a lot like Ichigo, now that I think about it; abrasive, determined, hard-headed and loyal to a fault. Maybe that's why you and I became such good friends, Ichigo. You must subconsciously remind me of my cousin.", Chad mused, and Ichigo bristled again at the 'hard-headed' comment.

"Oh, so now I'm hard-headed too?! Is today 'dunk on Ichigo day' for you, Chad?!", Ichigo asked, and for the first time since the conversation shifted to the topic of Chad's cousin, one of the people from Soul Society spoke up.

"You know Chad, if you're so worried about your cousin getting hurt by a Hollow, why don't you let one of us watch over her? Just until your injuries have healed and you're well enough to defend her. Surely it wouldn't be too hard for us to do on top of our usual duties.", Rangiku proposed. Chad looked at her gratefully.

"You would really do that?", he asked. Rangiku laughed and waved him off.

"Of course! We're friends after all, right? Of course, I can't do it. Captain Hitsugaya and I are two busy keeping everyone else in line to watch over her.", Rangiku said. Toshiro scoffed as he took a bite of his riceball and swallowed it.

"You mean I'm too busy keeping everyone in line. All you do is slack off.", the young Shinigami captain complained. Rangiku pointedly ignored her captain's comment and continued speaking.

"Ikkaku and Renji can't do it either, since they're in gigais and seeing their ugly mugs would likely spook your poor cousin more than any Hollow.", Rangiku jabbed casually, and both Ikkaku and Renji snapped their heads towards her to glare at her in anger.

"HEY, WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' UGLY?!", both men screamed in unison, but once more, Rangiku ignored the words of those around her and continued speaking. Rangiku then turned her attention to Ichigo.

"And I already know Ichigo can't do it, because he and Rukia are too busy doing whatever it is young couples do.", Rangiku stated slyly, and both Rukia and Ichigo glared at her with red faces.

"WE AREN'T A COUPLE! WHY ONE EARTH WOULD YOU THINK THAT?!", Rukia protested loudly.

"YEAH RANGIKU, WHAT THE HELL?!", Ichigo asked at an equally loud volume. Rangiku blinked at them.

"Well I just thought, since you were so insistent on staying at his house when we got here… ", Rangiku trailed off. Ichigo and Rukia continued sputtering, but Rangiku ignored them and continued her observations.

"That just leaves… ", Rangiku started to say, and her gaze slowly drifted to the only Shinigami she had yet to bring up; Yumichika. Everyone else started to stare at him too. Yumichika, who was paying more attention to the clouds drifting in the sky than the current conversation which he perceived as dull, quickly realized he was being stared at, processed why he was being stared at, and glared at his onlookers.

"No. Absolutely not.", he refused. Rangiku gave him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Oh come on Yumichika, please? The protection of innocent souls is always our top priority, right?", Rangiku begged. Yumichika remained unmoved and glared at her.

"Yes, innocent souls. Not soul. I came here to defend against potential Arrancar attacks, not play babysitter to a human.", Yumichika argued, but Rangiku continued pleading.

"Please please please Yumichika! It won't be for long! Chad's cousin is only visiting for a little while, right Chad?", Rangiku begged with folded, praying hands. Chad nodded in response to the woman's question.

"It's true. Valentina is a University Student, so she won't be able to stay long. She'll probably only be here a week or two before going back to Mexico.", Chad confirmed, and Yumichika, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument, relented with a heavy sigh.

"Fine Rangiku, I'll humor you. I'll watch over the girl, but I won't do it in my gigai. I don't want her asking questions about why I'm following her around if she sees me. And she better not be ugly, or else all bets are off.", Yumichika begrudgingly agreed, and Rangiku cheered in triumph. Chad gave a small smirk when Yumichika expressed his displeasure at his cousin possibly being ugly.

"Valentina is far from ugly, Yumichika-san. She was known for her beauty back in our hometown… among other things.", Chad muttered cryptically. Yumichika raised his eyebrow at the odd remark, before brushing his curiosity about it aside and continuing the conversation.

"Good to know. Now where is the girl? I can't watch her if I don't know where she is.", Yumichika asked.

"Valentina will be arriving around five o'clock. I'll need to go to the airport to pick her up when she gets here. You can come with me.", Chad explained, and Yumichika nodded. Then Rukia got an idea.

"Why don't we all come with you, Chad? If we're going to be putting this girl under our protection, we should all know what she looks like.", Rukia suggested, and Rangiku nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! I wanna meet this mysterious cousin of yours. I wonder if she's anything like you.", Rangiku mused, and Chad smirked.

"Trust me, Valentina is nothing like me.", the tall boy said, and Ichigo raised an eyebrow at his odd reaction.

"What's that supposed to mean?", he asked. Chad gave him a purposeful look.

"You'll see when you meet her.", the tanned boy said ominously, and Ichigo resisted the urge to gulp.

"Okay then… ", was all the substitute Shinigami said in response, his expression apprehensive.

'Well that didn't sound foreboding at all. Now I'm really curious about this girl. Chad talks about her like I talk about Yuzu or Karin, but that smirk of his is off-putting. There's something he's not telling me about his cousin..', Ichigo thought as he stared at Chad. Meanwhile, Yumichika was having similar thoughts.

'Such odd behavior from someone who's usually so expressionless. For someone to cause this kind of reaction in him, they must be someone interesting. It's a bit unsettling sure, but at least this means I won't be bored while I'm stuck on babysitting duty for the next two weeks.', Yumichika thought. And for a brief moment, his and Ichigo's thoughts converged perfectly as they asked themselves the same curious question.

'Just who is this Valentina girl?'

—-

Minutes before five o'clock, Chad and his friends stood in the terminal of Karakura International Airport as they waited to meet the aforementioned boy's mysterious cousin. Chad stood stiffly, a thin layer of sweat on his face as he searched the crowd of unboarding pedestrians for his cousin's face. The Shinigami of the group were marveling at the airplanes taking off and landing over by one of the airport's glass walls, with the only exceptions being Yumichika, who was standing idly by Chad in his spirit form, waiting for his charge to arrive. Ichigo, Orihime and Uryu were also with them. Orihime searched the crowd for anyone who looked remotely like Chad, but found no one. After a few moments of continuing this fruitless endeavor, Orihime awkwardly smiled at the still very tense Chad.

"So uh, what does your cousin look like, Chad? Does she look like you? Is she tall? Does she have your hair, or your eyes?", Orihime asked, trying to make conversation with her obviously worried friend to soothe him. Chad tensed up even more.

"You'll know her when you see her.", the muscular boy responded, and Orihime had no response to give to that. She and the others just stood there, continuing to wait for the girl they had never seen before. After a few more boring moments of waiting, Ichigo started to get impatient.

"Where the hell is she? We don't got all day to wait around for her, you know.", the orange haired boy grumbled. Uryu sighed in annoyance at the other boy's gruff behavior and pushed his glasses up.

"Honestly Kurosaki, have you no patience? Chad said that her plane just landed a few minutes ago, so give her enough time to at least get off the thing before you- ", Uryu started to berate Ichigo, a typical argument starting to form between them. But the Quincy's words were interrupted when Chad told them what they had been waiting to hear for the better part of half an hour.

"She's here.", Chad announced as he stared off into the crowd. Suddenly, everyone was looking where he was looking.

Walking towards the group was a young woman who dragged a black rolling suitcase behind her. She was a very tall woman at six feet even, with long dark brown hair layered down her back, brown skin and eyes obscured by a pair of black designer shades. On her feet were a pair of shiny black heels, and her only visible article of clothing was a long back trench coat that enveloped her form. She seemed so mysterious, and everyone that had come with Chad to the airport couldn't help but stare at her as she walked.

'That's Chad's cousin? She looks so… ', Ichigo started to think, trailing off his thought when he couldn't find a word to describe the woman walking towards him. In the end, it was Uryu that managed to find the correct adjective.

'Enigmatic.', Uryu thought, because that was the only word that came to mind when he saw this woman. She looked so mysterious, similar to how Chad could with his stoic demeanor, but the woman's aura was different from his friend's aura. It was much more… inexplicably alluring to him. Uryu scowled when he thought this. No, that could not possibly be the correct word to describe what he was feeling. Yumichika meanwhile, was sizing up the girl he was going to be watching for the next few weeks.

'So that's my mission for the next two weeks, huh? She doesn't seem like much. I'll admit though, she does have good taste in clothing, and she's far from ugly.', the eleventh division's fifth seat thought as he examined his new charge. She was aesthetically pleasing, so his chore wouldn't be utterly excruciating, but that didn't mean it would be fun, either. After all, what fun could be had with a powerless human?

As Yumichika bemoaned his fate of watching over a boring human, said boring human finally caught sight of her cousin and grinned widely.

"EEEEE! Yasutora!", the woman squealed excitedly as she picked up her pace, her heels clicking loudly as she ran in them. Rangiku suddenly felt a new respect for this woman. She had worn heels from the human world once, and they were impossible to walk in, let alone run in. anyone that could do that had to have better balance than she did. Chad smiled warmly at his cousin as she ran closer. Despite the inopportune timing, he was happy to see her again after nearly a year of being apart.

"Hello, Valentina. It's been a-OOF!", Chad started to say, only to be interrupted when he had the wind knocked out of him at the hands of Valentina's surprise bearhug. Everyone winced when they saw this.

'Rest in peace Chad, we'll remember you fondly.', Ichigo thought. Valentina quickly started babbling.

"Oh Yasutora, mi primo, it's been ages! How have you been? Have you been taking care of yourself? Have you been eating right? You've gotten so big! Soon you'll be almost as tall as Papa was! ", Valentina gushed as she took off her shades and raked her eyes over every aspect of Chad's form. When she took off her sunglasses, everyone finally got a good look at her warm amber eyes. Ichigo and the others noticed that her voice was warm and smooth, like melted chocolate, and that her Japanese had a light Spanish accent to it. As rambled, Chad managed to get his bearings again and was back to smiling at her.

"I'm so glad to see you, Valentina.", Chad said, and he meant it. Valentina laughed and swatted him playfully on the chest.

"Of course you are, I'm me! Now introduce me to your little gaggle of friends that you brought with you! Though, 'little' is a bit of a stretch. There are so many of them. My little primo is so popular!", Valentina said with a giggle, and everyone found themselves smiling if they weren't already as pleasant feelings bubbled in their hearts. The absolute joy the woman felt at being reunited with her cousin was infectious. Chad laughed at her indulgently.

"Of course. Everyone, this is Valentina de la Rosa, my older cousin. Valentina, that's Ichigo, the friend I told you I made in junior high. That's Orihime and Rukia, and over there is- ", Chad started to say, but he was interrupted when Valentina locked her eyes onto the next person he was about to introduce, Uryu, and began to sashay over to him seductively.

"A tasty looking morsel~. Tell me, mi amore, are you unattached?", Valentina purred. Uryu's stiffened and he turned a bright red.

"I-I-What?", he asked, not understanding what she was asking him or even what her intentions were. Chad scowled at his cousin.

"Stop trying to get your hooks in my friends, Valentina.", Chad asked tiredly. Not even in Karakura five minutes and she was already causing him headaches. Classic Valentina. Valentina pouted at him.

"Oh come on Yasutora, you know I was just teasing!", Valentina said with a laugh, but Chad remained stern.

"Sure you were.", he said sarcastically. Valentina rolled her eyes at him.

"You're no fun. And for your information, I really was. You know I wouldn't date someone who's underage. I've got standards, you know. No offense to you carino, I'm sure you're a wonderful young man.", Valentina said, shooting a warm look at Uryu. Uryu blushed again, but sulked internally.

'But I just turned eighteen last month… ', he mentally complained, before snapping himself out of his sudden depression. Why did he even care what Valentina assumed about his age? It wasn't like he was interested… right?

"Too much information, Valentina.", her cousin told her monotonely. Valentina glared at him and unceremoniously flipped him the bird.

"Tu molesto-culo hijo de puta mojigato de un primo (you annoying-ass motherfucking prude of a cousin).", Valentina complained in Spanish so only Chad would understand what she was saying. Chad narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing in response. Orihime frowned at the girl's behavior. She didn't know what she had said, but she could tell from her tone it was nothing good… also that had gesture was very rude.

"That's no way to treat your cousin, especially after you haven't seen him in so long.", Orihime said, and Valentina gave her a dry look.

"This is just how we act around each other, chica. I wouldn't call Yasutora anything he couldn't handle, or insult me back for. You should have heard some of the things he called me when he was preteen. That boy knew how to come up with a comeback.", Valentina explained as she smirked at her cousin and elbowed him playfully. Chad gave her a pointed look.

"That boy was also reckless and cruel with his fists and his words. I have grown past that boy, Valentina.", Chad reminded the woman sternly. Valentina waved him off.

"Right right, of course you have. You're a, what's the word? Ah, a pacifist now! Abuelo, God rest his soul, was so proud when you became one of those! Though I don't think I could ever become one myself. Fighting's a part of me, one I can't discard. I mean, with how many fights you and I used to get into on the regular back when we lived in San Angel- ", Valentina started to say, reminiscing about her and her cousin's rambunctious childhood, but Chad interrupted her with a very serious look. If there was one thing he hated talking about, it was his past and his mistakes

"Valentina, don't. Not here.", Chad said, and Valentina's smile dropped and she went silent. The atmosphere became tense for a few moments. Even Hitsugaya started to sweat a bit from the tension. Then Valentina sighed and relented to her cousin's request.

"Alright fine, we can reminisce later. Now finish introducing me to your friends, and you.", Valentina agreed, before turning her gaze to Uryu again, her smirk returning. Uryu nearly jumped out of his skin. He wasn't used to getting this kind of attention from people.

"Don't think I forgot about you, carino. We'll get to know each other soon enough… platonically, of course.", Valentina insisted with a chuckle, and Uryu gulped. He didn't know whether he wanted that to happen or not. Chad rolled his eyes at his cousin's antics, but said nothing about them as he did as she asked and continued with introductions.

"Right. The woman with the blonde hair is Rangiku, the man with no hair Ikkaku, the redhead is Renji and the little boy is Toshiro.", Chad finished introducing, and Hitsugaya glared at him for referring to him so informally.

"It's Hitsugaya! And I'm not a little boy!", Hitsugaya protested. Rangiku chuckled and Chad smiled at his antics. Valentina's attention however, was elsewhere.

"What about him?", Valentina asked as she pointed at Yumichika. Everyone's eyes (including Yumichika's) widened in shock.

"You can see me?", Yumichika asked, thoroughly taken aback. Chad had told him the girl had no spiritual pressure and therefore wouldn't be able to see him, so had he been lying, or had his cousin's spiritual pressure risen since the last time he saw the girl?

'It's likely the latter. Chad isn't the type to lie to his friends, and given how his own spiritual pressure was able to grow, I wouldn't put it past someone of his blood to be able to do the same.', Yumichika thought. Valentina gave him an odd look for his question.

"Of course I can see you. And I must say, I like what I see.", Valentina responded with a flirtatious smirk. Yumichika was surprised by this, but smirked back at her nonetheless.

"As do I. I love those heels, by the way.", Yumichika said, pointing to the shiny black heels Valentina wore that he was sure were by some Italian human designer. Valentina chuckled.

"Thank you. I love those feathers on your eyes. They add a much needed 'pop' to your outfit, which is certainly… uniquely retro.", Valentina trailed off as she took in Yumichika's shihakusho. Yumichika, knowing his attire was very unusual for a human to wear in the current time period, was quick to put down any rising suspicion his outfit caused.

"It's a work-mandated uniform. If it wasn't required, I assure you I would be wearing something a bit more to my tastes.", Yumichika said smoothly, and he wasn't lying. Not entirely, at least. Valentina nodded.

"You must have a very old-fashion job then, because those robes are so two centuries ago. But enough about that. Yasutora, let's get out of this dreary airport! And on the way to your place, let's swing by the liquor store so I can pick up some tequila and food! Oh, and bring your friends! I want to get to know the people you hang out with all the time better! Vamos, primo!", Valentina ordered cheerfully as she grabbed her suitcase and started walking towards the exit. Chad sighed, but followed after her, and everyone else followed his example.

As they left though, Hitsugaya started scowling. Rangiku looked at him in concern.

"Captain, what's wrong?", she whispered. Hitsugaya furrowed his already furrowed brow even further.

"Chad's cousin, there's something off about her spiritual pressure. It's barely noticable, but if you concentrate, you can feel it. It doesn't feel like that of a human, it feels… I can't put my finger on it, but it feels off.", Histugaya revealed. Rangiku looked at him curiously.

"Do you think that's cause for concern?", she asked. Histugaya shook his head.

"No. It's probably nothing. Don't mention this to the others. I don't want them getting riled up over nothing.", Hitsugaya ordered. Rangiku's usually playful demeanor disappeared as she nodded in response to the boy's orders.

"Yes, Captain.", she agreed, and the two continued to leave the airport with the others in silence.

I don't know how this happened. One minute I'm re-watching Bleach, the next minute my brain is yelling at me to write a fanfic with a Latina main character that takes no one's shit and has cool Book of Life powers, and here we are. I don't know if this fic will get more chapters, or what I'm even supposed to be doing with it. All I know is that I slaved over this chapter for a week, and people are going to read it goddamn it! Full disclaimer, I don't own Bleach or the Book of Life, and I don't know everything about Mexican culture, so I might get some things wrong. If I do, please gently correct me in the comments or something and I'll try to change it. I hope you all enjoy this hot mess I wrote!

So Long and Goodnight, Thackery Binx.