Conrad hadn't really been sure what to expect once he and his friends reached the school, but all of the people milling about, laughing, walking hand in hand with young children, playing games etc. certainly hadn't been at the top of his list of things to expect.
Everything he looked at sort of reminded him of some of the markets in various towns and cities back home. If it wasn't for the fact that humans in his world didn't possess things like balloons, and other things- then he might have actually thought that he was back home among his people.
Beside him, both Yozak and Gunter were looking around in excitement.
"There's so many people!" Yozak said as his head whipped around this way and that, just like a child's would.
"So many things to see!" Gunter said as he clasped his hands together and took a moment to give thanks to the Great One for allowing them to see such wonders.
"That thing over there is glowing! Are we about to come under attack?!"
Conrad gave the two a look of fond exasperation and then started to walk away. He knew that it was a bit irresponsible of him to leave them to their own vices for now, but he was a man on a mission.
He wasn't sure how to explain it, but he could feel that his Queen was nearby. Somewhere among the throng.
He would find her today.
No matter what it takes. He silently swore to himself as he got further and further away from his two friends. He wandered around for a while, ignoring any explosions or screams of abject terror in the distance and finally after about an hour or so, he found her.
She was hanging out around what appeared to be a booth. For games? Or maybe it was food instead. Though he couldn't really make out the words over the booth, he still started walking towards it and then noticed the long line of people standing there.
Everyone in the line was all males. Which was strange. At least until he was finally able to read the words above the booth and then he felt his heart drop to the bottom of his feet as he stared at the words in absolute horror.
It wasn't a game booth or a food booth as he had initially believed.
Instead, it was the kissing booth mentioned on the paper that he'd read earlier. And he was utterly horrified by the fact that his Queen was allowing strange men to kiss her for money! Just like one of the girls from the brothels back home no less.
Oh, his poor Queen!
How did she manage to get herself into such trouble?! He wondered woefully as he slowly and cautiously made his way over to the line and took up a place at the end of it. Silently vowing to himself that he would save her from this horror and preserve her innocence no matter what he had to do.
Thankfully the line moved quickly due to the fact that there was more than one girl manning the booth. So, by the time he reached the booth and managed to see which young ladies were there, he was a bit more optimistic that his Queen was simply supervising the others instead of selling kisses.
But that left him in a bit of a tight spot since he had gotten in line intending to save his Queen. And now he wasn't sure if walking off so that he didn't get any kisses from any of the young ladies would help anything aside from sowing discord or possibly being seen as an insult.
Inwardly sighing at his lack of knowledge and planning, he took several seconds to look at the large piece of wood attached to the side of the booth that told what kind of kisses each person could buy as well as how much they cost. Which wasn't too terrible since it helped him figure something out.
However, his next problem happened to be the fact that he only carried large bills in his wallet.
Being that he wasn't originally from Earth, he wasn't really sure how much money humans generally carried on them. So, he made a habit of carrying at least twenty thousand dollars on him at all times. Just in case he needed something or wants something specific and otherwise wouldn't be able to get it cheap.
He wasn't usually a man of expensive tastes. But from time to time, he did tend to splurge a little bit. Mostly on gifts for his family, or friends. But that was about it.
So, once he knew what he wanted, he pulled his wallet out and pulled out at least half of the twenty thousand in it and laid it on the counter of the booth and asked the dark-haired girl there if he could ask for a specific girl.
It took the young lady a moment or so to process his question since she seemed totally smitten with the money he had laid down, but she finally snapped to attention and smiled at him. "Of course you can! If the girls at the booth right now aren't doing it for ya, then you can request a specific girl. If you have one in mind, that is."
Conrad wasted no time in pointing to his Queen who had been hanging back and watching their exchange with keen interest. However, despite her attention on him, she seemed totally surprised when he pointed at her.
But then even the dark-haired young lady seemed a bit surprised as well.
"Ichigo?" She asked him in confusion. "You want to kiss her? Seriously?"
Conrad couldn't help but feel a bit incensed by her confusion, though he didn't dare to show it. The little chit was acting as if his Queen wasn't a desirable young lady. And she was. Very much so.
Ichigo, oddly didn't react to the young lady's insult to her any. Meaning that she was much more forgiving than he felt at the moment, since if he had his sword on him, he would have gutted the chit for her insult to his lady.
His Queen must have felt something wrong with his mood because she quickly moved forward and placed a hand gently on the dark-haired young lady's shoulder and said softly, "I'll take care of this, Tatsuki. Go see to the rest of the customers." And then watched the other girl scamper off before finally turning her attention back to him with a slightly strained smile.
"Hello, I'm Ichigo. May I ask your name?"
The moment that she looked at him and gave him that strained smile, he automatically calmed himself since he didn't want her to be uncomfortable around him. "My name is Conrart Weller. But my friends call me Conrad. You may do the same if you wish, my lady." He said politely with a slight bow.
She hummed thoughtfully and then grabbed something and then carried it from behind the booth and set it down. It was a chair stool. One without a back. And once it was in place she motioned for him to come over and sit in it.
Never one to argue with those that ranked above him, Conrad did as she bid him to and seated himself on it and then glanced at her expectantly.
"Alright, Mr. Weller. Let's get started on making your knees weak." She said with a playful wink that had him raising his brows at her as he patiently waited to see if she would really kiss him or not.
To be honest, he didn't mind either way.
Though he was curious to know what she knew about something like kissing. He figured if she really could make his knees weak with a mere kiss then he would have to guard her even more closely than he was already planning to.
She moved in so that their faces were close enough for him to feel her breath on his skin. He could smell mint on her breath, meaning that she had brushed her teeth recently. Maybe after eating something from one of the food booths? He could also see minute details about her features that he hadn't been aware of before.
Her sun kissed tan skin had freckles. They were tiny and barely noticeable unless one was very close to her. But she had a light dusting of them along her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She also had a small scar not unlike his facial own, over one of her eyes. However, unlike his, hers was a pale white line across her skin that ran the length of her left eyebrow and was even partially hidden by the fine strawberry blond hairs.
Her lips were a rose pink colored...
And her eyes, gods, her eyes! The honey color shone with sharp intelligence, ruthlessness, and cunning. He could have sat there forever and just looked in them and died happy.
The second that she put her lips against his own, he felt a strange jolt shoot through his entire body. Almost as if he had been struck by lightning.
He shuddered and fisted his hands tightly in his lap, barely able to resist the urge to reach up and grab her. But no- he wanted her to have this.
To just once have total control over him. He wondered if she knew that. But given the way that she pulled back ever so slightly without removing her mouth from his own and flashed him a strange look before slanting her mouth over his own, he supposed that she did know.
She took total advantage of him too.
Not that he minded that fact any. In fact, he rather liked it.
His heart pounded, his palms were sweating, and his stomach had a strange fluttering sensation in it that he'd not had in years. He felt breathless and dizzy as well.
And when the kiss finally ended...he nearly leaned back so far on the stool that he almost fell. Thankfully his Queen managed to grab him and helped him stay in the chair while he used every trick he knew to try and calm himself down again. Hiding his face in one of his hands from embarrassment, he slowly steadied his breathing while she hovered close by. Obviously concerned that he might start to fall again.
Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "My goodness, that was..." She cocked her head at him and waited. "Something." He said, unable to think of any other way describe this experience. "You're quite skilled young lady." He inevitably tacked on as he straightened himself back up so that he was sitting straight again.
She didn't reply to the compliment. She only gave him another smile, though his one was considerably lighter than the strained smiles that he'd gotten before. "I aim to please," She said half-jokingly before her smile vanished and she asked him in concern, "Are you okay now?"
"Oh, yes. Sorry about that." He said awkwardly with a small chuckle.
His Queen waved his apology off as she said. "Don't worry about it. It happens from time to time."
Curious, Conrad couldn't help himself from asking, "If I may ask," He started politely. "Why are you selling kisses? Aren't something like that...treasured and intimate?"
"Usually," She said as she held a hand out to him. He smiled and took her hand without hesitation and allowed her to gently tug him from the stool so that he was standing again. "But I'm graduating in a week. And as one of the few people who are eighteen years of age... doing this just seemed to make sense, ya know. Plus, the money goes to a really good cause. Or at least I think so anyway."
"Oh?"
"Many of the buildings at this school have suffered a lot of damage over the past few years. And because of that, some stuff have fallen into disrepair and become a danger to the teachers and students. So, a lot of the money is going to repairs on those buildings to make them safer for everyone to use. But some of it is also going to new books, computers, and other things needed for the students to learn properly in a safe environment."
"I see," Conrad murmured thoughtfully as he stared at her for several seconds before saying kindly, "What a wonderful concept." While inwardly he was relieved. So that was why his Queen was selling kisses to strangers. She was trying to help raise money to help her school though she was leaving it soon.
It made sense, in a bizarre way.
His Queen had grown up kind and caring. She wanted to help others even if it meant doing something that may make her uncomfortable or subject to the ridicule of others.
How utterly fascinating. He thought as he waited for her to say something more.
Ichigo would admit that she was aware of the fact that her foreign neighbors were watching her. She would even admit that while it worried her, she had gone to some trouble to avoid the three men for that reason.
So, upon seeing one of her neighbors approach the kissing booth had stressed her out a bit. Especially since she wasn't sure if the guy intended to cause a scene or not. She had watched him from the moment that he had walked over to join the line and had learned a few things about him already.
First and foremost, in her mind was the fact that he was a soldier.
But not just any soldier. A special one. She wasn't really sure how to explain how she knew that, she simply did. He carried himself like she did. As if he had trained extensively in various forms of combat. As if he'd been thrown to the wolves and told to fend for himself or die much too young and now it was simply such a part of him that it bled out into everyday interactions.
But even more than that- she knew that he wasn't entirely human.
Humans had a strange feel to their energies. The ones like her friends, Orihime, and Chad felt like lightening in a bottle to her. While others were like flashlights. They brightened a little bit whenever they were happy or felt overwhelming joy, but when they were sad, in pain, or dying- their lights dimmed until they were gone.
Uryu, as expected of someone who was a Quincy, felt to her like something sharp enough to cut or tear right through you.
Soul Reapers felt like summer and winter were at war with one another within them. Which wasn't really as fun or interesting as it sounded. If anything, it was exhausting to keep track of.
Vizards felt like...well, feral animals. Which wasn't too far off base considering how many of them acted.
Espada felt like semi-dead voids ready to swallow everything they came across. Which was apt for beings that used to be mindless Hollows at one point.
But this guy- Conrart Weller, she was having difficulty pinning down what he was because he didn't feel like any of those things to her. Sure, there was an underlying feel of something dark and malicious entangled with that lightning in a bottle feeling. But that darkness and malice wasn't very strong.
Almost as if he were somehow suppressing it.
Don't get her wrong, she thought it was impressive of him to suppress something so dangerous however that didn't mean that he was any less of a threat.
She took a moment or so to weigh the pros and cons of demanding answers, especially since she knew that he and his friends had been watching her since they moved into the home across the street from her own. And after several moments decided to take the initiative and do just that.
Turning to face him, she took in his profile and paused for a second. Had he been waiting on her to say something else? It had been a couple of minutes since she last spoke and usually if someone had ill intentions towards her, they typically didn't wait for her to speak.
How bizarre. She thought as she took hold of one of his wrists and said, "Come with me for a second. I think we should talk."
His eyes lit up in an odd way, yet she still didn't sense any hostility from him as she called out to Tatsuki and then led him away so that they could speak. Somewhere where it was quieter, and far, far away from the crowds.
She took him around the back of the main school building, mostly because it was the only one still intact that could be used as cover. Just in case her talk with Weller went badly.
And once they were there, she released her grip on him and then turned to face him as he asked, "What was it that you wished to speak to me about?"
"I know that you've been watching me." She blurted out. "I also know that you and your two friends aren't exactly human either. Not entirely anyway." Conrad's eyes widened in surprise as the words left his Queen's lips. But he masked his expression quickly as she went on to say, "I need to know why your here. Why you're watching me. Did you come for a specific reason? Like to ask for help or something. Or are you...new enemies?"
He stood there for a moment, just letting her bombard him with questions and letting his mind wander a bit as he thought, I see. Since she always knew when she was being watched by us before... It made sense that she would know it now too. Conrad wasn't really sure how she knew about being watched by them since they had been much more careful about that since moving into the house across from her own. Or even how she knew the fact that he wasn't really human either. But his Queen had asked him some questions and he would answer them to the best of his ability.
Looking at her now, he could tell that she was tense, and worried about what he was going to say yet even so, she still faced him so bravely.
The fierce expression on her face was that of a warrior like himself. And it simply took his breath away.
"Well?" She demanded a bit impatiently. "Are you going to answer me?"
Conrad had to smother a chuckle behind one of his hands and then cleared his throat before replying. "Of course, Ichigo. As I told you before my name is Conrart Weller." He said with a bow. "I am a soldier in the imperial army of the Demon Kingdom." She blinked at him, obviously confused as he continued. "And I and my friends are on a mission at the moment to protect our new Queen until we can take her home."
He smiled at her once he was finished speaking and waited to see what would happen next.
"Huh?" Ichigo said unintelligible her mind already conjuring up visions of another royal pain in the ass, like Rurichiyo walking the streets of Karakura, unchecked again. She paled and then made a strained sound in the back of her throat as a shiver worked its way down her spine.
Then she grabbed him by the shoulders and started asking even more questions.
"Is she okay? You didn't lose your Queen, did you? She didn't run away. She isn't in any trouble. Oh god, is she in trouble? Are you in some sort of trouble? Do you need help-" Conrad kept his smile firmly in place as he stared at her with wide startled eyes and thought, My goodness, she worries a lot.
He hadn't been expecting that she would worry so much over something like a lost royal in her town. I wonder if that happens often? Though he honestly, he couldn't see any noble or royal, regardless of what world they were from wandering around such a small and boring place like Karakura Town.
Not when there were bigger towns and cities to lose themselves in.
"So, your Queen is, okay? She isn't lost or anything?" She asked him in a concerned manner. He merely shook his head no and watched some of the tension and stress bleed out of her almost automatically and her body visibly sagged a bit in relief while she brought a delicate hand up to her chest and began to move it in rhythm with her heartbeat.
Conrad tilted his head at the action, a bit puzzled since he didn't understand why she would do that. He couldn't fathom the act being very calming. But perhaps it was to her.
"Okay so, now that we've gotten that out of the way... Why are you watching me- Is there a specific reason?" She asked him, her face suddenly lacking all emotion as she looked at him again.
Conrad mourned the fact that she had closed herself off again but felt that he shouldn't lie when replying to her question. Not about this anyway. "As a matter of fact, there is. You, Ichigo Kurosaki, are our Queen."
