Chapter sixteen: Parakeet.

Chapter sixteen.

"Ah… Agh…" Orihime fell over her bed, panting as her chest fell up and down in sync with her breathing. "I need… bread…"

Haru, sitting on a chair near the girl's bed, stared at her, watching as she tried crawling closer to the desk to pick up some bread.

"No, no. You lost." Haru told the girl, pushing the bread further into a corner, away from her grasp.

"Ngh… But..."

"No." He repeated, reaching for a piece of bread from the bag. "No bread for losers."

"..." As Haru was about to take a bite out of it, he felt the intense stare locked on him, on his bread. "Ugh… Quit staring at me like that."

Haru scoffed, ignoring her supplicant gaze as he took a huge bite out of it.

"Bwaaaaaaaah." Orihime childishly rolled around bed, doing her best to reach for the bread.

"What is it? I am eating…" Haru glanced at her. "You won't convince me, no matter how much you cry."

And so five minutes later, Haru was left with no bread, watching her eat as he sat in silence, arms crossed in front of him.

"Waaaah." Orihime whimpered, happiness written all over her face as she took hold of a piece of bread in each hand. "It's so good!"

"You are unbelievable." Haru shook his head, but again, he found himself unable to hide the smile forming on his lips. "You better leave some for me."

He leaned back on the chair, watching her munch and stuff her face with bread like a starving squirrel.

"Hmhm, Igh ghwhill." Orihime replied with her mouth full.

"I'm just gonna pretend that was a yes." Haru mumbled back.

He stared through the window, noticing as darkness claimed the sky. Perhaps after this, he could go hunting?

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Rukia! Are you sure that thing is working?" Ichigo asked as he scanned the area, his usual scowl deepening as he spoke.

"For the last time… Yes, I'm sure!" Rukia told the teenager, clenching her fists as she tried not to let her temper get the better of her. "A hollow WILL show up here."

"Well then he better hurry the fuck up!" Ichigo shouted, stabbing his sword into the ground. "I'm falling asleep over here."

"You are unbelievable." Rukia decided it would be best for her sanity to ignore him, and so she focused on the device in her hands.

"Me?" Ichigo asked indignantly. "You are the one who popped out of my closet just to drag me off to some park in the middle of the night!"

Rukia, again, decided it was best to ignore him. The black haired girl bit her thumb, deep in thought as she eyed their surroundings.

Then, almost as if it had been listening to Ichigo's complaints, a huge monster emerged from within the bushes and trees.

Lizard-like, with short legs and a long tail, it chased after a panicked spirit that sprinted towards the two of them.

"You see? It's here!" Rukia told him, watching as the monster rushed towards the spirit. "Now, do your job and purify that hollow!"

"You mean YOUR job." Ichigo corrected her, but picked up his sword and rushed to the hollow regardless. "You damn midget!"

"What did you just call me!?"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"..." Haru took his phone off his ear, releasing a sigh as he stored it in his pocket. "Ishida is not picking up… Again."

He climbed up some buildings, landing on the top of the highest one he could find and knelt there.

'I wonder what he's up to.' He thought, staring into the distance as he scanned his surroundings.

'Well then…' Haru closed his green orbs, concentrating on the area around him in the search of any high spiritual pressures.

"Hm…" He mused, disappointment bleeding from his tone. "It seems like this will be another quiet night. There doesn't seem to be…"

"...?" A single, lone drop of water hit him in the face. He glanced towards the sky as more and more droplets fell over him.

'It's raining…' Haru's face softened a little, he had always liked rainy nights.

'...' He turned his attention to his right, sensing a couple of spiritual pressures clashing from far away. 'Is that Ichigo?'

'I'll take a peek, see what he's up to.' He concluded as he put a hood over his head, protecting his hair from the rain.

An instant later, a discrete, pale flash of green light covered the top of the building he was in, and just like that, he was gone.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"You fucker…" Ichigo sliced one of the beast's legs off, having it lose balance and fall over to the ground. "Die already!"

His last attack sliced the mask of the hollow in half, cleansing it with that one strike, making it vanish into thin air.

"Finally." Ichigo breathed out, droplets of rain mixing in with his sweat as he sheathed his large sword. "Rukia, let's go back."

"Hold on a second." Rukia raised one of her hands, her clothes soaked thanks to the rain. "Aren't you forgetting about something?"

The black haired girl pointed towards the terrified spirit, hiding behind a tree as he witnessed the battle in terror.

"You need to perform a Konso on him." Rukia reminded him, a soul reaper's job wasn't just about eliminating hollows after all.

"Alright…" Ichigo took his sword out, making the spirit retreat in terror. "Hold still, it won't hurt, I promise."

"You are just making it worse." Rukia pointed out, watching as the spirit broke into a sprint, running from them. "... See?"

"Ah, wait!" Ichigo screamed, chasing after the spirit. "Damn it, come back here!"

"..."

"Oh, look who I found here." Poking Rukia on the shoulder, a new voice made its presence known.

"Hiiik!" Rukia, with a surprisingly girly scream, jumped back, taking as much distance as she could from the newcomer.

Rukia and Haru met gazes, the girl still seemed quite shaken from the fact someone had managed to sneak behind her.

"Ah, my bad, my bad." Haru apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You bastard…" Rukia skidded on the ground, her chest going up and down as she tried to calm herself down. "What was that for!? You scared me to death! You could at least try not to sneak behind people in the middle of the damn night!"

"..." Haru merely blinked at her sudden outburst. "I apologized, though."

"You think apologizing makes it fine!?" Rukia asked indignantly, the sounds of Ichigo chasing after the spirit distracting the duo.

"I said stop!" Ichigo told the spirit. "I'm saving you, don't resist!"

"Saving me from who!?"

"Oh, he caught up to it." Haru noticed as Ichigo and the spirit rolled around on the ground, the orange haired boy holding the spirit in place.

"No, please, stop!"

"Shut up!"

"That poor spirit…" Rukia whispered with a sweat drop, watching as Ichigo poked the spirit on the head with the back of his sword.

The spirit vanished at long last, living the trio in silence, with nothing but the sound of the rain reaching their ears.

"That fucker…" Ichigo thought, cleaning his soul reaper clothes from the mud and dirt that had gathered on them. "Rukia, let's… Wait, Haru?"

"Yo, Ichigo." Haru waved at the teenager. "You look like a mess."

"I didn't need to hear that." Ichigo told him, scowling a little as he sheathed his sword, hopefully for good this time around.

"Well, sorry about that." Haru apologized to him. "I was just curious; I wanted to see how the job was going for you."

"Apparently not so well." Rukia interrupted, poking Ichigo in the shoulder as she scowled at him. "What was that all about? Your job is providing safe passage to spirits!"

"So? I did just that!" Ichigo argued, shaking her hand off him. "He will go to that Soul Society or whatever it's called, right?"

"As far as he's concerned, he might as well be going straight to hell!" Rukia told him. "He was screaming in terror! You should have explained things to him!"

"Ugh… Fine, I guess it's my fault." Ichigo hated to admit it, but the midget was right. "I'll do better next time."

"Is it, though?" Haru inquired. "I mean, he'll be heading to the Soul Society regardless, right? He's bound to learn where he is at some point."

"You just don't get it." Rukia replied, shaking her head to the sides. "These spirits are lost, providing guidance to them is part of our job."

"It's a lame ass job, then." Haru scoffed.

"What did you say…?"

"Ugh. Do we have to talk about this right now?" Ichigo asked, twisting his robes as he squeezed water out of them. "I'm freezing over here. Rukia, let's head back."

"... Fine." The black haired girl begrudgingly agreed, turning around as the pair began walking back home.

"Later, Haru." Ichigo waved at him.

"Later."

Haru stared at them as they left, genuinely amused at their strange relationship.

Even from a distance, he could hear Rukia and Ichigo bickering, still arguing about the way he had handled the spirit.

'Well… Her attitude aside, she seems like a decent girl.' Haru concluded, deciding to leave the park as he headed back home as well.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"... Yesterday at about 5:32 PM on 3rd street in the town of Karakura, there was a five-car pile up…"

"Another accident?" Himari spoke as she and her son stared at the television. "There's been an awful lot of them lately."

"No kidding." Haru agreed as he listened to the news.

"... Miraculously, there were no fatalities…"

'A hollow again?' Haru thought, but shrugged his shoulders as he resumed his breakfast. 'I have plans for the day, so Ichigo will have to take care of that.'

Well, calling them plans would be an exaggeration. He was just planning to purchase some stuff from Urahara.

"Leaving already?" Himari asked, following her son with her gaze as she watched him head to the door.

"Yeah, I gotta take care of some stuff." Haru announced. "I'll see you at the parlor later, alright?"

"... Alright." Himari replied. "Take care."

"Will do."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"A repellent." Haru repeated." I want a spirit repellent, or whatever it's called."

"You mean the Spirit Repellent Spray Sekirei X?" Urahara asked, waving his fan in front of his face to hide his smile. "The one you called a scam?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Haru didn't let the man's antics get under his skin. "That one, I want a couple of them, like… Five, or six."

"That's more than a couple." Urahara pointed out, not even hiding his curiosity as he spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you need so many repellents for?"

"I do mind, actually." Haru stated. "Will I get a discount if I answer that?"

"… No?" Urahara replied.

"Then fuck off."

"Oh, that's a shame." If Urahara was disappointed by his answer, he didn't show it. "It would seem like we are out of stock…"

"Alright, alright… You win." Haru laughed a bit at that, the shopkeeper would never disappoint when it came to his eccentricity. "It's just that… Well, I have been seeing a lot of them as of late, it's a little irritating."

"You could guide them to the substitute soul reaper." The blond suggested. "I'm sure he could perform a Konso on them."

"And why would I do that?" Haru asked. "It's not my job."

"Fair enough."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Five, six…" Haru counted, checking the contents of his plastic bag as he made sure the blond hadn't scammed him. "It's all here."

He walked through the streets, keen on testing the product in a spirit just so he could see how effective it was.

And so he waited, and waited, and waited.

'You can't be serious.' Haru thought, after a handful of minutes of parading through the streets, he hadn't spotted a single spirit.

'Those bastards are literally everywhere, except when I need them.' Haru complained, looking around in the hopes to find a spirit.

'Hold on a second.' He came to a sudden realization, the streets were quiet, too quiet.

Then, just like that, a single lone figure rushed past him, a tall, muscular, dark-skinned teenager with wavy brown hair.

'... The hell?' Haru thought, staring at the birdcage he was holding in between his grasp. 'Is that a fucking parakeet?'

Haru blinked, rubbing his eyes as he stared towards the ground, a trail of blood following the path of the muscular teenager.

'Huh.' Haru restarted his walk back home. 'Curious.'

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Man, what a pain…" Haru leaned back on his chair, resting as he finished his scheduled work for the day. "That was a tough one."

"Oh? You are done with that piece?" Himari peeked from her chair, she too was done for the day. "How long did it take you?"

"Six hours." Haru replied in defeat, he hated long sessions, he prefered working on small designs.

"Don't complain." Himari told her son. "I'll be the one spending the entire night here tattooing a giant weasel on some dude's back."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Haru replied with stifled laughter.

Haru's laughter soon came to a halt, as he spotted a lone spirit wandering past the shop's entrance, making its way inside.

'Not today.' He thought, taking out the repellent he had purchased and spraying the spirit with it.

The spirit shuffled around in discomfort, but he did not leave, so the boy sprayed it again, and again, and again.

And so, the spirit ran, dashing out of the shop while coughing and sneezing for his life.

'Huh.' Haru gave the repellent a look of appraisal. 'It's not a scam after all.'

"... What is that?" Himari asked, she had of course seen her son use the spray, and so eyed it with interest.

"Oh, this? It's just…" Haru trailed off. "It's just a room spray, you know, for the smell."

"Hm..." Himari stood up from her seat as she took it off her son's hands. "It does smell kind of nice. Do you mind if I keep it?"

'And that…' Haru thought. 'Is why I bought six of these.'

"Sure." He simply replied. "Oh, before I forget. Orihime is coming today. You know, to have dinner and all that."

"You don't have to worry about me ruining your date, then." Himari told him casually. "Like I said, I'll be here in the shop."

"It's not a date." Haru denied. "I'll leave some stuff in the fridge for you, alright?"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Um…" Haru spoke. "Why are you fidgeting around so much, Orihime?"

The girl in question sat on the floor, resting on top of a comfortable mat as she glanced around the room.

"W-Well, um…" Orihime scratched her head, nervousness bleeding from her tone as her gaze bounced around the place. "I didn't think you'd bring me to your room."

"Why not? I have been to yours plenty of times." Haru waved her concerns off. "Honestly, I should have invited you…"

The harsh buzzing sound of his doorbell interrupted him mid-speech, signaling to him that the food he ordered had arrived.

"I need to pick that up." He told the beautiful girl. "I'll be right back."

'He left…' Orihime thought, shifting around in her seat as she kept exploring the room with her curious gaze.

'So this is his room…' As her mind filled with thoughts, her cheeks flared a bright red color. 'Haru's room…'

'It even smells like him.' Her blush deepened, what was she even thinking? She buried her face deep in between her hands.

The sound of light, distant steps reached the girl, a clear signal that Haru would be back in the room in a matter of seconds.

"I'm back." And sure enough, Haru returned mere instants after with their food stored in a delivery box. "You wanna have dinner?"

"Yaaaaay!" Shameful thoughts forgotten, Orihime jumped up from seat, a cheerful smile on her face. "Dinner time!"

He smiled, her enthusiasm towards something as mundane as breakfast, lunch or dinner never failed to lift his mood.

"Dinner time indeed."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Ah, I'm full." Haru fell on the floor. "I thought that was supposed to be the small sized portion… You could have saved an entire village from starvation with that."

"You think so?" Orihime, on the other hand, seemed to be ready to eat some more. "I thought it was kind of small!"

"How is that even…?" Haru shook his head, not even making an attempt to rationalize the fact that someone her size could eat twice as much as him like it was nothing.

"Heheh…" The girl laughed, rubbing the back of her head as she did. "My friends at school always have that same reaction."

"My friends at school…" Haru repeated, seemingly finding something interesting in that simple statement.

"Hm?"

"You know someone named Ichigo?" Haru asked out of the blue.

"U-Um… You mean Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked, a little taken aback by the sudden change in topic.

"Yup, Kurosaki." Haru repeated. "Orange hair, always scowling. You know him?"

"I do!" Orihime told him, it seemed like that brief description had been enough to clue her in. "He's Tatsuki-chan's friend."

"Right, so…" He began. "There is this girl that's always around him, Rukia Kuchiki. You know her as well?"

"The exchange student?" Orihime tilted her head, suddenly a bit confused about the meaning behind these questions.

'Exchange student?' Haru thought. 'So she enrolled in their school?'

"Yeah, the exchange student." He replied as smoothly as he could, trying to hide his surprise. "What do you think of her?"

"Um, Kuchiki-san…" Orihime bit her thumb, deep in thought as she gave the question some consideration. "She seems nice… I think? I don't know her a lot, but she hangs out with us sometimes. Why?"

Haru flopped on top of his bed, comically bouncing off the mattress as he began talking.

"Oh, it's nothing." Haru replied. "I know Ichigo because our parents are… Friends, I guess? Whatever, the point is, I have seen him around that Kuchiki girl a lot, so I was curious."

"Ah, so that's it!" Orihime seemed relieved, she nodded at his explanation, accepting it without second thoughts. "Makes sense."

And just like that, she moved on from whatever had preoccupied her mind and got right back to munching on the leftovers of her dinner.

"You are still not done eating!?"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Yukio." Haru entered their base at the apartment complex, finding the blonde inside of it, and of course, he was gaming.

"..." Yukio remained silent, offering little more than a short nod of acknowledgment in response. "Did something happen?"

"That's cold, Yukio." Haru said. "Do I need a reason to visit a good friend?"

"I suppose you don't." Yukio agreed. "Still, I know that look. You need something from me."

"I do." Haru admitted, resting on a couch as he stared at the ceiling. "I have been thinking about it… Well, we should probably hold a meeting again, there's a lot to talk about."

"You want me to organize the meeting, is that it?" The blond asked, leaving his console aside for the first time during their conversation. "Fine, I'll do it. But I have to ask again, did something happen?"

"A lot happened." Haru admitted. "Some good stuff, some bad stuff… I just wanna make sure we are all on the same page on this matter."

"I like the sound of that." A hand landed on Haru's shoulder, and so the boy turned around to face the newcomer.

"Ginjō." Haru greeted. "How has life in seclusion been going for you?"

"Well, so so." Ginjō replied. "You haven't visited a lot, so training and sparring has been off the table so far."

"..." Haru's focus shifted to his pocket, the buzzing sound of his phone indicating that he had just received a message.

"Oh, what is it?" Ginjō tried to sneak a look from over Haru's shoulder. "Is it that girlfriend of yours again?"

"No." Haru replied in a blank tone, reading the contents of the message. "It's from a friend."

'Ishida?' Haru thought. The message was short and to the point.

'We need to talk.' Haru read in his mind, that's all that the message said. Nothing more, nothing less.

End of chapter sixteen.