Chapter ten: Xcution.

Chapter ten.

"Xcution?" Haru read the name imprinted on the card out loud, squinting as he tried to place the name. "The hell is that?"

"No idea." His mom replied, her gaze focused on the number written on the card. "Haru… You are not involved in some shady business, right?"

"What kind of question is that?" Haru asked his mother, turning the card around as he looked for more info. "Of course I am."

"Not funny." Himari told her son, resisting the urge to bonk him in the head. "You are planning on calling them, then?"

"Nah." He replied, shrugging his shoulders as he stored the black card on his wallet. He picked up the package and turned around. "I'll think about it later, right now there's some other stuff I have to deal with."   

"Other stuff?" Himari inquired, but her son decided that was a good moment to walk off on their conversation. 

"It's nothing." Haru replied, the spirit girl following his steps as he headed back to his bedroom. 

"..." The pair carried on with their march towards the room in silence, neither of them speaking until taking enough distance.

"Say…" The spirit said, her words reaching the black haired boy as he carried on with his walk. "You are going to call, right?"

"I might." Haru replied as he pocketed his wallet, not sounding all that interested about the whole ordeal. "I'll deal with it, in time." 

"Regardless, there's no reason you should be thinking about such things. You'll not be here for long, after all."

Urahara had said it best, the name said it all, The World of the Living, spirits had no business being there in the first place.

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

'Can I do it?' Sora's thoughts troubled him, he gazed in silent contemplation at the figure of his sister, knelt in front of a picture of his. 'Can I leave her side, just like that?'

His dear sister had made it almost a routine of sorts, each night she would take a seat in front of a picture of him, then she would talk to it as if he could hear her.

'I suppose I can.' Sora thought, staring at her as he listened to her ramblings about the most mundane of things imaginable.

There were times where she would dedicate some words to talking about stuff like her ridiculous meal ideas.

Other times, she would just sit there and reminisce about the past, wondering what could have been.

Lately though, things had changed, she had begun talking about that boy, how he would keep messaging her again and again.

'There's someone looking out for her, at least.' Sora thought, comforting himself with the thought of his sister not being all by herself. 'Even if he's a little bit eccentric.' 

At first, she had just shared some minor details about him, things like how he had asked her if she was doing alright, if she needed something, if her aunt was still taking care of her financial situation, stuff like that.

However, as time went on and both brother and sister realized the teen wasn't about to just forget about her and leave, she began talking about him in earnest.

"You would have liked him, I'm sure." Orihime's words reached him as she spoke to his picture, a bittersweet smile coming to his lips. 

'...' His smile didn't last long, a frown slowly replacing it as words repeated inside his mind, a certain phrase that just refused to leave him.

'You'll become a monster, a wretched beast that devours souls for the fun of it.' Haru's words, again, rang inside his head. 'You'll devour her first.'

Sora looked down, his gaze landing on the chain glued to his chest as he noticed the corrosion had gotten worse, even if just a bit.

'It's shorter.' He stated, his fingers touching the chain as he winced in discomfort. 'An inch shorter, but shorter nonetheless.'

The mere image of what he could become, of the atrocities he would commit should things be allowed to progress, scared him.

'I can't… I can't go on like this.'

It was then and there he made his mind up, if moving on was what it would take to prevent such things from occurring, then so be it.

But there was one last thing he needed as an assurance before moving on, just one.

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

"..." Haru stood up from his bed, a familiar presence entering his room as he shot a nasty glance at it. "You."

"Me." 'You' said; that 'You' being, naturally, Orihime's dead brother, Sora. "I have made my decision."

Haru rubbed the corner of his eyes, standing up from bed as he almost lost balance upon taking a step on the floor.

'ssssso fkn tired.' he thought, slurring his words even inside his own mind, though he did try his best to maintain his composure.

As he stared through his window, his gaze landed on nothing but darkness, on the night as it painted the skies in pitch black.

"What… What time is it, anyway?" Haru managed, doing his best to maintain a somewhat dignified persona.

"No idea." Sora replied, and despite the grim aura that had surrounded him up till that point, a smile painted his lips at the pissy look the teen directed straight at him. "It's not like it matters for us spirits."

"..." Haru squinted at the spirit, glanced at the digital clock resting on his desk and squinted even harder.

'Nope, not doing this rn.' He thought, falling back on his bed with a loud 'flop' as he submerged himself back on the world of questionable dreams.

"W-Wait…!" Was the last thing the teen heard before he fell back asleep. He did like his beauty dreams, after all.

[Twelve hours later.]

"I. Hate. Mornings." Haru rolled around his bed, his hands covering his view from the sun beams reaching him through the curtains.

Haru fought hard, battling with his pillow and bed sheets in an attempt to travel back to the land of dreams, but it was all in vain.

'It's no use…' He thought with a pout, staring at the transparent figure that made him unable to focus back on the task at hand.

"You have a reason for being here?" Haru asked, peeking through the sheets as he stared at no other than Sora.

Yeah, for some reason he had just woken up to the sight of some spirit staring straight at him, dead silent, not uncomfortable at all!

"Well, something like that." Sora admitted, still remaining still on the air as he looked at the teen roll around bed with a smile.

"Well… What is it then?" Haru asked, rubbing his eyes as his thoughts became clearer by the second. "Wait."

Haru paused, raising a hand up as he realized something that he should have probably noticed sooner. 

"You know where I live?" He asked, squinting at the spirit as he tried to find a logical explanation for the presence of the ghost. 

"You remember the first time you visited her?" Sora asked, it was obvious who he was referring to so the teen just gave a quick nod in response. "After that, I decided to follow you. I needed to find out where you lived."

"Alright, that's…" Haru trailed off, he had done his handful of morally ambiguous deeds in the past, so it's not like he could complain. "You just got here, then?"

"Actually, I have been here for about five hours." Sora stated, a little too calmly considering what that statement implied. "I didn't think you would like me waking you up, so I have been waiting here."

"That's creepy as hell!" Haru yelled at the spirit, looking sufficiently disturbed at the thought of the spirit staring at him as he slept.

The mere mental image of having a spirit staring at him for hours and hours as he slept was enough to wake him up.

Haru stood up from the bed, throwing his sheets to the floor as he looked for a clean shirt, but he didn't find any.

'Well, shit.' He thought, staring at the ground as he picked one of the used ones spread around the floor. 

"Your room is a mess." The spirit stated, looking amused at the sight of the teen throwing dirty clothes around.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Haru said, dressing himself up as he replied to the ghost. "You here for a reason, then? I can't imagine staring at someone sleeping makes for an interesting pastime, after all."

"It does not." Sora agreed, perking up at the mention of the reason for him being in the room. "I am here because, well… I have made my decision."

"You have?" Haru sounded livelier all of a sudden, turning to face the ghost as he finished buttoning his shirt. "That's great. I'll just…"

"However, there is a condition."

"Of course there is!" Haru complained, a tired sigh escaping him as he threw an irritated look at the spirit. "So, what is it? Out with it."

"Sorry, but I can't just leave without having a certain… Dilemma, I suppose, solved." Sora told him, not sounding the least bit apologetic, despite his words. "It shouldn't be an inconvenience to you, I think… Unless I have misinterpreted things."

"You'll need to be a little more specific than that." Haru said, facing the mirror in his room as he tried fixing his hair. "I don't like riddles. What do you need help with?"

"My sister." Sora merely stated, levitating closer to the teen as he watched him finish fixing his hair. 

"...?" Haru turned to face the spirit, throwing him an odd look as he tried figuring out where the conversation was heading. 

"You have been looking out for her, and I am thankful for that." Sora said, and he did look genuinely grateful as he spoke. "I… Well, the condition is… Keep doing that, alright? Because there's no one else who will."

"Idiot." Haru replied, breathing a sigh of relief as the spirit's words reached him. "I was gonna do that regardless. You didn't need to ask."

"Then…"

"Yeah, I'll keep an eye on her." Haru waved the spirit's concerns off with a hand gesture, yawning in between words. "Is that it, then? If so, consider it done."

"I…" Sora stammered with his words, he had been thinking so much about this one conversation and how it could go.

Truth be told, he had thought of all sorts of different arguments so as to convince him to look out for his sister. 

Sora had not expected that all of it would be in vain, for it seemed as if it was within the boy's plans to do so. 

"Why?" Sora managed to ask; even more questions assaulting his mind as he spoke. "I mean, what gives? You are just doing it out of the kindness of your heart?"

"That's a good question." Haru said, stretching around as he pondered on the matter. "Is it because it is the right thing to do? No, that doesn't sound right."

"..." Haru became silent all of a sudden, submerged in quiet introspection as he gave it some more thought.

"Sometimes, I act on whims alone, it's a bad habit of mine." He admitted, staring at nothing in particular as he spoke. "It stands to reason then that I might be doing all of this on a whim, but..."

"I hate difficult questions." He finished it all with a long sigh, defeated as he failed to come up with a reasonable answer.

The best he could think of was of that familiar presence he felt from her, almost as if she was the same kind as him.

Haru wasn't about to tell that to the spirit though, it didn't even make sense to him, so it would make even less sense to the ghost.

"..." Sora seemed confused enough on his own as he replied, but he was smiling regardless of it, so that was a good sign. "You are a weird one, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know." Haru replied, a light smile on his face as he peeked through the window as the sun beams pierced through the curtains.

"We leaving, then?" Haru asked, more than willing to get this matter done as fast as possible.

Sora offered a quick nod in response, he had made up his mind and made peace with the fact he would not be seeing his sister again.

"Let's go, then." Haru stated, but he paused a second later as if remembering something all of a sudden. "On second thought… I need to pick someone up before that."

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

[One hour later.]

Three figures headed straight towards a humble looking shop, situated in a rather isolated spot on the street.

The figure in the middle belonged to Haru, as he was flanked on his sides by two spirits levitating around him. 

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Sora, the spirit to his left, asked. There was a weird look on his face as he stared at the shop. "It seems a little… Well, a little underwhelming."

"Disappointed?" Haru asked, snickering at the spirit's reaction as he gave the shop another look. Shinigami living there? Yeah, it's not surprising he found it hard to believe.

"A little bit." A girly voice admitted, making both of them glance towards the spirit girl to their right as she stared at the shop. 

"Welp…" Haru said, pushing the door open as he arrived at the shop's entrance. "Let's just make sure he doesn't hear that, alright?"

"He?" Sora inquired, fishing for some details in regards to the identity of these soul reapers that were going to help them. 

"Oh, that's right…" Haru said, realizing he had been perhaps a little too vague with them. "The owner is a weirdo, but…"

"My, my! You wouldn't happen to be talking about little ol' me, right?" Urahara's voice reached them from behind, so close it made them jump. 

Out of the three of them, the teen was the one who seemed to be the most shocked, despite his sensorial capabilities.

"Fuck…!" Haru cursed under his breath, calming down as he found himself staring at the familiar sight of the eccentric shopkeeper.

'I couldn't sense him?' Haru thought, blinking as he stared at the man in amazement. 'I couldn't sense someone as strong as him so close to me? That shouldn't be possible.'

"Miyagawa-san, it's been a while." Urahara waved a little too eagerly at the group as he walked a step closer to them. "You have brought some interesting guests here."

"I…" Haru managed to shake off his doubts, walking closer to the man as he tried to explain the situation. "Yes, these two are…"

"Huh." He blinked, staring at the pair of spirits levitating in front of him as he realized he could not remember their names. "Actually, I forgot."

"You never even asked for my name in the first place!" The girl declared indignantly as she pointed an accusatory finger at the boy.

"Ah, that's right." Haru stated in a blank tone, it was his golden rule after all. No buddy-buddy relationships with spirits. "Welp, it doesn't matter all that much."

"Would I be right to assume these are the spirits we talked about before?" Urahara asked, his cane hitting the floor as he walked another step closer to them.

Haru offered a silent nod in response, staring at the spirits as they squirmed around under the mysterious man's gaze. 

"You want me to do it right now, I presume?" The shopkeeper inquired, throwing a quick glance at the boy as he awaited for a response. 

"Yup." Haru replied, not bothering to ask the spirits for a confirmation, he was on a tight schedule himself after all.

"Well then, pay attention." Urahara said, taking a firm hold of his cane as his hand closed firmly around it. "This might be a good lesson."

Much to the surprise of everyone present in the room, from what looked to be nothing but a regular cane, a sword showed from within.

"This…" Urahara said, pulling the sword from the cane as he raised it for him to see. "Is what we shinigami call a zanpakutō, it is a soul reaper's main combat weapon."

"Soul slayer?" Haru asked, testing the name on his lips as he stared at the katana with interest. "That's… Oddly fitting."

"Right?" Urahara said, a derpy smile on his lips as he raised his hand holding the zanpakutō. He aimed at the girl, making her take a fearful step back.

"Um…" The girl began, levitating ever so closer towards the teen as gazed at him in the hopes of having him explain things. "What is he going to do, Haru?"

"No idea." Haru confessed, deciding to ignore the fact the spirit had addressed him by name. "I'm just as lost as you are."

"Does this ritual require stabbing its target?" Sora inquired from the sidelines as he stared at the sharp blade. "If so, that's a bit…"

"It's nothing so barbaric!" Urahara said, his amused smirk widening ever so slightly. "I can assure you, you won't feel a thing."

"Watch." Urahara said, staring at Haru for a split second as he raised his zanpakutō once more. "It will be over in an instant."

With the back of his 'sword-cane' he poked the forehead of the girl, making her close her eyes as the blade neared.

"..."

Silence filled the room as a circle surrounded the ground below the girl, its glow lightening the dull room in mere seconds.

Then, much to the surprise of them all, the girl began descending as the circle almost 'swallowed' her.

"H-Haru, what is…?"

"You are heading for what we call the Soul Society." Urahara explained to the girl, her panicked look prompting him to explain some things about her destination. "You humans call it 'passing over', I believe?"

This short and surface level explanation did little to calm the girl down, so the teen decided to jump in the chat before she vanished.

"Relax." Haru told her, pointing towards Sora who stared at the scene in shock. "He'll be there as well, besides, that place should be something like heaven, right?"

"Well…" Urahara began, the circle swallowing the girl at last as she managed to lock eyes with them for one last time. "That depends on what you expect heaven to be like."

"Wait… It's done, then?" Haru blinked as the blue circle vanished, almost as if it had never been there in the first place.

"Quite simple, right?" Urahara told the teen, smiling as he noticed the disappointed look in his eyes.

"Painfully so." Haru replied, turning towards the last spirit present in the room as he gestured for him to come closer. "Your turn."

The spirit levitated closer to Urahara and Haru, looking hesitant and nervous as he did, but still obeyed nonetheless.

"..." Haru turned to the shopkeeper as he watched him raise his zanpakutō for a second time, poking him on the forehead.

"Ritual my ass…" Haru muttered in disappointment. "You are just poking them, even I could do that."

A similar circle enveloped the spirit as he locked gazes with the teen, the both of them remaining quiet for just an instant.

"About our deal…" Sora said, looking for one last confirmation to assure him of his sister's future wellbeing. 

"I'll take care of her." Haru repeated, not even wasting a second to give the spirit his answer, he had been expecting this.

"I see." Sora said, smiling lightly as the circle covered him fully, feeling his last seconds in the world coming to an end. "That's good."

"..."

Three or so seconds after, the circle vanished alongside him, leaving the shopkeeper and the teen all alone inside the shop.

"Thanks." Haru said, thanking the man for his help as he turned to face him yet again.

"Hm?" Urahara mused, feeling like there was more to his thanks than just saving the pair of spirits. "For what?"

"I didn't think it was possible, to save spirits, I mean." Haru explained, brushing some strands of his wild hair off his face as he spoke. "You have given me a new perspective on them, it seems like they can be saved after all."

"I'll be leaving." The black haired boy did not wait for the mysterious shopkeeper to think of a response. "I have stuff to do."

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

"Is… Is there a problem?" Inoue's soft tone managed to get him out of his trance as he gazed upwards.

With his sight landing on the girl, he blinked a couple of times as he realized for just how long he had remained unresponsive.

"Sorry." Haru apologized, pocketing the black card as he, yet again, decided to postpone the inevitable. "It's just… There's a lot on my mind."

"I see…" The orange haired girl brought her hands together in front of her chest, releasing a sigh of relief as she spoke. "I'm glad to hear that. I thought I might have said something wrong."

"Nah." He reassured her, his right hand landing on top of the table as he picked up another piece of bread. "You look livelier. I take it you slept well?"

Haru's question came out of left field, but he couldn't help but point that out as he stole a glance towards the girl.

During their past meetings he had noticed the bags under her eyes, they were hard to miss after all. However, this time it seemed as if she had managed to get some good sleep at last.

"I… Yes, I did." Inoue stated after a short pause, a surprised look on her face as their glances met. 

The look on her face said it all; she had absolutely no idea how the teen had known. Was she that easy to read? 

"That's good." He merely stated, nodding at her as he made a pause to munch on the bread. "I was a bit worried last time. You looked… Well, quite exhausted, to say the least."

"I'm sorry." 

"What are you apologizing for, exactly?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl as he finished his bread.

"I just…" Inoue casted her glance downwards, her eyes meeting the table as she let the words come slowly out her mouth. "I made you worry, didn't I? I'm sorry."

"Well, yeah…?" Haru said, unsure on just what to make of her apology. "Isn't that a good thing, though? If someone worries about you, it's because they care."

The moment that single statement left his mouth, he had to stop himself, blinking in surprise at his own words.

'Hold it.' Haru furrowed his brows. 'I care? Where is that coming from, exactly? I am doing this because if not, no one else will.'

'Moreover, there is also the fact that she feels similar, familiar even. There's the chance that she is also like Ishida. Like me.'

'That's all there is to it.' Haru finished, feeling like it all made sense once again. 

"..." Meanwhile, Inoue went quiet herself, her gaze casted downwards as silence filled the room for a handful of seconds.

The silence carried on for a while, and just when the teen thought of something to help him break the silence, it happened.

The familiar sound of restrained sniffles reached him as his orbs rested on the girl, shaking every so often as she tried her best not to break down yet again.

'Oh, shit.' Haru thought, breathing out a sigh of frustration as he realized she was hiding her tears from him. 

"Uh…" Haru coughed some words out, unsure on just how to handle the situation as he awkwardly stared at her. "... Did I say something wrong?"

"N-No…" Inoue, much to Haru's surprise, did manage to offer him a somewhat coherent sentence in response almost instantly. "It's the other way around."

"Oh. So it's the good sort of tears." He mumbled in response. "That's good."

It was the first time he had made someone cry for something other than unbearable pain or grief. 

It was quite refreshing, actually.

"..." It was two or three more minutes till the girl managed to get her emotions back in check, and, the moment she did, a single question escaped her heart shaped lips.

"You want some more bread?"

"Sure thing."

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

"You actually got here in time. That's crazy." Haru said, offering some painfully slow claps as Ishida Uryu made his not-so-glorious entrance.

"Mind not making it seem as if I am the one at fault here? Your instructions regarding the location of our meetings are always needlessly vague." Ishida barked back, crouching near the edge of the building.  

"Well, of course they are! They wouldn't really be secret meetings if I didn't give you some cryptic clues to find me."

"You…" Ishids gritted his teeth, doing his absolute best to bite back some rather creative insults his mind had come up with. 

"Let's get down to business, then." Haru proclaimed, deciding this was as good a time as any for them to start. "You are feeling up for some monster hunting? I am itching for a fight." 

"Hmph." Ishida gave him the cold shoulder, but was unable to hide an excited smirk as he articulated his response. "You bet I am."

To Ishida, it was quite refreshing to have someone that fought hollows alongside him, even if they were not Quincys.

Soul reapers were his enemies, there was no doubt about that. A human with strange powers though…? He could work with that just fine.

"Where should we start, then? You seem to be able to sense those things much better than me." Haru asked as he knelt near the edge as well, staring at the many cars on the street.

"...?" Ishida gave him an odd look. "Didn't you show me a phone that could accurately pinpoint the location of hollows?"

"Yeeeeeah… About that." Haru began, looking rather sheepish all of a sudden.

"What happened to it?"

"U-um…" Haru shifted his gaze away from the quincy. "I, um… I left it back home, yeah. I forgot to bring it, my bad."

"Did you really?" Ishida asked in a deadpan tone, not believing a single word that was coming out of the teen's mouth. "You lost the phone, didn't you?"

"Nu-uh!" Haru denied in an instant, and for the most part he actually did seem genuine. "I, ehem… I sorta dropped it and…  Well, a hollow might have stepped on it."

"..." 

"You can't be serious." Ishida stated, unable to decide whether he found the whole situation hilarious, silly, or both. "You can't get a new one?"

Ishida did not waste another second after that, jumping without warning from the building into another as he made use of his high-speed movement technique.

"I mean, maybe…?" Haru followed without problem, offering a response as he remained rather embarrassed. 

He had not told Urahara about the tragic and untimely destruction of the strange device, mainly because… 

Well, because he didn't wanna pay for it!

What if it was one of those super expensive high tech shits? He did not have the money to pay for that! 

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

[Twenty minutes later]

"Ishida." Haru said in an effort to gain the attention of his 'associate' as the both of them stared at a figure on the ground.

"Yes?"

"Well, how do I put this? I was under the impression we were chasing after a hollow…" Haru began. "... not the bits and pieces left of a hollow rearranged in the form of a work of modern art."

"Yes, I was under that same impression." Ishida said in response, his gaze still locked onto the pieces left of the mutilated beast. "Just what happened here, exactly?"

Haru knelt near it, some form of morbid curiosity peeking from inside him as he basked on the sight of the pitiful beast.

Neither of them could care less about the beast, but the older one couldn't deny he was a fair bit curious about who had done it.

"Wait." Ishida, ever so sharp, raised his hand as he furrowed his brows, staring at the monster noticing something off about it.

"What is it?" 

"You don't see it? The way these parts are arranged, isn't it weird?" He pointed at the fingers and legs. "It's like they are…"

"Pointing somewhere." Haru and Ishida finished in sync, the both of them turning at once towards their right with their guards up.

There, much to their surprise, stood two men. 

Both of these men were black haired, each tall enough to easily tower over them, and oddly enough, both were smiling at them.

"Yo." The one on the right took a step forward as he waved at them, acting friendly despite the weirdness of the situation.

"Haru Miyagawa, correct?" The man behaved himself quite casually, sporting a tranquil smile as he shortened the distance.

"..." Haru remained quiet, exchanging a quick look with Ishida so as to confirm he was just as confused as himself. "It depends." 

"It depends on what?" The man stood still, now just a handful of steps away from them. 

"It depends on who's asking." Haru replied, managing to keep a straight face despite his inner thoughts. "I still haven't heard your name, nor his."

"That's right; sorry about that." The man apologized, nodding at his partner who still remained behind as he introduced himself.

"Ginjō." He said, doing a short pause as he extended his hand to the boy. "Ginjō Kūgo, and he's…"

"Tsukishima Shūkūro." The other finished.

"And we are Xcution." Ginjō finalized, extending his hand to Haru, green sparks oozing off his fingers as he spoke.

End of chapter ten.