9 Chapter 9: Meeting New Faces (Edited)
A small giggle entering my ears as the voice starts "Isn't he just the cutest thing when he's sleeping? It makes me happy to see him so peaceful."
Shifting in my bed. I open my eyes and sit up. Stretching a bit, I turn to Lady Konoka. Her face carrying a small pout before quickly turning back to a gentle smile.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" She says with a little bit of remorse in her tone. "You normally wake up so early in the morning. You must have been tired last night." Her face carrying a little worry.
"Ah, it's nothing to worry about. Matsuri and I started training at night recently, so I've been going to sleep late." I say with a small smile.
Matsuri wakes into the room and looks towards Lady Konoka and me. "Good morning Lady Konoka. Takashi we're going to be late if you don't hurry and get ready." I nod at her and she returns it.
--
Getting to the squad station Kaien walks up to us. "There you guys are. We're going on patrol for the next mission until further notice in the Rukon District. Let's head out." He says as we exit the building.
Following him, he stops shortly before turning to us.
"Which district should we visit first?" Looking to us for input.
"Let's go to one of the outer districts." I say looking over to Matsuri who returns my gaze with a smile and a nod.
He nods and we head off for the districts.
--
We finish patrolling the outer district and reach our next destination. Splitting from us Kaien starts to patrol the east. Matsuri and I took over patrolling the west.
"This area has a reputation for being pretty unsafe, even for the Rukon District…" Matsuri says looking around.
'It's not all that different from the division we grew up in. With kids lying in the gutters…"
"Or in the middle of the road, like that kid." Matsuri finishes my statement before doing a double-take at the white-haired kid in the middle of the road.
"Hey, wait a minute! Kid, are you all right?" Matsuri says running over to the kid.
"So… hnnngry…" The white-haired kid replies.
"Huh? What did he say?" Matsuri starting to worry over the kid.
"Kid here's my lunch." I say pulling out the lunch Lady Konoka prepared for me.
The kid jumps up from the ground. 'He's full enough to jump around like that…' Giving the kid a dead-eyed stare. 'Hm? He looks kind of familiar…'
"Thanks. My friend really needed this!" The boy says as he starts walking away. "Thanks again for this. Bye, now!"
"Think he's going to be all right?" I look towards Matsuri who keeps her eyes on the boy.
"I don't know. I'm worried. Let's follow him." Matsuri says as she walks after the kid.
--
"You still alive, Rangiku?" The white-haired boy asks the shorter orange-haired girl.
"Yeah, but I think I'm gonna die if you didn't find any food." She replies to the boy from the floor.
"Guess we cut it pretty close this time, huh? Here, I got you lunch." The boy says handing her my lunch.
"No way! What's lunch doing in an expensive box like this?!"
"Good question. Let's ask the Shinigami peeking in at the doorway." The boy says turning towards the doorway.
"Caught us, huh?" I say looking towards the boy with a small smile. 'He's got pretty good senses… If he becomes a Shinigami he'll be pretty strong too.' My eyes reacting to his light blue talent. The hissing of a snake coming off the aura. 'He'll excel at plotting or being slippery? The hell?'
"Hey, wait a minute. Don't I know you two?" Rangiku says recognition in her eyes.
"Oh, you're that kid that got taken hostage that day?" I say looking her over. 'So, this is Rangiku as a kid?' My eyes seeing a lightish green aura coming off her.
She bows. "Thank you for saving me that day!"
"You should thank the other Shinigami that was there. She was the one that did all the hard work." I say with a slight smile.
Nodding she turns to the food and starts to eat.
"Mar! This is so good!" She says as she starts shoveling food into her mouth.
"She reminds of a certain person that doesn't have any manners when eating." Matsuri giving me a glance.
I ignore the rude comment and look away from her.
She finishes the food before turning to us. "I want to eat a lunch like this again! When can you bring me another one?"
The boy a little shocked at her bluntness rebukes her. "Rangiku, you can't ask them to do that!"
"It's no skin off their noses. They eat lunches like this every day!" She says with a victorious smile.
"…It's no lie she was about to drop dead of starvation." Mar speaks up aiding her.
"That's right! So please, please, please let me eat one of those lunches again! Just one more time!"
"You certainly look like you could use a little help. All right, fine." Matsuri says with a smile.
'That's going to fall to me isn't it?' Looking between the kids and Matsuri I let out a sigh.
"Really?! In that case, let's be friends!" The girl says to Matsuri. "My name is Rangiku Matsumoto." She points to Mar. "This here is Gin Ichimaru. Nice to meet you!" She says with a big smile on her face.
"Yeah… Okay sure." Matsuri confused at the change of pace.
"Nice to meet you, Gin and Rangiku." I say with a nod towards them.
"Same here." Gin replies.
'Gin becomes the captain of the 3rd division and Rangiku becomes the lieutenant of the 10th... I'll have to see which one of them is the traitor...'
--
"…And that's what happened." Matsuri says finishing the story to Kaien.
"We ended up with some new friends." I add on.
"Poor little starving kids, huh?" Kaien says with a smile.
I nod. "Reminds me of us at the time."
--
To finish our patrol, we ended up in one of the closer districts to the Seireitei. Walking around we hear a girl shouting.
"Li'l Shiro! LI'L SHIIIROOO! Where are you, little guy?" The black hair girl with pigtails says, panic in her voice.
Matsuri walking over to her. "Hi there, little girl, is anything wrong? Do you need some help?"
"Oh Shinigami! Well…. I lost Li'l Shiro. He's been missing since this morning. I've been looking and looking for him, but I can't find him anywhere!"
"And so what does Li'l Shiro look like?" I ask her.
"He's little, and he's got big eyes and white hair. He can be kind of scary, but he's a real sweetheart once you get to know him."
"Got it we'll help you look for him."
"Oh, Thank you! My name is Momo Hinamori, by the way."
"I'm Matsuri and this is Takashi." We finish introducing ourselves and start hunting for Li'l Shiro.
