Chapter eleven: Pajamas.

Chapter eleven.

"And we are Xcution." Ginjō's words reached Haru and Ishida, though it was clear from the man's mannerisms the conversation did not involve the latter in the slightest.

Haru stared at the green sparks in instant recognition, his mind suddenly working at record speeds.

Xcution was one thing, the mystery behind the black card solved was nice and all but he could not care about that in the slightest.

The one thing that mattered to him was that he had found for the first time in his entire life, someone like him.

'Two, perhaps.' Haru added inside his mind as he shifted his gaze towards Tsukishima, thinking if he was also like them.

"This might feel sudden, but I'm afraid we are short on time, so allow me to explain things." Ginjō began.

"I take it's the first time you see someone like us, isn't that right?" The man asked, though he did not need to hear an answer. The look on Haru's face was more than enough confirmation.

"Fullbringers, that's what we are. Individuals that due to certain circumstances have a high affinity with souls." Ginjō's explanation was surface level at best, but it was sufficient in revealing just enough to prove he was telling the truth. "You are one of us."

'You are one of us'. That single statement resonated inside his head, echoing with force as a wave of emotions filled him.

Haru had wondered, could someone understand how it felt? To feel like a foreigner even amongst his peers.

His classmates, his friends, his mother, it didn't matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get it, they just couldn't see the world as he did.

A world full of ghosts and monsters that give chase and devour spirits. Yeah, right. No one would believe that.

Because of this, throughout his life, a certain feeling had managed to conquer his heart; the feeling of not fitting in.

To find someone who was not just similar to him, but the very same. It was hard for him to wrap his head around such a concept.

He felt several currents of emotions overflowing him, excitement, doubt, caution, surprise, but more than all…

Relief.

'I am not alone.' Haru relaxed, he was not a freak, he was not alone in the world after all. There were others like him.

An entire organization, even.

"I don't think he's listening." From Haru's right, Ishida's voice reached him as he realized he had zoned out on them.

"I…" Haru shook his head from left to right, snapping himself out of his stupor as he tried to focus on the matter at hand.

"Don't stress it." Ginjō spoke to him. "I figured it would be a little bit too much to process. Besides, it would be better if we talk about the rest at… Well, a more private location."

"No offense." Ginjō's stare landed on Ishida for a split second as he finished talking.

"Non taken."

Tsukishima, who had remained mostly quiet, walked closer to Haru as he began talking to him.

"If it helps, I did tell him it would be a bit much." Tsukishima laughed, softly and elegantly, as his stare landed on the severed hollow on the ground.

"I'm sorry about that." He stated, pointing at the monster with his chin. "Ginjō is a bit of a fan of theatrics, he likes putting on a show, so to speak."

Haru had to agree with Tsukishima there.

The whole situation could have been handled in such a different, simpler, much more effective manner.

Why go through the trouble of sending a card with literally zero information to his front door instead of just approaching him?

"Couldn't you have just… You know, introduce yourself from the get go instead of doing all that extra stuff with the card and the hollow?"

Haru's question made Tsukishima smile, a devious smirk on his face as he stared at Ginjō, looking quite amused.

"Alright, alright, I get it. You were right." Ginjō said as he faced Tsukishima, frowning at the man as he kept that smug smirk. "My bad."

"The card was supposed to be a formal invitation." Ginjō explained.

"..." Haru pursed his lips, the words meaning little to him as he stared at them both. "You two are Xcution, then? What is that, even…?"

"Is it like an organization or something?" Haru scratched his head, his hand traveling to his pocket as he took out the black card from within.

"If so, please do me a favor, fire whoever is in charge of marketing, because that name does not feel quite so welcoming."

"Like, seriously. I was sorta curious about it but the moment I read 'Xcution' I wasn't even gonna call."

"Duly noted." Tsukishima, looking quite amused as his mischievous smirk widened. That had all been Ginjō's idea, after all.

"I said I got it!" Ginjō barked to his partner, having enough of his mocking stare as he ruffled his own long hair. "Tch…"

"I take it that's a no, then? To our invitation, that is." Ginjō asked.

"What? No, I'm in." Haru tilted his head to the side, where in his words had he given them the impression he was not interested?

"Yeah, I figured…" Ginjō began, coming to a full stop as his brain processed the teen's words. "Wait. You are!?"

"Yes." Haru repeated. "I'm in. I have been looking for someone like me, like us, for ages. Fullbringers, whatever we are called."

"Well, that was easy." Ginjō mumbled, throwing out all of the creative plans he had come up with in order to make him join them.

"... Regardless, I believe a more in-depth conversation is in order, just so we are all on the same page."

"..." Haru nodded, he had no problems with that. Granted, he had a mountain of questions he would like answered, but if they needed privacy to do so, so be it.

"Whenever you feel like it, give us a call." Ginjō said, pointing with his index finger at the black card. "That's our number."

"Gotcha."

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

"It seems like they are gone." Ishida pointed out, staring at Haru as he remained motionless, staring at the card in his hands.

"Yeah..." Haru agreed, pocketing the card with care as he made up his mind, he would be calling them tomorrow.

"Should we call it a night?" Ishida inquired, holding his stare. "I'm not sure what that was all about, but I would imagine there's a lot of things in your mind right now."

"Nah, I'm good." Haru said, pushing back all those thoughts filling his mind. They had some hunting to do, after all. "Besides…"

"I am not one to pass on a free meal." He finished, turning to face the pieces of the hollow scattered around the area.

"...?" Ishida blinked, following his companion's steps as they approached it. "You can even absorb those that are dead?"

"Yup." Haru replied. "I don't get all that much from corpses though, less than half of the usual amount of… What was it called again? Rei…-"

"Reishi." Ishida finished for him.

"Yeah, that." He knelt near the head of the hollow, placing a hand on top of its shattered mask as his tattoo was covered with a bright, green light.

"I see."

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

[Four hours later]

"..." Haru stared at the clock, resting on his bed as he tried in vain to force himself to sleep.

It had been a good night hunting with Ishida, the more the both of them fought, the more they realized they made a decent duo.

Ishida's long ranged attacks and Haru's willingness to fight at melee range with them made for one hell of a combination.

As proof, the duo had managed to hunt no less than three hollows in a matter of hours, a record number for them both.

"Damn it… It's no good." He buried his head on his pillow as a frustrated groan escaped his lips, irritated at his mind's refusal to rest.

Doubts filled him as he picked up the black card from his desk, his free hand unlocking his phone.

'Should I give them a call…? I didn't wanna seem desperate, so I wanted to wait for a while before calling them.'

He gave the card a hard, silent stare. Should he…?

"Fuck it."

'0… 1… 2… 0.' One by one, he dialled each number inscribed on the card.

He placed his phone near his ear, listening in as the familiar sound of someone picking up on the other side of the line reached him.

"You have reached Xcution." A voice greeted him, female and somehow robotic sounding in equal parts.

"This number is unregistered." The voice carried on, a preprogrammed recording, no doubt. "Are you a new member?"

"...?" He blinked, the sudden question catching him off guard. Was it really an automated voice message?

"Please state your name."

"Haru Miyagawa."

"Mr. Haru Miyagawa?" Again, he listened in silence as the voice repeated his name flawlessly.

"We have been expecting your call." He breathed a sigh of relief, it looked like he had not scared them off by calling so soon.

"Welcome to Xcution."

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

Naruki City, West of Karakura Town.

'Isn't this just a dilapidated apartment complex?' Haru's thoughts weren't quite so optimistic upon reaching the agreed location.

Standing alone, he faced the group of apartments and checked the message he had received on his phone.

'This is the right address.' He assured himself. 'It looks like shit though…'

The building itself was in shambles, the walls, the stairs, hell, even the elevator, it all was in need of some serious maintenance.

"Hey."

He turned around, facing the voice that had reached him from behind. It sounded familiar enough, and unless he was mistaken…

"Ginjō." Haru said, staring at the man in question as both of them greeted each other, coming to a stop in the middle of the street.

"You got here right on time." Ginjō noted, taking out his phone as he checked the time just to be sure. "Follow me."

"Roger." Haru replied, walking right behind him as he tried to contain his excitement. If things went well, he would learn a lot about Fullbringers, about himself.

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

The duo stepped out of the elevator in unison, making a turn to the right as they arrived at their destination.

Haru stared at the average looking apartment door, not one thing making it stand out from the rest aside from the fact it had a swipe card access system installed.

"You brought the card, right?" His companion inquired, and the teen nodded in response as he took it out from his pocket. "Good. Use it."

"..." Haru complied, sliding the card on the scanner. As soon as it was unlocked, he pushed it open.

"So, what do you think?" Ginjō asked, smirking as both of them walked inside the apartment. "Not bad, right?"

"..." Haru looked from left to right, scanning the room with his orbs. "Isn't this a little too big for an apartment…?"

To Haru's right, a bar that must have been half the size of a small apartment greeted his sight, with all sorts of drinks and beverages filling it.

To his left, all kinds of expensive furniture was scattered around the room to fill the huge space left inside this one single room.

"I'd hope so." Ginjō said as he walked in the room, resting on a couch as he made himself comfortable. "We demolished five apartments to the left and right adjacent to this one, and three rooms above as well."

Ginjō signaled Haru to sit on the couch in front of him, and the teen complied with a short nod as he took a seat.

"That must have cost a fortune." Haru said, eyeing the man as he spoke. "You all are rich or something like that?"

"Hmh." The man replied, resting his back on the couch. "Something like that."

"..." Haru's glance traveled around the room once again, looking for something, or rather, someone.

"Tsukishima isn't here." Ginjō stated, somehow being able to guess what the teen was thinking. "Most of us don't sleep here."

"Most of us?" Haru inquired, leaning in closer as his curiosity skyrocketed. "You mean there's more than just three of us?"

"Ha." Ginjō laughed, amused at the idea. "We wouldn't be much of an organization if that was the case. Yes, there are more of us."

"There's some of us that like to crash here every so often. Jackie, Riruka, myself even."

"Naturally, you'll get to meet them in due time, but most of them are sleeping in the mansion as of right now." He said, his finger landing on the cross resting on his neck.

"Enough of that though, I believe it's time for some explanations."

Haru smiled, a little too eager to find out more, not just about them, but about himself. Depending on what Ginjō had to share, it could prove to be life-changing for him.

"Well, let's start with stating the obvious. I alongside some of the other members, have been observing you."

"You have been stalking me?" Haru asked, finding the thought of having someone observe him without him noticing them more than a little unnerving.

"I'd prefer if we referred to it as 'scouting', it does have a fancy ring to it, after all. Besides, it's not like we can afford to let just anyone in on our organization."

'Alright, that does sound reasonable enough.' Haru thought, opting to remain silent as he listened to what the man had to say.

"That's besides the point, though." Ginjō added, moving onto a different topic as he continued messing around with his cross. "Like I said before, all of us here are what is known as a Fullbringer."

"From our 'scouting', I think it's safe to establish that you have learned enough about your own capabilities, but just to be sure…"

"In general terms, it allows us to manipulate the souls that reside in all physical matter. Additionally, we all have unique abilities exclusive to the individual, that is what we call a Fullbring."

"For example…" Ginjo's finger grasped the cross on his neck with force, green sparks illuminating the dim room as the cross began morphing.

The sound of something heavy hitting the floor filled the room, echoing on the big apartment as the green light vanished.

"..." Haru stared in awe at the massive sword that had materialized itself out of nothing into the room.

'No, it didn't materialize out of nothing.' He corrected his own thoughts, reaching for the blade as he tried touching it. 'It was from that cross.'

"Careful." Ginjō warned, his grip tightening on his sword as he lifted it from the floor, revealing the huge dent it had left on it. 'It's quite sharp."

"Cross of Scaffold." He said, pointing to the sword as the occasional spark of green illuminated the room. "That's its name, the name of my Fullbring."

"That's sick." Haru whistled, honestly, conjuring a sword into existence from a cross? That sounded almost too cool to be true.

"Right?" Ginjo sported a huge grin on his face as he replied, lifting his sword as if weighted nothing.

"Us Fullbringers are able to create our Fullbring from an object that we have a particularly strong emotional attach…"

"GINJOOOOOO!"

A scream pierced their ears, one loud enough to have the two of them jumping out of their couches in an instant.

"COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE ANY LOUDER!? IT'S FIVE IN THE MORNING!"

"Riruka! What's the big idea!?" Ginjō regained his composure first, scowling as he turned around to face the direction of the noise.

"That's my line!"

Haru, still somewhat agitated from the sheer force behind the scream, followed Ginjō's gaze with his own.

There, he found it, he found the culprit behind that heaven piercer screech. A monster, no doubt, some sort of unholy beast…

"A girl." Haru stated in a blank tone, rubbing his eyes as he spoke. "A girl wearing a bunny pajama."

The girl in question stood there on the stairs, sporting some eccentric looking red hair tied into pigtails, arms crossed as she spoke.

"I said, what's the big idea?" The girl repeated, walking one step closer to Ginjō as her scowl deepened. "I can't sleep with all that noise! You want me to get bags under my eyes due to lack of sleep!? Is that what you want, huh!?"

"Bite me." Speaking through gritted teeth, Ginjō turned to face Haru as he tried his best to ignore the new arrival. "Well… You were bound to meet her regardless, so I suppose it's better to get this over with."

"That." Ginjō said, pointing a finger at the redhead as she looked positively confused. "Is Riruka Dokugamine."

"Wait." Riruka interjected before either of them could speak.

Raising a hand, she removed her pajama's hoodie from her head to clear her view.

"Who are you talking to?" The redhead asked, looking from left to right with a suspicious look. "Is someone here? It's too dark, I can't see. Turn on the lights!"

"Is she having a laugh?" Haru whispered to Ginjō, not sure what to make of the girl. "Isn't she a little old for these sorts of jokes?"

"Don't mind her." Ginjō told him, illuminating the room for an instant as green light covered his sword, morphing it back into his cross. "She is blind as all hell."

The teen's gaze landed on the sword, focusing his attention on the process, witnessing it for a second time.

"Ah." Haru replied to him nonetheless, he had assumed she was messing with him by pretending he wasn't there. "Makes sense."

"..." The room remained illuminated for a solid three or four additional seconds, more than enough time for the redhead to get a good look at -as far as she was concerned- the intruder.

"..." Then, just as soon as the room had ignited in that bright green light, it vanished, leaving it submerged in darkness once again.

A long, lasting silence filled the room.

"W-Who…"?" Riruka began, hesitating a little as she broke the silence before it got even more awkward. "Who is he?"

'It's a good thing the room is so dark.' Riruka thought, pulling her hoodie on top of her head again so as to cover her face.

After all, the sudden heat in her cheeks made it clear to her that she was blushing. A lot.

'But why, though?' Riruka thought. Embarrassment? Well, that was a part of it, sure.

Having a complete stranger see her in her bunny pajamas was quite embarrassing, after all.

Also, the fact that the complete stranger happened to be a rather good looking individual didn't help.

"Ask him." Ginjō replied, shrugging his shoulders. "We might as well get the introductions done. You two are gonna be working together for a while, after all."

"Huh?" / "W-Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? He needs to awaken his Fullbring, so we are gonna need you to use Dollhouse."

"Oh, that's right…" Riruka trailed off, though she did not seem all that displeased with the idea. "I guess I could."

"Yeah, about that…" For the third time in less than a handful of meetings, a green light ignited in the room.

Ginjō and Riruka turned to face Haru in unison, the source of the green light being no other than him.

"You…" Ginjō began, but the sentence never left his mouth as words left him.

In between the grasp of Haru's hands, something laid trapped by his fingers, something that wasn't there before.

A sword, medieval looking, knightly even, filled with so many intricate details it was a little bit astonishing.

The pommel captured his sight first, its striking golden color feeling almost magnetical, then, he focused on the grip, ivory with a red cross inscribed on it.

However, what was perhaps the most interesting of it all was its guard, gold plated in its entirety.

When compared to a modern sword, it looked like something far more suited to a medieval noble, or king.

"Is something the problem?" Haru smirked, a cocky grin in his face as pride filled his chest. The astonished look on their faces was nothing short of priceless to him.

From what little information he had learnt during their conversation, he figured something like this should have been possible.

From what Haru could guess, his 'special object' with which he had a personal attachment to was his tattoo.

It stood to reason then that he would be able to make it morph, much like Ginjō had done with his cross. Right?

If he had witnessed it just once, it would have proven far more difficult to replicate; but seeing Ginjō summoning and sealing it was enough..

"You… You did it?" Ginjō managed to sound confused and amazed at the same time, if such a thing was even possible.

"He did not." Riruka said, disbelief written all over her features.

"I did." Haru replied.

"You did not." She repeated in denial, this time just a little louder. "You. Did. Not."

"Cute pajamas."

"DON'T LOOK!"

End of chapter eleven.