Chapter eight: Bread.

Chapter eight.

"Ishida." He introduced himself, and he walked closer to me. "Ishida Uryū."

"Hm…" I nodded at his words, making sure to remember his name. I expected the two of us to see much of each other in the near future. "Then, Ishida… You are the one who's been taking care of these things?"

"I could ask that same question." Ishida replied, closing the gap between us as he stood near the small crater. "From what I have seen, I think it's safe to assume you have been dealing with your fair share of them."

"Yeah, I have." I rolled up my left sleeve, then placed the palm of my hand on top of the monster. "I'll be dealing with this one, as well."

I focused on the hollow, on its presence, its strength. Yes, this thing… It belonged to me, all of it, I wouldn't waste even a little bit of its presence, it was all mine.

I smirked when it began shining, covered in a green light as it began breaking down into small, miniscule particles.

"…!?" I heard Ishida scream something next to me, but I couldn't quite catch what he said, I was too focused on something else.

From the infinite amount of particles surrounding me, an innumerable amount of them began to rotate, and mere seconds after, the particles got pulled towards me.

I couldn't help but laugh, it's difficult to explain the experience, but I just never seem to get tired of it.

It is such a great sensation in fact, I couldn't even remember at what point it had turned into an addiction of sorts.

"You… Y-You absorbed it?" I heard Ishida mutter, and I just gave him an odd look as I turned to face him. Wasn't this normal for him?

"What? You did the exact same thing before, I saw it." I stated, had I somehow done something strange? "You gathered the particles around the air and absorbed them to fire that arrow."

"That's… That's different!" Ishida argued back, he seemed to be quite sure of his stance as well. "Us Quincys collect the Reishi around the atmosphere to create our spiritual weapons, but…"

"Alright… You're gonna have to stop there." I told him, raising a hand up as I dusted my clothes off. "You are not making a whole lot of sense. Quincys? Reishi? I have never heard of any of that."

Perhaps I had misjudged his powers? When I saw him manipulating particles I assumed he was doing the same thing I do.

"Huh?" Ishida stammered back, it seemed as if whatever I had told him came as a shock to him. Weird. "You don't even know that? How is that even possible…?"

"You mind explaining, then?" I told him, feeling a little frustrated all of a sudden. Yoruichi and Urahara hadn't mentioned a thing about this.

Could it be that both of them had assumed I was aware of it? I mean, I'll admit, it is a bit weird to manipulate something I don't even understand.

"I… I guess I can." The kid said to me as he fixed his glasses again. "Perhaps that will help me understand what's happening as well. This isn't a good place for that, though."

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

"Oh." I mused on the information I had just learned. It all made sense, the particles, the 'presence' I felt. "Reishi, is it?"

I asked him again, pondering on the new terms I had just learned. According to him, Reishi is the term to refer to those particles, spirit particles to be precise.

"You understand, then? It might seem the same, but it isn't. I make use of the Reishi around the air, but to assimilate it?" Ishida said, jumping onto another roof as we spoke. "It's unheard of, as far as I know."

"Hm… I mean, is it that big of a deal?" I inquired, jumping after him as I thought of a response. "I'm sure there has got to be others like me."

It took us a while to get me to understand the basics, but it all made so much more sense now, it wasn't even funny.

"If they exist, I have never heard of them before." Ishida told me, it was a little disheartening to learn he wasn't like me. "Your absorption, how does it work? Is it permanent?"

"Well, I think so…?" I replied, scratching my head as I came to a stop on top of a specific group of buildings, an apartment complex, to be precise. "No idea, to be honest. It all just sorta happens."

"That's…" Ishida tried to reply, but I interrupted him as I jumped down from the, and he followed me a second after.

"I must say, this conversation was rather enlightening, but…" I told him as I walked past the different apartment doors, I had someone to meet after all. I turned towards him as I got in front of a specific door, offering him a half-smile as I glanced at him. "I need to meet someone, so… Until next time?"

"You still haven't answered my questions, though…" Ishida said with a sigh, though he nodded in response regardless. "Fine, it doesn't matter. I'll get those answers some other time."

"I'm just selfish like that." I replied with a grin, knocking on the door as he turned around to leave. "You'll see me again soon enough."

Ishida left, I had no need to look back at the spot he had been standing in to be able to tell that.

His presence, no, his 'spiritual pressure' as Ishida had explained it, had vanished. It's useful to know these terms, at last!

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

"..." Haru waited in silence, his arms crossed as he stared at the door. It had been a while since he had last seen her, but a few hours ago she had contacted him at last.

Nothing much other than a shy invitation to hang out, but still, it was something. That invitation was all he needed.

It had been quite a productive day all things considered, but there was still something that required his attention.

What was the 'thing' that required attention? Well, the spirit that had just phased through the door almost as if there was nothing there.

Haru and the spirit met for the first time with no one around to interrupt, eyes locked onto each other as silence reigned.

"I have been looking forward to this." Sora broke the silence, his gaze still fixated on the teenager as he levitated closer.

"..." Haru's demeanor turned apathetic in an instant, his distaste for these wandering spirits was one thing that remained unchanged.

"You can see me, I know that." Sora stated, moving so close it would have made most flinch. "I think it's safe to assume you should be able to hear me as well. Which in turn, leaves me pondering a rather interesting question… Why is he ignoring me?"

"I don't like spirits." Haru spoke for the first time, his statement making Sora turn silent as the teen walked a step closer. "Even in death, some souls still can't help but do nothing but harm."

"What does that…? I haven't harmed a single soul!" Sora's response was immediate, his tone defensive as he carried on talking. "I have not moved from her side, not once!"

"That's the point." Haru countered, anger flashing through his face as his spiritual pressure rose. "You are dead, time to move the fuck on. I can tell from just a glance, you still remain oblivious to it."

"Oblivious…?" The spirit shifted back, both from the teen's outburst and from the sudden pressure threatening to push him down. "I don't understand… Oblivious about what?"

'I am assuming she isn't coming out soon.' Haru thought, shifting his glance towards the door. 'She must be doing something.'

"She is in the bathroom." The spirit was able to track his glance and guess what the teen was thinking about, so he eased his concerns.

"I see." Haru replied, extending his hand as he took a firm hold on the chain coming out of the spirit's chest. "That's good."

Sora hissed in pain, the sudden contact and the pull he felt from the spot becoming unbearable to him.

"S-Stop that…"

"It's shorter." Haru commented, the mere statement managing to silence the spirit's protests. "You hadn't noticed it?"

"You have lost around two or three links, perhaps a little more than that." The teen carried on with his explanation, releasing the chain at last. "Here's a question then. What do you think will happen when the corrosion reaches the chest?"

"..." Sora's silence was all the answer Haru needed, much like he had said, the spirit was oblivious to it.

"What's that? No answer?" Haru took another step towards the spirit, and the spirit took a step back in response. "Well, here's the answer. You'll become a monster, a wretched beast that devours souls for the fun of it."

"You will devour her first, I have seen it before." Haru declared, controlling himself as to not risk raising his voice further. "You spirits are nothing but walking time bombs, hanging around loved ones until the timer runs out."

"..." The silence that followed lasted no less than an entire minute, perhaps even longer than that.

Sora's expression had become vacant, the revelation hitting him so hard he didn't even make the attempt to try and refute it.

"I was planning on hanging around until that moment came." His green orbs seemed to shine brighter for an instant as he kept on talking, mesmerizing the spirit. "I would have dealt with the problem, of course."

"I care about the living, there's no way to save the dead, anyway." Haru's gaze landed on the chain again. "However… Recent events might have changed that."

Sora's vacant gaze met the teen's green irises, a sudden spark of hope feeling him as he listened to his words.

"You'll have to wait for that, though." Haru announced, his mind going back to the recent revelation of the existence of the so-called 'shinigami'. "You'll know when it's time."

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

"Aaaahnff." I stared in silence, the cuteness of the scene threatening to bring a smile to my lips. "Shoooo good!"

It had been about seven minutes since I had finished the tense talk with Sora, and sometime after that, Orihime opened the door.

I had half-expected our meeting to take an awkward turn the moment I took a seat, but that hadn't been the case at all.

She had been expecting me with a meal consisting of a giant pile of bread amongst a lot of stuff I could not even recognize, greeting me with a welcoming smile.

"..." I watched in amusement as she picked up an entire loaf of bread and took a bite out of it. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

It reminded me of mom a little bit, she was quite the bread enthusiast herself, back home bread is justice. Not kidding.

"Ish shomething…?" Orihime gulped her bread, realizing how even she couldn't understand what she was saying. "

"Easy there." I warned her, smiling at her antics as I watched her annihilate enough bread to feed the entire population of pigeons in Karakura in a matter of seconds. "The bread isn't about to make an escape, no need to rush."

Orihime nodded cutely, but she still made no attempt to slow down as she picked up another defenseless piece of bread from a plate.

"You know…" I began. As much as I found it hilarious watching her devour bread like there was no tomorrow, I wanted to talk about something with her.

Sensing like something important was about to be said, she put her bread down as I stared at the ceiling.

"Yesh…?" She still chewed on the breed regardless, cute.

"I have been doing some thinking." I told her, feeling her stare as I tried to verbalize what I had been thinking about. "Your uh… Distant aunt. Have you heard from her?"

"Mhmh…" Orihime munched on the bread, her gaze landing on a picture on the wall as she spoke. "She's still sending money."

'That's not what I asked, though…' I thought, suppressing a sigh as I managed to keep smiling.

I could infer from her words that her aunt had not been calling her all that much other than for dealing with some financial issues.

"But she hasn't visited, right?" I pressed, I didn't want to ruin the mood but if she was spending most of her time alone, well, I had an idea or two in mind to deal with that.

"No, she hasn't."

"You could come to have some meals with us sometime, then." I told her, better to just spit it out and get it over with. I hated beating around the bush. "It's just mom and I back home, so it's not like it would be a problem."

"..."

"..." I stared at her, and she stared back. For some reason, I never seem to be able to tell what she's thinking.

"You mean that?" Her words reached me, the silence broken at last as I released a sigh of pure relief.

"I do, I talked to her about it before." I confessed, I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise, of course. "Mom is a nutcase but she has a good heart. You'll get along fine."

"... Plus, she loves bread as well." I added with a smile, taking a bite out of one of the strange looking meals she had prepared.

It tastes good, actually.

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

[One day later.]

'This should be the address.' Ichigo thought, knocking on the door as he held the package in his left hand.

He felt a little bit of the tension leave him as he waited for the door to open, he wasn't quite sure how his talk with Haru could go.

'Should I just ask him about it…? Yeah right.' Ichigo thought with a frown, asking him whether he could see spirits or not out of nowhere would get him kicked out in an instant.

Things turned difficult for Ichigo the moment someone answered the door, that 'someone' who answered the door wasn't Haru.

It was a middle-aged woman, filled with all sorts of interesting looking tattoos all over her arms and legs.

'His mom…?' Ichigo thought, Isshin had mentioned something about her, but he couldn't for the life of him remember her name.

"Yes?" The woman asked, her arms resting on her hips as she waited for an answer. It looked like she was in a sour mood.

"I…" The woman's gaze hardened as Ichigo hesitated for a second, and he gulped as he forced himself to answer.

"I'm Isshin's son, Ichigo Kuro…"

"Masaki's son?" Ichigo froze as her mom's name was brought into the equation, but he had no time to digest that information as the woman pulled him inside. "You should have said so earlier!"

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

You know, staring at the ceiling can be quite therapeutic after a heated discussion with your mother.

"I swear…" I complained, It had happened again. Alright, I might have arrived past midnight again, but I had a good reason.

… I just couldn't tell her what that reason was.

"Mom can be so unreasonable sometimes." I pouted as I watched the spirit girl run laps across the room.

"Well, if you ask me…" The spirit began, but I was quick to cut her off mid-sentence.

"Thank god I didn't ask, then." I replied as I waved her off, focusing back on the drawing I was about to finish.

"Meanie." The girl pouted as she levitated near me, it looked like she had forgotten our discussion after I saved her last night.

"Yup." I agreed, and she levitated even closer as she took a look at the drawing.

"Eeeek!" The spirit's shriek made me jump from the seat. I looked back at her, she seemed to be in panic as she distanced herself from me.

"You scared the crap out of me!" I cursed, heart raising as I tried to calm down. That shriek was fucking loud, holy shit.

"T-That thing…" I saw her point at the drawing, her finger shaking as she hid behind the bed. "It's the thing from l-last night."

"So…?" I inquired. Yes, I draw most of the interesting looking hollows I defeat, some of them make for a dope design.

The sudden knock on the door made us both turn towards it. I stood up from the chair, not quite sure why mom would bother knocking.

"It's open." I said, loud enough for her to hear from the other side. The door opened, and the sight that greeted me was not what I was expecting.

"Ichigo…?"

I blinked as Ichigo was pushed inside, mom forcing him inside the room as us two locked gazes.

"Haru, look who's here!" Mom said acting like she had forgotten about their discussion, her mood seemingly restored. "It's Masaki's son, Ichigo! Isn't that lovely?"

"Masaki?" I tilted my head to the side, the foreign name making me throw a questioning glance at Ichigo.

"Wait here! I'll make something nice to eat…!" And just like that, mom vanished from the room as he left me confused as all hell.

"Huh… Talk about a change of mood." I commented, she had been screaming and cursing at me not too long ago. "Sorry about that… Ichigo?"

I paused, following Ichigo's gaze that had remained stuck on a certain occupant in the room.

Ichigo was staring straight at the spirit girl, so much so that it left no room for doubt in my mind, he was staring AT HER.

"Haru… What was that?" The spirit girl asked me, confused at mom's outburst. Ichigo reacted to her words, shifting his gaze towards me with wide eyes.

"..."

"Haru…"

"Ichigo..."

"You can see spirits?" / "Doesn't that wall look nice!?"

End of chapter eight.