Oh, crap.
Not many things were running through my head when I heard my parents pull into the driveway.
I really need to learn to think on my feet.
But even if I could think on my feet, what was I supposed to do with three supposed shinigami in my house? Especially when one was a guy and one was an older woman, neither of which my parents knew. My parents might be okay with the fact that Rukia was here, because they loved Rukia, but I wasn’t supposed to have anybody over at all when my parents were away. So this wasn’t exactly going to go well.
While I was sitting there stupidly thinking this through, Ichigo, Yoruichi, and Rukia were running around like maniacs. Or Ichigo and Rukia were, anyway. Before I knew what was happening, I heard the back door slam as Ichigo and Rukia ran out of the house, and felt something furry rub against my leg.
Yoruichi jumped into my lap, back in cat form. I looked around frantically for clothes to hide, but there weren’t any. Apparently Yoruichi’s clothes had morphed with her. I sighed in defeat.
I should really stop trying to understand what’s going on.
“Stick to the plan,” Yoruichi instructed me.
I jumped. Her voice was surprisingly male. “I thought you were a girl!” I blabbered. “I mean…you are a girl. Why do you sound like a guy?! You’re a girl!”
Yoruichi made a strange huffing noise, which I could only assume was the cat version of a sigh. “Focus, Masako. The plan. Stick to the plan.”
“The plan? What plan?”
Yoruichi huffed again. “I’m a cat, Ichigo’s going to come pick me up…”
“Oh. Right. The plan. Okay. I can do that.”
I heard the doorknob jiggling as my parents tried to unlock the door. You had to jiggle it a lot just to get the key to fit in. That meant my parents would be coming in the house any second. I could do this. As much as I hated to admit it, I was a very good liar. One last frantic glance around the room…no “shinigami” evidence.
What does shinigami evidence even look like, anyway?
The door finally burst open.
Show time.
“Masako!” my mom called. “We’re home!” She floated into the kitchen, a purse hooked on her arm, leaving my dad to stumble along behind her with the bags.
“Hi,” I said calmly, forcing a smile. I began to pet Yoruichi just for something to do. I wasn’t sure she liked it that much, but as long as she was going to play along, there wasn’t all that much she could do about it.
She mumbled something in return, before turning to pull a low-fat high-fiber yogurt from the fridge. My dad, however, dumped the bags in the middle of the kitchen floor and came over to give me a hug, and was therefore the first to notice the cat. He leaned down in front of my chair. “Where’d you get the cat?” he asked, fondling Yoruichi behind the ears. Even she looked like she enjoyed that. I gulped opening my mouth to answer.
Before I even begun, my mother was shrieking. She had finally started paying attention to me, and to what was going on. It wasn’t exactly a good thing, in my opinion. “You brought a cat in here? You know I hate them! The freakish little things are disgusting! Get it out of my house.” Without another word, my mother went back to slurping down her yogurt. Apparently, she considered the “problem” to be resolved.
This is why we don’t get along.
Yoruichi merely flicked her tail, but I could feel her tensing up underneath my hands, and I didn’t blame her. My mother could be cruel.
My dad glanced at her, his eyes hard. His lips tightened into a thin line, but he didn’t say anything.
“I know, I know,” I said quickly, hoping to keep myself out of trouble before I even got to tell my story. It wasn’t worth it, anyway. “Ichigo’s gonna come take the cat back to his house for his sisters. He just asked me to hold onto it for a night.”
Yoruichi’s claws dug into my leg, and I winced. I don’t think she enjoyed being called “it”. I hoped Ichigo and Rukia would show up soon.
“Too bad we can’t keep her,” my dad murmured wistfully. Yoruichi began to purr. My dad had always had a way with animals, and he had a soft spot for cats. He had had two of his own, but had chosen to give them up when he married my mother. I wasn’t sure if that represented the very best part of love…or the worst.
After being stared down by my overly-perfumed mother for a good ten minutes, there was a knock on the door. I had never known the sound of bone against wood could sound so good to me. I jumped up quickly. Yoruichi leapt off my lap and sprinted towards the door, but not before rubbing up against my father’s legs gratefully. He smiled sadly, watching her run after me, apparently not finding it strange that a cat I had had for only a night followed me around. I pulled the door open hastily, trying my best to stay calm. I still had a lot of questions, and Ichigo, Rukia, and Yoruichi still had a lot of explaining to do. I had every right to be freaking out.
“Hi, Masako-chan!” Rukia chirped happily, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Rukia really was laying it on thick. But then again, I was in no position to criticize, because I had fallen for it for all this time.
“Hey, Rukia, Ichigo,” I greeted them in an upbeat voice. My shoulders were hunched over, and I looked up at the two from between my long bangs. Ichigo, hovering just behind Rukia, grinned at me wickedly. He could tell that I was freaked out from all that had happened in just an hour, and I knew Rukia could too, even if she wasn’t showing it. My eye twitched. I would have liked to slap that grin right off of Ichigo’s face, but I didn’t have the energy, and I knew my parents were hovering. So I just picked up Yoruichi, who was watching the three of us with her usual amusement twinkling in her golden eyes, and handed her to Ichigo. “Here you are, Ichigo,” I said in a forcefully cheery voice.
“Thanks,” Ichigo said, taking her from my arms in a surprisingly gentle way for someone of his size and horrible temper. Rukia nudged him rather pointedly in the ribs, nodding her head towards me. I shivered involuntarily. For a just moment, I had seen the basilisk in her eyes. She was all business.
Why can’t Rukia just pick a personality?
“Oh, by the way,” Ichigo said rather awkwardly. If he hadn’t had Yoruichi in his arms, he probably would have been scratching the back of his head, as per usual. “Rukia and I are…erm…we’re going…out to lunch. Do you want to come?”
I have never met a worse liar in my life.
Rukia rolled her eyes, apparently thinking the same thing I was. I nodded and shouted back into the house that I was leaving. I hate staying in the house when mom’s home, anyway, I thought as I stepped out into the sun. As soon as I shut the door, Rukia informed Ichigo matter-of-factly, “You’re a terrible liar.” Without another word, she turned and strode towards the street. I chuckled, following closely behind her.
“What?!” Ichigo snapped angrily, catching up with us.
Yoruichi jumped to the ground, padding alongside me. “Don’t be naïve, Ichigo,” she told him, laughter causing her voice to catch. “it’s pretty obvious that you don’t know how to lie.”
“It’s not all that easy!” he grumbled defensively. “Do you want to try?”
“I will,” Rukia said. “Watch.” Rukia’s eyes were cold and flat, but I could swear I saw a glimmer of amusement. And…something else, something I couldn’t place. But she kept it well hidden, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and looking him directly in the eye. “Ichigo, you are the smartest, coolest, most efficient and admirable being that I have ever encountered.” She glared at him, silently daring him to challenge her ability.
I burst out laughing. Ichigo scowled at the ground and started walking again, his face a bright red. “Damn, Rukia,” he growled. He was awarded with a proud smirk, and Yoruichi purred her amusement.
I didn’t ask where we were going, and nobody offered up the information. Which was fine by me. I could use a few minutes to relax and forget all the weird stuff that had happened.
We walked in silence for a few minutes, and the wind tugged at my hair. I felt like a third wheel. Ichigo and Rukia walked close together, shooting angry glares at one another when they thought no one was looking. And…well, it was still hard to think of a cat as a person.
We veered off the street suddenly, making our way over to a small traditional-looking shop. I well-kept wooden porch led smoothly to the rice screen door, in pristine condition. It all seemed so serene and peaceful, as if nothing bad or weird ever happened here.
Hell, was I wrong.
The rice screen slid open with a bang. “Yoruichi-san!” A strangely dressed man exclaimed. “You’ve come back to me!” Yoruichi made a strange growling noise.
Was this who she had been hiding from when she came to my house as a cat?
“I’m still mad at you, Kisuke,” she told him. “ This just happens to be more important than you.” Yoruichi shot into the blackness of the store, leaving the man to pull his fan from his robe.
Kisuke. Yup, this is him.
His robe was a dull black, which he wore it open to reveal olive pajama-style pants and a matching loose shirt. He sported traditional wooden sandals and a black-and-white striped hat, covering his blond hair and hooding his eyes.
Creepy.
“So, Kurosaki-san, Kuchiki-san,” his hooded eyes flickered to me, “This is Hashimoto-san, I presume?”
I looked up in surprise, my eyes searching his face. “How did you know that?”
He simply chuckled. “You’ll learn soon enough, Hashimoto-san, that I have my ways. Now come in, all three of you, we have plenty to talk about.”
