"Kensei!" Mashiro sang.
"What?" he asked in annoyance as they walked down the street.
"I'm bored," she whined.
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"
"Something!"
"Shut up! We're almost there anyway."
Mashiro stuck out her lip in a pout. "You're so mean."
The bell to the small grocery store rang, the female at the counter looking over as she was ringing up a customer's purchase. "Hey Mashiro! Kensei!" she called, giving a small wave.
"Ryanne!" Mashiro cried out happily, skipping over. The cashier handed the woman her money before turning to the short girl.
"How are you doing today, Mashiro?"
"Alright, but Kensei's being a butthead."
"I am not!" he snapped from where he was gathering food for the other Vizards.
Ryanne laughed, shaking her head. "Give the guy a break, Mashiro.
"You should listen to Ryanne more," Kensei grumbled, yet smirking.
Mashiro pouted, sticking out her foot as Kensei walked by. The man tripped, spilling all of his contents on the floor. He glared over at his ex-Lieutenant. "You are so dead," he growled.
"Hey! No fighting in the store or my boss will have my head," Ryanne pointed out, heating up a customer's microwaveable dish. Kensei sighed, gathering up the food again and putting it on the counter. "Anything else?"
"Hopefully not," he said, fishing through his wallet for money.
The cashier's green eyes snapped to a corner of the room where four kids were huddled together around some candy. "Hey!" she yelled, startling them. "Steal one piece of that candy and you won't be coming back in here any time soon."
Kensei's eyes flicked between Ryanne and the kids. When she had yelled at them the air had become a bit heavier, and it made the ex-Captain observe the young woman in front of him.
"Y-Y-Yes, ma'am," they answered before scrambling out of the store.
Ryanne sighed in defeat before gracing her friends with a smile again. Kensei shrugged it off, thinking that it had been a fluke.
Mashiro continued to talk to her about what was going on 'at home' while Ryanne gathered their change, explaining the last humorous thing that had happened. Ryanne, her name literally meant 'laughing', and she always was. Kensei secretly liked the sound, but would never voice it out loud. Especially not to the other Vizards. He would never hear the end of it.
"Was Ryan there today?" Rose asked when Kensei and Mashiro returned.
"Yeah!" Mashiro exclaimed happily. "Lisa, Rose, Ryanne says there's a new comic book store opening in the area."
"Really?" Lisa asked in interest.
"Feh, did you drool over her Kensei?" Hiyori asked from where she sat. "Or did you do something really stupid to make yourself look like an idiot?"
A vein pulsed on Kensei's forehead. "Shut it, Hiyori." The short girl scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Such a shame I did not come with you," Shinji spoke, looking up at the ceiling from where he lay on the floor. "After all, she is my first love." That comment was followed with Hiyori smacking Shinji in the head with a sandal.
"Uh, Kensei, where's the Pocky?" Love asked.
It was silent in the room before the man grumbled, "Damn it." Sighing he went into the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich. "You're just going to have to live without it."
Hiyori's feet slammed into Kensei's back, sending the ex-Captain flying through the air into a wall. "How could you forget the Pocky?" she yelled.
"Listen you little snot it's not my problem!" Kensei retorted. "Why couldn't Mashiro remember it?"
"Because I was talking with Ryanne," Mashiro answered.
The man growled in irritation.
"You know that if you don't go out and get it you'll hear about it all night," Shinji spoke lazily.
Kensei cried out in frustration, heading for the door. "Ooo! I'm coming too!" Mashiro announced.
The ex-Captain snapped around, glaring at the girl. "No! You're staying here!" He then left the building.
"Back again I see," Ryanne grinned as Kensei muttered some colorful words under his breath.
"I forgot something and Hiyori is giving me hell, while Mashiro is giving me a headache."
"Aw, they mean well. Hey, does Hiyori hate me or something?"
It's because you're a human, Kensei wanted to say. He shrugged in response. "Hiyori hates everyone. It's hard to get on her good side... Actually, I don't even know if she has one."
The young woman laughed in response, ringing up the order. "Well, you got here just in time. I'm about to close up." Kensei looked around, realizing the shop was empty. "I just hope I'll make the bus. Most of the time I end up missing it because it's supposed to arrive the same time I shut down."
Kensei cocked an eyebrow. "What do you do if it's not there?"
"I walk home," she answered, handing him the bag and turning off the register. "It's only a few miles, so I don't mind."
"It's not safe to be walking around at night by yourself."
"I do it all the time."
Kensei sighed. This human was a mystery to him. "At least let me walk you to the bus top tonight to make sure you get on."
"Well, if you insist-"
"I do."
Ryanne giggled. "Alright, Kensei. Let me just grab my stuff from the back and turn off the lights. Then we can go."
He nodded, walking towards the door. The lights went out a few seconds later and Ryanne shifted the shoulder bag before making her way to the front. With the help of the streetlights, she could see the outline of Kensei's figure near the front window. "Ready to go?" she asked, fishing for the store keys to lock up. Ryanne glanced over when she realized Kensei had not answered. "Kensei?"
"Shh," he ordered, glaring out into the street.
Ryanne was very quiet as she slowly made her way towards him. "What's wrong?"
"Something's out there," he spoke lowly.
"What?" her voice spoke softer.
Kensei was silent, his gaze roaming over the empty street outside. His eyes then widened before whirling around, yelling, "Get down!" The ex-Captain lunged through the air, slamming into Ryanne's figure and forcing them to the floor. During the fall the storefront windows exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere. An unknown force crushed in the doorway making it crumble to the ground.
Ryanne's head cracked against the floor, dazing her for a few seconds before she tried scrambling up. However, Kensei's arms were locked around her waist, keeping the human in place. She managed to look over his shoulder, eyes widening at the damage. "What the heck was that?" she yelled. Then she spotted something. It was a little hazy, but in front of the store stood the outline of a large being. A horrible cry ripped through the air, sending shivers up Ryanne's spine.
Kensei jumped to his feet, dragging Ryanne up with him. "Come on!" he yelled, pulling her towards the back of the store. As they ran the shelves of food were knocked over and ripped up from the floor. "Did you lock the back door?"
"Yes!"
He didn't stop running, only picking up speed before slamming his side into the door and ripping it out of place. Ryanne's eyes widened even more. "How did you do that? It was locked-!"
"Later!" Kensei interrupted, throwing the young woman onto his back. "We need to get out of here!"
Ryanne wrapped both arms around his neck, legs around his waist. As Kensei sprinted forward his arms locked around the human's legs, holding her in place. "What was that thing back there?" Ryanne asked, trying not to shout in his ear. "It destroyed the store! My boss is gonna kill me!"
"Right now, your life is on the line and all you can think about is the store?" Kensei asked, running faster and hoping Ryanne would not catch on.
"I'll be dead anyway when my boss sees what happened!" Another cry ripped through the air. "What the heck is that sound?"
"You can hear it?"
"Of course, I can! How can you not?" Ryanne looked over a shoulder, seeing the hazy figure approaching. "It's coming!"
"You can see it?"
"Barely, but what is it?"
Kensei pushed off the ground, veering to the right as the ground behind them turned into a crater, caused by their pursuer. "I'll explain later, but right now we need get you to safety!"
"Kensei!" a voice called out when they entered the warehouse district. The man slid to a stop, looking up to see Mashiro standing on a roof. "Hi, Ryanne!" she called waving. "What are you doing here?"
"Mashiro, there's a Hollow!" Kensei called out. "Now is not the time for greetings!"
The man jumped out of the way as a fist came down, Ryanne's hold on him tightening. "Oi, Kensei!" another voice sounded. The thing roared in pain as Ryanne and Kensei looked over to see Shinji and Hiyori standing behind them, zanpakuto's drawn. "You're getting rusty."
"Shut up, Shinji," the Vizard grumbled.
"Idiot, what's she doing here?" Hiyori asked.
"Ryanne's here because that Hollow is after her."
"Well, that's interesting," Love spoke up, walking forward. "I thought she didn't have spiritual pressure."
"That's what I thought."
"Hey! I'm still here you know!" Ryanne pointed out.
"Open up the barrier Hachi and let them in," Rose said as an orange shield came into focus. Ryanne watched as a doorway opened and Kensei rushed inside a warehouse.
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"Good morning, Ryanne!" Mashiro sang as she waltzed into the room she was borrowing. Ryanne groaned in response, pulling the pillow tighter over her head. "What's wrong?" the green-haired girl asked, plopping down on the side of the mattress.
"My head is killing me," she groaned. "I feel like a hundred little dwarves are driving jackhammers into my skull."
"Where's Ryan?" Lisa asked when Mashiro emerged from the hallway.
"She's not feeling too great," the girl pouted. "Her head is bothering her."
"Feh, it's probably because she can't handle what happened last night," Hiyori spat, rolling her eyes. "I'm telling you; humans are weak."
Shinji threw down his elbow on top of her head. "That's not nice, Hiyori," he pointed out. "She's probably in shock."
Kensei ignored all of the comments, grabbing a bottle of medicine, a glass of water, and an icepack before moving towards his room finding the young woman on his bed. He pulled the pillow off of Ryanne's head, the action making Ryanne's upturned eye pop open to see what was going on. "Sit up. I brought you something that will help that headache of yours."
Ryanne exhaled deeply before sitting Indian style on the edge of the bed. Kensei sat down next to her, handing the young woman the medicine and then the water. When done he handed over the icepack. Her dark orange messy, bed head hair tumbled over both shoulders, giving her a devilish look.
"You okay?" Kensei asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah, I think I hit my head back at the store when you jumped me... I didn't notice it till I woke up this morning."
"Sorry about that," he mumbled.
Ryanne shrugged her shoulders before looking over at him. "It's later, you know."
Kensei sighed, scratching the side of his cheek in thought. "I knew you were going to ask sooner or later... Think you can stay focused with that bump on your head."
The young woman rolled her eyes, a light smile on her lips. "I'll let you know when my brain gets jumbled up from too much information."
Kensei couldn't help but grin back.
They sat in Kensei's room for two hours, Lisa coming in once to give Ryanne some breakfast. During the time they talked Ryanne asked questions when she was confused. Overall, Kensei was surprised how well she handled off the information he had given her. "So, you think I have spiritual pressure?" Ryanne finally asked, setting the icepack beside her.
"A little bit. I noticed it when you got angry with those kids who were trying to steal some candy. You don't have a lot, but your life just got a little more dangerous."
"And you'll be there to protect me, right?" Ryanne asked, lightly laughing.
Kensei rolled his eyes, trying to hide a small blush. "Sure, but how many times do you plan on getting yourself into trouble?"
She laughed a little louder. "Who knows? Maybe all the time just to get you to come to the store." Kensei cocked an eyebrow at the remark. "Oh! That reminds me... I'll have to go into work later and find out what happened. My boss probably died from a heart attack due to shock."
"I think you can borrow some clothes from Lisa. You two are about the same size." She smiled in thanks. "How's your head?"
"It feels better, but I know my headache will be back later with a vengeance."
"Let me see," Kensei said, reaching over.
"Are you a doctor?"
The man rolled his eyes, his hand touching the back of Ryanne's neck and pulling her forward so her head was ducked. "No, but I've dealt with a fair share of injuries."
The ex-Captain lightly touched and examined the bump, making sure there were no cuts. "So what's the verdict, Doc?" Ryanne joked after a few minutes.
Kensei chuckled softly. "Nothing major. Should be gone in a few days."
Ryanne leaned forward, her forehead resting on Kensei's shoulder. His body tensed at first, but soon relaxed. "Thank you," the young woman voiced. "For saving me."
"Anytime," Kensei answered, closing his eyes.
Ryanne turned her head into his neck, breath hitting his skin. It made the man shiver at the feeling, his head ducking, shoulders hunched. "May I thank you... again?" Ryanne asked in a whisper.
Kensei didn't answer as the young woman slowly leaned forward, their eyes closing with each passing second before their lips touched. The two broke, their faces only inches apart before Kensei raised one hand to Ryanne's cheek, guiding her back in. Her arms snaked around his waist, pulling herself closer against his chest. Kensei's hand stayed on her cheek, his thumb lightly caressing the skin.
"Kensei!" Mashiro sang, barging into his room. She found Kensei lying back on his bed, Ryanne tucked into his arm asleep. "How is she?"
"Fine, Mashiro," Kensei answered.
"Hiyori wants to know when she's leaving."
He looked down at Ryanne. "I don't know... not for a while." Mashiro then noticed one of the ex-Captain's arms wrapped around the human's waist. She grinned widely. "Mashiro," Kensei warned, not wanting to wake the sleeping woman.
"Oh fine," Mashiro huffed, pouting. "You spoil all my fun." The ex-Lieutenant then left the room, and smirk coming to Kensei's lips as he bent down and kissed Ryanne's forehead.
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Three Months Later
"Thank you!" Ryanne called, waving to the truck drivers as they left. She then closed the door to her apartment, walking into the living room. "So how does it look?"
Kensei stood up, wiping sweat from his brow. "Everything's in order," he answered.
Since the incident at the store the two had become closer than ever. Ryanne managed to keep her job, and helped repair the store along with Kensei. Eventually the couple decided to move in together. Kensei was happy, one because he was with Ryanne, two because he wouldn't have to listen to Hiyori complain whenever the human came over, and three, Mashiro only visited every other day, which meant he wasn't annoyed as much.
Ryanne grinned at the new furniture that graced the room, coming up behind Kensei. She wrapped her arms around his waist, head resting against an arm. "Looks great." Her arms began to fall, but Kensei caught one of them, spinning her around before lightly pushing her onto the new couch. Ryanne laughed out loud, grinning up at Kensei as he crawled onto the sofa, hovering over her.
"Should we break it in?" he teased.
That caused Ryanne to laugh even more, rolling her eyes. "Down boy."
Kensei grinned, leaning forward and captured her lips. They then moved over to her ear, lightly nibbling on it. "Never change or lose your laugh, Ryanne."
She giggled in response, turning into his lips once again. "Never," she breathed against them before kissing him.
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