We all packed up and left the temple, our clothes soaking and a heavy burden lifted off our chests. All in all, it made for a pretty productive day. 

All was right with the world.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

“AA-CHAN!!!” Kon yelled from seemingly nowhere. I perked at the sound of my name, scanning my surroundings for the source of the cry. I suddenly caught sight of the little moron, now in his stuffed-lion form, rushing towards me in a…frilly dress?

I was suddenly glomped by a little plushie, Kon, grabbing tightly onto my bust, as if letting go would send him to the pits of Hell which, to be honest, is probably where he needed to spend some time, the pervert.

He sniffled. “A-A-CHAN!!” he cried. “T…t-that little demon! She took me and washed me and covered me in this garb! Look at me! I look like Anne of freakin’ Green Gables!!”

I chuckled at his splendor. “You’re so cute, Bostov.”

His eyes bore holes into me. “No…” he said intensely. “Not you, too.”

I laughed, pulling him off my shirt after much protest. I held him up by his arm, the rest of him just dangling in the air. “You want some help?”

His eyes formed anime tears. “Yes!!!”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Okay…I’ll see what I can do.” I carried him to the bedroom where I located some good scissors. I quickly snipped off the girly dress and flower, setting him on the bed. 

“Oh, THANK YOU A-CHAN!!” he tried to glomp me again, but I swiftly punched him away. 

“Not in the mood, idiot,” I called as I walked out of the room. Not that I’d ever be in the mood for him.

I headed downstairs; thankfully it was a peaceful Sunday. No homework to complete, no Hollows to kill (yet). When I reached the bottom of the stairs I took in the scene: Babs, Isshin, and the twins were watching some TV show while Tara and Ichigo were sitting at the dining room table with a book, Tara avidly studying the pages, Ichigo looking extremely bored. I decided to see what was going on with the couple, so I headed to the table. 

“What’s up?” I said as I settled down. Ichigo looked thankful to have a distraction and Tara smiled cheerily. 

“Hey!” She tilted the book up for me to observe. “It’s an astrology book; we were just checking our weekly horoscopes!”

“Really?” That actually sounded somewhat interesting for once! “You’re a Taurus, right?”

“April 21st! Just barely made the mark!” she looked over to her boyfriend. “And Ichigo’s a Cancer!”

I laughed. “Ooh, sucks for you. I heard they have the worst of luck! Lemme see,” I said, politely taking the book. It was open to Cancer’s horoscope:

There’s no easy way to say it, this week will be catastrophic. Bad things will rain down on you--you may even lose your will to live. <3 Your lucky number is 666. Your lucky colors are red on black!

I burst into laughter. “And tell me I’m wrong, Mr. Catastrophic!” 

He snatched the book from me. “Shut up. Well, let’s see yours and see what you’re saying when we read it!”

“Fine.” I huffed. “Virgo. Or Leo, whichever you prefer.”

Kurosaki looked confused. “Um…”

Tara sighed. “It has the Chinese zodiac, right? Just look up the Ox.”

This made Ichigo laugh. “Stubborn old Ox, how fitting.” He wasn’t laughing so much when I sent a hand flying towards his gut. But he continued to flip the pages. Finding the page he desired, he began to read:

“Ox. Element: Earth. There’s no way to avoid it, this week will be chaotic. You’ll face a new enemy you hadn’t expected, and you’ll face old ones you might have compromised with. You’ll meet a new friend, or at least you think. Time will tell if they are true. But all in all, you’ll have good luck, unlike your Western Cancer counterpart.” He frowned a bit at this. “Help them this week, or at least do something. Your lucky number is 64. Lucky colors: Blue on green.” Then he smirked. “You hear that? You gotta help me this week--”

“--Or at least do something,” I interrupted. “So I’ll do just that. I’ll give you a tip.” I examined him for a moment. “Brush your damn hair before you leave in the morning. You look freaking retarted.”

“Hey!” he yelped, flying a hand to his hair self-conciously. “There’s nothing wrong with my hair! I did brush it!”

“Obviously not well enough,” I muttered before sighing and leaving him to steam in silence.

I went over to the couch and saw Isshin and Yuzu sitting criss-cross in front of the TV, their arms crossed over their chests and their voices echoing throughout the house: “BO-HA-HA-HA!!” they laughed, looking like total morons.

“They’re watching some stupid TV show about ghosts,” Karin monotoned to me, an annoyed look adorning her face. 

“It’s not just a TV show!” Yuzu called. “It’s Spontaneous Trips to Spiritual Hot Spots!! It’s about Don Kanonji, the best ghost specialist around!!”

“Wow, they really went all out on that title though, didn’t they?” I said. “There’s a lot of thought there.”

Babs and Karin laughed but were interrupted by the yells reverberating from the telivision:

“I’m gonna let you babies heear the whispers of the spirits again this week!!” it yelled, obviously the voice of the host, Don Kanonji.

Isshin and Yuzu did that stupid mantra-laugh again, and I tried not to gag.

“Smells like mean spirit!!” the spiritualist yelled, the reaction from the audience revealing that this was a main catch-phrase of his. 

As the two fangirled to the TV, I stared off into space for a bit. I didn’t understand why this show was ever so popular, or why it got views in the first place. I mean, if people saw real spirits like Hollows, no one would watch it. No one would probably leave their house. 

“Look!” Yuzu cried, pointing to the telivision. “Next week Don’s coming to Karakura Town!”

“What?” we all said, averting our attention to the screen. She was right: they were visiting some abandoned hospital in town. 

Great, I thought. Another idiot to deal with. Don Kanonji never was my favorite guy in the world, and now that I’d have to deal with him in real life, I’d probably end up punching him in the face, he was so goddamn annoying. 

The rest of the night passed uneventfully.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

“BO-HA-HA-HA!!!” Orihime yelled, repeating the same mantra and pose as the idiots did last night. 

Kurosaki and I sweatdropped. The hell--? I didn’t think O-chan was that dumb. 

“Hey,” she whined. “That wasn’t a very good reaction, you guys! Don’t you get the reference?”

I sighed. “I’ll perform the damn mantra if you understand this reference.” I cleared my throat. “’This pain is part of being human…the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength.’”

Orihime sweatdropped. “Um….”

“Exactly,” I said, walking to my seat, flouncing down.

“A-chan!” Keigo said, dragging Mizuiro with him. “Did you see Spiritual--”

“Hell-to-the-no, Asano,” I interrupted coldly. “It’s a dumbass show about a total freaking idiot that makes up half the spirits he sees.”

“He does not fake!” Keigo cried childishly. “Don Kanonji’s my hero!”

“I reiterate, exactly my point.”

Keigo continued to whine pathetically, but I ignored him, focusing on the sketchbook before me. This time I drew a couple in a movie theater being all romantic while a friend was sitting beside them awkwardly, obviously the third wheel. It flushed back old feelings to me, ones I couldn’t seem to pinpoint. But whatever.

This continued for a whole week: Don Kanonji fangirling, ignorance to it by me, and lots of drawing. All in all, it was a pretty quick and unproductive seven days. Before I knew it, it was dinnertime on Wednsday and we were at the abandoned hospital where the “psychic” was supposed to be filming.

I sighed. “Remind me why we’re here again?”

“Because,” Yuzu said girlishly. “Don Kanonji’s gonna be here. Which means we have to be here if we’re gonna call ourselves fans!”

“…Um…” I said awkwardly, “…I’m not a fan, so….”

“Well,” Isshin interrupted. “It’s a family event, so you all have to be here!”

“OHMIGOD!!!” we heard a voice screech. Our heads snapped to the sound, only to be brought face-to-face with Mr. Asano and party, consisting of Mizuiro, Chad, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Rukia. “YOU GUYS SHOWED UP!!!”

“Shut the hell up, Keigo!” Ichigo yelled. “I’ll strangle you!!”

Orihime walked up to us and started to apologize for her actions, not realizing our intense hatred for this retarted program. “…but what I don’t understand,” she said, “is why you guys are here. If you don’t like the show…”

“We’re here for our family,” I said. “Babs, Isshin, and Yuzu like the show, so we’re here to watch over them. ‘Cuz when you put the three of them together…things can get kinda hectic.”

“That’s…that’s very thoughtful.” She smiled warmly.

“Hey…” Chad said, “do you guys…hear anything?”

“Hear?” Mizuiro said, taking a moment of silence to assess his surroundings. “Um…no, not really. Nothing besides the crowd.”

“Hm…” he pondered. “I thought I heard some weird…screaming?”

I listened for a moment, too. Chad wasn’t lying; there was something fishy going on here. 

“Sounds like a Hollow to me,” Kurosaki muttered low enough for only Rukia and I to hear. 

“It’s a Jibaku,” I said. “A soul going through Hollowfication. It’s still chained, however…to this place. He’s totally trapped here!” God, that screaming is sickening. I could tell everyone in our group (excluding Isshin, Yuzu, and Keigo) could hear the pain of the soul. 

Rukia continued my explanation. “The hole in it’s chest hasn’t completely opened up yet. The hole in a Hollow’s chest is the sign of it’s lost heart, of it’s lost conciousness. That it’s only a monster now. The mask sheilds it’s naked shame from the outer world. Neither is necessary if you have a center. Most wait for Shinigami to come save them. Some automatically rebel and make themselves Hollows upon death. But those with regrets…they’re pinned to wherever they passed and possess it. Whatever happened here, he can’t leave.”

“THIS HOSPITAL IS MINE!!!” it screeched. “NONE OF YOU PEOPLE CAN TAKE IT FROM ME!!! GO AWAY!!! IF YOU WANT IN HERE, YOU BETTER PAY!!! OR I’LL KILL YOU ALL!!!”

I frowned. “So you think he wants money?”

“IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!! THEN THAT STUPID PRICK GAVE THIS PLACE TO MY FATHER!!! I WAS SUPPOSED TO DRIVE A GOLD CADILLAC!!! I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A MANSION!!”

We all sweatdropped a bit at his idiocy. Yup, one hundred percent about the moolah.

___________________________________

Happy Holidays! Happy Christmas (today)!

So...have you guys been enjoying your holiday break, if you get one? What presents did you get (if you got any)? What's up?

Not much to say today, kinda spaztic because I got the new BVB CD and a BVB poster that is SEXEH. Sorry...fangirl on the rampage. :)

Plz (if you're a DRRR!! fan) watch the Youtube video, it's a yaoi fangirl's dream! Nothing ecchi, however. Just a funny voice actor moment. 

Have a great day!

~Maycee-chan