Paranormal Sector - Karakura Town

    Truth be told, this town looks as one might expect of a modern Japanese suburb. The streets are clean here, and the homes usually look neat and tidy. It has a sort of small town charm, with its small, locally-owned businesses - some of which operate out of houses. The local landmarks include a large open market on the end of town close to Tokyo, a large high school, and the family-owned Kurosaki Clinic.
    Indeed, if one cannot see ghosts, Karakura Town seems normal. However, those with supernatural senses may realize this place is out of the ordinary. Hollows, ghosts infused with evil energy, are sometimes on the prowl here, and they are combated by the Death Gods - invisible warriors fighting against these accursed ghosts.
    For those who know better, this place may idyllic, but it is still a battleground.

After school. Something ominous was lingering in the air but she's not QUITE sure what that was about. This bears looking into later, but right now, she was assigned along with a couple of other students for post-class clean up duty, dusting off the chalkboard erasers, arranging all the chairs, etc. You know, things usually reserved for detention, except the Japanese don't believe in detention, but in other things like water bucket punishment and getting slapped around by rulers. Still, that's what she's doing, sweeping dust and lint to the side with the room broom (hah hah, it rhymes), and looking a little bit fascinated at what she's doing. She was a street rat in death, an aristocrat in life, and neither life occupations lent into doing chores like these.

"Aaaah.....ch!" It sounded like a little mouse sound, Rukia rubbing her finger against her nose.

And why, do we ask, is Ichigo doing post-class clean up? Obviously because he's a punk and did something wrong, even if he didn't. This is why /he/ is on bucket duty, on his hands and knees scrubbing the floor, muttering to himself the whole time. "Stupid teacher. Didn't even do anything." Pretty standard fare, really. He's going to have dishpan hands, and he /hates/ that.

Chad is NOT recieving any detention today, because he's Chad, and only ever does anything wrong when it involves tagging along with Ichigo. And today Chad was eating lunch when Ichigo was off doing nothing wrong. As for why he stayed late, he had some catching up to do with a couple of classes. Some of his grades were in danger of slipping ever since returning from Soul Society, and he can't have that. He walks by the classroom Ichigo and Rukia are in, and curiously enough.. he's wearing an apron.

"She had to do something. You keep leaping out to punch Renji in the face every time he tries to bug you in class," Rukia says, her eyebrow ticking just a little bit exasperatedly. She puts away the broom once she's done, sneezing again at the dust, and reaches for the erasers. Blinking a little bit at the passing, looming figure, she blinks. "....is Chad in the cooking club?" she wonders out loud.

And why, exactly, is Uryuu at the school cleaning up too? Surely /he/ didn't get in trouble with a teacher? Of course not. He's merely picking up after his fellow Arts & Crafts club members. They left rather quickly this afternoon -- no doubt unconsciously affected by the phantoms lurking around the gate. Uryuu doesn't mind, though. It gives him some quiet time to think. As he takes a borrowed desk out of the room the club typically uses, he sees Chad approaching. "Good afternoon, Sado-kun," he says, shifting to give him room to pass.

Tatsuki Arisawa is here as well, setting desks in order. Unlike Ichigo, this is in fact part of what she signed up to do. "Well," Tatsuki snorts, "with all the times you run screaming out of the class, it's not like you don't ask for it. Anyway, just count yourself lucky I talker her into letting you clean up after school. Ochi-sensei had something much bigger in mind."

She peers out after Rukia does, blinking. "...huh. Didn't think he'd be working today."

Ichigo Kurosaki grunts at the ladies, scrubbing a bit furiously at a spot that refused to come clean. "Well if he wasn't such a damn /jackass/ all the time I wo--...Huh? Cooking club? What're you talking about?" The oranged haired kid cranes his neck a bit, trying to peer out the door after Chad. His curiosity gets the best of him, though, when he overextends and topples over, hitting the floor with a thud. At least he doesn't knock the bucket over. Yet.

Chad stops outside the classroom as Rukia acknowledges him. He silently waves, before Uryuu approaches, and he nods. "Ishida." Then a sideways glance at Tatsuki, she's probably the only one currently aware of his situation with Urahara. And while he's not embarrassed at having to work there for awhile, he'd rather not let everyone know it's because he lost at Monopoly.

He idly fiddles with the apron, which seems slightly too big on him (just what size IS it anyway?), then grins as Ichigo nearly makes his job a lot harder for himself. "Maybe if you make more of a mess trying to clean up she won't ask you to do it anymore."

"......." Rukia turns her eyes to Ichigo at his inquiry. "He's wearing an apron. Doesn't Yuzu wear those when she cooks?" Aha, so the basis of her knowledge is revealed. She also inches out just a bit on the door to look at what everyone's looking at. That is, until Ichigo falls over just at the precise moment that she tries to take a step....right into his way just as he sprawls forward.
 
 Oh Chad. That statement couldn't have come at a better moment.
 
 She trips over Ichigo, sprawling half on the ground, her legs on the orange-head. The bucket topples over as her hands flail to try and regain her balance, but she fails. Soapy water splashes forward, rushing out of the room, and pouring around Chad's, and maybe Ishida's legs.

"WAUGH!" is about all Ichigo can say before he gets kicked in the head and partially landed on. That wouldn't be so bad except that the bucket tips and sends water /all over the place/. "AUGH!" Ichigo's just /full/ of big words today. Maybe he'll say 'Ugh' next. Or maybe he'll start swearing. "Dammit, Rukia! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" he snaps as he sits up and glares. Mostly at Rukia, but everything else tastes some of his hate too. The water. The floors and desks. Even that cute little squirrel outside isn't immune to his wrath.

Uryuu Ishida sets down the desk he's carrying and snorts as Rukia and Ichigo drop to the floor. Then the water comes rushing forward, and he yelps and scrambles onto the desk, catching a splash of water before he makes it up. "Be careful, Kurosaki, Kuchiki-san! Honestly..." They're just going to either get into /more/ trouble or have to stay even /later/ cleaning up their mess.

"H-hey!" Chad says as Rukia trips up. He wasn't serious! Method acting is one thing, Rukia, but you need to be less suggestive with your cues! Oh well, so the cuffs of his pants get a bit wet, that doesn't bother him too much. He doesn't jump up on a desk like an elephant who just saw a mouse.

Sighing, and shaking his head, he walks over to Uryuu. "Ishida, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor."

The squirrel withers and dies. SO MUCH HATE. It can't stand against his tiny iota of cute.
 
 "ME?! You're the one who had to get in the way!" Rukia yells, even as Ishida goes girly and gets on the desk, and Chad weathers the storm of soapy water LIKE A MAN. Her eyebrow ticks, and she glares over at the orange head and her teeth bared, the way they usually are when he was concerned. Oh great. Now they had to stay even LATER. This day was NEVER GOING TO END.

'I was scrubbing here! Rrrgh! Now I need to get a freakin' mop!" He's going to miss curfew because of this, which means his dad is going to show up and dropkick him across the town. Wonderful. Ichigo stands, muttering to himself and brushing at his shirt, trying to shake the excess water away while he stalked off to the broom clset at the back of the room in his hunt for a mop.

She'll pay for this.

Tatsuki sighs the long-suffering sigh of someone who's had to deal with Ichigo for years, sloshing through the soapy water. At least she's in her skirt so no clothing got wrecked. "God, guys, I trust you with stuff like this and you go getting water everywhere." She smirks at Ichigo, totally unphased by the familiar glower. "Maybe you'd've been better off with Ochi-sensei's punishment?"

Allowing this to linger in the air, she walks off, saying, I'll go get a mop. Don't worry, this won't take more than maybe ten minutes, with all of us helping."

Uryuu rolls his eyes as he folds up his pantlegs slightly and hops down from the desk. As usual, Ichigo and Rukia have gone from zero to RAGE in a few short seconds. He looks up at Chad, just a bit surprised. "Ah, of course, Sado-kun. What can I do for you?"

"Hah! This just proves one thing I knew about you all along, Ichigo. Your peripheral vision SUCKS!" Rukia stomps to the closet, however, with him, so she could grab a mop along with the rest of the class-cleaning crew so she could mop up the water as well. SOMEONE was in a bad mood, Rukia wasn't usually THIS di--wait. That was a lie, but not over TRIVIAL matters! The Chad x Ishida exchange at the rear of the classroom is only paid a smidgen of her currently diverted attention, the short girl dragging the much taller mop with her, muttering something under her breath.

Chad tugs at the apron he's been wearing. "I'll be working at Urahara's shop for awhile, and I needed an apron. The only ones they had were for Tessai and Ururu. Tessai's were a bit too big, and Ururu's... well..." He trails off, not really needing to finish that sentance. "It's only a little loose, but it tends to get in the way. They said I could keep it, so I was wondering if you could take it in a bit?"

A pause.

"..you don't have to trouble yourself with adding patterns or anything."

Tatsuki flips another mop into her hand. Why do they have exactly three mops? It's a miracle of scriptwriting. "Calm down!" she says to the dynamic duo. "You argue like a married couple, I swear. It's just a little water." Tatsuki is USED to staying after by now - as student monitor she has to with some regularity.

Ichigo can be very loud when necessary. This is one of those times. He sputters at Tatsuki's proclamation and /howls/, "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!? Me an' her? Tch. Whatever!" Angrily, he snatches up the last mop and storms over to the expansive puddle, where he starts at it, doing it without skill. He may, in fact, be making a bigger mess in his anger.

Hitsugaya slips into the room after Tatsuki's admonishment, except his silent entrance was ruined by the water on the floor, slapping up from his footsteps. If Ichigo and Rukia manage to actually STOP arguing for a moment, they would have heard him come in. Ichigo fails.

Toushirou Hitsugaya would also be dimming his reiatsu to virtually nothing.

Indigo eyes go blank.
 
 Rukia Kurosaki? Rukia Kuchiki-Kurosaki? No, Japanese people don't believe in hyphenated women's lib names. Rukia Kurosa--
 
 "AS IF I'LL -EVER----!" But she clamps her mouth down. According to the shoujo manga she just read, when a woman denied something like that, it would only confirm the peripheral characters' suspicions! Hence she doesn't say anything. Watch, Ichigo'll say something like 'You're SO UNCUTE!' and that'll be the end of any semblance of sanity in this particular moment in time.
 
 Unfortunately, Ichigo isn't all that smart. With a SNORT, she turns her back to the orange-head, mopping the floor up furiously, and followed by...
 
 "He's so stupid he wouldn't know what to name the children anyway," she remarks, her voice as dry as a James Bond martini.

Uryuu takes a look at the apron, terribly untailored to Chad's size, and nods firmly. "I would be happy to fix that apron for you. In fact..." He pulls his portable sewing kit from a pocket and slaps it down on the desk behind him. "If you'll hand it to me," he continues, "I'll fix it up right now."

He winces at Ichigo's outraged yell and leans into the room to glare at him. "What is wrong with you, Kurosaki? Cleaning like that, you'll finish just in time for everyone to stomp back in and dirty it up again."

Chad pauses again. Why does Ishida always carry that with him? It's not like these dire sewing emergencies pop up every day...

Then again...

Undoing the apron, Chad hands it to the master sewer/Quincy. "Thanks." Chad says, and tries to hold out some hope that Ishida won't get TOO creative with it.
He winces a bit as Ichigo goes about his ranting. Nothing he hasn't heard before. Hitsugaya seems to go unnoticed, either Chad doesn't sense him, or he doesn't react.

Oh. Now Ishida's on the pile too? What's next? Renji? Ichigo waves the soaking mop in the Quincy's direction, sending drops of water sailing everywhere. "If you think you can do a better job, you come over here and do it!" he shouts before returning to the task at hand. Stupid people, always with the yelling at him. He's never done anything to deserve this abuse! Except that one time...and maybe that other time...and maybe right now. Who's keeping track, though?

Tatsuki Arisawa laughs at Ichigo and Rukia's reaction to the jab. "Man! So uptight! Maybe I'm closer to the mark than I thought," she teases, as she starts mopping. Watching Ichigo flip the hell out, she shakes her head ruefully, murmuring to herself, "Just don't see what she sees in him."

Nah, Renji already got his earlier. The only thing that would take the cake was Kenpachi coming to school for some reason. Rukia shivers slightly at the thought, rubbing the goosebumps out of his arms. It's bad enough that all of them are in the same school, including Byakuya, but Kenpachi in any position of direct authority over them would just be plain DISASTROUS. "Thank goodness for small favors...." she murmurs under her breath.
 
 Meanwhile, somewhere, on the other side of town...
 
 "Are you SURE he's this way?"
 "Yes! Yes I'm sure! Ichi-chan's reiatsu is THIS WAY!"
 
 "Heh heh. Heh heh heh. Excellent. And when I find him...."
 
 And the double trouble are off again, tearing a blistering wake across Tokyo.
 
 "FIGHT ME KUROSAKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!"
 
 Her shuddering gets worse. o O (I imagined that.)

Toushirou Hitsugaya could be keeping track. He would be the type to do that. He can't help but feel uncomfortable with the complete incompetency here. Hitsugaya is getting a little twitchy, at this point, releasing a captain strength reiatsu just when Rukia is imagining Kenpachi's presence.

Uryuu Ishida nods and spreads the apron out on the desk. He takes a moment to size Chad up, estimate the proper measurements, before threading his needle and getting to work. The spool twirls as his needle weaves through the fabric at light-speed. The apron is done, and without even any new additions! (Admittedly, that's only because the rest of his supplies are packed away.)

"Here you are, Sado-kun," Uryuu says, handing him the apron. Without turning he says to Ichigo, "I could easily do a better job, but why should I when it's your mess?" And as Toushirou's reiatsu flares, Uryuu notices him, rather belatedly. He nods a polite hello.

Toushirou Hitsugaya looks properly disgruntled, especially when his player is forced to go to the store to pick up groceries.

Chad takes the apron, and stares at it for a moment. He really WAS expecting some sort of additional pattern, he's almost disappointed. Almost. "Thanks." He nods, and slips the apron back on. At this point he DOES notice Hitsugaya's reiatsu, and turns around. And stares. He recognizes him as being one of the captains from Soul Society... but what was his name again?

Ummmmm...

Ah. "Hitsugaya." He nods in greeting, and in passing, as he turns to the door of the classroom. "I'll be going, or else I'll be late." And he doesn't want to give Urahara any excuses for extra work. He's going to be milking Chad for all he's worth over the next few months. "Later." He waves as he exits the classroom.

---

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