Day 28: Mystic Spa

[byakushi]

[from hereByakuya entered the spa in a somewhat less grand manner than normal; he felt deflated, due to the unpleasant business that had been occurring all day. But, then again, that was why he was here, was it not? To release some of that stress. He wouldn't be able to function, otherwise... and the next - or, rather, the FIRST - task he'd set

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[bewarethecute]

[ From here]

Ururu was the first into the store, coupons still clutched in her hand. The first thing she noticed, of course, was the absence of her caretaker; that took priority over anything else. But there were other people there, any of whom might have seen Kisuke-san. The only problem was that one was a shinigami, and he looked mad.

So the little girl decided to wait until the others got there too. Rukia-san could tell her who Cranky-san was at least. And the new room was nice; the colors were pretty, and it smelled good. Ururu decided Kisuke-san might like it there, and definitely would have to ask about him.

[not_rly_fai]

It wasn't that he didn't feel any sympathy for the two girls, he too was looking for lost friends and comrades, but the names meant as little to him as his would to them. Couldn't hurt to ask though. "I'm sure I'll manage. Though, on the subject of missing persons," he began, "I don't imagine either of you know of a... Sakura, Syaoran, Kuro-pii, or Mokona?" There was always the off-chance someone had heard of them. He hadn't been terribly specific in his original message. That had been meant just for the others, not for everyone to understand

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia looked up at Fai, a bemused expression on her face as Ururu scurried ahead. "She really loves Urahara," she said quietly, "I think he's like a father to her." It was hard to imagine the sneaky shopkeeper in such a role, but perhaps he was one of those people - like Renji - who only showed his softer side to certain people

[bewarethecute]

Ururu shook her head as Fai-san asked about his friends, knowing how hard it was to be all alone. She wished she had heard of one of them, but all she could offer was a quiet "No. And Kisuke-san isn't here either."

Today didn't seem like it was going to go well either.

Ururu paused, however, seeing how uncomfortable Rukia-san suddenly was. Maybe it had something to do with the other shinigami. The smaller girl went over to the woman, wanting to help at least a little.

"Are you okay, Rukia-san?" Ururu tilted her head to the side. "You look nervous now."

[not_rly_fai]

[moving up to Byakuya and Jack's thread]

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia watched Fai for a moment, as he approached the counter, then smiled down at Ururu. She hoped it was a convincing smile. "I'm fine, Ururu," she said quietly, "Just, um, there are so many strange smells in here, I thought my nose had gone crazy." For effect, she rubbed her nose a little.

Squatting down in front of Ururu, she asked, "Why don't I try to find Urahara for you right now? This will be much faster than looking for him all day." She had pretty well exhausted herself late last night, casting a strong binding spell on the dementor, then helping Sora kill the mimic that had attacked Renji, but it seemed silly not to just look for Urahara's spirit thread. He would stand out, she was sure.

She steadied herself on the door frame and closed her eyes, preparing to look for the shopkeeper.

[bewarethecute]

"Oh. Okay then." Ururu was happy enough to accept Rukia-san's excuse. So long as the woman was fine, that's what mattered in the end. Though the girl herself didn't think the smells were that weird.

Then Rukia-san made her offer, and Ururu nodded rather quickly. Faster was good, and Ururu liked good. "Thank you, Rukia-san. I'd really appreciate it." Maybe when they got back home, she could talk to Kisuke-san about giving Rukia-san a special discount for being helpful.

When Rukia moved, so did Ururu, watching the shinigami carefully, and waiting to see what she found out.

[not_rly_fai]

[returning from above]

That hadn't taken long. He returned to the girls, one of them now leaning on the door frame. She was using some kind of magic, that much he could tell, though the details of it escaped him. He pretended not to notice though, as usual. He simply walked over, a smile on his lips. "I found out a little bit about these coupons, I bet we could get a fair price for them." Or at least he assumed so. For a pass that could be used for such varied services, though he didn't know the value of a dollar, seemed to him that it would be a fair amount.

"Any luck on your end?"

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia offered a small smile to Jack, but did not wave. She couldn't hear every word of what the group at the counter was saying, but it seemed that Fai had found out something. As he returned, Rukia focused on pulling on her own spiritual energy, blocked or weakened though it was

[bewarethecute]

Kisuke-san hadn't come on the trip? That didn't make sense, unless he was doing something smart like finding out things while everyone was gone. That seemed like something Kisuke-san would do, so Ururu was less worried.

"Thank you." The girl looked up at Rukia-san for a moment, tilting her head to the side. She stepped closer to the shinigami, and reached up to put a hand on the woman's cheek. That's when Fai.-san returned, and Ururu looked up at the man in concern. "I think we should go now. Rukia-san's nose doesn't like the smells here."

[not_rly_fai]

"Ah, apparently not," he said as he gave her a slightly worried look. Whatever magic Rukia had done, her body didn't seem to like it. He held the door open for the girls, "how about we chat out in some fresh air then?"

It irritated him that he couldn't pinpoint what the ability was. Had she been looking for someone? It wasn't all that uncommon of a spell. Perhaps she just wasn't terribly good with it? Though he wasn't sure that was it either.

"So what's the plan ladies?" he asked earnestly. He was eager to visit more of the shops and see if anyone had seen his friends.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia smiled at Ururu's concern, as well as her reasoning for leaving the shop. It was very cute, really. She stood carefully; her knees seemed to be supporting her well enough, since she had only used a small amount of energy. Still, the nose bleeding was annoying, as well as the headache.

Spotting a box of tissues on the counter nearby, Rukia took one and blotted her nose. She nodded to Fai and headed back out onto the street.

[Going here]