Chapter twelve: Last Steps.

Chapter twelve.

The sound of light, quick steps echoed inside the huge room as someone made a run towards the stairs.

"Oh, she left." Haru muttered, it didn't take a genius to figure out who had left the room in a hurry.

"Sorry about that." Ginjō apologized in the girl's stead. "You'll get used to her, trust me."

Without waiting for a response, Ginjō walked to the bar and turned on the light's from there, illuminating the room at last.

"I don't mind. I think she's quite fun, actually." Haru replied, testing the sword in his hands as he unsheathed it. "Curious."

"What is curious?" The man admired the blade as well, its ornate blade blinding him for an instant.

"The sword." Haru said, making some improvised swings from left to right as he tested it. "It's heavier than I expected."

"Is that so?" Ginjo focused on the blade, still amazed at the fact he had manifested his Fullbring as if it was nothing. "You mind if I…?"

"Careful." Haru warned, a mocking smile painting his features as he mimicked the man's words. "It's quite sharp."

"Hah." Ginjō smirked, taking a seat back on the couch. "Fair enough."

"So this is a Fullbring…?" Haru muttered out loud, sheathing the sword back on its sheath. "My Fullbring."

"You have a name in mind for it?"

"A name?" Haru asked, remembering their conversation earlier. "Oh, that's right. You did call that sword the 'Cross of Scaffold'..."

The teen could also recall the mention of the redhead's 'Dollhouse', so that should mean that is the name of that girl's Fullbring.

"Hm… I'll give it some thought." Haru said after a while, unable to come up with a suitable name for his Fullbring.

"I'm surprised, though." Ginjō admitted, watching with keen eyes as the boy's sword vanished in a green glow. "In order to manifest a Fullbring, exhaustive training is often required. Which means…"

"Which means…?" Haru asked, prompting the man to share his thoughts.

"You were close enough to achieve it on your own." Ginjō stated. "I just happened to accelerate the process."

The man's thoughts mulled over another possibility, a possibility that was hard to digest.

'He could be just that talented.' Ginjō contemplated. It was unlikely, unheard of even, but possible nonetheless.

It was a disturbing thought.

"Well, if that's the case…" Haru began, but something interrupted him.

The sound of an alarm, one that the teen recognized all too well, reached his ears.

"Oh shit."

He freezed on the spot, it was his phone's alarm, reminding him that it was time to 'wake up' for school.

"Sorry, I have to leave." Haru yelled in a rush, heading towards the door in a sprint as he left in a hurry. "I'll explain later."

"...?" Ginjō blinked, watching in confusion as the boy left the apartment in an instant.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

[Eight hours later.]

"Ugh…" Haru, still sleepless, tried his absolute best to drag himself out of the school grounds, crashing with one or two students as he did.

To make matters worse, a couple of spirits had decided that he wasn't miserable enough, so they decided to change that.

Thus, a pair of spirits trailed behind him, snickering from behind as they watched him fight to keep his eyes open.

'Fuck off.' Haru thought, but he managed to bite down those remarks.

After all, if those spirits realized he could actually see and hear them, they would pester him even more.

'Orihime hasn't messaged me back.' Haru thought, checking his phone just to be sure as he was just about to walk past a park.

'I guess that means she isn't coming for dinner.' He trailed off, glancing back at the spirits who still traced behind him.

"..." Haru came to a halt abruptly and unceremoniously, startling the pair of spirits behind him.

'This feeling…' He thought, sensing something. 'No, not something, someone.'

He corrected his thoughts, reminiscing about his numerous talks with Ishida about technical terms in regard to the Spiritual World.

'Spiritual Pressure.' Haru realized; that's what he was feeling. It was faint, flickering in and out from his perception, but he could sense it.

'It's coming from…' He focused, closing his eyes as darkness filled his vision. 'Above?'

He glimpsed a shadowy figure on the top of a tree near him, a feline figure that he had spotted once before.

"Yoruichi?" He asked, walking closer to the cat standing on a thin tree branch.

"I'm surprised, you actually sensed me." The cat complimented, its deep voice reaching the teen as he stared from below.

"I have been practicing a little bit." Haru confessed, focusing some of his reishi on the sole of his feet as he jumped.

He graciously landed on a strong branch near the cat, trails of green light still oozing off his shoes.

"I can tell." Yoruichi told him, her tail waving from left to right as she spoke. "Do you mind if we talk for a second?"

"Hmh." Haru nodded affirmatively. "I don't mind, but, let's do so at some other place. I have grown tired of these guys.".

The black haired boy pointed at the spirits levitating near them, staring at them in shock for all sorts of different reasons.

"Sure." Yoruichi replied, standing on her four legs as she readied herself. "You have a place in mind?"

"Yup." Haru flexed his legs, smirking as he threw a defiant look at the cat. "Right under Karakura's Bridge, the big one. Think you can keep up?"

"..." Yoruichi grew quiet, her feline orbs widening for an instant as her brain processed what she had just heard. "Oh, you did not just say that."

"..." Haru gave her an odd look. "Did I say something wrong…?"

"..." He turned to face her, but nothing but empty space greeted his sight as the black cat was nowhere to be seen.

Gone. Yoruichi was gone.

'What.'

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

[Two and a half minutes later.]

"Would you look at that?" Yoruichi said, as she rested right under the shadow of the bridge. "It seems like I could keep up just fine."

Flickering into existence as the feline spoke, the teenager panted as he tried to recover his breath.

"No… way." He spoke, struggling to get coherent words out as he panted like an old dog. "There's just… no way."

"What's wrong?" The cat smirked, amusement slipping from her tone as she bared her sharp teeth at him. "You are out of breath. Perhaps I was a little too fast for you?"

"I covered… half the city…" Haru began, throwing her a dirty look as she taunted him. "In two minutes… you can't be that fast… it's not possible."

Haru coughed, breathing in and out as his heartbeat slowly but surely regained its usual rhythm.

"Hm? Perhaps a rematch is in place, then? You know, just to see if I wasn't cheating or something." Yoruichi offered. "You can never be too sure."

"Fuck off." Haru barked at her.

He had never met a single individual that could even hope to match his speed, as far as he was concerned, he was the fastest man alive.

Well, not anymore it seemed.

"You wanted to talk about something, right?" Haru inquired, having regained his breath at last after a solid minute. "Well, out with it."

"Oh, come on…" Yoruichi began, still grinning as much as she possibly could in her cat form. "No need to be such a sore loser."

"... You are right, though." She added. "There is something I want to talk about. Well, Kisuke was the one who wanted to, actually."

"Why isn't he here, then?" Haru asked, still very much salty at having been beaten by a domestic cat.

"Well, Kisuke is a very busy man…"

"Is he really?" Haru said, arching his eyebrows. "For some reason, I find that hard to believe."

"Believe it or not, he is." Yoruichi said, though she did look rather amused at the teen's distrust. "Though I suppose he could have done it himself."

"Then…?"

"Well, I was bored." The cat admitted, resting her chin on her front paws. "There's not much for me to do these days."

"...?" Haru met her glance, a mixture of boredom and melancholy bleeding out of her gaze.

"That's beside the point, though." Yoruichi cut him off before he could question her. "You have been approached by a group of people, right?"

"Word travels fast, I see." Haru whistled. "You all have spies everywhere or something?"

"Hardly." She replied. "It's just that whoever approached you did not bother to mask their spiritual pressure."

"Why should they?" Haru inquired, after all, he barely even bothered to hide his own. "Is there a need for it?"

"Well…" Yoruichi trailed off, there were several reasons that came to mind. "Didn't Kisuke explain this? I'm no good at this sort of stuff."

"He might have." Haru admitted. "Though if he did, it must not have been a very good one since I seem to have forgotten about it."

"Hah." Yoruichi smiled at that, her feline features turning devious for a split second as she rose from the ground.

"Well, whatever the case…" Yoruichi trailed back to the last topic. "Should that 'group' harass, threaten or harm you, feel free to come to us for help."

"Well, that's ominous. Should I be worried?" Haru asked, they had not shown themselves to be a threat, not in the least bit.

"I don't think so, no." Yoruichi replied. "You can never be too careful, though."

"I appreciate it." Haru thanked her, but shrugged his shoulders at her words. "Though I don't think you should worry too much."

"That would be all. I'll take my leave, then…" Yoruichi turned around, but some words made her stop before she left the scene.

"One more thing." Haru said. "I remember Urahara mentioned that all soul reapers have that uh… What was it called? Zanpakuto?"

"For the most part." Yoruichi answered, sounding rather cryptic as she gave her response.

"Well, then…" Haru began, choosing his words carefully. "Would he be open to some uh… Sword lessons?"

"Sword lessons?" Yoruichi turned around, meeting his gaze with her own. "What for?"

Haru decided that rather than explaining, a quick demonstration would suffice to get his point across.

With that in mind, he raised his hand, pulled back his right sleeve till his tattoo was in full display and focused.

Green light covered his arm and his tattoo in full, forcing the ink imprinted on his skin to morph into something.

Not a second after, the sword from a night ago manifested itself out of thin air.

"For this."

Yoruichi blinked, remaining silent as she stared at the sword with her sharp eyes. "… I'll talk to him about it."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

Walking off the bridge, Haru rubbed his eyes as sleepiness threatened to overwhelm his senses yet again.

The moment his conversation with Yoruichi came to an end, his body decided to remind him just how sleep deprived he was.

Thus, he carried on with his walk, autopiloting through the city, no particular destiny in mind as he wandered around town.

Restaurants, schools, a park… He walked past them all. The comfiness of his bed back home filling his head as he pathed there.

He would have done just that till he reached his house, however, something broke him out of his trance.

"...?" Haru came to a stop. His orbs glued to someone in particular, a figure in the park. "Isn't he…?"

'Ichigo?'

That wild, orange hair was unmistakable, he doubted there was even a single person in Karakura other than him with hair like that.

Under normal circumstances, Haru would have waved at him and kept walking without much thought, but he came to a halt.

Ichigo, standing right in front of his sisters, faced no less than three boys that looked to be around his age, if a little older.

Bullies, no doubt.

'What a shit day.' Haru thought, genuinely surprised that something like that would happen in the middle of a park, of all places.

'I am too tired for this shit.'

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

A big, easy target. That's what he was.

Ichigo had learned long ago that his hair got him attention, silly as it might sound, it really made him stand out from the mob.

The attention it got him -although not necessarily bad by nature-, often managed to attract complete and utter douches.

And, if Ichigo had learned one thing throughout his life, it was that douches and the lot always acted in groups. No exceptions.

'Three of them, huh?' Ichigo shielded his sister, the instinct of an older brother kicking in the moment danger approached.

He recognized some faces, these were no doubt some of the regular bullies that his best friend Tatsuki had managed to annoy.

'I can take them one on one.' Ichigo, confident in his skills as he was, remained unsure whether he could take them if they rushed him.

"You need something?" He asked the one in the middle, perhaps he could come up with something if he burned some time.

"Stalling isn't gonna work, Kurosaki." The one on the left replied, making his best attempt at looking threatening. "You know the drill, this is revenge for what Arizawa did to us."

"Ichi-nii." Ichigo felt a tug on his clothes, and he turned to face Karin, his tomboyish little sister. It was obvious she was worried.

Yuzu on his right wasn't handling the situation so well though, the poor blonde looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Oh, I get it." Ichigo replied, picking up a stick from the ground as he wielded it in front of himself. "You are scared to fight Tatsuki. Isn't that right?"

"You little…" The one on the right, who had remained quiet up till then decided that enough was enough, and rushed head first.

However, before he could even take a second step towards the orange haired boy, something made him lose his balance and fall on his ass.

"The hell…!" He complained, rubbing his back. He raised his head, about to curse Ichigo and blaming him for the fall, but he stopped.

"Haru…?" Ichigo reacted first to the new arrival, recognizing the teen in an instant. Where the hell had he come from?

"Yes, me." Haru said, waving at Yuzu hiding behind her brother. He then turned to the other girl. "You must be…"

"Karin." The black haired girl said, watching the new arrival talk with her brother with skepticism. Was he a friend of his?

"Karin, is it?" Haru spoke, turning his back at them as he faced the three kids.

'They look like twelve, thirteen at best.' Haru guessed. Nothing but a group of three cruel childish, wannabe delinquents.

"Seriously?" Haru asked them. "You are doing this in broad daylight? You can't be serious."

"W-What is it to you, old man?" The kid in the middle replied, mustering some courage to speak up.

"Old man?" Haru's hand reached for his heart, a pained face plastered over his features. "I'm fifteen!"

'That's a lot of damage.' Haru's brain spoke to him. 'Emotional damage.'

"It was a tough night, alright!?" Haru countered, sounding a little too defensive all of a sudden. He had missed his beauty sleep, after all.

"Yokochini, this guy's a weirdo." The kid who had fallen to the ground said. "Let's leave."

"Y-Yeah, whatever…" Yokochini, feeling the uneasiness oozing off his friend, made the wise call to leave. "You look like shit, gramps."

And with that he turned around and ran for his life, not looking back.

"..." Haru's hair fell over his face, shadowing his green orbs. He turned to face Ichigo, sporting a forced smile on his face.

"I don't look like shit, right?"

"..."

"Oh god."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Thanks a lot, Haru." Ichigo said, thanking the teen as the group of four sat on a bench near the center of the park. "Sorry for the trouble."

"It's no biggie." Haru waved his concerns off, checking his reflection on the phone's screen as he remained self-conscious about his looks.

"Y-You don't look bad." Yuzu, who had remained quiet until then, jumped in the conversation. "Just tired."

"That's nice to hear." Haru turned towards her, a light smile on his features as he patted the little girl on the head. "Thanks."

"... I should leave, though." Haru stood up from the bench. "I would love to talk some more, but I am on a busy schedule."

Naturally, that was a lie. He just wanted to get some extra sleep back home.

"See you around." Haru said, waving at them as he left the park without willing to spare another second on idle chit chat.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

Haru walked off the area with a smile, thinking that he was free at last.

However, it just wasn't meant to be.

"Hm… Wasn't that nice? You went and helped them." A voice that he couldn't quite recognize reached him. It sounded… Young. "Without violence as well. Should I award bonus points for that?"

Haru turned around, sensing the presence of the individual addressing him, and seeing him a millisecond after that.

He found himself staring at a blond kid, resting on a bench as he messed around with a PSP, not even bothering to take his eyes off it.

"Again?" Haru asked, sounding more defeated than surprised. "I seem to be rather popular these days."

"Believe me, I would rather not do this." The kid spoke, still not making eye contact with him. "It's Ginjō's orders, though. You still haven't met all of us, after all."

'Ginjō?' Haru thought, viewing the kid in a new light as he heard that. 'Is he a member of Xcution as well?'

"I'm Yukio." He began, introducing himself as he stood up from the bench. "You should come with me. The rest of us are waiting."

"The rest?" Haru did not waste a second, as tired as he was, the moment the opportunity to meet the others presented itself, he was in.

"You have met Riruka and Tsukishima already, right?" Yukio began. "Then that just leaves Jackie and Giriko."

Haru glanced towards the kid in keen interest; he did not look to be much older than eight, nine years of age at most.

However, his overall demeanor seemed to suggest he was much sharper than someone his age should be.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Haru asked, shaking his head to the sides to wake himself up. "Let's go meet them."

"Huh…" Yukio stared at the older boy,his contemplative gaze fixated on the black haired teen. "You are a lot livelier than I expected."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"I'm surprised." Yukio gave the teen another side glance as both of them sped past the foliage, bush after bush, tree after tree. "You are quite good at it."

He stared at the sole of the teen's feet in specific, the sparks of green light coming off them catching his attention.

"Quite good at what?" Haru inquired, was he doing something particularly impressive?

"Bringer Light." Yukio merely stated. "That's what we are doing right now, it's our high speed movement technique."

"It's quite an advanced one, in fact."

"Ah… So that's what it's called." Haru mumbled. It seems like he had learned the name of the technique he had been spamming endlessly at last. "It has a nice ring to it."

"We are here." Yukio announced. The duo came to a stop simultaneously, landing on a clearing in the middle of the forest.

"Woah." Haru whistled, surprised at the sheer size of the mansion seemingly hidden in the middle of a forest. "Is this ours?"

"Well, it's mine." Yukio said, a small distinction that he considered worth pointing out. "But yes, it is one of Xcution's many bases."

"It's yours?" Haru asked, feeling a little bit skeptical about the whole thing. Was the kid having a laugh?

"I am the one who handles the finances, the apartment complex, the mansion, the cards. You name it, chances are I paid for it."

"Hm…" The both of them headed to the mansion's entrance. "You are one of those rich kids, then?"

"..." Yukio smirked, a macabre smile plastered all across his face. "Something like that."

Making it past the door, the teen followed the blond in silence; the mansion was big enough he could easily get lost, after all.

Haru and Yukio climbed the stairs, heading to the second floor without exchanging another word, and then they saw them.

The moment Haru stepped foot onto the second floor's main hall, he saw two figures just standing there.

Haru's first impressions about them? Well…

One of them, a tall middle-aged man with dark hair wearing an outfit that much resembled a bartender's look.

His one most distinctive trait being the leather strap tied around his head, covering his right eye.

The second figure was perhaps the one he found the most interesting. For no particular reason, of course.

A dark-skinned woman, tall enough to tower over him with ease, chin-length dark hair, brown eyes and full lips.

She wore a dark brown long-sleeved low cut shirt and some rather form-fitting trousers, shame she wasn't turned around, he thought.

Her most distinctive trait? Well, that had to be her awesome, eye catching, delicious pair of… Leather boots.

Yeah, that. Nice boots.

"Miyagawa-san, right?" The middle-aged man was the first one to break the silence, messing around with a strange object in his hands.

"I'm Giriko Kutsuzawa." He presented himself, keeping his demeanor calm and cordial. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

Under normal circumstances, Haru would have been the first to bring up the fact that there was no need to be so formal, however…

There was something, this certain vibe about Giriko and his demeanor that made him feel like his words would be to no avail.

"Jackie." The woman introduced herself, far less formal but still just as much to the point as the man was. "Jackie Tristan."

"Jackie and Giriko, is it?" Haru tested the name on his lips, turning around to face the silent blond kid. "Yukio…"

"Riruka, Tsukishima and Ginjō…" He finished, recalling each one of the member's he had met so far. "Is that all of us, then?"

"So far." Yukio replied with a short nod. "You expected there to be more of us? Us Fullbringers are quite rare, after all."

"Well?" He recognized the new voice in an instant, turning around to face the newcomer. "Mind sharing your first impressions?"

There he stood, with his arms crossed and an unreadable smile, Ginjō rested his back on the hall's wall. "You think you will fit in?"

"Oh, believe me…" Haru matched his smirk. "I'll fit in just fine."

End of chapter twelve.