Serendipity

Conquistadores

About A Block
From Karakura High

"Sarugaki Hiyori!" Hiyori suddenly stated bluntly.

"Huh?" Orihime asked as she and Sado stared at her, surprised. What was she saying? Hadn't she just implied she wasn't going to tell them anything?

"What do you mean 'huh?' That's my name! My name!" Hiyori told them, pointing at herself with her thumb. "So now it's your turn!"

"... Inoue Orihime," Orihime answered obediently, sweat-dropping.

"... Sado Yasutora," Sado replied, also sweat-dropping.

"Ha!" Hiyori laughed abruptly. She furrowed her brow in annoyance. "A 'princess' and a 'tiger', huh? Such excessive names! We're just a 'monkey' and a 'flat'! I'm so jealous!" Hiyori laughed cynically as she threw her head back defiantly.

"What the heck is a 'flat'?" Shinji asked boredly, picking his nose, to show how utterly uninterested he was in this little fight Hiyori was picking with the two teens. "So, I'm the only one who isn't even a living thing, is that it? Don't include me when it doesn't even make sense, idiot."

Besides, if she really thought those names were excessive, then what about 'Seren'? Not only was it meant to be a shortened form of a rather extravagant English word, Serendipity, but in Japanese, it was written with the kanji for 'world' and 'link', so her name also meant something like a 'majorly important link or lynchpin holding the world together'. You couldn't get much more excessive than that...

SMACK!

"Gyaa—!" Shinji yelled in pain as Hiyori's flip-flop of doom slammed into his face.

Orihime and Sado just stared at them, not sure how to react. Weren't those two supposed to be friends...?

"Also, what's with those big breasts and silky, long hair! Looking at you is really unpleasant!" Hiyori said, acting as though she hadn't just given Shinji a bloody nose.

"You're just biased... and you're specifically targeting Orihime-chan..." Shinji muttered as he held his bleeding nose. What was Hiyori's problem today? This was more than just her usual inferiority complex rearing its ugly head again...

SMACK!

"Gyaa—!" Shinji yelled in pain again as Hiyori's second attack actually broke his nose this time.

Once again, Orihime and Sado just stared at them, not sure how to react. Seriously... what were they doing...?

"Oh well... I don't really have anything to say here, so..." Hiyori said as she put her flip-flop back on and raised a hand to the sword strapped to her back, while Shinji trembled in pain and cradled his broken nose, unable to even offer a comeback at the moment. "I'll just... kill you now," she said gravely as she gripped the hilt of her zanpakutō.

"!" Shinji gasped, instantly snapping to attention when he sensed her killing intent.

WOOOSH!

Before Orihime and Sado could even process what she had just said, Shinji had already grabbed Hiyori and was hauling her away at top speed.

"Sorry! Excuse us—!!" he shouted as he flew past them, determined to get away before Hiyori could break free from his grip. What the hell was she thinking, trying to attack Ichigo's friends!? He'd never join them if they did that!

"W–Wait...!" Orihime shouted after him anxiously, preparing to give chase.

"Stop, Inoue!" Sado said urgently.

"Sado-kun...!" Orihime said nervously as she halted, wondering why he was trying to stop her from chasing the people who most likely held all of the answers to their questions.

"Aren't you aware of it, too?" he asked her as a bead of sweat slid down his face. "It would be impossible for us to catch them at that speed."

"...!" Orihime said, realizing he was right, since Shinji and Hiyori had already vanished from sight.

"And... if we actually catch up to them..." he added, swallowing nervously. "We'll really... get killed."

"Shinji! Let go of me, Baldy! They were playing games with us!" Hiyori shouted furiously, struggling to escape from his grip as he continued to run through the sky, carrying her over his shoulder.

Couldn't he at least carry her a little more delicately!? She was a girl, not a sack of potatoes!

"No, they weren't, idiot! Our target is Ichigo! Don't start a commotion with the others!" he scolded her.

"Shut up! Let go!" she shouted as she rammed her finger up his bum hole.

"Ogyaaa—!" Shinji shrieked miserably from the sharp stab of pain. It hurt so bad that he turned extremely pale and broke out into a cold sweat. This girl wasn't cute at all!! "Stop with the kanchō, already!" he demanded furiously. A vein throbbed on his head when she kept up the torture.

Right, this means war!

"I told you to stop, didn't I!?" he roared incredulously as he commenced his counter attack and shoved one of his own fingers up her ass.

"Hyaaaaa...!!!" Hiyori screamed, flinching in shock as she joined Shinji in his suffering, cringing. "Stupid Baldy! Now no man'll want to marry me anymore!!" she cried furiously.

"Shut up! That was punishment! A little punishment for a naughty kid!" Shinji snapped as a vein throbbed on his head. What the hell!? Why would kanchō interfere with her chances of being a bride!? He wasn't touching her anywhere near that place...! Che! Whatever! If it really became a problem, he'd just take responsibility for it himself...!

"—..." Hiyori said, relaxing as they both simultaneously surrendered in their little kanchō battle, even though Shinji had yet to let go of her. "I really, really hate... humans..." she said quietly as an unwanted image of Seren's mother with Shinji suddenly surfaced in her mind. She couldn't forgive that woman for what she had done to Shinji and Seren... how much she had hurt the two of them with her selfishness...

"I know," Shinji said patiently, furrowing his brow slightly. He knew full well what she meant. "Just don't let Seren hear you say that... She'll take it the wrong way."

Hiyori turned her head away so he wouldn't see the expression on her face.

"I really hate... Shinigami, too..."

"... I know," Shinji said gently, closing his eyes. "That's why I told you to wait, idiot. But, seriously... Don't let Seren hear that. She's knows she's not considered a true Visored, even though she's my daughter, since she doesn't have a mask or an inner hollow, like us. It'll be troublesome if that kid cries... since she never lets us see her tears..."

It was their fault she had developed such a bad habit. Seren had always been conscientious of others, even as a toddler. After realizing how much they were all struggling with their inner demons and the stress that came along with trying to raise a child while on the run, she had stopped crying in front of them. She had done it for their sakes, so they wouldn't have as much to worry about... If it weren't for Urahara, she probably never would have told him.

A child shouldn't have to suffer like that to support her parents...

"I wouldn't do something like that, Baldy," Hiyori replied solemnly.

No matter what had happened, no matter what sides of them she saw... that tiny hand never once stopped reaching out to them... Seren never once averted her eyes from their true selves. Even as a little girl, Seren had always been strong enough to accept them for what they were. That little girl they had spent so many years protecting was probably, in reality, stronger than any of them... and they all knew it, too. Before she came into their lives, they hadn't been able to move forward at all, but now... even Hiyori could feel herself starting to heal, little by little...

Just how many times have they been saved by that kid's love?