Why did these people insist on making them stay in the same room? Were they trying to encourage certain behaviors? Natalie just shook her head. At this point she figured it was just better to suck it up and deal with it. Edward was a little more unnerved by it. He noticed only one set of bedding here and it was odd at that.
“Um Natalie, what’s that?”
“Huh?” she asked turning around to see that he was pointing to the futon. She couldn’t help but to chuckle. “That’s a traditional Japanese futon Ed. I haven’t had a chance to really fill you in on the particulars of this world yet have I?”
Edward shook his head. “No, you were too preoccupied following what’s his name around.” He didn’t exactly sound too happy with this either.
“Captain Hitsugaya?”
“Yeah him. Anyway, so what’s the deal here?”
“This is Karakura Town and it’s very much like the Japan where Mahora Academy was.”
“An alternate version right?”
“You got it. In this one you’ll see more of the traditional Japanese customs. The people of this Japan are a mix of modern Japanese culture and its traditional past, though mostly the modern.”
“What about what I saw earlier? How did those two leave their bodies like that?”
“Well as I’m sure you’ve probably figured out by now, they’re what are called Soul Reapers. They help spirits cross to the Soul Society where they await whatever comes next for them, eternal rest, reincarnation, I’m not exactly sure. They also help cleanse Hollows so they can cross over too unless they were particularly nasty in life as well as in death, then they go somewhere not so nice. But anyway, Soul Reapers aren’t exactly human; they’re spirits or souls with a human looking appearance. In order to work in this world though they need gigais which are basically… well… I guess the best way to put it would be this, think of a gigai as a fleshy version of the armor you put Alphonse’s soul into. It’s a human like vessel that can carry a spirit or soul and there’s no blood seal required. They can also come and go from that vessel as they please.”
“You’re kidding?”
Natalie shook her head. “Nope.”
“But what about those pills I saw them take to leave those things? What were those?”
“That was Soul Candy. What that does is insert a generic soul into a gigai so that it can move about and get to safety and no one will be suspicious of it while the Soul Reaper isn’t occupying it.”
Edward just shook his head. “Sorry but that’s just a little much. I mean the last time I saw something like that it tried to kill me.”
“These won’t do that, the souls in the candy are designed to be completely harmless. The most you’d think it was if you saw it around was mentally challenged. Thankfully there isn’t a nut job like Father behind the scenes of these guys pulling the strings.”
“That’s good to know,” he said as he went over and poked at the futon. “So what are we supposed to do about this?”
Natalie chuckled. “Well seems Kisuke has a twisted sense of humor or Tessai does. Is it two together or just one big one?”
Edward poked around it and couldn’t find any seams. “Looks like just the one.”
“Well then we’ll just have to make do now won’t we?”
“You mean…”
Natalie couldn’t help but laugh. “What? Do you have a problem sleeping in the same bed with me Ed?”
He blushed bright red. “No… it’s just…”
“It’s just what? Aren’t you the one that told me not to make this complicated? We’re both adults here Ed, I think we can handle sharing a bed without doing anything inappropriate.”
“But is it really inappropriate?” he asked, sounding a little embarrassed.
Natalie turned around to look at him, her expression a combination of intrigued and confused. “What do you mean?”
Edward avoided eye contact with her and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Well it’s just I’ve been thinking about what Endymion said to me about… and well you’ve been worried about me and getting hurt and I thought…”
Natalie shook her head. “That’s not the answer to that particular problem Ed. Besides, I think I’m all set with that now, at least enough so that I won’t let it weigh me down again. If we ever do go there, I don’t want it to be for any other reason than it’s what we want because we love each other OK?”
Edward nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry I even brought it up.”
Going over to him, she put her hand on his cheek softly, looked into his eyes, and smiled. “It’s alright. If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one that was thinking about it.”
“It does,” he said giving her a sly grin before pulling her close and giving her a kiss.
“Come on, we probably should get some rest while we have a chance to,” Natalie said as she went to get ready for bed.
“You’re probably right,” Edward sighed as he did the same.
Getting into the same futon felt a bit awkward for them but they managed. It would only be a few minutes though before Natalie scooted over and snuggled against his back sound asleep. Edward had to admit, this wasn’t so bad. He actually thought he might actually be able to get used to this. It wouldn’t be long before he drifted off to sleep as well.
“Eavesdropping on them are you Kisuke?” Yuroichi asked as she came up the hall catching him.
“I couldn’t help it honestly. They’re just too cute.”
Yuroichi just shook her head. “It’s none of your business you know.”
“Yeah and since when have you known me to mind my own business?”
“Never, but still, you could give them at least a little privacy. What did you hope to find out listening to them anyway? You weren’t just listening in for your own perverted reasons I hope. If you were that’s just sick.”
“Yuroichi! Such little faith you have in me! I had nothing of the perverse in mind when I decided to listen in; I just wanted to see how much that girl Natalie really knew.”
“And?”
“She knows quite a bit but I wonder if she knows enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well why pick here to come to, especially if you knew that we’re preparing to go against Aizen? What purpose would it serve? And I’ve never seen a butterfly take a human form before so I’m thinking what she said about being from somewhere else entirely is completely true.”
“That’s right; I’d almost forgotten that the hell butterflies are also referred to as ferrymen. That’s what I get for being out of the game for so long.”
“It’s also a term that isn’t used very often for them. Typically it’s only used when they take a human form and a butterfly hasn’t done that in centuries, there’s been no need for them to.”
“Then that still comes back to, why are they here now?”
“Either she knows what’s going to happen and what’s being planned or she doesn’t. If she does maybe she came here to help out or worse, get in the way. If she had no idea well then I think she may have gotten herself and that young man into more than they bargained for.”
“I’m hoping she came to be of help.”
“You and me both Yuroichi, you and me both. We’ll just have to wait until tomorrow and see how they fair against Renji. How they fight him will tell me all I need to know.”
Yuroichi nodded. “If either of them tries to kill Renji then we’ll know. Though I think only she has the power required to kill Renji, but I didn’t see the look of a killer in either of their eyes.”
“Neither did I but that can be faked if you’ve trained yourself well enough. But I think we should call it a night as well. They’ve gone to sleep so I won’t be getting anything else from them.”
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