Serendipity

Resolve (Part 2)

Later that Day

"Haa–ah! I'm so tired!" Shinji sighed heavily with annoyance as he walked home from school. Even though Ichigo had left early, Shinji had decided to stick it out for the rest of the day since pestering Ichigo when he was brooding like that wouldn't accomplish anything, and returning to the warehouse just meant he would have to sit around and listen to Hiyori throw a fit about how he still hadn't brought Ichigo back yet. He'd already had enough of that last night... However...

He frowned in irritation as he remembered the boring day he'd had after his confrontation with Ichigo.

"I guess it's 'cuz I'm not used to this kind of activity... and what's with giving us a test right after we get back from summer break? So stupid!" he scoffed as he slung his bag over his shoulder and ran a hand through his hair as he sauntered down the street. "Also, why do I have to go to school to recruit Ichigo? This really sucks! I should've just had Seren do it! She's only one year older than Ichigo, anyway!"

He was so focused on venting his frustrations with the Japanese school system, that he didn't even notice when a certain someone raised their flip-flopped foot, preparing to strike from behind.

Steady... Aim... Fire!

BAAMMM!

"Waah—!" Shinji yelled in surprised when a swift kick in the rear suddenly propelled him headfirst into the nearest street lamp. "Ooowww!!" he shouted indignantly, whipping his head around to see who his attacker was. It had better not be Seren again! This pole was made of steel—steel! Was she trying to split his skull open by kicking him into something so hard!? "What the hell...!?" Shinji flinched in surprise and broke out into a nervous sweat when he realized who his attacker was.

Nevermind, he took that back... he was starting to wish it really had been Seren... He was startled to see Hiyori standing there in her red tracksuit, already wearing an expression of extreme annoyance on her face as she stared down at him.

'Che! As if I'd ever want to kiss this baldy...!' she thought, scowling. Seren was a hundred years too early to talk about stuff she didn't even understand.

"Hi... Hiyori...!" Shinji stuttered nervously, realizing he must be in some deep fertilizer if she had shown up in person like this instead of waiting for him to come back on his own.

Without even the slightest change in her expression, Hiyori kicked her foot out to the side and caught her flip-flop as it flew into the air. Time to work off some of her frustration with this stupid father/daughter duo!

"What the hell are ya wastin' time for here, ya dumbass!!?" Hiyori roared furiously as she smacked him mercilessly across the face with her sandal. The sound of the impact echoed down the empty road.

"Sorry...!" Shinji managed to cough out as he was sent flying from the force of her brutal attack.

"Where's Kurosaki Ichigo!?" she demanded, brandishing her flip-flop threateningly at him as she clenched her fist around a clump of hair on his head to keep him from escaping.

"He's still..." Shinji said nervously.

"Whaddaya mean 'he's still...'!? What've you been doing!!? Didn't I tell ya to say whatever you needed to in order to get him to join!!?"

"I can talk all I want, but it doesn't help if he doesn't want to listen!!"

"Then just bring him here by force!!"

"What!? That's totally different from what you said before!!"

"... Found you," another familiar voice said as two figures approached them. Hiyori released Shinji and glanced behind her at the two newcomers. She frowned slightly at the two humans. They were a gorgeous, busty, redheaded girl and a big Hispanic guy who looked a little old for a high schooler.

"Orihime-chan...!" Shinji said, honestly surprised that they had managed to follow him despite how careful he had been to cover his trail.

"Shinji," Hiyori said calmly, crooking her finger at him to signal that he should come closer.

"?" Shinji said, wondering what she might be wanting to whisper to him that was so important.

The instant he got closer, Hiyori grabbed a fistful of hair and head-butted him right between the eyes with enough force to crack a skull.

"You were followed, dipshit!" she scolded him, vein throbbing on her forehead, as she roughly shoved him away.

"..." Shinji said shakily as he held his poor, injured face in his hands. Hiyori was merciless...!

"Because I thought that... even if I asked Kurosaki-kun what was going on, I'm sure he would just tell me it was nothing. So I thought I should ask you directly, Hirako-kun," Orihime said bravely as she stepped forward. "Who are you? What do you want with Kurosaki-kun...?"

"Hah!" Hiyori scoffed, furrowing her brow slightly in annoyance. "You really think we're just gonna to tell you?"

Meanwhile,
Urahara Shōten

"I'm back... finally..." Seren announced, sighing tiredly as she slumped onto the floor, laden with bags of miscellaneous items. She had finally managed to get everything that was on Urahara's list, and she was running low on energy... She should have known things would turn out this way the moment Urahara had told her this was 'punishment'...

"Oh! Kisuke, Seren's back!" Yoruichi shouted as she walked over to the exhausted girl, in her cat form. "Oi, you still alive, Seren?" she teased, nudging the girl with her nose.

"... Barely..." she mumbled weakly as Urahara, slavedriver extraordinaire, waltzed into the room.

"Ah, excellent~! Now that you're back, I want you to help me with something," Urahara said brightly.

"Haah?" Seren asked, scowling slightly, as she stared up at him in annoyance and disbelief from her spot on the floor. No way was she moving. She refused! This wasn't just punishment anymore—It was abuse!

"My, my! What a dissatisfied face~! There's no need to give me such a scary look," Urahara teased as he gently poked her furrowed brow. "I meant after you had a little break, of course. For the next stage, I'll need to borrow some of your artistic talent."

"... You never did tell me what is you're working on...?" Seren said, pouting slightly at his teasing. He was treating her like a kid again...

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about that... It's just a little something that was requested by an old acquaintance of mine," Urahara answered cryptically.