That Nostalgic Summer Rain (Bleach/Kara no Kyoukai)

[X] -But was interrupted by a meek voice, and the sound of someone stepping into view.

"Hello." The words were spoken softly, enough that it took some effort to listen to the speaker. "Are you Asagami Fujino?"

Fujino didn't know who that voice belonged to, and they apparently knew who she was. That could be harmless, but given the context, there was the chance of something strange happening here.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage." Asagami replied. "Who are you?"

"Tsumugiya Ururu." The speaker continued. Asagami was putting together what she could from the sound of the voice. Female, sounded young. "Can I talk to you in private?"

That was not something that Fujino was going to do. Arisawa had seen something strange, and as far as Fujino knew, the girl was related somehow. And the last time she had been alone with another supernatural person had not been a pleasant memory for Fujino, to say the least.

"Arisawa, do you know who this is?" Fujino asked.

The other girl took a moment to reply. "I dunno. Little girl. Has a logo for some shop on her shirt. Hands behind her back for some reason."

"No reason." The meek voice interjected.

And that was rather suspicious as well, wasn't it? Especially for someone who had emerged right as Arisawa had possibly seen something, right after her possibly seeing something had her very much noticing one of the fairy creatures.

But on the other hand, if this girl was somehow related, would she really say something that blatantly suspicious?

"Why do you want to speak to me alone?" Fujino tried. "Is there a reason you don't want Arisawa to be around for the conversation?"

"It's a secret." Tsumugiya replied. "One that she shouldn't hear."

Oh.

What secrets was she talking about? Fujino could think of a few that she had, but if a stranger knew anything about her ESP or her murders, then Fujino would have a lot of things to worry about. And if those weren't what she was talking about, then Asagami mentioning her ESP would create a few problems as well. Arisawa was already one person too many.

"That doesn't answer my question." Asagami stated, after a moment. "I don't particularly mind if Arisawa knows, if that makes things simpler."

There was a moment of silence, before the girl responded again.

"Okay." She decided, after a moment. "There is someone who wants to talk to you about your ESPer powers."

That had worked out well, then. It was a secret which Arisawa already knew, and not a secret where Asagami's opinion was irrelevant. That still did leave one of the more worrisome questions, though.

"How did you know about that?" Fujino asked. "I don't exactly advertise it."

"The person who wants to talk to you told me." Tsumugiya replied. "I don't know how he found out."

That was concerning, Fujino had to admit. There was a few possibilities that Fujino could think of, and none of them were ones she was comfortable with. Somehow, the least worrisome possibility was that this was a complete stranger. Otherwise, the other two options where the man who knew that Asagami Fujino was a murderer, and the mysterious man who had introduced himself as a Magus.

If Minato Keita was seeking her out, then Asagami Fujino was at a loss as to what to do about it. He knew too much about her, and after what he had done, Asagami wasn't too sure she'd be able to resist the temptation to simply kill him if it looked like he was spreading around any of her abnormalities. And the man who had introduced himself as Araya Souren was involved in the supernatural, enough to casually refer to himself as a Magus to someone he did not know while healing them. The idea of someone that deeply involved in the supernatural seeking her out was disturbing, to some degree.

"Oh, and if Arisawa is allowed to know." Tsumugiya spoke up. "This is what I'm holding."

Silence hung in the air, for a moment.

"Arisawa?" Asagami asked.

"I don't..." The girl trailed off for a moment. "Oh. It's one of those invisible fairy things, isn't it?"

"Yes." Tsumugiya answered. "I'm taking it to Urahara."

"I presume he's the one who wants to speak with me?" Fujino guessed.

"Yes."

Well, that answered that, then. It was a complete stranger with the ability to identify ESPers and have some interest in the supernatural. At the very least, the fairy thing had to be taken to him, so it was unlikely he had anything to do with them already.

"Do you know what he wants to talk to me about?" Fujino asked.

"No."

"Wait, Urahara? Isn't that the name of the old candy store?" Arisawa asked, suddenly.

"Yes." The girl replied. "Are you coming as well?"

"I don't see any reason why not." Arisawa replied. "Asagami and I were in the middle of something, and if you're doing something with that fairy thing, I'll want to know about it."

"Okay." The girl said. "Follow me."

There was the sound of footsteps, and Fujino took a moment to feel in front of her with her cane, before she followed the sound.

"I'm back." Tsumugiya spoke up as she opened a door. Fujino took a moment to swing around with her cane, feeling where the edges of the doorway where, before she stepped in. "I found the ESPer."

"Oi, keep it down." A boyish voice interrupts. "What if we had customers and you came in here talking about ESP And stuff?"

Fujino took a few steps into the building, and heard Arisawa enter behind her.

"And she's not alone." The boy's voice continued. "I'm pretty sure she was supposed to come alone-"

"She's with me." Asagami interrupted. "I insisted."

"Give her a break, Jinta." Another voice interrupted. "She's doing fine."

The boy grumbled.

"Speaking of which, Ururu, what've you got there?"

"Some form of familiar." The girl replied. "It was circling around the ESPer and came at me when it saw me."

"Well, go show it to Tessai." The man told her. "I'll take a look at it once I've dealt with our guests, but he can get started without me if he wants."

There was the sound of footsteps as Tsumugiya walked away, and a moment later, the man started talking again.

"Alright, then, Asagami." He continued. "And..."

"Arisawa Tatsuki." The other girl introduced herself. "I presume you're Urahara?"

"That's me." The man replied.

"How did you know I was an ESPer?" Asagami asked, suddenly. "Forgive me for being blunt, but I would rather prefer to keep that a secret."

"The supernatural calls to the supernatural." Urahara answered. "Honestly, I'm the least of your concerns here. Karakura Town is something of a hotspot when it comes to Hollows, so that'd be your biggest problem."

"Hollow?" Asked Arisawa. "Is that the small invisible thing, or the big invisible thing?"

"If the small one is the familiar Ururu caught, then no, that's not a Hollow." Urahara replied. "I'm not sure what it is, beyond it looking like some Magus made it. The bigger one was probably a Hollow. They've got a..."

He trailed off for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure what good describing a Hollow would be, for someone who can't see them and someone who's blind. They're ghosts, basically. Dead souls who couldn't move on and went mad from the emptiness of it, turned into monsters. That's a fairly short version, but that's the gist of it."

A moment passed, as the meaning dawned on Asagami.

The monster that she had seen, when she first arrived and encountered Arisawa, that was a Hollow, wasn't it? And if it was a ghost, then it had been a person.

So she'd murdered someone again, hadn't she?

She remembered it clearly, and she remembered the joy she'd felt as the monster died and faded away. She'd killed something that had been a person, and and had smiled as she did it.

No, there was more to it than that. It was a monster when she encountered it. It had attacked Arisawa. Fujino hadn't known it was human, but even if she had, would that have changed anything? She still would have killed it to save Arisawa. The act itself wasn't any more wrong, just that Fujino had enjoyed it, and she already knew that she was a murderer who enjoyed taking lives. This shouldn't change anything.

"I see..." Asagami continued, keeping her voice level. The brief moment of panic had passed. There was no reason to think that this made things any worse. That had been a kneejerk reaction, Fujino wasn't any worse a person for what had happened yesterday then she was the day before that.

It occurred to her that her grip on her cane had tightened reflexively while she was lost in though, and it took Asagami a moment to relax her fingers.

"The problem with Hollows is, they're soul eaters." Urahara continued. "They're all empty inside and try to fill themselves with souls, instinctively. And an ESPer? They're something of a beacon to those kinds of instincts. So that's why I called you here, Asagami. To give you a warning."

Fujino frowned. "I'm... A beacon, to Hollows?"

"Moreso when you actually use any ESP." Urahara replied. "But yeah. You probably could've gone the rest of your life without encountering a Hollow, but Karakura Town's the kind of place where a ghost can end up lingering easily, so we've got a bit of a problem with them."

"Is that why weird stuff's been happening for the last few months?" Arisawa asked. "Have there been a bunch of Hollows around recently?"

"I dunno." Urahara told her. "Do I look like I've got any reason to keep an eye on you? I'm letting Assagami know because the alternative is that a teenage girl wanders around with no clue that she's Hollow bait and I get yelled at for not helping. You're a normal person, so you don't have that problem."

Arisawa was silent for a moment after that, as if lost in thought.

"But anyway, Asagami." Urahara continued. "I dunno why you've come to Karakura Town, but I'd recommend leaving as soon as possible. Now, even. Hollows don't often wander out of Karakura Town, given what kind of place this town is, so it's probably in your best interest to get out."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Asagami replied. "There's someone I'm looking for, here. I know she's in Karakura Town somewhere, or at least was recently. I can't go anywhere without finding her."

There was silence in the room, before Urahara replied.

"I'm not gonna ask questions." He noted. "But you should think, for yourself. Can your ESP keep you safe from monsters who can smash down buildings?"

"It can." Fujino replied. She'd already beaten one Hollow.

"Then go ahead." Urahara decided. "Don't feel bad about what happens to any of the Hollows, by the way. It's a mercy to kill them, more than anything. Don't feel bad just because they used to be alive, existing as a Hollow is a curse."

Oh. That made it a bit easier to kill them, then, if it's not a bad thing to do.

"Arisawa, though, I'd say that you should-"

"I'm not going to avoid Asagami just because she's monster bait." Tatsuki interrupted him. "I've lived in this place for years, and if there's been weird stuff going on in my life already because of these Hollows, I'm not going to just ignore them and pretend the don't exist."

"Are you sure about that?" Urahara asked. "You can't even see them, and you've got a broken arm. You really wanna be around when they come crawling around and start lunging at any easy meal?"

"Yes."

The silence hung in the air for a moment, and Fujino was almost worried about the tense atmosphere that had come across the place, suddenly.

"...Well, alright then." Urahara decided, eventually. "Your life, I suppose. If it makes you feel better, it'll get easier to see them the more you're around the supernatural. Semi-transparent stuff is good enough for punching them in the face, if you know how to fight."

"It's fine." Asagami interrupted. "I can watch her. She's only really in danger when around me, isn't she?"

"That's a fair point." Urahara admitted. "What about you, Arisawa? Wanna keep following Asagami and rely on her while you're useless?"

That did not sound like the wording of someone who had no stakes in the decision that Arisawa made.

"What's it to you?" Arisawa asked, an edge in her voice.

"I think I might be able to be of some use." He continued. "Again, people'll yell at me if I just let let a teenage girl stay around danger without at least helping out. So, why don't I take a look at that arm of yours?"

"What do you mean?" Arisawa asked.

"I'm something of a magician, y'know." Urahara explained. "Not a specialised healer, but I know enough to fix a broken arm that's been recovering a while. Nobody'll question it, either. I can make sure of that."

"...Really?" Arisawa asked. "That's... That'd help a bunch. It'd be nice to have it working properly again."

"I should warn you, though, it won't make too much of a difference." Urahara advised. "There's only so much a human can do against a Hollow. It'll help a bit if you need to fight one off long enough for the ESPer to do whatever she does."

"Alright, then." Arisawa noted. "Is this gonna take long?"

"Maybe a while." Urahara replied. "I'll want to have a good look at it, and take the time to make sure it heals up properly. Speaking of which, Asagami, I've got nothing else to talk to you about. If you wanna leave, feel free."

"I see." Fujino noted. "Thank you for the warning, then. And for the help you are providing for Arisawa."

Turning to leave, Fujino took a moment to think about what to do next.

[X] Well, there was nothing for it but to get back to looking for Misaya. Perhaps she should try checking around other hotels?
[X] On second thought, perhaps she should stay a while. Perhaps she'd be allowed to see if anyone found out anything about the fairy.