90 – Down The Rabbit Hole

90 – Down The Rabbit Hole

= Back on Earth, August 19th =

Reina arrived in front of a small run-down store on a bare plot in a back alley of Karakura town. It was a traditional styled two story Japanese building built out of wood and plaster walls with a black tiled roof . A big sign hung above the sliding wood door entrance that simply said Urahara Shop. Due to its diminutive size it looked more like a home than a shop if one ignored the sign.

The building stood out from its surroundings not only due to its traditional style, but also because it was surrounded by much taller modern looking flats causing quite the contrast.

A white compact Japanese truck was parked beside the building.

The mostly gravel plot with some grass growing here and there indicating a lack of maintenance didn't help the shabby appearance it was giving off.

Reina looked the place up and down. 'Did I really come to the right place?' she wondered to herself in confusion.

She hesitated. 'I wasn't expecting something quite so.... run-down when Masaki invited me over. Should I call to make sure?" she wondered.

Before she could decide one of the front doors slid open revealing a cute little black haired girl. Her hair was put up in two ponytails coming down to her shoulders. Her bangs were parted down the middle, but a single long tuft of hair seemed to have escaped this hanging down the centre of her face. She was wearing a white t-shirt that said Urahara shop in red on it, a pink skirt with white circles on it, and a pair of sandals.

The two stared at each other for a while in awkward silence, but the girl didn't seem to plan to say anything at all.

Eventually Reina caved. "Hi there... uhm... I was told to meet someone here... I think..." she said awkwardly.

The girl looked at her silently for a little longer. "H-hello," she eventually managed to get out in a shy whisper.

This didn't help Reina all that much though as it didn't answer any of her questions.

Reina bit her lip. "Ok... well... is Masaki here?" she asked trying to keep it simple for the little girl.

Jinta followed them while grumbling.

Climbing down the ladder took quite a while until eventually the hole opened up into a giant square room large enough to hold a city block with blue walls and ceiling. The ground was a rocky terrain.

Reina looked around in amazement while still climbing down the ladder. 'So this is Uruhara's basement,' she thought remembering the things Masaki had mentioned to her over the phone.

It didn't take her long to find who she was looking for as she found a group in the distance.

It was Masaki having another training session with Ichigo and Ishida while they were being leisurely watched by a plush lion, Urahara, and the black cat.

Reina gulped watching the training as it was rather spartan. 'The orange head is her son right?' she wondered. Questioning if that actually was the case with how ruthless Masaki was.

The first to notice their arrival was Urahara who was watching her intently, his eyes were covered in the shadow of his bucket hat.

It was quickly replaced with a big smile, but you could still see a hidden glint in his eyes if you looked close enough. "Oh my... and who do we have here?" he asked excitedly.

As soon as Urahara called attention to them everyone stopped what they were doing and watched in curiosity except for Masaki who ran towards Reina with a wide smile. "Reina-chan!" she shouted.

She pulled Reina into a big hug who returned it in kind.

Masaki pulled back to take a look at Reina. "I'm so glad you were able to make it here," she said.

Reina smiled awkwardly looking at everyone that was staring at the two of them. "Y-yes, you too," she said.

Urahara chuckled. "Are you going to introduce the rest of us to this young lady?" he asked.

Rein swore the black cat seemed to roll its eyes at him. 'I must be imagining things," she thought.