The midday sun hung high above the southern quarter of the Rukongai's third district, lighting up the well worn thoroughfares of the market. The heat radiating downward from its presence did nothing to exsiccate the mire which the streets had become after the first deluge of spring rain just days prior. The condition of the ground did not deter the shopkeepers from opening their stores and stalls nor did it stop patrons from frequenting the establishments. People rambled from storefront to storefront in meandering succession, their movements like the slow churning coils of a tangled serpent.

Typical to the nature of people rather than individuals, those of the crowd were otherwise engaged with their personal business and by and large did not notice the passing of a petite Shinigami. Even so, each time Yuzuki's boots rose up from the muck under her feet with a thick wet squelch, she cringed on the inside. A wallflower by choice and partly nature, she preferred to not draw attention to herself. She hurried forward, her rushed steps kicking up a muddy froth in her wake.

What attention she did draw from the residents of the Rukongai, Yuzuki knew her uniform to be the cause rather than any noise she was making, most of which was drowned out in the natural ambiance of the area. She wore it, not because she was on duty as her business was her own, but because for all the attention it drew, it diverted that much more physical interaction. The Rukongai was not like Seireitei. Crime was commonplace and the ways people victimized one another was far less predictable than a Hollow attack.

With the reassuring pressure of her zanpakutou against her back, Yuzuki ventured deeper into the throng of consumers. Her destination for this trip was located at the end of the road. The small building stood with door open and colorful streamers of fabric hanging from the overhead of the porch unfurling in the twisting currents of a cool breeze that wound itself around the surrounding structure. The textile ornaments denoted the goods and services provided there, but a large sign swinging on hooks between the waving material went the extra mile and announced it as a tailor's. Goal in sight now, the young woman hurried forward, unaware of the rest of her surroundings in her narrowing tunnel vision.

Deep within the confines of the third district, past the many winding streets and dark alleyways, that held mysteries that were centuries lost, that dotted the area was a shop (or right next to the tailor's but that was a much less interesting description). It was a mysterious shop. In fact it derived most of wares from mysteries. More specifically the solving of mysteries. And it wasn't just any kind of mystery such as if it was Colonel Mustard in the dining room with the sack of badgers and a dagger. This shop dealt in the solving of mysteries OF THE FABRIC OF THE UNIVERSE ITSELF.

For this was Biru's SHOP OF SCIENCE. Within this SHOP OF SCIENCE, Biru worked at selling the various wares that he had designed himself through the application of his RESEARCH OF SCIENCE. There were clockwork toys next to designs for irrigation systems. There were knickknacks and paddywacks and even a complex contraption that would give a dog a bone.

However on this particular day, Biru was experiencing two problems. The first was that no one had entered his shop (the fact that explosions occurred in the lab that was out back may have been a factor in this). But there was another problem. FOR ONE OF BIRU'S INVENTIONS HAD ESCAPED. It was a semisentient jumping...thing (Biru couldn't remember what he had made it to do but it had been a fun exercise in the application of kinematics). And if Biru didn't catch it, who knew what kind of trouble it could cause (the correct answer would be lots of trouble).

Yuzuki was not beholden to any legendary form of focus, especially in day-to-day circumstances. She certainly knew her end goal and had blocked out the standard milieu, but that did not prevent aberrant occurrences from drawing her attention outward. Having only recently become accustom to the slopping of her own steps, the medic froze in her tracks when her steady one-two pace was interrupted by a heavier and more erratic noise.

The sound had the same qualities as her own footfalls; a thick plop signifying contact with the mud of the streets followed by the soggy suction of release as the surface of what had come down rose back up. Yuzuki slowly turned her head in the direction she thought to have heard the disturbance. Nothing immediately struck Yuzuki as being out of the ordinary as she scanned the area in question. In fact, all she saw was a small plain building.

Her lips pursed together, a sign that she was mildly perplexed, but Yuzuki turned her focus away from the structure and back to the tailor's, situated just next to it, though with more than what would be considered normal distance between the two places. Yuzuki took another step forward, then another, and then she heard the noise again. Her entire body swiveled to face the building again, as if she had been expecting the noise this time, but again, Yuzuki saw nothing.

It was not seeing anything that allowed a dawning revelation to wash through Yuzuki's mind. All of the shops and even stalls in the market areas of the third district had signs telling passersby what they offered and even the most meager of merchants had at least a few clientele coming and going from their place of business. This building that stood alone was devoid of both patrons and signage.

"How... mysterious," Yuzuki mused aloud. She stood in quiet contemplation as the girl was prone to do when another viscous splash stirred her to action. The tailor's forgotten in the wake of her family's tendency to fall prey to wanderlust, Yuzuki strode up to the building and rapped twice in quick succession on the door. While it was normal to simply enter a shop without knocking for entrance, Yuzuki was not entirely sure this place was such an establishment and it would not do to barge into a private residence.

Over the tables and through the plants where did the jumping thing go? Biru looked around and around and yet he still didn't know. Oh where oh where could Biru find this new and elusive foe?

However Biru soon found his answer (or thought he did. Though it was a good way to save some time by stop the rhyming). For it was obvious that the jumping thing was what was knocking on the door despite all common sense contradicting that statement. Anyone else would have just entered the store (not realizing that he had forgotten to replace the store sign after the last incident...again).

Picking up his NET OF SCIENCE, Biru then answered his door with the net at the ready. "Haha I've finally found you..'re not a semisentient jumping device." Biru said in an excited tone of voice before it devolved into disappointment at the fact that Yuzuki was not in fact mechanical or jumping or similiar to his device in any significant way.

"Sorry about the mistake. No need to just stand there though. Feel free to browse the store. Just close the door before it gets out." Biru quickly said before he turned his back and resumed his EPIC SEARCH OF SCIENCE.

There were few things that Yuzuki was not expecting to be on the other side of the door; a dozen different scenarios had already flitted through her mind the moment the sound of her knuckles colliding with wood echoed around her. She was prepared for the unmarked building to be the home of a shady coterie running 'protection' schemes on the merchants, or a Hollow in hiding, or for some poor soul not altogether there to open the door wearing nothing but what they were born into the world in. Of course, Yuzuki felt she would probably just be greeted by an elderly looking man or woman that was merely the proprietor.

Then the door opened.

Reflexively, Yuzuki stepped back with her left foot and simultaneously her hand rose half way up and across her chest as if she was going to draw her katana from where it rose over her right shoulder. Upon realizing that the man before her simply held a net and didn't appear hostile, her posture diverted back to standing straight, though she had to tilt her head up to properly look at the man who was nearly a full foot taller than she, and her hand dropped to her side. For all intents and purposes, it looked like the latter of Yuzuki's assumptions had been correct, minus the age she had assigned to the figures of her imagination.

Despite the claims that the building was in fact a store, Yuzuki was less than comfortable following the shopkeeper inside. Odd smells wafted out of the door to Yuzuki's nose. In a way it reminded her of the hospital back in Seireitei; a combination of odors adherent to medicinal concoctions and cleaning, but the ones from the store were off somehow. They didn't see as strong, almost unnoticeable to someone unfamiliar with such things, as if they were simply lingering scents from days prior. Had Yuzuki immediately known that the man was a scientist, it would have made more sense and she wouldn't have hesitated at the door like she did, but because she was the sound of another heavy squelching coming from outside did not escape her.

The petite doctor craned her head to look over her right shoulder first and then her left, but she saw nothing. Thinking that the man who had opened the door knew something about it, Yuzuki finally stepped over the threshold, closing the door behind her. The inside of the store was darker than it had been outside under the glare of the sun at its zenith so it took a moment for Yuzuki's eyes to adjust and when they did, she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing.

"Excuse me," she said, her soft voice seeming loud to her with the sounds of the street shut out. "What kind of store is this?" Yuzuki had taken to glancing around at the odd collection of items scattered across the room she had entered. "Are those... scorch marks on the wall?" Needless to say, she was momentarily distracted from the thinly formed connection between the noise outside and the semisentient jumping thing, or whatever the man had called it.

Head towards the explosions, I wonder if mother is going to have uncle's hide for these directions. Nero mused as he recalled the more specific instructions his uncle's assistant gave him. The delivery-boy adjusted the bag straps before jogging a little until his eyes caught sight of a tailor shop.

Rather, a specific one that looked to be having spotty times with business given the sound of an explosion he had heard coming from it's neighbor. Nero knew for certain that unless a Hollow was involved or criminals, a tailor shop would not have an explosion as part of the business.

Of course, that was only because The Hazard wasn't involved.

Slipping the idea away for a humdrum weekend, Nero walked up to the shop and took a moment to check the surroundings. Merely out of instinct born of lessons that drilled the dangers of the third and fourth district into the recesses of the mind. "I wonder what the owner is like," he mused aloud before rapping his knuckles in an odd 1-2 then 3 beat.

"Anyone in here?" Nero asked, wondering if perhaps someone stole the sign or if it was lost in an explosion.

Looking under chairs and other likely places for the semisentient jumping thing (Biru really needed to give it a better name...perhaps he could make an invention for that). Biru still had no luck finding the device. Undoubtedly it had trained and become a master of disguise. But even if it was a master of disguise, it would not be able to withstand BIRU'S SEARCHING SKILLS OF SCIENCE. All Biru had to do was observe his surroundings (a skill he was actually quite adept at after years of experimenting).

However Biru was soon interrupted from his SEARCH OF SCIENCE when the customer asked what kind of store this is. Briefly wondering why she would ask such a question when he had a sign on the front answering the question (or so he thought), Biru gave a mental shrug and said, "This is a store of Science. We pretty much sell anyth- why yes that is a scorch mark. Should have been made a week or two ago." Biru said. Sniffing the scorch mark and giving it a taste to make sure Biru then said, "Yeah it was made about a week ago. One week 2 days, 15 hours, 13 minutes and about 34 seconds to be precise."

However before Biru could once again go back to his EPIC SEARCH OF SCIENCE, after answering Yuzuki's question yet another interruption presented itself. Wondering if the knocking was the semisentient jumping thing (after still not realizing the impossibility of it), Biru's hypothesis was then disproven after Nero spoke. "Yes. Feel free to come in and look around." Biru said to the delivery boy. Briefly wondering why people kept on knocking on his shop door instead of coming in and looking around, Biru soon began his search again.

The situation gained a certain clarity when the Shinigami's inquiry was answered. There were the standard stereotypical qualities one expected from a person who dabbled in science; licking scorch marks on a wall was not one of them. Yuzuki had been around long enough, though she was young compared to many, to have met a scientist or two. This man was nothing like them.

Her discomfort far from quelled, Yuzuki took a step back toward the door. It was then that a secondary knock resounded through the room. "Perhaps you should invest in a sign," Yuzuki remarked as she rotated halfway so that she could see both the entrance and the shopkeeper if she turned her head slightly in either direction.

Sadly, Nero was not free to look around and peruse the wares as the client no doubt hoped he would be. Still, he did at least make note of the location for future reference- right before noticing the short little cute Shinigami standing in his path.

"Oh I'm looking all right, hi there!" Approximately one googleplexeth of a second was needed before Nero's eyes lit up and a large smile followed the friendly greeting and remark. The job just turned a little bright for him; money and a pretty Shinigami to boot, though a bit on the pale side.

Obviously she needed more sunlight and was on duty but The Hazard didn't care. "Excuse me," he chirped before shifting his gaze onto the man that was clearly the store-owner, given the lack of anyone else that looked like a Rukongai Citizen around. "Nero Calder, I have the order from Caeser Calder for you sir," he politely informed the man, wondering what he did for a living, given the look of the establishment itself.

Not like the odds were against him that the girl was the owner; he knew that without even starting the calculations.

[bgcolor=777777]

[/i] in them.

Now, back to the not knocking. Coming up to the mystery science shop, or whatever it was (not like she knew what it was) she had peeked in the window. She had peeked in the window of many a shop as she passed by, and this one roused her interest enough, as she didn't know what it was, that she felt compelled to enter. And by enter, I mean barge in.

Shoving the door open, she galloped in, hair sticking out every which way, hands sticky (as they tended to be with children), and her garb of a black kimono top with a puffy skirt dirtied due to her various adventures of the day. She had a purple scarf on, wrapped a few times around her neck so that the ends just touched the floor, and her trademark eyepatch over her right eye. No ribbons or ornaments adorned her hair today, and her light blue long socks had a few tears in them, just above her knee, where her black boots ended. Her garb had accents of light blue and purple in them, complimenting her over all black attire, which was a more fashionable copy of a shinigami uniform, or in her mind at least. She, then shut the door behind her, then immediately taking note of a familiar figure.

"Ooo whatcha doin' here, Sissy?" Raiu grinned, coming up behind her sister to tug on her skirt. She couldn't help but notice her sister after all, her curiosity about the shop momentarily forgotten.[/ul]

Raising an eyebrow at Yuzuki's comment Biru wondered what she had meant by that. "But I have a sign out- oh...right. That happened to the last sign." Biru thought outloud even going so far as to accentuate the "that". He had forgotten about "that" (it was best not to ask what exactly had happened).

However before Biru could say anything else Nero entered, shortly followed by Raiu. "Hello sir and young lady." Biru said with a smile to the two of them (it had been so long since he had this many people in the shop at once without it being a group complaining about his latest experiment). Visibly confused when Nero announced his reason for being in the shop, Biru began to pace back and forth. "Caesar Calder. Caesar Calder. What did I order from a Caesar Calder...OH RIGHT." Biru said as he finally remembered what it was that he had ordered. "Those are the shop signs I ordered." Biru continued on excitedly.

"I believe I have the slip that says that I already paid somewhere..." Biru said as he moved behind his sale's counter and began to search through the various drawers (and the various things inside of them) for the slip of paper that he had to hand to Nero. "I'll just need a moment." Biru said to Nero.

Again Yuzuki took a step backward, the small of her back gently bumping against a table positioned behind her before she angled her frame more to see the newcomer. She returned his stare with a flat expression and without speaking. A few seconds passed before she replied, "Heterochromia."

That was it. There was no greeting, no passive chiding of his own introduction, just a doctor pointing out a young man's medical condition. Eyes had always held a certain fascination for Yuzuki ever since her sister had been born with the female branch's birthmark in her eye. Speaking of which...

It was as if the simple act of thinking of her sister summoned Raiu to the spot. Yuzuki's entire demeanor changed as the smaller, yet-to-be Shinigami barged in. Perhaps stormed was a better word, the girl being true to her namesake, even in her appearance. "Raiu-chan, what are you doing here," Yuzuki chided as she reached one arm around Raiu while kneeling so that the other hand could come around and fuss with her sister's disheveled hair.

Emotion had inundated not only Yuzuki's voice when she spoke, but her entire being. Her eyes had gone from flat to sparkling, her face from stoic to glowing, and her frame from a feline tension to a limber gracefulness when she encircled the child. It was a mannerism reserved for her family, children, and occasionally patients and close friends; Raiu had filled the role of all, even patient occasionally as she was prone to skinned knees. Though the two others in the room were not forgotten, Yuzuki's focus had shifted with her mood, it seemed they had business with each other anyways.

Five gold says collateral damage of some kind, Nero thought. He didn't know much about the client except for what his uncle told him and what the young man could tell with his own mismatched eyes. I wonder if he ever has to make deliveries himself... Something to consider once the delivery was finished and he needed to head back.

"Of course sir," Nero could use the chance to study the Shini-girl anyway. Of course, the best method to do that was to chat with her- except she was already talking to someone else.

And what his eyes and calculations told him, there was a good chance that as the shorter girl said, they were sisters. Though Nero was far more concerned with the fact that a little girl had made her way into the third district of all places! But it seemed like Shini-girl had a grasp on the situation and he still had the receipt to deliver back to his uncle.

And here I thought this would be plain and simple- better than just plain boring for sure.

[bgcolor=777777]Squirming a bit, as children tend to do, as her sister mussed with her unruly hair, Raiu peered around, taking note of the two men in the shop.

"S'ploring" she replied to her sister, finishing off the last bit of food on the stick clutched in her paw. Still chewing, the girl mumbled out a question, "What kinda shop is this?" She spoke loudly enough that any of the three people in the room could hear and respond, as she was still studying the two unknown men in the shop.

The message was a bit garbled, but probably still intelligible, as she was talking with her mouth full. It wasn't very lady like, but Raiu wasn't fond of 'being a lady'. Now her sister, she was a 'lady', Raiu knew that much. Beauty, poise, manners, all of that nonsense they tried to force on the little wildling, her sister embodied those things. She didn't begrudge Yuzuki for it, as she was fond of her elder sibling, but she just wasn't the same kind of girl. Raiu still had a lot of child in her, which was probably why she STILL looked like a little girl at 75, while her elder sister, who was only 125, was a woman grown.

People aged funny, Raiu thought. There was no set time for a person to 'come of age' physically, something the girl observed privately to herself. As to why, the girl has all sorts of fantastical notions, but no solid theory.

Allowing the customers to look around as he searched in vain, Biru only stopped his EPIC SEARCH FOR A SLIP OF PAPER when he heard the little girl ask about what kind of shop it is. "Why this is a Science shop young lady. I take the results of any research I do and use it to make inventions of various kinds." Biru explained to Raiu.

Going back to his search Biru smiled as he remembered all of the different kinds of research that he had conducted over the years (and at his luck for not dying due to all of the various accidents that had occurred over the years). Finding the slip of paper that he needed next to a schematic for a flying device that would rain fire down upon the user's enemies (purely to test various theoretical physics concepts of course) and a symbol of some sort that was comprised of different types of metals (its better if we don't talk about that one), Biru held it up for all to see. "Found it." Biru happily announced.

Closing the drawer, Biru went to Nero and handed him the slip of paper. "There you go." Biru said as he handed it over.

Raiu's question made Yuzuki's original purpose for being out in the Rukongai resurface to the forefront of her thoughts. She had been going to the tailor's to purchase fabric to make Raiu a new outfit for her upcoming birthday. The shops in Seireitei didn't have quite what she had been looking for and even if they had, Yuzuki was worried that Raiu might spot her buying the material; she had thought coming out to the third district would prevent that, but she really should have known better.

Still, Raiu had found her in the 'science' shop instead, so Yuzuki's secret was safe for now. Surely there was enough odd things in the room alone to keep the younger female distracted, not to mention the two men present. Though mildly preoccupied with keeping Raiu from finding out why she was in town, Yuzuki's main concern was still what her sister was doing out in the Rukongai alone. The answer was obvious of course, Raiu had said it herself that she was exploring, but she was still young and inexperienced in terms of combat; Yuzuki was too, but at least she had her zanpakutou with her, acting as a warning to those that might act her.

"Raiu-chan, you know you shouldn't be wandering around the Rukongai. It's not safe, especially out here. Do you remember the Hollow talk?" Ah, the Hollow talk. Yuzuki remembered her own. It was complete with horrifying visual depictions of a variety of particularly monstrous specimens. It took two weeks for Yuzuki to sleep in her own room after that and another three before she stopped having nightmares about being dragged away in the middle of the night by a Hollow under the bed. Raiu was made of tougher stuff than Yuzuki had been when she was younger, but that did tend to make one more reckless. As her older sister, Yuzuki had no choice but to fret which certainly made it harder to engage the others who were present.

Nero mentally raised his eyebrow; Hollow Talk? He didn't recall his mother, a retired Shinigami officer, ever giving him a Hollow Talk. There was The Hazard Talk, power of a moniker talk, the birds and the bees talk (which contrary to what many children believed, DID NOT involve either creature at all), and his personal favorite; the scholar talk.

Perhaps it was merely something the child in particular had to be given to get her to stay at home. Not that it's working obviously, he noted before turning his gaze right onto his client.

With a simple tug, the delivery bag was removed and the flap opened to reveal the metal signs inside. "Here are the signs sir, all in order," And with that, Nero politely held his hand out to accept the receipt with the other hand on the bag strap.

Namely as one old fellow thought the bag was part of the delivery and that had been a rather annoying fiasco of sorts for The Hazard. Though Nero didn't stop himself form wondering if perhaps the Shini-girls would mind his aid.

[bgcolor=777777]"Oooo...'ventions..." Raiu gaped, peering around at the shop. She had read about science before, and wacky adventures with inventions. She wondered if this man was like the wacky characters in her books. Before she could ask him if he was, her sister chided her about wandering out of the house, namely mentioning the Hollow Talk.

Raiu huffed a little bit, "Yes, I 'member. Hollows gobble up cute little girls like me." Though that probably wasn't the Hollow Talk word for word, she was roughly summarizing.

"OMIGOSH, DO YA THINK I'LL SEE ONE, SISSY?!" she suddenly gasped, the prospect of running to a hollow sounding delightful and adventurous to the reckless little girl. "I'm not afraid!" She insisted, puffing up a bit.

"Thank you." Biru said with a smile as he handed Nero the slip. "would you mind holding the bag open and I'll grab the signs?" Biru asked the worker. Giving Nero a few moments to do so, Biru then picked up the signs and set them to the side of the counter. "I'll set the sign up after they leave." Biru thought to himself. After all it wasn't very often that he had so many people in his store at once.

Hearing the young lady sound excited about seeing a hollow, Biru was suprised. Reminding himself that Raiu was still a child and was fortunate enough to probably have never encountered one before, Biru then said, "I wouldn't want to see one. Hollows are quite scary. Although if you really are curious I think I have a few anatomical sketches of some laying around somewhere." Perhaps showing Raiu what a hollow actually looked like would dispel any of the illusions she had about the creatures.

However Biru couldn't help but feel that he had forgotten about something. Something that was semisentient and not very fond of gravity.

If Yuzuki's skin could have blanched any further, it would have. Instead, the older sister settled for looking faintly sick at the prospect of a Hollow encounter with Raiu involved. Even if the younger of the two wasn't present, Yuzuki would never willingly want to come face to face with one of the monsters. She had a few times before during assignments as a field medic and her own journeys into the Rukongai for purchases.

The fights were always messy and Yuzuki always had much to do in the aftermath. While she had no qualms with the concept of combat, Yuzuki's talent came in the form of healing, not in any amount of prowess with a weapon or otherwise. The Shinigami did intend to address the issue, after all, it was better to protect people to begin with than fail to do so and have to heal them later, but her studies, both personal and profession, had her doing the latter, which Yuzuki knew to be equally important in the grand scheme of things.

"Yes, they do gobble up cute little girls like you, Raiu-chan, so hush now," Yuzuki replied, the smooth skin of her brow crinkling like a harried mother as the corners of her mouth turned down into a slight frown; any wrinkles Yuzuki earned prematurely would likely be a direct result of worrying about her sibling. Still, Yuzuki's face rarely strayed from impassive for long and as Biru offered to show Raiu pictures of Hollow, the surface of her features smoothed out and Yuzuki rose from the kneeling position she had adopted when she had greeted her sister.

"Thank you for the offer, but Raiu-chan is aware of what Hollow look like. She does not need to see any anatomical sketches of the creatures." Along with her expression, Yuzuki's voice had also lost the emotion it had held though it remained soft and gentle in tone, yet still firm for the situation. The simple truth of the matter was, the shop was odd and neither Yuzuki nor Raiu knew the shopkeeper or the delivery boy. Yuzuki didn't want to expose her sister to any unwanted influences; she got enough wonky ideas on her own.

Now this girl has some serious moxie, thought Nero, and slipped the now empty pack with receipt inside, on. And thankfully, for The Hazard, he was now technically off to see his uncle.

Right after he threw in his two cents and reasoning. "I'm sure her sister here would much rather get both of them back home than see if a Hollow is about," Nero pointed out, before he paused for a moment to politely bow his head to both girls, flashing the older one a polite smile. "I'm headed back to the first district, need an escort?" he asked politely.

Not like he could throw in a sales pitch saying 'need your kid sister delivered back home safety? Nero Calder at your service!' Man, that sounds horrible and crass... like some kind of drunken sales pitch thrown out by a cross-eyed bachelor of five centuries age...

[bgcolor=777777]Raiu huffed, scrunching up her little face in displeasure. They always treat me like a baby, she inwardly grumbled, but I'm notta baby! Caution was not Raiu's strong point, rather she was propelled by a seemingly endless supply of energy and curiosity. She was not blessed, unlike sister, with foresight or wariness. These factors could get the girl injured or worse, which worried her family to no end. But Raiu was brave, and she knew that her sister was leery of Hollow, and the little girl had fantastical dreams of fighting the beast to defend her sister. Most people exerted caution when it came to Hollow after all, especially the precious healers that, more often than not, did not posses battle skills.

Raiu kept quiet as long as she could, before a burst of words came spilling from her mouth. "I'm notta scaredy sheep! I'm too quick for them ole Hollows, I can outrun almost everyone at home!" She crossed her arms, her face a bit petulant. She just wanted to roam around and explore, and she managed to get caught. Chances were, her sister was going to take her home, which was irritating to her.

Not Fair!

Listening to Yuzuki express her lack of interest in the offer, Biru merely smiled and said, "Noted then." before moving back behind the counter.

Listening to the young lady express her lack of fear at the hollow, Biru thought about giving his thoughts on the matter but decided it was best if he didn't. After all he had a feeling that Yuzuki wouldn't be happy with him if he attempted to intrude on her responsibilities toward the child.

"Now what was it I was forgetting?" Biru said to himself.

SPOILER: Click to show

Sorry about the short post. Can't think of anything for Biru to do right now.

It was true that Raiu was a brave, quick, and even tricky child, but there were Hollow out there that were likely to be equally fast and even more cunning than she. The trait of self-preservation was amplified in those that had it when in an environment like the wasteland, and the Hollow lived there their whole lives; they did what needed to be done to survive, making the majority of them crafty creatures that one did not want to engaged, especially so close to their home field. If they were in Seireitei, the Shinigami within the walls not withstanding, Yuzuki would be less worried because Raiu knew the area well and could probably lose just about anyone in the twists and turns of streets if not lure them into one of her traps, but they weren't.

Like she almost always did, Yuzuki addressed her sister first, not trusting her patience. "Raiu-chan," Yuzuki replied, drawing the words out in a plead to buy her more time. There was never a concrete method to getting the child to settle and Yuzuki was struggling to find appropriate words. Perhaps a harsher person would have commanded her sister to leave, but Yuzuki was not that kind of person. There was one other alternative that might work and had the highest chance of success of any tactic she had ever used on Raiu before.

"I was going to go to the tailor's shop next door to pick out fabric for your birthday present. Since you're all the way out here, why don't you come with me and you can pick your own prints out then we can go get sweets before heading home to work on it?"

Yes, bribery. Granted, Yuzuki probably had a far worse sweet tooth than her sister, but still. While Raiu-chan had to make up her mind, Yuzuki looked to the man with the differently colored eyes and said, "Thank you for the offer, but I don't even know your name, much less anything else about you that would allow me to trust you enough for your proposal, though kind it was." Not a lot of people in the Rukongai went out of their way to help others, but that made Yuzuki all the warier. As for the shopkeeper, Raiu's appearance had long since made Yuzuki forget the same thing that he had.

Nero blinked and tilted his head to the side slightly; the eccentric inventor had been politely slipped to the side of his attention with the two sisters coming to the forefront for the time being. Probably an invention or task of some kind, strange though, I guess she wasn't really paying much attention earlier, he reasoned; granted, the introduction to the scientist had been more of a one on one type and not a general announcement.

"True, true though I can solve at least one problem; Nero Calder," a friendly smile and a slight bow of the head accompanied his introduction. "Scholar and delivery boy, first district born and raised, it's nice to meet you miss...?" Nero asked, glancing from sister to sister, idly wondering what task the scientist had forgotten about...

"PRESENTS AND CANDY!?"

Raiu squealed excitedly, having forgotten that she was grumpy about being caught the moment bribery came into the picture. Clapping excitedly, she bounced on her heels, grinning from ear to ear as she peered around the store, also oblivious to what the shopkeep had forgotten.

"Ahoy matey! I'm the dread pirate lord, Amano Raiu!" she bounded over to Nero, being the friendly little creature she was. If he let her, she would grab his hand, shaking it most vigorously before adding, "Thats my first mate, Yuzuki! Shes gonna get me candy~" She added that last bit, most excitedly.

If the shopkeep was paying attention, he would see the little girl was looking at him now, "Whats your name, mister?"

Pondering to himself as he tried in vain to remember the semisentient jumping thing that had recently slipped his mind, Biru was only giving part of his attention to the conversation the other customers were having. However he soon found himself snapped out of his thought process when the young lady expressed her excitement at the prospect of a birthday gift and candy. Remembering how excited he used to get when it was close to his birthday (AKA a few weeks ago when it was close to his birthday and he was extremely excited), Biru smiled at the young lady.

"My name is Biru. And I would like to wish you a happy birthday." Biru said to Raiu. However that was when Biru finally heard a squelching noise in the alleyway outside of his shop. "SO THATS WHERE IT WENT OFF TO." Biru proclaimed triumphantly. Picking up his net, Biru then said, "If you will all excuse me, I shall be right back." before excitedly running out of the store with his net. Quickly rounding the corner (and nearly losing his balance in the process) Biru saw his semisentient jumping thing. "FOUND YOU." Biru joyously yelled. Charging with his net, Biru then slipped on some mud and fell face first into the puddle of mud. BUT BIRU WAS SUCCESSFUL AND HAD CAUGHT HIS INVENTION IN THE NET.

Yuzuki found herself relieved from the task of her own introduction by Raiu's exuberant outburst and being first mate was certainly a step up from 'swabbing the decks' back home as Raiu called it when Yuzuki was going about her chores. Granted, as first mate, it was her duty to ensure Raiu's safety and it felt far from easy as the child bounded over to the delivery boy. Outside of her medical practices, Yuzuki shied away from physical contact with the exception of a very few and seeing Raiu's actions made Yuzuki grimace internally.

Fortunately, she was soon distracted herself as the shopkeeper, who pronounced himself as Biru, remembered what they had both forgotten and darted from the building. Curiosity had settled in again as Yuzuki heard the commotion outside and it conflicted with her other priority. She looked from the still open door that Biru had departed from then back to her sister while gently biting down on her lower lip as a sign of thinking then said, "Raiu-chan, stay here with Calder-san." Then Yuzuki's bright gaze settled on Nero. "Do not go anywhere with her," she said before following after Biru to see what the noise had been about.

Amano Raiu and Amano Yuzuki, wonder if their name carries any weight, he mused, recalling a few lectures from his mother of Shinigami family names; mostly that a few had quite the history and weight politically. Not that it mattered much outside of calculations, but that was another matter entirely.

He replied to Raiu with the usual flair that The Hazard was known for- in his district anyway. "She is clearly a very loyal first mate, captain," he remarked- right before Biru bolted out of the store, calling out about something or another. Nero was willing to bet that it was an invention of some kind escaped, given that Biru was an inventor judging by the wares he sold, and that he had mentioned forgetting something earlier.

And it only took less then three seconds to calculate the chances of his assumption being correct, rather good with all things considered. And just in time to receive some questionable orders from Yuzuki; the chances of her sister going to investigate where all the action and energy was, given what he believed her mental age to be, were the exact opposite of gambling odds. In short, probability he'd have to go after the girl, "here we go again" high. Still, the friendly scholar wasn't about to mention it out-loud, The Hazard would but not the scholar.

"Aye aye, I'll weigh anchor here with Raiu-taichou," he stated, throwing in a mock salute while making sure the little girl was within arm's reach and dashing range, just in case.

Grinning widely at Biru's attention, Raiu puffed up a bit. She liked it when people mentioned her birthday!

Then Biru scurried off, causing a ruckus outside after he went. It was then that her sister implored her to stay put with Calder, Raiu responding with an "I'll be good~.

Then made her way out of the shop, and out of sight.

An evil, cheshire grin spread upon the girl's face as she looked up at Calder.

"Alrighty swabby, you're gonna be my new cabin boy. And for your first order, I command you to find a back door outta this joint."

Yes, she did like the bribery her sister offered, but escape was much more Fun.

"Of course, ya could be a stick in the mud, and wanna stay. But wouldja leave your captain all alone? Cuz Imma go whether you want to or not, Arrrr~"

She sized him up, betting her on her chances that she could out run him. She would just have to get out of his range first. She would wait for his reaction, smiling sickeningly sweet up at him, ready to dart at the first sign of trouble.