Spooks and Hatos

"Heh, well...spicy doesn't always agree with me."

Madori has learned by now that none of his thoughts were safe with the kid around, although she had kinda gotten better with it. He had also learned how to keep her from materializing if need be, like during sex.

"Those are good choices. It'll be out soon."

Madori turned his attention back to Narue. He had missed spending time with his friend.

"So how has life in squad one been treating you?"

"Mmm, good good!" Narue responded. "I was able to clean my office up and organize my bookshelf recently. I also finished my paperwork, hehe. Hato-kun kept my chair nice and warm while I cleaned too." Narue looked down at the bird plush, "I also made some more small plushies to give out as presents to people. I made a rabbit, a kitty, and a goat."

"Oh that's good. I need to clean and organize my office, but I never had the time."

Well he could have done that today, but he didn't want to spend the little free time he had doing more work. It's something he'd save for a rainy slow day.

"I still have the giraffe plushy you gave me. It's on a shelf in my office."

It didn't exactly look like a giraffe, more like a deformed snake, but it was the thought that counted right?

"Uaufff," Narue puffed out her cheeks. "You still have that one? That one's one of my earlier ones. I've gotten so much better now, Madori-kun." It was true, when she'd first made that plush as a gift for Madori, it'd been years ago...practically when they first met and she'd still been practicing. Now she could actually make animals look like they were supposed to. Her earlier works...were a bit embarrassing to say the least, except for Hato-kun. Nothing about Hato-kun could ever embarrass her, as he was a precious part of her life.

"Of course! It's one of my personal treasures."

Even though it wasn't the most attractive stuffed animal, Madori loved it. It was a gift from the heart of his friend and he'd always treasure it. He'd never forget how excited Narue was when she gave it to him. They hadn't even graduated yet. It was right before the Seireitei was attacked. Luckily it was in his family's mansion, so it didn't get destroyed.

"You could always make me another one. I love your plushies."

"Mhmmm!" She loved making plushies, so at the thought of making more for people made her happy; especially if they were requests. It was her way of making others happy, and when she saw people happy from her presents that made her just as happy as the receivers were. That feeling of making another happy was better than any kind of gift. "I can! I can!"

'Of course you can be out when I make them!' Narue responded mentally after a small jingle had sounded off within her mind. It was the only way her zanpakutou's spirit could communicate with her, what with how she was and all, but Narue didn't mind. She'd quickly learned how to communicate with her after they'd met.

Madori was about to speak when the waitress came carrying a tray with their food. It all smelled so good, and looked even better. The woman put the food down in front of them and Madori's stomach began to roar at the sight of it.

"Here you guys go. Can I get you anything else?"

Madori looked at her and smiled.

"I think we're good."

Madori picked up his chop sticks and and looked at Narue before he began to eat.

"Let's dig in."

"Mhmm!" Picking up her own chop sticks, Narue stuck them down in her dish and took her first bite. "Mmmm, delicious!" The spiciness of the dish added a nice kick to it, and that's one thing Narue loved about spicy foods. "This is so much better than the cold breakfast I had this morning. Hot food is the best food, hee hee~"

Madori smiled and took a bite of the pork. WOW! Spicy was putting it mildly. It was flavorful though, not just spicy. Madori tried a bit of the potatoes. They were a pretty shade of green, and they tasted really good too.

"Mmm this is really tasty. You're right, this is much better than breakfast."

Madori ate more of the curry, savoring every bite.

"Mhmm, so Madori-kun have you done any cool jobs lately? Any interesting healing cases?" Even though Narue was no healer, she liked hearing about the interesting cases the Fourth sometimes managed to get. Sometimes they were silly and sometimes they really sparked her interest with how they were handled.

After taking another bite, this one with extra pork between her chopsticks, she set down her utensils and took a sip from her drink.

"Well.."

Madori began. What is something Narue would find interesting? He saw so many people daily, so it wasn't an easy choice.

"The other day I had to reattach someone's arm. It was ripped off by an alligator."

That one was pretty interesting. Wasn't an easy fix at all. Got the job done though.

"It looked GROSS Rue-chan!"

"Ooooo, guess it happened in a human world mission?" She'd never actually seen an alligator herself before, only pictures and on nature shows. She'd never heard of any being within the Soul Society, but she knew they were common in the World of the Living. "Ahh, it's so cool that you can do that stuff. Back when we were still in the academy I remember I tried making my healing skills better but it was just no good. Hehehe."

"Yep, and it was pretty gross."

Madori could still clearly see the arm in his mind. It was all white and slimy. It had little fish stuck to it, and one of the fingers had a leach on it. Wasn't a pretty sight.

"Yeah, healing def isn't for everyone. It's something you have to have a knack for."

"Euauff, I hate to almost lose my arm." Narue stated, "That would be really scary...Plus, it would mean I might not be able to make plushies anymore...Or hold Hato-kun as tightly." Saying that, she hugged the bird to her. No, she would hate that. That wouldn't be good at all.

"Mhmm, I was definitely better at the other kido." She added with a light, sheepish, laugh.

Madori smiled at his friend and patted her on the arm. He'd do anything he could to make sure she had an arm if she ever lost yours.

"Not to worry. I'd make sure to heal you up, and if I couldn't I'd get squad 12 to make you a new arm."

Madori slightly chuckled at the panic he saw in his friend's eyes as he could tell she was thinking about losing an arm. She was a silly girl.

"And that's why Madori-kun is such a great friend!" Narue said, her slight panic replaced with a bright smile. "Hugging Hato-kun is important to me. I can't lose an arm!" Saying that, she scooped up her chopsticks and ate a big bite of her food. "Oooooo hottttt!"

"I try to be!"

Madori took a bite of his food and looked down at his plate. It was only half gone and he was already full. He hadn't had much of an appetite lately.

"I know it, that's part of the reason I'd want to help you so much."

Madori tried taking another bite of food, but he just couldn't eat any more.

"I'm so full."

"Heheh, If you're full we can get it to go." Narue said, taking the last bite from her bowl. She'd been starving today. Her breakfast hadn't been much to begin with, so she'd been extra hungry. "Then you can eat it later! Though...some food isn't always as good if you heat it up again. Hmmmm..."

It'd be a waste to just toss it though. Food was food and food was delicious.

"I've got a dinner with my family tonight. You can have what's left if you want though."

Madori waved for the waitress to come over to their table. He had had a really good lunch with Narue. Now what would they do? He wanted to make the most of their time together.

"Miss, can I get a to go plate and the check?"

"Certainly."

The woman left and soon returned with the check and a Styrofoam plate. Madori took out his wallet and put a credit card on the little plastic tray with the check and handed it back to the waitress.

"Ohh, that's cool. Spending time with your families important." She responded. She still remembered her dinners with Riichi, they'd been fun and full of good memories. She could only hope her friend's were the same, even if he was from nobility. She'd heard those families were particularly harsh at times.

"It'll be fine I'm sure. I'll get to see my sister, so that's a plus. I haven't seen her in a while."

Madori and his sister had been very close at one time. She would be the next head of the family, considering she was older than Madori. He didn't mind this though, he didn't want the responsibility.

"Here you go sir, and thank you for coming."

Madori took his card and ticket from the waitress and smiled at her.

"Ready?"

"That's good, hopefully you two can catch up tonight then." Narue clutched Hato-kun closer to her. "I think being close with your siblings is important, they're usually some of the closet family you have, so it's always good to be close with them."

"Yeah, I'm just glad we're closer now than we used to be."

Madori and his sister used to fight like cats and dogs. Mostly when Madori was in the academy. He suspected his sister was jealous because she wasn't a shinigami, and wanted to be.

"We used to fight a lot back when I was a student, but as we got older we just kinda stopped and got closer."

Madori grabbed the to go plate of food and began to guide Narue to the door.

"Let's see what kinda trouble we can get in to."

"That's good, siblings are great to have." Narue laughed, "If it weren't for Riichi-nii I would have never learned to make dolls and then I would have never had Hato-kun!" She hugged the bird to her as she and Madori left the shop, their stomachs now full until it was time for the next meal.

At the mention of shenanigans, Narue couldn't help but grin; allowing a mischievous giggle to escape her lips. "You have anything in mind?"

A big cheesy grin covered Madori's face when Narue asked him what he had in mind. Without saying a word Madori took off running, not at full speed, he wanted Narue to be able to keep up. He knew near by there was a large lake. He used to swim in it a lot when he was in the academy.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!"

As Madori ran he could see the lake getting closer. He began to take off his clothes mid run, hopping on one leg when removing his pants. Madori striped down to his boxers and jumped right into the lake.

"WOO!"