LIGHTNOVELONLINE 92 – Questions And Suspicions
Masaki went back to training Ichigo and Ishida to their great displeasure. It wasn't like they were given a choice though.
Reina ended up sitting on some old school beach chairs, the unfold-able kind with the wooden frame and cloth spanned between it to lay down on. Urahara had even put out a parasol for the sun that wasn't even present and provided them with fancy tropical drinks like they were at some kind of beach resort instead of watching Masaki beat....ahem train the two boys.
Ururu and Jinta seemed to be going through their own training program by sparring each other.
Reina had joined Urahara and Orihime in watching the show. It didn't take long for Yoruichi to show up and take sit on top of Urahara's head.
After some small talk things suddenly turned a little more serious.
Urahara smiled kindly. "So tell us more about yourself," he said nonchalantly.
Yoruichi also looked over curiously.
Orhime seemed to be most excited of everyone grabbing ahold of Reina's hands. "Yeah, I want to know too," she said excitedly.
"Hmm I don't know. Most of it really wasn't that interesting, I lived in Naruki City my whole life. The one that has always stood out was big brother," she said humbly. If Masaki hadn't been distracted she would have vehemently disagreed.
Urahara and Yoruichi seemed to perk up at the mention of her brother.
"Oh that's not very far is it?" Orihime asked curiously.
Reina smiled gently. "No, It's just one town over. You can get there in less than an hour," she explained.
Orhime nodded. She still hadn't let go of Reina's hands. "So what do you do? Are you in college?" she asked.
Reina blushed lightly. "Thanks, but I've already completed college. I am the CEO of a computer company," she said trying to simplify it as best as she could for Orihime who though not outright stupid, didn't seem to be the brightest either.
Orihime looked at her in surprise. "No way? But you look so young," she said.
Reina simply smiled.
"You mentioned you had a brother too. What does he do?" Orihime asked curiously.
Reina smiled awkwardly. "Right. Uhm... he died around 20 years ago," she explained.
Orihime looked at her sadly and bowed towards her. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" she said apologetically.
"No you don't have to be. He came back," she said.
"He came back?" Orihime asked in confusion.
"Well he became a Hollow," Reina explained.
Orihime gasped looking at her closely. "That happened to my brother too. Are you ok?" she asked with concern. She might have been wary about Reina at first since she was worried Ichigo might be interested, but she felt bad for this young woman that experienced something so similar to herself.
Reina smiled. "Yeah. He was actually gone for over ten years, but then actually saved me," she said.
Urahara raised his brow. "Are you sure it was actually your brother?" he interjected.
She shook her head. "Yes, he knew things only brother would have known," she said.
Urahara closed his eyes and seemed to be considering things.
"Are you sure. Some Hollow can be quite tricky preferring to manipulate their prey," Yoruichi said.
Reina glared at the cat. "Yes. He has been protecting and helping me for over a decade," she said shortly, rather offended by the implication she was making.
She breathed in deeply to calm herself down a little. "He also saved Masaki twice and helped her get used to her new power. He didn't have to do any of that and could have just left her to die," she said to further her argument.
"Sorry," Yoruichi said awkwardly.
While they were distracted with their argument Masaki had walked up. "Now... now... you two don't bother her. I already told you Hisashi saved me and took care of me," she said.
Urahara looked away awkwardly. "Right," he said.
"I'm sorry Reina. These two tend to get a little paranoid," Masaki explained.
Reina gave her a weak smile. "It's ok. I understand it might be hard to believe. Even more so if someone hasn't met him yet," she said.
She looked at Urahara. "My brother is the one that programmed the core of the operating system my company sells when he wasn't even 16 yet. If it hadn't been for him returning and helping me understand it neither I nor anyone else would have been able to tease apart what he had done to create something so far ahead of the competition even 10 years after he originally created it. Are you telling me it's possible for just some Hollow to do that?" she asked with a little sarcasm sneaking into her question.
"I guess that would be hard..." Urahara hesitantly admitted.
"Not only that, but he also knew more about this Aizen's plan than any of you know and was sharing that," she continued.
"Well it has yet to be determined whether all of that is true," Urahara tried to argue.
Reina glared at him. "What has he done to wrong any of you?" she asked.
Urahara scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Uh... nothing... ,but" he admitted.
"No buts," Reina said.
Masaki got between Reina and Urahara. She glared at the latter. "Alright, no more of this. I invited her here to make friends. Not for some kind of interrogation," she said with finality.
"After everything you've been through you should understand our concerns," Yoruichi cut in.
"Even if you don't believe him or Reina are you saying you are also questioning my judgement after spending years with him?" Masaki asked.
"Fine," Yoruichi said. That seemed to be the end of that argument.
"Well now that we got that over and done with how about you stay here for dinner?" Masaki offered trying to lighten the mood.
Reina nodded and smiled. "That would be nice," she said.
"Alright, let's celebrate with hot pot! Ururu, go ahead and get it started," Urahara said excitedly.
Ururu nodded heading upstairs. Jinta followed after her.
