Heroes

Chapter Five

RECAP(TER):

I gave her an apologetic smile and walked out, heading to the kitchen, where I heard Isshin noisily banging pots and pans, trying to help little Yuzu make lunch. Smelled like rice balls. I rubbed my stomach hungrily.

Yum.

END OF RECAP(TER):

“Hey, Isshin,” I said. He turned to look at me with a questioning look.

I continued after a somewhat awkward silence. “Babs…sh-she’s…woken up. She’s awake.”

He dropped the pan he was holding and rushed to the “infirmary.” I followed him before shortly greeting Yuzu and apologizing.

“Oh, it’s fine,” she said. “This way I can get lunch ready much faster!”

I laughed before saying goodbye and heading back down the hallway. Isshin was sitting beside Babs, asking her questions.

“Are you okay?” he said.

“Yes.”

“How do you feel?”

“Fine.”

“Does anything hurt?”

“My head.”

“I’ll get you some medicine. Are you comfortable staying here?”

“As long as they are.”

He grinned wide. “Great. I’ll get Karin and Yuzu to start airing out the room; it’s right beside Ichigo’s, so he’s your first resource if you need anything.”

“I’ll go help them,” I volunteered. “It will be our room after all, we should help somehow. Babs, if Tara wakes up, explain to her what’s going on, would you? You know what to tell her,” I said, looking pointedly at Isshin. She understood that we couldn’t tell them we previously knew them, so we were on the same page. Good.

I smiled before going to find Karin. Yuzu was busy with lunch, so I’d let her rest after she finished. I found Karin in the street outside, kicking her soccer ball. “Hey, Karin!” I called. She looked at me and smiled. She and I had become somewhat friends during these two days. She was a really cool kid. “Can you come help me clean out the spare room for all of us? I’d really appreciate it.”

“Sure.” She grabbed her soccer ball and ran towards me, and we headed into the spare room. It wasn’t all that bad, to be honest: a queen-sized bed in the corner, boxes neatly stacked in the corner, and there was only a small layer of dust coating the room. I slapped my hands together and rubbed them against each other. “Okay, Karin,” I said. “Let’s do this! This shouldn’t take too long!”

The cleaning only took about forty-five minutes. We got the room all nice and clean; sheets washed, room dusted, boxes moved into the closet. It was a really nice room: purple walls, matching furniture, and a large closet. The huge closet actually made up for the room (it was really small), but I knew we’d be fine in there.

I wiped the sweat off my head and smiled at Karin thankfully. “Thanks, Karin…I really appreciate it.”

“No biggie. Seriously, anytime. But, how about next time, we do something besides cleaning?”

I grinned. “Yeah, sure. Hey, maybe you can teach me a couple soccer moves; I can’t tell you the last time I played.”

“Sure!” She left the room.

I looked around. It really did look good! I guess we could get used to living here for a while.

I put away the cleaning supplies and headed back into the “infirmary.” Isshin was beside Tara’s bed, giving her some Ibuprofen. I rushed over to her beside. “Tara! You’re awake!”