The trip to Grundy proved fruitful, and by the time lunch rolled around, Renji was up by four t-shirts and two pairs of jeans. There were a few other underclothing necessities he got, but those he'd picked out himself; Orihime had blushed carnation pink and ducked out of sight as soon as he held up the first pair of boxers at the department store.

They found a makeshift lunch of sweet potato French fries and sloppy bacon cheeseburgers from a fast food place before leaving town and headed back to Chesney Hollow via the scenic route, munching as they drove.

Renji figured the town's name was as good as any, considering why he and Orihime were there. She seemed to, too, as her gaze stayed on the welcome sign as they passed it on the edge of town. He watched her lick her thumb where the gooey burger had left a cheese trail.

"Do we have all my paperwork for school?" she asked, eyes on the high school as the truck passed it. They'd brought what documents Renji had to attempt enrolling her in school for the new year.

"Uh, yeah, I think so." He cleared his throat. His hand gripped the steering wheel tighter as he pushed back into the seat. "I think we've got enough to get you started. I thought Isane would be here with the rest, and another cell phone." He began looking for a place to turn the truck around. "If you feel like it, we can ask about getting you registered today."

"Now? Oh, yes!" She nodded, crumbling up her burger wrapper and collecting their garbage to put in the take-out bag. "But I can still start with the paperwork we have, right?"

He nodded despite his doubts. "I think so." He watched a few teens walking by on the street sidewalk as the school grounds dissolved into the junior high and elementary school further back. He had a stunted view of a large playground and a few basketball courts that separated the schools from each other. He turned onto the next side street and doubled back to the high school. "We've still got a few days before you actually start, so we'll see now about getting you registered."

"Today..." She was already nodding vigorously. "School starts in, hmm, six days for freshmen and seven for everyone else, I think...yes, that would be good."

He watched her hands roll the take-out bag into a tight knot. Her knuckles were white with the pressure, but that was it; it wasn't the same strength or intention she'd used on the small bird in the backyard. Her gaze shifted from a few teens passing on the opposite side of the street back to him. She smiled wider, and then scooted as close to him as her seat belt would allow.

He draped his arm behind her along the back of the seat top. At least she hadn't opted to sit on the farthest side of the truck this time. She settled to his side, careful of his irritated ribs.

The truck pulled into the school parking lot moments later and both Renji and Orihime looked to the few straggling teens at the school's front entry. Renji parked the truck and they got out.

Inside the school it was slightly cooler than outside in the later summer's blazing heat, but the doors were propped open, letting the air exchange until it managed to be cool and humid in the building.

Orihime didn't recognize any of the teens milling around the brick and block interior of the school, and most were wearing practice clothing for football. She noted Renji gave each player a caustic, promissory look that withered a few of the stoutest. As a collective, the male teens ambled back toward the gym and locker room deeper inside the halls.

"What are you going to do while I'm at school, Renji?" she asked in a low tone as he escorted her to the modest front offices. She smiled more as his arm hooked around her back. "Are you...oh. Can you stay in shinigami form?"

He knew the answer was no, but he shrugged, which irritated his busted side. "I'll figure something out. I know I shouldn't, not with your protocol, but I'm not leaving you here to these catcalling vultures by yourself."

As if to emphasize this, an appreciative whistle echoed down the hallway where the football team had disappeared.

Renji snapped a threatening look in that direction, but Orihime's hand over his at her hip made him swallow down a return retort to the unseen whistler. "Maybe you could enroll, too."

He laughed, which hurt his side. "Yeah, and get us both in trouble for harboring a minor without parental permission or some bullshit like that."

She giggled a little, her smile taking a flirty hint. "I don't think that's a real crime, Renji."

He nearly stopped walking. "What?"

She hadn't stopped walking, but his hand at her hip made his arm extend until she reached back and tugged on the front of his t-shirt. "I meant, you harbor criminals; not minors."

She smiled more, cheeks flushing as her fingers trailed down his t-shirt until he started walking again. This time his arm settled around her waist firmer, his fingers finding one of the belt hoops at her waistband. "...Something like that."

The deep rumble of a man clearing his throat for emphasis came from one of the doorways to an open office they passed. Both Renji and Orihime looked there. A tall, thin man standing with his arms crossed was giving them a tolerant look.

"No PDA in the halls, please," he said, giving them each a sharp look. Despite his long plaid shorts and yellow polo shirt, he attempted a stern demeanor. "I'm Vice Principal Miller. Are you two new here?"

By the man's sheer disapproving frown alone, Renji let his arm slip looser around Orihime. The man was too old to be a student, he knew, and the label vice had to mean something, he figured. "Yes, we're registering her for classes this fall."

The man nodded, smiling a bit more. "Just straight ahead, fella." He gave Orihime a longer glimpse and this time his smile was genuine. "Oh, you're Miss Pie Winner, aren't you?"

Orihime glanced up at Renji and nodded, and then bowed slowly at the man until Renji made her straighten. "Yes. I'm Orihime Jones."

Renji glanced to her quickly. "Oh, you're Americanizing the sound, too?"

For a moment she only stared back at him, and then slowly she dug out one of her papers and flipped to the documentation showing her name. "Oh, uh, yes," she said, giggling and nodding, uncertain. "Yes, Aunt Una thought it would be better. For teachers."

Miller looked between them for a moment, and Renji prodded Orihime toward the office doorway where an older woman's voice was coming.

"It's easier than Junosuke," he told the man, giving what he hoped was a dismissive wave.

Miller stood straighter. "Do you have paperwork for that?"

Renji nodded, following Orihime. "Yup. Sure do. Got it all."

With that he and Orihime entered the office and found themselves in line behind two teens and a frustrated mother shifting through a mound of papers on the counter.

"...and birth certificate," the woman behind the counter was saying. "Notarized."

Renji didn't like the sound of it. He looked to Orihime to find her looking up at him with large and hopeful eyes. She stood on tiptoe and whispered into his ear, "We have what we need, right, Renji?"

He nodded, sort of. "Enough to get you started."

Orihime looked around at the wilted potted plants of the small, crowded office as they waited. She was none too sure of their paperwork, but trusted Renji. He was a vice captain in the Gotei 13, after all.

After ten minutes of waiting later behind the decidedly overheated teens and mother, the short line moved, and Orihime and Renji stood before the counter. The woman behind it had her hair up in a tired bun and glasses that drooped to the tip of her nose, but she perked a smile when she saw Orihime.

"Well, well, the pie winner, right, darlin'?" she said, taking the papers as soon as Orihime let them rest on the counter. "That musta been one scrumptious pie."

She glanced at Renji when she said it. He nodded, grinning.

The grin made some of the woman's suspicions raise, but her gaze went to the papers. "Orihime, is it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Orihime leaned slightly over the counter. "Grade twelve."

"Uh-huh." The woman shifted through the papers, nodding. "And from Japan." She sent another glance to Renji. "I see..."

Renji waited for any sign of problem.

The woman nodded, making her bun sag as she read the few documents the Fourth Division had created for Orihime's use. "There seems to be a few items missing. Do you have a current immunization card on you, darlin'?"

Orihime shook her head slowly, leaning back, where her ponytail brushed Renji's chin. She turned to look up at him. "Do...Does Aunt Una have a current immunization card?"

"I need yours, darlin'," the woman said, smiling until her face creased pleasantly. "Not your aunt's."

A shout and a few laughs from the hall made everyone in the office look to the glass wall dividing the office from the main hall. The football team jogged by, shoving and horse-playing.

Renji reached for his back pocket out of habit, wishing he could make just one last call to Soul Society about paperwork. "We don't have that on us, at the moment," he said in his most diplomatic tone. "Can she register now and bring that later?"

The woman looked back to Orihime, who gave her her best smile. "Hmm, well..."

A sudden flocking of the football team back down the outer hall in retreat and a whoosh of oh, shit made them all look to the athletes. Every muscle shirt-clad teen was hurrying back down to the gym corridor, glancing behind them like Renji had seen fleeing people try to look at the commotion a Hollow caused. Instinctively he felt for the ring on his finger.

But then another force joined the whoosh, and both Orihime and Renji felt the unadulterated waft of reiatsu an eye-patch-less gigai made, even inside one of Kurotsuchi's best sealed gigais.

The doorway darkened and then Kenpachi Zaraki stepped into and through it, eclipsing the light from the other side. He grinned at the office occupants, sending the mother and two teens scurrying to the far end of the counter and making the woman attending Orihime blanch two shades paler.

"Hi, 'Hime-cousin!" Yachiru said as she wriggled in through the only spot not occupied by her guardian. She wore a pair of pink shorts and a ruffled yellow tank top, her pink hair pulled up in a spiky ponytail. "We found you!"

Renji stood stunned looking back at the mountain of a captain who now wore the largest Harley-Davidson "Die Like Hell" t-shirt ever made. His jeans barely contained him and the chain belt threaded through the waistband was actually functional. Three highest bells knocked the ceiling as his hair points rubbed the dust from overhead. His glare and grin settled on Orihime.

"Gotchyer paperwork, Orihime," he rumbled, making pencils jump on the counter.

She smiled nervously, pressing her back to Renji as Zaraki held up a Hello Kitty backpack. "Oh, th-thank you."

"Uncle Kenny-san to the rescue!" Yachiru chirped, tugging on Orihime's shorts cuff. "Show 'em your stuff, Kenny-san!"

At that, the teens and mother fled the office through the narrow spot of open doorway and the woman at the counter stuttered for words.

"N-Not here, s-sir," she said as mannered as she could.

"Excuse me," came Miller's muffled tone from behind the Harley t-shirt. He stepped around Zaraki and looked far up at him. "Can I help you?"

"I'm here for her." Zaraki pointed a finger at Orihime.

"Uncle Kenny," Renji said, ready for the wrath of an unnamed sword if he got the term wrong, "you've got Orihime's school documents?"

Zaraki looked far down at Miller, nodding, breathing heavily. "Who's this?"

"Vice Principal Miller," Renji said. "He runs this place. School."

Miller nodded, beginning to wilt as much as the potted plants. "Paperwork?" He glanced to Orihime. "Oh, good. I'm sure all is in order." He snapped his fingers at the woman at the counter. "Hurry these people along, Millie."

The woman named Millie nodded and shuffled Orihime's papers, not taking her eyes from Zaraki. "Good. Well...bring the rest when you can. Okay, darlin'?" she said to Orihime.

Renji grinned and looked to Millie. "We'll get everything in by the first day of class."

"Good. Good." Millie nodded, still looking at Zaraki as he hovered over the counter, shading Orihime's paperwork and two nearby computers. "That will be fine."

Two tight squeezes later and the three shinigami and Orihime were back outside on the sidewalk under the elm trees at the school's front. The football team doing their afternoon laps around the block went into a round of collisions as they passed the sidewalk at the school front, their murmurs of astonishment enough to drown out any catcall or whistle, Renji figured.

"Come on! Let's go back to the playground!" Yachiru said, grabbing Orihime's hand and pumping it as she hopped in place. "Some of the swings still work! Come on! I'll race you!"

Yachiru turned to race off, but Zaraki grabbed her shirt back and held her from moving.

"We can play later, Bubbles. Right now we have other stuff to do." He released her shirt and she stayed put.

Orihime glanced from him to the girl. "The playground? You've been there already?"

Yachiru nodded nearly too fast to see. "Kenny-san set the slide back up!"

Renji didn't ask about it. He looked to his former captain instead. "They sent you? I thought it would be Captain Unohana."

"Yeah, well, Yachiru wanted to see the place." Zaraki shrugged a large sigh. "She's never been to the material world."

Renji glanced around for their vehicle, expecting a long and lazy chopper. There was none. "Did you drive here?"

"We had a taxi-man drive us." Yachiru giggled and grabbed Orihime's hand, swinging it in excitement. "I get to be Bubbles. Who do you want to be?"

"Me?" Orihime looked to Renji in confusion. "Well..."

Zaraki groaned. "She was watching TV for two days at a mall showroom." He gave Renji a look that dared the red-haired shinigami to crack a joke.

Renji didn't. "So no ride. I guess you're coming home with us." He wasn't sure, but it looked to him like a flicker of disappointment went through Orihime's face. But she hid it and knelt to Yachiru.

"Bubbles, hm? Well, let me think..." Orihime said, straightening the turned ruffle on the girl's collar.

"Buttercup or Flowerpot," Yachiru said. "Those are the last two left. Which do you want to be?"

Renji nodded and they all started to the truck, which was beginning to look a little on the small side as Zaraki neared it. "Thanks for bringing Orihime's school documents."

"Yeah." Zaraki nodded, sending a somewhat guilty look to the playground.

Orihime and Renji followed his gaze. Even from their distance they could see several swings hanging by one chain and a broken teeter-totter, and one of the slides looked slightly warped, like it had a new bend in its shiny surface.

"Remind me to leave a token of our appreciation for the school system," Zaraki said as he reached the truck and almost yanked the passenger side door off to open it.

Renji winced at the screeching sound of metal under the large captain's hand. "Appreciation?" The word didn't sound right coming from Zaraki.

"That's what Unohana-san called it." Zaraki gestured to Orihime and she obediently climbed into the truck. "Said to make it an anonymous donation...for the playground. And she wants to talk to you."

Renji settled behind the steering wheel, enjoying Orihime pressed tightly to his side as she made room for Zaraki in the passenger seat. They felt the truck use every inch of strut and shock under its new cargo weight. Yachiru climbed on top of Zaraki's thigh and leaned to Orihime.

"You can't be Flowerpot," she decided. "I forgot she's not one of the Powerpuff Girls. You can be Buttercup or Blossom. I'm Bubbles."

Orihime nodded, trying to play along. "Okay."

"Give her some time to think about it," Zaraki said, pulling Yachiru back upright as the truck pulled onto the street and headed out of town. "Damn bumblebee girls. Had to watch seventeen hours straight of that anime at the mall. They got easy chairs there. Sleep right in the damn things." He gave Orihime a large smile. "You got a TV screen at your place?"

She nodded, recoiling a bit. "Oh, yes." She glanced to Yachiru. "How long are you staying?"

Renji wanted to know, too. He spared a look at Zaraki.

"'Til tomorrow. Probably." He leaned a meaty arm on the open window edge as the truck rounded a mountainous curve. "Everything okay with you two?"

Renji and Orihime nodded in unison.

"Good." Zaraki's nearest eye zeroed-in on Orihime. "Trying to get rid of us already?"

She shook her head quickly. "Oh, no, but I was thinking," she said, letting her fingers tickle at the hem of Yachiru's shorts, "my friend has some horses and she sometimes lets us ride. Maybe she has a pony..."

Yachiru nearly shunpo-ed a pivot to see Zaraki, standing on his thigh to see eye to eye. "Can I have a pony ride?"

He cast Orihime an accusatory look.

She smiled, leaning a bit more to Renji at her side as she looked up at the captain. "I can call my friend and see if she has time."

Renji took the moment to tilt his face to Orihime's ear. "What are you doing?" he asked lowly as Yachiru chatted glibly to Zaraki about ponies.

Orihime turned to see him better, focusing on the tattoos at his neck as he looked back to the road. "I thought she'd like it. Is it okay?"

Renji weighed through the idea. Keeping Yachiru happy had been tantamount to staying alive in the Eleventh Division when he was there. He doubted much had changed. "Sure." He looked to Zaraki, recalling what he'd said about the mall. "Uh, how long have you been here?"

"Three days."

"Six days!" Yachiru countered.

Zaraki gave a stony but guilty look to the road ahead as Renji turned the truck onto their road.

A submerged ringing sound came from Zaraki's direction, and he took a moment to find his cell phone. With unpracticed indelicacy, he opened it and answered it.

Unohana's tone shot through the truck cab. "...ignoring me, Captain Zaraki. These are things I need to know. I've been trying to reach you for..."

Zaraki handed the phone to Renji as the truck turned into the driveway to their farmhouse. "It's for you, Abarai."

Renji took it and made a clumsy entrance up the driveway and parked beside the house. "Hello?"

Renji was left to deal with a very vocal Unohana as Orihime ushered their guests into the house. She knew she was supposed to wait for Renji to check out the premises whenever they came back home, but she figured she was just as safe with Zaraki. She only caught a few words from Renji's phone conversation and his continual nodding as he waved them on to the upper floor from the kitchen.

"A week ago?" he said into the phone, giving Zaraki's hulking back a skeptical look. "They just got here..."

Orihime heard Renji's voice fade beneath the creak of steps as Zaraki and Yachiru followed her up the staircase in the heat of the late afternoon. She also heard the large captain's shoulders rub on either side of the staircase walls and the small vice captain's non-stop giggle-chatter. Orihime didn't stop as they reached the landing and entered the hall that ran the length of the upstairs.

"This is Renji's bedroom," she said, gesturing to the first bedroom as she backed down the hallway. "And the bathroom and the spare room, for you."

"Where's your bedroom?" Yachiru wanted to know.

Orihime turned and waved to her open bedroom doorway.

"Good! We're neighbors!" Yachiru looked back into the room Isane had used. "Ooh, such a small bed, Kenny-san."

"Good enough," Zaraki said, nodding at the room. He tossed the small backpack to land by the bed. "She needs a bath."

Orihime was already nodding as she glanced down to the small shinigami who lunged after the backpack. Yachiru had every zipper unzipped nearly before the bag landed. "Do you mind if I help you –?"

"With bubbles!" Yachiru cried, flinging out assorted clothing, including one large spare Harley t-shirt that was half the size of the bed.

Zaraki leaned to Orihime as she clutched the doorframe in surprise at his nearness. "You got bath bubbles?"

"Oh, yes," she said, nodding as he grinned.

"Good." He turned and headed back down the hallway. "Abarai! You got your reports done, vice captain?"

Orihime breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, sagging against the doorframe.

"Come on – hey, which one do you want to be?" Yachiru asked, grabbing Orihime's hand and towing her to the bathroom. In her other arm was a bundle of Hello Kitty pajamas and other frillies. "Buttercup or Blossom? Can I sleep with you tonight? Like a sleepover? Kenny snores like a...oh, I'm not supposed to use that word."

They reached the bathroom and Orihime let the small girl enter first as she thought of another word. "Buzzsaw?" Orihime offered, looking around at the fogginess from the heat already hanging on the mirror over the sink. "Or maybe a freight train?"

"Like a hammerjack," Yachiru decided. She sniffed. "I smell peaches."

Orihime ran the water into the bathtub as the girl speed-stripped down to her gigai. "Peach bubble bath, okay?"

In the kitchen downstairs, Renji had strong-armed/bribed the local pizza place into delivering, provided he ordered five pizzas, which he did. To tie Zaraki over until the delivery arrived, he brought out every two-liter of cola he could find. He didn't offer any of Orihime's pie – not yet – and left it in the refrigerator.

Zaraki sat at the table and watched Renji set the cola, glasses, and two bags of potato chips down. "So what's the report, Abarai? Any news?"

"No, sir." Renji sat down, not looking at the captain.

Zaraki snapped the twist-top off one two liter of cola and took a swig from the damaged spout. "You sure?"

Renji shook his head, unscrewing the other two liter and pouring himself a glass full. He slid another glass to Zaraki. "Yes. Nothing wrong here."

Zaraki glanced to the glass without any interest in using it. "You sure? 'Cause it would be easy to overlook the wrong in a pretty face."

"Nothing wrong."

As if to counter the answer, Zaraki set a new cell phone on the table. "That's your back-up. I'm supposed to take any reports back to Captain Unohana."

"Uh, yeah, about that." Renji flipped the phone open and pressed the on button to ensure it worked. It did. "She said you left Soul Society a week ago."

Zaraki grumbled a deep sound. "...Got lost. The permission – lease – ran out on the car we had, so we took a taxi here. Figured the driver would know how to get here." He took another long drink from the two liter and belched. "Been at the mall most of the time."

Renji grinned at the idea of Zaraki and Yachiru at any mall.

Zaraki nodded to the ceiling as sounds of splashing and giggling came from above. "I got all the girl's stuff for school. How's the schedule going?"

"She's till on the protocol. Everything's fine."

Zaraki leaned a forearm on the table and the support legs strained and groaned. An unusually grave tone came to his voice. "Is she a Hollow, Abarai?"

"No, sir." Renji held the large man's intent stare. "The whole procedure isn't over yet, but no, she's not a Hollow."

"Hmm..." Zaraki looked around the room. The summer sun was falling quickly into early evening, holding in the heat to the farmhouse, making breathing thick and heavy.

Renji stood up and flicked the fan to the highest setting.

Zaraki's bells tinkled at the breeze.

Renji moved the fan a bit so as not to blast straight onto the captain. "So, about this appreciation for the playground thing...?"

Zaraki scowled. "Damn slide almost folded right up."

Renji figured an anonymous donation to the Chesney District Schools was in order. He was about to try shifting the discussion to something else, something that didn't involve the very reason he was there to observe Orihime, but a large splash and laughter from above made them both look up.

"She's giving Yachiru a bath," Zaraki said, belching again.

Renji was on his feet before he could think of a reason to explain his sudden anxiety. Visions of the small bird's frail form being crushed by Orihime's fingers flashed through his mind. He bolted for the staircase.

"Where are you going?" Zaraki called.

Renji took the stairs two at a time, distressing thoughts at odds with each other as he tried to stifle his alarm at Orihime alone with the pink-haired girl.

The door to the bathroom was half open when he got there, and the two females inside were both at the tub. Renji swallowed painfully as he watched Orihime's hand close around a green frog-shaped sponge and squeeze the water from it back into the bubble-filled tub.

Yachiru was in the tub, up to her smile in bubbles, and with a swirly bubble hairdo on top her head. Orihime let the water dribble out of the sponge, smiling as she tufted Yachiru's hair into pink peaks at her temples, the peachy scent of bubbles floating through the humid room.

"Hey, Renji-kun," Yachiru said as she spotted him, moving to hang her arms over one side of the tub to look at him in the doorway. "She can make big, red swirlies out of your hair!"

Renji looked to Orihime, watching her fingers release the green sponge. She smiled back at him, a bit of soapy suds on one shoulder from Yachiru's antics.

"We left the door open because it's so hot in here," she explained. She rinsed the frog sponge in the water, bringing a giggle from Yachiru as the sponge nudged her side. "It might take a while to get her all rinsed clean, Renji."

He nodded, leaning against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest as Orihime gave him a softer smile. A wave of guilt chided him at thinking she could ever do anything malicious to the pink-haired girl making a soapy beard at her chin. "Yeah, well, we've got pizzas coming, so don't stay in until you're all pruny, Bubbles."

Yachiru stood up at the word pizza, but immediately lost her footing and slipped into the tub. A slosh of bubbly water drenched Orihime.

And in all the right spots, Renji thought.

Orihime sat back, gasping at the soaking.

Renji enjoyed the shirt-sticking for a moment, until Orihime looked to him with chagrin. "Uh, here you go," he said, out of obligation, and stepped in to toss her a towel from the open shelf near the door. He pulled the door half-shut, fighting the urge to leave it all the way open – for heat's sake.

"Thanks," Orihime called.

"Pizza!" Yachiru chanted. "Pizza! Pizza!"

Renji remained on the other side of the half-closed door, images of Orihime's shirt sticking to her replacing those of the bird being crushed lifeless.

"Let's get you dried off," he heard her say to Yachiru. Sounds of water dripping followed, and then a moment later, Orihime appeared at the door.

She held the towel to her chest, her hair dampened and a bit bubble-laden in spots. She smiled at him and looked down the hall. "She'll be done in a minute."

He nodded, picking a clinging bubble from her bangs that clung to one cheek as her face turned back to him. "Looks like we've got company for a few days."

She nodded, watching the bubble pop in his fingers. "That's okay, right?"

He nodded, and then kissed her lips lightly. "It'll have to be."

She leaned more out from behind the door and kissed him back, lingering for just a moment. "We'll be down in a few minutes."

"All right." He didn't move away, wanting a longer kiss, something that would have to last him a day or two, but stepped back away from the door. "Hurry down."