Aimer’s POV

I decided to go to Urahara’s Shop. I reached the front gate and looked at the scene in front of me. A young boy with long shaggy red hair was swinging a broom around, a girl with black hair and cockroach-like bangs was sweeping the ground quietly and a big tanned guy was helping her.

“Oi,” I said.

The three of them looked up at the same time and had a we-are-so-doomed expression their faces. “Tet… Tetsuya-dono,” Tessai stammered.
I smirked. “Long time no see, you guys.”

Jinta made a funny noise in his throat and was about to run away when I caught the back of his shirt. ”Teme…” I started. “You thought I didn’t know that you guys were eavesdropping on us last night, huh?”

“I’m so sorry!” Jinta cried and I released him.

“Jinta-kun, I told you it was a bad idea,” Ururu said.

“Oi, shut up!” Jinta snapped. “You guys agreed to it too!”

I interrupted them, “Is Uncle Kisuke in?”

“Yes,” Tessai replied and opened the door for me.

I stepped into the shop to see two shinigami talking to Kisuke: a guy with tied red hair and… Kuchiki Rukia. Kisuke looked up with a surprised face. “Aimer-chan?”

Sitting down in one corner, I looked at them and said, “Don’t mind me.”

“So, Urahara-san…” the redhead said. “That’s the problem.”

Kisuke fanned himself (when did he get a new fan? Kisuke: I have a life-supply of fans!). “Well… I’ll see what I can do.”
The redhead continued, “Ikkaku-san, Yumichika-san and Rangiku-san will arrive tonight, but Hitsugaya-taichou will be coming tomorrow.”

“I see… are you guys using your faux bodies?” Kisuke asked.

“No,” Rukia replied. “We need to be ready in case of a surprise attack and Soul Society will be issuing new orders often.”

The red-haired shinigami stood up and Rukia followed him. “Well, we should get going, Urahara-san.”

Kisuke smiled. “Okay, take care!” He cheerfully waved his hand as the two shinigami exited the shop.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“Looks like there’s a new enemy.”

“What of it?”

Kisuke looked at me. “They’re after you.”

My eyes widened a bit. “What?”

“Abarai-san and Kuchiki-san ran into them this morning. They did no harm, but they asked for you.”

“Who are they?”

“… I didn’t know.”

I gritted my teeth. “I hope it’s not those guardian idiots from the OCA. Don’t they know that I have no time limit?”

“No,” Kisuke muttered. “They’re not from the OCA. But their reiatsu…”

I looked at him. “What did you say?”

My uncle smiled at me. “Nothing~ anyway, why are you here, Aimer-chan?”

“Ichigo is at school and I have nothing to do.”

“Then…” Kisuke threw a broomstick at me. “You can clean up the store!”

“Yeah right!” I hit my uncle’s face with the broom. He fell to the floor and held his bleeding nose.

“S-Still as strong as always…”

I got up and sighed. “Fine. Since I have nothing to do anyway…” I grabbed the room and started sweeping around the room.

Kisuke’s POV

I watched from behind a door as Aimer swept the floor silently. Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were also watching her.

“Oi, Kisuke-san…” Jinta started. “Why are you making Aimer-san clean the shop? You know she’ll kill you for that later, right?”

I smiled. “Of course, but…” My smile faded away. “This is the only way to keep Aimer safe.”

“Hm?” Tessai looked at me. “What is it, tenchou*?”

(*tenchou [ten-cho] means shop owner)

“There’s a new enemy and they’re targeting Aimer,” I explained. “Since Kurosaki-san is not here, leaving Aimer wandering alone could be quite dangerous, especially when she had lost all her powers. So, I’ll keep her here, where I can keep an eye on her, until Kurosaki-san comes back from school.”

“B-But,” Ururu started. “Who are the enemies?”

I sighed. “I’m not sure. But, there’s only one possibility…”  

Aimer’s POV

(A few hours later…)

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and sat down on the floor. “Uncle Kisuke, finished,” I called as I threw the broom into a corner.

The sounds of wooden clogs neared me and Kisuke smiled. “Ah! Well done, Aimer-chan. Here, have some tea…” He sat down next to me and poured two cups of tea.

“Thanks,” I said as I took a cup and drank it.

“You should come back here tomorrow,” Kisuke said.

I eyed him. “Why?”

“So that you can help out more, Aimer-chan!” Kisuke sang. “You see, Jinta-kun and Ururu-chan are always bored, so you can keep them company by being here, right?”

“Are you turning me into a slave or what?”

“Kurosaki-san is going to school and you’ll be all alone and bored. You can help us here to keep yourself busy!” Kisuke was getting carried away now. “It’ll do you some exercise, because if you do nothing all day, you’ll get fat and – ”

“Okay!” I interrupted. “You don’t need to talk so much.” Then, I smiled at my uncle a bit. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Kisuke looked surprised. “Oh… I didn’t know you’ll accept that easily.”

“What are you – ” I started, but I was cut off by someone barging into the shop.

“URAHARA-SAN!” Ichigo yelled frantically. “HAVE YOU SEEN – ” He stopped when he noticed me sitting in front of him. “Teme!” Ichigo suddenly gripped the front of my hoodie. “Where were you, you idiot?! I looked all over the town for you because I thought you ran away and – ” He continued ranting me out and I was getting bored.

Finally, when things were settled, Ichigo calmed down a bit. “You don’t need to worry…” Kisuke said. “Aimer-chan just came here for a while. And, Kurosaki-san, could you please sent her here on your way to school starting from tomorrow? We’ll look after Aimer-chan.” My uncle smiled.

Ichigo looked a little surprised. “Um… sure.”

Looking down at a horrified Jinta, I smirked and grabbed his head. “Looks like luck’s running out for you.”