"Who are you? And why are you at Lock's house?" Hatsume Mei asked first.
There it was again—Lock's banned nickname!
Jiro Kyoka's cheek twitched.
The girl in front of her was calling Lock by some intimate nickname…
So she was a friend—
A close one?
"I'm the one in his house. Who do you think I am?"
Kyoka smiled sweetly, taking on the aura of a protective hostess, defending territorial rights without hesitation.
Hatsume Mei's eyes narrowed.
She felt a strange discomfort deep in her chest.
Even though she wasn't the romantic type—being a support-gear addict who lived in the world of inventions—she was still a girl.
Sensitive.
Competitive.
And absolutely unwilling to lose.
"So who are you, exactly? And why are you here at this hour?" Kyoka asked as Hatsume Mei drew in a long breath.
Mei straightened her back, puffed out her chest (very, very successfully), and smiled confidently.
"Well, Lock called me over. And since I call him 'Lock,' who do you think I am?"
Kyoka froze.
The rhetorical counterattack was brutal.
A girl she had never met was calling her childhood friend a nickname she herself had never used.
It felt like a knife to the back.
Kyoka's cheeks puffed out slightly.
Hold it in!
Stay elegant.
Stay composed.
Losing your temper means losing the battle.
And so the two girls stood there in a silent, crackling stand-off at the doorway—neither backing down.
Meanwhile, inside—
Lock slowly opened his eyes, finishing his own magic practice.
He followed Baruch's urgent look toward the door.
"…Huh? Why is Hatsume Mei here so fast?"
He saw the cherry-haired girl, and Kyoka locked in a standoff and felt his chest tighten.
Hatsume must've sprinted here at full speed just to show him her latest invention.
A Shura field…?
Lock swallowed hard.
The tension between them was REAL.
Stay calm, Lock.
Don't panic.
It's just an ordinary visit between friends—
It won't turn into a full-blown battle!
…Probably.
He never expected the two girls to meet like this.
He thought Hatsume Mei wouldn't care about interpersonal drama at all.
He underestimated girls.
Lock took a breath and stepped forward to intervene.
"Who is she?!"
"Who is she?!"
Kyoka and Mei shouted in unison, pointing at each other at the same time.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Lock's forehead.
Whoever he answered first…
The other would explode.
"Young ladies, it's chilly with the door open. Please, come inside to continue this discussion…"
Baruch!!
The maid had arrived like a divine saviour.
Both girls acknowledged Baruch's existence and instinctively excluded her from the battlefield.
Baruch handed a pair of slippers to me, becoming the neutral fourth party who broke the deadlock.
Just as Lock sighed in relief—
Baruch bowed and said seriously:
"If I have offended either of you, please punish me as Master Lock usually does."
"…"
Both girls slowly turned to stare at Lock with the eyes of someone looking at a scumbag.
Lock wanted to evaporate on the spot.
He'd rather fight a hundred villains than deal with this.
But eventually, the four entered the living room and sat down.
Baruch went to prepare tea.
"Alright, you two—don't talk yet. Let me explain everything first." Lock raised a hand.
He had to say this in one breath.
"This is Hatsume Mei. I met her while training at Dagobah Beach Park. She's making support gear for me. We're business partners."
He turned to Mei.
"And this is Jiro Kyoka—my childhood friend. She's visiting today. And what Baruch said earlier was a joke."
He finished and sat stiffly, waiting for the verdict.
Kyoka stood first and bowed politely.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jiro Kyoka."
"First time meeting. Got it."
Mei smiled back, though her competitiveness hadn't diminished at all.
As if the standoff at the door had never happened, she started pulling items out of her backpack.
Lock finally exhaled.
Crisis averted.
"Mei, sit down for a bit. I'll wash some fruit for everyone." Kyoka said gently.
Lock blinked in shock.
"You can leave the fruit to Baruch…"
Volunteering to wash fruit…
For a girl she just met…?
This wasn't normal behaviour.
Or rather—
It was a silent declaration of her position.
While Kyoka went to the kitchen, Mei returned to full Inventor Mode.
She pulled out a pair of boots from her bag.
"Lock! Look! My masterpiece—the Jet-Walking Boots! Try them on!"
Lock wanted to tease the name, but her enthusiasm was too intense.
So he slipped them on immediately.
Since the day they agreed at Dagobah Beach, she had made countless iterations.
Every time, the boots failed to withstand Lock's top speed, so she kept improving them again and again.
Until—
"Swift Boots: Godspeed."
"Gale Runner."
Lock activated his fastest magic and sprinted out the door.
At that moment, Kyoka returned holding a fruit tray.
"…Where's Lock?"
A breeze swept through the room.
Her soft yellow skirt suddenly flew up—
Lock appeared at the doorway just in time to witness it.
Blue-and-white stripes flashed before his eyes.
Lock: "…"
The wind died.
Kyoka's skirt fell.
She looked at him with a soft, deadly smile.
S L A P
"Pervert!"
Lock rubbed the bright red handprint on his cheek.
He had no defence—so many accidents tonight.
He cleared his throat.
"Ahem… Mei, the boots' durability is perfect this time."
He tried to continue the conversation, though Mei kept staring at the left side of his face.
The burning pain told the whole story.
Lock knew he deserved it.
"Hatsume Mei, I actually have something to tell you. Something that can help you get stronger."
He glanced at the time—it was past midnight.
"Kyoka, it's really late. Aren't you going home?"
Kyoka nodded.
She should go home.
Staying overnight wasn't realistic.
But—
"Haha, good thing I planned ~" Mei chimed in, pulling pyjamas out of her backpack.
"I brought a change of clothes, so I'll stay over tonight!"
"…Okay," Lock said slowly.
He stood to walk Kyoka home.
Only—
Kyoka didn't move.
"My parents are probably asleep already. And I don't have my house key. So… I'll stay here too, Lock."
Kyoka smiled politely—
Her eyes narrowed at Mei.
Mei narrowed hers back.
Lock's mouth twitched as he slumped onto the sofa.
He looked desperately toward Baruch—
Who only shrugged helplessly.
"Haah…"
Lock let out a quiet, defeated sigh.
---
A/N: A New Fanfic Is Out "Bleach: Reborn As Ishida Uryuu"
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San