A new adversary approaches

Hiyashi was showing Rudi a childhood that Rudi never had and was living for the first time, five centuries after the death of Rolf. Rodolfo would have wept at Hiyashi's feet in gratitude,for his generosity with the sharing of nostalgia. Perhaps Hiyashi would never truly know what favor he has done to the child arrancar. Perhaps his sins could really be cleansed, drop by drop, and he would finally be left with the purity and idealism that had carried him for so long.

The candy store seemed old fashioned compared to the technology around it. The tiles were cold, black and white, reminiscent of a time long gone. Exotic candies from all over the world were littered like a vast and proud collection. Candied worms to candy worms, sweet puffed rice to black licorice. Little lollipops that looked like dragons and fish, chocolate carvings of rabbits. Rudi's little eyes near bulged out of his skull.

The shopkeeper smiled at the sight, an aging woman who had been running this place "for forever". It was suspected she was not merely a spiritually aware human but perhaps a demon who had a change of heart, or a ziamichi who dedicated herself to generosity. Regardless, she watched Hiyashi and Rudi in her store, just as she watched everyone else.

The little arrancar sped around the place. When he was asked to inhale, he breathed deeply, enough for his lungs to expand wide and take in the smell of a childhood, of hundreds or thousands of childhoods. And he was throwing his own to the pile, however late it was.

Rudi dug in his pockets for what little money he had. It wasn't much, but it would be enough for just a few candies. He bought two small suckers, both sour enough to pucker even the most stoic of faces. He handed one to Hiyashi as he popped his own his mouth.

His little face scrunched up, wrinkling like an old man, and he laughed at his own reactions.