Lucia's eyes opened slowly, getting immediately stung by sunlight. Seems like she forgot to close the blinds of her window last night. She felt exhausted after a rather tumultuous day, the biggest shock of all having been the fact that apparently Ichigo has a boyfriend. A boyfriend she met somewhere in this town. She pressed at her thumbs and prayed last night that it wasn't anyone she knows. Being a pseudo babysitter for Ichigo is one thing, having to watch her while also forced to see her being lovey dovey with someone in public is a whole other matter that she didn't agree to and won't agree with. She's already putting up with more than enough, being a third wheel would be like the millionth cherry on top.

She hasn't been put officially on Ichigo 24/7 watch by her teacher, but at this point, with her luck, she wouldn't be surprised.

She pulled up her pajama pants and headed down the stairs with a grumbly stomach. The closer she got to the kitchen the stronger the grumble. Suddenly, Lucia's ears picked up a sound, the sound of sizzling and a toaster popping freshly toasted toast. Her nose was still messed up so she couldn't smell anything, but as she stepped into the kitchen to inspect the pan frying on the stove, she could tell, this looked like a bombastic omelette.

"Good morning, mom." Lucia greeted as she popped her head inside the dining room. "You cooked today? Guess that means morning shift fell-"

"Good morning, Luc!"

"…"

The one to greet Lucia back was not her mother, but the pink haired invader. She prepped the table with a checkered patterned cloth and currently laid out some dishes, glasses and utensils. Once everything was set up she went back to the kitchen and quickly took out the toasts. She flipped over the omelette with a spatula, sprinkled a spoon of sugar on top and took it out. She cut the large omelette into three pieces, putting each slice on an empty dish.

"You guys can have the toasts if you want, I don't like bread that much."

With short and slow steps Lucia took a seat, looking down at the pancake-like omelette. She cut off a small piece and regretted it instantly. It looks perfectly fine, delicious even, but it's looks were not to be trusted. It was disgustingly sweet, like someone poured a whole bag of sugar into the egg mixture. She grabbed the toast and tried to wash the taste down. Luckily the toast was left as is, just plain ol' toasted wheat slices.

"I made it with my own personal recipe! A breakfast egg cake." Ichigo said as she gobbled up her slice. "When's Mrs. Archer coming? Her slice is gonna get cold."

Lucia shrugged. "Probably at work. She takes on extra shifts sometimes when money is tight."

Ichigo took a look around the room, swallowing a rather large piece that almost made her choke. "I took a look around the house while cooking. It's huge! The rent must be high."

"No it's not that, we own the house so there's no need to pay rent; No mortgage either…"

"Oh? I'm confused then. What do you mean then when you say money is tight?"

"My mom likes to travel a lot. She makes enough for me to do fine on my own for a few weeks while she's out partying in Bone City."

"Bone City…I think I've heard of that, your soccer team-"

"I fucking hate that city."

"-trained there so the captain could impress Lin!"

Lucia's fork, which she has been angrily fiddling with, suddenly bent as she heard the end of Ichigo's sentence. "Impress Lin? What are you…Oh, right, Ingrid." She tried to straightened the fork back. "Yeah, Goldpryce is like that. Has it out for Lin because of like…rivalry."

"Rivalry?"

"Yeah, because they're both rich. I don't get it either."

"Huh…" Ichigo gulped down the last piece of her omelette. She picked up her empty plate and the plate meant for Isobel. She put the empty one in the sink and wrapped the untouched meal in some plastic wrap, putting it in the freezer with a little note on it. "Are you gonna finish yours?"

"Uh…Nah, I'm not that hungry."

"More for me then."

Ichigo grabbed Lucia's barely eaten Omelette in her bare hands and swallowed the thing down with one singular gulp, absolutely zero struggles, it slid smoothly down her throat. It made Lucia wonder why Ichigo ate with table manners at all and why she pretended to choke, but the day isn't gonna last forever and she wants to get out while the sun is still shining.

After brushing her teeth she put on her jeans. Getting ready to go out and pass some time at the park. It was pretty warm this morning, considering October was less than a week away.

…Footsteps. Too many of them.

As Lucia walked down the sidewalk she heard more than just her shoes stepping. A quick look over the shoulder and it confirmed her suspicion. "Ichigo, why are you following me?"

"Well, duh! Of course I'm gonna follow if you're showing me around town."

"I'm not showing you around town, I'm going to the park."

"Ooh! That sounds even more fun!"

"Alone. I'm going to the park alone." Lucia picked up in speed, trying to subtlety shake the pink haired girl off, but Ichigo followed at the same rising speed. "Knock it off! I mean it! Go back home and eat some more overly sugary food."

"…I could do that." Ichigo answered with a wide grin. "There was one room I couldn't take a look at after all…Since you were sleeping in it all night."

Lucia stopped, her face still faced forward but her legs ready to turn around at any moment. "…I locked my door before leaving."

"Did you remember to close your window too?"

"…"

"…"

"…Fine, but don't follow me like a baby duck when we're there."

Ichigo jumped in the air, clapping her hands while letting out sounds of glee. She rushed forward and grabbed Lucia's arm, walking side by side and holding on even as Lucia tried to throw her off.

They arrive to the Berrymarrel park, a wide patch of grass where kids and dogs roam around. The soccer team was training, the birds were singing, Ichigo still stuck at Lucia's side despite being asked not to do this exact thing and Rosario ran at near breakneck speed towards the braided girl. "Lucia-Chan!!!" She yelled as she jumped into her arms. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Uh…same to you, Rosa. I thought you wanted to binge a 90s DVD or something."

"The 90s OVA for JJ Part 3, yes. I was supposed to get the genuine box set for it yesterday, but the stupid mail had a delay and it won't come until next month. I guess I have something good to watch for Halloween at least."

Ichigo & Rosario.

For Lucia, this situation was like getting cornered by a gorilla and a lion.