The first time wasn't particularly noteworthy. He had been purifying a hollow, and she just happened to be there. It really wasn't that strange for a human to see a Shinigami. Lots of humans had spiritual powers, and it certainly wasn't the first time he had been seen. Truthfully he would have been more surprised if nobody had seen him. There was a large crowd of people there at that time, and odds were in favor of at least one of them having spiritual powers. It just turned out that she was the lucky one that time. He didn't think much of it, though, since he probably wouldn't see her again.

The second time was a coincidence. They had caught the signature of a particularly strong hollow just minutes before it was supposed to arrive, and he had been one of the Shinigami sent out. It wasn't even supposed to appear by that office building; it was supposed to appear in a park on the other side of town. He was supposed to be backup, but when the hollow appeared less then two blocks away from him he suddenly became the frontline fighter. It wasn't until the hollow had been purified that he noticed a familiar face among the scared office workers. That time he made note of her in his mind. This was a very large city, and it was pretty damn convenient for that one woman to be in the building at a place where he ended up purely by chance.

The third time, however, was fate. At least, that's when he realized that it was fate. It had to be. He was undercover in a gigai, after all. True, he was a handsome fellow, but nobody should have been able to recognize him. That's why he nearly jumped out of his skin when she immediately recognized him and said, "Why hello there, Mr. ghost hunter. Off the job today?"

Luckily Shinigami were good at the whole 'everything's-alright-nothing-to-see-here' look. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, trying his best to hide his surprise.

She chuckled. It was very cute. Well, she was cute all together, so it made sense that her laugh would be cute. "I understand," she said, her voice radiating patience and happiness, "You can't talk about it. That's okay, I understand."

He felt his heart skip a beat. What was this? She was just a human with some special powers. He shouldn't care about her. That was one of the rules. He couldn't help it, though. Her laughter and smiles were more than enough to make him forget about all those rules. Yes, this definitely was fate.

After a pause she said, "So, do you have a name? I can't call you Mr. ghost hunter, now can I?"

He should have stopped and left then. He should have forgotten about her and focused on his job. This was going to open a very big can of worms, and he had the feeling that the repercussions would last for years to come. He was about to apologize and leave, but her angelic smile made him forget about all those problems. "Isshin," he said, "You can call me Isshin."