Ichigo woke up that morning feeling more tired than usual. He let out a loud yawn as he scratched his head.
"GOOD MORNING ICHI—oof!"
As soon as Isshin entered the room, Ichigo grabbed his father by the face and shoved him to the ground.
"Goddamit old man, can't you just wake me up like a normal person?"
Though he was twitching a little Isshin chuckled as he mumbled through Ichigo's hand, "Haha. My son, you truly have become an amazing warrior. I no longer have anything to worry about when the time comes for me to release you from this nest."
Ichigo only sighed as he pushed himself off his father. "Whatever, I'm going to go get ready," he said as he walked to the bathroom.
Several minutes later Ichigo walked downstairs in his school uniform and greeted his family along with Rukia and a grumpy Kon. They took some time to eat breakfast before rushing out the door to school.
But before they could take more than a few steps, Isshin came rushing out the door.
"ICHIGOOO!" The father jumped into the air and landed his feet on Ichigo's back.
"EUGH!" Ichigo cried as he fell face forward.
Isshin stepped off of Ichigo and crossed his arms over his chest as he laughed evilly. "HAHA! You must always keep your guard up son!"
Ichigo jumped up and kicked his father from the side. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Can't you just give it a rest?"
Isshin popped right back up and started his fake waterworks. "My son is so evil! He doesn't even trust his father anymore!" he whined as he grabbed Rukia into a hug, "My third-daughter! Please help fill in this void that my son so painfully left in me!"
Ichigo could feel several veins popping in his head as he watched his father's overly-affectionate ways. Rukia was also feeling very violated as Isshin rubbed his beardy chin against her cheek. Taking no more of this, Ichigo walked over and yanked his father's grip off of Rukia. "Will you stop that? What do you want anyways?"
Isshin stood straight up with his hands on his hips. "Haha! No need to get jealous over Rukia-chan." Ichigo glared at his father with his fist raised up. Isshin winked at his son as he continued, "I need you to go by Kisuke today afterschool," he said, then paused as he eyed Rukia, "And take Rukia-chan with you!" He called back as he ran back into the clinic.
The two stood next to each other, staring at the retreating form of Kurosaki Isshin. Rukia looked over and raised an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"
Ichigo scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "Don't care. Com'on, we got to get going or else we'll be late."
On the way they met up with Mizuiro and made it to school with a few minutes to spare. First period started and Ichigo was once again bored with the lectures from his teacher. He kept going on and on about this and that, etc. Ichigo stared out the window again, the field still slightly covered in snow.
Suddenly…
Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!
Ichigo's shinigami badge suddenly went off, screeching as it kept jumping up and down on the desk. With a huge smirk, Ichigo grabbed his badge and stood up.
"Sensei! I need to go to the restroom!" He yelled as he made towards the door.
In the corner of his eye Ichigo saw Uryuu and Chad getting ready to follow him but he glared at them, telling them to stay put because he was going to have all the fun fighting this Hollow that hadn't been coming up for several days.
Getting the message the two sat down and Ichigo ran out the door with his sensei yelling at him from the room.
Rukia only looked on and smirked, noticing the excitement in Ichigo's reiatsu. She shrugged, returning to her drawings.
"EUUUURRHHGGGG!"
Ichigo yelled as he brought down Zangetsu towards the Hollow. The pig-like thing noticed Zangetsu coming towards him and quickly moved to the side.
But Ichigo was quick.
Although he couldn't swing his Zanpakutou fully at the new position of the Hollow's mask, he was able to slightly shift to the side and cut off the Hollow's left arm.
The Hollow screeched loudly as it stepped off to the side, lost its footing and fell onto a field of snow. The Shinigami Substitute landed right next to the Hollow and smirked.
Ichigo grabbed the wrapping at the end of the hilt and twirled Zangetsu high above him as he walked closer to the Hollow. "I gotta say, I'm quite glad you decided to come up today. You see I've been pretty bored and Zangetsu here has been getting a bit cranky with me."
The Hollow roared as it painfully stood up. He took one step back and lifted his right hoof. Ichigo shunpoed to the side and jumped high in the air, grabbing the handle of Zangetsu as he pointed the tip down towards the Hollow's mask. Zangetsu cracked through the white mask, causing the Hollow to scream in pain as it stumbled backwards, quickly deteriorating.
Ichigo landed on the ground, satisfied with the scream coming from the Hollow as it disappeared. The straps quickly wrapped around the blade and Ichigo swung it over his shoulder. He turned around and smiled widely.
"Man, that felt good!" he cried as he stretched his arms.
Ichigo looked to the side and noticed the spirit of a young man, hiding by a bush.
"Eh? Who are you?" Ichigo asked as he walked over. He brought out his Zanpakutou again, which scared the young spirit.
"Please don't kill me!" the soul begged as it crawled away.
Ichigo smiled, well too used to this reaction now. "Hey, I'm not here to kill you. Besides, you're already dead."
The soul whimpered as he slowly lifted his head. "Then what do you want?"
Ichigo pointed the end of the hilt towards the soul's head as he spoke, "I'm a shinigami and I'm only here to do a soul burial. This will send you to Soul Society where souls can relax and live a peaceful life. And no Hollows like that one just now will ever come after you again."
The soul looked at Ichigo for a second and shifted his gaze towards the ground. "Must I go?"
Ichigo's smile turned into a frown. "What?"
"Well," the soul rubbed the back of his neck, "I really don't want to go."
It was then Ichigo noticed a long chain coming out of the soul. He followed its direction and noticed it went past the trees and bushes. "Where is your chain leading off to?"
The soul grabbed the chain coming out of his chest and fingered it. He slowly got up and led Ichigo to the side of the park where people were sitting on benches. Ichigo noticed that one particular person had a chain wrapped around her chest.
"Who is she?" Ichigo asked, obviously figuring out that the soul was an 'obsessed spirit,' a soul that binds itself to a living person.
The soul gave a handsome smile as he looked at the sad woman. "Her name is Hanako, a good friend of mine since high school. We used to be the best of friends…"
Ichigo turned around and saw the soul blushing as he scratched his black hair. "Well, even though we bickered a lot, I really liked her."
"Did she like you?" Ichigo asked, not really sure why he was suddenly interested.
The soul blushed deeper and looked up, smiling to show off. "Yup! All of our family and friends knew we liked each other. But…" the soul's face darkened as he looked at his feet, "I died a few months ago without even getting the chance to confess my feelings."
A sudden silence enclosed on the two.
Ichigo looked back at the woman who was sighing for the nth time. "She seems sad."
"Yeah. She's been depressed with my death and has been liked that ever since," the soul said as he sat down, looking at the woman sitting several yards away. "I feel horrible for taking away her smile."
Ichigo sighed as he shifted Zangetsu in his grasp. "Sorry to hear about that. But I have to send you off to Soul Society." He looked down at the man who was now looking back at him, "You should let her move on."
The soul sighed as he slowly nodded his head. He stood up and faced Ichigo directly in the eye. He was a good looking man, possibly around his early twenties, dark hair, and a little bit taller than Ichigo.
As Ichigo lifted his Zanpakutou to perform the burial, the soul suddenly stepped back.
"Wait a sec."
"What?"
The soul looked around his surrounding for a second and scratched his arm. "Well, can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow and lowered his Zanpakutou.
The soul blushed again. "Well, if you go by the river, there is this boulder that looks like a heart next to the third bridge. Underneath it I dug up a small hole and hidden a small note in it. Do you think you can deliver it to Hanako?"
Ichigo rubbed his chin for a second and smiled. "Sure. That's the least I can do."
"Thanks."
Ichigo shrugged his shoulder with a cocky grin. "No problem."
The young man eyed Ichigo up and down and smirked. "Let me give you a piece of advise," the soul said with a blushing grin, "If you have someone you like then hurry up and confess to her."
Ichigo blushed. "What the hell are you talking about?"
The soul laughed. "Haha! Sorry if I embarrassed you. It just looked like you have someone."
"Shuttup," Ichigo said as he tried to hide his blush with his hand.
The soul smiled and straightened up. "Okay, let's do this."
Ichigo lightly pressed the end of the hilt on the soul's forehead. A bright light shot out from where the soul was standing. But before the light completely engulfed the soul, he opened his eyes and smiled. "My name is Izumi."
"I'm Ichigo."
The light completely took over Izumi and disappeared into the ground. Soon a Hell's Butterfly came out. Ichigo followed the butterfly with his eyes and saw it going up to the heavens. He smiled as he looked back to the woman, still staring off into nothing. Without a moment to lose, Ichigo rushed to his body, hidden in behind a group of the trees, got in, and ran towards the river.
A young woman with dark brown hair wiped away a falling tear and looked back at the snow-covered field where several kids were running around.
With a long depressing sigh, Hanako stood up, hugged her coat tighter over her body, and turned around. Taking a few steps she walked around the bench and towards the sidewalk.
"HANAKO-SAN! JOTTO MATTE GUDO SAI!"
The startled woman turned around and saw a young teenager with shocking orange hair running up to her, waving his hand madly to get her attention.
When the teen finally reach her, he bent down and huffed, trying to catch his breath.
"C-can I help you?" she asked.
Ichigo stood up and choked as he spoke, "Yeah… sorry—hah—you don't know me—"
"No, I don't."
"But I know Izumi-san."
Hanako took in a sharp breath as her eyes widened. "What?"
Ichigo rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a dirt-covered letter.
Without a word Hanako slowly took the letter and pulled out its content. Carefully she unfolded a small piece of paper and read what was written on it.
Several times she gasped; other times she let out either a small smile or a sad frown. By the time she reached the middle tears formed and her clutch on the paper tightened. Ichigo only watch on, not daring to say a word. He didn't even move when Hanako fell on her knees and cried into her hands.
Ichigo scratched his head and looked to the side. "Izumi-san wanted me to give you this letter. He's sad he couldn't get it to you in time."
"Thank you," Hanako choked as she kept crying and her body trembled.
"Why were you so late?"
"Hmm?" Ichigo crossed his hands behind the back of his head as he looked at Rukia walking besides him. "What did you say?"
"I asked why it took you so long to kill one Hollow."
Ichigo shrugged. "I was helping an 'obsessed spirit' let go of the person he was chained to."
Rukia smiled and patted Ichigo on the back. "I'm proud of you."
The two kept walking until they reached Urahara's store. Like usual the two didn't knock and just slid open the shoji door.
Ichigo used one of his hands to cup the side of his mouth as he shouted, "Oi! Urahara!"
The man popped his head out from the side with his usual fan over his mouth. "Ara! And what might bring my favorite couple to my store?"
Ichigo walked up and landed a hard punch at the shopkeeper. "Stop your stupid ranting and tell us why we're here."
Ururu patted Urahara's back to comfort him as Yoruichi walked up to greet the two shinigamis. "Yo! How did school go?"
Ichigo only grunted while Rukia looked away.
Yoruichi laughed as she curled her index finger to indicate to the two to follow her. Ichigo and Rukia did as they were told. They soon climbed down the ladder to Urahara's underground training room.
"What's going on?" Rukia asked as they kept walking.
Suddenly Ichigo and Rukia felt a sharp pain entering their head.
"WOAH!" Ichigo cried as his shinigami form suddenly jumped out of his body. Rukia fell right next to him. They looked up to see Urahara laughing by himself, with his cane pointing out towards them. "What the hell was that about, you jackass?"
Ichigo jumped up to the laughing shopkeeper, fist raised high when Yoruichi flash stepped next to him and grabbed him.
"Baka, there's no time!" she sneered, pulling Ichigo by the arm she was still holding.
"Wait a sec," Ichigo cried, "What do you man 'there's no time?' Where are we going—"
Just then the senkaimon appeared before them. Ichigo looked up, still being dragged by Yoruichi towards the shoji doors with Rukia calmly following them. Suddenly the doors slid open and Renji jumped down.
"Yo!" He greeted.
"Renji? What's going on?" Ichigo asked.
When they were but a few feets away from the red head, Yoruichi gave a hard yank and Ichigo fell forward, tumbling towards the senkaimon and falling inside. "He's all yours!" she cried.
"Hai." Renji bowed.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" Ichigo yelled at the purple-haired woman who was smirking.
Renji signaled Rukia to jump into the portal, which she did, as he grabbed Ichigo by the collar of his haori and led him fully through the portal.
Before Ichigo realized it, the three shinigamis were now in Soul Society.
Ichigo looked at his surrounding and started to whine. "What the hell are we doing here?"
Renji smirked. "I'd tell ya but that'll ruin the surprise," he said. Then he turned to face Rukia, "I have to escort our orange-top to Yamamoto-sotaicho now. Matusmoto and Hinamori are at the 'Red Threads' enjoying some snacks so you should go and visit them."
Rukia sweetly smiled at her friend (much to Ichigo's displeasure), "Thanks, I'll do that."
With that she went her separate ways from the boys.
Rukia walked towards the Red Threads, a small store in Sereitei which sold small items like brushes, to tea, and to sakes for late night parties (which consisted mostly of the eleventh division).
"Konichiwa!" Rukia greeted her two friends who were already drinking their tea and snacking at some crackers.
"Rukia!" the two jumped up and ran towards their petite friend.
MEANTIME…
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
The said man bowed at the old sotaicho in front of him. "Hai," he responded, still feeling a bit awkward.
Yamamoto gave a slight nod as he continued, "Are you aware as to why you've been called here today?"
Ichigo straightened up and looked around the room. Currently he was standing in the middle of the room, facing Yamamoto, while the other captains were standing on either side of him. Ichigo looked back at the old(est) man and shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
"…I see. So your father hasn't said anything?"
Again Ichigo shook his head as he answered, "No sir."
"Hmmm…" Yamamoto let out a deep breath as he eyed the orange head in front of him. "Well, we had summoned you here today to speak with you of your role within Soul Society."
The sotaicho paused for a moment, allowing the words to sink in. But Ichigo only got more confused with each passing second. Without saying anything, the Shinigami Substitute raised an eyebrow and looked confusingly at the old man.
Yamamoto let out a small cough, obviously a bit peeved at Ichigo's inability to figure things out. "What I'm trying to say is that we would like you to become an official officer in Gotei 13."
"You mean… join Soul Society?" Ichigo asked.
"No, not exactly," Yamamoto replied, "You will continue living in your world and live out the same duty that you had been doing there. But this time we want to give you an official rank within the Gotei 13. So when you visit Soul Society, it will mostly be to attend important captain's meetings, and you'll be officially recognized as an officer with all the benefits following."
Ichigo couldn't help but grin at this new bit of information, and he could tell, from the slight change in Byakuya's reiatsu pattern, that the Sixth Division taicho wasn't all too pleased with this new change.
"Do you have any objections, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Kurosaki taicho shook his head. "Absolutely none."
Yamamoto nodded, pleased with how smoothly things were progressing. "Excellent. Now that we got your approval, the rest of the taichos and I shall continue our discussion of your role along with your payment."
Ichigo snapped to attention at the end. "What was that last word?"
"Payment?"
"Yes…"
The commander-general lightly chuckled as he stroked his long beard. "Every shinigami in Soul Society are paid and you'll be no different. Mayuri taicho will see to it that your payment is in form of your world's."
Ichigo looked over to the Twelfth Division taicho who stared back with a mischievous grin. Ichigo slightly stuttered and returned his gaze to Yamamoto. "I understand."
"Then you may leave."
Ichigo gave one last bow before walking out of the room. When he closed the door Renji jumped out of nowhere and startled Ichigo when he landed next to him.
"AH! You bastard! How long have you been standing there?" Ichigo cried out as Renji threw his arm over his friend's shoulder and led him out of the building.
"Since I dropped you off," Renji replied with a grin, "And I'm guessing you took the offer that Yamamoto-sotaicho offered?"
Ichigo nodded. "I did… but how did you know?"
Renji shrugged, "Kuchiki taicho told me."
Once the two were outside the First Division building, Renji stopped and removed his hold on Ichigo. "I forgot I still have paperwork due today," Renji groaned. He looked at Ichigo and sighed. "Sorry but looks like I can't see you and Rukia off."
Ichigo shrugged as he focused to find Rukia's reiatsu. "Don't worry too much about it. I'll see you later."
Renji waved his hand as he shunpoed back to his division. When Ichigo finally found Rukia's reiatsu, Ichigo also shunpoed, excited to tell her the news.
Ichigo jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he finally landed in front of a small shop that looked like a food stall. Scratching his head, Ichigo looked up to read the sign that said: Red Threads. He knew right away he was at the right place, remembering Renji and Rukia's conversation a little while ago. So the soon-to-be-taicho walked towards the door and slid it open.
"Welcome!" the owner warmly greeted Ichigo who smiled back. Ichigo soon made way to a long hallway at the right, hidden slightly by curtains. It led off to several private rooms where customers could get some privacy. Ichigo slowly walked forward, carefully peering through the curtains to each room to look for Rukia.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
Ichigo's head snapped up upon hearing Rukia's voice screaming across the store. He quickly, but quietly, walked towards one of the rooms at the end of the hallway. Ichigo didn't know why he did it but he peeked in from the side and strained his ear to hear what was going on.
"What are you so embarrassed about?" Matsumoto asked teasingly, "I'm your friend so obviously I'm curious about your sex life with Ichigo."
Rukia blushed heavily (not to mention Ichigo almost stumbled inside from the sudden comment by the busty-woman) and looked away. "Like I've been saying, we are not in that kind of relationship."
Matsumoto eyed at her friend for a second and suddenly burst out laughing. "Deny it all you want Rukia but the truth is clear as that blush of yours. Right Momo?"
While Rukia brought her hands up, Hinamoro lightly giggled as she set down her tea cup. "I didn't know you were this shy, Kuchiki-san."
"Oh please, it's only like this in the beginning. Soon she'll be used to being in love," Matsumoto waved her hand.
"And how might you know so well?" Rukia asked with a glare.
Matsumoto smiled back… but then her gaze saddened as she spoke. "I know of two people who loved each so much but never confessed their love to each other. In the end, the guy disappeared, ruining whatever could have happened between them. She ended up regretting so many things…"
Suddenly Rukia and Hinamori forgot about Matsumoto's previous comments and looked at their friend, knowing full well who she was talking about.
"Matsumoto-san—"
"Oh well! No use crying about it now!" Matsumoto interrupted through Hinamori's words. She lifted her glass and giggled. "Let us girls stick together. Screw all men in every world!"
Hinamori gave a small smile while Rukia lifted her cup for her friend. "Hear hear."
"You guys are stupid," Ichigo snorted as he finally walked in to see all three startled faces looking at him.
Rukia was the first one to recover. "Ichigo! When did you get here?"
"Just now," Ichigo replied, leaning against the door frame, "I'm here to pick you up so we can go home."
"Oh!" Rukia jumped out of her seat, took one last sip of her tea, and walked towards Ichigo. She turned around and waved at her two friends. "We'll see you guys later!"
Matsumoto and Hinamoi waved back. "We'll go visit you guys too! Oh, and Ichigo!"
"What?" Ichigo turned around to look at Matsumoto.
The busty fukutaicho grinned as she leaned back against her seat, "Don't get too aggressive in bed or it might scare Rukia away."
Ichigo blushed heavily and glared at the woman in front of him. "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT?" Ichigo grabbed Rukia's wrist and led her out the door with Matsumoto's laughs still ringing in his ears.
Without another word the flustered shinigamis made way back to the Urahara's store where their bodies were still 'sleeping.' After slipping back in, the two bid farewell to Urahara, Yoruichi and staff.
Ichigo looked outside and sighed. It was already dark which meant Yuzu might have already finished dinner. The two silently walked to the Kurosaki Clinic, thinking of something to talk about.
"Ne Ichigo?"
"Hmm?"
"How much did you hear back at the Red Threads."
Ichigo shrugged as he kept walking, not bothering to look at his friend. "If you're talking about Matsumoto's 'friend,' then yeah, I heard it."
"Oh…" Rukia paused for a moment to think. She suddenly looked up at him with a worried expression. "Ichigo, I—"
"Don't worry," Ichigo interrupted. He reached down and grabbed Rukia's hand, interlacing their fingers affectionately, "I promise we're not going to regret anything."
Rukia blushed heavily, but after taking one look at their joined hands, she smiled—a real, beautiful smile—and looked up at Ichigo. "You're right."
A/N: Hehe! I hope you guys liked the way I ended this chapter. I do feel bad for Matsumoto but things will get better for her later.
Check out the next chapter which will include the next step to Ichigo and Rukia's relationship... n when I mean 'next step' i mean something like lemon... lol anyways, stay tune for the next chapter!
 | Review this Chapter |
No comments:
Post a Comment