"Hey, have you heard about this?" grinned Renji, beckoning Ichigo over to look at the computer screen.
"No…" replied Ichigo, scanning the screen. It displayed 'Desumacchi' in large lettering.
"Death match?" asked Rukia, appearing at Ichigo's side. "What is it?" She cocked her head at the words on the computer.
"Sounds good!" cried Ikkaku, clambering off the bed to look at the screen too. "What is it?" he repeated.
"Anything with 'death' in the name is good to you Ikkaku," sighed Rangiku, traipsing to the screen after the others.
Ikkaku's fiery reply was cut short by Renji yelling "If you'd all SHUT UP, I'll tell you what it is!"
Silence dropped on the room of friends, all interested to hear about this 'Desumacchi'.
"It's a tournament. We go to this place... A kind of city, built by this guy - Aizen. It's called Desu, and it's reserved for the tournament. You go, you fight, you win, you get rich. Simple."
"I'm in," cried Ikkaku, "Nothing better!"
"Count me in, too," agreed Yumichika.
"Come see this, Chad. It looks way fun!" screeched Rangiku.
"Wha… Hang on," Ichigo murmured worriedly, "Doesn't this seem really dangerous?"
A roar of laughter erupted from his friends.
"Just like you to worry, Ichigo," giggled Rangiku, pinching his cheeks.
"Shut up!" yelled Ichigo, pushing Rangiku away, "I wasn't worrying for myself. Just, y'know, you Rang, and Rukia, Hime."
Supressed smiles passed through the gang as they watched their adorable orange friend lie through his teeth. Ichigo worried like mad, always. He was just a little scaredy cat really.
"So… Who are we up against?" asked Uryuu, bending forward and hitching up his glasses to peer at the screen.
Ichigo was at a loss of what to say, it seemed that everyone had made up their mind to go. He could hardly stay at home, they'd never let it go!
"Hime… You don't want to go, right?" but his questions were ignored as everyone, including Orihime, listened in rapture to Renji's list of the current top 10 players.
"Kenpachi Zaraki, he's number one. Then there's Coyote Starrk – sounds strong ! Hey… Oh, wow! Rukia, Byakuya is in this?"
"What!" cried Rukia, pushing Rangiku to the floor out of her way, "He told me he was going to England!"
"Haha, brilliant! I bet he won't be expecting to see you in Desu. Anyway, Tier Harribel, number 4."
"A girl at number 4? Hot," remarked Ikkaku.
"I know, right. 5 - Ulquiorra Cifer, 6 - Grimmjow Jaequerjaquez, 7 – Shunsui Kyoraku, 8 – Nnoitra Gilga, 9 – Szayel Apporo Granz, and 10 is another chick, Soi Fong."
"They sound piss easy," roared Ikkaku, "When do we leave?"
"Woah!" cried Ichigo, "Don't we need to… think about this a bit?"
"What's to think about, Ichi? Looks like a laugh," cheered Rangiku.
Ichigo watched in dismay as everyone agreed with Rangiku and began chatting excitedly about when they could leave. His emotional levels had reached despair as he listened to his friends plan to leave tomorrow. He was close to tears as weapon discussions broke out. Within what seemed like seconds, everyone had waved goodbye and ran home to get ready, leaving Ichigo to tremble with fear.