The car ride had been silent the entire time, which was fine by Ichigo. He didn't bother to watch the passing scenery, content with leaning against the window with his eyes closed.
Ichigo was a little angry at Isshin for forcing him to transfer schools, but at the same time, he was grateful. His father had decided that Ichigo needed a change of scenery, and sent him off to another school. Ichigo did agree that a change of pace would be nice-the war against the Quincies had kept him tense, afraid of any future battles-but doing all this without even telling him until the last possible minute had really ticked him off.
"You can't still be mad at me," Isshin spoke cheerfully.
Ichigo gave his father a one eyed glare, knowing that would be enough of an answer.
Isshin acted oblivious to this and continued on. "Just because I won't be there to punish you, doesn't mean you can get out of shape or start misbehaving."
Ichigo forced himself to suppress a sigh and opened his eyes. "Even though you said hollow attacks aren't as frequent as home, doesn't mean I'm not going to deal with them when they do show up. And why the hell would I start acting like a delinquent? My hair already gives me that image, no point in proving it true." He paused before adding, "Where am I staying anyways?"
A smile creeped out on Isshin's face. A shiver went down Ichigo's spine. He was suddenly afraid of the answer.
"You remember your friend Hiyori, right?"
A picture of the blonde, loud mouthed vizard flashed in Ichigo's mind, much to his confusion. The thought of living with her until he graduated scared him, but what confused him was that she lived in Karakura, and they left earlier that morning.
"Not that one," Isshin groaned. "I know its been a while since you last saw her, but you couldn't have forgotten your friend already."
"Iki?" Ichigo finally asked, remembering his childhood friend. Isshin's smile told him the answer. "You dumbass. Its been over six years since we last saw them, and you expect me to think of her first?" This new information did make Ichigo happier though. It had been far too long since they last saw each other. They hadn't seen each other since Masaki's funeral. By then, seeing each other was a painful reminder of who they lost since it had been Masaki that introduced the two families and kept them together.
"They had called a few weeks ago," Isshin stated. "They wanted to reconnect since it's been a long time. Sayuri mentioned Hiyori was hit by a bus over the winter. S-"
"Is she alright?" Ichigo interrupted, wishing he had known about this sooner. He didn't let that bother him too much. He had no way of knowing.
"She came out of the accident unscathed," Isshin confirmed, much to Ichigo's relief. "Except she gained a habit of falling asleep at random times. Sayuri was getting worried because apparently Hiyori is always running off doing who knows what. I mentioned that maybe you could come over for the rest of the school year, especially since 'you've been stressed out lately.'" He did a one handed air quote, indicating the lie he told. "They loved the idea, and helped me with the transfer papers. By phone of course."
"So basically you want me to be her bodyguard," Ichigo guessed.
"I'm not so sure Sayuri and Takamasa fully understand what's going on with their daughter."
Ichigo stared at his father for a moment, before shrugging it off. He's learned that if his dad wanted to share something-about his past or anything else-Ichigo would have to wait for the right time before he got the chance to learn. There's no point in trying to force the truth out of him.
He leaned against the window again, thinking about Hiyori. He vaguely remembered what she looked like. He remembered brown hair and her magenta eyes, but that was almost it. He knew she was a year younger then him, and was taught to be 'lady-like', but her true self wasn't like that at all. Even at the young age of nine, Hiyori had learned that it would be best not to let her mom know what she was truly into.
Ichigo couldn't help but smile, at least a little. He had missed her greatly, and spending time away from home will help him relax. He just had to hope that no hollows or any other unwelcome guests showed up.
Then he groaned, realizing the hell he was gonna get from his friends when he gets back. He left them without a word because of his father. He's going to beat the crap out of his dad the next chance he got.
Hiyori was currently at Kofuku and Daikoku's upstairs in their shop, trying to help Yukine with his homework. Key word: trying. The news she heard from her parents that morning had kept her distracted all day, unable to contain her excitement.
"Hiyori, are you alright?" Yukine looked up from his work. He was still confused on the question he was working on, and Hiyori's distracted 'help' wasn't doing its job.
"Mm hmm," she nodded, attempting to cover her smile.
Yato-who was previously lying underneath the table-sat up and pushed Yukine's homework onto the floor.
"Hey!" Yukine protested and moved to pick them up.
"C'mon, tell us what's up," Yato pleaded, his curiosity getting the best of him.
Yukine sat back down and stared expectantly at Hiyori, waiting for the answer.
Hiyori noticed that it was quiet downstairs in the shop, but ignored it. "Okay," she surrendered. "Its just that a friend of mine is coming over, and is going to spend the rest of the school year with my family!"
Yato lied back down, bored with the conversation already. "That's it? I thought it would've been something interesting. OW!" he shouted when Hiyori gave him a quick kick.
"Be nice," she scolded. "I'm only excited because I haven't seen him in over six years."
"Woah, that's a long time," Yukine said. "When's he getting here?"
"He's supposed to show up later today. He lives in Karakura Town, which is about a day drive. Mom said that he and his dad left this morning, so he can start school tomorrow."
"Karakura, huh?" Kofuku broke through the conversation, entering the room alongside Daikoku.
"Were you eavesdropping?" Hiyori asked at the same time Yukine asked, "What's wrong with Karakura Town?"
Daikoku shot Hiyori an apologetic look as Kofuku ignored her question, only answering Yukine's. "There's nothing wrong with Karakura," her voice was serious, so all four listened carefully. Not even Daikoku or Yato knew what was wrong, so they remained as curious as Hiyori and Yukine. "Its just that the last few years the gods have nicknamed it 'the Town for Shinigami'."
"Shinigami?" Hiyori suddenly remembered the 'Black One' her grandmother saw before she passed away. Yato had told her it was a Shinigami, but there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
"A town for death gods," Daikoku translated, rubbing his chin in thought. "Why would there be a whole town for them?"
Kofuku shrugged. "The gods don't understand why, but almost two ago, the entire town fell asleep before disappearing. When they were gone, what could be considered an army for the Shinigami came, and it looked like a battle happened."
"Did the gods not get involved with the fight?" Yukine asked, noticing Kofuku's wording.
"No," Yato spoke up. "There's an unspoken agreement that Shinigami don't get in our business, and we don't go in theirs. Chaos might happen if we did."
"All I know is that Shinigami are on a whole other level to the gods," Daikoku added.
"Are you saying they're stronger?!" Hiyori exclaimed, surprised.
He shook his head. "Not really. What I meant was, Shinigami aren't gods like Kofuku, Yato, Tenjin or Bishamon. They're gods, but they aren't born from wishes or anything like that. They don't rely on believers to exist."
"Why are you telling us this?" Hiyori asked. Gasping, she demanded, "You don't think he's a Shinigami. do you?! He's completely human!"
Kofuku laughed, ignoring Hiyori's anger. "I've never heard of a human/Shinigami hybrid. I just thought it was funny that your friend was coming from a town that recently caught the gods' attention, that's all. What's his name, anyways?"
"Ichigo," she answered.
"Strawberry," Yato snorted, receiving kicks from Hiyori, Yukine and Daikoku. "OW! Stop abusing me!" he wailed.
Ignoring him, they continued on with the conversation. "Why's he coming here?" Yukine asked.
"According to his dad, Ichigo's been getting pretty stressed lately. He's falling behind in school and always getting into fights."
"So he's a delinquent, huh?" Daikoku asked, already thinking of ways to punish him if he caused them any troubles.
"No he's not!" Hiyori protested. "He has bright orange hair, which has always gotten him into trouble. Its all natural. He has to fight back so he won't get hurt."
They all doubted it, but decided to not pursue the topic any more.
Yato suddenly remembered that Hiyori said she hadn't seen Ichigo in six years. "Hey, how come you haven't seen him in a while?"
Hiyori's mood sobered up immediately. She rested her head against her hand as she considered answering. Finally, she said, "The last time I saw him was on the funeral for his mother."
Everyone remained quiet, unsure on how to react. They were sure Hiyori was affected by the death-just by the way she reacted when talking about it-but they couldn't imagine how Ichigo must've felt.
"I don't really know how Masaki died," Hiyori continued absentmindedly. "Ichigo was with her when she died, but he wouldn't talk about it. I could tell he blamed himself though..." She paused, thinking. "There wasn't any news reports or any talk of how she died. It was eventually concluded as a mystery." She turned her head to stare at the table her elbow rested on. "Before her death, Ichigo was such a happy kid. Even though he's a year older, he always made sure to play with me, whether or not he was with any of his friends. But he also made sure I didn't get hurt. He was so protective. After Masaki died... he changed. His smile seemed to have disappeared forever. I remember how before the funeral-I heard he continued after too-he would pace where she died, as if waiting for her to come back. He wouldn't cry though, especially not in front of me or his younger sisters. I hope things have gotten better for him."
Silence filled the room for some time. After hearing that, sadness weighed everyone down, despite Hiyori being the only one that actually met Ichigo. How could no one feel bad for him? That happened six years ago, he would've been nine when he lost his mom. And blaming himself over it would've only made it worse for him.
The silence was finally broken when Hiyori suddenly received a text. She pulled out her phone, and quickly read before replying. "That was my mom," she answered the unasked question. "Ichigo's supposed to arrive in about an hour, so she wants me to get back and make sure everything is ready. Bye guys!" She stood up and began walking down the stairs.
Just as she was about to leave the yard, Kofuku threw open the window and shouted, "HIYORIN!" Hiyori turned around in confusion. "Don't forget to bring Ichi to the shop! I want to meet him!"
Hiyori giggled at the nickname Kofuko already gave Ichigo. "Okay, I'll try!" she promised, before walking away.
Satisfied, Kofuko closed the window and turned around, only to see Daikoku giving her an annoyed look.
"What?" she asked innocently, as if she wasn't the goddess of poverty and misfortune.
Unbeknownst to all, a certain someone considered trash by all who know his true self, had been listening in on the conversation.
"Well, Father, what do you think of Hiyori's friend?" Nora-who, with her 'Father' was known as Mizuichi-asked.
Koutu Fujisaki rubbed his chin in thought as his other hand rested against the tree. "Its hard to say. It would be quite interesting if this Ichigo would be a Shinigami. He might have the power to destroy the gods, or at least the key."
"And if he doesn't?"
Fujisaki chuckled darkly. "Then we'll have to get rid of him if he gets in the way."
