Detention...again.
Ichigo sighed and slumped back in his chair, for a moment he just stared at the ceiling tiles. All he could hear and all he had heard for the past thirty-seven minutes was the steady ticking of the clock on the wall, and the faint scratching of Ochi-sensei's pen on paper. He closed his eyes and tried to shut the noise out, but it was no good.
Tick, Tick, Tick.
Ichigo sat up, taking a deep breath and removing as much of a frown from his face as he could. It was pleading time. "Ahh, Ochi-sensei, I'm sorry okay? Please, this is clearly a waste of both of our time" he said, it was the first thing that came to his mind and as soon as he had said it he remembered that pleading wasn't his strong suit.
Ochi-sensei set down her pen and looked at him over the top of her glasses. "What's clear Kurosaki is that while you are completely fine with wasting my time, you don't like it when it's the other way around". She kept her unusually stern gaze on Ichigo until he wilted and went back to brooding.
Ichigo huffed and turned to look out the window. It was the tenth of July, five days before Ichigo turned eighteen and nearly three months since he had got his powers back and defeated Ginjo. Even though it was getting late it must be still hot, he thought, maybe not as suffocating as the classroom he was sitting in, but based on what the girls outside were wearing it must be...wait, what? Ichigo gave himself a mental slapping.
Where did that come from? That's not like me.
Putting it down to sheer boredom he instead looked at the flawless blue sky, it reminded him of Soul Society. He found himself wishing more than ever to escape this classroom. Anywhere was better than here. Ochi-sensei had always been a pushover in the past, but now her students were approaching their final term she seemed to be having a crackdown. Apparently skipping a class, or five, on a weekly basis wasn't becoming of a high-school student in his final year.
Ichigo didn't see it that way, as far as he was concerned it was all stupid. School, University, Careers, regular people's lives had become an object of disgust for him now. When he was fifteen years old he had stormed two separate dimensions and saved the mortal world from untold horrors, but here he was nearly eighteen and he was being made to sit in a scorching room for an indefinite amount of time just because he missed a few hours of pointless, monotonous note taking.
Eighteen, there's that number again.
Turning eighteen really didn't appeal to Ichigo, at least he didn't seem to think it was the huge deal all his friends had made it out to be. All it allowed him to do was drive, and when you can flash step, driving just seemed...sluggish.
The truth was, those brief moments when the combat pass lit up and Ichigo skipped class to fight a Hollow were the only highlights in his day. He felt stupid just for thinking that, he shouldn't want a hollow to appear, but he couldn't help it. And despite his better judgement, they were becoming rarer and as a result he had started dragging the fights out for his own amusement.
I must be more like Kenpachi than I thought.
Four-fourty-six. Ichigo had to get out of this room.
"Please Ochi-sensei, we've both got lives outside of this place..." he said, now Ichigo should have left it at that, but then he added "...right?"
Smooth Ichigo!
His teacher was now just staring daggers at him, he had blown it for good now and might as well curl up under his desk, as it looked like that would be where he was going to be spending the night. To his amazement however she just sighed and threw her pen down.
"Oh fine! Go!" she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
Ichigo shot out of his chair so fast it nearly toppled over, he checked himself and tried to curb his enthusiasm as much as possible, even though he felt like diving headlong out the window. He collected his bag and made for the door as calmly as possible, which was still only just on the slower side of jogging.
He was reaching for the door handle when Ochi-sensei's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm warning you though Kurosaki, you should be preparing for your final exams and applying to schools, not running off doing...whatever it is you've been doing, understand?"
Ichigo turned to face her, "Y..yes Sensei" he spluttered, inclining his head slightly as he did so.
She turned away from him, "Now go, wouldn't want to keep you from that bustling social life of yours!"
Ichigo nearly fell over, was she mocking him? He had no answer for that, so Instead he just shuffled backwards out of the room and shut the door.
He sighed once again and rubbed his eyes, despite his eagerness to escape the classroom, where was it he was in a hurry to get to exactly? Home? Nope, he didn't particularly want to spend more time around his father than necessary, ever since Aizen's defeat and learning the truth about Isshin, it had made things more awkward and unbearable than before. Besides, even if old Goatface wasn't home, all he had to look forward to was sitting in his room, waiting for the combat pass to scream at him. If Ochi-sensei was mocking him, she was bang on.
Ichigo set off, his footsteps echoing down the empty corridor. He checked his watch, it was too late for any after school activities, not that Ichigo felt like running around in this heat anyway. Tatsuki might still be around, or maybe he could just go for a walk.
As soon as Ichigo stepped outside he immediately wished he was back in the classroom. He was wrong, it was much hotter out here, like walking into a wall of solid heat. He almost considered getting detention again. Deciding there was nothing for it but to head home, he started his walk back to the clinic.
It wasn't a particularly long walk, but long enough in this heat. He seemed to be the only one to mind though, he could hear people laughing and chatting, generally enjoying life and why not? The sun was shining, School was nearly out for the summer and after that it was only one more term before High-school was out completely. He turned onto the main road and traffic was at a standstill, which just made it seem hotter. Even so, everyone seemed calm, there were no horns or shouting, just normal people making their way home.
As he walked Ichigo once again found his attention turning to the girls around him, they really weren't wearing much and despite what Ichigo kept telling himself, he liked it. For the first time in his life he was noticing this stuff, but he wasn't in a hurry for everyone to know that. He knew the other guys like Mizuiro and Keigo thought he was weird, but that was fine with him. Unfortunately his father seemed to be able to sense it, which just made the strained relationship even more...violent. Ichigo could picture him now, spouting some triumphant speech about his son coming of age, tears of pride streaming down his face.
So lost was Ichigo in his horrifying thoughts that he walked straight into someone coming out the grocery store. Everything happened in a split second, but that was long enough for Ichigo's heightened reaction times to kick in and realise what had happened. He caught hold of the person he had nearly knocked over with one hand, and with his other, grasped the handle of a dropped carrier bag, stopping its fall inches from the pavement, letting his own school bag crash to the floor instead.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the numerous cartons of eggs in the shopping bag. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." he started to apologise when he looked up. Orihime was blushing furiously, very aware of Ichigo's arm wrapped around her. "I..Inoue" Ichigo said awkwardly, now very aware of how close they were.
"...Hi" she replied breathlessly. They just stood like that for a second, then Ichigo reacted as if struck by lightning.
"Inoue!" he said again, except much higher in pitch, as he jumped away from her "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going" he held up the saved groceries "Here, this is yours".
She took the bag from him, still not entirely sure what just happened. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun", she muttered, then just stood staring at the floor for quite some time.
Ichigo studied her still crimson face. "Are you okay Inoue?" he asked after some time, his voice seemed to snap her out of her trance.
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks to you" she breathed, looking at him as if seeing him for the first time, then realisation dawned, "Are you just getting out? Did Ochi-sensei keep you behind again?"
Ichigo sighed "Yeah, she's getting really strict lately"
Orihime beamed back "She just wants us all to get into good schools, but I think everyone is too excited about summer, do you have any plans Kurosaki-kun?"
It was Ichigo's turn to study the floor while he thought about that for a second. Soul Society didn't need invading again, what else did people do on summer vacation? He tried to remember summer break from the previous year, but like everything from before he got his powers back, he had done his best to forget about that horrible seventeen months.
Orihime took advantage of his distraction, turning to her reflection in the shop window she rapidly smoothed down her hair and clothes and checked she had nothing between her teeth, turning back just as Ichigo looked back up.
"Can't say I've thought about it that much" he replied honestly with a shrug, "Anyway, don't you have some shopping to do or something?". Ichigo cursed inwardly, he really didn't mean that to be as rude as it had sounded but he suddenly felt the intense need to put some distance between himself and her, however Orihime didn't seem to notice.
"Nope! I'm all done!" she beamed, leaving her sentence hanging in the air. Ichigo wasn't a world expert of women, far from it in fact, but he did know what he was expected to say in this situation.
"Did err...did you want me to walk you home?" he managed, sounding as genuine as he could. "I mean, I'm heading that way so..."
"Only if its not too much trouble!" she shrieked and trotted happily down the street. Ichigo just hung his head in defeat, before starting after her.
They walked at a leisurely pace, Orihime was certainly in no rush as she chatted about school, friends, obscure food and the summer vacation. Ichigo nodded and grunted where appropriate but he was only half listening.
As the sun began to drop, casting everything in an orange glow, mercifully so did the temperature. It was a pleasant evening. It was only when they turned onto the street where Orihime lived did she say something that snapped Ichigo from his thoughts.
"Are you okay, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked, a serious expression on her face.
Ichigo was a little taken aback. "I'm fine Inoue, why wouldn't I be?".
She tilted her head, as if trying to determine whether he was being honest or not. It made Ichigo a little uneasy. As if reading his thoughts she blushed and looked away. "Its just that you've been very distant lately..." she started in a voice that Ichigo had to strain to hear. She looked up at him through strands of stray auburn hair. "If there was ever anything wrong, you know you can talk to me, right?"
Ichigo was suddenly feeling very awkward, more so than when he had had his arm around her which was saying something, he put his best scowl on and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah Inoue I know, don't worry I'm fine" he replied as bluntly as he could without being a jerk, he wanted to nip this conversation in the bud.
Orihime nodded, not believing a word. "Well, you know where I am, its just we're friends and..." she suddenly started to stammer, struggling to get the words out. "Well, I like to think that maybe...its just that...". Finally, unable to put into words what she was trying to say, it all just fell apart and she started to babble. "Oh look its my house, I should get this stuff in the fridge, well I'll see you later Kurosaki-kun, thank you for walking me home...". That was the last part Ichigo managed to catch before it descended into rapid nonsense. She was still yammering on as she scrambled up the steps and through her front door.
Ichigo stood in the street, trying to make sense of the conversation he'd just had. With yet another sigh he decided he was just too tired to worry about it and headed for his house just a few more blocks away.
A few hours later, Ichigo was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. This was how it carried on, night after night. He couldn't settle to anything, his mind was a constant battlefield, in stark contrast to his actual life. He closed his eyes, his mind drifting to the noises he could hear out of his window, which was wide open as it had been for weeks as this heatwave refused to let up. Even in the relative cool of the night, it was uncomfortably hot.
He could hear young voices, children playing, every so often he would hear Yuzu. She sounded happy, he really should make a point of asking her how school was going. Ichigo knew he was being distant, not just from his friends but from his family as well, he didn't need Orihime to point it out. Karin shrugged off his despondence with casual indifference, but poor Yuzu seemed to take it personally and Ichigo hated himself for that.
With a groan, Ichigo pushed himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there for what must have been ten minutes, staring at the closet door. He didn't know why he did it, but it just made him feel better. At least it did until a nearby voice shattered the quiet.
"Stare at the door all you like, Nee-san isn't going to jump out!"
Ichigo jumped two feet straight up at the voice. Kon was stood on Ichigo's desk, a look of exaggerated sadness on his face.
"She never comes round any more" he whined dramatically, "Its like she doesn't care about me at all!"
Ichigo grabbed the plush lion roughly by the head and held him at eye level."How many times Kon! Don't fucking sneak up on me like that!".
Kon pedalled his arms and legs in mid air, tears still streaming down his face. "I wasn't sneaking! I've been sat here literally the whole time you have, you're just too busy brooding to notice me...". Ichigo had heard enough and threw him back on the desk.
Kon however, decided to push his luck."And it's not just me Ichigo, you don't notice anything any more! You push your family away, your friends, what is your deal anyway?", he crossed his little arms across his chest and turned his back on Ichigo. "Personally I could take you or leave you, but little Yuzu seems attached to you, even though you're a lousy brother...Hey!"
Kon was cut off as Ichigo grabbed the plush Lion by his tail and stuffed him into the desk drawer. Ichigo slammed the drawer shut and flopped back onto the bed with a sigh. He could still hear a muffled voice from the drawer but he couldn't make out what Kon was saying. Ichigo raised a fist to bang against the desk but was interrupted by another irritating, but much more welcome noise.
Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!
The combat pass was on the desk, eyes flashing intently.
"About fucking time" Ichigo muttered to himself. He wasted no time in grabbing it and pressing it to his chest. There was a slight moment of vertigo as he transferred into his spirit form, his now lifeless body crashing back onto the bed.
Ichigo pulled Kon from the desk draw and pinned him to the table with one hand, Kon was still hurling abuse right up until Ichigo used his other hand to retrieve the pill from the plush toy. "Alright, alright, you can hang out in my body for a bit" he said, dropping the pill into what was technically his own mouth. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he warned.
Kon laughed, "Like what? Talk to your family? Hang out with your friends? Smile!?"
Ichigo turned his back, he really didn't need abuse from his own body. "Hold that thought, gotta go" he said, heading for the open window.
Moments later, Ichigo was hurtling through the sky, rooftops flashing by beneath his feet. This was more like it, Ichigo loved the wind in his hair, feeling his reiatsu pulsing through his body and Zangetsu's reassuring weight on his back.
How can technically being dead make you feel so alive?
He could feel the Hollow's dark taint nearby, this wouldn't take long.
Okay, first fic but lay it on me I can take it! It might be a long one, sorry If the start seems a little slow, I hope it will be worth it.
Thanks!
