This story is based off of black.'s exceptionally good "Range". She is a goddess of one-shots. I bow to her godliness. Please go and read it.
I have her permission to create a story that will hopefully be half as good as hers. I also use some of her writing word-for-word, from "Ichigo raised his eyebrows. 'I know. I'm not an idiot. but...'" to "'Might make a nice change of pace, huh?'"
Please stay with me on this journey. Onegaishimasu.
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By the way, please read all of the overview thingy. It has a bunch of important plot stuff in it that I had no idea how to write into the story and, frankly, felt would just be tedious to do.
I use a lot of Japanese terms, in order to create an atmosphere that is closer to what it would actually be in that world. For any terms that you don't understand, including some that are used in the actual Japanese versions of Bleach (shinigami, reiatsu, etc.), I put notes on each word at the end of the chapter.
Oh, and:
Bleach does not belong to me. At all. Otherwise, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Gin would all make miraculous recoveries. *sniffle* Come back, my beloveds! (And Uryuu would be way more badass.)
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warmthwarmthwarmth
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Minutes after Aizen's defeat.
Kurosaki Ichigo finally allows himself to grieve over the deaths of his family. Soon, he collapses in extreme pain and begins the process of losing his powers.
Inoue Orihime, not wanting anyone to cry any longer, heals Ichimaru Gin.
The humans return to the world of the living and the shinigami return to the Soul Society. The few Arrancar that still survive return to the midnight sands of Hueco Mundo.
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One Month after Aizen's defeat.
Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Yuzu, at the suggestion of their honorary sister Kuchiki Rukia, enter the Shinigami Academy.
Ichimaru Gin is made captain of the Third Company, under the surveillance of the Onmitsukidou. Muguruma Kensei is made captain of Ninth Company, and Hirako Shinji is made captain of Fifth Company.
A new class of shinigami, named Honorary Captain, is formed for those Vizards who have no place in the Gotei 13 otherwise.
In the world of the living, Kurosaki Ichigo awakens from his coma with no reiatsu or family.
Ishida Uryuu and Inoue Orihime explain everything about the shinigami to Asano Keigo, Kojima Mizuiro, Arisawa Tatsuki, and Honshou Chizuru.
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Two Months after Aizen's defeat.
Kurosaki Ichigo moves to Tokyo.
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One Year after Aizen's defeat.
Kurosaki Karin graduates from the Shinigami Academy at the top of her class and is immediately accepted into Ninth Company as a Fourteenth Seat.
Kurosaki Ichigo stops contacting his friends in Karakura.
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One Year, Seven Months after Aizen's defeat.
Ishida Uryuu and Inoue Orihime go to Tokyo to visit Kurosaki Ichigo and bring him home for a visit. On their way back to Karakura, they are killed in a terrible car wreck.
The news makes its way to the Seireitei. There is a funeral held for all three of the humans, which all captains and vice-captains of the Gotei 13 attend. The Arrancar Nelleil tu Odelschwank, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Pesche Guatiche, Dondochakka Bilstin, and Tier Halibel and her Fraccion attend as well.
Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime, and Ishida Uryuu go missing in the Rukongai.
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One Year, Eight Months after Aizen's defeat.
On a mission to destroy a huge hollow, Kurosaki Karin nearly loses her life, but is taken over by an inner hollow which has appeared for the first time. Muguruma Kensei and his fellow Vizards immediately begin training her to take control of her demon.
Karin Kurosaki is promoted to Tenth Seat.
Sado Yasutora saves a human from a hollow for the first time since the Winter War.
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Two Years, one month after Aizen's defeat.
Kuchiki Rukia is promoted to vice-captain of Thirteenth Company.
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Three Years after Aizen's defeat.
Karakura has seen a gradual increase in the amount of hollow attacks aimed at the five humans with abnormal reiatsu, enough for Urahara Kisuke to notice and report to the Soul Society.
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Four Years after Aizen's defeat.
Kurosaki Yuzu graduates from the Shinigami Academy and is accepted into Fourth Company.
Kurosaki Karin has been promoted to Fifth Seat.
Holllow attacks on the four humans with abnormally high reiatsu have put other humans at great danger. Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi, and Sado Yasutora have become increasingly worried about the rate of the attacks.
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Four Years, Two Months after Aizen's defeat.
A strong hollow attacks Asano Keigo at his home. The others do not arrive in time to save his sister, who tried to protect him from the invisible monster.
The Gotei 13 makes the decision to pull all those with any reiatsu out of the world of the living. Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi, Tsukabishi Tessai return to the Seireitei as new Honorary Captains, and Hanakari Jinta, Tsumugiya Ururu, Sado Yasutora, Asano Keigo, Kojima Mizuiro, Arisawa Tatsuki, and Honshou Chizuru's Chains of Fate are cut so that they can also pass into the Soul Society. Their locations are carefully tracked, and they are found quickly and taken into the Seireitei.
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Four Years, Three Months after Aizen's defeat.
Sado Yasutora, Asano Keigo, Kojima Mizuiro, Arisawa Tatsuki, and Honshou Chizuru each enter the Shinigami Academy.
Kurosaki Karin is promoted to Third Seat, and Kurosaki Yuzu is promoted to Seventh Seat. Kurosaki Karin is sent on her first solo mission to the world of the living for two months, to Beijing.
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Five Years, Six Months after Aizen's defeat.
Kuchiki Rukia meets a woman with strong enough reiatsu to become a shinigami in the Gotei 13 in the Rukongai during one of her searches for Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime, and Ishida Uryuu. The woman helps her understand why a person would rather stay in the uneventful but less better off Rukongai than become a shinigami and live as a soldier in the much nicer Seireitei. After this, Kuchiki Rukia stops searching for her friends, willing to let them rest for a while.
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Seven Years after Aizen's defeat.
Sado Yasutora, Arisawa Tatsuki, and Asano Keigo begin their senior year at the Shinigami Academy. Sado is set to join Ninth Company as Seventh Seat, Arisawa is set to join Eleventh Company as Ninth Seat, and Asano is set to join Thirteenth Company as Tenth Seat after their graduation.
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Eight Years after Aizen's defeat.
Shiba Kei, Ikari Atsumi, and Hatojiki Akito enter the Shinigami Academy.
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warmthwarmthwarmth
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Dying didn't hurt as much as he would have expected. There was the first initial shock of pain, and then... nothing. Warmth and darkness. A feeling of peace so immense that he didn't even feel the need to think. It was something he hadn't felt since the womb.
It didn't last. Light bloomed beyond his eyelids and a soft ground settled underneath his body. The quiet faded into a soft wind rustling grass and the sound of his breathing - but the peace did not go away. Sunlight warmed his skin, and soft linen caressed his body.
It wasn't hard to open his eyes. The peacefulness didn't go away just because he was returning to his senses. He had to blink several times, as his eyes watered up from the sudden brightness. He sat up slowly, feeling energy imbuing his very bones. Unexpectedly, he yawned, but it was the good kind of yawn that wakes you up after a long, refreshing, deep sleep.
"So, you're awake."
The female voice came from directly next to his ear, making him emit a very unmanly "gyeep!" sound. He snapped his head over to his visitor.
Shiba Kukaku crouched next to him, uncharacteristically solemn-faced. After his initial backwards jerk, Ichigo relaxed. She didn't look like she was about to beat him into the ground, at any rate. "Kukaku-san." He looked down at himself, finding his body clothed in a rich blue yukata (1). "I died."
The statement was simple. There was no sadness, no anger, just plain statement acknowledging that he was no longer part of the living world.
"Yeah, kid." Her voice was simple too. Kukaku sighed and lifted herself straight up, her one hand resting comfortably on her hip. Her eyes moved to the other side of his body. "And you're not the only one."
Ichigo swiveled around to see what she meant. Lying next to him, still in that state of absolute serenity, were his two nakama (2). Ishida wore a pale blue kimono, his face devoid of both his glasses and the calculating expression they emphasized. This was the first time he'd seen his... rival? friend? comrade? so relaxed. Was that what he looked like?
Beyond him was Inoue. She also looked so content, her lips curving up ever so slightly. She wore a navy yukata, contrasting with the bright auburn hair cascading over her shoulders, just barely held in place by her flower pins.
Ishida opened his eyes first. He turned his head to avoid the sun, and saw Ichigo watching him. "Ah - Kurosaki." Somehow, he looked a little dazed, so uncharacteristic for him that Ichigo doubted his eyes for a moment. "You - you're..."
"Spit it out, Ishida." The words had no malice. It was just natural to speak to the Quincy in that way.
"You're not frowning."
It was true. He hadn't even noticed it until that moment, but he couldn't feel that customary tenseness between his eyebrows. It was a strange feeling, but nice, too.
"Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue was sitting up and rubbing her eyes in a way that would make most teenage boys drool. To Ichigo, it was just adorable, like watching Yuzu wake up. "Kurosaki-kun doesn't look sad."
Ichigo's eyes widened momentarily, then softened. "Yeah, Inoue." He had worried his friends. For the past year and a half, he'd been so selfish - and naive. He wasn't alone, just because the world that had brought their group together closer than any other was cut off to him. They were still worried about him, still wanted to see him and be with him. Wallowing in misery miles away did nothing for him - but just a few minutes around his nakama could. "I'm not sad anymore."
In the next instant, he realized something important. The brilliant, beaming face Orihime showed him and the close-eyed, soft smile on Ishida's lips were worth all of the years of sadness. Those expressions, he would move heaven and earth for. He'd always wanted to protect, but now he knew that just protecting wasn't enough for him.
And so he decided to not make them sad anymore. And that resolution was, rather than heavy and guilty, it was uplifting. He wanted to see more of those smiles - not because he was guilty, but because he wanted to. Because those smiles wiped away all of the needless guilt he'd felt during his life. Because he understood that he was forgiven.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
He turned back to Kukaku. "What?"
She looked at him for a moment. Her eyes seemed like they knew the heaviness of the world, and he remembered that she was decades older than him, and she had lost things, too. "You just died, idiot."
Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "I know. But it's not like everything ended, right? I'm here. My family's here, too. And..."
And what? He suddenly couldn't think of anything. Wasn't he supposed to be fighting someone? Rescuing someone? Doing something? But instead of a driving urge to move, he still felt relaxed. Peaceful. At ease, even, without the fate of the Soul Society and the world of the living resting on his back, without the grief that had been tearing at him for the last year and a half or so. Surely the original relaxation from death had worn off by now. And, as much as he loved combat, and fighting, he didn't want to go back to that pressure. He wanted to be happy. Even with his powers back - he could feel the reiatsu (3) churning inside of him - he didn't want to immediately plunge right back into conflict. And somehow, he could guess that conflict was what would occur, if he walked up to the gates of the Seireitei and informed them that he was no longer a resident of the living world.
He had to bite back a groan. It was just occurring to him that it had not been the insane, power-obsessed, would-be god who had taken him out. It had been a car. Renji was going to laugh his ass off.
Yet another reason not to immediately present himself in Seireitei.
Kukaku, with a perceptiveness that belied her usual loud personality, seemed to guess what he was thinking. She leaned over and flicked him on the forehead, then brought her fist down hard on the top of his head. While he tried to clear the ringing in his ears (which did not block out Ishida's snort of amusement), she snorted and commented, "You know, there's nothing holding you back now, boy. You're dead. That means no more responsibilities. Sure, you have the power to be a shinigami (4), and you want to protect people - "
Ichigo didn't question how, again, she knew exactly what he was thinking.
" - but you don't have to march right up to the Gotei 13 (5) and let them take you in. You're different than you were before the war; they probably wouldn't even know what to do with you. So why don't you stay here for a bit? Ground yourself, think about your options? I'll even help you get that pig-sticker down to normal sealed size." She nodded towards Zangetsu. "You don't have to be yourself, either, if you don't want to. There are enough bastard sons floating around, and you look enough like a Shiba that I can claim you as a cousin and adopt you into the family. Might make for a nice change of pace, huh?"
Ichigo stared at her in surprise for a moment, then turned back to his nakama. Go to Seireitei, and be the hero of a war he never wanted to fight? Or stay here amidst the peaceful insanity that was the Shiba House, as a Shiba himself, and take his time learning something, not for the sake of saving the world, but for himself?
Ishida looked at him. "We'll stay with you, Kurosaki, whatever you decide to do. We're your friends, after all." His eyes said they understood what Ichigo was feeling. "Besides, you know my feelings on the shinigami."
"Yeah, Kurosaki-kun! You can stay here, and we'll stay with you, if you want. It's like Kukaku-san said - you don't have any responsibilities anymore. You can rest." Orihime understood, too. She would be happy just if he was happy.
It wasn't much of a choice, really.
"Thank you," he told Kukaku with a quick bow. "I'd be honored."
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"You need names."
The three newest residents of the Shiba household paused their eating and looked up from their breakfast. "...Sorry?" Ichigo said in response.
They sat around a zataku (6), a low table, Ganju included, still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes from their first night as spirits. Ichigo was enjoying the quiet, friendly atmosphere, and waking up without his guilt hanging over his head. There was no sun in the subterranean rooms, but it was warm, and just the presence of his friends and his new sister was something to savor.
Ishida, who clearly was not a morning person as he hadn't even bothered to fix the rumpled bed head he was sporting, managed to glance up at Kukaku's statement.
The woman chuckled at the reactions. "You wanna be someone new, right? So you gotta have new names. It's not like there's any paperwork to fill out or anything - this is Rukongai." Her elbow was propped on the table, her chin on her fist. Her wise eyes inspected Ichigo, staring him down without demanding anything other than his truth.
Ichigo blinked, and the spell was gone. In its place, Kukaku sported a grin - nothing too bone-chilling, but still enough to make him somewhat wary. It was always wise to be wary around Kukaku; he had spent all of three days during his life - or existence, he supposed - and he already knew that much. "So... what, you want us to come up with something?" He set his rice bowl and chopsticks down without paying much attention.
"No, no, don't you worry about that. I've got three names right now. I think they'll do perfectly, hm?" She lifted her head of her hand and tapped the table in front of Inoue. "You... Ikari Atsumi. That'll do. Ikari, spelled like this -" she used her finger to draw out the kanji for 'anchor' in reiatsu on the table "- and Atsumi, spelled like this." She carefully added the characters for 'warm' and 'ocean'.
"Eh? That's -" Inoue's face was blushing fiercely. "Are you sure it's - I mean you really don't have to -"
"I think it suits you." Ichigo could feel a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as he looked sideways at her, his cheek resting on his hand. He thought he should intervene before she fainted of oxygen deprivation. He meant what he had said, though. She was the kindest, most caring person he'd ever met.
"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! You - you really think so?" Her face was going to burst into flames any moment now. She covered it with her hands, shy, but anyone could see she was pleased.
"Keep it. You should -" the barely-coherent Quincy yawned "- keep it. That's your name from now on, okay, Ikari-chan?" Even in that state, with his eyes barely open, Ishida managed to smile gently at Inoue.
The bright-eyed girl uncovered her face enough to smile back, and opened her mouth to reply. She was abruptly cut off, however, by a strong fist coming down hard on the top of Ishida's drooping head.
"Wrong!" Kukaku noogied the poor Quincy fiercely. "You say Atsumi-chan, capiche? This is an informal house, and I plan on keeping it that way!"
"Ugh... demon-woman..."
Ichigo was surprised Ishida even had the capacity for humor in his current state. It seemed to satisfy his torturer, however, who gave him one last bonk on the head and sat back.
"So it's settled. This girl is Atsumi-chan now." She glared over at Inoue, who was still blushing, as if daring her to argue.
"I, eh..." The chestnut-haired girl glanced around the table, locking eyes for a moment with each of her friends, then looking back down into her lap. "Thank you very much, Kukaku-san." She looked happy now."
"Hmph. Good. As for you -" she whirled on Ichigo, who flinched minutely on instinct "- you're going to be my dear little otouto (7), Kei-chan." She quickly drew out the kanji for 'respect' as she spoke, grinning at him.
"You're surprisingly good at drawing upside-down, Kukaku-san," he said, eyeing the kanji. Obviously, she thought he had something to learn from it.
"Wrong again!" An open hand came down on his head, grabbing his hair and holding on. "That's nee-san to you, Kei-chan!"
The newly-dubbed Kei-chan gritted his teeth and ground out, "Hai (8), nee-san." For the first time since he had died, he was scowling, but it wasn't the sad, harsh frown it had always been. This was born simply of irritation at the overly rough treatment, a much better kind of scowl. His palms were flat on the table, his elbows bent almost to ninety degrees, straining to keep his chin off the wooden surface.
"Hmph. Good!" She released him a bit more gently. Her eyes held an unreadable emotion as she watched him rub his head, wincing. "It'll get easier, you know," she told him. Then she glanced around to the other two freshly dead souls. "For all of you. One day, you'll wake up and realize that you are Atsumi, or Kei, and you won't be sad about it. And you don't have to be Atsumi or Kei forever. You're free now, to be whoever you want to. And for now, I think this is the best thing for you three - being part of a new family, away from all the battles and warriors."
The room was silent for a minute. Even Ganju stopped shoving food into his mouth. Ichigo, Orihime, and Ishida looked at each other, realizing that everything Kukaku had just said was true. A rest, a chance to be someone other than the people they had always been, without the burdens and sorrows they had always carried. A chance to get to know the world in a new way.
Ishida broke the silence. "So who am I in this new family, then?" He still sounded less than coherent, but he knew just what to say. Ganju went back to his food, and Orihime let her face break into one of her sunniest smiles. Neither one of them, Ichigo realized, had been a part of a family for years. The concept, even to someone like Ishida - or maybe especially to someone like Ishida - was enticing.
Kukaku smiled, an actual smile rather than a grin. "So that's settled. As for you, skinny boy, Here's your name." She drew the characters for 'dove', 'despair', 'clear', and 'person'. "Hatojiki Akito." She laid her forearm on the zataku and watched him, as if seeking his approval.
Ishida nodded. "I like it." He yawned again at the end of his statement. "Now I'm going back to sleep, if you don't mind." He promptly put his head in his arms and closed his eyes.
"Why that cheeky little boy." Kukaku sounded rather amused, though. She shook her head and wiped away the glowing writing on the wood and stood. "You three'd better be ready in the next thirty minutes or so," she instructed as she pointed at them. "You too, Ganju. I want to see what you can do." With that, she turned and strode away.
Ichigo and Orihime exchanged glances, then quickly returned to their breakfast. Ichigo had a feeling they would be needing the energy.
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"So, you brats. Now that I've seen your stuff, we begin Day One." Kukaku lept down from the boulder where she was watching them. "You can't exactly go running around using your pretty bows and fairies if you're going to be someone new, can you? And as for that thing -" she jabbed her finger accusatorily at the giant cleaver that was Zangetsu "- it needs to go. Or change forms, at least."
Ichigo glared at her.
"Now, now, Kei-chan, don't look at me like that. You know it's true." Kukaku smirked at him, remembering his pitiful attempts at controlling his reiatsu during his first visit.
His glare just intensified, although he looked away. "Whatever," he mumbled.
"Eh?" Instantly, Kukaku's smirk turned into a glare as well. She strode over to him and grabbed his hair for the second time that morning. "What was that, little brat?"
"Itai (9)! Eh, nothing at all, Ku- nee-san!" Ichigo's hands hovered over Kukaku's, knowing better than to try to remove it.
Ishida grinned as he looked on. "You really have to learn to control yourself, Kei. You won't survive for long like that."
"Gah! Urusai (10), Ishi- Akito!"
"Enough!"
The Shiba woman lifted her hand and smacked it down on Ichigo's head once more before she stepped back. "No more talking back. You're going to learn manners, boy, if you're going to be Shiba Kei instead of Kurosaki Ichigo."
She placed her hand on her hip and studied them. "I'll teach you two -" she gestured towards Orihime and Ishida "- kidou. You can practice while I help him -" she nodded at Ichigo "- get his zanpaku-tou to look like an actual katana."
"Arigatou (11), Kukaku-san," Orihime said cheerfully. She followed eagerly when Kukaku beckoned for them to follow her. She led them over to the trees at the edge of the field they were in.
"There are two types of kidou, Hadou and Bakudou." She held up one finger. "Hadou is for attacks. They aren't as versatile as some of the Bakudou." The second finger went up. "Bakudou is for defense. There are a lot of miscellaneous spells in this category. However, these are usually harder to control, though not necessarily more powerful.
"Each of the kidou spells, except for a few, have an incantation. If you have mastered the kidou well enough, you can forgo the incantation, but the power of the kidou is reduced."
Ichigo was paying attention for once, instead of zoning off. Kei meant 'respect', after all, and he was Kei now. He decided that is was best if he started acting like it. Ishida and Orihime were listening intently, as well, though he had the feeling Ishida didn't particularly like that he was learning shinigami powers.
"The simplest Hadou is Number One, Ouda (12). There is no incantation for this, and even its name is rarely used - even children in the Rukongai who have a slight bit of reiatsu can form this one. All it is is a sphere of reiatsu held in the palm, which can be thrown."
She held her palm up, and a glowing orb appeared in it. "This is Ouda." Quickly, she slammed it into the tree trunk behind her. The resulting explosion gouged out a large part of the trunk - almost all of the way through. After a moment, the tree fell away under its own weight, the branches crashing into the ground.
Orihime clapped excitedly. "Sugoi (13)! That was great, Kukaku-san!"
The woman smiled at her. "Thank you, Atsumi-chan." She over to Ishida, then back to the brunette. "You and Akito-kun will practice on that boulder over there - it's a bit more sturdy than a tree."
"Hai!" As exuberant as ever, Orihime grabbed Ishida's wrist and dragged him away. Ichigo noticed with amusement he didn't protest.
Kukaku watched them go. "Atsumi-chan is getting more domineering than before. That's good. She needs to toughen up some if she's going to be happy for long." She sighed. "Well, enough of that seriousness. It's time to torture you." She grinned evilly at Ichigo, who felt himself shrinking under her look.
"Let's have some fun, Kei-chan, shall we?"
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warmthwarmthwarmth
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1. yukata - a more casual version of a kimono (kimonos are worn by both men and women)
2. nakama - a very dear friend, more than just someone you hang out with
3. reiatsu - spiritual pressure/energy
4. shinigami - Soul Reaper (lit. death god)
5. Gotei 13 - the Thirteen Court Guard Squads
6. zataku - a low, traditional Japanese eating table
7. otouto - little brother
8. hai - yes (formal)
9. itai – ow
10. urusai - shut up
11. arigatou - thank you
12. ouda - hit, strike
13. sugoi - wow
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Please R&R!