They broke the news to him before the broke it to his friends.
He spent the night in the house they had given him- as if that could be any consolation at all- in the corner of his new bedroom and shook.
…
School was over in five minutes. Tatsuki shifted anxiously in her seat, trying and failing to pay attention to her teacher's final words. They went in one ear and out the other, barely registering in her brain. She shared a glance with Keigo, who was closest to her, and they rolled their eyes simultaneously. Stifling a fond smile, she turned her gaze to the window, finding nothing out of the ordinary. The trees on the courtyard blew with a gentle breeze; last hour's physical education class disturbed the dust on the ground. The Shinigami Taicho stood near the gate, which the janitor was beginning to open, and cars began lining up to pick up the freshmen class that didn't drive.
She turned back to the teacher, only to have her brain finally catch up to her eyes. She snapped her head back around, staring wide-eyed at the Captain. He caught her gaze and waved, a solemn smile on his face. Knowing she would look stupid waving back, she nodded to him slightly and looked back to the board, her heart racing in panic. A Shinigami Taicho wouldn't be in the human world without a reason.
Her eyes slipped closed just as the bell rang. Numbly, she picked up her things and left he classroom. Keigo, Chizuru, and Mizuiro caught up to her easily, catching onto the fact that something was wrong. Their eyes asked the question, and all she said was, "Ichigo," and they all seemed to know.
They picked up their paces when she began to run. Together, they raced to the gate when the taicho was waiting, eager and scared all at once. "Well?" Tatsuki demanded of the pick-clad eye-patched taicho when they reached him. She couldn't recall his name, and if she was honest, she didn't really care. "What's happened?"
He blinked at her. "I'm afraid Ichigo cannot come back. His reiatsu would suffocate all of you while you're here." He paused, taking in their faces, before continuing, a gentler tone to his voice. "Would you like to come and see him in the Soul Society?" he asked.
He barely got the words out before a chorus of "Yes!" came from all four teenagers. Unsurprised, he turned and gestured for them to follow him to the Senkaimon that was set up near the river, which they did without complaint. They would stop and collect the rest of the Kurosaki family on the way there.
They walked in silence, Orihime and Sado catching up to them as they walked. Tatsuki tried to keep her grief at bay, but she only wanted to cry.
…
They were due to arrive any minute now, Ichigo knew. He paced back and forth in front of the Senkaimon, the other taichos and their fukutaichos, along with some seated officers, of the Gotei 13 standing behind him.
It opened slowly, as it always did, the shining, bright white light casting shadows on the darkening courtyard. He stopped his pacing and faced the large doors, his arm going up to shield his eyes. Several figures emerged from the blinding shine. The first ones he recognized were his sisters, who ran forward to meet him. Knowing what was coming, he drooped to one knee and held out his arms, the two thirteen year olds falling into them immediately. He held them close, feeling their tears on his neck and their bodies shaking in their effort to keep silent. He hushed them, his own brown eyes closing. He couldn't remember the last time he had held them like this, and hated that he was the cause for their need for comfort this time. He opened his eyes again and watched the last of the figures emerge from the Senkaimon. All of his friends.
Orihime and Sado had already been to the Soul Society, so they didn't linger, and instead went to greet the taichos and fukutaichos behind him. Keigo, Chizuru, and Mizuiro, however, stood gaping at the large courtyard. Thinking about it, Ichigo understood why- it really was a sight to see. He had never really considered the beauty of Soul Society before, having been too preoccupied with Rukia's execution the first time, and already used to it every time after that. But he supposed the shiny white bricks below them and the clean red roofs above would transfix teenagers who had never seen such elegance.
Sado came forward, asking with his eyes permission to take the girls. Ichigo nodded slightly, and pressed a kiss to each of their temples. With Sado's hand on their shoulder, they were guided away, leaving Ichigo the space to stand and greet his friends. He smiled at them, glad to see them again.
Keigo, Mizuiro, and Chizuru came forward, grinning at him. "Is it true, Ichigo?" Mizuiro questioned, his tone sad. Ichigo turned his gaze on the small dark-haired boy and he continued, "Can you really never come back?"
He sighed. He had wanted to avoid the topic as much as possible, but it seemed that his friends had no tact. Not that it was anything new, he supposed. "Yeah, it's true," he replied, and winced when Keigo promptly burst into tears that looked fake, theatrical, and well rehearsed.
Curling his fingers into a fist, he pulled pack his arm and punched the brown-haired teen in the face. Staggering and falling backwards, the seventeen-year-old's tears ceased, but with that, came the wailing. "Iiiiiiichiiiiiiigooooooooo!" he shouted, "What am I going to do when you're not around?" he demanded, the tears returning.
Annoyed, Ichigo pressed his fingers to his temples, and closed his eyes. "Good grief, why do I put up with you?" he asked the wailing teen, who didn't hear him and therefore couldn't respond.
Apparently taking pity on him, Chizuru kicked Keigo in the thigh, screeching at him to "Shut the f up or I'll shut your mouth for you! What is wrong with you? We're supposed to be supportive here!"
Keigo responded with something that suspiciously sounded like, "Why on earth would I be supportive of some freaks taking away one of my best fiends, you evil witch?" But Ichigo hadn't really registered the comment, or the ones that followed.
Ignoring the screaming behind him, he focused on the tall, dark and longhaired figure standing by the Senkaimon, her arms round her middle and her dark eyes fixated on the scene in front of her. Her face was carefully blank, but her eyes spoke loudly of her grief.
Ichigo took a few steps forward, and the movement was enough to attract her attention. Her eyes snapped to meet his, a challenge rising in them. He took it, and stepped closer. When he was only a couple of meters away from her, her voice stopped him in his tracks. "I hate you," she told him.
Unfazed, he stepped closer, "I know," falling from his lips.
She looked around, taking in the screeching forms of their mutual friends and the taichos and fukutaichos behind them. She focused momentarily on a few of them, probably recognizing them from their appearances at the school, Ichigo guessed, before looking back towards him. "I hate this place," she continued.
"I know," he told her, still moving closer.
Her shoulders straightened at their decreasing proximity, and she continued with her list, "I hate everyone here."
He nodded, still not stopping his movements. "I know."
He stopped, standing barely a few inches away from her. Their friends' antics continued on, but a lot of eyes had followed Ichigo, apparently interested. She stared at him, looking up into his eyes, and finished, "I hate you, most of all."
Again, he nodded. "I know."
Anger flared in her eyes. "You know?" she whispered, her voice harsh. "You know? Oh, of course, you do. You know that you're breaking your promise, after all, because you're not one to forget things like that.
"You're not one to forget the promises you made me when we were younger, about all sorts of things. Things like how we would graduate together, and move to America and go to the same collage together, share the same apartment, and maybe never come back here to Japan. About how we wouldn't need anyone else because we could handle everything the world threw at us, and nothing would change that. About how we would always be friends, since we were thicker than thieves, and we were unstoppable. Nothing would break us apart.
"But look, here, now. Now, apparently you're too damn dangerous to go back home, because they brought you here and made you their hero. Damn you!" she cried, attracting the attention of the others, "Damn you! Damn you and your hero complex and your stupid reiatsu and this stupid place!"
Tatsuki's face was the picture of devastation, and it occurred to Ichigo how incredibly out of character this episode was for her. His departure and distance over the last couple of years must have hurt her more than he had thought. He reached forward and pulled her unresisting body against him. She didn't fight the hug, but she didn't return it, either. She didn't cry. She didn't say anything else.
Though he knew nothing would make up for the broken promises, he made the offer anyway. "Come back to the house they gave me. Goat Face and Hat-and-Clogs had brought all of my things here a few hours ago- I have my guitar and keyboard. Let's make dinner and then sit on the roof and let me sing to you."
She heaved a deep breath hugged him back, whispering, "Damn you. Damn you. It's so hard to stay mad at you when you say things like that. Damn you."
They pulled apart, and he grinned at her, all teeth and purposefully obnoxious, "So that's a yes, then?"
She hit him, hard, and though it barely hurt anymore, he winced and rubbed the barely there pain. "That's a yes, baka," she told him.