On to the second chapter! This is a little longer than the first, so I hope you're satisfied if not overjoyed (;
Disclaimer: Bleach is a property of Kubo Tite. I just borrowed his characters
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It's a few hours before sundown when the grade reached the inn they would be staying at in Kyoto. Exhausted from the trip, the students filled out of the buses slowly with their belongings in tow while their respective class rep's. made count of their attendances then directing them to where the rest of the grade is.
Ichigo met up with Chad who just came out of the bus he was on, Keigo and Mizuiro followed a few steps behind him.
"Yo Chad!" Ichigo waved a hand as he came towards him.
"Ichigo" Chad responded as he put down his bag.
"Yo! Big guy! It's been a while!" Keigo greeted.
"Sado-san, forgive this guy for acting all very chummy with you. He's always obnoxious like this."
"Aww don't be jealous Mizuiro! I'll always be your best pal around!" He threw an arm around Mizuiro's neck.
"I never said I was your best pal to begin with."
"You're so mean!"
Chad acknowledged them with a nod and the four proceeded to gather up with the rest where Ishida Uryuu was making some preparations for some announcements.
As Orihime stepped out of the bus with Tatsuki following suit, she spun around, her hair whipping around in the air as she took in her surroundings with much vigor.
"The air feels so great Tatsuki-chan! Kyoto is so wonderful! I feel like I've been trapped in a dungeon for far too long!"
"You bet!" She agreed. "I'm just glad were finally here. We can finally take a rest." She yawned at the last remark.
"Oh I just remembered! I wonder where the others are," She looked around once again. "There they are! Let's join them Tatsuki-chan!" She started to run but was stopped short by her headstrong friend's firm grip on her arm.
"Orihime didn't I tell you on the bus? You shouldn't go around alone without me or any of our friends. Guys from other classes will take advantage of you and start hitting on you!" She carefully reminded her energetic friend.
Orihime just smiled back at her "I remember Tatsuki-chan! Now let's hurry before we miss out anything Ishida-kun announces." She dashed to the direction of their friends, pulling Tatsuki along with her.
"All right gather around everyone! I have a few announcements to make before we take a small tour to the inn we'll be staying at during the trip." Uryuu's voice resounded in the megaphone he was using and certainly upon hearing his authoritative voice the buzzing of the students stopped and the others hastened their pace towards the gathering of the grade. His authority was definitely not taken lightly nor treated a joke at all.
He talked about keeping silence, observing privacy and off-limits at the guys or girls rooms and curfew hours. After he laid down the house rules he proceeded to asking the students if they had questions regarding said rules.
"When do we get to find out about the bath time schedule for each class Mr. President?" One of the students asked.
"The schedule will be posted shortly at the lounge and everyone will be informed accordingly. Any other questions?"
"Oi Ishida! Don't you ever get a day-off?" A very familiar voice rang out from the back which sent the entire grade snickering at his odd questioning.
If Uryuu didn't know better, he could have hurled the megaphone straight in the perpetrator's face. But he sternly reminded himself to be civil at the moment, and resorted to glare at the grinning fool- Kurosaki.
He adjusted his glasses with his free hand. "If there are no other intelligent questions, let us proceed to the inn for a very short tour of the place."
After the tour the students went into their assigned rooms to set their belongings and take a short rest. All sleeping quarters were on the second floor of the building, and the rooms of the guys and girls were placed strategically in opposite sides separated by a single hallway leading downstairs so whoever crosses to the other side of the building will be immediately spotted.
Everyone had dinner together that night at the huge dining hall at the ground floor where every table efficiently occupied each class. Orihime used this opportunity to hand over the cupcakes she saved for Chad and Uryuu, who in turn thanked her gratefully for her thoughtfulness… and exchanged identical troubled looks to each other.
After the festive and satisfying dinner each class took turns in using the bath. The male and female baths were situated at the back of the inn. It was actually two large hot springs founded on stone tiles, and the sides were adorned with ornamental plants. The two baths were separated from each other by a lofty thick wall of closely-knitted bamboo fences, as with the surrounding wall, making peeping impossible much to the guys' disappointment. The baths overlooked the vast evening sky filled with numerous stars.
Later that evening everybody went outdoors into the small woods behind the inn to have their little event organized by the student council and homeroom teachers.
"Test of Courage?" Ichigo asked Mizuiro as they looked for their female partners who held the same numbers as them.
"That's what it's called. The student council handpicked students from different classes to act as ghosts at every station."
"And do they really think we'd be scared out of our wits? This is kinda lame. I bet Ishida thought this all up."
"Well I think the real purpose of this activity is for everyone to have a great time."
"Oooi can you guys switch partners with me?" Keigo drawled as he joined the two.
"I should be the one complaining you idiot!" Tatsuki butted in, landing a fist behind Keigo's head and causing him to lurch forward. "Ichigo have you seen Orihime? I haven't seen her since we got out of our room."
"No." 'Come to think of it I haven't seen her either!' He looked around to spy for a familiar head of auburn hair. "Maybe she's gone ahead as one of the first victims."
Well I can still feel her reiatsu from nearby so maybe you're right."
Then out of the blue the air grew thick and dense, accompanied by the very familiar dark reiatsu.
Hollows. Deep within the woods.
Ichigo didn't think even for a second that hollows would ever show up here in Kyoto, but then again they hardly ever do. Those things are like wild animals. Unpredictable. But Ichigo was prepared. Pulling out his shinigami badge from his back pocket he rammed it against his chest, rendering him in his shinigami form then tossed his human body to Mizuiro.
"Mizuiro, take care of my body 'till I get back!"
"Sure leave it to me."
"Seriously? There are hollows here? And… they're even in this very woods!" Keigo cried out in horror.
"Calm down you bonehead! They're just puny hollows anyways. Ichigo can handle them no problem." Tatsuki boldly stated.
"Ah." Ichigo sped through the woods. As he was running three figures came from his left and joined him.
"Inoue! Chad! Wait…" He eyed them intensely. "What the hell are you guys wearing?"
"Sado-kun and I are ghosts! And I am the witch of the west!" Orihime waved her bony broom in the air as if warding off spirits.
'So that's why you've gone missing'. Ichigo briefly wondered before he turned his full attention to the other guy in question. "What's up with that gnarly outfit? Are you a troll or something?"
"I'm playing Frankenstein."
"Aren't they works of perfection?" Uryuu said with pride as he pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose, the lense glinting under the moonlight.
"So you're the one who made those silly costumes.." Ichigo said accusingly.
"They are not silly. They were made to match the person's personality and give the appropriate scare—"
"Yeah right I get it." Ichigo cut him off with a wave of a hand as they continued running. "Why're you even here? Don't you have other things to do?"
"Don't get strange ideas Kurosaki. The appearance of the hollows in this very woods endangers the safety of the students and threatens the success of the Test of Courage, so it is naturally my responsibility to eliminate such threat. Don't think I came here to lend you a hand."
"Yeah right. As if you ever ran out of excuses…" Ichigo sighed while Orihime just laughed and Chad gave him a thumbs up, as they hurried on when they reached a small clearing. Certainly the hollows were just hovering above them. Three of them, thrashing in the wind. A shadow of a smile crept on Ichigo's lips as he lunged forward towards the largest of the 3 ghastly beasts, brandishing Zangetsu against the thick white mask, shattering it in a single stroke. Orihime, Chad and Uryuu proceeded in dealing with the other two hollows. Fairies flying, blue reiatsu burning and glowing arrows raining, they finished the job as fast as they could manage. The hollows gave out a resounding roar before they disintegrated and vanished as swiftly as they came.
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Ichigo walked in the woods again but in his human form, irritated partly at the penetrating cold and partly at the incessant pulling of his shirt sleeve by his visibly shaking female partner. Before they began the Test of Courage he kindly offered his arm to her so she'd feel less scared but it hardly did anything of the sort. He wouldn't have come to regret what he did if not for the vigorous tugging; she might as well just tear the fabric off.
Without warning, someone jumped out of the bushes and started scaring both of them which sent the girl into a screaming fit much to Ichigo's growing chagrin. But despite that and the ringing in his ears he opted to calm her down but as he made her face him the ghost just perfectly picked that time to throw a cobweb-looking prop around Ichigo's head and veiling him, making him look like an old-movie ghost. His partner instantly paled upon seeing his face made worse by his freakish scowl and she flailed from his hold then scurried back screaming like a deranged old lady to where they came from.
Ichigo on the other hand, hadn't bothered to remove the cobwebs from his face as he stood there staring stupidly at his partner's awkwardly retreating form.
"What the? What the hell just happened?"
The ghost pretending student could no longer hold back his laughter and he burst out, wiping tears off his face. "It looked like you were scarier than the actual ghost Kurosaki!" He laughed uncontrollably, falling on his knees. "You gotta take my place!"
"Shut up dammit! What am I supposed to do now I lost a partner? There's no way I'm going alone I'll look like a fool!"
"Like I said take my place!"
"That'll never happen! I'm outta here!" He threw the prop at the guy's face then stomped off to the direction his partner had fled to.
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"That was otherworldly. I had a great time!" Mizuiro told his partner before they parted ways. He glanced around and found Ichigo sitting at a log and went up to him. "Ichigo you're back already. How was your time?"
"Not gonna talk about it." He answered dispassionately as he rested his chin on his hand. He thought back to his partner's friend who came up to him a while ago who kept bowing in apology for her friend's overboard behavior. He couldn't really blame her, after all, he always looked scary. She also told him her friend would rather die than go back to that horribly scary course. Not that Ichigo wanted to go back with her anyway.
Moments later they heard some boisterous laughter then Keigo emerged from the woods looking extremely tired and disheveled, with twigs on his head. His partner, Tatsuki, came after him clutching at her stomach. It was her laughing all along.
Mizuiro was the one to greet them. "Welcome back guys. Asano-san you look horrible. Did you somehow take a dive over a cliff?"
"I've-I've never laughed so hard at anyone for years!" Tatsuki said in between laughs. "Asano you're the worst scaredy pig ever!" She broke into another spasm of laughter.
"I can only imagine what happened."
"That course was insanely crazy!" Keigo blurted out pointing accusedly at the direction of the woods. "Why do those people look scarier than hollows? Even Inoue-san frightened me outta my pants! Sado was the worse! He even looked like the real thing!" He ranted on indignantly. "I was s'posed to be acting cool and-and they ruined everything!"
"I didn't expect… Orihime to be so good at scaring! This guy even stumbled back awkwardly and sat on something squishy it actually made a sound! That was disgustingly funny you know what!" The dark haired girl related in between chortles.
"Inoue-san and Sado-san really were frightening, but I think you're just more of a wimp Asano-saaaan!"
"Stop talking like that Mizuiro that's creepy!"
Listening to the trio's trivial exchange, Ichigo's foul mood began to dissipate. 'Who cared about going through that stupid course anyway?' He thought. Even if he did finish the so-called test of courage he wouldn't have made fun of the situation with a partner like that. He smiled at the thought.
"So tell me about that disgusting thing Keigo sat on.."
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An hour after the Test of Courage concluded with a blast, most of the students were extremely wiped out and went straight to their respective rooms for a good night's rest. Since it was nearly curfew only a few students loitered in the halls and the lounge. Meanwhile Ichigo and Keigo, clad in their jackets, descended the stairs to get themselves something warm to drink to counter the surprisingly cold night air in Kyoto.
As they made a turn for the vending machine Ichigo caught sight of a familiar face.
"Inoue you're still up?"
Bending to retrieve the drinks she bought she looked up at the two guys approaching her then beamed. "Kurosaki-kun and Asano-kun! Great seeing you here! I was just getting drinks for Tatsuki-chan and myself. Did you guys come down here for that too?"
"Yes we do Inoue-san!" Keigo answered with matched enthusiasm. "By the way you scared the wits outta me back there! I didn't know you could actually scare people with that face of yours!"
"Really! I'm glad!" She scrunched her eyebrows then jutted her thumb up. "I have always dreamed of becoming a witch who would scare people while flying in my own bony broom at night!"
Ichigo watched the two exchange words about the night's previous activity and he couldn't help but notice that unlike the two of them guys snug in their own jackets, Orihime only wore a T-shirt and a pair of pajamas. He instictively scowled.
"Inoue aren't you cold in those clothes?"
Her chat instantly halted at Ichigo's remark. "Eh? N-not at all! Well… I forgot my own sweater upstairs but I'm fine!"
"In this cold? You shouldn't be careless" He shrugged off his jacket then handed it to Orihime who stubbornly pushes it back to him.
"Really, you shouldn't trouble yourself Kurosaki-kun! You'll catch a cold yourself!"
"What're you saying? You shouldn't push yourself too much." He draped his jacket across her shoulders effectively stilling her. "It'll be worse if you're the one who catches a cold."
Orihime kept her eyes glued to the floor as she fidgeted, hiding the pink that dusted her cheeks.
"Now doesn't that feel better?"
"Eh?" She was instantly snapped from her reverie. "Ye-yes! Thank you Kurosaki-kun…" She replied sheepishly, then suddenly blurted out "Oh! I gotta go back before Tatsuki's red tea gets cold! Good night Kurosaki-kun! Asano-kun!" She made for the stairs with drinks in both hands while keeping Ichigo's jacket in place with her fingers.
"Well then why don't we get ourselves something then head back." He scratched the back of his head as he made his way to the vending machine.
His boisterous brown-haired friend on the other hand who was silent the whole time as he watched the scene unfold in front of him, faced Ichigo and said in a serious note. "You've gotten pretty soft when it comes to Inoue-san."
Ichigo nearly dropped his drink at Keigo's rather uncharacteristic comment. "Wh-what? What're you talking about?"
"You were just," He made various hand gestures to express his thoughts "You were like a desperate suitor trying to win your lover's heart in one night!"
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"Eh? But, it doesn't change the fact that you go soft towards Inoue-san" He grinned as he gave him a thumbs up.
"…shut up." He murmured as he stalked past him towards the stairs. "I'm going ahead. It's near Ishida caught us that'd be annoying."
"W-wait! I still haven't gotten my drink yet!" He hurriedly picked out his own then dashed after Ichigo. Meanwhile Ichigo couldn't get his words out of his head. 'Bastard's said I've gotten soft… to Inoue of all people."
'What the hell does that mean?'
…...…
Yay! Now tell me what you think! I had so much fun writing this chapter /(^o^)/
Reviews are like ice cream to me! They are greatly enjoyed!
