Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Infinite Stratos.

Fourteen years ago at playground

"Tabane! Oi Tabane!"

*stop her swing *turns towards the sound *smiles *run towards the voice owner *hugs him tightly "Hi Berry-kun! How did you find me?"

"*hugs her back *sweatdrop "Its easy to find you with your bunny ears y'know? And please stop calling me by that name."

"Mouu~, the name really suits you y'know?" *laughs cutely *release each others hug "So why did you find me?"

"Tabane...I'm moving out..."

"What?! Why?!"

"My dad got a new job. We're moving to Karakura Town. He's now head doctor at a hospital there."

*frowns *sniffs *cries loudly "Uwaaahhhh! Berry-kun's gonna leave me!"

"*frantically grabs both of her shoulders with his hands "Hey hey! Don't cry. We still can be in touch through letters y'know? Our friendship won't break off like that."

*sniffs "B-But you're leaving. O-Other than Chi-chan, y-you're my o-only friend..."

"Hey, don't be like that. I would still keep in touch with the both of you. You and Chifuyu please take care of each other while I'm not around. *Wipes her tears from her left cheek. Promise you won't feel lonely with Chi-chan?"

"I...I p-promise..."

"...*smirks *hugs, You know I'm gonna miss you right, Tabane?"

"...Yeah, *hugs him tightly. I will miss you so much, Berry-kun.

Orimura Ichika had lost count on how many times he had groaned in frustration as he read the IS reference textbook. Staying back after class, he had read the basics on IS countless times but he still couldn't understand a single thing. There's too much technicalities going on in here! He wondered how the female students could understand all this, how Yamada-sensei, Chifuyu-nee, Houki, Kurosaki-sensei...

Kurosaki-sensei...

Speaking of Kurosaki-sensei, he never thought there would be someone else like himself, being a man to pilot an IS which only women could operate, and he's a homeroom teacher to be exact, meaning he's already an established pilot. Though he haven't see what he is capable of, he could feel the strong aura around him. How he never heard of him even though he is a prominent figure in Japan he don't know, but that doesn't matter now.

What's even interesting though is his interactions with Chifuyu-nee, who as Ichika knows of, doesn't have a lot of friends to begin with other than Shinonono Tabane, Houki's sister, because of her cold personality. Her presence was, as Ichika put it, 'a blade so sharp, it would cut anyone who got close to her'. So he was slightly surprised when her expression soften upon seeing Kurosaki-sensei. Who is he to her? She never once mentioned about him, though he faintly remembered she once told him about 'a guy to settle the score with in kendo'. Is she talking about him then? He made a mental note to see him later, wanting to know more about him.

"Ah, Orimura-kun! I'm glad you're still in the classroom!"

His thoughts were broken when the sweet voice of Yamada-sensei called out to him at the doorway.

"Yamada-sensei! Can I help you?"

"No no, I'm here to pass a message to you. It seems like your dorm is ready." Yamada-sensei said as she walked over to him a placed the dorm key on his hand. "Your room number is 1025. Dinner will be served at the cafeteria from 6 to 7pm. All rooms has a built-in shower but there is a large communal bath available. The time schedules differ by year- Ah! B-But Orimura-kun is not allowed too use it yet!"

"Eh? Why not?" He asked, since he liked large baths, so he felt a little unfair for that to be taken away from him. What's wrong with the current schedule? Going to the bath in the first-year time slot seems perfectly fine for...oh yeah, every student besides him is a female. He blushed profusely at the thought of bathing in a large bath full of girls, "...Oh..."

"I-It seems you understood," Maya stuttered as she knew what Ichika was thinking, making her blush, "Please get along with your roommate."

"H-Hai. Thanks, Yamada-sensei," Ichika said as Maya smiled and nodded happily at his gratitude and left the class. Ichika stayed back for a little while as he ponder his thoughts before getting up from his desk and left the class to go to his dorm and have a good rest.

As he rounded a corner of the school corridor, he realized he was walking along the staff office, which is coincidentally along the path towards the students' dormitories. He thought this could be the right time to talk to Kurosaki-sensei, who is an enigma to him, thinking there would be no other chance later. Taking a deep breath and gathering his thoughts and courage, he walked towards his office and knocked on his door. A few seconds later, he heard a shout of 'Come in!' from inside. Opening the door, he walked in and saw Kurosaki-sensei completing his paperwork at his desk.

Ichigo was tackling every teacher's nightmare known as paperwork when he heard a knock from his office door. Telling him to come in, he looked up and saw Chifuyu's younger brother entering his office, seemingly nervous about something, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Ah, Orimura. What can I do for you?" He asked.

Ichika immediately averted his gaze and looked at the floor sweating as his nervousness came back back in full force. He was fine until he looked at the strawberry sensei's scowling face, which scared him slightly and reminded him of how Chifuyu-nee looked when she was annoyed. Saying one wrong word could bring hell to him.

Gulping a lump stuck in his throat, he found his voice and stuttered out, "Um...ano..." Ichigo was slightly irked at him as he waited for him to say something. Why is he being so nervous for? "What is your relationship between you and Chifuyu-nee?"

That made Ichigo raise both of his eyebrows at his question. It wasn't after he said that that Ichika realised how he asked the question sounded a little ruse. Bowing quickly, he muttered apology after apology, "I-I apologize! What I asked sounded inappropriate! Plea-"

"Jeez, calm down a little there," Ichigo interrupted, making Ichika stopped his ranting and bowing in the process, "I understand where you're coming from. Being a younger brother to a sister who Japan sees as royalty, you rarely seen her at home. Because of that, you do not know much about her. So you're curious when you saw me being with her. And because of that, you want to know about me."

Ichika jaw-dropped as he realised Ichigo actually said all his thoughts spot-on. Knowing what he was thinking, Ichigo added, "Well, I'm an older brother to my twin sisters. So I know how younger siblings feel. They admire their elder sibling, wanted to be like him/her, and wanting to protect him/her. Its not hard to guess it all actually considering Yuzu admired me like I'm some sort of God and Karin wanted to be strong like me." He muttered that last part to himself.

And Ichika was wondering how everyone always know what he was thinking.

Standing up from his office chair, Ichigo put his right hand in his right pant pocket, walked around his desk and lean on the edge of the desk. Smiling slightly, he said, "And to answer your question, Chifuyu and I are childhood friends. We were at the same elementary school though we weren't in the same class and trained at the same kendo dojo before I moved out. You really have grown, Ichika."

"Ehh? Did we met before?" Ichika asked, noticing he called him by his first name.

"Chifuyu sometimes brought you to my house for my family to babysit you a year after you were born. You were such a small toddler back then. Heh, I never expected that you're able to pilot an IS being a male like me. Like sister like brother huh?"

'Wow, he looked like a delinquent on the outside, but he's actually a friendly man at heart.' The male IS student thought in awe at the strawberry teacher, before he asked, "Ano, Kurosaki-sensei, how do you-"

"Ichigo."

"...Huh?"

"Call me by my name, Ichigo during off-school hours," he repeated, "I'm not into all the formality crap. Unlike your high and mighty sister," he muttered that last part softly so Ichika didnt heard it, but he did. Ichika chuckled lightly at that. Ichigo continued, "So don't call me sensei after school hours end."

"E-Eh?! But-!" He quickly shut his mouth and flinched when Ichigo scowled and gave him the death glare, 'Just like Chifuyu-nee.' "Um, ok, Ichigo-san. H-How did you and Chifuyu-nee become friends?"

Ichigo was silent for a while before he smiled and his eyes had that faraway look as he said, "Chifuyu was very much lonely during elementary school. She had no friends, in fact no one wanted to be friends with her due to her cold presence, making them afraid of her. I was just like her, being alone and had no friends."

"Why were you alone, Ichigo-san?"

Ichigo just snorted as he point his left index finger at his hair. Ichika wondered what did he mean by that before he came to a realisation and made an 'o' shape in his mouth, "...ohhhh,"

"Yup, so that's that." Ichigo continued, "Due to this, everyone including the teachers saw me as a young bad student with no manners, so they always avoid me, not wanting to befriend a 'young delinquent'." He said with distaste.

"Then why don't you dye it black?"

"For the society to accept me by changing what makes me 'me'? Not a chance, plus this hair colour is my natural hair colour, inherited from my mother. Why should I change it?"

Ichika just 'oh' in understanding.

"Now back to the story. When I was in 1st grade, I started to train in kendo. Coincidentally, I trained in the same dojo as Chifuyu. Both of us were the strongest in our age group. It was a matter of time before the instructor place us to spar against each other."

"It was that spar that made me wanna befriend her. During the spar, I saw the look in her eyes. It was cold and emotionless, but I could see the loneliness in there. It wasn't readable from a normal person, but with me knowing how being lonely feels like, I could see it. I was curious about her and I wanted to know her better."

"So since then, during recess, I would look for her to eat together and during kendo training, I'll choose her to be my sparring partner. She was cold towards me, but I wasn't afraid. I kept striking up a conversation to open her up, but she kept ignoring me no matter what. Until one particular day..."

Flashback starts

"Hey, Chifuyu!" Ichigo called out to her who was sitting under a tree eating her lunch. "Can I sit here and eat with you?"

"Hn."

Ichigo scowled slightly as he walked towards her and sat beside her, "Jeez, you really have to open up, y'know. Its not nice being all high and mighty and all."

"Hn."

Ichigo deepened his scowl for a moment before he sighed and unwrapped his bread and ate it. While eating, he tried to strike up a conversation again, "Ne Chifuyu, what are you eating?"

"...None of your business."

"Oh come on, just telling me what you ate can't be that hard right?" Ichigo asked but Chifuyu ignored him and continued eating, much to Ichigo's chagrin. He grumbled a few words to himself before he thought of something. He then asked the cold girl, "Hey Chifuyu, do you know the meaning of your name?"

He knew he got her attention when the spoon that was held by Chifuyu that was digging up her food in her tupperware stopped moving as she seemingly thought about it, before replying a few moments later with the same emotionless tone, "No, never thought about it."

"Eh? How can you not? My parents even told me mine." Ichigo closed his eyes and furrowed his brows as he thought out loud, "Let me think...Chifuyu...hmm...it means thousand winters..." He looked as her for a while before grinning, "I like it! It really suits you! Its a pretty name! Just like you!"

That particular comment made Chifuyu widen her eyes and surprisingly flushed as she felt her cheeks heating up. No one, even her parents, actually complimented her before. So to be complimented by someone for the first time made her slightly giddy inside, though she never show it.

She acted cold towards the strawberry because she thought he would just befriend her for a while and then play with her feelings by disappearing from her just like the others. But she was wrong, he actually really want to be her friend, and the honesty he showed in his compliment proved that even more.

She turned her away from his gaze as she stuttered, "Y-You think so?"

Ichigo wanted to reply back but before he could, the school bell rang. Wrapping his unfinished bread, the young strawberry stood up and said, "Well, second period is going to start. I really don't want to be late. I'll see you later, Chifuyu." He smiled at her before turning on his heels and walked back to the school building. Before he could go any further, he was stopped by a shout of, "W-Wait!"

Ichigo looked behind and saw Chifuyu closing the lid of her tupperware and stood up. After dusting the dirt off her clothes, she looked away slightly as she said, "Is...Is it ok for me to walk back to class with you?"

Ichigo went wide eyed for a moment before he smiled and answered, "Sure, why not?" He waited as Chifuyu ran towards him and stopped as she was beside him. Then they walked back to class together. If Ichigo turned his head to look at her, he would see a small smile on Chifuyu's face.

Flashback ends

"And that's how Chifuyu and I become friends," Ichigo smiled before scowling slightly as he criticized, "Though we were already friends, during the times she was happy, she would never admit it. Such a tsundere she is," Ichika just giggled at him. That very attitude is so really his sister alright.

"Um, ano Ichigo-san?" Ichika called out, to which the strawberry just responded with a 'Hmm?'. The second male IS pilot asked, "There's another thing I wanted to ask you. How…how did you become so strong?"

Ichigo raised an eye as he conveyed the silent message to Ichika on what did he meant by that. Getting the message, Ichika elaborated, "Since I rarely watched TV or the news, I never heard of you until when I entered the IS academy. Other than Chifuyu-nee, I always heard your name being a topic among students, which to me was weird at first because it was a boy's name. I never heard another man pilot an IS before so I paid it no mind. Until I saw you interrupted the class during my argument with Cecilia then I realized how much of a famous figure you are. Every student was squealing of you being the IS Representative of Japan and the third Mondo Grosso finalist. Hearing all that stuff you had achieved made me can't help but being in awe at you. You're a man but you were able to exceed expectations and be successful in a woman-dominated IS society, which is not an easy feat. So I want to know, Ichigo-san, how did you become so strong?"

Knowing what is the answer to that question, Ichigo replied without hesitation, "I want to be strong to protect what's precious to me. Ever since my twin sisters were born, I wanted to have the power to protect them. So I trained my ass off in kenjutsu, taijutsu, anything to make me stronger to protect them, but it wasn't enough. When I found out I was able to pilot an IS, I finally have the power to do just that. I trained and trained to be strong, to protect everyone from danger when the time comes."

"So, he became strong to protect his sisters and his family, just like how Chifuyu-nee became strong to protect me..."

"And let me ask you a question, Ichika," Ichigo said, making said man broke his mental monologue and placed his full attention on him, "Do you want to become strong?" the brother of Chifuyu's face got serious and nodded without any hesitation, so Ichigo continued with a single word question, "Why?"

"I want to repay what Chifuyu-nee had done for me," Ichika answered truthfully, "She has taken care of my well being and protected me since God knows when. I want to be strong because its my turn to protect my nee-san. I don't want to be a burden to her any longer. I-!" He stopped his speech as he felt a hand on his head. He looked up and saw Ichigo wasn't leaning at his desk anymore, instead he was at arms length and his hand was on top of his head.

"Nonsense, you idiot," Ichigo chided, "Chifuyu would never see you as a burden to her. It's natural for the elder sibling to take care and protect the younger one from harm. A younger sibling's job is to be his/her elder sibling's support. Take a table for example. If a table has no stand, it will fall. Its the same case as siblings. If Chifuyu sees you getting hurt or worse, what do you think she will feel?"

Ichika's eyes were wide open as he continue to listen to the strawberry teacher's words.

"Your purpose of getting strong should be like this: to be your Chifuyu-nee's support and always stand by her side no matter what happens. And to be strong, you need help. No one can be strong without any guidance." Ichigo's smirk widened as he continued, "In fact, I could help you with that."

Ichika's gasped audibly as he heard that. Did he really heard what Kurosaki-sensei was implying? "B-But Ichigo-san! Won't that be the case of favouritism towards students?"

"Not quite," Ichigo assured, "Actually, I was hired to be an IS Academy instructor by the Japanese government to keep an eye on you and guide you along the way. Its understandable since I was the first male to pilot an IS. It made my job easier since you are Chifuyu's younger brother. I can train you everything about piloting an IS, from the basics to the advanced. I can also train your body to cope with the demands of piloting an IS. Plus you have that little duel with that Alcott brat, are you sure you'll going to fight empty handed?"

Ichigo never away his hand from his head and curled it into a fist and brought it in front of Ichika, showing a wide smirk as he said, "So what do you say? Wanna be my apprentice and become a badass IS pilot under my guidance?"

Ichika chuckled at that last sentence. He initially had some doubts as being Kurosaki-sensei's apperentice will attract unwanted attention from jealous students and be accused for favouritism, but since Kurosaki-sensei was hired by the government to watch him, plus Kurosaki-sensei's attitude and personality which is so similar to Chifuyu-nee which made him feel like he had known him for a long time, all those doubts had flown out of the window. He curled his own right hand into a fist and bumped it on Ichigo's and said with determination, "I accept! I won't disappoint you and will train hard to stand by Chifuyu-nee's side and support her! Please take care of me, Kurosaki-sensei!"

Ichigo just grinned widely at his response and use his other hand to ruffle his hair, much to Ichika's chagrin and said, "Heh, that's the spirit." He placed his hand back into his pockets and continued, "We'll start tomorrow. Classes end at 1 so eat your lunch immediately and come to the kendo dojo at 2. There will be no shin, arm or body guards involved, only full body contact. Since you had some experience in kendo training, this should be fine for you. We'll be training for two and a half hours to train your body into tiptop condition suitable for piloting an IS with no breaks. Is that understood?"

Ichika robotically nodded as he was mentally shivering while listened to Ichigo's training schedule. Is he a freaking slave driver or something? He started to doubt this was a good idea...

"After that, we would be taking a short five-minute break," the strawberry continued, "Then we'll go onto the real IS training. The training will be held at Arena 1 until 7. I will teach you how to fly, control and land properly and IS without fail. I'll ask permission from the higher ups to lend an Uchigane training IS for your use in training as your personal IS hasn't arrived yet."

"E-Eh?! I will have a personal IS?" Ichika asked in shock.

Ichigo nodded and said, "I heard from the government that they've asked the involved designers and engineers to develop and build a personal IS for you in order to gather data for the government."

Ichika was surprised. The government has requested to build a personal IS for him? He never thought being the other male to pilot an IS can be so significant.

"Well, your IS is obviously hasn't complete yet, so you had to make do with the training IS," Ichigo said, breaking lchika's mental monologue, "And that's the end of it. Any questions with my training schedule?"

"No sensei!"

"Good," Ichigo said as he walked back to his seat, but before he could sit down, he remembered something and turned towards the male student as he said, "Ah, seeing both of you are close, you can bring Tabane's little sister along to watch you train, or she could help me in training you in kendo since she's a national champion."

"You know Tabane-san as well?"

"Yup, she is, you can say, a second childhood friend of mine, and also Chifuyu's. She was one hell of a firecracker back in the day, always all hyper and bouncy. I still can't believe she was the same freakin' genius that build the IS..."

Ichika chuckled slightly at that.

"But how do both of us know each other is another story," Ichigo said, "Now why don't you go back to your dorm room and get some rest? Its almost the end of evening. You need to recharge your batteries for tomorrow's training."

"Ah, sure," Ichika smiled which the strawberry smiled back. Before he could exit through the door, he turned towards Ichigo and said, "Ano Ichigo-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Ichigo just smirked as he replied back, "Don't mention it."

And with that, Ichika exited the office and walked towards his dorm room with a small smile on his face. Though it was only their first meeting, he knowingly added Kurosaki Ichigo into his list of people he greatly admires, putting him alongside Orimura Chifuyu.

...

Urahara Kisuke yawned audibly as he walked down the stairs towards his underground lab after he closed his shop. It was relatively a small sweets shops which has a slow but still profitable business as they sell candy with a really low price, a great hit for elementary students who have a sweet tooth. No one knows that the true purpose of the sweet shop is actually his hideout. He located the shop at Karakura because it is a relatively small town in Japan, where nobody recognized him as the Most Wanted Man in the World for his vast intelligence in everything science and IS, rivaling Shinonono Tabane.

As he walked closer towards the entrance door of his lab to continue his newest project, he heard the unmistakable sound of his computer keyboard being used which alarmed him greatly. The only people who knew his lab are Yoruichi, Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, Ichigo and Isshin. Yoruichi is out on an errand, Tessai, Ururu and Jinta had went home, Isshin is working his shift in his hospital while Ichigo is at the IS Academy as an instructor. So now he should be alone at the shop, but there is someone else in here and that someone had found his secret lab and is using his computer. That could only mean one thing.

Someone is trying to hack into his database.

Luckily, he knew and trained under a number of martial arts, including kendo. After unsheathing his sword from his seemingly normal cane, he typed the PIN code of his entrance door. As the red indicator turned green, he slowly and quietly open the door to prevent the intruder from being alert. Entering the lab tip toed, he looked around and saw one of his holographic computers was activated and in use at 2 o'clock. Looking closely, he saw the intruder was still typing on his computer, which means the intruder hasn't detected his presence. And through the holograph, he could see two long ears protruding through the intruders head, which made him face palmed.

Oh yeah...she also knows his secret lab. How did he actually forget about her?

Regaining his composure, he sheathed his sword, knowing there won't be any danger and quietly walked and sneaked behind her. Brandishing his closed fan from inside of his dark green haori, he hit her on the head number of times, making her whine cutely at the unexpected pain as Urahara said, "Ah, Shinonono Tabane-san. Have I told you countless times that breaking in to someone else home is a crime?"

Yup, Urahara Kisuke and Shinonono Tabane, the two Most Wanted Scientists in the World, know each other.

"Mouu~, Ki-kun! This is not breaking in! Every laboratory around the world is my home!" Tabane whined with a cute pout as she turned around and face Hat 'n Clogs, "Plus, I'm still curious on how you hacked inside my IS core and made Berry-kun pilot an IS!"

"You're still trying to gather my data on how I do those since you broke into my lab a few years back? I told you my computers have state-of-the-art security firewalls installed. It's practically impossible to hack into my computers."

"I won't give up! Nothing can stop Tabane the Genius y'know! And I broke three of your firewalls before you disturbed me!"

"You still have four more to go."

"What?! Uwahhh! Ki-kun you big meanie! You don't wanna share my Berry-kun's secrets! I really wanna know how you made Berry-kun pilot the IS, which is my creation! Its been so long since I talked to him! I miss him so much! UWAAHHHH!"

Seeing her starting to cry louder and louder, Kisuke frantically waved his arms around, trying to stop her crying as he said, "W-Wait! P-Please! Don't cry! W-We'll meet him soon after we've finished building the Akatsubaki together for your little sister. You planned to gave her the personal IS on her birthday, if I remembered correctly of what you've told me, its on July 7th, right?"

Tabane nodded as she continued to sob.

"I've checked into the this year's academy schedule. It seems that they are planning to have a beach study session at the seaside school around that particular day. So, not only little Houki will be there, Kurosaki-san will be there too as well. So why don't we finish building the IS first before the deadline, and you can dream about your little crush all day long?"

Something just flipped inside her brain as Tabane changed from a sobbing child to a really happy child who looked they just won a ton of candy in just under a second as she squealed out, "YAY! Not only I can deliver the Akatsubaki to Houki-chan, I can also see Ik-kun, Chi-chan and most importantly, Berry-kun as well! You're a genius, Ki-kun! Be grateful that you're the only person who I acknowledge to rival my intelligence."

"Hai hai, I'm really grateful, Shinonono-san."

"And plus, I don't have a crush with Berry-kun! I love him! I love him really really really much!" She finished with a cute giggle.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Kisuke shrugged it off.

And yup, Tabane has a serious crush...correction, she's really in love with Kurosaki Ichigo.

It all started sixteen years ago when Ichigo, Chifuyu and Tabane were in 2nd grade and were placed in the same class in elementary school. That time, Ichigo and Chifuyu were already close friends while Tabane was quite lonely due to her really explosive happy energy, overwhelming other students which made them uncomfortable and don't want to befriend her. One day, while recess, Ichigo and Chifuyu were eating at their usual spot, which was under a large tree, Tabane approached them and asked them with a cute and cheerful voice, "Hi hi! Can I sit here with you guys?"

Unsure of what to do due to her social awkwardness, Chifuyu just looked over to Ichigo to see what will he do. Seeing no problem with it, Ichigo just shrugged and patted the sit to his right. His left is already occupied by Chifuyu. "Sure, why not?" he said. Tabane squealed in happiness of the possibility of making her first friends and happily sat down on the spot Ichigo patted.

And that how the the group known as The Unusual Trio was known throughout the elementary school. The orange-haired delinquent, the cold-blooded girl and the bouncy, hyperactive, bubbly child. All three of them are really different than the others, its quite a fitting name for the group really.

During those times, the three of them had grown real close to each other, to the point where they were practically inseparable. They would study together, play at the park together, heck they would visit the Shinonono Shrine or go to trips with the eccentric yet kind Kurosaki family together once in a while. Of course, due to his soft and kind side under he seemingly tough skin, Chifuyu and Tabane eventually started to develop feelings for him, which the both of them realized after he left at the end of 4th grade.

A few weeks after he left, Chifuyu and Tabane confronted each other about their feelings towards the strawberry, as they still felt sad about his departure and classes were never the same without him around. At first, they argued about who should be Ichigo's beloved, but seeing the argument was going nowhere and it would break their friendship if they fought for him and one of them would be hurt if Ichigo chooses one over the other, they decided to confess to him together and share him once the three of them met each other again.

They were really odd having that kind of conversation, considering they were still kids.

After Tabane found out that Ichigo was able to pilot an IS, saying she was surprised can be quite an understatement. She wanted to call him about it so badly but she didn't have his contact number. So so did what she does best.

Hacking.

After hacking Japan's citizen database, she found Ichigo's contact number and called him immediately, telling him she missed him so much and how did he pilot an IS. Ichigo, not really surprised that she found his number considering she could just hacked the government database to get it but caught off guard by her calling, said that he misses her too and a friend of his helped him to achieve that. Tabane kept pressing him on to tell her who is that friend, but Ichigo kept saying no because that would betray his promise towards his friend. Being his concerned and caring self again, he told her to hang up as the government could be finding and detecting her phone signal considering she went into hiding. Tabane was touched by that and agreed to talk with him again someday. That was what she loved about him, always care about others more than himself.

She even saved his phone number with a personal ringtone like how she did with Chifuyu's, Ichika's and Houki's numbers, with a chibi Ichigo hugging a large strawberry with a yellow background wallpaper as the caller ID and a "Berry-kun~ 3 " on top. The personal ringtone she set for him is the intro of "Number One" by Hazel Fernandes. For some reason, that song really suits him a lot.

After that call, Tabane hacked into Ichigo's personal IS which she never remembered building before. So she was surprised when she found out from the database that the IS core Ichigo used wasn't the one she created. That meant someone had successfully replicate her IS core, and a flawless one at that. Tracing the creation of the core back to its origins, she traced it back to a sweets shop at Karakura called Urahara Shoten, which was odd at first, but then she connected the dots of the reported disappearance of Kisuke Urahara, the renowned scientist and Head of R&D in Gotei Corp. and the shop that she realized the obvious.

The shop is actually Urahara Kisuke's hideout.

So, to prevent any detection, she broke into the shop at night and it wasn't long before she found the hatch that led to the basement and to the secret lab. Using her hacking skills, she cracked the PIN code of the entrance door and entered the lab. She was astonished that the size of the lab is almost as big as hers. Not wasting time, she quickly activated a holographic computer and hacked into the multi-layered security firewalls. As she was halfway there, the lab lights unexpectedly switched on which made her squeal in shock as she saw a smiling Urahara Kisuke standing by the switch, fanning himself and catching her red-handed.

And that's how the two Most Wanted Scientists in the World know each other.

Since then, Tabane sometimes broke into his lab once in a while to obtain the data and kept pestering Kisuke to tell her how did he replicate the IS core and made her Berry-kun pilot an IS. She also acknowledged him as quoted by her, 'the only person who can rival my great intelligence', which flattered Kisuke slightly. She even asked his help to develop and build the Akatsubaki, the one and only 4th Generation IS for her little sister, Houki. She reasoned that she asked for his help was to save time and energy. Kisuke was slightly surprised to be exact. She wasn't asking him to help her build a 4th-Gen prototype, which was what he was doing, but a fully-functional final design. Being the IS creator, she could do it all by herself, but she was asking for his contribution as well. Kisuke was honored to say the least. Tabane will handle the IS core components, the application of the Fold-Out armor and the Equalizers for the IS while Kisuke will work on the electronics, VR simulations to gather data, and the final configurations. He will also assist Tabane to work on the application of the Fold-Out armor.

"Now why don't you be a good little child and go back to your own hideout? You and I got some work to do." Kisuke politely asked.

Tabane clapped her hands as she said, "OK~! As soon as I finished the Akatsubaki, I can rest and dream about Berry-kun all day long... Ahhn, Berry-kun~..." She finished with a slightly perverted face and some drool was hanging at the left corner of her lips. What the heck is she dreaming about? "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Her dirty imaginations about how Ichigo will ravish her in bed was interrupted when Hat 'n Clogs hit her on the head with his cane and smiled, "Now now, don't you get all hot and bothered in my lab. Why don't you just leave immediately and go back to your own lab and dream about you having a threesome with your Berry-kun and Chi-chan?"

Tabane put her index finger on her chin in a cute thinking pose before snapping her fingers as she squealed happily, "Kyahh! That's a really good idea! You're a genius, Ki-kun!" And she proceeded to run towards the door, but before she exited the lab, she screeched into a halt as she turned around and pointed at Kisuke and said, "I will be back, Ki-kun! I won't give up till I get that IS core data!"

"Yeah yeah, see you again Shinonono-san." Kisuke smiled and he waved goodbye at her.

Tabane just gave him a toothy smile before she took off again and disappeared from sight. It was only until moments later Urahara let out a long sigh. That girl could be the death of him. He never felt so overwhelmed by other people before until she came along. He wondered how Ichigo actually handled her when they were little kids.

"Jeez, Kurosaki-san," Urahara muttered with a amused tone and smile, "I salute you. I really hope you can teach me how did you handle her really explosive energy."

...

Orimura Chifuyu walked down the school staff's dormitories with a extra skip in her step and a really rare smile on her face, completely going against the image she always portray to everyone as she walked while carrying a plastic bag containing a bento. She is now wearing a black tank top, white track pants and white sneakers. Her track jacket is tied around her waist.

During dinnertime at the cafeteria, she realized that Ichigo wasn't present. Being worried about him, she ordered the head chef of the cafeteria for a takeout meal for him after all the students had went back to their dorms to prevent them from gossiping. Before she brought the food to his room, she went back to her dorm to have a shower and have a change of more comfortable clothes. Now she's walking towards his dorm, feeling excited about spending the night with him, reliving their childhood days when she had come to his place to have a sleepover with him, with Tabane joining her once in a while.

"Finally after so long, I would be able to spend the whole night with Ichigo. Take that Tabane," Chifuyu happily thought as she can't help but jab at her second childhood friend, "I hope he likes the food that I brought for him. I wonder what will happen later. If I confess to him then maybe..." She had a really glazed look on her face before she shook herself from those thoughts as she reaffirmed herself, "No, now's not the time. I've promised Tabane that we'll confess to him together when the three of us are together again. So I'll try to hold my urges...for now." As she finished her thoughts, she finally reached the door of Ichigo's dorm which has the number "15" on it.

After taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door a few times, awaiting for a response, but she heard no voice coming out from the room. Slightly disappointed and the possibility of him taking Zs, she was going to turn around and leave before she heard footsteps and a voice saying 'I'm coming!' from inside the room, and the door finally opened. What Chifuyu saw made her blush like a tomato.

Standing at the doorway was a topless Ichigo who was just wearing brown shorts with a towel hanging around his neck. His hair was slightly damp, which means he had just finished his shower. What really made Chifuyu speechless was his well-built body. He has a body of a true martial artist, his muscles were distinctively toned and has a ripped and defined six-pack, a perfect body in every man's dreams and every woman's desire.

Seeing Chifuyu's reaction, Ichigo couldn't help but tease her as he stretched out his arms, giving her a good view at his body, "Like what you see? Blood is dripping from your nose."

Instinctively, Chifuyu quickly reached out to her nose with her left hand to stop the supposed bleeding coming out from her nose, only to feel there was nothing there. Realizing she was being teased at, she punched Ichigo hard at the chest, making him stumble backwards as she turned her head to the side, trying to hide her embarrassment of getting caught red-handed ogling at him and huffed as she said, "Hmph, as if. I've seen better ones than yours."

"So you're implying that you're some pervert who checks out the body of every man you see, including your little brother?" Ichigo teased even further, which made Chifuyu whipped her head at his direction, anger and embarrassment filled in her face.

"I'm not a pervert! And I definitely not have a brother complex!" Chifuyu shouted.

Ichigo guffawed loudly as he can't take it anymore, teasing the cold woman was always fun ever since they were little, and that fact hasn't changed. "pfffft-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You should see the look on your face! That was priceless! If only I have my camera with me."

Chifuyu couldn't help but feel so embarrassed right now at the teasing as she turned her back at him and crossed her arms, and said the three simple words, "I hate you."

Ichigo stopped laughing immediately as he detected a hint of sadness in her declaration. Had he gone too far at his teasing? His expression softened as he walked towards the cranky woman and placed his calloused hand on her shoulder, trying to soothe her, "Hey, I was just teasing. If I had gone too far them I'm sorry. You come here to talk right? Why don't you come inside?"

Said woman turned her head slightly as she looked at him at the corner of her eye. Moments later, she slightly pouted as she said, "I won't let you get away with this. Tell anyone else about this and I will kill you."

"Yeah yeah, whatever floats your boat," Ichigo just shrugged and waved it off in acceptance. Removing the hand from her shoulder, he grabbed the plastic bag she was carrying and held her hand, making Chifuyu blush at the contact, and pulled her inside his room as he said, "Just sit down and wait for me. I'll go and get changed."

Chifuyu just nodded as Ichigo let her go, which made the cold woman frown a little bit at the loss of contact, sat her down on the edge of his bed, placed the plastic bag on his desk and grabbed a few of his clothes before entering the bathroom. She took the opportunity to look around his room. His room is essentially the same as the other teachers' room with a luxury hotel-like design, with large queen-sized bed, a large desk beside it, bookshelves on the desk, a balcony and a fully-functional kitchen in it. Its interior is slightly different than the students' dorms. His laptop, wallet and his iPhone is placed on the desk.

As she looked around the room, something gained her attention at the corner of her eye. Looking at his desk, she saw three picture frames stood upright on his desk. Standing up and walk over to his desk to take a closer look at the pictures, she couldn't help but smile. The first one she saw was a smiling Ichigo standing on the podium posing for the camera holding his silver medal hanging around his neck, justifying his position as the runner-up of the third Mondo Grosso. The second one is a family photo of him with his parents and his twin sisters. The third picture is what really caught her attention. It was a picture of Ichigo, Chifuyu and Tabane posing in front of a Ferris Wheel, with Tabane's arms around their necks smiling widely, Ichigo was scowling slightly from her grip and a smirking Chifuyu with her arms crossed. Holding op the picture frame and trace the picture with her fingers, she smiled, reminiscing the memories made with the two of them.

"I still remembered how Tabane giggled non-stop while riding on the Carousel and how dizzy you are riding on the tea cup. That was a fun day we had together. Ah, good memories." She was startled by the voice and turned around to see Ichigo fully clothed, wearing the same brown shorts and a purple t-shirt with a small number "15" on it. He walked over to where she was standing as he said, "It would be great if she's here as well huh? The Unusual Trio will be running riot again."

The pilot of Kurazakura chuckled at his words as she placed back the picture frame back onto the its original position on his desk as she said, "Yeah, but I would rather keep a cold and strict image as a instructor to the students rather than running riot."

"I know right?" Ichigo agreed with a laugh, "Can't say the same for Tabane though."

"I second that," Chifuyu said, then motioned to the plastic bag she brought, "I brought you dinner. Since you didn't come down to the cafeteria, I asked the chef to pack one for you."

Hearing Chifuyu's reasoning made Ichigo smile as he replied, "I didn't come to the cafeteria because I wasn't hungry and I'm dead tired and want to sleep after my shower, but since you took the trouble of bringing dinner for me, looks like I have to delay my sleep for a while." he finished as he took out the packed meal from the plastic bag. He then sat down at his desk and opened up the food lid. The meal consists of a few rice balls, teriyaki beef and tempura prawn. Ichigo snapped the chopsticks apiece as he said, "Itadakimasu!" and dig into the meal.

"So, anything interesting happened in your first day as an instructor?" Chifuyu asked as she sat back onto her original position on the bed.

"Nothing much, other than that encounter with the Alcott brat in your class and my challenge of a duel against you," Ichigo said, "Though my class is a class full of noisy fangirls, which I really hate a hell lot," he continued in distaste, making Chifuyu chuckled at his misfortune, he continued, "So what about you, have you planned on how to defeat me in our duel?"

"A fighter never tells his/her opponent his/her secrets," Chifuyu smirked.

"Heh, fair enough," Ichigo smirked back as he placed the rice ball into his mouth. "For your information, your little brother came to talk to me after class."

Hearing that perked the 'thousand winters' slightly as she leaned in and asked, "Oh really? What did you two talked about?"

"Nothing much, just asked how did you and I know each other since he never heard from you about me before," Ichigo shrugged, "You never mentioned to him about me before?"

"W-Well, m-maybe because I was really busy so I rarely got to talk to him or it just slipped out of my mind," Chifuyu said as she turned away slightly and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

Seeing nothing wrong with that reasoning, Ichigo just shrugged it off as he continued eating and said, "He even asked me on how to become strong since he wanted to become one, with the reason of repaying you and protecting you."

Upon hearing that, Chifuyu just sighed in amusement as she muttered, "Heh, that idiot of a brother. Always wanting to protect me even though I don't need any. Its an elder siblings job to protect the younger ones, not the other way round."

"I know right?" Ichigo smiled at that, "I also offered to train him which he accepted."

"Won't that be favoritism?" Chifuyu asked in concern.

"I was hired to be an IS Academy instructor by the government to guide him and keep an eye on him, so technically, its not favoritism." Ichigo reassured.

"Well, with you being the other male to pilot an IS, that was expected." Chifuyu said, then smiled at him, "You know, if I wanted Ichika to be trained by someone, there would be only one person I'm comfortable with and believe in to do that job, and that would be you, Ichigo."

"Well, I'm honoured that you think that way, Chifuyu," Ichigo replied back with a smile of his own as he finished the packed meal and throw it into a small dustbin underneath his desk and patted his stomach, "Ah, that really hits the spot." He then stood up and walked towards his bed, opening up the covers and lay down on it on his back, "Better go back to your dorm and sleep now Chifuyu, tomorrow will be another tiring day at the office."

"Um...okay." Chifuyu said as she untie her track jacket and hung it on the desk chair, making Ichigo raised his eyebrow. After taking out her sneakers and placed it near the door, she walked towards the bed and open up the covers and lay on her side beside him at his left, with her head on his shoulder. This action made Ichigo really confused and nervous.

"Erm...Chifuyu?" Ichigo prodded, getting a 'Hmm' from the said woman, "I told you to go back to your dorm and sleep, not to sleep with me."

In a really unexpected twist, Chifuyu curled up slightly as she used the 'Puppy Eyes' technique and her lower lip trembled, making Ichigo comically flinch in surprise as she said, "B-But, I want to sleep with you, l-like when we're kids. D-Does that trouble you, Ichigo? Do...do you hate me since you moved away?"

"N-No! It doesn't trouble me! I will never hate you either! Y-You can sleep here if you want!" That look was cheating. Damn! I never expected Chifuyu to actually use that damn face. She looked real cute like that...Wait, WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?! She's just a friend, a childhood friend.

Unknown to him, while Ichigo was having his mental monologue, Chifuyu was smirking and was doing a happy joy dance in her mind as she thought, "Just as planned." "Well, what are you waiting for? Turn off the lights then." she said. Ichigo complied to her request and snapped his fingers, switching off all the lights at once. Chifuyu shuffled again as she placed a hand on his chest and her legs were intertwined with his, with Ichigo wrapping an arm around her.

"Ichigo?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm...I'm glad that we're here together." Chifuyu muttered, her tone surprisingly soft and sincere.

"Yeah, me too Chifuyu." Ichigo smiled to her and placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head before succumbing to his fatigue, surprising Chifuyu and making her blush.

"He-He kissed me! Ichigo kissed me! Oh my Kami!"Chifuyu squealed mentally in delight before sleep overcame her, a uncharacteristic wide smile on her face.

Its safe to say that the both of them had their best sleep so far in their lives.

Annnnnnd Chapter 2 done!

Sorry for the lack of real action in this chapter. I promise the next chapter will be much better. And about the first chapter, I apologise for the grammar mistakes I made.

Well, seeing most of the reviews saying that they want an Ichigo harem, I decided to give him one! Chifuyu and Tabane are definitely in it, with Maya as a possibility.

And please R&R!

albert27 out!