Okay! Here is the third chapter of the Journey to the Past story! I swear I have written more for this one story than I have for any other. And that's saying a lot.

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I couldn't help the blank stare on my face as I stared at Chad. Not only had he been late for school, but we find out that he had helped a man in an accident, taken him to the hospital, and had a steel beam fall on his head. THEN he brings a bird to school…?

Okay, let's recap on how we got to this point, shall we?

Flashback!

"Hey, Ichigo!" I called out as I gathered my things.

Ichigo looked over at me from his place by the door, "Yeah? What's up, Rei?"

Grabbing my classwork in my hand, I made my way over to the orange haired teen. "I have to take this to Sensei. I had fallen asleep in class so I didn't get the chance to take it to her before she left." I explained walking out of the room. Walking away from Ichigo, I quickly dashed down the hall with a shout of "Be back soon!" over my shoulder.

It had taken me five minutes to reach the Teacher's Office where I located my Sensei, handed her my classwork, got scolded for sleeping, apologized for my laziness, and left.

On the way out, my face collided with the wall. Or… what I thought was the wall. Looking up, I found myself staring at Chad. Tilting my head, I gazed in confusion, question marks floating around my head.

"Hey Chad. Just getting to school?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I nodded my head in acceptance. I would ask about the various wounds on his body later when we get to the roof. "Well, it's lunch time and I was about to head to the roof to meet up with the others." I offered as I turned to leave. Just as I looked down, I caught sight of something in Chad's hand.

"Hi there. I'm Yuichi Shibata, what's your name?"

I stared in question at the white cockatiel that just spoke to me. His black eyes gazed at me in curiosity as his small head turned from side to side.

"I'm Rei Kamamoto, Yuichi-kun." I answered my brows up to my hairline. Not because I was talking to a bird, but because the bird wasn't a bird, but a little boy. "How old are you, Yuichi-kun?" I asked, crouching down in front of the cage holding him. Sticking my finger through the bars, I watched as Yuichi rubbed his small head along my finger in an affectionate gesture.

"I'm seven, Miss Rei." He answered.

Looking back at Chad, I retracted my hand before motioning to the roof. "We might want to get going before Ichigo kills Keigo and Mizuiro."

End of Flashback!

So the two of us had come to the roof where we found Keigo bothering Ichigo again. Mizuiro stood off to the side as he watched our friends goof off as they usually did. Lastly, I was shocked and a little annoyed to find Kuchiki there, though she seemed to be preoccupied with something.

"So, Rukia-chan, if you need something you can come to me for help. I'm here for you!" Keigo exclaimed as he tried to flirt with the oblivious ravenette.

Kuchiki looked up at his offer, her eyes alight and her little sparkles floating about her head. "Great! Open this!" she thrust out her hand to reveal an unopened juice box and straw in her hand.

Is… is that what she was messing with…?

Blinking my eyes I watched Keigo laugh and back up into Chad, alerting him and the others of our arrival. Deciding to skip the annoying questioning from Keigo, I walked over to the only other female.

"Need some help with that?" I asked in boredom as I pointed to the drink in her hand.

Kuchiki seemed to stare at me for a long time before she snapped out of her thoughts. "You know how to open these?" she questioned, turning the box this way and that way as if she tried to figure out an intricate puzzle.

Raising a brow, I quietly plucked the juice and straw from her hand. I unwrapped the straw and then poked the sharp end into the top where the foil circle was. "Here." Holding out the now open drink, I watched as her eyes widened in wonder before she took the juice from my hand.

"Woah, so that's how you open it…" she pondered to herself.

"REI-CHAN!"

Suddenly I was knocked off my feet when Keigo finally noticed me. I didn't have time to brace myself before the brown haired boy and I crashed to the hard ground. My vision began to spin and my hearing gave out for a moment from the shock. I could faintly hear Ichigo yelling at Keigo.

"Asano-san, git yer ass off of meh." I ground out through my teeth. I felt Keigo quickly release my body before leaping back in surprise.

I felt another pair of hands grip my shoulders, pulling my body off of the ground. Looking up, I found my helper to be Ichigo. "You alright there, Rei?" he asked, checking over my body for any injuries the idiot may have caused.

Giving a sigh, I nodded my head before pulling myself to my feet "'m fine." I muttered, dusting off my clothes. Walking back over to Chad, I noticed everyone take notice of his injuries.

"So Chad, what's with the bandages?" Ichigo was the first to ask as we all gathered in a circle around our giant friend. All of us had taken seats on various parts of the roof in order to hear how out friend got hurt.

"I had a mishap. A steel beam fell on my head." Was Chad's reply. All of us stared in bewilderment at his confession. The same question of how this guy was still alive floated about our heads.

"A steel beam?! For real?!" Keigo exclaimed. He quickly threw his head around to face me, his eyes wide as he grabbed my shoulders. "Rei-chan! Did you know about this?! Why didn't you tell us?!" He shouted as he shook my body back and forth.

My eyes widened at the action, my head being thrown around from Keigo's shaking. "I just found out, too, you moron!" I shouted between movements.

Chad raised a hand to show the bandages over the limb as he continued, ignoring Keigo and I. "My hand got hurt when a motorcycle ran into me. The rider that hit me got banged up pretty bad. The force of the collision threw him off course and he got knocked out; so I took him to the hospital."

By now, I had gotten Keigo to let go of me. I had walked up to Chad and taken Yuichi's cage, holding him close to my chest. I felt my friend pat my head as I sat on the ground with his new friend. I was able to hear Keigo ask where the white bird came from. I was curious myself so I turned my attention away from Yuichi to look at Chad for an answer.

Instead of the large teen answering, it was Yuichi himself who answered. Just like when he spoke to me, he answered with an introduction. "Hello, my name is Yuichi Shibata. What's your name?"

Turning my head down, I allowed my hair to cover my eyes. I knew that the bird was not as he appeared and wanted to see Ichigo's reaction. Ichigo's eyes widened, his body tensed and he quickly cast a glance at Kuchiki who had the same look in her eyes.

I could feel my eyes narrow at their reactions. Ichigo had been acting strange lately and it started from when the new girl transferred into our class. From the way they act, they knew something. Something to do with the spirits Ichigo and I see.

I ignored Keigo as he stuck his fingers in the cage, asking Yuichi questions. My focus was on my childhood friend and his newfound shadow as they whispered amongst themselves. I wasn't a fool. I knew when Ichigo was hiding thing from me and this was definitely one of those times.

Ichigo looked away from Yuichi to look at Chad. "So Chad, where did you get this bird?" he asked again.

"Someone…" Chad trailed off his sentence, as if he were trying to think of the correct words to say.

…

…

…

"Gave him to me." He finally decided.

The answer didn't please Keigo as he stood from his place in front of me to point at our larger friend. "Hold it! There you go again; getting lazy and cutting your story short! Come on, man! That's a bad habit you have Chad! Now explain! Spill it!" he urged as Chad came to sit beside me and Yuichi.

The two of us fed Yuichi some bread I pulled from my bag. I even opened his cage in order to offer him some water from Chad's water bottle.

During all of this, I never took my eyes off of Ichigo and Kuchiki.

"I gotta tell ya. Back in eighth grade, that was when Rei and I first met Chad. The color of my hair always got people's attention. And not in a good way, and I'd always end up in these fights. Rei always tried to stop them, she could be tough when she needs to be." Ichigo began weaving the tale of how Chad came to be our friend. The memories flooded my mind like a raging river bursting through a dam. "Actually, the time we met Chad, his timing couldn't have been better. We were in a bit of a scrape. Some punks had blindsided Rei and I and separated us. Naturally since she was a girl, it wouldn't have ended well for her once they go through with me. These guys really meant business." The image of Ichigo being pinned down by a few of those assholes came to mind.

The leader of the group had a cinderblock in his hands and was about to bring it down on Ichigo's head. I remember being held against one of the guys' chest with my arms twisted behind me. I was being forced to watch as they beat my friend for his hair color. They wanted to show me what a 'real Japanese man' looked like. I had never been so thankful than when Chad stepped in. He had disarmed the leader, causing the others to surround and gang up on him. He took a beating for two strangers he didn't even know. Of course the gang was beaten after that and they ran away, but I would never forget the day that Chad saved us.

"And that was the day we met Chad." Ichigo finished. His mind seemed to come back from the memories just as my mind cleared. It seemed like I wasn't the only one thinking back.

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"So Ichigo, did you and Kuchiki have a good chat?" Rei asked, her eyes forward as she walked with her friend back to his place. Her mother would be pulling an overnight shift for work and wanted Rei to stay at the Kurosaki residence for the night or go back to her Uncle's.

Ichigo stared at his friend in confusion. "Huh? What're you talking about?" he questioned.

Rei shrugged her shoulders. "It just seems like you and Kuchiki have gotten close in the few days she's been here. I hardly see you without her now. Even today at lunch…" she trailed off as she allowed her hair to cover her face, not once looking at her friend. "You told her of how Chad became our friend."

The orange haired teen widened his eyes. "You heard that?" he asked. When he only received a nod as an answer, he turned his eyes away. "Rei-"

"You know I love Chad as our friend, Ichigo. But you also know that I hate feeling useless just like I did that day. Yeah we were in middle school, but I felt like I should have been able to do something!" her voice wavered, her fists clenching in her pockets. "I had to stand there and watch as they almost crushed your head in, Ichi."

Ichigo hated to see his friend break down. It didn't happen often and when it did, it made him feel like the useless one. So, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his chest. He used to do this when they were kids too, now that he thinks about it.

The two walked in silence as the Kurosaki Clinic came into view. Ichigo led his friend into the house, the duo leaving their shoes in the entryway. Just as the pair made it into the main part of the house, the sound of rushing feet broke them from their thoughts.

The sight of the oldest Kurosaki twin dressed in her nurse's attire set off an alarm in Rei's head. Pulling away from her friend, the blonde made a b line for the stairs. Ichigo stood in the main floor, watching his sister run from place to place in a hurry. "Get out of the way, Ichigo!" Karin shouted as she ran.

Yuzu was the next to follow, a first aid box in her hand as she too, raced past her brother. "Welcome home, Ichigo." She managed to get out as she followed her sister.

Ichigo was about to ask his sisters what was going on when he found Rei racing past him as well, her school uniform changed to a nurses outfit as well.