The group of high schoolers and a cat all gathered around in a small hut as they rested from their long day. Orihime had spent almost the entire day putting back together Jidanbou's arm with the help of some of the villagers. It was no easy feat and she felt quite exhausted from the amount of energy she had exhibited during that time. Chad had found the boy who had been embodied as a parakeet named Shibata during this time and had a little bit of fun playing with him and his friends. Uryu… was doing his own thing, and Ichigo was helping out with rebuilding some of the brokendown houses he accidentally destroyed. Now it was time to talk strategy on their entry into the Seireitei tomorrow.
"Because the door has been opened, the security behind the wall has increase dramatically," explained Yoruichi as she sat next to Ichigo.
"So even if we were to open the gate again, we wouldn't get anywhere?" asked Uryu for confirmation.
"Breaking in was never really a good idea in the first place," She said as she eyed a certain someone in the room. Ichigo just pursed his lips and looked the other way, awkwardly avoiding eye contact from the cat.
"Why don't we try breaking in through the other gates?" asked Chad.
"There won't be much of a difference with those either. Besides, each one is ten days apart. So, if we can't go in through the gates, we'll just have to get in without using them." Everyone seemed slightly surprised by this proposal as they all looked at the cat in surprise.
"Okay, so is this the part where to tell us about this friend of yours?" questioned Ichigo, folding his arms in the process.
"Indeed," Yoruichi turned her attention to the village elder. "Do you know the location of Kukaku Shiba?" The name made the village elder become somewhat uncomfortable as his fist clenched slightly. Judging by his response, Yoruichi took his answer as a yes before continuing. "I understand she's someone who is always on the move. I haven't been able to find where she is living right now."
"Kukaku… Shiba." The elder's fists trembled at the hearing of the name. "Don't tell me you're planning to go through the wall with 'That'."
There was suddenly a small rumbling noise that grew louder and closer from outside. "What's that noise?" Ichigo asked as the sound began to pick up. He reached for his zanpakuto as the sound became uncomfortably close to their location.
The rumbling then stopped in an instant and soon after, a bandana wearing man was sent flying through the door, summersaulting into a face plant. A bizarre looking boar with a red bow on its back followed the man in.
"What the hell?" thought Ichigo as he stared at the tusked pig. "Why is there a pig?"
A grumble came from the person who had interrupted the group's meeting as he picked himself off the ground. He complained about something about being thrown off his Bonnie again as he dusted himself off. "Yo!" he finally said giving a casual salute to the village elder, "Long time no see old man!"
"Ganju! What are you doing here?! Go back home!" replied the elder.
"What's with that? I come here to visit after a long time and I get this as a greeting? Even our guests are shocked." He looked around to see the people in the house when he finally noticed Ichigo. There was an awkward tension in the air as Ganju was having a hard time with what he was seeing. He wore the attire of a Shinigami with a slight color adjustment, but had a Hollow mask covering his face. The two just stared kind of stared at each other as Ichigo awkwardly waited for a response.
Ganju then pointed his index finger at the teen and looked at the village elder. "What is this thing?"
"Nani?" Ichigo said passively, more surprised than agree at the ugly man's question.
"Oh, it can speak," said Ganju in surprise.
Ichigo clenched his fists as his blood boiled in rage. "Of course I can speak you primitive pig!"
The insult caused a tick mark to form on the pig rider's temple. "Who are you calling a pig you shitty Hollow, Shinigami thing?"
"I have a name you know," Ichigo said, doing his best to hold back his bubbling anger.
"Like I give a damn." Ganju walked up to Ichigo and took a good look at him. "You are everything I despise in the world!"
"Oh yeah?!" said Ichigo.
"Oh yeah!" replied Ganju. There was once again silence as the two continued their stare down. Suddenly the intruder grabbed Ichigo by the jaw and stared shouting, "Say something, you dandelion headed frea-!"
Ichigo slammed his fist into the face of the person invading his personal space sending him flying past the group of teenagers towards the entrance. "What the hell was that for?! Are you trying to pick a fight?!"
"That should be my line!" replied Ichigo through his grit teeth.
As the two continued to argue with one another, the elder just sighed in disappointment. "Just as I expected."
"Wait, what? Who is this guy?" asked Uryu.
"You don't know who I am?" said Ganju after eavesdropping on the Quincy's remark.
"I don't," began with Uryu.
"I don't either," said Orihime soon after.
"Nope," replied Chad.
"I don't care," stated Ichigo.
"Then it can't be helped," said the pig rider. "I'll tell you. I'm Ganju!" he began shouting. "Self-proclaimed Crimson Bullet of West Rukon District! Self-proclaimed the most 'want-to-call-you-big-brother' candidate for fourteen years running! And… Self-proclaimed West Rukon District Top Soul Reaper Hater!"
"Amazing, all of them are self-proclaimed!" thought the group in a disappointed manner.
"Pfft," snickered Ichigo as he covered his mouth, trying to contain his laughter, but failing miserably.
His chuckles caught the attention of Ganju who stared at him with a scowl. "What's so funny?"
Through his chuckles, Ichigo managed to form a sentence with his mouth still covering his face. "You're so lame."
"What was that?!" Shouted Ganju as he charged at Ichigo, tossing him through the door that the man had already knocked down.
"Ichigo!" shouted Orihime as the group chased after their friend.
"Hold up!" said one of Ganju's henchmen as they blocked the entry way. "We won't let you get in the way of Big Brother's fight."
"If you really want to get involved in this fight…"
"We'll be your opponents."
Back to Ichigo and Ganju, Ichigo found himself laying on the ground with Ganju scolding at him. "Get outta here!" he shouted. "While I'm alive, no Shinigami or Hollow will be allowed to step foot in West Rukon District!"
Ichigo didn't reply with any sort of retort. Instead, he just laid in his spot silently with his bangs covering his eyes. The air around them had suddenly become thicker, making it more and more difficult for everyone to breathe. Everyone could feel it, and it all came from one person.
Ganju, after a few seconds of struggling collapsed on one of his knees, sweating profusely from the struggle of staying upright from all the pressure exuding down on him. "What is this reiatsu?" he asked to himself aloud. It didn't take long before he finally fell to his knee. He had never felt this much power before in his life. The only thing that remotely came close to the fear he was feeling at that moment was from his older sister, and that was saying something.
Ichigo then decided to pick himself off the ground with his back turned to every before casually dusting himself off. He turned only his head so that Ganju could see half of his mask and one soul piercing yellow eye, glaring at him with a bloodthirsty look. It felt like the fiery pits of Hell had been embodied into one individual and was currently staring right at him.
The hybrid slowly began to walk towards the downed boar rider as the image of death became more and more apparent with each step Ichigo took. After a few steps, Ichigo stood towering over his attacker with an unreadable expression on his face. Ganju lifted his head to see the impending figure of Ichigo staring down at him.
"Ichigo, stop!" exclaimed Yoruichi. "You mustn't hurt this man!" Ichigo ignored the cat's pleads as he continued to torment the "Shinigami hater".
"You say that you will not allow a thing like me into this place as long as you're still alive. Yet here I am, standing above you as you kneel before me. Are you still willing to protect this place even when you know you're completely out matched?" A blood red vortex of reishi grew around the teen he stood like an emperor would when staring down a thief.
"Don't get cocky!" Ganju reached and unsheathed the sword, attempting to cut the Hybrid by the side. However, the blade came to an abrupt halt as the metal made a clang upon contact. Everyone froze to a silence as Ganju stared in disbelief at his blade, feeling the reminiscent vibration of the collision still trembling through his hands. His eyes could see that his blade had stopped, but his mind could not comprehend the idea. A sinking feeling of hopelessness grew in the man's chest as he dropped down to his knees. He looked up to the piercing yellow eyes and prepared himself for whatever was to come.
"Is that it?" Ichigo asked disappointingly as the intense aura suddenly dispersed. "Well that was rather boring. I'm going back inside to finish my tea." He then gave Ganju a pat on the back before turning back to the house
Everyone gave a puzzled look as the hybrid walked back. Ichigo had done a complete one hundred-eighty degree turn in terms of mood swings as they tried to figure out what had happened. Had Kisuke's constant mood shifts really rubbed off on the teen that much in the past ten days.
"Wait!" called Ganju. Ichigo turned his head so that the man could only see half of his face. "Why did you stop?"
This time Ichigo turned his body so that Ganju could see his whole face. "Why would I go through with it? Besides, didn't you say you were the older brother around here? They need someone to look up to, someone who they know will fight for them. I'm sure you had someone like that in your life before."
Ganju had found himself in a state of both shock and confusion. The longer he stared at him, the more he began to realize how much the teen looked like his own older brother. "Kaien," he said unconsciously as he sustained his look of shock.
"Though if I had one criticism, you better get your act together. Don't show the enemy your fear. The moment you do that, you've given them everything."
Ganju gazed with a new-found admiration to the man whom he thought was going to kill him not one minute ago. He hadn't felt respect for someone like this in a long time. He got up slowly, not seeing any rush to get anywhere anytime soon.
As he proceeded to dust himself off, a rather large alarm suddenly started to ring on the back of one of the boar riders. A sudden shiver went down Ganju's back as he realized what that meant. "Big Bro, we gotta go!" shouted one of his comrades. "It's already nine!"
"Shit, already! Come on Bonnie, let's go!" Ganju put his finger and thumb to his lips and let out a loud whistle. The large boar with a red bow came rushing out from the room, jumping a mere millimeter over Ichigo's head, just grazing off some of his hair before slamming it's head into its owner.
"Oi, are you okay?" asked Ichigo with mild concern.
"Nice job Bonnie, but we don't have time for that today. Hurry up and let me ride you!" A pissed off expression grew on the boar's face. The pig then rushed at full speed into the back of Ganju as he was sent flying into the air before landing on top of it while in a full-on sprint.
As the man was carried away, he waved goodbye as he shouted, "Oi! Thanks for the talk, Dandelion! I'll be sure to remember it for the rest of my life." He then disappeared into the darkness along with his fellow riders.
Ichigo looked at his friends with a look of confusion on his face. "What did he call me?"
The Next Morning:
The group was as lively as ever as they pursued the mysterious person known as Kukaku Shiba. On their journey, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime were all imagining what this person would look like the entire way, arguing which one of their interpretations were more realistic. The conversation amused Yoruichi to no end as Inoue kept making creations that were certainly a stretch to the imagination. Ichigo, on the other hand, was growing ever more peeved at the fact that they had been walking for a least two hours and still hadn't come across anything.
"Hey, are you sure we're going the right way?" asked Ichigo. His question was ignored by Uryu who was carrying the map. "Hey, did you hear what I said?"
"Shut up!" shouted the Quincy in annoyance. "I'm just following the map that the elder gave us. According to 'it', our destination is supposed to be around here. If you have any complaints, you take the lead!"
"I'm not complaining," mumbled Ichigo as he continued to walk.
"Maybe the guy wants to keep his identity a secret, and that's why he wants to live in a place like this," Inoue added.
"That's not the case," countered Yoruichi. "It's just the person's nature… and personal preference. Don't worry. This person's always one the move, but the house they build is always the same. Once you see it, you'll recognize it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the carrot top.
"You'll know once you see it." The group walked in silence for a few seconds before Yoruichi said, "Oh, there it is."
"What?" said Ichigo as his eyebrow twitched, baffled by the sight before him.
"What is this?" said Uryu who was in the same exact state of shock upon seeing it.
"Wow! How cool!" exclaimed Orihime in an excited manner as she skipped towards the house
Chad just remained silent as he followed the bubbly girl and the cat.
There before them stood a traditional Japanese house with a blue roof and gray walls with two wooden doors acting as the entrance. However, that wasn't the thing that caught everyone's attention. On both sides of the house stood two pillars, shaped as arms holding up a red banner that read Shiba Kukaku. "See. I told you it only takes one time." The cat let out a small chuckle.
"That's not the problem here," thought Uryu in complete shock. "Wants to conceal his identity my ass. He's probably not allowed to live anywhere near the town because he built his house like that."
"That sounds more plausible," said Ichigo with a sweat drop on his face.
"Hmm," Yoruichi hummed, "so this time it's human arms holding the banner. Neatly done."
"He changes the motif each time?" the two teens thought.
"Alright, let's go," said the cat as it began to walk towards the building.
"Okay!" exclaimed Orihime as she and Chad followed the cat. Eventually, Ichigo got over the sight of the house and forced himself to walk up to the entrance. Uryu however, stood still from complete embarrassment of walking into the house.
"What's the matter? Hurry up!"
"Okay," he said reluctantly. As they continued to walk Ishida took note of the massive chimney behind the house. "That chimney is kinda big compared to the rest of the house. Huh, the tops closed off. Wonder why."
"Hold it!" shouted a voice from one of the arms. "Who goes there?!"
"Strangers!" said another voice from the other arm, "and one of them is a… Hollow?" The man became silent as he tried to figure out what Ichigo was.
"Is this gonna become a thing?" thought Ichigo.
The two men standing on the arms jumped down and landed in front of the group, blocking the entrance from the trespassers. Both were wearing stereotypical traditional Chinese clothing with one colored yellow, and the other white.
"Suspicious characters," said the yellow one. "I, Koganehiko…"
"And I, Shiroganehiko…" said the white one.
"Will not allow you to pass!" the said simultaneously.
"Be gone!" yelled Shiroganehiko.
"Or you will die right here!" followed up Koganehiko.
"Impressive," Ichigo said before turning to his friends. "Wonder how long it took them to get that down."
The two men suddenly took notice of the black cat that stood by Ichigo's legs as it pointed to itself. "Master Yoruichi!" they both cried.
Inside the House:
"My sincere apologies," said Koganehiko as he led the group down a long stairwell. "We didn't know it was you, Yoruichi, and your companions. Please forgive our rudeness."
"That's alright. It's my fault for not notifying you beforehand," replied the black feline.
"Thank you! Such generous words from such a great personage!" Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Chinese dressed man turned and said, "Please wait here a moment."
Almost immediately after saying that, a female voice from the other side of the door called out, "Is it Kagonehiko?"
"Y-yes," he replied quickly, but hesitantly.
"… Seems like we have some rare guests. Hurry up and let them in!"
"Yes, right away Master Kukaku." He then opened the doors to reveal the person known by the name of Kukaku Shiba that they had been searching all morning. What surprised the group the most was that instead of a gruff samurai-like man sitting before them, it was a fairly young woman. Her clothing was very open, having no shame in showing off her large bust as well as her thighs.
"Yo. It's been a while, Yoruichi."
"I never said Kukaku was a guy," replied the black cat.
"Who are these kids?" asked the owner of the house.
"Before I answer that, I have a small favor to ask of you."
"That's usually the case when you try and find me." There was a silence as the two stared at one another. "Is it difficult?"
"Most likely."
A smirk grew across the woman's face. "It's been a long time since we talked like this. Alright then, tell me. I always love a good challenge."
After a few minutes of explaining what had happened and their backstory as to why the group was doing it, Kukaku took a puff of her smoke. "I see." She exhaled the smoke she in took. "Alright, I'll take on the job."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. If Urahara is involved, then I can't refuse even if I wanted to. However, while I trust you, I don't trust those kids of yours. I'll include one of my henchmen to keep an eye on them. Especially you." She pointed towards the Shinigami, Hollow hybrid.
"No, yeah, that seems fair. Single out the minority why don't you," said Ichigo with a heavy hint of sarcasm. "Now about this henchman of yours.
"Yeah. Well he's actually my kid brother." Kukaku began walking to the door on her right. "He's still a brat and not that useful." Once she was at the door, she began to shout. "Hey, are you ready?"
"Yeah, just one minute," said a voice from behind the door.
"I'm opening the door, so behave."
"Y-Yeah!" Once the door was opened, there on his knees, bowing, was a familiar man with a bandana and a yellow over coat. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Ganju Shiba." The man raised his head. "Please take care of me…" his sentence fell flat as he opened his eyes to see a group of very familiar face staring back at him.
There was an awkward silence for a moment before the Shiba bowed once again this time more of a sincere apology than anything else. "Sorry for all the trouble I caused you last night. I was acting like a complete idiot and I deeply regret harassing you and your friends. Please forgive me."
Ichigo just waved his hands in front of him as he humbly said, "D-Don't worry about it. You learned something from it and that's all that matters."
"You two know each other?" asked Kukaku.
"But I insist," said Ganju with his to the ground as he slammed his head against the floor with his bow. "I've learned from your words and I will live by them every day from this point on."
"Ganju!" Ichigo snapped, getting the man to calm down and listen. "We are equals now. You don't need to bow your head to me. Let's be friends, okay? None of this 'respect' crap."
The younger Shiba looked up with a dazed expression as the words processed in his mind. "Alright," he finally said. "Then let's get this show going, shall we, Dandelion?"
"It's Ichigo."
Kukaku was in a complete daze as she saw her little brother sincerely apologizing to someone without having to ask him to. This made her somewhat aggravated as Ganju was showing just as much, if not more genuine respect for this teenager in a few seconds than she gets in a week. Letting her emotions get the best of her, she stormed up to Ichigo and put him in a chokehold with the side of his face mushed against her sideboob. Though it couldn't be seen from behind the mask, Ichigo's face was lit up like a tomato from the position he was in.
"You're coming with me," she said. Kukaku then dragged him outside of the room and closed the door behind them with her feet. The rest of the group just stood and looked at each other in a confused manner.
"Please be gentle!" Ichigo whimpered as the one-armed lady pinned him to a wall.
"What did you do to my brother?" she demanded in a threatening tone.
"Oh thank God," Ichigo let out a sight of relief, "You know for a second there, I thought you were going to-"
"What. Did you do. To my brother?" she said, this time with more anger in her voice.
"I don't follow."
"He never apologizes for anything unless I force him too, and yet here he is, on his knees begging for your forgiveness. What's your secret? Did you give him some food? Buy him a drink? Why does he have so much respect for you?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that I was just being nice to him?" His answer earned him another grapple around the neck, finding himself in the same position he was before, with his head pressed against the side of Kukaku's breast.
"Bullshit! Ganju isn't the type of person to just suddenly pick up a role model, especially from one that looks like a Shinigami, Hollow, thing like you. Now tell me what's your secret, Carrot Top." Her grip around his neck tightened as he began to lose oxygen in his lungs. "Tell me! Tell me now!"
It was all happening too fast for Ichigo as his head began to spin from the lack of air and from blushing so much due to his head being pressed into the side of Kukaku's large breast. Finally, his heart and lungs couldn't take it anymore. "Why… me…?" With that his body fell limp in the woman's arms.
It didn't take long before she noticed that the teen had suddenly stopped struggling. "Oi, kid," she said as she shook his unconscious body. "You alright? Kid?"
The door behind her slid open as the people from the other room came to see what all the commotion was about. They all saw the teen's body drooping lifelessly in the woman's arms as they both looked at each other, then back at Ichigo.
"I didn't do it," said Kukaku as she released Ichigo from the chokehold, letting his body cartoonishly flop to the floor with a loud thud, shattering his mask in the processes. "That's gonna hurt when he wakes up," Kukaku thought, not even needing to look at the collapsed body.
"AAH!" Ganju shouted as he put both of his hands on his head. "What did you do to Ichigo?!"
"I-I can explain," she insisted.
"Ichigo!" Yelled the auburn girl of the group in apprehension as she panicked alongside Ganju.
"Why did you kill Kurosaki," the Quincy accused the busty woman as he created a bow from his powers and aiming it at Kukaku.
Chad just let out a growl as he transformed his right arm into battle mode out of anger.
"Everyone shut up!" Everyone shut up. "He's not dead," said the red and white cladded Shiba. "Just unconscious."
There was another pause as everyone took a sigh of relief that their friend hadn't gone yet. Then rage raised again in one person in particular due to the action that their host had done to her friend.
"What's the big idea, hurting Ichigo like that?!" shouted Orihime which caught almost everyone off guard as she rushed up to the woman, puffing her chest to press it dominantly against Kukaku's despite being several inches shorter. "He never did anything to you!"
The attitude from the typically bubbly girl had surprised everyone, especially the Shiba woman. Not really wanting to angering the girl any further. "Fine, jeez. I'm sorry I knocked out your boyfriend."
That one word had struck a chord with Orihime as her face grew red hot, like a chili pepper. "B-B-B-Boyfriend!" she shouted out in embarrassment, "H-He's not my b-boyfriend!" She denied, shaking her head aggressively to try and rid her mind of the embarrassment. "Never mind that. I want you to apologize to him the moment he wakes, and you will wait next him until then, and I will wait next to you to see it for myself."
"What?! No way!" Shiba yelled back in utter refusal.
"Yes way!"
"I'm not doing something stupid like that!"
"Yes, you are!"
"Listen kid, you're really getting on my nerves, and I'm not in the mood for your shit."
"I don't care! I'm gonna keep annoying you until you do it!"
As the two continued their bickering, Yoruichi walked up to Ichigo's laying body to check if there was any other bodily harm on the body. The cat place its paw on top of Ichigo's forehead only to feel that it was abnormally hot, like he had come down with some kind of fever. Recollecting all the events that led up to his unconscious state, she remembered how Kukaku had smothered the teen's face into her breast.
"Both of you shut up!" snapped the cat, causing both of them to stop their arguing. "Kukaku, I should inform you before you go and do anything rash to the boy that he is a very innocent boy. He doesn't have the experience with intimacy of the opposite sex, and the way you dragged him away didn't help the situation. He's only just hitting puberty."
Kukaku, now realizing her mistake, let out a sigh. "Sorry, I guess I did go a bit overboard."
A pleased look came across Orihime's face which didn't go unnoticed by the black feline. "You're not in the right either Orihime." This comment surprised the girl as she looked at her teacher in confusion. "You shouldn't be so rude to our host who generously gave us a way to get into the Seireitei. Plus, she didn't have any knowledge about the conditions of Ichigo nor could she have known them in the first place. You can't yell at her over something she didn't know."
Embarrassment and shame fell on the girl's face as her head hung slightly down in shame. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," she apologize quietly with a bow. "I also got a little carried away. Please forgive me."
Kukaku just smiled. "Ah, it's alright. Let's just move on from this, like it never even happened." Orihime nodded in agreement as her warm smile grew back on her face. "Alright!" said Kukaku "Let me show you guys how you're gonna get into the Seireitei."
"Right, and after that, you can apologize to Ichigo," said the cat with a grin on its face. The Shiba grumbled, irritated by the comment, but made no sign of disregarding the idea.
That Evening:
Kukaku sat beside the sleeping Ichigo, cross legged and with her cheek resting in her hand. After a quick explanation of how the group was going to get into the Seireitei, she had nothing better to do than to wait for the boy to wake up. A sake cup rested next to her with only half of it filled with the alcoholic beverage. "Ah man, this is so boring," she said, leaning her head back.
"Then maybe you shouldn't've made him to faint," responded Yoruichi from behind her.
"Excuse me for not knowing that Mr. Pure-of-Heart over here was going to freak out over touching my boobs," countered Kukaku.
This earned a small laugh from the cat as she walked over to Ichigo's bedside. "He's quite adorable don't you think?" The Shiba raised an eyebrow at the comment.
"Yeah, I guess he's nice to look at."
The cat shook her head. "I meant him as a person. He's always trying to protect those he cares about regardless of the danger. Though his methods are unusual, the way he tries to help people is quite endearing. Even though I only met him yesterday, I feel obligated to whatever cause he would pursue." The two sat quietly, staring at Ichigo's face for a few seconds. "But yes, I guess you could say he's quite attractive."
"How old is he, eighteen? Nineteen?"
"Fifteen."
"Seriously?! Damn. He looks mature for his age."
"Well, if there's one thing he's good at, its breaking boundaries. Speaking of which, why the Hollow mask?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself, though I suppose it has something to do with the attack on his mother all those years ago. It may have manifested along with his Shinigami powers."
The two just stared at Ichigo's face for a while as they considered Yoruichi's idea. "He kind of looks like Kaien, don't you think?"
A sinking feeling dropped in the woman's heart upon hearing her brother's name. A frown stretched down her face as her pain became all to visible to Yoruichi. "He… certainly has a few of his features," she replied weakly.
Realizing that she had accidently step on a landmine, she decided it would be best to let her friend be for a while. "Sorry for bringing him up. I'll take my leave."
With that, the cat walked out of the room, once again leaving Kukaku alone with Ichigo. Though she had completely accepted her brother's death, there was a sliver of hope that Ichigo was some form of reincarnation of him. How else could anyone explain the similarities in basically every physical part of him? But alas, she even she knew that it was unlikely.
After a few seconds of calming her emotions, Kukaku calmed herself down. She opened her eyes to look back at Ichigo as a sad smile fell upon her lips. "He does kind of look like Kaien."
Suddenly, a white liquid excreted from the back of his head and wrapped around his face, molding into the same designed mask that broke before. The teen's yellow eyes opened soon after the mask took shape. He turned his resting head to see Kukaku sitting beside him which was a pleasant surprise to him. "Oh, Hi Kukaku." He then that her eyes were a little bit puffier and watery. He shot up from his futon as he gave a concerned look towards his host. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she said clearing her throat. "I'm fine."
"You sure? You look tired. Did something happen while I was out?"
"No. Nothing happened. I just was waiting for you to wake up. I want to apologize for knocking you out. My behavior was uncalled for and I'm sorry for acting the way I did."
"Oh right, that thing you did with your…" He trailed off, as his mind wandered to the moments before everything went dark. A light blush glowed on his cheeks at the thought. Though it could not be seen from under the mask, the sudden silence and the discomfort radiating off the teen made it a little too obvious.
"Oh?" spoke in a teasing manner as she leaned forward a little more to show more of her skin. "So you remember that, you sick pervert?"
"No!" Ichigo responded nervously. "That's the worst thing I can remember a person by!"
Kukaku chuckled from the comment as she saw Yoruichi's words take shape in Ichigo's reaction. "Alright then," she said as she ruffled the strawberry's hair in an older-sisterly manner, "come with me. I need to fill you in on the plan tomorrow and catch you up on making that cannonball."
"Cannonball?"
"Yeah," she said as she reached for the door. "We're gonna shoot you out of a cannon."
"Sounds dangerous," Ichigo said passively.
A small laugh escaped Kukaku's lips as she opened the door. "Oh yeah," she said, "sorry about earlier. I didn't know you were that into my boobs." Ichigo turned red hot from the statement as steam seemed to flow off of his head. He then began to mumbling something that Kukaku couldn't quite hear. She just laughed at his reaction. Just as she was about to leave the room, she stopped to look back to say one last thing. "Yoruichi was right." She caught Ichigo's attention again. "You really are adorable."
A lot of questions were running through Ichigo's head. What did she mean by cannon? What happened while he was asleep? What did Kukaku mean by adorable? Why did Yoruichi think I was adorable? Is he gay? Why is a cat gay for me?
This train of thought was interrupted when Kukaku started to shout at him "Come on! We ain't got all day! Get your ass moving!"
"Hai!" Like a soldier following his commanding officer's orders, Ichigo shot out of his mattress and dashed out the door.
Kukaku watched and smiled at the energy of the teen as he ran out the door. "He certainly is an interesting kid," she thought to herself. "I should probably catch up to him before he gets himself lost."
It took him only ten seconds for him to get lost in the labyrinth that was the Shiba's underground house. Every single door looked the same as the last, and yet despite feeling like he had just run in a circle, he was in a completely different area from before. "Where the fuck am I?" thought Ichigo.
