Chapter 7
Ichigo and Tia finally arrived at Ichigo's house. Tia noticed that it was different than the other houses. Firstly, it was slightly bigger than the rest of the houses in the area. Secondly, it had big blue neon sign reading Kurosaki's Clinic, and a small parking area for customers. The glass door, under the neon, led inside the medical area of the house. And with that the differences ended, as it looked precisely like the countless houses they passed. Green roof, outside elevation made of wood with small balcony. They passed the clinic door, Ichigo opened the small waist-high wicket, and walked towards doors. But before Ichigo rang the bell, he took a heavy breath and said.
"Now get ready to meet the most bizarre thing in your life." He stated with seriousness, slightly moving his hand to release it from Tia's grip.
"I don't understand." Tia replied confused, releasing his hand.
"Could you move a little bit back to the right. Yep that's good." He told her as she moved backwards a few steps to his right.
"Watch." And Ichigo ranged the bell. For a moment nothing happened, but the next scene she saw could be easily considered an Espada speed moment. The door flew open, and a man in white lab coat flew toward Ichigo with war cry…
"Ichigoooooooooooo!" Kurosaki Isshin had screamed, as he sent a flying kick towards Ichigo. Ichigo caught his father by the foot, rotated 180 degrees, and sent him flying back inside the house.
But before Isshin was sent inside the house, with terrifying strength and speed, for those few milliseconds he locked his eyes on certain tanned blonde, that was wearing…his beloved and only son's, winter coat. All the way to the wall he hit (That had to be replaced later) Kurosaki Isshin was… grinning. His dream came true, now he could rest in peace….
"Uffff…what an idiot." Ichigo groaned. Meanwhile Tia was nothing but amused. She knew little about the whole father son relationship, but the thing she just saw could be considered extraordinary, at least.
"Ok now we can go in." He invited her in.
"Ichi-nii!" Both of his sisters shouted in unison, jumping on him, Ichigo caught them into strong hug.
"Yuzu, Karin good to see you." Ichigo told them with smile.
"What took you so long?" Karin said with a demanding voice.
"Yes brother we were so worried, you didn't answer the phone!" Yuzu exclaimed.
"Sorry, Sorry, but I told you that I went to the mountains with my friends so phones wouldn't work there, didn't I?" He asked with a smile.
"I guess you did, anyways tell us how it wen…. Who is this?" Karin asked as she literally gasped at Tia, not believing her eyes. The other sibling had exactly the same reaction. They watched at her with awe, the intensity of their gazes caused Tia to feel little uncomfortable. 'Do I look that bad?'She thought.
"Hey cut it out. It's impolite to stare." Ichigo stated slightly blushing, embarrassed by his siblings' reaction. Was it really thatunusual for him to bring a girl home….ok it was.
Yuzu was the first one to snap out of it and asked. "Ichi-nii, can you tell us who your friend is?" She asked, trying not to stare at Tia...so hard.
"Well she's…" Ichigo started.
"My brand new third daughter! Son your Father is so proud of you! Masaki! Look our son finally brought a girlfriend to our home!" He yelled, leaning to the poster of his deceased wife, with rivers of tears flowing down his cheeks.
"She. Is. Not. My. Girlfriend. You. Old. Retard." Ichigo said blushing madly. Tia on the other hand was still in shock, not being able to comprehend what was going on. To say that his family is unusual would be an understatement. 'Well from now on I will think of it as unique.' She decided, and then blushed a little when the full meaning of what Ichigo's father had said reached her.
"Erm, as I was trying to say." He started again, sending death glances towards his crying father. "That she is a transfer student, that was assigned to me by the principal." He explained. "She landed earlier today. So I had gone to the airport to collect her."
"Then where are her bags, and why's she wearing your coat?" Karin asked with suspicion.
"Sadly, they were stolen from her on the airport ride here, with all her clothes. So I lent her my coat so she wouldn't freeze." Karin now looked little embarrassed, and mutter an apology.
"Ok, but where are my manners, this is Tia Halibel. She's from Miami in USA." He introduced her.
"It's nice to meet you." Tia said politely.
"Hi I'm Yuzu Kurosaki nice to meet you." She said lifting her hand to Tia. At first Tia was slightly confused about the gesture, and looked at Ichigo, he nodded his head. She looked again at his sister's smiling face, and returned the hand shake
"Yo, I'm Karin Kurosaki." She introduced herself, and like her sister, welcomed Tia with hand shake. And lastly the greeting came to the head of Kurosaki family. Isshin managed to regain his composure and introduced himself.
"I'm Isshin Kurosaki, it's a pleasure to meet you." Tia, now with little more confidence, grabbed his hand only to be quickly pulled into a bear like hug. "I'm so happy to finally meet my daughter in-law, make my son happy." He told her, and started to cry again. Tia stiffed at the sudden closeness, using all her willpower to not attack the old man. In her Hollow life the only closeness she knew was in battle, so the self-preserving instinct in her was strong. Ichigo saw that and reacted quickly.
"Let her go you old pervert!" He yelled, and he presented his love for his father when his fist connected with Isshin face, sending him into another wall (that also had to be replaced later).
"Uhhhh." Ichigo visibly calmed himself. "Ok Yuzu, Karin show Tia her room (His room)." He commanded his sisters.
"And after breakfast I will take her to the mall to buy some clothes for."
"Ok Ichi-nii." Yuzu grabbed Tia's hand and pulled her upstairs, Karin followed.
"Ichigo." His father called him when they left.
"What now…" He stopped when he spotted the seriousness on his father face.
"Ichigo are you certain about this?" Isshin asked in grave voice, looking at his son.
"I am dad, she's staying with us." He replied in the same manner.
"Can I ask how this happened?" Ichigo quickly summarized what happened last night (excluding his little Hollow problem).
"I see." Isshin started. "But I really don't see why you didn't purify her, and send her to S.S.. You know how it works." Isshin crossed his arms at his chest.
"For one, it doesn't work that way with Arrancar, due to the Shinigami powers. I would simply kill her if I did that. And secondly, would you like to have a son that would kill a wounded women?" He finished with sarcasm. He really didn't believe that his father would even consider killing a defeated opponent. Call him naïve, but finishing her off, to him, was just…wrong. Killing them in battle was a different thing, and even then he was never happy when his opponents died. Even when he killed Aizen he didn't feel happiness, just…that he done right thing that's all, he was not pleased about it.
"No, I wouldn't want a killer in house, but..." Isshin tried to explain.
"No buts. I won't do it, and besides she's no threat anymore." Ichigo stated plainly.
"And how do you know that?" He asked.
"I just know, call it strong intuition." Ichigo replied.
"Ok we'll have it your way, but remember that she could be threat to your siblings. She's a Hollow after all. Anyway, what about this whole transfer student stuff?" Ichigo's dad asked.
"Nothing much, I asked Urahara to arrange this for me. She will attend the same school and classes with me." He told him.
"So after all you have set your eyes on her, haven't you?" Isshin asked with a grin, causing Ichigo to blush. "Arrancar huh? Quite an exotic choice."
"I have not set my eyes on her. I just helped her that's all. It's the same as with Rukia and Orihime." Ichigo obviously denied his father's statement, blushing even more. His father leaned to him, and asked him in conspiratorial voice.
"And where does she have her hole?" Ichigo felt a heart attack coming, not believing just what he heard. He looked at his father with pure terror, not being able to form any proper sentence.
"I mean her Hollow Hole." He replied with face splitting grin, dying from laughter. With that statement Ichigo froze for a moment. In their fight he didn't notice her Hollow Hole, so two possibilities were left.
Either she had it covered by her hair, or near her…Ichigo gulped at that thought, turning his face into tomato, which caused to Isshin to laugh even harder.
…..
Upstairs
Meanwhile Karin and Yuzu were showing Tia her new room. To be precise, the one she will be sharing with a certain berry-headed boy. It looked quite usual, the walls where painted with light-yellow color, with few posters of some bands…Avenged Sevenfold, Iron Maiden, Pathfinder and AC/DC. The bed was placed under the window, and next to it was a desk with lamp, computer, books, and few other things on it. On the opposite side of the room was the wall-wardrobe that took up the whole wall.
"Well if you were shorter you could sleep in the wardrobe like Ichigo's previous guest, but since you are…taller, you will probably have to sleep on the floor, or on the bed; if my brother finds the real man inside him." Karin said with a playful smirk.
"Nah I'm sure Ichi-nii won't let her sleep on the floor." Replied Yuzu. Tia smiled a little at seeing this. It seemed that both of Ichigo's siblings held him in high regard.
"Hey, Tia-san mind telling us little more about yourself?" Yuzu asked.
"Of course, and you don't need to add san, just call me Tia." She replied, still smiling.
"I was born in Hawaii, but soon after my family moved to Miami, Florida." She started. "And I'm seventeen years old." She paused when she noticed the puzzled looks from Ichigo's siblings.
"Something wrong?" She asked, a little uncertain by their reaction.
"No. No." Yuzu started quickly. "It's just…." She didn't know how to finish.
"We mean that you don't look…quite your age." Karin blushed.
"Do you mean I look old?" Tia asked, slightly offended.
"No! Of course not, I…we mean that you look…ehhh….quite well developed." She finished, blushing even more.
"Yes, right, that's what we meant." Yuzu supported her sister, blushing equally.
"And by that you mean?" Tia pressed, not sure what the term 'well developed' meant.
"We mean….that you look more like a woman than a girl." Yuzu replied, hoping Tia won't press the matter further. Tia saw the hesitation, and a little nervousness in the manner the sisters tried to explain it to her. So she decided to not press the matter, and figured she'd ask Ichigo about it.
"Anyway, I attended a Miami High School, and decided to take part in student exchange program. I picked Japan."
"Wow, that's a really long way to go, but why Japan?" Yuzu asked.
"I was interested in your culture, so I thought it would be interesting to come here for a while." Tia repeated what was written on the documents that she received from Urahara.
"And what interested you the most?" Karin asked. 'Not good.' Tia thought, she had to think of something quickly or her whole cover will blow, then she had an idea.
"Well what interested me the most were the things connected to Shinigami." She replied with confidence. Both of Ichigo's sister looked at each other.
"Well….that's nice, but apart from that we have lots of other things that aren't so….depressing." Yuzu told her with her with a diplomatic voice. Tia glanced at her, growing insecure. This talk was not going in good direction. By sheer luck they heard a sound of mad laughter, and all their attention was moved downstairs.
"We'd better check on them." Proposed Karin, everybody nodded and moved downstairs.
…..
Ichigo and Isshin were currently sitting in the living room, or rather Ichigo was sitting on a sofa, and Isshin was rolling on the ground laughing his lungs out. The odd thing was that Ichigo was deeply red, and had a sour expression on his face. He noticed Tia and his siblings, but then he locked his eyes on the Arrancar lady, precisely on her waist line. She looked at him, and before she could track his sight, he turned his head away so fast that she could almost hear the sound of his neck snapping.
For a moment a really awkward silence fell over the room. What the hell is going on?
"Yuzu how's breakfast coming along?" Ichigo desperately tried to break the silence, and stray his thoughts from a certain blonde.
"I'm right on it!" Yuzu exclaimed, and ran towards the kitchen. After fifteen minutes of absolute silence, the Kurosaki family and Halibel sat to the table to eat breakfast. The feast was relatively peaceful (except Isshin giving his son the all-knowing look). The rest of Kurosaki clan asked Tia various questions about her home, and with a little help from Ichigo, helping her with 'language problems', the difficult questions went swiftly. After breakfast ended, Ichigo took a spare coat and give it to Tia, so she wouldn't freeze, and took her to the local mall.
The mall was quite standard. A big building with lots of varying shops, pretty much having everything. The Christmas decorations were still on, so everyone could feel the Christmas spirit a bit longer. Now our duo was standing in front of big clothing shop called TK Maxx.
"Ok Tia lets go in and get you some decent clothing." Stated Ichigo and he walked towards the shop, but he the noticed that Tia didn't followed him.
"Hey. What's wrong?" He asked concerned, then he noticed she was looking at the ground slightly red. She mumbled something that Ichigo didn't catch.
"Can you repeat that? I didn't catch it." He asked.
"I don't have any money." She replied, embarrassed. Unlike the rest of the Espada Tia had done actual research about the World of the Living and the S.S. alike, so she wasn't totally oblivious to the ways of this world. She knew about computers, TV, most of recent technology, and little about human societies. From that she knew one thing: In the World of Humans everything had a price.
And actually she was broke, worse, even her clothes were borrowed. She practically was dependent on the young Shinigami. She didn't like it, because she felt like some sort of parasite.
"So?" Ichigo asked cheerfully, not understanding the problem.
"I mean, I don't want to overuse your generosity. You've helped me so much already for free, and even now you are buying me clothes and other things I need. I feel like some sort of parasite." She got even more scarlet. Ichigo thought offhandedly that she'd gotten even more charming. He brushed way this thought quickly, and took a deep breath.
"Tia I wouldn't ever treat you as a parasite." He stated gently.
"I still don't understand why you doing this? I mean, aren't I supposed to be your enemy." Tia told him, in truth she was feeling bad about it. She didn't want to sound ungrateful, but she really wasn't able to guess why he was so nice to her.
Ichigo could clearly see conflict on her face. Unknowingly to most of people he wasn't that dense about feelings, but he wasn't good at showing it. He knew that Tia would have lots of problems adjusting to society, and her experiences from H.M. will be in her way.
"Tia, look I don't have any hard feelings towards you. And why I saved you, I thought It was the right decision." She blushed more when she heard that. "So far I wasn't wrong." He smiled gently at her, making her wholly scarlet, but thanks to her dark skin it wasn't so visible.
"And besides, you're helping me with my training. So if you want, you can treat it as a payback from me, and you don't have to worry about money for a while. Neither do I, because after I was…promoted to Captain, the S.S. gave me quite a nice salary, and above that I got loads of money for beating Aizen. So for the moment I'm quite wealthy." Ichigo had boasted and grinned widely. Tia chuckled slightly, really Ichigo was simply impossible.
But that was also his charm, in a weird way…
"Ok since you put it that way, who I am to speak otherwise." She said with fake meekness, and smiled at him.
"Ok so since we're clear on everything let's go shopping." And with that they went into the shop. However with the first question Ichigo asked, some problems were discovered.
"So what do you want to buy?"
"I don't know." Tia replied embarrassed.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, but he had some clues about what she meant.
"Remember, I was born more than a 100 years ago on Hawaii. At that time the place wasn't very modern. I dare say it was quite primitive, and my research about the human world didn't included much about fashion, so I'm pretty lost." She answered. Ichigo could already see the implications of that statement.
'Damn. I should have brought Yuzu or Karin with me' He thought, but he quickly discarded that idea. It would've blown Tia's cover in seconds. 'Ok it seems he will have to do it the hard way.'
"Ok let's start with the basics…" He gulped. "What kind of underwear you want?"
"Underwear?" Tia asked. 'No, it can't be.' Ichigo sweat dropped.
He could swear Hichigo was laughing his ass off…
"Erm you know…like panties…bra…" He blushed darker with each word.
"I know the word panties, but what does bra mean?" She asked again looking at the Shinigami, whose face paled and immediately after that grew deep red. 'He's got some control over his blood flow.' She noticed.
"… Well... it's a piece of clothing that… holds your breasts. So they won't hang." He explained the best he could, trying not to faint.
"And what's wrong with having your breasts hanging?" She asked curiously about that matter. In her previous life she wore only a sash over her waist and her breasts were uncovered and everyone was fine with it. Later on she wore some shirts. 'It seems that things become more prudish in human world.'
"Its. Well…I mean…dammit..." He took deep breath. "Let's just say that you need it." He cut the discussion.
"Let's find someone who can help us with it." As he looked around and found a worker.
"Excuse me, can you help us?" Ichigo asked politely. The worker was a female in her mid-twenties. She was average height and quite slim, she had black shoulder length hair, brown eyes, and round face.
"Of course how can I help you?"
"My friend need to buy some bras, because her clothes were stolen. She's a foreigner so she doesn't know the sizes here, can you help her?" Ichigo managed to say it with calm face.
"Sure, can you please raise your arms...woah" She gasped at Tia's bust. 'Have to be double D or even Fs' She thought. "Ok good, hold still." She measured Tia, and her eyes widen a little. "137cm in the bust. Ok looks like its DD-size cup, please wait a moment." As she went to the shelves.
"Geez, where did old man Urahara get a size like that?" Ichigo wondered loudly.
"What do you mean?" Tia asked.
"I mean the bra you're wearing now." Ichigo said, like it was obvious.
"I not wearing a bra. I only have this sweater on." She replied. After the meaning of her words reached Ichigo he felt his jaw hit his foot, but thanks to the arrival of shop assistant with a dozen pairs of bras, Ichigo managed to take his mind out of the gutter. Just barely…
"The dressing rooms are over there." She pointed in the direction to back of the shop. "If you need anything just call me." She smiled, and went back to her duties.
"Ok let's go." Ichigo said, and went with Tia to the dressing rooms. Tia went inside with the bras, and Ichigo pulled the curtain. Ichigo heard the sound of her sweater when she pulled it off, and despite his best efforts some 'thoughts' entered his mind that usually weren't there.
He recalled his little talk with his bastard of a father about her, and blushed some more. He was taken out of his 'thoughts' when Tia asked a question, that gave him a heart attack… another one…he lost count after fifth.
"How do I hook it?"
"What?" He asked not believing his ears.
"I asked how I hook this thing up, so it won't fall off." Tia repeated, impatience in her voice.
Ichigo gulped hard "You just hook it." He mumbled.
"Can you help me with it?" She asked, getting a little annoyed because she just couldn't do it properly. Meanwhile Ichigo had to control his breathing, after her request he started hyperventilating. Slowly he moved the curtain, and walked into the dressing room. He saw Tia topless, expect the bra she was fighting with. She had her back to him, but thanks to the mirror, Ichigo could clearly see the concentration and frustration that was on her face. Also thanks to the mirror, he could clearly see her breasts' movements when she struggled with hooking her bra. He felt cold sweat on his back. He managed to regain his composure, and steeled his resolve.
"Let me." He mumbled. Tia stopped fighting with the zipper, and rested her hand along her body. Thanks to the mirror she could see the….unique face Ichigo was making as he hesitantly moved his hand to her back. She found it pretty funny watching his face like that. His lips where pulled into thin line, his eyes narrowed and were bloodshot, and his brows were furrowed, as if he was trying to solve some complicated problem. In addition to that he was sweating heavily, and was as red as a fully ripened strawberry.
Ichigo on the other hand wasn't having so much fun, as his hands slowly shortened the distance between them and Tia. He felt his blood pressure actually skyrocketing through the roof. He was certain that the human body wouldn't be able to handle it for much longer. When he finally grabbed the zipper, he accidentally stroked her skin with his hand. He immediately noticed how smooth it was, and blushed more. She shivered from his touch. He brushed away any indecent thoughts that came to him, and finally zipped her bra. When he let it go he felt his ankles going soft, and leaned heavily against the wall. After he calmed down he asked.
"So how does it fit?"
"It's quite good. I think I could get used to it." She replied, holding a chuckle when she saw the relief on his face. Ichigo quickly showed her how to properly zip and unzip the rest of the bras, and quickly got out of the room. He found some chair and sat on it heavily.
'That was intense.' He thought. Ichigo, despite the fact he wouldn't admit it, he could still feel the sensation of her skin. It didn't matter that it was mere seconds, her smoothness and warmth wouldn't leave his thoughts. He never really had this kind of feeling before. When he touched other girls (of course in totally friendly matter) he didn't have these sort of thoughts. But when he was near Tia, he just couldn't stop it. 'Just cut it out!' He reprimanded. 'You barely know her and you're acting like some sort of perverted monkey.' Ichigo was getting little annoyed with himself. He was acting like some sort of over-hormonal teenager…ok, he was still a teenager, but he centrally wasn't sex-crazed. Suddenly, his self-calming thoughts were interrupted by the voice he wished he would have liked to never hear again.
'Ya really just suck, Ichigo'His inner hollow stated
'Buzz off freak, I don't want to speak to you.' He shot back, still angry about the training incident.
'Don't care. Mind telling me what that was in the dressing room, hmm?'Hichigo asked, with obvious disappointment in his voice.
'What was what?' He asked back.
'The fact that you were alone with a half naked hot chick, and you helped her dress up, you moron. You know Kingy usually it works the other way...' He stressed the last part, mocking Ichigo.
'I'm not a perverted pig like you. I have morals, rules.' He told him with pride.
'More like gay rules' Hichigo almost yelled. 'Rule no 1. Dump every hot chick in a five miles radius. Just tell me how many times you had the occasion to do the chick, but declined no matter how hot she was? Wait lets count, Rukia at least few times, Orihime lost count, you could have her every day if you wanted. Yoruichi at least a few times, as well as that Matsumoto chick. Nel, of course in adult form, I'm not that sick. Not counting countless female Shinigami that literally glued themselves to their hero. Do I need to name more?'Hichigo taunted.
'...'
'Struck a nerve I see, and once again you let the perfect chance slip.'He said with actual sadness. 'If I only was in control...'
'Bullshit!' Ichigo interrupted him. 'Last time you were in power you tried to kill her, not have… sex with her. So stop babbling crap!' He snapped, feeling his anger rise as the truth behind his words were what angered him more.
'Fine point taken, but that was then. Now I wouldn't kill her, it would be such a waste.'He said with a lecherous tone.
'I don't believe what I just heard.' Ichigo said with fake tears. 'Zangetsu did you just hear that?' He asked his Zanpaktou.
'I did.'He replied.
'What? What did I say?'Hichigo asked puzzled about their reaction.
'You just evolved from psychotic killer to psychotic rapist, I'm so proud of you.' Ichigo finished, his voice dripping with venom and sarcasm.
'First: Fuck you. Second: Mark my words, she's now totally dependent on you, she owes you. Don't waste it, if you do I will take the chance.'With that Hichigo disappeared.
'Looks like he will cause problems in future over that matter'Noticed Zangetsu.
'I know, hopefully not big ones.' Replied Ichigo. He was about to say some more, but he noticed that Tia left the dressing room and was looking around for him. He stood and went to her.
"So how does everything fit?" He asked, looking at her.
"They are good." She replied.
"Ok so let's continue…" Ichigo started, then he noticed Inoue walking towards him.
"Oh Kurosaki-kun, Tia-san nice to see you." Said Inoue, followed by Ishida or what supposed to be Ishida. Ichigo couldn't tell, because he was literally buried under shopping bags.
"Yo, Inoue, Ishida" Ichigo replied.
"So what are you doing here?" Inoue asked.
"I'm buying some stuff for Tia, so she won't have to walk around in the same clothes everyday." He told her.
"Oh I see. Hey Tia I see you chose some bras, how are they?" Inoue asked her with a smile.
"They are good, Ichigo helped me with them." She replied politely, not knowing what her words will cause.
"Ara, how did he help you?" Inoue asked, making her smile a little forced, as her sight traveled to Ichigo who was giving signs to Tia to not say anything more about what happened…vainly.
"I had some problems with hooking it, so I asked him to help me. He hook it and told me how to hook and unhook the others." Tia replied with small smile, oblivious that she, with one sentence, destroyed Ichigo's reputation.
'Jesus.' Ichigo thought, seeing the complications that this will cause in nearest future
"…." Inoue kept her 'friendly smile', but the veins on her forehead were clearly visible.
"Kurosaki….kun, mind telling me how you know how so much about bras?" Inoue asked in sweet voice, but Ichigo felt like Captain Unohana was standing in front of him.
'Women are soooscary.'He thought, and started to tremble. 'Dammit what to do? Tell her that's a healthy interest in my age? Nope, she will call me a pervert, say that I couldn't say no to a lady? Wrong, to many problems will arise…I know!'
"Well I learned when my sisters asked me to help them with theirs. Since I was older, and you know they won't ask my father to do it even in a 1000 years." He replied trying, to hide the obvious lie. He glanced at Ishida, and saw that he's not buying it, but thanks to the God Inoue was naïve.
"Oh, that's great Kurosaki-kun that you help your sister's so much." He could literally see the steam coming out of her. 'Uffff close one.' He thought, and he was struck by an idea.
"Hey Inoue since you and Tia are both girls..." He started.
"My Kurosaki, your perception skill has greatly improved." Ishida taunted him, making Ichigo scowl back.
"Erm… so I thought…" He started again.
"No way…You did?" He mocked him, causing Ichigo to clench his fist, and give him a death glare.
"That maybe you can help Tia choose the rest of her clothes, while I and that four-eyed bastard have a little talk." Twisting his lips in cruel smile.
"Ok no problem." Inoue replied, happy that she could help her friend. Ichigo left the shop, and went towards cash machine and disbursed some money. He noticed that the amount of money on his account almost hadn't changed. 'It's good to be rich.' He thought.
When he went back to the shop he handed Inoue the clip of money, and watched in amusement at her reaction. She had asked from where he got that amount, and raised her eyebrows when he summarized the whole story. Ichigo also told Inoue that she can buy all she wants for herself. Minutes later he and Ishida went to the nearest café, and ordered some coffee.
They talked about different stuff, school, Shinigami…and taking an Arrancar into his home, which pissed Ichigo off, but lucky for Ishida he didn't press the matter. While they were talking the mountain of bags that Inoue and Tia left in the café were growing and growing. Growing to the point the two males considered calling Chad, because they probably wouldn't be able to carry it all. After four hours (a/n: I know it first handily -_-) the two females came into the café with their final bags, explaining that the money was gone. However what really caught Ichigo's eye was Tia's new outfit.
She now wore a white scarf, tight black T-shirt with a red jacket on top of it, that ended half way abdomen (a/n think of her Espada jacket). Black leggings that matched her T-shirt, and white high heeled boots (looking like the ones in her released form). Also, she bought herself a black coat with a heavy hood, white fur on the ends (very much like Ichigo's, but a more feminine version). Tia noticed his gaze, and felt little uncomfortable. He was looking at her like some sort of prey (she didn't know what that kind of gaze meant in human world).
Ichigo had noticed his mistake and quickly stopped staring. After that they separated Tia's bags from Inoue's, and everyone went home. When Ichigo and Tia arrived at his house, and after Ichigo repelled his father's attack, they went to his room and unpacked all the bags. Ichigo was impressed by Inoue's resourcefulness. Now Tia had everything she needed from a toothbrush, to perfumes, and from boots to winter hats. After they finished unpacking, and putting the clothes in the wardrobe, Yuzu called them for supper. After the meal Ichigo took Tia, and guided her around the city. They came back later that night so they immediately went to sleep, tired after a full day. Tia went to sleep on the bed, (yep Ichigo found the gentleman inside, next to perverted murderer, and old man in black) while he slept on futon.
The rest of the winter holidays passed in a similar matter. Ichigo helped Tia to adjust to the Human World as much as possible, showing her the ways how humans interact. They collected Tia's new ID from Urahara, as well as the soul candy after he explained to her how to use it. Also, Ichigo gave her his books so she could catch up with schooling, and much to his grief and shame, she mastered all his subjects in a matter of days, to the extent he wouldn't even dream off.
Night Before the New Semester
Ichigo was lying on his futon waiting for Tia to finish showering, thinking about recent events. He was still slightly shocked with the turn of events. If someone told him months ago that he will be sharing room with a female Espada, what's more the 3rd, he would laughed them off, and sent them to a psychiatrist. But now, here he is, waiting for the mentioned earlier Arrancar lady to finish her shower.
In the time they spent together they began to know each other better. Despite the fact he wouldn't admit it, Tia began to grow on him. Now he could, with all seriousness, say that he consider her a friend, no a very good friend. At first a bit reluctant, she quickly managed to grasp the basic rules of human societies, and he noticed she enjoyed a few things like the rock and metal music that he showed her. He smiled at that. Also their characters were similar.
When he asked her about her aspect of her death, he was pleasantly surprised when she told him that it was sacrifice. He knew a lot about it, with his nature to protect, sacrifice was really close to him. She grew even more in his eyes when she told him about her Fracción, their tragic death and the loneliness she felt without them. Ichigo knew the loss of the ones that are close to you, so he could sympathize with her pain.
His thoughts were interrupted by the object of them. Tia walked into the room in her nightdress (in Ichigo opinion little too short), smiled at him and went to the bed. Ichigo turned the light off, and went to sleep.
"Ichigo." Tia suddenly called him.
"Yes?" He replied half asleep.
"I know that I had already told you this, but I'm really grateful for all that you have done for me." She turned her face back to him. Thanks to the cloudless sky, and light of the moon (great timing), Ichigo could clearly see her face.
"Never before has anyone showed me so much kindness." She smiled at him. "I'm greatly indebted to you. Ask me for anything and I will do it." She told him, seriousness in her voice. Ichigo could already hear the litany of things that his Inner Hollow, Hichigo, urged him to force her to do, but aside that he looked deeply in her teal-color eyes, that seemed to glow, thanks to the moon, in some mysterious but alluring way. He felt his face was getting hotter.
"Nah, don't mention it, friends don't need to repay me in any way." He replied her giving her a genuine smile. At that statement Tia blushed, no one called her friend before…her heart started to beat a bit faster…'What is that felling?' She thought.
"Anyways, lets get to sleep. Tomorrow is your big day, so you have to be at your best… or are you getting a little nervous and can't sleep?" He teased her a little. Tia chuckled a little.
"Why should I be nervous over going to such place as School?" She replied with confidence.
"You didn't answered my question, are you nervous or not?" He caught her off-guard with his straightforward question. She grew a little redder.
"A little." She mumbled.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I will personally look to it." He said, his mischievous voice reassuring her.
"Thank you Ichigo."
"Night Tia."
"Night Ichigo."
