Main POV

"Ugh!" I groaned and grabbed my head. Sunlight streamed in the windows and I squeezed my eyes shut at the offensive sight. Boy was I hungover. Maybe drinking with Renji last night was a mistake. I sighed and decided on getting up, stumbling out of bed and heading towards the bathroom to clean up and make myself feel more human. In the hallway I looked towards the main part of the apartment and saw Renji was still peacefully sleeping on the couch, snoring away without a care in the world.

I went into the bathroom and splashed water on my face, trying to bring some life back into me. I brushed through my hair, eyes finally adjusting to the light. I'd have to shower and eat something to make this go away properly. Or at least I hoped that's all it would take. It usually was, but I don't usually go shot for shot with shinigami men.

When I made it, showered and fully dressed, to the kitchen I grabbed some of last night's leftovers and shovelled them into my mouth figuring if I ate something I might feel better. No such luck. It's my own fault, I'm old enough to know better. I sighed and made a cup of tea while I waited. I looked over at the couch and Renji was still happily snoring away. Lucky for some.

It was 10:30 before Ichigo rolled around and Renji was still out cold. If not for the snoring I would have been concerned. I left a note on the kitchen table saying he was welcome to stay as long as he liked, I'd left him a spare key and to help himself to what was in the fridge. Not that it was much, having not had the chance to go grocery shopping.

"So," he said as we walked down the stairs past Keigo's apartment. "Where to first?"

"I have the worst hangover," I sighed. "I decided to go shot for shot with Renji and Ikkaku and now I wanna die. Let's go get bubble tea."

"Not sure that'll help with the hangover," he commented. "I guess it serves you right though, that's what you get for drinking all night."

"Sure," I rolled my eyes. "The bubble tea won't do anything for the hangover but it'll at least cheer me up, so there's that."

"Bubble tea, mood fixer, got it," he replied dryly and I laughed.

"So tell me something about you, something that isn't anime, something so I can know you instead of knowing of you," I smiled as we walked through the bright streets. I was starting to enjoy the cartoon-y filter everything had on it.

"Something nobody knows, huh?" He said scratching the back of his neck.

"No, not something nobody knows," I replied. "Tell me something no one would care about. Something that's you without being a crucial point of your character."

"Alright, something no one cares about. My favourite colour used to be red. A bright kind of poppy colour." He put both his hands behind his head as we walked.

"Used to be?" I asked and a bright blush covered his cheeks. "Never mind, tell me some other time. Tell me, tell me about the best meal you've ever eaten."

"What, you hungry?" He laughed.

"Hungry for bubble tea," I laughed. "Hungry for some answers."

"Alright," he nodded. "It was actually my last night in the seireitei, I'd found Rukia at the Shiba's place and Kukaku invited us for dinner. Everything was resolved and I finally felt at peace. I wasn't worried about saving anyone or undoing something I'd done. Everyone around me was happy. And to make it better Kukaku is pretty good at barbecuing."

"Best food I've ever eaten was my 10th birthday, my parents forgot what day it was and worked late. My older brother came home from work with this wooden bracelet he'd been working on for months and asked me why I was crying," I lifted my arm up to my chest, subconsciously running my hands over the wooden bracelet on my wrist, now permanently stuck on as my hand and wrist had grown around it.

"I told him, everyone else forgot, everyone at school, our little brother, our parents. He just smiled and said but not me. He said how could he forget the most important day of his life and took me out to this really shitty ramen bar in this really obscure and dodgy alleyway. And it was probably the best ramen I have ever had in my entire life. And the best I'll probably ever have."

"I thought you said you were the oldest with 4 younger siblings," he said.

"Haru was older than me by 15 years. Both our parents worked long hours so he pretty much raised me by himself. He disappeared 10 years ago without a trace. I haven't seen or heard from him since. Our parents said it was an accident, held a funeral, but something in me always wondered if it just got a bit to much. Maybe he left. Went out for a walk, and just couldn't bring himself to turn around. He didn't take anything, there was no sign of struggle of foul play, the detectives were baffled."

"I'm sorry," Ichigo told me.

"I just wish I knew," I sighed. "I should just assume he died, but not knowing opens up room for questions."

"That must be hard," he told me. "My mother died and that's pretty rough, but at least I know who killed her. I know what happened."

"It's why I have to find a way back," I told him. "My little brother Asahi, he can't lose two siblings. Not like this."

"I'll help you," Ichigo told me. "You're right, you can't leave them."

"Tell me something to cheer me up," I smiled. "How'd your dad wake you up this morning?"

He groaned. "Came in through the celling today. He was convinced he'd find you there since I was out so late and snuck back in."

"He's not ready to give up on the boyfriend thing is he?" I laughed. "You're going to have to get a girlfriend, protect me from the rumours he's spreading."

"Easier said than done," he grumbled. "I don't have time. Also, how am I supposed to explain why I keep disappearing at random moments for up to a couple of hours at a time? And I can't exactly have Kon stand in, you know what he's like."

"That is a tough one," I nodded. "And what would happen if they just found your body one day. They'd call emergency services, they'd be terrified."

"It's impossible," he sighed.

"Nah," I waved him off. "Your dad did it, didn't he?"

"He met and married a quincy," Ichigo replied. "That's different."

"Not really," I told him. "Find yourself a girl who already knows about hollows. Or date someone with powers of their own. This is Karakura town, it's not like there's not plenty around."

"You're worse than my sisters," he groaned.

"Okay, okay," I laughed. "Favourite food?"

"Chocolate or spicy things," he replied.

"Eugh you can keep the chocolate to yourself," I stuck my tongue out. "I like spicy things and sour plumbs."

"What are you, and old woman?" Ichigo laughed. "No one our age likes those things. They're way too salty."

"Good in rice balls though," I smiled. "At least I'm not as bad as Toshiro, he likes candied beans. It's like everything about him was carefully designed to prove he's not some little kid."

"Don't let him hear you talk like that," Ichigo smiled. "You'll definitely get your ass kicked."

"He'll have an interesting time getting to me while I'm hiding behind you as my human meat shield," I returned.

"Oh so you plan on abusing the 'I'll protect you' thing we agreed on?" He replied and I laughed.

"You're OP as fuck Ichigo, as if I'm not going to cash in on my friend being the strongest and coolest guy in the seireitei," I told him.

"You think I'm the coolest huh?" He leaned down into my face, smug look and arms folded.

"Oh buzz off," I waved my hand in front of our faces. "I take it back you jerk."

"Nu-uh, no take backs, you said it, you think I'm cool," he laughed.

"Just for that, you are never getting your t-shirt back," I told him, thinking about the shirt currently sitting in my laundry basket.

"What! No way! That's mine," he yelled.

"It was, now it's mine," I poked my tongue out.

"You jerk, give it back!" He demanded.

"You'll just have to fight me for it," I told him and he snorted.

"Easiest fight of my life," he replied smugly.

"Yeah but I fight dirty so you watch out," I replied just as smug.

"Oh yeah?" He queried an arrogant eyebrow at me. Although considering my current strength, perhaps the arrogance was justified.

"Yeah," I nodded confidently as we got to the bubble tea vendor. "Now what do you want?"

"We just got here!" He yelled back and I chuckled.

"So you were a courier before all of this?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, wiping the condensation from my strawberry bubble tea on my pants. "It was an easy enough job to do and it meant I was always around to pick up my siblings from school. I worked for myself so I wasn't really rushing off if Asahi got into another fight and was sent home from school."

"So he's head strong then, your little brother?" Ichigo asked.

"Don't get me started. I'm sure he actively goes looking for them. He can't help himself. I think I let him watch too much Bleach when we were kids. He's obsessed with doing the right thing and standing up for what's right but in the violent, with my fists kind of way," I told him and he laughed.

"It could be worse," Ichigo explained. "He could be the ind of person who fights for fun."

"Yeah it could be much worse, my little brother could be Ikkaku," I chuckled.

"Well that's rude," I heard Ikkaku say and I turned around to see him shoot me a feral grin. "What are you two up to today, huh?"

"Absolutely nothing," I smiled. "Or that's what I'm aiming for."

"I see you're not as hungover as Uo was this morning," Ichigo commented.

"You were hung over?" Ikkaku laughed. "Serves you right for drinking against all of us."

"I think the problem was after Renji and I carried you home I then went shot for shot with him until 3 this morning," I replied.

"That'd do it," Yumichika said coming down to meet us. "Where is that red headed buffoon this fine afternoon?"

"Still sleeping I imagine, he was when I left at 10:30," I shrugged.

"That sounds like him," Yumichika mused. Just as he did the air around us prickled and tightened. Everything felt suddenly heavy again and I almost screamed, thinking it was the rift again. Just as panic rises within me a terrifying howl sounded and I could hear the distinct rumbling of giant footsteps heading towards us.

"What the fuck was that?" I said looking around. I could hear the beeping of soul pagers going off and as I turned about to the shinigami around me I saw, Yumichika and Ikkau pop Gikon and split form their respective bodies. Something I'd never noticed was incredibly weird until I was seeing it in front of my very eyes.

"Uo, look after my body," Ichigo ordered as he popped out of it and left me with the 145 pound body as it fell on top of me. I stumbled as I tried to keep him off the ground.

"You two," Yumichika ordered the two mod souls. "Keep her safe and out of the way, Uo, you're in charge."

He flashed away leaving me to think about how it didn't exactly sound like I was in charge when these two idiots were instructed to keep me out of the way.

"Would you hold these?" I handed Ikkaku's body the two bubble tea cups and tried to walk Ichigo's body over to a nearby tree. Hopefully that was close enough out of the way that we'd be safe. I sat down behind the tree, probing myself up against it and slumping Ichigo's body against it.

"Damn it," I said as I watched his head fall into his lap for the eighth time. "Stay upright, you useless lifeless sack!"

I sighed and repositioned the body so it looked like he was napping instead so no passerby would think he was dead, a worry I suddenly had now I lived in the bleach universe. I propped up his head in my lap as I leaned by the tree. Ikkaku's mod soul had come round and put the bubble tea next to us and sat down while Yumichika was pacing around the tree like a pit bull ready to kill something.

"Ah there you are," Yumichika said as he came over, ready to leap back into his body.

"This is what you came up with when I told you to look after my body?" Ichigo asked in disbelief.

"It's very hard trying to make you not look dead. Every time I propped you up against the tree you collapsed again!" I waved my arms around. "Just get back in your stupid body!"