Chapter 9

It had been nearly two months, now, since Ichigo had lost his powers. Since that day, he'd seen neither Rukia nor Senna. Also, Uryu had been extremely busy with killing hollows. Ichigo looked around his classroom as the bell rang, watching all of his classmates get out of their seats and go to lunch. He chose to sit alone, staring out the window, uncertain of how he truly felt about losing his powers.

"Ichigo?" a soft voice called to him from behind.

He turned to see the concerned face of Orihime staring at him.

"What's up?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "I mean, are you really alright after losing your abilities?"

She knows, he thought to himself.

"I'm fine, Orihime," he said with a fake smile. "Don't worry about me."

She put a fake smile on too, but he could sense she was still extremely worried. He knew he'd been acting distant from her and the rest of his friends lately. He was just not feeling up to it at the moment. He'd been so intent on remembering Senna, he'd lost sight of his friends in the process.

"Hey," he said as she began to walk away. "How about we go get some lunch?"

Orihime stopped and smiled so wide he thought her cheeks might cover her ears.

"Sure!" she said happily.

With that, Ichigo stood and the two redheads proceeded to walk out the door of their classroom together. For the first time in a while, Orihime felt at ease with Ichigo's state and Ichigo stopped thinking about it all the time instead of neglecting to eat during lunch to think about that.

As they walked, Tatsuki noticed Orihime and Ichigo walking together. She began to walk towards Orihime but stopped. She shouldn't interrupt them. She was uncertain of what to tell either of them, anyway. As she began to walk away, her eyes cast down in defeat, she noticed a young woman with a healthy, fit physique standing in the hallway before her, her hand on her hip as she stood in Tatsuki's way. Tatsuki was about to shout at the girl when she noticed who it was.

"Why aren't you going over there to talk to them?" Yoruichi said with a smirk. "Go on."

Tatsuki opened her mouth to object when Yoruichi placed one hand on her shoulder and leaned in, staring into her eyes.

"You haven't got to tell him yet. You can wait as long as you need. But he deserves to know."

Tatsuki's heart felt like it was imploding as she realized Yoruichi was right. She choked back the sobs as she stood strong and Yoruichi walked her over to the place Orihime had taken Ichigo for lunch. The two saw her coming up and smiled. She did her best to smile back as Orihime waved frantically for her to join them.

"Hey, Tatsuki! Hey Yoruichi," Ichigo said. "Get over here! We were just about to have lunch. Wanna join?"

"Sure," Yoruichi said with a grateful smile. She pulled a chair for Tatsuki and herself, sitting Tatsuki beside Ichigo. As Yoruichi sat beside Orihime, silence awkwardly filled the air around Ichigo. He looked at Orihime who was staring off in the distance between Tatsuki and Ichigo, her face in a slight grimace.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked as the three women began to give knowing looks at each other. He noticed that Tatsuki was the one Yoruichi and Orihime seemed to be waiting on, so he stared at her.

"Ichigo," she said, tentatively, not making eye contact. "I just wanted to tell you that, for the last few months, I've been training with Yoruichi. I've been trying to get stronger. Stronger, so I could protect all of the people closest to me."

Ichigo looked confused as he stared at her. He said nothing for a few moments, even after their lunches were brought over by Orihime, who'd planned for the two 'unexpected' guests. As the silence grew and he didn't move, Tatsuki, frustratedly, looked at him. To her surprise, he'd began to eat his lunch as though nothing had happened.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?" she yelled at him.

Ichigo took a drink of water from a bottle before he returned his gaze to her. It was a gaze she'd seen rarely in his eyes. It was gentle and caring, yet strong enough that she could feel he was worried.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Anything."

"Look," he said putting his hands behind his head, "I don't see why it matters to me right now. It's not like I'm anything special anymore. I'm just plain ole Ichigo now."

Tatsuki's anger seemed to deepen as she grabbed his shirt.

"You're not 'plain ole Ichigo'. There's never been anything plain about you. I told you I was training so that you might finally realize that we have all been preparing ourselves in case you ever needed us!"

"We?" Ichigo said, looking at Yoruichi and Orihime confused. Orihime smiled, half-heartedly, before holding herself and looking away from his eyes. "Orihime? Have you been training too?"

"We all have," she said softly. "Chad, Uryu, Tatsuki, me... Even Yoruichi."

Ichigo looked at Yoruichi who simply sat comfortably in the chair sipping on an ice cold soft drink.

"Even Karin and Yuzu know somethings up with you, Ichigo," Tatsuki said. "They've both been bothering me, your father and, even, Urahara about it."

"Kisuke?" Ichigo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Karin and Yuzu were investigating his days as a shinigami. "What have you told them?"

"We've told them what we could. Some of it was just too bizarre for us to explain, so we didn't. Otherwise, they are being informed as much as possible."

Ichigo grabbed his head as he leaned onto the table.

"Yuzu's seeing hollows, now, too," Yoruichi stated calmly.

"What? When did she tell you?"

"She didn't tell me. She told Kisuke when she went with Karin to his shop. She said she'd seen a strange ghost that had what looked to be a tribal mask of some nature on. It made these horrifying howls that sent chills down her spine."

Ichigo held his head in his hands while he rested his elbows on the table before him.

"Yuzu... Karin..." he said softly to himself. "Why didn't they just ask me? Why didn't they tell me?"

"They didn't want to bother you," Tatsuki said.

"Ichigo, they know that you've been in pain lately," Orihime said as her eyes began to water. "I can see it too. It hurts so much to see you like this and know that I can't help you get your powers back."

Orihime placed a hand over her mouth as she tried to hold back the sobs. Ichigo walked to the other side of the table and stood beside her for a moment. As she continued to weep, he gently slid his arms around her and hugged her from the side. He placed one hand on her head and pulled it to his chest. She stopped crying for a moment as surprise took its place.

"Orihime," he said softly. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm sorry for making all of you worry."

Orihime began to cry even harder, squeezing his shirt's front in her hands as she wept into his chest. Tatsuki felt the warm trickle of tears down her face as she walked over to Ichigo who held an arm out to her as well. She gladly accepted his offer and, soon, was weeping into his chest beside Orihime. He held both girls like that for nearly five minutes before they calmed down and wiped their bloodshot eyes. As the two girls regained their composure, Ichigo looked over at Yoruichi who smiled at him with pride.

"Anyway," Ichigo said, noticing the slightly wet front of his shirt. "I'm going to go change shirts but I'll see you guys back in class."

Orihime smiled as she wiped her eyes. Tatsuki had resumed her normal post as the tough girl and smiled confidently.

"Well hurry up," she said. "It's not like we want you to be late or anything."

Ichigo smiled as he walked off towards the lockers.

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The locker opened loudly as he entered his combination and unlocked it. He quickly pulled off his shirt and placed it in the back corner of his locker with his gym clothes while he fumbled to find a new shirt. Once he found one, he quickly slid the fabric over his head, trying to snake his hands into the sleeves.

While the fabric still covered his face, he heard the all too familiar sound of a hollow's howl. He froze momentarily, trying to consider how that was possible. He couldn't even see normal ghosts anymore, much less hollows. He continued to put on his shirt, slowly, and listened for any other sounds. He stood stationary as a sensation filled him that he hadn't felt since he lost his shinigami powers, as well. He sensed the presence of the hollow. It was a faint sense, but he was certain that's what he was feeling. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

Suddenly, the bell rang for class, catching him off guard. His eyes widened instantaneously as he quickly shut and locked his locker before sprinting off to class. As he ran, he couldn't shake the unease of the situation he'd just encountered.