An Unexpected Turnout: Chapter 10
Renji's office wasn't that much different from Ichigo's. It basically had the same stuff, just in different places. There were, however, some different objects, like file cabinets near the door. A couch was set next to Renji's desk to the right. His desk was set on the back wall facing the door. There were bookcases on the walls, to the right of the couch and to the left of the desk. The normal writing utensils were on his desk. Pens, pencils, paper clips, sticky notes, items like that. There were also papers stacked around and on it. Some looked like they were filled out, and others were blank.
There was another couch on the wall with the door. The small coffee table was in front of it. There wasn't any flowers on this table, just more papers. Renji had a lot of work to do.
Rukia sat on the couch closest to the door. Katsuya plopped his body on the couch next to her. Renji sat at his desk and Ichigo sat on the couch beside him. The couch felt so good. It was comfortable, like the one in his office, and he sunk right in it. He closed his eyes for a split second and opened them again. Being tired made him want to just drift off, but he had to tell Katsuya the story. Sitting up, he gave a sigh.
"Okay Ichi, What's up?" Katsuya asked, scooting closer to Rukia.
Ichigo started talking. He told them basically about the day so far, starting with meeting Alex and Miota. Katsuya was making mental notes about everything he said. Despite his childish and random personality, Katsuya was actually pretty smart. He knew a lot about Ichigo's situation and went about handling it pretty well so far. Besides the minor distractions, they were getting somewhere.
A little bit into his lecture, Ichigo started losing his vision. It would fade away then come back. It didn't happen that often though. Maybe every five or so minutes. Sometimes he couldn't even notice it. This didn't seem like a very major problem, so he ignored it. He was tired after all. The couch's comfortableness was urging Ichigo to lay down and sleep. He knew he couldn't though. He had a lecture to finish.
Later on, during his talking, he felt his eyes closing slightly. He sat up straight and tried to move around a bit to try to get himself to wake up. Trying to incorporate the movements with his lecture. It didn't really work. He was still tired and his eyes were getting heavier by the minute. No one could see his eyes, of course, because of the dark sunglasses. Maybe that was making him tired. He tried to move to take the sunglasses off, but something threatened him not to. Instead, he scratched his head, since his hand was already up there. This reminded him about the other time he wanted to take them off. He felt the same feeling just now. This made Ichigo rewind a bit and tell Katsuya about the two attempts.
When Ichigo stopped talking, there was a silence. Katsuya was processing the information. Rukia was just watching Renji, who was doing paper work. His pen was moving pretty fast. It made Ichigo wonder if soul reapers had a certain technique, kind of like flash step, to write that fast. Flash writing? No, probably not. Refocusing, Ichigo waited for Katsuya to speak. He let his body fall back on the back of the couch.
"I have two things to say. One is the number four." Katsuya said. Renji looked up from writing, hearing another voice besides Ichigo's let him know that this was going to start getting interesting. "Let me explain. I'm now 100% positive that Ichi's level is four."
"Huh?" Ichigo managed to say.
"Tolerance level. At first I couldn't really figure out if your level was three or four, but now I know it's a four. You see, when I was hitting you repeatedly after you told me you were okay, you stuttered. When you were answering one of my questions, you stuttered on the word 'to' four times. To put it simpler, you made the 't' sound three times, followed by the actual word. After you said this, you stuttered again on the word 'I'. You basically said the word twice. That made me confirm it. You stuttered your level and then you cut it in half, making it two. It only works with even numbers between one and five. In fact, it only works on that number, four. Yes two is even, but If you cut two in half you get one, and I can't tell if you repeat a word once. Understand?"
It did make since. It was just amazing to everyone that Katsuya remembered that. It was such a small detail and he still remembered it. Most people would think that the stuttering was just for confusion or pain, which would be easily overlooked. It's always the little things that are overlooked.
"There are other ways of figuring out a level for someone. You just have to watch them non-stop and watch every small detail. It's hard for untrained eyes. Anyways, my second thing to say is that do you seriously have a hollow? I mean, really?"
"Yeah. He never talks to me though... I know somethings wrong with him after hearing what he had to say." Ichigo said lazily.
"Oh. Is he mean to you?" Katsuya narrowed his eyes, "Never mind, let's refocus. Your hollow... If I knew you had one, I would have taken a different approach with this situation. I thought you were a normal soul reaper. Now that I know otherwise, there's probably many things different with you now. I just have to figure out what."
There was an awkward silence in the room. All that could be heard was Renji's pen writing on paper. Rukia had gotten up and tried to help Renji with his work. Ichigo was just sitting on the couch. He was laying in it while sitting up. Katsuya, not liking to sit alone, walked over to Ichigo. He basically jumped on the couch. Ichigo didn't move. Katsuya looked through his glasses to see his eyes. They were shut. Why's he sleeping? Katsuya thought. He tapped on his glasses to see if he would wake up. No response. He was out.
"What are you doing?" Renji asked Katsuya. Rukia looked up at him.
"Ichi's asleep. Should I wake him up?"
"No, he's less annoying that way."
"Okay!" Katsuya said cheerfully. "He must be in deep sleep." He poked Ichigo a couple times. He didn't wake up. "See! This is suspicious!"
"Or it's just that he's tired." Rukia said.
"Suspicious!" Katsuya twirled off the couch. The two soul reapers still conscious looked at each other. Katsuya started to prancing around the room. He picked up stuff and started to examine them. The little boy started opening and closing books and drawers. This got on Renji's nerves.
"Hey! cut that out!" Renji shouted at Katsuya.
"Aww! Don't be that way Mr. Mooch!"
Renji twitched. "Um, Katsuya. Maybe you should go outside and do something, like help the other soul reapers rebuild or something." Rukia suggested before Renji could say anything.
Katsuya's eyes sparkled. "That sounds fun! I can talk to a lot of people out there! Good idea Chappy!"
"Chappy?" Rukia said a bit confused.
"I don't like the nickname Ki, so I'm gonna call you Chappy. Ki sounds... like kiwi, you know? I don't like that word that much. Kiwi... It's like... Eh? It's an annoying and weird word." Rukia gave him a blank stare. "Anyways! Bye you two!" Katsuya smiled and turned left out of the office.
"You know he turned the wrong way, right?" Rukia said.
Renji smiled.
...
"Yo?"
"I have another assignment for you. It would be nice if you could do it first, but your main goal is to carry out the job I sent you out on a few days ago. Understood?"
"Yeah, I get it."
"Can I trust you with this? Are you a 100% committed?"
"Yeah, you created me after all, why would I disobey? I'd rather not get taken apart again." There was a quick silence. "What's this new job?"
"I'd rather not resort to this, but I have no choice really. He's a good person and all, but..."
"What are you rambling on about? Who now?"
"Nothing. I want you to take assignment K for me. I know I said I would never give it to you, but he's been a real pain now. He's all I can worry about now. It's very annoying."
There was a pause. This went on for about a minute. "Hm..."
"I asked if you were 100% committed. I don't just say that for little jobs I give you. I didn't say that on the mission your on now because I knew you could take care of it without a problem. You don't know any of the people there. This one, however is different. I would say that I'd do it myself, but the times not right."
"What's the point in doing this? Do I really have to-"
"Yes. Well, just get the job done as fast as possible and get back to your first assignment. When your close to your objective, I'll come to help you. Just contact me when that time comes. I wont let you go in alone. After all, I want to be apart of my plan. It's better if I do it with my own hands, but I know I'm not strong enough to take them out alone. It's only a matter of time."
He sighed. "Ugh, what a pain! Who you think you are? Cutting me off like that? Tch."
"What was that?"
"Nothing.."
"Anyways... How long will it be until your ready?"
"Not to long. A matter of hours. I think... Hours, minutes, days..."
"What?"
"Chill, It's hours. Not to long."
"Can you be more specific?"
"Nope."
"..."
"Need anything else?"
"No, that should be it. Don't draw to much attention to yourself when you begin. Our boy is a guest in the Soul Society after all. I don't have anything against him, so I don't want to get him in too much trouble. He's a nice kid."
"K." This damn assignment. What a pain. At least I see a loop hole.
...
He turned left. Then took a quick right. Another left. Right. Straight. Right. Left. Diagonal left. Down right. Straight. Back. Left.
Katsuya couldn't find his way out. He wasn't paying attention when Renji was bringing them in. He was too busy pulling Ichigo along. Noticing his surroundings was the least of his problems. All he could do was guess, and that's what he did. Katsuya was trying to look for windows to indicate that he was close to the outside of the building, but so far he couldn't find a single one. All he saw was a bunch of doors with windows on them. It was frustrating him.
Katsuya really wanted to go out and talk to the soul reapers as well as help. He needed to get rid of his talking habit, so he would be less annoying. Talking to all the soul reapers outside would be a great way to decrease the urge to talk. Maybe he should ask someone for help. After all, the soul reapers here knew their way around. He searched around for them, getting himself more lost. Oh my gosh where are they? Sliding open every door he past and looking through the windows, he couldn't find anyone. Where were they? Maybe they were on duty? Katsuya remembered that most of them were outside. The only thing he could do now was retrace his steps and go back to Rukia and Renji.
Wondering around for a while, Katsuya seemed to remember where he was at. He had gone back up and it looked like he was close to Renji's office. Peaking through a door, he saw Renji and Rukia. He watched them for a while. He glanced over at Ichigo too, who was still out. He didn't move an inch from when he left.
Renji looked up and saw Katsuya peaking in the doorway. "What are you doing?" He stopped writing.
"You could of told me I was going the wrong way. I'm heart broken now. And Rukia!" Katsuya started doing a fake cry. "I thought you would of stopped me and pointed me in the right direction! I'm hurt, really hurt."
"To get out of this building, you have to turn right out of this office. From there, it's pretty self explanatory." Renji began writing again. Rukia gave Katsuya a sympathetic smile.
"That's all you had to say you know." Katsuya walked the other way to get out the building.
...
Patrolling West Rukon, they were happily reminiscing on the day so far. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon, so there wasn't that much that happened to them.
"He's so cool!" Alex said, skipping.
"Who? Captain? We barely know him, but I guess he is." Miota sighed and looked around. There were some kids running around chasing each other. They were laughing and jumping. Most of the kids were running from an older looking boy with a stick. He was waving it around smiling. "That's kinda cruel..."
"You wanna go break them up? And when I say you, I mean you. I'm not getting hit with a stick."
"Coward! They're just kids. And I highly doubt they'd hit a soul reaper."
"Yes! They would! That kid that hit me like yesterday, remember? Took my clothes too... What kind of person does that?"
"Oh, well you just have bad luck."
The two watched them for a while and then started walking again. They were looking for hollows. This was a pretty quiet place though, not too much happened here. They still had to watch the area because they were assigned here.
"You know, Captain Kurosaki reminds me of..." Miota stopped.
"Somewhat. In a way he reminds me of him too. I don't know what it is though."
"I wonder what happened to him. No one ever told us where he went."
"Yeah." There was a moment of silence.
"Huh? What'cha talkin' 'bout?" A voice came from behind the two. They looked back quickly to see a female soul reaper. She had a long dark brown braid that came down to her waist. There was a pink ribbon tied at the end of her braid. She had pink butterfly hair clips on each side of her head. The girl was no taller than Alex. She was holding her sword, which was pink. It had a pink charm hanging from the hilt. The dark haired girl wore pink glasses as well. They had a crack in the right lens and tape over the middle of of the glasses. Surprisingly the tape wasn't pink, it was a tan-ish color.
"A-Anny? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your squad?" Alex asked.
"Yes, but Captain Kotetsu told me ta look around for people ta heal in this area. I haven't seen anyone in need of help, so I came ta see what yall were doin'."
"Oh, what luck." Alex gave a sarcastic smile. Anny hit him with the butt of her sword.
"Say that again! Come on!" Alex grabbed his head. "That's what I thought."
"I see you've changed your color again. And you still have your broken glasses. When are you going to get them fixed?" Miota sighed.
"Yes. I felt pink taday! And I don't know. Whenever Shu comes back! We were glasses buddies! He just disappeared one day and never came back. He said he was goin' ta fix my glasses that day too. I'll wait for him! He must of had a good reason ta ditch us." Anny poked at her broken lens. "If he never comes back, then I'll never fix my glasses."
"Tch. I heard roomers from the squad that he was sentenced to death. Something happened though and no one knows where he is. We have no way of knowing if he's dead or alive. This happened a hundred years ago, right? So who knows."
"Don't talk 'bout Shu that way! He could be alive! Just recently, I've been having this feeling. That maybe he's alive. Around here ta be exact! And that new captain. That Kurosaki guy. I've been gettin' vibes from him. He past me one time and all I could think 'bout was Shu."
This made Alex and Miota think. They had to admit that they did get a vibe from Ichigo. They couldn't explain it, but in a way it reminded them of Shu. Now that she mentioned it, they too were getting a sense that Shu is or was close by. Something was lingering.
"You have ta admit it! I asked Hana! She has these feelings too! She was the only other person from the accident!"
"Flower... Oh, her. I forgot about the accident. Anyway, I do admit it."
"Oh! Hana! How's she doing? I haven't spoken to her for so long?"
"She's fine. Her speech got better actually. She got burned in her throat that one time and she couldn't speak right, remember? After the accident, she can speak way way better!" Anny smiled.
"That's wonderful! I want to hear her speak now." Alex clapped his hands.
"Let's go now!"
"Need I remind you that we're on an assignment, Alex." Miota said impatiently.
"Aw... Later then?" Alex asked Miota.
"I suppose."
Anny sheathed her sword. She played with her charm for a while.
"Anny," Miota started, "Why did you have your sword out?"
"Oh, well I performed a konso not to long ago. Before I came here actually." She answered.
"Huh? You can't do konsos in the Soul Society! Konsos are when you send souls from the World Of The Living to the Soul Society. How can you send a soul here if it is already here?" Miota shouted.
"Oh, um... Well it's too late now. That soul is somewhere." Anny scratched her head. Miota started walking away.
...
Katsuya skipped back inside. He had fun talking to the soul reapers. Most of them didn't mind him speaking to them for so long. They actually enjoyed his stories. A lot of the people could relate to his stories. They had some things to tell Katsuya too. It helped some soul reapers let out their steam. Katsuya's talkativeness helped more then himself. He felt happy.
He turned into Renji's office, smiling. There was a stack of papers on Renji's desk. It almost blocked off Renji's head. All you could see was the spikes on his head. Katsuya giggled. Rukia was sitting on the floor filling out papers. She looked up seeing Katsuya laughing.
"What's funny?" She asked. He put his hand behind his head to where you could see all his fingers sticking up. Rukia made a small smile and got up to see what he was talking about. She stood at the door, looking at the stack of papers. She saw red spikes sticking up from behind the papers. She started laughing. Renji peaked over the papers.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Heh, nothing." Rukia laughed.
"Whatever. Come help me get these papers off my desk. I finally finished." Rukia, still giggling, walked over to his desk and started taking papers off the desk and onto the small table. When this was done, Renji sat back in his chair. "Finally!" He looked over at Ichigo, who was still sleeping. "I wish I could sleep all day like he can."
"It's not good to sleep too much." Katsuya said. "Imma wake him up. It's like 3 now, right?" Katsuya walked over to Ichigo. He reached out to shake him.
Rukia and Renji remembered something. The situation reminded them of this. They remembered that they, once, tried to wake him up like this too. They thought it was weird for Ichigo just to be sleeping randomly in the park that day. It was somewhat random that he happened to fall asleep a few hours ago when they were trying to discuss the 'problem'. The waking of Ichigo the first time is close to what Katsuya was about to do. They remembered what happened to them too.
"Katsuya! Don't-"
...
Hollow Ichigo was pacing the buildings. He was doing this for a while. Zangestu was watching him as he did this. He was on the tallest building, observing. Every now and then, he would glance at the small black box and then back at the worried hollow. Ichigo's hollow would glance up at Zangetsu, like he was debating weather or not to go up to him or not. Zangetsu found this awkward.
He jumped buildings as he paced. He went in the same direction for about ten minutes, then retrace his steps. Like he was looking for something. It was like he was lost in thought.
After a while of this, Hollow Ichigo jumped from where he was onto the building Zangetsu was standing on. It surprised Zangetsu, but he didn't show any emotion. The hollow looked at the box and then at Zangetsu. He smiled. It wasn't his crazy killer smile, but a smile that wanted friendship. This creeped Zangetsu out.
"How are you Zangetsu?" Hollow Ichigo said with a calm tone.
"Fine." Zangetsu replied.
"That's wonderful!" There was an awkward silence. "I've been feeling weird lately. My headaches gone, but somethings not right."
"You are acting strangely again."
"I know that. I probably wouldn't be talking to you now if I was my normal self. I remember something Ichigo told me to tell you! He said to hi-" Hollow Ichigo froze. He didn't move or blink at all. Zangetsu sighed.
"What is this about?" He walked over to Hollow Ichigo and examined him. Nothing was out of the ordinary about him. He was just frozen. It was no different from the other times he froze. Or that's what he thought. Zangetsu saw a flash come from behind him. He turned to see the black box glowing. It flashed again. Zangetsu walked closer to it. It flashed two more times and then...
...
Ichigo opened his eyes.
He opened his eyes and...? Review please!