*=On the Crossing to Choose=*

Chapter Twenty-One

I wasn't about to pretend it wasn't flattering. I mean, it hadn't exactly been my intention, and I wasn't sure if it was a ubiquitous compliment or not, but the fact that people were noticing meant something, right? There was a pay off for my slaving.

Tatsuki poked at my thigh again. The skin was in plain sight what with us being in school and in our uniforms and all. I didn't mind her doing it much, but I kept a wary eye out for Chizuru in case she got any funny ideas.

"Seriously," the martial artist said, "what did you do over the summer? You must have gained five pounds of muscle, at least."

"Huh?" I blinked, taking a leaf out of Orihime's book and playing Dumbolina. "You think I gained weight?"

"Not weight - muscle."

"But muscle is more dense than fat, so if you're telling me I gained five pounds of muscle you're really trying to tell me I gained ten pounds of fat. Tatsuki, you're so cruel. It's not my fault that food is my only true friend."

Apparently I wasn't half as accomplished with faking depression as I was with making amazing jokes. Tatsuki just snorted and went back to "paying attention" to Ochi-Sensei.

The teacher was mumbling something or other about a transfer student. Like I would be excited about a new kid when I was looking forward to showing Ichigo how good I had gotten with Taimozou. The results Tatsuki was awing over were from the training I had pushed through, and my new physique certainly wasn't just for show.

In other news, the Bounts had officially joined the dinosaurs in extinction. La dee da. The good guys had won. What an upset.

But in all seriousness, all was well. Everyone had come back in one piece minus Rukia and Renji, who hadn't come back at all. I was pretty bummed about it but should have known they would stick around the Soul Society for a while once their original mission was accomplished. I would have to wait until Renji's next Earth-bound assignment to show off my skills. That turkey wouldn't be able to stay away for too long. Who could resist Mikita Kame, after all?

Besides owing him a few bruises, I guess Renji deserved a thanks from me, too. If it hadn't been for him I probably would have never made any progress at all. Who knowns what would of happened if I'd just been left alone to drown? No one could really live like that for long. Even if Renji hadn't done anything spectacular, he'd done just enough to make a difference.

Another thing that was more interesting than the new student that morning was the meowing coming from Ichigo. Judging by the way he was holding that silly little skull badge of his I assumed the sound was a Hollow alert. (Why it meowed was beyond me. Or maybe it wasn't a meow at all, but the warrior cry of a barricuda).

I merely watched from my seat as the Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad rushed out of the room, making some floppy excuse about going to the bathroom. The thought of following them didn't cross my mind.

The time would come for me to unveil my mighty moves. I wouldn't go looking for the opportunity, because the opportunity would find me. Besides, I couldn't miss out on the fine education that was being offered just to indulge my own ego.

I gazed out the window, looking on as a little stick-figured, orange-headed, not-quite Soul Reaper sprinted across the grass in pursuit of his game. He was such a dork, that Itchy-bum. I had gained some kind of grudging respect for him over the past few weeks, though. I mean, he had reached bankai at an all-time record time. He'd done everything in an all-time record time, actually. My feats seemed so puny compared to his. Damn him for stifling my thunder.

"Hey, Mikita? Are you seeing that, too?"

My gaze frittered over to the speaker, Tatsuki, who was gaping out the window like she had seen a ghost.

Or a little stick-figured, orange-headed, not-quite Soul Reaper.

I showed Tatsuki a raised eyebrow. "Seeing what?"

I really couldn't be shocked. Between her relations with Ichigo, Orihime and I, Tatsuki was bound to be sensitive to spirits. Especially when it came to Ichigo. That kid spread around his reiatsu like it was H1N1. Give it another generation and the whole town would be seeing ghosts.

Tatsuki frowned and drilled the retreating Ichigo with her stare. After another second or two she tore her eyes away from the glass and faced her desktop. "Nothing. Forget it."

"If you say so."

Should I have been worried? Any other person might have been, but somehow all the dysfunction just seemed normal to me. Inevitable, even.

It was hard to believe it'd only been a couple weeks since the Bounts had been running around Karakura. That all seemed like ages ago, like another lifetime. As hackneyed as it was to say, I'd been a different person then. I was still me, but I could feel a change. I felt stronger, physically and mentally. I felt more in control. I felt good.

That didn't mean I was about to go and hand out cupcakes to homeless penguins, of course. But it did mean I wasn't able to look Keigo in the eye and had been shirking away from him all morning. I wondered when I would be able to ease into a friendship with him again and what I would need to do to get there. How could I get rid of the guilt?

I'd grown, but there was still a long way to go. Looking ahead make me anxious.

"Kame! If you don't start paying attention I'm going to gauge out your eyes and put them on my desk so that I'll be the only thing you focus on!"

An era of silence took over the classroom.

"Ew…"

"That was awfully graphic."

"What an imagination!"

"Ochi-sensei, would you really do something like that?"

The pedagogue grinned. "Do you want to test me?"

It was no wonder why that woman was single.

There was something off about the new kid, that Shinji Hirako, that I couldn't put my finger on. I mean, sure he wrote his name backwards and thought he was cool for it, but the fact that he was an odd duck wasn't the only thing.

Maybe it was the added creeper characteristics, since Hirako'd openly asked to sit by a pretty girl. (And he hadn't had a problem flirting with Ichigo when they were seated together either.)

Bottom line, there was a strange, static-y feel to Hirako. I just couldn't tell if it was repulsive or nostalgic.

It was probably the likeliest choice, I decided, that I knew one of his ancestors. I mean, I couldn't assume everything was related to the supernatural. I wasn't getting the whizzies in my gut, after all, and sensing reishi was a specialty of mine. Hirako was normal until proven otherwise.

Normal in the non-ghostly sense, of course, because the kid was kind of a freak by human standards.

However, I was trying to be more of a humanitarian. And what kind of humanitarian would I be if I let the mentally messed up new kid eat alone at lunch? A horrible one! So, out of the kindness of my heart, I stayed alone with him in the classroom, leaving dozens of others disappointed as they drudged out of the room without my company.

Or something like that.

"Hey, Mikita, you coming?" Tatsuki hollered from the door. I eyed her dully from my seat, sliding my gaze first to her left, where Chizuru was trying to run her fingers through a sneering Ryo's long, black locks, and then to her right. Orihime met my stare timidly, the smallest of smiles curling onto her lips.

"No thanks," I said, tweaking my nose. "I'm gonna stay here, if that's okay."

"Whatever." Tatsuki shrugged. She grasped Orihime's wrist and tugged the girl along. Orihime resisted for a fraction of a second to send me a glance before following.

I hadn't actually spoken to Orihime - or any of the others from the Soul League, for that matter - since they had returned from the Soul Society. It was awkward, you know? Like, was I supposed to waltz up to them, tell them I'd changed and expect them to find me worthy all of a sudden? It wouldn't be that easy. I would have to wait for the chance to show that I'd changed and let them decide for themselves what they thought of me.

Once the classroom had emptied out, only the new kid and I were left. I got the feeling that he knew I had hung back for him, so rather than prolong the suspense I pulled myself to my feet and sauntered over to his desk. Supporting my suspicion, his eyes followed me as I approached, a leering grin in place on his face.

"Hello there," Hirako greeted, sending an involuntary chill down my spine. I tried not to be so weirded out, since he was being nothing but polite. (Well, and creepy.)

"Hey," I shot back, shifting on my feet. I wasn't sure why, but I put an extra effort into masking my spiritual pressure. "How's it goin'? You're the new kid, right?"

Duh. We both knew that I knew he was new. It was just one of those lame segways that you couldn't help but use in that kind of situation.

"Yes, that's me," the boy nearly sang, propping his cheek up on his hand. "My name's Shinji Hirako. And you are?"

"Mikita Kame. You've probably heard of me. I'm kind of a big deal."

"No, I'm afraid not," the blond-bob rocker said, his tone cascading as if he were humoring me. The nerve. "But I suppose I should feel honored to be in your presence then. You are really cute, now that I'm getting a good look at you."

And when he did get a good look at me, his expression turned contemplative. The smile slipped from his face and his eyes sharpened. Again, a sense of déjà vu hit me. Or maybe I hit it. I was like a bug to a bright light. I knew the guy was trouble but I couldn't bring myself to leave it alone.

Hirako's stare was like crystal. "Mikita Kame, did you say?"

I nodded. Had I had a goofy look on my face when I spaced out? Probably, for sure.

Hirako's mouth set into a firm line. I furrowed my brow, but before my reaction could go much further than that Hirako's teeth were taking up half of his cheeks again. His eyes were hooded by the shadow of his bangs.

He was like that damned Cheshire Cat, smiling all wide, being all shifty, and weaving in and out of my perception. And we all know how much I hated cats, that one in particular.

"Well," Shinji gushed, his mood as bright as a bulb out of nowhere. It was all fake, though, since the tension coming off of him was all kinds of dark. "It was a great pleasure meeting you, Miss Mikita. Thank you for taking the time to greet me, but I'm afraid that our friendship will have to end here."

It took me a second to process. Hirako'd said it so easily that I almost thought I'd misheard him. But his expression, when he lifted his chin to show it to me, didn't lie.

Before I had the chance to figure out how to respond the bell had wrung, signaling the end of our eating period. (Why had it seemed so short?). As the other students came trickling in I stood rooted, slack jawed and staring. Hirako's caramelized orbs were like glass, giving away no secrets.

"Have a nice day, Miss Mikita," Hirako told me, pointedly.

Okay, verdict on the transfer student: officially someone to watch out for.

Typical. That was what I got for trying to be friendly.

"I thought I told you guys to shut up! I'm trying to read."

"Oh, Ririn, do lighten up. We aren't even being that loud!'

"You're being loud enough to annoy me."

"Always so irritable..."

I watched the exchange as I gulped down some water, wondering why I bothered being social when people only tended to annoy me. Although, the two in front of me weren't people, technically. But Kurodo and Ririn were still about as peeve-ish as they came.

On the other hand, there was Nova.

"Let's go play outside, Nova," I told the turtle plushy. He really didn't have any say in the matter, being a stuffed animal. He was also the silent type, which I liked. And what I liked even more was his gigai, as little as I had seen of it. I'd been a little miffed with the idea of three additional housemates in the beginning, but having Nova hang around in his full form wasn't something I would complained about.

"Oh," Kurodo said with a pout, his bunny-ears drooping, "why does Mikita seem to favor Nova so much? She never wants to spend any time alone with us, Ririn! I bet she only likes Nova because he's a turtle. Kindred spirits stick together, after all!"

"Or maybe she likes him 'cause he knows when to shut up."

I ignored them both, holding my hand out to Nova so he could hop on and shimmy up to my shoulder. Mod Souls were the ultimate accessories this season.

I wandered down the hallway afterwards without any real plan in mind. Since I'd already suggested it, I headed outside. A nighttime walk was always nice.

Plus there was an unfamiliar aura in the air. Urahara was would be out there trying to figure it out, I bet.

And he was.

I approached Urahara from behind. "What are the stars telling you?"

Urahara smiled wryly and kept his eyes skyward as if he really was receiving a message. I stepped up to his side, mindful of maintaining a certain distance.

"I'm not very good at astronomy," the ex-captain told me. "I think you should check for yourself. A fresh pair of eyes might help."

I knew he wasn't actually suggesting I star gaze, so my defenses reared. "Ha, ah, no. Nope, I don't think that's gonna happen. Ask Ichigo, he's out there already."

And then Urahara looked at me. Like that. That look that said he knew perfectly well what was out there but wasn't going to say. It was up to us meddling kids and our stupid stuffed animals.

A rattling sigh left me. "Fine. Sure. If you say so."

Yeah, that's right. I agreed to it. Wanna know why? Because being bored made you do things like take walks in ghost infested towns just because there was nothing better to do.

Urahara raised a brow. "Oh? Are you bringing Nova, too?"

I blinked and glanced at the little guy the best that I could while he was perched on my shoulder. Nova shrugged (I think) so I took that as a sign that he was game. My kind of fella.

"Why not?" I stepped back and prepared to veer off. "He's good company. Basically just sits there. I can talk to myself without really talking to myself."

"That does sound handy."

"Yup."

Those were the last words exchanged before I was out of inside voice ear shot. Soon enough I'd gotten out of eye sight, too.

"Sigh," I said as I ground my feet into the gravel a little harder than necessary. I liked the crunchy sound. "Do you have any idea what's going on, Nova?"

"No."

"Okay then."

Scratch that plan. Now that the Bounts were gone the Mod Souls weren't much help, were they? Why would Urahara keep them around? I sort of thought he would just deprogram them or whatever. He must have caught some of that humanitarian syndrome I was carrying. Ichigo had a way of infecting people like that.

And speaking of Ichigo, he approacheth.

"Hey, Orange," I called out. Ichigo was coming at me straight on and gaining quickly, his ankles up to his neck as he sprinted. It wasn't like him, really, to be quite that dorky. "Where's the fire?"

As soon as Ichigo realized I was talking to him he faltered, skidding to a halt a little ways away and gawking. I made a face. What was wrong with him?

"Uh…" Ichigo gurgled, looking panicked. He cleared his throat and, obviously deepening his tone, said, "hey."

Yeah, "hey." Not normally so aberrant, but completely un-Ichigo-like when it wasn't accompanied by a scowl. I'd only ever seen Ichigo's eyes that wide when someone was talking about sex.

"You're," I spoke slowly, tilting my head to the side, "not Ichigo, are you?"

"That's Kon," Nova said plainly. "He's another Mod Soul."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Ichigo's body protested. "You totally ruined my aloof approach!"

Kon's natural pitch proved to be much higher than Ichigo's, which made the picture even more bizarre when he put on a melodramatic pout. "But since you know I'm not actually Ichigo..."

I didn't have much time to react before something plowed into me head-on. Even though I was being tackled, I wasn't so concerned with who had slammed into me. Instead, my senses went on high-alert, trying to pick up on any nearby Hollows or malicious spiritual pressure.

There was none, which left me confused for all of three seconds. That was when I became aware of the lips on my collar bone and the fingers fondling my left breast.

"I remember you now. You're the girl from that night," Kon muttered into my skin. "I can't believe Ichigo knows so many bodacious babes. And he doesn't even taken advantage of his connections. What a loser!"

I was frozen stiff. It was like an out of body experience. Even though I knew something completely wrong was going on, it didn't really connect that I was the target of it.

"Oh, such lovely mounds," Kon moaned in delight. I could feel the vibration of his hum on me, and it triggered a shiver of my own. "It's been so long since I've been able to enjoy a pair!"

And with those words reality hit me full force. I didn't really plan an attack; I just snapped, clawed at Kon's hair, and used my other arm to punch at any part of him I could reach.

"Get. Off. Me. You. Greasy. Troll." I snarled with every hit.

Kon yelped and tried to recoil, but I was still anchoring him by the scalp. "Watch it, lady! I'm not supposed to get this body hurt."

"Save me, Nova! Rape! Rape!"

"No, don't scream that. Ichigo will kill me if I get his body arrested!"

"I'll kill you first if you don't get up."

"Okay, okay! I'm goin'."

True to his word, Kon yanked free from my grip and hauled himself off me. He scurried a good distance away as I sat up, my breathing heavy and eyes wide. I felt so violated. Probably because I had been violated.

There was a short lull that I used to I recover before Kon spoke up.

"Who are ya anyway, lady? How do you fit in with Ichigo and all this?" Kon asked, watching me from his frog-squat position. The turd had the audacity to act like nothing had happened. No wonder Ichigo was such a spaz sometimes, considering the kind of characters he let take over his body while his soul was away.

"My names Mikita and that's all I'm saying," I told Kon with a grimace, not even really wanting to tell him that much. "But I am looking for Ichigo, actually. The real Ichigo. Where is he?"

"Don't know, don't care," Kon chirped. "He went out for some Soul Reaper business, and I went out for some fun. When the boss is away, Kon will play! Better lock up the ladies 'cause I'm-"

"Look out!"

I took a leaf from Kon's book and lunging forward, knocking him onto his back just as a streak of blue blew apart the pavement. I stayed curled over him until the smoke cleared.

"What the hell was that?" I said once we could see, moving off to the side.

"No idea," Kon muttered, sitting up again and squinting towards the sky.

Once I looked around, it wasn't very hard to find the culprit. Kon must have had some good ghoul sense, because a massive gorilla-ish figure was floating in the air above us.

"It couldn't be," the mod soul said in awe. There was something about Kon's reaction that got me extra unsettled, and I glanced back and forth between him and the creature for a hint.

"What?" I fired. "What is that thing? You know him?"

Apparently.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," the masked menace rumbled. "I hope you didn't forget me."

Kon began to quake. After a few more urges from me, he managed to stutter out, "G-Grand Fisher?!"

Knowing the Hollow's name didn't really help me, but knowing that Kon knew the Hollow's name - and that the Hollow was familiar with Ichigo's body and name, more importantly - wasn't cool. A Hollow that could go around talking about Ichigo meant that Ichigo hadn't been able to defeat it. If it were the real Ichigo I was with I would have assumed the meeting had taken place in the past and I wouldn't have needed to be so worried about the present, but that wasn't the case. Even though Ichigo was beside me in the corporeal sense, his powers were off somewhere with his soul.

So basically it was up to me to fill the role of superhero.

I lept to my feet and into position for one killer kidou spell. "Bakudou 61: Six Truncheon Light Prison!"

The spell did something like encase the target inside a trap of concentrated reiatsu, but I didn't stick around to see it for myself. As soon as I had done my job I grabbed Kon's wrist and hauled him with me away from the scene.

"Why are we running?" Kon questioned in a scream. Ichigo's long legs made us switch places almost as soon as we got started, with him in the lead and me tagging along. "Aren't you a Shinigami? Why don't you kill that thing?"

"I'm not much of a fighter," I replied with a huff. "I can cast a few fancy spells but they won't do much lasting damage to that buffalo. If worse comes to worse I'll see what I can do, but until then I'm more confident in my ability to retreat."

"I hear ya, sister."

Kon and I sprinted around a corner, and I waited until we we back on a straight, stable path before resuming the conversation. "Who is that guy anyway? How do you know him?"

"Grand Fisher," Kon told me, still yelling. Vocal volume was admittedly hard to control when you were all scared and stuff, so I cut him some slack. "He's a Hollow we ran into a while back. But I thought Ichigo had taken care of him then."

And the plot thickens.

It wasn't too long until Grand Fisher broke out of my spell, as expected. He was a big sucker, so much so that I wondered about his standing as a Hollow. The reiatsu coming off him was all wrong, too. Something I'd never felt before.

Back when I'd gotten decent look at him, there was something even freakier that I'd noticed on top of it. Grand Fisher had a face. Underneath the Hollow mask was skin, eyes, a nose. Like a human; like a hybrid. I didn't know what that could mean other than it couldn't be good.

Kon used some kind of pumping power to leap from roof to roof, letting out a Tarzan call with each jump. I could barely help myself from flailing behind him like a rag doll.

"Stop chasing us," Kon implored. "We aren't the ones you're looking for."

The Hollow's voice was a rumbling growl. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you cannot fool me. Stop running and face me."

"Mikita," Kon tried next, shooting me a frazzled look. "Do something!"

My jaw set. "Fine."

And so I dug my heels into the ground and turned to take of the mutant.

Oh yeah. My time had arrived.

I reached down to grab Taimozou. I missed, so I tried again. I still didn't get a hold of him, so I looked down.

Taimozou wasn't there. Because I didn't bring him. Figures.

"Are you kidding me?" I cried, incredulous. "I didn't even do it on purpose this time. I was really going to help."

"What's wrong?" Kon questioned, flexing his fists. "Hurry it up, he's gaining on us."

"Change of plans," I said with a wince. "We run again."

I took the initiative to lead the way. Kon followed soon after.

"Aw, you're no Shinigami at all!"

"Yeah, yeah, we're a pair of losers. Now let's go."

And go we did: straight down when Grand Fisher made his move and blasted the floor from beneath us.

I shrieked in a most undignified manner, curling myself into Ichigo's chest. Maybe it was a different soul inside, but that bod was still the same. That sleek, firm bod. It wasn't the worst way to go, cuddling up to Ichigo's abs. I girl could die contently with that.

"I can't believe I forgot you back there. Kon kind of commanded my attention. He's like a second Keigo, I swear. I guess it worked out though, huh? Thanks for rescuing us, Nova."

"It's fine."

And he was fine, too, that Nova. Have you seen those eyes? His only imperfection was that horrid sense of fashion.

"Come on," Ririn said, taking control of the situation. We were still in the middle of a situation with the Grand Fisher, by the way. It turns out that the three mod souls, who joined up with Kon and I in the middle of our free-fall, actually had some pretty sick abilities. "I have a plan to take care of this guy."

Ririn's plan involved more running, but also more productivity. The girl created an illusion to fool the Fisher while Kurodo took on Ichigo's image. It was more than I'd managed to do, but it still didn't work.

Being the target, Kon then took it upon himself to take off on his own and steer the danger away from the rest of us. Or maybe he was just fleeing to save his own butt. I wasn't entirely convinced.

Whatever the reason, it was Papa Kurosaki popping up and disposing of the Hollow that left us all in the clear.

All in all, the night was full of shockers. Urahara showed up and started chatting it up with the eldest Kurosaki like they were old drinking buddies. I couldn't exactly tune in to the intimate details of their conversation since I was so thrown off by the turn of events.

Since when was Ichigo's dad a Soul Reaper? And if he was a Reaper, why wasn't he in the Soul Society? Why was he wearing a captain's robe? Were he and Urahara in cahoots? Did Ichigo know? How many licks did it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

The world may never know.

Ichigo's name was brought up between the two men, and it was then that I was redirected from my own thoughts and became receptive to theirs.

"While we're on the subject of your son, have you noticed…?"

Isshin's features leveled out into solid lines. "Yes. It appears they've made contact with him, just as you suspected they would. The masked army, the Vizards."

Vizards? I'd never heard of them. But if they had supposedly sought out Ichigo, I guess it would make them that week's Bounts. They had to be the antagonist. We never seemed to last long without one.

Besides, Isshin had called the Vizards a masked army. That didn't sound affectionate to me. Maybe that Grand Fisher guy had been one of them, a Vizared.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't left to speculate.

"They're a lawless gang of former Soul Reapers who attempted to gain Hollow powers through the use of forbidden techniques," the doctor-by-day relayed. "Their names and whereabouts are unknown. They've kept their presence completely hidden. They're obviously dangerous."

We agreed on that level, it seemed. But something about the story seemed familiar to me. Soul Reapers that gained Hollow powers? Why? If it was a voluntary move then they must be a sadistic bunch bent on ultimate strength, but what if it wasn't their choice?

With my expression pinched, I sent Urahara a pointed stare. His bucket hat cast a shadow over his face.

Isshin spoke again. "The only thing I do know is that the Arrancar and Vizards don't seem to be working together."

"That's hopeful," the blond finally voiced, his tone austere. "We don't need our enemies forming alliances. In one way, we're lucky. The Vizards don't trust any Soul Reapers, former or otherwise."

Says the former Soul Reaper who seems to know entirely too much.

"So I've heard."

And where would Papa Kurosaki have hear that?

"But in spite of their hatred towards Soul Reapers," Urahara went on, " they still made contact with your son, which means that-"

"Yeah."

I knew better than to interrupt, so I scrambled with the pieces and fit them together for myself. So these Vizards had ambushed Ichigo? What did that mean? Urahara and Mr. Kurosaki didn't sound concerned in the sense that Ichigo had been hurt. Besides, "made contact" didn't sound like a physical fight. It sounded like someone reaching out, extending an offer, asking for help. Something like that.

And so it clicked. Reapers that developed the abilities of a Hollow? That was Ichigo. Ichigo was a Vizard, and the Vizards wanted to claim him for themselves.

Good luck with that one, guys.

"If they're willing to go to those lengths than they must be preparing for some type of battle, just like we are."

We were? Against who?

"The only explanation is that they must have noticed the sudden change in the Arrancar as well."

"So that last Hollow…"

I wasn't sure if I was meant to be overhearing or if it was just eavesdropping, but I didn't care. I soaked it all up.

Both Urahara and Mr. Kurosaki agreed that the rouge captain, Aizen, was lurking somewhere in Hueco Mundo making prototypes, making creatures for his control. He was the one who'd made the Vizards out of his own comrades and framed Urahara for the crime. I honestly didn't remember what the guy looked like from the one time we'd crossed paths, but it was scary to think I'd once met him. I could only imagine pitch forks and pointed teeth, looking back.

I had somehow missed the fact that a war was brewing between Aizen and the Soul Society, but I learned about it that night, and I didn't know what to make of it. A war was extreme. My friends were going to be fighting in a multi-dimensional war. Was I supposed to fight in a multi-dimensional war? I wasn't ready for that. Were they ready for that?

My mind was buzzing even after we parted ways with Papa Kurosaki. There were more questions than answers inside me, but for once I wanted to try to smooth things out for myself rather than get on Urahara's case. There were more important things going on than me.

Instead, I went to bed.

Sleep was a tease.

The arrival of morning was sort of a relief since it meant I didn't have to flop around in bed anymore. I got ready and moseyed off to school earlier than ever before.

I wasn't sure whether it was the lighting or what, but the world seemed warped. Not all together bad, but just off. I didn't really know what to attribute that feeling to and chose not to fling the blame on anything in particular.

I wasn't exactly a chatter box to begin with, but I consciously kept to myself in the time before lessons started. No one seemed to notice, but I took note of Ichigo being just as quiet and self-ostracized.

Hirako showed up ahead of time, too, in the same spiffy spirits he'd been in the day before. His mood swings probably wouldn't have bothered me much if he hadn't made a bee-line to cozy up to Orihime. Okay, so my boobs didn't account for half of my body weight, but that was no reason to blow someone off when they extended hospitality. What was that guy's problem?

Apparently Ichigo wondered something the same since he practically pounced on Hirako and dragged him out of the room.

Ichigo may have been an impulsive, volatile guy, but he didn't make it a point to beat strangers unless they asked for it. Those two must have been a little more than acquaintances. And since I doubted they'd buddied up in the few spare minutes they'd chatted in school, they must have met some time after.

It might have been a stretch, but I put two and two together. Ichigo had issues with Hirako, Hirako had issues with me: Shinji was one of those wizards with a V.

I had a thought to confront one of the boys about it, but for once it might have actually been for the best to mind my own business. The Vizards didn't seem to be an immediate danger to the Reapers, and the beef between them and Ichigo was between them and Ichigo. It wasn't my problem.

Still, I was curious. And maybe a tiny bit concerned. But if I knew one thing, it was that Ichigo's demons tended to extend beyond his control at some point no matter how hard he tried to keep them to himself. I only had to wait for it to break.

"So they beat Ichigo?"

Yoruichi faltered on her avaricious eating long enough to send me a glance. "Yeah."

"Bad?"

"Yeah."

Ignoring the fact that a classy gal like Yoruichi had both planted her naked butt at the table and was stuffing her face so shamelessly, I mulled over the situation.

It had started, then. The Arrancar had made their move. Ichigo and the others would have been goners if Yoruichi and Urahara hadn't shown up at the jumping grounds. Even the Wonder Boy had got his ass handed to him on a platter. That wasn't a pleasant thought from an angle. Shit had just turned real.

We needed Rukia, I realized. We needed Ichigo back, so we needed Rukia back. When Ichigo got pummeled physically, he needed an emotional pummeling to get him back on track, otherwise he'd wallow in his failure. Rukia was the only person who could snap him out of that kind of funk, but she was a million miles away.

I was sure that she wouldn't be away for too much longer, though. I could feel it.

Or I was at least really hoping.