Alright guys here is another chapter for all of you. This originally was an extremely long chapter, almost reached twenty-two pages, so I decided to shorten it. Hope you all enjoy it. Thank you to all who reviewed my story and added me to their story-alerts and such. Take care!
Chapter 21: Training Outcomes
"The class one felon, Kuchiki Rukia shall be confined on death row...and twenty-five days from now, shall be put to death in the Central Court." Kuchiki Byakuya spoke with an emotionless face. "That is Soul Society's final decision."
Kuchiki Byakuya was walking on his own, heading to his own destination. He then stopped.
"Pretty calm back there, sixth squad taicho-san. Exemplary, exemplary." Byakuya turned around and looked at the voices. "So calm even though your sister's gonna die. That's the sixth squad taicho-san for ya. A shining example of a Shinigami."
"Don't be ridiculous." Another voice said. "The only Shinigami scared o' dyin' is pretty much just you and the ninth squad taicho."
"What? Really?" The same first voice said.
"Two squad taichos appearing without their adjutants...what do you want with me?" Byakuya asked.
Two other taichos were behind the sixth squad taicho. One of them had silvery hair, eyes closed, and a large fox-like smile. The other had black long hair that was spiked up with bells attached to the end. He had an eye patch over his right eye while on his left there was a scar going from his hairline, down his eye to his chin and had his stomach bandaged.
"That ain't nice." The silver haired taichio said, "We heard your sister's gonna be executed, so...we were worried you might be depressed."
"It has nothing to do with you gentlemen." Byakuya said straight out.
"There's no way you'd be depressed, right? For noble families, criminals are obstacles, after all." The spiked hair man spoke.
"Oh? I don't expect a commoner could comprehend the subtleties of the aristocracy."
"That ain't true. I've always been pretty considerate. Whadda ya say? While I'm being considerate, want me to go to that criminal...and lop off her head for you before the execution?"
"I didn't know...One can cut off a head with just your skills?"
"Want me to try it on ya?"
"You want me to let you try it?"
Suddenly, the other two taichos were gone. Byakuya looked to his right and found them. The silver haired taicho had managed to tie up the black haired taicho and take him to the roof from the building next to them.
"Hey, dammit, Ichimaru! Let me go, bastard! Let me kill him! Let me kill 'im!" The black haired taicho shouted as he struggled from his hold and while Ichimaru spoke.
"Give 'im a break, sixth squad Taicho-san." The silver haired, now named, Ichimaru said. "I at least didn't mean to make ya mad. Well then, say hi to your sister for me."
Then they were gone. Byakuya just watched them go and then he walked away.
Back with Tsukiko, Ichigo, and the rest, Tessai was barely getting up from the hole. He fixed his glasses once he was at the top.
"Heave ho." He said as he pulled himself out.
Jinta turned around surprised and said, "YOU WERE OKAY, Tessai...-san?"
"Okay my rear. My glasses are in critical condition!" The giant man said while he dusted himself and then pointed at his glasses.
"In other words," Jinta said with a dumbfound face, "YOU're uninjured, right? Whatever." He turned his back and said, "Even if they're broken, you should keep'em on."
"Hmm..."
"The Owner's drawn his sword and it's getting interesting. Miss this and you'll regret it."
Urahara stabbed his sword through a rock and destroyed it completely. Ichigo jumped away to dodge the attacks and any flying rocks.
"Pretty good...for such a skinny sword!" Ichigo said with a grin on his face.
"Uh-oh, I got complimented...But that won't make me take it easy on you!" Urahara said with a large smile and while chasing Ichigo, swinging his sword.
"Just the way I want it, you dirty bastard!" The orange head shouted.
'Wait...Wait, wait, wait! Ain't Zanpakutous the only things that can cut Shinigami or Hollows? That sword...is something he pulled out of his cane a minute ago. There's no way it could be a Zanpakutou! If that's true, even if he cuts me...nothing should happ-' Ichigo thought as he ran, but once he stopped, the remainder of the Hollow mask flew off.
"You let your guard down. 'It belongs to a guy who's not a Shinigami...so it's not a Zanpakutou...so it doesn't matter if he cuts me,' eh?" Urahara said as he stood there watching Ichigo. "You're totally naïve. Awake, Benihime."
His Zanpakutou suddenly began to change and Ichigo stared in shock. The weapon got longer; the top was black while the bottom was silver. The hilt completely changed. The hilt had gotten longer and at the end, it curved out. The guard was different as well. It was red and the part that covered some of the blade was beige, with an accessory hanging off of it.
"She's a hundred percent Zanpakutou, this girl."
In Ichigo's head, Urahara's command still lingered. "Awake, Benihime." Renji's command also flowed through his head. "Howl, Zabimaru. You can't even ask your own Zanpakutou's name. A bastard like that..."
"Zanpakutou's...name?"
"Yes. Zanpakutous each have their own name. Like Tsukiko's whose name is Kuro Maho. And this is..." he said as he held out his own Zanpakutou, "her name. Let's go, Benihime."
He swiped across him and there, the attack was released. White light appeared and cut the rock. As Ichigo flew across, Tsukiko grabbed Jinta, pulling him back from getting hit. Tessai was holding Ururu.
Ichigo skidded on the floor and looked up. Urahara was coming at him fast. Ichigo lifted the remainder of his own Zanpakuotu and blocked the attack.
"I'll praise you for not running and stopping my blade with your broken sword. You got some big cahones. But...Benihime isn't so sweet that you can block her completely with that broken sword."
Urahara's Benihime began to slice through Ichigo' small amount of his blade. Urahara brought down his weapon quickly and Ichigo pulled his upwards.
'Oh shit!' Ichigo thought as he saw the piece fall to the ground. He then began to run from Urahara. 'You've gotta be kiddin' me! He friggin' sliced off my Zanpakutou!'
"He told you, didn't he?" This caught Ichigo's attention. Behind Ichigo was Urahara as he continued to speak, "Your sword is just big, that's all."
Ichigo swiped his blade upwards, hoping to hit Urahara. But Hat-and-Clogs simply moved his head back.
"There's no spirit energy stuffed in it. It's just a swollen and fluffy object in the shape of a sword. That's why..." Urahara swung his blade and cut the guard and the remainder of Ichigo's blade. "...it breaks up so easily like that." The remainder of the guard had fallen off.
"Now then, your sword is gone. You still want to come at me with that? Don't worry, it's just knocking down my hat. It's not impossible even with just a hilt. But...it's no longer just a question of bravery or courage." Ichigo brought down his hand as he continued to listen. "I suppose I'll tell you up front."
A pinkish, red glow now surrounded Urahara. His hair and clothes moving along with the wind. "If you still intend to fight me with that toy...I will kill you."
Panic was in Ichigo's eyes as he ran.
'I'm gonna die! I'll be killed! For real!'
Next to him, Urahara appeared. His face did not have his goofy smile, but a serious look. Ichigo screamed and managed to dodge an attack. He kept on running.
'This is pathetic! What is wrong with me?! Why am I running? Is that all I've got? Is that my resolve?'
Urahara grabbed Ichigo from the back of his top and pulled him down.
'Pathetic. Pathetic! God dammit...I'm an incurable coward!'
"What are you doing?" the same man that he saw was now standing in front of him.
"That dude..."
"Why do you run, Ichigo? You still have not called me." He said from behind him now. "Face forward, Ichigo. You should be able to hear it now. That which blocks you ears is worthless fear."
Ichigo had stopped running.
"The enemy is one, you are one. What is there to fear?"
Urahara stopped running as well and watched him curiously. Everyone did.
"Hey, what is it? They both stopped in their tracks." Jinta said.
"Shut up and watch." Tsukiko told him.
Urahara prepared himself for an attack.
"Cast off your fear!" Ichigo brought his right arm to him. "Look forward!" Dust began to circle around Ichigo. "Go forward! Never stand still. Retreat and you will age. Hesitate and you will die. Shout...my name is..."
"...ZANGETSU!" Ichigo shouted loud as he attack Urahara from a distance.
The attack caused rocks to fly. Ururu wasn't near the rock that protected them and Tsukiko took notice of this. She ran towards her and covered her. They closed their eyes, hoping that nothing would happen.
"Tsukiko! Ururu! What now?!" Jinta asked as he was being protected by Tessai, who was also protecting Luna.
The dust settled and once Tsukiko opened her eyes. A black shield had protected the two girls.
"Thanks, Kuro Maho."
Urahara held his hat as the dust settled. There, Ichigo was squatting, holding what seems like a new hilt that was bandaged. Ichigo's new Zanpakutou was large like his first one. It looked like a giant butcher knife. The top black while the lower part was silver. There was no guard whatsoever. Ichigo stood up and watched Urahara intensely.
"What's up with that Zanpakutou..." Jinta began.
"That's incredible." Tsukiko thought aloud.
"...It's got no hilt or guard! It doesn't even have a regular sword's shape! Compared to that, the last sword was better." Jinta said.
Ichigo looked at his blade but was interrupted when Urahara spoke again.
"Well, now...Now that your Zanpakutou's come out...let's really start lesson three."
"I'm sorry, Urahara-san."
"Uh?"
"Please be sure to dodge."
"Excuse me?"
"I probably...can't hold back!" Ichigo said as he lifted his right arm up with his new Zanpakutou. The remainder of the cloth on his right shoulder suddenly ripped off him.
"Call out, Benihime!" Urahara shouted as he called his Zanpakutou to protect him, now knowing what Ichigo meant.
Ichigo rose up his Zanpakutou and swung downwards.
Urahara's hat was in the air, a tear was seen.
"Woo...If I didn't have this bloodmist shield...you'd have taken at least one arm." His hat flew down next to him. "Oh man, my hat's ruined." He said as he cleaned the dirt on it. He then began to put it back on, "But...I didn't expect this much from one swing. Kurosaki-san..." He said as he looked at Ichigo.
Ichigo was down on his knees. His right hand still holding his blade.
"...you're a frightening child."
Ichigo had fallen asleep holding his blade.
"Lesson three, clear."
From Ichigo's attack, the ground was sliced in a straight line. Any rocks that were along the way had been cut up as well.
"Tsukiko-chan..."
"Yes, Urahara?"
"Can you bring Kurosaki-kun a blanket and a pillow?"
"Yeah, sure."
Tsukiko used her Shunpo and ran towards the ladder. She jumped along the walls and got up without falling. She walked towards her room and grabbed her pillow and her blanket. After doing that, she walked back to the stairs and there decided to do something new. Instead of climbing down the ladder, she simply jumped. Yes that seemed a bit suicidal, but she wanted to test something. A rather strange theory.
As she was falling with the two items on her hand, she closed her eyes and focused on her spirit energy to her feet. Tsukiko wanted to try to "float" on air. She was falling down in a fast rate.
But once she was 5 meters away from the ground, she stopped. She opened her eyes and saw herself standing on air. She grinned and shouted out,
"Oh yeah! Who's the man!"
She began to run towards Urahara and the sleeping Ichigo. Once she was near, she began to walk and called out Urahara's name. The shopkeeper looked around, trying to find the voice of his Goddaughter.
"Up here."
He looked up and there he found the ruby-eyed Shinigami. "Ah Tsukiko-chan! You brought the pillow and blanket. And not only that, you managed to walk on air. How did you do it?"
"I fell down from the top of the ladder." She said with a shrug. "I realized that when in danger, all this stuff works. Like when I actually made a shield to protect Ururu and myself."
She jumped from the air and landed in front of Urahara. She walked towards Ichigo and placed the pillow on the ground. Afterwards, she grabbed his Zanpakutou and placed it on the ground next to the pillow. She then moved him so that he was lying down on the ground and as soon as he was down, she covered him with the blanket.
Tsukiko looked at Ichigo and smiled. He looked innocent when he was sleeping and he didn't even have that scowl on his face.
'He is cute. Man, I should go back to training.'
She walked away from him and headed to Urahara.
"Okay, I'm ready to continue my training."
The bucket hat man smiled and whipped out his fan, "Now let's see what the next task is. You manage to release your spirit energy and use it for Shunpo. You managed to walk on air and run with Shunpo. You can now detect spirit energies from Hollow, Shinigamis, and other beings. I think you are now done with this part of training."
She smiled and spoke, "I finished my 'normal' spirit energy training?"
"Yes. Now you are going to work on your magic spirit energy. For this you must chose, would you rather summon or go to the world of your Zanpakutou."
"Hmm..." she shifted her weight to her left leg, "Can I summon her first and then go to her world? Is that possible?"
Urahara walked towards her and hit her on the head with his fan.
"Hey!" She said as she held her head from his spontaneous attack.
"Of course it is possible. You are training with me so anything is possible. Now in order to summon your Zanpakutous spirit, you're going to emit as much spirit energy to your weapon. Only then will she come out. Now, why don't you move over there so you won't kill anyone?"
"If I was to kill anyone, you'd probably be my first." Tsukiko mumbles as she walked away from him. She passed Luna, Ururu, and Jinta. Tessai was no where to be seen.
'Must have gone to get them some food.'
She walked further until she was in a secluded area. She pulled out Kuro Maho from its sheathe and just stared at it.
"I am ready. Now hopefully, I worked on my spirit energy enough to bring you out of there. Here goes."
She closed her eyes and focused. She pictured Kuro Maho from her dreams, waiting for her to appear. It was then when Tsukiko felt someone touching her shoulder. She opened her eyes in panic and turned to look at who touched her.
There stood Kuro Maho. The same clothes that she saw in her dream were the ones that the female spirit was wearing. Everything down to her tattoos was the same.
"Hello, Tsukiko. You called me forth to train you?"
"Yes. I need your help with my spirit energy. I-" Kuro Maho raised her hand to silence her.
"Yes I know what it is you need, for I have been watching you the whole time." Kuro Maho then had a grin on her face and crossed her arms across her chest while saying, "Especially a few minutes ago when you were looking at that friend of yours."
Tsukiko blushed and waved her arms in front of her, "I-It's not what you t-think. We-We're just friends."
"Uh-huh." The magician said unconvinced. "Friends...for now. Okay, now that we have established that, let's get to work. The first thing that we are going to work on are defenses, since you already now one of my attacks."
"Okay, defenses...But how?" Tsukiko asked as she played with her short hair.
An evil gleam shined in the magicians purple eyes.
"HOW IS THIS GOING TO HELP IF YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Tsukiko shouted as she dodged various attacks from the magician.
"You said it yourself, when in danger you can achieve anything." Kuro Maho said as she ran towards Tsukiko. In her hands, there was a katana. It was pure black and shined whenever a beam of light hit it, making it look as if a rainbow was flowing out.
"Yeah, I may have said that, but this is ridiculous!" Tsukiko shouted as she blocked the attack with her two sais.
Kuro Maho smirked and with a wave of her hands, Tsukiko's weapons were now gone.
"Huh? Wha-What happened? This isn't fair!"
"Life is not fair and you should know this! Think back when the shield came to you! What did you feel?"
As Tsukiko ran, weaponless, she remembered the event that led to the summoning of the shield. She wanted to protect Ururu. She wanted to save her life from any danger. Her gloved hands began to glow black.
'What is going on? Wait a minute!' She remembered her first attempts with making a shield. She tried to use her weapons, but it didn't work. But when she protected Ururu, she didn't have her weapons.
Tsukiko stopped running, finally realizing it. She looked at the gloves. Black cotton material, the same as her own Shinigami clothing, and a metal plate covering the top. This was her defense system. She turned and faced Kuro Maho.
The magician was running towards her and swung down the blade. Tsukiko lifted her hands and suddenly, the shield emerged. Every strike, she would block the attack and when she believed she had the hang of it, she blocked one finally strike and managed to kick the magician in the stomach.
Kuro Maho fell on her knees and looked up. A smiled was plastered on her face. "You did it!" She shouted as she jumped up the air and choked Tsukiko in a hug.
"C-Can't bre-breathe!" She stuttered out.
Kuro Maho released her and smiled at the girl, who ended up sitting on the floor. "Do you now understand the difference between your weapon and these gloves? Do you now know why you even have these gloves?"
Tsukiko lifted her knees up and rested her arms on top of them. "My weapon helps me fight off my enemies that harm the people I care for. My gloves, my own hands, are the ones that can protect the people I care and love. I now understand the difference."
Kuro Maho nodded her hair and said, "Did you know that you can even summon your weapons with those gloves if they have gone missing?"
The teen looked at her extremely interested, "Really? And how do I do that?"
Kuro Maho sat down on the floor. Her legs were crossed Indian style and she said, "All you have to do is think about them. It's like a summoning. You can throw it to attack an enemy, like a dagger, and they would come back to you, like a boomerang."
Inside of Tsukiko's head, she began to think of her sais. In an instant, the two sais came flying towards her, landing in on her palms. "Wow. That's incredible."
"Mm-hmm." Kuro Maho said as she nodded her head. "It's like their both magnets. They attract one another and they balance each other. Now, I think I am going back to my forest and go to sleep for a while. Call me or visit me when you want to go back to training."
Tsukiko nodded her head and said, "Yeah. I'm most likely gonna go visit your place. I really like the scenery."
"Good. Well night!" The magician waved and then dematerialized.
After she was gone, Tsukiko let out a huge sigh and fell flat on her back. She was tired and it was noticeable. Beads of sweat fell from her forehead and she didn't even want to move.
She looked up at the fake sky; a black dot was falling. Tsukiko squint her eyes to try to see what it was. As the object fell, it got bigger and bigger until it was now visible to the eye. A rock the size of her body was falling towards her.
"Oh crap!" She screamed when she lifted her arms and hands in front of her and created the black shield. Once the rock made contact, it broke into millions of tiny pieces.
Laughter was heard in the back ground. She got up from the ground and looked towards the direction of the voice. Jinta stood there, holding his stomach as he kept on laughing. An evil force covered Tsukiko. Jinta saw her face and said two words,
"Oh crap."
Tsukiko ran and chased after the red headed child. "Jinta! I am going to kill you!!"
She grabbed her sais and shouted with anger, "MYSTIC SHADOW STRIKE!" The black sparkly beam flew towards Jinta. He was lucky enough to dodge it.
"Get back here you twerp! I'm not done with you yet!" She kept on running when something with orange hair showed up.
"AH!" She crashed into Ichigo. The two tumbled for a few seconds until they came to a stop. They opened their eyes and immediately blushed. Ichigo was straddling her and he had his hands on the side of her head.
"I-Ichigo, c-can you move pl-please?" She stuttered out as the blush on her face kept growing.
Ichigo's blush kept growing as well. He got up from the floor and held his hand out for Tsukiko to take. She grabbed it and was lifted up. The two kept on blushing when Ichigo realized something.
"Your hair. Did you cut it?" He asked as he stood there; his left hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah. I cut it when I was recovering."
"It looks cute. Wait recovering? What happened?"
Tsukiko sighed as she turned around. He gasped. He looked at the scar in front of him. He walked towards her and touched the scar. She gasped when he touched her. His smooth finger ran down the scar and ran up it again. He then grabbed her shoulders with both of his hands and pulled her towards his chest.
Tsukiko was blushing the entire time and once she touched his chest, she blushed even more. Ichigo hugged her from behind and said,
"If I was there, I could have protected you. I'm sorry."
She turned around and hugged him back. "No Ichigo you shouldn't be saying that. It was my fault. I-I should of paid more attention." She released the hug and looked at him. "So are we ready to continue training. I gotta practice my shield, fighting attacks, and all that jazz."
"You have a shield?"
Tsukiko just smirked at him and showed him. She lifted her hand and made the shield. Ichigo's eyes widened and said, "Wow. That's amazing."
"Thanks. Now let's get to work!"
For the remainder of the week, the two kept on practicing. Tsukiko kept on working with her shields and all of her attacks. When she would go visit Kuro Maho's realm, she would learn fighting styles, advancing the current level she was at. She would mix martial arts and such. She continued to run around using her Shunpo to advance it more and would always go out to observe all the sorts of spirit energy to be able to determine the difference between who it is and their level.
Ichigo trained as well. He kept on practicing fighting and such. Since he used to fight recklessly, he was now learning the proper techniques of fighting. Day after ay he kept on training hard; sometimes he would pass his limit and pass out. But in the end, he would get back up and keep on training.
In the heart of the forest, birds flew across the sky.
"All right! It's complete." Ishida said.
Beads of sweat were dripping from his forehead. On his right hand, a rather interesting glove covered half of his arm and hand. It was white and two blue strips; one going around his wrist and the other from the tip of his middle finger down to the end of the glove, as well as on his thumb and index finger. A strange looking bow began to dematerialize and return to where it belonged.
"Thank you so much, Sensei."
Inside of a warehouse, a flash of light appeared out of a window. The beam of light kept releasing, until...the window and some of the concrete around it exploded as well. Smoke and dust floated up towards the sky. The rubble fell down to the floor.
Looking through the hole, Chad stood there with his armored right hand out. Besides him on both sides were Orihime, who was on the ground kneeling, and Yoruichi was to his right.
"You did it!" Orihime cheered as she lifted the armored arm up in triumph. "You did it, Sado-kun! You did it! Amazing!"
"You fools!" The female teen stopped her cheering while the male still remained quiet but shocked.
"Have you never heard of restraint?!" The cat shouted at them. "You have created a scene! Run and hide already! Take the back door!"
The two teens ran off to find a place to hide.
"Okay!" Orihime said as she ran.
'But...who would have thought he'd learn to call forth his power in such a short time...' Yoruichi thought as she watched them run.
Sudden yelling interrupted the cats thinking. Orihime had her hands in the air and shouted, "Sado-kun fell down the stairs! Uhhh..."
'Would you look at that...' The cat thought as lots of sweat drops fell from its head.
Time flew by fast and it was finally August first and it was approximately six thirty pm. The blue sky began to fade and was beginning to be replaced by various orange shades.
'After finishing the study group at the Urahara store...while the group was making preparations to open the door to Soul Society...Tsukiko and I was told to go home and wait...but...' Ichigo thought as he was standing with everyone. Everyone meaning himself, Tsukiko, his two sisters and father, Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro.
"SO NOW IT'S FINALLY HERE, THE LONG-AWAITED FOREWORKS FESTIVAL!" Keigo shouted with a mighty look.
"You're full of energy..." Mizuiro calmly said as he watched him.
"OF COURSE! HOW CAN I STAY CALM?! RIGHT, KURO-SAN?!" He said the last part directing it towards Isshin.
"Yeah, that's right, young man! By the way, I have some box seats reserved at seven this morning. Why don't we all go there together?" Isshin said with a shine.
"Seriously, sir?! Alright!"
Ichigo and Tsukiko just watched the two with confused faces.
"How about you lovely ladies over there?" He said directing his question towards Tatsuki, who had her right arm broken, and Orihime.
"We'll come later." Tatsuki replied.
"Okay, gotcha! Alright dudes, let's go! Let's Go!"
After that was said, everyone began to run off. The only ones who remained where Tsukiko, Ichigo, Orihime, and Tatsuki. They all watched them run and Ichigo finally spoke,
"Oh, well. Guess I'll go, too." He turned to face Tatsuki and said, "Sorry Tatsuki, makin' you come all the time. You don't have to come if you don't wanna."
"I know that," was her response as she moved her left wrist up and down. "Don't worry, I'll be there later. Hurry and go. You too, Tsukiko go with him."
"You sure?" She asked.
"Yeah, just go."
Tsukiko smiled and nodded and walked next to Ichigo. She was wearing a black muscle tee and some dark blue skinny leg jeans. Ichigo had on a purple shirt with the words NICE VIBE written on it and a yellow star underneath the E. Under that shirt was a red shirt and he was wearing jeans. On his right wrist was a wristband with two horizontal red striped and between them a white one.
"Are you excited, Ichigo?" The girl asked him as the walked along the road to catch up to the rest.
"About the fireworks...I guess. Haven't seen them in a while. And you?"
She smiled and said, "Of course! I haven't seen fireworks in such a long time. Well since last year, but still!"
Ichigo smiled at her comment and then remembered something. "You're turning sixteen in six days. How does it feel?" He asked while pretending to hold out a microphone.
Tsukiko laughed and said to the pretend mic, "Feels awesome. So what are you giving me for my birthday?"
"Now that's a surprise." He told her as he brought his hand down.
"C'mon Ichigo. Tell me!"
"Nope!" He grinned as he placed both his hands behind his neck. "You're just gonna have to wait and see."
"Fine." She pouted. An idea came up in her mind. "Hey Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"Race ya to the rest!" She shouted as she began to run off.
"Hey no fair! You little cheater!" He yelled as he ran after her.
"Takes one to know one."
"They're all so lively." Orihime said as she watched them all run.
"Seriously. Sometimes it's tiring." Tatsuki replied as she lifted her injured arm.
"Tatsuki-chan, does your hand hurt?" Orihime asked while looking at the hand.
Tatsuki turned to face Orihime and said, "No, no, not a bit. Well, when I think this is why I lost the championship, it does hurt a little."
The dark orange haired girl smiled and nodded her head and said, "But getting second place in Nationals means you're the second strongest girl in Japan. Tatsuki-chan, you're incredible."
"No I'm not." Tatsuki said with a little blush.
"No, you are incredible!" Orihime ran a bit forwards while saying that.
Tatsuki followed the girl and they both looked at the river that was a few feet away from them.
Orihime stretched out her arms and said, "It's been a long time since we came here."
"Yeah, 'cause we only come in autumn each year."
"Did I tell you?" Orhime walked a few steps closer to the river. "My brother used to be really good at getting dragonflies to land on his finger. He'd point his finger up to the sky and right away, they'd swoop in and land. I...loved it because it seemed like a magic. So...I wanted to do it, too. But I never could..."
Flashbacks came to Tatsuki of the one day that she almost attacked Orihime. "This time, I'll protect you."
The sky was darkening quickly. Tastuki interrupted the small silence and said, "Did you say you're going to a relatives' place next week?"
"Yeah."
"Ichigo said he's going on vacation next week, too. As well as Tsukiko. I...wasn't able to be number one, but..." Orihime looked at her, "...but I never thought, 'I shouldn't have tired.' Even if it doesn't turn out well...I think there're things you only understand after you try the best you can. So...So...if there's something you've decided, don't hesitate to go. But in exchange...I'm...I'll...be waiting here."
Tatsuki looked at Orihime and continued, "So...So..."
Fireworks began to explode in the night sky. Their beautiful colors made the sky bright and livid.
"Good one!" Isshin shouted. In the back, Chad held Yuzu and Karin on his shoulders.
"We want better!" The two girls shouted.
"What a view!" Keigo said.
"They're really pretty." Mizuiro stated.
"Wow their beautiful." Tsukiko said as her eyes shined with excitement. Ichigo looked at her; he smiled and looked up at the sky.