Ichigo's eyes shot wide open as he heard the thundering footsteps down the hallways that were heading towards his room. His was the only room that was occupied down this end of the hallway within the Takagi's mansion having wanted some space from the others, from what he knew Ishida and Chad had done the same in other parts of the mansion.
Expecting the worst thing to have happened, the perimeter of the estate to have been breached by the dead, he leapt out of bed grabbed Zangetsu from where it rested against the wall and dashed for the door. Opening it widely he didn't have time to stop as Shizuka barged straight into him sending them both to the floor in a mass of limbs, Ichigo's face buried between Shizuka's large breasts which were practically popping out of her shirt since she hadn't done the buttons all the way up.
"Oh Ichigo! I never knew you to be so forward!" Shizuka squealed in glee, no terror in her voice at all. Had he just jumped to conclusions when he sprung up, or was it fear of what he would have to do if the situation arose? "I know it was a taboo students and teachers being together, but I'm still a much older woman then you, wouldn't you want someone your own age?" She questioned however she only seemed to pull Ichigo's head into her chest further, his face was starting to turn blue from the lack of air as Shizuka smothered him. Ichigo's muffling could just be heard over her squeals of embarrassment about being chased after by a younger man, a teenager to be exact.
"Mphm pmhoh hhmmp hmm!" Ichigo managed to get out making Shizuka stop and look down Ichigo forcing his head from her arms and taking a massive breath of air.
"What was that?" Shizuka questioned looking down at him, now straddling his waist, her chest mostly exposed as the dress shirt she was wearing was wide open just over the peaks of those large mounds.
"Never mind." Icihgo gasped staring at the ceiling from where he laid on the ground. "World's gone to a zombie apocalypse hell hole and I almost die by massive breasts. Could be worse ways to go I guess..." Shaking his head to get rid of such thoughts he looked up at Shizuka and... those thoughts were right back in his mind, as from what he could see from where he was laying was that Shizuka had only done two buttons up that covered her stomach with the rest exposed showing she was wearing no bra beneath the shirt and only a pair of black underwear over her lower body. His face was red as his eyes travelled over her exposed skin.
"You came for something Shizuka?" Ichigo questioned making the blonde woman stop her babbling and look down at him before her eyes widened in realisation as a massive smile came to her face.
"I remembered!" She squealed in excitement.
"Remembered what?" Ichigo questioned feeling the exhaustion of being woken up at such a late hour start to catch up to him closing his eyes before Shizuka pinched his cheeks making him open them again at the slight sting from her pinch and looked up into her disapproved face of being ignored.
"Rika's number! I remembered it! I was having a dream and then Rika popped up and tada! Her number!" She exclaimed happily. "So can I borrow your phone?" Ichigo looked up at her with a raised eyebrow making her tilt her head as she looked down at him. "What?"
"You come rushing in here at god knows what time to use my phone because you remembered your girlfriends phone number, when there are several other phones in this house." Shizuka giggled lightly, slightly, nervously. "Go back to bed Shizuka, ring them in the morning. She is probably asleep wherever she is." Shizuka pouted as she slid from Ichigo's waist and kneeled next to him as he sat up she rested her hands on the ground before opening her eyes as she felt something beneath her hands and looked down to see Ichigo's black sheathed sword laying on the floor.
"Ichigo?" She questioned raising the sheathed sword up to his vision making Ichigo frown slightly. "Oh my god I wasn't even thinking, I'm so sorry." She bowed her head understanding what Ichigo might have thought when he heard someone running towards his room.
"It's fine." Ichigo told her running a hand through his bed messed hair, Shizuka sure had her ditzy moments but there were definitely times she had her serious moments as well such as this one. "It was nothing so no need to worry about it." Shizuka frowned as she looked into his tired eyes.
"You haven't been sleeping well." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Ichigo glanced tiredly at her before sighing.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Everything has just been building up I guess." He sighed standing up grabbing Zangetsu and placing the blade up against the wall before sitting on the edge of his bed, Shizuka standing up and closing the door behind her flicking the light on as she did so. She walked over and sat next to him on the bed.
"I told you Ichigo, you can talk to me about anything." Shizuka encouraged him. "There is nothing wrong with that." Ichigo glanced sidelong up at the busty blonde to see that she had a serious look on her face as she looked at him.
"I..." He managed to get out before he held his face in his hands. "I'm turning into someone I'm not!" He got out, frustration clear in his voice. "I've done things I'm not proud of! I'll do things I don't want to do! I held a gun to Kouta's head just to prove a point! What kind of person does that!?" He shook his head, his face having left his hands now being cradled in his arms hunched over slightly as Shizuka sat beside him. "Sometimes I don't even remember doing it, the moment I pulled the trigger on the gun it was like I had awoken from a dream only to watch Shido drop to the ground." His body was beginning to tremble.
"Ichigo." Shizuka started placing a hand on his back in a comforting motion and smiled lightly, even though he couldn't see it. "What you've done, you haven't done it out of spite, you haven't done it for your own personal selfish gains. You've done it to protect the people around you. I can't say that what you did was the right choice but I can't say it was wrong either. We put you on a mantle and told you to make decisions, that was selfish of us I know." She said softly feeling regret that she, the oldest of them had forced leadership onto someone younger.
"I've already screwed up." Ichigo told her. "What if staying here wasn't the right idea, what if going with Takagi's parents was the right option? How can you just take my choices without thinking about the consequences?" Shizuka frowned as she continued to rub his back in a comforting motion.
"You can't keep thinking like that, second guessing every decision you make. It's not healthy." Shizuka told him. "You make your decisions and we'll do our best to follow them. Remember, you saved Saeko and Karin. Not anyone else, you did. If it wasn't for you Karin would still be in Karakura, Saeko may be dead or worse." Shizuka shook her head. "I doubt if it wasn't for you we would have never made it this far." She told him honestly. "I'm glad you're here with us now." Ichigo sighed as he sat back up placing his hands on the mattress behind him as he looked up at the ceiling.
"Sorry, I kind of just blurted everything out just now." Shizuka simply giggled.
"I'm actually a qualified doctor, if you can't tell me who can you tell?" She asked. "And don't worry, my lips are sealed. I won't tell anyone about this and if there is anything more that you want to talk about I'll keep it confidential as well."
"Thanks Shizuka." Ichigo told her rolling his head to the side. "I mean it." The blonde nodded with a smile as she placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder before standing up and heading for the door.
"Again Ichigo, I'm sorry about startling you." Ichigo nodded as he laid back down on the bed and rolled over as Shizuka switched off the light and left the room frowning slightly as she closed the door at what she had heard from the teen. She'd have to keep an eye on his mental state especially if he was showing signs of MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder), although she couldn't be certain if he was suffering from that or not she'd have to keep an eye on things.
"You only want to go out in small teams?" Rei asked with an eyebrow raised. "Why? Wouldn't it be better if we all go out together. That way we can have more people looking out for one another." She said making Ichigo run a hand through his hair, he knew that Rei and Takashi needed to find their families, but Ichigo's top priority right now was helping everyone here survive. Not look for survivors.
"Look, until we all get into a routine this would be the best bet." Ichigo told her, making her huff in annoyance. Shaking his head he walked away from the brunette with a scowl on his face, the first thing he had to deal with when he woke up and he was already pissed off. Rei approached him as soon as he walked out of his room wanting to know the plan of the day, Ichigo telling her that a group of them were going to find anything useful, food, clothes, anything that would help them. That only got Rei irritated that he wasn't doing anything about Takashi's and her own families.
"... there's the two, and there's the three..." Ichigo heard as he opened the front door of the Takagi mansion to see Saya, Kouta and Shizuka all standing there, Shizuka phone in hand as she pressed buttons.
"Ah would you like me to do it for you?" Kouta questioned however Shizuka seemed content to do it on her own and voiced her opinion on the matter.
"You're going to mess me up, so don't interrupt me. Kay." She told him as she continued to press buttons on the phone. After dialling the number she hit the call button and flipped her blonde hair behind her ear and rose the phone up and simply stared off into space as she listened to the dial.
"Has she been in this kinda mood long?" Ichigo questioned making Saya look over her shoulder at him.
"Since I've been up." She told him. "You alright? You look annoyed." She suggested pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose oddly reminding the orange haired teen of Uryu.
"I'm fine." Ichigo told her as he leaned against the rail, hearing the rings of the phone as he stood next to Shizuka.
*Hello*
"Rika! Oh thank god you're ok!" Shizuka squealed in excitement.
*Shizuka, it's good to hear your voice and that you're ok. Where are you? My place?* Ichigo heard the woman question.
"No, that place isn't safe anymore. We had to move on. Oh, we borrowed your guns and stuff." Shizuka said in an apologetic tone.
*That's ok. Just tell me where you are right now.* Rika urged.
"Umm..." She turned to Ichigo who pointed at Saya making Shizuka laugh lightly. "We're at the Takagi Estate in Tokonosu City." Saya simply huffed, not knowing how the blonde ditz had ever made it through medical school.
*Takagi? You mean the house of the Japanese Minister of Self Defence?* Rika questioned. *How in the world did you end up there?* Shizuka chuckled lightly at that. *Never mind it doesn't matter. What's the situation like there?*
"Well... I uh... I'm not exactly sure. But I'm sure I know someone who could tell you." Ichigo's eyes widened as Shizuka handed him the phone. "Tell Rika what's going on."
*Shizuka? Shizuka!?* Rika's voice growing concerned not knowing what was going on. Shizuka smiled at Ichigo gesturing for him to speak to her friend making him sigh as he brought the phone up to his ear. *Shizuka! Did you drop the phone in the toilet again!?* Ichigo had to pull the phone back from his ear.
"No need to shout." Ichigo told her.
*Who're you?* Rika questioned after a moment's pause.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, you?" He replied.
*Rika Minami, part of the Special Assault Force.*
"No wonder you had such high grade weapons at your place." Ichigo mused understanding just what kind of person she was.
*What's your situation like where you are?* Rika questioned. *Shizuka must have handed the phone to you for a reason, so I guess you could tell me something that's going on.* Ichigo sighed as he scratched the back of his head and looked around the estate.
"Well, for one the current party that's in the estate is just a bunch of high school students along with Marikawa-sensei." Shizuka instantly pouted at being called like that again, she had thought that everyone had started to call her by her first name by now. "When we got here there were more, but they left. Souichiro Takagi along with them."
*I see.* Rika mused. *What caused you to remain behind?*
"Differences in opinions of survival." Ichigo simply replied.
*Fair enough.* Rika told him. *Anything else?*
"We've barricaded all but one of the entrances, Souichiro before he left had ordered barricades set up outside of the estate's parameters. We've got four mentally unstable students that are bed ridden, thirteen that are still up and moving about. We've still got the weapons from your apartment and from what I saw yesterday in the basement several crates of dynamite. Food supplies are starting to run low and we're probably going to have to take a group into the city soon."
*I see. Shizuka was right to put you on the phone. You certainly put the situation into perspective for me.* Rika chuckled. *You certainly know what you're doi-*
*Rika! Who are you talking too!?* Another female voice called out over the phone making Ichigo raise an eyebrow.
*Nobody, now go away.* Rika's voice said before Ichigo heard scuffling. *Hey give that back!*
*I bet this is that Shizuka you're always going on about. Time to find out if it's really a man or not!* The woman laughed. *Greetings Shizuka! This is Yoruichi Shihouin, Rika's very good partner in the SAT. It's nice to finally meet you.*
"Ah well, this isn't Shizuka, but... I guess it's nice to meet you?" Ichigo questioned.
*Eh?* Yoruichi's voice came back. *May I ask who's calling?*
"Ichigo Kurosaki, I've got Marikawa-sensei right here with me."
*You could have told me you were making an ass of myself Rika!* Yoruichi shouted, gaining confused looks from the three waiting to know what was happening on Ichigo's end. *Sorry about all that, I'll hand you back over to Rika.*
*Ugh...* Rika groaned in annoyance. *Sorry, can you put Shizuka back on for me?*
"Yeah not a problem." Ichigo said handing the phone back to Shizuka. The blonde smiled happily at him as she took the phone, Ichigo standing next to Saya.
"You seem to have the most interesting conversations." Saya told him.
"Yeah, well bite me." Ichigo told her, making her shake her head in amusement. "Can you get everyone in the main room when you can? I want to take a group into the city tomorrow and grab some stuff we don't have, and it's better to have too much then dwindling supplies." Saya nodded her head as Ichigo walked back into her house. She turned back to Shizuka who was squealing in excitement jumping up and down on the spot happily making Saya raise an eyebrow.
"What's got your panties in a twist?" Saya questioned as Shizuka flipped the phone shut a wide smile on her face.
"Rika's safe and she's coming here!"