Hi. They'll meet again, soon. Sorry adulthood has kept me away so long.
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Auburn Strands and Red Threads #28
Morning
Kisuke sat in his computer room in a daze.
He was seated in front of his many monitors, leaned back in his chair with his arms draped over the armrests. The low hum of the equipment helped to put himself deep in thought as troubles and worries followed.
The funny thing about getting lost in thought, at least for Kisuke, is that the body put so much energy into the act, muscles relax to the point of comical passivity. Getting lost in thought helped him come up with many of the creations and ideas he uses to this day, and if not for this come-and-go trance, he would be centuries behind where he is now.
However, Kisuke was lost in thought this time because he had never been this uncertain.
For one thing, Kisuke really regretted teaching Sora how to build or conduct experiments on anything. The only reason he mentored Sora in the first place is because it made creating a portal from his reality to Sora's reality a lot easier.
For all intents and purposes, Sora did not live in his original world. Both he and Sora spent time building an artificial world for him because it soon became apparent that if Sora lived in the worlds Kisuke reset, the Sora of the new reality would die fairly young. Kisuke taught Sora how to make a device that would create an artificial void that would connect the two realities, and it took two years alone to make the device to go on one side.
If he met this Sora on the third reset, then it would be about three resets later that they began to work on an artificial world. Orihime had died when she was fourteen then, so it was another eight years they had stayed to work non-stop on the artificial world for Sora. After the reset happened, it was another two years as they worked on the devices to create the void. Kisuke did not fully remember the method he had used before to travel to Sora and vis versa, but he remembered it hurt a lot. It really wasn't practical for either of their mental states to keep doing it that way.
The concept of the devices was terrifying because it only worked in theory at that point and neither would know if it was a success until the reset happened, but the key was to have a trace of each other's spiritual pressure. When it did work, there was no words to describe the disbelief of making something impossible possible. The downside was every time Kisuke reset his own reality, he and Sora would have to build a new void to connect their reality once more.
The void was hidden in a spare closet that no one in the Urahara household ever used, and it connected to a door in Sora's attic in his time. Kisuke intended to use the same method to build the portal to connect to Inuyasha's world (where the portal would be in the Feudal Era was the tricky part), but Sora had come up with the method that was initially given in the end.
Sora clearly had the time and motivation to think of such an invention. Sora had come up with the orb and receptors to give to Kisuke as a gift so they wouldn't have to rebuild the portal in the event a reset had to happen again, but the concept really had Kisuke worried.
It worked on the first try.
Was this the first try?
Was Sora becoming impatient with waiting to meet Orihime? Was he planning to make his own way to see her, if he hadn't already?
Was he planning for one or both—Sora and/or Orihime—of them to leave?
Sora was building something else, and Kisuke had gotten a peak at the construction. It appeared to be a room full of monitors, only that room was a detached garage connected to a small two-bedroom house. Kisuke would have to make time later to try to figure out what Sora could be making because if he ever had to breakdown and outright ask the young man what he was doing, he did not know if he could handle the answer.
Sora was odd and brilliant. It was probably a blessing on the world that Sora was human, otherwise, Sora might realize he could do a lot of things many humans could never do.
And thinking about one Inoue tended to lead to thinking about the other. But in this case . . .
Why was Inuyasha a factor?
Kisuke was surprised he himself hadn't mulled over this more before now, but in all the resets Kisuke has done, Inuyasha was never a factor before. He was a factor now, and he appeared as . . . a love interest to Orihime?
Perhaps Kisuke never gave Inuyasha much thought because he assumed the Feudal oddity would disappear after a few days. Truthfully, Kisuke just had not been concerned with Inuyasha and the risk, sign, or whatever was being presented with the red-cloaked boy being here.
And then for the first time Kisuke wondered . . . what happened to all the other lives in the world whenever he restarted everything?
What joys and pains had he made people relive for the past . . . Well, the time varied, but on average, he'd spend about fifteen years or less in a new reset before things had to start all over again, so how many times had he reset the world? What else was being reset? Was he resetting just Earth? Was he resetting the rest of the planets? The Universe? Existence? Did he unknowingly put them all into a plane of existence where nothing else existed but the necessary elements to keep them preoccupied? How far back did that go? He never really thought about it because he's been living his one interrupted life that consisted of resetting others . . .
And then Inuyasha came along . . .
Inuyasha came along and specifically came into contact with and now has an intense yet puzzling bond with one of the few people in existence that would only ever ensure Kisuke take notice. And maybe that is Kisuke's true problem—feeling as though any abnormality in life was for him to notice and decipher.
But Kisuke was controlling the world now, so why was an abnormality like this happening in the first place? A consequence? A warning?
Who was it for?
Was Inuyasha's presence meant to draw more attention to Kisuke's or Orihime's presence?
And why Orihime? Why was Orihime a person anyone or anything could even successfully use to get his attention?
Why was he so attached to Orihime in the first place?
His instinct was to say Sora was a major driving force in all this, and he definitely was and is, but there were two previous lifetimes, he's told, where Kisuke alone was driven by something to seek out Orihime . . . but that also leaves the very initial lifetime that sparked him to start resetting the world in the first place. So what happened that very first time? How did he even meet Orihime and Sora originally?
Kisuke blinked after realizing his eyes were wide and dry. He slowly sat up straighter and stretched his aching body, and he blinked hard and long. He stood, groaning loudly and stretching further as he did so. Getting lost in thought was not something he liked to do because, in his humble opinion, he did not think he did it well.
A person's body shouldn't ache and buckle just because they were lost in thought.
There was a knock at the room door followed by Yoruichi opening it and standing in the doorway. She was dressed as if she intended to spend a lazy few hours with him—i.e. a T-shirt and a comfortable looking pair of pants. She looked at him oddly as she held his phone in her hand.
"You look awful," she said.
"Do I?" His voice was deep and raspy, and his throat and mouth stung, uncomfortably sticky. He attempted to cough as he pounded his chest, but it was difficult and bordering on painful. Yoruichi picked up a water bottle from the floor and handed it to him with the cap off. Kisuke chugged it gladly.
"Before you think of lying to me," Yoruichi said, "keep in mind that you've been in here for nearly a week, and your spiritual pressure made it impossible to open the door."
Kisuke looked at her incredulously.
"Now," she said, "what's wrong? You haven't done this in a very long time."
He thought for a moment. "How come the old man hasn't done anything to me yet?"
Yoruichi looked at him more oddly, pressing her lips together. She stepped forward to take Kisuke by the hand and lead him out of the warm, stale room with the constant flashing lights and buzzing. They stepped over an assortment of snacks and bottled drinks that had been left for him in the past few days, and she led Kisuke to the bathroom. She began to undress him.
"He's not happy, Kisuke." Her voice was low, her tone clipped. "But I can only imagine that's the case since I have no idea what he's doing, but he's always doing something."
She sat Kisuke down on a stool after undressing him and used the detachable shower head to thoroughly saturate him. His smell was improving already.
"He's been conducting meetings with different captains and other officials about projects from centuries ago. Considering there's no major threat that the bulk of us have been alerted to, it's a bit unsettling. And then of course I suspect it has something to do with you, so that doesn't make the situation any less . . . concerning for my nerves."
"What concerns you?"
"Kisuke." She ran the water over his head a little longer than she should have. "You never told me why you started resetting in the first place."
Mid-Morning
If there was any truth to be told, Orihime felt quite sick to her stomach.
Inuyasha had been gone for a week, and of course she missed him, but now she was feeling physically ill because of it.
She had feelings for Inuyasha; this had to be true for her to justify her emotions. She never thought she would feel for Inuyasha as more than just a friend, and part of her sick feeling came from not knowing if her emotions were influenced by his inadvertent confession.
Yes, hearing that did shock her as much as it flattered her, but she didn't want to completely switch her feelings to Inuyasha just because he liked her. That would mean she was putting her years long crush on Ichigo on the back-burner simply because another guy liked her.
And yet . . .
Orihime had been liked by other guys before. She used to get tons and tons of love letters every day until they just stopped—coincidentally after she had told her friends the constant letters were becoming inconvenient and unsettling. Some guys would even confess to her in person, so Inuyasha was just . . . different. She was mortified with herself when she recalled how she pressed him for details of his new crush on the night of the new moon; Inuyasha obviously didn't want her to know how he felt. He would have told her then. He . . . wasn't all that happy to be having feelings for her anyway.
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"Feelings change in the modern world, too, don't they?"
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Maybe.
She didn't know.
She pressed her hands to her face, feeling the heat wash over her while simultaneously remembering how unlike herself she was with him that night. What kind of impression did he have of her after that? She practically forces him in a situation where he had to get almost completely nude all so she could wash his hair? As if he couldn't wash his own hair! Then she talks about crushes? And what's worse, she had gushed prior to that night about her crush on Ichigo!
How long had Inuyasha had feelings for her exactly?
Did he think she was being carelessly cruel? Because she was, wasn't she? She still did not know why certain thoughts about Inuyasha made her act impulsively around him when similar thoughts did not make her act as impulsively with Ichigo.
Again, the heat washed over her.
That is to say, of course Inuyasha would be different because the two of them had a very unique start to their friendship. He most certainly hated her when they first knew each other, so this must be as confusing for him as shocking and disorienting as it is for her.
To know!
As shocking and disorienting as it is for her to know. Whatever feelings she did have for him, it still wasn't love. She couldn't believe he . . . thought he loved—
Orihime sped walked to the kitchen to get a glass of ice water.
Of course they were both feeling confused. They started talking with each other before feelings were involved. She enjoyed his company before he even thought about liking her . . . perhaps.
She didn't want to rewrite every look and action of his as an act of love, but those thoughts did swirl around in her mind, and she found herself blushing and needing a moment to breathe a lot more these days. She really wanted to resume their routine so they could get to know each other better and she can really see for herself, but then that led her to the other part of her sickness.
Inuyasha left to fight demons.
They couldn't get to know each other with ease because their lives were very abnormal every now and again.
Inuyasha lived in a time period she had no way to get to and could not navigate without him, so she just had to . . . wait. Whether or not she saw him again would only be proven if she never saw him again or he popped up like he used to.
So . . . if he was badly injured or worse, she would have no way of knowing.
She immediately remembered when he turned up on her doorstep with a hole in his chest. He somehow made his way to her with that as a hindrance. The first time she met him, he had also gotten a hole going through him . . . and each time, she healed him. How long could he go with serious injuries like that? How often do injuries like that happen to him? Did this mean he had the proper healers in his time? Were there any healers in his friend group? Would he heal on his own regardless of having the proper healers?
She sighed. She hoped she wasn't being fickle.
Orihime was disrupted from her thoughts after hearing a knock on her front door. She blinked, setting her cup in the sink. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she was wearing her winter gym outfit, minus the jacket. She exited the bathroom and went to answer the door.
"Hi, everyone," she greeted. Chad, Ichigo, Rukia, and Uryuu greeted her in kind. They were all dressed to work out as well.
Ichigo was mentally kicking himself in the ass right now because he was conscious of how he was letting things get out of hand.
They had all departed from Orihime's apartment to head to Kisuke's house so they could start demon training, and. . . Why didn't he ask more questions about Inuyasha? He got so sidetracked with Kisuke that he obviously missed some important factors to the situations that have been unfolding since he fought the boy.
Okay, no, wait. Just. . .
Let's start there because Ichigo was aware that he regretted not questioning Inuyasha when he first met him. Inuyasha had been looking for Orihime that day, and there's no way Ichigo could have known that, but he should've asked more questions because Inuyasha did stick out as a non-human. Why hadn't Ichigo been more concerned that day?
"Orihime, may I ask you something?" Uryuu asked tensely.
"Of course," she replied.
"I hope this doesn't come off too intrusive, but I'm a little confused about this Inuyasha person. You seem to know him, uh, pretty well, but, until recently, we—or maybe just I—had never heard of him before, so . . . Since we're working with him now, I guess, how and why were you keeping someone like him a secret?"
Orihime nearly faltered in her walking, her heart beating and rushing with adrenaline as if Uryuu had just asked her a very personal and private question that she had never spoken aloud. Mentally, she tried to recover quick because even a few seconds delay was questionable, and while Uryuu was the only one looking at her intently right now, she could feel the others waiting on her response—and then tuning in a little harder now that a few seconds had passed and she still produced no immediate answer.
Because surely to them, whatever reason Orihime had, she would readily have a reason.
"I . . ." She honestly didn't know what to say in this moment. She had too much to sort through, and she was afraid of what realizations she'd have in front of her friends if she did start to explain now. "I didn't think the situation would progress this far for me to tell anyone."
"What was the situation when you met him?"
"Well . . . he had gotten injured, and I healed him, and he left, but he came back because he thought I took something."
"What, did he leave his weapon or something?" Uryuu asked.
"No," Orihime said meekly. "It was a sliver of a crystal, but it's a piece of the Sacred Jewel, which is very important to his time period. One shard transformed my fairies and their abilities, so I can't imagine what a whole jewel would do."
"Wait, you . . ." Uryuu had to stop and think, and everyone else had to playback what she had just said. "So you did take something from him? And what happened?"
Orihime blushed a little, trying to get her words together. "He had already left when I found it, and I didn't know what it was at the time, but I thought it was a pretty color." Orihime stopped walking and flipped the collar of her T-shirt inside-out to reveal she had her hairpins hooked to her shirt with the decorative side facing her.
Everyone else gathered closer to her to see one clip looked normal and the other had a shimmering pink line in each petal. The center of the petal was a sharpened pink point.
"I have to admit," Orihime said, "it's made my abilities a lot stronger than I'm used to. As far as the healing goes, I'm very happy—"
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"I really need help!"
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Orihime paused, a fleeting yet immense hollowness flashing through her, "—that I can heal to such a great extent now, but . . . the offense . . ."
"You said this crystal changed your abilities?" Rukia asked, staring at the pink intently.
"Yes," Orihime said.
"Something like . . . a pink blast or . . .?"
Orihime paled, her fingers going limp and her collar folding back in place. Her eyes briefly darted between everybody—noticing some form of realization flash in Ichigo's eyes as he glanced at Rukia. The tightening of her stomach was nauseating as she wondered if that was just an educated guess.
"I think you should sit," Chad said.
"Mm . . . No, it's okay." Orihime forced a smile and began to walk forward cautiously. "Yes, it is a pink blast. It's a lot stronger than I'm used to, so it's a good thing Kisuke can give us some training."
Rukia walked to stand in Orihime's way; she looked at the auburn with mild concern. "Orihime, I get the feeling that you're scared, but . . . this is really the time for open and honest communication. I don't mean to alarm you, but I do think you're taking Captain Yamamoto's order far too lightly."
"Orders?" Orihime thought for a moment. "What orders?"
"About staying away from Kisuke." Rukia hesitated. Orihime never seemed to remember this detail no matter how many times it was brought up. "I'm not saying Kisuke is a bad person, but perhaps something is going on with him that we really don't understand."
Orihime began to twist her hair, thinking. "Captain Yamamoto . . . can't possibly understand why I won't do that," she muttered. "Besides," she said a little louder, "I still believe if he doesn't want me to, h-he should come down here and say it."
Ichigo's brow involuntarily rose. Why did she keep implying he didn't say this to her already?
Afternoon
Inuyasha felt sick to his stomach.
He walked around the forest, sniffing the air to make sure the closest demons were, in fact, far enough away that the group could at least rest long enough to eat and sleep properly. The past few days had been filled with hunting, fighting, and running away from demons, and all they had to show for it was one measly jewel shard Kagome managed to shoot out of a demon before it was sucked into Miroku's wind tunnel.
Inuyasha halted his walking and pointed his face towards camp, barely able to sense them because they were far enough away and down wind.
That was good. It meant they were safe, to some extent.
Inuyasha scanned the forest and listened for a moment longer before turning back to camp and deciding to walk back; he'd of course, take his time and sightsee for a while.
The thing was . . . he was thinking about Orihime a lot, and he felt extremely guilty for it. He really did not want to be hunting demons right now. He didn't not want to be around his friends, but every time it was clear the next day was not the day this whole excursion all ended, his stomach sunk just a little deeper.
Inuyasha was not sure at all how he would go about it, but he needed Orihime in his life. These few days of being away from her after being able to freely feel his emotions for her had him more irritable since he didn't know how else to convey the disappointment—and he had a strong hunch he would not be as bold when he saw her again—but he wanted to confess already. He wanted to tell her how he felt and then ask what comes next.
Orihime, I love you. Anything you wanna do about it?
Inuyasha chuckled to himself.
He's gotten . . . comfortable with thinking about a flustered Orihime. From time to time, he thought about how red faced she got when he saw her last. He had made a comment about her friends and the look after was . . . Well, after he got back to his time and reflected on it, it was a very nice look. It was a look that . . . he just thought about every now and again. It made him feel tingly sometimes.
Inuyasha stopped walking, feeling a presence approaching him fast. He cursed at how close it was and how he didn't feel it sooner. A whirlwind of air barreled towards him and stopped far enough away Inuyasha thought he himself would go undetected. The wind subsided, revealing the wolf demon with terrible timing.
"All on your own, huh?" Koga looked around the area before setting a disgusted look on Inuyasha. "How is it I can tell you've been around Kagome recently but she's nowhere in sight?" He pointed the staff he was holding at the half-demon. "You really piss me off with how you leave her by herself all the damn time, mutt."
Inuyasha audibly sighed, the reflexive defensiveness and irritation kicking in. "What the hell do you want?"
Koga whipped the staff to the side. "Why is it every time I stop to talk to you, you think it has anything to do with you?"
Inuyasha's fingers flexed at his side. Then he jolted, catching a whiff of Jaken before setting his sights back on Koga. "What're you doing with that?"
Koga raised the two-headed staff. "This? I took it off an imp. I could've sworn there was a jewel shard or two in this thing, but I guess not."
"What made ya think that thing had any shards?"
Koga grinned viciously. "The damned thing spits fire and doesn't burn!"
Inuyasha frowned, sniffing the air again. He didn't smell his brother close by, but that didn't mean he wasn't. He would love to get those jewel shards back from Sesshomaru, but with this afternoon being the most rest his team ever had, Inuyasha would prefer not to fight his brother any time soon. He wished he could wait until after they handle this current demon situation, but now that the stupid wolf went and created a trail, who knows if Sesshomaru would decide to make an appearance.
"Hey, don't distract me!" Koga snapped. "What the heck are you doing here? And where's Kagome?"
Inuyasha groaned, but part of him did wonder what Koga would do if he knew Inuyasha was interested in someone else. In all honesty, Inuyasha wouldn't be surprised if Koga tried to kill him. The thought made Inuyasha chuckle.
"What's funny?" Koga snapped again.
"Listen," Inuyasha said, "unless you can help me in any way, which you can't—"
What now?!
Inuyasha jumped towards Koga only to immediately jump away with him as a blast of blue lightening tore from the sky and ripped through the ground after them.
"This is your fault," Inuyasha spat as they landed, eyes searching the sky.
Koga scowled, offended. "How the hell is what just happened my fault?"
"RETURN THAT RIGHT NOW, WRETCHED WOLF!"
Koga's ears twitched. "Dammit."
A muzzled, two-headed dragon demon rapidly descended from the sky, slamming to the ground and making the earth uproot around it. Inuyasha could see the small demon clinging to the reigns on the large, brown demon's back.
"Heathenish wretch! How dare you steal from me! How dare you steal from Lord Sesshomaru!"
Inuyasha shot Koga a glare. "What else did you take?!"
"I only took this stupid piece of wood!" Koga spat while glaring at Jaken. He thrust the staff in the imp's direction, gripping it in his fist. "You can have the damned thing back!"
"Ha! You can't fool me! You've already taken the jewel shards hidden away in the Staff of Two Heads, and I will not return to my lord without them! Beast, attack!"
The dragon demon spat forth blue lightening once again. Inuyasha and Koga fled in the opposite direction of the lightening. Inuyasha grit his teeth. He was very aware that he was running away from both his friends and the direction they were all headed towards in the first place. He glared at Koga, who was still clutching that damned staff.
"Will you get rid of that already?!"
"No way!" Koga looked at Inuyasha, offended. "You heard him, didn't you?! There are shards in this thing!"
Inuyasha groaned, tired of this situation. He made a sharp right and began running back towards camp. Koga brought this problem on himself and he could deal with it by himself. At the very least, Inuyasha now knew where to set his sights next for jewel shards after the issues in the southern mountains were fixed.
Inuyasha's back tingled. He jumped to the side, landing meters away from where the lightning struck the ground.
"I should've known you had a hand in this, Inuyasha!" Jaken yelled.
Inuyasha looked at Jaken, bewildered, though his natural scowl made it hard to tell. "What?" He noticed movement to his right; he looked to see Koga standing next to him, glaring at Jaken, and still holding that—damned—staff. "Why did you follow me?!"
It was Koga's turn to have his bewilderment hidden by a natural scowl. "I thought you had a plan!"
"For me!" Inuyasha yelled.
"What?!"
"Enough!" Jaken screeched as another attack of blue lightening was launched at them. Both of the long haired demons jumped to avoid the attack.
"Screw this," Inuyasha muttered before he touched the ground, drawing his sword. Once his feet made contact with the ground, "WIND SCAR!"
The barrage tore through the air, narrowly missing the beast as it ascended higher in the sky. More lightening rained down on the duo. Inuyasha and Koga ran and dodged through the trees. Inuyasha swung his sword again, missing the beast again but knocking it off balance enough that it fell back towards the earth.
Koga threw the staff at Inuyasha, who cursed himself for catching it, and got a running start before running up a trunk of a tree and launching himself towards the falling demons.
"Hurry and attack!" Jaken screeched at the dragon.
Koga reached them before the demon could react, kicking the beast with such a forceful downward motion it cratered into the ground. Koga landed near Inuyasha amidst the large cloud of dirt. Inuyasha covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, squinting through the cloud. This would be a perfect time to run, but he'd rather deal with Jaken now so that the imp doesn't follow him back to camp. As he searched for movement, Inuyasha realized he was still holding the staff.
"I don't see 'em," Koga muttered, staring through the cloud intently. "Give me my staff so I can get out of here."
Inuyasha chucked it in the direction of the other two demons.
"Asshole!" Koga tried to kick Inuyasha, but the half demon dodged.
It was as Inuyasha was in the air that something sparkled and caught his eye. It distracted him from the blast.
"Ah-" Orihime shuddered, feeling a cold chill noticeably freeze her spine for a millisecond. She blinked, looking at the dirt of the training ground.
That was strange . . .
That was a very strange sensation.
She looked at her friends, who were crowded around her and her tiny fairies.
Most of the morning was taken up by discussion on how exactly they would be training for the task at hand. The answer was not clear, but one thing was for sure and that was they had to be better than they were now. Orihime had been trying to explain the effects of the jewel shard when she realized she could have her friends see what it did to her fairies for themselves, and Lily currently had Uryuu, Rukia, and Chad locked into a fascinating tale about how they had transformed. Uryuu's eyes were wide and for some reason he was sweating. Chad and Rukia were leaned in intently, transfixed by the tiny beings—Chad because here was yet another myth his abuelo had told him about; Rukia because the tiny creatures were so darn cute.
Orihime blinked, smiling reflexively as she's prone to do when unsettled.
"Don't ignore that feeling."
Orihime almost jumped before she remembered Tsubaki was seated on her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him, but he did not return the gesture. He was leaned forward, chin rested on the heel of his palm, one leg crossed over the other and his elbow rested on top.
"If you sense them," he muttered, "I can track them."
Orihime looked at him a moment longer before facing everyone else again, though she was somewhat confused. She wanted to ask what he meant, but if it was linked to that weird feeling she had, then she needed to gather herself a bit before she could confront it. She looked around at everyone in front of her. She peeked up at the door on the other side of the massive room. The wall-length ladder and the door looked so far away from where they were now.
Where were Kisuke and Ichigo anyway?
o0o0o
Oh, how Kisuke wished he would have just slipped into the Study Chamber before Ichigo had a chance to stop him. There were so many people who weren't problems before who were now.
He and Ichigo stood in front of the doors to the Study Chamber—Kisuke staring at Ichigo from under his hat, Ichigo glaring with all the intention to set him ablaze.
Why did he ask—?
"Answer me," Ichigo demanded.
"Why . . . did I send you after Orihime that day?" Kisuke repeated, taking a moment to scream internally. "I was worried about her, that's all."
"Why is that?" Ichigo pressed. "Because the only side I've heard is that old man's, and it doesn't make any sense why you have this interest in Orihime all of a sudden."
Kisuke laughed though he wanted to scream harder. "Listen, Ichigo, I'm sure you know by now that Hime—"
Ichigo's brow twitched.
"Orihime found some kind of artifact that has drastically increased her powers, and she came to me because she remembered me as the weird guy who knows how to handle this stuff. I'm just trying to help her out, and considering my reputation, I'm sure Old Man Yama thinks I'm up to no good. That's far—far—from the case, I can assure you."
Ichigo didn't flinch. "Is that why he forbade Orihime from being around you so much so he's willing to have you killed if she keeps coming back?"
Kisuke laughed again. "Flattering! He must think I'm trying to build some kind of advanced human army! He's just being dramatic."
"If that all it is, what did you do to make Orihime forget he told her to stay away from you?"
"That . . . is a bit extreme, don't you think? I didn't even know he told her anything like that." Kisuke watched Ichigo carefully, almost impressed by how unwavering the young man could be in both presence and spirit. Ichigo certainly wasn't going to be satisfied with a flaky answer.
Kisuke wondered if he himself was about to cross a line.
"Look, Ichigo, I know that you think I'm sketchy or something—"
"You are."
"—but I'm not doing anything weird with or to Orihime. If you want the honest truth, I guess I did grow attached to her, but that's only after that crystal increased her power to such a degree and she ended up killing that Inuyasha fellow and bringing him back all in the same night. I mean, your first kill is never an easy one, and to have it happen without meaning to can really weigh on a person. If that old geezer wants to make a big deal out of an accident like that then do you blame for getting invo—"
"What do you mean she 'ended up killing' him?" Ichigo interjected, brows tightly knitted. "When did that happen? Why did she come to you for that?"
Kisuke made his tone more serious while trying to keep the explanation concise. "The whole reason she has that crystal in the first place is because she met Inuyasha. When it fused with her hair clip somehow, he tried to get it back, and the new power accidentally activated, and Inuyasha, well . . . She had the ability to bring him back, which is the important part. It happened after she came to me about the crystal, and it broke my heart to see her so remorseful over what she had done."
Ichigo looked at him warily, but his mind was thoroughly thrown off track and he wasn't as mentally composed as he was when he first pulled Kisuke aside. Orihime hadn't really killed someone, right? She had not seemed more abnormal than usual, and killing someone by accident would rattle anybody.
Then again . . .
The most abnormal behavior lately has been this newfound relationship with Kisuke. Even if the man was telling the truth, why in the world would she keep it a secret from rest of them? How was she able to act so normal if this is all true?
And then Inuyasha . . .
.
"I'm looking for a girl. . . . kinda weird with big eyes."
.
Ichigo didn't know the guy's happiness from his anger, but Inuyasha hadn't seemed mad that day he was looking for her. In fact, he would go on to fight Ichigo thinking he was protecting her. He was killed by Orihime . . . and now they're friends?
Are they all trauma bonding because she killed him? Does Kisuke have a soft spot for inexperienced power wielders who kill by accident? Does Inuyasha and his demon instincts view Orihime as having had asserted her dominance and now they're friends? Is Orihime being his friend out of guilt? Has she latched onto Kisuke because she killed someone?
WHY didn't she turn to any of her friends first?
Ichigo scrunched his face, running a hand through his hair as his mind tried to make sense of all this. "So . . . that blast she did that night Rukia and I saw her . . ." The top half of that man was gone. Did she do that to Inuyasha? And she brought him back to life? And the two are now friends?!
Kisuke watched Ichigo even more closely. He wanted the boy to stop asking any more questions, but Kisuke hoped his own responses were not stressing Ichigo out too much. "She is going through a lot. She told me about her brother, and that was—what?—just a few years ago? And now this? I know this friendship I have with her is very strange for many reasons, but I'm not that heartless of a guy."
Ichigo looked at him skeptically. That answer really did not settle with him. "You should've let me know."
"Perhaps!" Kisuke produced his handheld fan with a flick of his wrist and fanned himself dramatically. "But are you going to continue to snoop on pretty girls, or do you want to go train with them—and the other two?"
Ichigo was not amused. More than anything at the moment, he was highly concerned. Obviously, if he knew what Orihime had been going through, he would have approached the Kisuke topic much better. Orihime did start living on her own at the age of 12, so maybe she was looking for someone to latch onto. Maybe she was trying to build her own family any way she could . . . and recent traumas led her to . . . Kisuke and a demon from the past.
That's where it stops making sense and Ichigo feels like uncovering what's really going on. If he does already know the truth about what's going on, which is either Orihime killed someone and she's traumatized or Orihime is in danger by being with Kisuke. . . just how the hell could he really help her?
This was more than he thought it would be.
"Do you know how to even train us for this?" Ichigo asked.
All Kisuke could do was smile. "Of course."
For an Inoue, he would most certainly try.