Interlude: The mysteries in his life

Keigo's mind was having an internal conflict,he still wanted to believe that this is all just a dream and the man standing in front of him was just a fragment of his imagination and his pent up thoughts and emotions are being expressed in such way but his senses on the hand confirmed him that the man was telling the truth or he firmly believed in what he is talking about. To be frank he would be lying if he said that he wasn't intrigued about this talk about these supernatural beings, not to mention in the previous dream the Aizen guy's dress or uniform was similar to that of the Shinigami the Mario guy explained.

It's not like he doesn't believe in the supernatural aspects of life,no in fact he is one of the most ardent believer,as a child the unknown always had interested him. Unlike his peers he had spent most of his childhood in reading books of different topics varying from different supernatural aspects of life to aliens, Ufo sightings and even started reading conspiracy theories about vampires and real-life incidents about people interacting with them which dates for many years and the most recent one being three months ago.

But the funny thing is these vampires unlike the ones in the folk lore, these vampires didn't suck the blood of their victims but their life or more appropriate to say soul, the victims were devoid of life but there was no loss of blood or any external injuries except two pin pricks on the neck of the victims. The vampire according to some witnesses was a tall muscular man with a scar on his chin but the most distinct feature about him was his white hair and red eyes this incident occurred very recently like a month ago in the coastal region of Spain.

There was another case in a different place and this dated approximately 100-150 years ago, but this time the victim was the supposed vampire, the people in the town realized that she wasn't aging at all so they tried to kill her off even though she didn't harm anyone unlike in the previous case. Then according to the old city archives the female vampire was saved by a male vampire who resembled the one who was sighted in Spain, maybe they are the same person or maybe not.

But unlike others he didn't dismiss these incidents as fake or people imagining things because of fear because he knew there are things in the world which are unknown and undecipherable like the fact that only few percent of the ocean has been discovered officially or evidences about life in other planets outside earth or the mysterious disappearance of the flights and boats at the Bermuda triangle and last but not the least there are some unnatural events occurring in USA which are cantered around a man who goes by the name Lucifer Morningstar, a man helping out the people in his own way by offering deals to them, rumour has it that he is the devil himself roaming the earth since he was feeling lonely and bored being the ruler of the hell and apparently he owns a casino too.

And the icing on the cake is/was the abnormal events which has been happening in and around Karakura town for past few months ,he might act dumb but that doesn't mean he didn't observe the things happening around him like ichigo vanishing from the class time to time or how Rukia trained ichigo in kendo and her background which might have fooled others but not him ,he knew that she was lying about her and there is something she is hiding not to mention these abnormal events started occurring from the time of her arrival not to mention when something happens ichigo and the usual gang would be there or at least partially involved in it one way or another. He could sense some drastic changes in them which wasn't there before Rukia came or more appropriate to say that Rukia's arrival might have been a catalyst for their change.

Hell, even yesterday there was an unexplained incident where all the windows in the school were broken by the judo students all of a sudden then chizuru and arisawa started attacking orohime one after another and before that arisawa was in agony as if something was torturing her slowly. He knew something was off when his senses started going haywire. It was by accident that he was walking in the ground and he came across this ,his first action was to run and hide just like he was always asked to do when he faced dangerous situations like these but he couldn't do it not when chizuru was acting like that, so unlike her kind self and she was even pained by her actions ,it was like they were possessed or looked like they were being controlled by something because they were able to retain their senses and weren't keen on hurting their friend ,in chizuru's case the girl she liked. As much as it hurts him no matter what that's the truth and he have to live with that knowing that his love for her wouldn't be reciprocated, but that didn't stop him from hugging and confessing it to her profusely breaking the hold of whatever creature had on her.

In fact, when he stupidly stepped in her path preventing her from hurting orohime she didn't even make any aggressive move against him but still he could see in her eyes that there was something unnatural about her at that moment. He quickly came up with a simple plan of appealing to her emotionally but unfortunately during his monologue his real feelings for her slipped through and he ended up confessing her which surprisingly broke her from the trance but the same cannot be said to arisawa he knew that she hated him with a passion but didn't know that hate was deeper than he had expected the moment after his confession to chizuru she started attacking with an intent of harming for real unlike when she attacked Orohime and he was able to sense hatred and jealousy radiating from her though it felt as if someone had multiplied her already existing felings 100 fold though her feelings were mostly directed at chizuru than him . Its not surprising considering that she hated chizuru for her occasional harassment of Orohime but jealousy that's something new ,why would arisawa be jealous of chizuru .That's absurd as far as he knows arisawa isn't attracted to him or chizuru .So he was baffled by that and this distraction was enough for arisawa to punch him in his solar plexus followed by a roundhouse kick ,years of close combat training and reflexes he had honed under his sister kicked in enabling him to evade the kick with ease surprising her and orohime who herself was suffering torment from the invisible creature which gave him enough time to push chizuru behind him which turned out to be really bad move since this enraged arisawa even further but luckily Orohime jumped in and was able to reign in Tatsukis anger .

The same could not be said for the judo club members who were targeting him at the same time which was good for orohime since it looked like Tatsuki had regained her sense and was trying to resist whatever was controlling her ,with the others attention solely focused on him it gave an opportunity for Tatsuki to regain the control of her body with the help of orohime. The one controlling the judo club members wouldn't have expected him to fare well against the group, too bad compared to his sisters training these were nothing, not only did he manage to knock out some of them but he was protecting chizuru at the same time. Apparently whoever caused that incident turned out to be a sore looser because the controlled people started attacking him with renewed vigour and rage which didn't affect him much until the being directed its killing intent on chizuru which he had sensed immediately.

Keigo drew a line when it comes to getting emotional (which he usually doesn't thanks to the fucking curse no matter what anyone says),harm to him he would let it pass but anyone or anything which dared to harm his loved ones would face his wrath, he was sick and tired of people around him getting hurt .He would be damned if he let chizuru get hurt because some supernatural being felt petty because of his/her/it's over confidence had resulted in its humiliation .He didn't hold back when the mind controlled students attacked knocking the first person within seconds and then another and then another using all the close combat skills at his disposal, in a span of 2 minutes he had reduced the number of students by half. And he was pretty vindictive when he knocked out the students making it clear to that creature that targeting chizuru would not end very well for it. He could see Orohime and Tatsuki looking at him in bewilderment, probably due to him not being his usual self but to be safe he assured them with a slight smile and nod indicating that he was still on their side.

The creature had not retaliated yet so he took that chance to take down the remaining controlled students. He pushed Chizuru further behind him and then dashed forward to knock down the remaining students. Tatsuki realizing what was happening joined him in his endeavour and they rapidly took down the remaining mind-controlled students. Then that thing showed it self the one which was controlling everyone. It resembled a jellyfish, with six appendages at the bottom and three circles of protrusions at the top, and has heart-shaped openings around its eyes as well as long teeth with no lips or gums, one of most hilarious creatures he had ever seen. It looked like some weird creature from one of those B grade horror movies and it didn't look happy more appropriate to say it was behaving like petulant whiny cowardly bully screaming profanities at them and the things which it will do to them in retaliation for spoiling its fun in its squeaky voice.

Orohime ,Tatsuki and Chizuru were looking at the sudden appearance of the creature with different expression on their face .Chizuru looked embarrassed and furious at the same time ,glaring at the creature and blushing when she looked at him probably due to his confession , Tatsuki on other hand was glaring at the creature and not so subtly at Chizuru which was quite surprising considering it was he who should have received that glare and even more surprising was that she was looking at him with a look of admiration which was new since he had received only looks of scorn and disgust from her ,Orohime on the other hand had an apprehensive look on her face as if she already knew what was happening and was expecting something like that to appear which proved his theory about some of the members of the gang knew something which others don't. The creature was looking at the girls with fury while continuing its tirade. Keigo on the other hand couldn't hold it anymore, the expression on its face coupled with threats it was spewing in its voice was so out of place that it was too funny that he started laughing loudly pointing his finger at that creature ignoring the situation they were all in.

That was probably was a smart move since the creature's attention was completely focused on him. Keigo was so busy laughing that he almost missed the look of recognition on the creature's face and then in an instant the fury emitting from it was replaced with fear and trepidation, as if it broke a rule which it shouldn't have and was afraid to face the consequence. This sudden change in the creature confused him more than anything, what was that monster so scared about and why did it change its attitude after looking at him? .Seems others had the same questions on their mind and the way there were looking at him shockingly as if he had grown an extra head all of a sudden especially Oorhime she was looking at him with an expression which was partly confusion and partly suspicion as if he was somewhat related to whatever the creature was fearful of, he could only shrug at Orohime in return because frankly speaking he himself couldn't understand the logic behind its action .And after that the tentacled creature completely avoided him and started attacking Tatsuki and orohime again by shooting some bullet like projectiles from its appendages .It did try to attack Chizuru but he stepped in front of her protectively daring it to attack since it was reluctant to make a move against him before .The creature looked from her to him narrowing its eyes ,it looked like it was about to attack him but it then changed its mind renewing its attack on Tatsuki. No matter how much he provoked it from throwing stones to calling insulting names, the creature avoided him like a plague only muttering that it did not want to anger that guy, who or which guy? He would never get the answers for those questions from that creature at least because within few seconds after the monster renewed its torture on Tatsuki, Orohime killed it with some sort of super powers her hair clip transformed into three fairy like beings and one of them injured it so badly that the creature started falling down .He was not sure what happened next because the creature changed its direction of the fall towards him at the final moment and crashed into him ,knocking him down .

The moment the creature touched him he felt something transferring into his body, it was like his body absorbing some sort of energy, he felt livelier than before, revitalized or reenergised would be the better term for the feeling he had felt at that time. He was back on his feet immediately and looked around for the body of the creature, but couldn't find it anywhere, it was as if it had vanished all of a sudden which freaked him out. Before he could question anyone about the disappearance of the creatures body ,his head started aching all of a sudden ,it felt like he was hit with an iron pipe multiple times on the head .He fell down clutching his head screaming in pain ,he felt two different pair of hands on his shoulder offering him comfort wasn't sure to whom those belonged to questioning him in a concerned tone about what was happening to him. The pain was so much that he couldn't even recognize who those voices belong to or what were they talking .He vaguely felt someone pressing his head to their bosom running their finger through his hair and some one else was holding his hands tightly ,both were trying to comfort him in their own way and he was sure both were crying based on the sniffing sound he heard from both the directions.

Then he had blacked out only to gain consciousness in the infirmary after three hours with his sister sitting on one side of his bed , chizuru and tatsuki on other side who were glaring at each other .He could sense an underlying tension among them especially between Tatsuki and Chizuru ,the emotions he felt in that room especially the jealousy from those two coupled with worry was too much that it nearly suffocated him surprisingly his sister was really calm and collected about the whole situation .What worried him most was he wasn't sure what she knew about the incident, heck he wasn't exactly sure about what others knew about that incident and most importantly when it comes to his wellbeing , his sister would be out of control ,her emotions and her over protective streak would go haywire but here she was so unlike her usual self .

Then things got even more weird when his sister politely but firmly shooed both the girls out of the room stating that she wanted to have a conversation with him alone. Both were reluctant to leave him but the stern look from Mizuo was enough to convince them that they are better off following her suggestion. Before leaving chizuru gave him a shy tentative hug which he returned slightly awkwardly his confession to her still on the mind ,chizuru on other hand ignored his awkwardness and pulled herself away from him then she looked at Tatsuki with a smug but satisfied smile on her face which did nothing better to improve the atmosphere in the room Tatsuki was now shooting a venomous glare at Chizuru only to be met with a smirk which practically dared her to do something , Tatsuki took a deep breath trying to calm herself she looked at him for a moment then she moved forward ,standing in front of him she placed her hands on his cheeks tenderly he could see a blush forming on her cheeks and he was sure his own face which was already red due to the hug had become even more redder ,what she did next surprised everyone in the room including herself ,she gave him a kiss on his cheek her lips lingering there for some time ,it felt like eons but in reality it was only for few seconds and just like that she backed away her face looking a beet root not before giving him a slight smile .

But one thing was certain at that time he was not the only spluttering mess in that room, the other being Chizuru who was trying to say something but couldn't form coherent sentence ,one can see an imaginary steam coming out of her ear .He didn't need any sense to know that she was feeling extremely jealous and was too stunned to react at the moment though he wasn't sure why she or Tatsuki should be jealous of each other in the first place ,its not like either of them were vying for his attention/affection and were acting like this since they had consider each other as rivals for the said affection which would be absurd and ridiculous since he was pretty sure that Chizuru was attracted to women and Tatsuki doesn't like him at all since there was nothing likeable about the persona he had been playing in front of her and others.

If Tatsuki giving him a kiss on the cheek made him a stuttering mess, what happened next resulted in an existential crisis for him .Chizuru not to be outdone moved in front of him with a determined expression on her face ,then without a warning she pulled him forward into a kiss he was so surprised that he tried to move away involuntarily but Chizuru had snaked her arm around his neck and pushed his head forward deepening the kiss further , it was not just an ordinary kiss but a wet urgent kiss expressing her feelings and desire in it ,Keigo could feel love ,jealousy ,vulnerability and fear radiating from her when she was kissing him. He was sure that if he pull away then it would definitely hurt her besides its not like he didn't like it ,heck he had been imagining this from the moment he had realized his feelings for her so he did the only logical thing anyone would do at that moment ,he kissed her back pulling her closer making it clear through his kiss that he liked her too .The kiss lasted for a minute before both of them pulled back reluctantly. Tatsuki was completely shellshocked while Chizuru had a relieved look on her face. The moment the kiss ended he realized what just happened during last few minutes and he looked at the girls responsible for it and he spoke the only thing he had on his mind at that time a single word "why" even though he can clearly feel and see that they have strong feelings for him, looking at their confused expression he further elaborated his question like why did they choose to express their feelings now when they haven't shown interest before? What about Chizuru being attracted to girls especially Orohime san which she has proclaimed openly many times and Tatsuki has made her hatred for him very clear before, what had changed ?Not that he wasn't happy about them showing affections he explained hurriedly when he saw their forlorn expression it just that it was all of a sudden which just surprised him and he hesitated a bit before asking the final question how come they like him when he was so plain ,cringy and unlikeable what's so good about him in the first place ?.Their reaction to his last question was as if he had physically slapped them, he didn't want to hurt them but it's the truth only chizuru had seen his not so pathetic side .He didn't need his sense to know that they were feeling guilty their body language and the expression on their face was enough. The girls tried to say something simultaneously before they looked at each other and started glaring at each other then started throwing accusations at each other about how they had a deal with each other about not being physical with him before each of them had expressed their respective feeling separately.

He could only stare them for some time, this information about them having a deal or agreement about expressing their feelings for him didn't surprise him much after the events which had happened for past few hours but it was totally unexpected , he looked at his sister to see if she was as confused as he was but the amused look on her face clearly told him that she wasn't and heck she wasn't even surprised by this and the look of resignation on her face only proves that she was already expecting something like this happen. Realization dawned upon him that his sister already knew about this, seems both Tatsuki and Chizuru had talked with his sister without his knowledge. Now that he thinks about it his sister's sudden obsession/interest in his romantic life or lack of thereof and her sudden need to know about his feelings for these two girls, the motive or reason behind it was clear at that moment. He shot an accusing glare at his sister.

His sister on the other hand who had been silent all this time sighed exasperatedly muttering loudly about stupid teenagers being controlled by their stupid hormones not understanding the urgency of the situation and how her kid brother was not some prize and how her kid brother should accept that people like him as who he is and he was being an idiot for questioning their motive for their affection. Before anyone could reply she shooed the girls outside stating that she needed have a private conversation with him and they can resolve their love triangle later when they have cleared their mind. The girls waved him a final good bye and promising that they will explain everything later when he was out of the infirmary probably somewhere outside the school where they can talk freely without any distraction ,he nodded accepting it .Before they left his sister specifically asked them to meet Honsho san who wants to know about what happened so that he can investigate properly and its utmost importance that they tell him everything without fail and that he will help them in understanding what just happened today. Tatsuki and Chizuru could only nod at this hesitantly.

Once they left his sister had shut the infirmary door and turned towards him with blank look on her face and he couldn't even sense anything from her. He had expected her to scream or at him for trying to behave like an idiot and going against the advice given to him when he faced situation like this, he had seen his sister mad but compared to that the calm serene expression on her face, which was so unlike her normal behaviour. This scared the crap out of him, he would rather face the angry screaming version of her than this calm silent version who had done nothing but looking at him intently the moment they were alone in the room. The silent was making him really uncomfortable and finally after few seconds ,his sister started speaking and he was expecting her to scream at him then emotional black mail him into not doing anything like this again but instead she joked about how her kid brother had grown into a big man and had gained two admirers in the process whom she approves and believes that they will keep on line when he tries to do something as reckless as that in the future and just like that her emotions changed from joyful to sadness and fear. The calm act she had been putting for past few hours broke and she pulled him into a tight hug crying on his shoulders letting all the pain she had been hiding out through her mumbling about how she was scared of loosing him too ,that she was helpless like the day when they had lost their parents and was afraid that she would lose him too. His sister the strongest person he had ever seen in his entire life next to his mother, he could feel the vulnerability and fear in her voice. He had never seen her this vulnerable, ok that's a lie he had seen her vulnerable before but that was when he had attempted to off himself by slitting his wrist but after that she had never been this vulnerable and he hated the fact that he was responsible for her fear and vulnerability both times.

Mizuo remained unfazed even when she was facing business men and women in the meetings who were more experienced than her and even when she was the centre of the attention in any private and public gathering or events she was able to maintain a strong and calm personality to the point that even their business rivals and enemies had assumed that she doesn't have any weakness. But she does and it was the main reason why he had wanted to getaway from her ,he even managed to get an admission in one of the private academy at LA for which he took an entrance exam and aced it without any difficulty and a part time job /internship at the cyber security department of LAPD due to his skills in hacking. His sister had somehow got the wind of it when he visited the US embassy for his visa interview. She threw a tantrum and fit worthy of a kid when he returned home after successfully finishing the interview, after he had calmly explained it to her the reason behind his actions her tantrum didn't subside. No matter what she had no intension of leaving him alone in a foreign country. Her arguments were so illogical and childish that he had lost his temper and screamed at his sister to let him be, he doesn't need to be mothered by her each and every second of his life and that he wasn't as incapable as she or everyone thinks. A bad thing to say to an emotionally compromised over protective sister and the small argument turned into a full-blown screaming match. The adults (his grandmother and Honsho san) who were all on the side lines watching the events unfold decided that it was time to intervene before things become even more ugly. They had calmed them down enough to have a quick discussion among themselves, then the adults presented them an idea that if he managed to hit his sister at least once during kendo then he can pursue the path he had decided without consulting anyone. Apparently, his sister wasn't the only one who had been upset by his action but at least the adults were being reasonable or so he thought.

He was so happy about the deal that he didn't see the conspiring looks shared between his grandmother and honsho san or the smirk on his sister's face. He had to get a single hit on his sister, how bad could it be famous last words. He didn't realize how screwed he was until the kendo match had started, even after 13 rounds he couldn't even get a hit on her no matter how much he tried or any strategy he used, his sister had an ace up her sleeve. He realized that it would be inevitable for him to get a hit on his sister at that moment, here he was panting like a dog in exhaustion while Mizuo on other hand looked like she could go on without breaking a sweat.

That was when he noticed the looks on the faces of adults who were watching the spectacle Ishida san included who he assumed that he had join his grandmother and Uncle honsho in the middle of the match. His grandmother looked at both of them with pride but she also had a mischievous expression on her face as if she knew all along that this would be the outcome ,was his grandmother a seer or something akin to it , well there were instances where she had shown signs that she was aware of the outcome of a situation and she had advised his sister on several business deals and meetings on how to proceed with and he faintly remembers how she had pleaded with his parents to postpone the dreaded birthday celebration but to no avail which if they had ,most of his relatives including his parents would have been alive . Uncle Honsho was handing over his money to his uncle Ishida who had a smug look on his face .He found the situation so absurd that he had started laughing like an idiot while conceding his defeat trying retain what left of his already battered dignity intact but alas it was not meant to be because of the huge grin on his sister's face and the way she spoke to him mockingly sweet tone about him trying his best but it wasn't enough to beat her so as a part of deal he was stuck with her for a foreseeable future .But beyond all that mocking he could see that she was relieved and happy that he wouldn't have to stay away from her.

When his sister hugged and sobbed on his shoulder at the infirmary, it was at that moment he had realized that he was both her weakness and strength at the same time. Just like how she had anchored him, the opposite was also true. He understood the depth of her affection and love for him, in spite of the fact that she wouldn't be burdened with someone like him in her life, a life she can enjoy to the fullest without her having to worry about him 24x7, she still demanded him in her life and wouldn't take a no for it. She didn't give up on him when he himself hand given upon himself. The confidence and belief she had in him was astounding, it made him acknowledge the fact that she had basically taken up the role of both his father and mother and was trying her utmost to fill it up, which he had been trying hard to ignore. He didn't want to replace that role with any one not even his sister ,nothing against her he felt that he would be insulting them and their sacrifice .But the truth was he had been too stubborn and narrow minded to understand that she wasn't trying to do that but was trying to be her own version of mother, father ,best friend and sister clumped together in a single role for him ,the point was she wasn't trying to replace them but was trying to become her own version of them.

He realized it when mizuo was crying on his shoulder and he patted her on her back but on his mind, he swore that he wouldn't be a fool anymore. Instead of brooding how his life sucks and that he had to put an act around others ,how people found him annoying and how no one liked him without getting to know him properly ,not that he blamed them , he decided that he would live his life to fullest even if he could only do that in front of certain people so be it, why the fuck should he care about what other thought about him anymore? If ichigo and his friends don't like him so be it, and if other class mates find him annoying, fuck them. He has got people who care about him and willing to be there for him no matter what, But the most important thing was that he would never make his sister cry again and he would be damned if she ever felt vulnerable because of him. From there onwards he swore that he would never think about leaving her or his family again.

It was he who first broke the hug so that he could apologize properly ,Mizuo was initially confused but when he started explaining about how he was sorry for not understanding her love and intention ,how he was wrong about trying to run away from her ,how he behaved like a coward when he tried to off himself , for not caring about her feelings ,for hurting her by his actions , for being a fool in not seeing that he had father/mother/best friend in her and finally for behaving recklessly today and then she started blabbering stuffs left and right .

Mizuo's emotion changed from confusion to pity to joy and finally settled in amusement. She pulled him into a hug to stop his rambling, he had looked at her sheepishly, she laughed at him and replied that she accepts the apology her voice brimming with amusement and relief. Then she finally asked him the dreaded question " what the hell happened that day" even though he can feel that she knows something about it ,he wasn't sure if he should tell her everything or only certain parts .But then ,had he not swore that he would never hurt her and by not telling the truth he would be doing it indirectly and unintentionally provided if she finds out from someone else.

So sighing he had told her everything in a single stretch without omitting anything and when he came to the part of what that creature muttered loudly about that "he" wouldn't be pleased by its action ,his sister looked pissed for some reason but there was an underlying fear beneath that anger ,fear that someone would take him away from her, the emotions lasted for a second before she schooled her features and calmed herself ,he badly wanted to ask if she knew that person or why would he be concerned about him, but he didn't want to worry her so he just placed his hand on hers in a comforting manner that nothing short of death would take him away from her ,he didn't say that though ,injury or not his sister would smack him on his head painfully for even talking about his hypothetical death. Moving on he proceeded to tell her how the creature won't attack him no matter what he did or said to it, this had gained him a glare from her. He probably would have gotten an earful but instead he was asked to proceed with the rest of the events. He then described how Orohime had injured the creature, that the creature crashed into him and after that it vanished into thin leaving no traces behind and him fainting right after that.

He was initially worried that Mizuo wouldn't believe his story but it was for no reason. Either his sister had an encounter like that in the past or she knows more than she is letting him know, but anyways the concerned reaction on her face when he told her about the creature crashing into him worried him a bit. He was about to ask it when his sister pulled him into a tight protective hug muttering that she will protect him no matter what just like she had promised herself and their parents that day.

The tender moment was interrupted by his home room teacher Misato Ochi who looked frantic and worried about him but considering her personality this may not be an issue to a normal person. But he knew better, this kind hearted woman freaked him out but in a good way. The way she treated him was far more different than how she had treated Ichigo, Chad and others, it was so subtle that none of them except him had noticed it thanks to his keen observation and perceptive skills. He couldn't sense any emotions being faked by her when she was around him unlike the way she feels for others which was not so genuine and also he was able to read her body language or a subtle change in her facial expression or the emotions swirling in her eyes every time she looked at him or how they teared up slightly whenever he got insulted by his classmates for being a sore loser or whenever he was in his edge lord /sad emo moods the way she looked like she really wanted to hug him in order to comfort him but couldn't for some reasons . Each one of those pointed out one thing Ochi sensei cared about him more than as a teacher ,it felt as if like a family, as if like a mother would feel for her son ,the way she looked at him also painfully reminded him like how his own mom would look at him, he knew it was wrong comparing it with his late mother but it just happened subconsciously , not to mention the nagging/nostalgic feeling he felt around her as if he had known her for a long time or at least met her in the past. So, he had checked all his family photos but couldn't find her in any so he asked his grandmother about since he knew that asking his sister was not an option because for some reason, she didn't like Ochi sensei. His grandmother just smiled at him and gave him a cryptic answer which he had interpreted as he may have met her but the person he met and the person he is meeting in the school were not the same, to be frank it confused the hell out of him and no matter he pleaded or pestered ,his grandmother would not tell him anything other than that he will know everything on time . Knowing his grandmother, he understood that's the best he could get out of her so he nodded and accepted it. But meeting her at the infirmary that day brought back the familiar feeling which he had been ignoring tenfold, the way she looked at him with clear worry and concern was infuriating him for some reason , he was frustrated and confused at the same time ,confused why he wasn't feeling anything odd about her behaviour ,frustrated that he subconsciously knew something but couldn't remember it, the feeling of not knowing something he could live with ,the feeling of knowing something but couldn't remember it was the worst. He didn't mean to show his frustration on his face but unfortunately due to him feeling tired both physically and emotionally, he ended up showing his frustration on his face, which was mistaken as sign of pain by his sister and Ochi sensei and they immediately started fussing over him like mother hen examining him and checking him for some unseen injury together ,his sister forgetting the fact that she hated the woman with passion for some reason. Only after his repeated assurance that they stopped their fuzzing. After a second or two everyone present there realized what had just happened, his sister started glaring at his home room teacher and his home teacher looked slightly embarrassed but that embarrassment lasted only for a second before she looked at him with a determined expression on her face, she pulled him into a tight mother bear hug.

Instead of getting confused and pulling away when she hugged him, the hug felt so familiar and nostalgic subconsciously that he hugged her back without a second thought. The hug was so similar to that of the hugs he got from his mother and sister, it calmed and comforted him at the same time making him forget all the worries and frustrations he had at that moment. When the hug ended, he felt slightly lonely but other than that everything was fine, it had the same impact a mother's hug would have on her child. But the same could not be said for his sister, she was fuming and he could even see imaginary smoke coming out of her ear ,the look or the glare if he can call that a glare she was throwing in her direction was so intense that he was surprised that Oshi sensei didn't even notice it ,instead she had sheepish but a satisfied smile on her face and the emotions he could feel from her was satisfaction and pure happiness. She just gave his sister an apologetic smile with a look which was a silent plead to let her have this moment ,his sister lost all the anger she was feeling and it was replaced with pity ,she sighed audibly while giving her a look which asked her to continue whatever she had in her mind and that she would overlook this only that time. Having gotten the permission, Ochi placed a gentle kiss on his forehead then ruffled his hair affectionately, this kiss was so different from the kisses he had gotten from Tatsuki and Chizuru while all the three were filled with love and affection but this was of a motherly love while theirs was of romantic love .Those kisses had an underlying desire and need for his love and affection which was missing in the kiss on the forehead. Those kisses from Tatsuki and Chizuru missed the affection, concern, longing and worry of a mother who was holding back her affections for a long time.

He was so distracted that he almost didn't see his sister standing in front of him in a possessive manner and he almost missed the annoyed look on Ochi sensei's face. His sister told her in a serious tone that it would not be advisable for her to draw unnecessary attention stressing the words unnecessary attention which confused him about the randomness of it but for some reason it had caught her off guard but it seemed like she didn't exactly understand it .So to clarify whatever doubt she had and to make things clear , his sister had asked him to retell everything which had happened before he was brought to the infirmary and after getting a confirmation from his sister regarding the everything part ,he told his home room teacher about the encounter with the tentacled creature .She was listening calmly and he could feel that she believed him which for some reason made him slightly happy. Once he had finished telling her everything, she was silent for sometime as if she was thinking about something deeply even when he was retelling the events, she wasn't worried about that creature hurting him or any creature he felt that she was so sure about it. When he had mentioned about that creature getting worried about that someone wouldn't be pleased if it had attacked him, for a second, he could see a smirk on her face and the emotions he felt were of pride, satisfaction and joy, for whom he couldn't decipher it. But she was also concerned about the creature's body disappearing after crashing into him.

What surprised him was that she was worried about him being injured by the students and not the creature. Then he was lectured for being reckless and putting himself in the harm's way and half way through the lecture his sister had joined in as well. By the time it ended he had assured them multiple times that he would runaway from that if something like that ever happened again and that he would come to either one of them immediately irrespective of which class they were in, they made it clear that his safety and wellbeing comes first.

After that he could sense that the relationship between his sister and her had become slightly amicable, he can still feel that Mizuho doesn't like his home room teacher but the level of dislike had been reduced compared to what she had previously. His best guess was their mutual concern and care for him. He could also sense that his sister had started respecting the woman for the lecture she gave him for being reckless, he thought that if him being reckless would bring these two closers then he ought to be more reckless in the future, for some unknown reason he wanted these two to be friendly with each other. Then after getting the confirmation from the school nurse that he was free to leave, they left the infirmary together. Before they could go on their separate way, Ochi had a parting word for them, she was happy that he had some like Mizuho as a maternal figure and that their parents would have been really happy and proud about them and that she would be there for them from there on irrespective of any circumstances, she also had apologized to them .He didn't understand why she was apologizing or why she was feeling guilty since she had not done anything wrong to them .He had wanted to run after her to inquire about that apology but was held back by his sister who just shook her head as if saying that that wasn't the right moment. He had gone to sleep hoping and praying that nothing weird should happen in his sleep.

But here he is , talking to a mario look alike who has an ego as high as Mount Fuji, narcissistic as fuck and he hopes that he isn't a psychopath but knowing his luck he never knows. Well atleast this smug asshole is willing to inform or explain him about the supernatural world even though his senses are warning him not to have any more conversation with him, unfortunately he has to ignore the warning because this is his only chance to understand it ,since he knew asking his sister and others around him would be futile ,his sister had refused to talk about that monster incident after reaching home no matter how persistent he was and he dint want to cause her any grief since he could sense her pain and guilt when she had refused it.

Ichigo ,orohime ,Chad and Rukia are out of the question too ,well because Ichigo is always annoyed by him and would either punch him hard on his face or will completely ignore him, Chad is kind and helpful to him not even once he had insulted or harmed him but he is at the same time loyal to Ichigo at the same time so he would be in a dilemma torn between helping him and remaining loyal to Ichigo so he didn't want to cause trouble to one of the few people who had been nice to him in the school, Orohime chan was the best option like Chad she too was really kind and helpful , unlike him she is bit naïve and gullible but then the tentacle monster incident happened ,the complete change in his behaviour and the monster's word didn't help him either since she started getting suspicious of him eventhough he has got nothing to hide ,the situation with her is still salvageable but he would keep her as a last option, its not like he can't manipulate people it's just he didn't like doing it unless the situation was dire. Rukia was no go since he believes that she is responsible for all of this in one way or another so asking her isn't going to help him in any way and besides he wasn't that close to her. So the only available option at the moment was this god complex guy in front of him and he even promised to tell him anything, he could sense that his offer was genuine too.

So finally making up his mind he looked at Mario or Yhwach as he had introduced himself like that against his better judgment, who was waiting patiently for him.

Note: The reason for the abrupt behavior of certain characters will be explained in the upcoming chapters. I am sorry if this chapter is confusing. And as of now, I'm in a dilemma if I should make this an AU or should I follow the canon events. If you guys have any preference ill try to move the story in that direction.