Welcome back everybody, another day another chapter. This chapter is one of the few chapters that will be focusing more on character development. Not really much else to say so let's get to those comments!
With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review if you have thoughts or questions. Now, onto our feature presentation.
This was starting to get irritating. First Orihime then Chad and now he was chasing some rouge soul that had his body. Jumping to another rooftop Ichigo scanned the area.
"Damn, lost him." Trying to see if anything stood out. As it was he was just following the screaming people yelling about somebody jumping stupid amounts of high into the air. Rukia caught up after a few seconds.
"You need to slow down Ichigo, I can't move as fast as you in this gigai." Scowling Ichigo turned to face the still recovering Rukia.
"What? And risk him ruining my reputation more than he already has?! You saw Tatsuki back there!" Ichigo suppressed a shiver, he hadn't seen the strongest girl in Japan that mad in a long while.
"Either way-" Then both froze as the roar of a Hollow filled the air. Groaning Ichigo jumped in its direction, intent on releasing some pent up anger on this Hollow. Running up close, Ichigo and Rukia spotted it in the distance. It was a large, centipede looking Hollow that had wrapped around the building with...someone already fighting it. It took a moment but Ichigo recognized who it was and grit his teeth. Oh, that mod soul was gonna get a piece of his mind. Sprinting faster toward his goal, Ichigo jumped into the air slicing at the Hollow as it went to deliver a finishing blow to his body.
"What!" The mod-soul openly gaped at Ichigo as the scowling carrot-head started to chuckle under his breath. "W-why did you save me?" Ichigo then sliced the Hollow as it came to attack again before gripping his body by the shirt collar and lifting the mod-soul up into the air.
"Whose body do you think this is?! If you're gonna lose to weak trash like this then you have no place fighting Hollows."
"I only fought it because you were late." Ichigo had turned to finish the Hollow only to whip around so fast it was surprising he didn't get whiplash.
"Do you know why we were late? Because we spent the better part of this afternoon looking for you."
"You! I will consume both your souls!" Without missing a beat both Ichigo and the mod-soul attacked the Hollow, breaking it's mask and letting it dissolve in the air. Ichigo rested the dull end of the blade on his shoulder as he observed the mod-soul.
"Promise me you'll never do anything like this again." The mod-soul tilted his head.
"Huh?" The most intelligent response possible under the circumstance.
"Promise me you won't do that again and you can continue to live with me." Ichigo looked away from the mod-soul to watch the sky contemplatively. "I heard about what happened to the rest of your kind." Looking back the two shared a look that spoke volumes between them. Nodding the mod-soul stood up as the blood on Ichigo's uniform started to dry.
"I promise." That was all it took for Ichigo to give a light smile that was shared with the mod-soul.
Standing on the building next door, listening to everything, Urahara stood with his group. Tilting his hat forward to shadow his eyes he frowned. He had missed 'antique roadshow' for this? He would get Ichigo back for that, maybe some training once the Soul Society comes. Yes, that'll do nicely, he gets credit for training, Ichigo becomes stronger and he gets his payback. Yes, that'll do quite well.
Ichigo was laying on the roof as he stared at the stars. It was a couple of days after dealing with Kon, the name they settled on for the mod-soul, and he was enjoying the peace. Nothing major had been happening recently. Maybe now he could have that picnic. At least before that day.
The next day rolled around with the usual of Isshin waking Ichigo up and Ichigo throwing him out the window screaming how he had nothing left to teach his son. Shrugging it off he quickly got changed and walked downstairs to find Yuzu already finishing up with breakfast and Karin watching that silly Don Kanonji character. Ichigo remembered their little run in together. A fond memory no matter how much he would deny it. He couldn't lie to himself.
"Good morning Ichi-nii"
"Good morning Ichigo." Ichigo couldn't help but smile and ruffle Yuzu's hair when he got close enough.
"Say, how would you two like to go on a picnic?" Karin seemed sceptical but Yuzu was the exact opposite. She almost jumped with joy at the prospect. "It'll get us away fro Goat-chin." Karin stood strong till Yuzu turned her puppy eyes on her.
"Alright! You win, now turn those weapons off please!" Karin relented and Yuzu hugged her sister from across the table, smiling brightly.
"Then it's settled, we'll leave tomorrow but make sure dad doesn't catch wind of this will you?" Yuzu nodded and even Karin agreed that it wouldn't be the same with Goat-chin there.
Down the hall, Isshin listened with a wicked grin.
"Hehehe, maybe it's time to show them the ol' party crasher technique."
Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu slowly walked up a grassy hill. Small weeds dotting the green hill. The three settled down on a satisfactorily flat spot and started to unpack. Yuzu had thought of everything with snacks and even some still warm meals that she made right before they left the clinic. Settling into a comfortable silence they enjoyed the good food and good company. It wasn't long before the silence was broken though.
"Thank you Ichi-nii." Yuzu's soft voice drifted to Ichigo's ears like a butterfly, graceful and low, almost apprehensive. He turned a confused stare to Yuzu.
"For what?" Yuzu smiled but it wasn't the same bright smile she used when trying to keep the mood up but a softer smile, hidden emotion that only Ichigo could see and it spoke volumes to him.
"We haven't done anything like this in a long time. I'm happy you decided to take us out here." Karin could only nod along as she continued finishing her meal. Ichigo smiled, a genuine smile as he laid back into the grass.
"You're right, not since…" A pained expression crossed his face. He remembered why he hadn't done anything like this, it still hurt. It was…
"We don't blame you ya know Ichigo?" Ichigo moved his arms to support his back as he looked over at Karin. Both of his sisters had determined looks in their eyes. He couldn't understand it.
"It was my fault, I know you weren't old enough to remember but…" He couldn't finish that sentence. Not after what he had done. What would he say anyway? That if he'd just continued walking she might still be alive today. That his own ignorance was the reason she had died. Karin locked Ichigo in a stare with Yuzu to back her up.
"We don't blame you, yes we miss her but what hurts the most is watching you. Watching you every year tear yourself up over something you can't be blamed for." Ichigo thought it over and sighed. He wasn't going to be winning this battle anyways, so he relented.
"You're right. But I guess this is one of the first steps to moving on isn't it?" Ichigo stared at the food they had laid out, they had brought enough for four in case Goat-chin had decided to show up but surprisingly he hadn't as of yet. They then settled into another more content silence. Ichigo was a little more at ease as he laid back once more to watch as the clouds slowly rolled by. Pointing at one he grinned.
"I think that one looks like an icecream cone. How about you Yuzu?" He could practically hear her put her finger on her lips thinking about it.
"No, I think it looks more like cotton candy."
"I think you're both delusional." Karin scoffed as her siblings' indignant response to her jab. Pretty soon she started to giggle, which quickly evolved into laughter as Ichigo and Yuzu joined in. All three of them rolling around and laughing. Enjoying their picnic.
A ways away, behind a tree, stood Isshin Kurosaki. Smiling happily at his three kids as they thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon. He smiled slightly at the scene.
"I think things are finally looking up Masaki. I just wish you could see them here like this." He started his long walk back to the clinic with a goofy grin on his face as he did so. It truly was a rare sight to see both Ichigo and Karin with a smile on their faces. He was glad he took photos when he did. Might even make good blackmail later on.
Thank you for reading to the end and I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a comment about anything you liked/disliked and have a wonderful day. Ciao