Chapter Twenty-Six: Power Up

Tatsuki had not been sleeping well lately.

She kept waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if what she was seeing was a dream. And her dreams were no different, showing a pit of darkness. Slathering, masked beasts pursued her wherever she went. She was hunted, both by them and by others. Things that looked human, but weren't.

It was good to get back to school. Wiping the sleep from her eyes as she walked through the gate, she pumped into a brick wall. Wait, that wasn't a wall. Tatsuki looked up… and up… and up until she saw Chad. "Morning, Chad."

"Morning Tatsuki," said Chad.

They began to walk into the school, finding it oddly empty. No, wait, the people were all there, they just didn't seem important. It was like they were in the background of a picture focused on someone else. "So uh, you look pretty good. All your injuries from that bike accident dried up quickly, didn't they?"

"I only got some minor bruising," said Chad. "The doctors were as surprised as you were."

That was a bit cagey.

Everyone had been a bit cagey lately. Ichigo kept running out of class on one thing or another. Chad had gotten injured several times without explanation. Something weird had happened several nights in a row. Tatsuki just wasn't sure what.

"Well, keep up the good work," said Tatsuki after a moment. "Hey, Chad?"

"Yeah?" said Chad.

"Listen, remember that time those guys ambushed you and Ichigo and I bailed you out?" asked Tatsuki. Ichigo did deserve the credit.

"Yeah," said Chad.

"That probably wouldn't have happened if you'd thrashed them then and there," said Tatsuki. "I mean, I know you don't like hurting people, but, well, if someone is trying to kill you, maybe relax your standards a bit."

"Why bring this up now?" asked Chad as they entered the classroom.

Yeah, why was she bringing it up? Saying it seemed... important somehow. "Well, a lot of my friends seem to be getting injured lately. And if anything happens to me, well, I'll be counting on you to step in." She saw Orihime setting up her desk. Keigo and Mizuro were nearby as well. "Speaking of which, does anyone know where Ichigo has been lately?"

"I heard he's out sick," said Keigo. "He went to a family gathering and caught something from one of his relatives."

"Wasn't there some sort of outbreak in China?" asked Mizuro. "Do you think it's come here?"

"I'm sure it won't spread that far," said Keigo. "I mean, yeah, it's pretty bad in China, but they're working on a vaccine right now. It'll probably be done way before it gets here."

"But do you think Ichigo has it?" asked Orihime, looking up in concern. "Oh, we ought to go visit him."

"Orihime, you do know what quarantine means and why it happens, don't you?" asked Tatsuki with a sigh. She felt suddenly really frustrated, and she didn't know why. Didn't

Orihime realize that Ichigo wanted nothing to do with her?

"Well, yes, but, well, if he is sick, he must be really lonely," said Orihime.

"Strange, that isn't what I heard." said a calm voice.

Tatsuki looked up and saw Uryu Ishida walking through the door. He adjusted his glasses, so they caught the light. What was he doing here? Tatsuki felt like him being here could wreck everything. "Uryu, you're out of the hospital. I thought you got beat up pretty badly by a… wolf, was it?"

"I am," said Uryu. "And I was under the impression that Ichigo Kurosaki was in perfect health. In fact, I suspect his disappearance has more to it than meets the eye."

"So?" asked Tatsuki, more annoyed by the moment. Couldn't this guy butt out and stop interfering? Though she couldn't remember any times, he had interfered.

"Oh, Ichigo has been kidnapped by sumo wrestlers, and they're holding him from ransom. And we'll have to go confront them in a boxing match," said Orihime, getting lost in her own world. Then she starting punching at the air, eyes bright. "Alright champ, don't you dare pity me because I'm winning this match. I'll give you another, and another and-" She broke out for a moment. "Um…"

"Orihime, I find that unlikely," said Uryu. "It is more probable that whatever 'sumo wrestlers' he is facing are related to his recent actions.

"You must have noticed that Ichigo Kurosaki has been out of class a great deal."

What was he playing at?

"So, he must have been taking part in underground street matches!" said Orihime. "And he was paid to throw a match, but he pulled through and won! So now the sumo wrestler Yakuza are after him!

"We've got to go rescue him!"

Uryu shifted. "…Orihime, I was using a metaphor."

"Hmm?" said Orihime, looking up.

"The term 'sumo wrestlers' was a standin for whatever it was that led to him disappearing from class over and over. And then he had caught up with him." said Uryu. "What I meant was-"

"Uryu, quit while you're behind, okay." laughed Tatsuki.

"Fine," said Uryu.

And then there was a long, moaning sound that resounded throughout the school. The windows shook as Tatsuki's hairs stood up on end. Looking around, she saw nothing but felt everything. "What was that noise?"

Uryu drew out a cross pendant. "…All of you stay here!"

And he rushed out.

Tatsuki looked to Orihime and Chad, and then they sprinted out after him. Moving through the halls, Tatsuki felt glad Orihime and Chad were behind her. She wasn't sure why.

As they ran, Tatsuki came to a corner and saw...

Nothing.

Uryu was standing by in the center of the schoolyards. One hand was forward, and the other drawn back. As if he were pulling the string on a bow. Then Orihime pulled herself close to Tatsuki. "…Tatsuki, what is that thing?"

Tatsuki looked down, blushing at the proximity. "What, I can't see any-"

Then she heard the cry again.

Something struck Tatsuki in the arm, and agony ensued. She fell backward, shuddering. Chad was over her. "Tatsuki!" said Orihime, leaning over her.

Her arm moved on its own. It was reaching for Orihime's throat. "Get back!" said Tatsuki. "I can't control it!"

Chad pulled Orihime away as Tatsuki shuddered. Vague phantoms surrounded her as more strikes of pain hit her. Soon she was rising upward without telling her body to do so, even though it hurt. Orihime was looking on in horror.

This was it. Orihime and Chad would make it or break it here.

What was she thinking about, anyway? Tatsuki was thinking like some sort of psychotic mentor. Why?

Whatever it was, Orihime seemed to have suddenly pulsed with some sort of... light. And then five fairy things appeared to Orihime, all with their own unique appearance. As they did, time slowed to a crawl. Orihime looked at them in surprise, but everything else had stopped.

"Who... who are you?" asked Orihime.

"I am Ayame." said a black-haired fairy with a huge red cloak. "And the blonde one in orange is Shun'o."

"Nice to meet you." said the blonde one.

"And I am Lily." said a fairy in futuristic goggles. "We're manifestations of your powers come to help you. Shun'o and Ayame are part of your healing abilities. Baigon, the brawny guy in the mask, and Hinagiku, the old guy with the eye-patch-"

"I am not old!" said the old fairy. "But what Lily is trying to say is that we represent your powers. The dark-skinned grump over there is Tsubaki."

A dark fairy flew up, wearing a mask. "All of you shut up and get a move on! Orihime has a friend to save!"

This was... surreal. Pretty soon the fairies each began to explain to Orihime how to use their powers. Apparently Orihime was to call their names and in so doing summon them. Orihime said very little as she listened. Apparently, she could combine them in various ways to get different effects. Tatsuki wondered what had led to her getting these powers and how they had it?

Then Orihime turned to Tatsuki and spoke. "Santen Kesshun, I reject."

Orange energy surrounded Tatsuki, and she found the pain going away, as she closed her eyes. Then Tatsuki was outside her body, except connected to it by a chain. Or something like a chain anyway.

Then there was Chad; he seemed to be glowing with a strange, red energy. It was like a... gauntlet on his arm. Swinging it, he sent forth a wave of energy that hit something, which exploded. That was probably a result of his desire to protect or something. Oh, time had started again.

"Nice work, Chad!" said Orihime. "You've become a super-hero!"

Chad looked back and gave a thumbs up. Tatsuki put her face in her hands. That was so last century.

Tatsuki felt like she should be terrified, shocked, or outraged. Except Tatsuki was calm. The fight-or-flight instincts she'd lived with all her life were gone. Now she was sort of standing there, feeling like she was watching TV. She liked the characters, but she wouldn't get bent up if they died. Looking at Orihime and Chad, she saw that Chad was throwing a punch at something. There was a sort of thing around his arm. A gauntlet? She couldn't make it out. When the punch connected, whatever it was bled away.

"Uryu, what is this thing?" said Orihime. "What's wrong with Tatsuki. I healed her like they said, but she hasn't woken up."

"A hollow," said Uryu. "Stay near me; there is more than one of them out here. We've got to get away from here."

"Why would they follow us?" asked Chad.

"Hollows tend to hunt people with high levels of spiritual pressure," said Uryu. "Right now, you are like beacons attracting flies. We need to move."

Uryu led them away out of the school, pausing only to shoot several more arrows.

As they did, Tatsuki was forced to follow her body as Chad carried Tatsuki followed behind, hands in her pockets. Why was she so calm? Monsters were chasing Orihime, Chad, and Uryu. Most of them were obliterated in an instant by Uryu's bow, and Orihime and Chad just sort of watched. That got a feeling, irritation.

Tatsuki should be horrified. Then she saw one of the 'hollows' coming out a wall toward Orihime. She couldn't die here! "Orihime, look out!"

Orihime did not hear her, which Tatsuki found odd as Chad grabbed the thing and ripped it in half. Looking at her hand, Tatsuki saw a bracelet she hadn't been wearing before. If they could see the ghosts, and Tatsuki couldn't, shouldn't they see Tatsuki?

Whatever. It wasn't like it was important, though some part of her thought it was better. For some reason, watching all these hollows was making her hungry.
Oh look, Uryu was showing off, showing off a lot actually. Every moment that passed, he fired more bolts of blue light. Each one hit home and killed a phantom thing. But more always came out. This wasn't going well at all; if Uryu got all the kills, Orihime and Chad wouldn't get the call to adventure.

Tatsuki wondered if she had taken cocaine instead of sugar with her coffee this morning. It'd explain a lot. Was this what it was like to be Orihime? It was actually kind of disturbing.

No, Orihime's mind made up stuff far more deranged than this.

And then a hollow stabbed Uryu in the back. The blow drove straight through his shoulder, and his arm fell limp by his side. The hollow then retreated, but Uryu's arm moved again and fired again. Not as fast though, and Orihime created a shield thing to block a hollow attacking him. Then another came from behind, but Chad crushed it.
And that was how things went for a while.

Chad watched Uryu's back, punching away hollows as they came. Orihime blocked the hollows that got through his arrows. They actually killed a lot of hollows. Tatsuki wondered if this was the part where the evil mastermind behind it showed herself?

Nah, probably not.

At this stage in the anime, they're probably still at the 'just as planned' stage. Anyway, the hollows dried up.

"Uryu, how are you moving?" asked Uryu.

"The question is not presently relevant," said Uryu, firing again. "We need to get Tatsuki to safety now. There will be other powers looking into this, and we need shelter."

"Where are we going?" asked Orihime.

"To Urahara shop. It's a supply store that will be able to help us," said Uryu.

"What is going on?" asked Cha.

"Someone is hunting us," said Uryu. "The first hollow attack could have been every day. But every time we destroy one another, one appears that is still more powerful.
"It seems likely that someone is deliberately stalking us.

"The only question is why."

"Uryu, are you some kind of superhero?" asked Orihime, creating an energy field to heal him.

"Of sorts. I am a Quincy and I…" he paused as a black cat crossed his path. "Yoruichi."

"You've obviously been busy, Uryu." said the cat. "I think you'd better come with me for the rest of the way."

"Wow! A talking cat! Are you like some super mystical spirit that defeats bad guys by crossing their paths?" asked Orihime.

Tatsuki was feeling a bit offended at how quickly everyone forgot about her. Then again, she was probably high on drugs.

She really needed to get more of this stuff.

Author's Note:

So, I'd like to talk about Tatsuki Arisawa a 'minor' character in some eyes.

I consider Tatsuki to be one of the most important characters in Ichigo's Nakama. The only possible rival she has is Rukia, and that is because Tatsuki is Rukia's counterpart.
Rukia represents the Call to Adventure. Her appearance in Ichigo's life leads to the events of whatever arc is happening. Tatsuki is the ordinary world. She usually appears prominently in the beginning to establish normality. Then she fades away when the action happens. Ichigo's estrangement from Tatsuki represents his self-destructive actions. She also provides a necessary context for how horrifying it is to be hunted by hollows.

Also, Tatsuki has the third most successful win record of Ichigo's Nakama. Rukia is legitimately badass, and Uryu always at least loses with style. But Tatsuki saves Orihime from being killed early in the story. And then, later on, plays the role of leader to the minor characters as they try to survive Aizen. Tatsuki and company manage to amuse Aizen while running away from him.

In fact, they do so well that Aizen considers them 'mice.'
Keep in mind, Aizen regarded the entire Soul Society as 'ants.'
So Sosuke Aizen has a higher opinion of Tatsuki and friends than he does of ALL THE CAPTAINS. He's so impressed that he actually decides NOT to kill everyone in Karakura Town. He even says as much to Ichigo. If they hadn't kept him occupied, he probably would have glassed the place and been done with it.

So, two successful holding actions against enemies who are astronomically more powerful. All without ever getting supernatural powers. Compare that to Chad, Renji, and Orihime and you'll have a newfound appreciation for just how badass Tatsuki is.

Working with no powers and no outside help, Tatsuki achieved what Orihime can only dream of. Being a useful member of the team.