A/N: I've really got to stop announcing when these chapters come out, since I can't maintain a schedule. Regardless, I can't believe I'm already up to 90 follows! Thank you guys so much! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 7: A Mod Soul?

Rukia was sitting on the roof of the Kurosaki Clinic, looking out over Karakura, the lights of the city dancing in the night air. She was staring intently at a device that looked like a handheld lighter. It had four lights along the side, and the one on the very bottom was flashing.

"Don't have much left," she thought out loud. She lifted up her hand to look at her palm. She tried to move her wrist, but she could only move it in sudden jerks, causing a cracking sound with every movement. "And this thing isn't any better," she looked at her hand forlornly. "I'd say it's almost time to replenish." She hated to admit it, but her gigai was getting harder and harder to move. She needed to solve this problem fast. But, sadly, it meant going to see him again.

Ichigo walked into his room with a plate full of rice balls in his hand. His school had officially changed to the summer uniform, so he had ditched the grey blazer, and was wearing a white button-up short-sleeved dress shirt. Lately he had taken up the habit of bringing food to the four girls staying in his closet. He walked up to the closet door, seeing that it was still closed. He rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Hey, wake up in there," he called. "I brought you some breakfast."

The door opened up, revealing Yang on the bottom bunk, and Blake and Pyrrha on the top bunk. They were already in their school uniforms, their grey blazers being replaced with white short-sleeved blouses. Strangely, Rukia wasn't with them.

"Where is she?"

"I dunno," Yang said.

"I think she said she had an errand to run," Blake said, not looking up from her book.

"She could have at least let me know if she was wasn't gonna be here," Ichigo said, frustrated. "Then I wouldn't have grabbed an extra rice ball for her. Oh, well, more for me," he said, passing the plate around to the remaining three girls. They each took a rice ball off the plate.

"Thank you very much," Pyrrha said politely.

"Thanks," Blake said, nose still in her book.

"Thanks, Berry Boy," Yang said playfully, causing Ichigo's face to twitch in annoyance before she leaned back against the wall to eat her rice ball. Ichigo couldn't help but notice that her uniform's blouse seemed a little tight on her, and before he knew it, he was staring at her chest. And was the skirt always that short? She noticed where his eyes were wandering. "My eyes are up here," she said, narrowing her eyes. His face instantly turned as red as Pyrrha's hair and he quickly turned around and shoved a rice ball in his mouth.

"Ichigo's been acting a little weird lately, hasn't he?" Yuzu asked. She and Karin were seated at the table, enjoying their breakfast. Just a few minutes ago, their brother had walked in, stacked a plate full of rice balls and went back to his room. "He's been eating like a horse for one thing. And he spends all of his time in his room."

"The boy IS 15 now," their father said, his tone indicating that he thought what he was saying was profound. The twins knew better. "An impressionable lad, in the springtime of his youth, would barricade himself in his room for one reason, and one reason only."

"Knock it off!" Ichigo yelled. He had appeared suddenly, and kicked his father in the face, knocking him to the floor. "Quit analyzing me, you pervert!"

"What's the matter, son?" Isshin asked, getting up and getting right in Ichigo's face. "It's just because I'm your father, isn't it? What's wrong with a little parental understanding?"

"Understanding, my ass!" Ichigo yelled, throwing a punch at his father. Before long, it had devolved into a full-fledged fist fight.

"Guys, your breakfast is gonna get cold," Yuzu called to them.

"Quiet morning, huh?" Karin said sarcastically.

"Now up to bat, Jinta Hanakari!" Said a red-haired boy. He was standing outside of Urahara's Shop with a broom in his hand. He was holding the broom like a baseball bat, with a baseball in his other hand. His red hair stuck out to the sides of his head. He was wearing a white tee-shirt and blue baggy shorts. There was a girl outside with him, and she was using her broom as it was originally intended. "Here comes the windup and the pitch," he said as he threw the baseball in the air, getting his broom in position. "With a perfect swing, he lets it fly! Home run!" He yelled excitedly, swinging the broom and missing the ball. The girl turned around to look at him. She had black hair done up in pigtails, with bangs framing her face. She had two long strands of hair flowing down the center of her face, parting on either side of her mouth. Her cheeks had a permanent rosy blush to them. She was wearing a white tee-shirt, and a pink skirt with white dots.

"Please, Jinta," the girl said. Her voice was quiet, with an almost permanently timid quality to it. "You have to get back to work or we're going to be in trouble with Tessai again."

"Shut up, Ururu!" Jinta yelled, pointing the broom at her angrily. "I'll start when I'm ready. Tessai doesn't scare me."

"But you were scared enough to sweep in the first place," Ururu rebutted.

"I don't get scared! Who do you think you are? You're not the boss of me!" He lifted up his broom and ran towards her. She dropped to a crouching position, covering her head with her hands and whimpering while he drove the bristles of the broom through her hair aggressively. "I'm in charge, cuz I'm bigger than you!"

"We're the same size," she whimpered. "Besides, Jinta, I'm three years older than you."

"So? Who cares about age? I'm a higher rank than you!" He lifted the broom into the air, intending to hit her with it, when a hand suddenly grabbed it and tore it from his grasp. The two kids looked behind them, Jinta with a look of shock and Ururu with tears in her eyes. When they turned around, they spotted Rukia. She was wearing her school uniform, but evidently was not informed that she was supposed to stop wearing the blazer.

"You never change, do you, little one?" She asked Jinta. "So is your manager in yet?" Jinta huffed at her.

"Come on in," he said begrudgingly. He grabbed hold of a sliding panel of wood in front of the door and slid it open. Rukia could see a person standing inside the shop. He was a large, muscular man. He was wearing a white tee-shirt under a dark blue apron, with green slacks. His hair was braided into three long braids, and he had a large, bushy moustache. Red-framed glasses sat on his nose. He was carrying several boxes in his hands.

"What are you doing, Jinta?" The man asked. "It's too early to open up the shop." The door slid open, and in strode Rukia. "Miss Kuchiki. Just give me a minute. I'll go and see if the boss is up and moving yet."

"Don't bother," said a sleepy voice behind him. "I'm already awake for once." Everyone looked at the source of the voice, Kisuke Urahara. He let out a long yawn, and stepped into his wooden clogs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Good morning, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu. Welcome back to my shop, Miss Kuchiki." He walked up to Rukia. "Your timing couldn't be more perfect. I just got a new shipment in the other day. How can I help you this morning?"

Rukia and Urahara were in the back of the shop, near the register, working out her order.

"One Kikon Shiki," Urahara read out, punching it into a handheld device. "Oh, uh, what grade?"

"I'll take the cheapest you've got," Rukia said.

"You got it. So that makes 60 tablets of Soma fixer, and uh- look, I know this is none of my business, but if you use too much of this stuff, it can be toxic. If you over-synchronize with your gigai, you're in for a world of hurt when you finally jump ship."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Believe me. It's just that lately, my connection with it has grown pretty weak. It's becoming a lot more difficult to move this body."

"Want me to check it out for you?" Urahara asked excitedly. "Come on, I'll cut you a good deal."

"No thank you!" Rukia said irritated.

"Fine," he sighed. "So, how are our little friends doing? Are their gigais working out for them?"

"They seem to be functioning perfectly," Rukia said. "They can move just fine, and apparently they can fight, too."

"That's good."

"By the way, do you know if that special order I made has been delivered yet?"

"Yeah it's here," he said. He looked to the two children standing behind Rukia. "Hey, Ururu. Go grab it out of storage, will you?"

"Oh, uh, OK," she said happily, running towards the back room.

"Just look for the box labeled 'new item', OK?"

Ururu had entered the back room, and began looking around all the shelves for the box she was looking for. "OK, let's see, new item," she said to herself. "Oh!" She exclaimed, seeing a box on the floor wedged between two other boxes. She opened it up and looked inside. Inside was a small object wrapped in cloth. "There you are," she said, taking the item out of the box.

Rukia was holding the item that Ururu brought back, examining it closely. "So, this is the only one you could get, then?" she asked.

"Oh please," Urahara said. "Give me a break. That's the second-most-popular one on the market. Wasn't all that easy to come by. Now, look." His face suddenly became very serious. "Just go easy. You can't fake it forever, all right?"

"Yes, I know that," she said. "What about those other things I asked for?"

"They're right this way," he said.

"Man, where is she?" Yang asked. Rukia still hadn't shown up yet, and it was well into the school day.

"Beats me," Ichigo said nonchalantly. He was hanging around with the three girls from Remnant along with Keigo and Mizuiro while they waited for their next class to start. Yang had been avoiding making eye contact with him since that morning, clearly still angry at him for ogling her. "Her errand must have gone on longer than she thought."

"I wonder what it could have been," Pyrrha said. Blake didn't say anything, and just continued to read her book, occasionally stealing glances in Chad's direction, who was sitting in his desk on the other side of the room. His memories of fighting the Hollow had been removed, so he didn't remember spending time with her. For some reason, it made Blake a little sad.

"Soooooo, ladies," Keigo said, trying to be smooth. "There's this new movie coming out, and I was wondering if—"

"Good morning!" Rukia called from the door to the classroom, her fake smile plastered on her face. She gave a little giggle. "Hi, everyone. How are you?"

"Oh, good morning Rukia," Mizuiro greeted.

"Ah, looking lovely as always, Rukia," Keigo greeted, blushing happily. This got an annoyed reaction from Yang.

First Ichigo stares at my chest this morning, then there's this hopeless flirt. And something about his voice just pisses me off, for some reason. She huffed in annoyance before turning to look out the window.

"This isn't like you," Mizuiro said to Rukia. "It's already third period." Rukia giggled again.

"Sorry, something came up," she answered.

"It must've been a hell of a 'something' if it took you this long," Yang said, still looking out the window.

"Rukia," Pyrrha said. "why are you still wearing your blazer?"

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.

"We switched to the summer uniform," Ichigo answered. "Did you not get the memo?"

"Oh, is that so?" Rukia asked, taking off the blazer and tossing it on the counter at the back of the room."By the way, Ichigo, do you mind if I steal you for a second?"

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked, walking up to her. "If you want to talk, then let's do it here." She suddenly punched him in the stomach, causing him to collapse.

"Oh, Ichigo, what just happened?" Rukia exclaimed, pretending that she hadn't just punched him. She started dragging him out of the room by his head. "I better get you to the nurse's office," she said, getting him out of the room.

"She just hit him, didn't she?" Mizuiro asked.

"I didn't see a thing," Keigo said.

"Well, that was weird," Yang said.

"That girl has some issues," Blake said, finally looking up from her book.

"I wonder what she wants with him," Pyrrha said.

"So anyway ladies," Keigo started, "Like I was saying before—"

"We're not interested," Yang said, irritated. "Just buzz off already, will you?" Keigo was stunned, and clearly hurt by her words. The group of them heard a beeping sound coming from Rukia's discarded blazer. Yang got up and walked over to it. She reached into the pocket and grabbed Rukia's soul pager. "I guess she forgot this," she said. "I'm gonna go find her and give it back," she said to the others. Anything to get away from Casanova over here.

"Here," Rukia said to Ichigo, tossing a small object to him. It was a purple tube with the head and feet of a duck. The words "SOUL CANDY" were written along the side of it in colorful letters.

"What's this supposed to be?" he asked.

"Gikongan," she answered. "Substitute soul pills. Tablets that force souls from the flesh. Just swallow one, and a substitute soul will enter the body, so the real one can roam free. If the time comes that you have to face a Hollow and I'm not around, you can use them to transform into a Soul Reaper." Ichigo examined it all over, before looking at the letters written on the side.

"It's got 'Soul Candy' printed right on here," he said.

"Oh," Rukia said, crossing her arms with an annoyed expression on her face. "That's only because the Soul Society Women's League complained. They didn't like 'gikongan'. They said it wasn't cute enough, so they decided to change it." Ichigo looked at the head of the tube.

"Alright, why is it a duck?"

"Shut up. I didn't even order that one, all right? I asked for Chappy the Rabbit!"

"Okaaaay," he said. "So you wanted one shaped like a rabbit then, huh?"

"What's that?!" She yelled indignantly. "What did you just say?! How dare you mock me, you imbecile! "

"It's not that. I just didn't understand your explanation is all."

"Go ahead," she said. "Swallow one and it'll all be clear."

Ichigo held the tube up to his mouth and pressed down on the duck's head. The duck's mouth opened, and a little green pill popped out into Ichigo's mouth. He swallowed, and was suddenly hit with a really weird feeling. He felt unsteady on his feet, and his body fell one way, while his soul fell the other. His body hit the ground, unmoving, while Ichigo looked down at his Soul Reaper form, surprised.

"Woah, I'm out of my body," he said.

"Oh, don't be so shocked," said Rukia. "Inside your body right now is a substitute soul. And no one will even notice that your true soul is gone." As she said this, Ichigo's body started to get up, freaking Ichigo out. His body stood up, put on a pleasant smile, and saluted the two of them.

"Hi," "Ichigo" said. "Good afternoon. Nice to meet you. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. 'Early to bed, early to rise', that's my motto." Ichigo's shock and horror was instantly replaced by sheer confusion.

"Early to bed, early to what?" He asked.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Rukia asked proudly.

"Amazing my ass!" Ichigo said, turning around to face her and pointing at his body. "What is that thing over there? How can he be me if I'm me?"

"What the hell?" a new voice said. Ichigo and Rukia turned around and saw Yang standing there, her face a mixture of shock and confusion. "Why are there two Ichigos?"

"Yang?" Ichigo asked. "What are you doing here?" She didn't answer him.

"I put a substitute soul inside Ichigo's body," Rukia explained. "That way he can go and fight Hollows and people won't realize he's gone."

"You know, I thought that after dying and getting sent to another world, nothing would surprise me. I thought wrong." She blinked a few times, still not believing what she was seeing.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Ichigo asked again. Yang deliberately looked away from him, and handed Rukia her Soul Pager. I guess she's still mad at me for this morning.

"Rukia left this in her blazer pocket. I'm just giving it back to her. It was beeping earlier."

"Oh, thank you," Rukia said, taking the Pager. She flipped it open and took a look at the message. "It looks like we have a mission."

"Really?" Ichigo asked, not happy.

"Hey, this is perfect," Rukia said. "We can leave the gikongan here at school while we go after the Hollow. Yang can stay with him to make sure things go smoothly."

"What?" Yang asked.

"Are you deranged?!" Ichigo yelled. Rukia wasn't listening.

"Let's go!" She exclaimed, dragging Ichigo along behind her, leaving Yang alone with the soul in Ichigo's body.

Urahara was walking in the storage room of his shop, inspecting the merchandise, when he saw something out of the ordinary.

"Wait a sec," he said, looking at it. It was a box, lying on the floor, wedged between two other boxes. It had been opened, and the merchandise inside was no longer there. He realized that whatever was in that box was what he had sold to Rukia earlier that day. And it wasn't good. "Oh, man."

"Take a good look," Jinta said angrily to Ururu. He was holding the box Kisuke found in front of her so she could clearly see the label. "What does it say? Go on. Read it."

"Uh, 'Defective Goods'?" Ururu read.

"Yeah, that's right," Jinta said. "Defective goods. Do you have any idea what you've done? You sold a customer faulty merchandise you dummy!"

"Oh," Ururu looked down sadly.

"Moron!" Jinta yelled, grabbing at her bangs and pulling as hard as he could. "Get your act together, will you? You and your stupid flabby bangs!"

"Hey," Kisuke called to the two kids. "Hey! No fighting."

"You know," Tessai said. "If we're not careful, this gikongan could cause some real problems."

"You got that right," Kisuke said. "We can't just sit on this. We better take care of it right away. There's no telling what he might do if we let him run loose out there."

"So, what do I call you?" Yang said to "Ichigo". "You got a name?"

"Nope," he replied. "Just call me 'Ichigo' while I'm in this body."

"I'll pass," she said.

"So, what's your name?"

"Yang."

"Well Yang," he said, sending her a look that sent a chill down her spine. She really didn't like the way he was looking at her. Then she noticed where his eyes were pointed. "You've got an amazing body, you know that?"

"What?" She said, starting to feel creeped out.

"What do you say we get out of here?" He said. "I could show you a real good time, babe."

"Excuse me?!" She exclaimed.

"It's been a while since I've had a body. I'd love to break it in. So come on. It'll be fun."

"I don't think so."

"Don't be like that," he said, taking a step towards her, reaching out his arms to try to wrap them around her.

"Back off!" She yelled, throwing a punch at him. To her surprise, he caught her arm by the wrist, holding it still. She tried again with the other arm, but he caught that one, too. He lifted both of her arms up and held them above her head. She tried to break free, but his grip was too strong. "What the hell?! Let me go!" She looked at him, and he started moving his face towards her. She was starting to get scared. She lifted up her leg, intending to kick him in the groin. To her surprise, the hands holding her arms suddenly let go and he disappeared. She looked around for him, and found that he had jumped up to the roof. How the hell did he do that?

"I think I came on too strong," he said to himself. "I'll have to change my approach. This one's a lost cause. That's too bad. I've always wanted to get with a busty blonde. Oh, well, nothing I can do about it." With an incredible leap, he jumped to the roof of another building, before Yang lost sight of him. She just stood there, trying to process what just happened to her. Then she felt only rage.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him! He picked the wrong day to mess with me!"

"What is taking them so long?" Pyrrha asked.

"Beats me," Blake said, still reading.

"Do you think something could have happened?"

"I'm sure they're fine. Yang's a big girl, and Ichigo can definitely take care of himself." The other students in the classroom were talking amongst themselves when they heard the lunch bell ring.

"All right!" Orihime yelled excitedly, standing up and throwing her arms into the air. "At last, time for lunch!"

"Jeez, Orihime," Tatsuki said, walking up to her with a lunch box in her hand. "It's just lunch. It's not a big deal."

"How can you say that, Tatsuki?" Orihime asked. "Everyone knows that a healthy, red-blooded high school girl comes to school for only one reason—to eat her lunch."

"Yeah, yeah," Tatsuki said. "Have a seat already." Orihime then looked at the two new students.

"Blake, Pyrrha," Orihime called. "Would you like to sit with us? We haven't really had an opportunity to get to know each other yet."

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Tatsuki said. "What do you say?"

"Sure," Blake said, putting her book away.

"That sounds lovely," Pyrrha said with her trademark smile. The girls put a few desks together to turn into a makeshift lunch table. They sat down, Orihime on one side, Tatsuki at the head, and Blake and Pyrrha on the side opposite Orihime. Orihime grabbed a giant loaf of bread and a small jar out of her bag. Blake pulled out her favorite lunch: a tuna sandwich. Pyrrha had stopped at a convenience store on the way to school and bought a few more rice balls. She found that she liked the treats, and had bought a nice variety.

"Oh, tuna and rice balls," Orihime said, looking at the other girls' lunches. "Looks good. What did you bring for lunch, Tatsuki?" She grabbed a giant loaf of bread, much to the other girls' confusion, and a small jar. "I've got bread and red bean paste."

"That sounds good," Tatsuki said, patting Orihime on the head. "Unfortunately, my lunch is a little more ordinary."

"Bread and paste?" Blake asked.

"Yup," Orihime said happily. "I can make my own red bean buns."

"That sounds delicious," Pyrrha said.

"Right?" asked Orihime, taking a bite out of her bread.

"Hi, ladies," a new voice said. It belonged to Orihime's friend Chizuru. She had shoulder-length, dark red hair, and red-framed glasses. "Why don't I sit with you, too?"

"Sure," Orihime said, smiling at her. Chizuru instantly noticed that there were a few crumbs around her mouth.

"That's so cute!" Chizuru yelled, wrapping her arms around Orihime, surprising Blake and Pyrrha.

"Does she do that a lot?" Blake asked Tatsuki.

"Unfortunately," she answered.

Suddenly, the class saw Ichigo leap up to the window, shocking all of them.

"Hey there," he said.

Ichigo charged at the Hollow, letting out a battle cry and jumping into the air. As he came down, he slashed the Hollow across the mask, causing it to dissolve into black particles. It hardly put up a fight.

"Man, I'm getting a bad feeling," he said, looking back in the direction of the school.

The students were all gathered around, staring at "Ichigo" after he jumped up to the window of their classroom. Tatsuki was pointing at him angrily, while Orihime was hiding behind her. Blake and Pyrrha were more confused than shocked.

"Wait a second!" Tatsuki yelled. "How the hell did you get up here like that?"

"He shouldn't have any powers in his human form," Blake whispered to Pyrrha. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Pyrrha answered. "But where are Rukia and Yang?"

"What do you mean 'how'?" "Ichigo" asked. "I jumped up here. You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you? Pretty rad, huh? Can you believe it?"

"I bet he crawled over here from the classroom next door," a male student said.

"No way! He jumped up from the yard!" Another one argued.

"Did you see him do it?" the first one scoffed.

"Well, no."

Ooooooh, righteous! "Ichigo" thought, grinning happily. Their eyes are all over me. They can't get enough. They totally think I'm amazing. Man, this rocks! He took a closer look at the students in the class, or more specifically, the ladies. His eyes scanned over them, a hungry look to them. Jeez, the girls in this class are a bunch of hotties. I don't think there's a bad-looking one in the bunch. And I've been cooped up for so long. His eyes finally settled on Orihime. Or rather, the two large mounds sitting on her chest. Super size! They might be as big as Blondie's! In an instant, he had run up to Orihime, holding one of her hands in his, while his other hand was stroking her long hair.

"Hey there, pretty lady," he said. "I don't believe that we've met. Would you please do me the honor of telling me your name?" He lifted up Orihime's hand, and planted a soft kiss on it. Orihime instantly blushed, and the other girls shrieked in shock. Tatsuki immediately had him in a headlock.

"Ichigo, what the hell do you think you're doing, you stupid moron?!"

"What's wrong with him today?" Blake asked. "First there was that thing with Yang this morning, and now this?" Pyrrha could only laugh nervously.

"This better not be your idea of a joke!" Tatsuki yelled at him. He looked up, bringing his face only inches away from Tatsuki's.

"Hey, you're pretty cute yourself, now that I get a closer look at you."

"Huh?" The other girls wailed in disgust. Then to everyone's shock and horror, "Ichigo" planted a kiss right on Tatsuki's cheek. "What the hell?" She let go and just stared at him, her face beet red, and fury in her eyes. At that moment, the door to the classroom was flung open.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Yang screamed at him. She was standing in the doorway, her eyes red, pure rage in her voice.

"Oh hey," "Ichigo" said. "It's Blondie. I don't know how you changed your eye color, but I gotta say, I'm liking it."

"SHUT UP!"

Ichigo and Rukia were almost back at school, running as fast as they could.

"Why are we in such a rush to get back to class?" Rukia asked.

"I'm worried," Ichigo said. "I want to make sure he's doing OK."

"There's nothing to worry about," she said. "Yang's with him, so I'm sure he's fine."

"I'm not so sure about that. I'm getting a weird vibe all of a sudden." They heard screaming, and looked up at the window of their classroom, just in time to see a desk come flying out of it.

"Looks like you were right," Rukia said. "Like you were saying, we'd better hurry."

"Told you."

Tatsuki was holding a desk above her head, preparing to throw it at "Ichigo". Her face was red, but whether out of embarrassment or anger was anyone's guess. Yang was being physically restrained by Blake and Pyrrha. It took everything they had to hold her back from going on a rampage and destroying the classroom, or worse, killing "Ichigo".

"You son of a bitch! Die!" Tatsuki screamed, throwing the desk at him. He sidestepped out of the way, and the desk went out the window.

"Watch it!" He said, as Tatsuki grabbed another desk.

"LET ME AT HIM!" Yang screamed, fighting to break out of the grip the other two girls had on her. "I'M GONNA KILL THAT LITTLE PERVERT!"

"Yang, calm down!" Blake pleaded.

"If you let loose now, you could destroy the whole classroom!" Pyrrha tried to reason with her.

"SHUT UP! LET ME GO!"

Tatsuki lifted the new desk over her head, preparing to throw it at him again.

"What's your problem?" "Ichigo" asked. "All I did was kiss your cheek. Why is that such a big deal? I mean, you're not in grade school anymore."

"SHUT UP!" Tatsuki screamed, charging at him with the desk in her hands. She slammed it into the floor right where "Ichigo" was standing, but he jumped out of the way. The other students could only watch what was going on in bewilderment, when the door to the classroom opened, revealing Rukia.

"Stop right there," Rukia said, catching "Ichigo's" attention. He looked at her, his face screaming "I'm in trouble". "It's over," she said sternly. He bolted for the window. "Ichigo, look out!"

"Right!" Came a voice from outside. At that moment, the real Ichigo jumped into the room through the window, stopping the fake in his tracks. Blake and Pyrrha were stunned.

"Stop," Ichigo said. "There's no place to run."

"Rukia, a little help here?" Blake asked. She and Pyrrha were still trying to hold back Yang, whose struggles were still going strong. Rukia let out a sigh.

"Bakudo Number 1: Sai!" she yelled. Yang's arms were wrenched behind her back and she was forced to the floor. Blake and Pyrrha breathed sighs of relief.

"Hey!" Yang said. "What the hell?!" She started struggling against her invisible bindings, with no luck.

"Just sit still and let us handle it," Rukia said. She walked past the girls and took a cautious step towards the fake Ichigo, who looked back at her, panic clear in his face. The faker looked back at Ichigo and grinned. He jumped, and spun around with his legs extended, so he kicked at Ichigo every time he passed him. Ichigo caught his leg the third time he kicked.

"Hey, you," he said. "I mean me. Why the hell are you doing this?" In a feat of impressive acrobatics, the faker kicked with the leg Ichigo wasn't holding, hitting him in the side of the head. Ichigo staggered to the side, before the faker kicked him several times in the stomach.

"Ichigo?" Orihime asked, confused. To her and the other students, it looked like Ichigo was kicking thin air.

"Why is he kicking the air like that?" another student asked.

"Who cares?" Tatsuki said, still disgusted with him. "Why is Yang pretending to be tied up? What is happening right now?"

Ichigo was losing this fight pretty badly. Before he could get his bearings after the barrage of kicks he took to his side, he was kicked in the face, took an uppercut to the jaw, and then thrown over the faker's shoulder. He recovered from being thrown in time to duck under a spinning kick, but couldn't react in time to the faker's knee colliding with his stomach. He reeled in pain, before the faker began kicking him repeatedly in the stomach. To the astonishment of the four girls that could see him, Ichigo eventually became airborn from the sheer force of the kicks. Yang had even stopped struggling, too surprised by what she was seeing. The faker finally put a stop to the onslaught by kicking him into the desks while he was in midair, knocking a bunch of them aside as he collided with them.

To the other students in the room, it looked as if the desks suddenly moved for no reason after "Ichigo" kicked the air.

"What's going on?" a girl asked, quickly becoming afraid.

"Don't know," another one said. "Maybe it's a poltergeist." One of the desks started to shift, as if it was being moved out of the way. Orihime was staring at it, as if she could make out something the others couldn't.

Ichigo grabbed one of the desks that landed on top of him, and pushed it out of the way before grabbing hold of another desk and pulling himself to his feet. He stood up and glared at the faker, who just looked at him with a cocky smirk on his face.

"See ya," the faker said. He then swan dove out the window. Ichigo and Rukia ran up to the window to watch him sprint away.

"What the hell does he think he's doing?" Ichigo asked. "Is he crazy or what?"

"Is it even possible?" Rukia asked. "No, he couldn't be one of them. He must be a Mod Soul." Ichigo jumped out the window to give chase. "Ichigo!" Rukia yelled after him, turning to run out of the classroom. "Come on!" She yelled to the girls from Remnant. "I'm gonna need you three!"

"Hey!" Yang yelled, still restrained on the floor. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, right." With a wave of her hand, the Kido was undone, and Yang was able to move again.

"You want to explain what that was all about?" Blake asked.

"I'll explain on the way."

The other students were still in a state of confusion, watching Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha sprint out of the classroom after "Ichigo" jumped out the window. But it happened so fast, some people weren't even sure of what happened.

"That was Rukia, wasn't it?" Mizuiro asked.

"I don't know," Keigo said, covering his eyes. "I didn't see a thing."

"Who cares about her?" Tatsuki growled. "Ichigo, you are dead!" If the other students didn't know any better, they could've sworn that the air around Tatsuki's body looked like it was on fire.

"Demonic," Chad commented.

"Tatsuki," Orihime called. She was staring out the window, looking at where Rukia and the other three girls ran off.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki asked.

"You must have been scared," Chizuru said. "Poor Orihime. It's all right. Don't let it get to you. Just pretend you had a run-in with some mangy, stray dog."

"That's all right," Orihime said. "I'm fine. And that wasn't Ichigo anyway." The other girls just looked at her in confusion.

"Oh, crap!" Ichigo wailed. The five of them had lost track of the fake Ichigo in an abandoned warehouse. Rukia had managed to explain the situation to Blake and Pyrrha on the way, so they knew why there were two Ichigo's running around. "Great. We lost him. Or me. Or whatever the hell you want to call it." Yang growled in frustration.

"We're at a dead end here," Rukia said.

"What?" Ichigo glared at her. "Look! We don't have time for your Soul Reaper nonsense! I have to capture him—I mean me! I mean, I'm not sure what I mean!" His growing frustration was evident in his voice.

"I still owe him a beating for what he tried to do to me!" Yang yelled , her eyes turning red again.

"Yang, temper…" Blake warned.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Oh yeah, what's going on with your eyes?" Ichigo asked, apparently his curiosity causing him to momentarily forget his current predicament.

"That's part of her Semblance," Blake answered for her.

"What's a Semblance?" Rukia asked.

"It's a special ability people from out world can use," Pyrrha answered. "Mine was polarity, Blake could make clones of herself, and Yang powered herself up every time she took a hit. As a side-effect, her eyes turned red. It also happened when she got angry."

"But we haven't had our Semblances since we died," Blake said, placing her hand on her chin.

"I don't feel any stronger," Yang said. "But I was definitely pissed off after what the fake Ichigo tried to do to me."

"Oh, that's right!" Ichigo wailed. "I forgot about him! Did you see the riot he caused in class?! That jerk used my body to take advantage of Yang and Orihime and Tatsuki and then he k-k-k-k…" he couldn't form the words.

"He kissed them," Rukia stated. "Yes I know."

"This sucks!"

"If you ask me, your faker doesn't seem so different from you," Yang glared at him. "Maybe a little more forward, but you're both perverts." Ichigo wailed in despair at her words.

"Yang! I am so sorry about this morning! I didn't mean to stare at you like that! It was wrong, but I would never take advantage of you like that! I mean, it's not that you aren't a pretty girl! You are, but-!" Yang's face suddenly turned as red as her eyes. "No wait! That's not what I meant!" Yang just huffed and turned away from him. "Argh! My life is over!"

"Oh, please," Rukia said. "Get over it already. A kiss is nothing more than a form of greeting. And all you did was look at Yang. I fail to see the problem."

"Seriously?" Blake asked while Pyrrha just chuckled nervously.

"I mean, in this book Blake lent me, it said there are far worse things that can happen to a girl." Blake's eyes instantly shot open at that comment, and she looked away, blushing intently.

"Will you shut up?" Ichigo asked to the former Soul Reaper. "This is a catastrophe! He came on to my classmates! What the hell kind of books are you giving her, Blake?!" Blake's blush intensified and Ichigo yelled in frustration again. "I put years into crafting my image!"

"Image?" Rukia asked Pyrrha. "So he looks and acts that way on purpose?"

"I suppose so," Pyrrha responded.

"Forget it," he said, after taking a few seconds to breath and calm down. "It doesn't matter. Wait, you called him a 'Mod Soul', right? What is that? Just what the hell is he?"

"I'm curious as well," Pyrrha said. Rukia looked down somberly as she began her explanation.

"A while back, the Soul Society initiated a new project they called 'Spearhead'."

"'Spearhead'?" Blake asked.

"Yes. They took souls that had been modified for combat and placed them into the dead, after their own souls had parted. They were to be used as soldiers against the Hollows. It was a reprehensible plan."

"I'll say," Yang said.

"That's awful," Pyrrha agreed. Rukia pulled out a pen and her sketch pad and began to illustrate her point. The first character she drew was a bear-like creature holding a giant rock. The second drawing was the same creature with circles for legs to indicate fast running speed.

"All of the souls that were selected to take part in the Spearhead project were then altered. Once inside a body, one aspect of their host is made superhuman. They were artificial souls built for battle. They were called 'Mod Souls'. Do you understand this so far?" She showed her drawings to the group, who just stared blankly at them. Ichigo was the one who dared to speak up.

"Yeah, but your sucky little drawings make it seem like it's no big deal." Ichigo was rewarded with a punch to the face. The other girls facepalmed. Would he ever learn to stop commenting on the drawings? Rukia continued.

"But the Spearhead project was rejected because it would force corpses to fight. In the end, all the mod souls that were still in the incubation stages were ordered to be destroyed. However, clearly some are still out there."

"So, wait a minute," Ichigo said. "You're telling me that the guy inside my body was created by the Soul Society? And now they've decided that they want him wiped out for being what they made him?"

"That's not right," Yang said.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Rukia said.

"And you're telling me you can honestly accept that?" Ichigo asked.

"Whether I accept it or not is irrelevant," Rukia said sharply. "The Mod Souls must be destroyed. The Soul Society commanded it. And lest you forget, the laws of the Soul Society are not arbitrary. They have been put in place for the protection and well-being of all human souls."

"That's crap!" Yang yelled, grabbing Rukia by the shirt. "I may want to rough him up for what he did, but he doesn't deserve to die just for existing!"

"This doesn't sit right with me, either," Blake said.

"I would have to agree with them," Pyrrha said. "It's not right."

"The laws of the Soul Society must be obeyed!" Rukia shouted.

"Oh really?" Yang asked angrily. "Where was that attitude when you broke the Soul Society's laws to give Ichigo his powers? Or when you put the three of us in gigais to keep us safe?"

"Those were necessary! Mod Souls are dangerous!"

"Because they're supposed to be! Now I may not like what that guy tried to do, but it's obvious that he has thoughts and feelings! Why doesn't he get to be treated like a person? Huh?!"

"That's…" Rukia looked at the floor, the fight gone from her voice when she realized that she had no arguments.

"Forget it," Yang growled. "Come on girls, let's go find him. We'd better keep him away from the Soul Reaper here." She let go of Rukia's shirt and walked out of the warehouse, Blake and Pyrrha following after her. Neither of them looked Rukia in the eyes. Rukia just stood there, not saying a word.

"They're right, you know?" Ichigo said to her.

"Let's just go," she said sadly.

I wonder what he must be feeling, walking around inside my body? Ichigo thought. He and Rukia were running through the city, trying to find the Mod Soul. The other girls had split up from them. They're created at random, destroyed at random. Yet somehow he survived and found his way to a body. But still, he has to keep running. I can't imagine what that must be like for him.

"Yeah!" The fake Ichigo shouted with joy. He was jumping around in the city, taking a step off the ground before launching himself several feet in the air. "All right! This is great!" People who saw him were in awe and confusion at how someone was able to jump that high. "Everybody's watching me! And they're in awe!" With a shout of pure bliss, he launched himself to the roof of a building and landed on the fence around the roof's edge. He shuffled along the fence before jumping around again. "Oh, boy! I heard Mod Souls had all kinds of different abilities! I'm so glad that my ability makes me stand out in the crowd! Here we go!" He kicked off the fence and landed on the wall of an elementary school courtyard. He saw three kids huddled next to the shed for the sports equipment. "Wow, what are they up to?"

"Man, this is so much better than phys ed," one of the boys said. The three of them were huddled around playing a handheld video game. The one that spoke had slicked back brown hair and glasses. What a waste of time."

"Yeah," a heavy boy with long brown hair said. "this is a great way to ditch class." The Mod Soul just watched with interest. An explosion sound came from the bespectacled boy's game.

"Dang!" the boy said. "I can't believe I lost again!" a chubby boy with black buzzed hair laughed at him.

"What's wrong with you?!" The boy with glasses yelled at his game. "Get him! I created you, didn't I? Now do what I tell you!"

"Just kill him off," the boy with the long hair said. That got the Mod Soul's attention.

"Yeah, totally," the boy with the buzzcut agreed. "Anyone who doesn't obey their master should die." There was another explosion sound.

"Jeez, you destroyed him!" The long-haired boy said.

"So what? I'll just make a better one!" The three boys started to laugh. The Mod Soul couldn't take it anymore. He jumped off the wall and landed in front of the boys, looking at them with absolute hate in his eyes.

"What do you want?" the boy with the glasses asked him, clearly a little afraid of the older boy. The Mod Soul simply yelled and lifted his leg into the air to try and deliver an axe kick to the three boys, when his kick was blocked by the sudden appearance of Ichigo. Ichigo threw him backwards, and they just stared each other down, Ichigo with a scowl, and the Mod Soul with a smirk.

To be continued…

A/N: Who would've thought that the longest chapter yet would be Kon's introduction? I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thank you guys for reading!

I will no longer be doing once-a-week updates. It's getting too hard to maintain, and it'll let me plan things out a little better. So, the chapters will come out when they're finished.

As always, feedback is always appreciated. Thanks again!