Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach... or the Fur Elise song remixed by DJ Mystik... Which is quite a good song. XD (Though I've never really liked the original Fur Elise...)

Chapter Six: "The Aftermath"

The moonlight illuminated Ichigo's now crowded room.

Hirosaki and Yuki slept on futons on the floor, Rukia slept in his closet (as always), and Ichigo lay awake in his bed, recalling the previous experience just an hour ago.

-Flashback-

Ichigo and Rukia awoke from the kidou illusion Yuki placed upon them.

"Well, now you know..." Yuki's face was expressionless, vaguely showing some sorrow behind her eyes, "It's alright, I've seen it plenty of times."

"I'm... sorry..." was all Ichigo managed to say, scowling even deeper.

"It's all in the past." Yuki shrugged, "But I don't know what I would have done if she didn't help me..."

"Who was that shinigami?" Rukia inquired.

"That was... Kimura Keiko. At that time, she was in the 13th Division. Now she's the Captain of Division Zero."

"Oh... So what happened afterwards?" Ichigo wondered.

"I was reluctantly accepted into the Shinigami Academy under the direct care of Kimura-taichou. During my time there, Kimura and I attempted to find Hirosaki, as well as learning my zanpakuto's name and gaining my official shinigami powers. A month later, aniki appeared at the academy. He was transferred into the class I was in. You know what the first thing he asked me was?" Yuki smiled sheepishly.

"Are you dead?" Hirosaki finished the sentence, smirking from the doorway.

"That's exactly what he said. Jeez, the first day you see me again and you ask if I've died." Yuki mused.

"This whole storytelling thing was exactly the reason why I spent a good deal of time in the bathroom." Hirosaki sighed.

Ichigo and Rukia looked at him differently, as if they were seeing someone dead come back to life.

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Will you stop it with that look? It's not that hard to deal with. Every shinigami has died before... Well, maybe not Ichigo, Yuki and maybe other rare individuals..." Hirosaki shrugged.

"No one should die at such a young age..." Ichigo scowled lightly.

"That's also what Kimura-taichou said..." Yuki recalled.

"Don't let it affect you. I...-" Hirosaki was cut off by two cell phones ringing the Fur Elise remix by DJ Mystik.

"I love that remix!" Rukia exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, really!" Yuki grinned. The two siblings glanced at their Soul Society phones.

Yuki read the text message aloud:
Saki & Yuki: Don't worry at all about what's happening in Soul Society. It was some idiot that made a mess, and us shinigami thought it was a ryoka attack or some of Aizen's doing... Among the mass of confusion and thinking that anyone could be an enemy, a lot people got hurt. It's pretty ironic yet frustrating... Crap, my phone can't send this much text, so I'll be quick now: Congrats on Soul Core containment. Mission completed b4 12-hour deadline. Now...

Yuki scrolled down to read the last of the text in bold lettering:

Enjoy 3-day stay in living world!

"WHAT?" Hirosaki gaped, "So that's the reason...?" he stared helplessly at the cell phone's bright display.

"The reason why she made us finish up the Soul Core mission in a night...Was so that we can spend a three day vacation on Earth?" Yuki raised her eyebrows.

"What's so bad about three days in the living world?" Ichigo shrugged.

"We played right into Kimura-taichou's hands..." They both hung their heads stiffly.

"Well, now that you're in the living world, you should make the most of it." Rukia added in cheerfully.

"Yeah, but we'll enjoy it tomorrow... I'm pretty tired now..." Yuki yawned.

-End Flashback-

Ichigo frowned as he tried to think of a way to cover up Hirosaki and Yuki sleeping in his house when his dad and sisters come home from their camping trip tomorrow. Who goes on a camping trip in the middle of a school week anyways? Only Kurosaki Isshin did, of course...

Well, he thought, I could hide both of them in my closet when someone comes... Ichigo imagined two very squished shinigami trapped inside his closet, But then Karin and Yuzu will wonder why I bring up triple the amount of food to my room now...

"Ah, dammit. That won't do..." he scowled.

"Is there something wrong, Ichigo?" Hirosaki opened his eyes and shifted his curious gaze towards Ichigo, who jumped in surprise.

"I thought you were sleeping!" his eyes darted around and whispered as quietly as he could, trying not to disturb Yuki and Rukia who were sound asleep.

"Not really." he half shrugged.

"Anyways, there's nothing to worry about... I'm going back to sleep. Good night."

"Good night," Hirosaki stared at the moonlit window, "Hey, Ichigo?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks..." it was only one simple and vague word.

"You don't have to thank me."

"I know..." Hirosaki faintly smiled and drifted off to sleep. Soon, he would be wide awake again...

OMAKE:

The four little kaizo konpaku were dormant in Ichigo's bedside drawer.

(Why doesn't this thing roll!) Kon tried pushing the right side of his capsule.

(ROLL, DAMMIT, ROLL!) Sai screamed in frustration. His screaming only reached the ears of the other Mod Souls because of a special communication device implanted within them.

(I got mine to move! Yes!) Sen moved her green capsule easily.

(How come yours can roll? Pyon!) Pyon asked, still locked in place like the other two.

Mentally shrugging, she replied, (It must be my modified ability...)

(OK, now try to roll out of this drawer using that crack up there.) Sai told her.

(Alright!) Sen reversed, then charged up the vertical wall, almost reaching the tiny opening of the drawer.

(Almost! Pyon!) she giggled.

Finally after a few tries, she rolled up the side of the wooden drawer only to fall toward Hirosaki, who happened to sleep there.

Everything became slow motion as she dropped into his mouth.

(NOOOOOOOOOO...!)

Hirosaki shot his eyes open and gagged on the green pill.

"What the h-" accidentally swallowing, Sen gained control of his body. However, his shinigami form did not come out as a result. Instead, Sen and Hirosaki fought for mind control.

(Get out of me!) Hirosaki's mental mind regained partial control and his hands clutched his head.

(It's not like I did this on purpose! And I can't get out of you even if I wanted to!) Sen complained, gaining control of Hirosaki's feet. Walking to Ichigo's doorway, Sen now controlled his arms while he controlled his legs.

Sen opened the door using the arms while the legs pulled back, trying to get inside the room again.

(Just let me get something with your body!) Sen yelled from inside his mind.

(Never!) Hirosaki switched control over to his arms and began dragging his body, clawing onto the floor and whatever there was to grab hold of.

Finally gripping a desk leg, he pulled himself towards the second drawer in Ichigo's room, hoping to find something useful.

Opening it, he spotted Ichigo's shinigami license and rammed it into his head, hoping for the pill to come out.

The annoying kaizo konpaku plopped onto the futon mattress and began rolling away.

"Now that's just weird..." he quietly mused and locked all four capsules inside the drawer with a roll of tape he found on Ichigo's desk.

Now with a very sore body and a wide-awake Hirosaki, he groaned, "I'll never be able to sleep..."

THE NEXT MORNING

"Ohayou..."Yuki stretched and yawned.

Waking up at almost the same time, Ichigo sat up on his bed and looked around his room.

Claw marks were on his wood floor, the door was ajar, the drawer was taped shut with massive amount of duct tape, his shinigami license lay under his desk, and on the floor lay a wide-eyed Hirosaki who didn't look like he slept much.

"Um... exactly what happened?" Ichigo asked as he looked around his room again.

"It's a long story..." Hirosaki groggily yawned, pulling up the blankets, attempting to sleep again, "Ten more minutes..."

TBC... :)