The next groggy day arrived quicker than expected. The outside world still hadn't dried from the rain which heavily dripped from the sky the previous day and Ichigo Kurosaki woke up to find out that he woke up with a head full of cold. That's what he gets for staying out in the pouring rain whilst confronting an unknown entity. He sighed as he got up, sneezing before he sluggishly strolled over towards the cupboard where his school clothes lie.
As he picked up his clothes which hung neatly on the coat hanger, he realised something. He hadn't heard from his dad since yesterday morning. Something was definitely up. Could this be the first morning he's ever had in a long with without being woke up with loud howling or a devastating attack? Possibly. However, he couldn't drop his guard due to the fact that if he did, he would end up on the floor in agony.
Quickly throwing on his clothes, he raced downstairs finding no-one in the kitchen. Usually his sister, Yuzu, would be making breakfast and Karin would be sitting at the table arguing with her dad about something stupid. If they weren't arguing, then Isshin would be hugging that abnormally large picture of Masaki. There was no sign of the orange-haired boy's younger sisters nor his idiot father. "Dad?" He half-yelled before being cut off by a fit of coughs, his eyes darting over the fridge where a bottle of water lived. He waltzed over towards the mentioned fridge, opening the door and gulping down the water which seemed to help his annoying coughs. The coughs which felt as if his throat was being ripped apart.
Sighing in annoyance, he opened the door to the outside world to be welcomed by fog. Thick fog. 'Just great,' he thought to himself as he started to walk down the road towards the direction of his school. His bag slung over his shoulders as he trudged down the street without a care, though he had to be on alert in case danger would decide to follow him.
As he entered the school gates, it looked as if the whole place was a ghost town. The mist trailing along in the thin air, nobody around to talk to. However, days like these weren't exactly unusual. Ichigo Kurosaki walked up to the school doors before he turned around to notice someone behind him.
"Oh no..." the timid voice said as both pairs of eyes came in contact. Danny Fenton and Ichigo Kurosaki were alone in the school yards; all the other students were inside to retreat from the mist.
"It's you," Ichigo commented, walking back down the small steps which led up to the school doors. "What are you doing here?" He added as he stood in front of the smaller American boy. Despite the mist covering up most of them, he could see the fear in the boy's eyes as he tried to swallow it and deal with it. Like he had done previously.
The raven-haired teen shuffled his feet as his eyes glanced down at them before looking up into the amber eyes of the Kurosaki teen. "Going to school," he replied. "You know, like normal people do."
"Hah," Ichigo scoffed. "Normal? Then don't you think that you shouldn't be here."
"What are you talking about? You're the one who claims that you're a Soul... something."
"A Soul Reaper," the substitute corrected. "In other words, a Death God. But I'm only a substitute."
"How does that work out?"
"When my friend, Rukia, was injured and my family's life was on the line, she gave me some of her powers. Although I accidentally drained it all from her. Soul Reapers are spirits; I'm alive and a Human. So, to conclude it makes me a substitute – wait, why am I explaining this to you? You'll learn once I send you to the Soul Society!"
Danny cocked his head slightly before saying, "spirit? You mean ghost, right?"
"A... ghost?"
"Yeah. I've heard them be called many names like spook or abomination, but I've never heard spirit."
"A... ghost...?" He asked again, coughing inwardly to sort out his voice of which was turning raspy for a moment. "You know what? Nevermind," he continued, looking around before he started to speak once more. "How did you do that last night?"
"You mean turn into a ghost? You see, I'm what you call a half-ghost," he said taking a step back before glancing at his feet once more, then back up to Ichigo's sharp eyes. "Half of me died when I was in a portal accident, but half of me lived. Thus, I am a halfa."
Ichigo stepped forwards to make up for the space between them. "I'm going to have to take you to the Soul Society when Rukia and Renji get here. They're usually late, so we'll just have to wait for them. It's early, so I doubt they'd be here."
The halfa's eyes widened as his pupils shrank. He shook his head before taking another step back. "I think I'll pass," he rejected, running around the Japanese teenager as he sprinted inside of the school, darted down the hallways, but backed up a little. Backed up due to him running a few feet passed his homeroom. As he made his way for his seat, along came his new so called 'friend.' The term was used sarcastically. He had no idea why the guy was obsessive over him. Why didn't he just leave him be and let him get on with his life like a normal person! It wasn't his fault that he was like this!
Coming back to the moment, a short while later the teacher walked in, followed by two students who just made it on time. Danny decided to forget about Ichigo and his ruffian friends. He just wanted to get this month over and done with.
Lunch had arrived quicker than expected. This means that he was halfway through this vicious day.
Though as he sat down at his table where he would eat alone and in the shadows, two students came over to him. It seemed as if they were two girls. One of them had long, orange hair which flowed elegantly down just below her shoulders. Her brown eyes were sparkling with delight as she spoke out to the boy, "hello!" She waved to him as they sat down.
"So you're the new kid everyone's been talking about?" The other girl asked. She had short, spiky black hair which mixed well with her wondrous, brown eyes of which stared right into his eyes.
"Y-Yeah," Danny admitted, nodding his head.
"I'm Orihime Inoue!" The orange-haired female said, cheerily.
"I'm Tatsuki Arisawa," the other one said, giving him a thumbs up.
"I'm Danny Fenton," he mentioned, forcing a smile on his face. A fake smile which Tatsuki noticed, but didn't say anything about it.
"Have you met Ichigo Kurosaki?" The one with sparkling, brown eyes asked. Yet at that name he froze. Froze as if he were trapped in ice. The two girls noticed how he reacted to this name. They wanted to ask what was wrong, however, they didn't want to push the subject onwards.
Danny rubbed the back of his head, glancing around the room. To the table, to the girls, to the large clock on the wall, to... Ichigo... Staring right back at him at that exact moment, was Ichigo himself. This made the whole situation more awkward as he blushed and embarrassed red colour. The colour crawling up on his cheeks. After a moment, the girls were still waiting for his answer. "Y-Yeah, I have."
Orihime smiled in amusement. Her smile was as gorgeous as an angel's grin. But wait? Why was Danny thinking this?! He already had a girlfriend back at home – he can't do this to Sam now! He shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he heard the angel voice call out to him again. "That's great! Do you like him?"
Oh how clueless she was. Danny was sure that she noticed him flinching with fear at that name. "Hey, Orihime, class is about to start. Let's make our way there."
"Oh, sure Tatsuki, let's go. Wait! Danny do you want to walk to class with us; if I remember, you're in the same class as me."
"The same Maths class?"
"Yeah, I remember Ichigo talking about you to me just afterwards."
"Hah," he laughed awkwardly. "I wonder why..."
"Hey, kid," Ichigo whispered as he directed his attention towards Danny.
'Not again,' Danny thought as he turned to face his seat-neighbour. "What is it?" He asked back, whispering. Venom engulfed his hissing. His blue eyes glaring into the piercing brown ones.
"Let me make you a deal."
"What deal?"
"After school, I want you to meet me behind this building. Don't worry; I won't hurt you. I just want to get a few things clear."
"Okay..." Danny said, turning to face the teacher who was rambling on about Pythagoras' Theorem. He then looked down at his book where he had doodled on the side of the pages due to his boredom of the class. He really couldn't care less about what the teacher was saying. But something really confused Danny – why the sudden change of heart in Ichigo?
'What is he planning?' He thought to himself, unbeknownst what was about to happen. Unbeknownst about who or what Ichigo's friends were. Apart from the other two thugs he met before.