Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Ch.5 Yippy! Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! I love them!!
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Curiosity Killed the Cat
Ch.5
"Gosh, Ichigo's bed is so lumpy!" Rukia mumbled, turning to the other side. This was her third night to sleep in his bed, and she still wasn't getting used to it.
"Why do I have to be in a boy's body? Honestly." On the other hand, she knew it sucked for Ichigo too.
The door busted open and Ichigo wobbled inside. "It's three in the morning, what do you want?"
Ichigo didn't speak for a long time. "Um, well, you see." He was blushing madly. What was bothering him so much? He never acted this squirmy about anything.
"Rukia, is it time for your 'monthly visit'?" Ichigo mumbled. She was confused at first, and then burst out into a howl of laughter.
"HAHA! Yes, it is that time! How does it feel Ichigo? All of those times I told you I had cramps!" Ichigo only got angry.
"Look Rukia, I don't know a whole lot about all of that stuff. This is really a nightmare. Can you at least help me?" Rukia stopped, it really wasn't his fault, and this does really suck for him.
"Ok, well let me go see if there's anything in the bathroom." Rukia walked slowly over to the restroom cabinets. "Dang, we don't have anything. Ok, well we need to go get stuff now."
Ichigo was so mad. Why did this have to come right now? He almost wanted to cry. Cry? Ichigo Kurosaki never cried!
"Ok, well look would your dad understand if I told him that we need stuff?" Ichigo nodded. "Oh yah, my dad doesn't even like to hear talk about that stuff, he'll shoe you away immediately and tell you to get whatever you need." Ichigo said.
To Rukia's luck, Isshin did exactly what Ichigo said he would. "Ok, go Ichigo hurry! I don't want to hear anymore!" Isshin shoved her out of his room and slammed the door.
"Ok Ichigo, let's go." Ichigo looked frightened. "I can barely walk Rukia! This is horrible, and my stomach is starting to hurt!" Ichigo was quite frightened at how girly he sounded.
"Here, I think I have something in my purse." Ichigo was horrified. Trying to ignore Inoue and Michiro's conversation on tampons yesterday was hard enough, but now he had to wear one? He didn't even really understand what a tampon was!
"Got it." Rukia said. "This is a pad; you just slip it onto your underwear, simple as that." Ichigo was a little relieved that it wasn't a tampon.
He closed his eyes as much as he could, trying to get the stupid thing on. After ten struggling minutes, he was ready.
"I got it on, but it still feels strange to walk." Rukia sighed. "Ok fine, I'll just go alone, I know what to get anyways."
She changed her clothes and left the house. "Wow, what a crazy night, for once I'm thankful to be a boy."
Rukia reached the 24 hour convenient store in five minutes. She looked all around until she found the section she needed.
"What do I always get? I don't remember. Yuzu always gets it for me." While looking for the right supplies, several men were staring at her.
Why there were men at a convenient store at three in the morning was something she didn't understand. They were looking at him in disbelief.
"You really know your stuff." One of the men shouted. His voice was savaged and husky. "Well, I do have two younger sisters." Rukia replied.
They ignored her after that. The lady at the cash register looked questionable.
"Um, sir, you know what that is right?" She asked. Rukia was getting irritated. "Yes, I do. Is it any of your business?" The lady was silent after that. "Have a nice day, or night." She yelled as Rukia left.
Rukia felt so tired. "Why did this have to happen so early in the morning?" When she reached home, she was bewildered by what she saw.
Ichigo sat on the couch, with ice cream in one hand, and a spoon in the other, crying. He was watching lifetime.
"This is so sad Rukia! I can't believe they would do something like that to her!" Never in Rukia's life had she been so afraid. She was never this emotional during her visits, maybe it was just because he wasn't used to it.
"Um, here. I got you some more pads like the one you're wearing." She threw the pads to him. "Thanks Rukia!" he said smiling.
After a few more minutes of watching Ichigo with utter sickness, she went to Ichigo's bed, and fell asleep instantly.
The next day, Ichigo was back to his normal (well normal as he could get in this case) self.
"How long does this last Rukia?" He asked. "Just four days, mine are short." Ichigo was shocked. "Four days? How long are they usually for other people?"
"Seven." He had no idea. "Every single month?"
"Yep." Ichigo felt sick to his stomach, and not just because of the cramps he had. The next few days went by slowly. Rukia couldn't investigate very much due to Ichigo's constant complaining.
He wouldn't do anything to help her; all he did was watch lifetime and WE and eat ice cream. She told him to stop eating so much, but he ignored her.
On the fifth day, Ichigo was so happy. "Finally, it's done." He said. Rukia thought she would have enjoyed not having her period, but due to Ichigo's unstable emotions, she suffered just as much as him.
Ichigo now held more respect for girls. He would never call his sisters babies for having cramps again.
"Ok Ichigo, we need to talk to Yoruichi." Rukia said. They walked to Urahara's shop and found Yoruichi, looking at a newspaper.
"Ichigo, Rukia, what's going on?" She asked. "We just came to help investigate." Rukia said. "Well, I just figured out who's behind the hollows." Yoruichi said.
"His name is Koro Shimataro. He was a spirit from Soul Society who somehow found a body of a child and stole it. When he entered the body, he received his powers of creating hollows."
"How did you figure this out?" Ichigo asked. Yoruichi smiled. "You do know who I am right?" She asked rhetorically.
"Do you know his location?" She pointed her finger to the newspaper. "At the end of town, he's been staying at this building." In the newspaper was a picture of an old factory.
"Why there?" Rukia asked. "There's an unknown barrier surrounding the building. So he hides there. I almost couldn't sense him, but the barrier seems to thin at times." Yoruichi said. "Ok then, let's go." Ichigo commanded.
When they stopped in front of the building. Ichigo and Rukia both pulled out their swords, ready to fight.
"Ok Rukia, stay behind me." Ichigo said. Rukia's eyes widened. Yoruichi glanced at them for a minute, and then shrugged her shoulders.
"You idiot!" Rukia whispered, too low for Yoruichi to hear. Rukia stepped in front of Ichigo and they entered the large building.
The factory was huge inside. Yoruichi quickly looked around. "Darn it, because of the barrier I can't sense anything." She quickly averted her eyes to the left.
"I just saw something move." She said softly. Ichigo and Rukia got into their ready positions. There was a howl and several hollows came down.
Ichigo began to attack one, not bothering to transform his sword. Rukia attacked another. She lifted the sword and almost fell over.
His zanpaktou is huge! How could she forget! Luckily, she was in Ichigo's body so it wasn't too heavy, but the size was still strange to her.
More and more hollows came. Ichigo swung around the sword. He had no idea of how to transform Rukia's sword. It seemed strange that even though his spirit was in Rukia's body, that he didn't have his own sword. It was just the body that was different, not the soul.
He was about to ask Rukia about her sword when he saw Yoruichi there. "Dang it, she can't know." He thought to himself. He managed to destroy one of the hollows.
Rukia killed two hollows. Ichigo's large sword really came in handy. They heard a small chuckle.
"Well well, you two again." The small boy said. Ichigo and Rukia got into their fighting position. "What is it you want?" The child asked.
"We want answers." Ichigo said. Yoruichi stepped forward. "Well, I've never seen you before." The boy said.
"Yes, we need you to come with us." Yoruichi said. The boy laughed. "I'm afraid that I can't talk to you right now, but my hollows would love to." A second later, there were hollows surrounding all three of them.
"I'm sure they'll answer any questions you have." The boy said laughing and walking away. They immediately started fighting. Ichigo knew that using the bare blade itself wasn't going to work, so how was he going to summon Rukia's sword?
"Hey um, Ichigo!" Ichigo yelled, looking at Rukia. She turned to look at him. "What is it?" Rukia asked. Ichigo was waving her sword around.
"Oh darn it! I guess I'll have to summon my zanpaktou!" Ichigo said, trying to give Rukia a hint. She rolled her eyes. "Well then, you better use Sode no Shirayuki!" She cried back.
Lucky for them, Yoruichi was busy fighting hollows, so she didn't notice their strange behavior. "Come on you two! Fight!" She called out. After Ichigo understood how to use the sword, he called out its' name.
"Sode no Shirayuki!" Ichigo called out. He watched as the sword transformed. His eyes went wide. "Why is Rukia's sword grey colored?" He asked. Ichigo hadn't seen her sword too many times, but he knew for a fact that it was pure white.
He looked over at Rukia to ask her, but she was fighting hollows too. He looked up just in time to see a hollow trying to reach down for him. "Good, dodged it!" He cried. Ichigo didn't like being short right now, he had to jump much higher to reach the stupid hollow's head. "Gotcha!" He called out.
Rukia on the other hand, loved the height difference. "Gosh, it's so easy to jump up and defeat the hollow!" Rukia thought, barely pushing herself off the ground.
His sword was easier to use to, it cut through things much nicer. "No wonder Ichigo is so good." She thought. After more hollows attacked, Ichigo decided it was time to use Rukia's attack.
"Oh Hey Ichigo, I guess I should use an attack now!" He yelled, hoping she heard. Rukia was fighting off another hollow. "Oh, yes, err, Rukia! Just use your Sode no Shirayuki First dance white moon attack!"
Ichigo nodded, still a little concerned about the grey color. As another hollow approached, he didn't have time to worry about it. "Sode no Shirayuki First Dance White Moon!" He called out. There was a circle around the hollow, and it couldn't move.
It tried jumping upward only to remain in the circle. "Something is wrong." Ichigo said. The white circle began to change to a black color. As the ice started to freeze the hollow, the black started to consume the ice.
Rukia noticed and looked horrified. "Ichigo!" She yelled out. "Get out of there!" Hearing Ichigo call out his own name, Yoruichi turned to where the screaming was coming from.
Rukia pushed Ichigo out of the way just in time. Right as the black had touched every spot of the white, it exploded everywhere, killing several other hollows.
Right as a hollow went to attack Ichigo and Rukia, Yoruichi killed it at once. She had witnessed the whole explosion.
"That doesn't make any sense. Rukia's power is simply ice." She thought. Yoruichi recalled when Ichigo had called out his own name. "He was calling out to where Rukia was." She thought hard and watched as Ichigo looked at Rukia's sword.
"I don't know why it's grey." Ichigo said. Rukia looked at the hilt and everything. "I'm guessing our powers combined. Your bankai blade is black, and my initial release blade is white, creating the grey color. They must have some how joined. So when you did the first dance release, your Zangetsu powers somehow overtook the attack." Rukia said, looking down.
They didn't know that Yoruichi was listening to their entire conversation. She was about to say something when the boy appeared again.
"You guys are pretty good. But there's a whole other batch of hollows coming." The boy said, chuckling. Ichigo quickly ran to grab the boy. "No, remember what happened last time! Don't touch him!" Rukia cried out. Ichigo stopped right before he touched the boy.
Ichigo instead pulled out his blade and shoved it through the boys arm. "No!" The boy cried. Ichigo dragged the boy over to them. "What do you want?" The boy cried.
Rukia tried to stop him, but the words slipped out of his mouth. "You switched our bodies instead of making us hollows, switch us back." Ichigo said. Rukia looked at Yoruichi who was completely calm. "Does she know?" Rukia thought.
"I don't know how to do that!" The boy cried. "Do you know how we switched?" Ichigo asked. The boy tried to think hard.
"Well, when I tried to make you hollows, something attacked me in the middle of my chants. I think it might have been a cat, but I'm not sure. So I think it messed everything up." The boy said. He clutched his arm as the sword was still pushed in.
"I don't know how to get you back!" The boy cried. Ichigo could see terror in his eyes, and pulled the sword out. The boy gripped his arm.
He turned to look at Rukia, when he realized Yoruichi looking worried. "Oh crap." Was all Ichigo said, realizing that she knew now too.
Rukia watched from the corner of her eye as the boy's arm instantly healed. The boy's face was wild. "Ichigo!" She called out and jumped in front of him.
Rukia was leaning over Ichigo. They were both on the ground. Rukia tried to move off of Ichigo, but it was too late.
The boy took the blade and pushed it through Rukia. She cried out in pain. The boy grinned even wider and pushed the blade further down, and into Ichigo. Rukia screamed even louder, and Ichigo clenched his teeth together. The blade was now pushed into both of them.
Yoruichi tried to attack the boy, but she mistakenly touched him, sending her to the ground, frozen.
Ichigo and Rukia were both facing another on the ground, Rukia on top of Ichigo.
"Rukia!" Ichigo managed to cry out. He glanced over at Yoruichi, who was still frozen on the spot.
The boy left them laying there and walked over to Yoruichi. "You too will become a hollow!" He shouted. Yoruichi tried with all her might to move.
He started his chanting like last time. "Ichigo, we have to do something." Rukia said, closing her eyes from the pain. "Can you reach up and pull the blade out?" She whispered, losing her breath.
"I'll try Rukia." Ichigo said. It was difficult to do in Rukia's body, she was much shorter than him.
The boy smiled, and walked over to Ichigo and Rukia. "Now, now, I'm in the middle of my chant here." He pulled the blade out of Rukia's back. There was another scream of pain.
"Why don't you join your friend over there." The boy said, reaching down and touching them both. Ichigo and Rukia were frozen along with Yoruichi.
He continued his chant "Different worlds, different lives, bodies of broken split by knives. Cut one another, bleed out of every pore, sickling salesman to a whore!"
There was nothing they could do. There was no hope. They would now become hollows. Rukia and Ichigo looked at each other, waiting for what was to come..
"What are you doing?" The boy cried out. Somehow, Yoruichi had managed to turn into a cat. "No! Not another cat!" The boy said, screaming out.
Yoruichi had remembered the boy earlier saying a cat had attacked him, messing up his spell, so maybe she could do the same.
The winds were heavy and strong, pulling Yoruichi along with the winds. She managed to climb upon the boy. She scratched his face and body continuously. "NO! NOT AGAIN!" The boy screamed out.
He once again disappeared, and Yoruichi fell to the ground. She quickly walked over to Ichigo and Rukia to see them unconscious. "If I don't hurry than they'll die." She said, realizing the blood coming from their bodies."
After changing back to a human and putting her clothes back on (because for some reason they come off when she changes to a cat), she carried them to Urahara's shop.
Authors note: All I can say is, poor poor Ichigo. He now knows the pains of menstruation. HAHA I'm so evil! But that was really fun to write. So, they found the boy again and he tried to change them to hollows for the second time! Luckily Yoruichi used her cat like skills to stop the spell! And she knows they switched bodies! Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write! There's still a lot left in this story, so keep reading! And don't forget to REVIEW!!!