So the third chapter has been written and published in a reasonable amount of time, as promised. I'd just like to say a quick thank you to The Dark Eccentric for pointing out my inconsistencies between chapters. I have a nasty habit of not rereading previous chapters before writing new ones, so sometimes these things crop up from time to time. Either way they should have all been patched up now. Enjoy!
After a short walk the group arrived at the school just as the bell rung, signalling that it was time for the students to go inside for lessons.
"Phew! Just in time!" Keigo sighed.
"We would have got here quicker if you had walked faster instead of trying to hit on Senna." Mizuiro replied with a blank expression.
"What? I did no such thing!" Keigo exclaimed loudly.
Ichigo had put up with this bickering since the two had found him and Senna earlier, and his patience with them was wearing thin. He coolly turned his back on the two in the hope that he'd be better able to ignore them that way, and asked Senna what class she was in.
"Huh? Oh… I don't know." Senna replied putting a finger up to her mouth in thought. "I suppose I should go and see the headmaster to get assigned to a class. I didn't really think this far ahead." She added with a giggle.
"Ohhh Ichigo!" Keigo shouted out from behind Ichigo, making his scowl deepen in anticipation for whatever he was about to say. "At lunch we should introduce everyone to your friend!"
After a moment of thinking it through Ichigo decided that he'd agree in the hope that it would shut him up.
"Sure." Ichigo replied nonchalantly, making a happy Keigo punch the air in victory. Ichigo then wished Senna a fleeting goodbye and made his way up to his class. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long day today.
The morning lessons went by fairly normally, albeit at a snail's pace. Ichigo lazily doodled on his book as his mind wandered from one thing to the next. However it was never long before it came full circle and ended up back on Senna.
"I wonder how she's fitting in?" Ichigo thought to himself. Although she was a talkative and friendly person she also seemed to be the sort of person who would be pushed to the edges of the various social circles in the school. Maybe introducing her to his friends would be a good idea after all; he'd be able to see her more often that way as well. Sure he'd be able to see her after school, it would be a little hard not to considering that they lived in the same house now, but it still felt like there was a long time in between now and being able to see her back at home.
Ichigo let out a gentle yawn and looked up at the clock. There was only a minute or so before the start of lunch so he figured he may as well start packing his stuff away now. Sure enough, by the time he had put his pencils away the bell had rung and the teacher was dismissing the class. Ichigo put his book scruffily into his bag before getting up and looking over his shoulder.
"Rooftop again?" he asked loudly to nobody in particular. Tatsuki was the first to answer him;
"Sure, its nice enough weather so we may as well make the most of it." She answered as she packed her bag. "Oh and Ichigo, what's this about your friend?"
"You mean Senna?" Ichigo asked as he looked over at Keigo and Mizuiro.
"Yeah something like that. Keigo said you brought a new girl into school. Apparently she has the hots for him."
"Is that right…" Ichigo quietly growled as his eyes narrowed on Keigo. Tatsuki looked up from her bag and after seeing him angrily eyeing Keigo gave a small grin.
"Yeah I thought that the last part was off."
"A little." He frowned. "Anyway I'd better go and find her otherwise she'll end up lost. I'll meet you up there." Ichigo said as he put his bag on and left the room.
It didn't take long for Ichigo to find Senna. She was hovering absentmindedly around an automatic door, trying to get as close to it as possible before it opened. Ichigo grinned inwardly as he silently crept up behind her.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Senna jumped, making the door open and causing her to huff angrily. She looked around to see who had made her lose the game, and upon discovering it was Ichigo she quickly broke into a smile.
"Yeah, its surprising how much fun you can have with a revolving door."
"I'm sure."
"It is! Except it loses a lot of its appeal when someone makes you jump. It spoils the game." She said as she turned her back on him and pouted, pretending to be offended.
"In that case I apologize." Ichigo said as he tried to keep a neutral expression. "If you want I can try and make it up to you by buying you lunch."
Senna turned her head slightly to show she was listening to his proposal.
"Are you paying?"
"Looks like I'm going to have to unless I want you to be grumpy with me for the rest of the day."
"Well…" Senna started as she turned around and giggled. "I that case I accept your apology!"
One trip to the canteen later and the pair were climbing the steps to the school roof. As they opened the door leading outside they were greeted with the sight of a noisy group of youths happily tucking into their lunches. Chad was sitting with Keigo and Mizuiro who were discussing milkshakes, whereas Tatsuki, Orihime and Rukia were sitting slightly apart from the three boys, probably to avoid being dragged into Keigo's overly passionate explanation of why chocolate milkshakes are better than strawberry ones. Ishida on the other hand was sitting alone so that he could better concentrate the fabric he was sewing.
"Come on." Ichigo nodded in the direction of the three girls. Since Keigo and Mizuiro had already met Senna he decided he'd be better off sitting with the others, especially since Keigo seemed to have a certain fascination with Senna. Ishida would probably be too busy working to give much in the way of conversation, leaving the group of girls as the best choice.
As the pair walked up to the girls Orihime spotted them and waved enthusiastically.
"Good afternoon Kurosaki-kun!" She chimed happily.
"Good afternoon Inoue." Ichigo replied in a somewhat more subdued manner as he sat down next to her.
"Nice of you to join us." Greeted Rukia with a slight frown.
The look on her face reminded Ichigo that she wasn't in a good mood with him at the moment since for the past week he had virtually abandoned his night time hollow slaying duties. This was of course due to his obsession with the vortex he had found in the river, however in his rush to see it each and every night he may have forgotten to mention it to Rukia. The fact that she had been left to cover for him without any explanation coupled with the high amount of hollow activity lately had left her in a foul mood.
"This is Senna." Ichigo announced, choosing to ignore Rukia's bad temperament.
"Nice to meet ya!" Senna smiled.
"Nice to meet you too." Orihime smiled back. "I'm Orihime Inoue."
"Hey." Tatsuki said simply. "So you're the girl who has the hots for Keigo then?"
"Wha…What?" Senna stumbled, taken aback by the sudden remark.
"Oh I thought you knew." Tatsuki said as she absentmindedly opened a packet of crisps. "He's been boasting about it all morning so I thought you would have heard by now."
"He what?" Senna exclaimed angrily. She picked up a nearby pebble before turning around and throwing it at Keigo, hitting him in the back of the head.
"Ow! Hey! What was for?" Keigo cried before turning around to see who had thrown the pebble. He came face to face with an angry Senna, who after scowling at him turned back and started munching on her lettuce sandwich.
"Ohhh, I see how you want to play it…" Keigo grinned slyly.
Ichigo watched as Keigo picked up another small pebble and tossed it lightly back at Senna. In retaliation she put her sandwich down, got up, and walked to the other side of the rooftop. At this point even Ishida had quietly stopped what he was doing to watch the scene unfold. For a few minutes Senna simply walked around the edge of the roof.
"What's she doing?" Orihime thought out loud as Senna disappeared behind the small building that housed the stairs. After a moment Senna reappeared holding something behind her back; the misleading smirk on her face growing ever larger as she hobbled back towards the group.
"..I… don't know…" Ichigo said quietly.
"Keigo?" She smiled sweetly.
"Yeeees?" Keigo replied with a cheesy grin.
"Hold out your hands."
Keigo obediently did as he was told. Senna then took the basketball sized rock out from behind her back, causing Keigo to recoil in fear despite her still being at least ten meters away.
"Wh-wh-what are you going to do with that rock?" Keigo stammered.
Senna said nothing, but kept smiling sweetly and slowly walked towards him.
"S-S-Senna…?"
When she got within arm's reach she slowly lifted the rock as high as her wobbly arms would let her, causing Keigo to let out a terrified scream and run from her at full speed.
"AIIEEEEEE!" Keigo shrieked as Senna valiantly tried to give chase, although the combination of her weakened legs and the weight of the rock kept her admirer from being in any immediate danger of being stoned to death.
"Come back here! I just want to talk!" Senna shouted after him.
"I like her." Tatsuki grinned.
"Agreed." Stated Ishida; Chad and Mizuiro nodded in agreement as a worried Orihime tried to calm the situation down.
The rest of the school day passed uneventfully in comparison to the excitement of lunch. As the leaving bell rang out the students happily packed their bags and made their way to the front gate. Ichigo was just leaving his classroom when Rukia tapped him on the shoulder.
"Can I have a word with you?"
"Sure." Ichigo agreed and she pulled him to a quiet spot at the side of the corridor, out of the earshot of any of the others. He wondered if this was about his recent night time activities, and decided to ask.
"Is this about me not killing enough Hollow lately?"
"Partially." Rukia said; the frown from earlier was still plastered across her face. "Its also about that girl that you brought with you today."
"Right…" Ichigo said in return. He could see where this was going…
"Has she got anything to do with you not doing your job?"
"No…" Ichigo lied. "Definitely not."
The eyes of the black haired shinigami narrowed as she looked for any hint that he was being untruthful. One thing Ichigo had quickly learnt to do since knowing Rukia was how to maintain a poker face in front of her; the ability to do so had saved him from many beatings.
"Okay." Rukia said, content that what he was saying was true.
"Alright then." Ichigo concluded. He was planning on walking home with Senna, so was eager to get away from Rukia's scolding and find her.
"Not so fast." Rukia half-yelled as Ichigo went to leave.
"Well what else do you want?" Ichigo retorted.
"There's something about her I don't trust…"
"What do you mean?" Ichigo replied, beginning to get annoyed.
"There's something off about her." She continued as she looked down the hallway to make sure she wasn't within earshot. "Her reiatsu is…odd. Its not that of a normal human, but its not that of a soul reaper either, or anything else for that matter."
"So?"
"So I want you to watch her. Make sure she isn't a threat."
"Uh-huh." Ichigo yawned. It was Rukia herself that told him that nobody would be able to remember Senna after she disappeared. So, whilst a little ironic, it made sense that she wouldn't be able to remember Senna, or what she was for that matter. Ichigo frowned; it would have made things a damn sight easier if other people remembered her. He wouldn't have to go through the process of reintroducing her to everyone that way either.
"Ichigo! Are you paying attention?"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you. She won't be a problem."
"Good." Rukia said before adding with a smile; "You won't mind if I tag along with you two then?"
"…Eh?" Ichigo answered with an unintelligent look on his face.
"She's living with you now right? Well I wanted to go to the convenience store that's on the way to your house, so if its fine with you I'm going to walk with you two."
"Uhh….sure." Ichigo said with a scratch of his head. "How did you know she was living with me?"
Rukia gave him a mocking smile.
"Reiatsu, Ichigo. You might be oblivious to it but there are soul reapers who actually take notice of it." She replied teasingly before walking off.
"You cheeky little…" Ichigo growled quietly, before deciding it was best to let it go.
"Ichigo!" Senna waved as he stepped out onto the courtyard.
"Hey." He said with a wave in return.
"You took your time." She stated with an inquisitive look.
"Yeah I was talking with Rukia. She says she's going to walk with us to the convenience store on the way home."
"Great idea! We can get some stuff on the way back too!"
Ichigo thought he should ask who would be paying for the 'stuff', but on second thoughts he already knew the answer to that.
"Hey Rukia!" Senna said, waving to Rukia as she walked out of the doors to the school.
"Hey." Rukia waved back with a smile. Her fake smile, Ichigo noted. "Shall we go then?"
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If anyone spots any more plot inconsistencies then by all means tell me and I'll fix them. If anyone was wondering the story takes place after the fullbring arc but before what's happening in the manga. As always reviews are both appreciated and motivational, so more reviews will result in the next chapter getting written sooner.