Disclaimer: I do not own both Bleach and Tenjho Tenge.
...
Chapter 3- Trouble Knows Their Names
...
"How long do you plan on staying in the living world?"
"That's a stupid question."
"No it isn't, now answer!"
"Until you're all healed up damnit!"
"... I don't need protection Rukia! I need to get out there and stop Aizen!"
They continued to glare daggers at each other, both stubbornly refusing to give into the other's demands.
Ichigo could feel the pain emanating from his torso as he sat up to emphasize his point, the bandages covering his stomach making him feel like he was burning from the chest below as the wound that was being healed by the ointment they were soaked in made him grimace briefly before glaring once again at the raven haired Shinigami.
Rukia's features visibly soften as she watched him grimace from his injuries. And to think it had been a horrible new development in Aizen's Arrancar Army that had caused this. To think these newly engineered hollows were able to turn invisible now.
This damn war was costing them too much.
"You can't stop Aizen, not with the way you're hurt right now."
Ichigo didn't mistake the sadness in her tone as she whispered that. He wanted to argue about how it was unexpected. That his instincts had allowed him to dodge most of the potentially fatal strike from that hollow that had snuck up behind him during a scouting mission in Hueco Mondo.
Ichigo had made sure to cut down the hollow a second later as the mindless monstrosity wasn't prepared for the speed with which he used his Shunpo, let alone the large blade that was Zangetsu in his Shikai.
But he couldn't argue for long with Rukia, not when her face looked like she was ready to die just by looking at his state. So instead he lay back on his bed in one of Kisuke's room, letting out a frustrated sigh at how he was able to do nothing but nurse his wounds.
Rukia couldn't help but sigh at Ichigo's grumpy expression. Only he could end up looking like one of those grumpy kids who didn't want to drink their medicine that she'd visited while in the Kurosaki Clinic thanks to one of his father's random volunteering suggestions.
She ended up laughing at the orange haired Shinigami, not knowing what had gotten into her.
Ichigo stared at her for a moment, finding Rukia's laugh to be quite the surprise. She hadn't laughed like that in ages. It felt good to know that she was doing so now.
He watched her walk over to the side of his bed, kneeling in front of him before surprising him yet again by placing her hand atop of his.
She let out a rare, sincere smile that she only reserved for the few people important to her, although Ichigo grew confused by the sudden change in demeanor. "I'm just glad that you're okay, baka."
Ichigo doesn't question the rare show of emotion and instead just lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding in.
"By the way, I think you should be waking up now..."
"Wake up?" Ichigo blinked. "Rukia, I'm already awa-"
...
The cold realization of how all of that was just a flashback hits Ichigo like a boulder Zangetsu wasn't able to cut through.
So stricken by the memories of a time that once was, Ichigo failed to realize that the rain was pouring in heaves, socking his uniform until he came back to reality by taking slow, deep breaths.
Maya, having been standing behind him the whole time, made her way across the few newly formed puddles, only to stand beside him and cover them both from the rain with the umbrella she'd brought with her.
She didn't say anything at first, not even turning to look at Ichigo as the rain continued to pour until Ichigo finally decided to turn and give her a blank gaze.
The former Shinigami cursed himself for letting his guard down and tensed his muscles as he regarded the mysterious woman.
"Nice weather for cuddling wouldn't you think?" she commented. "Although I doubt it's the type you'd want to stay in for long as you'd really end up catching a cold from it."
Ichigo didn't get why this woman was telling him this, as small talk wasn't really his thing. Couldn't she tell that he wanted to be left alone?
You'd think people would get by now that his aura screamed 'Talk to me and I will kill you'.
He let out an annoyed grunt. "If you're trying to tell him to stay out of the rain, than thanks for the concern but it's really none of your business what I choose to do."
Maya, not being one to get offended that easily, sighed wearily at the strawberry's attitude.
"You're as rude as I remembered." Maya muttered before letting out an irritated sigh.
Ichigo's attention is caught on what the mysterious woman next to him had just said and for a moment, he quickly begins to analyze the girl next to him.
Taking note of the familiar colour of silver for the first time, as well as the blue orbs that suspiciously resembled the ones of that little girl, Ichigo quickly deduced that this older woman in front of him was somehow related to that kid he'd had an encounter with a few days back.
Maya quickly catching on to Ichigo's analytical gaze, tries to ease the tension by joking around. "Hmm... and to think that you're checking me out with such intensity, you must be one hardcore perv."
Ichigo lets the words register with his psych before showing his first signs of being a regular human, well as regular as he could get, as the unexpected teasing caused him to blink innocently for a few seconds.
He composed himself a short while later, cussing to himself as he snorted and sharply turned his head back to the view of cloudy skies.
Maya smiled knowingly at his actions and decided to play a card she'd been waiting to use.
"So..." she let the word draw out as she adjusted the handle of the umbrella, allowing the device to cover more of herself and Ichigo. "Rumour has it that you've been looking for a Club to join."
Ichigo doesn't openly show his curiosity at how she'd known about his enquires on the different clubs located in the school, staring into the distance and not sparing the silver haired woman a glance, yet decided to test something out by asking her a rather simple question.
"Yeah... Well what does it matter to you?"
Maya made sure to seem completely apathetic as she began to speak. "Of course it matters to me... I mean who else do you think has to accept all those applications for new members of the Jyuken Club?"
Ichigo isn't slow enough not to realize what the implications of such a sentence would mean and lets out a gasp at the realization of who it was standing next to him.
He slowly turned back to gaze at Maya, allowing his memories to connect the dots as he finally recognized who this girl was.
"You're..." Ichigo found himself gaping at how everything about her appearance seemed to click. The silver hair, blue eyes and smugness in the way she carried herself. "... That girl."
"Natsume Maya." She introduced, keeping sure to let the smugness in her tone increase. "Pleasure to meet you, Kurosaki Ichigo."
He'd seen a lot in terms of transformations during the war, hell even before the Winter War had began, Ichigo had always felt that life was the type of bitch that could target his blind spots without him noticing.
In other words, surprise the hell out of him the way Yoruichi did when she went from being a talking cat to transforming into a naked woman back at their hideout.
So the idea of a girl being able to transform into a chibi form of herself didn't bother him as much as how her 'assets' seemed to jump off unexpectedly. Or so he assumed if he were ever to witness the process some day.
"The Jyuken Club is in need of new members." Maya said, taking on a more serious front. "And considering that you've been searching around for a Kenjutsu specialist to teach you how to use a sword, I believe you'll find that my Club is the right place for you to be tutored in."
For a moment, Maya just stared at Ichigo, wondering what was going through the mysterious freshman's mind as the only sound that could be heard were the heavy drizzles of rain splattering onto her umbrella.
Ichigo, much to Maya's confusion, started to chuckle.
Was there something she was missing?
"Teach me how to use a sword?" Ichigo muttered in between his laughter, the sentence sounding quite hilarious to him. If only she'd knew.
He moved to get up off the side of the edge of the roof, making sure to keep under the umbrella as he did so. "Aren't you the smug one?"
Maya took offence to that statement. Was this guy trying to suggest that she couldn't teach him a thing or two about using a sword?
She narrowed her eyes, not caring the least bit on how her face was dangerously close to the taller boy's own as she stood on her toes in order to glare at Ichigo.
Ichigo could only raise a brow at the glare she gave him, taking note of the lack of space between their bodies as he felt a pair of 'assets' press into his chest.
Now Ichigo wasn't stupid. As much as he could see the anger in Maya's glaring blue orbs, he understood that if anyone were to walk in on them this close to each other, they'd immediately mistaken the two of them to be doing something rather inappropriate.
He could've stepped away, he really should have but then he was Kurosaki Ichigo. He didn't back down.
"Are you trying to say that you're better than me at using one?" Maya whispered the question, a challenging glint in her eyes.
Ichigo smirked at that, catching the challenge and reciprocating the same glint in his eyes. "No, I'm saying that I'm the best."
The door to the rooftop had suddenly flung open, along with two students, male and female, coming to a stop as the girl caught her breath.
"Natsume-san!" The male had yelled out before pausing to regard how Natsume-san seemed to be in the midst of something with a certain student. He blinked in awe of the realization that Maya was with the freshman that had single-handedly taken out the Knuckle Bomb duo.
Wait.
Were those two about to kiss?
He couldn't really see much as the umbrella had hid their faces but with the way they were so close to each other...
The girl beside him had looked up after finally regaining the ability to breathe properly, only to gasp at what she saw. It seemed she was thinking along the same lines as him.
Ichigo could only think of one word to sum up the situation he'd found himself stuck in as he turned to acknowledge the dumbstruck looks on the two students faces as Maya jumped back and away from him.
Shit.
...
Masataka's flurry of kicks were unstoppable.
Souichiro would try as hard as he could to dodge but a foot would always manage to finds its way colliding into his face. If the fight kept on going like this, he'd be done for.
Bob yet again was left in awe of the speed and show of skill in Masataka's techniques and couldn't help but re-announce his thoughts on how this school seemed to be hosting a lot of powerful fighters.
Watching people that could fight so well made him feel weak, as if everything he and Nagi had been doing was nothing short of pathetic. Child's play even.
He watched the fight wearily, not even sure if he would stand a chance even if he were to try and intervene.
Aya on the other hand couldn't help but look on in worry due to the fact that Souichiro was getting hurt way more than she'd liked to imagine. She couldn't help but wonder why Senpai wasn't trying to go easy on her Souichiro, figuring that he knew he was better than Souichiro in skill.
Nagi managed to avoid falling flat on his back by twisting his body around in order to stand with his one knee.
For a moment, he found himself staring back at Masataka, who seemed to be feeling more and more confident about this fight.
He thought back on how he'd watched Ichigo dodge the kick from Bob, avoiding a technique that was sure to knock him out and memorized the angle at which he'd have to bend. Of course he couldn't go that low yet but he'd practiced how to move with just as much speed.
Souichiro stood up once more and engaged Masataka, bringing his fist back.
Masataka had other plans in mind. He wanted to finish this off as soon as possible as the freshman was wasting his time. As he started to run off into a short sprint, Masataka jumped off into mid-air and let loose a kick meant to render the blonde unconscious.
Souichiro having anticipated the move, dodged by using a technique that he'd recently just perfected, if only to a degree.
He bent his upper body backwards, momentarily folding his arms from behind in order to balance himself out as Masataka's foot narrowly sailed passed his nose.
This of course got a few pairs of eyes to widen for a few different reasons.
Aya's eyes went wide from being shocked at how Souichiro-sama had anticipated Takayanagi-senpai's move so quickly and figured a way to react to it.
Bob found himself surprised by the fact that Nagi had been able to pick up a move that looked suspiciously familiar to what Ichigo had done to avoid his kick. He wonders if Nagi had actually been practicing that move ever since that time he saw it.
Masataka was surprised as well by how effective the evasive move Souichiro made, not expecting the blonde to dodge his attack in a way in which he wouldn't get hit.
He was disappointed however, by Souichiro's unwise counter strike, launching a fist that was directed to his face, not realizing that it left him open as Masataka latched onto his outstretched arm with both hands, making sure to keep a firm grip as he swung his body into the perfect position to deliver a missile drop kick.
A move Masataka executed perfectly as he felt his feet dig into Souichiro's face. He couldn't believe the person Aya-chan had been infatuated with could be defeated so easily. The blonde freshman didn't deserve Aya-chan's praise.
Aya watched in horror as her senses heightened, causing the events to slow down as Nagi slowly began his descend to the floor.
She didn't want to see him that way. Didn't want to see him lose. Because Souichiro-sama had always been going on about becoming the strongest.
He didn't give up. Not him.
She had to do something, anything to remind him of who he was. She found her heart beating faster as her hands clung to the fabric of the white shirt that covered her throbbing chest.
"Get up!"
She found herself screaming at the top of her lungs, pleading that he didn't fall.
Souichiro seemed to still as the authority in her tone not only woke him up but triggered a certain feeling deep in his chest that started to burn and make his body feel like it was rejuvenating with energy.
Souichiro shot up and got himself back into a normal stance, even though he could tell that he was still a bit disorientated but none the less, aware of where he was.
"As the husband of Natsume Aya!" she yelled. "You should not be able to lose against an opponent of such caliber!"
It was at that point that Nagi felt completely lost.
"Husband?"
Masataka was caught off guard by the remark from Aya and couldn't help but feel like he was being stabbed in the heart by the echo of her words.
"Caliber?"
Maya unexpectedly entered the lunch room in a rush and was surprised to find that everyone, including both Aya and the foreigner, were watching the fight.
Those two students had come earlier to warn her about the fight that had just broken out between Takayanagi and the brat.
Maya grew annoyed at how she'd have to postpone her attempt at inviting Ichigo to join her Club because she'd have to see how bad the situation was.
Nagi seemed to find his way back to reality and couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, along with confused at what she'd said.
"Listen up! I'm Nagi Souichiro okay!" Souichiro reminded her, standing back upright. "And I haven't lost a single fight in my life and I don't plan on starting now! So you just stand there and watch me win ya hear!?"
Aya felt her heart warm at the determination in his eyes and nodded at his words as Souichiro then got back into a fighting stance, all the while still staring at Aya.
She may have been weird but she'd gotten him back into gear, allowing him a break in which he'd make sure not to let himself get into Masataka's pace again.
Maya watched the moment with weary eyes at first before finding her senses sharpen as she glanced towards Takayanagi. She noticed how a dark aura seemed to surround his persona as his brown locks shaded his eyes.
Something was wrong with him and she had a feeling it had something to do with how Aya and Souichiro were having a 'moment'.
Masataka felt stupid for having ever liked Aya so much and couldn't let go of how the pang in his chest was being caused by the way she belittled his skills. It took him years to learn how to develop his fighting style, something he wouldn't let anyone trample on, not even her.
"Caliber?" Masataka muttered, drawing everyone, including Souichiro's attention back to himself as the atmosphere around him changed into more of a darker feel.
Souichiro grew alert to Takayanagi's intentions and realized that he was about to attack. Playing the one trick he believed would give him a chance to finish this off in one blow, Souichiro reached for his back pocket to take out Aya's bento before lifting it in front of the boy's face.
Bob wearily wondered when the hell Nagi had gotten a hold of the bento while Aya's eyes widened in surprise.
Souichiro smirked at seeing Masataka pause. The trick had worked it seemed and now he could go for the kill. Thought left him though when he'd noticed that Masataka's one eye that wasn't being covered by the bento was glaring right at him.
Even as Masataka's foot proceeded to kick his right foot forward, causing Souichiro to forcibly lose balance, the rage that seem to come to life in those blue orbs couldn't help but for a moment leave Souichiro's body completely frozen.
Turning his body around so fast that it could've been mistaken for a full body spin, Masataka crouched as he let his leg stretch out in order to successfully wipe Souichiro off his feet. He let his eyes stay on the form of Souichiro in mid-air as he took a step away from where Souichiro's body would impact on the cold hard floor before standing upright, all the while bringing his fist back before socking Nagi in the face with his knuckles as he forced the blonde's head to be the first thing to connect with the floor.
Bob, along with Aya, felt the air leave their lungs as a resounding crack echoed across the room.
Aya felt like her throat was filling up with acid as she watched Souichiro-sama's eyes roll to the back of his head, blood squirting out of his nose a moment later, signifying that it was broken.
She watched as his body met the floor in a head on collision before realizing that he lay motionless after.
The cold feeling that had suddenly ran over her body worked its way into her lungs as she watched Masataka yet again move in for the kill.
"Souichiro-sama!"
...
Ichigo, who'd taken his sweet time walking towards the Cafeteria, had been near enough to hear the scream of what sounded like 'Souichiro-sama', from a girl.
Though excessive rude to most of the women he'd met in his life, he'd always had a high level of respect for them. This was mainly due to the fact that his mother had been the example of how much love a women could give to their family.
So he'd always made it a point to never allow a woman to be hurt physically in any way possible if he were ever to witness such transpiring.
So when he'd felt like running towards the scream that came from the Cafeteria, turning into the hall where the open door would be located, he didn't expect to catch a glimpse of that familiar long silver hair that went along with the blue blazer and white shirt that made up the senior girl's uniform, green skirt fluttering as a creamy leg of Maya disappeared into the room.
Realizing that Maya wasn't the type to rush things or even rush for people, something he picked up in their conversation by the way she'd waited for him to come back to reality, Ichigo didn't hesitate to do the same.
The fact that she'd postponed, what he assumed was, her attempt at convincing him to join her club at the news of this Takayanagi guy, who he suspected was the same guy that she'd been sitting on the shoulder of while in that strange child form of hers, was fighting had him curious as to what was going on.
He may not have wanted to attract attention to himself but he realized that if he were going to avoid whoever could get him too much attention, he'd have to do so by finding out who these people were and what they were capable of.
Taking a step into the room, Ichigo's eyes travelled to where he saw a body lying on the floor that was being hovered over by a teary eyed girl, whose orbs basically screamed out how horrified she was at watching blood continuously flow out of the nose of who he realized was the blonde kid that pissed him off a few days ago, as she cradled his head on her now blood stained arms.
He'd seen scenes like these so many times in the war, whether the person being held was missing an arm, leg, hosting a severe stab wound or had a hole in their body that you could actually see through.
He never got use to how his body would feel empty, along with how his sense of self-loathing would always kick in as he cussed and wondered if he'd just had made it a minute sooner.
Footsteps could be heard echoing as the gathered audience didn't dare utter a word, making Ichigo, along with Aya and Maya pay attention to the foreigner, who Aya knew as Bob, walk over to the other side of Souichiro's body.
Aya could only mutter out 'Makihara-san' as she watched Bob gently pry Souichiro's head away from her grasp before picking him up and slowly placing him onto his shoulders.
Bob ignored the stares from everyone in the room as he took his best friend to the school's infirmary.
Ichigo's suspicions were confirmed as he spotted the guy who was with Maya that other day, only to note that she was standing in front of the guy like she was guarding people behind her from the devil himself.
Maya's blue orbs catch his before travelling back to give Takayanagi a stern stare down. "You didn't have to go all out on the brat, Takayanagi."
Masataka doesn't respond, only moving to stand right beside her as he seemingly stared ahead.
"Was that worthy enough of a caliber to be defeated by, Natsume-san?"
Maya's surprised by the harshness in Takayanagi's voice, as well as caught off guard by how he addresses her by surname and without the usual 'senpai' at the end. She growled. Just because her student was angry, didn't mean she was going to allow such disrespect.
She turned sharply, preparing to lecture him about respect and how, just because he was angry, didn't mean he was allowed to get away with such disrespect when it came to her.
Her eyes widened though as she found that Masataka was staring into the eyes of a seething, teary eyed, Aya with no amount of emotion on his face.
"How could you do that to him Takayanagi-senpai?!" Aya demanded of the Vice-Captain. "Souichiro-sama could've actually-"
"Enough!" Maya yelled out, tired of all the tension and raging emotions flying around. "Aya! Takayanagi! Both of you get on your way to class!'
At the rebellious glare Aya sent her way, Maya made sure to flare a bit of her Ki as she put special emphasis on the word, "Now!"
Masataka left without a word. Not taking note of how Maya's frown seemed to deepen as he passed her by.
Aya reluctantly stood up after Masataka left, in order to start making her way to the bathroom to wash out Souichiro-sama's blood on her sleeves before heading back to class.
Maya couldn't help but let her hands brush through her locks as she found herself amazed at how everything had blown out of proportion.
She wearily turned around to leave, only to remember that Ichigo was still in the room. What she immediately found strange, was that his eyes were snapped shut as if he were deep into a meditative stance.
This was bad. Her only two active members seemed to be falling apart thanks to one brat and now the person she'd needed in order to help her with the club had to witness the very same club he may or may not have wanted to join, nearly fall apart right before his very own eyes.
She wanted to say something about how it was just a little quarrel but couldn't help but feel conflicted about the different emotions coming off her members, especially Masataka.
Maya growled to herself as she decided to leave, brushing passed Ichigo and heading for her own class.
Only when she'd left, had the crowd began to disperse in order to gossip about the recent fight that had broken out in the Cafeteria.
And amongst all the commotion of leaving the room, Ichigo finally opened his eyes.
...
He watched the rain pour.
Nothing really mattered to him right now, not the people standing around him, holding on the railing as he did, neither did the noises the engine made as the bus proceeded to leave for his district.
He never could have imagined today of all days turning out as horrible as it did. Ironic that the weather seemed to blend in with the way he felt as he left the school premises.
He remembered how he'd rushed in to continue beating at Souichiro's face before Maya had unexpectedly intercepted him and flung his body over to the opposite direction of Nagi's body.
He remembered how the Foreigner had seemed lifeless as he picked up the unconscious body of his best friend.
He remembered how Aya had looked at the blonde boy moments before that, fresh tears daring to fall onto the man she'd declared her love for, all the while having his blood on her sleeves.
He'd like to tell himself that he didn't mean to hurt the freshman that badly, that watching Aya tear herself up at the form of Souichiro's limp body didn't satisfy the harsh thud of pain in his chest that her words had caused all on their own.
But it did.
Masataka's eyes narrowed from the feel of what he assumed was anguish as he felt liquid begin to form in his eyes. His body remained relaxed, yet the only sign that seemed to give away his foul mood was the slight clench in his jaw as he continued to watch the rain fall through the window.
...
It was around twenty five minutes to three when he was sure nearly most of the building was deserted.
He'd found a stairway on the top floor, one which he found lead to the rooftop, to lay low at while everyone left the premise.
His upper body felt numb, courtesy to the fight he'd gotten into a few hours ago and his head still rang most of the time.
He began to feel at the bandages wrapped around his head, making sure to take Bob's advice and not press too hard on the area at the back of his head that had been badly bruised.
He was lucky to have a concussion, or so the resident school nurse said to Bob before he'd told him the same thing.
In hindsight, if it were up to him, Souichiro would rather have died on the spot than wake up to the realization that he'd lost his first fight.
The worst part about it all was that he hadn't even been able to even scratch him.
Only the few people, the few being his mom, Chiaki and Bob, knew his reasons behind why he never allowed himself to lose his fights.
It was the sort of thing you had to do when everyone around you referred to you as a demon and treated you as trash that found its way into their lives.
He could still hear the whispered taunts in his mind, along with the images of the many people who had looked down on him, as well as the differences in the tone of their voices.
'It's the monster.'
'Don't talk to him, he's a demon.'
'Look, it's the child of the Demon's slut.'
Souichiro let his hand drop away from his head, barely registering his fingers brush over the bandage that covered his broken nose as his arms laid on his kneecaps which were brought up due to the way he sat on the stairs.
He couldn't take how he'd felt like an ant compared to the boot that was that guy. The gape in power was made evident today.
If he had ever lost, he told himself as a child, then everything the world had called him would be true. That's why he absolutely had to win.
But alone, in the silence of the stairway, he felt as if he was exactly what everyone considered him.
Nothing.
Images of the same letter his mom had always left at the counter in the living room flashed.
Along with the memory of a group of boys who'd always patronized him for being who he was, as they fired crumbled balls of paper at him.
He'd remember the breath-taking anger that would boil down deep inside as he chased after them, fearless to the fact that he was outnumbered and numb to the pain as he fought them all. Punching, kicking, and biting at everything he could before finding all of them unconscious as his adrenaline wore over.
And then he'd remember how he'd pretend to not feel the pain that ebbed across his face, arms and stomach as he walked to his apartment, unlocked the door and entered his once again empty home.
Souichiro was glad that no one was around to see him in this state, let alone hear him whisper what he'd resolve to not let happen for the rest of his so far miserable life.
"I... I lost."
Unbeknown to Souichiro, a figure had secretly been leaning against the wall opposite to the stairway he'd been hiding at, paying attention to the pain filled whisper that reached their ears.
"I don't want to lose."
...
Ichigo felt like flipping a finger up to the Spirit King for this.
This really wasn't quite the predicament he'd wanted himself placed in at the moment.
What with the guy, who always seemed to be with that smug woman called Maya, from earlier on in the day at the Cafeteria standing right behind him as the Bus made its way to the district where his Apartment was situated at.
Ichigo tried to ignore the guy's presence at first, knowing full well that as much as the dude wasn't one to seek attention, that he'd ended up getting a whole lot of it by the end of the day because of what he did to the blonde.
Yet he couldn't forget the words he'd spoken in the Cafeteria to the distraught girl kneeling on the floor hours ago.
'Was that worthy enough of a caliber to be defeated by, Natsume-san?'
Passed the harshness in his tone, or the well constructed apathetic mask he dawned, Ichigo could clearly take note of the slight desperation, mixed with a sense of hurt in the question. That along with the way his palm visibly clenched as he said those words.
Ichigo had long since learned to take note of the small subtle signs of the body in order to assess how the person felt at the moment or what was going through someone's mind.
It was skills like those that made all the difference in the Winter War, although learning in such a short amount of time had come at the prices of the many lives, Shinigami and Arrancar alike, that he'd failed to save.
Exhaling a long sufferable breath that he didn't even realize he was holding, Ichigo took out his phone in order to check the time and realized that he had around about three minutes left til he'd reach his stop.
Burying the phone away into his pocket, the former Substitute Shinigami braced himself for his first attempt at openly speaking to a student from the Academy.
"Yo."
Masataka blinked for a moment, surprised by the voice behind him and turned his head to the side to catch the familiar sight of unruly orange hair before seeing angry hazel eyes. It took awhile for his mind to process the fact that he'd just been greeted by the mysterious freshman that everyone had been talking about.
He could only answer with what felt right in a moment where he felt blank.
"Huh?"
Hearing a growl escape the student's throat, Masataka found himself yet again surprised by the freshman's sudden headbutt to his forehead.
How had he not even seen that coming?
Masataka took a step back from the slightly crowded space in order to sooth the thuds of pain emanating from his forehead.
He glared daggers at the scowling orange haired freshman after a short while, before regaining a bit of his composure. "What the hell was that for!?"
Today was not a good day for him to get pissed off. Masataka still had to do some much needed venting before he could interact with anyone capable of annoying him.
Ichigo brushed off the question with a grunt before looking Masataka in the eyes. "I was trying to greet you damnit."
Masataka, for all intents and purposes, found himself grinding his teeth at how the guy had said that as if headbutting him was the right thing to do. The nerve of this guy!
'Wait' he thought to himself. 'You're losing control. Get a hold of yourself and put a cap on your emotions.'
But he was tired, really tired of doing all of that. Self composure wasn't what he felt like keeping up, far from that now that he thought about it. He wanted to let it all out, just get rid of all the anger and stupid aches in his chest at what Aya had said about him.
Ichigo watched all the different emotions flicker within his eyes silently before noting how the guy's body seemed to grow stiff as he regained his composure.
"What do you want?" Masataka muttered, the question tasting like acid as it left his lips. He turned back to stare at the view outside the window. "Because if you came here to patronize me for what you saw earlier on, then you'll be in for a nasty surprise."
Pushing passed the subtle threat; Ichigo confirmed that the guy truly was troubled about what had happened earlier on with the whole fight that must've broken out between him and that Knuckle Bomb kid.
"Nothing much..." Ichigo trailed, watching the tension build up in the auburn haired kid's shoulders. "Just wanted you to send a message to Natsume for me."
Ichigo knew his reasons for what he was about to do, even though the consequences of his actions could end up getting him in a whole lot of shit. He didn't like the risk he was taking but figured that he'd have to play at a different game.
Masataka slowly turned back to take what the freshman was about to say into considering, ignoring how he flinched at the mention of his senpai's surname or how a sudden curiosity sparked at what possibly could be said by the strange enigma.
"Tell Natsume that I'll join the Jyuken Club..." Ichigo said, watching how Masataka's eyes widened at the surprise. "But only under one condition..."
The bus had come to a halt a minute later; followed off by an orange haired teenager jumping off before sprinting in order to quickly get to his apartment complex before the now heavy pour of rain completely soaked his uniform.
Back in the bus, a shocked still and slightly gaping Masataka, could only stare aimlessly as his mind processed what Kurosaki-san had offered.
...
Maya gazed longingly at the photo encased in the glass frame, placed atop the wooden table across her bed.
A part of her blamed herself for what happened.
If she hadn't just let him do as he pleased, standing by as that sword drove him insane, then maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way things did.
Another part of her blamed him.
The boy who she'd first fallen in love with, whose dreams were determined by what he believed in, the boy who later would murder her beloved brother and destroy what was left of her peaceful existence as he then created a organization with which to inflict pain to all who disobeyed their laws and remove threats towards their supreme rule.
Maya found her fingers brushing through her silver locks as she took a deep breath. She'd got too caught up on thoughts of the past and needed to worry on the present situation.
Kurosaki Ichigo was at even more of a risk of joining forces with that group than she imagined, especially with what had went down with Masataka and the freshman earlier.
She growled at the thought of Masataka's actions today, angry at how he'd lost control. She'd taught him better. Not to let the average thug get to him or allow his emotions to get in the way of him being able to perceive the situation.
Yet she'd allowed herself to calm down as she had a feeling it had something to do with the strange infatuation her younger sister had for the brat of a freshman.
She hadn't anticipated that Masataka's crush on Aya would be a potential problem within the Jyuken Club, considering how, judging by the bruises she recalled seeing on the blonde, would cause problems between the members of her club as she could see the potential in the two freshmen as well.
They'd taken out an entire grade without breaking a sweat, something only the elites of Toudou Academy could accomplish.
But more over, when she'd broken into the principal's office to find out more about Kurosaki Ichigo, she'd also found herself curious about the other two individuals because Ryuzaki popping up to attack the three couldn't have just been a coincidence.
Makihara Bob was the name of the foreign, dark skinned male that she had first caught sight of before setting her eyes upon Ichigo. The tall male didn't really pose much of a threat to that organization, so she couldn't exactly understand why they'd take such a drastic step.
Until she'd come across the blonde kid's file and openly gaped at what his name was and what that entailed.
Nagi Souichiro.
Nagi was a surname she'd only heard of once. Her late brother had read about it to her one day while in the study room of their compound, telling her of how the clan was a group that dealt with exorcising demons and sealing them into themselves in order to become living sacrifices.
That had sounded ridiculous to her by then, considering how she hadn't ever had an encounter with any demon. So to her they simply didn't exist.
But back then, when she'd read Souichiro's files and come upon the amount of times he'd been sent to hospitals and suddenly had his condition miraculously get better, she'd started to wonder if it was as ridiculous as she'd thought it was, based on certain events she'd seen written from his profile.
Maya had then decided on recruiting the three members she believed she'd need in order to change the way things were at Toudou Academy, Ichigo being the most important factor in her plans.
Unfortunately, he was at risk of being convinced to join that bastard's cause now and she couldn't have that.
Complaining wouldn't get her anywhere though so she choose to get up and turn off her bedroom's lights before getting into her sheet covers in order to rest and prepare for another rough day tomorrow.
...
Maya gave a stern glare to the form of Masataka entering the dojo, not missing how the smile on Aya's face disappeared at the sight of Takayanagi as she came in from the backdoor.
It was a Thursday morning now, one with dark clouds that showed signs of yet another day of rain as her Vice-Captain approached her.
His head was bowed down as his brown locks covered his eyes. Maya wasn't sure if Masataka was taking his time walking because he was tired or if he just didn't care much if she'd end up getting frustrated with him as she didn't have much time to stick around.
"You look awfully weary today Takayanagi." Maya said. "Didn't sleep much last night?"
Masataka didn't respond immediately, which worried Maya more as Aya stood near a wall and looked outside one of the few windows in the dojo. Maya could tell her sister was trying to avoid interacting with Masataka and found herself getting more frustrated by the second.
"Not really senpai." Masataka said, making sure to keep the signs of weariness from not having gotten any sleep last night hidden away from his tone. "Although, I have to speak to you about something that happened yesterday."
Aya couldn't help but let her eyes take a glance at Masataka before quickly looking back to the view outside.
Maya had been expecting this. Count on Takayanagi to explain himself. "I'm listening."
Masataka lifted his head up to take in the reaction of his senpai at what he was about to say. "I had a little run in with Kurosaki-san."
Maya visibly stiffened for a moment and Takayanagi didn't catch how Aya's eyes widened at the mention of the man who had, besides him, fought Souichiro-sama.
Masataka didn't allow Maya a moment to get over her shock as he dropped another bomb onto her lap. "He told me to relay this to you. That's he's willing to join the Jyuken Club..." At the sight of his senpai's eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, Masataka continued. "But only under one condition..."
Maya had been processing all of this new information, having her hopes shoot up as Masataka went on with the explaination, until of course she'd noticed his jaw clenched at the part where he mentioned that Ichigo was willing to join her Club came under a condition.
She waited for Takayanagi to tell her what she'd have to do in order earn his favour, all the while wondering why Masataka had just let out the most dejected sigh she'd ever heard come out of him.
But she'd have to deal with him later; right now she had to seize the opportunity while it was still within her reach.
"Well? Out with it."
"The condition is..."
Masataka felt his fists clench as he continued to stare his senpai in the eyes.
"That I beat him in a hand to hand sparring match, one on one, tomorrow afternoon."
...
Author's Note: Sorry about how long this took. Had a problem with logging into my account for months now and was finally able to do so a few days ago.
And no, this story has not and will never be abandoned. Come hell or high water, I will finish all of my stories no matter how long it seems to take.
Thoughts on the chapter? You know what to do.
Aero Out.