The final bell rang and Shane made his way to the locker room and changed into the karate uniform. He rubbed his hands vigorously through his hair and sighed, then shut the locker door.
Tatsuki was waiting for him out on the floor. They spent several minutes stretching out and warming up. Tatsuki and Shane stood several feet apart and stared each other down. Tatsuki was grinning from ear to ear and couldn't hold her excitement. "I've been looking forward to this for a while," she said.
"You want to fight me that badly?" Shane asked a little surprised.
"You're the only one who can give me a real challenge. Ever since you left, I've been bored with these punks," Tatsuki said, pointing to the others. Shane glanced around and shivered from all the death stares he was getting.
"Well, come on then and let's get started," Shane said reluctantly. They circled around, each looking for an opening. Then Tatsuki attacked. Shane did his best, but he was distracted and his heart wasn't in it and it showed. Tatsuki frowned and stopped. "What's the matter with you?" she asked.
"What?" Shane asked.
"You. Your stance is terrible, your offense sucks, and you're full of openings. If you didn't want to fight me, then say so. Don't insult me with such a poor performance. It's like fighting Ichigo or something," Tatsuki said crossly.
"I'm sorry. I've been distracted lately," Shane apologized. Tatsuki turned her back. "I'm done. Come back when you've found your will to fight."
Shane stopped. "My will to fight?" he asked himself.
"Hey Tatsuki, your friend sucks!" someone called out. Before Tatsuki could open her mouth to reply, Shane flew across the room and threw the heckler to the ground. He began to apply steady pressure to shoulder joint, causing the guy to wail in agony.
"You're lucky I'm such a nice guy," Shane hissed in the guy's ear.
"What's wrong with you?" Tatsuki roared and pulled Shane off his victim. Shane pushed Tatsuki's hands away and brushed himself off. Tatsuki put her hands on her hips and glared.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me," Shane apologized. Tatsuki rolled her eyes and stormed off. Shane ran after her and caught her arm. Tatsuki whirled around in surprise.
"Hey, meet me out side. There's something I want to talk to you about," Shane said. At first, Tatsuki was going to blow him off, but his eyes were soft and sincere. "Okay, but no funny business," she warned. Shane released his hold on her arm and Tatsuki went to the girl's locker room.
Shane waited impatiently outside for Tatsuki to show up. He paced back and forth, rubbing his hands nervously. "So, what are you going to tell her?" he asked.
"Tell me what?" Tatsuki asked. Shane whirled around and saw Tatsuki, hands on her hips and a questioning look on her face. Shane gulped.
"Well? It seems like you have something important to tell me," Tatsuki said. Shane started walking and motioned for Tatsuki to follow. They walked for a while in silence. Shane stole a glance at Tatsuki and he could tell she was starting to get annoyed. He sat down on a park bench and Tatsuki sat next to him.
How to say this? "Your whole life, it seems that things have been going the way you want," Shane started. "But lately, things have been happening that you can't explain." Tatsuki said nothing, but stared intently. Shane continued. "At first, you thought you were seeing things. Maybe a flash out of the corner of your eye or something like that. Soon, you could see everything as clear as day."
"What are you talking about?" Tatsuki asked, her voice shaking slightly.
"Looking back, there was that one incident, that one moment in time that everything changed," Shane said. "A few months ago, you were visiting Orihime and that night, something happened that you weren't sure even happened." Tatsuki's eyes went wide and she sat back.
"You have a memory of that night, but you aren't sure if that is what really happened," Shane said. "That is the night everything changed."
"How do you know all this?" Tatsuki asked. Shane put up a finger and he continued. "But that's not all. Then you started seeing familiar people running around in strange clothes. And you even encountered...them."
"Shane, you are making me nervous," Tatsuki said. She started to rise but Shane gently pushed her back down. "I haven't been honest with you," he said.
"I'll say," Tatsuki said.
Oh boy, Shane thought. His hands were trembling and his heart rate was picking up. "I think it's best if I just show you," Shane said. He stood in front of Tatsuki and swallowed a piece of Soul Candy. There was a bright flash and POOF.
Tatsuki gasped and she recoiled in her seat. Shane was standing in front of her wearing black robes and a white sash around his waist. But laying on the ground was...Shane?
"What is the meaning of this?" Tatsuki asked, rising to her feet.
"I am a shinigami, a Death God, a spirit," Shane said.
"So you're dead?" Tatsuki asked. Shane thought for a second and nodded his head. "Well, yeah."
The color drained from Tatsuki's face and she sagged back to the bench. Shane reached out to help her, but she pushed him away.
"If you're a spirit of death, are you here to, you know," Tatsuki asked and made a slashing motion across her neck.
"We Death Gods don't kill people," Shane explained. "We search for the spirits of those who have already died and send them to Soul Society." Just then, Shane's phone started beeping. He glanced at it and looked around. "Come with me," Shane said, offering his hand. Tatsuki stared at him.
"I want to show you what it is we do," Shane explained. Before Tatsuki could protest, Shane grabbed her by the hand and ran off in the direction of the signal.
"H-hey! What are you doing?" Tatsuki shouted. Shane was too busy to notice Tatsuki was blushing. Is he crazy? she asked herself. I have no idea what is happening anymore. How does he know what I've been going through?
Shane dragged Tatsuki through the mostly empty streets. He turned into a dark alley and stopped. Tatsuki looked around nervously and blushed. "I thought I said no funny business," she warned. Without replying, Shane grabbed Tatsuki in his arms and jumped up to the roof of the building. Tatsuki struggled out of Shane's grasp and roughly pushed him away. "What was that all about?
Shane turned his back to Tatsuki, seemingly ignoring her. She crossed her arms and frowned. "This had better be good or you're gonna get it later,"
Just then, there were heavy footsteps. A shadow fell across Tatsuki and her eyes went wide. Her pulse began to quicken and her breath grew shallow. She slowly turned her head and gasped. A giant monster towered over her and Shane.
"What are you doing?" Tatsuki screamed. The Hollow roared, but Shane didn't even flinch. "This, is what we do," Shane said evenly. The hollow raised its fist and brought it down to smash Shane. At the last second, Shane flash stepped away. To Tatsuki, it looked as if he had disappeared. How did he do that? she thought.
Shane reappeared and the hollow tried to smash him again. Tatsuki watched in awe as Shane stayed one step ahead of certain death. Shane finally stopped in front of the hollow. The hollow tried to punch again, but instead of moving away, Shane merely moved to the side and use the hollow's forward momentum to put it in an arm lock. A sudden thought crossed Tatsuki's mind. I've seen him use that move before!
The hollow roared in pain and Shane steadily applied pressure until the shoulder was about to break. "Way of Binding No. 1," Shane called out. The hollow's other arm became twisted and contorted also. Off balance, the hollow fell on its face with a crash. Tatsuki put her hand up to keep dirt and debris from getting in her eyes. Through squinted eyes, Tatsuki watched Shane approach the hollow and break its skull mask with a powerful open palm strike.
"Come here Tatsuki," Shane said. Tatsuki warily walked forward until she was at Shane's side. Tatsuki was about to ask a question but Shane pointed to the hollow. Tatsuki watched as the hollow's mask broke apart, revealing the face of a middle aged man. Tatsuki gasped with horror as the hollow dissolved into blue sprit particles.
"Hollows aren't monsters, just human souls that have lost their hearts," Shane explained. "Our job as Death Gods are to send souls to Soul Society and to purify hollows so they can be sent to Soul Society also."
Tatsuki said nothing and slowly stumbled away. She tripped and Shane reached out to catch her. "Get away from me!" Tatsuki screamed and pushed Shane away. Tatsuki stumbled and tripped to the edge of the roof. Her body began to convulse and Shane looked away as Tatsuki vomited over the side. After a while, Tatsuki stopped retching and Shane hung his head in shame.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I never should have put you through that." Shane stared off into the sky and sighed. "I'm a fool for thinking something like this could work." He turned back to Tatsuki, who was still leaning over the edge of the building. "I'll understand if you never want to see me again. If I were you, I'd want to beat me three ways from Saturday also." He walked to the edge a short distance from Tatsuki and jumped down and disappeared. Tatsuki watched him leave.
"Idiot," Tatsuki sobbed, "How am I supposed to get down from here?"