When she entered the room nobody so much as spared her a glance. In fact they were making a distinct effort to avoid looking at her. Needless to say, she didn't like it at all. When after a few minutes it became obvious to her that no one was gonna say anything anytime soon, she decided to break the tension.
"Sooo.... how has everyone been?" This question caught everyone completely off-guard or maybe it was the fact that Ichigo had spoken? She didn't know or really care, but the fact that nearly everyone had fallen down nearly made her burst out laughing. She really did miss everyone. Finally after she'd composed herself somewhat Tatsuki decided speak, well more like yell.
"HOW HAVE WE BEEN?!"Tatsuki was on her feet now and she looked more than ready to walk over a beat Ichigo into a bloody mess. Truthfully she was not all that angry. She was just frustrated. Ichigo was acting like everything was perfectly normal. It was really making her mad. After all she'd been through how could Ichigo pretend like this? She might have actually hit her if Orihime hadn't intervened.
"Tatsuki-san please calm down!" Orihime's urgent tone and pleading were enough to make Tatsuki stop, if only barely.
"I think what Tatsuki-san means is are you okay Kurosaki?" This one came from Uryu as he straightened up his uniform and pushed up his glasses.
"I"m here in one piece." Ichigo firmly replied with a shrug.
"That's not an answer." Uryu bit back.
"Oh, yes it is. Just not the one you wanted to hear.(1)" she calmly replied. She found the tick forming on his head very amusing. At least Chad was holding him back while he was declaring he was going to kill her. She suddenly found herself hoisted up by the front of her shihakushÅby a very irate Renji with an equally irate Rukia glaring at her from behind him.
"Ichigo...." he growled out warningly. His glaring was rewarded by Ichigo's own icy glare as well as something else. Is that... fear? Rukia thought. They continued on like this for a minute or two before Toshiro's voice cut through their little staring contest. " Lieutenant Abarai... just how long are you going man-handle Captain Kurosaki?" Renji paused in confusion before realizing he was still holding Ichigo up by the front of her robes. Ichigo made a quick step backwards before hugging her chest protectively and lowering her head. "Ichigo?" Rukia said. "Are you alright?" Ichigo's head snapped up, her face was flushed and she appeared to be sweating slightly in nervousness.
"Um, yeah it's just Renji's the first guy recently who hasn't grabbed my clothes just so he could tear them off." It took everyone's horrified looks to make Ichigo realize just what she'd said. "That's to say... I ... What I meant was..." Ichigo stuttered nervously. "You... were raped?" Orihime's question came in such a soft whisper Ichigo almost didn't catch it. Her only answer was Ichigo trying to hide her face from her. "I'm not going to talk about it." she hissed. From her stealthy vantage point Yoruichi could swear she saw tears. When Urahara decided to speak up in order get rid of the forming tension, Ichigo could have kissed him.
"Now, now." he started drawing everyone's attention to him as he waved around his little fan. "That's not the kind of thing we should be discussing at the moment is it?" He was rewarded with a murmuring of agreement, though he did note the number of angry faces he received. No doubt they wanted names, he thought. Of all the faces Isshin's stood amongst them. I almost pity any of those hollows if he learns who they are... almost. Or if Yoruichi finds out who they are first he mentally added noting the immense rage that had settled behind his old friends eyes. Granted he noticed but he still failed to gauge just how angry she truly was as she was mentally scrolling through the interrogation and torture techniques she knew. Even coming up with new and terrifying ones which she fully intended to put into practice. The thought's of everyone else though weren't quite as bad. But not by much.
Isshin Kurosaki was many things. Father, doctor, (ex)husband, Shinigami captain (again ex). Hell he was even described as an insane sociopath who loves beating up his eldest. Granted that's mostly from Ichigo and Karin... and that one time with Yuzu. He honestly cried all day even though he himself thought it was pretty funny. He was not however forgiving to anyone who messed with his kids. Especially his little girls (a category of which Ichigo now fell under). He would find them, and than he'd make sure they suffered in every way before he decided to end their wasted existence. Isshin shook his head to clear his thoughts. No. Revenge can wait. All that matter is he... she's home.
All present members and former members of squad eleven and Rukia were having remarkably similar thoughts. Each one was envisioning themselves finding and beating the arrancer who attacked Ichigo to with an inch of their lives. Before finally cutting off a certain part of their anatomy bit by bit. Well... not Rukia her's involved ice and snow and was decidedly less pleasant. Both Renji and Rukia had seen how horrible such a thing was in Rukongai. Once was enough to make them both actively try to stop it from happening each time they saw it. Ikakku was merely disgusted that anyone could do such a thing and still call themselves warriors. Yumichika was horrified to find anyone could defile such a beautiful person.
Rangiku Matsumoto clutched her hand to her chest. She had no illusions about her beauty or how desirable she was to members of the opposite sex or how far some of them could go in order to get what they wanted from her. She had dodged quite a few such individuals when she had started out in the Shinigami Academy and after she graduated. She'd dealt with even more in Rukongai. Poor girl she thought. Ichigo was far more of a knock out than she was at the same age. The men would be falling over each other to get even the slightest smile from her. Rangiku cast a critical eye towards Ichigo. She looks healthy enough. Atleast they fed her. Hmm, large breasts... they look almost as big as mine! Perfect curvy ass... her thigh's are probably nice and... GAH! She quickly shook her head to clear out the increasingly erotic thoughts she was starting to have about the captain of Squad 5... MOMO! She realized with a start. The poor girl would be overjoyed to have her captain back!
Tatsuki and Orihime had shared a knowing look at the news of Ichigo's experiences. Tatsuki couldn't count the number of times she'd leapt to Orihime's defense against men who had decided to get a little too 'friendly'. She's currently imagining doing much much worse to Ichigo's captors if she ever got her hands on them. Though, it looks like I might have to get in line. She thought. If the faces of all those gathered were any indication. Orihime, as sweet as she was, had had brief thought's of using Tsubaki to some things distinctly un-Orihime like. Right now though, she had settled into a sort of quiet depression.
Uryu was livid. In his mind no one warranted that kind of treatment. Not even his mortal enemies the Shinigami.
As for Chad, it was yet another example of not being there to watch Ichigo's back. He hung his head in shame. He wondered what the point of the promise was anymore if he couldn't even keep it when it counts..
Despite his best attempts the cool headed Captain of Squad 10 very nearly lost his temper.
Mizuirowasn't having dark thought's like the others. It just wasn't who he was. He did however feel very disgusted that people actually could do that. The fact that it was Ichigo of all people seemed to hit home. He just couldn't help but bad for her. After all who wouldn't?
Keigo was thoroughly disgusted. He may be a hormone driven teenager who could get a 'little' enthusiastic towards members of the opposite sex. But he was no goddamn rapist! The very thought nearly caused his lunch to very violently come right back up.
Rangiku decided to give Ichigo one last look over. With her erotic thought's gone she suddenly realized what was bugging her about Ichigo and it was her duty as a women to do something about it.
She stood up so suddenly that a few people jumped in their seats. She made here way over to Ichigo and gestured for her to stand up. When she did, Matsumoto cast calculating gaze over her. She then went to mumbling to herself. "Disgraceful. This is positivity a crime against women everywhere!" Ichigo's face seemed to pale. Does... she think I'm a freak? Oh, she had been called that and much worse in Hueco Mundo, but this was Rangiku! She was one of the most easygoing, also lazy according to her Captain, member of the Gotei 13. Was Ichigo really that bad? Similarly everyone else was shook up. Orihime looked like she was on the verge of tears. Rangiku finally finished her examination of Ichigo and took a step back with her hands on her hips.
"Ichigo-chan. Your outfit is completely un-sexy!" she exclaimed. Everyone but her and Ichigo (who was simply too stunned to even manage it) face-faulted with enough force to shake the entire store.
"Wh-what?" Ichigo sputtered. "Your clothes! They don't make you look sexy at all! Well... not as sexy as they could anyway." Rangiku replied wiggling her finger like she was scolding a child. "You have such nice breasts, but aren't showing them off at all! Also what did you use on your hair?" she exclaimed grabbing a handful of Ichigo's hair and sniffing. "Um... shampoo?" Ichigo replied weakly. She was a little bit confused as to what the hell was happening. "Of course you did but what kind?" Ichigo merely shrugged in response. "It's not even scented" she said in disgust. "What about conditioners? Moisturizers or creams for you skin? What about..." she went on rambling for minute about every single beauty product in existence she thought Ichigo needed. "I've got it!" she shouted excitedly. "Be right back~!" she practically sang as she exited the store. Leaving a very confused Ichigo in her wake. It was then a thought struck Ichigo.
"My body!" she exclaimed. Only to receive confused looks from everybody present. "Is there something wrong with it?" asked Renji. "What? You aside from her being a woman?" Rukia asked angrily. Her reply was Renji sheepishly scratching his head and Tatsuki curb stomping Keigo when he went to get a better look at Ichigo's under the pretense of 'wanting to see what wrong.' All for Ichigo's sake of course.
"I meant my physical body" she said in exasperation. Cue Urahara shifting uncomfortably. "I do still have oneright?" she practically hissed out.
"I think it best to show you." He quickly said trying stem off any attempts to beat him into a bloody mess (honestly why does everyone have to be so violent?). He motioned for Ichigo to follow as he lead her down the hall. When he opened the door to the room he was Ichigo's body he wisely moved quickly out of the way.
Ichigo Immediately saw her body. It seemed to be dressed in the same clothes as when she left. In fact it looked completely the same. Including the fact it was still male. She raised an eyebrow to Urahara.
"As you can see your body is still very much alive... well as alive in can be all things considered." he said slowly. "But I believe you may want to enter it soon as I can't guarantee how much longer it will last without a life force of any kind in it." Ichigo cast a quick look at Urahara. "I've already done every test I can think of on it after your sudden" Urahara seemed to struggle with the exact word but settled on 'arrival.'. "I'll also be monitoring very closely what happens. So... off you go~!" he sang gently pushing Ichigo forward.
Ichigo couldn't help the surreal feeling that crept up on her. There right in front of her was her old appearance. How she'd looked and what she'd been before Aizen decided fuck up her genetics. She steeled herself. She may have done this before a million times before, but that felt like another lifetime. She briefly wondered if she missed her old body. After all it was the one she was born with. And you were reborn with this one, She mused dryly. With deep breath she reentered.
Her eye's blinked open. She strained her muscles. Oh how she strained her muscles. Consequences of not being used for a while, she thought. She ran her hands along her body to check it out and to her surprise found it to still be completely male... that is until her still male parts along with every other part suddenly flared with pain. The scream she'd let out had even sounded strangely warped. The scream had caused all the occupants of the shops not present to charge frantically down the hallways, only to be stopped when Urahara motioned for them to not come any further. Tessai made sure that those who didn't take the hint couldn't advance. He couldn't stop the little black cat that weaved gracefully trough all those gathered, Even Kisuke Urahara, Former Captain of Squad 12, wasn't stupid enough stand between her and Ichigo.
As painful as it was it stopped after less than 10 seconds. She knew what had happened. Her physical body had changed to make her spiritual one. Still it was less painful and ended a whole hell of a lot quicker than the one that had happened to her spiritual one. Also Gin hadn't been there with his 'all so helpful' commentary. The first thing she noticed when her eyes came into focus on the world around her was a black cat whose own eyes were focused quite intently on Ichigo. "I fine." she groaned out. Yoruichi relaxed her gaze slightly then completely when she made her next remark. "Perhaps a showers is on order?" Ichigo blinked a few times not really comprehending what Yoruichi was getting at. She'd just showered.... in her soul reaper form. Armed with this new knowledge Ichigo gave her body a critical once over. Hair had grown to match her spirit form, but was incredibly greasy along with the rest of her body. The smell wasn't so bad, but still not very pleasant. Not to mention her shirt was to goddamn tight! Seriously her pants fit well enough, but it felt like someone was actively trying to crush the life outta her.
She made her way, stumbling only slightly, into the hallway. "I'm fine, just need another shower." she said alleviating the worried looks plastered across every ones face. "You do!? That's perfect~!" came a voice from behind the gathered crowd. Everyone turned to find a cheery Matsumoto complete with gigai and bags full of beauty products. If Ichigo's body had been capable of it at the time, she would have gotten the hell out of there. Sadly she could hardly walk and thus was unable to escape her when she grabbed Ichigo by the arm and dragged her in the direction of the showers. All the while listing off hair care tips.
"Well I think that wen rather well don't you?" Urahara quipped waving around his irritating little fan. Tatsuki was on the verge of shoving the fucking thing down his throat. "I think it best to give Ichigo some room to recover more fully." "Huh? What do you mean?" asked confused Keigo giving voice to the thoughts his schoolmates shared. "If it's all the same to you Urahara I'm staying." said Isshin in a firm tone that left no room for argument. At all. When the Shinigami themselves started leaving realization dawned on the high school students. "Hey!" shouted Tatsuki. "We ain't leaving!" Urahara was about to respond when Isshin placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Give her time," he voice that was surprisingly gentle and reassuring. "Besides it won't look good if you skip school now would it?" Tatsuki cast a glance between Urahara and Isshin. "Alright... but I'm coming right over when school's out!" she barked before almost storming out of the store. Orihime bowed and said her goodbyes before taking off after her friend. "I'll come over too!" Keigo shouted enthusiastically. "Don't you have to help your sister clean, Mr. Asano?" said Mizuiro. As he walked out of the store followed by Keigo wailing on about how he could due that. "Aren't we friends?" he cried.
Yoruichi watched them leave before turning around and chasing after Ichigo. She couldn't help but think that Matsumoto was a little to interested in Ichigo's body.
Author's Note: And her we have chapter five! Hope ya'll enjoyed it. Before anyone asks Matsumoto Shunpoe'd at top speed to and from 'her' apartment while carrying her gigai then jumped in in front of the store. Anyway it's late going to bed. Also the next chapter may be late as I want to start some of my other stories.
1- A paraphrase of one of my favorite lines from Babylon 5.