Blah Blah Blah:
Ah, yes, the rewriting writer's block is finally over with. Thankfully, I managed to find some sort of inspiration within the past couple of days, so expect some serious updates (I'm thinking every other day if not every day) on not only this story, but some of my others as well. Also, if you haven't noticed, this is going to be in both Ichigo and Tora's PoV, though Tora's PoV will usually be longer since it's mainly based on her experience. I just love seeing both PoVs because it gives everything more depth, don'tcha think? Anyway, as always, cupcakes, tell me what you think~(:

.:2:.
.:Tora:.

I stood outside of the door to the Japanese classroom, staring at nothing in particular.

"I sense something," Shika said, his baby voice coming out in a squeak as he appeared on my shoulder.

I tensed. The last time he said that, we were nearly thrown into the river. "Is it one of those masked things?" I asked, looking at him. What had that man called them? Hollows?

He ruffled his orange fur—a no.

"Something else?"

He nodded.

I bit my lip, eyes hardening as I tried to think. "Is it like that robe guy?"

He nodded again. "A lot of them," he confirmed. "But something's…off about this force," he explained. "Like its…subdued or something."

I studied the door, trying to will some sort of answer out of it. "Maybe you should hide."

"Huh?" He looked at me, tilting his puff-ball body to the side.

"In case they're not friendly," I clarified.

He whimpered, unhappy with leaving me alone when I didn't know anything.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Shika, but it's for the best. What if one of them can see you?"

"I get it," he said reluctantly.

I smiled, trying to reassure him. "Just meet me at the gates, okay?"

"Fine," he answered. Before I could say anything else, he twisted into himself, disappearing with a pop.

Just in time, too, because the teacher said, "You can come in now, Ito."

Taking a deep breath, I slid open the door, trying to keep my face neutral.

Except that was hard this time because as soon as the door cracked open, it felt like a bulldozer had rammed into me, threatening to smash me against the floor. My knees buckled, and I almost collapsed, but the murmurs of students brought me out of it. Instead, I looked at the ground, using my bangs to cover the fact my eyes were closed, and focused on breathing deeply, willing whatever force around me to go away. After a few seconds, it subsided enough for me to look up without cringing.

No one seemed to have noticed anything. The only thing off were a few dumbfounded faces, but that could just as easily be caused by the dirt stains all over me.

I sighed quietly, barely keep myself from shaking my head.

In my scuffle with the shinigamis this morning, I was thrown into a construction zone, getting mud all over me. It was only thanks to Shika that I got most of it out of my hair—though it had tangled it up so much, my hair was practically defying gravity—but there was no way I could get it out of my clothes, not without a washing machine and some serious stain remover. I had thought about going home and changing before I came to school, but I had already been running late before the shinigami had attacked, let alone after the fight was finally over.

I should've just accepted the late slip, though, because everyone was engrossed with the girl who was covered in mud all day. It was hard enough being the new girl; being the new girl who looked beaten down was just awful.

"Everyone, this is Tora Ito," the teacher, Mrs. Ochi I think she said, introduced, pulling me from my thoughts. "She recently moved here from the Yamanashi Prefecture, so make sure to show her around, okay?"

I was surprised when a few people actually managed to close their mouths long enough to nod.

Satisfied, she looked at me. "Well, Ito, you can have a seat behind Kurosaki, the boy with orange hair."

I nodded and quickly looked around the room, locking with brown eyes. He was tall, I noticed, seeming to tower over everyone even though he was slouching against his desk, with messy orange hair. Unlike the rest of the classroom, he wasn't focused on my clothes or hair; instead, he was staring at my face with a hard expression, like he was trying to work something out.

And then it hit me: this guy, Kurosaki or Carrot Top or whatever, was the one Shika had noticed.

Trying to keep my face blank, I walked to the back of the room, sliding into the desk behind him without looking up.

The minutes ticked by. Someone next to Carrot Top tried to talk to me a few times, but instead of paying attention to what he was trying to say, I stared out the window, attempting to figure out who—or what—Carrot Top was.

When the bell finally rang, I made my way out of the door as fast as possible, trying to ignore Carrot Top's gaze. I didn't know what his deal was, but I didn't want to find out either.

As I rounded the school gate, Shika popped on my shoulder. "Done?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Finally~" he cheered, rubbing my face.

I chuckled and went to rub his head with my finger, but he suddenly tensed, eyes wide.

"Which is it?" I asked immediately. "Shinigami or hollow?"

"Hollow," he breathed. "It's coming."

Just as he said it, like he summoned the thing himself, the sky split in half, a giant, white-masked figure peering out with a successful roar.

"Get ready, Shika," I said.

He planted himself firmly on my shoulder, eyes focused and unsure at the same time. When the hollow reached for me, he pulled me up, lifting me off the ground and high into the air.

"And… let go!" I ordered.

He did as I said, launching me at the white mask, and I cocked back my fist as the hollow looked up at me. Before it could do anything, though, I landed a solid hit on the point between its tunneled eyes.

The hit sent it tumbling backwards, falling into the rip in the sky before it could even get an entire leg out. Within seconds, the slit closed up, repairing itself as the sky returned to normal.

Shika caught me before I hit the ground, lowering me just in time for two people dressed in shihakushos to come at us. I wasn't surprised when I saw it was Carrot Top, but the girl with him, the one who actually sat next to him in class, caught me off guard a little.

"What the hell was that?" Carrot Top wondered, eyes darting from the point where the rip was to me over and over again.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

"So, you can see us, too," the girl said, eyes hard. "My name is Rukia Kuchiki. I'm afraid I need you to come with us."

I let out a sigh, shoving my hands into my pocket. "Sorry. I'm going to have to pass."

"I wasn't asking," Rukia said tersely.

"And, yet, I still said no." I rolled my eyes, brushing past her.

Or, at least, I tried to brush past her, but she caught me by the elbow, tugging me back.

"I said: you're coming with us. Whether you like it or not."

I gritted my teeth, irritation simmering, and cracked my fingers. "Shika."

There was a moment of confusion on Rukia's face before she ripped her arm back, staring at the teeth imprints on her hand. I could see the blood already pooling to the surface, dripping down.

"What did you do to me?" she hissed.

I turned to her, glowering. "Look, I don't want to be rude—I even tried to just shrug you off—but today's been a rough day, okay? I'm exhausted and in need of a serious shower, so if you and your friends could just back off, that'd be great."

"What're you—"

"Rukia, stop," Carrot Top intercepted. "Let her go."

Rukia glared at him, but he ignored her.

I gave him a little nod before turning on my heel, heading home.

—x—

When I opened the door to Grammy's house, I was immediately met with a pan to the forehead.

"What was that for?" I hissed, rubbing my head.

"There was a thing on the news about damaged property," she said, wiggling the pan in my face threatening. "That wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

"Uh," I started, but was interrupted by another smack to the head. "Dammit, hag, that hurts!"

"Don't raise that tone of voice with your grandma, you hear me? Now tell me what happened or I'll get the skillet."

"Why can't you get a belt like a normal person?" I muttered, slipping my shoes off and closing the door behind me.

"Don't give me lip," she said. "Those things wouldn't come after you if you'd just tone down your force thingy. I'll have you know, when I was your age, the only 'force' we had was the one in Star Wars—"

"That's because it's called spiritual pressure, apparently," I said matter-of-factly, hoping to stop her 'when I was your age' tangent before it got too far.

She raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

I sighed and plopped down in the brown couch near the entryway. "Two people approached me on my way to school," I explained.

She sat down in the wooden rocking chair next to the couch, tilting her head. "And?"

"They called themselves shinigamis, or Soul Reapers, and asked me to go to this place called the 'Soul Society.'" I scoffed, remembering the way the girl had straightened up when I gave her an unimpressed look. "They explained that the force I can feel is called spiritual pressure, and it's rare for someone like me, a 'normal' human, to be able to sense it, let alone actually have some."

"Why didn't you go?" she wondered.

I gave her a look. "Because they called themselves shinigami, guardians of spirits who've passed away or whatever. What kind of crackpot would even believe—"

She whacked me with the pan again, but it wasn't nearly as hard, just a tap on my thigh to stop me. "They knew everything, though, dear. They can't be as crazy as you think they are if they had names for the weird things that happen to you."

"That's beside the point, Grammy. When I refused them, they tried to take my ring."

She stopped. "Your ring?"

I nodded. "I stopped them from taking it, but they got violent. It was ridiculous."

She eyed me. "And what did you do?"

I cleared my throat. "Just, uh, shoved them away," I lied.

"Oh?" she said, still staring at me. "And does 'shoving' someone away constitute plowing them into a building?"

I laughed uneasily.

"Tora! It's not funny! You set back those poor workers by at least another month! They said the damage was in the hundred thousand!"

"It's not my fault!" I fumed. "They were the ones running their mouths, talking about stupid humans who needed to learn their places was on Earth and not in the Soul Society. As if there were other humans trying to tread on their territory or something."

She sighed, but she wasn't nearly as irritated as before. "Did you at least ask why they wanted the ring before you slammed them into property?"

"Of course," I grumbled. "But they wouldn't say anything. Only kept repeating that it was 'important' and 'too powerful for a human' or something." I rolled my eyes again at the thought alone.

Grammy shared the feeling. "Powerful?" she scoffed. "If it's so powerful, then why did they leave it on the ground in the first place?"

"That's what I wanted to know!" I said. "But then one of the guys came at me, and you know what happens after."

She sighed again, aggravated. "Go get washed up for dinner. You're going to bed early tonight."

"Fine," I agreed. There wasn't really a point in arguing since it would just end up with me being hit again. Besides, I was exhausted from all the fighting anyway.

I trudged up to the spare room in the attic and rummaged through the dresser drawers, trying to find something baggy and comfortable to wear. Shika appeared on the dresser top without warning, though, tilting his body at me.

"Why'd those people want you to go with them? They were from your class, right?" he asked. "And why didn't you tell Grammy about it?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, they were, but I don't know why they wanted me to come with them. They didn't mention anything about that Soul Society, so who knows? Anyway, there's no reason to tell Grammy every little thing that happens to me. What if these things start happening to her too?"

He was quiet for a minute as I fished out a pair of boxers. "He smelled different," he said finally. "Kind of sweet."

I stopped, looking up at him. "Who? Carrot Top?"

He nodded. "He smelled like he was split."

I raised an eyebrow. "Split?"

"Like he was stuck in the middle of something," he tried to explain. "Like a strawberry that only had half of itself covered in chocolate."

I chuckled. "A food reference now? Nice try, Shika, but I'm not making any deserts tonight. I'm beat."

He smiled but hummed. "Hmm… He was the one with the strong spiritual pressure too."

I studied him for a moment before putting down the clothes in my hands and picking him up. "Listen, Shika. There's nothing to worry about. It was Carrot Top that stopped that Rukia chick from being forceful, after all, so he can't be too bad."

He still didn't look sure, so I kissed the top of his head. "Trust my judgement. You out of everyone should know that I'm not easily tricked. Besides, even if he does try something, I'm sure we can take him."

He thought about it for a minute. "Fine, but I still don't trust them."

I smiled. "That's fine; neither do I. Now let me finished getting dressed so we can eat."

He nodded happily as I headed into the bathroom with a pair of black boxers and a white tank top.

By the time I got out of the shower and dressed, the smell of steak on the grill was already strong enough to reach my room. I licked my lips as my stomach growled and raced out of the room.

"Is it done yet?" I asked as soon as I opened the back door.

I barely missed the spatula, ducking just in time. "It'll be ready in a minute, you impatient child. Didn't you eat at school?"

"The food didn't look edible," I whined.

"Well, don't complain when it's your own fault. I told you to pack a bento just in case."

"Aren't grandmothers supposed to be cute and kind and spoil their grandchildren?" I grumbled.

She laughed. "Maybe, but they're also not supposed to believe their crazy, simple-minded grandchildren when they say they have conversations with ghost."

"Touché," I said, plopping on the patio picnic table. The sun was high in the sky, warming my damp hair. "It's so hot here."

Grammy nodded. "Yes, it is, but you'll need an umbrella tomorrow."

"The weather guy said it was going to be sunny all week, though."

"The weather guy?" she snorted. "He's nuttier than your mother was."

"We'll see," I said, watching Shika ruffle his fur in the sunlight.

"You know that that day is tomorrow, right?" she said softly, piling steaks on paper plates with noodles.

I sighed as Shika stiffened. "Yeah. I know."

"Are you going?" she wondered. "I know it'll only be your second day, but I think it'll be okay to leave halfway through."

Shika rubbed my fingers as I looked up at the sky. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

She nodded, but didn't say anything else as she put a plate in front of me with a pair of chopsticks.

Dinner was eaten in silence, both of us lost in thought. Would I go by bus tomorrow and visit them, or would I take the train and go somewhere else? I hadn't bothered visiting their gravestones since the accident last year, but that was mainly because I was too far away, too busy wondering around with Shika. Now, it was only an hour bus trip from school. Did that matter, though? I wasn't sure.

After dinner, I kissed Grammy on the cheek and walked up the steps with Shika, who was having a hard time keeping his eyes opened. As soon as we got in the room, he snuggled into a pillow, and I crawled in next to him. The moonlight showed through my window, dimly lighting everything, and before I fell asleep, I could've sworn that I saw two figures pass through the night.