Blah Blah Blah:
Decided to change the update pace since there didn't seem to be as much interest in this story~ I guess I'll just do Ichigo's chapters on Fridays and Tora's chapters on Saturdays, just to keep things rolling anyway because I want to finally finish this story! Happy reading, cupcakes, and tell me what you think~(:

.:5:.
.:Ichigo:.

"Iiiiiiiiichiiiiiiigooooooo—" I could hear Keigo dragging out my name from the other side of the building.

All it took was a simple close-pin to shut him. "What's up, Keigo?" I asked as he slid to the ground.

"He never learns," Rukia muttered quietly behind me.

"So cruel~" Keigo whined. "I just wanted to know if you'd seen the new girl around."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, for a minute," I said, stepping over him to get into the classroom.

"No fair~"

I rolled my eyes and ignored him, sitting in my seat with a sigh.

"You saw her?" Rukia checked.

I nodded. "A minute or two ago. She almost ran into me."

"And?" she probed.

"And nothing," I said. "Her hodosha thing hissed at me, and she got irritated when I told her not to let it destroy anything."

"It's a hogosha, Ichigo," Rukia corrected, exasperated.

"Whatever. Why does it matter if I've seen her today or not anyway? We'll all see her in our last class."

"Well, I felt Captain Sui-Feng's spiritual pressure this morning, and I wondered if she had a run-in with Tora."

"You don't think they're after her, do you?" I asked seriously.

"I think it's a possibility," she confirmed.

"And no one from the Soul Society has said anything?"

"Not a word."

I cussed. "What the hell is with them? Why do they want a human so bad? And why didn't they ask us? Isn't that the whole point of me doing this substitute Soul Reaper shit?"

It was Rukia's turn to raise an eyebrow, giving me a look.

"What?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Just interesting to see you so attached already. One conversation and you're already hooked."

I groaned. "I already told you that I don't—"

"Ichigo has a thing for the new girl!?" Keigo demanded, appearing out of nowhere. "I knew it. You sly dog, you. If you would've said something sooner, I could've—"

I punched him, ramming him into the tiled floor. "Dammit, Keigo, I said it wasn't like that, so shut up."

"So mean~"

"I see it's as noisy as ever in here," Uryu said, pushing up his glasses.

"It's so nice~" Orihime smiled behind Chad.

I collapsed in my chair, sighing. "Whatever. What're you guys doing here?"

Uryu waited until Keigo went to whine to Tatsuki before opening his mouth. "I came to see if you two had found anything out about Tora Ito."

I ran my hands through my hair. "Not really. All we know for sure is that she can take on a hollow by herself, and she lives with her grandmother."

"And she's human," Rukia concluded.

Orihime was confused. "Why wouldn't she be human?"

Rukia looked thoughtful. "Because when she took down that hollow, she only used her fist—no sword or weapon, only her bare hands."

Orihime and Chad's eyes widened the same time Uryu pushed up his glasses. "Then how are you sure she's human?" he demanded.

"She has a hogosha with her," Rukia said simply.

"I thought they were extinct," Uryu muttered.

Orihime raised her hand. "Um, excuse me, but what is a hogosha?" she asked uncertainly.

"They're spirits who admire humans," Uryu explained. "Because humans are normally weak to attacks made by spiritual creatures, hogosha end up seeing themselves as their only protectors. Usually, though, they get attached to children, especially those who are dying."

She tilted her head. "Then why would one be with a teenager?"

"That's what I was wondering," Rukia said. "The only thing I can think of is that the thing met Tora when she was younger and has been with her ever since."

"Shika," I said automatically.

She looked at me. "What?"

"The hodosha. His name is Shika apparently."

"Hogosha!" Rukia and Uryu said at the same time.

"Whatever. Does it really matter?" I grumbled. "The girl said his name was Shika."

Everyone stared at me with blank expressions.

"What?" I demanded. "That's what she said."

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that's how we know she's a human: the hogosha wouldn't stay too close to anything other than a human soul."

Uryu nodded, pushing his glasses up again. "Have you talked to her?" he asked me.

"She won't give me the time of day," I said, shrugging. "We talked for a minute this morning, and I thought she was going to combust from how uncomfortable she seemed. Even left the school after I pissed her off."

He contemplated this. "Did you think of following her?"

I groaned. "What is it with you and Rukia wanting to follow this girl?"

"What is it with you and calling her 'girl?'" he shot back. "Why not call her by her name like the rest of us?"

Orihime jumped in. "Yeah, I thought it was really weird that you haven't said her name yet either."

"That's because he has a thing for her," Rukia said matter-of-factly.

"Already?" Uryu demanded. "You haven't even gotten to know her yet."

I glared at Rukia. "I don't have a thing for her, dammit! I just don't get why everyone wants to pummel her with everything at once. For God's sake, Rukia, you tried to drag her to some stranger's place out of nowhere and got pissed when she didn't want to go. It has nothing to do with having a thing for her. I just don't want to be an asshole."

"First time for everything," she snarked.

I gritted my teeth. "Fine. I'll go look for her, but don't expect me to find out much."

Orihime patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, Ichigo. I'm sure with your personality, you'll win Tora over in no time!"

Uryu scoffed, and I shot him a scowl as I walked out of the classroom.

I steamed at the thought of the three of them gossiping about Tora and I even though I'd explicitly stated that there was nothing there as I headed out of the school and hid behind the first set of bushes I could find lining the school. As soon as I was hidden, I pulled out the soul reaper badge and slipped through my body, laying it gently down on the ground before starting after the girl (Tora. Whatever).

It took me a while to find her. The only reason I managed to spot her finally was because of that orange fur ball that was always attached to her shoulder. Instead of being on her shoulder, though, he was sitting on the head of a little girl's soul, watching Tora as she pat a sobbing man's shoulder.

"Keep moving, Mr. Arita. Chiyo will be with you the whole way," I heard her promise.

The man nodded into his hands, blubbering, and the soul of the little girl smiled up at her. "Thank you, Tora."

Tora simply smiled back and turned around, shoving her hands in her pockets as she wondered back down the road. The orange ball of fur—Shika—rubbed against the little soul's cheek before floating after her.

"I knew you didn't know the name of that street when you woke up," I heard it accuse her in a kid's voice.

Tora shrugged. "We were in Tokyo; all of the streets look the same."

"We were outside of Tokyo," Shika corrected, "and you swore for an entire week that that's where you wanted to be."

She shoved the ball away, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. I was distraught. Leave me alone."

"I know," he caved, sighing. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I don't know," she answered, "but I think he'll make it. He has more hope than I did."

Shika nodded, floating silently beside her.

I tried to stay a good distance away—close enough to see her without being sensed by her pet radar—because whenever I got too close, Shika would freeze and look around, causing Tora to go on guard and scout out the place. Mostly, I was confined to trees with thick leaves and telephone poles a mile away from them.

Eventually, they went past cemetery gates, and I stopped dead, cursing.

She left to visit someone's grave. I knew I didn't want to pry into this girl's life. Who knew who she was here to see? Who knew why she was here to see them?

Dammit.

I ruffled my hair, staring at the gates.

I was already here, I guess. Might as well commit. If I don't, I won't hear the end of it from those two idiots back at school.

Promising myself I'd get back at Rukia and Uryu for this, I walked in and found her staring at a pair of headstones, shaking. Shika was glancing between the headstones and the girl secretly, watching her expression, and only got more panicked when her hands clenched into fists.

Then, all of a sudden, the tension was released from her body and her hands relaxed as she sighed. "I know you're there," she muttered. "Might as well come on out now."

I debated for a minute before walking out, ruffling my hair. "How'd you know?"

She shrugged, refusing to look at me. "A friend told me."

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation, until the same little soul from earlier peeked her head from behind Tora's legs.

"Who's she?"

"Her name's Chiyo," Tora said, looking down at her. "It's okay, Chiyo. He won't hurt you with me around."

I almost rolled my eyes, but the little girl stepped into view, and I saw how sopping wet she was.

Tora read my mind. "She was drowned."

I nodded, making a mental note to ask for the details later, and took a few steps towards the little soul. She tensed, looking quickly at Tora before looking back at me, and watched with wide eyes as I pulled the sword off of my back.

"I think it's time you moved on," I said, "met some new friends."

She blinked. "New friends?"

I nodded. "Other people like you."

"Are there other people like me out there?" she wondered. "Where?"

"The Soul Society is meant for people like you," I promised, ignoring when Tora groaned softly under her breath. "Lots of other children to play with."

She thought about it for a moment. "What about my dad?"

"Don't worry about him," I said. "I'll take care of him."

"You promise?"

"Promise."

"Alright," she agreed. "If Tora trusts you, then I do too."

Tora opened her mouth, probably to say she didn't actually trust me, just trusted in her ability to stop me from doing anything the little soul didn't like, but closed it as I lightly tapped the pommel of my sword against her forehead.

Tora's eyes widened as Chiyo started to glow, but when Chiyo smiled up at her, Tora controlled her expression. "Thanks again, Tora. You too, Mr. Tora's boyfriend."

I blinked. "Uh, sure."

"Any time," Tora said as Chiyo sank into the ground.

It was silent for a few beats after Chiyo was gone, and then Tora looked at me, eyebrow raised. "The Soul Society, eh?"

"What about it?" I asked, guarded.

She looked back at the headstones, staring at them intently. "I want to know why your people want me to go there."

I sighed and stood up, resting my zanpakuto on my shoulder. "I want to know the same thing," I said matter-of-factly, "and I know just the place to get the answer."

She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.