Women are so emotional….

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The newspaper group finally returned after the mess in the human world. Thankfully due to their actions being heard, many people had gone to investigate the Witch's Ranch and become active in the protest against turning it into a dump. The ranch had been saved. Though this made Ruby happy, she still felt emptiness inside her due to the loss of her master. As it was, she had agreed to come with the newspaper to Youkai Academy. Before long, she was called by the Headmaster of the School for an important meeting.

"So what do you say Ruby?" The Headmaster's gleaming eyes stared at the witch in front of him, a curious grin on his lips as he saw her reactions.

"I… agree." She replied hesitantly before adding in, "but under one condition."

The Headmaster's grin widened, knowing full well what she was going to ask. "What is it?"

She fidgeted slightly as a small blush spread across her cheeks. With a soft whisper, she said, "I-I would like to have time off to be with the newspaper group… and with Ichigo."

"Oh? Is that all? Very well then." The looming figure that was the Headmaster smiled at seeing Ruby's happy expression.

"Thank you! I'll work very hard!" She said with renewed enthusiasm.

The Headmaster simply nodded, the grin never disappearing. "Oh I have no doubt about it."

---

The alarm to Ichigo's alarm switched on, playing soothing electronica on the radio station… somehow despite being entirely separated from the human world.

Slowly, Ichigo's eyes opened before his mind kicked into gear. He stared at the ceiling, feeling particularly strange. Though everything was quiet and far from noisy, the radio being the only exception, he had this foreboding feeling. It was as if something was going to happen and it would catch Ichigo completely by surprise.

As he sat up, he looked around the room. Everything was in place and nothing was out of order. He scratched his head a bit before shrugging it off. After that last fight things had been relatively normal surprisingly. Until recently, Ichigo had been patrolling around the school area and never ventured too far out. It wasn't until a week ago when he discovered the school's barrier on an extended route. He had touched it and felt an immense power. It was strong and archaic, something from legends. That's when he realized why there haven't been any Hollow sightings here. The barrier shielded the school from everything. If he were to find any Hollows, he would need to do his searching outside the barrier.

But enough of that. After giving one big stretch, Ichigo threw his legs over the side of his bed and got up, ready to eat breakfast. As he ate his meal, that foreboding feeling came back with a vengeance.

---

It was indeed a peaceful day as Ichigo walked out of the dorm. The clouds seemed a lot less grayer than usual and since there were no students clamoring about, it was quiet. Ichigo's usual scowl softened as he took in his surroundings. Though the dorms were gloomy, the road to the school had some greenery and he wasted no time in appreciating the simple foliage. Be as it may, he was too distracted to notice the figure approaching him.

"Morning Ichigo!"

"Gyah don't bite me please!" Ichigo said as he reflexively shrunk away from Moka, who gave him a curious look.

"I'm… not… well not right now. I'm not hungry." She said as she smiled, "You're blood is so nutritious that I only need to feed every four days… or when I want a little snack."

Ichigo unconsciously rubbed his neck as he let out a relieved sigh. "Well, that's good to hear I guess."

Moka simply giggled. "You're funny Ichigo!"

Ichigo simply shook his head in disbelief before saying, "We should get going. Don't want to be late even though it's a Saturday."

Moka nodded and before long, they were walking slowly towards the building.

---

"You know, it's been a while since we've walked like this." Moka suddenly said aloud, earning a sideways glance from the boy.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"I mean, for some reason I felt like it's been kind of awkward between us." She replied in a hushed tone. Ichigo noted a somber expression on her face and couldn't help but be confused.

"Really? I don't think so." Ichigo replied, not getting why she was feeling that way, "After all, you still drank from me."

Moka blushed at that. Just thinking about drinking Ichigo's delicious blood and feeling its thickness go down her throat made her heart skip a beat. The tanginess and its crisp, yet potent flavor were all the more enticing. The sweetness that came along with it was just a bonus. And—

"Yo, Moka?" Ichigo said as he waved a hand in front of the spaced out Moka.

'U-Uh? What?" Moka flinched as she came back to reality.

"You spaced out on me." Ichigo replied, giving her a curious look.

This only served to deepen Moka's blush as her head shrank into her shoulders. "S-Sorry about that. I was just thinking about your blood."

Unconsciously Ichigo brought a hand to his neck.

"I see…" He replied, not knowing what to say after that. I mean really, if all a girl is thinking about is drinking your blood, how would you respond to that?

Moka simply let out a happy sigh before saying, "Yup! You're blood is so delicious! I'm very thankful that you are willing to let me feed when I'm hungry."

"It's not like I really have a choice." Thought Ichigo with displeasure at the mere mention of being feasted upon.

Suddenly, he felt Moka's shoulder bump against his and as he turned to look at her, he came nearly face to face with a radiantly smiling Moka.

"You're so kind Ichigo." She spoke softly, earning the Shinigami's full attention, "You accepted me even after I had said I hated humans. And when I acted strangely, you were still there even though I thought you were distancing yourself from me. You even accepted me after my other side tried hurting Kurumu a few months back."

Ichigo blinked, feeling a bit confused and embarrassed by the sudden praise. He looked away when he realized that she looked rather cute with that expression on her face. Tentatively, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and noticed she was still looking at him with that smile. He scratched his cheek, wondering what to say as the tips of his ears reddened.

"W-What brought this on all of a sudden?" Ichigo's nervousness increased ten-fold when Moka rested her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know," She replied honestly, "It just seems now that we're walking like we used too, my heart feels at ease and lighter. I feel closer to you."

A blush crept on her cheeks as she said her next words, "I feel like I could be with you forever."

Ichigo gulped. This sudden change in her demeanor was too much for the Substitute Shinigami to take as his heart began beating faster.

'Heh, it seems like you have another woman after you kingy. Maybe you should start your own harem?' Icigo's Inner Hollow taunted, upsetting the already annoyed boy.

'Shut it! I don't want to hear crap from you!' Ichigo retorted sharply, making his Inner Hollow chuckle maliciously.

'You're so stupid; you can't even tell she has an ulterior motive! Why was I put inside such a dense being?'

Ichigo didn't bother replying, instead pondering on what his Hollow's words meant. An ulterior motive? Moka didn't seem like the person who would have such a thing. Ass he looked at her peaceful expression, he couldn't help but feel that his Hollow might be wrong. Sudden realization made him grit his teeth. Why? Because his Hollow was never wrong. The times Ichigo thought he was wrong were because his Hollow saw things differently than he did. But then would that mean his Hollow hadn't been wrong and that it had just been a matter of perspective? If so… then… did that mean his Hollow was right this time? Ichigo mentally cursed, this was way too much thinking to be done this early in the morning.

"Are you alright Ichigo?" Moka suddenly asked from next to Ichigo, who realized that her head was no longer on her shoulder.

"Huh? Yea, why?" He replied as he regained his bearings, noticing that the school building was approaching.

"You spaced out for a minute there. You seemed to be in deep thought." She said before asking, "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing important." He said, waving her off. The thing he least wanted right now were questions.

"You seemed pretty distracted for it to be nothing important." She retorted. Ichigo sighed, it seemed he wouldn't get the privilege of having his peace restored.

Moka looked at him through worried eyes. Why couldn't he trust her with his thoughts? She had no doubt he'd tell Kurumu. At the mere mention of the girl's name, Moka felt a weight in her stomach and a strange pain in her heart. She felt constricted and the more she thought about how close Ichigo was to Kurumu, the more the pain increased. Because of this pain, however, she became resolute in knowing what she wanted, and that was to win Ichigo's heart. Although if she were to be completely honest, part of the reason she was getting close to Ichigo was because her father demanded her to be Ichigo's mate. She feared what he would do when her father arrived at the upcoming festival only to not find her with Ichigo.

"I know I haven't exactly been normal recently." She suddenly spoke up, "but I'm willing to do anything so you can talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering you."

Ichigo turned to her, notcing the shimmering look in her eyes. Despite the fact that she seemed to be completely honest with him, his Inner Hollow's words plagued him. What could this kind-looking girl be hiding? Rather, was she even capable of having an ulterior motive? He could imagine Kurumu having one, as much as he didn't want to admit, but Moka? Besides her other side, she'd been nothing but polite to him. But now was not the time to thinking as her eyes seemed to demand a reply.

"Thanks for the offer. But I'm really okay at the moment." He offered a small grin despite the incoming pressure in his head from all the thinking, "I'm just thinking too much and it's making my head hurt."

Moka looked at him, not really liking his reply. But it would have to do. So in order to lighten the mood between them, she offered a bright smile.

"Good! Now…" She linked Ichigo's arms with hers, earning a frustrated noise from the boy which she ignored, "let's head to the newspaper room! I'm sure they're waiting for us!"

And with that, Moka pulled along an unwilling Ichigo.

---

"We're here!" Moka stated clearly to the class, Ichigo's arms still linked with hers. This did not go unnoticed by a certain Witch and Succubus. Said Witch's eyes widened with happiness, the prospect of having a threesome seemingly that much closer. Said Succubus, however, felt a strange fire in her chest as an uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach.

"Are you two lovers now?" Yukari asked as she raced up to them, leaning forward on her tiptoes. Her face seemed to be lit up with raw joy as her eyes look starry eyed from the excitement.

Moka blushed as Ichigo gave the young Witch a flat look. "Now, we're not." Ichigo replied in a tone that wouldn't leave any and's, if's, or but's about the situation. Yukari suddenly became downcast, hanging her head as Kurumu let out a relieved sigh.

"Well, now that they're here, shouldn't we get started on our paper?" Tsukune spoke as he rearranged the desks with Mizore's help. They made it so that two rows of desks were facing each other, that way they could pass each other supplies easily.

Before long, they began working on their newspaper. First they talked about what the students should expect from the new semester, like new teachers and whatnot. Then they talked about how the school had been peaceful lately and not many students had gone missing recently. Little did they know that it had been Ichigo's doing since there were times where he had caught a kidnapping or two.

But then they finally hit the main story, which was the fight in the Witch's Ranch a month back. Ichigo felt a nervousness wash over him as he twirled the pencil in his hand. He hoped to anything and anyone who would listen that they wouldn't ask about what he was.

"Oh Ichigo," Moka said, earning the Shinigami's flighty attention, "You told my other side that you were a Dimensional Soldier. What does that mean?"

Ichigo mentally cursed.

"Aha! I knew it! Called it!" In an uncharacteristic manner, Tsukune stood up and did a victory dance that left Mizore and the others dumbfounded. Mizore was dumbfounded because Tsukune had been right and the others because they weren't used to Tsukune being so hyper. Before long, Tsukune noticed what he was doing and sat back down, his face flushed with embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head.

Although Ichigo was wishing something else would happen to distract the others, nothing did. They all turned their attention to him once again. Each person held a different look. Moka was genuinely intrigued while Yukari seemed excited at the prospect of finding out what a Dimensional Soldier was. Tsukune had an apologetic smile on his face, as if saying 'Sorry, but I wanna know too!' and Mizore simply stared, probably not caring either way. He didn't feel like finding out what kind of look Kurumu had because…

He was afraid.

He was most afraid of Kurumu speaking up. She was the only one who truly knew what he was. Yet, regardless of what he wanted, he had already turned to face her. And as he turned to her, he saw her offering only a small, indiscrete smile. It took a while for Ichigo to pick up on it, but he realized that it meant she was going to keep his secret safe, though, he had no doubt that she'd be asking questions later. Even so, he was immensely relieved to find out not everything would turn to crap.

"Well Ichigo?" Moka quipped, wanting to know Ichigo's deep dark secret as she looked at him with a curious look.

"Yea! C'mon! We want to know Ichigo! Pleeeeeeeaaase!" Yukari pleaded to the Shinigami, causing a tic mark to appear on his forehead. It seemed they weren't going to let him go this time.

"Fine!" He replied in an angry tone. But the others didn't even seem fazed by it. Ichigo always looked angry so when he yelled, they didn't take him too seriously.

Ichigo sighed as he prepared to tell his story. But first, he sat straight in his chair. He looked at each person staring back at him. All eyes were upon him as they waited for an answer. Ichigo cleared his throat before he realized that his tie was crooked. So he took a moment to fix it. Once that was done, he noticed that his blazer was kind of wrinkled so he tried smoothing it out. Now that he was at it, he might as well pick the lint off of it and…

"Never thought I'd ever see Ichigo stalling." Tsukune spoke up, a light mirth evident in his voice. Ichigo glared at the boy, making him recede in his chair slightly.

"Hey… you are stalling!" Yukari quipped up as everyone else sweatdropped. She just now figured it out?

"I-I'm not stalling!" Ichigo retorted, making everyone in the room give him a flat look. It was no use.

"C'mon Ichigo," Moka said as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder despite Kurumu's heated glare, "We won't be afraid of you or anything, you can tell us!"

Ichigo sighed before looking at everyone in the group yet once again. There really would be no escaping this now. So he braced himself, thinking of how to say what he was without revealing what he really was… as confusing as it sounds.

"Well, basically," Ichigo began, his mind continuously thinking of what to say, "A Dimensional Soldier fights these things called negatives, which are the monsters you saw at the Witch's Ranch."

The others looked him, wide-eyed with fascination. Their murmurs of awe filled the air momentarily. Ichigo couldn't help but feel a little nervous beneath their gazes.

"And so… are they here in this school? The negatives?" Tsukune asked, wondering if he would be seeing more action some time soon.

"No… not that I've noticed. But they have been coming here." Ichigo replied, making the group exchange glances with one another. Ichigo relaxed himself. He was glad this conversation was heading away from him as the main topic and just the general activity of being a Shinigami, without telling them he was one.

"How come we haven't seen any?" Moka asked.

"Could it be because of the barrier?" Kurumu spoke up. Those interested in the conversation seemed to think about Kurumu's words. It was possible after all. The barrier around the school was meant to protect everything and these negatives wouldn't be a special case.

Ichigo nodded, which made Kurumu smile since it made her feel smart and all. "Probably, I've felt them outside of the barrier. I haven't been able to get past it though."

"So… does that mean that it's sort of like your job to be here?" Tsukune suddenly asked, earning a few agreeing nods.

Ichigo blinked. "Er… I guess so."

"So when the job is done… will you be leaving?" Moka voiced a quiet concern that had festered quickly within her and Kurumu the moment Tsukune had asked the question.

To their relief, Ichigo shook his head. "No… I still have to go to school since my last one burned down. Since I'm here, I might as well stay here unless they manage to repair my school."

"That makes me happy Ichigo, I'd hate for you to leave." Kurumu said in a strange, hushed tone. Ichigo looked at the Succubus, who blushed beneath his stare. Her concern for him made him feel oddly pleasant inside as he unconsciously replied with a small grin. Moka noticed all of this going on, and was not pleased. So in an effort to interrupt their moment, she tapped Ichigo on the shoulder, earning his attention.

"Me too Ichigo! What would I eat if you left!" She tried giving a smile, but noticed that Ichigo seemed more annoyed now than happy she had said that. She realized a bit too late it had been the wrong thing to say.

"Well, I'm sure you'd find someone else to eat." Then he turned to Tsukune with a devious smirk, "I'm sure Tsukune would like to be your meal ticket."

"Eh? No!" Tsukune yelled as he grabbed his neck, "I'm sorry Moka-san, but from the way Ichigo reacts I'd hate to be bitten by you!"

"Plus he's mine." Mizore added in hastily as she grabbed his arm. Moka sweatdropped, it's not like she would be stealing Tsukune away from her.

The atmosphere turned serious once again as Moka turned to face Ichigo. Despite the fact he was still friends with her, she seemed to be losing him in the romantic sense. The moment he had with Kurumu earlier showed that clearly. She pondered on what to do before a question formed in her mind. This would definitely determine who Ichigo valued most!

"So, if either Kurumu or I had to leave, and you had to choose who would stay, who would you pick?" She said, earning shocked looks from the group, especially Kurumu. This grabbed her attention the most. Despite hating making Ichigo feel uncomfortable, she too wanted to know who Ichigo would choose.

"Oh snap!" Tsukune commented on the situation as Ichigo became wedged between the stares of two beautiful girls. Why… did everything always go wrong for him?

---

The situation was tense and the drama was higher than it ever was before. Both competitors stared at their prize, hoping that this serious matter would be resolved soon. The spectators, namely Mizore, Tsukune, and Yukari were all eating popcorn which she had produced with her magic.

"Who do you think he'll choose?" Tsukune whispered to Mizore and Yukari.

"I hope it's Moka! That way I get a threesome!" She whispered back, earning disturbed looks from the other two.

"I think he's going to choose Kurumu." Mizore replied in a hushed whisper.

"Really? Why do you think so?" Tsukune asked.

"She knows him better." Was her simple reply. Tsukune had to admit, even though Ichigo met Moka first, he didn't think Ichigo would go after Moka. After all, as much as you like a person, it gets really tiring having to feed the person with your own blood. Not to mention it's painful and annoying. Or that's what he assumed since he'd never been bitten herself, which he was thankful for.

"Shhh!" Yukari shushed the other as it seemed Ichigo was about to speak up.

"Well uh…" Ichigo sunk into his chair as both girls' faces got closer to his. Whatever he said now would have a big impact on them. His nervousness increased before it slowed trickled into anger. Suddenly he sat rigid as he placed his hands on his desk rather forcefully, startling those present.

"Well why are you asking me a question like that? Aren't we supposed to be working on the newspaper?" Ichigo retorted as his scowl deepened and his eyebrows creased with frustration.

"Who cares! I want to know!" Yukari quipped up happily, much to the ever growing annoyance of the orange-haired boy.

Mizore assessed the situation with a keen eye. She looked at the scrupulous faces of the girls and at the annoyed and frustrated Ichigo. His eyes seemed to be glaring at no one in particular, which meant he was plainly upset. With all this information in her head, she came to one conclusion.

Ichigo was screwed, and not in the good way either.

"Then I don't pick! How is it right to say you'd prefer one person over another?" Ichigo said, feeling that he had made a good statement.

This seemed to make everyone pause for a moment. Then Ichigo saw it, a faint ray of hope. Could it be that he had gotten past the hurdle and made it out in one piece? Could it be… that he had somehow managed to get out of this horrid situation? Could it be… that he was home free?

"I think what these girls want to know is which one you like." Mizore spoke. Ichigo hung his head in defeat, there went his hope.

When he raised his head, he could only feel constrained. In truth, since the fight a month ago, he hadn't really been thinking of his love life. Sure he has had some private encounters (and not those kind) with either Moka and Kurumu, but they hadn't been important at the time. He had been trying to figure out how to locate the Hollows that had been reported to be here by Soul Society a few months back. Then his fight with Grimmjow made him wonder if he had gone soft because even in Bankai, he had only been on par with Grimmjow. Even with Kenpachi he had to use his mask just to quiet him. He seriously needed more training, which made him grit his teeth since the only person who could help him train would be his Hollow. Then, he realized that was his ticket out of this mess.

"I haven't really been thinking about it." Ichigo replied, earning differing looks from the group, "I've been busy trying to figure out why the negatives are coming here."

That seemed to work, despite the disappointed looks on Moka and Kurumu's faces. Ichigo felt a bit guilty that he felt relieved, but he couldn't help it since it had managed to dissuade their questioning it seemed.

Suddenly he saw Moka's eyes brighten. The next few words she would speak would be of great shock to the man named Kurosaki Ichigo. It was one of those words that, no matter how well you heard it, you still can't believe you did. It was one of those words that can't seem to be absorbed by your mind. It was just too… unbelievable.

"H-How about," Moka began as a nervous blush spread across her cheeks, "you go on a date with both of us and make up your mind then?"

As Ichigo's whole mind, body, and soul froze with shock; he could hear his Inner Hollow howling with laughter. Zangetsu even gave a half-chuckle.