Previously on Bridge the Gap, Kyoukan!

Ichigo and Jesa discover that Ichigo's body has been beaten to a pulp. Jesa offers to stand guard while Ichigo dashes off to find Orihime.

Chapter 2: What's up with my necklace?

"Ah, there you are! What took you so long?" I asked Ichigo, who had just returned with Orihime.

"Well, Inoue was with Tatsuki, so..." he began.

"So you had to figure out how to get Orihime away without revealing your secret to Tatsuki?" I concluded, interrupting Ichigo. Not that she doesn't already know something's up anyway... I added in my thoughts.

"Yeah. So, care to tell me how you know about my 'secret'?" Ichigo asked. "I'm guessing you know what I could do to you if you don't keep your promise." His glare nearly paralyzed me.

I raised my hands in the universal gesture for "calm down". "Hey, hey, please calm down! I won't go back on my promise." I rubbed my forehead to relieve the headache I got from the tension I could feel in Ichigo's reiatsu. Hm... I don't want to freak him out, so... Ah, that'll work! ...I hope. "Ichigo-san, you have a lot of fans online. I doubt many of them think you're real, though. I wouldn't have even believed it until I saw you today."

"Really?" Ichigo said flatly. "I'm having trouble believing this. Alright, if you're telling the truth, then you'd be able to describe something of mine that I've never told anyone about."

"Would a description of your inner world suffice?" I asked.

He paused, perhaps asking his inner hollow and zanpakuto if they'd ever told anyone else those details. "Perhaps. Depends on the description."

"Alright, how 'bout this? Your inner world is full of sideways skyscrapers. Oh, and when you get, well, moody, it rains in your inner world, so Zangetsu tries to keep you from getting depressed 'cause he doesn't like the rain. Good enough?"

"Actually, just the bit about the skyscrapers would have been fine. So, what else is there about me online?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"There's a really long anime, and an even longer manga, and a wiki devoted specifically to stuff about your show. Oh, and there are full-length movies, too."

"You mean there are stories about our adventures online?" Orihime asked excitedly, looking up from the healing barrier she'd put around Ichigo's body. "Do they ever feature my insane cooking skills?"

"Uh, yeah. Your insane skills," I said as tonelessly as possible. Wow, she really is as clueless about what others think of her cooking as she's portrayed! Hm. I'd better figure out how the rest of the manga and anime line up with the real thing.

"So, Ichigo-san," I said conversationally. "Does the term 'Bount' mean anything to you?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing that was included in those stories?"

"Well, it was in the anime, but not the manga."

"Manga?" a new voice queried. "About Ichigo? I'd better be in it."

"Rukia-chan!" I glomped one of my favorite female Bleach characters. "It's so cool to be able to meet you in real life!" I released her from the tackle-hug as I realized I hadn't answered her question. "Oh, yeah, the manga. Yup, you're in it. It actually starts off with the day you and Ichigo met. Bleach is one of my favorites."

"Bleach? Why's it called that?" Rukia interrogated, crossing her arms.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't get it either at first. Apparently, it's because the author, Kubo Tite, thought that since bleach is white, it would suggest black, the signature shinigami color. Before I knew the 'official' reason, though," I went on, putting air quotes around 'official', "I thought it might have been because people used to accuse you of bleaching your hair, Ichigo-san, or because you two meeting, Rukia-san and Ichigo-san, caused a breach between the Living World and the Soul Society, combined with the Japanese equivalence of English L and R sounds."

I returned my attention to Ichigo. "So, what about 'Grimmkitty'? That ring any bells?"

"Grimmkitty?" Ichigo laughed mockingly. "Ha, it suits him, considering how easily I beat him."

I chuckled and nodded. Okay, so he's at least gotten to that fight in Hueco Mundo, I thought. But how far past that are we? In the anime, they cut to that filler arc with the weird swords. But wait, "filler" arc? Meh, something to consider later. After that arc was the fight with Ulquiorra, so how can I ask without spoiling it if it hasn't happened? Ooh, lightbulb! After those couple seconds in thought, I nodded again and asked, "And how about 'Ulquibat'?"

"Ulquiorra's released form is a bat?" Rukia guessed.

"So I've heard... It might just be fan speculation, though." I gave a half-shrug and leaned back against the alley wall. "Anyone show up with weird swords that seem similar to zanpakuto but aren't? I don't remember the name off the top of my head."

"Nope," Ichigo replied. "No weird swords, just a weird girl who can see me in this form." He smirked and elbowed Rukia with his next words. "Not that it hasn't happened before, right? Although at that time, I thought it was weird you attacked a giant monster with just a sword."

"And who was it who attacked it with a folding stool despite not even knowing what said monster was?" Rukia retorted.

Oh, so that's what that was, a folding stool, I thought, ignoring Ichigo and Rukia as they continued bickering. I wonder why I couldn't figure that out. And in the manga, it was a baseball bat, so that's more evidence that things are following the anime more so than the manga. Alright. So, they know Grimmjow's a cat, but they haven't come across the weird swords. Bokuto? Bakuto? Meh, what they're called doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that now I know where we are in the plot-line. Seems like the Amagai and Lurichiyo arc should be next, but considering that Ichigo's body being beaten up without him or Kon in it never happened at this point in the anime, I doubt the rest will stay the same as before.

"Kurosaki-kun, your body's healed now," Orihime called, drawing me out of my thoughts and Ichigo and Rukia away from their snarky reminiscing.

"Healed? What happened?" Rukia asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"Dunno," Ichigo answered before I had fully processed what she was implying. "After I finished taking down a minor hollow, I came back and found it like this. Jesa here kept watch while I left to find Inoue."

"Do we have any leads as to who might have done it?" asked Rukia. Fortunately, it seemed Ichigo's response took me off her suspect list. I guess it's because she trusted his judgment in trusting me.

"Maybe Voldemort?" I suggested. "Wait, no, he's dead. Oh, maybe Bowser? Nah, that's just silly."

"Who are they?" Rukia asked, perplexed. "Voldemort? Bowser?"

"Eh, Voldy's the big bad of the Harry Potter novels, and Bowser's more of a comic relief villain than anyone to actually worry about in the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door video game. Kinda like the Box Ghost in Danny Phantom, a TV show I used to watch in America, back before we moved to Karakura when Dad's job transferred him here. Huh. I never really noticed it before, Ichigo-san, but you're kinda like Danny as far as how your powers work. When he 'goes ghost,' he has a lot better control over his powers, and you can use Zangetsu when you 'go shinigami.' But you're cooler, Ichigo-san. You chose to get your powers to protect your family, but Danny gets his completely by accident. Hey, I wonder if I have any powers..."

"I don't suppose you'd consider 'talking people to death' anything special, now would you?" another new voice asked.

"What are you doing here, Ishida?" I huffed, not too happy about his superior attitude.

"Looking for you, actually."

"Me? Why?" I asked, somewhere between suspicious and curious about his blunt answer.

"Your reiatsu's been fluctuating for the past hour or so. I noticed a new reiatsu signature a couple days ago, similar to Kurosaki's before he became a shinigami—"

"Which makes sense," I interrupted, "because I moved in the day before yesterday, and I've been able to see spirits for a long time. Oops, sorry, I'm still working on breaking that bad habit of interrupting people. Carry on."

"Thank you." I could almost taste the sarcasm. "And thanks for confirming my theory, by the way. Now, about an hour ago, as I mentioned, your reiatsu had a marked change in it. However, I noticed Kurosaki's reiatsu near yours, so I didn't bother investigating. Then, about half an hour ago, it changed again, soon after Inoue-san showed up. And just a few minutes ago, when Kuchiki-san arrived, it changed yet again."

"So you came by to see if it would change on your arrival, right?"

"Correct," he said tersely.

"And...?" I prompted, when it seemed he wasn't about to continue.

"The change is there, but it's not quite as pronounced."

Was that jealousy in his voice? I thought.

"Heh, I bet Kurotsuchi would love to get his hands on you, eh, Jesa?" Ichigo laughed.

"Oh, don't you dare tell that maniacal scientist about me! At least not until I know I can defend myself from him!" I cringed and my eyes widened in anger and fear.

"Jesa-chan, your necklace is glowing!" Orihime said, changing the subject to lighten the mood. "It's such a pretty shade of blue."

"Huh? So it is," I said, holding up the cross charm so I could see it better. "Hey, don't your hairpins glow when you use Shun-shun Rikka, Orihime-chan? Oh, lightbulb! Didn't your and Chad's powers develop after being around Ichigo's massive reiatsu for a while? Maybe, since you four all have well-trained powers, mine suddenly got a jump-start! Aaand I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"Yes. Yes, you are," Ishida deadpanned.

"It was a rhetorical question, Ishida!" I groaned, acutely annoyed for some reason.

"Hey, Jesa-chan," Orihime said. "It's glowing again."

"But this time, it's orange." Rukia added. "Strange."

A/N: Thanks to my betas, Apocalyxtic98 and Snowy12345679, for all their help.

Reviews are always appreciated, but I'm not going to beg for them.