I do not own Bleach
We would like to give a thanks to lifethroughanotherseyes in responding to our question at the end of last chapter. Thanks to all who read.
Chapter 10 – A day of surprises
Ichigo glanced at Chad and then back at the thugs that were tailing them. They were nearing the school yard; it was their first day of high school, and they were already in the middle of a fight. With a bang, the two boys crashed into the school's yard. There was a startled yell behind Ichigo; there were two boys watching their grand theatrical entrance. They had been reading the board with the class assignments on it, and Ichigo and Chad had just crashed through it with the two thugs. More thugs filled the yard, surrounding Ichigo and Chad.
Great, Ichigo thought as he watched the brown haired boy panic while his dark haired companion watched them with interest. One of the thugs addressed the boy who was panicking while the dark haired one approached Ichigo and held out a hand. "I'm Mizuiro Kojima," he said. "I'm in 1-3. Nice to meet you."
"Did you say 1-3?" Ichigo asked. "I'm in that class too. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, and this big guy is Sado Yasutora. Nice to meet you."
Chad nodded confirmation.
Turning to Mizuiro's companion, who appeared to be having a fit, Ichigo asked, "Who's that?"
"He's Keigo Asano. He's pretty smart, but he never studies." Mizuiro said, watching as one of the thugs had a foot on Keigo's back. Keigo was lying flat on the ground, crying.
Ichigo was impressed by the two boys' friendship. "Hey Mizuiro, are you good at making excuses?"
"Yeah," Mizuiro answered. "A little too good, actually."
"I'll need a good one in the next five minutes to keep me from getting expelled after I save Asano." Ichigo grinned at the boy, and dashed off, leaving Mizuiro staring. The thugs were going to be his classmates, but taking them out didn't bother Ichigo one bit. By the end of the tussle, he had made two new friends and was able to walk to class with them.
. . .
Hinata skipped down the halls of Karakura High School, thrilled to be wearing her new school uniform. She'd grown used to her gigai over the past couple days after some practice and was excited to see Ichigo's face when he saw her in the classroom. She would finally be able to spend time with him and meet all of his friends in person! She skipped around a corner and slammed into another girl.
"Sorry, sorry!" the girl apologized, turning to help Hinata back to her feet.
"No, it's okay," Hinata said, rubbing her head, surprised that it hurt. "I wasn't paying attention." She smiled at the girl she'd run into. "I'm Hinata! What's your name?"
"I'm Orihime," the girl said with a big smile. Hinata liked her instantly. "It's nice to meet you."
Hinata looked around the hallway. "Orihime, do you know where class 1-3 is?"
Orihime's eyes widened. "That's my class! We can walk there together!" Just then, she looked over Hinata's head and waved at another student. "Hi, Tatsuki!" Orihime called. "Come walk with us!"
Hinata spun around excitedly. "Tatsuki!" she called, running to hug the girl.
Tatsuki dodged, startled by the orange blur of movement, but found herself caught up in a bone crushing hug anyways. "Who . . .?" She stammered.
"Ichigo has told me all about you!" Hinata said excitedly. "We're going to be best friends!"
"You know Kurosaki-san?" Orihime asked, surprised.
"Yep! He's –" Hinata was cut off as another girl dove into their midst, hugging Orihime from behind.
Tatsuki detangled herself from Hinata and attacked the newcomer, sending the girl flying and yelling, "Stay away from Orihime!"
"Who's that?" Hinata asked.
"She's a pervert," Tatsuki said darkly, grabbing Orihime's hand. "Let's go to class."
Hinata was confused; she'd never heard that word before. She'd have to ask Ichigo about it later. Shrugging, she followed Tatsuki and Orihime to the classroom, skipping down the hallway with a sunny smile.
. . .
Ichigo walked into class 1-3 with Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo, listening to Keigo's chatter. Many of his classmates were already there.
"Hi, Ichigo!" a bright voice said.
"Hey," he said, turning slightly to acknowledge the speaker. He froze mid-step and did a double take. Hinata was standing next to Tatsuki, dressed in a school uniform. She waved happily and skipped over to him. Before he could make sense of what was happening, she was jumping at Chad.
"Chad!" She flung her arms around his middle; her head barely came up to his chest. "I'm so happy to finally meet you in person!"
Chad looked just as shock as Ichigo felt. He looked down at his attacker, then shot a look at Ichigo. "You know her?" he asked.
"You can see her?" Ichigo asked, finally finding his voice.
"Yeah," he said, looking back down at the orange haired girl. She had let go now, and smiled up at him. He couldn't help but smile back.
"Ichigo talks about you all the time!" Hinata said happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"What are you doing here?" Ichigo hissed, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of Chad's hearing. "Why can everyone see you?" He hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks, and her appearance now had thrown him off guard.
"I wanted to come to school with you, silly," she giggled.
"Why can they see you?" Ichigo repeated.
"Hmmm?" she asked, stalling as she thought about it. "Uncle Kisuke gave me a special present. He told me I could come to school and be with you all the time now!"
Ichigo blinked. That wasn't the explanation he was expecting. Hinata had talked about "Uncle Kisuke" before, but Ichigo had never actually met any of the people she talked about. How had her uncle made it possible for people to see her? He didn't understand, so he just shook his head and let her go.
"Hey, Ichigo!" Keigo called. "Is she your girlfriend? She's h-"
Ichigo dove and covered the boy's mouth. He'd just met Keigo, but he didn't want Hinata getting crazy ideas in her head. "Shut up! She's not my girlfriend! She's just . . . a friend . . ." he explained lamely.
"Who is she, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked, coming up behind Keigo.
Ichigo looked back at Hinata who just waved cheerfully. "She's a friend," he answered again. How was he going to explain this? He was saved from having to say anything more by the teacher entering the room. Ichigo relaxed at this, knowing that the others couldn't ask him questions for a while and giving him the chance to come up with a story. He watched as Hinata happily bounced to the desk by the window in front of him. He sighed. At least he'd be able to keep an eye on her here in class. It still didn't make sense to him that other people could see her now.
. . .
"Take your seats!" the teacher called, walking into the room.
Hinata raced to her seat with a skip in her step. It would be her first day being able to actually be in class. She watched with interest as the teacher called each student by name and they stood up. It looked like all the students were used to this. It must be a first day thing; she had missed all of Ichigo's first days of school.
She was surprised when a familiar name was read by the teacher, "Ishida, Uryu." She looked around to see who it was.
The boy with the glasses stood answering, "Here." He only sent a casual look at the teacher before turning his eyes towards her. He had a smile on his face like he had won the jackpot. Hinata squirmed deeper into her seat. She would have to be careful around that boy.
He was still staring at her when the teacher got to her name. "Kurosaki, Hinata."
She forgot about Uryu for a moment as she sprung to her feet, raising her hand and cheerfully saying, "Here!"
There was a collective gasp and chairs squeaked as all heads in the room turned to look at her. She gave another big smile before sitting down in her chair, turning around to look at Ichigo who was covering his face.
He had forgotten that he had given Hinata his last name. "Kurosaki, Ichigo," the teacher called.
He stood still, not looking at anyone as he gazed out the window. "Here," he said softly. He sat back down and shot a glace sideways to see that Hinata was still turned around and smiling at him. He gave a soft sigh; it was going to be a long day.
Everyone in the class continued to shoot glances at him and Hinata for the rest of homeroom.
. . .
As soon as the first break began, Hinata found herself being dragged off by Ichigo. She gave a cheery smile and a wave to the class who were all watched wide eyed from their seats. Once they were far enough away from every one, he stopped.
He took a few calming breaths before turning back to her, "How can people see you?"
She smiled, "I told you! Uncle Kiskue gave me a body, and enrolled me in school so that I could attend with you. I'm so happy Ichigo!" She cried, tears of joy falling from her eyes as she looked up at him. He looked shocked by her tears. "I can finally talk to people and they can see me! I don't have to hide anymore!"
With that, he pulled her into a hug, patting her back and telling her it was okay. This is what's been bothering you?" She nodded her head against his chest. He gave a small sigh. "Silly, if you had told me that I would have helped you."
The bell rang then, and Ichigo grabbed her hand as they raced back to class.
. . .
During the next break, they ran off again. This time Ichigo explained to her that when she was at school she would have to hide the fact that they were siblings. Hinata didn't understand and felt hurt, but Ichigo looked so concerned that she agreed. At school they would be cousins. She smiled; at least they were still family!
. . .
Back in class, Hinata felt Ichigo watching her the rest of the day. She made sure to sit up straight in her seat, taking notes in the notebook Uncle Kisuke had given her along with her school bag and other supplies. She was trying hard to pay attention, but she already knew everything that the teacher was saying, so her mind drifted. She thought back to earlier that morning when she'd entered Kiskue's shop and he'd taken her to a mirror so she could see how her uniform looked. She had spent a few minutes turning and admiring her reflection in the mirror before hugging him and running off to school.
She smiled, filled with happiness. She was with Ichigo. Everyone could see her now. It was the best day she'd ever had.
. . .
Nikko smiled, looking up at the sky. The darkness had gone away, and she could feel how happy Hinata was now. Masaki joined Nikko outside, breathing in deeply, and whispered, "Keep her happy, Ichigo. Smile for her the same way you did for me."
. . .
Tatsuki squirmed in her seat, glancing back at Ichigo and the new girl, Hinata. Throughout the day until it was finally lunchtime. Just as during the breaks, Ichigo and Hinata were the first out the door. Orihime bounced over to Tatsuki's desk, but Tatsuki was already moving to follow Ichigo. She had questions, and he had the answers. She wove through the halls, trailing them out to the yard, hearing snippets of their conversation.
"What do you mean you don't have a lunch?!" Ichigo asked the orange haired girl.
Hinata giggled. "I think Uncle Kisuke forgot. He did give me a bag of sweets though . . ."
Tatsuki sped up; Ichigo and Hinata both had such long longs! They were already halfway across the yard by the time she made it out the doors. Just then, Tatsuki noticed Chizuro sneaking towards Hinata, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Chizuro had attacked Orihime at the same time that Hinata had attacked Tatsuki. Tatsuki took off at a run.
"Huh?" Hinata turned, lightly stepping to the side as Chizuro whizzed past her. "Oh! It's you!" She turned to Ichigo. "Hey, Ichigo what's a pervert?"
Before Ichigo could respond, Tatsuki made a snap decision and aimed a high kick at Hinata's head. The way Hinata had dodged Chizuro showed excellent reflexes as if she had taken martial arts for years. Once more, Hinata stepped lightly to the side, easily dodging Tatsuki's kick. Ichigo went to grab Hinata's arm, but the she was still fending off Tatsuki's lightning attacks.
"Where," Tatsuki huffed, throwing another punch, "did . . . you . . . learn . . . those . . . moves?"
Hinata wasn't even winded. Ichigo finally managed to grab her arm and pull her behind him, effectively putting himself between Hinata and Tatsuki. "What's going on?" he demanded, glaring at Tatsuki. Hinata peeked around Ichigo, eyes wide.
Tatsuki took a moment to catch her breath. "I asked you this morning. Who is she, Ichigo?"
"Why are you attacking her?" he responded.
"Oh!" Hinata smiled. "Ichigo's my cousin! Right, Ichigo?"
Ichigo glanced back at her, frowning. "Yeah."
Tatsuki huffed and glowered at the orange haired girl, she was furious that she had been bested. "Where did she learn karate like that? Even you're not good enough to keep up with me, Ichigo!"
"I learned –"
"She learned it before she moved here," Ichigo said, cutting Hinata off.
Why was he being so defensive about her? Tatsuki spotted Chizuro coming back for a second attempt. What was wrong with this girl?! Tatsuki went for a kick and Ichigo pulled Hinata to the side as her foot slammed into Chizuro.
"Leave her alone, you pervert!" Tatsuki yelled, glowering at Chizuro.
Ichigo didn't look happy either. He towered over Chizuro, who was fixing her glasses. "So you're the pervert Hinata asked me about. If you lay a single finger on her," he warned, "I will personally break both of your arms."
"Okay, okay," Chizuro said, brushing her uniform off. "I can't touch her. But . . ." Tatsuki watched as the girl ran off.
Hinata tugged on Ichigo's jacket sleeve. "What's a pervert?" she asked again.
Ichigo looked back and forth between Hinata and Tatsuki. "Umm . . . I'll explain that one later. Tatsuki, why did you attack Hinata."
Tatsuki eyed Hinata. "Join the karate club with me."
"What?" Hinata's eyes grew wide and she looked back up at Ichigo. "Are you in the karate club, Ichigo?"
Tatsuki grabbed Hinata's arm. "Please. We'd be undefeated if you joined the club with me!"
"Ummm . . ." Hinata said, smiling. "I don't want to if Ichigo's not on the team."
Tatsuki blinked. "What?"
"I came to school so I could spend more time with Ichigo."
Tatsuki shook her head. What was up with this girl? "The team could really use your help. Nobody in the dojo can keep up with me anymore."
Hinata looked up at Ichigo again, but he just watched her. "Thanks, but I'd rather be with Ichigo. He doesn't like it when I fight." She turned back to Ichigo. "I'm hungry, Ichigo! I thought we were going to eat lunch!"
Tatsuki was left standing there, numb from the rejection. Ichigo's cousin was strange; why was she always smiling? The girl was eerily similar to Orihime with her large eyes and cheerful attitude. She attempted asking Hinata to join the karate team again before the end of the school day, but Hinata just laughed and told her no again. Tatsuki didn't understand it. Ichigo had never mentioned his cousin before.
Watching them walk home from school, Tatsuki realized she was happy for Ichigo. Hinata was strange, but she made him smile. Tatsuki hadn't seen Ichigo smile like that since his mother had died. The way he was laughing now though, as they walked away waving goodbye to her, made her smile. It was nice to hear Ichigo's laugh again.