The second that Rukia and Renji were gone; Ichigo decided to move from her current place to sit behind Shunsui so that she could lean her back against his own in an effort to rest herself a bit more.

The one-eyed man couldn't help how startled he felt when she did so either. It was a jolting reminder of when Joshiro had still been around since he had done the same thing from time to time when he had been too tired to hold himself upright anymore on his own due to his illness.

So having Ichigo lean her back against his own in such a familiar and affectionate way made him feel choked up a bit even as he heard her say, "Start by carving the kanji of Heaven in the middle of the stone with your fingertip. After that," He quickly squashed the nostalgic feeling so that he could focus on her words. "Carve the seal of the Unmovable One directly underneath it."

It took him a second or so since he kind of forgot what the kanji of Heaven even looked like. But he managed somehow and once he did, he reached back to show it to her just to make sure that he had done it right.

He felt Ichigo grasp his wrist for a second, her slender fingers gently squeezing his limb to indicate that he had done it right even as she said, "Good. Now the seal."

He took his arm back and carved the seal of the Unmovable One into the stone as she had told him too. Once that was done, she then instructed him to infuse his reiki into the stone while reciting the spell and the second that he finished the seal began to glow a vivid green.

"Oh! I think I get it now." He said excitedly as he twisted his head around to look at her and paused when he saw that she had fallen asleep against him.

Sighing softly, he carefully set the stone aside and then moved himself a little bit so that she wouldn't be leaning against him anymore and gently laid her down on the ground so that she could sleep using his leg as a pillow while he went back to work on the stone.


Superman didn't mean to eavesdrop on the conversation between Ichigo and the other Reapers. Truly he didn't. But in certain situations, dialing various senses up to ten was simply the best way not to have anyone sneak up to get the drop on he and the others.

And since his hearing was a good alarm system of sorts and he could hear everything for miles- then he naturally relied on it more than other senses right then.

So, when he heard one of the other Reapers call the young woman out on her tiredness, he decided to mettle a bit. Mostly because he didn't like the fact that Batman's girlfriend had exhausted herself to such a degree that she was close to fainting.

Not only that but she had been working/fighting without any kind of backup for who knew how many hours without any rest, food, or water.

Which wasn't good for someone in her delicate condition.

Also, he was fairly certain that if Bat's knew that she had spread herself too thin then the man would throw one hell of a hissy fit. And frankly, Superman could still feel the bruises that had healed up from the last hissy fit that Batman had thrown.

Say what one may about the Caped Crusader- what the man may be lacking in superhuman strength and abilities...he more than made up with the mean streak in him, as well as a fist like a steel mace.

And man, oh man could he really pack a wallop.

Everyone in the League were still confused about how he managed to put Superman on his ass more than a few times since they had begun working together. But Superman wasn't confused in the least. He had already known that Batman, was utterly vicious in a fight.

The fact that the smaller man was capable of putting someone invulnerable down for any reason simply spoke of how dangerous Batman really was.

So, of course he didn't want to be on the receiving end of any of that again anytime soon.

Quickly excusing himself from the small group that he'd been a part of he then walked over to another group and pulled Flash aside.

The abruptness in which he pulled the red clad speedster aside caused a bit of a scene since Flash wasn't well known for being quiet about much of anything at all, and he had let out a loud yelp that had drawn attention to he and Superman both.

But once the two of them were able to get attention off of them, Superman leaned down and whispered. "I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Okay, what do you need?"

"Batman's girl hasn't eaten or drank anything all day."

"Huh?" Flash said unintelligibly, not quite catching on to what the man of steel was saying.

Which elicited an eye roll from the man of steel before he then explained. "Batman's girl, you know- the one that's expecting- she hasn't eaten or drank anything all day."

"Oh!" Flash said, as he slapped one of his hands to his forehead. "Right, nuff said. I'll run and grab her something then."

Superman smiled at his friend and thanked him as Flash took off, leaving only a red blur where he had been a few seconds prior. Leaving Superman to wander over to where Ichigo and one of the other Reapers were and see if there was anything that he may be able to help them with.

The moment that he reached the pair, Superman blinked, startled to find that the girl was stretched out on the ground with her head resting on the male Reaper's leg, asleep.

While the Reaper spent a few moments running a glowing fingertip over the flat surface of a rock carving something into it.

Superman opened his mouth to ask if the man needed any help, but was cut off by him saying, "Kindly keep your voice down, please. Ichigo needs to rest. She's spread herself a bit too thin especially for someone expecting."

"I understand," Was all that Superman could think to say as he cast a concerned glance at the girl. Wondering what the Reaper meant as he asked, "Is there anything that you need any help with?"

"Can you use spirit magic?"

"No."

"Can you use reiki?"

Superman frowned, not knowing what 'reiki' was as the Reaper decided to clarify. "It's spirit energy."

"Oh...no. I don't think that I can." Superman said, feeling a bit sad about it. He was toying with the idea of leaving the Reaper alone to his work when the man said,

"Come sit down son. I can walk you through the basics of spirit energy use. But since I'm busy, you mostly have to figure it out on your own."

Never one to turn down the chance to learn something new, regardless of what it was, Superman moved cautiously around Ichigo and the Reaper and made himself as comfortable as he could on a large rock and then waited patiently for the man to begin teaching him.

"Alright, first there's an introduction explanation of what spirit energy is. Us older Soul Reapers give it to the newbies who don't understand it or how to use it. I'm going to explain it to you then I'm going to assign you a certain focusing exercise that is meant to draw your spirit energy out. Then once you've drawn it out, you need to figure out how to mold it into whatever you desire most. Are you a healer, wanting to help others get well when ill or injured? Or are you someone who wants a secret weapon that you can utilize in certain combat situations?"

Superman listened intently while wondering if he would even be able to use it in the first place since he wasn't a Reaper himself.

He may have asked the man, but he suddenly launched into his explanation of what spirit energy was. So, he had to push his worries and doubts aside to pay really close attention to what was being said. After all, if he was going to learn then paying attention was the key to any possible success.

The Reaper continued his work as he carefully explained to him that spirit energy was something that all living beings possessed. It was also something that only the strongest spirit beings possessed as well. You were born with it, and while most couldn't use it while alive, a select few people could.

He explained that those who had psychic abilities of some kind had more than average levels of spirit energy. He also used Ichigo as an example of above average psychic abilities.

From what Superman was able to understand, Ichigo when she had been born with incredibly abnormal spiritual abilities. And those abilities had systematically grown stronger and stronger with every year that she grew.

He told him that as far as human's went, she was able to not only interact with them in spirit form but was also able to change herself to become one of them and cross over into their world with very little effort. A feat that is practically unheard of for a human being.

Especially one that is still alive.

Yet she had done something that was literally impossible even to them.

Which was a bit difficult for Superman to wrap his head around, especially when he snuck a curious glance at the sleeping girl while trying to digest everything that the Reaper had explained to him so far.

Needless to say, by the time the man was done telling him things, he had a much, much better grasp/understanding of what Soul Reapers actually were and how they even functioned. And the science behind the information was beyond incredible.

Ancient sure. But still incredible, nevertheless.

After that, the Reaper gave him that focusing exercise and then fell silent again- obviously not really caring much if Superman actually did it or not- as he continued his work.

Flash finally returned about ten minutes or so later with a bunch of pizza's carefully balanced on one hand and a plastic bag of what Superman knew were bottled waters, sodas, and juices to keep Ichigo hydrated once she awoke and decided to put them to use.