Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a thing.
Hello, ello, ello!
Shaybo27: Have no fear comrad, there is just no way that Ichigo will end up with Orihime. At least not in this fic. Tite Kubo can do what he likes but... lets just say (I'll give you a hint because you're awesome) that some things happen in the future... far into the future of this story (well not that far) which will make a relationship between those two become impossible to consider. I actually like Orihime, at times, but I just wish she could be more assertive in the manga. I mean she's been in love with Ichigo since forever and yet she hasn't made it even remotely obvious. Over the years she could have shown him by oh I don't know increasing the (non-existant) flirting, the affection; even if he realised and refused she would have some sort of closure. I mean, he isn't dead; he is a red bloodied male, there's a chance he'd reciprocate... sigh. Oh er, this chapter won't reveal much new about the story parsay though it does a little (sorry!) but it gives the chance for the friends to catch up on the nights events. More will definately be revealed in the next chapter I assure you.
Hyourin-Kusabana: Thank you, thanks, no stop flattering me you don't really need to... but continue anyway (eyes move shiftily to the left and right) cough... ahem. Er, really thanks for the review. Every little bit helps. I don't actually know the path that my chapters are going to take until I put them down on paper or type them up on computer. But Mai going supernova was something that was always going to happen. She was a bomb almost ready to explode anyway. If it hadn't been for Ichigo's rampant reitsu she'd be in-between modes for several weeks more...
And here is chapter 5...
Chapter 5:
And so it begins…
Mai
I stared down at my feet as I walked down to school and let my mind wander.
Moments of the night seemed to stay with me more clearly than others. Seigi's body changing before my eyes into some grotesque variation of the yokai… was that part of their abilities and influence? The very idea of their existence still stunned me; I couldn't think of them as a real entity just yet.
Kurosaki fighting, playing at Kendo with Hollows (he wasn't exactly playing with that huge weapon of his) because he was now a soul reaper rather than a high school kid with high spiritual energy and normal high school problems?
No wonder he hadn't told me anything. How could I ever understand his world the same way?
The world around me was beginning to unravel and I don't think I was supposed to stop it… at least that's how I felt about it.
A big chunk of the hidden mysteries of Karakura had just been revealed to me… one secret of so many, I was just getting started.
And I'd dreamed.
As I lay in that place, that… in-between world of sorts, the hidden sea lying behind each layer and crack of Karakura I'd drifted somewhere that had no light and held no shadows. Flashes of future events both significant and insignificant had slammed into focus one after the other, overlapping each other.
I'd been presented with a series of names and descriptives. Words popped into my head that I'd never heard before, words like 'Zanpakto' and 'Gin', 'Hogyoku' and 'Mibu', whatever those where.
And I remembered a feeling, one that reeked of despair and carried with it the urge to… do something. Unfortunately I had no idea what.
But really… all I knew from the whole ordeal was that I was never setting foot inside of a haunted house again!
Seigi…
Why then and there? Why now? And where was he? I didn't see him anywhere after I entered that room…
So there were Hollows, ghosts and now Yokai…
And again Kurosaki… I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little in awe.
A soul reaper. Shinigami. Something you read about in books.
…What was I becoming?
And then my heart sank slightly. Urahara had told me to keep quiet about the previous night… this meant that I couldn't explain a single thing to Kurosaki. And I wanted to. I wanted to ask him how amazing or terrifying it felt to be a shinigami and how he'd become one in the first place.
Did he know about the Yokai?
Wait… was he even alright after last night? I'd blown up more or less in his face!
I bit my lip and concentrated…Ah… there he was…
Whoa… he was tired.
Now that I was all 'awakened' like Urahara said it would be effortless to see 'into' his aura once I was closer to him. Maybe I could try to understand how a human teenager could possibly be a creature of the supernatural.
But that would have to wait until I arrived at school.
Hmmm, school… I sighed and looked at my watch.
And balked. "Oh man… SCHOOL! I'm sooo late; Miss Ochi's going to kill meeee!"
Needless to say I pegged it.
My footsteps crashed heavily onto the hall floor.
"EXCUSE ME… OUT OF THE WAY PEOPLE! MOVE IT SISTER! ER, PLEASE!"
I got a few minor looks of wrath that I chose to ignore, some understandably exasperated sighs that I nodded to in apology. I winced as my knee crashed into some poor book worm's head as we collided.
But finally I made it into the classroom before Miss. Ochi.
I banged into the door, pushed out in defence to turn into the room and landed heavily, out of breath but happy. "I made it!"
And was immediately in the crosshairs of Kurosaki's death glare.
…Oops…
The majority of the class were smiling and shaking their heads indulgently but Kurosaki, the one person in the class without a smile on his face, which let's face isn't exactly a shocker, sat rigid in his seat as if he'd been struck by lightning.
He looked absolutely stunned.
The death glare was his defence mechanism to the aforementioned shock.
Those brown eyes, dull and tawny from lack of sleep raked over me harshly as if in accusation only pausing at my right shoulder before hitting me square in the eyes.
"YOU!"
Both of us jumped and looked towards the source of the noise.
"You made it!"
Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro scrambled out of their seats (Keigo performed a running jump) and latched onto various parts of my body as I stumbled back.
"What happened to you? Are you ok? We were so worried about you!"
I tried to get a word in. "Er…?" Well sort of…
"We thought you'd died!"
"No we didn't Keigo stop being an idiot!"
"Well what did you think after last night huh?"
"Me? I thought she went home completely fine."
"Now who's a sucky liar? You've been clutching her bag of fairground sweets like it was an archaeological marvel."
"Shut up freakasaurus!"
"I am NOT a freakasaurus!"
"Guys I think were freaking her out."
…They were this relieved? To see me safe? Wow… was that why Kurosaki looked so strained before?
The trio looked up at my face, which was a kind of feat seeing as how they were all wrapped around me. They'd, sweetly, flung themselves at me wrapping around my stomach, back and neck. I was a little embarrassed by all the attention but happy to see that they were alright nonetheless.
Still it was surprising. With the exception of Keigo the melodramatic one, Tatsuki usually refrained from acting out with childlike glee and Mizuiro, the straight man to Keigo's funny man wouldn't be caught dead being associated in such a way with his hormonal friend.
And yet here they were, happy to see me. I let out a deep breath…
"Where the hell have you been?"
I winced and slowly, after detaching myself, looked around at Kurosaki who'd half risen out of his seat with his impassioned shout.
He was… angry with me?
His eye was twitching.
Well… I'd recently stated that I would definitely prefer anger to indifference but coming from Kurosaki… it kind of made me want to go hide in the bathroom again.
Five Minutes Before…
Ichigo
Dammit.
True to form he hadn't slept a wink… not that that was new anymore.
But… It didn't make any sense. I can't figure out what happened…
No matter how many times he yawned and further messed up his unkempt hair this morning or how many times he faked his normal scowl rather than an exhausted one nothing helped.
Ten Hollows. In one night.
Rukia had told him that as guardians they were to expect no more than one or two hollows every other day, yet last night there had been at least a dozen. Between the one he'd cleansed after being taken from the fair grounds by Rukia and the ones in that stupid frigging haunted house, he'd taken out ten in total. Ten.
The rest roaming and haunting around the sight had been taken out by… unknown forces.
Heh, Rukia wouldn't tell me who and wormed her way out of it by annoying the heck out of me… at 2:00 in the morning. She's really good at that.
Oh yeah… the fair ground.
He hoped they never got another one. I mean, whose bright idea was it? I'll consider them a bad omen from this day on.
He knew Rukia had been impressed with his display but he honestly couldn't have cared any less. He had other things to worry about.
First of all he was watching closely the behaviour of his friends. After administering the Chikan the night before they'd woken up and taken themselves home. He had no idea what the substitute memory would be like.
But if their behaviour was anything to go by it was probably pretty traumatic.
His eyes came to rest on Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro and like before they were acting odd.
Tatsuki kept glancing at her watch; was seemingly unable to join in with Inoue's conversation, and her leg kept jiggling up and down; a sure sign of agitation and worry.
Mizuiro stole furtive glances out of the window and the door every few seconds or so and didn't even touch his phone.
Keigo was the worst though. Ichigo had been sure he'd blitz through the doors to tell everyone about the fair. Instead he'd been strangely quiet giving weak chuckles to jokes people told and replying with "mmm", to everything anyone said.
It was driving him nuts.
And God was he tired.
Last night, when the call came through on Rukia's Hollow pager they had been halfway across town.
Just perfect.
When they'd finally arrived there he came just in time to witness his friends being swatted away like flies by a Hollow. Then the Hollow just stopped, sniffed the air like a hungry dog and wandered off to the Haunted House, Ichigo hot on its heels.
All the Hollows had initially congregated there.
And the only thing in there that could be of any consequence…
…Was Mai.
He shoved his fingers through his hair and looked down at his desk top where his elbows where leaned.
All night. All night he'd searched for her. He'd even gone and waited playing the sentry by her abnormally huge house for the first hour. When she didn't show he'd left to scour the west side of town where the residual traces of her energy could be felt. Nothing.
Then there was the inexplicable explosion.
Even Rukia wasn't convinced that it had been caused by Hollows; she looked like she'd been sucker punched after the wave had hit them.
The spiritual pressure hollows give off is tinted with malicious intent and sorrow. The same negative emotions that spurned their change to hollow-dom anyway. The shockwave hit him hard but the energy itself felt brand new and… clean. Untainted and… confused.
Yeah… I was confused too. And still Rukia kept quiet, the little midget.
Not like she knew anything about it though. She hadn't made the connection he had.
She hadn't thought for even a minute that Mai was involved in any way to it.
He wasn't sure what happened, actually he had no freaking clue at all what had happened but… it had felt like Mai.
There had been a person underneath that wave. And it had felt painful; as if the process had been agony and frightening which only made his restless need to find Mai all the more urgent. If anyone had bothered to check they would find that it hadn't actually harmed a soul… literally.
The ghost girl Sen had reappeared some time during the dawn hours. She'd found him as he'd wandered once again and, like an idiot instead of going home for the sleep he so desperately needed had searched and searched in the faint hope of any sign of that strange energy.
I never get any rest anymore.
He'd tried to hone in on it. He'd learnt how to from Mai. For some reason he'd wanted to find it… and understand it. A new concept for him. He'd been doing pretty well too, well sort of; it was easier to locate spirits than humans… in fact this would be his first human find. But he'd tried anyway and somehow ended up in front of some guy's sweet shop, Urahara something or other…
Why the hell would she be here of all places?
He'd shook his head, slumped, let out a frustrated groan and turned to find the little ghost girl standing right there.
He jumped back a little startled (not a lot, I mean he's a badass after all right?). "What the?"
The three and a half foot tall girl simply waved her little left hand with a calm smile. "Hello."
"Er, hi." Then he blinked. "Wait, where did you run off to before?"
"I was spaced." She said cheerily.
"Huh?"
Sen nodded eagerly. "There was a light and then I went someplace else. It was weird." She looked around her at a butterfly and giggled as it flew near to her nose. "…But it wasn't here."
He frowned perplexed. "…You went somewhere?"
She nodded. "Mm hm. But that's okay because they said that if I didn't find you then 'she' would find me and help me instead."
"She?"
"Mm hm! The one who protects life!"
"…Oookay. Who are 'they'?" He said with his hands on his hips.
She shrugged. "Don't know." He sweatdropped.
Swell.
"So let me get this straight. You don't know where you went, who spoke to you or who this 'she' is?"
"Uh huh."
He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Right. Okay, come here, Konso time."
Rubbing his eyes as he continued to stare down at his desk he waited in the hope that Mai would show, and then he could nag her all he pleased. Screw it, he had the right to outright interrogation; he'd left a ream of texts and messages on her mobile and she hadn't replied. So either she was ignoring him which he wouldn't stand for without serious consequences (he'd make her pay daily for worrying the crap out of him) or she was in serious trouble which made him feel sick to his stomach.
About five minutes before the bell rang Rukia waltzed in and sat next to him saying nothing.
He tried he really did to work up the energy to even pretend to care about where she'd been but gave up after about three seconds. Way too tired.
Two minutes before the bell.
Heavy and fast approaching footfalls could be heard from down the hallway.
"EXCUSE ME… OUT OF THE WAY PEOPLE! MOVE IT SISTER!"
A scuffling sound followed by shouts from other students and exasperated sighs. There was a crash before the footsteps grew closer.
Wait a sec…?
A body, a very healthy and completely uninjured looking body collided with door 1-C, spun inside and ended with a dramatic arms out, feet apart pose of triumph. "I made it!"
No freaking way!
She looked at him and it took all his strength not to get up and drag her forcibly from the room where he could act on some of his frustrated anxiety.
Mai licked her lips before biting down on them with nervous eyes and furrowed brows.
Hell yes, she should be nervous.
She was here, totally and completely fine. The bandages on her shoulder were absent, she looked fresh and vibrant and… changed. There was a moment's stupefied silence, then…
"YOU!"
They both jumped and looked towards the source of the noise.
"You made it!"
He watched as Tatsuki bolted out of her chair, as Keigo jumped over his desk tripping over several book bags in the process, and Mizuiro scramble from behind a desk to ram into and latch onto Mai who stumbled backwards in surprise.
He would have sweatdropped along with the rest of the class if his brain weren't currently trying to catch up to the rest of him.
"What happened to you? Are you ok? We were so worried about you!"
"We thought you'd died!"
They were rambling on about something but he wasn't paying attention. He was tired. He hadn't slept. He had a head throb forming. All. Because. Of. Mai: the girl currently standing in front of class in bemusement and totally unconscious of his emotional state.
"Shut up freakasaurus!"
"I am NOT a freakasaurus!"
"Guys I think were freaking her out."
"Where the hell have you been?"
It was about as much as he could stand with what little patience he had remaining. Having risen out of his seat with his angry yell he looked nothing short of demonic as he glared hard at his perplexing friend who looked more or less like she wanted to curl up and hide.
Ignoring Rukia who had moved forward during the exchange peeking from the top of her manga he looked around at the rest of the class who were blinking up at him, and then at his friends who were staring at him stupefied.
He sat down fast.
Moving swiftly towards her seat Mai looked at him hesitantly. "W-what do you mean?" She asked with a panicky and fleeting laugh.
He stared at her open mouthed and made a small are you freaking kidding me choking/gasping noise in his throat.
"Okay class! Time to study Language!"
Unfortunately with the timely arrival of their teacher Mai didn't say another word. She didn't see Ichigo blink dementedly, a little livid and still stunned into silence as he tried to process the past minute. He took what he hoped was a calming breath and messed up his already mussed up hair as his hands sank into the orange disarray.
The morning had only just begun and already he was ready for the day to be over.
…So of course Rukia had to go and tap him on the shoulder and tell him there was another Hollow to deal with.
"What? Already?" Hadn't there been more than enough last night?
Rukia nodded. "Yeah, it's close." She looked at him and sighed. "I know you're tired Ichigo but it doesn't help to complain."
He groaned into his hands. Peering through his fingers to the right he caught Mai casting concerned, confused and culpable looks with those increasingly vivid eyes of hers. Yeah, he'd noticed the difference in them. She genuinely had no idea what his problem was, but that didn't mean that she was off the hook.
He stared rigidly at her and she didn't look away until Miss Ochi ordered them to turn to a certain page in their language books. With a sigh he took up a pencil and scribbled something down covering it with his hand from Rukia's curious eyes. Pushing up from his seat he made his way to the front dropping the note off on route to make up some nonsense excuse to the teacher. Maybe one day, just for the fun of it he'd tell Miss Ochi the truth and wondered with a slight smile how she'd react to being told that he had to leave because he was a shinigami and as such had to slay a nearby Hollow; the job of a death god.
Mai
Read your messages. I left plenty.
His message flashed in my eyes throughout the entirety of the first lesson.
Kurosaki and Kuchiki went off to kill Hollows mere minutes after Miss Ochi entered the class room and didn't return… thankfully.
It gave me time; time to read his texts and listen to his messages, time to understand just why he was so irritated with me. And finally I deduced the reason.
…He'd feared for me…
For example…
Mai, where are you? Text message, 11:40 pm.
Ring me as soon as you get this message. Answering machine, 12:00am.
I know you were in that Haunted House or at least close by when that thing went off… why do I get the feeling it had something to do with you? Are you hurt or anything? Answering machine, 12:37am.
I know you're not at home, I've looked for you everywhere and I mean everywhere but I can't find you. Normally I wouldn't be so annoying but… just call me as soon as you're able. Answering machine,2:00am.
I'm getting really bored now Mai. I'm going to go home and stop looking for you soon, maybe get some sleep… I will. For real! Oh come on, where are you? Answering machine, 2:56am.
Mai guess what. I learned how to track spiritual energy. I learned it from you. And so I thought it made sense that I use it to find you… So why the hell did I end up outside of a sweetshop at the crack of dawn? Answering machine, 5:33am.
Seriously Mai, where the fuck are you? Text message, 6:00am
He got kind of testy towards the end.
A little astounded with the whole thing I'd been a bit of a blank during my second lesson (thankfully Kurosaki free)… Sitting on my chair and gazing out of the window I licked my lips and wondered for maybe the fifth time how it is that I got so… lucky…
Kurosaki… He'd stayed out all night, hadn't slept a wink just because of the possibility that I wasn't safe.
I tried hopelessly to ignore just how pleasant that reality was. But the feeling that before long I would become more of a headache than I was worth for Kurosaki kept popping up from underneath the surface tarnishing the budding new friendship.
Now I wasn't quite sure what to do with it anyway.
Something I'd noticed about him though, something different now that I was fully awakened and such; I knew he was pretty powerful energy wise but he was holding back unconsciously. And that was a nice and light description of what I felt in that small instance in the classroom.
Strength oozed out of him though through every pore. Even without my ability it was obvious; he could be slouching and crying but you would still be able to detect that strength. It was in his very bones.
Sighing I pulled out my mobile. The class was rowdy enough; nobody would notice if I started texting.
Message to Kurosaki Mobile: I'm sorry.
I waited… 5 minutes. 10 minutes, 15… As it got to 20 and nearing the last quarter hour of the lesson I figured he'd probably make me wait a while… or all day depending on how immature the guy really is. But then my cell vibrated and after jumping a little I looked at the message with a sweatdrop.
Explain.
Gee… dealing with hollows so early in the morning must have made his already dried up patience and calm crash to a halt.
I was unconscious the whole night.
Why?
…Because I got knocked unconscious. Haven't you ever been unconscious?
No.
Single word questions and answers? You're really cranky this morning huh?
Okay, how's this? I've only been ah, saving souls for a couple of weeks ergo it's not exactly something I'm used to and before this I was normal... mostly. Ergo I never got knocked out. Ergo my lack of experience. ER-FUCKING-GO why you're in the minority and stupid for it. Don't you know how to duck? Oh, and the cranky thing? Yeah, that happens when your friend decides to disappear for the entire night after she's apparently knocked out by an explosion at a fair ground and yours truly goes looking all over Karakura for her with the world's most annoying midget tagging along purely to irritate the crap out of me with useless suggestions… and then this friend goes and asks the stupidest question because apparently her stupidity is in large supply today. Oh, and I've got to dodge a er, something… thing, wait a second…
Well… I was just blown away. That truly was the mother load. The guy could text really fast; I was probably at half speed myself. I almost smiled at the idea that he was texting me in the midst of a hollow battle. Anybody passing at the time would probably see a mobile phone hovering in the air by itself.
I tapped the desk a few times with my fingers as I pondered…
…You've never been unconscious before?
Out of all that, that's what you focus on?
I'm curious.
Of course you are, except make that nosey and you're spot on.
Thank you.
It wasn't a compliment. And no I've never been unconscious before… I was always able to knock out before I was knocked out… because I'm awesome and I know how to duck, block, counter and move out of the way in time, unlike some.
I know how to defend myself perfectly well Kurosaki.
What about last night then?
…That was different.
Yeah, you can't exactly block an explosion.
True.
…If that's what really happened.
It is.
Uh huh.
What's with the 'ergo'.
What's that got to do with anything?
You wrote it four times and threw in a tasteful expletive.
So? I was stressing my point.
Your point being that I'm stupid?
Yes.
You sure changed you tune about me not being stupid and all.
That was before you vanished last night along with all the other ghosts in the area.
…What?
The ghosts, they all disappeared when the explosion hit. Remember that little girl I mentioned? She popped up around dawn this morning. Said she'd been somewhere strange…
Anything else?
Maybe. If you tell me the truth about what happened last night I'll let you know.
What makes you think I haven't already?
You've been stalling.
Have not.
Yes you have and I want the truth.
The truth? Okay, you go first.
Oh no, no we're not doing that.
That? Meaning the thing you started weeks ago.
Mai, seriously I'm tired and not in the mood for…
Message interrupt: Are you angry with me?
Do you always have to interrupt me?
…Are you?
…No… Just… concerned I suppose. So are you going to say?
Ah sorry Kurosaki, second lecture has officially ended. I have to go.
Hey wait a minute!
Bye!
Yeah, he was going to track me down later. Luckily, if he stayed away for another lesson I wouldn't see him till after lunch.
I could sense perfectly now the spiritual and physical energy of every single student in the room too. With just a little focus and patience I could sense that Uryu Ishida wasn't just a normal, overly controlled yet probably far more hormonal than I suspect he lets others see, teenager. What he was I couldn't say; his essence wasn't like Kurosaki's. In fact it was the exact opposite to the soul reaper's whatever that meant. But it was special.
He could probably see ghosts too…
…Which would explain the strange speculative but instantly cautious bespectacled stare he bestowed on me through the entirety of my second lesson. I mean he paused occasionally in his quest to wig me out almost as much as Kurosaki but the shy boy seemed to think for the most part that I didn't know he was staring at me.
I didn't know which was worse: Kurosaki's outright staring or Ishida's secretive and slightly odd gaze.
"Did something happen last night Li san?"
With the second period over I was trying to formulate a plan of how best to approach the situation with Kurosaki. Unfortunately… I got nothing. With the class slowly dwindling out of the door I was quite surprised to hear the distinct voice of Uryu Ishida. I looked up to see him standing by my desk looking a little uncomfortable but nonetheless he'd made the first move for a change. Progress.
"In what regard Uryu?"
He flushed a little at hearing his first name being called but I didn't take it to mean a thing. Something I'd noticed about him was that he blushed when more or less any girl referred to him by his first name. This guy was even more hopeless at socialisation than I was.
"You seem… different." He spoke quietly before pushing his glassed unnecessarily up the bridge up his nose. "I also noticed how tired Ichigo Kurosaki appeared to be. He and Rukia Kuchiki left extraordinarily quickly this morning."
So he could sense spiritual energy. And mine too apparently.
I smiled slightly, amused. "You went to the fair last night didn't you Uryu?"
The light glinted off his glasses. "I did no such thing."
"But if you happened across it sometime around 11:30…?"
"…Then I would have happened across a wreck of an amusement park."
"Strange isn't it? How the world can be so turned upside down in the stroke of an instant after being precariously tipped on the edge of that same sword." I said foolishly.
He seemed genuinely puzzled and curious at first before he coughed and raised an eyebrow at me. "A poet Li san?"
"…Sometimes." Then I saw Keigo and Mizuiro burst through the door and head towards me.
Casting a quick glance towards Ishida I spoke. "Er, Uryu you might want to back up a-"
"MAI!"
"Hi Mai!"
Keigo immediately slung an arm over my shoulders as Mizuiro hip-bumped me in greeting. Dragging me from a sweatdropping Uryu they pulled me towards third period, ignoring my pleas for them to let go.
I'd been a little worried before when my friends rushed me this morning. I wondered if they remembered anything of what happened last night. But before I could open my mouth Keigo told me everything.
Everything being nothing I could remember occurring.
Apparently a random motorcycle gang had entered the park, with guns and had started shooting into the air for no apparent reason. They created some sort of havoc before a wayward bullet hit an electrical post causing all the rides to cease functioning. The night had ended with the motorcycle gang being chased off by the cops but not before taking Keigo for a ride… because you know, that happens all the time. Then the three of them had gone looking for me but couldn't find me. They had worried I'd been taken by the motorcycle gang too and since they didn't have their mobiles on them (for some reason) they couldn't check up on me and therefore verify my safety…
Had they smoked pot last night?
Been hit on the head?
What the hell had happened when I was unconscious?
Their memories had been altered, they had to have been. But who could…?
Rukia Kuchiki and Kurosaki maybe… or the mysterious Urahara Kisuke?
But since all the other people in the class seemed to believe them no one questioned the unusualness of the event.
Obviously everyone in the class was extremely gullible.
Somehow Kuchiki happened to be in my pre-lunch class without Kurosaki. I caught her staring at me too. The third person today. She continued to do so until halfway through the lesson when I'd had enough of all the staring for one day and had turned quickly towards her, eyebrows raised in question.
She'd only blinked, tilted her head, smiled politely and gone back to her work.
I needed to sort that out as soon as possible.
When lunch arrived I was kidnapped by the girls. They dragged me and Tatsuki away, road-runner quick, from the boys who stood there silently in shock. Sharing a look of perplexity before being whirled downstairs I heard Tatsuki sigh resignedly. Before we knew it we were outside next to a large tree a little away from the main entrance to the school.
My hair was sticking on end, Tatsuki's shirt was stretched as we both blinked at the girls in front of us: Chizuru, Ryo, Orihime and Mahana, sprawled on the grass oblivious to our stare; like kidnapping your friends was supposed to happen everyday.
We looked back at each other and it opened a dam of laughter.
Then we sat down with them as though we agreed with this illogical scenario.
It was nice, having friends who actually wanted you there, who noticed your absence and subsequently missed you. It helped lull me into a peaceful kind of serenity as I unpacked my lunch.
Last night had been a nightmare, one I wasn't in too much of a hurry to relive… no matter how intrigued I maybe about it. About those Yokai and the Hollows… Seeing those demons once was enough right? I mean really how many more could there be?
Urahara Shouten
"...Thousands, possibly more than that." Kisuke Urahara sighed in reply to an unknown question. "Too many to count would probably be more accurate. Like the hollows there could be an infinite amount of them."
A shocked silence reigned over the table in the tea room of the Shouten.
Tessai spoke quietly. "Increases in number such as this do not transpire over night."
"No they do not. However… certain events, certain changes have precipitated this: the ever increasing reitsu in Karakura, the energy dispositions and fluctuations in the atmosphere the uprising of unexplainable anomalies… it all adds up." He sipped his tea.
Confused, the small red headed boy sitting to Urahara's right spoke "It isn't so bad is it? We kick their faces in easy enough when they come around, we'll be fine right?" Ever the brave.
Tessai shook his head, "It's not that simple Jinta."
Urahara paused in his intake of tea. "It would be so simple Jinta… Unfortunately these creatures posses the skills to hide in plain sight. They make for a dangerous enemy." Noticing the child's maintained puzzlement he clarified. "They can phase through plains of existence. Basically they can appear at any time and any place with none of us being the wiser for it. They could literally appear right under your nose… You'd be dead before you even noticed them there."
The child shuddered before barring another face of cocky bravado. "But they aren't even that strong!"
"They're, as far as we know, at the same level as hollows in terms of strength but in terms of success… They are far greater."
Urahara paused to let Tessai continue who looked Jinta straight in the eye through his glasses. "They are primordial creatures and follow a more basic level of instinct. A very violent level of instinct and as such they have a greater amount of accomplishment in their kills."
At the kid's emotional gulp of betrayal Urahara added dryly. "It isn't really something I want to subject you to just yet Jinta."
"R-right."
With a fan in one hand and an indulgent smile on his face he mussed the young red heads hair up with his free hand. "Let me and Tessai deal with the tactics for now Jinta."
"They can… phase?" Asked a confused, sweet looking Ururu.
Urahara hummed in confirmation. "Through the in-between of existence and into our plain." He tapped his fan against his chin. "I would sorely love to know how they do that." He sighed. "Unfortunately I have yet to acquire the knowledge of how they can exist in such a way as such combating them is difficult."
"Now we've got hollows and demons to deal with. That's just great." Muttered Jinta.
All cheery and full of sunshine Urahara tried to coax him. "Oh come on, it's not actually as bad as you think!"
The kid huffed and stuffed rice into his mouth.
"Besides, Ichigo Kurosaki's been handling the hollows quite well so far, we haven't actually had to do much."
"What about the girl?" Asked Tessai.
With a smirk Urahara replied. "…She was attacked last night by Yokai. The situation got a little hairy but she handled it."
The two kids looked towards Urahara. "…But you said that no one can see them? Er, find them? Whatever!" Yelled Jinta spraying rice everywhere.
"Mai Li is far from normal. Somehow she found herself in the presence of these yokai; they don't usually show themselves like that. I think that maybe Mai has a way of locating them… and I intend to make sure she knows just how special she really is. She hasn't got a clue."
Tessai locked eyes with his old friend. "Will she help?"
"She has to." Sighing, Urahara down as Ururu refilled his tea cup. "Sooner or later she'll realise she has no choice."
"…But can she handle it? Until yesterday she was the appearance of a mostly average teenage girl. Is she ready for this?" Tessai asked, concerned. In a sane world the fate of many wouldn't weigh upon the shoulders of a couple of teenagers. But in an insane world the choice had already been made… and it was a necessary choice.
"She'll have to be." Was Urahara's quiet reply.
Ichigo
Now this was perfect.
He'd finally gotten the few minutes quiet he'd been begging for all morning.
Coming back to school and having to sit through the snooze fest of a lesson he had before lunch he could now safely get a little shut eye. He leaned his back against the low wall of the roof, eyes shut, breathing deeply, allowing the sun to sweep him away into a tide of unconsciousness.
Or at least it would be perfect if it wasn't for the incessant poking.
Poke poke poke prod
His left arm, the victim of such an inconsiderate attack of the evil midget spawn had suffered more than enough that morning slaying hollows. So Ichigo did his utmost to completely ignore it.
Poke.
…But it was proving extremely difficult.
Poke prod poke poke
His closed eyelids squeezed together and his hands made tight fists.
Poke poke poke
His right eyebrow started to twitch followed in a duet by his left.
Poke poke prod poke poke prod poke
His head throbbed.
poke prod poke prod poke prod poke prod poke prod poke prod poke prod poke prod poke prod poke
"WHAT? WHAT RUKIA? WHAT IS IT? WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT?" She'd done it; she'd finally broken Ichigo Kurosaki.
If it were anybody else he'd have hit them by now… hard.
And he'd caught the unwanted attention of everyone on the roof. One dark glower sent them packing. Still the job was done. He looked back to Rukia with a different kind of glare. Her arms were crossed and he didn't care for it one bit.
"Stop with the poking already!" He spat.
Her eyes rolled. "You're overreacting…" She paused as his cheek twitched.
Cautiously she continued. "Mai Li… don't you think she was acting strange in class today?" She scrutinized his face intently waiting for the answer.
Sleep, glorious sleep had been within his grasp only to be slapped away (or rather poked away)… for this?
"Yes. Yes she was acting strange. And honestly, right now I couldn't care less. Not when I'm this tired Rukia!" He stared angrily at her for a second (it didn't faze her) before sighing and leaning back against the wall. "You want to know more? Find out yourself. Ask her nimrod. Now unless you want me to sleep on the job tonight go away. I need my 20 minutes." And with that he closed his eyes.
He heard her mutter something along the lines of 'cranky ass' as she got up and crossed the roof to the door leading downstairs.
Allowing his body to relax he scowled. Rukia had watched, sweatdropping, as he cut through hollows all the while texting on his phone. Dodging then texting, dodging then cursing and then texting yet again. He'd made having a silent argument whilst slaying hollows into a god damn art form if he did say so himself.
Whilst being completely unsatisfying the so called conversation had told him one thing. Mai had been unconscious the whole night.
And she was lying to him… but then again so was he.
It made for an interesting friendship.
…He figured she wouldn't tell Rukia anything anyway (at least not before him: she owed him BIG time) so he let himself drift…
…Mmm… sleep…
Mai
"Mai, would you like to try some of my egg-plant-bean-jam and leek sandwich mix?"
I yakked on my own sandwich. A sumptuous mix of turkey, ham, tomato, lettuce and cucumber on a thick, soft bread roll. In respect to culinary expertise Jihi always told me to never do things by half.
But… Dear God… Orihime…
That sounded absolutely disgusting.
Tatsuki told me she always cooked up strange food but this was taking the biscuit! No pun intended. How did Princess survive on that stuff?
And I didn't need Tatsuki trying to signal me from behind said girl to know not to accept the gross concoction.
"Ah… n-no thank you Orihime, I'm good with this." I motioned to my sandwich. She nodded happily and resumed tucking into a… whole… loaf… of… bread. Normally I eat loads, trust me, but damn.
She perked up over her loaf as she chewed. "I wonder what's wrong with Kurosaki kun this morning. He looked really tired didn't he Tatsuki?"
I shoved my sandwich back into my face in the hope of not being called to question all the while listening intently. I'd been wondering for a while now if anybody actually came even remotely close to the mark about Kurosaki and his secret endeavours.
Tatsuki waved a dismissive hand through the air. "I wouldn't worry about it. He didn't sleep well that's all. I asked him earlier and he said everything was fine." She shrugged.
What? That's it? No one even suspects a thing? I wiped butter off my nose as I stared incredulously at the group.
Then Chizuru opened her mouth. "Don't worry about him Orihime; worry about me. I'm just dying here without your-"
"CAN IT CHIZURU!" Tatsuki bellowed shoving a flying kick in the direction of the pheromone obsessed girl.
Everyone completely ignored this and I followed suit.
"So why were we kidnapped anyway?" I asked just in case there was an actual reason behind the random act.
"Oh yeah! We completely forgot about that didn't we?" Mahana had, well all of them had the attention span of a mouse, obviously.
Chizuru took her place in the conversation, face miraculously clear of bruises. "We wanted to know if anything juicy happened last night at the fair!" Ah, of course. I smiled amiably at Tatsuki who smirked back.
Michiru jumped up. "Yeah, what were the rides like?"
"Did you have a good time?"
"How late did you stay out?"
"How was it like hanging out with Keigo and Mizuiro?"
"I considered asking Mizuiro out once you know?" Said Ryo nonchalantly.
I blinked.
Mahana stared at her long time friend with large eyes. "No way Ryo! Really? You never told me!"
"Didn't realise I had to."
"Ryo!"
Just as the debate went full swing I glanced up just in time to see Rukia come striding purposefully out through the front doors, her eyes immediately landing on me. Oh boy…
It seemed she'd finally found the time to have that talk.
"Hey is that Rukia?" Asked Mahana as though she were miles away and unrecognisable.
Ryo looked up from her manga. "Obviously Mahana she's standing right there in plane sight… and is now walking towards us."
"Shut up Ryo, I never see her during lunch."
"She has to eat Mahana."
"I KNOW Ryo!"
A frown formed slowly on my forehead as I watched her eyes narrow dangerously at me.
Ah… I see. You aren't here for just a friendly chat.
Her absolutely determined expression proved that; she was on the attack. She came closer and I slowly rose from my previously relaxed position to a now on guard standing one. Her focus forced me to react with equal intensity and I saw her expression turn towards outright alarm for a moment as my gaze required her to unconsciously rethink her strategy.
Something from the deep rose up behind my eyes and it almost swallowed me whole.
For one incredibly intoxicating second I felt the almost overwhelming urge to just… crush her. To force her to her knees before taking all her worth; her innocence, her naivety, her guilt, her loyalty and her hope before ripping out her soul and feeding it to my own…
Cruel Monster.
Blinking back to myself and pushing down the pure violence of that thought I caught her cautious gaze and raised an eyebrow. Hopefully I didn't look as fearful and repugnant as I felt; I figured I looked good enough. That reservoir of strength I'd woken up with was already pumping through my veins ignoring my efforts to squash it. What was I even reacting to?
After a second a beaming smile spread like water flowing across her face.
The query for her health spluttered and died on my lips.
Rukia stood right in front of me, a good half foot smaller and gazed up at me we deep blues orbs. Oh geez… Kurosaki had called her the 'annoying midget' for a reason right? Well here it was.
"Hello there Mai! Might I speak to you in private? It'll only take a minute I promise!"
And I couldn't help the sweatdrop.
Her tone was so happy it was persuasive in the worst possible way.
No one talked that way around here. It was as if she'd failed to learn common colloquialism.
I nodded, unsure of what to do and the others watched as I left them to finish lunch without me. Making sure to keep one step behind her I watched her arms cross over her stomach. We moved to an area of relative silence; somewhere around the side of building with no students in sight. Here Rukia Kuchiki lost all sight of her previous cheer, the flowing water smile and struck me a perceptive, frosty stare. Her chin poised in my direction, her features and tight lipped frown like ice.
But not necessarily as cold.
I clasped my hands and waited. If I was being honesty I actually wanted her friendship. I was slowly getting used to the idea of having decent friends but Rukia… she was like Kurosaki… like me…
As the saying goes: freaks should stick with their own kind.
If I didn't know any better I'd say she'd died already.
The only logical conclusion I could think of was that she was a soul reaper too. Except that Kurosaki was human. And alive. And a high school student with problems like every other teen. The stories featuring the Grim Reaper told of a being of neutrality. A protector of the balance, a creature both living and dead but nothing more.
Obviously the bards had got it wrong.
"Last night…" She began as she gave me a good once over. "What did you see?"
Straight to the point. Good. Such a direct question deserves a direct answer.
I tilted my head down at her passively. "Absolutely everything."
For a moment she just stared at me seriously. Then she nodded and sighed. "…That's what I thought."
Then, quick as a flash she brought her hand up to my face, clicked a button and a small bang went off in my eyes. Staggered, I fell down.
Dazed I looked up. I could have stopped her so why hadn't I? Oh yeah… because it was completely unexpected. From now on Mai expect the unexpected you fool.
"It's a memory Chikan." I heard her say. "When you wake you won't remember this or last night. I'm sorry… but it would be much too risky for you t-"
A strangled gasp hissed out of her lips as my foot struck out and hit her square in the stomach. Her shocked eyes widened as she flew a few feet backwards to the ground.
Standing leisurely and unconcerned I looked down at Rukia's shaking form as she took slow deliberate breaths.
Then I strode forwards…
Rukia
Why hadn't it worked? It should have worked.
For a human the girl's energy was potent; it made my hair stand on end.
Both luckily and unluckily Ichigo hadn't noticed a thing so I decided to keep it that way.
We're vulnerable as it is at the moment especially with the upswing of hollows closing in on us. Good thing Urahara arrived in time to help last night or we would have lost a lot of lives including our own.
If the girl had anything at all to do with the circumstances last night; in the effort to decrease danger I took away crucial memories.
She was supposed to collapse, unconscious with her memory erased. It was necessary.
Instead Mai had kicked her. Hard.
I hadn't even seen it coming. Coughing and wheezing the breath back into her Rukia managed to turn her head away from the ground. Free from inhaling mud and grass she tried to uncoil from the ball she'd curled up in.
"I never did respond well to attacks on my person."
Rukia stilled.
She heard the slow and steady footsteps to her right and looked to see the official school shoes and idiosyncratic pants that Mai Li wore striding confidently towards the trees in her peripheral.
The feet stopped and bent to pick up something from the grass. Turning it over in her fingers Mai turned still crouched to a bewildered Rukia.
She gestured her hand. "You called this a chikan? What does it do, alter memory?"
Discombobulated and feeling utterly vulnerable for some reason Rukia nodded.
Mai Li's eyes had the disconcerting ability to force you rigid; to see into you in a way that even Rukia's brother couldn't manage.
Even as the school girl pondered over the Kiokuchikan she was able to render Rukia Kuchiki, soul reaper and member of the noble house of Kuchiki silent.
The soul reaper started when she realised this.
I, a woman (even if I do only look about 16 yrs old), for no matter how brief the second, had been intimidated by a teenage girl whom I could beat in experience by over a 100 years by just a simple act of force and one short cold-bloodied stare…
Nonsense!
Rukia Kuchiki couldn't afford to let a teenager frighten her.
Squaring her shoulders and moving to stand she yelped, yelped when she found Mai Li crouched right there in front of her. When did she move over here? I didn't even notice!
"You see this?" The girl presented the chikan twirling it in her fingers.
Rukia looked at the chikan then back to Mai and her steel gaze.
"…This was unnecessary."
I think I'm beginning to realise that.
"I consider it to be threatening… and like I said I don't respond well to threats."
Her experience hardened gaze actually taking a turn towards panicked Rukia shook it off and looked back with regal confidence.
"It was something I deemed well within my rights to-MMHH!" Her words cut off as she gasped and coughed yet again, her eyes widening in alarm and surprise.
Having your throat whacked by a hand a third bigger than your own can do that.
Still crouched but lowering her hand Mai Li observed Rukia as she wheezed and spluttered with seemingly calm and reflective eyes. "It was kind of like that. Having your words die on you, your only defence for you memories being stripped away as your head gets infiltrated then pilfered and wiped clean."
Breathless Rukia stared at the teen with watering eyes. Mai nodded; seemingly satisfied that Rukia at least understood the anxiety of such an act.
She smiled, not in a friendly way, in a sad way. It was sad. "Not pleasant is it. Please don't do it again… it doesn't appear to work on me anyway."
With that Mai Li pushed upwards to stand. Rukia heard her sigh as she turned to walk back towards her friends.
How an earth could a girl her age have such intense and downright frightening eyes? And then how could those eyes morph into such a poignant sight that my breath would catch?
I'd never seen the use of the chikan in such a way. As a violation. But the recipients never remember anyway so it was convenient. But to someone who did remember…
…Still. To react so fiercely…
…And to somehow do it without so much as a hint of aggression…
Mai Li you are a conundrum.
And there's no way that I'm letting you go after that.
Getting to a stand she watched as Mai walked away with hunched shoulders.
With a determined expression on her face Rukia ran towards her back yelling as she jumped in the air and looking at Mai's face as the girl turned her head to stare at her taken aback.
Bewildered eyes freaked as Rukia's foot crashed into the side of her head.
Mai let out a startled cry as she fell to the floor with her ass in the air.
Classy, right?
Puffing proudly Rukia stood in triumph over her foe. "Hah! That was for the kick, the next is for the neck!"
"…Oh really?"
Glancing down Rukia grinned in satisfaction at the small smile on Mai's features.
"Really."
…And promptly face planted as Mai's foot caught her leg unawares.
Mai Li's a quick one alright...
(Mai) A few minutes later…
"…So why do you use chikan?"
Staring up at the sky Rukia answered. "It's merely a preventative. The world isn't ready to know about the existence of soul reapers… I'm not sure it ever will be."
"So you're protecting Kurosaki?"
"I am."
"I see."
I never thought it would end like this. I thought for sure that with me being, well, me earlier I'd have forsaken any possible friendship I could have ever had with her. But Rukia was such a tomboy at heart that she actually picked a fight with me. Albeit a playful one but still…
…We both looked a little roughed up… her more so than me but it wasn't like I went all out.
Now we were lying parallel to each other as we gazed up at the blue sky. Somehow our little bonding moment (the strangest bonding ritual I've ever seen between two girls) had opened a kind of gate inside of Rukia. Once she could gage that I new more than I should and that I wasn't exactly normal myself she began explaining some things to me that I hadn't understood before.
I panted as we flopped simultaneously down on the grass. "…W…why was he so shocked… to see you that first day you came to school?"
Chest heaving Rukia wiped away the sweat on her forehead. "I-it's a… a long story." We had maybe ten minutes of lunch left if that.
"Condense it for me then."
She smiled at me and watched me flop back on the grass. Then she took a breath. "Ichigo thought that I had returned to my home after he killed the hollow… he didn't know that taking my powers would render me defenceless." Then she flopped on the ground with me; her feet reaching just past my head.
"Pretty day." I remarked.
"Mm hm."
"…I can't tell you what happened last night. In fact I was sworn to secrecy. But I promise that I'm no danger to you and definitely not to Kurosaki. You have nothing to fear from me…." I lifted my head up slightly so that she could see my conviction. "…Ever."
She looked like she believed me.
"Who helped you last night?"
"Sworn to secrecy Rukia."
"…It was Kisuke Urahara wasn't it?" What part of 'sworn to secrecy' did she not understand?
"…Yes."
"Thought so."
It was silent for a minute. "Be careful Mai. Urahara's generous but he has secrets. He probably knows more about you than you do by now."
I shrugged completely unconcerned. "He's curious… and I'm not foolish. I know that he has his own reasons for helping but I'm pretty sure they're harmless. At least for now anyway."
Another minute passed. "You think a lot don't you?" I asked.
Rukia blinked. "Huh?"
I smiled. "You rarely voiced your opinions to the people around you. You keep it all locked up."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Not at all. It's just quiet." I inhaled content in the slight warmth of the sun. "And at this moment quiet is appreciated."
"Lunch has almost ended. I need to get back to Ichigo."
Knocked from my pensive perch I looked up and saw Rukia rise from the ground. I looked at my watch; she was right.
She brushed off her dress and watched me stand up too. "How did you become friends with him?" She asked frankly.
Blinking I straightened my pants. "Kurosaki? Er, specific friendship or first acquaintance?"
"When did you really become friends?"
Chewing on my lip at the memory I couldn't help but smile. "In the boy's bathroom a few weeks ago."
She frowned puzzled. "You made friends in the boy's bathroom?"
I nodded cheerfully. "Then he chased me through the school."
"Ichigo… chased… you?"
"Yes, yes he did." I said seriously and tried not to react to Rukia's wide and disbelieving eyes.
Lost for a moment on how to respond Rukia crossed her arms. "Huh… I honestly can't see him doing something like that."
"Well it took me by surprise too."
Then I saw her blink and give a harsh shake of her head. "Back up a second; why were you in the boy's bathroom Mai Li?"
I looked quickly at my watch. "Oh look at the time! Lunch is almost over!"
"Oh look at that! What great timing."
"Oh isn't it."
Then I watched as moved over to a pipeline running directly down the side of the building we were next to. Sweatdropping I saw her grasp the pipe with both hands and pull herself up off the ground as she began to climb… up… the… wall.
"Oh, the more conventional methods of walking I see." I said as I worried for her sanity.
Rukia's petit face turned to look at me with a grin. "Trust me. I'm a pro at this!"
She's a pro at scaling the school's structure?
I blinked and tilted my head to the side as Rukia climbed ever upward. "It's a good thing I'm not a guy. That skirt doesn't cover a thing…"
Ichigo
...Is it weird that I'm actually a little worried?
Having rushed off at the start of lunch he'd figured he'd been given a break from the machinations of his soul reaper teacher. He'd gotten his twenty minutes but it hadn't been enough. He desperately needed a full night's sleep.
Rubbing his hand over the haggard skin of his face he checked his mobile. Nope, no calls or messages. He was hopeless at sensing reitsu, especially Rukia's given that she barely had any left and he was far too tired to try Mai's technique. It was… much more of a physical thing and, he found, much more personal. Easier but private.
It came with feelings. He was surprised he could do it all.
Then he heard a scuffling noise from behind him followed by a quiet curse.
He frowned.
There was nothing but concrete wall behind him. He moved to look over the side thinking that there was just no way… that…
"Rukia… what the hell are you doing?" He sweatdropped.
His oh so fabulous guide was climbing the plumbing. Rather than use the stairs she'd rather climb the plumbing.
"You know this says a lot for your mental state." He said indifferently as he looked down at the wheezing soul reaper.
"Shut up." She hissed.
He raised an eyebrow as he tried to cover a yawn. "What, were you trapped a lot as a kid? Felt the need to escape at all?"
Concentrating on the task before her she answered quietly. "You have no idea how ironic that is. Has anyone noticed?"
"That I'm talking to myself over the wall of the roof?" He looked around at his friends as they cleared away their lunches. "Were safe."
"Good. Now… can I have some help?"
"What? You can't do it by yourself?" Nonetheless he reached down, with an eye roll, and grabbed one her tiny hands before pulling upwards and hauling her onto the roof top.
Dusting herself off with a polite thank you neither of the analogous friends noticed Keigo look around.
"WHOA! RUKIA! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?" He spazzed with one arm spread wide in front of him as the other pointed at her.
Fumbling for an answer she heard Ichigo sigh.
"It's a magic trick. Ta da." He said straight faced.
The whole roof top stared at him.
"You know, the 'now you see her, now you don't' trick? I've only just got it to work. What do you think?" They all watched as Rukia gave a professional little curtsey.
A moments silence…
"That… was… INCREDIBLE! REALLY THE BEST MAGIC TRICK EVER. SERIOUSLY! I DIDN'T EVEN SEE HER COME BACK!"
Ichigo looked back down at Rukia with another yawn. "See? Dealing with Keigo is easy."
He bent down to retrieve his bag and managed to glance over the roof wall to the ground around the side of the building… just in time to see Mai Li walking off in the opposite direction.
He paused, blinked and then leaned over the side. "OI! MAI! UP HERE!"
The girl stopped abruptly, looked up and around to behind her. When she caught sight of him she smiled and gave a small unsure wave.
He waved back. "HEY, WHAT DID YOU DO TO RUKIA?" He shouted for all to hear and not caring one bit. "SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE'S BEEN ROUGHED UP!"
"Hey! I'm not the only one who looks bad! Geez!" Rukia huffed, insulted and blushing.
Totally ignoring her, Ichigo waited for Mai's response eagerly. Whatever had happened it had to be interesting.
He didn't quite hear her. "…BO-D-G!"
Keigo whipped around. "Did she just say bondage?"
In shock Ichigo let his mouth fly away from him. "BONDAGE!"
"WHAT?" She shouted back from the ground. "BONDAGE? THAT'S NOT… OH! NO, I SAID B-O-N-D-I-N-G!"
"OH!" He nodded with an 'oh so that's what you said' expression.
RRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGG!
Rukia slapped the palm of her hand to her forehead. "Idiots. She's going to get accosted by the girls…"
Ichigo, intrigued, looked her way. "What do you mean?"
Making her way across the roof top she slapped his arm. "What do you think stupid? You just announced to half the building that you thought me and Mai were into bondage!"
"Oh… right."
"Idiot."
Mai
…That went down well.
Dreading the walk back to my waiting friends, Kurosaki's shout of 'BONDAGE' still ringing in my ears I found them all standing, amused with an energetic Chizuru pushing her way to the front to ask me extremely specific questions. I shudder to think what she does with her free time.
Worse still was Orihime's perplexed expression of innocence as she asked the group what bondage actually was.
Tatsuki just offered me one long knowing smile and an eye roll.
By the time we got back to class I was going over some of the more intense emotions I'd felt earlier. The pure violence of my reaction to Rukia's opposing and forceful gaze, the calmness of my counter to her memory substitute threat and then the overall peace post play fight.
But the darkness…
Maybe Rukia did have every good reason to consider me a threat. But… well she could have just talked to me I suppose instead of immediately going for the chikan. It wasn't like I was dangerous or anything…
A flash of memory hit me again. Last night I'd been pretty ruthless… even if it was born from a necessity to survive… But I wasn't like that usually! I could control my temper. Was what I had felt even remotely related to my temper? But fear makes people react differently. Fear obviously makes me aggressive. Yeah… yeah that makes sense…
Outstanding… I reacted to danger viciously rather than obeying the cerebral cortex's defensive mechanism; the fight or flight instinct. I chose to fight what seemed to be death dealing odds.
…I was a… what am I?
Sighing hours later, I walked with my herd of friends to the open doors of the main building. Smiling softly as the breeze hit me, I watched Orihime talk animatedly to an utterly perplexed Kurosaki about all the special things she could do with bean paste, butter, wasabi and cod roe. Tatsuki, sharing a peaky glance with me, Mizuiro and Keigo attempted to change the subject onto more steady waters to which Orihime stroke up a lively debate about how she thought all the teachers in school were really automated machines with hidden cameras behind their eye sockets to record student activities to their home base in the Arizona desert…
To this Kurosaki quietly agreed, about the robot part that is. Adjusting his back over one shoulder he looked off into the distance, the black circles under his eyes made the more obvious by the afternoon light.
We'd exchanged notes in class again today. The flying paper aeroplane landing softly in the nest of my hair the first lesson after lunch distracted me from my note taking. I'd looked behind me at Kurosaki, watching as he stretched and yawned and nodded at the paper in my hand. The other students in-between me and him had not so furtively looked up at us with interest. This was without a doubt the most boring class I'd experienced at Karakura High so far; the teacher never once looked away from his chalkboard anyway and half the class were whispering amongst themselves, texting or reading magazines.
Unfolding the paper I looked at the surprisingly soft scrawl.
Rukia said I needed to apologise. So… I'm sorry.
…For what?
Damned if I know.
Damned if you do know too.
There is that. So hey.
Erm, hi.
I'm bored. Tell me what happened between you and Rukia?
We bonded.
That's what she said. Come on, I need details or I'll fall asleep again. Worse I'll fall asleep when I'm saving souls and, well, whatever!
Him being tired was making him a little loosed lipped.
Okay I'll tell. Rukia tried to… do something. I didn't like it. So I reacted… badly. She understood. Then she reacted back. Hard. But it was fun, it turned into a play fight and… we bonded. Rukia's tough… well for someone so short anyway.
Yeah, she's a midget alright. And annoying.
…She's… nice. I thought she didn't like me, that she didn't trust me.
Wait… She doesn't trust you? Why shouldn't she? Where have I been?
Off in dream land and I said that she didn't trust me. Past tense. Now she does.
Oh. So I missed something and it resolved anyway. Okay.
And she genuinely cares about you.
Ah… okaaayyyy…
Yes, I know. You're a guy and this is the part where guys say, 'feelings! Me? Hah! I'm a dude, I don't do feelings!'
What the hell was that?
…Erm, well Pei told me that guys are weird-ed out by overly affectionate females. And that they don't like to talk about feelings and such. Did she advise me wrong?
Hell yes! I'm not just some unfeeling bastard you know! But that being said… I suppose guys do find it more difficult to talk about that stuff - hey, wait a sec… affectionate feelings? Who, Rukia? You? Rukia is as far as they come from being affectionate. I'll admit that she's nice and she can be kind but affectionate? Hell will freeze long before she becomes that. And you… I don't spend enough time around you to honestly know whether you are or not. So far though… I'd say you're incredibly thoughtful of the people around you. I admire that.
You should seeing as you're the same way.
…Maybe. So Rukia's nice to you?
She has an impish side that cannot be denied.
Yeah, I've definitely seen that side. Though replace it with annoying you've got the general gist of what she's like.
I didn't tell her anything you know, about last night.
Oh.
But I did tell her some of things that I do know.
You did? Are you going to tell me or do I have to wait for Rukia to tell me?
Kurosaki, I know I'm asking much but can you wait just for one day? There's something I need to do first before I tell you everything.
Wait, I wasn't asking for everything. I just wanted to know what you told Rukia.
The same thing implies.
Is it something bad?
No. Just something… difficult to explain.
One day huh? Fine. Besides with how tired I am I probably won't remember this conversation in an hour anyway. Did you see the scribble lines from where I repeated words? Three times in a row? God I just want to sleep.
Then go to bed early tonight.
Okay Mai, you may not yet know all the details but still you do know that I can't.
…Can I do anything to help you?
No. But thanks… for the offer.
No problem. You know we do this a lot don't we?
Do what?
Writes notes to each other. We should just talk; it's a waste of paper and it makes us look odd.
Yeah but that would be the logical thing to do. For someone who's stupid like you and someone who's exhausted like me it wouldn't make much sense anyway. Let's not start pretending we're normal now.
…You're more derisive when you're tired.
I know. I'm the only one in my family who's like that too. But sarcasm is kind of fun.
I thought sarcasm was the lowest form of wit?
And with that I saw him look down at the note for a moment before he scrunched it into a ball and lobed it at my head. Then he stretched and yawned again before collapsing onto his desk.
Shaking my head at the memory I noticed that Kurosaki hadn't turned away from the spot that he'd been staring. In fact he'd slowed down enough that we passed him earning him several curious stares from his friends.
"Are you o.k. Ichigo?" Asked Mizuiro.
Keigo popped up behind the orange headed teen. "Whatcha looking at buddy?"
He shook his head vaguely. "…It's nothing."
"Kurosaki?" I asked concerned.
He looked at me, sighed and turned to look back at his previous capture. "Those guys…" Kurosaki began, quiet and serious as he frowned towards a few of the upper class men across the quad. "…They've been staring and pointing at… us since we exited the main building."
Why had he paused? I moved forward to stand next to him and found his hand grazing the arm of my blazer.
"Wait…" He murmured so no one else could hear.
Frowning I looked at his face catching the warning in his eyes. Then I glanced over at the group he'd pointed out and realised the basis for his hesitance. The students were looking and gesturing at me. Just me. Obviously they'd heard something or figured that they had and were now, lovingly, spreading it around like a wildfire.
My eyes closed in exasperated irritation, wondering what on earth the rumour would be about this time. The looks on their faces weren't malicious or gossip eager but they weren't pleasant either.
"You alright?" Kurosaki asked calmly.
"Hmm. It isn't the first time this has happened."
Tatsuki slung her bag over her left shoulder and tightened the strap as she pondered at the students. "Actually, some guy in the year above us came up to me today and asked me if I hung around with you."
I blinked. Kurosaki's head tilted to look back at his old friend.
"Yeah I was there too." Offered Mizuiro. "The guy asked whether your name really was Mai Li and whether or not we really hung out with you." Mizuiro took a second to pause in thought. "…He looked really shocked when we said that we did. He was kind of puzzled, like he couldn't understand why we'd be hanging around with you in the first place." Mizuiro shook his head and pulled out his phone. "What a weirdo."
My whole world began to turn on its axis.
"Is that all?" I ventured passively as if to push back the possible horror of what I believed it to be.
Mizuiro and Tatsuki shrugged. "Pretty much." They said in unison.
"Come to think of it…" Began Orihime and I started to panic. Her too?
She put a finger to her chin. "…A boy in class asked me if it was true that you were into bondage."
For a moment I just stared at her. Then a small blush worked its way across my cheeks and I glanced away shyly only to find Kurosaki doing the same as he scratched the back of his neck.
It didn't help that Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki (traitor) were laughing at us while Orihime watched them wondering what it was she'd said that was so funny.
I held up a hand to Kurosaki before he could utter a word. "It's alright, you already apologised."
After the chuckling died down Keigo wandered up to me as he stretched happily. "So, do you know those guys Mai?" Asked Keigo.
I shook my head. "No… probably just some rumour or other. I'm not exactly the most normal of students."
"What's so good about being normal?"
I looked back at Kurosaki and his mellow voice. He was giving me that look again; evaluating my every move, telling me that he knows how odd I am and yet letting me see that he still thinks that I might be worth knowing anyway.
He looked at our group. "We're all the way we are…" he indicated his head roughly to the staring group of seniors. "They're who they are. What's the problem?"
"Live and let die?" I said softly to him with an appreciative smile.
He nodded once. "Exactly."
Coming to the corner from the school I knew I had to split from them. Urahara was waiting to debrief me. Another thing though; where was Seigi? I'd expected him to show today, I'd worried…
…I wanted to hit him… and thank him.
Ah well… onwards to Urahara.
And away with my halcyon days.