Author's Note
I don't know why, but it seems the chapters are slowly getting longer. Oh well. Thanks for the reviews, favs, and follows and keep 'em coming, I do so enjoy getting them.
Anywho, enjoy chapter 12!
I was humming as I picked weeds out of the carrot patch. It was a pleasantly warm day, even if the sky was overcast, and things had been just wonderful recently. Tatsuki-chan had gotten back from her tournament three days ago. She won 1st place and the title of strongest girl in Japan. I'm so happy for her. Of course, it's also great to have her back after missing her for three weeks, especially when it should have been two. Tatsuki-chan said there was a leak that caused some flooding at the main tournament arena, so they had to postpone some of the final matches while they cleaned that up. There's also the other little wonder in my life of finally getting to have conversations with Kurosaki-kun. He likes to pretend to be grumpy and mean, but he's really very sweet and kind. He usually just listens to me talk about my day while commenting on things and scolding me when I do something "dangerous." But I don't mind, I think his scowls are cute and it's nice to know he cares.
Rukia-chan went with me the other day to see Kurosaki-kun. I can't tell if they get along or not. They yell at each other and Rukia-chan will hit Kurosaki-kun and he'll growl and curse at her, but there's no real hatred or anything to it. It's like they have a secret language made of insults and abuse! I wish I was a linguist so I could figure out what they're really saying to each other.
They also taught me a bit more about yokai and hunter, Kurosaki-kun says it's easier to use just hunter and Rukia-chan agrees, society. They said that yokai tend to live in small private communities so they don't have to hide their nature. These communities are usually a higher ranking family and its supporting households. There is usually a head of clan and a group of elders to run the community. The elders don't have to technically be elders, just people who are wise and good at social/political maneuvering, so they're usually older. While the head is a hereditary position and is more of a symbolic leadership, though some heads would have a heavy hand in running the clan. Strictness of hierarchy and emphasis on bloodlines varies from clan to clan, but Kurosaki-kun doesn't know much about it because his clan was pretty lose on such things. The hunters are split into three main groups: the Gotei 13, Xcution, and Vandenreich. Vandenreich is exclusively made of Quincies, so Rukia-chan and Kurosaki-kun don't know much about its inner workings. Xcution is made of fullbringers, though Kurosaki-kun said he heard that they have a couple of shinigami potentialists who learned fullbring heading them. The Gotei 13 are a mostly made of shinigami, though there are some fullbringers who have joined them, like Sado-kun, and the occasional yokai or half breed. The Gotei 13 are made of 13 squads with two, almost four, subdivisions. The subdivisions are the Kido core, who specialize in spell casting, and the Onmitsukido, who are like ninjas, doing lots of shadow work and are currently run by Squad Two. They exist for those with shinigami potential that can't find their zanpakuto partner as well as specialists that wish to join. The kind of third one is Squad Four, who specializes in healing and runs all of the medical affairs of the Gotei, so they don't exactly need zanpakuto either, since most healing is done with kaido, the medical branch of kido. The almost fourth one is the Deparment of Research and Development run by Squad Twelve, which just requires intellect, not a zanpakuto. The R&D makes items to ease shinigami work, update techniques to easier methods, and discovers new techniques, or rediscovers in some cases. Each squad has a taicho, fukutaicho, and seats down to twenty, taicho and fukutaicho being first and second respectively. Officers are deployed to watch over seals and patrol for hollows all over Japan. When I asked about the rest of the world, Rukia-chan said there are other organizations that take care of those areas. Gotei 13 members also use enchanted keys that can connect any door to certain doors that the spell allows the user access to. It's like a key to anywhere! Well, at least as long as you have the approval for accessing there. Rukia-chan also said that the Gotei 13's headquarters is called Seireitei and is located in an old fortress city somewhere in Japan, but only taicho and fukutaicho know exactly where. Rukia-chan also talked a lot more about particular specialties of the squads, but I don't really remember much more.
I chase such complicated thoughts from my mind and go back to pulling weeds. I look up and notice a rather large, orange cat wandering by the buildings and can't help but think that its fur matches Kurosaki-kun's hair. I smile at the cat before returning my attention back to gardening.
"Hey, Inoue. Got some time to talk?"
I startle at the sudden sound of his voice. My head whips up as I search for Kurosaki-kun, but I can't find him. "Where are you Kurosaki-kun?" I whisper out.
I hear him chuckle in response before he replies, "Look down and to your left."
I follow his instructions and see the orange cat sitting at my side looking up at me expectantly. He's also bigger than I originally thought.
"How is Kurosaki-kun a cat?" I ask as I tilt my head to the side as I reach out and stroke his fur. I can't help myself, I like to pet animals that come within range. His fur is soft to the touch and it's warm, as if he's been laying in the sun for hours, even though it's overcast and impossible. He arches up a bit into my hand, silently encouraging further petting.
"Well, being partially made of fire has its uses. I can take on a couple of different forms, one of which is this cat form." He purrs as I begin to scratch behind his ears and the warmth of his fur seems to spread into the air around us. "The only problem is that it does cause me to act slightly cat-like." he further explains as he presses harder into my hand and increases the volume of his purrs. I giggle a bit, he sounds exasperated by the forced behavioral change, but his purrs contradict any dislike for his current condition.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I ask as I finish scratching him and move back to pulling weeds.
"Hmmm?" he dazedly replies, moving in close, nuzzling my side before laying down beside me. I giggle again because just a little petting and scratching has momentarily blissed him out. "Oh, right. I was going to ask if you're free to go out this afternoon. A couple of… friends of mine have been bothering me to introduce you and I figured you could also use a couple more people to go to incase you get in trouble and Rukia and I aren't available." Not to mention who knows what tortures they'd come up with to force me to bring her in. I feel him shudder a bit after that and wonder if he's somehow cold. "So, if you're free, I'll take you to meet them."
"That should be fine. I'll just go with you instead of going to your shrine today." I absently reach back and start petting him again only to feel him role over so that I'm stroking his stomach. "By the way, Kurosaki-kun, why'd you come as a cat instead of a human like you normally do?"
"Hmmm? Oh, that. That's because I figured a cat would be less suspicious to the others here then having some guy randomly walk up to you. They still don't know I'm free and that'll be easier to maintain if they're not trying to figure out who the new guy you're talking to is." He roles again so that I'm petting his side now. "I'll pick you up at the park down the road from here so we can go visit my friends. Sound good?"
"Yep! I can't wait to meet Kurosaki-kun's friends!" I pump my fist in the air.
"Uhhh, right." he uncertainly replies. Kurosaki-kun then gets up, shakes himself off a bit, then pads away to do whatever it is he does during the day. I really should ask him sometime instead of just telling him all about myself.
I sit in the park waiting for her to finish her work. I really don't want to do this. I know Urahara and Yoruichi, and they're going to do everything they can to embarrass me in front of Inoue. The only reason I agreed is because Urahara pointed out that having someone for Inoue to go to in emergencies that I felt I could trust would be good and, more so, because both him and Yoruichi threatened to bug the heck out of me if I didn't. I really hate them sometimes.
I sigh and lean back on the bench, pondering what tortures await me in that god forsaken store. It's not like I don't like them or appreciate all they've done for me, it's just that they love to get on my nerves and I don't' want her to think badly of me. Sure, she accepts my arguments with Rukia, but we didn't start on friendly terms so that's reasonable. There's also the fact that they're crazy and I don't want to weird her out. Ugh, there are just so many things asking to go wrong today, maybe I should just call it off.
"Ohayou, Kurosaki-kun~!" her melodious voice rings out and I bring my gaze around to see her waving as she approaches me. She's wearing a baby blue, ankle length skirt and a soft pink shirt with three quarters sleeves, so different looking from the clothes she wore on the first night or the traditional clothes she wears for work that she doesn't change out of for when she visits me.
"Hey, Inoue." I lazily wave back as I push myself to my feet. "Ready to go?"
"Yep!" her eager reply comes and her eyes shine with an excited light. I can't understand why she wants to meet them so badly, maybe it's because she doesn't know them yet.
"Alright, come on." And I lead her away towards the shop.
We walk in silence for a while before she finally decides to break it. "I like your outfit, Kurosaki-kun."
I look to her in surprise. Her cheeks are a little red. I'm pretty sure this outfit is nothing special, it's just a plain, white t-shirt with a red, short sleeve jacket with black trim and green pants. I've seen guys wearing similar clothing and I just picked my own color scheme. "Um, thanks."
Soon enough, too soon if you ask me, we arrive at the Urahara Shoten. I take a deep, fortifying breath, hoping just a little bit that they're out and forgot to put a sign up. I slide the door open and step through the entryway, tensed and prepared for whatever mischief they've prepared.
"Why, good afternoon, Kurosaki-san!" the ever grinning shopkeeper calls out, sitting at the counter and waving his fan in greeting. Inoue steps into the shop behind me. "And who might your lovely companion be? A girlfriend, perhaps?" he questions as a lecherous smirk works its way onto his face. I heat up, and I'm pretty sure the room does too, in mortification. I've barely set foot in the shop and it's already begun.
"S-shut up, Geta-boshi! She's not my girlfriend!" I yell back. I'm so gonna hear it for stuttering on that.
"W-what?! N-no, we're not… I-I mean he's just…" Inoue splutters, just as embarrassed as I am.
That damn Geta-boshi just laughs his head off and I hear the deep laughs of Yoruichi's cat form join in. I just growl, this is exactly why I considered not bringing her here.
"Just shut the hell up! I agreed to bring Inoue to meet you guys, but if you're gonna be like this, we'll leave!" I yell at them already half turned to walk out the door. I glance at Inoue out of the corner of my eye, noting a shocked look on her face. I know she wanted to meet them, but if they're going to mess with us, I'd rather go somewhere else.
Their laughter dies down a bit. "H-hold on, Kurosaki-san. You know we don't mean any harm." That still doesn't give you the excuse to be so embarrassing. "So this is the girl that's been visiting you for the past three months."
"Um, yes. Inoue Orihime, it's nice to meet you." she replies, bowing with her introduction.
"My, what a polite one you've found. How have you not driven her off yet?" Yoruichi comments. I just growl again.
"Oh! He's not that bad, um…"
"Yoruichi. Shihoin Yoruichi, but please just call me Yoruichi."
"Right! He's not that bad, Yoruichi-san, just a little bit grumpy!" Inoue happily exclaims. I just huff a bit, I've been called worse.
"Ha! Just a little bit! This kid's scowling all the time! I'd say he's a lot grumpy." the feline scoffs back.
"Now, now, Yoruichi-san. Let the girl have her beliefs about our little Kurosaki-san. I'm Urahara Kisuke, by the way, humble shopkeeper and inventor." he introduces with a smile. Inoue smiles back, of course.
"Come, come. We can take this little meeting to one of the back rooms. I'll have Tessai make us some tea." the shopkeeper suggests, gesturing for us to follow to the back rooms. We follow, though I'm still worried about what they might say. Oh well. Guess I signed up for this, even if I didn't want to.
Lying in my futon after a full day, I ponder what I've learned today. Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san were Kurosaki-kun's teachers over a hundred years ago. Urahara-san was exiled from the Gotei 13 for false accusations against him and was able to escape, thus retaining his zanpakuto. Yoruichi-san was also a part of the Gotei 13, though she's a noble yokai, and she helped Urahara-san escape and went into hiding with him. To Kurosaki-kun, they're like an aunt and uncle, even though they tease and annoy him so much.
There are other people at the shoten too. There was Tsukabishi Tessai, Urahara's friend and assistant manager to the shoten. Tessai-san is a very tall man, even taller than Sado-kun! And like Sado-kun, he's super nice and he makes very good tea. He also was exiled with Urahara-san, though he never had a zanpakuto, he was a kido master instead. There's also Tsumugiya Ururu, a quiet girl who Urahara-san picked up a few years ago, and Hanakari Jinta, a fiery young boy with hair the same color as Abarai-kun's who was picked up a little after Ururu-chan. Everyone at the shop is very nice and I feel that I can trust them just like Kurosaki-kun does.
It was nice to meet people that Kurosaki-kun knew and knew him. It made me realize just how much I don't know about him, especially compared to them.
But that's alright, I'll just have to work to get to know him better.
I've made my preparations, tommorow's the day. I'm ready to make my challenge and prove my strength.
I just wanted a cat Ichigo for some reason, for those who don't like it, don't worry I don't think he'll show up like that too much. No guarantees, I write a chapter at a time and just aim for scenes I want in the story, so I have no clue where we're going. I also stole the key thing from Blue Exorcist, except I made it one key for all so they don't have a jingling ring to give them away during fights and stuff. And if you'd like to see Ichigo's outfit for this chapter go to masterqwertster . deviantart art/ Bleach-Chapter-534-Color-Page-Remix- 454440815 (don't forget to remove spaces) to see my remix with the outfit. Feel free to check out the rest of my art while you're there.
Please leave a comment/review to tell me how I did and don't forget to fav/follow.