• • •
"Stupid Urahara…" I seethed, pulling on a pair of comfortable yoga pants and complementing tank top. "I go by to see him and he's not there! What in the world could that man be up to?!"
"You called~?"
"Gah!" I yelled, jumping at the sound of that voice. Hand held to my heart, I looked around for the owner. "Urahara! Don't sneak in through my window! That's what the front door is used for!"
"Aw, but it's no fun that way~!" Urahara mused, laughing as he hid his goofy grin behind his fan.
"Che, what'll my neighbors think if they see you climbing up to my window and sneaking in?!" I exclaimed, rushing over to the window and tugging him inside. I stealthily looked outside, trying to see if there were any nosey humans looking around. Luckily, I didn't see any nosy people.
"Ah, you shouldn't phrase it like that, Jun-Kun." Urahara grinned, "You make it sound like we're about to do something dirty~!"
"Only you'd take it that way." I stated with an emotionless voice, rolling my eyes as Urahara pretended to pout. "Anyways, what are you doing sneaking into my apartment at night? That's a bit too shady, even for you."
"Did you say that you were looking for me?" Urahara asked, beginning to get serious; finally.
"Well…yeah." I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest. "I stopped by the shoten earlier and Tessai said that you were out. Ever since you tampered with my limiter the day before, I've been having a really hard time sensing reiatsu. I can barely sense Ichigo's, and I know he gives off a ton." I shook my head, exhaling. "I feel more restricted that normal. So, can you tweak it again? This just doesn't feel right. I feel like I can't even control my own reiatsu."
"Hm," Urahara hummed, cutting his gray eyes to the side.
"Urahara? What's going on?" I asked, confused. "You're acting stranger than usual."
"It looks like you have mail." He stated, his eyes zeroing in on an envelope that was on my desk.
"Huh?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows as I looked over to whatever it was he was looking at.
Indeed, there was an envelope sitting on my desk. How had I not noticed that before? The white envelope seemed to glow compared to the dark wood of my desk; especially with a thin stream of moonlight filtering in through the window.
It only took a few quick paced steps to make it over to my desk; after all, my apartment wasn't the largest in the world.
'Thank you for everything'
"Huh?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows as I took in the writing on the cover of the envelope. It was easy to recognize the writing as Rukia's; it also helped that she had drawn one of her favorite rabbits as well. After all, she's loved Chappy for as long as I could remember. That's why, whenever she tried to illustrate something, she drew it in terms of that rabbit. "This is from Rukia. But, why would she randomly give me a letter?"
Blinking, I shrugged to myself.
It couldn't hurt to open up the letter and see what it had to say. Besides, what she wrote on the front disturbed me. She made it sound like she was leaving.
As I slid my finger under the flap, I froze.
Something wet was trickling down my neck.
Raising my hand to see what it was, I could only register that it was growing darker. I was vaguely aware that my vision was blurring; beginning to slowly fade.
"Wha..?"
I was engulfed in darkness.
• • •
[Urahara Kisuke's P.O.V.]
"Forgive me, Junko."
I easily caught the falling teenager in my arms; to me she seemed to be falling in slow motion. Of course, I expected her to fall. After all, I planned for it to happen.
Carefully, I sat her down on the couch.
Well, at least she looked peaceful now.
I know that I'll pay for this later, anyway, when she wakes up in a few hours.
Shinten [Shock Point] was useful in situations like these. It was similar to a tranquilizer; however it only worked on those with lower spiritual pressures. It only worked on Junko now because I had tampered with her reiatsu the other night.
Sadly, all of this was necessary.
Soul Society had sent Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji to collect Kuchiki Rukia. I had a feeling that they would search for Junko as well, which is why I suppressed as much of her reiatsu as I could. I couldn't have her fighting them off… No, not yet.
This was Kurosaki Ichigo's wake up call.
He would see just how strong those from the Soul Society are. Then, he'd go with Junko back to the Soul Society and save Kuchiki Rukia.
At least, that's what I planned.
I just hope that I have properly accounted for all of the variables in this situation.
I would owe a lot to Ichigo and Junko.
And to the rest of the Soul Society.
• • •
[Kokawa Junko's P.O.V.]
"Mm," I groaned, furrowing my eyebrows as I tried to force my eyelids even closer together.
All I knew is that my head was seriously pounding. This was probably the worst headache that I had ever had. It was so bad that I could feel the pain throbbing throughout my entire body with each heartbeat.
A soft sigh escaped my lips as I felt something cool press to my forehead; I could also feel warm fingers stroking my cheek. Exhaling once more, I forced my eyes to open. Wincing at the bright sunlight streaming in through a window, I had to let my vision slowly adapt to my surroundings.
"Jun-Chan, are you feeling better now?"
"A little bit," I nodded, softly smiling as I looked up at the small dark haired girl. "Thank you for looking after me, Ururu."
"It was nothing." Ururu shook her head, lightly blushing. "I'm always glad when I can help Jun-Chan."
Slowly sitting up, I placed my hand on Ururu's dark hair. Gently ruffling it, I smiled down at her. "Thank you, Ururu."
"This is for you; I don't think that you've had the chance to read it, because it's still unopened." Ururu quietly said, gesturing to the envelope from last night that was sitting on my other side.
"Ah, that's right." I nodded, wincing a bit as that further aggravated my pounding headache. "I remember Urahara coming over to my apartment. He was acting shadier than usual. He pointed out the fact that I had this letter… Then I don't remember anything else."
"Well, Tencho [store owner/boss; this is how Ururu refers to Urahara] brought you back here last night. He also brought back Kurosaki-San." Ururu said, looking me straight in the eyes.
"Ichigo? He's here? Why?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows as I threw the covers off of my body.
"I think that letter explains everything," Ururu murmured, looking down at the envelope once more. "And Tencho will explain everything else to you after you read it."
"Thanks," I spoke, grabbing the envelope. Ururu nodded, gathering her bowl full of cool water and the washcloth that she had used for my head.
As Ururu exited the room, I slid my finger under the edge of the envelope, pulling the letter from the inside.
"Of course," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I opened it. "You never did make things easy, Rukia…"
Rukia left her message for me in a code; using the clue that she provided, I was supposed to weed out the extra characters that she had stuffed into her words.
Let's see…
She left a weird looking drawing for my clue… but, what was that supposed to be? A badger? A raccoon?
It was a raccoon! So, all I had to do was remove the extra characters that spelled the word out. Raccoon was 'tanuki,' so she wrote her message in-between the characters 'ta,' 'nu,' and 'ki.' So, let's see what that left me with…
Junko.
I want to thank you for everything. But, I have to ask that you do not come looking for me. Please, don't worry about me. I want you to go into hiding; I believe that it's only a matter of time before Soul Society comes looking for me…and I don't want you dragged into this. Burn this letter after you read it. If you can, I want you to take Ichigo and go into hiding. He probably doesn't understand the severity of the situation.
Please, do as I ask.
-Rukia
"Damn it!" I seethed, eye twitching as I read through the letter, "Rukia, you are so stupid! I can't believe you'd do this!"
My fist closed around the letter in anger, so I wadded the letter up. Tossing it behind me, I stood up. If I had to hunt her down, then so be it.
But first…
Urahara had some explaining to do..!
I paused in front of the mirror that was in the room. I raised my tank top up, exposing my stomach. I twisted around, trying to get a nice view of the tattoo on my lower back.
Urahara! He still hadn't fixed it!
That's why I felt as weak as I did!
"Urahara!" I exclaimed, yelling as I ran out of the room. I could faintly sense his reiatsu, but it was all around because this was his house.
Growling, I slid open all of the doors that I could.
"There you are! Urahara, fix it now!" I yelled, throwing back the sliding door to one of his spare rooms. Urahara was standing near the doorway; he captured my soul attention.
"Uh oh," Urahara gulped, spotting my furious expression.
Hissing like an angry cat, Yoruichi would be proud, I pulled my tank top over my head and threw it at Urahara. "Now!"
"J-J-Jun..!" Ichigo sputtered, face visibly darkening as his eyes widened. He'd just seen me pull my shirt off, glaring at Urahara. I was wearing a sports bra, so it's not like I was just walking around in a regular bra… Then again, I do remember Tatsuki telling me how much of a prude Ichigo was.
"Well, this does look a bit naughty~." Urahara mused, as he reached down and picked up my tank top.
I blushed myself at his teasing words, but I still managed to keep the glare on my face. "I don't care! I want you to fix what you've messed with!"
Turning around, I pointed to the larger than ever tattoo scrawled across my whole lower back. My simple…tramp stamp…now reached across from side to side.
"About that," Urahara sighed, "I did that so you wouldn't get involved in the situation last night. I can easily set it back; in fact, to make it up to you, I'll release even more of your reiatsu than before I tampered with it last time."
Ichigo sat there, gaping up at the tattoo that covered most of my lower back. Of course, it wasn't always so large. Only two days ago, when Urahara messed with it, it grew to this size.
Sighing, Urahara trudged over to my side. Under his breath he chanted the words to undo the seal; however, he only said a bit of the incantation. He wasn't undoing the whole seal, but he was releasing half of my reiatsu from the thing. Reiatsu focused to his fingers, seemingly forming flames at the tips. With a swift movement, he jerked them into the seal.
Sighing in relief, I felt my reiatsu fluctuate. I could hear Ichigo gasp at the density of it as it released, so I quickly took it back under my control.
"Thanks," I muttered, craning my neck so I could try and see the tattoo. "I feel better already. Much better than I did before."
"Yeah, I would imagine so." Urahara nodded, "You now have back fifty percent of your original reiatsu. You remember how to undo the full seal, if the circumstance is right, correct?"
"Mhm, I still remember." I nodded, smiling as I saw the now moderately sized tribal skull tattoo that only took up half of the space that it did before. "Although I hope that I won't have to release it any time in the near future."
Ichigo, still cherry red, grabbed my tank top from Urahara's slackened grip. His eyes narrowed in my direction as he chucked it at me, successfully hitting my chest with it. "P-Put your shirt on, woman!"
"Che," I rolled my eyes, "You're such a prude. Normally guys would go crazy to see a girl with her shirt off. I know Keigo would."
"That's Keigo!" Ichigo yelled, his blush not fading as he looked me straight in the eyes; his gaze wouldn't stray lower than that. "Some guys have standards..!"
"If you say so," I muttered, shaking my head. "Just don't tell Karin about this; you'll have her worrying more than before."
"Shut up!" Ichigo exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring off to the side. He then took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "What's with that scary looking tattoo anyway?"
"Scary looking tattoo?" I echoed, raising an eyebrow as I pulled my tank top on once more. "I suppose some would find it scary. But it's the same skull that's on the glove that Rukia had. Besides, it's more of a seal than a tattoo."
"It's fuinjutsu." Urahara spoke up, grinning at the blank expression on Ichigo's face. "Better known as a sealing technique. We can control the amount of reiatsu that Jun-Kun radiates with that seal."
"Mhm," I hummed, nodding along. "I had so much reiatsu as I kid that I attracted many Hollows. It took a while for me to learn how to control a large portion of it, so Urahara sealed the rest away."
"You're saying that you weren't at even half of your normal power this whole time?" Ichigo questioned, an incredulous look on his face.
"Yeah," I nodded, grinning in his direction. "If I'm guessing correctly, Urahara only let about thirty percent of my normal reiatsu filter through. So, I was lacking eighty percent of my reiatsu."
"Monster!" Ichigo muttered, eyes widening.
I laughed at his expression, rolling my eyes.
"By the way, how are you? You look all banged up." I mused, motioning for him to follow me and Urahara to the main room.
"Kurosaki-San is fine." Urahara said, grinning down at me. "Tessai did a great job bandaging him up and healing most of his wounds. However starting now, at every interval of an hour, I want you to take this pill." Urahara said, turning to Ichigo and pulling a pill from a bottle. "By dinner time, you'll be pretty much recovered from your injuries. We'll start your tutoring session at that time. We don't want you to die in the middle of training, now do we?"
"Hey, why is there a skull drawn on the bottle…" Ichigo muttered as Urahara shoved the bottle in his face and swung it around.
"Urahara's like that." I shrugged, rolling my eyes. "I think it also helps mark the merchandise that's not for humans."
"Makes sense," Ichigo muttered, narrowing his eyes at the bottle as he took a pill and dry swallowed it.
"Jun-Kun, I trust you'll be off training as well?" Urahara asked, lightly fanning himself as he observed us from the corner of his eye.
"Of course," I nodded. "I've probably gotten rusty. It's been a long time since I've had a decent training and have released my Zanpakuto. How long do I have? 'Cause I was thinking about looking into something else as well…"
"I'll be training Kurosaki-San for ten days. Then, I'll need seven more days to prepare to open the door to the Soul Society." Urahara explained.
"Seventeen days total?" I asked, eyes widening. "Will we really have enough time to get to Rukia?"
"You should have thirteen days. Soul Society usually allows a month's grace period for the maximum penalty of a convicts execution." He answered, shrugging. "That should be enough time for you guys to find Rukia."
"Alright," I sighed, nodding. "That should be enough time; especially if you think so."
"Of course~." Urahara mused, smiling at the two of us. "So, until then, the two of you should go to school. It's the last day today, right?"
"Yeah," Ichigo sighed. "At least that was timed right. We won't have to worry about missing school work while we train and go to the Soul Society…"
"It's almost too perfect." I agreed, sighing as well. I just wanted to miss school.
"You both better hurry. You'll need to change into your uniforms." Urahara noted, observing our clothing. "And my, my~! What a pair you'll make walking down the streets together like that."
Ichigo and I immediately straightened up, glaring at the shop keeper.
"I mean, you're both in sweats. It looks like the two of you are coming back from doing the hanky panky~!"
"URAHARA!"
• • •
At school, nobody remembered Rukia.
Another kid sat in her seat. Everyone was in their own cliques; I didn't hear anyone asking about where Rukia was. It was quite…disheartening.
Class passed by quickly.
"So, I think that's about all I had to cover today." Ochi-Sensei mused, before shooting a grin towards us all. "Well, so it's summer vacation, remember to flake off your homework; except for today's Japanese lesson! When you're partying, you have to be a little immoral for it to become a good memory~!"
Teachers really say things like that?
I giggled, smiling at the grin stretching across our teacher's face.
"Okay, everyone! Try to stay alive until September!" Ochi-Sensei exclaimed, "Class is over; you're free to go."
"Jun-Chan~!" Orihime cooed, skipping over towards my desk with a huge grin on her face. "I've finally picked out our music!"
"Music?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"
"Tatsuki-Chan and I finally picked out something to sing together. Remember? For the festival?" Orihime questioned, slightly furrowing her eyebrows as well and pouting at my ignorance.
"Ooh." I said, feeling the light bulb above my head suddenly light up. "That music; so, what'd you guys choose?"
"Here it is!" Orihime beamed once more, withdrawing a CD from her back and handing it to me. "Listen to it and tell us what you think. I really like it, and Tatsuki thinks it's good, too! I've even started coming up with some dance moves!"
"Dancing?" I asked, eyes widening. "I thought we were just singing together?"
"Yeah! I mean, this makes it so much more fun! Why not go all out and have fun while we're at it?" Orihime questioned, "Besides, this is gonna be so much fun!"
"Alright," I sighed, safely tucking the CD into my bag. "I'll listen to it and everything. I'm assuming there are enough parts for us all to sing, right?"
"Well, it's mainly divided between the two main singers. That'll be you and me. Tatsuki-Chan's going to sing the backup vocals and harmonize. See, we've got it all planned out!"
"Haha, that sounds good." I laughed at her enthusiasm. "I'll listen to it sometime later on tonight and give you a call."
"GAAAAAH~!"
Both Orihime and I jumped at the sound of the scream, looking around the classroom for whoever released it.
Keigo.
"It's 'crack open the watermelon,' not 'crack open Keigo'~!" Keigo wailed, his hands flying to the crack on his skull that was squirting blood. Ichigo was blindfolded and holding a bat.
Before I knew it, we were all being ushered outside; not by Ochi-Sensei, but by Keigo. When I say everyone, I mean everyone: Tatsuki, Michiru, Orihime, Mizuiro, Chad, Ichigo, and myself.
"Watermelon, inner tube, beach ball, beach parasol, suntan oil, surfboard, and…bathing suit~!" Keigo rambled on, somehow pulling said items out and showing us all.
"Why does he have a bikini top as a bathing suit?" I questioned Ichigo, eyes wide from confusion.
Said strawberry's scowl only deepened a bit, and he shook his vibrant orange head.
"This is what summer is all about! Summer means the ocean! Thus I, Asano Keigo, am proposing a co-ed, ten day trip to the ocean~!" Keigo exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. Somehow, he had managed to change into a Hawaiian shirt which put me in the mind of Chad. "Fireworks, the test of courage, and even mixed hot spring baths! We have many plans to guarantee your enjoyment! Yeah, yeah! This summer's travelling agent is Keigo; at your service!"
"Sorry," Ichigo said, putting his hand up. "I have no space in my schedule, so I'm passing on this one."
"What did you say?!" Keigo yelled, a vein throbbing on his forehead as he screamed. Even his eyes seemed to be about ready to pop out of their sockets.
Well, at least we know that Keigo's being super intense this time.
"Yeah, sorry." Ichigo said, backing up from his so called friend. "I still can't go no matter what you say."
"Sorry, Keigo, but I can't go either." I spoke up, biting my lip.
"You too, Jun-Kun?!" Keigo wailed, turning to me with a crestfallen look.
"Sorry… I'm also kinda…" Orihime began, sheepishly looking off to the side.
"I can't go because boys are going." Tatsuki bluntly stated.
"If Orihime-Chan, Tatsuki-Chan, and Junko-Chan aren't going then I can't…" Michiru sadly said.
"Me too…" Chad rumbled, "Count me out this time…"
By this point, Keigo was reduced to tears. He slowly turned his head, looking at his only friend that had yet to speak up.
"Ah!" Mizuiro said, smiling as he pulled a snorkel from his bag and put it on. "And I'm going snorkeling tomorrow!"
"You bastard!" Keigo yelled, gripping onto Mizuiro's shirt and wailing.
"Hey! How come you're only like this to me?!" Mizuiro whined.
"Who are you going with?!" Keigo demanded, shaking the poor teen. "Are you going with that older woman?! Tell the truth!"
"N…No! I wish!" Mizuiro answered, "Actually, I'm going with Mari-San and her nine girl friends! Altogether, eleven of us are going!"
Of course, that set Keigo off.
Not wanting to hear Keigo screaming anymore, I turned to all of my friends and waved. So they wouldn't say anything, I nimbly put a finger to my lips, winking at them as I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder.
"Why the long face, Ichigo?" I asked, hearing his footsteps as he walked beside me. I wouldn't say that he looked sad; more like, he looked deep in thought. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"I feel odd." He bluntly stated, staring straight ahead. "Nothing seems out of place. Even without Rukia, the world just keeps on going."
"Well, yeah. Rukia wasn't originally from here." I said, feeling my eyes soften as I thought about where she could possibly be right now.
We walked on in silence for a few moments, until Ichigo caught my attention.
"Inoue?" He asked, causing me to look up to see Orihime on the street in front of us, clutching onto her school bag. "What's up, Inoue? Is something wrong?"
Orihime tore her gaze from Ichigo for a second to look at me. After meeting my gaze for a few seconds, she turned back to the strawberry. "Where's Kuchiki-San? Why did everyone suddenly forget about Kuchiki-San? I thought…somehow, you two would know."
"Orihime…" I muttered sadly, running over to the auburn haired girl. I stared up at her, gently taking her hand and tugging her over to a nearby stairwell. "We owe you an explanation."
• • •
"I see…" Orihime muttered, after listening to us explain everything. "She returned to where she came from… And so, you'll both be going to rescue her."
"Hm? Yeah, yeah." Ichigo said, before turning to Orihime with a fake smile plastered on his face. I couldn't hold back my grimace as I saw how forced it was. "You know, I'm really surprised! I had no idea that you could see us at all. If I knew, then…"
"So what do you think you're doing?" Orihime asked, looking straight ahead and away from Ichigo's creepy fake smile. "Kuchiki-San's originally from that world. Her family, her friends…aren't they all there too? When you rescue her, what are you going to do when it happens again? Are you going to take her away from her family and friends and drag her back here again? Do you think that is the right thing to do?!"
My eyes widened at Orihime's speech.
Did she really just tell us off?
"…That's…" Ichigo began, looking down at his hands; he couldn't find the right words to speak.
"Surprised?" Orihime asked, standing up and looking at the sky.
"…" Ichigo was speechless as he looked up at Orihime with a deadpan stare. "Huh?"
"I already know!" Orihime laughed as she spun around and faced us. "Even if I scold you two like this, you both have your minds set!"
Orihime winked at me, ushering me to join her. Grinning, I stood up and walked over to her side.
"Kurosaki-Kun, you'd just scowl like always!" Orihime giggled.
"And I'll demonstrate as Orihime explains~!" I giggled as well, awaiting her instructions. I really wanted to see if I could replicate his trademark scowl.
"You'd pucker up your lip," Orihime explained, watching as I puckered my lip. "Scrunch up your chin," this was a bit more difficult, but I managed. "Cross your arms," this was easy. "And then with a haughty pose…"
"As long as you're alive, you'll always have a chance at meeting your family! It's when you're dead that ya can't!" I finished for Orihime, striking my so called 'Glaring Strawberry' pose. I saw Ichigo gaping at me, while Orihime laughed. I couldn't hold the scowl any longer, so I had to drop it. Smiling, I turned to Ichigo. "That's how I think you'd answer!"
Orihime nodded, "That's how the Kurosaki-Kun I know would answer."
Ichigo's gaze softened at us, as we both continued grinning.
"So go save her!" Orihime beamed, "Fight! I'll be cheering for you! Both of you! I don't want either of you to die either!"
Ichigo's hand on his lap curled into a fist as he silently rose from his seat. "Thank you… Inoue, Jun!"
Before I could blink, Ichigo's hand curled around my wrist; his school bag in his other hand. He nodded down at me, smirking as he spun around and began to run up the steps, taking me with him.
"See you later, Orihime!" I called out, smiling over my shoulder as I waved goodbye to her.
"Yeah…" I heard her softly say, "Please, be careful you two…"