Waking up to the sound of hard knocking on his door was not something Ichigo would want to get accustomed to. His eyes slowly opened as the knocking intensified and his usual scowl fell into place. Grumbling to himself, he threw his legs off the side of the bed and walked over to the door. Ready to give a piece of his mind to whoever was knocking so loud, he opened the door with a bit more force than he had intended. Whatever he was going to say died when he realized it was Tsunade and Shizune.
The black haired woman was quick to look away with an embarrassed look on her face and a tinge of red on her cheeks. Tsunade however, simply looked down and up before raising an eyebrow.
"I can appreciate a show in the morning but go put on a shirt." She ordered.
"What? Why?" He asked, turning to look at the clock. "It's eight in the morning, and did you have to knock so loud?" He asked with a bit of irritation seeping into his voice.
"We've been knocking for five minutes. Not our fault you weren't waking up." She said with a shrug. "Anyways it's time to win some money." She said, finally answering his first two questions. "You went to make your own money and left me out to dry."
That was true, he had gone on the bounty and left her to her own devices.
"Now hurry up and put a shirt on and let's go or I'll drag you out as you are." She ordered, crossing her arms and giving him a look.
Her words made him think of Ikumi and the multiple times she'd all but dragged him away from places. On more than one occasion when he was out with friends or getting a snack for himself, the woman would show up with a crazed look on her face and proceed to kidnap him and drag him to work. Usually he'd end up with rope tied around his body, and stuffed in the back of her van before being taken to do manual labor with her.
Realizing that he had been daydreaming, he exhaled and nodded. "Fine, just give me a minute." He said as he closed the door.
A moment later he emerged with his usual clothing and Zangetsu on its rightful place along his back.
"Great now let's go." Tsunade ordered. Closing the door behind him, he walked a step behind Shizune.
"You're gonna be gambling with us too?" He asked in a bored tone. There was no other reason she would be tagging along…unless she was there to babysit the older woman.
Shizune shook her head and covered her mouth with her right hand and let out a lengthy yawn. Rubbing her eyes to get a bit of the morning crust out of the corner of her eyes, she responded.
"No, I'm gonna be a lookout for you guys in case people start getting suspicious." She responded. "You know Lady Tsunade doesn't really make the best decisions once you start winning."
Ichigo nodded. He could understand though, the woman wasn't a good gambler so whenever she started winning large amounts of money, the dopamine in her brain was released causing her to want to continue. Still though, that didn't mean the poor girl had to be forced to come along with them if he was there. He had enough sense to know when to quit and move tables.
They exited the inn and walked for fifteen minutes to a new casino Tsunade wanted to go to. This one was much louder than the rest they had visited, even from where they stood a ways down the street. They could hear the sounds of machines at high volumes consuming peoples money at a rapid pace.
Turning around to face them, Tsunade placed her hands on her hips and began to give them the run down. Staring at Ichigo primarily, she began. "Alright. Our best game is cards."
'Our?' Ichigo thought to himself. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he focused on her again.
"So here's our strategy. I'll go in first and play a few tables, and you'll be the cheat that comes in and cleans house." She explained before shooting him a look. With a huff of amusement, she continued. "Pretty much, just be yourself."
Shizune rubbed her forehead at Tsunade's words. The woman really couldn't help but take a shot at the younger man. Even though he'd more than paid them back for how much he'd won off her, Tsunade still childishly went out of her way to remind him that he was a 'conman'.
The only saving grace for her was that Ichigo was above the childish banter most of the time. He'd only been traveling with them for a little bit but already had a pretty solid idea on how to diffuse situations.
"Alright, so I make the money while you lose it." He replied with a look of his own. "Pretty much like any other day then." He shot back, looking very pleased with himself.
Not wanting the bickering to start between the two, Shizune stepped forward past them, pushing the two by the back as she did so.
"Let's just go. I didn't wake up this early to listen to the two of you behave like kids." She chastised.
Tsunade followed along and made her way inside first. Like always, Ichigo waited for a few minutes, stopping by a small stand nearby just casually browsing the selection of goods available. After about ten minutes of waiting, he headed inside, cringing slightly at the volume of everything going on. No matter how many times he'd entered these types of places, he never got used to it.
The only thing louder were the pachinko parlors around the neighborhoods back home. Ichigo couldn't count the number of times Keigo dragged him to one, or he had to go rough up some people fucking up some resting places for spirits.
He made his way to the machines available and sat down to play a few rounds. He'd made sure to sit at a machine where Tsunade's reflection would be visible in the reflection of the glass. Unsurprisingly, he lost every round he played due to the machines being rigged but that didn't really matter.
Keeping his eyes on the woman's back, he waited until five or six more rounds passed before standing up and making his way to the table.
'My turn' He thought.
Taking a seat at one of the two open chairs, he placed a stack of bills on the table and allowed them to be taken and replaced by red chips. Like last time, two cards were placed in front of him and the others, and soon the math began. The next three games that were played went in his favor, racking up quite a bit of chips. The following two were lost on purpose to avoid suspicion.
Tsunade glanced at him but kept a cool face, as if pretending she didn't know him but he knew she was curious as to why he was losing games. Placing two more chips on the table, he asked for a card and held in place. Tsunade did the same but she went over the limit and thus lost once more.
Tossing three chips forward, he asked for cards and began counting mentally. He could win the hand as the ratio was in his favor but he could see the dealer beginning to look at him more. Making it a point not to move his mouth while he counted, he did his best to keep his eyes steady to not give anything away.
He knew too high of a card was coming up and called anyway. As he expected, his hand was too high and to everyone's surprise, Tsunade took the pot. She smirked at the men around her and pulled the chips towards her with a greedy but proud look. Shaking his head at her antics, he casually tossed more chips and continued.
A few more hours and a few more tables later and the chips he'd started with had grown well over five times their size. High denomination chips were in his pocket along with four small stacks on the current table he and Tsunade were playing. She had gone out of her way to make herself look like a challenger against him personally.
Only four bets into the new table, Ichigo stood up and called it a day. Grabbing three of the higher denomination chips, he slid them across the table to the dealer.
"For you."
The shady looking man at the table took a puff of his cigarette and took the chips happily. "A pleasure."
If there was one way to win people over, it was by sharing the profits. Especially when it came to gambling.
After getting cashed out and making sure the bills were safely tucked away, he made his way back to the machines to 'try his luck'. Tsunade stayed at the table, proceeding to lose four games back to back before standing up angrily and leaving. The Shinigami noticed her exiting the building but didn't follow after her.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see a group of men staring in his direction. They watched Tsunade making her way out and then all of their attention was drawn towards him.
'I knew we drew a bit too much attention.' He thought to himself with a bit of annoyance. 'Tsunade can't act to save her life.'
Fortunately after about twenty minutes of losing low stakes bets, the men finally disbursed. Once the eyes were off of him, he left the building and with a Shunpo, he was gone.
Appearing back at the Inn, he walked towards his room, taking a sniff of his shirt hoping it didn't smell too much like tobacco. Opening his room door, he blinked at the sight of Tsunade laying on his bed with her head resting on her hands.
"About time you got here." She said casually, sitting up and crossing her legs.
"How'd you get in my room?" He asked with no real anger.
"I'm a shinobi." She replied as if it was the obvious thing in the world, which around here it would be.
"Right. Stupid question. I guess it doesn't matter, it's not like I have anything of value here." He replied.
Tsunade nodded. "Glad you get it, now how much did we win?" She asked not hiding the giddiness in her voice.
Approaching the bed, he pulled out all the bills he'd accumulated and laid them in neat stacks next to her. Tsunade watched as the man continued pulling more and more banded stacks of bills out with stars in her eyes.
"How much did you lose?" He asked, not stopping his movements. He was aware of the narrow eyed look she shot him and half expected some snarky retort but shockingly she let it drop.
"About twenty thousand." The woman replied casually. While he couldn't be sure about an exact conversion rate, by comparing goods prices here to similar ones back home, he made an estimate as to how ryo translated into yen. If she lost twenty thousand, it wasn't too bad, but how many times had she lost that amount before she met him?
"Have you ever considered maybe gambling isn't for you?"
"I've thought about it, yes. Now how much did we win?" She asked impatiently.
Ichigo placed twenty thousand into her palm and began sorting through the rest of the bills. He separated them placing an even amount to the left and to the right of her.
"We made just over half a million. That's your half right there." He said, pointing to the neatly stacked bills to her left. She scooped the bills up into her hands and counted them with a grin on her face. Anyone who won that much money would be excited so he couldn't blame her, but seeing how happy she was brought forth a question he'd been sitting on for a bit.
"Tsunade." He called out.
Stopping the count, she left her index finger in between a few bills so that she wouldn't lose her place. Nodding her head to the side to move some stray hair, she replied.
"What is it?"
"If you don't mind me asking, exactly how much debt do you owe?"
The question caught her momentarily off guard but she soon began to hum silently to herself. Ichigo saw her lips moving softly, calculating how much she owed. He wasn't a pro at reading lips but he could make out some people's names in there along with a few numbers.
"Somewhere in the range of fifteen million."
His eyes almost bugged out of his head at the number. One would think that after going down into a million, someone would cut their losses and give up but Tsunade had clearly never thought of that.
Keeping that bit of info in his mind, he carefully wrapped the headband around his money and stashed it away in the drawer next to his bed.
"Why don't you just place the money into the scroll you got from Konoha?" Tsunade questioned curiously.
Thinking on his feet, he replied without hesitation. "It's easy to lose a scroll. It's harder to lose a larger bundle like this."
The blond hummed at the response but let it drop. Moving off of his bed she slipped her feet into her heels that rested bedside and walked towards the door, stopping just short of the handle.
"Just so you know, we won't be here much longer."
"We won't?" He questioned. "I thought we had a couple more days? Although that's probably a good idea, some of the people at the casino started watching me after you left."
"We're not leaving for that reason, there's just been a change of plans. I want to relax a little bit so in two days we'll be heading to Yugakure."
Her eyes were fixed on the orange haired man in front of her, scanning for any changes in his facial reactions or tensing of the body. He stopped for a moment and then shrugged in a nonchalant manner.
"I thought you were relaxing here." He commented, taking a seat.
"I was but like you said, they're already watching us. If we show up anywhere together again they'll probably know for certain. Anyways I could use a nice soak in a hot spring. I never got the chance to visit for vacation purposes but now I can." She commented, still trying to find any negative reactions. "Plus, I want to see if the hot springs really are as good as people say."
He nodded and pulled the blanket to the side. "That's fine. I'm sure you'll like it."
"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."
The door opened and closed, leaving Ichigo alone once again. Turning the lights off, he attempted to get some sleep but his eyes shot open within seconds of closing them.
'Fuck' He thought. 'I've never been to Yugakure. They're gonna expect me to know where we're going. Which spots have the best food and what hot springs to visit.'
Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he went over his options rationally. 'I have two days, it's alright. I can visit the library tomorrow.' He shook his head soon after the thought crossed his mind.
'That won't work, if anything it would only give me the names of minor landmarks. Books don't account for things like local spots, shortcuts, and things in between.'
After half an hour of pondering, he came to the conclusion that he would be needing to take a small detour the following day. It was the only option. Having thought up something of a plan, he closed his eyes and tried getting some sleep. He could vaguely smell the light scent of Tsunade enter his nose and he remembered that she had been laying here for who knows how long.
Morning came in the blink of an eye and mercifully, there was no loud knocking on his door this time. Eight oclock was quickly approaching and he knew the ladies would be waking up soon if they hadn't already. Taking a quick shower and grabbing another set of the same clothes he always wore, he walked over to their room.
As his knuckles came in contact with the door, part of him wanted to knock just a bit harder but he refused to fall to Tsunade's level.
Shizune opened the door, dressed in her usual clothing but with an added towel resting on her head for her hair.
"Morning Shizune. Just wanted to let you guys know I won't be around today. I'm gonna take care of another bounty." He informed her.
"Really? Didn't Lady Tsunade tell you we were leaving soon?" She asked.
He nodded. "Yeah she said we are leaving tomorrow, I'll be back later tonight or early tomorrow morning. Also, tell her to please not lose all the money we won."
"I can't promise she'll listen but I'll let her know. Good luck."
With his excuse solidified, Ichigo left the inn and quickly left the town. The surrounding environment blurred by. The trees that surrounded the land of fire quickly disappeared until he reached his destination only a moment later. Ichigo could only wonder what he would do without having the ability to Shunpo. It took a few extra minutes as a result of a couple of wrong turns. He'd never been there and only had what he'd seen from maps but eventually, he made it back on track.
Stopping at a large torii gate that welcomed new arrivals, he took a moment to look around. To his right was a railing that protected people from falling into the large ravine below. There was a body of water that was fed by a large waterfall just a few yards away. On his right was a small souvenir shop that sold minor trinkets that one would get to commemorate their trip.
Directly ahead was a path that went downward into the village itself. Taking a few steps forward, he stopped and took in the admittedly breathtaking sight. In almost all directions he could see a variety of different onsen to choose from. Some had large rock formations that were carefully carved to create certain shapes that matched the design of the onsen. Others were built into rock formations that had natural waterfalls.
Heading deeper into the village, he took note of everything including the smaller stands within small alleys. The sun was high in the sky meaning he had plenty of time to get acquainted with the village and memorize the layout. Picking a random direction, he began walking, looking every bit the tourist he really was.
The hot springs themselves were easy to spot and memorize but there were so many food places it would be hard to keep track of all of them. Perhaps he could say some were new and that's why he didn't recognize them.
Hour after hour passed and Ichigo found himself getting a good feel for the land. He'd taken plenty of laps around the village and for the most part had the biggest onsen committed to memory. Whether they were good or not was another story entirely. He had to stop for lunch at a small restaurant and figured it would be the perfect place to recommend when the time to return came tomorrow.
Every small alleyway that led to another street, he took at least once. Shortcuts had been found and mentally documented, surely adding to the authenticity of his story. Once the sun had begun to descend and its bright yellow rays had been replaced with the burnt orange associated with the sunset, he figured it was time for the final part of his plan.
There was always room for things to go wrong, if he could hedge them now, he'd be in an almost perfect position. On the off chance that the women figured out he'd been here, there would undoubtedly be questions. Some that he would not be able to weasel out of. As much as he wished he could, he could not come up with valid reasons for things like Urahara.
"Young man, you seem lost. Need help finding your way around?" A man who seemed to be in his mid forties asked.
"Oh kind of. Seeing as this is a tourist attraction, is it possible to rent out an onsen for a specified period of time?" He asked.
The man nodded. "It's possible but like you said, it's a tourist attraction so it'll be pricey. If that's no issue for you, might I make a recommendation?"
He nodded.
"If you walk down this street here, and make a left passing the weapons shop, there's an onsen with one of the natural waterfalls. The nice thing is that the water splits due to formations in the rock face so both the men and women's side get their own personal waterfall. Beautiful place."
Ichigo went through the village in his mind, taking the directions he'd been told.
"You're referring to Ikaho?" He asked, naming the onsen he believed they were talking about.
"The very same. Just tell whoever's working today that old man Yamada sent you."
"Old man Yamada huh?" He muttered. Thanking him, he followed the directions given and stepped through the doors of the onsen. There was a woman probably in her twenties behind a small counter reading a book. Looking up, she quickly put it down and put a smile on her face.
"Welcome. Just one?" She asked in her customer service voice.
"Oh no I'm actually looking to rent the place out for a few hours tomorrow. Old man Yamada sent me." He informed her.
Her eyes widened slightly, knowing that it would be an expensive request. Flipping through a large notebook, she trailed her pen over the page while muttering to herself. Her face lit up after a moment.
"You're in luck, there's nothing going on tomorrow. You said Yamada sent you?" She asked. Not waiting for a reply, she continued. "That guy is working even when he's not here." She added with a laugh.
"Rental prices are 15,000 ryo per hour. Do you have an idea of how long you would like? Also, what time would it begin so we can plan accordingly." She asked in a professional tone.
Ichigo tapped his chin in thought. He wasn't sure when they would get here but it couldn't be too late. They'd have to leave rather early to make it at a reasonable time.
"How about from 1 to 5pm."
"Ok so four hours. That'll be 60,000 ryo total. A 25% deposit will be necessary however."
Pulling out the few loose bills he had, he was pleased to see it was just over the necessary amount. Placing 20,000 down, he waited a moment while she filled out the information on two separate papers. All she needed was his name and within another minute, he was on his way.
By the time he was done with everything, the sun had already set. Making his way back up the path towards the front of the village, he let his hand glide across the railing, whistling a soft tune from back home. It wasn't until he finally crossed the torii gate that the whistling stopped. The souvenir stand had closed already and most of the light now came from the village down below.
Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, he remembered how he got there and backtracked his steps. It took a bit longer to make it back due to the darkness of the night. There were no light posts along the way like there was for the people back home so he had to be careful, lest he break through a tree at the crazy speeds he was moving.
Though difficult, he did eventually see the lights of the town in the distance. Crossing through the front gate, he arrived at the inn and walked to his room. He yawned as he opened the door and stepped inside. That was the most walking he'd done since he arrived. Stashing the money and placing Zangetsu against the wall, he walked into the bathroom. He emerged fifteen minutes later in his nightwear consisting of only his boxers and tucked himself under the sheets.
Yesterday's issues had been sorted and this time, he had no problems getting to sleep.
The next morning he was up at the crack of dawn, freshly showered and ready for the day. Gathering all his things, which weren't much, he recounted how much money he had and left three bills out of the stack which was then wrapped up once more. Sitting back down at the edge of the mattress, he took a look through the bingo book, wanting to memorize as many faces as he could.
One never knew when they might run into someone who was worth some money, the incident with Rokusho Aoi proved that. The thought of the Amegakure shinobi made him reach into one of his pockets to pull out the hilt he'd relieved from the man. He almost snickered to himself when he remembered the reactions Tsunade and Shizune had to his treatment of it.
During their dinner he had used it as something of a paperweight to keep his money from being blown off the table. He'd been informed that the blade belonged to the Second Hokage and was a very valuable tool. They had been scandalized at the blatant disregard for it even after knowing who it belonged to.
Knowing that it did belong to her family, he had offered it up to Tsunade. She had been surprised that he was willing to part with it for free, and even more so when she learned he was uninterested in using it at all.
Tucking it back into his pocket, he continued page by page until a knock on his door broke his concentration. Folding the corner of the page belonging to 'Sarutobi Asuma', he closed the book and opened the door.
"Morning." Tsunade greeted. "It's time to go. We're roughly three hours away from Yugakure so we'll walk a little faster than usual. Once we get there we'll stop for a bite and then make our way to the hot springs. We'll be counting on you."
He nodded confidently. With the information he'd gathered yesterday, he would be able to play the perfect tour guide.
Making sure he'd left nothing behind, he closed the door and followed them out of the inn. Having Tsunade leading them out made it a less complicated trip than when he'd gone by himself. She must have traveled around for a while because not once did they get lost in the three hours they walked. That wasn't to say things were uneventful, he did manage to find out one thing about Tsunade.
She had a nickname. One that he never expected. During another one of their arguments about Tsunade losing money while he was gone, Shizune let it slip that she had been nicknamed, 'The Legendary Sucker'. He was partially ashamed to say gambling wasn't the only thing that crossed his mind at the name.
Soon, they once again made it to the same torii gate he'd seen yesterday and Tsunade slowed her pace.
"These are your stomping grounds." She said simply. "We'll take your lead from here. Mind taking us to a good place for lunch?"
Agreeing, he stepped forward to take the lead and walked them down towards the village. He knew where he'd be taking them and also knew that the big streets would get them there in about ten minutes.
'This is where my detour comes in handy.' He thought proudly. Making a sharp left turn towards a narrow alleyway, he motioned them to follow.
"Come on, we can take a shortcut through here." He said confidently. The women glanced at each other and followed shortly behind. Stepping out, they found themselves on the next larger street and watched the orange haired man open the doors to a two story restaurant and looked back at them.
"They have amazing beef here. I'm sure you ladies will love it."
Tsunade hummed and nodded approvingly at the decor of the inside. It really seemed to fit well with the architecture of the rest of the village. The food was a little overpriced but given that they were in a tourist trap, a larger one than the small towns they'd been in, it was to be expected. The trio lounged at their table for a few minutes to let the meal digest some before heading out.
"Alright Ichigo, this place is full of hot springs, which one is the best?" Tsunade asked, placing a hand on her hip.
"Follow me."
A short walk later and they were in front of Ikaho once more, with only a few minutes remaining before their scheduled time. Stepping inside, Ichigo was ready to speak with the same woman from the day before but had to do a double take when he saw Yamada behind the counter.
"Mr Kurosaki." The man greeted joyfully. Ichigo felt his blood run cold, what the hell was he doing here? "I tried finding you yesterday to see if you took my recommendation for the onsen but I'm glad you did"
Tsunade and Shizune turned to Ichigo with narrowed eyes. "What were you doing here yesterday? For that matter, why did you need a recommendation? You said you knew everything about this place." Tsunade asked.
Refusing to lose his cool, he walked up to the counter. "Well, I decided to be a good host so I rented out a place for a few hours for us." He replied, reaching into his pocket to pull the remaining 40,000 he owed.
"As for why I needed a recommendation, I haven't been here for a while now. Some things have changed and I never had to rent one out in the past. I told you if you've been to one onsen, you've been to them all." He replied, once again thinking on his feet.
Yamada's eyes caught the glint of the steel on the headband and a surprised look crossed his face. "I haven't seen one of those in a while." He said, referring to the Yugakure headband.
"I can see why you'd be out of the loop." He continued, unknowingly helping Ichigo's story. "A few of the onsen that were around back during our shinobi days were completely remodeled or renamed after being bought out. Another reason I recommended this one, other than working here, is because it's one of the few that still offer separate areas for men and women."
Tsunade still looked unconvinced but she didn't press the issue further. Ichigo was certain though that sooner or later, his luck would run out and he would have no escape when certain questions were asked.
"Perfect. Thank you for your patronage." Yamada replied with a bow before a sheepish look appeared on his face. "Now I do have one request if you don't mind. Specifically for the sole member of the sannin in front of me."
The blond blinked but wasn't too surprised he knew her. Almost anyone in the shinobi world did by now.
"What is it?"
"Would it be too much to ask for us to take a picture of you in front of our establishment? It would be a boon to our business." He requested. Seeing that she was on the fence, he added "You'll be compensated of course." That was all she needed to hear.
Five minutes later they were led off down a corridor that split behind a blue sign for men and a red sign for women.
"Well, we have the place for the next four hours and I intend to make use of every minute. Come on Shizune." She said before turning to Ichigo. "I'm not sure what the layout of the place is but I'll say it anyway, if you try to peep I'll kill you." She threatened.
Rolling his eyes at the threat, he nodded anyway and walked off to his side.
xxxx
The two women were left alone in the changing room. They could vaguely hear the sound of flowing water from behind the white sliding door that separated them from the actual area. Removing their clothing and neatly folding them, they placed them into a locker provided and wrapped their bodies in white towels. Tsunade did her hair up in a ponytail and opened the door to see what the area looked like.
The water was clear as could be with a light coat of steam rising from the temperature. Rocks lined the perimeter with some of them spewing more water into the large pools. Tall wooden walls surrounded the area and the clear sky above was on full display.
"It's strange seeing a place like this so calm in the day." Shizune commented, stepping beside the woman.
Tsunade nodded. "On any given day it would be full but we're lucky its been rented out for us. Come on, I'm dying to take a dip."
One foot followed the other and soon, her entire body was submerged with the water reaching up above her breasts. The women let out content sighs as any fatigue they may have felt was all but washed away. The bustier of the two reached down and pulled her towel off of her body before rinsing it off and placing it atop her head.
Leaning back against one of the rocks, he leaned her head back and closed her eyes, taking a moment to enjoy the sensation.
"This is nice don't you think?" She asked her younger friend.
"It is. I'm actually surprised Ichigo did this for us. It cost him about 60,000 ryo from what I managed to see on the receipt." Shizune commented.
The mention of the name made Tsunade's eyes snap open. "Yeah me too. Say, Shizune."
"Hmm?"
"Have you noticed there's something…not quite right with our new friend?" She asked slowly, trying to piece together how she would ask what's been on her mind.
Shizune frowned and thought back to everything she knew of the man. "He seems friendly enough. Other than that I haven't really had much of a concern about him. Do you think something's wrong with him?"
Tsunade frowned and shook her head. "I'm not sure. I'm mostly referring to the way his chakra feels. The only way I can describe it is as if he only has Yin chakra." She explained. Ever since they agreed to travel together she'd had that feeling. Something about his chakra just wasn't right.
"I can't say I have but he definitely does have a different presence compared to others. There's also his speed that I'm curious about. He was able to travel to Amegakure and Konoha, then back to us within an hour."
"He said he's just fast but I'm not sure. Then there's his trip here yesterday, he said he was on a bounty hunt but was gone most of the day. If he knew his way around, finding an onsen shouldn't have taken all day. What else could he have done?"
Shizune was silent for a moment before replying, giving Ichigo the benefit of the doubt. "Perhaps he did go on the hunt. He could seemingly go anywhere he wants with his speed, maybe that took his time."
Tsunade was still uncertain, things seemed strange but she didn't get bad vibes from the young man. Having been around as long as she had, she thought herself a good judge of character. Ichigo was a bit rough around the edges but he wasn't a bad guy, she knew that much for sure. Maybe she was being paranoid but even though his reasoning for the things he did had some validity to them, something in the back of her mind still nagged at her.
Sighing, she tried pushing it out of her mind. He'd gone out of his way to book them four hours of what felt like heaven and she was going to enjoy them. Letting her body sink just a little deeper she let herself relax.
On the other side of the wall, Ichigo was feeling the same type of bliss as the two ladies. Having dipped into the water, for a brief moment it felt like he was home. Closing his eyes, he could picture a time when he and his friends had gone to an onsen, having a blast between them.
For half an hour, his body soaked and the warm water absorbed all the built up stress he'd felt over the past few days. Things could have definitely been worse but he was still in a land far away from home. His head snapped up and he stood up quickly as an idea passed through his mind.
With everything that had been going on, he'd forgotten about one thing. Something important that he would do his best to rectify right this second. Making sure his towel was still wrapped around his waist, he ran inside to grab his zanpakuto and made his way back out. He sat on the ground and crossed his legs. Closing his eyes he placed zangetsu on his legs, took calm breaths, and ignored everything around him.
The world seemed to go silent and the light that could still go through his eyelids slowly faded away. The darkness surrounded him before a feeling similar to what one experienced while falling fell over him. Soon, he found himself staring at the large buildings that made up his inner world. The first thing he noticed was the many droplets of rain falling over his being. Looking up, he saw dark clouds overhead as far as he could see.
The sound of rain was the only thing that reached his ears as he walked. It was as if his inner world was devoid of anything other than him. His right ear twitched as the sound of steel clanging against each other reached him. However, just as he took a step in the direction of the battle, everything went quiet.
'Wha…' He didn't even have enough time to think before he felt his body forced into the grip of something alien to himself. The rain intensified and the grip on him began to pull him in separate directions as if playing a game of tug of war with his soul. His body ached but no sound would escape him even as he tried to scream.
The buildings in his sight began to fade, black spots quickly filled his vision, closing off his sight. The tugging continued up until his vision had gone completely black and Ichigo soon found himself back in the onsen.
Zangetsu was on the ground and he was supporting himself with his arms as he stared at the wet ground beneath him. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest and adrenaline pumped through him. He took in large gasps of air, trying desperately to control himself from what he had just experienced. While his body seemed fine, the despair behind his brown eyes could not be missed.
Grabbing Zangetsu, he shakily stood up and placed it against one of the large rocks before letting himself dip back into the soothing warm water. Staring up at the clear sky, he couldn't help but wonder what had just happened.
He'd been expelled from his own inner world and felt like something was fighting for control of him. Steadying his breathing, he let the warm spring water relax his body and soon his heart fell back into rhythm.
For the remaining time that he had, he allowed himself to temporarily forget what had transpired. As concerning as his attempt had been, he wasn't one to quit. He would try again soon, hopefully this time without issues.
When there was only ten minutes left, he stood up and used the shower that was built into the locker rooms to clean himself off. The water had been for him alone but it was just something to do for hygiene.
He waited out front for Tsunade and Shizune to emerge and they looked much happier than they did when they had arrived.
"That was amazing." Tsunade said, stretching her arms over her head. "I haven't felt this good in a long time."
Shizune nodded. "Same here. Thank you for this Ichigo. I'm sure if it had been full, the experience wouldn't have been as pleasant."
He waved off their thanks and led them to an inn to book rooms before they filled up. Fortunately, the top floor of a nearby inn had yet to have any rooms booked and they were able to get two next door to each other. As much as he wanted to lay in bed and one again ponder the events of his inner world, he knew the ladies would be expecting him to walk them around the village.
xxxx
Shutting the door to his room later that night, Ichigo unceremoniously let himself fall face first into the bed and then rolled over onto his back. With a blank look, he stared at the white ceiling and let his thoughts be consumed.
'I know I heard blades clashing. They were there.' He thought with a frown. 'What the hell happened today?'
His eyes focused once more and looked towards the door where a second later, a knock rang out. Knowing it could only be one of two people, he called out.
"It's open."
Tsunade stepped inside, dressed in her usual attire except she lacked her usual green robe. It was the first time he'd seen her without it and he noticed the shirt was actually sleeveless, revealing rather toned arms. He knew she was a medic but it seemed she trained for more than healing.
"Can't sleep?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Haven't tried yet. I just had a thought and decided to come ask you about something."
He stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I was just curious. You grew up here, wouldn't it have been cheaper for us to have just stayed with your family or something? You spent quite a bit on the rental and even paid for lunch. It would've been beneficial to save a bit, don't you think?" She asked in a curious tone.
What happened next was not at all what she'd been expecting. Ichigo's eyes dropped slightly and she could almost feel the depression that rolled off of the young man. The look in his eyes was one that she was all too familiar with, one that came from loneliness and sorrow. Her assumptions were proven correct a moment later when he replied.
"Believe me, I'd have loved that." He began in a sad tone. "My family is gone, Tsunade. My mom died when I was a kid, my dad and two younger sisters I lost not too long ago. I have no one here." He replied honestly. The medic could empathize with the young man as she was in the same boat.
Years had passed for her and in a way she wasn't completely alone since she had Shizune but Ichigo, he had no one. She felt slightly guilty that she had opened up some clearly still fresh wounds.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, taking a seat next to him. This had not gone the way she had expected. Who would have thought that the first time she wouldn't feel anything wrong with him, was when she forced him into a vulnerable state by bringing up his dead family.
She hadn't said it out loud, but she had grown somewhat fond of the man. Through all their bickering and bantering, she couldn't deny that things had definitely looked up since he joined them. Not only did he help her make money, he also proved to be able to hold a decent conversation and never once complained about any of her non gambling related decisions.
Seeing him in a depressed state reminded her too much of herself years ago. The loneliness he was feeling was something no one should go through by themselves. In a moment of compassion, her left arm extended out.
Ichigo was certain his head was about to be squeezed in between her arm once again and most likely led off somewhere.
He was wrong.
Her hand gripped his head and he found it pulled toward her until he collided against something soft. Looking to the side, all he could see was the gray color of her shirt and side of her breast he was being pressed against. It wasn't lost on him that this was the second time this exact thing had happened to him. Ikumi had done the same when she saw him in a similar state.
"I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories." She muttered in a soft tone.
He allowed himself to relax and enjoyed the feeling of having someone try to comfort him. Even if she didn't know the entire story, he definitely appreciated the act.
