Author's Note: Last chapter was Thursday night for Yuzu. I'll probably make times clearer in future edits.
Friday afternoons were normally a time of celebration for Keigo and his friends. Today he was slouched in his seat, unable to pry his focus off Ichigo's empty desk next to him, while Ochi-sensei droned on about linear algebra standards for the end-of-year exams. Keigo had taken the day off yesterday for the memorial, missed out on… not that much, honestly. This heat wave was no environment to learn in, anyways, although today was cooler.
Cool enough that sadly none of the girls had any blouse buttons undone. Tatsuki had her jacket on, the good student she was. Orihime was only in a blouse. A few other girls even wore stockings, which weren't so much appealing to Keigo's tastes. He liked bare skin. Tattoos, no thanks.
Chizuru, that sexy redhead, and Michiru, that adorable brunette, both hadn't attended the memorial. Not invited. They and Ichigo had been friends but not that close. Classroom acquaintances, more like, similar to most others in this class. Everyone here had written condolences on Monday; the whole school had taken a minute of silence. And now, Friday afternoon, pretty much everyone had forgotten that a student named Ichigo Kurosaki had ever existed. Life was moving on.
Soon enough rang the bell, and the class was dismissed. Keigo slung his backpack over his shoulder and waltzed right out, Mizuiro a few footsteps behind. It was a sea of gray outside in the basketball courts leading to the front gates. Chatter was as loud as usual, not one mention of Ichigo passing by Keigo's ears while he was wading past cliques. Only laughter. Only guys joking around, throwing balls. Everyone was moving on.
Ichigo would want everyone to forget about him, not mope about.
Yet Keigo was being all sappy over his dead buddy. And he still didn't know exactly what happened that night. Some kind of freak barbecue accident? That didn't even make any damn sense.
"Did you hear me?" Mizuiro asked.
Keigo's brows lifted. "What's up?"
"Wanna go to the pool? I heard the girls are practicing till late. I've got my new camera." Mizuiro's grin was ear-to-ear, forced.
That did cheer up Keigo, a little. "Sure, we'll say we're with the school magazine."
"Great idea. It might not even have to be a lie."
Keigo scratched his head. "I dunno, Ochi-sensei saw through us last time, maybe we should…." he trailed off, his train of thought crashing into a pair of golden eyes in the bushes.
A black cat.
Its eyes narrowed, as though sizing up prey. There were a lot of rats and mice around school. Feral cats weren't uncommon. But black cats were unlucky, according to Mom. They showed up either right before times of hardship or times of great prosperity. An old family superstition, passed down from grandmother to granddaughter. One of many superstitions. Many in the extended Asano family were into the supernatural, Keigo included. Ichigo had sworn he could see ghosts, and Keigo could swear that he had seen a couple too. They had weird chains attached to their chests. There was a real chance that Uryu could be right about Shinigami existing.
The cat kept staring at him.
"Hey little kitty," Mizuiro said, "are you hungry?"
And then the cat said, "No, but thank you for asking." Its voice was that of a teenage boy's, but its accident was...
So this was what a mental breakdown felt like. Hilarious.
Keigo pointed. "Hehe, a talking cat."
"You heard it too?" Mizuiro looked at him.
Keigo's chuckles ceased. "Yeah, the cat said no, but thank you for asking."
Mizuiro nodded. "This cat has to be a mutant or something. I wonder what its IQ is."
"My name is Yoruichi," the cat said. "I assure you I am not a mutant. My IQ, according to my good friend, is one-hundred and twenty-seven, plus or minus three."
"Wow, you're one smart cat, Yoruichi," Mizuiro said, playing along.
Keigo looked around to make sure they weren't drawing attention. They already had reputations of being perverts. Adding crazy-delusional to that wasn't going to help. Fortunately, most students had already hurried off; dark clouds were invading from the north. The sun was a dim whitish-yellow splotch above countryside hills.
"I'm going to be blunt," Yoruichi said.
"About?" Keigo blurted.
"Your future. You are standing at a cross-roads." Indeed they were, on the corner outside the school gate. Again those golden eyes narrowed. With more authority and volume, Yoruichi said, "The road to the left leads to your homes and a normal Human life. The road to the right leads to pain and pleasure beyond your wildest imagination."
Mizuiro hunched over, asking, "What do you mean by pain and pleasure?"
Keigo checked his own pulse, waved fingers in front of his eyes, pinched his cheek hard enough for it to hurt a ton. He didn't wake up.
"I assume Uryu Ishida told you about Shinigami yesterday."
"Yeah," Keigo said reflexively, "he said we're going to be Shinigami one day. Our destiny."
Mizuiro added, "He also said they have a big secret he could get in trouble for telling."
"And what is this secret?" Yoruichi asked.
Mizuiro shrugged. "He wouldn't tell us what it is."
"Follow me if you want to know." Yoruichi ran through the bushes, down the street, as fast as a bicycle.
Mizuiro was already running.
"Hey, wait up!" Keigo called, bolting into action. He couldn't believe he was suddenly chasing a talking cat. To be precise, Mizuiro was chasing a talking cat. Keigo was making sure his friend didn't end up getting run over by a speeding truck. It could happen. The cat was leading them downhill, downstream, across the river bridge, into an industrial zone. Warehouses and silos and cement trucks were death traps for nosey teenagers; there had been a couple deaths within the last several years. Trespassers were punished harshly.
Track-running classes turned out to be useful. By the time Yoruichi stopped in an alley between warehouses, Keigo estimated he had ran over three to four miles total, probably a lot more. He gripped his knees, his lungs on fire. His pulse was a drum in his ears.
Others were running behind him.
Chad. Orihime and Tatsuki.
Chad slid to a stop, hardly exerted. "We saw you two running."
"Thanks, mister obvious," Tatsuki said between breaths. "Keigo. Mizuiro. You two better have a good reason for dragging us—"
"Good, you're all here," Yoruichi purred, "that's very lucky." The cat's tone said that this may have been all planned. IQ one-twenty-seven. Smart cat indeed.
"Wow, a talking cat," Orihime said. "Hello, what's your name?"
Mizuiro explained: "This is Yoruichi. He says he knows about Shinigami and their big secret. Something about pain and pleasure, did I hear right, Yoruichi?"
"You did," Yoruichi said. "Is anyone uninterested?" Yoruichi's eyes swept through the group of teenagers. "Alright, head in."
"Head in where?" Tatsuki asked, glancing left and right.
Yoruichi then pawed through the warehouse's wall as though concrete were thin air.
No pause, Chad also stepped through.
Then Tatsuki, followed by a reluctant Orihime and a more-reluctant Mizuiro, which left Keigo alone in the alley. A truck rumbled by, and he swallowed a lump of ice in his throat before going in with his left-hand fingers leading. He stepped onto white ceramic tiles. Fluorescent lights on a high ceiling were dim beige.
Keigo's eyes magnetized onto a pretty blonde girl sitting on a red velvet couch. She was dressed in Karakura High's uniform, a size too small; she had to wear it with the top button undone, the blouse leaving two inches of her stomach uncovered. Her breasts were small. Her legs were thin. A petite little vixen. Her chocolate eyes momentarily looked up from the magazine in her hands. She was sucking on a pink lollipop oh so suggestively.
Keigo's whole body, from toes to the top of his head, was heating up in depraved desire. He needed her. He needed her more than anything else, this naughty little temptress. She knew exactly what she was doing, wearing a uniform far too small for her. And he had to stop himself from walking over to her. He adjusted posture to hide the enlarging bulge in his pants. It had been over a week since his last happy-hour.
"Make yourselves at home," Yoruichi said. "There are drinks in the fridge."
Orihime and Tatsuki helped themselves. Inside the fridge waited an assortment of fizzy sodas, sparkling water, and alcohol bottles. The girls chose sparkling water. "Thank you, Yoruichi," Orihime said, and Tatsuki mumbled in tandem.
Chad sat on a stool.
Keigo sat on an adjacent couch, not willing to risk sitting next to the blonde girl, who looked at minimum a couple years younger than himself. Her short pigtails were the epitome of cuteness. Come to think of it, she was the cutest girl he had ever seen. He could take her right here, up against the wall, fuck her senseless, and damn the repercussions. It would be worth it.
Mizuiro had grabbed a foam cup, dispensed some water, and he sank into a beanbag, also hiding an erection by the looks of it.
The blonde girl looked at Keigo. Her eyes were mesmerizing.
She stood up, tossed aside the magazine.
Arteries behind his eyes swelled as she skipped over to him—Keigo Asano of all people. She sat down next to him, her bare leg almost touching him. She smelled of strawberries, delicious like the rest of her. Was this really happening? If he was comatose in hospital, then he didn't wish to wake up from this dirty dream just yet. A couple more hours was all he asked for. A whole night would be ideal.
"I'm Hiyori," the blonde girl said.
Keigo tried speaking in a man's voice: "Keigo. Keigo Asano."
Hiyori snickered at that, mocking. Naughty girl.
As Tatsuki and Orihime sat on the vacated couch, regarding the blonde girl with suspicious looks, Yoruichi spoke: "I've brought you five here because Ichigo and his family are in danger. As his friends, you have the right to step in—"
"What danger?" Tatsuki asked.
"Please have patience, there is much to discuss." Yoruichi hopped over to Chad. "As his friends and future Shinigami, you have the right to step into the affairs of Soul Society. But know this, you may not like what you find on the other side." Yoruichi jumped onto the couch, sat by Orihime. "By you, I'm mainly talking to you, Orihime and Tatsuki."
"Me?" Orihime said errantly. "Why me?"
"What do you mean?" Tatsuki slowly asked.
Keigo perked straight. The back of his hand touched Hiyori's bare leg. His heart palpitated. She ignored it. An innocent accident.
"Pass my test," Yoruichi said, "and I will tell you. If you fail, or if you choose to leave, and you may leave at any moment, then you are not ready for what Soul Society holds for you."
"And what's your test?" Tatsuki asked.
Yoruichi's head tilted in a challenging way. "Take off your uniforms. For the rest of this meeting, you will be naked. You may not cover yourselves."
Tatsuki choked on sparkling water.
Orihime's eyes were bigger than tea cups.
Chad talked to himself: "This high-IQ cat told my friends to take off their clothes. Did someone drug me? Am I back in Mexico?" His fingers waved in front of his face.
Meanwhile, Keigo was convinced he was indeed in a comatose dirty dream. Please don't end. Please don't end. Just a few more hours. That, or he had descended into madness over Ichigo's death.
Tatsuki sprang onto her feet. "Like hell I will!" She pointed at Keigo. "Did this perv put you up to this? This sick joke?!"
"No," Keigo squeaked.
"We didn't," Mizuiro said, tomato-faced.
"Shut up!" Tatsuki barked at him, then to Yoruichi: "So, did he? Did he blackmail you or what?"
Yoruichi landed on the dining table, and said in a quiet voice, "Nothing which I've said so far is a joke or the result of blackmail. You may leave if you wish."
"Then fine," Tatsuki spat. "Orihime, we're out of here."
"Ichigo. And his family." Orihime was blushing, looking at her school shoes. "They're in danger. And us five? We could help?"
"Yes," Yoruichi said.
"And getting naked in front of these boys is all it takes to pass this test?" A smirk emerged. Orihime brushed hair out of her eyes.
"Yes."
Orihime stood up.
Tatsuki jerked her head at the wall. "Let's leave."
Keigo was expecting to wake up any second now. His jittering hand went for it—Hiyori's leg. Oh, yes, fuck yes, he had always wanted to grope a cute girl's inner thigh. Warm and soft and silky, pure heaven for his right hand. Best of all, she didn't resist or scream or frown at him. She pretended nothing was happening. Was she too scared to speak up? Too intimidated by mean old Keigo? No, she was merely a slut, asking for it, smiling. What a beautiful girl!
Keigo did a double take.
Orihime hadn't moved. "Tatsuki, I'm going to take off my clothes now. I'm not good at dancing, so you boys might be disappointed."
Tatsuki's jaw sagged. "Orihime…."
Orihime kept talking, stalling: "Mizuiro, I saw you peeping on me when I was changing into my swimsuit. Mirrors do exist, in case you don't know. I didn't tell anyone, because I didn't want you to get into trouble, because you're my friend." She strutted to him, stepping out of her shoes, unbuttoning her blouse. She tossed it aside, clumsily, and unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to her ankles. Her panties was first to come off, and then her bra, which she had a little difficulty with. She stood with her feet apart, hand on hip. "I've grown a little since then. Do you like me better now or back then?"
Mizuiro was a stuttering monkey. He barely managed to eek out, "Now."
Keigo wanted to scream at her to turn around. The only thing stopping him was her cute butt.
"Glad to hear." Orihime didn't forget about her socks. She lifted a leg, offering Mizuiro a generous, close-up, private view of her pussy, and slowly rolled the sock down her foot. The other sock, her right leg, took twice as long. When she was done, Mizuiro was peeking through his fingers, too embarrassed to show his face. She sat on the bean bag, an arm around him.
Keigo's head was close to exploding with hot blood gushing all over the tiles. This was the best dirty dream of his life. Deep inside, however, he knew this all wasn't a dream. This was far too lucid to be a dream. Each one of his five senses was sharp as ever. Please don't be a dream.
"Well done," Yoruichi said. "I feel that you have embraced your spirit energy. Unlike your friend who resists." Yoruichi looked at Tatsuki. "It should be obvious to you what the secret is. Do I need to say it?"
"Say it," Tatsuki said, scowling like Ichigo.
Yoruichi sighed. "Female Shinigami are sexual beings, akin to what you know as succubus. Listen to your soul. Listen to the calling of your spirit energy. Embrace it as Orihime has."
Tatsuki tore away eye contact.
Behind her, Chad looked like someone had just punched him in the gut.
Tatsuki thumbed to her left. "That girl. Hiyori. She's a Shinigami. That's why she's letting Keigo touch her?"
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Hiyori exclaimed, clapping. "This boy here is so pent up, it's like I'm sitting next to a bomb." She pointed at Tatsuki. "And it's all your fault. It's your duty to fuck him, and you've been failing your duty."
Tatsuki was about to shout, but an invisible sideways force, the force of a typhoon, blew across the room. She fell onto her bottom. Fear was an emotion that Tatsuki never showed, and right now she couldn't hide it.
"That's enough," Yoruichi said, "remember they're not Shinigami yet."
Hiyori kept pushing: "Strip now. Otherwise you're not leaving here alive."
And Tatsuki pushed back: "What, so it's be their sexual play-thing or die? What if I choose to die? Kill me then. Do it, bitch."
"Tch, have it your way." Hiyori pointed with index and middle fingers. A pea-sized ball of red energy swirled at her fingernails.
"Hiyori! Stop!" Yoruichi shouted.
Tatsuki hid behind her forearm as a beam of red light punched through her for a split second. In that instant, her clothes and shoes disintegrated into blackened ash, and the ash dispersed into nothingness, which left her with only nothingness to cover herself. Her hands moved to cup her breasts, but was stopped by Hiyori, who had teleported behind her and restrained her arms behind her back.
Tatsuki's face was taking on a healthy shade of red. "Why are you doing this?"
"Weren't you listening?" Hiyori yanked a fistful of hair, Tatsuki hissing. "You've failed your duty, and deep down you know it. You failed your friends here, and you failed your dead friend Ichigo. You had the power in you to help him, but no, you chose to be useless. Stop resisting it." Hiyori disappeared again with her teleporting trick, back at Keigo's side.
Tatsuki stared at the floor while Orihime looked at her glumly.
The silence was smothering, awkward, sexy. Sexy to Keigo at least, who whispered at Hiyori's ear, "It's your duty to fuck me, eh? Let's take off this uniform to start."
Grinning like a demon, she whispered back, "You're not a Shinigami yet."
"But you said Tatsuki failed—"
"Shut it, you perv." Hiyori elbowed him in the stomach.
He saw stars before pain seized him in crushing death. He flopped sideways onto the tiles. Not a dream after all.
Author's Note: Chizuru and Michiru won't be joining the cast of characters. This will likely be the last time they're mentioned.
Review responses:
- Isshin will definitely play a role in the story. How exactly will be revealed.
- Yuzu's Chain of Fate also turned to dust in her transformation. I might edit it so it's more clear. Or I might edit out the mention of a chain entirely. Either way, the point is her Human body is gone and she's well on her way to becoming a Shinigami. Her new Shihakusho that's the same as Rangiku's is a hint at something else... (remember Rukia had to get Ichigo a Shihakusho)
- I never thought of Isshin's goofiness as a metaphor, but now that I think of it, it probably is. He even acted that way when he had Toshiro under his wing in Squad 10.