Author's Note: the anime is back again! And I remembered I was working on a fanfic...
Sometimes Keigo Asano wished he was a little boy again, free from all this hot-heated numbskull teenage stupidity. More than once his raging lusts had nearly gotten him into trouble, and today was the worst incident yet. And it wasn't even his fault. Too bad his lovely female friends weren't listening to his pleas. He'd been repeating himself all day.
Yet again, Tatsuki was in his face with a balled fist. "Just what is your problem?!"
"I told you already." Keigo held up open palms.
"That Yuzu said she'd kiss you in the closet? Give me a break!" Tatsuki rolled eyes. She went for a punch.
Orihime held her back, saying, "Now that I think about it, it's not too far-fetched."
Tatsuki scoffed. "Are you really buying their crap?"
"When I was eleven-years-old," Orihime said, blinking thrice, "I teased boys in my class all the time. I didn't offer any kisses, but…." She shrugged.
"See," Mizuiro said, breaking silence for the first time in half an hour. He had someway escaped most of Tatsuki's wrath. "It's harmless teasing. We were just surprised and embarrassed. I'm sure Mister Kurosaki will clear everything up when we visit the clinic."
Tatsuki's narrowed eyes cut to Mizuiro. "I'm sure you'd love to visit their home." She shoved him in the chest. "Don't try anything." She turned to Chad, who was walking a few strides away, along the river bank. The evening sun sparkled on criss-crossing ripples. "Same to you, Chad. I can't believe you didn't stop these two pervs. You were standing right next to them."
Staring at ducks, Chad acted deaf.
Tatsuki sighed. "Did you hear me, Chad? I'm talking to you. Hello?"
"Chad, what's wrong?" Orihime asked in a soft, sweet voice.
Meanwhile, Keigo's eyes sagged downward to Tatsuki's blouse. Thanks to the hot weather, she wore it with two buttons undone, practically begging for horny teenage boys to peek down. Her pearly skin was flawless, apart from a tiny freckle on her collarbone, and her breasts were nicely cupped inside a flower-patterned white bra. Her breasts were glowing, a little bit moist with sweat. The longer Keigo stared, the stronger the urge grew to reach out, to bury his face into her inviting bosom. Oh, she would love that! What a lewd exhibitionist she was turning out to be!
"I don't know," Chad said, abruptly standing still.
Keigo swallowed a mouthful of saliva, looking away from Tatsuki's sideboob. He subtly adjusted his pants, which were tight around his crotch.
"What do you mean by that?" Tatsuki asked.
A warm breeze ruffled Chad's hair as he walked closer. The way he usually walked would carry a certain air of immovable stoicism, but today he was hunched over. Still in mourning. Still wishing he could have been there for Ichigo. Out of all Ichigo's friends, he was taking it the worst by far.
Chad's bloodshot eyes moved from Mizuiro to Keigo, then rested on Tatsuki. He stepped to within an arm-length of her.
"Well?" Tatsuki said.
"I'm going to be painfully honest. I wasn't paying attention to Keigo or Ichigo's sisters. I was wondering why Uryu left a metal star on Ichigo's gravestone. I didn't know they were friends at all. I wanted to ask, but the Ishidas left very suddenly."
Tatsuki facepalmed, groaning.
Orihime's lips upturned, and she let out a curt giggle. Good to see her mood was better. "That's Uryu for you. All grouchy and mysterious. Just like Mister Ishida."
"You've met them before?" Mizuiro asked. Wise of him to keep the conversation rolling in this direction.
"Yep, we're in the after-school sewing club." Orihime's head tilted, her eyes wandering. "One time Mister Ishida picked Uryu up in a shiny expensive car I've only ever seen in movies. He introduced himself as Doctor Ishida. Oh, right, I should stop calling him Mister Ishida, hehe."
Keigo smirked. "That explains how he can afford a nice car. Did you get a ride?"
"I did," Orihime said too cheerily. "I said I was fine walking home by myself, but Doctor Ishida insisted."
"And?" Tatsuki said.
Orihime looked at her. "And what?"
"Did you see any metal stars?"
"Eh…" Orihime scratched her cheek. "Like that one Uryu left? I don't think so. I don't really remember, it was a really quick ride. Mister Ishida drives like a madman. He turned on a siren and ran all the red lights."
Mizuiro reasoned, "Because there was an emergency at the hospital, and he got paged."
"Obviously." Tatsuki sighed. "I doubt the metal star means anything. It was probably Ichigo's to begin with."
Chad nodded. "That would make sense."
Then Tatsuki's glare was back on Keigo. "What doesn't make sense is why these pervs were hitting on Ichigo's eleven-year-old sisters—at his memorial!"
Chad placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tatsuki."
"What?" she almost hissed.
"Don't take your grief out on Keigo and Mizuiro. If they truthfully say Yuzu was teasing them, then I believe them." His bloodshot eyes shifted to Keigo. "Do I have your word?"
Instinctively Keigo stood straighter. "You do."
"Same here," Mizuiro added.
Chad slowly nodded. "Then let's move on. Dinner's on me, by the way."
Tatsuki looked like she wanted to say more. She chewed her lip, and looked away. "Fine, let's go."
Once more, saved by Chad.
Free dinner too. Nice.
Keigo hurried along the riverside with his buddies, extra careful to not let his eyes meander toward Tatsuki's chest. Despite all the fury and disgust directed at him, she was walking right alongside him in hand-holding range, as if she were daring him to do something pervy to prove her point. Was she? Possible. The sun was soon setting, and cool air was blowing downhill; there was no need to have two whole buttons undone, putting her delicious cupcakes on display for the whole world to ogle. What a naughty exhibitionist.
Keigo was on the verge of screaming. He squeezed shut his eyes, massaged his neck, sucked in a huge breath, and when he opened his eyes, he saw something hovering high up in the air among golden beams of sunlight. It almost appeared to be a… person.
But it was most likely just some kind of optical illusion. Squinting, Keigo rubbed his tired eyes on the back of his arm. He looked back up, and the illusion was gone. He shrugged.
"What?" Tatsuki mumbled.
"Nothing," he mumbled back.
"Don't tell me then." Her nose wrinkled.
A minute of silence became two, then five and ten. The sun dipped behind countryside hills, throwing downtown Karakura into shadows. Promptly street lamps flickered on. Promptly Orihime's cell phone went off with an upbeat tune.
She answered: "Hi Uryu, how are— What, no, I'm fine. I'm with Tatsuki and the others. Why'd do you think something's wrong?" There was a long pause, Orihime blinking innocently. "Nope I don't feel any strange forces. I'm walking just fine, a little tired though, been walking all day. We're going to a restaurant. You wanna come?" Another pause, more blinking. "Great, I'll text you the address." And she did.
In an off-handed tone, Tatsuki asked, "What's that about a strange force?"
"Dunno. Maybe he's a little delirious about Ichigo." Orihime's smile faded.
"Why'd you invite him?" Keigo asked.
Tatsuki elbowed him. "Because he's her friend, asshole."
That was going to leave a bruise. Keigo was tempted to spank her. She would love that—in his imagination.
To Keigo, it was no surprise that Chad's favorite restaurant was opposite to the supermarket that Ichigo had worked at. As Keigo looked across the carpark, a part of him expected to see Ichigo effortlessly pushing stacks of trolleys that full-grown men would have difficulty with. But there was no Ichigo in the carpark, and Keigo knew Ichigo would want his friends to stop crying over it and move on.
Inside the ramen restaurant, Uryu was waiting in the far corner, far away from other diners. His glasses reflected Keigo's sombre face as they approached. "About time," Uryu muttered.
"Sorry," Orihime said, "I pressed one instead of four when I texted you."
If Uryu was annoyed, he didn't let it show. Although he did comment: "I would think you would have the courtesy to send a second correcting the error."
"My mistake." Orihime's smile was goofy.
"She does that all the time," Tatsuki said. "Sometimes I think she does it on purpose."
"No I don't," Orihime meekly said, "my phone's just glitchy, that's all."
Keigo's stomach rumbled. "Forget about it, let's just order. I'm starving. Walked a million miles today."
Chad grunted in agreement, grabbing a menu.
After a waitress jotted down everyone's orders then walked off, Orihime asked, "So what did you want to talk about, Uryu? You said it's extremely important."
Uryu sipped tea before he met her eyes. So dramatic of him. "There's no easy way to say this." He didn't continue.
Keigo slouched in his seat, half-amused and half-irritated. Those nerdy oblong glasses did not help Uryu's dark and mysterious persona at all. Neither did that haircut.
"What is it?" Tatsuki grumbled.
Uryu was about to speak, but a waitress approached with two steaming bowls. Chad and Mizurio's chicken noodle soups. Keigo's mouth was watering in the aroma, also watering in the sight of the waitress's strutting backside as she returned to the kitchen.
"As I was saying." Uryu pushed up his glasses. "I didn't think they would be interested in his friends, but evidently I'm wrong. I can't say for certain what they want from you, but the fact that they're watching should not be taken lightly. Your lives very well may be in imminent danger."
A bowl of spicy-beef ramen was placed in front of Keigo. He picked up chopsticks and dug in. Not too spicy, not too salty, or flavorful, these spicy noodles were very nice though not the best he had eaten. Eight out of ten. The beef was a tad chewy, a shame.
"Who exactly is they?" Chad asked.
Uryu immediately answered, "They, the rulers of the afterlife, the corruptors of souls. Shinigami. They're here. They're watching, right now, above our heads."
Orihime looked up at the ceiling.
Everyone else looked out the window.
At the same time, the waitress returned with two more bowls of chicken noodle soup. Orihime and Tatsuki's. Only Keigo liked spice.
"Don't bother," Uryu said, "even you five wouldn't be able to see them—unless they want you to. They have… certain abilities that render their forms invisible to the eye."
Tatsuki had a quizzical look. "So these… gods of death, are watching us, and they're in the sky? Did I hear that right?"
"You did," Uryu said.
Orihime said energetically, "I know, this is a new-age religion. I read about it on the internet. Is this why you left that metal star on Ichigo's grave?"
"Sounds about right," Mizuiro said between bites.
Uryu's head shook. "Whether you believe me now or later or in a lifetime is irrelevant. You each will see the truth of my words. That is your destiny."
Tatsuki chuckled. "My destiny? Oh, so you're a fortune teller? Where are your Tarot cards?"
Uryu apparently didn't hear her correctly: "Each soul is unique. More importantly, each soul has a predetermined spiritual potential. I don't know if it's luck or something else at play, but you five each have spiritual potential above the critical threshold. In time, you will each become Shinigami."
No one spoke. No one ate, except for Mizuiro, who looked quite bored, while the other four where taking it in with farcical disbelief. Mizuiro put down his chopsticks, asking, "I thought I saw something or someone high up in the sky earlier. Was that a Shinigami?"
Uryu was about to answer but instead drank tea.
"You believe him?" Tatsuki said.
"Might as well humor the idea. He came all the way here to tell us."
"That's true," Chad said.
Keigo spoke up, "I also saw a figure in the sky. It was just before sundown, by the river, right?"
Mizuiro nodded. "Though it could've been a bird or a helicopter."
"So what do they want?" Orihime asked in a merry voice. "If we're also going to be Shinigami one day, they should actually be our friends." She giggled. "Maybe you should've thought your story through more carefully, Uryu."
Tatsuki said, "Next thing he'll tell us is Ichigo will show up with a scythe and his goofy ass smirk."
"That is… possible." Uryu was frowning.
Tatsuki snorted. "So now you're saying Ichigo is a Shinigami. You're delirious. I didn't know you two were so close, but this is sweet of you, I guess, making up stories like this in hope that you'll see him again. But, hey, I also know he's watching over us right now. Up there among the stars, his big orange head is floating above us."
Uryu stared at her, grave, deadpan, unblinking.
Something about that look he was giving her didn't rub Keigo too well. What was it? Animosity? Not quite. There was a lot more to it, and Uryu definitely wasn't going to say. One thing, however, was certain: Uryu truly did believe these claims. This warning did come from the goodness of his heart. But was he a lunatic? Kiego's gut feeling was saying no.
"Uryu," Chad said, "what did you mean by the corruptors of souls?"
"There is," Uryu whispered, "a closely guarded secret of the afterlife, which if I tell you the Shinigami will execute me for if they find out. I'm not willing to throw away my life."
Orihime matched his tone: "But you know what it is?"
Uryu couldn't look her in the eye as he said, "I'm sorry." He stood up. Then walked out.
Keigo gazed out the window, up at the night sky. Stars twinkled. No head of orange hair though. Just stars and a crescent moon. If there was an afterlife, then he dearly hoped that being a massive perv wouldn't get his ass sent to the fiery pits of Hell. That would really suck.