She really wanted to tell her mother what happened to her after school but she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea. Her mother might think she was coming up with some random story or mixing reality with a dream she had. She wouldn't blame her if she did to be honest.

Katsuko wondered what her life was as a Soul Reaper if she really was what Rukia said she was. She was curious about Soul Reapers and what this 'Soul Society' was. All these questions that she didn't bother asking was what slowly made her succumb to her slumber.

The next day on Friday, ever since the incident with the Hollow, Katsuko was seeing Pluses and she wasn't trying to pretend they didn't exist. She acknowledged their presence but she never really communicated with them unless they tried reaching out to her. After all, she didn't want to seem like some random weirdo talking to a pole next to a store. Ichigo was already that one weirdo. There was no need for two.

On her way to school with Haruki and Jun, she couldn't help but wonder if anything would happen to her since she was literally a living mistake. Of course, she was scared that some random ghost from the Soul Society might come hunting her down with a blade. Maybe a higher up Soul Reaper would show up with a scythe and reap her soul or something to fix her. Just thinking about it made a shiver run down her spine.

A tap on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts. Then a hand grabbed her arm to stop her from walking. She found Haruki with a finger pressed on his lips, telling her not to say anything. He pointed ahead of them; Jun was walking by himself.

"Watch this." Haru whispered with a chuckle.

Fun in the morning? I'm down.

Katsuko smirked and slowly tailed after Jun with Haru. They approached quietly. The school gates were getting closer. Then, all of a sudden, Haru shot his hand forward and clamped his hand on Jun's mouth before pulling him to the side.

"MMPHH—!" Jun's muffled voice panicked.

Haru and Katsuko cracked up together when Jun was released. The youngest of the trio whipped around and stared at them in disbelief.

"Holy shit!" Jun put a hand on his racing heart. "I literally thought I was getting kidnapped!"

That only made the two laugh even harder. When it came to who was the scaredy cat out of the three, Jun was definitely number one on that list. He was just a teddy bear.

Jun gave the two stink eye before they went inside the school. When they were changing their shoes, Ichigo arrived at school and greeted the three of them. Together they went to class.

"So, anything new happen while we were at practice?" Haruki asked innocently since he was obviously missing some hang out time with his other friends.

Katsuko shrugged. "Not much. I was fighting a monster yesterday."

Ichigo choked on his own spit. Haru looked at him in surprise.

"Huh?" Jun quirked an eyebrow.

Ichigo gave Katsuko a look of disbelief while Jun and Haru weren't looking. The two boys were climbing up the stairs in between the two. Katsuko saw Ichigo's face but she ignored him.

"Yeah, I had a sword and was I literally fighting a monster."

"A monster?" Haru repeated.

Ichigo was getting a little worried. Haru and Jun weren't stupid like Keigo, they wouldn't drop the subject if it delved deeper.

"Yeah, even Ichigo was there to watch me." Ichigo held up his hand, silently asking her why the hell she kept talking, "I was playing that new game I bought."

"Oh." Haru nodded his head. "Pfft, I thought you were being serious."

"Dummy." Katsuko grinned, but then she smirked secretly when she saw Ichigo give her a tired expression.

That was fun. I never saw you express so many emotions in the span of five seconds.

There was way too much sun on the roof and a group of students already stole the shade up there. Because of that, most of her friends were spread out across the school looking for another place to eat since they usually ate up there. Jun and Haru were at basketball practice again. Chad was probably with some new friends that he made. Mizuiro and Keigo… she had no idea where they were.

Ichigo? Rukia literally dragged him out of class the moment the ball rang.

So here she was with only herself and her lunch walking around the ground floor of the school campus.

She yawned tiredly. Her eyes blinked away the tears while she walked, searching for the benches that were supposedly around the area she was currently in.

"Ah, there it is."

She found a nice bench under some shade, but that wasn't all she found. She spotted Ichigo and Rukia talking about something. The shorter girl looked annoyed.

Now that she knew about Rukia's identity and purpose, she didn't have any ill will towards her. No, now she was super curious about the shorter black haired girl.

Aside from drawing, one of her hobbies included making animated stories with an editing software on the computer (which played a part in worsening her eyesight). She loved creating stories and reading all kinds be it manga or even fanfiction on the web. Novels, however, weren't her favorite due to being forced to read astonishing boring ones by her teachers. Teachers simply didn't get that the books they assigned them to read were uninteresting. There were times where she actually read a book if it was actually interesting enough, but it was pretty rare. One of those times resulted into a weird debate on symbolism with Ichigo since he read the same book.

But anyway, Rukia's entire existence was something that was literally out of a book.

Katsuko seriously wanted to learn more about her and the Soul Society. But she knew that she just couldn't bounce over and drop fifty questions out of nowhere.

Curious about what was up, the long haired girl jogged over to them and asked them if they had to go after a Hollow.

"Yeah, but I can't just leave my body here! The last time that happened the school was about to call the ambulance!"

"We're wasting time! The Hollow isn't even far from here!" Rukia argued, impatient. "It'll be quick!"

Oh yes, that day when Rukia showed up, Ichigo was left faced down on the ground outside school and a P.E teacher was panicking.

Katsuko stifled a laugh and lifted her hand. "I can watch over his body." She offered.

"That's perfect!" Rukia nodded and then instantly pulled out a red glove. "Now then…"

"What? Wait! What do—!" Ichigo's words were cut off when Rukia slammed her hand under his chin, knocking his soul out of his body. The sight of his physical body's confused face turning into a stupid dazed one made Katsuko crack up. Her laughter immediately ceased when Ichigo's body fell forward.

With a yelp, she put her plastic bag with her lunch in it in her mouth and then held him up when he landed on her.

Geez, this tree is heavy.

"I got it." Katsuko wheezed. "My god you're heavy."

"Watch my body!" Ichigo shouted as he ran off with Rukia who literally dragged him away by pulling on his black sleeve.

Feeling like she was supposed to hide a dead body, she glanced around her nervously to check if anyone was watching. No one. Yet. With haste, she did the first thing she thought of that wasn't obvious.

Katsuko was seated on the bench under the shade while Ichigo's head was on her lap, looking like he was asleep. His long legs were falling off the bench.

Oh well. It looks fine.

The girl brought out her sandwich and she started eating. Since Ichigo was practically dead on her, she found no in harm in using his forehead to prop up her elbow so that she could play around with her phone. It wasn't going to hurt him anyway.

When six minutes passed, she wondered if they would come back in time for class. Being late for class wasn't exactly in her interest. She liked being punctual.

"Hiragi-san!"

Geh. I know that voice.

Even with her bad eyesight, she could see that it was Orihime… followed by Tatsuki behind her.

Oh, dear god. They're getting closer.

Katsuko quickly removed her elbow off Ichigo's forehead and just stared at them as they approached. She was getting nervous.

"Hiragi-san!"

Stop calling my name so loudly please. I can hear you just fine.

"H-Hey…" Katsuko gave her a smile small. When they saw Ichigo 'sleeping' on her lap, they looked at her with surprise.

"Ichigo's napping?" Tatsuki crossed her arms. She bent forward to glance at his 'sleeping' face. "Huh."

Orihime did a little gasp and hid her mouth behind her hands. She looked like she was giggling behind her hands. "His usual scowl is gone!"

I hope you guys don't realize he's not breathing.

"But what's he doing on your lap?" Tatsuki wondered.

She was stuck.

"… Are you two…?" Orihime lowered her hands when her eyes widened slightly.

Their words went in one ear and out the other.

She couldn't just tell Tatsuki and Orihime to buzz off or else she'd just become that one mean girl, she already had a reputation of not being sociable, she didn't need that on her record. She couldn't 'ask' Ichigo to wake up because he wasn't going to, playing puppeteer was out of the question too.

"Hiragi-san?"

She could only pray.

Her prayed was answered since she found her friend in his black get up running back towards her with Rukia behind him. Silently, she gave him a panicked look. Seeing the two girls in front of Katsuko and his body made him pick up the pace and practically jump back in his body. After all the times of getting in and out of his body with difficulty, it became relatively easy now.

His eyes shot open and then he sat up. He felt crumbs on his face. He glanced at Katsuko as he wiped them off and she just grimaced, apologizing with her eyes.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! You're awake!"

"H-Hey, I forgot to get lunch." Ichigo said uneasily as he stood up. "I think I'll go get it." He said before walking off. Katsuko nodded towards Tatsuki and Orihime before following after him with Rukia who smiled at the two girls. No way was she going to stay there, she wanted to escape any possible questions.

…

…

…

"Out of all the things, you chose a lap pillow?!" Ichigo freaked.

"Hey!" Katsuko scowled. "You better be grateful I chose something normal to do for your limp body! I could have thrown your ass on the grass and told them you were playing dead!"

"She's right." Rukia crossed her arms. "Just be grateful you had someone looking out for you at school."

Katsuko clapped. "Exactly!"

Ichigo grabbed his face in his hands and groaned. "At least choose something that won't damage my reputation!"

Katsuko feigned confusion. "You had a reputation?"

Ichigo dropped his hands and narrowed his eyes at her. Katsuko just ignored the boy and turned her attention to Rukia. "Hey, I'd be glad to handle any problems at school when you two go Hollow hunting. It's pretty fun."

"Fun?" Ichigo scowled.

Rukia put her hand on her chin. "That would actually be useful. I'll think about it."

Katsuko would be quite helpful until her order arrives.

A few days after the weekend, Katsuko and Mizuiro joined Ichigo on the roof where they found Rukia with him. They left Keigo on his own when he wasn't looking since he was theatrically talking about something that happened with him and his sister.

"Oh, you're together again?" Mizuiro spoke as he and Katsuko approached the two with their own lunches. Ichigo brought his attention on the two when he heard him speak. "You guys are quite close, huh?"

"Dumbass, does it look like we get along?" Ichigo gave him a look as he sat down on the floor. Katsuko noticed the way Rukia was simply gazing at the juice box in her hand.

"Am I wrong? Oh well, if you say so. I just haven't seen you close to a girl other than Katsuko." The said girl glanced at him when she heard her name, "But Ichigo, shouldn't you think about the impression you're giving to those around you? You can be dense about that."

Katsuko quietly went to sit next to Rukia since Mizuiro was on his way to sit next to Ichigo.

"Stupid, if I cared about what people thought, I'd have dyed my hair black."

Hearing that made Katsuko silently snicker as she opened the plastic bag with her lunch with it. She couldn't help but recall the times she told Ichigo to dye his hair black only for him to reject that suggestion. Unless it was raining cats, Ichigo was never going to colour his hair.

"Hm, that's true." Mizuiro smiled. Then he leaned forward to look at Rukia who was still busy with her juice box. "Hello, Kuchiki-san!"

Rukia looked to the side. "Um, hello… Kojima-kun?"

"Bingo! You remembered, even though we haven't been properly introduced! I'm Kojima Mizuiro! Age fifteen. My hobby is—"

"Picking up girls." Katsuko and Ichigo said in unison.

"Eh?! No way! That's mean!"

Katsuko snickered. She would never forget that one time she saw Mizuiro suddenly switch into a smooth guy in front of this girl that they ran into on the way out of the arcade. Everyone aside from Keigo was just staring at him like they saw some mythical creature. Mizuiro had never given them the impression that he was good with girls since he looked rather… plain.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Rukia still struggling with her juice.

While Mizuiro was talking with Ichigo, Katsuko leaned a bit closer to Rukia. "Do you not have juice boxes in the Soul Society?" she asked softly.

"Unfortunately, no. The human world has many things that the Soul Society doesn't have." Rukia's eyes lit eye as she ripped off the straw. "Ah, so with this… But where…"

Katsuko had to resist the urge to grin in amusement when she saw Rukia trying to find out how to puncture a hole.

"What's this?! It's the beautiful new transfer student, Kuchiki-san!" Keigo's voice suddenly cried out. "Why are you here?"

"Ichigo asked her out." Mizuiro pointed at the orange haired boy with a smile.

"Idiot! No I didn't—!"

"What?! Ichigo!"

Katsuko blinked. She slowly turned her head away from her lunch and looked to the side to see Keigo patting Ichigo's arm, who looked unamused, with joyful tears streaming down his face.

"Huh? When did you get here, Keigo?" Katsuko asked with a raised eyebrow. The brunette made a dying noise, his hand slipping off Ichigo and then landing soundlessly by his side. He shook in place a little. "K-Katsuko… why?"

The girl shrugged before looking back down at her food.

"Why are you so mean— OOF! Oww!" Keigo looked behind him after kneed in the back. "What are you do... ing…"

Katsuko raised an eyebrow. Oshima Reiichi. He was one of the thugs that picked a fight with Chad and Ichigo on the first day of school. The idiot got suspended from school a few weeks later.

Two delinquents showed up. One guy had hair style in a blond afro while the other had his black hair slicked back, both showing up with scowls in front of them. Scowls seemed like a signature face for delinquents these days.

"Yo, Kurosaki."

"O…Oshima." Keigo identified. "They lifted your suspension…"

"Move, I'm not talking to you." Oshima grabbed Keigo by the arm and moved him aside. Katsuko heard Rukia grunt next to her, causing her to look at her in confusion. Rukia was poking a hole on a random spot since she didn't know where to poke. With a sigh, Katsuko pulled out her own juice box and held it in front of her.

"There's usually a circular thing that shows you where to poke a hole in it." Katsuko ripped her straw off her juice box and gently poked at circle to show her.

"Ohh, I see." Rukia flipped her box around and searched for a similar circle before confidently poking her straw in it. "Like that?"

"Yeah, but next time, try to not poke it with the wrong side of the straw."

Rukia frowned as she stared at her straw. "Why is this so complicated?"

"It really isn't."

Ichigo groaned and glared at Oshima. "Shut up. How many times do I have to tell you this, this is my natural hair colour. And I'm not copying you. Why don't you do something about your own hair, you chicken-head. Lay any eggs, lately?"

"Ch-Chicken?! You bastard—!"

"See, this is what I meant by antagonize." Katsuko leaned to look at Ichigo from the side. "That wasn't necessary."

The orange haired boy scoffed, "He started it." he said before going back to his lunch.

Keigo immediately tried to diffuse the situation since Oshima looked like he was about to start a fight with Ichigo. However, the before chicken-head could throw a punch, he was picked up and sent flying to the other side of the roof, leaving the other bully baffled. The black haired delinquent quickly ran over to him.

It was Chad.

Katsuko narrowed her eyes and looked around her.

The heck…?

She didn't pay attention to anything what Ichigo, Keigo and Chad were saying. Instead, she was focused on something else that was faintly grabbing her attention. She felt something weird. It felt like a presence.

It felt a bit similar to when she was being stalked by that Hollow.

"Hello! My name is Shibata Yuuichi! What are your names?"

There!

Katsuko looked directly in front of her where she found a bird in a cage that Chad had brought to school. Keigo and Mizuiro were looking at the bird in the cage while Chad answered some questions they had, leaving Katsuko, Rukia and Ichigo without any eavesdroppers.

The bird is talking?

"Don't worry." Rukia spoke, finally sipping from her juice box. "Something is inside of it, but it's nothing evil. It's nothing more than a lonely spirit."

Katsuko cocked her head to the side. "There's a spirit in there…?" she mumbled.

"Yes. Though it could become a Hollow if left alone. It would be wise to send it to the Soul Society tonight."

Ichigo looked at her for a few moments before sighing. "Roger…" he drank his juice. "There goes more of my sleeping time."

"No complaining."

"Yeah, yeah."

Katsuko stared at the bird curiously. She was wondering why that bird felt so strange from a distance. It was a new feeling. The Soul Reaper glanced at her when she noticed how intensely she was staring at the caged bird, making the long haired girl turn to look at her when she sensed her gaze.

"What is this I'm sensing? I know it's coming from that birdie but I don't know what it is…"

Rukia glanced at the bird again. She was a little impressed. Ichigo's ability to sense spiritual pressure was nothing to write about, he sucked at it. Meanwhile, Katsuko was capable to sense it despite only becoming a Soul Reaper once. Perhaps it really did have something to do with the Cycle of Transmigration.

"You're sensing spiritual power from the soul within that bird." Rukia told her. "It's a basic ability for Soul Reapers."

Ah, so now I'm sensing spirit-stuff… alrighty then.

Rukia and Ichigo's Hollow hunting escapades kept on going. Every now and then, Katsuko would volunteer to hide Ichigo's body somewhere whenever she was available. She didn't have any obligation to go dashing out the classroom with them during class. And as Ichigo asked, she tried to find a way to not 'damage' his reputation whenever she was left with his dead weight.

Currently, Ichigo was out doing just that after Rukia literally punched him in the stomach and dragged him out of the classroom, making Katsuko conceal an amused laugh. Rukia sure was funny sometimes, especially with her little rabbit drawings in art class.

Katsuko peeked at her phone and was just in time to see the time change. At that same moment, the bell had chimed, indicating that it was time to eat lunch now.

Geez, I need to pee.

Katsuko got up from her seat.

"Hiragi-san!"

Oh for fuck's—

"Hm?" Katsuko looked at Orihime indifferently who was beaming a smile at her.

"Do you want to have lunch with us?"

I'm going to give you the same answer, Inoue.

"Um, sorry. I have plans to eat with my friends." Katsuko bowed her head a little.

"Aw, you always say that."

"… Well, it's true."

Suddenly, Orihime was hugged from behind, causing her to make a cry of surprise. Katsuko took a step back when she saw arms push the burnt orange haired girl's breasts upwards, making her cringe.

Gah, it's her.

"Don't worry, Hime! I'll eat lunch with youuuu~!"

"BACK OFF, CHIZURU!"

The girl was sent flying to the back of the classroom. Katsuko eyed the girl with annoyance. She was just so loud.

Tatsuki huffed in annoyance before turning her attention to the long haired girl who turned down her friend's invitation. "Come on, Hiragi. Don't you want to eat with someone other than those guys?" she pointed her thumb at Keigo specifically which only made him feel offended. "Must be tiring to see Ichigo's bratty face all the time."

Katsuko shook her head. "No, I'm fine with it. He's my friend so I don't mind his 'bratty' face."

Plus hanging out with you guys is out of my comfort zone.

… Man, I didn't realize how shy I am. That's new.

Katsuko felt a shiver up her spine. She frowned and held up a hand in apology. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I gotta go to the bathroom." She quickly said before speed walking out of the classroom.

Michiru, who was watching Katsuko leave, turned to Mahana and sighed. She frowned a little while pulling out her lunch. "Gah… there goes another chance to ask."

"Ask what?" Mahana looked at her.

"Well you know… if Kurosaki and Hiragi are dating? He's so scary looking but she still sticks around him like it's no big deal. I'm wondering if they're more than friends…"

"What about Kuchiki? Doesn't she always hang around Kurosaki too?"

"Well yeah… I'm curious about that too." She poked her fingers together. "But I can't just ask—"

Suddenly, a figure shot up from below outside the window which caused everyone to freak out.

"This is first year class three, right?"

"Streak of lights came bursting from the ground~"

Katsuko was lightly mumbling the lyrics as she listened to the song with her earphones. She thought that keeping her ears plugged might help ignore the girls as she went back inside the classroom to grab her lunch.

Then she stopped when she heard a loud crash come from her classroom. With a puzzled look on her face, she opened the door and looked inside only to find desks and chair scattered everywhere in disorder while the rest of the students were piled up in the back, leaving Ichigo and Tatsuki in the front in what seemed like an intense moment.

… The heck?

"What… is going on in here?" Katsuko took a step inside. She removed her earphones and tucked them away in her pocket.

Two guys on the side were shakily pointing at the two. "I-Ichigo started flirting with the girls."

Katsuko blinked several times. "I'm sorry, flirting?"

Flirting and Ichigo were two things that did not match.

"Y-Yeah… he kissed Tatsuki on the cheek and then she went crazy!"

"YOU'RE DEAD!" Tatsuki threw a chair, causing the two boys to flinch. Ichigo easily jumped out of the way and landed on the teacher's desk.

"Whoa! Calm down!" he said with a frown.

Katsuko stared at him.

Ichigo was not the type to flirt.

And he would not just jump onto a desk like a frog since it would just give people more reason to call him a delinquent.

Plus… something doesn't feel right. He doesn't feel the same…

…

…

"You're sensing spiritual power from the soul within that bird." Rukia told her. "It's a basic ability for Soul Reapers."

…

…

Souls had this 'presence' that could be sensed thanks to their spiritual power. Every person has a soul. They should have that presence. She never realized it until now. Ichigo did not have the same presence from a few hours ago. Something was off. If Ichigo's presence wasn't there then that meant his soul wasn't in his body.

Something else was in there.

Katsuko glanced around.

She didn't know if this thing inside her friend's body was a danger to them all. It might be a Hollow in disguise or something. Her friends weren't in the classroom so that was good. It was best that they stayed away from danger.

She gulped.

Katsuko hesitantly strode over to 'Ichigo' and grabbed his wrist, causing him to snap his head towards her. He looked alarmed for a moment there. She gently tugged his hand with an uneasy grin. "C-C'mon. I'll take you somewhere safe so you don't need to deal with her."

"Seriously?" 'Ichigo' lightened up. "Sweet!" he hopped off the desk and grinned stupidly. He showed no signs of pulling away from her.

Tatsuki screamed in rage as she threw another chair at him in order to stop him from fleeing. But he was quickly dragged away from the classroom by Katsuko. She didn't say anything as she dragged him into an empty club meeting room. They ran so fast that even Tatsuki had a hard time keeping up despite all the adrenaline pumping in her. She pushed him inside and she shut the door behind her, locking it.

She could hear Tatsuki screaming Ichigo's name as she ran past the door.

"Ah, man! Thanks for the save!" 'Ichigo' laughed behind her. "That girl was seriously nuts. All I did was kiss her cheek and she started throwing things at me. You'd think she was in grade school or something."

Katsuko calmed herself down. It was only then that she realized how crazy this situation was. Here she was, alone with some unknown thing inside her friend's body that might kill her at any second. Maybe if she was lucky, she could become a Soul Reaper again and defend herself before he could kill her—

Katsuko blinked when she saw 'Ichigo' lean on the door on his side to look at her as she was still facing the door. He was looking at her curiously. "So, what's your name, cutie?"

…

…

…

What?

"U-Um."

WHAT THE HELL? IS HE BLIND? WHO IS HE CALLING 'CUTIE'?!

"K-Katsuko." She replied, shaken up. Him saying that word with Ichigo's face was just freaking weird. It was so out of character that she wanted to puke.

"That's a lovely name."

Oh god. Someone kill me.

She felt the second hand embarrassment.

"Hey, how about we ditch school and go hang out somewhere?" he suggested with a grin. He seemed pretty comfortable around her since she wasn't throwing anything at him.

Yeah, right. I'm not ditching school. You can do that on your own.

But she couldn't just let him leave. She didn't know what slithered its way inside Ichigo's body but she had to make sure it stayed at school until Ichigo and Rukia returned.

Maybe if I come up with a lie…

"But don't you need to talk with Miss Misato after school?"

"I-I do? Oh… well who cares about that? It's fine—"

All of a sudden, the door was kicked open. Katsuko was thrown aside while 'Ichigo' jumped back with a yelp. The black haired girl groaned in annoyance before sitting up.

"Who the fuck… oh."

It was the real Ichigo with Rukia. The moment her friend saw her on the ground, he glared at the one inhabiting his body.

"You're not getting away with hurting her!"

"Idiot! You did this!" Katsuko glared at him.

"O-Oh… my bad."

'Ichigo' clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes at Katsuko. "You knew… Damn." He quickly tried to escape through the window but Katsuko reacted quickly and latched onto his pants to stop him. It worked. Ichigo quickly tried to catch him but 'Ichigo' just pulled his leg out of her grasp and flew out the window. Katsuko clicked her tongue at how easy he got out of her hold, and here she thought she was holding on tightly.

Ichigo gasped. "Hey! That's my body!"

The three of them gathered at the window and saw that 'Ichigo' was fine. He looked up at them and then smirked before dashing off with incredible speed.

"What's in your body, man?" Katsuko asked, baffled.

"Some type of soul." Ichigo answered. "But geez, what the hell is he really?"

"… No it can't be. No, he is." Rukia gripped the side of the window as she watched Ichigo's body disappear. "He's a modified soul."

A modified soul?

Instead of just standing there, Ichigo leaped out of the window and chased after him, leaving the two girls with each other.

Katsuko was worried. She looked at Rukia and asked her if she could do anything to assist or something.

"That won't be necessary— no wait." The shorter girl dug into her pocket and pulled out an object that looked like a lighter. She tossed over to her. Katsuko stared at it with a puzzled look but then quickly looked up to see Rukia dashing out the door. Katsuko jolted and ran to the door to poke her head out.

"The hell is this?!"

"It's a memory replacer! Use it on your class!" Rukia shouted before turning around a corner.

Katsuko looked at the object in her hand.

"Memory replacer?"

…

…

When she got back in the classroom, the desks and chairs were still mess. Tatsuki was standing there looking enraged while two teachers tried to calm her down. The moment Tatsuki saw Katsuko enter the classroom, she instantly walked up to her and grabbed the front of her shirt.

"Where did you hide the bastard?! I need to kill him."

"Uh…"

"Miss Hiragi!" One of the teachers called her name. "If you know where Mr. Kurosaki is hiding then you better tell us now!"

"Kurosaki-kun…?" Orihime tried slipping past her to see if Ichigo was hiding behind the doors.

"If you don't tell us where that troublemaker is hiding then we'll have to give you detention!"

"Say what?" Katsuko gaped. She was a good student who never got detention.

"Where is Kurosaki-kun?"

"TELL ME, HIRAGI!"

"Miss Hiragi!"

Oh god.

Hiragi grabbed Tatsuki's hand and ripped it off her before pushing her back. "You wanna back up a little?!" she narrowed her eyes. Then she grabbed Orihime by the wrist and literally shoved her back inside the classroom when she got past her, her patience running thin. Orihime let out a yelp when she stumbled into Tatsuki. No one was getting out of the room.

"Hiragi?!" Chizuru screeched. "What do you think you're doing to my Hime?!"

"You're all so noisy." Katsuko pulled out the Kikanshiki and activated it, creating a puff of pink smoke that engulfed the entire classroom.

Katsuko thought it was cool that she could spend a whole period doing nothing aside from fixing the classroom and setting some students in their appropriate seats. Some were way too heavy (Chad) to move so she left them on the floor. When everyone awoke, they thought they were waking up from a free period that their teacher gave to nap. The power of that little device was so powerful. Tatsuki didn't remember a single thing.

By the time Ichigo and Rukia came back, school had ended and everyone in the classroom had forgotten what happened. Katsuko had to stay behind since she couldn't just head home with some strange device. They came back with a green pill that was actually the thing running wild with Ichigo's body.

Unfortunately, Ichigo was still given detention for destroying school property. Apparently, some P.E teacher caught him breaking something outside. It must have been that modified soul that Rukia talked about.

Rukia and Katsuko waited on a bench outside of the school after the device was returned. Katsuko had nothing else to do and she didn't feel like walking home alone so she'd rather wait for him so she can have some sort of company on the way home. Waiting for Jun and Haruki was a definite 'no' since they wouldn't finish practice any time soon.

That's when Katsuko finally decided to ask.

"So, what can you tell me about where you came from?"

Rukia, who was making a report on her phone about a recent Hollow, glanced at Katsuko suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well… I'm curious."

"…"

"Come on… your existence is literally out of this world; how can I not get curious?" Katsuko sighed.

"In the first place, you weren't even supposed to know about me."

"Do I automatically have a full time job as a Soul Reaper when I die?" Katsuko ignored her and went ahead and asked another one of her many questions. Rukia noticed the child-like curiosity in her eyes. It was all pure curiosity. She might not even back down from asking.

Rukia supposed that telling her just a bit wouldn't hurt. She would just forget about it anyway. Rukia was planning to erase herself from their memories once she got her powers back. Humans like them were not supposed to know about Soul Reapers in the first place.

"… No, there's a place where you learn to become a Soul Reaper."

A school? In the afterlife?

My god, school will always keep us busy no matter where we are, huh?

"And then you automatically fight Hollows after graduating from it?"

"Something like that. You'd have to join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."

Whoa that sounds cool.

"What is that?"

Rukia closed her phone. "That's all I'm going to tell you. You don't need to know any more than that."

"What? Oh come on."

"A mere human shouldn't know about the Soul Society. Just live your life as a human without asking questions." she smirked.

Katsuko was about to reply with 'guess I'll just die' but she stopped herself since Rukia might actually think she was stupid or something.

Well, at least I got something out of her. Not bad.

Katsuko pulled out her phone and checked out the time. She was already an hour behind her usual time. With a shrug, she was about to shut off her phone until she spotted the date on her phone.

June 15th… right.

Katsuko looked up at the sky. It was almost that time of year again for him.

Tomorrow he would act all like he was in high spirits despite feeling very tense about the next day.

After tomorrow, he would skip school to visit his mother with his family.

She always wanted to know whatever happened to his mother but she never had the courage to ask out of fear of being insensitive.

I'll make sure to write very diligently so he doesn't misunderstand anything.

This chapter focused more on the behind the scenes of the main events along with Katsuko's ability to sense souls now.

Yo. I'd say we're about like 3-4 chapters away from the story taking place inside the Soul Society. HNGHHH... (need. to. resist. rushing.)

Mara. Kag: Unfortunately, that would be impossible since, like Rukia stated in the last chapter, Katsuko's soul was most likely a Soul Reaper's that died. Hisana was not a Soul Reaper. It seemed like a good idea though! XD

ohnoestadpoles: The power of a review is really something since I literally dropped whatever I was doing to write the beginning of this chapter when I saw yours XD. Does Urahara know anything? Who knows~ And yes, I try not to make it too similar to the main events since I feel it would look more like a forced OC insert. I'm glad you've been enjoying this so far!