Her first lesson was cleared. She had gained the experience and skills necessary to fight. All that was left was to clear her last one and it would mean that she would be permitted to go with Ichigo to the Soul Society. Whatever remaining time was going to be used for more sword training. Was she glad about making progress? Of course.
To her surprise, her final lesson with her instructor was the same as Ichigo's third one: knock off Urahara's hat. "There was no time limit." He told her.
Katsuko figured that it meant that she could take her time or something, thinking that he was going to keep evading her. No. He came after her with his Zanpakuto (which she started questioning why it was hidden in a cane instead of a sheath) and started swinging at her.
And this time, he wasn't going easy on her.
Katsuko gritted her teeth and slashed towards him, hoping the light breeze would at least move his damn hat. To her shock, he simply lifted his hand and held the sword upside down, blocking her attack effortlessly. She tried pushing against his blade, but he wouldn't relent.
He shoved her sword back, causing her to yelp from the suddenness, and then aimed a horizontal swing towards the center of her body that was left open to attack. With a cry, she quickly brought her sword down to defend herself. His sword collided with hers once he blocked it, but not without cracking the blade.
Her eyes widened.
Are you serious?!
Frantically, she recoiled away from Urahara and stared at her sword in horror. It freaking cracked. The blade cracked!
He can break my Zanpakuto?!
She thought the final lesson would be easy with how stronger she was getting. This lesson was making her realize just how weak and powerless she felt when facing Urahara who withheld no restraint. He was strong enough to crack her Zanpakuto, the tool that was supposed to keep her alive in the Soul Society.
He was not letting her bring her blade close enough touch it only breeze past it.
"What's the matter? Am I going to have to come to you again?"
"Doesn't matter who comes to who, we'll still end up trading blows anyway." Katsuko scoffed in annoyance.
Urahara laughed at that, "Very true."
Despite her attitude, she felt shaken up by the crack in her sword. The next blow to it might as well snap it in half, leaving her with a broken sword. What was the point if it broke? Could it even be fixed?
But I have to keep trying!
The man in the bucket hat was about to take a step closer until he saw her grip the hilt tightly. Katsuko ran towards him and swung her sword at him with a shout. She swung her sword at him but it was still blocked. Katsuko growled at that in annoyance and then looked at the spot where her sword had a crack. He started sliding his blade against hers to move closer to the crack, causing her eyes to widen.
Then he sliced it in half.
Katsuko gasped.
He really did break it!
Expecting her to freeze just like Ichigo when he got his blade knocked off the hilt, he stood there and waited for the reality to sink inside her. However, Katsuko didn't stop and quickly stepped forward to swing her blade towards his hat.
His eyebrows rose.
Just hit the damn edge to knock it off his stupid head!
Come on, just knock off his damn hat!
He blinked in surprise and backstepped away from her broken sword. She was able to graze his hat, but it wasn't enough to knock it off let alone jerk it. His black eyes shifted from the graze to her frustrated expression.
She was willing to sacrifice her blade to bet on the chance of knocking his hat away once she was assured that she had an opening.
He smirked at her, "I commend you for not being frozen in shock and still trying to knock my hat off. Unfortunately, that's still not going to cut it."
Katsuko gripped her hilt tighter and bit her lip, silently listening to him.
"I thought that if I could just knock it off, then it wouldn't matter if it broke. I would have cleared the lesson even if it broke." Katsuko sighed and held her broken sword with both hands, "But I'll have to keep trying!"
"Is that so?" he lifted a brow, "You defeat your opponent with a broken sword and think you can continue fighting with it?"
Taken back by the sudden comparison, she was at a loss for words when she realized what he meant.
In the Soul Society, I won't be fighting one opponent. I'll have many.
If I break my sword in my first fight… I won't be able to survive!
"I see. I should have started with this from the start." Urahara sighed and took a fighting stance, "By all means, continue with that naïve idea of knocking off my hat. Just know, that if you intend to come at me with that broken sword, then I'll have to cut you down."
His sword started to glow.
"Awaken, Benihime."
Katsuko watched in disbelief as his sword took on a different shape. The hilt was different as it now had some decorative wrapping and a bent shape. The back of the blade was now black.
"Look carefully now," Urahara lowered his sword, her eyes followed the blade with confusion and shock, "What you see here is my Zanpakuto, Benihime is her name. Each Soul Reaper has a Zanpakuto that possess a unique name. The moment a Zanpakuto like this is awakened from its sealed state, your broken sword won't stand a chance."
"A name…?"
"That's right."
Without warning, he swung his sword in her direction and sent her tumbling back simply from the force of it. Katsuko rolled backwards and then quickly got back up on her feet.
She inhaled sharply when Urahara darted towards her, forcing her to guard against his blade. This time, he easily sliced through her sword, shortening its size to one of a butter knife. She was about to take that chance and try to knock off his hat once more until she caught a glimpse of the killing intent in his eyes. That made her hesitate.
"Just know, that if you intend to come at me with that broken sword, then I'll have to cut you down."
With a gasp, Katsuko side-stepped away just as he dented the ground. Seeing this made her realize how serious he was about hurting her.
'Kill' might be the better word!
What did she do?
The only thing she could do: she ran away from him.
She was in danger.
But he was so fast that he eventually caught up with her and broke off the rest of her sword when she desperately tried to defend, leaving her with only the hilt and guard.
There's no way I can do this!
She turned tail to run again as fast as she could.
If Soul Reapers can become more powerful with calling the name of their Zanpakuto, then I can't do this! I'm not strong enough! There's no point in me going to the Soul Society!
Urahara appeared next to her and swung his sword, making her flinch and back away.
I don't even know my sword's name!
Katsuko cowered as she dodged when he slashed again.
A real battle… I wouldn't be able to do it!
Katsuko kept running away.
I was stupid to think I could do this!
The girl continued running away from the man who watched her.
This is impossible!
…
…
…
"How long are you going cover your ears and run?"
All of a sudden, Katsuko felt a pair of cool hands cover her eyes, shutting them. Fear flooded her being when she had her sight robbed from her. She was going to squirm and push away the cool hands pressed harder, frightening her a little.
"Calm yourself. Once you calm down, I will release you and give you your sight back."
That doesn't sound like Urahara-san…
The black haired girl took in a deep breath and then exhaled after a brief pause. As they said, their hands slipped off her face, making Katsuko turn her head to look behind her. She found a woman walking past her with a relaxed expression.
This woman had long gray hair and cool mint green eyes. She wore a cerulean top, similar to a haori, that had white fur around her neck. The sleeve of her right arm was long while the other was short, just above her elbow, with white fur. She had a brown obi-like thing wrapped underneath her chest while the haori-like top descended behind her legs to her calves while the front stopped at her knees. She wore a gray hakama pants that were tied with a black obi.
Her mere presence made Katsuko shiver.
When she stood in front of Katsuko, she turned to face her and then sighed.
"… Who are you?" Katsuko mumbled, concerned, "Where did you come from?"
"If you had stopped hesitating and simply had confidence in yourself, then maybe you might have heard my name."
Katsuko didn't say anything, making the woman sigh once more before she pointed at Katsuko's broken sword.
"Your sword is crying out, but your hesitation and lack of confidence is muffling it." She repeated, "Are you truly going to run without even trying your best? I won't allow that. The only reason you feel so powerless and afraid is because you fight by yourself."
Katsuko inhaled sharply, "… But I am."
Ignoring what she said, the woman narrowed her eyes and walked closer to her, "You'll never win if you turn tail and run. If you do, you're nothing more than a spineless coward running on empty words." dark brown eyes met ice cool green ones, "If you hesitate, you'll die and lose everything."
I can hear something…
"Now, turn around and face him once more. Don't let him chase you around."
Katsuko gripped the handle and was turning her head while the woman firmly grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
"You should hear it now."
Katsuko stared at Urahara, like in a trance, and then held her sword in both hands.
"I'm tired of waiting."
With a burst of Spiritual Pressure, Katsuko gripped the handle tighter and hardened her eyes.
Urahara watched her carefully.
"Rend, Arashihoro!"
Katsuko extended her arms diagonally from each other, revealing a sword in each hand. Seeing the two blades definitely surprised Urahara since he wasn't expecting her to wield two. Dual swords were such a rare sight even in the Soul Society.
All of a sudden, Katsuko narrowed her eyes at him and gritted her teeth. She took a step forward and swung her left arm in Urahara's direction, sending a giant gust wind flowing rapidly in his direction. Nimbly, Urahara leaned away from the attack and observed the wind flying past him.
A wind-type Zanpakuto?
He could sense the condensed spiritual power inside of the wind.
The gust of wind collided with boulder somewhere and it broke the upper half of it.
Seeing him dodge made Katsuko take another step forward and swing her sword once more, after wind swirled around it, the way where Urahara was, sending a wind slash in his direction at lightning speed.
"Oops." Urahara crouched down, dodging the attack. He was about to grab hold of his hat until he found it falling in front of him. He blinked in surprise. In slow-motion, he saw Katsuko through the hole she created when she shaved off the top of his hat.
The bucket hat landed on the ground with a soft tap.
Tessai stared at Urahara and Katsuko who came up from the underground training room. The first looked a little sad while the latter looked relatively pleased with whatever happened below. It was quite obvious what occurred judging from damaged hat on Urahara's head.
"She destroyed my hat…" the owner said sadly.
"Sorry, sorry."
"You don't look sorry." Urahara pouted.
Jinta fell over, guffawing.
Ichigo looked up when he saw the door sliding open, a head poked inside, it was his friend with a grin on her face, a clear sign of a good mood.
"Hey, good morning and good afternoon." Katsuko greeted as she entered the room "just passing by to get my things. Oh, and Tessai-san said that food would be ready for you in a bit."
"Thanks." He nodded and then started yawning, still a little tired. The room he used to sleep in was also the same room where Katsuko would drop her bag in.
She was doing her best to restrain herself with what happened to her just a few minutes ago, but she couldn't contain it any longer. She picked up her bag and then waddled over to Ichigo and then plopped herself in front of him with her legs crossed.
"I learned the name of my Zanpakuto!" she told him, excitedly.
The orange haired boy blinked at her sudden excitement and then scoffed, "Lemme guess, he chased you around and nearly killed you while your sword was broken?"
She tipped her head to the side, "How'd you know?" she asked, curious.
"Frigging sandal-hat did the same thing to me," He said with another yawn.
Katsuko paused. Then a smirk appeared on her face as she leaned a bit closer to him, "Yeah? What I'd pay to see you all panicky and scared. Too bad I left before that."
"Ah, shut up. I bet you were no better anyway." He sat up properly against the wall and propped his leg up so he could rest his arm on his knee, "So, what's the name of yours?"
Katsuko leaned back a little and placed her arms behind her to hold her up, "You first since you learned yours first."
"Zangetsu." He told her before he started explaining the kanji used in the name. Like Katsuko, he knew the way the name was written in kanji once he was able to learn it. It was like remembering something he had long forgotten.
Slaying Moon.
Katsuko looked up at the ceiling as she repeated the name in her head while painting the picture of a moon being slain. However, that was quickly replaced with something else when she simply changed the pronunciation.
"Change the 'getsu' to 'ketsu'." Katsuko snickered, but it wasn't long until her body started shaking with laughter, "Oh geez. Zanketsu! Slaying Ass!" she was ignorant to Ichigo's eye twitch while she sat up properly to hunch over and laugh.
"The hell?! Stop making fun of my Zanpakuto!" he shouted at her.
Of course, she'd find a way to crack a joke about my Zanpakuto. Of course, she would!
He groaned.
"Damn…" Katsuko heaved, "Sorry, sorry! It was the first thing that popped in my head! Oh, god…" she looked at Ichigo and covered the lower half of her face in the crook of her arm before reaching out to pat Ichigo's hand that was close to her, she gave him the most serious look she could muster "Ichigo, the ass cleaver."
"Ahrg, shut the hell up!" Ichigo groaned and smacked her hand away in annoyance, making her giggle in amusement, "You gonna tell me or not?!"
"Arashihoro." She replied with a silly grin once she calmed down a little, and she proceeded to explain its writing just as Ichigo did.
Storm of Destruction.
"Arashihoro, huh? Do you think it's yours?"
"What do you mean?"
He shrugged, "Rukia said your soul was one of Soul Reapers which explained why you have Soul Reaper powers. Do you think that Zanpakuto might be theirs?"
Hearing this made Katsuko fall silent for a moment. She never thought about that since she was still feeling some joy after learning the name of her sword. The thought of it belonging to someone else made her feel a little sour since it would mean that it wasn't her power, meaning that she was still borrowing strength from someone else.
Sure, having some help was nice, but she liked knowing that her Zanpakuto was part of her own strength. It made her feel some degree of pride even though she didn't know anything about Zanpakuto.
Ichigo stiffened when he saw the confusion on her face morph into one of depression and worry. He knew that look. That was the look she had whenever she stressed so much over something that it made her anxious and a little depressed.
"I-I mean," Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he sweat dropped, "What do I know—"
"I hope not." Katsuko mumbled, "I want it to be mine."
The dejection on her face just made him sigh. He reached for her head with the hand that was resting his leg to gently thump the side of her head with his fist, causing her to blink and look at him with bewilderment.
"Stop making that face," he said with a frown as he lowered his hand, "It's pointless to worry about the things we don't really know anything about."
"But…"
"That's not really what we need to worry about, right?"
There was a brief pause as Katsuko and Ichigo stared at each other in silence.
"Yeah… saving Rukia. That's our major issue to worry about." Katsuko sighed with slow nod, understanding that her worries were nothing compared to someone who was on death row.
I wasn't supposed to have these powers to begin with…
"Besides, who cares if it either belongs to you or the last one. It doesn't change the fact that it's yours now."
"Okay, okay." Katsuko huffed, "I get it. I guess that if it helps me in the end, then it shouldn't matter, yeah?"
"Exactly. So, stop looking so mopey. You look weird."
The girl rolled her eyes at him while shaking her head to throw her bangs away from her face. That gesture made Ichigo wonder again if she ever found them annoying.
"Hey, your hair, has it ever distracted you?" Ichigo asked her.
"Hm?" Katsuko looked to her left where some of her hair appeared in her sight, "Not really… I mean, sometimes it gets in the way but I can still see." She jutted out her bottom lip and huffed to make her bangs fly away from her eyes.
"Well, obviously you should bring something to keep it out of your face."
Katsuko scratched her cheek with her finger, "I guess you're right."
Just then, the door slid open, revealing the shy Ururu poking her head inside.
"Um, excuse me… food is ready."
"Oh, thanks. I'll be right there." Ichigo pushed himself off the wall while Katsuko took that as her cue to also head out of the room. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder just as she plucked out her chocolate pocky box. Ururu nodded and then shut the door when she left.
Ichigo and Katsuko walked side by side as they made their way down the hallway of the building.
The girl lowered her head and stared at the wood she was walking on and broke the silence when she asked softly, "We'll come back home, right?"
The orange haired teen shifted his head to look at her while she kept her gaze on the floor. She bit the corner of her lip as she rested her cool palm on the back of her neck.
He returned his gaze back in front of him and felt his resolve hardened, "We will." He told her firmly, "We'll save Rukia from that stupid execution and then we'll come back home."
With a silent chuckle, Katsuko blinked and looked back up with a small smile.
…
…
…
The following days of training went by rather quickly compared to the first days.
With Ichigo and Katsuko on the same page, Urahara brought them together to give them more preparation for their mission. It was mostly theory on Zanpakuto to let them know when an opening would present itself. This theory lesson was mostly for Ichigo considering it was most likely he would fight against the person he went up against first that night. He also gave them a small crash course on Zanpakuto while he was at it which greatly interested Katsuko. According to him, Zanpakuto are unique since they reflect the soul of their Soul Reaper.
However, the majority of the remaining days left was spent with more harsh training against Urahara to let them get used to the new forms of their swords.
Speaking of forms, Ichigo's sword was weird. Well, it was weird before but now it was even weirder. She remembered that his sword was remarkably long; long as his tall body. It used to look like hers with the guard above the hilt, but now it just looked like some abnormally large kitchen knife with some cloth wrapped around the handle.
According to Urahara, when she asked him when Ichigo wasn't around, he said that his sword was staying in Shikai form.
Shikai form was basically what happens when the name of the Zanpakuto is first called out with its command.
Due to her Shikai form splitting into two swords, Urahara helped her learn to get used to fighting with two blades in her hands since there wasn't any point in keeping her left arm away from battle. At first, Katsuko wasn't too happy with two swords since she was used to fighting with her right whenever she wasn't using two hands. It was tough since she wasn't ambidextrous. Unfortunately, Urahara could only help her get used to fighting with two blades. He could not teach her how to use the special power coming from her Zanpakuto.
But two blades did prove to be quite advantageous.
She caught Ichigo off guard plenty of times during a short sparring match.
July 31st
5 PM.
After teaching them enough to get them prepared, their training was over. The only thing left to do was to wait for the door to the Soul Society to be opened. It was going to take a week for Urahara to prepare the door so they had no choice but to sit at home patiently. The only instruction given to them was to have their window open at 1 AM on August 8th.
Katsuko already disliked that since she wasn't a fan of inviting mosquitoes into her room.
…
…
…
Outside the Urahara Shop, Ichigo leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed, with his shoulder bag slung on his shoulder. He was currently waiting up on Katsuko since Urahara had called her over for something. She emerged from the shop with a bottle in hand and a blue glove in her hand while she looked around for him. When she spotted him on the side, she walked up to him and showed him the goodies she just got from sandal-hat.
"What's the glove for?" Ichigo arched a brow and took it from her when she offered it to him. He blinked when he flattened it against his palm, "Hey, this looks like the glove that Rukia had."
Katsuko eyed the skull design on it, "He said that it might be useful since Hollows could still appear. I had to pay a fee though since I'm technically getting some of his goods." She finished with a deadpan.
Money wasn't really an issue for Katsuko, not because she was rich, but because whenever her mother gave her some spare money, she would just leave it to rot in her wallet for who knows how long. She didn't really go out of her way to spend it like most people. She just had good self-control.
"Did he tell you what that was?" Ichigo scowled and pointed his chin towards the bottle in her hand just as they started walking off together. Just the sight of the little green pill brought back the memories of chaos that Kon caused.
Knowing exactly what he was thinking about, Katsuko chuckled and swayed the pill in the bottle gently when she lifted up to his face, "Unlike the superhuman soul you got, mine is pretty normal. It'll help me while I'm gone. He actually showed me how to get back inside my body once I leave it to the soul pill."
As she said that, she couldn't help but worry about her absence. Her mind was made up with helping out Ichigo save Rukia, but a part of her would never get over the fact that she was going away and leaving behind a walking lie that would be wearing her skin in her own house.
Her heart also wanted to make her tell her mother that she was going away.
But she knew she couldn't do that.
I seriously need to come home alive. I have to.
"You tried it?"
"Yeah, apparently the name of this brand is called Aiza. He told me that they usually have a constructed personality that was seen as ideal based on some Soul Reaper research…"
"Okay… so what did sandal-hat give you?"
"A curious personality."
Ichigo looked ahead and tilted his head upward when he tried matching the word with her name. She definitely could get curious every once in a while. The question was, just how curious was this soul pill?
Katsuko sighed as she stuffed the glove into her bag along with the bottle, "Anyway, I need to find a way to talk to this thing so I can give some advice. I'm not exactly your run of the mill girl."
"Just shove the pill into some stuffed animal." Ichigo suggested as they waited for the green light, "I did that and got to give that idiot a piece of my mind for taking my body on an adventure."
He and Rukia tried looking for a dead cat that was run over by a car before ultimately giving up and just choosing a plushie they found.
"Hold up, you still have it?!" Katsuko gaped.
She stayed behind with Rukia that day since Ichigo got detention, but she parted ways with them at some point. Ichigo must have done that after she left.
"Yeah, we named him Kon." He replied nonchalantly as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"Seriously…?" Katsuko tipped her head, "Kon… well, I guess I know where I'm going next. Hey, Ichigo, wanna come with me to the arcade?"
He raised a brow as he looked at her, "Huh, why?"
"I'll get a stuffed animal from a crane machine." she shrugged.
"What? Just take a stuffed animal you have in your room. You have at least two of them just sitting on your headboard."
"There's no way to put the soul pill inside!" she pouted, "I'm not about to cut a hole into them!"
"It's just a stuffed animal." He deadpanned.
Katsuko pulled a stupid face, "It's just a—" she stopped her imitation, "Hell no!"
The thought of cutting a small hole into her old stuffed animal from when she was a little kid made her want to cry on the spot.
"Why do I have to come?!"
"Because I've only successfully gotten one stuffed animal from a crane machine in my whole life! You might have better luck!"
"Based on what proof?"
"Your bright orange hair."
Ichigo gave her a tired look at the grin she wore.
Ichigo looked away from her with a scowl while she placed her hands together in a praying motion.
"Pleaseeee!"
He shut his eyes and scrubbed the back of his head when she tried to look him in the eyes.
…
…
He clicked his tongue and sighed in defeat.
"Fine! Ten minutes!"
"Yes!"
Under seven minutes, he got her the stuffed animal she chose after three tries: a wolf.
AUGUST 5TH
The wolf plushie hopped on her lap and looked at the television screen in front of her.
"So, who's that bald guy?" Aiza pointed her paw.
Katsuko, who was listening to the character talk in her video game, paused the game.
"He's the bad guy of the story. He did a bunch of stuff that contributed to making the storyline so convoluted."
"How so?"
"Hm… it's hard to explain."
At first, Katsuko had a bit of trouble getting used to the fact that she was talking to a plushie most of the time, but she eventually got used to speaking to Aiza thanks to her many curious questions about her life.
She spent a few days helping the soul pill Aiza get used to the vibe at home for her sake since she wouldn't want her parents to suspect anything. The best advice she could give Aiza was that while she was inside her body, she had to remember that Katsuko usually kept herself busy by either drawing, going on the computer or by playing video games. Those were easily the most Katsuko-esque things that Aiza could imitate.
She wasn't trying to condition her into acting like herself or anything.
She wasn't too worried because five days out of seven Aiza would be all by herself.
"Do you want me to pull out a video that explains the game?" Katsuko tipped her head.
"Ooh! Yeah! Show me! I wanna know more stuff about this game! Do you think I can play it while you're gone? What do you think I should do? Is it fun?" Aiza bounced around in her plushie form.
… Sometimes there were too many questions at once though.
Katsuko chuckled to herself and went over to her laptop, "Yeah, you can play. Just don't overwrite my data or else I'll cry when I come back."
"Sure, sure!" Aiza laughed cheerfully but then froze, giving Katsuko a perplexed look, "How do I do that?"
"Oh, uh, you just start a new game. I'll show you later."
On August 6th, she spent most of her day with Jun, Mayuka and Haruki. It was Katsuko's idea to hang out for the day while Haruki proposed the place. They played together at a bowling alley where Haruki won by defeating Katsuko by one point. After that, they ate lunch somewhere before settling down at Katsuko's house to hang out for a bit longer. And when it was time to for them to go home, Katsuko had made sure to hug her friends tightly, guising it as some affectionate gesture she decided to show.
On August 7th, she spent the whole day at home, watching some anime show with her mother. Attending the Fireworks Festival wasn't really something she had in mind since she wanted to spend the day with her family at home. Her family wasn't really going to participate in watching anyway.
Her father went to bed at 10 PM.
Katsuko and her mother decided to stop watching at 12:00 AM.
In her pajamas, Katsuko repeatedly checked her phone for the time. Aiza, in her plushie form, was sitting on her desk just watching the teen feel restless. They both knew the time of switch was approaching. Aiza had suggested that Katsuko take a nap and that she would wake her a few minutes before 1 AM only for the girl to refuse, insisting that she stay up until her mother would finally head to bed. It was going to be soon anyway since her mother had work the next day.
"Katsuko?"
The said girl blinked and was brought back to reality after spacing out.
"Yeah?"
"Come here, I want to show you something."
"Coming." She slid off her bed and put on her slippers before shuffling her way out of her room and into the hallway where her mother was standing in front of a table.
Her mother held up a ring with a smile, "I found this after looking around in my jewelry box."
Curious dark brown eyes looked closely at the ring. It was the first time she saw that type of ring. It was a ring that had at least five thin rings attached together, they were in a gold-looking colour. It looked like it was half an inch long. It made Katsuko wonder where the ring came from.
This wasn't the first time her mother decided to pass down some rings she had.
Katsuko didn't really mess with accessories that had to be worn on anything other than her neck. She once went to a store and bought a nice bracelet with her mother that she wore to school. That bracelet was really nice. Unfortunately, she somehow lost it one time after an art class which was odd since it was firmly attached around her wrist. That incident alone made Katsuko quite weary about wearing bracelet and rings. The only thing that she could actually keep because could keep track of it was a necklace.
"You can wear for a special occasion if you want." Her mother suggested knowing that her daughter wasn't the jewelry type, "You can even wear just for fun."
"Try and see if it fits."
Without a word, Katsuko plucked the ring from her mother's fingers and looked at her left fingers, trying to decide which finger to slip it on. The index finger seemed like a safe bet.
"Finger too fat." Katsuko chuckled.
"Try the ring finger on your right hand."
"Mmkay."
It wasn't the perfect fit. She was sure it would leave some light indent marks since it wasn't so tight to cut off blood circulation. But it was still good to wear.
"I'm scared that I'll lose it though…"
Nozoko only sighed, "You won't lose it if it fits on your finger. It's not like you're going to hold it in your hand." Nozoko then smiled and nodded, "Keep it if you like it. You can wear it when you go out with Haru and Jun. It looks good."
"But those are just hangout days. I don't need to look fancy."
Her mother waved her hand dismissively, "It's fine. You can still wear it."
The girl chuckled at that, "Okay."
Katsuko decided to lie down on her mother's bed, which was the comfy couch in the living room, while she went in the bathroom to get ready for bed. After a while, her mother came in the living room.
"Okay, move. I'm going to lie down now." Nozoko made a shoo-ing motion with her hands.
"Kaaaay. Hey, can we have noodles for breakfast? I'm craving them."
"We'll see."
She moved off of the couch and then walked to her mother to give her a hug. She felt her mother hug her back and then patted her bum which was pretty much akin to mussing her hair.
With a silly grin, she bid her mother goodnight.
"Hey mom?" Katsuko poked her head back inside the living room, "I love you."
"I know. Love you too."
…
…
With all lights aside from hers finally off and the house falling into silence, Katsuko felt the reality hit her hard once more after she went back in her room. She was leaving home to a place where the possibility of dying was going to be inevitable.
That alone made her sink down to her knees and cover her mouth as she started to weep in silence. It was extremely overwhelming for her to leave the place where it was safe. It was all hitting her now.
Aiza's plushie ears went down as she watched Katsuko's body shake in distraught.
As an artificial soul, Aiza's purpose was to normally take the place of a Soul Reaper while they performed their duties and then just return to their original form, a pill, once their dispenser took back its Gigai. This time was different since Aiza actually got to know her dispenser.
And in only a week, she learned a lot from Katsuko and was slowly developing an identity for itself instead of just being a soul candy with a curious personality.
Worriedly, Aiza padded over to the tissue box on her desk and picked it up. She hopped from her desk to the bed and then the floor with a soft noise. The artificial soul brought over the tissue box to Katsuko who clamped her mouth shut while her body convulsed.
"Sorry… ugh," Katsuko whispered and sniffled, "I'll be okay in a second… thank you." She snatched a bunch of tissues and blew her nose.
"It's alright. You still have time." Aiza reassured her and then she silently sat behind her with her back facing hers.
…
…
…
12:55 AM
Katsuko awoke with a jolt on her shoulder.
In a daze, she awoke in a slight daze and stared at Aiza in confusion. The wolf plushie, who was nudging her shoulder, bounced on top of her phone that lit up and revealed the lockscreen. Katsuko jumped in alarm when she saw what time it was and quickly sat up. A dozens of minutes ago, she climbed on her bed and took a small nap after she calmed down from her waterworks.
She shuffled off her bed and approached her window that hidden by long light brown curtains. She seriously wondered what was the point of having her window open at 1 AM if she could just head to the Urahara Shop before 1.
"Aiza…" she whispered to the artificial soul, "What time is it?"
"It's um… 12:59."
"Alright."
Katsuko pushed away the curtain to the side and opened her window before sitting down on her desk chair. Instantly, something flew into her room and just splattered on her floor, scaring Aiza and Katsuko to the point of a reduced lifespan.
"What the fuck is this…?!" Katsuko freaked at the mess.
Please come to the front of the Urahara Shop immediately. PS. If you thought this was 'like a dying message' or something common like that… you have no sense of humor!
"That sandal-hat clown! This shit better not leave any marks on my floor!" Katsuko growled in annoyance, "Damn it, I better clean this up!"
"I'll do it for you. You just go ahead and turn into a Soul Reaper!" Aiza told her as she tossed the blue Gokon Tekkou at Katsuko who clumsily caught it. There was a brief pause of hesitation but Katsuko breathed in and breathed out heavily after reinforcing her resolve.
She put on the glove and walked towards Aiza.
I'm going to the Soul Society to not only help Ichigo but also to save Rukia.
This was my choice.
She forced out Aiza from her plushie form.
I will come home alive.
She threw the pill into her mouth and was quickly separated from her physical body once she gulped it down. She stumbled back from falling out. As she caught herself on the edge of her desk, she spotted the ring that her mother had given her resting next to her pillow. Desperately wanting a piece of home to be with her, she snatched it off the bed and slid it on her right ring finger.
She steeled her resolve.
"… Well, I'm off. Take care of things here, Aiza."
Aiza nodded with a smile, "Good luck."
Cautiously, Katsuko peeked from behind the wall to look at the entrance of the Urahara shop. Knowing Urahara, he might have planned something to make fun of her and Ichigo at the last minute. The owner of the shop was clearly standing there but someone else was there, sitting on a box in front of the shop. She was pretty sure she'd recognize who that person was even without the improved eyesight and the street lamp.
Chad.
Why the heck are you here?!
"Hiragi-saaan~"
She flinched at Urahara's sing-song voice. She saw him smiling goofily at her attempt to hide from them.
Chad looked up from the ground and spotted her.
Well, there's no point in hiding…
Katsuko stepped out from the shadows and made her way to the front of the shop. Quietly, she approached Chad and started waving her hands in front of him to check if he could see her. She looked rather stupid.
"I can see you." He simply said.
Katsuko froze and let her arms drop to her side, "You can, huh? You see me in this edo-period looking kimono?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"… Really?" she scratched the back of her head.
Urahara chuckled to himself, causing the two teens to look at him. They saw him look up when he saw something past Katsuko.
"Oh, Kurosaki-san! Right on time!"
Katsuko turned around while Chad stood up behind her as Ichigo approached them with a baffled look on his face, much like her, he wasn't expecting to see Chad.
"Chad… why are you here?"
"Kuchiki Rukia once saved me. I'm going, too."
"Eh?! What?!"
Katsuko blinked and thought about what Chad just said. But then she let out a quiet gasp when she saw a person dressed in white step into the light. It was Ishida.
"What? You didn't hear? No way will I remain defeated by those Soul Reapers. I'm going, too."
"Now we're all here."
Now, that was a voice Katsuko never expected to hear that night. The voice of Inoue Orihime. The sight of all three new additions to the roster just made Ichigo even more confused since he wasn't sure if it was joke or not. Katsuko felt at ease with Ishida on the train since she had seen what kind of power he had. The other two? She wasn't so sure about it.
Seriously. Urahara should have told them they had more party members for the rescue squad.
"What is going on here?!" Ichigo grabbed his head.
"Pretty slow on the up-take, aren't you?" another familiar voice appeared. It was Yoruichi.
This voice. For some reason, the cat felt even more reassuring to have on board. After all, if a cat, of all things, was participating in such a dangerous mission then there had to be more to it.
"Alright, alright! That's enough." Urahara clapped his hands together to gain everyone's attention, "We can't keep talking outside. Let's go inside."
…
…
"The cat is talking…"
"I thought that was already obvious." Katsuko sighed as she followed Chad inside with Ichigo and Ishida behind her. Ichigo still wasn't over the talking cat.
"But… the cat is talking!"
Katsuko looked over her shoulder and give him a tired look, "And? What do you want me to do? Celebrate?"
"The cat is freakin' talking! How are you not freaked out about this?!" Ichigo nearly shouted in the building.
"Yoruichi-san was the one who spoke to me to talk about the rescue mission. I got used to it."
"Seriously?!"
"Get over it, Kurosaki." Ishida said exasperatedly.
After going through the process of getting Ichigo out of his body so that everyone was truly accounted for, Urahara snapped his fingers and made a giant rectangular gate appear in front of them. It was the gate that would lead them to the Soul Society known as the Senkaimon.
"Now listen very carefully. This gate has a layer of Reishi Henkanki, a Spirit-particle Conversion Machine, on top of a normal Senkaimon. As you already know, the Soul Society is a world of souls. It is impossible to enter that world unless you have the form of a soul."
Katsuko shifted her head to glance at the three new people.
"However, Kurosaki-san and Hiragi-san, as Soul Reapers, can cross through. So we will use the Henkanki to convert you into spirits."
I guess, since Ishida has glasses like me, he'll have to keep his glasses on since he'll be keeping his physical body because his soul won't be extracted.
"You will be able to enter the Soul Society like that."
"Okay, we get it! Let's just hurry up already—" Ichigo was cut off when Katsuko grabbed the back of his Shihakusho at the last minute, making him stumble back with a yelp, "Oi!"
"Let him finish, Ichigo." Katsuko sighed.
"Thank you, Hiragi-san. Now, let's continue. The time that we have to open the gate and connect it to the Soul Society is four minutes."
Katsuko narrowed her eyes, "… How long is the path?"
"Pretty long to the point where four minutes won't be enough."
"What?!" Ichigo exclaimed.
"It's a reckless idea to start with." Urahara admitted, "I'll do my very best and hold it for four minutes. If you can't cross over in that time… you will be trapped forever between the Soul Society and this world."
Katsuko bit her lip and played with her ring. There was already a damn hurdle to face.
"The heart and soul are connected." Yoruichi said. "The important thing is what you feel in your heart and the will to move it forward. I will be your guide. You can only move forward. Only those who can do that can follow me."
"What are you talking about? Those who chose to gather here have made the decision and are determined to follow it!" Ichigo affirmed for everyone present.
The cat looked at Ichigo with narrowed eyes, "Understand that if you fail, you cannot return."
"So, we just have to win."
"Exactly."
Both Tessai and Urahara planted their hands on the ground, causing the Senkaimon to shine a bright light.
"Run in the instant that it opens."
Katsuko shifted in place as she held in her breath. It was time.
"Go!"
All at once, everyone passed through the Senkaimon.
…
…
…
Katsuko was running next to Ichigo and Chad. They were all running fast as they could. They had already wasted a few seconds since they all ended up ogling the Dangai at the start. Katsuko kept her gaze on the white light at the end of the tunnel instead of looking the walls around them. She couldn't ignore the strange sounds of the wall and the sound of what sounded like bones crushing underneath her feet. Creepy.
"Keep running! It's all over if the Restrictive Current swallows you up!"
Katsuko heard Ishida yelp in surprise. She quickly looked over her shoulder and found him being pulled away from the group by the end of his short cape. Advised not to use their Zanpakuto to help him, Chad forcefully ripped Ishida's cape and then tossed him over his shoulder.
"Uh…" Ichigo and Katsuko stared at the sight.
"Let's go." Chad said.
"Put me down, Sado-kun! I can run on my own!"
"Putting you down will only waste more precious seconds!" Katsuko shot back, slightly angry from the get-up he chose to wear. There was more that she wanted to say, but she knew better than to waste her breath while running.
"Hey, guys!" Ishida called out, "Something is coming! What is that?!"
Everyone was looking over the shoulder as they ran and saw a giant mass of purple with a bright yellow light coming at them from behind.
"It's the Cleaner!" Yoruichi replied in annoyance, "It appears once every seven days! And this had to be the day!"
Katsuko groaned as she felt it getting closer, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"Just run!" Yoruichi advised them all, "It's incredibly fast!"
The command made them sprint even faster. Katsuko forced her legs to run faster.
The exit was still out of reach.
Katsuko wasn't sure what had happened since she was so focused on running. The Dangai was illuminated in a bright light followed by a loud sound of something slamming into a wall of some sort. Everything stilled in silence before an explosion occurred. Katsuko's eyes widened when she felt a blast push her forward and out of the Dangai.
There wasn't any time to brace for the fall since they had shot down to the ground at full speed. Her eyes had been squinting since she was greeted by the sudden bright light of the sky while the smoke was clearing around them. Chad, who had landed close to her, helped her sit up and made sure she was alright since she landed on her back.
"Thanks. I'll be fine." Katsuko gave him a quick smile.
"I never thought I'd have to use my spare cape so soon…" Ishida mumbled, making Katsuko whip her head in his direction.
"… You sure it won't get in the way?" Katsuko grumbled.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
"I'm so glad! No one seems to be hurt—"
"What's there to be glad about?!" Yoruichi shouted and headbutted the busty girl's eye, "Were you not listening to me?! We're lucky the Restrictive Current made contact with just the shield area. If it had been the Shun Shun Rikka themselves, you'd be dead now!"
Choosing to look away from the scolding, Katsuko looked at the buildings around them. It looked different than what she imagined. She thought the Soul Society, based off its name, would look a little more spirit-y instead of ordinary. She thought she would see some souls flying around along with loads of majestic colors.
"… So, this is the Soul Society."
LET'S GOOOO! FINALLY! THE SOUL SOCIETY ARC!
My god. The name of Katsuko's Zanpakuto went through a few changes lol.
Chapter 1-3: Ranbetsu (嵐烕) - Storm + To Destroy = went to the trash lol
Chapter 4-12: Arashihoro (嵐滅) - Storm of Destruction/Storm of Ruin (sounds too violent for Katsuko)
Chapter 13: Senjouran (前兆嵐) - Harbinger of the Storm (still wasn't satisfied)
Chapter 14: Kyouran (暁嵐) - Storm of Dawn (fits for a specific reason. I could have chosen Twilight instead of Dawn tbh).
(EDIT: 2021.05.25) As of chapter 17: It's Arashihoro.
The common kanji used in all four names was the kanji for Storm. I had fun making the names though since I like making japanese names with kanji and different pronunciations.
Dual Zanpakuto? Yeah.
Dragonmaster150: Kido, huh? We'll just have to wait and see. You'll find an answer to your question the further we go into the story.
See you in the next chapter!