August 18th

…

…

…

There were only two more weeks left of summer vacation.

And it's been five days since they all returned home.

Nothing unusual was happening to Katsuko, not even when she turned into a Soul Reaper to get rid of a nearby Hollow.

When doing her little part time job, she chose to use the badge that she was given to remove Aiza out of her plushy form and use it the pill. Seeing as the Gokon Tekkou's only purpose was to simply gather dust on her desk, she was wondering if she should stop by Urahara's place and return it. But then she thought he would probably assume she'd want a refund or something and might not accept it. And when thinking about giving it back and suddenly losing track of her only method of transformation, it made her think twice. She chose to tuck away the blue glove into a drawer where she knew would be hidden, and hopefully she would actually remember where it was.

Knowing how Katsuko was usually at home during the summer, Jun and Haruki pestered her about joining the Onose River Summer Festival that was going to take place on the twenty-first. Fireworks were going to go off in Karakura Town at 7 PM. But people could ride some boats down the river starting at 10 AM. Many food stalls would be installed as well as a small music concert for entertainment.

Considering how she didn't attend the Fireworks Festival last time (it was in the neighbouring city anyway so why the heck would she go all the way there by herself), she decided to give in and go this time since it was in Karakura Town. Luckily, she wouldn't be going alone. Her mother and father were down to head out to enjoy the food.

Aiza, who was resting on her shoulder as she laid on her stomach, peered at her phone where she could see her messages with Haruki. "Can I come? I want to try festival food."

Katsuko stole a glance at her. "You won't be able to eat… wait can you even eat in that form?"

"I think so." Aiza climbed on her head, curiously trying to see if she could balance herself. Katsuko stilled herself to entertain the soul pill. "I once stole I grape from your bowl and ate it."

"Seriously? And… you didn't need to shit?"

"Nope."

"Huh… weird."

Where the heck does the food go then?

She didn't smell rotten food coming from Aiza…

"So can I come?!"

Katsuko frowned and lightly tilted her head to slide Aiza off her. "I don't know… it'll be weird if I carry a stuffed animal with me…"

Aiza tumbled but gathered herself up into a sitting position. "You need me anyway! Y'know, just in case a Hollow appears!"

Katsuko smirked at Aiza's attempt to convince her. "Do I?"

"You do!"

"Maybe I'll just carry you in your pill form…"

"Whaaat? No! Don't do that, Katsuko." Aiza whined.

But she was right, it would be useful to have her around, especially if she was going out with her family and friends. The last thing she wanted was a Hollow shedding their blood.

"Please! I want to attend a human festival!" Aiza slapped her front paws against the pillow like a kid.

"Alright, fine." Katsuko flicked her nose.

August 21st

…

…

…

Despite being summer, Katsuko was in a steel blue t-shit that had several small black arrows going up and down with the words 'up and down' written in red on her chest. An open gray cardigan that had its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, fitted marine blue ankle length pants with blue high cut converse. She brought a small green side bag. Inside was a water bottle, her wallet, her Combat Pass and Aiza. She figured that bringing her own beverage would be more time efficient inside of searching for water. She knew that the festival would most likely be giving out soft drinks, which was a type of drink she didn't take part in consuming.

Currently, she was walking with friends and family. Haruki came along with his parents and two sisters while Jun came with just Mayuka. Jun was the middle child of his family but his brothers went off with their separate group of friends.

"I want barbecue." Jun whined as he sniffed the air that carried the smell of food. He was the natural foodie among them.

"Eating all night long?" Katsuko joked as Jun stuffed his hands in his vest's pockets.

"As long as I can, maybe?"

Haru chuckled at this while Mayuka shook her head.

"You'll explode." Mayuka warned with a jesting tone.

"Mm, it's fine."

As Katsuko glanced back to see how her parents were talking with Haruki's, she heard Haru ask her how long she'd be staying out for the festival. Since it was still a week day, she obviously couldn't stay out too long since her parents had work the next day. Besides, she hated circulating around at night. She was paranoid, okay. All the bad shit happens at night in movies and tv shows. She wanted no part of it. And considering how she was an introvert, the longer she spent outside socializing, the more brain dead she'll be on the way home, vulnerable to all the potential danger that she feared.

Funny considering how she was basically armed at all times in her soul form.

"Don't you want to stay out longer?" Haru nudged her arm while hers were stuffed in her cardigan's pockets. She stumbled a little from the shove and shot him a playful annoyed look.

Katsuko huffed and scratched the side of her neck. "I'm not up for getting kidnapped at night, thanks."

"We can walk you home." Haru shrugged and then grinned. "Don't worry, you got your own personal guard to keep you company on the way home, princess." He droned playfully.

"Oh please, I'd be dead the moment danger came if you were guarding me."

"Nah, nah, nah. Trust Haru." Haruki placed a proud hand on his chest while Katsuko gave him a playful side glance.

At some point, when they made it closer to where most of the booths were, they saw Ichigo and his own family and decided to link up with him too. His little sisters were eating Chocobanana that they got from a nearby stand.

Seeing Isshin reminded Katsuko that despite him being her pediatrician, she never went to see him in the past eight years. It wasn't because her mother firmly believed she was the healthiest child on the planet. During elementary school, until the fifth grade, she was quite the bratty child. The second grade was the worst, she could still remember screaming in class when the teacher put her in a timeout only for her to get taken away to by the school's counselor. She got into a small number of fights too. Around probably the third grade, the school counselor proposed to her mother that she should start taking Ritalin that was suited for children. Some other kid in her class was also taking it since he also looked like he could use something to calm down. She was pretty sure that she didn't really need to be taking them anymore after fourth grade since she really did a 180 with her personality, confusing the school counselor who thought she was depressed or something when she came back for fifth grade.

Honestly, she couldn't help but feel offended that they thought she had issues.

No, she was just growing up.

But anyway, because she took Ritalin under a school counselor's suggestion, she became acquainted with this community health center that would do checkups for her whenever she was asked to come.

"Tall as ever, I see." Mayuka huffed at Ichigo's towering height.

The orange haired boy lifted a brow. "What, did you think I'd grow shorter?"

Jun snorted and shook his head. "Ichigo, the scary orange haired midget. You just see some short kid in the halls and you run for cover."

"What the hell?" Haru cackled at the mental image, causing Ichigo to deadpan at the two.

"I didn't see you at the Fireworks Festival, Katsuko-chan!" Yuzu remarked when she noticed Katsuko among the familiar faces. Katsuko had just finished greeting Ichigo's dad when the two girls came up to her. Now, Isshin was really acting goofy which had Haru and Jun getting pumped up too.

"Well, it was in the other city, right?" Katsuko lightly slumped and displayed a tired look. "I was too lazy to go all the way there."

Walking home from the neighboring city at night too? No thanks.

"You totally missed out!" Yuzu gasped. "The fireworks were amazing that night!"

"Fireworks look the same everywhere, Yuzu." Karin chewed her treat. She also mumbled something about how it probably looked 'amazing' because their father got them drunk. Father of the year.

"That's not true, Karin-chan! They're different!"

"We'll just have to wait and see, Yuzu." Katsuko checked the time on her phone. They were about two hours away from fireworks going off in the sky. That was more than enough time to grab some food, have a fun, and find a good spot to watch. "I'm pretty sure Karakura fireworks would be just as nice." she did a half smile for the younger girls as she tucked away her phone.

It would probably be a little blurry but I can still enjoy the splash of colours in the sky.

This festival was the last of the summer, the last time to spend time with friends and family. Many groups were circulating and making most of their time. Many people were lining up to ride the boats on the river. Some were going around playing the games that were available. Their group went food hunting first, being the hungry teenagers that they were.

Jun was balancing food on a paper plate while Mayuka was eating Takoyaki. She had to follow him around since he wanted to try the food with her even though she insisted that she couldn't possibly keep up. Ichigo and Katsuko were both eating Kaarage on a stick that they were carrying in a cup, albeit the girl stuck a barbecue stick in there after the spotted the stand with Jun earlier. Haru was busy munching on his grilled squid and was standing with Ichigo and Katsuko as they waited for Jun and Mayuka to come back.

Aiza occasionally popped her head out of the bag to look around. There were lights around the stalls, the smell of fresh food, the noise and bustling crowds. The sight left Aiza in awe since she never saw anything like it before. She can only consider herself lucky to experience such a thing. Katsuko looked down and saw Aiza peeking out of her bag. She looked at the stick of Karaage and then back at Aiza. Without saying anything, she discreetly shuffled behind Ichigo and Haru to lower her stick down to her bag so that Aiza could snatch a piece off. The Gikongan was more than eager to rip it off and duck back into her bag.

Katsuko frowned.

Geez, I'm gonna have to clean up the crumbs later when I get home.

Ichigo noticed Katsuko standing behind him and glanced over his shoulder. He was able to catch Aiza ducking back inside her side bag. Katsuko looked up and met his eyes. He gave her a look that said 'really?'.

She gave him a grin that looked sheepish. "What? She wanted to come."

"What if she jumps out?!" Leaning towards her, Ichigo hissed quietly as to not let Haru hear him. She only shook her head and whispered back that Aiza promised she wouldn't come out.

"What's up?" Haru wondered curiously when he caught Ichigo and Katsuko whispering secretly. They both stiffened and leaned away from each other and looked at him.

"Nothing."

Jun and Mayuka came back and they all continued walking around and talking. But Katsuko stopped when she spotted a fishball stall nearby. Her eyes light up. Seeing as how she had space in her Kaarage cup, she made a beeline for the stall with glee. She straight up inhaled her barbecue stick and pitched the stick into the nearest trash can to make space.

Since there were two people giving them out at the stalls, it made the line move faster so there wasn't many people.

"Just two please." Katsuko said timidly, feeling her mouth salivate at the sight of all the fishballs on a stick. They were also giving out Chikuwa on the side, another thing she liked eating. There was just something about fishballs and Chikuwa that made her gravitate towards them. She was going to have to settle for the former for now though.

The friendly looking woman smiled at her and dropped one into her cup as per requested and gave one stick for her hand. "Here you go, enjoy!"

"Thank you." She lightly bowed her head and discreetly smiled at her food.

"Fancy meetin' you here."

Right after she turned to leave, she stopped midway and came face to face with a certain bowl cut guy who was grinning at her. He was wearing a white shirt and black tie, making him feel a little out of place in this setting. He was holding his own stick of six fishballs in one hand while another carried two more sticks in a paper container, one stick was Chikuwa. It looked like he had just gotten some just like her.

"Oh. Hello, Hirako." Katsuko greeted. His presence certainly startled her. She wasn't expecting to see him somewhere other than the bakery, that was how they usually encountered each other after all.

"Are you enjoyin' the Onose Festival so far?" He smiled amicably, motioning his free hand to the liveliness around them.

"I guess."

He scrunched up his nose and dropped his hand, disappointed by her response. "You guess?" He tilted his head with an unconvinced face. "That doesn't match the expression you were wearin' when you raced over here."

She could only wonder what kind of face she had on. When she didn't say anything, he snorted. "There's no need to lie."

"I wasn't lying though."

They both walked away from the stall once they saw people lining up behind them.

"Did you come with some company?" Shinji wondered, chewing one of the fishballs.

"Uh, yeah, I'm with my friends… right... now." Right. She forgot that she just wandered off. She looked around for orange hair, the hair that would ultimately guide her back. She couldn't find her orange highlighter. This made it obvious to the blonde that she lost track of her friends after being whisked away by the sight of food.

Shinji hummed. "Friends, huh? I'm here with some of my friends too."

Katsuko also hummed as a sign of response. But then two faces appeared in her mind when his words properly registered in her brain. She couldn't help but recall what she had seen in Chisaki's memories and what she knew so far. Kensei and Mashiro. They were friends of Shinji… right?

Are Kensei and Mashiro the same people from Chisaki's memories… or are they just reincarnated people?

Was Shinji somehow involved with them?

Katsuko's eyes narrowed a little. She remembered the way Mashiro circled around her and played with the highlights in her hair. She did seem quite interested in the fact that she had brown highlights.

She might just be overthinking it but… did Mashiro play with her hair because Chisaki had brown hair? She must have thought that she was Chisaki…

That is if they are the same people.

It was either that or Mashiro was just some airhead that touched a stranger's hair.

She wondered if she should ask an ambiguous question.

By asking said question, she could probably figure out something.

Maybe.

The girl looked back at Shinji and saw him staring at her, chewing his food.

It wouldn't hurt to ask, would it?

Just one simple question.

"What's wrong, Katsuko?" he asked her with a little grin, lightly cocking his head. "You look like you want to ask me somethin'."

What she would ask would mean that the answer would have to be yes or no. However, there was no way to know if he would be lying to her. Plus, it would make her look weird to just ask some older guy about his life or acquaintances.

Maybe it was better not to ask.

Shaking her head, Katsuko casually bit off a fishball from her stick and chewed. "Nah. I just saw a mosquito near your head is all. It looks like it's about to strike." As if he wasn't expecting that response, he blinked dumbly and then waved his hand around his head to shoo the non-existent mosquito. No one was fond of mosquito bites after all.

"Katsuko!"

Shinji and Katsuko looked to where the voice was coming from, they found Haru walking next to Ichigo and he was looking at her in disbelief with one hand up in the air, the other still with grilled squid. Katsuko figured that Ichigo found her by detecting her spiritual pressure, that would definitely made the task easier.

Taking that as his cue to leave, Shinji started turning away when he saw the orange haired student. "Well, I'll let you enjoy the festival with your friends." Katsuko turned to look at him and saw him lightly waving his free hand. "See ya around." Was all he said before slipping into the crowd and eventually disappearing from her sight completely. Katsuko kept staring in the direction he was in for a few seconds longer, wondering whether or not she should have asked her ambiguous question if whether or not he knew someone by the name Naogoma Chisaki.

Maybe next time?

Hearing her friends' footsteps approach, Katsuko turned to face them curiously, chewing, feigning innocent.

"One second you were next to us and then you were gone." Haru sighed at her. She just lifted up her fishball stick and lightly waved it, wordless giving them an explanation. Haru responded by asking if she would walk towards a white van if she saw candy, prompting her to glare at him and try to stomp on his foot when her mouth was still chewing food.

Curiously, Ichigo tilted his head and tried to look for the blonde haired guy she was talking to. He couldn't find him. "Was that a friend of yours?" Ichigo wondered. It didn't seem like anyone from middle school, but it's not like he'd actually remember some of the faces from back then anyway. Maybe it was someone from their middle school.

"Hm… I guess you could say that? Not really though." Katsuko started walking when Haru started walking back the way they came.

"Which one is it?" Ichigo squinted his eyes at her ambiguous answer, causing her to grin at him. "Figure it out~" He fell into step with her while she happily munched on her food, a little pep in her step. For a while, Katsuko's mind kept thinking about the two people who she assumed was Kensei and Mashiro, as well as Hirako Shinji. It was piquing her curiosity, truly. But seeing as she wasn't going to get her answer, she chose to focus on the festival instead, something that was much more entertaining and worth her time.

At a shooting game, Katsuko and Mayuka watched Haru and Jun play while they nibbled on their snacks. Ichigo went to grab a soda to quench his thirst. Mayuka was eating cotton candy while Katsuko was eating Kakigori. She actually wanted to eat what Mayuka was having, but she remembered how her mother usually refused to get her any at some point when she was a kid since it was basically pure sugar, so Katsuko, being the obedient child that she was, controlled herself. She was proud for even refusing a piece when offered.

"So, are you going out with Jun yet?" Katsuko wondered curiously as she eyed the brown bear in her free arm that he got for her from a previous game.

Mayuka hid her face behind her cotton candy for a moment, softly puffing a breath. She shook her head. There was no disappointment on her face, after all, she was the one who would decide when she was ready. There was no doubt that she enjoyed being around Jun but she just wanted to be sure before proceeding into an official relationship.

"But for a while now, I've been feeling like it's okay."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it would be okay if we started dating."

"Aah." Katsuko nodded dumbly. She wanted to chose her next words carefully as to not seem like she was an expert on the subject. For Katsuko, seeing the relationship of Jun and Mayuka felt almost like an observational study. "That's good. You didn't rush for the sake of someone else. You put yourself first."

"Mhmm." Mayuka chuckled softly, nudging up her glasses with her knuckle, as she thought back on how much time it was taking her to get to this point. Jun was patient and never pressured her, choosing to stay by her side while respecting the boundaries that were set in place. For most people, it would take less time to officially get together while she took almost three years.

Their talk ended as soon as Ichigo came back with his drink.

"Oiii, Katsuko, Mayuka." Jun called her. The girls looked in his direction and found him pointing at the rifle. "You guys want to try?" Haru was setting down his and holding it out for Katsuko since Mayuka would obviously get Jun's. He had given up on getting a prize for his little sister. As much as he wanted to be nice and give her something, he wasn't about to waste his money and be the peasant of the group. She could live without a prize.

Mayuka and Katsuko looked at each other.

"Wanna try?"

"Okay."

Jun ended up holding Mayuka's cotton candy (and helped himself) and bear while Katsuko just set her Kakigori on the counter in a safe corner. Ichigo leaned his side against the counter and watched Katsuko aim. He couldn't help but smirk when she looked confused as to why the rifle wasn't working. She pulled the trigger several times but the cork bullet didn't fly out. She was forgetting to pull the lever. Like a clueless child, she looked at Ichigo blankly after looking down at the rifle.

"Give me that." He approached her and took the rifle from her and pulled the lever back.

"Oh."

"Dummy." He handed back her rifle. She saw the amusement dancing across his features which made her purse her lips. "Shut up…" She didn't always come out during festivals. When she did, she usually played easier games or just ate food. She never really tried playing shooting games since she figured she wouldn't win anyway.

She missed all her five shots.

No surprise there.

"Well," Katsuko lowered her rifle and brushed her long bangs out of her face. "That was clearly a sign from God telling me that I'm just not cut out for this." She should just turn into a Soul Reaper and knock down all the targets with her Shikai.

"Yeah, you suck." Haru smirked at her.

"This coming from the guy who paid three times and missed all fifteen of his shots." Katsuko shot back apathetically. Haru opened his mouth to refute, but he just averted his eyes and clicked his tongue, causing the girl to smirk. She even stuck her tongue out.

"You sure you wanna give up?" Ichigo asked her, mostly just to tease her. He saw her hesitate and looked towards the prizes. It looked like there was something she really wanted. She obviously didn't want the ugly monkey keychain, or that weird looking bird plushy— was that even a bird?

She mumbled something under her breath as she pulled out money and set it on the table. With how she lets money rot away in her wallet, she was the richest person in their circle anyway so she could afford to play more than five rounds. At this point, she was the only one in their group playing since Mayuka had won her prize, a panda keychain.

"Ah! You almost got it!" Jun whined.

"Come on, Katsuko, you can do it. Ooh, look she's calculating~!"

"Shut up, Haru!" Katsuko barked at him. He was going to make her laugh and lose concentration, damn it!

"By the way, can I try your Kakigori?"

"Go ahead."

"Hunch a little." Ichigo lightly pushed his hand on her shoulder. "Like that."

"Try moving a little to the left." Mayuka suggested from her right side.

The vendor found it amusing to see the teens provide support.

Why the hell is this so hard?! My eyesight isn't even that bad!

With a growl, Katsuko set down her next fee and held up the rifle again. She looked like she was going for the kill this time. No way in hell was she going down to Haru's level and missing all her fifteen shots! If she did, he was going to laugh at her. Nah. She wanted to laugh and rub it in his face.

God, if I could learn Kido, I want to learn how to do some sort of homing spell to make this hit the damn target!

In the midst of one of her shots, she had to sneeze. Out of habit, she stifled it by keeping her mouth closed to not make so much noise, but the jolt sent a cork bullet flying off, nearly hitting the vendor square in the forehead. This made Jun and Haru lose their shit so much that Jun nearly got lightheaded from laughing at her.

Katsuko shot her third shot of her third try.

It hit.

"Ayee! You did it!" Jun threw his hands up and ruffled her hair while she grinned bashfully. The vendor was laughing and clapping his hands, invested in her attempts. "Well, which one do you want?" The vendor straightened up to get ready and pluck a prize from his shelves.

"Gimme that one!" Katsuko grinned like a child and enthusiastically pointed at the top shelf, pushing herself off the ground when she placed her rifle down. It was a gray husky plushy. It had cute little black ears and blue eyes. As if being cute wasn't enough, it got bonus points for being so soft and fluffy.

Ichigo watched her hug the plushy close to her chest and rub her cheek against its head, letting out a delighted sound, smiling. Ichigo smirked down at her. This was actually the first time he saw her act like this, traces of childlike innocence.

So, even she can act like that sometimes.

As if sensing eyes on her, she hid her nose behind the dog's head and laughed sheepishly, a little high on the happiness from winning. "... Sorry, I just had a moment."

"Aww." Haru patted her head, only for her to frown and shuffle towards the other way where Ichigo was standing.

…

…

…

It was fun. It almost felt like a new experience since she rarely got to go out during festivals.

Her father went to drink with some of his friends that he ran into. Apparently, they set down a foldable table near the river to drink together. She stuck with her mother for most of the festival since they all went parted ways at some point. They ran into a couple of other people they knew that her mother almost spent an eternity talking to.

But they eventually came back together when it was almost time for the fireworks to go off because Isshin called them over to join their spot, claiming that having more people made it merrier. Pictures were taken before the fireworks went off. She was pretty sure a picture was taken when Haru and Jun dragged her into the picture at the last second, catching her in mid-stumble. Her mother also took some pictures, in fact, she made her even take some with each of her friends.

Katsuko caught Isshin taking a few pictures when they were looking up at the sky. She even once looked directly at the lens and was horrified at the possibility of having caught some weird expression on her face. He only gave her a grin and laughed, sending her mind into a panic.

Red, orange, yellow, white exploded in the skies. The fireworks' colours were definitely chosen based on the current season since they were all warm colours. These warm colours highlighted their skin and clothes. The sky was sparkling and it had people awing at the display. Even Aiza got to enjoy it after Katsuko discreetly swapped the two plushies.

Katsuko couldn't help but feel glad that she got enjoy the fireworks. For some reason, seeing them go off had this effect on her that made her forget about everything just for a while, focused on taking in the sight. Every cracking sound made her anticipate the next explosion of colours in the sky.

August 24th

…

…

…

Katsuko sheathed her blade when the Hollow faded away.

She lifted her hands, staring down at them silently.

There was no problem dealing with the Hollow. However, for a while now, she noticed that her power had decreased, not by a substantial amount, but at a noticeable amount. She brushed it off the first times when she noticed it and never gave it much thought.

At first, she assumed it was the potential Hollow inside of her, that is until she remembered what Ukitake told her. He said that her powers came from taking some of Chisaki while she hid inside of her. With the noble gone from her soul, she must have deducted spiritual power from her, leaving her only with what she took and developed on her own.

Some of the strength that she had in the Soul Society still belonged to Chisaki.

But that's alright. It makes sense too.

It wasn't disappointing at all.

... Okay, maybe it was. Just a little.

In the Human World, there wasn't any lieutenants or captains she needed to run from or fight. She only had Hollows to be concerned about in her town. Her power decrease wasn't something to be worried about.

I wonder if Chisaki noticed that she lost some of her power because of me...

Katsuko lazily walked towards the empty bench to drop herself. She was feeling a little sluggish. Slumping in her seat, her head tilted back on the backrest. It was a good thing that people couldn't see her because she could do whatever the hell she wanted to do without being concerned about others.

Peeking her eyes open under the shade of the tree, her dark brown orbs stared at a singular leaf that dangled on the tip of one of the branches. It looked noticeably withered among the other leaves. Blankly staring at the leaf, she slowly lifted her arm and reached for it, a futile attempt, it was way too far. Like all other leaves, this one would fall off one day, albeit it would much quicker with its state. But the seasons would change and bring forth spring once more, giving birth to new leaves that would shine under the sunlight once again. A forever repeated cycle.

Just like souls that go through the cycle of transmigration, I guess.

She dropped her hand and blinked slowly, the summer air lulling her.

That single yellowish tree leaf was at the tip of the branch, swaying, with another perfectly green leaf. They somehow just stood out to her.

For a while, Katsuko just stayed there with her eyes closed. She didn't know how much time was passing as she just relaxed under the tree.

But then, Katsuko couldn't help but yawn, a sign for her to get back home if she didn't have any more business outside. She used her sleeve to rub her face and dry her tired tears as she sat up. When her eyes opened, she jolted and tried to back away from where she was, only to have her back slammed into the backrest of the bench.

Hirako Shinji was standing in front of her. He was wearing a newsboy cap and drinking a coffee.

Before she could think of a logical explanation as to why he was just standing there in front of what was supposed to be an empty bench, he greeted her casually. "Yo, Katsuko." He was grinning as he took another sip from his drink

He can see me.

Shinji was just watching the way how her eyes widened when she was processing what was happening. He was half expecting her to say something and not just stare in silence. Everything that Katsuko was wondering back during the festival came flooding back, mostly driven by curiosity rather than shock. But not knowing how to react to this sudden revelation, her hand inched towards the hilt of her Zanpakuto, the object that kept her safe.

Shinji merely tutted, scowling as he wagged his finger.

"Don't get all antsy." He walked towards the other end of the bench to take a seat. Katsuko's eyes silently followed his figure and she didn't say a word as he sat back and crossed his legs. "I'm just here to talk to you. Surely, you can spare me some of your time, yeah?"

Being perceptive as he was, he could tell that Katsuko was a smart girl and would listen what he had to say without resorting to other means. The chances of her listening to him would be high if he came presenting no harm to her. And fortunately for Shinji, he was right. Thank goodness for that.

"… Did you stalk me?" She watched him carefully, attentively watching the way he set his coffee down next to him.

Offended, Shinji looked at her and scowled at her accusation. "Hey, now. I seriously take offense to that! I just followed your spiritual pressure, that's all." He lifted a disbelieved hand. "Come on, I thought you knew me better than that. Who do you take me for?"

"You seeing me right now and acting all nonchalant is making me think otherwise." Katsuko grimaced. She should probably figure out how to hide her spiritual pressure to avoid attracting supernatural-like things. "And what do you mean 'knew you better than that'? We're not exactly best friends, if you forgot."

Dropping his hand, he held her stare for a while and then just shrugged. "Meh, fair enough."

"So, what? You wanna talk to an empty seat?" Katsuko lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not Chisaki." She clarified in case he assumed it.

"I know that now." Shinji replied, waving his hand dismissively as he took off his hat. "She's definitely gone back to the Soul Society. And if you're assumin' that I approached you because of her, then you got it all wrong. Meetin' you was pure coincidence just like our little run ins at that bakery."

There was a pause.

"Really?" Katsuko looked unconvinced.

Shinji breathed through his nose and twirled his hat around his finger. He looked unbothered and casual that they might as well have been talking about the weather. "I knew she showed up in Karakura Town six years ago. For a moment, I sensed her spiritual pressure which started to feel more like a Hollow's, before it disappeared." He was referring to the moment where she sealed herself inside Katsuko to go into stasis. Obviously, doing so would require using her power briefly, allowing others to sense it. The black haired teen could remember the scene from Chisaki's point of view which she followed it up with her own memory.

"I'll admit, it did throw me off when I met you the first time. Imagine it, a girl, who was handin' out muffins, looked strikingly similar to someone I knew, and that I know showed up in Karakura Town." His words called upon a memory, the one where she first met Shinji. As he said, she was giving out some muffins to the people involved in the renovation that her mother generously offered. She did recall feeling a little curious as to why she felt Shinji's gaze on her when she passed some muffins around timidly. "I actually wondered if she had somehow regressed and wore a Gigai or somethin'. But no, you were a different person entirely. My friend also thought it was a coincidence when he saw you." He stopped twirling his hat to clench it in his fist "And then, you, a regular human, became a Soul Reaper. I started to wonder if maybe it wasn't just a coincidence." He let out an amused huff. "It never occurred to me that she would seal herself inside a human child."

"Your friend… The tough looking guy..." mumbled Katsuko as she placed a hand on her chin and looked aimlessly at the horizon. "… Mugu… Muguru… Muguruna Kensei?"

"Close. Muguruma Kensei." He corrected. "I'm surprised you know his name."

Katsuko dropped her hand and pulled her legs up to fold them on the bench. "I saw some of Chisaki's memories, so I know some stuff. I also saw an illusion that Aizen made her see… it looked like Kensei had half a hollow mask on his face. There were seven other people and some wore a captain's haori. I think he showed it to… I don't know… break her?" Katsuko missed the way Shinji's eyes narrowed when she spoke the traitorous captain's name. "But anyway, he made a Hollow enter her body and she escaped the Soul Society thanks to some help."

Shinji squinted his eyes. "Escape?"

"Um..." Katsuko felt unsure if she should tell him what had happened to Chisaki. She didn't know if Chisaki would appreciate that. However, with this revelation, she felt like the more she gave away would somehow help her situation, it was a hunch. "Let's just say... she was framed for something thirty years ago."

"Framed, huh?" That wouldn't be the first time Aizen orchestrated something like that. "Well, that fills in some obvious blanks." Shinji took a sip of his coffee. The only coincidence in this story now was the similar appearances.

"… So… you're a Soul Reaper… in a human body?" It seemed logical to believe that Shinji was a Soul Reaper too since he was friends with one. He also knew about Chisaki, so why wouldn't she believe that he was one too?

"No." Shinji answered, tone sounding as if slightly offended. He set his coffee down again. "I'm what you call a Vizard." He used his other hand to swipe it across his face, materializing a white mask that startled Katsuko. The sight of it reminded her of pharaohs that she saw in illustrations. Her feet touched the ground when she leaned away from him. Shinji lifted his mask and shifted it enough to peer at her with with a single eye and showing half of his grin.

His eye was different. It wasn't brown, it was yellow, almost gold. His sclera wasn't white, but pitch black.

"I'm a Soul Reaper that gained Hollow powers."

"… Gained?" Katsuko blinked a few times, watching him carefully on instinct, perhaps because she had unconsciously conditioned herself to be on alert when seeing those white masks.

…

…

"Rukia…" Katsuko stretched her legs after the brief recap. "Is it forbidden for a Soul Reaper to gain Hollow-like powers?"

Rukia was curious as to why she would suddenly ask that. "It is. One of laws from Central 46 clearly states that it's forbidden for a Soul Reaper to have such power. Why do you ask?"

…

…

Her eyebrows furrowed.

Katsuko stared at the pitch black eye socket of the white mask.

I wanted to have a chapter with some filler just to slow down a little. Also, I just looked up japanese festivals and decided to just make one based off of The Tsurumi River Summer Festival 2021.