Akira flipped open his phone and cursed when he saw the time. No wonder Akechi had been so testy – it was almost nine in the evening. Covering himself with a Kyokkō, he copied the detective's actions and shunpoed away. Maybe if he was fast enough, he'd be able to catch the tail end of Ann's celebration.

By the time he reached Karakura, Akira was winded and his legs burned, but hope flickered in his chest when he saw the Shōten's lights were still on. Knocking at the door, he took a moment to catch his breath before Urahara opened the door.

"Are the others still here?" He asked the second he caught sight of the shopkeeper's face.

A dull pang of disappointment reverberated in Akira's chest when Urahara grimaced. "I'm afraid you're slightly too late. Still, now that you're here, you might as well have some tea."

Shoulders slumping, he trudged after the shopkeeper. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up – the frizzy-haired teen knew the chances of catching Ann and the others would be slim. The fact that he'd only just missed them, however, still felt like a kick in the teeth.

They headed towards Urahara's living room, passing Tessai on the way who paused to give them a slight nod.

"How is Wakaba going? It's been a while since I've seen her." He asked idly. She hadn't surfaced the last time Akira was at the Shōten, after all.

"Busy as always." Urahara sighed. "She's gone off to find more Reiatsu-conductive material for her research - I believe she and Futaba-chan are working on a project together. Alas, there's only a limited supply of such things in the World of the Living, and what's here tends to be fairly inaccessible."

Akira nodded, happy his friend was making up for lost time with her mother. Still, at the reminder of Wakaba's passing, he couldn't help but wince. He'd spent most of the evening with her killer, even if Akechi might not have ended her life intentionally.

After settling down, Urahara poured him a cup – given he already had the tea brewed, Akira assumed his friends had had some earlier.

"Takamaki-chan, Ishida-kun, and Niijima-chan are planning to train in my basement over this next month." The shopkeeper informed him. "It seems our Quincy friends have managed to unearth some new tricks, and Takamaki-chan needs to learn how to control her Bankai before it's combat-ready. I'm sure they'd be more than happy with your company."

Akira's stomach twisted as he turned away, the tea settling heavily inside him.

Urahara raised a brow, something shrewd entering his eyes. "… Of course, that would mean you'd have to stop avoiding them. I take it this strange new personality quirk of yours has something to do with your Hollow?"

A grimace spread across the shaggy-haired teen's face. "… Something like that, yeah."

Even though he'd subdued Tasogare no Dorobō, it was clear from both his and Akechi's words that this wasn't over. Given the latter's somewhat erratic schedule, Akira didn't want to make any commitments he'd just end up breaking. It was probably for the best anyway – Makoto in particular would probably lose her shit if she figured out what he was getting up to, and given her intelligence he'd rather not risk it.

"Fair enough." Urahara nodded. "Even if you were training how to control it, you wouldn't be able to spend time with your friends anyway."

Akira blinked, the shopkeeper's words catching him off-guard. "Pardon?"

"You are aware of the circumstances behind my banishment, correct?"

"… Aizen framed you for Hollowfying a bunch of Shinigami." Akira narrowed his eyes, unsure of what he was getting at.

Urahara's eyes twinkled. "While I was unable to reverse the Hollowfication, I managed to save the subjects' lives – they too were exiled along with me on that fateful day."

Akira's expression turned shocked. He'd always just assumed that Aizen's victims had either died or permanently turned into Hollows. The teen narrowed his brows. If they're still alive, then why…?

"… I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't reveal this to you earlier." Urahara flicked his fan, accurately divining Akira's thoughts. "I didn't want to get your hopes up – the Visoreds are an isolationist group who hate Shinigami with a passion. Most of them don't even like interacting with me, and I'm half the reason they're still here today. I've managed to pull a few strings though, and they've offered to teach you how to subdue your inner Hollow."

Akira swallowed, a flicker of gratitude sparking in his chest, and when he replied it was entirely genuine. "Thank you for the offer, but it's alright – I've already found a way to deal with my Hollow problem."

While his bargain with Akechi was hardly perfect, at least the other boy was a devil he knew. As curious as he was about these Visored people, some of the information Urahara let slip about them was raising red flags. He had no intention of getting manipulated into making some ridiculous promise like Ryūken had tried to do with Uryū, or anything else these strangers might want of him.

Urahara blinked, eyes widening – he clearly hadn't anticipated that Akira would decline his proposition. Quietly, he took a sip of his tea. "… Well, if you're confident you can manage it on your own, so be it. The offer will still be there though if you ever change your mind."

Rising to his feet, Akira gave the man a polite bow. "I'll keep it in mind, but I'm sure I'll be fine. I better be off – I have to get up bright and early for school, after all."

If he was too tired to head to class tomorrow, Ann would probably kill him. Besides, Akira needed all the rest he could get – things would only grow more intense from here on outwards.

…..

Despite feeling absolutely shattered, Akira thankfully managed to drag himself to class and finally congratulated Ann on getting her Bankai in person. Like Renji beforehand, the shift in the blonde's Reiatsu was notable – what was once kindling embers burned like a gentle campfire.

"Hey." He tapped her shoulder as he sat down in his chair, grinning. "Well done on the Bankai. Two and a half days, wasn't it? That's gotta be some kind of record."

"Heh, damn right! I beat Urahara by five hours!" A beaming smile crossed Ann's face, but it faltered the second she saw him. "Uh, are you okay? You kinda look like death warmed over, no offence."

I'm FEELING like death warmed over. He groused internally. Externally though, he simply waved her off. "Eh, I'm just tired – late night. Very late night. I'll get over it. Besides, I needed to make up for missing your party yesterday."

She frowned, brows furrowed in consternation. "Akira, it's not that big a deal – sure, I wanted to see you, but your health's more important than any party. It's not like my Bankai is going anywhere, you know!"

Akira grinned. "How responsible of you, Takamaki Ann. Have you been hanging out with Makoto lately, perchance?"

Ann rolled her eyes and affectionately whacked him on the shoulder. "At least I'm not going around saying 'perchance'. What are you, fifty?"

A laugh bubbled out of Akira's throat, but Kawakami entered the classroom before he could reply. Ann's worry turned out not to be misplaced though – by the time lunch came, he was barely keeping himself vertical. Eventually, Ann sighed and grabbed his arm.

"Alright, that's enough of that. We're going to the nurse's office."

For once, Shujin's faculty actually pulled through – the nurse took one look at Akira, frowned, and guided him into a bed.

"Would you like me to call your parents?" She murmured.

Akira shook his head, eyes already closed. Sure, he didn't think Sojiro would be too bothered – by now, Akira was well aware the gruff act was merely an act – but at the same time, he didn't want to cost his guardian any income.

"Nah, that's fine – it's just insomnia…"

While the nurse said something in reply, Akira's brain shut off the second his head touched the pillow, falling asleep before he could even register her words. Eventually, consciousness returned to him in dribs and drabs, and he sat up, rubbing his bleary eyes. As his vision cleared, the frizzy-haired teen frowned – the office looked oddly dark, and that wasn't just because his brain hadn't finished booting up yet.

"Ah, you're finally awake."

Glancing over towards the nurse's desk, Akira raised a confused brow. For some reason, Makoto of all people was sitting there, textbooks and notebooks spread around her - it was clear she'd been camped in the nurse's office for a while.

"Wha-?" Was Akira's incredibly informative reply.

The student council president gave him a pitying smile. "I'll get you some water."

Akira merely sat there, blinking dumbly, until Makoto returned and passed him a flimsy plastic cup. By the time he finished swallowing the water, the last dredges of sleep that had plagued him were gone.

"… What time is it?" He asked, staring out of the window. It wasn't night by any means, but the sky hadn't been nearly that grey when he'd first come to the nurse's office.

Makoto tapped her phone. "Five thirty-four."

He jolted upright in shock. "Wait, seriously?!"

"The nurse was going to wake you up when school ended, but I offered to keep an eye on you and lock up once you'd come too." She explained. "It looked like you needed the rest."

Guilt prickled in Akira's chest. "Sorry – I didn't mean to keep you here…"

Makoto brushed him off. "Don't worry about it. I was just going to go home and study anyway." Smiling, she walked to his side and ruffled his hair. "Now, get back to Leblanc and have a proper night's sleep, alright?"

"Aye aye, Madam President – your wish is my command." He gave her a formal salute as he rose to his feet.

Makoto sighed, expression withering. "If you've got the energy to make wisecracks like that, you've got the energy to help me with my exam revision on the way to the station. Here are my flashcards."

They split once they reached Shibuya, Akira taking the train straight back home. By now, his second wind was beginning to fade, and the teen's limbs felt like rocks. He was just around the corner from Leblanc when his phone pinged.

Akechi: Tomorrow evening, same place.

Akira groaned. He had a hunch this was all the rest he was going to be getting this month.

…..

Akira's suspicions turned out to be correct. There wasn't a single day after his visit to the nurse's office where he wasn't slammed. The second-years had a truly disgusting amount of homework – it honestly felt like retaliation for the half-week spent in Hawaii – and things were only made worse by the rapidly approaching exams. When combined with his work at Leblanc, his Hollow hunting duties, and training with Akechi, Akira was running on empty.

It turned out the frizzy-haired teen wasn't the only one exhausted by the current state of affairs. He was finishing off his social studies essay one lunch break when Ryuji strolled straight into his classroom without a care in the world and plonked himself down on Akira's desk.

"I'm tired of doin' homework and being Futaba's guinea pig." He announced. "Let's go to the arcade and actually do somethin' fun for once!"

Ann, who was moping over her maths textbook, immediately perked up. "Ooh yeah! We can have an outing with the OG crew! Well, minus Rukia, of course."

Akira blinked his eyes blearily. He wasn't meeting Akechi again for a couple of days, and while he had English revision to do along with a maths worksheet, he could probably get away with working on them when he had dinner.

"… Sounds good." He yawned. "Mind you, I can't stay too late."

"That's fine, that's fine." Ryuji waved him off. "October's been a bloody marathon so far."

"Tell me about it." Ann sighed. "I've spent half the week in Karakura, and the commute is slowly murdering me."

Akira perked up. "What's the situation like over there? Any updates?"

She sighed, stretching. "Not really - things have been pretty stable. Aizen's sent over a few patrols of random Arrancar, but they haven't been anything particularly challenging. Uryū thinks he's mainly doing it to burn out Captain Hitsugaya's group."

"Has Urahara figured out when Aizen's actually gonna strike?" Ryuji asked, curious.

"I don't think so." Ann deflated. "The sooner we find out, the better. I hate living in this - this limbo."

Akira nodded rapidly. He needed to know if he had to find a way to deal with Akechi before his rival's late November deadline arrived. Sadly, the detective had been right when he'd said that subduing his inner Hollow was the easy bit – the progress he was making on actually utilising those powers could only be called glacial. At this rate, the chances of him being able to overpower Akechi by this time next month were non-existent. His only option would be to outsmart the boy somehow, which was a daunting prospect all on its own. The earlier in winter Aizen decided to act, the better, as far as he was concerned.

Once class ended he and Ann met Ryuji by the stairwell, but before they could begin their descent, Akira's phone began to ring. Grabbing it from his pocket, Akira cursed as he recognised the caller ID. It was the devil himself - Akechi.

"Hey, mind giving me a moment?" He sighed, handing his bag (and more importantly, Morgana) over to Ann. "This is important."

Ryuji and Ann exchanged a glance before nodding, and Akira hurried up the stairs and onto the roof. He didn't want his friends overhearing this – if Akechi was calling instead of texting, it had to be something important.

"Hello. What's up?" He asked, closing the door behind him.

"My apologies if I interrupted you, but I'm afraid I've been scheduled for a photoshoot during our next planned meeting. It's a bit last-minute, but would you be free in half an hour? Overwise, I won't be available again until next week."

Akira hesitated, torn. He wanted to go out with his friends so badly – to mindlessly shoot some pixelated zombies for a couple of hours – but at the same time, he was damn aware of just how limited his time with the detective was. Akira knew he needed to make every second of it count. Screw his earlier musings - if Aizen did end up attacking in three weeks, he'd be fucked - Akechi wouldn't even get the chance to lock him up. Plus, the frizzy-haired teen was pretty sure if his rival thought his commitment was wavering, he'd call their deal off, and Akira couldn't have that. He needed him.

"Sure, that's fine." He sighed. "See you at the usual place."

Hanging up, Akira slumped against the door and stared at the sky, a headache already forming. He hadn't even told Ann and Ryuji the bad news yet, and he already felt like a dickhead. The teen was only snapped out of his reverie when a familiar voice suddenly echoed across the rooftop.

"Akira-kun, is everything okay?" Haru peered around from the other side of the planters, concern shining in her eyes.

He jolted upright, heart skipping a beat. He'd been so caught up in making sure he was well away from Ryuji and Ann, that he'd forgotten to make sure he was actually alone. Amateur. Sloppy. He raced over everything he'd said. Thankfully, Akira didn't think he'd let anything important slip, and it wasn't like Haru would recognise Akechi's voice even if she did manage to overhear their conversation anyway.

"Yeah, it's fine." He sighed, massaging his temples. "Just having a bit of a hell month, honestly…"

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Would you like to help me in the garden for a bit? I find doing something with your hands can be relaxing."

Akira mulled things over. It was about a quarter an hour from Aoyama Itchome to Shibuya – definitely not enough time to go to the arcade, but perhaps he could spare a few minutes for Haru. God knows he needed some relaxation right about now.

"I can probably spare ten minutes." He shrugged, texting Ryuji and Ann about his change of plans. Maybe he could send Morgana with them instead? If he pretended he'd gotten a Hollow alert, he could give the Mod Soul his body… but then again, Ryuji and Ann might want to help him out, and that would foil the ruse instantly.

"Oh, wonderful!" Haru beamed, cheeks dimpling.

She quickly showed him how to prepare the soil – apparently, the heiress was planning on growing some carrots and tomatoes before things got too cold. While Akira wouldn't proclaim himself a master gardener by any means, as his hands trailed through the dirt, a sense of nostalgia settled over him. Given the size of his old village, a good chunk of produce was grown locally – he distantly remembered childhood days spent out in the garden pulling vegetables out of the ground. Most of his memories before Tokyo were tainted, of course, but it seemed that was one of the rare exceptions.

"Feeling better?" The brunette asked, smiling softly as their time together came to an end.

Akira stretched. "Yeah, a bit." It had hardly solved his life problems, but some of the frustration plaguing him had begun to ebb. Suddenly, Akira realised he'd never actually asked Haru how things had panned out with Sugimura. "What about you? Has your father cancelled your engagement yet?"

She frowned, stroking her chin. "Well, he hasn't officially announced anything either way, but he's been making a lot of heated phone calls lately. Sugimura still texts me occasionally – just vile words not worth paying any attention to – but thankfully, I haven't had to see him face-to-face in weeks."

Contentment welled in Akira's stomach. Even if things hadn't fully panned out yet, they'd at least got the ball rolling in regards to Haru's arranged marriage. It was nice hearing a bit of good news amongst the constant cloud of gloom and anxiety since Rukia's visit.

Of course, his good mood was fated not to last.

…..

"Is that really all you're capable of?!" Akechi snarled as his blade pressed down on Akira's. "You're meant to be a Shinigami, not a fucking human!"

Gritting his teeth, Akira clenched his Zanpakutō's hilt so tightly his fingers bled. Legs buckling under the pressure, he attempted to force Akechi off him, but the other teen was simply too powerful. With a burst of Reiatsu, Akechi broke through Akira's guard and sliced him across the chest. Cursing, the teen rolled away, hand glowing green with Kaidō, but Akechi marched right up to him and batted his hand to the side.

"Stop that." He snapped. "How is your body meant to get used to regenerating if you just keep sealing up all your wounds before it gets the chance?"

Akira took a deep breath in, attempting to quell his mounting frustration. "Alright, alright. Give me a moment."

Thankfully, Akechi was in a mercurial enough mood to listen to the frizzy-haired teen's demands as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Reaching inside himself to a well of darkness in the depths of his soul, Akira gathered the cursed energy and dragged it to the surface. His chest itched ferociously at the influx of Hollow Reiatsu, but eventually, the sting of pain faded, and when Akira opened his eyes again the welt on his chest was nothing but a faint scar.

"Good." Akechi snorted. "Now try to put some of that discipline into summoning your actual mask."

Akira sighed, nodding gloomily as he resumed a fighting stance. His initial eagerness at the prospect of mastering his Hollow abilities had faded a long time ago. Quite frankly, he'd almost kill to never step foot in this goddamn lab ever again. Still, whinging wasn't going to solve any of his problems. This wasn't some idle hobby he could pursue at his leisure - this was a matter of life or death. Reaching his hand to the tip of his forehead he pulled down, and a white mask formed over his face as his eyes started to glow an eerie yellow.

He'd barely summoned his mask when Akechi leapt at him, a bloodthirsty grin on the teenager's face as he stabbed at his rival. Akira twisted his torso out of the way at the last second and the detective's blade did nothing but scratch his Shihakushō.

"Finally! Hit me with everything you've got!" Akechi laughed, voice manic.

This time, it was Akira who went on the offensive – charging towards Akechi, he roared, hacking at the detective with his blade. Akechi parried every blow, but as Akira's Reiatsu surged, slowly but surely he started to lose ground. With every inch Akechi conceded, Akira's vicious grin grew and grew. A haze filled his mind as he focused on the fight, but then he noticed the unrecognisably malignant edge to his Reiatsu, and he snapped back to reality. A profound sense of unease settled over the teen. This isn't right.

Akira's mask crumbled away, and half a second later Akechi lashed out with his fist and broke the other teen's nose. Cursing, tears automatically filled Akira's eyes as blood dribbled down his chin, and he shunpoed away, putting plenty of space between him and his rival. Oh, fuck this. Ignoring Akechi's prior command, he whipped out his hand and with a wave of Kaidō set his broken appendage back into place.

Thankfully, Akechi seemed to pick up on the fact that Akira's patience was at its limit, and the detective sheathed his Zanpakutō. "Well, I guess that was better than normal." He sighed reluctantly.

"I don't know how the hell you do it." Akira sighed, too exhausted to hide his vulnerability behind a coy front. "It's like you can keep your mask on forever."

"Half an hour." Akechi corrected, and Akira blinked at the frank admission. Akechi must have caught his expression, and simply shrugged. "Perhaps if we were born hybrids, it'd be a different story, but we're not. Trying to maintain the perfect balance between Hollow and Shinigami for too long will simply cause our souls to destabilise. If that happens... well, permanently turning into a mindless beast is the best-case scenario.

Akira grimaced – Wakaba had said there was a chance his soul might simply rip itself to shreds when she Hollowfied him, so he decided he'd take Akechi's words on that one. Still… the fact that the detective could even hold it that long was baffling. Akira could barely manage for more than a few seconds.

"Doesn't using it just feel… wrong?" He ventured.

Akechi rolled his eyes. "No, because unlike you, I don't have any weird mental hang-ups surrounding my inner Hollow. If you want this to work, you need to accept it as part of yourself. You don't need to like it – god knows I certainly don't – but at the same time, you need to acknowledge that it's still you."

Akira frowned and looked away. He didn't think he'd ever be able to accept the side of himself that hurt the ones he loved, even if he wanted to.

…..

Akira's first intervention came in the form of Sojiro. The lanky boy had finished wolfing down his breakfast – last night's curry – one Sunday morning, and was ready to get up and go, when Sojiro placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down into his seat.

"Oh, no you don't. We've got plans today."

Akira blinked, entirely caught off guard. "But… I've got revision I need to do."

It wasn't even a blatant lie – while his plan was to hit the gym and then go to Urahara's place with the others if Akechi didn't call on him, exams were barely more than a week away, and the frizzy-haired teen had genuinely planned on squeezing in some study if he could.

"Tough. Manage your time better." Sojiro rolled his eyes, but his expression quickly softened. "You've been working too hard lately."

The door to Leblanc chimed and with a shit-eating grin on her face, Futaba strolled on. "Yeah, what he said! I've barely seen you in weeks!" Chuckling, the hacker rubbed her nose. "Besides, Phoenix Ranger Featherman R: Secret Origins is playing in Shibuya! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, y'know!"

Internally, Akira groaned. So, that's what this was about. He tried to scramble for an excuse that would get past Sojiro, but came up blank. He supposed he'd just have to skip the gym and cut down some of his revision time – maybe he'll ask Makoto tomorrow if she had some of her old notes. Knowing her, the answer was probably yes.

"Alright, alright." He sighed. "If we're going to the movies though, let me get out of my sports gear."

One outfit change and a train ride later, the elderly barista and his two wayward charges strolled down Central Street. Shibuya was as busy as ever, but as they arrived at the cinema, he rubbed his eyes when he saw two very familiar figures.

"Huh?" Sojiro's brows rose, clearly as surprised as Akira was. "What are they doing here?"

"Hey, Boss!" Ryuji waved his hands wildly, a grin crossing his face. "Over here!"

At his side stood Ann, who shook her head at the other blonde's antics. Shrugging, Sojiro headed in the teens' direction while Akira arched a brow at Futaba, who was currently looking just a tad too pleased.

Seeing his scrutiny, she blushed, twiddling her fingers. "I thought it'd be nice to hang out with the OG Phantoms… it's been a while since it'd been just us."

Akira's expression softened. "Hey – I'm not saying this is an unpleasant surprise now, am I?"

The hacker giggled, spirits seemingly bolstered, and as the diminutive girl dragged him over to his friends Akira felt a wave of affection for his foster sister. While Phoenix Ranger Featherman R: Secret Origins was hardly what one would call a cinematic masterpiece, as he sunk back into the plush cinema chair and chowed down some popcorn, Akira felt more relaxed than he had in what felt like a lifetime.

By the time the movie finished Futaba was gushing, and both Akira and Ann humoured her in grace. Ryuji just shrugged and stated some of the fights were alright, while Sojiro simply seemed happy that Futaba was pleased (the older man had looked faintly confused for the entire movie).

"I better head back to Leblanc now…" Sojiro sighed, looking at his watch. "Can't miss both the morning and the afternoon rush."

"What rush?" Akira quipped, and chuckled as the barista shot him a withering glare.

"I know!" Ann chimed up. "Why don't we go back to Futaba's place and do some studying? I still have absolutely no idea how trigonometry works, and it's way more fun doing revision in a group!"

Akira opened his mouth, not entirely sure how he felt about having both his morning and afternoon dictated for him, but he was cut off when Sojiro nodded approvingly.

"Akira was just complaining that he needed to study this morning." He revealed, before glancing at Futaba. "Plus, I know you're a bit worried about going back to school – maybe getting a preview of what's ahead will calm you down."

Both Futaba and Ryuji looked fundamentally despondent at his statement.

The blond's shoulders slumped. "Urgh… why did you have to remind me about exams…?"

Futaba's lips wobbled. "Urgh… why did you have to remind me about school…?"

Akira's mouth curled into a smile, as for the first time in a while, the teenager whole-heartedly laughed.

…..

Ann was right about one thing – revision was far more tolerable in a group. Mind you, that probably had less to do with the number of people there and more to do with the fact that they could share snacks as they camped in Sojiro's living room, and that for each question they studied, they spent just as much time gossiping about random nonsense.

Eventually, the study session came to an end when Ryuji rose to his feet and stretched. "Argh, I can't deal with this anymore! If I read another word, my brain's gonna explode!"

"Statistically speaking, that's highly improbable." Futaba pointed out matter-of-factly.

Ann crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Maybe we need a quick drinks break… ooh! Why not some coffee?"

"No thanks." Ryuji wrinkled his nose.

Both of the girls, however, looked at Akira with imploring eyes.

"Alright, alright." He grinned, raising his hands. "I'll see what Sojiro has in his kitchen."

Compared to the lavish selection of coffee beans and high-quality equipment back in Leblanc, Sojiro's personal kitchen was somewhat sparse. He supposed the café was right around the corner, after all – the barista would probably only brew something here if he had a cold or something. Still, Sojiro was still Sojiro – it wasn't hard for Akira to whip up a tasty if basic blend for himself and the girls - Ryuji would just have to deal with orange juice for now.

As they finished their drinks, Akira couldn't help but notice something odd. Despite the break, Ryuji still seemed oddly fidgety, even for him – the blond kept bouncing his leg and glancing towards Futaba. The hacker meanwhile seemed content to slowly sip her coffee, amusement glimmering in her eyes.

Again, Ryuji's patience was the first to crack. "Argh! Let's just show them already!"

Ann looked baffled. "Show us what now?"

"Fuhuhuhu…" Futaba laughed ominously, steepling her fingers. "Follow me!"

Akira exchanged a puzzled glance with Ann, who shrugged as Ryuji barrelled towards Futaba's room, the younger girl following him at a far more sedate pace. Supposing he might as well see what was up, he walked down the hallway and joined them in the hacker's bedroom.

As per usual, the place was a mess – blueprints and magazines were piled haphazardly all over the floor, along with various tools and other assorted bits and bobs. Her computer setup glowed softly with artificial light, however, that wasn't what caught Akira's eye. Half-sticking out of the closet was a human-sized object with a blanket draped over it.

Ryuji bounced on his heels, beaming. "Y'know how Urahara said I wasn't ready for Bankai trainin', yeah?"

Ann and Akira nodded.

"I know I ain't as strong as the rest of you guys, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna sit this one out. Bankai wasn't an option, so I had to find some other way of keeping up with you lot."

"And that's where I come in! Behold!" Futaba announced dramatically before ripping away the sheet. "My latest Hollow-busting invention!"

Akira's earlier thought about the object being human-sized was rather on the nose - hidden under the blanket was a mannequin. That mattered little compared to what was on the mannequin, however. From head to toe, it was covered in sleek black armour with golden lines tracing over it like the surface of a circuit board. A dark visor covered its eyes, and the plating around its face was coloured a lighter shade, vaguely resembling a cartoon skull.

"It's a power suit augmented with artificial Reiryoku for strength. It's based on the same tech I made Ryuji's old bat with, but with a couple of patches! Can't have it breaking against the first Captain-class enemy he fights, after all." Futaba noted. "I bugged Uryū into giving me an old Quincy Cross of his which I rigged to be a backup Reishi-absorbing generator, and mum gave me some tips on how to improve the durability! Trace amounts of Sekkiseki have been added to the plating, which should mitigate the power of Reiatsu-heavy impacts."

Akira nodded slowly as he examined the battle armour. Between the colours and the markings, it fit Ryuji to a T - he could easily imagine his friend wearing it while mowing down any Hollows that got in his way.

"Futaba thinks it's ready for testing!" Ryuji announced. "So, what do you guys think? How about we take it on a run around the block?"

Ann lit up. "Sure! It'll be just like the old days – the three of us, chasing Hollows!"

"Hopefully, our asses will get kicked a little bit less this time though." Akira laughed.

He opened his mouth again, a trickle of excitement welling in his chest at the thought of kicking back and running around the city with his friends, when a ping from his phone cut him off. Frowning, he opened it, and snapped back to reality the second he saw the messenger ID.

Akechi: Meet me at the usual place, half an hour.

His heart skipping a beat, the same nervous tension that filled him whenever Akechi messaged him returned, and Akira returned his phone to his pocket. Right. He didn't have the time to lollygag around like a student whose only problem was the occasional low-tier Hollow anymore.

The passage of time wrapped around Akira's neck like a noose – Akechi's deadline and Aizen's war were zooming closer every day, and he was nowhere near ready for the oncoming storm. With Ann getting Bankai, Makoto and Uryū raiding Ryūken's office, and Futaba making Ryuji new gear, Akira was falling behind. If they got hurt due to his inadequacies yet again…

Akira couldn't let that happen.

He forced a wan smile. "… Sorry – I'm gonna have to dash. Something's popped up. Let me know how it goes, yeah?"

He quickly fled before he could see the disappointment on his friends' faces. They'd understand once this was all over.

…..

The room's mood - which had been so bright and energetic before - soured the second Akira left. A grim silence weighed heavily upon the trio, and discomfort squirmed in Ann's guts as Futaba's shoulders tensed and her lips began to wobble. Oh, Akira. Their attempt to get their friend to lighten up and relax for a day had been going so well, up until he got that damned text and ditched them all without a moment's hesitation.

Just what on earth is so important? Ann thought with a pang as she reached out tentatively towards the younger girl. Futaba had been so excited about her 'secret surprise' in the group chat they used to organise today's venture – as close as the hacker was to Ryuji, Ann knew Akira was the one she saw as a brother. Futaba had been working on this for months, and he'd barely taken a single glance at it before leaving. As soon as Ann's hand touched her shoulder, the hacker turned around and gripped her in a hug. While she didn't cry, the girl's eyes were squeezed shut.

"It's okay – it's okay…" Ann rubbed her back, voice low and soothing.

"No, it's not." Ryuji's voice cut through the air like a knife.

She'd been paying so much attention to Futaba, who beneath the bluster had a sensitive streak a mile wide, that Ann had forgotten she wasn't the only one affected by Akira's actions. In contrast to her sadness, Ryuji just looked furious. The blond trembled with rage, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone white. Ann's lips thinned – the boy was a powder keg, and the slightest push would set him off.

Despite everything, however, the urge to defend Akira rose within her. As distant as he'd been of late, he was still one of her dearest friends. "He… he looked happy before he got that message. I'm sure he-"

"Stop makin' excuses for him!" Ryuji yelled and smashed the wall with the side of his fist, making Futaba jolt in her arms. "He's meant to be our friend, but he's been ditchin' us for weeks in favour of some… of some chick! If he was still skulking around with Makoto, that'd be one thing, but even she doesn't have a clue what's goin' on!"

Ann's breath hitched in her throat. As awful as admitting it made her feel though, Ryuji wasn't exactly wrong. Akira had been quiet lately - secretive. He was constantly glued to his phone, and any attempt at prying into his life had been greeted with a false smile oozing with charm that barely did anything to hide his blatant deflections. At the same time though, this was Akira they were talking about. He'd been a pillar to each of the Phantoms at some point in time – didn't they owe the same courtesy to him?

"I'm not defending him – I don't agree with how he's been acting lately at all. But… he's the sort of person who's willing to invade the afterlife to save a friend – there has to be a good reason why he's been brushing us all off, and I doubt it's just some booty call." The blonde sighed.

Futaba shrugged, her prior hurt fading into something more pensive. "I'd bet my left nipple that it's his Hollow."

Ryuji wrinkled his nose. "Firstly, gross. Secondly, I thought he'd dealt with that shit? We've sparred a couple of times since Ann got her Bankai, and he hasn't been havin' any performance issues."

"Please don't phrase it like that – you're going to give people the wrong idea." Ann groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Still, you're right – I thought he'd gotten it under control? And what does that have to do with his texts?"

"A lot, possibly. Mum mentioned something kinda odd when I was getting her input on this baby." Futaba gave the side of her power suit an affectionate tap. "She said Urahara was talking to some of his contacts about Akira's Hollow problem, though she didn't know much more than that. Plus, let's be real – while Akira's objectively hot, he's been acting fundamentally unfuckable lately. My theory is that Urahara's pals are teaching him how to control the thing."

Word choices aside (again), Futaba's hunch made a lot of sense. It had been clear how much Akira's inner Hollow had been eating him up on the inside – Ann could see why he would prioritise dealing with that over all else.

Ryuji, however, did not seem convinced. "Even if that's the case, it doesn't make it okay that he's treating us like we don't matter! Why doesn't he just tell us what's goin' on? Plus, is delayin' things for an hour or two really gonna kill him?"

"Maybe they're just really shy?" Futaba shrugged. "I'd have died if you ratted me out to all the others when I contacted you, after all."

"And… maybe Akira does need to do things as soon as his teacher asks, or otherwise the Hollow will break free again." Ann ventured, her suggestion sounding unconvincing even to her.

Ryuji scuffed his feet, and while his expression was still mulish, he simply didn't know enough about the situation to object to her words. But that was the problem, wasn't it? None of them knew anything about Hollowfication, not even Futaba. Absolutely all of Akira's behaviour could be entirely reasonable, but they just didn't know because he adamantly refused to say anything about it.

For a moment, the teens just stood there in silence, each lost in their own respective thoughts.

"… I wish Rukia was here." Ryuji slumped down, sitting on the corner of Futaba's bed as his anger faded into despondence. "I bet she'd be able to get to the bottom of this."

Ann sighed. As nice as it was that they could message her, it was hardly the same as seeing her in person. It didn't help that ever since she'd earned her promotion and Aizen's plans had been discovered, Ann could probably count the number of times she'd messaged the group chat on one hand. Perhaps Ryuji was onto something, though…

"Maybe we should get her in the loop, and see how she'd handle this." Ann mused, rubbing her chin. "We should probably get Makoto and Uryū's opinions as well – organise a proper intervention this time. Playing things subtly clearly hasn't worked."

Futaba nodded, tapping away at her phone. "Leave it to me!"

Both Ann and Ryuji's phones buzzed after a moment, Futaba having made a new group chat sans Akira. Still, even though the atmosphere was slightly lighter than it had been before now that they had a course of action, the tension lingered.

Standing up, Ann decided she was sick of it – just because Akira dumped them didn't mean they had to spend the rest of their day moping. The blonde doubted her friends would be in the mood for a test run after that, so she decided to do what she always did to improve a miserable day.

"I dunno about you guys, but I could really do with some crepes right now." She confessed. "Who's with me?"

Judging by the way Ryuji and Futaba lit up, it was the right call to make.

…..

As Akira trundled out of his final exam his brain felt like cotton wool. Unfortunately, his day was nowhere near over. Walking towards the nearest vending machine, he quickly ordered the sugariest thing on the menu and chugged the soft drink down double-time in the desperate hope that it'd give him another burst of energy. Akechi had been too busy with his own midterms to meet up with Akira earlier this week, so the boys had planned to catch up that afternoon once they were done with school.

Akira massaged his forehead, attempting to stave off his headache, and dropped his empty can in the bin. He was about to start heading towards the station when Ann's familiar voice echoed across the hallway.

"There he is! Get him!"

Akira barely had the time to blink before Ryuji's hand thumped down on his shoulder, the blond's grip far too heavy. Before he even finished processing that, Makoto suddenly appeared at his side and circled her arm around his own far too tightly to be a mere friendly gesture.

"What." He stated flatly.

"We're having an intervention." Makoto stated equally as flatly before they shunpoed him up to the roof.

Unceremoniously, the duo dumped him down on one of the chairs and Akira blinked owlishly, thoroughly confused, as Ann joined them a second later.

"You're hangin' out with us this afternoon, no ifs or buts about it!" Ryuji announced proudly, hands on his hips.

Akira narrowed his eyes, a trickle of alarm blaring in his mind. "Uh, I'd like to, but I've already got plans."

Makoto and Ryuji exchanged a glance, before Makoto crossed her arms together. "And these plans are…?"

He sighed, sweeping his hand through his hair. "Just some odds and ends I need to put together. Nothing exciting, but it's kinda important. I'm sure I'll have time to spend with you guys later."

"Ryuji thinks you've been hooking up with someone." Ann announced without a care in the world, and Akira immediately spluttered.

At his friend's incredulous look, Ryuji threw his hands up into the air. "Well, what the hell was I meant to think?! The second whoever the heck this is sends you a text, you drop everything at once! It's not like you're doing that for any of your pals!"

Akira wheezed, cheeks flushing red. He wasn't sure who'd take it worse – Ryuji if he found out he was seeing Akechi, or Akechi if he found out Ryuji thought they were hooking up.

"No, just… no." He frantically shook his head. "It's not like that, really." Akira was not crushing on psycho murderer Akechi, thank you very much.

"Don't worry – it's fairly obvious you're not engaging in some ridiculous illicit love affair." Makoto sighed, expression pained. "Not that there's any shame if you were, but…" Her lips thinned, as her brow creased in concern. "This is something like the Haru situation, isn't it?"

Her accusation caught him entirely off-guard. "Pardon?"

"You wouldn't be so cagey if it wasn't for a good reason." Makoto smiled wistfully. "We tried to keep Operation Haruwatch a secret to protect her privacy, after all – I'm assuming you're doing something similar again."

Guilt stabbed Akira's heart like a knife. She was wrong about him. He was being cagey, but the reason for it was awful.

Ann stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, her gentleness in sharp contrast to Ryuji's rough manhandling before. "It's okay, we get it, but…" Her voice trailed off, and she puckered her lips. "… You know you can always rely on us if you need a helping hand, right? Even Ryuji."

"Wait, what do you mean, even me?!" Ryuji gawped.

"I'm just saying, we've all got your back, and we always will, okay?" Ann laughed, eyes so full of warmth and understanding they made Akira feel absolutely wretched.

The black-haired teen squirmed, and while he'd managed to successfully push his guilt down over his deal with Akechi all month, Ann's words cracked the barrier of the dam he'd built up and it all came flooding through Akira at once. There was no way he could tell his friends the truth – they'd be horrified that he was collaborating with a murderer, and even more so if they discovered Akira's promise to turn himself in if Akechi upheld his end to the bargain. They'd try to stop him, and he couldn't have that – he wasn't strong enough, not yet.

He could, however, possibly tell them some of it. Hands shaking, Akira desperately prayed that this wouldn't backfire on him. "I've been seeing someone about my inner Hollow. They've been teaching me how to keep it under control."

Nobody looked particularly surprised by his revelation, not even Ryuji. In fact, his friend's face was blank, besides from his furrowed brows.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" The delinquent asked, and while his voice was level the hurt in it was audible.

Akira winced, feeling even more like a piece of human garbage. He'd barely seen his friend since he had to bail on the power suit's test run – it was clear Ryuji was still upset about it.

"They didn't want me to mention it to anyone just in case something went wrong and they got blamed." Akira bit his lip. "I'm sorry for being so absent recently. It's just, they're busy with their job and only have a limited amount of time available, so I've got to make the most of it while I can. It's almost November, after all…"

Makoto tilted her head, expression unreadable. "When was the last time you lost control of your Hollow?"

"Uh, end of September, I think. But why-"

Makoto ignored him and continued speaking. "How much more control will you gain over it during this next meeting of yours?"

Akira winced – they'd still barely made any progress at all. "Uh, not heaps, probably…"

"That means it won't matter in the grand scheme of things if you call your mentor and tell them that you're busy this afternoon." She pointed out.

Akira immediately recoiled. "But-!"

"Akira." This time, when the brunette interrupted him, her expression was soft and concern shined in her eyes. "You're exhausted. It's obvious. There are rings under your eyes and you keep rubbing your forehead." Makoto sighed and looked away. "If you don't take a break, you're going to collapse. Trust me – I've been in your shoes. I used to be so anxious about getting good grades and earning a letter of recommendation, if I wasn't performing my duties for the student council, I was studying. I didn't have the time to do things for fun, or to have friends… and you know what?"

"… What?"

"There is no difference whatsoever between my grades right now and my grades back then. My marks are the same, but now I'm happier, more well-rested, and nowhere near as stressed… if you ignore the Aizen situation, of course." She grimaced. "Overworking yourself isn't going to solve your issues - it'll just make things worse. Take a day off, relax, and go back to it tomorrow when you're feeling fresh."

He sighed begrudgingly. Makoto had a point, Akira knew she did, but he still squirmed at the thought of cancelling on Akechi like that. While his story to the Phantoms had been full of half-truths, he hadn't lied about the detective's limited amount of time. Still, it was clear they weren't going to let this go. Withdrawing his phone, he put some distance between himself and his friends, and dialled Akechi.

"Hello?" The other boy's voice echoed across the line, faintly confused at the unanticipated call.

Akira exhaled. "Sorry about this, but I'm gonna have to cancel our meeting today."

"Let me guess, your idiot friends have roped you into some ridiculous scheme." He could almost hear Akechi rolling his eyes. "I don't know how you stand it - being held back like that. Still, I suppose I should have anticipated this. Let me see... I have an interview on Friday, but should be able to free up a few hours over the weekend."

Irritation spiked in his chest at the insult to his friends, but he held his tongue. Akira was acutely aware they were standing only several metres away, and he didn't want to say anything that might alarm them. "Sure, sounds good. Let me know when you're free – I'll be there."

Hanging up, he turned back to the gathered Phantoms, who were watching him with expectation in their eyes. A beaming smile crossed his face as the tension that had knotted in his stomach finally unfurled. Screw it - why not enjoy this if only for one day? Akechi had accepted his excuse with an alarming amount of grace, and Aizen wasn't exactly going to wage war this afternoon.

"So, what do you guys have planned?"

…..

In the end, after going back to Leblanc to pick up Futaba and calling Uryū to inform him they were catching up, the mottled group of teenagers decided to do what teenagers did, and went to the beach.

"Aw yeah!" Ryuji jumped in the air, fist-pumping. "I'm gonna pick up so many chicks!"

Ann burst out laughing. "Get real, Ryuji – that's never gonna happen. Don't you remember Hawaii?"

Futaba nodded in concurrence as they walked from the station to the beach. "Ann's right – you have no charm."

The blond's shoulder's slumped, as he turned to Akira despairingly. "C'mon bro, tell them they're wrong!"

Akira patted him on the back. "One day, Ryuji, you'll meet a lovely woman who's perfect for you."

"That's not sticking up for me at all!" The delinquent threw his hands up into the air as the group burst out laughing.

A knowing smirk pried the ends of Uryū's lips. "If it's any consolation, it is nearly winter, and a Thursday to boot – it's not exactly peak hours. You might have had better luck in a busier season."

"What'd'ya mean, HAVE had? We're not even there yet!"

As they finally reached the beach, dunking on Ryuji hours came to an end. None of them had their swimwear, so that was out – Akira, Ryuji, and Futaba still risked splashing around in the shallows for a bit, but while the day was sunny, the water was too cold to be very appealing. After debating whether to go on the banana boats or play some volleyball, the latter won. While team boys was more all-rounded, team girls had Makoto and her vicious spike, which narrowly earned them the victory.

After gambolling around all afternoon, Ann insisted they engaged in the Western tradition of fish and chips. As Akira watched the sun slowly begin its descent towards the horizon, the taste of salt on his lips, he was glad he'd let Makoto and the others bully him into joining them today. While it wasn't fated to last, for now, he could be happy.

The sound of a generic ringtone snapped him out of his reverie, and with a frown, Makoto withdrew her phone from her pocket. "Hello, Niijima here… Yes…?" A flash of annoyance crossed her face, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you mean, you forgot? No, no, don't worry about it – I need to go past Shujin on my way home anyway." Hanging up, the student council president scowled ferociously.

"What was that about?" Ryuji blinked, startled at her frustrated demeanour.

Makoto's shoulders slumped. "Student council business – I delegated tallying the polls for the cultural festival guest to one of my underclassmen, but they completely forgot about it and we're meant to announce the results tomorrow. Sorry, but I've got to go and fix this."

A pang ran through Akira's chest and he leapt to his feet. He didn't want the day to end - not yet.

"Why don't we join you?" He suggested. "It's starting to get a bit cold here, but we've still got plenty of time before evening hits."

Futaba's eyes widened. "Oooh! Maybe I'd be less nervous about going to Shujin next year if I could scope out the map beforehand!"

Makoto blinked, mildly surprised that the hacker had finally accepted her fate, before shrugging. "It's probably not going to be very exciting, but, well, I won't object to having some company."

Luckily, given the last-minute nature of their beach journey, the students didn't have much to take with them as they hopped on the train back to Aoyama Itchome. As they approached Shujin's gates, Uryū looked around, curious, while Futaba shrank into Akira's side, shuddering like a leaf. While they'd both been to the track field before, this would be the first time they entered the school building itself.

"Y-You can do this, Futaba!" She mumbled to herself. "You've got your key item, and the entire party with you!"

Taking pity on the girl, Akira patted her head. It earnt him a squawk, but Futaba seemed to calm down a bit afterwards. While the school was still unlocked, by now, most of the clubs had packed up, and only a scattered handful of teachers remained. They ran into Chouno-sensei, who inquired about Uryū and Futaba's presence, but thankfully, Makoto smoothed things over by introducing them as a distant cousin and prospective student respectively. That immediately caused the woman to have an about-face, and she gave them a full-on sales pitch about the wonders of Shujin now that the likes of Kamoshida and Kobayakawa had been purged from the ranks. As she left, humming, Uryū looked mildly taken aback and Futaba was absolutely frazzled, but Akira knew that could have gone a hell of a lot worse.

Makoto's warning had been correct - counting the poll results was tediously dry. The only thing of note was that much to Akira's alarm, fucking Akechi of all people was getting an awful lot of votes.

"Don't invite him." Akira remarked, mildly horrified as the pile of paper slips with his name on them grew larger and larger.

Makoto's look was pitying. "Just because he's unpleasant and we have some rather dramatic differences of opinion doesn't mean we can ignore the student body's wishes."

I don't think they'd be so keen to invite him if they knew about all the murder. Akira frowned, sinking into his seat, mood gloomy.

Ryuji gave him a commiserating pat on the back. "There, there. I don't wanna see him either. He's such a prick and his haircut is still the ugliest thing ever, no matter what everyone says."

Thankfully, while the margins were a lot narrower than Akira was hoping, Akechi lost out in favour of a local idol, some politician called Yoshida, and an up-and-coming model who Ann had some beef with.

"I sincerely doubt Hiiragi Alice will even bother responding, but I might as well send her manager an email, and contact Yoshida-san as backup…" Makoto mused.

"Just don't get Mika, she's a bitch." Ann announced sunnily. "But, then again, I guess that's part of her charm…"

"Eh, she can't be worse than Akechi." Ryuji shrugged, a sentiment Akira thoroughly agreed with.

Makoto stretched, rising to her feet, before turning to Uryū and Futaba. "Now that that's done, would you two be interested in a tour?"

Futaba's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "W-we're not gonna be ambushed by any more mobs, are we?"

"I… don't think Chouno-sensei really counts as a mob, but no. It's after six – the only people I'd still expect to see around here are the janitorial staff and maybe Ushimaru-sensei."

Eventually, Futaba acquiesced, and a rather delighted Makoto dragged them around, pointing out practically every classroom while enlightening them all on Shujin's prestigious history. Quite frankly, while the student council president was in her element, Uryū was the only one of them who wasn't clearly getting bored to tears by her spiel. Admittedly, it was pretty funny in a dark sort of way whenever Futaba spoke up and revealed her awful experiences related to whatever topic Makoto was talking about - when they went past the school shop and Ryuji whispered in his ear that Futaba's mother died in one of those, Akira couldn't help but crack up laughing.

Makoto shot the two giggling boys a withering stare. "Look, I know you see this place every day, but Futaba in particular wants to get prepared for next year."

Judging by Futaba's expression, she'd done enough preparation for a lifetime.

"Why don't we show them the shit we actually care about though?" Ryuji suggested. "Like where Akira and I do our running? Or Kobayakawa's old office – we broke into it once!"

"Um, those are terrible suggestions." Ann frowned, before her eyes lit up. "I know! What about the roof? It's where we used to hold our Phantoms meetings, and Haru has her planters there."

"Rukia also brainwashed Makoto there once!" Ryuji grinned.

The student council president shook her head, voice pained. "Yes, I remember that. Thank you, Ryuji. Still, perhaps it's not a terrible idea… it might be nice to check on Haru's work, at the very least."

Futaba groaned, slouching. "Noooo… not more stairs…"

"It's good exercise." Makoto pointed out. "Anyway, you'll need to come up to the top floor if you want to use the library – it's probably something you should get used to."

As they approached the rooftop, the conversation died down for a moment, except for Futaba's huffing breaths. As they reached the door, Akira stilled as he caught a flicker of Reiatsu. It was merely the small flame of the spiritually unaware, but Akira had been around this individual enough to pick them out from the hundreds of other Shujin students.

"I think Haru is on the roof." He announced. "Better keep any spirit-related chat to a minimum."

"Maybe she can show us around her garden!" Ann beamed. "God knows I couldn't tell the difference between one plant and another."

As they swung open the door, however, all thoughts of Haru joining their impromptu tour came to a crashing halt. The brunette's head jerked upwards at the sudden intrusion, eyes wide. That only made it so much easier to see just how red they were. She'd clearly been crying for a while – tear tracks trailed down her cheeks, and her nose was crusty with dried snot.

Akira's stomach twisted, his jovial mood snuffing out in an instant - something was clearly wrong. Both the Phantoms and the heiress stood there in stunned silence for a heartbeat, neither party knowing exactly what to do, until Makoto crossed the rooftop and sat down at Haru's side.

"Haru? Is everything okay?"

At that, the rest of the Phantoms shuffled onto the rooftop proper, the door closing shut behind them. Uryū and Futaba hung around the outskirts, clearly feeling like they were intruding, as the rest of the Shujin students joined the third-years.

"Uh, I think I've gotta tissue somewhere." Ryuji blinked, looking utterly out of his depth, but he still withdrew a tattered but clean tissue from his pocket and passed it to the heiress.

"T-thank you, Ryuji-kun." Haru sniffed before blowing her nose.

Everyone remained quiet – no one wanting to rush the brunette before she was ready – but eventually, her shoulders quaked, and Haru stared resolutely towards the floor. "It's Sugimura." She revealed, and Akira felt his blood turn to ice.