In all honesty, this was not what Kiyoko was thinking when Mikayla decided that she was going to be training him. For the past half hour, the blonde had been sitting opposite the older female as she continued to lecture him on the different varieties of souls and despite having a sheet of paper to take notes, the boy found himself with a page filled with drawings and doodles rather than words. Though personally Kiyoko thought that he wasn't to blame, when Mikayla messaged him (he was still trying to figure out how the female had managed to gain his number in the first place) he was thinking there were going to be more swords and weightlifting rather than the endless streams of books and paperwork that the woman seemed to be hoarding in her room.
In short, the teenager was bored and he didn't know how many more sheep he could draw before the paper just became a whole herd.
Then as if Mikayla had read his thoughts, the woman sharply slammed the metal clipboard on top of the male's head, causing the blonde to recoil and hiss in pain. Grabbing onto the affected area, Kiyoko glared at the older female before promptly throwing his notebook at her.
"What the hell was that for?" he whined, gently rubbing circles against the back of his head as Mikayla glared at him.
"You know very well what that was for," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well it's not my fault,"
"It is. You know that it is. Stop acting like it isn't and accept your fate," ordered Mikayla, now moving towards the large poster board that she had been using to explain things to Kiyoko.
On the board, there were multiple sheets of paper pinned up, all detailing and displaying the different varieties of souls that could be encountered. All of these sheets were placed in order from their levels of being a threat to their most powerful abilities. For example, Kiyoko had already learned that arguably the easiest Hollow to fight was a new-born Hollow as their main concern was with feeding off the nearest soul available. In comparison, more seasoned Hollows (like ones around for two or three decades) could wait before devouring a soul, instead choosing to play with their prey as a form of amusement. Though a part from that, the blonde found himself constantly zoning in and out from whatever Mikayla was attempting to teach him.
It wasn't his fault that he found half of this stuff boring though.
"Kiyoko!"
The sudden shout had the teenager pulled from his thoughts as he looked across at the dark haired female, watching as her cheeks flushed red with anger.
"Pay attention!" she shouted, hitting the blonde harshly on the head again with a ruler before swivelling on her heel to face the board, directing the ruler back onto a sheet of paper.
"Now, as I was saying, Hollows come in a vast variety of strengths and sizes. The Hollow that you fought against was around about a decade or so in age, the easiest way to tell this is by the way that they chase you," explained Mikayla, her ruler moving to show different diagrams and pictures of white skulls and teeth.
"So, the Hollow," the word still felt foreign on his tongue, not unfamiliar just off (like he was missing something) "that was chasing me, it was crashing into things left right and centre."
"Yes, well done for paying attention to something," she sighed, running a hand over her face as she moved to sit down on the chair opposite Kiyoko, pointedly ignoring the wounded look on the blonde.
"Anyways, so the older Hollows, you said something earlier about a 'pack'?"
"Yep, older they are, the more they like to be in large groups. It's a strength thing, y'know? But don't be fooled, the older they are the stronger they get so sometimes they consume their packs 'cause they think it makes them stronger,"
"Does it?"
"Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. If it does then you should never fight against one. Those types of Hollows are reserved for soul reapers seated four and above because they have a higher level of skill and understanding,"
Something in Kiyoko perked up in curiosity at this point.
From the concept of a Hollow that would want to be in a pack to a Hollow that would eventually eat their supposed family or 'pack'. The creatures were completely primal and clearly desired nothing but strength even if it meant working through blood and guts to gain it.
If Kiyoko were a cynic he'd state that maybe they showed the purest form of humanity, all carnal desire and no care or compassion.
"Wait, you just said something about seated officers. What's that meant to mean? Are you in the army or something?" asked Kiyoko, a single blonde brow raised in confusion as he watched Mikayla take a long sip of water.
"Or somethin'," she shrugged, avoiding eye contact as she continued to stare out the window.
This was the gloomiest she had seen Kakuraka Town since the beginning of her placement here with dark storm clouds suffocating the normally bright blue sky. In truth, she should've been expecting weather like this (after all it was the beginning of April and all) as Spring mainly brought with it showers and long periods of rain in order for vegetation to grow in the summer. However, it looked like it was about to rain any second and from here she could see a pair of black crows retreating to their nest for safety.
It was time for the Urahara to go.
"I'll tell you next time. Right now, however, you need to focus on getting home," stated the female, standing from her chair as she led the confused blonde to the door.
"Wait. Wait, what? You can't just tell me all this and expect me to be all fine and dandy! I want to know more!" shouted Kiyoko, protesting loudly as he tried to remove his wrist from the woman's vice-like grip, however, Mikayla wasn't having any off it.
"You'll find out more with patience, you little brat, for now you need to go home before it starts raining,"
Pausing, the blonde stared up at the dark haired woman, as though he were trying to analyse her every word for a hint of a lie. After a minute though the boy had softened, gently grabbing onto his jacket before slipping on his shoes.
If Mikayla had noticed the brief flash of hurt in his golden eyes then she wasn't going to mention it.
"I guess I'll see you later then," he said, nodding his head slightly in goodbye before exiting the apartment.
.
.
.
Mikayla had been right and within ten minutes of Kiyoko leaving her apartment, the rain had started. This led to a thoroughly soaked Kiyoko having to appear on Ichigo Kurosaki's door-step, around half an hour earlier for their previously planned meet-up.
By the time Ichigo had opened the door, it was safe to say that Kiyoko was pissed at both the world and Mikayla, though his anger at her was mainly because she was the last person he had spoken to (unreasonable, but did he care, no). The orange haired male in front of him was clearly amused at the blonde's state however, due to him being such a lovely friend, all teasing was kept to a minimum as Ichigo gently led the drenched male into his bedroom.
"So… what brings you here so early?" joked Ichigo, watching as the blonde practically tore off his t-shirt.
"A fucking miserable day with a secretive woman," swore the other, before taking off his trousers, leaving him standing in his boxers in the middle of the orange haired male's room.
Muttering swears underneath his breath, the blonde removed his boxers before tossing them into the quickly forming pile of wet clothes. If it were anybody else then Ichigo would've been shocked and embarrassed at the blatant display of nudity but after years of knowing Kiyoko and being exposed to his free-willed nature, the orange haired male wasn't too concerned. Instead, Ichigo just passed the blonde a fresh set of clothes before excusing himself to allow the other male some privacy.
"Only you could get so soaked that you have to change your underwear," said Ichigo, laughing as he watched his friend look away in embarrassment, only to be shut up by a pair of wet underwear hitting him in the face.
The sound of laughter broke the orange haired male out of his shocked trance as he turned to throw the offending object back at the blonde, swearing about filth and how disgusting it was for Kiyoko to throw the clothing at him. Despite all of his protests, Kiyoko just continued to laugh with tears pricking the corners of his eyes, watching as Ichigo's face grew redder and redder in anger.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Ichigo eventually shouted, face now a deep crimson colour as he glared across at Kiyoko.
"No," answered the other, his voice breathless as he gasped for air between spurts of chuckles.
"Bastard," though the word lacked any contempt as a smirk tugged at the corner of Ichigo's lips.
For a moment there was a content silence that filled the room as both boys collapsed on the single bed, breathless with laughter as smiles stretched across their faces. It was almost enough for Ichigo to forget about the past week that he had spent without contact from Kiyoko.
In truth, the orange haired male really wanted to let it go and forget what had happened, after all the blonde was here right now trying to make up for it and had even spent the past few days calling him every night. However, he still felt hurt by the idea that he could be left behind so easily by someone that he held in such high esteem. Though moments like this allowed for Ichigo to forget it all and just focus on the present.
"So… who's keeping secrets from you?" asked Ichigo after a few minutes had passed of the pair staring up at the ceiling.
"Madarame,"
At the sound of the female's name, Ichigo sat up, turning to face Kiyoko with a single arched brow.
"You were right, she's hiding something," explained the blonde, refusing to meet the other's gaze as he continued to look up at the ceiling.
"I don't want to say I told you so but I did,"
"Yeah… yeah you did," muttered the blonde defeatedly, rolling over to cuddle into the orange haired male's chest.
If a few tears escaped then Ichigo didn't say anything, only choosing to hold on tighter as he ran his fingers through the damp blonde hair.
This was what Ichigo had feared happening.
Mikayla showing an interest in Kiyoko, reeling him in to believe that there may be a possibility of something before, eventually, leaving him behind to deal with the consequences. It was a cycle that Ichigo had seen before and had hoped that the blonde would soon learn from, yet Kiyoko was still foolish enough to believe that it would never happen. Often leaving Ichigo behind to be left providing comfort for the emotional blonde, slowly becoming more and more upset as he found more women manipulating his friend.
Maybe it was because of Kiyoko's naturally trusting nature or maybe it was because he always attempted to see the best in people. However, something more cynical in Ichigo wanted to remark that it was because of these qualities (alongside the blonde's inability to learn from his mistakes) that he always found himself being in these situations.
"C'mon tell me what new shipment of random stuff your dad has got in. I know you love talking about that stuff," uttered Ichigo after a prolonged pause, his fingers still running through the blonde locks.
Now wasn't the time to be cynical, later maybe but not now.