Chapter 28: Clashing Chaos

Kirara swore that she was starting to develop a poker face at long last. Either that, or those in her class really didn't think there was anything wrong. They knew that she was an oddball, but none of them noticed that she was quieter than usual, and was only becoming quieter as the week progressed.

It had been a week since she'd returned to school, and in that time she still hadn't seen Shinji. If he needed his space, he was doing a great job of finding it.

"Yamada, you coming to lunch on the roof?" Mizuiro asked her as Kirara stretched in her seat.

"Sure. It's too nice a day to stay in here anyway," Kirara agreed, getting to her feet. "Hey, Hibiki! Come on," she told the shy girl who she'd become fond of. Hibiki nodded, smiling at her.

"Sure," she agreed, lifting her lunch from her bag. The three left the classroom as Kirara's stomach growled from hunger. At least this time she didn't have store-bought trash to eat, and she'd been thinking about it all day.

"Where's Asano?" Kirara asked, aware that they were still missing one person.

"Who knows?" Mizuiro shrugged, dismissive.

"You're cold," Kirara told him honestly. Mizuiro just smirked at her, and pushed the door open to step out onto the room. Hibki and Mizuiro both paused, surprised to see Ichigo and Rukia standing together. Rukia was holding out a juice carton with a puzzled look on her face.

"So, you're together again?" Mizuiro teased, earning Ichigo's attention. Kirara almost rolled her eyes when Rukia didn't look up.

'Her awareness is shit,' she thought as she approached with Mizuiro and Hibiki.

"You two seem pretty close," instead, Kirara smirked. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her as they sat down with him and Rukia.

"Shut it, delinquent," he snapped back at her. Kirara laughed, enjoying how easily he got mad at her. It was just like annoying Kensei.

"I'm just saying, you two spend an awful lot of time together," she continued, watching as his usual scowl only deepened. "Is romance finally blossoming in school? It's been far too drama-free around here," Kirara complained, nudging Hibiki playfully.

"You had to invite her up here?" Ichigo complained to Mizuiro. "And Arai, don't let her drag you into her nonsense," he warned the brunette. She jumped, surprised to have been addressed.

"Ri-right," she nodded.

"Hey, you don't need to agree with him," Kirara told her, but kept her voice light so she didn't spook her. To her surprise, Hibiki just smiled back at her, and Kirara found a delighted smile crossing her own face.

It seemed Hibiki was starting to come out of her shell at last.

"Kirara's right. You do hang out a lot," Mizuiro brought them back on topic. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Does it really look to you like we're close?" Ichigo asked, irritated at the very idea. Kirara couldn't fault him. The two did spend a lot of time together, but they didn't seem like they were close. It was definitely only because of the Shinigami stuff, she knew.

'Besides, I don't think Ichigo could cope well with the stuffy nobility of a Kuchiki,' Kirara paused as the thought crossed her mind. She rarely even looked at Rukia, feeling anger every time she did as she was reminded of her own past. But something about her attitude felt off. As if the regal air wasn't completely embedded in her like it had been with Ginrei Kuchiki or his grandson.

"Maybe," Mizuiro shrugged in response to Ichigo's question. "Well, to be honest, you do appear to be pretty close," he said honestly. Ichigo rolled his eyes again. "But people are gonna talk, and if they talk enough, everyone will think that you're an item," he warned.

"Whatever. If I really cared about what people think, I would have dyed my hair black a long time ago," Ichigo pointed out, rolling his eyes as he pierced his own juice box with the straw and took a drink.

"You make a good point," Kirara mused, a little quieter now that she wasn't teasing him.

"So this is the straw!" Rukia exclaimed suddenly, making them look at her. She'd been completely oblivious to their conversation as she struggled with her drink. "Where do I poke it?" she wondered aloud. Kirara fought not to roll her eyes at how she sounded.

"Hi there, how are you doing?" Mizuiro smiled at her, making Rukia look up as it wasn't just her and Ichigo sitting there.

"Why, hello there," her polite smile screamed nobility. Kirara almost snorted, and saw Ichigo roll his eyes. It seemed she showed more of her true self around Ichigo. Interesting. "You're…Mizuiro? And you're Kirara and Hibiki?" she asked, looking from Mizuiro to the other two.

"Ye-yeah," Hibiki nodded, closing up again as the pretty girl looked at her. Kirara just nodded, not seeing Hibiki's gaze drift to her.

"That's me!" Mizuiro was more cheerful. "I guess we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Mizuiro Kojima, I really like-"

"Picking up chicks," Ichigo finished in a dry tone. Despite everything, Kirara snorted, and even Hibiki giggled.

"Ichigo, that's not cool!" Mizuiro whined at his friend, who was unbothered by the pout.

"Watch it," Ichigo warned Rukia. "He may look like a dork, but he's a real player," he told her.

"Cut it out!" Mizuiro complained, his pout growing. "You'll permanently damage my reputation! Besides, Ichigo, you know older women are more my style," he said in matter-of-fact voice. Kirara hid her smirk.

If only he knew.

"What's this?" they glanced around as another voice joined. "Rukia Kuchiki, the hot transfer student, is here with you guys?!" Keigo demanded, looking stunned. "How did that happen?" he demanded.

"Ichigo invited her to join us," Kirara answered simply.

"Kirara!" Hibiki hissed at her, knowing that she was doing it just to annoy Ichigo.

"I did not!" Ichigo protested loudly, but Keigo didn't seem to hear him.

"Ichigo did? What a guy!" he gave a thumbs up, looking proud of Ichigo. The taller teenager immediately turned an irritated look on Kirara again.

"Thanks a lot," sarcasm dripped from his words. Kirara winked at him.

"That's for calling me a delinquent," she told him. Truthfully, she just wanted to go back downstairs and find somewhere else to eat. Sitting with Rukia to have lunch rebelled against everything in Kirara, but she didn't want to just leave Hibiki with the much louder personalities.

"Greetings, I'm Keigo Asano," Keigo introduced himself to Rukia, who had gotten distracted as she continued to struggle with her drink. "Welcome, lovely lady, to this Garden of Manliness!" he was, as usually, unreasonably loud.

"Um…hello?" Rukia was unsure of how to respond to his bizarre declaration.

"Garden of Manliness, huh?" Kirara glanced at Hibiki, who was hiding her laugh behind her hand. "Guess we should just leave them to it," she said, and Keigo instantly whirled around.

"Come on, Kirara. You know I wasn't including you in that. You and Arai never join us, so really that welcome was extended to all three of you," Keigo gave what he seemed to think was a charming smile. Kirara rolled her eyes.

"You need to take pointers from Mizuiro if you think you're going to win any girl over, Asano," she told him honestly. Mizuiro smirked as Keigo looked offended.

"Hey, for your-" before he could launch into a tirade, Keigo backed up and walked straight into Chad, who had approached silently.

"Hey, Chad," Ichigo greeted his best friend. The quiet giant took a seat with them before raising a hand in greeting.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Kirara asked as she saw the bandages wrapped around his hand.

"I had a mishap," Chad's voice was low and rumbling. It reminded Kirara of thunder in a way. "A steel beam fell on my head. My hand got hurt when a motorcycle ran into me. The rider that hit me got banged up pretty bad," everyone stared at him as he listed the series of events that had happened. "The force of the collision knocked the guy out, so I picked him up and carried him to the hospital," he explained.

"Whoa…" Hibiki squeaked, eyes wide.

"My only question is…what exactly is your body made of?" Ichigo stared at him. He'd known Chad for a while now, but he was still thrown by how tanky the other boy was. Chad didn't answer, setting down the cage beside him so they could see the little parakeet inside.

"So where'd you get the bird?" Keigo asked curiously, leaning a little closer.

"My name is Yuuichi Shibata," Kirara went rigid as the bird spoke. Nearby, Rukia and Ichigo had a similar reaction. "It's nice to meet you. What's your name?" the bird asked.

"That's amazing!" Keigo exclaimed, leaning back.

"I knew that some birds were capable of mimicking human speech, but this is incredible," Hibiki stared at the bird. Kirara didn't speak as she instead shoved food into her mouth to make it look like she was too busy chewing.

'There's a human soul in that bird,' she thought to herself, and judging from Ichigo's reaction, she knew he was thinking the same thing. 'Never seen that before. That's…bizarre,' she just shoved more rice into her mouth.

"So, Chad…where did you get this bird?" Ichigo asked in an attempt to be nonchalant; simply curious about his friend's new pet.

"Someone…" Chad started, and instantly trailed off. "Gave him to me," he finished simply.

"Hold it!" Keigo shouted, unhappy with the brief answer. "There you go again, getting lazy and cutting your story short!" he complained loudly. "Come on! That's a bad habit you have, Chad. Now explain! Spill it!" Keigo yelled.

"Can you stop shouting? You're giving me a headache," Kirara complained.

"That was the whole story," Chad answered Keigo, who huffed in irritation.

"He's cute," Hibiki smiled, still fixated on the little bird as Ichigo and Rukia began to whisper amongst themselves - no doubt about the soul within the bird. When Kirara remained quiet beside her, Hibiki's smile faded just a little bit. She could tell that something had been eating at Kirara all week, but couldn't tell what.

'I wish I could ask her…I hope she's okay,' Hibiki shifted, falling quiet as the group enjoyed their lunch together.

Kirara's head was throbbing as she slowly trudged her way home from school once more, exhausted and still thinking about Chad's little pet bird with a human soul inside of it.

'I should ask the others if they know anything about that,' she considered as she reached the barrier and pressed her hand against it in a silent request for entrance. It rippled, and a doorway large enough for Kirara to step through appeared. She pinched the bridge of her nose as pain throbbed behind her eyes again.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it all afternoon, trying and failing to come up with a reason why it had chosen a little pet bird. 'Lonely maybe? But for Chad to be the one to find it…I just don't get it. First Orihime and Tatsuki get into trouble with Hollows, and now this? I wonder if Ichigo's powerful presence is wearing off on those around him,' she wondered again, having been thinking about it since she'd realised that Rukia Kuchiki had used a Kikanshinki on Orihime.

So deep in thought, Kirara was completely oblivious to her surroundings. So much so, that she didn't realise anyone else was there until she bumped into them.

"Wh-" Kirara stopped, staring up at Shinji as she took a step back in surprise.

"Not like you to be so unaware of your surroundings," he spoke stiffly, as if unsure of what to say. Kirara didn't respond to his comment, watching him with an uncertain look. She became very aware that she was in her uniform, obviously returning from school - the very thing they had fought over.

When Kirara didn't speak, instead tugging at her shirt, an uncomfortable silence descended on the pair. It went on too long, and Kirara finally told herself to move. To just go past him and continue what they'd been doing for the last century. Ignoring one another.

But before she could, Shinji finally spoke. "I'm sorry. For what I said. It was out of order," he apologised. The awkwardness was gone, replaced by sincerity. He didn't dare look away from her as Kirara's brow furrowed.

"You…" she started, trailing off just as quickly. Then her shoulders slumped, and an exasperated look crossed her face. "You have a really dumb habit of apologising when it's not necessary," Kirara complained, crossing her arms over her chest. Shinji's eyes widened at her blunt words, before she gave a nonchalant shrug. "At least you didn't take as long as the last time," Kirara couldn't resist getting the jab in.

Shinji stared at her, rendered speechless by how she'd dismissed his apology and even brought up that last one, reminding him of that moment in the mountains, back when they had finally found it possible to let go of the animosity between them.

Then, after a long moment, he found himself able to relax. To take the breath that for the last two weeks, had been a struggle. Shinji laughed quietly, shaking his head at just how ridiculous Kirara truly was.

"In my defence," he said, drawing closer with neither of them realising. "You made it easier this time by not picking fights with me the second you see me, Princess," the nickname had the desired effect, and he watched her brows furrow. It had been a long time since he'd used it, but it was still habit all the same.

"If you don't want me to pick fights, then don't call me that," she warned, watching the grin spread across his face. For a moment, Kirara wanted to smile. But then the words came out before she could stop them. "You've been gone for two weeks," Kirara said. Her words were quiet, but they may as well have been yelled as Shinji heard the hurt behind them.

"Yeah," his smile vanished, and he realised just how close he'd gotten to her in that moment when he'd lowered his guard. Instantly he stepped back, and Kirara could practically see the wall snapping up between them. Pain lanced through her chest as he pulled away again, and he looked away, unable to deal with the look on her face. "I just…needed space to think," Shinji muttered, turning and starting to walk away.

Kirara's heart slammed against her chest as she stared at him, watching him put the distance between them just as he'd done a hundred years ago. When she'd woken up, realising the monster she had become. When he had kept his distance, a cold look on his face the entire time.

Something inside Kirara snapped. A hundred years worth of anger and hurt roiled through her like a storm, and she clenched her fists at her sides.

"So that's it?" she shouted after him. "After all that, you're just going to go back to avoiding me? Keeping that distance, barely even looking at me?" Kirara demanded, and her anger only grew as she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Shinji had stopped, not turning around as he let her shout.

When he didn't fight back, Kirara angrily wiped the tears from her eyes. "Damn you, Hirako, can you only say how you really feel out loud when you think that I can't hear you? When you think I'm asleep in a medical bay?!" the moment the words left her mouth, Shinji whipped around, and it dawned on Kirara what she had said. Instantly she clapped both hands to her mouth as if she hoped it would take back what she had already said.

Shinji was silent as he stared at her, an uncharacteristic blush spreading across his face as her heated confession sank in. Kirara's anger vanished, replaced with panic, but she couldn't run. The barrier was already closed, and in the time it would take Hachi to open it - assuming he even did - Shinji would catch her.

Assuming he wanted to.

"You were awake the whole damn time," it wasn't a question. It was a resigned statement. Kirara forced herself to take a breath, before she gave a shaky smile, and reached up to press two fingers to her forehead. Right where he'd pressed a kiss, thinking she was asleep, recovering from her injuries.

"The whole. Damn. Time," she answered.

"Why? Why did you never say anything?" Shinji was walking back to her slowly, and this time Kirara didn't back away.

"You were the one who walked away, but…" Kirara kept that small smile on her face. "I let you. I could have said something back then, but I thought…I thought you didn't want me after…" she trailed off, lowering her head as tears stung her eyes once more.

"It was never that," Shinji's voice was barely audible as he reached her. He dared to reach out, touching her for the first time in a hundred years as he rested a hand on her waist to gently tug her closer. "That never even crossed my mind, Kirara," he breathed her name, and Kirara swallowed.

"Then why?" she still didn't look at him.

"Because it was my fault," Kirara's eyes widened. "Because I couldn't stop Aizen, you all-"

"Stop," Kirara cut him off. "You're an idiot. None of us ever blamed you. What happened that night wasn't your fault," she said as she lifted a hand and gripped his shirt, still not able to lift her head and meet his eyes. "There's only one person that I blame for that night, and it's never been you," Kirara whispered, hating that Aizen's cheap taunt had managed to embed itself in his mind.

Shinji couldn't speak as she spoke the words he'd desperately wanted to believe for the last hundred years. He'd tried to tell himself that he wasn't to blame all that time, but every time he did, he could only hear Sosuke Aizen's words.

"Because of you, the person you seem to care for is going to die."

This time when he tried to shove those cold, quiet words aside, Shinji found he was able to. With Kirara standing there, clutching his shirt like she was about to start shaking him, he was able to believe her words.

Before some other part of him could tell him to stop, Shinji lifted his other hand. Pressing his fingers against Kirara's chin, he gently pushed up to make her look at him. Tears still swam in her eyes as she finally met his gaze, cheeks red as her hold on his shirt only grew tighter, as if scared he was going to try to pull away.

They stared at one another for another second, almost seeming to be waiting for the other to turn away, before Shinji finally leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. The moment he did, Kirara stepped closer and rested her other hand on his chest, melting into it.

"I'm-"

"Shinji," Kirara stopped him as Shinji pulled back just enough to speak. She pressed her forehead to his, not opening her eyes. "If you try to apologise again, I'm going to punch you," her warning was a low growl before she moved, kissing him again. She heard his quiet laughter as he pulled her against him entirely, and she finally let go of his shirt to wrap her arms around his neck in an attempt to pull him closer.

So engrossed in one another, they didn't hear someone clearing their throat nearby. Not the first time, or the second time. When the third went unacknowledged, there was a heavy sigh.

"Oi, lovebirds!" Lisa's shout made the pair jump. Flustered, Kirara instantly tried to pull back, but Shinji's already tight grasp on her grew stronger, and he yanked her back against him.

"What?" he growled as he looked around to where Lisa was standing. She looked completely unbothered, while both Love and Rose were peeking out from the entrance to the warehouse with barely concealed laughter.

"You're late for training," Lisa's words were so absurdly simple that Kirara couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter. She buried her face in her hands.

"And it took three of you to tell us that?" Shinji demanded, his face reddening the longer they stared at him.

"I did try, but you were a little…focused on one another," Rose told them. Kirara had managed to stop her laughter, but even as she kept her face hidden, they could see her ears going red.

"And Lisa needed someone else to verify what she saw so she can claim her winnings from Kensei," Love added. Lisa nodded unapologetically as Shinji glared at her for placing more bets.

"Kensei really needs to learn to stop making bets with you," Kirara said as she finally lowered her hands. "We'll be down in a minute, okay?" Lisa shrugged at her words.

"Sure," with that, she strode back inside.

"Idiots," Love said with a snort before following her.

"It's about time," Rose told the pair simply. Shinji scowled at him.

"How about you mind your own damn business?" he demanded. Rose met his gaze with a pleasant smile on his face.

"You made it our business by being idiots," he said simply. Kirara stuck out her tongue at him, and Rose smiled happily to himself as he walked away.

"I swear, Rose has been more invested in this than anyone else," Kirara muttered quietly. Shinji hummed his agreement. He'd had to listen to Rose nagging him as much as he'd nagged Kirara.

"He's going to be so annoying about it now," Shinji complained, having seen the smile on the taller man's face. Before he could think about it too much, Kirara put her hands on his face to guide him back to her as she pressed up on her tiptoes to kiss him again.

A thrill raced through both of them. It had been so long, they'd all but given up on ever addressing their feelings. Shinji had buried his, telling himself that Kirara should blame him for what happened. That he didn't deserve to have her after he'd been powerless to stop Aizen. After he'd been unable to stop the man destroy her both physically and mentally.

"Please don't leave again," Kirara's whisper was breathless, and lanced him through the chest as she pulled back to look up at him. She was scared that if she let him go now, he'd put that wall up between them again and this would be seen as a mistake.

Seeing that fear, Shinji cupped her cheek as he kept her close, wanting her to see how sure he was in what he was doing.

"I have no intention of letting you go now, Kirara," again, the quiet way he said her name sent a shiver down Kirara's spine, and she let in a shaky breath. "I've been a damn idiot," Shinji said, and Kirara smiled.

"We've both been idiots," she corrected him, reaching up to kiss him again. However, this one was only brief, leaving him desperately wanting more. When Kirara drew back, Shinji followed, and the giggle she let out as he kissed her made his head swim. "Hirako, we need to get to training," Kirara pointed out as she managed to pull away again. "The others are already going to give us hell for everything," she warned. Shinji groaned, knowing that she was right, but he was already finding himself addicted to kissing her.

"Kensei's already promised to beat me into next year for the shit I pulled," he admitted, managing to recall that through the haze. Kirara tilted her head, a little surprised. "He was the one who dragged me back here. I think he was worried about you," Shinji considered, and Kirara's eyes lit up in realisation.

"As much as I'd love to tease him for that, I'm pretty sure he'll have realised that he sabotaged his own bet with Lisa," she pointed out.

"That's his own fault," Shinji muttered, and yanked her back in as Kirara was distracted. Her laughter only encouraged him as she threw her arms around him to push up into the kiss.

"Shinji," she giggled against his mouth, and finally - reluctantly - Kirara managed to pull away and out of his hold. She caught his hand as she did, but didn't let him pull her back in. "Come on. Training," she told him, already pulling him towards the warehouse.

"You're so bossy," Shinji complained, but let her lead him along.

"Yep," Kirara agreed. He huffed, but linked his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand gently. Shinji didn't miss the shy smile on her face, and grinned himself. "Huh," Kirara then blinked as she suddenly remembered the events of the day.

"What's wrong, Princess?" he asked lightly. Kirara ignored the nickname.

"Have you ever heard of a human soul possessing a bird?" whatever Shinji had expected, it wasn't that. He dropped her hand, and Kirara kept walking until she realised he'd stopped. Turning back, Kirara cocked her head. "What?" she asked innocently.

"What the hell goes on at that school?"

Finally.

Hope you liked it!