~FIREFLY KNIGHTS~

Bleach Copyright Tite Kubo

Firefly Knights Copyright Illand Girl

'For those that need a Guardian.'

Chapter 4: New Start

I had never been to Karakura High School before orientation. Most students here had known each other for a good chunk of their lives, but I would be starting here as well now. It should've felt daunting, joining in a new school with completely new teens around, but oddly enough I wasn't concerned in the least.

It might've had something to do with the carrot topped hooligan running around campus...

Ichigo and I had spent every other day together leading up to the time we would attend high school. I worked at the clinic as much as I could, to the point that Isshin would shoo me out or insist I must come over for dinner, which led to Ichigo walking me home each night. I did my best to cook for everyone once and a while, and often I found myself actually enjoying being in the apartment. Isshin had been... well, he'd been more of a father than mine ever was. He looked after me and treated me like his own. It was strange at first, but slowly I was falling into rhythm with it.

I was early for school today, having woken up a bit earlier to be sure I had all my supplies in order and could arrive in a timely fashion. I sort of expected that things might happen to make me late. It was sort of a trend for me, y'know? I just presumed the worst and trusted in it.

However... I really could not have predicted almost getting mugged.

I stepped off one of the only buses I would have to take to get to high school, and someone shoved me from behind. With a squeak, I tripped and fell, my supplies falling everywhere.

"Hey!" I yelled, looking at the guy rushing away with my school bag. Getting up as quickly as I could I sprinted after him. "Give that back!"

I was just gaining on him when a hulking mass of a man grabbed the guy and plucked him off the ground. I gaped, amazed that he had picked him off the ground while hardly moving. As I approached, the thief bailed on my school bag and bolted away without it.

I huffed, debating if chasing him down was worth it, when said bag was thrusted in front of me. I blinked once, twice, then stared at the bag that dropped into my hands.

"This is yours, right?" He had a deep voice, and I had to practically bend my neck to look up at him.

"Y-Yeah, thank you." His hair was falling into his eyes and he had much darker skin than most people around here. He made a sound of acknowledgement, before turning away from me.

"Don't mention it, but please be careful." He said as he began to walk away. It was then that I noticed he had the Karakura high school uniform on and smiled softly.

"Oh, you're heading to Karakura high school too?" I asked, speeding up to match the pace of his long legs. He looked down at me and nodded, not seeming to mind my intrusion as I followed him.

"Yeah." He said vaguely. I could tell he wasn't a talker, but I was so used to Ichigo that I didn't mind.

"I'm Naomi Sakurai. Pleased to meet you." He hesitated for a moment then, looking down at me properly, and the angle gave me a look at his warm brown eyes.

"Naomi? Are you... Ichigo's friend?" He asked. I tilted my head slightly, then grinned.

"Ichigo Kurosaki? Absolutely. We go way back. May I ask who you are?"

"Yasutora Sado, but Ichigo always calls me Chad."

I paused, remembering Ichigo telling me about a guy he befriended last year named Chad, who he bragged was super strong and intimidating to look at but was actually a big softie. Looking at the massive boy beside me, I wasn't surprised in the slightest to know Ichigo was telling the truth.

"Ichigo told me about you, said you were super strong." I felt the compliment slip off the tongue easily. Chad nodded.

"He talked about you a lot too." He said, then decided to elaborate. "Mostly that you would've beat him up for all the trouble he gets into."

I laughed, though I had to wonder just how much trouble Ichigo was getting into these days. Back when we were smaller, Ichigo was already picking fights with people bigger than him. And it always frustrated me when he acted like I needed to stay out of the way.

"I'm not some delicate flower." I would snap at him, annoyed whenever he tried to keep me out of things. Unfortunately for Ichigo - or maybe it was fortunate? - I never did like to stay out of the way. His fighting did lessen, for a while, but I imagined that without me around to stop him, Ichigo probably did his own thing.

"I probably would've. But Ichigo beats himself enough for the both of us." I admitted. Chad didn't say anything else, but he did allow me to follow him all the way to school.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you two together."

I looked over to see Ichigo coming from another direction. He looked like his typical grumpy self as he walked with his bag slung over his shoulder. He nodded to Chad, then looked down to me.

"Well someone tried to steal my bag on the bus and Chad literally plucked him off the ground." I admitted. The sourness on Ichigo's face worsened.

"Oh c'mon! Do you need an escort everywhere you go? I swear you're a danger magnet." Ichigo huffed. I giggled, deflecting the hint of worry.

"Says the orange haired hooligan. I'm fine Ichigo, nothing serious. I think I scraped my knee but that's all."

"Damn you're just as bad as before. I thought you might've changed a little by now." Ichigo said as he rubbed his face. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I'm definitely the problem child in this relationship." We walked to class, thankfully all three of us were in the same homeroom.

"Obviously, 'cuz it isn't me." Ichigo grumbled. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes as he opened the classroom door for me.

"I'd like to think it's a 50/50 partnership in trouble making. You always were gullible as a child." I said, taking my seat. Ichigo sat ahead of me, but then glared as he turned around in his seat.

"Oh shut up, you were terrible, making up stories and tricking me all the time." Ichigo growled out, slowly losing his temper. I didn't feel even the slightest bit phased as I casually crossed my legs and leaned back in my chair.

"I remember when I got you to believe in fairies all because of those black butterflies on New Years," I felt a sly smirk slip onto my face. "'Really Nao? If we catch one it'll grant us wishes?'"

I laughed as Ichigo steamed.

"I was five!"

Before we could continue, someone else approached us.

"Well well, I thought Ichigo seemed a little too animated this morning. Now I can see why."

We both hesitated and looked over to see Tatsuki Arisawa approaching. I smiled, waving.

"Oh hey, it's been a long time Tatsuki!" I greeted. Ichigo grumbled before turning back around and ignoring us. Tatsuki smiled as she and another girl approached.

"Yeah, almost three years, I think? You just left out of nowhere too. Where ya been?" she asked while leaning against my desk.

"I ended up moving with my mom upstate. She wanted me to go to a private school out there. It was- It was an impromptu move that she came up with last minute." I admitted, slightly embarrassed. Tatsuki shrugged it off.

"Well, I would've sent a post card or something if I had known where you were. Ichigo wouldn't say a thing." she said, drilling her fist into the top of his head. He slapped her hand away.

"Tatsuki!" He growled, but Tatsuki ignored him. So much for trying to look tough, though the orange haired girl following Tatsuki looked a bit intimidated. I turned to look at her. She blushed and looked nervous. I gave her a smile.

"Hi there! I'm Naomi Sakurai. Pleased to meet you!" The girl smiled at me, suddenly bursting with energy.

"Oh! I'm Orihime Inoue! Pleased to meet you too! Are you an old friend of Kurosaki's and Tatsuki's? That's really cool, I knew them in middle school last year but now it's nice to see more and more people that they knew and can tell me all sorts of stories about them!"

The look of determination on her face was adorable, really I shouldn't have laughed but I let out a little giggle.

"Oh yeah, I've known this one since I was a toddler. I've got loads of stories on him." I joked, making Ichigo glare at me.

"God dammit, am I never going to have peace around here?" He muttered. I shrugged.

"Aw you know I love you." I said. Ichigo mumbled to himself and turned around again. Tatsuki grinned.

"Aw, ya turning pink there Ichigo?" She grinned wickedly at him. He screeched at her, but before we could continue the teacher arrived and told us to all take our seats.

Class went well, with us breaking for lunch. Ichigo huffed as we walked together out of the class.

"Honestly, you're acting like you're my big sister or something." Ichigo mumbled as I taunted him again. In the weeks since returning I had finally settled in again with Ichigo, and he was exactly how I remembered him being when others were around. Always stiff lipped and angry looking. It was cute really, but also made me laugh whenever he talked about keeping up a tough guy act.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, does it damage your tough guy image?" I said quietly, as though it were a secret. Ichigo grumbled, but then Tatsuki grabbed my arm.

"We're stealing Naomi for a bit." she said, yanking me in the opposite direction. Ichigo waved, walking over to Chad while I went along with Tatsuki's plans. She led us out to the school yard and under a tree. Several other girls were sitting there. I sat against the tree with Tatsuki and Orihime to my left.

"Everyone, this is Naomi Sakurai. She used to go to school with me and Ichigo." Tatsuki announced. I gave a little wave, feeling shy at all the girls looking at me. Orihime was smiling brightly at me as she held up a concoction of food.

"Would you like to try my lunch Sakurai? It's a yummy bean paste with Takoyaki and honey!" She offered cheerily. I paled at the food combination.

"Ah, no thank you, someone made me lunch already." I quickly pulled out the lunch Yuzu had proudly thrust into my hands yesterday after dinner. She was insistent on making sure I ate enough since I lived alone. The entire family was so kind to me that sometimes it hurt a little.

While we all settled in, the girls introduced themselves to me. I could barely keep track of them though and struggled to remember more than their last names.

"So how was that private school you went to?" Tatsuki asked as she sipped her drink. I shrugged, not really having anything to say about it.

"I made friends but, nothing too close, I guess. It was alright, though I really missed Karakura." It was the truth; I didn't feel any close ties or bonds while I was there despite being relatively popular. I supposed a lot of that had to do with my mom...

"Well, it's good to have you back. Maybe Ichigo might smile once and while now." Tatsuki said. I looked over at her with a raised brow. "He hasn't exactly been a ray of sunshine since then. He's gotten pretty nasty, except to people like Chad, and me."

I remembered what Chad told me earlier and hummed in agreement. However, I remembered vaguely the day I ran into Ichigo again, and it had felt like no time had passed between us at all. Sure, there was the awkward catching up and asking certain things, but I never felt like Ichigo was a different person.

"So, I've been told. Though, he's pretty much the same Ichigo I remember." Tatsuki scoffed.

"Well obviously, he was practically in love with you." Both Orihime and I spat out our juice. I wrung my hands clean on a cloth that one of the girls handed to me.

"Oh come on! I thought we let that one die! Ichigo is not in love with me." It was a ridiculous idea honestly; we were best friends. Tatsuki shrugged.

"I'm just saying it like it is. You guys used to call each other wifey and hubby a lot-"

"We were five!"

"- And you guys were already acting like an old married couple." Tatsuki finished with the same indifference she started with. "Look it's nothing to be embarrassed about. A happier Ichigo would be nice, maybe flowers won't wilt in his presence."

Now I remembered why Tatsuki and I got along. She always spoke her mind, and sometimes it would bite me in the ass.

"Can we talk about something else? Literally anything would be nice." I begged. Tatsuki took pity on me and changed the subject to what she's been up to for the last couple of years. I glanced at Orihime a few times, noticing she had turned quiet, but she jumped back in whenever we included her.

When school ended, I looked for Ichigo to walk home with, but all I saw was the carrot top swaggering away to an alley off the school grounds and several other guys walking in. I grumbled, biting my lower lip as I debated whether it was a smart choice to go and check on him.

Oh who was I kidding? He did call me a danger magnet after all. I had to live up to the name now.

I jogged to catch up and heard the fight had already started. Ichigo was taking on five guys on his own, and honestly? He looked like he was managing it just fine.

I crept a bit closer, sneaking along the wall and watching as Ichigo kicked one guy so hard he went flying past me. I winced- that was going to hurt tomorrow. However I also saw a guy pulling out a bat from behind him. He stood between me and Ichigo, so the boy couldn't see it.

Without fully thinking it through, I ran up to the guy and grabbed onto the bat. At the same time he swung, but with my weight added he only managed to lift me off the ground and onto his back.

"Hey! Get off you crazy bitch!" He screamed as I pulled at his hair. He spun around, trying to chuck me off, his one hand holding the bat while the other struggled to grab onto me.

"Wh- Naomi?!" A hand grabbed the back of my jacket and yanked me off the man. I collided with Ichigo's chest for a moment before he was shoving me behind him. I huffed, hip checking him.

"Watch it! He has a bat!" I shouted, throwing my schoolbag at the guy as he charged. It gave Ichigo the opening he needed to kick him in the face. Since bat guy was the last of the five standing, the fight was clearly over. Soft groans could be heard from a few of the guys, but Ichigo grabbed my upper arm and yanked me out of the alley.

"What the hell are you doing?! Haven't I told you enough times to stay out of my fights?" He was actually angry at me! The nerve of this guy to talk like that after I saved his skull. I swiped my arm back and crossed both of them over my chest.

"Ha! You would've been knocked out if I didn't help you! Then what? I'm just supposed to watch you get the shit beat out of you?" At my words Ichigo turned red.

"I had everything under control! I didn't need a girl jumping in to save me!" He countered. I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh so you're just made a girl saved you, huh?" I frowned and Ichigo suddenly back tracked.

"That's not-" He stopped, frowning at me. He stared at me for a while longer, frowning.

"What?" I asked a minute later. Ichigo blinked and seemed to snap out of it.

"Look just... Don't get hurt on my behalf, alright?" he muttered, looking away from me. "You've done your fair share of it. That's enough."

I realized then that it wasn't because I helped him that he was mad, but because I literally ran headfirst into danger. It felt a bit frustrating since I knew he did the exact same thing all the time. I took a breath, then relaxed.

"Too bad," I said confidently, picking my school bag off the ground. "I'm always going to jump in headfirst if you're in danger."

"Naomi." He warned, but I turned on my heel and began to march away.

"Oops! Can't hear you! Lalalala~!" I said with my hands over my ears.

Ichigo yelled, I ignored it, and eventually we stopped, and he dropped it.

For now.

But I knew it was going to bother him, so I evaded it like the plague. I avoided admitting to him that I would always, always be a shield for him. Whether he liked it or not.

Chapter edited: March 9/2024

Tumblr: Plznomonkeys

Thanks for reading.

Cheers.

Iland Girl