⦏ Bleach (stylized as BLEACH) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. ⦐
⦏ To LOVE-Ru is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hisemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat.⦐
⦏ As shown above, I do not own the characters introduced or alluded to within either series but am simply a writer telling of a fanfiction that's aim is to meld their stories together. . . Possibly. ⦐
ー Disclaimer

A sigh escaped from the lips of a young man who had been walking home from school. Rubbing his neck softly, he would approach a crossing.

"Practice went on a bit later than expected."

Raising his hand, he pulled at his tie. Removing it from his uniform, he let it hang off of his hand as he continued to walk forward. Tucking his hand into his pocket, he stared up toward the darkening sky.

"Honestly, every year, it becomes less exciting to play the sport anymore..." Sighing, he stopped while walking forward, "I thought I'd quit before High School even started..."

Slowly, his lips curled into a grimace.

"But if I did... I'd be no better than him."

Violent screeching would ring out from beside him. The boy swinging his attention toward the sound, his eyes widened as he realized it was too late.

The car was rapidly approaching.

For him, the world became white.

⦏ Sunday: May 11th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 10:13 a.m. ❳

"Woooow~" Lala called out as she glanced around the street area, "This is the Earthling's town— It's got so many things around! How interesting!"

Behind her was Rito and Mikan, the former casting a glance in the direction of the people they had passed by. They were all staring at Lala, either making comments about her being cute... Or questioning whether or not she's in cosplay.

After the comments went on for a short while, Rito's brow twitched.

This ended up to a point where Mikan turning her attention his way, "What's up with you?"

Lala would soon turn around when she noticed the two accompanying her stopped, she turned around with a light tilt of her head.

"Rito?"

The brown haired male stepped forward, grabbing onto the pinkette's wrist and pulled her away.

"Come here for a sec!"

"Huh!?"

Mikan and Lala both gasped at the sudden action, the smaller of the two following behind them. After some time, the three would find themselves stopped in an alleyway.

"Ritooo, what was that about?" Lala huffed when she was finally let go of, "We were gonna go somewhere, weren't we?"

"Yeah, we were, but there's an issue." Rito raised a hand, earning Lala's confusion, "You've got to do something about that outfit of yours. It's getting too much attention."

"Ehhhh? I can't be in Dress Mode?" Lala twiddled her index fingers together.

Mikan, seeing the point Rito was trying to make, would speak up, "Well, sight-seeing on Earth is what you wanted to do today, Lala-san. So if you wanna go around the town without causing trouble, it's probably better to wear some normal clothes."

"I see..." Lala lowered her hands as she came to see as well.

"It seems there's no other option..."

Looking up to her hat, Lala placed a hand on it to lower it down gently.

"You said that Peke can transform into any outfit you wanted, right?" Rito gestured out toward the passerbys outside of the alley, "Why not just have him imitate somebody passing by's clothes?"

"Hmmm... That could work." Lala nodded softly, walking forward past the siblings to get a look at who was out there, "How about that one, Peke?"

"Roger, Lala-sama."

Scanning over a passerby, Peke would take in the details of the attire they wore.

"Costume analysis completed." After the scanning was finished, they would close their eyes, "Form Change commencing..."

In a flash of pink light, Lala's physical form would be overtaken by the light. Slowly, the light would reshape over her body to take the form of a dark suit layered over with a white coat.

"How about this!?" Lala smiled with a spin.

"SUSPICIOUS!" Rito immediately gave a cross of his hands in an X.

With another flash, Lala would emerge in a cowgirl outfit, raising a whistle toward her lips. "This?"

"That's not right either-"

"Okay, then..."

A flash. Jumping out from the light, she spun in the air before landing on one foot. A bright smile on her face, she was wearing a black headband with black rabbit ears, a white shirt collar with a red bowtie, a black leotard with a white cotton rabbit tail, a pair of blue tights, a pair of red high heels with ankle-straps, and a pair of white shirt cuffs.

"Ta da~❤"

"WHERE DID YOU EVEN FIND THAT OUTFIT!?"

A flash. Lala jumping up in a gigantic dinosaur onesie.

"No!"

Next was a pattern robe mimicking a cavewoman with a skull hat over her head and a stick in hand with a sharp edged stone at the top of it.

"No..."

Rito just gave a long groan as he rubbed his face as the next outfit that Lala came out with... Was a Son Goku cosplay.

"WILL YOU JUST CUT IT OUT ALREADY!?" Rito roared out in frustration, "IF YOU'RE JUST GONNA KEEP FOOLING AROUND, THEN WE'LL JUST GO HOME‼"

As Rito finished, Lala's form would once again be covered in light. The light reshaping into a shape that caused Rito's eyes to widen.

A maroon dress undercoated with white frills and over it was a pink fabric. An earnest smile on her face, Peke once again tucked in her hair as a white pin.

"That one..." Rito cleared his throat, turning away with a flushed face, "...works."

Rito raised a hand to his chest, his lips twitched as he noticed that his heart skipped a beat just now.

He had no time to ponder the reasons behind this, however, as Lala had grasped onto his arm and rushed out from the alleyway.

"Good, then let's go‼"

"L-Lala, hold on! I can follow you just fine‼"

Following behind the two, Mikan looked to the two of them with a growing smile. Leaning forward, she snickered toward Rito.

"Getting all lovey dovey there, aren't you, Rito~?" Mikan teased, "Maybe I shouldn't have tagged along after all, huh~❤?"

Rito choked on his words as he shot his head in her direction.

He wished his little sister did not joke about things like this. If he and Lala were left to this outing alone, it would certainly be a date. And he would be unable to deny it!

『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 5 | heart-shaped microcrack ~𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧~ 】

⦗ BGM Cue ー Peaceful Afternoon ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

The trio began making their way around town. As they were, Mikan would explain to Lala the identities of all the buildings that she found the most curious.

Evidently, they found themselves in a costume shop. As they looked around, Lala would point out the various outfits within and discussed with Rito on how some were similar to her Dress Mode. Agreeing on the subject, he also guided her toward other outfits. Describing how the others were similar to the ones she came up with during her dress montage earlier.

The two happily discussing it, they move over in the direction of the clearance table, where there were several masks. Picking one up, she placed the alien mask on Rito's face.

The boy quickly retaliated by shouting his protests, which made Lala laugh loudly.

After leaving the costume shop, they would stop by a food truck. On their way to their next stop, Mikan would take a bite of a taiyaki in hand. Lala glancing toward her before taking a bite of her own, letting out a giggle at the taste.

Soon enough, their journey lead them to the Game Walk Arcade.

Lala cooed inside, her eyes glued to a machine, "What is this machine?"

"You put money in here and try to get stuffed toys with the crane."

"Ooooh, sounds fun!"

Lala stepped closer, scanning over it with a curious gleam in her eye. She kept scanning over it until her eyes landed on what looked like a purple bunny with various stitches and a black shirt with a red restriction sign on its center.

"Wowww, this one's cute‼"

Mikan stepped closer herself in order to get a look at what she was referring to. When she had, she placed a hand on her chin.

"True... But it's pretty big. It'll be hard to get..."

Behind them, Rito felt his face twitching. Looking up into the air, he let out a long sigh. Why did his instincts have to kick in like this...

"Move, I got this..."

Lala and Mikan both looked back toward Rito, who would step toward the crane. Sliding in a coin, the game would be on, and after a few seconds passed...

"Hah!" Rito's eyes snapped wide, a blue stream of light seeming to pass over.

In an instant afterward, the crane would rise. In the clutches of the metal, the plush that Lala spoke of would be firm.

"Woooaaahhh‼" Upon seeing it, Lala let out a cheer, "Rito, you're amazing!"

"When it comes to the most useless things? Yeah, he is pretty amazing." Mikan teased, placing a hand on her hip.

Rito did not seem to mind though as he stood triumphantly while the princess collected her prize. In a second afterward, his eyes shot wide as he realized himself. Ah, he got carried away! He never meant to have fun while he was out here. Now it really was seeming like a date!

Once Lala had drawn out the plush, she would turn toward Rito with a wide smile. Raising it toward him, she let out a giggle.

"Thank you so much, Rito! I'll make this today's treasure‼"

Hearing this gave Rito pause, the young man raising his hand and scratching his cheek gently. It was good enough that... She seemed to be happy, at the very least.

⦏ Sunday: May 18th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 1:04 p.m. ❳

"...I know, dear sister... Everything is hidden in this boy, right...?" A leering gold gleam stared out toward a girl who ran, "In this jade box, passed down from our mother..."

"Give me the box, sister marianne! NOW‼" Rukia's gaze turned as a page flipped, "No! We mustn't open it, Fracois‼ NO...‼"

"HEY! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!?"

Rukia jumped in when Rito shouted at her, the boy holding a bat over his shoulder.

"Y-y-y-you fool‼ Don't surprise me!" Rukia scooted back towards the end of the picnic table, quickly shutting her book, "I'm engaged in my arduous study of the modern speech‼"

"Modern speech? You realize that takes place in a time before y- No, that doesn't even matter!" Rito lowered his bat with a huff, "I come to you to try and vent my frustrations and you decide to make me train!?"

"Of course I made you train! It's been too long since you've last fought in Shinigami form. We mustn't let you grow rusty." Rukia set down her book, "Speaking of which, how goes the training?"

"Yeah, I got that done a few minutes ago. I've been trying to explain to you what's been on my mind." Rito puffed a cheek, "And here you are having been reading a freakin' horror manga the whole time!"

"You really finished it? I figured it would take longer..."

"Breaking open 100 pepper-filled balls. Tsk, what kind of training is that?" Rito glanced back to what his training partner was... A small orange machine holding several baseballs on its rack. "Where did you even get that thing anyway..."

"YOU FOOL! The pepper filled balls were the bad ones!"

On this revelation, Rito blinked, him becoming smaller: "Bad ones?"

"Yes!"

. . .

A few silent seconds passed as the two stared at one another blankly. Afterward, Rukia had an exclamation point shoot up over her head.

"You possibly didn't... Just hit all of them, did you...?"

"Well, yeah!"

Rukia pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a long sigh.

"YOU FOOL‼ HOW MANY TIMES DID I TELL YOU TO ONLY HIT THE BALLS THAT HAVE A PICTURE OF A HEAD ON THEM‼" Rukia exploded soon after, "WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS TRAINING IS FOR!?"

Soon enough, Rito threw up his hands, both holding two examples of the balls she had him hitting for his training: "I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S FOR‼"

Showcasing them forward, the two balls would have different pictures, sure... But they practically looked the same same for one having eyes and the other having a curve drawn on them to show the back of a hand.

"PLUS, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL THESE TWO PICTURES APART WHEN THEY'RE FLYING AT ME AT THE SAME TIME‼"

A few ways away, the young man from the start of the chapter was on a job. Himself now wearing exercise gear, he stopped when he heard an ongoing shouting match.

Stopping, he turned toward the sound. His lips parting when he noticed who the participants were.

"Listen!" Rukia gestured forward the ball which had the symbol of a head, "A Hollow's weakness is its head! If you slice the head, you can defeat it in one blow!" Setting the ball down on the table, her gaze remained stern, "This training is so that you can accurately hit the head in any situation!"

"What?" Rito puffed a cheek, "Why do I have to do that? I've been doing fine so far."

"Fine won't cut it for all Hollows, you fool." Rukia shook her head, "Have you once defeated a Hollow in one hit? Sneaking up to a Hollow and defeating it with one decisive blow is the basics of defeating them!"

Rito's brow twitched as he felt his ego shot by the argument she gave.

"It's a miracle you've gone unscathed in your last few battles given the way you fight!"

"But, attacking from behind... Isn't that kinda cowardly?" Rito commented weakly, trying to earn something out of this debate.

"Fool!" Rukia crossed her arms, "Save that kind of stuff for fighting against humans! Your opponents are Hollows! You cannot apply the same rules to them!"

Rito paused, his own gaze becoming stern in nature.

"If you keep talking naively like that, you'll end up dead!"

"...sure, bu-"

"I thought you gave up sports."

Rito's eyes widened when he realized the voice that spoke up to him. Rukia raised her gaze toward who was approaching, certainly not someone she recognized.

"And who might you be...?"

Standing behind Rito was a young man who had fair skin and long, light, wavy brown hair tied up into a wolf tail in the back while his bangs ran toward either side in the front. He was wearing a grey tracksuit with red undertones, open to show the white shirt underneath which read DOWN AND DUSTED on across in a light blue text.

"Ah, you're one of the recent transfer students. Rukia Kuchiki, right?" The young man in the tracksuit had placed a hand over his chest, giving a light bow of his head, "I'm-"

"Masaki."

Rito stood up from his seat, turning to face the caramel haired teen. In response to the attention, the young man paused, lowering his hand as he glared back at Rito.

"You finally get your head back in the game?"

"I..." Rito paused, lowering his head gently, "I already told you why I can't."

Rukia blinked, looking between the two and started to notice something. Well, she supposed them knowing each other was obvious. Though... Did they have history?

"So you're still on about that." Masaki let out a sigh, shutting his eyes gently.

Rito winced, his face contorting in pain. Turning away, he struggled to try and find an answer to that.

"Masaki, then. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Rito blinked, watching as Rukia would grab either end of her skirt. Taking a... Bow that was of a much older time. He almost comically fell over at just the sight of it...

But it only made it more difficult to watch when Masaki played along, giving a bow of his own.

"Yes, it's a pleasure."

Though, Rito found himself something else to focus on. When his gaze moved over to Masaki, his eyes picked up on a strange detail.

"Hey, what happened to your hand?"

Masaki looked down to his hand, the bandages on his hand wrapped tightly. To the point the exact shape was perfectly mimicked.

"An accident at practice." Masaki lowered his hand, tucking it into his pocket, "I was put on goalie and, uh... Yaiba had a good kick."

Rito kept his gaze trained on him, a small frown on his face as he pointed toward him. Rukia, next to him, would scan over Masaki's figure, her eyes picking up on signs of a marking at the edge of his pant leg. One that gave off a purple glow.

"Did you hit your leg, too? At practice?"

"Huh-" Masaki had a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his head, "That one's... Complicated."

"Complicated, hm..." Rukia spoke up, examining the injury as closely as she could with what limited sight of it she had.

After the few seconds pass, Masaki would pull his leg away. Turning away to start up the hill.

"I... Have to go."

"Masaki, hold on!"

Rito ran over to Masaki, trying to grab at his shoulder. Though, he would pull away and turn back toward him.

"Cut it out!" Masaki narrowed his eyes toward him, "We're not teammates anymore! Quit pretending you care."

"But I-"

Before Rito could respond properly, Masaki would rush off. Running toward the distance, he would quickly vanish into the distance.

"Are you close with him?"

"Hm?"

Rito looked back toward Rukia, who was staring toward where the other vanished.

"Masaki, I mean?"

Rito looked toward the distance, sighing and turning his attention away: "I think you can see that answer for yourself."

"What do you know about him?"

"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?" Rito raised a brow, but when he noticed Rukia's expression was serious, he gave the info she was asking for: "He's on the soccer team. Probably their best player. I'm honestly surprised that anybody could catch him off guard as a goa-"

"Any family?"

"That I know about...? Well. He did have one."

"Did?"

"Yeah. A much older brother who worked for one huge company, I don't remember the name." Rito crossed his arms, reflecting on what he knew about him, "He died over 3 years ago."

When given this information, Rukia would perk up.

"He called the house for help, and we tried to do what we can, but..." Rito bit his lip gently, "Since I quit soccer, we haven't been on the best of terms."

Rukia crossed her arms slowly as he continued onward, Rito unfolding his own.

"It was a pretty rough car accident. The ambulance got there pretty fast, too." Rito let out a sigh as he tucked his hand into his pocket, "He died before the ambulance could make it to any hospital that could have helped him."

"That's about it, though." Rito turned his gaze back in the direction of Rukia, raising a brow, "Why did you want to know about him so bad? It sounds like you've got some kind of interest in him."

"Not particularly, no. I'm not interested at all."

"HUH!?"

"Homeward we go."

Rito's eyes shot wide as Rukia walked off toward the distance. Rito blinked, his body waving around like a noodle and leaning toward her as he gave a cry of shock.

"Where are you even going!?"

"Hmmm~?" Rukia turned toward her, her face curling into a fiendish grin, "What? Have you caught interest in my personal life?"

"Not particularly, no. I'M NOT INTERESTED AT ALL‼" Rito averted his gaze, crossing his arms.

"Then don't ask."

Rito was gritting his teeth as Rukia walked away. A tick mark sparking over his head as he eventually stormed off in a different direction.

⦏ Sunday: May 18th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 4:35 p.m. ❳

"Like I said. I just can't get anything clear out of them."

Rito set down a flower pot in a good position, Mr. Bando leaning over a broom as he finished sweeping behind the counter. A soft hum escaped the older man's lips as he straightened his glasses.

"I didn't imagine you'd be the type to find yourself in girl troubles."

"G-"

Rito almost jumped, stopped by the rattling of the flower pot sitting on the counter. Raising his hands gently, he made it stop and slid it forward some and turn back toward his boss.

"Girl troubles!?" Rito exclaimed in shock, "I-I don't have girl troubles. What do you mean!?"

"So, then, have you confessed to Sairenji-chan successfully, yet?"

Rito choked on his own response before then, Mr. Bando chuckling as he leaned off of his broom.

"You seem so troubled, but it's not affecting your work." Mr. Bando set back the broom, pocketing his hands, "And for that? I'll throw you some advice."

"Advice?" Rito raised a brow, "You're not gonna give me 'The Talk', are you...?"

Rito cringed, he was already fearful enough of how he was gonna experience that from his own father. So getting it from Mr. Bando would already be bad enough...

"Nah. That's not my place, Rito-kun." Tapping a finger in his direction as he leaned over the desk, he gave a light chuckle, "Every man has his own answer to those kinds of matters. But I will say what I can about your other situation."

"Other si- Oh..." Rito did not take long to figure what he was talking about.

"Given how he approached you, I'd have to guess that he does want to make up with you." Bando folded his hands together, smiling toward him, "So you should. But only when you know what you're going to say to him. You haven't been thinking about it as clearly as you think you have and you honestly should. It would be better for the both of you that way."

Rito listened carefully and paused, lowering his gaze toward the floor with a thoughtful expression.

"Now go on, kid. You've gotten your work done quick today." Bando reached under the desk, raising up an envelope toward him, "Your paycheck."

"Thank you very much." Rito nodded lightly, taking the envelope from his boss's hands.

When the shop door opened, Mr. Bando would shut it behind them, locking up the shop before turning the sign on the door to closed. Turning toward Rito with a smile, he raised a salute.

"See you next time, kid."

"Right. See you."

As Rito turned to walk away, Mr. Bando would pocket the keys to the shop as he smiled gently.

While Rito himself may not have noticed it, Bando himself had. Raising a hand gently, he rubbed his neck softly. While he described his life as so much more troublesome while explaining his story...

Rito had a smile on his face the whole time.

» 𝑾𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔? «

Yama-bro and his partner, Shiro-bro were both standing in front of a girl. From the looks of her, she was a high school girl. Well, that was not the worst thing to find out here. The two looking to one another, they gave a light nod.

Long as no cops found out, they would be fine.

"Hey, little lady..." Yama-bro stepped forward, "Why don't you come with us, 'uh?"

The girl lifted her gaze toward the two. A huff escaping her lips as she instead put her attention on looking towards her surroundings for a way out.

Shiro-bro clicked his teeth in annoyance at the slight.

"You know we're talking to you, right?"

"And I'm not interested. So go away."

Shiro-bro's eye twitched behind his shades, the male snarling toward her.

"Why y-"

Before he could curse at her, Yama-bro raised a hand and placed it on his partner's chest. Effectively having calmed him down before he could do so.

"Come on, babe. We can show you a good time." Yama-bro gave a smile, "Doesn't that sound good?"

"Booooring." The teen rolled her eyes, beginning to turn away, "Shut up."

As she began to walk away, Shiro-bro would step forward. But Yama-bro kept his hand on his chest to stop him, lightly shaking his head.

"Pickup artist creeps like you two clearly aren't my type. So why don't you do me a favor and get out of my face?"

"You haven't even given me a chance, though." Yama-bro lowered his hand from Shiro-bro's chest, a small smile as the girl stopped, "I'm not like the rest, ya know?"

"Of course ya use that one..."

The girl went back to walking away. She knew they were not going to let her get away so easily, though... She glanced around in either direction to find some kind of getaway.

After a few seconds, her eyes would light up when she saw someone ahead. A light gasp escaping from her lips.

"Ohhh~‼"

The girl suddenly exclaimed as she ran forward. As the two behind her looked to who they were running toward, their eyes shot open as they recognized the person.

"Y-Yama-bro... Isn't that...?"

"Darling~!" The girl, who emerged from the shadows of the alleyway, turned out to be Risa. The girl laughing cheerfully as she clung onto the approaching Rito's arm, "What took you so long, dear~?"

Rito, on the other hand, was completely caught off guard, "M-Momioka? What's going on?" Rito glanced in either direction.

"Oh, don't worry about it~" Risa waved her hand gently, pulling him away towards the major city, "It's time to go~"

"H-hold on, there were things I was gonna do today!"

"...with me~!"

Risa's laughter rang loud to the pair as they simply looked toward one another with frowns.

"I didn't know that monster had a girl..." Said Yama-bro.

"We just can't compete, can we..." Followed Shiro-bro.

"Ahaha... That must have been a blessing in disguise~" Risa was wrapped onto Rito's arm tightly, humming to herself, "Those creeps lead me right to you, Darling!"

"You still call me that, huh..." Rito let out a groan, shaking his head softly, "What was that all about anyway?"

Letting go of him, she gave a pout, "This is the first time we've talked since the school year started and you give me the cold shoulder." She feigned physical pain before lowering her arms to smile toward him, "Those guys back there were hitting on me. After dealing with their types for a while, you know when they won't take no for an answer."

Rito glanced in her direction with a thoughtful expression, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"But of course, my darling came to my rescue~" Risa giggled a bit, "You've been that way since Middle School, haven't you?"

"I dunno about coming to your rescue." Rito chuckled nervously at the notion, "Anyway, I should probably get going."

As he walked away, Risa watched his back for a few seconds. Watching as he got farther away. Slowly, her lips curled into a frown.

"Huh? Is something wrong?"

Risa let out a noise from her mouth as she realized that she had moved to grab at his arm. Her mind frantically racing to figure out why she ended up there, she disguised her earlier sound as a wind up as she gave a nervous chuckle.

"Uhh... Since we're already close by, why don't I properly thank you for helping me?" Risa smiled toward him, "We've got a lot to catch up on."

. . .

Rito's jaw dropped.

Risa had dragged him into a maid cafe with a clear pink aesthetic to it from the outside sign, counter, and uniforms of the waitresses. One of which was standing before him.

"Oh, Risa! You brought Yukki?"

The girl gave Risa a look that Rito had no way of understanding, the boy blinking as Risa gave a nervous chuckle and tucked her hair behind her ear. Giving a light shake of her head while the maid nodded.

To Rito's absolute surprise, the maid had turned out to be-

"S-Sawada?" Rito blinked as he came to realize who it was, "What the heck is that outfit?"

"Blows your mind, huh?" Risa giggled a bit, turning her head toward her plus one, "It turns out Mio's into this cutesy sort of stuff."

"That's right!"

Sawada Mio gave a bright smile as she tilted her head cutely. If one looked closely, it would almost seem like flowers flung out of her form.

"Soooo make yourself at home, O~nii~chan!"

"O-oniichan!?" Rito's eyes shrank as he tried to process the remark.

"That's part of the aesthetic here." Risa gleamed, leaning to the side slightly.

After a short while, Rito was sitting back in his chair. Set on the table in front of him was his meal, consisting of two perfectly cut sandwiches with a side of fries.

"Go on, dig in!" Risa's voice spoke up, "It's my treat."

"Yeah... Thanks." Rito gave a light nod, glancing to the food and then to Risa.

"It's not ideal, but..." Risa grinned to herself as she drew a circle with her finger on the table, "I'll take our first, hot date being at a maid café like this~"

"Wha- When did I ever say this was a date?" Rito puffed a cheek, raising up one of the sandwiches and taking a bite, "Even if it were, it's not a real date."

"Oh, so you're against the idea of dating me...? Darling, you're so cruel..."

"Ah-" Rito paused from the way she spoke up, swallowing down what he took a bite of, "No, that's not what I'm saying."

Watching him as he averted his gaze, sipping from the straw plugged into his soda can, a smile came over her face. She simply could not bring her expression to lower while looking at him from across the table.

This was, until a thought came to the front of her mind.

"Hey, Yukki?"

Rito did not respond, a moot expression on his face as he kept his gaze averted.

"Tell me, who is Lala to you?"

As if a switch flipped on in Rito's head, his head shot in Risa's direction.

"What do you mean by that?"

Risa paused for a moment, her lips parting for a second. There seemed to be something she immediately wanted to spit out, but it would not release. So instead, she took a soft breath and raised her hand toward her sundae.

"She goes around the school talking about how you guys are getting married..." Gently, she would lift up the cherry from the whipped cream. Holding it closer, she twirled the fruit in her hand, "Last I checked, I wasn't sure you'd ever get into a relationship..."

"That-"

Rito gulped, lowering his attention some. How was he going to respond exactly? If he flat out denied it, she may go and say the same thing to Lala. Which could mean it might get to Zastin.

If Zastin found out, he would report it back to Lala's father. And if that happened... Well, there would certainly be nowhere to ponder this much about it anymore.

"So you can't answer..." Risa's joyful expression drained, placing the cherry against her lips, "But, you know... I don't feel like her type is all that great for you. Too sweet, too immature..."

"Huh?" Rito raised a brow, tilting his head softly.

Risa's lips curled upward once more seeing his confusion, "What I mean, Yukki... Is that you need someone that will make you a man."

"A-a man?" Rito gulped again, his cheeks beginning to heat.

"That's right... In mind, and body." Risa opened her mouth to let her tongue run along the curve of the cherry, licking clean the whipped cream on the edge.

Upon seeing this, Rito would shriek as he scooted back in his seat.

"Momioka! Don't just say stuff like that!"

Rito beat on his chest to emphasize his statement as he stared at her with a blush on his face.

When Risa saw it, her eyes took it all in for a moment. Then, once that moment finished, she exploded into laughter. Slapping the table a couple of times as she belted out the hardy laugh at his plight.

"You're so hopeless, Yukki~!"

Rito would only growl at this, the blush slowly fading from his face.

When the door came to open, the bell would ring out. A "Come Again~" heard from inside.

Rito and Risa stepping out, they both were greeted by the night sky riddled with lights from the buildings of the district around them.

"Wow~ It got pretty late, huh?"

"You're right."

Rito adjusted the bag over his shoulder, giving a smile toward Risa before raising a hand toward her.

"It's been fun, but I should probably head home."

Risa's lips let out a gasp as she saw him walking away once more.

No. She did not want it to be over yet. The girl stepped forward and pressed her finger against the boy's cheek.

"Come on, it's nighttime." Risa stared into his eyes, "You're not really gonna make me walk home alone, are you?"

"Ugh..." Rito sweatdropped, slumping his shoulders.

. . .

"...are we there yet?"

Rito and Risa were walking side by side through a darker path of town, having very little of the city lights to illuminate their way.

"Just a little farther."

That response certainly did not reassure Rito, who cast a glance toward the side and saw a bright HOTEL sign approaching. That made him gulp, he hoped this was not some sick joke Risa had lined up.

Directing his attention toward Risa, he finally voiced his concerns.

"Why are we taking this route of all ways!?"

"What, are you worried?" Risa hummed lightly, tilting her head gently, "It's just a shortcut I like to take."

Rito let out a sigh as he continued to follow. This brought a smile to Risa's face.

. . .

"This is it."

Risa stared up toward a larger house than Rito's own. She beamed in his direction.

"Home sweet home!"

"O-okay, that's great!" Rito gave a brittle titter before leaning over to the side, "Have a good ni-"

"Hold up!" Once again, Rito's shoulder would be grabbed, Risa having no interest in letting him go. "You came all this way, come in a sec~❤"

"What now..." Rito groaned as he looked to the corner of his eye.

"I'll make you a cup of coffee real quick."

"I assure you I'm fine. Really."

Risa's face went unchanged. She had zero intention of letting him leave just yet. When he muttered to himself and gave up, she let out a satisfied giggle while sticking out her tongue.

This feeling full on transformed into triumph when she got him inside. Looking down with a smile she would never have recognized on her own face in the mirror when she saw the both of their shoes having been taken off on the floor below.

The gleam on her face continued to shimmer brightly, especially as they walked up the stairs. Their footsteps rang throughout the empty house, a humming escaping from her lips.

A rare chance like this would never show itself again.

Swinging open the door, the two would be greeted to a room with hot pink furniture and bedding. Risa gestured a hand inside.

"And this here? Is my bedroom. Come on in and check it out."

"Uh, sure."

Risa watched him walk inside of the room, her eyes practically glowing in the reflection of the moonlight outside.

"It looks like there's nobody home, huh?"

The silence in the room followed by the shutting of the door caused Rito to shutter in place. A sight that Risa found adorable to see. An additional click on the door directed his attention to her.

All of it was on her.

"My parents both work pretty late. So it's just us for a while."

He let out a cute noise from his mouth as he stepped back. Always so honest. It only made her current feeling grow further inside her chest.

Raising a hand toward it, her lip twitched lightly.

"Oh well, that's a shame, huh?" Rito glanced in either direction, "I should get going. Got school and all. Better rest for the early mor-"

Rushing forward, Risa leapt and wrapped her arms tightly around his body. Pushing him to the ground. That way, he would not escape. He was not going to get away from her this way.

His bag hitting the floor.

Risa spread herself over him, her head buried into his neck as she took in his scent. Ah. A delightful one.

As Rito's voice trembled in her hold, she ran her hand gently against his cheek.

"Calm down... There's no need to be nervous..."

Leaning off of him, she had stared down at him with flushed cheeks.

"You can be honest with me..." Risa unbuttoned her blazer, reaching toward the buttons of her shirt, "Your heart is racing just as much as mine, isn't it...?"

"What's..." Rito's face soon exploded into a bright red color, "What's this about, Momioka!?"

"I've been waiting. So. So long for this..."

Slowly, Risa crawled closer to him until her eyes were directly above his. The both of them staring at one another. Risa sat there for a few seconds longer than she originally intended.

Staring deep into those hazel beads that trembled against the beat red face.

Her lips parted softly, the girl seeming to struggle with a decision. Ultimately, though, she spoke up again.

"This might seem hard to believe coming from me..." Her hand clutched against his shirt, the fabric crumpling between her fingers, "But I've been paying attention to you this whole time... Very close attention."

Her mind drifted to what all has been going on with the boy since the school year started.

Transfer Rukia Kuchiki, who is either completely alone or tagging alongside Rito.

Transfer Lala, new resident pretty girl who declares herself as his bride.

Haruna Sairenji, girl with a schoolgirl crush on him but both are too naive for the other to have a clue.

But the one that worried her most... Was Kotegawa.

Just the thought of her alone made her stomach turn, but that did not matter. Not anymore.

Because she had him for herself now...

"It's okay... You can just follow my lead."

Slowly, their lips would slip closer to one another. Just a hair away from touching one another. Though, before she did, she would lean back once again. Sitting at the corner of the bed while wrapping a hand over her chest.

"...just kidding."

» 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕｡ «

⦏ Sunday: May 18th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 8:47 p.m. ❳

When he stepped through his door, he was stopped by Mikan. The girl having been staring at him with a deadpan expression.

"You're really late today."

"I was, uh... Held up."

"By?"

"Oh, no- GAH!"

Rito nearly jumped when he got a text message, drawing his phone from his pocket. When he did, his eyes practically bulged out of their sockets at what it read:

"Whenever you build up the courage: come and see me, Darling~❤ - Risa"

"Uh huh, sure." Mikan shook her head lightly with a sigh, "Have you seen one of my dresses? It's gone missing. And one of my pajamas."

"Huh? Why would I know where those went?"

"You used to mix up our laundry all the time."

"I haven't been home all day!"

"Alright, alright." Mikan placed a hand on her hip, "By the way, Lala's in the shower. In case you were going to g-"

"Stop worrying about my business!"

Rito huffed, stepping past Mikan and marching up the stairs. As he did, Mikan placed a hand on her hip as she watched him go.

A sigh escaped her lips. She guessed he was not yet aware of himself just yet. That was fine, for now. Lala seemed to be a rather patient person.

But...

She would not allow her brother to hold himself back forever.

Rukia had been laying back in the dark bed. Staring up toward the ceiling in silence. What could have possibly been running through her mind? The girl was an enigma in that way.

She perked up when she heard a ringing from her chest. Reaching into the pajamas she wore, she drew out a small, white phone. When she read what was on it, her eyes came to widen.

It was certainly an order. But the location...

That was greatly concerning.

Rito had been sitting on his bed, staring down at the message Risa gave him on his phone.

Why was he so hung up on that interaction...? It was just another one of Risa's pranks, right? His lips moved to the left as he tried to distract himself from the thought.

Though, that was easier said than done. Even Mr. Bando was talking about him having girl problems. Was he?

Well. Lala was definitely a problem. Not her directly. But everything surrounding her.

His head leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

His heart belonged to Haruna, right? So why did he feel so conflicted about this? There was nothing for him to be worried about. He had everything about this figured out before Lala came into the picture.

It did not help that Rukia was certainly no help in figuring this all out. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaning forward to sit up. Shaking his head, his hair whipped to either side.

Maybe it would be easier if he went back to soccer...

Just as that thought came up, his mind welled back into a dark place.

A girl in pink about to fall into a ditch.

Reaching out to save her.

The world as he knew it twirling before his eyes.

Peering into a pitch black darkness, a single light giving away to what lied within.

Blood riddling the rushing waters.

Bone and flesh.

"翔太‼"

He snapped his eyes shut, shaking his head lightly. No, that... That could not happen again. Ever again.

He personally wished that this dilemma of his was easier to figure ou-

His thoughts were cut short when a rumbling began to sound from the ceiling. Raising his head up again, he raised a brow.

"What the...? At this hour?"

Getting up from the bed, Rito looked around in either direction.

"Mikan's usually asleep by now..."

When he made that note, the shaking of the house would cease.

"Oh. It stopped."

He was so focused on the rumbling that he failed to notice his closet beginning to open behind him.

That was, until it would slam open and Rukia would reveal herself to be sitting atop of a futon within.

"RITO‼"

"GAAAAHHHHH‼?"

Rito nearly leapt back onto his bed at Rukia's sudden appearance. His physical frame twitched for a second before he pointed a finger toward the smaller girl.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU‼ SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN IN THERE!?" Rito's eyes would scan over her attire, a lightbulb switching on, "Wait a minute, aren't those Mikan's-"

"Forget about that!" Rukia barked back, "It's an order!"

"An order!?" When he heard that, Rito lowered his arm. His face becoming more stern in nature, "Meaning a Hollow's gonna appear!? Where?!"

"The time and place are both..." Lifting her hand from the closet door, she showed that her red glove was already equipped, "Right now..."

Rito's eyes shot wide as she leapt toward him. Beginning to notice the rumbling beginning to return below him.

Swinging her arm forward, Rukia slammed her palm against his forehead, "RIGHT HERE‼"

A massive hand erupted from the ground as Rito's body was flung to the wall. While Rito's Shinigami form was pulled aside by Rukia to dodge out of the way.

When Rukia's hand was taken off of his face, Rito would manage to look down toward the hand that emerged. The shock quickly welling up.

"Wh-"

Before he could finish, the upper body of the Hollow would crawl out from the floor below. Rito clenched his teeth as it began to reach toward him.

Approaching was a large nāga-like Hollow with shoulder-length black hair and a skull-like mask with narrow yellow eyes. The majority of his muscular body was dark brown in color, but his arms were a deep red, and a black pattern resembling sawblades on a thick strip starts on the small of his back and runs down the length of his tail, the tip of which was completely black. His Hollow hole was in the center of his chest, near his collarbones.

"Aim for the head!"

"I KNOW!"

Quickly drawing his sword, he would leap off of the wall to dodge the arm that swung at him. Using it as a platform to jump toward the Hollow.

With a mighty swing of his sword, he struck clean through the mask. Though, it only struck so far, a piece of the white mask dropping to the ground.

Rukia grimaced. He did not cut deep enough.

Though when Rito saw the eye beneath the mask, his body stiffened. His eyes transfixed on the Hollow before him as it cried out in pain.

Rolling backward, the Hollow crashes backward through the wall. The wall erupting with smoke as a hole was left behind in the Hollow's shape.

"He got away!" Rukia clicked her teeth in annoyance, rushing toward the hole, "Come on, we're going after hi-"

"HOLD ON‼"

Rito lowered his sword against the ground. Slowly turning his attention toward his partner in this ordeal. His face began to tremble slightly.

"What's going on here...?" Fully turning toward her, he pointed his sword toward the hole, "That was... Masaki's big brother!"

Rukia looked toward Rito, hesitating for a moment. Though, realizing how his face had steeled, she turned her attention downward.

"I told you that sneaking up from behind and killing it in one hit was the basics against a Hollow, right? That is to protect against being damaged." Rukia took in a deep breath, "But, there's also one more very important reason."

Rito's eyes slowly widened as he heard this.

"To kill them in one strike and avoid seeing the Hollow's true identity!" Rukia turned her gaze back toward the other, "Because all Hollows are the souls of formerly normal humans!"

When Rito heard this, his body began to shake some. Stepping forward, he would grab at her collar and pull at her with a look of terror.

"What do you mean!? Normal humans!? You didn't say that...!" He began shaking her back and forth, "You told me they were monsters this whole time! That's why I was able to do this crap‼"

"Nothing about that was a lie, Rito!" Rukia shouted back, grabbing onto his wrist, "They are monsters now! That is why they must be defeated!"

"If you're saying that, then..." Rito let go of Rukia's collar, looking down with his vision shaking, "The ones I've killed before all were..."

"Now is not the time to quarrel about this!"

Rito lifted his gaze toward Rukia when she yelled at him again.

"If we don't move now, that boy is going to die."

» 𝑾𝑯𝒀 𝑫𝑶 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑬𝑨𝑻 𝑰𝑻? «

⦏ Sunday: May 18th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 11:56 p.m. ❳

Two wooshes sounded from behind the door. But Lala did not move inside. Instead, she leaned against it while in nothing but a wash towel. Clutching onto where it was wrapped tightly to hold against her damp skin, she stared upward.

"Is everything okay? I heard loud banging..."

The pink haired girl turned to see a groggy Mikan open the door to look out. Smiling gently, the princess shook her head lightly.

"Yep, everything's good~❤" She smiled toward the girl, "Sorry for waking you, goodnight, Mikan!"

"Okay, Lala-san... Good night..." Slowly, the door to Mikan's room would shut again.

Lala stared at the closed door for a moment and hummed to herself lightly. Placing her hands behind her back, her smile widened just a bit.

The Yukki siblings were kind. Kinder than anyone she had ever met before.

Slowly, she turned to walk into Rito's room.

There, she would see the giant hole in his wall and give a light huff.

That Shinigami lady was not gonna take his kindness for granted. Of that she was certain.

Approaching it, she lifted up her D-Dial.

"Guess I'd better fix this." Lala giggled to herself, "Don't want it too breezy when we sleep tonight."

Taking in a deep breath, Masaki shut the door leading into his apartment. Sighing, he walked over to his desk and set down the two cans of soda he held in either hand.

Maybe he was obsessed with the game.

That was the thought he had when the first object that caught his eye when he looked into his closet was the soccer ball that was sitting on the overhead shelf.

Turning away from it, he would see over by the corner was a glass case containing a line of three gold trophies. Walking over, he tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweats. Behind the glass, the trophies would each have different names that were assigned to them.

Inoue Masaki.

Toyokawa Shota.

Yukki Rito.

Reflecting on the reason for why he had the others' trophies caused his eyes to glower. Taking in a deep breath, he glanced toward Rito's in particular.

It was bad enough that he quit. It was bad enough that he continued to practice, even to this day, despite adamantly proclaiming he wants to be done with the game.

But what pissed him off most was that he refused to accept his achievements.

It was the day his brother died that Rito came to him and begged for him to take the trophy away.

It was that day he realized he lost two things that day.

His older brother, who cheered him on to the bitter end. He always encouraged his career. In fact, he was the reason Masaki even partook in soccer in the first place.

His greatest rival, who he knows is the only one who can push him to this day. Without him around, soccer feels dull. Like a chore. An obligation.

It was almost like a chain hung heavy to pull him back whenever he tried to look away from it.

He supposed when thinking about it... That was another thing that he found himself envious of.

A sigh escaping from another's mouth reminded him of the fact that he had a guest. Slowly turning his head in the direction of his bed, he remembered that guest was Yui, who was scrambling through a notebook she had labeled Investigations.

Looking over to her, he noticed that she was wearing her hairpins today. A small smile came onto his face when he noticed them.

She had been wearing them all the time since the school year started.

He decided not to verbally comment on them.

"Any luck?"

"None at all!" Yui only showed restraint in the clutching of her hand so to not snap the pencil in hand, "All I can get from anybody is either she's weird or she's pretty! That goes for both of them!"

"Yui-san, why are you investigating the two transfers, anyway? I don't think they've done anything against the morals code."

"Lala and her inventions have caused havoc for girls almost every day before PE." responded the girl, "Not to mention that Rukia girl always disappears at random times between periods inexplicably."

"So... A girl genius and houdini. That's one thing." Pulling a hair tie from the back of his head, his hair drooped down to its full shoulder length. "But, there's more to this. You don't get this passionate about these kinds of things."

He puffed a cheek when she ignored him to read through her notes again. Sighing, he sat down in the chair to his desk. He may as well get to the heart of the matter.

"Are you worried about Rito?"

"Exa- Uh. N-no! Why would I be worried about that shameless guy!?"

"You bring up how often they hang around him every time we chat about the subject." Masaki chuckled a bit, leaning against his palm, "I'd like to imagine we're friends, so I pay close attention when somethin's goin on."

"You..."

He winced from the way she punched at his pillow.

"Fine. You win. B-but I'm not worried about him, per se. It's the school's safety I'm worried about." She cleared her throat, "Yes. The whole school. It's my duty as a morals committee member to ensure problem factors are investigated and dealt with."

"Sure, sure." Masaki set the hair tie on the counter next to him, his smile lowering a slight bit, "Hey, Kotegawa."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"It's almost been 4 years..." Masaki looked up toward the ceiling, "I called his house, but his parents still don't wanna talk to me."

"Oh..." His lips parted when he noticed Kotegawa's voice fade as she commented on it, "Is Yukki still...?"

"Yeah. He is." Masaki breathed through his nose, "Has he brought up getting into sports again at all?"

"Not recently, why?"

"I saw him with Kuchiki earlier today. From what it looked like..."

He fished through his memory, gritting his teeth.

"...he was holding a bat."

"With Kuchiki...?"

"Is something wrong? Kotegawa?"

Before he knew it, she dug her head into her notes again. He let out a sigh soon after as he stood up.

"...you keep doing that."

Scratching the back of his hair, he grumbled. He never knew what he was going to do about that girl. She just could not be honest about a thing. Neither of them could.

It was to the point they practically belonged together.

He can say for certain that it has been that way since Elementary School. He found himself unable to decide whether he loved or hated how consistent that fact was.

He then slapped himself on the cheeks.

What the hell was he thinking about Yukki Rito for? It was him who said they were not friends anymore...

Right?

⦗ BGM Cue ー Raw Breath of Danger ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Crack.

"What was that sound...?"

Yui's voice brought his mind to a different topic.

Directing his focus toward the sound as he approached the trophy case. His eyes widening as he realized that there was a crack in the center of the glass.

The most peculiar thing to Masaki, though, was that there was blood dripping from the crack in the glass.

How was that... Possib-

RIIIIIIP‼

Masaki's body fell backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Inoue-kun!?" Yui jumped off of the bed and rushed over to him.

"Hollows attack their families!?"

"Yes!"

Rito was running across rooftops, Rukia carried atop of his back as the boy zoomed across town.

"But, how come?!" Rito turned his attention forward to pay attention to where they were going, "Hollows eat souls, I know that. But that's just cuz they're hungry, right!? I thought they just attacked randomly based on people's Spiritual Pressures?"

"That is correct." Rukia glanced down toward Rito, "But that's only after Hollows consume their families."

"No way..."

Rito's face became conflicted at this news, lagging a slight bit.

"There's one more important thing..." Rito glanced back to listen in, "They don't eat souls because they're hungry. They eat souls to ease their pain."

Rito gulped upon hearing that, continuing to run forward.

"Hollows are the name given to fallen souls. Souls that were not admitted to the Soul Society by the Shinigami. Souls that were left behind. Souls that weren't saved from other Hollows."

Rito could only imagine when he saw how the Hollows scream out. Now it has a whole other context...

"These fall, lose their hearts and become Hollows themselves. Then, the Hollow Soul forever strives to fill the emptiness inside. Doing so by seeking the people it loved most in life."

Rito's lips went agape as he continued to run forward. He was now beginning to piece together why Rukia was interrogating Masaki before...

"You've heard of widows who follow their husbands to the grave a few years afterward? That's because the husbands became Hollows and ate their souls."

"So... What you're saying is..." Rito grit his teeth, "Those markings and bruises we saw on Masaki... Those came from his own brother...?"

"Correct."

Rito picked up in speed when he heard that.

"Masaki's much older brother... Will surely come for him, his only family remaining."

The trophy of Rito hit the wall, dropping to the ground with a harsh thud.

"Inoue-kun...? You have to get up, Inoue-kun‼"

The large Hollow he fought moments prior crawling around the living room and thrashing various things around the area.

Meanwhile, behind him, Masaki was sitting against the wall. His eyes bulging from the shock of what was ongoing before his eyes. Looking down, he saw a chain protruding from his chest.

What was happening?

Why was it happening?

Was that a monster across the room? Destroying the room?

Gazing over to the side, he would see... Himself? On the floor?

Was that his body? What was it doing over there? What was happening to him specifically here?

Did he die?

He certainly felt like it. He felt discombobulated.

Completely out of sync.

Grabbing at the chain on his chest, he pulled at it a bit.

He could not breathe.

He did not like that he could not breathe. It was like he was drowning.

Another crash in the world attracted Masaki's focus.

Yui sat against the wall with her shoulder cut open, looking toward it in shock.

"Wha..." She was unable to fathom what was happening as the red trailed over her shirt, "What hit me...? I'm bleeding... Why am I-"

Before she could question further, she found her body slamming down onto the ground. Crushed under a weight that she was unable to understand.

But Masaki had.

He saw that it was the monster destroying his home. It was the monster that had been pushing down on Yui's body.

"UGH! Ahhhh—‼"

Yui cried out in pain again as the monster squeezed down on her throat, its giant fingers dwarming her head.

"YUI-SAN‼"

Pushing himself off of the ground, Masaki rushed toward the beast. Forcing the weight of his body forward, he pushed its arm off of the girl. Letting her gasp out for air as she leaned her head back from the pain.

"Yui-san! Are you okay!?" Masaki ran over, trying to shake her lightly. Though, he realized his hand passed through her, "Yui-san! Listen to me!"

Yui, unaware of what was happening, was frantically panting on the ground.

"You have to get up, Yui-san! You have to RUN‼"

"It's no use, Masaki..."

Masaki froze when the Hollow spoke up, his head slowly turning in the direction of the monster behind him. The Hollow poking its head out from the frame.

"She is unable to hear us. Or see us."

This monster was speaking to him... He could hear it. It was communicating with him intelligently. As if this was completely natural. His frame shaking frantically.

Masaki's lips trembled as he finally spoke up toward it, "How... Do you know my name?"

When he asked this, the monster retreated into the room. A slow growl escaped from his room as Masaki felt the chain against his chest rumble.

His eyes snapped wide as he felt himself violently dragged back into the room.

"Have you forgotten my voice?" The Hollow lunged its arm back, "THAT WOUNDS ME, MASAKI‼"

Masaki cried out in shock as the claw shot down toward him, raising his arms to try and cover himself.

⦗ BGM PAUSE ⦘

CLANG!

Masaki slowly lowered his arms after realizing he was... Fine. When he looked onward, he would never have expected what was there.

⦗ BGM Change ー Milk ⦅ Alexandros ⦆ ⦘

"Grgh... Urgh...‼"

Rito was leaned forward, holding up the outstretched claw of the Hollow using his sword. Gritting his teeth as he glared up toward his opponent.

"You're... Rito?"

The Hollow growled as he stared down at Rito, clicking his teeth in annoyance.

"You truly believe you can stop me?"

"Believe...? Nah... It's my job to..." Rito smirked as he pushed his hand back fully with a swing of his sword, "If you're gonna try and kill Masaki... You better kill me first!"

The Hollow cried out in pain as his hand dripped in blood, a clean cut off of it as he slipped backward. Vanishing into the wall behind him.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

Masaki was stunned by what it was he had just seen. The Shinigami rushing out the open door to check that way to see where it had gone. When he did, his eyes landed on the blooded Yui on the ground. Who, by then, passed out from the shock of what had occurred.

Masaki watched him for a few seconds. Taking in what had all occurred so far and took a soft breath. He had to be... Daydreaming, right? It was already strange enough there were two of him. And a monster.

But now he was looking at...

He shook his head lightly when he put two and two together here. He was at least able to understand one thing that was going on here.

"I thought I was mistaken at first, but..." The conscious Masaki slowly arose from the ground, "It really is you, isn't it, Rito?"

"Hold on a minute..." Rito lowered his sword, raising a finger toward himself, "You can see me!?"

"The Shinigami consist of spiritual beings. Therefore hiding from the common populace is a waste of energy." Rukia stared at Rito, who was standing behind a street pole.

"Wha- Why would it be? You think I can explain this getup to anybody!?" Rito pulled at his kimono to emphasize his point as he stepped out from his hiding spot.

"With very few exceptions, there are only two reasons one could ever see you." Rukia raised her hand, counting off the reasons as she gave them, "The first would be if they were a spiritual entity like you yourself are in this state. Or, they are spiritually attuned like you are when you are not."

"Oh... I guess that makes sense."

...it was starting to make a little less sense now. Rito scrambling his brain for an answer to what was going on here.

"Huh? What do you mean can I see you?" Masaki raised a brow, "Is there some reason I shouldn't?"

Rito thought about it for a moment. Masaki had never brought up seeing any ghosts or the like beforehand, so...

"It can't be..."

"That's right..."

⦗ BGM Cue ー Raw Breath of Danger ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Rito turned his attention to wall, where a circle of black smoke would emerge. Slowly contorting as the head of the Hollow was slowly creeping out.

"He's a spirit now... In other words..."

Rito readied his sword, preparing for an incoming attack.

"Masaki is DEAD‼"

Clicking his teeth in annoyance, Rito would let out a roar as he charged forward. Leaping towards the cloud in the wall to slash forward, he gasped softly as the Hollow leapt out from the wall and whip around him.

As he did, the Hollow would swipe from the ground the chain tying the two Masakis to one another. When he had, Masaki shouted in pain as he was pulled into the air in the momentum.

Rito, with quick reflexes, pulled his giant blade to slash toward the Hollow. He was caught off guard when the blade had struck at the tail, stopped immediately and skidding against its scales as it slid against the metal.

He grit his teeth as he came to realize his scales were too tough to cut through. Bracing himself as the tail was swung outward. Grunting in pain as the wall bust open from his body being slammed through it.

Propelled out into the air as the wall broke through, Rito spun as he tried to regain control of himself.

When he had, his hand slammed down onto the air itself, his body skidding against it with a smoke running out as if he had been moving against solid ground.

When he did, he growled. Rito moving his focus back to the hole in the wall where the Hollow glared at him from.

"Stay back..." Raising his arm, the Hollow held up the spirit of Masaki in his clutches, who cried out in pain from the tight grip the creature had on him.

"LOOK OUT!" Shouting from below was a running Rukia.

Though, her warning was too late. As the tail came crashing down into Rito's body, who was sent hurtling down into the ground with a hard slam against the ground.

"Rito, are you alright!?"

"Just fine!" Rito immediately sprouted up, leaping back toward where the Hollow was.

"You talk tough, boy... But you're far too slow."

Opening its mouth, the Hollow would gather what looked to be saliva between its teeth.

"Are you surprised that Masaki had become a spirit... YUKKI RITO‼!?"

Spitting towards him, Rito would swipe his arm in attempt to deflect the attack. Though, he quickly found himself dealing with a burning pain in his hand. Looking down toward it, he realized his sword was falling toward the ground as the skin on his hand was melting from what had struck it.

Acid? That was not what he was-

"RITO‼" Masaki cried out.

Looking up, Rito would notice the Hollow lean out of the hole. Swinging down his other arm from the one holding Masaki and stabbing through Rito's side with it. The boy coughing out blood from the sudden strike as he now dropped to the ground.

When his body crashed next to his fallen sword, Rukia would rush over to try and help him.

"Rito!" Rukia shook the boy violently, "Rito, you have to get up‼"

Rito was unresponsive, the smoke from the acid running off of his hand.

» 𝑷𝑹𝑰𝑴𝑨𝑳 𝑯𝑼𝑵𝑮𝑬𝑹 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑭𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑳𝒀｡ «

"RITO‼" Masaki slammed his finger against the hand of the Hollow, trying to budge his way out of his grasp, "LET ME GO! I HAVE TO HELP HIM‼"

"Masaki."

The Hollow calmly spoke up, which caused the boy to stop and look up toward him.

"Have you really forgotten who I am...?"

When Masaki looked closer into the mask, he sat there for a while. His face slowly expressing the shock that was welling up from within upon his findings.

"Sora... Is that..."

As he slowly came to his realization, the dark red eyes within the Hollow's mask would give way to the brown eyes of the human it used to be.

"You...?"

⦗ BGM END ⦘

"Rito!" A slap rang throughout the street, "Rito! You need to wake up‼"

After a few seconds, Rito would push himself off of the ground. Holding his head as he slowly regained his senses.

"Ugh... Stop yelling..."

"Is that all you have to say for yourself!?" Rukia snapped, "You got yourself made a fool out of back there! What happened?"

"I..." Rito looked to the side, wiping his bloodied lips, "I dunno. He's not like the others... I hesitated."

"I see. So you're still conflicted." Rukia turned back up toward the damaged building above them, "I cannot blame you for that, but bear in mind..."

Rito slowly got up from the ground, walking over to pick up his sword.

"If you lose here, Masaki's soul will be consumed."

Masaki would let out a shaky breath as he was set down, looking up toward the Hollow.

"Is it... Really you, Sora?"

"Yes... It is." The Hollow gave a sigh of relief, "It touches my heart that you haven't forgotten."

"But why!?" Masaki shouted, "Why did you attack Yui-san!? Why were you trying to kill Rito like th-"

"Why? You know why..." Sora clutched his fists, glaring down toward the tossed aside trophy, "Those two were tearing you away from me!"

"What are you... Talking about?"

"The dream we built together... The dream that gave us hope..." Sora pointed towards Masaki's desk, "You were going to throw it all away, all because he wouldn't share that dream."

Masaki walked over to where he was pointing, a paper torn from his journal. It spoke on how he planned to quit soccer. How he planned to drop the team before the season even properly began.

"I..."

"Did you forget that your skill and love for the sport was something we created together?"

"That was-"

"A childish dream? Perhaps." Sora threw an arm out, "BUT YOU KNOW WHAT OUR LIFE WAS LIKE BEFORE THEN! That 'childish dream' was all we had to stay optimistic!"

Masaki's lips trembled as tears began to well up in the corner of his eyes.

"And after I died...? The fact you still held on to that dream meant I had meaning. To someone. To anyone." Sora lowered his head, "But eventually, you had someone else to replace me. Kotegawa Yui."

Masaki became silent as he continued on.

"I thought it was fine at the time because the prayers kept coming in. You were still trying to communicate with me." The Hollow then raised his eyes at Masaki with scorn behind them, "But then when you began high school? You stopped praying for me altogether. I was barely an afterthought in your life‼"

Masaki's hands lowered, still staring up at his brother.

"You would never bring up how you were progressing anymore. Or talk about what we made together... Instead? You'd use me to vent your frustrations about HIM‼ THAT HURT ME‼" The Hollow snapped, "I was the one who gave you the life you had. I was the one who taught you what you know! I WAS THE ONE WHO TOOK YOU AWAY FROM THE HELL THAT CAME BEFORE! And after it all, I'm the one who gets forgotten‼"

"Sora, that's not tr-"

"SHUT UP! Just listen to me, Masaki‼" Sora grabbed at his Masaki's shoulders, the chain tied to him rattling, "If you have even a shred of love remaining for me... YOU WILL NOT BETRAY ME AGAIN‼"

Masaki winced as he struggled in his grasp.

"Do exactly as I say! I will deal with him... I will deal with them both. It will not take long." Sora's head turned back toward the hole in the wall as the demonic gleam in his eyes returned, "I will devour that Shinigami and put an END TO THIS‼"

Turning his body fully, he would let go of Masaki and begin to move towards the hole. Preparing to leap outward.

When he had, Masaki would run forward and grab onto Sora's tail. Futile in his attempt, he still tried to keep him from going.

"No, STOP!" Masaki cried out, "This has nothing to do with Rito, Yui-san, or anybody else! So leave them alone‼"

Sora stopped, growling as he turned back toward his brother.

"It's not right for you to drag others into th-"

"SHUT UP, MASAKI‼" Slithering back toward her, he would swipe him up off of the ground in his arms and slam him against the wall. "Don't talk to me about what's right and wrong when it's your fault I'VE BECOME THIS MONSTER‼"

Masaki cried out in pain before his voiced was muted by Sora's large thumb against his throat. The clutches of the beast tightening over him as he was being strangled in the air.

"IF YOU'LL CONTINUE WITH YOUR INSOLENCE, I'LL JUST KILL YOU FIRST AND GET IT OVER WITH‼" Sora's masked lips curled into a devilish grin as he watched his brother choke, "CLEARLY I NEED TO GIVEN THAT YOU CARE MORE ABOUT THAT GIRL AND RITO THAN HONORING MY MEMORY‼ YOU USELESS WHELP OF A BROTHER, I'LL RID MYSELF OF YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL‼"

"LIKE HELL THAT'LL HAPPEN‼"

Suddenly, Masaki's body would drop to the ground. Followed by the severed hands of Sora, who screamed out in pain.

Behind him, Rito would raise his sword over his shoulder as the tail of the beast would fling outward in several pieces. Rito's gaze directed toward the Hollow with narrowed eyes.

"You disgust me..." Pointing his sword forward, Rito's face was a scowl, "The reason older brothers are born first..."

Masaki coughed furiously for a few seconds. Afterward breathing heavily to regain the oxygen lost from before. Lifting his head, he looked toward Rito.

"...is to protect the little ones that come after!"

Rito's body slowly began to emit what seemed to be a light haze that was causing wind to pick up beneath him. His eyes having a light gleam to them.

"WHAT KIND OF OLDER SIBLING SAYS HE'LL KILL HIS OWN LITTLE BROTHER!?" He snapped, his voice booming through the room, "EVEN A MONSTER SHOULDN'T SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT‼"

Over to the side of the room, Yui would grumble some. Her head turning upward some.

"Yu...kki...?"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH‼" Sora flailed toward either side as the blood spilled out from all of his newly made wounds. Throwing its head toward Rito, it screamed out from deep within, "WHY DO YOU STAND IN MY WAY, YUKKI RITO‼!?"

"Why!? That's a dumb question." Rito clicked his teeth, "CUZ EVEN A DEAD GUY HAS NO RIGHT TO THREATEN HIS SIBLINGS LIKE THAT‼"

"SHUT UP! You don't know a damn thing, Yukki Rito!"

Sora glanced back in the direction of Masaki, who was holding his chest.

"Our family was one that was held together by each family member's spite of the other. Our father was a raging alcoholic who sold our mother off for prostitution to get his hands on a fancier bottle. But when it turned out my mother was the one who paid off the bills, he beat me to project his inadequacy on!"

Masaki looked up toward the Hollow, this information unfamiliar. He was hearing this story for the first time himself.

Rito on the other hand, tightened his grip on his sword.

"When I was fifteen, my whore of a mother somehow was loyal enough to have another child with our father... That child being Masaki. Who I thought would be what turned everything around... But it only turned out worse." The gleam in his eye faded as he recalled back, "Whenever he would cry, they would hit him until he stopped. At least, they would have if I were not there."

"I took care of him in their stead so that they would never have the chance. And then... When I had turned 18, I took the 3 year old Masaki and ran away from that hellish house."

His eyes slowly began to bleed as his body violently swung to either side.

"AND THAT HAS BEEN FACT FOREVER‼ YOU CRITICIZE ME FOR NOT PROTECTING HIM!? I'VE ALWAYS PROTECTED HIM‼ I RAISED HIM‼" Sora swung out his stubs of arms, the blood sloshing along the walls of the room. "SO NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO JUDGE WHAT I DECIDE OF HIM! ESPECIALLY NOT YOU, YUKKI RITO‼"

Behind them, Rukia would place her hand against the open door frame as she made it to the scene.

The Hollow lunged forward, opening his mouth in a roar as Rito raised his blade to catch onto him. His body sliding backward quickly as he grit his teeth. His hands burning from the acid that dripped from Sora's mouth as they clashed.

"Don't be stupid...!" Rito growled out, pushing back himself, "Inoue Masaki is his own person...! He doesn't belong to you... Or anyone!"

"SHUT UP‼ HIS EXISTENCE IS A PRODUCT OF MY HARD WORK‼" His teeth would clamp down on Rito's blade, the metal shaking as Rito resisted, "I LIVED MY LIFE FOR MASAKI! YET MASAKI WON'T LIVE HER LIFE FOR ME‼"

Throwing Rito aside, Sora would swing his body around back toward his younger brother.

"IF I CANNOT EXPECT THE SAME OUT OF HIM... THEN IT IS ONLY FAIR THAT..."

Masaki's eyes would shoot wide as his brother approached at rapid speeds.

"NO‼"

"HE DIES FOR ME‼"

CHOOMP‼

» 𝑻𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈? «

⦗ BGM Cue ー Requiem for the Lost Ones ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

His arms wrapped tight around his brother's massive head. A gush of blood shooting outward as the giant teeth clamped into his shoulder, him whimpering in pain.

The demonic gleam in Sora's eye had come to fade, the humanity behind them showing again.

"Masaki..." Rito had pushed himself off of the ground as he looked on in shock.

"You..." Sora seemed to only now realize what he had done, "Why didn't you move..."

"I'm sorry... Sora." Masaki struggled to get out, falling to a knee under the hold of the Hollow. "I thought... I thought that you would want to hear about... How my life was..."

Sora opened his mouth slowly, a gasp leaving from his mouth. The gashes in Masaki's body burning shut thanks to some acid trailing off onto them.

"What was going good... Like my friendship with Yui..."

Yui's unconscious body had been turned over some in the brief moment she was conscious.

"Or what wasn't going exactly how I wanted it to..." Masaki grunted a bit at the pain of his smoking shoulder, "Back in the day, you were just as excited as I was when I told you about how I finally found somebody to play with..."

Rito stared at Masaki, his lips parted a slight bit.

"I had my best friend... But I let my obsession with soccer tear us apart..."

Sora looked down toward his brother, growing somber.

"All I did at the start was pray to you whenever something came up. But I thought that was too selfish of me, so I did something different." Masaki looked down, his hair overshadowing his eyes, "So I decided to tell you other things instead. So you wouldn't have to see me sad about every little thing..."

His clutch on his brother's head tightened a slight bit.

"I wanted to show you that I was okay now. That you could rest in peace..."

Lifting his face, he would show that though a smile was on his face, tears ran down from his eyes.

"I wanted you to know that your little bro was gonna be okay! And that you didn't have to worry about me anymore!"

Sora pulled back from Masaki, the younger of the two's arms lowering down as he breathed heavily.

"But now I know that I wasn't doing that... Instead I was just making it harder for you, Sora." Masaki would then bow his head, "I'm sorry that I ever hurt... y...ou..."

Struggling to get that out, Masaki dropped to the ground.

Sora stared down at his unconscious brother in complete shock.

"MASAKI‼" Rito prepared to rush over, but Rukia stepped forward.

"Don't panic, Rito! She can still be saved!"

"Rukia..."

"The Chain of Fate on his chest hasn't been broken yet!" Rukia pointed toward the unconscious Masaki, "He can be saved if I use my Kido!"

"Masaki..." Sora raised his giant hand, rattling his younger brother's body as Rukia approached, "Masaki!"

Rukia crouched down toward him, looking up toward the Hollow, she narrowed her eyes.

"Move. You're in the way of my treatment."

Sora would slither back from Masaki's body, Rito lowering his sword as he watched the healing process alongside him.

"I knew all along what you were meaning to do..." Sora lowered his head, ashamed of himself, "Even so, I was selfish and wanted you to keep relying on me..."

Rito looked over toward Sora, taking in a breath through his nose.

"At least that way... I knew I was the center of your world..."

Rito looked over to the broken glass case, looking to the shelf above.

"Look in there. Do you see it?"

Sora's attention moved toward the glass case, his brow raising as he saw... Knitting materials. In a small case of its own next to them, it was a blue tie with a yellow streak through it which had the kanji for 'Sora' across the tail end.

"That's..."

"The tie you wore to work every day. Even on the day you died." He raised his sword, hoisting it over his shoulder. "When you passed away, the first thing we tried to do was clean it. But we were both so worthless at it that we ended up tearing it up."

Letting out a sigh, he looked back down toward the knocked out Masaki.

"You were the center of his world. When you died, he didn't have anything left. So he learned to knit so he could repair that tie. The last keepsake he has left of you."

Sora would lift his gaze as he took in a breath.

"Don't be so selfish to decide you're the only one hurting."

Rito groaned, looking away with a scratch of his cheek. Thinking on it, he felt like he got a bit too worked up back there. Then again, he was stabbed in the side.

He stopped when he felt his sword being pulled from his hand. Turning around, he saw that Sora had taken the blade for himself. Pointing it at his own neck.

"Huh? Wait, what're you-"

"It's fine!" Sora swung up the blade, cutting deep into the mask to tear off the rest of it from his face, "If I stay like this, I'll someday once again lose myself and come after Masaki."

Blood trickled down the man's face as he looked down toward the blade directed toward him.

"That's why, right now, while I have regained a small part of myself... I want to disappear..."

"B-but why!?" Rito protested, "W-we'll figure something out, you don't have t-"

"Don't stop him, Rito."

His eyes moved toward his accomplice, the girl looking toward him with a stern gaze while her hand cast a green glow over Masaki's body.

"His decision is correct. Once you become a Hollow, returning to the way you were is an impossibility." Rukia closed her eyes softly, "Let him do it."

"Rukia...!" Rito grit his teeth.

"Don't worry." Rukia opened her eyes again, her expression softening, "Cutting a Hollow is not the same thing as killing them. It is to wash away their sins. By cutting them with the Zanpakuto, their sins are washed away, and they can go to Soul Society."

Rito looked toward Rukia with a puzzled expression.

"That's why we Shinigami exist."

Looking down toward his brother, the man gave a somber expression.

"Then... This is it." He gave a final look over of his younger brother, "Goodbye, Masaki..."

Slowly, Masaki's eyes would come to open as he stared up at his brother. His lips curled into a smile.

"One last... Thing..."

Sora's eyes slowly opened further.

"I didn't tell you this... Back then..." Leaning off of Rukia, he sat up, "Congrats on... The promotion."

Slowly, a smile came onto Sora's face.

"Thank you..."

⦗ BGM END ⦘

Looking up toward the ceiling, which burst open from the from the burst of wind from Sora's disintegration, Rito would let out a soft sigh.

"He's gone..."

"Yup..." Rito looked to Masaki with concern, "How are the wounds?"

"They're fine..." Masaki patted his shoulder lightly, "But I think it's more important to address the fact that you're wearing samurai getup, and you're carrying around a big sword! What's up with th-"

Flicking open a device, from Rukia's hand would come out a puff of smoke. Then, once again, Masaki would drop to the ground unconscious.

"What did you-?"

"This is the Memory Chikan. It erases the memory and substitutes it with a new one."

"Replace...?"

"If we were to leave them blank, it would result in questionable inconsistencies. Those may just lead to them remembering again, defeating the point."

"Uhh..."

"Oh, right. She probably didn't see anything. But I'd better get her, too. Just to be on the safe side..." Walking over to Yui, she crouched down. Peeling an eye open, she popped the Chikan again to get the girl under its effect. "Oh, by the way, the new memories will be randomized."

"Randomized?" Rito's eye twitched, "That sounds like how one of Lala's inventions would end up."

"Don't compare our technology to her science projects..."

"Uh huh, sure..." He wondered if the two would ever get along.

⦏ Monday: May 19th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 8:25 a.m. ❳

"The pitcher raises his arm high and WHOOSH! he hurls the ball!"

The blue sky above was clear to see as the clouds passed overhead.

"Oooh! The ball VROOMS! in a bad direction!"

Getting a closer look at the one making the announcements, two would come into frame.

The first was a young girl with a perpetual blush on her cheeks wearing a white t-shirt reading Urahara Shop across its front in pink print and a knee-length, pink skirt with white dots. She had round purple eyes and long, black hair with a purple tint. It was parted down the middle, two strands of her bangs in the middle of her face, opposing each other. The rest of her hair was segregated into pigtails with pink ties.

Second was a small boy with red hair. His shirt matching with the girl's, except in blue print to match with his blue three-quarter length trousers, the bottoms of which were noticeably turned up. His brown irises were thin like a cat's, focused on the baseball that was dropping toward him.

With a swing of his arms, he attempted to hit the end of his broom against it... Only to completely miss.

"WHAM! Killer home run‼" cheered the boy.

"Jinta-kun..." The girl stood to the side, practically blending in with the background in comparison to the boy's loud nature, "Tessai-san will get mad that you're not sweeping..."

"Shut up, Ururu‼" Jinta spat back, pointing his broom in the girl's direction, "Like I could clean up if I was scared of Tessai!"

"But, I thought you were cleaning because you were scared of Tessai..."

A few seconds of silence would pass before Jinta turned the broom in his hand. Grinding the brush of the broom against Ururu's hair, who grabbed at her head to protect herself.

"I'm not scared!" He growled, "Ugh, you're annoying as ever! You're below me‼"

"But that's not true..." Ururu rejected, "I'm 3 years older than you!"

"It's not about age! It's about status! STATUS‼"

Before he could pull the broom back to start jabbing at her, a hand would reach out and grab onto it and rip it from his hands.

Whipping around in shock, the boy's mouth went agape as he quickly became anxious.

"W-who's there!? Is it Tessa-"

His worries deflated when he noticed who it actually was, Rukia holding up the broom toward herself.

"You're the same as ever, Shorty." Rukia looked between the two of them, "Is the manager in?"

Ururu stepping closer beside him, Jinta gave a disappointed glance toward Rukia.

"...hey." Ururu greeted.

. . .

"Jinta, what are you doing? It's still too early for opening hours...!"

Holding up a stack of boxes was a tanned, notably muscular man.

His hair was cornrowed and he had a large handlebar mustache that connected to his long sideburns. Over his eyes were a pair of rectangular-shaped glasses. His attire simply consisted of a white muscle shirt with khaki pants and a blue apron.

When he saw who it was they brought inside, his brows furrowed.

"We didn't have a choice! She wouldn't take no for an answer!" Jinta retorted, crossing his arms.

After finding a place to set down the boxes he was carrying, the taller man would soon return and give a light bow toward Rukia. Raising his hand gently, he nodded his head lightly.

"Miss Kuchiki, was it? If you could just wait one moment. I shall go and wake the manager right away."

"That's too bad..." A foot stamped down onto the wooden floor of the backend of the store, "I've already woken up. ❤"

A yawn erupted from the man the foot belonged to, lasting for what seemed to be an eternity before he smacked his lips a couple times following.

He revealed himself to be a tall, lean man with light skin and gray eyes that could occasionally be seen under the white and green striped bucket hat atop of his head. His hair was messy and light-blond (almost pale), with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes, some chin stubble on his jaw. He wore a dark green samue. Atop of the samue, he wore a black haori, which sported a white diamond pattern along its bottom half.

"G'mornin' Tessai, Jinta, Ururu..." The man would step forward, rubbing out his tired eyes underneath his bucket hat, "And of course, welcome to you, Miss Kuchiki."

When he reached the end of the wood, he stuck his feet into a pair of geta before walking onto the marble floor to get closer.

"You're just in time. We've received new products from the other world just yesterday!" His lips slowly curled into a smirk, "So, what would like today?"

After some time, the manager would have a calculator in hand as he was inputting prices as she told him her order.

"Mmkay... So we're talking one spare fuel for the Kikanshiki... Rank?"

"The cheapest one."

"D, then." He readjusted his previous input, "And that was... 60 soumafixers."

The man had lifted his head from the calculator, raising a finger toward her, "It's none of my business, but using too many fixers is bad for your health." He spun his finger in the air before dropping it back into its previous position, "It'll synchronize your soul further with the Temporary Gigai, meaning it'll hurt more when you finally do get out of it."

"I... I understand that, but..." Rukia averted her gaze, crossing her arms, "Recently it hasn't been connecting properly." She raised her hand, clutching her fist with some strength behind it, but her hand would move in much slower motion in comparison, "There are times when it's difficult to move my body."

"Hmmm... Okay, shall we check it out? I'll give you a discount~❤" He raised an okay symbol, a heart practically jumping out from it, "For all 255 parts, I'll only charge you 4980 yen! There's also a Diet Course as w-"

"No thanks!" swiftly called Rukia.

"Sheesh, tough crowd." wheezed the man as he plopped down on the incline of the wood floor, crossing his legs, "Paying by card?"

"No." Rukia then presented her Denreishiki, "With this."

The older man blinked as he looked at what she was gesturing, before looking up at her with a raised brow, "Bounty rewards?"

Rukia nodded triumphantly...

Before she found her shoulders slumping as the manager held in laughter as he scrolled through her bounties.

"All of these are small fry... Barely around long enough to even rack up a bounty."

She sighed, shaking her head lightly. Before lifting her head up toward the other.

"By the way... Did my order arrive?"

"Oh, yes, it did!" Turning toward the side, he lifted a fan which matched with his attire and fanned himself with it, "Ururu, go get the package if you wouldn't mind! ❤"

"O-okay!"

When she rushed off to the storage room, she would stop in the middle of the room as she looked around in search of the item.

"New stuff... New stuff..."

After a few minutes of searching, she would find a box which was labeled NEW with a particular order number. Smiling, the girl would approach and excitedly pull open the tape.

"I found it, I found it!"

Once inside, she would draw out a small item wrapped in its entirety with a bubble wrapping.

. . .

When Rukia opened the wrapping, her face glowered somewhat, "This was the only one available, huh..."

"Oh, please don't say that." The businessman leaned forward, his hat leaning over his eyes, "That one is the second most popular. It was rather difficult to get my hands on."

After a few moments of silence, Rukia would give a light nod.

"...I understand."

Rito peeked into Class 1-B, where Masaki and Yui seemed to be talking with some friends inside.

He never saw Masaki at school before third period before. This was a first. Blinking, he walked over to get a read on the conversation.

"Listen, I know how ridiculous it sounds, but it's true!" Masaki spoke up, straightening his tie. Which, he was wearing Sora's tie as an accessory to his uniform now, "A sumo wrestler showed up to the apartment with a bazooka and shot up the place!"

"That's too crazy to be real!" A mop haired student, Shunya Aso, crossed his arms, denying the story, "You sure you didn't have a lucid dream, man?"

"I've had a few lucid dreams myself. But never on that kinda scale." An unruly dressed girl, Himejima Rinko, commented.

A girl wearing a tulip hat, Aiko Kugihashi, gave a light giggle, "I think dreams like that are nice."

"It's not a dream!" Masaki huffed, turning back toward Yui, "Isn't that true, Yui-san?"

Being put on the spot, Yui blinked. Looking between the two of them and crossing her arms.

"I-it's something I'd never agree to if I didn't see it with my own eyes."

"WHAT!?" Keigo and Saruyama both hugged onto each other in shock, "Kotegawa's agreeing?! It can't be‼"

Pushing past the two of them, Rito had approached the two of them with a serious expression. Scanning over the both of them frantically.

After a few seconds of this, they would both turn to one another and then back to him with concerned looks.

"Yukki Rito, what are you doing?" Kotegawa demanded.

After a little bit longer, he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you guys are okay..."

"Huh?" Masaki tilted his head, "Is there some reason we shouldn't be?"

"Uh-" A drop of sweat rolled down the back of Rito's head, "Just... Glad you're okay! I heard you explaining what happened earlier, so..."

"Oh, uh. Yeah... About that."

Masaki cleared his throat, hesitating to bring himself to do it at first. Stepping forward, he gulped. After a second's suspense had built, he bent forward to bow.

"After that... I realized that I've been so negative towards you for such a stupid reason." Masaki straightened himself out soon following, "And I wanted to make things up with you. I can understand if you wouldn't want to, but I-"

Rito immediately took his hand, shaking it lightly.

"I feel the same. I'm glad to be friends again."

"Me too." Masaki looked down to their hands with a bright smile.

Behind them, Yui gave a smile of her own. Though, she immediately huffed and averted her gaze before anyone could make note of the expression being on her face.

"Rito! Rito!"

Casting her gaze toward the open door, she would see her. Lala Satalin Deviluke. Firmly planted there waving for Rito's attention. Her eyes narrowing as she watched her there for a moment.

Barely a month since she had transferred, and various reports of indecency cropped up thanks to her 'inventions'.

She may have everyone else believing that she were a delicate princess type. But Yui knew by instinct the truth of the matter.

She was a shameless woman.

Rito had zero way of noticing that there was a unique kind of tension in the room at that moment even if he were not preoccupied with a chat with Masaki about the last night.

❲ 12:38 p.m. ❳

"You did the same thing to my family, didn't you?"

Rito and Rukia were on their way to the roof for the usual lunch. The smaller of the two giving a nod to his question.

"Yes, you're correct." Rukia picked up her pace just a bit to be slightly ahead, "I assume it worked well?"

Rito followed close behind with a light hum. Before all of this, he would have loudly protested against it. Having claimed it was a bother or something to a similar extent.

His lips slowly curled into a smile.

"Yeah, it worked out great."

Stopping at the top step, Rukia would look back toward him with a smile of her own.

Quickly after, she raised a hand toward her mouth as she gave a light snicker, "Does this mean you'll take your training seriously now?"

"We're still doing that!?"

"Of course we are, you must keep improving for the sake of your Shinigami work's success."

⦓ THS #05 ⦔
❱ END ❰

⦏ And... There. You've reached the end of Chapter 5. I sincerely hope you enjoyed. ⦐
⦏ With this Chapter, our goal was to start hinting toward where Rito's character in this initial arc is meant to go. And, of course, with that territory, comes learning a little more about how the Spiritual World operates. In the original To Love-Ru, Rito quitting soccer had no real consequence on him besides him feeling kind of aimless. Here, it's hint of something more that happened back in the day. What was it that happened? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. ⦐
⦏ Oh, and, to ensure that it was not exclusively Bleach focused this chapter, we got a little more out of Risa. If you could tell, her nature towards Rito is definitely different. Masaki Inoue, for the sake of this chapter, obviously replaces a certain character from its source material, but also acts as a different role for Rito's own story (you'll see that role fulfilled by the end of this arc, I assure you). ⦐
⦏ Next, we'll be taking a look at what chaos comes from the little purchase that Rukia made. ⦐
ー Red