Through Heart and Soul: To Love-Ru (改訂版)

by The Red Infinity

Sainan Town is a small city on the outskirts of Japan which is known to be a peaceful and quiet town. One of the residents, Yuuki Rito lives a quiet life there with living and spiritual alike. That is, until the greater worlds of both the spiritual realms and outer space collide and it falls into Rito's hands to help rework the balance of it all.

11. Rising Highs, Crushing Lows

⦏ 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. ⦐
⦏ I only own what original characters will be introduced in this story, the first example being Masaki Inoue. ⦐
ー Disclaimer

---

⦏ Thursday: June 26th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 12:13 p.m. ❳

"Ahem. Let us begin, then."

Rukia would rather have not been in this position to begin with. After all, this was an important matter that these two honestly had nothing to do with.

However, they had both reached a point where she cannot hide what they witness from them any further. That meant that if they were left ignorant, it could pose greater concern to Rito.

He would be conscious of the fact they may attract Hollows and it could distract him from following Orders they get. If that became the case, he could take off on her at any given time. He already did that enough as is.

No reason to let that get any worse.

Kotegawa Yui. She was rather impatient. However, she associated that impatience with her obsession with morality and the like.

Inoue Masaki. In all honesty... She thought of him as an airhead most of the time. Though, given how easily he threw Yui at that Hollow, perhaps there was more to him than she knew.

"In this world, there are two types of Spirits..."

Thus, Rukia had begun the lecture that she had given to Rito when they had first met. It was perfect for situations like this. She even created a handy notebook version for the sake of mobile tutoring!

"—does she always make such incomprehensible drawings...?"

A tick mark appeared on her head when she heard Yui whisper to Rito. This mark doubled when Rito gave a nod.

"All the damn time..."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. A single swing of her arm was all she needed to throw the notebook straight into Rito's face. The boy let out a cry of pain before he dropped onto the floor.

Such foolishness would not be tolerated!

. . .

"So what you're saying is that you're a Shinigami from Soul Society..." Yui began.

Rukia nodded.

"...who gave her powers to Yukki-kun..."

Another nod.

"...and is forcing him to do her work for her."

She was about to nod again, until she realized what exactly was said. She then pointed a finger toward her with a deadpan expression.

"It's his fault that my powers were completely taken, and so it is only fair that he completes what duties I cannot while that remains the case!"

Yui seemed unconvinced initially. Even seemed to be scowling at her. She had no idea as to why that would be the case. Or at least, back in April, she would not have.

She gave a glance toward the recovering Rito and sighed.

He had good friends.

"I understand your concerns over his safety from the Hollows. But I can assure you, he's strong enough to survive." Rukia crossed her arms, "And if he is not able to do so alone, then I will ensure he makes it through. Even if I have to drag him."

"You seem to have zero regard for the fact that he has to fight those monsters at all." Yui retorted, "Besides, if you needed help with this so badly, why wouldn't you contact anyone else in this Soul Society place of yours?"

Rukia averted her gaze. That question absolutely could not be answered...

It seems her inability to come up with an excuse had only raised Yui's suspicions. This made evident by how she was now standing directly in front of her. She had been invading her personal space, which in turn Rukia leaned backward in kind to avoid.

"Your lack of an answer is greatly concerning..." Yui pointed toward her with a scowl, "What is it you are hiding?"

"I told you what you were wondering about already, did I not?"

"You're clearly leaving out important details!"

"I don't see the use of you prying any further."

This girl showed no signs of backing down. She was not getting that answer she wanted. After all, that information was highly classified.

Not even Rito could know.

No. Rito, of all people, especially could not know.

"There's plenty of use in-"

The door swung open.

Rukia's gaze moved in the direction of the opened door with a blank face. It was Mikado standing there, a smile on her face. The devil she was...

"Rukia-chan~! It's time for your checkup."

Last night... This would have been an accursed moment.

Today? It was a blessing.

"Yes! I'm on my way!"

Put on a smile and go with the flow. It was what kept her afloat for the longest while. No reason to break from that now.

"I'll see you in class, Yukki-kun!"

"Yeah... Sure."

She ignored the grumbles that she heard Yui gave while she was on her leave.

---

"You realize that helping him again will put you on his radar?"

"Yes, I'm aware." A woman's voice spoke into the phone, "But you know how I am. I can't turn away when someone's in desperate need like that."

"...I suppose that's true."

The woman brushed her thumb over the page of the book she had been reading.

Ordinarily, she would find a more active way of spending her time. But, since 6 years prior, she was unable to get quite as active as she was before.

A light frown came over her features at the thought. But, she decided to think on positive thoughts instead.

"It's been a while since you last called." Her smile seemed to flicker with a bright light, "How are things, Ryuu-chan?"

"They're proceeding fine." Ryuu-chan answered.

She puffed a cheek. He always chose to be so monotone. Workaholics like him were far too difficult to manage. It made her glad their arranged marriage never followed through.

She gave a soft breath as she closed her book.

"...were you listening, Masaki?"

"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought."

The woman rubbed her temple.

Reminiscence. It proved to be a curse sometimes. But, it also helped her keep herself in good spirits when the time was right.

A sigh came from the other end of the phone, "I'm merely saying that you should be more careful from now on."

"I will. Thank you, Ryuu-chan."

When the phone hung up, the woman softly set her phone down on the table before her. When she had, she noticed there was a paper filled out next to it.

"Ah, right. I should get to finishing this up."

She gave a light giggle before picking up the paper.

---

"...so, in other words, you're like a superhero?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that..."

Rito gave a light shrug. Sure, he risked his life to save people and spirits alike from Hollows. He did not really view it as anything resembling heroism, though.

He was no Don Kanonji. He merely acts because he understands that he would regret it if he had not.

"You're still putting your life on the line for the sake of others." Masaki raised a finger, "That's pretty cool in my book."

He would then wince when a book hit him over the head, courtesy of an annoyed Yui. Despite her target, her gaze was directed toward Rito and had been since Rukia escaped the interrogation.

"There could be a sense where it is admirable, yes." Yui frowned, "But this isn't charity work. This is your life we're talking about."

Rito cast a glance in Yui's direction. He was unsure of how to feel about her concerns.

Not to think of her as a callous person. Nothing of the sort. She was always doing whatever she could for the school. For the school's morality anyhow. But he supposed that he never saw her take value in anything beyond that.

Even so...

"I know the risks, and I've already come to terms with them." Rito's face steeled, "After all, if it turns out that swinging a sword through monsters is all I'm good for, then I'd best stick to it."

"All you're good for...?" Yui seemed appalled by the suggestion.

Again. Rito may have just been seeing things. It was likely that she was going to start talking about the pride of the school being in jeopardy or something because of his actions.

He gave a pleading glance toward Masaki. Though, he had only given him a shrug.

It looked like there was no lucking out.

Yui looked as though she were about to explode. Instead she cleared her throat. Maybe what she had to say was not that important?

"If that's how you feel on that matter, then I suppose there's no convincing you otherwise..." Yui's face then grew stern, "...but this whole matter with Lala is an entirely different issue!"

There the judgment finger was again, pointed his way. It was honestly like a sword pointed at his face. Sharp enough to cut through all of his excuses to break straight to the core of the matter.

"Not only are you allowing her to freeload in your home, but you're also going along with her father threatening your life to marry her!?"

"It's moreso that his threat leads to everyone else dying..."

"I don't know what part of that rebuttal is more concerning...!"

"What did I even say wrong!?"

"How can you be so-...!"

Yui groaned after she stopped herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She turned away to march toward the door, having slammed it open with a swing of her arm.

"Kotegawa...?"

She gave no response, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

Rito stared at the door with a confused daze. He could not help but wonder if there was something that he did wrong. There was nothing apparent that he had done.

So why did he feel so guilty...?

"You're so dumb sometimes, man."

He could not help that guilty feeling being washed down by the sheer disappointment that weighed on him. Masaki being right in this situation hit him in the chest like a bullet.

As he swung himself around, he pointed a finger toward him with narrowed eyes.

"You keep calling me dumb, but you never explain what it is you mean by that!"

"If you can't read between the lines, you're hopeless..."

Rito's jaw dropped.

What the hell lines were there for him to be reading between here!? That supposed hint only caused for him to be even more confused!

He pushed himself up from his seat with a tired sigh.

"I'm gonna get some food in my system..."

"Don't take too long!"

"And you get some actual food in your stomach!" Rito shouted back, "None of those weird bread combinations!"

---

『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 11 | Heart of the Matter ~𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬, 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐬~ 】

---

Bright skies washed over a small, rural town. The scenery seemed as though it were taken right off the pages of an Edo manga.

In the streets of the villa, the cheers of children could be heard gathered around one place.

Should one manage to get past the crowd of children, they would see a wood chunk with a bowl shape carved over its top. Within underwent an intense battle between three spinning tops.

Their dark metal bodies swung against one another with an intense vigor. The sparks igniting from their edges gave light to the heavy shadows beneath them.

It were as though they were three armored samurai, locked in battle.

"Go! Knock that one out!"

The sole outlier of the crowd would be a man. Dressed in a getup similar to the ones Rukia once had when her powers were intact, save for a few key differences.

Rather than maroon lining, it was an orange color that traced the edges of his shihakusho. While the rhombus on his back included no numbers. Instead, a pair of rectangles which crossed, the lines of their intersection all visible which allowed the image of five shapes rather than the two.

"Come on!" He raised a fist with a proud smirk, "Go on, get him!"

A small chime followed.

Much to his chagrin, the spinner he had been hoping to win was knocked out... As dead last.

When he saw this, he let out a groan, raising his hand to scratch at his cheek. It gave any onlookers the chance to see that he had dark brown eyes with small pupils and short black hair, with two bangs of different lengths falling on the right side of his face.

"Awww, I lost!"

He placed a hand over his face.

A cheer from the children quickly followed. All of them high-fiving amongst themselves.

"Haha! I did it!"

"Great job!"

The crushing defeat would not go unchallenged, however, as the man raised a finger with a calm smile on his face.

"How about we go another round, eh? I bet I won't lose this time!"

Laughter erupted from the children.

This laughter soon found itself cut short when another figure approached. He wore the same uniform that the man they were playing with had, with the addition of a black mask wrapped over his features, save for his left eye, the other overshadowed by the wrappings.

The children would all glance toward the man they were playing with, whose face had become stern.

"Is... Something wrong, mister?"

Looking to the kids, a smile came over his face again, "I forgot about something I need to attend to."

"But we wanna play more!"

The whines escaping from the children had gotten the man to cave. Reaching into his shihakusho, he would draw out a few silver coins. With a light bounce of his hand in the air, he dropped them into the girl amongst them's hands.

"This should help."

Like magic, the smiles returned to the children's faces. Which helped to light up his own.

Before long, they would take off to find what they could do with the money they were given. Their laughter echoed behind them as they ran.

"...so tell me."

Now, the two men were standing beside a large wall which cast a deep shadow over them. A discreet location to talk on the important matters he mentioned.

"Who is it today?"

"...Kuchiki Rukia. Her post is with Division Thirteen of the Gotei."

"Division Thirteen, hm...?"

He rubbed his chin lightly. He seemed to ponder on the subject for a moment.

"May I ask what crime that young lady is accused of committing?"

"Her stay within the World of the Living has gone far beyond what any extensions may permit."

The man's face seemed unimpressed at that, "...that can't be all, right?"

"I would not have been sent here personally were that all." The messenger remarked, "There is something amiss in the World of the Living. You are tasked with discovering what that is."

"So you're saying I can get rough if I have to?"

"Completing your task is the top priority..."

The messenger stepped past, now standing back to back with the operative he debriefed.

"...and we expect it done quickly."

On that final note, the messenger leapt toward the skies above. The only evidence of his presence prior being a small cloud of dust that kicked up beneath him.

This left the operative alone, who would cross his arms with a smirk upon his features.

"...I will." His gaze moved upward, the breeze passing through the alley with a sereneness that stepped toward eerie. "Kuchiki Rukia..."

---

As much as she wanted to just forget about it, it was just impossible.

Tatsuki scratched the back of her head as Mr. Edogawa continued with his lecture. Not like she were paying attention to it anyhow.

"I still have your powers. You can't really fight Hollows, can you...?"

Why did that talk Rito had with Rukia bug her so much? They had to be talking about some geek chunnibyo thing, right?

...if that were the case, then why did her gut tell her differently. They were dead serious about what they were talking about. After Rito rushed back in, the Old School Building ended up destroyed beyond recognition.

What was she supposed to think about that?

When she confronted Risa and Haruna on the subject: Haruna remembered the events wildly differently than she had, and Risa did not even bother with it. Told her that she was worrying too much.

How much was she supposed to worry, if at all?

Why was she worried about it, anyhow? Everyone turned out fine in the end, no...?

She gave a scan around the room. Rukia was there, patiently writing whatever Mr. Edogawa put on the board. No shock there.

Haruna was taking diligent notes as well.

Risa twirled her hair as she was only half paying attention. The glances she shot toward Mio during the lecture gave her a clear picture that they were communicating the whole while in their own little way.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary whatsoever about today! Hell, even Lala seemed completely normal despite her tail waving behind her!

So what was bugging her so much!?

Tatsuki placed a thumb against her forehead. She ground it against her skin in a futile effort to try and dig the answer out of her brain.

Gah. She was not the hard thinking kind of girl. That was more Haruna's thing! She wished this was a lot simpler to get.

Her gaze moved over to Rito on the other side of class. The boy was ignoring Lala, who was trying to chatter to him about random mishaps she had during the school day they were separated for, from what she could hear.

...which Rito visibly showed no interest in.

Wait a minute! She should not have been focusing on stupid stuff like that!

Right now she needed to think about whatever the hell she was missing! No. Better plan. Think about whatever she could do to make Rito cough up whatever he was hiding!

---

Masaki stretched his arms as the school bell rung for the day. Ah. That sweet signal of freedom!

It had to be regarded as the best time for any high school student, when the classes were over! Besides the sacred time of lunch, of course.

Now he just had to go find Yui and be on his way.

"Lala-san!"

Masaki turned his head at the sound of a voice just down the hall. He could have sworn he had heard it before...

The last thing that Masaki had expected when he turned to face the sound was black leather... And lots of it.

"Ooooo~hohoho‼"

The blonde wearing the leather proudly raised a hand under her chin as she laughed uproariously through the hall.

Behind her were a pair, both dressed in red leather of similar dress, though with the addition of berets. Both of them were flushed in the face, the one with glasses barely able to lift her face from the floor.

"I should have known to challenge you directly from the start. There will be no weakness shown from me anymore." She pointed forward, where a confused pair of Lala and Haruna would be standing, "Now, present your best! That is, if you have the confidence to challenge me!"

Lala blinked, her gaze moving toward Haruna.

"Hmmm, I'm not all that interested." Lala shrugged, "What about you, Haruna? You wanna challenge her?"

"H-huh?" Haruna looked to the attire the bold girl was wearing and found herself flushed, "I-I don't think I have the guts to go against that...!"

Lala waved a hand, "Oh, don't worry about that~!"

From her pocket was summoned what looked to Masaki like a phone, with a very unique design to it. After a push of a few buttons, a heart shaped pin would appear in her palm.

"With this on, it should be plenty!"

"Huh? Lala-san, wai-"

The pin was slapped over Haruna's bowtie. The girl barely given the chance to react before the pin flashed a bright pink light and burst into a small cloud of smoke. A gasp was the last heard of Haruna when it covered over her.

When the smoke cleared, Haruna seemed to be perfectly fine... Save for the fact that her uniform was now shifted. Now Haruna looked as though she had belonged on the stage of a pop concert.

"L-Lala-san, what is this!?"

Haruna was swift to cover over herself, her skin more exposed than it would otherwise be. A look in either direction was enough for Masaki to tell that the growing male crowd was getting to her.

"I call it my special Peke Badge Express~❤" Lala winked as she raised a finger, "It dresses you up just like Peke would, but it's only got enough storage room for one type of clothing at a time. Oh, and-"

"W-why are the clothes like this!?"

"Oh, that..." Lala blinked. Then, her beaming face returned in full glory as she tilted her head cutely, "The guys told me all about what kind of uniform they wanted to see and I figured it would be a fun costume idea!"

"C-could you please just take it off me now...?" Haruna begged, glancing around with tears prickling in her eyes, "This is really embarrassing...!"

"Oh, sure." Lala giggled lightly, "But there will be a lag in the transfiguration, so you'll be naked for a sec."

"T-then let's go somewhere private!"

"Wait a moment, are you ignoring m-"

The blonde did not get to finish her complaint before Haruna and Lala retreated for the changing rooms. Her jaw hung loose as she watched them flee.

As she turned in the direction they were fleeing from, it was then that her eyes made contact with Masaki's own.

"Sorry to easedrop, you guys looked like you were having an interesting conversation."

He gave a small wave of his hand with a cheeky grin.

"Then you saw...?"

"The whole thing."

The blonde paused. Her gaze moved downward to her attire, then back to him. He wondered if something was wrong, seeing as she clutched her chest tightly soon after. Her face seemed flushed too.

Weird.

"I... I..."

Her face seemed to grow more red by the second.

"T-this is not what it looks like, I SWEARRRRRRRRR‼"

With a turn of her heel, she took off for the distance at a surprising speed given her high heels.

"S-Saki-sama!?"

The pair behind her would pursue to the best of their ability.

Masaki, left behind, had a confused expression over his face as the male crowd had all dispersed around him given the conclusion of the commotion.

"...I'm pretty sure it was what it looked like, though..."

---

» 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐲｡ «

---

⦏ Saturday: August 9th, 2003 ⦐
❲ 4:14 p.m. ❳

"Wait for me, Kitty!"

Just past the shrine gates, a younger Yui rushed toward a tree. Her eyes brimmed with determination.

On a branch higher up on this tree, a small kitten would be shaking. Afraid of what may await them while they were stuck on the tree. It stared down toward the girl with pleading eyes that she simply could not resist.

"I'm coming to save you!"

. . .

After a few attempts, her determination was met only with complete and utter failure. The girl yelped, having landed on her rear.

"I...it's no use!" She cried out in frustration, "I just can't climb up...!"

As she arose from the ground, she would hear the murmurs of other kids nearby. When she looked their way, she saw it was a group of three boys from her school.

Why did it come to this...? She had no desires to interact with them whatsoever if she could help it.

But... The cat's life was in danger...!

"P...please help me out!"

She begged. Maybe if they understood how dire it was to her, they would be convinced.

"It's very close by..."

The boys looked in Yui's direction, confused. Her pleading eyes were staring up at them, but to no avail. They looked to one another with a shrug.

"Just some cat? Why should we care?"

"You're always so full of yourself." One of the boys sneered at her, "Why don't you do something yourself, Class President-chan?"

Yui stammered at the three, only able to watch dumbfoundedly as they walked away from the shrine.

"Come on, let's go play games at my house."

That was the last she heard of them before they vanished into the horizon.

She just could not believe it. How could they not care at all whatsoever when a cat was in such peril!?

Why were all boys like this...

She grit her teeth.

Fine!

If that was how it was going to be, then she would just have to climb up and save it herself! No matter how many times it took! Even if the only thing that allowed for her to do so was her willpow-

"Onii-chan, are you gonna be okay...?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it!" The three branch rustled slightly at the behest of its newest climber, "Just leave it to me, I'm pretty good at stuff like this!"

Yui silently watched as the climber successfully rescued the cat. Watched as he had done what seemed impossible for her just moments prior.

Instead of her, the cat's savior was a boy she had never seen before. Could he have been from another school...?

"Is this... Your cat?"

When Yui found herself on the end of questioning, she had stiffened up, "N-no, it's not..."

"I see... Then the poor thing's lost." The boy looked down to the kitten in his arms, gently brushing his hand over its head, "You've got a collar on ya, don'tcha?"

"I..." Yui had jabbed her thumb behind her, "I saw a missing cat poster over there on my way here."

If she could recall, it was hanging on the telephone pole closest to the crossroad separating the shrine from the neighborhood.

"I think it might be this kitty..."

"Oh, really?" The boy smiled up at her and gave a thumbs up, "Thanks, I'll go check it out then!"

"Thank you, Onee-chan!" chirped his little sister.

Yui now merely watched as the pair of siblings walked off toward the stairs, hand in hand. Her cheeks slowly flushed with a light pink color as she had...

⦏ Thursday: June 26th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 5:17 p.m. ❳

It was a vivid memory for her. Not the most vivid, but one she still cherished.

It was the day she saw him for the first time. But he did not seem to recall it like she had. Despite him being responsible for her world view changing. Despite him being the reason her deep friendship with Masaki was even possible...

"After all, if it turns out that swinging a sword through monsters is all I'm good for, then I'd best stick to it."

How dare he say something like that? Why did he have to look so content with it...?

"Hmm..." A sigh escaped from her lips.

That boy was nothing but trouble. He always had her worrying about him.

She ran a hand through her hair. She pulled it out of her face, letting it rest over shoulder. It was then that her finger graced over one of the two hairpins that kept her bangs aligned.

He forgot them too...

Memories were quite a difficult thing, being one-sided.

With a twist of the handle, she would step into her home.

There, she would be greeted by a dirty blonde. The older male turning his gaze back in her direction with a light smile.

"Oh, welcome back."

Oh, her brother dearest. Claimed he had a busy day schedule, but always seemed to be home before she was.

...and always far too lax for her liking.

"Onii-chan..." Yui shut the door behind her, her eyes slowly starting to narrow, "Haven't I told you not to walk around dressed like that!?"

"...huh?"

The girl's older brother had a dumb look on his face that irritated Yui to no end. Clearly his being half naked around the house was immoral!

"Who cares about that?" He tucked his hands into his pockets, "I'm inside my own house!"

"That isn't the point!" Yui huffed, placing her hands on her hips, "It's about principle, you bum!"

When he heard that, all he gave in response was a sigh. The man then turned and took to walking further down the hall.

"If you keep talking like that, you'll never get yourself a man."

"WHA—!?"

Yui found the gears in her head turning.

Was he implying that Rito would consider her undesirable if-

Wait. NO! Where could he have gotten such an idea? It was ridiculous. Just utterly ridiculous!

Yui then raised her hands toward her face, making a futile attempt to hide that it flared up.

"L-LIKE I'D WANT A MAN‼"

Her brother had not been focused on her, though, as a ringing from his pocket demanded his attention foremost. Summoning his phone, he flipped it open with a cheery smile as a musical note seemed to pop out from his head.

"Oh, is that Ayumi? Hello~❤"

Yui lowered her hands. There was no point fretting over the previous conversation any further.

"Am I free today? Why of course I am~❤" He continued on, "...oh, you dummy. I've already broken up with Kaori, so you don't have to worry about that!"

Yui's brow violently twitched as she heard her brother's end of the conversation. Such depravity going on in her own home...!

"YOU'RE DISGRACEFUL‼"

She slammed the door behind her as she left the house once more.

Clearly, relaxing at home was not an option. Perhaps she could call Masaki and see what he was up to. Soccer season was over, after all.

"Oh, mnnff... This is Inoue Masaki!" The voicemail started off with the clear sound of a gulp... "Sorry, I can't pick up the phone right now. Ooh, there's sprinkles on this one! Buh-bye!"

...well, that turned out to be a failure.

Ugh. She could not stand her brother sometimes. Why was he serious about all the wrong things...? Her family just had to be full of bums.

"Heehee~❤"

Yui heard a cheery voice that only made her annoyed. Only one it could belong to... Her gaze moved to the side, where she came to see the current bane of her existence.

Lala Satalin Deviluke.

A goofy grin on her face as she held up a box with a unique design over it.

"Thanks for inviting me out shopping, Tatsuki~❤" Lala giggled to her friend, "Now I've got my hands on Magical Kyoko's Bath Balls!"

"I didn't know they even sold those." The tomboy rubbed her cheek lightly.

"Maybe with these, I'll get Rito to take a bath with me!"

"Huh!?"

Perhaps it would have been better for Yui had she not ease dropped into this conversation.

The reason was rather simple. Her young mind now could not help but picture the pair of Rito and Lala bathing together. An image that drove a wedge into the girl's psyche.

One. It was an image that absolutely tore at her core. Lala being that close to him...? It was not allowed. She was clearly taking advantage of him.

She claimed him to be her fiancé. Yet she could not possibly love him in the same manner that Yui-

Yui's face flushed.

She must be losing it. She violently shook her head back and forth. What was she thinking just now!? There was a far more important detail.

The first and foremost matter was the fact that such a topic was...

"UTTERLY SHAMELESS‼"

Yui pointed a finger toward Lala with a glare.

The pinkette looked back toward her with wide eyes.

"Yui!?"

"That's Kotegawa to you! We are not friends!" Yui snapped back.

Oh what sense did trying to communicate regularly with this girl make? A tick mark began to form on her face.

Everywhere she went...!

"GAGH!" Yui threw her arms in the air in defeat, "JUST WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY?!"

Without a second glance, she left the two of them back to their little shopping trip.

Whatever. It was not on school grounds. She could just go off into another part of town and act like they did not exist for a few hours. No big deal...

Except it was never the case when it came to that Lala girl. Everything about her spelled danger.

How was it that she seemed to be the only one who cared about that!?

---

Rito had steam run over his face as the sting of a couple of slaps rang fresh on either cheek.

On his way out for the day, one of the girls' locker doors fell off its hinges. She fell into another and they both ended up falling into a suggestive position.

He was not the only witness...

Just the closest one...

...and the one who saw the most of it.

He sighed. Random stuff like that happens to people whenever he was around them. Perhaps another special trait he has. He normally has some spirit accompanying him to warn him when something's about to happen to someone...

Not that they ever listen to him.

Besides, they only ever blame him afterward.

His friendship with Saruyama only began because of this trait. He claimed that hanging around Rito would rack in the "greatest sights a man could ever see".

All Rito saw out of it was rumors spread about him that poured out into high school.

Hell. In Junior High, he had to write at least three apologies to the Student Council during his third year, courtesy of Yui...

His shoulders slumped at the mere memory. It was always something about him lacking discipline. Rito's thoughts on the matter were always the same...

He had nothing to do with those incidents. All he ever did was warn people they were going to happen.

But now? He was fighting monsters on an almost daily basis for the last two months. Instead of just being a bystander, he was now the one preventing the incidents from occurring altogether...

Whenever Rukia's powers returned, that meant he had to give that position up, right?

He pondered on that thought for a moment.

...it would be better for Rukia that way, would it not?

The brunette scratched the side of his head as a way to dispel the thought. There was no use having such thoughts when it came to the inevitable.

"Argh, I'm starving!"

Rito cast a glance to the side, a smile slowly coming onto his face.

How could he have forgotten that Mizuiro had decided to accompany him on the walk home today?

He happened to be there when Rito suffered a beating thanks to the incident prior. Just Rito's luck that he had a friend there to pick him up when he was down. He could always count on Mizuiro for that much, at least.

Rito ran a hand through his hair again as he thought on the subject.

It was starting to get rather hot. Ah, exams were also coming up, so that was certainly something he should take some concern on. Fighting monsters was no valid excuse for flunking, after all.

"Now that I think about it, our usual's off the table."

"Right, Keigo's at work..." Mizuiro rubbed his chin lightly as he began to ponder on the subject.

"I would've said Benzai-Ten, it's a place that Dad used to take me whenever he got a big sale back in the day. Their three-flavored Cha Shao noodles were amazing!" Rito then averted his gaze, "...but it recently went out of business."

When he heard Mizuiro sigh, he slumped his shoulders. Though he felt somewhat better when the other gave him a light pat on the one closest to him.

"Why don't we take a stop at the Starbox Coffee near the station, then?"

Rito raised a brow to that suggestion. That was a pretty out there choice considering what they normally go and eat on their outings.

"I could really go for a Caramel Frappuccino."

"You go there often with those girlfriends of yours?" Rito teased with a smirk.

"Ah- Hey!" Mizuiro pouted, "I'm not dating any of them. I've told you that already!"

"I know, I know. I'm kidding." Rito waved off the notion, "You definitely have flirted with at least a couple of them, though."

"What's so bad about that!?"

"Nothing is." Rito let out a laugh afterward.

"Oh, forget about that!" Mizuiro pointed toward Rito with a huff, "How have things been between you and Haruna? The two of you have been a lot less awkward lately!"

"Huh? Have we...?" Rito turned his head forward.

"Yeah, you have! So, does that mean you two...?"

"No, it's not what you think." Rito shook his head, "I guess I've been kinda preoccupied with stuff, so being friends works. For right now."

Mizuiro puffed his cheeks at the answer, leaning forward to get a better look at his friend's face.

"Sure, but that's right now." Mizuiro raised a finger gently, "If you don't get it off your chest, you might end up regretting it later."

Rito gave a light shrug to that.

He supposed Mizuiro was not entirely wrong on that. After all, had she ended up with someone else in the school, he was unsure if he could handle it. It would be a definite shot to the heart, that was for certain...

But, his most recent thoughts on the matter have all consisted of one thing...

Would Haruna be better off if she did not have to deal with his problems...?

This feeling was subtle before. But, after being confronted by Yui about them... He could not help but feel it magnified.

He was unsure if he could handle Haruna worried over him like that all the time. Especially given that what he was dealing with were matters that she could not even see.

It was almost... Sad.

Now that he thought about it... Maybe that was what was holding him up all this time.

"Rito? You okay, pal?"

He cast a glance toward Mizuiro again, plastering a smile on his face.

"Nope. All good." Rito then clapped his hands together, "Oh, I did forget something! I didn't get to visit the shrine last week. Do you mind if we take a detour?"

"Oh, sure. I don't have anything planned."

Rito smiled and gave a light nod to his friend before they took to walk forward. He supposed their first stop was going to be Starbucks.

---

⦗ BGM Cue ー Memories of Summer ⦅ Shoji Meguro ⦆ ⦘

⦏ Monday: April 7th, 2008 ⦐

"...you mean I'm being transferred? To where?"

A bewildered Rukia turned her head. She had just gathered her things for another day of recon work. Surrounding her had been the jade walls of the Thirteenth Division's barracks, adorned with a wooden framing which resembled gold in the limelight.

"No, no. That's not it!"

A gloved hand waved off the notion.

The owner of this hand was a petite, dark blond, who had been wearing a similar uniform to that of Rukia's own. Her personal accessory to her uniform included that of a white button-up under the robes which had its folded collar protrude over.

Behind her was a taller man with dark, curly hair and a short goatee. His shihakusho was adorned with white straps which wrapped over his shoulder and around the back in a circle, matched with another strap used as a thin headband.

"We're not talking about transferring you or anything extreme like that." The blond began, "You're just going to the World of the Living. Y'know. Like that mission we went on together. When you first joined our Squad?"

Rukia stared at her for a moment, before giving a defeated expression, "...I can't seem to recall."

"That checks out. She doesn't even remember going." The man proclaimed, "It was probably such an awful experience that she repressed the memory deep into the recesses of her mind."

When he saw that the blond lowered her head, he gained a satisfied smirk. His determination to drive the wedge further showed when he leaned forward to look toward the sweating Rukia.

"Ain't that right, Rukia?"

"Uh, well..."

Rukia did not get a word out before the blond began to growl in a rage. She then sprung up from the ground and jabbed her finger into the male's chest.

"YOU KEEP QUIET! NOBODY ASKED YOU‼" She then threw the finger toward the door, "Why don't you do something useful and stick your head in some sand somewhere!?"

"Oh yeah!?" The male grounded his teeth as he leaned toward her, "What do you think I am, an ostrich!?"

"...please stop." Rukia weakly begged.

As the argument between the two had continued, footsteps could be heard outside the open door. That foot would be visible through the doorway.

"Your post consists of a 4 km radius surrounding Sainan Town. It's just for one month."

The one who gave the briefing on her mission was none other than her captain himself. A mild-featured man with brown scholarly hair enhanced by square glasses, a pair of soft brown eyes behind them. Over a shihakusho that matched with Rukia's own was a white haori which feature maroon highlights and of course, their division's symbol on the back.

"With your skills, I have no doubt this mission won't be difficult whatsoever."

Immediately, Rukia sprung from her seated position to kneel instead.

"C-Captain Aizen!"

"O-oh, Captain!" The male had a sweat run down the side of his head.

Meanwhile, the blond had stepped forward with a bright smile on her face.

"I would have thought you'd still be immersed in your calligraphy by now!"

Aizen gave a light chuckle, "I was. But something told me the two of you might need some help on the debriefing." His attention then turned toward his kneeling subordinate, "It may only be a month long, but I had the feeling you may be anxious about being sent out on your own for the first time. So, I came to see you off."

Rukia let out a low gasp at that, bowing graciously in quick succession.

"Thank you, Captain!"

"Please, Rukia. No need to bow." Aizen gave a light smile, "It's nothing at all to wish my Division Members luck on their missions."

The winds came through behind them. When they had, they carried along with them the vibrant leaves of the cherry blossoms overhead.

Aizen raised a hand gently to straighten his glasses, "Have you told Captain Kuchiki?"

"O-of course!" Rukia raised her head from the ground to look to her captain, "I mean..."

Just the thought of her brother made her anxious. Her eyes lowered somewhat as she clutched the pant legs of her shihakusho.

"...not yet." The defeat she felt was evident in her tone of voice, "Captain Kuchiki... Hates it when I bother him with every little detail."

She let out a sigh.

Of course he did. They were not real family, after all... Even so, that did not mean that she did not want to be...

"So... I was going to leave without saying anything to him about it."

Aizen's face morphed into a thoughtful one.

"...I see."

Aizen then stepped forward and took a seat on the floor parallel to Rukia. Soon enough, his gentle smile would return to his features. Perfectly in place for the right moment such as this.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, okay?" Aizen spoke gently, "If that's truly your choice, then I will support your decision. I'll tell him in your place."

The two behind them had both given smiles of their own as they watched the scene.

"So you can go on your mission with a clear conscience."

Rukia's eyes widened at this.

"Thank you, Captain!"

Rukia stared at the ceiling as she laid back on the white bed following her examinations.

She was sure that the initial ones were plenty enough. But it had turned out that

A clear conscience, hm...? So much for that.

Her conscience was anything but clear. She was unable to perform the mission she was assigned to. She was here now for twice as long as she was supposed to be.

No, that did not even begin to cover the major issue with all of this.

Just look at her now... She was playing school girl. Powers lost. Forced to be tied to the hip of the most clueless boy she believes she had ever met.

Not to mention that boy dragged her into being forced to tolerate the daughter of King Deviluke himself, the single largest headache for the Soul Society yet!

She had been told that the Central 46 ruled him as an enemy to merely be observed for now given that he did create a peaceful solution during the Unification Wars not too long ago.

But honestly? She was still unsure about it.

Well. His daughter turned out tolerable, even with her strange inventions.

"Thinking about your Shinigami job?"

"Ye-" Rukia jumped in shock at the sudden question from her current physician, "H-how did you know...!?"

Mikado giggled at the question, setting down her coffee as she turned toward the girl.

"I have an extensive knowledge of biology, be it earthling or extraterrestrial. I know a fake body when I see one." She leaned back in her chair with a small smile, "There's only one person I've met in the entire world who was able to make one that almost fooled me. And you've got the same kind."

"Then, does that mean that you know Kisuke!?" Rukia's eyes widened, "But how...?"

"My, would you look at the time?" Mikado picked up her cup and notes, turning to head toward the door, "I'd best be going now. Be sure to lock up on your way out~❤"

"Hey, hold on!"

Rukia's shoulders slumped. She was already gone...

Great. Just another factor to weigh into this already messy situation.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

---

» 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞｡ «

---

The sound of screeches and crashes from the surrounding cars were immediate.

Somehow, Saki had found herself escaping from the major wreckage and instead...

Having stepped away from her limousine, she would see that the bumper was wedged into the side of a construction site. The fence having been torn through by a truck that narrowly avoided crashing into any others.

"This is quite the issue..."

"My apologies, Saki-sama." Her driver gave a bow of his head, "This was due to my incompetence..."

She would hardly call it that. Given the current state of the entire crossroad, she would have to just chalk it up to being a side effect of this street.

"This is just what happens when you give roads to the working class..."

Another crash sounded just close by, drawing the attention of the heiress. When she looked on, she was astonished at what she had seen.

A metal beam had fallen from another corner of the site they crashed into. Though, instead of hitting the ground, it was stopped by what seemed to be an immovable object.

"A-are you alright, Man!?"

"Y-you caught a steel beam with your back‼"

With a grunt, said beam would slide off of the young man's back as a puff of dust kicked up behind him. Raising a hand, he slapped it against his shoulder before he rolled it a few times.

After a sigh of relief, he gave the two men he rescued a thumbs up.

"Yep, all good!"

"YOU'RE BLEEDING‼"

Saki, the bystander, could only watch with an amazement in her eyes.

There he was again. The young man who gallantly rescued her from her sudden death in the abandoned school building. He caught a steel beam on his back to rescue those two ruffians...

She kept her hands to her side as she watched him for a short while longer.

She was supposed to be focused on her rivalry with Lala. To show that pinkette who truly reigned as Sainan's queen.

However, for the life of her, she could not seem to stop thinking about that boy since the day prior. He filled her dreams in the last night. The moment played over and over in her mindscape.

She was certain that this moment would join that roundabout this night...

Her hand raised to her chest. What was she supposed to do about that...?

"Sir, I don't believe that will work..."

"Oh don't worry, I'm fairly strong."

Saki could not believe it.

After going through and helping through the crash site as medical attention was on the way, now he was approaching her limousine.

Her driver was attempting to stop him from whatever it was he had planned, but it seemed to no avail as he crouched down and gave a light blow on both of his hands. A rub of the two palms together was the warmup he gave before gripping onto the edge of the car.

With some struggle, the metal would creak in resistance of his grip. The entire frame of the vehicle shook from his efforts.

Shock was only the simplest way of describing the emotion that ran through the pair of heiress and servant at that time.

In that time, the limousine arose by his hands. A show of strength that Saki would never have before believed possible for a human being.

"One, two, and..."

Soon enough, Masaki had set the limousine down ahead of them. When he had, he raised his hand to rub over his back gently.

"There we go, stuck no more!"

He had then turned back toward the shocked Saki. A smile on his face as he gave a small thumbs up toward her.

"Good as new!"

This was the second time. The second time that he appeared from seemingly nowhere just in the nick of time to save her from her perils.

Just... Who was he...?

"Oh, um, you should take this guy too!"

Masaki turned back to see the two men he saved leading an ambulance over in his direction.

"Guys, c'mon. I told you I'm fi-"

The young man then dropped to his knees as his forehead dripped with blood.

"No you're not, Sir."

"C'mon, let's get you checked up."

With that, her savior was carried off in a not-so-gallant chariot. Saki was currently unsure of what the proper reaction to all that was happening even was.

---

She sometimes ought to wonder what had even brought her here. Perhaps a prayer for luck in her upcoming finals.

Yui gently clasped her hands together.

It was a silent prayer.

For the sake of her success. For the sake of at least one week of tranquility. Where she had not been forced to deal with the problem pair that was Yukki Rito and Lala Satalin Deviluke.

Opening her eyes, she resolved to wait and see if that prayer would be answered.

"Suppose I'd better get back home soon..."

With any luck, her brother would be off on one of his ridiculous dates now. Which left the house to herself for a good while. That would grant her ample opportunity to study.

Yes. That was exactly what a model student such as herself should do on a free day such as today.

...except, there was a clear obstruction to that plan.

Three were sitting right at the top of the stairway down from the shrine. Their collective body masses filling what space she could have to get through.

What idiots. To block the exit like this...

Clearly the term obstruction was not in their vocabulary.

That was fine. She would make them learn it.

"HEY‼"

A shout proudly leapt from Yui's mouth as a demanding finger fluttered forth to point in their direction.

"I want to pass! Get out of my way!"

The three gave each other confused looks before turning her way. They came to mutter amongst themselves in the silence that followed.

However, that was not what concerned her most in this situation.

"Those clothes...!" Yui looked appalled, "To go out in public like that. How shameful! Your parents would all cry if they saw you."

"This chick's brave, huh?"

The three looked to themselves once more. They then all let out a snicker as they grinned toward her deviously.

"We'll forgive that little outburst of yours if you decide to have a little fun with us."

"Looks like you're a high school girl..." Another stepped toward her, raising a hand to her chin and lightly pressing his thumb against it. "But that body of yours is stacked better than some women I've been with."

The three snickered again as they all looked at her with lecherous eyes.

It was those same very eyes that Yui despised seeing. A wretched expression that no one with proper morals should ever have...!

"GET OFF OF ME!"

In a fit of rage, Yui would quickly slap the man who touched her and step back. When she had, it seemed to catch him off guard. His eyes snapped open far enough for the whites of them to be seen beyond his sunglasses.

"What the hell..." He then grit his teeth, "Oh you've crossed a line now, bitch!"

The three began to step towards Yui, who had been backing away.

Yui winced. A blow to her pride as a defender of morality. Trapped like a rabbit in the face of a wolf pack...

It was just embarrassing.

"Now come on, behave...!" The second stepped forward, an arm of his going to reach out toward her, "If you do, then I'll promise me and my boys will be gentle..."

Yui's eyes widened in horror.

Gentle?

Did that mean that they were going to try to...

Help. She desperately needed help.

But even so... She could not bring herself to call for it. After all, she was Kotegawa Yui. She was the one who was expected to handle messes like these, was she not...?

Now look at her. She had fallen victim to one.

It had been like this before, too...

"So you don't even know...? That's not fair..."

That was true. It was not fair how she expected honesty so vehemently out of others. After all, she had never once been honest with herself all this time.

She wanted help, but none was coming.

A glance around and there was so little people who could possibly do anything.

But even so...!

"Get away from me!" Yui shouted in defiance, "I-I'm not doing anything with you!"

"Feisty one, aren't you?" The first of the thugs licked his lips.

The second gave a light shrug, "That's fine. I love to play rough~"

Yui's face contorted with a mixture of disgust and anger. Which despite her efforts to show her unwillingness to cooperate, it somehow seemed only to further fuel the fires in these men to do what they want anyhow.

"What nice looking legs you have~"

Yui gulped at that. The face she was putting on earlier cracked as she felt the third's hand run along her thigh.

She cursed the world.

Why were men all like this...?

Why is there no one to help her...?

Why was it that all of the people who were passing by acted as though this was not even occurring?

It was at a shrine, dammit! At a place that embodied purity, she was going to be...!

"Alright, then. Let's get this shirt off! I'm trynna see what's underneath!"

The thugs laughed amongst themselves.

Yui snapped her eyes shut.

She did not want to resign herself to this fate, but... What was there she could do? She lacked the strength to escape this. Why was she so powerless...?

Why...!?

She felt herself fall backward, landing on her rear. The fall cushioned only by her skirt.

"ARGH!"

There was a yelp of pain.

It was not from her, though.

Her eyes slowly came to open. It was then she would see that the third grunt's hand, which had been inching under her skirt just seconds prior, was now kept away from her by a firm grip.

"L-let go of me, dammit!"

"You bastard!"

The second rushed forward, his swing forward had missed. Met instead with his associate being thrown into him. The both of them falling to the side in the momentum.

"Wait a minute..." The first's eyes came to widen, "I heard there was a high school kid who singlehandedly took out the Shirotoshiyama gang..."

The other two then looked to one another as they recovered, then to their other compatriot with a horror in their eyes.

"I-it was said that Toshi was beaten so bad he went on the straight and narrow path..."

"You're saying this is the guy...!?"

Huh...? Who were they talking about...?

Her gaze moved upward to get a look at who had come to her aid. When she did, her eyes widened as her cheeks lit aflame.

It was just like back then...

"I'm sure you guys were taught how to keep your hands to yourselves, weren't you?"

She could not tell what his face looked. But she was sure of one thing...

Anger was never an emotion she had ever seen Rito portray before. Now it was the only emotion that filtered through his voice.

"Hello?"

When she looked up toward the gates, she would see Mizuiro leaning against the left pole. There, he spoke into his cell phone with a soft smile on his face.

"Yes, I'll be needing an ambulance over at the East Shrine."

Mizuiro nodded as the other end spoke to him.

As he had, Rito would crouch down. He stretched the both of his legs while the three before him resolved themselves to fight.

Yui, being the spectator, could only watch with the hope that Rito and Mizuiro would turn out okay in the end...

"Screw this! We're better than them! We'll take this punk out and show everybody whose boss!"

"YEAH!" The other two cheered.

"Yes, we've got three injured here." Mizuiro continued, "It looks like they got beaten down pretty bad, so please come quick."

Rito had then stood up straight, his fists clenched as the three charged toward him.

Yui heard only the cries of the thugs in the wind when Rito had moved forward.

After a short while, they would all be laid out on the ground. Their bodies twitched from the pain delivered onto them. Rito walked away from them with a huff.

Yui, meanwhile, was dazed.

It was like they could not even touch him in the first place. As though he soared through the skies above them where they could never reach...

What was she going on about? The girl had pulled herself off of the ground to look toward where he had gone.

It was there that she saw him crouched down, looking toward a girl who had been crying. When she took a closer look, the girl was translucent. Did that mean she was a ghost?

"Hey, now. It's okay now..." Rito tilted his head lightly, "I took care of those mean guys. So you don't have to cry anymore, okay?"

The girl slowly lowered her hands, giving him a light nod of her head.

"That's the spirit." A chuckle shortly followed.

"Hey, Rito?" Mizuiro jabbed his thumb toward the distance behind him, "We gotta go. That ambulance should be here to pick those guys up soon!"

Rito looked back toward the other with a shocked expression, "Oh, crap, you're right!"

He pushed himself off of the ground and rushed over to a still confused Yui.

"Come on, Kotegawa, we gotta go!"

"Ah!"

Before she knew it, she was being pulled along by her hand toward the exit of the shrine. Rito rushing off behind Mizuiro. His hand firmly wrapped around her own as he guided her away from the scene.

"Yukki...-kun...?"

---

A chime sounded as a pair had stepped out from a restaurant.

It had been Yui's older brother, Kotegawa Yuu, accompanied by the young woman he had been on the phone with earlier, Ayumi.

A smile was plastered over his face as they walked.

After all, the date was going just as well as he had predicted it would. A smooth man such as himself could not live it down if it had not.

When his attention moved away from the darling holding onto his arm, his attention was caught by a pair running on the other side of the street.

Was that... Yui...?

"Is something wrong, Yuu-chan?"

He gave a light shake of his head and smiled toward her, "It's nothing. Shall we go?"

As Ayumi gave him a nod, he began to escort her away on a nice stroll.

All his life, he had only ever known Yui to have one singular male friend: Inoue Masaki. Whenever he had asked his little sister about any others, she would always give some excuse about them all being too shameless for her tastes.

Even so... Why did he get the odd feeling that he had seen this scenario somewhere before?

---

Rito let out a sigh of relief once the run came to an end.

"Looks like we got away from those guys. Eh, Mizuiro?"

When he turned his head to look in front of him, there was no Mizuiro to respond.

His jaw dropped.

"Mizuiro!? Huh? Where did you go!?"

He was just there a second prior, he was sure of it! His eyes darted in either direction with a speediness that made his hair flip toward either direction.

"That jerk..." Rito huffed, a hand rested on his hip.

Well, it would be rude if he forgot about the person he dragged out here.

"Sorry about that, Kotegawa..." Rito rubbed the back of his head as he looked back toward Yui, "I kinda dragged you with me without thinking."

He stopped, though, when he saw that she had been staring at the sign of the store they were standing outside of the whole time. A brow raised, he stepped over next to her to look up at the sign himself.

A gift shop's side door which lead to the alley they were in...

It seemed so simple and mundane at first.

But at the same time, he got some strange sense of deja vu when he looked around the place...

His attention moved to look toward Yui again. But, at this proximity, there was something he exclusively failed to notice before...

Wait...

"Kotegawa..." Rito's eyes slowly widened, "Those hairpins..."

Yui looked up toward him with surprise on her face. She slowly turned toward, her lips slowly parting.

"Yukki-kun... Do you... Remember...?"

The two gazed into one another's eyes as a yellow hue granted a limelight from the horizon.

---

» 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬｡ «

---

⦏ Sunday: September 21st, 2003 ⦐
❲ 9:08 a.m. ❳

"Yoruichi-san, what exactly are you watching on our TV?"

An orange haired woman stared with a deadpan expression at the tan woman who gave a cheeky grin toward her as she was laid out on the couch of the Yukki household.

This was Rito and Mikan's mother, Yukki Ringo.

To be frank, there was no sugarcoating what Yoruichi was watching. It was porn.

Yoruichi raised a hand to scratch her left buttock as she paused the recording.

"What? Your TV has better quality than Kisuke's. Plus, your DVD player actually runs more than half the time."

"You forget that you're watching it in our living room!" Ringo stamped her foot on the ground, "What if my children see this!?"

"I'll just explain it to them." Yoruichi waved it off, "After all, Rito's gonna get to that age where he gets curious soon enough anyway, isn't he?"

"Absolutely not!" Ringo pointed a finger toward the woman, "I would rather not have my son take on a path that resembles anything like yours!"

"Oh, wow." Yoruichi sat up on the bed, stretching a leg of hers before resting it over the armrest on the other side, "I thought we were friends, Ringo?"

Ringo deadpanned at that, "You get to lounge around our house because you're a perfect model for my clothing brand."

"I babysit Rito and Mikan very well, too. Don't forget that." Yoruichi puffed out her chest, "But I do like the sound of being called perfect."

"What's going on in h-" Saibai walked into the room and saw the frame at which the TV had been paused on, his jaw dropping dramatically, "...oh my god."

"I know, right?" Yoruichi snickered.

Ringo's brow twitched as she heard her husband suddenly scribbling something on the small notebook he always carried around.

"Anata..."

"Yes, my love?" Saibai answered while his face was buried in his notebook.

"What exactly is it you're planning?"

"I've been exploring the genres for my books lately, and I've never taken a dip towards the abyss before." Saibai lifted his head from his book with a smile, "That frame gave me an idea for Rito to give inspira-"

He stopped himself before he dug himself into the grave.

How did he know such a fate awaited if he finished? It was simple, really.

The death glare that Ringo pointed in his direction was enough to make any weaker willed man perish from eye contact alone. He gulped as his hands began to shake.

"You're not implying that you're intending to use our Rito for not just inspiration for your manga again, but for something inappropriate and morally corrupt on every level. Merely for the sake of a moment's spark of curiosity...?"

"N-no, of course not..."

Saibai was sweating bullets as he shrank in his wife's presence. An aura of concentrated malice seemed to spill out of her and slither toward him like a cobra catching its prey.

"...I was gonna wait until he's older."

It squeezed tight. To the point where Saibai could almost physically feel it.

...until he literally did when his wife began to strangle him.

Yoruichi could only laugh at the peril the man was in as she watched him drop to the ground at his wife's mercy. After a ding sounded from the heavens, he was knocked out cold.

Ringo stepped up from the ground with a satisfied sigh as Saibai's leg twitched.

Yoruichi's head then turned back to the hall as she heard the Yukki siblings get to the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, hey Squirt. What you two up to?"

"Hi Ms. Yoruichi!" Mikan gave a wave, "I didn't know you'd be here today!"

"Just on a visit." Yoruichi rubbed the girl's head with a smile.

"Whatcha watching?"

Before Yoruichi could give an answer, Ringo would slide across the room to swipe the remote from her hands. With that same swiftness, she would turn forth and shut off the television before Mikan could get any good look at what was on it.

"Absolutely nothing, dear!"

"O-oh, okay." Mikan chose not to argue with her mother.

"Hey, Mom?" Rito spoke up, his hands pocketed in his shorts.

"Yes? What is it, Dear?"

"Mikan wants to go play at the shrine again." Rito began, "Is it okay if we go?"

"Okay, but stay together this time, okay?" Ringo smiled toward her kids, "I don't want Mikan coming home crying that you picked a ghost over her again."

"I don't remember doing that..." Rito blinked.

"You did too, Onii-chan!"

"When?"

Ringo giggled as he saw the two looking at one another with conflicting emotions. "Now, now. Don't fight. Go have fun."

"Okay!" The both of them chirped before they took their leave.

Yoruichi watched the pair take their leave with a small smile on her face. She then turned her gaze toward Ringo with a sly grin.

"Are you gonna have Risa over again soon?"

"...why are you asking that all of a sudden?" Ringo sighed.

Yoruichi clapped her hands together softly, "Becau~se. Rito's a boy and she's a girl. They hang out all the time, and she's been here a few times. You catch my drift?" She emphasized it with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Over my dead body." Ringo glared at Yoruichi.

"Oh come on, it's not so bad an idea, honey." Saibai miraculously recovered at this time to assist Yoruichi's point with a nod. "Besides, if Rito falls in love now: I can have a real life reference for that love plot point I was gonna introduce in-"

"OUR SON IS NOT YOUR MANGA REFERENCE!"

Yoruichi dodged the slipper that boomeranged around to hit Saibai in the back of the head.

With that, he was out cold again...

---

Rito stretched his arms as he hung from the monkey bar at the shrine's playground.

He was hoping that Masaki or Sho would be around today, but that did not seem to be the case. While he did love his sister very much...

She was not quite good at athletics based tasks.

He was so bored...!

What was he to do now...?

"Hey, Onii-chan!"

He could try finding the priest's son. Maybe he would know how to play.

Or if not, he could have the fun of making him learn his way.

A grin came onto his face that was reminiscent of Yoruichi at the thought. One that he wiped off when Mikan gave him a deadpan look for.

"Onii-chan, are you listening!?"

He finally looked to his sister when she stared at him with an angry pout.

Oh. Was she actually trying to tell him something? He had assumed that it was just something boring she wanted him to do again like roll down the hill...

"What's up, Mikan?"

"Look!" Mikan threw a hand out to point to the other side of the shrine, "There's trouble!"

That put a sense of urgency in Rito. The boy swung on the monkey bar and hopped off.

When they had gotten closer, the both of them saw that there was a group of boys that were standing at the end of the fence.

Rito found himself unable to help but wonder what what exactly they were doing there...

"We're tired of you acting like you're so much better than us!"

"Today, you're gonna get it!"

Were they ganging up on somebody? That was no good.

"Onii-chan, this is bad!"

"I know!" He shot a glance toward his sister, "Mikan, get the bag, we're gonna run!"

"Right!"

The boy grit his teeth before he rushed toward the three.

He truly had no idea what was going on. Even so, he had to do something about this!

"STOP‼"

The boys stopped when they heard him call out. When they turned to look in his direction, he was able to see who it was they were gathered around.

He remembered her! That was the girl with the cat!

"LET HER GO NOW‼"

Good. They were confused.

Then it was time for him to make his move! He swung his arm forth and grabbed onto the girl's hand.

"C'mon!"

Without a second's hesitation, he would pull her along to escape from the shrine as Mikan followed behind them.

"HEY!" The three roared back, "GET BACK HERE!"

"Onii-chan, that was so cool!" Mikan cheered as they ran.

Before they were out of sight, though, Mikan had stuck her tongue out toward the boys.

---

The young Yui was now confused.

First she confronted three boys who were picking on a couple of her juniors. Then the tables turned on her and she was being picked on.

Then this boy... The same one who saved that poor cat from the tree... Came in and literally pulled her out of that situation.

Now she and the siblings were all catching up on their breath as they sat against a wall in an alleyway.

"Okay... They won't get to us... This far..."

"You... Run... Too fast... Onii-chan..." The sister looked as though she were melting.

The brother looked toward her with a smile and gently pat her head, "But you kept up this time... I'm proud of you."

Yui was unsure if the giggling that came from the sister was more from a heat craze or the praise.

No. Wait. That did not even matter!

"Why?"

The siblings looked to the girl. They did not seem to understand what she was getting at...

"W-why did you do that!?" Yui demanded, "Did you... Think I needed to be saved by some boy like you!?"

"Wha...?" The brother blinked, a bit thrown off by the question.

"I'm not helpless!" She stood from the ground, her hands balled into fists, "I could have handled that all on my own!"

He was a boy. Boys only did good things when it meant they would get something in return. She refused to owe debts to anyone like that.

That gaze of his that bore into her soul was not helping her. She felt herself uneasy at its presence. Like her chest became tighter the longer they locked eyes.

That was weird. Was she sick? All that running might have done something to her.

That was probably it.

The girl turned her head to the side in frustration.

The feeling had eased when she looked away. That was weird, too.

Was... He the reason she felt this way?

"Why are you yelling at Onii-chan!?" She heard the sister yell suddenly, "He saw you were in trouble and came to help! What's so bad about that?!"

Yui found herself conflicted at that.

Boys were terrible.

Boys were terrible.

That was how things always were.

Even her father and brother were bad in their own ways.

A boy helped someone out of the kindness of their heart? She had never heard of that before now.

She paused as she heard the sound of ruffling. Oh, that was right. The sister was carrying a paper bag, was she not...?

"Onii-chan...?"

She could only assume that meant that the brother was grabbing something from that bag. Even so, she could not bring herself to look his way. After all, that strange feeling might come back.

She found herself a bit nervous when she heard him start to walk closer, though. Was he going to get mad at her now...?

Yui admittedly would not be surprised if that were the case.

She should have minded her manners and just thanked him...

"Here."

Yui blinked.

In the corner of her eye, she saw his hand outstretched toward her. So, deciding to follow her line of sight, she came to turn her head forward to look at what was being offered.

In his hand was a small brown box. Yui, out of curiosity, had decided to take the box from his hands and open it. When she had, what lied beneath the cover were two hairpins adorned with a cyan flower, molded in a crystalline cyan color.

"What's this...?"

"A gift." The boy quickly responded, "I want you to have it."

"Onii-chan, what're you doing!?" The sister tugged at his arm, "You bought that for Mom when she leaves!"

A gentle smile came over the brother's face as he lightly pat his sister on the head. "It's okay. I'm sure Mom will understand."

"But Onii-chan...!"

"Why give this to me?" Yui raised a brow.

The brother looked toward her and lowered his hands. A sincere expression overtook his features, one that Yui would go on to remember vividly.

"Because I made you upset." He answered matter-of-factly, "I didn't mean to do that, so I have to apologize. And I figured that it would make you feel a lot better if I gave you something."

Yui looked down to the hairpins. She closed the box slowly. Her hands held onto it tight. As if it were fragile as glass.

This was the first time a boy had ever given her anything. Normally, she would be told that she was full of herself, or annoying. But he did all this...?

What was she supposed to think, here...?

Well. There was one thought that came to mind about it...

"I wish they were kitties..." She muttered under her breath.

The boy blinked and tilted his head, "Is something wrong?"

"N-no!" Realizing her error, the girl had rapidly shook her head in either direction before hugging the box to her chest, "T-thank you very much!"

When she looked back at him afterward, her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. The bright smile that ran across his face would also be burned deep into her memory from that moment onward.

...little did she know, it would be because it was her brain's way of reminding her it existed at all in the future.

"Of course!"

Behind him, his sister had a pout on her face as she crossed her arms. Soon enough, she would turn her back toward the sky outside and shriek.

"O-Onii-chan! The sun's starting to come down! We have to get home quick!"

"Oh no, we do!"

The boy sprung up from the ground, his hand raised to scratch his hair before he turned back toward the girl with another smile.

"Uh, sorry, but we've gotta go!" He waved as the siblings took to run off, leaving the bag behind for Yui to carry the box in. "Later‼"

"W-wait!" Yui called out for him, but to no avail.

He could have at least given her something to call him...

Now that he was gone, she had something else to focus on. How her chest thumped. She raised a hand and pressed it against herself gently to examine it somewhat. It was like her heart was punching at her chest. Hard.

Her gaze moved back to the box in her hands. Soon enough, she had opened the box again. Her eyes now transfixed on the hairpins within.

---

» 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐬｡ «

---

⦗ BGM Cue ー Going Home ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

The scene returns to the two who were staring into each other's eyes.

"I..." Rito gulped, "I never... Realized..."

"I know..." Yui turned away, her hands locked into one another behind her back. "Even when I wore them more often..."

"H-have you really been!?" Rito's eyes snapped wide, "I didn't even notice! I'm so sorry!"

Rito clasped his hands together and bowed his head to the point his body arched.

Oh he never felt like such an idiot before! He met her twice before Junior High and it never clicked that he might have known her beyond that...!

He even gave her the present he intended for his mom that he spent all of his allowance on that week!

In fact, she was wearing them as they spoke!

Yui was probably ready to blow up at him at any second. A bomb that was slowly drawing toward the end of its line for almost 5 whole years, just waiting to go off at any moment!

He remembered Ise and Tsukune and he had not seen them personally for far longer!

...but he supposed that was because they still kept in contact regularly. He also always had Risa around to remind him of them.

Perhaps that excuse had its merits.

Even so, he began to grind his teeth internally. There was no way Masaki did not know about this...! He was her go-to friend for who knows how long!

"You don't have to apologize..." Yui looked down, her bangs covered over her eyes, "It's not like we talked all that much, until recently..."

"Even still, Kotegawa, I still feel bad..." Rito scratched his cheek lightly, "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

Yui crossed her arms, then. This made Rito flinch.

He must have really made her mad. Was there actually any way he could fix this...? He felt that he was actually able to get along with her now. He hoped that him being forgetful did not drive a wedge in that...

"...Yui."

"Huh?"

Yui looked back toward Rito with a slow smile, the light of the sunset making it seem all the more wonderous.

"If you really want to make it up to me, I want you to call me by my first name."

"Wait..." Rito blinked a few times, checking if he was still in reality, "Really?"

"You call Masaki-kun by his first name, and..." Yui averted her gaze, her cheeks having become a bright shade of red, "I want to be just as close to you... If not closer..."

Rito did not hear the last part. But he did not want to ruin the moment by asking her to repeat. She would probably slap him for that...

Okay. He could do that...

After all. He should not keep himself closed forever... He knew in his heart that Shota would think so, too.

"I don't mind getting closer with you at all..." Rito gave the best smile he could muster, "...Yui."

A triumphant moment of a new friendship's formation...

Except he could hear the trumpets that played in his head die down when she looked like she were about to fall over. His hands waved in either direction, unsure of whether or not he would have to catch her when she had suddenly doubled over.

Her entire frame seemed to be shaking as she stood there. Her hair was covering her face, so he could not see what kind of face she was making.

"Y-Yui!? Are you okay!?"

She crouched down to the ground, her hands slapped over her face now. Was there actually something wrong with her now!?

Rito quickly drew out his phone and began searching through his contacts list.

"I'm okay..." Yui's voice came out in a squeak as she immediately sprung up off of the ground to stand at her full height, "J-just needed to adjust is all."

"Adjust...?"

"N-nevermind, it's nothing!" Yui shook her head and turned away, "I-I have to go now! I-I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

⦗ BGM END ⦘

...and off she went. Rito blinked as he watched her leave.

Was she really okay, though...? He could not help but wonder.

Rito then paused when he got a strange feeling... Was that a...?

No. That could not be...

But he could not ignore the possibility. With a downward swipe of his arm, he picked up his bag from the ground and rushed toward where his senses were guiding him.

---

Rukia had been reading her book in her "room", laid out on the bed.

Today had been rather peaceful, despite the annoyance of Mikado clearly hiding things from her. Then again, she supposed it would only make her a hypocrite to not allow others their secrets.

She just had to wonder, though... What would Mikado have to be to not only be aware of Gigai, but specifically knowledgeable in their anatomy...? Certainly, she was no ordinary woman.

The more pressing matter was that Rito had not returned home yet. That was strange. She was certain that he did not have any obligations today.

With a puffed cheek, she had set down her book and grabbed into her backpack. From there, she summoned a notebook and rolled through the pages until it reached the page where the top listed the day's date.

The pages that were passed through had an entry on damn near every single thing he had done of note every day since she had begun attending his school.

But there was no reason to question it. It was merely an observation tool. There was nothing special about it.

She made special note of the females he engaged with because she needed to note potential distractions to his training. That was all.

Anyway. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary for the day.

Rukia turned her attention to the side with a frown.

What could have been taking him so long...?

"Do you wanna take a bath with me, Mikan?"

"...I'd rather not."

She could hear the muffled voices of the other residents of the home and turned her attention away.

"I suppose there's a saving grace that it's a little quieter today."

---

Yui sat curled up in her bed. There she hugged the massive cat pillow she had tightly to her chest, her face buried into its soft exterior.

She knew that she was the one to ask him to call her that, but... She never expected for her heart to race like that just from hearing it...!

That was the second time ever that his face brightened like that.

She brought her hands over her face and ran them over with a long sigh.

She wanted to say more. She wanted to talk more! But, alas, what could they have talked about? She was unaware of his interests! She could try and ask Masaki for advice, but she would feel bad. The boy had enough on his plate as it were.

She hoped he found a place to stay by now...

She leaned her head against the headrest of her bed. Her eyes became lost in the ceiling above.

What was that she heard about Rito...? Him taking out some gang? What was that about...?

Oh, those two were so hopeless. No matter what she did, they always found some new topic for her to be worried about over the both of them. Those little troublemakers.

Yui's hand raised over her chest, her hand having a gentle grip on her shirt.

"I was finally honest..."

A smile came onto her face. It had felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Her brown eyes slowly made to look out toward the night sky that rested in the larger world.

Unbeknownst to her, the pins in her hair would give an orange gleam for the feintest of moments. The only evidence of it ever being there after being the sparkles that faded before they could touch her shoulders.

---

» 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭｡｡｡? «

---

Rito found himself on a walk down a street that was darkened by the night, having little light from the poles that line the thick walls that separated the roadway from the outside world.

He was quite a ways from home at the moment. Honestly, he would ordinarily already be at home by now.

He should have stopped by at least to grab Kon.

But at the moment, he felt it was a bad move to leave. After all...

The presence he felt before was at its strongest in this very moment.

The tunnel had been silent for the most part. Except for one sound...

A snore.

⦗ BGM Cue ー BL_73 ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

One that had a low echo ring throughout its entirety. It managed to reach so far that Rito had heard it from the outside.

He gulped.

Well then, here he went.

With a breath in from his nose, he had steeled himself. He needed to see what the source of it was.

As he walked through the dark hall, his footsteps rang through as though they were rocks that skipped along the pond that were the snores. His shadow loomed over what light was behind him.

It would only take a few minutes of walking before a figure came into view for him.

Sitting against the left wall was a man who was dressed in a getup that Rito had great suspicions of. But he had kept his distance, as an attempt of not to wake the man.

Before his next step, the man suddenly shot up his arms with a loud yawn.

"Oh! That was a nice little nap..."

When his arms lowered, he had rubbed the tiredness from his eyes. When he had, he took quick notice of the shadow that did not belong to him.

His eyes followed them to its owner, who looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Who are you...?" Rito questioned.

"Well, hello there." The man greeted, "I suppose that means you can see me."

After making that note, the man had let out a laugh. When he was done, he somersaulted to the other side of the tunnel to get up on his feet.

When he was there, he placed his hands on his sash. The light of the moon that peered through the tunnel behind him casted an ominous shadow over the man's form.

But one thing was clear enough for Rito...

This was a Shinigami.

"Sorry, I hate to be caught napping." The man grasped onto the hem of his hat, "Missions like these end up getting so dull that I find myself struggling to stay awake."

"Mission?" Rito raised a brow, "What kind of mission are you talking about?"

"Say, kid..." The man placed a hand on his chin as he gave Rito a onceover, "You wouldn't happen to know a Kuchiki Rukia, would you...?"

Rito's eyes narrowed when the other finally revealed his eyes. There may have been a kind smile emanating from his lips...

But his eyes told differently. A readiness to kill lie behind them. Like Rito himself were the prey that was just sighted for a hunt.

"...can't say I do, no."

"Oh really...?" The Shinigami slowly came to lower his hand toward the hilt of his sword, "I can't seem to think of why not. After all, you have quite the Spiritual Pressure on you."

Rito's eyes locked onto the sword at his hip when he heard his grip tighten on it.

"There's no doubt Kuchiki-san would be drawn to it."

"I really have no idea what you're talking about..." Rito narrowed his eyes again, "But you should just go back to wherever you came from."

"So you're insistent on lying..." The man lowered his head, a soft sigh escaping through his nose, "Then an interrogation just won't do, huh...?"

Instinct alone was what allowed for Rito's body to arch backward in time to avoid the quickdraw swing of the Shinigami's sword. The blade's movement swift along the wind that it passed through.

"For a human, you're pretty fast..."

"Tch!"

Before another swing could strike at him, Rito pushed his body weight away from his attacker. This culminated in a somersault much similar to the one the other had done when he awoke.

Rito, however, was crouched rather than fully standing due to having to pick up his bag from the floor.

The Shinigami took the initiative to rush forward and jab his sword forward. Rito sidestepped the attack. Another dodge lead him to be against the wall.

Several jabs were made but none seemed to land.

That was, until the Shinigami swung toward his left. Rito, anticipating a coming blow, had made to move away from what was threatening to strike.

It quickly turned out to be a feint, however, as he brought his sword around to slash at Rito's side in the midst of his movement.

At this, Rito had raised a foot to kick back the samurai. With some space between them, he took the time to check the wound on him. It was certainly a clean cut, but nothing he had not dealt with before. He was glad it was not deep enough to be life threatening.

Still. Had he gotten a better shot, it certainly would be.

"So, tell me, kid." The Shinigami held his blade forward, a slow grin emerging, "What's your relationship with Kuchiki-san? Are you two perhaps lovebirds?"

"What're you talking about!?"

"Surely you two are lovey dovey!" He pointed at Rito, "You've been together this whole time since she's gotten here, haven't you? Oh, but you were with a much different girl today, if you catch my drift~"

"That doesn't m-" Rito paused, his brow twitching when he saw the other bouncing his palms in the air in front of his chest as emphasis of his point, "Hold on, have you been stalking me!? What kinda pervert are you?!"

"Well... If you're not... Then it looks like Rukia's out of luck." The Shinigami placed their hand over their hat, "That was about the only excuse Soul Society would buy as to why she hasn't returned in so long."

To that, Rito's eyes had widened.

Excuse...? Why would she need an excuse?

She was here on a mission, right? Fulfilling her duties?

"Your job here is finished, right? Didn't you go back to the Soul Society? If that's the case, why are you in my class right now? You can't just randomly do-"

"Fool. If I could return to the Soul Society, I would."

Rito placed a hand over his mouth as a sweat broke out in his face.

It was his fault... Rukia was stuck in this world involuntarily because he had stolen her powers somehow. Which meant the trouble that Rukia was in now was because...

"But that's enough about her. We should talk about you now..." His hand lowered as he stared up toward Rito with a smirk, "Tell me about yourself, son. What is it that you do?"

"Huh?" Rito lowered his hands, a bit on edge due to the question, "What makes you ask that?"

"Just call it a curiosity..."

"Well, there's no way I'm answering some creep like you." Rito glared back at the man, who let out a laugh at that.

"Well, well. It looks like interrogating you really is pointless."

When the man brandished his weapon again, Rito was completely thrown off. He was certain that he was a good distance away from him.

But the gap had closed so suddenly. Rito's vision swallowed by the smirk of the attacker. Ready to launch a killing blow on the boy. Of that Rito had been certain.

There was no time to truly give any reactions. Rito had made to try and swipe out of the way, but he could tell. The sword was going to strike first.

"Rito-san, look out!"

⦗ BGM END ⦘

---

Tatsuki was unsure of what pissed her off so much today.

Over her shoulder hung the bag which held the boxing gloves she had been using at the gym. Today, the staff had to change out 3 punching bags instead of just 2. All courtesy of Tatsuki's fists.

She raised a hand and glanced down toward it with a frown.

Haruna and Rito were getting along rather well. Maybe they would finally hook up. She had been long aware of the way they look at each other.

...of when he stopped looking at-

Tatsuki slapped that hand over her face.

Ugh.

She was getting too worked up. After all, Lala said it was fine, right?

They lived together, so she had to have known about whatever was going on with him.

They... Lived together.

Tatsuki's foot swiped across the pavement. A poor can was victim to its sweep as it was flung across the quiet road.

She only got more pissed off whenever she tried to reassure herself.

Why did it consume her thoughts so much, anyway? Haruna was the one obsessed with him, not her.

She rubbed her chin and took a moment to collect her thoughts.

Right. Right. It was because they were great friends. Great friends looked out for one another. So of course, when she noticed something was wrong and her great friend refused to rely on her like he should, she became pissed.

In fact, he never seemed to rely on her anymore. He always seemed to just avoid her now. With that stupid dumb look on his face that made it clear as day to her that something was wrong!

Another can kicked away. This time, with enough force to break the can upon contact with the next wall.

She decided that tomorrow, she was going to give that jerk a piece of her mind. A huff escaped from her lips.

"Miss."

Soon enough, she had come to pass by a geezer on her way. Best to ignore him. She had enough annoyances as it were.

"Miss..."

It seemed this guy was stubborn. Whatever. She would just pick up her pace.

She was a bit far out from home, and her parents were not going to be home. That meant calling for a ride was out of the question. Maybe Haruna's sister?

Eh. She did not feel like inconveniencing her. She was quite nice.

"Miss!"

Her last nerve was struck.

This guy was annoyingly fast for someone so old. She had to commend that.

But even more so, she was extremely vexed about his persistence.

"WHADDOYA WANT!? CAN'T YOU SAY I'M IN A HURRY HERE?‼"

Tatsuki spun on her heel to face the geezer.

Who had been floating.

Ugh. Another ghost...

"I-I was trying to warn you that there was trouble up ahead and that you should turn the other way..."

"Trouble? Like what...?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Tatsuki's cheek.

Now she had a bad feeling...

---

The blade swiped through the air. Of that Rito had been certain.

A glance downward was enough to see that his body lay on the ground. Motionless. Likely cut down from the strike and laid to rest as they spoke.

It was unfortunate that he had to go out this way. If he knew he were going to die soon, he would have at least made the effort to tell Haruna how he felt first. Would unrequited love be enough to turn him into a Hollow?

He hoped not. He would rather not have unintentionally caused harm to Haruna.

Plus, he was not obsessed with her or anything of the sort. So he probably would just be bummed about it, but able to live.

...wait a minute. There was no Chain of Fate. And he could see his body. Did that mean...?

"Are you alright, Rito-san?"

Rito's gaze moved upward to look at who had been speaking to him. A translucent figure that he certainly recognized.

Oh, wait a minute...

"Oshizu!?"

The ghost girl clasped her hands together when he realized it was her. She bowed her head toward him, the boy a bit confused at the gesture.

"I'm so sorry, Rito-san. I was trying to push you out of the way, but I accidentally pushed out your soul, too."

"Wait a minute, you can do that!?"

Rito's eyes in Soul State were able to pick up on the enemy approaching quickly. Like a bullet in the wind that Oshizu was completely oblivious to.

With a grunt, he had kicked forward and drew his blade.

In just the nick of time, he had caught the slash before it struck the Nehanrei. The girl behind him audibly gasping at the sudden clash.

"Don't be sorry...!" Rito called back as he struggled to hold his foe back, "We woulda been dead if you didn't...!"

"Oh my... Now how could you be a Shinigami...?" The hatted man raised a brow as he pushed forward, "Oh no... This is not good at all..."

An upward swing of his arm threw Rito off balance. As the boy's arms flung in the air in response to the force, the man kicked forward. His foot pushing the boy through the air past Oshizu to tumble out of the tunnel into the moonlight.

Oshizu quickly moved over to Rito's side to help him up from the ground.

While he watched this, the man gripped onto his hat and looked downward with a frown.

"The only explanation for this is that our missing operative did a very, very bad thing..." The Shinigami shook his head, "That's quite the crime Kuchiki-san's committed."

"Crime...?" Rito raised a brow, brandishing his weapon, "What do you mean by that? What crime are you talking about!?"

"But... It is better this way." He continued, having ignored Rito's question, "I'd rather fight some Shinigami imposter than a lowly human..."

Rito felt a tick mark form in his skin at that.

"So... Let's dance!"

⦗ BGM Cue ー storm center ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

With a swing of his arm, his hat would be flung into the wind behind him as he rushed forth.

Rito twirled his large blade around to guard the side swipe before it struck. This left him open for a kick at the side that caused him to stagger to the side somewhat.

When his foe leapt in the air to slash down at him, Rito quickly swung his blade forward. The clash of blades stopped both fighters in the moment, but Rito was able to use his footing and the weight of his blade to his advantage.

A cry shot out of his throat as he threw it forward. The swing proved enough to fling the man backward.

A quick recovery on his end, though, as he flipped in the air to land on his feet back within the shadows.

"It's quite interesting that you're accompanying a Nehanrei..." The man mused, "Tell me, is she how you stole Rukia's powers?"

"What? No! We haven't done anything to Rukia-san!"

"Oshizu, don't." Rito placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "We don't have to explain a thing to this guy."

"Rito-san..."

"Now stay back, I've got this!"

Rito then roared as he charged forward, his sword raised over his head as he swung forth. When he did, he was met with a clash as his opponent made to parry.

This time, however, Rito decided to make use of this. Pulling his blade downward, he rolled its edge against the other Shinigami's. That way he could stab it into the ground and use as a polearm to swing himself overhead.

When it made to strike the ground, though, just as Rito had gotten his body up into the air, the Shinigami would strike first. His blade hitting against Rito's to throw it off course. When this had sent Rito downward, the Shinigami struck his open palm against his side at the perfect moment to launch him straight through the wall.

When Rito had been shot through, he rolled down the hill as debris tumbled around him.

That was not nearly enough to put him down, though, as he tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto and pushed himself up from the ground.

A laugh escaped from the tunnel as the other Shinigami leapt out from it. His sword raised high above his head as he swung down toward Rito.

When Rito parried the strike, the Shinigami would leap overhead. Rito, following the enemy's movements with his eyes, would see him flip around to kick against a light post.

When he had, he sprung toward Rito with a surprising speed. Even still, Rito swung forth his blade to catch the oncoming attack.

Just when Rito was about to give a whitty remark on the situation, his words were cut off by a powerful kick delivered right to his solar plexus. Rito coughed at the attack, but was not given the time to recover as his enemy proceeded to slash again.

This time, with no defense, Rito had suffered a cut on his arm. The pain snapped him back to his senses, though, his eyes filled with a newfound fury.

A swing forward met with a dodge. The Shinigami leaping onto his sword in the midst of the swing as a platform to kick Rito back from.

"Oh my, that's a shame. I thought that under Rukia, you'd be able to put up some kind of fight..."

Rito heard him call out as he slid across the grass.

He got up in time to see that the enemy already leapt in the air toward him. Before he stabbed into the dirt, he rolled out of the way and pulled himself up.

It was then that he found himself even more on the defensive then before. Only able to parry off the rampant attacks that came his way from either direction.

"But now I know you're just an amateur!"

Rito's eyes widened when he was suddenly pushed back by the next swing of the Shinigami's sword. His body thrown aside like a ragdoll from the force afterward.

He had to shake his head to put himself back together afterward, but he managed to get up from the ground slowly.

"You're relying purely on your raw physical ability as if it would be enough to cover your glaring weaknesses..." The Shinigami rested his sword on his shoulder, "But it's clear as day to any real fighter that you have no tactics or skill to capitalize!"

"You...!" Rito turned back toward him with his weapon brandished, "SHUT YOUR MOUTH‼"

He charged forward and swung at the Shinigami. Who seemed to merely vanish from sight before it had even struck.

Rito's eyes snapped open further when he heard a footstep in the grass just behind him.

"...and you're awfully slow for someone calling themselves a Shinigami..."

But how...?

Rito did not even see him move at all!

His thoughts were rattled by the sheer pain of the gash that was opened in his back courtesy of the Shinigami that struck from behind him.

Gritting his teeth, the boy would swing himself around to slash behind him. But when he swiped forth, the only thing he had cut through was an afterimage.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw the enemy there again. But he was not fast enough to dodge the kick that struck at his side. Hard enough to launch him into the light pole he had bounced off of earlier.

The Shinigami then approached with his sword held at his side.

A sigh then escaped from his lips.

"It's a shame you have to die so young, kid." He raised his hand over his head with a frown that was consumed by the shadows of the moon, "But this is the way things are."

When he swung down, he seemed genuinely caught off guard when Rito caught the attack. His hand shaking under the force he had been blocking.

"Still got some fight in you, huh?"

The Shinigami spun his blade around Rito's, a swipe underneath forcing the Surrogate to be parted with his blade. The large Zanpakuto stabbing into the ground a few feet from them.

Before Rito could try and recover from the ground, he stomped his foot onto his chest. The boy let out a cry of pain as he felt the sword stab into his side.

Rito had dealt with this pain before. The Grand Fisher was far worse. He would be fine...!

He reached toward the blade in an attempt to try and force it out of him. His failure resulted in him screaming louder when the Shinigami twisted it while still wedged inside to dissuade him from doing so.

"Well... I guess it's about time I wrapped all this up. Still got the main mission to do and all."

Rito looked up toward the Shinigami with his eyes narrowed.

Even in Soul State, he had barely put up any more of a fight than he had before...

This guy was strong... What the hell was he supposed to do here...?

The short and sweet of it? There was nothing he could personally do. A futility that left him on the short end of the stick.

Just like back then...

In the end, he supposed the world always had a way to remind hopeless fools of when there was nothing different. Rito moved his head in the direction of where he last saw Oshizu.

She was no longer there. He hoped that meant she had escaped. He was well aware that if not Rukia, then she would be sought after next.

Resigning to believe in that hope, he glared back up at his opponent. Even in his last moments, he would not back down.

If he learned anything, it was that much.

"I'll be sure to make this quick."

The man reversed the grip of his blade. His arms raised upward in preparation to stab into Rito.

The winds seemed to rip in the moonlit sky. As if they wept for the boy the moment it came down.

"I WON'T LET YOU‼"

Rito's expression went from defiant to surprised.

The Shinigami yelped in surprise as he had suddenly been lifted into the air... By the light pole!?

It was coiled tightly around his body like it were a snake as it had been in ways that would not normally be possible.

When Rito looked to what could have been the cause, he would see Oshizu floating in the air opposite to him. Her arms outstretched in a great focus as she winced.

"How is she... So strong...!?"

The Shinigami struggled in the hold of the coil. As he did, the entire light shook in frame. The light blinked as a sign that the binds were slowly beginning to break.

"Can't hold...!" Oshizu grumbled, before her eyes widened, "How about... This‼"

When she pulled back her arms, the light poll bent backward as though it were elastic. Then, when she threw forth her hands, the catapult strung forth.

The Shinigami let out a cry of shock as he was launched over the horizon.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

Rito let out an exasperated sigh as he struggled to stand once more. When he had, he wobbled slightly as blood dripped from his wounds.

"R-Rito-san, wait a moment!"

His gaze moved to the side as Oshizu floated toward him with her hands raised gently.

"You shouldn't be moving around with those injuries!"

"I'm all good." Rito gave a thumbs up, "I've dealt with worse..."

"That's not exactly reassuring, Rito-san..." Oshizu sweatdropped.

"Maybe not..."

Rito walked over to grab his sword from the ground. With a wince from the sting at his side, he returned it to the hilt that fell of his back from the slash before.

"But still... I'd better just head home..."

"With those injuries!?" Oshizu floated in front of him, raising her arms, "You shouldn't even return to your body right now, but you're talking about going home?"

"Well, yeah. Hole in my side or not, I have school in the morning..." Rito grunted as he moved past Oshizu.

"You know what will happen the moment you enter your body, no!?"

"Yeah... I know." Rito kept on anyhow, "I'm sure I've got something in my bag to cover the hole, so it's fine..."

"You are far from fine!" Oshizu looked around frantically, "Where is Rukia-san? Can she not heal you again like she did yesterday?"

"Probably home."

After some time, Rito was at the top of the hill. The light of the moon sprawled over his bloodied back as he stared down at his unconscious human body.

When he entered it, all of the wounds on his Soul State would be made open there as well...

He was more than certain it would hurt like hell.

But if he took too much longer, he would make Mikan worry over him. That was the last thing he needed now. Especially given that he was spared from his near death.

The last thing he wanted was to give any sign he was playing the part.

He paused when he found himself stopped involuntarily. A glance backward lead him to see that it was thanks to Oshizu, who was holding him still with her telekinesis.

"Rito-san... Please." Oshizu begged, "You can't do this."

"Oshizu..." Rito winced, his head turned back forward, "There's no help anywhere close... I'd have to return to my body anyway..."

"Then let me find some!" Oshizu floated around Rito, her concentration still focused on holding him there, "You can trust me, Rito. So please, let me help!"

"Listen, I can..."

Rito's words were cut short when his consciousness faded. The true extent of his injuries came to show when they became too much for him to fight alongside Oshizu's hold.

He was far too reckless, Oshizu thought. Even so, that was twice now that she got to remain existing thanks to his help.

The only question was to figure out what exactly she could do to help. The first thought of someone that came to mind was Mikado, but she was completely unaware of where she could be at this time.

Well, the first thing was that she should create distance between him and his body. If he were to fall i-

"Rito? And, you're that ghost from the old school building?"

Oh, just wonderful. A surprise new arrival that startled the afterlife out of Oshizu. She would have leapt with a loud yelp had she the legs to do so. Her arms jerked to the side as she looked to the source of the voice.

She was one of the girls that were with Rito when she first encountered them... She drew a blank when trying to recall her name, though.

"What's goin' on here?" The girl began to approach with a look that only frightened Oshizu more, "Why's he knocked out? Whadja do to em!?"

"N-no, you misunderstand. This isn't my doing!" Oshizu waved her hands frantically to defend herself, "Someone attacked us and Rito fought them off-"

"Someone? Who? Where'd they go!?"

"I don't kno-"

Agh! Answering this girl's questions would not help the situation here!

Oshizu looked back to Ri-

...where Rito had been.

OH NO‼

Oshizu suddenly let out a scream that the other girl had to brace herself for.

"Hey, what the hell was that fo-"

Another cry of pain would soon follow after.

To the both of the girls' horror, Rito's body suddenly broke out into a bloody mess. The pain strong enough to wake him up instantaneously.

"RITO!?"

---

» 𝐀 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲｡ «

---

"Yeah, he got in a pretty rough accident."

"Is that so...?" Mikan's voice came through the phone, "I'm sorry you had to deal with this, Tatsuki..."

"Not a problem." Tatsuki gave a smile, "I'm already used to looking out for that idiot anyway."

"Okay, then. I'll send Lala to get him in the morning."

"Right. See ya."

Tatsuki set the home phone down. It was then that she glanced in the direction of her couch. There an unconscious Rito had laid with his upper clothing replaced with bandages that covered his wounds to a great extent.

"You have a lot of bandages, Tatsuki-san..."

The ghost, Oshizu, was here as well. It was thanks to her that Tatsuki was able to afford the rubbing alcohol. Apparently, the ghost got a job at some club down the street from that bridge.

Tatsuki was still wrapping her head around the fact that aliens were not only real, but now she had to think about them being commonplace. How one owned a club in this town.

Tatsuki scratched the side of her head with a sigh. This was not how she was expecting her evening to go. But she supposed it gave her something to do.

"So what if I do?"

"I was just wondering what you might need them for."

Tatsuki's face flushed at the comment, quickly crossing her arms, "N-no reason at all! Better safe than sorry!"

She let out a huff before turning away. She glanced back toward the ghost with a light shrug.

"It doesn't look like he's gonna wake up, so I'm gonna go ahead and turn in for the night." Tatsuki pocketed her hands, "Don't let my parents see you. Oh, and just wake me up if that idiot tries to sneak out."

"Right!" Oshizu gave a little salute as Tatsuki left to go to bed.

She was hoping he would wake up so she could force him to answer for his condition. The explanation that she got from Oshizu made no sense.

Talks about Shinigami? Organizations from another dimension? That was crazier than the idea of aliens in and of itself. Perhaps Lala would know better. She was around him most of the time.

Why was it that whenever she got answers, she seemed to only end up with more questions?

"I still have your powers. You can't really fight Hollows, can you...?"

If what Oshizu said was true. Then what he said back then... Would make a lot more sense.

Bang. Her fist hit the wall soon after as she stared toward the ground.

If there was some secret fight going on that she had no idea about all this time... Then was there nothing she could do to lend a hand...?

---

"Lord Carter, I have arrived on Earth."

"That's wonderful news." His lord replied, "You have your orders, I'm expecting results."

"Of course."

His vessel opened its door to release him to this new horizon.

As he stepped down the hatch, his hands rubbed against his wrists. The thin plated armor over it had adjusted to make his bulkier figure match that of a human.

That would help to make him blend in with others for the sake of his search.

After all... He was here to find and locate Yukki Rito. In the effort to prevent him from marrying Princess Lala of Deviluke. After all, his lord's largest benefactor was in pursuit of her hand in marriage as well.

The Milky Way would see far greater benefit with their union, rather than her genius be wasted on some Earthling.

He figured it best to send out some recon. He raised his other arm, his forearm armor shifting into a keypad. He input a fourteen digit code and retracted his arm.

After a ring sounded, the ship behind him opened its wall to release a small drone which flew into the town just past the forest. A survey drone that would track and survey Yukki Rito for as long as necessary. He was confident in the capability of the machine to fulfill that task.

Ah. But he should certainly apply the cloaking feature to it just to be certain. He was not aware of what his target was capable of. Others in the universe may not be convinced, but his lord was certain there was a special quality to this new candidate that others were not aware of.

He believed in his lord's predictions. So he would take as much caution as necessary for what lied ahead.

"It's time to begi—"

His words caught up in his throat.

Strange.

He was certain that he already acclimated to the atmosphere of Earth. He had even readjusted his oxygen reserves to match that of his homeworld in the case that his body had failed to do so.

So why did his respiratory system fail him now?

There was more. There was a distinct taste that began to fill his tastebuds that was unnatural given the circumstances.

It was at that moment he realized what was the cause of this...

...he had just been killed.

Blood escaped from his helmet before he dropped to the ground. Left as a corpse on the ground, it could be seen in the moment that a blue light had pierced the armor of the assassin from behind.

The light was molded into the shape of an arrow. Small flickers of light traced from it as it had vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"I can't have you interfering." A voice called out from the shadows, "Unfortunately, your types only know how to stay out of the way when they're dead."

Hot pink eyes stared daggers into the corpse. His hair split into two sections, a dark grey bottom and stark white top. His top consisted of a cyan hoodie with a green shirt underneath.

The most notable feature of his attire was a chain which hung from his wrist, a ring held at its end with a pentacle molded in its core. The silver accessory glittered brightly in the moonlight.

"I think I've been patient enough..."

His gaze moved up toward the skies above, a slow smirk formed on his lips as birds flew overhead.

"...my dear Lala."

---

⦓ THS #11 ⦔
❱ END ❰

---

⦏ You've reached the end of Issue 11. Thanks for your time. I sincerely hope you enjoyed. ⦐
⦏ Had to make the wait feel a little worth it, so I decided to make this issue a bit more dense. ⦐
⦏ This Chapter, again, ended up taking longer than I had originally expected for it to. But, in the end, I managed to get it finished. Hopefully the momentum can pick back up in time for number 12 and onward. ⦐
⦏ The main goal of this chapter? Painting the picture as to how Rito and Yui's relationship is different than it is in canon. And of course, as many of you have surmised: It's Yui who is going to have Shun Shun Rikka. I mean, the main phrase of the ability is "I Reject", perfect for someone like her, no? ⦐
⦏ Chunky with the flashbacks, I know. The one with Rukia mainly serves to check who was paying attention to the one in Chapter 9. And, of course, the "calling an ambulance for you" move just had to be referenced somewhere in this arc. It's honestly one of my favorite scenes in the series, it just sticks with me to this day. ⦐
⦏ The end part may seem tacked on in comparison to the rest, but it is relevant to the point of the episode. That point being that Yui is right about the situation here. ⦐
⦏ Next time, we'll be taking a closer look to the new arrival who will kickstart the penultimate segment of the first arc! Hope you look forward to it. ⦐
ー Red