Katsuko silently sipped her apple juice while eying the boy in front of her who was munching on a french fry while smiling.
In front of her was none other than Koumine Ryouto.
She was sitting across from him in one of the empty parks somewhere midway between his school and hers. The table they chose was behind a tree that hid them away from most people, making things convenient for him and her.
It was currently a weekend and she was meeting up with this boy from another school, a young part-time model, a guy she happened to save when he got caught up in the whole Aizen business, because he wanted to speak with her in private. Katsuko wasn't caught up in the world of modeling so she seriously didn't know who this guy was until Mizuiro pointed it out to her. She thought he was just some pretty boy from another school.
He showed up at her school again after a week and asked her in private (away from other school girls) if he could meet and talk with her about something… which Jun vehemently protested against because he was so damn sketchy. However, Haru only pointed out that Katsuko was clearly someone who could protect herself now and remarked that she could easily stab the guy if she wanted to which Katsuko denied such extremes while Ryouto panicked inwardly.
It took some reassurance from Katsuko that even if Ryouto were a threat, there was another threat beneath her skin.
Literally.
And so, he showed up in a stylish fall outfit accompanied by a fedora and sunglasses. The sunglasses were merely a precaution to keep his identity a secret because he didn't want to deal with fans today.
And for someone who didn't want to attract attention, he had a few eyes on him thanks to the way he was dressed.
So, the reason for inviting her out to chat?
Katsuko put down her drink.
"I don't know why you have powers."
"Ehh?!"
Ryouto's french fry fell out of his mouth as she deadpanned her answer.
"But…"
Katsuko tipped her head, lifting a brow. A silent why me? reflecting in her eyes.
"I thought you'd know since you were dressed like those people who knew about the supernatural stuff."
"I'll have you know I only just discovered the true reason why I have powers. And what I have is more common in terms of the supernatural… yours is… I have no idea what it is."
Ryouto pouted and took another french fry, nibbling on it. "Ehh… I thought it was a common thing. That friend of yours with long hair was human and she had that restoring power thing going on. And then there's that little group in Naruki City."
"Naruki City?"
Ryouto sighed and leaned his cheek in his hand. "Yeah. I tend to take photoshoots in Naruki City often and I'd see some people leaping up buildings. Y'know, things that normal humans shouldn't be doing. I even once saw someone kill those mask monsters."
There are more humans with powers?
I didn't think there would be more humans out there with powers…
Well… Urahara-san once said that putting the soul in danger raises its spirit energy… so maybe it's a result of that?
Ryouto noticed how she became quiet with a thoughtful expression. "Hm? Did you think of something?"
"Uh… kind of." She scratched her cheek with her finger. "Someone who trained me said that increasing my power by putting me, or rather my soul, through life or death training would help increase my spirit energy, which is basically the source of my power. Everyone with a soul has spirit energy. Without it, I can't do fancy stuff. And when I look at you, I feel a higher than normal degree of spirit energy coming from you."
"Spirit energy…" Ryouto tested. "But I've never been in danger before… well, that would be a lie because I've seen those monsters and had to kill them myself."
"How…? What exactly do you do? Like, what is your power?"
"Hmm…" Ryouto dug into his pocket and placed a deck of cards on the table. "I call it card magic." He plucked out a card, the ace of hearts. "If I concentrate enough, I can make this as hard as a rock or a blade."
He demonstrated an example by throwing into the grass like a shuriken and it easily penetrated through the soil as it sank.
"See?"
Katsuko just stared at it, blinking owlishly.
Without thinking, she plucked it out and played around with it. It certainly weighed like a blade. It did not feel like paper at all.
"That Aizen guy you were fighting. He was attacking us before you arrived and I tried making a shield out of the cards by increasing their size and durability. I also used them to put your classmates inside the cards."
"... And how did you do that?"
Ryouto plucked the ace of hearts from her and returned it to its natural state after it glowed yellow. He waved it around and it made the sound of paper flapping around.
"I just have to give you the designated mark on the card. For example, may I?" Ryouto pointed to the ring on her hand and held out his hand. She stared at him hesitantly while he smiled reassuringly. She really didn't want to give him her ring, her precious ring that helped her mentally keep it together most of the time. But in the end, she reluctantly gave him her ring. Better that than her phone or any piece of clothing on her body.
She gingerly placed it in the palm of his hand.
"Hm, thank you." He placed the ring in the center of the table and set the ace of hearts in front of him. With a finger, he pushed the card towards the ring and made it emit another yellow glow. The heart in the middle came off the card and shrunk in size as it floated to the ring. When it glued itself on it, a yellow appeared and it caused the ring to get sucked into the card before appearing only as an image to replace the heart on it.
Ryouto picked up the card and smirked with a boyish charm, teasingly waving the card.
Okay, this is seriously beyond anything I know about spirit energy and whatnot.
This is like a whole different concept of power that I am totally clueless about!
"... The fuck? What kind of magic is this…?"
Ryouto laughed heartily and picked up the card to flick it with his other hand. "That's why I call it card magic! Pretty neat right? It comes in handy if I have to carry a lot of things with me. I usually put my keycard in here, haha."
"So… what exactly is your power?"
"Well… I manipulate my cards and change them however I want. Your ring becomes subject to it because it became a part of the ace of hearts. There were times when I trapped those monsters in a card and just ripped them or burned them with a lighter."
Whoa… uh…
"Oh, okay… can, I, uh, have my ring back?"
Ryouto pouted. "I wasn't going to rip your ring. Don't worry." He released her ring and handed it back to her in one piece.
Katsuko fiddled with her ring to make sure nothing was out of place. Under her bangs, she peered up at him to see him playing with the ace of hearts between his fingers. His powers went against everything she knew. It was literally magic to her at this point.
She was so tempted to slap her combat pass on his forehead to see if he wasn't a Soul Reaper in disguise.
Because it just didn't make sense.
Or maybe she was just ignorant and didn't know.
After all, she didn't know Quincy was a thing until Ishida explained it to her.
"What else can you do?"
"Hmm… Recently, I discovered that I can jump higher like those people I saw in Naruki. But I fell in a bush." Ryouto whined out the last part. "I got scratched up so I don't wanna do that again, especially after I got yelled at for scratching up my face. Other than that, I've only been able to play around with my cards."
Oof, okay.
"Yeah… I really have no idea what your powers are. I can only guess that you have higher spirit energy than normal which resulted into… card magic."
Ryouto sighed. "It was worth a try."
"Why did you want to know?"
"Why wouldn't I want to? I don't know anyone else with this kind of power. You're the first person I've seen use powers."
Katsuko squinted her eyes. "I thought you said you saw people in Naruki City with powers? Why don't you ask them?"
Ryouto shook his head, ruffling the back of his hair. "I mean, you're the only one who I know is a good person that I'm sure is safe enough to approach. Those people in Naruki City? I don't know them. I don't want to get entangled in something dangerous. For humans, our worst enemies are our own kind."
"Oh."
Yeah... I get it.
He's dealing with powers.
Powers in the wrong hands could mean danger for the naïve.
"Sorry. My powers are different from yours. It's also different from my friends." Katsuko picked up her juice box and continued sipping before getting up and throwing it away in the nearby trash can. "Well, if that's all, I gotta get going."
Ryouto blinked and then started getting up with her, planning to at least walk her out the park. "Oh? You're in a hurry? I didn't know you had stuff to do. My bad."
Looking back at him, Katsuko touched the headphones around her neck and smiled a little. "I have a friend who is scheduled to wake up this afternoon. I have to be there when he opens his eyes. Can't miss that."
…
…
…
"Renji couldn't make it?"
"He wanted to come. But he had work to attend to."
"Ah, I see."
Currently, everyone was in Ichigo's room, waiting for him to awaken. It was almost time. They could feel his spirit energy fluctuating, proof that he was being stabilized to wake up after a full month of sleeping.
Katsuko was sitting on Ichigo's bed, going through her phone while occasionally taking glances at Ichigo behind her. The others were chatting away while she kept to herself, too absorbed in whatever she was doing on her phone. She was almost too quiet.
Inoue noted her behaviour and drew the attention to her when she called her name. Katsuko looked up and saw everyone staring at her.
"Is something wrong? You seem quiet." Inoue asked.
"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing! I was just thinking about something." Katsuko smiled a little to reassure her.
"You sure?" Rukia raised a brow. "You look like something is on your mind." After witnessing first hand just what kind of result came from Katsuko shouldering weight, she wanted to be sure she was truly okay.
Especially after learning about her condition that was going to require Urahara's help.
"Yes, yes." Katsuko waved her hand dismissively. "Just thinking about something related to home."
Come on, drop it.
It's not that important.
"It must be important if it makes you look nervous." Chad remarked.
"Yeah… kinda."
Because this can only happen once in a lifetime.
At least I hope it does.
I don't wish this on anyone.
So let me have this.
Ishida eyed the way she lifted her hand to brush the underside of her nose to hide the way her lips twitched, restraining a smile. It was obvious that there was something amusing her right now. But just what was it?
Katsuko jumped in her skin when she felt Ichigo's hand brush against her thigh. She looked at him and saw his arms shifting around, his face twitching, a clear sign of his awakening. This made her jump away and look down at him properly just like everyone else.
And as they waited…
He finally opened his eyes in a startled manner.
Immediately, he sat up in his bed and looked at himself and then at everyone in the room.
Just as Inoue exclaimed his name happily, Katsuko quickly sat back down on the side of his bed and hugged him tightly, hiding her face in his shoulder.
Everyone, especially Inoue, was surprised at this gesture.
Looking down at her, Ichigo put a hand on his side to stop them from tilting and hitting the wall while his other hand landed on her back. "Whoa! What… What the…? Katsuko?! What's wrong?"
"Ichigo… thank god you woke up." Katsuko pulled away and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling with relief. "You have no idea how long it's been."
The orange haired boy paused. The way she was acting and sounded made him feel a sense of dread. "... What do you mean?"
"It's been five years." Katsuko admitted, lowering her head solemnly.
"What?!"
Ishida sighed and dropped his face in his hand.
Chad sweat dropped.
Inoue looked absolutely confused.
Rukia deadpanned.
Obviously, they now understood what had made her unusually quiet. She was planning on playing a prank on Ichigo. From Ishida's spot, he could see the grin she hid with her head lowered in front of Ichigo.
"Katsuko, stop messing with him. It's only been a month."
The girl lifted her head and looked disappointed that Rukia broke the illusion. She was hoping to hear something else from Ichigo other than a single word. But before she could say anything, Ichigo pulled her cheek and squinted his eyes while she sweat dropped.
"I should have known you'd pull something like this. I've known your sense of humour long enough."
"You still fell for it though!"
"How else am I supposed to react when you come at me like that?!"
Seriously, for a second there he got worried.
Katsuko pouted. "Well, it was a genuine reaction too. I'm really happy you woke up after you passed out screaming."
Ichigo gingerly released her face, his own softening.
He remembered hearing how frantic she sounded amidst the pain.
"I'm sorry I worried you back there."
Katsuko only sighed.
"Well, at least we now know that Urahara-san wasn't lying when he said you'd wake up the same as usual after a month of sleep." Ishida interrupted, pushing his glasses up.
Ichigo paused before putting his hand on his chest. "Wait, so my powers…?"
"Urahara informed us all about what happened." Rukia stepped up, concerned. "You lost your Soul Reaper powers."
Katsuko remained seated next to Ichigo on his bed and observed his reaction.
He just sighed and shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Yeah. I guess I better resign as a Substitute Soul Reaper now."
Unlike before, when he looked lost…
He looks more casual about it…
"The first stage of loss brings intense pain, loss of consciousness, and the time lapse the body experienced in the Dangai flows backwards." Rukia informed him. She repeated everything that Urahara told them to explain his inevitable fate to return back to being a normal human.
It wasn't the kind of normal Ichigo was used to.
He was truly going to be a normal human being.
"I see. I thought so."
"You're not shocked…?" Rukia asked.
"Nah. I kind of had a feeling that's how it'd be."
"And you're okay… about it?" Katsuko asked. She couldn't help but think back to his face back then. He looked lost, he looked sad. But now… he looked normal. Not that much time passed for Ichigo so she was having a hard time believing he wasn't feeling a little sad about it still.
Seeing the same concerned expression on her face, Ichigo gave her a reassuring look. "Yeah. I'm okay."
Despite being so close to Katsuko, he could already feel the difference from when they sat next to each other after Aizen was sealed away and now.
She was so close but he could already notice how her spiritual pressure was fading away.
Ichigo looked down at the small space between them.
His sixth sense as a Soul Reaper was leaving him, the telltale sign of a goodbye.
It felt… strange.
Katsuko could feel the way his powers were leaving him too.
He felt distant.
But she didn't want to just give up without trying anything at all.
Even if he said he was okay with it, she wanted to offer an attempt.
"Urahara-san said that giving my powers to you is too risky. And he's right. But while you still have them… why don't we try and restore it now?" Ichigo lifted his head curiously and met her hopeful gaze. "At least try? It wouldn't hurt."
"What do you mean? How?" Ichigo asked.
"Well…" She looked towards Inoue who had been silently watching her and Ichigo interact. "Inoue and I have some sort of restoring power. Aizen once said that Inoue's powers are about rejecting something she targets." She overheard that when she was struggling internally. It was the true explanation for Inoue's amazing 'healing' ability.
Ishida put a hand under his chin. "I do remember you– or rather Noctter did say something like that. You said that she could make a person disappear if she willed it. Rejection of phenomena."
"Inoue could try rejecting your current state to get your powers back…" Rukia thought out loud.
"And Katsuko could try reversing the effects." Chad reminded. "Maybe one of them could work to give him back his powers."
Ichigo saw the way Katsuko pensively stared at her hands when she opened them, determined yet nervous.
It was her idea to try.
But she never tried something like this before. Her first test for using time reversal was with Grimmjow's missing arm, a permanence with no time limit. However, Ichigo's gradually fading spirit energy was like a pressure that made her scared to screw up.
Because how does one reverse time for spirit energy?
Her choice to pick up the sword started with the wish to not be passive and to do something. But her journey as a Soul Reaper began with her desire to support Ichigo, a thing that hasn't changed.
And for this…
If she failed, would there be another chance?
She didn't want to see that same look again.
Meanwhile, Inoue seemed a little uneasy about the whole thing as she maintained a straight face. In truth, she was relieved that Ichigo was losing his powers because it meant that he wouldn't have to get hurt anymore. He would be safe. His life wouldn't be in danger.
So, if she was able to restore them… she'd have to bear witness to his injuries once more. And that hurt her.
She didn't know what to do.
She didn't know what to say.
"Do… you want to try?" Katsuko asked him after a moment of silence, serious.
Even if she kept picturing that sad look on his face that contradicted his current nonchalance, she didn't want to do it unless he gave her permission.
After all, in the end, it was his choice to make.
Ichigo knew that very well.
And he was beginning to feel a little nervous because he wasn't opposed to it.
Ichigo turned enough to face her directly. He put his hand in the space between his legs and gave her a nod. "It wouldn't hurt to try." He agreed.
This was better than not trying at all.
Katsuko took in a deep breath and pulled her legs on his bed to mirror the way he was sitting. She was replicating elements from when she healed Grimmjow's arm, closeness and concentration. Her hands gestured for his own to come closer, a subtle sign revealing the cue to begin. Her attention went to the center of his chest where she imagined a little ball of fire that was barely flickering with life. With his hands in hers, she glanced at his face one more time before closing her eyes and trying to visualize an image of Ichigo's spirit energy.
An Ichigo with his powers still intact and not fading away.
Ichigo felt her fingers press lightly into his skin when he started feeling her spiritual pressure emit, albeit faintly thanks to his dying sixth sense.
Rukia, Ishida, Chad and Inoue watched as green light glowed from their hands.
Katsuko's brows knitted when she navigated in the dark.
She was tense.
"Katsuko, take a breath." Ichigo whispered.
Shisugu stood behind Katsuko and watched her attempt. He could feel her desperately trying to find a way to restore what was being lost. Her feelings reverberated inside of him.
He lowered his gaze.
He had never tried something like this before but he could tell he would never be able to do it.
It was like watching someone trying to complete an old puzzle without all the pieces for they had been lost to the dark long ago.
"When someone dies, I can't bring them back."
Katsuko opened her eyes and looked at Ichigo when she raised her head after hearing Shisugu speak.
"I can't reverse time on something that's dead. I can fix the body if it was injured but the self will still be gone, an empty husk. Remember what my cousin told you? Reversing time to heal means to bypass the first phase of restoring spiritual pressure. We're not restoring any kind of spiritual pressure or spirit energy."
"So what are you saying then…?" Katsuko mumbled to herself. "We can't do it?"
"Huh?" Ichigo blinked.
Shisugu put his hands on her shoulders and sighed. "I thought this would be different. But it looks like there's nothing you can do either. Think of Kurosaki-san's powers in a state of being 'dead'. And even if we could reverse time on his powers, time only truly flows in one direction: forward. Once in a state of being 'dead', the destination will remain the same."
Katsuko clicked her tongue softly. "Seriously...?"
"Sorry."
Ichigo remained silent, watching as her eyes drooped and her head slightly tipped forward. The hands holding him loosened and he felt nothing. She had stopped.
Her head shook.
"Shisugu said I can't rewind something 'dead'. Sorry, Ichigo."
Regretfully, she lifted her head and saw him give her the same look albeit just repressed to look like he was okay with it. He could probably tell she saw it from the way she furrowed her brows as she frowned which made him drop a hand on her head.
"It's okay. Thanks for trying though."
Then came Inoue's turn.
With Katsuko's attempt, they understood that Ichigo's powers were in a state of being 'dead'. With that in mind, Inoue aimed to reject this state.
But even she couldn't do it.
She couldn't negate his condition.
There were limits.
Both girls looked disappointed for being unable to do anything in the end.
But Ichigo only remained accepting of the outcome and thanked them for trying.
Eventually, he turned his gaze to his window when he felt Rukia's presence dimming near him.
"Can I go outside?"
…
…
…
He stepped out and noticed right away how he was feeling nothing around him. The usual spirits lingering around his home were nowhere to be found. Anything related to spirits were becoming invisible to his eyes.
It didn't take long for Rukia to fade away from his life.
He said his goodbyes as he let go of the life he had, and simply looked at the sky as he resigned himself to an average human life from now on.
He quite literally woke up to a new life.
No more supernatural elements.
As such, since he no longer had ties with the spiritual world, he decided that Kon, who had been hiding in his room this whole time, would be handed over to Urahara until Katsuko offered to bring him home with her. A decision that clearly left him hesitant considering Kon's reputation. But Katsuko argued that her parents were aware of what she had been doing and that Aiza could use company.
Feel free to give him to Urahara-san if he becomes a pain in the ass because I know for a fact that he can be. Ichigo reluctantly allowed Kon to go with her. But not without a threat. The moment I hear you doing something stupid with Katsuko, you're dead.
Yuzu would probably be sad over losing a stuffed toy but she didn't seem to care at all after seeing him awake again. She hugged him so tightly and went about how she missed him while Karin, as nonchalant as ever, reminded her that he didn't go anywhere for a month.
She wasn't the only person overjoyed.
His awakening obviously had Keigo tackling him into a hug the next time he went to school.
Which he closelined him for immediately after hearing the sound of his voice.
It was a reflex at this point.
Ichigo looked over his shoulder as Keigo whimpered on the floor. "Oh, morning."
Keigo choked on the disbelief. "That's all you gotta say after being comatose for a month?!"
"It felt like I just saw you two days ago." Ichigo shrugged before proceeding on with entering his classroom.
Jun was startled when he entered since he was leaning on the wall next to it. "Uwa—! Oh, Ichigo. You scared me. Had a good sleep?"
"You could say that."
Ichigo knew that all of his friends were informed of everything that happened thanks to Katsuko, Chad and Inoue. That's why they seemed pretty normal. He figured they might have questions about it and he would answer them for sure, but he wasn't going to bring it up if they wouldn't. If they had nothing to ask then that was fine with him.
And if they had questions, they would probably ask Katsuko since she knew the most out of everyone else.
As Ichigo looked over to where their desks were, he found Haruki crouching next to her desk to peek at her face since she was slumped on the surface, most likely sleepy. Upon noticing the orange head at the door, Haruki waved at him with a grin before going back to bothering Katsuko who was quick to grab his finger in an iron grip. She lifted her head and grinned at him innocently while he winced, trying to wiggle out of her grasp.
"Thanks for saving her."
Ichigo looked at Jun and found him watching the two interact.
"That should have been the first thing I said to you this morning."
A sigh through his nose escaped briefly as he dropped a hand on his shoulder and patted it twice, firmly. "Remember what I said? Katsuko is my friend too. Of course I was going to get her back."
"I'm glad you came back safe too." Jun added. "If you didn't, I was really going have to practice ugly crying."
"Good thing you won't." Ichigo scoffed. "I'd hate to think of all the snot on my grave."
"Damn, you don't want me crying over you?" Jun chuckled.
"Nah, keep the snot." Ichigo said before making his way to his desk, greeting friends like usual, and decided to remain seated at his desk until the teacher walked in.
He had a lot of catching up to do. It was evident when he saw the date and realized just how long he had been absent from school. He was certain that a certain lion wouldn't have taken his notes for him since he'd be preoccupied with something else. With that thought in mind, he internal groaned at the potential prospect of his reputation being damaged if he ended up looking like a pervert while he was gone.
Ichigo took out his notes.
One headache at a time.
He might as well just catch up with the notes he missed, and Katsuko was always willing to lend him her notes without expecting anything back.
He expected a headache.
A pain in the ass.
But what he didn't expect was a familiar handwriting.
He paused and flipped the pages back to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and noticed how it all led to an up to date notebook. He lifted his head to stare at Katsuko as she swatted away Haru's hand after he flicked her forehead.
"Ahh!" Hissing, Haru dramatically held his hand. "I gotta go to the hospital now. You hit me with all your spirit might."
"Dude, shut the hell up."
"You've been hanging around Ichigo too much. His spiritual karate's got to you." Haru feigned a whine as he looked over to Ichigo as if to complain until Katsuko pushed his back, shooing him away.
"Go play in the forest." Katsuko flicked her hand dismissively. "Shoo, shoo."
Haru only stuck his tongue out playfully before heading over to Keigo who was talking with Jun. Katsuko sighed at him before rolling her eyes. Lately, after Haru learned her secret, he's been mostly teasing her about her superpowers, pretending to be hurt by wheezing and hissing with a limp when she barely grazed his arm which made her very tempted to actually hit him.
She twisted enough to rest her arm on her backrest so she could look at Ichigo. "He's been so annoying lately."
Her eyes dropped on the familiar notebook.
Then she looked at him blankly while touching her digits together, appearing rather silly.
Ichigo chuckled a bit at the silence, knocking the paper with the back of his index finger. "Thanks."
Katsuko tipped her head with a grin, straightening her fingers. "Whatever for?"
The return of Ichigo had obviously made Keigo ecstatic, as if this morning's shouting wasn't hint enough. At lunch, he snuck up behind Katsuko and Ichigo when they sat on the roof of the school with Chad, Haru, Jun and Mizuiro, hugging them tightly.
Ichigo grew annoyed and tried shoving him off.
But Katsuko went and her hand dropped her sandwich on the roof floor, the same hand reaching up to hide her left eye.
Chad noticed the utter look of shock with a hint of fear. Haru grew worried as Keigo obliviously chatted away while trying to resist Ichigo. It wasn't until Mizuiro pulled off Keigo's arm off Katsuko and addressed her gently that everyone stopped. Jun frowned when she dropped her head and sighed tiredly, as if to hide her emotions from them, hiding more secrets.
"Sorry. I just need a moment."
Katsuko got up and abandoned her things and made strides to the door of the rooftop, leaving everyone confused. Of course they'd be. She didn't tell them everything that happened. She only kept it brief to not worry them.
The only person who knew the extent of her suffering in Hueco Mundo was Urahara.
Once the door of the rooftop closed behind her, she shuffled to the side and leaned her back against the wall next to it.
She could feel her left hand shaking on her thigh.
It made her clench her skirt.
Even after a month, her body still reacted when someone came up from behind her. She supposed that she was glad that she didn't react like last time. The last thing she needed was to always be throwing herself to the ground and hiding her eyes. It seemed pathetic.
Thank god I'm not.
…
…
Humming, Shinji leaned back against the other end of the couch to rest in the corner of the backrest and the armrest.
"You'll be fine." Her finger stopped tapping her glasses, and her head shifted to look at him. He was tapping the skin under his left eye. "It's still fresh in your mind but I think you're going to be okay."
"You think so?" Katsuko frowned, worried.
"If there's somethin' I learned about you: it's that you can get pessimistic but you're still strong enough to push past it."
…
…
A chuckle escaped her. "Well… I guess he's right. It's slowly getting better." She dropped her head and ran her finger up her head to brush back her bangs. "I'll be okay…"
Just take deep breaths…
You'll be okay…
The only thing that just made her day sad was dropping her food on the dirty floor. Damn. She was looking forward to eating that. She was going to have to buy lunch now. Oh well. It is what it is. It was her fault for dropping her food anyway.
Just then, the door opened next to her, prompting her to compose herself to not seem strange.
However, she wasn't expecting Ichigo and Keigo to appear.
"Hey, you okay?" Ichigo asked, letting the door shut behind him.
"Yeah. I just needed a second. But now I gotta buy lunch. So, I need at least ten more minutes."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to piss you off." Keigo apologized.
"Nah, you didn't." Katsuko waved her hand dismissively. "It's just…"
I should probably tell Keigo why because he's the most likely to sneak up behind me. At least he'll know not to do it for a while. I don't want him feeling bad.
With another sigh, this time heavier, she straightened up and motioned for Keigo to step closer. "Try not to sneak up behind me again… at least for a year because I don't want to potentially hit you if my trauma is triggered." When Keigo was close enough, she put a hand on his shoulder and held up a finger to point it at his left eye. "Because someone did this to me when I was captured. They snuck up on me and it ended up with two fingers in my eye."
Keigo grew stiff and his mouth fell open.
Ichigo's eyes widened. That was the first time he heard this. She never once spoke of the details of what she endured in Hueco Mundo so this was… alarming.
Katsuko dropped her hand and shrugged. "I just don't want you to think I'm pissed at you every time I react weirdly. So, just go easy on me." She exaggerated a grimace. "Until I get better from my stupid trauma. I'm slowly getting better but I still look like I'm going through cardiac arrest."
Keigo looked down and rubbed his arm, a sign of guilt and nervousness. "Ah, geez. I'm sorry, I had no idea."
She pouted mockingly, Katsuko dropped a hand on his shoulder. "Aw, come on. Don't cry."
"I'm not crying! I just feel guilty as heck now!" Keigo argued. "You should have said so sooner because now I feel like a bad guy!"
"And miss the chance to see you look like a sad puppy?"
"I feel like I just kicked one!"
"Okay, you buy her lunch then." Ichigo deadpanned.
"What?! With whose money?!"
"I said 'you' who else?"
"I don't have money on me."
"Oh, so you're being fake. I get it."
Katsuko was glad Ichigo picked up on her intention. She used a jesting mood to lift up Keigo's since she didn't want him feeling like crap. She smiled in relief as Keigo argued with Ichigo who simply shrugged at his protests.
At least the only issue is my sandwich.
…
…
…
Wrong.
Completely wrong.
When she went back to her classroom to get the juice box she had forgotten, she noticed that her bag was gone. Revelation of its whereabouts came from her classmates who were eating lunch in the classroom.
Outside.
Tossed outside and scattered everywhere for everyone to see.
According to them, the culprits were girls from another class.
Not that she cared.
Immediately, she forgot about lunch and sped down the halls and leaped off the stairs to get to her belongings in a panic. She didn't care about the eyes watching her in the open space. Her mind was solely focused on one thing. Among the things that were flung around haphazardly, none of them were of importance, books, pencils, notebooks and whatnot, not important.
She got on her knees and dug into her bag and noticed that it was missing.
Her head shot up in disbelief. "It's gone…"
"Hiragi-san?"
Katsuko looked behind her to see Ishida through an open window on the ground floor. He looked concerned about the state outside. He was on his way to the library to get something real quick until he saw her frantically digging in her bag amidst the mess outside.
…
…
Up on the rooftop, her friends that she left behind were hearing whispers of her name which eventually brought their attention to what the onlookers were looking at.
I saw a few girls throwing her things around.
They just made a mess.
What did she do to deserve that?
That sucks.
…
…
Katsuko ran a hand down her face and then scratched her head, annoyed.
"Do you think someone took them?" Ishida wondered.
"I have no idea. But I can't lose them. I just got that! I don't even know if Urahara-san made another batch yet."
Inoue put a hand on her tense shoulder. "We'll help you find it, Hiragi-san."
The other girl had joined the two after seeing them looking around the building and trash when she was passing by on her way to the vending machine.
"Thanks…" Katsuko said in a soft voice, anger and stress repressed in it. "I'll go look in the grass. Who knows, maybe someone emptied the bottle there. Fucking jerk."
"I'll help you look there!" Inoue said quickly, joining her as she ran ahead.
Ishida looked around him, specifically at the students watching the scene. He was trying to see if there was anyone suspicious to be the culprit.
I never thought Hiragi-san would be subjected to bullying.
"Oi, Ishida!"
The Quincy looked back to see the rooftop gang approaching.
"What happened?"
"Hiragi-san lost a bottle of pills. We think that whoever did this must have thrown it somewhere. Right now," Ishida pointed over to where Katsuko and Inoue were looking in the grass. "She thinks that they might have emptied the bottle over there."
Hearing that, Keigo and Mizuiro went to join the search without hearing what else he had to say. They already knew what those pills were about.
"Or someone might have taken it."
"You mean that thing she's always taking at lunch?" Haru asked as Jun wandered away. "The purple thing, right?"
"Wait, what thing? What is she taking?" Ichigo was obviously lost.
"Um, excuse me…"
A timid looking girl was approaching them. She was playing with her hands before quickly adjusting her thick framed glasses after getting spooked from Ichigo's stare and Chad's stature.
Katsuko frowned in her crouching position behind a tree. There was nothing in this area either.
The lunch period was almost over and she barely had anything to eat with this missing bottle.
She dropped her head and clenched her eyes shut.
I feel so bad.
Now, I'm going to bother Urahara-san for another one?
Fuck.
"Katsuko."
Grumpy, Katsuko reluctantly looked behind her to see Ichigo holding up the bottle of pills, the knot of stress curled deep inside her unraveled and disappeared.
Her eyes grew wide.
The way he was blocking out the sun behind him made him look like some messiah.
She stilled and blinked a few times. "Where did you find it?" Her voice came out soft when she stepped closer to him.
"Someone took them. I guess they thought it was candy." Ichigo peered at the pills that looked similar Kon's pill. "I think they ate some though."
Katsuko scoffed. "Well, I hope it gives them explosive diarrhea." She took it and stared at the pills. "It was girls, right?"
"Yeah." Ichigo replied with a roll of his eyes. "I thought these things only happened in tv shows. No, we actually have real immature people out here. They were upset that Tokie Ryouta knew you. They were jealous."
"Koumine Ryouta." She corrected.
"Same thing." Ichigo clicked his tongue.
"Geez, I didn't think it was a big deal. How'd you find them?"
"I didn't. Haru knew who they were." Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know if they're still over there. I just left since I figured you wanted this back as soon as possible. All I know is that Jun threw strawberry milk at her as I left."
He didn't know when the boy armed himself with the drink.
"Strawberry? Ju-Wait... W…What?!" Katsuko stammered, shocked. "Jun?!"
After that girl with the glasses came over and told them who threw Katsuko's bag out the window, Haru immediately offered to lead the way since he was familiar with this girl because she happened to be the sister of one of his teammates he was friends with. But it was Ichigo who approached the girl first because Ishida explained why they were important, fueling urgency in his steps to retrieve them.
On his way there, he kept remembering the nightmare she became and her despair as she struggled to remain sane.
He no longer had the power to fight back and save her if she embodied that chaos again.
For once, he was glad for the reputation his bright orange hair gave him because all he did was march over to the girl and demand she hand over the bottle that she was rattling. That was all it took before she got scared and threw it on the floor before fleeing with her friends.
Which prompted Jun to throw the milk at her head with perfect aim.
As expected of a basketball player, a perfect aimed pass.
"I know why you need them."
"I figured. Why else would you rush back to give them back to me? Oh, and thanks." Katsuko brushed her skirt from any dirt she might have gotten from searching around. She should thank the others for helping too.
Ichigo reached out to pick a tree leaf of her head that fell on her head. The leaves were falling more now that they knee deep into the fall season. "Next time it happens, just let me know. I'll get them back again."
"Am I to take that as you coming to my rescue again?"
"You could say that." Ichigo admitted before looking at her seriously. "I'm not a Soul Reaper anymore. If Noctter resurfaces again, I can't do anything to help you. So, I won't let you become that again. You won't disappear again. I'll protect you."
The best he could do now was to protect Hiragi Katsuko before it was too late.
Katsuko smiled at him with a chuckle. His words reminded her once again of what kind of person he was.
The loss of his powers wouldn't change who he was at his core.
Ichigo was still the same person.
Someone who protects no matter what he was, human or Soul Reaper.
"Thank you, my hero." Katsuko teased, stepping past him to join the others who were still searching. "But I think I'll eat them during dinner instead to prevent something like this from happening again. I don't want to spend another lunch running around."
"Oh shit, you didn't eat." Ichigo realized, following after her until he fell into step with her. "What time is it–"
On cue, the first bell after lunch rang.
Katsuko solemnly looked at the sky in defeat. If she wanted to be even more dramatic, she'd let a tear stream down her cheek with some rain. Seeing this exaggerated display made him deadpan, leading to his hand pushing her back to have her walk with him.
"Come on, we'll get something from the vending machine before class starts."
Ichigo knew there was a one that had some rice ball. She could get two just to keep her going until the end of the day.
"I don't have my wallet on me right now!" She whined, dragging her feet. Maybe she should just get her sandwich from the trash.
"You can pay me back. And if you want, we'll even go to that place you like after school."
"Really? Wow, you're really out here saving me again, my greatest hero, truly!"
"Shut up."
…
…
…
Eventually the seasons would change, time marching forward, peace undisturbed.
Until May arrived again.
May is when Rukia and Ichigo started their Soul Reaper adventures.
I thought I had room for the start of the next arc but it was too much ._.
Ichigo losing his powers was a good way to show the limits of time reversal. And I also wanted to show an attempt to bring back his powers with Katsuko and Inoue. Both their powers have limits.
Also, a little rant from me because GOOD GOD I am getting flooded with charlatans asking me to commission them to draw my story. They are also dropping their stupid reviews which pissed me off. I rather have no review than have these fake ass reviews. I am so tempted to switch platforms to avoid the flooding of PMs and have comment moderation because I can't send those reviews to the shadow realm.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you have a nice day/night! And I hope whoever sends me the next spam mails/reviews eats bird shit.