V1.2
Fixed grammatical errors & made minor adjustments to the dialogue. Thanks to DMenace for helping me out!
March 20th , 2001
"The next station is Karakura. Karakura Train Station."
Even after living in the country for half a dozen years, he had to admit that some things in Japan still amazed him, like the bullet train that he was driving in – 500 kilometres, give or take a few, between Sotenbori & his current destination were all gone in about 2 and a half hours.
"The doors on the right side will open. Please be careful not to leave your belongings on the train."
The announcement broke his relatively small train of thought (he chuckled to himself for that) as he quickly went through the stuff he had on him – a black fanny pack across his chest and a small travel suitcase filled with essential necessities like clothes, underwear, hygiene tools and other things that he most likely forgot why he packed them in the first place.
He supposed that as long as everything he could think of was there, then there should be no issues whatsoever.
"We are now arriving at Karakura. Karakura Train Station."
The urban scent of Karakura, at least to him, was vastly different from the smells of the bustling town of Sotenbori – even the relative river-side freshness of the latter couldn't compare to sort of a clarity he felt upon exiting the bullet train.
"Must be something in the air."
After exiting the train station, the boy pulled folded piece of paper which was a simplified map of Karakura, with a red circle marking his actual destination.
"Let's see...forward West, take the first right across the bridge and look for a, uh, supermarket. The apartment should be near it, hm…"
To get a better feel for his new hometown he disregarded the convenient choice of waiting for a bus and went to simply walk, despite the distance that was stated on the map between the train station & the supermarket.
Despite being close to the end of the afternoon, a time where usually one would see packed streets with cars returning back home from work, the bridge of Karakura was surprisingly light on vehicles. Not completely desolate, but a far cry from other cities in Japan, especially Tokyo.
That was the kind of information he got on television, which he guessed wasn't exactly the most reliable thing to latch onto.
Crossing the bridge went quicker than he expected so he had to pull out his map again to check once more where he should go.
"Should be near the supermarket, then turn right?"
After a minute or so he arrived at the Hirohyaku Supermarket, a name which he couldn't recognize from anywhere else – meaning it was most likely a local branch exclusive to Karakura.
"Wonder if they got a Poppo nearby…" he spoke to himself as he passed by the supermarket.
His train of thought came to a halt upon seeing a scene that looked like it could escalate into something bad.
Two teen girls, one looking somewhat distressed while the other visibly pissed off were cornered by a pair of, judging by their cheap, baggy clothes, high-school delinquents.
"I already told you to piss off, jackass!" the angered girl said. She was wearing green tracksuit pants, a white blazer above a black tank top and was sporting spiky short black hair. The other girl that stayed silent but wary was almost the polar opposite – long, neatly brushed red hair that complimented her purple shirt and orange flower-patterned dress.
"Aww c'mon, don't be like that! Me and my buddy here will show you a great time, promise!"
The delinquents, judging by their behavior, don't seem like they'll back off at any moment.
"First thing I see in this city…" he sighed, "let's just get it over with." He approached them slowly but made sure to make his presence known from the get-go.
Tatsuki Arisawa wasn't expecting to deal with a bunch of horny low-lives today, but here she was – standing up to two losers that thought both Orihime and her were easy prey.
Most of the punks in the neighborhood knew not to mess with neither her nor Orihime since she was more than capable of kicking, literally, people to the curb.
The local punks who tried to mess with her, believing that her karate expertise meant she couldn't adapt to street brawling, were soon met with either a kick to the knee, shin or, in most cases, groin after which were followed by a kick to the face. Tatsuki was aware that, in actual street fights, she couldn't brute force it so she had to use her martial arts knowledge in a smart way.
She was confident enough to think she could take on both of these idiots since they had the typical street trash 'all-bark-no-bite' attitude. The problem was the fact that Orihime could either get caught in the crossfire or if the thugs were smart enough, they could figure out that it'll only take one of them to apply pressure to Tatsuki while the other grabs her friend.
The only alternative was to give Hime a chance to run Tatsuki could deal with them. A plan that was easier said than done.
If only he was here…
"Yo, what's going on here?"
Tatsuki, as well as everyone else, turned sideways to see a new figure approaching. New being the correct term since the guy approaching them had a small suitcase and a fanny pack on his chest, meaning he most likely just got to Karakura.
Beyond that he looked a bit odd for a supposed traveler – a white tracksuit with a few black stripes on the sleeves and the legs, paired with plain white running sneakers. Looked more like a jogger than anything else, really.
"Heard some commotion and thought- "
"Fuck off asshole." one of the punks cut him off, "Can't you see we're busy?!"
"Busy with what?" the new guy tilted his head. While his brown hair was swept back, Tatsuki could see a small ponytail hanging on the back of his head.
"You a moron or something? We're scoring some hot chicks here!" the punk spat at him.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, mo-ron. So, fuck off and leave, unless you wanna party too. In which case, get in line. We're getting first dibs."
A smile crept up on the new guy's face. Tatsuki's heart skipped a little, now unsure what is going to happen now.
"Sure, I'm down for partying…but I'm not interested in them." He said as he looked Tatsuki in the eyes before looking back to the thugs, "You on the other hand seem much better company!"
"…HUH!?" one of the punks muttered.
"Two good looking guys wanting to party – what kind of a man I'd be to refuse an opportunity like this?"
"The fuck you say?!" yelled out one of the punks.
"Come on, don't be like that! All I'm giving here are compliments. But…"
As he slowly approached them, he noticed how both of them looked both disgusted and, judging by how they were backing off, worried about what might happen next.
To contrast, he also noted how the long-haired girl looked utterly confused at what's in front of her while the cute tomboy gal had an expression of uneasy concern.
"Is-is this guy for real?!"
"W-What the-? Don't come here! I'll kick your ass creep!"
"Now, now, I'm just saying – if you showed me something, then I'll be giving more than just compliments."
Looks of horror upon both high school street trash rose on their faces. At this moment, he knew he nailed a jackpot.
"C'mon, boys…" he spoke in the sultriest way he could act out while sporting the most maniacal grin he could muster.
"Let me see your MUSCLES!"
Both punks jumped in horror at the exclamation and decided the next best course of action would be to high tail out of this.
"N-nah bro, fuck this! I ain't dealing with this shit!"
"D-Don't fucking approach us next time, or you'll be sorry!"
"See ya sweethearts!" he waved at the running thugs. And then he waited. And waited.
And waited.
And after a good dozen seconds, long enough to be sure that both punks are far, far away, he broke in laughter.
"HAHAHAhahah! Oh man, that NEVER gets old! Still works without fail!"
"Does it, really?"
He turned to see the spiky-haired tomboy who was now more relaxed, unlike her friend who still looked very perplexed.
"So far." He answered, "Well, until I encounter someone who, uh, reciprocates. Then I'll be the one running. Until then…hey, if it works it works."
"Wait, wait a minute…" the still confused redhead joined in "So you're not…? I mean, it's not a problem if you ARE, but- "
"Nah, I ain't that kind of guy. If I wasn't in a rush to find my new place I'd be hitting on your friend like no tomorrow."
"I'm right here, y'know." Said the now visibly annoyed tomboy.
"That is why I said it."
Following that response was a wide, cheshire grin that gave off the message to the girl that he didn't really meant anything he said at the moment seriously, so Tatsuki decided to drop it and move on.
"Anyway," she sighed, "thanks for your help. Name's Arisawa Tatsuki, my friend here is Orihime Inoue. You look out of town – where're you from?"
"Sotenbori. I'm just a transfer student, nothing special. Should be enrolling to Karakura High School, I think?"
"Only high school around here." Tatsuki snarked playfully, "You say Sotenbori, as in Osaka Sotenbori? You don't sound like you're from there at all."
"I know, I know – can't hear the Kansai speak. I've moved back to Japan a few years ago, so the accent didn't get a chance to stick."
"Are you first year like us?" Orihime asked.
"Yep, should be starting in April. Decided to move in earlier to get familiar with the city I'll be living in for a while. But for now, I think I'm just going to rest since I walked here from the train station. As soon as I find my new place, that is…"
"Do you need help finding it?" Tatsuki pitched in.
"If you're offering, sure. Got it marked on my map," he took out a folded map of the town from his fanny pack and showed it to the girls, "right here I think."
"Oh, I think you're in a building across mine!" Orihime pointed out cheerfully "Guess that means we're neighbors!"
"Alright neighbor, lead the way."
Orihime took the chance to look at the newcomer that got her and Tatsuki out of trouble. Besides his outfit looking like something she'd see in a 100-Yen store (which is nothing wrong about that, she buys a lot of stuff from those stores to get the most out of her allowance money), she mostly focused on his facial features.
His hair, dark in color with a tinge of blue, was swept backwards besides a single strand of hair that protruded on the front, while the back of his head ended with a spiky tuft ponytail.
The other notable features she picked up on were his green eyes and a scruffy chin that fit him pretty well, which slightly railroaded Orihime into wondering how Kurosaki would look with beards of various types…
"This should be the building!" Tatsuki's exclamation jolted Orihime from her usual daydreaming as she took a quick look at the 5-story building in front of them.
True enough it was across her own apartment, though she never gave it much thought since she didn't know any of the tenants, who were pretty quiet and kept it to themselves. She guessed that's about to change soon.
"Thanks, both of you. Saved me a lot of time from wandering around the town like an idiot."
"You're welcome! Oh, if you ever feel hungry just go over there," Orihime pointed towards her own building, "ring on 'Inoue' and if I'm at home I'll be sure to give you my special home-cooked meal! I always make extra to share with others!"
"I'd appreciate that a lot, Orihime-san. I'll be sure to give something in return if I do stop by." He positively responded.
"Oh no need to do that, I'm just happy to help!" she cheerfully added & wondered why Tatsuki's smile looked unsure when she mentioned her own cooking. Probably nothing, she supposed.
"Well, I'm pretty beat. Gonna check out the place before I do anything else, so…" The newcomer slowly walked towards the building entrance, his hand already at the doorknob.
"See you at school if we don't meet earlier!" Tatsuki waved at him.
"Hope we see you soon!" Orihime followed.
"Later girls." He waved back as he entered the building and dragged his suitcase up the stairs.
"Well, I guess that's it for today." Tatsuki turned to her, only to find Orihime looking upward, her mind deep in thought.
"Something on your mind?"
"Tatsuki-chan, did, uh, did we ask for his name?"
Orihime's question caught Tatsuki somewhat off-guard, to which her friend responded with a slight blush from embarrassment.
"Heheh, guess we didn't, did we?"
Now Orihime felt pretty embarrassed as well – acting all friendly around a stranger (who did get them out of trouble, sure) but not knowing his name at all.
"I mean, we'll meet him again, won't we?" she asked meekly.
"Yeah, yeah! And, uh, if not earlier we'll definitely meet him again when school starts, right?" Tatsuki responded.
Orihime looked at the building again, now noticing that it had a tool shed sticking out of its roof, thinking about the newcomer to Karakura and decided to make sure when he comes to her for the first time that he gets her tried-and-true best recipes.
And have the experimental stuff postponed, maybe on later visits.
It took him about five or so minutes to carry his suitcase all up to the roof of the building.
And now he was standing in front of a toolshed – his new home in Karakura.
"Heh, this will definitely be a hit with the girls." He dryly remarked to no one in particular as he unlocked the doors and entered his new place.
While from the outside it looked like a toolshed, the inside of his new place could've been easily mistaken for an actual apartment as he found it a bit more spacey than he expected.
A quick glance across confirmed that the new place had all the necessary utilities for a bachelor – sink, fridge, microwave, television, tatami mat with a bed, a small table & a separate bathroom.
"No washing machine, huh?"
He made a mental note to ask the Orihime girl if there's a laundromat in the neighborhood.
Putting the suitcase aside, he decided that unpacking can be done later and simply laid on the bed, legs crossed and eyes starring at the cheap light bulb on the ceiling.
School will start in about a week & a half, but frankly all he hoped was that Karakura High School doesn't have the number of delinquents that the one in Sotenbori had – the less annoyances he had to deal with on day-to-day basis, the better he could focus on other important things in a life.
Which ones?
He didn't really know, most of them that is. The only one that he did know is the simplest one – scoring with some girls. However, just because it's a simple thing doesn't mean it can be rushed, hence him holding back when he tried to make a move on the cute tomboy girl from before.
But once he opened his fridge, he put that on a waiting list in the back of his head.
"Empty place, empty fridge, go figure. Grocery shopping it is."
Good thing that the building was surprisingly close to the supermarket.
He didn't really need that much stuff to begin with – eggs, rice, packed onigiri, packed sandwiches as well as a few vitamin drinks. The store clerk did try to sell him a "unique" chicken cup ramen that was going on sale but to no avail as he prefers making his own hot meals. He couldn't really explain why in a deeper sense beyond being a matter of preference, but he always liked his hot meals cooked & served fresh.
After paying his bill, he exited the supermarket and…wasn't really feeling to simply go straight to his home now. The sun was still up, the weather was nice & he didn't carry much so taking a walk around wasn't an unappealing idea.
Except he didn't memorize the map of Karakura completely so he might end up getting lost, which would be a drag.
Instead, he decided to visit a location he actually did remember from the map that should be nearby the supermarket – Tsubakidai Park.
Once he got there, he found that the park was…surprisingly plain. Was a bit greener than the triangle-shaped Ashitaba Park back in Sotenbori & had a lot less bicycles near it. Main difference was that this one was completely empty, not a single person in sight.
Fine enough for him – he wouldn't say no to peace & quiet out in the open.
Sitting on a bench, his groceries beside him, he thought about what he should do in this week & a half before school started…
And quickly came to a conclusion that he absolutely had no idea what to do.
Not that he cared much about in the first place. If nothing else, at least he could visit the cute gal that told him to visit her whenever – could help him out with his new case of boredom, even if she doesn't look the type to go out into the city.
The one thing that did popped in his mind, however, was suddenly thinking about the today's date, more specifically the said holiday that fell on today.
"Vernal Equinox Day, was it?"
Supposedly it was a single day in a year where day & night last the same amount of time, as well as being a precipice between winter & spring – end of the former, beginning of the latter.
He also remembered reading somewhere that, before the 2nd World War, today's day was also known as Shunki Koreisai, a Shinto holiday to honor past emperors of Japan.
Not that he really cared much about it, but it was something to keep his mind occupied.
"There he is Aniki!"
His temporary train of thought was broken as he noticed a group of six guys approaching him, among them being the two jokers he managed to creep out into leaving the girls alone.
"That's the guy who made us look like idiots in front of the chicks!" said one of the two.
The Aniki in question was a tall muscle-bound cropped hair gymrat dressed in a black tank top & white sweatpants. The choice of clothing would've made him not stick out of the group at all if it wasn't for the silver & gold chains on his neck, as well as a pair of gaudy rings on both of hands.
"Hey there sweeties, looks like you got me an actual catch now!" he said, trying to keep his cool over the fact that the group has quickly surrounded the bench. He was no fighter & making an escape was impossible, might as well keep up with the act & try to get an opportunity to run.
"Hahaha! Not gonna lie man, you're pretty funny for keeping that faggot act up." The Aniki said, "Unfortunately for you, I ain't that stupid to fall for it."
"Guess you aren't." he responded as he tried to get up from the bench, but was quickly pushed down by one of the punks.
"Who the fuck told you that you could get up, huh?!"
"Legs were getting tired of sitting, y'know?"
For that remark he earned a slap on the head by the punk who warned him in the first place. The aniki, who looked pretty pissed off, grabbed him by the collar and got into his face.
"You're gonna shut the fuck up right now or you'll eat dirt, understand?"
The only thing he could do was calmly nod.
"Now, my boys here need some compensation for the stunt you pulled. And since they're MY boys that you embarrassed that also means you embarrassed ME," the Aniki pointed at himself, "so I'm going to need compensation too. So, if you don't wanna die, cough up all the cash you have."
"No can do. Spent it all on the groceries there. Apologies." He mockingly responded, nodding at the bag of groceries on the bench.
One of the punks took the bag, glanced what's inside and then threw the bag away, scattering the contents all over the park.
"Seriously? You just gonna throw all that food like that? Think of the homele-" he got interrupted by another slap on the head that made him shut up.
"Now, I'm sure that smartasses like you keep some cash your shoes. So…" the Aniki backed off of him and stood next to his boys, "Take them off. Socks too."
He couldn't really help but chuckle to the thought of anyone who wasn't a washed-up yakuza in their 40s thinking that people would keep cash in their shoes or socks. He kept most of his money in the fanny pack that he left in the apartment. Not like it would make any difference even if he told them.
Because he knew what would proceed later anyway.
"What's so funny?" asked one of the punks.
"Hah, I know what you're gonna do the second I kneel to get my shoes off. So, if you've already decided to beat the shit out of me either way then stop wasting my time and do it already." He spatted at them, fully prepared for what's to come.
While the rest of the punks looked angry & annoyed, their Aniki on the other hand began to smile, which quickly turned into a malign grin.
"Heh! Hear that, boys?! Funny man doesn't want me to waste his time! Well…"
The push kick came out suddenly and caught him off-guard, mostly because he expected a punch to the face instead. With a small oof he was sent flying to the bench and was left dazed in a sitting position.
"Too FUCKING BAD, BITCH!"
There was no time for him to recover as the punk behind quickly caught him in a stranglehold, holding him from getting up from the bench.
"I'm gonna waste as much time as I fucking want! And then? Then I'm gonna WASTE YOU!"
What followed after was a rain of kicks & punches from the entire group that he couldn't properly block. If he did try then the guy who got him in a chokehold would squeeze harder so he couldn't breathe, meaning he'd need to free his hand to try & resist his grip.
The only other thing he could do was close his eyes and scrunch his face up as the beating continued.
"Heard from my boys that you came from out of town, carrying travel bags and shit. So let me give you a proper welcome to Karakura…"
He opened one of his eyes when the beating stopped just to see the Aniki holding a clawhammer and was now standing right in front of him.
"Enjoy your stay in a wheelchair, FUCKER!" Aniki exclaimed as he swung the clawhammer towards his knees, fully intending to break them with the tool.
The world around him began slowing down, with the swing of Aniki's hammer coming down on him at a snail's pace, which gave him time to reflect on some things – mostly how he already got into bullshit the 1st day he got into a new town, which was pretty hilarious to him considering he went here to avoid such a thing.
Now some random jackass in a wife beater is going to break his knees and there's nothing he can do about it – outnumbered & outskilled with no one to bust him out.
The only conclusion that he could make out of all this is that whatever happens from now on later is whatever he deserves to get.
Considering everything, he thought it could've been worse, as it can always be worse.
"What the…?"
The train of thought was suddenly interrupted when he noticed Aniki's face changing from one of rage to one of utter surprise when the punk looked back to see someone massive caught the hand holding the clawhammer.
"L-Let me go, you giant freak!"
Aniki started to cringe in pain when the massive man began squeezing his hand, prompting him to let go of the clawhammer. His underlings on his sides never got a chance to react as both of them went flying back from a sudden drop kick they were blindsided with, hitting their Aniki on the way,.
"Where're you looking at?!" said the guy who has just dropkicked three people at the same time like nobody's business.
"Oh shit, it's the bastard who bleaches his hair!" exclaimed one of the punks.
"Tch, getting really sick & tired saying it's my natural hair color to every shithead I meet!" came out an angry response that was followed by a sound of a fist hitting a face.
He had no time to take a good look at his saviors as he immediately went to free himself of the punk holding him from behind. Raising his left hand, he quickly scrambled on the thug's face before finding his eye, which then he proceeded to squeeze.
The punk howled in pain as he grabbed his face, letting him go in the process. He didn't want to let the punk recover from the surprise attack, so he decided to climb on the bench, jump towards the punk and clothesline him while airborne.
And while it did give the desired result of the thug being knocked out, the landing wasn't perfect – he was lucky that his face landed on the grass rather than concrete.
"Ow…that, that was pretty fucking stupid…" he said to himself, shaking himself out of dizziness.
When he turned around, he saw his two saviors – the tall, bulky dude with brown hair that covered half of his face was literally pushing the punks around & knocking them back into each other.
The second guy, with the bleached hair that he claimed was natural, took a much more offensive style, punching & kicking & dodging. The way he fought reminded him of action movie stars that would take on half a dozen guys in a choreographed fight scene.
In front of him, however, was very much real life, and for him to look at the orange-hair kid just effortlessly beating punks up…
"Amazing…" he whispered to himself.
"You're gonna get it now, bleached bastard…"
He spotted the Aniki getting up and brandishing a switchblade and slowly approaching the orange-haired guy he dubbed 'Kurosaki'. At the same time one of the punks managed to take his savior in a nelson hold, which gave the aniki enough confidence to lunge at him with the switchblade.
"DIE, BITCH!"
Personally, he never liked owing anything to anyone – it was a type of pressure that served as a reminder of one's own incompetence or carelessness. Of which he showed aplenty when he got surrounded by street trash & got beaten down like a dog.
And he knew that if he let his savior die at the edge of a common thug's switchblade, he knew that the pressure would follow him to the rest of his life.
"No, you don't!" he said while tackling the Aniki to the ground. And while he did get hit in the neck, he managed to score a few hits before delivering a final punch to the nose that knocked the Aniki out.
"Thanks for the save." He heard the boy with definitely not bleached hair address him, with the punk who that held him before now having a dirt nap on the grass.
"Nah, man…" he said as he got up by leaning on his knee for support, "If it weren't for you two, I'd be dead meat. Lucky you came along…"
Now getting a clear look at one of his saviors, he could definitely say that the the guy in front of him did, in fact, NOT bleach his hair unless he was unaware of some coloring that penetrated hair root that he didn't know about.
Besides the hair, on the surface he looked the clear-cut image of a high-school chinpira that would get constantly in fights, with a combination of a red & white varsity jacket, black shirt underneath & skin tight jeans.
But if one looked into his eyes, he could see that there was no arrogance or selfishness that followed the type he looked. Confidence, determination & even kindness are the first things that came to mind when he looked into him.
He knew that his father had talked to him about people like those, but for some reason he couldn't remember what it was exactly. Probably because of an increasingly flaring pain in his…
"Oh, shit."
He placed his hand on the neck, specifically the place where the Aniki hit him and felt a steady stream of liquid going down his body. It took him looking at the blood-covered hand to realize that the hit Aniki gave him was more of a stab, probably with that switchblade of his.
"Chad, call the ambulance right now! Oi, can you stand?!"
His first instinct was to grab his neck and hold down onto the pulsing wound, only to feel the sheer speed and volume of blood that was exiting his body. A second later he felt his legs becoming weak & wobbly.
"Unh…" was the only sound he could let out before falling on his back, the grip on his neck wound getting weaker & weaker.
The only thing he could see was the orange-haired dude quickly trying to wrap up his neck with a black piece of clothing, probably his own judging by the missing sleeve on the guy's long shirt.
"Hold on, ambulance is on the way! Whatever you do, do NOT fall asleep, you hear me!"
He let out a weak, bloody smile to the dude who was trying to save his life a second time and spoke:
"…A-apologies…"
Exhaustion overcame him as he slowly closed his eyes.
"Oi, I said don't fall asleep! You hear me?! Don't you die on me, dammit!"
…Major penetrative trauma of the carotid artery…
…
…Surgery room, now!...
…
…He survived, but…
…
…Lost too much of it. If we don't find a donor soon…
…
…Sure, I'll do it…
…
…
…
…PATHETHIC MEAT.
March 23rd, 2001
"Hey, you're finally awake."
A yawn escaped from his mouth as he was opening his eyes. The first obvious thing he noted was his current situation of being bedridden in a hospital. And a fancy hospital at that, if the newest TV model at the desk across his bed & the fancy looking IV hooked to his arm is anything to go by.
Close to the TV and leaning on the wall was the same orange-haired guy who, judging by his own very-much-not-dead state, saved his arse twice in a row.
"How *yawn* long was I asleep?"
"Couple of days. Doctors told it should be normal considering you survived getting stabbed in the neck, a thing which isn't usually normal."
Both of them chuckled at the general morbidity of the statement.
"Uh, apologies, but can you tell me, uh…" he slowly spoke before a cough interrupted him.
"What happened after you got stabbed, is what you want to ask?"
He nodded in return.
"Ambulance came, you got into surgery and managed to pull out. Problem was that you lost too much blood and they needed a donor for an emergency transfusion fast. Offered myself, luckily turned out we're the matching blood type and, well, here we are."
"Heh. That's three for three when it comes to you saving me. Dunno how am I ever gonna repay the debt?" He joked. But in the back of his mind, he knew that he did owe the guy a lot and seriously wasn't sure what to do about it.
"No need to bother. Talked to Tatsuki the other day – she & Orihime actually came to visit you. Told me you got them out of a situation, which is honestly more than enough for me." To know that you're a decent guy went unheard but he knew that's what he meant by it.
"That & the fact that you jumped on that shithead with the knife who was about to attack me. Consider any debts you think you owe me paid."
"Ah, come on man. Sure, first one is legit but me saving you? Calling it bullshit." He then added, "Looking back at it, you would've been just fine without my help. Me interfering just made everything more complicated."
"Call it what you want," the orange-hair responded, "but from my point of view, you're debt-free."
"Technically speaking, that's two for three."
"Hm?"
"First one was saving me from punks. Second was helping me not bleed out to death & the third was donating blood to me. Two for three, I owe you one more."
"Geez, if you're gonna be a pain about it…"
Orange-hair approached him until he was next to the bed.
"Might as well get to know each other, since I heard we'll be in the same school. So…"
A hand was extended towards him, waiting to meet with an another for a handshake.
"Name's Kurosaki Ichigo. Yours?"
For some odd reason, some sort of feeling that crept up his spine, he knew that if he shook hands with Kurosaki Ichigo & said his own name…he knew that his life might never be the same.
For better or for worse? Questions left for the future. As for now, he took Kurosaki Ichigo's hand, squeezed & shook it.
"I'm Daniel. Daniel Goichi."
Hello there!
This is the first chapter of a story I decided to write after a while, so apologies if I seem rusty. New chapters will come out every week or two while updates for existing chapters will be a relatively common occurrence, mostly fixing grammar & other technical aspects of writing.
Sincerely hoped you enjoyed it!
Attlich