Within the Eternity Circle

Chapter 3: Catching Fifteen and Twenty-two

It's funny. You beat the bad guy, saved your friends, and saved your home. You've done what you set out to do, and you completed your goal. You struggle and battle, fight and protect, win and lose, and in the end; you save the world. But somehow, someway...

It's your world that ends.

-Kurosaki Ichigo

Ichigo sighed to himself as he took his late pass from Shinta-san, the front office worker before he hurried to class. Thanks to a combination of how late he had woken up, breakfast with his family, and the fact that he dragged his feet on the way to school, it was well into second period.

As he made his way up the stairs and to the second floor, Ichigo began to wonder if Tatsuki came to school today. Ichigo wasn't lying when he told his family that he planned on talking to her eventually. He was still annoyed at how she just left him yesterday, and a little worried over why she did.

Despite how silent she had gone, it was easy to see that Tatsuki had been annoyed or at maybe even angry at something that he had said last night. Which was funny, since she had been hounding him about talking and 'opening up' to her. The whole episode reminded him uncomfortably of what had went down between them the day after Orihime had been forced into Hueco Mundo.

Even till this day her questions confused him. What am I to you? She had asked him, close to tears; even though he was the one that had gotten his head punched through a window. Aren't we friends? Of course Tatsuki was Ichigo's friend, they were friends even when she beat him at the Dojo!

And they became even better friends after his mother's death, Ichigo still remembered how Tatsuki would defend him from bullies when he was too depressed to fight back against them. She had done a lot for him back in those days, and he would never forget that.

Tatsuki even knew his family, and he knew her's. His sisters absolutely adored her, Yuzu thought she was the coolest and Karin looked up to her. Even his father became a little more bearable when she was around, even if he became twice as worse the minute she left.

Tatsuki was his oldest friend. And while they might have drifted a little during middle school when Ichigo had dropped out of karate and Tatsuki met Orihime, she had never stopped being his friend.

And while Ichigo can acknowledge that things between them had gotten even more rocky after he became a Soul Reaper, was that really his fault? Most of the time he had been trying to stay alive while struggling to balance two different lives at the same time. It was perfectly understandable that he'd miss a few get-togethers and wasn't always able to walk home with her, right?

And besides, telling her about what was going on would have only made her worry about him; and he didn't need anymore of that. Between Rukia, Karin, and Orihime, Ichigo had more then enough worry-warts to deal with at the time.

Had things between them degenerate so much back then that she hadn't thought they were friends any longer? And even if she did back think that back then, she had to know they were now, right? Ichigo probably spent more time with Tatsuki now than ever, since Orihime hung out more with Chad and Uryu.

Ichigo's thoughts shifted focus quickly to his two old teammates, Chad and Uryu. He wondered if they knew something about what was going on and decided not to tell him. Some part of him understood what they were trying to do, they were trying to protect him because he was of no help.

But Ichigo felt that if whatever conflict was going on around town had something to do with him, then he should have been told. He might not be some random civilian, he just might become a target. And if Ichigo really was a target, then he should know enough to be able to avoid what he should and shouldn't do.

Eventually Ichigo reached the class he was supposed to be in, and entered swiftly. His teacher was speaking to the class, so he opted to leave the note on her desk and carry on to an open seat. The closest one available was next to Keigo, so he settled down there.

It was impossible to miss the smug grin on the brunette's face, making Ichigo wonder about why his friend was so happy. Keigo had been in a rather bad mood after speaking with Ichigo yesterday (something that was turning into a rather bad trend, Ichigo noticed), and the teen wasn't sure if he should bring that up or not.

Ichigo reasoned that yesterday might have just been a bad day for the brunette, but Keigo didn't really have 'bad days', so to speak. It wasn't what Keigo had said that was the problem (though he had gotten awfully personal about it), but how he had said what he said. It sounded like Keigo had been stewing in whatever was bothering him for a while, and that in itself was somewhat worrying.

What was so bad that Keigo had kept it to himself for any amount of time? Ichigo usually had a hard enough time getting Keigo to shut up on a regular basis, the guy had always been a motormouth; the thought of Keigo keeping something to himself was laughable. Especially if it was important, he usually went to Mizuiro for advice on anything important.

But Ichigo could be looking for problems that weren't really there. Yesterday's revelations could be impacting his judgment and causing him to jump at shadows. It seemed that Keigo was better then ever, so maybe Ichigo should just calm down and get out of his own head.

As he began to retrieve his notebook and textbook from his bag, Ichigo cast a subtle glance at Tatsuki. His old friend was sitting on the other side of the classroom, in between two students Ichigo couldn't name. She didn't notice him looking her way, and as such kept her focus on taking notes.

Tatsuki didn't look overly annoyed or angry, but Ichigo knew that she had something of a short temper. Ichigo also knew that if he tried to avoid her, Tatsuki would confront him on principal alone. The best he could try to do was approach her and try to find out what was bothering her before an argument gets started. Fighting with Tatsuki was never pleasant.

Faced with his inability to do anything about Tatsuki at the moment, Ichigo reached forward to the seat in front of his and tapped Mizuiro on the shoulder when their teacher's back was turned. When his friend turned back to meet his gaze, Ichigo gave a slight nod towards an oblivious Keigo, silently asking what had gotten the so giddy.

Mizuiro just shrugged and turned back to his work. For several minutes, Ichigo was sure that he had just been brushed off, until a folded up square of paper was thrown over Mizuiro's shoulder and onto Ichigo's desk. Ichigo unfolded the paper and read what was written.

He says he's got a date after school. Ichigo's jaw dropped a little as he shot an unbelieving glance at Keigo before he continued to read. Says that he met her after school yesterday and that she's hot. Got kind of annoying, wouldn't shut up about it. -Mizuiro

So Keigo had gotten in some time with a hot girl? Yup. Ichigo thought, That would get him back to normal. Better than normal even.

Still marveling over the fact that his skirt-chasing friend had actually managed to get himself a date, Ichigo tried his best to focus on his classwork. Every once in a while he would glance at either Keigo or Tatsuki, wondering how he should approach either of them.

Soon enough the bell rang, and Ichigo was one of the first student's out of the classroom. He leaned against the wall next to the door and watched his classmates file out and go to their next subjects. Mizuiro had begun to wait for him, but Ichigo waved his friend off. He didn't plan on making it to third period.

When Tatsuki had eventually exited the classroom she had been speaking to Ryo and Michiru, two of her friends.

Ichigo finally left the wall and walked down the hall with them. It didn't surprise Ichigo that Michiru stopped taking almost immediately, the had always been wary of him. Ryo just focused on reading one of the small books that she always carried with her.

It was awkward to say the least.

Ichigo made the first move. "I need to talk to you." He tried his best to look Tatsuki in the eye, with was hard given the fact that she was facing forward and away from him. "It's about yesterday." He ignored Ryo's raised eyebrow and Michiru's questioning glance. "It's important."

But Tatsuki just scoffed and didn't spare him a glance. "Oh, so now you wanna talk. Too bad, I don't." All of them turned a corner in the hallway. "Besides, we all have class to go to." Her tone was tight, no doubt she considered that the end of the conversation and wanted Ichigo gone.

The irony of the situation was lost on Ichigo, in fact, it just kind of pissed him off. Just yesterday Tatsuki had been the one wanting to talk and he had wanted her gone. "Seriously, Tatsuki. I need to talk to you, it's important." He paused before adding, "More important then just one class. Lunch is right after anyway."

But Tatsuki didn't budget a inch. "Well, it can wait until after school." She cast a dark look at Ichigo's general direction, but didn't meet his gaze. "Sucks doesn't it, when you want to say something and I decide to avoid you."

"Are you still on that?" Ichigo questioned incredulously, was Tatsuki trying to teach him a lesson or something? "Are you seriously giving me that? Is that why you just ran out on me yesterday?" He ignored the fact that Ryo had began to put her book away and while sharing a knowing glance with Michiru.

"What?" Tatsuki barked, stopping and finally turning to face him. "What the hell do you mean–"

"Oh come on Tatsuki." Ryo drawled as she sent Ichigo a disapproving glare. "Throw the boy a bone. He's begging enough." The girl met the glare Ichigo tossed her way passively. "Maybe he'll even get his head out of his ass."

Ichigo just bit back a scathing retort and grabbed Tatsuki by her wrist before leading the girl away. He'd deal with Ryo some other time, that girl had never liked him anyway. Fortunately, the feeling was reciprocated one hundred fold.

Eventually Tastuki broke from his grip, though she still decided to follow him, even if she did mutter darkly the entire walk to one of the school's empty stairwells. Soon the two of them were alone, and Ichigo dropped his bag as he sat on the steps.

Tatsuki stared standing, glaring at him. "What the hell do you think you were doing?" She demanded. "Don't just grab me like that! You're lucky that I didn't break your wrist."

"If you didn't want to be with me then you would've left." Ichigo shot back, his words reminiscent to the one's she spoke to him the day before. "Just shut up for a minute and let me talk, alright?" He waited for an answer, but didn't get one. "Alright?"

Tatsuki stared hard, but nodding stiffly and moving to sit beside him. "Fine."

Ichigo waited for Tatsuki to settle herself before speaking. "You know that guy we meet yesterday? One the bench? Well he–"

"Oh come on Ichigo!" Tatsuki cried out, sounding particularly aggravated. "I thought I told you to just let that go! I can't believe you dragged me all the way down here just to bring him up again!" The funny thing was, Tatsuki was more annoyed at herself than Ichigo. Tatsuki knew that she should have just kept her mouth shut, if she hadn't said anything, then they wouldn't be having this conversation.

"He found me."

"I–What?"

"He found me." Ichigo repeated again. "After you went home I was wondering around town, and he found me. He told me some things, showed off his powers, and then he disappeared." Ichigo paused for a second, wondering whether of not he should tell Tatsuki about Harry offering to restore his powers.

Tatsuki's mind was beginning to stall. "He met with you?" At her friend's nod, she continued. "Well, what the hell are we sitting here talking about it for? Tell Orihime or Chad or someone!" In Tatsuki's mind, that was the right thing to do. If your being stalked by some possibly super powered guy, you go grab you super powered friends.

Wasn't protecting Karakura Town form spiritual psychos their job?

But Ichigo just shook his head and sighed. "I think that probably already know. And I think they might have decided not to tell me."

Tatsuki noticed the look in her friend's eye. "Well, why wouldn't they? Back then you guys never told us 'normal people' what was going on." As she spoke, a hint of bitterness could be heard. "I mean, even when it was us getting attacked and everything, you guys never told us a damn thing."

Ichigo knew that Tatsuki was hinting at Orihime's capture and his decision not to tell her. "It wasn't that easy. A lot was going on back then, and this time it's different." He frowned at the scoff that he was awarded with. "What?"

"The only difference is that it's you being kept in the dark this time." Her words were dark and forceful. "It sucks, doesn't it? Knowing that your friends are running around behind your back and you can't do a damn thing about it. It's even worse because you have no damn idea what's going on since no one will tell you."

"You have no idea what it was like for every else back then." Tatsuki was really starting to get into her tirade. "Seeing you fighting Hollows and having no idea what to do. None of us could talk to anyone, and we all had to sit by and watch our friends fight giant monsters."

"And it's not like anyone could speak to you guys. You all just shut up or up and left whenever someone tried to talk to any of you about it." Tatsuki's fist clenched in anger, and Ichigo leaned away from her in case she decided to lash out. "Do you know how useless that made everyone feel? Do you?"

Of course Ichigo knew what feeling useless felt like, it wasn't like he was bursting with power over here. The past year hadn't been particularly fun for him on any level. "Of course I know how that feels. Try knowing all of that, and not being able to see any of it. At all."

Ichigo stood up and started to pace back and forth. "I mean, it's not like you've just had a huge piece of your life cut away." He began sarcastically. "I mean, it's not like you haven't lost the one thing that set you apart from everyone else. The one thing that made you feel special and different."

"You just don't understand! I've seen spirits all of my life, I've grown up around them! It's like the world has lost half of it's population or something. Jeez, sometimes I feel like I'm blind!" It was true. Sometimes when Ichigo was with everyone, and they happen to glance at a ghost doing something funny or a ghost asks them a question, Ichigo felt like the odd man out.

Just about all of his friends could see spirits now. It was like some sick act of karma; the minute Ichigo decides to come clean about everything and about him seeing spirits he loses the ability and all of his friends gain it.

"Stop being so melodramatic!" Tatsuki bit back. "From what I heard, you used to complain about seeing them all the time!"

"But I never expected not to see them!" Ichigo called out, not realizing that his voice was beginning to raise. "How would you like it if I just broke your legs and see how well you do without karate for a year!"

Tatsuki jumped to her feet at that, and stomped right over to Ichigo and got into his face. "Ichigo." She spat out, her eyes boring into his own. "Come at me like that again, and I will beat you down. You seem to forget that you don't have that nice pretty sword at your back anymore."

Ichigo took her jab at being powerless badly, and it show in the narrowing of his eyes. If Tatsuki had been anyone else, she would have been swung on for getting in Ichigo's face like this. Actually, she probably wouldn't have gotten this close period.

They stood there for some time, glaring at each other. Ichigo breathing deeply with retrained anger with Tatsuki all but snarling at him. Ichigo was sure that if it really came down to it, he'd be able to take Tatsuki in a fight. But he also knew that a fight between the both of them would end in a lot of blood and a broken friendship.

Those words from so long ago came back to him: What am I to you? What was Tatsuki to him? His friend? A rival? A person that he's know for the majority of his life?

It really didn't matter in the end though, if Ichigo threw a punch or goaded her into a fight then whatever she was to him would die. Did he really want to give that up? If he ended up fighting her all he would do is lose. He would lose more then he'd ever admit to.

It was with great self control that Ichigo stepped away from Tatsuki. His breathing had settled though his shoulders were still tensed and his hands still clenched. "I don't even know why I bother." He snarled at both her and himself. "I'm so done."

With that, he stalked over to the steps, retrieved his bag and began to walk off. He only paused to say one last thing. "Tatsuki, if you tell anyone about what I told you..."

"I will never speak to you again."

[-]

"I think we should contact them today."

Uryu looked up from his sandwich, little to no surprise showing on his face. He could tell that Chad had been thinking about Xcution all day; and to be honest, so had he.

The offer was insane. Restore Kurosaki's powers? That would be incredible. Not only would Chad, Orihime, and himself have someone to share the load with, Kurosaki would be pulled out of the steep depression that he'd been drowning in. The way he was now was almost physically painful to look at.

But the offer was too good to be true. Why would anyone want to restore Ichigo's powers? And why would they do it in such a roundabout way? Going to Chad instead of going straight to Ichigo didn't make since. Even though Uryu was beyond glad that this guy didn't go to Kurosaki. Uryu wasn't sure if Ichigo would turn him down.

Uryu knew from personal experience how much being powerless ate at a person. He couldn't imagine being like that for a whole year. He barely lasted a couple of weeks. Power...it is almost like a drug... Uryu mused. To go from superhuman to average doesn't just shake your self-confidence, it destroys it.

"I hear you." Uryu replied. "But don't you think it's pretty early in the game to make a move?" Chad had been restless ever since the man's offer. Uryu had to wonder why. Did he just want to fight with Ichigo again? Or was the way Kurosaki's been living starting to get to him?

It would be fair to say that Chad was closer to Kurosaki than Uryu. The two had known each other since middle school after all. Perhaps Chad was trying to be a good friend? Or maybe he was trying to make up for being a bad one? He and Kurosaki hadn't been spending much time together for a while...

"No, I don't." Chad responded. "If we wait too long then he's likely to go after Ichigo himself, and us trying to check him out would be pointless."

"To be fair, how is us trying to check him out going to solve anything? He could just lie to us, how would we know any better?" Uryu question his friend seriously. "You said this guy was human, but for all we know he's some Soul Reaper running around in a Gigai. He could say that he's from the Soul Society and we'd never be able to confirm it."

"We could ask Urahara."

Uryu sent Chad a disbelieving look. "Ask Urahara? Since when has he ever told anyone the truth?" It wasn't necessary for Uryu to point out all the times he had lied or withheld information from everyone. "He's liable to stab us in the back if it's to save himself or enact some plan of his."

"I wouldn't go that far." Chad countered resolutely. "He not have told us everything, but it always worked out in the end."

"It did? You mean like when we were both almost killed by captains and imprisoned in the Soul Society? Or how about when we were forced to defend Karakura from a war that was almost entirely that man's fault?"

"You think far too badly of him." Chad intoned evenly. "He's isn't nearly as bad as you say he is."

"And you're always determined to see the best in people. Not everyone is as loyal as you are Chad, you need to understand that."

[-]

Ichigo stared hard at Karakura Town, almost as if he were willing it to reveal any of it's hidden secrets. He had came to the roof to be alone after the train wreck of a conversation that he had with Tatsuki. Now it was lunch time, so he wasn't by himself anymore. Keigo and Mizuiro joined as well.

He still couldn't believe what had happened between him and Tatsuki. He had meant for the two of them to talk about what had happened yesterday, but the girl could be so infuriating sometimes. Tatsuki had claimed for years that Ichigo had a bad attitude, but she hadn't been a bundle of joy lately either.

It confused Ichigo to no end. Most of the time she was fine, but then it was like a switch was flipped or something, and then they were arguing. And arguments between himself and Tatsuk tend to get really heated. Ichigo guessed that it was because he and Tatsuki were very similar. Both of them were a little too hot headed and quick to anger at the best of times; and the history they shared with one another just allowed them to goad each other with much greater success than the average person.

Tatsuki said that there is something wrong with him? Well, she wasn't doing all that well either. It was obvious that there was something eating at her, but Ichigo doubted that he'd be able to find out what it was. She would have to come to him.

His first mistake today was making the first move. Even during fights Tatsuki always had to be the aggressor, the person taking charge. Ichigo should have let her come to him. Tatsuki did have much patience, and if she wanted to say something to him or was willing to listen, then she would have came to him.

But Ichigo didn't have much patience either, he just wanted the whole confrontation over and done with. He'd have to pull back now, and hope that Tatsuki would cool down enough to talk to him soon.

Ichigo admits that his parting words were probably a mistake. He shouldn't have given Tatsuki an ultimatum like that. She might just go out and tell the others out of spite, not caring about the consequences. Ichigo knew that he probably would.

Not that Ichigo actually ever planned on throwing away his friendship with her. That had been spur of the moment. A threat that he hoped would keep Tatsuki from telling anyone about Harry. It probably wouldn't work, and would only make things worse.

Ichigo sighed as he held his head in his heads. He wasn't even sure why he didn't want anyone to know about Harry. It wasn't like he could protect them by withholding information, if there was something that they needed to be protected from.

Was he refusing to tell them out of some petty form of revenge? Was it payback for what they might not be telling him? Was there was anything that they actually had to be told about? Yes, there might be a dangerous gang running around Karakura, but he wasn't even sure if his friends knew or not.

Ichigo's right hand fell to his side, and tapped his thigh pocket. He could feel the metal of the keys that had been given to him. Keys that may or may not lead to him getting back his powers. Keys that might just let him find out just what is going on around him. If there was truly anything going on beyond his father and Urahara spying on him.

"I'm telling ya man!" He heard Keigo shout out in good humor. "Jackie's hot bro. Really, really hot." He began to animatedly press buttons on his phone, before finding what he was looking for, and holding the device outward for everyone to see. "See? Look!"

Ichigo pulled himself from his thoughts to survey the picture. The girl shown had dark skin, chin length hair, brown eyes, and full lips. He had to admit, she was good looking. It was hard to find someone that exotic looking in Japan.

"Bull! Lies!" Mizuiro proclaimed loudly before lowering his voice and continuing normally. "I still don't believe that you have a date with this chick. She's way too hot for you. Way. Too. Hot." He wrenched the phone from Keigo's grasp and began examining the photo even closer. "I bet you pulled this from the internet or something."

Keigo began to squawk and make grabs for his phone, but Mizuiro moved away every time. "No! The reason I asked to take her picture was to be able to prove to you guys that I, Asano Keigo, can get a girl!"

Lunches completely forgotten as Mizuiro continued to dodge around Keigo's grabs and search the phone for more pictures. "What? You asked her for a picture? Lame! That was your first mistake, girls don't like it when you try to prove stuff like that."

Mizuiro was practically dancing around the roof as Keigo began to lunged bodily after him, trying desperately to capture him. "This chick looks older too, you don't want her to think that you're juvenile, do you?"

"No!" Keigo cried out as Mizuiro barely dodged him. "But I do want my phone back!" He howled out and moved forward quicker than before, latching onto Mizuiro's coat and making a grab for the phone. "Give it to me!"

"Never!" Mizuiro cried, before he looked to Ichigo. "Catch!" He called, before using the arm that was free from Keigo's grip to hurl phone to Ichigo.

Reaching in the air, Ichigo caught the phone soundly. Which was a good thing, considering it would have probably flown off the roof if he hadn't. Taking a closer look at the picture, he noticed that this Jackie girl did look a couple of years older than Keigo.

As Keigo came running to him, Ichigo casually kept it out of a reach. He ran through the photo folder just to annoy his friend.

"Ichigo! Give me my damn phone!" Keigo demanded. His breathing had deepened, and he looked far more agitated than Ichigo would have expected him to be. "This shit isn't funny! Give me my phone!"

Ichigo began to stop messing around as he began to realize that Keigo was actually getting upset. Feeling somewhat guilty about the teasing, he stopped moving and handed the phone back to Keigo. "Uh, yeah. Here you go."

Keigo quickly snatched back the device before sulking back over to his lunch tray and ignoring both Ichigo and Mizuiro. The latter moved to stand next to Ichigo as they both shot a look at the retreating Keigo.

"Well someone's feeling sensitive." Mizuiro muttered thoughtfully.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Responded Ichigo. "He was kind of like this yesterday too."

"Mmmm...Have you noticed how weird he's been lately?"

Ichigo frowned as he thought back. Besides yesterday, had he noticed anything off about Keigo? Ichigo couldn't remember anything that particularly stood out. "Nah, but then again, everyone's been weird lately."

Mizuiro sent Ichigo a shrewd look. "That's funny coming from you." Ignoring the look Ichigo ignoring him, Mizuiro walked forward towards the singular Keigo. He tapped the brunette on the shoulder and drew his attention.

"Now, since I have experience with fine females, I'm willing to help you with this lady friend of yours." Mizuiro explained to Keigo. "That is, if you want it."

Keigo looked understandably wary. "Seriously?" He got to his feet when Mizuiro nodded. "I guess I could use...some help."

"Well, first thing you have to understand is that older women are tricky." Mizuiro began, spreading his vast female wisdom for all to hear. "They'll use you man, and throw away your heart if you give them the chance." He threw an arm around Keigo casually. "You have to be careful, their like sharks. Or cougars."

"Now, woman always want fancy–no matter what they may say. A woman might like to just laze around and eat casually, but she'll love to fine dine. Where are you planning on taking this girl?"

"Uhh, I dunno. I was thinking about Denny's or–"

"Denny's!" Mizuiro crowed. He looked appalled at the thought that anyone would eat at Denny's, Ichigo could only agree. "No! Not that. Think finer, like, T.G.I. FRIDAY'S fine, or OutBack Steakhouse fine."

Keigo looked terrified at having to spend that much money. "What? FRIDAY'S? Do you have any idea how expensive their meals are? Their appetizers are like, expensive as hell! The only thing I'd eat at that place is bread!"

Mizuiro just shook his head solemnly, as though Keigo just failed some important test. "And we come to the second revelation: women love money."

"Can't I just take her to a movie or something?"

"Do you want to come off as horribly cliché as well as bad looking?" Mizuiro asked as he began to lead Keigo back into the school, spouting rules and advice the entire way. His victim looked far too overwhelmed to make sense of it all.

This left Ichigo alone again on the roof. He shook his head exasperatedly. "What a whore."

[-]

The rest of the day was awkward to say the least. Ichigo shared the majority of his classes with Tatsuki, and while she wasn't shooting him glares, she wasn't looking at him either. Though the looks he did receive were from her friends, and they weren't all that nice. But still, he was hopeful that things would blow over in the next couple of days.

Ichigo just couldn't approach her right now. Tatsuki has to make the first move when she was ready, and things would go from there. Hopefully they'd go in a better direction then their last few conversations. He wasn't sure how many more bad arguments their friendship could survive.

Mizuiro had eventually gotten Keigo to open up about this Jackie girl, and Ichigo had to suffer through an agonizing day of hearing just how great this chick he didn't even know was. About how she had nice legs and a nice body. And a nice smile. According to Keigo, Jackie was the nicest girl ever.

It was as agonizing as it was annoying.

And to top it all off, the damn sport teams wouldn't leave him the hell alone. While Ichigo was all for playing on the teams so long as he they paid him, he didn't need to be asked in between every damn period either. Ichigo swore if he saw that freshman kid Saizo one more time he was getting thrown into a dumpster. A full dumpster. The kind of dumpster a Hollow might hang around in.

Soon enough some god somewhere, smiled down upon Ichigo and school was over. As the bell rang he grabbed his stuff and began leaving the classroom, making sure to put some distance between himself and Tatsuki.

On his walk down the hall, Keigo and Mizuiro had caught up to him. Keigo was still bringing up Jackie (Ichigo was truly beginning to detest that woman), and Mizuiro was still spouting off advice and helpful pointers whenever he could. Or, at least Ichigo thought that they were pointers. He honestly stopped listening after the 'Seven Different Ways To Land In Seven Different Beds' portion.

Once they had made it to the exit of the building they began toplan on catching each other later, since Ichigo had work, Keigo had to get ready for his date, and Mizuiro probably had four or five girls waiting for him at home.

"Hey! Hey! Kurosaki-senpai!" Ichigo blood boiled at the voice, and he turned slowly to see Saizo, chasing after him.

The boy was smiling and running towards him happily. As though Ichigo just hadn't told him to scram. Like Ichigo hadn't told him to scram at least four times today. This freaking kid was worse then Yuzu and Karin that time they had gotten drunk at the spring festival! And since Saizo wasn't a child or Ichigo's younger sister, the teen had a lot less patience for him.

"What?" He growled out at the freshman, though Saizo didn't seem to notice how strangled his voice sounded. "What do you want from me?" Both of Ichigo arms were out before him, as though his hands themselves just wanted to strangle the kid.

"Well, senpai. Mazori-san wanted to know if you were going to train with the soccer team today!" Saizo chirped out helpfully. "He really wants you on the team senpai!"

"Keigo!" Ichigo called out suddenly as he thrust his bag out to the brunette. "Hold my stuff." Not waiting for a reply, he stalked forward and began to crack his knuckles threateningly. He began to loom over the freshman as he boy smiled blindingly in the face of Ichigo's wrath. "I'm about to wail on this kid."

[-]

"Are we going to do this now?"

"Is there any reason to wait?"

Uryu frowned at Chad, and sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

School was finished, so Uryu and Chad were standing atop a empty roof in order to speak alone. The duo were discussing Xcution and whether they should try to meet with them today or some other day. Uryu wasn't too keen on meeting them so soon. "Is there any reason to rush?" He shot back.

"Besides the fact that they may go after Ichigo if we wait too long?" Chad question rhetorically before continuing. "If we take too long they may change their number or something once they figure out we're holding onto the card." Chad cast a penetrating gaze. "Why are you so against going?"

Uryu shrugged. He wasn't a fan of just charging into enemy ranks, that was always Kurosaki's job, not his. "It goes against my nature to charge into the unknown, proper preparation is what wins a war."

"Would you rather they come after us?"

"Yes, actually." Uryu admitted. "I'd rather have them come to us and fight on our own terms. But...you're right. I'm being indecisive, if we don't take the fight to them, there's the possibility that too many people will be caught in the crossfire."

Chad held something of a satisfied smile when he handed Uryu the card with Xcution's phone number on it. "Maybe we won't have to fight." He added. "Maybe they really are just trying to help."

Uryu took the card, pulled out his cellphone, and began to dial. "You don't really believe that." There was a lull in the conversation as Uryu held the phone to his ear and waited for someone to pick up.

"You have reached Xcution," A cultured voice spoke from the other line. "The number you are calling from is currently unregistered. Are you a new member? Please speak your name."

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Uryu tried to make his voice deeper to match Ichigo's. He felt that he did a good job, but the look Chad told him pointed out otherwise. It didn't matter in the end though, as whoever was on the other line seemed to buy it.

"...Kurosaki-san? We have already been informed about you. Welcome to Xcution."

[-]

Tatsuki frowned as she leaned against the school wall watching the soccer players practice. She had looked for a head of messy orange hair, but didn't find any. She wasn't sure if that made her happy or not. Probably not.

Just who the hell did Ichigo think he was? How dare he try to play that shit with her? She still couldn't believe that he'd put their relationship on the line for anything like that. That he'd give her an ultimatum like like!

Even with as long as Tatsuki had known Ichigo, he still confused her. It was like he was dead set on ending up dead! One mention of anything supernatural and suddenly he was all over the place and seeing plots and dangers around every corner.

Fighting Hollows and whatever else wasn't the same as fighting some punk thug or wannabe gang member. Battles between the supernatural almost always left destruction in their wake, and Ichigo seemed to have his heart set on being in the middle of it all.

She just didn't understand him anymore. Once upon a time Tatsuki could honestly claim that she knew Ichigo better than almost anyone. She knew him back when he had been a whiny little momma's boy all the way to the punkish teen with a heart of gold.

But sometime after he had gained his powers he had changed.

During his time as a Soul Reaper, Ichigo had been so busy fighting and being secretive that he had pretty much cut everyone out of his life besides Rukia, and that had hurt. Tatsuki had gone from being the most prominent girl in his life to second best because of a girl that no one had even known at the time. But, after a while had gone by Rukia had left.

And Ichigo gave chase.

Even after he had been left dying on a street he had gone after her. Into the heart of a city where almost every single person wanted him dead or imprisoned. Chad, Uryu, and Orihime had followed him, and all of them had almost died several times.

Eventually Ichigo had came back home and Tatsuki had thought that things were going to go back to normal, but everything just became even more different. Ichigo was still horribly secretive and now spent almost all of his time with Chad, Uryu, and Orihime exclusively. There were times were he avoided everyone and where he disappeared off the map all together.

Sure, now she knew why had acted the way that he did. His inner Hollow had been working up and he was preparing for a war, but she hadn't known that then. All she knew was that her best male friend fought horrible monsters during his time off and wasn't talking to her about it.

Tatsuki was still sure that Ichigo had no idea just how horrifying that was to watch. Seeing your friend fighting against monsters several times taller and wider than any human could ever be was heart stopping. Or when Tatsuki would catch the news and find out that some section of the town had been mysteriously destroyed, and knowing in her heart that Ichigo had been a part of it.

And then Rukia came back.

Suddenly Ichigo was doing better then he had before and didn't look just as horrible anymore. Rukia was accepted into Ichigo's group with open arms while she, Keigo, and everyone watched on the sidelines ignorant of what was really going on.

But while things seemed to become better with Ichigo, things were going down the drain everywhere else. With Rukia back again, Orihime had almost stopped speaking with Tatsuki entirely, instead choosing to train and discuss things with Rukia. And soon enough, Orihime was kidnapped.

And once again Ichigo was off, running into proverbial hell. Dragging his other friends with him and almost dying more times then Tatsuki ever wanted to think about. But in the end, he had gotten Orihime and the whole situation between Aizen had gone down.

Tatsuki repressed a shudder. She still didn't know everything that had happened during that event, but she never wanted to either. That day was such a mix or complete horror and confusion that Tatsuki hardly ever liked thinking about it.

And during all that complete terror came Ichigo. And what preceded his arrival was the kind of battle only spoken of in Greek mythology and Final Fantasy games. Complete with multiple boss transformations and one final attack.

Soon the bad guy had been defeated, Ichigo lost his powers, and the town had been saved. It was something out of a fantasy book, and everyone was supposed to live happily ever after, right? Wrong. In reality everyone was completely confused, Ichigo was in a coma, and the town was torn to shreds.

The hero was a mess when he finally woke up. He hadn't taken the fall from godhood to mortal all that well, though Tatsuki couldn't blame him. He had been on top of the world one minute, and a normal person the next.

And so Rukia was gone, and Tatsuki was left to pick up the pieces; Ichigo had been shattered pretty good too. She had to deal with nightmares about the final battle, worrying about Aizen being released or escaping from his prison, any of Aizen's remaining minions attacking, and the fact that Ichigo expected a hollow to be around every corner.

Tatsuki understood those fears. Hell, she had some of them herself! But...Ichigo hadn't ever really gotten any better. Or if he had, not in the way that Tatsuki had hoped he would. She knew that it was unrealistic for her to hope that everything would go back to normal, too much time had gone by and too many things had changed, but she still had held onto that belief.

And for the most part, it seemed that things had almost been back to the way they were, except for Ichigo. Most of he time he was fine, but Tatsuki knew that he wasn't all there. He began to fight more than ever, and almost always alone. Tatsuki didn't know if he was trying to keep his skills sharp, or just venting whatever anger he had on gangs of thugs.

Tatsuki knew, she knew that he still wanted to fight Hollows; and that angered and terrified her at the same time. It was like being a normal person wasn't good enough for him anymore, and he was just waiting to regain those powers and charge into whatever problem there was.

Right to Rukia.

Tatsuki groaned. Maybe it wasn't that she didn't know who Ichigo was anymore, but that she didn't like who he was choosing to become.

"Tatsuki-chan!" A chipper voice chirped, and Tatsuki turned to see the ever happy Inoue Orihime. "What are you doing here all by yourself?" The girl jogged over to where Tatsuki was standing to lean on the wall beside her.

Tatsuki was suddenly very aware of a very vindictive feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. It would be so easy, so easy to just tell what she knew to Orihime and have her, Chad, and Uryu to force the truth out of Ichigo. So. Easy.

But her old friend's words haunted her. He had said that he would never speak to her again, had he been serious? He had sounded serious enough, but would he really go through with the threat? Did she really want to risk it? She would be throwing away years of friendship if she went through with it...?

"Nothing, just wasting time until I have to go to work."

Damn.

[-]

"Alright Ichigo-chan! Ready for work today?" Called Ikumi as Ichigo stepped into the break room. He nodded his confirmation as he dropped down onto the couch bodily. He was tempted to put his feet up on the coffee table, but decided against it.

"What are we doing today?"

But the phone on a nearby counter began to rang, causing Ikumi to run over to it and answer instead of Ichigo. "Hello!" She called out boisterously, sounding far louder then anyone would ever like to hear. "Cheap! Fast! Safe! That's Unagiya Shop!"

Ikumi's face, which had been set in a happy smile, quickly transformed to one of annoyance. "Two orders of the extra special quality! This isn't an eel shop you twit!" She waited to hear a replay before continuing. "What menu are you reading this from!"

Ignoring Ikumi in favor of staring at the ceiling, Ichigo leaned back into the couch and began to rest his eyes. He only opened them again after Ikumi slammed the phone back into it's receiver. "You really should change the name of this place."

"Hell no. I won't disrespect my ancestors like that!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Not your name, the shop's name!" Because working at a place named "Eel" was so lame. Not that Ichigo worried about what other people thought of the store, he just felt that the name was stupid.

"I refuse." Ikumi spoke resolutely, and Ichigo knew it was a lost cause.

There was a knock on the door, and Ikumi called for whoever was knocking to come in. The bell on the entrance jingled as the door opened, and footsteps sounded loudly on the floor. Ichigo turned to greet the newcomer, and take in his appearance.

His hair was long, dark, and probably combed or jelled back. The jacket he was wearing was leather with a fur collar, and he was wearing black plants. He greeted Ichigo and Ikumi warmly. "Hey there!" He said with a smile as he held out his hand. "My name is Ginjo."

Feeling a slight bit of déjà vu, Ichigo leaned forward to grasp the man's hand cordially. "Hey." He greeted, before letting his hand fall back to his side. "Name's Ichigo." Hey jerked a thumb over to Ikumi. "And that's my boss, Ikumi-san."

"Welcome to Unagiya Shop. What can we do for you?"

"Oh, right." Ginjo checked the pockets on his coat for something as he nodded towards a chair. "Do you mind if I have a seat?" As Ikumi shook her head, Ginjo sat down before pulling out a small poleriod photo. "You guys do any kind of jobs, right?"

"Yep." Ikumi stated proudly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We here at Unagiya can do anything, anywhere, during any time, and at any price." She looked rather proud of her on the spot slogan.

Ichigo couldn't help but ruin it for her. "Don't say 'we at Unagiya.' There the two of us and your whiny ass daughter." He did enjoy getting a raise out of Ikumi. "You make it sound like your running a corporation or something. We're a small-ass corner store."

Ginjo watched the scene with a small grin, and held up his hand as if he were in a classroom to gain their attention. "Uhh, excuse me?" He lowered his hand when both Ichigo and Ikumi turned to him. "As amusing as this is, can we get to business? The job I want you guys to take is pretty important."

He lowered the photo onto the coffee table and turned it around so both Ichigo and Ikumi could see what it was a picture of. Ichigo eyes widened in surprised at it it was: Harry, with his arms around the shoulders of a smaller boy in a brotherly embrace. In Harry hand was a black handheld video game console, and he was holding it away from the other boy teasingly.

"This..." The smile fell from Ginjo's face as he began to speak. "Is a picture of Harry James Potter. Or, Potter Harry if you wanna go about it the normal way. He's been missing for a while now, and I want you to try and find him."

"Do you know why he left? Was he kidnapped or forced?" Ikumi had turned uncharacteristically serious as she leaned forward to put up the photo and inspect it. "Do you think that he's here in particular, or are you just looking everywhere?"

Ginjo tried to smile disarmingly once more, but something was different about it from before. "We're not sure. I'm part of an...organization of sorts, and Harry disappeared shortly before our leader did. Let's just say that Harry's exit was a...violent one."

Ichigo was beginning to somewhat panic. His words began to bounce around painfully in his skull as he struggled to listen to what Ginjo was saying. A gang of spiritually empowered humans. That's what Harry had discribed them as. And that's what it was sounding like. Harry had said that there was a spiritual gang running around, not that he was a member!

Was this guy just playing with him? Did he not know who Ichigo was? Was he just screwing with his head before killing him and Ikumi? Did he really not know where Harry was? Was Ginjo here because he thought Ichigo knew where Harry was staying?

But Ichigo did know where Harry was staying. Was there a chance that Ginjo would just leave if Ichigo gave him what he wanted? Hardly. While Ichigo may be weaker and rusty, he wasn't stupid. Bad guys never just let people go after they get what they want.

But of course, Ichigo's frantic inner scrambling didn't reflect in his voice or on his face, both were as calm as he could possibly make them. "An organization? More like a gang." Ichigo leaned forward and tried to be as intimidating as possible without Ikumi catching on. "Organizations have bosses, only gangs have leaders."

Ginjo looked at Ichigo in surprise, before his smile widened just a little bit more, and Ichigo felt that he had just made a rather large mistake. "Yeah...Harry always did call us that. A gang." His eyes drilled into Ichigo's. "Didn't stop him from joining though."

"Has Harry contacted you, Ichigo-san?" Ginjo question easily, as if they were discussing yesterday's weather. "Me and my friends had thought so, but we couldn't be sure. Would you mind telling me where he is?"

There it was, the question that Ichigo had been dreading. If Ichigo told the man nothing then he was probably going to be killed, and if he did give up the information then he would still probably be killed. Either way he was going to lose. He probably couldn't fight him, and definitely not with Ikumi in the room.

Did he really want to spend what might be the last moments of his life being a coward? And even if ichigo was let go, he would never be able to live this down. Kurosaki Ichigo was many things, but a coward was never one of them. He had never backed out from a fight and he had never sold anyone out either, and he'd be damned if he started now.

Ichigo's body was tensed so completely that it was beginning to hurt. His hands were clenched so tightly that they were shaking a bit. But his glare was diamond sharp and his face was set in stone. "No." He practically spat the word at Ginjo. "I haven't."

"I see." Ginjo spoke solemnly as he began to raise from his seat.

"Ikumi. Leave." Ichigo jumped to his feet, only tearing his eyes away from Ginjo to glare at Ikumi when he realized that she was still in the room. "Ikumi. Leave!" The woman looked between Ichigo and Ginjo in confusion, wondering what was going on. "Leave! Didn't you hear me!"

"Ichigo, what the hell is going on?" She had started to get up also, and looked warily at Ginjo. "What the hell aren't you telling me?"

"Yeah Ichigo, why all the hostility?" Ginjo grinned at him happily before reaching into his coat. "What did Harry tell you about me, that caused all this? Because, really, you should be more worried about him. He's the one that tried to kill his friends after all." From an inner coat pocket he retrieved a black card that he threw on the coffee table carelessly. "There, your dark friend, Chad is it? He must not have gotten this to you yesterday."

"What?" Ichigo bit out harshly, his teeth were gritted and his jaws were clenched. "What didn't he give me?"

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Sorry." He shrugged, before sending Ichigo an understanding smile. "You should probably pick your friends better." He shrugged once again before dropping the subject. "I bet Harry gave you the speech right? About how every isn't as alright as it seems and how he'll show you the light? Well, contrary to what he may tell you, I'm the good guy here. All he wants to do is draw you into another war."

"Yeah? And what do you want?"

"Why, to restore your powers. That's what you want, isn't it?" A low ringing filed the room, and Ginjo pulled a cellphone from his pocket. "Hello? What is it, Giriko?" Ginjo nodded along, as though he wasn't in a room that was overflowing with tension. "Oh...Two of them, huh? That is pretty funny. Where's Riruka? Out getting food, huh? Alright, I'll be right there."

Closing the phone and shoving it back into a pocket, Ginjo turned back to Ichigo and Ikumi, sending them a regretful look. "Sorry guys, we're gonna have to cut this a little short. I have some problems back home that need taking care of."

He turned and began to saunter out of the room, looking for all the world like he just had the most pleasant conversation in existence. "Bye-bye Ichigo-san. Remember to keep in touch!" He sent them a small wave before stepping out of the building and into Karakura Town.

As the bell jingled and door shut, Ichigo released a deep breath before turning to Ikumi. His boss looked angry, confused, and worried. Which pretty much described how Ichigo felt also.

"Ichigo, what the hell was all that about?" Her hand were on her hips and she glared at him, daring him to try and not tell her the truth. "What the hell was that whole conversation? Why were you so afraid of him, who was that guy, and who's the guy he's looking for?"

Frowning at the afraid comment (he hadn't been afraid, he'd been worried), Ichigo ignored her as he snatched up the card Ginjo had thrown and went to gather his bag. Once he had all of his stuff he made a move to leave, but was forced to stop as Ikumi placed herself in front of her.

"What the hell is going on, Ichigo?" She was beginning to sound less demanding and more comforting, it was probably a mom thing. "Do you owe money to gang members? Are you in a gang? Was that guy dangerous?"

"No, no, and incredibly." Ichigo grunted as he pushed her to the side as gently as he could afford. "I suggest you take you take you kid, and leave town for a couple days. Or weeks. Probably weeks." He began to to walk forward and and speak over his shoulder. "Go on vacation or something, you don't want to be in the middle of this!"

"Wait, if that guy is dangerous why are you following him?" Ikumi called after him as she began to follow. "Go to the police! You're being stupid!"

"The police won't be able to help with this kind of thing, and don't worry, I'm not following him!" Ichigo had reached the door when Ikumi got her final word out.

"If the police can't do anything, then do you honestly think you can!

"No. Not yet." Ichigo whispered to himself and her. His hand gripped the doorknob and he opened it slowly. "But I will."

[-]

Harry sat up suddenly, someone had entered his perimeter ward. He had been laying down on his bed watching cable (two hundred something channels and he still couldn't find anything worth watching) when he felt the buzz of his ward warning him.

Harry got to his feet and prepared for a fight or an escape. His right wand was being gripped in his hand and he summoned the duffel bag from across the room. He tensed as his door began to unlock, but could only smirk as it opened to reveal an orange haired teenager.

"Well, well, well...Hello Ichigo."

"A defender is someone who protects, and a warrior is someone who battles. Neither of these things make you a hero, even though many hero's have these qualities. A hero isn't a person that win's the fight, or defeats the bad guy. A hero is someone who brings change.

That is why I will never call myself a hero.

-Harry Potter

Author's Note:

Damn the beginning of this chapter pissed me off. The confrontation between Tatsuki and Ichigo was supposed to go off with their friendship getting better, not worse. But whenever I wrote it, it always ended with them pissed at each other. I'm pretty sure my annoyance leaked into my writing also. I really hate this chapter. Guess that just shows how far I have go in writing.

About Tatsuki and Rukia: Tatsuki doesn't hate Rukia. She isn't even really jealous of her either. It's just that Rukia is pretty much the physical representation of everything Tatsuki does hate: the Spirit World in general. Tatsuki wasn't a part of any of the major adventures, so all she has are second hand accounts of what had happened, and she doesn't like any of it.

Would you want your friends to battle giant monsters and almost die on an regular basis? Or be almost killed by Soul Reapers? For example: Ichigo and everyone may say that Byakuya is a good guy, since they know him personally. But in their stories all Tatsuki hears is: Dude stabbed Ichigo and left him dying in the street. Then he tried to kill Ichigo later, before promising to kill his own sister.

And all of Tatsuki's anger and annoyance revolves around Rukia because Tatsuki feels that all of Ichigo's problems stem from the fact that Rukia couldn't do her job. It doesn't help that she feels that for a while, Rukia stole her place in Ichigo's life. After all, when Rukia and Ichigo first teamed up, Ichigo basically ignored his friends to battle Hollows and thus, spent all his time with Rukia.

And because of Hollow hunting and spiritual world issues, Ichigo basically left his original friends in the dust for a while because he was busy trying to save the town. Of course, none of his normal friends knew this. All they knew was that Ichigo wasn't speaking to them, and that he fought giant monsters in his free time.

Then Orihime was kidnapped and shit just got worse from there. Namely, Aizen. The first major spiritual person Tatsuki meets has to be the worst dude in history. And then he made it worse by trying to kill her.

Damn, did I just waste my entire AN talking about Tatsuki's feelings? I was planning on using it to complain about people never shutting up about Skyrim. Oh, and how I totally CALLED IT about how Ichigo was being monitored by people. I'm like, a genie or something.

Laters