Seconds later Makoto burst through his front door running down the street towards Ichigo's house. "What the heck is going on?" He thought to himself, "First these Hollows show up terrorizing people, then a Soul Reaper shows up in my house and now I'm running towards the site of a battle after some bucket hat wearing weirdo! Can this day get any stranger?"
When Makoto finally arrived at Ichigo's house he froze on the spot. There in the middle of the street lay an unconscious Ichigo dressed in his school attire with Karin lying not too far away in a similar condition.
"What the heck happened here?" Makoto said in a state of shock as his eyes scanned the area, finally falling upon two figures underneath a lamppost. The first was the shady man wearing the bucket hat and the other was the Soul Reaper girl who sat with her back to the lamp post, red blood staining the now white kimono she wore.
"You don't need to worry," the man said as he adjusted the hat on his head as he turned to Makoto. "Your friend dealt with the Hollow so you won't need to worry about another one of those guys showing up."
"Like hell I do!" Makoto replied irritatedly, "A supernatural being just came up out of nowhere and devoured the souls of my friend and his sister! How do you expect…"
"It didn't devour their souls," the girl said in a level voice, "I transferred my Soul Reaper powers over to that boy Ichigo, who then in turn defeated the Hollow before any more harm could be done."
"So, they're fine?" Makoto asked, turning to the girl and searching her eyes for any sign of guile or bewilderment.
"Yes," the girl confirmed, causing Makoto to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Unfourtunately in that process she lost almost all her powers," the man cut in, his face much more serious than his earlier expressions. "And as long as she remains this way she is incapable of returning to the Soul Society."
"And you know this how?" Makoto asked, his voice laced with suspicion.
"Because she told me," he exclaimed, his voice turning from serious to playful. "How else?" Makoto opened his mouth to retort only to shut it immediately after. Who the heck was this guy, and why was he so nonchalant about all of this stuff? People could have died and he's playing it off like some kind of joke. What kind of sick freak is he?
"Alright. She can't return, so why does this concern me?" Makoto asked, looking between the two of them. "If she is a spirit being I doubt that traditional medicine would work not to mention the fact that no one would be able to see her to even operate on her."
"No no. You don't need to worry about that," the man said, his voice still in that nonchalant attitude. "I can deal with her injuries but what she needs more than anything is a place to stay."
"So why doesn't she stay at your place?" Makoto drawled out, "It's very clear that you are much more informed on this subject than I am."
"Normally I would offer however you seem uniquely suited for this situation," he replied evenly.
"And how is that?" Makoto said as he raised an eyebrow in the man's direction.
"You have the impressive ability to sense Hollows from a large distance away," he responded to Makoto while adjusting the hat on his head once more. "In the case that another Hollow should encroach, your abilities would allow you to protect and lead her to safety, without raising the suspicions of either the people or the Hollows while someone else deals with them."
Makoto stood silent for a second, staring down the man as he tried to read anything from his expression in the dim light from the lamppost he stood beneath. "What do I get in return for this deal?" Makoto asked.
"My eternal gratitude of course," the man said, his voice brimming with playful enthusiasm.
"I don't even know who you are!" Makoto retorted in an angry voice, tired of the man's insufferable attitude.
"Oh dear. Did I forget to introduce myself?" he replied, his lips forming an ever so slight frown before adjusting to form a wide grin. "The name's Urahara. I'm the owner of a small candy shop in Mitsumiya called Urahara Shoten. Nice to meet you. Now will you assist me?"
Upon this revelation, Makoto just gaped. The nerve of this guy! He simply gives his name and expects him to be all hunkydory about everything just like that! What psychiatric ward did this guy escape from?! Forget the fact that he was capable of seeing spirits and ghosts. This guy is absolutely mental!
"You seriously expect me to just believe everything you just told me?" Makoto said.
"You believed her, didn't you?" Urahara said as he pointed to the figure of the injured girl.
"Well she actually had some logic in her story, unlike you who just showed up completely out of the blue!" Makoto yelled, completely forgetting what time it was. "I have other things to worry about as well, you know."
"What if I taught you to hone your spirit sensing powers?" The injured girl proposed from where she sat. "That way even after I leave, you will still be able to sense Hollows and properly avoid interacting with them."
Makoto turned to face the girl at this proposal. It was true that while he could sense the Hollows, he couldn't really tell exactly where they were until he was staring face to face with them. And as he already knew from Jay, Hollows tend to target those with heightened spiritual abilities like him and Ichigo. Besides, he couldn't just leave her out on the street in her condition. Not to mention she did save his life from that Hollow earlier.
"Fine," he sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'll do it."
The girl looked up at him, a small sense of relief visible in her partially illuminated expression. Makoto walked over and stretched out a hand to her. "My name is Makoto Tsukiyo. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you Makoto," she said, taking his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "My name is Rukia Kuchiki."
"Well, now that introductions are taken care of we must get going," Urahara said with his extremely carefree attitude once more. "Can we leave you to get them back to their rooms?"
"Hey, I agreed to taking care of her, not doing your dirty work!" Makoto said, turning on the merchant.
"Great. Thanks for your help. I'll get her back to you before the end of tomorrow." Urahara returned, completely ignoring Makoto's comment as he walked off, leading the petite girl in front of him. "Just put them in their beds and act like nothing unusual happened."
"Huh?!" he said, looking at the unconscious Ichigo and Karin, "Won't they remem…" There was no one there when he turned back, leaving him all alone with the unconscious figures. "And he leaves me again. What the heck is he thinking? First he asks in the worst way to take care of that girl and now he dumps this on me? I take it back he's not mental he's a complete psychopath."
Makoto sighed, turning to the unconscious form of his friend. "I really hope no one sees me dragging them into the house. I wish I could sleep in later tomorrow."
________________________________________________________________________________________
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Makoto groaned as he reached over to silence his alarm clock. Yet another night he went relatively sleepless. He may be a night owl but he is still human and unfortunately humans need rest.
"Darn that guy," Makoto grumbled out, as he buried his face in his pillow, bringing a slight amount of comfort. "Just because I agree to take care of the girl doesn't mean I'm going to do your dirty work. It took almost an hour to get all of the Kurosaki's into their beds and Mr. Kurosaki was certainly no lightweight."
Makoto turned his head to look at where his pants and shirt were hanging in his closet. "Fudge, I have to check my blazer." He had been so tired after hiding the Kurosaki's back in their house that he forgot why he was staying up in the first place. He quickly hopped out of bed and ran downstairs to check the washing machine. "Dang it. It's still wet. Though I guess I should be happy that the stain is gone. I guess I'll let it dry while I take a shower and get dressed."
With one last yawn he quickly went to work readying himself for school. After showering, making himself a lunch, and grabbing all his belongings he would need for school he grabbed the blazer from the clothesline in the back yard. It hadn't dried much but he took what he could get.
"Next time remember to take your laundry out of the washing machine," Makoto said to himself as he pulled on the moist piece of clothing onto his shoulders. He felt the cold water slowly seep into the shirt he wore. "Man, will I be happy when this jacket isn't part of the dress code. One less article of clothing to wash."
He looked up to the sky as he began thinking about the events of yesterday. Soul Reapers, Hollows, this Soul Society place, they were all real. "Does this mean that the rest of the stuff Jay told me about is also true?" Makoto thought as he walked back inside and grabbed his bag off the table. "That means Ichigo finally gained the powers of a Soul Reaper. But if that's the case then why don't the others have their powers? None of them seem to be able to see spirits like Ichigo despite what Jay said before. Is it a power that you have to be born with or can you obtain it through long and arduous training? I wish someone would just show up and explain what the heck is going on here!"
"You seem unusually absorbed in your own thoughts," spoke a sarcastic voice from behind Makoto causing him to yelp.
"Oh. Ichigo! What the heck!" Makoto replied in an irritated tone, "Don't scare me like that!"
"Scare you? Is that a joke?" Ichigo said in mock exasperation. "Are we talking about the same person? You call out Keigo and Mizuiro's names when your back is turned to them so many times that Keigo has made it his personal mission to sneak up on you at least once without you noticing."
Makoto gave a nervous smile. "I guess you do have a point there. What the heck happened to your house!" he said, feigning ignorance about the giant hole that now sat in the side of the Kurosaki residence.
For a moment Ichigo waited in silence before opening his mouth and replying, "Some giant supernatural being busted down the wall and grabbed my sister, almost strangling her to death until a midget samurai girl showed up and gave me her spiritual powers so that I could fight it off before disappearing once more."
Makoto stared at Ichigo with his mouth agape as he felt his cheeks flushed red. He remembered everything! But bucket hat said not to worry, not to mention Ichigo just flat out admitted that he could see spirits to someone, who as far as Makoto knew, had been hiding it well. Had he woken up when Makoto returned him to his room? Was he about to be pulverized by Ichigo?!
"W–What?!" Makoto said trying to keep his voice even, despite the fact his crimson faced appearance completely sabotaged the tone he was going for. "Th–that really…happened?!"
"I was just kidding," Ichigo said, a little taken aback by his friend's abnormal behavior. "It was really just some dumbass truck driver."
"Then why did you tell such a ridiculous story!" Makoto yelled back, silently relieved that his involvement in last night's events still remained a secret.
Ichigo just scoffed before beginning to walk towards school. "You're one to talk. You make up stories that rival Orhime's sense of reality and that is something I didn't even think was possible."
"You can't blame me for lightening the mood," Makoto said, as he caught up to Ichigo.
"You just make people think you're crazy," Ichigo responded, rolling his eyes.
"And yet you still hang out with me," Makoto quickly quipped back.
To that Ichigo just scowled before turning forward again. "It's not like I can get rid of you that easily," he grouched, "At least you're better than Keigo, though these days I try to avoid you on account of that idiot asking when your girlfriend is gonna get here."
"Honestly, I don't even know what to say anymore," Makoto sighed as leaned his head back and looked up at the sky. "I've used every excuse I can think of, so much so that I've taken to insulting him now, which usually leads to him ranting about how just because I was blessed with a smoking hot babe doesn't mean that I get to act like I'm better than everyone else…"
"To which you proceed to punch him in the face," Ichigo cut in.
"I prefer forcefully silence," Makoto said, a deceptive smile crossing his face.
"And they call me a delinquent," Ichigo muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Ichigo?"
"Nothing." Ichigo replied back.
________________________________________________________________________________________
The school bells chimed harmoniously as students began making their way out of the classrooms for lunch. Among them were Orihime and Tatsuki who conversed with each other as they walked.
"What did you bring for lunch, Orhime," the spikey haired tomboy asked her friend.
"I'm so glad you asked Tatsuki," Orihime said, her face lighting up with enthusiasm at her friend's question. "I brought leftover tayaki-style ramen with wasabi and honey. Would you like to try some?"
"That's okay," Tatsuki replied as she grimaced at the unique combination of foods. "I brought my own food."
"Are you sure? It's really…Oof!" Orihime exclaimed as she ran into someone knocking her to the ground, scattering her belongings across the floor.
"Oh, hey it's you two," Ichigo said as if it had just been a slight breeze. Next to him was none other than Makoto, who let out a small huff as he rolled his eyes.
"Normally, you ask the person you bulldoze if they're alright, Ichigo. Not acknowledge their existence," he deadpanned.
"Yeah, what kind of person do you think you are," the furious Tatsuki said, interposing herself between Ichigo and her friend.
"I got it," Ichigo said, putting his hands up to signal Tatsuki to give him some personal space. "Are you alright Orihime?"
"Oh yes. I'm just fine," she said, her cheerful smile once again plastered on her face as a hand came into her view. It was Ichigo offering to help her up off the floor. He looked so handsome with that worried frown on his face. Wait! What was she thinking!
Orihime quickly picked herself up, her face turning bright red as she tried to make up some excuse to leave. "AH! That's right I have v–volleyball. I need to get back to it." she said, turning on her heel and bolting away leaving the three of her friends in silence.
"Wow. Real smooth Ichigo," Makoto chortled, a knowing smile crossing his face. "So when's the first date?"
"What are you talking about?!" Ichigo exclaimed as his face turned the same color as Orihime's. Tatsuki glared at Makoto, but he could see the faintest trace of a grin playing in the very corners of her mouth.
"Sorry," Makoto replied to Tasuki, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I had to get him back for the outrageous claims he said on the way here."
"Why you little…" Ichigo began as veins started to pop out on his forehead.
"So why are you guys so late?" Tatsuki asked before Ichigo could exacerbate the situation further. Lunch just started."
"It's lunchtime!" Makoto exclaimed as he pulled out his phone to check the time. "But my clock was supposed to wake me up at 7:30!"
"Are we talking A.M. or P.M.?" Ichigo mocked. Causing Makoto to glare at his friend.
"My parents told me there was a power outage last night," Tatsuki said, "It messed with all the electricals over at my place. Maybe the same happened to you."
"Uhh. Now I'm gonna have to copy notes from someone," Makoto groaned.
"At least you'll actually have time to write them," Ichigo complained, "I'm gonna be cleaning up my house for who knows how long."
"Why is that?" Tatsuki asked, eyeing Ichigo curiously.
"I'll tell you later," Ichigo said, brushing off the question as he continued on towards the classroom.
"What's his problem?" Tatsuki asked Makoto.
"I don't know," Makoto shrugged, when he heard Keigo's loud voice from up ahead. "Here I go again. I wish the month would end so that the bet could be over."
"Ha. Good luck with that," Tatsuki said, turning to him.
"Tell me about it," Makoto said as he picked up the scattered belongings of Orihime. "I bet as soon as I walk in that classroom the first words spoken to me are going to be 'When is she coming.' It's gotten to the point where I think no one even cares if I exist, they just care if my fiance does."
"Sounds rough," Tatsuki remarked as she stooped down to help pick up Orihime's things. "Now about that joke with Ichigo."
Makoto tensed at those words as they came out much more emphatically. "What joke are you talking about?" He stuttered out, avoiding eye contact with Tatsuki.
"Trying to play dumb are we," She replied, her tone turning from her normal kind and warm one to that of a harsh and cold assailant that had finally cornered its prey. "Do I have to beat it out of you?"
"Oh that one," Makoto said, regaining some of his composure as sweat began to drip down the back of his neck. "Are you saying Orihime doesn't have a big fat crush on Ichigo?"
Tatsuki opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, stunned by Makoto's insight. "You could tell?" She replied back in a much calmer voice than before.
"Hard not to when she blushes every time she even speaks a word to him," he said, silently thanking he wasn't wrong as he stood back up with the books in one hand, while offering the other hand to help Tatsuki up. "Did you see what happened earlier? Her face was as red as her necktie."
"Thanks," Tatsuki replied as Makoto pulled her to her feet, "But I didn't think a guy would notice. They tend to be pretty dumb."
"Guys aren't dumb," Makoto replied, "They're just oblivious. That's all."
"And that's better," Tatsuki snickered.
"Quite. Where stupidity is due to a lack of brainpower, obliviousness is due to a lack of attention," Makoto replied, clearly annoyed by Tatsuki's stereotyping. "You can be smart but still be oblivious."
"I know that dummy!" Tatsuki yelled back at him, "You don't have to explain like you're the smartest person on earth."
"Then don't stereotype guys as being total meatheads with nothing upstairs," Makoto said, rolling his eyes. "As a girl who loves karate and fighting I would have thought that you would be above stuff like that."
Tatsuki opened her mouth to retort only to lower her eyes and mutter out an apology. "Sorry," she said, not daring to meet his eyes. Both Ichigo and Orihime were bullied for their looks and she had certainly seen her fair share of off putting glances because of her own looks and attitude even though no one ever dared tell her to her face.
"It's fine," Makoto said, waving off the insult. "I'll admit that you probably won't be the last one to say that and I probably wouldn't have noticed it either had I not spent copious hours thinking about genuine human interaction."
"That sounds completely fake and totally cringy," Tatsuki deadpanned.
"Belief or disbelief rests with you," Makoto shrugged, "It's not like I have a way to prove it. Anyway you should probably take these and catch up to Orihime." Tatsuki accepted the books that Makoto had picked up when he heard yelling from the classroom.
"Where is he?! I thought you said he came in with you!" Keigo yelled, peeking his head out of the classroom looking for Makoto.
"I guess my day's reckoning has come," Makoto sighed, "I better get going so I can eat. See you later Tatsuki."
"See you later, Makoto," Tatsuki said, giving him a light punch on the shoulder before turning towards the frantic Keigo. "And good luck. It seems like you'll need it." With that she turned and walked off in the direction that Orihime had run.
Makoto glanced down at the ring on his finger, its silver sheen glistening in the golden light of the sun as it refracted off the band almost as if it was changing from silver to gold. Wait, was it changing?! No, that's not possible. No metal could do that. He was being silly. He took one last look at the gold band on his finger before putting his hand in his pocket and walking into the classroom, leaving him alone with his thoughts and wishes.
________________________________________________________________________________________
"No Keigo. I'm still eating," Makoto said, taking a bite of his food. "And the more you ask the longer it will take me to finish eating."
"Come on, man. You can't blame me," Keigo grouched.
"Actually, I can blame you," Makoto replied, taking another bite of his food. "Because for some weird reason you have more interest in my love life than anything else in the entire world. I bet someone could solve world hunger and you would probably still have more interest in whether I've made out with my girlfriend."
"Come on, man. I just want to find out more about her," Keigo whined.
"You just self rationalized your actions in one of the worst scenarios possible!" Makoto exclaimed, his face twisted in horror at Keigo's horrible priorities.
"Forget it Makoto," Ichigo said in a mocking tone as he sat at his desk not far away, "You might as well just tell us."
"Not that I agree with Keigo's priorities but he does have a point," Mizuiro stated.
"You know why I haven't told you anything?!" said Makoto as he stood up, veins beginning to pop out of his head. "The reason why I haven't told you anything IS BECAUSE…"
"You must be Ichigo Kurosaki," said a sweet voice through the growing commotion, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads in its direction. Standing there a few feet away from Ichigo was Rukia, a charming smile on her face as she addressed the orange haired boy, who at this point was staring, clearly perturbed by the appearance of the Soul Reaper.
"I'll be sitting next to you from now on. My name is Rukia," said the small raven haired girl as both Ichigo and Makoto looked toward her stunned.
"It's you!" Ichigo exclaimed, as he stood up from his seat pointing at the girl.
"What's wrong Ichigo?" Keigo asked, looking at his friend.
"Have you two met each other?" Chad asked, standing beside Ichigo.
"Of course not," Rukia replied, holding out a hand to the boy for a handshake. "But despite that, it's nice to meet you."
Makoto stood rooted in place. Why the heck was she here?! Why would that weirdo have brought her here? And how can everyone see her?! She was a spirit being, wasn't she? And if normal humans can't see spirit beings then how can Keigo and Mizuiro see her? Not to mention Ichigo remembered the events of last night! What horrible nightmare was going to ensue.
"Calm down, Makoto," he thought to himself, trying to calm his already shaky nerves. "Everything is going to be okay."
"Say Rukia, how do you know who Ichigo is?" Mizuiro inquired, not noticing Ichigo recoil as he looked at Rukia's hand. "You just transferred to the school and you knew exactly who Ichigo was with minimal information."
"Simple," she said with a bright smile on her face. "My boyfriend told me about him." The room went dead silent as everyone stared at Rukia, astounded.
"A boyfriend?! What was she talking about?!" Makoto thought, his mind racing to try and understand the information that had just been revealed. "Wait! NO! She couldn't be…!" There was a glint of silver as she clasped her hands in front of her from a silver ring that lay on her finger that looked way too similar to one that Makoto had.
Rukia leaned to the side to look around Ichigo, the smile on her face widening as she looked right at him. "Isn't that right, Makoto-kun?" Everyone turned straight to him, eyes wide, all with various different expressions.
All of a sudden the room seemed very big and he felt really, really small with the eyes of his friends staring him down. What kind of sick and twisted freak would…? Wait…sick and twisted freak? That psychopath! This was not part of the agreement! Makoto sighed before looking back to the girl who had so boldly proclaimed their relationship aloud. What could he do now? As far as his friends knew she was just a transfer student and while he could claim that she was lying it wouldn't bode well if she continued to push that narrative and even if he could change it there was no way they would believe it if they found out she really was staying with him. That only one path left one open, and unfortunately it was the last one he wanted to take.
"You weren't supposed to come for another two weeks," Makoto said, forcing a smile that he hoped looked more believable than it felt.
"Is that how you treat your fiance," she said as she walked over to him, crossing her arms over her chest, sticking her lips out in a cute and clearly pouting gesture. "I come out earlier because I want to be with you and this is what I get? It's been ages since I last saw you."
Makoto snickered at the act. Where had she learned her act from? The pages of a manga? It was about as classic heartthrobbing romantic girl as you could get. But he still had to keep up the act. "Calm down, drama queen," he replied, his eyes sparkling with mirth, "It's only been a month and a half since I last saw you."
"It feels like forever," she quipped back as if she had been expecting him to say that.
"Hang on!" Keigo interrupted, clearly irritated by something, and Makoto had a feeling he knew what. "You set that date on purpose! The bet was going to be called off and then you were going to have her show up so you didn't have to deal with us. On top of that you lied about having a fiance this whole time! What kind of friend are you?"
"Actually Keigo, the plan was for her to show up the day the bet ended," Makoto said, rubbing the back of his head nervously as his mind tried to think of a clever excuse. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
"I was supposed to come last month but the schools had a bit of trouble with my transfer papers," Rukia added, "When Makoto got home he sent me a letter saying how ecstatic you guys were at meeting me and I couldn't say no."
"Then why did you lie about her on the first day," Mizuiro asked, "You had no reason to lie about it then."
"Well you see…" Makoto said, fumbling to find some excuse for his actions. Before Rukia proceeded to elbow him in the chest.
"You said you told some in your class," Rukia said, her face stern. Man she was getting way too into this character. That or she just enjoyed hitting people way too much.
"I did. I gave them the time frame," Makoto groaned as he straightened back up, his chest still aching from Rukia's blow. "I wasn't sure how long it would take so I specifically made it long. Then when I got home I wrote to you. Besides I thought you guys had me figured out that's why I kept up the act."
"Well obviously we didn't and now you drop this bombshell on us," Keigo whined pointing an accusatory finger at Makoto. "You can't possibly expect us…"
"Wait Rukia-san," Mizuiro interjected, "By the way you are saying it you were planning on switching schools from the start."
"Of course," Rukia said, another wide grin breaking across her face. "Wouldn't you do the same to be closer with your fiance."
"Then why weren't you in our class to begin the year," Keigo said. "It would have saved all of us a lot of heartache…"
"Now you see why I tried not to tell everyone," Makoto whispered to Rukia just loud enough for everyone to hear, further provoking Keigo.
"Stop acting like I don't exist!" Keigo screamed, "Just because your girlfriend shows up doesn't give you the right to treat me this way!"
"If you didn't notice Keigo this is how I have been treating you for the past six weeks because you wouldn't get off my case," Makoto said, rolling his eyes. "Now shut up or I will shut you up."
"If you don't mind I have a question," Ichigo said to Rukia, his gaze cold and ruthless as his glare pierced Makoto's soul. "But I would prefer it if I asked in private."
"Of course," she said, another smile crossing her face though this one was much more mischievous than the others that Makoto had seen. "I'd be happy to, if it's alright with Makoto. He can…"
"Fine with me," Makoto said, cutting her off in the middle of her sentence. He would do anything to get Ichigo off his back right now. The last thing he wanted was to face Ichigo with everything that had happened. "I have things I need to do anyways. So I'm just going to eat my lunch…"
Makoto was then roughly yanked back by the collar and dragged towards the door. "You're coming too!" Ichigo ground out as he hauled Makoto out of the room. Makoto tried to pull out of his grip but it only caused Ichigo to pull even harder leading to Makoto's eventual submission as the orange haired boy began to drag his body like it was some kind of dummy.
"Hey you can't hog the couple to yourself!" Keigo yelled after them though a quick look from Ichigo was enough to get him to back off in an instant. They walked past dozens of students who all stopped to gaze at the sight of the two boys as they went by with the petite girl running behind. Makoto watched as some of them silently bowed in solidarity toward him.
"I wonder what's wrong with him," Rukia chirped down at Makoto as he was dragged along. In response Makoto just glared up at her and growled in contempt. As if she didn't know why he was being hauled off.
"I swear, if I live to see that psychopath again," Makoto thought, "I'm going to give him a thrashing so bad that all he'll be able to do is watch as I demolish that stupid hat of his till the only thing left of it is raggedy cloth. That'll teach him to think twice about taking advantage of my assistance."