17 Chapter seventeen: Mod Soul.

Chapter seventeen.

[Two weeks later]

"Ah, Miss Kuchiki, is it not?" A large muscled man greeted Rukia on the shop's entrance, towering over her by at least half a meter.

The man crouched forward as he addressed her, making her feel more than a little self-conscious about her height.

"Yes." Rukia replied rigidly. "Is Urahara here? I need to stock up."

"Please, wait for just a moment." The man told her. "I shall go and wake the boss right away."

"No need." Urahara's sleepy voice interrupted them. "I have already woken up."

His mouth opening to comical proportions as he released a long, big yawn, he walked closer to Rukia as he adjusted the hat on his head.

"G'Mornin'." Urahara spoke. "Tessai, where are Jinta and Ururu?"

"Sweeping the store's entrance." Tessai replied immediately. "I was just about to go check on them."

"Please do so." Urahara instructed, and then turned to address the short girl at long last. "Welcome, Miss Kuchiki. What would you like today?"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"You are as mysterious as always, Ishida." Haru spoke to his friend with his back resting on the school's outside walls, watching as the first couple of students entered the school premises. "I mean, seriously, the school? Couldn't we just meet at your house?"

"Quit complaining." Ishida shut him off, standing near him dressed in his school uniform. "My house is out of the question, Ryūken is there."

"Ryūken?" Haru asked.

"My father." Ishida replied matter-of-factly. "But let's get back to the point. I need to talk to you about something."

"I am all ears." Haru replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "For your own sake, I hope it's something good. If not, I'mma beat your ass for making me worry about you."

"You? Worried?" Ishida asked, fixing his glasses as he spoke.

"What's with that look?" Haru scowled at him. "Of course I'm worried. We are friends, are we not? I get school is time consuming and all but at least drop a message from time to time."

"..." Ishida paused, for a second, genuine surprise shone over his face. "... You are right, my fault."

"As long as it doesn't happen again…" Haru told him, smiling lightly at him. "So? What is it, then? Did something happen?"

"About that…" Ishida began, back to his usual stoic self. "You have made contact with a soul reaper, correct?"

"I mean… Yeah?" Haru shrugged his shoulders. "Two of them. Well, sort of… What is it to you, anyway?"

"..." Ishida's demeanor changed, he remained stoic, but from the almost imperceptible frown present in his face, Haru could tell something was bothering him.

"You remember when we met, I said I was a quincy, correct?" Ishida began after making a short pause, he seemed to be in a rather pensive mood.

"I do."

"Time has passed, you have met some of your kind, but to this day, you still have yet to meet another quincy."

"..." It was Haru's turn to pause and think. "Now that you mention it, you are right."

"It must seem strange to you, I'm sure." Ishida began, watching as more and more students walked past the school gates. "To me… I learned a long time ago to accept it as something natural, I am the last of my kind after all."

"...?"

"The question then becomes, how did that happen?" Ishida carried on, and Haru decided it was best to remain silent. "Two hundred years ago, most of us quincys were exterminated by soul reapers."

"Ishida…" Haru spoke, but Ishida carried on regardless of what his friend had to say.

"I don't care about any of that." Ishida assured him before he could even speak. "That is old news as far as I am concerned, believe it or not, they had their reasons."

"However, there is one thing…" Ishida scowled, and for the first time since their conversation had begun, hatred bleeded from his tone. "... There is one thing I just can't forgive."

"My grandfather…" Ishida gritted his teeth. "They…"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Paying by card?" Urahara asked, handing the plastic bag full of products to the girl.

"No." Rukia replied, turning her phone around so as to show the screen to the shopkeeper. "With this."

"Hm…" Urahara mused, taking a hold of the phone. "Bounty rewards, huh?"

"Fish-Bone D, Hexa-Podus…" The blond began, reading some of the hollows registered on the device. "All of them are small fry, aren't they? They are not even on the bounty list."

"Oh…" Urahara smiled. "This one, though… This one will do. Shrieker, he had a decent reward to his name."

Urahara pressed some buttons on the device in his hands, confirming the purchase and handing the phone back to Rukia.

"There, done!" Urahara announced cheerfully. "Thank you for…"

"Did my order arrive?" Rukia inquired, interrupting the man mid-speech.

"Yeah, it arrived!" Urahara said, glancing to the side as he raised his voice just enough for someone outside the room to hear him. "Ururu, go get it!"

And just like that, a small, shy clumsy girl rushed past them, heading straight into the storage room without a second wasted.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . ]

'Man…' Haru, still resting on the school walls, couldn't help but feel like he had gotten himself into a mess again.

After he had heard the story of Ishida's grandfather, he could honestly empathize with him.

Upon hearing his explanation, he had half-expected him to demand something outrageous from him, but no.

All Ishida wanted from him was one thing, a promise not to interfere whenever he confronted the soul reaper.

Problem is, Haru still wasn't sure whether 'the soul reaper' Ishida mentioned was referring to Rukia or Ichigo.

'I should leave…' Haru thought. 'The gate is swarming with students, I look like a weirdo just standing here.'

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Well, this sure is a problem." Urahara said as he stared at an empty box tagged as 'poor merchandise'.

"Ururu!" Jinta screamed in rage. "What the hell is your problem!? You sold a really poor quality item to a customer!"

"Now, now, don't fight." Urahara told them in an attempt to calm the children down. "This is my fault for not disposing of the merchandise in the first place."

"Sigh…" Tessai read the tag on the merchandise, a hand on his chin as he remained deep in thought. "These contents… Could be trouble. What shall we do, boss?"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Here!" Rukia spoke, throwing a small package. Both Ichigo and her stood alone in the school yard.

"Wha-...?" Ichigo reacted just in time, taking a hold of the strange package as he threw a questioning glance at the girl.

"..." He unwrapped the package and found himself staring at some sort of childish toy dispenser with a duck's head on it.

"What's this?" Ichigo asked, sweat dropping at the toy dispenser.

"It's a Gikongan, an Artificial Spirit Pill." Rukia explained, pointing towards Ichigo. "In other words, a pill that forcibly pulls the spirit from the body. You remember what happened when facing Shrieker, right?"

"I do." Ichigo thought, reminiscing about his fight with the cruel hollow. "So this is supposed to let me turn into a soul reaper without you around, correct?"

"Yup!" Rukia nodded, raising her index finger to get his attention. "When someone swallows one of these pills, a temporary soul can enter the body while the real soul can come out."

"In case of an emergency, when I'm not around and you run into a hollow, you may use these to turn into a soul reaper."

"I see." Ichigo stated, staring at the dispenser. "Why is it a duck, though…?"

"Sh-Shut up!" Rukia screamed, flustered. "I couldn't choose the design because it's a highly requested product! Of course I wanted Chappy The Bunny!"

"... Oh really." Ichigo stated, staring at her. "You wanted the bunny, huh?"

"Wha… What's with that condescending look!?" Rukia asked, blushing even harder than before. "Are you insulting me!? Bastard! Shut up and try it!"

Ichigo did just that, squeaking the duck's head as a small pill dropped from the duck's mouth. And so, he swallowed it.

"Huh, noth…" Before Ichigo could even finish speaking, his human body and his spiritual body were divided into two.

"... It worked." Ichigo whispered, watching with an open mouth as his empty human body stood up from the ground. "Wh-What?"

"See? No one will notice! The temporary soul will inhabit your cast-off shell for as long as you need to!" Rukia explained, smiling proudly.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki!" The fake Ichigo said with a shining smile. "My favorite phrase is 'early go bed, early go rise'!"

"That sounds nothing like me!" Ichigo complained while still in his spiritual body. "Listen, Rukia, can't we…?"

Before Ichigo could finish, Rukia's soul phone started ringing loudly.

"Ichigo, it's an order." Rukia stated, and just like that, she started dragging Ichigo away, leaving his human body behind. "Let's go!"

"Wh-What!? No way!" Ichigo complained, pointing towards the cheerful artificial soul inhabiting his body. "There's no way someone is gonna buy that! We'll be found out for sure! Hey! Are you listening to me!?"

"Leave it to me, master!" The artificial soul replied, his smile turning into a smirk as Ichigo and Rukia left him alone. "... Take your time."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Who is it?" Haru asked, picking up his phone as his gaze memorized the unidentified number on the screen.

"My, that was an unexpectedly fast response!" Urahara's voice reached him from the phone, causing Haru to snarl in response.

"How did you even get my number…?" Haru trailed off, shaking his head to the sides in defeat. "You know what, I don't even wanna know… So, what is it?"

"Straight to the point again!" Urahara complimented, and Haru could tell he was smiling, even without seeing him. "You see, I have this certain problem I need to deal with…"

"No." Haru replied in an instant, shutting him off. "I have an hour left before I have to tattoo a peacock on some fatso's chest. I am not wasting my precious free time on…"

"You'll get a twenty percent discount on our spirit repellents!" Urahara offered mid-talk. "For three months!"

"Deal." Haru replied just as fast. "Out with it, then, what happened?"

"Oh, nothing much…" Urahara replied mysteriously. "I just need help retrieving some poor merchandise, that's all!"

"Poor merchandise? Haru asked. "You are gonna need to be more specific than that. What sort of poor merchandise are we talking about?"

"A Mod Soul."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Rukia, let's head back." Ichigo told the small girl as he finished off the hollow.

"What is it, Ichigo?" Rukia asked. "Trust me, he's gonna be alright, Artificial Souls are made for this, there's no need to worry."

"That might be the case." Ichigo replied, sheathing his sword behind his back as he began running alongside her. "... But I have a bad feeling about this."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Heheh…" Smiling mischievously, the Mod Soul inhabiting Ichigo's body jumped around school, covering inhumane distances in each single jump despite inhabiting a human body. "Now then… I gotta find class 1-3."

He looked upwards to the third floor, his gaze locking on a specific window, somehow aware that it was the correct classroom.

And so he jumped, covering three entire floors in a single motion as he slid through the open window.

Everyone present in the room stared at him, causing him to proudly smile back at them.

'I bet they are impressed! I'm just awesome like that!' He thought.

"Hey." He greeted, his smile still present. He crouched down on the edge of the window, his gaze landed on several girls looking at him in a mixture of shock and horror. "This is class 1-3, isn't it?"

"You…" One girl in particular grabbed his arm and yetted him inside the classroom, pulling him away from the edge.

"Wh-What…?" The Mod Soul asked, his face meeting the floor.

"That's my line!" The girl in question was Tatsuki Arizawa, a tomboyish girl with short hair and a fierce look, who coincidentally also happened to be Ichigo's childhood best friend. "How did you even do that!?"

'What's up with this girl?' The Mod Soul thought as he stood from the ground, his curious gaze exploring the classroom. 'Still, this class has some fine girls! They are all above average!'

'I have been imprisoned for a long, long time, I am hungry for girls too.' He kept looking around, his lecherous gaze looking for a target. 'It doesn't matter, I'll just pick one!'

Before he could pick a target, Tatsuki's face covered his sight as the angered girl came face to face with him.

"Are you even listening to me, Ichigo!?" The tomboy asked. "You better…"

"..." The Mod Soul stared at the girl with a contemplative gaze. "From close up, you are pretty cute too."

Without pause or time to let the girl process his words, he kissed her on the cheek, leaving the entire class with their mouths agape.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

Ichigo ran past the school gate, still in his spirit form with Rukia chasing behind. As the duo sprinted past the yard, a noise made them both stop dead in their tracks.

The sound of something shattering into pieces reached them from above, and so the two looked upwards just to see thousands of little pieces of glass raining down on them.

Oh, and a chair, that too.

Ichigo and Rukia weaved their way away from the shattered glass, the both of them looking in shock at the broken window.

"Agh." Ichigo spoke first. "That's my classroom."

"... You are right." Rukia replied. "Let's hurry!"

"I'll jump, Rukia." Ichigo informed her, steadying himself for it. "You cover the classroom's door, so he cannot escape."

"Got it."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"DIE!" The Mod Soul dodged a table just in the nick of time, and then another chair, and then another table.

This was all courtesy of the tomboy girl he had kissed on the cheek just a few minutes ago, he had managed to anger her a fair bit.

"What?" The Mod Soul asked, another chair barely missing him. "All I did was kiss your cheek, calm down! Are you in grade school or something?"

"SHUT UP!" This time, she launched the teacher's desk at him.

"That's enough!" A new voice managed to catch everyone's attention as Rukia barged in through the door.

The Mod Soul, despite his casual behavior up to that point, panicked the moment he saw the short black haired girl.

And so he rushed to the window, but when he did, he found himself staring at a scowling Ichigo who looked quite furious.

"Now, there's nowhere to…" Ichigo began, watching as the spirit inhabiting his body rushed towards him. "... Run…"

The Mod Soul rushed past Ichigo, jumping through the window despite the height separating them from the floor.

"Wh-What?" Ichigo watched in awe as his human body landed on the ground without trouble. "Rukia, how is that…?"

"There's no mistake…" Rukia gazed downwards from the window, having rushed to Ichigo's side before. "That's a Mod Soul!"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"…"Haru walked aimlessly through the streets, thinking of a suitable plan to capture this so-called Mod Soul.

'How do I find him, then?' Haru thought, all he could sense were Ichigo's and Rukia's spiritual pressure rushing out of the school grounds. 'I have never sensed him before, which means I have no idea how his spiritual pressure feels, which in turn means I can't pinpoint his location…'

'Then again…' Haru began, pausing to think for an instant as he gave the situation some thought. He had a sudden idea.

'I could just not bring him back.' He thought, smiling mischievously. 'I mean, Urahara wants me to find this Mod Soul but doesn't tell me shit about it… Perhaps that will teach him not to keep hiding vital information from me.'

Yeah, he liked that idea.

'Still, that matters little if I can't find him, and it's not as if this Mod Soul will randomly drop from the fucking sky…' Before he could even finish that thought and almost as if to prove him wrong, an orange haired figure dropped from the roof just over him.

"You are joking." Haru spoke to himself, blinking a couple of times just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "He really did drop from the sky!"

Upon hearing those words, the Mod Soul possessing Ichigo's body came to a halt, turning around to face Haru.

"You saw that? I bet you are surprised!" The Mod Soul said, smirking. "Sorry though, I am in a bit of a rush so…"

"What a coincidence." Haru replied. "So am I."

Before the Mod Soul could even comprehend what he could possibly mean by that, Haru pushed him into the closest alley he could find.

"Hey, what are you…?" The Mod Soul struggled, but much to his surprise, he found himself overwhelmed by the stranger's strength.

"Shush." Haru told the fake Ichigo. "Keep quiet… You can sense them, right? Your pursuers, I mean."

That seemed to do the trick, as the duo quieted down, they soon saw Ichigo and Rukia rushing past them.

"See?" Haru asked with a smile as he sensed them leave. "You can mask that spiritual pressure of yours quite well, I'm surprised. It's no wonder they are having so much trouble locating you."

"Thanks for the save." The Mod Soul replied, sanding up from the top of a garbage pile he had landed on. "But I have to ask, why?"

"Well, I was told to bring you back." Haru began, and the Mod Soul tensed at his words. "Honestly, I should do just that and get that sweet discount…"

"Well, I'm not going down without a fight." The Mod Soul replied, his guard up as he prepared himself for the worst.

"Oh, please." Haru waved off his concerns. "If I wanted to do that, I would have attacked already. No, a fight would be little challenge."

"Tell you what?" Haru told him. "You tell me your story, depending on what you say, I might let you go. How does that sound?"

Haru smirked, this way he would get to learn what exactly is it that the mysterious shopkeeper had decided to keep from him.

"..." The Mod Soul paused, remembering the overwhelming strength that had forced him into the alley. "... It sounds like it's about as good of a shot as I am gonna get."

"Let's get out of here, though." Haru said, covering his nose from the disgusting smell from some of the garbage bags.

"Yeah…" The Mod Soul agreed, covering his own nose. "It stinks!"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Damn it!" Ichigo cursed. "We lost him! I lost myself!"

"That's a paradox." Rukia pointed out, the both of them coming to a stop near a school.

"There's no time for complicated jokes, Rukia!" Ichigo told her. "We need to focus and find me! I mean, him! We need to find him!"

"This is confusing…" Rukia whispered, focusing what little power she had left to the task of searching for spiritual pressure.

"..."

"Say, Rukia…" Ichigo's voice managed to break her concentration. "You… You called him a Mod Soul, didn't you? What is that?"

Rukia stared at him in silence, perhaps contemplating whether it really was the time for her to be explaining such things.

"Once…" Rukia began, coming to a decision. "Soul Society had an operation called Spearhead."

"The plan was to insert souls created specifically for combat into dead human bodies that lost their souls."

"Then use that as a soldier to fight hollows. It was then that they were created, battle-type artificial spirits that, depending on which one is used, strengthens one part of the human body to super-human levels."

"That's a Mod Soul." Rukia explained, but she wasn't quite done with her explanation, not yet. Here came the tricky part.

"With the cancellation order, all Mod Souls that were already created were ordered to be destroyed." She added. "But it would seem some of them managed to escape."

"Hold on a second…" Ichigo said, sweat dripping from his forehead as he tried to process what he just heard. "You are telling me he was created for the convenience of your Soul Society… And he will be killed for the convenience of the Soul Society as well?"

Ichigo didn't need to hear anymore of that nonsense, then and there, he came to a decision.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Man…." Resting against the thick walls of a middle-school nearby, Haru couldn't help but whistled at what he had just heard. "The more I learn about the Soul Society, the more they seem like a bunch of dickheads."

"..." The Mod Soul clenched its fists in anger. "You won't hear any arguments from me."

"Heh." Haru smiled a little at his response. "Fine then… You have me convinced. You are free to go."

"Wait… Seriously?" The Mod Soul asked, it didn't even know how to react. "I can go? Just like that?"

"Just like that." Haru repeated.

"Sweet!" The Mod Soul replied with a smile, but before he could break into a sprint, some voices from the other side of the wall stopped him.

The voices of three children reached them, to be more specific, what those voices were saying was what stopped him.

"Ah, damn it! He lost again!" One of the voices, a boy, complained. "Can't you even fight? Who do you think created you?"

"Haha." Another voice, also belonging to a boy, laughed in amusement. "Why don't you delete him?"

"Yeah…" The first voice repeated. "Bam!"

From the comment's alone, Haru could infer it belonged to three middle-school children playing some video game on their break.

"Oh, he really deleted him!" A third voice said in surprise.

"So what? I'll just create another one, a better one!" The first voice repeated, and Haru's gaze landed on the Mod Soul, seeing his spiritual pressure spike from his emotions.

"Careful there." Haru warned him. "You need to keep that spiritual pressure in check, or else… Well, you know."

"... You are right." The Mod Soul replied after a short pause. "I should probably leave."

"Ah, one more thing…" Haru said. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, of course… But I'm kinda curious… What are you planning to do now that you are free?"

"Well…" He began, stretching his legs. "First things first, I am gonna look for some hot babes! The high schoolers were a bit too loud, so maybe I'll go for a housewife now?"

"..." Haru paused, his eyes suddenly shining with a new light as he stared at the soul inhabiting Ichigo's body.

"You…" Haru walked a step closer to him, taking a hold off his shoulders. "You cultured son of a bitch! I thought I was alone on this crusade of mine!"

"…" Sudden recognition flashed through the Mod Soul's mind, could it be…? Had he perhaps found someone like him?

With that same light in Haru's eyes now shining in his eyes, he spoke. "Bro…"

"Bro…" Haru repeated.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Ichigo, the real Ichigo, roared.

Perhaps too dazed from the sudden overload of bromance, both of them had failed to sense Rukia and Ichigo coming near.

"Shit!" The Mod Soul cursed, but before he could even make an attempt for a run, his new brother-in-arms stepped in front of him.

"Not happening, Ichigo." Haru stated as he faced the duo. "You see, I have just about bonded with this fella. I'm sorry, but you are not gonna get rid of him."

"Haru!?" Ichigo, perhaps too focused on his rogue body, had kept all his attention on it and thus failed to spot Haru. "Wait, nevermind that… What did you say?"

Despite his words, Ichigo's gaze landed on Haru for an instant, it would seem like he wasn't alone in his thinking that this whole situation was more than a little cruel.

"I second that." Rukia stepped in, her glare fixated on the Mod Soul. "Give it back! We are gonna disp…"

"Like I said, not happening." Haru repeated, taking another step forward. "It is not every day I find a fellow connoisseur in the fine arts of older women."

The Mod Soul remained silent, having just learned his brother-in-arms name, he found himself feeling rather moved.

Someone was standing up for him? Not once in his life had that happened. Not a single time.

"Actually, Rukia…" Ichigo interrupted, sounding a little too calm for someone who had his stolen body in front of him. "I was thinking…"

Haru, Rukia and the Mod Soul focused on Ichigo, his sudden change of tone catching their attention.

"Do we really need to do that? Do we need to throw him away?" Ichigo asked, earning himself three surprised looks in return. "It… It just doesn't sit well with me."

"I quite agree." Haru vocalized his thoughts. "You all created him and now you are gonna destroy him? And he needs to accept that?"

"Ugh…" Rukia, experienced as she was, couldn't help but feel the pressure of the gazes focused on her. "You two do understand the severity of this…?"

"Come on, Rukia." Haru insisted, this time his tone was a little less kind than before, colder, even. It no longer sounded like he was asking something from her. "You can make an exception, I'm sure. You are no stranger to pushing the laws a little bit, isn't that right?"

"...!" Rukia stood frozen on her spot, the implication behind Haru's word leaving her without a retort.

'How…? How does he know that!?' Rukia thought, clenching her teeth. 'Of course, that damn Urahara! He must have told him!'

"Well?" Haru asked again. "You zoned off for a second there."

"I…" Rukia sighed at long last, she would be lying if she didn't think this whole situation was fucked. "Fine! Do as you please."

"Alright!" Haru replied, fist bumping with the flabbergasted Mod Soul. "Don't worry, I'll talk with Urahara about it! He'll understand, I'm sure."

Rukia and Haru met gazes yet again, the two coming to some sort of unspoken agreement to keep things civil for the time being.

The Mod Soul stood there, completely still, mouth agape, as it failed to register that these two strangers had just decided to save him.

"I…" The Mod Soul tried to speak, but again, words failed him. "I don't know what to say…"

"Well, I do." Haru spoke. "You need a name, a proper name, I don't feel like calling you Mod Soul all the time. Right, Ichigo?"

"Right…" Ichigo agreed, walking closer to the duo. "That being said…"

"I really need my body back."

End of chapter seventeen.