Uncle Ichigo and Big Brother Ren soothing a little girl

Ren looked to his side at Ichigo and then back to the little girl spirit.

'I thought she wouldn't appear so soon. This is confusing. Moreover, I can see and hear her clearly as well, which means I am already spiritually sensitive or aware.' He made a few observations in his mind.

While everyone had a soul, and also spiritual power — A.k.a. Reiryoku —, very few people would be able to even sense a spirit's presence. Being able to see, hear and touch them was a step above, meaning it was an even rarer thing to occur. It was this aspect that allowed the Soul Society and their Shinigami to operate almost freely in the human world, since normally, only other spiritual beings would be able to see them.

Ren came to a probable explanation, with his heart beating slightly faster from the realization, 'This most likely means that I have at least a decently large amount of Reiryoku compared to normal people, which generates enough passive Reiatsu or spiritual pressure for me to see Plus spirits and interact with them.' 

This was the prerequisite to have any modicum of strength in this world. Normal people were way too weak and vulnerable to do anything in the face of beings that could cause large scale destruction with a wave of their hands. By having power, one could exert influence over their own life, and death.

'This is both a blessing and a curse.' His excitement didn't last, as an uncomfortably cold feeling settled on his stomach.

He looked at the chains coming out from the girl's chest, ' Anyone with above average spiritual power and pressure is a lot more easily targeted by Hollow spirits, since normal souls don't taste very good for them.' 

There was an exception, however, and it concerned individuals who had their energy sealed or suppressed, so they would appear like any other human.

'In the original story, at least according to Rukia, after Ichigo touched this spirit, some of his sealed energy flowed into her soul, which made her a target she originally wasn't.' Ren noted, 'I don't know if my own is suppressed or not, but even if it's not as enormous as Ichigo's, touching her directly for too long could possibly have the same effect.'

"Hey, did something happen? I brought flowers today too." Ichigo asked the sobbing girl.

People were walking past them, some of them staring while others made an effort not to.

"Mom, those two boys are talking with the flowers.!" A little boy wearing his kindergarten uniform pointed while calling his mother.

"Stop it, it's rude to point like that." She said in a hushed voice, though Ren could still hear it.

Seeing Ichigo completely unperturbed, he could only smile wryly while wondering, 'Now, how should I react to this…'

The main conflict in Ren's mind was whether to show that he could also interact and see the little girl Plus in front of him or not. So far, he had just watched silently while not commenting on Ichigo's behavior or the spirit's appearance after he put some flowers into the bottle.

He tried to remember some details regarding the story of 'Bleach', 'The canon storyline shouldn't start now, if I remember correctly. Today is the first day in school, still in April, and I think Ishida mentioned something about Ichigo turning into a Substitute Shinigami in May, though I could be wrong.'

'From Ichigo's behavior and words, it seems he already knew of her existence before. If it was fine until now, it's somewhat safe to assume it won't be a problem for a while.' Ren pondered about the potential danger, but realized it wasn't as bad as he presumed.

He came to a conclusion, 'Well, there's no real disadvantage to letting him know I can see spirits, since even his sister Karin is able to do it, and this kind of thing will become even more common later on among their group of friends.'

What Ren didn't understand was that it was definitely a rare thing, even if Karakura town was a special place in this current time…

'Though I want to pat her head, being a cool and reliable big brother should work better.' He stepped around Ichigo and approached the girl as well, crouching down to meet her eye level and saying in a warm and soothing voice, "We're here now, everything's okay." 

"Ashikawa, you…" Ichigo trailed off in surprise, his eyes widening.

Not paying attention to him, Ren smiled at the girl, "There's no need to cry anymore. Here, let me clean some of this blood..."

He was used to dealing with kids, since there were a lot of them he interacted very frequently with in his past life. He took out a small white handkerchief and brought it near her face.

Seeing him approach with a warm smile directed at her and hearing his words, the little girl's eyes widened, "Onii-chan, you can see me too?" She asked, before feeling something soft on her cheek, "Ah, your handkerchief… sorry." 

Ren could feel the liquid passing through his fingers, and also the sweet smell of iron wafting to his nostrils, 'It's crazy that normal people without spiritual awareness wouldn't be able to see the blood or her. If it wasn't for this small girl's body being slightly transparent and the chains of fate on her chest, it'd be hard to think she was a spirit.'

The previously white fabric was now transitioning to crimson, as he carefully wiped the left side of her face, paying special attention to not touch the open wound. 

"Yep, I can see you. Very clearly at that, though I can see through you as well, hehe." Ren answered her question with a nod, while still moving his hand, "My name is Ren, what about your's?"

She blushed a little and answered shyly while twirling her right pigtail on her fingers, "Akane."

'Heh, nailed it. I'm able to make even the worst of kids pay attention in class. I don't even need to break a sweat against such an easy opponent.' Ren felt reassured knowing certain skills remain useful no matter where.

"Akane, huh? I think it's a good name, it fits with your eye color." He said back with a smile.

She had stopped crying a few moments earlier, only an occasional sob persisting. He had cleaned most of the blood by now, and deciding to not remain in contact for too long, Ren folded the handkerchief and put it back inside his pockets not minding the blood in the slightest.

"So, Akane-chan, can you tell us why you were crying? Girls are supposed to smile more, y'know?" He asked, now that she had calmed down.

"I-It's that there's something weird…" She trailed off.

"Weird? What is weird?" Ichigo asked.

"The s-sky… The sky feels weird. I'm afraid." Akane explained in a slightly fearful tone.

Ichigo looked up in confusion, "You're afraid… of the sky?"

Ren also looked up, 'I don't feel anything wrong or weird too. If I had to guess, something is happening in Soul Society, but I don't know exactly what.'

He shook his head and said to her, "Now that you've told us, it's going to be okay. If something bad happens, this mean-looking uncle and me, the handsome Onii-chan, will deal with it!" Ren grinned, pointing at Ichigo and himself before giving her a thumbs up.

"Hah! Who is an uncle? We should be nearly the same age, you bastard." Ichigo looked clearly annoyed.

"What can I do when your reputation is of a gangster?" Ren shrugged, not paying mind to Ichigo's words.

Their banter elicited a chuckle from the little spirit, and Ren wasn't able to resist bringing up his hand and patting her head for a small moment.

He said with a smile, "Don't cry so easily anymore, m'kay? We have to go to school now, but I'll pass by here whenever I can too, so don't worry."

Akane nodded, her pigtails bobbing up and down, "I got it. Take care, onii-chan and uncle."

"Hey." Ichigo was exasperated.

"Haha, don't mind it so much, Kurosaki. Now lead the way, else we'll be late for the ceremony, remember?" Ren commented with a laugh.

"Tch." Ichigo clicked his tongue, said goodbye to the girl and resumed his way towards Karakura High School, while his companion stood there for a moment, in thought.

'Akane-chan is so cute. To think she would be devoured by that Hollow later...' Ren followed behind with a complicated expression.

[Karakura High School, first floor...]

Inside the school building, a young woman made her way through the corridors, humming a tune quite energetically.

She had clear gray eyes and burnt orange long hair cascading gently to her waist, with a parted fringe adorned by two hair clips similar to snowflakes. Her attire was the female school uniform, indicating she was a student, though it failed to hide her curvaceous figure and prominent assets, most notably her breasts. If not for her clothes, one would find it hard to say she was a high school student.

Arriving in front of a classroom, she looked up at its number.

"Ah, it's here~" She stopped humming, and entered classroom 1-3.

A few students were already inside, some of them standing while talking to each other, while others were quietly waiting on their seats.

"Let's see… where is Tatsuki-chan?" The girl looked around, searching for someone.

At that moment, a voice sounded behind her, "An opening!" A fist quickly approached her face, and she gasped in surprise.

She quickly turned around, and managed to block the attack somehow, eliciting many gasps and wows from the people in the class who had just watched it happen.

The owner of the fist revealed herself — it was a tomboyish girl who was also wearing the school's female uniform. She had short, spiky black hair and eyes, with sharper facial features and a leaner figure compared to her target just now. Her punching posture looked stable and well practiced, though few would be able to notice.

"You're doing well, Orihime." She said to the girl blocking her punch, meeting her gaze.

The orange-haired girl, Orihime, answered, "You won't be able to catch me off-guard again, Tatsuki-chan…"

There was a brief silence, before Tatsuki smiled and patted Orihime's shoulder while saying, "Yeah, you passed. Your reflexes have gotten better."

In response, Orihime said while raising her index finger, "Well, that's because you teached me well. Your methods are great."

"Ah." She remembered something else and added, "But don't do these surprise tests anymore. You're going to scare everyone…"

As Orihime spoke, she failed to notice a shadow smiling nefariously while looking at her. She couldn't react in time, however, and the figure lunged at her with speeds approaching the limits of a human body.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle!"

It was a girl too, but this one had red hair and glasses, and she had gone straight for Orihime's chest, hugging her from behind, which elicited a cute 'Kya' from her.

The hug didn't last, however, as Tatsuki's feet soon made its way towards her in a roundhouse kick that sent the girl flying to the other side of the classroom.

Finally understanding what happened, Orihime saw the girl on the ground and asked with a stutter, "W-who are you? A-a-are you okay?"

"How are you, madam?" She answered in an overly polite tone, probably on purpose, but her voice sounded strained from the pain of the blow just now, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. This humble one is called Honshou Chizuru, and I'm a member of this class starting today…"

Chizuru was a thin teenager with short red hair and purple eyes framed by her glasses, with bangs parted on both sides of her face. 

After recovering in a few moments, she got up, butting heads with Tatsuki and complaining, "Why did you do that, you violent woman?!"

Her opponent didn't back down, however, "What? And what were you intending to do with Orihime, huh?! Try saying it clearly if you dare!"

Chizuru's answer was to once again approach Orihime, grabbing her chin while saying in an enamored voice, "Orihime… what a beautiful name befitting of my new Venus…"

Once again, Tatsuki delivered a kick to her head, gritting her teeth, "I'm telling you to stop, you airhead!"

"This is nothing!" Chizuru adjusted her glasses, undaunted, "This kind of violence won't be able to thwart my love!"

"Damn you! You still want more, you pervert?!" Tatsuki was deeply annoyed.

The both of them started quarreling, and Orihime could only watch from the sides, just like her classmates, while saying "Tatsuki-chan! Stop, you're too strong, so she might diee!"

It was a hectic start for the day, in many different places in Karakura town…

—

Extra Titles: ("Redhead notices that touching little girl for too long might be bad, proceeds to rub her face with a cloth and pats her afterward.", "Ren casually rizzes up a little girl.", "Who needs candy if they're a handsome and cool big brother? Ez win", "Bro will never live down the lolicon allegations…", "To pat or not pat… That is the true question. ~ Ren", "Chizuru, the invulnerable pervert strikes for the first time!", "Uncle Ichigo might actually stick from now on…", "Special Item obtained! - Handkerchief with a little loli spirit's blood.", "Is Chizuru a masochist?").