22 [The Substitute Shinigami Arc] Part 22: Another day of Enlightenment

# May 22 - Karakura High School #

Ichigo: "Wow, it's hard to believe that my injuries healed in one day already."

Rukia: "Are you still surprised? My grades in Kidou arts were the highest in the class. Healing wounds like that is nothing." said proudly

Ichigo: "Grades? Do you have a school for Shinigami?"

Rukia: "You could say so."

Yato: "This 'heaven' isn't looking so nice anymore..."

Rukia: "By the way, how do you drink that?" she said showing the juice box.

Instead of letting her be in doubt for longer than even in the anime, I decided to put an end to her suffering and show her. Meanwhile, Mizuiro was approaching us.

Mizuiro: "Are you together again? You three really are getting along."

Ichigo: "And do we seem to get along so well?"

Yato: "Well, no one is fighting or yelling at anyone…I consider that a victory already." I said while laughing at Ichigo's reaction who was mumbling.

Mizuiro: "Well, Yato and Kuchiki-san are engaged. Don't you think it will make a bad impression for you to be around them all the time?"

Ichigo: "If I cared what people think of me I would have dyed my hair black a long time ago."

Yato: "It's just that Ichigo here is such a 'noble' guy that we even considered him being the best man at our future wedding." I said laughing while nudging Rukia, who seems to have understood my joke.

Rukia: "And it was an excellent choice, he even helped us when I was moving." she said smiling.

Mizuiro: "Moving?"

Rukia: "Yes. Now I'm staying at Yasakani-san's house…Kojima-san, isn't it?"

Mizuiro: "Yes, I'm Mizuiro Kojima, I'm 15 years old and my hobby is-"

Ichigo: "Being a womanizer. Don't be fooled by its appearance. Be careful."

Mizuiro: "Stop it Ichigo! You will ruin my reputation. You know I'm only interested in older women. Girls my age are safe. And let's not change the focus of the conversation, do you live together?!" He asked in surprise as he looked at Rukia and me.

Ichigo: 'Even I didn't know that…'

Yato: "I think that was a bad choice of words Kuchiki-san…" I spoke quietly so only she could hear.

Rukia: "You think so? I don't see where the problem is, after all, we're engaged." she spoke naturally to the others and gave me a sly smile.

Meanwhile, Keigo was approaching the group while I thought about how I would take revenge on Rukia's joke.

Keigo: "Oh! If it isn't the beautiful transfer student, Kuchiki-san!! Why are you here!?"

Mizuiro: "She's living with Yato."

Yato: "Ah..."

Keigo: "Good job!" He spoke looking proud as he placed his hand on my shoulder making a thumbs up."

Yato: "Okay..."

Rukia: "No need to be so embarrassed, Yasakani-kun." She spoke while maintaining the cynical smile.

Keigo: "So today lunch time will become party time!" he yelled jumping until he landed on his back against Chad who had just arrived.

Chad had some bandages on his forehead and hands as he carried a cage.

Ichigo/Mizuiro/Keigo: "Chad!"

The conversation between Ichigo, Chad and the others happened like in the anime, so I just kept silent and watched.

Yato: 'Man…one day there's an attack by Inoue's brother and the next day there's going to be another attack by the Hollow that chases that parakeet…People here don't have a break. This will make it difficult for me to improve my skills and go unnoticed…'

Rukia: "You don't have to be so serious, Yato"

Yato: "Huh?"

Rukia: "You've probably noticed…but the soul that's in that parakeet is just a lonely soul. It is not evil."

Those words caught Ichigo's attention

Ruka: "But there is still a possibility that he could turn into a Hollow. We can leave things as they are and at night we will perform Konsou on him."

I turned my attention to Chad, who was feeding the parakeet while the others continued their conversation. In that short period of time I thought back to what had happened to Inoue's brother and how Rukia just followed a protocol to erase the girls' memories and omitted what Soul Society really was. The situation made me quite uncomfortable.

Yato: "Guys, I'm going for a walk. I'll see you in the classroom" - I commented without waiting for anyone's answer and left the terrace.

As I walked through a few rooms, I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. I already expected who the person was and as soon as I turned around, I was face to face with Tatsuki.

Tatsuki: "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Yato: "Of course."

I followed the girl to a part of the school where apparently there was no one at the time. She was silent for a few moments, probably thinking about how she was going to broach the subject. I sighed and decided to take the lead

Yato: "Is it about what happened yesterday?" - That wouldn't surprise me. The shinigami's device for replacing memories doesn't work on someone with a high level of spiritual energy. If in the original version Tatsuki and Inoue could already remember what happened after a few days, now it must have had no effect on Tatsuki now that she has awakened her powers.

Tatsuki: "Not only that. Ichigo fighting monsters with that black outfit, these people I see with chains on their chests and this new student. What is all this?" - She said raising his voice a little.

Yato: "In short…they are souls."

Tatsuki: "What?"

Yato: "People with chains on their chests are the souls of dead people. Normally an ordinary person cannot see them unless they have a certain level of spiritual energy. These souls are called Plus and the chains also serve as a "time limit."

Tatsuki: "What do you mean...?"

Yato: "The monsters are called Hollows…A Plus that is not sent to the other world, as time goes by, this chain deteriorates. It can last for days, months or years, but when that happens, all that's left is a hole in the chest of these souls.

Tatsuki: "The same hole that was in Inoue's brother's body..."

Yato: 'At least she understands quickly...' - I thought. "As you might have guessed, when a Plus loses that current it ends up turning into a Hollow. An evil spirit with an almost infinite hunger.

Tatsuki: "And those…Hollows….devour souls." - She considered.

Yato: "Yes, and usually they go after strong souls."

The girl was silent for a while, probably already deducing some things.

Tatsuki: "What about the new student?"

Yato: "Rukia is a Shinigami. Shinigami are…souls…with powers…whose job is to send the Plus souls to the other world and exorcise the Hollows. Do you remember the accident at Ichigo's house?"

Tatsuki: "With the truck? Well, I was finding all that strange… so this accident was a Hollow attack?"

Yato: "Yes, and during that attack, Rukia was seriously injured and passed her powers to Ichigo so that he could save his family. She's still recovering, so Ichigo is serving as a "substitute" until she's recovered."

Tatsuki: "I see..."

Yato: "Anything else?"

Tatsuki: "It's just…you don't seem like the type of person who would get involved with that."

Yato: "What do you mean?"

Tatsuki: "You seem like the very elusive type of person who tries to avoid problems as much as possible. Since you got here you've never tried to interact with more than five people. And even these few you keep your distance. Then one day, your "shinigami bride" shows up at school and since then you've always been involved with her work. You don't strike me as someone who would jump headfirst into a situation like that. - She said while crossing her arms.

Yato: "Good question…maybe I'm a contradictory guy…" - I commented laughing.

Tatsuki: "Or sneaky." - She mocked

Yato: "Now I feel offended..."

Tatsuki: "Heh, I have just one more question."

Yato: "Say it."

Tatsuki: "At one point I…felt much stronger…than usual. And from Ichigo and Inoue's comments, my eyes "changed". And I also saw you jumping…in the air and…there was this green glow coming from your foot."

Yato: "That one is really hard to explain…since I managed to do those things that very day. But I like to believe that I'm good at distinguishing spiritual energies. So whatever it is, apparently the two of us are something "alike".