Lookout

"It's ok Chiaki, I know you and Tatsuki didn't mean to damage my house while sparring!"

"Uh… thanks Orihime… I guess…"

Chiaki sheepishly rubbed her head as Orihime cheerily forgave them for the "sparring" that had occurred yesterday. Evidently Tatsuki had received similar memories, as she was currently looking to the floor in embarrassment as the rest of the girls looked on, looking just a little amused. Ryō, was the first one to speak up though, giving Chiaki and Tatsuki a disapproving look (which didn't surprise Chiaki, since the "star track runner" had always been an overachieving hardass).

"Honestly, I would expect this behavior from the men of the school, but you two should know better than to horse around like that. You're lucky Orihime isn't going to press charges against you two for property damage!"

Chiaki struggled to suppress an eye roll, while Tatsuki simply faced the ground, looking rather depressed. Chiaki felt just a little bad for her, since, well… it wasn't really her fault Rukia had to wipe her memories. Still, that's just what had to be done, there was no way around it.

[You have to do what you have to do I guess…]

After a moment, Tatsuki stood up and dusted herself off, looking towards Orihime sadly before doing an uncharacteristically apologetic bow.

"I'm really sorry Orihime, I know I got… overzealous. You know I didn't mean to cause any problems, so I'm sure Chiaki and I would be willing to pay for any damages. Right, Chiaki?"

[Bruh. Don't drag me into this, it's not my fault her brother's a yandere!]

Of course, she couldn't say that out loud, so Chiaki just grit her teeth, taking a deep breath to keep her composure, before forcing a smile. With a bit of effort, Chiaki forced herself into a bow of the same depth, pushing down her frustration for now.

"Y-Yeah. I'm sure I could… take some money out of my allowance.. pay for damages… and all that…"

The rest of the girls nodded in approval, but Orihime waved her hands in protest, a look of surprise and panic on her face.

"No no no, it's fine you two! Please don't get worried about me or anything, and don't feel bad about the mess either! My house is pretty run down anyway, so it gets easily damaged. It's not your fault it couldn't handle a little roughhousing!"

"But Orihime, it-"

Tatsuki's complaint was cut off by Orihime shaking her head, pouting disapprovingly all the way. Tatsuki hesitated, looking unsure of what to say, but after a tense moment, simply sighed, before smiling and giving Orihime a pat on the shoulder.

"Alright, you're right, you're right… Man, we really don't deserve to be friends with someone as nice as you, but… it's your house, your choice in the end. Still, if there's ever any issues with your house because of us, just let us know, and we can try and help out in any way we can, alright?"

Tatsuki was still set on being apologetic, but Chiaki couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash over her. Her blood had run ice cold at the thought of having to fork over her limited money to pay for damages over the hollow fight. She definitely needed to have a talk with Rukia about the memory changer later. Before she could get a word into the conversation though, a loud "HMPH" came from within the group of girls.

"You don't deserve her? I'll say! I can't believe you would do something so uncouth in front of a fair maiden like her. You have no idea how to treat a lady. No wonder you can't understand the love of true women."

Chizuru leaned forward, hands on her hips as her face contorted into an utterly disgusted expression, to which Tatsuki simply rolled her eyes in response.

"Stop projecting your weird fantasies onto the situation. It's just a minor problem between friends, you're the only one getting weird ideas like always. In fact, I better not catch you creeping around Orihime anymore!"

Orihime tried to interject, but before she could say anything, Chizuru scoffed and gave Tatsuki an angry look.

"I'm simply trying to open her up to new experiences! Trying to monopolize her like you are… if anyone is being a creep, it's you. You shouldn't be hovering over her, deciding what she can and can't do! She's not your daughter."

Chizuru suddenly turned toward Chiaki, an accusatory expression giving way to a look of exasperation, as if trying to search for sympathy from her, causing Chiaki to raise an eyebrow, Orihime panicking all the while in the background as she saw the argument escalate.

"Chiaki, you're a like-minded person, you understand the love between women… so you understand what I'm saying, right? Tatsuki is simply being unreasonable here!"

Chiaki simply shook her head; she had no patience for Chizuru's nonsense today (or any other day for that matter, but she had already felt this mess had gone on for too long), and pushed back with her finger Chizuru to give herself some space.

"Chizuru, drop it. You're just being creepy, and you're the one making this situation more difficult than it needs to be. Oh, and for the record, I prefer guys anyway."

Chizuru opened her mouth to yell at Chiaki, but before she could say anything, the creaking of the door reverberated through the room, signaling the entrance of the teacher. Chiaki through Orihime and Tatsuki a thumbs up as the rest of the girls return to their seats, Chizuru fuming all the way.

"Traitor!"

Chiaki chuckled as she sat down, already ready for the work of the day. Seeing Ichigo and Rukia enter and sit down as well, she gave them a thumbs up to let them know her mission had been successful so far.

__________

Once the classes of the day finished, Chiaki stretched up from her seat, glad to be done with all the schoolwork. She had honestly tried to keep focused on her studies, but she was so bored that, honestly, everything had gone by her in a breeze. Stepping through the doorway without a second word to her teacher, Chiaki left outside to go find her brother.

Chiaki found Ichigo exactly where she expected, outside waiting for her. Waving to get his attention, he chuckled a bit, giving her a fist bump, before they started walking home.

"Glad to see you made it through the day without incident. No sign of any hollows around Orihime, right?"

"Yeah, things came and went like they always do. The only monster creeping around her today was Chizuru, and she's much easier to deal with than a hollow."

"That's good. Rukia can keep watch for the rest of the day, I already let her know that we have to head home.

The group had been making sure that someone was with Orihime at all times. Though no one wanted to say it aloud, at any moment, there was always a chance that Acidwire could return to try and consume her soul. Ichigo and Rukia had had the day off since Chiaki was the one who was closest to her, but now she had a chance to take a break. Still, even as they walked home, a wave of unease fell over them, a dark cloud that made even the warm sunlight that bathed them feel cold and unsafe. There was no telling when an issue might arise again, and, deep in the back of Chiaki's brain, she doubted Rukia as she was now would be able to take on Acidwire, or even hold him off long enough for them to arrive.

Eventually, though, the two managed to make their way home, no incidents, hollow or otherwise, causing any trouble. The same couldn't be said of their destination though; as the two went inside, they found a scene of pure chaos, as Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin all struggled with various tools and supplies, running around like their lives depended on it. Yuzu ran up to Chiaki and handed her a box of some kind.

"Bring this upstairs, Dad needs space to bring in a bunch of patients! There was a 5 car pile up and we have a crazy amount of injuries!"

[Damn, I forgot about this!]

Chiaki moved to do as she was asked as Ichigo went to check on their dad. Placing the boxes on the side of the stairwell, Chiaki returned downstairs, only to find another familiar face stumbling in with grievous injuries.

"Chad!"

Chad, despite his stoic demeanor, looked to be in bad shape, with a noticeable limp to his gait. Of course, he cared more about the parakeet that was in the cage he carried with him. Chiaki clicked her tongue, understanding what was going on, before immediately going to help him to the clinic area, picking him up and letting him lean on her frame, surprising Chad.

"Oh, hey Chiaki… it's nice to see you, but you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself, you know."

"You big idiot, this is a clinic! I'm helping out my dad. Plus, I'm pretty sure you're dying, you don't really have a choice here."

"Ah… I guess you can carry on then, sorry for interrupting you..."

"You better be! Hey Dad, can you take a look at Chad for me?"

Isshin quickly came running over, taking one look at Chad's massive body before going to help Chiaki carry him to a cot, laying him down on the bed and taking his parakeet cage, moving it to the side.

"Thanks for letting me know, Chiaki. Chad, was it? I need you to take off your shirt so I can take a look at your wounds and get an idea of how bad they are."

Hesitating a bit, Chad did as she was told, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his back, which was brutally scarred with what looked like a flayed skin ripped off in a claw-like pattern, crimson blood still dripping from the fresh wound. Isshin's brow furrowed, a look of concern washing over him.

"You've lost a lot of blood, kid. I'm going to need you to stay overnight."

"No, I can't… I need to-"

As Chad tried to get back up from his bed, Chiaki moved to catch him, gently placing him back down into the sheets. That he couldn't resist was a testament to the extent of the wounds he had suffered, and he had no choice but to lie down.

"It's alright Chad. Just stay there for now, and we'll make sure by tomorrow you're good as new, alright?"

Having no real choice in the matter, Chad mumbled something which sounded like agreement. Moving past Isshin, who had already moved on to the next patient, Chiaki went outside to find Ichigo leaning on the wall, looking very troubled.

"You sensed that, right Chiaki?"

"Yeah… I can take care of things for now, you need to go and let Rukia know. We have another hollow to deal with."