36 Assembling the Actors

Contrasting Karin's expectations, Ohta didn't force her to train 24/7 or deprive her of sleep. The only real change to their schedule was that he had her wake up at 5:30 AM, joining him for a 3km run and training with free weights until breakfast. At 8 AM, her 'real' training began, alternating between failure drills and repeating a single exercise for upwards of four hours without any meaningful breaks or rest.

Fortunately for Karin, Ohta afforded her free time from noon to 3 PM. He advised her to use that time to rest. Instead, she used it to loiter about his room, curling up atop Rukia's beanbag to read manga, asking for help with her Summer classwork, relaxing in the bath, or surprising him with random questions.

"Can you do the splits?" asked Karin, sitting with her feet together on the floor.

"Not without hurting myself..." replied Ohta, his gaze focused on the book he was reading, a variation of the Dirk Pitt novels from his previous world. There were many things in this world that were similar but subtly different from his past, including a trading card game called Pokomon, a growing search engine called Goggle, and a middle-grade book series called Harry Mason.

In an obvious attempt to get his attention, Karin asserted, "I can. Here, check this out..." before doing a split and leaning forward to lean on her elbows. It was a decent display of flexibility, but if he looked beyond the intent, Ohta would have been able to see Karin's increasingly perky butt, bound in navy-blue bike shorts.

"Not bad..." replied Ohta, briefly casting his gaze to Karin before returning to his book. His 'dismissiveness' earned him a frown, but the raven-haired Kurosaki didn't say anything as she held her position, periodically looking his way while her eyes meandered about his room.

Seemingly finding her courage, Karin asked the question Ohta had been anticipating even before her week-long training camp, specifically, "Hey, Ohta...do you have a girlfriend?"

"You should know the answer to that, even without me telling you," said Ohta, turning the page in his book. Karin had seen the inside of Rukia's apartment when she was moving stuff from the second to the first floor, and she had sneakily searched through his dresser drawers when he was unwinding in the bath. Ohta hadn't said anything, as Karin's behavior was fairly common for her age, but he quickly noticed some of Rukia's clothes and one of his spirit-thread t-shirts were missing since then.

"Well, where is she?" asked Karin, either pretending she had no idea what Ohta was hinting at or completely unaware she had been found out.

"The Soul Society abducted her," replied Ohta, turning another page as he casually revealed, "I'll be leaving to rescue her tomorrow, along with your brother and several of his friends..."

Not expecting such a revelation, Karin stared at Ohta with wide eyes and her mouth slightly agape. Before she could exclaim or ask any follow-up questions, however, Ohta calmly lied through his teeth, assuring, "Relax, boku. It's not as serious as it sounds. Your brother will be back before the end of Summer, maybe a lot sooner."

"..."

Though she had developed that habit of believing just about everything Ohta told her, Karin furrowed her brows, clearly mulling over her thoughts for several minutes before muttering, "You mentioned that Ichi-nii will be back...what about you?"

"I'll most likely remain in the Soul Society," replied Ohta, shifting his gaze to meet the hurt-looking Kurosaki's as he teased, "But don't worry. I'll still come to visit Karakura every so often. Your daydreams might not bear the fruit you're hoping for, but I can at least check in to see how your training is progressing."

"..."

Feeling saddened by Ohta's words, Karin lowered her gaze to the space under his bed, staring at nothing in particular. She knew her chances were slim due to the difference in their age, but most of the female clothes she found in Ohta's dresser were a comfortable fit. When she originally found them, she even suspected that Ohta had bought them specifically for her to wear, but the existence of romance novels and other girly things in his apartment told a different story.

Not sure what else to say, Karin's eyes wandered for a few minutes before she eventually asked, "How tall is your girlfriend...?"

"I'm not entirely sure," responded Ohta. "Somewhere around 140-145cm? She's a short stack and a half."

Rising to his feet, Ohta used telekinesis to unlock the drawer containing his sketchpads and notebooks, pulling one out and tossing it to Karin as she rose to a seated position.

"Is this a sketchbook?" asked Karin. However, even before Ohta replied, she understood why he had tossed it to her, opening it to discover the first page depicted a raven-haired girl with delicate features but sharp, emotive eyes.

"Did you draw this...?" asked Karin, her expression a mixture of shock and awe. From her viewpoint, the casually created sketch looked like a photo that had been superimposed onto the page.

"Her name is Rukia," revealed Ohta, sitting on his bed as he added, "She's the one who gave your brother his powers, forced to relinquish them after sustaining a serious injury while trying to protect you and your family. You should thank her when you meet."

Though Ohta's remark inspired several questions in her mind, Karin didn't ask them. Instead, she continued to gaze at Rukia's headshot, wondering if she could get Ohta to create one of her.

Seeing through the diminutive Kurosaki's thoughts, Ohta asked, "Let me guess, you want me to draw you?" with a teasing smile.

"Can you...?" asked Karin, looking at Ohta with a glimmer of hope in her ebony eyes. She felt like an idiot for having a crush on a boy who already had a girlfriend, but if she could have a memento of their time together, it would lessen the blow, at least a little.

"Sure," replied Ohta, getting up to grab a second sketchbook and a set of graphite pencils. Contrasting Karin's expectations, however, he didn't ask her to pose or model for him. Instead, he sat down at his desk, drawing a near-perfect rendition of her present appearance from memory.

Observing Ohta's progress from over his shoulder, Karin was awed again by his skill. She 'knew' he was good after seeing the sketch of Rukia, but she didn't realize how effortless the process was for him. It was actually a little unnerving, her ears burning at the prospect that Ohta could draw her in whatever pose or position he pleased...

"Done," said Ohta, holding up the sketchbook so Karin could get a better look or hold it directly. In it, Karin had a slightly annoyed look on her face, but she only had herself to blame for that, as, even when she smiled, her brows were almost always furrowed.

Staring at the image, Karin felt like she was staring into a static, black-and-white mirror. Its expression annoyed her a bit, but instead of voicing her thoughts aloud, Karin couldn't help smiling as she said, "You're really good..." Unfortunately, as was often the case when people learned that someone they knew was good at art, this was immediately followed by, "Can you draw another one? This time in an action pose...?"

Exhaling a scoffing chuckle, Ohta remarked, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood..." before setting the sketchbook down, flipping to a new page, and creating a sketch that could pass as the cover of an action comic...

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"Someone's early. Are you that eager to enter the Soul Society?" asked Yoruichi, waiting in the parking lot of Urahara's store in her feline form. Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad had yet to be apprised of the fact she was a bodacious beauty in disguise, and she planned to keep it that way until she found a good time to fuck with them.

"You're lucky I've waited this long," remarked Ohta, looking around as he asked, "Where are the others?"

"I just said you're early," replied Yoruichi, rolling her eyes as she added, "They're a bunch of high-school brats. Did you think they would show up an hour ahead of the scheduled meeting time...?"

Without waiting for Ohta's response, Yoruichi met his gaze, appending, "Actually, it's good that you showed up early. That Quincy boy from the Menos incident will be accompanying us on our trip. If you could avoid planting his head in the ground until 'after' we've rescued your beloved Rukia, that'd be great..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ohta responded with a dismissive, "Whatever..." He assumed Uryu was just another unwitting pawn drafted into Kisuke's schemes, but that didn't concern him. Once this shit with Aizen was over, he planned to cut all ties with the creepy uncle, the only exception being Yoruichi. However, unless she went out of her way to visit him in the Soul Society, or wherever else he ended up, he would have nothing to do with her...

Though she couldn't read Ohta's mind, Yoruichi suddenly felt annoyed, prompting her to ask, "You're not thinking anything rude, are you...?" in a flat, accusatory tone.

"Is that going to stop you from seeking my attention?" countered Ohta, patting his chest as he added, "C'mere."

"..."

Suppressing the urge to scratch or bite him, Yoruichi briefly hesitated before pouncing over and leaping into Ohta's embrace, perching atop his left forearm and allowing him to pet her. It frustrated her to no end when he treated her like a pet, but she endured it, having convinced herself it was only a matter of time before she got even with him...

"Oh? You two look like you're having fun," remarked Kisuke, emerging from his store in his usual outfit, sporting his characteristically creepy smile.

Furrowing his brows, Ohta asked, "Are the preparations for our departure complete? There aren't any 'surprises' waiting for us, are there...?"

"If you knew, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it?" teased Kisuke, unruffled by Ohta's glower as he added, "But yes, the preparations have been completed. All we're waiting for now is for the remaining players to arrive. Look, here comes one now..."

Pointing into the distance with his cane, Kisuke prompted both Ohta and Yoruichi to look back, the latter perching atop the former's shoulder for a better view. There, seemingly materializing from the shadows, was a tall, brown-skinned man with messy brown hair, rugged features, and a broad, muscular body. He looked to be in his late twenties, but the truth was that he was barely three weeks older than Ohta.

Spotting Ohta, the inordinately tall youth, Sado Yasutora, colloquially known as 'Chad,' briefly paused before raising his right hand and offering a curt, "Yo...it's been a while..."

"And you're even bigger than the last time I saw you," remarked Ohta.

"Mmm...I've been working out..." replied Chad, balling his raised hand into a fist and flexing, his bicep looking like it might tear the fabric of his pink Hawaiian shirt.

"So it would appear..." replied Ohta. However, as he could barely sense any 'real' power within Chad's body, he felt compelled to ask, "Are you sure you want to come along? You're definitely powerful for a human, but the place we're headed is filled with literal 'Gods of Death.'"

Without any hesitation, Chad responded with a curt nod, calmly asserting, "Rukia helped me out once. I want to return the favor..."

"Then you better not die..." mused Ohta, deciding to no longer press the matter. Chad was similar to him in how they both 'repaid' their debts. The key difference was that Chad primarily repaid debts of kindness and let those who wronged him go in peace. Ohta was the opposite in the latter regard, as he could hold a grudge for years and 'always' got his revenge, even if it killed him...

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(A/N: Chad is such a Chad o_o...)