11 Cat and Mouse

Though he expected it, Ohta still deadpanned when Rukia was introduced as a transfer student during Homeroom. She smiled apologetically when their gazes met, but Ohta pretended not to notice, turning his attention to his notebook and behaving as if they had never met.

"That wasn't very nice of you this morning," said Rukia, following Ohta up to the roof during lunch.

"You should have figured this out by now, but I'm not exactly sociable," replied Ohta. "If I started behaving all chummy with a transfer student that looks like she skipped a few grades to end up in High School, people would begin to spread rumors."

"Haha, very funny," replied Rukia, eyes narrowed in disdain. Immediately afterward, however, her expression relaxed as she walked over, standing next to him and staring out of the courtyard below as she asked, "Where did you go this morning? And what was with that strange cat...?"

Raising his brows, Ohta asked, "You don't know? I figured he was one of your contacts."

Shaking her head, Rukia expressed, "Even in the Soul Society, talking cats aren't normal. I heard there are a few Bakeneko and Nekomata inhabiting the forests to the north, but I've never encountered one."

"Mmm...I see..." replied Ohta, taking a moment to organize his thoughts before revealing, "I ended up at the storefront of your Supplier, Urahara Kisuke. He wanted to warn me about getting involved in the affairs of the Soul Society and asked me not to do anything to worsen your condition..."

Furrowing her brows, Rukia remarked, "How strange...I know I'm one of his only customers at the moment, but I didn't think he would show such concern for my well-being..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ohta deflected away from the subject, asking, "So, what made you decide to come to school?"

"To be honest? I didn't much have anything else to do," replied Rukia. "I thought about asking you to lend me your power so I could hunt Hollows while you and Ichigo were in class, but I wasn't sure what kind of burden that would place on you. There's also the possibility they could cut out in the middle of battle, and that would pretty much guarantee my end."

"It's something to consider," contended Ohta. "I've never experimented with bestowing my powers to another for a long period. In the past, I mainly used it to prevent innocents from getting caught in the crossfire when I raided gang hideouts and packing plants..."

Hearing that Ohta used his power to protect the innocent, a faint smile developed across Rukia's face as she said, "Then, if you're willing to trust me, let's try it sometime."

"Maybe," replied Ohta, not committing to anything. If Rukia got used to using his power, she would eventually think it was 'normal' to borrow it from him. She might also begin to grasp how his power functions, so he would need to do something to undermine her willingness to depend on him before things got out of hand.

Directing her eyes to the front, Rukia revealed, "There's another reason I decided to come to your school. Due to his inability to control his power, Ichigo is constantly leaking Reiryoku(spirit energy) from his body. Being close to him should allow me to replenish my own..."

"That would explain why you were sneakily living in his home," teased Ohta. "You were treating him as a wireless charging station."

"Something like that..." replied Rukia. "Anyways, now that I'm no longer staying in the Kurosaki household, I need to spend as much time as I can around Ichigo during the day. If I can't recover my power before someone from the Soul Society comes to investigate..."

Staring down at the much shorter girl, Ohta asserted, "You don't need to explain yourself to me, much less receive my approval. Do what you need to do. I was killing Hollows even before you arrived."

Turning to meet Ohta's gaze, Rukia regained a faint smile and replied, "I wasn't seeking your approval. I simply felt obligated to inform you since you seemed so concerned about it before."

Making a show of rolling his eyes and turning away, Ohta muttered, "If you say so..." in a nearly inaudible tone. Rukia giggled in response, but instead of teasing him, she said, "I'll see you after class. If not, we can talk back at the apartments."

Nodding his head, Ohta continued to stare ahead until Rukia departed the roof, leaving him alone. In her wake, he looked around, half-expecting to find Yoruichi. Since he didn't, he set a forty-minute alarm before lying in the shade, planning to enjoy a short nap. One of the survival principles he had picked up in the Army was to 'sleep when you can,' so he intended to do exactly that when a weight abruptly pressed down on his chest...

Opening his eyes, Ohta found Yoruichi standing on his chest, staring at him with his golden eyes. Then, like an actual cat, he laid down, tucking his paws beneath him as he asked, "Did you know a cat's purring can help lower blood pressure and has many other health benefits?"

As if that was supposed to justify his presence, Yoruichi closed his eyes and started to purr, sending gentle reverberations through Ohta's chest. The latter was tempted to yeet him into space, but having already seen him fly and leap through the air with tremendous ease, that wasn't likely to work. His other option was to try and crush Yoruichi with his patented 'psychic compress' technique, but unless he knew with certainty it would work, the risks outweighed the potential benefits...

Earning himself a curious, half-lidded stare, Ohta closed his eyes and began caressing Yoruichi's surprisingly velvety fur. He suspected the latter was trying to get him to lower his guard by behaving like a cat, but two could play at that game...

"You stopped purring..." remarked Ohta.

"That's because I'm considering biting your nose," countered Yoruichi.

"Feel free," replied Ohta, continuing to run his fingers along Yoruichi's spine as he added, "But then you can forget about lying on my chest in the future..."

"..."

Though he was tempted to scratch Ohta and continue using his chest regardless, Yoruichi knew they didn't have that kind of rapport. He also didn't want to reveal his 'true form' just yet, so after several seconds of deliberation, he set his chin on Ohta's chest and closed his eyes, flatly remarking, "You're lucky I enjoy being caressed..."

"Try not to speak so close to my face," replied Ohta. "Your breath smells like tuna..."

Feeling a little annoyed, Yoruichi remarked, "I could turn around and stick my ass in your face..."

"It's honestly tempting..." retorted Ohta, causing Yoruichi to abruptly stand up, turn around, and sit on his face. Fortunately, while it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, Ohta immediately noticed something, remarking, "Oh, you're a girl..."

"You insufferable little...!" exclaimed Yoruichi. Then, before Ohta fully comprehended what had transpired, he was sent flying through the air, crashing into the fence surrounding the roof upside down. Instead of sliding down and hitting his head, however, he remained in that position, staring at the place he had been lying moments prior, finding that Yoruichi had vanished...

("Looks like this round belongs to me...") thought Ohta, briefly lingering on the chainlink fence before drifting away from it, flipping himself right-side up, and lying back down...

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With Rukia dragging Ichigo out of class in the middle of the fourth period, screaming that the latter had anemia and that she needed to take him to the Nurse's Office, Ohta expected the class to be abuzz, but not even the teacher seemed to find it odd. Rather, she barely reacted, remarking, "Get him there safely," before immediately continuing the lesson.

"That was really odd..." muttered Ohta, recalling the scene as he took a detour to his apartment. It was like the cognition of everyone in the class had been altered, making them incapable of realizing how strange it was for Rukia and Ichigo to run out and not return...

"Well, at least I didn't have to walk Orihime home..." noted Ohta, turning into an alleyway to find a familiar cat staring at him with half-lidded eyes.

Raising his hand, Ohta said, "Yo, Su–I mean, how ya doin', Yoruichi-san? Did you run to the vet to see if you had gingivitis? It's not a good sign if your ass smells fresher than your breath."

Leaping from her perch, Yoruichi caused every nerve in Ohta's body to tense as she abruptly transformed into a petite, dark-skinned woman with a slender physique, a phenomenal pair of tits, and peculiar, waist-length purple hair fastened in a ponytail. Chin-length bangs framed her angular face, and her outfit consisted of an orange top with white padding on the shoulders, a black bodysuit that snuggly conformed to her voluptuous body, a beige sash that matched the material of her scarf and armguards, and custom, lightweight boots that resembled ninja tabi and shin guards.

Before Ohta's brain had time to process that incredible sight before him, Yoruichi's left fist was buried deep in his diaphragm, ignoring his psychic defenses and painfully ousting the air from his lungs as she said, "Lesson one, Hohō(Step Method)..." with a sadistic gleam in her golden eyes...

Though he fell to his knees and nearly keeled over, Ohta didn't pass out as Yoruichi expected. He almost did, but the moment his consciousness began to slip, unbridled fury surged from the depths of his mind, causing a smile to develop across his face as he said, "You...fucked up..."

Raising her brows, Yoruichi was about to compliment Ohta for enduring one of her blows when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. At nearly that same moment, a hand obscured her vision, causing the pupils of her eyes to contract as she thought, ("He's fast...")

Demonstrating she was even faster, Yoruichi's promptly 'dissolved' like an afterimage, causing Ohta to grasp at the air.

"You had your chance," mused Yoruichi, standing several meters away with crossed arms and a teasing smile. "Now you'll have to work for it if you want to touch my body."

Ignoring the pain radiating through his chest and abdomen, a bright red aura surrounded Ohta's body as he exhaled a chuckle and retorted, "Now that I see you in this form, I kind of want you to sit on my face again..."

"That depends on you," replied Yoruichi, effortlessly evading Ohta's leap and follow-up lungs by disappearing and reappearing without any leading movements. "I only approve of strong or, at the very least, skillful men. A snot-nosed brat that lunges at his opponents like a wild bull is-"

Feeling the fabric around her chest contract, Yoruichi ceased speaking and disappeared, leaving her orange top to be compacted into a bundle. When she reappeared, Ohta learned that her form-fitting bodysuit didn't actually cover her entire body. Her back and shoulders were completely exposed, but that wasn't his focus as he aimed his left hand at the smiling vixen, grinning as he declared, "I can sense you..."

"Good for you," replied Yoruichi, the last word sounding in Ohta's ear as she chopped the side of his neck with enough power to force him to one knee, cracking the concrete beneath.

("His defense is increasing...") noted Yoruichi, evading the invisible surge of psychic energy that exuded from Ohta's body, causing his hair to flare up as he looked back at her with a crimson glow in his eyes.

"You're starting to look pretty scary," remarked Yoruichi, evading what she perceived as an invisible hand, presumably aiming for her scarf but just as likely to be aiming for her neck.

"But I'm starting to get the hang of sensing your power," she added, once again appearing behind Ohta. This time, however, her swift and seemingly casual karate chop left a visible indent on the muscles between his neck and shoulder, the energy gushing from his body abruptly dispersing as he slumped like a marionette with its strings cut...

"Tough little bastard..." remarked Yoruichi, staring at her hand to find it dangling just as limply as Ohta's body. At the very last moment, just when she was about to retract her hand, a tremendous repulsive force flowed back into her, snapping her wrist and breaking several of her fingers like twigs. Instead of being upset, however, she adopted a toothy grin, picked up Ohta's body, and disappeared with it...

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(A/N: On a scale from zero to fuck around, Yoruichi nearly discovered the intersection point of find out xD...)