Typing Up Loose Ends

After a long day and hours of karate practice, Tatsuki was brushing her teeth in preparation for some much-needed rest when the mirror she was looking into began fogging up.

"What on earth...?" muttered Tatsuki, taking a moment to spit into the sink before turning around and grabbing a towel to wipe the mirror. When she turned back around, however, her body became statuesque as her name had been written in the condensation. Then, as her heart pounded in her chest, the words 'I know what you did last Summer' materialized as if an invisible finger were tracing them.

"Oh, hell no..." muttered Tatsuki, turning away and attempting to flee the bathroom. Instead, she ran into something invisible, followed by a familiar yet ghostly voice teasing, "You really can't see me, can you?"

Though she initially felt like she was about to lose control of her bladder, Tatsuki's fear was replaced by a frown as she poked the invisible object and asked, "Is that you, Ohta? How the heck did you become invisible...?"

Placing his hand on Tatsuki's head, Ohta transferred some of his psychic power to her, causing his form to abruptly materialize in front of her as he replied, "It's a long story, so I'd rather not say."

Startled by Ohta's sudden appearance, Tatsuki leaped back and assumed a defensive karate stance. Immediately afterward, however, she became angry, her expression becoming notably fierce as she asked, "You weren't watching me shower, were you?"

Raising his brows, Ohta mused, "No, but even if I had, would it matter? You used to pester and follow me around at the public bath until just a few years ago. You haven't exactly changed mu-"

Interrupting Ohta's words, Tatsuki hurled her towel into his face, her own bright red as she bellowed, "Get the hell out of here!"

Adding to Tatsuki's confusion and shock, Ohta reacted to her words by falling through the floor. In soul form, he could pass through solid objects so long as they didn't have electrical cables running through them, so he phased through the floor before popping up a few seconds later, earning himself a roundhouse kick as he said, "We need to talk," from behind the stupefied tomboy.

"How are you doing this?" asked Tatsuki, her confusion overpowering her other emotions as she lowered her foot.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ohta replied, "I became a Shinigami. I'd rather not go into detail, but I just thought you should know before the artificial soul who assumed my identity pisses you off. We may not be 'that' close, but I do consider you a friend."

Blinking in surprise, Tatsuki momentarily disregarded the rest of Ohta's words as she noted, "You've never called me that before...what's going on, Ohta? Did you get involved in something dangerous...?"

"Very," admitted Ohta, adopting a teasing smile as he added, "But, as I said before, I'd rather not get into it. Perhaps someday, but not anytime soon."

Realizing the true purpose of Ohta's vision, Tatsuki's eyes became moist as she meekly accused, "You're here to say goodbye..."

Exhaling a faint sigh through his nose, Ohta extended his hand to ruffle Tatsuki's damp hair as he answered, "More like, see you around..." in an uncharacteristically soft tone. Tatsuki was his 'first option,' assuming he decided to remain in Karakura Town, but they had never started dating since he wasn't into brats. Tomboys? Hell yeah. Literal children? Fuck no.

Having said what he came to say, Ohta retracted his hand from Tatsuki's head and turned to leave. He half-expected her to grab his sleeve or hug him from behind, but she remained where he left her, a hurt expression on her face as she lowered her head, closed her eyes, balled her hands into fists, and clenched her jaw...

"YOU ASSHOOOOOOOLE...!" screamed Tatsuki, albeit only after Ohta's figure had dissolved, his power no longer granting her the ability to see him...

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"You're surprisingly sentimental," remarked Yoruichi, waiting for Ohta on the roof of the house neighboring Tatsuki's.

Shaking his head, Ohta's usually cocky smile exuded a hint of melancholy as he claimed, "You said it best this afternoon. I'm a monster, through and through. I spent fifteen years cultivating my relationship with Tatsuki and her mother, Fubuki. I won't let some asshat that looks like me benefit from that hard work..."

Rolling her eyes, Yoruichi muttered, "If you say so..." before transitioning into her cat form and climbing onto his shoulder, asking, "Where to now? The apartments? Or were you serious about hunting Hollows...?"

"The apartments seem like the best option," replied Ohta. "I'm planning to borrow Rukia's cell phone, and I need to secure my valuables before that asshat lays claim to them."

"Wow, you're harsh," mused Yoruichi. "Are you really not planning to leave 'anything' for him?"

"He gets a free apartment, all my clothes, my dashingly good looks, a big dick, several false identities, and a bag of cash. If he can't succeed with all that, then Urahara did a shitty job programming him," contended Ohta.

"Your dick isn't 'that' big," teased Yoruichi. "And now that you've become a Soul, you're stuck looking like this for decades, if not much, much longer."

"Luckily, I also know how to use it..." muttered Ohta, using his replicated Shunpo to begin transitioning from roof to roof. His comment earned him another eye roll from Yoruichi, but she didn't say anything as she believed he was putting on a brave front after severing ties with someone he cared about...

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After moving most of his shit and accosting his former self for the keys to his other apartments, Ohta discreetly poked his head through the wall of Rukia's room, finding the petite Shinigami wearing vanilla-colored PJs with a cartoonish carrot pattern on them. Her eyes were practically glued to a steamy romance novel, so she didn't sense him until he asked, "What'cha reading?" with a cheeky smile.

"Gwaaaaaaaaa-!?" exclaimed Rukia, startling to such an extent that she fell out of her bed before quickly recovering and asking, "Ohta-kun? What are you-" before noticing he was wearing a Shihakusho(Garment of Dead Souls), the proper name for his Shinigami attire.

Blinking several times, Rukia tilted her head and asked, "You became a Shinigami? So quickly...?"

"I can be pretty proactive when I want to be," mused Ohta. Then, before Rukia could question him further, he added, "Anyways, I just came by to see if I could borrow your cell phone. I'll make sure to return before you leave for school in the morning."

"Oh, then just wait one moment," said Rukia, slipping the romance novel under her bed before rising to retrieve her cell phone. By the time she turned back around, Ohta was right behind her, causing her to tense as she raised her head to meet his gaze. There was a 31cm difference in their heights, so Rukia felt she had been backed into a corner despite having plenty of room to flee.

Removing the phone from the stunned Rukia's fingers, Ohta held it up for her to see as he said, "Much appreciated." before turning to leave. Doing so broke the spell Rukia was under, but before she could say anything to delay his departure, Ohta mused, "Enjoy your book~" in a sing-song tone before promptly departing through the front door.

Though she initially remained silent in response to Ohta's remark, staring in the direction of his departure, Rukia eventually made her way over to her bed, plopping down face-first and burying her face into her pillow to stifle a scream...

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With Rukia's phone allowing him to track positions and determine when Hollows would appear, Ohta spent much of the evening gazing at stars while Yoruichi curled up in his lap, allowing him to caress her feline body. She originally sat off to the side by her lonesome, but when Ohta didn't even try to get her to come to him, she invaded his personal space of her own accord, much like an actual cat.

"Is it fun being a cat...?" asked Ohta, waiting until the sky on the horizon had started to illuminate.

"It's not bad," replied Yoruichi. "Why, wanna become one? It may actually be possible since you're linked with my Zanpakuto."

"Hard pass," replied Ohta. Then, instead of going with his plan of asking if she had ever let another cat do her, he remarked, "I was just curious. With how adept you are at behaving like one, you must have spent a lot of time transformed..."

"Oh? If you're 'really' curious, I could tell you more about my background. That's what this is leading up to, right?" asked Yoruichi.

"Nah, I'm not that interested," replied Ohta. "My policy is to get to know people as they are, not as they were. Besides, most people inflate their histories to such an extreme it might as well be fiction..."

Picking Yoruichi up from his lap, Ohta placed her on the ground and rose to his feet. She jumped to his shoulder as he did so, but he was already used to having her hitch a ride off of him, so he just Shunpo'd away in the direction of the apartments, reaching their destination only a few seconds later before knocking on Rukia's door.

Though it was currently 4:38 AM, it only took Rukia a few seconds to answer her door, this time wearing her school uniform. Her eyes darted to Yoruichi's feline form, but only briefly before she met Ohta's gaze, smiling as she asked, "How was it? I trust my phone was helpful...?"

"Immensely," replied Ohta, proffering forth said phone as he asked, "Mind if I use it again in the future?"

Nodding in affirmation, Rukia replied, "Whenever you need it. However, as you appear to have some...affiliation with my Supplier, you should be able to acquire one for yourself. Then we can exchange numbers."

Piggybacking off of Rukia's words, Yoruichi said, "Kisuke was supposed to give you one last night, but you were in such a rush to leave that he either forgot or simply decided not to."

Seemingly ignoring Yoruichi's comment, Ohta continued holding Rukia's gaze, asking, "Have you met my replacement yet?"

Blinking in surprise, Rukia parroted, "Your replacement...?" in confusion. She was aware that Ohta had become a Shinigami, that much was very clear, but she had no idea he had 'abandoned' his mortal coil. Fortunately for her, that was why Ohta had come by so early, allowing him to apprise her of the situation so that she wouldn't freak out when she encountered the douche canoe that had replaced him...

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"Don't tell me you're planning to sleep...?" asked Yoruichi, watching Ohta strip out of his Shinigami attire.

Raising his brows, Ohta pointed out, "I just spent the past seven hours patrolling. Are you expecting me to transition into training immediately? At least let me take a bath first. Damn."

Furrowing her feline brows, Yoruichi flatly pointed out, "You only hunted a single Hollow, and it took no effort..."

"Okay? That doesn't change the fact I was out on patrol for seven hours," asserted Ohta. "By that logic, people that guard fortresses and shit aren't working unless someone is actively attacking."

Understanding she couldn't contend against Ohta's 'reasoning,' Yoruichi exhaled a sigh before remarking, "Whatever. The Sun's up, so I'm out of here. Sleep, take a bath, or throw yourself off a cliff. I don't give a damn. Just make sure to get over to Urahara's place before noon..."

Before Yoruichi could leap through the wall and depart, Ohta teased, "There's still a bit of time before the Sun's completely up. If you join me in the shower, I'll head over immediately after. Pinky promise."

Turning to look back at Ohta, Yoruichi narrowed her golden eyes, exuding an invisible killing intent that caused goosebumps to break out across his body. Despite this, Ohta maintained a smile as he jokingly appended, "I'm guessing that's a no...?"

Instead of responding to Ohta with words, Yoruichi turned around and leaped away, disappearing through his closed front door. It was a shame to see her go, but Ohta just shrugged his shoulders, stripped out of the remainder of his clothes, and entered the shower, allowing cool and then hot water to run over his naked body for nearly a full hour...

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(A/N: Not much to say for this chapter. I just hope everyone's having a better day than Tatsuki xD...)