4 Well, That Happened...
After fleeing the scene and making a long detour around the outskirt of the city, Ohta returned to his apartment, moving aside his rug to reveal a floorboard he had pulled up shortly after moving in. Inside was a journal, thick stacks of native and foreign currency, gold coins, six passports, and a fairly modern map of Karakura Town.
"So, Ichigo can see the same things as me..." muttered Ohta, making a tiny red x over the location of Ichigo's home, marking it as the kill site of one of the masked creatures. Green circles designated emergence points, but as he hadn't been around when the creature appeared, he couldn't be certain it had materialized in the area.
Folding up the map, Ohta returned it to the compartment before carefully opening the journal and confirming there were five grains of shaved rice in a flower pattern behind the cover and several more stored along the spine joint.
Though he was always fairly cautious, Ohta, or, more accurately, his past self, suspected that someone had been entering his apartment while he was away. Thus, whenever he was done with the journal, he created a unique, non-repeating pattern with shaved and marked rice grains behind the cover. It was possible that one of Japan's periodic earthquakes would disturb it, but as they were held in place by the journal's cover and further weighted down by gold coins, it was a fairly reliable security measure.
Flipping to a blank page within the journal, Ohta uncapped a ballpoint pen and created a fairly accurate sketch of the monster he had slain. He didn't know if it was because of his psychic abilities, but his short-term memory was nearly photographic. Thus, on the opposite page, he drew a sketch of the black-haired girl, complete with her antiquated outfit and the peculiar, thick clump of hair that parted the center of her face...
"That would get on my nerves..." remarked Ohta, wrapping things up by adding some finishing touches to the girl's eyes. She looked fairly young at a glance, but the more he looked at her eyes, both on his page and in his mind, the older she appeared.
"She could also see the monsters..." noted Ohta. "Rather, she seemed to be there to fight it..."
As his past self had tried killing one of the monsters with his bare hands, Ohta knew how tough the masked bastards were. Conventional weapons were completely useless against them, so the simplest explanation was that the girl's sword was special in some way. More importantly, she was supernaturally fast. So much so he hadn't even noticed her approaching the monster before she was slicing into its forearm with an attack that left a visible trail of bluish-white light...
"How would I deal with such speed...?" pondered Ohta aloud, his brows creasing in serious contemplation. His past self had researched all kinds of kinetic abilities on the internet, including neurokinesis. However, as he had determined that messing around with his neurons was a good way to end up braindead, he had never actively tried to mess with his processing speed and reaction time...
"Well, she can't be that powerful if she only managed to slice through half of that monster's arm..." concluded Ohta. Speed might be king in martial arts, especially when weapons were involved, but it didn't matter if his opponent couldn't break his psychic barrier. More notably, as he could sense the woman's aura, nothing prevented him from outright crushing her if push came to shove...
Convinced of his assessment, Ohta carefully arranged eight pieces of rice into an S, memorizing the arrangement of the ink markings before closing the cover and carefully returning it to the secret floor compartment. Once everything else was in place, he replaced the floorboard, covered it with a rug, and began his meticulous preparations for bed...
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Around the same time Ohta was preparing for a cold shower, the cat he had dubbed 'Susu' remarked, "That boy would make an excellent member of the Onmitsukidō." in a deep, manly voice.
"Yeah, it's almost uncanny. If I didn't look into his background, I would think he was a wayward soul that had possessed a human..." remarked the man with a green and white fisherman's hat, staring into a crystal ball that displayed the interior of Ohta's apartment while Susu perched lazily atop his head.
"He could be a reincarnated soul," postulated the black cat. "They're rare but not unheard of."
"His soul 'is' a lot more powerful than normal..." remarked the man. "But in all other instances of reincarnation, the reincarnated spirit had enormous spiritual energy. Our little psychic friend has next to none. The energy he possesses is almost entirely mental..."
"Then he's an anomaly," remarked the cat. "We should just get rid of him before he becomes a threat or interferes with our plans further. We don't need any extra variables..."
"Wow, someone's feeling feisty," mused the haggard man. "Are you that annoyed by the name he gave you?"
Clicking its tongue, the cat descended from the man's head, departing the traditional Japanese room they were seated in as it said, "Whatever. Just don't come crying to me if things go South..."
"Be safe out there, Yoruichi-san~" mused the man, unperturbed by the cat's parting remark. He was already gambling the fate of the world on one fifteen-year-old. It shouldn't matter if he formed a contingency plan using another...
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Feeling uncharacteristically tired, Ohta only needed to consider skipping his usual routine before doing precisely that. Changing things up included 'not' doing anything at times, so he took an extra long bath and spent the morning checking over his homework and reading his textbook.
Though he knew college degrees were pretty much pointless unless you had an 'in' into the industry you were shooting for, Ohta intended to finish High School near the top of his class and go on to a prestigious university. It was important for the profile he was trying to build, something that may or may not become incredibly useful further down the line.
Hearing his watch alarm go off, Ohta stretched his body and performed a protracted yawn. Afterward, he packed his textbook and prepared to set out, biting into an apple as he walked with his handbag over his shoulder, enjoying the cool Spring air.
"Hmmm...?"
Spotting a familiar black cat, this time perched atop a vending machine, Ohta remarked, "Well, hello there. It's unusual to see you so soon after a previous encounter. Should I consider this good or bad luck?"
Though his expression didn't change in the slightest, Ohta was more than a little surprised when the black cat, Susu, replied, "Things are starting to get serious. If you want to keep attending school and maintain the illusion of an ordinary person, I advise you to stop playing Vigilante and meddling in the supernatural."
"That would be a lot simpler," admitted Ohta. "Unfortunately, I was born into a world with ghosts, giant monsters that most people can't see, and talking cats. Pretending things are normal when they aren't is a good way to lose your mind."
"You could die," warned the cat. "The living and the dead aren't meant to mingle with one another. The further you delve into this world, the closer you get to your end."
"Every day we live brings us closer to death," mused Ohta. "I'd rather live and make the most of my time than die in obscurity like a coward. Running away is a reliable tactic, but living on the run is just dying slower."
Raising its brows, the black cat remarked, "That's an interesting way of viewing things," before leaping down from its perch and adding, "My name is Yoruichi, by the way. The next time you call me Susu, I'll claw your eyes out."
Seemingly finished with what he had to say, the black cat, Yoruichi, began to turn around. Before he could leap away, however, Ohta asked, "Is that it? No expositional dump or an explanation about what's going on? I don't mind being truant if it will provide answers."
"Too much trouble," replied Yoruichi, shrugging its feline shoulders. "If you want answers, wait a few days without going out. Everything will become clear once that girl you saw last night appears at your school..."
"Hoooo? Did I interrupt something last night?" asked Ohta, adopting an amused smile as he added, "I thought something was up with how hazy my senses were."
"We'll talk again later," said Yoruichi, disappearing into thin air as if he had teleported.
("Fast little bugger...") thought Ohta, immediately continuing on his way as if nothing strange had occurred. He had a lot of questions, but so long as he 'waited' a few days, he should be able to receive some answers. If not, it didn't actually matter. He just wouldn't trust anything the cat had to say from that point on...
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While the rest of the class was abuzz with the news that a 'truck' had run through Ichigo's house, Ohta had a bored look on his face as he sketched a picture of Yoruichi in his notebook. Before he became a mercenary in his previous life, he was an art student at the Rhode Island School of Design, one of the most prestigious art schools in the United States. He ultimately failed to break into the industry due to being drafted into the Army during the third World War, but he had graduated with honors.
("Such a waste...") thought Ohta, creating a far more 'realistic' version of Yoruichi than the comparably simplistic cat he had encountered earlier that morning. Now that he apparently lived in a cartoon universe, all the effort he had put into being able to create photorealistic drawings made his artwork appear strange and uncanny to others...
Disrupting the 'serenity' of Ohta's art process, Tatsuki approached him to ask, "Hey, Ohta. Did you hear about what happened to Ichigo? They say a truck ran through his living room."
"So they say..." muttered Ohta, setting down his pencil and turning to face Tatsuki, adopting a teasing smile as he asked, "Is this your way of asking me to go check on him after school?"
Though she furrowed her brows slightly, Tatsuki ultimately asked, "Can you?"
"Sure, why not?" replied Ohta. "It's only a few stops from my place, and I owe Ichigo's dad for treating me when I was younger."
"Yeah, you used to get messed up pretty badly, huh?" remarked Tatsuki. "It's insane that people came all the way from Hokkaido to challenge you when you were just a middle schooler..."
"Age is important, but if it were the ultimate determiner of strength, the centenarians on Okinawa would be unstoppable..." remarked Ohta. "Those who willfully choose to become delinquents have a lot to prove, so if they hear about some 'monster' from another school, they can't help picking a fight..."
"Speaking of which...I heard an upperclassman had his arm dislocated and his tendons severely damaged. Didn't you promise my mom and the caretakers at the orphanage that you wouldn't get into any more fights?" asked Tatsuki, concern evident in her expression and tone.
"They attacked and attempted to extort me," argued Ohta. "It was self-defense, not a real fight..."
Having heard similar excuses, Tatsuki exhaled an exasperated sigh before whispering, "Just be careful you don't take things too far, okay? You nearly ended up in a Detention Center after you paralyzed those three guys from Kōryō High..."
("Ah, yes, the rapists...") thought Ohta, recalling the incident where his past self had discovered three high school boys attempting to strip and take advantage of a middle school girl near an arcade he frequented. The girl he had saved was too frightened to provide a statement, so he nearly ended up in a correctional facility for three years. If not for the caretakers at the orphanage vouching for him, the result of carefully building rapport over several years, he would have been fucked over pretty hard...
"I'll be careful," replied Ohta, adopting a faint smile as he added, "Also, tell your mother I'll be coming over tomorrow. I'll bring over some premium meat, and we can have a barbecue. You know, to thank her for everything she's done."
Regaining her smile, Tatsuki replied, "Sure, I'll tell her. But isn't this a little sudden?
"I like being spontaneous," replied Ohta. "Just make sure you're home, or we'll eat everything without you."
As he had done so in the past, Tatsuki frowned as she held up her fist and threatened, "You better not...". Then, as their teacher had just arrived, she returned to her seat, leaving Ohta to resume his drawing...
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(A/N: Ohta got that Sigma mentality...)
