[The Substitute Shinigami Arc] Part 27: Awakening a with strange advice

I felt like I was floating. My injuries were no longer bothering me. I opened my eyes only to find that I was back in the world Cheshire had shown me three days ago.

Cheshire: "Hello, mister sleepyhead." - I heard the cheerful voice of my fullbring. "You better not move too much. I'm still in the middle of work."

I just obeyed and tried to stay calm. I asked for his help, so at least I won't get in the way during the process.

Yato: "What happened after I blacked out?"

Cheshire: "I caused you to enter a hibernation state. As you were very weak, your body reacted negatively and made you stop breathing, but don't worry. Ichigo rushed you to his father's clinic and they managed to revive you…although I was already going to do that…at least they cut my work short. Now your body is resting in one of the rooms at the clinic."

Yato: "I see. You said that this help process would take longer than usual, right? How long have I been unconscious?"

Cheshire: "You've been out for almost a week. Rukia even had to make an excuse in high school, saying that you had an accident to prevent her from being run over."

Yato: "Well…At least now I know what excuse they gave…It would be really embarrassing if I end up telling another story to the school people…But what about Rukia and Ichigo? They have the habit of feeling guilty even for things that have nothing to do with them. How are they reacting?"

Cheshire: "This is the first time Ichigo has seen a friend of his get in very serious condition during a Hollow attack, so he's a little more committed to the substitute shinigami duty."

Yato: "That…it's kind of good…maybe in the future he'll be less of an idiot…"

Cheshire: "As for Rukia, as you can imagine, she blames herself for you getting hurt to protect her. Since you're not waking up, she's adopted a routine of accompanying Ichigo on his shinigami duties and then going straight to the clinic. She's staying in Karin and Yuzu's room."

Yato: "When I wake up…maybe I'll buy her a stuffed bunny to cheer her up…Is there anything else I need to know?"

Cheshire: "Well…There was all that trouble at school with Kon using Ichigo's body to do mischief. Now he is in the body of that stuffed lion."

Yato: ".....I didn't miss anything important then...Anyway, how much time is left for this to end...?"

Cheshire: "In a few hours…and after I'm done, don't go thinking you're going to get too powerful all of a sudden, what I'm doing is merely granting you a way to fight. The rest of the work is up to you."

Yato: "Right…Thanks "boss"." - I said smiling.

Cheshire: "You called me "boss" as a joke…But I accept…I'll even give you a surprise gift for that, ehehehe"

# May 30 - Kurosaki Clinic #

It was weekend and Ichigo was helping his sister Yuzu to clean up the house. The boy was waiting for the visit of his friends Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro. They had agreed to go visit Yato, who was still unconscious, but despite being a small visit, Ichigo knew that with Keigo's presence it could end up becoming a mess.

Yuzu: "Brother, what time did you say your friends would arrive?"

Ichigo: "I think it's in a few minutes."

Karin: "How lucky the old man won't be home today."

Ichigo: "That's great…it's already too much work for me to put up with Keigo, now having to put up with him and the old man is too much for me."

Yuzu: "You guys are so mean to him..."

Ichigo: "Karin, have you seen Rukia today?"

Karin: "Yeah, she's over there in the sleeping groom's room."

The scene changes to Rukia who is sitting in a chair next to Yato's bed. She was reading another one of the boy's manga while keeping her cell phone on a nearby table.

Rukia: "I have to admit that these stories that humans make up are quite interesting…despite portraying Shinigami in a strange way…This Ryuk looks more like a Hollow than a Shinigami…" - She commented while looking in the boy's direction who was unconscious.

Rukia: 'I managed to heal his wounds a little... and Ichigo's father managed to revive him. I don't feel anything unusual about his spiritual energy…but why doesn't he wake up…? Could it be that…' - She thought as she remembered recent events at school.

# Flashback #

At the back of the school, Rukia was sitting under a tree while listening to Inoue's friends talking. The shinigami wasn't paying attention to the matter and always gave short answers the few times when her name was mentioned.

Orihime: "Are you all right, Kuchiki-san?" - She asked quietly, making only Rukia and Tatsuki hear her.

Rukia: "Ah…yeah, I'm fine, Inoue." - She smiled.

Orihime: "You must be very worried about Yasakani-kun, right?" - She spoke in a worried tone.

Rukia hesitated to answer. She was trying to maintain character so she smiled again.

Rukia: "He is no longer in danger, Inoue-san. He just needs to sleep a little…" - She replied in a louder tone than she would have liked.

Chizuru: "Are you guys in this conversation again? Rukia-chan, we all know why Yasakani-san isn't awake." - She spoke as she smiled from ear to ear.

Tatsuki: "Don't start talking nonsense."

So far, Tatsuki had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire conversation but decided that she should intervene. Chizuru's comment really seemed to have an effect on Rukia, because of her naiveté towards humans, she misunderstood many things that were said to her, which resulted in her being very attentive to Chizuru's words.

Rukia: "And why doesn't he wake up?"

Chizuru: "It's too obvious!!! You didn't give him true love's kiss to wake him up!!"

Rukia: "What?"

Orihime: "Oh! Like in the Sleeping Beauty story where the prince needs to kiss the princess to get her out of her spell!?" - The idea seemed to have excited Inoue in a way.

Tatsuki: "Don't be an idiot, Chizuru! Rukia is not a prince and Yato is not a bewitched princess. Stop putting stupid ideas in other people's heads!"

Mahana: "But it might work." - She spoke only to encourage the conversation to extend.

Ryo: "That idea doesn't make much sense since in the story it needs to be true love's kiss." - She commented while reading a book.

Michiru: "But they said that Yasakani-san had the car accident just to save Rukia-san. So there is love on his part." - She smiled.

Tatsuki: "You guys aren't helping!"

Chizuru: "But what does it cost her to try? They are engaged, one time or another they would have to kiss."

That all caused to trigger a tremendous discussion between the girls. The only one who kept silent and didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation…was Rukia herself. She was remembering recent events regarding the modified soul, now called Kon, who had tried to kiss Tatsuki while in Ichigo's body. Although Ichigo was really annoyed by this, Rukia tried to lighten the situation by saying that a kiss was nothing more than a way to greet people, after all, that's what she read.

Rukia: 'Is that what they're talking about?'

Orihime: "So, what do you think, Kuchiki-san?" - She asked happily.

Rukia: "Huh? What do I think of what?"

Orihime: "Of us going to visit Yasakani-kun this weekend?"

Rukia: "I guess…it's okay…"

# Flashback-end #

Rukia: 'They seemed pretty determined that that kiss would make him wake up...' - She thought as she kept looking at the boy.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was finishing tidying up the room when the sound of the doorbell made him stop.

Ichigo: "It must be them…"- he commented as he walked to answer it. What the boy didn't expect was that besides Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro… Ichigo also saw Orihime, Tatsuki and Chizuru.

Keigo: "What's up, Ichigo!"

Mizuiro: "We ran into them on the way here."

Chad: "...Hmm..."

Orihime: "Hello, Kurosaki-kun! We arranged with Kuchiki-san to come visit Yasakani-kun."

Ichigo: 'That midget didn't even warn me...'

Tatsuki: "Ryo, Mahana and Michiro were also supposed to show up but it looks like they've been busy. They asked to wish Yato better."

Chizuru: "And where is the beautiful Kuchiki-san? Did she follow my advice?"

Ichigo: "I don't know what kind of advice you're giving and I don't care either…well…come in. Rukia is in Yato's room." - He grumbled while showing the room where Yato was resting.

Keigo/Chizuru: "Are they alone…!? In the same room!?"

Chizuru was excited and tried to open the bedroom door without making any noise while Keigo followed the girl, hoping that she would see something interesting. When the girl finally opened the door, they both froze.

Tatsuki: "Hey…what are you two doing?" - She went to the door to see that Keigo was perplexed while Chizuru was drooling. When Tatsuki looked into the room, the young girl also froze…

Seeing the three of them that way ended up drawing the attention of the rest of the classmates…who had similar reactions.

When everyone was inside the room, the scene that everyone witnessed was Rukia lightly leaning on Yato's bed while their lips touched.

Chizuru: "This is so exciting..."

Tatsuki: "I can't believe she actually fell for that…." -She spoke while avoiding looking.

Ichigo: "Hey…Rukia…What are you doing…?" - He asked in astonishment.

The shinigami, who finally noticed the presence of people there, quickly walked away from Yato and returned to her chair.

Rukia: "I…I was t-trying to wake him up like in the s-story…" - That was really her intention, but seeing the faces of the people there started to make her feel embarrassed and slightly blushing.

Ichigo: "Was that your advice...?" - He asked looking at Chizuru.

Before the girl could explain, they heard a voice, which didn't belong to any of the people inside... at least not the ones who were awake...

Yato: "But what's going on…? Why are there so many people here…?"