Chapter 4 Childhood friends

Ichigo went to school as usual. Yesterday, he met a real shinigami for the first time in his five years of life. The shinigami said that he had high spiritual power, but that was just ten percent of the real amount that he had. 

The excessive amount that he couldn't control went to his toy sword and flower bracelet. And she didn't seem to be able to sense it somehow.

'It should be one of the abilities of the flower bracelet.'

The flower bracelet could disguise his spiritual power within a certain distance, so no ghostly being would hunt him directly. Only those who were close by would be attracted to his spiritual power.

'If she knew that I have ten times more spiritual power than she had initially thought, would she recruit me even though it wasn't in her jurisdict  วion?'

He thought about it a little bit before shaking his head. 

'That's too bad. But on the other hand, I don't know much about her or the force behind her. It would be more beneficial if I knew about them before deciding on anything.'

Ichigo thought of what his reflection told him. He needed to move forward with a steady step. He shouldn't make haste because it might cost him more. 

He needed more information about the woman and the force behind her. Rushing into action without a clear understanding could potentially lead to detrimental consequences. 

It was important for Ichigo to approach the situation with caution and take the time to assess the risks involved.

As he thought of many things inside his little head. The teacher who taught the class about basic math noticed that he didn't focus on his class. Normally, he should scold him and tell him to stay focused on the math he taught, but

He did nothing. and why? That's because Ichigo didn't even need to come to school because he could graduate from the university any time he wanted. He came to school because he needed to learn about social interaction at his age and to take care of his little sisters.

He even received support from the Japanese government. So whoever dared to touch him will be faced with very serious consequences.

He was that scary for the social norm, but to be honest,

They thought too much about it. Even if they scolded him, he wouldn't give a fuck, let alone report them to the government.

"U-um Ichigo-kun. Why are you not listening to the teacher?"

Beside him, a cute girl with orange hair like him spoke with a stutter. Ichigo glanced at the girl, his expression uninterested.

"Why? I already knew all of it." 

His nonchalant attitude only added to his reputation as a cold prince. The cute girl trembled and stopped talking. His deskmate's name was Orihime Inoue. She was the target of the bully, but with Ichigo there with her, they didn't dare approach her. 

His mere presence provided her with a shield of protection, even if he didn't actively intervene. Orihime admired Ichigo's strength and wished she could be as fearless as him.

"Hey! Don't be mean to Orihime-Chan!"

Behind them, a tomboyish girl spoke to him. She was his childhood friend who went to the karate club with him. She set him up as her rival even though she couldn't win him a single time. Her name was Tatsuki Arisawa.

"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to be mean to you. Orihime."

Ichigo said sorry. He didn't know that his words would hurt his friend. And it shut up Tatsuki immediately. She could only sigh. She really didn't know what was inside his head. In this kind of situation. He should be sarcastic and not say sorry with such honesty.

The class ended, and now it was lunch time. Issei and Irina would come to his class to have lunch with him and the other two. The five of them could be considered childhood friends at this point.

"I am going to be a harem king!"

"Stop yelling with such an emberassing thing, you idiot!"

Tatsuki and Issei banter like they usually do. And as usual, Issei didn't know that Tatsuki was a girl like Irina. The difference was that Tatsuki didn't have a crush on him, so she didn't try to correct him about her true gender. She felt safer if he thought of her as his male friend.

Ichigo ate his bento and didn't care about anything around him. His thoughts were always on his goal. He wanted to be a shinigami. He wanted to visit the underworld. The true land of the spiritual beings.

As he enjoyed his bento that his mother made for him and thought about his goal. Tatsuki spoke to him.

"Hey, Ichi. Do you want to go to karate club with me today after school? I heard that the club has invited the three-time world champion to give the members tips."

Tatsuki was a karate fanatic. She was always looking for opportunities to improve her skills and challenge herself. Despite Ichigo's focus on becoming a shinigami, he couldn't help but feel tempted by Tatsuki's invitation. The idea of learning from a world champion intrigued him, and he wondered if it could somehow contribute to his own journey towards the spiritual realm.

He didn't have anything to do after school, but he needed to ask his mother for permission first.

And who was Ichigo? He is her most beloved son. Of course she would permit him to go, but she would go with him too. She wanted to record him while he learned karate from the world champion. It would be a great memento.

The two didn't know that there would be a situation that would start a chain of events that would lead Ichigo toward his goal faster than he expected.