Fame, Fortune, Phantasms

The next day, after the chaos of the Ghost Bust debacle, Chiaki and Ichigo returned to school with the intention of leaving behind the chaos of the previous day, as well as hoping that they'd just be able to return to business as usual without a fuss. Unfortunately for her however, as soon as she got to the school entrance, she and Ichigo were confronted by a certain Kagine of the school's Physical Education department, who stood in front of their path, arms crossed.

"Chiaki! Ichigo! I need to see both of you in the principal's office now."

"What the hell for?"

"You don't get to ask questions, just get in there!"

While Ichigo was busy grumbling to the teacher, Chiaki sighed deeply; she'd known this was coming for a while now and had already resigned herself to her fate of being chewed out for her actions the day before. There was no avoiding it: she'd just have to get it over with.

"Come on Ichigo. Let's just go and see what they want."

"Really?"

Ichigo was a little surprised by her lack of argument but decided not to question her judgment at this moment, and the two walked into the office to find a wizened old man sitting at the table. A look of palpable frustration and annoyance was etched across Kagine's face, intense enough to practically be felt through the air as the teacher spat out words through gritted teeth.

"The Principal would like a word with you over yesterday's events,…."

"Indeed I would. Chiaki, how could you not tell us that you were going to be on television! And playing the role of Kanonji's apprentice no less!."

[Wut]

It took Chiaki a moment to gather her bearings after that question. After a moment though, she did recall everything more clearly: Kanonji had said that he had passed everything off as being part of his plan, though what exactly that entailed had never been fully elaborated to her. That left only one option: bullshitting.

"I uh… I mean I didn't think it was such a big deal… besides, it was just like, a one-time deal. See, my sister was a big fan and I wrote a letter talking about my own experiences with the supernatural, and he invited me on and…"

"You should have told us you would be on TV so that we could have all the other students come and cheer you on!"

Hearing the principal be engaged with the publicity received from their student's appearance on national TV, Ichigo shot Chiaki an expectant look, clearly begging her to continue the lie so that he could be exonerated.

[Can't you see I'm already trying?]

"Oh well uh… Listen, I really meant it when was only a one-time thing, and I didn't really want people to expect it to be a big deal or to expect me to do more acting gigs with him or anything. I only wanted to make my younger siblings happy… if we invited people it would just complicate things further."

"Oh alright. Well, if you get the chance, do send me a copy of the episode, I would love to show my grandchildren that one of my school's students appeared on Ghost Bust!"

"Sir, aren't you forgetting something important?"

Stepping in between Chiaki and the principal, Kagine would point accusingly toward Ichigo:

"Even if Chiaki was supposed to be there, this one acted like he owned the place and took advantage of his sister's good publicity. He's going to give all of our school a bad name. Everyone already thinks- we're full of delinquents, what-"

"Kagine, Kagine… everyone knows all publicity is good publicity! Children, you two are free to go."

"What do you mean, free to go? I-"

Neither Chiaki nor Ichigo heard what either man said next, already out the door to escape the whole mess and make their way to class.

—————

"Everyone! The Shaman Princess is here!"

Unfortunately, any hopes Chiaki had of escaping the embarrassment were dashed as soon as she entered the classroom. The one yelling, was, of course, Chizuru, and Chiaki could practically see the hearts in her eyes as the pervert looked at her lecherously.

"Who would have expected that such a tomboyish girl would have been hiding such a beautiful soul? If only you had worn a costume that fit such a pristinely feminine title! I should have known from the beginning you would shine so brightly though Chiaki, your massive bosom-"

At that moment Tatsuki appeared from behind her to put her into a chokehold, saving Chiaki from any further embarrassment. Her blood had already gone ice cold from being called "Shaman Princess", and she was certain that any more embarrassment would cause her to collapse right on the spot.

"Jeez, did every single one of you watch Ghost Bust?"

Tatsuki (having just forced Chizuru back into her seat), waved the question aside, not even bothering to answer. Ichigo on the other hand sat down in his seat in the middle of the chaos, leaving Chiaki to fend for herself.

[Traitor!]

"Chiaki, did you do all those stunts yourself? They looked really impressive!"

Orihime's voice cut clear through the crowd, excitement dripping off of every word. Chiaki sighed, once more resigned to her fate, even if it was a punishment of a different kind this time.

"…well, there was some movie magic involved, but uh…"

"Chiaki, does that mean you know Don Kanonji! You have to ask him to visit the class sometime!"

"When are you going to go back on the show? Ooooo, you should get us jobs as extras at some point!"

"Chiaki, are you going to get your own spin-off soon? Your moves were super cool you know."

Chiaki answered all the questions as best she could, trying her absolute best to convince everyone that it wasn't a big deal, to no avail. Finally, the teacher would arrive and call for attention, giving her a much-needed respite from the chaos.

The rest of the day went more or less the same, Chiaki being peppered with questions about her appearance on the show the day before. For her though, all she had to do was wait the day out, the light at the end of the tunnel carrying her forward.

__________

After many hours of mind-numbing questions, class would be finally adjourned, and Chiaki let out a massive sigh of relief as she and Ichigo made their way out of the school. Checking her watch, Chiaki nodded, before waving to Ichigo.

"Alright, it's been a fun day, but it's time for me to go. You and Rukia have the shinigami stuff covered right."

Ichigo shook his head, looking a little disappointed, before giving her a look of suspicion.

"Be careful with this guy, alright? He's shady, and you definitely can't trust him."

"I'm always careful, don't worry. Come on, don't you trust me?"

"Hrm."

Ichigo mulled it over for a moment, before sighing. Clearly not willing to argue, Ichigo turned to leave, waving goodbye and leaving her on her own devices.

"If you say so... Stay safe."

Chiaki frowned, unsure of whether or not Ichigo was actually on board with it. Still… Chiaki felt she had to trust her instincts here. Trying to act passive and allow events to transpire as they had before had failed; Now, she needed to be proactive.

[Besides, if I'm going to learn how to prepare, then there's no better place than going to work with Urahara.]