Rapport

Moving from the bedroom to the hot tub-style bath in the washroom, Ohta and Kukaku sat on opposite sides of the tub, the latter nursing a bottle of non-alcoholic plum wine as they talked about random topics.

"If you're serious about increasing your hand-to-hand combat skills and don't want to lose face, you could always request lessons from Old Man Yama," said Kukaku. "Before acquiring his Zanpakuto, he was famous as the greatest martial artist in the Soul Society."

"Do you think he'd teach me?" asked Ohta, making no effort to conceal his disbelief.

"Old Man Yama is the one who created the Shin'o Academy," said Kukaku. "So long as you have the will to learn, he should teach you. The caveat is that he may ask you to instruct others in exchange. Your psychic aptitude is exceptionally rare, even in the long history of the Soul Society. But that doesn't mean there aren't other psychics. You may be asked to take a few of them under your wing."

Furrowing his brows, Ohta remarked, "I guess that's fair. The problem is my current state..."

"You mean the fact your power is sealed?" asked Kukaku, preempting Ohta's response by stating, "If anything, that works in your favor. Right now, many among the Gotei fear or resent you. If you can convince the old man you're not a threat by demonstrating your work ethic and letting him get to know you, you'll have much less to worry about in the future, at least from the Gotei."

Adopting a wry smile, Ohta pointed out, "That's good and all. The only problem is that I'm kind of an asshole..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Kukaku stated, "That's another thing that works in your favor. Conceit is fairly common among prodigies, especially when they're young. You might consider yourself mature, but even someone like Captain Hitsugaya is viewed as a 'child' from the perspective of those that have lived for thousands of years. You're only sixteen, so if you can prove to him that you only seek strength to safeguard those you care about, the old man won't be too hard on you. You might even earn his respect..."

Closing his eyes, Ohta exhaled through his nose before sinking into the bubbling water. Kukaku's words made sense, but the thought of getting his ass beat by an old man wasn't much better than getting punked by a Gunji-ota(Military Otaku/Kensei). He also didn't like being viewed as a kid. However, considering the substantial difference in their ages, he couldn't really blame Yamamoto and others for regarding him as an inexperienced and exceptionally dangerous youth...

Catching Ohta off guard, nearly causing him to inhale the water from the tub, Kukaku abruptly straddled him, linking her singular arm around his shoulders when he came up for air.

Staring into Ohta's eyes, Kukaku asserted, "People fear you because you possess tremendous power but choose to remain low-key. It causes them to believe you're constantly plotting something, even more so since you're involved with some of the most powerful, influential, and secretive people in the Soul Society..."

Feeling Ohta's dick harden beneath her, a wolfish grin developed across Kukaku's face as she shifted her position and unhesitantly gobbled it with her pussy. Then, with her breasts pressed against him, she slowly brought her face closer to his, licking his lips before saying, "In the West, there's a saying that people fear the snake that lurks in the shadows more than the dragon slumbering beneath a hill..."

Though Kukaku's words made him briefly remember Gin, Ohta set aside his thoughts in favor of kissing the buxom, raven-haired beauty. She was scheduled to return to the Soul Society later that day. Now that she had gone out of her way to provoke him, he figured he might as well send her off with a bang...

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[December 25th, 2001]

After waiting for Orihime and Tatsuki to get out of class, Ohta surprised them immensely by taking them out to dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town. Christmas wasn't a public holiday in Japan, meaning people didn't get the day off, but many still viewed it as an opportunity to give gifts and make promises to their loved ones.

Contrasting the weights and other training equipment he would usually get her, Ohta surprised Tatsuki by giving her a platinum ruby pendant to match her birth month. As for Orihime, he prepared her a pair of sapphire earrings resembling a six-petaled flower. Better yet, both items had been imported from the Soul Society, so they could wear them in their physical and spiritual forms without drawing attention from the girls in their class.

While she typically didn't wear jewelry, Tatsuki accepted Ohta's gift and forced him to put it on for her with crimson cheeks. Once he was finished, she surprised him with a kiss. Then, later that evening, she surprised him even more with the 'gift' she and Orihime had prepared especially for that night: sexy reindeer outfits, complete with fluffy tails and headbands...

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As was often the case when he shared a bed with Orihime, Ohta awoke to the feeling of heat and moisture wrapped around his cock. However, even without opening his eyes, he could tell the person sucking his dick wasn't Orihime but someone far less skilled...

Opening his eyes, Ohta was unsurprised to find Tatsuki doing her best to take care of his morning wood while Orihime observed with sparkling eyes from the sidelines.

Sensing motion, Tatsuki stared at Ohta with upturned eyes that practically dared him to complain. Instead, he placed his hand atop her head, smiling as he mused, "Is it still Christmas? Because this is one hell of a present..."

After covering her mouth to stifle a giggle, Orihime unhesitantly revealed, "Tatsuki-chan felt guilty since I'm usually the one who wakes you up. She said I could leave it to her every-"

Before Orihime could finish, Tatsuki released Ohta's cock from her mouth, panicking slightly as she exclaimed, "You don't have to tell him things like that, Orihime...!"

Tilting her head to the side, Orihime touched her index finger to her chin as she asked, "Why not? We said we loved each other and promised to be together forever. It's not good to keep secrets from the people you care about, Tatsuki-chan."

"Ugh..."

Giving up on trying to argue against Orihime's simple but incontestable logic, Tatsuki glanced at Ohta's dick before meeting his gaze and asking, "Do I have to use my mouth?"

"You don't 'have' to do anything..." said Ohta, adopting a relaxed smile as he mused, "That's why I'll appreciate whatever you decide..."

Though she rolled her eyes, Tatsuki was unable to prevent the blush in her cheeks from deepening as she squatted over Ohta's cock, angled it at her entrance, and slowly lowered herself against him with a feverish sigh escaping her throat. She had been feeling uncharacteristically horny since the previous evening, not just because Ohta had gifted her a necklace but because the stress of her training had accumulated considerably due to her 'avoiding' him...

Figuring they would be a while, especially with Tatsuki taking the initiative, Orihime alighted from the bed and said, "I'm going to wash up and help prepare breakfast. Take your time~" in a happy, sing-song tone. A part of her wished she could swap positions with Tatsuki, but she was confident her turn would come. Ohta might not be romantic, but he had a knack for sensing when they were horny and was 'very' thorough when it came to gratifying them...

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Shortly after they had finished eating breakfast, Ohta was curled up on the couch with Orihime and Tatsuki nestled up to him as they watched the first Lord of the Rings movie. It was presently still in theaters, but all Ohta had to do was tell Ayame and the Onmitsukado he wanted to see it, and they managed to get their hands on a DVD copy overnight.

As could be expected from a movie that launched a multi-billion dollar franchise, Orihime and Tatsuki were quite taken by the inaugural journey of Frolo and his fellowship. The plot was nearly identical to the one Ohta remembered, but as everything was 'animated,' at least from his point of view, it was still fairly interesting.

*vrrrrrrr* *vrrrrrrrr* *vrrrrrrrr*

Feeling his cell phone vibrating in his breast pocket, Ohta used his telekinesis to retrieve it, holding it up in front of his face as he skillfully navigated the menus with his mind.

Before either of the girls could ask, Ohta revealed, "It's from Karin. She's downstairs and asking when the training camp is supposed to start."

"That girl is a glutton for punishment..." groaned Tatsuki, recalling the veritable hell she had endured the past few weekends. The results were incredible, making her feel like she had spent the past ten years slacking off, but she wasn't looking forward to a week of unobstructed torment...

"Well...she's been through a lot..." said Ohta, using his telekinesis to tell Karin to hit the gym, meet up with Hiyori, or relax in the sauna until they came down. Hiyori was the one teaching her how to fight like a Visored, so the two were fairly close despite the chibi getting annoyed at Karin's rapid 'development.'

With Karin responding in the affirmative, Ohta returned his phone to his pocket and tried to focus on the movie. Unfortunately, just as things were getting good, his phone started to vibrate anew, this time with a message from Hiyori complaining about him sending Karin directly to her room. She was a bit of a drunkard and a mechanical tinkerer, so her apartment was littered with beer cans and gadgets that could explode if operated by the wrong person. She also had a penchant for sleeping in until the afternoon, so she didn't appreciate receiving 'guests' at 8:14 AM.

Though he was tempted to tell Hiyori to suck it up and stop complaining, Ohta knew that doing so would cause the former Lieutenant to bombard him with texts. Ignoring her would have a similar result, so after a moment of deliberation, he promised to increase her allowance if she let Karin stay with her and kept her busy throughout the training camp. She made quite a bit through the patents he filed on her behalf, but getting her hands on the materials she needed, even with suitable connections, was expensive.

With Hiyori 'reluctantly' agreeing to his proposal, Ohta thought he could enjoy the rest of the movie but barely managed to slip his phone back into his pocket when it started vibrating a third time. His eye twitched initially, but when he saw who the text was from, he immediately perked up as he revealed, "It's from Rukia. She says she should be arriving around midday with Momo and Lisa."

"To pick you up, or to stay?" asked Tatsuki, recalling Ohta mentioning he might return to the Soul Society early for 'training.'

"Both," replied Ohta. "The three of them will stick around until the end of the training camp, and then we'll return together."

"And how long will you be gone for?" asked Tatsuki, pausing the movie to focus on the conversation.

"The Soul Society is technically my home now," noted Ohta. "I also have some fairly important 'business' to take care of, so I'll probably stay there until Spring Vacation and then invite everyone over during the Summer..."

"Three months isn't a short period..." remarked Tatsuki, referring to Spring Vacation starting in late March.

"Even on the low end, we'll be alive for hundreds of years..." contended Ohta, drawing the two women closer to him so he could plant kisses on their foreheads before teasing, "But if you 'really' miss me, I can always hop over on the weekend. Some assholes might complain, but I can shut them up by reminding them who saved their asses..."

Though Tatsuki snorted through her nose and returned her attention to the TV, unpausing the movie, Ohta could tell his words had allayed the sporty tomboy's concerns. As for Orihime, it was almost remarkable how she took things in stride, an almost luminous smile adorning her face as she snuggled up closer to him and whispered, "I'll be waiting..." in a hot, alluring tone that caused the hairs on Ohta's arms to rise...

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(A/N: Orihime learning the power of Ara Ara energy...)