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That Nostalgic Summer Rain (Bleach/Kara no Kyoukai)
- Thread starter Mortifer
- Start date
- Location
- All around you
[X] Arisawa Tatsuki
Sorry Ichigo. As much as I would like to peek in on whatever is going on with Soul Society&Co, the only connection he had to this quest was Karin and Kon. The only PoV I would pick over Tatsuki would be Urahara, and that's not gonna happen cause he needs to maintain that mystery aura.
Sorry Ichigo. As much as I would like to peek in on whatever is going on with Soul Society&Co, the only connection he had to this quest was Karin and Kon. The only PoV I would pick over Tatsuki would be Urahara, and that's not gonna happen cause he needs to maintain that mystery aura.
- Location
- USA
[X] Kurosaki Ichigo
- Location
- Night's Plutonian Shore
[X] Kurosaki Ichigo
Got to leave at least one plot hook hanging.
Lucking out with Void Shiki over there.
Got to leave at least one plot hook hanging.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Arisawa Tatsuki
Frakir's brother
Goodbye.
- Location
- The Sea of Trees
[X] Kurosaki Ichigo
We've seen a lot of Tatsuki. I want to see how Bleach has or hasn't changed.
We've seen a lot of Tatsuki. I want to see how Bleach has or hasn't changed.
bobbananaville
A giant crab, atop an even gianter crab
- Location
- The Philippines
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Arisawa Tatsuki
[X] Kurosaki Ichigo
Come on people, I'm sure whatever is shown will be relevant to the quest, the author woldn't put the option if it wasn't so. Besides I want to see what he thinks when he returns from Soul Society and discovers a bunch of weird shit went on without him. It may finally make him figure out that just because he keeps his family and friends uninvolved in what he's doing, doesn't mean they are safe from supernatural dangers.
Come on people, I'm sure whatever is shown will be relevant to the quest, the author woldn't put the option if it wasn't so. Besides I want to see what he thinks when he returns from Soul Society and discovers a bunch of weird shit went on without him. It may finally make him figure out that just because he keeps his family and friends uninvolved in what he's doing, doesn't mean they are safe from supernatural dangers.
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
[X] Arisawa Tatsuki
While I would want to see Ichigo's reaction once he comes back, who's to say that Tatsuki wouldn't be there? She is probably the one giving him a piece of her mind once he comes back. Orihime would probably get her, somewhat lighter, share of the guilt too
While I would want to see Ichigo's reaction once he comes back, who's to say that Tatsuki wouldn't be there? She is probably the one giving him a piece of her mind once he comes back. Orihime would probably get her, somewhat lighter, share of the guilt too
will408914
(slouching towards bethlehem)
- Location
- California
I'm interested in the outside perspective.
[X] Kurosaki Ichigo
[X] Kurosaki Ichigo
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Hmm. In KnK we got an ominous voiceover from Araya in the epilogue of the first movie, hinting at future developments. Clearly, for consistency, the obvious choice here is:
[x] Sosuke Aizen
[x] Sosuke Aizen
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Arisawa Tatsuki
I don't see why we'd choose sir not-appearing-in-this-quest...
I don't see why we'd choose sir not-appearing-in-this-quest...
- Pronouns
- They/Them
He's in Soul Society, nothing done here should affect things there, so...
- Location
- The State with corrupt governors.
Epilogue
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
[X] Arisawa Tatsuki
It had certainly been one hell of a week.
Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. It hadn't even been seven days since Arisawa Tatsuki first met Asagami Fujino, and everything has been resolved now. Unless something else happened now, which would just be the worst.
Especially since Fujino was gone now.
Man, Tatsuki was gonna miss her. She was a good person. Kinda weird, and Tatsuki wasn't gonna pretend that the stuff with her past wasn't kinda messed up, but she was a good person. Went out of her way to do a whole bunch of stuff she didn't want to do because she wanted to do the right thing. A great friend.
Shame she was gone now. It'd probably be a while before Tatsuki got to see her again, either, which was a pain.
Not only that, now the only person Tatsuki could really talk to about the whole supernatural world thing was gone. That was a bit more of a selfish complaint, but it was another bother Tatsuki had.
Misaya didn't really want to talk, and Karin only wanted to be involved as far as she needed to be, in order to beat back any supernatural incursions into her life. Tatsuki really didn't want to talk to Kon, he looked too much like Ichigo and that made it weird. The staff at the Urahara store were either too much older or too much younger.
And it's not like Tatsuki could just go tell any of her other classmates. She'd sound insane if she went to tell everyone about all the ghost stuff. It's not like there was a pressing need for Tatsuki to talk about it either, no big emergency making it important that they knew.
If Ichigo and Orihime got back, then Tatsuki could talk to them about it, but as it was now? That wasn't just gonna be as convenient as meeting up with them and being able to talk with them. As much as she wanted to, Tatsuki knew it was gonna be harder than that to just get over it. They'd gone and rushed into danger without telling her anything. Tatsuki wasn't going to forgive that easily.
...If either of them had gotten hurt, Tatsuki was gonna be even more pissed. If they had planned on just not telling her that they'd gotten stabbed or something, Tatsuki was gonna punch Ichigo in the throat and…
...Figure out something with Orihime later. She wasn't as sturdy as Ichigo was so she'd probably feel really guilty from just Tatsuki being upset and then she wouldn't need to do anything else.
She'd figure it out later, though. It'd probably be a while before they got back anyway, so Tatsuki could figure out how to deal with the frustration when it got around to it.
Maybe she'd even decide to just let it go. Probably not, but it was a possibility. If someone told Tatsuki a week ago that she'd punch a ghost and be friends with a self-proclaimed murderer, she'd laugh in their face, but look now. So maybe a week from now she wouldn't care as much and just be satisfied letting them know how much she wishes they told her earlier.
Well, that was something to deal with later. It sounded like a headache, and right now, Tatsuki had something to do.
Urahara wanted her for something, apparently. No idea what, but something. Tatsuki wasn't gonna pass up on the chance at getting the stuff she needed to write a letter to Fujino. She just hoped this was something reasonable.
Well, it couldn't be worse than what Tatsuki's gone through already. Urahara probably wasn't gonna hospitalise her.
Well, time to see what was gonna go on here.
Opening the door and stepping into Urahara's store, Tatsuki looked around.
The place really did look like a candy store here, huh? Looks were really deceiving when it came to the supernatural.
...Well, Hollows always looked creepy, so they're honest. It's more the humans involved in the supernatural who are deceptive like that. Fujino had her secrets, Misaya apparently wasn't like this before, people owning a candy store were also experts on the magical stuff, and Tatsuki's best friends never even gave a hint that they were involved in stuff like this.
Man, what if there was more supernatural stuff in Karakura that Tatsuki had just never noticed because it was all hidden too? If Tatsuki just headed to the main hospital and walked in, what's the chances of her bumping into someone who knew about Hollows, and neither of them would realise that the other knows about this stuff?
...Well, maybe Tatsuki was getting a bit worried there. If there were more people aware of the supernatural world in Karakura Town, then one of them probably would've gotten involved when Misaya was draining memories from anyone who saw her. Unless she got lucky and avoided everyone, it didn't seem likely.
"Hey, Arisawa." Urahara greeted casually. He wasn't looking at Tatsuki, instead paying attention to a black cat that was on the counter in front of him. "Nice to see you here."
"Urahara." Tatsuki greeted back. "What did you want me to do? You said you needed some extra hands or something, what with?"
"Hold on." Urahara replied. "The cat's been gone for a week now."
"Five days, or thirteen, depending on who's counting." The black cat replied.
...Well, Tatsuki was almost shocked by that. But after everything, a talking cat didn't seem that much out of it. Cats were a common thing in most folklore, of course there was supernatural cats here.
"Be nice, Yoruichi." Urahara continued. "I never told Arisawa about you, she's probably shocked right now."
"Not really." Tatsuki shrugged. "Honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't run into a talking animal before now."
"It really does lose the novelty quickly." The cat, apparently called Yoruichi replied. "So, this is the girl involved in the incident I missed?"
"One of them." The man replied. "Ouji's in a room downstairs, Asagami's gone already."
"Are we just going to keep inviting lost children to live here?" The cat asked. "I didn't think we were running an orphanage."
"Technically, this one isn't an orphan." Urahara replied. "So, where are the others, anyway?"
"Making their way up." Yoruichi replied. "They were taking a moment to catch their breath by the Senkaimon. Dangai travel can be stressful, you know."
Tatsuki did not, in fact, know. What was the cat talking about? And who were the others, in this scenario?
"So, how was the time dilation on that thing this time?" Urahara asked. "You mentioned it was thirteen days on your end, but you could've gained them in either direction."
"We gained seven days on the way there." Yoruichi replied. "And… What date is it now?"
"Thirteenth." Urahara replied.
"Oh, that's convenient." The cat mused. "The time flow was consistent this time."
"Nice." Urahara nodded. "Anyway, you hungry? Cat foods been wasting away on the shelf for the last five days."
"So, you wanted me here for something?" Tatsuki asked, trying to distract Urahara.
"Just some handiwork." Urahara replied. "I think the shelves in the back haven't been dusted in a while, for instance. Free stuff if you do it, you know."
The cat hummed. "You know, I feel like she might be a bit too distracted to do that."
"...Why do you say that?" As Tatsuki spoke, she heard the door to the stairs down open.
A familiar voice called out. "Oi, Urahara, where-"
Tatsuki turned towards the source, and came face to face with Kurosaki Ichigo.
The two looked at each other for a few seconds, as the words on Ichigo's lips died. He was dressed in some kind of black robe, and had a certain spiritual look to him. More solid than any other ghost Tatsuki had observed before, but still undoubtedly ghostly. Which, makes sense, Kon was apparently in his body right now.
After a moment of silent staring, Tatsuki noticed a hand waving behind Ichigo.
"Hi, Tatsuki!" Orihime chirped, sounding forced. "It's nice to see you. I, uh, totally just got back, and I wanted to buy some candy befo-"
May as well get started with this. "Ichigo."
Orihime fell silent as well, while Ichigo closed his eyes. He must know what's coming next, then.
"...Don't be silly." Orihime replied. "I'm not Ichig-"
"I can see him." Tatsuki interrupted. "I've had a few busy days. Got some answers out of Kon."
"...I see…" Orihime stepped around Ichigo so she was fully visible to the side, instead of only visible to people who would be seeing through Ichigo. "Uh…"
Behind the two of them, Tatsuki saw Chad briefly, climbing the stairs, before he stopped as well.
Him, Tatsuki didn't care as much about. He was more Ichigo's friend than hers. It still hurt, but it wasn't as deep as with Tatsuki's two best friends.
"This is your fault, Urahara." Ichigo accused.
"Hey, who cares." Tatsuki replied, a biting tone to her voice. "What did Kon call them again? Shinigami? When were you planning to tell me you'd been off fighting Shinigami, Ichigo?"
"...You weren't meant to know." Ichigo replied. "Ever. How'd you-"
"Of course I found out." Tatsuki interrupted. "There's Hollows all over the place in this town, of course I'd stumble into something eventually."
"You'd gone fifteen years without knowing before know." Ichigo replied. "Should've gone the rest of your life not knowing."
Stepping forward, Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo's collar and pulled him towards her. "Excuse me?"
"What would you have preferred then?" Ichigo asked. "To get pulled into this mess as well?"
"Of course I would have." Tatsuki snapped back. "Would you rather have kept me in the dark forever? So when you guys are messed up or hurt, I just have to wonder why? So if something goes wrong and you don't make it, I never find out what happened?"
"Tatsuki." Orihime spoke up quietly, from the side. "Please calm down. Let him go."
Tatsuki looked over at Orihime for a second, then took a breath.
Damn it, she almost wishes she didn't run into them right away. She should've figured out what to say here earlier, damn it.
Pushing Ichigo back, Tatsuki sighed loudly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. "Either of you."
Still on the stairs, Chad spoke up. "Tatsuki, I also-"
"Yeah, you didn't say anything either." Tatsuki interrupted." I'm not so happy about that, either. But we're hardly best friends. I haven't known you as long. Ichigo, you've been lying to me since we were kids! I asked if the rumours were true, if you could really see ghosts, and you lied to me!"
Chad fell silent, and Tatsuki glared at Ichigo again.
"Tatsuki." Orihime spoke up, an apologetic tone to her voice. "I… I wanted to tell you. But I also didn't want to? It's just… You won't remember them, but we were attacked by Hollows a few times, before this happened. Each time, you…"
She trailed off, before trying something else. "I didn't think there was a point in telling you. They kept taking the memory from you. And if I had gotten power while being attacked, and you didn't, I didn't think that was going to change."
Tatsuki had considered the possibility, before now. But outright hearing Orihime admit that they had been attacked? And that she didn't remember?
Just what had happened?
"Did you ever try anyway?" Tatsuki asked. "Did I forget you telling me all this before? Or did you never try to think of just letting me know after I got my memory erased?"
Orihime's eyes widened in surprise. So the idea had never occurred to her anyway.
"Why would you even want to know?" Ichigo asked. "You wouldn't have been in danger. The times you and Orihime got attacked were outliers, there was circumstances."
"I was attacked like four days ago!" Tatsuki replied. "If I wasn't saved by a passing stranger, I could be dead right now!"
"What?" Ichigo asked. "When did…"
"So why didn't you tell me?" Tatsuki asked. "What was your reasoning? Even if I was never at risk of being hurt in the first place, why wouldn't you let me know that you guys were in danger? Aren't we friends?"
There was a heavy silence for a moment, and Tatsuki could feel her frustration building up again at the lack of answers.
...Fuck it.
Tatsuki turned away from the group.
"Whatever." She muttered, before storming off.
She couldn't deal with this right now.
She didn't want to just keep getting angrier and angrier, and since nobody was giving an actual answer, staying wasn't gonna lead anywhere good.
Pushing her way out of the Urahara shop, Tatsuki ignored the shopkeeper calling after her, as she made her way down the street.
...What a goddamn mess.
Controlling her breathing as she thought, Tatsuki started thinking about how to actually approach this situation.
Ichigo and Orihime, neither of them seemed to think Tatsuki would've been in any danger if Tatsuki had never known about Hollows. But, that didn't matter. That wasn't the core of Tatsuki's anger.
She was angry because they hadn't told her, because they didn't rely on her. Because they didn't trust her with the information.
Alright then. Time to actually think about what she wants from this.
To be trusted. Relied on. Included. To know what's going on, what's happened, and why she wasn't told earlier.
A bitter voice at the back of Tatsuki's head told her to get back at her friends, to let them stew in their guilt and the knowledge that she's mad at them, but Tatsuki pushed that away. She was angry, but that wasn't going to solve anything.
When she'd gotten all emotional and tried to force her relevance in a conversation with Ouji and Fujino, she'd messed up and made the problem worse. When she just handled her emotions and told Fujino that she didn't care about whatever Fujino had done in the past, it all worked out.
So even if her first instinct was to just pin Ichigo to a wall and twist his arm until he spoke, that wasn't gonna help.
"Tatsuki."
Ichigo's voice behind Tatsuki was calm, and Tatsuki took a moment to process that he'd caught up to her, and she hadn't heard him running or anything.
Turning to face him, Tatsuki suppressed her initial instinct.
"What?" Tatsuki couldn't stop the bitterness seeping into her voice.
Ichigo took a moment to reply, before he responded.
"I'm sorry." He said, not meeting her eye. "For a lot of things. For not handling that better there, and for not telling you anything."
"...I'm probably overreacting too." Tatsuki admitted. "I'm trying not to lose my temper now, but I want some answers."
"I'll give them, then." Ichigo replied. "Because it sounds like something happened when I was gone. Hollows usually go after family members or people with a lot of spiritual power, so I'm not sure why you got attacked."
"It happens, apparently."
"It shouldn't." Ichigo replied. "I've apparently got more spiritual pressure than most people, and I still got sought after by a Hollow once before I actively got involved."
"Guess the Hollows were pissed off, then." Tatsuki replied. "Karin got attacked the day after, you know."
"She what?" Ichigo asked, and Tatsuki regretted mentioning it this soon. Now it was all he was going to care about. "Is she-"
"She's fine." Tatsuki replied. "And she's taking steps to avoid a repeat. But stop getting distracted."
Ichigo was clearly uncomfortable with just letting that subject go, but apparently noticing how pissed Tatsuki was, he kept it to himself.
"So tell me." Tatsuki demanded. "What was going through your head? Why didn't you tell anything to anyone?"
Ichigo took a long time to reply.
"Same reason I said I couldn't see ghosts." He admitted. "I didn't want to drag other people into my problems if I could help it."
"And Orihime?" Tatsuki asked. "Chad?"
"Ishida was there too, you probably missed him." Ichigo mentioned. "And I can't say what's going on in their heads. Probably the same thing, though. No need to make you worry about something you can't change."
"And if we switched places?" Tatsuki asked. "If I was the one risking my life and leaving you in the dark? How'd you feel about that?"
Ichigo didn't reply.
"...I know this is selfish of me." Tatsuki admitted, looking away herself. "But I hate feeling powerless. I hate the feeling that you guys couldn't rely on me enough to tell me what was up. The people responsible for the memory wipes were the Shinigami guys, right?"
"Yeah." Ichigo admitted.
"So could you have told me after they all left?"
"I could have." Ichigo admitted. "I didn't think it'd matter. I don't see why someone would want to be involved in this stuff."
"I want to be involved because the people I know are involved." Tatsuki countered. "Again, it'd be the same if our positions were reversed."
"I'm sorry." Ichigo admitted. "I'll keep you informed, now. But please. Don't get involved."
"Why not?"
"Because this stuff is dangerous." Ichigo admitted. "If I could stay out of it, I would. If I could keep anyone out of it, I would. But I've got friends deeper in who are probably gonna end up in danger because of recent developments, and if I can keep you guys out of it, I can-"
Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo by the collar again, and pulled him closer.
"Don't you dare." Tatsuki interrupted. "If something's happening, include me. If you're risking your life, either stay out of it or I'm coming in too. You hear me?"
Ichigo pulled back, with such sudden force that Tatsuki's grip fell away immediately.
"There's a world of difference between Hollows like in Karakura and what's going on." Ichigo replied. "If-"
"I don't care about the specifics." Tatsuki interrupted. "We're friends, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Then rely on me." Tatsuki continued. "Let me help. I don't care beyond that."
"...I don't want people risking their lives for my sake." Ichigo said.
"And I don't want to be powerless again." Tatsuki replied. "I want to help, Ichigo. Let me help. Let me know you trust me enough to help."
"...How about a compromise, then." Ichigo replied, looking to the side. "I'll tell you what I know, and since you've apparently got supernatural power now, I'll help you figure out how to use them. But if something big happens, you need to stay safe."
"Only if the same goes for you." Tatsuki replied. "Only if you'll run away from danger as well."
"Tatsuki, listen." Ichigo continued. "I get it. It sucks being powerless. But the first time I got involved in a Hollow fight, I got in the way between the Hollow and it's hunter. Rukia got hurt bad saving me because I was a dumbass. If I'd stayed out of it, she would've killed it just fine."
Turning to actually meet Tatsuki's eyes, Ichigo continued. "I know this sucks to hear, but sometimes it's more important to just leave it to the people more capable. So yeah, I'll tell you everything, I'll rely on you. But don't jump into dangerous situations."
"Like running off into the Shinigami base to rescue someone from a group of people where two nearly killed you?"
Ichigo didn't reply.
"It shouldn't come to that anyway." Tatsuki said. "But if things happen, I'm being included."
"...We can talk about this later." Ichigo said. "Out in the open isn't the best place for this, and apparently I need to talk to my sister about her being in danger while I was gone. But I'm sorry."
Well, it was better than nothing at least.
"Fine." Tatsuki shrugged. "This isn't over, Ichigo, but fine. We can talk later."
A moment passed, and Tatsuki sighed.
"Is Orihime still at Urahara's place?" Tatsuki asked. "I feel like I should go talk to her, now."
"She should still be there." Ichigo replied. "Not sure about Chad or Ishida, but before I left, some girl with purple hair had come out to see what the noise was, and Orihime had started talking to her. Odds are, they're still talking."
...Orihime was talking with Ouji?
Well, hopefully that went well. Maybe Ouji would benefit off of someone as cheerful as Orihime talking to her.
Still, Tatsuki should go talk with Orihime herself now. She stormed off in a pretty bad mood, she should go make sure it was all alright.
"I'll see you later, then." Tatsuki sighed, before making her way back to Urahara's store.
It didn't take long to get back, and once in, Urahara was the only person at the counter.
"Hey, you're back." He said. "I was afraid you'd cancelled."
"Your friend is downstairs." The talking cat said, from the other side of the room. "She's talking with Ouji."
"Thank you." Tatsuki nodded, making her way down as well.
Man, she'd been here a lot recently.
Reaching the first level down, Tatsuki noticed an open door and vaguely heard Orihime talking on for a bit.
Knocking on the door, Tatsuki caught the tail-end of what might have been a conversation but also could have been Orihime just talking.
"-t was kinda weird, you know? Like, my hairclip is technically people now. Kinda. I don't really know how it works but it turns into fairies whenever I need them."
"...I see…" Ouji replied, sounding like she had understood as much as the conversation as Tatsuki had. The knock came as a welcome relief, then, as she turned towards the door. Orihime followed her gaze, and as her eyes turned towards Tatsuki, her expression grew more serious.
"Hey." Tatsuki waved. "Orihime."
"Hi, Tatsuki." Orihime tried to smile, as she stood.
"Sorry about earlier." Tatsuki said. "I shouldn't have been so mad."
"No, no, it's fine." Orihime replied. "I, uh…"
"Should I be here?" Ouji asked. "This seems-"
"Oh, my bad." Orihime said. "Hold on, lemme just…"
She moved away, and Tatsuki moved away to give Orihime room to exit the room. She shut the door without looking back, and the two girls stood there, for a while.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything, Tatsuki." Orihime said, looking away. "I… It was really confusing. A lot of stuff happened all at once. It's not an excuse, I know, but like… I got attacked twice, and then the first time I barely remembered it until later and the second time I had to defend you, and I really didn't know how to talk about any of it."
"...I know I'm being selfish here." Tatsuki admitted. "But was it too much to ask for you to rely on me for this? It's… I thought, after everything…"
"The second time I was attacked by a Hollow." Orihime began. "It was… It had some kind of trick. It would throw seeds into people, and use those seeds to control them. You fought it for a bit, though you don't remember anymore. And then it got you too.
Meeting Tatsuki's eyes, Orihime continued. "That's when I got my powers. I was able to protect you. Back then, I felt… Happy. That I was able to protect you. Like you always protected me at school, after my brother died. I never really thought about it, but maybe that's why. I wanted to keep protecting you from that kind of world. Where both times I was attacked by a Hollow, you ended up bloodied and defeated."
Those words stung, and Tatsuki averted her eyes as the mental image of her ending up like that in front of Orihime passed through her mind.
"...Well, I've got power now." Tatsuki said. "Not much, but some. And I haven't worked out a proper deal with Ichigo but he's promised to help me figure out a bit more about this."
Looking at Orihime again, Tatsuki continued. "It's just… You still left. Went off to a place full of people who apparently tried to kill Ichigo. What would have happened if you'd died?"
"...I didn't think about it." Orihime admitted. "But I am now. Promise. And…"
Stepping forward, Orihime grabbed Tatsuki's hand.
"I promise." Orihime repeated. "No more secrets. I'll tell you everything now. I don't want to make you upset again."
"...Thanks." Tatsuki replied. "Just… Let me be there, if you're going to run into danger again. Again, I know it's selfish, but it makes me happy, knowing people can rely on me."
"Only if it goes both ways." Orihime decided. "If you get to be selfish, so do I. And I want to pay you back. For looking after me when my brother died, for cheering me up, for being my friend. If I'm going to rely on you, I want you to rely on me too!"
Tatsuki smiled. "Sure."
"So, what even happened when I was gone?" Orihime asked, the cheerful tone to her voice more natural now. "How'd you get to seeing ghosts? What kind of power did you get from it? How'd you meet Urahara? Wha-"
She was cut off but the sound of the door creaking, and Tatsuki looked over to the room Orihime had just left. There, with her hand on the door, unmoving as eyes moved towards her, was Ouji Misaya.
"Sorry." She said, looking away. "The door wasn't closed properly, I didn't mean to overhear, I was just going to close it…"
"It's fine, it's fine." Orihime waved off. "I'm sure you didn't mean to eavesdrop on anything, so it's fine."
Ouji shifted her gaze towards Orihime's directions, but was still looking down.
"...Your brother died?" She asked.
Orihime's face froze momentarily, but she recovered quickly. "Yeah, a while ago. You overheard that, then?"
"How are you…" Ouji began, before trailing off.
It was at that point Tatsuki could make a guess as to where Ouji was going with this. Orihime had been rambling to her earlier and was generally a cheerful person, while Ouji's own loss was still fresh. Hearing that Orihime had lost someone as well, without details, would raise the question of how she had gotten over it this well. It wasn't surprising that Ouji, who had been so consumed by her loss and her guilt, would want to know more.
What did surprise Tatsuki, however, was the flicker of comprehension that showed on Orihime's face, and the gentle tone she took when she spoke.
"It was a long time ago, now." Orihime said. "It hurt a lot at the time, and it still does now, kind of. But it got easier when time passed, and I had friends helping me. So now it's easier."
Ouji looked up at Orihime's face for a second, before looking down again. She was silent, and after a second, Orihime talked again, suddenly shifting the subject.
"I like your hair, you know." Orihime declared. "It's a nice shade. Did you cut it recently?"
Ouji blinked.
"..,Yes." She replied. "It… I was in a rush. It's not very good…"
"It's not that bad." Orihime mused. "And if you want to tidy it up, it probably wouldn't be too hard."
"...I wish I'd left it longer." Ouji muttered.
"Is that so?" Orihime asked, putting a hand to her hairpin momentarily. "Want me to fix that up for you?"
"You can do that?" Tatsuki asked.
"Yeah, it's like a healing thing." Orihime explained. "So I just need to heal the hair back. Or something like that. Like this!"
Pulling her hand away from her hairpin, Orihime pointed at Ouji's hair. Two figures emerged from her hairpin, shifted form, and surrounded the area Orihime was pointing at.
"Ayame, Shun'o." Orihime intoned. "Soten Kisshun- I reject!"
An orange shield formed around the back of Ouji's hair, between the two figures, and after a moment, Ouji's hair began to grow back.
Tatsuki stared, for a moment, until the shield vanished and the two figures flew back into Orihime's hairpin. Ouji took a moment to feel her hair, which looked about as long as Fujino's had been.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Orihime asked.
Ouji smiled. "Thank you."
Come to think of it, Tatsuki didn't know the full details, but she could guess that Ouji cutting her hair was meant to be some kind of way of avoiding recognition. Didn't Fujino describe her as having long hair when she first arrived, before they knew Ouji was the one with the fairies?
So maybe getting her hair back meant a lot to her. Like some kind of way of saying that she wasn't hiding while she dug around for a way to revive her friend. Or maybe she just preferred it long and was just happy with that. Still, she seemed happy with it.
And with that thought on the way, how long has Orihime been able to do that?
"Um." Ouji said, looking at Tatsuki. "I'll give you two some privacy again? I don't want to be a bother."
"Oh, thank you." Orihime said. "Me and Tatsuki still have a bunch to talk about. But you seem pretty nice. If you wanna talk later, I don't mind."
Ouji looked at Orihime for a moment, before bowing her head.
"Thank you." She said plainly, before stepping back into the room. The door shut, securely this time, and Orihime turned back to Tatsuki.
"She seemed nice." Orihime mused. "Kinda sad, though. Do you know what happened?"
"...It's a long story." Tatsuki replied. "Part of how I got into this supernatural stuff to start with."
"You're smiling." Orihime noted. "And not like a casual smile either. Like a smile you make when something happened that you weren't expecting that makes you happy. What's up with that?"
Noticing her own smile herself, Tatsuki turned towards the door.
"...I guess I am happy, huh?" Tatsuki noted.
Tatsuki had to admit, she wasn't sure what to think of Ouji. So far, she'd only ever seen Ouji when she was at her worst. Even if Tatsuki didn't hold that against her, she just genuinely didn't know enough of the girl to have much of an opinion on her. Her losing her friend and getting so caught up in her grief and guilt was sad and all, but that's really all Tatsuki knew.
But Fujino had sure been invested in seeing Ouji happy, so by proxy, so was Tatsuki. She was looking forward to passing the news on to Fujino at a bare minimum, and even without that, people being happy was just generally something to be happy about.
Maybe Orihime spending time with Ouji would do her some good, then. Especially since Orihime was apparently way more perceptive about things than Tatsuki would have expected of her.
"But back to talking now." Orihime decided. "No secrets and all that. Do you want me to start? I do want to know what happened to you when I was gone, but I get it, I kinda didn't tell you things first, it's probably fair if I say everything first."
"...Nah." Tatsuki replied. "I'll talk first. I'm not as mad anymore, and you're probably wondering what's up with Ouji."
"Oh, is that her name?" Orihime asked. "That's a nice name. How did you meet her."
"It's a long story."
It was almost hard to believe how few days ago it had started. But at least, Tatsuki mused, it had all worked out in the end. She'd had her chance to talk with Ichigo and Orihime, and even if she was still a bit mad, she was already talking casually with Orihime again. Ouji seemed like she was holding it together decently, and had found someone to talk to. And last she'd seen her, Fujino had been in a fairly good mood as well.
It was nice, knowing that everything had wrapped up happily. And even if her contribution to it had been minor in the grand scheme of things, Tatsuki was glad she'd been able to help things end up so well.
She just hoped that Fujino as as satisfied with her contributions to this conclusion as she should have been.
Honestly, Tatsuki wasn't entirely sure what to make of Fujino either. She was a nice girl. Polite, maybe a bit too concerned with appearances, and sure went a hell of a long way for what started with 'Finding a classmate who had gone missing and was kinda sad.' She had also killed a bunch of people, and Tatsuki didn't overly care, but Fujino was carrying that guilt everywhere.
That part of the story, Tatsuki probably shouldn't mention to Orihime.
But, at the end of the day, Tatsuki didn't really know what was going through Fujino's head. Whatever she'd taken from this whole experience, Tatsuki wasn't sure.
She just hoped that Asagami Fujino was proud of what she'd been able to do here. That she was happy. With that one glimpse Tatsuki had gotten into Fujino's head, when the two of them were in the abandoned store, she could tell that Fujino had a lot on her mind, too.
After all of that, and all she'd done in Karakura, she deserved a little joy.
It had certainly been one hell of a week.
Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. It hadn't even been seven days since Arisawa Tatsuki first met Asagami Fujino, and everything has been resolved now. Unless something else happened now, which would just be the worst.
Especially since Fujino was gone now.
Man, Tatsuki was gonna miss her. She was a good person. Kinda weird, and Tatsuki wasn't gonna pretend that the stuff with her past wasn't kinda messed up, but she was a good person. Went out of her way to do a whole bunch of stuff she didn't want to do because she wanted to do the right thing. A great friend.
Shame she was gone now. It'd probably be a while before Tatsuki got to see her again, either, which was a pain.
Not only that, now the only person Tatsuki could really talk to about the whole supernatural world thing was gone. That was a bit more of a selfish complaint, but it was another bother Tatsuki had.
Misaya didn't really want to talk, and Karin only wanted to be involved as far as she needed to be, in order to beat back any supernatural incursions into her life. Tatsuki really didn't want to talk to Kon, he looked too much like Ichigo and that made it weird. The staff at the Urahara store were either too much older or too much younger.
And it's not like Tatsuki could just go tell any of her other classmates. She'd sound insane if she went to tell everyone about all the ghost stuff. It's not like there was a pressing need for Tatsuki to talk about it either, no big emergency making it important that they knew.
If Ichigo and Orihime got back, then Tatsuki could talk to them about it, but as it was now? That wasn't just gonna be as convenient as meeting up with them and being able to talk with them. As much as she wanted to, Tatsuki knew it was gonna be harder than that to just get over it. They'd gone and rushed into danger without telling her anything. Tatsuki wasn't going to forgive that easily.
...If either of them had gotten hurt, Tatsuki was gonna be even more pissed. If they had planned on just not telling her that they'd gotten stabbed or something, Tatsuki was gonna punch Ichigo in the throat and…
...Figure out something with Orihime later. She wasn't as sturdy as Ichigo was so she'd probably feel really guilty from just Tatsuki being upset and then she wouldn't need to do anything else.
She'd figure it out later, though. It'd probably be a while before they got back anyway, so Tatsuki could figure out how to deal with the frustration when it got around to it.
Maybe she'd even decide to just let it go. Probably not, but it was a possibility. If someone told Tatsuki a week ago that she'd punch a ghost and be friends with a self-proclaimed murderer, she'd laugh in their face, but look now. So maybe a week from now she wouldn't care as much and just be satisfied letting them know how much she wishes they told her earlier.
Well, that was something to deal with later. It sounded like a headache, and right now, Tatsuki had something to do.
Urahara wanted her for something, apparently. No idea what, but something. Tatsuki wasn't gonna pass up on the chance at getting the stuff she needed to write a letter to Fujino. She just hoped this was something reasonable.
Well, it couldn't be worse than what Tatsuki's gone through already. Urahara probably wasn't gonna hospitalise her.
Well, time to see what was gonna go on here.
Opening the door and stepping into Urahara's store, Tatsuki looked around.
The place really did look like a candy store here, huh? Looks were really deceiving when it came to the supernatural.
...Well, Hollows always looked creepy, so they're honest. It's more the humans involved in the supernatural who are deceptive like that. Fujino had her secrets, Misaya apparently wasn't like this before, people owning a candy store were also experts on the magical stuff, and Tatsuki's best friends never even gave a hint that they were involved in stuff like this.
Man, what if there was more supernatural stuff in Karakura that Tatsuki had just never noticed because it was all hidden too? If Tatsuki just headed to the main hospital and walked in, what's the chances of her bumping into someone who knew about Hollows, and neither of them would realise that the other knows about this stuff?
...Well, maybe Tatsuki was getting a bit worried there. If there were more people aware of the supernatural world in Karakura Town, then one of them probably would've gotten involved when Misaya was draining memories from anyone who saw her. Unless she got lucky and avoided everyone, it didn't seem likely.
"Hey, Arisawa." Urahara greeted casually. He wasn't looking at Tatsuki, instead paying attention to a black cat that was on the counter in front of him. "Nice to see you here."
"Urahara." Tatsuki greeted back. "What did you want me to do? You said you needed some extra hands or something, what with?"
"Hold on." Urahara replied. "The cat's been gone for a week now."
"Five days, or thirteen, depending on who's counting." The black cat replied.
...Well, Tatsuki was almost shocked by that. But after everything, a talking cat didn't seem that much out of it. Cats were a common thing in most folklore, of course there was supernatural cats here.
"Be nice, Yoruichi." Urahara continued. "I never told Arisawa about you, she's probably shocked right now."
"Not really." Tatsuki shrugged. "Honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't run into a talking animal before now."
"It really does lose the novelty quickly." The cat, apparently called Yoruichi replied. "So, this is the girl involved in the incident I missed?"
"One of them." The man replied. "Ouji's in a room downstairs, Asagami's gone already."
"Are we just going to keep inviting lost children to live here?" The cat asked. "I didn't think we were running an orphanage."
"Technically, this one isn't an orphan." Urahara replied. "So, where are the others, anyway?"
"Making their way up." Yoruichi replied. "They were taking a moment to catch their breath by the Senkaimon. Dangai travel can be stressful, you know."
Tatsuki did not, in fact, know. What was the cat talking about? And who were the others, in this scenario?
"So, how was the time dilation on that thing this time?" Urahara asked. "You mentioned it was thirteen days on your end, but you could've gained them in either direction."
"We gained seven days on the way there." Yoruichi replied. "And… What date is it now?"
"Thirteenth." Urahara replied.
"Oh, that's convenient." The cat mused. "The time flow was consistent this time."
"Nice." Urahara nodded. "Anyway, you hungry? Cat foods been wasting away on the shelf for the last five days."
"So, you wanted me here for something?" Tatsuki asked, trying to distract Urahara.
"Just some handiwork." Urahara replied. "I think the shelves in the back haven't been dusted in a while, for instance. Free stuff if you do it, you know."
The cat hummed. "You know, I feel like she might be a bit too distracted to do that."
"...Why do you say that?" As Tatsuki spoke, she heard the door to the stairs down open.
A familiar voice called out. "Oi, Urahara, where-"
Tatsuki turned towards the source, and came face to face with Kurosaki Ichigo.
The two looked at each other for a few seconds, as the words on Ichigo's lips died. He was dressed in some kind of black robe, and had a certain spiritual look to him. More solid than any other ghost Tatsuki had observed before, but still undoubtedly ghostly. Which, makes sense, Kon was apparently in his body right now.
After a moment of silent staring, Tatsuki noticed a hand waving behind Ichigo.
"Hi, Tatsuki!" Orihime chirped, sounding forced. "It's nice to see you. I, uh, totally just got back, and I wanted to buy some candy befo-"
May as well get started with this. "Ichigo."
Orihime fell silent as well, while Ichigo closed his eyes. He must know what's coming next, then.
"...Don't be silly." Orihime replied. "I'm not Ichig-"
"I can see him." Tatsuki interrupted. "I've had a few busy days. Got some answers out of Kon."
"...I see…" Orihime stepped around Ichigo so she was fully visible to the side, instead of only visible to people who would be seeing through Ichigo. "Uh…"
Behind the two of them, Tatsuki saw Chad briefly, climbing the stairs, before he stopped as well.
Him, Tatsuki didn't care as much about. He was more Ichigo's friend than hers. It still hurt, but it wasn't as deep as with Tatsuki's two best friends.
"This is your fault, Urahara." Ichigo accused.
"Hey, who cares." Tatsuki replied, a biting tone to her voice. "What did Kon call them again? Shinigami? When were you planning to tell me you'd been off fighting Shinigami, Ichigo?"
"...You weren't meant to know." Ichigo replied. "Ever. How'd you-"
"Of course I found out." Tatsuki interrupted. "There's Hollows all over the place in this town, of course I'd stumble into something eventually."
"You'd gone fifteen years without knowing before know." Ichigo replied. "Should've gone the rest of your life not knowing."
Stepping forward, Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo's collar and pulled him towards her. "Excuse me?"
"What would you have preferred then?" Ichigo asked. "To get pulled into this mess as well?"
"Of course I would have." Tatsuki snapped back. "Would you rather have kept me in the dark forever? So when you guys are messed up or hurt, I just have to wonder why? So if something goes wrong and you don't make it, I never find out what happened?"
"Tatsuki." Orihime spoke up quietly, from the side. "Please calm down. Let him go."
Tatsuki looked over at Orihime for a second, then took a breath.
Damn it, she almost wishes she didn't run into them right away. She should've figured out what to say here earlier, damn it.
Pushing Ichigo back, Tatsuki sighed loudly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. "Either of you."
Still on the stairs, Chad spoke up. "Tatsuki, I also-"
"Yeah, you didn't say anything either." Tatsuki interrupted." I'm not so happy about that, either. But we're hardly best friends. I haven't known you as long. Ichigo, you've been lying to me since we were kids! I asked if the rumours were true, if you could really see ghosts, and you lied to me!"
Chad fell silent, and Tatsuki glared at Ichigo again.
"Tatsuki." Orihime spoke up, an apologetic tone to her voice. "I… I wanted to tell you. But I also didn't want to? It's just… You won't remember them, but we were attacked by Hollows a few times, before this happened. Each time, you…"
She trailed off, before trying something else. "I didn't think there was a point in telling you. They kept taking the memory from you. And if I had gotten power while being attacked, and you didn't, I didn't think that was going to change."
Tatsuki had considered the possibility, before now. But outright hearing Orihime admit that they had been attacked? And that she didn't remember?
Just what had happened?
"Did you ever try anyway?" Tatsuki asked. "Did I forget you telling me all this before? Or did you never try to think of just letting me know after I got my memory erased?"
Orihime's eyes widened in surprise. So the idea had never occurred to her anyway.
"Why would you even want to know?" Ichigo asked. "You wouldn't have been in danger. The times you and Orihime got attacked were outliers, there was circumstances."
"I was attacked like four days ago!" Tatsuki replied. "If I wasn't saved by a passing stranger, I could be dead right now!"
"What?" Ichigo asked. "When did…"
"So why didn't you tell me?" Tatsuki asked. "What was your reasoning? Even if I was never at risk of being hurt in the first place, why wouldn't you let me know that you guys were in danger? Aren't we friends?"
There was a heavy silence for a moment, and Tatsuki could feel her frustration building up again at the lack of answers.
...Fuck it.
Tatsuki turned away from the group.
"Whatever." She muttered, before storming off.
She couldn't deal with this right now.
She didn't want to just keep getting angrier and angrier, and since nobody was giving an actual answer, staying wasn't gonna lead anywhere good.
Pushing her way out of the Urahara shop, Tatsuki ignored the shopkeeper calling after her, as she made her way down the street.
...What a goddamn mess.
Controlling her breathing as she thought, Tatsuki started thinking about how to actually approach this situation.
Ichigo and Orihime, neither of them seemed to think Tatsuki would've been in any danger if Tatsuki had never known about Hollows. But, that didn't matter. That wasn't the core of Tatsuki's anger.
She was angry because they hadn't told her, because they didn't rely on her. Because they didn't trust her with the information.
Alright then. Time to actually think about what she wants from this.
To be trusted. Relied on. Included. To know what's going on, what's happened, and why she wasn't told earlier.
A bitter voice at the back of Tatsuki's head told her to get back at her friends, to let them stew in their guilt and the knowledge that she's mad at them, but Tatsuki pushed that away. She was angry, but that wasn't going to solve anything.
When she'd gotten all emotional and tried to force her relevance in a conversation with Ouji and Fujino, she'd messed up and made the problem worse. When she just handled her emotions and told Fujino that she didn't care about whatever Fujino had done in the past, it all worked out.
So even if her first instinct was to just pin Ichigo to a wall and twist his arm until he spoke, that wasn't gonna help.
"Tatsuki."
Ichigo's voice behind Tatsuki was calm, and Tatsuki took a moment to process that he'd caught up to her, and she hadn't heard him running or anything.
Turning to face him, Tatsuki suppressed her initial instinct.
"What?" Tatsuki couldn't stop the bitterness seeping into her voice.
Ichigo took a moment to reply, before he responded.
"I'm sorry." He said, not meeting her eye. "For a lot of things. For not handling that better there, and for not telling you anything."
"...I'm probably overreacting too." Tatsuki admitted. "I'm trying not to lose my temper now, but I want some answers."
"I'll give them, then." Ichigo replied. "Because it sounds like something happened when I was gone. Hollows usually go after family members or people with a lot of spiritual power, so I'm not sure why you got attacked."
"It happens, apparently."
"It shouldn't." Ichigo replied. "I've apparently got more spiritual pressure than most people, and I still got sought after by a Hollow once before I actively got involved."
"Guess the Hollows were pissed off, then." Tatsuki replied. "Karin got attacked the day after, you know."
"She what?" Ichigo asked, and Tatsuki regretted mentioning it this soon. Now it was all he was going to care about. "Is she-"
"She's fine." Tatsuki replied. "And she's taking steps to avoid a repeat. But stop getting distracted."
Ichigo was clearly uncomfortable with just letting that subject go, but apparently noticing how pissed Tatsuki was, he kept it to himself.
"So tell me." Tatsuki demanded. "What was going through your head? Why didn't you tell anything to anyone?"
Ichigo took a long time to reply.
"Same reason I said I couldn't see ghosts." He admitted. "I didn't want to drag other people into my problems if I could help it."
"And Orihime?" Tatsuki asked. "Chad?"
"Ishida was there too, you probably missed him." Ichigo mentioned. "And I can't say what's going on in their heads. Probably the same thing, though. No need to make you worry about something you can't change."
"And if we switched places?" Tatsuki asked. "If I was the one risking my life and leaving you in the dark? How'd you feel about that?"
Ichigo didn't reply.
"...I know this is selfish of me." Tatsuki admitted, looking away herself. "But I hate feeling powerless. I hate the feeling that you guys couldn't rely on me enough to tell me what was up. The people responsible for the memory wipes were the Shinigami guys, right?"
"Yeah." Ichigo admitted.
"So could you have told me after they all left?"
"I could have." Ichigo admitted. "I didn't think it'd matter. I don't see why someone would want to be involved in this stuff."
"I want to be involved because the people I know are involved." Tatsuki countered. "Again, it'd be the same if our positions were reversed."
"I'm sorry." Ichigo admitted. "I'll keep you informed, now. But please. Don't get involved."
"Why not?"
"Because this stuff is dangerous." Ichigo admitted. "If I could stay out of it, I would. If I could keep anyone out of it, I would. But I've got friends deeper in who are probably gonna end up in danger because of recent developments, and if I can keep you guys out of it, I can-"
Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo by the collar again, and pulled him closer.
"Don't you dare." Tatsuki interrupted. "If something's happening, include me. If you're risking your life, either stay out of it or I'm coming in too. You hear me?"
Ichigo pulled back, with such sudden force that Tatsuki's grip fell away immediately.
"There's a world of difference between Hollows like in Karakura and what's going on." Ichigo replied. "If-"
"I don't care about the specifics." Tatsuki interrupted. "We're friends, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Then rely on me." Tatsuki continued. "Let me help. I don't care beyond that."
"...I don't want people risking their lives for my sake." Ichigo said.
"And I don't want to be powerless again." Tatsuki replied. "I want to help, Ichigo. Let me help. Let me know you trust me enough to help."
"...How about a compromise, then." Ichigo replied, looking to the side. "I'll tell you what I know, and since you've apparently got supernatural power now, I'll help you figure out how to use them. But if something big happens, you need to stay safe."
"Only if the same goes for you." Tatsuki replied. "Only if you'll run away from danger as well."
"Tatsuki, listen." Ichigo continued. "I get it. It sucks being powerless. But the first time I got involved in a Hollow fight, I got in the way between the Hollow and it's hunter. Rukia got hurt bad saving me because I was a dumbass. If I'd stayed out of it, she would've killed it just fine."
Turning to actually meet Tatsuki's eyes, Ichigo continued. "I know this sucks to hear, but sometimes it's more important to just leave it to the people more capable. So yeah, I'll tell you everything, I'll rely on you. But don't jump into dangerous situations."
"Like running off into the Shinigami base to rescue someone from a group of people where two nearly killed you?"
Ichigo didn't reply.
"It shouldn't come to that anyway." Tatsuki said. "But if things happen, I'm being included."
"...We can talk about this later." Ichigo said. "Out in the open isn't the best place for this, and apparently I need to talk to my sister about her being in danger while I was gone. But I'm sorry."
Well, it was better than nothing at least.
"Fine." Tatsuki shrugged. "This isn't over, Ichigo, but fine. We can talk later."
A moment passed, and Tatsuki sighed.
"Is Orihime still at Urahara's place?" Tatsuki asked. "I feel like I should go talk to her, now."
"She should still be there." Ichigo replied. "Not sure about Chad or Ishida, but before I left, some girl with purple hair had come out to see what the noise was, and Orihime had started talking to her. Odds are, they're still talking."
...Orihime was talking with Ouji?
Well, hopefully that went well. Maybe Ouji would benefit off of someone as cheerful as Orihime talking to her.
Still, Tatsuki should go talk with Orihime herself now. She stormed off in a pretty bad mood, she should go make sure it was all alright.
"I'll see you later, then." Tatsuki sighed, before making her way back to Urahara's store.
It didn't take long to get back, and once in, Urahara was the only person at the counter.
"Hey, you're back." He said. "I was afraid you'd cancelled."
"Your friend is downstairs." The talking cat said, from the other side of the room. "She's talking with Ouji."
"Thank you." Tatsuki nodded, making her way down as well.
Man, she'd been here a lot recently.
Reaching the first level down, Tatsuki noticed an open door and vaguely heard Orihime talking on for a bit.
Knocking on the door, Tatsuki caught the tail-end of what might have been a conversation but also could have been Orihime just talking.
"-t was kinda weird, you know? Like, my hairclip is technically people now. Kinda. I don't really know how it works but it turns into fairies whenever I need them."
"...I see…" Ouji replied, sounding like she had understood as much as the conversation as Tatsuki had. The knock came as a welcome relief, then, as she turned towards the door. Orihime followed her gaze, and as her eyes turned towards Tatsuki, her expression grew more serious.
"Hey." Tatsuki waved. "Orihime."
"Hi, Tatsuki." Orihime tried to smile, as she stood.
"Sorry about earlier." Tatsuki said. "I shouldn't have been so mad."
"No, no, it's fine." Orihime replied. "I, uh…"
"Should I be here?" Ouji asked. "This seems-"
"Oh, my bad." Orihime said. "Hold on, lemme just…"
She moved away, and Tatsuki moved away to give Orihime room to exit the room. She shut the door without looking back, and the two girls stood there, for a while.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything, Tatsuki." Orihime said, looking away. "I… It was really confusing. A lot of stuff happened all at once. It's not an excuse, I know, but like… I got attacked twice, and then the first time I barely remembered it until later and the second time I had to defend you, and I really didn't know how to talk about any of it."
"...I know I'm being selfish here." Tatsuki admitted. "But was it too much to ask for you to rely on me for this? It's… I thought, after everything…"
"The second time I was attacked by a Hollow." Orihime began. "It was… It had some kind of trick. It would throw seeds into people, and use those seeds to control them. You fought it for a bit, though you don't remember anymore. And then it got you too.
Meeting Tatsuki's eyes, Orihime continued. "That's when I got my powers. I was able to protect you. Back then, I felt… Happy. That I was able to protect you. Like you always protected me at school, after my brother died. I never really thought about it, but maybe that's why. I wanted to keep protecting you from that kind of world. Where both times I was attacked by a Hollow, you ended up bloodied and defeated."
Those words stung, and Tatsuki averted her eyes as the mental image of her ending up like that in front of Orihime passed through her mind.
"...Well, I've got power now." Tatsuki said. "Not much, but some. And I haven't worked out a proper deal with Ichigo but he's promised to help me figure out a bit more about this."
Looking at Orihime again, Tatsuki continued. "It's just… You still left. Went off to a place full of people who apparently tried to kill Ichigo. What would have happened if you'd died?"
"...I didn't think about it." Orihime admitted. "But I am now. Promise. And…"
Stepping forward, Orihime grabbed Tatsuki's hand.
"I promise." Orihime repeated. "No more secrets. I'll tell you everything now. I don't want to make you upset again."
"...Thanks." Tatsuki replied. "Just… Let me be there, if you're going to run into danger again. Again, I know it's selfish, but it makes me happy, knowing people can rely on me."
"Only if it goes both ways." Orihime decided. "If you get to be selfish, so do I. And I want to pay you back. For looking after me when my brother died, for cheering me up, for being my friend. If I'm going to rely on you, I want you to rely on me too!"
Tatsuki smiled. "Sure."
"So, what even happened when I was gone?" Orihime asked, the cheerful tone to her voice more natural now. "How'd you get to seeing ghosts? What kind of power did you get from it? How'd you meet Urahara? Wha-"
She was cut off but the sound of the door creaking, and Tatsuki looked over to the room Orihime had just left. There, with her hand on the door, unmoving as eyes moved towards her, was Ouji Misaya.
"Sorry." She said, looking away. "The door wasn't closed properly, I didn't mean to overhear, I was just going to close it…"
"It's fine, it's fine." Orihime waved off. "I'm sure you didn't mean to eavesdrop on anything, so it's fine."
Ouji shifted her gaze towards Orihime's directions, but was still looking down.
"...Your brother died?" She asked.
Orihime's face froze momentarily, but she recovered quickly. "Yeah, a while ago. You overheard that, then?"
"How are you…" Ouji began, before trailing off.
It was at that point Tatsuki could make a guess as to where Ouji was going with this. Orihime had been rambling to her earlier and was generally a cheerful person, while Ouji's own loss was still fresh. Hearing that Orihime had lost someone as well, without details, would raise the question of how she had gotten over it this well. It wasn't surprising that Ouji, who had been so consumed by her loss and her guilt, would want to know more.
What did surprise Tatsuki, however, was the flicker of comprehension that showed on Orihime's face, and the gentle tone she took when she spoke.
"It was a long time ago, now." Orihime said. "It hurt a lot at the time, and it still does now, kind of. But it got easier when time passed, and I had friends helping me. So now it's easier."
Ouji looked up at Orihime's face for a second, before looking down again. She was silent, and after a second, Orihime talked again, suddenly shifting the subject.
"I like your hair, you know." Orihime declared. "It's a nice shade. Did you cut it recently?"
Ouji blinked.
"..,Yes." She replied. "It… I was in a rush. It's not very good…"
"It's not that bad." Orihime mused. "And if you want to tidy it up, it probably wouldn't be too hard."
"...I wish I'd left it longer." Ouji muttered.
"Is that so?" Orihime asked, putting a hand to her hairpin momentarily. "Want me to fix that up for you?"
"You can do that?" Tatsuki asked.
"Yeah, it's like a healing thing." Orihime explained. "So I just need to heal the hair back. Or something like that. Like this!"
Pulling her hand away from her hairpin, Orihime pointed at Ouji's hair. Two figures emerged from her hairpin, shifted form, and surrounded the area Orihime was pointing at.
"Ayame, Shun'o." Orihime intoned. "Soten Kisshun- I reject!"
An orange shield formed around the back of Ouji's hair, between the two figures, and after a moment, Ouji's hair began to grow back.
Tatsuki stared, for a moment, until the shield vanished and the two figures flew back into Orihime's hairpin. Ouji took a moment to feel her hair, which looked about as long as Fujino's had been.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Orihime asked.
Ouji smiled. "Thank you."
Come to think of it, Tatsuki didn't know the full details, but she could guess that Ouji cutting her hair was meant to be some kind of way of avoiding recognition. Didn't Fujino describe her as having long hair when she first arrived, before they knew Ouji was the one with the fairies?
So maybe getting her hair back meant a lot to her. Like some kind of way of saying that she wasn't hiding while she dug around for a way to revive her friend. Or maybe she just preferred it long and was just happy with that. Still, she seemed happy with it.
And with that thought on the way, how long has Orihime been able to do that?
"Um." Ouji said, looking at Tatsuki. "I'll give you two some privacy again? I don't want to be a bother."
"Oh, thank you." Orihime said. "Me and Tatsuki still have a bunch to talk about. But you seem pretty nice. If you wanna talk later, I don't mind."
Ouji looked at Orihime for a moment, before bowing her head.
"Thank you." She said plainly, before stepping back into the room. The door shut, securely this time, and Orihime turned back to Tatsuki.
"She seemed nice." Orihime mused. "Kinda sad, though. Do you know what happened?"
"...It's a long story." Tatsuki replied. "Part of how I got into this supernatural stuff to start with."
"You're smiling." Orihime noted. "And not like a casual smile either. Like a smile you make when something happened that you weren't expecting that makes you happy. What's up with that?"
Noticing her own smile herself, Tatsuki turned towards the door.
"...I guess I am happy, huh?" Tatsuki noted.
Tatsuki had to admit, she wasn't sure what to think of Ouji. So far, she'd only ever seen Ouji when she was at her worst. Even if Tatsuki didn't hold that against her, she just genuinely didn't know enough of the girl to have much of an opinion on her. Her losing her friend and getting so caught up in her grief and guilt was sad and all, but that's really all Tatsuki knew.
But Fujino had sure been invested in seeing Ouji happy, so by proxy, so was Tatsuki. She was looking forward to passing the news on to Fujino at a bare minimum, and even without that, people being happy was just generally something to be happy about.
Maybe Orihime spending time with Ouji would do her some good, then. Especially since Orihime was apparently way more perceptive about things than Tatsuki would have expected of her.
"But back to talking now." Orihime decided. "No secrets and all that. Do you want me to start? I do want to know what happened to you when I was gone, but I get it, I kinda didn't tell you things first, it's probably fair if I say everything first."
"...Nah." Tatsuki replied. "I'll talk first. I'm not as mad anymore, and you're probably wondering what's up with Ouji."
"Oh, is that her name?" Orihime asked. "That's a nice name. How did you meet her."
"It's a long story."
It was almost hard to believe how few days ago it had started. But at least, Tatsuki mused, it had all worked out in the end. She'd had her chance to talk with Ichigo and Orihime, and even if she was still a bit mad, she was already talking casually with Orihime again. Ouji seemed like she was holding it together decently, and had found someone to talk to. And last she'd seen her, Fujino had been in a fairly good mood as well.
It was nice, knowing that everything had wrapped up happily. And even if her contribution to it had been minor in the grand scheme of things, Tatsuki was glad she'd been able to help things end up so well.
She just hoped that Fujino as as satisfied with her contributions to this conclusion as she should have been.
Honestly, Tatsuki wasn't entirely sure what to make of Fujino either. She was a nice girl. Polite, maybe a bit too concerned with appearances, and sure went a hell of a long way for what started with 'Finding a classmate who had gone missing and was kinda sad.' She had also killed a bunch of people, and Tatsuki didn't overly care, but Fujino was carrying that guilt everywhere.
That part of the story, Tatsuki probably shouldn't mention to Orihime.
But, at the end of the day, Tatsuki didn't really know what was going through Fujino's head. Whatever she'd taken from this whole experience, Tatsuki wasn't sure.
She just hoped that Asagami Fujino was proud of what she'd been able to do here. That she was happy. With that one glimpse Tatsuki had gotten into Fujino's head, when the two of them were in the abandoned store, she could tell that Fujino had a lot on her mind, too.
After all of that, and all she'd done in Karakura, she deserved a little joy.
That feeling you get when a quest ends but you want more.