Chapter Text
Karakura Town
Ichigo, 14 years old
Occupation, Junior Highschool
With a harsh landing on her back, Tatsuki winced as Ichigo smirked down at her while brushing his hand off; both were in their karate gi, and were in the midst of participating in their school's karate club. "That's my win." He grinned down at her.
The coach quickly intervened and blew his whistle, "Match over, Kurosaki wins." The coach nodded at Ichigo, before looking at his other student, Tatsuki who was steadily picking herself up from the floor mat to glower a bit at her friend Ichigo. "Alright, the both of you sit aside, next up, Chise and Hanako." He ordered with another blow of his whistle
After a short moment, the two classmates were soon sitting on fold out chairs while other club members took their turn to practice karate against each other. With Ichigo sitting next to Tatsuki, both stayed silent, as both were in the midst of drinking from a water bottle of their own.
Tatsuki was quick to finish her own, and pout a bit and look at Ichigo. "So you finally beat me, so now what? Gonna gloat?" She asked.
Ichigo, in a more relaxed manner after finally getting a win over Tatsuki, finished his own water bottle and lowered it aside to toss it to the waste bin beside him. "Nah." He calmly answered, smiling somewhat, before frowning suddenly. "But...I don't know, now it feels boring after I finally beat you…" He mused.
Tatsuki sputtered in disbelief, looking at her friend like he had grown a second head, and glared next with her grip on her empty water bottle crushing it. "Boring!? You've been at this the whole year, fighting everyone, losing against me, and now you say you're bored after getting one win over me!?" She poked her finger into her friend's cheek.
Smirking a bit as he quickly pushed and blocked Tatsuki's finger, "Ah come on, the whole reason I joined this thing was because of you, I might stay, or just leave." He jested.
Tatsuki glowered at Ichigo as she pulled her hand away from him, "You better stay, this club ain't no fun without you, everyone else either holds back against me, or can't measure up, you're the only one that pushes me!" She pointed out.
Quickly standing up from her chair, Tatsuki rounded on Ichigo, and spoke more with her hands planted on her hips, "And besides! We need you in the club, Coach has us signed up for the nationals! With you and me, we're a shoe-in to win for our school!" she smirked proudly.
Ichigo smiled a bit at Tatsuki, "Maybe, it does sound fun." He then smirked at her, "Beats getting another win over you." He added.
A tick mark formed on Tatsuki's forehead, while she gritted her teeth in anger, "Oh look at mister confident here! He beats me one time over many losses, and he thinks he's the best!" she poked her finger at him again.
"You're facing me again in the next match, and this time I'm going all in!" Tatsuki shouted with a grin.
Ichigo grinned back at her, "Sure, but the loser buys drinks for the next round." He challenged back.
Tatsuki leaned forward, butting heads against Ichigo as the two waged a little friendly spat against each other, "You're on!"
Now outside their Karate Gi and in their casual clothes, the two were presently walking back home from their afterschool club. "Say, Ichigo." Tatsuki spoke up, glancing at him as they both headed across a bridge that passed over a river bank, "Have you seen that Yasutora guy again?" she asked.
Both of them carried their own dufflebag with their gear inside, while beside them a few cars passed by.
Not too long ago, by about a week, Ichigo had run into the apparent circumstance of helping out some stranger that had just joined their school a month ago. Chad Yasutora, a half Hispanic half Japanese teen that kept to himself in class, but had quite the towering physique.
"Huh?" Ichigo responded, remembering something pertaining to Tatsuki's question, "Oh, actually, yeah." He smiled a bit, earning more of Tatsuki's attention. "I ended up helping him get out of a scuffle, so I guess we've been hanging out during lunch time at school now." He shrugged.
"Eh?" Tatsuki looked at Ichigo baffled, "What…you…" She couldn't help but let her eyebrow twitch, and grabbed Ichigo's sleeve, "Why didn't you tell me!" She complained.
Ichigo shrugged again, frowning a bit. "..um..it never came up to tell you?" He answered while brushing Tatsuki's grip off of him.
Tatsuki sighed a bit, "Of course, boys." She muttered with a roll over her eyes, and looked back at Ichigo. "So…?"
"So?" Ichigo repeated back, unsure what else his friend wanted to know.
Tatsuki lightly glared again at her friend, "Well, what's the big guy like!?" She couldn't help but be curious.
Ichigo blinked once, before answering with a shrug, "I mean, he's a chill guy, speaks quite good for himself." He responded, "We just chill together at lunch." He reasoned.
Tatsuki on the other hand rolled her eyes, and shook her head with an amused smirk. "You boys are too simple." She smirked sideways at him.
Ichigo however glared lightly back at her, "What's that supposed to mean!" He demanded.
While the two lightly argued in a light manor, everything else continued like normal for Ichigo. 'Sometimes, I feel like there's more out there than this life of mine…something in me wishes for something abnormal to happen…but, maybe that's just me being a middle schooler. Kami forbid I'm becoming a chuunibyo.' Ichigo monologued to himself.
'I don't know, I just have this weird feeling, like I'm not seeing something beyond what my eyes see.'
The two eventually made it to the end of the bridge, before both reached a small spot that held a few vending machines. Tatsuki was the first to reach the machines, before she dug into her pants to fish for some yen. "Crap, don't tell me I forgot something…" she muttered to herself while Ichigo waited for her to finish.
Checking her duffle bag, Tatsuki smirked as she found she put her wallet in the side pocket of her bag, and proceeded to get her and Ichigo the drinks she wagered on with him. "What soda do you prefer?" she asked him.
Ichigo checked over her shoulder, and shrugged, "Eh, get the lemon, I can go for that." He responded.
"Right." Tatsuki went back to putting in the change for two drinks.
While Ichigo waited for Tatsuki to fish his drink as part of their deal, he looked on to the horizon, seeing a distant sight of a woman on a moped, zooming at high speed down the road in their direction. He glowered a bit as he watched the strange woman on a Vespa moped drive at high speeds. "Heads up, we got a speeder on our way." He cautioned Tatsuki.
Tatsuki, who had gotten their drinks, stood up and handed Ichigo his lemon soda, looked where he was looking to see the same woman that was already on her way down the street in their direction. She too glared at the incoming form of a speeding driver on a Vespa.
However, the woman on the Vespa grinned maniacally as she whipped out a guitar from around her back and leaped off her speeding bike, leaving both Ichigo and Tatsuki stunned as the woman soared through the air towards them with her guitar raised, "Lunch Tiiiimmmmeee!" She yelled.
Ichigo, acting fast as his instincts allowed him, pushed Tatsuki out of the way as the insane woman's leap trajectory took her to Ichigo, leaving him open for her to slam her bass guitar into his head while her Vespa crashed comically across the road with no driver at the seat.
"THWWWUUUMMM!"
Were Ichigo any younger, and less ready, he was pretty sure the hit would have sent him flying across the ground; but he braced himself enough to get hit and stumble back on his feet, while the crazy woman herself landed, her feet skidding along the sidewalk.
A sharp pain erupted from Ichigo's forehead, making him quickly palm the spot he was hit at, and winced. "Of all the-" He growled out, and rubbed at the pain in his forehead. He quickly rounded on the crazy woman with a death glare and free hand clenching in anger with his other remaining against his forehead. "-WHO DRIVES LIKE THAT AND DOES THAT TO PEOPLE!" He yelled at her while quickly pointing at her with a shaking finger.
He pointed at the woman, who now he got a better look at. She had pink hair with a fair complexion and yellow eyes. She had a slender figure that she wore black pants and a red sleeveless jacket over a yellow sleeved shirt, completing it off with a yellow scarf. She gave him a bit of a catfish grin, "Me, I do!" She grinned mischievously, and spun her guitar beside her.
The crazed woman tossed her guitar up into the air, and caught it in a hold like she was about to hit a baseball with it, "I saw a good target, and I just had to hit it, it was shining ready!" she smirked coyly.
Tatsuki, having finally collected herself up from the ground from Ichigo pushing her out of the way, raged at the woman too. "Are you asking to be arrested!?" she pointed at her. "You're lucky Ichigo's still standing!"
The woman however giggled into her hand, while spinning her guitar easily in her other hand, "Eh, I should be fine. You should be more concerned for him though!" she pointed at Ichigo with a grin.
Ichigo on the other hand glared at the woman, "You're lucky I don't just come over and beat your ass for that!" he raised his fist at her with a tick mark on his head in annoyance at her.
Somehow, the woman was instantly on her Vespa across the street in a quick burst of speed, "Some other time kid." She revved her Vespa up, her goggles pulled down and giving him a look. "We can enjoy the after party at home!" She shouted as she zoomed off at an instant high speed that defied laws of physics.
Both Ichigo and Tatsuki watch the chaos of cars getting crashed up into the air from the woman zooming past them, before she finally rounded a corner, disappearing from sight.
Both remained silent, before Tatsuki looked to Ichigo with a concerned look, "Sheesh, what was up with that woman!" She poked him in the shoulder, "Come on, you should get home and have your dad look at that bruise."
"Huh?" Ichigo looked at Tatsuki and felt up at his forehead, feeling a bump already there, small as it was, it did hurt too. "Damn." He gritted with anger and rubbed softly at the bruise bump. "I should call the cops too, tell-em some crazy whack job is going around hitting people in the heads with her guitar." He griped.
Tatsuki nodded in agreement.
Of all the things to happen in his life, never would Ichigo have expected for some crazy chick to jump off her speeding moped and whack him in the head with her bass guitar. "What's next, am I expecting Death Gods to show up at my doorstep tonight?" He mentally asked him sarcastically.
A year later, Ichigo would of course remember his inner words of challenging fate.
Kurosaki Residence
"I'm home." Ichigo hollered as he entered his own home, expecting an answer. He pointedly left the door open behind him while narrowly dodging his dad's flying kick that sent the old man flying out of the house.
Ichigo's eye twitched as he heard his dad land into the grass, and rolled into a kneeling stance. He smirked at Ichigo with a proud grin, "You're instincts are well honed, my son, but can you-"
Ichigo quickly shut the door behind him with his foot, "Ichigo!!!!" His dad's boisterous voice penetrated the walls of the house, while Ichigo chose to ignore it for the time being.
As he walked in after kicking his shoes off, Karin leaned around as she sat on a couch in the living room, "Oi, Ichi, don't just shut dad out." She lightly glared at her big brother.
Ichigo shrugged while he still carried his duffle bag, "Serves him right for trying that with me, already dealt with one awful encounter today." He gruffly responded, and continued his way into his house.
Behind him, the front door was quickly opened by his annoying dad, "Ichigo!" He shook his hand at him while Ichigo glanced at him from over his shoulder. "Our match isn't over." He demanded.
An annoyed look kept itself present on his face, "Buzz off old man!" He griped, glaring lightly at him, then pointed at his forehead, "I'm already dealing with enough crap today, I just got hit in the head by some crazy woman!" The bruise itself was still present in his head.
While Karin remained quiet, but kept a curious glance their way, Isshin approached his son, quickly switching to concern. "Hmm." He peered closer at his son's head, his head.
Isshin quickly smirked and snapped his finger, "I know just the trick, I have some salves in the back for that!" He remarked, before taking his leave, "I'll be right back, make sure to greet our new housekeeper." He added while his voice trailed off.
Ichigo frowned, "Housekeeper?" He voiced his thoughts aloud, "Since when did we need one, and how can we afford one!" He shouted at his dad, who came back from the clinic side of the house, a box in hand.
Isshin grinned candidly, "Simple, she's providing us a service for hurting my dearest son!" He reasoned back, expressing a dramatic look.
Ichigo stared at his dad, unsure where to start asking questions. "Excuse me?" He breathed out, "You…hired the psycho woman that hit me!?" He yelled into his father's face.
Isshin nonetheless remained calm and smirked at his son, "Sure! She's willing to work for free, quite a reasonable fare for hitting my son in the head with her guitar." He nodded as if his answer made sense.
Ichigo also wanted to question how that woman found where he lived at, "Wait, how did she know where I live, she shouldn't have known I live here!" He protested.
Isshin shrugged with a calm smirk, "We actually bumped into each other at the market earlier today, she was looking for a place to work at, and she even has credentials to work as a nurse as well." He gave his son a thumbs up and shining smile, "You know I've always wanted a nurse to work with me."
Isshin then shifted the box of medical supplies to under his arm, "So imagine my surprise when she calls me up on her way to her first night of work, and says she hit my son!" He nodded, "Such a generous woman to recompense her work for free." He smirked.
"Hey Ichi!" Ichigo's other sister, Yuzu, walked out of the kitchen, "Haruko says you two already met, and not just that she has loads of neat recipes for dinner!" She hollered over, while said 'Haruko' poked her head out from the kitchen entrance, giving him a coy grin.
Ichigo's eye twitched more, while he snarled at 'Haruko'. What on Earth did he do to deserve this!?