Chapter Text
In the morning of the next day, the birds were chirping in the distance that was right outside the Kurosaki Clinic but within the clinic itself, The Kurosaki family by extension Orion as well, were having breakfast at the table.
“So that's the end of that huh…” Karin looked over at Ichigo and Orion after they told everything about involving Chad's pet bird. Yuzu sniffs softly, wiping the tears from corners of her eyes away, as she looks up towards at ichigo.
“Yeah..” Ichigo nodded, although his gaze was a bit solemn, still feeling sorry for what happened to Yuichi. “Although I hope he and his mother are together now…”
Masaki placed her hand on her son's shoulder with a comforting look in her eyes. “I'm sure they are by now, Ichigo..” She softly told him in a reassuring tone. “A mother's love knows no bounds..”
Orion felt the corners of his lips twitch, as he solemnly closed his eyes. “Those are some wise words, Mrs Kurosaki.” He commented with a genuine faint smile on his face.
“Thank you, Orion..” Masaki smiled at him before attaining a scolding-playful look on her face. “How many times must I tell you to not call me ‘Mrs Kurosaki’?..”
“Until the day I die..”
Ichigo rolled his eyes at what the teen said, since it was very typical of him to say something similar like that. The orange haired hybrid “You know mom isn't going to stop right..?”
“Don't care.” Orion said stubbornly, leaning back against the back of his chair. “I'll refuse to call her anything else than Mrs Kurosaki.”
“Whatever you say…” Karin mutters underneath her breath, blandly staring at him.
Turning to look at his father, Ichigo let out a faint cough. “Hey old man.. do you think Chad would be fit enough to leave then..?”
Isshin sighs at his son's question, reaching for the back of his neck before rubbing it as he ponders over the thought. “If he takes it easy.. then I might discharge him today..”
“Like that's gonna happen..” Orion mumbles with an unimpressed scoff.
“Guess we'll see until later then..” Ichigo said in a faint tone.
Sounds of footsteps slowly came into earshot as those at the table turned their heads to see Rukia walking in, wearing the usual gray school uniform, before heading to the table as she took her seat beside Ichigo's.
“Well look who finally showed up..” Karin spoke in a deadpan tone, looking up from her morning meal.
Rukia's brow twitches, it seems like she wanted to say something but instead, she turns to look at ichigo. “Seems to me you looked well rested despite last night..” She pointed out, noticing this small but barely noticeable detail.
“Yeah well, it wasn't exactly an easy night..” The teen hybrid annoyingly expressed this, while he could practically hear the phantom laughs of his inner hollow from the back of his mind.
Orion held back a laugh, his shoulder shakes slightly due to the feelings of amusem*nt trembling beneath the surface of his skin. He forced himself to fake a cough as he turned his body away in order to avoid looking at the two.
“We can obviously tell, big brother, hehe...” Yuzu spoke up with a smile, as she let out a nervous laugh.
“ANYWAY!” Isshin spoke up, getting everyone's attention. “You kids better eat your breakfast, if you all want to make it on time for school..” He pointed towards the clock on the wall.
Looking over his shoulder at the clock hanging on the wall, Orion sighs as he turns to look at his plate. “Ah crap, better eat it fast then…”
“Last time you tried to fast feed, you almost choked on your meal..”
He could just groan in embarrassment at the reminder. “Well then, thank you for reminding me that..” Orion sarcastically said with a frown.
“Is Aunty Tenenbaum doing her errands again..?” Karin asked, turning to look at her mother.
Masaki nodded in response to her daughter's question. “Yes sweetie, you know how she is..”
“With her being a Military psycho…” Ichigo utters in a low voice, shaking his head. Rukia sends a look at him when she hears that from the side as she shudders at the thought of her meeting that woman from the other day.
“You know, your Uncle Ryūken wanted to have us go over to his household when Thanksgiving comes..”
Yuzu and Karin perked at their mother's words as Ichigo looked at the ceiling as if realizing something. “Oh yeah, we had Thanksgiving dinner at our home last year..”
“Welp I'm done with my food, I don't know about all of you but..” Orion put down his spoon, turning to look at ichigo. “Think we have enough time for a spar before school..?”
“Yeah, but do you mind if we bring Rukia along with..?” Ichigo asked, looking at him with some kind of anticipation in his eyes.
This made Orion stop and think for a moment, grimacing at the thought of her in the Kamui Dimension. He glanced at Ichigo before nodding silently in response. “I don't mind at all… I'm only allowing it because you asked me.” He grumbles In a grouching tone. “Don't make me regret this..”
“Thank you..”. Ichigo was somewhat grateful that he didn't argue against it.
His eyes glancing at the Shinigami, Orion lazily gestures for her to come closer. “C'mon, we don't have all day..”
Rukia eyed the teen with a skeptical look. “And where exactly are we going..?” She asked cautiously in a ‘need to know’ tone.
“It's a surprise, my little midget friend..” Orion said, standing up before walking to the kitchen's sink and washing his plate.
“Could you please stop with the names, Orion..?” Masaki asked politely with a gentle smile that has a dangerous edge behind it.
The teen felt shivers down his spine, as he shakily nodded. “I'll try, Mrs Kurosaki…”
“Good, that's all I ask.” Masaki let out a sigh of relief. “But please make sure your spar is short.”
“No promises, Mom.” Ichigo spoke up with a shrug.
After finishing washing the plate, he put it in the dish rack as Orion dried his hands off with a paper towel before throwing In the trash can nearby. He faced ichigo and Rukia as he took a step forward closer to them as his gaze lingers on the latter in particular. “Any unfinished business you need to do before we head out..?”
Rukia's shoulders slump downwards as she shakes her head in response. “No..”
“Well then, you better hold on to something then, because you might feel dizzy..”
“Wait what-?”
Orion didn't let her finish her sentence as he went to placing both his hands separately upon ichigo and Rukia's shoulders as his Mangekyou Sharingan shifted into activation at once, producing a swirling vortex which began pulling him, Rukia and ichigo in. Their vision of the world became very distorted with warping them to the dimension which ichigo and Orion are very familiar with as they were greeted by its landscape and blackened-voidlike sky.
A wave of unwanted nausea washed over her as Rukia felt like her head was spinning. “Ugh….” She groaned, her arms by extension her hands were holding her abdomen. “I feel sick..”
“Welcome to my personal space..” Orion blandly stated, not bothering to sound excited. “Be sure to try not to vomit, please.. because I don't want to clean your mess up.”
“Please..” Ichigo’s brows drawing together over his frown. “You know there will be some people who are not used to this kind of travel..”
“Yeah well, I don't usually go around freely allowing someone new to be here..” Orion released a sigh, tossing ichigo and Rukia a side-glance. “Besides, I already have a clue on why you really want her here..”
“Oh yeah..?”
“It's very obvious to me..” Orion put his hands into his pockets with a barely noticeable teasing smile appearing on his face. “You want to show off in front of her, don't you?”
Ichigo looked at him as if he was crazy, before scowling. “What? No I don't..”
“Denial is the first step..” Orion whispers under his breath. He turned to face Rukia with a neutral gaze. “Better eject him out of the body..”
Rukia grumbles as she take out the Gokon Tekkō and puts it on firmly before hitting ichigo while ejecting him out of his body with it becoming unresponsive as expected. However, She was left speechless when she saw that Ichigo's outfit had changed since he was now wearing a modified version of a Shinigami’s garb. A black kimono with white sleeves revealing his bandaged chest and arms with bare fingers. A white slash imbued with the pentacle shape of a Quincy Cross at the front while his pants were slimmer now than before, both of his feet wore a pair of white socks and straw sandals.
“I guess something did change last night..” Orion commented as he observed the sudden change in the outfit itself.
“You have no idea..”
A laugh escaped from Orion as he could only feel proud for his friend. He turned his head and looked over to see Rukia. “Well then, you better take a seat at a safe distance if you want to watch us spar..”
“N-noted..” Rukia stuttered a bit after snapping out of her stun state while sounding a bit better than before. She took the opportunity to look around the strange landscape she was now in as she couldn't really wipe that look of shock off her face. Gulping down silently, she spotted what looked to be a good enough spot at a relatively safe distance as well. Rukia walked over there before turning around and sitting on a small cubical block, suitable to be a substitute for a chair.
Looking at each other, Ichigo and Orion nodded in unison as The two male teens began to take their respective spots with the distance in them now having separated them from each other.
The anticipation and tension filled the air as it became heavy with the pressure slowly building up.
“Zangetsu..” Ichigo utters that one word from his mouth as He unsheathes his Zanpakutō Whose appearance drastically was different from last night. It now looked like a massive katana-blade that honestly resembles a khyber knife more than anything. It has no tsuba and no proper hilt; only has is the cloth-wrapped tang. The sword is as long as 1.75 meters and has a silver blade with a black edge.
Rukia gasped at the sight of this shiki form of the Zanpakutō. ‘No way.. Has the Zanpakutō' changed? No.. is this His Zanpakutō’s Shiki form..? But wait.. it isn't exactly an Asauchi but..’
Orion just smiled at the sight of the Zanpakutō’s new appearance. “As expected, you really are a fast learner, aren't you ichigo?..”
Ichigo just smirked at him, pointing his blade at Orion. “Let's see who is going to come on top now..”
“Oh yeah..” Orion grinned widely, before leaping off in a great speed as a sword manifested out of reishi had appeared in the grasp of one of his hands. “I want to experience your new strength right now!”
‘Ready to do this..?’ Ichigo thought, keeping his gaze on his incoming friend.
‘f*ck Yeah! We were literally born ready!’
‘Don’t get so arrogant.. the tides of every battle always change, so the outcome will be forever uncertain..’ Old-man Zangetsu reprimanded them in what sounded like a reminiscing-solemn tone.
Internally accepting Old-man Zangetsu’s words, Ichigo gripped the handle of his Zanpakutō tightly. He took in a calm breath before letting it out as he found himself the words that he could yell out at the top of his lungs as a symbol of his determination To win this spar with certainty.
“Getsuga Tenshō!” Ichigo roared out, swinging his Zanpakutō, releasing a massive slash made out of his Reiatsu, which took the shape of a crescent moon as it flew forward towards Orion.
His eyes widened upon seeing this attack, immediately manifesting The Susanoo around him as the ribcage formed with both of it's arms crossing each other like an ‘X’ in order to block the attack. It dragged across the ground before it striked against the Susanoo as expected, unleashing a devastating explosion. The pressure coming from the shockwave was immense as Rukia raised her arms up in a attempt to shield herself.
Once the dust has settled, revealing a deep slashing mark that runs very deep into the ground, but The Susanoo found itself being left with one of it's boney arms having a huge chunk of it missing, indicating it's arm had been severed off and had disappeared. It didn't regenerate the damage as Orion let it dissolve away while staring at Ichigo with a nod of approval. “Seems like you have an edge then..” He spoke with some hint of admiration in his words.
‘What the…?! That looks like it could have nearly killed him..!’ Rukia thought in shock at the display of the Getsuga Tenshō.
“I’m just getting started..” Ichigo declared with a serious look, holding Zangetsu up in a stance.
“Then here I come ichigo!” Orion yelled out, already rushing towards him, clenching his spirit weapon tightly as His Mangekyou Sharingan glowed with a hint of a craze within them.
The two clashed at each other, with both of their Reiatsu, flashing wildly before Rukia's eyes. Moving at fast speed via Hirenkyaku, their blades traded strike against one another as the clanging sounds came from each strike made. Orion appeared on top of a cubical, lifting his blade up as ichigo came leaping at him with Zangetsu at the ready.
Ichigo leap off at him, having him within his reach as he was about to bring down his blade at Orion in the last minute
However, at that single split second, The Susanoo’s ribcage and arm manifested around Orion as the gigantic flaming-skeletal hand instantly swatted ichigo away. The orange haired teenager grunted before stabbing his Zanpakutō into the ground to keep himself in place.
‘Sneaky bastard and his Susanoo..’ Ichigo's inner hollow grumbles in what sounds like.. Jealousy? within the confines of his mind.
‘Ichigo, it's clear that this won't be an easy spar for you with the Susanoo involved..’
‘Yeah I already know.. It sucks that Orion is the only one who can do it..’ Ichigo complained internally while Zangetsu grunted in agreement with him and Old man-Zangetsu silently ignored them both.
Red jagged lines of Blut Arterie appeared over Orion's fists as the Susanoo dissipated. The teen flipped in mid air before gathering up his chakra, manipulating it onto forming the Spiralkugel in the palm of his hand. “Spiralkugel!” He yelled out as he brought it down in one swing.
Holding Zangetsu by the tip and it's handle to block the spiraling sphere of chakra. Ichigo gritted his teeth, feeling the heavy vibrations from the blade of his Zanpakutō. The sheer force of the spiralkugel was immense, pushing back ichigo as his feet forcefully slid back a little.
Taking a deep breath, Orion held the breath of air in as he manipulated his chakra from within before he had expelled out a stream of flames from his mouth, at ichigo.
Ichigo's eyes widened at the sight of this, he leaped back away from the raging flames. “Getsuga Tenshō!” He swung down Zangetsu, releasing a wave of energy at the incoming flames as it canceled out the inferno through the sheer force of pressure and mini-explosions. Replacing the flames with pitch-black smoke in the process.
But hearing the sound of someone running, Ichigo turned to look at the lingering cloud of smoke, already ready for whatever coming out of it. Only to see a slipper came flying out of the smoke causing him to look momentarily confused.
The hairs on his neck felt a rushing breeze behind him causing ichigo to halfway turn around, only for his head to be kicked by the foot. He stumbled and fell back, letting the smoke enveloped him as ichigo groaned, his line of vision becoming blurry.
‘Get it together or else I'll take the driver seat for ya, Kingy!’
Hearing Zangetsu’s voice made Ichigo snap out of it, shaking his head as he regained his bearings. Ichigo swung down his Zanpakutō, unleashing a wave of Getsuga Tenshō, going through the smoke as it was blowing it all away but revealing Orion as the wave of energy was headed towards at him.
Seeing ahead of this, Orion clenched his jaw as The Susanoo formed around him, bringing the familiar stinging sensation. The Susanoo raised both of its fists, letting the Getsuga Tenshō strike at it as the same explosion sensation happened, with the cloud of dust revealing a deep slashing mark that went across both arms, almost rendering them to be useless and severing them off completely.
“f*ck!” Orion cursed out, letting his Susanoo dissolve once more. He growled out in annoyance, lacing his tone and voice before he broke off into a fast-blurring speed via Hirenkyaku as he manifested a Kojaku bow out of the reishi around him as he had it infused with a large amount of lightning chakra. He pulled and stretched the string back to his head as he fired a barrage of thundering pfeil at ichigo.
Ichigo dodged and leaped away with great finance and agility as the arrows wildly exploded with electricity sparkling everywhere upon hitting the ground instead. He landed on his feet, sliding back before manifesting a crossbow as he swiftly lifted it up and fired a couple of small heilig pfeil at his friend.
Letting his spirit weapon disassemble into remnants of Reishi as Orion flips backwards as he spins in mid air in order to dodge the incoming Reishi arrows heading his way. His body maneuvering on instinct as his Sharingan spins wildly at work. His feet touched the ground before launching off forward in a great leap as he manifested a long-bow, firing out as many Heilig Pfeil back at ichigo.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed as He lifted his arms with the jagged lines of Blut vene appearing all over his body as he let those arrows hit him. The arrows impact causes a cloud of smoke to envelop him completely, which temporarily hiding him from his opponent's vision.
With the anxious anticipation being very obvious in Orion's eyes as The smoke slowly cleared away, revealing not a single scratch was on ichigo. The eldest son of Isshin and Masaki got into position as ichigo lifted his Zanpakutō and swung down the blade while creating another energy-like wave.
Quickly manipulates his chakra to form a blue swirling sphere of chakra in the palm of his right hand. But increases the spiralkugel’s size to be two times bigger than before by pouring in a little bit more of chakra into it. Orion's furious gaze matches the adrenaline pumping in his veins as he thrusted his arm forward as the spiralling ball of chakra was within seconds of making contact.
“GETSUGA TENSHŌ!”
“SPIRALKUGEL!”
-At Karakura High-
In the classroom, many of the students were chattering with each other in their own little groups within the room as a good couple of them surrounded Chad's desk where the parakeet in its cage was at.
While Keigo was messing around with the bird, Mizuiro noticed something different about the parakeet.
“Seems like the bird has a smaller vocabulary than before..” Mizuiro pointed out as he observed the parakeet closely. “Did something happen to the bird, Chad?”
“Mmmm..” The half-mexican shakes his head in response. “I don't know.. he was like that when I woke up this morning..”
‘Did Rukia use…?’ Ichigo glancing at the Shinigami In question next to him but he stopped his thought process from continuing there. Such an idiot he was that he didn't realize that Rukia would try something like this as he remembers that His father explained to him about how a Shinigami deals with the situation about a human being exposed to spiritual affairs.
‘Eh don't worry about it, King..’
‘How can I not worry about it..?’
‘Ichigo, I don't agree with the decision that she took.. considering the pain that your friend had gone through to protect the young boy.. perhaps you should wait and have a talk with her when all of you get back home.. away from prying eyes.’
Ichigo frowned heavily, leaning back in his seat as he started to get lost in deep thought as he stared off into space.
But somewhere at the other part of the classroom, Orion sat in his seat with his arms folded across his chest. The ragged haired teenager had a neutral gaze but there was a hint of a dark glint within those stone-cold piercing blue eyes of his. Of course nobody noticed as the teenager was busy brooding in silence while his foot tap the floor as a way to cope with the information he had received.
“Woah, what's the matter with Orion?”
The teen spared a look to his left side and spotted Chizuru giving him a look of questioning. “Nothing..” He grunted in response. “Why are you even asking anyway..?”
“You seem to be more brooding than usual..!” Chizuru chirped up. “I haven't seen you this mad before..”
“I'm not brooding..” Orion denied this as he shot a look at her. “Besides, don't you got something better to do than talking to me..?”
“No, no.. besides just waiting for my precious Orihime to come here..!” She grinned as she gained an admiring look at the single thought of Orihime.
Orion blandly stares at her with a frown but shakes his head as he lets out a short huff. “I suppose I'll just let you do that then..” He closed his eyes.
“Hey Orion, I was wondering about something.. do you have any interest in guys or girls?” The redhead lesbian asked in genuine curiosity.
This made Orion stop to a halt as his face turned a bit pale. He coughed awkwardly before turning his head to look at her. “Well… I do have.. s-some interests in the opposite sex..” He stammered as He felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment. “But why the hell are you even asking this question?!”
“Well..! Just curious you know? I mean, most of us have never really seen you show any kind of interest in anybody!”
“When did this suddenly become a conversation about my sexuality and love life..?” Orion mutters to himself as He pinches the bridge of his nose at the feeling of a headache starting to form. “I swear I should've stayed in bed..”
Chizuru yelped in surprise as she was pulled away by Tatsuki. “C'mon now, leave Orion alone..” The Tomboy sends a glare at her before turning her attention to the teen in question. “You're alright..?”
Orion let out a breath of relief as he nodded at her. “Thank the heavens…I thought I was going to die there in embarrassment..”
“Looks like you were, bud!” Keigo piped up as he walked over before stopping by Ichigo's desk. “Never seen you so red there..”
“Oh shut it..”
Mizuiro let out a sigh from the side as he held the juice in his hands. “Chad’s bird seemed different today.. you know?”
“Oh yeah..?” Orion's jaw clenched tightly as a flash of anger filled his mind but he maintained a calm composure. “Did something happen to it?’
“It's less talkative, that's for sure..” Keigo answered, leaning against the classroom's wall. “Quite the whiplash, am I right?”
“Hmm..”
“Maybe we could get it to be more talkative..?” Mizuiro suggested lightly.
“Do you know how long it's takes to teach a parakeet..?”
“No…?”
"Exactly.."
Later that Day.
“Tch..” Orion grumbles tiredly. “Stupid classes, stupid Shinigami…” He slammed the locker’s door shut as he put his bag over his shoulder. He turned to look at the other students walking through the hallways as the day had ended for all of them.
Sighing quietly to himself, Orion headed out of the school. The teen felt more tired than usually but he wasn't physically tired as it was more mentally to him as his emotions were scrambled ever since the encounter with Shrieker. The memories of meeting Yuichi and knowing how the boy’s life was ruined. It made his blood boiled at the thought of it as Orion wanted to do something worse to the hollow until it begged to be killed.
As the teen walked out of the building, he was met with a strong cold breeze blowing against the surface of his skin. Sending chills up his spine, Orion didn't mind the cold as nearby students saw him passing by as they whispered to each other with gossip spreading like a wildfire…
The teen walked on the sidewalk in the direction that led him away from school. He knew he needed time to cool off, but how can he after last night? Sure he might be able to hide it well to some extent. He doesn't know what's worse, killers or sad*stic killers. Wait, probably both of them are considered to be worse at the same time, now that he thinks about it.
He'll admit to himself that it is sometimes refreshing for him to walk by himself. It gives him time for a lot of reasons, some were probably obvious at this point, but the teen didn't really want to bring everyone's mood down with his ‘brooding’. Although the reminder of chizuru mentioning it, really put him in a deep thinking state. “Do I really brood that much..?” He mutters to himself in clear confusion and disbelief at… well himself.
Birds chirped in the far distance which brought a sense of peace to Orion, his gaze looking towards where the birds were as he spotted them flying up high above in the sky. He couldn't but smile a little at the sight of the little feathered animals who have no responsibility to anything at all. After a couple of moments staring at them, He turned away and continued on his way without a word.
Walking along the sidewalk silently, Orion turned his head and saw the riverbank that ran underneath a bridge. His gaze lingeringly stared at it as His stomach suddenly growls with hunger, causing him to look a bit more bashfully than anything. “Seriously..?” He blurted out saying that as a laugh followed afterwards.
For as long as he could remember, he kept a balanced healthy diet. He had people telling him that he could eat more but he waved off their words without care. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to buy something, like a little snack, to temporarily satisfy his hunger in the meantime then.
Changing his course, Orion walked on a sidewalk that went in a different direction as he ignored the passing vehicles that went by on the street's roads in the distance. The teen led himself to the place he was heading to, which would have the tastiest snacks that he could sweetly enjoy eating.
Smiling at the fantasy forming in his head, but he saw something coming out from behind one of the trees with the bushes as he stopped in his tracks. “You gotta be kidding me..”
Out from behind the tree and bushes, appeared ten random punks as each were armed with nasty weapons. Those weapons varied from a switchblades, baseball bats, to a metal pipe. The leader of these thugs was a fat guy with piercings who wore black sunglasses as he was sneering at The Quincy. “Well well well! If it's isn't Kurosaki’s right hand man!”
‘Not this again..’ Orion thought in irritation as he had the urge to beat the crap out of them. However, he would like to resolve this without violence involved, since he doesn't want to respond to violence with… well violence and conflict.
“Your boss has been causing trouble to ma boys!” The fat leader complained in an enraged tone, pointing his cane at the teen. “We’ll like to return the favor and see how he likes it!”
The teen took a deep breath and let it out in one single exhale as his left hand reached into his pocket. “Gentleman.. we can discuss this like men and not resort to violence..”
Among the group of punks, a muscular man with various tattoos and a long mohawk that resembles a rooster's comb, just laughed at the teen before chirping in his input. “Talk? What are you, some rich snob crying to his mommy? Oh wait! I bet You don't have a mommy!”
Inhaling sharply as feelings of nostalgia and anger swirls inside him. The mohawk that the man has, reminded him of someone, someone he couldn't quite remember clearly. ‘Not now.’ Orion shakes his head as the time of a blurry memory flash wasn't suited in a situation like this.
What he needs to do right now is that deal with these idiots since it was obvious from the tone of that particular punk's tone, this group wouldn't really choose to talk it out anyway. His dark-ocean blue eye's gaze became sharp and stoic as the front of his hair strands shadowed his eyes.
“If there's one thing that I have learned, and that would be..” The teen pulled out a pair of rounded-shade glasses as he put them on. “Manners maketh man, do you know what that even means…?”
Only silence was being emitted from the group as they slowly became aggravated instead. “The hell are ya talking about?!” The fat leader demanded.
“if you don't even know..” A sly smirk began to form onto his face. “Then let me teach you a lesson..”
The punks snicker in disbelief at the teen's words. “Ha! Don't get co*cky, you little bastard!” The leader yelled out. “You'll be begging for mercy once we're done with you..!”
Listening to this, the teen just sighed as behind the shaded glasses were his eye's pupils and irises had shifted into red with three black tomoe. “Let's get this over with..”
-----
1 minute and thirty nine seconds later…
All ten lumps of bloodied bruised flesh and bones that are called bodies, had laid there on the ground with injuries that were inflicted on them. The body of the fat leader fell to the ground with his face all messed up as his left eye was all bruised up, including his nose being broken before he spat out a spit of blood and saliva as his. But the fat man cried out as suddenly one of the teen's foot stepped on his face, pressing it against him.
“Now I hate doing this every time..” Orion said with a little kind of tiredness at himself hidden in his voice. “But I have to do this if men like you refuse to listen..”
The leader whimpered in pain as his face was pressed against the surface of the sidewalk. Orion ignored the man's whimperings as he continued on speaking. “What I wish to see is that men like you and your group do something more productive that benefits mankind than this..” He stated with a icy expression creeping on his face.
“Do you understand me..?”
Rapidly nodding his head as the fat man sobbed in aching pain. “Y-yes… y-yes sir..!”
“Good..”
Orion lifted his foot off from the punk's leader's face as he took his glasses to reveal the piercing blue gaze of his. “Now I better not see you or your friend's faces around here again..” He told him as he put his glasses in his pockets before walking past by the broken bodies without sparing a glance at them.
The teen kept walking away quietly until he was sure that he was at an incredible far distance away from where the beaten up punks lay. Orion felt a sense of satisfaction for some reason but didn't really dwell on it for much longer as he went back to do his original intent and that was buying a sizeable snack.
He has a couple of options to choose from anyways. It wasn't like Karakura Town was short on shops and stores in the shopping district to begin with. There were a few kinds of food and snacks he have like over the past, but he didn't crave for one of the most unhealthiest ones, instead looking for something simple like an apple or something similar to that.
You think it would be weird for someone like him to be a single fruit and nothing else. Maybe some people would get similar reactions to this but the teen doesn't usually pay attention to these kind of expressions at all, whenever he'll go shopping of his own.
That kind of thought made him a bit guilty since he lived underneath the Kurosaki's roof. How Mrs Kurosaki and Mr Kurosaki treated him with kindness over the years, Orion wished he could do something in return for them but whenever he asked them this, they just denied this politely.
Now he'll know that it would be a definite lost cause if Orion would push this matter a little further than needed to be. He knew when to give up a fight that seemed to be worthless or have no promising results, to be honest. He can be patient and just wait for the perfect time to repay them both instead then.
“Ohhhh! Orion-kun!”
Turning around, he came face to face with Orihime who ran towards him while waving her hand in greetings.
“Oh hey Orihime..” Orion greeted her politely while secretly feeling a sense of dread as he remembered what he had promised on explaining to her.
Orihime just smiled happily with her eyes closed. “Fancy seeing you here..!” Tilting her head to the side as she opens her eyelids to reveal those innocent eyes. “I was wondering.. are you going somewhere?”
“Mmm…” He hummed subtly as he heard her question. The teen didn't hesitate to answer truthfully to her. “Nothing too special, just thinking of heading to one of the stores, just to buy myself a snack..”
“Oh..!” Orihime nodded in understanding before her face lit up once an idea had popped up in her head. “I know a bakery around the corner, I heard that they have tasty bread There!” She giggles softly, wanting to spend more time around him as Her heart flutters while thinking about it, motivated by the desire of wanting to know more about Orion.
“Really?” This piques his interest as Orion ponders over the suggestion. “I hope you don't mind showing me where it is then..”
“I don't mind at all!” She chirped up, showing a bit of eagerness in her eyes. “I'll be more than happy to show you where it is..!”
Now he can't really refuse a lady's offer in a rude manner, now could he? “Well I can't really refuse now that you offer to lead me there..Can I?” Orion answered with a faint smile.
Orihime beamed at his answer as she clapped her hands together subtly with a jolly vibe around her. “Great!” She said in a cheerful tone as her heart skipped a beat in relief at his answer. “Shall we get going, Orion-kun?”
“Yeah.. Don't want to waste daylight and all..” Orion didn't send a glance at the sun but clearly wanted to keep the conversation going as he didn't have the heart to end it. “Better get to it then..”
“Right!”
With that being said, Orihime happily skipped across the sidewalk with Orion behind her as he followed her in tow.
"Will that be all, Kuchiki-san?”
After putting the acquired supplies in her bag Rukia looked up at the shopkeeper. “Yeah..” She nodded before turning away about to leave but stops in her tracks as a sudden thought entered her mind.
Kisuke noticed this reaction straight away as he tilted his head to the side in curiosity. “Is there something on your mind?”
“I just.. have a question..” She began saying, subtly turning her head to look at him from the side. “Since you know Ichigo, You do know Orion, correct?”
“Why of course! But I wonder why you ask me that?”
“It's just..” Rukia furrowed her brows as she tried to say the words. “Do you know how he does it..? The Susanoo or whatever it's called..?”
“Ah..” Kisuke nodded in understanding of what she was asking. He rubbed his chin in thought as a smile sneaked up on his face. “The Susanoo.. quite an interesting thing it is..”
“So you do know what it is? Can you tell me anything about it..?”
The shopkeeper leans back, gaining a distanced look as if remembering like it had happened yesterday. “What I do know about The Susano’o is.. what you can say that it is an extension to the creator's will or Orion’s in this case. The Susanoo surrounds him as it's being formed but it seems incredibly sturdy enough to withstand and attack the hollows. I can safely say that the Mangekyou Sharingan plays a part in creating the Susanoo’s existence. Although whenever Orion uses it, he told me and I quote ‘he felt an intense pain throughout every cell in his body’. Though i suspect it's very faint whether because of the durability his body has or something else. But upon close inspection, I have discovered that the entirety of Susanoo is actually made up of Orion's Chakra..”
“Mangekyou Sharingan… Chakra?” Rukia asked in a bit of confusion. “What do they mean..?”
“So he didn't tell you about that either as well..huh. That is to be expected..” Kisuke amusedly hummed to himself. “Well Kuchiki-san, as far as I know from when I was.. ‘observing’ Orion-san, a few years back. I found out a few things and got answers for them such as my introduction to Chakra, as it is what he calls it which remains inside him. You see.. the existence of chakra itself, is very complex to say the least. To simplify it, You can call it a type of ‘supernatural substance’ as it is like an advanced spiritual power in a way that is kinda similar, blurring the lines between both Reiryoku and Reishi. But through other observations of mine I noticed that Orion is able to utilize or manipulate his chakra to create elemental attacks.. I'm sure you already saw an example of it. To this day, I'm still stumped on how it's compatible and able to be infused with each spirit weapon that Orion-san makes. On another note, here's a fun fact! Do you know that Orion's body has a unique system similar to the cardiovascular system that is within other human bodies in this world as it seems that the chakra is produced within and manipulated at the same time by the organs such as the heart which the energy circulates itself throughout the body..” He explained to her as He fans himself with his fan. “I must say that It is quite fascinating to know such a thing exists.. especially inside a Quincy like Orion.. I wonder who his parents were..”
Rukia remained silent as the load of information was a lot to process. She knew that something was odd about Orion when she saw The Susanoo and The thundering pfeil as well. But to learn about chakra was what she didn't expect to learn at all. A bead of sweat slides down her face as she remembers the lightning arrows that Orion had produced, realizing its power. She swallowed dryly before letting out a slight cough. “And this Mangekyou Sharingan..?”
Putting down his fan, Kisuke leaned forward as he folded his hands together on his lap. “Ah yes, the Mangekyou Sharingan.. to be honest that is just an evolved stage to.. well I should probably start at the beginning..” He took a deep breath as he continued. “Originally the ‘lesser version’ of the Mangekyou Sharingan, is what you expect it to be called well.. The Sharingan. The eyes that Orion possessed allow him to have a magnificent if not, an highly incredible boost in observation and perception. Like learning something easily from a single glance, being able to read lips, predicting moves and any incoming attacks based on muscle movement intentions.. even deceive and decode the most subtle movements, like pencil movements for example! I could name a lot more and explain the capabilities of what it could do but we're here all day. It's best that I explain what the Mangekyou Sharingan is, for it’s the evolved form of the Sharingan as it apparently is in some way, based on my theory that it grants Orion access to abilities which are vision based such as Kamui or Kāmi for example..”
“Wait what.. Kāmi?” Rukia blinked in confusion, she had experienced Kamui first hand this morning as she wasn't quite fond of it once being transported to it's dimension but she hasn't heard about that other ability.
“I would like to tell you more but well I believe that's all the available time that I have to spare with you, Kuchiki-san.” Kisuke announced to his customer for the day as he standed up from where he was sitting. “Now if you'll excuse me, I got to go help my dear employees checking and sort the supplies properly this time..” The man let out a light-hearted chuckle upon remembering the mix-ups that Ururu has made in the past. Although Kisuke doesn't blame her since she is quite young to be working after all.
“R-right..” Rukia sighs with some reluctance seeping into her tone. She adjusted her grip on the bag she was holding. “Sorry for taking so much of your time..”
“It's fine..” Kisuke dismissively waves it off in a laid back attitude. “The mind is curious at times..”
The powerless Shinigami just gave him a look. “Yeah…” She turned away to face the front doors of the shop as her hand reaches out and pushed it open as Rukia walked through the doorway and left the shop without another word.
Short after, the smile slowly fell off from the shopkeeper’s face as his face became neutral with a light frown on it.
‘If you haven't explained to her about chakra or the Mangekyou Sharingan and it's abilities..’ Kisuke's gaze stared at the front doors as He turned to the side. ‘I suppose you haven't told her about Those parts of your eyes yet..’
Walking on the sidewalk together, side by side as Orion and Orihime held their own pieces of bread. The two teens had gotten said bread from the bakery as the pair engaged in a long conversation between them, involving the male teen keeping and fulfilling his promise to explain to her.
The Quincy may not look like it but he was nervous the whole time he explained everything to her. Orion admit that he knew some people would be in denial if someone like him had explained everything to them.
“Oh..” Orihime had a thoughtful expression on her face as she looked down at the sidewalk. “A hollow… that's what attacked you that night..?”
Orion silently nodded in confirmation as his grip subtly tightened around his piece of bread. “Yeah.. that's right.”
“Then.. when you got pushed back and got hurt.. was it because I got in the way..?” Orihime asked, looking up at him like a puppy who had been kicked.
“No!” The Quincy blurted out, immediately snapping his gaze towards her. “It was me! I just got too caught up in everything. It's isn't your fault if that's what you're asking..”
“Are you sure..?”
Nodding rapidly as he gave off the best reassuring smile he could muster up. “I’m positive as I take full responsibility, alright?” He spoke in a stubborn tone saying that he wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon. The teen stared at her before his gaze softened a bit. “Besides, it's not like you didn't cause a little hollow to attack me, did you?” He added in a joking tone.
Orihime couldn't help but crack a smile at him as she was giggling softly. “Nope..!”
Looking at her as if the answer was obvious. “Then there you go..” Orion stated in a firm response before taking out a bite out of the bread he was holding. Once registering the taste of it, he made an mental note to not forget the bakery's location as he would like to come back to it in the future for a couple of visits.
“If you are a Quincy..” Orihime started, her finger tapping her chin as she pondered over her thoughts. “Then does that mean Ichigo-kun and his family are Quincies as well?”
“Yeah… Not Mrs Kurosaki’s husband though..” Orion shrugged his shoulders as he lifted his arm and used his sleeve to wipe the crumbs off his face. “He’s a bit of a different case..” Technically, He wasn't lying but was telling a half truth here as he didn't inform her of Isshin being a former Shinigami for various reasons.
“Oh! Is it because he can see the hollows and spirits since he's one of those people who have a higher Reyoku?” She asked, tilting her head to the side like a curious puppy.
“Reiryoku..” the teen corrected her gently, nevertheless with a small hint of a smile on his face. “But yeah, you can say that.. though it's a shame you can't see me manifest a bow out of reishi..”
Orihime didn't look too bothered by that as she nodded. Although the girl looked to the side as she took a light breath as there was a flicker of hesitation on her face. “Orion-kun, Tomorrow… is there anything you'll be doing after school?”
He paused in his thinking when being asked this. Did he even have something to do after school? Usually every day he just, Spar then breakfast, attend school, head home and do any school related work and eat dinner then sleep. It just repeats again with a few minor changes like dealing with hollows, but he never really did anything outside of that. Orion realized that he didn't really do anything more exciting than this, which sounds kinda sad to him, now that he thinks about it.
A wave of unexpected shame washed over him for leading this kind of lifestyle. Orion took a deep breath, suppressing the feeling as he would deal with that later down the line of the year. He turned his attention back to the question. “Hmmm.. no I don't think so.” He utters out awkwardly. “Why do you ask..?”
‘..You gotta take it, you don't want some other girl getting his attention on her, right?’
Remembering Tatsuki’s words, she felt her heart froze for a moment but instead it somehow motivated her. “U-um.. I was wondering that.. Do you want to go to the movies with me tomorrow?..” Orihime shyly asked, avoiding looking him in the eyes.
“Huh?” The teen made sure he heard that right. “You mean like a hang out?”
“Uh-huh.. e-exactly!” She stuttered out her reply, nodding quickly as she latched onto that question.
There was a silence followed after that, Orion stared at her for a moment as he tried to think back on the last time he went to the movie theater. But all he could draw up blanks from his memory as not once In his life had the teen gone to the movies, purely because he focused on schoolwork and nothing much else.
After thinking about it rather deeply, Orion nodded. His schedule was not really that time consuming for him, and the teen could use some time to hang out with someone else other than Ichigo. “Sure.” He simply said In response with a genuine smile.
“Really?” Orihime looked a bit surprised at his answer before she smiled happily like she was about to burst with joy. “I can bring us snacks! I know a tasty few of them!” She cheerfully said.
The teen snorted as he shook his head with a fond look. “I'll trust your judgment in the snacks department..” He said to her with an amusing tone.
He didn't look where he was going as he accidentally bumped into someone as the teen was thrown off balance as Orion wobbled a couple of feet back. “Ah geez..”
“Orion-kun…!” Orihime gasped a bit as she held his right arm to offer support to him.
“I'm alright..” The teen told her as he held his forehead before he looked up with an apologetic look and saw the one he bumped into. “Sorry sir, I take full responsibility as it's my fault that I..”
The other person in question was a fair skinned man with short sandy brown hair, green eyes and a mole under his right eye. The young man lifted his hand to stop him with a nervous smile. “It's alright.. no harm was done..” He reassured the teen.
Orion breathed out a sigh of relief at hearing this. “I'm glad you didn't find this as offensive, but I still like to express my apologies, Mr…?” He trailed off, leaving the impression of him wanting to know the man's name.
“Ah it's Marcel..” The Man quickly introduced himself with him extending his hand out to the teen as an offering for a handshake. “Marcel Halpmann..”
The teen let out an appreciated nod as he accepted Marcel’s hand with his own and shook it. “I take it you're not from the country then?” He asked with a polite smile.
Marcel nodded in confirmation with a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead. “Y-yes, first time in the country.” He let out a chuckle, his hand reaching behind the back of his neck. “A little nervous, I may say..”
“That's an understatement..” Orion mutters to himself quietly as he sees the man's body language was shaking like a leaf. The teen let out a fake cough before refocusing his attention upon the man. “I don't want to take too much of your now, but do have a good day..”
“Ah, you too.” Marcel replied back with a faint smile on his face, giving off a wave of goodbye to them before walking away from the pair of teens.
The two watched the young man leave the area, disappearing into the far distance where Their eyes couldn't see that far out there.
“He seems like a nice person..” Orihime piped up, turning to look at Orion. “Do you think he was nervous because of being in a different country..?” she asked in wonder.
Orion closes his eyes for a brief moment as he hummed in deep thought. “Something like that perhaps..” He utters out his subtle response, opening his eyes to look at her. “Sometimes people do get nervous at doing something for the first time.”
“Maybe you're right..” Orihime before taking out a bite out of her piece of bread.
‘But I wonder..’ Orion thought to himself, narrowing his eyes as he pondered over the possibility that the man's Reiatsu signature was..
He shook his head, thinking that to be ridiculous. The teen has no way of knowing that the man could see hollows or spirits. He didn't know why he had thought about that In the first place. Although perhaps the silly thought did have an impact on him than he had anticipated, now it doesn't matter to dwell on something like this.
“Now where were we..” Orion utters quietly with a hum as a certain topic dwells back into the range of his attention as He looks over at Orihime. “So tomorrow, we'll meet up at the park a little bit after school then?”
Orihime gave off a nod, accepting with no problems. “Sounds good to me!” She happily said to him, skipping over the sidewalk.
“Glad to know you have no problem with that then..” The teen answered briefly, putting both his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, I should walk you home then..”
“Oh there's no need to!”
“I should.” Orion gave her just a look that tells her that it wasn't up for debate. “I mean I did it before, besides I want to make sure no other cars would hit you.” He said in a joking tone mixed with genuine concern as well.
Orihime couldn't help but giggle after hearing him talk about cars, she found it pretty cute but at the same time, hearing the concern in his voice had also warmed her heart. Her cheeks flushing a light pink as She smiles rather shyly before nodding at him. “Okay, If you insist then..”
“Hmmm…”
“Oh!” She noticed something that caught her attention, as she leaned her head forward. “Something is hanging out of your coat, Orion-kun.”
The teen looked down and saw his Quincy Cross was sticking out like a sore thumb. “Ah it must have fallen out when I bumped into Mr. Halpmann.” He quickly said, coming to an swift conclusion as he safely tucked his cross away back into his coat. “Luckily it didn't completely fall out.”
Orion lifted his head for his gaze to see the sun still up high in the sky as he could hear the sounds of bird's chirping coming from somewhere nearby.
“Come on, better get on the move on..”
-Kurosaki Clinic-
There was a light knocking on the door as Masaki walked towards it. “Coming!” She called out in a hurry.
Upon opening the door, Masaki's face brightens up as she sees who it was. “Uryū..!”
“Hello Aunty.” Uryū greeted her politely with a formal bow. “It is good to see you.”
“it is good to see you as well!” Masaki gestures for him to come in as she steps to the side. “Come on in. Would you like a drink?”
“No thank you, Aunty. I'm not that thirsty” The youngest Ishida shakes his head, denying her offer in a polite manner as he steps through the doorway with the door closing behind him.
Masaki nodded in acceptance at his choice as she walked over to the counter in the kitchen. “How's your mother doing?” She asked with curiosity, lacing In her tone.
“Mother is doing well, Aunty.” Uryū responded as he adjusted his glasses. “She sent her regards.”
“That's a relief to hear, it's not easy for us women at the time to be pregnant.” Masaki let out a small laugh. “But tell me, are you excited to be a big brother soon?”
This is when Uryū felt nervous, He had no doubt in his Abilities of handling children, if his relationship with his two other cousins is anything to go by. But that wasn't what had him nervous, just like with the rest of those he called his family, Uryū felt a sense of duty to his unborn sibling. Exactly similar to an older brother’s duty to protect them with his life, as far as he knows that Both his and Ichigo's families along with Frieda and Orion, were the last known Quincies left in this world of theirs.
With the death of his beloved mentor and grandfather, it became important to him on how precious that their family is. So few of them left, it was quite the bitter reminder to live everyday as Uryū’s resentful feelings against the Shinigami hadn't faded away completely, but he didn't show them to the surface for his mother and aunty's sake.
“I am.” Uryū spoke up, giving out a cough while breaking away from his thoughts. “it's a big responsibility I have to bear now.”
“It is.” Masaki nodded with a smile. “A big brother's reasonability is to always be there for their siblings.”
Taking her words seriously, Uryū gave off a curt nod as his eyes contained a serious look and sharp look. “I understand, Aunt Masaki.”
The woman just smiled in satisfaction at Uryū's response. “Now, Why not I give you a snack for going through all the trouble of visiting.”
Uryū felt the urge to respectfully decline. “Oh there's no need, Aunty. I'm not that hungry."
“No no, I insist.” Masaki shakes her head with a seemingly innocent smile. "You wouldn't want to be rude now, right?"
‘Ah… there's no use In stopping Aunty, once she's set her mind on something.’ Uryū thought with a bead ofsweat on the side of his forehead…
