Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

Having your own opinions while listening to a lecture is a good thing, but sometimes it depends on the situation.

”Isn’t this just fighting dirty?”

”That’s way too despicable! I could never do that!”

What a righteous young man, steadfastly clinging to the spirit of Bushido. But righteousness had to depend on the target and the situation! Rukia looked at Ichigo, who was currently talking with great fervor, and the temper she had just managed to calm down flared up again. She could finally understand why Big Bro Chōzuka felt so much despair when teaching students.

”Idiot, save that nonsense for when you’re getting into street fights! Your opponents are Hollows; there’s no reasoning with them!”

”But!” *If I can defeat the enemy fair and square, why should I resort to underhanded tactics?* However, before Ichigo could finish his sentence, Rukia seemed to guess exactly what was on his mind. ”Don’t you humans rely on tools to hunt wild beasts? Under equal conditions, do you really think the two sides are comparable?”

”I... I guess so.”

”So stop being so childish. Those unrealistic ideals will only get you killed in the end.”

*Is that so?* Even though her logic was sound, it still didn’t sit right with Ichigo. He couldn’t quite articulate why, but if he had to explain it, it was simply that even if the opponent was a beast, as long as he had the ability, he wanted to defeat them fair and square.

Ultimately, was it because he didn’t hold much hatred toward Hollows? It was rather laughable. *Why don’t I feel much hatred toward Hollows?*

”Morning, Kurosaki!”

”Gwaah!!!” Ichigo finally experienced the sensation of being suddenly jump-scared while deep in thought. His heart felt like it was going to explode. Who on earth was talking so loudly?!

”I-I-I-Inoue?” Ichigo swore that if the other party wasn’t a girl—no, wait, if it wasn’t a girl like Inoue, he would absolutely assume this was a prank. But Inoue was different; she was a truly bizarre girl. ”Why are you here?”

”I went to buy some things for dinner.” Inoue Orihime was delighted, not expecting to run into Ichigo during the holidays. Smiling, she began to introduce her groceries. ”I got green onions, butter, bananas, and sweet bean jelly!”

Bizarre indeed. Setting aside the fact that it was already afternoon and she was saying ’good morning’, just based on the ingredients Inoue had listed, Ichigo found it incredibly hard to imagine what kind of dinner she was going to make...

”What are you doing here, Kurosaki?” Inoue asked casually. Seeing Ichigo acting all fidgety, she wondered if he was on a date with someone. Following his gaze behind him, she spotted her. ”Kuchiki-san?”

”Hm?” Rukia paused upon hearing someone call her name. She looked at Inoue. How did this person know her name? ”Who is this?”

Ichigo was already terrified that Inoue might have overheard their previous conversation. If any classmate found out about this kind of stuff, it was equivalent to the whole class finding out. Now, Rukia was acting like she had senile dementia. He nervously reminded her, ”That’s Inoue! She’s in our class!”

In their class? She almost blew her cover! Rukia’s attitude instantly did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. Beaming with a bright smile, she rushed up to Inoue and even performed a curtsy. ”Oh my, Inoue-san, I hope you are doing well!”

*What kind of weird greeting is that?* Ichigo silently roasted the suddenly overly enthusiastic Rukia in his head. *And isn’t a curtsy a bit much? It’s not like we’re rehearsing a play for the school festival!*

What was even more absurd was that Inoue actually returned the curtsy in the exact same manner. *What the hell are you learning from her?! Either I’m an alien, or they’re aliens. There’s no other explanation.*

*What an interesting person. So she really is on a date with Kurosaki?* Inoue Orihime suddenly fell silent. *Should I congratulate them at a time like this, or should I just leave first?*

”Hey, what happened to your arm?” Ichigo noticed Inoue’s sudden quietness, but his attention was entirely focused on the bandages wrapped around her right arm. ”Did you trip again?”

Given Inoue’s clumsy nature, bumping into things and tripping on flat ground were common occurrences. ”Oh, this? I got hit!” See, it was a common occurrence...

Wait, no. Was ’hit’ the right word to use here? Sure, it could be used like ’hitting a door’ or something, but with Inoue’s speaking style... Ichigo thought for a moment before asking uncertainly, ”Hit? By a car?”

”Yeah, I got hit while I was out buying drinks last night. I seem to be getting hit a lot lately.”

Hearing Inoue’s words, the corner of Ichigo’s mouth twitched. Were the nerves of strong people really this thick? Not only was she acting like getting hit by a car was no big deal, but she was actually smiling about it?

”Why are you smiling! That’s a traffic accident! You should be a lot angrier about this, right?”

”Well, he didn’t hit me on purpose, so I’m not really that mad.” Inoue’s voice grew quieter as she spoke, finally tapping her head as she explained, ”It’s my fault for being too careless.”

Humans frequently getting injured was very likely related to Hollows. However, listening to Inoue’s words and Ichigo’s reaction, it seemed it was entirely due to the girl being too careless. Rukia pondered this as she began to scrutinize the cute and mature girl in front of her, her gaze finally landing on a bruise on Inoue’s calf.

Dark purple marks almost completely covered her left calf. Rukia crouched down to take a closer look. The bruising was on the front, back, left, and right. If this was also from being ’hit’, then it was probably caused by more than just one car.

This kind of injury looked more like it was caused by being restrained by a massive force. Given the surface area, it was either a very wide strap, or... a giant hand!

”Kurosaki, your girlfriend is really... strange.”

”She’s not my girlfriend!” Ichigo glared at Rukia, who was squatting on the ground, carefully inspecting Inoue’s calf. *What the hell is this idiot doing?!*

*I can’t feel any traces of Reiatsu?* Rukia cupped her chin in thought. She currently had no way of using Reiatsu to determine if this injury was caused by a Hollow. Gently touching Inoue’s wound with her finger, she slowly looked up and asked, ”Does it hurt?”

”Ouch!” The response she got wasn’t from Inoue, but from Ichigo’s fist. Without holding back in the slightest, he left a solid, massive lump on the back of her head.

”What are you doing, you bastard!” Rukia demanded angrily. Who knew Ichigo’s reaction would be even more intense than hers, his voice completely overpowering hers. ”I should be asking you that! What were you just doing?! Are you a pervert?!”

”This girl might be...” Realizing she couldn’t talk about Hollows in front of a normal human, Rukia quickly caught herself and changed her tune. ”I was just looking at Inoue-san’s injuries to see if she needed to go to the hospital!”

”Is that so?” Ichigo felt something was off. This girl clearly didn’t even remember Inoue a minute ago, so why was she suddenly acting so passionate? Was this some sort of mutual appreciation between aliens?

Still, Inoue really should go to the hospital after getting into a car accident. Thinking this, Ichigo turned his head and said, ”You should probably go to the hospital and get that checked out, Inoue— Wait, where did she go?!”

She was just here a second ago. How did she disappear in the time it took to have a quick argument? Ichigo looked left and right, quickly spotting Inoue hurrying away near the stairs leading up.

”Hey, where are you going!”

”Um, it’s time!”

”Time for what?!”

”My variety show is about to start!” Inoue waved at Ichigo and shouted loudly, ”See you later, Kurosaki!”

*That’s great, they aren’t on a date. What an absolutely wonderful day!*