Chapter opens with Kon in the worst shape ever. Stuffing falling out of a missing ear, an eye hanging by a thread, the words "Boss Tuff" (1) sewn to his chest...

Ichigo stares at the horror that is Kon. "...Whoah," he says.

Kon leaps up in a fit of rage and smacks him across the face. "What's with that dull reaction!?" he shouts. "Are you looking down on me!? HUH!?"

"OOF!!!" Ichigo backs up with a hand over his bruised cheek. " ...No, um... sorry for pulling it off (2)..." he says, looking apologetic. "I really don't know what to say..."

"Don't try and be nice to save your hide!!!" the mangled stuffed doll snarls at him.

"Yeah, I got it, I got it!!" he says, trying to appease Kon. "I'll go pull a favor from Ishida for you."

Kurosaki House

"Don't be so picky! There isn't anyone else!" Ichigo points down at the irate doll as he stuffs his wallet into his back pocket. "I'll take you over there when I get home so stay here and keep quiet! Got it?" Something falls out of his pocket and plops on the floor. He looks over his shoulder, "Huh?"

7:34am

It is a protective charm. The one Isshin gave him before he left for Soul Society, in fact.

September 1st

Ichigo walks into the kitchen and holds out the charm, "Dad!! Here! Take this back!!"

Isshin tosses it over his shoulder, "Don't want it!!"

Walking away, Ichigo mutters to himself, "Why was I still carrying that thing around anyway..." And then his father's register in his head. He spins around, "HUH!?"

"Daddy doesn't need it anymore!" Isshin says sweetly. "So I'll give. this. to. you.♥"

"Wha... what are you tying to my uniform! HEEY!" Ichigo tugs at the charm tied to pants, yelling, "Aw, shit! I can't get this thing off!!"

"Big Brother!" Yuzu calls over to him, "You'll be late for the bus!!"

"I know, I'm going, damn it!!" he shouts at his father, "Wasn't this supposed to be a precious charm from Mom?! Don't tell me that was all a lie!

"Take ca~re!!"

"Listen when I'm talking!" Ichigo snaps back. "Damn beardo. When I get back home, I'll split that chin in two!!!"

The start of a new school year.

[Title Page. You've probably seen it by now. I like Ichigo's jacket.]

"I~~CHI~~" Keigo runs like a man possessed, but Ichigo's raised arm effectively clotheslines the poor boy in the face. "GOugh!!!"

"Hey," says Ichigo. He walks off.

Lying on floor, Keigo brings two fingers up in a salute as he groans out, "It... it's been a long time, Ichigo... and I..."

"Morning, Ichigo," Mizuiro calls out as they pass each other in the hallway.

"Hey, Mizuiro," says Ichigo. He continues on his way to class without a second glance.

Mizuiro stands on top of the fallen Keigo's head and looks down. "Morning, Keigo," he says pleasantly.

"...die...!" Keigo growls.

"Mornin' Kurosaki-kun!!" Orihime calls out.

"...Mm," Chad says.

"Good morning," Ishida adjusts his glasses. "I can see from your tenaciously untidy hair that you're as well as ever."

Ichigo glares at him.

Keigo runs over, waving his arms frantically, "Ichigo, Ichigo!! Ichigooo!! What-what-what's with that group!? Doesn't that seem weird!? Doesn't it!?" He points over at the trio, where Orihime seems to be in the middle of telling a story about something or someone rather tall. "Why is Chad with Inoue-san!?" Keigo asks. "And why are they with Ishida!? This must be beauty, the beast, and the four-eyes!! Princess & Monster & Glasses!!! (3) Were they all that close before summer break!? What the heck kind of questionable things could've happened to those three this summer!?"

"Nothing really happened," Ichigo says as he trots over to the small group.

"And how come Ichigo is getting in with them too!?" Keigo shrieks. "I've got a bad feeling about this! It may finally be the start of being completely left out of everything!!"

A hand reaches out of nowhere. "Good.... MORNIN', 'Hime~!!!" Chizuru pops up behind Orihime and wraps her arms around her. She makes sure to give the other girl's chest a big squeeze, which elicits a surprised yelp from the other girl.

Foot meets face and Chizuru goes skidding across the room. She looks up at Tatsuki with blood gushing out of her nose. "Buhfuu..." she coughs, "Your slapstick (4) skills are in good shape at the end of summer, huh..."

"I've told you before that this ain't slapstick!!" Tatsuki snaps at her. She rests her school bag on her shoulder and looks down at Chizuru in disgust. "Man! Doesn't matter if its summer or fall, you're always throwing yourself on girls!!"

"YES ♥ I DO!!" Chizuru gives a thumbs up and a wink. "EVERY SEASON I WANNA GIRLS!!!(5)"

"Wipe the blood off your nose," Tatsuki tells her.

"Ahh..." Keigo looks over at Chizuru with tears of complete envy. "It must be so wonderful to be able to live so honestly like that... Right?"

"No..." Mizuiro says in embarassment, "Not for me..."

"Hey. Been a while, Tatsuki," says Ichigo.

"Hey," she says. "I haven't seen you at all this summer. I heard you got back from your trip ahead of time, but even when I dropped by your place you were usually out of the house... What the heck have you been up to all by yourself..." She looks down and notices something on Ichigo's uniform. "...? What's that?"

"Eh?" Ichigo looks down at the protective charm tied to his pants. "Ah, nothing. This charm is..."

"Not that," Tatsuki points. "That's just one of your Dad's pranks."

He looks at her in amazement, "...You figured that out, huh... wow."

"It's obvious," she spares him a dry look. "Who else around you would do such a thing? And I didn't mean that - I was asking what's with that thing with the skull!" She indicates the skull and crossmark badge hanging out of Ichigo's pocket.

"Oh, this?" He looks down at it, trying to come up with an excuse. "This is um... I bought it recen..." Ichigo cuts himself off when he realizes something. He looks over at his old friend in surprise, "Tatsuki, you... you can see this?"

She gives him a baffled look. "Eh? What do you mean by -"

Just then, a woman barges into the classroom, "HEY GUYS! C'MON! Get in your seats, you punks!!"

Keigo looks up, "Ah, Ochi-sensei."

Ochi walks up to the front of the classroom. Her hair is cut short, but her personality hasn't changed an iota. "Alrighty! No stragglers now! Well done, well done!!" She opens her black attendance book. "Oojima and Sorimachi aren't here, but they're yankees (6) so who cares! I'm sure they're doing fine!"

They're yankees so who cares... That's the first time I've heard a teacher say that... some of the students think.

"Well then, I've got wonderful news for everyone today!" Ochi says. "I'm going to introduce a transfer student!"

Ichigo barely pays attention to the teacher as he studies the skull-marked Active Duty License in his hand. He recalls what Ukitake had told him about it:

"This implement is far more more powerful than it appears," Ukitake explained cheerfully. "It's a terrible danger if anyone other than a shinigami were to handle it. As such, it's automatically covered by a visual barrier to keep it from being seen by normal humans.

Ichigo taps the badge against his forehead thoughtfully. "Guess there really isn't one after all..." He mutters to himself, "either that, or maybe it's already broken?"

Just when he least expects it, the eyes on the skull marking flashes brightly and it starts beeping, "HOLLOOO!! HOLLLOOO!!"

"UUWHOAH!?" Ichigo jumps in surprise.

Mizuiro looks over at him, "...What's wrong, Ichigo?"

"...Ah... Uh, nothing..." he says, pressing the badge against his chest to muffle the sound. "It's just...my stomach's kinda..." He thinks, Tha... that's right. Didn't he say that they can't hear it either...?

Orihime and Ishida hear the badge go off and look over at him. Chad leans forward from the seat behind Ichigo and whispers, "...a Hollow?"

"Yeah," Ichigo whispers back.

"Huh? Where did the transfer student go?" Ochi opens the door to take a look in the hallway. "Hello!"

She doesn't notice Ichigo slip behind her and out of the doorway. She turns and yells, "...wha, HEY YOU!!! Kurosaki!"

"Toilet!!" Ichigo shouts back.

"You sure go there often..." she notes. Suddenly, Chad and Orihime also rush into the hallway, running after Ichigo. "HEEEEY!!" Ochi shouts. "Sado!! Even Inoue too!?

"Toilet!!" they both shout back.

"LIARS!!!" Ochi yells. "Especially you, Inoue!! A girl can hold it at least until her stomach starts hurting!!"

"It hurts!!" Orihime says. " It feels like I may wet myself or even worse than that!!"

"Alright, then go already!!"

"AAHH!!" Not one to be left out, Keigo calls out, "Se... Sensei!! I feel like I'm gonna wet myself too!!"

"You're not allowed, Asano." Ochi tells him.

"WHAT!!" screams Keigo, "AND THEY'RE FINE!? ICHIGO AND THEM ARE ALWAYS FINE!! FIIINNE!! FIIINNNE!!"

"Quit it, Keigo..." Mizuiro mutters.

Ishida listens to the shouts passively. He adjusts his glasses, but he does not move from his seat.

Sitting by the window, Tatsuki turns to glance outside. She sees an unmistakable orange haired boy sprinting across the track field. He's wearing a black kimono and has a sword strapped to his back. She stares at him in disbelief as he leaves the school grounds.

~*~*~

A large Hollow with a snout and horns falls through the sky, spitting explosive energy at Ichigo. "COOOOOOWWW!!!" it screeches like a mad pokemon. "POOOOOOOORK!!"

"Which is it!?" he yells. "Cow or pork!?" Ichigo slices the Hollow cleanly in two with Zangetsu.

"...you know," Ichigo says looks over at Chad and Orihime as the Hollow disintegrates with one final cry of pooooork. "If it's just taking care of the Hollows around here, then shouldn't I handle this on my own? You guys don't have to skip class too."

"It's okay!" Orihime smiles brightly. "To be honest, I just wanted to see if I could lie about going to the bathroom and skip school!"

"...It's cool not to make up an excuse," Chad tells her, "but you're too honest about that, Inoue..."

Ichigo looks around curiously, "Say, what's Ishida up to?"

Chad points at Ichigo and explains to Orihime, "It doesn't matter if he came along or not, Ichigo would be bothered by it either way. He's that sort of guy."

Orihime tells Ichigo, "It seems Ishida-kun... hasn't been feeling well this whole time."

"Eh!? Really!?" he asks, surprised.

"Yeah, for quite a while now," she says. "Even before we got back from Soul Society..."

Ichigo looks up at Chad, "...did you notice anything?"

"...No..." Chad says.

"...I was wondering if maybe he didn't want you guys to notice..." Orihime says, looking down. "Ishida definitely wouldn't like it if people were to know about stuff like that..."

"...Inoue..." Ichigo says. "If that's the case, then wouldn't it be better not to tell us about it...?"

"Eh!! Ah, that's right!!" she exclaims. "You're so right about that!! Oh... oh dear oh dear oh dear!!"

"It's okay, it's okay!!" he assures her. "We'll pretend we still haven't noticed anything!"

"Re... really?" she asks hopefully.

Listening in on their conversation, someone takes a deep sip from a water bottle.

High above their heads stands a young man wearing a Karakura High School uniform. He has a hat over his bowl cut hairstyle. He places the water bottle down beside him and the contents do not spill out - despite the fact he is floating in mid-air upside down. Apparently, the laws of physics mean little to him (and his water bottle).

The boy looks at the trio on the street below and smiles, "Kurosaki... Ichigo, huh."


(1) Or "Bosutahu" if that's your preferance. Yuzu had the patch sewn on him in vol.17 (the extra pages).
(2) This is just a guess here, but I'm betting that Ichigo finally went and yanked off the flower glued to Kon's ear... with disastrous results.
(3) Said almost completely in English.
(4) She actually says "tsukkomi", not "sense of humor" but it was the best I could come up with. It's a common comedy routine where one person does something foolish and the other person smacks them. chirachira helped me find a better word for it. ♥
(5) All in English, so I won't fix the word usage. Even so. Chizuru probably gets good marks in that class. (Cute female teacher, I wonder?)
(6) Unlike its use in English, "yankee" is slang for "juvenile delinquent."

Thanks & apologies:
My deepest thanks to oceanizer for showing me 2ch.net. ♥
My deepest apologies for any mistakes in translation/spelling/grammar. Please feel to correct me in any of those areas. I'm always willing to learn more.

Notes:
-It's been so long, I nearly forgot how fun this was. Translation is freaking addictive.
-I should probably ask lacewood if Ochi-sensei bears even the slightest resemblence to YanKumi. If so, then I know what manga I want to read next.
-Is anyone disappointed that the Soul Society Arc ended the way it did? Hehehe, I'm not! WHEE! XD Bring on the new stuff!
-If you think it's unnecessary for me to put up these summaries here on s_s, I can post on my journal instead of the comm. I don't want to be spammy. (yeah, even mods worry about this too)
-Ep 37: Chad vs. Shunsui. ED song will feature the 8th Division.

See you.

back?