New Strangers, Old Friends

A month and a half have passed since Rukia's friends left the Soul Society and started to live their normal lives. After hearing the truth about Kisuke, Kuroi has decided to cut contact with him. Even though he believes that nothing strange is happening, a mysterious group of people is watching him. They may be good or they may be bad, but it's up for Kuroi to figure out. Right now, it's the first day of school. Kuroi walks through the doors of his high school and walks towards his classroom. He stops once he hears the footsteps of a friend.

"Kuroi!" exclaimed Keigo.

Keigo tries to hug his buddy, but Kuroi just knees him in the stomach. Keigo falls to the floor in pain.

"What was that for?" asked Keigo weakly.

"I don't like dudes touching me. See you in class," said Kuroi.

"See you too, jerk," said Keigo.

Kuroi continues to walk until he reaches his homeroom's door. He opens the door and sees that his class hasn't changed. He sees his group of friends in the corner of the classroom and walks over to them.

"Good morning, Kuroi!" exclaimed Orihime.

"Hi," said Chad.

"Morning, looks like your hair is messy as always," said Uryu.

"Why do you never say anything nice? We all know that you're a softie on the inside," said Kuroi.

"Don't start this stuff again," said Uryu.

"I can't start something that was started by you," said Kuroi.

"Whatever," said Uryu.

"This is such an unusual combo. I think that people are looking at us strangely," said Ichigo.

"Who cares what they think? We're friends at the end of the day and that is all that matters," said Kuroi.

"Morning, Hime!" exclaimed the amorous student.

Kuroi turns his head and sees the student hugging Orihime from behind and grabbing her boobs. His nose starts to bleed a little. Before he can enjoy the sight, Tatsuki kicks the student in the face and she flies into a bookcase.

"Geez. All you guys try to do is get some," said Tatsuki.

"Long time no see, Tatsuki," said Kuroi.

"I haven't seen you practically all summer. You said that you were returning from your trip early, but you weren't home. What have you been doing?" said Tatsuki.

"Training to finally show you that I'm a better martial artist," said Kuroi.

"No chance! I will always be better than you," said Tatsuki.

"We'll see later," said Kuroi.

"What is that badge on your pants? It just doesn't seem to fit your style," said Tatsuki.

"She can see the badge? Does she also have special abilities? I will have to find out later," thought Kuroi.

"Umm. Earth to Kuroi. Are you there?" said Tatsuki.

"Has anyone told you that you look beautiful today?" asked Kuroi.

Tatsuki starts to blush.

"Umm. Thank you," said Tatsuki.

"I have to get back to my seat. Talk to you later," said Kuroi.

"Wait. You didn't answer my-," said Tatsuki.

"Hello, class! Scurry back to your seats because class is about to start!" exclaimed Ms. Ochi.

The students walk to their desks. Ms. Ochi closes the door and walks towards her desk. She pulls out her notebook and takes attendance. She smiles once she notices that all of the good students are here.

"Everyone is here today! Very nice! Today, I have a very cool announcement! We have a new transfer student!" exclaimed Ms. Ochi.

Kuroi pulls out his substitute soul reaper badge and stares at it. He continues to stare at it until the skull's eyes light up.

"Hollow! Hollow!" exclaimed the badge.

"Hollow?" asked Chad.

"Yeah. Time for the perfect excuse," said Kuroi.

Kuroi raises his hand.

"Yes, Kuroi?" asked Ms. Ochi.

"My stomach feels like it's going to explode, so may I use the restroom?" asked Kuroi.

"Sure, but please return," said Ms. Ochi.

"I will," said Kuroi.

Kuroi hops off his seat and runs out of the classroom. Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime get out of their seats and run out of the classroom as well.

"Wait! Don't leave!" exclaimed Ms. Ochi.

"We have to use the bathroom as well!" exclaimed the friends.

"That's a lie!" exclaimed Ms. Ochi.

"No it isn't!" exclaimed the friends.

"I'm getting tired of these kids. Now, let's get back to our lesson," said Ms. Ochi.

Tatsuki looks out the window and her expression changes from an average one to a surprised one. She sees Kuroi and Ichigo charging at a Hollow. They easily dodge the Hollow's attacks and defeat the Hollow with a combination of slashes. They high-five each other as the Hollow disintegrates.

"I didn't need your guys' help," said Kuroi.

"We needed to see some action too. Ever since you had a fallout with Kisuke, you've been annihilating all of the Hollows," said Ichigo.

"I needed some stuff to do," said Kuroi.

Kuroi looks up and sees Tatsuki watching them through the classroom window.

"It looks like we have a fan," said Kuroi.

Kuroi waves at Tatsuki and she quietly waves back.

"I'll need to talk to her later. I can't allow her to hate me for not telling her the truth," said Kuroi.

"Maybe I can talk to her," said Orihime.

"I want to. She'll listen to me," said Kuroi.

As the four friends walk back into the school, the blonde transfer student stares at them from behind the corner.

"Ichigo and Kuroi seem to be pretty strong. Isshin and Aoi must have trained them well," said the transfer student.

Twelve hours pass. Kuroi sits on his bed, waiting for someone to knock on his door. A few more seconds pass before he hears a knock on his bedroom door. He walks up to the door and opens it. Outside of the door stands Tatsuki rapidly tapping her foot.

"Tell me everything," said Tatsuki.

"I will. Just come in and close the door," said Kuroi.

Tatsuki walks into the room and closes the door. The two rivals take a seat on Kuroi's bed.

"Why did you hide this from me?" asked Tatsuki

"Well, all the legendary superheroes have secret identities," said Kuroi.

"What do you do?" asked Tatsuki.

"Well, I hunt and destroy soul-sucking demons. Without me, there would be more dead people around these parts," said Kuroi.

"Is it a hard job?" asked Tatsuki.

"Not really. I train a lot. That's why you don't see me around a lot," said Kuroi.

"So, Ichigo is also a demon slayer, right?" asked Tatsuki.

"We're not called demon slayers. We're shinigami. We protect the living and souls from Hollows who want to eat them," said Kuroi.

"Rukia is also a soul reaper, right?" asked Tatsuki.

"Yeah, but she decided to not return. She may come back and visit every once and a while," said Kuroi.

"You seem stronger and braver than you look. I thought that you just watched hentai and be an ass all day," said Tatsuki.

"You act more feminine in private. Why do you try to act so tough?" said Kuroi.

"I want Orihime to know that her friend is strong, so she doesn't feel unsafe. I want her to know that she can always come to me if she feels down," said Tatsuki.

"You're a good friend. You're lightyears better than me," said Kuroi.

"You're not a bad friend. You're just complex. Complex people are always interesting," said Tatsuki.

"I'm pretty interesting. I'm Spiderman, but with different powers," said Kuroi.

"I'm glad that you told me this stuff, but I came here for another reason," said Tatsuki.

"What was that other reason?" asked Kuroi.

"We've been friends for years. We've gone to the same schools. We've gone to the same dojos. We like the same things, So I've been thinking about things," said Tatsuki.

"What things have you been thinking about?" asked Kuroi.

"We've been through so much together and I believe that we can be something more. I think that I'm in-," said Tatsuki.

"Hollow! Hollow!" exclaimed the badge.

Kuroi turns around and sees his substitute soul reaper badge flashing. Kuroi picks it up and stands up.

"A Hollow's nearby, so I gotta go. Watch over my body. I'll be back," said Kuroi.

Kuroi taps the badge on his body and his soul escapes from his body. He climbs out of his window and looks at the night sky before embarking. He's about to jump off his roof until he hears someone.

"Who the heck are you!" exclaimed the soul reaper.

Kuroi turns his head and sees a soul reaper with an afro standing on the roof of the house next to his.

"Who are you?" asked Kuroi.

"My name is Zennosuke Kurumadani and I'm the soul reaper that was chosen to replace Rukia Kuchiki after she committed some crime. Did that impress you?" said Zennosuke.

"I can sense that you're not very strong, so I don't care if the Soul Society sent you here. This is my turf and I'm tired of soul repairs being sent to do my job," said Kuroi.

Kuroi turns around and pulls out his Zanpakuto right on time to prevent from being cut down.

"Shinji, please don't tell me that you're also a soul reaper," said Kuroi.

"I used to be, but not anymore. I'm different. We're different," said Shinji.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kuroi.

Shinji jumps back and lands on the roof. He puts his hand next to his face and a Hollow mask appears in his hand.

"Do you know what this is?" asked Shinji.

"It's a Hollow mask. It's a physical representation of a person's inner Hollow. My inner Hollow is nice and gives me power when I'm about to die or need it," said Kuroi.

"Captain Hono must have told you a lot. I'm not surprised though. He used to be part of my gang. We are Visoreds after all," said Shinji.

"I don't join gangs. I'm a soul reaper and my main objective is to protect my town. I don't feel like making friends with 'Visoreds'," said Kuroi.

"You can gain more power if you join us. If you can control your Hollow powers, you can become a powerhouse," said Shinji.

"I'm already a powerhouse. If Aizen starts to make moves then I may consider joining your little gang, but buzz off for now," said Kuroi.

"Fine. I'll go talk to Ichigo then," said Shinji.

"I would advise you don't. He will just say the same thing," said Kuroi.

"How do you know that?" asked Shinji.

"We're close," said Kuroi.

"I'll take my chances," said Shinji.

"Are you guys going to just act like I'm not right here!" exclaimed Zennosuke.

"Shut up!" exclaimed the Visoreds.

Shinji hops off the roof and flies towards Ichigo's house. Kuroi proceeds to patrol around the town, but finds little to no Hollows, strange for this time of year. After he finishes his patrol, he just flash steps until he reaches his house and enters his room through his window

"That was quick," said Tatsuki.

"There were surprisingly no Hollows out tonight. Strange," said Kuroi.

"Maybe a new soul reaper has appeared," said Tatsuki.

"Hopefully there isn't. I don't want to lose my job," said Kuroi.

"You won't. You're number one," said Tatsuki.

"Don't flatter me," said Kuroi.

"I'm not. I can just feel the power that you produce. I was barely able to stand when you were out there," said Tatsuki.

"You're just weak compared to soul reapers," said Kuroi.

"Should we keep talking?," asked Tatsuki.

"No," said Kuroi.

"No?" asked Tatsuki.

"We'll talk later. Thanks for taking care of my body. You can go now," said Kuroi.

"Why?" asked Tatsuki.

"We can talk later. I need time to think," said Kuroi.

"Fine," said Tatsuki disappointedly.

Tatsuki disappointedly stands up and walks out of the room.

"I don't know why so many girls like you. You're going to end up with a harem like those hentai protagonists that you watch when all of this stuff is over," said Meinu.

"Shut up," said Kuroi.