A whole week passed, and Ichigo spent every night hunting Hollows. The thrill of battle became second nature to him—dodge, strike, kill. Each fight sharpened his instincts, honed his reflexes, and strengthened his Reiatsu control. By now, cutting down Hollows felt as natural as breathing.
Unbeknownst to him, his nightly activities had stirred a commotion in the Soul Society. The sudden increase in purified souls, all concentrated in one area, had not gone unnoticed. To investigate, they sent a Soul Reaper named—Rukia Kuchiki.
But for now, Ichigo had no idea.
It was Sunday, a rare day where he had nothing planned. He lay sprawled across his bed, staring at the ceiling, enjoying the lazy stillness of the morning. The cool breeze from the open window drifted through his room, ruffling his messy hair.
Then, a sudden knock echoed through the house.
"Big brother! There are people here for you!" Yuzu's voice rang out from downstairs.
Ichigo groaned slightly, rolling onto his side. He figured it was probably Keigo or Mizuiro coming over to pester him. Not bothering to put on a shirt, he got up, stretched lazily, and walked out of his room.
As he stepped into the living room, however, he was met with an unexpected sight—Orihime and Tatsuki sitting on the couch.
They both froze at the sight of him, wide-eyed.
His well-defined torso was on full display, muscles toned from years of fights and training. The sharp lines of his abs, the sculpted build of his shoulders—it was a rare, unobstructed view that neither of them had expected.
Orihime's breath hitched. Tatsuki's gaze lingered for a second too long before she caught herself, clearing her throat and nudging Orihime hard enough to snap her out of it.
Ichigo, completely unfazed, walked over and plopped down on the couch across from them.
"Sup," he greeted casually.
Orihime, still trying to recover, clasped her hands together tightly to keep them from fidgeting. Tatsuki crossed her arms, trying to play it cool, but the faint pink dusting her cheeks betrayed her.
"Um… we came to ask if you wanted to hang out," Orihime managed, though her eyes kept flickering downward without her permission.
"You don't have to agree," Tatsuki added quickly.
Ichigo stifled a yawn. "Sure. Where do you wanna hang out, though? Not really in the mood to walk around."
Orihime perked up. "We can hang out in your room! I brought my gaming console! Um… it's an old model, but it has fun games!" she said, locking onto him with an eager smile.
"That's cool. Let's head upstairs then." Ichigo stood up and led them to his room, leaving them there for a moment as he turned back downstairs.
"Yuzu, could you prepare some drinks for us? I'll buy you something later," he said, ruffling her hair.
She giggled. "Okay, big brother!"
Ichigo smirked and returned upstairs, finding Orihime and Tatsuki already plugging everything in, setting up the game console on his TV.
"How's the dojo, Tatsuki?" he asked as he leaned against the wall, surprising her.
"Oh, it's alright. We've been getting a lot of new members ever since we started competing and stuff," she said, glancing at him.
"Nice."
"You guys were in the same dojo?" Orihime asked curiously.
"Yeah, but I left for… reasons." Ichigo shrugged. "Anyway, let's see the games."
Orihime excitedly pulled out a stack of CDs, and Ichigo chuckled as he flipped through them.
'I forgot this story is set in the 2000s… Damn. PS2 era.'
"What do you wanna play?" he asked, looking over the selection.
"How about a game all three of us can play?" Orihime suggested.
Ichigo scanned the game titles, flipping through familiar covers. Some classics, some fighters, a couple of racing games. He smirked.
"Alright, let's go with Tekken 5," he said, pulling out the disc.
Orihime clapped her hands together excitedly, while Tatsuki cracked her knuckles. "Hope you're ready to lose, Kurosaki," she said with a smirk.
Ichigo raised a brow. "Tch, bold of you to assume I'll lose."
The console booted up, the iconic PlayStation 2 startup sound filling the room.
Vwoooom…
Orihime and Tatsuki sat cross-legged on the floor while Ichigo leaned back against his bed, controller in hand. The character selection screen popped up. Tatsuki quickly picked Hwoarang, Orihime went with Xiaoyu, and Ichigo casually chose Jin.
"Three rounds, no excuses," Tatsuki declared.
Ichigo smirked. "We'll see about that."
The match started.
Fwoosh—BAM!
The moment the timer hit zero, Tatsuki dashed forward, immediately going on the offensive. Ichigo blocked the first few hits but got caught by a quick combo.
"Gotcha!" Tatsuki grinned as she launched a kick to his character's face.
Ichigo's health bar dropped slightly. "Oh? That's cute," he said, cracking his neck.
With precise inputs, he parried her next attack, countered with a spinning kick, and launched a devastating combo that sent her character flying.
WHACK—BOOM!
"Oof!" Tatsuki groaned as she watched her health bar plummet.
Orihime, meanwhile, was laughing as she tried to land random attacks, Xiaoyu bouncing around unpredictably.
"Wait, what does this button do—oh! I backflipped!" Orihime giggled.
Ichigo, focused, dodged another flurry of attacks from Tatsuki before landing a perfect uppercut.
K.O.
"Hah!" Ichigo leaned back with a smug grin.
Tatsuki huffed, tossing her controller on the bed. "Lucky shot."
"Skill issue," Ichigo shot back.
"Alright, alright! One more round!" Tatsuki demanded, grabbing the controller again.
Orihime giggled, enjoying the back-and-forth between them. She wasn't really playing to win, just having fun.
For the next hour, they played match after match, the room filled with the sounds of rapid button presses, Orihime's cheerful laughter, and Tatsuki's competitive grumbles. Ichigo, despite his usual nonchalant attitude, was clearly enjoying himself.
Eventually, after one final round where Orihime somehow managed to win by pure accident, they all leaned back, stretching.
"That was fun," Orihime said, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll beat Kurosaki next time," Tatsuki muttered, cracking her knuckles.
Ichigo smirked. "Keep dreaming."
Just then, a knock came from the door. Yuzu peeked in, holding a tray with drinks and snacks.
"Here you go!" she said cheerfully.
"Thanks, Yuzu," Ichigo said, ruffling her hair again before she left.
As they sipped their drinks, Orihime suddenly perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot! There's a festival coming up next weekend! Do you guys wanna go?"
"A festival, huh?" Ichigo mused, glancing at Tatsuki, who shrugged.
"Could be fun," Tatsuki said.
Orihime looked at Ichigo expectantly.
He sighed, scratching his head. "Alright, I'll go."
Orihime beamed. "Yay! It'll be so much fun!"
Ichigo smirked slightly, leaning back. 'Guess next weekend won't be so boring after all.'
TO BE CONTINUED