“You thon of a…you ripped out my thonge!!”

Strawberry ignored him and shoved his giant sword into his enemy’s leg.

“GRAH!!!!! My leg! My leg!!” he called in agony. 

“Now you can’t move…or use your bombs. You’re helpless.” Ichigo glared at him angrily, fire in his eyes. “Feels bad, doesn’t it!? THAT’S WHAT YOUR VICTIMS FELT!!”

The Hollow struggled until he eventually ripped his stabbed leg off and flew into the air. 

Ichigo just continued. “Fear’s a terrible thing! Makes you want to hack off your own leg to escape it!” He jumped into the air, following in pursuit. “Don’t forget that fear!! Drive it deep into your brain and disappear!!!” A long swipe hit the Hollow, finally extinguishing him and ending the battle. 

But it wasn’t over yet.

A crack appeared in the sky, right where Ichigo cut. That crack extended into the sky and formed two HUGE double-doors, each with a skeleton torso extending from it, its head wrapped in bandages and prayer slips. 

My knees went weak at the absolutely terrifying sight before me. “W-what is it?” I asked, my voice shaking a bit. 

“It’s Hell.” Rukia said bluntly. “I told you guys, the zanpaku-to cleanses a soul of its crimes so it can enter the Soul Society. But not all Hollows make it in. The zanpaku-to can only wash away the sins a soul committed as a Hollow! Those who committed heinous crimes while they were alive…we hand over to Hell!”

The doors started to open with a loud, ear-piercing kreek.

The Hollow was consumed by a crazy light, his figure gone, but his screams were still easily audible. Once the smoke and light receded, I saw a horrifying sight: the Hollow was stabbed through the middle by a giant kitchen knife held by a disembodied, armor-coated, tattooed arm. Eyes could barely be seen in the background, and a dark chuckle was heard. 

With that the doors slammed shut and started to dissolve. 

“He was cast into Hell?” Ichigo asked. 

“Yeah…” I said dazedly. I regained my composure quickly and rushed over to Yûichi to see how he was handling everything. Rukia and Carrot soon followed. 

“Is he gonna be okay?” I asked, afraid; I’d really grown attatched to the little booger and wanted to make sure he’d be alright in the end. 

“I’m sorry…” Rukia said unemotionally, a skill she must’ve gained from seeing so much death over the years. “The Chain of Fate has long been severed. It’s gone. Too much time has passed. It’s too late to get his own body back.”

“No…” the little boy whispered, making me want to cry. 

“It’s okay…” Rukia comforted. “Don’t worry! The Soul Socitey is a nice place! You’ll never be hungry, and you’ll be happy. It’s better than here!”

“Anyway…” Ichigo said soberly. “If you go there, you can see your mother.”

The parakeet started happily. 

“We can’t bring her back to life, but…you can be with her there….” Ichigo smiled. “This time it’s true. It’s waiting for you!”

Yûichi chirped with joy. 

“Ichigo…” Rukia said in disbelief. 

“All right…shall we start the Konsô?”

“Yeah!” the little boy squealed. “Chad…” he said, looking at his friend. “Thanks for everything!” 

“Um…it was nothing!”

“You saved me from that monster!” Suddenly, Yûichi’s real soul started to evaporate from the bird, forming beside the cage.

“Um…it was nothing!” Chad repeated. 

Yûichi smiled knowingly. “I better get going…thank you…very much.”

Just before the boy left, Chad spoke: “Uh, Yûichi…when I die and go over there…can I carry you around? And run around one more time?”

The boy, now revealed to be a small thing of about five, smiled, tears coming out of the corners of his eyes. “Sure!!”

We all smiled soberly.

“Okay,” Ichigo said. “Let’s do this. Ready?”

I’d never shed so many tears.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

“HEY!” a voice called to me. My head shot up, my thoughts shuffling away and my concious coming back. I turned to my right, only to see Takeshi walking beside me. 

Oh, yeah, I thought. That’s what I was doing. I guess Yûichi’s exorcism left me a bit somber. Come on, Adel. Ya gotta perk up, at least ‘till you get home.

I lifted my shoulders and grinned. “Sorry, I dazed off there for a second. Guess I forgot what was going on. Now what were you saying?”

He looked at me skeptically, as if he knew something was wrong. “Um…I was just gonna ask you what your favorite American band was….”

“Oh!” I squeaked. “It’s My Chemical Romance, of course. Who else?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I probably shoulda figured that out, what with you singing them every day on the way to school.”

I giggled. “Sorry, I just love them so much. I remember back in America, when I was twelve, I had this creepy obsession with Mikey Way, like I would kiss the ground he walked on. My mom thought I needed therapy.”

He laughed. “Wow, that’s…not surprising, knowing you.” He sighed. “Gosh, I’ve only known you for, what, two days? And it feels like we’ve been friends since we were kids, or something.”

“Yeah. It does.” I smiled happily. It’s nice to have a guy-friend like this; one I could talk to about anything, and he’d always be willing to listen. 

That perked a strange thought in my head. 

“You’re gay, right?”

Takeshi looked at me strangely. Then a slow blush creeped up his cheeks. “I’m bi.”

“HA!” I yelled a bit too loudly, causing him to jump. I laughed. “Sorry. I just figured there was something off-kilter about a guy I could talk to about--well, anything--so easily.”

He looked at me strangely. “That’s okay. Just, if you could keep quiet about it, I’d appreciate it. I just don’t wanna get bullied about it like I did at my last school, ya know? It’s tough being abnormal.”

I frowned. “You’re not abnormal! You just have--different tastes! There’s nothing wrong with that! But I’ll keep it quiet, if you want me to.”

He smiled in relief, sighing a bit. “Thanks, Adel; you’re a really good friend.”

I grinned. “Of course; I have to let out all this awesome somewhere.”

He laughed. “That’s true.”

We continued on our walk to school, talking about random things. 

“So,” I asked. “Is there anybody you like, yet?”

He blushed. 

“HOLY CRAP WHO IS IT?!?!?!?” I screeched. “As you new B.F.F., it is your civic duty to tell me.”

He laughed again. “Uh…well…that Kurosaki dude’s kinda cute….”

My jaw dropped. “You like Strawberry?!” Oh, was I getting one hell of a kick out of this! “That’s…great! He’s a really great guy!”

“Really?” he asked. “I dunno, he just seemed cute. But he acted kinda jerkish.”

“Oh, naw…” I said. “He’s a good guy. But…he’s strait as a board.”

His face fell. “Seriously? I coulda sworn he was gay. Or at least bi.”

I had to stop now; I stood still, laughing my frikin’ ass off. I was laughing for a few minutes until I calmed myself down enough to respond. “Dude,” I said, wiping a tear from the corner of my eye, “he’s dating my friend Tara.”

He paled a bit. “Oh.”

“Yeah. You should eat lunch with us today; you’ll see them. And you’ll meet Babs too, my other friend. Plus Orihime, Chad, and some others. C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

He didn’t answer for a second, contemplating his response. But eventually he agreed. 

“Yay!” I said, clapping my hands excitedly. “Today’s gonna be good, I can feel it!”

We reached the school without incident and quicky rushed to homeroom; for some reason, I had an urge to be there super-early. 

Upon entry we were greeted by Keigo’s stupidity. He was trying to teach Chad’s now normal parakeet a few phrases: “Keigo Asano and Tom Felton are twins! Like Hitoshi Matsumoto and Vincent Gallo!” He quieted for a moment to let that sink in to the bird’s tiny brain. “Okay!” he said, deciding three seconds was enough time. “Say it!”

“Asa…asa…asa…Asano…Asano Higuchi!”

“Oh, so close!” he said, giving the bird a thumbs-up. 

That wasn’t close at all, I thought. What an idiot.

“Hey, Chad,” I said, holding up my hand. He smiled slightly and hi-fived me. 

“What happened to your bird, Chad?” Mizuiro asked. “The other day it was talking like a pro; now it can’t even say Mr. Asano’s name.”

“Uh…” Chad said, “beats me. I woke up this mornin’ and it was like that.”

“GOOD MORNING!” Rukia said in her all-too-perky school voice. 

“Miss Kuchiki!” Keigo said in his fangirly voice. “So nice to see you! Looking beautiful, as always!”

“Ah, thank you!” she said, a twinkling smile filling her face. She turned to Kurosaki. “Ichigo, may I have a word with you?”

“Huh?” he said, not getting the hint. “If you’ve got something to say, say it!”

Swiftly, Rukia made him understand, swinging a roundhouse kick to his back, making him collapse. “Oh my!” she said cheesily, “you’re not well, Ichigo!” She started to drag him out of the classroom by his head. “I’d better take you to the nurse’s office!” Although she tired to be incognito, everyone in the classroom sweatdropped at her display. 

I just laughed. “Ah, this is why I love her.”

“And this is why I love you,” Chizuru said, grabbing my boobs roughly. She moaned a bit, and my face twisted in disgust. 

“Get the fuck off, Chizuru!” I said, knocking her off me. 

She just blushed. “You’ll be mine one day, kitten….”

I shook her touch off me; God, she was creepy.

So I wouldn’t be assaulted again, I went to my desk and opened my notebook, starting to sketch something. I wasn’t paying much attention to my pencil-scratching, and before I knew it, I had a picture:

I had drawn a muscular man, about six-foot-two, I’d guess, who only had one arm. He had messy hair that was spiky in the back, but flipped in the front. He was very beautiful, and had a bone around his jaw. 

Holy shit.

I quickly tore the paper out and balled it up, throwing it away. I had to dispose of it: if Rukia or Ichigo’d seen it, I woulda had a lot of explaining to do. Better to follow the regular story procession. 

Ochi Sensei entered the room and ordered us to our seats. She quickly called roll and began class. 

The day went on as normal and passed quickly. It was a split second of class, then suddenly, it was lunch time. 

“YAY!” Orihime yelled. “Lunch time!!”

I laughed. “It’s lunch, not your birthday, O-chan.”

“But…but…” she whimpered. “Lunch time is the reason we girls come to school!”

I silently chuckled at her rudimentary mind, and sighed; there was no point arguing. “Okay, Orihime. Whatever you say.”

Chizuru silently slinked up to our group. “Can I eat with you guys?” she asked excitedly. 

Tatsuki shot me a look that I quickly returned: whatever you’re thinking, DON’T say yes.

Of course, we forgot about our retarted friend.

“Sure!” Orihime said happily, jumping up and down and clapping. 

“Aah~” Chizuru said erotically. “But, I’m in a predicament: I’m hungry for…more than food <3.” She started stroking Orhime’s face romantically, and I wanted to puke. 

“Back OFF, Chizuru!” Tatsuki yelped. “It’s broad freaking daylight!”

Chizuru moaned and explained her sick motives to Tatsuki, and how Tatsuki was too “butch” for her. She said if Tatsuki was a little more feminine, she’d #$%@#%$^%$^…

I’ll let you fill in that blank.

Orihime’s eyes suddenly flashed with an light of recognition. She jumped out of her seat and turned towards the window. She ran towards it and lifted one leg against the pane.

“Orihime!” I said. “You’re flashing the courtyard!”

“I smell Ichigo!” she said happily, sniffing the pane like a dog. 

“What the hell, are you a bloodhound or something?” I came up behind her and tried to pull her back to our table, but she beat me to the punch. She grabbed my arm and pulled us away as Ichigo…

…JUMPED THROUGH THE WINDOW?!