Damage Control

Chiaki groaned as she pulled herself up from the floor where she'd been laying, her vision blurry from all the dust that had gotten in her eyes. Sitting up, Chiaki rubbed her eyes to clear the obstruction, and after blinking a few times, she found that she was no longer on the second floor, but instead on the floor of her room. It confused her for a moment, but when she thought about it, she supposed Rukia probably had tried to bring her upstairs after her attempt at damage control.

"Guess she couldn't reach all the way to-"

As if on cue, Isshin burst into the room to interrupt her thought, rushing over only to trip over Chiaki's outstretched foot and go flying.

"Think fast Ichi- AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Isshin slammed into the wall, causing Chiaki to roll her eyes. She was getting really tired of all these interruptions… She couldn't tell if Isshin was just trying to play up his "powerless dad" persona or if he was really that reckless, but regardless, she did NOT enjoy dealing with it. In any case, Ichigo stirred at the sound of Isshin's fall, groaning as he rubbed his head.

"What's with all this noise in the morning…? Is that any way to treat the son that just saved your ass from monsters last night?"

Isshin's face contorted into a frown; now Chiaki was really unsure if he was acting. He had to suspect that hollows were somehow involved... If it was an act, it was a stunningly good one.

"You must be delirious from the gas that was leaking! Turns out we had some escaping into the house, so that's what set off the explosion yesterday. Good thing none of us were hurt."

Ichigo's face morphed into an expression that was equal parts shock and disappointment, but Chiaki shot him a look to say "just play along with it for now". Ichigo shook his head in exasperation, but didn't press the issue. Chiaki picked up the slack, grinning and chuckling like the entire situation didn't bother her.

"Guess we're all heavy sleepers huh? Well, with your thick skull Ichigo, it's no wonder you didn't notice it."

Ichigo frowned, thinking for a moment before responding. Then, getting up from his bed, Ichigo simply waved dismissively without looking back.

"Whatever you say. Just hurry up and get changed for class, and don't take too long. I'm letting you go first so you don't bother me while I get ready.

Isshin continued to frown as he turned towards Chiaki, an inquisitive look on his face. She could only really respond with an equally unsure shrug of her shoulders. Isshin sighed deeply, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"That kid… keep an eye on your brother for me alright? I know he has a lot on his mind, and he won't talk to me about these things. You're the one who understands him best, don't forget that alright?"

Chiaki was surprised by his sudden moment of insight, but uncharacteristic as it was, at the end of the day, all she could really do was agree.

"Yeah don't worry, I'll talk to him later."

Isshin gave her a skeptical look, but he ultimately relented and, dusting himself off, quietly excused himself from the room. Chiaki finally released the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in, picking herself up and grabbing her clothes to change.

__________

Chiaki quickly went through the steps of putting on new clothes, changing into her uniform with practiced ease without facing the mirror at all. In fact, she did her best to avoid her reflection as much as she could, keeping her eyes on the clothes. Of course, part of it was that she was already more than familiar with her body by this point, but more than that… she hated seeing her new appearance. By all accounts, she should have been overjoyed to be in a young, attractive, and physically fit body, but no matter her mood, she couldn't help but look at her reflection with disdain.

When she had been alive the first time around, she had always read stories where the heroine would suddenly find herself to be beautiful. That was always the dream after all, whether it was a fairy tale or an isekai, and she had always wanted to stand out. But… Chiaki now had the memory of two lives in her head, and comparing the two, it angered her how many people treated her well for her appearance, and not for herself. In her old life… before her murder… she'd clawed her way up to the very top and earned the respect of those around her with nothing but intelligence, skill, and grit. Now, everyone liked her for shallow reasons first, and that thought caused her to grind her teeth more than anything else.

Brushing her teeth quickly with her eyes towards the ground, Chiaki heard a knocking on the bathroom door, and Yuzu's voice echoing from behind it.

"Hurry Chi-chi, I need to use the restroom!"

Quickly finishing up her business and exiting the bathroom, Chiaki let in a very worried Yuzu as she moved towards the door, grabbing a piece of bread and holding it in her mouth as she adjusted her bag, an action that looked a lot more threatening on her permanently scowling face. Ichigo had already got his stuff together, nodding to her as she reached the doorway.

"You took a while in there… I guess it's fine though, I doubt anyone even expects us to show up today considering the "gas explosion". We can probably take our time getting there.

"You're quick with coming up with ways to excuse being late, aren't you? I don't mind though, I'll take some extra time to talk whenever I can get it"

The two walked out the door, neither looking particularly eager to get to their destination. The awkward air surrounding the events of the day before definitely didn't help either. She knew in her brother's mind, a ton of thoughts were probably swirling around, feelings regarding the implications of shinigami existing and their goals. It was definitely a topic she was uncomfortable about bringing up, and she didn't quite know how to handle it. In situations like these, the best way to handle it was instinct, not overthinking it. When the two got near a relatively secluded area, Chiaki motioned for Ichigo to follow her there, and understanding her intent, the two of them went into an alley to get some privacy as they spoke about the events of the day before.

"Ok, so, you do remember yesterday, right sis?"

Chiaki gave a sly grin, before giving him a thumbs up, looking super smug about it the entire time. Despite how brutal the fight had been, and unexpectedly difficult, if nothing else she was proud of how well she handled the situation and how far she'd gotten without any shinigami powers.

"Course I do. I totally saved your butt back there, didn't I? Not just with the hollow either, but also when everyone didn't remember."

"I guess that must be shinigami-style damage control… Thanks for the assist yesterday though. I got a bit reckless running into the house like that. Turns out a big sword like that isn't the best in an indoor fight..."

"Yeah, I did pretty well for my first time going up against a magic demon ghost, didn't I? You couldn't have done it without me."

Chiaki gave a "humble" shrug, to which Ichigo gave her a look of annoyance and exasperation, which she pretended not to notice, something that made Ichigo even madder.

"Wipe that smug look off of your face, I could have definitely killed that thing on my own! It just took me by surprise… And it's not a joke either, it was as really as it gets! I wasn't worrying about not being able to save myself, I was worried I wouldn't be able to save one of you!"

Chiaki was taken aback by this sudden outburst, and she simply stood there for a moment, looking stunned. Then, her expression softened.

"Sorry about that… you're not the only older sibling though, don't forget that. I can protect myself, and Yuzu and Karin too. Mas- Mom would have wanted us to trust each other, right?"

Chiaki quickly recovered from her stumble, trying to hide the fact she'd almost called Masaki by her first name out of habit from her own life, but Ichigo didn't seem to notice, being too caught up in the meaning behind her words.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry about that sis… What about that shinigami we saw though? Do you think she'll bother us again? I don't really want to get too involved in anything crazy like that."

Chiaki feigned a thoughtful frown, but, in her head, she was suppressing a chuckle. If only she could tell him what was coming in their lives soon… she knew he wouldn't be able to imagine the things that would happen. Still, she had to keep up appearances, and so, still stifling her laughter, she did her best to simply wave off the question, pretending not to know about who was waiting for them at school today as she started walking towards school again, waving for a slightly confused Ichigo to follow her.

"I'm sure she'll show up when we least expect it. For now though, let's focus on getting to school, we're already going to be pretty tardy. If we're lucky, today will be a completely normal day!"