It took Makoto about 10 minutes to walk to school from the Kurosaki clinic, but he took 15 since he didn't want to show up in the final minutes of class, meaning he arrived shortly after the end of second period. Due to the sudden appearance of Rukia and their "official" dating status Makoto had accidentally become one of the most popular people in the school, so it was no surprise that when he walked onto campus with his arm in a sling he could feel the eyes of every person in the school focused on him.
"Why are they all staring at me?" Makoto thought as he felt the eyes of his schoolmates boring holes into him. "Is it really so abnormal for someone to show up to school beat up or is it just because it is me they are worried about it?"
"What happened to him?" he could hear one girl whisper. "No wonder Rukia came in alone."
"That definitely sounds like the latter," Makoto mumbled.
"Did he get into a fight?" A guy asked his friend as they walked past him.
"Is it all right for him to be here?" Another girl replied back in a hushed tone. "He looks really beat up."
"Ha! You think this is bad! You should have seen me last night," Makoto thought to himself. "It doesn't even look like I'm in…"
It was at this moment Makoto bumped into another student knocking him to the ground and sending a wave of pain throughout his entire torso. "Ow! Ow! Ow ow ow!" he yelled, bringing his left arm across his chest though it did little to lessen the pain.
"Watch where you are going," Makoto looked up to see a bespectacled boy with blue hair and a stern look upon his face. "Unlike you, some of us actually have places to be."
"Oh and I don't?" Makoto retorted back, clearly annoyed. "Not just anyone shows up in the middle of school after getting severely injured."
"Then why are you here? To hang out with your fake girlfriend?" The once lively hall fell into dead silence as everyone stared at the two boys.
"What are you talking about?" Makoto said his voice was firm yet his eyes wavered as he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
"I think we both know what I mean," the boy replied frostily, his piercing sapphire eyes fixed in a glare on Makoto, a fearsome amount of understanding and what seemed like anger hidden in them. "What? No story to prove why I am wrong?"
"What is with this guy?" Makoto thought. "He talks as if he knows everything about me. I know I'm a lousy liar but I fooled the rest of the school and the real reasons for what happened to me are so outlandish that even the staunchest optimist would have trouble believing."
"What's wrong?" the boy asked, "You don't have a story to prove why I am incorrect?"
Now he had really done it. "You want a story for how this happened?" Makoto said, his voice calm despite the anger that was boiling inside of him as he looked the boy dead in the eyes, gesturing to his arm. "I got it from fighting off a demon that was attacking my friends. WITH my girlfriend."
There was an explosion of laughter that echoed throughout the hall as everyone who could hear the outrageous statement began cackling. All that is except for one, the blue haired boy stood there completely speechless, with what almost seemed to Makoto like…astonishment? Wait, did this boy believe what he just stated?! Who in their right mind would believe something as stupid as what he had just said?! Unless…no! That couldn't be it!
The air around the boy seemed to cool and Makoto sensed as it almost seemed to coalesce around him. It was vastly different from anything he had felt before but Makoto could tell without a doubt that it was reiatsu. But why was this feeling so different from the Hollows that he had encountered before. Even just standing here next to him Makoto could sense as the animosity from the boy seemed to draw away all warmth and from around him, freezing his limbs solid. Or was it that the boy was absorbing his reiatsu?!
"Who are you?" Makoto said, his voice only audible to the boy across from him over the boisterous laughter of the bystanders.
The boy once again looked taken aback but he quickly recovered and returned to the stern face he held before. "Who I am is of no consequence to you," he replied coldly. "And you should do well to stop drawing attention to yourself, that is if you value both your's and Kuchiki-san's lives."
"What do you mean by that?" Makoto replied, his eyes narrowing at the boy.
"What is going on here?" a voice yelled out over the rabble that caused everyone to turn in its direction. There walking through the crowd was a black-haired tomboy that Makoto knew all too well.
"Arisawa-san, fancy meeting you here," he said with a small smile.
"We go to the same school, moron. You knew I would be here," she replied, which caused Makoto to give a goofy chuckle, however this did nothing to lighten the mood as Tatsuki proceeded to turn to the blue haired boy. "What are you doing here Ishida-san?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Ishida replied back, "I was just wondering why he was so late."
"Sure sounded like that when you accused him of being in a fake relationship," she said sarcastically, "If you didn't notice he is injured. I think that is reason enough to be late for school. As for his social life, if he doesn't want to tell you then just take a hike."
The boy called Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose hiding his eyes behind a flash of light and walked right past the two of them, disappearing into the crowd of people down the hall. "Odd fellow," Makoto said, turning back to Tatsuki. "But how do you know him?"
"Huh, you don't know Ishida-san?" She replied quizzically, offering a hand to the boy. "He is one of our class members."
"Considering the fact that I am possibly the most famous person in our class just because of the girlfriend fiasco, I tend to be the last one in and first one out of our class," he said, taking her hand, allowing her to lift him to his feet, though not without wincing as pain shot throughout his chest. "Hanging out with Ichigo and Chad also helps out as everyone is afraid to approach me without the two of them beating them up."
"So you are using them," Tatsuki said with a mischievous smile.
"No. I actually am and want to be friends with the two," Makoto replied quickly, "People being frightened of you just happens to be a perk of being marked as a semi-delinquent."
"I'm shocked people don't think of you as one right now," Tatsuki said as she began to walk down the hall towards the next class. "Especially considering the first day you got caught up in that fight between the delinquents. You kinda lucked out that your secret romance came out when it did otherwise you most certainly would have been labeled as a delinquent."
"Yet another reason I owe her," Makoto said with a slight chuckle, "She really is incredible."
"Wow! You gave someone a compliment, never thought I would see the day."
"Ha ha. Very funny," Makoto deadpanned. Makoto then looked in front of them before he continued speaking. "By the way, thanks for coming to my defense back there. I know it might not seem like it but the fact that someone believes what I said means more than you know."
"Don't mention it," Tatsuki said, waving it off before they fell into a silence. "Hey if you don't mind me asking, but where did you get that idea of you and Kuchiki-san fighting off a demon?"
Makoto's body stiffened. "You heard that?" he said nervously before nervously turning to look at her.
"It was kinda hard not to," she responded, "I know it was meant to get a laugh out of people and all, as well as hide the fact that you had protected me and Orihime last night when we were in danger…"
"Precisely," Makoto interrupted, hiding the truth behind a pleasant smile like always. "So there is no need to worry about that phoney story I made up. After all, me fighting demons, not to mention WITH Rukia, you have to admit even the other stories I gave you have more to them than this one."
"Yeah. I guess that is a good point," Tatsuki chuckled back before looking at the floor in front of them, almost as if there was something she was keeping a secret.
Makoto sighed. How much longer could he keep this lie going. It took everything out of him to not tell anyone the truth about Rukia. "What is it that's bothering you?" he said before he even realized what he was doing. This too shocked Tatsuki as she stopped walking and looked at the boy.
"You are seriously weird Tsukiyo," Tatsuki replied as the two locked eyes. "You know that, right?"
"I'll wear it as a badge of honor," Makoto said sarcastically. "But I am serious about wondering what is bothering you. Usually you glare at me and say something along the lines of 'Very funny. Now what is the real story?' By that fact alone I can tell that something is bothering you."
Tasuki remained silent for a while pondering whether or not to answer his question. "You see, I had this weird dream last night. Almost like an alternate version of what transpired."
"Alternate version?" Makoto said, as he bit back the fear that was slowly growing inside him.
"Yeah," Tatsuki responded. "Though if I am going to be honest it was more of a nightmare than a dream. You collapsed as normal but instead of the sumo wrestler bursting through the front of the door which is caused the whole building to shake there was this earthquake or something and when Orihime went to pick up this stuffed animal that had fallen down you screamed to get away and Orihime fell to the ground limp. No, she wasn't limp. She was…" Tatsuki took in a shaky breath, "Dead. After that you were sent flying through the window to the street below and something threw me around the room causing me to black out. The last thing I remember was you all covered in blood saying 'Don't worry, Tatsuki. This will all make sense soon.'"
Makoto stared at his friend. "She remembers everything?! She might not think that it was real but she still knows exactly what happened. But if that is the case does that mean Orihime does too?"
"Hello! Earth to Tsukiyo," Tatsuki said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you all right?"
"Wha–what?!" he exclaimed, drawing the attention of others nearby.
"Are you okay?" Tatsuki asked, her face filled with concern.
Makoto quickly looked around at the people who were watching, he needed to think quickly otherwise everyone around would notice. "What do you mean we are having a quiz today?"
"What are you…?!" Tatsuki started but was quickly silenced as Makoto grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the classroom.
"Let's go! We need to get started if we want any chance of doing well," he said leading the bewildered Tatsuki by the hand and when he was confident that the other students had lost interest in them he slowed his pace so that he was directly beside Tatsuki and in a low voice spoke to her once more.
"Have you asked Orihime about this yet?"
"No. Why? What is going on?"
"I'm not sure," Makoto whispered, "But I had a similar dream last night."
"You did?" Tatsuki replied, and while she kept up the hushed tone Makoto could tell that she was definitely shocked.
"Yes. But I'm not sure what to make of it," Makoto said, "Having the same dream isn't normal but that's not to say it is impossible. It's more likely that it was an idea that was made up by our memories in an attempt to rationalize the events of last night."
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow though her face was one of worry. "You really think that we could all have the same 'rationalization' for a sumo wrestler barging into Orihime's apartment throwing you out the window before blasting a hole in the wall with a rocket launcher?"
"When you put it that way, the crazy dream of fighting off invisible demons sounds more rational than the sumo wrestler with a rocket launcher," Makoto replied with a nervous chuckle. It was then that the bell rang, signaling the end of the break in between classes.
Makoto quietly sighed in relief he somehow had managed to not attract suspicion from Tatsuki, at least partially, and hide his fake relationship with Rukia for at least a little while longer. "How much longer can I keep this up?" he thought to himself. "All secrets are burdens and the longer you keep them the more potent the reaction when someone figures out the truth behind them. No. You need to stop focusing on that, Makoto. You promised you would protect and safeguard Rukia until she leaves, and you are going to do just that." Makoto took a deep breath through his nose and walked into the classroom.
Unfortunately for Makoto. The joke he stated earlier about their being a quiz wasn't as fictitious as he had hoped for. Luckily it was all stuff he had remembered covering before he found himself in Karakura so he found it relatively easy. The same however could not have been said for Keigo.
"Finally, that torture is over," Keigo sighed as he sat down atop the roof, lunch in hand. "That quiz came out of nowhere. I would be shocked if anyone did well on it."
"Just because you aren't prepared for a pop quiz doesn't mean that other people aren't Keigo," snarked Ichigo.
"Are you saying you actually understood what was on it?!" Keigo exclaimed. "Mizuiro, we have been betrayed!"
"Shut it will ya," Ichigo yelled back. "It is just some pop quiz. They aren't exams or anything so you can chill out."
"Exams?" Rukia inquired as she joined the group of boys. "What are those?"
"Rukia-chan," Keigo greeted his smile growing far wider now that she had joined them. "It is so nice to see you. Where is Makoto-san?"
"He is getting lunch for the two of us," she replied. "He told me to wait up here with Ichigo in the meantime."
"Well it is a pleasure to have you with us," Mizuiro said with a kind smile.
"Thank you…" Rukia paused, realizing she didn't actually know the boy's name.
"Kojima," Mizuiro answered, "Mizuiro Kojima."
"Nice to meet you," Rukia replied joyfully, "I would introduce myself but I'm pretty sure you all already know who I am."
"Words could not even begin to describe how truly amazing you really are in person," Keigo said as he closed his eyes, most likely imagining what it would be like if he was Rukia instead of his friend however his dream was soon dashed as a familiar voice drew him out of his musings.
"She is, isn't she," Keigo turned around in an instant fear plastered over his face.
"Makoto!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," Makoto replied with a smile, a small sense of animosity hidden behind it. "That is my name."
"Makoto-san," Mizuiro said, preventing the tension from escalating further. "What were you doing?"
"Buying lunch," he said, raising a juice box and a sandwich so they could all see before handing them over to Rukia. "Normally I make our lunches, but someone was in such a hurry to get me to the doctor that she forgot about that." A faint blush could be seen on Rukia's face as she took the food from him, along with an icy glare that Makoto knew he deserved.
"I guess that explains why you were so tardy," Mizuiro replied, "With how close you two are you wouldn't even dream of letting Rukia walk to school by herself."
Now it was Makoto's turn to try and hide a blush. "Well, of course," he responded, his voice wavering. "She just moved into town and doesn't know her way around that well. I would be a bad boyfriend if I didn't worry about her. Speaking of, how did you get to school, Rukia?"
Rukia, who had been half listening as she attempted to open up her juice box and half trying to hide her embarrassment of how Makoto had portrayed her care for him, looked up upon hearing her name to find the eyes of everyone on her. "What?" she asked, very worried.
"I was wondering how you got to school," Makoto said, turning to face Rukia.
"Oh. I walked with Ichigo," Rukia said with a smile. "When I left the clinic I realized I didn't know exactly where I needed to go. Luckily, Ichigo walked out at the same time and offered to walk with me."
"Really," Makoto said, turning to Ichigo, who was rubbing the back of his head with a hand.
"Don't expect this to become a common thing," Ichigo replied sternly. "I only did it because of what Rukia told me."
"Don't worry, I won't," Makoto replied, though he made a mental note to thank Ichigo for his help.
"Say Makoto, do you mind telling us why you look so bad today," Mizuiro inquired, leading to Makoto scratch his cheek nervously.
"Well, you see…" Makoto stuttered out.
"No guys, I'm telling you it's true," came the voice of Orihime as she talked with a group of girls, many of which Makoto had seen before. "A giant sumo wrestler came stomping up the stairs and broke into my apartment with a rocket launcher. He aimed it right at me and Tatsuki and would have shot us had Makoto not jumped up and wrestled it away from him."
"Yeah right, Orhime," one of the girls commented.
"She is telling the truth guys," Tatsuki replied, backing up Orihime. "In a fit of rage the sumo wrestler picked him up and threw him out the window. He then picked up the rocket launcher and left, accidentally firing it which blew a hole in the wall of her apartment. Not more than half a minute later a man dressed in all black walked in carrying Makoto's unconscious body and told us to watch over and take care of him while they dealt with the sumo wrestler."
"I'm telling you he was a Yakuza," Orihime added, "Why else do you think Tsukiyo came to warn us?"
"Then why did he not harm you or Tsukiyo?" Another girl asked. The girls all looked at Orihime and Tatsuki skeptically, however another girl spoke up, Michiru, if Makoto remembered correctly.
"You said Tsukiyo-san was trying to get you out of there, right?" she said quietly. "Maybe he told them about you and that is the reason they knew where he was."
Makoto suddenly felt the attention on the roof shift from the two girls' story to himself. Everyone, boys and girls alike, stared at him with a sense of both fear and respect. Especially Keigo who had begun trembling from head to foot as he stared at what he thought, or at least what Makoto thought Keigo believed, his once close friend.
"Mm–Makooooto?!" Keigo stuttered. "Is this true?!"
Makoto didn't answer and glanced at Ichigo who, by the gleam in his eye, was thoroughly enjoying the suffering of his friend. He turned to look at Rukia, who was standing there with her arms crossed and an impish smile playing at her lips. "I told you it would work," her attitude seemed to say.
"Damn it!" he thought as he grit his teeth. "Why does this always happen to me? That is the last time I trust that stupid memory replacer to make my life easier. Did bucket hat make that thing?! Next time I am not staying anywhere near anyone that we use that thing on! "
Unfortunately for Makoto, in his look for aid and subsequent internal dialogue, he had made the same mistake he had all too often done. He had remained silent on a question once again.