"Sheesh. That was close," said Keigo, scratching the back of his head. "I thought we were done there for a sec."
"We might have been if it hadn't been for Makoto," Mizuiro replied, "Without his testimony we very well might have."
"Yeah I thought you said you were terrible at making excuses," Ichigo said as he turned to his bruised friend, a hint of disdain in his voice. "Not to mention it felt like every word you said to the teacher was a flat out lie."
"I am terrible at making excuses," Makoto said, a mischievous glint in his eye, "But I didn't make an excuse. All I said was that you and Yasutora-san saved us when those bullies jumped us. I never said exactly when they jumped us though or who started it and thanks to Mizuiro's quick thinking we got off scott free. Well mostly; I'll probably be sore for the next day or so."
"Speaking of," Mizuiro commented, "When did you get so good at fighting? You did really well for one who's never been in a fight. You took down two or three by yourself."
"You say that without mentioning the part where he gets the snot beat out of him and I have to come to his rescue," Ichigo remarks, a frown on his face. "I meant for you guys to stay back and let us take care of it."
"Yeah, I figured that out after I was already surrounded," Makoto retorted, "But it's not like they didn't go after Mizuiro."
"Actually. It was a lot better thanks to the three of you charging towards their leader. Almost everyone ignored me." he replied, his gentle smile returned.
"Shut up, Mizuiro!" Makoto yelled back.
"That being said, you do fight pretty well," Ichigo remarked, as Chad nodded in agreement behind him.
"Thanks. But we should get to class," Makoto replied, a sense of urgency in his voice. "I would hate to be marked as a delinquent by the teacher just because I was late to class on the first day."
"What's that supposed to mean!" said Ichigo, scowling at the smaller boy.
"What's what supposed to mean?" Makoto asked, a grin playing at the corner of his lips. "I never called you a delinquent."
"You implied it," Ichigo growled back.
The five of them continued chatting all the way to the room. Upon stepping inside they were met with the attention of everyone currently in the classroom, some seeming to recognize us while others went back to their normal conversations. While from the back of the class we heard a voice call out in greeting. "Hey Ichigo."
Makoto turned to see an orange haired girl with long hair approaching Ichigo. "Hey Orihime." Ichigo replied before taking a seat at a desk, "How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm doing just fine," she said joyfully, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "How about you?"
"Looks like he's been in another fight," said a black haired tomboy approaching the group, she then turned to Makoto examining him. "Who were you the victim?"
"No," Makoto replied, "I was the back up."
"It's nice to see you too, Tatsuki," Ichigo said, as he turned to the new arrival, completely ignoring Makoto's comment. "And you know I don't go picking fights."
"You sure end up in 'em a lot," she retorted with a teasing tone in her voice. "Honestly, It's the first day of school. Could you at least show a little restraint? And drawing someone else in." Makoto could see the mirth sparkling in her eyes.
"I didn't bring him in. He joined in by himself," Ichigo replied as he rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by the black haired tomboy. "In the end I ended up saving him too."
"Hey, I could have taken 'em down," Makoto responded in a sarcastic tone.
"Then next time you get jumped I'll leave them all to you without getting involved," Ichigo declared, turning his annoyance to Makoto.
"I was just joking," Makoto replied.
"Alright class," said a young woman as she entered the room. "Take your seats. We are about to begin."
Makoto made his way to a seat and sat down while the teacher began calling roll, but Makoto tuned it out looking down at his hands as he pondered all the questions that assaulted his mind. He now knew he was in the world of Bleach, thanks to the fact he met Ichigo Kurosaki. This also partially answered his question earlier about why he could see ghosts. He must be like Ichigo and have special powers, capable of making him see the souls of those who have died. But that left him with an even more worrying thought. What about those monsters that Jay had mentioned? They come after the souls of the dead as well as those with high spiritual energy, and if he was like Ichigo in that regard that would mean that he also would need to worry about these monsters especially with no way to fight back.
"Tsukiyo!" the teacher called out.
"Huh," Makoto said, her voice snapping him out of his thoughts as he finally looked up to see the entire class's eyes on him. "Oh. Right here," he said, raising his right hand.
"Finally," she sighed, "I was about to mark you absent. Next time try and answer the first time I call on you."
"Ochi-sensei, you should give him a break," said Mizuiro from a few seats back, "He was only thinking about his wife."
"Huh," Makoto said, his face turning bright red as he whipped it around to look at Mizuiro. "What are you talking about?"
"That ring on your finger," Mizuiro remarked as he pointed to Makoto's hand. "Did you think I didn't notice it earlier?"
"Oh my gosh he's right," a girl to his left said, causing Makoto to turn his gaze to his hands. Sure enough there on his right ring finger was a simple silver band.
"When the hell did that get there," Makoto thought as he felt his face heat up even more than it already had been, all the while remaining dead silent. "Did I really have this on the whole time without even noticing?! And now my whole entire class knows. I'm so dead." And Makoto was right because the class took his silence as confirmation that Mizuiro's declaration had been correct and much to his dismay began to ask him about it.
"Who's the lucky girl?" one girl asked.
"What's her name?" another girl questioned.
"I think that there's been a mixup here," Makoto said, trying to regain control of the mob that was growing around his desk. "Mizuiro has…"
"Mizuiro's met her?!" Keigo cried out, cutting off Makoto in the middle of the sentence. With those words the mob shifted its focus from Makoto to Mizuiro as he became the new target for questions. Makoto started to panic as the situation grew more and more out of control.
"Is she cute?" a guy next to him asked.
"What's she like? What school does she go to?" a girl added.
"Come on, don't keep it from us." another student pleaded.
"Guys Mizuiro can't tell you anything," Makoto said, standing up and slamming his hands on his desk causing the attention of the room to shift back to him as he was crowded once again by most of the class.
"Why not," asked a small girl in the back of the mob, "Did you make him promise to keep it a secret?"
"No," Makoto replied as he felt the tension grow between him and the mob of people as they tried to force more answers from him.
"Then tell us about her! Can we meet her?" another girl in the crowd asked.
"You guys are really far off the mark," Makoto said, his voice growing more and more distressed with every question. "We need to settle down before we can talk about it?" With that the room fell into an eerie silence as all eyes turned right to him. "Is something wrong?" Makoto asked, looking around the room, dread rising in his chest as the silence continued to permeate the room.
After a few more seconds the room erupted in an uproar. Some girls started jumping for joy while others turned to each other with wide grins on their faces which unsettled Makoto. The guys who had been relatively reserved had gone into a tizzy with mixed expressions at the prospects of what had been said. Even the teacher seemed excited, way too excited.
"I think I said something wrong," Makoto thought, but before he could speak up the teacher called the class to attention, finally realizing she needed to regain control of the class and begin the lesson.
"Alright everyone take your seats," Ms. Ochi said, "After we finish class you are free to question Tsukiyo-san more. But only during your free time. Don't take away from classes." Her eyes then turned to Makoto as she smiled. "And make sure to tell me more about it later Tsukiyo-kun."
"What?" Makoto answered very much worried by the tone the teacher had just taken. He had just disrupted the class for several minutes about nothing and instead of being reprimanded the teacher wanted to know more?! He definitely said something wrong earlier.
Classes seemed to pass by in a flash and when the lunch bell rang Makoto departed the classroom as quickly as possible without arousing the attention of his peers. He really didn't want to have more questions about his non-existent girlfriend asked while he tried to enjoy his lunch.
As he stealthily made his way through the halls keeping his head down he accidentally bumped into Mizuiro. "Oh, Tsukiyo-san there you are. I was looking for you. I was going to have lunch on the terrace and thought you might want to join me."
"Yeah sure," Makoto replied quickly, scanning the area for any of their classmates. "Anything that might give me a reason to hide. Lead the way." With that Makoto followed Mizuiro without getting the attention of anyone from their class.
"So Tsukiyo-san, where are you from?" Mizuiro asked Makoto.
"Not too far from here," he replied, realizing he didn't know his address. Stupid he should have remembered to check that. "I forgot the address so I'll have to get back to you on it. I know I live nearby Ichigo but that's about it. Oh, and you don't have to call me Tsukiyo. I'd prefer it if you called me Makoto."
"Okay Makoto. Does that mean that you and Ichigo know each other," Mizuiro said.
"No," Makoto stated in an indifferent voice. "I saw him in a rush and followed him here thinking that I was late. I'm actually new to these parts."
"I guess that makes sense. You do seem like you're just trying to get through the day," Mizuiro replied as they reached the door and opened it.
"Yeah I really…am," Makoto started, only for him to hesitate on the last word as he looked at the terrace. Standing there were about a dozen different people, some faces he knew and others he didn't.
"I got him guys," Mizuiro said as he came from behind Makoto, completely ignoring his friend's horrified face.
Before he could run Makoto was once again surrounded by people all wanting answers on one thing, but before things could get out of control Makoto quickly took charge. "Look I'll answer your questions on one condition, alright. That condition is that we all talk about this quietly and like civilized people or I swear I will be out this door in two seconds flat and you will not find me by myself again to ask any of these hair brained questions. Is that clear?!"
With a shocking synergy the group nodded agreement and sat back down next to Ichigo, Chad, Tatsuki, and Orihime who had thankfully not rushed to him to ask more questions. After everyone had returned to their seats Makoto turned to the group. "Okay, you may now ask your questions one at a time. And if you don't mind please give your name before you ask your question. It would help me out a lot. We can start with you." He said pointing to a tall girl with wavy brown hair that came down to her shoulders.
"Thank you Tsukiyo-san. I'm Mahana Natsui and I was wondering how long you've been married."
"I'm not married," Makoto said in a level voice, "Next question."
"What?" a smaller girl sitting next to Mahana.
"So you're engaged then, right?" Another girl with straight black hair sitting next to the small girl asked. Makoto gave them a confused look and the black haired girl quickly answered the rising question. "Sorry. I'm Ryo Kunieda, and she is Michiru Ogawa."
"It's nice to meet you," Michiru returned.
"Pleasure to meet you two as well," Makoto said with a smile before giving his answer. "As for your question, no I'm not engaged either."
"What!" Keigo exclaimed, a mixture of disbelief and shock in his face.
"Please you guys are so gullible," replied a red haired girl across from Makoto, "It's obvious why he's lying." A devilish grin crossing her face as she glared mischievously at Makoto.
"Maybe it's an arranged marriage," Keigo concluded, "After all no one our age would ever want to throw their future away on a-"
"Can it," Ichigo said, punching Keigo to get him to shut up. "We aren't here for what you think and feel about his situation, we're here to ask him about it ourselves. Now shut up and listen."
"Maybe he's a secret agent sent to track down dangerous criminals and that ring is secret technology that allows him to communicate with the other spies nearby so they can head him off and catch him unaware, and the reason he is here is to not arouse questions or make him a target for those criminals," the girl named Orihime said, her voice so innocent and sincere Makoto could tell she believed it with every fiber of her being. The group all stared at her in shock for a few seconds before Makoto broke it.
"Actually Orihime," he started, "I'm from another world and upon going to sleep woke up in this world with this ring on my finger and am now a victim to the circumstances that have transpired this morning."
"You dropped into an isekai, Tsukiyo-kun?" Orihime said, a sense of awe in her eyes.
For a few seconds the group looked at him stunned, none of them speaking a word digesting the story that Makoto just provided. Finally Tatsuki spoke, her voice a touch annoyed, "Please don't encourage this behavior Makoto." Upon this comment everyone except for Tatsuki, Orihime and Makoto started laughing, with the two girls soon joining in after, leaving Makoto chuckling awkwardly to himself.
"What did I expect" he thought, "It's not like everyone in this world is thrown into it the same way I was. If that was the case then the characters themselves would eventually be replaced. Not to mention I would be shocked if someone other than me was thrown into this. I better just cut the loss right now and accept that no one is going to believe me."
"In all seriousness though I'm not married or engaged," Makoto said as the laughter began to die down.
"We all know the real reason you want to keep this a secret," the red haired girl spoke once again, her devilish grin even bigger than last time, and from the way she was speaking Makoto had a feeling he knew where her idea was headed, "The truth is you love another guy and you don't want him to deal with the backlash of you coming out and saying it. It's so kind my heart melts for you, so much that can't let you be alone, which is why I will throw myself onto Orihi–"
"Shut up, pervert," said Tatsuki, punching the red haired girl squarely across the face with enough strength to send her flying several feet. "The way you talk you're going to leave bad impressions of you wherever you go." She then turned to Makoto as she gave the girl an ugly glare before speaking. "Don't listen to what Chizuru says. She's about as dumb as they come when it comes to social cues."
"I could tell by some of the stuff she was saying," Makoto said with a confused look as if wondering how he should react to the scene that just unfolded before his eyes. "But it's the honest truth that I don't have a wife or fiance."
"That's not how it sounded in class!" Keigo blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer.
"And what did it sound like in class?" Makoto asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"People were asking you to meet her and you said you needed to settle in and then you'd talk about it with her," Keigo said, "That sounds an awful lot like your in a long distance relationship," he paused, his face growing more shocked as another thought seemed to cross his mind, "Or she's currently living in your house right now!"
"There were so many questions being pelted at me how could I answer even one of them. Especially with you interrupting me every sentence I got out, " Makoto deadpanned, trying to keep his nervousness hidden. "Does anyone have a question for me other than my love life?"
"Stop trying to change the subject!" Keigo exclaimed, "You said you were going to answer our questions so answer them damn it!"
"Does anyone know a good place to buy food?" Makoto asked.
"Stop ignoring me!" Keigo yelled at him only making Makoto want to ignore him more.
"Oh, if you want to know places around where you live you should ask Ichigo," Mizuiro replied before turning to Ichigo. "If you live near him he would know the best spots around your area."
"You live near me?" Ichigo asked.
"I guess," Makoto replied, scratching the back of his head, "I saw you run by me and I followed you hoping that you'd lead me to the school."
"Oh, so that's why I met you on the way," his voice slightly agitated. "You know for a guy that says he's terrible at making excuses you sure have been making a lot of them today."
Makoto shrunk back sheepishly. "I didn't make an excuse. I was genuinely curious about the flowers and I did want to know the way to school. I just left the part where I followed you out."
"And was that other part fake as well?" Ichigo said, glaring daggers into Makoto.
"The flowers for the little girl?" Makoto replied, "No. I really was going to get them, especially after I saw how happy she looked at the idea of getting them from someone else?"
"How happy she looked?!" Ichigo exclaimed as Makoto realized too late the error he had made. He had just admitted he could see the little spirit girl that he watched Ichigo give the flowers to and from the look on Ichigo's face he too was not expecting this turn of events.
"You gave flowers to a little girl," Orihime smiled, "That was sweet of you, Ichigo."
"He caught you dead to right's Ichigo," Tatsuki chuckled, "Guess that hard ass is just a big softie deep down."
"Shut up, Tatsuki!" Ichigo said, scowling at Tatsuki. Makoto looked around confused. Did they all not know? Maybe not everyone here was his close friend but Tatsuki, Orihime, and Chad seemed pretty close to Ichigo. And from what Jay said Ichigo's friends could see spirits too. But if they do, why do none of them know what I'm talking about? Wait! If they didn't know he can't just come out and say it! What if he only gains the ability when he gains his powers? He couldn't let Ichigo know that he could see the little girl.
"Yeah. I remember hearing about it a few weeks ago," Makoto said, trying to keep his face as even as possible to not expose the fact that he was lying. "She had long blonde hair held back by a headband. I imagined what she would look like receiving those flowers. The big smile on her face as she leaped and twirled with the flowers in her hands and thought maybe I should do it too. You know in case she didn't have anyone else to mourn for her. Show her that people still do care about her even if we aren't her family."
Ichigo was silent for a second, all the while Makoto held his breath hoping that his lie would work. Of all the times, this was the one time he needed Ichigo to believe his excuse and this time it was the biggest of them all. He waited patiently for Ichigo to reply, his eyes like that of an owl scanning for its prey. Finally Ichigo's eyes turned in the direction of the lamp post as with a sad smile on his face he solemnly said, "Yeah. I'm sure she'd look exactly like that." To Makoto it made him look almost lonely. But Jay said that his friends could see spirits too? Why would Ichigo be lonely? Was it a mistake to lie to Ichigo? After all, if his friends can't see he has no one to tell them about. He is forced to wander alive while constantly being reminded of those who have died. Died in horrible tragic ways and then forced to carry that burden with him knowing that at any moment he could very well be next. That is a fate worse than death to constantly live knowing you can't do anything to protect your friends, family, heck even yourself. Makoto knew that feeling all too well, not knowing what lay around the corner.
"You know who else would like flowers?" Keigo said, breaking Makoto out of his train of thought with the nudge of his elbow, "A certain someone."
"Who?" Makoto asked, his eyes looking at the group thinking it was one of them.
"Your fiance man," Keigo said, clearly stunned by the fact that she wasn't the first person that came to his mind
"This again," Makoto said as he buried his face in his hands. "I thought we already established that I don't have one!"
"You really expect us to believe you after all the stuff that you have been purposely omitting!" Keigo exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Makoto, who proceeded to shrink back further from the group. "You haven't even told us when we'd get to meet her," Keigo remarked, "That's the whole reason we wanted to talk to you."
"Keigo, if all the things that I said previously are true then why would I tell you now without first consulting her?" Makoto replied in an exhausted voice, getting tired of the conversation just wanting it to be over.
"If you know her that well then you should be able to at least tell us what she would say!" Keigo yelled back.
"I don't know her!" Makoto said, his blood beginning to boil. "As I already said she doesn't exist."
"You don't know?!" Keigo replied, completely ignoring the second half of what he said, "How could you not know?! She's your fiance! Don't you know what she looks like?!"
"No," Makoto said in a robotic tone. "We probably wouldn't be having this conversation if we did. All I would have to do is show you her picture and you guys would shut up about it."
Keigo opened his mouth to say something but it was Tatsuki who spoke first. "Idiot. Did the thought that he genuinely hasn't met her ever crossed your mind?"
"Why would that ever happen?" Keigo asked.
"Maybe because he's secretly the descendent of a royal family from somewhere else in the world and he he was sent here to get away from his oppressive partner and find love here so that when he returned he could speak of how great this other person was and show his parents that the marriage is in fact wrong because he loves some other girl and not the one he is supposed to marry," Orihime hypothesized, her eyes glowing with enthusiasm as she once again detailed an absolutely outlandish story that Makoto couldn't help but laugh at.
"Orihime," Makoto said, as he gazed up at the sky, "That sounds exactly like something I might write about."
"You're an author, Tsukiyo-kun," asked Orihime, a look of wonder in her eyes as she stared at the boy with a newfound respect.
"That would explain the crazy story from earlier," remarked Tatsuki, rolling her eyes. "I guess now we'll have to deal with two overactive imaginations."
"No, I'm not an author, Orihime-chan, though I do love to write," Makoto said, a small chuckle escaping his lips, "And you won't have to worry about that either, Tatsuki-chan. I might love stories but I'm very much grounded in reality."
"You say that as you continue to lead us on about whether we will get to meet your fiance or not," Keigo stated in a playful tone.
"Keigo, I wish I had a fiance just so I could rub it in your face," Makoto said in a dry tone.
"Come on man," Keigo pouted, "Now that's cruel. Just because you're lucky and have smoking hot babe waiting for you back home doesn't—"
"Shut up," said both Ichigo and Makoto as they punched Keigo in the face.
"Tsukiyo-san, why don't you give us a time frame on when she'll be coming?" Mizuiro suggested, sensing Makoto's growing irritation at the constant questions about his love life. "That way we have a day to look forward to and then you won't have to worry about us constantly bugging you with questions."
Makoto raised an eyebrow at Mizuiro. "Fine. But if the time frame comes and no one shows up claiming it then you guys have to promise to drop the subject entirely. Deal?"
"Deal," the group chorused in unison.
"Then I'd guess probably some time next month," Makoto said, happy to have finally put a pin in the conversation about his supposed fiance. "Now that I'm done with that I can finally start eating." Right then the lunch bell rang.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Makoto groaned, slumping forward. "First a non-stop talk about my love life and then I'm forced to skip lunch too. Why does this world hate me so much?"
"I'd say you're just lucky," Ichigo replied as he stood up and started walking over to the door.
"Thanks Ichigo," Makoto said in a sarcastic tone as he collected his bento from the floor in front of him. "I really needed that."
With that they all returned to class with Ichigo in front and Makoto bringing up the rear. As they finally entered the classroom again, Makoto took a brief moment to look at the ring on his finger once more, the gold band shimmering in the sunlight that filtered through the window.
"Hang on," Makoto mumbled to himself, "Wasn't my ring silver earlier?"