Bleach: Twist

Chapter Three

I kept hitting "w" instead of "q," making it seem like Ichigo thought with a speech impediment. Er, thought impediment? It was funny. Thought it might make you laugh if you imagine it while you read, so I put this up here.

Disclaimer: The characters and everything from Bleach isn't mine and all credits should go to Tite Kubo. The only thing I own is the plot, though the story will follow the anime. That said, the connection may grow blurry at times due to the plot I am inserting.

A Protector

I combed my hands through my hair slowly, inhaling the resulting fragrance of my shampoo and conditioner deeply. The long orange strands had attained a silky quality that I was rather proud of. I had decided, at one point or another, that if I was gonna be a girl, I was gonna at least do it well. Meaning that I was going to have fun with it.

Also, Rukia had insulted my hair and flaunted her fluffy locks in my face. I hate to say it, but I completely took the bait. Sadly, it is easier to urge others not to give in to comments like that than resist yourself. I would be ashamed, too, if I hadn't gotten any results for it. Thankfully, I at least was able to do that much.

A week had passed since the hollow incident with Inoue, and I was settling in bit by bit to my new role. Getting rid of hollows was easier, mentally and physically speaking, and I now had a sort of system in which to do it. Rukia basically gave me a lesson on strategies and planning and being prepared for anything and all that junk. She seemed like such a quiet and nice person at school, but that shortie knew how to argue. My group of friends expanded to include Inoue and Tatsuki more closely. Lunch time was the only time we really all gathered together, but even without me as the connector, I could tell they got along just fine. It was nice to know things wouldn't be awkward if a hollow came along at lunch time. However, it was sort of awkward for me.

When you are two genders - in my case, you were one and then you suddenly unwillingly changed - everybody will see you as the gender they prefer you to be, or make girl stereotypes about having to protect you. Obviously, no one was going to treat me exactly the same as before, but irritatingly enough it seemed like most people had decided to treat me like a full-on girl. Take Keigo, for instance. Normally, his blinding smiles and dramatic pouts were reserved for the female population. However, now that I am apparently part of that population, he has turned it on me. So I kick him, like I normally do when he does things like that. Except now I have a skirt, but I'm not used to kicking in a way that doesn't reveal anything, and so everyone in that direction sees! It's so aggravating! I need to get Tatsuki to teach me sometime soon. And all of this isn't even mentioning Chad, who literally acts like my guardian now. I feel like I lost my best friend, it's not fair... When I find what power made me female, it will pay dearly.

I looked indecisively at what Karakura High's canteen offered. My mind was currently evenly split between yakisoba bread and melonpan. Behind me the line grew as I could only comb my slim hands through my hair thoughtfully. It was a soothing kind of movement, as much as actually brushing can be; I found that out on Sunday when I had a real free day (minus the occasional hollow, of course). Chad's figure somewhat towered over me - I think I actually shrunk during the transformation, though I was still tall - as evidenced by the shadow that added on to mine. He looked at the two choices in my hand and appeared to be contemplating something while I continued to wallow in my indecisiveness. "Just get both," he finally concluded aloud.

I squinted in response, making one last-ditch effort to pick one before I did just that. The gods of canteen food had nothing particular to say to me, apparently not caring either way, so I nodded and rested both on the counter, punching in my number. I distinctly heard a sigh of relief chorus through the line as I left and I whipped around to glare. I'm pretty sure I wasn't there that long...