Room 504, Monday Morning

[intraspective]

Ino, unlike most the rest of Fandom today, woke up and was perfectly a-okay with the world. She was chirpy, even.

And giggling whenever she looked over to the spare bed in her room, and saw Ichigo there. She’d be less amused if he woke up still all mentally ill-like, but Ino figured that, for now, she’d just take the hopeful route and assume it had worn off over the night.

Because she couldn’t wait to mock him mercilessly.

[For that boy she knocked unconscious, please. ETA: Any discussion relating to hollows is NFB, please.]

Comments

[intraspective]

She flushed. "I did not!"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

His grin widened and he reached out to poke her side. "Did."

[intraspective]

"Did not!" Geez. She twitched. "Quit it!"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

See, he would have. Except that she'd told him to, so now he was just going to do it again. "Did."

[intraspective]

She squeaked and tried to whack him in the head again. "Quit it! And didn't!"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

He ducked, rather ineffectively as she hit his ear instead. "You did. You've had all these annoying questions you've been piling up."

[intraspective]

She perked up. "I do! And does that mean you're going to answer them?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

He groaned and got to his feet. "No."

[intraspective]

She hugged him.

Shut up.

"Why not?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

He blinked and... patted her shoulder. "Cause you'll ask something annoying."

[intraspective]

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't," she said. "So, really, you ought to answer them."

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

"That makes no sense." He was apparently not going anywhere. "You can ask, I just might not answer."

[intraspective]

"What's up with the hollow in you thing?"

Nice and blunt, go Ino.

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

He stiffened for an instant, but forced himself to relax. "Nothing's up with it. This weekend didn't make any sense."

[intraspective]

"Ichigo," she said patiently, not letting go of him. "Anyone ever tell you you're a crappy liar?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't matter if I am," he told her, trying not to tense as that would just make her more suspicious. "What happened this weekend can't happen for real. Hollows are spirits, they're not born from one moment until the other. It can take years for a spirit to turn into a hollow."

[intraspective]

She stared up at him. "Then why'd you act like I'd shocked you when I asked?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

"It's just weird," he said, hoping she'd take it and not dig any further. "I'm a shinigami, hollows are our enemies."

[intraspective]

"So why would you be one?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

If he would know that, things would be a lot easier. He plucked at the seam of her shirt that ran of her shoulder for a moment before he caught himself. "Everyone could be a hollow. The spirits that turn into one aren't necessarily evil, but they get tied to things on earth. If they're not helped across by a shinigami, they turn into a hollow."

[intraspective]

She rested her head against him absently. "So why are all hollows bad if the people they come from aren't?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

"They can't help themselves," Ichigo explained, relaxing as she steered away from the touchy subjects. "They get hungry and only act on that emotion so they feed on other souls. A shinigami purifies them and clears away their actions as a hollow so they can move to Soul Society."

[intraspective]

...

Ooookay. "Now," Ino said, "so I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you can't be both a shinigami and a hollow?"

[first-guardian.livejournal.com]

"No!" he said instantly, with a lot more conviction than was needed. "I mean, I haven't heard of it, but that... It's like you can't be water and fire at the same time. They're different things."

[intraspective]

Ino wrinkled her nose at him.

"You're quite loud 'bout that," she noted.