Shirou looked out of the window as he felt a strange reiatsu from the direction of the warehouse he had just left before. A frown marred his face.
'A shinigami? And hollow? No, it must be the Visored.'
"Is that Ichigo?" He asked himself, narrowing his eyes. His brother's power was mixed in with another. This could only mean that Ichigo was fighting.
He didn't know what was happening. It might be the training he had talked about with the Visored, or it might be an attack from an enemy.
But there was no time to figure it out.
"I will trust him." He muttered to himself, turning around. "He will be okay."
Moving on, he wrote something in his notebook. He needed to make sure everything was in order before tomorrow came around.
***
Cries of birds filled the morning sky, and the sun was rising from behind the horizon. It was a beautiful day in the town of Karakura, but there were people who couldn't enjoy it.
Because of course, they were in a situation that they wished they could avoid. They wished that this day would end soon, but unfortunately, life isn't that kind to everyone.
For one person in particular, the day was starting badly.
"Huff... Huff..."
Ichigo ran on a running machine created by Hiyori, sweating and breathing heavily as his body was pushed to its limits. The machine kept going faster and faster as it continued to spin.
Hiyori and Love were standing on the side, drinking some tea while watching him. The former was smirking and looking quite amused at his misery.
Ichigo, who noticed her expression, clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Why am I running?" He asked angrily and jumped off the machine. "This is freaking useless! How can I control my hollow by running!?"
"What do you expect, dummy?!" Hiyori said with an irritated expression. "You can't control anything without first training yourself to the point where you're able to handle the stress. That's how it works!"
"Like I know that! I want to know what kind of logic is this!" Ichigo argued back. He was tired, but his body still felt energized enough for him to keep on going.
"Well, you're not wrong." Love shrugged. He looked at Ichigo. "But if you can't handle something like this, then how can you hope to handle the monster inside you?"
"Tch! You said this will help, but all I feel is exhaustion." Ichigo wiped the sweat off of his forehead and sat down. "What is the point?"
"The point is training, ye idiot! Training, you hear?!" She shouted angrily at him, "Now shut up and get back to running!"
Running was not a bad thing. In fact, it was one of the most effective exercises to increase stamina and strength, especially for someone who used swords like him. But this didn't feel right at all.
Yeah, not when he trained to control his hollow that almost took over his body.
"Damn." Ichigo grunted. "I feel like I'm wasting time here."
Hiyori clicked her tongue and stomped her feet. "Stop bitching already, damn brat! Do you want to go on a rampage? Do you want to eat everyone you love? Do you? Do you want that?" She yelled at him, making Ichigo flinch slightly. "If not, shut your mouth and start running! You are lucky to even be alive, brat!"
The sight of the tiny blonde girl scolding a teenager like him would have looked hilarious for bystanders, but Ichigo didn't feel any joy or amusement. His face was flushed in shame, but he knew she had a point.
"I-I know..." Ichigo said as he got up.
He was beaten up yesterday, so bad that he had to use all of his will to keep standing.
"Fuck..." He muttered to himself as he remembered the beating he received.
Visored members were... strong. They could use their mask power pretty well, increasing their strength and speed by a large margin.
Especially Kensei and Lisa.
When he fought them, he could feel it in his bones. They were much stronger than he thought, and if he didn't focus, he would get beaten into submission.
They weren't kidding when they said they were powerful.
Ichigo sighed, feeling exhausted mentally.
"Hey! Stop daydreaming and run!" Hiyori screamed, snapping Ichigo from his daydreams. She looked pissed off again. "Do you want me to remind you about the bet?!"
"Shit, I hate this." He muttered to himself as he got up and started jogging on the running machine once again.
However, he could only follow. Loser couldn't argue.
Ichigo clicked his tongue again.
***
Observing him from the second floor of the destroyed warehouse were Shirou and Shinji.
"As you can see, nothing dangerous is happening," Shinji said as he leaned back against the railings, his face hidden under the shade of his bangs.
"So, relax and sit back. We will train your brother well. But we can't promise to be kind to your brother... Well, you know him better than anyone, no? Does he seem like the type who would follow instructions?"
"Well..." Shirou scratched his cheek and shrugged, "... I can't answer that question. He can follow to some extent as long as it's reasonable, I think."
Shinji nodded, "Then we are in agreement. You can visit again later or, if you'd like, just stay here and observe for now."
After that, Shirou didn't say anything more. His attention was drawn to his brother's form again.
Strangely he looked pretty fine, unlike yesterday when he looked like he was on his deathbed.
Shirou sighed.
He really didn't have much time, but he could trust Ichigo's safety in Shinji's hands for now.
"I will go back, thanks."
"Suit yourself." Shinji nodded, smiling slightly as he turned around.
And then, the Visored suddenly stopped. As if he remembered something important. "Ah," He muttered, looking at Shirou once again while snapping his fingers, "I almost forgot about something."
"Hmm?" Shirou stopped and looked at him, "What is it?"
"I forgot to exchange contact with you. Give me your number so I can contact you in case of an emergency or if there's a need to meet."
"Sure," Shirou said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
He quickly exchanged numbers with Shinji before leaving the warehouse.
His brother would be able to deal with everything, or so he believed. And, he had his own problem to take care of. There was a meeting he needed to attend.
A meeting with guests from London.
Before parting ways with Ninny yesterday, he made a promise to meet at noon today.
He went home to take a bath, ate a light meal, and changed his clothes. Now he was ready to head out to meet with her.
As soon as he stepped outside, a strong gust of wind blew past him. The sky above was clear blue without clouds, allowing sunlight to warm everything below.
A perfect day to go out and have fun.
Unwinding the stress accumulated within his heart, Shirou took a deep breath, letting the air fill his lungs with life. He exhaled slowly through his nose, enjoying the sensation. The tension faded away and was replaced with peace.
With that done, he began his journey toward his destination.