Day 19 - Breakfast

[repolarization]

As Ginji was ushered through the halls towards the cafeteria he felt a little dizzy. He felt like something was very, very wrong but he wasn't sure what. It wasn't just the fact that he had woken up in the middle of some strange place, or the fact that Ban was no where to be found. Something else was wrong. Something important. Something that he

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[soul_defender]

While the cafeteria quicly began to fill, each patron seemingly more strange than the last, the sour berry-head did his best to look disinterested. Resting his chin in the upturned palm of his hand, the young man stared off with soft, quiet eyes into the distance while idly chewing his food. Yet, any hopes of remaining aloof he might have had disappeared instantly; clearly surprised, Ichigo had a mouthful of strawberries the moment Elena appeared, and nearly choked on it immediately, his head bobbing forward with the jam in his throat.

Forcibly swallowing, he gasped for breath, clutching tightly at his chest with one hand. "Oh, geez...it's you. I didn't think I'd see you again after what happened..."

Able to regain his composure, Ichigo had opened his mouth to speak, but quickly found himself railed by her panicked apologies. Hoping to calm her, he immediately raised his hands and waved them in a calming fashion, though his tight, strained expressions were less than soothing. "Whoa, whoa, slow down! It's fine!" he assured her. "You were a total pain last night, but everybody was okay."

Awkwardly, he offered for her to have a seat at the table; she definitely looked like she could use some calming company. It wasn't hard for Ichigo to do, either. By now, he was perfectly comfortable with making friends in the present with enemies of the past.

"I woke up this morning feeling a little sore, but I've felt worse." he nodded, taking another bite from his breakfast. Another look at her, though, broke his peace of mind as he noticed his own handiwork, the light, healing bruise on the end of her chin. "I guess I should apologize too, though. I had to knock you around a bit. Oh, and...how's your neck?" Likely, he thought, she wouldn't have an answer for that one; being unconscious, she might've missed his act of good will.

[soul_defender]

Bruised as she was, she didn't seem any worse for the wear. If anything, Ichigo regarded, she was more sorry than hurt. While she continued, marveling at his own strangely casual attitude over being mortally wounded, Ichigo peaceably gulped down another bite of his meal, gnawing away at a banana.

"I told you, I'm fine. You'll have to take my word for it, though...I...don't really feel like showing you." he replied, swallowing. Despite his Atlas physique, Ichigo was somewhat wary over showing off the condition of his chest, riddled with scars around nearly all of his vital points.

Again, Ichigo sputtered and coughed faintly in mid-bite, strangely startled by the line of conversation leading to his merciful deed. Clearly reluctant to answer, Kurosaki turned his head away avoidingly and stared sternly into space. "Ah...no reason. Just that...you got hit by that lightning stuff and hit the wall, so I thought maybe you hit your...head?"

[soul_defender]

Once the proverbial coast was clear, Ichigo felt comfortable enough to turn his gaze back towards her again. Whether or not she had bought his attempt at misdirection, he wasn't sure, but at least he had dodged the bullet for now. He kept right on frowning, his brow lowered tightly. Not even her sudden grave turn over Kadaj seemed to phase him.

"I'm not really surprised. Nobody human could be that much of an ass." he replied, jabbing his fork down firmly into a sour piece of fruit at the mention of his name. "Honestly, I normally wouldn't hang out with someone like him, but...well, I thought he'd be more help in a fight."

A thought occurred to him suddenly, one that finally managed to change the array of his features from stern to embarassed. "I don't think we ever actually met, did we? I'm...Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo."

[soul_defender]

The handshake, though innocent, seemed almost foreign to him. In fact, it was. Ichigo even hesitated for a moment, staring blankly down at her hand before finally getting a clue and accepting it with a gentle grasp. "That's a...big title." he remarked, noticeably impressed by how official it all sounded. "It's nice to meet you too, especially on better terms."

After a few more bites, Ichigo's plate had emptied. For such a slim frame, the young man had eaten a great deal in a remarkably short time. Politely then, he pushed the bare dish away, using the freed space on the table to rest his elbows on as he braced his hand against the side of his face.

"Look, don't worry about that Kadaj guy. I know his type...he just gets some weird kick about rattling people." he remarked. Before he could seem too interested, though, Kurosaki quickly turned away again, trying to distance himself. If I keep this up, she's going to think I'm a huge nerd.

[soul_defender]

"Do we bow?" he echoed her, turning back again. The way he kept his head swiveling back and forth would likely make his neck hurt if it kept up this way. "Well...we do, but that's sort of formal. And that's just how we introduce ourselves. I know people don't do that in other places, though..."

There, he would have liked to make note that at first, he mentioned his first name alone, but that really would have embarassed him. It was a unique experience, to say the least, that he had felt comfortable enough with her to blurt it out like that, but Elena had a certain sense of strength and charm about her that he found familiar.

"I haven't done anything to offend you, have I?" Rather than turn away again, Ichigo instead gained sort of a panicked expression, shaking his head vigorously. "No, i-it's nothing like that! Just..." he paused, sighing softly. "...that's just what I do. I'll stop being a jerk now, I promise."

[soul_defender]

Idly, Ichigo managed to crack a smile now that the small, awkward phase had passed without incident. If anyone ever managed to get past the berry-head's initially cold behavior, it was only a matter of time before he was able to act more casual around them, rather than keep up his tough-guy exterior.

"No, you're fine...we kinda balance each other, I guess." he said, laughing gently. "I don't usually talk much, so you can do it enough for the both of us."

Reclining in his chair, Ichigo folded his hands behind his head, his arms displayed with light layers of muscle. "I know you didn't have any control over...what happened last night, but do you remember anything about how they made you do it?"

[soul_defender]

Though he could sense her starting to relax, rather proud despite himself over the smile that had finally appeared on her lips, Ichigo immediately saw things take a turn for the worse. His usual lack of tact had kept him from anticipating a very tense subject; he hadn't thought for a second how she might react again to what haunting memories still lingered.

Quickly, looking perfectly alarmed at her panicked state, Ichigo leaned forward. He reached out with both hands to comfort her, give her a solid support in reality, but stopped just short of touching her. It was the same hesitation he felt about getting close to anyone so easily, but there she was, shivering with anxiety; he couldn't just sit by. Before he even knew what he had done, Ichigo had placed his warm hands gently on her shoulders, shaking her lightly.

"Elena, calm down! It's okay." he assured her firmly. "Whatever they did, it's gone now."

[soul_defender]

Elena's expressions were very close, perfectly portraying a definite icy disdain, but sadly, she didn't have the jaw-line necessary to mimic the true level of sourness Ichigo had mastered. He wasn't thinking about expressions, though; Ichigo was trying to think of some way to keep her calm. His only real experience with frightened girls, though, came from his sisters. Briefly, Kurosaki though about them...

Sweet little Yuzu...proud little Karin...they always knew the best way to bother him, but he'd never missed them so much before in his entire life. Reflectingly, his features changed to show his shifting thoughts, with lips curled humbly downard. When they were frightened, sometimes by the crash of thunder in a terrible storm, or by scratching sounds outside their window some late, moonless night, they would come to him, and he would hold them, letting them feel his strength as their shelter.

So, he did what always worked on them. Moving his hands now, his touch moving like soft satin, he held her gently by her arms and leaned in close. "Elena..." he spoke, the true depth of his chivalrous stare revealed in close quarters. "...it's okay."