Soul Zero: Life in a New World

Chapter 12| The Date and Beatrice'White Knight

Today was the day, Rem's date with Ichigo, her special alone time with him as they walk together side by side (maybe even hand in hand? O///O), Rem couldn't help but blush at the thought of her hand in Ichigo's, feeling the warmth of his hand, the tight grip, the way their fingers intertwined.


The maid's belly began feeling fluttery as her heart pounded happily from Rem's romantic daydreams. She soon snapped out of it when her Ichigo senses went off and she felt Ichigo's oncoming presence.


Quickly she turned to face the direction of the staircase that the orange haired teen was coming from, the moment he was insight she happily greeted him. "Good Day Ichigo!" Rem couldn't help but dwell on how handsome he looks today (as he did all days but still).


Today he was out of his butler's uniform and instead was wearing the clothes that Emilia brought him here in, Rem will never forget that day, he was all dirty and injured, apparently when he went in spirit form, the others forgot his body and it got injured during his fight (which Rem thought was unforgivable, how could anyone possibly forget Ichigo's body! If she were there she would have guarded it with her life!!!).


The very thought of an injured Ichigo sends Rem's blood boiling! But the maid didn't let it show, less she give Ichigo the wrong idea and have an awful misunderstanding!



Ichigo raised his hand to give a lazy wave, he noticed that Rem was still in her maid's uniform and figured that it was probably all she owned in terms of clothing. "Hey, you ready to go?" Ichigo gestured towards the door, Rem nodded. "Yes, Rem is ready!" the blue haired maid responded enthusiastically, Ichigo smiled a little as the pair then headed out and toward the town.


During the whole walk to town Rem wore a joyous smile on her face and her eyes seemed to shine brighter than usual and her cheeks were dusted pink from blushing, clearly the maid was happy and nothing has really happened yet, in fact, the day has just begun. Rem's behavior was making think back to Puck's date comment, it echo around a bit in Ichigo's head.


At first Ichigo wasn't too sure on rather or not Rem had a crush on him, he originally thought that Rem's shift in her treatment towards him was due to saving her life but as time went on, he had became aware of the maid's feelings (not that she did much to hide it...).



Unfortunately Ichigo wasn't sure if he returned them or not, so far they were on Good terms and Ichigo enjoyed Rem's company,but that seemed to be the extent of his favorbily toward the maid. Not too mention that he's much too focused on getting back home rather than on his love life. So the orange haired teen wasn't sure what to do, it's not like he's well versed in this kind of thing.


Women weren't exactly fawning over him back home, none that Ichigo could recall at least, so for now until he could figure out how he wished to approach Rem's feelings and how he felt toward her. He was going to keep things as is.


No harm in that,right?... It's not that he plans to lead her on, he just wants to make sure he knows his own feelings before he does anything he might regret.


Ichigo cut his chocolate brown orbs towards the maid observing her for a bit, she must have felt his stare because her ocean blue ones locked onto his, the teen averted his eyes and turned them back ahead.


That was a little embarrassing but Ichigo tried not to let it show, he just wanted to check in to see how she was doing, to see if she was still having fun, there wasn't much to do and so far all they were doing was walking, but none of it seemed to bother Rem at all.


She looked just as happy as before if not happier?


They browse around checked out some new items seemed and some old ones that appeared to be on sale,some of the newer merchants that weren't used to Ichigo's intimidating appearance almost acted as if they didn't want to do business with him, especially with the way he was dressed it was strange and seemed to scream trouble to them.


"I-I'm sorry, I can't sell that to you...good sir" The merchant's would say nervously... these guys weren't as judgemental free like the previous ones that came through town...


When Rem took noticed what the merchants were doing... well let's just say that she wasn't a fan as she almost went full on oni mode and Ichigo had to hold her back.


"Rem calm down!"


"I cannot, they dare to refuse you servince, they need to be punished!" It was obvious this girl had it bad, Ichigo could definitely see that as Rem frightened the merchants even more.


"I said cool it" Ichigo bopped Rem over the head, it worked in stopping her, she definitely calmed down... sort of, she had a wild blush and a weird look in her eyes.


"Rem didn't realize that Ichigo was into that sort of thing... Rem shall do her best to adapt" Rem bowed while Ichigo looked on surprised.


"Just what sort of weird conclusion did you come to with that?!" Ichigo was a little concerned to hear the answer to that question.


Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he shook his head. "Come on let's go, there's nothing here that I really want anyway" Rem watched Ichigo for a bit before following after.


The pair walked for a bit before a curious question comes to Ichigo's mind. "Hey Rem, that night when the demon beast attacked and that hollowed showed up... was that your first time seeing one?"


Rem nodded. "Yes though I had heard stories of them before in my childhood, why?" Rem tilted her head curiously.



Ichigo shook his head. "No reason, just curious... but in your stories did they ever speak of who came to take care of them?"


"Usually knights from what I can remember" Rem touched her chin in thought. "Yes knights I'm sure" Knights huh? He doubts that how anyone would describe a soul reaper... but it's possible that there's a chance that he could be wrong, right?



The book he found in Beatrice's library did have an illustration of a soul reaper, so he couldn't be the only one, he had to find more intel somehow.



"I see, thanks Rem" Rem's face lights up with joy.



"No problem Ichigo, you can ask Rem as many questions as you like, Rem will happily answer them all~"


Ichigo appreciated Rem's response...even if it was a bit weird, he knew that she really wanted to help him and that made him pretty happy.


~~~~

"How's it hanging Princess!" Beatrice turns to the voice's owner as she slammed her book shut appearing annoyed with the strange looking spirit who has become quite the persistent pest.



"You really are quite the bothersome guest." Beatrice commented about the annoying spirit that seemed to be bound to her for the time-being ever since she healed Ichigo, it must have been related to him somehow considering the similar mana the pair shared.



They bore a strong resemblance to Ichigo except for his eyes being a dark yellow with pitch black sclera, and his skin and hair being an unnaturally white which is probably how he got his name, Betty theorized, though didn't really care if she was correct or not.



What she did care about was how after she had helped heal Ichigo this White had began appearing in the library from time to time due to some parts of Ichigo's mana mixing with hers though at first Beatrice didn't realize that was the cause. She had thought it was the orange haired teen in a strange getup, perhaps he and Roswaal had shared a love in looking like foolish clowns? Though if that were the case, she did wonder why he felt different? (and how he just suddenly appeared from out of nowhere)



That first assumption was incorrect apparently, White was a part of Ichigo, a manifestation of some sorts, the spirit did explain it to Betty, but he was rather odd about it, using words that Betty had never heard of until now.



He usually can't come out into the world like this unless it's in the form of taking control of Ichigo's body, and yet somehow, here he is, temporarily attached to Betty, and that was when Betty pieced together how he became attached to her, for a temporary period in time, it seems that White can go between Beatrice and Ichigo's body/mind.



It seems he should be fully Ichigo's problem soon enough as evident in his now more transparent appearance as he stood before her.



"Deal with it, cuz you're stuck with me till the king and his date is over with" White replied causally as he examined the area, he was eying a spot for training, but Beatrice has gotten after him too many times for him to attempt to do it again.



Beatrice became confused at the mention of a date, she knows that when White says King he's referring to Ichigo but this was the first she's heard of him going on a date... then again where would she have learned of it? She rarely left the library.



"Betty fails to see how that has to make *you her problem?" Beatrice raised a thin blonde brow as her unique looking orbs followed the spirits movements.



Making sure he did nothing that she would disapprove of, which unsupervised she was sure he most certainly would if Betty wasn't careful...well not like he could do much harm, he wasn't physically here.


It was just annoying seeing and hearing him practice and Beatrice couldn't be bother with the spirit's pursuit for strength (at least that's what Betty assumes why he does it).


With not much to do, White settled for doing push-ups while he waited for Ichigo and Rem's date to finish, plus this was a good enough break from searching for that intruder inside of Ichigo... No matter how hard White searched he couldn't find her, she's hid herself well... or perhaps she's left?


White frowned either way White didn't like it, no one should be able to just come and go as they pleased in Ichigo's body... though he did greatly enjoy the fighting,she put up one hell of a fight and White was itching for another only this time he wanted to beat her, last time she got away which annoys White even now as he thinks about it...



~~~

Beatrice sat in her chair flipping through a page in a book, absentmindedly as she waited for a certain someone to make their appearance, White had already left by now which told Beatrice that the date was over... so... where was he then?



It was becoming around the time that he usually showed up and while she pretends to be annoyed with his visits. She had at some point grown to somewhat tolerate his company, though she would never dare to admit having even that much of a liking to the strange half-spirit.



Footsteps could be heard approaching the door, they weren't Roswaal's and there's only one person she could think of that bothers her so (well there is one more now, but his wouldn't be out in the hall), Beatrice feign interest in her book as to appear uninterested in his presences.



"Finish with you're date I see?" Beatrice's blue orbs glanced over to the orange haired teen, observing him from her chair.



Ichigo stiffened a little at the word date unsure of how to feel about even Beatrice calling it that before relaxing."That damn cat!" Beatrice was confused by Ichigo's comment but didn't question him about it.


"Yeah, Rem and I finished hanging out... we had to get back before the meteor shower starts to help Emilia get everything ready" Ichigo explained.



"Betty sees, well go about your business just don't bother Betty, I suppose" Beatrice replied sounding uninterested.



"Well, about that, Roswaal mentioned to us that a meteor shower was coming along, Emilia, Rem and I thought it might be cool to go watch, so I came to see if you might want to join" Beatrice's brow furrowed.



"Betty will pass" Beatrice turned her head and avoided Ichigo's gaze.



"Just like that?! You didn't even bother to consider it!"



"Betty doesn't see a reason to go, Pucky won't be there thus nothing to motivate Betty to step foot outside" Beatrice turned up her nose and continued to read her book.



"Seriously?" Ichigo sighed. Brown orbs shifted from slightly annoyed to genuine concern. "You shouldn't keep yourself locked away like this, I noticed how you never leave this library other than joining us for breakfast even then Puck's the only one you interact with"





"You keep yourself isolated here in this library; you relocate every time it's found, you shut down any attempts from others wanting to get to know you, is that really how you want to keep things?" Ichigo asked when he could sense that it wasn't, from the moment he met Beatrice, he kept feeling this wave of loneness, that the young girl was longing for something, and Ichigo felt compelled to help her.



Beatrice remains silent, it seemed as if she had ignored Ichigo's entire conversation, her gaze remains fixed onto her book, her small hands tremble for a brief moment before closing it. "Betty thinks that you have overstayed your welcome" before Ichigo could react, Beatrice used her gathered up her mana and pushed him out of the library.



"Hey, wait!" Ichigo shouted as he was shot out of the room and crashed into the wall, Ichigo groaned, some of the portraits on the walls either fell off or tilted and the vase on the nearby stand shook around a bit but thankfully it remained in place.





Ichigo quickly rose to his feet and was about to head back through the door but sense that Beatrice had already changed locations. "Damnit' Ichigo sighed.





'What to do now?' He can sense Beatrice's new location, so he could try again if he wanted to but what good would it do if she still doesn't want to go? Should he just leave her be?


~~~

"Is that really how you want to keep things?" Ichigo's question echoed in Beatrice's mind, annoying the girl constantly as she tried to ignore it.



'What would he know? That idiot, doesn't understand Betty at all!'



Beatrice shut her eyes; her brows bent in frustration. "So, the princess has refused the kign's hand of friendship, has she?" a familiar voice spoke, Beatrice's eyes snapped open revealing her bright blue orbs as she fixed her gaze onto the strange spirit.







"Why are you back ?" Beatrice questioned once she got over her shock and giving White a glare, White shrugged. "I overheard the princess and her king's chit-chat" His excuse was a lacking one in Betty's opinion, but...she allowed it for now.



White walked around the room for a bit, eying one of the many bookshelves, it was the one that Ichigo had borrowed a book from, its spot was still empty since he had yet to return it, at first Beatrice was against him taking it out of the library, but after he kept coming back for it day after day, the girl caved and entrusted him with it for the time being (obviously he had to return it unharmed).



Soon White stopped at one end and turned to face Beatrice, his face held a neutral expression as he spoke. "Not that it's any of my business, but that meteor shower did sound like it would be interesting, are you sure that you wanna miss out?"



Beatrice frowned. "There's hardly a reason for Betty to go" White shrugged seemingly uncaring. "If you say so" and so, there was silence, neither Betty nor White had much to say after that.



White went out into the hall and over to a window and after a moment or two of silent gazing outside, he couldn't see King or any of the king's new friends, but he could see the vast starry night sky in all of its beauty, the meteor shower hadn't started yet but it would soon...



White clicked his tongue in a manner as one would do to catch a cat's attention, since there wasn't one around, Beatrice could only assume it was meant for her causing the blond-haired girl's brows to furrow from a mix of confusion and annoyance. "What?"



"Come here for a sec" was White's only response, the young girl's frown deepens. but nonetheless did as request, she had an idea of what White was planning and didn't see the harm in it.



At first there was nothing all that interesting, just the same old sky that. Beatrice was used to seeing by this point, she's lived long enough for it to have lost its charm.



So, the girl raised a brow, slightly disappointed, "Betty has seen this before you know, it's hardly of any interest to Betty." White shook his head.



"Figured you'd feel that way Princess, which is why we're going for a better view" Betty's eyes narrowed, at a lost for what White meant, it all became much clearer when in a blink of an eye, the snow white spirit opened the window and quickly grabbing hold of Beatrice and carrying her out into the night.





It all happened so quickly the girl barely had any time to complain, but as soon as White settled in a fixed point in the sky, Beatrice got started on her fussing. "What do you think you are doing? Betty didn't ask to go outside!"





Beatrice tried wiggling herself free, but White continued to carry her in his arms. "Just calm down and look" Beatrice huffed as she turned her gaze to the night sky once again.



And this time... she felt a bit different as she watched star after star shoot across the sky in these brilliant displays of light, once again this technically wasn't something she hasn't already seen and yet this time it felt vastly different than all the other times. Was it really due to a better point of viewing?



Beatrice pondered that thought as she briefly glanced over to White who also seemed to be captivated by the little shower, the way he watched each one fly by overhead wasn't something Beatrice thought he would take such an interest in.





This had been White's first time experiencing a shower like this in person, he usually sees them through Ichigo's eyes and to be honest, it seemed kind of dull and a waste of time, never would he have ever imagined that seeing them "in person" would have made much of a difference.



'I guess I was wrong' White thought before glance down to see if Beatrice was enjoying herself, she had stopped struggling and seem to have relaxed, by the time White checked in, the young girl was now also completely engaged in the event, there was joy and a childlike wonder sparkling in her blue orbs that they were originally lacking before tonight.



None of that deep sadness and crushing loneliness dully shown within her gaze, for now they held the warmth of life, White's gaze soften as a small smile worked it's way onto is face as they pair stayed in their safe little spot in the air watching star after star fly on by (1).

~~~

Ichigo had decided to leave Beatrice be, it was almost time for the meteor shower, and he doubted that he could do anything to convince her to come out before it started, so he went outside to go join up with the others.



It was just Emilia and Rem there waiting for him. Rem's face lit up with joy the moment she spotted Ichigo coming over to the little stargazing set up they had going.



Emilia appeared happy to see him as well, though her expression did dimmer when she saw he came alone.



"I see it's just us three" Ichigo observed as he stood in front of Emilia whom nodded while Rem was the one to answer as she quickly claimed the closest spot next to him. "Master Roswaal said that he had too much work to do, and sister Ram said that she would keep him company."





Ichigo sighed, placing his hands into his pockets, he didn't see Roswaal as the type to actually be so committed to his work, so it came as a bit of a surprise to hear that the clown turned down their invitation.



"Are we still going to watch the meteor shower, or should we pack up since no one else showed?" Emilia asked softly, her tone slightly hopeful that he'd say yes though there did same to be a hint of guilt hidden in there.



"Why not?" Ichigo shrugged. "Seems like a waste to throw away all the hard work it took to get this spot set up" Emilia smiled, her amythest orbs sparkle like the stars in the night sky from joy.



"Right!" Emilia nodded firmly as she turned to face the sky. "Then let's pay close attention, it's about to start" not long after those words left Emilia's lips, the very meteors that the trio were looking forward to seeing came shooting across the sky.



It's beauty adding to the night sky in such a exicting but fleeting way that one wouldn't want to miss (or so you would assume but Roswaal and Ram suggest otherwise).



Emilia seemed to be enjoying the new exprience immensely as she stared on in awe, smiling and laughing all the while.



"It's so beatiful! We have to get the others to join us next time!" Emilia insisted though when will that next time be was a mystery for now.

_______

(1) I really don't feel like I was explaining the shower scene in the way that I would have liked too, I've never actually seen one and only really experienced them through movies and I think that shows, so sorry if it felt lacking in detail but hopefully the friendship that I want to slowly build between Betty and White helps.

(2) I hope that the reason on how Betty and White are temporarily connected makes senses and I apologize if anyone felt out of character (especially White... he's a little tricky for me).

sorry to those who wanted it to be Kon...