"So you've been watching my competitions," Tatsuki said in embarrassment. "Well, thanks for your support? I didn't know I had fans."
"Your fights are awesome!" Shiho said. "Ren and I were going to take martial arts classes sometime. Do you have any suggestions for us?"
'This man... is a womanizer! I need to protect Orihime!' Tatsuki thought with widened eyes.
"Oh, well, I've trained in karate since I was a child. I just picked up boxing recently after seeing a compilation video from the early 2000s. That man was strong!" Tatsuki coughed and continued. "It depends on what you're looking for. I wo—"
"Full contact!"
"Kenpo or karate to start. Muay Thai if you want to use knee and elbow strikes. They're dangerous, though."
Shiho's eyes were glowing, and she glanced at Ren.
'Oh, maybe she wants to beat him up?'
"I learned boxing and karate when I was younger. You won't beat me so easily," Ren said with a cocky smirk.
"Oh?" Tatsuki grinned. "Shall we spar sometime?"
Ren paused for a second. He suddenly realized this was the girl who cracked the striking dummy at the gym.
"Uhh. Give me some time to practice more," Ren said while scratching his cheek, his cocky smirk fading.
"Hahahaha!"
---
"Lady Orihime's friend is nice," Morgana said with a happy expression as he and Ren headed back to Leblanc.
"Is she 'Lady Tatsuki' now?"
"Hmph. I just said she was kind. I just met her."
"Uh-huh," Ren replied. Remembering that the not-cat had called Ann, Shiho, and Orihime "Lady" almost immediately, and recalling their shared traits, his face changed to disdain as he looked at Morgana.
"What?!" Morgana asked.
"Pervert."
"Manwhore," Morgana replied with a snort.
---
In a quiet shack.
"Did you notice?" a blond man wearing a strange outfit and a green-and-white striped hat said to no one in particular.
"Yeah. Their spiritual pressure is weird. Especially the black-haired kid. It's so chaotic that it's like a Hollow, but also gentle."
"That's not what I meant, but good observation," the man said as a black cat walked out of the shadows.
"Don't be mysterious, you shitty hat."
The man wearing the hat didn't respond, but his frown deepened.
"Ichigo Kurosaki died as a child. Why did I think I saw him as a teenager?" the man muttered, tapping his cane on the ground.
"Ugh. I haven't been this stumped in millennia," the man groaned, pulling off his hat.
"You love it, though." The cat grinned.
The man responded with a grin of his own.
---