Chapter 26: Day Off
Gasping for breath, Ichigo looked at the charred ground. It was the only thing that was left of the Grand Fisher. Seeing that he had completely annihilated the threat, he finally relaxed and slammed down on the ground.
He was exhausted after using so much of his spiritual powers and needed time to recover. The wound on his chest still hurt quite a bit and had dyed his orange shirt quite a bit red. Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped considerably by now compared to what it was earlier, but the pain was still there, which made Ichigo grit his teeth on the ground.
Karin, who was also lying on the ground, gained consciousness after a minute or two, and seeing Ichigo's body lying on the ground, she rushed towards him, shouting "Brother!" "Are you alright?" She only calmed down when she noticed that he was still conscious.
"Yes, I'm fine. Could you help me up?" Ichigo said as he lifted his hand for her to pull. Karin, without a second thought, pulled hard on his shoulders and lifted his body up with all the strength she could muster from her 11-year-old body.
"You're bleeding!" Karin exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'll be fine after a bit of first aid, so let's go back to the shrine. If Father asks, tell him that I lost my balance and fell on a pointy branch that pierced my chest. I don't want him to worry about these things. Those monsters are called hollows, and in the future, if you witness them, you better run without a second thought just like you did today," Ichigo said.
Karin heard him and nodded as she continued to support him back to the shrine. After a while, they finally reached the shrine, and Isshin couldn't help but raise a ruckus when he found Ichigo in the miserable state he was in as he rushed to give him first aid.
"What the hell happened to you in the forest?" He shouted at him after finishing up with the bandaging.
Karin placated him and explained to him what had happened. She had already made up a suitable story in her mind with the prompt Ichigo had given her earlier, and she only had to make it more believable.
"Are you still my son? How absent-minded can you get to be pierced by a branch in the temple forest?" Isshin said while looking at Ichigo disappointingly.
Ichigo could only take his insulting gaze lying down as he let his father further berate him, to the point where Karin had to stop Isshin from speaking further; otherwise, knowing how impulsive her brother was, he might end up fighting him and injuring himself further in the process.
The night was about to approach, and with an injured Ichgio in tow, Isshin felt that it was better for them to go back home in a cab. The cab soon arrived, and the four of them got in it. By the time they arrived back home, Yuzu and Karin were tired as hell and immediately went to their room to sleep.
Isshin helped Ichigo get upstairs to his room and helped him onto his bed. "There you go. If the pain doesn't lessen by tomorrow morning, then we'll go to the hospital. Good night then," Isshin says.
"Alright, good night," Ichigo says while looking at Isshin's back.
"Dad," Ichigo thought of something and called Isshin before he left.
"Hmm?" Hearing Ichigo's voice, he turned his head around.
"The thing is, I was not injured by-" Ichigo had just started explaining to Isshin what had happened today when he was stopped by Isshin's following words.
"I know…Just be safe. That's all I and your mother want." Isshin turned around and closed the door.
Hearing his words, Ichigo couldn't help but feel warm deep inside. "It's good to have a family," he said to himself as he made his aching body fall asleep.
The next day In the morning, Ichigo felt much better, but his body still felt weak because of the amount of blood he had lost yesterday, so he decided to take a day off.
So after a long time, he finally had the opportunity to relax. He had been pushing himself constantly, day after day, with no days off in between, so now that he was taking one, he had no clue what to do.
Yuzu brought his breakfast upstairs along with Karin, who had accompanied Yuzu just so she could check up on Ichigo's condition.
The two of them soon bid him goodbye, as it was time for them to attend school. After finishing up his breakfast, Ichigo slowly got up from his bed and freshened up.
He felt a lot better after It and spent the rest of his time reading a comic book he had taken out from his bookshelf.
Time quickly passed, and before he knew it, it was already evening. As he was resting after eating lunch, an unexpected guest came.
With the ring of the doorbell, a beautiful young lady entered the Kurosaki household.
"It's been a while since we last met Karin Chan and Yuzu Chan. You two have grown quite a lot," Orihime told Yuzu and Karin with her usual smile.
"Orihime san! You've become even more beautiful, you came to meet my brother, right?" Karin asked
"Mhmm, he was absent today as well, so I couldn't help but grow worried," Orihime said.
"Yeah, he got a bit injured yesterday, but he's doing well now," Karin explained.
"Injured! Can I meet him?" Orihime asked, worry written clearly on her face.
"Of course, he's in his room currently," Karin said as she gestured her hand towards Ichigo's room.
Without thinking twice Orihime rushed upstairs and seeing her hasty figure an understanding smile slowly formed on her face "So it's like that hehe" Karin said to herself.
"What's like that?" Yuzu was clearly confused by Karin's words.
"You're too young to understand." Karin said, to which Yuzu puffed her cheeks as she replied, "We both are of the same age!"
__________
For Supporting me/Advance Chapters
https://www.p-atreon.com/_Slander
Remove the "-" from the link before searching
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone