Chương 12: Karate club

"I know, but this is different. I'm not like Kiyota" Ichigo said as he began to walk away.

Rukia grits her teeth and pulls out a red glove with a design that has a blue flame on a skull.

'It's the Gokon Tekkō!' Kiyota thinks to himself, watching the scene unfold.

"I see... Guess there's no other choice then." Rukia said as she put on the glove.

"Hey!" Rukia called out, making Ichigo turn around.

Rukia ran towards Ichigo and pushing her palm on his chin. Ichigo's physical body fell to the floor and his soul was pushed out. Ichigo was wearing a black kimono and had a giant zanpakutō strapped to his back.

"Ahh crap, what happened to my body?! What in the world did you do to me?!" Ichigo shouted while pointing at his physical body, which was motionless on the floor.

"I'll put it simply. You're currently in the form of a spirit. A substitute soul reaper." Rukia said calmly.

"Wha-"

"I can't believe you! Why can't you see that if you can fight monsters like hollows, it's your duty to do so? There's no reason not to." Rukia scolded, pointing her finger at Ichigo.

"What's wrong with you, lady? You're talking crazy! I'm not a monster hunter. You should've thought of that before you stuck yourself inside that stupid doll! You got a problem? Then go talk to a priest or something." Ichigo shouted, trying to defend himself.

"Just shut up and follow me." Rukia said to Ichigo.

Rukia turned to face Kiyota whose expression was unmoved.

"Could you take care of Ichigo's body? Maybe leave it somewhere safe." Rukia asked.

"Sure. I'll leave him in the sporting equipment storage." Kiyota nodded, picking up Ichigo's body and leaving.

"Come on, let's go." Rukia said to Ichigo as she started walking.

Kiyota body was shaking as he lifted Ichigo's body.

'I regret not putting the stat points into strength.' Kiyota cursed.

'I'm not doing this again. I'm going to get the strength stat next.'

After a while, Kiyota managed to reach the sporting equipment storage and pushed the door open.

'Hmm... what if someone walks in and sees him? I should cover him up.' Kiyota looked around the room.

Kiyota grabbed a nearby sports mat and placed it on top of Ichigo's body.

'Now that should be enough. I've gotta go now.' Kiyota thought.

He walked towards the exit and closed the door.

'Hopefully, Ichigo is alright.'

Kiyota started walking back to class and after a while, he saw Orihime and Tatsuki standing together.

"Hey, Kiyota. What happened? You, Ichigo and the new girl never came back to class. Where are they?" Tatsuki questioned.

"Huh? Oh, they went somewhere else. Rukia's not feeling well." Kiyota lied.

'Hopefully she buys it.'

"Oh, alright. Anyway, I was heading to the karate club. You said you wanted to join, right?" Tatsuki asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Kiyota replied with a smile.

'I'm actually quite good at fighting. Taekwondo has been a hobby for a long time now. But, wouldn't it be weird if a complete newbie started doing a kick or punch perfectly. Maybe I should try out Kendo, too. If I can become proficient at sword fighting, it'll really help.'

'Karate and Kendo are a bit similar, I should be able to pick them up easily. I should find a way to train my senses as well, just in case.'

'Well, first things first, let's focus on the martial arts.'

'I wonder if Ichigo and Rukia managed to find the plus that's under attack. If I remember correctly, in the anime, the hollow looks like a spider.'

Kiyota sighed.

'Hopefully everything goes smoothly. For now, I'm going to go join the karate club. Spend some quality time with Tatsuki... I-I mean, learn a how to fight.'

"Hey, are you listening? Are you alright?" Tatsuki asked Kiyota, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something. Let's go." Kiyota said.

"I'll see you later Tatsuki, you too Jin-san." Orihime said as he walked away.

"Ok. See ya, Orihime" Kiyota replied.

"Bye, Orihime." Tatsuki said.

"Alright, let's go."

Tatsuki and Kiyota began walking towards the karate club. The two of them arrive at the karate club, which was in the same building as the judo club.

'I wonder if they're gonna do some sparring today.' Kiyota thought to himself as he and Tatsuki walked into the room.

"Okay, what do I have to do first?" Kiyota said, as he began jumping up and down, stretching his arms and legs.

Tatsuki sighed as she looked at him.

"First we sign you up. Don't even think about touching the equipment for now." Tatsuki said as she began writing his name on a clipboard.

"Why?" Kiyota asked, disappointed.

"You're a new member, you don't know the rules and stuff yet." Tatsuki replied.

"But what about the sparring?" Kiyota whined.

"Later. When you're better." Tatsuki answered.

"I'm better than you think. Let me spar you and you'll see." Kiyota said with an angry and slightly arrogant tone.

Tatsuki was slightly surprised.

'There's no way I would do that. I'm just curious to see how strong she is. I don't intend to go all out.'

"Really? Then let's see what you got, Kiyota." Tatsuki said with a smug look.

'Wait, I'm actually kinda getting cold feet now.' Kiyota thought to himself.

'She's the captain, the strongest one in the club. Why'd I have to test her? There's no way she isn't strong!'

'Ahh doesn't matter, I doubt she would go hard on a supposed newbie like me... Right?'

"Alright, let's go" Kiyota said, trying not to sound nervous.

The two of them moved into the sparring area and got ready.

"Are you sure about this, Kiyota? I won't use any techniques, just straight forward punches and kicks. I'll start with 30%. You can use whatever you think might help you." Tatsuki said as she started stretching her neck.

"Just as a word of advice... The things you see in movies don't work in real life." Tatsuki said with a chuckle.