[SCENE – A FEW WEEKS LATER | KUROSAKI HOUSEHOLD | ICHIGO'S ROOM]
Cue the mellow hum of electricity, rapid button-smashing, and the occasional "HADOKEN"-level screeching from the TV speakers.
The screen glared with high-octane intensity as Sora and Ichigo sat cross-legged, controllers gripped like life itself depended on the outcome.
Mortal Kombat. Final Round.
Ichigo's health bar was a mere sliver of crimson.
Sora's character—a ridiculously overpowered time-stopping demon samurai, cause he liked it, plus every time he stopped time, he gave Ichigo's character backshots for shits and giggles....right now, he—was mid-animation, unleashing a final cinematic ultimate, complete with dramatic slow-mo slashes, flaming cherry blossoms, and background Gregorian chanting.
"BLOCK THIS, KUROSAKI!!" Sora would say, he had a shit-eating grin on his face.
He liked this.
PERFECT BLOCK.
"...HUH!?"
Ichigo's character staggered back, Ichigo somehow managed to do 20 perfect blocks, 20 fucking perfect blocks back to back to back.
"What even is your reaction time!?" Sora would say, before realizing that not even a week ago, they were fighting someone who was moving several magnitudes faster than the speed of light and were reacting to said person.
If Ichigo was slower than....that would be the most sus part, not this.
"You're predictable," Ichigo said, eyes locked onto the screen like a battle-hardened war vet. "You use that ultimate every time you're cornered."
"Because it's cool! I paid five bucks for the DLC skin, I better get my money's worth!" Was it wrong?
He paid some money for that. A lot of cash for this.
Yes, he was a billionaire...hm, millionaire since he donated a shit-ton of money to help the country get better and so on, and with his Almighty he knew his money was being used wisely.
He personally never allowed himself to have more than 500m in his bank account, any more got donated and so on.
A few more lightning-fast exchanges, Ichigo managing yet another perfect block, and—
"Oi Ichigo, look, it's Orihime."
Ichigo flinched. Just for a second.
Sora's fatal combo came down like the wrath of the RNG gods.
"FINISH HIM!"
"CHEAP!" Ichigo shouted as his character was split in half in glorious 4K gore. "Dirty move, man!"
Sora leaned back on Ichigo's bed, stretching, clearly proud of himself. "Hey, works every time."
Ichigo fell for that trick every time and since Sora sometimes made sure Orihime was there, so it's like a 50/50 anytime Sora does this.
Ichigo crossed his arms, still glaring at the 'YOU WIN' screen. "Did you even study for the test tomorrow?"
Sora waved lazily at the air. "Why would I? I have money." The answer to that question was, he studied, using the Almighty, he found each and every single question that would be on there and studied them.
So you know...he had the answer.
Ichigo, however, didn't know that shit, so it looked like Sora was slacking off....again.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed like a disappointed older brother catching his little brother trying to microwave a fork.
"...Who did you con this time? How many old ladies did you pyramid scheme?"
Sora gasped. Genuinely, dramatically, fake-offended. "Ichigo... You really think that little of me?"
Ichigo's brow furrowed even deeper. "...Isn't that exactly how you made your last fortune?"
"Well yeah—but still! It stings hearing it out loud, y'know?"
Sora rolled over on his stomach, kicked his legs up, and smirked. "Nah, I bet on the slowest horse in the Reishi Derby. Used Ransōtengai to make it win. Controlled its limbs from 600 meters out like a puppeteer on crack."
Ichigo dropped his controller. "That's cheating."
Sora looked genuinely confused. "It's called using my skills, thank you."
He wasn't wrong, plus it's not like he could cheat rn. Sora looked at his hands, his Quincy powers were gone, he couldn't use any Quincy move, he was more of a Soul Reaper right now.
So you know, he got weaker, felt so sad to downgrade from being the top race to one of the weakest races.
Shit truly was sad, he didn't like this downgrade at all, even being a Hollow would be better than this, but now, he had to be a goddamn colonizer, part of the most evil race alive. Hollows don't count, cause 9 times out of 10, they don't have a concept of right or wrong.
Shinigami in fact did have that concept and still did some horrible shit. Hm, Soul Society was in the process of rebuilding right now.
By Soul King's order, the Vizard and Urahara ban were lifted....so, heh, and Sora started collecting his debt from Shinji. The look on the man's face, when he realized he would have to pay Sora like a couple million yen a year was priceless.
It was quite fun that Toshiro was nearby, he finally understood the gravity of his situation.
Apparently Kisuke was now back to being captain of squad 12, since Mayuri passed away...unfortunately. Well, on the good side, they did catch a Menos Grande nearby and it was being used for experiments, so not everything was loose.
Some progress was in fact made that day.
Heheheheh, Sora shall never reveal who that Hollow was.
Maybe, it was Mayuri, who knows.
Hm, now on his plan on helping his brother get some Nyash.
A/N yall didn't meet the goal...sooo