“Ichi-nii, Ichi-nii! Ichi-nii! Please wake up…”

Ichigo groaned and forced his eyes open, staring up at the bright blue sky—

Blue sky?

He jerked upright. Absently caught Yuzu as she toppled backwards. Came face-to-face with a human-sized cat—

“Ichi-nii?” the cat — Karin, oh kami that was Karin — asked, pale ears back and copper eyes bright with unshed tears. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Ichigo reassured, reaching out to pull her into his side opposite Yuzu. “How about you two?”

Yuzu sniffed and whined, burying her face into his side, hands clenched tight in the odd outfit he was wearing. He could feel her shaking with silent sobs and held her closer, trying to offer what comfort he could.

(What was going on?)

On his other side, Karin took a shuddering breath and slumped into his hold, scrubbing at her eyes with one hand. “It’s all so weird,” she confessed softly. “It’s so bright and everything is so loud, and… and I…” she huffed and held out her furred hand, sunlight glinting off her translucent claws. “I look like this and it’s weird and my feet are weird, and… and…”

“Shh, shh, it’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out.” The words tasted like ash in his mouth, nothing but empty air and false platitudes. This wasn’t the world he knew and he had no idea how they’d gotten here.

(Theldesia. This was Theldesia, the world of Elder Tales.)

(The world of a video game.)

He took Karin’s hand in his, running a thumb over the short, silky fur that covered it, and tried to make sense of it all. Tried to make sense of his sister being a Werecat. Of his other sister with ocean blue hair. Of the way his own senses were spiking, flickers of something pressing in from all sides.

(Later. He would deal with it all later.)

Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut and took a breath. He needed to be strong for his sisters. Needed to find a place where they could all hole up. They couldn’t stay out in the open, with no shelter and no place to relax and feel safe.

Approaching footsteps drew his attention and he narrowed his eyes at the… at the Wolf Fang in heavy plate striding towards them. Black hair and equally black wolf-ears, familiar face—

“Chad?” Ichigo asked, staring up at the other in surprise. Chad had been online with them last he recalled — did that mean that everyone that had been online was now… like this?

“Ichigo.” Chad crouched down a few feet away, plate mail clanking as he moved. His gaze swept over the three of them and he frowned, ears pulling back and almost vanishing amidst his hair. “Everything is chaos.”

(That much heavy armor and Chad didn’t even seem to notice it. Moved as if it weighed nothing at all.)

(No.)

(Later.)

Ichigo grimaced and looked in the direction that Chad had come. He could hear other people in the distance, their words indistinct but the air of fear-despair-anxiety easy to sense. “We can’t stay out here,” he voiced his thoughts aloud, gaze switching back to Chad. “Did you make any inn reservations?”

Chad shook his head and settled back on his heels, ears drooping. “No.”

“Had to ask. Don’t worry about it.” It had been a long shot, Ichigo knew; neither of them had made a habit of renting inn rooms except in rare instances. There were better uses of their gold when the game was, well, a game.

But that left them with nowhere safe and comfortable to retreat. If it had been just the two of them, Ichigo wouldn’t be so concerned but… his sisters. He needed to think of his sisters first.

“We could go to the Chiming Bones,” Chad suggested after a moment.

“That’s… an idea,” Ichigo mused, turning the suggestion over in his mind. Chiming Bones was a small guild, less than fifty people all told, but they were good people. He’d trust them with his sisters’ lives. “Right. Let’s see if any of them got trapped here with us.”

“Are… are they nice?” Yuzu asked quietly as Ichigo helped her and her sister to stand.

“I trust them. Chad and I have played with them a lot in the past year,” Ichigo answered as he rose to his feet and stretched. He ran a hand through his hair and scowled at the unfamiliar length and texture. It was too long, too soft, with only a hint of the spikes he was used to.

He wasn’t certain he wanted to look in a mirror.

(No.)

(Later.)

He closed his eyes. Breathed out. Breathed in. Rolled his shoulders and straightened his neck. Personal crisis later, safety now.

Chad slipped past him. Gripped his shoulder in reassurance. Offered a hand to Karin and said, “Here. For balance.”

Karin’s lower lip trembled, but she took hold of Chad’s hand and clung tight, expression stubborn.

“Let me know if either of you need a break, okay?” Ichigo said with a stern look at both Yuzu and Karin. “If this is like Elder Tales, we’re safe here in the city. So there’s no reason to tough it out when we’re just walking to the Guild Hall.”

“I’ll be fine,” Karin told him, ears flattening against her head. “It’s just like soccer. I’ll be fine.”

Ichigo hummed and gave her a once over, then shrugged and let it go. They all needed to adapt in their own way, and if Karin thought she could handle it for a bit longer, that was her right. “Right. Come on, we need to find the Guild Hall.”

Which wouldn’t be too difficult, Ichigo hoped. The Guild Hall was near the center of Akiba. They just… needed to find a road he was familiar with and then he would know where they were.

So. First thing first: get out of the alley and start exploring.

Right. He could do that.

(One step at a time.)

(Familiar surroundings. Guild Hall. Safety.)

(The future was a problem for another time.)