Sometimes, Mika wonders if she's actually in an anime. It's hard not to, despite the eerie similarities. For one, her surroundings are vibrant and real - nothing at all like the two-dimensional images she remembers. For another, the people have depth. In Ichigo's small family, she's seen multitudes more of their personalities and idiosyncrasies than the sixty-odd episodes she watched ever revealed.

Still, ghosts and hollows exist, so she can't completely dismiss the theory.

Not that it matters all that much in the long run. Mika's quite sure she and Ichigo will muck up whatever plot he was supposed to follow (if her mere existence hasn't done so already). It's not like she minds, either. The idea that the future is set in stone - that everyone's choices are unavoidable and certain outcomes inevitable... Well, it's not something she likes to consider.

"Are you ready Mika?" Ichigo's form materializes in his soulscape, only a few feet away from her.

What they're about to try is incredibly reckless and will almost certainly change things for the future. It's the main reason why Mika finds her thoughts drifting toward the concept of fate and her memories of what-should-be.

"...Yeah, I'm ready."

Ichigo nods and disappears, leaving Mika alone on the rooftop. His part in this little experiment is relatively simple, if challenging: all he has to do is meditate, suppressing conscious thought until he feels like an observer in his own body. Once he does that, Mika will project her conscious as far as she can in an attempt to take over his body.

It sounds ominous, but she's checked with Ichigo literally hundreds of times and he still wants to go through with it. He's too selfless by half. 'No time to worry about it now,' Mika decides. Then, without further delay, the teen who's not really a teen closes her eyes and concentrates on her partner's presence. He's a flame in her mind's eye - sometimes flaring, sometimes waning, but never extinguished.

At this point in their little test he's managed to reign himself in to the point that he's barely more than a low-burning candle, only slightly larger than his presence while he sleeps.

'It's now or never.'

She gathers everything she has and shoves her awareness up, up, UP! There! "Ah," she draws in a soft, gasping breath. The air feels thick and cumbersome to her senses; it's also the most wonderful thing she's ever felt. "Huh," she breathes out. The action, for all that she does it in Ichigo's soulscape, is so very different in the real world. There's a weight to the simple act of breathing that she's forgotten about ('These are my lungs, taking in oxygen so I can live, live, live' - she cuts the semi-hysterical thought off).

Mika wants, more than anything, to start moving and touching things the way she hasn't been able to in years, but manages to restrain herself. 'Ichigo? It worked - do you want to switch back?'

He takes a long moment to reply, but when he does, he's incredulous. 'What? Now?' Mika imagines him rolling his eyes. 'We've spent months practicing and meditating and you want to switch back before you've even done anything? I don't think so. You can feel it too, right? How easy it would be to go back to our regular roles?'

'I can,' she confirms.

'Then there's absolutely no reason to worry. Go out, see the world. I'll just check things out in here.'

'If you're sure...' Ichigo makes a wordless noise of frustration in response, but Mika is too excited to care. She's real again. And Ichigo's just given her permission to go out and explore the world with his senses. She stands up slowly, absently noting that Ichigo seems to relax into their soul once she does so, satisfied that she's making use of her time in control.

It's a little awkward at first, Ichigo has a prepubescent boy's body and Mika's rusty enough that her own body would be unwieldy, but she makes do. Soon enough she's circling his bedroom, trailing fingers over anything and everything within reach. She spends almost an hour in his room, just moving around and lifting things up, but it's time well spent. By the time she decides to move on to the rest of the house, she's a pro at navigating Ichigo's body.

"Ichi-nii?" Karin is the first to spot her. "What are you doing?"

Mika feels an unrestrained smile bloom on Ichigo's - her - face. "I'm about to go for a walk," she says. 'Oi. Don't go ruining my image.' It's a half-hearted protest at best and she knows it. "Would you like to join me?"

Karin shakes her head. "I've got homework," she says. "Yuzu's already done hers, if you want to ask her."

"I'll do that," Mika announces. She smiles again, more subdued this time, before continuing downstairs. It's amazing, being able to move and talk and touch things.

She finds Yuzu at the kitchen table, sketching pictures into her notebook. "That's impressive," Mika notes aloud, nodding to the drawing of the girl's late mother. Yuzu blushes in response and stammers something modest. "If you don't mind taking a break, I'd love it if you came with me on a walk...?"

Yuzu jumps at the chance, noticing, but not commenting on the out-of-character manner her 'big brother' is displaying. The little girl takes Mika's - Ichigo's - hand with obvious excitement before practically dragging them outside. Mika can feel Ichigo's guilt in response. 'Hey,' she directs inwards. 'Don't go feeling bad - all younger siblings are this excited when older siblings give them the time of day.' She shoves some memories of her own younger siblings his way. 'Just because you don't always have time to play doesn't mean you're a bad brother; if anything, you're one of the best.'

'...Thanks.'