I'm at it again and it proves that either I can't focus on one thing at a time or if I'm just using this as an excuse due to boredom…. Yeah I'm bored out of my skull since my muse isn't producing much else except new stories to post about lord knows what. But that's just how things are. Creativity ought to have no bounds. Anyway here's my latest while I greatly attempt to focus on more than just ten different things at once. Not sure about pairings yet but should I feel like it, this thing might end up being an Ichigo x Uryu. Yeah I don't know yet so don't ask. At least not now, later maybe but now? No. Oh yeah and I don't own Bleach, its content or characters and what have you but I'm prepared to make corrections should I get something wrong. Enjoy!
"iii" speech
iii thought
iii spirit speech
Chapter 1: Ichigo & The Strange Ghost
It was supposed to be a routine job: go in, fight like hell then hopefully kill the Hollow in ten minutes or less, report back to Rukia in time for school and hopefully lunch with Chad and Orihime with Ishida dragged along to boot. Or that's what he hoped would happen. And thinking back, he had reason to hope since he was now lost in the biggest thing since breaking Rukia out of Shinigami prison and the world of the dead (aka the Soul Society) back to the human realm. To him, that was saying something. If Renji ever saw him like this, he'd either laugh or yell at him about how much of an idiot he was. That is if Rukia didn't get to him first. And to think it'd just be another normal day for him. If you could call his life normal that is. Oh well.
He'd been running around town, tracking the escapee that was his target of a Hollow, the damned thing being a bastard by playing hard to get while Ichigo was losing his patience with the tainted creature. Sword in hand and eyes darting all over the place, Ichigo was searching far and wide for his dastardly playmate. Turning a corner, he found something that didn't seem quite right in his teenage mind: said Hollow had indeed stopped in its tracks but not because of some stupid dead end. No, this dead end could move and looked way too human even for the Hollow's tastes which only made it growl in its disgusting voice. "Stand aside puny man. Or I'll squish you like the bug you are!" it threatened as it stood to its full height of eight feet or so, its mask allowing it to sport four eyes, six horns and two very sharp sets of jaws meant to tear an innocent soul to pieces and then some.
Much to the giant creature's surprise and confusion, the figure standing before it did nothing, not even seeming to breath as he or she stood stiffly in the monster's path perfectly hidden by shadow of wall and tree. Their build was slim, like a teen's, and from what Ichigo could tell, the hair short like a boy's, hinting the true figure's gender as a healthy male around his age if not older. He could've sworn it was Uryu from school, having somehow circled around to stand in the thing's way so the orange haired teen could finish it off quickly in time for class. "Hey Ishida! What the hell are you standin' there for? Get movin' so you won't get hit when I kill this thing!"
The figure, whoever he was, didn't move and didn't say anything in retaliation to Ichigo's words but merely stayed still, not even moving to breath. Looking the person over, he found that the figure was holding something long and thin in his right hand and it looked nothing like the spirit bow he'd seen the Quincy use so many times before. The teen almost didn't catch the Hollow making a move. Pissed that this was getting nowhere, the Hollow decided to do some moving of its own: raising an arm up into the air, the masked monstrosity brought it down on the frozen figure with a roar of rage and defiance, Ichigo blinking with a gasp, rushing forward to stop the limb from striking the unknown man. Gripping his sword from the dull end and keeping a good grip on the hilt, Ichigo stopped the arm in time to bring the blade about and chop it off in a spray of spirit energy and its roar of pain as it flailed away, angrier than before. Ichigo turning to the enveloped figure with a glare and began to give him what for. "Why the hell are you just standing there? Move if you don't want to get killed dammit! Hey are you even listening to me?"
He never go the chance to say more when he moved to touch the figure only to jump away in surprise, their seemingly nonexistent eyes suddenly glowing with a bright light that almost blinded the temporary Soul Reaper. Next thing he knew, it felt like he was falling from a fairly extreme and most likely lethal height, wind blowing and whistling past him in one big, freezing gust of air that brought him back to his senses in no time. Either he was going to die from one hell of a fall or he was some distance from the ground to make the landing safely without breaking anything. Somehow sheathing his sword and twisting in the air, he sincerely hoped for the latter of the two possibilities. Not wanting to think of how many bones he might absolutely crush upon 'landing', Ichigo spread his limbs as though to hug the clouds rushing past him as he waited for the ground to come closer in the hopes of avoiding a gruesome death.
--Back In Japan—
Rukia couldn't help but tap her foot impatiently as she waited for Ichigo outside the school gates, Kon rightfully pretending to be Ichigo as his stuffed lion body was stuffed into the girl's backpack. Keeping the perverted mod soul from attacking her and various other teen girls that passed by, Rukia was losing her patience with the boy. He's taking too long. What in all the Soul Society's keeping him? He's going to be late for class if he doesn't finish off that Hollow soon. I knew I should've gone with him but nooo! Stay put and let me deal with it Rukia! You've got nothin' to worry about Rukia! I'll be back in no time! Sighing in exasperation, Rukia leaned against the stone wall, in her crisp and clean uniform with her deep dark blue eyes watching the streets around them in search for the face she'd come to know so well over the past number of months. Deep in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think that something was wrong and Ichigo was right in the middle of it.
Hearing the first bell being rung in the building behind her, she chose then to look at the Kurosaki imposter. "Head back to the house and wait for me there. I need to get the others together so we can look for Ichigo once school's over."
"But I wanna stay here! The girls are gonna go crazy when they see me!" he would've said more if not for the punch to the face that sent him reeling to the ground in a spray of blood from the nose and a cry of pain from the mouth. Sitting up quickly, he stared at the girl in amazement. "What was that for?"
"For motivation so unless you want to get hit again I suggest you get going."
If what she said didn't move him, her tone did, making him blink and go pale for fear of being beaten to a pulp. Not even bothering to clean himself up, Kon was already halfway down the street by the time she chose to head toward the building, already cursing under her breath on how late she was.
Uryu, on the other hand, had been walking where Ichigo had been fighting the runaway Hollow. Being as to how it was the way from his house to school and back it was natural he'd be passing through the area. He did notice a strange jump in spirit energy but it was too unfamiliar for him to truly if the energy came from a Soul Reaper or just some Hollow appearing to cause some trouble in the mortal world. The last Quincy chose then to change his route in the hopes of finding this odd phenomenon, and maybe even drag a pissed Ichigo to school in time for first period. If not, then things were going to get interesting today.
Turning a corner onto the next street, the atmosphere changed as he saw a bumbling Hollow, missing an arm and seemed to be flailing in pain, stumbled into everything around it as though attempting to hold its stumped limb in its pain and clear its eyes of something with its remaining limb. Uryu couldn't help but sweat drop as the mighty monster nearly took out a stonewall in its obvious agony and frustration. This looks like Kurosaki's work. But where is he? And why hasn't he finished it off by now? Is he even here at all? Looking around and sometimes over the suffering tainted soul, his dark eyes found nothing resembling the bright haired buffoon he'd come to know since he first time he spotted the spiritually talented teen. A bad feeling slithered up and down his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Clearly saying that something a whole lot worse than Hollows were roaming about and that his attempts to fend them off… would be wasted. With a shiver and a clouded expression, Uryu turned around and followed his previous route, leaving the Hollow to bumble around like a blind fool, knowing if he walked fast enough he make it in time for the first hour of class. His last thought as he left the area circled in his mind like a mantra that was taking forever to work. I need to tell Rukia about this.
--At The School--
Said undercover Soul Reaper sneezed as she entered the classroom still rowdy with students that had yet to be instructed to sit for class, or much else since the teacher hadn't shown up yet. Moving through the thrall of people with a sniff, Rukia managed to reach Orihime and Chad standing a good distance from Ichigo's desk, the orange haired girl staring at it in concern. "Where's Ichigo?" her singsong voice was clear above the noise as she asked the other girl. Rukia just gave the other girl a thoughtful look as she answered.
"I don't know. He hasn't shown up yet even when he said he could take care of the new Hollow out there in less than ten minutes or something. But I sent Kon back home in case something bad is happening there. We just have to find Ishida and find a way to sneak out and look for him. I've got a feeling something bad happened to him out there."
"Aren't you supposed to be with him when it comes to things like this?" Chad inquired in his normally gentle tone, the huge teen seeming to be at the same height as those standing or leaning. Those who knew him best knew that his spiritual ability was responsible for this obvious difference.
"He said that it'd be strange that both a girl and a guy from the same class didn't show up at the same time. Something about rumors." She mused as the two teens looked at each other then at Ichigo's empty desk. Little did they know how soon they'd see their missing member, as the chilling feeling of dread filled them to the rim.
--With Ichigo—
Getting himself to face forward seemed to be the easy part, staying that way was a little harder than that. But landing safely on the ground without breaking his limbs or dying like a chute less skydiver, was in all apparent severity that Ichigo's brown eyes could detect, the seriously hard part. And what little time he had to think of a means of survival was growing slim, since the ground was now becoming quite clear and menacingly close by the seconds that slipped by as quickly as the clouds. But the sight of something coming out of one of the clouds made the teen blink as the dark thing moved smoothly like a large snake in water, easing its way along as it unsuspectingly put itself between Ichigo's fast track to going inevitably 'squish'. The teen couldn't help but gasp when the creature came into full view, his eyes threatening to pop out o their sockets as he continued to fall through the sky. A dragon slithered out of the clouds, as if it were swimming, its head poking through the floating substance in a wisp of air and elegance.
Its body was long like a snake, horns proudly stretched behind its large head to gleam dully in the light. Scales of a sea blue green shimmering in what light there was, Ichigo couldn't help but stare in awe of the creature that flew on invisible wings below him, barely noticing how close he was getting until it was almost too late. His landing wasn't exactly soft but it was better than nothing as he quickly tried to get a grip on the dragon's ridged back. The dragon, understandably startled, let out a proud roar of surprise as it suddenly picked up speed, going from a slow cruise to almost lightning fast within seconds of Ichigo's landing. The orange haired teen clung tight to the creature's slick and slippery body, making him feel like he was on top of a subway train or something in relation to it. Moisture of clouds and mist made his eyes tear up as he struggled to hold on and keep his vision clear as the dragon sped along in its reasonable panic.
After what felt like hours, Ichigo decided he had enough. "Hey! HEY! Stop! Hey, you listenin' to me up there? Hey!"
Startled again, the dragon did seem to hear the teen, coming to a halt in midair and turned its large head to look at him with storm grey eyes filled with surprise and curiosity about its passenger. Finally able to sit up properly, Ichigo couldn't help but feel speechless under the creature's gaze. Not knowing what else to say, the teen finally said. "Uh… hi?"
You're a human! But none I've ever seen. How did you end up on my back?
"Y- you can talk?!"
Blinking, the dragon stared at the stunned teen until it answered again. Um yes I can. All like me can. But… I've never seen you before. How did you get up here anyway? I don't remember humans having the ability to fly except for their metal birds or what have you.
"Actually I don't know either. One minute I'm fighting a Hollow in my home town and the next thing I know I'm here falling through the sky only to land on you."
Hmm. It sounds like you encountered something you not have. I may not know what a 'Hollow' is but I do know just who you need to see about this. Though I find it odd that there's a Door all the way up here of all places.
"A what?"
Hold on tight. This is going to get rough.
"What?!" he didn't get the chance to say much more as the dragon turned its head away from him and dived down into another layer of clouds. Ichigo only had seconds to grab the creature's back like he had before as they plunged down toward the earth and a place that Ichigo didn't know if he wanted to go to. All he could do now was hold onto his transport and hope, sincerely hope that his day wouldn't get any weirder than it already had. It's funny how a thought like that just ends up being ironic.
--In Soul Society—
Renji, in all his tall and powerful pride, red hair, tattoos and all, walked the halls of the Soul Reaper main building within the spirit barrier. He passed students and fellow full-fledged Soul Reapers in the halls, his thoughts passing over memories of himself and his childhood and lifelong friend Rukia. Even before she was adopted, he knew that they would always be friends despite the things that fate and time threw at them. Just as he was about to reach his division's barracks, a loud roar of the alarm went off over the compound. The sound of running feet on well-polished wood echoed everywhere as the many divisions moved to assemble and be briefed of their tasks. An official voice called over it all saying, "attention. Attention. Intruders have been detected within the perimeter. Intruders are within the perimeter. All must report to their stations. Attention. Attention…" it continued on until Renji could pretty much drown it out.
As Renji went with the flow of people, he couldn't help but think. This hasn't happened since Ichigo and his group first came to Soul Society. Is it them just causing another fuss on accident or is it something else? What's going on?
Little did he know just how soon this question would be answered as many of them turned the corner only to be swept away by an invisible force, making them fly like pieces of paper through the air and onto the floor and against the walls. The mere intensity was so fierce that Renji truly thought he'd broken something as he lay on the floor amidst his peers, dizzy and winded, trying to clear his vision to see their new opponent. Needless to say he was shocked at what he found: a slim figure, hidden by shadow with the hilt of a sword sticking out from behind on of his shoulders, the person stood tall and motionless before taking steps into the light.
Dressed in some form of uniform of a brown material, Renji was confused by the man's garb entirely. Wearing a long sleeve jacket with fingerless gloves with guards on the top, a black shirt worn with a pair of slightly tan pants with extra pockets on the sides. Black hiking boots finished the stranger's wardrobe; all of it form-fitting and free of any hindrance of any kind.
But what puzzled the man the most was the stranger's face: he couldn't see it since a mask almost like a Hollow's was in the way, covering all but the eyes in a porcelain or clay-like substance that looked clean and unscratched by anything that may've come this stranger's way. Its form was that of a hawk's, proud and defiant in all its ways, giving off a sense of ominous dread that definitely screamed one word to Renji. Danger. He could literally feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end as sweat rolled down the side of his face even when others around him managed to rise to their own feet to quiver in fear and uncertainty, holding their hands over their swords in the desperate hopes of being ready for the worst. The stranger stood completely still regardless of the danger of being attacked by weapon waving Death Gods. It was quite apparent that this sort of thing didn't really bother the masked man, as he looked left, then to the right, his strangely colored eyes scanning all that was before him while a early morning breeze blew past, ruffling his short but slightly curly dark brown hair.
One of the captains, Kenpachi, didn't take his time appearing behind the masked man with a sinister grin on his face, towering over the man as much as his large exterior would allow. His single eyes seemed to sparkle in glee at the possibility of a new challenge and maybe one hell of a fight. Putting on a sharp grin, Kenpachi chose then to address the strange newcomer. "Hey. Hey you!"
As if curious about who was talking to him, the stranger turned to find the spiky haired man standing not too far behind him in all his menacing glory. "Yes I'm talking to you! What's your name?"
Oddly enough, the stranger didn't say a thing, simply staring at him with the mildest of interest the division captain had ever encountered. Instead of responding to the man's inquires, the slim stranger merely looked his new confrontation up and down, eyes probing almost like hands that were intent on feeling and experiencing something new and all too different than he knew. Getting irritated by this lack of answers, he growled out the question again. "Hey! I'm talking to you! What's your name?"
The stranger finally looked the taller man in the eye; his own seeming to pierce the other down to the very core as he finally spoke in a fairly soft voice. "Do you really want to know?"
Kenpachi was too frozen to answer, everything unable to move as he found that he couldn't look away from the eyes that looked into his. What the stranger said next would make any one of them regret approaching him like Kenpachi had. "Since you're so insistent, I think I'll tell you. My name is…"
Time seemed to freeze, everything going still as the stranger suddenly vanished as if made of the air itself. Kenpachi felt his blood stop in his veins as the man's voice sounded off in his right ear, a chill going up and down his spine while the next words uttered stuck in his mind like a nightmare. "I thought you knew my name Kenpachi-kun, but it seems I've been forgotten after all. I… am your Death."
His blood ran coldly throughout his body, a shiver made the man tremble as his eye dilated and turned to look at the man only to get the shock of his life. He, the mighty Captain Kenpachi, the invincible Kenpachi, turned around to stare in his honest-to-God shock, right at himself. This shock, in itself, was trouble enough. But Kenpachi didn't have time to react when he felt a stabbing pain in his stomach followed by screams and cries of surprise and horror from the people around them.
Looking down, Kenpachi's single eye widened further when he saw the reason for their horror, and his pain. A hand, all too much like his opponent's, was sticking out of his stomach without even breaking the skin, covered in blood and holding something limp and possibly vital. Much to his horror and further shock, it was his liver. And it didn't look like it was attached to anything anymore. "Oh I'm sorry. Was that me? So terribly sorry about doing that to you but someone like me just has to have their fun don't you think so? I just can't seem to hold back sometimes you know Kenpachi-kun? Haha what a question! Of course you do. You always do. But it seems that your world doesn't seem all that interesting. Most unfortunate really since we could've been such good friends if you knew what I was talking about."
"Who… who are you?" the captain spat out in his pain all the while trying to regain his lost dignity only to have it slip him by when the stranger cackled at his attempts to be hard core.
"Oh sorry! Can't say right now. The fact that I defeated you so quickly is most shockingly sad. How truly sad. No wonder everyone's been staring at me like they have. This form just isn't accommodating enough, much less fear invoking. So I think I'll give you a hint my dear Kenpachi-kun. I am here… to destroy you all."
The spiky haired man was speechless. Someone or something had managed to get into a body that wasn't his own and was using it well. He was about to say something but was interrupted by blood coming up to spew out of his mouth in a ghastly spray of red, coughing in pain as it stained his front and dripped from his bottom lip. He could feel his vision fading as he fell forward, the stranger's appearance returning to what it'd been not minutes before. "Oops. Looks like he's down for the count. Now who's next? How about you Renji-kun? Care to take my new form on?"
CLIFFHANGER! Bwahahaha! Man I'm evil! The fun has begun again as I bring my work to another part of the anime world, only this time it's filled with Shinigami, soul eating creatures from hell and ass whoopin' high schoolers who're ready to show their stuff when push comes to shove. I can honestly say I'm trying to get all of the names of the characters of the anime forcibly enlisted in being in this new story of mine but the sources I go to are just plain unreliable! But I try. Yeah I'm a loser. Anywho, let's see what's to come up next:
Next chapter:
Chapter 2: Double Trouble In Soul Society
Kenpachi's down and out like a light and Renji's in for the fight of his life against the one person he has no idea how to battle after watching Kenpachi go down like an old tree. Just how did our nasty little man get to Soul Society and into a body that isn't actually his? Where did he get it and how? And what of Ichigo? Can his talking companion really lead him to the solution he needs to get back to the human world? Or is all of this just going to get even more complicated? Find out next time in:
Chapter 2: Double Trouble In Soul Society!!
Hope to see you there! Blue out!