Chapter 1: Revelation
"Hurry up Ash! you'll be late for school!"
"I'm already out the door Mom!" I hollered back while Ran out the door, shutting it behind me.
Well, my mom said it, I'm Ash Kozuki. I'm sixteen with reddish brown hair grey eyes, and I stood five foot nine. And this was my first day at a new school in Japan.
You see, my parents were never actually married, and they live on opposite sides of the globe. My mom was Japanese while my father was a full blown Texan. Regardless, they both shared joint custody over me, and I spent most of my life traveling, enough so for me to fluently speak Japanese. Due to my father's business alterations, I would be taking a more permanent vacation to the land of the Rising Sun. My mom had recently moved to a small town outside of Tokyo so today was my first day in a new home. More accurately, today was my first day of school.
Right off the bat, I could tell that this class was a lively bunch. My fellow classmates were so different from each other. The one who caught my attention first was a tall athletic guy with a shock of spiky orange hair. He honestly looked much older than he really was. I could tell that he was the type who consistently played tough guy. Then there was that girl with hair of a similar color a fantastic build and an extremely cheerful appearance. Then there was a huge dark skinned guy with brown hair that fell over his eyes. He hardly said a word. And finally there was a petite girl with a serious face and black hair.
Okay, maybe they weren't that lively at first, but that changed when our class had a visitor from another life. On the ceiling a young girl's head was peeking out at us, trying to grab our attention. A ghost!
I almost screamed, but I noticed that not any of the other students could see her. Such a reaction on my first day would make me seem like a mad man. But I did see two exceptions in the room. That orange haired boy and the black haired girl both looked up to see it. The former had an annoyed expression on his face and muttered, "Not again. Why now?"
The girl floated down to him and spoke, "Mr. Ichigo, I need your help! Hollows are after me!"
Ichigo growled, "Don't lead them here! I need seven more minutes until school lets out and I can help you then."
So I wasn't crazy after all. She was real! And so was the ear splitting roar that rattled the building. Not a moment later, the bell rang and Ichigo dashed out the door with the ghost and the girl. I had to see it for myself.
So I followed them and peeked around the corner of the school to see something very unusual. Ichigo tapped his chest with a badge of some sort, then suddenly exited his own body! He wore a black robe and had a giant double edged great sword on his back. Carefully he tapped the ghost's forehead with the bottom of the hilt and told her kindly, "Rest in peace. I hope that you find your family in the Soul Society." The girl nodded and smiled with closed eyes as she gradually disappeared, passing on to the next life.
That roar sounded again as a black form leaped at him from the woods. It was at least fifteen feet tall, was dark purple in color and had a white skull like mask on its face. Its body was more muscular than the Incredible Hulk and walked on it's four limbs like a gorilla. "Hungry!" it bellowed.
Ichigo drew his blade and pointed it at the monster with a single hand, "So you're the no good bastard who was picking on that girl. I won't just sit around and let you get away after that!" He charged the beast and they met with a clash of sword and claw. All went well until a second monster of similar design with green skin, leaped out of nowhere at the girl and it grabbed her in a massive hand.
"Rukia! NO!" Ichigo screamed as he tried to get past the monster in front of him. I had no choice.
"Hey Ugly!" I said as I flipped off the top of the two story building and landed a drop kick on the face of the girl's captor, "Get your filthy paws off of her and go to hell!" The monster looked up with wide eyes before the force of the kick fractured part of its mask and sent him to the ground hard. While it was stunned, I pulled the girl, Rukia, out of its hands.
"Get away from here! It's too dangerous!" she told me. I ignored her and landed one more kick to the demon's jaw as it tried to get back up. The mask shattered and the monster dissolved. Ichigo finished off his and looked to me in surprise. But Rukia beat him to the punch when she asked me a question.
"Who the hell are you?" she growled at me.
"I'm in your class, you should have remembered my name" I began to walk away, "And a thank you would be very much appreciated."
"Ash! Look out!" Ichigo said and I barely had time to dodge the swipe of another two monsters! Actually, Rukia had tackled me and we both escaped the swipe.
"When will these things stop coming?! What the hell are these things?!" I backed up. I had only beaten the other because I caught it by sheer surprise. It wouldn't work a second time.
They closed in on me but I was saved by a flash of black. A woman with long brown hair and the same uniform as Ichigo stopped one beast with three slices of a katana. With one down, she turned to the next and held the flat of the blade against her back.
"Now! Scream Hidora!" The blade flashed and turned into a set of four chains with double edged blades on the ends. The other ends of the chains were attached to the inside of her robes. They suddenly shot out and pierced through the monster, lifting up into the air before constricting like a snake and shattering the mask. With a roar of pain, it disappeared.
And just like that, it was over.
We all just stood there in absolute shock.
The girl bowed down suddenly, "Lady Miharu! Thank you so much!"
"Lady Miharu? OW!" Ichigo was brought back down to a kneeling position by Rukia.
"Show some respect you idiot!" she hissed, "She's as strong as a captain of the 13 Court Guard squads! Don't upset her!"
She sheathed her sword once it had reverted back to a katana, "Please Rukia, there is no need for such formalities now."
"You!" I stood up, suddenly recognizing her, "You have a lot of explaining to do!"
Miharu tensed up as she turned around to see me. "Uh-oh."
"I'm not letting you go anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on, Mom!"
"Mom?!" Rukia and Ichigo gasped at the same time.
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My mother met me back at home while I was still in my room. And this time she held something large wrapped in linen cloth.
"Alright now can you tell me?" I asked her.
My mother sighed before she spoke, "I was honestly hoping that I could tell you the truth when you were old enough to begin. I guess fate has its own sense of humor after all."
I jumped back and sat down cross-legged on my bed, "Before anything else, who are you really, you and that Ichigo kid? Are you both Grim Reapers or something?"
"Well, we're not grim but we are reapers all the same, me more so than him. I know that you may see the watches of death as horror movie monsters, granted most people do. But we are not Grim Reapers. Rather we are soul reapers."
"Soul reapers?" I began to sweat a little.
"You do understand the concept of ghosts, passing on, and a spirit world, correct? It is our job to watch over the souls of the departed and bring them to the Soul Society, their afterlife. I...am not exactly human. rather this is merely a false body that can let me exist with the living. In reality, I was born a soul reaper." I said not a word, but motioned for her to continue. She closed her eyes, nodded, and proceeded to exit her false body and took on her true reaper form that I saw before. She slowly unsheathed her sword.
"As a soul reaper, we each have a zanpakto which we have from birth. Each of them has a unique power and a mind and being of their own. And it is through working as a team that we fight to protect the souls still bound to earth. Mine is Hidora, the Hydra." On queue, her sword disappeared and turned into a silver dragon with a long neck and the head of a snake.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, boy", he hissed calmly to me. I shivered a little and said nothing. For once in my life I had literally nothing to say, and I really wished that such was not the case. It took me at least a minute to think of something to ask her.
"Those things that attacked us. What the hell were they?" I asked.
"Hollows. The ghosts of the deceased who have lost hope in passing on. Once that happens, their hearts become empty and they begin to feed on all souls, living or dead, turning them into hollows as well." I backed up at this.
"That's horrible! And there is nothing we can do about it?!" I raised my voice a little.
"On the contrary, they are still human souls. You can kill the hollow but the soul is purified of all sins as a hollow and returns to the Soul Society as a normal human soul again."
I sighed with relief, "You really scared me there for a second. Wait, a minute! Dad! Is he a soul reaper too?!" I asked walking closer. She smiled and we both sat down on the side of the bed.
"No, but he would have made a great one though. It was seventeen years ago, when he was visiting Japan and he kept on following me around. And there are very few who can see the true form of a soul reaper. I'll admit that I didn't care much for him at first, and such relations were considered taboo. So for a little while, I ignored him, but he'd keep on coming after me and in such a comical way too."
She began to clutch her zanpakto tight, "Then came the day that that menos grande came out of nowhere. Completely caught be by surprise. I was already worn out from a day of killing hollows and I'll admit that I was beat. The menos and I were both wounded, Hidora was broken and I was left powerless at the time. Then low and behold, just as the menos comes in to claim his prize, your damn father comes bursting out of the window of a four story building with a fireman's ax and he strikes the cracks of the mask in just the right place to kill the whole damn thing!" she chuckled at this, "That reckless fool. A mere human standing up like that to a menos grande and winning, it was unheard of!But he had a spiritual pressure that bested even some of the court guard captains. So he took me in and nursed me back to health, and it was then that my feelings for him showed. Sure enough, nine months later, you came into the picture. I really wanted to stay with your father to raise you, but the higher-ups at the Soul Society wouldn't allow such a relationship. But they permitted the joint custody."
"Hold it. What does this make me? Am I a human or a soul reaper?" I asked.
"Well...technically both. I mean, you already are a soul reaper, but you don't need a false body to host you because you already have one of your own, So your body and soul are essentially one in the same, and can fully exist in both worlds. And that reminds me. I have something for you." She reached for that bundle of wraps and handed it to me, "I was rather surprised to see how it turned out."
I felt like a child opening a Christmas present. I carefully opened it up to see something magnificent: a scythe. It was five and a half feet tall and was one hundred percent black. two small blade like shapes extended from the top and back of the blade itself. There was a hinge between the handle and the blade, allowing the scythe to open and close. But I knew right away what, or rather who it was.
"My zanpakto!" I gasped to myself. My mom put her hand on my shoulder.
Not long after you were born, he just placed himself in my care without even so much as saying his own name. Actually he didn't say anything at all. But he got the message across clearly: he saw your potential and knew your strength. I felt it too for so many different reasons. As far as I know, no one has ever had a scythe for a Zanpakto, even in its sealed form. And the sheer size is a sign of a strong spiritual pressure, maybe stronger than your father's."
After a short pause, I picked up my Zanpakto and walked out to the backyard. It was actually much lighter than it looked. my hands gripped the metal handle, warm to the touch. I could feel a continuous pulsing from the places of contact, like a heartbeat. I felt like I was being reunited with a long lost twin. The entire thing tried gently to spin itself around in my hands, as though directing me through the motions, signalling me to begin. I was amazed, but remained calm as I began to make a slow swipe to the left.
But it stopped me when I tried to make a right swing. Rather it continued to tug to the left. I began to understand. With such a large weapon, not a single movement could be wasted. Without even speaking, he was saying that the only way to fight with him was through long chain attacks. We reset our position and tried again. This time, I spun myself around to allow another swipe while still using the same motion from the original swing. He directed that swing to my upper left and into a spin, allowing me to swing to the right. That was a total of four slashes while only using the energy from a single strike!
This very blade was alive!
"Remember this", my mother spoke to me, "Don't ever view your Zanpakto as merely a weapon. He is a part of you and above all, he is your partner."
Thinking on this I raised the blade high, now fully unfolded at the hinge. My Zanpakto gleamed in the sunlight. I soon lowered him and looked to my mom.
"I know this may be a lot to take in and I was planning on telling you over time. I just hope that...whatever happens, you know that I'm still the same Miharu Kozuki you knew before."
"No", I said grimly at first, but I turned around with a smile and said, "You're the same Mom I know and love. And as for this new life", I spun my scythe around me in a long chain attack before stopping the blade, "this is totally going to beat my adventures back in Texas!"
(End of Chapter one)
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Hey Everyone! Beowulf here!
I have been seriously trying to catch up on my Bleach, and frankly I haven't gotten too far. For now I'm trying to build up a good plot for this. But for those of you wondering, this story starts out at the very beginning of Bleach, before Ichigo even learns the name of his zanpakto.
As for Ash's zanpakto, he'll be something of the quiet type, more so than Zangetsu. But he'll be backing plenty in his actions rather than words.
For those of you still waiting on my latest chapter of LCJ, I am currently trapped in the biggest writer's block I've ever been in! But fear not! If there is one thing that I will never do, it's abandon a story.