The Fox's Cub
Hmm, not what you guys were expecting, but bear with me. This story makes use of multiple concepts that I wanted to try, but felt that I never had enough material to make it a full story on its own. Now I don't want to spoil what I have planned too much, but for those of you that want spoilers on the ideas I'm using, feel free to PM me. Otherwise, please sit back and enjoy the ride.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
"Kido/Zanpakuto Attacks/Quincy Techniques"
"Zanpakuto speech/Inner Power"
"Hollow speech"
XXX
Chapter 1:
"ICHIGO NO!" Masaki Kurosaki screamed, her arm outstretched as she tried to stop her son from rushing to the river's edge. Oblivious to her fear, Ichigo Kurosaki continued to hurtle towards the river, intent on saving the young girl that looked ready to fall in. As he reached the edge though, he stumbled backwards as a hulking figure rose from the depths of the river, their face covered by a white mask.
Frowning, Sosuke Aizen fast forwarded the footage, catching snippets of the battle between Masaki Kurosaki and his minion. Finally there came a point where Masaki collapsed to her knees, her eyes wide as she clutched her chest in agony, from what though, Sosuke could only guess as he couldn't see any apparent blows that Grand Fisher had dealt to her. Seeing her in such a state clearly caused Ichigo distress, as the boy rushed over to her, despite her pleas to stay away. And then it happened, the only reason why Sosuke Aizen was even here watching this in the first place. Despite his orders to kill only Masaki Kurosaki, Grand Fisher carelessly sent a volley of tendrils at the pair, striking both mother and son, ending their lives almost instantly. It was at this point that one of his closest subordinates chose to make his entrance.
"Tosen said ya were agitated Captain Aizen," Gin Ichimaru spoke, the Captain of the Third Division joining him at his side without a sound, his usual smirk on his face. "Ah that would explain it; Grand Fisher went and broke your toy, what a shame…"
"Yes, the loss of such a test subject is an annoyance, especially when I had yet to even see any results," he commented as he stood up and strode towards the doorway, done with his investigation. "Gin…I want you to make my displeasure clear to Grand Fisher. When I give an order, I expect it to be fulfilled it to my standards and nothing more."
"Of course Captain Aizen, I'll leave at once. What about the boy though? Do ya plan to retrieve him from the Rukongai?"
"There are 320 districts Gin, even with my resources I doubt that I would find the boy. I can only assume that he will end up within our reach sooner or later. That is when I will resume the experiment." His piece said, he left the room and headed back to the Fifth Division's barracks, leaving Gin alone with the frozen image of Masaki and Ichigo's death.
"Well…that's if the kid manages to survive out in the Rukongai," he said with a grin.
XXX
Far away from the plotting of a Captain though, Ichigo tossed and turned in his sleep, his dreams filled with flashes of a flooded river, a white mask and a pool of crimson blood. It soon became too much for his mind to bear and he bolted up with a startled cry. Taking several great heaving breaths, he found himself lying face up in a modest wooden room. There were barely any furnishings in the room, apart from some threadbare curtains that hung above a window and the soft make-shift bed he found himself in. For the life of him though, he couldn't remember how he got here, or where here was.
"Oh you're awake," a melodious voice spoke, drawing his attention to the doorway of the room he was in. Standing there, a gentle smile on her face was a woman that looked like she was in her late twenties, with long brown hair and soft green eyes, wearing a pale purple yukata and a pink flower in her hair. "My name's Mayu. What's yours?"
"I…My name is…I'm…" he thought in frustration, clutching his head as it seemed the knowledge danced just out of range of his fingertips. "I-Ichigo…I think."
"Ichigo huh? A cute name for a cute little boy," she said with a chuckle, while Ichigo pouted at her teasing.
"W-Where am I?" he asked, looking around in confusion once again.
Sighing, she took a seat next to him on the ground. "You're at my home in the 69th district of South Rukongai in the Soul Society. This is where most souls end up when they pass away." Hesitating slightly, she asked, "Do you remember how you died, or anything about your previous life?"
Thinking back on it, he had to assume that it had to do with the repetitive images that flashed across his mind while he slept, but were still too fuzzy and confusing for him to make much sense off. "I…I don't remember," he stuttered out looking up at her with the beginnings of tears in his eyes.
"Ssh that's okay," she cooed, gently stroking his hair as she embraced him. "Not everyone remembers how they got here. I for one can't remember how I ended up here, nor do I remember much about my life either."
Feeling his tears soak into her yukata, she heard him sniffle one or two more times, before he launched himself into his next question. "H-how did I get here?"
"Now that is something I can answer easily," she said with a bright smile. "I was out and about foraging for a few things when I found you passed out in a clearing not too far from here. Seeing as it wouldn't be safe for you, I carried you back here.
"Why would you do that? You don't even know me?" he murmured, looking up at her.
"True, but life here isn't easy for souls like us, especially children like you Ichigo. While someone else might have left you there, part of me cried out against it, because if that was me lying there, I wish someone would have had the heart to take me in."
As timed passed slowly with nothing said between the two, Mayu stood and held her hand out to him. "I know you need time to understand what's happened, but for now why don't I at least show you around?"
Staring at her uncertainly, he eventually reached out and took it, for if she was really out to hurt him, she would've done so already.
XXX
As the days melted into weeks, and the weeks into months, Ichigo found himself growing accustomed both to the fact that he was dead and that the only person he really had now was Mayu. Sure he tried repeatedly to remember his past life, but as he learned from overhearing other people's conversations, those memories could very well be lost for all eternity, and if that was true…well he was making new memories every day.
Like how they were scrounging around for breakfast at the moment for example, he thought idly, as he scanned the treetops for the fruit that Mayu had remembered seeing here on one of her walks. In fact he felt slightly embarrassed that they were out here now, because he was the sole reason for it. Other than needing a drink now and then, Mayu had explained that they didn't need to eat to survive. Thus when he complained of a growing hunger to her one day, she was shocked for a few seconds, before a smile broke out over her face and she led them on daily hunts for food.
Despite the fact that he often tried to share the spoils of their trips with her, she always turned him down with a smile, saying that it would be simply be wasted on her since she didn't have any spiritual energy like him. When he asked who else would have spiritual energy, it led him to his favourite topic of conversation, the Soul Reapers. She even told him how she had met one before, and if she was to be believed, they were the benevolent protectors of the Soul Society. They protected souls like them from Hollows, monsters that lived to consume souls like theirs. Just hearing stories of them was enough to convince him to never leave her side, a fact that seemed to amuse her.
But there was a part of him that wondered, if the Soul Reapers were their protectors, then why didn't they protect them from other souls? It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for the protection they offered by fighting the Hollows, but living out here was especially hard for him to swallow. On the few occasions that he crossed paths with other children, they seemed to take a cruel pleasure in tormenting him about just about anything, from his orange hair, to his puny size, to even how he stayed so close to Mayu. At least they weren't as bad as the adults though.
On the occasions when they had enough fruit and vegetables to trade for some other goods in the district's marketplace, he found that they always seemed to direct their glares towards him. Not even Mayu was spared their spite and scorn as she spoke on their behalf, always kind to them, despite their treatment of her. He wasn't really sure what he wanted the Soul Reapers to do, but surely they could at least see that this wasn't how afterlife should be? They would change it if they knew right?
"Is something the matter Ichigo-kun?" Mayu asked, shaking him out of his thoughts as she called out to him. Staring in her direction, he could see her balancing a basket on her hip, fully laden with most of his favourites and of course, his hated nemesis.
"Mushrooms?" he whined, staring at the white and brown funguses on the very top of the pile. "Do I really have to eat them Mayu-chan?"
"Yes you do," she said with a laugh, even as he pouted up at her like a puppy. "Oh don't even try that, I'm immune to your boyish charms. Now come on, it'll be dark soon and I want to be home before then," she murmured, ruffling his hair affectionately.
That simple action warmed his heart immensely and he soon found himself smiling back up at her as she led the way home. She wasn't his mother, of that they both agreed, but she was something of an older sister to him. An older sister that would tease and torture him, but at the same time love and nurture him completely. And to him…that was all that mattered at the moment. Not the other, or the Hollows, or even the Soul Reapers. To him life with Mayu was his life.
XXX
A slow start, but a gentle start. Unlike most of my other stories. There'll be more action next time, but till then…enjoy.
