This is a story I've been tinkering with my head for a while and decided to post it up before the cannon manga screws up my ideas. '
So here goes. Hope you'll enjoy this first chapter.
Imagine an average night in Karakura town. It's mostly silent as the majority of the metropolis' populace have entered their homes and started to consider getting ready for bed. The few cars that are out on the roads aim to get home as quickly as possible. A few citizens will have decided to take a late night walk with their pets. And there is a high probability that a truck-sized, lion-like creature with a terrifying white mask is hunting the spirit of a middle-aged accountant through the main city park.
The poor man had been a ghost long enough to know that most people wouldn't hear him if he screamed. At the same time the instincts from the time when he was alive take over and he yells for help hoping that somebody would hear him. In many occasions he would be right. Luckily for him though this was not such an occasion.
The hollow leaped to pounce on the accountant ghost when all of a sudden it was struck on the side of its head with enough force to send it crashing into a nearby tree. Accompanying the attack was an enthusiastic shout. "HIIIYYAAH!"
"Uhhhhhg." The hollow groaned as it got back up on its feet. "I wondered when I would encounter a shinigami. No matter, I'm stronger than you could possibly imagine you pompous… huh?"
It was understandable that the hollow was confused. In the place of the sword-wielding warrior clad in black that it had expected stood a young girl dressed in a white t-shirt, dark sweatpants and black trainers. She had short, black hair and a determined look on her face. She stood protectively between the hollow and its intended prey with her hands raised in a defensive position.
"Who the hell are you?" The hollow questioned.
The girl smirked. "I'm Arisawa Tatsuki and if you want to get at this guy you're going to go through me."
For a few moments the hollow just stared at Tatsuki in silence. Then it sort of shrugged and jumped at her.
"Run!" Tatsuki ordered the dead accountant, who complied instantly while offering a confused thank you, as she leaped back to avoid the hollow's assault. As the creature slammed its clawed paws where the spirit-sensitive girl had stood mere moments ago, Tatsuki rammed her elbow into its face.
The attack stunned the hollow long enough for Tatsuki to hit with a roundhouse kick that sent the monstrous spirit reeling.
Tatsuki smirked. "Had enough?" The confidence-dripping question was countered by an ear-splitting roar possessed that forced Tatsuki to cover her ears in pain.
"I am Leonlord and I will not be humiliated by a little whelp of a girl!" Leonlord swiped at Tatsuki with his claw, which was twice the size of her torso. She was slammed through a park-bench which bruised her up and she was certain that she could hear a few bones break.
As Tatsuki tried establishing which of her body parts were in the most urgent need of mending, the large ominous shadow of her opponent covered her visage.
"Crap." The human said through gritted teeth. She had over-stepped her abilities.
"This is what happens when you challenge Leonl… urgkh." The hollow's dramatic killing speech was interrupted with a comical stomping noise as he felt a pair of feet smashing his head to the ground.
In his mind Leonlord once again picture a fierce warrior decked out in all black and swinging an impressive looking sword around. He convinced himself that there was no shame in getting caught off guard by such an able and experienced fighter. Then he heard his new assailant speak.
"Tatsuki-chan, you're not supposed to run ahead like that. I'm not as fast as you are." The sweet, and currently pouty, voice of Inoue Orihime said as she ran off the hollow's head and to her friend's side.
"Heh, and from that display you're not an expert at landing either Orihime." Tatsuki teased with a friendly smirk. "Good timing though." She added as an after-thought.
Leonlord opened his eyes hesitantly, not really sure if he wanted to see what this Orihime looked like. She had no sword, nor was she dressed in black. She was actually wearing a frilly yellow dress, purple sweater, white knee socks and black shoes. Furthering his feelings of humiliation the girl had a quite dainty but still a well-developed figure and even her long strawberry coloured hair looked unthreatening. He needed to conquer the situation and reassert himself as the terrifying consumer of spirits that he is.
"I'll devour your soul!" He screamed at pounced at Orihime with a gaping mouth.
The long-haired girl reacted quickly. "Santen Kesshun, I reject!" On command three tiny sprites flew from Orihime's hairpin and formed a triangular shield that was large enough for Leonlord to painfully slam his teeth against it.
The surprising set-back made the hollow pause, partly because he needed to rethink the situation but mostly because the whole ordeal was extremely embarrassing. If he'd had time to gather his wits again he might've found a way to bypass the shield and the other girl's fighting skills and eat the two of them for revenge. The chance of that happening was in fact rather small but it still existed.
We will however never know what would've happened if he had been allowed to continue his assault. Moments after he slammed into the shield a shinigami's sealed zanpakuto pierced his mask and ended the saga of Leonlord.
As the hollow's body dispersed into stray spirit particals and it's human soul travelled to Soul Society the short shinigami known as Kuchiki Rukia sheeted her zanpakuto and stared at her two human friends with strict eyes.
Orihime sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and smiled apologetically as the shield dispersed and the sprites returned to her hair-pin. "Hi Kuchiki-san. Uhm, sorry that we're late for patrol duty."
"Late you say." Rukia answered with a low tone. "It seems to me that you started things early."
"Yeah, well. There was an emergency, you know. Couldn't let that poor guy just get eaten like that." Tatsuki defended with a strained but happy voice.
Rukia sighed. "Yes, you're right about that. But you can't just run off half-cocked, especially you Tatsuki. You've just begun your training in spiritual combat. You don't have the experience to do this on your own yet. If it hadn't been for Orihime, whom I suspect you ran away from in your eagerness, things could've ended up a lot worse tonight."
Tatsuki blushed slightly in embarrassament. "I get it. No more running off on my own. But things turned out ok this time. Despite the broken bones, which I would really like mended now please." She said through a gritted smile as she turned to Orihime.
"Oh, right. Sorry!" Orihime squeaked and summoned two new sprites that covered Tatsuki with an orange capsule. The eager girl felt herself getting healed almost instantly.
Rukia shook her head. "I'm letting this one pass because you did save a soul. But know that I'm keeping a close eye on both of you from now." She got down on her knees in a relaxed position.
Orihime's eyes widened, as if she had realised something vitally important. "Ah, if you're doing that then could you keep an extra eye open for the caribbean fruit-flies! I've heard that they've been appearing in Japan."
Rukia and Tatsuki stared at Orihime with dumbfounded expressions, as if another Orihime had spliced herself from the original through mitosis right before their eyes. In short, they reacted as they usually did when Orihime began spouting strange stuff.
The diminutive shinigami took it upon herself to further investigate the strange statement. "What are caribbean fruit-flies and why would they be in Japan?"
"Caribbean fruit-flies are insects that look like dragonflies with butterfly wings in the colour of the rainbow. They're born when then end of rainbows cover meteorite craters. If you let them stay at your home for a month you'll get good luck in sports, economy and tap-dancing. Right now they're migrating to Japan because they've taken a liking to our wasabii." The way she said it reminded the other two girls of a pleasant host for a nature documentary.
Silence ruled for a few minutes before Rukia smiled genuinely. "I'll keep an eye out for them." At that moment the capsule covering Tatsuki dispersed, indicating that she was fully healed.
"Alright." She jumped back onto her feet. "Good as new. Thanks Orihime. Now, let's go kick some hollow ass." As the high-scholar prepared to jump into the air she was pulled back by the shinigami.
"I suggest that we actually follow the procedure we set up last night so I don't have worry too much about you this time." Rukia ordered with an authoritarian voice as she stared at Tatsuki with comically dark eyes.
"Oops. Sorry, again. We'll do it your way." Tatsuki said while giving thumbs up.
"Glad that you agree." Rukia turned to the third member of their party. "You know what to do Orihime."
"Yes, Kuchiki-san." With that Orihime bent her knees, like when preparing for a jump, and leaped high into the air. From the ground the other two watched as their friend's ascent stopped just short of reaching above the city sky-scrapers. At that point the strawberry-haired girl's six sprites took off from her, flying in different directions.
"It's because of her you know." Tatsuki said calmly, gaining Rukia's silent attention. "Five months ago Orihime was abducted and I couldn't do a single thing to help her. I didn't even know what had happened to her. But you and Ichigo and Sado and Uryuu all knew and you saved her. You saved her while I was stuck here waiting." Rukia refrained from mentioning how Orihime had felt similar feelings before her abduction. "That's why I'm rushing away like a fool. I need to get strong. If anything happens to Orihime again, or to any of my friends, I have to be strong." She clenched her fist and locked eyes with Rukia. "I'm not trying to excuse myself. Just wanted you to know."
The shinigami nodded her head and smiled. "I can empathise with that. But I don't think that you need to worry." She looked up at Orihime standing still in the sky. "Things have changed. If there is a next time they won't leave you behind again."
Tatsuki crossed her arms and let her gaze wander to the currently air-born healer as well. "I'd like to see them try."
They said nothing more as the sprites returned to Orihime and she floated down to the ground a little too rapidly. Once the healer had been checked as uninjured by the rough landing the three took off into the air. During all of this they were completely unaware that they had been observed.
At the edge of the park was a twelve-story tall building. On top of that building's rooftop were two individuals of different sizes. They were both wearing draping, black coloured cloaks with hoods covering their heads.
The taller one stood at the edge of the roof looking through a pair of binoculars pointed in the direction of the park. The hands were wearing white gloves with a highly decorative 1 circled by mistletoe-branches printed on the back of the gloves. A large axe-scythe was strapped to his back.
The smaller one stood back somewhat with arms crossed, massaging them with thin, delicate hands. This one's gloves were decorated with a large rose behind the number 13.
"Is he with them Mich… I mean, lieutenant Graystone?" The smaller one asked with a nervous female voice.
"The anomaly is not present." The one called Graystone answered with a stern, male voice. "Most likely he is currently inactive or hiding himself." He lowered the binoculars. "Not that it would've mattered if he was here or not. After all, we're not allowed to act until proper clearance has been granted. I just wanted to check out the area before the investigation begins."
The female tilted her hooded head, as if not quite understanding what he was talking about. "Have you found anything interesting then?" She asked with cautious curiosity.
It took a few minutes before Graystone answered with an annoyed voice. "No."
"Well, that's ok. It's a pretty night to be out. You know, especially before a mission." The small female reasoned.
"I guess." Graystone's voice faltered a bit. "One could consider it a perfect opportunity to…"
"A great moment for two friends to share." She said contently.
Graystone immediately straightened his back before speaking with a stern voice. "We better get back to the others." He disappeared with a whooshing blur.
"Hey! Wait for me! I it hate when you do that!" The female shouted indignantly and vanished in the same way.
They would return to Karakura town and with them they would bring a conflict that would change the life of Kurosaki Ichigo and everybody around him.
Now then you done the read part of R&R, please do the review part as well and tell me what you think.