A/N: Due to my frustration with the sheer lack of epic Madoka crossovers, I've decided to write one. I feel that Madoka could use a little more Shonen, and Bleach could use a little more…terror. This fic begins after Ichigo and company first return from rescuing Rukia. All manga events and rules beyond the Fullbringer arc are subject to change.
Warning: Potentially explicit content. Major spoilers for Madoka Magica and Bleach.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Grief Rhapsody
Chapter 1: Anomaly
Amethyst eyes opened to a familiar ceiling. It was one she had gazed upon countless times. Sitting up, Homura pulled back the covers and recalled the previous world's events. How many times had she turned back the hourglass now? How many more until she attained her goal at long last?
She had failed again. This was nothing new; it simply meant she was to march on and try again. No matter how long it took her, she would succeed. Madoka was the only thing left in her world. She was the ultimate goal; the beacon keeping her legs moving. Failure was not an option. Somehow, someway, she would be saved. They made a promise.
The most recent wish had thrown her off guard, but it was nothing spectacular; the blessed girl would always use her wish for the happiness and benefit of others. The same two results repeated themselves.
Madoka died.
Madoka became a witch and destroyed the world.
No other outcome had occurred in the innumerable instances of time she had begun. Homura had forgotten how old she was supposed to be. She certainly wasn't "young" anymore. If she had to guess, she had seen ten times as many days pass as the average human did in their entire life. The number did not really matter; everything was mostly the same, after all. Day in, day out, she would hunt witches, spare Madoka a moment of happiness, make a futile attempt to thwart what she could not accept as inevitable. Time was her plaything; the irony of how irrelevant it became to her did not go unnoticed.
How many times had she watched the most important person in the world gasp a final breath or turn into some horrid executor of the end of days? The other girls could rot for all she cared, but they made Madoka happy, so Homura did what she could for them if there was an opportunity. That usually failed too.
The first few times, she had tried to save them all. Each and every time, they never listened, or one, usually Mami, would lose her shit and kill everyone. Homura had since stopped trying to focus on the others; their fates were sealed. Invariably, Sayaka would wish to save the damned boy, and subsequently be the first to fall to despair when she learned what she really was. Kyoko would always follow her, determined to either save the doomed girl or die trying. If she survived, the same fate awaited her as Sayaka when she couldn't accept that there was no saving anyone. Mami was always emotionally volatile. While the other two could be predicted based on previous behaviors, Mami seemed to be unstable in that the slightest thing could set her off balance. That girl needed some serious therapy.
In the end, attempts on her part to help any of them were half-hearted at best, if only to spare Madoka the torment of seeing their inevitable downfall. But she didn't care about them. As long as Madoka was alive and healthy, Homura would be happy.
The timeless one stood from her bed and prepared for the day. Her routine was fairly typical by modern standards…until she broke out the Soul Gem and fixed her eyesight, as well as made a shopping list of military grade artillery. It wasn't much help against Walpurgis Night, but she had no other means of defeating the monstrosity on her own. If the previous payload wasn't enough, she would just have to increase the amount. There was no alternative. She was on her own. She had been on her own since she denied Madoka's death the first time.
Klaxons blared in the observation room of the Seireitei's Twelfth Division barracks.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"We're not completely sure yet, it seems to be some spiritual anomaly."
"That is not acceptable! Isolate the readings now!"
Scientists of the Twelfth Division scurried about the room, trying in vain to discern what it was their scanners had detected mere minutes ago. Energy readings were all they had to go on. They couldn't even take an accurate measure of their magnitude, let alone figure out what they were. It left no trail from wherever it came. Something with enough latent power to trip their alarms came into existence overnight.
And they had no idea what it was.
To say Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the Twelfth Division and head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute was outraged would be an understatement. His subordinates would be lucky to make it through the week intact. Akon, the division's Third Seat as well as Vice-President of the Institute, was playing a game against time. He had the wonderful job of pinpointing the exact location of whatever-the-hell this was that their scanners had picked up before the Captain just killed all of them.
Thankfully, he was no amateur. The scientists of the Research and Development Institute prided themselves on their skills. If it was something as simple as location, they would pin it down soon. The only threatening factor in play was the Captain's patience.
Tension would be high in the Soul Society that day. The Gotei Thirteen was put on alert due to the detection of an anomaly found in the world of the living. Aizen had stirred up the hornet's nest as it was, and they had no idea of where or when he would strike first. So when the Captain Commander received a report from Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri essentially detailing how much they did not know about the incident, he was quite ready to light someone up.
"We do not know enough about the anomaly to explain its existence, let alone fully identify it. Whatever has appeared in the world of the living is nothing that has ever before been detected by our scans. We know only that it is dormant; for now." Kurotsuchi did his best to stomach the indignation at not knowing whatever the hell it was his technology found, if only to not aggravate the humanoid sun before him.
"The nearest capable agent of getting a close up look at the subject is the Shinigami Substitute, Kurosaki Ichigo. It will take time before we have the equipment calibrated to analyze this anomaly."
"Very well," Shigekuni Genryuusai Yamamoto stood from his seat in the First Division office and looked to his Vice Captain. "Alert Kurosaki Ichigo to the situation. We need to know whether or not this is Aizen Sosuke's opening gambit."
What a way to start the day. Already the traitor was likely up to something, and they had no idea what it even looked like. It angered him to know that they were this unprepared. How much more would fly under the radar? How many good soldiers would have to perish before they even knew what Aizen was doing?
'Why am I doing this?'
Ichigo rested his head against the window with a sigh as he recalled the events that brought him to this little vacation. When he had taken the job of Shinigami Substitute officially, he had not actually expected to be called into action. The mission handed down from Soul Society was about to be shoved right back in their face, but he realized his time was not all that occupied at the moment. Some unknown entity a few towns over, possibly linked to Aizen; it was not much to go on, but the sooner he dealt with the machinator's crap, the closer he would come to returning to normalcy.
In his luggage was Kon, who after a little threatening, was behaving whilst in the presence of civilians. Usually he would just leave his body at home with Kon to babysit, but he didn't expect to be gone long. The first order of business would be to investigate whatever it was that stirred up the Soul Society. That didn't mean he couldn't take the time to explore the city. Mitakihara was reputed to be on the cutting edge of technology. It was a petri dish for all of Japan's newest innovations from architecture to agriculture. Ichigo was pretty sure he could find some top of the line gadgets to play around with, if all else failed.
The notification of the next stop played over the train's speakers. He would be there in a few more minutes. The Shinigami Substitute figured he could do some looking around, investigate whatever ruffled the Soul Society's feathers in the evening, maybe pick up a few high tech souvenirs and be back by tomorrow.
After all, what could possibly go wrong?
A few rows back, sitting atop one of the empty seats just out of sight, was a strange white furred critter. It looked directly at the boy for but a moment before scampering off to parts unknown.
A/N: Relatively short introduction to set up the pieces in play before I just wreck everything. Gonna be a bumpy ride. I want to thank my good friend An-chan for being a beta on this little adventure, and hope he enjoys it!