Yo everybody! Back with a brand new story. Seems like I'm up with a new one every six to seven months. Well truthfully this idea in particular I've had for years it's just that I have refined and combined with a few other Bleach ideas I've had bouncing around in mind. And I was recently inspired by the amazing story 'He Wasn't Late' by Artemis Goldborough. I highly recommend it to all Bleach fans out there. Basically its what if Ichigo never got the chance to talk to Rukia that night, never got her powers but saw her kill the hollow and became involved in the events that followed. Just that idea alone is something truly unique and special, coupled with a very talented writer this is a must read for Bleach fans.
As to my Gundam SEED Rewrite that I was fixing up and redoing, I'm sorry to say that I've become stalled on it. Over two months ago when I was working on it a close family passed away and I just haven't been able to get back into yet. At the moment I don't know when I'll get back to it. Which is partly why I've decided to start something brand new.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, only any OCs that appear.
"Do you wish to save your family?"
The words of the Shinigami seemed to echo through his head as Ichigo Kurosaki glanced around. The masked creature—the hollow had caused so much damage in its rampage. It had taken a chunk out of his family's house and inside laid Yuzu and his father, both injured and unconscious. Nearby was Karin, lying in the same state as the rest of his family. Finally there was the dark haired Shinigami, propped up against a streetlight as blood poured from her wounds. All caused because this vicious monster was after him, not the spirits that tended to follow him around, not the Shinigami that showed up tonight. It had all been his fault! "Of course!" he shouted, eager to set things right. "Tell me how!"
"I can give you a portion of my powers and you can use that to defeat the hollow," the Shinigami explained.
"How?"
"You must take my zanpakutō," she grimly replied, holding up her sword. "Take it and stab it into your heart."
Ichigo froze in shock. Stab himself in the heart? Wouldn't that kill him? How was that supposed to give him some of her power? "It's the only way," the Shinigami insisted, sensing his hesitant.
She was right. With her wounds she wouldn't be able to fight the hollow. He was the only one that could do something. Ichigo reached out and grabbed the sword, careful not to cut himself on the blade. "Alright Shinigami," he said, his eyes burning with determination. "Let's do it."
A slight smile spread across the Shinigami's face. "Rukia. My name is Rukia Kuchiki."
Ichigo returned the grin. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki," he replied before thrusting the blade into his chest.
The instant the blade pierced his skin a blinding light consuming his vision. After a moment the light faded and Ichigo found himself holding the largest sword he had ever seen in his life. Yet despite its size the weapon was light, he could easily wield it with one hand. Strapped to his back by a leather belt and bandolier was its equally large sheath. On the bronze belt buckle was the image of a black skull. His forearms were covered in black armbands with white trim and the same skull design as the buckle. But it wasn't just the sword. His body felt stronger, faster and more energetic. He couldn't even feel the pain from the few scraps and cuts he had received from the hollow.
This hollow wouldn't stand a chance against him.
A bellowing howl filled the night air drawing Ichigo's attention back to what matter right now. The fish-faced hollow started changing charging towards him, its arms up in air. "Come on you ugly bastard!" he shouted, lifting his sword up.
The hollow was fast but he was faster, slicing off its right forearm before it could touch him. Staggering back a step the hollow roared in pain and fury, flailing its remaining arm wildly at him. Ichigo stabbed his sword in the wrist of the descending limb and started pulling back, cutting through its giant hand. He couldn't help but grin as the hollow stumbled back. With a wide horizontal swing he took out its shins, sending the masked beast falling forward.
"This is for attacking my family you fish-faced freak!" Ichigo roared, slamming the sword down through the falling hollow's head and body…
Ichigo Kurosaki sighed as he hit another ball with his bat, sick already of Rukia's 'training'. A quick glance confirmed what he already knew. Rukia who had claimed was going to be supervising his training had become completely engrossed in that lame old book she had drug up. He could probably walk off, buy a snack and come back twenty minutes later without Rukia noticing anything. Besides it wasn't like there was any real point to this training. He was just hitting balls with more of Rukia's crude pictures. How was that suppose to help with killing hollows? For someone that was supposed be knowledgeable on fighting hollows her training sucked.
He shouldered the bat and stepped out of the pitching machine's firing zone, watching the pint-sized girl read. It was hard to believe that had been just four days since that night when his whole life had changed. He had already known of ghosts before simply because he had always been able to see them but hollows and Shinigami had been new. But it was strange that he had never seen either the black robed death gods or the masked monsters they fought before that day.
It hadn't ended that night either as he found out later the next day that Rukia had given him too much of her power, leaving her temporarily powerless. So he was now carrying out her Shinigami duties for her while she stuck in a fake body, possessing as normal high school girl. All and all it actually wasn't too bad. He kind of liked helping to send souls to afterlife and protecting Karakura's inhabitants, both living and dead from hollows made him feel a little bit like a superhero. Not that he would admit the later out loud.
However his new double life as a Substitute Shinigami was not without its drawbacks. The first being that unlike a full Shinigami he had a body of flesh and blood which meant that while he could use their powers and manifest the Shinigami's weapon, a zanpakutō he was completely visible anyone and everyone. It made things harder as he couldn't let himself be seen by people otherwise he'd look like a weirdo flailing against nothing with a sword they couldn't see. The last thing he thing he needed for people to see him and think he was crazy. Rukia had said that she was trying to get something that would make him invisible to ordinary people like spirits were. But when he asked when he was actually going to get it all she did was grumble about some lazy ass shopkeeper.
Then there was the fact that both he and Rukia had been dropping in and out of class at least once or twice a day. If this kept up his grades were going to suffer. At least no one seemed to notice that they were always leaving together. He could picture what Keigo and just about every girl in class would start saying about what him and his 'girlfriend' were doing when they left the classroom. It didn't matter if it wasn't true; he couldn't exactly tell them the truth. Not that they would believe him anyway. Either way whether they saw him as crazy or screwing around with the new girl it would destroy his reputation.
Suddenly a ball struck the side of his head. "Ow! What the hell?" Ichigo cursed, turning to the source of the ball.
Rukia had put down her book and glaring at him with a look of annoyance. "Hey slacker!" he shouted. "Get back to training!"
"How does whacking balls train me to fight hollows?" he shot back, just as annoyed as her.
The Shinigami only response was to throw more balls at him, forcing Ichigo to frantically hit or dodge them all as they came at him. She was pretty good but not quite as good as him. He had been dodging the blows of thugs for years now. A bunch of softballs were nothing. With a smirk he sent the last ball flying back at Rukia's head, narrowly missing her head. "What did you do that for?" she screamed. "You could have hit me!"
"You hit me!" Ichigo yelled, a vein twitching in his forehead.
"Because you were slacking off! You have important duties to perform so you need to train to keep yourself in top physical shape!"
Ichigo shook his head vigorously. "And how does whacking these balls help me train?" he argued. "I thought this was training to kill hollows, not softball!"
"It's called sword training you idiot!" Rukia shot back. "You need to be able to hit hollows quickly and accurately."
"So then why the pitching machine?" Ichigo asked, pointing the bat at the machine.
"Because there wasn't anything else I could use for it," Rukia disdainfully replied. "It's not my fault your world doesn't use swords anymore."
The two of them continued to bicker and argue; all the while unaware of what was coming, unaware of the path stretching out before them…
And so ends the prologue and already there's a change to it. Ichigo isn't the same as he was. Two things really inspired it, the first being when Ichigo briefly became a Fullbringer and the second was a picture on Deviantart called 'Karakura Squad' by an artist called LightSeeker. Like its name implies it has the whole Karakura gang, Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro. But Ichigo is in normal street clothes with Zangetsu strapped to his back and I was struck by how much better that looked than his normal Shinigami attire
So I decided recently with this story idea to change up what it means to be a Substitute Shinigami which I'll explain in detail in the next chapter.
Now I'm gonna tell you all of the changes I'm making to the plot but I am gonna tell you this much, I'm blending in more supernatural elements into the universe. The Bount will be present (and that means their arc will be added) but I'm reworking their nature a bit, making them a bit more like the vampires they're inspired by while at the same time keeping them in the frame of the Bleach universe. Similarly other supernatural beings will be present. What those beings will be I leave for you to guess at.
Oh and yes Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro as well as other supporting human characters will play a larger roll in the plot. Again it's something that you're gonna have to wait and see.
The title 'Beyond Heaven and Earth' is taken from the phrase 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy'. It felt fitting for this story. And like the Book One moniker says this is the first of six books, each revolving around one of the Arcs, the Substitute Shinigami Arc, the Soul Society Arc, the Bount Arc, the Arrancar Arc, Hueco Mundo Arc and the Fake Karakura/Final Battle Arc. Beyond that I'm not sure at the moment nor am I even thinking that far ahead. Though I have some early ideas on what I could do.
