Welcome Soul Reapers to the Great Demon Kingdom II
A.N: Sorry about hte insane wait between these, my life kind of gotaway from me after my father died, then I was focused solely on my actual writing project, hoping to get that accepted soon. I've only just discovered this chapter in an old notebook I found when I was straightening out my room recently. So, I thank you all for your patience, and I'll try to keep up with the postings. Here's the continuation of my first-ever crossover story.
We had just fallen from the Senkaimon we entered to escape the sudden appearence of the Cleaner in the Precipace World into a large stone fountain, when suddenly we were surrounded by armed female guards. All of them were dressed as gladiators, and pointing very sharp-looking spears at us.
The guard in fron of us, a rather severe-looking blonde, whose spear was pointed directly at yours truly, shouted something in a demanding tone. She appeared to be the Captain, and she seemed to be asking us a question, though what it might be, I don't know. They were speaking some sort of weird language, unlike anything I had ever heard in the World of the Living.
"What the hell is going on?! Who are these people?!" Shiro exclaimed. Then he turned to glare at Ikkaku. "Just where the hell did you send us?"
Ikkaku glared back. "Don't look at me; it's not my fault!" he protested.
"What do you mean it's not your fault?! You were the one who told us to go through that Senkaimon!" Ichigo yelled, kicking Ikkaku.
"Ichigo, Shiro, calm down!" Byakuya ordered. "I think we have bigger problemsto deal with at the moment." He indicated the spear-wielding midens.
Just then more people came into the courtyard. A small girl in a flowing floor-lenght robe and silver-colored hair that was longer than she was tall, walked over to us, followed by several men - in baseball uniforms?! What in world is going on here? Did we land in the middle of some kind of play? Or maybe one of those themed amusement parks I heard about in the World of the Living?
The small black-haired man, who couldn't have been older than a human teenager - and certainly the youngest member of this strange group of men - walked toward us, the other men in the group voicing their opinions on that. The teen turned around and said something in that weird language of theirs, which must've been a command for quiet, because the other men silenced.
Hmm, he must be the ruler here, I thought. Awfully young for it, though.
That thought was confirmed when the spear-wielding maidens all bowed reverently to him, addressing him by what I assumed was his title. He said something to them, and they all backed away, but I noticed that they kept a close eye on us.
"Hi, there! I'm the king of this place. My name's Yuri Shibuya," the young teen greeted us friendly, smiling broadly. "Who are you people?"
"Wait a minute; you speak Japanese?!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Then what was all that weird babble just now?"
The teen indentified as Yuri held out his hand to us. In it was what looked to be several flesh-colored ear plugs.
"Here. Put these in your ears," he instructed.
"And just why should we do that?" Byakuya asked, staring at Yuri's hand suspiciously. "Just what are those things in your hand?"
"They're translators. They were developed by our chief scientist, Miss Anissana von Karbelnikoff, so that people from other worlds can communicate with us," Yuri explained.
Yuri then handed out the translators to each of us. When his hand touched mine, I noticed both how small it was, and also how incredibly soft, for someone who plays baseball. I'm not too familiar with the World of the Living sport, but if I remember correctly, you wield a large wooden stick. And if it's anything like wielding a sword, "soft" is the last thing your hands would be after a while.
Yuri smiled at me, and I smiled back, noticing a light blush touch his cheeks. It was incredibly endearing, and I found that I wanted to see more of that. I certainly hope I'll be able to, I thought. And perhaps even see where else I can see that blush form.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not putting that in my ear!" Ikkaku protested, quite loudly, interrupting my lovely reverie. "I don't even know what it is!"
Ichigo turned to stare at Ikkaku incredulously. "What are you, stupid? The kid just told us what they were!" he snapped.
Ikkaku growled. "Who are calling stupid, you - !"
Byakuya and I both chose that time to interject. "Enough, the both of you!"
I turned to face them in turn. "I think we should do as the young man says," I told them. "After all, we are in his land, which we know nothing about, so if he wants to help us, I say we let him."
"I agree. Maybe someone here can tell us how we ended up here," Byakuya said.
"All right, Byakuya, if you say so," Ichigo reluctantly agreed.
"Yeah, whatever," Ikkaku grumbled.
Everybody agreed with my plan,even Shiro, who doesn't agree with anyone, except, perhaps, Kenpachi. I turned back to Yuri. "All right, we will accept these. Thank you, Your Majesty," I said, as we all put in our translators.
Yuri laughed bashfully, and rubbed the back of his neck in a self-conscious gesture. "Hey, you don't have to call me 'Your Majesty'," he said, smiling shyly. "'Yuri' is fine."
Yes, he is, I thought, finding that I really liked that smile, and found myself smiling too.
A group of young maidens dressed in white robes came out of a large stone building behind us, each carrying a fluffy white towel in their hands. "Here, use these to dry yourselves off," they said, smiling. "We wouldn't want such attractive guests to catch a cold."
I smiled ploitely at the young maidens, as each of us climbed out of the fountain.
"I am Jushiro Ukitake, Captain of Squad Thirteen," I introduced myself, accepting the towel from a brown-haired maiden. "And these are my esteemed collegues." I pointed to each of them as I introduced them. "Byakuya Kuchki, Captain of Squad Six, his boyfriend and Captain of Squad Three, Ichigo Kurosaki, Shiro, Ichigo's Hollow, Izuru Kira, Ichoigo's Lieutenant, Hanataro Yamada, Lieutenant of Squad Four and our medical person, Ikkaku Maderame, Third Seat of Squad Eleven, and Yumichika Aiyasagawa, Fifth Seat of Squad Eleven."
"Hi, there! You've already met me," Yuri greeted my team. He gestured behind him to the group of men dressed in baseball uniforms. "These are my friends." he pointed to each of them as he introduced them. "Gwendal von Voltaire, his younger brothers Conrad Weller and Rupaul von Wincott, Christopher, Conrad's vampire-being, Gunter von Christ, and Josak."
"What weird names," Ikkaku commented.
"Don't be rude, Third Seat Maderame," I reprimanded.
"Yeah, hi. Now, can someone tell us where the hell we are?" Ichigo demanded inpatiently.
"Watch your tone, Ichigo," Byakuya warned. "Remember, you are a Captain, and a member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, not to mention the Shiba clan. You represent both of them. Do not disgrace those noble groups with hot-headedness and impatientence."
"That goes for each of you," I said, leveling a look at each member in turn. I leveled an especially stern look at Shiro. "Especially you, Shiro."
Shiro scoffed, glaring petulantly at me with his black-and-orange eyes. "You Captains are all such pains in the ass," he complained.
Byakuya turned to face Yuri and his friends. "I apologize for my boyfriend's attitude; we mean no disrespect," Byakuya apologized. Ichigo followed suit, albeit a little less graciously.
"That's okay, you don't have to apologize. I get it," Yuri said,dismissing the apology. "I know what it's like to be suddenly transported to this place. I freaked out the first time, too. To answer your question, though, you're in The Great Demon Kingdom; in the tomb of The Great One, to be exact."