Shuuichi gripped the cold stone as hard as he could, trying to keep from falling, but his grip was loosening, and the sea breeze was whipping at his body. He groaned, and tried one more time to climb up the cliff another little ways, but his fingers were burning. He could see the top only a little bit above him, and above it, the yellow sky. Black-colored clouds were passing overhead.
He didn't know how much longer he could keep climbing… The roaring yellow waves below him crashed against the cliff, threatening to devour him. The black clouds above beckoned to him.
Finally, after a long few minutes, Shuuichi grasped the top of the cliff, and his tired arm began to pull, to hoist him up into safety.
Then a figure appeared over him. There was white hair, white clothes, and a blue mantle covering his face.
"K-Kirunami…?" Shuuichi dared to ask.
Hardly had the word left his mouth when there was a rustling, and the blue mantle came undone and flew away in the sea wind. The face underneath was not Kirunami at all. Shuuichi hardly had time to contemplate what he saw before the figure kicked him the face. His hands lost their grip. The last thing Shuuichi knew was falling down the cliff into the waiting, crushing waves below…
Shuuichi Ito awoke with a start from the nightmare, bathed in sweat. For a moment, he just lay there, clutching his sheets. It was still nighttime; the sun had not yet graced the horizon.
He shook his head exasperatedly, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He turned on the bedside lamp and looked into the mirror on the wall, rubbing his good eye. It's not that he was blind in the other eye; he just couldn't see as well out of it. Though Shuuichi couldn't really complain, as it was a miracle he even had the eye at all.
About a year ago, that eye had been completely gouged out. It wasn't an accident either. He had been in a fierce battle with a powerful man. A Captain, nonetheless. It amazed even Shuuichi that he could even regenerate something like an eye.
That was probably due to the fact that Shuuichi was not human. He was a Shinigami, a Death God, a spirit protector of the human world. He wasn't always that way, though.
Shuuichi was killed many decades ago by a Hollow, an evil spirit that ate souls, and the antithesis to the Shingami. The forceful transition into the afterlife almost turned him into a Hollow himself, but instead he developed Shinigami powers under the stressful circumstances. Shortly afterward, he went to Shinigami's world—Soul Society—and was fully trained and given a position in the 13 Court Guardian Squads. He also learned the name of his zanpakutou—the sword that a Shinigami carried, which had its own inner spirit.
However, he had faced many problems, and his own 12th Division Captain—Kisuke Urahara—suddenly abandoned Soul Society and disappeared. The new Captain, in Shuuichi's opinion, was far less kind, and very ruthless. Shuuichi left Soul Society and went searching for Urahara. Upon finding him, he realized the truth of his disappearance.
Urahara had made a terrible mistake. He had created Hougyoku, a powerful device that was capable of dissolving the barrier between Shinigami and Hollows. In other words, using the device could create a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid, far more powerful than any of the two spirits separately.
And someone else had been seeking that device, someone who had already been experimenting with hybrids, going so far as to make a Hollow—named Metastasia—who merged with his Shinigami friend Kaien Shiba, causing them both to be killed.
Urahara had decided to hide Hougyoku inside a Shinigami, and he needed Shuuichi to do so. But when Shuuichi successfully delivered Hougyoku to the real world, and Urahara took it away, a Captain appeared.
Gin Ichimaru, a servant of the one who sought Hougyoku, fought with Shuuichi… and Shuuichi lost. His eye was lost, his body torn, and his vocal chords shredded. Shuuichi had been left for dead, but Hougyoku was successfully hidden.
The door opened, and a blonde girl peeked in. "Are you alright, Shuuichi?"
Shuuichi looked over at her and raised his eyebrows.
"I heard raspy breathing… Did you have another nightmare?" She came in slowly, carrying a tall glass of milk.
Shuuichi smiled calmly in response. Though his eye had healed, his vocal chords were taking longer. Currently, he was only able to make raspy noises that only sounded somewhat like words.
"Okay… Sleep well…" said the girl, setting down the glass of milk and leaving the room.
Shuuichi sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. He didn't know how he survived that attack. Ichimaru had used bankai, the ultimate release of a shinigami's sword. Anyone else would have died instantly, and Shuuichi indeed went down seconds after the release. Yet, he didn't die…
After the battle, he managed to get a gigai—a false body—from Urahara, and eventually came to meet this girl, Kisa. She was a kind girl, and took Shuuichi in to live with her in Karakura Town, feeling pity for him. Shuuichi felt very grateful to her, and when he found out that she was in fact the great-granddaughter of Kue—his former girlfriend when he was alive—he figured she must have inherited that kindness.
Whatever happiness he felt at being alive was soon taken away when he had received the message on his spirit phone that he still had with him. Hougyoku had been stolen. All of Soul Society had been fooled by the man after the legendary item, Sousuke Aizen of 5th squad, and he finally managed to retrieve it from the Shinigami it was hidden in. That Shinigami had been arrested on false charges orchestrated by Aizen. Some teenagers from the real world, friends of the Shinigami—led by a boy named Ichigo Kurosaki—entered Soul Society and tried to rescue her, but in the end Hougyoku was taken.
Aizen, along with his subordinates Ichimaru of 3rd Squad and Kaname Tousen of 9th Squad, left Soul Society to go to Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows.
All that Urahara and Shuuichi had done was for nothing. But what had become of that Shinigami…? Rukia…
Shuuichi felt a sudden pulse of spirit force, coming from somewhere nearby. A Hollow. Shuuichi slowly sat up, and at his side materialized his sheathed zanpakutou. Over the past year, he had managed to materialize his sword even in a gigai, and even though he was no longer a part of Soul Society, he still felt that tug. The urge to protect the innocent from evil.
He crept out into the hallway, made sure Kisa was asleep, then quickly grabbed his jacket—a black jacket custom made with a white Hollow symbol on the front. The symbol was of a skull-shaped mask; the mask of bone was universal among Hollows, along with a hole in the chest, symbolizing the lack of a heart.
When he went outside, he could easily detect the Hollow only a few blocks down. It was a lot larger than the usual, possibly even a Huge Hollow. It should be enough to handle with his own spirit force.
Shuuichi unsheathed his zanpakutou as he ran, and he saw the Huge Hollow enter the intersection ahead of him. Though human-like in general shape, it was monstrous and deep black in color, and its shoulders were hunched and hips set back as if it were naturally a four-legged creature imitating a human. This particular Hollow had black scales on its body, and its bone mask looked reminiscent of a crocodile's head. It was looking around, most likely searching for a human soul to devour.
It wheeled around to see Shuuichi standing there. It might have been confused, seeing someone holding a zanpakutou, but not at all looking like a Shinigami, but that did not matter; he still smelled like a Shinigami—a soul that was delicious for Hollows, if they could defeat one. The Huge Hollow chuckled hungrily and advanced. Shuuichi raised his sword, ready to strike.
The tense moment was quickly broken by a sudden burst of wheezing and loud footsteps coming around the corner behind him. Shuuichi jumped and turned to see if a new threat was coming, but was instead faced with another Shinigami.
He had a flushed face and an enormous afro, and was pumping his legs hard and wheezing. Shuuichi watched him incredulously as he skidded up to the intersection and stopped. The Shinigami looked at Shuuichi, Shuuichi's zanpakutou, the Huge Hollow, and back at Shuuichi.
"Who the hell are you?!" exploded the Shinigami in a loud voice.
Shuuichi just leaned back from the voice, raising an eyebrow.
"Aren't you going to answer?" The Shinigami laughed, and pridefully gestured at himself. "You must know who I am! I'm Zennosuke Kurumadani of 13th Squad! You don't recognize me?! You must not; you must be such a novice you forgot your Death God robes at home when you came to fight! Hahaha!"
Shuuichi stared. The Huge Hollow took that opportunity to punch forward. It hit the ground between them; Shuuichi managed to flash step out of the way, and the afro Shinigami jumped awkwardly backward.
"What was that?!" Kurumadani shouted noisily, unsheathing his zanpakutou and charging the Hollow. It punched forward again, hitting the Shinigami right in the chest and launching him back several yards. "Argh, that hurt!!"
Noisy little prick, huh… though Shuuichi, holding up his own zanpakutou. He looked down at it and concentrated. He had only once been able to release his sword without saying its name, and he hadn't been able to do it since. And even if he could speak, he doubted he could use bankai without another extreme circumstance.
"K… k…" rasped Shuuichi, but he struggled hard with forming the vowels. He was frustrated; he knew his vocal chords were almost healed, he should be able to say at least one word!
"K… k… ki…" He managed to squeeze out one syllable before his throat started to burn. He grasped his throat angrily and held up his sword. Looks like he would have to fight at least one more time without shikai.
"Hold on there, novice!" said Kurumadani suddenly, stepping between Shuuichi and the Hollow. "Let the elite handle this!"
Shuuichi frowned at his back, but the afro Shinigami suddenly held out his sword, which began to glow orange.
"Good morning, Tsuchinamazu!" The blade flashed and rapidly shrunk to a small size. It morphed and spun around the back of his hand, the tip melding with the bottom end of the hilt. Tsuchinamazu was a chakram, bending over Kurumadani's knuckles and connecting at both ends to the hilt in his hand. A colorful ribbon spun out at one end of the handle.
Kurumadani offered a confident smirk Shuuichi's way then leapt forward brandishing the released zanpakutou at the Huge Hollow. Shuuichi was still slightly stunned at the ridiculous release phrase, and had no time to stop the weak Shinigami.
Kurumadani leapt over the Huge Hollow's first punch and slashed downward cutting into its knuckles. He then landed on its forearm and leapt forward, going for the bone mask.
The Huge Hollow slapped the Shinigami away, who slammed into a wall and sank to the ground. It cackled triumphantly as it punched down at the slumped figure.
Shuuichi appeared instantly between them and easily stopped the huge fist with his comparatively small blade. Then with a quick spin of the zanpakutou, the Hollow's fist parted ways with the rest of its arm.
"W-What are you—" started Kurumadani but the Hollow was already roaring and punching forward with its remaining fist. Shuuichi slashed forward quickly, taking off three fingers and stopping the punch, then he flash stepped directly to the Hollow's side and cut into its left hamstring.
The afro Shinigami couldn't speak, watching the fight with amazement, and hardly catching Shuuichi's moves with his eyes. He became very humble, seeing just how weak he was in comparison to this particular Death God.
The Hollow roared again in pain and began to collapse, and Shuuichi quickly jumped up at the falling Hollow and rammed his sword through the base of its neck and slashed upwards, splitting its head in half.
Shuuichi landed deftly as the Huge Hollow dissolved—purified and sent to Soul Society as a Plus Soul. Kurumadani just looked up in awe.
"What are you, guy?" he managed to say. His zanpakutou at his side returned to its released state, and he quickly tucked it back into its sheath. He hopefully awaited an answer, but the unfamiliar Shinigami remained mute. When the afro Shinigami noticed the scar along Shuuichi's throat, he began to see why.
Shuuichi just flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it, walking away. He silently made his way back to Kisa's house, where she still lay sleeping even as the edges of the horizon began to glow, leaving Kurumadani behind in the ruined intersection.
He lay down in bed that night only slightly satisfied. Once again, he had been unable to release his sword, although he was still able to take down a Huge Hollow. However, what bothered him more was something that he had just begun to realize.
True, he could not speak, but what of Kirunami? He had not even heard his voice since the night he was defeated by Ichimaru. He realized that he had become lonesome, no longer hearing his zanpakutou's voice echoing in his head.
Kirunami…Shuuichi thought. Where have you gone?