The Man in the Iron Mask

It was a 16 months after the Winter War.

Life was peaceful since then.

Her other school friends also know she has powers, but lost it after giving it all she's got, making her a normal human again. Tatsuki, Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro believed Chad and 'hime easily. They would because Aizen nearly killed them!

They had it normal since, ending their freshman and sophomore year respectively.

Well, because Ichigo lost her powers, it was Uryu and the Shinigami she can no longer see who deals with Hollows, and kept the badge as a memento of what she had been through. And another memento was her combat skills which she keeps in top form sparring with Yoruichi. And since the day she lost her powers, Karin got stronger. Her father says she was a living, natural seal over her sister so she's 'not attractive' to Hollows therefore Karin had been safe.

A month before her third year high school however, it seems fate wants to screw with her again.

On the way home from school, a man in a white suit with a strong, cleft chin wearing an Iron Mask came to see her.

'Kurosaki Ichigo-san?'

'Yeah, that's me...' said Ichigo warily. 'Wassup?'

'I am here to look for good, talented people.' he said. 'I have jobs only they can do, and I can promise that the rewards are great.'

'How great?'

'Enough to buy yourself a big land for a fully-furnished estate the size of two Japanese schools combined for an example.' Ichigo choked at that and gawked at him.

'What kinda jobs are those?!' her eyes popped out.

'You'll be doing them in Italy. There's no jobs here in Japan for what I have in mind.'

'...I got college funds to consider and shit...fine, as soon as I get my dad's approval, I'm goin'. I can't just disappear y'know! See ya tomorrow pops!' and she ran off.

xxx

'What? You accepted a job offer from a foreigner?' Isshin gawked at his daughter.

'Yeah.' said Ichigo. 'The money is enough to send all three of us to college ten times over. The offer is too good to be true but incase the bastard is shady, I can always cave his skull in.' Ichigo grinned. 'I may have lost my powers but I still got the combat skills and strength of a Captain-Class. I'll be alright.'

'But you might miss your final year in school...' Isshin frowned worriedly.

'I'll deal with it. As long as I bring home our college funds if this guy is the real deal, I could care less about a missed year or two.'

'Oneechan I'm not too sure about this...' Yuzu frowned worriedly. 'Its Italy. Another country. Anything can and will happen.'

'Yeah, your luck sucks too.' Karin agreed causing Ichigo to choke on her Ebi Fry.

'I'm not too sure either but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I learned that the nasty way too whether I liked it or not.' Ichigo snorted. 'If all goes well, I can send money home and even start our own business with the money as capital.'

Fateful words.

Since Ichigo was powerful, Isshin consented as long as she take proper precautions. No edibles from strangers, always avoid alleys at night and such.

So she went to the riverbank that same day after dinner.

'Well?'

'The fuck, did you like, stand until dark?' Ichigo asked incredulously. 'That's one incredible endurance.'

'Why, I'm still young.' the masked man smiled. 'So what did your family say?'

'They agree but any funny business I'm free to cave your head in.'

The man snorted.

'Shall we leave for Italy, Kurosaki-san? By the way, wear this.' he said, taking out a ring. 'This will enable you to speak, read, write and understand italian, and learn what you see, say and hear as if translated into English and Japanese so its like learning and being fluent in two foreign languages at once.'

'OOOK? I'm no stranger to stuff like this either but hey, ya gotta sword too? I'm a swordswoman and you can deduct the expenses from my reward share but it better be a good one. Like, good enough to withstand machine gun abuse.'

'Oh, that can be arranged. I shall meet you here tomorrow after breakfast for our 10 am flight. The airport we'll go to is in another city.'

xxx

In Italy a day later...she was told to stay in a hotel for now until the last guy comes. She would be notified of his arrival to their meeting spot. Until then, she's free to do as she wished, given an italian cell phone but she really wonders what they were going to do.

When she met them, it was an interesting crew.

She was also the youngest of them all.

They were adults who are in their early twenties and she, still a high schooler. A very shapely high schooler wearing a form-fitting casual-fancy white cropped top with 3/4 sleeves, form-fitting jeans, brown and white sneakers and accessories her kind of personality would wear. She also wore her hair long in a spiky mullet. She also has a permanent stern-scowl expression on her face.

'A high schooler?!' yelped Lal Mirch, Fon and Skull, wide-eyed and eyebrows raising. Even better, the teenager was a ridiculously-powerful Sky enough to power a whole city by herself for a week before tiring as that was how strong she was.

'Yeah, I'm still in high school when that masked guy said he wants me for a job.' said Ichigo, scratching her head. 'But since the money is worth it for college fees, I took the offer.'

They also noted her swords on her sword-belt. It was a Japanese katana and wakizashi.

'...name?' the cloaked guy asked her.

'Ichigo Kurosaki.' said Ichigo. 'My school puts student database in computers now so that should be easy to know I really am just a high schooler right? I don't get why that guy wants me to work with adults who obviously won't take me seriously so I suppose its just bare-minimum cooperation then. Met guys like that kinda personality before anyway.'

'Then Ichigo, I should tell you that you unwittingly are made to work with Freelancers who occasionally take jobs for the mafia.' Fon told the teenager who choked in shock. 'He gave you live blades clearly expecting you to kill your enemies.'

"Been there done that." Ichigo thought wryly, thinking of the Arrancar and the Bount, then Aizen. So what if they're Shinigami? They were dead humans once so she felt killing them was no different from killing humans to protect two worlds.

'For now, I wish to test your ability to defend yourself.' said Fon. 'With our fists.'

Ichigo is a Sky. An insanely powerful one. Losing her to jobs would be of a great loss and it'll be difficult to harmonize her with anybody.

Skies gain Guardians whose flame strength matches theirs in order to achieve Harmony while filling the voids of the Sky in question. This kind is common among mafia match-ups for politics and business sakes thus relationship is rocky and takes years to truly solidify. But as this is a bond with no loyalty in it, betrayals happen and Discords happen. Skies who bonded with Guardians out of trust, most likely having met them as friends and such outside of family gain solid harmony faster, and their bonds so strong built and made of trust with ideal healthy relationships between the seven elements. An elemental family like this is as rare as a 10 karat diamond in a 50-meter olympic pool of tar and sludge. And for Ichigo to have Guardians, such relationships must be made.

'...OK.' said Ichigo as Fon got off his seat and the two got into fighting stance...

By the way Ichigo handled herself alone, it was obvious to everyone that she was on the same class as Fon. Despite her fighting stance, she has zero openings. Same for Fon who also has no openings.

"This won't be easy." both thought.

In an instant, the two lunged at each other, parrying elbows...then its high-speed blockings and parryings of their fists, elbows, knees and feet of master-class skills.

Fon was the best martial artist in the world, a genius who mastered 108 styles of martial arts and strong and fast enough to catch a bullet with his bare hands and yet, this teenager can spar with him just fine!

'Are you really a high schooler?! Who is your mentor?' Fon gasped out as this child, is as strong as he is. She already mastered Karate to such high class. And for a young girl, her physical strength is that of the same level as he. Her strength wasn't that of a female conditioned to their peak top form.

'She doesn't exist in any records in the world.' Ichigo smirked. 'There's no point nor sense in looking for a person whose personality is that of a stray cat. She's who-knows-where after I graduated from apprenticeship.'

And that was too true!

Yoruichi's in Soul Society, having joined the SWA and annoying the hell out of Byakuya most likely.

'Shame, I would have liked to meet her.' Fon smiled. 'Its rare to meet someone capable of an upbringing of such caliber too.' and they stopped.

'Still have any doubts?'

'None.'

Needless to say, Ichigo proved herself to be the strongest Sky in the world, a Master of Karate, immensely powerful flames that every mafioso in the city they were in can't find this mystery person whose presence was felt EVERYWHERE yet nobody can find this person!

Reborn who was the last to come, was surprised that there's a teenager among them yet he haven't heard of her either.

She was an extremely powerful, and anonymous Sky who's a freaking civilian STILL in high school in her native country yet got roped in by Checkerface.

She took the offer simply because College is expensive and hardly any people visit her family's clinic and she still wonders to this day how the hell does her father manage to pay for everything and last she checked, he doesn't have other jobs.

So they took the jobs.

First it was solo jobs. Ichigo had considerable trouble as she wasn't an experienced freelancer so she used her civilian demeanor to her advantage in regards to location and upon getting there, she can do her jobs.

Well, she decided never to tell her family and friends what her jobs were. They'd never approve.

She doesn't either but she'll do what she has to do.

The first job was huge. The reward was staggering.

'OK, I'm not sure what the hell do I do with this...I'm pretty sure I can pay for both the twins' schooling by myself now...' Ichigo shook at the reward that appeared at the foot of her bed. 'But how do I explain this back home? Nobody earns millions in a single job alone! I'll get the inquisition for sure and its not like I can answer it...ohhh fuck me sideways! How do I send this home now?'

Well, she mailed the others that she'll go home to Japan and somehow sneak into her house to hide it in before flying back to Italy...that's if she can get past her dad...

Meanwhile...

'Its been a while and school started yet Ichigo-chan's not going to come anymore.' Orihime moped. 'Did she really stop school for a job?' she asked as the group gathered on the roof.

'All I heard from ol' pops is that Ichigo got a job offer from a foreigner and she took it.' said Tatsuki. 'But not even Ichigo knows what the job was. But since if anything shady goes on, she can easily cave their skull in.'

'I'll say, I don't have to worry either.' said Uryu. 'She may have lost her powers, but it does not change the fact that her fighting abilities are Shinigami Captain-Class. Like hell she'd lose to common thugs or something's wrong with this world.' he snorted.

'Y-yeah, that should be true.' said Keigo nervously.

xxx

Kurosaki Family Clinic...

Ichigo saw her father treating a patient so she snuck into the backyard and used her newfound powers to get a little 'leg-up'. Shinuki no Honoo aren't spiritual in nature, she wouldn't be sensed.

Upon sneaking a letter to her dad's room, she put the money on his bed which was still in a suitcase before leaving back out with enough money to fly away just as quick by planning flight schedules really well.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book: Part I

Isshin was treating a kid with cavity problems that needed appropriate treatment when he sensed a new power in his house heading for his bedroom.

Upon getting paid for his work, he went upstairs to see a suitcase and a letter on top of it from Ichigo.

Pops,

My job got me a new power to survive my job.
Its called Shinuki no Honoo and there are only
seven types and I happen to have the rarest
Sky-Type. I can't say any more than that or I'll
get in trouble with the lawmakers who has the
ability to appear ANYWHERE as I was told these
guys have hyper spidey-senses on those who
broke Secrecy Laws and drag them to prison where
the only sentence, is Life or Death Row.

I work as a Freelancer with a team and the rewards
are great. My first job landed me that case I left on
your bed. Even better, it'll get bigger the harder it is.
But this client is such a weirdo willing to shell out this
much I can't help but feel there's a catch to a good
deal...I'm worried too.

I asked a colleague to make me a test tube container
that can contain a sample of my powers for ol' hat
n' clogs to study. Warning: removing the cork will
cause my flames to disappear, so he has to use other
means to extract and study. I won't be back until
the job is over. There's more jobs coming, so spoil
the girls.

-Ichigo

P.S- nobody raised a stink about my absence, right?

'Well, I better go see Urahara about the sample she left behind.' Isshin mused as he opened the case to see loads of Euros, not a single yen so he'll have to see a money changer for this. And there's the tube containing beautiful, yellow-orange flames. 'Really, what have you gotten into indeed...'