Beta Reader: AvenZa
Bright sun rays shining down upon Karakura town with gentle winds blowing at a slow speed. There were quite a few pedestrians walking on the busy street but among those was someone who stood out from the crowd.
Ichigo Kurosaki, a fifteen-year-old teenager, who was wearing a school uniform without the blazer. He attends Karakura High School. He's an abnormal one. Thus, he can see spirits and has been able to from a very young age.
He was walking down the street, heading back to his home to eat dinner with his family. But he wasn't in a good mood. There were some delinquents, who were showing off tricks with their skateboards, they had knocked over a vase of fresh flowers that were left for a girl that had died there recently. Of course, Ichigo had the right to be angry. Thus, he had scared them off.
He also promised to replace the flowers for the girl's soul.
It was all silent when he heard a hollowing roar, he turned to the direction of where he had heard it from and then, he saw a ghostly figure of a girl. It was the same girl from earlier. She was running from something, Ichigo saw the girl pass by him quickly as she scrambled herself to run as fast as she could to sprint away from the predator.
Smashing its fists into the side of a building, debris fell from the building in response to where the monster had hit.
Ichigo quickly turned and followed the girl, his instincts were roaring out to try and protect the girl but shortly after, a mysterious woman came down from above. She slashed the monster's mask with ease. It disintegrated into nothingness.
'What the hell was that?' He thought; he was questioning himself internally of what he had just witnessed.
Soon afterwards, the woman in black robes disappeared from the scene quickly with speed that Ichigo couldn't follow with his eyes.
He pushed this event to the back of his mind as he walked home. Meanwhile, across the street, a young man stood there, he had watched the whole scene discreetly. He had long, snow white hair that went down to his shoulders and was standing at a height of five foot and ten inches.
His name was Elias Ziegler.
Much like Ichigo, he could see spirits, though unlike Ichigo, he had some knowledge of them.
'Haven't seen a hollow in a while...' Elias thought; moving some hair that covered his eyes. 'At least the shinigami are doing their jobs right...'
He walked in the opposite direction of Ichigo, to his own home.
xXXXXx
Eventually, Ichigo arrived at home, taking off his shoes as soon as he entered into his home. He sat his bag down that held all of his essential items for school next to his shoes. Walking into the dining room, he was greeted by a kick that was coming his way but he immediately blocked it with his right-arm.
A casual greeting from his dad.
"You're late!" His father yelled at him.
Ichigo tackled his dad and threw him against a nearby wall.
"Whatever." Ichigo replied.
He turned around and climb up the stairs and went into his room.
He laid down on his bed to think about various events of what had happened today.
xXXXx
After fifteen minutes, Elias arrived at his home. He took off his shoes at the door and walked down a long hallway, before arriving into a room that didn't have much. Simple decorations with a couch and a coffee table in front of it.
A man was sitting on the couch.
He had his eyes closed but then, he opened them as he noticed Elias. He stood up from his seat, standing at a height of six foot and three inches. He too had long white hair that went down to his mid-back, he wore a silver necklace that had a tag with the kanji for 'Fire' on it.
"Welcome home, Elias." He greeted in a soft tone.
The man was Elias' father.
"Hey." Elias replied, glancing over next to the couch, where a sword leaned against it. "Have you been training with your zanpakuto?"
He was curious if his dad has been training, since he knows that he hasn't in a while.
"In a way. I was communicating with it." His father replied, sitting back down on the couch. "You want leftovers or do you want me to make something for dinner?"
"Up to you. Not hungry right now." Elias replied as he turned around and started walking to his room.
"Alright. If you get hungry, it's in the fridge." His father stated.
He thought for a moment.
"Oh right. I have that meeting to attend." Elias' father spoke as he grabbed his zanpakuto. "I guess I'll see you... in three hours, if I'm lucky."
His father used shunpo to disappear from the home.
'I wish I was able to do that...' Elias thought, walking a bit farther down the hallway, going into his bedroom. Elias laid down on his bed, and shortly after, fell asleep.
xXXXx
About two hours later, Ichigo was still laying in his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling until he glanced to his side and he saw a young woman faze through his wall.
'That's... That's the woman from earlier.' Ichigo thought, as he recognised the figure in his room.
He snapped out of his senses immediately.
"What the hell are you doing in my house!?" He yelled angrily.
She didn't pay any attention to Ichigo.
Then, he kicked her in the back, making the woman falling to the ground. She formed a confused
expression on her face. He got up and turned on the lights.
"Who the hell are you? And why the hell are you here?" Ichigo asked, quickly.
She turned around and stood up to face Ichigo.
"You can see me?" She asked cautiously.
"Of course, I can... I'm not blind." Ichigo remarked with a grumble.
He sat down on his bed.
"Now, if you would explain why you're here..."
xXXXx
A few hours had passed since Elias had fallen asleep but then, he woke up with a startle.
He felt a hollow nearby.
'Oh no...' Elias thought, closing his eyes.
His father still wasn't home.
'Shit.'
This was bad for Elias.
Though his father is a shinigami, Elias has little powers of his own.
Elias tried to sense out further. There was no one nearby to kill the hollow, and the hollow was coming closer to Elias. Elias stayed in his room, and silently hoped that he would live through today.
xXXXx
A little time had passed, the woman had explained the basics of shinigami and hollows and Ichigo did not believe her.
"How the hell am I going to believe that?" Ichigo questioned. "I believe you on the hollow part... but I've never seen a shinigami."
The two heard a loud sound of crashing from downstairs, followed by a scream.
Ichigo's eyes widened.
"Yuzu!" Ichigo yelled in worry and started running, but was cut short quickly.
"Bakudo One: Sai!" The shinigami called out, stopping Ichigo in his track. "I cannot let you interfere."
She ran ahead of Ichigo, climbing down the stairs.
Ichigo fell down to the ground, his arms locked behind his back, but that did not stop him. He forced himself to follow the shinigami despite being on the ground.
The shinigami arrived to the bottom floor, with her zanpakuto drawn. The hollow was holding a human girl, getting ready to consume her. Ichigo soon came down the stairs, soon after standing up, attempting to break the bakudo.
"Don't even think about trying, you'll just do unnecessary damage to your soul." The shinigami stated.
But Ichigo kept trying to break the bakudo. A few seconds later, the shinigami formed a surprised expression, Ichigo broke from it. He quickly ran at the hollow, and attempted to attack it, but the hollow hit him with its arm, knocking Ichigo back into the house. The shinigami leapt at the hollow, cutting its arm, forcing it to let go of the girl. Ichigo came and grabbed Yuzu quickly.
Ichigo quickly sat Yuzu down away from the hollow, and stood in front of her, to protect her.
"Why is this hollow here?" Ichigo questioned.
"It's because of you. You are powerful enough to break a bakudo spell." The shinigami guessed.
She stood in her combat stance. She had her guard up and was preparing for the hollow's next attack.
Ichigo's eyes widened.
He walked in front of the hollow.
"If it's me you want... then face me, one on one!" Ichigo declared.
The hollow roared before bringing its head down to consume Ichigo. The shinigami rushed in and slashed part of its mask but she got injured heavily in the process.
"Shinigami!" Ichigo yelled in worry.
She fell to her knees, as the hollow moved back, roaring in pain. The hollow backed away.
"...You... idiot." She murmured; breathing heavily.
The shinigami crawled to the side and pulled herself to a sitting position.
"I'm too injured to fight it now..." She spoke as she heaved a breath.
Ichigo's eyes widened and scowled. Now, both of them were unable to protect themselves from the hollow.
The hollow roared loudly.
"You... want to save your family, right?" The shinigami asked, pointing her blade at Ichigo.
"How?" Ichigo asked.
"You must... become a shinigami."
xXXXx
Elias' eyes widened.
The hollow was right outside.
'Shit...' Elias thought. 'The one time that Dad isn't here...' Elias thought.
"Dad isn't even nearby..." He muttered to himself; he rushed a hand through his white strands of hair in frustration.
Elias did have some powers but not enough to deal with any type of hollow. Elias could only sense spirits and has somewhat enhanced strength.
The hollow raised its arm, and brought it down upon the house. A large portion of it was destroyed. Elias was lucky, as the room right next to him was brought down.
'I'm... going to die, aren't I...?'
xXXXx
Elias' father's eyes widened.
He sensed that the hollow was near his son.
'Damn it...' He thought anxiously.
He stood up, and walked out of the room.
"Hayato, where are you going!"
Hayato arrived outside and left in a quickly with shunpo.
"I have to get there in time." He whispered worriedly to himself.
His zanpakuto appeared beside him.
"Burn, Homura!" Hayato muttered as he unsheathed it, the blade bursting into flames.
xXXXx
Elias was scared.
No that wasn't the right word, terrified would be more correct. Elias slowly walked out of his room, and faced the hollow.
It was giant, easily about ten feet tall.
It was humanoid.
'So, this is the thing that'll kill me.' Elias thought, terrified of the hollow.
Now, more than any other time, he wished he had the powers that his dad has. The hollow raised its arm once again, and went to slam it against Elias then suddenly, time slowed down for Elias.
xXXXx
Ichigo's eyes widened.
"Become a Shinigami?" Ichigo questioned, his expression was in shock.
"Yes." The shinigami replied simply.
"If you want to protect your family, you have to." She stated seriously.
Ichigo put his hand on her blade.
"If that is what it takes..." He murmured. "What is your name, shinigami?"
"Rukia Kuchiki." She responded with a small smile.
"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."
Rukia's zanpakuto was thrust into Ichigo's chest, the two were enveloped in a bright light, before it faded.
Ichigo stood with a large zanpakuto in his hand and faced the hollow with confidence.
"So, this is what it feels like to be a shinigami, huh?" He murmured quietly.
The hollow roared and launched itself at Ichigo. He too charged towards his opponent and raised his blade high in the air before swiftly bringing it down to split its mask in half.
The hollow dissipated into nothingness.
'I only meant to give him half of my powers...' Rukia thought as she glanced at herself. 'But he took it all...?'
xXXXx
Elias felt his power surge.
A transformation took place as his current attire changed to black robes.
"This..." He spoke. "This is a shinigami's robe!"
A zanpakuto formed in Elias' right-hand.
Elias slammed his blade against the hollow's arm, making it stop in its tracks. He cut off his opponent's forearm, the hollow brought its arm back as it roared in pain. Then, the hollow raised its other arm and went to slam it again at Elias with great force. But before the hollow could do any of that, he heard a voice that he recognised.
"Mamoru, Homura!"
A flame shield formed in front of Elias; the hollow slammed its arm against it, the heat of the barrier made the hollow's hand disintegrate into ash immediately and it screamed with extreme pain.
The barrier dissipated as Hayato appeared in front of Elias, facing him.
"Looks like I made it in time." Hayato sighed in relief; his eyes widened momentarily. "So, you became a shinigami after all. No matter."
Hayato faced the hollow.
"Nobiru, Homura."
Hayato slashed down his blade as a wave of flames came from it, killing the hollow immediately.
Elias' eyes widened a little bit, he had never seen his father's shikai before.
It was very powerful indeed.
"Now." Hayato spoke as he dismissed his shikai, and sheathed his zanpakuto.
He faced Elias once more.
"I hadn't expected you to become a shinigami. Quite a surprise." He continued; he put his hand on Elias' shoulder.
"I expect that you'll be training with me from now on."
xXXXx
Ichigo sighed; that day had been confusing for him. First the girl's spirit, then the hollow and now this.
Rukia stood up with some sort of device in her hand, she walked over to Yuzu and smoke came from the device.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo asked impatiently.
"I am erasing her memory of what happened today. It will replace it with a memory... Though there is no telling what it will replace it with." She replied simply.
'That would probably be for the best.' Ichigo thought.
Rukia went on to do the same to Karin and his father.
"Now, let's get you back in your own body." Rukia said, pointing to Ichigo's actual body.
"Alright." He muttered.
He stepped right in front of his body, not really knowing what to do.
"It's simple. Just think that you want to enter your body and step into your body. It'll be fine." Rukia explained.
He paused, and thought for a moment, before stepping into his body. After a few moments, he was fully in his human body.
Ichigo stood up. "I think I'm going to go to sleep... I'm tired."
Ichigo walked into his home, went up the stairs, and walked into his room. Ichigo collapsed onto his bed, falling asleep shortly after.
xXXXx
Elias and Hayato were in their home's basement. The basement was a fairly large training grounds that was simple, with nothing in it. They both stood opposite of each in the spacious room.
"Now." Hayato began. "We will now begin your training with your zanpakuto... Draw your blade."
Both Elias and Hayato drew their zanpakuto.
"To begin your training, we will start with Jinzen." His father spoke.
"What is Jinzen?" Elias asked, curiously.
"Jinzen is the only way to have a proper conversation with your zanpakuto. In short, it is a way to communicate to your zanpakuto." Hayato explained.
"Oh. So what you normally do, then." Elias replied.
"Correct."
Elias sat down, and crossed his legs, and sat his zanpakuto down on his legs.
"What do I do now?" He asked, looking up to his father.
"Close your eyes. Clear your thoughts, and focus on your zanpakuto. Though it's fine if you aren't able to communicate with your zanpakuto." Hayato instructed.
"Okay..." Elias replied.
Elias took a deep breath, before closing his eyes. After a few moments, his mind was clear. He stayed in that position for about ten minutes before he opened his eyes.
"Were you able to speak to speak to your zanpakuto?" His father asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Elias replied, shaking his head.
He stood up and sheathed his zanpakuto.
"I didn't expect you to be able to, but it's a start." Hayato stated.
Elias started climbing the stairs.
"If you need me, I'll be in my room, as it wasn't destroyed." He murmured.
"Alright." His father replied as he watched his son disappeared from his sight.
When Elias arrived at his room, he immediately collapsed onto his soft bed and went to sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.
xXXXx
Elias' eyes opened up quickly, the atmosphere around him was…
Cold.
Dark.
Elias looked around, the area was ominously dark. He couldn't see anything but then he turned around and he saw a large lake, it wasn't there before. When he got closer to the lake, he thought his vision was blurring. There was nothing of that sort. It was just the lake that seemed to never end, with a large field that had trees scattered about. Then, he saw a reflection of the moon on the lake. Looking upwards, he saw an abnormally large bright moon in the sky and there were no stars.
It was just the moon and the night sky.
Elias tried to open his mouth, but found that he could not.
'The hell?' Elias thought.
He glanced over and saw a tall man, who was standing at a height of six foot five. The mysterious man had long jet black hair that went down to his lower back and wore a cloak that went down to his ankles, his cloak covered everything except for below his ankles and his hands.
He glanced over at Elias, before speaking.
"Elias Ziegler… what are you doing here?"
Elias' vision went dark.
xXXXx
Elias woke up with a startle, sitting up immediately. His heart was beating rapidly, he calmed himself down as he inhaled and exhaled deeply several times.
'What the hell was that?' He thought. 'Wait.. was that.. My zanpakuto?'
Elias shook his head to clear his mind.
He stood up from his bed and opened his closet, he grabbed his school uniform and changed into them. Walking out of his room, he saw the destruction from the night before.
'Oh. Right.'
Elias walked through the destruction, before reaching the sidewalk. Elias began his walk to his school; Karakura High School.
xXXXXx
Ichigo woke up, pushing the blanket that covered him off to the side and sat up. It would not be long before his dad came through his door and attack him.
"3... 2… 1..." He murmured in a groggy voice.
"Gooooooood,"
Ichigo's father yelled as he opened the door.
"Moornin',"
He launched himself at Ichigo, feet first.
"Ichi-"
Ichigo caught his foot with ease, slammed him against the ground and pinned him to the ground by having his leg over his chest, and his hand over his face.
He simply stood up, picked his dad up by his legs and threw him out of his room. He closed his door, and opened his closet. He felt a little bit of warm air but he paid no mind to it. He quickly grabbed his school uniform and changed into it.
Ichigo opened his door and climbed down the stairs and left his home, he began to walk to school.
xXXXx
Chapter end.