A/N: Okay, well, hello everyone. I would like to take the time to introduce myself to you all. No, I am not "Tenma-Chakun" (formerly know as The Angel Kid), I am a completely different author that goes goes by a completely different name. However, the original author of this story has been having an extremely difficult time keeping up with this story and has asked for my assistance. While I won't guarantee that I will update this story any faster than she was, I too have a few stories that I am actively writing, I will help her with this story in the future. That being said, let me address the few attentive readers out there that noticed this story is now one chapter shorted than it was previously; well, it really isn't shorter in length, during my beta-reading I felt it would be better to combine the first and second chapters. Other than that, I don't think it is much different than it was before. I think that is all I have to say at the moment, so, without further ado, both Tenma and myself would like to present to you. . .
Chapter One
There was something about today that had Masaki Kurosaki on edge. She couldn't quite figure it out, but something in the air felt wrong. 'Like I'm being watched. . .' she shook her head and pushed the thought out of her mind as she continued on her way towards her son's karate dojo. Though she hated to admit it, he wasn't very good at karate, but he had insisted that he take the classes. Though that's not to say that he was terrible. 'No, by no means is he terrible, it's just not a talent of his.' She chided herself. She looked towards the murky grey sky. 'It's going to rain today.' She noted, thankful that she decided to bring her son's raincoat and an umbrella for herself.
A shiver ran down her spine and she froze. She cautiously looked around. Now she was positive that there was defiantly someone or something out there watching her. . .stalking her. Masaki knew of the Other Worldly Creatures that lurks about, though she never actually saw one, she knew they existed. The odd footprints and random explosions that most people wrote off as pointless acts of terrorism, she knew it was them. And when her son told her of a girl he had met one night that claimed to be dead, she believed him. Though Isshin would always just chalk it up to an over active imagination, but to be honest, she had suspected that there was something that he was not telling her. . . 'Its probably nothing, although. . .no, its nothing, I'm sure.' Picking up her pace she arrived at the dojo a short while later. Walking through the door she was greeted with the site of her son crying his poor little heart out. 'He lost again…' she smiled sadly
"Ichigo…" the way she sang his name worked as the perfect balm for the young Kurosaki. Looking up, his expression brightened instantly upon seeing his mother's face. 'From tears and heartache to smiles and giggles, I'll never understand you Ichigo!' Masaki thought as she crouched down and opened her arms. Ichigo immediately ran to her and embraced his mother in a tight hug. "Did you win?" she asked even though she knew the answer.
Ichigo's eyes fell to the ground. "No. Not today…" he said in that small, frail voice that always made Masaki's heart heavy.
"But you tried you best. That's what counts the most, ne?" she said offering her best smile
"Hai!" he shouted, back to his happy self.
Masaki nodded firmly and stood. "Come on, lets get going." She said as she looked out the window and noticing that the rain had already started. Placing the rain coat on her son, she led him out of the dojo.
As she opened her umbrella she had that same feeling of being watched again. "Mom," The sound of Ichigo's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Hmm?" She asked, smiling down at him.
"You should let me walk by the curb." He told her with a serious expression on his face.
"And why would I do that?" she asked as she looked around again. The feeling of dread loomed over her like an axe just waiting to fall.
"Just in case a car comes by and splashes a puddle, I can protect you." He said attempting to switch places with Masaki.
"I couldn't allow that. I'm your mother, I should be protecting you." She smiled to him again. She could see the disappointment in his eyes. "Tell you what. Every time you win in karate I'll let you protect me once, okay?"
"But I did win one time. I beat Tatsuki-chan just the other day!" He said with such a sense of determination that Masaki couldn't help but fell proud.
"Really? That's wonderful! But lets start from today okay."
Ichigo just smiled and nodded, but to be honest, he wasn't content. Ichigo has, for a while now, been able to see the dearly departed. At first he couldn't really tell them apart from actual living beings. But lately, at least in his opinion, he has been getting increasingly better at it. But today just felt . . . off. He had the strangest feeling that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 'Like I'm being watched…' He tightening the grip he had on his mother's hand.
The auburn colored beast expertly traversed back and forth through dimensions. It had found its next prey. He had been watching this one for quite some time now, and he had to admit that for a human, this one smelled delicious. "Hmm, I cant wait to taste her. . ." its booming voice reverberated through out the empty desert-like environment. He knew that she was aware of his presence but that was what had made this so damn fun! The fact that she was powerless to stop him from achieving his goal made it all the more sweet. Shifting back to the human realm, he followed her, careful not to be seen. When he saw her stop and look over her shoulder he instinctively froze. Though he was sure that she couldn't see his physical form, he knew that there were certain people that had a sort of sixth sense about that sort of thing. He had devoured quite a few of them in his long existence. 'And my, were they tasty!' He was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw her begin to pick up her pace, and he followed her shortly afterwards.
When he saw her enter through the front door of some human establishment or another, he dipped into a shadow and waited, patiently. He had lived a long life, and through his many years he had learned the value of patience. One who waited for the opportune moment was guaranteed to achieve all of their goals. It had been the key to his existence; patience. Over time he had assembled quite a few 'followers' to do his biding; he was at the pinnacle of his afterlife. In his own eyes, he was a king. And now, this king was going to feast.
As soon as he saw her exit the building again, if he had a heart, it would have skipped a beat. The woman smelled good, but the boy that fell in step beside her. . .he smelled absolutely delicious. From his perch above his new prey, the beast licked his lips in anticipation. Although he certainly preferred women over anything else, but the scent that the boy was giving off made him shiver in delight. In all of his long existence he had never encountered a human that smelled so . . . so . . . so damn tasty! 'Almost like a shinigami, but spicier! Ohh! I can't wait any longer!' he thought to himself. He wasted no time in lunching his 'bait' into action. Placing it along the shore that his soon to be meals were walking by, it gave off the impression of a drowning girl.
Perfect.
After accepting his mother's proposal, Ichigo had come back to his normal joyous self. He always found it difficult to be upset in her presence. Not that he was aiming to be upset mind you, but when she was close by, he felt calm, tranquil, and overall, happy. He could honestly say that without her in his life he didn't know what he'd do. He stood there, watching her smiling at him as she wiped off the excess water and dirt from his face. Ichigo had found a stick that looked oddly like a sword and decided to play 'Lone Samurai' with it, that is before he tripped and landed on his face.
"You should be more careful sweetie, ok?" she lightly scolded, if it could even be considered a scolding.
"Ah, but I'm ok mom. Look, no scratches or nothing!" Ichigo proclaimed with more than a little pride.
He was about to comment further when he heard something that sounded an awful lot like crying. Turning, he saw a girl. She seemed to be having trouble staying afloat in the flooded river bank. Reacting purely on instinct he bolted over to her. He knew he had to help her if he could, and he intended on doing just that.
"Ichigo!!" He barely heard his mother calling out to him from behind. He was about half way there when, for reasons he could not explain, his body suddenly froze. "Ichigo!!" His mother shouted as she rushed to his side. "Ichigo what's wrong?" She asked as she noticed the far away look in her son's eyes. Ichigo shook his head back and forth trying to clear his mind. He was in a daze, completely unaware of everything around him.
"Hmm? It didn't work? Well that's a first." A demonic like voice rang out. Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw, no, more like felt the creature that could only exist in nightmares. "Not that it matters anyway. You're still going to be a pleasant meal! It said as it charged at them. Giant footprints began to appear one after another as it drew closer and closer. His mother seemed none the wiser.
"Ichigo, what's wrong? What do you see?!" she asked frantically as she saw the raw fear in her son's eyes. But before he could answer his mother was thrown into a wall.
"MOMMY!" Ichigo shouted with tears in his eyes.
"I think I'll save the best for best!" it growled as it walked past Ichigo and headed straight for Masaki's dazed form. "I could go for an appetizer!" It Said.
Masaki was confused as to why she felt a sudden pain rip across her back before she was launched about ten meters into a wall adjacent to the shore. What confused her even more was how she was floating above the ground, being held against the wall by her neck by some invisible force. "Mm! You smell so good! I bet you're tasty!" Though Masaki couldn't see the caster of the voice she most defiantly felt the heavy blow that was delivered to the back of her head.
Ichigo had completely lost the ability to move; whether it was from fear or some other unexplained reason, he didn't know. But what he did know was that he had to at least try to help his mother in some way. Crushing what ever doubt he was feeling at the time, he swallowed hard and charged. He could almost see the creature now. It looked surprisingly a lot like some kind of giant gerbil, if his eyes saw correctly. But to be honest nothing really made much sense at the moment.
His approach did not go unnoticed by the beast. In fact it was anticipated. Reacting immediately to the smaller prey's presence it swiftly captured him in a web like dome of fur. "Why so hasty, hm, Ichigo?" the beast said using the name that he heard the woman call him. Now he was completely transfixed on Ichigo and his intoxicating scent.
Ichigo shouted as pain erupted from various parts of his body. But what was worse was it felt like he was being pulled, no, torn from his body. He glanced behind him and noticed just that; his body dropped, lifelessly, with a thud. "It's a courtesy to tell you're name before you kill someone, ne, Ichigo? Though I'm not really killing you. . .I'M GOING TO EAT YOU!!" With that said it launched Ichigo into the air. As he came down he saw the monster in all his glory; its bright red fur and its bone colored mask froze his blood white. The monster leaned back and spread his jaws "Call Me, Grand Fisher." Was the last thing Ichigo heard before he fell into the hollows mouth.
Ichigo had the strangest sensation of falling. He opened his eyes and saw . . . nothing. 'What?' All around him was black. 'Am I…dead?' he thought.
'Yes' a voice replied, simply.
Ichigo looked around trying to find the owner of the voice "Who's there?" His voice had a strange echo to it, as if two voices came out at once.
'When a soul is separated from its body, the body becomes an empty husk, while the soul is left to wander. In other words whenever a soul leaves a body that person dies, though the process is reversible, as long as the body remains intact.' The voice explained.
"W-what?! What are you talking about?!" Ichigo demanded.
'You cannot see? No matter, perhaps it is not time yet…'
"See what? Who are you, show yourself!"
'- - - - - - - -, hmm. You cannot yet hear my name.'
Suddenly the dark was replaced with blinding white light. "GAH!" Ichigo exclaimed when his vision cleared and he noticed he was soaring towards the side of a building. "Crap." Was all he could utter as his body was ablaze in pain. With a groan, he tried to lean upwards and almost jumped out of his skin when he realized who high up he was. Acting on instinct he grabbed for the nearest object to prevent him from falling, which happened to be a flagpole.
"Odd, is it time?" a voice called from above him.
Looking up Ichigo saw a man with glasses and a black flowing overcoat staring down at him from his position atop the flagpole. "Time…for what?" Ichigo asked. He was in silent awe at how cool the man looked.
"For me, for us."
"Us?" The cloaked man just nodded. "I don't get it. 'Time for us', what are you talking about?"
"I, am you."
Ichigo's eyes widened "But…you're an old man!" he said in disbelief.
The man shook his head. "I am but a part of you, a part of your soul."
"My soul? You're…a part of my soul?"
The old man nodded "Right now you are dead."
Ichigo swallowed hard "I'm really…dead?" The man nodded as rain began to pour down hard.
"But I can help. Together we can bring you back."
The rain lightened a little "R-Really?" Before the man could respond, the entire world began to shack violently. "Wh-What's going on?"
"You are merging."
"What?" Ichigo asked. Looking towards the 'top' of the building, he saw it begin to crumble into small boxes.
"When a hollow devours a soul, that soul becomes part of the hollow." The man explained.
"Hollow?"
"The thing that consumed you."
Just then, Ichigo remembered the monster that attacked him. The thing had swallowed him whole. "But, wait! What happened to my mom?!"
"Shes next." He said simply, as if it were obvious.
"Y-You said you could change me back? H-how?!" Ichigo knew that there would not be much he could do to stop the monster, but if he could just hold it off long enough for his mom to get away, then that was all that mattered. At that moment, hundreds upon thousands of boxes poured down from the building top, and Ichigo began to fall.
"The task is simple. You must unleash you hidden power."
"HOW?!" Ichigo shouted frantically as he began to fall faster.
"That's up to you. You've got maybe thirty seconds." The man told him as he watched him fall into darkness. The seconds stretched out like hours, days even, until a massive explosion of spirit energy pierced through the dark abyss. "I suppose he has done it." Then an ear-pinching shriek resonated through the air. "But this world has just got a little bit smaller."
"Ichigo, what's wrong? What do you see?!" Masaki asked frantically as she saw the raw fear in her son's eyes. However, before she could get an answer, she was thrown into a wall.
"MOMMY!" She heard her son cry out.
"I think I'll save the best for best!" a voice growle. "I could go for an appetizer!" It Said.
Masaki was confused as to why she felt a sudden pain rip across her back before she was launched about ten meters into a wall adjacent to the shore. What confused her even more was how she was floating above the ground, being held against the wall by her neck by some invisible force. "Mm! You smell so good! I bet you're tasty!" Though Masaki couldn't see the caster of the voice she most defiantly felt the heavy blow that was delivered to the back of her head.
She had almost lost consciousness, and she was sure that she was bleeding. "Is this . . . one of them?" She asked no one in particular. She looked up, and what she saw shocked her in so many ways that she, for a moment, doubted her own sanity. A monster, unlike any she had ever seen before, towered ominously above her, not unlike a wild beast ready to devour its helpless prey, which was probably exactly what it was thinking anyway. "Oh my God . . ." was all she could bring herself to say. 'It is them! They are real, I knew it!' she was snatched away from her thought as she heard her son cry out in bloody murder, as he ran to her. Masaki wanted to say something, she wanted, no she needed to stop him before he went and killed himself in some false sense of valor. But she couldn't find her voice. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't speak, couldn't move. All she could do was watch in silent horror.
The thing turned from her almost instantly, giving Ichigo his full attention. It swiftly captured him in a web like dome of what looked like fur. "Why so hasty, hm, Ichigo?" the beast said using the name that he heard Masaki call him. Masaki sharply took in as much air as she could handle at one time, bringing her hand to her mouth as she saw the dome constrict until the point that Ichigo was shouting in agony. "It's a courtesy to tell you're name before you kill someone, ne, Ichigo? Though I'm not really killing you…I'M GOING TO EAT YOU!!" She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it begin to somehow separate Ichigo from his body and then throw him into the air like a rag doll, before falling straight into the monsters mouth. "Call Me, Grand Fisher."
"Ichigo!!" Masaki shouted in horror as her only son was swallowed by the monster. "Oh my god!" she choked out as hot tears began to trail down her face. Never, in all of her life has she felt this helpless. She was completely immobilized with fear. It slowly turned its head to her.
"Oh well. I guess you can be my dessert!" it roared as its fur stretched out and began strangling her. Slowly the light began to fade from her eyes as the darkness of unconsciousness crept in. Then a massive sword ripped through the monsters stomach. The monster dropped Masak as it howled in pain. "W-What is this?!"
The sword kept pushing through until it reached the hilt. A small arm clutched it tightly. Masaki could only stare with wide eyes as her sons head emerged next. "I-Ichigo…" She breathed barely above a whisper.
Ichigo pushed and squirmed his way out of the great wound. With a howl the monster jumped away, leaving a large trail of blood as it did. Ichigo grinned sadistically as he began to follow it.
"Ichigo!!" Masaki called.
Ichigo froze "Ichigo? whozzat?" he said as he turned around and revealed his partially developed hollow mask. Masaki opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word, Ichigo's tiny hand closed around her windpipe. He laughed insanely as he watched her fall into unconsciousness.
'Rip off the mask.' The old man's voice rang out in his head.
"What?!" he shouted as his hand released Masaki and gripped the mask. He dropped the sword and grabbed his wrist. "Let go damn it!!"
"G-GET OUT-T!"
"Damn you! Aren't you dead yet?!"
"GO AWAY!!" They both screamed as the mask was torn off. It shattered as it hit the ground. "M-mommy . . . I . . ." was the last thing he uttered before he fainted.
At that moment a dark figure revealed himself. "Ah, so that's how it works? Ichigo was it? I'll be watchin ya closely." He looked at the gory scene in front of him. "I'll clean up the mess. Don't disappoint me, Ichigo-kun."
Retribution © Tenma-Chakun
Written and Created by Tenma-Chakun & Archimedes III
Characters based on the characters from Bleach
Excerpts from The Bleach Manga © Viz media
Based on the Manga Bleach
Bleach © Viz Media and Jump Comics