BLEACH: TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE
If time moves forward
And nothing is learned
Has time progressed at all?
Chapter One: A familiar face…
Ten years have passed since Sosuke Aizen once led the Arrancar against the Spirit King. Ten more years have passed since the Great War between the Soul Reapers, the Vizard, and the remnants of Aizen's army threatened to tear the dimensions apart at their very core. In that time, Karakura Town has only experienced the occasional attack from a Hollow, with a Menos Grande slipping in from time to time. Hollows fear entering the human world, lest they face the punishment of being sent to Hell, as a retribution for defying, "El Rey de Las Noches." Since the Great War, many Soul Reapers fell in battle, but many more have taken up the ranks, becoming an inspiration to the next generation…
Across the rooftops of Karakura Town, a female Soul Reaper dashes from corner to corner. She makes one impossible jump after another, her blinding speed impossible to track with the naked eye. Periodically she stops, and glances at her hand held hollow tracker, occasionally brushing her raven colored hair flowing shoulder length out from her eyes. The cell phone-like tracker gives off a steady beat, until finally pinpointing a position for her. When she looks at the zeroed in location, her eyes grow wide. Karakura High School, she thinks. After a realization of the locality has been accepted, she closes her eyes, and lets out a sigh.
"It figures it was going to be Karakura High Scool," she says to no one in particular. A Flash step later, she disappears.
It is a cool spring day, and a red-haired young man walks down the sidewalks overlooking the aqueduct. He is still adorned in the spring school outfit of Karakura High School, as the final school bell had just sounded. He continues on his way, balancing himself while bouncing a soccer ball off of his knee, one set of repetition, and then flips it to the other, all the while counting off sets of ten. With time, he has become very adept at it. His name is Ichiro Hanakari, and he is fifteen years old. An accomplished soccer player, he dreams of playing for F.C. Tokyo one day. His father, a store owner named Jinta, while proud of his son's accomplishments, often laments over why he never held a preference for baseball. On this day he is returning home from a long day of soccer practice, unaware of the series of events about to occur.
He was about to conclude his reps when he miscalculated the last bounce, and the ball rolled down into the aqueduct. Cursing himself, Ichiro slid down the uneven slope in an attempt to retrieve the ball. As he walks toward the wayward sphere, he stops, and glances over to a tunnel. Immediately Ichiro recognizes it; this particular passageway has an urban legend, as it is supposedly a pathway that Soul Reapers use to travel between the living and the dead. Reportedly one can even hear screams at night, and screeching faces set into the silhouettes of the tunnel's pillars. It is a story that was told ever since the Great War spilled into the human world, and has since been a source of dares and intrigue among the students.
But on this day, what Ichiro sees is no Soul Reaper. As he turns away, a low growl emanates from the tunnel, as two red eyes gaze at him with an intent look. As the darkness clears, what appears to be a white tiger immerges from the shadows. More shocked than scared, he started to think if he remembered a circus close by, or even a zoo, attempting to understand why this beast would be running around loose on the streets. He started to back away slowly, hoping the large feline would not notice him, but to no avail. Appearing larger than the average tiger, the great cat slowly begins to approach him, a slow growl heard under its breath. Ichiro is frozen, unable to run, and yet unable to scream. He thought to himself, would this be how it all ends? Will I really enter the afterlife in this fashion? Mauled to death by a giant tiger? He closes his eyes, preparing for the worst.
The tiger merely sniffed at him, however, and said, "You are not ready yet."
Ichiro opened his eyes, not sure of what to say, or even comprehend what just happened. His mind starts to race, all the while thinking, did this tiger really just speak? And to ME?!
Just then some voices start to call after him. "Ichiro, there you are!"
Ichiro looked up, and saw his friends, Shibota, Kenshi, and Rei, racing toward him. He immediately raised his hands in a halt position, while franticly shaking his hands vertically. "Don't come any closer! It might be dangerous!"
They stop, and Rei is the first to speak. "What might be dangerous?"
"What do you mean, 'what might be dangerous'!?" screamed Ichiro. "You don't think this thing won't kill us all?!" He points to the correct location, but as he looks over, the white tiger was no longer there. He shakes his head, and begins to look around. "WH-where did it go?!"
"Where did what go?" Kenshi asked.
"The white tiger!" said Ichiro frantically, attempting to convince his friends of what he saw. "The one that was right here just a second ago!"
Shibota shakes his head. "Yeah right, Ichiro. You think just because we're near the tunnel we're going to fall for that! C'mon, we're not middle-schoolers, you know."
Rei places her hand against his forehead. "Maybe you should get home and lie down, Ichiro," she said. "You did practice pretty hard today. You probably just overdid it."
"I'm fine," said Ichiro, angling his neck away from her hand. He looks toward the tunnel again, and sighs. "Maybe I'm not fine. I guess I will go home after all." He picks up his soccer ball and tucks it under his arm. He turns and walks toward the stairs, a bit crestfallen over the incident. "I'll talk to you guys later."
Rei runs after him. "Wait, Ichiro! We'll walk you home. You don't have to go by yourself!"
Kenshi chuckles as he glances over to face Shibota. "Any excuse to walk somewhere with Ichiro, huh?" he whispered.
"What was that?" hissed Rei through clenched teeth.
Kenshi could feel the back of his hair stand on end. "Err, Nothing! Nothing at all," he shrieked, his shoulders lurching up. As he slowly turns he feels that he could almost see the spark in Rei's eyes, and the fire surrounding her aura.
Shibota puts him on the back as he walks past him. "You really should remember not to make her mad, Ken," he remarked. "You remember what happened last time, right?"
The reminder made Kenshi's shoulders jut further up, and he almost feels his complexion turn white. "I thought I would never break that ankle lock," he whimpered, slowly shuffling behind Rei, as Shibota closes his eyes and shakes his head, a wistful smirk creeping up on his face.
Unseen by the group, however, a spatial portal opens in the air, almost resembling a tear, and something resembling a claw extends the slit; Hollows, death-masked demons with visible holes on their chest, begin to crawl out from the opening. At least five appear, with a wail that reeks of death, and as they move away from the tear, they are followed by a Menos biped, arched and walking with a lurch. Its arms raised up, its wrists angled down, with spikes extended from its back. Appearing to be the pack leader of this group, the Menos raised its head, and roared a ghostly wail. "I smell a delicious soul to devour," it said, its voice booming in an echo. "And it is coming from…this location." The Menos turns toward the location of Ichiro and his friends. "This way..."
As they make their way toward its unknown prey, the mysterious Soul Reaper, who looks to be no more than seventeen years of age, appears above, impossibly balanced atop a lamppost. Dressed in a Soul Reaper's robe, and carrying a katana known as a zanpakuto at her side, she glances at her cell phone-like device and sees several blips on the phone's small screen. A black butterfly suddenly lands on her shoulder, and she begins to speak.
"This is Lieutenant Karin Kurosaki, Sixth division, to Captain Kuchiki. I have found the hollows that have escaped Hecho Mundo." She looks out to the location of the group of teens leaving the aqueduct. "I have also located Hanakiri. The hollows are moving toward his location. I am moving in to intercept."
End Chapter One