Prologue - Lost Shinigami
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"What do you want Urahara-san? I doubt you called me here just to sit and stare at your stupid hat." Ichigo commented lazily as he sat in the middle of a small room, his cheek resting in his right hand.
At this very moment our Substitute Shinigami found himself in the very familiar Urahara Shoten, a small candy shop in the prefecture district, that no one except Rukia and lately his sister visits. The owner of said shop, a man by the name of Urahara Kisuke, sat a few feet away from the teenager, a wide smile plastered on his face, one that he tried to hide using a green and white fan, one of his favorite accessories to go with the hat and cane . His lone visible eye from behind the shadow of his hat watched the substitute in front of him intently, an unmistakable glint of amusement reflecting from the iris.
"Oh nothing special Kurosaki-san. I just wanted to see how you're doing now that your powers have returned." He started waving the fan slightly despite the pleasant temperature in the room and the warm spring breeze outside. If anything, Ichigo guessed the shopkeeper did it only to annoy him. "How does it feel now that you're back into the afterlife business?"
Ichigo's eye twitched slightly as he remembered the whole process of him getting his powers back. That Ginjou and his Xcution nearly tricked him but thanks to his Shinigami friends he was able to turn the tide and defeat him. It still didn't sit right with him that he had to kill Ginjou but people needed to learn what happens if they involve his family and friends in their business.
"It's normal." He responded calmly. Really, what other answer could he give? Being a Shinigami was never a special thing to him, he didn't feel like a hero, he felt like himself and that's how he liked it.
"That's good to hear." The shopkeeper exclaimed happily. "After all the work I put into making that reiatsu sword that restored your powers, I would have been disappointed if you were unhappy." And true enough, finding a way to return the teenager's powers did take the scientist a few good months, but with perseverance and patience, he soon discovered the solution. A massive amount of reiatsu to jump start Ichigo's powers and restore their core so that they won't fade with time.
"Yeah, I just remembered. I never got to thank you for that." Ichigo said, his posture straightening before the eyes of the shopkeeper. A curt bow and the barely audible words of gratitude in the form of a 'thank you' followed moments later. This action surprised the hat wearing man, his barely visible eyes from behind his hat's shadow, widening at the sight. Raising his right hand slightly, he stopped the boy from his current motion.
"Now, now Kurosaki-san, there's no need for that. Considering all you did for us it was the least we could do." His words carried more recognition than Ichigo had ever heard from the blond man.
Ichigo just nodded and waited for whatever the older Shinigami wanted to tell him.
"Now, let's get to the reason I called you here." The sandal wearing man closed his fan, business becoming their new subject. "You see, I have this new invention I made and I need someone to help me test it out." The sudden amusement in his voice gave the substitute a feeling of uneasy in his gut that got more pronounced as seconds passed.
"Hold on a moment." Ichigo interrupted raising his hand and halting the explanation. "By 'someone' you don't happen to mean me do you?" The orange haired boy asked, finding himself more annoyed by the dumb grin on the other man's face, a small vein twitching on his forehead and his signature scowl as striking as always.
"Why of course." Urahara exclaimed happily, his fan dancing wildly in his hand, praising Ichigo like he won some sort of prize. "You are our trusty Substitute Shinigami are you not?"
That remark won him a kick in the face. "You bastard!" Ichigo yelled as he sent the blond haired Shinigami to the ground. "What am I? Your personal guinea pig?" The anger seeped in his voice would have been enough to make an unseated Shinigami from the Gotei 13 pee in his pants.
The shopkeeper however was unfazed by the display having dealt with Ichigo's temper before. Slowly getting on his elbows, his eyes met the substitute's. "But you are the only one who can help me Kurosaki-san, no one would do it." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and that pissed the Ichigo even more.
"And what makes you think I'll do it?" Ichigo asked looking at Kisuke like he was some sort of idiot. "Why don't you test it out on yourself?"
"That's not possible." Urahara got on his feet dusting his clothes slightly and fixing the hat on his head. He then looked at the teen with a serious yet calm expression. "Someone needs to operate the device from the main control center and since I built it only I know how it works."
Crossing his arms, Ichigo still refused. "Well I won't do it." His voice left no room for argument.
"This is your final answer?" The shopkeeper asked, measuring the teenager's pose.
"Yep." Ichigo answered defiantly not even bothering to look at the other man anymore.
"Then I'm afraid you don't leave me any other choice." Urahara spoke cryptically, releasing a breath. "Tessai." He called his friend.
In an instant the large ex-captain was behind Ichigo and wrapped his steel like arms around his body, capturing him. The substitute started struggling but against the sheer strength of the large man, everything he did was useless.
"Oi, Tessai-san, let me go." Of course, this being Ichigo, he wasn't about to give up that easily.
"Relax Kurosaki-san." Urahara instructed, waving his fan slightly, the same amused smile plastered on his face. "Besides, I'm sure you'll change your mind about helping me out soon enough." The shopkeeper told him joyously. Ichigo's struggle ceased for the moment as he concentrated a glare at the scientist, telling him to explain what he meant.
"Why, I'm talking about what you and Riruka-san did a few weeks ago. I'm sure you don't want anyone to know about that." He told him simply, giving him a knowing look.
It took a few moments for Ichigo to process what the shopkeeper told him, but when it finally did, his face reddened in embarrassment. "How do you know about that?" Ichigo asked incredulously, but then it hit him. "You asshole, don't tell me you were there watching us?"
Kisuke just laughed. "Not just that Kurosaki-san, I even recorded you." He told the substitute shocking him even more. "Oh, by the way. Yoruichi-san is in Soul Society now visiting captain Soifon. All it takes is one small call and she'll give the video to the Shinigami Women Association." Urahara was watching the boy in anticipation. "So, what do you say Kurosaki-san? Did you change your mind?"
"...Go get eaten by a hollow." Ichigo complained silently as Tessai released him.
"Wonderful." Urahara was delighted by his answer. "Now, follow me."
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"And here it is!" Urahara unveiled his masterpiece from under a curtain. "I'm quite proud how this one turned out." Kisuke boasted with pride, to him this invention was one that would revolutionize mankind.
Unfortunately for him, Ichigo didn't share the same enthusiasm. He just stared at the contraption with a mixed but otherwise not impressed expression. "Urahara-san, it's just a shower cabin with some wires and a panel with buttons." And true enough, the device did resembled a shower cabin, only difference were the hi-tech wires and devices attached to it, giving it a more sci-fi look.
"It's more than that Kurosaki-san." Urahara spoke, his enthusiasm not lessening in the slightest. "It's actually a teleporter."
"A teleporter?" Ichigo repeated surprised. "Why would you need something like that?" He didn't get it, didn't Shinigami have Senkaimons and didn't the shopkeeper also created a garganta? Why would he need something like a teleporter.
"It's quite simple. You see, a Senkaimon and a Garganta are used to travel between the Soul Society, the Real World and Hueco Mundo. However, this teleporter can be used to travel long distances instantly in the same dimension. Do you understand now? Senkaimons and Gargantas are for inter dimensional travels while my teleporter is for intra dimensional travel. I wonder what kind of name I should give it." He started thinking of a name.
"You can do that later." Ichigo interrupted, hoping to speed things up. "What exactly do you need me for?"
"Why I need you to see if it works of course. Here, put this on." The shopkeeper then gave the substitute a weird metal helmet that was oddly familiar to him.
Reluctantly, Ichigo took it and looked at it a couple of seconds, well, more like glared at it. "How are you sure this thing of yours won't kill me or send me to the Moon?"
"I've tested a prototype a few months ago when I sent some items to the Vizard's warehouse and it worked like a charm. Now I just need to make sure it works with living beings as well." Urahara informed the scowling teen. "Now, put it on so we can begin."
Ichigo tried putting the helmet on but it was proving quite difficult, it was like it had a mind of its own. It refuses to get on the boy's head no matter how hard he pushed. "The hell? How do you put this on?" Ichigo asked, pissed that he was failing to do even such a simple matter. Once he saw the glint in Kisuke's eye, he got another bad feeling.
"Easy! All you have to do is say: 'Oh sacred helmet of might. Infuse me with your courage, inject your life into me, penetrate my being with your technology and enable me to fly between distances quicker than you can say Urahara Kisuke is a genius.' And that's the incantation, come on, try it."
Ichigo just stared at him, his scowl visibly more pronounced that before. "That's stupid, I'm not doing it."
No problem, Urahara simply took out a phone out of his pocket and starting dialing a number. "Hello Yoruichi-san, it's me, Kisuke. How is your little visit going? I hope they're giving you enough milk. Now, about the things I told you about, it seems that you will have to..." He was quickly interrupted by Ichigo's yells.
"Alright, I'll do it, I'll do it." He watched how Urahara bid his goodbyes to Yoruichi-san and looked at him expectantly. Mentally cursing Kisuke, Ichigo recited the entire incantation and in an instant the helmet latched to his head like glue. The substitute had no doubt that it was another one of the shopkeeper's irritating pranks. "There, happy?" Ichigo asked sarcastically.
"Quite, now step inside." He motioned for the chamber.
Once inside, Ichigo scowled at the scientist from behind the glass as he watched him press numerous buttons. At one point Urahara started laughing like a madman, his shadow flickering in the dim light of the room, making the whole scene look like something out of a Frankenstein or Mr. Hyde movie. The shopkeeper quickly shut up and regained his composure but not before giving Ichigo the most crooked smile he had ever seen.
"Ready?" Urahara asked, his voice holding an almost palpable amount of excitement. Before Ichigo could even answer, he had already pressed the 'Start' button.
He then took a step back and watched his invention begin the process. The destination he had entered was the outside of his shop so that he could find out immediately if his device worked or not. He watched the generators light up with a blue color as the chamber where Ichigo stood started shaking.
It was working, his invention was working. Kisuke felt proud of himself.
'Warning! Warning! Foreign reiatsu contamination imminent. All systems have been reset to overload mode.' The sudden warning alarmed Kisuke.
"What?" Urahara exclaimed caught off guard by the sudden error. He ran to the controls and started pressing buttons madly. He didn't even get to do anything as the entire console exploded in his face, pieces of the screen as well as sparks flying wildly in the room. Covering his eyes, he forgot about the console and went to the container to check on the substitute's condition.
"Kurosaki-san!" He yelled out. The brightness made him unable to see what was happening inside. Reaching behind, he quickly unplugged the main power cord and all the generators turned off. The light diminished gradually until it returned to normal. Checking the chamber again, Kisuke noted with terror that it was empty, Ichigo had disappeared.
"Oh boy, this is not good." He muttered as worry started invading his body. Wherever the substitute ended, he hoped he would be alright.
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AN: The beginning of another story. What am I even thinking? I can barely update my other story and here I am starting another one. Well, I'll manage somehow.
Before any of you tell me, the answer is yes. Yes, the beginning is similar with Constantin3e's story, 'Nova Rising' which I recommend that you check out, it's pretty good. But from here it will be different, I have other plans for Ichigo.
Only one question. Were Urahara and Ichigo in character? I tried my best to portray them but it didn't feel that good to me. I hope it'll get better with time.
That's it for now. Bye bye.