'I gonna kill Kisuke when I get out of here.' Ichigo thought to himself for the thousandth time while down in the shaft. Ever since he went after Rukia, he had been put through the ringer. First, he lost his soul reaper powers to that dick Byakuya. Then, he had been told by Rukia not to save him. 'That midget, I'll show her' He thought to himself whenever remembering that little tidbit. Next, he had to dodge punches from that girl Ururu. Who knew she was such a monster? Now he is stuck at the bottom of a shaft, bound by kido, and has to reclaim his soul reaper powers before turning into a Hollow. Luckily, his remaining Chain of Fate stop disintegrating. God, that was painful. And what was the deal with this sword anyway. Kisuke said that it would help, but how? He couldn't even swing the damn thing with this kido on him.
"Hey Strawberry!" The red-headed kid, what was his name again, shouted.
"What do you want ya punk? Also, MY NAME ISN'T STRAWBERRY!" Ichigo yelled back, already tired of this kid's antics.
The kid, Ginta, that was his name, showed Ichigo a tray of food. "You hungry? I've got some food for you."
Ichigo gave a snort. "No thanks kid, I'm not hungry at all. My chain hasn't even decreased yet, I'm going to be fine."
Ginta gives a look to Ichigo. "You know, you've been down their for 71 out of the 72 hours necessary, I hear the last bit of Chain Deformation is the worst. I'd hate to be you right now."
Ichigo's eyes widen at that. He had already been here for 71 hours? How? Looking down at his chain, he saw that they formed mouths and started eating themselves. "N-no Stop! STOOOOP!" Ichigo shouted. The pain was immeasurable. He was blacking out from the pain when all the chains fell off, leaving a hole where is heart was. That's when a white liquid shot out of Ichigo's mouth and started covering his face.
Ginta looks down with sadness in his eyes as he grabs his bat. At least, until Kisuke put a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on a second. Notice how the fluid is coming out of the mouth? Now if this was normal Hollowfication, it would come out of the hole in his heart. This however is not"
"What does that mean Mr. Kisuke?" Ururu asked shyly.
"This means," Kisuke answered "that he is still fighting."
Location: ?
Ichigo blinked his eyes open to find himself in front of a crumbling building. It looked like it was once a beautiful school with a clocktower in the center. But now, all of it is in shambles. The dorms have been demolished, the fountain is crushed, and the clocktower is missing the top of the tower. Looking around he also noticed that the ground is crumbling in random places, and those places are growing. "Where the hell am I?" Ichigo questioned.
"Where do you think you dolt?" A voice speaks from behind, dripping with sarcasm.
"Aww, come on Weiss, you don't have to be so cold." A playful, boisterous voice replied. 3 groans come from behind him, and Ichigo has to hold back one himself. As he turns around he sees a buxom blonde with long hair in a brown biker jacket with a yellow tank top underneath, a timid girl with black hair and cat ears on her head, a white haired princess looking female in a combat dress, and an energetic brunette with red tips in a red/black gothic lolitta dress.
"Alright, who are you four?" Ichigo asked, weirded out at seeing 4 girls that appeared out of nowhere.
"HIII, YOU MUST BE ICHIGO..." She fidgeted back and forth her silver eyes full of energy. She cleared her throat. "My name is Ruby Rose. I aaaaam sooooooooo excited to meet you, and this iiiiiis Crescent Rose!" Ruby swung her scythe around and spun it around. "It is alssssso a gun. BUt I guess meeting isn't the proper word...I guess seeing you face to face. Yeah thats it Ruby!"
Yang put her hand on Ruby's pushing her down. "`Alright Ruby, quit scything him up, and leave some for the rest of us." Yang purred in a slight flirting manner. "Hi I am Yang, but you can call me the cat Whisperer cause I know what that pussy likes!" She jerks her thumbs towards Blake.
Blake groans out and glared at Yang, her yellow eyes staring down Yang and mouthed at 'I am going to end you'. Her face turning a dark red staring at Ichigo in the eyes. "Guys we don't have time he is going to lose his grip on reality."
Weiss glared at them all "Yeah I am Weiss, and we don't have time! Hurry up you dolt and find us before you lose your humanity!"
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Weiss. "What do you mean 'find us'? You are right here and what do you mean lose my humanity?"
Weiss rolled her eyes and ran up to him, her manicured nail poking at his chest. "Are you really this stupid?! By 'us' I mean your sword that's underneath this rubble all around. And did you really forget! YOU. ARE. TURNING. INTO. A. HOLLOW! Honestly, how could you be so stupid?" She asks exasperatedly.
Ichigo's eyes widen in shock as he turns around to look at the rubble. Most of the ground has disappeared by now. "How the hell am I supposed to find it? Most of the ground is gone! I can't quickly find it. I lost my soul reaper powers and now I'm going to turn into a Hollow! Wait, soul reaper powers. Wait did Uryu say?" Ichigo thought about what Uryu had said before the Hollow contest. "What was it? Something about ribbons. Wait that's it. Soul reaper ribbons are black." Ichigo concentrated hard focusing on the energies around him. The girls watch as he gather spiritual energy towards him as it turns into ribbons. Ichigo continues concentrating until his hand reaches for a black ribbon. "There!" He exclaims as he runs towards the source. He runs to the rubble and grabs a hilt just as a bright white light consumed him.
Outside: At the same time
Kisuke watched sadly as the mask kept forming on Ichigo's face. He sighed as he thought to himself 'Forgive me Isshin for what I have done to your son'. Kisuke looks down into the shaft towards Tessai. "Tessai, finish the binding"
Tessai nods. "Yes Master Urahara. Bakudo #99 Part 2: Bankin!" Tessai shouts as he slams his hands down on the ground. White fabric wraps around the Hollowfying Ichigo. Once completely wrapped, metal screws launch into him, holding him down. Just as the final part of the kido, a giant metal cube, lands down on him, a giant explosion erupts sending smoke and dust upward. Kisuke, Ginta, and Ururu step back as they feel something land in the smoke in front of them. A long drawn out sigh fills the air as a mask with three red claw marks across the left eye appears.
"He Hollowfied! We have to kill him" Ginta shouts. But, before he can charge, Urahara puts his cane in front of him.
"Now now, Ginta, let's not get so hasty. Take another look" Kisuke says as he looks at the figure.
The figure stands at the same height as Ichigo. While there is a Hollow mask, something else stands out. The figure is wearing traditional Soul Reaper robes, except for the fact that his robes has a hood. In the figures hand is a longsword with four tassels on the hilt. Each tassel a different color. One red, one white, one yellow, and one black.
"Ichigo, you in their?" Kisuke asks hesitantly.
The figure just stands there until it suddenly raises his sword. Kisuke, Ginta, and Ururu all start to prepare for a fight until the figure did something strange. The figure bashed the hilt of his sword against the mask, shattering it, before raising the top half to the side of his head. Under the mask shows a normal looking Ichigo.
"Phew" Ichigo sighs. "It's hard to breathe in that thing."
"Wonderful news Ichigo! You not only got your Soul Reaper powers back, but you also have quite the interesting robes. Mind telling me what hap-" Kisuke was interrupted as there was a sudden fist in his face, sending back 20 feet.
"SHUT IT KISUKE!" Ichigo yelled. "I've got a lot of issues to work out and I know the perfect test dummy." Ichigo says smirking.
Kisuke stands back up as he covers his eyes with his hat. "Well then, with that energy we can go ahead to the third phase of training."
AN: And there you have it. The first chapter of Simple Soul. Please respond and review. Will take all comments. See you next time.