Chapter One - Enter the Atmosphere
It was the weekend and Ichigo sat in his room, bored out of his mind and thinking of Orihime Inoue and whether or not she would be coming to visit for the night. These thoughts surprised even Ichigo himself, but he paid no attention to them and let out a large yawn and decided to call it a night. Rukia was with Yoruichi at Urahara's shop, things seemed too quiet as of late and Rukia decided to go where there may be some info on the sudden silence. Nothing was new, except the two new students at Ichigo's school. Tifa Lockhart and her best friend, Cloud Strife; Tifa was marveled at by the boys and some of the girls, due to her enormous bust, most notable were Tatsuki and Chizuru, both of which took to defend Tifa just as they had been known to do for Orihime. Cloud was more reserved and relaxed; he was aloof, more or less, and only stared out the window at the sky whenever he was in class. Somehow he was pulled into Ichigo's group and Tifa followed suit. The two new members of the team were acknowledged of having large quantities of spiritual pressure and as a result paid a visit to the rest of the team at Urahara Shoten, where they met Yoruichi and the jokester, Urahara. Tifa was taken by Yoruichi and was taught how to use the Flash Step. Cloud simply sparred with Ichigo at times, not concerned with winning or losing but had gradually grown to care for his new comrades. That was two months ago. Today, the gang was relaxing after a successful strenuous training session and enjoyed the peace, as it never lasted too long.
Somewhere in the further reaches of space flew two beings, one was a male with scarlet hair, brown skin and odd space gear; he appeared to be the age of Ichigo's friends. The other figure was a female who appeared to be around thirty-five to forty years old and word the same space suit the boy had, except hers was torn and shredded in various areas. The boy had four weapons in his possession, one katana that was charcoal black from hilt to blade; a sword that looked like a jagged piece of metal with a gun's handle that was red and black alternating; another sword that was gold and silver swerving back and forth and the hilt had a sun and crescent moon engraved on either side, the last weapon was a rapier-like weapon that was fairly long and the blade was black and was glowing with neon grey insignias in the blade and the handle resembled a wolf's tail. The woman had a chain-like weapon that appeared to surge with fire and ice and whipped the weapon around as she gave chase to the brown skinned boy. The two stopped near the planet earth, their home planet and began their last bout against one another.
Ichigo lay upon his bed with his hands under his head and stared at the ceiling of his room. Things were quiet until there was a knock at his door.
"...Come in..." Ichigo sighed as he answered the door, his eyes half open.
"Ichigo, come on! It's amazing, let's go up to the roof and watch the show!" Orihime yelled with glee, she hopped up and down in the doorway of Ichigo's room.
"What's going on, on the roof, Orihime?" Ichigo asked as he sat up in surprise from seeing Orihime so happy after such a long time.
"It's so pretty! It's a fireworks display. It's on the news too!" Orihime replied and dragged Ichigo from his bed and led him to the roof so they could view what appeared to be fireworks.
At Urahara Shoten, Yoruichi sat with her pupil, Tifa, and Rukia and Cloud sat with them and having a small drink. Yoruichi was suspicious of the hollow activity, or lack thereof, and she discussed this with Rukia, who seemed to share the same feeling.
"So what do you suppose it is?" Rukia asked and sipped her tea.
"I don't really know, but it seems like something's going on elsewhere and everything else is waiting to see what goes down." Yoruichi replied, she cupped her chin and closed her eyes.
"Hey guys, look at the sky." Tifa pointed out and grabbed the attention of the rest of the group, showing them the dark night sky, exploding with busts of red, blue, and white.
"Do did you feel that?" Rukia exclaimed as her eyes widened with shock.
"Is that spiritual pressure?" Yoruichi asked, and she bore the same look on her face as Rukia.
"It looks so pretty, I like how the tail of the fireworks moves from one explosion to the next." Tifa pointed out, clearly ignoring her senses and Rukia's and Yoruichi's faces.
The two beings in space were having a battle and they emitted large bursts of energy with each clashing attack as well and each blow that was landed. The energy was so large that the Shinigami of Karakura Town could feel them with ease, but couldn't determine the source of the energy. Ichigo began to sense the energy as well and decided to take Orihime to Urahara's shop to discuss what plan to take. Orihime and Tifa decided to listen in on the plan as they were too concerned with watching the fireworks display.
In space, the red haired boy dashed toward the female and she let out a scream, then she exploded like the grand finale in an actual display of fireworks and the series of explosions bombarded the young boy and sent him spiraling down toward the planet. He left a streak of light similar to that of a shooting star, or comet and crashed down right in the park of Karakura Town. The impact of the crash of the boy shocked the group. Yoruichi, being the fastest person in the group volunteered to go and retrieve the object, or person, that had fell from the sky. Although it was highly doubted that who or what it was that hit the planet was going to survive the crash, it still would be good to get it before it would become a hollow.
"Relax guys. I'll handle this one, but be ready to help treat it if anything should still be alive." Yoruichi stated then disappeared from the group.
In a matter of minutes, Yoruichi returned with a limp body perched on top of her left shoulder, and she took him into the basement of the shop and looked over him for a brief moment before she returned to her friends.
"You all go and get some rest. Rukia, you stay here and help me out." Yoruichi instructed and made the younger members of the group leave, and lead Rukia down to where she laid the boy.
"What's the problem?" Rukia asked quietly with her traditional serious face on.
"It's that kid... he has the same energy signature as the 'display' that we had seen earlier. It's faint but it's there. I sense it." Yoruichi stated, as her eyes grew narrower with each word.
"That's weird, maybe he was near the original source?" Rukia pondered with a sigh.
"Or, maybe he was the original source. He did crash here and he reeks of the same energy. There's no way he could bear the exact same signature. It's not likely." Yoruichi argued and proved a strong point.
"But there's still a chance that he wasn't it though." Rukia stated slowly.
"Yeah, a small chance, but this is more than coincidence." Yoruichi stated, finishing the dispute.
The two females assessed the damages of the child's body, and noticed that there was nothing wrong with his body. He had no wounds and no scars, not even a simple black eye. His body did have a strangely high temperature, estimated to be at least 205 degrees Celsius. Yoruichi let out a sigh and left to retrieve a bucket of water and several wash cloths for his head and other body parts. When the boy seemed to calm down and his temperature subsided, Yoruichi and Rukia both left him to rest and Rukia went back to Ichigo's house, and Yoruichi poured herself a glass of milk and went to sleep. The boy's space outfit faded into an snug black t-shirt and red denim long shorts that stopped near the middle of his shin, his boots turned into black shoes with white straps covering the tongue of the shoe, his gloves turned black and lost the finger portions as well.
The next day, the boy wakes up and finds a black cat sleeping next to him and begins to stir from its slumber and it looks him in the eyes.
"Hey little cat, do you know where I am?" The boy asked as he picked up the black cat.
"Yes, I do. As a matter of fact, you're in Karakura Town, in Urahara Shoten to be more precise." The cat replied and wiped its paw across its face.
"Oh, so I'm back on earth?" The boy asked, unfazed that he was talking to a cat.
"Yeah, it seems so. Wait, you aren't surprised to be talking to a cat?" The cat asked, surprised at his calm reaction.
"Well, kinda, yeah; but it's not like I'm gonna freak out or something." The boy shrugged and sat the cat on his lap.
"That's new. Anyway, what's you name kid?" The cat asked and slowly crept up the boy's lap and jumped onto his shoulder.
"My name's Zell. Zell Natsuomoto." Zell replied and smirked proudly.
"Nice name. I'm Yoruichi by the way." The cat said then hopped off of the boy's shoulder.
"Nice to meet you, sir." Zell said then stood up and observed the large cave-like area.
"Hmph. They always do that." Yoruichi grumbled then walked past Zell.
"What do you mean?" Zell asked, his hearing was much better that she anticipated.
"N-nothing. Follow me, so you can meet the others." Yoruichi stammered and moved her head so that Zell would follow the small cat.
"The others? What others?" Zell asked as he jogged to catch up with the ebony feline.
"The team that saw your little lightshow." Yoruichi sighed and led Zell up a large flight of stairs.
"Oh, that... that wasn't a, ah never mind." Zell shrugged the memory of the last battle he had and followed the cat into what seemed to be a tiny living room, filled with people.
"Guys, he's awake." Yoruichi called out, getting the attention of the teens.
"Oh, good, Now we get to introduce ourselves. I'm Inoue Orihime." Orihime said happily.
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Kuchiki Rukia, it's a pleasure"
"Lockhart Tifa, u-um... never mind" Tifa caught a glimpse of the boy's figure and eyes, surprised at how calm they were.
"...Strife Cloud..."
"Sado Yasutora, Call me Chad."
"Ishida Uryu"
"Natsuomoto Zell. The pleasure's all mine." Zell smiled and took the seat in between Tifa and Orihime.
"Will you be going to school with us tomorrow?" Tifa asked the new kid.
"Yeah, sure I guess." Zell replied with a weak smile.
"Okay, that's nice..." Tifa replied with a slight blush.
"Okay, guys let's get down to business." Yoruichi let out a yawn, then turned into her human form, revealing all of her ebony body, curves, chest and the length of her dark purple hair stopping near her thighs.
All of the guys that were in the vicinity to see Yoruichi nude blushed, all except Zell, who just sighed and shook his head.
"Yoruichi! What the hell! Put some clothes on!" Ichigo blared at the top of his lungs, his face red from yelling and seeing her body again in such detail.
"I just wanted to see his reaction..." Yoruichi shrugged off Ichigo's demand.
"Who's reaction! That isn't funny! We already agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore." Ichigo clenched his teeth and pounded his fist into the table.
"Zell's reaction. Apparently seeing girls naked isn't new to him." Yoruichi sighed and put her hair into a ponytail, then left the room to get dressed.
The whole group was quiet and the guys stared at Zell. They stayed like this for a moment, then Orihime asked a question.
"Zell have you seen any girls naked before now?" Orihime asked with her hand placed between her legs, and the other on her cheek as if she were thinking of something.
"No, why?" Zell replied casually and shrugged his shoulders.
"You're lying. There's no way that any guy would act the way you did to seeing something like that." Ichigo stated with a grim tone.
"I'm not lying. I'm just in control of myself, that's all." Zell folded his arms to prove his point.
"What a lame excuse." Uryu commented while pushing his glasses up onto his face.
"Believe it or not. That's up to you. You two believe me though, right?" Zell stated and turned to Tifa and Orihime.
"I-I do Zell..." Tifa sighed and sipped her tea, her face red from sudden attention from the boy.
"Me too. You don't seem like a lying type of person, anyway." Orihime smiled and brought her cup to her lips slowly and sipped it. At this time Yoruichi had returned with her usual orange jacket and fitted pants.
"Rukia, Ichigo, Orihime. Surely you all have felt the spiritual pressure by now." Yoruichi asked, leaning on a nearby door hinge with her arms folded.
"Yeah, we have. Is it coming from him?" Ichigo replied, Orihime and Rukia nodded their heads in agreement to what Ichigo said.
"Only one way to find out. Zell, have you gathered your bearings enough to spar?" Yoruichi asked with a devilish smirk on her face.
"Yeah, I s'pose so. Who's going to be my opponent?" Zell replied with a sigh as he stood up and joined Yoruichi near the door.
"I'm not sure just yet." Yoruichi stated then glanced over to Tifa, who just stretched her arms out and leaned back a little.
"Oh, where's Mr. Urahara and the others?" Orihime asked as she glanced around the shop.
"Uh... He said something about going to pick up some merchandise or something. I'm not sure but it was something along those lines." Yoruichi replied with a shrug then gestured for the group to follow her downstairs.
"Why do you need to spar?" Zell asked curious of why they were talking about sparring.
"In order to be ready for whatever comes our way." Yoruichi explained.
"So who am I going to fight?" Zell asked when the group entered the giant cave like area he had awoke in.
"You'll fight Me..." Yoruichi stated then turned around with her yellow catlike eyes locked on Zell.
"... and Tifa." Yoruichi added then grabbed Tifa by her arm and yanked her in front of Zell.
"Me! W-why me, Shihoin-sensei?" Tifa yelped in surprise of her sudden test.
"Because you've shown much improvement since your arrival two months ago. I want to see how you fight alongside your new teacher." Yoruichi stated with her arms crossed.
"B-but..." Tifa stammered timidly under the evil gaze of her teacher.
"No buts. Just do this with me and I may go on and teach you the next lesson in using the Hakudo." Yoruichi stated then moved closer to Zell.
"So, Zell, are you ready to battle us? If you win, I may give you a special treat." Yoruichi stated in a seductive tone which caught Zell off guard, and as a result he bowed his head in order to hide his face and regain his composure.
Zell flipped his bangs out of his eyes then replied "Sure, ready when you are." and took three steps backward from the center of the secret training grounds. Yoruichi and Tifa followed suit and got into their respective stances.
In the Soul Society, four members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were given an assignment. They were to do recon on Karakura Town and find out why things are so quiet and keep then that way should a problem occur. Squad Three's Head Captain, Zack Fair was partnered up with Toshiro Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto of Squad Ten.
"Matsumoto, are you done grooming yourself? We have to get a move on." Toshiro called out from the doorway of his Lieutenant's quarters.
"Just a sec. I'm almost done." Rangiku sang in a tone of voice that seemed to agitate her captain.
"Hey... Toshiro... how... long... does... it... take... for... Lt... Matsu... moto... to... get... ready...?" Zack asked in between squats.
"Ugh, it varies, and since we are going to Karakura Town I bet she's trying to get prettied up for someone there..." Toshiro replied with his arms folded and head down.
"Say... what's... Kara...Kura... Town... like... any... how...?" Zack asked, curious about his new mission, as he'd never been to Ichigo's hometown before.
"It's usually the main target for hollows, menos grandes, and the like, but since we're doing reconnaissance IT SHOULDN'T TAKE THIS LONG TO GET READY!" Toshiro shouted into Rangiku's room.
"Okay, okay. Geez, stop being such a stick in the mud." Rangiku sighed and plucked a small wad of wax from her ear as she joined the two captains.
"Don't we have to join with another Lieutenant?" Zack asked as he led the way toward the Senkaimon.
"Kotetsu Isane, lieutenant, 4th division. She'll meet us in Karakura Town." Toshiro reminded, his arms folded and eyes closed as they often times were.
"Ah, right. Thanks for the reminder." Zack stated then put his arms around his neck.
The three shinigami headed for the designated Senkaimon, and were transported to Karakura Town. There they met up with Isane on the rooftop a few houses away from the Kurosaki Clinic. Nearly as soon as they landed did they feel massive amounts of spiritual pressure being exchanged. The four went into alert mode and began to search the area for the sources of the pressure.
In the secret training facility of Urahara Shoten, Zell was giving quite the workout to the two girls during the sparring match. Tifa and Yoruichi both ran at Zell at high speeds, and used the Shunpo ability. Zell stood still for a moment and used his ears to detect where they would attack next. Zell caught Tifa's right hook, and spun her around and hurled her at Yoruichi, who was some hundred feet in the air. Zell shot off the ground immediately after throwing Tifa upward, leaving a small crater in the ground. Yoruichi caught her student and threw her at the incoming boy, and the two clashed spirit energies. Zell's energy was more powerful and as a result sent Tifa hurtling into the air even more. Yoruichi dashed and executed a quick Shunpo and kicked Zell in his abdomen and he rocketed toward the ground. Yoruichi followed up with a heavy axe kick when Zell landed on the ground and a large burst of spirit energy was unleashed from the both of them. Tifa used Shunpo to reappear next to the new crater that was made by Zell and her master. Both Zell and Yoruichi were using Shunpo to make quick strikes and evasive movements, resembling that of DragonBallZ, so much that it was nearly impossible for the spectators to even keep up with the action. Zell used Shunpo and appeared in front of Yoruichi and gave a corckscrew kick to the abdomen and she skidded across the training grounds. Tifa took advantage of the recovering Zell and used Shunpo to appear behind him, grab the back of his head, jump high in the air, and rocket down toward the earth with the force of a meteorite and slammed his head into the ground.
"Okay, that will do for now." Yoruichi stated with much satisfaction in her tone and crouching down as if trying to catch her breath.
"Tifa... you're really tough." Zell smirked as he stood up and brushed off the debris from the sparring bout.
"You're strong too. I enjoyed our battle. Perhaps we can do it again sometime?" Tifa replied with a kind smile on her face.
"Most definitely, I would like that, but maybe tomorrow after school, we could go hang out at the park?" Zell said and joined beside Tifa and walked her up to the exit of the building.
"Okay. We'll begin your next lesson in the Hakudo soon Tifa. I'm proud of your progress." Yoruichi called out to Tifa as she walked away with the newest member of Ichigo's team.
Ichigo and Orihime jogged to catch up to Zell and Tifa and the four of them decided to take a walk and show Zell the sights of Karakura and meet with Ichigo's friends from school.
Isane, Zack, Toshiro, and Rangiku all appeared at Urahara Shoten after Ichigo left with Orihime. When Cloud caught sight of his older brother he was overcome with joy.
"Z-Zack? Is that you?" Cloud stammered, tears slowly began to drip from his eyes.
"Yep, it's me little bro. I see you're doing well." Zack replied and gave his little brother a hug.
"Awwwwww, that's so sweet." Rukia cooed, she sometimes wished that Byakuya would show more affection towards her.
"Yoruichi, this is the new Captain of the Third Squad. Zack Fair." Toshiro introduced Zack.
"Nice to meet you, Captain Fair, I'm Shiohin Yoruichi." Yoruchi extended her hand.
"Likewise, so how is it you know my brother?" Zack extended his hand to hers and they shook.
"He's your brother?" Uryu asked, suprised that Cloud could have such an outgoing brother like Zack.
"Yep. We've got the same eyes. See?" Zack stated and pointed to his neon blue eyes with green rims near the outer section of the pupil.
Rangiku, Rukia, Yoruichi, and Isane looked and compared the males' eyes and nodded in agreement.
"Wait, if you're brothers and you're in the Gotei 13, then you...died?" Rukia asked, putting together the pieces of her puzzle.
"Yeah, I protected Cloud from a horde of bullies, when he was younger, but the last three of the members gunned me down." Zack explained slowly, causing Cloud to remember the terrifying night he had lost his brother four years prior, when he was twelve.
*Flashback*
It was a rainy night in the summer; Cloud and Zack were sent to get some groceries from the corner store, when they were approached by a large group of thugs. The thugs pushed Cloud down and he hit the ground fairly hard. Zack helped his brother up with his free hand, and engaged the guys in combat when they had insulted Cloud. Zack told Cloud to go home with the bags and that he would be there in a matter of minutes. Cloud nodded to his brother and took the bag then ran home as fast as he could. Cloud then sat by the door of his room, with the window open just a little, and waited two hours for his brother to open the door. After a bit longer gunshots were heard along with a scream, the screams of Zack. Cloud convinced his dad to come with him to look. When Cloud saw his brother's body lying there he dropped to his knees and cried over the sight of his brother's limp body lying in its own crimson fluid. That was the worst day in Cloud's life. He and his brother, Zack were very close. They did almost everything together.
*End Flashback*
Zack explained the story to the other residents of Urahara Shoten, then decided to accompany Cloud to his, or Ichigo's, house. Toshiro, Rangiku and Isane stayed behind with Yoruichi to discuss their mission, and end an uneventful day as they made arrangements for the day ahead.