RWBY Watches A RWBY Zanpakuto

by Shadow JAFF

RWBY finds a case of 'a RWBY Zanpakuto' DVDs in their room and decide to watch it.

Watching RWBY Zanpakuto

A RWBY Zanpakuto By: Azdoine

Chapter 1: The Blades and Me

Team RWBY was exhausted from their classes that day. They planned to just sleep in and work on their assignments the following day. They were all surprised when they entered their dorm room and saw a girl sitting on their new couch.

The girl had auburn hair like Ruby's, but darker and longer. She also looked shorter than Ruby. The girls all got into ready positions, expecting a fight. The girl turned towards them and smiled. Yang frowned. It was almost like she was facing that ice-cream girl again.

Weiss was the first to speak. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"

The girl just smirked, before pointing at Blake's bed, and vanishing in a small burst of Dust. RWBY looked at Blake's bed, seeing a large box. Blake walked up to it and cut the tape holding it. She then opened it, to Weiss's dismay.

"What are you doing you idiot!? It could be dangerous," Weiss yelled at the black haired girl.

Blake just reached into the box and pulled something out, showing it to her teammates as she turned to face them. "It's just some videos," she stated nonchalantly.

And it was. Blake held a DVD case with the words 'A RWBY Zanpakuto' near the top and a picture of a guy with black clothing and orange hair, holding a scythe in a combat ready position. Near the bottom was the words 'chapter 1: The Blades and Me'.

Yang came over and reached into the box, pulling out a letter.

"Dear team RWBY, in this box is a series of videos showing an alternate reality where you are not quite you, where Grimm are not Grimm and life is simpler, and Death is the real beginning. Whether or not you believe me is up to you, but it is just as real as your own lives. My daughter Scorpi will come in every once in a while to see how you are liking the videos. We will not stop bugging you about them until you watch them. Also note that the videos cannot be damaged or destroyed. You also cannot hurt my daughter; she's as powerful as I want her to be. I myself may show up once in a while as well. Please enjoy. Shadow JAFF," Yang read.

Ruby was the least surprised by this letter. "Not surprised, our team name is on the cover." She then grabbed the video case from Blake and put the DVD into the VCR of their new, 70" plasma widescreen T.V. She then grabbed a bunch of snacks and drinks before hopping onto the couch and hitting play. WBY also sat on the couch, curious as to what this new world was like.

The simulated sun within Urahara's subterranean training grounds shone down from above, illuminating the rather desolate scenery within - and making Ichigo's newest predicament quite easy for all to see.

"Now, let's continue onto lesson two, shall we?" Urahara asked with a sardonic grin.

Ichigo looked down numbly at the chain which now swung freely from his chest - the chain which Tessai had just severed with his hand axe. It was presumably done at Urahara's behest, given everything else the giant man did for his boss. "You… you pin-striped green-hatted bastard! You two just killed me!"

RWBY was shocked at hearing this.

Urahara just began fanning his face. 'Probably to conceal his shit-eating grin, just like he always does,' Ichigo fumed.

"Now, now, no need to make a big deal out of the obvious, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara tittered. "You're far too loud, you know."

"I'm dead, and you're worried about noise pollution!?" Ichigo bristled. "You - ouch!"

Ichigo winced as he felt a crushing pain on his shoulder blades. Tessai had taken the opportunity to sit down on top of Ichigo's back, pinning him to the earth.

"Oh, you'll be fine!" Urahara paused to close his fan again. "Probably. Of course, your chain of fate has already begun the encroachment process, and when it reaches the end, you'll be transformed into a Hollow-"

Ruby had a confused look on her face. "Hollows?" She looked at Yang, who just shrugged.

"WHAT!?" Ichigo screamed in dismay.

"-but hey, there's always the possibility that you'll get your Shinigami powers back!" Urahara grinned maliciously.

That had Ichigo paying attention again. 'So I'm risking becoming a hollow for a chance to get my powers back?'

"Yes," Urahara continued blithely, "if you pass this second test, then you'll retrieve your Shinigami powers and survive to re-enter your body again! Are you ready?"

"I-"

"Just kidding! I don't really care if you're ready or not!" Urahara laughed maniacally and Ichigo spluttered in pent-up rage. "This is lesson two: the Shattered Shaft. GO!"

Ichigo felt his stomach drop as the ground gave way beneath him and Tessai, and they began plummeting into the newly-revealed pit below them. "GYAAAAAHHHHHH! You unbelievable bastard!"

"That jerk! What is he doing to that poor boy!?" Weiss shouted. Blake calmly stated her thoughts.
"I think these 'Shinigami' may be similar to Hunters and Huntresses. These 'Hollows' may be the equivalence to the creatures of Grimm. This boy seems to have been a 'Shinigami', but lost his powers somehow. This must be a means to reclaim his powers, at the risk of becoming a monster. Succeed a hero or fail a monster. "

Ruby, Weiss and Yang paled at the thought of that.

Ichigo found himself waking up upon a rough stone slab, with the bitter taste of dirt on his tongue. It was the floor of the Shattered Shaft. "Ugh… that asshole… I'm going to kill him when I get out of here…"

He spat the dirt out of his mouth and waited until his head stopped spinning. He then moved to stand up, but to his shock, he only fell forwards in surprise. Despite his efforts, Ichigo's arms didn't move with him. "My arms…? Why can't I move my arms?"

"I'm very sorry, Ichigo." Tessai's placating but firm voice rang out from where he sat, behind Ichigo. "This is Bakudo #99: Kin. And until this lesson is over, I'll be forced to put you under restraint."

"That's right, Tessai!" Urahara called out from the top of the shaft. "Now, Kurosaki-san, this is your task: you must scale the walls Shattered Shaft as you are, within three days!"

Weiss looked at the man with the cane like he was mad. "How is such a thing even possible, that man is a waste of time! That cannot even be done!"
Yang looked at it like she wanted to try it.

"What the hell," Ichigo cried in shock, "That's crazy! There's no way that's even possible!"

"Oh, really?" Urahara put on an affectation of confusion. "Well, that's too bad for you, then, because I see that the process of encroachment has already begun."

Ichigo looked down, and to his horror the end of the chain had begun to turn in on itself, like a perverse cannibal. 'Well, shit.'

All four girls looked in horror as the chains on the boy's chest started eating each other one by one.

Hours later, Ichigo lay at the bottom of the shaft, trying to shut out the ache he could already feel in his chain of fate.

'I've already tried every way I can think of to climb out of here, and it's not working. Maybe… maybe Hat-and-Clogs was lying about the true goal of this task, and trying to distract me? I can't see how climbing out would repair my chain of fate.

'But what would repair my chain of fate and restore my powers, then?'

Ichigo did his best to get comfortable, taking a seated pose, and closed his eyes to mull it over.

"Ichigo…"

RWBY was a little surprised by the voice. It sounded really familiar.

"Huh?" Ichigo opened his eyes in surprise when he heard a young and feminine voice echo around him. "Who's there?"

"It's just me, doofus." Jinta mocked. "I came down to bring you some food, you know - not that you could eat it with your arms bound like that."

Ichigo frowned. 'The voice I heard sounded like a girl, there's no way it was Jinta. But on the other hand, I'm not going to tell him that and get my hearing insulted.'

"Anyways," Jinta said, "you're getting close to becoming a Hollow, so I figured you were getting hungry."

"No way!" Ichigo laughed. "I've still got plenty of time left! Can't you see my chain?"

Jinta smirked, as if the prospect of imminent hollowfication was the funniest thing he'd seen all day. "I forgot, you can't tell time down here. It's been over 70 hours, you know."

Ruby and Weiss gasped, and Blake and Yang were a little surprised, at hearing this.

"He's already that close to the end?" Weiss asked.

Ichigo steeled himself. 'I have to survive this, because I'm going to save Rukia.'

Ruby pirked at the name. "Who's Rukia? His girlfriend?" Yang shrugged.

"And you know… they say the last encroachment of the chain of fate is the strongest and most painful."

Right on cue, Ichigo felt the entire remnant of his chain begin to turn on and savage itself, and conscious thought left his mind as his body exploded in agony. At the same time, a white sludge began to leak from his eyes and mouth, slowly hardening into a white ceramic mask. It felt as if his skull was liquefying and trying to rip out of his head through his tear ducts.

Ruby gasped in horror. Weiss started to cry. Blake looked more than a little disturbed. Yang practically shouted, "Come on, Carrot top! Don't give in!"

"GAHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Jinta leapt out of the shaft in shock. "Hey! Guys, he's really becoming a Hollow!"

Ururu held her arm out and prepared to rescue Ichigo, before Urahara grabbed her shoulder. "Stop and watch carefully, Ururu. Normally, when a soul becomes a Hollow, it completely dissolves before coalescing again, and finally forming a mask. Kurosaki-san is the opposite, with his mask being the first step of the hollowfication - that shows that he's still resisting and can still become a Shinigami."

Blake was fascinated by this fact on Hollows. Yang cheered Ichigo on harder when she heard he was resisting.

This was scant comfort to Ichigo, who couldn't even hear the conversation above over his own screams. Slowly, the pain became unbearable, and he began to pass out.

"Ichigo… can you hear me yet?"

Weiss turned to Ruby, but saw she was hiding her eyes from the dark transformation. That voice sounded so much like the younger girl.

Ichigo woke up with a gasp, as if emerging from a nightmare, and quickly reached up to his face. 'Good. No hollow mask.'

He looked around and began to take stock of where he was. All around him, even under his feet, were massive slabs of steel and glass made blue by the reflection of the sky. They were emerging from somewhere in the mist in front of him.

"Ichigo! Hey, I'm up here!"

Now Weiss, Blake and yang all looked at Ruby. She was just as surprised as they were. Then she jumped and a smile beamed on her face.

"Of course! Our team name is in the title, we must be showing up now!" The rest of her team just nodded sage-like.

'That's the same voice I heard earlier!'

Ichigo turned around to face the owner of the voice, and was rather surprised by what he saw. It was a teenage girl around his age, with dark-red hair and light silver eyes. She was wearing a matte black blouse and red-trimmed skirt, and a completely red cloak with a hood (currently let down).

The truly surprising thing, of course, was that she was standing on top of a thin pole as if it were solid earth.

"YAY, ME!" Ruby shouted, jumping up on the couch. Yang made her sit back down and quiet down so they could keep watching.

"GAH! What the heck are you doing up there!?"

"Waiting for you, mostly." The girl leapt down from the pole to Ichigo's level. "Or I was, at least, but now you're here!" In a flash of red, she appeared right in front of Ichigo, looking like a kid in a candy shop. "It's so great to meet you face-to-face for the first time, Ichigo!"

'Oh no, I've seen that face before. It's just like Karin and Yuzu before they tackle me in a hug…'

"Wait, hold up!" Ichigo cried. She paused, and Ichigo pressed on. "What is this place exactly? Who are you?"

Her face fell, making Ichigo feel like he'd kicked a puppy. "Right, I guess you don't know me yet. My name is…" She trailed off.

"Your name is what?"

"Ruby! My name is Ruby!"

Her eyes began to water up. "You can't hear my name yet, can you? Dang it, that would make things easy on you."

A tremor shook the ground beneath them, almost knocking Ichigo down in its intensity.

"Ichigo, there's no time! You need to find your Shinigami powers!"

"But I thought Byakuya destroyed them, how can I find them again when they're gone!?" Ichigo asked quickly. A sense of urgency was dawning over him, with everything that was happening in so quick a time.

"Byakuya destroyed the power that you borrowed from Rukia, but you've always had your own spiritual powers, waiting to be awakened. Remember how you were able to get out of Rukia's Bakudo spell even before you got her powers? That's something no ordinary human could have done!"

The revelation knocked Ichigo's breath away. "I have… power of my own?"

"Yes. But if you can't hear my name and call your power forth, then you'll have to discover it yourself." She looked despondent and almost began to cry. "I'm sorry about this, Ichigo."

"Sorry about what?"

She didn't answer. Ichigo realized with a start that gravity was shifting under him, and he began to fall towards the mist. From his new perspective, the slabs around him looked more like… skyscrapers. Almost like Karakura town.

The girl took off after him, seeming to run across thin air. "Listen, Ichigo, you'll be able to find our power in one of the boxes! You can -"

Her last words were cut off as Ichigo fell through the mist and into the concealed water below.

"I hope he'll be okay…"

"I hope so to, me."

Ichigo barely had time to draw in and hold his breath before he hit the water and crashed through into its depths. And immediately, he almost released his breath in shock. 'Shit! This feels like a Hollow's reiatsu, it's nearly crushing me! I have to find my power, fast!'

Just like the girl had said, he was surrounded by hundreds of indistinguishable white boxes. 'How am I supposed to find my power in one box out of all of this? There has to be some kind of trick to it…'

Uryuu's words from long ago came back to Ichigo. 'Yes… he said that Shinigami power is distinguished by red-colored spiritual ribbons!' Ichigo did his best to focus his senses and call forth the spiritual ribbons of the boxes around him.

"Of course it's something red, why else would Ruby be there," Weiss said almost sarcastically.

'Come on, where is it… there!' Ichigo caught a glimpse of red out of the corner of his eye and immediately began swimming towards it, grabbing the end of the ribbon and following it through the water. In moments, he came to the box on the other end, and he opened it immediately, revealing the hilt of a Zanpakuto.

"Yes, Ichigo! You found me!" The girl from before appeared next to him. "Now pull me out, quickly!"

And he did.

Ichigo returned to consciousness again, this time in the real world, and cringed as he felt the awful pain of hollowfication come back to his senses.

"There's no time left, Boss! I have to eliminate him!"

"NO! Ichigo!" Ruby cried.

'Uh-oh.'

"Shokyokyu - Shiru!" Tessai called out, materializing a large white cloth which wrapped itself around Ichigo.

"Nikyoku - Hyakurensan!" Tessai intoned, creating dozens of bolts which ripped through the cloth to impale Ichigo, and he let out a scream of pain. 'Holy crap, he really is going to kill me!'

"Shukyoku - Bankin Taiho!" Tessai chanted, summoning a large metal sealing cube above Ichigo's head. 'No way, I won't die like this!'

Power like he'd never felt before surged through Ichigo's body, blowing away the restraints. He could almost hear the girl inside of his head, cheering him on.

"Actually, you can hear me! Go, Ichigo, get out there and show Hat-and-Clogs who's boss!"

In RWBY's dorm, Ruby cheered Ichigo on as well.

"Thanks." Ichigo responded. 'Wait, I can still hear her!? How? I thought it was just some kind of dream?'

"Oh, right! Uh, Ichigo, you can collect spirit energy underneath your feet to use as a temporary platform! You can use that to get out of here."

Weiss and Blake were intrigued at this information. It certainly sounded useful.

Ichigo hesitantly tried it, stepping upwards into thin air, only to find a seemingly-solid platform underneath his feet. "Huh, this really works." He put her technique to good use, clearing the shattered shaft and reaching the surface in moments. The gob smacked expression on Jinta's face almost made the whole excursion into the Shattered Shaft worth it on its own. Urahara just looked smug, as if he'd planned the whole thing.

"A Hollow mask and a Shinigami robe…" Jinta muttered. "Is he a Hollow or a Shinigami?"

'Right, I guess I still do have this damn thing on." Ichigo realized, before reaching up and tearing the mask off. Urahara's grin, stretching the bounds of plausibility, grew even wider.

"Congratulations, Kurosaki-san!" He cried, throwing a handful of confetti into the air. "You've transformed into a fully-fledged Shinigami! You've passed the second test!"

Weiss was not amused. "If the next test is combat, Ichigo better kick his ass." The rest of RWBY agreed.

"Shut up, old man!" Ichigo withdrew his sword, and a frown of irritation crossed his face when he saw that it had been broken. He pressed on, though, and jabbed Urahara with the hilt. "I made a promise to myself that you would die when I got out, and now I'm going to make good on my word!"

Urahara tittered. "Well with that attitude, we can move straight to the third test!"

'Oh no, not another damn test!'

Ichigo heard the girl giggle at the ongoing antics.

"For the third test, you won't have to worry yourself over time limits… all you have to do is take your blade and cut down my hat. If you do, I'll count that as a pass-"

Ichigo cut the man off, immediately rushing forward and swinging the remains of his Zanpakuto at Urahara.

Weiss looked at Ichigo like he was an idiot. Attacking with a broken weapon? Really?

"Pretty good! I see you still have great power, despite the ruined state of your sword." He slowly withdrew a sword from the inside of his cane. "I guess I'll have to take you a little more seriously."

'Does this guy have a Zanpakuto as well? He's never shown signs of being a Shinigami before, but-'

His musings were cut short as Urahara slashed at Ichigo, missing his neck by a hair. "Get your head out of the clouds, Kurosaki-san! If you're going to pass my test, you can't hold yourself back! Awaken, Benihime!"

Ichigo watched in shock as the delicate blade which had been hidden in the cane became a vicious looking black sword with a green hilt and red string decorations. 'It's just like how that Renji guy transformed his sword!'

"Zanpakuto… have names, don't they?"

"That's right, Kurosaki-san. Every Zanpakuto has their own name. And this is hers: Go, Benihime."

Urahara appeared next to Ichigo in an instant and swung his blade downwards as Ichigo dodged, obliterating the stone left behind Ichigo. Undeterred, Urahara attacked again, and Ichigo was forced to thrust up the remnants of his Zanpakuto and block Urahara's attack.

"Very brave, Kurosaki-san, using your broken sword to block my attack. But you know your blade cannot hold mine off forever, don't you?" Urahara whispered, before he brought his full weight to bear against Ichigo's Zanpakuto. To his horror, Ichigo's sword was sliced clean through.

The girls looked on in fear; the orange haired boy was being destroyed!

'How did he do that? How am I supposed to fight this guy?'

"You may have regained some of your Shinigami powers, but you're still not as strong as you once were. Your power did not materialize fully; it only bloated up into the outline of a sword. That's why I'm able to break your blade so easily… and why you'll never be able to take my hat from me." Urahara swung again, and cut Ichigo's Zanpakuto down to its very hilt.

'No! What can I do!?'

"Your sword is gone, Kurosaki-san. How will you cut my hat down now, without a blade?" Urahara's face grew grim. "No, you will not win through sheer determination. If you want to fight me with that useless hilt, then you will surely die."

Ichigo panicked, and turned around to run from Urahara's next attack. 'Dammit, is this how it ends for me? Why has all of my life come down to this? Was it all for nothing, because I was too weak to save myself from my own stupidity?'

"Ichigo."

The world around him seemed to slow to a crawl, even Urahara's pursuit of Ichigo. Suddenly, Ichigo saw the same girl from his strange vision standing before him.

"What are you doing here!?"

She smiled sadly. "You still don't get it, Ichigo: I've always been here, waiting to help you. And you're ready now; you just need to call my name."

Ichigo frowned. "But what does that mean? And I still don't know what your name is!"

"Of course you know, Ichigo. I told you before, even though you weren't ready to hear it at the time. But now… you have to let yourself remember, Ichigo." She looked serious, as if this was the most important thing she would ever say, and she poked Ichigo's chest to emphasize her words. "You have to abandon your fears. Fear of the pain of failure, even your fear of yourself. You have to let it go, and keep moving forward. Now, say my name!"

Ruby had sparkles in her eyes. "So saying my name will make his weapon change! Cool! Do it, Ichi!"

Urahara watched with curiosity as Ichigo suddenly came to a halt, several feet in front of him.

"What's going on, why did he stop?" Jinta interjected. Ichigo slowly turned around to glare defiantly at Urahara, before holding out the hilt of his blade.

"Stain the roses red with blood… Baragetsu (Crescent Rose)!" Ichigo cried out. An explosion of reiatsu burst forth, obscuring him from everyone's view. Urahara grabbed his hat to keep it from being knocked off from the force of the pressure, and Tessai immediately grabbed Jinta and Ururu, shielding them from the blast.

When the dust cleared, everyone got a better look at Ichigo, and while he hadn't changed much, his blade had, very much so. In Ichigo's hands was an enormous scythe with a handle of deep red-stained wood, clad in black iron bands at each end, and with a gleaming silver blade.

Ruby's sparkling face went blank. "Baragetsu? That doesn't even sound like Ruby! And what's with the boring old scythe!?" Blake stopped her before she could enter a rant. "Baragetsu is Japanese for 'Crescent Rose', Ruby. And this is just a basic transformation." Ruby calmed down some after that.

Urahara grinned with eager joy. "You've found your true Zanpakuto, Kurosaki-san! Are you ready for the third test to begin in earnest?"

Ichigo laughed out loud. "I'm sorry, Hat-and-Clogs, but if you want me to fight in earnest, you're going to want to dodge this!" Ichigo brought up his scythe and focused intently on the instructions that Baragetsu was giving him, his eyes narrowing with concentration. 'Gather my energy into the blade, then release it at the apex of the blade's arc… now!'

Ichigo brought down the scythe, unleashing a blast of red-and-black reiatsu at Urahara. The man brought up his own Zanpakuto in response before the attack could cut through him. "Nake, Benihime!" he cried out, before the explosively powerful attack landed against him.

"Impressive," Urahara declared, still hidden behind the dust kicked up by the blast. "If it weren't for my Chikasumi no Tate (Blood Mist Shield), then I would have lost an arm." Ichigo smiled smugly at Urahara's words before a wave of exhaustion hit him. 'Crap, I think I used too much energy…'

He collapsed and fell asleep leaning against his scythe, before the dust could clear and show him the destroyed remnants of Urahara's hat - or the vast gouge his attack had carved into the earth.

"YAY! ICHI WON!" Ruby cheered. Weiss, Blake and Yang all clapped, although they were wondering if it really counted as a victory if he fell asleep.

"Yeah, you really are one scary kid, Kurosaki-san. You pass test three!"

'This back-and-forth is going to get irritating, I know it already.'

Ichigo had woken up within his strange dreamscape again, this time with the gravity still in the correct orientation; he was standing on top of one the buildings. Looking around, it really did seem like a copy of Karakura town.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Baragetsu asked. She walked up to Ichigo from behind him, not taking her eyes off of the cityscape before them.

"...yeah. But what is it, anyways?"

She smiled. "This is your Inner World, Ichigo. Just like us Zanpakuto spirits are manifestations of your powers; this place is a manifestation of your soul itself."

Ichigo nodded, barely able to think of what to say next. "I'm sorry I couldn't hear your name earlier, Baragetsu. And I couldn't have passed Urahara's damn tests without your help, so… thank you."

"Oh, well…" Baragetsu looked away shyly. "Uh, it's no problem. And all's well that ends, well, right?"

Yang giggled. "Aw, Ruby's blushing! So cute!" Ruby started blushing and pulled up her hood.

"I have so many questions I want to ask you! Where did I get my Shinigami powers from in the first place? What's it like being a Zanpakuto spirit?" Ichigo wanted to get to know his new partner; if she was the very weapon he would be using for the rest of his Shinigami career, then he didn't want to be distant from her.

"I'm not sure, Ichigo. I've only been around for as long as you've had your Shinigami powers, and I've grown up in your Inner World just like you've been growing up in the outside world. I can't remember what happened before I developed memories or before you got your powers. But, I've been with you a long time, so I think you've had Shinigami powers since a very young age.

"As for your second question… I don't think I'm a very good example of a normal Zanpakuto spirit, so I couldn't tell you."

Ichigo was enthralled. "Well… what makes you special compared to other Zanpakuto? Is it because you're a scythe, not a sword?"

Baragetsu blushed. 'I guess I am pretty special!' "Um, I was hoping that the others would be here to tell you their part. Ichigo… you have more than just Shinigami powers. You have the powers of a Hollow."

"Not surprised," Blake stated.

Ichigo paled. "You mean that I turned into a Hollow in the Shattered Shaft!?"

"No, silly! You've had the powers of a Hollow for a long time, Ichigo! This doesn't change anything; you've always been a protector, not a bad guy like the Hollows you purify."

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there." Ichigo said. He felt like he was drowning under all of the revelations he was receiving. "Why the hell would I have Hollow powers, anyways?"

"Well… I don't know." Baragetsu shrugged. "I don't know where your Hollow powers would have come from, no more than I know where your Shinigami powers came from. I have lots of theories, but to be sure we'd have to ask people who were around before your powers were, just like you asked your parents where you came from, and they told you that funny story about the Stork."

Weiss face palmed, while Yang laughed. The stork story was something all of RWBY was told as children, although they had learned otherwise (although Ruby doesn't know everything).

Ichigo cringed. 'I don't want to know what 'The Birds and the Hell Butterflies' would look like…'

"But who would know?" Ichigo asked. "Hat-and-Clogs seems to know everything, but he's probably messing with me, and he would never give me a straight answer either way. Rukia's new around here, and the Shinigami who's supposed to be watching over the town is a lazy ass. Dad himself is too much of an idiot to know anything."

"Well…" The girl looked down shyly. "My best guess was that your Dad was the source of your powers."

"...you're kidding." Ichigo deadpanned.

Yang sweat dropped. "Is his dad that bad?"

"Nope!" She said, popping the 'p' sound. "I can sense his reiatsu, his spiritual pressure, and… well, even though he's good at hiding it, it's only ever gone up over time. It's stronger than even yours, I think."

'No way... I know that me and Dad leave each other to our own devices, but how could he hide something like this from me? He can barely keep birthday and Christmas gifts safe from Karin and Yuzu!'

"...is this spiritual pressure sensing something I can learn? Like the spirit ribbon technique?"

The girl tried to crack a smile, but failed. "You - you still don't trust me?"

"No! It's just that -" Ichigo stuttered, trying not to step on her feelings. "I guess I don't know what to believe, right now. But no matter who Dad is, I know he's still, you know, my Dad. And you're my Zanpakuto, so… I'll put my faith in you."

"Cheesy!" Ruby said. WBY nodded in agreement.

"That was kind of cheesy, Ichigo." She muttered, before the corners of her mouth turned up in a hesitant grin. "But I'm glad."

A comfortable silence descended for a few moments before Ichigo frowned. "So what does it mean, that I have the powers of a Hollow?" His hand went to his chest unconsciously, still wary of the pain he'd felt and that sheer, nihilistic emptiness.

Was he going to Hollowfy again?

"Well, I'm not the expert on your Hollow powers, but regardless of how you got them, the fact that you have Hollow powers is certain." She started hesitantly, before she saw Ichigo's gesture. She reached out and took his hand in hers. "Listen, Ichigo, I know it's scary, but your Hollow powers are a part of you. If they're going to be a problem, then we'll face that problem head-on, together, okay?"

Ichigo smiled weakly. "Okay, Baragetsu."

"Anyways, Hollows are able to contain multiple souls inside of themselves; you know that well, because of all the souls you've seen them try to eat. And that Hollow ability has given you the power to manifest multiple independent Zanpakuto spirits. That's the real reason why I - and the other spirits - aren't normal at all."

Ichigo mulled it over. "Spirits, plural?"

Ruby, Weiss and Yang were a little surprised, but Blake understood. "All four of us are inside Ichigo. We all represent his different powers and will likely manifest when he needs to use them."

"Yes. Your Shinigami powers give you the ability to personify your powers into Zanpakuto spirits, like most Shinigami do: but because you have four different powers, you have four different spirits."

'That sounds a little bit… crowded.'

"Called it."

"Each of us represents one quarter of your powers. I am the representation of your Shinigami powers, which makes me the coolest, obviously."

Ichigo could have sworn that he heard several squawks of indignation in the distance.

Ruby laughed as the other three girls looked at each other.

"You also have a Zanpakuto who represents your Hollow powers, and she'll probably want to meet you later. We can ask her about your Hollow side then.

"As for the other two spirits… well, they're not even ready to talk to you yet, so they can tell you about themselves at their own pace."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. 'Four spirits and four Zanpakuto, huh… well, this will take some time to get used to. And four powers? If I'm a Shinigami and a Hollow, what could the other two powers even be!?' He took a deep breath to calm down. "Can I ask you another question, Baragetsu?"

"Of course, Ichigo."

"What is it like in my Inner World? Do you really spend all of your time in here?"

"Basically, yeah." She shrugged. "It's not a big deal. It slowly changes over time as you change and see more of the world, and there's rarely a dull moment with everything in your human imagination. Besides, we can use your senses and see the outside world if we want to."

Ichigo froze. "Y-you mean that you've been watching me!?"

Yang giggled again. "Oh, Ruby, you naughty girl! Does Big Sis need to teach you a lesson?" Ruby immediately hid behind the couch, away from Yang. Weiss and Blake sweat dropped.

Baragetsu reddened slightly. "Uh, yeah, I guess we do, sometimes." She looked down, somewhat abashed. "Not usually, but I've always done it just to try to get to know you better."

Ichigo was disconcerted, but still… he wanted to trust her. 'Even though I have no privacy…' "Well, I guess I can't fault you for that. I am a pretty cool guy."

She laughed. "Do you want me to take you on a tour of the place? Or, do you already know? I guess it is your own Inner World. Do Shinigami get some kind of super-sixth-sense for their Inner World, or do they have to explore it themselves?"

"I'm clueless, sorry." Ichigo confessed. "That would be pretty neat, but I think I'd still like a tour."

Baragetsu smiled… and drew out a copy (the original?) of her scythe form. Ichigo jumped back in surprise.

"Relax, silly, this isn't for you!" She laughed. "Come on!" She gestured over to the edge of the building they were on. Ichigo followed her, taking stock of the world around him.

On another glance, it wasn't quite like Karakura town, although it was clearly modeled after the real city. Many of the buildings were recognizable, but much taller than they would have been in the real world. And there were many buildings which looked perfectly bland and generic. Ichigo and Baragetsu were standing on top of the tallest of all of the skyscrapers, with the rest gradually falling off in height as they got farther and farther away from this central sky-scrapingly high point.

"You see down there, Ichigo?" Baragetsu queried. Ichigo peered over the edge of the building they were on, and caught a glimpse of water beneath a layer of fog.

"Yeah, I fell down there before. Is that fog supposed to represent the division between my consciousness and my subconsciousness, or something?"

Baragetsu lightly batted Ichigo in the side with the blunt side of her scythe. "You're taking this much too literally, Ichigo!"

Ruby scratched the back of her head and laughed a little.

"Ouch!" Ichigo rubbed his side grudgingly. "So what does it represent, then?"

"I think it represents the barrier between life and death, or something." Baragetsu shrugged. Ichigo was shocked. 'How can she take this so lightly?'

"Anyways, let's find a good landing zone…" She trailed off before swinging her scythe, and flinging another great arc of crimson energy from the blade. It absolutely tore through the fog below, exposing a vast sea underneath. "Come on, let's go!"

She grabbed Ichigo by the collar and jumped over the edge with him in tow. "GYAHH! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?"

"Same reckless Ruby, as always," Weiss muttered, shaking her head.

"Don't worry, Ichigo!" She reassured them as they were falling. "This is your Inner World, a part of your very soul! So long as you're in control of yourself, we can never get hurt in here!"

Ichigo didn't miss the possibility that he might not be in control of himself. 'I'll be fine, right?'

The pair of them plummeted through the surface of the water and landed with a soft thump on the land which existed below, to Ichigo's mild surprise.

"Besides, you can always use the air-walking technique to escape a dangerous fall, Ichigo… Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked around in awe. Beneath the surface of the water, there was breathable air. And there were just as many buildings as there were above, and they'd landed on the roof of one of them. The difference was that unlike the sterile buildings above, in this place each and every building was teeming with life, like a roof garden. Numerous black-barked trees grew from each rooftop, bleeding red with the pigments of the autumn season.

"This place is beautiful, Baragetsu." Ichigo said, eyes still firmly fixed on the view. "I wouldn't have known it was here if you didn't show me."

She smiled. "Yeah, it's my favorite part of your Inner World. For obvious reasons, I guess!" She ambled over to one of the trees and sat down at the base. Ichigo followed.

"Hey, Baragetsu?"

"Yeah, Ichigo?" She responded with a smile.

"Do you think… well, you were teaching me how to use your powers earlier, during our battle with Urahara. But there's a lot I still don't know. Do you think you could teach me how to wield you and your powers fully?"

"Of course I can!" She shot back, before a distant glimmer entered her eyes. "Yeah… I'll make you into the best scythe wielder there ever was… and then everyone will know my name as the most famous Zanpakuto of all time! Everyone will know the great Baragetsu!"

"Oi! Earth to Baragetsu, do you read me?"

She was snapped out of her daydream by Ichigo's sharp comment. "Yeah! What is it, Ichigo?"

"Where did you get your name from, anyways?"

"I… don't remember." Baragetsu frowned. "I guess I must have been born with it, and it came from your power, just like I did."

"Well that's not fair." Baragetsu looked at Ichigo in confusion at his words. "You deserve a name with a more human element to it, just like everyone else gets. I'm going to give you a nickname!"

"I - I've never had a nickname before. Can I try it?"

"Sure. I'm going to call you…" Ichigo thought about what he knew of her so far, and one strand stood above all of the others. "...Ruby."

Ruby had a slight tear at the corner of her eyes. "Well," Yang started, "That was a thing. So, homework, sleep or watch the next episode?"

Weiss looked at Yang like an idiot. "It's only four in the afternoon! Let's watch the next episode."

Blake then got up to change the disks.

Chapter one over! Damn, this was hard to do! Maybe next time I should just make RWBY or whoever watch one of my own stories. See you all next time.